AN: Sasuke was mentioned in passing in the last chapter. I was pleasantly surprised to not have any questions asked about him in the reviews. while I have to admit that not having him around is easier, I suppose he can't go without mention. As far as his story, in regard to this one, I might get to that later.

THURSDAY – INTRODUCTION

Kakashi woke before dawn, after a mere three hours of relatively restless sleep, and gently slid his arm from beneath Sakura's head. She stirred slightly, and then curled into a tight ball on her side. He watched her for a moment. There was something almost innocent about her when she slept. He brushed her hair from her face and she mumbled something unintelligible.

Pulling himself up from the bed, he smiled down at her for a moment before grabbing a change of clothes and disappearing from the room. After changing he made his way to the memorial stone.

There wasn't enough light to see the names, but that was hardly an issue as he knelt and extended a finger to trace Obito's name. "How's sensei doing up there? How's Kushina? I haven't asked you about her lately. You know, I really don't think that he ever held any of it against me: not what happened to you or to Rin, but he also never tried to tell me that none of it was my fault. I'm glad he didn't. I never would have believed him. I hope he doesn't hold what happened with Kushina and Jiraiya against me either, or Naruto for that matter. I don't think he would but it's never stopped me from worrying over it. I bet he's having fits over what I'm doing right now." He reached for his sensei's name. The change in the position of his arm allowed the steadily falling rain to run up his sleeve instead of trickling off his fingers. There was a long pause and his touch returned to Obito's name before he continued. "What is the cause of this? Why am I going to such lengths to protect her when we both know that she can more than take care of herself?" He shook his head. "She takes care of me. She cares about me. I'm not sure that anyone has had that sort of interest in me since we were Genin. I didn't even see it coming. I've had several days to think it over and I still can't figure out how I was so blind. That's not why though, I've always done what I can for everyone, but this is not me. I've been telling her things that I've never told anyone. I've been doing it since she was in the hospital. I'm starting to think that maybe I've overlooked something about myself here." Kakashi stood, shaking the rain from his hair. "I've got to go. I left Pakkun with her, but I don't want her to wake up and worry. I'm afraid I'm going soft, Obito."

Sakura woke to the sound of rain pattering against the window as a slightly damp Kakashi slipped back into bed.

"Good morning," she mumbled.

"Mm-hmm."

She snuggled into him and then pulled away. "You're wet."

"I needed to go see an old friend."

"Okay," she said, snuggling back into is side again.

He chucked and rubbed his knuckles up and down her spine.

She looked up at him suspiciously. "You're going to make me get up, aren't you?"

"No."

"Really?"

"We need to talk about something, Sakura," Kakashi began.

He noted that his choice of words probably weren't the best as she tensed and her eyes shifted to a look akin to hurt.

He gave her an apologetic look before continuing. "Tsunade and I had a bit of a talk on Tuesday. She's done everything in her power to keep you out of the Bingo Books. She's issued threats and levied bribes. She's lied to you and about you. It almost baffles me that she didn't see that there was an alternative that wouldn't hold you back."

"Alternative?"

He gave a devious grin. "Let someone else take the fall."

"I'm not so sure it's that easy," she scoffed.

"It is when the person you blame is also you."

That gave Sakura pause for a moment before she asked, "Like a henge?"

He was quietly pleased that she had made the leap so quickly. He nodded, "A secondary identity."

"What?"

"An alter-ego."

"I understood what you meant. I'm just not understanding why… or how."

He sighed. "People like you and me, we tend to stand out in the crowd. It's more than just what we look like; it's what we do as well. Most of your friends, and mine too, could remove their hitai-ates, cut their hair, change into civilian clothes, and go completely unnoticed. We're not so lucky."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we're easy to pick out. If you saw a silver-haired man with a mask and a ball of lightening in his hand would you stop to think that it could be anyone other than me?"

"No."

"And if I saw a young woman with pink hair split the ground open with her fist would I have any reason to think it wasn't you?"

