1I had a question about Kakashi's age. Since Sakura is right now 19 that makes Kakashi about...does the math 33.

Again, thanks to my boyfriend for helping me out when I get stuck in plot :) He's my baby, even if he does look like Rock Lee. While I write this fic he's next to me playing Naruto 3 on Gamecube. I talked him into getting good with Kakashi, and I'm going to master Sakura. How sweet! I'm rambling! It's the wine, I swear it.

Thank you for the recommendations of turning off 'no anonymous reviews'! I hadn't known that was an option.

Oh, there is a lime flashback in the beginning of this chapter. Soooo if you don't want lime just skip to the end of the italics.

He was on top of her before she was even awake. He leaned in closer and licked the innocent girls neck beneath him. She tasted sweet like a dark red apple.

The color of blood.

Sakura woke to an unexpected feeling of warmth and instantly panicked as she noticed a body on top of her. "Get off me!"

There was no way to tell who it was yet, as their was no moonlight on this dark night. She instinctively struggled to get her assailant off of her to no avail.

"Sakura...let's be together..." the man grabbed both her arms with his hands, restraining her, and kissed her hard on the lips as she continued her struggle for freedom. The kiss was not returned, and the man sat up and looked at her in puzzlement.

She recognized the dark and raspy voice,"Sasuke! What the hell are you doing?! Get off me!"

He came down once more to her neck and nibbled her soft skin. Sakura yelped a little in pain. She was stuck... he had her hands and her legs were captured beneath his.

"Sasuke, please! Stop this, I don't want it!"

Her plea was ignored. What was wrong with him this night? He didn't seem to be acting in character but lately he had been even more withdrawn than usual. She had feared him becoming unstable and perhaps he had finally crossed the line.

Sasuke continued playing his tongue across the girl's neck below him. Sakura felt as if she would vomit. The warm damp feeling traveling across her skin was supposed to bring on a feeling of passion, but he wouldn't stop...the fact that he was forcing himself upon her brought up feelings of disgust.

Sakura whimpered as an automatic reflex and Sasuke mistook this as a small moan of pleasure, lightening his grip on her arms. This gave Sakura an idea. As much as she didn't want to, if she played along, she could get in a position where escape was an option.

"Oh Sasuke..." She moaned his name in fake ecstacy. Sasuke removed his arm from her right hand and placed it on her breast, massaging roughly. His mouth moved from her neck to her lips as he kissed her ferociously. Reluctantly Sakura returned his unwanted kiss. The taste of whiskey fell into her mouth as their tongues intertwined.

With her free arm Sakura quickly grabbed the kunai she had hidden under the side of her bedstand. In a flash she brought the kunai around to slash Sasuke's cheek and she felt blood fall on her chest. With a yell Sasuke brought his hands up to his injured cheek and Sakura took this split second of weakness to bring momentum into his legs and kick him off of her bed.

Quickly noting her surroundings she saw that the window was open, undoubtedly how he got in. She had no intentions of fighting Sasuke, whether he was drunk or not. She also had no intentions of staying and talking things out, incase he didn't have talking on his list of options tonight. She turned to jump out the window and felt a hand wrap around her leg.

"You won't get away, this time, Sakura. You are mine tonight."

Sakura awoke in a cold sweat. The memory often haunted her dreams but she knew it was just a normal process in recovery...but this night the dream had been different.

The night of the actual incident it had happened explicitly like she had dreamed, however, she had managed to escape via the window. Why the sudden change of events in her mind? She used all her knowledge of the human psyche to try to analyze the dream.

Immediately her mind turned to Kakashi.

Why him? He said he would protect me from now on but that has nothing to do with that night!

To first be able to properly analyze your subconscious thoughts, you must be able to look at your relationships with pure honesty. Sakura had a blind spot...she was not being honest.

The clock on her nightstand read 3am. It was Friday morning. The time spent looking for possible leads to the location of the Uchiha had passed very slowly. Most of the time she hadn't even seen Kakashi. They split their grounds up in such a way where they had advantages...for example Sakura went to the male bars where they seemed to kiss the ground she walked on, and Kakashi went to...well she didn't want to think about where he went. Another mental block.

The memory of Monday night ran a flutter through her chest. All she could remember was sneaking into Kakashi's room to hopefully catch a glimpse of his face as he slept. The next morning she awoke in her bed, not remembering how she got there. There was something different, though. When she awoke there was a feeling that had not been there before. It was as if her dreams had filled up her body and left her in complete relaxation. She had awoken with a sense of hope, and she had no idea where it had come from. Cherry blossoms were in her dreams.

