Er.. I kind of forgot the disclaimer last time so. No I do not own Naruto . If I did I would have tons of episodes on kakasaku! They really should…

Tixylix- thanks for reviewing!

Luna Forest- yup falling asleep outside is bad.

Polaris- hehe thanks. Sorry for taking so long.

Harada Risa- I thought my fight scenes were actually kind of unoriginal. ;;

Hamgirl- Awesome thx!

Koruyuu- Thx! I'm glad my writing can make someone feel better.

K. Lynn Smith-Nope I didn't hurt Kakashi badly.

Fiona McKinnon- ehh? What does that mean.. ?

Jemuil- I'll try thanks.

Ranna-chan- I hope you don't choke either. I'm not a murderer!

A lonely heart breaker- Thx. I really love this couple!

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Lily Vendrum- haha. Yay!

SilverGhostKitsune- hope I didn't keep you waiting too long,

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Faye Leingod- Nope there isn't

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Inuyashafeudalgirl- Arigatou

"Grrrr…" growled the pink-haired shinobi. "When I get my hands on him I'll-"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Ne, Sakura-chan are you talking about Kakashi again?"

"Who else would she be talking about dobe." said Sasuke.

"What did you say!" Naruto yelled.

"What, dobe, are you deaf too? This time enunciating the word.

Sakura just shook her head at the two. Kakashi was already an hour and a half late. You'd think after all this time he'd at least try to be on time.

Now Naruto and Sasuke were shouting threats at each other. It seemed as if nothing had changed in the six years they'd known each other. It was almost like their genin years.

Suddenly a poof was heard behind them. Naruto and Sakura turned around and each pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're late!"

The masked jounin scratched his head. "Well you see… there was an old lady who needed help crossing the street. Then she insisted on buying breakfast for me and I couldn't just leave a poor lady unhappy so-"

"Liar! They yelled. Sakura's eye twitched as a vain appeared on her temple. 'Yup, just like old times.' A warm feeling started spreading through her chest. It was nice. She hadn't noticed how much she had missed her companions and wondered why she didn't keep in touch with them more.

Suddenly overcome with emotion she pulled them all in for a hug. Kakashi looked down at them fondly, while Naruto happily contributed and Sasuke being himself just 'hned'. But the upward curve of his lips gave him away.

After a moment Sakura let go and smiled brightly at them. "So what's our mission for today sensei?"

He took out a scroll and unrolled it for everyone to see. "There have been several deaths near the border of Konoha. 6 leaf shinobi and 3 travelers have been killed. We have reason to believe it's a band of rogue sound-nin. Our mission is to track them down and get them out of Leaf's territory."

Naruto had a look of excitement on his face. "Alright! We're going to show them not to mess with us!" He pumped his fist in the air. "Right Sakura?"

The kunoichi rolled her eyes at him and smirked. "Of course. They don't stand a chance."

Even through all the hardships and horrible things they've seen Naruto had managed to keep his child-like countenance.

She hoped they wouldn't have to hurt the sound ninja too badly. When Orochimaru was defeated his followers had either fled or fought to their deaths. This was probably a group that had banded together to avenge him. She'd heard that sound was currently a mess and their new hokage was trying to make peace with leaf.

She briefly wondered how someone as twisted as Orochimaru could have so many followers willing to die for him. She supposed that he might've helped them conquer other villages and given a lot of power to those people. Or maybe their whole village was psychotic. She shook her head at the thought and looked up at the sky.

It was a beautiful day out. The sky was clear blue and there were a lot of clouds out. Shikamaru would probably be out cloud watching with Ino. Those two were such a strange couple. Ino constantly complained about how lazy he was but every time they were together they were clearly happy.

"Alright, then let's go already!" cried Naruto.

With that the four of them left the clearing in the blink of an eye. Kakashi led the front, Sakura and Naruto in the middle then Sasuke in the back. They leaped from branch to branch while keeping an eye out for enemies. At the pace they were going they'd probably reach the border sometime in the afternoon.

