Flaming Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I've been trying to answer everyone who has reviewed so far. A big hug to those I haven't replied to yet.

A big thanks for all the reviews and thanks to the anonymous reviewers, who I cannot answer back! I never thought that I'd reach this many reviews. I love you all!

The birds claimed the clean blue sky for themselves; they flapped their wings and headed north, singing cheerfully. Beneath them, on the ground, between the tall trees of the forest were two figures. Their trek was slow and resigned. The blonde-haired woman turned her head to the white-haired man who whistled along with the cheerful bird's tone. Her honey eyes flashed dangerously at the oblivious man.

"Easy Tsunade, worry not! I happen to know the way to those mountains,"

She gritted her teeth together in sheer annoyance. After all these years, she still wondered why on earth she listened to him. Not only he did not know the way to those mountains but it was rather obvious that they were completely lost.

"Stop it," hissed the blonde woman as her hands curved into fists.

Jiraiya fish-like lips stopped whistling. He eyed the irritated woman from the corner of his eyes and offered her a half grin, "Tsunade look!" his cheerful voice made her cringe.

Was he not aware of how murder-like she was feeling right now? She could feel the blood boiling in her veins, an invisible strength driving her madder by the second, such strength that could only be appeased by punching the man that was standing at her side until he could no longer move a muscle.

Completely oblivious to her anger, Jiraiya stepped forward. Only then she noticed the small inn in front of them. All of her anger immediately vanished; a relief smile crossed her features as she made her way to the small wooden inn.

Jiraiya chuckled as the blonde-haired woman pushed him out of the way. He sighed dreamily as he watched her hips moving elegantly as she walked ahead.

"Maybe we can share a room…" he whispered contently.

His eyes bulged; he swallowed dry as Tsunade stopped on her tracks.

"What did you say?" she asked darkly, a fire dancing in her honey eyes.

Jiraiya laughed dryly, his heart beating strongly against his chest, "I didn't say anything!" he exclaimed quickly.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "Remember Jiraiya, we have a job to do,"

Jiraiya's expression became serious, "I did not forget," he said walking by her side.

"Maybe the Inn owner knows something," said Tsunade, a long sigh escaped her lips.

She hoped so. So far, since they had arrived to the Grass country, they hadn't gathered a single clue about the man who sealed the beast. A few people that they met on the way knew small stories about this famous man, but every story they heard didn't help at all with this man location.

It was needless to say that Tsunade was becoming a little hopeless. She knew that this man could help them. If Sakura was right, which she did not doubt she was, then this Kyuubi monster was going to strike Konoha soon. They had no time to lose. Every minute counted.

"How many rooms?" the old woman at the reception asked with a sly grin on her wrinkled features. The old woman grin disappeared instantly as her brown eyes spotted Tsunade's deadly glare.

Jiraiya gulped as he sensed the tension of the air increase. He chuckled lightly and patted Tsunade's shoulder.

"Why don't you let me pay for your room, Tsunade?" said Jiraiya, hoping to steal Tsunade's attention away from the old woman. He didn't want to hide another body.

Tsunade's anger expression dissipated away, replaced by a happy one. Her honey eyes seemed almost too innocent as she stared at the white-haired man.

"Okay!" she said, not passing the opportunity to keep her money in her purse.

The inn was very small. It had only ten rooms available. The beds were small but comfortable. The inn had no illumination at all. The only illumination was provided by candles. Tsunade sighed at that.

She carefully inspected the bathroom and marvelled at the sight of it. It was perfectly clean. She would take a long bath later tonight.

Right now, she needed a bottle of sake.

Tsunade left her room and walked towards the small bar. Her honey eyes beamed with excitement at the balcony. First, she looked around. Her eyes almost popped out as she noticed Jiraiya sitting at one of the tables, two young girls holding his arms. A vein popped in her head.

She quickly approached the table, almost drooling in rage when none of them acknowledged her.

"That's right, I'm Jiraiya… the most powerful Sannin!"

The young girls chuckled and prodded themselves closer to the white-haired sannin.

"Ahm ahm…" Tsunade coughed lightly.

"Ohh, what are you girls drinking? My treat!" Jiraiya exclaimed, his eyes fixed on the two beauties next to him.

"AHM UHM!"

"T-tsunade!" Jiraiya exclaimed somewhat surprised.

The young girls looked at the blonde-haired woman and arched their eyebrows in defiance.

It's pointless to say that it was a bad move.

