A/N: Well the long wait is over. Here's chapter 11. Now this chapter is a little heavier than the others before and a lot more angsty. I would like to say thank you for waiting and being so patient while I travelled Central America with a feild school. It was a blast, well the trip, the work not so much but that's a whole different story.

Okay so this chapter was a challenge since I really wasn't to sure how Kakashi would react to this situation but I think I did a good job...I hope.

Enjoy and please review!!!!


Chapter 11: Changes

The past week had been a complete blur. He had no clue really what to make of it. It was fun, he had to admit; at least while it lasted. Kakashi wasn't even sure anymore when the last time he could say he truly enjoyed himself. Sure making Sakura and Naruto do the most ridiculous things when they were younger was amusing but this was on a different level.

The moment he had shared with her would not leave his mind though. The fact she never mentioned it again worried him. Had he made the wrong decision? He wasn't as sure as he had been before, her reaction was leaving him a little confused. It seemed she did this to him a lot.

I may have to accept that she may never want much to do with me, especially after that.

He hung his head as he walked silently behind her. He was foolish to think someone who cared more for others than herself would do something as risky as this. He was asking far too much of her.

I practically asked her to get me killed; I pretty much committed treason on my village.

He stopped when he reached the bridge and looked over the edge. How long had it been that he had known her?

So many years, since I was young...we've never been the best of friends though. This strange hiatus between us is unusual for the two of us. We're not sure what the other truly wants. I still remember the first day I met her; it sure wasn't a good meeting for either one of us.

(flashback)

"Kakashi-kun!" His father bellowed after him. "Wait...slow down." He wasn't listening. He had heard so many stories about the Akahoshi, especially that they were planning to teach someone outside their family. He wanted to be the one, he had graduated early, earlier than anyone else, and was a Genin for three years and the Chuunin exams were coming in a few months, this placed him at seven years of age. If anyone wanted to train someone it was him.

"Kakashi-kun!" His father was now more insistent. Kakashi knew what that meant and stopped. There was no way he was going to be kept inside for a day, no way.

He turned sending his father an annoyed look.

"Don't give me that Kakashi!" He sighed as his father came closer. "They wanted to meet you, there's no need to rush there." He then looked ahead of them as he placed his hand on his son's head. "I'm sure you'll have fun, so let's take it easy. Why not enjoy the sunny weather on our way, there's no hurry."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. Did his father not understand anything? "That's not true, we'll be late. We'd look bad."

"I'm sure they'd appreciate we enjoyed the trip there. We're almost there as it is."

Why was he stalling?

"Fine!" He huffed crossing his arms and walking sullenly next to his father.

Once they reached the gate Kakashi was still upset.

"Ah, Hatake-sama...its nice to see you." A man greeted.

"It's nice to see you too, I hope we're not late..." Kakashi's father smiled while Kakashi sulked.

"No, no of course not. Even if you were late we'd receive you just the same." He smiled. Kakashi knew the man was sucking up. He didn't care.

"This way Kakashi." His father led him into the estate.

Needless to say Kakashi had only seen homes like this that belonged to princesses, these people were not royalty and he was certainly not going to treat them as such. Just because they were here longer didn't mean he or anyone else was the scum under their sandals...no not him for sure. He'd have to show them.

"Ah! Hatake san!" A voice cried out excitedly. "It's been so long since I last saw you. You're last mission was a success I heard." The tall man smiled broadly. Kakashi had to admit the man was very happy, very very happy.

"Yoshiro-san, it has been so long." His father smiled back.

"Oh my! This must be Kakashi, I've heard so many wonderful stories about him." The man stooped low to Kakashi's level and Kakashi awarded him with a nasty glare.

"Kakashi!" His father berated. "Be nice, they were nice enough to invite us here."

"It's alright Sakumo-san." The man now stood fully once more and looked back into his house. "Why don't we let the children play for a bit while we discuss some important matters?"

Kakashi was then led behind the building where he saw three children playing with stones in the sand.

"I WIN!!!!"

"Stop yelling." One hushed the smallest of the three.

