Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters from said story.

Tentatively titled Sightings Chapter 1- First Sighting

By Onyx angel

Sakura's eyes narrowed as they surveyed the thin piece of parchment in front of her. "Naruto you insufferable baka!" She exclaimed, frustrated that the blonde jounin wouldn't be back in Konoha for another two weeks at least.

Although it wasn't specified in his letter she entirely suspected Naruto's sensei, Jiraiya, was the cause of Naruto's elongated training journey. Probably conducting further "research" for his perverted books.

"Damn perverts, oh well at least Kakashi-sensei will be pleased," She mumbled sullenly to herself as she imagined the look of glee on her sensei's face at the mention of a new Icha Icha book.

She could only imagine his face of course, as she had never actually seen it. Not that she didn't try on a regular basis to expose his face to her; going so far as to attempt to seduce the damn thing off. Needless to say her efforts had been in vain, since when he kissed her he made sure her eyes were closed.

Apparently her advances had gotten him pretty riled up and as much as he'd attempted to ignore his former student, Sakura had grown persistent.

When she finally did open her eyes (in his bedroom, on his bed) it was to dark to see anything. Not that she had really cared at that point but for propriety's sake she had to pretend.

Undeniably, the feel of him as he rubbed against formerly untouched places was enough to dispel any thoughts of seeing anything but the white hot bursts of pleasure swimming in her vision.

When he actually pushed in she couldn't think at all, and didn't, until the morning after when she realized she had lost her virginity to her teacher. Definitely taboo.

Or it would have been if anyone but the two participants involved were aware of anything intimate between student and teacher. But no one ever found out (except for Genma when he unexpectedly turned up outside Kakashi's window one night. Luckily, He kept tightlipped too, if only so that he could lord it over Kakashi's head whenever he got the chance).

That was how Sakura and Kakashi came to be illicit and entirely inappropriate sexpartners. Whether love was or was not involved remained inconsequential, although Sakura was sure she had heard Kakashi mutter that he loved her just last night, regardless of how much he denied it in the morning.

The 18 year old sighed, remembering.

A sharp knock on her apartment door shocked her out of her reveries, and she rushed to cover her self in something decent. Slipping a large orange t-shirt, previously the belonging of Naruto's, over her head she hurried to answer the door.

She wondered briefly who it could be, since Naruto was away, Kakashi was undoubtedly still displeased with her, and Ino had an early shift at the flower shop.

She flung open the door with a flourish only to be cascaded with a quantity of rose petals a shade darker than her hair. 'Ah it's Rock Lee than,' she thought with a smile as she observed the clear outline of the self-proclaimed "green beast of Konoha."

"Hi Lee-kun," she said, noting the way his eyes lit up at the added suffix.

"Sakura-san, my flower! I come bearing gifts, although none as stunning as your youthful presence!" He exclaimed and she giggled at his usual behavior.

"Lee you know you didn't have to!" She said, grinning.

By know she had grown quite used to his odd mannerisms and her treatment of him had grown quite affectionate, though she still only thought of him as a close friend.

"That is what Neji said too, but I think a beautiful girl deserves beautiful things," he said handing her the flowers he had brought.

"Is Neji-san here too then?" She questioned, her emerald eyes just peeking over the bouquet, as she smelled it.

"Yes, we have come to ask you to join us on a mission, where we will surely encounter great danger that will threaten our carefree springtime spirit!" He announced with fervor.

"It's a mission to investigate Akatsuki sightings near Earth CountryIwagakure the Hidden Village of Rock to be more precise, and we need a medic nin. That's where you come in.

"Oh hi Neji-san!" Sakura looked up and greeted the man whom she had failed to notice before.

He had grown taller like all of the former genin and, like them, had risen in rank. He was now a well-established member of ANBU, one who she would, tentatively, call a friend. Rock Lee had also become a member of ANBU, eager to outdo his self-proclaimed rival.

Sakura had been happy enough staying at jounin level after passing her exams, and often ended up going on ANBU ranked missions anyway because of her medical accomplishments.

"So what do you think Sakura-san?"

"Huh, oh the mission, yah it sounds fine but I'd like to go over technicalities before we leave….." She broke off, blushing, as only now did she notice Neji looking her up and down with what, if it were anyone else, she would have called a leer.

