"Admit it, if you met me and we were the same age, you would like me."

"What?" Sakura lifted her head from the ground. Propping herself on her elbow, she looked at her former mentor, confusion and slight amusement written on her face. Raising her voice a little bit, so she could be heard over the fighting in the clearing next to them, she asked, "What makes you think that?"

Hatake Kakashi removed his gaze from her to focus on his three subordinates as they fought. He noted that despite not having as many advantages as the other two, Sai was using his mind, as well as his Ink Creatures, and looked to be winning. Then again, Sasuke and Naruto were forced to limit themselves to keep it fair. "Back in my Genin days, I was quite like Sasuke was. Aloof, moody, and anti-social."

"You're still anti-social." She said quickly, adding that she was no longer a Genin so what she preferred then did not matter now. She paused, a smile lacing over her lips as she calmly stated, "I think if I met you, and we were the same age, I would hit you. Hard, probably." Catching his eye, which had been directed towards her again, she offered a kinder smile than what had previously graced her lips before she had spoken.

"Why?" He studied her face for a full minute, before turning back towards the battle. Despite it having initially been a one-on-one-on-one, Sasuke and Naruto were ganging up on the newer addition to Team Kakashi, but Sai was holding his own fairly well. From what Kakashi should see, he had a smile on his face, but it was probably fake.

"Because you're a jerk now, and you were probably a jerk back then, too!" She giggled, allowing her head to fall back onto the plush grass. "Ughn. ." She mumbled, her ear catching on a sharp stone that she hadn't realized had been beneath her. Rubbing the soft skin gently to cleanse it of blood, she watched Kakashi, waiting for an answer.

"And Sasuke wasn't, and still isn't?" He cocked his visible eyebrow up in mock surprise. He reached for her, his hand tightening around her arm. He tugged her towards him gently until she was close enough for him to reach across her and grasp her other arm, before pulling her towards him. He spread his legs and propped her against his chest, leaning in to inspect the small injury.

She flushed deeply at the position, but didn't squirm away. "It's fine, Kakashi-sensei. It's not bad enough to waste chakra on, and it certainly doesn't deserve attention." Scowling as he dismissed her words to continue playing with the fringed skin to clean the dirt from the bloody tissue, she added, "It doesn't matter what Sasuke-kun is or isn't, I'm not interested in him."

"Mm." Kakashi hummed, turning to rummage in his pouch for a small canteen of water.

Sighing, she gently barked, "It's true, I'm not." She stopped as she felt the cool water touch her sensitive skin, washing away the blood better than her sweaty fingers had done minutes ago. Turning back to the previous subject, she smiled warmly, "Although, maybe I could change you for the better? I could totally make you social if we were both Genin-aged when we met, Kakashi-sensei!"

She hadn't realized he was leaning in so close until he chuckled, his warm breath brushing against her ear. She winced lightly, but he misinterpreted it, "Does it hurt?" When she shook her head, he continued removing the dirt, grass, and blood from the wound, although noticeably gentler, this time. "I'm sure you could, Sakura, I'm sure you could."

Her head whipped towards his, his lips so close to hers, she could feel his breath. Moving her head back to give them a little bit of space, she narrowed her eyes and snapped, "Don't give me that tone, Sensei-Sarcastic!" She inwardly cringed at the awful name she had just given him, but on the outside was firmly reprimanding him with the menacing look in her eyes.

Giving her a happy eye-crease, her used his hands to turn her head away, pulling a bandage from a first aid pouch. His brow furrowed as his eye caught sight of a few small and thin packages, realizing he should have used the medical wipes. Shrugging his shoulders, he placed the smile bandage around the cut on her ear, exhaling softly, "It is a shame we couldn't have met at a time where I was born fourteen years later, or you fourteen years earlier, though."

She was about to comment that he had become a ninja way ahead of schedule anyway, when she noticed how gloomy and dark the clearing was. The sun had dipped beneath the clouds on the horizon, and the only light available was either being emitted from Konoha's many lanterns, or coming from chakra the boys were using.

"Oh," She sucked her cheek into her mouth, biting on the fleshy bit nervously. Kakashi tapped her face gently, warning her not to bite too hard, if at all. She released the inside of her cheek from the grip of her teeth, and hastily spoke, "It's getting late, isn't it sensei?"

He had noticed the disappearing sun as it went, but her voicing it made him sigh a little harder, "Yeah, and they don't look like they're going to be done anytime soon."

She started to get up, making it known to him that she would stop the combat training, but he took her hand in his, and gently pulled her back down. Sakura looked at him quizzically, but he ignored it. "They'll burn out of energy eventually, Sakura. Just let them do it, or it'll be twice as bad tomorrow."

"Eh? Sensei, we don't have training tomorrow."

"I know. I'd like to keep it that way." She let out a soft noise, indicating her agreement. He fidgeted lightly, trying to ensure she was comfortable while he arranged himself to be. Falling on his back, Kakashi entwined his fingers together, placing them behind his head. "Don't call me 'Sensei', Sakura. I'm not your teacher anymore, and that honorific makes me feel old-er, older than I already am."

"You're not old Kakashi-sens-" She cut herself off, feeling his light glare rather than seeing it, "Er, Kakashi-san?" Feeling the stare dissipate into nothing, she assumed his eyes were closed. She wanted to lie down, too, but knew that would hardly be appropriate, considering their positions. His knees were still risen on either side of her, and if she were to lay down, her body would be sprawled out on his chest.

