Hey, folks!

Firstly, I wanted to thank you for the great reviews! They really warmed my heart xD.

Secondly, in response to few of you who asked if Harry Potter was an inspiration for this I can only answer: Partly. Maybe I should have written on the first chapter a little info about how I came up with the idea of the plot. So here it is:

Few weeks ago I decided to organize myself a Harry Potter week marathon and I re-watched the eight movies for three or four days. And after the "HP and the Goblet of Fire" I had this weird dream about me participating in similar tournament and guess what? Kakashi was there too. So when I woke up in the morning the plot was already formed in my mind. I knew that it would be hard to combine wizards with shinobi so i decided to create a similar, yet different tournament.

I hope you don't mind this. So there it is, the truth behind the creating of the plot.

And thirdly, I'm really sorry about the grammer and spelling mistakes. Ever since I've learnt to write I just can't see them when I'm doing a spell check.

PS I do not own "Naruto" it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto ©

The moments died, I hear no screaming
The visions left inside me slowly faded

Would she hear me if I called her name?
Would she hold me if she knew my shame?

"Tears don't fall" by Bullet for my Valentine

"Sakura, are you even listening to us?", Naruto bumped his fist at her coffee table and shot his teammate annoyed glance.

"Yes, yes. I am, Naruto.", the pink-haired girl sighed and eased her back against the sofa where she was sitting.

"So what are you going to do?", the blonde asked worriedly and glanced at his ex-sensei that has been staring through the window for half an hour without uttering a word.

"I don't know. I will fight and I will hope to win.", Sakura bit her nail, an annoying habit she took from her shishou.

"That's your great master plan?", Naruto unbelievingly gaped at her.

"Yep."

Suddenly the door snapped open and Yamato entered panting. He scanned with eyes the room for Sakura and when he saw her, the young ANBU rushed in and grabbed her for the shoulders, "Is it true? Are you the participant?"

Sakura was staring at him with wide open eyes, startled by his sudden appearance, "How did you get in my apartment?"

Yamato was obviously taken little aback but he didn't release his grip, "Through the door but that's not the issue here!"

Sakura's face darkened and pushed Tenzo away, turning around to face the men in her living room, "Will you stop treating me like a child, please? All of you.", she pointed her finger at Naruto, "I'm not incapable of fighting nor I'm an idiot, so stop behaving like my mother!", the boy pulled back a little by her intimidating stare and cuddled in the corner of the couch, "And you –", she moved her finger at Tenzo, startling him, "How dare you break into my home while I'm inside while I can just simply open the door after your knock!", the wood-user looked embarrassed at the floor with flushed face.

Sakura glance at last at Kakashi who was observing silently the scene with curiosity, "Don't just stand there! Say something.", her anger was rising.

"I –", Kakashi shrugged his shoulders in inability to think of something and gave her an eye crinkle.

"ARGH!", Sakura growled through her teeth and pointed the door, "Everyone out! Now!"

The men headed toward the door but the Sakura growled devilishly, "Not you, Kakashi. You stay just where you are. I still need to give you a check up.", Naruto and Tenzo smiled compassionately at their comrade and hurried to leave the apartment before the pink-haired girl changed her opinion.

Sakura lumped on the sofa and sighed, closing her eyes. She felt Kakashi sitting next to her.

"Don't worry.", he murmured and she opened her eyes, searching to find his. The Copy nin lifted his gaze as he felt her staring at him, "Don't look at me like that. I know that you're trying to cover your worries with anger but inside you're just afraid."

The kunoichi eased her elbows on her knees and turned her face to him, "I can see that you're disappointed.", his open eye flinched at her words.

"To be honest. A little.", the Copy nin let out a deep breath, "You shouldn't take your opponents lightly, Sakura. They were chosen for a reason."

"I know. That thin guy, he's a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, right?", the girl saw him nodding.

"The other kunoichi – Kurotsuchi – she has a Bloodline limit – Lava Release. And Darui… He's a fearsome opponent. I never had the chance to fight him personally but he's in the Bingo book since like forever. He's kekkei genkai user as well.", Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair and she noticed his lips trembling under the mask.