"Yeah Akane...you're always so loud." The only boy sighed.

"So mean." The Akane girl pouted but then saw him. "Um...who's that?" She said pointing to Kakashi.

"Don't point. Mommy told me it's rude." The boy scolded.

"Did she say why?" The girl glared at him.

"N...no." Then the oldest grabbed the girl's arm and pulled it to her side.

"Just be nice okay, mother and father would be mad if you're not." She scolded her sibling. At least one of them was polite Kakashi mused. His guess was the older sister was his age, and most likely the noisy one was the youngest.

"He looks so small." The youngest again said.

"Ha ha ha I'm sure Kakashi-kun will be taller than all of you one day." His father laughed. "Why don't you play with them while I go and talk to Akahoshi-sama for a bit okay..."

Kakashi sighed. "Shinobi don't play..." He glared. Didn't his father know anything?

When his father left he made sure to keep his distance. He didn't know them and he had no interest in playing childish games.

"He thinks he's better than us." The youngest of the kids said crossing her arms in a pout. He guessed she was five, and also in the academy, he had seen her before when he had walked past getting scolded by her sensei.

"Maybe he is?" The oldest said.

"Yeah!" The boy added. Kakashi couldn't place him, was he older than the youngest? It was hard to tell.

"What do you know?" He was sure now this was Akane. "Nariko, you don't know anything. He's just mean. I've heard other kids talk about how he always thinks he's better than everyone."

The boy sighed and got up. "I think I'm going to practice my writing."

"Okay Kaji," Nariko, the oldest smiled and nodded to him. She was clearly the ring leader; her younger sister though was unruly. Kakashi was starting to wonder how the youngest girl came from such a family. "Akane be nice, or I'm telling."

"What! No...I didn't do anything!" She huffed then and walked over to the swing.

"And mother told me you have to be careful with the swing. Last time Kaji almost broke the branch when he got to high."

"Go away." The youngest huffed and plunked herself down on the swing as hard as she could...just then the branch gave one loud crack and crashed down next to the girl causing her to fall flat on her backside.

Needless to say Kakashi found this to be highly amusing and couldn't stop the laughter from escaping. She had asked for it.

"It's not funny." Akane muttered as she glared at him.

"Sure it was." He shrugged.

"No."

"Yes." The next thing he knew she had thrown a rock at him. "Hey!"

"What can't dodge a rock?" She sneered. He was not expecting this girl to be so articulate with speech or to be so mean towards him. But he wasn't going to take that either.

"Go away."

"I live here!" She had come closer but also kept her distance. "You go away," She shoved him hard.

"Don't you have dolls to play with?"

"Arrrrgggghhhh!!!!!" She growled as she literally flew at him. At five Kakashi had become a Genin...at five this girl was enough to rival him he realized, and apparently she was also a tom boy.

"I...Hate...Dolls." She was already pretty good with throwing punches he realized. Glancing to the other girl he noticed her worry, and felt she should be. Her sister was crazy!

"You should go and be a good little girl and stop hitting...its tickling..." Wham! He hit the ground hard. He was not expecting that and he stared eyes wide as the girl jumped on him ready to hit him again. The stories about Akahoshi children being trained at a young age was starting to sound like they were true.

"Akane!" Her sister called.

"You know she wants you to stop!" Kakashi grabbed the girl's fist and twisted his hips efficiently knocking her down. "You're good for a kid."

"You guys stop it, I'm going to tell!" Nariko was always a tattle tail, he used to hear that all the time.

One of Akane's hands came out of his grasp and caught him clean in the chin. Head flung back Kakashi pushed his own hand in her face. Both struggled for control neither really winning.

Suddenly Kakashi felt himself being lifted and tried his best to get at the girl, she also tried her best to try and land one more hit on him, But neither of them were even on the ground let alone close enough to touch even a hair of the other.

Grudgingly Kakashi crossed his arms in a pout as his father placed him down.

"What happened here?" Kakashi's father questioned raising an eyebrow.

"He...He started it!" The girl yelled.

