"You may be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper."

"Sensei may we stop? We haven't had a break yet and now its two o'clock! And I think Naruto is going to die from the lack of ramen!" Sakura stepped in front of her sensei only to meet the hard ground. Her eyes closed when she felt blood fill her mouth. "Sensei?" She was lying on the ground until Naruto picked Sakura up, in a bridal like style. (Think fireman pose.)

"Sensei?" Naruto said his name like a bittersweet food, he had stopped and was holding Sakura in his arms. Sasuke was to the boys right and with slightly larger eyes. There sensei had been acting stranger than normal. "Why did you hit Sakura-chan?" The orange nin's blue eyes were confused but couldn't add up the problems yet. That's what Sasuke was on the Team for.

Kakashi ran a hand through his feathery silver hair and in a very quiet semi-hoarse voice he said, "I am sorry for hurting you Sakura." He coughed and put a hand over his mouth as he tried to conceal something. "We may stop for a ten minute break any later and you'll have to walk yourself to Kohona." In a very defied tone, Kakashi left his students. He found himself a secluded spot by the river.

Kakashi's Point of View

Once Kakashi had made sure he was alone and that no one could disturb him, he pulled out eight shruiken. He threw one each, North, Northeast, East, Southeast, Southwest, West, Northwest and finally directly above. He had used chakra strings to connect them, and quickly creating a chakra tent. Or an invisible chakra sheild. Sighing at the completed art what some called a "masterpiece", he sat by the running river. The fierce rush of water putting his thoughts to a spin.

Water.

It was what was his problem began from. He closed his eyes and he looked over his thoughts and his memories, the reasons he kept his past quiet. The reason of living.

Water.

Kakashi crossed his legs like a pretzel and put a hand on each knee. Without knowing he entered his memories, unaware of the time of day.

He could feel the ice cold blade by his throat ready to slit it if necessary. If to tempt the blade weilder Kakashi leaned into the blade, drawing a trickle of blood. His earnest eyes pleaded for the person to take his life.

"Take it." His eyes were closed as he took a kunai from his pouch. "Take it." He took the blade and rolled up a sleeve. Anyone could see the various marks on his arms. Some where from skirmishes, battles, and then a few were self inflicted.

He drew the blade to his arm and was about to give into the rough voice in the back of his mind. "Take it." A different type of strength tried to pull it to his wrist, but he stopped it. You don't deserve to live. An image flashed in his mind the crow that Naruto had wounded earlier today. The crow.

Karasu.

Kakashi dropped the kunai as if on instinct and took out the vile he had drinkin' from earlier when the outburst had begun. He put both of his palms at the riverside and looked down at his reflection.

Silver shaggy hair, feral teeth, and slit eyes. The unsated bloodlust. His body had grown, he was no longer human but something different. He was a monster.

Kakashi shuddered at the memory and looked at his image. He looked normal except for the fact that his teeth had began to act canine. It was as though he had a kyubbi inside of him, locked behind golden gates. Power seeping through and drank as the hunger for water in the summer heat of Suna.

He gripped his head, and tried to suppress the thoughts. Muttering a deep fluctuating voice, "No." He was on his knees, the chakra shield had broken. His eyes were closed, Kakashi could feel warm salty tears run down his face. He clutched his head in his hands, he could hear movement.

Kakashi could smell there fear. He whispered another soft word, "No..." Struggling for control of his inner problem he unscrewed the vile and drank the containing liquid. With that much in his system he was sure he could find his haven before the mission was over.

Pushing himself to his feet he left his weapons on the ground and went in search of his apprentices. Naruto... Sasuke... Sakura...

Placing chakra to his feet, he recollected his thoughts... water.

Later...

Kakashi had been unusually quiet after the "break" they took. They were at least fifteen minutes from the Village. Kakashi had been assigned this missions because of his inside friends.

Or that was at least what Shizune told him. But of course he was a Hatake. Look underneath the underneath. They were sending him on a retrieval mission. That was why he didn't want to bring the nin back.

He knew that person was an associate to Kohona, the person's bloodline limit was cursed upon, feared, and vexed . And of course it had to be the small irritating fact who this person was.

If this person showed there trump card to his three genin, they might mistake the person for an older enemy shinobi. One that died in battle, one that Sakura had never seen. Not for there real self.

"Sensei?" One of his genin asked. They had arrived at there rest point. Team 7 was now in a thirty mile radius of the Hidden Village, they needed to set up a barrier and now.

The Mizukage wasn't fond of Kakashi but even that old shithead would understand if a person like him wouldn't show up for tonight. The late-Mizukage had a personal experience from that, and it was another reason why there was a late-Mizukage. He hoped his successor learned fast if not he could here the words ringing in his ears and coming out of his mouth. 'Give 'em Hell kid.'

"Yes?" He gave a one eyed smile to his raven-haired student

"Is there a reason why you are leaving three genin , to go off by yourself while we are close to an enemy village?" Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow.

"Now why would you ever think that," with a slight growl Kakashi completed, "Uchiha?"

"..." He picked up his gear and joined the other two genin by the camp fire. "You'll be on guard?"

"Oh course." Kakashi said with the softness of Zabuza's blade.

Sasuke walked off. Kakashi knew he was suspicious; he could also feel a familiar presence. Kakashi stood up and took out a kunai and threw the weapon at the direction of an exploding note.

'BOOM!' The note exploded. (...duh...) Out of the smoke floated another note with a vile.

With his hand he snatched the objects out of the air. It was a vile with a green substance. The very exact he had been needing for the beast to not come out.

On the vile was a single black feather, and an onyx necklace with a black feather carved. Placed on leather chain.

'Shuffle, branch crunch' He turned his head to see a flur of pink. Sakura. How was he going to explain this? Darkness started leaking like blood and began to seep through his fingers. He could already start to see a full moon. It was getting late.

On a bad note maybe he wouldn't need to.