All I can say as a personal note is thank you guys so much for sticking with me, I ahve to note out that this fanfic is going to be a long one (I'm not even half way through on the PC yet, I'm up to 26000 words already)

Me: finally the reviews have doubled leaps in the air

Kakashi and Sakura: stare oddly...

Me: I can hug you all XD

Kakashi: you don't want to scare the readers .

Me: okay okay, gomen

Sakura: anyway, sorry for holding you up

Me: yea, heres chapter 4, enjoy

CHAPTER FOUR:MISSION START

Sakura stared a moment more before beginning to make her way out of the training field, "Kitsune and I better get home and pack so I suggest you should do the same if you don't want to rush things," she pointed out, looking back at the other Jounin. Kakashi nods as Kuro climbed up on his shoulder and began purring, "see you tomorrow then," Kakashi said as he turned around to stare at the sun that slowly but surely began to set in the horizon.

Before Sakura was out of sight, she turns around, saying, "Kakashi-sensei,"

"Hm?" Kakashi looks over his shoulder.

"What time should we meet at the village gate?" she continued.

"8am," Kakashi said quickly before walking off with Kuro on his shoulder. Sakura stood for a while before shaking her head and heading straight home.

Once at her apartment, Sakura dashes into her room and begins to pack her bag. She pulls out a bag from her closet that she hadn't used long since before Naruto had passed away and dumps it on the bed, "and now to pack for the big mission," Sakura grabs a bundle of clothes and places it neatly in her bag. She walks into her bathroom and takes a bar of soap and her spare toothbrush. Sakura finds everything she needed for the mission and places it all in her bag.

Into the kitchen, Sakura grabs all the food and other kitchenware she needed and back to the room she went, "there, all set for tomorrow," Sakura stood proudly in front of her bed with a packed bag.

Sakura clicked to something in her thoughts and immediately glared at her desk drawer, "need to be safe," she mumbled as she opened the drawer and rummaged about in it before pulling out her kunai pouch that contained three kunai knives. Sakura hastily puts it in an easily reachable pocket in her bag and now she was ready.

"Time for bed," Sakura gladly stated and changed into her pyjamas and hid under the covers with Kitsune jumping on soon after.

Meanwhile, Kakashi sat on his bed with a pile of clothes and an empty bag, "too much stuff," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head tiredly and reordering his stuff, "this can stay…this can stay…wear twice…stay…wear twice…keep here," Kakashi packed all the essentials along with the clothes he picked out to wear on the mission.

Kuro lay there on Kakashi's pillow and waited for Kakashi to finish his packing. Kakashi got everything ready and right at the point where he was finished, it was 11:30 in the evening, so the silver haired Jounin tucked himself under the covers, sleeping until daylight struck his eyes.

The morning had arrived and Sakura was up already before her alarm went off, "I just couldn't sleep last night Kitsune," she said, patting and snoozing fox gently, "excited for the new mission, yet sad to leave the village for such a long time," she added softly before staring at a photo of Team 7 that was taken seven years ago when the team was first assigned together.

Back then, Sakura still had her long hair. Sakura grins softly as she searched the people in the photo; Naruto was scowling at Sasuke while Sakura smiled happily like everything in her life was perfect. Kakashi looked as though he wished he had a normal team to teach.

Once again, Sakura had let time slip; she looks at the time and it said 7:30am, "damn it," Sakura leaps out of bed and straight into the bathroom to shower. Once out, Sakura changed into her day clothes and brushed her hair quickly and prepared the things she needed, doing her last few chores around the house and feeding Kitsune.

Everything was done now, and Sakura was ready to leave, "I'm going to be late, but Kakashi-sensei is usually later than I am so I can make a quick stop at the flower store," she said as she walked out of the door of her apartment and locked it behind her. Kitsune sat on her shoulder and allowed Sakura to leave the building and head for the flower store.

The streets were silent on this time of the day, early and the scent of the lifting mist was strong; Sakura did love these kinds of mornings where everything was starting to awaken.

The flower shop was just a few metres away and it was already open. There was a tall light blonde haired girl in purple watering the flowers, "hey Ino," Sakura called enthusiastically.

The blonde faces the calling voice to find Sakura running over to her, "Sakura, hey, I haven't seen you in a while," she said, giving the pink haired medic a hug. Sakura pulls a soft smile, saying, "Yeah, I've just been very busy lately and I have to meet up at the village gate for my two-week mission so I came here to say goodbye,"

Ino was surprised before she nods her head, "oh yeah I heard about that, you and your old teacher have to go on a mission together," she winked at Sakura with a nudge, "you and the old man aye," Ino added with a silly grin on her face.

