A/N 1: Well, I noticed that since the last chapter of Reflection that I have received quite a few new readers and to you all I say, "Welcome to my imagination." To my other faithful readers, I say "Sorry for the really late update. I'm posting this earlier because of that. Thanks for continuing to read." That being said...

Chapter Twelve:

Dimensional Crossing

Kakashi-sensei,

I'm not sure how I ended up here. All I know is that the Hokage sent me to get some herbs from the Nara's. I came across this field of lilies. It was beautiful, Kakashi-sensei...I couldn't resist. I...um, for lack of a better word, frolicked in the field for a while (Don't you dare laugh!). Eventually, I fell asleep in said field and went I had awakened, I was here. That's all I know.

Take care of Sasuke, Kaka-sensei. And figure out how to get me home soon.

Sakura

Kakashi stared at the letter, chuckling to himself. Frolic. Sakura was so odd. Of course, that could be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. He shrugged that off. It wasn't really important.

"What's so funny?"

"Hm?" Kakashi murmured, looking up at his visitor.

"What's in the letter that's so amusing?" Saku asked curiously.

"Nothing. Tell me, Saku...I know I found you in the Uchiha district. Is that where you were last in your world?"

"No. I wandered there afterwards. I was trying to go home."

"Then where were you?"

"In this field. It was full of the prettiest—"

"Lilies?" Kakashi said, cutting her off. She could tell that for some reason, he was laughing at her. She was beginning to become irritated by it.

"What?!"

"Nothing," he reiterated. "Look, I think I figured out the common denominator between you and Sakura. Sakura came across a field of lilies as well. Can you take me to it?"

Saku eyed him suspiciously. She was still a little peeved because she knew he was still laughing at her, and the reason why eluded her. Saku stood up and Kakashi followed suit. He walked to the door. Saku followed behind him and was given the opportunity to glance at his form. He wore a form fitting black shirt and black slacks. He looked rather appealing. But she was letting her mind wander in a direction she shouldn't. Home. That's what she should be thinking about. Home. Kakashi promised her he'd get her back, and she knew without a doubt he was a man of his word.

They traveled further than he originally thought they would. What in the world was Sakura doing this far from the village?

"This is it."

Kakashi looked around at the field. A picturesque scene greeted him. The field was larger than he imagined. The lilies blew gently in the breeze. They seemed to sparkle a bit as the light danced on them. He suddenly knew why Sakura was 'frolicking'. He chuckled once more at the image. It was reminiscent of the old Sakura. The girl she was before Sasuke left. Kakashi sighed. That girl was gone and in its place was a woman that he was proud of.

A woman that frolicked.

He was never going to let that go.

"So where did you wake up?"

Saku frowned at him. "You expect me to give you an exact location?"

Kakashi looked down at her expectantly. He didn't think he was being unreasonable. "Yes."

"Not likely, Kakashi," Saku said, rolling her eyes at his absurdity. "So what do we do now? Wander aimlessly, hoping to fall into another world?"

Saku looked at Kakashi, expecting some sort of brilliant scheme to emerge from his lips—but his ever-present eye crinkle made despair well up in her chest.

"Aw, Kakashi...this field is freaking huge!" Saku complained.

"Sometimes the best plan is the simplest."

"Argh!" Saku muttered and performed a few hand signs, making a clone of herself. "Fine. I'll start at the west end of the field." Kakashi just nodded and began his own search.

They had been searching well over an hour before Kakashi's arm disappeared. He could feel it still attached to his body but, he couldn't see it. It was actually rather amusing to look at. It didn't take him long to realize that he had found what they had been looking for.

"Saku!" he called out and stepped away from the portal. "I've found it."

Saku ran over to where Kakashi was and looked around briefly. "Where?"

Kakashi raised his hand and Saku watched as it disappeared. "There," he replied.

"So what do I do...just step through it? Is it as simple as all that?" Saku asked, ready and willing to go.

"You are not going to do anything. I'm going to step on the other side to make sure it's safe and if it is, then I'm going to track down Sakura and bring her back—then I'll send you back through."

"Why can't I just come with you?"

"I don't know what this is, Saku. I'm not going to risk your life on this."

"So it's okay for you to risk yours?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Sakura, you will stay here and that's an order!"

Kakashi took Saku's unmoving form as a sign of acquiesce and moved to step through the dimensional tear.

Saku's mouth dropped open, stunned at Kakashi's harsh tone.

Sakura? She thought momentarily. She was not his Sakura. He could not order her to jump and expect her to say 'how high?'. Who exactly did he think he was? It had been a long time since she followed the orders of Hatake Kakashi. It wasn't something that she was going to start doing anytime soon.

Saku's thoughts caused outrage to pour through her, compelling her to follow behind the imperious Copy Ninja.

And as Saku's foot left the ground of Sakura's world, she was unaware of the violent tremor that went through that world at her, or rather their, departure.

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Saku stepped through the tear and looked around, expecting to find Kakashi somewhere nearby. But he was nowhere to be found. Saku frowned. Where could he have disappeared to?

