Chapter 11 Shh! My Secret Awakening With Secretive People!

'I had a dream last night... I'm not sure it was a good dream. It felt good. It felt real. It felt like a memory, 9 years old. I've felt it before. The dream was like, a flashback. But it felt like it was happening all over again, him and me... beneath the stars...'

The stars had gone, they faded along with the darkness. The sun had scared them away and called upon the birds, their song awakening the rest of the world. A ray of sunlight trickled through the leaves above her head, falling on her closed eyes. The warmth invited her sight to see again, as she peered her eyes open she was welcomed with this nice view. A view of an old face, an old love. Perhaps to be renewed,

"Kakashi, what are you doing here?" She straightened her neck, her arms and her legs. Looking around she saw covers over her and a futon beneath her. She didn't remember bringing those along, she only remembered falling asleep in front of the monument.

"I watched over you, making sure you were okay. Sleep well?" As she groaned whilst stretching her entire body, sitting up straight, she felt his eye wander off.

"What's with the old woman noises?"

The look on his masked face was one she hadn't seen before.

"It's been a while since I slept on something soft..." she said, her hands gripping the covers. She looked up at him again, sitting next to her. His fabric smile, uncertain, "You call this soft? You have a real bed waiting for you at home..."

"As long as it's softer than a rock, it's soft. And to me it's a bed... besides, I bet they burnt my bed ages ago..." she said, whilst scratching her neck she saw him visibly stiffen. "My neck is so sore and itchy... Like I've been stung, or bitten."

As she reached for the edge of her mask, he grabbed her hand. A simple look at his eye, a raise of her brow showed her interest, "It's probably nothing... and if you are bitten it's best you don't scratch."

As her hand stopped resisting, she waited for him to let go, "Kakashi. Hand?"

He looked down at their hands enjoying the warmth, slowly, regrettably he let go. "Kakashi, are you okay?"

Her own hand, now free, reached towards his cheek. The moment she cupped it, trying to feel his temperature, it flushed, "Kakashi, I think you have a-"

"I'm fine. It's nothing." He pulled away so sudden, her hand followed his shadow.

He stood and turned, not away but enough to hide his face, "Your debriefing is in 3 hours, if you want to freshen up you can use my place. Or I could ask Kurenai, she might have some clothing for you as well..."

"How is Kurenai?" He looked back at her, still sitting on the futon, her eyes locked with his.

"She's a Jounin-sensei too now, she has a Hyuuga in her team." He watched her getting up and gather the futon and covers.

"Hm, I hope for her sake it's not the arrogant snooty one. She wouldn't know how to handle him."

"Well, she is very shy. Something they can work on together." His hands were aching to take the damp sheets from her hands, folded neatly.

"Thank you for these Kakashi, I guess the least I can do is drop them off at your place... Wash them or something."

"It's, it's fine. You don't have to do all that. I'll just drop them off at the dry cleaners." She smiled as did he, both disliked their masks though they both were unsure whether or not they could remove their masks around each other. It's been a while and a lost of trust has passed, were they up to it?

He opened the door and showed her inside, "Now that you're here, you might as well freshen up I guess..."

Kakashi knew it was impossible to let her be in a cluttered room, with her 'upbringing' as a habit, she'd start cleaning right away. She held her breath in the hope his house was as she left it, step by step she opened her eyes a bit more. As she turned into the living room, she sighed in a laughing way, "Kakashi, my god... It's, clean."

The sheets threatened to fall from her arms as well as happy tears from her eyes, "It's almost just like I left it..."

"I cleaned up all night, before coming to the monument..." He took the sheets from her arms and tossed them in a hamper, "Let me get you a towel..."

He left her speechless, her eyes were baffled with the spotless floor, the dustless shelves left her amazed, "I guess I rubbed off..."

As she removed the Jounin vest and dropped it on the couch, she rolled up her sleeves for no real reason. She looked around on the shelves, books... A lot of books that weren't there when she left, she picked one up and scattered to a page. Without her knowing she started to read out loud, though in a whisper, "Icha Icha... 'Junko, I don't want to lose sight of you. Not again...' he grabbed her shoulders and pushed his lips onto hers, she tried to resist but she was no match for his prowess, his passion. Their lips melted together burning in the kiss,"

Her eyes merely scanned the rest of the page and widened in shock, she gasped and snapped the book closed.

