Title: Picture Trends of Black and White
Author: Hiko Mokushi
Pairing:KakashixSakura
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, adult themes/sexuality, implied rape/sexual abuse, torture, human trafficking, and character death.
Disclaimer: Do not own at all.
Summary: Shizune froze. "What?" The blonde woman held her hands out in front of her, trying to work things through her fingertips that she couldn't with her mind. "What would you do to get Sakura back?"



IV. Haunted

The first thing that made him suspicious was the fact that Kenshin was playing with a new toy in his playpen—one that he didn't remember buying.

The second was the fact that outside the window there was the collapsible ladder leaning against the roof.

Opening his door, he glanced around, before a shuffling from above caused him to crane his head backwards. "Ino?" The dark-haired man glared furiously up at his wife, dark eyes narrowed anxiously. "What are you doing up there? Did you go up that ladder? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

The blonde rolled her eyes from her place on the lowest peak of the Uchiha Mansion's rooftop. "I'm a ninja, Sasuke," she growled, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the roof. "I'm not going to die that easily."

"You're also pregnant," Sasuke growled back, leaping onto the roof. He kneeled next to her and shook his head. "I told you that if you wanted to decorate for Christmas, I'd do it for you."

Ino shrugged. "You were busy."

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed, sitting down to the woman slowly. "Ino, we've discussed this. . . " he murmured, pulling his fingers through his hair boredly. He was getting rather annoyed with his wife's incredible ability to get herself into precarious situations. Sitting on the roof definitely qualified as one of her more idiotic incidents. "Hokage-sama said that you need to take things easy. You're only weeks from your due-date. You worry me. Going out for long hard walks with Kenshin, cleaning constantly." He opened his eyes and glanced at her again. "Trying to put decorations up on the roof."

"You make me feel so useless," she muttered, sighing heavily. Her long bangs fluttered in the air before her, before falling across her face. She had not the heart to move push them aside. "Always being so active on your ninja duties. Do you have any idea how nasty it feels to have—need I say—a fabulously toned body and then gain about 25 pounds in extra weight and look like a balloon? I feel so fat."

The Uchiha grinned and leaned over his wide, planting a small kiss against her lips before hovering above her. "You're still beautiful, Ino," he said quietly, chuckling to himself.

Ino squirmed and pushed the palm of her hand against his chest. "Ugh. You're just saying that. I'm hideous."

"Nonsense." His hand slipped beneath her over-larged shirt, and his fingers splayed across the swell of her belly; lying warmly and causing the shifting woman to still. "You women and your misguided ideas about what makes a man hot." Sasuke chuckled again at the look on her face in reaction to his words. "Unlike most men, I've wanted nothing but to have kids and restart my Clan since I was twelve. Seeing you, however large, and very pregnant, is a more gorgeous sight to me than if I had the You before you became pregnant naked in between my sheets."

The blonde stuck out her tongue. "Are you saying you didn't find me attractive when I was hot? Are you attracted to large, fat women or something?"

Sasuke groaned and pulled back, sliding his hand across his forehead wearily. "There's never any pleasing you, I—"

"No!" Ino shouted, leaning up quickly to tug at his shirt, and pull him back down to her level. "I'm kidding this time. I know. I guess it's just more of those feminine hormones. They get stronger the closer to having the baby. I don't remember it being this strong though, with Kenshin. Means this one is most definitely a girl."

Sighing, Sasuke closed his eyes and laid his forehead against hers. "No possibility of it being another boy?" he teased quietly. "Cause you know, if it is a girl, you're having another kid. I don't plan on stopping until I have at least four boys."

"You're going to make me sooo fat, Sasuke," Ino complained.

"As I would expect of my wife." Sasuke gently kissed her again, before standing and holding out his hand for her.

When she took his hand, he pulled her up, wrapped his arms around her and then jumped down to the ground. Setting her safely on the ground, he patted her head gently. Ino grumbled, laying her crossed arms on her bulging stomach as Sasuke kicked the collapsible ladder to the ground.

"Don't go back up there," he ordered, glancing over his shoulder at her.