At noon the group stopped near a river to eat lunch. " Say Naruto…" Sakura said slyly Naruto gulped. He didn't like that look he was giving her. "Y-yea?" He braced himself.

"Did you ask her! She asked excitedly.

The blonde blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well…" Sakura could barely sit still from her excitement. Naruto looked up and grinned giving her a peace sign. "She said yes." Sakura launched herself at Naruto and squeezed him so tightly he was sure his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

From his position by the tree Kakashi looked at them with curiosity. Even Sasuke was wondering what was going on.

"Did I miss something?" Sasuke asked wanting to know exactly why his teammates were acting like hyperactive monkeys.

"Naruto proposed to Hinata and she said yes!" Still squeezing Naruto she jumped up and down excitedly. Sasuke smirked. "So the idiot finally got the guts to ask her."

Naruto kept grinning "Yup!" After a moment the grin was replaced with a scowl. "What'd you say!"

In an uncharacteristic show of emotion the Uchiha clapped him on the back. "Congratulations dobe." He even had a smile on his face and if Naruto didn't know better he'd swear there was a spark of happiness in his eyes..

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Ahh. Young love." He was genuinely glad for Naruto and prayed that Hinata might be able to keep him under control.

"Hey Sasuke. Is it true you have a girlfriend?" Sasuke looked away quickly and Sakura noticed that his cheeks were tinted the slightest pink.

'No way.' She thought. 'Sasuke? The ice cube has a girlfriend!' "What? You've never even mentioned her!" She'd heard rumors but dismissed them thinking some girls were just getting their hopes up.

Now that she thought about it he has become more talkative and open. And his gaze has softened, no longer hard and intimidating, at least not around them. 'Stupid! It's so obvious! So much for woman's intuition..'

She heard Naruto bombarding Sasuke with questions. "What does she look like? What's her name? Is she a jounin? How old is she? How far have you guys gone? She almost felt bad for him. Almost being the key word. 'Ha serves him right for holding out on us !' inner Sakura stuck her fist out.

The thought of her friends both having someone intimately close to them brought out a little bit of envy from her. She wondered if she'd ever find someone for her. Her thoughts led her to Kakashi.

Yesterday had been a new experience. It was as if something had started to bloom inside of her. When he looked down at her with his eyes clouded like that her heart had skipped a beat. 'What's wrong with me?'

She turned her head and snuck a glance at the silver haired jounin. He was looking at her with that same look again! She looked away quickly and looked at the lake trying to calm herself down.

He continued to watch her. He'd seen her glance at him and noted the way she had flushed when her eyes had met his. He smirked relishing in the fact that he could make her flush. Then he groaned inwardly at himself. 'What are you doing Kakashi? You're not supposed to be encouraging these feelings towards her.' He hit the back of his head against the tree trunk.

"Are you alright sensei?" she was looking at him curiously. Sensei… That word was begginning to annoy him. Strange how it never bothered him before. "Sakura?" his gaze boring into her. She gulped at the intensity in his eyes and was it just her or was it getting warmer?

"Yes?" she squeaked. She was surprised when he was suddenly a few inches from her face. "Do you have to call me sensei all the time? You make me sound so old." She'd swear he was pouting but with that stupid mask on she could never tell. "Oh. Sorry sen-kakashi." Satisfied he grinned at her. "That's better don't you think?"

A splash was heard in the back round along with a "Sasuke you bastard!" They both sweat dropped. "I guess that means our break is over." Sakura sighed. What was she going to do with those two. "You two better not be fighting again!" she yelled. "But Sakura-chan, he started it!" whined Naruto.

A few minutes later they started moving again with Sasuke and Naruto both sporting lumps on their heads. Naruto cast a glance at Sakura and shuddered. She was really scary when she was mad.

It was starting to get less grassy and more rocks were showing up beneath them meaning they were getting close to the border. Then Kakashi sensed it. They was being tailed. 'Hmm. They found us sooner than I expected.' He kept going in direction of the border so as not to seem suspicious. He'd let them attack first to see what they're capable of.

