Flaming Heart
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I write only for pure entertainment!
Author Note: Thanks for your reviews of the previous chapter. As you can see, I finally finished the chapter! Hopefully you'll enjoy it. Here it goes...
"Finally!" Jiraiya complained, spotting Tsunade and the pink-haired girl. He was sitting cross-legged on the tree branch. His elbows were resting on his legs and his hands were supporting his chin. His dark eyes once filled with tedium were now glowing with excitement.
Both Tsunade and Sakura looked upwards and stared at a grinning Jiraiya. He was now standing on the tree branch and Sakura lips parted as she could only assume that the white-haired man was trying to make a cool pose. Tsunade right eye twitched and her lips formed a straight line as she stared at Jiraiya's ridiculous posture.
Jiraiya both legs were apart, his right hand was lying on his waist and his right arm was pointing to the sky. His eyes were open wide and he had a mischievous smile adorning his features.
Sakura found herself smiling despite the ridiculous pose. The way Jiraiya eyes glowed as he looked down at them, immersed with life… just like Naruto's eyes whenever he made a joke, whenever he got yelled at, whenever he jumped and punched the air and insisted to say that he was going to be a Hokage someday.
"There you are! Two beauties have come just for me!" Jiraiya exclaimed, throwing his head back, staring at the clean sky, "I have been blessed!" the arm that was pointing to the sky swiftly moved to his heart.
Tsunade rolled her eyes and sighed through her nose, "Just get down,"
"What? No hello?" Jiraiya feigned a hurt expression as he jumped of the tree branch onto the ground. He did not wait for an answer, his dramatic expression changed to a serious one, "were you followed?"
Tsunade shook her head. Sakura turned to stare at the blonde-haired woman and opened her mouth to say something but Tsunade waved her hand in front of Sakura's face.
"Minato is smarter than we thought," Tsunade smirked as she looked down at the pink-haired girl.
Jiraiya snorted, "Of course he is," he added proudly, "I trained him remember?"
Tsunade eyed him and suppressed a laugh, "Hai, it still amazes me how Namikaze did not end with a permanent brain damage,"
Sakura eyed Tsunade and then looked at the pouting white-haired man.
"Well… I think it's safe to stay here," said Tsunade as she looked around. Jiraiya nodded and he and Tsunade turned to stare at Sakura. Both wore a serious expression on their features that almost scared her.
"Sakura…" The pink-haired girl stared at Tsunade; her attention was very devoted to the blonde-haired woman, "Jiraiya and I are leaving Konoha…"
Confusion flickered in Sakura's emerald eyes, "Leaving?" Sakura whispered, "B-but why?" Something heavy held her heart. She did not want them to go. Not now! Not when she has someone that knows… and more importantly… believes in her.
Tsunade offered the pink-haired girl a sad smile, "Hear me out first," Sakura nodded hesitantly, "We need to know what your intentions are,"
Sakura didn't need Tsunade to elaborate. She knew exactly what Tsunade was getting at. Nodding slowly, Sakura sighed deeply and looked up to the two Sannin.
"I… I've decided to change the future," said Sakura as her eyes lingered on both Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Jiraiya and Tsunade traded knowing looks before they redirected their gaze at the pink-haired girl. Tsunade was going to say something but Jiraiya beat her to it.
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Jiraiya questioned, his dark eyes burning into her emerald ones.
Sakura eyes widened as Jiraiya stared back at her. Her heart skipped a beat and her jaw fell down in a mist of surprise and shock.
"I… I still am thinking of something," Sakura said, trying to calm herself down. Her head turned slightly to stare at a contemplatively Tsunade.
"Sakura… let us help you," said Tsunade, placing a comforting hand on the pink-haired girl shoulder.
Sakura eyes widened. She had seen it, the resolve to get involved in Jiraiya's eyes.
"H-help m-me?" Sakura stuttered, hiding her trembling hands inside her pockets. Both Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded at her question.
"You think we would let you have the credits all to yourself?" Jiraiya shot her an amused look and then chuckled, "We are dealing with demons here, and you're going to need all the help you can get,"
Sakura didn't know what to say. Her insides got warm and she could feel something burst inside her… she could feel hope.
