Prologue
The sun had barely arisen when three shinobi slid wearily through the misty streets of Konoha. It was early, and hadn't it been for their sensei's request they would never have stepped outside a door at that hour. But as 'lucky' as Team Seven was, they were all demanded on meeting their sensei at their usual rendezvous at five am. Of course, there had been a lot of whining and complaining from the blonde boy and less from the cherry-haired kunoichi. The raven-haired boy had merely responded with an indifferent 'hn', even though he wasn't happy with the early meeting either. But keeping his cool, expressionless and indifferent façade did apparently mean a lot to him. People had gradually stopped wondering about his more or less weird behavior and got used to his rather hostile personality, and his team was used to it too.
As time passed by, the three pairs of footsteps came closer to each another until they met on the pavement of the bridge. The Uchiha had been the first to arrive, sharply followed by the rosette-haired kunoichi. Aside from their sensei, the blonde was the last to appear. Then, about half an hour later, their sensei arrived. He was as usual reading his orange, probably-porn-filled book. Wearily, he raised his gaze upon the three sleep-starved chuunin in front of him and snapped the book shut with an eye crinkle.
"Sorry I'm late, but I met an old lady who-"
"LIAR!!!" the kunoichi and the blonde boy growled in unison while pointing accusingly at the slightly older shinobi, who silently scratched his neck. He had probably used every single excuse in the world by now, and no matter how reliable the excuse sounded to him, neither of his students believed him. The thought was a bit disappointing to him, because in teamwork trust meant more than everything, and if he couldn't earn his students' trust future missions could go deeply wrong and cause fatal mistakes. But he presumed it was his entire fault, and he would make up for it once they grew older and could comprehend the importance of trusting each other completely. For now he must bear with their distrust.
As an answer, he merely smiled sheepishly through his mask and chuckled nervously.
"Ano, Kakashi-sensei, why do we have to meet this early today?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked quite curiously and placed her emerald orbs on the still nervously chuckling sensei. He stopped his fake laughter and got a rather serious look in his face.
"Today you have a mission-"he managed to answer before he got cut off by a shout of excitement.
"Ne ne, Kakashi-sensei, what kind of mission!?" the blonde boy asked loudly, eagerly, and let his widened, blue eyes linger impatiently on his sensei.
"… I was going to tell you right away…"Kakashi sighed airily through his mask.
"Naruto, you baka," the kunoichi mumbled in annoyance and gave her teammate a scowling glance.
"Tsch," the dark-haired Uchiha uttered and crossed his arms.
Naruto shut up for once, but his face still held that certain eager expression.
"We are all going to a village in the mountains southwest of Konoha. Around the village is a big forest where we're going to collect some special herbs to the village's priestess," Kakashi said monotonously, "And don't misunderstand this; it isn't a regular D-ranked mission-"
"What is it then, sensei?" Naruto once again chirped loudly. He probably wouldn't have cut his sensei off if he knew the kunoichi would smack his upper arm hard enough to send him off the bridge and into the clear stream underneath. When he once surfaced, he sputtered out a mouthful of water and coughed briefly.
"Ouch, Sakura-chan, why did you-"
The raven-haired boy didn't restrain his triumphant smirk, which caused Naruto to shut up immediately and stare angrily at his teammate.
"Oi, Sasuke-teme, who are you laughing at!?" he growled while crawling on to the water surface and then jumping up on the bridge edge.
"I'm laughing at you, dobe," Sasuke answered provocatively. Naruto leaped down on to the robust pavement and grabbed the Uchiha's collar, intended on lifting him above the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to do so as Sasuke stiffened his body in defiance, a victorious glint still in his dark charcoal eyes.
Their sensei sighed despairingly and asked: "You want the mission or what?"
"Oh, I forgot," Naruto mumbled embarrassingly and let go of Sasuke's collar, receiving another triumphant grin from the other boy as he did so.
Kakashi and Sakura both sighed airily in unison.