"Yeah sure...she hit me first." Kakashi crossed his arms and pouted.

"You were mean!" She yelled in response. This girl really did have volume issues.

"Both of you enough." Akahosi-sama yelled at them both. "Akane what did I tell you about hitting?"

The girl looked to the ground and clasped her hands behind her back shyly. "That I don't ever hit first..."

"That's right, did he hit you?"

"No..."

"Kakashi, I'm disappointed in you, I thought you knew better than to fight with children like that. She's still in the academy, that was low of you." His father shook his head sadly.

"She hit me, what was I supposed to do, it wasn't like she was going to stop." He snorted. Glancing at the girl he snarled when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"That doesn't give either of you two reason to fight like that." Akahoshi-sama told him. "You should know better than that."

Kakashi sighed and turned away. "Aren't you going to say sorry to her?" His father asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Kakashi of course shrugged it off.

"Why?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." His father growled at him.

"Not unless she says sorry first for hitting me." He rolled his eyes and pouted even more.

"Akane...you did hit him first." The girl's father sighed.

"Fine...sorry." She muttered.

"Louder I don't think he can hear you."

"I'M SORRY!!!!!" She then ran off and climbed into one of the larger trees. Kakashi stared, that five year old girl had climbed the tree using chakra...he could tell, she did it just like he used to. He watched for a minute and then noticed something small and yellow fly into the tree from the main house towards her. He thought for a moment that it was a canary. Who would have a canary flying free like that?

"Well go on..." His father gave him a small shove.

Sighing under his breath Kakashi made his way to the tree. She hadn't climbed high; he could see her sitting on one of the lower branches.

"I...sorry..." He then looked away from her and walked away briskly. There was no way he was wrong here...no not him.

Kakashi chuckled at the memory. The days he had seen Akane when they were younger were never the best but probably the most fun. Sure they would fight, argue, even go as far as pulling hair but it was mutual. Now things were strange. He knew now why he was so rude to her, why he was so difficult. At the time he had no clue just what he was supposed to do around girls, even though she didn't act like one, at least not in his opinion.

"Kakashi-san?" He heard her call him. It was true though that the day she came back to Konohoa in her teens their feelings somehogood, youw changed. There was still an intense sense of competition between them, but something else.

I saw this in my own students. Naruto sometimes aggravated Sakura to get a reaction. I aggravated Akane-san for the same reasons; I wanted her to pay attention to me...to acknowledge me.

"Kakashi-san?" Now everything was different again. She had the odd ability to take his breath away, to make his hands clammy and his heart race. He wanted to hold her to have her around him for the rest of his life. To feel that way for someone after being alone most of your life...is a little odd and hard to understand.

"KAKASHI!!!" He jumped.

"Eh?" He questioned as he placed a finger in his ear trying to regain his hearing. She really didn't have to yell so loud he could have heard her.

"You've been drifting around in your head." She said waving a hand next to her own head.

Drifting? Oh...

"You mean day dreaming?" He laughed. Sometimes Akane had troubles going back and forth with languages. She usually translated from the one she spoke at home.

"Um...yes that..." She blushed.

"Ha ha, it's alright it sounds like the same thing." He hadn't meant to sigh but he did.

"Are you okay?" She asked looking at him more closely. He blushed strongly behind his mask but made no move to let that fact be known.

"Of course." He smiled but it slowly faded. She knew him better than most people, there was no hiding what was going on, one way or another she'd work it out.

"You know I can't stay here with you..." She looked to the small river. "As much as I want to, it's too dangerous."

"I know..." He then looked at her as she watched the water. Her features showed much of the sadness he felt. Her brows knitted together and her jaw set in a grim frown. "I know I'll see you sometime soon though, it makes this a little easier."

"I guess..." She then turned away. He saw the single tear though. He couldn't let her leave depressed that just wasn't something he could do.

"Come here..." He gently pulled her close as she buried her face into his flack jacket. "Everything will be fine. I'm not going anywhere." He smiled. Having her in his arms like this gave him a strange sense of euphoria. He liked her, she was just right really. Kind and gentle and yet able to be strong willed and tough. She was not someone one needed to worry about. She was a very strong and independent woman.