A very bad move.

Jiraiya closed his eyes tightly as the table went flying to the next wall. The girls stared at the blonde-haired woman in pure horror, their arms tightening themselves around the white-haired man arms.

"Jiraiya-sama do something!" one of the girls said, her voice filled with fear.

Tsunade snorted as one of Jiraiya's eyes opened.

"I dare you too!" Tsunade said as she pointed her index finger at the white-haired man, "Mr-I-did-not-forget!"

The two girls slowly let go of Jiraiya's arms and slowly made their way out of the bar looking behind their shoulder, just to make sure that the crazy woman was not going to kill them.

"Come on Tsunade! You ruined my fun," said Jiraiya opening his other eye, a long frustrated sigh followed his words.

"We're not here to have fun!" Tsunade snapped.

"Miss… here's your sake," the bartender said, pointing to three bottles of sake.

Jiraiya arched an amused eyebrow.

Kenji and Kenjiro remained oddly quiet at the dinner table. The usual bickering, kicking under the table was strangely forgotten. The twins changed worried looks as both girls slowly played with the food in their plates. Both Sakura and Rin seemed to be absorbed in their own thoughts. The boys wondered if something had happened during their mission.

Rin sighed inaudible. She was staring at the piece of fish in her plate but in her head she was not seeing it. Instead, she was staring at the stranger, at the prisoner. He had spared her life as soon as he spotted her leaf headband. What relation did he have with leaf? However, that was not what worried her the most.

It was the look on the pink-haired girl features when she reported the encounter with the prisoner. It was as if she had seen a ghost.

Sakura placed her chopsticks down. The food in the plate was making her feel nauseous. She wasn't hungry.

"What the hell is going on?" Kenji, being the hot-headed one asked. He too placed his chopsticks down and crossed his petit arms around his chest.

His brown eyes searched for his sister gaze, but she did not look away from her plate. He then stared at Sakura, who eyed him apologetically.

"I'm sorry Kenji-kun," she said softly, "We are really tired from the mission,"

Rin nodded slowly even though she still had her brown eyes on her plate. Kenjiro continued to eat, his head jerked between the girls and his brother.

"Bullshit!" Kenji said as he dragged his chair backward and stood up, "Something is different… I… don't like it… it's so quiet," his hands curved into fists. His petit body trembled as he eyed the girls angrily.

"Kenjiro," Rin's angry voice startled everyone. She placed her chopsticks down fiercely and she too stood up, "We're tired. I'm tired. I just want a moment in peace," her voice softened up, her brown eyes stared at Kenji.

Sakura remained in her seat. Her emerald eyes stared sadly at the boy. All he wanted was attention. She wondered how alone the twins felt whenever their sister was not around.

"Rin…" Sakura started softly, "Why don't you go rest? I'll stay with the twins,"

Rin looked slightly surprised at Sakura's suggestion. The pink-haired girl nodded slowly in reassurance.

"All right," said Rin as she walked away from the table, "Thank you Sakura-chan,"

Sakura waited until she heard Rin's room door close. She let out a heavy sigh and looked at the twins.

"Kenji, take a seat," the pink-haired girl ordered. She sounded commanding but had a tender tone to it.

Kenji obeyed and Sakura smiled.

"Now, don't be upset," she said as she stared at his pouting expression, "Your sister is really tired and sometimes when people are tired they tend to get mad just like that,"

Kenji snorted, "I know that,"

"Sakura-chan… you are both just tired right?" Kenjiro asked as he finished eating his food.

The way Kenjiro voice sounded, so innocent and yet so troubled almost brought tears to her eyes.

She nodded, "Just tired," she answered fighting the tears back.

It was stupid. She felt stupid for feeling this depressed. She would not cry though, she had to be an example to the boys.

"Now, finish your dinner and then go straight to bed. You both have academy classes tomorrow, ne?"

The boys nodded.

"Good night Sakura-chan," said Kenji as he walked down the corridor. Sakura arched a curious eyebrow when she noticed that Kenjiro had stayed behind.

"Sakura-chan," Kenjiro looked at her, his brown eyes met her emerald ones.

"Hmm?" the pink-haired girl asked as she placed a soft hand on his head, "What is it?"

"Can you tell us a story? Nee-san always does,"

Sakura eyes widened slightly, "A story?" she asked, "Alright, but be warned," Kenjiro waited for her to carry on, "I never told stories before,"

Kenjiro grinned, "You can't be worst than nee-san,"

Sakura giggled, "We'll see,"

Sakura placed a finger on her chin as she dug inside her head some story. Any story. Damn, she didn't know any. She couldn't even think straight to make up some story up.