"As I was about to say, it's a B-rank mission. People – probably shinobi like us – are sent out to collect those herbs too. The village's priestess can't tell which village they're from or how strong they are. But one thing is certain; they won't let us get the herbs that easily. Taking this mission is actually like gamling."
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged challenging glares, both boys' lips curled upward.
"I'm gonna collect more than you, teme" the blonde said confidently.
"In your dreams, dobe,"Sasuke answered with a cocky smirk.
Kakashi and Sakura sighed once again. Despite that both Naruto and Sasuke now were sixteen they still fought like they had done at age of twelve. That frightened Sakura just as much as it annoyed her.
"So, I guess you're coming with us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, her brows creased in annoyance toward the boys.
"Yes, I am," the silver-haired jounin answered with a slight smile.
"I'm also gonna collect more herbs than you, sensei," Naruto said proudly and laughed.
"With your Kage Bunshin you might win, yes. But then again, it requires intelligence to recognize the herbs, and that gives you a large handicap."
Sakura chuckled of her sensei's ready answer and then asked: "Sensei, Sasuke-kun, can't you use your Sharingan to find them?"
"No, it's only Byakugan which is able to do so," Kakashi replied with a smile.
"Oh, I see," she said and smiled back, "But why isn't it Team Eight or Nine who've gotten this mission then?"
"Unfortunately, they're busy at the moment," Kakashi then answered and picked up his Icha Icha book from his pocket in a swift move that gave away that he had done that gesture too many times by now.
"Ne ne, Sakura-chan, with my Kage Bunshin we're much better than Team Eight and Nine," Naruto claimed proudly.
Sakura sighed, Kakashi let his one-eyed gaze brush over the pages silently, and Sasuke merely uttered a hushed 'tsch'.
Naruto then sighed too, realizing he was too eager compared to his teammates.
"Let's go," Kakashi said and began to walk, the book in front of his face and a hand in his pocket. His team followed obediently, all heading for the Hokage Tower to get the mission scroll and further details about the mission.
Afterwards, they would all head home and pack for the trip.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The night had slowly devoured the light blue of the summer sky, leaving an ebony nuance and millions of stars on the endless heaven. The air was crisp and several breezes rolled through the mountainous landscape, each time catching the hair and other loose fabrics and objects worn by the four shinobi. The rocky ground cracked slightly beneath their feet. Several weary sighs left the pink-haired kunoichi's lips. She was tired of walking. The same were the others from her team, but apparently they preferred keeping their strong façades while having a 'who-can-hide-his-fatigue-for-the-longest-time' competition. Naruto was full of stamina, Sasuke was incredible good at keeping his façade up, and Kakashi… Kakashi was just in a lot better physical state than his younger students, plus he had mastered that indifferent façade far too well. The outcome was clear, though she new none of the boys would agree their defeat.
She sighed once again.
She wasn't good at that kind of competitions, those games for dominance. She was just happy that the boys wouldn't judge her since they saw her as the team's weakest member. Sure they had their reasons to think that, and sometimes she agreed with their thoughts, but she considered herself much stronger than before Sasuke was offered to join Orochimaru's "army" four years ago. She was happy he had denied.
She sighed again, let a hand run through her cherry hair and sent the moon a weary glare.
Naruto glared briefly at Sasuke, who was to his surprise staring back. They sent each other a triumphant smirk and sped up a bit. Sakura sighed again of the boys' ridiculous challenge for dominance.
"Sensei, are we ever gonna stop or hold a break? Seriously, this is killing me, and those idiots aren't making it better by speeding up every third minute," Sakura mumbled and glared at the boys, who both ignored her glance.
"Yes, we're going to stop when we reach the next inn,"Kakashi answered, his voice low and with no signs on exhaustion.
"Ah, you're tired, sensei?" Naruto grinned provocatively. He took Kakashi's words as an unspoken defeat, which he somehow knew was underestimating his sensei. At least it wouldn't hurt trying to make the older man admit it.
