Sorry about the extremely short chapter. I promise I'll make it up to you in the next one, but I have a reason for stopping here.

All feedback is highly appreciated.

Enjoy.

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It had been as Sakura had expected. Her night out with Ino had turned out like crap. What she remembered of it anyway. She'd felt too depressed, no that's not it, she'd felt too angry to socialize with anyone so in an attempt to cheer the pink haired up Ino had decided to get her wasted. Bad idea. A very bad idea. Apparently Sakura didn't handle alcohol very well and now she was stuck with the worst headache in all of headache history and she cursed at whoever it was that had invented sake. This was just lovely wasn't it? And she was supposed to meet up at Tsunade's office later today to discuss the jounin exam. The Godaime would so kick her ass for this. Sakura growled as she buried her head in her pillow.

She didn't remember how she'd gotten home the previous night, but as for now she couldn't care less. She was home. Alone. Perfect.

"Someone please kill me…" Sakura mumbled against her pillow, hoping the roof would suddenly crumble hand fall down on her to put an end to her suffering.

"Stuff it, forehead. I'm trying to sleep…" She got a muffled reply in return, voice coming from somewhere behind her.

'Alone my ass…'

Sakura cracked her eyelids open at the unexpected presence of her hangover friend currently lying in her bed.

"What the- Ino? The hell are you doing in my bed?!" Sakura spat, only to find out that raising her voice was not the best idea at the moment and Ino seemed to agree because she covered her hands over her ears.

"Quiet, damnit…" The blonde whined.

"Gnh, fine…" Sakura was too tired to kick her friend's sorry ass out of her apartment. "How did we get here again?"

"I had to drag your unconscious ass back home. You should thank me, forehead. I could've just left you there you know, and God knows where you'd be waking up right now if I hadn't taken you with me." The blonde snuggled against the sheets. "And your bed is like the best thing ever."

Sure Ino had a point she guessed, even though she knew she'd never let that happen. Ino was actually quite protective when it came to Sakura. She'd always been like that, ever since they were kids. She'd been the one to teach her how to stand up for herself.

Sakura smiled. Ino manage to catch that and raised a blonde brow.

"What?"

"You're a pretty good friend, you know that." Sakura said, a little too serious for Ino's liking. Even though she highly appreciated Sakura's statement, it only ment that her friend was depressed about something, and she could only guess what.

"Screw them Sakura. Maybe they didn't recognize you or something." Ino sighed, not really believing her own words. Sakura wasn't hard to recognize. She was the only kunoichi with her hair color and one could get lost in those big emerald eyes of hers. Ino kind of envied that. Nevertheless, she was unforgettable.

Sakura shrugged. "Or maybe I'm simply not worth their time." His time. She didn't really care about Genma. She hadn't talked to him since the first chuunin exam so she didn't really expect him to suddenly talk to her.

"Their loss then," Ino said cheerfully, but Sakura's expression remained blank. Were two seconds of her former mentor's life too much to ask for? At least acknowledging her existence.

'Screw this, it's not worth thinking about.'

"Well…" Sakura rose to her feet, her head throbbing at the slightest movement, but she had to endure it. This was her own, and partly Ino's, fault in the first place.

"I'm heading over to the hokage tower. I'll see you later, pig. Feel free to stay… I doubt I'll be long."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," The blonde grinned. She kind of envied Sakura for being able to take the jounin exam. Not that Sakura didn't deserve it, but Ino had been stuck in the hospital the last six months, mostly filling in for the lack of medics that had been sent to the frontline. She hadn't been on a single mission and she missed the action and adrenaline kick that came with it.

"Sleep tight," Sakura teased as she walked out of the bedroom. Ino only buried her head further into the pillow and groaned.

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When Sakura arrived at the hokage tower she was met by total chaos and people running around all over the place in different direction, their hands occupied by masses of paper and scrolls in different sizes. Well, there were always people running around in that very building, acting busy, but this was a sight she hadn't seen in a while. Deciding not to give the subject much more thought she made her way over to the door leading into Tsunade's office.

She was about to give it a few knocks, but only to find her fist almost hitting Shizune in the face as the door shot up. The woman flinched and stared at Sakura with wide eyes, then her usual warm smile replaced her surprised look.

"Come on in, Sakura-chan," the raven haired stepped aside and Sakura returned her smile and stepped into the office, her head still aching, but she somehow managed to ignore it. For now. Tsunade did not look happy there she sat, eyes narrowing as she scanned the piece of paper in her hand(it was a miracle it didn't burst into flames) and fingers tapping at the wooden surface.

"Shishou?" Sakura questioned. Tsunade shifted to look up at her apprentice and sighed.

