A/N: I know that this is the second chapter I put out today, but I got lucky and had a good baby all day J
Kakashi had never felt so stupid in his life. As he watched the woman he loved jump through the trees at a break-neck speed he wondered if he had been cursed. He was never one to "love" woman, oh he was a "lover" for sure but to actually be in love? He knew he should be paying more attention to the task at hand but he couldn't stop himself from glancing at the pink haired beauty every few minutes. She made him want to change, she made him want to know what it felt to love someone with all your heart, and to feel that love in return. That's when he remembered that she was now in a relationship with the man she had always loved. He would never know what it felt to be loved by her and that knowledge made his heart ache. He pushed his heartache aside, "We will make camp here for the night and get started before the sun rises, Sai go get some firewood. I will clear out sleeping space Sakura and Sauske you guys get started on making dinner."
Sakura felt so torn, she knew Kakashi did have romantic feelings for her, he wasn't the type, but she couldn't rein in her growing feelings for him. "Get ahold of yourself! You are seeing another man, not just any man but the man you have loved from the beginning!" She looked up and she saw Sauske staring at her with a confused look on his face. "Crap, he must have seen me frown!" "Uh Sauske, could you measure out the right amount of rice while I go get some water from the stream?"
"Yeah I can do that. Is everything okay? You look a little lost." Sauske knew exactly what was on her mind but he couldn't pass up the chance to look like he cared about her feelings.
Surprised by his kindness she replied "Yeah, just a little distracted, no big deal."
Grabbing her slowly he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a serious look "You can tell me anything you know?" then he draped his lips over hers and pressed a quick kiss to her. "I might have messed up before but I am serious about wanting to start a family with you."
Sakura had never seen him be so kind before, it was more than a little shocking and she found herself wondering what the reason was. "Did he really mean it? Does he want to be with me, is it possible he loves me?""Sakura I lo…I really care about you." He knew he should have said he loved her, but he couldn't make the word come out. He would have to work on that or she might suspect his feelings were much shallower than he wanted her to believe. "She has to think I love her or she will just run off with Kakashi."
"Thanks Sauske, but it's nothing to worry about just have a lot on my mind." She began to grow mad at herself. "Why do his kisses make me want to kiss someone else? Why can't my stupid brain just take what is right in front of me and not want what it can't have?" With that thought plaguing her she went about her task for the evening.
Sai dropped the bundle of firewood he had collected and sought out the main with silver hair. "Kakashi, I need to ask you a question?" He waited for the man that he was speaking up then he proceeded, "Are you in love with Sakura-chan?".
Kakashi almost choked, "Keep your voice down!" He seethed for a moment before answering "What would make you think that?"
"Well, when you look at her you look like you have finally found something you lost, your concentration is off, you stare at her much longer than is required and when her and Sauske are together you look like someone punched you in the gut."
Kakashi was sure that he had hidden his feelings better than that, but if Sai knew than that meant that Sauske knew too, the two of them were always more observant than was good for them. He wondered if that was the cause for the dirty looks he had been receiving from the Uchiha all day. "That fool has no idea what he has. I wish I had one chance to be her everything. Huh, not in a million years old man." "Yes Sai, I love her but I trust you will keep that to yourself since she is obviously happy with Sauske."
"I don't know that she is as happy as you think. Have you seen the way he looks at her, like she is an object that he wants to collect?" Sai wanted to see his teammates happy, and he didn't think Sakura would ever be happy with the Uchiha. She only thought she loved him.
"Sai that's just how Sauske shows that he cares about her, I will not ruin her happiness no matter how much it hurts." Kakashi didn't wait for an answer before turning on his heel and walking away.
Sai sat there for a moment. "I might be knew at this whole emotion thing, but what Sauske was feeling certainly doesn't look like "love" to me." Sai chuckled to himself. This was going to be an interesting mission.
_
They had made it to the gates of Sand without any incidents. There had been an awkward moment when they camped the first night and Sakura's bedroll ended up sandwiched between Sasuke's and Kakashi's. Sakura had tossed and turned all night and felt extremely grumpy the next morning. The second and third day of their journey was filled with silence as the three had tried to ignore each other and the stoic artist looked with amusement at his teammates.
They were greeted at the gate by the Kazegakes siblings.
"Sakura! It's so good to see you!" said Temari with a smile on her face. Kankuro simply smiled and bid them to come in.
Kakashi spoke to the puppet master. "We are on a mission and we need to deliver this scroll to the Kazekage right away."
"Alright, I will show you to his office". Without another word Kakuro turned and head toward the tower.
Moments later a quiet knock was placed on the door to the Kazekage's office.
"Welcome, I was told to expect a message from the Leaf very soon. I must say I am a little disappointed that Naruto isn't with you, but it is good to see some familiar faces." The Kazekage gave a genuine smile then held his hand out for the scroll that he knew was coming.
Sakura spoke next, "Naruto would have loved to come, but you will be excited to learn that his absence is due to his training to become Hokage!".
"That's wonderful! I always had faith in my old friend and I knew that he would make it." Gaara quickly read the scroll and then smiled as he finished. The Leaf village wants to continue our truce and they have agreed to reopen the trade that we had established. "Please Kakshi-senpei, tell your Hokage that we accept the terms of the truce and we are eager to return to being ally's." Almost out of nowhere the Kage of the Sand Village spoke again. You will of course rest for a few days before returning to your village. I will have rooms prepared for you at a hotel close by, free of charge!"
Sakura was visably relieved to have a few days break from the awkwardness and excited to see one of her friends for a few days. Hopefully Temari wouldn't be too upset to here Sakura was dating Sauske. Temari had always told Sakura that Sauske wasn't her type, but she was at least wise enough to not anger the short tempered Sakura.
The team went off to the hotel they were given directions too and were not disappointed. The place was huge and extremely luxurious for being in the middle of a desert. The only problem is that there were only two rooms available.
"Sakura and I are sharing a room." Sauske spoke without even looking to the pink haired woman for confirmation.
"Do you think that is appropriate Sauske?" Sai was the one who asked the question.
"First off, we are all adults now, not little children. Secondly Sakura is my girlfriend so what we do is none of your business." When he spoke of his relationship with Sakura his voice was filled with venom and his gaze was directed on Kakashi, not Sai.
Sakura couldn't help the blush creeping up her face. She didn't want to share a room with Sauske, truth be told she was a little afraid of him. She couldn't seem to tell him no and she wasn't sure that being in close quarters with him was a good idea.
Kakashi spoke next, "It's up to you Sakura, what do you want to do?" It was a simple question but there was so much more behind the words. He was asking, no begging her to refuse the Uchiha. "Please don't do it""I uh… I guess that would be okay." She was ashamed that she couldn't put her foot down so she looked at the floor, completely missing Kakashi's look of heartbreak.
"Well there you have it old man, she chose him."A/N: Hope you like this chapter. The next chapter is going to be much darker than the previous ones so if you can't handle that you should probably stop reading. Review please, I can't get any better if I don't know what you guys are thinking!