'x' thoughts "x" dialogue "x" Inner Sakura, the Kyuubi, or alarm clocks.

italics for any extended time either a recap, memory, or dream

Also, because I've decided it shall be so, I'll be randomly switching from first to third person point of views quite regularly through the rest of the story, you'll be able to tell the difference between them because there'll be a big line of x's to divide it all.

I also discovered I messed up the ages, so here they are: The Rookie nine are all 17, Team Guy is 19 (Neji will be turning 20 next month in the story). Shinji is 22, Ruin is 23, Itachi has just turned 22, Kisame is 33, and Coriander is (4).

"Mmmm…" was the first noise I mumbled in the morning as I wriggled around a bit, not wanting to leave the covers. Something smelled… wonderful. My brain eventually registered it as Sai's cologne. He got an actual cologne after I stole his deodorant, and he refused to tell me what kind it was.

'Did he let me borrow his jacket again or something?' I crinkled my brow, 'no it wasn't cold yesterday, or last night…' I pondered a bit longer until I realized, 'Last night!'

I gasped and my eyes flew open. Sure enough, I was nuzzled up to Sai's neck, steady pulse pushing out right in front of my eyes, and sure enough, I had a headache that would kill a lesser woman. 'Oh my God! Did we do something???' Not wanting to actually look, as I was afraid of what I would find, I slid one hand down my body, starting at my neck, and making a mental checklist. 'Cotton material, rubber patches of something… flowers? yes flowers: one of my spaghetti strap PJ shirts.' Well I had a shirt on… that was good… unless I had just changed afterwards… I lowered my hand a few inches and felt a difference in the material, it was like there was something underneath, it was my strapless bra. I sighed in relief, and moved my hand down towards my legs to make sure. My hangover came back full swing as a sharp pain seared through my head and I felt nauseous. I ran into Sai's arm on the way to my leg however… it was slung around my waist, but tucked underneath me so the grip was pretty good even though he was relaxed. His arm was bare… 'He must not be wearing a shirt then, because he was wearing a long-sleeved tee last night.' I slipped my hand over his arm and patted my leg, feeling the reassuring brush of flannel pajama pants. Then I felt skin, I moved my hand back: pants, a couple inches forward: skin, a couple inches back: pants.

"He isn't wearing pants either!!!" Inner Sakura squealed… and unfortunately I wasn't sure if it was out of dread or happiness.

Not being able to take it anymore, I snapped my hand back up to my chest, grabbed the edge of the covers, yanking them straight up, and looked down. I sighed in relief again; he wasn't naked, although he was only wearing boxers. They were pitch black with… purple hearts???

"What the hell?"

I heard a huff of annoyance and looked up to see Sai frowning in his sleep, then bury his face in the pillow. He let go of my waist, and grabbed the covers, bringing them back down to us, and then up to his shoulders. I noticed his arm had goosebumps… 'Oops… I probably let in a gust of really cold air when I randomly pulled the covers up…'

"Smooth Outer… real considerate." When he was done, he put his arm back down to my waist, right below my ribs, and pulled me to him again. I smiled until the wave of nausea came again. I freed my hand/arm from underneath Sai, who huffed again in annoyance and pulled me closer. My hand glowed green and I pressed it to my head, numbing the effects of the hangover. When I was done I just kept looking up at him, and his hair. He was a beautiful man, he had better skin than me, and long dark lashes I envied and couldn't obtain without mascara. My hand moved of it's own accord and brushed his bangs to the side. His eyes snapped open and he grabbed my wrist. My side and back felt cold without his arm there, and my wrist was starting to really hurt.

"Sai, it's just me…"

His eyes widened in realization and he released my wrist, muttering an apology. He looked down and grimaced, snapping his eyes shut. Ha! My comforter pained him to look at normally, go ahead and add a hangover to the mix.

"Sorry! I know you hate this thing!" Something about waking up next to someone, you're either hysterical or unusually nice. I sat up, grabbing the comforter in two different places and throwing it off the bed.

He twitched and grabbed me around the middle, pulling me back down and to him again, "It's freezing in here Sakura!" he hissed from somewhere close to my ear. I blushed from how close we were, but let him keep holding me. It was pretty cold in here and I had just thrown off the warmest blanket on the bed. I smiled when I realized he had used my real name.

"Well if you weren't practically NAKED, you wouldn't be so cold!" Inner Sakura reprimanded him, but then her eyes got all starry, "Not that I mind…"

I blushed harder, but that did remind me, "Uh Sai, don't worry, I don't think we did anything too serious last night."

"I know." He mumbled, he was falling asleep again, "I was the one that put you in those pajamas."

I stiffened and snapped my head back, "Nani?"

Yet another huff of annoyance, "Relax Ugly, I slipped your pants on, took that dress off, and put your shirt on. I didn't see anything so stop moving around."

"Why are you in your boxers?"

"Would you rather have me not in my boxers?"