"You know, I've always known when you're nervous or worried during a mission.", Sakura smiled and looked at the table before her, embarrassed by his questioning glare, "You always do this thing with your mouth – "

"What thing?", he asked her intrigued.

"That thing – ", she tried to imitate the movement. After a moment of silence Kakashi burst out laughing, "It's not funny – ", Sakura blushed even more heavily, "It was my personal way to find out how bad our position against the enemy was."

"How often your interpretations were correct?", Kakashi asked her still trying to suppress his laugh.

"Every time.", Sakura smiled and looked at him, "But there is one more thing – ", Kakashi stared at her green glistening eyes expecting.

"No matter how hard the battle was, how fearful opponents we faced...in the end we are still breathing, aren't we?", the kunoichi grinned.

A slight smirk appeared on his face under the mask, "I guess you're right."

Sakura stared at the silver-haired jonin next to her. She trusted him completely; if he told her to leave her life in his hands, she'd do it without hesitation, but did she trust herself – her own abilities and judgments? In the tournament there wouldn't be a Naruto who will charge forward to clean her road, there wouldn't be a Chiyo-baasama who would guide her through the battle, nor someone like Kakashi who would protect her from her own foolishness. The man sitting next to her had saved her life countless times, so she had saved his, but the tiny worm of doubt just wouldn't let her believe in herself completely.

At least she was glad that he or Naruto wouldn't be in danger. That was the most important part of everything. After all, protecting and supporting her friends was the reason she became a medic. Tsunade-sama had taught her the most crucial rule for the medical nin – never get hit, if you die the whole team dies. Sakura knew how to look after her life but she had never faced such admirable opponents, at least not alone. And the fact that Sakura wouldn't have support behind her back wasn't the worst part; the absolute horror was that she would be fighting against all of them at the same time.

"Will you tell me what's going on in your head?", Kakashi gave her an eye crinkle.

"Nothing important.", Sakura stood and walked in the kitchen to prepare the dinner. She still had those chicken legs in the fridge.

Kakashi followed with eyes his former student and sighed, relaxing his body on the couch. Something was tormenting her and she was hiding it pretty well. He could guess what was it but he couldn't be hundred percent sure. When Sakura yelled at him the other day about not being able to participate in the tournament, he thought that it was for the usual I-want-to-prove-myself reason. But obviously today it turned out that her grounds were lying elsewhere. The Copy nin regretted that he didn't argue with the Hokage about re-electing the candidates. They were all formidable shinobi and he was worrying about Sakura's well being. He didn't want to see her getting hurt or even worse. After his discussion with Tsunade it became clear that there was no rule against killing your competitors. Suddenly something caught Kakashi's attention and dragged him out of his thoughts. Sitting on the couch, he could clearly see Sakura moseying along the kitchen.

The girl rose on her tiptoes and tried to reach the upper level of cupboards. Her movement made her red blouse with zip in front, to uncover her flat stomach. Kakashi followed the line of her figure with enchanted eye. Sakura reached her hand to open the kitchen cabinet's door when suddenly the zip flung open and the copy nin was awarded a luscious view of her breasts. Sakura cursed and zipped her blouse again, this time dragging a chair to help her reach the cupboard.

The Copy nin was still staring at the empty space where Sakura's breasts were a minute ago even long after the kunoichi was gone. He had fucking dog's luck. The same image again and again invaded his mind. The silver-haired jonin shook his head, chasing away the inappropriate thoughts. That was Sakura. His former student and current teammate. He shouldn't be excited by the view of her breasts. He had noticed that she had changed but the jonin hadn't realized how much. Kakashi had missed the whole process. Now he had to figure out a way to treat her adequately. She wasn't a small genin girl any more, before him was standing a beautiful young kunoichi. An extremely tempting woman. "And extremely young one – ", Kakashi thought.

The voice of Sakura calling him for dinner woke him up and the Copy nin dragged his feet to the kitchen. A delicious smelling steam was descending upwards from the plate with grilled chicken legs and stewed vegetables. Kakashi took a deep breath and sat on the chair, staring at the food. Soon Sakura joined him, pouring some sake in the small cups.

"What's the occasion?", he asked smirking.

"The occasion is our last night as roommates.", Sakura smiled at the jonin, "Starting tomorrow you can move to your place again."

