Sakura could not believe how thankful those genin had been.

"Thank you, Haruno-san, for giving us a job that had nothing to do with the cat."

There were three teams that had come out to help, and they did not complain even once. One team even still had scratches from that blasted cat. She herself had some not very fond memories of the cat mission. You would think that the cat had died by now, she mused. Its possible she just got a new cat, though.

Sakura snorted. If she belonged to that woman, she supposed she would want to escape at all costs, too.

The genin were still working on clean up- they would work until the sun went down- but Sakura had an appointment to keep with a certain copy ninja. She had left the teams in their team leaders' capable hands with instructions to go no further into the compound than they already were. Tsunade had warned her that the land was most likely booby trapped, and she had found a few while demolishing homes. The traps had never been deactivated because no one went into the compound. She had noticed that the further she went towards the center of the old Uchiha lands, the more complex and deadly the traps had become.

Hmm…. Maybe I'll con Kakashi into helping me find them, too. It would be appropriate punishment for skipping out on his check-ups so often.

Sakura stepped out of her shower and began toweling off, thoughts of how best to lay out the garden. She knew she wanted her reflection pool surrounded by her Sakura trees, but she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to use for the monument. She wanted it to be fitting for the grand family that used to live here, but she also did not want to compete with the memorial stone or the Hokage Monument. it was something she would need to think further on.

She also been toying with the idea of adding an inn to the land; she owned her home on the edge of the property, but if she was going to have the garden then she might as well live in wondered that if she spoke with Tsunade, her shishou might have some ideas.

It didn't matter right now anyways. Her garden was a long way from being finished, or even from being started. They had finished about a quarter of the demolition and clean up today, but they could not continue until after all the traps were located.

Sakura quickly dressed in her comfiest clothes, and quickly pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. As she stepped out of the bathroom, she felt the presence of someone in her home. quick chakra scan so that it was only Kakashi. Ah, so he was only a few minutes late, then. That certainly made her feel a lot better. It was always good when your patient didn't make you chase them down.

Kakashi was waiting for her when she stepped into the living room. He appeared to be asleep, but she knew that wasn't the case. He was just prolonging the inevitable. He was still going to get stabbed in the arm, whether he was asleep or not. She grabbed what she needed and sat down next to him.

"So, how do you feel about helping me locate the rest of the traps."

She saw his eye twitch, that was a "no" then.

"How do you feel about not stabbing me in the arm?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Unfortunately for you, even if you happily volunteered, I would still have to give you your vaccinations. Don't want you keeling over from something so mundane as the flu. How are the eyes?"

He glared at her, before rolling his eyes- both the visible and covered. "Are you insinuating something?"

"I'm insinuating that we have vaccines for a reason." She punctuated her point, by rolling up his sleeve and none to gently pushed the needle into his arm. "Also, you don't mind getting sliced up by kunai, but needles scare you?"

"Scare is not the correct word. I just really dislike them. Also, 'sliced up,' really?"

"Well, when you come to get healed, you always look like you forgot how to dodge." She put the cap on the needle and laid it on the table. "Pull of your headband so I can get a look at your eye. Its been awhile since I've checked it. Have you had any problems?"

Kakashi shook his head as he uncovered his sharigan. "I haven't had any problems lately. But then, I haven't used it much since someone had me taken off active duty."

"Now, now sensei, we have to follow protocol- especially when a comrade could be injured by not following said protocol. I mean, it was you who taught us that our comrades lives were important."

"Yes, yes. I suppose you have a point." He sat back as Sakura finished her exam, and wrote something down in a notebook. Probably questions she would research later, or just maybe his vitals to transfer to his patient file at the hospital. Kami he hoped so. If she didn't transfer them, he'd have to go back. He hated the place.

"Everything looks good. Not a whole lot of work for me after all. Next time don't skip your appointment, and you won't get pulled from missions. Now, about what those traps I mentioned earlier."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "My rent is coming up. If someone hadn't blacklisted me, I might be able to take a break to help out."

Sakura punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You have plenty of money, Hatake. In fact, your rent has already been paid in advance for the next several years." Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "If you don't want to, just say so."

...

As Kakashi dodged a potentially lethal trap near the center of the Uchiha compound, he wondered how he'd gotten himself into this when he'd been set on turning Sakura down. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn't really mind, and maybe was a bit bored from having absolutely nothing to do. Right. It had nothing to do with the fact that Sakura was his favorite student. Absolutely nothing.

And maybe student wasn't the right word. Sure, he had taught her at one time- for a period of a few months. Tsunade was really her teacher. Under the Hokage's tutelage, Sakura had truly blossomed. She had passed first her chuunin exams and then the jonin exams. There was a rumor on the wind that Tsunade wanted Sakura to apply for the Black Ops. Whether that was true or not, he hadn't bothered to ascertain. Kakashi wasn't sure how he felt about it, and preferred to just ignore it unless his former student brought it up herself.

Of course, she was definitely good enough to be in ANBU. She could become captain easily, if that's what she wanted. It was just something about the girl who used to be love-obsessed joining the deadliest force in the village. He wasn't against it, he just didn't know exactly how he felt. Sakura would punch him in a heartbeat if she thought he was belittling her anyway.

Kakashi dodged another trap he had inadvertently set off. Wasn't the entire point of this to deactivate them, not trigger them. Maybe he was getting old. Or maybe, he just needed to concentrate on what he was doing instead of worrying about gossip like some old woman.

He and Sakura had already deactivated a great number of traps, but they were nearing where the main household stood. They would tackle that one another day- Kakashi wasn't entirely sure that it had been completely cleaned up after the massacre. The bodies had been removed and buried, but he wasn't sure about the traps he knew existed on the home itself (they would be the most deadly by far). He called for Sakura.

"Let's head back, and deal with the house tomorrow. Also, you can throw a punch or two at the houses we've already cleared and clean up can start."

"Yeah, I can demolish them, but we won't be able to deactivate the rest of the traps until next month. I'm being sent out on a diplomatic mission to Suna tomorrow afternoon."

Kakashi crinkled his eye. "Well it looks like I get a break then, doesn't it?"Sakura simply rolled her eyes. "Lazy."

"I resent that remark. I am not lazy... If you want an example of lazy, go see Nara."

Sakura shoulder checked him. "Well, let's head back. Maybe I'll chunk some debris at your head when I destroy those houses."

"Ah, flying debris. My favorite kind."