Hey everybody! i think I'm getting more consistent on my updates, and as soon as I have this uploaded I'm going to start on the next chapter. I have the lemon written, but keep in mind that it's my first one. It'll either be in the next chapter or the one after, depending on where I break them. Enjoy!

Sakura was a little sore the next day. Her arms tingled and pinched in a distinctly irritating way, but she refused to show it. Wanting to report to her mentor before she got too backed up with paperwork and politics, she had set out as the sun rose to give Tsunade the briefing on the mission as well as the scroll she had risked more than her life for; her pride.

She'd switched her ANBU outfit for her regular fighting one; a pair of white ankle boots that left most of her legs bare until they reached her upper thighs and met a clingy black shorts under a silky black tunic which covered her arms and a pair of black gloves with pink seams. On the tunic, straight down the shoulders were two stripes of palest pink and a band of rose under her chest to cinch it in the back.

Naruto hadn't much appreciated how bare the tunic left her legs, and the looks it caused, but to her it was practical for being a ninja. True, she was a medic-nin, but as she could handle my own in a fight she was an active med-nin, often accompanying other ANBU on difficult missions and running her own.

So, as she crossed the street to shishou's office, Sakura enjoyed the feel of the soft spring breeze playing over her skin on the hot day. The cool air of the Hokage's building was a little relief from the sun beating down on the unusually warm day.

Eyes adjusting immediately in the shift of light, she continued down the corridor. Pulling the door open, she found Kakashi-sensei already in Tsunade-sama's office. His eye crinkled in a smile as Sakura grinned at him, "Kakashi-sensei, you're back," she exclaimed happily. Kakashi had been gone for almost a month on a secret mission for the council in Wave Country. He nodded before turning back to her current sensei, and so did she.

"Here's the scroll, Tsunade-sama," Sakura offered the paper roll to Tsunade, pulling it from her belt.

The Hokage looked slightly relieved, but her smile never reached her eyes as she took it, "Thank you, Sakura. Was there any other difficulty?"

"I'll be writing a full report, but it was a success. I'm still nervous about having a missing-nin such as him," she couldn't quite get his name out, "inside the village, but he didn't try to kill me when he discovered a Fire Nation ANBU in his camp."

"Anything else?" The Hokage had meant about the copying of the scroll, as she knew that having the Uchiha anywhere near would cause unrest for her apprentice, but she didn't voice this.

"No, the rest of the mission went smoothly. Is that all, shishou?"

Tsunade hesitated for only a second, and both Kakashi and Sakura noticed, but neither said a word, "Yes, Sakura-chan, you may go."

Kakashi narrowed his eye slightly, but Sakura, eager to be gone from her mentor's sight in a sudden urge to be by herself, did not question her.

Flashing a smile to her senseis, Sakura swept from the room gracefully.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Turning back to Tsunade, Kakashi grew serious again, "So, why is it that you called me here, granny?"

He was trying to alleviate some of the tension she held in her shoulders, but all that got him was a glare.

"Ok, ok, what is it?" He tried again.

Tsunade sighed, and reached for her liquor bottle. Taking it as a bad sign, Kakashi sat in a chair before her.

"Sasuke chose her."

He was surprised for only a second before it made sense to him. Still, anger began to fester in the pit of his stomach. The Uchiha had always been a soft spot for Kakashi as he had seen so much of himself in the boy, but with regard to his female counterpart he could be nothing short of cruel.

It seemed that whenever fate provided a chance to play with the young woman's mind and stab her heart yet again, he would. Kakashi and Naruto had watched as Sakura battled to keep up with the others, and knew exactly why she had.

She couldn't be left behind, not again.

"You don't want to tell her."

Sadness crept into the older woman's eyes, "No, I don't think I even can. Not when he's just going to leave again, with the child I imagine."

"I'll do it, I owe her that," Kakashi was solemn, and Tsunade nodded silently. Kakashi crossed to the window to shout for Sakura to wait, but saw her pale pink hair shining as she laughed when Naruto ran up a telephone pole to avoid a rampaging tabby cat.