Deciding to move out from between his legs, she inched her way forwards, until she rested just between his feet. She sensed his gaze on her, again, but ignored it. Squirming a little bit more, she crawled from where she sat, before resting on his left side. Once she was sure she wasn't too close, and neither her head nor her arm would brush against his elbows, she collapsed onto the ground, her arms tucked beneath her head.

He took note of her position, and after a few seconds, closed his legs, and let them slide on the ground until they were stretched out. His available eye did not close, rather, it took its gaze to the sky, watching and tracing the stars.

After awhile, he noticed it was beginning to grow cold, as the sun took its warmth when it fled beneath the horizon. He looked to his left, and saw that Sakura was fast asleep. A small smile appeared beneath his mask, and he sat up, removing his vest to place it over her. Once done, he went back to his resting position, relaxing in the clear night. Occasionally he heard an explosion, but it seemed the boys were tiring out, as the sounds were not as loud as they had been earlier, and were growing softer and softer.

Tears dribbled from her chin, her eyes stricken with a terrible grief. Before her, the discarded and damaged body of one of her former mentors, Iruka-sensei, was sprawled out in the bloodied clearing. She didn't want to think of what was around her, the scenes she caught from the corners of her eyes was enough.

"Iruka-sensei," Sakura muttered, her voice quivering with a deep sadness. His face was paled, and blood had been sloshed over his right cheek, traveling to just below his eye. "Iruka-sensei, please."

The chakra that was flowing from her system into her hands did nothing for the dying man. He was too far gone for her to save him. She should have known, he was quite the gruesome sight, and he was one of the better ones. His left arm had been torn from its socket, and the gash running from the side of his chest to his right hip bone was oozing a deep red liquid.

At that moment, she felt very much like her Shishou, Lady Tsunade. Just the color was causing her hands to shake violently, though she tried to steady them, and she felt a growing fear of the sticky substance bubbling inside of her.

"Sak..Ra.." She turned, her eyes widening as she was forced to take in more of the devastation. Sand-nin's, Mist-nin's, and too many other villages had come to try and aide them, but now their bodies littered the blood-tainted soil that had seemed to shower down on them half an hour earlier. Upturned rocks and earth were strewn every which way, and waves, which should not have been anywhere near the glade, lapped thirstily at the soaked grass on the far side of her.

Sakura couldn't locate the owner of the voice she had heard. Too many people were moaning and howling in pain, too many people were screaming for her to come to them, to give her chakra and heal them. Her lip wriggled pathetically as she fought to ignore the familiar voices that came from familiar faces, all agonized and pained. The deep slash in her shoulder was pouring blood, now, but she dismissed it as though it was nothing more than a cut.

She gasped. She heard it again, the voice that was calling for her. Though it sounded soft and hollow, the fact that she knew the owner was practically screaming at her. By then, Iruka-sensei had departed, she knew this because the body beneath her hands had become deathly cold, and the heart had lost all movement.

Scrambling to her feet, she called out for the owner, "Shishou? Shishou!" She limped around bodies beneath her feet, and ducked under those dangling from trees. Soft booms came from all around her, but she couldn't do anything about them.

After several elongated minutes, she found who she was looking for. Kneeling beside the aged woman, Sakura fought hard to stop the tears that flew mercilessly from her eyes. "Shishou.."

The woman beneath her cracked open an eye, studying her for a moment. Sakura shut her eyes tightly, ignoring the body that was Hatake Kakashi, what lay on the left side of her, his hand stretched out towards Lady Tsunade. His body was already stiff with rigor mortis.

"..Kura.." The Hokage choked, wriggled, and writhed. Sakura opened her eyes, but could do nothing more than watch. She knew this woman would never allow her former student to give up the last of her chakra, and her life, for her. Tsunade's breaths deepened with effort as she cleared the blood from her throat.

"Lady Tsunade, please, don't struggle. It will cause more. . ." She trailed off, the chakra she was using to search for the worse of Tsunade's injuries demanded her attention.

"Jutsu.."

She broke from the concentration spell she had administered, watching the dying woman beneath her, her confusion at its pinnacle so far.

Tsunade lifted her hands, and started the seals to a jutsu. Thinking she was trying to perform a suicide jutsu, Sakura pumped most of her chakra into the dying woman's dwindling chakra system, hoping to ease her suffering. Her Shishou ignored her, and after what seemed like a hundred seals, she looked up at Sakura.

A small smile graced her lips, and with the last seal, and the last of her strength, she placed her now glowing hands on Sakura's stomach. Her clothes had been torn and singed in an explosion, leaving large stretches of exposed skin in between thin parts of cloth that used to make up her Jounin uniform.

Sakura gasped, the sound soon dying out into a horrified scream as pain flooded through her body, searing through every inch of skin at once. Her eyes were blinded with white hot pain, and Tsunade's next words were lost on the agonized female.

Sakura opened her mouth, her cry sounding more shrill and annoyed than it had moments ago. With a start, and a lot of confusion, Sakura noticed that there was no pain ripping through her, only the apparent need to breathe.

She found that she could not open her eyes, and her hearing was impaired. If she could hear, however, she would have observed the swooning male next to the female holding her whispering,

"Pink hair? Looks like she's got your great-great grandmother's genes!"

"Yeah," The woman sighed softly, and asked, "What should we name her?"

The man thought for a minute, toying with the soft tufts of hair that poked up from his daughter's head. She wriggled at his taught, her cries becoming quieter. "Well, if we think about her hair..Sakura?"

Sakura stopped crying as her mother rocked her back and forth. Had she been able to open her eyes, she would have not recognized the female as anything but, despite not having known her.

"Sakura..I love it. Welcome to Konohagakure," The female lowered her lips to place a delicate kiss on Sakura's soft forehead. "Sakura."