She was eighteen, and he thirty-one. They were stuck together for seventeen hours… What will happen to the pink-haired kunoichi and the silver-haired elite jonin?


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But if I did…

WARNING: This chapter has some swear words in it, so beware!


Sighing lightly, the pink-haired kunoichi finished with her final patient of the day. Man, this sometime got tiring, but it had to be done. If she didn't do it, then who would? Naturally, she was the best medical ninja in all of Konohagakure. She was very experienced, and Tsunade had taught her well. Now, to use all this new-found power, well, not really – She had known this stuff for five years already – since she was thirteen, and now eighteen, Sakura was ready to try something new, but she would never summon up the courage to actually getting to do that.

" Say 'ah.' " She said non-chalently as she held up her small light to look into the male's throat.

" Ahhhhhh. "

" I don't understand what's wrong, Yashimo – san. Your glands look fine, and the rest of your body is in good condition… " her voice trailed off as she turned off the light and the male closed his mouth.

" Well, I could'a sworn this morning that it was a nasty shade of yellow in there. "

" It's fine now, Yashimo – san. You can leave now. If the nasty yellow shade comes back, see me right away, understood? "

" Yes, Sakura – san. Thank you. "

" No problem. " She said with a silent smile to herself. Deep inside, she knew that she was doing this for the better good. The hospital also acted as a walk-in clinic, and they got a lot of patients, so she was usually working quite a lot. But with Sasuke back from killing Orochimaru, and Naruto back from training with Jiraiya, and even she had trained with Tsunade herself, it was kinda weird how that worked. Sasuke had Orochimaru's evilness, Naruto had Jiraiya's perverted ness, and she had Tsunade's… not gambling skills, [ I mean, getting in debt.. and she definitely didn't have Tsunade's drinking skills… So she must have her strength! Right?

Happy that she was finally allowed to leave her shift to Shizune and Hinata and the others, Sakura got ready to leave, and just as she was about to leave, everything came crashing down. Kinda.

" Sakura – chan! There you are! "

Sakura whirled around to see Shizune running with Tonton in her arms. Great.. What did she want?

" Yes? " She asked, rather annoyed now that Shizune was bothering her, even though she knew that the pink-haired female's shift was over.

" Tsunade – sama told me.. " The female paused to catch her breath. As usual, Shizune was running around doing things that Tsunade was perfectly capable of doing herself.. " that she wants to see you. "

" Do you know about what? "

" No, sorry, Sakura – chan. You know Tsunade – sama… But please be quick. She said it was urgent. " said the brown-haired female, as she bowed, then turned around and started running off in the other direction, leaving Sakura there, quite dumbfounded.

Sighing, soon after, Sakura was standing before Tsunade, Sai and Naruto on her left, Kakashi and Sasuke on her right, with her in the dead middle of the boys.

" Good. I'm glad you were all prompt. " came Tsunade's voice, as Sakura met her gaze. " I've decided that Naruto, Sasuke and Sai will be a team of three, and for now – Sakura, your on your own with Kakashi. " said the female, and already Naruto was protesting.

" Granny, Tsunade! You can't do that to poor Sakura. You can't leave her with him. " boomed the male, and Sakura continued to stare into Tsunade's chestnut – hued optics, grasping it all in. Sasuke merely shrugged. " Hn. " Was all he said, and Sakura could honestly care less. If Sasuke didn't care, then neither did she?

" Actually, Naruto. I can, and that's what I've decided. Now. You three have a mission right away, and so do you, Kakashi and Sakura. " She said, as she handed each of them a scroll with a mission on it.

Kakashi stepped forwards and took the scroll in his hands, pocketing it, still staying silent, as Sakura continued to stay where she was, Naruto ripping open the seal so that he could read the mission.

" Sweet! A B ranked mission! " boomed the male, and Sakura winced at how loud he was.

" Naruto! OUT OF MY OFFICE! " Yelled the blonde female, as Naruto gulped thickly, then dragged Sai and Sasuke out of the raging female's office, leaving Sakura and Kakashi standing side by side, rather awkwardly. As the door to the office closed, Tsunade rested her chin on her folded hands, her elbows resting leisurely on her mahogany desk. " I'm sorry about this, you two, but like I said, I like to keep teams as three man teams, not including the teacher, and those three seem to get along well enough. "

" But, Tsunade – baasama, why are you leaving me with Kakashi? Why don't you put Kakashi with Naruto, Sai and Sasuke? I mean – I work a lot at the hospital—" Started Sakura, but she was soon cut off as Tsunade held up her hand to silence her.

