Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But if he were interested in selling, give him my number!!

Authors Notes: Oh geez! To be quite honest I really wasn't expecting nearly as many reviews as I got, and they were all so nice and complimentary! You guys really make me giddy! And so, here is the next chapter! This will be the last character developing chapter I promise! Next chapter we'll slowly work into the scrambling!

I appreciate constructive criticism. But, please don't be nasty and flame because it rubbed you the wrong way. If you have an opinion please let me know! I think it'll help me out with later chapters. I'm also horrible with grammar, so if anyone would be interested in being my beta, that'd be awesome!

This Fic is more of a post series of different situations Kakashi and Sakura find themselves in. There may be lemon. If there is, i'll put a notice.

Have a setting, or situation in mind? Let me know! I'll consider it for future chapters, credit issued and all!

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy! Please review! It encourages me to write!

Scrambled Wits

Mission 1

The team's first mission was anything but a success in Kakashi's eyes.
A failure.
A dud.
An invalid.
A default. That was it; a default. That big red check-mark branded onto that mission scroll was nothing but a hoax. They had nearly lost the life of the client out there and Kakashi couldn't help but place the blame on the team's only female member. What had they taught her out there in waterfall?! Kakashi growled to himself, silently stewing in his own thoughts as the three of them stood before the Hokage. We were completely out of sync!

The only reason they had managed to complete the mission at all was because Kakashi had to take it upon himself to bark orders every five seconds. He felt like he was baby-sitting genins again. Though risky, a B-rank mission shouldn't have been nearly as complicated as it turned out to be. It was a simple enough escort mission for pity's sake, and it had ended up into an A-rank difficulty in a matter of hours. All because Little Miss Pink took it upon herself to take matters into her own hands. Having a distracted Naruto guarding the client was bad enough, A headstrong Sakura didn't help matters at all.

At first sight of Sakura earlier that morning at the village gate, Naruto's jaw hit the floor. After many years of knowing him, Kakashi had thought he'd become fluent in 'Narustutter', but he doubted he'd ever heard Naruto trip over his own words as badly as he did then. Kakashi felt slightly better. At least he wasnt the only one affected by her drastic change in appearance. Sakura had smiled sweetly and thanked Naruto for his flattering compliments and honeyed words, giving him a few choice commendations of her own at how 'beefy' he had become. This in turn caused him to turn scarlet before regaining his composure and flamboyantly flexing said muscles; demonstrating just how buff he had come to be.

Kakashi knitted his brow, slightly annoyed at Naruto's reaction. There was no need to make a fuss. He had convinced himself of this two days ago. The rosette haired girl standing before them was the same Haruno Sakura that served this village four years ago.

Or so he expected.

What he got was a rebellious, back-talking, know-it-all little smartaleck seemingly bent on putting Kakashi in his place. It was the last thing Kakashi had ever expected to come from who he remembered to be a sweet, kind-hearted little girl. He turned his gaze to the woman of his thoughts and mentally shook his head. After today's mission, he doubted there was a single sugar-coated bone in her body. It tortured him to know just how much he'd like to double check and make sure.

That woman was one of the most frustrating people he's had to deal with since Gai, -- Kakashi's eye wandered over the curb of her backside -- and he was still captivated by her. I'm never going to live this down, he sulked.

The mission at onset was a cakewalk, and Kakashi was thoroughly content with following the swiggle of Sakura's plump little behind as she walked ahead of him. No harm in looking, right? There wouldn't be any harm until small skirmishes began around their client, and either he or Naruto were distracted with the way her body would arch as she sprung from enemy to enemy.

This was where the trouble started. While Kakashi righted his mind and fended off opponents at the front, Naruto would shamelessly rubberneck while their client wailed like a ninny; dodging kunai the best he could on his own. And for some reason, Sakura was never at her post. She'd either be at the far side taking on a group of rogue ninja on her own or at the front with him. Once Kakashi realized Naruto was being as useful as a log with a kunai lodged in its butt, he'd promptly turned Drill Sergeant on both their behinds.

He'd lost count at how many times this had happened and by the time they reached the checkpoint, the client was drained of all color. The old man had practically cried at the sight of his destination and scrambled away from the three of them, babbling quick thanks and how 'wonderful' a job they had done. With a hasty goodbye, their client was out of sight and the mission had been complete. But it was anything but a success.

Kakashi was furious and gave both of them an earful on the way back to the village. He'd expected some kind of retaliation from Naruto, but had been thrown for a loop at Sakura's cheeky replies. For every criticism on their teamwork and performance, Sakura had a comeback. Each and every snooty remark raised the temperature in Kakashi's face until it all came flooding out.

He'd yelled at her. He hadn't meant to, but it happened. Apparently 4 years of service to another village had gotten to her head and Kakashi finally had enough of her hoity-toity attitude. Before he realized what was happening, his voice boomed over the trees and in an instant all was quite again. Onyx glared into emerald as all stood still, waiting for the other to back down. He had an unreasonably strong urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake his aggravation at her. Naruto watched from behind, speechless for once in his life over his friends' strange behavior toward each other.