Ino groaned and leaned against the mansion. "You're no fun."

"No, I just get concerned." The man took his wife by the arm and led her back inside their home.

Kenshin squealed from in his playpen, new toy forgotten on the mattress behind him. Ino twisted her wrist from Sasuke's grasp and went to her son, lifting him while she cooed. Sasuke watched her with a narrowed eye—she was lifting again. The boy clasped his mother about her neck and Ino rubbed his back, whispering so quietly that even Sasuke couldn't hear what she was saying. It must have been funny, for the black-haired boy pulled back and shrieked with laughter. A small smile tugged at the corner of the Uchiha's mouth as he watched his family—wife and son—giggle.

Ino turned to her husband and smiled. "Kenshin says that he thinks Daddy should go up and put the lights up for Christmas," she murmured, glancing at her son, who covered his mouth with his fist in a giggle.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sure. But first. . . Arakida-san, could you please take Kenshin and put him down for his nap?" The boy lulled in his mother's arms, groaning slightly.

A tanned, elderly woman of about sixty nodded her graying head and walked over to Ino, who relinquished her hold on Kenshin as she smiled at the woman. "Arigatou, Mayu-san," thanked Ino, who leaned forward to kiss her son on the forehead. "If he can't fall asleep, send for me, and I'll come read him a bedtime story."

"Of course, Ino-chan," Mayu murmured as she exited the room slowly, cradling Kenshin against her hip. The little boy attempted to hide his yawn by shoving his face into the woman's shoulder.

Turning to the blonde woman, Sasuke leaned against the wall; his arms crossed defiantly. "Do I really have to put decorations up on the Uchiha roof?" he asked, slightly discontent, though his voice still held the same, bored tone. "Or may I just pay someone to do it for me."

She shrugged. "Do whatever you want."

"I don't want you angry with me."

"You shouldn't want to do it to keep from getting angry, Sasuke," Ino snapped. "You should do it because you just like doing things that make me happy." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, turning away and walking calmly into one of their many sitting rooms—the one not for company, merely private use. The man had wanted to keep his Clan's home traditional, as he had known it. Ino was a sucker for a loveseat. She perched herself in her favorite one, deep maroon in color, thick and silky to the touch.

Sasuke followed her, his brows furrowed irritatedly. "That's not fai—"

"Do you love me, Sasuke?" The blonde woman's face was incredibly serious as she pulled her blanket across her lap, twisting her fingers nervously in the weaved fabric.

"Is this more hormone stuff?" he asked quietly, almost to himself. He corrected himself when he noticed she'd heard; "Did I, or did I not, get you pregnant? Twice? I don't really believe that would do that, let alone marry you, if I didn't love you."

Ino's blue eyes fixed on some spot past his left ear. "You loved Sakura once."

"That was a long time ago," he struggled.

She shook her head. "Not so long ago, only a few years." Her voice broke slightly, but she took a breath and continued, unwillingly to allow herself to grow this worked up over something that might not even happen. "You only started dating me two years after Sakura was kill. . . uh. . . kidnapped. How do you just stop loving somebody?"

The Uchiha shifted towards her awkwardly. "I still love Sakura," he admitted, shrugging slightly. "But not in the same way that I love you. They are two completely different things. I love her memory, the memories I have with her; the way she was. I love you as the mother of my child, my future children, and the woman I plan on growing old and dying with. My love for you and my love for Sakura cannot be compared."

Ino closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you."

He stretched his arms forward to hug her, and she let him; but when he moved to plant a kiss on her lips, she turned her head.

It landed on her cheek.

"I'll leave you alone, then," murmured Sasuke quietly, as he slipped from the room.

Uchiha Ino sighed and put her head back slowly. "Sakura, I'm sorry," she whispered to the ceiling, before she turned her head onto its side and stared at the object center-stage on the table aligned in the corner of the room. "I will fight for him. I gave up so long ago, but you were gone, and as much as it hurts, I was a second choice. But I have a family now. . . a life. I can't let you take it away. Even if I do want you back more than anything."