"I'm sorry...this must seem weak." She pulled away. He smiled softly as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.

To cry is a strength, Naruto taught me that. You're one of the strongest people I know, if only you would let me see this side of you more often.

"No, it shows how you feel, nothing more." He leaned closer and kissed her forehead through his mask. "It takes a lot of bravery to open one's heart so much so that you wear your emotions for all to see." He smiled at her; his left eye was reacting again. He could feel the fabric of his hetai-ate getting moist.

Stop crying...its bad enough I feel as though my heart is being constricted.

That was an understatement. He felt more like his heart was in his throat and as though his stomach was doing flips. Oh how much he wanted to go with her and just stay with her for the rest of his life.

After a few moments the tears stopped and her face turned red. Probably from the memory of the night before or a thought gone off track. He liked the second one but tried not to think anymore of it. "I don't know how this will all work."

"We'll take it one day at a time." Kakashi smiled down at her. Her silence before was because she was thinking, he felt all the extra weight lift from him, although his heart was still bothering him.

"I just..." She was having second guesses, this he had to stop. Second guesses often created mistakes.

"Shh... I know what I'm doing." He said as he pulled her against him and held her head to his chest.

I haven't got a clue what I'm doing, but so far so good. There's no turning back now I'm already in over my head, I was years ago.

He felt her arms come up and hold him as equally tight, "You think you do but we both know you're clueless."

His head fell, "You didn't have to put it that way." He then laughed.

"I should go before everyone starts moving around hmm..." She smiled up at him.

"You sure?" He asked grinning. "I can keep you in my room..."

He laughed even harder when she slapped him on the shoulder. "That sounds horrible."

"Ha ha, maybe...I'll go drop you off at The Valley of the End." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "The men at the gate will leave us alone," He then took her arm.


The death of Orochimaru had left him oddly numb. He had remembered Akane telling him stories on a night a week ago of how the tyrant was after her people for their abilities. She had told him they had daily struggles to keep their own out of his hands. So far not a single soul was lost to that monster, but still at that time Kakashi worried. He knew if Akane had to she would sacrifice herself to save her people, just as he would his. That was when he realized the two of them were not all that different.

Either way he stared at the stone as if it were about to get up and talk to him, or something else would.

"I should have been there..." He trailed off pretty sure the person he was talking to had not and could not ever hear him again.

"He's taking it harder than I am, but he avenged you. We almost didn't make it." He sighed. "I'm worried for Naruto...and..." He left that name out; Asuma would have never known who he was talking about.

The death of his closest friend was still hurting him greatly. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Asuma before he left and he had planned to but he lost the chance, he lost the chance to ever say goodbye; and although it was a few weeks late he felt now was as good a time as ever. It was fitting really, he was the last to say anything to everyone, he was always so late.

"Damn it if I was on the team things would have been different." He hung his head.

No...it probably would have been the same. Those men were monsters as bad as Orochimaru.

Kakashi has barely escaped the last battle with his life and felt rather awakened by it. He needed to train harder. He was still not quite up to par. Problem was his perfect training partner was miles and miles away.

It's times like this I miss her the most, right when I need her here.

Sometimes he wanted to just see her, to reassure himself that she was alright or to help him with training or strategy. Naruto was great but only a power house the kid needed focus. He had a funny feeling that if one day he could get her to train him, Naruto would improve in that department.

"I'm going to do the same I have before. I'm going to keep going. You won't understand why..."

"I'm sure he will." Answered a female voice.

Kakashi's eyes flew wide. He turned slightly while he recovered. "Kurenai?"

"I think we both knew."

"Knew what?" He raised a questioning brow, not sure what to make of the comment.

"That you've been hiding something all these years that no one else was allowed to know. It was why few of us had ever been allowed to see you at home, unless you were out cold...and that was only a few times." She smiled. He eyed her closely, she had yet to show her pregnancy but she had been off duty to avoid injury and loss of the child.

