A/N: Naruto does not belong to me; none of the characters belong to me.
Okay now that I said that lets get down to business, I'm writing this before anyone has responded to the "HELP ME" because I need to write something or I'll feel …uh...lazy? Haha, I'm ahead on my school work for one (Shocked yea?) because usually I only procrastinate.
On a semi-serious note I will warn you now my grammar and spelling aren't the best, I'm relying on my skill of re-reading and Microsoft word to correct them, therefore if you see ANY spelling or grammar mistakes I'd love it if you posted them in a review or sent me a pm. Either will be fine, just let me know a.s.a.p., because I'd feel like someone was reading it and laughing at my little mistakes. Yea….there are evil people.
Okay now as for my author notes, it will be split into two parts. The first part being what you just read, this is what I write up here before I start the chapter. Then what I write below here, which is written after I finish the chapter. So in case you were wondering why I asked a question in the beginning and then it was answered within the story, it's because I use this to ponder and show you guys what I am thinking. I may put a divider between the two separate A/N, such as copying this paragraph or more likely just writing "~this is after I finished writing the chapter~".
I've re-read it three times now, probably going to give it a once more before uploading it. I hope you guys enjoy it and please review. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Oh and one more thing! THANK YOU STKF FOR YOUR HELP! I had to put it in there! :)
~oki
A low groan came from the underneath of about four blankets. The annoying tinkling wind chimes had kept her awake all night, and even now morning came too early. So sure she had to be at the Godaimes office in about twenty minutes. At least she was warm and the wind had stopped moving those damned chimes. The pink haired medic moved her head out of her cocoon and looked over at the clock; fifteen minutes had passed in seconds while she clung onto her warmth. A varied range of cuss words left her lips as she scrambled into clothing, which during this period of cold or at least as cold as Konoha could get, comprised of a long sleeve black shirt underneath her usual sleeveless top, and a pair of black pants with her small sliced skirt. She still wore her sandals except now they were closed in the front and more resembled boots, shoes she thought appropriate in case the sky decided to snow while so was out an about.
The instant she was fully dressed the medic was on her way out the front door of her apartment then bolting for the Godaime's office before she was late and had to suffer the wrath of an annoyed shishyou. She couldn't resist the sigh that left her lips as she walked to the door, judging by the fact that even Shizune was outside of the office the chances that the Godaime was having a good day were slim. Sakura paused long enough for Shizune to look up and nod as she stood opening the door.
"You're late" The words were spoken with such a bland tone Sakura was actually genuinely surprised at it.
"My apologies shishyou, I had a-"Before Sakura could finish Tsunade held her hand up silencing the Kunoichi in an instant.
"I made this appointment to talk to you, not for you to apologize to me for staying in bed."
Sakura felt herself cringe, was there nothing this woman didn't know?
"I think it's about time that you left the village for a little while."
A blink was all she could muster, hadn't she just been on a mission last week to mist? She had left the village then...
"This isn't a mission Sakura" the reply made her feel as if this woman in front of her again could read her mind. "I'm sorry shishyou, but what is it then? A vacation? Because I assure you I don't need leave after that last mission I only had minor-"
Again she was cut off with the wave of a hand. "Not a vacation, I need you to go collect a certain set of people for me" Sakura thought about it "So it is like a mission then shishyou."
"No, I don't want you to treat it as a mission treat it like something you were doing out of the kindness of your heart." Well that made the kunoichi stop for a second again, out of the kindness of her heart? What was this a love quest?
"I need you to go collect a small child and her father and bring them back to us, we have reports that these too are leaking information about neighboring villages to our civilian towns on the border and that simply cannot be allowed. The last thing we want is some secret from rain known throughout a defenseless town."
Oh that's why it couldn't be a mission, these people were only suspected and assuming they were civilians then collecting them in the usual manner could seem to rough or uncalled for.
Sakura nodded as she was tossed a scroll and again with a wave of her shishyou's hand was more or less urged out of the office.