" I did it because you and Kakashi work well together… Trust me, I thought of all this. "

Doubtful…

" Very well, Hokage-sama. We'll do our best. " Said Kakashi finally. Oh, wow. He was finally speaking? These were the first words she had heard him say since Shizune, who was truly frightened by the blonde with the temper, and making people late, had pushed her into the office. Naturally, Naruto, Sai and Sasuke had already been there, then her, and twenty minutes later, Kakashi joined them and they had been pushed into the Hokage's office without knowing what the hell was going on.

Sakura bowed respectfully, and soon she was out of the Hokage's office, Kakashi hot on her trail. She turned around, and expected him to say something, but he just beamed at her, as if this was the best thing that could happen to him. She, on the other hand, was a little sad at the fact that she was being separated from Naruto and Sasuke, but if Tsunade said that this was better, then this was better. That's really all there was to it, she imagined. Soon, the pink – haired female was walking again, to her place. Her parents were on a mission as usual, so she rarely saw them, but the fact that she had her own place was rather enticing. The freedom of that, and the responsibilities were very heavy, but she was organized and therefore it was simple for her to keep up with her rent – even if that meant putting in a few more hours than she wanted to at the hospital…

Turning around once more, Kakashi was silently following her, reading his Icha Icha paradise book as Sakura turned fully, resting her hands on her hips.

" Why, Kakashi-sensei, are you following me? " She asked, very curiously indeed as to why her sensei was following her home like a stray dog or something.

" Don't you want to know the mission? "

Oh, damn. She had completely forgotten.

" Oh, of course. Well, why don't we go somewhere so that we can look over it together? " she suggested hopefully. In the six years that she had now known him, she had never seen his face. It was an unsolved mystery. Her, Naruto and Sasuke… Sasuke… had tried several years ago, but to no avail…

" How about your place? Since mine is currently being renovated—"

" Whatever, Kakashi – sensei. Let's go. We're almost there. " She said, not wanting to hear whatever excuse he had. In truth, she didn't really care where he lived. She imagined he lived in the middle of nowhere in a small cabin, all by himself, with a nice warm fire, a humongous bed – She was getting sidetracked now. Great.

" Great. " He had replied, but Sakura was stuck in dreamland as she proceeded to get to her apartment, climbing the stairs with each grueling step. In honest truth, she was in no mood to pour over mission stuff at the moment. She just wanted to get some sleep, and just go to bed. That was really all there was to it. And to top it all off, Ino wanted to go drinking with her tomorrow. Great. No doubt that the blonde female would bring her something very revealing to where. Ino was always trying to hook her up with boys. Sometimes it got rather annoying, but reluctantly, since her taste in men sucked, she let her. Even if they never worked out. Once more – she was getting off topic.

As they reached her floor, Sakura took some more forced steps down the hallway to her door, and unlocked the door, stepping in and seeing Kakashi already there, sitting at her kitchen table.

" Your senses are quite pathetic, Sakura. And you call yourself a chuunin. Tsk. "

" Wha? How did you – "

" I went through your open window when you weren't paying attention. "

" WHY? "

" Because I didn't want to climb all those steps after the training I did today. "

Sure ya didn't. Of course you didn't. Silly me –

The female sighed as she closed the door behind her, perhaps a little too hard as it slammed shut and she winced from the sudden noise. Okay, too much force there, Haruno.

Just as she was about to ask him to open the scroll, her phone rang. Reluctantly she answered it.

" Hello, Haruno Residens— "

" SAKURA! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? "

" Ino? "

" Nooo. It's Chouji. Yes, it's me, you dumb fuck. "

" Ino – I'm really busy right now – I'll talk to you tomor—" But once more, the pink haired female was cut off.

" No. You're going to talk to me now, Sakura Haruno. "

Sighing in defeat, she said nothing and Ino continued. Typical.

" Okay, so I met this guy, and his friend is super cute – "

" Eh, Ino, I'm not quite sure I like you setting me up with these guys… "

" Oh, shush. You're such a party pooper. No, I already told him that you were going to meet with him tomorrow when we go bar hopping. "

" Ino, I don't know if I'm going – "

" Yes you are! And Tenten and a few other people are coming too. You must come, Sakura. Come on… Please? "

" Are you batting your eyelashes? "

" Shut up. "

" Ino, you seem to have forgotten that I am a female, and that we're talking over the phone. Any physical gestures, and, or, flirting techniques are not going to work on me, because one; I can't see you, and two; I don't like you that way. "

" Shut up, billboard. "

" Whatever. Goodnight. I'll phone you tomorrow. "

" Bu— "

Click.

The pink – haired medical nin had hung up on Ino. One of her so called best friends. What they had was pretty messed up, anyways.

