All right, first of all, I would like to thank everyone for the reviews, especially considering this is my first anime/manga fanfic. Your reviews were wonderful and really encouraging.

In addition, I would like to apologize for the shortness of this chapter. But the third chapter will be much longer.

Thanks again for reading this fic and hope you enjoy this new chapter. And remember, reviews are amazing for the writer's soul

Chapter 2

She was sitting at the table, a lone figure with a unique shade of hair. She stared at the bowl in front of her, the noodles slowly turning soggy, ignoring the concerned looks the restaurant staff was giving her.

She didn't look up when someone pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. She fiddled with her chopsticks, wondering if perhaps she should order a new bowl.

"Not hungry, Sakura?" the man beside her asked. His silver hair glinted beneath the lights of the ramen stall.

"I thought I was," she murmured. "How was the mission?"

"Boring," he replied in that lazy drawl of his. "Though I did get a kick out of watching Neji being chased by a wild boar."

Sakura sputtered at the image he'd painted and she turned an incredulous look on her former sensei. "A wild boar? Neji?"

"Aa." Beneath his mask, he grinned. "It happened on the way back. I think Neji must have gotten too near to its nest."

Laughter bubbled from her lips as she pictured the serious-faced Hyuuga running for his life from a wild boar. Oh, what she wouldn't have given up to see that!

Kakashi watched her as she laughed, pleased with himself. In his opinion, his former pink-haired student rarely laughed these days.

He glanced at her uneaten bowl of ramen before turning to the hovering waiter. "I'll have the shrimp ramen, please," he ordered. "And she's paying."

Sakura abruptly stopped laughing and glared at the silver-haired Jounin. "Cheapskate," she hissed.

"We mere Jounin don't make as much money as you ANBU medics, you know," he pointed out.

"Liar," she said, but there was a genuine smile on her face.

A wistful glint appeared in the silver-haired ninja's exposed eye as he recalled the memories that particular word evoked. He let out a long, heavy sigh. "How I miss the good old days," he said.

Sakura snickered. "Finally feeling your age, huh, old man?" she teased.

"Watch it, kid. I can still kick your butt," he warned good-naturedly.

"Just say when and where, sensei," she returned with a wink, the title slipping off her tongue out of habit.

Instead of continuing their light banter, Kakashi grew serious and his eye held a distant look as he said, "Actually, I was thinking of the days when we were all in Team 7."

The amusement fled from face and Sakura glanced away. No matter how many years she'd known him, she would never get used to her former sensei's abruptly-changing moods. He could be so silly one moment and utterly serious the next. She supposed it was designed to catch people off guard. Kami-sama knew he had used it on her often enough.

"Remember those days, Sakura?" the older man continued, pretending to be oblivious to how the topic bothered his former student. "How I would show up late for every meeting? How Naruto would whine we got the silliest of missions? Team 7." He chuckled. "I think those were one of the best times in my life."

There was no immediate reply and just as Kakashi began to believe that she would remain silent, his companion spoke, her soft, feminine voice quiet and full of hidden emotions.

"You're still late for every meeting, sensei," she pointed out with a smile.

"Aa," he agreed, the corner of his eye crinkling. He turned his head slightly and studied the pink-haired medic-nin. He wondered if she knew how proud he was of her. He wondered if she knew that of his three students, she was the one who earned his respect the most. She didn't have any magnificent bloodline, nor did she hold any demon within her to give immense strength. Yet despite of all that, and the shortcomings she'd had when she was younger, she had triumphed, had faced her demons and, in the words of Naruto, had flipped them the finger. Kakashi was ashamed to admit it, but he had never envisioned her reaching this far. He recalled how he had named her merely adequate and, like so many other people, had underestimated the strength of her character.

She was far from 'merely adequate' now. And oh, how he was proud of her. You've come so far, Sakura, he thought wistfully.

Sakura glanced at her silent companion. "What's on your mind, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked softly.

"Well . . ." He paused as the waiter placed a steaming bowl of ramen in from of him and nodded his thanks. "Did you go to the hospital today, Sakura?"

"Of course," she answered. "I do work there, you know."

"Did you go see and him?"

Sakura sighed. "Is that what this is about? Did Naruto put you up to it?"

"I don't need Naruto to say anything to be concerned about you, Sakura."

"There's nothing to be concerned about, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura interjected quickly.

"Sakura." He spoke her name quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she insisted. "Kami-sama, why won't any of you believe that?"

"Maybe because it's not true. Obviously something is wrong and you're doing a bad job at hiding it." Kakashi's tone remained the same and for some reason the calmness of it infuriated her. She stood up so abruptly the chair fell onto ground behind her. She ignored it, choosing instead to glare at her former sensei.

"Fine! You want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong," she hissed. "You, Naruto, Tsunade-shishou—everyone—you're all welcoming him back with open arms, as if nothing happened!"

"You mean Sasuke?"

"Of course I mean Sasuke!" Sakura snapped. "Kami-sama, don't you realize what he's done? He betrayed the village. He turned his back on all us and just left. He—"

"He had to avenge his family, Sakura," Kakashi interrupted. He frowned. "You of all people should know that. Should understand that. What's gotten into you? You've always defended him, always had faith in him. It might not have been the right way to do it, but Sasuke had to avenge his family. But he's back now. Isn't that what matters? He's home."

Sakura's hands clenched into fists. "It's not that simple. You wouldn't think that if you knew what I know. If you've seen what I've—" she broke off, realizing that she'd said more than she'd meant to.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Sakura?" he asked.

"I . . . nothing," she answered abruptly.

"Sakura—"

"I have to go, Kakashi-sensei." And with a swift series of movement of her hands, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi sighed. Ho, now I have to pay for the food.

To be continued . . .