A/N: I've been stuck in a year-long reading/writing intensive course that's been sucking up all my time and keeping me from updating. Unfortunately, that class is in no way related to fiction.

If you have the time, I'd appreciate some feedback on how I'm doing with this story. What may seem a good idea to me might have you making funny faces, and if I'm doing something that just seems completely nonsensical to you, I'm ready to work on it.

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Insensitive Brutes

Those cracks in the ceiling looked sort of like a house, she supposed. Like the ones kids drew, with a triangle on top and square right under it. Except that the bottom part was kind of circular, really, so maybe it was more like a head. With a hat. Yes. That's what it would be, Sakura decided. A head with a pointy hat.

The level of boredom Sakura had achieved was mind-boggling. She was now more familiar with this section of Kakashi's ceiling than she ever wanted to be. It couldn't get any worse than this. After wordlessly handing her a shirt and shorts with a blank look in his eye that was more frightening than his killer intent, Kakashi had led her out of the room and closed the door in an unnaturally gentle way that promised death should she bother him again anytime soon. That's why she hadn't been able to complain when she noticed the clothes he had given her were at least fifty sizes to big, no exaggeration on her part. He had probably done it on purpose. A couple of knots here and there, and a bit of rolling up sleeves fixed it up in no time. Now she was just waiting for the appropriate to ask him how she should go about washing her clothes. She did not plan on staying this way.

And she felt just dirty without her underwear.

Kakashi had been locked in his cave for hours, and she was starting to get hungry again. She wasn't sure she was willing to go another day without a proper meal. It had been a while since she'd had some decent food, what with all those back-to-back missions. Naruto had rushed them all back home, refusing to take the time to eat out at a nearby town. She suspected Sasuke would have preferred to eat out as well, but of course he wouldn't have cared enough to voice it.

Not that it mattered right now. Both of them were only twelve years old or so at the moment, and they were undoubtedly excited at the prospect at eating out at a campsite for the first time. Back when they had all first become genin, that was one of the moments they had felt they had truly become ninja, though they would soon realize that the bad food and lack of plumbing wasn't that exciting after all.

Despite the somewhat positive attitude she'd had thus far, she was internally a mess. She had no idea how this time thing worked, but if everything was going on as normal over there, she knew her teammates would be worrying their minds out. It wasn't to say she wasn't also worried about what would happen. Concealed at the pit of her stomach was an apprehension that threatened to emerge, but she wasn't going to let it rise. Panicking would not get her back home.

That was when Kakashi chose to emerge and distracted her from her thoughts. The door opened slowly, and he stood at the frame looking out, analyzing the room as if making sure there was nothing out of order. But apparently there was, judging by how he contorted his face at the sight of Sakura splayed across his couch. It seemed secluding himself to a corner of the apartment wasn't going to help get rid of her.

When he said nothing Sakura decided that if anyone was going to make use of their vocal chords it would have to start with her.

"Hatake Kakashi has emerged from his cave," she narrated, as the subject in question stepped out and made his way toward the kitchen. Her eyes followed after him.

"He's on the search for a meal, completely unaware that all he will find is mold."

That didn't keep Kakashi from uselessly pushing the empty containers around the refrigerator. Sakura listened to the plastic clang around for much longer than necessary. This time or her time, he just plain liked to defy her. She pushed herself upright and watched.

"I ate the rice, by the way, if that's what you're looking for."

Kakashi stopped his rummaging and shot her a glare.

"Hatake Kakashi appears to be irritated," was her dramatic response.

"Having fun?"

"Oh, yes," she answered blankly.

Kakashi made an unhappy grunt and turned his attention to the cupboards behind him. Rather than searching for anything he simply stared, as if the answers to his food problem were written on there somewhere.

"You don't suppose you'd be willing to feed a hungry soul?" she asked hopefully.

"The rice wasn't enough for you?" he asked accusingly.

"Considering I ate most of it yesterday, no," she said honestly. "It wasn't very filling either. And it was kind of hard. How long has it been around?"

"A while."

"Or maybe you're just bad at cooking."

Ignoring her last statement he made his way back to his bedroom, having found no sustenance in the kitchen. As luck would have it, she of course began talking again before he made it all the way.