Well this should be easy enough, it's not like it's going to be that …. Sakura lost her train of thought as she read where exactly this child and parent were. The scroll in her hand read "somewhere". Then how was she going to find them? She shook her head, perhaps … and as she continued reading the scroll sure enough Tsunade had been kind enough to give her two options of people to take with her, so what two? She paused, well Hinata was the first that came to mind but the girl had been so busy with her family and calming them down about her engagement to Naruto that Sakura couldn't bring herself to bother her. Well then what about Kiba? She cringed slightly at having to deal with him, being that she had no leads to go on except the town on the border. She was sure Kiba would complain about it in a heartbeat, so then who? As if on cue a whirl of green flew past her quickly followed by a white and yet another green whirl, blowing her hair back as they went. Sakura turned around to see a very disturbed Hyuuga and an over energetic Lee and Guy sensei. She couldn't muffle the giggle that passed her lips.
"Ah, Sakura-chan! Care to join us in showing off our youthfulness even in this cold weather?" Guy –sensei's voice so loud it almost had an echo in the small alley behind her.
"I'm sorry, I'll have to sadly decline your offer Guy-sensei, perhaps another time." though she inwardly cringed at the idea of having to run 40 laps around the village looking at the jonin's green rump.
"Well that's too bad! Come now Lee, Neji! We shall finish our 30 laps with more speed and energy than before!" Guy said in his usual energetic voice.
Her eyes glanced over at the Hyuuga who had now composed himself and was watching the exchange beside Lee. That was it! If she couldn't bring Hinata then Neji was her next best guess! She smiled brightly which was returned from the two green nin, though her smile was directed at the Hyuuga. She walked over to him with a big smile putting her arm around his shoulders which was slightly hard to do being that he was taller than her, she felt him almost lurch forward to remove the contact but then second guess it being that it would put him just a tad too close to the sweating nin in front of him.
"I'm sorry about this guys but Neji here is overdue for his physical and you know how important it is to keep one's body in the top physical condition right?" She smiled sincerely and to her triumphant it seemed to fool the two green nin, who proceed and nod and depart. Though not after Lee challenging Neji to yet another duel set for a date in the future.
Just as they were out of ear shot she was given a nasty glare as he shrugged off her arm. "What was that for? You and I are both aware that the Clan is very careful about the upkeep of our medical records."
Sakura sighed, well he seemed grateful…not..." Well I have this tracking mission and-"
"If I were assigned to this mission I would've been informed by now" He replied curtly.
Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch. "That's why I said that I had this mission, anyways..." She paused and Neji nodded his head. "I was wondering if you would come with me?" She stopped and watched him for a second then proceeded "I have to track down this young girl and her father, though all I've got to go on is that they were in this town on the border but no one has any surveillance or anything so I've no idea if they are still there and/or where they went.."
The Hyuuga appeared to stop and ponder this for a moment. "Why weren't you assigned a team for this mission? If it is a solo mission you know as well as I do that I cannot join you."
Sakura sighed "It's not a solo mission, I'm not getting paid for it so neither would you, were you to come along." She watched him for a change in expression which was practically impossible being that his pearl colored eyes had no expression in them to begin with.
"Then why Haruno would you think that I would come with you?"
She stopped, actually she hadn't thought of that yet. Surely if she was getting paid it would be much easier to recruit a team and she would in turn get something out of the deal. "Um…I..." She stuttered not really sure what to say when put on the spot. "oh I don't know because you have a damn heart?" She spat out after becoming annoyed with herself for stuttering and actually becoming nervous.
This in turn earned her a snort as the Hyuuga genius turned and began his walk back the Hyuuga estate. "No thank you Haruno" He said toneless over his shoulder.
"What if I give Hinata a herb that will keep her from getting pregnant anytime soon, because you know Naruto and her aren't going to be able too-" Her sentence was cut short when a hand covered her mouth and she was quickly slid into the alley behind her with a certain jonin's body pressed against her.
"Do not remind me, and do not speak of it." He growled it out and Sakura felt a small victory as she had ceased him from walking away. "If you promise to give it her without her knowing, and make sure it won't do any permanent damage. Then I will help you on this charity run Haruno." He finished his sentence and let go of her as he stepped back. He sighed as he jumped to nearest roof and out of her line of sight.
She grinned widely and raised her arms above her head! "Hell yeah!" She found herself saying and then laughing, well that wasn't suppose too come out of my mouth. "Now who else can I bring with me?"
