AN:

Thank you all for the warm reception, it means a lot to me.

I worked hard today, so I decided to reward myself by posting the chapter a little bit earlier. Comments are love!

Chapter 2. A Good Man

Later that day…

Nara Shikamaru had a nagging suspicion that every time he went anywhere with his current Hokage, they ran into trouble. Maybe it was just in the nature of Konoha shinobi to get into trouble. Or maybe it was that this particular Hokage attracted bad guys like an overgrown, mop-shaped magnet. Both seemed like pretty reasonable explanations as he followed Temari through the colorful, warm corridors of one of the government buildings.

"So you're sure? A demon attack?" He asked again.

Temari shrugged slightly, looking perfectly at ease in the warmth despite her long dark clothing. The skirts of her dress billowed behind her as the wind picked up. "Or something that looks like it. The villagers said they couldn't feel their own chakra during the attack, but that doesn't mean their attacker had so much chakra that it drowned them out."

It wasn't uncommon for civilians or low ranked shinobi to faint or even harm themselves when faced with a high-level chakra user. Even without using killing intent, a powerful jounin could turn the world into an ear-bursting vacuum by chakra pressure alone, nevermind what a demon with hundredfold more chakra could do. It took sufficient exposure and a powerful chakra signature of your own to withstand that level of pressure.

There was a good reason civilians weren't allowed anywhere near the training fields.

"What's the alternative?" Shikamaru asked, after they'd turned a corner and waited for a young genin messenger to pass by. "Something that represses chakra?"

"You'd need a heck of a seal for that," Temari bit her lip. A move like that was usually rather distracting, but in the grand scheme of things Shikamaru would rather focus on potentially threatening situations than his girlfriend doing something sexy. He had a job to do, a job he had every intention of being good at.

After all, it wasn't every day that you got to be Hokage's assistant on an important diplomatic mission.

"And Gaara told the Hokage about it this morning?" He asked, letting her steer them to the right down the hall towards another building.

"He showed him. The Hokage sent out his dogs to investigate. I doubt they'll find anything, though; the sandstorm will wipe away any tracks there might be left."

Shikamaru set thoughts of why he'd ask Kakashi personally aside to cast a doubtful look out of the window. This building, like most in Suna, possessed public walkways curving around the outside of the buildings, protected by low walls and hanging rooftops like a long, stretched out patio. It meant the villagers could still move around during one of the many sandstorms, though taking one of the public underground tunnels was safer by far.

From where they were walking, Shikamaru could already see the storm churning towards them, great tawny clouds whirling across the desert like a thunderstorm rolling over Konoha in autumn. What this storm lacked in lightning, it made up for with razor-sharp winds and sand designed to scour the skin off your body.

It wasn't Shikamaru's first sandstorm, but it did look to be the biggest he'd ever seen. He couldn't imagine anyone living outside Suna's walls and surviving that. Keeping out the heat wasn't the only purpose of the thick walls of Sunagakure's buildings. He looked back at Temari and began to understand the need for clothes that covered most of your skin.

"Is there a storm protocol? Somewhere we have to go?" He asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Temari smirked. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. That, and the walls are three feet thick."

He tried not to scowl too deeply. "We should probably find the Hokage first. Knowing him, he's fallen asleep in a tree somewhere…"

Sakura was floating. Up above, clouds drifted by peacefully, circling around one another in pretty patterns. She had a vague feeling they shouldn't be doing that, but she didn't really care. She was perfectly comfortable where she was, on her back in the grass, watching as the sky changed color-

Oh, hell no.

She burst out of the illusion with a wave of angry chakra, anger mostly directed at herself. "Dammit. Clouds don't do synchronized dancing."

"You don't say," Kakashi-sensei drawled from somewhere nearby. He was sitting cross-legged with his back against one of the training posts, hands loosely held in a seal. "That was five minutes, by my reckoning."

Five minutes before she'd realized she was in an illusion. That was too damn long.

"You said no chakra. Just a taijutsu spar," she told her mentor indignantly, ready for a fight as she got up on her feet. If he was going to cheat, she wouldn't be the only one to suffer for it.

