Sorry for the late update; I promised myself that over Christmas break I would update all of my stories that weren't one-shots.

What is the matter with her?

All throughout training, Sasuke noted, she was fighting with much more vigor and determination than he had ever witnessed from his pink-haired teammate. She had even beaten Naruto in a spar, whom had many bruises and even a broken arm when they had finished. The young Uchiha watched their fight with narrowed eyes, waiting for the correct moment to bring Sakura up in a conversation with his sensei. He was sure, however, that the silver-haired nin had already noticed something strange about Sakura, but Sasuke wanted to hear what he had to say on the subject.

Not that Sasuke didn't want her to get stronger-no, he defiantly did want his weak, I-have-to-be-protected-nearly-as-much-as-the-client teammate be able to handle a fight on her own for once-but she was acting much too strangely to be the real Sakura. The real question was who is this person walking beside him now?

Yes, her short, bubble-gum colored hair bounced near her shoulders as she trudged alongside him, silent as a mouse. Sasuke watched her out of the corner of his eye, ready to catch anything else she might do that was off.

As the four of them neared the intersection where they took different paths home, Naruto still babbling away about something trivial like food, Sasuke continued to watch her. He immediately noticed her taking a different path, rather than the one to her apartment complex.

"Sakura."

She stopped abruptly, turning her body slightly to face him.

"Hmm?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes for a second. An idea popped into his head, but he scowled at the thought. Still, if she didn't answer the question he had in mind like how the Sakura he knew would, then he would immediately know that this was an imposter.

"Would you…would you like to…" Just say it…she's annoying, but you need to know! "Would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

Sasuke's face was clearly one of frustration, but he put some of his pride away to witness her reaction. Her eyes widened, but not as much as he thought they should.

"N-no thanks."

With that, she turned around and stalked away, leaving a wide-eyed, confused, and extremely suspicious Sasuke behind.

"You're back," the pink haired girl said, watching-well, she was watching her own body, really-walk into the old woman's abode.

"Y-yeah…hey, thanks for letting me feel life again…I got to talk to her. S-she didn't believe that I was once her h-husband at first, so my spirit h-had to talk to her. She was really surprised, but she forgave me. I'm so happy."

Sakura and the old woman beside her smiled, watching as Sakura's face did the same.

"Y-your teammates are also really great…Man, I forgot how g-great sparring was. I-I feel almost alive again."

"Well, I'm glad…do you think you're ready?"

"Yes…and you can have your body back."

Sakura smiled, stepping closer to the spirit of the man.

"Remember…the light is above you."

Sasuke sat beside his jounin teammate, watching as he flipped the pages of his favorite orange book. The lazy nin looked at him out of the corner of his eye, noticing his agitated appearance.

"What's up? You've been acting weird lately," he said in a lazy, almost drawled voice.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I've been acting strange lately? Have you not noticed Sakura's behavior?" he said almost monotone...although there was anger underlying his words.

Kakashi pulled his book away to study Sasuke more closely. His eyes looked much like slits, his eyebrows arched. His teeth made a slight grinding noise as he pulled at the material of his shorts. The Hatake sighed.

"Yes, Sasuke…I've been noticing and keeping track of Sakura's strange behavior after the incident of her first coma. I think Naruto's too dense to see the changed pattern of her behavior, but you noticing doesn't surprise me." And it didn't. Sasuke was smart, and even if he acted as though he didn't care, Kakashi knew he paid attention to the tiniest details in just about everything.

"What do you think we should do?" asked Sasuke, looking off to the horizon that displayed an orangey-pink canvas of color. He contemplated whether or not they should tell others of Sakura's behavior, or maybe even the Hokage. If Sakura was really an enemy spy after all-however horrible an actor this one was-Sasuke wanted to make sure that no important information on the Leaf Village would reach antagonist ears.

"I think," began Kakashi, "that we should just continue to watch her normally. Maybe she is an imposter after all-but her behavior isn't any real indicator. Perhaps she is going through a phase or is training more often, or both."

"But Kakashi…" Sasuke began in a somewhat complaining tone (just a bit-he is an Uchiha, after all), "her behavior is way too off. If I know her well enough, I'd say there is no way she could have changed so much in only days. There has to be something up."

Kakashi studied him, a slight smile forming under his facial mask. "And what do you suggest we do?"

Sasuke sat back against a branch near the top of the building he and his sensei resided on. What was he going to do? Normally, he would shrug it off, but there had to be something wrong and it irritated him.

