AN: Spoiler alert for all Anime and all Manga up to Chapter 611. Hasn't been beta'd, so sorry for the mistakes.

Disclaimer: don't own anything Naruto related

Chapter 9: Life in short

Period: continuous after chapter 8

Grateful for her own thorough nature concerning paperwork, she had no problems skipping one day of administrative work for the Hokage's office and the hospital. Thus freeing time for research of another nature at said places.

Sakura dove into this self-imposed work with renewed vigor, armed with the new information. This was the first time she'd go this far in searching for information, going through the archives and hospital records. Mostly because it was the first time she actually had the opportunity: with the Hokage being gone but having official orders to follow up on the Hokage's paperwork. She knew she was abusing her privileges and as such she had to be careful concerning the Elders' notice now, and her shishou's later. So far the Elders saw her as a glorified secretary and weren't suspicious at all and Sakura would worry about Tsunade-shishou once she returned.

She deemed it a necessary evil, as her usual methods had unearthed some tantalizing tidbits that she just needed to confirm. The library being her first go-to place when in need of answers and interrogating the right people being her 'technique' born from experience.

And she'd had some experience, as she'd done the same research about Sasuke and later Naruto and even to some extent Tsunade. If she'd been able to step back and think about it, she would've realized that maybe it was a bit of a sad pattern that she needed to go about things this way in order to know more about the closest people to her in her life.

As her research couldn't end in the library, she had developed no shame in interrogating people who knew about past events in the village. She had learned long ago that shinobi's amongst one another were very tight-lipped and would see through any attempt to subtly fish for answers.

Asking about Naruto had been tricky, especially once she'd finally figured out that there was a law against repeating information about him. She'd unearthed some information about the Kyuubi attack and the casualties, but had never had an inkling that he would turn out to be the Fourth's son. She had a feeling that there was more to the story and fully intended to find out once Kakashi-sensei had woken up.

Finding out more about her shishou had been easier as there was more about her recorded in the library. Fishing for additional scraps of information had been quite easy once she found out Shizune's poor tolerance for sake. Well, only in as much as her tongue loosened; she still had wicked reflexes no matter how inebriated she'd gotten.

Her very first project – finding out about Sasuke – had been tough in a very uncomfortable way, besides the fact that it had been very emotional for her.

There was much to be found about the Uchiha's in the library, as they had been Konoha's police force ever since the demise of the founder of Konoha. Though those had all been quite boring to her as they hadn't told her anything about Sasuke. So she'd turned to anyone who could tell her anything about years past in the village. It was then that she found out that next to the shinobi's and their families, the civilians in the village actually knew quite a bit more than most gave them credit for. As civilians of a Hidden Village they were bound to secrecy, but they never consider this secrecy extended to shinobi of their own Hidden Village. Furthermore, they were more trusting of her and her subtle interrogations rarely made them clam up.

But the slaughter of the entire clan by one of their own had left Konoha uneasy. Nobody liked to talk about it or speculate. She had found out little more than Itachi's name and his affiliation with the Akatsuki. From there on she had learned about the Akatsuki's interest in Tailed Beasts and that Orochimaru had possibly been a former member.

It still hadn't given her what she wanted, only more pieces of very confusing puzzle, though a very important one. Still her focus back then had been Sasuke and how they would get him back.

So, now concerning Kakashi she had a very strong feeling she'd encounter the similar walls as she had encountered asking about the Uchiha's. Asking shinobi's was out of the question: even if by some miracle they were willing to answer, most weren't even in the Village. She wasn't about to burden Kurenai-sensei with her questions and she doubted even Iruka-sensei would know much.

So that left giving the civilians a chance to put her on the right path. Her first choice were always her parents. They always had been quite invaluable in summarizing years of gossip in a short report so she had a feel of where to look or what or who to ask. In case of the White Fang, she had been quite surprised to find out her parents had supplied her with quite a lot. She did feel the need to dig further after her talk with them, but decided finding other civilians wasn't the path to take this time.

So that is how this time she went straight for the archives. In the absence of both Tsunade and Shizune it had been laughably easy to gain access without any suspicion. Searching the mission reports and medical records about Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, Rin, and the White Fang, she stumbled upon quite a few classified scrolls. She didn't dare try and break those seals, but she gathered enough through the accessible scrolls. Based on everything she gathered, she formed her own hypotheses and felt pretty sure she wouldn't be too far off track.

Maybe it was time to try and shock her Sensei with her new knowledge?

xxx

Sakura and Kakashi-sensei were again sitting next to each other, with him strategically placed so she couldn't read what little facial expression would be visible. Sakura was having none of it though. Leaving the scroll in his sight, she stood and went around the table, starting her little speech about what was going on as the usual start of their interaction inside the Mindjustsu. Confident that by now she could be sure he'd need no further prompts to trust her, she continued.

She started recounting everything about his life, and what possibly shaped him.

He became a genin at age 5 and lost his mother and unborn sibling shortly after. His father didn't deal with the loss but was true to the shinobi life style and continued with missions and training his son. While his son was training for the Chunin exams, an important mission Sakume was sent on, failed. It was rumored that the outcome of the mission could've prevented the third shinobi war and that the White Fang had been to blame. A deep shame was imposed on the Hatake-name as a result.

Sakura paused and couldn't help but insert her own opinion at this point.