"I don't recall saying that," Kakashi answered monotonously, something like a smirk lingering underneath his mask, which the three of them could spot through the tight textile. Naruto scoffed and placed his attention on Sasuke to send him another challenging gaze. They both sped up again.
The next inn…
Sakura sighed again. She knew it meant several hours until stop.
It was at least three hours since they last had passed an inn. To Sakura's annoyance the lack of tourists in the mountain villages meant a lack of inns. This was completely understandable to her, though, since randomly placed inns probably would go bankrupt in no time. But to her – their – luck there were a few inns out in the wastelands. They just had to wait for the next abandoned-looking inn on their way.
After another couple of hours they could glimpse some lights on their road. Sakura sighed in relief and she knew Naruto – and probably Sasuke too – was close to do such as well. Though, none of the boys, or Kakashi for that matter, had shown the smallest symptom on exhaustion yet. It amazed and amused her. And annoyed her. But she was too tired to analyze her opinion about it. It wasn't even important.
Goddamn, the boys are persistent.
She smiled weakly and glanced quickly at Naruto. He was still focusing on his "fit as a fiddle" façade. And so was Sasuke. Confirmation was not needed when it came to their sensei; he always wore it – in the mall, in the village, during missions… She would even bet he had it when he-
Oh no, don't go there, Sakura! No such thoughts about your own sensei…
She snorted quietly and shook her head. She had undoubtedly grown tired in the last two to four hours of walking. But as long they were going to stop and settle in for the night nothing else mattered. The only thing she could focus on was sleep. They had, after all, been travelling since early morning, and her calves were sore and her whole body was weary, slowly but torturously going numb. And all she could do was watching, feeling, it as they went for the lone inn somewhere ahead of them.
Another sigh escaped her lips, and she did not care if her team thought her as weak after literally hearing her exhaustion. It was their fault; their persistence had let them skip the break they were supposed to hold a few hours ago. If the boys hadn't exclaimed that they were full of energy and willing to reach the inn in the last whole stroke, they would have bunked down and went to sleep for a few hours before continuing. Of course, showing weakness was not something the boys on her team would ever do in one another's presence.
Would their constant fight for dominance ever stop?
Sakura's inner answer brought a frown onto her weary features.
No, of course they wouldn't. If Naruto became stronger than Sasuke, Sasuke would never accept it and find ways of becoming stronger, and Naruto would never accept if Sasuke was strongest. Two boys with the same level of persistence. That couldn't end well, and Sakura knew that very well.
To her – their – relief they were close to the inn, and they could make out the building in the darkness. If Sakura had had the energy, she would have run the last couple of hundred meters, but even Naruto and Sasuke were too fatigued to do so. If they couldn't, she couldn't either. That was a sad reality Sakura had let burn into her mind since the beginning of Team Seven, and when it came to everything else than healing she could still rely on that reminder. Mostly. She had yet not proved herself wrong.
She spotted Naruto and Sasuke exchange challenging looks again, and she exhaled loudly, tiredly.
Suddenly she saw Kakashi stiffen faintly, followed by Sasuke and then Naruto. First then she felt it. Chakra. Prominent chakra from nearing shinobi. She could already tell that these shinobi weren't allies by the way her team acted.
"Mask your chakras. We're going inside the inn for the night. None of us are able to fight in this state, so it's better to stay unnoticed," Kakashi said under his breath. He held no signs of fright like his students. Even Sasuke and Naruto had stiffened slightly of the reality that they were too fatigued to fight that moment.
They all masked their chakras as they were told. Save for Kakashi and Sasuke, Sakura had done it best, leaving Naruto dead last with his vague chakra control. In fact, she was actually next last, it struck her. Despite her great chakra control there was always somebody who was better than her, which annoyed her greatly. She had, after all, been so determined to become the most powerful on their team so she one day would be able to protect the ones she loved. Even after becoming Tsunade's apprentice and increasing her skills significantly Naruto and Sasuke had managed to become stronger than her.
