Chapter 1

Kakashi yawned as Tsunade explained the mission. She was actually yelling at Naruto at the moment because he wouldn't shut up about how he wants an extra hard mission. Shikamaru also looked quite bored as he stared into space, Sakura was glaring Naruto and if looks could kill, Naruto would be a corpse right about now. Shizune, Yamato and Sasuke looked aggravated, but kept to themselves. When Kakashi finished scanning the room he looked back towards Tsunade, she looked angrily at him.

"What?" he asked, unsure of why she was mad at him now.

"Perhaps you forget you don't wear a mask anymore. I can read your expression like a book Kakashi."

It was true, ever since Akatsuki had been defeated and he had his near-death experience, he's been more open with people. Now he wore a white, medical eye patch (the ones that are square and wrap around your head) his headband around his neck and no mask. He sighed and turned away, he hated it when people read him so easily.

"Now, if all the nonsense is over, I'd like to explain your mission. This is an A-rank mission, so pay attention. Your job is to escort a small group of children to their home, Shiro Sakura."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at that name, it sounded familiar, yet he didn't know why.

"That's it? We just have to lead a bunch of kids home?" Naruto whined.

"Shut up and listen!" Tsunade snapped. "Shiro Sakura is a much hidden village and only the Kages and higher ups know of its existence. They have no shinobi but are very well hidden by mountains and lakes. They also have great herbs there for antidotes."

"So, why are these children here?" Sakura asked.

"The children are all orphans who have been roaming the country. Shinobi gather these children and send them to the Kage of that country. We then assign trustworthy shinobi to bring them to Shiro Sakura."

"How exactly do we get there?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade reached into her desk and pulled out a pure white scroll. She held it out. "Kakashi," she said. Kakashi moved forward and took the scroll.

"That scroll is for this team's eyes only. During your travels alternate who gets to hold the scroll. That scroll is to be destroyed when you cross the border on your way back to the leaf. Keep it safe."

Kakashi placed the scroll in pouch. "The children will be waiting at the entrance with an ANBU guard, you leave in two hours, dismissed."

The assembled team left. Tsunade sat back in her chair.

"Tsunade-sama, is it wise to send Kakashi-san? I mean with what happened there...."

"Shizune, didn't I tell you were never to speak of that, you should have never even have seen that letter." Tsunade said her voice distant.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

- - - - - - - -

Kakashi scratched his head as he walked towards the gate. "Where have I heard that name before?" he mumbled to himself wondering why Shiro Sakura seemed to mean something to him. He looked towards the gate and saw four children, ranging between 5-14 years old. He also noticed that none of his team was there, not even Yamato. The ANBU turned to him and sounded slightly surprised.

"Kakashi-san, you're an hour early," said an ANBU with a bird like mask.

"Am I now, guess I lost track of time. You can go, I'll watch them."

With that the ANBU disappeared. Kakashi looked at the children, who were all boys, and they looked back. He turned away and leaned against the gate.

"My name's Toru and I'm 8," said a small boy with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing simple clothes, brown pants and a white shirt. All the other boys were wearing the same.

"Toru, you don't just go around giving out your name and age!" said the one that seemed to be the oldest, he had spiky, shoulder-length brown hair and vibrant, green eyes.

"That's Sakumo, he's 14 and he's always angry," said Toru pointing at the boy with his arms crossed. Kakashi cringed slightly at the name of his father, but pushed it aside. He bent down and smiled at Toru.

"Well, I'm Hatake Kakashi, I and a few others will be bringing you to your new home." Sakumo's eyes widened slightly and Kakashi noticed this, but the boy looked away quickly. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"My name's Maiku and I'm 10," said another boy with black hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm Hiroji and I'm 5," said the smallest boy holding up five fingers, he had light brown hair and hazel eyes.

Kakashi smiled. "It's nice to meet you all," he said.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI'S HERE FIRST!?!" came a loud voice from behind. Kakashi stood up and saw the rest of his team walking towards him. The three boys stood behind Kakashi, slightly frightened by Naruto's extremely loud voice. Sakumo was unshaken.