The object did not speak.

A twelve-year old Sakura smiled at her, squished between younger versions of Sasuke and Naruto, in the picture of the original team seven.



Sakura hissed lightly, pressing the damp handkerchief against the wound on her arm.

The alcohol burned in her nose, but it was a kind, comforting smell. It reminded her so much of home. How many times had she practically been bathed in alcohol? Naruto seemed to have an affinity for getting every single one of his wounds infected, not to mention how bad she always managed to scuff up her knees and elbows.

The young woman laid quietly belly-down on her bed, the medical supplies spread out before her. She squeezed the rest of the remaining alcohol out and back into the bottle before setting the handkerchief back into its little square where it had sat. With a finger, she rubbed aloe onto the crescent-shaped scab. She smoothed it across her lips, reveling in the soothing coolness it brought to the mess of flesh her mouth had become.

The case even contained deodorant—she was in heaven.

It amused her darkly at how easily excited she could grow at the smallest things.

Sighing happily, she stared into the container Gomimaru had dropped off for her—his own little way of attempting to barter the safe passage of his life. Liked that was going to work at all. Did he think she could be bought off so easily? He'd have to be offering herfreedom for her to think of not slitting his throat.

It was a normal, 12 x 10 plastic box. It was white and had the characteristic red plus painted on its lid. The bottom contained five little divided sections: one for bandages and swabs, one for the alcohol and aloe, one for wraps, one for deodorant and perfume swabs, and the last one for three small handkerchiefs. It was a little less than the packs given to amateur medic-nins when they went on practice missions.

"Dinner, Mitsuharu."

Sakura glanced up wearily from her place on the bed, sighing.

A small, rectangular hole formed in the cement wall, allowing a metal, claw-tipped pole to push a small plastic tray into the room. The pole was pulled from the room, and the hole closed back up seconds after. Grunting, the woman got to her feet, striding across to the room to stare down at the tray. Her lip lifted slightly in disgust.

On the tray was a plastic bowl of what looked like oatmeal, an apple, and two pieces of toast.

"You've got to be kidding me." She picked the tray up, against the protesting of her stomach, glaring at the wall the food had just slid through. "You suck! You call this food?"

She took the apple and the toast in her free hand, and then threw the tray at the wall. The plastic clanged loudly, "oatmeal" spattering the wall and ground. She bit deeply into the apple, tossing the toast onto her mattress, next to the medical supplies, as she settled herself down on the bed again.

They thought she was a pet; that they'd tamed her and knew her reactions.

She's rather waste away than be forced into these circumstances again. Life was bad enough when you hated yourself. Being trapped by people who used you as well only made it worse.

Sakura shook her head, feeling another headache coming on.

She hated the foggy way it made her brain fell. Unfortunately, they hadn't felt the need to include painkillers in her box of supplies. She tossed the apple core across the room, where it landed in the "oatmeal" with a soft plop. She grabbed a piece of toast and bit down deeply. "Bite my ass, people. I have rubbing alcohol."

She lifted the small bottle to her nose and took a deep breath, inhaling the fumes the oxidized liquid gave off. It hit her scent glands strongly, enough to make her eyes water. She'd never been the type to sniff cleaning products for fun—if someone needed to get their kicks out of life by snorting paint thinner, there was already something fucked with their brain. They were just making the situation worse, losing brain cells they couldn't afford to get rid of.

But at the moment, it was rather enjoyable to see the guards squirm. If she breathed too long, she could cut off the oxygen to her brain.

"Set that bottle down now, Rin."

Her hand dropped, sloshing some of the harsh-smelled liquid against her lap.

The man that stood on the other side of the falling sand was the man she feared the most. He stood just a little taller than she, with a nose that looked as if someone had slid a banana between his dark, beady green eyes. He wasn't skinny, but not fat; certainly wasn't muscular. He had no hair, skin as dark as ebony, and hands as large as her own face. Sakura had no idea why the man's mere presence could evoke such a strong reaction from her very spirit.

He carried no weapons. . . didn't even look threatening.