Of course, since he was nowhere in sight, she had to ask herself a few very important questions.

Was she indeed home? Or had they been thrown somewhere else in the grand scheme of things? She hoped not, because she would certainly feel foolish if she had left a perfectly safe haven for someplace that was less than hospitable.

The best way to determine this would be to go home and see Itachi. Saku frowned when Itachi came to her mind, because it immediately brought to mind her situation with Kakashi.

Itachi was soon forgotten.

Now was the time to fix the relationship that she feared she had damaged beyond all repair. Yes, she would go talk to Kakashi and she would set matters straight. Or at least try to if he would hear her out…

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Kakashi trudged slowly back to his apartment. He pulled off his forehead protector and let it dangle in his right hand loosely. His other hand, he placed against his throbbing temple.

Again. It was happening again. She was choosing Itachi over him. Different Sakura. Same story.

It wasn't even that he had feelings for Sakura, his heart belonged to Saku, but to see that bastard claim another woman so easily—

Kakashi stopped walking as the pain worsened.

"You okay, Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi cracked his eye open and glanced at his blond-haired former pupil.

"I'm fine, Naruto," he said, and continued his trek to his home and solitude.

"Seriously? Because you look like crap."

"Naruto, I just want to be—"

"Alone? Yeah, that's what you always want. You know, maybe it's time that you stopped this feud or whatever it is that you have going on with Sakura. You need to talk to her."

"Mind your—"

"Yeah, yeah. Look. Sakura's my friend. You're my sensei and I'd like to consider you a friend, too. I know we've drifted apart ever since your friendship with Sakura dissolved, but that doesn't mean I've stopped caring about either of you. So, as a friend, I'm asking you to talk to her. We're a team always, even if we move on to other things. We're family."

"Naruto, there are things you don't know." Kakashi started to explain, but he had no idea why. He stopped explaining himself a long time ago.

"Maybe, but I do know that Sakura's sitting outside your apartment right now and has been for some time. Make it right, Kakashi-sensei. It's time."

Kakashi frowned, wondering what Sakura was doing outside his apartment. He had watched her in Itachi's arms not too long ago. He hadn't thought she'd be leaving him anytime soon.

"At my apartment?" he asked, just to make sure he had heard him correctly.

"Yeah," Naruto said, smiling so brightly at him it put the sun to shame. "So go on."

Kakashi continued walking onwards, puzzled as to what was going on, but certain that something wasn't right.

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"Great," Saku muttered and allowed herself to slide down to the ground. She leaned against Kakashi's door and brought her knees up to her chest.

He would not be at home. Kakashi could never make any situation easy. Saku briefly contemplated looking for him, but disregarded the idea. He had to come home sometime, didn't he? Of course, that was assuming he was in the village and not on a mission. Saku growled in frustration.

Mid-growl, she caught a glance at Naruto strolling down the street. She stood up immediately in order to catch his attention.

"Hey! Naruto!"

Naruto glanced around, looking for the familiar voice. Looking up, he saw the shockingly pink hair of his teammate and immediately waved at her. His delight at seeing her soon turned to shock because he realized where she was. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her anywhere near Kakashi-sensei's apartment, let alone outside his door.

"Sakura! What are you doing over here?" he called out.

"Looking for Kakashi. Have you seen him? Is he in the village?"

Naruto looked into Saku's eyes and saw the hope shining back at him. He briefly remembered the conversation that he had with Sakura. She asked him if he thought she was in love with Kakashi-sensei. He couldn't answer her right then because he wasn't sure.

Looking at her now, however, he had a definite answer.

Yes.

Yes, she was.

A blind man could see it.

"No, I haven't seen him. But if I do, I'll send him your way."

Saku gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Naruto."

Naruto just nodded and continued to stroll along. Saku briefly wondered where he was headed and what he was up to, but dismissed it when thoughts of Kakashi began to fill her head.

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Kakashi arrived home to discover that Naruto was right. He had somehow managed to convince himself that there was no way that Sakura would be standing outside his apartment, and that Naruto was just crazy.

He was wrong.

Naruto was still crazy, but Sakura was sitting outside his apartment. Asleep. Night had fallen and her hair was askew. Her mouth was agape slightly and a light snore emanated from her lips. He stared at her for a moment, drinking in her beauty, even though she really wasn't a pretty sleeper. Then he reached out a hand and shook her slightly, but she didn't respond. This was typical for Sakura.

"Sakura."

Saku opened her bleary eyes and looked at Kakashi's form. He looked disheveled, and she had to admit to herself that he was more than a little attractive. How had she not seen this?

"Hey," she said, standing up and stretching her body.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked bluntly. "I told you, you couldn't stay with me. At this point, I don't know why you'd want to." Kakashi gently moved her out the way so he could open his door.

"What are you talking about?" Saku asked him, still a little foggy from sleep.

"I'm talking about why you're here." Kakashi opened the door and stepped into his apartment, Saku following behind him.

"Oh, well, I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"Us."

Kakashi frowned. There wasn't an 'us'. What was she talking about? Kakashi wondered.

