AN: Chapter title: Rooftop Talk

Sakura Haruno didn't expect to be awake before the break of dawn. After undergoing interrogation via Ino on what exactly Kakashi-sensei had been telling her these past few days, she had considered the day long enough to be over and headed off to an early bed.

She was supposed to sleep until tomorrow morning, meet up with the others again, hopefully have some type of answer from one of the Jonin Sensei on what to do next, if Ino and the others should accept the strange offer from Sasuke.

She didn't expect to wake up to a woman standing in her room. She didn't scream only because she could see the Hidden Leaf emblem on her Forehead Protector. Even if it was just a disguise, if this woman was just an infiltrator who had gotten this far into the village, had overcome any patrols, had beaten the Barrier Team, there wasn't much she could do to stop her.

The fact she wasn't dead yet was just another mark in the woman at least being a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

The woman in front of her seemed to notice she was finally up, she had no idea how long she had been waiting for her to wake up but she had what she wanted.

"Sakura Haruno, we need to talk." The purple haired Kunoichi impatiently waited for her to rise, looked tempted to drag her out of bed herself.

"A-About what?" Sakura bit down on her fears, the rather justified issues she had with this strange woman being in her room. She had seen her enough in the past few days, now understood why she had, more than once, felt like she was being watched.

She had been.

"Kakashi Hatake, your Jonin sensei." The woman headed towards the window. "Come with me."

Sakura distinctly felt like she didn't have a choice in this matter.

She hurried to at least grab her weapon's pouch so she could be armed if nothing else, decided her pajamas were good enough for whatever this strange woman wanted from her. She also highly doubted she would be given time to dress so pajamas it would be.

She climbed up onto the windowsill, spotted the woman waiting for her on the side of the building. She cast an impatient glare down to her before heading up to the roof, Chakra allowing her to stick to the wall with ease. She hesitated to follow after her but swung herself over the windowsill.

Once again, she felt like she didn't have a choice in this.

The woman was waiting for her still, seemed to consider the roof the appropriate place to have this conversation when she turned to her.

"Do you know who I am?" Her mystery woman earned a shake of her head. She bit down on whatever she was going to say, brought her gloved hands up to rub at her temple. "Of course you don't. I shouldn't be surprised a civilian knows nothing." Her words were a whisper but they carried over the silent rooftop.

"My name is Yugao Uzuki, my current rank is Jonin of the Hidden Leaf. I worked with Hatake years ago, both before and after he was responsible for a Genin squad. He was my partner on missions, my mentor for training, I was as much his student then as you are now." The now named Yugao glanced around the rooftop, searching for something that wasn't there. It was almost obsessive how often she searched for nothing. "I'm here to warn you about him."

"Kakashi-sensei would never hurt me." She didn't doubt for a second, didn't hesitate to correct the woman if that was where this was going. She hesitated to take a step back, mentally ran through the weapons in her pouch. It wasn't a lot, Kakashi had told her to keep at least the basics loadout on her but that was growing harder and harder the more she trained, tried to catch up. She swallowed down any fear she felt.

"I'm not concerned about him hurting you. He won't do it. At least not intentionally." Yugao seemed to think over her words for a moment. "I'm trying to warn you about how strong his feelings can become." She crossed her arms. "Hatake feels too strongly while not enough at the same time. He's a man of extremes despite anything he says, how the way he acts may make you perceive him. He is anything but lazy, far from uncaring. He grieves more than anyone I've ever seen without shedding a tear, can be happy more than anyone I've seen without ever smiling. But, above all else, he values his friends, his comrades, more than anything else."

"And is something wrong with that?" Sakura emerald eyes were focused on Yugao, the more she talked, the more Sakura began to dislike her.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Yugao seemed to consider her words, could see the building aggression from the younger Shinobi's body language, the look in her eyes. "I'm here to warn you. That's all. Hatake is infamous outside of the Land of Fire, has enemies who will do anything to hurt him, to have a chance to kill him for the money and glory it would bring them. He's dealt with bounty hunters on distant missions for years, has done horrible things in the name of the village more than most Shinobi, had done things most are incapable of even dreaming of. And those atrocities have placed a target on him, his prowess has spread it to those close to him. There is a reason Hatake's only close relationships are with other Jonin, accomplished ones at that. Others would be placed in too great of danger even knowing him, if people believe he cared for them."

"If his enemies think they can hurt him through you, they'll take it."

"Kakashi-sensei's been training me."

"And that means nothing." Yugao closed the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye, Sakura nearly toppling back from the surprise fueling her steps backwards, nearly tripping if the woman hadn't grabbed her by her pajama top, kept her upright. "I could kill you here and now no matter what you know, what you believe you know. I closed the distance between us before you could even react, could have taken you away from here if I wished." She released her, let her take stumbling steps back as she struggled to regain her balance. "Others will do far worse to you, turn you into bait for their real target because they'll know he'll rather die than abandon you, abandon any of his comrades."

Yugao closed the distance between the two of them again.

"It is in your best interest to distance yourself from him. If he offers you training, refuse it. If he offers you the chance to work with him, refuse it. The closer you appear to be to him, the more danger you will put yourself in when his enemies discover how close you are to him." Yugao hesitated but laid a hand on her shoulder. "I am trying to help you Haruno."

Sakura couldn't step away, the woman in front of her tightening her hold on her shoulder.

"I am here trying to save your life. You are already a Shinobi, already risk your life, don't needlessly risk it on this. Speak with Kakashi if you don't believe me, if you think I'm only here to threaten you, speak with him." Yugao released her, stepped back. "Listen to me, don't listen to me. I am merely trying to help."

She didn't think she was here to help anyone but herself, had some goal that Kakashi would know about if she told him about this.

She kept herself silent, kept herself from saying a word to the woman across from her.

The woman seemed to understand that their conversation was over, that her piece was said and Sakura's silence was her response.

She gave her one last parting look, one that confused the pink haired Shinobi.

There wasn't anger or frustration in her eyes, wasn't fury at being ignored. Above all else, there was a depth of pity, sympathy, in her gaze.

"Don't forget Haruno. I did not come here to hurt you, to hurt him. I'm trying to help you both."

Without another word, Yugao was gone.

Sakura found her exhaustion was gone with her, a quiet mind snatched from her as the woman's words found their place in her thoughts.

She did not return to sleep that night.

AN: Well...all of that happened. Pieces continue to move.

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Peace.