A/N: Thank you all for your reviews!

Uh-oh! Sakura's been revealed! I wonder how Kakashi will react………hehehe. Actually, I already know how he'll react. But you are all wondering. So, why not find out by reading this next chapter.

Read and Review, please!

Naruto-Heart of Honor: Twelve

Pain.

That's what Sakura was feeling as she was waking up from her dreamless sleep. Her shoulder really ache and she was feeling tired but she was forcing herself to wake up anyway. She could hear angry voices talking to one another but in a low tone so they wouldn't wake her up. The words were blurred though so she didn't understand anyway. But as she groaned, they stopped and it went quiet. A few seconds later, she felt someone gently touch her forehead with a cool wet cloth.

"…..up….ura……" Someone's voice spoke out before it slowly began to clear the more she awoken. "Sak……can you…..me?"

Sakura's eyes flickered a little and she caught a quick glimpse of the tent ceiling before she closed her eyes again. She waited for a long moment, listening to someone's voice, possibly Minato's voice before she tried to open her eyes again and this time she saw him sitting above her, looking down at her with concern. "Minato-sama." She muttered before wincing from the pain in her shoulder.

"Don't speak." Minato told her, not smiling as she thought he would be. "You're still a little weak and it took a while to getting the snake's poison out. But you're healing just fine. With a little more rest, you should be fine in an hour or two." He then glanced away from her, elsewhere. Sakura couldn't stop herself from looking as well. In the corner, stood Kakashi, who was watching her with a very serious expression on his face. He did not look happy at all.
Sakura didn't seem to notice the problem though. She was happy to see him there and looking well. She even sat up a little without realizing the major problem. "Kakashi…." She paused when Minato placed a hand onto her bare shoulder and tried to push her back down.

It was when his hand was touching her shoulder did she notice that she was wearing only the bandages around her chest, hiding her curves. Alarmed, she grabbed the blanket and covered herself.

"He knows." Minato muttered not able to look at her.

Sakura winced as she quickly looked up at the serious look on Kakashi's face as he just stared at her with such a hard look. His arms were folded across his chest and he just stood there, almost glowering at her. "I….I can explain." She tried to begin.

Slowly Kakashi shook his head as he just glared at her. He didn't say anything for a moment before he slightly turned his head when Ibiki came in. The more serious Shinobi took one look at Sakura before looking at Minato with the same hard look on Kakashi's face. "Minato-san, you knew about this girl, didn't you?" He asked. Minato turned around and gave his student and the other Shinobi a nod. He didn't know what he could say. "Yes. I knew from the very beginning."

"I am very disappointed, master." Kakashi finally spoke, yet his voice was very quiet under his mask. "You should have told me."

Sakura swallowed hard as she continued to cover herself. She knew that she was in trouble. And Minato had somewhat lost a little respect from his student. She didn't think she could bear that happening. "Kakashi, please. I was only….."

Kakashi gave her a cool look as he turned his eye back onto her while he was dropping his arms. "I don't really want to hear it from you, Zaku. Or should I just call you by your real name. Whatever you have to say will probably be only lies, for you seem to be very good at doing that." He said coolly before turning away and walking out of the tent with Ibiki. Sakura was somewhat hurt by what he said but she was not going to let him get away from her without hearing her out. With a frown, she looked quickly around for any spare clothes but found nothing but one of the Jounin vests, probably belonging to Minato. She didn't even ask for permission to use it. She only grabbed it and pulled it on, without even glancing at the golden blonde Shinobi. She quickly climbed to her feet, ignoring the dizzy spells she was getting.

"Sakura, don't move around. You're still weak." Minato said but he was ignored.

Sakura quickly zipped up the vest and followed Kakashi out into the evening air. She caught sight of her friends, who looked rather alarmed to see her up so soon but she completely ignored them. Even if they were standing up and hurrying over to see if she was okay. "Kakashi, wait! Just hear me out!" She called as she hurried after the silver haired Jounin. "Hatake Kakashi, just stop, dammit!"

That actually stopped everyone. Every one of the Shinobi stopped what they were doing and looked around at Sakura with alarm. Even her friends. They didn't know what was going on. They didn't know the truth. All they had known was that "Zaku" had been hurt pretty bad and only a few people were allowed into the medical tent where a medic had been healing their friend. Not even the other Elite. Only Minato, Kakashi, Ibiki and the medic knew about Sakura's true gender.

However, Sakura's outburst had stopped Kakashi.