Kenji rolled his eyes, "Are you starting today?" he questioned impatiently earning a glare as a response.

"I know," said Kenjiro, his brown eyes beaming, "Tell us a story of one of your missions!"

Kenji clapped his hands in excitement, "Yeah!" he cheered, happy with his brother suggestion.

Sakura sighed and then a haunting thought crossed her mind and she realized that perhaps… perhaps it was a good idea. A sad smile decorated her tired features as she sat on the edge of Kenji's bed.

"All right," said Sakura as she placed a lock of pink-hair behind her ear. She cleared her throat and the twins leaned forward, eager to hear a story, "This story happened in the future,"

Both twins traded confused looks.

"You said you wanted a story," said Sakura, crossing her arms around her chest.

"Yeah but… the future?" Kenji asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow, "I thought we were going to hear about one of your missions,"

"I changed my mind," answered Sakura, offering them a devilish grin, "now shut up, or I won't tell a story at all!"

"Alright Alright," said Kenji, leaning his back on his pillow.

"Three genins were thrown together by fate. There was Naruto, an orphan boy which the whole village despised," she noticed Kenjiro narrow his eyes at the piece of information, "There was Sasuke, the last Uchiha," Kenji snorted and rolled his eyes, "he was considered to be a great genius, the best of the academy class," there was a second snort, this time by Kenjiro, "And there was Sakura, the prettiest girl of Konoha,"

Sakura couldn't fight back a smile at their bewildered expressions.

"You can't do that!" said Kenji, pouting.

"What?" asked Sakura in a fake innocent voice.

"You can't choose you as one of the main characters!" Kenji pointed out.

Sakura giggled, "Well I'm the story teller so tough luck, kiddo,"

"Coooome on! Carry on!" interrupted Kenjiro, yawning loudly.

"Right," said Sakura, "these three genins had their own unique personalities. Naruto and Sasuke immediately became rivals and Sakura always stayed behind, watching them fight. Ohh, I forgot to introduce a very important person, their sensei. He was a very lazy jounin, he never got in time to any of his training sessions and he always carried a book with him," Sakura smiled to herself. If only Kakashi knew that he was going to turn into a pervert.

"What's so funny?" asked Kenji as he watched a smile form in her face.

"His name was…" Sakura paused, ignoring Kenji question, "his name was Kakashi," she added.

"What?!" Kenji and Kenjiro asked in unison, "How come your giving your characters names of people you know?!" Kenji added, narrowing his eyes in displeasure.

"I'll add yours later on," said Sakura, placing a finger on her lips, "now shush and listen,"

Both boys groaned in frustration but allowed her to carry on.

"One day, the three genins received their very first real mission. A man, a bridge builder requested Konoha's services and the Hokage allowed our team to escort this man back to his village. Only they didn't know that their lives were about to face a deadly danger," Sakura smiled victoriously as she noticed that the twins were entranced in the story. Seriously, all she had to do is to mention the word danger.

The streets were abnormally crowded. Sakura and Rin both eyed the decorations for the upcoming festival in pure awe. It was a popular festival that was celebrated every three years. The main goal of the festival was to introduce marrying age women to the society, where women often received marriage proposals.

A group of girls passed by them, laughing out loud and pointing at the shop windows commenting on the latest fashion design. Sakura eyes spotted a breath-taking emerald Kimono that matched the exact shade of her eyes. Rin smiled as she followed the pink-haired girl gaze.

"I bet it would look gorgeous on you, Sakura-chan," said Rin, her hand pulled out her purse from her pocket.

Sakura eyes widened at the brunette-girl gesture, "No, Rin," said Sakura, shaking her head, "I couldn't possibly accept,"

"Why not?" asked Rin, feigning an offended tone of voice.

Sakura smiled, "I have already taken a lot from you," said Sakura, "I'm living under your roof, you have bought me clothes and provided me food-"

"Sakura-chan, cut it out," said Rin waving a dismissing hand, "You have paid me for the clothes already despite of my protests. I bought them for you because I wanted to, not because I felt forced to do so,"

"Still-"

Rin smiled sweetly, a mischievous twinkle in her brown eyes told Sakura that she was up to no good.

