Ok here's chapter 11, hope you like it. Thank you Milafox12 and Laurie for reviewing. Got to go my stepdads about to kick my ass off the computer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 11

Saying that I was unenthusiastic about a extended mission with Anko is a major understatement. I was dreading it. Kakashi and I ran home to grab a few things after waving goodbye to Gemna and Anko. The two didn't do anything overly friendly. They barely acted like the other was even there let alone like they were dating. Maybe they were just trying to stay together for the mission, a lot of the time Tsunade wouldn't let couples go together on missions; said that feelings could endanger the mission. Kinda made me wonder why she was letting me go, but with Ino gone and Shizune stuck with her kids I guess there wasn't really a lot of options for a medic.

"60 seconds Haruno", Kakashi told me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at his order, captain or not he was still ridiculous.

"Hai, taichou", I said sarcastically while heading over to my duffel bag. I grabbed a few uniforms out and made sure to pack a few soldier and blood replenishing pills. I walked over to Kakashi's closet and looked around to where he kept his weapons since most of mine were still at home. I turned around when I felt the tap of cold metal against my shoulder.

"Looking for these", Kakashi asked holding up two pouches full of kunai and shuriken. I gave him a small smile of thanks and grabbed the bags attaching one to each of my thighs since my medical bag occupied my waist. Kakashi was already packed with a small bag and we gave the apartment one last glance before heading to the door.

"You sure you can handle this", Kakashi questioned me turning around to show me one concerned eye. I knew he was nervous but I also knew that if there were a bunch of kidnapped people that needed me help then I had to go.

"I'm sure", he didn't look reassured so I gave him a small smile that seemed to pacify him and he let me outside. We took off towards the gate and I couldn't help but notice how quiet Konaha was. The only sounds I could hear were the dull murmurs of tv sets and an occasional shriek of laughter from a few of Konaha's partiers. It was almost hard to believe the whole city would be packed in a few hours not that we'd see it. We would probably be surrounded by miles of forest for the next few days until we reached the village we were going to.

"We were the first ones to arrive at the gate which wasn't surprising since Kakashi's apartment was only a few streets away. We plopped our bags down on the ground and waited for Gemna and Anko to arrive.

"We didn't have to wait long before the snake princess showed up. She had a small pack on and had full ANBU gear, her mask being that of a snake (could she be any more obvious). She leaned against one of the pillars on the side of the gate and leaned her head back. She seemed to be resting and had to admit it was a good idea but I was always too hyped up before a mission to sleep. It didn't help that this was the biggest mission I'd been on since Naruto retired to jounin. I looked at my watch and saw it was a quarter past two. Id been up for over an hour and I knew we'd probably run till dark. I shivered a little at the breeze that was coming in. It was late October and it was starting to cool down, not fun when you were standing around. Kami where the hell was Ge-

"Sorry I'm late Shizune wanted to give me a goodbye present", he winked making what remained of my dinner want to come up. No one wants to hear about two of their closest friends doing it especially on only 6 hours of sleep.

"TMI", Anko growled rousing herself from her brief nap. Her eyes looked a little blurry even though she couldn't have been asleep for more than five minutes. Kakashi and I grabbed our packs off the ground and gave a wave to the guards on duty before taking off towards the trees, Anko and Gemna still arguing behind us. I rolled my eyes at their antics and tried focusing on my chakra control even though running on branches was mere genin play.

"They're mature aren't they", Kakashi joked keeping pace with me while the other two fell a little behind until we could barely hear them. I had a feeling it'd be like this the whole way there and I certainly wasn't complaining about extra time with Kakashi.

"Oh like you're any better", I scolded making him gasp in mock anger.

"How am I immature", he asked arrogantly making me giggle a little. As cold as he could be he made up for it in these rare relaxed moments.

"Well reading porn for starters", I teased making him chuckle a little.

"How does reading explicit material make you immature and besides Icha Icha isn't porn its-

"A romance novel that shows the depth of human emotion and the tragedy of being human. I got it", he huffed at me which only seemed to further my amusement. He started muttering about how disrespectful today's youth was which only made me scoff.

"What do you mean by today's youth, last time I checked you weren't that much older than me", I replied in response to his murmurs. He gave a small smile at that.

"I'm middle-aged", he joked although I had a feeling that the fact bothered him.

"35 isn't middle aged", I protested. He rolled his eyes and sped ahead of me making me go faster. Soon we were racing and I'm pretty sure if there were any enemy ninja nearby my laughter would have given away our location.

"Trying to get us killed Kitty-chan" he said referring to my mask. I frowned even though he couldn't see it but I'm sure he could tell.

"It's a tiger…Puppy-kun", he glared at me and adjusted his wolf mask self-consciously only fueling my amusement. I stopped laughing when I detected a kunai heading towards our direction. I hopped out of the way and saw Kakashi do the same thing. We pulled out a few shuriken but dropped our guard when we saw the attacker.

"Sorry your flirting was just making me sick", Gemna mocked making me hurl my shuriken at him. He ducked and Anko appeared out of the trees and caught them all and tossed them back to me. I gave a nod of thanks before putting them in my pouch and taking off again with Anko and Kakashi right on my heels.

"Hey wait up guys. I was only kidding, no need to take it so personally geez", the senbon user ran until he was next to me and started keeping pace. I kept my head forward ad refused to look at him more for my own entertainment then actual anger.

"Oh come on Sakura I was only kidding", I bonked him on the head and if he didn't have the mask on I'm sure he would have had the look of a kicked puppy.