"But..."

"Don't worry, the secret's safe. He knew far more than me."

"About?" He asked now getting skeptical.

What can she possibly know?

"I may have been a rookie at the time but over the years and through stories from Asuma I learned a lot about you."

Here we go. She's looking for someone to fall back on.

"Kurenai I really am not in the mood for twenty questions, please get to the point." He sighed; he just wanted to mourn his best friend. It seemed he was in short supply of those lately.

"The girl...it's been going on for a while hasn't it."

"What?" He asked now pretending to be surprised. "She just got here two weeks ago, she was unconscious in the snow, and I wasn't going to leave her there. She's been gone for a week now." He sighed.

"You miss her."

"In a way." He shrugged. "She was a free spirit. She was a lot like a student of mine, I found it refreshing." She was more than that.

Stop talking about her, its making it harder, its bad enough I'm worried about her.

"Fine say what you want. I still think you're hiding something. Asuma told me there's more to you than we normally see; you tend to lie for silly reasons. Why can't you admit it?"

"Because Kurenai..." Kakashi sighed heavily. She was right and yet now was not the time to admit it to the rest of his village; he gave her points for trying to be a friend. "There's nothing to admit."

With that he clasped his hands together and vanished. As the smoke enveloped him he heard her mutter. "Liar."


Sakura read her hundredth medical file of the day. She hated doing this but it was part of being a medic-nin and she was on her way to being one of the best. The last battle they had left her feeling numbed. Someone she knew had died days before she had joined it and although she had not really done much for fighting the feeling of fear and dread was still thick in the air. For the first time in her life she was worried about Naruto and Kakashi. They were the only remaining members of her team and she loved them deeply still for some reason Kakashi was still weird.

"I don't get it. Why is he like this again, it's like a mood swing of some sort."

For a week Kakashi seemed almost as though he were suicidal. He took on more dangerous missions and then spent less time recovering between them, less time sleeping, eating and even socializing with others; which for him was very little but still he tried usually.

The next week he seemed as though he were alive again, more so than he had ever been. He had walked the streets, and filled up his fridge from what Kurenai said; which rarely happened. Then a week later which was at least a month now after Asuma's death the strange depression appeared once more only this time accentuated by the realization that his best friend was dead.

"This is not healthy."

A shadow descended behind her making her squeal and nearly drop the folder.

"What do you mean not healthy. Is there something I missed?" Tsunade took the folder and looked it over. "It looks fine..." She snapped it shut and placed it on the desk, stamped it and put it in the finished pile. "So what's with all the muttering you're doing, it's distracting. Is there a boy bothering you?" Then she laughed "Aside from Naruto."

"No...not exactly but something is bothering me."

"Oh?"

Sakura had promised Iruka she wouldn't do this but she had to now. She was worried for Kakashi; she was worried he would get himself killed intentionally.

"Well spit it out girl I haven't got all day." She said as she stood straight and crossed her arms.

"Well Kakashi-sensei has been acting really weird." She heard her sensei sigh.

What? It's True. He has been. He's all mopey.

"Sakura you of all people know he's a little strange, better yet the whole village thinks he is."

Sakura nodded, that was true. "No Tsunade-sama he's been acting almost depressed."

"His best friend just died a few weeks ago. Give him time he'll return to normal. I'm sure with a mission he will lighten up."

"Maybe..." Sakura turned back to her work. Either way Kakashi was not acting normal even for someone grieving. It seemed as though he were grieving a while before Asuma died, and then he got better and then it came back. What was causing it?

Maybe Naruto might know. He spends more time with him then I do...or I can ask...wait...what about that picture...did someone else die?

Now she knew she had to ask him.


Nothing in the world was better than reading you favorite book. Nothing was better than reading your favorite book when it was particularly full of smut and nothing ever was better than reading over and over again. But now he was interrupted from his smut and watching Sakura make faces at him as she thought of what to say to him. It baffled him why she came to see him. It confused him why she insisted he not send her away and it confused him more when she asked him not to go anywhere without her or Naruto with him; he thought she meant missions, he hoped that was it since he was leaving with them anyways.