After a long pause, Sakura huffed loudly and turned away; crossing her arms and pivoting her leg outward just like she did the other day. Despite his level of anger, he couldn't help but take a peek at the flesh out on display. What is wrong with me? One minute he was ready to rip her head off and the next he's wondering how sensitive her skin was. Am i a masochist? he wondered dully. Kakashi looked away and feigned ignorance when he noticed Sakura giving him a knowing look. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smirk and it raised the temperature in his face all over again. She had seen him looking and he cursed himself for becoming so easily distracted. Not to mention easily read. Neither of them spoke as they continued on their route back to Konoha and even Naruto fell silent at the apprehension in the air.

Now, the three ninja stood stark still in the Hokage's office; taking every screaming lecture Tsunade threw at them. "Do you realize what kind of reputation behavior like this gives Konoha!?" She yelled, slamming the message scroll down on the desk, sending papers flying in every which direction. The three of them flinched and mumbled apologies while Tsunade growled in frustration. It came to no surprise that the complaint scroll their client sent via messenger bird had arrived long before they did; giving Tsunade time to cook her fury for their arrival.

"What God in heaven possessed you three to behave this way?! I should've started you brats with a D-rank mission if i knew this was how I was going to be thanked for reinstating you three as a team again!" Tsunade continued flailing the complaint scroll around like it was a piece of jerky. Within her bouts of screaming, Kakashi thought she actually intended to throw it at them. He feared he'd actually go deaf with the way her voice seemed to increase in volume. Finally, after a good long chastising, the hokage heaved a long exasperated breath and tried to calm herself down. "What. Happened. Out there," she said slowly, putting embassies on each phrase to show she wasn't going to tolerate any nonsense.

Naruto eagerly opened his mouth to reply. "NOT- from you, Naruto." She said, holding out an open hand in his direction. Naruto frowned and abruptly snapped his mouth shut. Tsunade turned to Kakashi expectedly.

"Forgive me Shishou, it's my fault." All eyes turned to the rosette woman now bent over with her head bowed and hands on her knees. "I'm afraid 4 years away from konoha has affected my correspondence as a team member with leaf ninja. Waterfall tactics are very different than leaf and I regret to say I haven't yet adjusted back to those of Konoha." Tsunade said nothing for a moment, clearly surprised that Sakura was taking all the blame for a mission gone awry.

"Is this true, brat?" Tsunade said, turning the attention to Kakashi. For a moment he didn't know what to say. He was so set on blaming this all on that evil little minx that constantly plagued his thoughts. Now that she did it herself he felt a little guilty he even considered it.

"It's true that our teamwork isn't as polished as it used to be, Tsunade-sama. However I wouldn't place the blame entirely on Sakura alone. It's been years since the three of us have fought together." Kakashi replied. It wasn't the first time he'd taken the beef from a failed mission and it wouldn't be the last. "I should've arranged for us to train together before the mission." For a moment the room fell silent as Tsunade contemplated what was said, planning her next move. Kakashi's eye shifted over to Sakura who was still hunched over, waiting for the Hokage to pass judgment. His gaze inevitably turned to the generous swoop of her rear for the umpteenth time today. A moment later, he noticed it's owner's quirky grin.

It made for an interesting picture. There was Sakura, leaned forward, head bowed upside down, smirking at her ex-sensei from behind her fallen hair. Why that little!

"Very well," Tsunade said, snapping their attention back. "I had an A-rank mission lined up for you but i can clearly see you're not ready for it." Kakashi was at a loss for words. He didn't know whether to be furious with her, or embarrassed at himself. Despite his mixed emotions, he kept his outer expression blank. Apparently Sakura was well aware of the fact that he'd been eyeing her for a while now and was using it against him. Hell if i'll let her.

"Until i see you three are fit to take on higher ranked missions, you'll be issued B-rank or lower ranked missions. No buts Naruto." She snapped. Naruto had made a sound of protest and was about to begin his barrage of complaints when she cut him off. "Come back in two days for your next mission. Dismissed." The three nodded sheepishly and filed out of the room, Naruto grumbling the entire way.

"This is so unfair! One messy mission isn't reason enough for her to probate us to B missions!" Naruto bellowed with a huff, crossing his arms and hunching his shoulders in a childish manner.

"Enough Naruto. There's nothing we can do now," Kakashi sighed, scratching his head tiredly. "She is right though. We need to hone our teamwork and conquer our distractions," he said, aiming the last part particularly at Naruto. Naruto's cheeks turned slightly pinker as he nodded, looking down at the floor.

"Should we train tomorrow then?" Kakashi turned to look at her as Sakura spoke. She was sporting that innocent looking smile from the other day. He instantly came to dislike that smile. He somehow knew it was the smile of his demise, and he was planning on doing everything he could to avoid it.

He returned her cheeky smile with a sarcastic one of his own, and rustled her hair. A gesture clearly showing childish affection and nothing more. Sakura gasped and swatted his hands away angrily, replacing that irritating smile with an annoyed frown. Kakashi felt a sense of triumph. "Meet at training grounds 3 tomorrow at 7:00 hours," He said before performing quick hand seals and leaving behind a puff of smoke.

So i guess she caught on, Kakashi thought as he flopped onto his couch. This was becoming his favorite nap spot. It was apparent Sakura was enjoying what little power she had over him, but what she was forgetting was how stubborn the copy-nin was. Let her grin and smile all she wants. She won't get a reaction out of me, he thought before drifting off into the deep sleep Kakashi really needed.