Kakashi nodded and raised his cup, "To the best roommate and nurse ever!"

"To the most obedient patient!", Sakura smirked and her cup touched his with a dull knock.

The hours were slipping fast as well as the bottles sake. Soon the kunoichi was joggling on her chair, fighting the gravitation which was pulling her to the floor. On the other side of the table Kakashi was chuckling and giggling like a young teenager at Sakura's attempts to sit straight. His cheeks were pink so were hers. Suddenly the female jonin swung a little too much and she fell on the floor with a dull thump. The kunoichi started giggling as Kakashi rushed to pick her up. Lifting her and forcing her to stand straight they started lugging along to the bedroom.

The distance between kitchen and bedroom seemed awfully long for Kakashi; the kunoichi in his arms was stumbling on every single thing on her way even sometimes without an apparent reason. Her petit body was stuck to his and he could feel the breasts through her blouse bumping at his chest. Sakura didn't stop laughing even for a second and Kakashi made a mental note not to let her drink more than one bottle of sake again. The drunken kunoichi made it amazingly difficult for him to maintain his composure and his common sense. The alcohol had clouded a little his mind and had made him a little too happy but that didn't change the fact that he was responsible for the girl as her senior... "And a friend", he smiled in his mind.

When they reached the bedroom and he pushed her on the bed so that she can lay down, Sakura stopped laughing and frowned, "You are sick – hiccup – you need the bed – hiccup", the girl tried to stand up but Kakashi pushed her down again.

"I'm fine. You healed me. Remember?", the jonin smiled softly.

"No! – hiccup – you will sleep – hiccup – here – hiccup – ", Sakura grabbed his black shirt and pulled him down.

Kakashi lost balance and fell on top of her. His face was now only inch apart from hers and the silver-haired ninja could smell the aroma of her shampoo from her hair. Knowing that probably she won't remember any of this, Kakashi reached and caressed her cheek. The skin was as soft as it looked like. His hand moved and let a long pink hair lock to slip through his fingers. The hair left a strange tickling feeling in his palm and the Copy nin smirked. When he looked down at Sakura's face, he noticed her staring at him. Her eyes were glistening under the light coming through her window and the girl unknowingly parted her lips, licking them with her small tongue. It left wet traces which were reflecting the moonlight. Kakashi, suddenly realized his desires, bowed his head down gently pressing his masked lips against hers. Sakura murmured something and pulled him closer, tightening her grip.

Becoming aware of his own actions the Copy nin pulled back instantly, breaking the kiss. He couldn't believe that he did this. Running his fingers through his hair he headed towards the door when a weak trembling voice stopped him.

"Don't leave me – hiccup – alone – "

Kakashi stopped and sighed knowing that probably he'd regret his decision later. The jonin turned around and slowly came closer to the bed. Sakura moved aside to make some room for him and shrank to one side facing the window. Kakashi laid behind her and wrapped his arm across her petite body. He felt her sobbing and sniffing, "It's going to be ok.", he whispered, "I'm not gonna let them hurt you."

"That's what friends are for – hiccup – right?", Sakura answered quietly.

Sakura sighed and glanced at the boiling coffee. It was ready. The kunoichi turned the hot-plate and poured the caffeine beverage in a big porcelain cup. Half an hour ago when she woke up the girl found out that Kakashi had left her apartment. The memories of last night were still foggy in her head, obviously he put her to sleep in her own bed but in the morning she noticed that the sheets were tumbled on both sides. Sakura decided not to overthink that and she sipped from her cup, enjoying the vapour rising from the coffee. The pink-haired jonin glared at the eight bottles of sake arranged on the floor, undoubtedly by the Copy nin. At least she didn't have a hangover. That would get her killed, literally. If Tsunade found out that she got wasted a day before the tournament, Sakura was as good as dead.