Whilst in Suna, Gaara had kindly reserved a training ground for their group so they could stay in shape during their stay. It was a little outside of the village, though still within the walls, mostly shielded from view by a collection of small buildings, guard towers and a half-wall. They had still garnered a small crowd, although some of the viewers had by now realized it wasn't a particularly interesting spar to watch; there was only so much time you could spend watching when one of the fighters was lying on her back in the grass and the other seemed to be meditating.

Still, having a training ground for themselves, was rather nice. After the long and boring journey, Sakura had been itching for a fight. Shikamaru had declined, and anyway, Kakashi-sensei was a more fun opponent (watching your own shadows was only fun for so long). So she'd challenged her former mentor to a spar and, typically, he'd turned it on its head.

Looking back, they'd probably only exchanged one or two blows before he'd activated the illusion. Vengeance for the scolding she'd given him after he disappeared that morning, probably.

"I never actually agreed to the no-chakra thing, you know," he was saying, giving her a nonchalant shrug as he relaxed out of the jutsu, his chakra slowly releasing its grip on her mind. "I believe my exact words were, 'sure, I'll spar with you'. So really, you were the only person who agreed not to use it."

Everyone had changed because of their war experience, including Kakashi-sensei, but he hadn't become any less insufferable.

"I just wanted a good old-fashioned spar," she whined, walking over and lightly kicking his boot. It felt a little like being a genin again, complaining about Kakashi's strange and often unpleasant training exercises. She had to make an effort not to pout.

He pulled his leg towards him with a hurt look, and actually patted it. Tch. She'd hardly left a bruise.

"And here your good old sensei was trying to give you those genjutsu lessons your requested, "he said, sounding decidedly mopey himself.

She scowled at him. She'd figured he'd go with that line of argument. After a moment under her scouring gaze he began to fidget, but he didn't let up. Sakura huffed and kicked at a stone. Just like him to do something so terribly annoying and still have it somehow seem practical and helpful. In a really weird, socially inept, Kakashi-sensei sort of way.

Besides that, she had asked him for instruction on genjutsu just last week. Seven years of acquaintance really should have cued her in that the lessons wouldn't be conventional.

"I wasn't exactly expecting training during a diplomatic mission," she grumbled, but there was no real fire in it anymore. Haruno Sakura, Hokage's disciple once more. There was a certain ring to that. And, admittedly, she was pleased about receiving lessons. The more she could learn, the better. She still had Tsunade-shishou to surpass, after all. Tsunade had never been one for weaving illusions. "Still, though, dancing clouds? Really?"

He shrugged. "I was trying to see how far I could go before you noticed."

Scratch feeling honored or proud-she wanted to kick him again. Sensing the incoming danger, Kakashi swung himself on top of the post and landed there in a crouch. Much easier to leap out of the way if she did decide to do something about her annoyance.

He spread his hands. "Mahh, if we did have proper spar, you might have punched me in the face by accident. I can't do diplomacy with a black eye, can I?"

By accident, sure. Sakura smirked. "You just don't want to face-plant again, admit it."

Every now and then, Kakashi-sensei's usually reasonably well-hidden pride made an appearance. Today was such a day.

"Hey now, that only happened because I tried out a new jutsu," he said, frowning a little. "Anyone would have face-planted."

"So when I fail at recognizing genjutsu when I've never practiced it before, it's funny, but when you take yourself out with a new technique, it's perfectly understandable?" She said, still smiling. It had been pretty funny to watch him go out in his own blaze of glory-that is, after she'd rushed over to see if he was okay (he'd been just fine, but Icha Icha had looked decidedly scorched. He'd mourned its passing for weeks).

Kakashi-sensei eyed her for a moment. Then he sighed, giving in. "All right, all right-but practicing genjutsu is more useful when you don't see it coming. That's what it's like in battle, too."

Sakura scowled. He made it sound so easy, but it wasn't easy at all. Particularly when your opponent knew to go for subtlety, and just made a few slight changes to the world (before he'd decided to turn seagulls pink, anyway). "You used to say I'm a genjutsu type. It shouldn't be so hard. "

"Hmm, and then Tsunade got her grubby hands on you and turned you into a taijutsu type," Kakashi said, giving her an innocent look. "All I can do is try and fix the damage."

