"So... now he goes by the name Haruno?" Kakashi uncharactaristically broke the silence after dinner that evening.

"You already knew he was one of the twins born to Haruno and Hatake," Jiraiya shrugged. "He just didn't want her to call him grandpa while he's still twenty years old."

"She did call him grandpa."

"That was Sakura's fault," Jiraiya pointedly looked in her direction.

"Well so fucking what?" Sakura grouched. "She already knew who her grandfather was. Who's going to believe her in her time? I know you will, Kakashi, but nobody else will even consider that the girl is telling the truth. She'll probably be told off for making up stories to get attention. Kids get told off like that a lot."

"She's a sweet kid, and you got her in trouble."

"She's a sweet kid who's just opened up a door to a lot of possibilities to her father. Some good, some bad. She's going to have to toughen up quicker now. Besides, Jiraiya, how old were you and Minato when you two started time-traveling?"

Jiraiya shut his mouth for a moment, thinking. "He and Kakashi both did it pre-birth, dragging their mothers along with them. I was about two before anyone started teaching me."

Jiraiya watched as both Kakashi and Sakura paled a little, for different reasons, but refused to look at each other.

"That girl probably doesn't have anyone to train her in her time," he continued. "Kakashi only learned to turn it off, completely. He can't help her. The rest of the Hatake are supposedly dead. The Haruno won't be teaching their daughters how to do it. Not unless you decide to stick it out here, learn, and then pass that on to that girl. I can teach you properly."

"Then why haven't you offered before?"

"Oh, I'm still not offering. Not yet."

Sakura flew out of her chair and sprinted out the door, running flat out for the training grounds. Training Grounds 3 were just as she had seen them the first time Kakashi gave team seven the bell test. One day she would destroy that ground. She would make it unrecognizable to the people of this time. Right now, though, she sat down by the three new log poles, leaning on one for the familiarity of it. It was comfortable, soothing, to be here. Here, she could immagine Kakashi pinning Naruto, twisting his arm around to point Naruto's own kunai at his back. "I still haven't said 'start' yet."

She sat and listened to the breeze through the trees, focused in on the grass tickling her legs as the wind bent it back and forth. Ah, the wind... She remembered the strong air currents Naruto would put out with his Rasen Shuriken. They were strong enough to cause mini-weather events. She almost imagined that was him practicing throwing kunai in the trees off to her left. She could hear the hits and occasional miss clearly. The misses were greeted with curses, and the hits with silence.

Curious, Sakura dragged herself back up and went to check it out.

What she found was Uchiha Sasuke with a new set of targets in a vastly different and more complicated set up than the last time she'd helped him train. He was missing more and more as she watched. Realizing this, she watched him more closely than the targets. He was working himself to death. He was wobly, eyes slightly unfocused, sweating so much his clothes were drenched. Yet, despite all this, the bento set beside his back pack remained untouched.

"All right you idiot," Sakura spoke out, catching his attention. "Sit down and eat before you pass out. A passed out shinobi is a useless shinobi."

He blinked at her a couple times, then looked around as if seeing where he was for the first time. "But... I didn't bring anything."

"Yes, you did," she pointed at the food sitting there, waiting.

"No..." he looked confused. "Did you bring that?"

Now it was Sakura's turn to be confused. Someone else must have seen him here earlier and left the gift. Thinking back, it could very well have been her, or Ino, or Tenten, or any number of girls that wanted his attention.

"If you didn't bring it, I'm worried about eating it," the boy admitted.

Yeah, she would be, too. "Let me check it out. I can detect poisons if they're there."

"Thank you, Sakura-san," he sighed, following her.

Sakura saw the girly handwriting on the attatched note, recognized it as her own, and crushed it up before even checking for poison. Hell, she didn't need to check for anything except ants. Never once had she intentionally tried to hurt him... not until he hurt Naruto, that was.

"What was that?" he asked, watching as the paper burned in her hands. Yeah, she had picked up another elemental jutsu, one Kakashi didn't need to know about just yet.

"A love note," she answered honestly, with distain. "Don't worry about it. Your food is safe. And look! They brought a whole gallon of water for you! Don't drink it all at once, though. That's not a good idea at any time."

"Sometimes, having fan-girls can pay off," Sasuke sighed, opening the bento box to see... normal food? "Wow. This person was extra nice. No sugary, pink crap. I'm going to have to find out who this girl is. I might just love her already."

Sakura tried not to let him see her fidget. Right... that was a bento she had left him. It was probably one of the times she didn't have much allowance money left to splurge with, but wanted to help him anyway. Considering what Himawari had said earlier in the day... Yeah, maybe he just would love that girl one day. Just maybe...