She had to do a little digging on part of her opponents. Kakashi mentioned something about bloodline limits. The girl new that she was at disadvantage, she may be a jonin but Sakura hadn't started her nature manipulation training yet. Her only ninjutsu was the healing one and she doubted that healing the opponents would help her. Yes, she could always reverse the technique and cause some internal damage or even press some nerves which would paralyze the enemy but in the end all of her abilities would be useless if she couldn't get close to her opponent. The kunoichi sipped again from her coffee and cursed. She needed to think of something. What was her advantage? Strength? Maybe but she had no idea what others are capable of. Speed? There were other shinobi who were definitely faster than her but she could take care of herself. Sakura remembered her fight with Sasori. His attacks were definitely faster than she expected but her ability to analyze his patterns and tics helped her to evade them. Then she remembered something else. Poison. All of his blades were poisonous. That would be her advantage. Sakura smiled devilishly as she stood and placed the half-empty cup in the sink. Maybe she should pay the hospital's storehouse a visit.

Rummaging through the clinic's supplies of ingredients, Sakura missed the tale telling noise that came behind her. The kunoichi felt someone grabbing her shoulder and pinning her to the wall with hand covering her mouth and another one, pressing a kunai at her throat. Sakura's eyes were wide open and she tried to scream startled but the hand above her mouth prevented her from doing so. Finally when she recognised the man that caught her she growled and kicked his ankle but Kakashi didn't loosen his grip.

"Sakura-chan, tomorrow you'll face four formidable and strong opponents who will not stop from slicing your throat. Stay alert, please.", the Copy nin gave her and eye crinkle and let her go.

The girl shot him a bloody glare and just turned around continuing to look for something interesting that would help her figure out what kind of poison she's going to use. A little blush spread on her face. She felt the embarrassment invading her body. It's been always like that when her ex-teacher caught her off guard.

"So you decided to poison your enemies, ha?", Kakashi stood behind her chuckling, "I was wondering if you'd try it. But you know that a simple general poison wouldn't work right? Especially with Kankuro. You remember his puppets, don't you?"

Sakura stopped and turned around taking a deep breath, "And why wouldn't a general and simple poison work?"

"Because they know your ability with toxins, Sakura-chan.", Kakashi chuckled and headed to the exit. On the doorstep he turned and waved, "And in case you wonder what if they know it: they'd prepare all of the antidotes they know about. Trust me I know.", the Copy nin gave her another eye crinkle and disappeared behind the corner.

He was right. "Of course, he's right! He's Kakashi after all – ", Sakura closed her eyes thinking. What poison she should use? There was no time for her to experiment with creating new one, so she had to use some of existing. The girl thought for a second and biting her nail she walked to the last row of shelves. Sasori's poison. Only Kankuro will be aware of it and she doubted that he'll have the antidote for it. When Sakura got her sample of the poison she made sure to dispose of the rest which she didn't need. The venom was fast-working and deadly in case it's not treated immediately. She'll inform Tsunade to prepare antidotes for the rest of the participants but of course that wouldn't mean that they'll be aware of that. Sakura grabbed a test-tube with dark purple liquid in it and headed to the laboratory.

After two hours of working on the toxin and the antidote, Sakura was finally ready. The kunoichi had prepared twelve small hypodermic injections and only three antidotes for her own use in case something goes wrong. The pink-haired girl walked out of the hospital and sat on a bench in the nearby park. The summer was in its prime and the temperatures were deadly. The young jonin pulled out her tanto and started honing it with the whetstone. She felt someone's presence near her and Sakura lifted her gaze to meet Tenzo's eyes.

"Hi! What are you doing here?", the girl smiled openly, tapping on the bench with hand to invite Tenzo to join her. The young ANBU sat and glanced at her.

"I was passing by and saw you. I figured that you could use a little company."

Sakura tilted her body and bumped her shoulder into Tenzo's, "You guessed correctly."

The man smiled not sure what to say. Sakura didn't mind the silence that spread between them but she noticed that he was feeling awkward. So she just handed him a kunai with another whetstone.

"Will you help me?"

"Sure.", the ANBU started sharpening the weapon when suddenly he stopped and looked at her, "Be careful tomorrow, ok?"

Sakura lifted her eyes and nodded, "Ok." They smiled and this time both enjoyed the silence that spread between them. It was peaceful and the kunoichi for the first time today felt the tension leaving her body.

It was a bliss.

The Mizukage, wearing his traditional white – blue robe, was sitting on his bed with an empty stare locked at the door in front of him. His eyes were black almost without pupils. Suddenly something in them flinched as the projection of a hooded man with an orange mask and Akatsuki cloak appeared in the room. The shinobi drew closer to the sitting man and placed a hand on his head, forcing him to look at his eyes.