With this thought her previous nightmare had been erased from her mind and she once again fell into a peaceful sleep.

It was the day of the festival. Kakashi and Sakura had been enjoying the festivities as well as semi-searching for leads on Sasuke. They were beginning to give up hope in this gambling city. Upon further exploration of the festival they discovered that there was a fighting tournament to be held in only a few hours. They didn't actually believe that Sasuke would be a part of it, but maybe he had picked a few fights. He was quick to lose his temper, after all.

The two ninjas had separated briefly...Kakashi had mumbled something under his breath and wandered off to leave Sakura alone in the shopping area of the festival. There were many things there that caught her interest, but perhaps her favorite thing was watching all the smiling faces as they joyously bought the items they desired.

"Mommy!" A young girl around the age of four pulled on her mother's pants leg, getting her attention.

"Yes?" The woman smiled down at the child.

"Isn't she beautiful?" The girl pointed at Sakura, causing her face to turn bright red. She smiled at the young girl and reached out to ruffle her hair.

"Thank you! But I think you are more beautiful than I am! I better watch out, you'll steal all my boyfriends." Sakura smiled at the little girl and laughed softly. The girl blushed and ran behind her mother's leg, peeking out slightly.

The mother smiled sweetly at Sakura and apologized for interrupting her. It hadn't been an interruption at all for Sakura…she enjoyed moments like these. There was something about children that made them so cheerful to be around. Maybe it was because she could so visibly remember herself being one. They had dreams.

Sakura continued walking, briefly looking at all the vendors that lined the streets. An old man from behind a table of jewelry called out for her attention.

"Oi! Such a beautiful lady! A beautiful lady deserves beautiful things! I have many of them for you!"

There was no doubt he said this to any woman walking by, but Sakura humored him and made her way over to the table. She had time to spare before the fighting tournament and looking at jewelry wasn't the worst thing in the world to keep her occupied.

The table was decorated with many pieces of crystal set into different styles of jewelry. Sakura skipped over the rings. A ring wasn't really the best thing for someone who enjoyed wielding kunai as much as she did. Instead she made her way over to the necklaces.

Sakura considered herself a woman, but she had yet to own one piece of jewelry. It was something she had always wanted but never really got around to it. There were other necessities in her life and she didn't really have the extra money to spend on frivolous items. Even though she lived with her parents they required her to pay rent every month because before she moved into the upstairs apartment they rented out for money to help them pay their own bills. She didn't mind, it was only fair.

A necklace that sparkled in the rays of the sun caught her eyes. It was a gold chain, unlike the others, which were silver. The crystal was carved in the shape of a snowflake and each edge seemed to catch a different ray, causing every color in the rainbow to be reflected. It was beautiful. Sakura reached out to touch it lightly with her fingers, contemplating a purchase.

"A beautiful necklace for a beautiful lady!" The old man smiled at her. "I'll even give you 10 off, it's a deal!"

Sakura took a glance at the price and her face grimaced. "Oh I'm so sorry, I'm afraid I can't afford it still."

"Well you should have your man buy it for you. That way you can remember him every time you look at it."

Sakura blushed, "Well I don't have a–"

Suddenly a hand reached around Sakura holding out some bills for the man to take, she heard a familiar deep gentle voice from behind her, "He's right, it would look beautiful on you."

"Kakashi." She turned her head to look at the man behind her. The necklace was so expensive! How could he afford it, she wondered.

Kakashi reached up to the necklace and unclasp it from the display. Sakura was looking at him with her large eyes full of surprise.

"Are you sure you can afford this? No one has ever bought anything like this for me..."

"Don't be silly. Consider this an apology for all those times that I beat you sparring." Kakashi wrapped the necklace around her neck. Sakura instinctively lifted up her hair so he could clasp the beautiful chain of crystal. The necklace fell right above her breasts and when she took in a breath the crystal rose and shone off an array of colors.

"Thank you." She turned to look at the tall man standing behind her. He had a look of warmth in his visible eye that seemed to melt into her. At that moment she was so thankful that their relationship had a chance to grow...as equals.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a friend...he's been missing a while and he always loved these fighting tournaments. I was just wondering if you could look at a picture for me and see if you have seen him." Sakura smiled at the brute man in front of her. Innocence was her game in gaining information about Sasuke. These men had no idea that this little girl could actually give them a run for their money.

"No, sorry. I don't think I know him."

The guy's partner peered in over his shoulder, "Hey! That looks like da fuck with da weird eyes that trashed Kuraiheya."

Sakura turned her attention to the man who spoke. He was a skinny hollowed out looking man who had scars running all the way down his arms. He didn't look like he could put up much of a fight. The circles under his eyes were either a sign of some sort of substance abuse or lack of sleep. "You've seen this man?!"

