Previously:

"Eehhh!?" Naruto and Sakura shouted in surprise, gaping at her.

"When?" Sasuke asked with an expression of blatant disbelief on his face. During the whole time since she'd started living in the village, they had never once seen her with any guy other than Naruto.

"While I was still living in my homeland." April deadpanned with a vein throbbing on her forehead. Did they think she was that incapable of attracting the opposite sex? She could be super hot when she wanted to be! Although, it was true that most guys back in her world tended to avoid her like the plague once they realized just how easily she could kick their asses without even breaking a sweat…

"…" Kakashi wasn't as surprised as the others, but… the idea of April being with another guy… for some reason, it bothered him much more than it should have.

Chapter 31: Gotta Know!

"Hmm…" Naruto furrowed his brow. Something April said earlier had been bugging him the whole way home. They really didn't know anything about Kakashi-sensei… For starters, they didn't even know what that face of his looked like, since he was always hiding it behind that mask… They had lived together for three whole weeks at Tazuna-san's house, and somehow they still hadn't been able to catch a glimpse of it! "Hey, don't you want to see it?" Naruto he asked his teammates as soon as the mysterious teacher in question had left to turn in the mission report. "I think it's about time…"

"See what?" Sasuke asked, furrowing his brow in annoyance as they all glanced back at him, wondering what he was going on about.

"What? Isn't it obvious?" Naruto said disdainfully, as if it should have been. "Kakashi-sensei's… real face!!" He exclaimed, pulling out a flashlight and clicking it on to illuminate his face in a really dramatic and creepy way as he leaned in close to the girls. Unfortunately, this really backfired on him, because Sakura was so startled that she whacked him upside the head.

"What do you think you're doing!?" She demanded incredulously as a vein throbbed on her forehead.

"Naruto…" April said, clasping his hands in hers. "I really like the way you think!!" She told him with a serious gleam in her eye, looking totally fired up. She was really curious about that as well!

"Hmph. Ridiculous." Sasuke huffed as he turned away. "I'm not interested. We've finished our mission for today, so let's go home." He said coolly as he started to walk away without so much as a backward glance.

"Hehe, you're right!" Sakura agreed with him, blushing slightly as she smiled, though it looked a little forced. 'Eh? It seems so interesting, too…' She thought, disappointed that he wasn't going to participate.

"Maybe he has thick lips?" Naruto suggested behind his hand, loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

"!" Sasuke froze mid step as an image of Kakashi with a huge pair of blimp lips flashed in his mind.

'He's totally wavering…' April thought with a wry smile, sweat-dropping. She was pretty sure Kakashi-sensei had a normal face, though… At least, that's what she was hoping…

'Just a little more…' Naruto thought with a smirk. "Or maybe he has buckteeth?" He said aloud. Sasuke went stiff, bristling slightly, as he was hit by an image of Kakashi with a pair of comically huge buckteeth sticking out of his mouth. A devious grin spread across Naruto's face. Got him.

–∞–

"But it's really unusual…" Kakashi remarked as the five of them sat at the bar of Ichiraku, waiting to be served. "For all four of you to treat me." For some reason, his students had waylaid him on his way out of the Hokage's office and insisted on dragging him over there. "What's the occasion?" He asked. "It's not going to snow or something, is it? Come on, you guys are scheming something, right?" Did they think he was born yesterday?

"!" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura flinched a little in surprise, but April kept her cool. She had expected he might react that way, since it really was unusual.

"W-What are you talking about!?" Naruto stammered nervously.

"Please, Sensei! You're always looking out for us, so we thought we'd do something nice for you, too." April said smoothly with a nice smile plastered on her face, the very picture of innocence.

'How frightening…' Naruto and Sasuke thought as they watched. There wasn't a hint of guilt of deception on her face or in her voice. Girls were kind of scary… Who knew April could be so duplicitous?

"Th-That's right!" Sakura said, recovering quickly. 'Nice one, April-chan!' She thought. "Eat up, Sensei!"