Regicide was starting to look increasingly appealing. She considered starting a spar after all, and started stretching her arms. It would be good to expend some energy and use her muscles a little. With Kakashi-sensei, it was always a fun challenge; he was still faster than her by quite a bit (damn it), and tricky as hell even without the Sharingan. Still, if she could just land a punch…

Kakashi-sensei wasn't looking at her anymore, though. He was frowning a little and staring off into the distance. She followed his gaze, but saw nothing of any particular interest. "Sensei?"

He blinked. "Yes?"

Hmm. Too distracted for a spar, then. All joking aside, she didn't actually want to have to put her former teacher back together. Or explain to Tsunade why she'd attacked her Hokage at a time where he'd clearly been distracted to fight. Or to Morino Ibiki, for that matter.

"Is everything okay?" She said instead.

"Oh. Yes, just fine. I saw something interesting this morning… "

Sakura perked up with renewed interest. She'd had to hear all about it from the others, who'd been rather more surprised (and shocked) than her when they discovered Kakashi-sensei had left early in the morning for a casual stroll with the Kazekage. Their Suna-assigned quartermaster had nearly had a stroke. Casual outings were not par for the course for Kage's. Or they had never been in the past, anyway.

Things were changing everywhere.

Sakura hadn't been particularly worried, knowing both Gaara and Kakashi, but she had definitely been curious. And, you know, annoyed, because Kakashi's track record with solo missions hadn't been particularly good lately. Based on Kakashi's expression, he found it curious too.

"Something I should be worried about, as part of your official detail?" She asked, her inner twelve-year-old secretly reveling in the 'official detail' part. That was almost as good as being ANBU, right?

He looked back and smiled. "Probably," he said, and leapt off the post.

Anyone else might have followed that up with an explanation, but this was Kakashi-sensei. He would explain in his own time, and any amount of nagging would only lengthen the process.

"Could you be any more cryptic?" She muttered at his back. She still kind of wanted to spar, but the only other option was Owl, whose ominous uniform and general discomfort at being in a former enemy village had transformed her into a well of roiling chakra and angry glares. The few Suna shinobi who lined the training field twitched nervously when she looked at them, one Suna Chunin actually trying to hide behind his girlfriend when her gaze accidentally fell on him.

In short, Owl was far too distracted as well. All the older shinobi on their team seemed a little off while they were here in the village (aside from Anko, who seemed comfortable just about everywhere). It had to be pretty weird to be hanging out amongst people you may well have fought in the past.

"Well, yes," Kakashi said, breaking through her reverie, "still want to spar?"

She hadn't actually meant for him to hear her complaint, but if she was going to get a fight out of it, all the better. "No more genjutsu," she demanded, as she settled into a pose.

He smiled. " I make no such promises."

When she was sure he was really paying attention, she rushed at him with raised fists.

Only to be interrupted by a frail voice. "Excuse me?"

Something flashed in Kakashi's eyes. His chakra, which he kept tempered down inside the village, grew even less noticeable as he pushed it further down. Sakura followed his example and channeled her own chakra back into her core, where it would be less noticeable-and less intimidating, which was pretty useful if you were trying not to scare anyone in a formally hostile village.

By the time she turned around, their unexpected guest had already made some progress on to the field, supported by a young chunin who eyed them both warily. The old man had to be in his late seventies by now, but he still looks much the same as last time; the wild overgrown eyebrows, the deep grooves in the skin, and the turban on his head...

He still looked like his sister, too. That was the part that always got to Sakura.

"Ebizo-sama!" She said, surprised.

The twin brother of Chiyo of the Ten Fingers smiled lightly. "Haruno Sakura-chan. What a pleasure to see you again. Hokage-sama," he added, acknowledging Kakashi with a slow, creaking bow.

Kakashi-sensei twitched a little, as he always did when people addressed him properly. He gave a slight bow in return. "Ebizou-sama. I hope you are well."

The old man nodded faintly. "Yes, well... Better now that you are here," he nodded at Sakura. "My sister was very fond of you. She may not have told me about it, but I could tell just from looking at her. She rarely took two people quite so quickly."

