Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the series. I just like to borrow them to make them do my bidding is all.

Stranger than Friction

Chapter Two: Beetle Bars and Burnt Rice

And so I did what I was told.

I lathered up and showered. Not nearly as long as I would have wanted. But if things were going how I wanted, I'd never have been sucked into Tsunade's office to even begin with. If things had gone how I wanted, I'd be enjoying a nice, fat, piping bowl of Ichiraku's specialty.

As it was, I swallowed to keep from drooling on myself.

Looking around now, I regretted not taking a longer shower-- or at least, stopping by the market place to pick up a bento box. I'd have had enough time.

Kakashi was late.

Not that I expected him to be on time or anything. You know, it was just the prospect of his village's welfare that was at stake. Nothing he should care to show up on time for or anything. I slumped into a sit against the gate. I looked to my poorly supplied pack and glared. Courtesy of my impromptu rushing, there was close to nothing in it.

A couple sets of clothes. A toothbrush. My hairbrush. Deodorant. Some 'just in case' weapons. A magazine. A sleeping bag. A box of granola bars. And my wallet.

My wallet was essential, and as I thought back, I was sure glad I stumbled over it while bustling around my bedroom. I remembered plenty enough villages dotted the route to Mist. Thankfully! I'd be able to stock up when we hit them.

Geography could be merciful sometimes, I guessed.

But then, when I also thought about it, Kakashi was probably taking his sweet time getting ready. He was probably stashing his entire porn collection into his backpack or something.

I snorted as I took a reluctant nibble out of my crummy granola bar. Which was ironic. Because I thought that now I was back in Konoha, that meant eating food. Not. More. Sand.

I didn't look up when an insincere apology met my ears. "Sorry, I'm late," it said. "I got held up." My eyes narrowed at my one-twelfth eaten granola bar. And it wasn't because of the beetle that had just landed on it.

"Sure you did," I growled as I dusted the bug off and climbed to my feet.

"Here," Kakashi was saying next to me. I didn't want to look to see what he could possibly have for me. Because I was irritated. And I was tired. And I was hungry. And I wanted something to be mad at.

Unless he had turned into a mattress-- and I doubted he'd be a very comfortable one-- I most definitely did not want anything from him.

Except… I-did-want-it!

"I can… I can have that?" I asked breathlessly. My eyes, the ones I don't remember giving permission to ever look in the first place, had gone wide.

"Mm." My hands-- the second part of my body eager to betray my mood-- quickly snatched a box out of Kakashi's awaiting hand.

"Kakashi-sensei, you shouldn't have! These are the expensive ones…" I said, choking up. Literally. It was hard to swallow and play the modest grateful card simultaneously.

"It's cheaper than ramen," Kakashi murmured as he watched me promptly destroy the bento box he'd given me, face first. "And Ichiraku was particularly busy," he continued. "I would gotten something from there, but I doubted people would settle for 'I'm going on a mission that will potentially be the reason why you'll never see your husband again'."

I stopped chewing, my eyes on Kakashi's as he stared off into space now, patiently waiting for me to finish inhaling his money. "Fro', Fra' frashy' fren' fraaayy."

Translation: Oh, Kakashi-senseeei.

I couldn't believe Kakashi had gone through the effort for my sake, really. I was at a loss for words. Almost. I swallowed the contents of my mouth and closed the bento box. This must have surprised Kakashi, because when I looked up, his one eye was staring at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Does it taste bad? I thought I got the one that would be best--"

"No, it's fine," I said, finding myself becoming more embarrassed the more he went on about how he actually went out of his way for me. "This wasn't cheap-- I want you to have it. I've got a granola bar, yanno, sensei. I'm good to go."

"You mean that one there?" He glanced at the ground.

"Er, yes!" I said, picking it up and smiling.

"Oh, I didn't know they came in that flavor," he chuckled at me, his eyebrow raising slightly.

I glanced down at my bar. Three beetles were swimming inside of it.