When she'd met him, she'd first thought he looked like an old Grandpa.

Subconsciously, the young woman moved her body into a more comforting position.

Her back pressed against the wall, legs pulling up for her to rest her forearms on her knees as she hunched her back forward. Despite her defensive posture, she still felt exposed. Her hands itched to slide into gloves that could keep her from injuring her knuckles—should she need to break the wall suddenly. Even the kunai, so long since she'd wrapped her fingers around one, felt achingly absent.

She was a puzzle, broken into a hundred pieces she couldn't recover.

Her friends, her family, her love, her pet, her job, her duty, her life. . .

They had been torn away and she couldn't do anything about it. Not to this man. Gomimaru, the slob; she could beat him to a bloody pulp even with him swinging his favorite taser-toy. But this man was in complete control.

"You're a smart girl, Rin." The bars were casually unlocked, opened, and closed. Once inside, the man let the sand filter back up. He stood, un-intimidated, inside her cage, hands folded behind his back, head downcast. "Obviously, you know how detrimental huffing can be to your health."

She felt like a little child again, when her mother had sat down to lecture her about things she already knew. "They need you to suck more thoughts from my brain?" she asked, her voice cold.

Hetsked at her words. "I don't see thoughts, Haruno Sakura," the man murmured, kneeling down before her.

Sakura flinched, her green eyes widening with horror. "H-h-how. . . ? How do you know. . .?"

"Yes, I know you aren't Mitsuharu Rin," the dark-skinned man chuckled amusedly, scratching at his large nose absently. "I've known for nearly as long as you've been here. Amusing, yes? I was strangely surprised at your ability to hold your mind against my own—it took nearly six months for me to crack your barriers. And you've worked so hard to keep up the appearance of being young Rin-chan: young, rebellious; a kunoichi from some unnamed village, who doesn't two-shits about what any one thinks or does to her." A slow, confident grin illuminated his face, and his teeth shined white against his ebon skin. "But I know you, Sakura-san; and I know what you do, where you've been, who you love and miss."

Sakura stared, horrified. "Who are you?" she shrieked, clutching at her blanket furiously on either side of her lap. "Why are you here? How do you know this? I've never told anyone here." The ground felt as though it were moving.

"Hmm, who am I?" he asked quietly, tilting his head to the side. "That would require a name. I have long since forgotten it. Ironic. . . my bloodline limit allows me to view the memories of others, even hidden ones, but I can no longer recall my own. Now, I am merely called Guujin by my masters. And yes, I can see your memories. You have such a look of amazement on your face. Tell me, what are you thinking?"

She was not so stupid as to allow herself to be led into such a predicament, and she attempted to calm her surging emotions.

"If you know who I am, you know who my teacher is; what I am capable of." Her eyes were ice, voice hard—but it shook slightly, fraying at the ends. Tears cloyed at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to allow them to fall. She would not cry in front of this man, this Guujin. "You know how they would cower if they only knew."

Guujin nodded. "Cower, yes, in thoughts of Tsunade-him, the Slug Princess. But not in front of you." The man drew back and stood again, holding his hands calmly behind his back. "Haruno Sakura is little known—except as student to the legendary sannin. What would Joushi-sama do if he knew, other than curse luck? You think he would return you? If you truly believe that, then Tsunade-hime picked a poor candidate and a fool for her apprentice. Joushi-sama would merely slit your throat and have your broken body tossed into the next cavern."

That smile was back on his face. "But Joushi-sama does not know, and I have no urge to inform him. I have been merely told to punish you with your memories. So I will ask you." He inclined his head slightly, raising his chin. "What memories do you want? Something that will make you angry? Make you cry? Pick your poison."

"Show me a training session," she whispered, her body shuddering with the tears she wouldn't shed. "Show me Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. Show me my boys."

Guujin's eyes glowed a greenish-yellow, sickly phosphorescent; and the ground, the cement walls, fell away—everything turned black.



Shit! The flash of blond hair from off to his left, and then the ensuing shouts, made known the fact that they had been found out. This mission was supposed to be easy, dammnit.