Sakura went back into the kitchen to see Kakashi's eyes – no, eye pouring over the mission information. She hadn't really expected him to wait for her, because when Ino started talking to anyone, it seemed to last quite some time.

" So? What rank is it? " She asked, sitting down in the chair beside him as she looked over the mission.

" B. " He replied. Typical Kakashi, never speaking too much, or if he could, not moving too much either. In a way, he was kind of interesting that way. He seemed to have Shikamaru's lazy attitude, anyways…

" Does it look hard? "

" No. " He pushed the scroll towards her, probably having read all of it already, and soon, green – hued optics were pouring over the information. It was indeed a very interesting mission, to say the least. They were to go to Kirigakure – Village hidden in the Mist in the land of waves, and act as body guards for a male who was traveling to Sunagakure. It was a long enough mission, and it would take a few days at least to get there, which meant that they would probably be leaving the next day – which meant she wouldn't have to go bar hopping with Ino and Tenten, or go on a blind date with that guy who was Ino's friend. Perfect.

" We'll leave in two days. Not tomorrow, but the day after. Very early, so get to bed early tomorrow. " Was what Kakashi said next, as Sakura looked up to meet his one dark – hued optic.

" We're not leaving tomorrow? "

" No. We need to pack, and get some rest. It would be stupid to leave without some notice, and a good plan. Also, I'm sure you need to find someone to replace you at the hospital while your gone… Correct? "

Sakura sat there, rather stunned. Wow, he was right… How silly of her.

" Right – but still, wouldn't it be wise to leave as soon as possible? "

" Ino set you up again? "

"Sensei! How did you know about that? "

" I over-heard your conversation with Ino. "

" But—How? "

" You don't exactly whisper when your talking. "

"Why the hell were you listening to my conversation? "

" Sounded interesting. "

Sakura made a noise that resembled ' hn ' then sighed. " Fine. "

" Great. So, we leave on Thursday. " He said finally, standing, and Sakura stood with him.

" Uh – Kakashi – sensei, where do you live? So that I can go see you if I need some assistance in packing… "

" That's confidential. "

" Bu—"

" Fine.. I live in those brown apartments across from the Laundromat. Happy? "

" I guess so. Thanks, Sensei! "

" Cheerio. " He said, lifting his right hand, then disappearing in a puff of smoke.

" He always seems to leave in an interesting way… " The female mumbled to herself, a little mad that they weren't leaving tomorrow… Then that way she wouldn't have to go with Ino. Oh well… Guess that's how the cookie rolls.

Kakashi sighed as he arrived at his place, walking up the stairs, and unlocking his door. He went inside, then into his bathroom as he stripped, removing his green vest, the black shirt underneath, his pants, boxers, socks, shoes, headband, and last but not least, his dark mask that hid his face. They would never understand why he wore it.

Turning on the hot water, then the cold – adjusting the water, then turning on the shower, Kakashi stepped inside the bathtub, letting the water run down his body as he closed his eyes in pure pleasure. Sure, this wasn't as good as sex, but it was pretty damn close. He could tell that he had ruined his student of six years plans, but perhaps he might see her while she was bar hopping. In fact, it was an almost positive sign that he would.

About twenty minutes later, the elite jonin stepped out of the shower and dried, wrapping the towel around his waist and going into his bedroom, when he saw a body in his bed. Who the hell? Oh shit. Not Anko…

" Kakashi… " She purred. " You've been gone all day. You owe me. " She whispered from the bed, and Kakashi sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed.

" I'm not in the mood, Anko. " He said, instantly regretting it.

" Oh. So you leave me here all day, and you don't want to make up for last night? "

Last night?

" That wasn't my fault, Anko. You know that. Just… Bug off. I'm not in the mood. " He said, slightly frustrated, but he wouldn't show it as he kept his cool demeanor on.

" Well, too bad, Kakashi. You owe me and you know it. "

" This is my place… Get out. " He said, as if just realizing this, feeling her arms slip away from his shoulders, then bowing his head as she got dressed, feeling the cool air from the cool air of his blankets being thrown back. He had just barely caught a glimpse of her skirt, and finally, hearing his door slam shut. He knew that he had really screwed that one up…

Oh well.

No one was perfect, he imagined, and he was no exception. However, the fact that Tsunade had split up Sakura from Sasuke and Naruto somewhat surprised him. They did in fact make a very good team, and he couldn't understand why she had not given them a jonin to complete their team… Also known as him. Like Sakura had been starting to say that if they had just had Sai, Sasuke, Naruto and him, then Sakura could just go with the hospital full-time. But, Tsunade was the Hokage for a reason, so he would not defy her. Her temper alone was something that was not to be tampered with, and so he wouldn't tamper with it. Quite simple the way that worked out, wasn't it?