"I see." Kakashi said. With the others acting so nervous, April was looking a little too innocent over there, but if they insisted… "Then, I think I will." The aroma of the cooking food was mouthwatering.

"Here you go." Teuchi said as he set Kakashi's order down in front of him. It looked just as delicious as it smelled.

"The extra meat is on the house." His daughter Ayame added with a smile. Naruto, April, Sakura, and Sasuke all kept their eyes peeled as they watched their teacher reach for the chopsticks out the corners of their eyes, doing their best to feign disinterest as they waited with bated breath for him to remove his mask to eat. The moment of truth had finally come! Their hearts were pounding in their ears as he reached for his mask.

"Mmm… Itadakimasu." He said, about to pull it down, when Team 10 suddenly jumped in between them, completely blocking their view.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun! What a coincidence~!" Ino exclaimed brightly as she took advantage of the situation to put an arm around him, while all the members of Team 7 flinched in shock.

"GAAAH!!" Naruto and Sakura shouted incredulously while April's head hit the bar with a heavy thud.

'Dammit, Sasuke…!!' April thought, clenching her fists, as she cursed his unreasonable popularity. She knew she should have made him sit on the other end! "Don't get in our way!!" She hissed dangerously, keeping her voice low so Kakashi wouldn't hear. Normally she wouldn't mind a visit from the others, but today…!!

"Get lost, Ino-pig!!" Sakura snapped angrily.

"What did you say!?" Ino snapped back with a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"Move!!" Naruto shouted at them. "I can't see anything!!" They all froze as Kakashi let out a sigh of satisfaction upon finishing his meal.

"Thanks for the food. That was good." He said with his mask already back in place.

"So fast!!" April and the others exclaimed, stunned. What did he do, inhale it!?

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Kakashi asked, glancing at them.

"Ahaha… I-It's nothing!" Sakura said nervously as they all quickly forced smiles onto their faces to cover up their disappointment.

"Huh?" Naruto said when he noticed something was a bit odd about the two behind the counter. The other's followed his gaze.

"!" They gasped, taken aback by what they were seeing. Ayame's eyes were heart-shaped, and both she and her father were blushing as they stared at Kakashi in daze.

'E-Even old man Teuchi!!?" Naruto thought, shocked.

'Damn it! All we're doing is increasing my competition!!' April realized, startled.

"Huh?" Kakashi said, sweat-dropping, when he his students' gaze and noticed the enamored ramen makers. Oh, great. Not this again…

"Okay, now we really want to know!" All four kids decided, more determined than ever to see their teacher's real face for themselves.

–∞–

"Now I want to see it no matter what!!" Naruto declared once they were on their own again.

"You said it, Naruto!!" April agreed heartily, clenching her fist determinedly. "We can't afford any more failures!!"

"But how are you going to catch a glimpse of it?" Sakura asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll just have to… do something about it!!" Naruto said dramatically, pulling out the flashlight again.

"It's this 'something' that I'm asking about, you idiot!!" Sakura snapped, whacking him on the head again. April smiled wryly and sweat-dropped as she watched. He never learned…

"Nng… Then, do you have an idea, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked while rubbing his sore noggin. He could already feel a huge bump forming.

"Well, that's…" Sakura said hesitantly, reeling back a bit as she realized she didn't know what to do either.

"… We could always try asking nicely?" April suggested tentatively. She was starting to get the feeling that the direct approach might be best. After all, they were up against a jōnin who's copied over a thousand jutsu...

"No way!" Naruto and Sakura both answered bluntly, immediately shooting down the idea and shooing it away with a wave of their hands. As if something that simple would ever work!

"That's way too soft, April!! Are you really serious about this!?" Naruto asked the older girl sternly, causing her to sweat-drop.

"We'll pursue him." Sasuke stated decisively, getting their attention. "Mark him completely."

"I see, if we do that… He'll have to take his mask off eventually." April said, impressed by his plan's simplicity. Maybe she had just been overthinking things again. She tended to do that sometimes.