'Oh my god I completely forgot about how I'm dressed! I'm only wearing Naruto's shirt! Lee-kun and Neji-san probably think I'm some kind of weirdo!' All this was said in her mind as she had a mild heart attack due to the realization of her state of undress.

"Hehe, well, um it was nice seeing you, let's meet later at Ichiraku's, okay? Bye!"

She yelled, as she practically slammed the door in their face.

'Oh my God, oh my God! Phew, well at least they're gone now! Honestly you'd think after living with a boy for 2 years and having illicit sex with my teacher I'd have gotten used to embarrassing situations!'

Never mind that her teacher was Kakashi, who at first glance seemed like nothing but an old pervert, or that the boy was Naruto, her best friend.

She'd moved in with Naruto not long after her 16th birthday and had been borrowing his clothes for just as long. It was convenient since they were both ninja and understood the other's lifestyle. Although, Sakura soon found that living with Naruto wasn't as easy as she had first expected since he kept the house constantly messy, and very rarely ate anything but ramen.

It had changed their relationship very little and they remained simply best friends. 'Although there was that time when we kissed, on his birthday,' Sakura reflected absently as she picked herself off of the floor by her door where she had "hidden" after slamming the door on Neji and Rock Lee.

She hardly supposed the kiss she and Naruto had shared on his 18th birthday counted, though, because they were both thoroughly drunk.

She mentally shrugged and walked to the bathroom to see if she could make herself somewhat presentable for lunch at Ichiraku Ramen.

Sakura casually shrugged off the orange shirt and stepped into the shower; pleased to note that the mold she had painstakingly cleaned just last week had not grown back. She turned the water to hot and gasped at the quick temperature change.

She noticed purplish marks on her neck when she was washing her hair; the remnants of her night with Kakashi. Absently she hoped Rock Lee and Neji hadn't noticed.

Finished with her shower, she reached for her towel and wrapped it tightly around herself.

In front of her mirror, she let the towel fall and observed her unclothed body. She had grown her hair long, past her waist, though not as long as Ino's.

Her face had visibly matured and her eyes, now a light emerald, had taken on the flirty glint of her teacher, Tsunade's. Her body had experienced the most noticeable change, however, becoming hardened with muscle from her ninja training and significantly curvy where it was appropriate.

'My chest is probably bigger than even Ino's now,' she observed as she fumbled around in her closet in search of her usual ninja attire.

Grinning at the idea of beating Ino at something, she preceded to wrap the containing bandages, which were a fixture for all kunoichi's, around her breasts. Those were followed by a simple mesh shirt and other undergarments. Next she pulled on short spandex shorts, fingerless gloves and tied some bandage around her calf and forearm. She finished the outfit by putting on and tying her long red shirt, which, when she was standing still, conveniently gave off the appearance of a short skirt.

The shirt was unlike anything she had worn as a chuunin or genin. It was much shorter than a kimono, though it slightly resembled one, reaching about mid-thigh, and tied at the waist. It was also much simpler than any kimono she had ever seen with its plain elbow-length sleeves and simple design; the only decoration on it was a white circle on her back and the Konoha symbol on the left side of the "skirt."

Finally she pulled on her hitaiate and attached her leg protectors. Deeming herself ready, she pulled on her black boots.

She glanced once at the clock on her dresser and hurried through the house, hoping to beat Rock Lee and Neji to Ichiraku's.

Speeding past the front door she effortlessly jumped out of the open window, landing with a flip on the sidewalk below her and Naruto's apartment.

Smiling at her feat, and waving to the shocked neighbor, who she was sure would press charges one of these days, she quickly attached a kunai satchel to her thigh and hurried to Icharaku Ramen.

She approached slowly, attempting to appear casual as she sighted Neji and Rock Lee sitting at a table outside the recently renovated Ichiraku Ramen.

'Okay, so if I act relaxed maybe they won't remember that I greeted them half naked this morning.' Sakura thought, doubting her sanity as the thought crossed her mind.

Moving to sit down beside Rock Lee, she greeted the two boys with an embarrassed grin and a lopsided salute; "hi, how's it goin?"

Neji blinked twice at her hasty arrival but murmured a short reply, before obscuring his face behind his elbows, as he ate some of the ramen he had previously ordered. Not, however, before she noticed the miniscule and uncharacteristic blush tinting his cheeks.