"Naruto?" Kakashi put a finger to the com-link attached to the side of his head, pressing it closer to his ear in an attempt to hear better. "Naruto, can you hear me? Naruto!" The only thing that met his ears was static.

"Damn that boy!" He ripped the communicator from his ear and tossed it angrily to the ground.

"Idiot. He's going to get himself killed," the young kunoichi next to him growled. "Kakashi, cover me!" The young woman sprung up from her crouched hiding spot at his feet, dashing swiftly up the tree to their right. He was able to see a tiny slip of her black boots before she immersed herself in the tree's leaves. His eye remained trained on the dark shadows the branches made above him, before glancing forward again.

Sasuke had drawn his long-sword, spearing another ninja on the end of it before he glanced to his captain. "Kakashi," he shouted, "are you going to get out here and help us, or sit there and read some more?"

Shaking his head, Kakashi stowed his long-since forgotten entertainment inside a pocket within his jacket. "Well, I would—"

Something bit deeply into his shoulder.

Sasuke's eyes were wide in front of him, but the shinobi had to turn; fending off another attack.

A dagger stuck, in between bone and muscle. Grunting with effort, he grabbed the hilt as he spun, pulled it from his body, and twirled the man's own weapon back towards his neck. He missed, undershooting the target, and the metal scraped harshly against the man's left clavicle and the top of his sternum. The man let out a shuddering scream as he fell to his knees, clutching at the top of his chest. Sighing, he stabbed the dagger into the man's throat. The man shivered for a few moments, before going still.

Retracting the bloody weapon, the man threw it, catching another shinobi up against a tree.

A kunai grazed across his uninjured shoulder, and Kakashi slipped a kunai from his pack as he turned. The man was too close; spinning the kunai on his finger, he compressed his hand into a fist and right-hooked the man in the face. Something gave way beneath his knuckles, and he felt the bones of the opposing man's face pop.

A broken yell tore from the ninja's throat, eyes blinded by his bleeding nose; and he threw his hands about him wildly. "You won't get away with this, bastard!" he screamed, attempting to hit Kakashi. "Roudou no Joushi won't be taken out this easy!"

"Is that so?" Kakashi danced in front of him, dodging side to side before flipping the kunai in his palm and slicing the man's throat. "Funny. . ." he murmured. Blood splattered the Copy-nin heavily, and he wiped at it as the man gurgled, falling to the ground. "I thought you were a little stronger than this."

Kakashi flicked the kunai against his finger and pressed his hand to the ground.

The ninken formed from the gathering smoke. Seven of the dogs merely stared at him, hackles raised at the ensuing battle around them. The eighth, glanced wearily at bloody Kakashi. "You better have a good reason. This is incredibly inconvenient."

Kakashi wiped blood from his face. "Find Naruto!"

About a hundred yards away, Naruto was tackled to the ground. "Teme!" He prepared to punch the ninja, but found green eyes staring worried at him. "Sakura-chan?"

"Idiot! I swear, you're gonna get yourself killed!" She pushed him up against a tree trunk, her hands skimming over the senbon stuck into his stomach. She slowly wrapped a hand around one, twisted and then pulled it back.

Naruto gasped at the sudden pain; but managed a grin, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She slapped his hand away, glaring. "C'mon, Sakura-chan," he chuckled hoarsely, "I'm not that bad. At least I come find you when I'm injured."

Sakura glowered at him from underneath her hanging bangs as she tossed the final senbon to the ground. "No need to compare yourself to Kakashi, I'll get to yell at him by the end of today." Her hands glowed green and she pressed her palms against the boy's side gently. He flinched away from the cold touch, but relaxed once the healing began. "He's probably already procured some grievous injury."

"That's our Kakashi-sensei." Naruto got to his feet, ignoring the way Sakura looked at him. "Hey. . ." he said, nudging her with his knee and offering her his free hand—his other dug into his weapons pack, withdrawing a kunai. The young woman allowed him to pull her to her feet, and managed to offer a small smile. "I'll be fine. You just watch out for yourself. You saw how me and Sasuke-teme bandaged our wounds last time you weren't around. If something happens to you, we'll probably all get infections and Baa-san will have to cut our arms off."