Sakura's face turns red and she scowls irritably at the blonde, "no, there's nothing going on you dumb ass, it's just a mission and Tsunade-sama's orders were for us to have a good time, that's it," Sakura explained, rubbing her face to rid herself from the colour.

"Okay, don't worry, I was only kidding," Ino hoped she wouldn't get a beating from her best and only friend.

Ino always had a fashion to call Sakura, Forehead because she had a big forehead, but since Naruto died, Ino decided to keep short on the insults, which was a wise decision for Ino. Not only is Ino, Sakura's best friend, the two were rivals because they both worked hard to win Sasuke's love, which of course never happened, but now that Sasuke left the village, the two Kunoichi became ordinary friends; gossiping became short and ever since Naruto's death they have been quiet amongst each other.

Ino was looking around when she sees Kitsune sniffing the flowers, "umm, Sakura, what is that sniffing my flowers?" she asks, ready to pelt the fox with her watering can.

Sakura rolls her eyes at Ino's expression and says, "don't worry, that's just my fox, Kitsune, she showed up two nights ago and I've had her ever since," Kitsune walks over to Ino and was greeted with a cuddle from the blonde, "she is kind of cute," she said with a giggle.

Sakura looks at the clock in Ino's store from outside, "oh crap, now I'm definitely going to be late," she snapped, grabbing Kitsune and hugging Ino, "sorry that we didn't get to chat for very long Ino, but I really gotta go," Ino gladly returned the hug before mentioning, "be careful Sakura," Sakura nodded her head and ran off, waving her arm behind her before she was out of Ino's sight.

At the village gate, Sakura was surely late, but Kakashi wasn't there, "no Kakashi-sensei, this is just great," Sakura groaned in irritation before she heard movement behind her. Sakura faces the sound and there stood Kakashi, all packed and ready, "yo," he greeted lamely with a wave.

Sakura sighed and said, "Ready to go?" Kakashi nods with a silly grin on his masked face and walks ahead of her with Sakura right behind him.

"Sakura-san, Kakashi-kun, wait," a powerful voice commanded.

Sakura and Kakashi turned around to find Tsunade and her assistant Shizune at the village gate. Sakura immediately walked over to her presence. Kakashi just slouches and shuffles his feet to Tsunade.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Sakura awaited the Hokage's orders.

Tsunade nodded her head and says, "There's a slight change in plans for your mission," both Kakashi and Sakura were surprised and waited for Tsunade to continue on her issue.

"A slight change?" Kakashi wondered, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Tsunade nods again, "yes, it appears that there is an S-rank Leaf rogue ninja on the loose, and unfortunately it is Uchiha Sasuke," she explained. Sakura felt her knees quiver suddenly, and Kakashi felt his anger build up already.

"I am not asking you to take him out, I am just warning you to be extremely careful when you are on your mission, but if you are confronted by him, you must take him out, it is the only risk free option you have," Tsunade added, staring at the two Jounins.

Sakura and Kakashi nod, understanding well what they have to expect of this mission, "be safe on your mission and try to enjoy yourselves in these next two weeks," Tsunade waved her goodbyes and Kakashi and Sakura left the village for their mission.

Its eyes glared at the two Jounins and growled inaudibly as it sat up in the high trees. It narrows its cat-like eyes, ears twitching and tail brushing the leaves around it, "Team Kakashi," it said deeply as it glowered at Sakura and then at Kakashi, before retreating.

The day started off quiet, Kakashi was reading his dirty book and Sakura was enjoying the scenery while Kitsune and Kuro raced about, chasing one another for the fun of it, "so Sasuke-kun is back," Sakura wanted to know, and Kakashi could understand that, "yeah, but I don't know why he would come back, it's as if he still has something to do here," he said, eyes searching all over the area.

Sakura now felt unsafe. She shakes her head and says, "It definitely doesn't have to do with Itachi," Kakashi nods, "yeah, because Itachi has been gone from these close countries for years," he added worriedly.

Kakashi puts his book away in his back pouch and looks up at the sky in thought, 'what would Sasuke want with Konoha?' Kakashi's thoughts beckoned Sakura to ponder about the Jounin's beliefs. Sakura now found it hard to try to enjoy herself now that she had both Naruto's death and Sasuke's return on her mind.