"Uhh, heh, sorry for, you know, this morning, I guess you just got me at a bad time." She apologized, meekly bobbing her head quickly, before staring severely at the two boys.

"But you should know that Naruto and I have nothing, going on. I was only wearing his shirt because it was comfortable," She said emphasizing her words with a crack of her knuckles and effectively getting her point across: She and Naruto were not romantically involved.

She'd been asked countless times if the two were dating and she now felt a sick kind of pleasure in forcefully denying the rumors; using chakra-laden fists if absolutely necessary.

Her unspoken threat failed to warrant a reaction from the stoic Hyuuga, who continued to slowly consume his meal. Rock Lee's face, however, brightened immediately and she watched as his eyes started to sparkle.

"Sakura-san, I am so sorry to have assumed untruths concerning your reputation. Of course, I would have been overjoyed for you and Naruto, but all the same..." He trailed off and looked at her with a silly grin, and she found her self smiling back, because, like Naruto, Lee and his smiles became infectious over time.

"Thanks Lee-kun."

"Of course, Sakura-san. You can always count on me!" He winked and gave her a thumb's up, his seated version of the "good guy pose."

She heard Neji clear his throat and looked at him over Rock Lee's shoulder.

"We should probably talk about mission logistics, Tsunade expects us gone by 10:00 tonight."

"Oh, right, so do you know the reason for Akatsuki sightings in earth country, and why, if it is an Earth Country problem, are they involving Konoha ninja?" Sakura inquired, switching expertly into trained shinobi mode.

"The Tsuchikage of Iwagakure is unequipped to deal with enemies such as the Akatsuki. They are also aware that we have had various dealings with the Akatsuki before and that we have a vendetta against them," Neji explained in clipped, concise sentences.

"They would have asked Suna, it being closer, but the Rock and the Sand have been feuding, as you know, ever since a high-ranking government official of Rock cheated a Suna shinobi. There has been no open blood shed as of yet, but the Rock is weaker than the Sand and fears retribution."

Sakura nodded at Neji's logic having adequate knowledge of complicated political views due to her training with Tsunade. It made sense that an Earth Country Village would request aid from Konoha but she still couldn't understand the Akatsuki's reasoning for being near Iwa.

A thought hit her suddenly, and she had to resist clenching her hands into fists.

"You don't think…. It couldn't have been a Jinchūriki they were after could it?" She asked keeping her voice intentionally calm.

All of the former genin had eventually learned about the kyuubi inhabiting Naruto and, previously, Gaara. Counting Shukaku, and two other unknown Jinchūriki, the Akatsuki had obtained three.

Neji narrowed his eyes at her, and Sakura could see he was impressed by how fast she had caught on, but let Lee answer her tentative question.

"You are very smart Sakura-san. That is what we concluded as well. Our job is to locate any Akatsuki that may still be in the area and, if the situation arises, engage them in combat."

"We are to attempt to contain a Jinchūriki if we locate one, but the likelihood of that happening is unlikely. It is an A-class mission and the time frame is between one week and a month, depending on our progress."

"Oh man, that means I won't be here when Naruto comes back!" She moaned before catching Neji looking at her with plain disinterest, and only slight suspicion.

"Not like that! I just haven't seen him in a long time," She mumbled twiddling her fingers and pouting.

Neji shrugged regally.

"Neji-san why isn't Tenten going on this mission?"

"She is currently on a mission with Gai-sensei and won't return for another week." Neji replied easily.

He finished his ramen, wiping his mouth with a napkin, before standing, and bidding Sakura and Lee goodbye.

"I'm going to finalize the details with Hokage-sama. We'll meet at the Konoha gates at 9:30. Don't be late."

"Sure, see you then Neji-san." Sakura waved and he nodded back at her and Rock Lee before disappearing in the crowd.

"Huh, so who's mission leader?" She inquired to Rock Lee who was finishing his own bowl of, now cold, miso ramen with vigor.

"Neji is mission leader but worry not Sakura-san! I will not let that hold me back from allowing my true potential to shine through!"

Sakura smiled amusedly, ignoring the stares from other patrons, no doubt wondering at the strange behavior of the oddly dressed shinobi.

She glared at one girl who made a particularly rude remark about Lee's green jumpsuit and quickly stood up, pulling Rock Lee up too, by the elbow.