"No," she admitted. After a pause she asked, "You want me to be someone else?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I am."

"You are?"

"It's probably the biggest secret that I have. I have a failsafe: a password in a file in the Hokage's desk. If I should ever be captured by Leaf shinobi, I tell them the password and they let me go, no matter how I look, no questions asked. Tsunade did not know who it was for and I'm fairly sure that the Third didn't either."

"What about the Fourth?"

"It was partially his idea, but he never saw the finished product."

"Oh... So who else are you?" she asked, pulling back so that she could see his face.

"I have two other identities. My first alter was a corrupt business man. My second was a swordsman."

"What are their names?"

"You only have to worry about the swordsman. His name is Matsu Tsukino."

"Tell me about him?"

"He's got long black hair and one purple eye. I guess you could say he's a gentleman. He dresses rather formally and carries an odachi. He almost comes across as a scholar: soft-spoken and well read. He's not a bad man at first glance or even the second. I'd hazard to say that even you would let him buy you a drink if he offered. But he's merciless when it comes to a job. He's not exactly cruel, but he's terribly efficient. He's in every bingo book but ours, and by all rights he should be listed in there too, but I've been lucky."

"Does Tsunade know all of this?"

"She doesn't know the identity of my first, or that I keep a third in reserve incase I need it, but I told her that I was Matsu, and she knows what the Bingo Books say about him. She met him once but doesn't seem to remember… Doesn't this bother you?"

"Why should it?"

"It's not every day you learn that someone isn't what they appear."

"I already knew you weren't."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone sees you as a shinobi and only a shinobi; but you're human beneath it all. No one in this business is what they seem."

He gave a short relieved chuckle.

"So how does it work?"

"Creating an alter-ego?"

"Yes."

Her eager curiosity provided him with further relief. "You start with a set of rules for yourself: how you act and dress and fight. Then you work out a henge, it needs to be something that is close enough to how you actually look that you can maintain it without chakra if you need to. Then you go shopping, which isn't easy because you have to dress for your henge while looking like yourself and you'll have to make it look like you didn't do all of your shopping here in Konoha. The next thing is probably the hardest: you chose a name. After that, you work out a story; everyone has a history, and your alter ego needs one as well. The story has to be believable and simple enough that you can repeat it without thinking on it. Then you force yourself to adapt to fighting according to the rules you set for yourself."

"I would think that the story would be the hardest part."

He shook his head. "Names have meanings. You've got to pick one that's neutral enough that it doesn't really tie you to anywhere, but memorable enough that it can easily be tied to you. You don't want it to be forgotten when you're okay with your alter being infamous."

"So, rules. That's where we start, right?"

"Right. Tsunade and I spoke on this a bit, in hopes that you'd agree to it. We want you to remain a medic, but forgo the unnatural strength. You don't use genjutsu enough to be recognized for it, so focus on that in a fight. The work with senbon wasn't for nothing; they would make a good primary weapon. I know they're not exactly your first choice, but…"

"No, I understand. It makes sense."

"Tsunade also says you're too loud and aggressive. I believe she would like to be able to pass you off as a member of society, should she need someone assassinated. She wants you to look the part and included funds for something formal."

Sakura groaned.

"Don't worry so much about it. Matsu slips into society pretty well in his own right."

"It would be a little hard to slip in anywhere carrying an odachi."

"In those sorts of situations he favors a tanto."

She nodded thoughtfully and then pulled the covers back and grabbed a change of clothes before heading toward the bathroom. Kakashi threw back his blankets and followed her from the room. Before she could duck into the bathroom, he threaded his fingers around her wrist and led her into the storeroom.

"What?"

He smiled and pointed toward the ceiling.

She gasped, "How did I miss that?" which combined with the look of wonderment on her face, elicited a chuckle from Kakashi.

"May I?" she asked, gesturing toward the ceiling.

"You want to see it?"

She nodded and he reached up to untie the strips of leather that secured the sword to the eyebolts that supported it.

"How do you…?"