"What? No!" "Liar." "I…I was just wondering!"

"Then stop complaining and go back to sleep!"

"We have to get up soon anyways!"

"I have ten more minutes Sakura, and I plan to make use of them."

"By sleeping?"

Huff, "What else?"

I smirked and wriggled up so I was face to face with him.

He opened one eye and looked at me, "I'm not doing any kind of chore for you Ugly."

"Hm." I leaned in and kissed him, the warmth and tingling sensation was wonderful as always. My heart did a little jump and I pulled away, "Is that considered a chore?"

"No." he mumbled, then closed his eye.

"Is he seriously going back to sleep?" Inner Sakura's eye twitched in disbelief.

Not giving up, I leaned forward again, and he kissed me back, tongue making an almost painfully slow sweep across my bottom lip. I opened my mouth and he stuck his tongue in lazily. I twirled my tongue around his quickly, but he didn't speed up at all. This wasn't like what I was used to, there was no heat, no immediate need in his kiss, he was just taking his sweet time, setting his own pace. Sai's fingers were making small circles on my back, and he was dragging the nails of his other hand lightly across my side, making my entire torso and arms erupt in goosebumps. Our tongues twined around each other languidly, every brush of taste buds, every slight bump of teeth, every shift of our lips exaggerated and more defined by how slow he was making us go. It wasn't that bad… kind of nice actually. He tasted like alcohol, whiskey, and something else not so great. But hey, nobody wakes up with minty fresh breath, and I was pretty sure I didn't taste any better.

"Great, now I'm self conscious." Inner whipped out a comically large toothbrush and a ridiculous amount of toothpaste and began brushing until she was literally foaming at the mouth.

Having the new revelation that I probably tasted bad, I pulled my tongue back shyly, closing my mouth as a warning for him to do the same. He sighed, and shifted, reaching over me. I was crushed under him as he reached all the way over the side of the bed and lifted something up. I squeaked and wiggled in protest but he ignored me. He rummaged through around for a while, but all the noises he was making were muffled due to the fact that my face was crushed against his chest and the pillow was up around my ears. A couple seconds later, he shifted back and I gasped for air.

"What the hell Sai?"

He put his hands on either side of my head and looked down at me, propping himself up with his arms, "You woke me up, kissed me, and now there's no way I could go back to sleep. I'm not going to waste the rest of the ten minutes."

I moved to ask repeat my question but he was suddenly in my face, and his tongue was in my mouth, passing me… a breath mint?

"Aaaa!" Inner Sakura cried, holding a tissue to her face, "He did think we tasted bad!!!"

I blushed and tried to pull away, but he wouldn't stop. I shoved the mint back into his mouth with my tongue, and I bit his tongue lightly, a warning. He pulled away, frowning, "That was your problem right? I know you don't like whiskey. Though you didn't seem to care last night…"

I laughed out loud in relief, 'He wasn't worried about me!'

Now he looked confused, so I just grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down to me. He kissed me back, but kept his eyes open, and so did I. It was really weird, and slightly awkward, staring back at each other like that, but it didn't seem to faze him at all.

"How many times has he kept his eyes open while we kissed?" Inner Sakura's eye was twitching, "That's kind of creepy…" The toothbrush and paste had disappeared.

'I don't know, I think it's kind of… nice.' He never stopped staring the whole time, and his gaze was freakin intense. I felt like I was the only thing in his world, in the world in general. Everything about it was all so personal, and kind of intimidating. I felt my face heat up, I was blushing again, and his eyes started smiling. Then he did this amazing curl thing with his tongue, around mine and against the ridge on the roof of my mouth, from back to front. It sent a shudder all the way up and down my body, making me roll my shoulders, arch my back, and twitch my feet. I giggled into his mouth and he put a hand behind my back to keep me where I was, arched against him. I tried it out on him but I was too nervous, and my tongue just did a kind of spastic slide across the roof of his mouth.

He pulled his tongue back and leaned his forehead on mine, chuckling, "Just close your eyes Ugly, and don't forget to breathe through your nose."

I closed my eyes and felt his lips against mine, once, twice, then his tongue swept across my bottom lip again. I parted my lips and felt a tingly and slightly burning feeling in the form of a breath mint being pushed into my mouth. I smiled and accepted it, then felt his tongue push its way into my mouth as well, crushing the mint against my tongue. Whatever brand it was, it was strong, and I couldn't stand to have it in one spot for too long, it started burning.

"Eeeee! It's like playing hot potato!" Inner was sticking her tongue out and waving air at it with her hand.

"Yeah… but WAY better…" We passed the mint back and forth and all around each other's mouths until it dissolved, and his hands had moved from outside my shirt to under it. They were creeping upwards, and his fingers were teasing by slipping underneath the under wire of my bra… no further… when:

MEEEEEEEEEMMMP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEMP MEEEEEEEEEMP!!!