"Well…I know this is really old-fashioned and almost corny…but we could ask her a bunch of questions only our teammate would know."

Kakashi smiled again. "Well…whatever will work is whatever will work-if that makes any sense. If it will put your worries to rest, I say we give it a try."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn."

Sakura sat at a table, which housed a teapot, teacups and such accessories, staring at the older woman seated in front of her. The senior was smiling, holding her cup daintily to her lips.

"You know, Sakura," she began, "I think you're coming along quite well. I really would like to teach you more…so much more. You'd probably be even better at these things than I am. But, I know you have your ninja training and other things to do."

Sakura stared at the woman with a slightly disbelieved look. "What do you mean? What else can you teach me besides all that stuff I read in those books I borrowed from you? What other things are there, besides talking and seeing spirits?"

The woman leaned in closer to the girl, as though she were telling a secret. "There is so much more-so much, in fact, I've only begun to grasp all there is to know about this world-about life. I see that so many people are either too materialistic or too caught up in becoming stronger that they don't stop to appreciate the life and the wonderful things they already have. It's human nature to want more-to be greedy, even-but in order to truly become strong, one must be able to see the deeper meanings and what is truly hidden in the world around them. If they learn to care about others and the world, they'll accomplish this. It may be simple or complex, but I think people these days-especially ninja-need to learn to find their inner spirit and learn to love one another."

The woman leaned back into her chair, her cup held near her lips. Sakura stared at the woman, hanging on her every word, contemplating their hidden meaning. She understood, now, and because of the time having spent with Miss Higami that the woman disliked ninjas because she thought too many of them were controlled by hate or desire, or by another person's, and so felt many of them were ignorant. Being blinded by power and corruption, many ninjas pursued what they thought would better themselves in life, never stopping to see beyond that. True, it was important to live in the present, but looking to the future had its advantages.

Sakura thought of Sasuke and how he always said his past only lead him to revenge. Deep in her heart she feared he might make his vendetta his up-most priority, casting her, Naruto, and Kakashi aside to fulfill what he considered his only goal in life: killing his brother. She shuddered at the thought, for it was one of her worst fears. She couldn't stand losing him; she finally understood that she didn't have a childish crush on him, but she cared far too deeply for him and was in love with the young Uchiha. She'd probably do just about anything for him, as well.

"What else can you teach me?"

Miss Higami got a sparkle in her eye, signifying her gratitude that Sakura did, in fact, want to learn more. If the Haruno could discover more into the earthly and spiritual topics, perhaps this pink-haired girl would be one of the most powerful people in the world. One didn't need physical strength or status to become powerful, after all.

"What I can teach you, for starters, is the art of exorcism. From then on, perhaps you'll be able to leave your body to even further places-if you know what I mean."

Sakura's eyes widened as she smiled and nodded her head. "You mean, to where people go after they die?"

"Maybe-I'm not sure it's possible, but with your gift, who knows? Maybe…maybe God gave you this power for a reason."

Sakura's smile grew even bigger at that.

Sasuke and Kakashi stood outside near an intersection in the paths around the village, waiting for Sakura to come bounding back from the path Sasuke saw her go down last. The silver-haired jounin was busy reading his book, and the Uchiha had his hands crammed in his pockets, leaning against a tree. It was already dusk, and he could see the faint stars above the village against a charcoal sky.

Sasuke squinted a bit as pink came into view. He stood up straight, as did his sensei, when she came closer.

"Hello, Sakura," Kakashi greeted, putting Make-Out Paradise back into his weapons pouch. The pink-haired girl eyed them with a puzzled expression.

"What are you two doing here so late at night? Is there something wrong?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Sasuke said coolly. Sakura's eyes met his hard ones warily.

"Well, I was hoping you could answer some questions for us, since both Sasuke and I have been intrigued by your sudden change in behavior. So, if you'll follow us to a more secluded area, that'd be just fine."

Sakura stared at them with a surprised look. Sasuke kept eyeing her in a way she could only describe as making her feel uncomfortable and Kakashi was basically saying he was going to interrogate her…But, no-they were her teammates; what did she have to worry about? They might have thought her behavior was off, but they wanted to make sure it was just that she had matured, right?

"Alright, then," she responded. She moved to walk in front of her teammates. The three of them then proceeded down the streets, with Sasuke staring at the back of her head the entire time.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.