"You did a great job, Mizukage.", his voice had a sarcastic tune as he patted him on the head, "I think you're the most obedient pet I've ever had under my control."

The leader of Kirigakure stood still and unmoving. The hole in the orange mask of the Akatsuki nin moved and switched its place, now revealing his right eye. A small glimpse of crimson red passed through the hole. The sitting man trembled and his eyes lost focus completely.

"You're going to place this cloaked summoning seal on the Trophy.", slowly Mizukage nodded his head as he took the small parchment scroll that the masked man handed him, "Good. Now one more thing...where is Chojuro?", the hooded man's voice was quiet but intimidating.

"Training ground three.", the man wearing white – blue robe shivered and passed out on the bed when the Akatsuki member's projection disappeared twirling in the air.

When Sakura climbed the stairs to her apartment she noticed Naruto sitting on the floor in front of her door. The girl sighed and smiled.

"What do you want, Naruto?", Sakura drew closer to him and helped him standing up.

"I wanted to wish you good luck.", the boy frowned which was very unusual for him, "Take care of yourself, Sakura-chan."

"You know I always do.", Sakura grinned and opened her arms, "Come here.", the Jinchuuriki bend down so he can put his head on her shoulder and hugged his best friend tightly. Sakura swung him a little and patted him on his blonde hair, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Sorry, I have to hurry.", the boy pulled back and waved at Sakura, grinning, "I have a date."

The kunoichi grinned as well, "Say hi to Hinata from me!", Naruto ran down the stairs laughing. The pink-haired jonin shook her head, chuckling, and unlocked her door. "I guess I have all the time for myself only.", she thought sighing.

The rest of the day she spent reading her unfinished book. It was relaxing and even a little refreshing. She hadn't had so much time to herself for ages. So, she had to be chosen to participate in a lethal tournament in order to get a day off. Nice. Sakura smiled to herself. Suddenly the thought of Kakashi appeared in her mind. It was kind of empty in her apartment without him. She had gotten used to him living with her very quickly. Too quickly actually. The kunoichi couldn't remember what they were talking about last night and she believed that it was for the best to stay that way. Who knows what was she babbling about? If she found out she'd only feel embarrassed. Sakura smiled slightly and bit her lower lip, thinking about the Copy nin. She was glad that they got closer, it took her six years to achieve that and maybe now she could ask him to peek under his mask. The girl was a ninja she shouldn't have played fair and square the other day when he was still in the hospital.

The kunoichi had heard so many stories about her ex-teacher and most of them were about his bed partners. At first Sakura was shocked and embarrassed but as the years passed she became curious. Who knew that her ex-sensei was such loose fish? She didn't know what other women saw in him. Well, he was tall and his body was very well-build but apart from that Sakura couldn't see anything else. Well maybe his bottom, yeah, he had nice butt. The kunoichi nodded her head in a not-bad expression and a slight smug appeared on her face. She'd definitely ask him to show her his face.

"What's so funny?", a man's voice startled her and Sakura jumped from the sofa, dropping her book.

"Kakashi!", she opened her eyes wide, "How did you get in?"

"Have you seen my copy of Icha Icha? I think I left it somewhere around here this morning.", the man was grubbing about the cupboards in her living room. When he realized that it wasn't there he kneeled on the floor and looked under the couch.

"Yeah, he definitely had nice butt – ", Sakura chuckled to herself, "It was in the bedroom last time I saw it."

In instant the Copy nin was gone and back with his precious orange book, looking at Sakura, "You didn't answer me what was so funny."

"Oh nothing. It's just that I remembered that I haven't seen your face. Yet.", the girl grinned at her ex-teacher who only smirked under the mask.

"Only qualified people are allowed to see it.", the Copy nin chuckled.

"You mean only the girls in your bed are allowed?", Sakura's eyes glistened.

"Well, it's not necessary to be my bed, you know – ", Kakashi gave her an eye crinkle.

"Technically, you slept in my bed where I sleep now, so we have slept in the same bed.", Sakura rubbed her chin, looking at the ceiling.