"It's not really as hard as it looks."

"But its… long."

"That's why they call it an odachi," he laughed, "though in some regions this would be considered a short one."

"That's insane," she said, adjusting the flow of her chakra to balance the sheathed blade.

"It took a lot of work. Now it's just like second nature: chakra or no chakra. Just like the fan and senbon will be to you eventually."

Sakura relaxed her stance and allowed the tip of the sword to rest on the floor. She pulled a few centimeters of the blade from the sheath and ran her fingers along the kanji near the hilt of the massive sword. "So when do we start this?"

Kakashi found himself smiling, surprised that she was so willing. "How about after breakfast?"

After a quick breakfast, they returned to his storeroom. "I've seen you execute a henge, you couldn't have gotten out of the academy without being able to, but how long can you hold one?"

Sakura didn't reply, just bit her lip slightly and looked up at him as though she'd done something wrong.

"If you don't have the stamina for it, that's alright. I've been known to grow out and dye my hair and wear contacts on long term missions."

"It's not that. I can hold a henge for quite a while."

"How long."

"I'd say nearly indefinitely provided I don't get seriously injured or have to do any major medical reconstructions while I'm under it."

"When you say major…"

"Something along the lines of what it would have taken to save Zabuza and Haku."

He stumbled on the notion that pair from Mist could have been saved before he spoke. "Even I can't hold a henge indefinitely, Sakura."

She looked down at the floor and turned with her back toward him. She hiked her shirt up and lowered the waistband of her pants to display a purple diamond low on the small of her back surrounded by a wispy black circle. "I can," she whispered.

"What's a tattoo have to do with this?"

"It's not a tattoo, Kakashi. C'mon you've seen one of these before."

It took him a long moment before the picture of the mark on Tsunade's brow popped into his mind. "A reserve?"

She nodded, noting the surprise in his voice. "I'm sorry I didn't use it last Tuesday. By the time I realized that I needed it, I didn't have enough chakra left to break the seal."

He stepped toward her and tentatively traced the seal. "Is it like Tsunade's?"

"Mostly. I wanted to be a bit more discrete. The seal keeps it from leaking off. I only use it when I need it and I add to it when I can. It's not doing anything for me right now, though I have been putting chakra into it while I've been resting."

"Does Tsunade know?"

"I didn't tell her when I did it, but I have used it in a couple long surgeries and she was the one to clean me up Tuesday. I'd say she knows now, even though she's not said anything about it."

"What about the side effects?"

"The seal mostly prevents that. I don't have to use it all at once like Tsunade does. I can allow a small stream of chakra to leak out to maintain a jutsu without really thinking about it."

"Impressive."

"There are benefits to having access to all of Tsunade's scrolls," she said, pulling her shirt back down and turning to face Kakashi again. "So where do we start?"

"Your hair."

"Of course."

"How about black?"

"No," she said adamantly.

Kakashi quickly realized that her mind had gone in the direction of Sasuke. "You wouldn't look good as a blonde," he observed, studying her closely. "Hmm… Red?"

"Like that's less obvious than pink?"

"Not red like Gaara's," he amended. "Red like Chouji's."

"Oh. Like this?" she asked, executing the henge.

"Yes, but you still look sort of like you."

"Longer? Curls?"

"Try it."

She complied and he smiled. "You won't even have to change those beautiful green eyes."

Sakura blushed slightly at his remark but Kakashi inwardly cringed at his slip-up. She didn't seem to notice his discomfort as she turned to the mirror on the back of the door. "How about…" she turned around to show Kakashi a fine dusting of freckles across her cheeks and shoulders. It seemed natural and didn't make her look any younger.

"I think that's as close to perfect as we'll find," he said with a smile.

"I sound too much like me," Sakura observed, studying herself in the mirror again.

"That can't really be helped. I do my best to drop my Konoha accent when I'm Matsu. It's convincing enough."

"I'm a medic, Kakashi. There are other ways. Should her voice be higher or lower?"