"So here's the plan," said Tsunade, leaned forward and so did Jiraiya, though the white haired-man was leaning more to Tsunade's side than towards Sakura. His face was awkwardly close to the blonde-haired woman large breasts, "Jiraiya and I are leaving to gather some information… there was some rumors, a few years ago about an old man who sealed the Shichibi, last we heard he was at the Lightening Country,"
Sakura slowly nodded at the piece of information, "And what else-"
"You just do your thing," Jiraiya said, one eye staring at her while his other eye was somehow trying to peek through Tsunade's cleavage.
Sakura blinked at Jiraiya. He was such a pervert. Tsunade noticed Sakura expression and slowly looked at Jiraiya. Her honey eyes narrowed in displeasure and in a matter of seconds, Jiraiya's face had collided with the floor.
Ignoring the Sannin protests, Tsunade smiled down at Sakura, "You'll have to stay here and pretend nothing's wrong. I'm sure you still have things to do, train as hard as you can, and try to research as much as you can…" Tsunade then started to laugh. Jiraiya and Sakura both stared at her wonderingly.
Suddenly, Jiraiya started to laugh too and Sakura narrowed her eyes as she stared at both Tsunade and Jiraiya with a puzzled face.
"And then when I stared at Jiraiya he was tied to the pole like the loser he is," Tsunade laugher grew louder.
Jiraiya's laugher died down and he shot a quick glare at the blonde-haired woman. Tsunade arched an eyebrow at the pink-haired girl as if she was inciting her to laugh.
"Hahaha!" Sakura added quickly, hoping that her laugher wasn't so superficial, "For real?"
"You bet!" Tsunade added as she stepped back and stretched her arms in a lazy manner.
"Here you are!"
Sakura jumped startled as she stared at a red-haired woman who had mysteriously appeared in front of her.
The red-haired woman pointed her index finger at Tsunade, "Thought you'd get away from me? Not this time!"
Jiraiya and Sakura stood side by side, as they watched Tsunade scratch the back of her neck, "Kushina! Nice… to see you,"
"Bullshit!" Kushina exclaimed, then suddenly she peeked behind her shoulder and glared at Jiraiya then her glare softened and she looked at Sakura, "Oh hello, pinkie!"
Sakura eyes narrowed at the nickname but said nothing as the red-haired woman turned her attention back to Tsunade, "Now where's the money you owe me?"
Both Jiraiya and Sakura sweat dropped.
A large group of children squealed in excitement as they gathered just outside the Ninja Academy, forming a circle. Inside the circle were three boys. Two boys stood side by side facing the other boy.
The boy who was looking at the two boys did not look as confident as the other two did. He tried to ignore the surrounding people yelling and their mocking laugher.
The two boys were slightly older and had smug smiles on their pale features. The tallest one had short spiky dark hair and his eyes were dark as void. The other one was slightly shorter and had his long dark hair on a ponytail. He had his arms crossed around his chest and had a look of malice in his dark eyes.
"Guys…" the boy started as he looked up at the older boys. He swallowed dry as they slowly stepped forwards, "It… it wasn't me! I swear!"
The tallest boy sniggered as he looked ahead at the shorter boy, "You think we care about that stupid prank of yours?" he snorted loudly as he eyed the boy with disdain, "We just want to teach you something…"
The shorter boy looked slightly confused, "Huh? Teach me? What are you on about?"
"Shut up!" the other boy, whose hair was on a ponytail ordered, "It's not your fault really…" his loud voice swiftly diminished, his tone of voice changed from an annoyed one to a mocking singing one, "after all… you should blame that sister of yours,"
The other boy was about to ask them what they were on about when a loud familiar voice echoed in the air, "Ughhh! Let me through!" and after that, followed up several whines, "Kenji!"
Kenji, looked up at his twin brother who somehow had manages to break through the crowd into the circle.
"Look who decided to show up," the spiky dark-haired boy said, glaring at the other twin.
"What the hell you think you're doing, Uchiha?" Kenjiro asked, angrily.
"What does it look like, you baka!" said Kenji as he rolled his eyes at his brother, "They're picking a fight with us!"
"They are?" Kenjiro asked, his brown eyes bulged, as he looked mildly shocked.
