Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

You can kill me for starting a new story when I already have one going. KTHNX.

Like history in the making, can we blur the edges of this past memory?

It was raining.

Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copy Ninja of Konoha, stood at the memorial stone, his visible charcoal eye dark and impassive as he stared at the stone. His light silver hair was dripping and obscuring his vision while the rain beat down on it, occasionally going in his showing eye. He looked up at the dark clouds overhead, squinting his eye as rain continued to pour into them. The mysterious man let out a deep sigh as he returned his gaze to the stone.

His thoughts began to wander then. He thought of Team 7, or, what had been Team 7.

He thought of Sasuke first.

Sasuke Uchiha had had the potential to be Kakashi's most promising and successful student, as well as one of the best ninjas in Konoha. Until he shot it all to hell with his revenge, that is. His departure as a genin had been surprising, though not totally unexpected. He had apparently managed to kill Orochimaru—he must not have had anything left to learn from the Sannin. Sasuke was now traveling with a freakshow; surviving shinobi who had been victims to the snake-man's twisted experiments. Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo, all of whom had some sort of interesting deformity that made them useful to the youngest [surviving] Uchiha. The four made up Team Hebi, with Sasuke the leader of course. He was still trying to avenge his clan by killing his brother Itachi, though there had been no recent information as to whether or not he had even done so, or even made contact with him. Either way, Sasuke had become strong and could have been great for the Leaf Village if he hadn't let his damn pride and power lust get in the way.

Then there was Naruto Uzumaki.

The Kyuubi container had been the loud, annoying, blockhead that had made Kakashi's teaching more difficult than it needed to be. He was immature and, even though he had potential to be a great shinobi, he wasn't quite to be able to learn well enough from the Copy Ninja. However, when Naruto returned from his two-and-a-half years with Jiraiya training, he came back not only a stronger shinobi, but even more determined to get Sasuke back. Of course, with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So though the fox-boy had become stronger, so had Sasuke. With Naruto's high expectations to get his friend back also came extreme disappoint every time he failed to do so. Kakashi could honestly say he was surprised to see that the boy had continued to try to do so, even though Sasuke had made it clear he wouldn't return to Konoha. Regardless, Naruto kept training, going from a Chunin to a Jonin, and then becoming a Jonin sensei. He became a better ninja everyday, and Kakashi could guess it wouldn't be long until Tsunade gave him the Hogake title.

And last, but not least, was Sakura Haruno.

Sakura had been Team 7's week link--the naive girl who was only there to get a scrap of attention from the village heartthrob. Sure, she had perfect chakra control and some of the best analytical skills for her age that Kakashi had seen, but he had to admit she just couldn't compete with two prodigies. Luckily, after Tsunade became the Hogake she took Sakura under her wing for nearly three years, allowing to put her best assets to use and become a phenomenal medic-nin. While gaining Tsunade's vast medical knowledge, she also gained the woman's fierce spirit, bad temper, and love for the occasional cup of sake. She was still always learning, and Kakashi sometimes found her at the Konoha library, trying to store as much information in her brain as possible. He thought out of the three, Sakura had changed and grown the most.

And he had missed almost all of it.

She had gone from a Genin, to a Chunin, to a Jonin, and then eventually to an ANBU in the seven years he had known her, though it seemed like it had all happened overnight. At one moment, he was watching her as she trailed after Sasuke, while Naruto trailed after her, and the next moment he was being invited to the party congratulating her on her newly-obtained ANBU status. From what he could gather, she had trained herself so hard to prove to Sasuke that she was powerful but, as the years went by, she seemed to give up on him more and more. The ANBU position and working at the hospital now took up a fair amount of her time, which she enjoyed, and Kakashi wasn't surprised; she loved to keep busy.

Sakura certainly wasn't the girl he knew from her Genin days, or even her Chunin days. The ANBU missions had made her hard, cold, and ruthless, while the job at the hospital seemed to remind her she was still human. She had finally found the perfect balance. Kakashi was sad he wasn't the one to help her find it but, as he thought about it, he hadn't been able to give any of his students any kind of balance. Sasuke had left with Orochimaru, Naruto had gone with Jiraiya, and Sakura had gone with Tsunade. What had he done? Since all three of his students had left him, his life appeared to have become mundane.

He had left teaching; he didn't need another disaster like the last, he had decided. Instead, Kakashi filled his time taking on solo missions, or occasionally pairing with Genma or Asuma for a mission. He read Icha Icha, as always, and every Friday would meet with the usual Jonin group at one of the local bars.

It had gotten to be boring and repetitive, and Kakashi needed a change. At this point, he didn't care what, he just needed something.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Said man's thoughts were broken at the sound of his name, and he turned his head to see Sakura standing behind him. Her beryl eyes were dull, and her shoulder-length rose locks were pulled back in a messy bun, a few piece framing her heart-shaped face. He noted her ANBU uniform, which was torn and splattered with blood and mud. She had just gotten back from a mission.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked him up and down, her face becoming clouded with worry.

"You're going to get sick if you stay out here in the cold and rain," she stated simply as he turned around to face her fully.

"Then what are you doing out here, Sakura? It would appear that you have just gotten back from a mission, should you not be at the hospital?" he replied, and her eyes narrowed at the cold tone of his voice.

"No need to be testy, Kaka-sensei, I'm just trying to look out for you. Besides, Tsunade-sama wanted to see both of us in a couple hours. I came to let you know."

"Well thank you Sakura. And will you please drop the 'sensei'? I stopped being your teacher years ago; we're equals." Kakashi supposed that wasn't exactly true, she was an ANBU now.

"I'm sure you could still teach me a few things, but if that's what you wish," she replied, her eyes glinting with secret amusement, "I don't know about you, but I'm cold and wet and hungry. Would you like to come over for lunch--we can head to the Hogake's office together afterwards, Kakashi-san."

He looked up at the sky again as he thought over her request. It had been awhile since Kakashi had spent some quality time with Sakura, she was just so busy with her missions and work at the hospital. He supposed he had missed her a bit. It would be good for them to catch up for a couple hours over some tea, maybe. He turned to look back at her, her face having gone from slightly amused to impassive once again. A small voice in the back of his mind asked him how he could have allowed such a bubbly girl to become so hardened, but he ignored at as he smiled at her with an eye crease.

"Of course, Sakura-chan." She smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. Kakashi could see beneath the emotionless facade was a hurt that he didn't think would ever leave her heart.

And the only person he could blame was himself.

For those who didn't do the math, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are nineteen and Kakashi's thirty-three.

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