Hello !

Here is a new chapter.

Thanks for your patience!

Thanks also for your support and the reviews and everything. I greatly appreciate it!

I just want to remind you that this is a story I wrote a few years ago and although some reviews suggested a few changes and I can think of a few when reading it again, I will not change it. Hope you'll keep on liking it, though ^^

I don't know when the newt update will be.

Enjoy!

xx

Imagine

Aaron was seated on a bench in the park. Derek and Emily had gone training and Spencer had headed back to the hotel to take a nap. The weather was nice. Children were playing not far from him. He missed Jack. His boy had grown up faster than he anticipated. He had let him at his aunt's place. He wondered how he was doing. This case was hard to crack and the fact that he couldn't contact Jack made it even harder. As he watched the children play, he saw one climb a tree. The group of 4 children was seemingly alone: no parent was there to watch over them. But Aaron wasn't too surprised at that. The town was very quiet and peaceful, and it wasn't the first time he had seen children playing alone in the park. The children now playing in the tree seemed to be 10 years old. The boy who had climbed first was now on a branch a few meters away from the ground. Aaron suddenly stood up: the boy had slipped and was falling to the ground. As he moved to catch the boy, he realized that he wouldn't have the time to get there. To his surprise the boy landed perfectly fine on the ground, laughing with his playmates as they ran to another tree. Aaron sat back down on the bench, relieved. Something was unsettling about what he had just witnessed but he couldn't put his finger on it.

A few days later Kakashi found the BAU team in their working room. He informed them that if they were still interested, the joined training session would take place that afternoon, on training ground 23. After accepting, the BAU was told that someone would come and pick them up at their hotel twenty minutes before. And so it was that at the beginning of the afternoon, the BAU team was waiting outside of their hotel, Derek and Emily dressed for training, with their bag at their feet, and Aaron and Spencer waiting with them, wanting to watch the spar. At the programmed time, a young man came to them. It was Kiba, who they had seen only once. He was accompanied by a huge dog.

"-Hey ya!

-Good afternoon.

-You ready?

-Let's go." They headed to the training grounds. The trip there would take about 15 minutes.

The dog directly went to Derek, who asked permission to pat him.

"-Sure! He seems to like you.

-I like dogs.

-Looks like it. His name's Akamaru. I'm Kiba, by the way.

-I'm Derek Morgan. These are Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner and Dr Spencer Reid.

-Doctor, huh? Well, nice to meet you officially.

-Likewise.

-So, you're gonna fight with Kakashi-sensei and Sakura, huh? Can't wait to see that!

-I thought the whole team would be there.

-Yeah, but Sai and Naruto received a mission.

-You're gonna watch?

-Of course! A lot of us will. It's not every day that Sharingan no Kakashi allows people in his training!

-Sharingan no Kakashi? I thought it was Hatake Kakashi.

-Well, yeah. Sharingan is his nickname.

-What's Sharingan?

-Ah. I can't tell you that. Which training ground is it again? I wasn't paying attention.

-23.

-Oh right, Hokage-sama had it cleared yesterday.

-Hokage?

-Tsunade-sama. She's the leader of the village. She had the training ground cleared yesterday for you guys."

At that the four members of the BAU team exchanged a curious look. Spencer remained silent during the conversation.

"-Here we go!" Kiba exclaimed a few minutes later as they indeed arrived at an open gate. On it was a large "23" under which was a notice reading Clear – Booked. Kiba lead them through the gate. The training ground was apparently a grassy clearing, delimited by high fences. They could see a group of people standing near the fence. As they neared, they saw that it was Kakashi, Sakura, Asuma and two more people they didn't know.

"-Good afternoon." Greeted Aaron.

"-Ah ! Good afternoon, how are you? "asked Sakura.

"-Yo!" saluted Kakashi.

"-What's up?" said Asuma.

"-We're fine, thanks, what about you all?

-Good, good." Answered Asuma. Sakura was the next to speak.

