A/N: Thanks for all my reviewers!

Sakura


Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Her hands tightened into a fist. Her fingernails dug deep into her palm.

It couldn't be.

Impossible.

No.

Shaking her head profusely, Sakura tried to convince herself what she had seen was mere hallucination. It was an illusionary production created by her grieving toward Kakashi. She looked intensely toward the person not far away from her, unable to tear her eyes away.

No.

This couldn't be.

Slowly, she moved her way toward the man.

With trembling legs, Sakura inched difficultly toward him.

Finally she stopped in front of him and took in the clear view of his face.

Relive came to her first, seconded by bitterness.

This man was not Kakashi.

He did resemble a lot like Kakashi but he was not him. He had the features of him. He was like a duplicate of Kakashi without the sharingan, the scar and the silver hair.

There were no silver hair, no mismatched eyes, no sharingan, no mask, no scar on the left eye.

Those were clear evidences to Sakura that this man was not Kakashi.

She chuckled bitterly.

How foolish she could be. Kakashi was dead. Dead. How many times did she need to remind her self about it?

The man's deep dark eyes watched her intensely, scrutinizing her. She shifted uncomfortably under his piercing gaze. She tried to look away but she found it difficult to do so.

This man's eyes looked familiar to her. She felt she had seen those eyes before. Quickly, Sakura dismissed the thought. She would not have neglected meeting such a man.

"You mean Kakashi? The copy nin?"

Finally the man broke the silence.

Sakura realized he had a deep voice. Not only were his looks familiar, he sounded familiar too. Sakura crooked her head to one side, trying hard to recall.

Suddenly a dark figure in an Anbu uniform struck her mind.

"Kieshi Taka? You are the Anbu I met just now in sensei's office!"

The man in front of her raised one of his thick brows and nodded slightly.

Silence fell between them.

Sakura bit her lips. My, this man was so stuck up and serious.

At that moment, she recalled what Genma had told her earlier. Don't mess around with Kieshi Taka.

Is this considered messing around with him? Sakura humored herself.

So at the very starting, she had thought him as an enemy. Later she had mistaken him as Kakashi and now they were standing with a safe distance facing each other; him looking at her, she looking at him.

Now what?

She should kick him out from her private space and resume her reading but unfortunately she couldn't. Regardless how much time she had spent in this place, still this was a public area. Especially she couldn't really kick the butt of an Anbu.

Out of curiosity, she asked.

"How do you know this place? I thought you just came back to the village not long ago. Even for people who lived here long enough are not aware of such a place existed."

Sakura stared at Kieshi waiting for a response. He remained silent.

Okay. Fine. She gave up.

Sakura walked back to the tree and sat down. She picked up her discarded book to resume her reading.

Unlike her previous anticipation, Sakura felt it difficult to concentrate.

She shifted uneasily.

She had been reading the first line repeatedly; still nothing had gone into her mind.

The man was still standing there looking at her.

She slammed shut her book and stood.

Damn him. Gone was my peace.

A gentle wind breezed through sending some pink locks on her face.

Sakura brushed her hair away from her face hastily and decided to leave this place.

There was no point of staying here with an intruder. Staying here with him contaminated her memories with Kakashi.

When she moved pass him, she caught the look on his face. She paused.

What kind of look was that for?

Kieshi Taka was giving Sakura a weird look. His brows were cringed together. It was like he had seen something beyond his approval.

Following his gaze, Sakura's eyes met the book she was holding on her left hand.

Recognition found her. She looked up, challenging him.

"What?"

Kieshi Taka frowned and shook his head. Finally he had decided to open his golden mouth.

"Women should not read such books."

Gosh. He spoke like my dad.

"We are living in different generations, old man."

After realizing what had slipped out from her mouth, Sakura frowned.

These conversations were familiar. Maybe old man like Kakashi and Kieshi do share similar thinking frequencies.


Sakura wrapped her hands around Kakashi's waist from the back. Feeling his bare skin against hers.

She placed her chin on his bare shoulder blade and whispered in his ears.

"Hey...Kakashi"

Kakashi lifted up his gaze from the orange book and looked side way toward her with a warm smile on his face.

"Yo"

Kakashi resumed his reading while placing a hand over Sakura's hand on his waist.

He drew small circles on her fragile skin bringing giggles to her.

"Kakashi, I was wondering..."

"Hn?"

"What is so fascinating about Icha Icha Paradise? Can I read it too?"

Kakashi looked up immediately with shock.

"No!"

Sakura protested by biting slightly on his shoulder, leaving a light red teeth mark on the less exposed skin.

"Women should not read such books, Sakura."

Kakashi shook his head. Not giving any slight attention toward the bite mark.

"We are living in different generations, old man."

Slowly, Kakashi placed his book on the bed. He entangled Sakura's hands from his waist and turned to her.

Without giving Sakura time to run, he pinned her down on the bed. Trapping her between his muscular body and the bed.

"Oww... Sorry! Sorry! Let go."

Sakura squeaked but performed no efforts to free herself.

"I will punish you for calling me old man, Sakura."

She looked up challengingly.

"Oh...punish me? I wonder h..."

Kakashi grinned and kissed Sakura deeply, swallowing her unfinished sentence.


A sudden movement brought Sakura back from the bittersweet memories.

She sensed Kieshi Taka raised his hand toward her hair.

Sakura flinched and moved back quickly.

"What are you doing!"

Kieshi Taka looked at her quietly. In between his left thumb and index finger, a single sakura petal was gripped tightly.

Sakura looked at him for a moment. Without looking back, without a word, she left the clearing and headed toward the village.

Sakura was speeding across trees to tress. She thought in her mind. Maybe Kieshi Taka was not that bad after all. Although she knew little about him, yet she had this feeling that he was not a cruel man. Maybe this time, Genma was wrong. Maybe he was just a stuck up man who was poor in facial expression and lousy in conveying his thoughts. She seemed to know many men who matched perfectly under that category.


Kieshi stood at the clearing alone.

He looked at the sakura petal in his left hand. After seemingly wee hours had passed, Kieshi stuck his right hand into his pocket and took out a handkerchief. He carefully placed the flower petal on the handkerchief and folded it up.

He moved toward one of the trees and sat against the trunk. He was tired. It had been a long day for him. Maybe he could grab a catnap before his next mission starts.

Putting his handkerchief in his jacket pocket, he closed his weary eyes.

On the tree trunk above the sleeping figure of Kieshi Taka, there were the words crafted by Sakura five years ago.


TBC

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