Sakura blushed. High praise from a woman feared in all the shinobi countries. "Thank you, Ebizou-sama."

"It's no problem. It's just a shame the two of you didn't have more time to get to know each other. I'm sure she would've loved the fact that we're proper allies now." The old man smiled.

That did seem a little optimistic, given that Chiyo had almost killed Kakashi-sensei on the spot just because he'd looked like someone else, and frequently expressed her dislike of Tsunade, but Sakura was hardly going to argue.

"In fact, I have something of hers I think you might like," EbIzou continued, surprising her. "She would've wanted you to have it, I think."

Sakura blinked. "For me? I-are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

Ebizou tilted his head a little. "Well, why not? I am an old man without heirs. You remind me of my beloved sister, reborn again. It is quite lonely without her, you know. We were together from birth, after all. It is good to see I am not the only one to remember her."

Sakura ducked her head. A furious blush spread over her cheeks. "I don't know what to say. Thank you, Ebizou-sama."

"You can come by anytime. Temari-chan can tell you where to find me," Ebizou said. He glanced at Kakashi as well. "Either of you," he said, his voice lowering a little.

Neither of them were really in the mood to spar anymore after Ebizou left. Sakura thought of her flower classes, so long ago, and which flowers might suit Chiyo's grave best. Something that would have made Chiyo laugh, perhaps. To be honest, Chiyo would probably prefer a big bouquet of fancy Shuriken, knowing her.

Kakashi-sensei was slouched thoughtfully on his training post, doing a pretty good impersonation of his namesake. "Huh," he said, intelligently.

Sakura giggled. "That was pretty un expected," she agreed.

"You should go. It might be something nice," he said.

Sakura nodded. "Kakashi-sensei... I don't mean to gossip, but was Ebizou-sama...? Was he as good as Chiyo, back in his day?"

"Hmm, he was pretty good. Not good enough for ten fingers and a nickname, but I reckon he was pretty high level. That was before my time, though," he said. "He probably retired before I entered active duty."

Right. It was easy to forget, but the people ambling around the training field, twitching at Owl's glares and offering Sakura gifts, could have been her enemies in another life. A life without Akatsuki and the fourth War. She would never have had the chance to be friends with Chiyo if they'd been the same age; they would've been too busy trying to kill each other. That was why Owl was so uncomfortable, and why people still glared at the back of Kakashi-sensei's head when he passed by.

That was another life, though-not this one. In this one, Ebizou was just a nice old man. She just had to try not to think about how many Konoha shinobi he might've killed.

Hell, she'd seen Kakashi-sensei kill Suna shinobi right before her eyes. It was important not to think in terms of black and white, not here.

"It would be interesting to look at one of her puppets from up close, if Kankuro hasn't stolen them all," she said, trying to climb out of her melancholy mood.

"Last I heard, he has a Sasori-themed puppet," Kakashi said cheerfully, brushing dust off his hands as he stood up.

Sakura shuddered. "Please don't remind me."

Kakashi opened his mouth to do just that, but Owl interrupted him.

"Kakashi-senpai, the storm will be here soon. The Kazekage's aid suggests it would be best to go and find shelter," she said, walking up to the field.

It was getting a little breezy, and Sakura didn't feel much like being torn limb from limb by razor-like sand. She shivered-the storm had moved quicker than she'd expected, almost like it crept up on them. She stretched her arms over her head to crack her back. "Race you to it?"

Kakashi-sensei's expression described everything from not even if you drag me to youngsters these days before finally settling on resignation. Sakura could practically see his mind trying to come up with a good comeback. In the end, he went for, "You've been training with Lee too much."

She grinned.

Owl turned out to be right; as they left the training fields and headed for the more populated area of the village, Suna's people were busily packing their things and boarding up their houses. Even the long cloths draped over the alleys to create some shade were taken down and rolled up.

Kakashi-sensei tilted his head, reminding her eerily of one of his dogs. "Ahh. I can hear it now. It's moving pretty quickly."

Sakura couldn't hear anything yet, but then she was pretty sure Kakashi-sensei's mother had been a dog, or something. Or at least part-dog. A minimum of 25%. She remembered the sound of sandstorms, though, like a thousand howling voices screaming through the air.