After introductions and Sakura beating Naruto up, the team set out. After walking for a few hours the sun began to set and they made camp. Yamato walked over to Kakashi, a serious expression on his face.

"Kakashi-senpai, can I talk to you?"

"What is it?"

Yamato hesitated at first and then said, "Did you do something to the older boy, the one with the green eyes, Sakumo?"

Kakashi was confused, "Do something? I didn't do anything to the boy; I haven't even talked to him yet.......why?"

"No, it's just he's been giving you strange looks is all."

"Ah, so you've noticed. Yeah, ever since I said my name he's been. Maybe he knows my reputation," Kakashi shrugged.

Kakashi had first watch that night. A sudden movement at the camp site caught his eye. He watched and saw Sakumo get up and walk over to the packs. Sakumo opened the green bag that he saw on Kakashi's back before; he was barely able to glance at the contents when someone behind him spoke.

"Looking for something?"

Sakumo whirled around; he could've sworn that there was no one there before. He clenched his fists, mumbled a no, and got up to walk away.

"Hold it," Kakashi said and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Sakumo said as he knocked Kakashi's hand off. The others around the camp began to stir due to the noise.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said groggily as he rubbed his eyes. Naruto was ignored.

"You were going through something that wasn't yours, what were you looking for?" Kakashi asked again.

"None of your business," Sakumo said as he glared at Kakashi.

"Since it was my bag I believe it is my business."

"What's going on?" Yamato asked getting up, along with the others as well, the other boys still fast asleep.

"He was looking for something through my bag and I'm just curious as of what," Kakashi explained.

"Sakumo, if there's something you need all you have to do is ask," Sakura said.

"Will you all just drop it!?" Sakumo shouted.

"Keep your voice down or you'll wake up your friends." Yamato said motioning to the only ones left sleeping. Sakumo walked away to his sleeping bag and lay down, pulling the blanket over his head. Kakashi sighed at the boy's stubbornness.

"Kakashi-senpai, why don't you get some sleep, I'll take over for now," Yamato said placing a hand on Kakashi.

"Sure," Kakashi walked over to his own sleeping bag and lay down, but he didn't sleep.

Shikamaru poured the bucket of water over the fire and looked towards the boys. The three youngest ones where talking happily among themselves as Sakumo sat further off alone with his arms crossed.

"That boy sure is troublesome," he said to no one in particularly, but it just so happened that Naruto was nearby and over heard him.

"Yeah, I wonder what he has against Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said looking over towards Sakumo.

"Let's get going," Yamato said loudly for all to hear and then they began their journey again.

Five uneventful days passed.

Kakashi stopped and watched to make sure his entire team was here. He saw that Sakumo was walking alone in the back of the group. Kakashi waited until Sakumo walked past him and he began walking again. Kakashi watched Sakumo from behind, he was about to say something when Yamato called his name.

"Kakashi-senpai!" Kakashi walked back to the front of the group. Kakashi must have been really distracted if he hadn't heard the rushing water of the waterfall until he saw the thing. They were at the top of the waterfall.

"We should look for a bridge," Sasuke said, "the current is too strong to cross by ourselves."

"No, there's no bridge, this is a border mark and it also means we're about a day away. We're going to have to cross it on our own." Kakashi said.

"What!?" Naruto said, "This river's gotta be at least fifteen feet wide!"

"I'll make a bridge then," Yamato said. As Yamato made the bridge, Sakumo walked to the edge of the waterfall and looked down. Kakashi watched as everyone crossed the bridge.

"Where's Sakumo?" he said as he noticed the boy's absent. He looked around and saw the boy by the edge. "Sakumo, what are you doing? Get over here." Kakashi said. Sakumo looked towards him and began to walk towards him. Suddenly a loud cracking noise was heard. Sakumo couldn't even register what happened. One moment he was walking and the next he was hanging by his arm in the grip of Kakashi. Kakashi was holding onto the side of the cliff using his chakra. He heard his name being called along with Sakumo's.

