Second chapter! Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

"I'm sorry" Sakura spoke quietly as they walked towards the village gate. Kakashi looked at her, quite confused. He had made it a point to be early today – and yes, the copy-nin was actually early for once – so as not to annoy Sakura more than usual.

"What for?" Kakashi asked, not having a clue as to why she was apologising.

"For the way I acted yesterday. I had no right to threaten you …. Well I did sort of …. You made me wait for two hours …." She was rambling. Kakashi smiled to himself, Sakura should know by now that he didn't mind these things.

"…anyway, I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't want to go on this mission with you, it's just I was having a bad day yesterday and you made it worse …. um …. I mean …. you made me angry …. no …. uh …. it was just a bad day!" Sakura's cheeks grew slightly pink, but Kakashi couldn't tell whether it was the heat or the frustration, or maybe both. He chuckled slightly, and then turned serious.

"Anything you want to talk about?" It was rare for Sakura not to tell him if something was up.

"Maybe later…" she sighed, changing her focus to the path ahead of them. It was a hot day and the sun was positioned high up in the cloud free sky. The ground below was hard and dry. Sakura kicked at it until they reached the giant red gates.

"Take a good look at it, we won't see it for a while …" Kakashi said as they turned to look at the village for a final time, before they set off on their mission.

"I never got a chance to say goodbye to the boys…" she said sadly "they don't come back until tomorrow." Sakura took a deep breath and turned to Kakashi. "Well, let's go!" Kakashi nodded in return as they set out into the day.

They'd been walking for about six hours and the heat was starting to get to the both of them. Kakashi looked over to Sakura and watched her take a sip of water from the flask. A drop escaped her lips and Kakashi watched it slide down her chin before she wiped it away with the back of her hand. It had been twelve years since the last time Kakashi had taught the three twelve year olds known as team 7. But it was only five years ago that they had become that team again. Sasuke had come back to Konoha after killing Itachi and destroying Orochimaru. It had turned out that Sasuke was only using Orochimaru for power, and once he had gained that power, there was no point in staying and letting Orochimaru take over his body. It was a rather funny turn of events, but it took the village quite a while before they trusted Sasuke again.

Oh how times change Kakashi thought to himself.

Sakura had kicked Sasuke's arse from the start to the end of Konoha, and back again. It was hilarious, and the fact that Sasuke was extremely stunned that Sakura had so much power, made it even more so. He hadn't even thought of stoping her, although he had kept his distance from Sakura after that.

"Maybe we should rest over by this river for a while…" Kakashi suggested to Sakura, who didn't hesitate as she dropped her bag and sunk to the ground. She undid her leg guards and crawled over to the edge of the riverbed, dipping her feet into the cool water as she lay down, enjoying the shade of the tree.

"Just make yourself at home…" Kakashi laughed as he watched the pink-haired kunoichi begin to relax. Sakura smiled and tilted her head back, to watch an upside-down Kakashi approach to take a seat beside her, leaning his back against the tree. After a while, Sakura could feel her toes beginning to wrinkle, so she took them out of the water and turned her entire body so that her head was now lying on Kakashi's lap, and the rest of her body was spread out in front of her. She couldn't remember when they had become such good friends, but she was glad they did. He was the one that she trusted the most. Sakura knew that she could tell him anything and everything, and he would always be there to listen when needed.

"Kakashi?" she said, looking up at his masked face.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" He noticed the sad look behind her eyes. She defiantly wasn't acting like her usual self.

"How should I put this …. my parents insist that I retire from my career as a Shinobi. They want me to continue in the medical field, and if that isn't enough, they think that I should get married and 'settle down'! Can you believe that?!" Sakura was clearly distressed at her situation.

Kakashi was shocked. Out of all the things he had imagined that could be wrong, this was definitely not one of them.

"They want you to WHAT?!" he screeched. "Why?" Perhaps that was the more logical question, although he could be excused on lack of logic for the moment.

"They're worried that I'm going to get seriously injured, or killed, and as their only child, they can't afford to lose me without having started a family." Sakura grumbled sarcastically. Kakashi should have guessed. Sakura's family was one of the richer one's in Konoha, and losing their family's legacy at Sakura was not an option.

"What do you want to do?" Kakashi absentmindedly stroked Sakura's hair. Surely she had considered other options….

"Oh Kakashi, I don't want to quit being a ninja! It's my life, it's all that I know. And I sure as hell don't want to get married. I don't think anyone in their right mind would marry me anyway, considering I threatened to cut the balls off a few certain people…. Maybe I shouldn't have done that…." That was defiantly a smirk he saw. Sakura enjoyed every minute of threatening those drunken idiots, and they were lucky she didn't carry out her threats.

However, she's still so insecure about herself. She doesn't even realise that more than half the men in Konoha watch her as she walks by.

Sakura, if you don't want to retire, then don't. Screw everything else. You're a beautiful, grown woman, and you have a very intelligent mind of your own. Although I'm pretty sure you know that. Use it."

"Hmph! It's not that simple. They're going to start arranging my marriage if I don't find someone in the next few months. Please tell me how that is even possible!"

This girl… Kakashi thought to himself. He cupped her chin with his left hand and turned her face towards him.

"Sakura, listen to me. You can still be a Shinobi and have a life. Talk to your parents."

Sakura blushed for some reason. She couldn't help it, nor could she turn her face to hide it. Kakashi's grip was gentle, but firm, making Sakura look into his eyes as he spoke. She suddenly had a strange urge to bite him….

"And if talking to your parents doesn't work, just tell them you're marrying me. I'm sure that will shock them enough to leave you alone."

Sakura burst into laughter, the type where you can't help but spit on the person closest to you. In this case, it was Kakashi. She grabbed his head with her hands and brought it down to her, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

"I love you Kakashi! What would I do without you?!"