She couldn't wait to get inside.

Typically, Kakashi-sensei took his time. He ambled along peacefully, occasionally peering at a shopkeeper's wares moments before their owner pulled them inside, like they were the most interesting things he'd ever seen.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. There was always some kind of plan when Kakashi-sensei behaved like this. He was looking up at one of the taller buildings even as he allowed Owl to drag him along, as if he was searching for something...

Owl, basically his official babysitter, seemed both unsurprised and completely prepared: she suggested that if they got caught in the storm, something dreadful might just happen to Kakashi's books. Her masked glare said she would be true to her word.

Sakura had a feeling threatening your Hokage's possessions might count as treason, but it did speed up Kakashi-sensei's pace a little. The memory of that burned copy of Icha Icha was probably fresh on his mind.

By now Sakura could hear the storm as well, and it was every bit as frightening as she remembered. It wasn't just the sound, or the sand, or the wind; the scariest thing about the sandstorm was that it could take your breath away. The sky was already darkening.

It was approaching fast.

"Kakashi-sensei..." She said, as they neared their own building. The aide was already frantically beckoning from the door opening, and Owl looked about five seconds away from dragging them through the doorway herself.

"Sir?" The ANBU said.

Kakashi held up a hand, still staring. "Just one moment…"

Dark yellow clouds topped the walls of the village, flowing over like waves on the beach. Not long before she could see the individual particles-

The air shimmered. One moment there was just in the sand and the wind and the noise, and then there was chakra, filtering through the air as it was dragged out like a net across the village floor.

Kakashi-sensei gave a delighted little laugh.

Up ahead, on the tallest building in the village, stood a small but blazing figure with his arms raised into the air. Gaara.

His chakra didn't stop the sand, but she could feel him steering it away from the smallest buildings. She could feel him filtering it, and she remembered suddenly what Tsunade had once told her about sandstorms: the dust could get into the lungs, clogging them with filth and unknown viruses.

And he was preventing all of that from happening. He was protecting his people, even when he didn't necessarily have to.

Even if filtering and guiding an entire sandstorm by yourself hadn't been such an incredible feat, Sakura would still have been awestruck.

Gaara was pretty damn amazing.

Kakashi-sensei was still laughing as he pushed her and Owl inside. Gaara's aide quickly close the door behind them, and not a moment too soon: seconds later, heavy winds beat against the door.

Sakura blinked, still a little star struck. "How did you know..?"

Kakashi-sensei reached out and ruffled her hair. "A little birdie told me. That, and he likes to play it safe when it comes to protecting his people."

Owl sniffed, perhaps a little miffed that her own Kage couldn't play it safer with his own life. At her side, Gaara's aid was beaming with pride.

Waiting out the storm was tedious, if anything. They relocated the meeting to one of the inner chambers of Gaara's tower, but without Gaara present there wasn't an awful lot to discuss. Once he'd established that, Kakashi made a quick getaway, trailed by a clearly unhappy ANBU guard.

He found a comfortable couch aimed at a large window near his own chambers, and he gratefully sunk down on it. He'd been right in the middle of a good paragraph…

Okay, so maybe it was a little hard to focus on reading when the protective windowpanes were rattling and the winds were howling outside, but a man had to try. He sighed and put his book away. It was nice to recline on the couch and just close his eyes for a moment. If he tried, he could reach out and feel the chakra signatures of nearby people; Yuugao's, ever watchful, was the closest.

"You holding up okay?" He drawled, knowing she would be able to hear.

"Yes, sir," she said sharply.

Well, that didn't sound unnatural at all. He sighed again, just because he could. "You do realize I know that you're not, right?" He said slowly.

Even with his eyes closed, he could imagine her little flinch. He smiled despite himself. "It's okay. If anything, blame it on me."

"... Sir?"

"Perhaps I shouldn't have brought you here," he said thoughtfully, trying to remember the sound of Hayate's voice. He opened his eyes slowly.

She was standing with her back towards the window, head tilted slightly forward. That was the biggest downside of ANBU's masks; he had no way of knowing her expression. As if reading people wasn't hard enough.