"-So, you apparently already know Asuma-sensei. This is Shiranui Genma" she said pointing to a brown-haired guy with a deep blue bandana and a skewer in his mouth. "And this is Nara Shikamaru. They're here to watch." Shikamaru seemed to be tall but he was seated on the ground, against the fence so it was hard to tell. He had kind of long black hair tied in a high ponytail. He was smoking. Genma, Asuma and Shikamaru were all wearing the same uniform. Kiba's jacket was black instead of green but otherwise it was the same. Kakashi was wearing large black pants and a tight black shirt which also covered the lower half of his face. Sakura was wearing a pink sleeveless shirt with black shorts under a short white skirt.

"-You ready?" Kakashi asked to Emily and Derek.

"-Ready whenever you are.

-Ok. So I propose a simple two-on-two: Sakura and I against you two. We can change after that.

-Ok.

-Sounds good.

-Man, this is so exciting!" said Kiba. "Don't underestimate Sakura, she's got a mean right!" At that, Spencer reacted, surprisingly.

"-Really? But she's so small.

-Oh, Pinky's small alright." Answered Genma. "But she packs one hell of a punch." Asuma smirked and Kiba growled, apparently having been on the receiving end of said punch, which made Asuma laugh.

"-Not funny.

-Oh yeah, it is.

-You've obviously never been her punching bag, Asuma-sensei.

-Nope, and I plan to keep it that way." The tall man answered, lighting up a cigarette.

"-How old is she?" Asked Spencer.

"-24, like me and Shikamaru.

"-That's young" noted Aaron.

"-Not really…

-They're about to start." Interrupted Genma, making the spectators focus on Derek, Emily, Sakura and Kakashi.

"-Ready? Let's begin!"

At first, the blows were testing. Then they became more focused, stronger and faster. Emily and Derek worked very well together, but Kakashi's and Sakura's defenses were flawless. After a few minutes, Derek and Emily took a few steps back, still facing their opponents. They exchanged a glance and then resumed fighting. They changed their style. After five minutes, Derek feinted, which allowed Emily to get past Sakura's defense and landed a blow to her abdomen. The young woman rolled on herself and got back to her feet a few feet away from Emily. Both women were grinning. Genma whistled.

"-Phew! Nice one!

-Nice teamwork!

-You ok?" Emily asked Sakura.

"-I'm fine, don't worry. I've had far worse. Let's continue."

As the spar resumed, the shinobis of Konoha were surprised at how well Derek and Emily managed against Kakashi and Sakura. The BAU members were also surprised by Kakashi and Sakura. They could tell that they had been working together for a long time: their dynamic was perfect and flawless. They had a great mastery of several Orientalish fighting styles. Emily was ecstatic to spar with someone as skilled in martial arts. Derek was a good fighter but his style was totally different. This, in turn, helped them score a few points as Kakashi and Sakura didn't seem to be familiar with his fighting style. The spar went on, blows were exchanged, accompanied by exclamations and comments from the spectators. Half an hour later, the fighters took a break to drink. After a few minutes they resumed their spar but changed the teams: men versus women. The fight was a bit messier as each team needed to find a new balance but eventually it went more fluidly. Sakura and Emily were having a great time and worked really well together. Kakashi and Derek also worked well together but not as much: their styles weren't as complementary as the girls'. After fifteen minutes, teams changed once more with Kakashi and Emily up against the other two. There again a few minutes were needed before finding the good rhythm. The fight was also very interesting and the teams seemed to work better than the previous round. Slowly the four fell back on their original formation.

"-They're holding back." Spencer whispered. Genma, Asuma, Kiba and Shikamaru looked at him, surprised.

"-Reid?" asked Aaron.

"-Kakashi and Sakura. They're holding back.

-How can you tell?

-Their muscles are strained and they make small movements reflexively that they stop." The four Konoha shinobis stared for a few seconds and then exchanged a furtive glance. Kakashi and Sakura were indeed holding back. Of course they were. But they were surprised that Spencer had caught up on it.

"-You're observant." Noted Asuma.

"-I am. And I have an eidetic memory so I can see their moves even if it doesn't register right away." That had Shikamaru staring at him.

Kakashi, Sakura, Emily and Derek were still fighting. Kiba tensed and turned his head to the entrance of the training ground. The others did the same. A tall, masked figure was walking toward them. The figure – for neither Spencer nor Aaron could tell if it was a man or a woman – was wearing black pants and a white piece of… was that armor? He/she also had pieces of white metal on his/her arms up to the elbow. As the figure got closer, they could see it was a man wearing a stylized heron porcelain mask. Genma, Kiba, Shikamaru and Asuma tensed.

