Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 11- Changes

Sakura and Kakashi woke up early the next day to train as soon as they can. In fact because of Sakura's enthusiasm to train they both woke up 5:30 am. Kakashi isn't thrilled at the idea of training so early in the morning when he said that training will be held at 7:00 am and not 5:30 am. Although he didn't like it he still obliged to what Sakura wants since she sort of grew in him.

Deep in the forest…

"Great job, Sakura. You managed to destroy approximately 99 trees with half of your strength. Great job isn't enough, right, Sakura? I want you to achieve Excellent. I wanted to see 100 trees down not just 99. You might think that it's no big deal but it is! I want you to do it all over again and this time I want improvement. I want to see 100 trees down. Is that clear?" ordered Kakashi.

"Hai!" she answered while gathering more chakra in her right palm but making sure that it won't be too much to cause any damage to the villagers. Feeling her chakra get stronger in her right palm told her that it still needs a bit more to destroy 100 trees so she added a bit more. She felt that it's already enough so she released it pointing at her left causing a terrifying scene before anyone's eyes. It's as if a huge monster destroyed it with one big blow. Sakura saw that Kakashi is already counting the trees excluding the rocks she destroyed. She prayed that it met the expected number so that they could move on in practicing genjutsu.

"Hmm…you," Kakashi started in a serious voice which made her a bit nervous. "managed to put down 100 trees! Excellent! By that you won't have a hard time estimating how much chakra you'll need in doing this technique," he finished cheerfully.

"Phew! Now let's practice genjutsu!" Sakura said, relief flowing over her.

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because you might have improved a lot in taijutsu but it's your weakest among ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. We have to practice that first before we go to genjutsu which is the easiest for you since you are a genjutsu type," Kakashi said to the pouting Sakura.

"Fine," Sakura said while admitting defeat. 'Hmph! If the enemies get into hand to hand combat I'll just punch them using my super strength. If that won't work I'll use my trump card, the Shiyuki,' she thought.

They trained very hard the whole morning. In the afternoon they decided to call it a day and head back. Both of them are dead tired from all those training so they decided that when they go back to the village they'll rest in a peaceful place. That place is not their apartment but their old meeting place. Sakura and Kakashi aren't sure if Sasuke and Naruto are still using that place for training but they'll just go there anyway.

"Kakashi, we aren't disguised today do you think it's safe to walk around the village?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm… I don't know but you are wearing a sleeveless zip-up top with a hood so you can wear the hood to hide your hair. No offense but your hair is just a give away because not a lot of people have that kind of color, you know?" Kakashi said.

"No offense taken. I guess you're right but I'll take the hood off when we reach our old meeting place, okay?"

"Okay, just be sure that you'll be careful not to be spotted by people who know you."

"Okay. Kakashi, what are you going to do to hide your identity?"

"Um…I'll do this," he said while taking off his mask which totally shocked Sakura.

"Wow! You're really going to show your face! That is so cool! I mean a lot of people don't know how you look like without your mask so when they find out it's you they'll be so shocked!" Sakura said excitedly.

"The question is will I let them know it's me?" Kakashi said while avoiding the wanting stares he's receiving from the ladies.

"Hehehe! Kakashi sure is popular," Sakura teased.

"As if you don't get this everytime from the guys," he retorted.

"Hmph! Why don't you want other people to find out what you really look like?" she asked.

"I don't want them to know it's me because it is going to be annoying. I mean look at Sasuke and his fangirls. They keep on chasing him, stalking him, giving him gifts that are cheesy, and all that crap. So you see it's better for them to know that it's not me," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I see."

Both of them walked and walked to reach their old meeting place until they saw something that made them stop. Actually it surprised them so it made both of them stop from walking and look at the scene that they're seeing right now.

"Oh my gosh! Isn't that Ino and Shikamaru? What's this they're holding hands? Oh my gosh! Are they an item now? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly.

"Be quiet. They might hear you. They aren't that far, you know," Kakashi warned her. "Who would've thought that Yamanaka and Nara will come together? Hehehe!" he added in an amused way.

They resumed walking now although they seemed to forget about being tired from what they saw. They just didn't know that there's more.

"Um…Sakura, look at that," Kakashi told her while pointing at something on their east.

Sakura's eyes grew big like saucer plates at what he was pointing at. It was Neji and Ten-ten.

"Oh my gosh! They just went shopping together. Do you think it is a date? I think it is. Look! Neji-kun is carrying Ten-ten-chan's shopping bags! That is so weird because I know that Neji-kun hates shopping. I bet he said yes because it was Ten-ten-chan who asked. Hihihihi!" she told Kakashi.

"Yeah, I agree. Hmm… I wonder who the next couple we'll be seeing," Kakashi said at the very amused Sakura.

They walked and walked but didn't find any couple they know. That disappointed both of them.

"I think we won't be seeing any couples we know," Sakura said disappointedly.

"Think again," Kakashi told her. "Look at those two entering that ramen shop."

"Am I seeing what I'm seeing?" she said while her eyes became like saucer plates again.

"I think you are."

"Wow! I didn't know Naruto had it in him to ask Hinata-chan out. They are so yin and yang. Loud Naruto and quiet Hinata. They are so cute together! KYAAAA!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Calm down will you. People are staring at us," Kakashi said.

