A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate it ^^. I'm sorry to say that I won't be updating for the following two weeks. My schoolwork is killing me and I'll be working on a school project. So sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 21:

The following weeks were for Kakashi able to be summed up in one word, confusing. Sakura seemed more pulled back then before. When they were out in public, she was sweet and acted like a girlfriend. But the moment the door closed she drew back to herself, not sparing a single glance at him.

He wondered what he'd done wrong to get such treatment from her. It was after all her idea to act like they were lovers. She was the one who'd pushed him against the wall and kissed him senseless. That kiss triggered something inside him, the same feeling he'd had from her back in that cave when she was pushed up against him. He knew he was falling for her then, and had tried everything in his power to stop it. But that kiss… wow. It didn't matter how hard he struggled, he'd lost the fight that very moment. There wasn't a time where he didn't think of Sakura. He wondered how her mouth would feel somewhere else on… 'Stop right there! I'm not going down that path.'

Sighing annoyed he glanced at the sleeping girl on the other side of the room. He wondered what was going on in that head of hers. Hadn't he proved to her that he wasn't going to walk out of her life again? Had all of this ruined the chance of getting her back? What was he supposed to do to get her to trust him again? He had seen he way she looked at him, and that confused him even more. She always glanced at him when he thought she wasn't looking. Her eyes holding a dreaming glance, but the moment she noticed what she was doing her emerald eyes changed back into the black depths she always had within her, the broken and despair filling her beautiful eyes.

Knowing he wouldn't get the sleep now that his thoughts were racing through his head at a mile a minute, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Throwing the tangled sheets off of him, he waved his hands through his unruly black colored strands. His lone eye stared at her resting form, taking in how her hand clenched around her pillow, how her eyes squeezed shut and a scowl played on her lips. Standing up he walked over to her bed and carefully sat down on the edge. His hand hovered above her head, hesitating to comfort her in her sleep. She would probably kill him if she found out. He tensed as a gasp passed her lips, her hand clenching even further.

Only then did he notice a tear running down her cheek. Making up his mind he slowly started to stroke her hair. He felt how she tensed at his touch but slowly relaxed.

"Shhh, everything will be alright." And to his surprise she answered back.

"Please… don't… don't leave me." Another tear escaped her barrier and rolled down. Was she dreaming over that she was left behind by them?

"I won't leave you, now relax."

"Liar…you promised…" Confused he raised his eyebrow. What was she talking about?

"I promised you what?"

"To be there for me…now you've gone somewhere where I can't follow!"

"Who promised you to be there for you?"

"Dad please don't go… please…" Her father? Has he died? When? What happened?

Whipping away another tear that rolled down he visibly tensed when her eyes snapped open and stared at him with surprise. She swatted his hand away and sat up. Her hand reached her cheek and she knew she was crying. She didn't say anything and refused to look at him. Deciding to break the silence he softly started to talk.

"What happened to your father?"

"He died," Sakura replied after a few minutes. "He was on his way back home from a mission when he was attacked by Akatsuki. He ordered his team to go on while he would stay behind to fight them off. Three weeks later I found his body." Her hands clenched once again, her eyes narrowed as angry tears rolled down.

Flashback

"Sakura-san, you need to stop soon. You haven't rested for three days!"

"I don't care. My father is out there somewhere, fighting for his life. I'm not stopping until I found him and that's final." Sakura growled back.

"Sakura please!"

Sakura stopped on the next branch and glared at the man beside her. It was one of her father's team mates. "If you want to rest fine, go ahead. But I'm going on!" Pushing her feet off the branch she leapt through the woods. Her hand went to her pouch and she pulled out another soldier pill. Biting it down she felt the effects immediately. Forcing chakra into her feet, she pushed herself even further.