"You're such an idiot! Why did you come anyway?" Kenji asked as he gritted his teeth in annoyance.
The two Uchiha's traded confused looks before looking back at the twins.
"Why did I come?" Kenjiro asked dumbfounded, "Why, I came to save your sorry ass, that's why!"
Kenji snorted and placed a fist close to Kenjiro's face, "As if I'd need your help!"
"Nani?!"
"Shut up both of you!" the tallest Uchiha said irately, "It doesn't matter, you're both toasted, you don't stand a chance against us!"
"Oh yeah!?" the twins asked in unison.
"Yeah!" the Uchihas replied also in unison.
"Kenji! Leave this to me!" said Kenjiro.
Kenji was about to protest but Kenjiro cut him off as he walked towards the Uchiha's who seemed highly amused and confident.
"Behold my new technique! It was taught by the Sannin Jiraiya himself!" Kenjiro looked at the watching crowded to watch their mouth wide opened in admiration, "That's right,"
One of the Uchiha's stepped back hesitantly, the tallest one remained firm on his spot.
"Hn, I don't believe you! As if Jiraiya-sama has time for losers like you!"
Kenjiro eye twitched, "You leave me no choice!" his hands came together and then he started to make hand signs.
The Uchiha's eyes widened in a mix of shock and fear.
"QUICKSAND NO JUTSU!" Kenjiro shouted as he stopped his hand signs. Everyone gasped in anticipation and the two Uchiha's quickly looked at their feet in sheer panic.
They started to jump on the floor, scared that the floor would give in at any minute.
Kenji only had time to blink before he could gather what was really going on, suddenly he felt something grasp his arm. He found himself being dragged away between the crowd.
"What the hell was that?" Kenji asked as they escaped the circle and started to sprint away from the academy.
"What was what?" Kenjiro asked as they ran side by side.
"That jutsu!" Kenji snapped.
"Oh that?" Kenjiro stopped as he doubled over with laugher, "Hahaha! They really believed it!"
Kenji eyes widened, "It… it was a trick?" Kenjiro nodded as he tried to breathe between his laugher, "You Baka! We're so dead tomorrow…"
Sakura noticed it. She had noticed it since the very beginning, since that day she left the hospital with Rin. She had seen the stares, their hardened fierce eyes on the brunette girl. The very same stares they were giving her now.
Sakura fought to control the twisting knot that had begun to fester in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to turn around and give them some of their own medicine. Hell, she wanted to break someone apart. It was beyond infuriating.
She had no idea why they looked upon her and Rin this way. Suddenly, she came to a stop. Were they like this towards Kakashi-sensei as well? Her nose twitched slightly as she frowned in thought. Then, shaking her head she started to walk down street again, completely oblivious to what others were whispering behind her back.
If there was something, that Sakura could care less, was gossiping. She often felt ashamed just to think that she was once like that… just to think that her own eyes once stared at the same way at Naruto made her feel spasms of guilt course through her body.
Sakura turned left and let out a small yelp as she was send directly to the ground, butt landing.
"Oh… are you alright?"
Sakura looked up at the somewhat familiar voice. Her emerald eyes bored into Kyo's dark ones.
"Kyo!" she exclaimed somewhat surprised to see him. She flushed slightly as she realized that she was still in the middle of the floor, she then flung herself up and juddered the dust away.
"Sakura," Kyo acknowledge her with a slight bow of his head, "What are you doing, here?" the Uchiha smiled discreetly at her baffled expression.
"Huh? I'm actually looking for my team-mates," even though those words came out of her lips as if she had just said the normal thing, to the pink-haired girl they didn't sounded completely right.
Sure, Kakashi-sensei was somewhat her team-mate. However, the others… the others were not her team. A cold feeling ran up her spine and she tried to shudder away all the negative thoughts. She couldn't allow herself to feel homesick.
"Actually I think-" Kyo started but Sakura didn't seem to have heard him.
"I already checked in the hospital for Rin but they said she had left with Kakashi one hour ago," Sakura shrugged and smiled, "I tried Kakashi's house but no one answered and now I'm going to try and check Rin's place again and-,"
"Sakura, actually I think I saw—"
Sakura sighed, "and if that doesn't work then I'll go to Minato-sensei…"
Kyo arched an amused eyebrow as the pink-haired girl placed a finger on her lips, deep in thought.