"Please, Sakura-chan," Rin pleaded in a soft, heartbreaking voice, "I really want to come to the festival and I really don't want to come by myself," added Rin, a sad expression in her face.

Sakura found herself blinking as she looked at the brunette in front of her. Who would have thought that Rin knew how to be manipulative?

With a long sigh, the pink-haired girl nodded and Rin smiled in victory, "Let's get you the kimono, ne?"

Both girls stepped inside the clothe shop at the same time. Rin eyed the contents, searching for a suitable kimono for herself. Sakura ran to the counter and flashed a wide grin at the man behind the counter.

"The green kimono at the window, how much is it?" Sakura asked.

The man arched an eyebrow, "5000 ryou,"

Sakura took a deep breath.

There was no way that Rin could pay for that.

"Oh," Sakura finally answered as she stared at the man's face. He seemed to be smiling a mocking smile, as if he knew that a person like her could never afford such dress.

Sakura glared at him before turning her back on him. She took a good look around. She searched the whole store. There wasn't any other Kimono that she remotely liked. Sighing, she spotted Rin holding a purple Kimono.

"Have you tried the kimono yet?" asked Rin.

Sakura gave her a sad smile, "No,"

"Why not?"

"It's too expensive,"

"Hello Sakura-chan,"

The cold soft voice reached her ears, sending a cold shiver up her spine. Rin smiled politely at the figure standing behind Sakura. The pink-haired girl slowly turned around and stared at the smiling form of Kyo Uchiha.

Sakura forced a smile on her face as she locked her eyes with his dark ones. The last conversation between them played in her head.

"Kyo-kun," said Sakura in a formal tone of voice, "Erm, what brings you here, to a female clothing shopping?"

Most boys would have blushed at such question but he remained impassive, "I saw you coming in. I thought I'd stop by to greet you," he said.

Sakura nodded at his answer. Though, she could not stop the feeling that he wanted to say something more. Rin who also got the same feeling, smiled softly, "Ano, I go see if I find er… a better kimono,"

The pink-haired girl opened her mouth to tell Rin to stay but Kyo interrupted, "Are you going to the festival?"

Sakura turned her head to look at him. Only now she noticed how taller he was. He was probably taller than Kakashi.

"Yes, Rin and I are," Sakura answered.

Kyo nodded, "I heard you rescued my little cousin," Sakura nodded, "I… well to be honest, the reason why I'm here, is to ask you, in behalf of the Uchiha clan to come have dinner with us,"

Sakura blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

Kyo chuckled, "Tonight? My uncle, Itachi's father was going to ask your sensei to pass you the message, but since I happened to find you here-"

Sakura couldn't believe in her ears. The Uchiha clan had invited her to have dinner with them. She knew they would take no as an insult and she didn't really wanted to provoke the Uchihas in such manner.

"Oh, I don't know what to say," and it was the true. She was still too taken back to think straight.

"Say yes," said Kyo, a smirk adorning his features.

"Hai, of course I'll go," said Sakura, a lurching sick feeling in her stomach.

Kyo features lightened up at her positive answer, "Well then, we'll look forward to see you tonight, shall I pick you up?"

Sakura didn't really like the way he looked down at her. His dark eyes danced mysteriously as if she had fallen at a deadly trap.

"Uh… sure," Sakura answered, still thinking, trying to make any sense of what was going on.

"Uhm… Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked straight at his dark eyes, "Hmm?"

"I have a last request," Kyo said, his smirk vanished from his face, "Would you allow me to pay for the Kimono?"

Sakura blushed furiously, "W-what?"

She knew, that allowing him to do, would also mean that she would reserve the festival night only to him.

"I already paid for the dress," a harsh cold voice spoke from behind them.

Sakura jumped startled, her lips parted in surprise as both boys glared at each other.

Right there, in front of her was standing Kakashi holding an emerald kimono in his hands and a shy smiling Rin by his side.

Her smile made him smile. It was a rare sight, that smile of hers and he happened to be the lucky one who witnessed it.

Both figures stared at the wooden door. It looked rather old, as if it hadn't been opened for a while now. There were also small cobwebs on the door knob and at the small egg-shaped windows. The house itself looked as if it was inhabited for a very long time. Tsunade stepped forward to the wooden door. She wondered if that strange man at the Inn gave her the right directions. It wouldn't surprise her if he hadn't and if he hadn't, he was going to pay.

