Edited: 7/25/2006 (few minor parts, just to clear up things.)

A/N: I'm brain dead this morning. Kept on pressing the save button and wondering why there isn't a new document……….Doing author's note at the start of chapter or end of it…depending on my mood…….(Sweatdrops)

Review Replies (Don't ask me why I didn't do it last time…)

SetoKaibaWheeler: …….err….things are complicated here for 9th graders in Taiwan…..so yeah. Lol

GinaCat:D

DeadlyDemon17: (huggles back)

Sailormoonnarutoinuyashalover: more chapters? Heh, I'll see what I can do though…

Furuido: OOOh. Thanks for point that out, I seriously missed that. (Sweatdrops) Lol, I tend to like making the characters older for romances…

Riiiceballe:D

From then on, probably will update on Saturdays.

Oh yah, yesterday was my birthday. I'M FOURTEEN NOW! (Runs around screaming)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto (I can't remember if i did this in chapter 1...so i'll do it again.)

Chapter 6: Realization….s.

" Today, both of you will be on a B-ranked mission. Investigate the borders for anything out of place and report back to me." The Hokage explained.

Sakura sat on the couch staring blankly; it was seven am in the morning.

" Sensei…what about the classes?" Sakura mumbled. Tsunade smiled, " I doubt you'll take more than a week, two days I suppose is enough. We'll resume your classes when you get back."

The pink haired woman nodded and sat back, " I need coffee….lots of it…"

" Hokage-sama, when shall we leave?" Kakashi inquired.

An evil smile was sent to the duo, " Two hours from now."

………

Sakura slapped her forehead, " Oooh. Coffeee……….." Kakashi smiled slightly, before both of them got up and walked out.

The moment the door closed, Tsunade grumbled and rubbed her eyes, muttering, " Damned sake….."

" Bring what you need, meet up at the bridge in two hours," Kakashi muttered, he was already in his uniform while Sakura still had on a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt.

" Kakashi, don't be-" The silver haired jounin disappeared in a swirl of leaves, Sakura growled, " Late.."

Two and a HALF hours later…

Sakura squatted on a rock near the bridge, muttering and cursing. A knapsack was placed beside her.

" Stupid Kakashi.."

A poof, " Yo."

" GOD DAMN YOU KAKASHI! YOU'RE LATE!" It used to be only 'you're late.' But a few months back, Sakura and Naruto started to add 'god damn you Kakashi.', much to Kakashi's annoyance.

Kakashi frowned, " That...was uncalled for."

The kunoichi snorted and stood up, " If you would be EARLY for once, I wouldn't have to say that." She patted away the grass stuck on the skirt, she was wearing the jounin vest over her black shirt, and light khaki pants.

He merely smiled at Sakura's remark and both of them headed out of the gates.

Meanwhile…

Sasuke sat on his bed in his apartment Indian style, his brows furrowed in concentration.

Age reversal jutsu…………the only shinobis I know of who knows the jutsu…are the Akatsuki.

" Only the few elite members know of it….that means……" He stared at the calendar.

I killed off Itachi a good two months ago, and spent the last month before I returned to Konoha fighting off the other members of Akatsuki…

Realization dawned on the Uchiha, " Damn that bastard!"

The Scarecrow and the blossom leapt from branch to branch through the forests of Fire Country, wind ruffling up their hair.

Hours had passed, and they were nearing the border.

They landed on a thick branch, Kakashi turned around when he heard Sakura emit a soft gasp. She was pointing at a nearby tree trunk.

Blood.

Lots of it. Smeared all over the branches.

Kakashi narrowed his eye at this, " Sakura, we have to hurry," The woman nodded, and they resumed their leaps.

Ambush? Attack? It could be anything…Sakura thought hurriedly as they picked up speed.

Soon, the stench of blood became thick; more blood was seen on the trees.

The silver haired man was somewhat grateful for his mask, while Sakura scowled. They stopped on a branch without blood smeared on it, and looked down.

Corpses littered the forest grounds, most of them were already rotting away, flies surrounding them.

