Sakura needed some way to relieve her stress. But when she trained by herself she didn't feel any sense of accomplishment or satisfaction. She needed a sparring partner; somebody willing to fight her, and fight her as an equal. Tsunade wouldn't have held back on her protégé, but she was currently too busy running the village to put her through her paces. Yet there had to be someone that would fight indiscriminately, and always give 100% of their strength. Someone who knew the pink hair wasn't the whole story, who could look past it to the tough-as-nails ninja she was.

When she realised who she knew that fought with that sort of fire (apart from Naruto), she felt foolish for not realising it sooner. Rock Lee was the perfect candidate; he had taijutsu skills that were frankly unmatched, and with his 'springtime of youth' philosophy he wouldn't disappoint. Plus, there was no way he could say no to Sakura, was there?

"Sakura!" Lee cried as she entered the warm doujo. His distraction meant his current partner, an older chunin, was able to land a hit to his jaw that looked painful, but he simply shrugged it off and dropped the guy on the floor with a series of quick strikes to the gut. This is exactly what I need, Sakura thought happily.

"Hi Lee," she waved as he left the man wheezing on the mat to come over to her.

"Sakura; to what do I owe the pleasure of your blossoming visage?' he asked, throwing a towel over his shoulder.

"Well you see, Lee," she began, purposefully ignoring his flowery language and increasingly hopeful expression, "I was actually here for a match."

"A match?" he repeated, as though the idea of somebody coming to a doujo looking for a fight was strange.

"Yeah; your sign says you'll fight anyone; and I'm anyone," she smiled.

"But you- I couldn't-" Lee stuttered, trying to organise the sudden barrage of thought and emotion this request had brought forth. "I couldn't fight you, Sakura," he was finally able to say.

Now it was Sakura's turn to be confused. "Why not? Why not me?"

"Because I said I'd protect you to the death," he told her, blushing in shame, "so I could never fight you properly."

That was unfair. Sakura tried not to speak angrily to the boy, who she knew was only trying to be kind. "But don't you think it would be better… protection for me if I train to fight? And you're the very best," she added, thinking flattery wouldn't hurt.

Lee certainly looked pleased with the compliment, tearing up and staring triumphantly into the distance. But when he looked at her again, his expression was guilty but resolved.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I know you need to train just like everyone else. But I know I couldn't fight you with all of my will. And it wouldn't be fair to you if I didn't." He remembered the time one of his opponents had changed their form to Sakura's and surrounded him with clones. Even though he knew it wasn't really her, he hadn't been able to bring himself to fight back. Affection was a weakness, he knew; but it didn't change the fact that he'd never be able to come at the pink-haired girl like he meant to kill her.

Sakura bit back the disappointment that she felt. It just wasn't fair; he hadn't asked her to like him, or love him, or whatever he thought he felt for her. Why did she have to be the only one in the world the green beast wouldn't fight?

"Thanks anyway Lee," she mumbled, turning and walking away out of the doujo, stepping over the other man as she went. And so yet another shinobi was left standing alone, guiltily watching her retreating back.

Sakura didn't head directly to the middle of the village. Instead she continued in a wide ring of the town outskirts where the doujo lay. Maybe she would eventually come across an enemy nin looking for a pounding. So she weaved through the trees, punching a few half-heartedly in passing, trying to remember the ninja code about showing emotion. She was so wrapped up in not letting herself be upset that her feet carried her all the way to the monument without her realising. Her carefully constructed façade of emotionlessness shattered when she realised whose solitude she had intruded upon and gasped aloud.

For there was Kakashi, whom along with Naruto and Sai she had been trying to avoid for the past few days following her outburst. He raised his head slightly and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Hey," he said calmly. Sakura blushed, embarrassed to see him so serene when she had been beating up the forest just a few minutes before.

"Hey," she replied, stepping up to the monument and kneeling down in respect for the fallen. She said a quick prayer in her head before standing and turning to Kakashi.

"Listen: I'm sorry about the other day," she began, resisting the urge to look down at her feet. Kakashi was still so quiet, she felt as though she might have insulted him worse than she thought. "I was frustrated, and I'm sorry that I took it out on you guys."

A moment passed, in which the jounin watched her carefully. "Feel better?" He finally asked.

"No," she replied truthfully.

"Didn't think so," he smiled wryly, finally looking away, "because you're not the one who should be apologising. I am."

Sakura's mouth opened in surprise. "You? What for?"

"You know exactly what for," he told her, though he didn't seem angry. "You were right about what you said. I did underestimate you, and it was wrong of me. Especially since you're not the ten year-old girl I used to have to run around protecting." He crinkled his eye at her and for a moment Sakura thought he would pat her head.

"Damn right I'm not that girl anymore. I am getting stronger every day, and if you don't start noticing that, if somebody doesn't start noticing that, then I'll never be seen as an equal." Once more the hot tears of frustration welled in her eyes, but she pushed them back forcefully.

"Sakura, people can see it," Kakashi reassured her, heart breaking at her expression.

"Tell that to Lee," she mumbled.

"Lee?" Kakashi was confused. "Rock Lee? Isn't he a meant to be madly in love with you? I'm sure he of all people sees what you've become."

"Then why won't he fight me?" The pink-haired girl's temper flared up once more, and she could hear herself shouting. "I went to his stupid doujo with its stupid sign saying he would fight anyone, and yet he still refused to fight me!" She breathed out quickly.

Kakashi took a moment to process what she had said. "Lee wouldn't fight you?"

"No."

"Well then he's not as smart as I gave him credit for," Kakashi decided, before turning to leave.

"Kakashi-" Sakura cut in to stop him. "Would- would you fight me? You don't love me, so you can't hold back."

The jounin eyed her carefully. He knew that if he said no, then she would lose faith in herself and him forever. But if he said yes, he would have to fight her properly. He had done it once before, but Naruto had evened the sides considerably. He could try to justify it all he wanted, but he knew that he just found it… hard to get in the mindset of a hardened killer when he looked at that blossom-pink hair, or into those too-innocent eyes. Sometimes he thought even Sakura's true enemies found it difficult to come at her like they meant to kill her. But he knew in his heart that one of them would, one day, if he didn't help her now.

"…Okay."