"Before you hole yourself up again why don't we figure out how we're going to work this out? It's a mission, isn't it? We need to know who's doing what, and the sooner we do that the faster I can leave you to your hermit-like practices."

"We?"

"Hokage's orders," she said quickly.

"No, his orders were to babysit you and look for information, not to work with you," he retaliated, taking a step toward his bedroom.

"Not like you're not doing a very good job with that either," she shot back. She stood and took a few cautious steps away from the couch. Kakashi for the most part seemed to ignore her, but she could sense him calculating how fast he could get in there and shut the door behind him,. "I'm starving and badly clothed."

"Poor thing," he drawled.

"The Hokage won't be happy to hear about this," she threatened, taking another step toward him.

"He won't?" he asked absently.

"Kakashi-sensei, if I'm going to be your prisoner here the least you could do is give me some food!"

"Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge," he offered kindly.

If she killed him now, how much effect would it have on her younger self's education? It wouldn't have been so annoying if she didn't so clearly sense the resentment he was sending her way.

"It's not my fault the Hokage ordered you to keep me around."

"Would he still have made the same choice had you gone to him first?" he denounced.

"What else was I supposed to do?"

Either he didn't know or didn't care. He took a step toward his room.

"I don't like this any more than you do, sensei!"

Sakura was becoming exceedingly irritated with his non-compliance. She understood perfectly Kakashi didn't want her around. He had been demonstrating that with great clarity. That's why she had given him a bit of time, and refrained from intruding in his room again once he had given her clothes, even though her stomach complained from a lack of nutrition the whole time. But she hadn't chosen to be here either, and she could only take so much of his grumbling attitude.

Kakashi appeared to have felt the increased tension in the younger woman's voice. His eyes became less remote and he turned himself away from his doorway and to her.

"I'm not your teacher," he said, a harsh edge to his voice.

"You will be."

"It's not too late to change that."

There was a flash of hurt across her eyes, making Kakashi feel distinctly uneasy. Her voice took on a different tone when she next spoke.

"You won't have to worry about me long," her voice subdued. "I'll go back the second we figure ou-"

"What makes you so sure you're going back?" he cut her off roughly.

He hadn't been expecting her reaction, though he supposed he should have suspected it by how she looked at him after his last comment. Sakura looked like she'd been slapped, but the shock was quickly replaced by a look of reluctant acceptance. She turned around and took her seat, head looking down.

"You're right," she said weakly. "It's wrong of me to assume that it's even possible."

Now he'd done it. He had to go and open his mouth.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Maybe if she had just snapped back and become angry he wouldn't feel like such an ass, but she had to go and accept that he was right with that depressed look on her face. Had he been wrong to point out the obvious, or was she simply emotional?

But it wasn't just him suggesting the possibility she wouldn't return. The subtle reaction in her eyes when he commented on his teacher status had somehow been worse.

Kakashi had never liked sharing his space. It took people a while to figure out where he lived, and when they finally managed to track him down he didn't let them in anyway. Having this Haruno Sakura girl intrude in on his home was annoying, but almost even tolerable when you considered the nature of the situation. But her taking up shelter in his apartment was not the only issue. She was also invading in a more mental way by how at ease she was around him. Kakashi's status as an elite jonin earned him much respect from most shinobi, and some of the younger ones seemed to even revere him. It might have been the mask, or it could have been the hidden sharingan, but whatever it was, it took some folks a while to realize he wouldn't chew them out if they looked him in the eye. Maybe he had become too used to that sort of treatment, because the ease with which she argued with and threatened him was bugging the hell out of him. It made it that much more difficult to act professionally around her. Not that he usually made many attempts to be professional regardless.

Was he so wrong to hate her guts?

"Would you consider invasion of property to be grounds for exhibiting irascible behavior?" Kakashi asked the cheery young man tending the counter.

"Uh... you mean trespassing, sir?" he smiled, stuffing Kakashi's goods into a bag. "I suppose you have a right to become angry. That's illegal."

"Not if the Hokage gives the green light."

"Then perhaps it's not trespassing?" he asked, his smile fading in confusion.