I growled in annoyance and tried to reach the alarm clock without breaking the kiss. But it was too late; Sai broke it off and flipped the switch. Then he moved to get up, covers sliding off, rolling his shoulders in the sunshine that was streaming through the open window, goosebumps rippling across his body. I put my hands on his thighs, which were on either side of my hips.

"What? Is that it?" I must have looked confused, because Sai paused in his morning stretches to look down at me.

He quirked an eyebrow, "Ten minutes are up Sakura."

"What?" I growled, "Am I just some make-out service to you?"

He snorted, and whispered, looking out the window. "Hardly."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Then he turned back to look at me, same intense gaze as earlier, he had yet to actually get off of me. His voice was back to normal, "It's 7 o'clock Ugly, we have to meet everyone by 8. Do you want to be the one that explains why we were late?" He leaned down till our noses were almost touching.

My face was heating up something fierce, when I realized what he had said… "Oh my God I have to shower!" I moved to get up, but Sai held me down.

He smirked, "Wanna shower together?"

I coughed in disbelief and then gritted my teeth, raising my fist, "PERV!" I smacked his head, sending him flying off of the bed and onto my violently pink comforter.

He rubbed his head, annoyed, swearing profusely under his breath, "Bitch! You were the one that wanted to make it last longer! As if the hangover wasn't enough…" He grimaced when he caught sight of what he was sprawled on. "Ugh!" He shot up, then moaned and cradled his head as the sudden motion evidentially made his headache worse. Then, sending me one last murderous glare, stumbled out of my bedroom and by the sounds of it, headed towards the kitchen/living room.

I wasn't sure whether to feel bad or mad. I sighed and got out of bed myself. All of our clothes from last night were on the floor by my side of the bed. Some stuff had been obviously knocked off the dressers and shelves and put back by Sai. They never looked that perfectly placed when I put them up there. He had set up the picture of the old Team 7 as well, probably thinking we had knocked it over too. I frowned and sighed as I remembered why I had been so nice to Sai last night, and I felt even worse for using him like that. I don't know whether it was because I had gone out and tried to move on without Sasuke or just because I was drunk, but I could've sworn I felt Sasuke's presence last night. I hadn't gone looking for it him when I thought I had felt it though had I?

"Ha no, you were MORE than content to stay with Sai-kun." I smiled as I remembered the rest of last night, I had been all over poor Sai, and he had been the one slowing us down. He respected me, and I appreciated that.

'I should be grateful.'

With new resolve, I smiled and walked out of the room and towards the kitchen. Sai leaning slightly over the kitchen sink, and was pouring himself a glass of water from the tap. I knew he knew I was there, but he didn't turn around, he was still angry. Green fire erupted from my hand as I walked up to him, reaching up to place my hand at his temple. His head lowered and I heard him sigh in relief. I stood on my tiptoes and leaned my chin on his bare shoulder, whispering, "I'm sorry." I moved my hand to the bump on his head I had caused and soothed the agitated cells, clearing out the spilled blood and healing the veins it was leaking from… there wouldn't even be a bruise.

He threw back the glass of water, downing it in three gulps, along with what I assumed was some kind of Tylenol.

"We just healed him, why would he need those?"

He set the glass down with a small chink and straightened up, making it so I couldn't lean my head on his shoulder anymore, "I'm sorry for calling you a bitch." He turned around looking down at me for a second, expression unreadable again, "I've got to go."

I felt my heart beat faster and my breath started hitching. I was panicking; memories of Sasuke leaving me came flooding back in a sickening, reeling way. I hugged him tightly around the middle, whispering almost hysterically, "I'm sorry! Don't be mad at me! Please don't leave! Please!"

"What the hell Sakura? Get ahold of yourself!" Inner was slapping a replica of me across the face. I knew what she was saying and I knew I should be able to… but I couldn't help it. My body wasn't moving. His chest was warm and was like a lifeline for me, I couldn't let go even though I knew I should, "He's going to think you're clingy! LET GO WOMAN! You're embarassing us! AAAAUGH LET GO!!!"

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My eyes widened in shock as Sakura held onto me desperately, begging me not to leave. 'What the hell?' I shook my head, 'Probably something to do with Uchiha.' I wrapped my arms around her, 'She's shaking… is she going to be alright?' "Sakura." I did my best to keep my voice soothing… unfortunately not something I was good at, she squeezed me tighter, I could barely breathe, "I'm just going to my place to get some clean clothing and the stuff I need for the mission. I need to shower too, and there's no point in showering just to get into dirty clothes, our stuff reeks of cigarette smoke. I have no plans of streaking across Konoha, I'll leave that to Little-dick." Her breathing was still uneven, 'Come on Sakura, don't have a break down, I don't know how to deal with this!' I thought for a moment, then offered, "I'll come back when I'm done if you want." She nodded shakily, trying to loosen her arms. She wasn't having much luck, so I reached behind me and helped her, pulling them from around me. I took a deep breath now that I could and she looked down, hair covering her face, ashamed. I grabbed her chin and tilted her head up, trying to make her look up at me. It took a while but she finally met my eyes; I kissed her again, softly. No matter how many times I did it, the feeling never ceased to amaze me. It was electrifying and calming all at once, I enjoyed it to no end. I smiled against her lips, and murmured, "Take a shower Ugly, you smell."