He just couldn't do it now, but he would do it. Eventually. Not when he could see her so happy, which would change so soon.

Then it came to him. She would suffer again for her village's safety.

Unless…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Again Sakura could not sleep peacefully in her bed. She tangled her sheets around her in twisted rolls, and eventually threw them disgustedly onto the floor at some time past midnight.

Something was making her restless and uneasy, and she refused to admit what the something was. So, she glared at the horizon as the sun began to rise through her window. She didn't feel tired thanks to her deep chakra reserves, but it still annoyed her that the something could be affecting her sleep.

Rubbing her eyes, she brushed her sleek hair away from her face as she rose. The birds were barely starting to sing, and the day was still cloaked in twilight shadows. She knew, though, that she would not be able to sleep anymore with the day this close.

She padded down the hall of her small apartment to the kitchen, and poured herself a steaming mug of jasmine strawberry tea as she watched the sun paint the sky a pretty, bloody red.

Sometime later Naruto yelled at her even before he opened the door to her living room, not bothering to knock, "Neji and I are going to fight, Sakura-chan, and you're coming!" He then turned from the room, wheeling back into the sunshine on street.

Part of her was angry at his assumption, but she simply shouted, "Fine, Naruto-kun, but next time ask, idiot!"

Naruto paused on his way down the block, causing early risers to carry their loads around him, muttering. Hiding his shock at the title, he smiled and replied of coarse.

As she caught up with him, Naruto realized with uncanny wits why she had added the suffix she usually never said anymore. It was because teme was back. Whether she realized it or not, the medic was trying to distance herself from him in every last way and latch even more onto Naruto to fill the void.

Naruto swore to himself on the beast inside him he would never betray her the way he had.

The small, pink-haired woman beside him was his family, and he would hunt down and find anyone who hurt her. He had tried, but before Naruto could find him, he found her.

When Kakashi joined them on their way to the training field he seemed to be immersed in the newest edition of his favorite adult series, Make-out Paradise. Hinata, Ino, and Neji were sitting waiting beneath a tree to keep clear of the wind. The temperamental weather had gone from balmy to chilled in twenty-four hours. Kakashi wished hearts could shift as easily as Sakura sat, smiling in the grass beside her friends to watch the spar.

He felt like he was lying to her by procrastinating, but he couldn't bring himself to dictate her fate to her. Instead, he slid the book into his back pocket as Naruto and Neji faced each other.

"Sakura, I have to talk to you," he said, but she waved at him to be quiet as the match began.

"Ok, ok, after," she was excitedly watching her partner's lightning-fast movements proudly.

Nodding, Kakashi watched his ex-pupil's attacks with a similar expression. Team 7 had surpassed even his expectations.

Naruto had learned to control the demon inside him, and use it in times of need instead of the other way around. His passion for life and optimism gave him will power few could contend with. If he encountered someone more skilled than him or more learned he would pull through in pure pig-headedness. He was well on his way toward becoming Hokage as captain of the ANBU.

Sakura had blossomed into a true ninja. In her childhood she had been naïve and unable to pull the trigger. Life had hardened her, but she still held that spark of youth that drew people to her like moths to a flame. As an accomplished and arguably the most competent med-nin the Fire Nation, she held a respect for life and death, also being an ANBU. She was strong, but did not deserve the blow he was about to lay on her. Her loyalty to her home would make her accept, but Kakashi was scared of what effect it would have on her.

Sasuke, how could he think of how he had turned out. He was undoubtedly one of the most feared ninja in the land, if not the most feared. Now that his clan was avenged, and what he saw as his duty fulfilled and the second deed soon to be completed, what would he do next? Would he continue down the dark path before him…or could hearts change if met by pure love? Could his frozen heart melt?

Kakashi could only hope, for all of their sakes.

There you go! Review please, I LOVE getting reviews! Seriously, I reallllllly love it! Ok, well, tata for now:)

~Kat