Soon they reached their destination. "Judging by the looks of things I'd say ANBU must've already gathered the bodies." His eyes scanned the perimeter. The dirt ground was stained with a dark substance in different areas. He looked up at his team and saw them looking around cautiously ready for an attack.

He sensed their chakras all around them. 'So they have us surrounded.' He counted 20 sound nin. He judged them to chunin and genin from the way they poorly hid their chakra. Sighing inwardly he put his hands in his pockets. He was hoping to have some fun today. It's been pretty boring for the last few months.

Stepping to the right he dodged a kunai. 'So, they're finally making a move.' It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought this was easy. It looked like they had actually made a game out of dodging the thrown objects. His eyes narrowed. 'Something's up.'

His eyes widened as he just barely missed being squished by a boulder. Standing in front of the group of sound nin were two men who he guessed were the ringleaders of this gang.

A giant of a man with black, spiky hair was the one who threw the boulder. The one next to him was about 6 foot and had red hair. He didn't have a good feeling about the latter. He had a dangerous aura around him and the look in his eyes held nothing but contempt. "Guys be careful. Those two aren't like the others. They're dangerous." He warned.

Sakura glanced at the leaders nervously. The red head saw her looking at him at smirked lecherously. "Like what you see?" The kunoichi snarled indignantly. "In your dreams, you creep!"

"Ooh. We've got a feisty one. Boys, I think I'll keep her as a pet." Wolf-whistles and hoots were heard. Then his green eyes caught hers and a cold shudder went down her back. 'His eyes… ' She had a flashback to the time she and Sasuke had looked into Orochimaru's eyes. She had seen nothing but death and cruelty.

She recovered quickly enough. Although they had similar eyes she could tell this one paled in comparison to Orochimaru. Sasuke glanced at her. She smiled back confidently and he smirked in return.

"Hey guys, leave the red-haired pompous to me. I'm going to show him not to mess with this ninja." She palmed her fist for emphasis. "Are you sure Sakura?" asked Kakashi. "Have a little faith in me will ya? I mean I was trained by the copy ninja Kakashi himself. Not to mention the hokage who defeated Orochimaru."

The ringleaders' faces dropped. "You hear that Sho?" said the big one. "Do you think she's bluffing?" The shorter one growled in irritation. "Of course not Genki. Don't you recognize the Copy Ninja?" Smirk in place once again he leered at them. "And that I presume to be Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and.." he looked at her hungrily. "Haruno Sakura."

"So I see you've heard about us." Kakashi gripped the kunai in his pocket with enough force to break it. He didn't like the looks the red head was giving to Sakura. "You're more famous then you give yourselves credit for." "I assume you know why we are here then?"

The one called Sho growled again. "Enough small talk let's get down to business. When we're through with you there won't be enough pieces left for anyone to identify who you are!" His face distorted and his eyes were wild.

The sound nin all spanned out and started their assault. The four Konoha ninja gathered back to back. "Let's hurry up and get this done with I wanna get back to Hinata. She'll probably have ramen ready for me!" The kyuubi drooled just thinking about it. All of them voiced their agreement. "Alright then go!" said Kakashi.

Sasuke and Naruto handled the 20 minor nin while Kakashi and Sakura took on their leaders. Sakura shaped her hands together forming an Earth juutsu. Horse, ox, rabbit, tiger, ox. She smashed her fists in the ground and walls of rock came up around them and slammed together. When the dust cleared there was no sign of them.

'Underneath' She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a large burly hand protruding from the ground. "You almost had us there girly but not good enough. Sho here knows a few tricks of his own." She noted the gash on the big man's leg and the scratches on the other and smirked cockily. "Ha! You can teach any dog tricks but whether or not they're useful is another story."

Suddenly a blur of silver came crashing into the large man and a second later Genki was out cold with his mouth gaping open. Sakura hmphed. 'showoff.' But she had to admit she was impressed. She almost had trouble catching what happened.. In that blur Kakashi had transferred chakra into his hands and had pushed the five critical pressure points on his body causing the body to stop functioning. He'd probably be out for a week.