With his back still facing her, the Elite stopped and just stood there, his shoulders falling and rising as he breathed steadily. He could feel Sakura's glare into his back but he still didn't say anything. Sakura just balled up her fists as she watched him stand there, taking no notice of the other men. She even ignored Minato who was at her side trying to get her back in the tent. She only shook her head at him. "Minato-sama, please. I have to say what's on my mind. I can't stand it if he doesn't look at me, or listen." She said sternly before she took another step towards Kakashi. "Kakashi……"

"Do not call me Kakashi. I am Hatake-taichou to you, girl." Kakashi spoke in a low voice before he turned around and glared at her. "As for what you have to say to me, you have lied to me and every single man here in this camp, Haruno Sakura! You have deceived us and made us all out of fools."

Hearing what Sakura's real name was, several of the men just stared with shock. All but Neji and Shino. They only looked away, knowing that this was bad. Naruto, of course, was clueless as ever. He just looked between Sakura and Kakashi before he moved forward. "Zaku, what's going on? I don't get it. Why is Kakashi-sensai calling you….."

Sakura only glanced at her blonde friend before she looked back at Kakashi, her chin raised high. She was not going to play this game anymore. It was time to tell the truth. "My name isn't Zaku. It's Sakura. I am a woman, not a man and I don't have a twin brother." She ignored startled murmurs and ignored as some of her friends looked stunned. "I joined this army to save my father, Daisuka. He was too old to join the army and I didn't have any brothers. I love my father too much. I didn't want to see him die. So I took his place." She was speaking with a little pain and her voice was trembling but she would not look away from Kakashi. "I am so sorry, Kakashi, that I lied to everyone. But I had to. I……"

Kakashi shook his head as he lift his head and continued to glare at her. "Why should any of us believe you?! You've lied. You could be lying now!" He snapped.

Minato now frowned as he moved forward a step. "She's telling the truth, Kakashi. She is Haruno Sakura. I know because I knew about all along." He told his former student. Kakashi looked at him, still rather hard. He couldn't say anything too harsh to this man. He was his superior after all. But still….."Master, forgive me. But you have lost respect from me. You should have told me who she was. A woman has no place in a man's war. She could have been killed."

"But I wasn't. I helped fight. I helped defeat Orochimaru, Kakashi! And don't be angry with Minato-senpai! He didn't tell anyone because I begged him not to!" Sakura said rather loudly.

Kakashi turned away to start walking away. He didn't want to hear this. Not right now. He was confused and angry. He didn't know why Minato had hid this from him. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed before. All of the signs had been there. He should have seen it. He should have seen all of the signs. A boy with pink hair, how pathetic was he for not seeing it?! And during the hot days while all of the men had taken off their shirts, Haruno Zaku hadn't!

"Kakashi, please." Sakura said softly as she hurried forward and captured his arm. Again, the silver haired Shinobi stopped, tilting his head to look at her.

However, Ibiki did not agree with Minato at all. He was almost as furious as Kakashi was, if not more. This girl had broken the law, several laws, in fact. And if anyone knew the ANBU very well, they would know that he took the law VERY seriously. No matter what the case was. He moved forward and jabbed a finger towards Sakura, who gave him a surprised look. "You have broken the law, Haruno! You are a woman who impersonated a man, much less a Shinobi!" He snapped. "Breaking a law like these only results with the punishment of death!" He looked sharply at Minato. "You know the rules, Minato! I had a lot of respect for you. But this was overstepping the line. Now, this girl impersonated a soldier. There is a law about that. To break this law, that is treason. There is only one punishment for treason like that. And that is death." He said seriously. There were several gasps from the young men that Sakura had befriended. The pink haired girl had flinched a little but then she kept her eyes on the silver haired Elite she was clutching onto. She just moved a little so that she could look at his face. "Kakashi, please. Just listen to me. I did it to save my father. I love him so much. He was just too old to fight. He would have died. Before I even came here, I watched him try and train but he kept on falling down, hurting from the injury in his leg. I couldn't stand it. I had to do this. For him. You would have done the same, wouldn't you? You would have done the same thing if it was your father."

There was a long silence before Kakashi finally turned towards her, still looking very serious but his face had softened only a little. There was still no doubt that there was disappointment in his eye. He was not happy that she had tricked him in believing that she was a boy. And she couldn't blame him.

"Kakashi, you know the laws." Ibiki said frowning.