"Yes! That's it! I still haven't checked the Hokage-tower!" Sakura added as if she had won a prize, her emerald eyes beaming.
"They're at the training field," said Kyo, a small smile now visible in his thin lips. Sakura eyes shot upwards and bored into his dark ones.
"Oh!!" Sakura managed to say as she looked at him, her heart rythym accelerated as she could have sworn she was looking at Sasuke's eyes, "Oooh!" she repeated and chuckled nervously.
Kyo could not help but to chuckle back, "I'll walk you," his tone of voice was pleasant and yet left no room for protests.
Sakura nodded as Kyo walked with her. At first, they walked in silence; Sakura eyed some gossiping citizens from the corner of her eyes and often scowled silently. However, Kyo seemed to have noticed it.
He jerked his head to look at her as they walked down the street towards the training field, "It's because you are their team-mate,"
Sakura snorted, "I already figured that out," and then she looked up to look back at him, "What's their problem anyway?"
"It's a long story," Kyo told her.
"Well, we could always walk slower," Sakura, offered him an innocent grin and he chuckled lightly.
"Alright…" Kyo added hesitantly, "Does the name Obito ring a bell?"
Sakura stopped for a few seconds, her contemplatively expression changed to a frown.
"No, it's quite alright… it's something that happened years ago b-but it's still so… so carved in our hearts. We were on a mission… and Minato-sensei… h-he gave Kakashi full control of the t-team. It was supposed to be a happy day you know? Kakashi had just made jounin at thirteen, we were all thrilled about it…, and Obito… well he was late as always. He was always late, always. And he was also always smiling, a-always… always making everyone laugh. B-but that day… everything… e-everything went wrong,"
"Shhh, it's alright…you don't need to talk about it,"
"N-no … It's not o-okay. It was me! It was because of me that… t-that he died. I… if only I wasn't the weakest link… then…t-then he would still be alive,"
Sakura's frown deepened, "Hai,"
Kyo nodded, "He was Obito Uchiha…"
"Oh?" said Sakura as she blinked stupidly at Kyo. Then her eyes widened as sudden realization hit her. Obito Uchiha… Rin… medic-nin… Kakashi-sensei… Sharingan, "That's why… b-but it's not their fault!" Sakura added perhaps too loudly.
Kyo looked calm and collected as before, "They shouldn't have done it anyway. They should have been more considerate to our clan's trait,"
"What?" Sakura asked as she looked at Kyo as if she was looking directly at Sasuke, "Clan's trait? Hah!" She snorted as she looked directly at his eyes, "Let me ask you this… were you there?"
"There? Where?" Kyo asked feeling somewhat confused by the pink-haired girl question. He quickly scanned their surrounding area. There was a few people gathering and staring at them. It was no surprise; they were after all standing in the middle of the street facing each other.
"Were you there when Obito died?" Sakura asked, her voice was calm but her eyes were in flames, "Do you know what happened that day? Do you know what Rin and Kakashi went through that day? Do you know what words were spoken that day?"
Kyo opened his mouth to say something but he closed it right away, Sakura smiled and placed her index finger on his chest, "Then you should try and be more considerate about all that," she added and turned her back on him.
HELLZ YEAH!
Sakura allowed herself to giggle at her inner self. She carried on walking; she proudly raised her head looking straight ahead, ignoring the gasps and the stares of the people around her. A smug smile adorned her pale features as she spotted the training fields.
A rushing feeling took over Sakura and she found herself running through the green grass and the tall trees. She could hear laugher and found her smug smile turn into a wide grin as she recognized Rin's laugher.
She came to a stop as she looked at the scene in front of her.
Rin was kneeling on the grass, her hands holding her stomach as she laughed. In front of Rin were Kenji and Kenjiro, both running around a certain silver-haired jounin. Kakashi seemed to be warning them to be quiet but they weren't paying him any attention.
Kenji threw himself at one of Kakashi's legs causing the masked-nin to fall down. Kenjiro looked upwards to the sky and imitated a war cry before launching himself towards Kakashi.