"So this is about?" He raised an eyebrow. He sat silently waiting on his couch as she sat on the chair across from him. She had practically burst into his apartment just to talk to him; he thought this would be important.

"Um..."

He leaned closer expecting her to crumble out of the pressure.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

He stared at her blankly.

Where the hell did that come from?

"Is this really relevant to anything?"

"Just answer me." She seemed to sigh out of annoyance.

"No." He said flatly. He may be lying for all he knew but it was never really decided yet.

"Oh..."

"What is this about Sakura?"

"I was just wondering who she was in that picture, you never really told me. It looks so recent." He watched as her face showed many emotions, one being shame for asking something so foolish, but he felt differently. It was natural to wonder about the people closest to you. He knew he was lousy at letting his students into his life.

"Sakura..."

"It's just for some reason you look at it differently." He sighed and got up and walked to his bedroom and picked it up. He had better explain to her who she was, at least a little, she didn't need details.

"..." He placed it down in front of his student and sat heavily on the couch once more.

"I knew her since I was seven." He said smiling, it was fake. "She was... let's say my competition."

"You mean she was a genius too?"

"Pretty much, but not as quick to pass the academy, for that I was lucky. She had a stubborn streak."

He found he liked telling Sakura about her. For some reason it was helping. If he got this heavy weight off his shoulders before they left to chase after Sasuke the better he was in battle.

"You said earlier that she was still alive, is that true?"

"Yes." He looked to the picture.

How much will I tell her, I can't say too much.

"What's her name?" He was dreading that one.

"I can't tell you." He said smiling at her just the same, in a way this was a fun little game. She should know that twenty questions with Hatake Kakashi will lead you absolutely nowhere.

"So you really won't tell me much; that means your protecting her. From what?"

"Again we aren't going to go there. It's for me to know and you to find out." He smiled back enjoying this more than he should. Sakura's frustration was building.

"You're worried about her." She pointed accusingly.

"Even if I am it shouldn't be of your concern, we all worry about someone."

Sakura nodded slowly and then yawned.

"Be best for you to get some rest, we'll probably be starting a mission tomorrow." Kakashi said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't spend your time worrying about me, I'm fine. You should be working on getting the courage up to face Sasuke." He knew she was dreading the day she would meet him face to face once more.

"I guess you're right."

"Hm-mm." He nodded and picked up his picture and placed it further away. He had a feeling she was up to something.

"I guess then I see you tomorrow."

"That's right." He got up and walked her to the door. "Good night Sakura. Everything will be fine, you'll see." He then gave her a small pat on the shoulder and shut the door as she turned away. It was going to be a very long night.


Fire licked at his feet but he kept moving on. For some reason something compelled him to keep walking through the fire. It burned but it never did any damage, it was only undeniably hot.

"Where am I?"

The terrain was very rocky and at his feet he could see a small river, only this river was red and moved very slowly. He had a feeling he had seen this before somewhere. Kneeling and placing a hand in the water he stared as his hand became red. This was not water but blood.

He now saw to his horror that there wasn't just blood in the water but bodies. Some of them he recognized as shinobi, others as civilians.

Shaking his head he kept going. There was no one left there. Still the sight reminded him of somewhere, sometime in his past.

Something flashed in his memory. He could hear snarels and growls and visions of claws came to mind and the final was the flash of terrifying red eyes searching for prey. It was the demon. That was where a similar scene appeared.

He again shook his head and tried to keep the image out of his mind.

As he kept going he started to recognize the buildings. This was not Konohoa but The Village Hidden in the Wind. This was Akane's home.

Now he felt a sense of urgency. He had to find her. The first place was the estate.

Running to the Akahoshi estate he only found a blazing fire much like the rest of the village and rubble. There were some bodies but he did not recognize them. These were people he had never met.

Walking past it he noticed a faint glow. Stepping closer he found he had to walk through the trees. For some reason the trees here seemed to age, with vines hanging thickly over their branches creating a type of curtain.