Fortunately, she lifted her head back up. "Surely you wouldn't consider keeping me away from certain missions just because they might be sensitive," she said softly, before adding a belated, "Hokage-sama".

That was the trouble with being superior officer to your friends: it was hard to strike a good balance between formality and friendship. Even more so when you inadvertently insulted them. Yuugao had always been a proud woman.

He rubbed the back of his head. Maybe that mask of hers wasn't such a bad idea after all; at least now, he couldn't see her glare. "Mahh, I don't doubt that you'll complete the mission…"

But I could've saved you the pain. That was the second issue with knowing your subordinates well: you also knew their weaknesses.

"I'm fine," she said. Then, a little softer, "well enough, anyway. I can't avoid Suna forever, can I?"

"I suppose not." He closed his eyes again and looked back up at the ceiling. Most of all, he was glad he wasn't in Iwagakure or Kirigakure. Then he would've been in Yuugao's position.

Outside, the storm raged on.

Eventually, the storm grew weaker and Gaara returned from his watch. Kakashi didn't ask how the younger man had found him; he was pretty sure Gaara could sense just about everything so long as it touched sand. Under different circumstances, that would probably be pretty unnerving.

As Gaara entered the room, Yuugao retreated to the shadows. Gaara gave her a mildly curious look before turning to Kakashi. "I hope you've not been terribly bored during the storm," he said.

"On the contrary. You gave us quite the show," Kakashi smiled, squeezing his eyes together.

Gaara blinked before smiling. It was never a full smile or grin, just a corner of his mouth lifted in an almost shy gesture. "It did not go unnoticed, then?"

Hardly. Kakashi had felt Gaara's chakra throughout the storm, sometimes faint, sometimes as powerful a presence as the roaring winds. He made a vague gesture with his hands. "It was hard not to notice."

Gaara inclined his head a little at the unspoken compliment. "It decreases the number of children who develop asthma. It also helps the elderly; they used to have a hard time of it during storms. The quality of the air… It takes effort, but it's worth it."

Kakashi sat up a little straighter. The faint whiff of exhaustion clung to the other Kage like a heavy cloak, his chakra no longer the feeling of hard soil and air. Probably still enough chakra for a fight, but not enough to overwhelm.

"I'm glad our storms are tamer," Kakashi said, "I'd have to play lightning rod all summer." There was only so much lightning you could channel before your hair turned into a lost cause. Sakura would probably argue he had nothing to worry about on that front, though.

Gaara sniffed, which was his way of laughing. "What about forest fires?"

Kakashi shrugged. "The land of fire was named for its volcanic activity, but most of the volcanoes died out ages ago. Other than that, it's too humid for any big fires. "

Gaara nodded thoughtfully and leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "I suppose a milder climate does make it easier to build a large military force," he said.

Less focus on survival required. Fair enough. "Mahh, the desert has only made your people tougher," he said lightly.

Gaara smiled again. He pushed off the wall. "We'll be able to resume our meeting tomorrow at noon. Please do let me know if your dogs find anything," he said.

Kakashi nodded, and just because he could, felt for the edges of his summons' chakra signatures, anchored as they were to his own.

Outside, the sky had turned blue again. If he could see the street, he bet he would be able to see people carefully leaving their homes to inspect the damage.

But it wasn't just the storm that ended; the connection with one of his dog snapped without warning. Kakashi sat up sharply, drawing curious looks. Uhei. Uhei never broke his own contract unless it was absolutely necessary. Which meant something had gone wrong.

Within seconds, several other dogs disappeared as well, their signatures snapping loose with an uncomfortable twang.

Gaara was already looking at him as if he knew something was wrong.

"I think we might have to have that meeting a little bit earlier," Kakashi said, heart in his throat.

Author's Note

Next time, Shikamaru has a few things to discuss with Kakashi, and they are all faced with something of a mystery…

just to clear things up, Owl is Uzuki Yuugao. I'm using her because I like her and I want there to be a clear female presence in the story. Also, she hasn't actually met Sakura yet, because I'm ignoring the filler episodes where they met (Highly trained assassin loses boyfriend and suddenly loses the ability to fight? And somehow can't beat him despite vastly outranking him? Really, Studio Pierrot? Really?).