I heard a sharp intake of breath and ducked as she swung her fist towards my arm. I flitted to the other end of the living room, since they happened to be conveniently connected, and did my imitation of Naruto's cheeky grin. She looked furious, good. She was back to normal. I ran to her bedroom, pulling on my pants and grabbing my shirt and shoes. She came storming in, fist's clenched. "I DO NOT SMELL!" I just grinned again and ducked out of her still open window. "You really should shut that thing at night Ugly, besides the obvious security reasons, it gets freezing in here." I pushed off the windowsill and shot off across the town, chuckling as I looked back to see Sakura leaning out the window, giving me the finger, face red. "Beautiful…" I smirked and turned my head back to the front, ignoring the gasps of the people below as I ran across their rooftops in jeans and no shirt.

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"DA DUM, DA DUUM, DA NA NAAAAAAAAA NA NAAA, DA NA NAAAAAAAAA NA NAAAAA DA NA NAAAAAA NA NAAAAAA." Mumbling curses, a certain teen identifiable only by an untamable mass of blonde hair was trying to find his alarm clock. It had been a gift from Tenten; it played Greensleeves in acoustic guitar, piano, or in a really annoying whiny electronic tone. A certain bundle of blankets perched atop the teen had turned it to the annoying version in revenge for having to do ramen duty yesterday. Naruto had made it up to her by taking her and Hinata, whom they had met up with at Ino's flower shop, as well as Ino and Neji to the Dango shop and then to the Korean barbeque for dinner. But, unfortunately for Coriander, she had forgotten all about switching the alarm clock, and was currently paying the consequences for such actions. Said bundle of blankets was being thrown off the couch and onto the floor.

"Coriander, you bonehead! I'm never buying you dango again! Ugh! It's 7: 30? CRAP!" Naruto ran to his bathroom, and seconds later after a rather defined door slam, the shower could be heard running.

I small head of very messed up hair pushed out from the center of the blankets. She pulled the rest of herself out slowly, looking like something off of The Ring. She stood up and stretched her little arms up towards the ceiling, one of Sai's T-shirts engulfing her small frame and pooling around her feet on the floor. She dragged the mass of blankets back to Naruto's bed and threw them on with some effort.

Then Naruto came bursting out of the bathroom, ruffling a towel frantically back and forth across his head, and clad only in a towel. "Turn around Cori!"

She huffed grumpily, but turned around anyways, "It's not like I haven't seen you before."

Naruto was pulling on his boxers and pants, "It's not my fault you went into the wrong wing of the public baths Cori. Hee hee – the look on Neji's face was priceless though!" Long-sleeved fishnet shirt was shoved down over his head. "Waking up nose-to-nose with a 4-year-old asking him if he got lost in the wrong wing of the bathhouse too! Hahaha! Classic!"

Coriander crossed her arms and sulked, "We've been over this before Orange-kun! The steam was really thick, and all I could make out was long hair and a pretty face!"

"I know I know! Come on Cori!" Naruto grabbed Cori around the middle and ran into the bathroom. He started the shower and made sure the water wasn't too hot. "Ok, we're running late so we have to make this quick!" He pulled Sai's T-shirt off of her. "I'm gonna to make breakfast and get your clean clothes." He helped her out of her panties and into the tub, as the wall of the tub was too high for her to get into by herself. With that he quickly set the soap down on the bottom of the tub next to the Jergen's no tears shampoo and a bottle of conditioner from Sakura. "Call me if you need help with anything!"

"Ok." Cori stepped under the water and grabbed the soap. Naruto closed the shower curtain and grabbed Cori's clothes. He ran out of the bathroom, and started some water boiling. He shoved his clothes from yesterday, as well as Cori's pajamas into a laundry bag and ran around grabbing the rest of what he needed. He picked up Cori's green dress, as well as some little pants, shirts, underwear, socks, and a pair of mini pink shinobi sandals that Sakura had declared "Absolutely too kawaii not to buy!!!" He threw them in a little backpack with dogs sewn on it Kiba's older sister had given the girl. Then he opened the pack again and grabbed a pair of black pants, as well as a green short-sleeved shirt and some underwear, socks, and sandals. He threw the sandals on the floor and ran into the bathroom again. He dropped the clothes on the closed toilet and asked the little girl, "Cori what flavor instant oatmeal do you want?"
"Um… apple cinnamon."

"With sugar and milk right?"
"Yeah, hey daddy can you help me with my hair?"

