A/N: Oh my god, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. It's been over a month since I published this story and it's unacceptable of me to be updating the second chapter this late. You all probably lost interest in the story. But I do have an excuse. Finals were a bitch and my life was pretty suck-ish the past month. Everything's fine now, so I should get back in track and start writing more frequently. I hadn't been slacking off completely, though. I was also busy watching clips of Itachi, in hopes of understanding his character better so I wouldn't butcher him completely in my story. I want to keep him in character because I think he has such a beautiful personality. It's so sad that he had to live the life he had.

Thank you all for the kind words. I'm glad you liked the story and I hope you continue reading it, despite my late updates!

Sasuke was ignoring her and not in the you-are-annoying-stop-bothering-me-with-your-nonsense way but in a I-am-angry-at-you-and-I-am-making-a-point-of-ignoring-you-to-make-you-feel-bad-about-what-you-did way. If she said it didn't bother her, she'd be lying but she had also given up on trying to make him see reason. She knew he wasn't only angry at her but at himself for being so close to Itachi but missing him again. Every time she'd tried to broach the subject and tried to explain herself to him, he glared her into silence. He firmly believed she had kept him from finally killing Itachi, which was stupid in her opinion.

But she didn't have the nerve to tell him that he couldn't put a scratch on Itachi with the abilities he had now. She imagined that wouldn't help him get over his anger towards her. So she kept quiet and waited for his anger to subside and disappear eventually. After all, he couldn't be angry at her forever.

Kakashi was in the hospital, still recovering from his encounter with Itachi, so she and Sasuke were left on their own devices. Naruto was still on the search for Tsunade and Sakura hoped they'd back soon. She wanted to take her role of apprentice again so she could use her medical ninjutsu and taijutsu freely without having to explain herself.

Speaking of taijutsu, she'd started training vigorously. She was incredibly weak physically and that just wouldn't do. She wasn't content with being the weakling in their little, dysfunctional team, and she was going to prove to all three of them.

She barely saw Sasuke the next few days that followed. She spent most of her time on the training grounds, doing various strength building exercises and occasionally demolishing a tree or two when she got frustrated by her weak, mostly untrained body. She had chosen a training ground that no one seemed to visit, and she could take out her anger on the surrounding nature without worrying that someone could see her.

Today, however, instead of heading towards the training grounds after she'd had lunch, she headed towards the hospital. She wanted to speak to Kakashi about something important and she also wanted to sign up as a volunteer. She didn't want her vast medical knowledge to go to waste, just because of unfortunate circumstances. Also, she imagined Tsunade would be surprised by the already mentioned vast knowledge and she wanted her volunteer work in the hospital to back her up when Tsunade questioned her.

Sakura walked through the double doors and inside the familiar building, breathing in the familiar, slightly unpleasant smell of the hospital with a smile on her face. She walked over to the reception, where a woman in her early thirties sat. Sakura remembered her vaguely, not enough to know her name. She had left the position shortly after Sakura had started working in the hospital and she never got the chance to get to know the woman.

"Hello." She greeted with a polite smile. The woman looked up and her warm brown eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as she smiled.

"Hello, dear." She greeted, her voice just as warm as her eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to visit a patient. Hatake Kakashi."

The woman nodded and rifled through a stack of papers. A minute later, she looked up. "Hatake-san is in room 213 on the third floor. Do you want me to sent someone to accompany you there?"

Sakura shook her head. She knew how to navigate her way through the hospital. "That won't be necessary. Thank you. I also wanted to sign up as a volunteer."

The woman blinked, clearly surprised. "Okay." She said and rummaged through the files on her desk. "You'd have to fill this form and give it to me." She said, handing Sakura a slip of paper. She paused. "What is your name, dear?"

"Sakura."

The woman smiled. "Sakura. What a pretty name and it suits you so much!" Sakura's lips stretched into a smile and she felt her cheeks getting a bit warm. The woman chuckled. "Well, don't let me keep you, then!"

"I'll give the form on my way back." She said and turned around, heading for the stairs. In no time she was standing in front of Kakashi's room. She pushed the door open and walked in, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei!" She greeted the ninja sitting on the bed.

The masked ninja looked up from his ever-present book and his lone eye betrayed his surprise at seeing her there. "Sakura?" He greeted, her name coming as a more of a question than an actual greeting. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Why? You're my sensei, after all." She smiled and walked over to his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." He replied. "Excellent, in fact, but the medical staff doesn't seem to think so, for some reason." He sounded mildly disgruntled. Sakura was surprised they'd managed to keep him in the hospital for so long. He always found a way to escape.