Sakura laughed, and gripped his arm tightly as her feet led her again to walk up the tree beside her—out of site. She was almost halfway up the tree when Digger's head popped out of the ground between her and Naruto. The dog let out a loud howl, causing the two young adults to pause.

"Already injured?"

Kakashi appeared in a smoky haze beside the ninken, glancing at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. He lifted his hand straight up to ruffle Sakura's hair—halfway up the tree and still within reach.

She growled and swiped at his hand. "You're already covered in blood, Kakashi!" she hollered, turning on the tree. Her body still parallel to the ground, but now she faced the forest floor instead of the treetops. Reaching down, she pressed her palms up against the parts of him she could reach. . "I swear. You're going to be the death of me!"

When she brushed against the wound on his shoulder, he flinched away. "At least most of it isn't mine."

"Both of you," she groaned, gripping his elbow with her superior strength to hold him in place. Her free hand glowed green and she pressed it roughly once again against his shoulder. "You make far too many excuses."

The Copy-nin pulled his arm away, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm fine."

"Kakashi." Sasuke held a bloody sword before him and Pakkun on his shoulder. The triple tomoe in his eyes swirled slowly, and he lazily sheathed his sword. "There are too many of them. We should retreat. They have backups coming. I don't think they have any more information than we've already gathered. They're obviously the renegades who've been bothering Sand. I managed to kill few a few of them."

Naruto groaned. "Awh, c'mon, you mean we don't get to fight at all?"

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Sakura hissed, marching down the tree trunk with her arms crossed. "You've already fought enough!"

Sasuke smirked. "Yes, go ahead a fight—I can tell you're itching to get injured again."

The blond growled and shook a fist in front of his face. "You know, teme—"

Kakashi rubbed his temple. "Enough," he snapped, glancing around them. Sighing, he lifted his hitai-ate, his own Sharingan spinning. "Let's get out of here."

A punch caught him in the side of the face, knocking his hitai-ate from his head. He stumbled into Sasuke. Blood stained his dark mask around his mouth. Kakashi touched the damp fabric and growled. Sakura bent, picking his fallen hitai-ate from the ground.

The ninja smirked, leaping into a tree—with Naruto following.

"Naruto, get back here!" snapped Sasuke, pushing Kakashi away and leaping up into the trees to follow them. A flung rock caught him in his side. Momentum caused him to plummet, wedged between the rock and a tree. The Uchiha grunted, coughing as his lungs compressed slightly. He scrabbled furiously at the stone, and Kakashi darted to his side to help tug the stone off of his body.

Naruto turned, glancing to Sasuke, before another rock was flung at him.

The blond crashed into the ground, a cry tearing from his throat as the small boulder pressed against his back. He froze, momentarily, when he a scream caused him to look up. "Sakura-chan!"

Seized about the middle, Sakura struggled against the large arms that held her. A fist hit her in the face, and then gripped at her hair. She shook her head, trying to get free. Chunks of pink hair came off in the tanned ninja's hand, as well as her hitai-ate, when he landed a punch straight on against his nose—she felt the bones flatten and break. Kakashi abandoned Sasuke, now freed and shuddering, to jump to her. The shinobi that held her bent his knees and leapt backwards as Sakura reached at arm out.

Kakashi's fingernails scraped against the palm of her hand. "Kakashi!"



The man woke with a start.

Sakura's voice, high and frightened, still rang clear in his head; and Kakashi had yet to figure out how to remove it. The same nightmare—a television-quality rerun of that night—had haunted him ever since he'd been unable to save her.

Kakashi sat up in the bed, rubbing a hand over his face wearily, glancing around the bare room. The man had never been too fond of Suna. The heat, the sand, the lack of any good porn. . . At least this time he had something else to focus on: a consolation prize well-worth the immediate suffering.