Naruto froze, 'daddy?' then he shook his head and smiled, "Sure Cori, I'll be right back." He ran out to the kitchen and ripped open 3 packets of apple cinnamon instant oatmeal, pouring them into the now boiling water. Then he ran back into the bathroom, pulling up the sleeves on his shirt, "Did you shampoo already?" He slid the shower curtain to the side and kneeled down.
"Yes."

"Ok." He opened up the conditioner bottle and squeezed a small pile of the stuff into his palm. "Close your eyes so none of this stuff gets in, it burns." She complied and he rubbed his hands together, then vigorously ran his hands through the little girl's hair. Satisfied with how slimy it was he said, "Ok Cori, skooch towards the water." She did and he ran his hands through her hair again, until all the cream rinse was gone. He stood her up and guided her to the dry area of the shower again. "You can open your eyes now, let me get your back."

She pulled her long hair over her shoulder to the front, and Naruto grabbed the soap and rubbed it over her back, then picked her up and rinsed her off again. "Did you wash your face?"

Coriander shook her head no, and grabbed the soap, sliding it around her cheeks, then she dropped the soap and rubbed her hands over her face, eyes scrunched shut. She walked into the water again and rinsed it all off. "Done."

Naruto shut the water off, and stood, grabbing a fluffy orange towel off of the shelf above the toilet. He wrapped it around her and picked her up, setting her down on the bath mat. He rubbed her dry, and handed her a hand towel to dry her hair with. "Get dressed, I'm going to go finish breakfast."

Coriander snorted, "Make sure the milk isn't bad this time."

Naruto grimaced, memories flooding back of his genin days, along with more recent occurances, "Don't worry, I'll check."

Naruto ran into the kitchen again, taking the oatmeal off the burner and scooping it into 2 bowels, giving himself more like usual. Coriander usually didn't eat much in the morning. He opened the fridge and checked the date on the milk, it was still good. Then he opened it up and poured the milk into the two bowels and scooped some sugar onto each. He turned the burner off and glanced at his alarm clock, that was still on the floor. It was 7:47. "EEEEEEE! Cori are you done yet???" He ran back to the bathroom where Cori was pulling on her socks, fully dressed. "Good come on!" He grabbed her and ran back to the kitchen pulling out her special chair and plopping her down on it. Her special chair consisted of one of his regular kitchen chairs, piled high with some Dictionaries and Shinobi Guideline books borrowed from Iruka, as well as his old Academy textbook.

"Eat up Cori!"

Naruto gulped his down in seconds, and then ran to the kitchen sink, rinsing out his bowl and leaving it in the sink. After that he bolted towards the bathroom. Cori just shook her head as the sounds of energetic teeth brushing came swooshing out, along with a minty scent. She just continued to munch happily on her oatmeal. She was about halfway done with Naruto came out of the bathroom, armed with Q-tips and a brush. He kneeled by Cori and very carefully cleaned out one of her ears, she just ignored him and kept eating. He appeared on the other side of her, doing the same to her right ear. Then he grabbed her still damp hair, and began brushing the ends out, working upwards. After much "OW!"-ing and wriggling, Naruto managed to get through all the knots about 5 or so minutes later.

"Braid braid… how did Sakura do that braid…"

"Three strands…"

"OH YEAH!!!" He divided her hair into three strands and wove them over each other until he reached the very end of her hair, then whipped out an elastic and tied it off.

Cori picked up her bowl with both little hands, and drank up the milk. As soon as she was done, Naruto ripped the bowl out of her hands, grabbed the spoon with the other and picked her up with the same arm. Confident from previous experiences that she would land on her feet, he dropped her onto the carpet of the living room and bolted back to the kitchen, with a cry of "PUT YOUR SANDLES ON!"

She shook her head, but pulled the pink sandals on anyways. The sink turned on for a second, then turned back off. Naruto was already scooping Coriander back up and headed for the bathroom by the time the bowl and spoon hit the bottom of the sink with a clatter. He set Cori on her little stool, and squeezed some toothpaste on her brush for her. She took it from him and started brushing her teeth. "Did you remember deodorant?" She asked her baby-sitter through a mouthful of foam.

His eyes widened, "No!" He grabbed the deodorant and pulled his shirt out and to the side so he could put it on. While she was still brushing her teeth, he ran back to the living room and shoved the deodorant into his back and tied his forehead protector on. He shoved down the sleeves of his shirt and threw his jacket on, grabbing an identical miniature jacket he had had made especially for Cori at her request. He glanced at the alarm clock… it was 7:58!

He grabbed the little cup of water he had left on his nightstand for her last night, and bolted into the bathroom again, handing it to Cori with an order of "Rinse!" Then he rinsed her toothbrush in the sink and ran out of the bathroom to the outside door, shoving it into her pack. He yanked on his own sandals. Coriander came out of the bathroom, and he tackled her with her jacket, shoving her arms through the holes and zipping it up. He spun her around, and put her backpack on her. Hoisting his own pack, he swept her up, ran back to grab the laundry bag, and ran out of the apartment, slamming the door. He turned around and locked it with his key, then threw the laundry bag and key at his neighbor's door (She had agreed to dust for him every once in a while and look after the place when Cori had asked). He dashed down the stairs, taking them 6 at a time. He made it to the street, and ran up the side of a building. He took to the rooftops, racing towards the Konoha gate. Coriander swayed slightly in his arms, feeling dizzy from all the rushing around they did that morning.