Her cheeks were reddened and her heartbeat up, with her eyes still on the book she didn't notice the man already back in the room. In one hand he had clean towels for her, in his other was a uniform, "Oh, I see you've found my book collection..."

His usual lazy voice was strangled, a bit forced. Her eyes trailed from the book to his face, a slight smile traced her mask, "It's.. It's a good book. I think I just need to start at the first page... Maybe even the first volume."

Her shaky voice revealed her nervousness, she turned to put the book back into place and heard him step closer. "I didn't know you liked those kind of books Yeazakura..."

"I didn't, I guess I do now..." She took the towel and uniform from him, but looked estranged at the uniform, "Whose is this? It's too small to be yours..."

"It's yours... You left it here when you- You know... when we-"

"I remember... It's something I could never forget." She brought the shirt to her nose and took a deep breath of the scent, after a small content sigh she said, "It still smells like us..."

"I didn't have the guts to clean it, it was all I had left when you, disappeared." She saw the sad look in his eye as he remembered the moments they shared, the moments they didn't, "Talk about uniforms, whose are you wearing?"

She looked down at the over sized shirt and pants she was wearing, several noticeable stitches pulled her attention, "Iruka asked me the same thing... I borrowed it from Kotetsu-kun, who oddly had a spare laying around at the Hokage's office. Surprisingly enough it doesn't smell like him though, and it's not really his size either."

His hand slowly took a hold of her shirt, around the stomach area, "Does this stitch make sense to you?"

She looked down again, the stitch he mentioned ran from the hem across the stomach to the chest.

"It's a bit familiar, yeah." Her brows furrowed in an unsure way, she looked at his other hand that reached for his own shirt.

Still holding her shirt he now lifted his own, a scar, identical to the stitch, ran from above his hip across his chest. The visible piece of her face turned red, it flushed at the sight of something she had seen a million times, yet not like this. She smiled, "It's been a long time since I've seen those... I see you've even gained a few muscles."

He tugged at her shirt, pulling her closer, not knowing what to do she complied. He closed the gap by stepping towards her, instantly she dropped the towels and clothes and slipped her hands to his stomach. His well formed abs traced by her fingers, his ran through her hair. As their lips were a breath away from contact, they couldn't stand the look in their eyes. So they closed them, and pressed their lips gently against each other.

They didn't care for their masks, they didn't care for their clothes, they cared for their lips... Their tongues pushing at each other, against the fabric. It felt strange but not foreign, they often used to kiss like this. In times they couldn't remove their masks, or like this, getting lost in the heat of the moment. A pant escaped his lips against hers and a moan from hers against his. As he placed his hand behind her head, her hands had slipped over his chest and settled there.

Little footsteps made their way to the living room, "Yoh, Kakashi, I- Woah!"

The voice startled the Jounin, causing them to pull apart. Yeazakura covered her moist mask with her hands, trying to regain her breath. The silver haired one looked to see the dog had turned around, "Yoh Kakashi, I didn't need to see that. If you're going to have girls over from now on, big boy, let me know when-"

"Pakkun, it's okay." he said, he picked up the dog and turned back to the girl.

"Don't you remember me, Pakkun?" Yeazakura said, the dog's eyes were skeptic. He sniffed at her, and frowned, "Yeazakura-chan, you were supposed to take me for a walk. Eight years ago!"

She laughed in the most awkward way and petted the dog, "Sorry Pakkun, I was in a rush..."

After they had let the dog go, they sat down for a little talk, she had something burning on her mind, "Kakashi,"

"Hmm?"

"You haven't been with other women since I left." His eye widened in shock, almost suffocating in his own spit, "No! No, of course not! I-!"

"It wasn't a question. Pakkun gave it away... and I would've understood if you had, Kakashi. I would've understood if you were happy with someone else by now..." she said, her eyes staring into her empty mug.

He placed his hand on hers, holding the mug with her, "That's the whole thing, I can't be happy with someone else..." She looked away, was it in shame? "Yeazakura, have you been... with someone else?"

She bit her lip, she tried to fight the urge to lie, the urge to spill out the truth, and the urge to cry. "I think I'll take that shower now." her voice was soft, silent and sad. She stood up and walked past him, towel in hand.