She wasn't weak, but compared to her teammates she was. No matter how strong she became, she would always stand in their shadows – Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi, and Sasuke was the Uchiha prodigy, and Kakashi was the famous Copy Cat, leaving her as nothing but the Hokage's apprentice. She would never catch up on them, would she?
That was another sad realization sticking to her mind. To her team she would always be the damsel in distress.
Kakashi was, of course, the first to reach the inn, sharply followed by this two male students and then Sakura. They went inside, silent as they still assessed the strange chakra outside. Motioning for his students to wait, Kakashi went to the counter where an old woman was stationed tiredly. Had she been standing there all day and waiting for costumers? Sakura felt a bit pity for the woman.
"A room for four, please," Kakashi asked gently, formally. Somehow that caught Sakura's attention, and she found it weird hearing such formal and normal behavior from her sensei, even though she knew it had always been there somewhere. She had never really heard him say 'please'. It made her wonder if she had been too inobservant in her sensei's company.
"I'm sorry, we do only have rooms for two persons each," the woman answered, her voice hoarse and lifeless, "Double beds, of course."
"Oh…" Kakashi muttered and scratched his neck casually, "Then two of them, please."
It struck Sakura that she had to sleep in a room alone with one of her teammates. Probably in the same bed into the bargain. It sent a shiver up her spine, and she let her hand comb her cherry tresses quickly, suppressing anxiousness.
One male was a pervert to a high degree. Though, he was the strongest and could protect her if anything happened.
The other was a hyperactive, semi-perverted boy who still had a slight crush on her. In his presence she would be anything but safe, she supposed
And the last… Well, he was a boy who she had strange feelings for. Whether she still was in love with him or not, she didn't know. But she knew it wasn't a good idea being in the same bed as him. She was afraid of being hurt, she guessed. Too, if they were attacked, he would probably protect himself more than her, unlike her other two teammates.
She hoped she would end up with Kakashi. After all, he was an adult who had completely control over everything. There was nothing being afraid of.
Speaking of afraid, the strange chakra outside had faded. Sakura supposed they were just ordinary jounin, or maybe ANBU, on mission. She could see the rest of her team also had noticed the disappeared chakra. Naruto was already grinning.
The old woman stirred slightly, picked two keys up from behind the counter, reached them to the silver-haired jounin who took then gratefully with an acknowledging, curt nod.
"Naruto, Sasuke, you share a room," he said when he had accompanied his students, and reached Sasuke the key, which Naruto, of course, took eagerly with a triumphant, goading glance toward the Uchiha, "And if I hear you fighting, I will sleep between you."
Visualizing the scene, Sakuras lips tugged into an amused smile.
That would certainly cause strange rumors, now wouldn't it?
Kakashi's eye crinkled into a smile as he saw Sakura's thoughts clearly readable on her expression. Naruto and Sasuke were already arguing about who was going to have the whole bed. With them still bickering, the four shinobi headed to their rooms, tired and exhausted but still nonetheless loud, especially when it came to a certain blonde. Sakura rammed her elbow into his side, shutting him off for a moment before he began again, now louder than before. Sakura sighed despairingly as she followed her sensei into their room.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Sakura lay turned from her sensei who was utilizing every inch of his side of the bed, casually finding comfort beside his still awake student.
Stirring, Sakura turned her head to her sensei's masked face, seeing as he slowly exhaled. She doubted he was asleep though; a shinobi of his caliber was able to feel if somebody nearby wasn't asleep and therefore could be a threat. Even in sleep they were always on guard. The thought was impressive, yet annoying. She didn't like knowing that he would be awake because she couldn't sleep. On the other hand, maybe he was able to calm his senses and force himself to sleep anyway. If not, he was a damn good actor. If you didn't know Kakashi's capability you would have guessed he was sleeping like a cat in the sunlight.
Four year with this man had proven otherwise.
The cherry-haired kunoichi felt quite cold. They were sharing one big bedspread, but Sakura had avoided proximity and were therefore only in charge of a third of the coverlet, which wasn't enough. She was also lying on the edge, gravity threading to pull her down. Too big movements would wake him and stir her balance, so she remained still.