"Sorry Sakura. You mind waiting a minute?"

"Uhm, no," Sakura blinked and took a stance next to Shizune, noticing the worried look on the older woman's face as she waited for the hokage to open her mouth.

"What about Anko?" The Godaime asked, serious eyes directed at Shizune.

"She's out of the village," The raven-haired answered, Sakura guessed they'd been at this for a while.

"Uzuki Yuugao?" Tsunade continued.

"Hospitalized… Along with the rest of her squad. She won't be out for at least a week." Shizune sighed, feeling the hokage's frustration.

"Damn… Out of all possible times… We have to have at least one kunoichi who's qualified and available for this mission?" Tsunade clenched her teeth in pure frustration as she growled.

"It doesn't look good," Shizune answered.

"What's the problem?" Sakura questioned, blinking at her master.

Tsunade seemed to have forgotten that there was a third person in office and looked at her with surprised eyes. If Sakura hadn't known better she could've sworn that the sannin was staring her up and down with judging eyes. It made her feel a little uncomfortable.

'She is eighteen…' Tsunade thought to herself while eying the naïve looking pink-haired. However, it was still a bit too young, they needed someone in their twenties. Sakura could probably pull it off with some extra make-up, but still…

"Sakura." Tsunade said, looking into her student's eyes.

"Yes?" Sakura straightened.

"How are your acting skills?" Tsunade continued, never taking her eyes of her apprentice.

Sakura was taken by surprise, and her mouth fell open, then closed. This continued a few more times before Shizune spoke.

"You're sending Sakura-chan?"

Tsunade ignored her. "Answer my question, Sakura."

"R-right. Well… good I think. Why do you ask?" She wasn't really bad when it came to the art of acting, but she had never really used that skill much. There hadn't been a need to.

"I'm asking because… to be honest with you we're having a serious problem here. One that could very well get us into another war we will do best to avoid." Another war? Sakura was all ears now. She'd do anything to prevent another war. Living six months in constant hell had really opened her eyes.

"You're sending me on a mission?"

Tsunade seemed to be deep in thought. She was considering it alright. What choice did she have? She would've sent Shizune if it wasn't for the fact that the woman was needed in Konoha.

"Sakura, you are one of the very few people in this village who've earned my trust. I believe in your skills as a kunoichi, but I need to know. Are you willing to do whatever it takes for a mission to succeed?" The look in her eyes told her that she wasn't joking around. Not that the hokage ever joked about mission related things, but Sakura knew when her teacher demanded an honest answer and not necessarily the right one.

"I am, shishou." Sakura answered truthfully.

A smiled formed at the hokage's lips and something that resembled pride shined through.

"Then it's decided. Now we only need a backup team, but that shouldn't be too hard to put together. I trust you on this Sakura. Do not let me down."

"I won't." Sakura bowed, still clueless about the mission itself, then it came to her. "What about the jounin exam?"

That the hokage hadn't thought about. They were supposed to discuss this in the first place, weren't they? She had an idea though.

"Tell you what, consider this mission your exam. If it succeeds, I will upgrade you to jounin, no written exam needed." Tsunade smirked, noticing the wide grin spreading on Sakura's face. The girl was excited and she'd missed that determination of hers.

"Yo," an all too familiar voice filled the room as three sets of eyes shifted to the man who just appeared in a poof of smoke, much similar to the other day.

"I don't have to remind you that you're an hour late, do I Kakashi?" There was an uncomfortable edge to the Godaime's voice that made the masked man wave his hands up in defense as his eye crinkled.

"Nope, I'm well aware of that fact myself," he figured it would be wise to drop the excuses this time. She didn't look like she was in the mood to hear him out, even though this time he really had a good reason for being late.

Kakashi's one exposed eye suddenly settled on the pink-haired woman standing next to Shizune. Why everyone seemed to be looking pissed off today was beyond him.

"Welcome back, Sakura." He said, giving her a happy eye crease. Her reply was a mere "Hn," something he figured she'd picked up from the Uchiha a long time ago, but for her it was highly uncharacteristic. He knew better than to question her behavior, but he couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to deserve such a treatment from his favorite student. Surely Genma hadn't opened that big mouth of his had he? If that was the case his toothpick would fit perfectly into the senbon user's eye apple. He did not need his student to think of him as yet another old pervert. Well, more than she already did.

Kakashi sighed. Hoping this wasn't the case and that everyone just happened to have a bad day. "So, about the mission?" The silver haired crossed his arms, the fact that he'd just interrupted another conversation not even crossing his mind. This was Kakashi after all.