Sakura heart started to beat strongly against her chest. A feeling of warmth spread over her as she watched them being so carefree… so… happy. Looking at them made her feel… so out of place.
At that very moment, something heavy landed on Sakura's shoulder. Startled, the pink-haired girl let out a small scream.
"Are you just going to stand here all day?"
Sakura eyelashes fluttered as Minato-sensei smiled down at her. Her eyes were fixed on his blue-eyes and on his smile as if she was stuck in a trance.
Naruto…
"Hey!" Kenji pouted as Kakashi placed him and Kenjiro down without any effort. He heard a small scream from his left; he quickly jerked his head and spotted Minato-sensei and Sakura.
Rin laugher died down as she too stared at the pink-haired girl. Rin seemed somewhat relieved and had a funny expression in her features as she stared at Sakura, as if she was hoping to see someone else with her.
Kakashi shrugged it off and ran towards Sakura.
"What took you so long?" He asked as he stopped in front of her. His eye narrowed at Sakura who ignored him and kept looking at Minato-sensei with an odd look stamped in her face.
Minato-sensei smiled awkwardly, "Ready Sakura?"
Sakura seemed to have snapped back to reality and slowly nodded her head. Yet, Kakashi could still see the puzzled expression in her pale features. She finally looked at him and smiled.
Minato started to walk away towards the twins. Sakura shook her head slightly and seemed to be scowling herself. She slowly turned around ready to follow Minato-sensei but Kakashi placed himself in front of her, blocking her way.
"Hey!" she greeted cheerfully as if she only had noticed him now and Kakashi rolled his eye.
"What's wrong? Do you have a crush on Minato-sensei?" Kakashi added mockingly watching as her emerald eyes widened in shock.
"W-what?" she questioned obviously taken back with his question. Then she narrowed her eyes at him, "don't be stupid!"
"It looked like you were gawking at him," Kakashi said shrugging his shoulders.
Sakura jaw dropped, "I-I was not gawking at him!" she said horrified by the silver-haired boy words.
Kakashi smirked, "I could have sworn that you were drooling slightly as well,"
"I was not!" Sakura emerald eyes widened at Kakashi.
"Suuree.." Kakashi muttered as he shrugged his shoulders, he turned his back on her and a smile formed under his mask, "It's okay really… it's understandable… there is a lot of girls in love with Minato-sensei and being the Hokage-" Kakashi was interrupted as he felt something warm around his arm. He looked surprised as Sakura yanked him towards her.
"I wasn't!" she exclaimed, her mouth slightly open and then she hurriedly closed it after she realized how stupid she had sounded. She could not believe that she actually fell for it. "Hatake Kakashi!" she practically screamed as she lunged herself after the masked nin.
She could feel the win caress her skin, her pink-hair staying behind as she ran through the training field, chasing Kakashi. She laughed as she ran after the silver-haired boy. All the previous feeling of being out of place were no more.
Rin stared at Sakura and Kakashi with a small smile. Lately, since they had returned, Kakashi had adopted a much more relaxing posture. Rin knew he was trying to become a better person and she knew that partly it was due to the pink-haired girl. Somehow, Sakura seemed to be the knot on the rope that kept them holding on, that kept the rope from falling apart.
Minato too seemed quite amused by Kakashi reaction.
"Well… we know something more about your skills," said Kakashi as he dodged Sakura.
She stared at him defiantly, "Oh yeah, what?"
"You're awfully slow,"
"Oii!" A loud voice caught everyone's attention.
"Jiraiya-sama!" the two twins yelled in unison as Jiraiya and Tsunade walked towards them.
"We were looking for you, Minato," said Tsunade, her honey eyes implied that there was something that needed to be discussed privately.
Minato nodded and smiled, "Kakashi and Sakura are going to spar,"
Tsunade arched a curious eyebrow while Jiraiya was struggling under Kenji and Kenjiro.
"Okay guys, show us what you got," said Minato, his bright-blue eyes stared intently at the pink-haired girl. His smile disappeared and a serious meditative expression took place. He knew something was happening behind his back and he knew that Jiraiya and Tsunade did not tell him the whole truth. However, even though he was not inside their secret, he wasn't worried. If Jiraiya and Tsunade chose not to tell him, it was because they had a good reason.