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Sai arrived at Sakura's apartment, dressed in his regular clothes with a pack on his back, holding a small duffel bag with some formal clothes (including Naruto's yukata as Sai was very aware the blonde had forgot he had left it with Sai on a previous occasion). He was just about to knock (for once) when she answered the door herself, smiling.

"Ohayo. Sorry for freaking out earlier."

Sai frowned, he was the master of fake smiles, and she wasn't fooling him. He gave her a hug, surprising the kunoichi, and then stepped out of her way so she could leave. He rolled his shoulders; hugs were still a bit awkward for him, "Have you got everything?"

"Yeah, thanks for coming back, you didn't have to."

"Yes I did."

She turned to him, eyes wide, and then gave him a genuine smile, "Thanks again then."

He leaned forward and gave her one last kiss, closing the door for her. She looked up at him, shocked again.

He shrugged, "It's going to be a long mission."

She nodded and looked away, "Our agreement."

"Yes."

"It's safer this way." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Yes."

"Those kind of things just get in the way on missions." She looked sad, Sai looked indifferent as always.

"Yes."

"DO YOU KNOW ANY WORD OTHER THAN YES???"

His trademark fake smile, "Yes."

She snarled and punched him in the face; he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"I know better than to mess with you personally in the morning Ugly." Came his voice behind her.

She whirled around, "When did you?"

"When you looked away." Then he turned and ran for the nearest rooftop, Sakura hot on his heels.

They arrived at the gate at – Sakura looked at her watch – 7:58. Shinji and Ruin were leaning against the wall. Ruin had a different cloak on today, it was a dark brown, and it was on, his hood was up as well.

"Where did the old one go? And what about a pack?" Inner Sakura looked hopelessly confused.

Shinji looked pissed as usual, with his arms crossed across the chest. He looked almost totally different however. The bun was gone, he had his hair up in a high ponytail, and the pieces framing his face were still left out. The chopsticks were still stuck through the ponytail holder in an 'X'. His formal robe looking thing was gone as well. He was wearing light gray pants, that were tucked into knee high light gray boots. A tight sleeveless gray shirt of some shimmery material, and a leather belt with a silver clasp finished the ensemble. He also had a long thin bundle of something covered in the same material as his shirt strapped to his back with a leather strap that went diagonal across his chest to hold it there.

"Shinji-kun! Your clothes!"

He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, "You didn't expect me to travel in what I was wearing previously did you?"

"Actually kind of, yeah." Inner Sakura muttered.

Sakura put on her brightest smile, "Of course not, I was just surprised, that's all."

He rolled his eyes and looked away. Then he turned his head back towards the town, past Sai and Sakura.

Sakura turned her head to follow Shinji's gaze. Neji and Hinata were coming this way, as well as Tsunade, Shizune, and Jiraiya of all people. Hinata waved, Neji stared off into his own little world, Tsunade frowned, as did Shizune, and Jiraiya just looked unusually serious.

Shinji looked at as silver watch, "It's eight, where's your apprentice?" Ruin just pointed towards the sky, where a black and orange blob was flying towards the group.

He landed, and a distinctly green looking Coriander pushed herself out of his arms, tottering a bit, before stumbling over towards Sakura. Sai scooped her up first however, "What's wrong? What did he do to you?" He ignored the indignant noises coming from Naruto.

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest, "Just dizzy… we woke up late so we had to rush to do everything… I think my body still thinks it's in the shower… and my stomach still isn't prepared for the breakfast I already had…"

Shinji eyed the girl from ten feet away, "She speaks very well for a four-year-old."
"Yeah she's really smart! Huh Cori-chan?" Naruto beamed, seemingly doing his best to avoid and ignore Ruin. "Like your new outfit Shinji, it looks a hell of a lot more comfortable then that robe thing!"

"Bad word!" No one saw that coming…

"Naruto…" Sai's warning voice again.

Shinji forced himself to look away from Coriander, and laughed a little, "Definitely more comfortable."

Hinata, Neji, Tsunade, Shizune, and Jiraiya made it to the rest of the group, and Tsunade stepped forward, enveloping Naruto in a suffocating hug.

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The old lady was hugging me so tight I could hardly breathe. "You better come back in 2 years Naruto." She whispered.

"Of course." I laughed nervously, 'Why was she getting so emotional about this? She's not exactly making it any easier for me!' "I've still got to become Hokage remember?"

She laughed shakily, I think she was crying, "Of course, how could I forget?" I stood there while she dried her eyes, and when she stepped back, I gave her my trademark smile, "I'll be back before you know it!"