She had been searching for three days, promising her mother that she would bring her father back. But until now there'd been no success at all. Her eyes were narrowed and she didn't even wince when a branch cut her bare upper arm. She was in middle of her training in an ANBU training camp at the eastern border of the Fire country when she got the message that her father had gone missing. Not even caring about the consequences if she left, she grabbed her stuff and raced back home. She finally made it into ANBU, just like her father would have wanted. He was after all an ANBU captain himself. He had been so proud to hear that his daughter was following in his footsteps.

Her hands clenched into fists, as she sped up even further. Finding the spot where her father's teammates had last seen him she stopped. Kneeling down on the ground she performed the necessary hand seals for the jutsu she was about to do. Slamming the palm of her hands on the ground she opened her eyes as she saw everything within a radius of five miles. Her heart missed a beat when she saw a limp form lying near the stream, four miles northwest of her.

Running as if her life depended on it, she made her way to the river bank. Pushing away the low hanging branches she burst out of forest. Crossing over the open field she ran into another forest. Her heart pounded in her ears as she neared her destination. Another low hanging branch cut a small scratch on her right cheek but she paid it no mind. The scent of a rotting corpse appeared in the air, slowly becoming stronger the closer she came to the river bank. She stopped when she noticed the limp body lying on the ground. Her heart missed a beat as she saw the condition it was in. It was covered in blood, his stomach ripped open, his arms lying at strange angles, his mouth opened in a silent scream as his head lay to the side.

Falling onto her knees she stared in shock at the corpse before her, still breathing heavily from her long sprint. The smell was almost overwhelming and it would make someone with a soft stomach gag, just like the image she stared at. The lifeless eyes of her father stared at her and they'd already lost the sparkle of life. She couldn't believe it. Her father was gone, ripped away from her life. The place where his ANBU tattoo had always sat proudly on his left bicep was cut away.

She noticed that his left hand was clenched into a fist. Her shaking hands reached to his, touching his half covered fingers. Grabbing the crumbled piece of paper from his grasp she saw it held a picture. Her breath hitched as she tried hard to keep breathing. It was a picture of her family, taken the night Sakura was accepted into ANBU. Her father smiling proudly while he held her in his arms, her mother smiled as she leaned against her husbands' side, her other hand resting on Sakura's shoulder.

She noticed that something hot and wet was rolling down her cheeks. Her heart pounding rapidly as she stared numbly at the picture she held in her hand. It was covered in blood, her father's blood. Her breath quickened and her widened green eyes slide from the picture back to the corpse that was her father.

"No…no…this…I…" her mind raced trying to get a grip of her sanity while her heart was clenching painfully. "Dad…?" Her knee's buckled and she slid closer to the ground than she already was, her bottom now touching the grass.

"DAD!!!"

Flashback

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said softly. He knew the memory was killing her from the inside. "Do you know which one killed him?"

"Yes," her eyes burning with hatred. "It was Pein. Shizune pulled some single red hair strands out of one of his wounds. At least I got my revenge." a wicked smile now playing on her lips as she thought back to the memory.

Not wanting to ask what she had done, Kakashi remained silent. He stood up and could already see that the first sun rays were hitting the compound. Knowing that he couldn't sleep anymore he decided to go for a quick shower. However when he'd almost exited the room Sakura spoke up.

"What were you doing anyway?"

"You were having a bad dream. I merely wanted to comfort you."

"Why?"

"You're my team mate, it's my business to make sure you're well."

"Right." He knew without looking that she was rolling her eyes. Then something snapped in him.

"I don't know what you're thinking of me. But contrary to what you believe, I do care about you. What's with the self-defence anyway?"

"That question coming from the one person I know that's pushed people away his whole life."

He turned around, his eye narrowed with annoyance. "You know nothing about me!"

"Quite the opposite, I know everything." He saw Sakura getting up from her bed and start to put on her clothes. "So why don't you ask yourself that question before coming back to me."