Shooting the impolite girl another fierce look, she hooked her arm with Lee's, kissed him swiftly on the cheek, and walked away. A considerable feat considering she was also carrying the weight of Lee, who had, seemingly, lost the ability to stand when she had kissed him.

"Lee, hey! C'mon you're not that easy to carry, you know!" She complained, loosening her hold on his arm. Her voice held a light hint of teasing, and she was smiling, obviously pleased with her performance.

"I'm sorry Sakura-san!"

"That's all right Lee-kun, but I've got some work to finish at the hospital, so I'll see you tonight, okay?" She said, thinking of Kakahsi.

"Sure. See you later Sakura-san," He waved and she responded in kind.

Happy with the result of her meeting with Neji and Rock Lee, she smiled before being rudely reminded by her stomach that she hadn't eaten anything at the Ramen shop.

'Darn! Stupid me, I was right there too!' She chastised inwardly, before heading to the home of the notorious copy-ninja.

She wasn't sure what he would say about the mission, or if he would care at all. He had seemed pretty annoyed at her this morning. Although, for him pretty annoyed meant not doing the zipper of his jounin vest up all the way. On that note, if he did care, she probably wouldn't be able to tell.

Well, regardless he had to care about her wellbeing as his former student. He had to.

She hesitated when she arrived at his house, unsure if she should knock or just talk to him when she returned from her mission.

Her question was answered for her when the door opened on its own, revealing the masked face of one Hatake Kakashi.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Kakashi questioned with a quirk of his visible eyebrow.

He didn't look mad, or at least, she didn't think so.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei, um I just came to talk I guess." She replied, scoffing her feet against the ground and avoiding eye contact.

She could only look more suspicious if she whistled; which, she supposed, wasn't very unlikely if he didn't make some kind of reply soon.

After a lengthy pause he answered her unspoken query, "Sure, I can always talk,"

He eyed her subtly for a moment before producing an Icha Icha Paradise book from his pocket.

Her stomach chose that moment to make an indelicate rumble and she flushed lightly. Kakashi gave no sign that he noticed, but she suspected that if he were not wearing a mask she would see an amused expression on his face.

He probably loved seeing her squirm. He always had enjoyed picking on his students, though the recipient of such jokes was usually Naruto. Apparently, when you started sleeping with Kakashi you also deserved the honor.

She hated to think what that would have meant for Kakashi and Naruto's relationship.

'Naruto you dog! Taking poor, innocent Kakashi-sensei's virginity.' She burst out laughing at the ridiculous thought and didn't stop, even when Kakashi eyed her solemnly over his book.

"Sakura there is no need to try and impress me. I know you have an excellent sense of humor."

"No, sorry, I was just uh getting lost on the road of life," She grinned, throwing one of his favorite lines back at him.

His only reply was to ruffle her hair and hold the door open for her as an unspoken invitation.

Equally silent after her laughing fit, she stepped around Kakashi and into his clean apartment.

She had always liked it for the reason that, most of the time, it was clean. She had no idea how such a lazy man could keep his home so spotless, but she half suspected that it was because he was always away on missions.

Or it could be that whenever he was late, which he was, constantly, the actual reason for his delay was that he had been cleaning.

Although that idea was by far the most amusing she assumed it was the former.

"So…." She fidgeted nervously.

"So…." Kakashi prompted, putting away his book.

'Ugh this is annoying; I'm acting like a genin!' With that thought Sakura opened her mouth with firm resolve to tell Kakashi that she was leaving on a mission, and would not be back for a while.

"Kakashi! I…..uh, wait why do you smell like Pakkun?" Curiously, she sniffed the air around him, recognizing the ninken's smell.

He waved his hand at her in an attempt to stop her from smelling him, but she was quite persistent.

"Sakura stop that, I don't smell like Pakkun." He scratched his head guiltily and smiled like he had in their genin days.

"I didn't mean to use your shampoo but it was closest to me in the shower so..." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey! I don't smell like a dog!"

"Now Sakura ninken are more than just dogs they are a ninja's partner and should be treated with respect and…." His rant fell short as he saw the look in her eye.

"Kakashi. Maybe you should call Pakkun, you might need him," She said calmly, deadly serious.