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"I'll be back before you know it!" Was all I heard when my teacher stepped back. Then Tsunade turned to me, and walked over.

"Are those tears in her eyes?" Inner scooted up to the front of my head to try and get a better look.

"Sakura?"
"Yes Tsunade?"

She smiled, "Be strong, remember your training, and bring honor to Konoha. You're going into an area that none of us have experience in. You better be ok when you return."

I smiled back, I was going to miss Tsunade. We had spent a lot of time together in since I became her apprentice. We had worked in the hospital together, trained together, and my personal favorite, developed new medical jutsu's together. We had worked with our civilian doctors to come up with new antidotes for poisons and cures for common diseases such as the various colds and influenzas. We had also drank and talked together, though she could still hold considerably more alcohol than I could.

"Of course mom." I gave her a hug, and I could feel her smiling next to me. I had started calling her mom a couple of years ago. I was a teenager, and so as horribly stereotypical as it was, my parents were the enemy. She was also way cooler than my mom and dad could ever hope to be, and we didn't see each other much anyways. I had moved out when I was 15, they had decided to move away from Konoha to a civilian village with our cousins. I had stayed behind, wanting to continue my career as kunoichi here.

She broke off the hug, and turned to every one else, gruff voice back, "The rest of you better come back in one piece as well! This is a long mission and Konoha's going to miss your presence dearly." She turned to Ruin, "And you," He looked up, amused, "You better remember what we talked about." She turned to Shinji, and threw him a small glass cylinder of something that rattled. 'Pills?' "Umamoto-san, take care of yourself."

Shinji caught the cylinder and stuffed it in his pocket. He looked somewhat shocked, but nodded slowly, and smiled weakly, "I'll do my best."

Then Tsunade gave me one final hug, then walked towards Shizune, pausing to speak and give something to Sai as well, who visibly paled and held his hands over Coriander's ears when he saw whatever the package was.

"Shizune, we're leaving."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Bye everyone!" She waved, smiling and ran backwards after Tsunade, "Come back safe!" Everyone waved, and she turned around to follow more carefully.

Jiraiya walked to Naruto, tussling his hair, "Be strong kid," Then he lowered his voice, "Be in control."

Naruto nodded, "I've got it handled, so don't worry about it."

Jiraiya smiled, "Word has it you're going to a land no shinobi from leaf has ever been to before –"

Naruto cut him off, "Yeah yeah I'll be careful you old perv. And from what I've heard, the old lady has been there already, and she's from leaf."

Jiraiya laughed, "I know that! Tsunade doesn't count… What I'm saying is when you come back tell me if there's any good research to be done there."

Naruto pulled a face, then narrowed his eyes and shook his head, punching the old man's arm playfully. "I swear if you start rubbing off on me old man…"

"I'll kill you." I walked up and put an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"heheh… that's comforting Sakura-chan."

I smiled brightly, head tilted, "I'm here to serve."

"Is that so?" Neji smirked and walked by us.

I whipped my head around around, "Not that way!"

"So it only works with Sai huh?"

I bared her teeth, and snarled at Naruto, "WHAT did you say?"

He paled, "N-n-nothing Sakura-chan." He waved his hands around, "I was just kidding!"

"Let's go." Shinji pushed away from the wall and walked out of the gates. "Throw your formal clothes on that wagon," he vaguely waved his hand towards a small wooden wagon parked just inside the gates.

Sai gave Coriander to me, "She wants you." Then he threw his duffel bag into the wagon and ran after Shinji, who had… taken to the trees?

"I thought he wasn't a shinobi!"

"He's not a shinobi, but he is extremely graceful and very skilled at climbing trees." Coriander said firmly, "I believe Ruin-kun can do the same."

Before I could ask her how she knew such a thing, Ruin spoke, "Yes, though I usually don't. Unlike Shinji-kun however, I do have some chakra control so that makes it easier." He threw his hood back, and fastened his cloak just above his hips as well as by his neck. He smiled at my confused look, "If we're taking to the trees, I'd rather not show anyone anything more than they need to see."

I raised my eyebrows, eyeing his skirt, "Ah… yeah…" I smiled at walked over to the wagon, and dropped my duffel bag next to Shinji, Sai, Neji, and Naruto's. Hinata dropped hers soon after mine, her bag looked a lot nicer too.

I smiled up at her, "We should catch up to the boys."

"Y-Yes."

"Oh so I'm a girl now am I? Lovely." Ruin laughed and ran up a tree, from what I could tell he wasn't using any chakra however, he just ran straight up and grabbed a branch. I had seen some civilian boys do something similar a couple of years ago; they would run up the tree and do a back flip for fun. Righting himself, Ruin took off, long legs making it so he hardly had to use any chakra at all to get from branch to branch. Hinata and myself (along with Coriander) "AND ME!" … and Inner, followed him.

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Neji caught up with Sai, who was to the right and about a branch behind Shinji. "So what's in the box that Tsunade-sama gave you?"