The room he'd been shown to was empty, but that suited him just fine. A bed, a desk to work at, a lamp by the bed, and then the bathroom—completely with a large shower/bath (during the hottest parts of the day, it was common in the desert to take long baths too cool off), toilet, sink and mirror. It was unlike his own home—which had been filled to the brim with items that made it his—but he did not wish to make this place look inhabitable.

He wanted to be happy when he left than when he had come, in more ways than one.

Depressing room, annoying people, hot, dry nights, and the upcoming battle. . .

All of it was outweighed by the urge to rescue Sakura.

That was his one and only purpose.

The woman haunted his mind, almost even more so than Obito or Rin. Obito had been crushed outright; his body mangled, broken, as easily as if he'd been a porcelain doll. Rin had been killed by a quick jab to the throat with a kunai; no possible way of stopping the flow of blood or closing the wound.

Sakura. . . they had no idea if she was alive or dead.

And if she was alive, what kind of condition she was in; mentally or physicall.

Kakashi pushed his stuffy sheets from his body, sliding out of the bed to throw water on his face. He walked slowly to the bathroom, turned on the facet and put his hands under the cold, running water. He stared into his own reflection in the mirror, pulling his mask down. He'd kill whoever did this to her. Tsunade's 'Save Mujihi for the Suna ANBU' be damned; he was going to hurt this man. Even better, he was going to kill him. Water splashed his face.

A sudden knock startled him, and he turned to glance at the door to his room, wiping the water from his face with a towel.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" The pounding came again. Kakashi swiftly turned the facet off, freezing; he hoped that Naruto hadn't heard the running water and he could pretend to still be asleep. The Copy-nin breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Naruto call again. "We got breakfast! Get out here and join us! We'll even look in the opposite direction so you can eat with your mask down."

Silence ensued for a few, awkward moments. Slowly, Kakashi started moving back into the bedroom, thinking the coast was clear.

Naruto's fist pounded against the door again. "Oh, you can't still be sleeping! Kakashi-sensei, stop avoiding me!"

Kakashi waited for a bit, and then heard Naruto's retreating footsteps. He sighed and slid his mask back up.

He did not feel like bonding with the rest of the shinobi today. Today, he felt like killing.

It had not felt like this for a long time. For the longest, his missions had merely been about the job, the duty; hell, even the money a little bit. But it had been forever since his body actuallywanted to kill. It was a strange, compelling feeling; not exactly bad, but never good enough that a person would want to feel it constantly. Feeling that way constantly would lead so something akin to Orochimaru. The feeling was a mix of yearning, eagerness, guilt and apathy.

For Kakashi, it dated back to early ANBU days, when he hadn't the faintest clue as to how much life could be worth. Before he'd realized how much he'd actually been given in spite of all that had been taken.

Kakashi slowly made his way back to the bed. Placing his hands on the small of his back, he pushed his shoulders backward to arch his spine. He grunted when he heard the telltale cracks, sighing as he relaxed. He lay down in the bed, closing his eyes to try to sleep.

He opened his eyes a second later when there was another knock at the door—this time it was soft compared to Naruto's pounding.

"Hatake-san? Are you awake?"

Kakashi reached for his hitai-ate, and slid it slowly over his head as he got out of the bed. He opened the door slowly, glancing around cautiously.

Dark-haired and smiling, Natsume held a small tray of food in front of her. "Naruto said you weren't awake, but he didn't sound very convinced." She walked past him into the room and set the tray on the desk against the wall. She glanced over her shoulder at him, olive eyes narrowed slightly. "I had figured that you wouldn't wish to join us. You're like Gaara; you take you're duty too seriously to get distracted." She crossed her arms under her breasts and stared at him. "You love her, don't you?"

The Copy-nin's visible eye widened, and for not the first time in the past few days, he was glad his mask kept his blush from sight.

"Don't look so surprised," chuckled Natsume, offering a small smirk. "It'd take only the best to notice. I just happen to have a lot of experience with it."

"Is that right?" Kakashi leaned against the doorframe and shoved his hands into his pockets. "How do you get experienced in love?"