"Extra protein," I said, forcing a laugh.

"To each man his own," he chuckled at me, patting me on the head as he made a beeline for the gates. The very millisecond he turned his back to me, I mouthed a silent scream and launched the disgusting beetle-magnet a hundred yards behind me, before heaving my pack over my shoulder and shuffling after him. "I don't blame you," he hummed at me, and I could see him already reaching for something in his vest.

One guess what.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked, learning not to be startled when it came to him freakishly being able to see stuff like that… when he's not even facing my direction.

"I bought that for you," he answered, flipping through Icha Icha Vacation as he strolled along. Icha Icha Vacation. Appropriate for where we were going, I mused sarcastically.

"I don't see why you did when you'd already told me to eat something," I pointed out.

"Well, did you?"

"Yes. Er, kind of. Not exactly. But you didn't know that."

"Yes, I did."

"Liar."

"You don't have any good food in your kitchen. What are you, still on a diet?" My jaw dropped. "Your fridge has too much… green. I doubted you'd get very much sustenance from a stick of celery."

"What were you doing snooping through my fridge?" I intoned, doing my best to hold onto that high esteem I had just had for him.

"Making sure you had plenty to eat. You'd be next to useless if we started this mission with you having an empty stomach. It's common sense. Not to mention, we wont be stopping by many villages, if we can help it. You could do with one last good meal. After all, considering where we're going and what we have to do, it could very well be the last one you'll ever have."

My high esteem for him withered and died, along with any and all-- what little I had to start with-- will to go on..

I tossed a glance over my shoulder at the village gates. I had just gotten here… only a single hour ago. And already I had to leave. On a mission that there was a chance I wouldn't be coming back from.

Feeling sorry for myself wasn't something I was horribly used to. But within the last hour, I found myself probably doing the most I've ever done since my infatuation with Sasuke. And that was a lot.

All too quickly, the Village Hidden in the Leaf wasted away behind us. Leaving me. And him. And the big bad world which had abruptly become our common enemy.

It was a while before I felt confident in my ability to speak without the threat of screaming. "What is it…" My voice died in my throat. I tried again. "What is it that we… that we…"

"It's all in the scroll," Kakashi told me, seemingly oblivious to my incapability of working around the frog in my throat.

"Could I see it?"

"In due time."

"But I'd like to see it now," I pursued. I knew why I could die. I felt entitled to know how, at least.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said."

He didn't even offer an explanation why. Was I just supposed to accept what he said because he said it? Nope. Nuh-uh. Who did he think he was talking to?

"Kakashi-sensei," I said, schooling my tone to be like his-- confident and authoritative. "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's not up to you to decide. I'm a jonin. Just like you. We're the same. You hold no power over me. I'm not twelve."

"Yet you still choose to call me 'sensei' like you are twelve."

"That's different…" I muttered.

"I beg to differ," Kakashi riposted, flipping a page in his book.

It seemed ages before I finally decided that glaring into the back of Kakashi's head would not make him spontaneously combust.

And, for the next several hours, we walked in remote silence. At first, I was sure I was punishing him to the silent treatment. But somehow, toward the third hour, I realized he didn't especially care. Which, on the contrary, made me feel like I was being penalized.

I took care in noticing that Kakashi didn't look at me once. Which he never did anyway, but usually we weren't being frog marched to our deaths.

His motivation speech making skills needed work, I thought bitterly. Especially since I was quite possibly entering the early stages of depression. And he presently looked as though he could have just been awarded the Konohagakure Peace Prize. That or his puppy just died. I imagined his expression wouldn't have changed much.

What a bore he was. What was so interesting about that book? In a time like this?

Abruptly, my mind was forced to plummet back down to earth when Kakashi stopped walking.

"What are you doing?" I asked, though, when he didn't answer at first, I thought he didn't hear me-- or that he was giving me the silent treatment, which I would not stand for. I opened my mouth to repeat myself, but closed it when he regarded me with a sigh.