"So what shall we do first?" asked Sakura, changing the subject completely.

Kakashi shrugged, "we'll see what there is to do when we get to our destinations," he decided briefly. Sakura nods, finally turning her attention to the brown fox that was playing around in front of her as she walked down the road with her former teacher by her side. All those thoughts in Sakura's head made Kitsune sense it, causing her to meow and nudge Sakura to relax for now and focus on the mission at hand.

Kakashi shifts his gaze to the right where Sakura was walking, saying, "it seems that our animal companions can sense our emotional changes that occur and by what I can tell, Kitsune is keeping you from your haunting memories," Sakura stares at the silver haired Jounin and says, "what makes you say that?" Kakashi nods his head down at Kitsune, to show Sakura what he meant; Kitsune was basically copying everything Sakura was feeling and doing that, Kitsune stops Sakura from reacting with her past and falling apart.

"I see," Sakura stated, picking up Kitsune and cuddling her, causing the fox to purr happily and meow in joy.

Kuro on the other hand, was constantly ogling the brown fox until he climbs up Kakashi's back, making him wince, "nngh," his eye twitched as the black fox clawed his way up his back and made cosy on Kakashi's shoulder. Sakura chuckles inwardly and ignores the matter.

As the day passed, Sakura tried her best to heart herself onto one subject and was constantly getting attention from Kitsune with all the nudging and purring. There was a constant silence between the former student and teacher, only the sounds of their footsteps scuffing on the dusty road and the swish of the wind in the trees. There was often the sound of a page being flipped as Kakashi read his book that was written by the famous Jiraiya, a legendary Sannin.

Kuro was getting sleepy as he awkwardly lay on Kakashi's shoulder and decided to get a better view on things by trying to sit on the Jounin's head. Kuro stands up on his hind legs and balances on the back of Kakashi's neck and grips onto his silver hair, "Kuro, stop it," Kakashi moaned impatiently with an irritated look in his dark eye. Sakura smirked but tried not to laugh at the stupidity that Kuro was causing; it was just too funny to watch.

Sakura was starting to get tired from walking all day; five hours to be exact, and with no break. Kakashi looks back to find Sakura straggling a bit, "getting tired?" Kakashi started. Sakura looks up and nods lightly, "kind of," she muttered before her stomach's growling got the better of her. Sakura blushes and hushes her stomach from the embarrassing noises.

"And hungry," Kakashi added with a light chuckle.

Kakashi rolls his eyes and stops, "we'll rest here," he said, walking to the side of the road. Sakura follows quickly and the two rest under a huge tree, where the roots stuck out high enough to sit on and surround the area. Sakura dumps her bag on the ground and sits down next to it with a relieving sigh. Kakashi sits not too far from the medic and takes off his backpack and opens it to pull out his food.

Sakura reaches in her bag pocket and pulls out a packet of cat food, "here Kitsune," she offered the fox a handful of cat biscuits and let Kitsune finish so she could have her lunch. Once Kitsune had nibbled away her lunch, Sakura went looking in her bag for her own food, but there was a problem, "oh crap," she muttered to herself while searching deeper.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi wondered, tilting his head to see what Sakura was complaining about.

Sakura mumbles words to herself that Kakashi couldn't hear or understand and finally replied to Kakashi's enquiry, "I believe I forgot to bring food for myself," she said lamely, feeling stupid that she forgot about her own needs.

Kakashi rolls his eyes as he watched Sakura fall apart right before his eyes. Sakura grunts irritably, "I can't believe I can bring food for others but not for myself, aargh, how dim-witted of me," Sakura rubs her temples and stares at her feet whilst her stomach continued to grumble to get food.

"Here," Kakashi sighed, holding out a small bread roll.

Sakura looked puzzled at first and stared at the bread roll to Kakashi, constantly looking back and forth, "but that's your food," Sakura protested, though her stomach gladly wanted her to take it.

Kakashi shrugs, "so, I have more food in my bag, so just take it," he waved the bread roll around, waiting for Sakura to take it. Sakura pulls an urging face and hesitantly takes the food from Kakashi. In return, Sakura stares at the bread and says, "thank you," she tears a bit off from the roll and nibbles it away. Kakashi just sat there, grinning like an idiot whilst pulling out a bottle of water. He gets up from his spot and walks off, "be right back, I'll be about ten minutes," he called back.