Kakashi nodded as he stared at Sakura. They had both listened to Minato. Sakura bit her lip and quickly glanced towards Tsunade who seemed to be talking to Rin.
"Remember, no Sharingan… and no using that strength of yours," Minato added as he crossed his arms around his chest.
Jiraiya smacked the twin's heads earning two loud cries and placed them on the floor. He stared ahead towards Kakashi and Sakura, "Not now boys…"
Tsunade and Rin stopped talking. The blonde-haired woman stared intently at Sakura as Minato mentioned her strength. She was curious to see with her own eyes, how much Sakura had learned under her future-self supervision.
Kakashi smirked at Sakura. "Well Sakura, it was nice knowing you,"
Sakura eyes snapped back towards the silver-haired jounin.
"What do you mean Kakashi?" Sakura asked mockingly. "You are the one that is going to greet the floor, not me!"
Kenjiro scoffed while Kenji rolled his eyes. Rin, however, smiled at both of them.
"Kakashi-kun, you still don't know what Sakura-chan is capable of," said Rin as she sat down between her brothers.
"I don't know Rin. I don't think she has what it takes to take me down."
Sakura raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly into his personal space. "Is that so, Mr. Hatake? Well, I'll just have to prove you wrong, ne?"
Tsunade laughed. "Well, this is going to be interesting to watch," then she stared at Jiraiya who had his arms crossed around his chest, "What do you think? Want… to bet on which of the two lovebird's will win?"
Jiraiya gave the blonde-haired woman a wide grin and before she could blink, he was standing next to her, an arm around her shoulders, "That's the spirit! I'll have to bet on Kakashi," Jiraiya turned his head to Kakashi, "Oi boy! Don't let me down!"
Kakashi and Sakura nodded shortly at each other as they got into a ready stance. Sakura narrowed her emerald eyes and focused only on Kakashi, forgetting about the watching crowd. She knew that Kakashi-sensei was an excellent fighter. However, the boy in front of her wasn't her Kakashi-sensei… not yet anyways. He was still a lot different from the silver-haired jounin she knew.
The silver-haired boy stared at Sakura; he could see by the muscles of her legs that she was tense. A smirk formed underneath his mask as he stepped forward and Sakura legs trembled with anticipation.
"Heh, scared?" he asked mockingly.
Sakura cursed mentally and then rolled his eyes at him, "As if!"
Kakashi eyebrow arched in surprise as the pink-haired girl ran towards him. He watched her feet and furrowed his eyebrow as he watched her jump in the air, one fist ready to hit him.
He quickly dodged her punch as he stepped to the side, he then turned around preparing a punch of his own but wasn't expecting her to crouch and kick his knee. He rolled on the floor and quickly stood up.
Sakura had a smug expression as she straightened herself.
"Not bad," Kakashi admitted as he placed himself back to a ready stance, "My turn,"
Sakura eyes widened as Kakashi disappeared. The back of her neck stood up as she felt his presence behind her. She gasped, turned around and barely had time to block Kakashi punches.
Damn I've forgotten how fast he is, she thought as she bit her lip and moved according to his punches, her arms lifting in order to block them. Kakashi moved forward while she moved backwards.
Kakashi could see that she was finding it hard to keep up with his speed. Taking full advantage of it, he sprinted to her side and elbowed her back. Sakura groaned in pain, as she was not clearly expecting it. She had to pay more attention and try to read into his attacks.
Easier said than done. Before she could even step away from him, something hit her side. Wind rushed passed her face, whipping her hair out of her eyes as she fell, and random leaves slapped at her. After a certain distance, Sakura twisted in mid-air, flipping herself around so that when she landed, she was on her feet. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she fell into a crouch to absorb the impact and then sprang back up again.
She glared at Kakashi who was standing merely looking at her. He had a hand inside his pocket as if he was telling her that he only required one hand to fight her.
"You weren't kidding when you said that Taijutsu really was your weakness," said Kakashi as he stared at her, "Perhaps next time you can spar Kenji. He's better opponent than you,"
Sakura eyebrow twitched violently and quickly launched herself across the training field at Kakashi.