Sakura scowled deepened and she turned around, to avert her gaze from the bodies. She nearly threw up when she saw a body-hanging limp from a branch, all bloody.

She noted silently that the shinobi was from Konoha.

" Kakashi, these shinobis…. they're from our village…" Sakura said softly. Kakashi turned around; his eye stared unemotionally at the body.

" Hm."

Sakura twitched slightly, even though she treated numerous patients at the hospital, blood was something she had gotten used to. But the blood here….

It's a massacre….

From her perch on the branch, Sakura studied silently at the bodies on the ground, some of them had their heads ripped off, claws maybe?

Sakura frowned, " Claws?" She glanced at her companion, and frowned even further when his body tensed up.

" Sakura, we have to get out of here, now."

As if on cue, figures started to drop from the higher branches, blood splattered on their clothes, Sakura figured they were the killers.

There were at least fifteen shinobis, we could take them, Sakura thought.

But that was the least of their problems….

Two lone figures dropped onto the branch a few feet in front of Kakashi and Sakura.

Kakashi stood up, while Sakura's eyes widened.

The two new comers wore a straw hat, and very familiar black cloaks with red cloud prints.

"Hoshigaki Kisame……." Sakura breathed.

" Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi muttered.

Uchiha Sasuke poofed into the Godaime's office, Tsunade raised a blonde eyebrow at the man.

" What is it, Uchiha?"

Sasuke stared, " Where are Sakura and Kakashi?"

Leaning against her comfy seat, the Hokage said calmly, " On a mission, why?"

Holding his breath, Sasuke spoke in a quiet voice, " Itachi….he may not be dead…"

Sakura's mind was in turmoil; didn't Sasuke say that he killed Itachi? Why is he here? Am I hallucinating!

" Ah, Sharingan Kakashi, the Hokage's apprentice." Itachi said in a cold, monotone voice, his eyes never leaving the two.

Sakura fingered a shuriken, fully knowing that both of them wouldn't stand a chance against the two elite Akatsuki members, plus all the rouge shinobis. She glanced at the bodies on the ground, and cursed in her mind when she saw an ANBU mask beside a fallen ninja.

AW shit.

Itachi rustled in his cloak, and brought out an arm, probably from one of the bodies below, and threw it over to Kakashi who caught it gingerly. Sakura eyed it slightly, wondering if it was a bomb.

" Even though I'd like to end your lives right now," Itachi drawled, " I'll do it another time. In the meantime, enjoy your peace…I suppose, " He disappeared, along with the other rough shinobis surrounding them. Hoshigaki Kisame stayed behind however, and growled, " That doesn't mean we're letting you off, its under orders," He nodded towards the bodies, " And your ANBU are useless." With that, he poofed off too.

Sakura slumped onto the branch, not caring the blood, and muttered, " Damn, I think I'll die of a heart attack." Kakashi turned around and threw the arm away. " Something's defiantly wrong here."

The emerald eyed woman snorted, " No shit, oh wise one." The Copy nin glared at her, causing her to chuckle in dry humor.

" Let's go back," Kakashi muttered. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, " We're not at the border yet,"

" This is an emergency, we have to go back to report it to the Hokage." Kakashi said as he adjusted his head protector over his eye.

" I suppose, let's go then."

" Hm"

They took care of the carcass, before heading back to Konoha.

" Are you sure that was wise, Itachi-sama? We could have killed them off right there." A rouge shinobi whispered at their leader as they passed the border. The Uchiha turned around to face the person, " We're under orders, and besides, we can wait. And watch the show…"

A handful of the rouges, however frowned, " Forget this mission, we're going after the two, we'll kill them!" They turned around and went back to the forests. Itachi stared after them, and continued his way. Kisame muttered, " Fools."

Kakashi and Sakura stopped to rest near a lake, it was mid-afternoon, and they still had a long way to go.

The silver haired jounin squatted near the lake, washing the blood off his hands, courtesy of the arm. Sakura sat on a rock, staring at Kakashi's back.

After a few minutes, Kakashi sat beside Sakura, who had gotten out a small canteen to drink. She still looked a bit pale.