"Nice try, Sakura. Nice try.", Kakashi laughed and waved, "But I gotta go now. Bye-bye. See ya tomorrow.", the man made a hand seal and disappeared in a dispersing smoke.

"Next time, Kakashi. Next time.", Sakura murmured with a smile and went in the kitchen to prepare her dinner.

Spying on his former student wasn't exactly his expectation of a normally spent night. He was sitting with a bottle of hot sake on the roof across the street. The window in her bedroom was glowing lonely in the surrounding darkness. Probably she couldn't sleep as well. It was understandable considering the dangers she'd put herself in tomorrow. He'd like to help her but no matter how long he thought about it the Copy nin couldn't figure out a way how. Suddenly the velvet curtains opened and Kakashi held his breath, hoping that the kunoichi wouldn't notice him. He saw Sakura opening the window and easing her folded arms on the handrail. The light summer wind tousled her hair and she tried to fix it by putting it behind her ear. Kakashi noticed the shoulder-straps of her top. So she was wearing the loose shorts and T-shirt because he was in her apartment. The Copy nin smirked at the memory of her sleeping on the couch, "Oh, if you thought you'd looked less tempting in those clothes you were wrong, absolutely wrong – ".

Kakashi sipped directly from the bottle and felt the alcohol burning his insides, spreading nice warmth in his body. He noticed Sakura sighing, and wished he was there with her to give her the support and comfort she needed. The silver-haired jonin looked at the orange book lying on the roof next to him. What a lame excuse he used to see her. How could he even forget his precious Icha Icha somewhere? But why? Why he wanted to be with her even now instead of flirting with the pretty, tall brunette in the bar or even resting at home with book in hand?

Kakashi cursed and drank a large gulp from the bottle. She saved his life for the umpteenth time and he was grateful to her but gratefulness wasn't enough to cause this kind of obsession. Ever since Sakura called him her friend, he suddenly changed the way he looked at her. It's been years since he had a true friend and he was just being overpossessive. Her intentions were completely pure and innocent and Sakura probably didn't even realized what she did for him. She brought back his reason to keep living with one simple sentence and embrace. She showed him that there were people who cared for him, not for the genius shinobi, the son of the White Fang, no, they cared for Kakashi. He was once again needed, trusted and the wound in his heart that had been eating him from the inside for more than twenty years had finally begun to heal. The Copy nin smiled sadly and looked up to the night sky. "I think I found someone precious. She gives me hope that I might be actually able to live fully once again ... Obito... Rin... Sensei... I won't let you down this time."

The crowd around her was rejoicing noisily at the lined up participants. Darui, Kurotsuchi, Kankuro, Chojuro and Sakura were standing straight on a small podium, facing the audience. An hour ago under the orders of the Kages, the competitors and the watchers moved to Konoha's outskirts. They were waiting for the start of the tournament in front of the gates of the Restricted 44th training ground a.k.a "The forest of Death". The weather was nice with a light breeze, giving them the coolness they so much needed. Sakura had gotten up with a terrible headache and clenched stomach. She knew that she had to have breakfast but only the thought of food was making her sick. The pink-haired girl had packed a sandwich with thermos with hot coffee along with her other usual items. She tied her hair in a long pink plait and stuck a few hairpins so that they can keep the shorter locks away from her face. The hardest part was deciding her clothes. She could always use her usual outfit for missions but something inside her was rebelling. The kunoichi spent whole thirty minutes deciding what to wear. Maybe the nervousness was making her too capricious and freakish. In the end she pulled out some forgotten black tight shorts and white sleeveless top. By the time she was ready, Sakura had noticed that she was almost late.

The pink-haired kunoichi observed the shinobi next to her. It was Chojuro – he was almost as tall as her and somehow the atmosphere around him made Sakura shrieked. His sword had an enormous wide and flat blade with two indentations near its base, creating a sort of guard, and two handles connected to each other by a short length of cord. "So, that's why it's called twin blade. It looks like a flounder fish to me – ", Sakura smirked. Soon her thoughts were interrupted by Tsunade's voice. The Hokage welcomed the competitors and the observers and kindly asked them not to try and follow the participants in their games and tasks because it may end badly for them.