"The tone is fine."

She paused a moment, holding a glowing hand to her throat. "How's this?" she asked, her voice taking on a more delicate note than before.

"How did you do that?"

"I thinned my vocal cords slightly," she said with a shrug.

"You can reverse that. Right?"

She rolled her eyes, the glowing hand coming back to her throat. "Of course," she said, sounding normal again.

"Is there a risk of damage when you do that?"

She shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Let's pass on that. No one is going to have your voice recorded to compare with hers, just do your best to drop the regional accent."

"Alright."

"Good. Now lets head to the market since it quit raining."

"Why?"

"Stage three."

"You're going to make me shop, aren't you?"

"It's a necessary evil."

"Alright. We'll have to stop by the treasury, I'll need to pull some money from my account."

"That won't be necessary," Kakashi said, withdrawing a pack of bills from his vest. "I told you that Tsunade included funds for something formal. Konoha is footing the bill."

"Really?"

"I was surprised as you are."

"Alright, let's get this over with," she said sullenly.

"That's the spirit."

They wound their way slowly through the market. Sakura noted that Kakashi looked nervous. He finally spoke, "I should warn you of something before we begin."

"What's that?"

"Tsunade made a request."

"Uh-oh."

"Her exact words were, 'You make her a lady and I'll make her S-class.'"

"Please, no."

"I'm sorry, but again, it makes sense."

"Whatever," Sakura acquiesced, in no mood to argue. "Lead on."

He scratched at the knot of his hitai-ate. "To be honest, I'm not sure how to go about this for you. I don't know how women shop."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "Start with the big stuff and work your way down."

"So we start with…?"

"Clothes. Then shoes. Then accessories"

"Okay. Where?"

"I shop there," she said, pointing in the window of a shop.

He looked in the window and shook his head. "It's all ninja gear. Where else?"

"I'm going to hate you by the end of the day."

Twenty minuets later, Sakura emerged from a fitting room wearing a red, long-sleeved, knee-length dress that was cut to resemble a kimono. A wide black belt took the place of the obi. She had a pair of geta sandals with black straps on her feet and her hair was wrapped up in a loose bun.

Kakashi was taken by the change, until he noticed the obvious problem. "Um, Sakura… you're shopping for the wrong person."

"What do you mean? For what it is, I'm comfortable. It looks good."

"Go back in and henge," he whispered

"What? Why?"

"Just trust me on this… please."

"Alright," she said, disappearing behind the curtain.

Kakashi smiled to himself when he heard a disgusted sound form behind the curtain. "You might be too good at this."

"I've done it three times," he allowed. "It's an easy mistake to make."

"Point taken."

"Try purple, green, or tan," he suggested.

"This could take a while."

"Take your time. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?"

"To the far side of the shop. I see something formal that will be perfect."

"Really?"

"I think."

A few moments later he passed a neatly folded package around the curtain.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"We won't know until you try it on."

After a brief struggle, Sakura emerged again. The kimono was made of a cream colored silk and painted with hundreds of tiny leaves. At the shoulders, the leaves were green, but they faded to the colors of fall as they neared the hem. He regarded her for a moment. She adjusted the deep green obi as she reacted to his scrutiny. He looked around the fitting room. "There's no one here, let's see it with the henge."

She complied. It was all that he could do to not gasp. "Perfect."

She looked at him doubtfully.

"Go back in there and look at yourself."

She did as he said, pulling the curtain shut behind her as she entered the room. She studied herself for a moment and then poked her head back around the curtain. "Definitely too good at this," she said with a brilliant smile.

He laughed. "Change back and get dressed. Well get a few things here and move on. I'm afraid that we're just getting started."

She groaned. "But I've got enough clothes here to last over a week."

"You can't get everything in one place. It makes things looked planned. We'll get the kimono; an outfit or two, definitely that purple dress; a plain dressing gown; and then move on to the next shop. When you get out of the country, pick up a piece or two that look like they have to be from that area, and add them to your pack. It'll have to be a rather big pack."

