AN: all right, Cheerful, no don't take that anonymous review thing any wrong way. I was experimenting with something, until I realized that I had reviewers that were anonymous and had to undo it. Sorry about the confusion!!

Chapter 5: Vast Confusion

……

New York.

"What do you think of this one Kakashi-senpai?" Sakura asked as she twirled around in a shimmering white dress. He didn't look up from his book. "Kakashi-senpai! Pay attention!" Her guardian snapped his head up to find Sakura flushed with anger.

"Uh, yeah!" He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Urg, you'd better pay attention because you're the one paying for it!" She yelled at him. Kakashi sighed and pulled out a random dress from a rack. What did it matter? She's the one that paid him.

"Here, see? Easy, and it only costs…" He looked at the tag, "thirty dollars! What a bargain!" Sakura glared at him.

"Quit being so cheap, you expect me to wear that?!" She pulled the wicked dress out of his hand. "It's all… frilly a-and it has velcro, and do you see that brown pattern on it?! I looks like someone took a large crap and smudged it everywhere!" She yelled. Kakashi put his hands up.

"Ok, ok! Calm down, there's no need to get angry, or shout… just cause you're a big designer doesn't mean you have to put down others…" He reasoned with her.

"I-is there a p-problem, Miss. Haruno?" The clerk asked nervously. Kakashi shook his head and gave ease to the shaking man.

"Not at all, sir," Kakashi waved the clerk off and then turned his attention to her, "Sakura calm down, you're scaring people."

"Good." She plopped herself onto a nearby chair. "We've been here for three hours and I still can't find one stupid dress! I should've made one! It sure as hell would've eased my pain." She muttered bitterly.

"Well, that's what I suggested, but no…" Kakashi sneered. She felt the urge to clobber him over the head. He scanned the racks. "Oh wait, here…" He picked up a dress. "Try this on."

Sakura gazed up at the cut fabric. Her eyes lit up immediately. "That…" Kakashi beamed. "Is," she gasped. The silver-haired man gave himself a pat on the back, "the ugliest thing I've ever seen." He fell over.

"Such language… I give up. If you think you can make dresses better than everyone else-." He began.

"I do not!" Sakura finally gave her guardian a whack over the head. "I was just- well, it is ugly and-and you didn't even try!" She reasoned with him. "Besides, I'll look like a pixie!"

"Fine…" Kakashi's eye twitched for a brief second. "Here." He pulled out another dress. Her eyes lit up again. He awaited her verdict cautiously…

"How come I didn't see it before?!" Sakura took the fabulous dress out of his hands. It was red, almost burgundy, had small straps, jewels, and was magnificent in a simplistic way. She scurried to the fitting room to try it out.

Kakashi heaved a sigh and plopped onto a nearby chair wearily and pulled out his ever so famous book. "Women…" He muttered tiredly.

……

"Target, sited." He said lowly with his hand on his earpiece. His eyes scanned a nearby building from a roof.

"Where?" Another voice asked.

"Two blocks away from your location. Building 294, four stories up…"

"Got it." The other voice confirmed. "Shall we move in with the tracker?"

"No, wait until Sasuke and Naruto get here… We'll need some sort of solid confirmation." He sat down.

"Hm." The voice in his earpiece replied. He smirked and then sighed. A few minutes of awkward silence later… He grew impatient.

"It would be easy enough to just kill her here and now, just hand me a damn sniper rifle." Neji growled.

"Calm down, love." The voice said calmly. "Patience."

"That doesn't help, Tenten." Neji clenched his fist. "All she's doing it trying on some stupid dresses-."

"I hope you're not looking." Tenten muttered grimly.

"Like I'd check out that pixie." He said to reassure her. Tenten's voice suddenly went low.

"Come on now, love, don't make fun of her, she's a nice girl." She said in Sakura's defense. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"How would you know?" He asked curiously.

"I met her a few months back. She was very charming; it's such a shame we have to do this. I really wish we didn't have to…" The two of them grew silent for a while.

"Target moving." Neji said suddenly.

"Can you place a tracking device on her? I can monitor her fully from there."

"Hn." He jumped down from the roof. This was going to be easy...

……….