Kakashi smiled as Sakura sprung forwards, her emerald eyes in flames.
Now this is exactly the Sakura I know, thought Kakashi as he avoided her punches and kicks. She was faster and he could feel the intent of actually landing a hit on him coming from her attacks. He then, saw her weakness right there.
Whenever, she launched her self to attack she quickly forgot about her openings, about her defenses. That of course needed to be fixed, but for now he would take advantage of it.
He quickly deflected her attacks and could see her anger turn into frustration. He then jumped in mid-air and landed behind her, he quickly turned around, held her arm, and pulled her towards him.
Sakura gasped in surprise as she felt herself being pulled backwards. She looked into Kakashi eye wonderingly, but before she could think of an escape, Kakashi gave her a solid blow sending her across towards a tree. Sakura closed her eyes tightly as she felt her back slam hard. She would have fell down but something kept her firmly on her feet.
She opened her eyes and looked at Kakashi who was oddly close to her. He had one arm around her slender waist.
"You… lose," he whispered.
Sakura eyes widened. Her heart was beating so strongly against her chest that she wondered if it would jump and fall onto the floor.
"Come on Sakura! Don't make me lose money!" Tsunade voice reached Sakura ears.
Then she slowly shook her head and her lips twisted up into a brief smirk that disappeared almost instantly as a small cough escaped her lips. Kakashi chuckled and took his arm away from her waist.
"You want to know why you lost?" he asked her, his dark eye beaming.
Sakura emerald eyes bored into his uncovered eye, "Who said I lost?"
Kakashi opened his mouth to retort but never managed to say anything as Sakura forehead collided with his own. Both Sakura and Kakashi groaned in pain. However, Kakashi seemed more distracted with his own pain than Sakura.
Sakura then, kicked him to the floor. Kakashi looked aghast as Sakura sat on his firm stomach, her legs on his sides. Sakura emerald eyes were beaming and… teary from the forehead collision.
"What the hell Sakura?" He asked as he massaged his forehead, his eye pausing on her forehead, "You have one hell of a forehead!"
"Sakura-chan!!" Rin cheered clapping her hands.
Kenjiro looked mildly surprised while Kenji pouted. Jiraiya smacked his own forehead as Tsunade shot him a 'pay-me-now' look.
Sakura glared dangerously at him, "Say it,"
Kakashi shot her a wonderingly look, "What? You have a super large forehead?"
"GRR!" Sakura groaned and smacked his head, "Say that I won which makes me…" Sakura paused and seemed to be deep in thought, "which makes me the champion,"
Kakashi blinked, "the champion?"
"Alright, seems like we have a winner," Minato smiled down at Kakashi and Sakura.
Sakura smiled at Minato, "I was lucky,"
Kakashi groaned and pushed Sakura off him, "Damn right you were," he told her as he stood up. Sakura chuckled and she too pushed herself up, "You have too many openings, when you attack you forget to read your opponents counter-attack," Kakashi told her, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Not only that but you're also really slow, as medic-nin your job is to avoid to get hit so you really need to train hard,
"Hai, and that is why you will train until you improve," Minato told Sakura, his blue-eyes boring into hers, "Only until then, after you improved, I'll let you go on missions,"
"What?!" Kakashi asked not sounding too content. Then he turned to Sakura, "You better take this seriously,"
Sakura rolled her eyes and didn't bother to reply.
A blonde-haired girl waved her hands in the air energetically, "I'm telling you! It's true!"
A purple-haired girl sighed in exasperation as she looked up to the blonde-haired girl, "You're full of bull, no one believes you anyway, so give it up and go back home,"
The blonde-haired girl gasped, slightly taken back with her friend harsh tone, "Yumi! I'm serious! Why would I make something like this up?"
Yumi ran a polished hand through her short purple-hair and sighed, "You're really telling me you saw Kakashi-kun and this pink-haired girl snuggling?"
The blonde-haired girl nodded feverishly, "When I was walking home yesterday, I heard people at the training area… It sounded like Kakashi-kun so of course I hurried to see what was going on," she paused with a slight blush in her cheeks, "and then when I got there, I saw Hokage-sama team there and… and in the middle of the field was Kakashi-kun under this pink-haired girl!"