Sakura found herself wandering around the streets of Konoha, despite the cold she couldn't bring herself to go back to her apartment until she at least had an idea about whom else to bring with her. She sighed, allowing the noise to turn into a frustrated groan as she rounded a corner. She continued on her way over a small bridge where team seven met up a few times, she smiled to herself. Those were the days weren't they…
She found herself frowning not long after having thought that, the raven haired Uchiha never quite made it back in once piece. He had made it home of course, just not all the way. Something about having finally killed his brother and then being used by Madara had made her childhood crush a shell of a person. She sighed again that night, sure when he first got back Naruto and her had made it their goal to cheer him up, they had gone over every day, sometimes even bringing Sai, and they had asked him to come out with them or go train with them. A few times he had gone out with them but small things would remind him of that he had nothing left to do. It became worse, at least from what sakura noticed, when Naruto had started meeting with certain people to make his ascending to Hokage easier on the village elders. She hadn't gone over to see Sasuke in a while perhaps that's where she should go tonight. For almost childish reasons, Sakura didn't want to see him. Being brought down by the Uchiha's tragic existence would surely ruin her night.
She jumped up on the railing to dangle her legs off the edge, the sun was slightly high in the sky... it must be around five or six. Sakura let her thoughts hang on the Uchiha, why hadn't he just tried to find a wife; he did have to repopulate his clan didn't he? A red tint found its way to her face as she pictured her childhood crush trying to swoon any of the girls they knew. She couldn't stifle the laugh of how he'd smile and they'd all melt and turn to goo. Yea that wouldn't be a good idea huh… he wouldn't get a very stable family from a wife who hung on him. She shrugged; a girl that wouldn't turn to goo in front of the heir… now that would be a miracle.
She let a sad smile fall over her lips; she had gotten over that crush. Though when that happened she didn't know, probably when they were trying to cheer him up. She saw the real Sasuke, the empty shell. He wasn't someone who would ever love her, and perhaps that had made her sad. She shook her head, no, that hadn't made her sad; she'd probably been over him for years before that.
She smiled happily as she looked up from her dangling feet, but that look changed quickly to a look of sheer shock as she almost toppled off the railing and into the shallow creek.
"Yo."
"Ka-Kakashi-sensei H-how long have you been there for?" She stuttered as she composed herself and she didn't miss the crinkle in his visible eye.
"Long enough to know that you're sensory skills are becoming rusty."
If she could see his face she would swear he was smiling. "I didn't know you were a threat so I wasn't watching out for you." She huffed quickly realizing how stupid that sounded.
"So you've honed your skills as to block out my chakra? I'm hurt what if I was injured and needed you to find me! Why you'd never notice!"
Sakura laughed at the fake dramatic tone he was using, she'd never get tired of hearing her sensei and his silly banter. Though she often wondered if he got so good at it by mimicking Guy-sensei…she felt her eyebrow twitch as she pictured Kakashi in a green jumpsuit.
Her sudden change in facial expression didn't get passed the silver haired nin. "Should I ask or will it damage my mind as well?"
Sakura laughed at him and kicked her legs out to see if she could reach him but alas he had stood just far enough away so she couldn't reach him with her foot. She pouted for a second the idea of having a foot rest sounded nice, and again she saw that silly twinkle in his eye.
"So Kakashi-sensei what are you doing tonight?" Though she knew his answer would be vague.
"The usual." Sakura rolled her eyes, yep just as vague as ever. It was a good thing she knew him now, his usual consisted of going to get a few drinks with Asuma-sensei, Genma, and maybe Guy but only if he didn't have a choice in the matter.
She shook her head and laughed. "So do you mind a little change of pace?"
The copy nin looked up from his book and raised his eyebrow at her.
Sakura smiled, she hadn't even seen him open that book. "Like come with me to visit a friend?"
That made his eye drop slightly, as if he had been expecting something more intriguing. "Is this friend Sasuke?"
She made a nervous laugh. "Maybe."
"Then no." he said looking back down at the book, as he leaned back on the railing opposite her.
She pouted. "Do you no longer care about your students?"
As he turned a page "I don't want to sit there in an awkward silence, only to have you try to talk and end up rambling about the color of the sky..."