" Sakura, you alright?" The Copy-nin asked softly. Sakura paused in mid-nod, before shaking her head slightly.

Kakashi turned his head to stare at the woman. " Still shaken up?"

Surprisingly, Sakura snorted, " Who wouldn't be? We're talking about Uchiha Itachi here."

The silver haired man chuckled, " True."

They sat in comfortable silence before Sakura whispered, " Should we go now?"

" Hm." Sakura threw her canteen into her knapsack before they took to the branches again.

When they traveled a good distance from the lake, Kakashi suddenly stopped. Sakura looked at him questionably, in response, he whispered, " Someone's there."

A soft rustle was heard in the bushes on the forest ground, Sakura drew a shuriken and flung it. A gasp was cut off with a strangled gurgle.

Eight rouge shinobis that had been with Itachi's group jumped out, kunais ready.

Kakashi drew his own, while Sakura prepared to do hand seals.

To Sakura's horror, a rouge Hidden Mist shinobi did a line of quick hand seals before her, and touched his right arm. Immediately, the arm changed into a large claw.

Claw…..Sakura instantly thought of the ripped head. Damn, it's this guy!

The rouges split into two groups, four charged towards Sakura, including the Clawed guy. Deciding none of her jutsus worked up in the air, Sakura jumped to the ground while during hand seals, and thrust her open palm at the ground when she landed.

The ground cracked open, and two of the rouges fell into it.

Two down, two to go.

She whipped out her kunai and went hand-to-hand combat with the other shinobi, and decapitated him by punching him with one of her bone-shattering punches. He slumped to the ground.

All what was left for her was the claw guy. He shot Sakura a sadist grin.

It quickly occurred to Kakashi that these guys were armatures. He sliced one's throat and flung a shuriken at another's forehead.

He quickly killed off the other two and turned around to find Sakura.

Sakura was dodging the claw guy's attacks, and couldn't find an opening. The claw was twice the size of the user, but he didn't seem to be affected by it. She lost her footing when she stepped on some blood and the claw managed to make a long gash on her thigh. Yelping, she fell back, and the man approached her.

" Sayonara, bitch," He was about to bring down his abnormal claw down for the finishing blow when a kunai flew and was embedded into his back skull.

" Never, leave your back unprotected," Kakashi muttered, as the man crumbled to the ground.

Sakura grinned and looked around, all the rouges were dispatched. She tried to get up, but failed miserably. Kakashi's eye curved into an anime smile.

" Want me to carry you?" Kakashi asked with a hint of amusement. Sakura scowled, but couldn't help the blush creeping up to her cheeks.

" I'm a medic-nin, I can heal myself," She muttered while channeling chakra from her hands to seal the gap.

" Heh," Kakashi chuckled and plopped himself next to her.

Sakura glared half-heartily at the man, and sighed. After her gash was healed, both of them continued their way, after burying the bodies that is.

(" Why do we keep on BURYING THEM!" courtesy of Sakura)

They decided to continue their trek on the ground, after Sakura nearly leapt head-first into a branch, seriously, she didn't know what happened to her senses.

" Guess they rotted to death from too much blood." Sakura muttered to Kakashi when he swatted away some big leaves. He grinned slightly, while Sakura scowled, " Damn you Kakashi and your mask."

He only grinned as they walked.

Kakashi's POV-

" Damn you Kakashi and your mask."

I grinned from under my mask, and she scowled even deeper, she looked cute like that.

Wait, cute?

Well, of course. You love her; you came to that conclusion last night, did you not?

……

So, just tell her already, it's not like you'll be rejected.

Aw crap, I'm arguing with myself now.

You stubborn bastard, the worst-case scenario probably will be just Sakura eyeing you as an old pervert and beating you to the ground!

……..Thanks, that helped a lot.

No problem, JUST TELL HER ALREADY!

I mentally groaned as the voice started his mantra of, " Say it with me, Love love love!" (A/N: XD I'm listening to the song right now)

Normal POV-

Sakura stared weirdly at Kakashi's face. He had been blushing before, and the glint in his turned to annoyance.