Why didn't she answer him? Hadshe been with someone else? Was she too afraid to tell? He rubbed the bridge of his nose, his head was killing him. The moment he heard water running clearly, he knew she hadn't closed the door properly. With his back at the bathroom door, he listened intently, why? He didn't know either. He heard her clothes fall onto the floor, the towel thrown over the tub edge. He heard the velcro of her mask, then he heard it fall onto the ground. He was counting down inside, waiting for that yelp, scream or gasp, but it didn't come. Concentrating on the typical noises he missed a few critical ones, suddenly two arms snaked around his neck from behind, gliding down his chest and resting there. The arms tightened around his neck, the embrace became a chokehold, a strong one. A delicate whisper against his ear made his spine shiver, "The next time you give me a hickey, don't let me think it was a dream..."

The lips of that whisper and the arms retreated, Kakashi had turned just in time to catch only a glimpse of her naked form, retreating back into the bathroom. Catching only a glimpse of old scars, and new ones. He sighed, he already thought the old scars were a thorn in his heart. What was the story behind the new ones? He couldn't stand seeing her hurt, seeing those scars made him think of when she was hurt. How much she must have suffered, bled and screamed. He could only imagine what the Rock ninja used as interrogation methods. His imagination didn't leave a pretty sight, he closed his eyes and quickly thought happy thoughts.

Enticing thoughts, about the young attractive woman in his shower, soaping herself in. Rubbing, washing every inch of her magnificent naked form, oh-oh... He opened his eyes, his ear perked up to what he assumed was a whimper. He turned his head and again, he saw the bathroom door wasn't closed properly. He got off the couch and closer to the door, bit by bit he pushed it open. Luckily the shower curtain was around the corner, and closed. As he stepped into the bathroom, he saw bandages stained, covered with blood.

He turned to the curtain, listened to the sounds between the gushing water. It was her, crying softly. The water must be too hot on her wounds, reopening them, he knew firsthand that hurts as hell. He had to help her somehow, a way without scaring her,

"Kura-chan, I saw the wounds on your back... Let me help you." Suddenly, the water had been turned off, in a very sad voice he heard her respond, "You, never called me like that before...Why?"

He smiled to himself, "You're no longer 'Zaku'... You've accepted your feminine side now. You said it yourself, 'other women'?"

She sighed, damn herself. She slipped her arm past the shower curtain, holding out her hand. Kakashi smiled once more to himself, he turned to grab the towel and placed it in her hand. He didn't let go though as he felt her tug at it, "Kakashi, not this again..."

She sighed intense this time, not being able to do anything without clothes on she gave in. She released the towel and turned around, facing the tiled wall. She heard the curtain slid open and Kakashi step into some water, "Just be gentle..."

Chapter 12: Shh! My Secret Shower Scene With Secret Regrets! Confession Time!

'Should we do this? Should we be in this situation? What do we do when things get out of hand? I don't know if I can control myself, can he control himself? I don't think I want to, but it's too early... I broke too many hearts to start loving again.'

"... they're deeper than you're used to." she whispered, trying to look over her shoulder. He gently dabbed her shoulders with the soft towel,

"When haven't I been gentle with you?"

He saw her shiver slightly at the cold draft, or was it his whisper close to her ear? He had stepped closer to her, careful in the slippery tub. As his bare lips closed in on her skin, she wondered, was this the right thing to do? Could she resist, if she wanted to? He gently kissed her unscarred, unwounded neck up and down, slowly. Her breath switched between sighs, moans and gasps, as he performed magic on her skin. As he heard a whimper escape her lips this time, he stopped, "Yeazakura?"

A tear fled down her cheek, "How can you forgive me so easily like that? After what I did?... I had to beg Iruka to forgive me, even then he wouldn't yet..."

He felt her slouch underneath his hands, her arms slipping across her chest, "I love you Yeazakura-"

"Don't say that! I broke your heart! I don't deserve this..." She tore away from his touch towards the wall, almost slipping on the floor. He caught her frail form from falling holding her close, she must really be distracted if her chakra was off. She'd be the last to slip from her feet from anything, "Kura-chan, you have to understand, it's not your fault! You only wanted to be accepted by the men around you, acknowledged."

She shook her head, cupped her face and cried on, "That's not a reason to do it Kakashi, I was wrong! You shouldn't forgive me, let alone love..."