Kakashi glanced over at the more serious Shinobi before looking back at Sakura. His eye growing serious again. He actually looked like he was going to go with Ibiki. His hand had even pulled out a kunai from his pouch and he held it up between them. Sakura just glanced at the kunai then sadly at Kakashi. She really believed that he was going to kill her. And she wouldn't fight it now. Her duty to protecting the Fire Country was over.

"No." Naruto and Lee both muttered before they started forward. They were stopped by Iruka and Gai, who didn't look any happier than they did. They were both surprised from what they just learned but they knew that it was a punishment for breaking the law.

Minato, however, looked seriously at Kakashi, slowly shaking his head. "Law or not. She did save your life, Kakashi. She did just help defeat Orochimaru and his men. You kill her now, you might as well end my life as well. For I knew about it. I may be the Head of the Shinobi, but I did break the law as well." He told him. Several of the Shinobi looked pained to hear that. They didn't like the idea of Minato having to die because he had broken the law as well. But then they looked even surprised when Neji moved forward, looking very determined. "You might as well kill me too. I've known about Zaku from the beginning." He said, getting very alarmed and surprised looks. Shino then moved forward with a nod. "As have I. My bugs revealed her to me."

Kakashi only glanced at the three, a little surprised that Neji and Shino had known but then he ignored his former sensai and the two young Shinobi. With his eye just looking right into Sakura's, looking very grave and serious, he slashed out with the kunai.

And threw the blade right down into the ground, blade first.

That took everyone by surprise. They all had thought that he was going to kill Sakura. Sakura had even flinched when he swung the kunai down but when it sunk into the dirt, she looked down at it with surprise. After a few seconds, she looked up at the grave look on Kakashi's face, almost questioningly.

"A life for a life. You've saved the life of Namikaze Minato, the Head Commanding Shinobi of the Shinobi Army, and you have saved mine. Therefore, my debt will be paid by sparing yours." Kakashi spoke in a low voice before he pulled his arm away from Sakura and turned away. "But you are through with the army. You have dishonored your family name by impersonating a soldier and lying to your commanding Shinobi. You have lost my trust, Sakura. So just go home." He tilted his head towards Neji and Shino. "You two have lost my trust. You should have reported to me. So you will return home as well. Men, pack up the camp. The Shinobi Army will be returning to Konoha Village to report to the Honorable Hokage. We will let him decide what to do with the honor of the three clans of Haruno, Hyuuga and Aburame."

No one said a word. Not even Ibiki, who looked like he did want to say something about it. But he decided against it. He knew about Kakashi's temper and knew if he did say anything, the silver haired Shinobi might argue right back. However, Gai did decide to open his mouth. "But Kakashi, what about Zaku, Neji and Shino? They have helped defeat the enemy. Female or not, she should go with……"

Kakashi gave him a cool look as he was already moving away. "They can return home." He said forcefully, as if saying that was all he was going to say. Minato, on the other hand, just shook his head. He couldn't believe how pigheaded Kakashi was being right now. But before he could say anything, Sakura turned to him and shook her head. "He's right. I should go home. I've done what I've come to do. I don't care, Minato-sama." She said with a sigh before bowing to him. "Thank you for your kindness." And then without another word, she went back into the tent that was set up for her.

Slowly, all of the Shinobi packed up the camp. Some of Sakura's friends had wanted to stay and find out what was going on but by the looks on Kakashi and a few of the other Elites' faces, they decided it was best not to. However, Naruto lingered with Minato who was trying to make sure that Sakura, Neji and Shino had enough provisions to get them home. The Legendary Ninja was trying to soothe Sakura's feelings but it wasn't working. She just continued to stare at the tent wall, with teary eyes. With a sigh, Minato looked at Neji and Shino. "I'm sorry this had effected you two as well. You should be praised like Sakura should not scolded just because you thought you were doing the right thing. I will see to it that your clans are not dishonored. But in the mean time, please. Take care of her. Make sure she gets home all right." He told them.

"We will do that." Neji said with his head lifted up high. Shino silently nodded. He might have remained quiet the entire time by he agreed mightily with what Neji had said before. They would stand by Sakura no matter what. She had sacrificed a lot just to save her father's life and help defeat Orochimaru and his army. No matter how ornery Kakashi was right now, they thought Sakura was a brave hero. Woman or not. Minato just nodded before his blue eyes flickered over to Naruto who was watching Sakura with sad eyes. He hadn't been too happy to find out that "Zaku" lied to him about who she really was but he didn't see that it was fair the way she had just been treated.

"Zaku," The blonde with whiskers said as he moved forward, though hesitating. "If it helps at all, I still want to be your friend."