"I can only imagine what state of mind he was in. He'd just lost his wife and child and was burdened with being the cause of shame to his family's name. He must've felt so powerless. I don't think what he did next was the best course of action. But he probably did it out of love for you. Trying to clear the family name of shame so his son's future wasn't tainted by his mistake."

Sakura sucked in a quick breath to make sure her emotions wouldn't get the best of her.

Trudging on she continued with her hypothesis.

"You started wearing the mask to have a burn healed, but by then the wound wouldn't have needed that kind of treatment anymore. My guess is there were several reasons you just kept the mask since. It was a reminder of your mother's care and love for you and after what happened with your father it helped you hiding your emotions about it."

She didn't wait for him to deny or confirm this.

"You kept on the course your father set for you with the help of your new sensei. Minato Namikaze… back then he must've been just the 'Yellow Flash' as he was not yet the Yondaime, nor Naruto's father."

At this she frowned. When she confirmed who her sensei's sensei was, so much more made sense. Like why her genin-team with the Yondaime's son and the last Uchiha had been the only team Kakashi-sensei ever passed. She used to be quite proud of that fact, but the more she grew up and learned about the past, the more the feeling intensified that she had always been insignificant.

Shaking her head from those pesky thoughts she stowed away those depressing thoughts, concentrating on the fact that she was here, proving those preconceptions of uselessness wrong.

"You passed the Chunnin exams at six and went on missions with the Yellow Flash. I think at some point, you even started assisting him in ANBU missions, but this is purely conjecture of my part. By the time you turned 11, you became a full team with two newly graduated genin: Obito and Rin. By then the war had fully developed and your team was sent on missions that were probably ranked too high for genin. I think Obito and probably even you survived those only because Rin was an excellent medic."

Sakura had actually been quite jealous of Rin's medical records. Never once was she hurt but she had healed injuries on the field at the age of 13 that Sakura could've only managed at 15. True, her medical training had started much later than Rin's, who was rumoured to have grown up with a medic, but still, it hurt her pride.

"You were elevated to Jounin rank at 12 and your first mission as such went awry. Obito was lost, his name added to the Memorial Stone and you became Kakashi of the Sharingan. Rin must've transplanted Obito's eye to you…"

Pausing briefly in her pacing she watched Kakashi still sitting at the table.

"After that more dangerous missions followed each other as the war is slowly ending. You and Rin survive the war being paired up into other incomplete teams, until you were sent on a classified mission just the two of you…"

Here Sakura paused. She had no clue what happened on that mission, where it had taken place or what had been the objective. She didn't even gain access to the complete autopsy report of Rin's body as that too had been highly classified. Someone did leave the cause of death on an unclassified report though. The chest wound described there had been too familiar for Sakura not to recognize it. So she hesitated to continue, even more so when she felt the atmosphere grow distinctively more depressing.

Hastily, Sakura continued.

"Immediately after the burial of your teammate you applied for ANBU. By then the war ended officially and your sensei was voted the Fourth Hokage. A few years later you lost your sensei to the Kyuubi attack which left Naruto a Jinchuriki. You were ANBU captain by the age of 18 until at 23 the Third Hokage volunteered you to join the regular Jounin force. As such you were called to be a genin trainer but didn't pass any team until you were assigned Team 7."

Once she'd seen that the scrolls that contained her sensei's 'request' to take a leave from ANBU had been drawn up by the Third Hokage instead of himself, she'd guessed the leave wasn't particularly voluntary. Had it been Sarutobi-sama's intention all along to clear the path and have Kakashi-sensei teach her two original teammates?

"Even though I was there for the rest of it, I was a bit amazed at how much I still don't know. You were still sent on classified missions occasionally, I strongly suspect that you still had ties with ANBU, especially after Sasuke left and Team 7 was for all intense and purposes disbanded. I know you took the time training yourself as we did cross paths once in a while when you checked up on my training as a medic and I tried to get news of Sasuke out of you. The training paid off as you learned to use Kamui."

Sakura hesitated to continue. After that she was there when he helped save Gaara, when they returned from meeting Sasuke with Sai and Yamato, when he tried to sacrifice himself to Hiruko, when he helped Naruto train and they lost Asuma-sensei. And then when Pain attacked and he…

He had stopped her from going against Danzo-sama as the new Hokage, had helped Naruto plead for Sasuke's case and had saved her when she determinedly went after Sasuke on her own. He had almost been Hokage and became the general of her company in the war.

Apparently she'd hesitated long enough because Kakashi-sensei started to shift on his chair.

"Yare yare, Sakura, you seem to know my life's story…"

Sakura blushed.

"So what now, medic Haruno? What's the conclusion?"

Her irritation at his mocking tone was the fuel of her suddenly famous flaring anger. Her fist came down hard on the library table splintering it in two.

"Shānnarō! Sensei! We need to get to the point here. Any day Tsunade-shishou is going to get home and chances are I will be found out and then there's the real possibility I'll be barred from being your medic. Your body is reacting to the Jutsu as you've been more responsive and I'm seeing positive signs that you might wake up, but evidently we are still meeting in our minds and as much as I enjoy you making fun of me, I'd rather you'd do it for real!"

Kakashi only blinked at her, all traces of sarcasm gone.

xxx

AN: Btw the way, guys – I really appreciate reviews. They give me some incentive to keep writing ;D /hint-hint/