He looked around. "We're setting up camp."

"Camp?" I looked at the sky, unsure if it was me or if it was still daylight. It wasn't just me. It couldn't have been passed seven yet. We still could move for two more hours... He let his backpack slide from his shoulder, where it fell to the ground in a heap. "It's still light out," I informed him. Perhaps his only having one eye was somehow hindering his ability to see right. All Kakashi did do was hum. Again. Like that was even a real answer. "Why're we stopping?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Or will that also be revealed to me as well in 'due time'?"

"You're too tired to go on much farther," he finally answered as he perused his novel distractedly. "We're stopping."

I felt my mouth open to retort, to ask him what made him think he could tell me how I was feeling, but, only a defeated huff left it. My indignation was flaring. However, he was right. I was tired. I couldn't remember how many times I'd stumbled in the past hour because of my eyes drifting closed for a split second too long.

And I'm sure he couldn't help but notice how far I'd straggled behind.

And I'm absolutely positive it crossed his mind that, maybe, just maybe, if we did happen to be attacked, that the biggest threat I'd pose to our enemies would be if I happened to fall asleep on top of one of them. So I've been told on more than one occasion, I have crazy legs when I sleep. Sasuke once said I broke his nose. But I simply figure it was my subconscious finally having a go at him.

"I'll get the fire wood," I murmured, sluggishly dropping my pack to the ground as well.

"It's alright, Sakura," Kakashi's voice carried out to me, "don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything."

I stared at him for a second. "What about dinner?"

"Do you still have the rest of that bento box? Have that."

"And what are you going to eat?"

"I've already eaten."

I didn't have the energy to point out that for the past four hours, unless he pulled down his mask and snorted a fly when I wasn't looking, that he had not eaten. Instead, I discovered my butt plummeting to the ground, the bones in my legs having melted.

I collapsed onto my back and proceeded to starfish myself across the ground. It was no bed, but just laying down in its own affected to pop my spine in at least seven different places.

It was nice.

All too soon, there was a muffled grunt near me and the eyes I didn't recall ever shutting were snapping open. My heart was hammering in my chest and for all of a second, I'd gone completely rigid. The only two things I registered was the array of pink hanging down in front of my eyes. And, the feeling of being suspended in the air.

My first instinct was to flail and scream.

The enemy--the Mist Ninja! I'd been caught! Where was Kakashi-sensei!?

"Let go of me!" I snarled, ramming my elbow, chakra enhanced or not, as hard as I could into my aggressor's abdomen. He crumpled as a result. He must have caught himself with his free hand because, though I could feel my hair trailing the ground, I was still pendent in the air.

"Get off of me-- let go! Let go!" I screamed, bringing my arm back to devastate him in the gut once more the best I could without my chakra. However, something caught my elbow. His hand. I started panicking.

"Help! Kakashi-senseeei! Help!"

"…Sakura! Sakura, stop-- it's me, please," a familiar voice said near my ear, having distinct difficulty choking out these words. I froze in horror.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I gulped, my eyes, though frantic and searching for him, unseeing. I could see the dim lighting of a flame flickering in my peripheral vision, but other than that and the pink mess in front of my face, there was darkness.

"Unnh… Y-yes. Kakashi Hatake, one-hundred percent," his strained voice answered. The body holding me lowered me to the ground-- a soft, fuzzy ground-- before it awkwardly collapsed about three feet away. In the fetal position, I noticed. Now that I could see properly by the fire's light. "I take that back… uuunnh, maybe fifty percent?"

"What?" I asked, my direct line of sight focused on this one crumpled individual before me. My teacher. "What happened-- was there an attack?" I looked around wildly, fully expecting foes to pop out of the trees and surround us. Or at least, a few keeled over bodies from the fight that I had missed…

I only saw one. And it was presently wheezing. And trembling too, I think.