It was twenty minutes later, after a tiring, impromptu training session, when she finally got to the reason she had visited the copy-ninja.

"You win, you win," Sakura panted as Kakashi pinned her to the floor, his arms and legs securing her struggling limbs.

Sitting up Kakashi groaned audibly, although the kunoichi noticed he hadn't even broken a sweat, despite her best efforts. She never had been good with taijutsu.

Not to say she hadn't made advances. Thanks to significant training with Lee and Kakashi she had become above average in most areas of taijutsu and her stamina had risen substantially.

Kakashi groaned again, though not from fatigue. "You know, I remember when you used to admire me."

Sakura huffed, mildly disappointed at being beaten. "What, you mean the twenty minutes in between the first time I heard your name and the minute you fell for Naruto's stupid trick?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly in reply, "Yes those were good times, before I knew what mediocre ninjas I'd have for a team."

"Hey, this mediocre ninja takes offence to that comment!" She slapped him playfully, without noticing his arms snaking around her waist.

"Aah, Kakashi-sensei!" She screeched when he pulled her down on top of him.

Kakashi put two fingers to her eyes, closing them, before slipping down his mask. Next she felt the gentle pressure of his lips as they pressed softly onto hers.

She moaned quietly as his hands rubbed her back. When he started nibbling her lips she suddenly remembered the mission she was supposed to be preparing for.

Breaking away from his embrace, she opened her eyes only to be met with his masked face.

"What, how did you do that so fast?" Sakura questioned, curious, as she always was when it came to his mask.

He shrugged and observed her, obviously, wondering why she had chosen to pull away.

"Oh, I just remembered why I came over here; I wanted to tell you I'm leaving on a mission to Earth Country today."

"I see. What level mission is it?

"It's just an A-class and I'm going to be with Neji-san and Rock Lee-kun so I'll be fine. Speaking of which, I really have to get home and pack!"

He nodded and stood up reaching a hand down to help her up.

She pecked him on the lips over his mask before leaving.

"Good luck with the mission."

"Thanks, See you later Kakashi-sensei!"

She waved and her last glimpse of Kakashi was him taking out Icha Icha Paradise from his pocket and flipping to a marked page.

Sakura was disappointed that she couldn't spend more time with him before leaving, but, at the same time, was glad that she hadn't left when things were awkward between them. Although, she would still like to discuss the whole love situation.

'And I should really stop calling him Kakashi-sensei; it sounds creepy, like he's molesting me or something.' It was not the first time she'd had such a thought, but adding the sensei to the end of his name had become a force of habit, one which she was having trouble breaking.

She did leave off the suffix when she was being very serious and in intimate situations, but she knew Kakashi would prefer for her to not say it altogether.

Before the oblivious kunoichi knew it her thoughts had led her home.

Sakura stretched before opening the door and stepping into her messy domain.

She promptly remembered her hunger and in the same breath, realized that she had forgotten to eat again. She walked to the kitchen and was thoroughly disappointed to find little else but ramen and some spoiled milk.

It seemed that even when Naruto was absent in presence his influence on the apartment remained.

She sighed, 'how tedious!'

She was irked by how much she sounded like Shikamaru and preceded to boil some plain chicken ramen. She hummed as she "cooked," and was almost pleased when she could finally enjoy the result of her efforts. Not that it was very good, but at least she was fed.

Sakura looked at the clock by the kitchen table and was amazed to see that, already, four hours had passed since she had met up with Rock Lee and Neji earlier in the day.

Wanting to tie up lose ends before leaving, Sakura worked for a while at the hospital, passing the time until 10:00.

Half an hour before the designated time she returned home and packed a back-pack with necessities for the mission. She included some medical supplies and scrolls, some instant ramen, an extra kunai pouch and clothes.

Sakura quickly shouldered the back-pack and grabbed her personal specialized weapons from their spot in her room. They were wrapped carefully in bandage and she put them into a special carrying bag, before clipping them onto a clasp at her waist.

She wrote a hurried note to Naruto, just in case he got back before her, and jumped out of her wide window. Sakura was eager to begin a mission and happy that it was going to be in Earth Country, far away from any place where she would have a chance of seeing Sasuke.

Chapter 1- End

Reviews are accepted and encouraged and I will try to answer any questions about the story. Thanks for reading!

-Onyx