"He be lookin' a lot like the fella who fucked da place up. I wa'sin in my right mind really tho', if ya know whad I'm sayin'." The man paused, looking as if he was contemplating something, "But if ya friend has dese freaky red eyes then dis gotta be him!"

"Where is this place, can you tell me?" Sakura couldn't actually believe there was a lead. The man had to have been talking about Sasuke. He identified the pictures and even knew about the sharingan.

"You best not be goin' der on ya own, miss. Dis not a pretty place for an angel dat be lookin' like you." The look on his face said he wasn't kidding.

"I have someone I can take with me, a strong man."

"Well no comin' to blame me if ya get your pretty lil' head in trouble, now. Kuraiheya be at the very end of Peachtree Street. Don't let tha' name fool ya', dis not be dat peachy."

"Thank you! Good luck in your tournament!" Sakura smiled at the man and quickly ran off to find Kakashi and tell him the news. The last time she had seen him he was around the sign-up area, so that was her first destination. Upon reaching the area he saw him speaking with one of the men to be refereeing the tournament.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi turned his head at the sound of his name being yelled over the voices in the crowd. He saw Sakura running towards him with her arms waving. He excused himself from his conversation with the referee and walked in her direction to meet her.

"Sakura." A smile crossed his face as he saw the necklace he had bought her hanging around her neck, bouncing as she ran.

"I found a man who mentioned seeing Sasuke at some bar called Kuraiheya. It had to have been Sasuke..."

"How do you know for certain it was him?" Kakashi had no reason to doubt the man either but they might as well make sure they had a positive lead before they left the tournament.

"He saw the sharingan."

"Sasuke...he's getting careless. Why does he have sharingan out at a bar?"

"Well you know how he loses his temper...apparently he trashed the place. The guy didn't tell me why; I don't think he even knew. But I got the location. It's not a friendly place and he warned me about going alone." Sakura paused, "I think we should go together, of course...just in case."

She was a little intimidated, honestly. Sure she was quick, agile, and an actual trained ninja...but these were shady, big, brute men. She reckoned that her fears were probably irrational but it never hurt to have someone there to watch your back.

"Of course I'll go. Wouldn't want your little pink head of hair to get dirty, would we?" Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and reached up his hand to pat her on the head. Sakura looked at him furiously.

"I could take care of myself, you know!"

"Well let's not find out, shall we? Now...we have a few hours before night, which is probably when we should go."

Sakura's stomach grumbled and she realized she hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was loud enough even for Kakashi to hear, and it made him laugh.

"Let's eat?"

Sakura blushed and nodded. The two headed out to find a simple café. They settled for the one they had been eating at their whole stay here in Otafuku. It was close to the hotel and the food wasn't that bad. Over dinner they began to discuss the lead Sakura had managed to find.

"Hey Kakashi..."

"Hm?" Kakashi was sitting there barely touching his rice while reading the latest pervert novel he managed to find at the festival. Sakura was still having such a hard time believing that Jiraiya was the one that wrote these! Of course she hadn't read a single one. Sakura had to admit she was quite guilty in this case of judging a book by its cover.

"Never mind, it's nothing really." Sakura hadn't meant to say his name. She was just thinking out loud.

Kakashi looked up at the small girl across from him, "Leading me on?"

Laughing, Sakura replied, "No. I was just going to ask you a question but even though I have it in my head and I know what I mean... I can't figure out how to put it in words."

"Huh?" Kakashi looked at her dumbly.

"It's more of a feeling than a question I think. And I can't really ask you about a feeling can I? I mean I can ask you directly about a feeling but not when I don't even know what it is or how it feels like."

"Did they put sake in your noodles?"

"Ok I'm going to shut my mouth now." Sakura felt stupid. She should never have spoken out loud, not that she had intended to in the first place. Sometimes her thoughts were all over the place and lately it was more so than usual. There were a few thoughts and feelings she had now that were always right there on the tip of her tongue that hadn't been there before. Of course she had been going through a lot lately and stress could do some very funny things.

Kakashi laughed, "I'm just teasing. I know exactly what you mean. What does it pertain to, at least?" He could not deny that new feelings had arose within him as well, but he was unsure if Sakura was speaking of the same ones.

"Finding Sasuke." Sakura bit her bottom lip when a small feeling of nervousness hit her. "I know I haven't talked about it, but in truth I don't want to find him."

"It's you're mission, Sakura."

"I know, that is why I'm here and that is why I told you about the lead. You have no idea how hard it was not to keep that lead to myself. I mean I don't want to see him at all. I don't see what good he does for Konoha."