"Wait!" Yamato yelled, "Don't go near there, the ground is too weak to hold your weight."

"Then what do we do?!" Naruto shouted.

"Sakumo, are you ok?" Kakashi asked.

"Y-yeah."

"Kakashi-senpai! I'm going to make a support of you to-"

"No, Yamato! The ground is too weak, you do that and the entire cliff will crumble!" Kakashi shouted back.

"The ground is that weak?" Sasuke said.

"There has to be something we could do," Sakura said.

Everyone rambled there brain as quickly as they could, they were running out of time.

"Sakumo, I'm going to throw you up and I want you to run as soon as you hit the ground."

"What!? But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, just get to safety." Kakashi said as he slowly raised the boy up, ready to throw.

"NO!"

"What?!" Kakashi was shocked by the sudden outburst.

"NO! I won't let someone else die because of me!" Sakumo shouted, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"What're you–" but Kakashi couldn't finish as the cliff crumbled away under his hand.

They began to fall.

"Shit!" Kakashi said as he grabbed the rock, but it was no use as it just crumbled away.

"Look out!" Sasuke said as more of the cliff began to collapse under their feet.

"Get over the bridge!" Yamato said. They all crossed the bridge to the other side of the river. When they got there they went to the edge, making sure it was safe first and looked over.

"I don't see them!" Sakura said and she scanned the side of the cliff.

"Damn it, we gotta get down there!" Naruto said.

- - - - - - -

Sakumo opened his eyes to a starry sky.

"So, you're finally up?" Sakumo looked over to where the voice came from. He could only see the silhouette of Kakashi from the dim fire light. He sat up slowly, grunting at his sore body.

"Don't push yourself; you hit your head pretty hard." Kakashi said as he shifted in his seat. Sakumo moved his hand to his head and felt the bandage wrapped around his head. He looked towards Kakashi again; he still couldn't see the man clearly.

"You should get more rest, we're going to have to look for the others in the morning," Kakashi said as he lay down. Sakumo pondered on what to do, but his eyes began to droop so he lay down and fell asleep.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was in too much pain to sleep.

- - - - - - -

"We can really use the byakugan right about now," Shikamaru mumbled as he strained his eyes to see in the darkness. "They could have been dragged all the way down stream."

"Will we find Sakumo and Kakashi-kun, Sakura-chan?" Toru asked as he rubbed his eyes. Sakura looked at the small boy and place a hand on his head. "We'll find them," she said. She saw that Maiku was holding a sleeping Hiroji, she walked up to Yamato.

"The boys are getting tired, I think we should set up for tonight," she suggested.

"Yea, we're not gonna have any luck in the dark. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, we're going to set up camp!"

"What!?" Naruto shouted.

"We're not going to find anything in the dark and the boys are tired, don't argue Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Damn it," Naruto mumbled as he went to help set up camp.

- - - - - - - -

The bright rays of sun awoke Sakumo the next morning. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, and looked around. He saw Kakashi sitting up against a tree, when their eyes meet he got up.

"Let's go," he said as he began to walk away. Sakumo quickly got up off the ground and hurried after Kakashi, having nothing to pack. He watched Kakashi, who was limping and had a slightly pained expression on. Sakumo decided to speak up.

"You're hurt."

"I'll be fine."

Sakumo looked away and remembered when someone told him those same exact words.

"I'll be fine, Sakumo."

But that was a lie.

"No," he said and stopped walking. Kakashi turned around to look at him. "You're hurt and need to rest."

"I'll be fine, we have to find the others," Kakashi said as he turned and began to walk again.

"They'll find us, won't they?!"

"We can't just–!" Kakashi didn't finish his sentence as he had to pull Sakumo out of the way of a flying kunai. Kakashi pulled out his own and pushed Sakumo behind him.

"Who's there?"

"Well, well, well, another Hatake. You just seem like a magnet to them, don't you, Sakumo," said a voice.