"It's Tiger-san to you Otter-san unless you want every enemy ninja in a 50-mile radius knowing our team is out here", I scolded making I'm scratch the back of his head. I swear he could be such a child.

"Whoops my bad Sa- I mean Tiger-san", he bounded ahead of me and I could swear he was skipping. Having a daughter must make men more girly, then again Gemna hadn't exactly been manly in the first place. Any man who spends more time on his hair then I do definitely has a feminine side.

"Wow Gemna that's scary an ANBU skipping, all our enemies will cower in fear", Anko remarked sarcastically making the older man resume running as normal. If she wasn't trying to steal the man I loved most in the world we might even get along.

"Come on kitty you're falling behind", then again I'd probably think she was a bitch anyway.

"Alright let's stop", Kakashi said taking off slightly off our path to go to a nearby stream. We all let put a sigh of relief and took off after our captain. It was around 11 and wed been running at top speed for nearly twelve hours with no breaks. We needed to get to the village as fast as possible before another person could be kidnapped. I knew the only reason we were stopping is because most of us hadn't eaten since dinner and chakra exhaustion was only more taxing on an empty stomach.

"Tiger-san you think it's too early for soldier pills", Kakashi asked me as he picked a few twigs off the forest floor and set them aflame with a fast seal.

"Yes wolf-san we should wait until we're in the village before we take any. We can only take a few at a time and we may need them later. We still don't know who's taking the villagers or where they are", he nodded in agreement and we sat down. I pulled a few food pouches out and put them in a pot over the flame. We watched in silence for a minute or two before I sensed that Anko had something to say.

"Is there something wrong Snake-san", she seemed to be lost for words for a few minute before glaring into the fire.

"I already now who's doing it and I know you guys suspect it too. Why can't we just admit out loud that its Orochimaru's doing", she yelled the last part and I thanked Kami we had put a sound barrier around them camp or everyone in fire country would have heard her. From Gemna's uneasy shifting next to me he was thinking the same thing.

"Snake-san you need to calm do-

"Don't tell me to calm down! That bastard ruined my life and I'll be damned if he's still alive. Don't you care he's the reason that student of yours is worm food isn't he-

"ENOUGH", I shrunk back as Kakashi stood up the firing roaring up in response to its masters emotions. Anko leaned back a little Kakashi's dark aura radiated off of him while he clenched his fists. I knew Sasuke was a sore topic and I winced as memories of last night's dream infiltrated my thoughts.

"Kakashi", I whimpered pleading for him to calm down. He let out a sigh and the fire went back to normal.

"I apologize", with that he stormed off towards the creek. I looked around at my teammates hesitantly before running after him.

"Kakashi"

"Kakashi"

"KAKASHI", a hand closed off around my mouth and pulled me to the ground. I started kicking and biting trying to get out until the familiar scent of pine filled my nostrils. I turned as much as I could in the hold I was in and looked into the face of a very amused copy-nin.

"You know we end up like this too often, except last time I was calling your name", we both sobered up as the events of earlier in the week washed over us.

"You ever going to tell me what you were thinking back there", he said his breath fanning my ear. I couldn't help but wonder if he did know how I felt and was using this as some kind of twisted form of interrogation.

"No", I told I'm and broke out of his hold. I walked toward the river but before I could get there he pulled me back almost to his chest.

"Sakura how can I help you if you don't let me", he sounded pained but I knew if I broke down there was a possibility I wouldn't get up again. I let out a bitter laugh that made him look confused.

"Wasn't I the one chasing you and where's your mask we're still on a mission taichou", I spat out tryong to break his grip.

"Why I have nothing to hide, do you Sa-ku-ra", he tore my mask off and the sudden fresh air made my cheeks feel especially cool letting me know they were covered in tears. He looked a little shocked at my current state of being and a few sobs broke out as I tried unsuccessfully to pull away from him.

"Why can't you just let me go", I asked him after giving up and sitting down on the ground. He gave me a sad smile before cupping my cheek in his hand.

"Because I'm a selfish man Sakura", he admitted sadly. The thought of him being selfish made me give a bitter laugh.

"You selfish ha, how can a man who constantly put others lives before his own be selfish"

"When he does to try to make up for previous mistakes that makes it much less noble", he said bitterly sitting down next to me.

"I don't think so I think if he admits his mistakes and tries to atone for them then he isn't selfish", he stared at me with a look I couldn't quite name but made me shiver for a reason that had nothing to do with the cold weather.

"Really", he asked then leaned in close to me. "What about if the man was in love with a woman 14 years his junior", I couldn't move as he leaned away from me. He gave me a sad look before turning to walk away.

"Hm, didn't think so", I didn't move as he walked away. I didn't move until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Sakura we need to go, its time to leave", I looked up and saw a crudely drawn snake mask staring back at me.

"He told you didn't he", she asked wearily. I could only give a small nod before bursting into tears and holding onto her shirt. I expected her to push me off but instead she rubbed soothing circles on my back.

We sat like that for a few minutes before we heard Gemna calling for us. I rubbed my eyes and stood up, Anko holding me up. She handed me my mask and I put it on before running into the trees toward the man who had once again shattered my world.

But for now I wasn't a broken woman who was just confessed to, I was the tiger, a strong being capable of anything and known for its strength. But if that was true why did I feel so fragile.

Why did I feel as if my weakness had returned?

Alright that's it; sorry it's a little depressing you know what they say things have to get worse before they get better. Hope it's true for Sakura. Next chapter is them arriving at the village. Please review and stay tuned for Chapter 12

-Sakura478