"Keep your hand here, I need to get some more bandages." She placed her hand on top of his slipping away from her abdomen, he slid off the couch into the bathroom. There she sat, wondering what happened, what she had done... What she were to do. She couldn't help but wonder, what was written on that page. She only had a quick glance at the page, though the urge to know grew. She stood up and made her way to the bookshelves, picking up the first volume this time. From there on she heard nothing but the pages beneath her fingers and the clock ticking on the wall, her eyes flew over the paper taking in every word. Slowly she shuffled back to the couch, mind her she never removed her hand from the bandage. From her lips the words on the paper resonated, "He couldn't keep his eyes off her beauty, her radiant blue hair, her smile. She could uplift the darkest man with a simple look, "I must know her name." He pushed through the massive crowd of people, he had to reach her..." She looked up from the page into nothingness, 'Blue hair?' She closed the book and looked at the writer's name, she should have known,

"Of course, who else could write this and get away with it?"

Absentmindedly she held the book close to her chest, with her other hand holding the bandage on her stomach. She looked up at her side as something moved in the corner of her eye, "I see you're enjoying the book," He stepped over the back of the couch to sit behind her, he looked over her shoulder to see his hand back on hers. He took over the bandage and finished tending to her wounds, she placed her hand on the leg next to hers, "Ero-sennin wrote these books, for you, didn't he?"

Kakashi sighed, still sitting behind her he took the book from her hands. He opened the cover to show her writing and a signature,

'To Kakashi-kun, I know you miss her, more than I can think of... In the hopes these books give you closure, and salvation. - Jiraiya-sempai'

She smiled sadly at the little message, though contently sighed, "He truly is a good friend, and a good writer..."

Kakashi now smiled himself and pecked her cheek, with his arms around her waist he groaned as there were knocks at the front door. As he moved to get up she stopped him, "I'll get it, you've been moving enough."

With the bandages covering her every bit, she only lifted her mask to her face before opening the door, "Yeazakura,"

With her hand on the handle she turned around, "It could be him."

She looked down, "It can't be him, the Third said not to worry about him..."

Kakashi stood up from the lonesome couch and strolled towards her, she let go of the handle and stepped behind him, "Let me open the door, you never know."

The moment the door swung open and light poured in, a tiny person ran into the silver haired Jounin, screaming random things, "I missed you so much! Why didn't you come back to me first?! I don't ever want you to leave again! Do you know how much I cried?!"

Kakashi looked down at the little girl hugging him dearly, he sighed and said, "Sakura-chan, that's very flattering... But I thought you had a crush on Sasuke-kun? Besides, teacher-student relationships are forbidden..."

The girl looked up and let go of the man, her long pink hair scattered in front of her eyes, "You're not my sister! What did you to my sister?!"

"Sakura-chan, take it easy! She's fine, right sensei?" Naruto said, he comforted the girl as he patted her shoulder. The male Jounin nodded and stepped aside, revealing a beaten, tired and bandaged young woman.

"Ane-chan!" the little girl shouted, she ran to her sister and jumped in her arms. With her arms around the girl's waist, she lifted the little girl to twirl her around,

"Imouto-chan, I missed you too..." She held the girl at arm's length,

"My my, you've grown so much!"

The Jounin looked back at the boys, he then noticed a Chuunin trying to get away, "Iruka, what are you doing here?"

He froze and turned around slowly, "I'm sorry Kakashi, the kids wouldn't leave me alone unless I showed them where you lived. We all had a hunch she'd be here..."

The Jounin nodded, was it that obvious? As the Chuunin peered into the hall, his eyes widened as he saw the bandages on her back. Even though just freshened, they were already stained a bit red, "Kakashi, w-what happened to her?"

The Jounin turned to look at the woman, he could name a thousand things that happened to her, with her and against her. He turned back to the Chuunin, feeling beat himself, "Why don't you ask her? I'm sure she'd tell you, now that Sakura is here she was going to anyway."

"I'm not sure I can tell her just yet Kakashi, I mean... It's a lot to go through when you're 16. To hear about it at 12 may be a bit harsh." With reluctance she looked at the living-room scene from the kitchen. Kakashi stood with some drinks on a tray,

"Just start from the beginning, we still have a few hours 'till the debriefing and briefing."

The thoughts were mauled over and over in her mind, "You're right, 'sides... She has the right to know what happened."

