I'm struggling on these chapter cut-offs.

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Chapter 2:

What's Wrong, Sakura?

It was both comforting and infuriating to know that even though many things changed, they really didn't. How nostalgic could a Team Kakashi mission be without the captain himself extremely late? But even for Kakashi this was pushing the boundaries. When his pair of ex-students arrived the sun barely crawled out for the horizon, and now it was passing through the sky's middle.

"That's it! We're going without him!" Naruto growled, up in arms. The only kunoichi of the team looked like she wasn't too far behind taking the suggestion. In a well-time cue, a plume of smoke erupted from an overheard archway—the same meeting place they used to gather as Genin. Crouched on the arch was the Copy Ninja himself, not looking overly concerned with the time.

Two of his ex-students fixed him with a steely stare. He knew something was wrong when

they did not throw out words of admonishment. Naruto knew something was off when Kakashi didn't conjure up a weak excuse.

"So… Are you really Kakashi-sensei or are you the clone!" Naruto demanded. The man before them blinked in surprise. After all, he hadn't really told them anything about the special bunshin or what to expect.

"Ah, no, no… I'm not a clone." It didn't work that way, Kakashi knew, but Naruto was too eager to set his sights on the additional team member he wanted to replicate. Beside Naruto, Sakura pursed her lips. She knew it was Kakashi from the start, but another question hovered in her mind.

"Don't tell me clone Kakashi-sensei is even more chronically late than the real one," she said sardonically.

"Actually, we won't be setting out with the fourth member. It's best we go our separate ways and my clone remains in secrecy. It can be used for back-up when we need it. But we really don't need it to reveal itself just yet." Naruto was the most disappointed, but his hunger to wrap his hands around Sasuke's neck soon overpowered the urge to see the special clone. Because of the secrecy of the mission, Team 7 did not leave from Konoha's main gates. It was a struggle to escape around the side perimeter without being noticed by the chunin guards, especially when Naruto could not suppress his wildly excited chakra signature.


An hour in, the team worked towards their target location; a small spot on the map far in the outskirts of Amegakure. Even though under the orders of the Lady Hokage they were to operate under the cover of absolute stealth, especially because they were dealing with the sensitive perimeter near the Hidden Rain Village, their current movements would be a dead give-away to any skilled shinobi in the area.

Naruto's chakra signature was becoming something of a concern.

"Naruto! Cut it down, would you?" Sakura snapped, pushing some extra force into her jump to match his pace. The forest here was thick and dense—which mean she had to be even more cautious about leaves snagging in her pink hair or branches taking out her forehead (as if that wasn't a big enough target). It was an annoying mystery: why Naruto's wild chakra wouldn't shut the hell up.

"Huh?" He whipped his head towards her. The tension in his poised body surprised her.

"She's right. Naruto, now isn't the time to get worked up. If you make it that obvious we're going to attract some unwanted guests," affirmed a voice from behind her. Kakashi pulled forward as well.

Of course Naruto would be riled up over Sasuke, but that wasn't the only thing setting him off. It was hard enough to keep an eye on him—Naruto quickened his pace and grumbled something. Shortly afterwards Kakashi called on the team to take a short break in hopes that Naruto could control himself.

At the base of the trees, they set down their packs and learned against the trunks. Naruto excused himself cordially to "go take a leak". Sakura just sighed and watched his orange back retreat, fairly certain she knew the reason behind his odd actions.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I talk to you for a minute?"

The addressed Jounin perked up a little from the place against the trunk, disturbed from his own contemplative thoughts. His one visible eye rose to his ex-student. Even though their rank rose beyond genin, they never stopped tacking "sensei" to the end of his name.

"Sure," he replied, straightening. Sakura glanced behind her back and walked a little further into the woods, farther from the campsite. She felt him grow suspicious so she turned around to confront him. For some reason Tsunade's apprentice looked a little uncomfortable with her hands behind her back and her gaze focusing on the left shoulder of his flak jacket.

"Sensei… Is everything okay?" Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

"Well…" he shoved his hands in his pockets, digging for meaning to the question. "Given the nature of the mission Naruto is anxious, but I'm sure he's going to be fine." Sakura snapped her eyes from that arbitrary spot.

"Oh, I know. That's not what I meant. I meant you. I can't help but notice that Naruto isn't the only one who's a little… you know." To her satisfaction, Kakashi looked taken aback by her observation. That must mean it was true. She blinked coolly as he pushed off against the trunk he leaned against and approached her with an eye-creased smile.

"You're quite skilled at observation, Sakura-chan. I'm fine, but thanks for asking." She hadn't expected a straight answer from him, and he never thought she would ask him something like that directly. Did students ever really worry about their invincible senseis? They grew up too fast—even this one.

She flashed a smile back, looking slightly embarrassed. It was interesting that she assumed Naruto would be fine, but actually asked him about his feelings. He drew forward until he was almost towering over her—anything to give himself that edge of authority back. The look of concern on her face was almost degrading.

"And you, Sakura?" She hadn't even noticed that she backed into a tree as he approached, subconsciously intimidated… or something else by her ex-Sensei. Unfortunately this caused a color that rivaled her hair in pinkness to creep into her cheeks.