"I was just about to inform Sakura about the details." Tsunade replied, gaining a confused look from her student and a hard stare from the jounin.

Oh no… no, no, no… He was not going to be her partner, was he?

"Kakashi. Sakura. You are to listen very carefully about what I have to tell you. This information is to be kept strictly confidential. Is that clear?"

Sakura nodded. Kakashi mimicked her movement, giving his student a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, but not before raising an eyebrow at the hokage in question.

"You're sending me and Sakura on a mission alone?" He hadn't ment it to come out like that.

'What's the matter, am I not good enough to be on the same squad as the legendary copy ninja?' Sakura nearly spat out, but figured it would be highly unprofessional of her. She didn't want to act like a child in front of her master. She had grown damnit.

"No. You won't be going alone. Kakashi, you are to choose one ANBU member of your own choice to work as your backup. I recommend you choose someone you trust and work well with. He will be your only hope if something goes wrong. I will also assign a Yamanaka to your team, their skill are needed for this.

"Inoichi?" Kakashi asked.

"He's in cloud at the moment," Shizune quickly informed.

The hokage frowned. "I guess we'll have to send Ino then."

Sakura felt the urge to smile. Ino would be so excited about this.

"Anyways, over to the mission…" They both waited patiently for the Godaime to continue.

"Two of our most precious scrolls are missing. These scrolls containing both blueprints and information that is for the council's eyes only. You are better off not knowing everything that's in there, but know this, that in the wrong hands this kind of information can definitely be used against us. And the outcome will not be good, that much I can promise you."

Sakura's eyes widened and she could've sworn that, if only for a moment, the copy nin's eyes did exactly the same before returning to a blank stare.

"How is this even possible? I mean, aren't these things supposed to be guarded by at least six ANBU at all times?" Sakura asked, noticing the slight shook of the hokage's head.

"That doesn't matter. It's true that there is absolutely no way for an enemy to steal the scrolls due to the strict security…but… This happened because of betrayal. We've been deceived by our own ANBU members. Two of them to be precisely."

"What?" Kakashi snapped. "That can't be possible?" He said in disbelief. He knew for a fact, being a former ANBU captain himself, that they were very strict when it came to recruiting new members. They didn't just let anyone take that exam. Background checks, psychical interrogations and much more was carefully studied and checked upon before they even considered letting that person take the exam. Not to mention, he knew most of the ANBU and he couldn't think of a single one that would dare to betray the village just like that.

"It shouldn't be!" Tsunade said angrily, fist connection with the desk's surface. "But still, it did happen and the damage have been done. We need to act before those scrolls get in the wrong hands."

Sakura swallowed. "Do we know where the scrolls are?"

Tsunade sighed for probably the umpteenth time that day. "No." She said blankly. "But we do know someone who knows."

"The ones that have taken the scrolls aren't interesting in using them."

"Then what are they after?" The pink haired seemed eager, which Tsunade supposed was a god thing.

"These guys are only interested in one thing, that thing being money. They sell village secrets to rival villages, thereby causing wars and conflicts between other villages. There's no doubt that the same will happen to us if we just let this slide. They will probably sell the objective to the highest bidder." The hokage's eyes narrowed. "You get where I'm going with this?"

"You want us to act as bidders." Kakashi merely confirmed. Hands uncrossing and returning to his pockets.

"Exactly." Tsunade answered. "But it won't be that easy. You have to gain their trust. The scrolls won't be located with the people you are to meet with. If you blow your cover there's no doubt that the scrolls will be lost. It was by sheer luck that we actually found out who these people were and how to contact them. We can't afford to screw this up. This is where your acting skills come in handy Kakashi. I count on you too, Sakura."

Both nodded in understandment.

"Good. We've already set up your cover, now all that remains is to inform your fellow teammates. Sakura, inform Ino. Kakashi, you know what you have to do. You're dismissed."

Figured that the very moment those words left her mouth the copy nin was already gone. Sakura gave another respectful bow and headed for the door, her head filled with unwanted thoughts, she'd rather keep the headache.

Out of all of the jounin in Konoha she just had to be paired up with him. Fine, two could play the game of ignoring. She decided that she would only talk to him when the mission called for it, the rest of the time she'd leave him the hell alone. That's what he wanted wasn't it? She had Ino. Thankfully.

Sakura shook her head… She hadn't grown up at all…

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Kakashi was well on his way home, trying to come up with the most suitable backup. His first choice would've been Tenzo, but that man was on the same mission as Anko in hidden rain. Just his luck. Then there was always Gai, even though he wasn't an ANBU he possessed the skill of one. However, that was out of the question. He'd just recently spent a mission with Konoha's Green Best, and he'll be damned if he had to suffer through more of his rival's youth speeches. Not to mention, the guy tends to scare away the women. Not that Kakashi blamed them, he was at the brink of running away himself.