"I think Konoha's primary concern is continuing the Uchiha bloodline and not letting Sasuke's genetic traits fall into the wrong hands. You remember what happened to Orochimaru."

"Maybe I'm biased, but I think it's bullshit. It's more trouble than it's worth to resurrect a clan with such an unstable person with such tremendous power."

"Maybe you're right. Who knows?" Kakashi looked back down at his book. He was at a good part; secretly he wished she would stop talking for a minute.

"I don't know what you see in those books! I swear those are more important to you than your country's affairs!" Sakura accused him as she saw his head sink into the pages.

"I'm a good part, quiet."

"What is it? Some kind of self-insertion bathhouse fantasy?" Sakura sarcastically made a remark about the author.

"Actually, no." Kakashi replied matter-of-factly.

"Then what is so great about this part you are reading?"

Kakashi looked up at her, his eye turned into what signified an evil grin under his mask, "You're in it." He knew this would hit a button and that was his entire purpose of doing it.

"What?!" Sakura jumped to her feet nearly knocking the table over in the process and attempted to grab at his book. She had no luck, Kakashi was too fast for her this time. It would be amazing if she could ever put her hands on that book again...he knew her motives.

"Well it's at this part where you are in the bath house and–"

"Oh my God!!! I'm going to kill Jiraiya!" Sakura was furious. Kakashi had better have been kidding, if nothing else then for Jiraiya's sake.

"Actually, Naruto cowrote this one."

"Naruto...wrote...a...smutty...story...about...me..." Sakura's eyes appeared as if they were on fire, very similar to Rock Lee's when he expressed his love for his sensei.

"Lighten up, you aren't in this chapter. I was only teasing!" She was so cute when she was angry. He was so tempted to provoke her even more.

Hearing this she calmed down, now only mad at Kakashi for leading her on in such a way.

"You were in Chapter 3."

"Kakashi!!" This time, the dishes were knocked off the table.

The man was right, the bar called Kuraiheya really was in a bad part of town. There were hardly any street lamps even and the only lights that illuminated the street were from the run down brothels that appeared every other block. However, there was a small patch of neon light visible in the distance. Sakura and Kakashi gathered it lead to their destination. Still, what was Sasuke doing in this part of town?

They reached the patch of neon lights and read 'Kuraiheya'. The street smelled of old vomit and liquor. She looked up at Kakashi worriedly and his one visible eye tightened in a smile to comfort her.

Stepping into the bar they noted that the bar was on their left and there was a small stage to their right with a dull silver pole. No music was playing even though there was a woman making her way onto the stage. The woman wore only a short skirt that hugged tightly to her hipbones. She had no extra weight on her and had not even bothered to apply makeup, showing the dark bags underneath her eyes. Her breasts sagged against her chest with no support.

Sakura gasped slightly when Kakashi grabbed her arm and pulled her to the bar, "You're staring." he whispered to her.

"Oh - I'm sorry." She replied quietly. This was all new to her. She hadn't visited many bars in her life previous to this mission. She wasn't even allowed in Konoha bars yet...well not for another five days.

The two took a seat at the bar. They had decided it would probably be best to not show themselves as ninja to avoid unwanted trouble. Sakura wore a simple red kimono style top with a pair of loose black pants. The crystal snowflake fell between her slightly showing cleavage, accenting it. Her pink head of hair had been brought up in a bun, held together by chopsticks.

Kakashi was in his normal black pants and a black shirt that seemed to fit him like a second skin. The sleeves were so short that they barely covered his ANBU tattoo. His muscles cut through the thin fabric, making it hard for Sakura not to stare. The way she looked at him had definitely changed on this journey. He wasn't the humble pervert teacher after all. He truly was a ladies man.

Kakashi ordered two shots of tequila and passed one of them over to Sakura. The glass was cloudy as if it hadn't been washed. Kakashi didn't seem to mind.

"Um, Kakashi... I've never actually drank before." Sakura said sheepishly.

"One shot will just make you warm. Besides, the bartender will be suspicious if you aren't here to drink."

She had to admit that he had a point. Looking around her she noticed that everyone had a drink…it was a bar after all. Sighing, she threw her head back with the shot of tequila, scowling at the bitter taste as it burned her throat.

"Eugh that was awful."

A small laugh escaped Kakashi's lips. "You get used to it, then you'll start craving it."

"I hope not." She said honestly.

"Well next time we'll get you something more...girly."