"Show yourself," Kakashi said, gripping his kunai tighter. A man emerged from the trees. A man with unusually ninja attire and had a three blade sword strapped to his back. He had vibrant red eyes and long black hair tied back in a pony, along with a wicked grin. Sakumo's eyes widened.

"Shinji," he said.

"Ah, so you remember me. It's been such a long time. The last time I saw you, you were what, six years old?" The man, now known as Shinji said.

"Who are you?"

"Me? Well, I'm known as Kamaji Shinji and considering that silver hair and sharingan of yours, you must be Hatake Kakashi."

Sakumo, had just realized that Kakashi's left eye was no longer covered, figuring he must have lost his patch in the river, had now looked at his left eye for the first time. The blood red sharingan was shining back, anger clearly there. Kakashi pushed him further behind him.

"Stay back," he whispered.

"You think you can fight me in the state you're in?" Shinji said as he lifted his three bladed sword. "Only Hatake's who've unleashed their kekkei genkai can defeat me!"

Kakashi didn't even have the chance to say anything. He stood in shock as he looked down and saw three large, stab wounds on his chest. He looked up and saw Shinji, standing where he was, but now, his blade was covered in blood.

"And by the looks of it, you haven't done that yet."

Sakumo, who was pushed down by the force, looked up in horror as Kakashi collapsed to his knees. Shinji smiled.

"When....did you..."

"Man, for me just to use my speed, you must really be out of it. Each of these blades is poisoned. I'll give you about three days, four tops. That is, if the stab wounds don't kill you first. But, if you do somehow live and we meet again, I plan to fight you using my kekkei genkai. A fight to the death, the last of their kind. Now, Sakumo, time to do what should've been done years ago." Shinji said as he raised his blades again.

"Rasengan!"

A surprised Shinji jumped out of the way before the attack can hit him, only to jump up and find another jutsu waiting for him.

"Chidori!" Sasuke shouted as he plunged his hand forward, only to hit air. "What?!"

"My, my, what's this?" Shinji said, standing on a tree branch. He looked down at the group of ninja. He noticed something dark moving along the ground and jumped away from it.

"Dammit, what a pain! Next time, Sakumo!" He said as he disappeared.

"Where'd he go!?" Naruto said as he scanned the surrounding area.

"Naruto, don't worry about him now, we have to help Kakashi-senpai," Yamato said.

Sakura had already removed Kakashi's vest and shirt and was examining the wounds.

"Can you heal them Sakura?" Shikamaru asked.

"I can, but there's poison in his system, if I heal the wounds up it'll be hard to extract the poison."

"Then take the poison out!" Naruto shouted.

"It's not that simple!" Sakura shouted back. "I need an antidote to do that."

"Shiro Sakura has it," Sakumo spoke up. "We have to get him to Shiro Sakura!" he said frantically.

"That's right, Tsunade-sama said they had herbs and antidotes there," Yamato said. "Sakura how long do you think he has?"

"He has about three days, four tops," Sakumo answered instead. Yamato, making a mental note to ask Sakumo a few questions said, "Alright, then we have to move quickly."

"We can move fast, but what about the boys?" Sasuke asked.

"We'll have to carry them, and I'll carry Kakashi-senpai," Yamato said.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto said as another one of him appeared.

"I'll carry Kakashi-sensei and my clone can carry Sakumo. Shiro Sakura is surrounded by mountains and lakes, right, so you have to be ready to use you wood jutsu to either make a bridge or stairs to get us over or across."

Everyone was shocked at Naruto's thinking, but pushed it aside. Sakura wrapped Kakashi's chest up and they each picked up a boy, Yamato helped Kakashi onto Naruto's back, and they began to run.

They've been running for hours until they reached a large mountain.

"This is it," Yamato said. "There should be an entrance about forty feet up." he said as he created a pillar to raise them up and, a little over forty feet, they found a cave entrance. "This way!" As everyone went into the cave, the pillar collapsed. When they reached the end of the cave they stopped. They were there.

Shiro Sakura.

It was clear why that was the name, as the village was surrounded by cherry blossom trees, only instead of the usual pink, they were pure white.