"You're insufferable."

"I know. Let's get the pack next. It might make this easier."

Sakura emerged from the room looking like herself again. "I guess just these then?"

"Do they have sandals like you had on in brown instead of black?"

"I think you're going to be worse than shopping with Ino!" she said, exchanging the sandals for the pair that he had asked after.

After the purchases were totaled and Kakashi handed over a portion of Tsunade's money, he ushered Sakura out the door and into an open stall where a man was selling leather goods.

"How can I help you?" he asked cheerfully.

Sakura inwardly groaned, thinking that they must be the first customers of the day for the overzealous salesman. She busied herself with small, reinforced leather cases used for carrying vials.

Kakashi took the salesman's attention in stride. "We're looking for a pack."

"All of my packs are displayed, sir."

"I'm sure you have something extraordinary waiting for just the right person to wander in. It's for the lady, you see. She will be needing a rather large pack; something sturdy and not too dark in color. I believe you know the one I'm talking about. It was a pricey piece of art. I saw it last week when I came in after shuriken holster."

"I was supposed to be holding that for someone."

"And now?" Kakashi asked, pulling out a wad of cash and peeling off several bills.

"I suppose a paying customer is of more use than a prospective one," he said stepping into the curtained off area in the back of his stall.

"Sakura, have you found a wallet and something for your vials?"

"Yes," she said bringing them to him, "but I couldn't find the right sort of pack."

"I've taken care of that. What about a case for raw ingredients and a mortal and pestle?"

"It will need to be metal. Anything porous can absorb the important chemicals from the herbs. It won't need to be big, it really only needs to hold a couple things for quick access without chakra. I'll have scrolls containing most ingredients and equipment."

"That makes sense," he allowed as the salesman emerged from his back room.

"Is this the item you were talking about, sir?" he asked, holding up a large pack. The leather of the pack was tooled with a stylized mosaic of different flowers and leaves.

"Does this suit your needs, Sakura?"

She smiled, tracing the patterns on the tough leather. "I believe this will be perfect. I also need a roll to store scrolls in and an undyed hard leather case for the kimono. It will be kept wrapped in paper as it should be, but I need something to keep it from being crushed in the pack."

The morning continued much as it had begun. A stop at a small, out of the way weapons shop provided a tanto and a beautifully detailed tessen, both of which bore floral patterns tailing. A small, watertight aluminum chest came from a metal smith and after stops at three more clothing stores, which yielded several more outfits and a good traveling cape, Kakashi was finally satisfied. Shopping bags in tow, they nearly collapsed into a booth at a small restaurant a few blocks toward Kakashi's house from the center of the market.

"You're insane. It's worse than shopping with any woman I know. Ino included!"

He shrugged. "I'm efficient."

"Efficient? I'm not even sure what all we bought!"

"We got everything, I promise. We'll sort it out and pack her bag later."

"I was hoping that you'd have something more taxing to do with the rest of today."

"We still have to do the two hardest parts of this."

"I meant train."

"Let's leave that until tomorrow."

"But I think after everything that you just put me through, I deserve to hit something."

He chuckled. "Tomorrow, Sakura."

"So what about today?"

"We'll talk about that at home."

They finished their meals and then quickly made their way back to Kakashi's house. They dropped the bags in the store room and Kakashi pulled a dress from one of them. "What's wrong with this?" he asked expectantly.

"Other than it's nothing that I'd ever wear and the sleeves are going to be annoying in a fight?"

"But it is something that she would wear and sleeves are good for hiding senbon." Kakashi looked at her expectantly but she just stared blankly back at him. Finally he saw that this was a conclusion that she wouldn't jump to on her own. "It looks too new."

"What do you mean?"

"If you'd been traveling as an independent, your clothes wouldn't look like this. There'd be little holes, small patches, frayed edges. Your shoes would be scuffed. Your weapons would be nicked..."

"Oh. So now we're going to have to… age my wardrobe?"