"Not in the legal sense, maybe. But I would still think it invasion of property."

"I'm... sorry, sir. I don't understand. Here's your change."

No more enlightened than when he first came in, Kakashi walked out of the convenience store, bag of food in hand. He had to do something about that empty fridge very soon, because his wallet couldn't take this kind of abuse.

Kakashi wasn't looking forward to going back to his apartment, but he couldn't starve her much longer. Hopefully there wouldn't be waterworks when he returned, but if worse came to worst maybe the food would distract her if she was hungry enough. He would drop it off and immediately head for the ANBU archives, before his conscience tried to kick in and make him feel worse.

When Kakashi walked in through the door Sakura was sitting in front of his refrigerator, the upper half of her body digging for something inside, and a multitude of plates, bowls, and containers spread out on the ground around her. She wasn't desperate enough to go for the mold, was she?

"There's nothing in there," he felt the need to remind her.

"I know," came her voice, head still invisible. "I'm throwing out everything you have in here before it starts growing legs."

No yelling, no crying, no hint of the chronic depression she seemed about to enter before he ran for it. Where was the gloom and misery?

She pulled herself out to reveal a dirty rag in her hands, which she held an arms length away. Her face wrenched up in agony as she eyed it with disgust.

"This is just revolting, Kakashi-sensei," she berated, holding it up for him to see.

"Why?"

"Because there's mold on it!" she answered, shaking the rag for emphasis.

"No, why are you cleaning the mold out of my refrigerator?"

"There's still more in there, if you really want to keep it. It shouldn't take long for it to cultivate again."

"Haruno!"

"I'm not just going to sit around here all day, and since you so kindly refused to allow me to work with you I'll just have to make tasks for myself," she answered, tossing the dirty rag into the sink.

She was doing this on purpose, just to make him feel worse.

"You don't have to do that," he said in what could almost be considered his soft voice.

Sakura blinked at him but didn't answer. She then redirected her attention to the bag in his hand. He sighed and walked over to her. He handed her the food, which she accepted with poorly concealed excitement before proclaiming that the dishes on the ground were now his problem. Sakura sat at the table and eagerly began her meal, happy that he'd thought to bring a can of tea. Drinking water was getting old.

Kakashi didn't understand. Without a doubt she had looked genuinely hurt before he left. He hadn't wanted to return because he had been sure there would be problems with his return. Except that rather than get mad she had turned to cleaning. Was she trying to cover up how she really felt? There was his conscience again, threatening to emerge. He had to get out of here before he did something stupid. Like apologize.

Sakura suddenly stopped eating when she felt Kakashi's eyes on her.

"What?" she demanded.

He looked at her for a second longer before moving his attention and himself to his room. Sakura sensed something was off though, and as expected, spoke before he crossed the doorway.

"I'm not mad," she stated, her back to him.

How did she know? Was he that obvious?

"I thought about it and there's no reason to be."

He waited for her to continue, but whatever her reasoning behind it, she was going to keep it to herself. Kakashi watched her continue eating for a moment longer, unsure of how to reply. Sakura resumed eating, now at a slightly slower pace.

"I'm heading for the ANBU archives to see what I can find," he finally said. Sakura turned around with a huge beam on her face, making him feel that much worse. She was more vulnerable than she looked. She was loud and demanding, but part of her toughness was only an act. All it had taken to make her happy was to know that he would begin working on her case.

He really was an insensitive brute.

Kakashi poked around the shelves of scrolls, unsure of where to start his search. Regrettably, the archives didn't contain a section with a big, large banner labeled time-travel.
He walked around looking for any promising categories, and turned a corner to find Genma staring right at him.

"I knew that was you in here! I can sense your gloomy aura from a mile away," the senbon user greeted.

"How convenient for you. I, unfortunately, don't go through the same extensive efforts to keep track of you." Kakashi moved past him and resumed scanning the labels.

"Oh, it doesn't take any effort. You're just bursting with misery. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you kicked yourself out of ANBU." Genma picked a scroll out of a pile and began scanning through it.

"I'm not in it for much longer. As soon as the Hokage signs the petition I should be out."