The door opened and with a slam Sakura closed it behind her. Cursing softly he slammed his hand against the door opening. This was so not how he thought the day would go. He'd better let this rest for now he figured. Taking a quick shower and getting dressed he made his way to the dinning hall. He saw Sakura already sitting next to Miya and Dayu. Sighing he started to make his way towards them when he was stopped by Ty.

"Sayuri-sama wants to see you."

"Can I have a little bite before I go?"

"No, now follow me. It won't take long."

Sighing inwardly he followed the man through the big oak doors on the other side of the room, walking into a long corridor that only held one door in the end. Opening the door Ty held it open for Kakashi to walk in. It was a small room, a set of stairs leading to the upper levels and a door on either side.

Walking to the first floor Ty opened another door and turned left. At the end of that corridor he saw a set of double door once again, with two guards standing on guard. With a nod and a quick knock on the door, Ty walked in. He stopped and turned around, signalling Kakashi to walk in too.

"Naosuke Kaito is here as you requested Sayuri-sama."

"Good, now leave us." With a bow he turned around and walked away.

"So Naosuke," The woman turned around and stared at him with her chocolate brown eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest and he could see the black tribal tattoo of a phoenix on her right wrist. Her eyes held a playful glint, as if she knew something. "I heard you hooked up with Tyana." Her eyes searched his and a smirk was placed upon her lips.

"Yes, it's true. But that happened…"

"I know boy, I don't care about my soldiers dating one another..."

"Then why do you ask, milady?"

Her eyebrow rose with surprise. She laughed shortly and stared at him with amusement. "You're the first one in this organisation to have the guts to interrupt me, that's either very brave or very foolish of you. Now tell me, how long have you known Tyana?"

"For four months milady, I met her when she was crossing the lightning country searching for Scryers."

"Good, so you didn't know her while she was still in Elysium?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. Can I ask why you're interested?"

"It's none of your business. Tell me, why did you want to join Scryers?"

"I wanted to serve the goals Tyana told me were what the Syndicate was working on."

"Very well, when you see your girlfriend, I want you to send her to me. She knows the way."

"As you wish." Saluting the woman he walked away. This was very strange and he didn't like it one bit. What was going on? Was Sakura in trouble? He sighed frustrated knowing he couldn't do a thing to help her.

Finally finding her in the training grounds, he explained to Miya that Sayuri wanted to see Sakura. Being dismissed once again, he glanced one more time at Sakura before making his way towards his own training. Not that he'd really learned anything he didn't already know. Still it troubled him why Sayuri questioned him about his relationship with Sakura. Did she know something?

xXx

Confused why Sayuri wanted to speak with her, she started to make her way to her office. She already knew the way since she was summoned there a few times before. Once to get the now finished mark on her skin, two to talk about Sayuri's passed fiancé and thirdly and strangely enough just to talk about her time in Elysium. Knocking on the door three times she opened it and walked in.

Closing the door behind her she walked further into the room, noticing a person sitting on a chair to her right, and to her surprise it was someone she knew. Her insides froze at the sight of him but on the outside she stood calm and collected. Turning her gaze to the blonde woman in the middle she saluted to her as she waited to be spoken to.

"You got the message from your boyfriend I imagine?" Sayuri spoke out. Her eyes held a wicked glance as if she stared down a piece of prey. Sakura nodded, noticing how the smirk widened on her face. She didn't like it one bit.

"Why don't you say hello to an old friend of yours, Tyana Etsuko?" Sayuri questioned as she waved her hand towards the man sitting in the chair.

Right at that moment Sakura felt a painful shock of chakra running through her. Gritting her teeth she fell to her knees as her hands were captured by the two guards now standing beside her. Her illusion failed the moment the shock disturbed her control.

Her green eyes stared at the man now standing beside Sayuri. He was wearing a black tabard, his dark purple hair hanging in front of his left bandaged eye as he glared at her. Makuto Sheji, the left hand of Kaemon Tsutya, the man she thought she had killed when she transformed from her illusion to her normal appearance.

"Or should I say, Sakura Haruno."

To be continued…