Finally, she stood right before the dusted door. Her nose wrinkled as she breathed in some of the dust. Pushing her blonde-hair away, Tsunade eyed her surroundings a last time before she knocked. She knocked once and strained herself to hear anything. All she needed was one sign that would indicate whether within the old house walls there was a human presence or not.

The blonde-haired woman brows wrinkled as she heard numerous locks being unlocked. Tsunade wondered why this man needed so many lockers. It wasn't as if anyone would want to rob such antique house.

The door finally opened and both Jiraiya and Tsunade stared in awe at the young man standing right in front of her. She had been expecting an old man, someone that matched with the house.

The young man was as surprised as they were, "Yes?" the man asked, his voice was deep.

Jiraiya and Tsunade traded confused looks, "We are here to speak with Hanabusa,"

The young man narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "There is no one here with such name,"

"Look, kid," Tsunade interjected, "We know he lives here, so where is the old man?"

The young man eye twitched violently at the strange blonde-haired woman manners. He adopted a rigid posture and turned to stare at her, "I already told you, there is no one here with such name,"

Tsunade gritted her teeth, her head screamed 'Get him! Get him now!'. Jiraiya placed a strong hand on her shoulder, just in case she jumped on the young boy.

"Look, it is a very urgent matter," said Jiraiya, "we are from the fire country and –"

"Hitori? Who is it, Hitori?" an old voice interrupted Jiraiya. The young boy rolled his eyes at the sound of the voice behind him.

"Mr. Hanabusa?" Tsunade called out, stepping forward. The young man blocked her way, a kunai in his hand.

Jiraiya sighed, he really didn't want to fight the brat.

"Who's there? Hitori?"

The young man ignored Hanabusa. He glared at the ill-mannered blonde-haired woman as he blocked the door in order to prevent her from coming inside.

"Mr. Hanabusa! We're here to talk about the Kyuubi,"

"Hitori… let them in,"

Kakashi walked down the street, he was walking between Rin and Sakura and strangely enough he was carrying an emerald and purple kimono in his arms. Sakura hadn't opened her mouth to say a word; she didn't even know what to say.

Kyo had acted weirdly. The way he offered to pay for the dress, it sounded almost like he was inviting her to go to the festival as his date. She frowned at the thought. Kyo was a handsome boy and probably had many fan girls following him around. However, Sakura didn't feel the least interested.

Now what bothered her, what scared her beyond limits was the dinner she had with the Uchihas.

Kakashi looked at his pink-haired girl team mate from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be still thinking about what happened in the shop.

"He's bad news," said Kakashi as he came to a stop.

Sakura was quickly brought back to reality. She noticed that they were standing in front of Rin's house. Kakashi extended his arm and placed the purple Kimono in Rin's hands.

"I don't want you near him," said Kakashi, a trace of concern evident in his voice.

Sakura emerald eyes searched for his dark one, "Why? Is there something I need to know?" she asked.

They didn't notice Rin walk away and step inside the house.

"I don't have a particular reason," Kakashi answered, sighing.

"He… well," Sakura ran a hand through her pink-hair, "he invited me in behalf of the Uchiha clan to have dinner,"

"What?" Kakashi asked, slightly alarmed, "When?"

"Tonight," Sakura answered shyly. She didn't even know why she was blushing.

"Be careful," Kakashi said after a while, "They are dangerous,"

Sakura nodded, "I will,"

"Right," said Kakashi, "Here," he placed the kimono in her arms, "I'll see you at the festival," he said softly, almost inaudible. As soon as the last words escaped his mouth, he wished, he prayed to the gods that Sakura didn't catch what he said.

Sakura bit her lip, "Hai,"

Kakashi felt his cheeks burn. He couldn't help to feel somewhat embarrassed. This girl, made him say the strangest things.

I'll see you at the festival, no matter how many times he repeated it, the embarassment feeling wouldn't go away.

"Bye," Kakashi turned his back on her, lifted up an arm and waved good-bye.

Sakura swung her right foot back and forth, a shy smile in her face as she watched him walk down the street.

Rin quickly turned around as Sakura made her way to the half-closed door. She quickly ran down the corridor and locked herself in the room before the pink-haired girl could sense her. The brunette girl threw the purple kimono to her bed, her hand clutching to her aching heart.

As always, thanks for reading. I introduced a festival, I made it up. I don't think there is such festival so it's just fictional. I focused a bit on Tsunade's and Jiraiya's task, I hope they weren't out of character.

I hope you enjoyed this one.

Please Review!