"Well fine then! I'll go...uh…" She sighed in defeat; even she didn't want to go. Why did Sasuke have to be such a downer!
"What about a training exercise?" Kakashi said as he stood up and book his back in its safe little pouch.
That idea made her look up at her former sensei with a spark of hope that just maybe she wouldn't have to go by herself, "With Sasuke?"
Kakashi shrugged "Or just the two of us?" He said it like he was hoping she didn't want the Uchiha to come along.
She narrowed her eyes. "That wouldn't solve the fact that I was going to be nice and cheer Sasuke up."
Kakashi sighed "No, it wouldn't help you try to cheer up a kid whose goal in life has been achieved and who seems unable to do something that doesn't involve killing someone."
When he said it like that Sasuke sounded like a serial killer, and Sakura visibly flinched.
"I guess I can go see him tomorrow..." That made the nin in front of her smile again, He had successfully gotten out of having to go see his former student…or rather what was left of him.
Sakura shook her head and forced herself to smile at the man. "So what kind of exercise?"
If Sakura could have seen behind his mask she'd of seen his devious smile. "A fun one."
"Uuugh! Kakashi-sensei that wasn't fun at all!" The Kunoichi moaned as she trudged back from the training ground, the nin in question falling into step beside her.
"Yes it was, did you see how well Pakkun and Bull tracked you!" She could hear the laughter in his voice.
"Yea I had seen that, and then I saw the sky as they tackled me." She sniffed her forearm and grimaced. "I smell like dog drool." She glared at the limb in question and missed her sensei leaning over to sniff her himself only to pull back sharply and making a note to feed them something when he got home to get rid of that horrid breath. The last thing he needed was to be found out on a mission because his dog's had left their breath on him.
Sakura yawned slightly closing her eyes as she did so. "So I was –"Another yawn. "Wondering where are we-"She yelped as she tripped on a tree root that had somehow made its way out threw the fencing and onto the walkway. She groaned against the dirt now ground into her face.
"You could've caught me!" She half growled half yelled at the ground. He replied with a simple closing of his visible eye." Then you wouldn't have learned to look down and watch where you were walking."
Sakura stood up to dust herself, unknowingly dropping her mission scroll in the process. She continued to swat at the dirt that was sticking to the drool and thus sticking to her, Kakashi bent down and picked it up. "May I?" Sakura looked up confused for a second and shrugged. "I don't care Kakashi-sensei, why would it bother me that you were going to read that thing…"
Kakashi took her question with a shrug and opened up the scroll reading it fairly quickly, he noted that the first member she wrote who was coming with her was … Hyuuga, Neji. Well that was unexpected, he'd expected Hinata. "So why are you bring Neji?" He asked curiosity getting the better of the copy-nin for a moment.
Sakura paused looking at him with a bewildered face. "How'd you know tha- Did you swipe my scroll!" She glared at him snatching it back with more force that required and almost ripping it. "You know you could've just asked to read it Kakashi-sensei…"
He raised his eyebrow. "I did."
She in turn blinked. "No you didn't…oh this was that scroll, Wait how'd you get it!"
Kakashi shook his head; her sensory skills were getting rusty if she didn't even notice dropping a scroll. "You dropped it when you tripped."
She sighed and turned to look at the setting sun. "I wonder if it's going to be cold tonight…" Sakura didn't miss the snort Kakashi made at her attempt to change the topic as they began their walk back inside the town.
"So you need one more person for the mission?" Kakashi said a little while later about a block from Sakura's house.
"Yea, but they aren't getting paid so it's not a miss-"
"I'll go; the ninken can help with the search." He replied before she could finish.
This made Sakura suspicious. "Oh cool…" She gave him a few sideways glances, and at one point he turned to her with his eye close as if he was smiling innocently, then it hit her. "You're on leave aren't you?"
Kakashi shrugged. "It's not a mission so it doesn't matter if I'm on leave or not. So just make sure you write my name down and I'll see you when you want to discuss details." With that Kakashi walked away.
Sakura sighed. Okay well at least she had a team now, but why'd he leave already. She turned to see where she was exactly and she was in front of her house. That made her shift uncomfortably a bit, had Kakashi even been over here yet...