"As expected of Sasuke-kun! You're so smart!" Sakura praised him with a cute smile.

"What the hell? That's such a basic plan." Naruto grumbled, disgruntled that Sasuke had stolen the spotlight once again.

"What did you say!?" Sakura demanded, making a fist, as she whipped her head around and shot him a dangerous warning glare.

"Well, I guess it's fine…" Naruto said a bit meekly, deciding it wasn't worth dying over.

"Yep, sometimes it's best to go back to the basics when you're stuck." April agreed with a smile. The plan was so simple, it just might actually work!

–∞–

Kakashi was humming quietly to himself as he casually strolled down the street with a bag of groceries. He stopped abruptly when he spotted something out the corner of his eye that caught his attention and promptly dropped the fresh groceries like a sack of rotten potatoes as he pressed his face to the glass of the display window for the Pink Bookstore, a shop that specialized in adult entertainment.

"…" April sweat-dropped as she watched with her teammates from above while their sensei laughed giddily like a kid in a candy store while he looked at all the different new titles that were out. 'Sensei…' She thought wryly as her cheeks flushed a little, feeling embarrassed for him. He looked like a hungry dog drooling outside of a butcher's shop… Was reading those things really that fun?

"What is Kakashi-sensei doing?" Naruto asked as they all furrowed their brows with emotions that ranged from confusion to disdain.

"I'm so disappointed." Sakura said, narrowing her eyes in disapproval.

"!" Kakashi suddenly whipped his head around, looking straight at them.

"!!" The kids all gasped, quickly ducking out of sight.

"Tch! He's noticed us!" Sasuke whispered, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Naruto, you idiot! You blew our cover!" Sakura whisper-yelled angrily.

"What? Why is it my fault!?" Naruto whisper-yelled back incredulously.

"Shh…!!" April quietly hushed them. They shouldn't be talking at all!

"What!? My favorite book is being made into a movie!?" Kakashi exclaimed excitedly as he stared up at the giant billboard they were hiding behind, which just so happened to be an ad for a theatrical version of Jiraiya-sensei's Make-Out Violence. "I'm going to order tickets in advance!" He said as he quickly gathered grabbed his bag of groceries and scurried off in a hurry.

"He's started moving again!" Sakura said as they carefully peeked out from behind the sign.

"If we aren't careful, we'll lose him!" April said, furrowing her brow.

"Let's follow him." Sasuke said, taking the lead.

"Yeah!" Naruto said, determined not to let him get away. The four of them quickly leaped down and dashed around the corner after their perverted sensei.

"He's gone!" Sakura gasped as they all skidded to a stop, surprised to find the street completely deserted.

"Damn, he got away." Sasuke said, furrowing his brow in irritation.

"Oh man, he's totally onto us!" April said, disappointed.

"Damn it! Where did he go?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"Well…" April said thoughtfully. "He said something about a movie, so—"

"What are you three doing?" Kakashi asked calmly as he suddenly popped up right behind his students, scaring the living daylights out of them. "Do you want something from me?"

"No, not really…!" They all blurted out nervously, shaking their heads emphatically.

"Hmm…" Kakashi said, staring rather jadedly at the four of them in disbelief.

"We just thought it might be good to train together once in awhile, so we tried shadowing your movements for a bit…" April said a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck, while the others flinched in shock at her admission.

"Oh, is that so?" Kakashi asked, eyeing them carefully. From the looks on the others' faces, she was telling the truth… but he didn't think April was the type to give in so easily. "Well, keep up the good work." He said as turned and swiftly disappeared, deciding to let them off for now. At least they all seemed to be getting along for once.

"April!!! How could you!!?" Naruto demanded incredulously, feeling immensely betrayed.

"What!? It's not like I told him everything!!" She said defensively. "And he already knew we were following him anyway. At least I got him to leave us alone without revealing our true intentions." She pointed out practically.