The silver haired ran a palm down his masked face. There was no way in hell he'd ask Genma.

No. Way.

Not that he didn't trust the guy, because he did. But due to the recent event at the bar it would just be too damn ironic for him to tag along. If he hadn't opened his mouth already the girls would be sure to know by the end of their mission. Why hadn't he stayed home that night? He should've listened to his gut feeling. It was usually right, but nooo… this was all his drinking buddy's fault. Well, actually it was Anko's fault for making him so depressed.

Well, Gai or Genma? Easy enough. Weeks of looking at a disturbing green spandex or a smack against his head when Sakura figured out that they had been checking out her ass and legs at the bar? Damn the man who ever invented sake. If he had to suffer more of those traumatizing images of Maito Gai hitting on beautiful, yet terrified, women he'd probably smack himself across the face so he guess he had his answer.

This would be one hell of a mission. He was happy to work with his little pink-haired student again though. Despite his little accident, he wanted to see how much she'd improved. He hadn't taught her since she was sixteen and barely spoken to her in the past two years. He missed all of team seven. But to his defense he'd barely spoken to anyone. After they'd brought back Sasuke things had happened… Things that had nothing to do with team seven. It had been one of the most horrifying moments in his life, just when he thought he'd been through hell already he'd gotten that one message. That one mission he'd foolishly begged the hokage to get.

Kakashi shook his head free of those thoughts. He didn't want to think about that. He'd come to the conclusion that the world was seriously fucked up a long time ago. His world anyway. Better not drag anyone else down with him.

"Genma it is…" He mumbled as he rounded another corner, heading for the senbon user's apartment.

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"Really? A mission?!" Pale, blue eyes lit up as Sakura explained the mission to her. It didn't seem that Ino was needed for anything else other than her bloodline limit, and even that was only to be used as a last resort if they somehow managed to screw up. But at least that counted for something. She could work as a backup as well.

"So, who's going with us?" The eager blonde questioned, leaned against the couch.

"Other than Kakashi… I have no idea. I guess we'll know by tomorrow." Sakura answered, taking an equal position at the opposite side of the couch.

"You sure you're alright about going on a mission with him?" Ino asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah… It's not like we're kids anymore. We can act like adults when the mission calls for it. That being said, I'm not planning on forgiving him anytime soon. If he wants to ignore me then I'll just let him." There was a bitter tone in Sakura's voice, but Ino chose to ignore it. As long as it didn't end with anyone dying because of the pink-haired's wrath she was relieved.

"If you say so, forehead." Ino stuck her tongue out.

"Pig!" She received a kick to the leg and chuckled. Really, what was she depressed about? A mission with Ino would certainly be fun…. As long as they didn't share rooms. Then hell would break loose. She had to fresh up her acting skills though, she was a bit curios about her role in all of this.

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"You're kidding?!" Genma nearly rolled on the floor laughing, his sides hurting. Apparently, he too could see the irony, but Kakashi didn't find it all that funny.

"You done now? I'd like to discuss certain details with you." The silver haired sighed, giving the other man a bored stare.

"Ow, come on… It's funny! Fine, fine… when are we leaving and stuff? And where the hell are we going?" Genma gathered himself and took a seat at the kitchen table. His one-eyed friend leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed, not looking so amused as himself. After all, this was a serious matter for Konoha.

"That I don't know yet. We're meeting at the office tomorrow morning for further details." Kakashi explained.

"So what am I supposed to do? Just tag along in case you happen to blew your cover? How many times have that happened? Hell, I bet you could pull this off on your own." Kakashi frowned. That might be true, he'd never blown a cover, but he didn't know his enemies yet so he would have to trust Tsunade's decision.

"Apparently. It doesn't mean you have to go and get yourself wasted every night. I'll be damned if I died while you're lying passed out in some random bar after getting knocked out by a woman you failed hitting on."

"Ouch, talk about hitting below the belt. That only happened once! Damn you, Hatake." Kakashi gave something that resembled a chuckle and Genma smirked. Those were rare coming from him these days. He too had heard what happened one and a half year ago. Well, not everything. He'd overheard some ANBU talk about it. But being a good friend and knowing Kakashi he chose not to ask. He knew Kakashi appreciated that fact. Was it something the copy nin didn't like to talk about it was his past.

"Some group we'll be," The brown-haired sighed, a hint of amusement in his voice. He didn't mind spending time with the silver haired and he certainly didn't mind going on a mission with two beautiful girls. Not that he'd try anything. Eighteen was a bit too young for his liking. Besides, Kakashi would kill him if he tried anything with his student. Being the overprotective sensei as he was.