"She lives in an apartment near Central park, on the top floor at that. She also has a condo in Florida, Illinois, and California." Shikamaru explained as he led Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata into the office, which was merely an extravagant house of Orochimaru's. "She averages about forty million a year by herself, and now with her uncle's fortune…"

Naruto whistled. "She's loaded." Shikamaru nodded.

"What time is she expected back at her apartment?" Sasuke asked wanting as soon as possible to get this mission done and over with.

"As soon as we get a tracker on her and confirmation by Tenten." The lazy man replied.

Meanwhile, Naruto plopped himself onto the large bed. His head sprang up when he noticed Hinata had barely taken more than three steps into the room. She looked around nervously. "Ne, Hinata-chan," He smiled, "Let's say you and me go around New York for a little while?" He sensed her awkwardness. She gave him an uncomfortable look. "Besides," He ushered his shoulder over to where Sasuke was standing, "We have nothing better to do, and most likely that baka would just sit here and read mission scripts all day."

"B-but-." Hinata stammered with a slight blush on her cheeks. Sasuke turned to glare at the two of them.

"Come on." Naruto go up, grabbed her hand, and led her out the door.

"Idiot." Sasuke muttered as soon as the two of them were out of the room. He lifted a heavy rifle up from a briefcase.

"Oh that's not suspicious." Shikamaru said sarcastically and sat down on a couch. "I said the place was near Central Park. Do you think you can sneak that by 300 people without one of them seeing?"

"I've done it before." Sasuke replied and glared at him.

"Airports don't count." His companion smirked. "Here." He handed him a small handgun along with a silencer. "USP with a silencer. Quick, efficient, and it's hardly noticeable depending on how you camouflage it." Sasuke took the gun sternly.

"I don't like this. Why the hell did I get stuck with his crummy mission?"

"You wanted a job didn't you?" Shikamaru questioned. "Don't complain. It'll be fine."

"Hmph, you can say that because you run, and you don't give a shit." Sasuke seethed. Shikamaru grinned. "Shouldn't you be with Ino?" Sasuke asked.

"She's actually out to a small luncheon with our target."

Sasuke's head snapped up. "What? She doesn't-."

"Of course she doesn't know. She doesn't care how I make my money as long as I do something."

"Hmph, I'm surprised you're taking this so well, Shikamaru."

"I have no real attachment to the girl. I'll get over it." He said and looked out the window. A few moments of silence went by the two of them until a small beeping noise interrupted.

"Guys." Tenten's voice crackled over a nearby walkie-talkie. Shikamaru picked up the small electronic device.

"What is it Tenten?"

"We've got a problem." She replied grimly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke questioned suddenly feeling shady.

"Neji." Her voice turned to a panic. "He's been shot."

"Where are you guys?" Shikamaru asked urgently as he motioned for Sasuke to prepare to leave.

"I'm at the hospital." She replied.

"What happened?"

"We ran into some trouble, that trouble being, Hatake Kakashi." Her voice crackled.

"Ok we'll-." Shikamaru began, "Hey- Sasuke wait up!" He called after his companion. "Shit." He cursed. "I'll be right over."

"What about Sasuke?"

"Something suddenly ran up his ass." Shikamaru muttered glaring at the door.

……….

"Hatake Kakashi" The name repeated in his head over and over again. "You can't be involved in this too can you?" His brow crinkled in frustration as he walked through the dense Central Park, gazing up at the large building that Haruno Sakura supposedly lived in. Sasuke shook his head. "It can't be."

Neji was shot, and that was a rare occurrence. He growled. If Kakashi really was helping this Sakura girl, would that mean his old teacher would soon become his enemy? He glared at the building. The lights had just turned on. "Hn." Sasuke couldn't let that get in the way. Kakashi would not get in his way. It probably wasn't even Kakashi, Tenten was hallucinating.

Sasuke confirmed it to himself. It wasn't Kakashi, and he would not let that thought bother him. Haruno Sakura was going to die tonight at his hands.

TBC....

……….

AN: Alright! Finally, right? Sorry, sorry, sorry!! The next won't take long!! Hang me if you'd like, but you'll never get the next chapter in that case.