"And now…The first test!", she silenced for a moment in order for crowd to ceased its exclamations, "As most of you know the chosen shinobi are all jonin class so it's expected from them to take care of their lives adequately. There won't be a rule preventing killing. The lives of your opponents are in your hands only. Also there won't be a rule which will encourage team work and fair play. If you decide to help somebody, that doesn't mean that he has to help you too nor that he won't attack you once you turn your back at them –", Tsunade's eyes shot Sakura a warning glare before she continued with the explanation, "The test today will be held in this training ground. It's been slightly modified according to the requirements of the given task. Your job is to locate, obtain and bring back an object. In this case it's a ribbon with attached note to it. Read the note carefully or you may not be able to finish your task. There are four braids in different colours hidden somewhere in the training ground.", the number of the items stirred up controversy among the crowd and the participants who started to chatter quietly.

"As the Mizukage announced on the opening ceremony, there would be eliminations after every game.", Tsunade continued, "There is only one rule: you are allowed to use only taijutsu! No genjutsu or ninjutsu. And if you think that you'll pass unnoticed when you are in the forest, you're awfully wrong. Every attempt to walk past this rule will be treated as cheating and you'll be disqualified from the whole tournament. Understood?", the Hokage stared at every one of the five shinobi's eyes before her until they nodded, "Good! Now, you have fifteen minutes to rearrange your necessary things. Think carefully."

Sakura opened her eyes wide, ribbons? Colourful ribbons? Of all other things they decided to choose this one? In this forest it would be impossible to locate a motley object. Sakura slowly moved to the tents, designed for the participants and sat on the small folding chair, thinking what the best way to find them was. Suddenly the tent's door moved and Kakashi and Naruto entered. The Copy nin was holding a plastic bag and gave her an eye crinkle.

"Hello, Sakura-chan!", Naruto smiled and scratched behind his neck.

"What are you doing here?", the kunoichi stood up and stared at them quizzically.

"I'm bringing you a gift.", Kakashi handed her the bag, "I think your outfit is a little bit too light for this kind of task."

Sakura peeked in the bag and pulled out grey arm protectors and a vest in the same color, she lifted her gaze and met Kakashi's, "This is part of the ANBU uniform!"

"But it would keep you a little bit safer. It's light and won't tire you out. It may not seem like it but the vest can actually stop a shuriken or two if you can't evade them all well.", the Copy nin patted her head, "Put them on. I didn't have much time to go and ask for a female arm pads and vest so I'm just giving you mine. I bet you'll look even hotter in them than in your male sleeping shorts.", Kakashi teased and bowed his head down despite the strange look he received from Naruto and whispered, "I wonder how will you look in the whole ANBU uniform – "

Sakura blushed, already putting the new accessories, "I look stupid...", she murmured still blushing.

"I think it suits you. Maybe you should apply for ANBU, Sakura-chan!", Naruto chuckled.

Sakura didn't have the time to answer since the summoning bell rang and she knew that she had only five minutes left. Naruto only glanced at her worryingly and hugged her tightly before disappearing from the tent. The kunoichi looked at the man still standing inside.

"Aren't you going to leave?", she drew a little closer and smiled at him.

"Nope. I'm going to wait here.", Kakashi stepped back and sat on the folding chair without averting his eyes for hers.

"Why?", Sakura now only stood inches away from him with bowed head so she can gaze into his black eye.

"I don't want to see you going there.", Kakashi sighed and his head fell down, "It should have been me."

Sakura smiled and put her hand on his cheek gently caressing it, "I'm going to win this stupid tournament, Kakashi, no matter what – "

The Copy nin raised his chin and glanced at her glittering green eyes with an empty stare, then his arms reached and wrapped around her waist, placing his head on her stomach, "This is exactly what worries me –"

Sakura's smiled disappeared, not sure what she should make of those words, but then she let out her breath and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, "I – ", her words were interrupted by the second bell, ringing, "I have to go.", the kunoichi pulled back from the embrace and ran to the exit, on the doorstep she stopped and turned around, "Wait for me.", she smiled at the man sitting on the small folding chair before disappearing outside.

"As if I had other choice.", Kakashi murmured under his breath and supported his elbows on his knees, burying face in his palms, sighing deeply.

TBC