Sakura shook the thought from her head. He would love the girl his own age. He would be a better person. The woman standing before him now never saw that side of him. Not once. Hearing the word love come from his lips awas foreign without sarcasm behind it.

"Do you need help putting all this away for the night?" Sakura suggested. "I can get it for you while you eat."

"I should do it myself. You might miss one or two that are hidden."

"Fair enough."

"Why are you here alone? You don't often train alone."

"I didn't come here to train. I just... felt useless and lost... It really hurts to feel useless. You know?"

He shook his head. "No. I have a clear cut purpose in life. I have goals, and I know what I have to do to reach them. That's why I'm out here. I'm making sure I'm not useless when the time comes. It could come at any time. I have no time to be useless."

There was the Sasuke that Sakura remembered so much. "Just what are your goals?"

"Kill Itachi."

"That's only one goal."

"Find the girl that sent this bento and marry her. I'll give her lots of kids if she keeps feeding me like this. I want a girl that knows how to give me space. I'll give her whatever she wants in life. She can have her own career, her own dreams and ambitions to work towards and achieve... just as long as she stays out of the way when it comes to Itachi. I don't want the two to get mixed up at all. She can't see me kill him. She can't ever see me kill anyone."

That was... wow! Lots of words of love for someone who fed him a simple meal and darted off unseen.

"So... you want a civilian? Only a civillian might not ever see you kill."

"Do you know the name on the note?"

"Yeah, and she's no civillian," Sakura informed. "She's no push-over either. She can be scary when she's mad."

"Good. That's good," Sasuke commented with a full mouth. "People dislike me for being Itachi's brother. She'll have to be strong to deal with it."

"And to deal with you," Sakura pointed out. "If you only focus on Itachi, you'll possibly drive her away before you get a chance to be with her."

"Too bad. I'll have to pick some fan-girl if that happens."

"Please, don't do that to yourself," Sakura warned. "No fan-girl will ever give you space, then she'll get sick of you, and toss you out with the trash before you know what hit you."

That brought the sour look back to the unusually talkative pre-teen's face. There was her childhood Sasuke again. The world was back to normal just this once.

"Sakura-san, thank you for checking the food," Sasuke gave a slight bow, then stood up. "I think Iruka-sensei will be upset if I don't turn in my homework again."

"That he will," she smiled at him. "Good night, Sasuke-kun."

"Don't call me that!" he bemoaned as she walked off giggling. Oh, yes, this was the time boys really started to hate affection.

Sakura made it to the edge of the clearing before she noticed the figure leaning against one of the oak trees to her right. Bright orange book in hand, and crutches under each arm.

Wait... Crutches?

"What did you do in the two hours I've been gone to land yourself a new set of those?" Sakura demanded, stomping her way over to him. "Is this Gai-san's doing again?"

Two matching eyes looked up over the book's edge at her. Two matching steel eyes. Sakura was stopped in her tracks.

The book was put away without the place being marked. He was looking at her carefully, no mask, yet dressed in seriously damaged battle gear. The crow's feet had started to appear around his strangly matching eyes, and his hands were shaking as he put them to the crutches for steadiness. Kakashi was nervous.

"So... Minato brought you to me," Sakura spoke softly, almost afraid she might spook him.

"Against my wishes," he answered. Sakura now knew, by the tone of his voice, that Kakashi wasn't nervous and scared. He was angry. "Then he left me out here in the woods to try to find someone on my own. When I saw Sasuke-teme over there, I wondered how long it would be before you showed up. I remembered you were training him back then... now, I mean."

"Why are you calling him that?" she asked, curious.

"I saved you from falling into a lava pit, and he didn't bat an eye when you threw yourself onto Madara's blade, but you still fucked him the night after things calmed down. That bastard got to you first... I thought you said..."

"Wait, stop!" Sakura put out her hands. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kakashi. That's not what I remember. I mean... yeah, you did save me in that lava world, and no he didn't blink when I pretty much did something that would be suicide for others, but... I sure as hell didn't end up sleeping with him. Not ever. But... I met someone today. I met Naruto's daughter. Do you remember?"

"That idiot still doesn't understand anything about who actually loves him," Kakashi sighed, looking down at the leaves at his feet, a few brave blades of grass poked at his toes.

"Kakashi, Minato probably brought you here to talk me into something," Sakura reminded. "Want to go home so we can talk about it?"

"No," he shook his head. "No, I don't feel up to seeing the me that gets to have sex with you right now, not when I can't."

"For your information, we've only done it once in the three years I've been stuck here."

"Huh. Maybe I should go home and teach that young fucker to fuck more. He won't have you forever."