Once Kakashi was out of sight, Sakura quickly gets up and stands over by the tree where Kakashi was last seen. Sakura knew she would probably be caught, but she couldn't help it; she had some unfinished business to do on Naruto's behalf, and that was to find out Kakashi's true identity.

'Just go for it Sakura, he won't know, you're a Jounin, you can do it,' Inner Sakura wailed out in determination. Sakura had to do it. She peers around the tree and no sign of Kakashi, so Sakura decided to take the risk by making her way deeper into the trees until she stopped at the sight of a river.

Sakura looks around and finds Kakashi standing on the riverbank with his water bottle in his hand. Sakura sneakily gets down on her knees while staying perfectly still behind the tree to observe what is going on.

The medic watches Kakashi drop down to his knees as well and splash water on his face. It seemed pretty typical that Kakashi had his back facing Sakura and she couldn't see the man's face. Kakashi sits up on his knees and grabs his bottle and drinks a few mouthfuls of water. Sakura still couldn't see Kakashi's revealed face; she sat there, cursing herself of her foolish and childish behaviour, wanting to see something so bad and ripping the grass from below her.

Kakashi cups some of the river water in his hands and washes his face, letting the water run down his neck and seep into his mask and vest. He runs his wet hands through his silver hair and down the back of his neck, making sure he stayed nice and hydrated during the trip. Sakura couldn't help but nearly melt on the spot; if Sakura would get butterflies just by watching Kakashi wash his face, imagine how Sakura would react if she actually saw his face.

Kakashi sighs tiredly, having another drink before Kuro startled him with a meow. Kakashi jumped, looking to his right to find Kuro purring and waiting to be played with, "silly fox," he muttered. Sakura nearly got the sight of Kakashi's nose, making her sigh. That sigh Sakura gave off made Kuro's ears twitch at the sound. He faces the sound and tilts his head, 'shit, I've been found,' Sakura inwardly screamed before hiding her presence.

"What's up, Kuro?" Kakashi wondered, before hearing it too. Kakashi rolls his eyes and pulls up his mask, making his way back to his bag and where Sakura was supposed to be.

Sakura sat there, leaning against the tree and staring at her backpack, "oh boy," she sighed, rubbing her eyes before Kitsune jumped into her sight. Sakura was startled by the unexpected appearance of her fox friend. She pats Kitsune gently before Naruto came to her mind. Sakura sat there as Naruto's last words repeated time and again while holding Kitsune playfully.

"Meow," Kitsune licks Sakura's nose in order for her to come back to reality.

Sakura snaps out of her flashback and pulled a fake smile to Kitsune, making her purr again, "you're always looking out for me aren't you," Sakura started playing with the brown fox by throwing a stick to get Kitsune to chase it like mad.

Kitsune wrestles with the stick continuously until Sakura praised Kitsune to come to her, which of course, she did. Sakura lies down on her stomach and cuddles with Kitsune again.

Sakura pats Kitsune from head to tail and smiled softly. Kitsune faces the medic with a happy purr and playfully puts her paw on Sakura's nose, making her giggle, "Kitsune, that tickles," the brown fox's whiskers were brushing against Sakura's cheeks as she was being cuddled.

All the commotion drew Kakashi back to his things, but to stop behind a tree and taking the time to listen to what Sakura was commenting on, as well as watching what she and Kitsune were doing. Sakura lay there, legs kicked up and hitting the ground with her toes whenever she reached out for the young fox.

Sakura stares playfully at Kitsune and prods the fox on the nose, making Kitsune fall over on her back in her clumsy ways. Sakura giggles joyfully as she gave Kitsune a belly rub, causing the fox to squirm around on her back.

In perspective of Sakura's inner life, it's like a cherry blossom growing deep within Sakura's mind, where the sun shines constantly to show Sakura's happy and cheerful life, but ever since Naruto died, it's as if someone stepped on the flower, causing Sakura to fall apart. Throughout the month of pain and agony, the rain clouds in Sakura's mind have been preventing the flower from regrowing into its beautiful self, drowning any good and positive thing to enter the medic. Now, Sakura's rain cloud has lightened up and allowing the blossom to have a chance at regrowing.

Note: yeah the last bit sounded a bit weird but I just wanted to brief on what Sakura went through in her life so far, and by that I use cherry blossoms...don't ask

Me: okay...twiddles with thimbs anxiously

Kakashi: calm down girl, you'll do fine

Sakura: chapter five is already done, just breathe deep woman

Me: yea, just a bit nervous is all

Kakashi: okay...

Me: now I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did, now reviews please