"Well, they are the medics. They know best." Sakura said, playing with the paper in her hands.

Kakashi's eyes were drawn to her hands and he raised a single eyebrow in question.

"I'm volunteering in the hospital." She explained, folding the form in two. "I've decided I want to become a medical ninja."

His other eyebrow joined in high on his forehead. He looked surprised. "You know, I think it suits you and with your chakra control, you'd have no problem picking up medical ninjutsu."

"Yes, exactly." Sakura said with a nod. She bit her lower lip uncertainly, glancing at Kakashi from underneath her lashes. She wondered how exactly to go about the matter. Sometimes, the best way to deal with Kakashi was to be blunt, and so she opened her mouth and did just that. "Kakashi-sensei, I came here for something else as well." Kakashi didn't seem surprised, just expectant. He even put his book down on his lap and gave her his full attention. "After you're feeling better and the hospital discharges you, I think you should start training Sasuke seriously."

Kakashi stared at her and she shifted under his scrutinizing gaze. The silence seemed to stretch for ages and Sakura was starting to get restless but then Kakashi spoke. "What makes you think I haven't been training him seriously?"

"Because it's obvious." Sakura replied boldly. "Look, I don't agree with Sasuke's plans for the future but if he doesn't feel like he's taken seriously here, he's going to leave." Kakashi seemed taken a back by her certainty. "You know how focused on getting stronger he is and if he feels like he can't receive the right training he deserves here, he will leave. His revenge is more important to him than betraying the village." She paused and added in a quieter voice. "Or us."

"These are some very serious accusations you're making here, Sakura." Kakashi spoke after a pause, his voice more serious now. His lone eye narrowed. "Don't you have any faith in Sasuke?"

Sakura pursed her lips. No, she wanted to say, no, I don't have any faith in him. I've lived through his departure once and I would try my best not to go through it again. Of course, she didn't say this out loud, instead she fell silent and formed her response carefully. "I know the extent of Sasuke's obsession with revenge and I think you know it too. I think it's high time we stopped ignoring it. After we met Orochimaru and he offered Sasuke all the power he wanted, well, don't you think he was tempted? That he's still tempted? I'm not stupid enough to ignore the obvious signs, Kakashi-sensei."

"You've changed." Kakashi spoke, squinting at her thoughtfully. Sakura could see a bit of suspicion there too and tried not to avert her eyes from his. That would be a sure sign that something was wrong. Instead, she held his eyes and waited for him to speak again. She hoped she'd gotten through him. "I don't know what prompted this drastic change in you, Sakura. It's very sudden." His stare was more suspicious now, if not a bit accusing. "But I have to admit that what you said is true." He sighed and rubbed his eye. "I've tried not to dwell too much on it. I thought that Sasuke would eventually give up, after he met spent more time with you and Naruto, he started to change. But after Orochimaru..." He trailed off. "I would take what you said in consideration. In the mean time — " His eye formed a U-shape, and she knew he was smiling. "We need to establish a training regime for you, too, don't we?"

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. A training regime? Kakashi had never taken interested in training her personally before, as hurtful and annoying that had been. She had to search help somewhere else to get stronger and she couldn't deny that she felt bitterness towards him for this particular reason. Still, she supposed her change of attitude had given him some hope that she wasn't that useless after all. She snapped out of it when Kakashi spoke again.

"Since I'd be spending most of my time with Sasuke, training him seriously." He emphasized on the word and Sakura let herself small a little at his jab. "I won't be present for most of your training but I can still help you." He fell silent for a moment and then spoke again. "You have a natural aptitude for genjutsu and that's something you shouldn't ignore. You should use as much of your natural talent as you can. You can take a few scrolls from the library. There aren't many strong genjutsu there but enough to challenge you for a while, since you're a beginner. You should also talk with Kurenai, she's the leader of Team Eight. She's the best genjutsu specialist we have in the village and I'm sure she'd be glad to help you. After you've mastered some moderately strong genjutsu, I'll lend you some of my scrolls."

Sakura's eyes widened even further. He was actually taking this seriously! He really was going to train her, if indirectly. He seemed amused by her shocked reaction.

"Taijutsu is your weakest point." He spoke. "Talk with Gai. I know he can be a bit handful but he would be glad to help you and he won't let you slack off." Here Sakura glared at him indignantly. She wasn't a slacker, thank you very much. He chuckled at her reaction. "I would be taking care of your ninjutsu training. Aside from the medical ninjutsu training you'd probably get in the hospital, I want to check what your chakra nature is. After that, we can start with basic ninjutsu and build it up from there."

