Thanks for all the reviews guys! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope that this chapter does not disappoint~

"Taste the blood, broken dreams, lonely times indeed..."

xxx

The blood slipped through willowy fingers, staining white a deep crimson. A pair of terrified blue eyes clashed with an emblazoned grey one. His silver mane was matted down in sporadic places with his victim's life force, but none of that bothered Kakashi, his calm exterior betraying nothing of his raging emotions that lay beneath the surface. The seasoned shinobi wondered if his new-found blood-lust would ever bother or disgust him. Only time could tell…

It was always surreal for him to walk through the village gates after a particularly bloody assassination. Civilians scooted around him, his bloody white overcoat probably more than a little disconcerting to somebody who was not a shinobi. He couldn't quite place it, but he felt almost as if the world should notice what was swirling around his head. Shaking the thought of everybody knowing his inner workings, he nodded politely to the guards and leapt to the nearest building as an attempt to get away from the unnerved civilians. The streets blended into one messy blur as he snuck in through the window of Tsunade's office.

"Use the door, please." The Hokage nearly growled in his direction. With a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, he plopped onto the nearest chair, facing his leader.

"All done." He said with a sickeningly sweet tone to his words. A long silence caused an uneasy feeling to settle in Kakashi's stomach.

"You know, Kakashi…" Tsunade began, her fingers instantly tapping an unknown tune onto the hardwood surface of her desk. Kakashi's lone eyebrow rose as he picked at the dried blood on his uniform.

"Naruto has been asking about you, he says you've been awfully distant…" she trailed off, her eyes searching Kakashi's, hoping to find something that she didn't know she was looking for.

"I have been busy, as you know." He responded coolly. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned into her open palm, not buying it completely.

"I am a bit concerned with all of these assassinations you've been taking." She stated curtly. His heart sped up, which was an unnatural feeling to him.

"I am ANBU." He replied, not betraying his anxiety with her questioning. She only hummed as a response before continuing,

"Anyway, I see you've completed the Earth Country assassination…" her eyes flickered upwards to take in his appearance. The old blood had dried and began to flake here and there, causing her nose to wrinkle in disgust.

"You're getting sloppy, Hatake." She joked, a smirk gracing her features. Even though Kakashi knew she was kidding, he couldn't help but wonder just how careless he was getting with his obsession. An eye crinkle was her only response as she brought up another topic that the silver-haired nin did not want to discuss.

"So, I've talked to Sakura…" she gauged his reaction slowly, testing the waters. He only raised his eyebrow, and hm'ed.

"It seems that she would like to sign up for missions again." The tension that had been building up in Kakashi's body had sky-rocketed at the thought. Betraying nothing he responded,

"Really? Is she sure?" the question seemed innocent enough, but Tsunade knew better. She knew that he was aware of more things than he let on. Regardless of her own thoughts, she smiled and returned in kind,

"Yes. I had asked her if she was…but there is only one problem with this…" she trailed off again, causing Kakashi to feel the beginning of annoyance creep into his mind, temporarily blocking out any possible thoughts he could have had with Tsunade's admission of Sakura's plans.

"Which is?" he questioned, already fearing the answer of course.

"If she is to return to the missions' roster, I will remove you from ANBU and place you back onto a team with her and Naruto." She could not help but flinch at the look of sheer aggravation in Kakashi's visible eye. He slowly began to realize that if he was taken out of ANBU he would no longer go on any high-profile missions, and he would no longer be able to have a liable outlet for his simmering anger. He had no doubt that it was only certain people that caused a crushing amount of bloodlust and rage to come out of him. He hated to admit it, even to himself, as he felt that a part of him would be missing if he wasn't able to do those assassinations. Perhaps he was truly obsessed, or was it just the type of thing he needed to let lose his emotions? Hmm…

"Hatake!" he jolted from his thoughts to see an irate Tsunade staring him down. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he apologized.

"What do you think?" his jaw set as a small part of him begged for his mouth to say 'I don't think she's ready!' or 'I don't want to leave ANBU!', but he knew better. He wanted what was best for Sakura, and if that meant for them to be on a team again after everything that had happened to her, then so be it. An even smaller part of him whispered "Maybe she can save you…" shaking his head, he responded to the woman before him, lest she beat him half-to-death.

"If she thinks she's ready, then I'm sure Naruto and I would be as well." His eye crinkled as he spoke, hoping to sell it.

"Alright. I will talk to her again, just to make sure. Until then, take some time off, Hatake. You could certainly use it." before he could argue about taking the time, she had shoved him out of her office. Outside of the solid wood door, he nearly slumped against the wall; it was going to be a long road ahead of him.

xxxx

"Is it true, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked softly, a small smile stretching out his whisker-scars, and lighting his eyes. She nodded affirmatively, unable to hold back her own smile in his presence.

"That's great! This is gonna be the best time of our lives! It's been a while since we've worked together, neh, Sakura-chan?" his arm snaked around her shoulders, giving her a protective squeeze. She smiled brighter then,

"Yeah, Naruto. Perhaps it is going to be good." She tried to assure herself before she was assuring her best friend. If Naruto noticed her hesitance, he didn't point it out, fortunately for the pink-haired medic-nin. She couldn't imagine telling Naruto all she had told Kakashi. She remembered how upset her old sensei had gotten, and she didn't want to think about Naruto's reaction. She knew that one day she would have to tell him, for fear of him finding out another way. Not that she thought Kakashi would tell, but he was not the only one who knew her secret…and considering the blonde's best-friend was the perpetrator of the crime, it was only a matter of time before loose lips sank ships.

I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Review and lemme know if there's anything wrong/what you think! Also, I'm sorry that it's so short, I've been a lot busier this past week than I had anticipated :(

-Fiery