"I used to work for a matchmaker in my spare time when I was a young girl." She laughed when Kakashi gave her a dubious look. "No, I'm serious. Matchmaking is rather serious in Sunagakure."

Kakashi nodded, still skeptical. "So there are still old coots choosing who young ladies should marry?"

The woman shook her head and sat down on the bed, leaning back on her hands comfortably. "More like women who want to be introduced to other men. Or vise versa. Not everyone is able to meet the person that they love the easy way—some actually have to search."

"Like a dating service," Kakashi muttered, rolling his eye.

Natsume laughed, covering her face. "Yes, I suppose. But not so. . .humiliating." She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees. "It's very casual. And while the matchmaker I worked for was and elderly woman, she was rather shrewd about love. She could tell when you weren't serious, or if you were planning on giving others trouble. I loved her dearly, and she taught me a few life lessons along the way."

The man smirked. "Is that how you met the Kazekage-sama?"

"Oh, no, Gaara would never condone going to a matchmaker, even if it was just for a joke." She shifted on the bed, still uncomfortable, before she finally pulled her feet up and folded them beneath her. "Actually, I met Gaara when Shikamaru and Temari got married. Temari was good friends with my sister before she died, and we kept up contact."

Natsume's eyes narrowed slightly. "But getting back to the topic at hand, you do love this Sakura. . . don't you?"

"It's not that simple."

"Are we talking about some sort of forbidden love here?" she asked sarcastically, raising a dark eyebrow.

Kakashi sighed. "Not exactly."

"Gaara used to have a demon in him," Natsumi murmured, crossing her legs. "Nobody thought that he could love. He's one of the most caring men I've met in a long time. I can tell he loves me, as well as our children. But it was a huge obstacle for him to overcome. If Gaara can overcome that, I think you should be able to overcome this little thing."

"She used to be my student," Kakashi said, crossing his arms. "I'm fourteen years her senior, and besides. . . she's already in love."

"It's been five years, Hatake-san. Do you really believe that her love could last five years inside hell?" Natsume's voice had grown soft, and she got to her feet; walking slowly towards Kakashi and the open door. She placed her hand lightly on his bicep and glanced up at him. "Trust the instincts of a woman who's been doing this for a while. There is always a possibility. Please, enjoy your meal. Don't coop yourself up here too long."

"Arigatou." Kakashi stared after the exiting woman, eyes narrowed sharply. He shut the door slowly, and leaned up against it, closing his eyes. Women are going to be the death of me.


TBC. . .


Oh dear god. xD It took me forever to get this thing written up.

I apologize, so much, for not getting this out in the time that I wanted. I had wanted to keep everything on a 1 1/2 to 2 week thing. But with concert choir Christmas stuff, and getting ready for Christmas, and like three huge writing essays, Picture Trends got put on the DL for a bit and I was mostly just writing stuff in my notebook when I got spare chance in school.

There was actually more that I was going to put in this one, but I had a breakthrough with my SasukexIno part and I just really wanted to write it. It'll probably end up getting pushed to the next chapter, and I just won't care if the chapter is longer than I normally like. My beta brought up about how we kind of side with Sakura, and get mad about how Ino 'stole' Sasuke. Well, I want you to sort of sympathize with Ino too. It's Sasuke's who stinks. xD (Can you people tell I really don't like Sasuke?)

There's probably quite a few spelling errors. I finished writing this thing at like 11:02 PM, and I wanted to get it up and posted before midnight, as I have to go to school. Alaina couldn't get on to beta today, so I'm printing out my own copy so that I can reread it and Alaina can proof while we're in school tomorrow. So, if you see anything that seriously screams out at you to be fixed, don't hesitate to mention it in a review if you want to. You don't know how much your guys' reviews help me with things that like that.

You can most definitely expect an update before Christmas. Maybe I'll even post it Christmas eve as a little giftie. I will be writing a KakaSaku Christmas one-shot though. 25 Moments will get finished whenever I have the time. I've written down what I plan on writing, so it's merely a matter of doing it.

Thanks for reading!

- Hiko Mokushi