Sakura stared at Kakashi, speechless. For all the years she knew him, he had never acted like an actual teacher to her. It was the first time she felt truly acknowledged by him and the warm feeling that blossomed inside her couldn't be described with words.

"You don't have to look so surprised." His voice was mild but the underdone was slightly offended. "I am your teacher, after all."

"..right." She said after she had gotten her wits about her. She cleared her throat and straightened her spine. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi waved his hand dismissively and picked his book again. Sakura took that as a sign that she should leave now. She stopped, though, when she remembered that there had been another reason to visit him, beside the one she had already voiced. "Um, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi glanced at her and that was enough to prompt her to speak again. "I wanted to talk to you about something else as well." He didn't say anything, just waited for her to continue. "It's about Sasuke's curse mark." He looked up at the mention of the mark.

"The mark is — "

"Sealed." Sakura finished for him. "But not permanently, right? No offense Kakashi-sensei, but sealing is not your strongest point, is it?"

"The mark is under control for now." Kakashi spoke and Sakura couldn't tell if he was offended by her statement or not. She bit on her lower lip and nodded.

"I know that. I have faith in your ability to seal it but not permanently isn't really secure, is it?" She wrung her hands together under Kakashi's heavy gaze and continued. "I did some research about sealing and on people who are skilled in finjutsu and I found that Jirayia of the Sannin is one of the best finjutsu specialists alive. I was wondering if you could talk to you about it, after he and Naruto return."

"You make a good point." Kakashi said, looking slightly surprised. "I don't know why I haven't thought about it."

Sakura smiled, glad that she hadn't offended him in any way. "Well, that's all I had to say today." She said and gave a small bow. "I'll see you after you've been discharged."

"Let's hope it's soon." Kakashi muttered.

Sakura grinned as she straightened and waved at her sensei. "Bye, Kakashi-sensei!"

He nodded in response and Sakura left with a bounce to her step. Unbeknownst to her, she had left a very thoughtful Kakashi in her wake. Her change of attitude, albeit welcome, was very strange. He also couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu as she looked at her. In those few minutes, she had reminded him so much of Rin, it had hurt physically. If there had been any doubts about Team Seven being the almost mirror copy of his own team, there were none now.

He just hoped that they wouldn't end up the same way they had. Two death and one alive, drowning and sorrows and regrets. He didn't wish that sort of ending to anyone.

Two days later, Sakura ran into Sasuke. She was doing here morning laps and she had taken a detour to drink some water from the small river by the village's walls. She stumbled on Sasuke, who was practicing his fire jutsu with an extreme concentration, the ferocious look in his eyed undoubtedly meaning he was thinking about his brother and scorching him alive.

Itachi... she didn't know what to think about him. It had been easy to hate him when she didn't know the truth and thought him to be the very personification of evil but after she'd found out the truth, her entire view of him had went out the window to be replaced by confused emotions. She was still angry at him. He had ruined Sasuke's life, though unwillingly and she felt like that was something she'd never be able to forgive him. But he wasn't evil and he cared deeply for his brother, even though showed it in the strangest way possible.

He had promised to explain to her their current predicament, but she hadn't heard from him at all and it'd been almost two weeks since the last time she had seen him. She wondered if he'd contact her and if he was just lying so she wouldn't make a big fuss.

But that didn't make any sense. She doubted Mei-sama would leave things like that. She had instructed Itachi to tell her what was going in and she doubted he had the gals to go against a real deity, especially a deity that had given him a second chance at life.

So she had to wait for him to contact her. If she wasn't so busy training, she'd probably find it within herself to be angry at him for completely ignoring her.

But back to Sasuke. He didn't seem to have noticed her, which in itself said a lot about his concentration. She stopped under the shade of the tree, away from the strong rays of the August sun, and watched him train. He'd probably be annoyed at her for watching him but it wasn't like he wasn't annoyed with her already, so she had nothing to lose.

Eventually, he got tired of breathing fire and coughed, rubbing his throat. Then, he noticed her presence. A scowl manifested on his face and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Sakura stepped from under the shade of the tree uncertainly and spoke. "Has Kakashi-sensei talked to you?" She had seen her silver-haired sensei in the busy crowd of the streets yesterday, which meant he had been discharged from the hospital.

His confused expression was enough of an answer for her without him having to speak. "No." He said clearly and frowned. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing." She said breezily and moved towards the river. She expected him to leave after that but he didn't. He stayed rooted on spot. She felt his eyes on her back as she knelt by the river and gathered water in her hands, bringing to her mouth and sipping contentedly from it. The cool water felt divine as it slid down her dry throat and she leaned back on her haunches with a content sigh.

Sasuke was still there.