"Why? Nobody seems to want to help me get home. Even if I did come home, there would be another one of me... someone who's apparently going to marry Sasuke."

"Says who?"

"Says Naruto's daughter."

"Oh... well, still. I should get as much sex with you as we can both stand before you leave again."

"You're not telling me why I leave, or where I go?"

"No. I can say that I both cursed and loved that day every year since. It sucked loosing you, but the result was wonderful. I wish I hadn't missed so much. So, go home, kick Jiraiya-sama out again, and get busy, damn it! That, or I show you what this old man can do even when in crutches."

Sakura blushed and looked away. He had that look she forgot about. It was the look he had the evening after they were married. He was bold, but blushing just as much as her. For once he was showing it, going maskless for her. Sakura wondered if it was Minato who convinced him to do so now.

"Kakashi, please tell me I can come back to you. Please tell me, if I should ever find my way back to my own time, no matter how different it is, you'll have a spot for me at your place?"

"I promise," he said earnestly. "I made that promise years ago when you left. I knew you didn't mean to. I wasn't your fault, your choice, or even your accident. Someone else took you away, and you did what you had to to make it. I'm not angry about you leaving. I'm sad and lonely without you, though. I can't wait for the day you come home to me and stay for the rest of our days. The me of this time won't tell you, but he loves you. He's scared of loosing you. Minato makes those fears worse every time he visits. That's why you have to stay here for now. The young me isn't quite ready in his heart for team seven."

"And when you are?"

"Then you can leave this time where it belongs for us. In the past. You don't need to relive all the bad shit that happens. Just think of what Konoha could do with two Haruno Sakuras in the hospital? We will, of course, have to come clean with everyone we know about our real history. Maybe then... Maybe you might consider having a family with me. I can't have kids of my own now, but we can always adopt. Wars always leave orphans. I'd like to take a couple in, but only if I have some help. Tsunade-sama is pushing to have me be Hokage."

"Well, you certainly can't be seen becoming Hokage while in crutches!"

"Yeah, well, the time of the medics is precious, but not as precious as their chakra. I refused to let any of them use it on me. It's you or nobody, and you are busy with... others."

"Well, I am here now. So sit down, and let me take care of this."

===========================+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=========================

Sakura returned home to find her bed was occupied. It seemed the younger, mismatch eyed Kakashi decided her pillows were better for his face than his own. The way he clung to the body pillow she usually used to keep from sliding into the crack between the bed and the wall looked desperate. He held on tightly, knuckles white. The worst part of it was that he still had on his shoes. She hated shoes in her bed, even house shoes.

She cleared her throat to get his attention. Automatically, he reached under the pillow for a kunai, but, it seemed, he was more startled to find that there wasn't one there.

"I don't need them," she answered the unspoken question. "Get your shoes off my sheets. I bought those. You're not allowed to get gritty stuff on them."

Rolling his eye, Kakashi kicked his shoes off the foot of the bed, then flopped back down, making a space for her near the wall where she usually slept when they shared the bed.

Sakura didn't know why she didn't just resign herself to the couch, but memories of the lonely, older Kakashi from earlier in the day pushed her to join him. Leaving her own shoes closer to the door, Sakura stripped down to her t-shirt and shorts and crawled in, shoving the body pillow back to its intended position.

"Why are you in here?" she asked softly. "Is Jiraiya-sama sleeping in your room again?"

He shook his head. "No, he's out for the night. When you left earlier, I wasn't sure you would come back."

"Jiraiya-sama can be a jerk sometimes," Sakura stated.

"He has his reasons for not helping you," Kakashi reminded. "It's the same with Minato-sensei. They won't tell me what it is, and the only thing I can think of is that you're going to accidentally travel farther back in time again. You're going to leave me, and you're not going to come back. It has to be important to them, whatever it is."

"Well, I'm here now," she sighed, again remembering the meeting earlier. Minato had brought him to her, but a young woman, not Himawari, with dark hair and glasses, took him back. The woman looked rather uneasy about being near either of them, but her statement that he should return to his own time was spot on. Sakura wondered if that girl was another of Naruto's children, or, perhaps, his grandchild. She knew of no girls around their own age with such deep wells of black for their pupils.

"May I hold you?" Kakashi's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, sure."

Sakura turned her back to him, allowing him to cuddle up behind her, snaking an arm between her breasts to pull her closer to his chest. The position was meant to be intimate, not sexual, but Sakura couldn't help but feel certain... parts... pressed in certain places. It was then that she realized just how much her body wanted him. They'd only been together once since she came here, but it was enough to make her hyper-aware of his body. It felt good to have him pressed against her, but Sakura reminded herself that he was tired. It was late, and he had pushed himself hard between breakfast and lunch with a long work-out that the other guys, Sakura, and even Himawari for a short while, joined in on here and there. Only Kakashi kept moving. He had something weighing on his mind more than the others, and movement was the only thing that might help. There was no telling how much more he had done after she ran off.