As they slowly walked into the warmth and joy of the others, they didn't seem affected. Kakashi placed the tray on the table and sat on a chair, Yeazakura on the other hand sat on the couch next to her little sister. The Chuunin didn't even bother to sit down, whilst boys sat on the couch across, "Iruka-sensei! How did you even get to know such a pretty lady anyway?"

"N-Naruto, that's a very delicate story. I don't think I should-"

"Nonsense Iruka, you should. Why don't I tell the story?" Yeazakura said, as she looked down she noticed the little pink haired girl made her way onto her lap. She cuddled up against the warmth of her sister's chest, not wanting to let go. The raven haired boy across them huffed and said,

"Sakura, why are you behaving so childish?"

She opened her saddened eyes and closed them again at the touch of her sister's voice, "When I left, Sakura was five. I think when you saw me, Imouto-chan, the feelings you had back then erupted."

"I had the same thing. Kakashi, what about you?" Iruka seemed to be able understanding things more now.

"I feel like I'm 19 all over again..." Kakashi said as he wobbled on the chair, he couldn't sit still for some stupid reason. The moment the chair started to creak meant bad news.

"Creak anymore and the chair will break, if it won't by itself I'll do it for you..." Sasuke said, receiving many strange stares, "I don't like creaking things..."

He slowly stood up from the chair, slightly creaking. He took the chair and placed it behind the couch, before he sat down next to Yeazakura. A moderate amount of space between them.

"Ane-chan," Yeazakura looked down to meet her sister's eyes, "they took away father today. ANBU came and took him away! Why?!"

The girl curled up against her sister even more, "It's all part of one big story Sakura, one painful story."

The girl looked up at the woman, "Tell me?"

Yeazakura looked at the man next to her, then at the one across. Both didn't seem to mind, they'd love to hear it for themselves from her point of view. "When I was about your age, I failed the Jounin test, again...

I felt like I couldn't go home, because I knew he'd be waiting there for me. Waiting to yell at me, to hit me for being lazy, a failure... No matter what I did I was never good enough in his eyes, the eyes of my father. You weren't born for another few weeks so I worked hard and studied when I could. I passed the Genin tests at 6 joining a squad. When I was 8 I passed the Chuunin exams, after failing several times before. When I failed the Jounin exams for the second time, I wanted to run away, from home, my problems... So for that day I ran, I ran as far as I could, but one way or another I always ended up at the academy.

I sat in the tree, the branch above the swings was my usual place, but that time the swings were taken. I looked down and saw this cute boy, about one year older than me. But no matter how cute he was I already had a crush on someone else, he was a Jounin and three years older. But the last time I saw him, he was an arrogant little fellow, always strict and by the book. He never looked my way, which was also one of the reasons I sat in that tree. In that tree I always cried, this time I cried not only for unrequited love, but for my own failures as well. When I looked down at the boy on the swings, I heard him crying too. I saw all the kids leaving with their parents except for this one, was that his story? As I lay upon the branch, I asked him my question, "Why are you all alone, why are you crying?"

The boy was startled, he jumped from the swings and looked up at me. As he tried to wipe his tears when he looked at me, it was then that I saw this cute scar across the bridge of his nose."

"Wait, you thought the scar on my nose was cute?"

"Yes Iruka, now let me tell the story..." She sighed as she continued... "W-who are you?"

"My name is Yeazakura... What's yours?" I said as I jumped down.

"Iruka, Umino Iruka..." He looked at me in a way I couldn't explain, I think I saw him blush. But why would he blush? I was wearing a mask over the bottom half of my face, you could only see my eyes and my long blue hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be staring."

"That's okay, why were you crying?" I asked him, I sat down on the swings as he sat down on the grass, "My life sucks... I'm a terrible ninja. Orphaned a few years back. I'm just the class clown really."

I saw the sadness in his eyes, and I always thought my life sucked... apparently I wasn't alone. An orphan eh? In my case that would have been really nice, "My life sucks too, according to the teme I call my father I'm a terrible ninja as well. I always fail at everything before even coming close to succeeding, and even then, he beats the crap out of me."

I showed him the bruises on my arms, he saw the pain in my eyes and frowned. He pulled my sleeves down, gently took my hand and shook it, "I guess we're already a lot alike..."

I realised, that in those few minutes I knew him I had interacted more with him, compared to the years and few words I had exchanged with the other boy."

"So, did you kiss him Onee-san? Did you?" Naruto said, Yeazakura smiled, sadly though. "No, it wasn't until a year or so later that we kissed, in the meantime I finally met the other boy-"

"Kakashi-sensei, of course." Sasuke said.