She blushed slightly at the memory of her conclusion from last night and her pace quickened slightly.

/ Tell him. Just tell him! You've been running around expressing your love for Uchiha for half your childhood, and yet you can't say it to Kakashi/ Inner Sakura snorted.

Humph, he used to be my teacher; of course it's harder to get out.

/ Yeah, yeah, just keep believing that. Once your chance is gone, it's GONE! ZIP! NADA/

Sakura mentally frowned.

" Kakashi, I think the blood fried my nerves," Sakura deadpanned. Kakashi nodded, " Mine too, I concur."

They continued to walk in silence, while Sakura's nerves were being throttled by Inner Sakura, and Kakashi's mind becoming a mess by the voice singing, " LOVE x3" in a screechy, annoying voice.

Suddenly, both of them opened their mouths, " Kakashi/Sakura, I have something to say."

They blinked, and looked at each other.

" You go first" Sakura muttered, blushing slightly. Kakashi shook his head, " Ladies first,"

" Since when you're a gentleman?"

" Err……now?"

" You sad excuse for a gentleman"

Kakashi frowned, while Sakura grinned in triumph. Quickly, they forgot that they still had something to say.

Hours passed, and both of them had gotten to Konoha. It was already nighttime.

They rushed to the Hokage Tower, and deciding not to take the elevator up. (A/N: Hey, they have all those modern day thingys, I'll be damned if they don't have an elevator. Well, if they don't though, just think of it as a figment of my imagination. :D) They poofed to Tsunade's office.

Tsunade snored softly, and slept on her desk. She sat up startled when she heard soft pops.

Sakura and Kakashi stood there, blood was splattered on their clothes.

" Tsunade-sensei, I think you overlooked this mission." Sakura spoke.

The Hokage sighed, " Ah yes, Sasuke came by a hours ago, to say-"

" Itachi's alive." Kakashi deadpanned. Tsunade's honey colored eyes widened, " How…?"

Sakura's voice dropped to a whisper, " We met him, Hoshigaki Kisame, and a band of rouges along the way to the border. They killed off a group of ANBU from our village."

And not to mention the blood fried our noses.

Tsunade sighed, and eyed both of them, " Both of you are still alive, how?"

Kakashi shrugged, " He let us off, because of orders."

" Orders…hmm…"

They stood in silence, before Tsunade spoke, " Anything else to report?"

" We figured that you didn't know about Uchiha Itachi, so we….came back early." Sakura finished somewhat lamely.

Tsunade nodded, " Hm..well, both of you are dismissed. I'll have to think about this…Oh yes, Sakura, class begins tomorrow."

Sakura nodded before she and Kakashi poofed off.

Don't they EVER use the door!

Kakashi and Sakura walked in the darkened streets of Konoha. The pink haired kunoichi suddenly remembered that she still had something to say to Kakashi. As they neared her apartment, Sakura vaguely noted her heart beating faster.

Last chance….last chance…..

They stopped at the door, Sakura made a movement to open her door, before she suddenly turned around.

" Kakashi, I…I have something to say….." Sakura whispered. The silver haired jounin stared at her.

" I………..I………"

I think……

I think I love you……" Sakura voice was barely a whisper now. She didn't dare meet Kakashi's eye.

Kakashi's visible eye widened.

They stood in silence for a few moments, and Sakura turned around, facing her door. " I'll retire for the night-"

A gloved hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around, Sakura managed to squeak out a gasp before she felt soft lips crashing onto hers.

K-Kakashi!

A/N: ……………don't hate me. Please. I hate myself now. (sobs)

The mission…was rather unnecessary, in my opinion. But it's important, for the third arc. Yeah. Third.

Ten pages. If you see a few places in this chapter that seemed….a bit weird, as in a little insane…….I was reading a few Naruto fics (Humor) while I was writing this….so….I went insane too. Har. Last update this week. (sobs) See ya soon! ((If you think Kaka and Saku's relationship is going too fast, tell me. Coz I think this is alright…))

The song that was mentioned in this chapter (Love x3) is by F.I.R. It's really good :D Chinese though :P