Sakura ignored this comment. He was obviously trying to frustrate her again but this was not the place for it. They had come here looking for a lead, not to drink. Once again Sakura explored her surroundings and noticed that a man was watching her from near the stage. Actually there was more than just one man looking at her. Besides the dancer on the stage she was the only female in the room.

"Sakura, you should go talk to that man. I saw him walking out of the back room. Can you handle yourself with him? He might could tell you something if you warm up to him." He gestured to the man sitting next to the stage.

Sakura nodded and reluctantly stood from her place at the bar to walk over to the man. He was older with graying hair and he looked as if he hadn't shaven in weeks. Dirt smeared his face and his clothes were tattered and worn. A stupid grin plastered on his face as he saw Sakura approaching him. She took the seat next to him.

"May I buy you a drink, miss? Not every night we get someone as pretty as you in this here trash." His breath stunk of substances Sakura did not even want to begin to try to identify.

She made sure to change her attitude. Miss polite ninja probably wouldn't work well with him and he would just end up getting suspicious. She flashed a seductive smile in his direction, "Scotch on the rocks."

The man obliged. Sakura remembered scotch as the drink Sasuke had liked. It should be fitting under the circumstances, she assumed.

"What brings you to this area of town? Your boyfriend didn't drag you down here...did he? I don't want no trouble if you be trying to make 'em jealous." The man eyed Sakura suspiciously.

"It's not like that. He has someone already..." Sakura lied through her teeth, "we accompanied each other here because we are looking for someone."

The scotch arrived and Sakura took her first sip, causing her to fight her reflexes to keep her face from twisting in disgust. Maybe Kakashi was right and she really did need something girlier. The shot she had taken of tequila was beginning to warm her up.

"Who would that be, missy?"

"Well I overheard at the festival that he had been seen here in this place. I'm not sure when but I heard he caused a lot of trouble. He looks like this." Sakura pulled the picture out of her pocket and the man nodded his head in recognition.

"That's the fool that trashed the place about three weeks ago. Some stuck-up bloke tried to pick a fight with him. He had been comin' here nightly for about a week and never spoke a word to anyone. Peoples were suspicious, ya see. One of our other regulars finally tried to fuck with him and the guy just flipped without saying a word. He had these eyes...must be ninja. We don't like ninja here."

"Neither do I...which is why we're looking for him. He has something of mine that I want back." It was all a big lie but Sakura didn't care. The man was more likely to trust her if they held common views. Sakura tossed her head back and finished off the glass of scotch. She was starting to feel a little dizzy and she knew it must have been the alcohol.

"Do you know where he ran off to?" Sakura asked the man.

"Well I don't know but he sure as hell had to have left this town. You see the man he wrecked was the leader of one of the largest gangs here in the city. If that man as much as steps foot within the city walls again he'll have an assassin on his tail."

"Well I suppose that means we won't find him here. I appreciate your help, darling." Sakura leaned over and kissed the man on the cheek. She was disgusted.

"Be careful out there. He looks like he could snap you like a twig."

Sakura smiled and turned, wiping her lips off as she walked to Kakashi. Things were starting to get a little blurry...

"Anything?" Kakashi asked her when she came to stand next to him.

"Yeah, he's not in this city and won't be for a while. But no clue where else he could have gone." Sakura paused and swayed a little where she stood, "Can we go? I'm a little dizzy..."

Kakashi nodded and took her arm to help her walk. As they exited the bar Sakura turned her head to see a woman leaning up against the wall. Her skirt was ripped between her legs and almost showed off more than it should have. She didn't wear a top, just a ragged bra covered by a fake black leather jacket with the stuffing falling out of rips from the inside. A scar ran from her lip to her eye, distorting what perhaps was once a beautiful face. Without warning the woman leaned over and wretched into the sidewalk.

Sakura hadn't noticed but she had stopped walking to look at the woman in pity. What on earth could happen to someone to make them end up in a place like this? It was beyond her reasoning. How could this woman be happy here? If she tried hard enough there was surely a way to get out.

The woman looked up at Sakura with her hollowed out eyes and scowled, "What are you staring at, little blossom? It'll be you one day." The woman spit in Sakura's direction and Sakura's expression turned to fear and surprise.

"Sakura, let's go." Kakashi pulled her in closely as if he were protecting her and lead her in the direction of the hotel. There was something about that woman…Sakura didn't like it. She hurt inside.

Well that one was long. If any of you have ever been to Atlanta, GA you probably laughed at the Peachtree St. I had to stick a little inside joke in here somewhere!

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! You guys rock :D This is going way faster than I thought it would. I thought I would do one chapter a week…but it's been one week and I've already written 5! I wasn't as happy with this one because there wasn't as much tension. Next one, I promise :)