"Yeah, that was close." Sasuke agreed. Kakashi appeared to have taken her word for it. It had probably helped that April was usually the most responsible one in their group.

"Ah, well… I guess that's true." Sakura said, though she still looked a little disappointed.

"Hey, why were we noticed, anyway?" Naruto asked, still sulking.

"Isn't it because there were too many of us?" Sakura replied.

"But if we as long as we all mask our presence correctly, then numbers shouldn't matter." April reminded her.

"That's right!" Naruto agreed with a nod of his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your jutsu, Sakura-chan?"

"You're the one who forgets!!" Sakura snapped in annoyance, clocking him.

"Like April said earlier, following him will be good training." Sasuke said as he turned to leave. "Next time, we should try splitting up."

"You're right, we should totally ditch Naruto!" Sakura agreed cheerfully, causing poor Naruto to flinch in shock.

"What!? Why only me!?" He shouted indignantly. April let out a sigh and smiled sympathetically as she gave him a pat on the shoulder. Poor thing, he reminded her of that old internet meme, 'forever alone'.

—∞—

The next day…

First up was Naruto. He thought he had it in the bag, because Kakashi seemed totally absorbed in reading his book while he was walking, but then the jōnin just suddenly up and vanished on him!

"Ack!" Naruto exclaimed, running out into the open to look for him. "Huh? Where'd he go!?"

Sasuke and the girls were enjoying some tea, sitting on a bench under the shade of an umbrella and a big tree in front of a small store that was selling roasted chestnuts, while poor Naruto made his walk of shame back. When they glanced up at him expectantly, all he could do was laugh awkwardly and rub the back of his neck.

"… He got away." Naruto finally admitted very reluctantly after a moment of intense staring.

"Geez, you're as useless as ever." Sakura remarked with a frown.

"Moron." Sasuke scoffed. How worthless. Naruto hung his head in shame, wishing he could say something back, but at the moment, he really had nothing going for him after coming back so empty-handed.

"Well, we still have three more shots left…" April reminded them, trying to look on the bright side.

It was Sakura's turn next. She managed to tail their teacher to the third training ground, where he stopped to visit the memorial stone.

"Geez… What is Kakashi-sensei doing?" She wondered aloud, pouting in annoyance as the rain poured down. "He's been standing there for… Wait, don't tell me!!" She gasped as her eyes widened suddenly in realization, darting out from the bushes to get a better look at him from a different angle. "Ah!" She gasped in dismay as she skidded to halt in front of him. It was just a scarecrow!! When did he…!?

April and the boys enjoyed the warmth of the tea in their cups as they sat on the bench, safe from the rain that was adding a slight chill to the air. They all glanced up as Sakura returned.

"Teehee…" She laughed a little lamely as she tried to look cute, embarrassed to have failed after giving Naruto a hard time. The three on the bench hung their heads as they let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Guess I'm up next…" April said with a wry smile.

After relocating Kakashi, she managed to follow him rather uneventfully for about two blocks before he suddenly disappeared in front of the dango shop. April dashed forward through the puddles while doing her best to make as little noise as possible and carefully peeked into the shop to make sure he hadn't just ducked inside before giving up. She furrowed her brow and frowned slightly as she scanned the room but didn't find him.

"!" She jumped when a warm, firm hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted her with a smile, holding his umbrella so that it shielded her from the rain too.

"Hehe…" April let out an awkward laugh as she smiled back. Oops…

"It's good to work hard, but… If you aren't more careful, you're going to catch a cold." Kakashi said once they were seated inside, where it was warm and dry.

"Sorry, Sensei…" April apologized a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess I got a little too caught up..." She was already soaked to the bone. She thought a rain poncho might make too much noise, so the only part of her that she had bothered to try to protect from the rain was her cast, which was wrapped in a plastic bag to keep the water out.

"Two green teas and one order of mitarashi dango." The waitress said with a smile as she came over and set down their food and drinks. Her eyes lingered on Kakashi for a moment longer than necessary as she turned to leave. April pouted slightly. Was every woman in the village after him?