Shit, she thought. Why does it have to be like this? He can't ever know!

"I-I'm…."

Kakashi seemed unaware of why she was stuttering, and took it as a sign that there really was something wrong. He frowned and stared deeply into her own green eyes, as if trying to read her. But without the Sharingan, he would only be confused.

"So? What's wrong, Sakura?"

"No! I'm just fine!"

-Aside from the looming, nagging fact that somewhere over the course of the years, very confusing feelings were born in Sakura's heart. About Kakashi-sensei. Battling these little hints and feelings proved only to make them even more prominent in her mind. After talking to Ino about these weird feelings, the blonde helped her realize something terrible:

"Sakura, you weirdo," she had said while an ominous smile unfurled on her lips, "You have a crush on Kakashi-sensei!". Ever since then she had been fighting to prove herself wrong, and failing miserably.

But the object of her unwanted affection seemed satisfied with the given answer. At least she didn't think the elite Jounin suspected anything.

It nearly drove the breath from her chest when he placed a hand on the tree she was now backed up against on the side of her head. Not only did that close her in and prevent her from sidling away, but it brought them considerably closer.

"If you're sure. I can't have our medic losing focus on a mission like this." His smile faded and for a moment they stared at each other.

Then he sniffed the air from under the dark fabric of his mask.

"Someone's here."

Just a moment after, Naruto reappeared in their clearing with a guilty look washed over his whiskered face.

"I sense three of them. Scatter!" Kakashi was the first to disappear into the surrounding foliage. Naruto gave Sakura a reaffirming nod before darting off as well, leaving the medic to forge her own path. This was the agreed upon plan; with an enemy in small numbers that was probably attracted to Naruto's chakra signature, it was best to divide and conquer. If stealth was the objective and they did not want to draw attention to the object of their search, then they would take a minimalist attitude towards foreign enemies and even remove their Leaf headbands in battle.

Now the plan sprang into action.

Sakura whipped off her headband and jumped south west into the canopy. She racked her brain to decipher what enemies would want to attack them here. Naruto had a pretty price on his head, she knew, and his chakra was undeniably distinct—but a hunch told her it wasn't Naruto these guys were after.

A throwing star zipped by her line of vision; fight now, ask questions later.

Kakashi gained enough distance from the site to fight the hostile forces comfortably without running into the others. He smelled that there was one on his trail. He stopped suddenly on a branch and invited his opponent to square off with the Leaf Village's Copy Ninja.

"Reveal yourself."

A smudge or orange emerged from the shadow and Kakashi sighed.

"Hey!"

"You might want to warn me before doing that," the older man said, pushing a paper bomb back into his pouch. "What are you doing?"

"I sent three clones in the opposite direction but I thought I should tell you; there are definitely more than three of them. I was ambushed on the left said but by a group with Rain headbands. I don't know why they're attacking us but they aren't exactly push overs."

"Right," Kakashi said. They were about to head out when a figure presented itself in the branches above. They stiffened and scoped out his headhand; it was a Rain Nin.

"Intruders… Come with us."

The blonde boy huffed and scolwed. He was sick of this. For a second he was very tense, thinking that they were targeting him.

"You idiot! We're Leaf—" Kakashi cut him off sharply. Since Naruto's meeting with the former leader of the Rain village, that had to count for something. "We're crossing the border," he told the man above them.

"Morons. No shinobi have permits to cross these borders. Our villages are in lock down and no one is allowed to pass." Naruto frowned; they weren't even that close to Rain territory, if not barely brushing the outskirts. The village would only be in lockdown if it were preparing for war. Obviously these guys wanted to wipe out any threats… or hijack their things. But who was controlling that land now?

Without any more words exchanged, deafening chirping noises filled his left ear. Chidori reared up to greet the unwanted visitor. The man just barely managed to avoid Kakashi's infamous attack, but four other nin emerged from the woods. It was time to take them out.

Within ten minutes each foreign shinobi was incapacitated. Naruto nailed the last one with an "Uzumaki Barrage" and landed heavily on the ground. Above him Kakashi perched in the branch.

"Um… Kakashi-sensei?" He looked down at the boy's confused expression. "My clones just returned. They said there were ten more guys, but when we found them they were already knocked out!"

"Ah… Yes. Then it's time for you to come out," he called into the air. Naruto stiffened, as the source of Kakashi's call was hidden. The white haired jounin dropped down to Naruto's level. In a flash, another figure appeared beside them, and it sent a shiver up and down Naruto's spine.

"Y-Y-You're…. " Slightly annoyed at Naruto's dumbfounded-ness, Kakashi explained.

"Yes. This is the special time-sealed clone. Are you surprised?" Naruto's eyes widened and he stared at Kakashi's clone. It may have just about matched him in height, but the look on his face was the opposite of Naruto's confused one. He crossed his arms.

"S-Sensei…"

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, exasperated.

"Where is Sakura-chan?"