"-What is it?" Asuma asked darkly. The figure didn't answer. He turned and walked to the fighters, still exchanging blows. When he was close, the fight stopped. The masked man got down on one knee, opposing fist on the ground, head down in front of Sakura, who tensed. The man then rose his other hand to her, presenting her with something.

"-Troublesome.

-Not good." Whispered Kiba as Akamaru whimpered.

Sakura paled and raised a trembling hand to take what was presented to her. It seemed to be a black ribbon with a metal slab on it.

"-Asuma." Came the suddenly stern voice of Kakashi.

"-Got them." Asuma then walked up to Emily and Derek. "Come." The three of them walked back to the other visitors, still watching Sakura. The faces of Genma, Shikamaru – who was standing up – and Kiba were stern.

Sakura's head was down. "Who?" The sound was barely audible. The masked man, still on the ground, answered "Sound." Her fist clenched on the ribbon. "Thank you". The man rose to his feet and walked back out of the training ground.

"-Man, that sucks."

The BAU team didn't understand what was happening but had an idea so they didn't dare to speak. Kakashi walked to Sakura, still head down. He slowly took her hand in his and took the ribbon from her. He threw it to Kiba, who caught it deftly.

"-Oh man." His voice was weak.

"-Who?" asked Shikamaru.

"-This is Ren's headband.

-Oh. Troublesome.

-Poor Pinky.

-Excuse me but who is Ren?" asked Emily, not liking where this was going.

"-Ren was Sakura's boyfriend.

-Man, that sucks! And within two weeks of Hiro!

-Will she be ok?" No one answered Derek. After a few second, Asuma's voice rose, dark and serious.

"-What you're about to witness you will not comprehend. You shouldn't be here to witness it but we are not leaving so you're not either. Whatever happens, stay where you are. Do not intervene. And follow our orders, no questions asked.

-What's going to happen?

-Pinky is going to let it out. And we're staying to help them if they need it. But you do not intervene, am I clear?" Asuma's voice was dead serious and commanding. Seeing the four men around them standing at attention, their eyes on Kakashi and Sakura, the BAU team was lost as to what was going to happen. "Am I clear?" Asuma repeated.

"-Yes." Answered Aaron, sternly. He looked at Spencer, Derek and Emily to make them understand that they were to obey the bearded man. Then all four of them looked at Kakashi and Sakura.

Kakashi had heard Asuma warn the BAU. He was still next to Sakura, who still had her head down. The hand from which he had taken the headband was trembling. Slowly she stopped trembling and closed her hand in a fist. Kakashi tensed and jumped back a few steps. Sakura raised her head and launched at Kakashi, fist prepared. Kakashi was on the defensive, having anticipated her reaction. The BAU members' eyes widened. One moment Sakura was standing with her head down, the other she was next to Kakashi, her left fist on the ground. A fraction of a second later the ground exploded into rubble. She twisted her body to punch Kakashi, who was now behind her. He managed to dodge. For the next few minutes, Kakashi dodged punches and rocks as Sakura came at him again and again, sometimes landing a strong blow. They were moving too fast for the BAU to see them clearly. They didn't understand what was really happening. How was such a thing possible? How could someone move so fast? How could a girl make to ground explode with her bare fists? How could one take such blows without being knocked out?

"-Sakura…" Kakashi tried to calm her down, still on the defensive. But the pink-haired young woman kept coming at him viciously. The BAU managed to see that she had a purple diamond on her forehead which had not been there previously.

"-This is not good." Noted Kiba.

"-What the hell?!" Emily and Derek had finally snapped out of their surprise and were now watching the Konoha men and vocally expressing their surprise.

"-We will accompany you to Tsunade's office when this is all over, but no question now.

-No question now? What the hell is happening? Like hell I'm gonna wait until this is over! What is this anyway, huh?

-Derek, enough.

-Hotch! You can't expect me to shut up about this!

-I can. Now is clearly not the time."

Derek's outburst had distracted Kakashi, who took Sakura's right hook to the jaw and came tumbling down next to the observing group.

"-Ouch!" Commented Genma. "That's gotta hurt. Sucks to be you, man.