"Put me down!" Sakumo said as he struggled to get off the clone's back. Once he was finally off he ran into the village.

"Sakumo wait!" Sakura shouted after the boy.

"Yuki!" Sakumo called as he ran into the village, several villagers looking at him as he pasted. "Yuki! Where are you?!"

A woman with purple eyes and long black hair emerged from a small house. She looked at the boy calling her name.

"Sakumo?"

Sakumo turned to where he heard his name. "Yuki, we need help!" he said as he ran up to her.

"Sakumo," she saw the shinobi that were coming towards her, other children and the wounded Kakashi.

"It was Shinji!" Sakumo said; that got Yuki's attention.

"Bring him inside! Naoko, go get the village elder, tell them the ninja from leaf are here!" she said to one of the villagers who began to crowd around. They brought Kakashi into a small room, Sasuke and Shikamaru stayed in another room with the boys.

They laid Kakashi down and Yuki undid the bloodstained bandages and looked at the wounds.

"How long has he been like this?"

"A little over a day," Yamato answered.

"That long?" Yuki said as she went to work quickly. "I can't sedate him, if I do he might not wake up," she said as she gathered things she might need.

"I'm a medical ninja, is there anything I can do?" Sakura asked. Yuki looked at her and smiled.

"Perfect, you think you can keep him calm?"

"I'll try," Sakura said as she put her hands on the sides of Kakashi's head, they began to glow green. Kakashi's eyes opened a little and were glazed over.

"Sa....kura?"

"Shhh, Kakashi-sensei, were gonna get you better," Sakura said in a soothing voice.

"I'm going to give him the antidote." Yuki said as she gave Kakashi a needle. She placed her hand over the wounds and her hands began to glow as well, only a pinkish color. Sakura looked at Yuki in amazement.

'Is she...' Sakura thought. Kakashi began to move and shake in pain.

"I need you two to hold him down," Yuki said to Yamato and Naruto.

When Yuki was done extracting the poison, Sakura moved in to heal the blade wounds as best as possible. It took about an hour before they were done. Kakashi lay panting, as did Sakura and Yuki.

"He'll be fine now," Yuki said as she wiped her forehead, but something caught her eye. She moved down to his leg. She lifted up his pants to reveal the top of his knee down to his ankle.

"His leg is fractured," she said. Sakura went over to look at it, it was red and swollen. "Was he walking on this?" Yuki asked.

"It must've happened when he and Sakumo fell from the cliff." Sakura explained.

"I'll put it in a splint for now and wrap it up. Neither of us has enough chakra to heal it."

The three shinobi in the room were surprised when Yuki said that. Didn't Tsunade say there were no ninja in this village?

"Let's let him rest," Yuki said as she ushered them out of the room. Sakumo looked when the door opened and they walked out.

"Is Kakashi alright?" he asked.

"He's going to be fine," Yuki said. "Let me see your head."

"That's good news," said an old man who was sitting with the boys.

"Yenmon-sama," Yuki said as she bowed slightly.

"Shinobi of Konoha, please sit down, we have much to talk about. Sakumo, why don't you bring the boys to their new home, the other children have been very excited to meet them."

Sakumo didn't want to leave, but did as he was told.

Yamato had told the elder of what has happened.

"Well, it seems Tsunade has sent an excellent group," Yenmon said. "Why don't you get some rest, Yuki is it alright if they stay here?"

"Of course."

"Very well, we will talk more in the morning. I would also like to talk to the man who was injured," Yenmon said as he walked to the door. "What is that young man's name?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Hatake Kakashi," Yamato said. Everyone felt the tension in the air.

"Did you say Hatake?" Yuki asked, her voice shaking.

"Yuki," Yenmon shook his head and then said "why don't you show them to their room, it's getting late. Good night," he said and left.

"This way," Yuki said as she led them to another room. Everyone had the same thought in their head, only Naruto voiced it out.

"What was that about?"

- - - - - - - -

白い – white

桜 – cherry trees