After a moment, Kakashi responded, through his teeth by the sound of it, "Yes. There was an attack. Brutal," he shifted a fraction and hissed, " by the feel of it."

"What happened?" I repeated, shooting into the upright position. I was reaching into my thigh holster when Kakashi continued.

"Nothing terrible happened. At least, nothing terrible for you," he murmured once more through his teeth. "Go back to sleep. They'll be alright. I think."

He wasn't making any sense.

"Who?? Who'll be alright?"

"My boys, Sakura, my boys-- please, go back to sleep."

His 'boys'. I didn't think he was referring to Naruto and Sasuke.

I did. Or at least, I laid back down anyway. I definitely didn't go back to sleep. Couldn't. Not with my crippled sensei across from me the way he was.

Embarrassed and ashamed. That's what I was. Embarrassed and ashamed.

As I lay there peering at him over the top of my roseate sleeping bag, stiff as a board, I'd figured out what had to have happened. I fell asleep earlier, and since it was dark, Kakashi was probably just moving me to my sleeping bag… which he'd prepared without me even asking-- next to the fire he'd fashioned by himself.

And then, as a thank you for his troubles, I'd gone and pegged my teacher in the 'nads. At least, I'd gathered that much anyway. Judging from his choice of laying, his gasps, his wording, and the history of my crazy legs in my sleep. I slowly wiggled out of my shoes and kicked them off to the side. I could have sworn I heard like a gallon of sand spill onto my sleeping bag.

"I'm sorry for …" I said quietly as I tried to dust off some of the sand. With my foot.

"Don't mention it," Kakashi quickly responded. He sounded as though he were managing brilliantly though.

"I'm sorry. That wont… happen again."

There was a brief silence.

"It wasn't your fault," he murmured. "I should have woken you up. Or maybe… worn a cup."

I nodded into my sleeping bag as though he could hear it. I truly was sorry. Five minutes later, I watched him slowly climb to his feet. He toddled over to his own sleeping bag, where he executed the painstaking process of laying back down. I cringed for him.

The next morning I was the first one up. I made sure I was.

Dawn's first light was dancing over the trees, casting funny shadows on the ground and over Kakashi, but it was still mostly dark out. Kakashi wasn't even inside his sleeping bag I noticed. On top of it. Kakashi himself looked much the same as he always did when he slept. Peaceful.

As usual, he'd taken off his headband, where it was now folded neatly by his head. His hair was scattered around, a fringe of it in his eyes. I stared narrowly at the jagged scar that ran through his left eye socket. I was so very tempted to touch it, to run my finger along the puckered flesh, but refrained. Last time Naruto had the very same temptation. He complained about his broken finger for the next three days.

And, not so usual, his legs were separated a bit farther than the average male's automatic span merited.

I didn't think he moved an inch from the spot he'd selected last night. One guess why.

Sighing, I turned around. There was only so many times I could apologize. Besides, that's why I was up. He'd been taking care of me-- and he suffered dearly for it. Now it was my turn to repay the favor. I was going to make him breakfast. I didn't know what yet, but I was going to.

Shuffling over to my backpack, I unzipped it and was greeted with the sorry mess that was my supplies. I reached for my box of granola bars, hesitated, before just closing my bag again. I was sure he wouldn't be hungry for some lame beetle bars.

Looking around, I suddenly got an idea. I'd forgotten that Kakashi-sensei was usually the one to pack all the food. Granted, there was never much because we needed to travel light, and we'd run into villages anyways, but he always had something.

I tiptoed over to his beige pack and kneeled beside it. I had to be extra careful unzipping it. I didn't want Kakashi to wake up until breakfast was ready. I wanted him to be surprised and thrilled that I went through the trouble. Without even realizing I was, I started grinning.

The inside of his bag, to my surprise, was not chalk full of naughty novels. "What? No porn?" I whispered to myself, pawing his things around.

"Sorry to disappoint."