"Ah," Kakashi replied. Looking up at the ceiling. 'Some group indeed'.

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"Pig, we're late! Hurry up! God, we're so dead…" Sakura ran for the door, her blonde friend right behind her as she tried to tread a sweater over her head. Figures the alarm clock would fail them today. Ino decided to sleep over, her heater was still out of order so Sakura made it very clear that if she was to spend the night she'd have to sleep on the couch and bathroom was off limit in the morning. Not that it mattered now since they'd both overslept.

After a few minutes of running, panting, cursing and tripping they finally made it to the office with a delay of less than ten minutes, thank God.

The door shot up and first thing they noticed was Genma as he seemed to be flirting with the hokage's assistant, Tsunade giving him an evil glare and he soon laughed it off and turned to face the girls.

"Greetings ladies. I believe you're a tad late there." He smirked.

Ino scanned the office. "Apparently we're not the only one who're late." She stated, giving Genma a satisfied grin.

"I believe you are."

Both Sakura and Ino turned to face the man leaning against the wall behind them. Well be damned, he too had managed to show up on time. Ino frowned in dismay. Damn Genma.

"Everyone here now?" Tsunade let her eyes shift between each person. Nods were given and there was a pause before she continued.

"I'll make it short then. Everything about your new identities are explained here" She held up a small scroll, tossing it to Kakashi who caught it with ease and stuffed it in his pocket.

"You'll be given one too, just in case." Tsunade said, tossing a different scroll to Genma. Sakura felt a bit annoyed that the two females were mostly ignored, but she guessed she was taking this a little too personal.

"Your destination is located in lightning country, a city called Seishin. The whereabouts of our enemies is also explained in the scroll. They're expecting you. You are to leave as soon as possible. Understood? Good." Tsunade let out a satisfied sigh.

"I'm counting on you guys. You're dismissed."

This time there was no one who disappeared in a poof of smoke. The four of them made their way out of the office and outside the hokage building. Genma was the first to stop and turn to face the others who also paused in their steps.

"When do we leave?" His question was with out a doubt directed at the silver haired so the kunoichis merely waited for him to say something.

"One hour. Outside the main gates. That alright with everyone?" Kakashi questioned while pulling out his trademark perverted book. It gained him a frown from Sakura, which very much amused him, but he wouldn't let her know that.

"Yes sir," Ino said in a mocking tone. Genma merely smiled at the girl, finding her teasing to be quite cute.

"One hour. Got'cha." Then the four of them went their separate ways.

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It took Kakashi about ten minutes to pack his stuff, lock his apartment and head out for the main gate. Fine, he went the opposite direction, but he had plenty of time before they were supposed to meet up. There was no way he was going to be early anyway. It was almost noon and the sun was already out in full force. Before he knew it his feet had taken him to the memorial monument. He hadn't been here this morning due to Genma knocking on his door and dragging him all the way to the hokage tower. He felt the need to apologize to the people he knew wouldn't answer him.

Kakashi traced the names engraved in the stone with his one exposed eye, like he did every morning. Every evening. Granted he wasn't out on a mission of course.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. The one word he felt he couldn't say enough. He knelt in front of the monument, his head hung a little lower than usual. Suddenly he felt a rather familiar presence behind him, but he didn't stand nor shift his gaze away from the stone.

"What're you doing here, Sakura?" His voice sounded a bit heavy.

"I kind of followed you here…" The pink-haired answered. But in all honesty she had no idea why she'd done it in the first place. She'd had all her stuff packed from beforehand and had caught a glimt of silver as she made her way to their meeting place. She'd gotten curios, her ignoring plan had kind of failed the very moment she decided to go after him.

"Shouldn't you be home packing?" It didn't really sound like he gave a crap, he almost sounded annoyed if anything.

"If you want me to leave just say so," Sakura sighed as she was about to grant his wish by turning around.

"I didn't say that." She hated the way his voice never gave away anything. Did he want her to stay or should she just get the hell out of there and leave him to his thoughts?

"But you want me to?" Sakura took a few steps closer to the kneeling man.

"You're free to stay if you want to." He simply told her.

'Geez, he didn't even answer my question.'

"I seriously don't get you, sensei. I really don't," Sakura groaned, placing herself next to the copy nin.

"I doubt anyone do."

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Again, so sorry for it being so short. And no, it won't be your usual 'Sakura has to sleep with the enemy' type of story. I'm taking my time to develop their relationship, so just bear with me for a little while and you will get your smut eventually.

Serenity-Chama