"Maybe they're staring at you not us," she answered with a smirk.

"Whatever," he said not knowing what to say.

"I guess a lot of things changed here while we were gone, ne?" Sakura said.

"Yeah, I guess."

Just then a guy with black hair and a handsome face came running past them. After that he jumped from roof to roof hurriedly. Sakura and Kakashi were confused at what they saw until they heard running footsteps with annoying loud girly voices that kept on saying 'Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!'

"I guess some things are still the same though," Kakashi said while chuckling.

"Yeah, I totally agree," Sakura answered while giggling.

'Sasuke became hotter than the last time we saw him!' inner Sakura said.

'Please go away!'

'No way! I won't go until you admit that he is H-O-T-T-E-R than before.'

'Fine! I admit that he is hotter than before but when he ran passed us I still got a glimpse of his eyes. They are filled with sadness and loneliness.' With that said inner Sakura became quiet for some unknown reason.

They reached their old meeting place and found it empty. It was okay since they do want to relax without anyone disturbing them.

Sakura took off her hood. It revealed her pink, silky hair that framed her beautiful face. Kakashi put his mask on again to hide his gorgeous face.

"Hey, Kakashi, do you think that they'll accept the fact that I am Sakura. I'm pretty bothered by the thought of them hunting me down."

"I'm sure they will. I know that all of them miss you so much. I just don't know how I'm going to explain my sudden disappearance." Kakashi said.

"Um… just tell them the real reason. I'm sure it makes sense. I mean Tsunade-sama understood what you did so why can't they, right?" she said in hopes that it'll be of help.

"Yeah, you're right."

They stayed silent for awhile. Both of them lost in their own thoughts. Out of the blue Sakura placed her hood back on and making sure that her hair isn't seen. Kakashi took his mask off and stood up. Both of them jumped on the trees and hid. They did that because they sensed a familiar chakra.

"Hmm…I thought I saw people here awhile ago," Naruto said while looking around. "I guess it was just my imagination. For a minute I thought it was Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei. What am I thinking…Sakura-chan is dead and Kakashi-sensei is still missing," he said sadly. Naruto then walked away and left that spot.

Sakura and Kakashi jumped down from their hiding places and looked at each other guiltily. Both of them felt really bad for making a lot of people feel sad when thinking about them.

"Kakashi, why can't we just tell everyone that it's us? I mean I know that they won't believe us at first but when we explain to them what happened I'm sure they'll believe that it is us, right?" Sakura told him.

"As much as I want them to know it's us, we still can't. It's not the right time," he said.

"Then when is the right time?" she asked.

"The competition that will be held two weeks from now. It's a battle that will test how strong you really are. It might even result to death for some of the participants."

"Why is that the right time for us to reveal our true identities?" asked a confused Sakura.

"Because we will be using our real names for that competition. All of them will not believe that it is us but when we do our techniques they will surely know it's us. Some of our techniques are still the same but they are stronger now, right?"

"Yeah. Now I get it."

"Good. Now let's head on home I'm hungry. It's a good thing both of us know how to cook or else we'll have to buy food from stores everytime. What a waste of money!" Kakashi said while walking beside Sakura.

Two weeks later…

"Yo, bastard! We need to sign this to join. Come on!" Naruto told Sasuke.

"Whatever. I bet this competition will be a total bore," Sasuke answered.

"You're wrong, Sasuke-teme, a lot of ninjas from other villages are joining. That means that we'll be seeing a lot of interesting matches in this competition," Naruto said.

"Hmph!"

"I'll submit these to the office now," Naruto said while turning his back on Sasuke.

He then proceeded to the office for the competition so that he and Sasuke will be included in the matches.

"Sakura, sign this. We'll need it to join the competition. Are you ready for the things that'll happen later?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. To tell you the truth I'm really excited!" she answered with a smile.

"That's good. Well… I have to give these to the people in charge so that they'll know we'll be joining."

"Do you think they'll allow a supposedly dead person to join?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure you'll be able to join because Tsunade-sama is one of the people who'll look on the registration forms," Kakashi said reassuringly.

Kakashi went to the office to submit their forms. When he opened the door, he saw that it was empty except for a lady seated on a chair arranging about 18 forms on her table.

"Are you joining the competition later?" the lady asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll be needing the registration forms," the lady continued.

"Here you go," Kakashi said while handing the forms to her.

She looked at the papers and studied them carefully. Then out of the blue she said, "Welcome back Hatake Kakashi. Tsunade-sama already told me that you and Miss Haruno might be interested in joining. I'm very glad that the both of you decided to come back."

"Thank you. Is it okay if I go now? Sakura might be getting impatient now," he said while holding the back of his head.

"Yes, you may."

Kakashi then proceeded out of the door. He didn't hear the lady say "This'll be very interesting!" when he left.

Tbc………..

Hello! Once again thank you for all those who reviewed! I'm going to answer some questions that are usually asked so here goes….

-This fic is NOT a KakaSaku. I make them look close like brother-sister. Sorry to the KakaSaku fans.

-I'll make them meet in the next chapter so hold on.

-The charm bracelet that Sasuke was supposed to give will turn up in later chapters.

Um…. I think that's it….well…um…bye for now!