That made all three, Minato, Neji and Shino look at the blonde with mild surprise. Even Sakura's head turned a little so that she could look at him. She was quiet for a moment before she offered the faintest smile and gave him a nod. "Thanks…Naruto. And I'm sorry for lying to you."

"Nah. Don't worry about it. Sorry for trying to beat the shit out of you when we first met. You were right. It was only ramen." Naruto said as he turned away and started out of the tent. But as he was leaving, he was whimpering an apology to the ramen in his bag. That made Sakura really smile but it was soon gone as she looked back at the tent's wall. Minato gave her another look of sympathy before he walked out of the tent and followed after the Shinobi troop.

However, at the head of the troop, Kakashi was staring off with a very hard stare. He hadn't really changed his serious stare at all since he started to leave. But within, if anyone could actually see into his chest, they would see that his heart was beating very slowly, as if it was afraid that it would break if it would beat any faster.

"Kakashi," Gai spoke up as he picked up his pace and tried to join his "Eternal Rival". "I still think you are making a mistake. That girl risked her life to saving yours."

Kakashi slowly shook his head as he refused to look at the weird bowl cut Elite. "Gai, drop it now. I don't want to talk about it, nor want to talk about it with YOU. So shut the hell up now." He growled picking up his pace. Gai only glowered at the silver haired Shinobi before smirking. "Well, at least we know that you're not turning gay now that you know that Zaku was actually a girl."
Kakashi halted in his tracks before spinning around, giving the other Shinobi Elite a very fierce glare. Even the other men stopped and backed away. For a brief moment, they thought that they could see lightning of rage sparking up in their Commander's eye. He just continued to glare at Gai, who met his challenge. The black haired Shinobi just folded his arms and lift his chin. "Come on, Kakashi. She's a beautiful girl. None of us can blame you."

"Gai, you say another word about Zaku or her again, or anything like that, I swear I will Chidori your ass." Kakashi hissed between his teeth before he stomped off. No one spoke for the rest of the walk, while in the back, Minato was chuckling to himself.

The night grew later and Sakura still had not come out of the tent, even when Neji went in to try and give her something to eat. She just stared at the wall or looking down at her ninja headband in her hands. But she still wouldn't speak to him, nor Shino when he tried to talk to her. So they just stood there, watching her.

"Sakura," Neji said as he took a step towards her.

Sakura tilted her head a little so that she could glance at him before she looked away with a look of glumness on her face. She felt horrible for tricking Kakashi, much less everyone else. She had lied to them, used them to get stronger so that she could do what? Save her father, yes, but in a way she felt like she was doing it for herself. She felt like she had been selfish. She felt…...as if she had just lost all of her greatest friends, and in a way, she had. "Neji, does guilt really feel like this? Does it really feel like a kunai had been stabbed into your heart and then was ripped out after cutting into deep?"

Neji just stared down at her before he shrugged. "I don't really think I can answer that. I've never felt guilt for something I've done." He murmured. He glanced over at Shino, who only shook his head to let him know that he wasn't sure either.

"Now that I think about it," Sakura began again, staring at her reflection in her forehead protector. "I don't really think I did this for my father. I don't think that I actually came to join the army to save his life. I joined the army……to try and prove myself that I was not some woman. I wanted to be something more than just a worthless bride who only wanted love." Her eyes filled tears, which slowly began to slid down her face and spilled onto the forehead protector's metal plate. "But look at me now. Look what I've done. I've lied to my friends and lied to one of the most remarkable men I've ever met. I really am worthless!" She spat bitterly before throwing her forehead protector across the tent and buried her face into her hands.

There was a long silence as Neji and Shino watched her, not really sure what to do to try and comfort her. They weren't really used to trying to make a girl feel better. They were too used to just pushing guys around and making them laugh by telling crude jokes. But a woman was different.

"……." Shino finally hummed before he went over and scooped up Sakura's ninja head band. He stared at it for a minute before wiping the metal clean with his sleeve. Then he turned and went over to Sakura, holding it out in front of her face. "Look."

Sakura didn't respond for a few minutes as she just sobbed into her hands. But then Shino jabbed her shoulder rather hard with his other hand's finger to get her attention. "Ow! Shino! What was that for?!" she snapped before she saw her reflection again in the metal plate. She drew back a little for it was too close to her face. "What….." She then looked sharply at the usually silent bug-man. "What the hell, Shino?!"

"I said, look." Shino replied still calm and collected as ever.