"What does Kakashi want with me?" His voice was slightly guarded as he said this, but some of his curiosity slipped through anyway. Sakura smiled and stood up.

"You'd have to find out by yourself." She said as she turned around. She nearly smiled when his scowl deepened. "I have to go now. I was in the middle of training." As if it wasn't clear. Her messy and sweaty appearance was an instant give away. She waved a hand at Sasuke. "Ja ne!"

oOoOo

Her mother greeted her with a glare and sulky air about her. Sakura stopped uncertainly at the threshold of the kitchen, watching her mother chop the carrots for the tempura she was making for dinner. Her movements were jerky and there was a deep frown marring her youthful face. Sakura's mother looked younger than she actually was but lately, frown lines had started to settled around her mouth and forehead. Sakura had a feeling that was her fault and she couldn't help but feel guilty about it. She knew she worried her mother with her choice of lifestyle but she loved it too much to suddenly stop being kunoichi. Not to mention the number of responsibilities she had now. She couldn't turn away from it. Her mother would have to accept this fact.

"What are you making?" Sakura asked, even though it was obvious just looking at the countertops covered in ingredients needed for tempura.

"What time is it, Sakura?" Her mother asked instead, setting aside the chopped pieces of carrot and starting on the sweet potatoes. Poor potatoes, Sakura thought as she watched her mother angry chopping.

"It's eight." Sakura mumbled, feeling slightly small as her mother turned to look at her.

"Yes, eight. When did you go out?" Sakura's mother turned away and continued the preparations for dinner.

Sakura shifted guiltily. "Six."

"Exactly." Her mother said, her back facing her. "You were gone fourteen hours. Fourteen hours, Sakura! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I know that you're busy and you have a lot of things to do. I'm trying to understand and accept that to the best of my abilities but when you disappear for an entire day without stopping by for just a minute to assure me that nothing had happened to you — " She halted suddenly and took a deep breath. "I just wish you'd realise how worried I am about you."

"I know that you're worried." Sakura began gently, finally entering the kitchen. "But, mum, nothing could ever happen to be while in the village. Konoha is completely safe." All lies. Konoha wasn't completely safe but her mother didn't need to know that. She didn't need to worry any more than she already did. "I was out training and I guess I just lost track of time and — "

"You always do." Her mother said quietly, turning around to face her. She dropped the knife on the chopping board and wrapped her arms around her. "Lately, all you ever seem to do is train and it scares me. I thought that eventually, you would give up on being a ninja. I thought that this was just a whim and that was why I agreed to enroll you in the Academy. Your father's so proud of you, though." Tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. "But I just can't deal with the fact that my little girl is training to be a killer. I just can't."

Sakura stepped forward, her stomach sinking. "Mum — "

"Go take a shower. You're dirty and you smell and I won't have you sit on the table looking like this." She sniffed and wiped away the tears. "Go now."

"Mum, I — "

"Go now, Sakura." Her mother's voice was final. Sakura's shoulders sagged, recognising defeat and she left for her room. She walked inside her room and closed the door behind her, leaning against the it tiredly. She was sore all over but content with her training. Tomorrow, she'd join Gai and Lee on their morning routine, which started at the crack of down and finished around lunch. She tried to imagine how taxing it'd be and could only smile.

Then she remembered her mother and her smile faded.

"I just can't deal with the fact that my little girl is training to be a killer. I just can't."

Sakura's hands clenched into fists and she closed her eyes. She knew her mother disapproved of her shinobi life but she had never said something like this to her. Never. But she supposed it was better for her to just say it to her face instead of hiding it, along with her resentment towards her choice.

It hurt, though. Her mother thinking of her as a killer was something Sakura had never wanted but she supposed it was a given, considering her job. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Her mother would just have to deal with it.

She stripped off her dirty, smelly clothing as she walked across the room and dropped them on her desk chair. She shivered as she stood only in her panties and the bindings around her chest but didn't move. Her attention had been captured by something on her desk.

There was a scroll on her desk. A scroll that hadn't been there this morning, she was sure of it. She had cleared her desk completely last night and there had been nothing on it except the stack of medical textbooks. She frowned and reached hesitantly towards the scroll. She stopped before her fingertips touched the scroll and gnawed on her lip thoughtfully. She doubted it was dangerous but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. She charged a bit of chakra to the tips of her fingers and touched the scroll lightly. The seal broke the second her chakra touched it and the scroll rolled open a little.

Clearly, the scroll wasn't dangerous. She grabbed it, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Sakura-san, please meet me in the Nara forest around four tomorrow. Mei-sama says hello.

There was no signature but she didn't need one. She knew who it was.

She was finally going to get the answers she needed.