"I really don't feel the need to tell you that."

"I have the Byakugan." Neji retorted, a promise, not a threat.

Sai swore, and then looked back. Reassured that everyone but Naruto was still pretty far behind them, he whispered, "Condoms."

Neji coughed in surprise, and Shinji almost missed his step, stumbling slightly on the branch, giving Sai and Neji a chance to catch up with him.

Shinji looked sideways at Sai, "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Sai kept looking behind him.

"Plan on using them?" Neji smirked.

"No." Sai sent a glare Neji's way.

Shinji looked incredulous, "Then why'd she give them to you?"

"Because the old hag probably caught wind of what happened last night."

"What happened last night?" Neji of course.

Sai raised an eyebrow, "No way. Your Byakugan can't see thoughts so I'm not worried about you."

"Might want to stay away from Ruin-kun then." Shinji advised.

Sai nodded.

Neji just laughed, ok for the moment with not knowing something, "So who's in charge of this mission?"

"I am." Shinji said calmly.

"Nani? You're not even a shinobi!"
"Read it and weep." Shinji pulled out a scroll from his pants pocket, handing it to Neji. It was an official scroll signed and sealed by the Hokage herself stating that yes, in fact, Shinji was the leader for this mission, with Hyuuga Neji in second-in-command as he had more experience than Sai when working with Teams.

Neji shook his head, and chucked the scroll backwards, where it was caught by Naruto who began reading it. "I'm tempted to… I suppose it's because you're the only one that knows where we're heading."

"Correct Hyuuga."

Naruto, Ruin, and the girls (whom had read the scroll as well) caught up a couple of minutes later.

Shinji nodded to Neji, who spoke out clearly, "Tune your wireless radios to each other on 3… 2… 1… now." Everyone pushed a button on his or her wireless and held it down for 2 seconds, then quickly let go and pushed again.

"Is everyone connected?" Neji's voice spoke directly into everybody's ear.

"Hai." A chorus of affirmatives.

"Where are we going Shinji?" Sakura asked.

"For now, we're still trying to find Caranluin Coriander's father."

Coriander shifted uncomfortably in Sakura's arms after Shinji spoke, and Sakura clarified, "Yeah… any clues as to where to start?"

Ruin was the one to answer, "Last we heard, the Cirque des Lames was scheduled for a performance at the border of Cloud."

"The Cirque des Lames?" Evidentially no one but Ruin and Shinji had heard of it before, and neither of those two offered any explanation.

"Come, I want to make it to the border of Fire Country by tomorrow night. That means a lot of running until then." Shinji sped up, legs pumping. Sai and Neji kept pace with him, Sakura could have caught up, however she had decided to stay with Hinata.

"H-How is h-he going to k-k-keep up?" Hinata looked at Shinji with wonder.

"His body does not know the meaning of exhaustion, it is very unlikely he will stop until it is time for us to eat." Ruin answered the young Hyuuga.

"Nani? How does that work?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Intense mental training, much like your friend Sai-kun."

Sakura was quick to interject, "But that was emotional training."
"Shinji did that training himself. He wanted control over something in his life, and his body was something he was allowed some control over." Coriander spoke solemnly from Sakura's arms.

"How do you know so much little girl." Ruin's red-gold eyes were focused intently on Coriander.

She shook her head, "I can't really explain in detail… often I don't remember much. Just know that this is not the first time I have met Umamoto Shinji."

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"They're moving away from us Uchiha." Karin was still sulking from being snapped at.

"Thank-you Karin. The use of my last name is unnecessary." It was the closest thing to an apology she was going to get. And, like the obsessed woman she was, she immediately forgave him, smiling brightly.

"Do we follow?" Suigetsu got up, taking a swig out of his water bottle.

Sasuke nods, "Yes, keep a couple of mile radius however, they have a Hyuuga with them."

"Byakugan?"

"Exactly. Move out, observe their habits, the way they interact with each other. Especially keep an eye on any close bonds or tensions between anyone. We may need to exploit them later."

Karin smirked, "Sweet, anyone in particular we should keep on the look-out for?"

"Uzumaki Naruto – the Kyuubi container – and Haruno Sakura."

Karin pouts, "Why her? Isn't she the one that was 'in love'" her fingers did the little quote marks in the air, "with you Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke was tempted to snap at her again, but held his tongue. He needed her cooperation for this mission, "Naruto used to be head-over-heels for Sakura. I want to see if that's still the case." Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin all nod.

Team Hebi then took to the trees as well, moving out in preparation to flank the Leaf Nins.

That's it for chapter 6. Thank-you PinkxxxReaper and FakeCompassion for reviewing! You guys make my f-ing day! If you've read, please review! If you pay really hard attention, there's a magnetic pull coming from the little periwinkle button at the bottom left corner of the screen, and your mouse WANTS TO GO TO IT!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I highly doubt I'd have the patience to draw that much!