"My turn." Horse, dragon, crane, ox, tiger. The wind started to pick up and a whirlwind closed in on the sound leader. Cutting ice juutsu! Little blades of ice swept through the currents of wind and cut him in various places causing him to scream in pain.

After the whirlwind had died down Sho's body fell limply to the ground. "B-bitch.." Kakashi looked disinterestedly at him. "Your companions have been defeated and we have you outnumbered. If you leave now we'll leave you alone. If not we'll have to force you. It's your decision." To tell the truth seeing him lying there gave him some satisfaction.

His remained stoic even as the red haired psychopath started to laugh. "Don't think so little of me copy ninja Kakashi. Kakashi's one visible eye widened as he felt the air around them thicken. "What..?" Suddenly he felt his heart beat start to increase and he felt as if his surroundings were spinning at 100 miles per hour. He fell to his knees clutching his head in pain.

"What.. did you do to me!" The sound leader laughed maniacally. "I bet you didn't I came from a special bloodline did you? You don't look so confident now." Abruptly the masked jounin blacked out and fell to the ground.

"Kakashi! What did you do to him? Naruto glared at him fury blazing in his eyes. Taking out his kunai he prepared to charge at the grinning rogue. "Wait." Naruto and Sasuke both looked at Sakura in surprise. Her voice deceptively calm she glared at him with contempt. "I told you he's mine."

She was gone in an instant. She reappeared behind him and had his arm twisted in her grasp. "Now tell me what you did to him or I will make sure you won't ever be able to use this arm again." Sho laughed trying to cover his fear. "Careful girly. I might go easy on you if you're nice to me."

Sakura looked at him blankly and twisted his arm harder. Then she took one of his fingers and promptly broke it. His scream filled the air. "Every time you piss me off I'm going to break one of your fingers. If I run out I will proceed to break every limb of your body. So it's in your best interest to cooperate with me. Understand?"

He looked at his fear showing completely and nodded. "Good. Now tell me what you did to him. And I'll know if you're lying." He gulped nervously. "I used a special juutsu that's been passed down in the Mitari family for generations. It turns off the part of the mind that controls their inhibitions. Not allowing them to think properly and acting on impulse only." He gulped again.

"Was he supposed to black out?" her voice unyielding. "I-I haven't mastered this attack so I d'don't know." She growled agitatedly thus raising her voice slightly. "What was the point in using an attack that you haven't perfected?" "I was desperate!" He was starting to panic not wanting to have another finger broken.

Her voice softened slightly. "Is it permanent?" He shook his head. "No. It'll wear off in a few weeks. But I don't know if I did the juutsu right so it could be sooner." Sakura let him go and he all but ran away from her creating a 10 foot space betweem them. "If we ever catch you hear again you won't get away so easy."

That said she stooped down to pick up Kakashi's body. He groaned in response. It's a good thing she was a ninja because a normal girl wouldn't have been able to support his weight. He didn't look it but he was heavy.

Naruto and Sasuke were still gaping at her. She sweat dropped. Maybe she overdid it. "Wow Sakura you were awesome!" Naruto gazed at her with adoration. Sasuke sighed at his behavior. "I too am impressed. I didn't know you had it in you." She blushed. "Cut it out guys you're embarrassing me."

Sasuke looked at her seriously. "Are you sure you want to leave Sho out there. Shouldn't we make sure he leaves?" She shook her head. "I want to get Kakashi to Tsunade-sama as soon as possible. Besides I don't think they'll be back for a long time. Or ever."

"Good plan Sakura-chan!" said Naruto. With that said they sped back home.

Sorry for taking so long! All of your reviews really encouraged me. If it wasn't for you guys I might've still been working on it. I'm not really happy with this chapter but it's what I've got right now… So hope you enjoy! Next chapter will probably posted faster with break coming up. Ja!