I jolted and fell flat on my ass. My teacher laughed.

"I didn't know you were awake!" I chuckled, still whispering for some reason as I regained my footing. "Ssssh, go back to sleep!" His one black eye watched me amusedly while his other one was idle, closed out of habit.

"Why?" he asked. I could hear the grin in his tone. "So you can find my adult literature stash?"

"No," I hissed, "I'm making us breakfast. I need ingredients."

"You're making breakfast… Who died?" he asked suspiciously.

"You if you don't go back to sleep."

"Fine, fine. I'm sleeping already," Kakashi mumbled and shut his eye. I knew he wasn't sleeping. And I knew he had no such intention of going back to sleep-- if he ever really was in the first place. But it wasn't really like I could accuse him. So long as he was going through the motions I could go about my business.

Now, as Kakashi had earlier made it clear that we wouldn't be bumping into any villages 'if we could help it', it only stood to reason that we conserve what supplies we had. I guessed a small breakfast was in order. I never pegged Kakashi to like extravagant things anyway.

"Pssst." I bent forward and prodded Kakashi in the forehead. "Kakashi-sensei?"

He grunted out a "mm?"

"Did we pass any rivers on the way?"

"No. But there's a small stream about a quarter mile south."

"Alright. Be back in a flash."

"Take the canteens with you."

"I already was. Hush, sensei. You're supposed to be sleeping."

He sighed. And I knew why. But it wasn't like I could just stop calling him 'sensei'. It was practically a part of his name now. 'Just Kakashi' was a foreign taste in my mouth. Unfamiliar. He'd have to deal.

When I reached the stream, I was fairly disappointed. It was mostly dried out and the cleft where the water should have been was devoid of any kind of moisture. I had to follow the stream for a ways down until I could find any water that was not, in fact, mud. After unscrewing the cap to Kakashi's canteen, I dipped it into the cool water, filled it as much as I could before doing the same to mine.

I'd refill them after breakfast, I decided.

Kakashi was awake when I got back, reading on his back. Big surprise. This sort of pissed me off. He was supposed to be resting…

"Find it, did you?" he asked cheerfully, gracing me with a glance as I entered camp.

"Yup. But I suppose you already knew that: I know you followed me." I kneeled down near the fire he'd rekindled sometime between the time I left and the time he spent stalking me and began to pour the water from the first canteen into the pot I'd taken out earlier with the other things.

"I did no such thing…"

"Give it a rest. I'm too attuned with your chakra signal. Even if you wanted, you couldn't hide it. At least, not from me, anyway. I'd bet an acorn to a tree that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't have noticed though, if that makes you feel any better." I smiled at him as I tipped an adequate amount of rice into the pot.

He raised his eyebrow in return. "Alright," he said. "I admit it. I was… out to relieve myself--" It was my turn to cock a brow. "-- to pee, Sakura, to pee. Get your mind out of the gutter…"

"I didn't say anything," I snickered as I pressed the small pot into the low embers.

"As I was saying, I was out to pee and I happened to stray your way. That's why you detected my chakra signal."

"You were just being a worry wart, in other words," I prompted.

"Same difference. And, for your information, I am fully capable of hiding my chakra," he informed me as he rubbed his thumb over his mouth.

"Mmhm," I said, the skepticism in my voice making his eye narrow. I simply stared intently at the smolders as I stirred the small logs with my kunai. I could still see him poking at his mouth from the corner of my eye as I played the indifferent card for a change. And it suddenly came back to me.

"How's that lip?" I asked him, craning my neck forward to try and get a good look.

"Excellent." He leaned away in response.

"Can I see it?" I hummed, offering him one of my cutest eyebrow tilts yet.

"Um," he too hummed, countering my expression with a mock sweet look of his own. "Ah, no."

"My chakra's back. I think it's time to finish what I started, don't you?" I idly examined the edge of my kunai. Kakashi twirled a lock of his hair around his forefinger, his thumb now no where near his lip now that he knew I was watching.