That Kakashi was losing it, because either there were more than three enemies against them or all three Rain nin decided that she was the biggest threat of the group. Pink hair could be menacing, no? And Sakura tried her hardest to prove them right. Each time they alighted on a branch ahead she just reduced the whole tree to splinters, and whipped kunai from her fingers to catch their fall.

Where the hell are the others? Sakura thought frantically, because juggling the three was proving unsustainable. Seconds later two distinct chakra signatures flared in her vicinity. possibly trying to send a warning out to the enemies in their way. So Naruto and Kakashi were close…

Someone materialized from right behind her—a camouflage jutsu. She reversed her dodge to face the assailant as he sent a kunai directly at her. It was too simple—she cocked her head towards the sky in time to catch the lob of minute senbon showering down on her. Dirty guy—he must have launched those in his hidden form.

Tsunade taught her to dodge attacks and Sakura internalized that skill—but there was no way she could evade what she couldn't see. Some other kind of blade thrown by another foe in the ranks clipped the back of her knee. The sting was terrible, but her attempt at a landing was even worse.

The pink bird had to come out of the air sometime.

Sakura swore and shoved out a sandaled foot to catch herself on the closest branch, but with no time to think she used the injured right leg. It buckled instantly and she slipped on the tree. On her way down another knife ripped through her side. It was a long way down, and the girl could not think of any way to defy gravity.

She reached out hopelessly when a smudge of blonde hair colored her peripheries in the distance. Great. Two personal witnesses would watch the price she paid for not being fast enough. Kakashi and Naruto couldn't help this time, and Sakura's pride told her she'd rather take the fall than endure their protective help.

Even with the wind rushing through her ears and the silence of too-far-away teammates not rushing to recover her, Sakura had the cognitive ability to deduce that the damage taken during this fall could potentially handicap her kunoichi career. Some kind of frightened, feral cry tore from Naruto's mouth and Kakashi didn't move. If Sakura continued to fall until the landing, her neck would like snap and leave her paralyzed on the cold forest floor.

The kunoichi just closed her eyes.

With a soft thud, she landed. She landed in somebody's arms. Her eyes snapped open—suspecting the unpredictable orange ninja to be the one who rescued her from such a bind. There was nothing orange about this boy.

"Um!" She jerked upwards, but still held fast bridal-style in this stranger's grip. One dark eye peered down at her coolly before shifting her upright and placing her on her own two feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked hurriedly. The boy was taller than her and had a mess of disheveled white hair splaying over his headband and forehead. He wore dark clothing with two straps criss-crossing over the front and meeting at the sheath by his side.

"I…." The time for a response faltered but the tall young man did not. He crouched and swiveled to the side on his sandaled heel before disappearing with a lightning-quick movement. It seemed he had unfinished business. Moments later the harsh padding of feet running up to meet her snapped the girl from her daze.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright! We couldn't get to you on time!" Turning her green eyes on the sparkling, concerned blue orbs Naruto used to stare her down, she kind of just shrugged. Kakashi-Sensei joined them, too, a curious look in his eye as if he were waiting for her response. Sakura brushed away the blood that trickled from her side and shoulder from the assault.

"The opponents fled," Kakashi remarked, eyeing the surrounding area. But Naruto couldn't help but glue his eyes only on their injured teammate and wondered why she lowered her head.

"Sakura, are you blushing?" As if he intruded on something private, she suddenly perked up and delivered a fist onto his big head.

"No, baka! I'm fine. But did you that? Did you see him?" Naruto took a second from nursing his head to register what the hell she was talking about.

"Huh? Who? Oh, that guy?" She nodded fervently, a fist crushed to her chest and a strange sparkle in her eye that Naruto couldn't remember seeing since their Genin days. What was this? Some kind of school girl giddiness?"

"Yes! The boy who caught me? Didn't you see him? He must have been really skilled… He came out in a flash… I mean, did you see how fast he was? He was…" her cheeks grew a little pinker as she confessed this to the air… "really cute, right…?"'

Naruto's jaw nearly hit the floor and every hair on his body stood on end. A visible shiver crept up his skin as the shot-headed ninja whipped his head from Kakashi to Sakura in rapid succession. Forget the fact that the kid had a mask! Didn't Sakura realize with the hair, the posture, the skill…

Naruto thrust a finger in Sakura's direction as she scowled at the horrified expression on his face.

"Sakura-chan! Don't you know that's Kakashi-sensei!" She was about to retort an insult andpoint out that Kakashi-Sensei was actually standing behind him and rubbing the back of his head in a weird gesture, when Naruto supplemented that line with more information. "That's the special clone! Like—kid Kakashi!"

Her fist, formerly raised in the air and ready to strike, sank as low as she currently felt. A heavy, awkward silence stretched through the air the realization registered.

Sakura just admitted to crushing on Kakashi, in his younger years. The deepest scarlet color lined her face.

"What! No one told me… Where? Who? Where were you guys?" she sputtered and demanded, hastily stashing the situation behind her. Naruto wasn't quite over the shock but Kakashi just emitted a light-hearted chuckle, and debriefed the situation.

Enough time did not exist to stumble on that oddity-there were real problems ahead.


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