"Eat up." Kakashi said, pushing the plate of dango towards her.

"Huh? They're for me?" April asked, a little surprised.

"Well, I'm not much into sweets myself... but I've been told the dangos here are excellent. I thought they might make a good peace offering as an apology for the other day." He explained with a wry smile.

"Sensei… Are you trying to buy my forgiveness with food?" April asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's too devious." She said with the hint of a rueful smile on her lips as she reached for a skewer of the warm, sticky treat. Apology accepted. Kakashi smiled. He had a feeling she was a 'dangos over flowers' girl. "Actually, I've been wanting to apologize too…" April admitted, suddenly feeling a little shy as he looked at her in surprise. "They were still alive when I left my 'homeland', but I think I understand a little about how hard it is to have friends you miss to the point that it hurts when you can't see anymore… since no matter how much we want to, they're all in places that are beyond our reach now… I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry." She said, bowing her head respectfully.

"…" Kakashi stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh. April was too mature for her age… When she talked like that, it made it harder for him to treat her like a kid. He reached out and placed his on her head. "It's fine." He said with a small smile. "Now enjoy your dango, before they get cold."

Sakura and the boys were snacking on some chestnuts when April returned.

"Well, how was it?" Naruto asked excitedly, expecting great things since she had been gone long enough for it to stop raining.

"I was discovered in the end, but then got treated to dango~!" April answered brightly, flashing him a 'V' for victory with a ridiculously happy smile on her face. She may not have managed to catch a glimpse of Sensei's face, but at least she seemed to have managed to make a little progress elsewhere...

"EHHH!!?" Sakura and Naruto yelled incredulously. What was with this huge difference in treatment!? How dare she come back looking so happy after failing them! Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh.

"Idiots…" He muttered. He was surrounded by them. It looked like it was up to him to show these fools how it was done…

Naruto and the girls were relaxing on the bench with another cup of tea while they waited for Sasuke to finish.

"Hm?" They said, surprised when he returned faster than expected.

"Sasuke-kun! How did it go?" Sakura asked hopefully as they all stared up at him. April noticed that he seemed to be avoiding making direct eye contact with any of them for some reason… Could it be…?

"Hmph. I quit." Sasuke said curtly as he turned his head away. "I'm sick of tailing him."

'I see… Sensei must have ditched him too…' April thought wryly, sweat-dropping, as they all sighed. It looked like it might be time to change tactics…

—∞—

The day after that…

"Heheh… We're off!!" Naruto said excitedly as he and the rest of Team 7 passed through the gates to leave the village.

'Our mission today is to help out at ranch…' Sasuke thought, narrowing his eyes slightly as he cast a furtive glance at Kakashi.

'The mission itself isn't a big deal, but…' Sakura thought, eyeing their teacher warily.

'It requires a day of traveling, which means the whole team will have to stay together day and night…' April thought, keeping her gaze straight ahead while she suppressed a smirk.

'I'll definitely see it…' Naruto thought, smirking openly as he stared at their sneaky sensei, who was staring up into the sky.

'Kakashi-sensei's real face, that is!!' They all finished in their minds, thinking the exact same thing.

"Hm? What's up with you guys?" Kakashi asked as he looked back down at his students, feeling the tension in the air. "You seem eager today."

"We're eager, alright!!" Naruto and Sakura said enthusiastically as they both clenched their hands into fists, totally pumped up.

"Hmph." Sasuke said with a smirk.

'You guys… I know how you feel, but can't you be a little more subtle…?' April wondered with a wry smile, sweat-dropping. It was way too obvious that they were up to something.

"Oh, that's nice." Kakashi said with a smile as he stepped forward to lead the way. These kids had such honest faces… He could tell exactly what they were thinking.

"I've finally found you…" A mysterious ninja hiding amongst the leaves of the treetops said ominously, narrowing his eyes at the silver-haired jōnin. "… Hatake Kakashi!"