"Right. I'll work on your pack, weapons, and shoes. You take the everyday clothes."

"What about the kimono?"

"Don't do anything to it," he said adamantly.

They sat side by side on the floor for a while, silently working on her purchases.

"So all we're down to is a name," she observed as she threaded a needle to mend the damage that she had just inflicted to one of her dresses.

"And a story, but the name comes first. It needs to be something that's just memorable enough, but not obvious. How about Aoi or Miki?"

"No," she said, rejecting them immediately.

Kakashi took a file to the blade of her tanto, creating small nicks as he thought. "Amarante?" he finally offered as he set the blade aside and reached for the pack.

"No flower references. I've been stuck with wise cracks about flowers my entire life. How about Haruna"

"Too close to Haruno."

"Kaede?" she asked as she worked to cause small frays around the hem of her cape.

"A lot of girls in the leaf are named after trees, you included. I would avoid trees."

"But you're Matsu."

"It's a pun on swordsmanship. You're supposed to be strong but flexible, like a pine in the wind. What about something based on an physical attribute; Hitomi or Akane?"

"Akane… I think I like that, even if it is common."

"This is much easier with two people thinking on it," he said with a laugh as he beset the soles her sandals with a piece of rough sandpaper. "I was almost three hours coming up with Matsu. Now for a surname: Something vague. Nakamura?"

"Akane Nakamura? It might as well be Hanako Yamada."

"But it works. It flows like something a parent would actually name a child. It would be forgettable if not for her hair."

She pouted slightly. "It's always my hair."

"There are much worse things to be known for," he said gently as he slid the last of their purchases back in the shopping bags.

Later that night, Sakura laid awake long after Kakashi fell asleep. The idea of writing a story for Akane's life was troubling her. It was a given that she had to be unaffiliated and that she had to be a medic, but there was so much else to consider. Kakashi had suggested that perhaps Akane's childhood was spent traveling, living a nomadic lifestyle, that maybe her parents were merchants. That was something that she could identify with, but somehow it didn't seem right. It also didn't explain Akane's chakra control.

Frustrated she let her thoughts turn in another direction. Kakashi had left the drapes open, allowing the blue-cast moonlight to flood in, and she took the opportunity to study him without his knowledge. He had forgone his shirt and the blankets had worked their way down around his waist. He was not chiseled, as many ninja were, but rather built of sinewy lean muscle. For a shinobi he had surprisingly few scars. His slightly faded ANBU tattoo stood out on his bicep. The moonlight made his hair seem almost translucent. She could not resist the opportunity to thread her fingers through it.

As she laid on her side with her fingers ghosting through his hair, she turned her attention to his face. Years of wondering what he looked like beneath the mask had come to a finale after a particularly rough fight in Sound. The newly-trained medic in her had taken over when she saw blood seeping through his mask and dripping down his vest. She smiled on the memory of how Naruto had whined when she sent him away. Kakashi had not put up the fight that she had expected of him, simply tugged down the mask as soon as Naruto had disappeared from view and spit two broken-off teeth out into his palm. She'd had to fight down the tendrils of panic because she had been expecting a simple broken nose. Instead she spent almost an hour working on knitting the teeth back together and repairing the damage to the inside of his mouth. She hadn't really taken notice of his features at the time, but when a mask-less Kakashi appeared in her dreams that night she sat straight up in her bedroll in realization. She had actually seen his face!

He was unconventionally handsome, she had decided. His jaw line was not strong enough to give him a rugged look but his cheeks were not full enough to make him look angelic. She had supposed that left him where all shinobi stood, somewhere between angel and demon. Those were silly thoughts, she now realized. Kakashi was a man. No more, no less.

Sakura settled into her pillow and reached toward him again. She gently eased her hand onto his chest, letting it rest over his heartbeat. The steady rhythm was comforting. She cleared her mind, letting it lull her to sleep.

AN2: Just incase anyone is wondering where the "Hanako Yamada" line came from, that is the Japanese equivalent of Jane Doe.