"I think not."

"It's not up for discussion," I stated to my kunai.

"It certainly is not," he agreed, his voice starting to take on the sensei tone we all know and love. However, I wasn't intimidated. If anything, it egged me on.

"Precisely," I murmured, abruptly directing my line of sight to him. I watched, satisfied, as he tensed under my gaze. It was horribly provoking. "I'm stronger than you, you know," I said, smirking. "Faster too, I'll wager." Kakashi ever so casually shifted to his knees.

"Sakura, you don't scare me," he intoned, his silver eyebrow furrowing. "And what makes you think you are? I think working as Tsunade's assistant has falsely developed your superiority complex. And perhaps descreased your ability to reason as well. You obviously don't know what you're talking about."

I crept forward. He tilted backward. His left eye was now opened; both two-tones blinked at me, reading my body language I was sure. As far as I was concerned, I was nothing short of confident. And he could see it.

"Don't I?" I asked, following suit and also shifting. Toward him. "If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that's a challenge."

"You wouldn't dare," he growled, his tone menacing, threatening... exhilarating.

"Oh, I'm awfully tempted." I could already see him edging backward.

"Sakura, settle down. We're both adults-- equals."

"Yup. So, perhaps that means you wont be too humiliated by the end of this if you keep that in your head. That is, unless you tend to be like Shikamaru in the face of defeat-- by a woman." I steadied myself onto a hand, slowly readying myself like a cat about to pounce.

"Sakura... Sakura. We don't have time for this."

"That's okay. This wont take a moment."

"Sakura," he gasped. "Check the rice-- it's burning!" I wasn't fooled. The second he said this, he was wheeling around.

"Oh, no you don't!" I growled. I was at his heels in an instant. Literally. I'd flung my arms around them and we both crashed to the ground.

"Sakura!" my teacher's muffled voice was yelling into the ground. "You're being very immature, you know that?" He started trying to worm his way out of my grasp. But, kudos to my replenished chakra, he didn't get very far. Quite the contrary actually. I was now successfully pinning the back of his knees with my legs.

"Don't fight me, Kakashi-sensei!" I laughed like a maniac, ever so slowly going in for the kill. "You'll only make it harder on yourself. Just relax! Leave things to me! This'll be quick and painless-- but only if you stop and let it happen!"

"Stop it," he grunted and squirmed. "No means no!"

I sidled up to his back. Which was a bad idea. The moment I did, using his stupid natural masculine strength or whatever, he twisted around and flattened me against the ground, our positions reversed. Except, this time, he'd thought to pin my arms behind my back, which was smart. One bump with one of my fists and he'd have gone flying back to Konoha.

Unfortunately, it was my turn to be eating dirt. The worst part was that I had no mask to keep the grass from getting inside my mouth. I sputtered out a "mmph! Kamfrashi-semppfeiii!"

"You did this," he sighed. "You've inherited the Hokage's ego." I kicked and floundered.

"What are you doing?" I managed to holler, tilting my face to the side.

"Blocking out your chakra with mine," he answered plainly. "Learnt that one a little while back after my mission to Lightening Country. Comes in handy, no?"

"That's not fair!" My chakra-- I could feel it. But it was like trying to squeeze the toothpaste out of a tube that still had the cap on. Not possible-- Kakashi's chakra was that cap.

"There's no such thing as 'fair'. You're going to have to learn that one of these days. Why not today?" In about three minutes flat, he changed me from cocky and powerful to belittled and weak.

Not to mention sulky.

"Eat your burnt rice, Sakura. Before it gets cold," Kakashi said as he perched on his sleeping bag, his eye a happy crease. With my lower lip jutting out and my arms crossed, I was positive I looked like a child. Which was okay. I was entitled.

"No," I grumbled, going out of my way to have my back facing him.

"It'd be a shame if you didn't after all that trouble you went through," he said, his voice able to be construed as gentle, though in my ears it was taunting.