-Shut it." Kakashi's voice was like the clash of a whip. "All right, that's it." He launched himself back at Sakura, fist ready to punch. She dodged but was swiped by his leg as he continued his movement. She somersaulted back and regained her footing before attacking him again. This time, Kakashi was attacking back. The blows and movements were fast. Punches and kicks were thrown with force. The ground was exploding here and there. At one point the clink of metal hitting metal could be heard. The BAU, unlike the Konoha shinobi at their side, couldn't follow the movements. They only saw glimpses of movement right, left and center, and saw the ground erupt wherever movement happened. They could hear the metallic noise of weapons clashing. The four men and the dog beside them were standing at attention, watching the fight and following the movements with attentive and appreciative eyes. Genma and Asuma were used to seeing Kakashi fight. Shikamaru had no opinion, or rather, kept it to himself. But Kiba was quite vocal.

"-Man, it sucks real bad for Sakura, don't get me wrong, but boy, this is something to witness. Sharingan no Hatake Kakashi with Kagayaku Ken no Haruno Sakura. This team is in a league all by themselves.

-Kagayaku Ken?" asked Aaron. It was Spencer who answered, to the surprise of the Konoha men.

"-Sakura Haruno of the Glowing Fist. Why glowing fist?

-Observe her closely." Was the enigmatic answer of Asuma.

The BAU members focused on her as she and Kakashi weren't moving so fast for the moment. To their astonishment, they could see that her fists glowed in a light green halo. Her right hand was holding a dagger-like weapon. Both she and Kakashi had cuts and bruises. They were bleeding in several places but didn't seem to notice it. Sakura punched the ground, dislodging a large boulder. She kicked it in Kakashi's direction. He kicked it out of the way but unfortunately the huge piece of rock was coming straight at the spectators. In swift movements, Genma's hand went through seals. He pressed them against the ground, from which a wall grew. The boulder came crashing on the wall of earth.

"-Watch it!" He screamed at Kakashi.

When the wall retracted into the ground – by which time the BAU were persuaded to be seriously ill and hallucinating – they all could see that Sakura and Kakashi were running toward one another, both ready to strike. Sakura was still holding her weapon in her right hand. As she moved to strike Kakashi with it he blocked her with his left hand, firmly holding her wrist. She used her momentum and moved her body to attack the silver-haired man with her left fist, glowing green. Her face was distorted in an angry grimace. The sound of birds chirping could be heard as Kakashi prepared to strike her with his left hand, his right still holding her arm. His left hand was surrounded by a white, thunderbolt-like light. [AN] As both their fists collided, the white light and the green glow mixed in a big thunderbolt, sending lightning all around them. When the light vanished, all could see that Kakashi was holding Sakura's hand. The pink-haired girl struggled for a few seconds but seemed subdued. Kakashi didn't let go.

"-Sakura…

-No!

-Sakura" His voice was deep and slow, and soothing.

"-No! No! No.

-Hush now, Sakura."

She kept saying "no" but each time was less vehement, less angry. Her struggle ceased and she slowly crumbled to the ground. Kakashi didn't let go. He knelt with her. A clink could be heard as she let go of her weapon.

"-No, no, no, no." Her voice was now barely audible. Kakashi didn't let go. He slowly released her wrists but didn't let go of her. He wrapped his arms around her as she burst into tears, sobs shaking her body. Akamaru whimpered. Kakashi discreetly signed to Asuma, still holding Sakura. Kiba left Ren's headband on the ground, where he knew Kakashi or Sakura would find it.

"-All right, let's give'em some peace." The eight spectators and Akamaru slowly left the training ground, accompanied by the sounds of Sakura crying.

"-Is she going to be ok?" Spencer's voice was low, laced with genuine worry.

"-She's strong.

-She seems to have taken it pretty hard." Noted Emily.

"-It is a hard blow. Ren was a sweet guy. He was good at his job. It's a nasty surprise." Genma explained. "But she'll manage. Besides, Kakashi's with her.

-Will that really help?" There were a few minutes of hesitant silence before Shikamaru spoke, surprising the BAU team, as he had stayed silent all along.