"What's wrong with you, Sakura?"

"Why do you keep calling me—" Saku broke off as realization dawned on her. She was pleased at first to find Kakashi was at least willing to let her into his apartment. She assumed that this meant he was willing to give her a chance to explain. Of course, that wasn't the case. He just thought she was the other Sakura and was barely tolerating her because of that fact.

"Kakashi." Saku stared into his eyes, waiting until his full attention was focused on her. "It's me, Saku."

Kakashi involuntarily took a step back. "How did you—?" He let the question trail off.

"Does it matter, really? I'm home and I need to talk to you."

A myriad of emotions flashed across Kakashi's face.

Disbelief.

Rage.

Joy.

Those were among a few of them and Saku saw them all. The shade that had covered her eyes was now lifted. She truly saw the man before her. It encouraged her like nothing else did.

"Kakashi, I—"

"Go."

Saku's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Go home to your fiancé, Saku, before you lose him, too."

"I'm where I want to be, Kakashi. It's time we talked. Don't you think?" she said, a bit hesitantly.

Naruto's words flashed through his mind briefly, but he pushed them aside. What good would talking do? She had made her choice. She chose Itachi. He couldn't stick around and be a 'good buddy' to her while she gave her heart to another man. He wasn't that strong.

So, he did the only thing he could do to keep himself from going completely insane.

Kakashi grabbed Saku's arm and began to gently, but firmly lead her out of his apartment.

"Kakashi, what are you doing?"

He didn't reply but kept moving. He was afraid. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth and said one more word then he wouldn't be able to stop the swarm of emotions that he was barely holding back.

When he had ensured that she was out of his apartment, he looked down at her, into her vibrant eyes that stared up at him so hurt, so solemnly that it nearly killed him. Yet, he shut the door firmly in her face, anyway.

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Saku stared at the door for a good ten minutes, hoping against hope that he would open the door again. But that would be too easy, right? Their story wasn't ever going to be simple. He didn't come back and open the door. At least, he hadn't hurled her out. That was good, right? she thought, trying to be optimistic.

But she failed miserably.

She truly hadn't thought that he'd listen to her willingly. Not after years of silence.

But she had hoped.

Spending time with Sakura's Kakashi had been enlightening. She had seen a side of Kakashi that she hadn't seen in so long and it lightened her heart. It made her hope. Surely, the man she loved wasn't gone forever. He was just buried under layers of pain.

Sakura's Kakashi had faced so much more tragedy and he bore it well. He kept fighting. He kept hoping. He kept loving. How could her Kakashi be any different?

Yes, he was buried under all that pain, just waiting for someone to help free him.

Saku glanced around and found herself back at the field of lilies. She wasn't alone when she reached the field. There he stood.

Sakura's Kakashi, staring at her.

Waiting.

"I ordered you to wait on the other side."

Saku's lips curved upward slightly. "And you really thought I'd listen?"

"Not at all, that's why I waited. So, you want to tell me what happened?"

"He threw me out before I could say a word." Kakashi nodded, as if that were to be expected. She guessed to him it would be expected. Saku looked around. "What about you? Did you find her?"

"I did, but she's decided to stay."

"With Itachi?" Saku asked, surprised—and for some reason, a bit relieved.

"I think they're still working out the details," Kakashi said, chuckling. "So, are you coming with me?" Kakashi extended his hand out in invitation.

Saku stared at his hand. It would be so easy to take his hand. To follow him into another world and give him all the love she so desperately wanted to give to her Kakashi.

"I can't."

"Saku, you do realize that there will be repercussions if the both of you stay here. There has to be balance in both worlds."

"I know, but I can't leave him. Not again. I love him," she explained gently.

Kakashi sighed. "Is there nothing I can do to convince you to come with me?" Saku shook her head. Kakashi closed the small distance between them. He lowered his mask and whispered in her ear, his lips brushing it lightly. "Nothing at all?" Saku eyes widened, and she took a hasty step back, almost falling in her urgency to get away.

Kakashi chuckled, pleased by her reaction. Saku looked up and saw that his face was covered once more and he was walking away from her.

"Then I will give you the key to winning me over. Hopefully, it will help you to get through to him, me, whatever." Kakashi reached into his pocket and tossed something at Saku over his shoulder, which she caught immediately.

Saku looked down at the old, worn, orange book. Her nose immediately wrinkled in disgust.

"Page 146. The answer is there. By the way, tell Sakura I'm counting on her."

At the thought of somehow winning her Kakashi back, Saku immediately opened the book to the page he had instructed. Her eyes had to strain in the darkness to see what was written there but she could make out the title of the chapter plainly. A smile broke out on her face. She raised her head to thank him—but when she looked up, he was already gone.

Saku closed the book and slowly walked away with a little orange symbol of hope clutched to her heart.

A/N 2: Thanks to cutecrayice for being a wonderful beta especially with all that work I sent you recently. BTW, that little bit you added at the end of All's Fair sent shivers down my spine. It's amazing how just a little can do so much to a scene. Thanks once more.