"How did you know? You never knew me as an arrogant, strict by the book boy." the man said, rubbing his chin. The Uchiha just smirked.

"I'm pretty sure it was really obvious Kakashi, now... On with the story?

It wasn't until a year had passed that the other boy sort of approached me, it was on a hot summer day and I was camping at the lake with Iruka. I finally passed my Jounin exams, and he wanted to celebrate by swimming in the lake.

"I, I don't know Iruka-kun." I said as I stared into the water, eyeing my reflection.

"You don't know how to swim? I can teach you if you want?"

"I know how to swim, I just don't like to... expose my skin." He had this weird look on his face, "Remember when I told you about my father? The way he beats me... It scars, really bad."

He looked down at my reflection and into my eyes, he took my hand and said, "You don't have to take your clothes off, just jump in like this."

I looked down at my clothes, it was possible. I had to find a way to cool down at any rate, so I ditched my vest, pouches and shoes. I looked at him as he again held my hand, we took a few steps back and leaped into the lake. Splashing water onto the dock and onto each other, neither of us noticed we were being watched. After a while I climbed back onto the dock, my uniform stuck to me like a second skin. It revealed every curve, seeing I was physically quite mature for a thirteen year old.

It wasn't until I finished drying my hair that I felt the eyes on my back. As Iruka was still drying his own hair, I decided to hide all his hair ties and told him they fell into the water. That way it gave me some time to investigate the strange feeling, as I sensed it coming from the trees. As I stood up I wrung the excess water from my shirt and walked into the woods. I looked around quickly to see Iruka still diving for his hair ties. But by accident, I stepped onto a twig which snapped loudly. I gasped, birds flew away and something stirred in the distance. I stood next to a tree and tried to look around one further away. It seemed someone tried to hide behind it as I saw his hair stick out. I didn't move a muscle, I was so still a bird almost landed on my arm. As I waited till the person would look around the corner I heard him move. He turned to look at me and I saw his mask, he wore a porcelain oni-mask, 'Why is ANBU spying on us?'

He noticed me trying to come closer, he hid behind that tree and leaped into its branches. As I stood beneath that tree I spoke to him, "I already saw you, it's useless to hide."

Nothing, "I can recognise your mask."

Still he didn't so much as move. Looking between the branches and the leaves I saw his hair once more, his longish silvery hair. Suddenly he looked down, straight into my eyes. I gasped and tripped backwards, when I regained my posture I jumped to my feet and ran. I ran back to the dock and the last few feet I walked backwards, looking into the woods. Suddenly I bumped into Iruka, I turned around and looked him in the eyes. Or at least I tried, the way his wet hair framed his face caught my attention. The water dripped from his hair onto his chest and trickled down to his abs. I may have blushed-"

"May? You were blushing as hell, darn cute too!"

"Iruka! I'm trying to tell a story from my point of view, okay?"

The man snickered, "Sorry..."

She smiled and sighed, again she continued...

"Zakura-chan, I think you lied to me about my hair ties."

"W-why would you think that?" I replied, he stepped closer to me, from the corner of my eyes I saw he was twirling a hair tie around his finger.

"Because I found them in your pouch..." Again he stepped closer but I couldn't move, I just stood there as he leaned in towards my lips. His other hand gently slipped down my mask revealing my 'huge' blush, "M-maybe I put them there so you wouldn't lose-"

Gently he kissed me, for some strange reason I felt so giddy. Maybe because it was my first kiss, and I was thinking to myself, 'He really has soft lips for a boy. Do all boys have soft lips?'

Absentmindedly I kissed back, feeling his hand slip into my hair I smiled into the kiss.

"How cute Onee-san! Iruka-sensei was your first kiss..." Naruto seemed to be ecstatic about it, but it also seemed he had forgotten about the ANBU in the woods.

"Yeah yeah, very cute," Kakashi said as he looked at his clock, "it's almost 8, we have to get going if you want to be on time for your debriefing and our briefing." The silver haired Jounin was being stared by all his students, their sensei? On time?

"You're right Kakashi, I'll finish the story another time." she said. The little girl on her lap sighed, "You're not coming home any time soon, are you?"

Once again she looked her in the eyes, "It never really was a home to me, except for you Sakura-chan."