Yumi golden eyes widened, "And? What else?"
The blonde-haired girl rubbed the back of her neck, "Well… I'm not entirely sure… I wasn't in a perfect angle… but they did look like they were snuggling!" she spat horrified.
"So you are saying that you saw them together… but you aren't sure what they were exactly doing…"
"H-hai… b-but they did seem like they were snuggling!"
"Aki… you're so full of bull!"
Whether Aki was telling the truth or not didn't matter, because the piece of gossip hit the grapevine so fast it must have been a slow day for everything else.
It soared across Konoha at the speed of light.
"Kakashi has gotten a girlfriend? Oh, that's fantastic!" an old lady sang to the girl who had been carrying her shopping bags.
"How is that fantastic?" sobbed the small girl, who swore to the gods she was the one that was going to marry the mysterious silver-haired ninja some day. "Kakashi-kun can't date that despicable thing!"
The old woman stopped to look at the girl, "Why not? Kakashi could use a girl like her!"
"Grandmother you don't even know her!"
"If Kakashi is dating her it's because she's a good girl, Mika,"
"You're such a traitor! I full-heartedly disapprove!"
"Awww, come on Sakura-chan! It's not really that bad," said Rin as she eyed the sulking pink-haired girl.
Sakura looked up to the brunette girl, "Not that bad?" she repeated arching an eyebrow, "Not that bad?! Everyone is talking about me! J-just to think… that Kakashi and… I," Sakura brought her hands to her face and suppressed a groan.
Rin smiled despite Sakura bad-mood. In fact, she thought it was highly entertained to see the pink-haired kunoichi reaction at the latest rumors. However, Kakashi was even much more amusing than Sakura.
Both girls stood outside the silver-haired jounin still waiting for him to open the door. It seemed as if he was not coming out any time soon.
"Actually I think it's funny," said Rin as she smiled down at the pink-haired girl who gave her a deadly glare.
"How is it funny, Rin?" Sakura sighed through her nose, "Kakashi and I… is just…"
WRONG! He's Kakashi-sensei for crying out loud!
"What?" Rin questioned utterly curious, "Sakura-chan you're weird. Kakashi has many admirers and besides he's not that bad,"
Sakura blinked and then her lips twisted upwards in a mischievous smile, "He's not that bad hein? Pray tell Rin… do you have a crush on Kakashi?"
"W-what!?" Rin asked, her cheeks burning and turning complete scarlet, "Of course not!"
Sakura nodded slowly and grinned at Rin.
"What?" Rin asked as she narrowed her eyes at Sakura's grin.
"Nah… it's nothing," Sakura chuckled causing Rin to roll her eyes.
"Come on, do tell!" the brunette girl insisted not liking one bit the beaming look on Sakura emerald eyes.
"It's just cute," Sakura said trying to keep a straight face.
"Cute?" Rin asked puzzled, "What's so cute?"
"You… blushing…" Sakura said arching her eyebrows.
"Sakura-chan! Kakashi-kun is just a friend! He's my team-mate! I couldn't possible-"
Sakura laughed at Rin's awkwardness, "Relax Rin… I was just joking,"
Both girls suddenly stopped chatting at once, as the door quickly opened, "I'm going to kill whoever started this rumor," said Kakashi as he stared at both girls with a murdering look stamped on his face.
Sakura laughed and stared at him, "Why, Kakashi-kun! I thought we'd make such a cute couple!"
Kakashi blinked and stared at Sakura as if she had completely lost it.
"Don't take me wrong, Sakura-chan! It's just you're not really my type," Kakashi added with a smirk forming underneath his mask.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Are we going or not? I have to get to Konoha's library after training,"
Kakashi and Rin shot her wonderingly looks, "Why?" they both asked in unison.
Sakura smiled at them, "Medical research!" she told them satisfied with her own little lie and at the same time guilty for having to lie in the first place.
"Really?" Rin added excitedly, "Maybe I could tag along?" she asked expectantly.
Well I didn't see that one coming, thought Sakura as the three of them headed to the training field. –
A/N: That's it until the next update. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and as always, please review if you could.