Hot breaths came from his directing, caressing her skin awkwardly comfortably. She still wore her tight shorts and mesh shirt she usually wore under her red shirt. Her skirt had been dirty, and her shirt sweaty, so she had discarded them into a neat bunch on the floor. Kakashi had removed his jounin vest and shirt, which meant that his chest merely was clothed by the tight textile from his inner shirt, which was connected with his mask. Sakura was in no doubt that he was handsome and that his toned chest and stomach would confirm that too through the tight fabric. She was sure she could see everything underneath it. Glimpsing back seemed so tempting, but if he really was awake and caught her the moment she did, she would hear about it for the rest of her life. Or so she was sure.
Taking no chances, she sighed silently and turned her head back toward the wall. Why she was beginning to think such things about her own sensei was a mystery to her, and she knew it was ethically wrong. Ino would probably have done it without hesitation, studying his every curve and muscle, letting her eyes trail the figures of his masculine form. But Sakura was different, or so she tried to convince herself.
He is my sensei, for God's sake! Nobody has such interest in their own sensei. He is even fifteen years older than me. It would be gross.
She then brushed the topic aside, mentally commenting that it was merely a girlish dream seeing such a handsome man. If she was going to ogle somebody, then it should be Sasuke. For that she would have a motive.
Closing her eyes with another sigh, she rubbed her arms slowly to prevent awakening the jounin beside her.
Dammit, it's freezing in here!
Suddenly she felt a hand position itself on her arm. She bit her bottom lip to restrain a gasp. His hand was warm on her skin.
"Sakura. You are freezing," Kakashi's well-known voice said softly, and Sakura jerked her head in his direction, shocked after finally having convinced herself that her sensei was asleep. Apparently not. Luckily she hadn't been ogling him.
"I don't bite. You can come closer," he said, amusement playing discretely in his voice, "It's not a good idea catching a cold before a mission."
The man was unsurprisingly correct in his statement. Sakura sighed soundlessly.
"Oh… S-sure, Kaka-sensei," she answered, honestly not too comfortable by having to sleep closer to the man her traitorous thoughts were lingering to. She praised herself lucky that he wasn't able to read her mind. That would have caused troubles.
Sakura soon found herself laying only half a meter from her sensei, her back naturally turned to him. Once again his breath felt hot against her skin, and it somehow surprised her how even he could breathe through his mask.
The warmth from Kakashi and the coverlet was enough to keep her warm, and she felt her lids become heavy, her head somewhat weighty and thoughtless for once.
That was, until she thought about how close her butt was to his crotch.
A blush crept onto her pale cheeks as her eyes widened slightly in realization. She mentally cursed herself for thinking like that. This way she would be unable to get any sleep at all.
Damned hormones…
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
When Sakura woke up next morning, Kakashi was already up. Naruto had caught a cold, which indicated who had gotten the bed and who had slept on the floor. Honestly, it surprised none of them that Naruto had been the one losing.
Sakura hadn't slept too much that night, since certain thoughts had been nagging in the back of her mind. Kakashi, on the other hand, had fallen asleep immediately and was now fresh as ever.
The mission went as planned, and fortunately the enemy shinobi were easily held aside by Kakashi as his three students had collected the herbs. Surprisingly, Naruto hadn't mistaken the plants, and ended up collecting more than Sasuke. He had then claimed that they were even again.
The priestess had thanked them and let them eat at her house that day. Naruto and Sasuke had eaten like pigs, as usually having a competition. Naruto won but ended up getting sick because of his cold. Sasuke had claimed that such thing couldn't be called a victory.
All the way home they had also tried to surpass each other, pissing Sakura off because of her lack of sleep. When Naruto had asked, she hadn't told him why she couldn't sleep the previous night.
But since that mission she felt it a bit harder looking her sensei in the eye without blushing slightly. Again, she tried to convince herself that it was merely her hormones playing a trick on her.
Maybe it was, maybe not.