Pulling it aside he found someone who was not far from his thoughts.

Sasuke.

He wondered what the youth was doing there. Why was he amidst the bloody scene?

"Sasuke?" Kakashi tried to call him, unsure if this was the right thing.

The boy looked at him and sneered. That was not a good sign.

"You lied to me." His voice came out cold.

"I...What?" He asked. How had he lied.

Two shadowy figures came dragging a cloaked figure.

"You told me there was no one left important to you." Kakashi watched frozen to the spot as the raven haired Uchiha grabbed a fistfull of matted hair. Pulling it back roughly the face of the woman he had spent what felt like an eternity looking for was revealed. Her face was burnt badly, her eyes were bloody and her hair was matted from the attackers she had felled. Kakashi was sure some of it was her own as well.

What had happened to her?

"Orochimaru wanted her for her power, she was pathetically weak. I really can't see the fascination with her."

"Sasuke, don't" Kakashi reached towards her but was still too far to do anything and yet he could not make himself move.

"Don't what? She can't hear you, and she can't even see you. We had to stop her from using her eyes on us."

"She doesn't have Dojutsu you fool." Kakashi tried to yell but it came out as a whimper.

"Look at yourself." Sasuke laughed. "Just the suffering of this woman brings you to your knees.

"Sasuke let her go."

"Why, you lied to me about this." This time he yelled angrilly. It was as though he had done something to Sasuke to cause this reaction, but how can his admission to having no one close alive cause this, he hadn't known she was alive then. Why blam someone for something they could not have known.

"About what." He felt suddenly very weary.

"About having someone you care about left." He then moved back and waved to the other two. They let the woman go.

He watched in silence, he had yet to notice he had fallen to his knees.

"Lets see how long she can survive without her sight."

This was crazy. This was torture. This was sick.

Kakashi tried not to watch but found he secretly wanted her to win. He knew she could fight just as well blind as she could when able to see. But for some reason all she did was stay still, what had made her like that. She was practically already dead. This in itself was worse than torture, it was hell.

"There's no fight in her left." The boy was plain evil...why?

"Sasuke please." It came out as plea. "Let her go, she's suffered enough."

"NO! She will pay the price for your lies." Kakashi's eyes went wide with horror as the chidori appeared before him. He wanted to scream at her, he wanted to tell her to run but it was too late. He watched as the lightning blade collided with her body. It was a clean blow. Sasuke had used enough force to go right through her and now she hung limply on his arm.

Kakashi felt his body clench. He felt his nails break the skin of his palms...

"AHHHH!!" He bolted upright and promptly hit the floor. That was by far the worst dream he had ever had in his life. Even the Kyuubi was nothing compared to that.

"Ow..." Kakashi then felt all the pain he had in the dream wash over him. Huddling against his bed he pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on his knees. Tears ran down his face but he didn't care.

It was just a dream. I know for a fact Sasuke is not that evil, he would never be able to kill her; she's to close to the people he cares for. She'll be safe...right?

Regaining his composure Kakashi got up and got dressed quickly.

A little bit of training will help me forget that dream.


He sighed. No he would never forget that one; it was far too realistic for him to forget. Now more than ever he knew he had to keep an eye out for any signs of her. It was safer to tell her to stay away from Sasuke than to let her decide on her own; she didn't know the boy as he did.

As he entered Tsunade's office he took note of Naruto's worried and confused look. Apparently they were told the plan; it was now his turn to tell them the finer details. Still some other things were also on his mind.

Please stay alive as long as you can. I want to see the day you return.

Something told him he would see her return but he also knew there would be hardships. As he glanced to Naruto he couldn't help but wonder what Naruto worried about most. Was it the comrades he had now or was it Sasuke the boy who had run to gain power? Either way Kakashi knew his worries were just as futile as theirs. What will happen will happen there was little he could do now until the time came.

TBC...


A/N: Please review! For fun feel free to tell me what you think will come next. When will Kakashi see her next, what will he do if he finds her?