Frowning, Sakura looked back at her reflection; at her pale and slightly dirty face with red rimmed eyes. She wasn't really sure what Shino was trying to make her see. All she could see was herself. What was so special about her reflection? "Shino, what….."

"What do you see?" Shino interrupted.

Sakura and Neji both looked at Shino, who was looking impassive as ever. His eyes were hidden well behind his sunglasses but it was obvious that they were baring into Sakura rather seriously. She could feel his stern gaze right through the dark glass. "I…."

Shino just shook his head as he continued to hold the forehead with a steady hand. "I said, what do you see? Look at yourself, Sakura. Look at your reflection and tell me what do you see?" he told her.

Again, Sakura looked at her reflection, staring at her pale face. She didn't know what she saw. She looked rather horrible after her experience in battle and crying for what she had done. What in the world did Shino expect her to see? She just saw a skinny, pink haired girl who had pretended to be a boy just to join the army for her own selfish reasons. Yeah, she had deceived everyone, just so that she could get stronger. And she had gone through a lot to become what she was now…….

That stopped her from thinking.

Sakura's eyes lit up at that last thought. What had she become? What had she done since she even joined the Shinobi Army? She had to think about it for a minute. Before she joined the army, she had been Haruno Sakura, a beautiful, pink haired girl who was to become a bride. But she had failed to become a proper bride. She had told the matchmaker that she wanted love in a relationship and that blew up in her face. And when that was said and done, Namikaze Minato had gone to her house and told her father to report to the Shinobi Camp for war. But she refused to let him. She had cut her hair, stole her father's weapons and clothes and had gone as his son. A man. After that, she had gone through the worst hardships to please the men in the camp. She had tried so hard to impress Kakashi and get the respect she demanded for.

And she had been the first to gain his respect, because she had gotten up the tree first.

Sakura felt a low sigh blow right out between her lips as she slowly reached up and took her forehead protector from Shino, still staring at her reflection. She kept on thinking about what she saw in her own reflection. Remembering that she had finally made friends out of the other men, had learned about the real Hatake Kakashi and his past. And almost made a friend out of him. She had saved Minato's life after learning a few healing jutsu from the medics. And she had helped defeat one of the most evil band of ninja in the entire land, saving hundreds of lives. She realized that she hadn't done that just for herself or her father. She hadn't just done all of that for honor. She did it because she loved her father and all of the men that she had made friends with.

"With your love, they shall blossom into the most beautiful flowers." Her father had once said about the cherry blossoms.

Sakura's face softened as she continued to stare into her own reflection. She realized what Shino was trying to do. He had been trying to make her see herself again. To realize what she really was. "Thank you, Shino." She whispered.

Shino tilted his head as he continued to watch her. He was quiet for a minute as he just stood there. "For what? I was just trying to make you see how foolish you looked while crying."

Now the pink haired girl gave him a dull look. "Thanks for ruining the moment, you bug jerk." She told him dryly.

Neji just cracked a smile and shook his head. He definitely found that amusing. So he decided to pitch in and help. "Sakura, just think of it this way. You've come a very long way. Why stop now? Just because Kakashi said all of that stuff?" He then bent down in front of her, looking into her emerald green eyes. "You might have lied to us about you being a boy but you have showed all of the men more courage than any one of us put together. You might have risked your honor, but you saved a life. Hundreds of lives, actually. You are not a bride. You are not a man. You are a Shinobi. And what's that line that you said when you got up the tree?"

Sakura now smiled at him and shook her head. "I will never give up." She said softly. She then tied her forehead protector back around her forehead.

Neji and Shino nodded with smiles before they offered their hands to her. Their hands of friendship. "And a true Shinobi never does." They both said at the same time. Sakura just smiled before she took both of their hands and let them pull her to her feet. She felt very happy to have friends like them. She hoped that one day, the others would forgive her. "Let's just go home now." She told them. Again, the two men nodded in agreement.

"AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!"

All three jumped when they heard someone screaming, almost in rage. Sakura, Neji and Shino jerked around, looking at the wall of the tent. "What was that?" The pink haired girl asked.
Neji shook his head as he closed his eyes and activated his Byakugan eyes. When he opened his eyes and looked right through the tent wall, towards the cliffs and down, they snapped wide open. "Impossible!" He exclaimed before whirling around and rushing right out of the tent. Sakura and Shino glanced at one another then quickly ran after their noble friend. The three of them rushed over to the cliff side and looked down, only to freeze with horror.

Lord Orochimaru was still alive!