Sakura laid there and let her heart pound away, staying still and forcing her body to relax into his so that he could get some rest.

Kakashi wasn't resting, though. He was happily taking in her warmth despite the evening heat. She smelled lightly of sweat and the outdoors, and it was clear she wasn't actually tired. Her body was tense, and he could tell there was no way she could truly relax right now. He didn't know what was keeping her from resting, but her unease was keeping him awake, too. So, he decided to shove her over onto her stomach. Sakura protested only momentarily, for his hands were quick to start massaging her lower back. This elicited a low moan of comfort from her lips, buried as they were in the mattress. Happy to have found a potential relief for her, Kakashi continued to work at a couple knots that slowly released. Not yet satisfied with his work, he moved down to her calves, working each one until they became putty in his hands. Figuring how much she would protest if he stopped there, he began working her thighs.

"Oh, what did I do to deserve this?" Sakura muttered languidly.

"Shh, just enjoy," he hushed.

By the time he moved on up to her shoulders and arms, Sakura was lightly snoring, sending a highly pleased feeling through Kakashi's chest. He had never attempted to do something like this before. To him, it had always seemed impossible to get a kunoichi to let him continue to touch her bare skin while she slept. Not without sex, anyway.

That brought something else to mind. He had smelled arrousal on her earlier, but she hadn't acted on it. A part of him wished she had, but the other part said she had reasons not to. Damning the possible consequences, he began to simply trail a finger over her exposed back and sides. He just wanted to touch her for now. Because of her medical abilities, most of her scars were invisible; her skin was pure silk except on her hands and feet where callouses were beneficial for their profession. She was so very beautiful to him.

His hand trailed down her side, fingers dancing over her panty line until his whole hand cupped her ass and tested the muscles underneath. Firm, hard earned, genuine. Those were the words that came to mind. Sakura squirmed a little, rolling over onto her back, slightly away from him. She was still asleep, but now her front was exposed from just below her breasts all the way to the top of her pubic hairs where her shorts sat. Rather unable to stop himself, since his body seemed to move on its own, Kakashi planted a kiss right above that line.

The scent of her arrousal filled his nose again. So close to the source, he had no defense, and felt the pull low in his gut to just keep touching her, kissing her.

Sakura awoke to heat. Her whole body was warm, but especially so between ther thighs. Soft, wet, pressure was being applied at just the right point. Before she knew what, exactly, was happening, her back was arching, and an orgasm, pulling a low moan from her lips, brought a burst of euphoria that was only extended by the now suckling sensation at her groin.

Still breathless, she barely recognized the butterfly kisses making their way up her body to her jaw.

"I want inside you," the harsh whisper of a familiar voice sounded in her ear. "Please."

"Yes," she breathed in reply.

All she could really do, at this point, was hold on.

Their bodies joined quickly, and Kakashi's mouth had a lock on the spot where her neck and shoulder met, biting in slightly. He didn't pause for a moment like last time. No, he just surged on, thrusting over and over in a one-sided goal to reach his own completion She had already peaked once, and he was feeling left behind. Fast and rough now, he moved within her drenched folds until his balls tightened and he could no longer pace out what became jerky movements.

It didn't matter to her. The very knowledge that he was spilling inside her, the feeling of his heat welling up and over, sticky, changing the scent on the air, pulled her into another, sharper orgasm. Even when he was done himself, Sakura was still clinging to him, contorted to mould her body to his, her inner walls clenching and unclenching his waning shaft erratically for several seconds. If he still had the energy, such sensations would have started him getting hard again already.

But he didn't have that strength right now. Right now, he felt like he was going to pass out on top of her. Never before hat that happened to him, and it had become almost a sensory overload. It was one he wasn't soon going to break, so he decided to just lay atop her for a while, bodies still joined, as her hips tried pushing up into him every few seconds, reassuring them both of their continued connection.

The silence wasn't thick, but it sure wasn't comfortable for long.

Sakura broke the quiet first, "I'm sorry..."

"What for?" he muttered into the bruise now forming where he'd bitten her.

"I need to pee... You're on my bladder."

"Oh, yeah," he grunted, pushing himself up onto his knees between her calves. "I should try to do that myself."

Sakura watched him start stumbling from the foot of the bed towards the door. She was going to ask him for help up, but there really wasn't much point if he was as wobbly as she felt. The thought brought a giggle to her sleepy, satisfied mind.