He continued complimenting me on my charcoal handiwork when I ignored him. "I mean, it's delicious. Especially the crunchy black parts. Jasmine rice mixed with a bitter hint of ash-- simply delightful."

"No."

"Sakura, you need to eat something."

"No."

"Fine then. But you're going to miss me, what with my mask down and everything…" I spun around so fast, I had whiplash. "Just kidding," he snickered.

My mouth fell open. Scandalized. I huffed and turned away. "I'll eat when I get my chakra," I hissed.

"Really?" Kakashi asked. "Alright then. There. Eat up."

I blinked. There was no way it was that simple! My disbelief evaporated. Once again I could feel my chakra oozing back through my system...

When I turned around, a bowl of rice with a pair of chopsticks balanced on the top was situated at the foot of my sleeping bag. I sighed. True to my words-- as opposed to him, I reached out and collected the bowl and proceeded to take a delicate bite.

Kakashi was watching me approvingly. "Mmmmm," he said, rubbing his belly in mock contentment. I couldn't help but to crack a smile. Though I did try to hide it behind my mouthful of burnt breakfast.

"So how'd you learn that?" I asked after deciding I was a big girl again.

"It's the eye," he said, pointing to his dormant left.

"Ah," I said, immediately understanding. "How does it work?"

"Quite simple really. The user's chakra seeps into the pores of their foe, where it proceeds to engulf theirs. A bit like laminating, I guess you could say. The chakra technically remains there but is as good as useless. It's the user's call when he wants to stop it. But it's difficult to maintain... it feeds off of one's own chakra and after a time, it can be exhausting. Not to mention, if he doesn't do it right, the foe can very well... explode from all of the pent up energy."

My chopsticks fell out of my mouth. Kakashi blinked at me. My eyes bulged. "But you don't have anything to worry about, Sakura," he said, smiling. "My chakra control is too perfect."

"Wish I could do that." Yes, because then I'd show him how perfect my chakra control was…

"You say that," Kakashi said, unconsciously fingering his lip again, "but last I checked, Sasuke isn't looking to give away one of his eyes."

"That's alright," I murmured, "he doesn't have to 'give' away anything."

"Oh, is that a flaring ego I detect?" Kakashi chuckled.

I snorted as I picked at my bowl. The burnt patches weren't nearly as delicious as Kakashi made them sound. However, looking at his empty bowl, I wouldn't have been able to tell his was ever burnt. I grimaced.

"If you wont let me properly heal your lip," I said sharply, "stop doing that."

"But it twinges…" he complained quietly.

That was it. It was probably getting infected.

I quickly pushed my bowl to the side and was on my feet in a second. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei! I'm doing this!" I reached out and secured his face between my hands. Both his eyes were wide with horror. "Chakra-block me or whatever and I'll do more than just bruise your peaches!"

My hand was already on his face, my fingers dipping beneath his mask. The very second I began tugging down, Kakashi exploded. I mean, he literally exploded. Into a cloud of smoke. And I was once again holding a bowl of rice. The very one I'd just brushed to the side in fact. I swerved around, only to see him toddling off south, his hands full of the canteens.

"Eat up, Sakura, and pack your things. We will be leaving once I get back." I sighed and collapsed onto my back on his sleeping bag. The blue one. It smelled too much like him. So I tilted my face away from it.

"Whatever," I mumbled. "Which way are we headed?"

"Southeast. To Hiroku Village."

I gasped, shooting upright in a flash. "What?" A village? I thought he said we were going to be avoiding them?

"This village is too large to go around. It'd take too long. We'll just keep a low profile."

"Yes!" I screamed. Birds screeched in the distance.

"Be ready," his voice reminded me from afar. And then he disappeared into the trees. Good thing too. I don't even want to know what he'd have said if he saw me when I fell on my face, courtesy of my cart wheeling and one very ill placed shoe.