"Hmm," Genma hummed. Not what he was looking for, he placed the scroll back in the stack and pulled out another.

"I know he's putting it off on purpose. I requested leave weeks ago. The turn around time shouldn't be this long."

"You're one to complain about punctuality," grinned the older jonin. "But that sounds about right. I don't see why he would be eager to put one of the village prodigies off the roster."

"Maybe to preserve said prodigy's sanity?" Kakashi asked hopefully.

"I think it's too late for that."

"But he doesn't know that," he protested. Kakashi turned another corner, leaving Genma to his own search.

"What are you down here for anyway?" he called.

"Work," supplied Kakashi.

"You're kidding," he deadpanned.

Kakashi coulud sense Genma waiting for more. "It's classified."

"So is everything else in ANBU."

Kakashi ignored him and took a look at a scroll about space-time ninjutsu. The title sounded promising, but the scroll itself contained very little information. He still had a couple more related ones to look at before he moved on.

"Well, I'm here looking for patterns in recent disappearances," Genma said, walking over to a section behind the Copy Ninja.

"Disappearances?" Kakashi asked, now vaguely interested.

"Yeah. It seems people are going missing in steady numbers, and most of them concentrated in specific areas around the country."

"Have any of them been found?"

Genma shrugged. "A couple dead here and there, but their bodies are just barely recognizable. If this doesn't scream Orochimaru then I don't know what does," he frowned. "It's been happening simultaneously in opposite parts of the country which is why people are refusing to believe it's that bastard."

Of course. Orochimaru. It would have been too hopeful to think that the situation would be related to his own search. The information he was looking for wouldn't just be laid out in front of him.

"Why so interested? You're not looking into something similar, are you?" he asked hopefully. "If you are, tell me now, so I can leave it all to you and go do something more productive with my life."

"You're not getting out of this one."

"Tch." What a bummer. It'd worked for him in the past. "What are you researching, then?"

"Time travel."

Genma shook his head at Kakashi's antics. "Fine, don't tell me. But if I happen to run across anything of any use to you and never realize it, it's all on you."

The older jonin walked away with a couple of scrolls in hand that deserved more careful review. Meanwhile Kakashi had given up on the space-time scrolls. Most of them were descriptions of his late teacher's Hiraishin technique. He'd seen it enough times to know what it looked like, and the scrolls didn't even get into an explanation of how it actually worked. He continued his search and stopped at the kekkei genkai section, remembering both Sakura and Pakkun mentioning time-travel being a bloodline limit. He grabbed an armful of the scrolls and dumped them on a nearby table, which Genma just so happened to be using. Genma couldn't have more happily welcomed a distraction. He grabbed the nearest scroll Kakashi had set down and began reading.

"Bloodline limits? What more does anyone need to know about those?"

"How to replicate them," he said.

"Is that what you're looking for?"

"No." The idea was definitely a potential way to solve the mission, now that he thought about it, but people had been trying to do that for centuries to no avail.

Genma quickly lost interest and went back to his own work.

Information regarding kekkei genkai was fairly common use nowadays. With the Hyuuga's now and the Uchiha's in the past all prancing around the village, people inevitably picked up a thing or two about how it all worked. Most of the information in the scrolls seemed rather obvious. After a while he found an interesting one listing unconfirmed doujutsu limits. Apparently there was someone out there who could change people's eye color. How that was in any way useful was beyond him. Time travel was also there on the list. Had that guy used a doujutsu to send her back? Come to think of it he had never asked. Perhaps it would have been wise to ask for a detailed account before coming here.

Regardless, the scroll mentioned nothing outside of the jutsu's potential existence. There were no related cases listed or anything else that was even remotely helpful.

Finding nothing in the information he had picked out, Kakashi went back and took another armful, making sure to pick scrolls out from around the same date as the one that had mentioned the doujutsu. By the time he got through the entire kekkei genkai section Genma was long gone, having given up after waking up twice to scrolls colliding against his head. By the time he looked up Kakashi's nose was always buried in his reading, as if he honestly believed that would throw off suspicion.

It was getting late and he was getting tired. He would have to give it up for the night, and at the rate he had gone today, this was looking to be a very long mission.