"-Sakura's a strong woman. She may not look like it but she has lived through some hard things. We all did. She came out of everything ok. This might be a hard blow, with Ren being her boyfriend and everything, but sadly, this is not the hardest she's ever had to take. As long as she has her team, I know she will be fine. She's one of the strongest people I know, both physically and mentally. Plus, like Genma pointed out, Kakashi's with her. He already helped her get to the point of crying, which is no small feat. She will be fine.

-I know you don't understand what happened," said Asuma, "and it's normal. We're heading to Tsunade-sama's office and she will talk you through this. But you have to know that this… this village… we… we don't function like you. Our teams are everything to us – don't interrupt me, please, you will understand. I know and I understand that your team is important for you and I don't deny it. But here, you might have gathered that we are placed in teams early. Usually after graduation, so around 12. Although that can vary. We grow up in team. One's team usually becomes one's family. The bonds created in a team are deep and strong in most cases. So as long as one has one's teammates, it should be ok. But you have to understand that Team 7… How to explain? Team 7's dynamic is different. They had to go through something difficult.

-We are aware of what happened.

-Really? Hum. Then you should understand that the loss of Ren, however tragic, was not the worst thing that Sakura had to go through.

-Sasuke.

-Yeah. The loss of Sasuke shook them. It hurt them deep. The loss of a teammate is something terrible. I should know, I lost one last year." At that, Shikamaru shot Asuma a dark glare, which didn't go unnoticed.

"-You were a team." It wasn't a question.

"-Still are. But Shikamaru and I we lost our teammate. Since then, we haven't done a lot as a team. The last member of our squad took it hard too. Kakashi's team… When Sasuke left, instead of drifting apart like it sometimes happens, they grew closer. They became more than a family. They became something that is not often seen. Even now, after years of working with Kakashi and sometimes with the others too, I still don't fully understand their bond. This is highly personal but understand that what Sakura had with Ren, even if it was nice and serious, is nothing compared to what she has with Kakashi and Naruto.

-And Sai?

-Sai too. Team 7 is special on a lot of levels. I am sad for my teammate and I am sad that my team is not working together as much as before. But we manage. We're still a team and a family no matter what and I wouldn't want it any other way except for Choji being here with us. I love my team and I am lucky that we haven't drifted apart. But I'm going to be honest with you: Team 7 scares me.

-Why?" It was Kiba who answered Emily's question.

"-Because they will die." His tone was dark, thoughtful. "I have a great team and I would do anything for them, even die for them. For Hinata, for Shino, for Akamaru and for Kurenai-sensei. I would die to protect them. But Team 7, I don't know. There's something beautiful in watching them. They're magnificent. Watching them together is… There's no word for it. When they fight, all four of them together, it gives me goosebumps. But there is just something. I would die for my team. They live for their team.

-What do you mean? How is this a bad thing?

-It's not necessarily a bad thing but it's like a storm, a hurricane. They live for one another. As long as they have each other, they can take on everything. But they will die as a team. They wouldn't be able to go on without one of its members.

-But Sasuke's gone.

-Gone, but not dead. The day one of Team 7 dies is the day we lose all of them. And that's a scary thought." The atmosphere, as they walked in the street, was gloomy.

"-They will go with one hell of a bang, though." Genma noted in an effort to lift the atmosphere. It had the desired effect as Shikamaru snorted, Asuma chuckled and Kiba laughed. Even Akamaru barked his agreement.

"-Yeah, that will be something to behold.

-From afar.

-Ahah, yeah, from afar!" After a few minutes of total silence (light for the Konoha men, thoughtful for the BAU), Genma asked "Do you need me?

-Nah, 'm good." Answered Asuma. "You can all go, I'll go with'em." In yet another instance of his fast-changing mood. It was interesting to witness the change in his speech pattern depending on his mood.

"-Well then, see you guys around!

-See ya!" Both Genma and Kiba waved them goodbye as they took another road, Akamaru following them before the men went each on their own way.

"-See you later, sensei. I'll be at Ino's.

-'K." Shikamaru also left them.

"-All right, we'll get to the Hokage Tower in 5 minutes."

AN: this scene was inspired by Janey Jane's fanart "Kakashi and Sakura Sparring" on DeviantArt. I don't think this is exactly what she had in mind when she drew it but the scene is what came to my mind when I saw the drawing. You should totally check her gallery, it's awesome!