Hello, folks! Long time no see ^^ As I promised the next chapter would be once I finish my finals so here it is :P Hope you like it. Originally I planned to include a little bit more to the plot in this chap but I decided that there's no need to rush things up. Also I received few feedbacks asking if I could shorten a bit the length of the chapters so, here I am complying with your requests!

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

Haunted by the past
a nightmare that seemed so unreal.
I wish that I could turn back time
and spare the pain that we both feel.
And now we've changed,
things will never be the same.

"Nothing I won't give" by Vic Mignogna

"ARGHH!", Naruto growled and pulled with fingers his blond hair frustrated. The Jinchuuriki dropped heavily on the couch in his ex-sensei's apartment, "How long has it been since we last heard from Sakura? Four months? Five?"

Kakashi sighed and served the steaming tea in front of his visitor, "Almost six. I think.", he tried to count the time that had passed but few moments later just accepted the fact that this was an unnecessary torment and simply shrugged.

"Are they OK?"

"Naruto...stop thinking about Sakura. She's probably fine.", Kakashi frowned.

"You're right. You're thinking enough for the both of us.", the younger shinobi grinned.

The Copy nin only glanced at him irritated. "How can he be so annoyingly positive?". The silver-haired shinobi sighed, "So, what exactly are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to stay in Suna till the war breaks out?"

"Why would I?", Naruto raised his brow, "Tsunade told me to persuade Gaara and to come back. I returned late because Gaara and I had a lot of catching up to do. The Kazekage didn't need any persuasion. I told him about our problem and he said, "Of course I'll help you.". It was a matter of minutes."

"I thought she sent you there to fall under the radar for a while.", Kakashi frowned again and sat next to his former student.

"As if I'd stay put.", Naruto chuckled, "If she wanted me to stay hidden she should have sent Hinata with me. Then I wouldn't mind."

"… Since when did you become so…?", Kakashi shook his head defeatedly unable to finish his thought.

Naruto ignored the other shinobi's reaction and scratched his neck, "So, sensei… Can I ask you a question that's been bugging me a lot since Sakura's disappearance?"

"Go ahead."

"But you need to answer me truthfully.", Naruto pointed out his finger at the silver-haired man.

"Go ahead…"

"What is your relationship with Sakura? And don't tell me friends because I'm not that stupid."

Kakashi shot him annoyed glare and cleared his throat, "None of your business."

"But you said you'd answer!"

"No, I said "go ahead"."

The Jinchuuriki pouted, "Fine. I'll paraphrase it. Did you sleep with her the night before she disappeared?"

Kakashi choked and spit the tea that he was drinking, spilling some of it on his trousers, "What the hell, Naruto! How did you think of that?", the man exclaimed and placed the almost empty cup on the coffee table, brushing the wet stain on his clothes.

"The day when I came to pick you up and found you wasted in your bedroom, I noticed that her robe was spread on the chair next to your bed."

"How do you know it was her robe? It might have been any random woman's robe."

"Because Ino gave it to her when she came back from her mission in some small eastern village.", Naruto raised his brow.

"Still. Sakura is not the only one who have the same robe, right? That's not a good enough reason for you to say such nonsense.", Kakashi finished the remains on his tea calmly.

"Really? Show it to me and I'll prove that it's hers.", Naruto glared challengingly at his former sensei.

"I threw it away since its owner didn't come to look for it."

"Then you won't mind me going into your bedroom?", Naruto stood up and made a step toward the other room.

Immediately Kakashi rose to his feet and gripped his former student's arm, "Fine. You're right. It's her robe."

"I knew it!", Naruto gaped, "You old pervert! How could you?! With Sakura-chan?!", the blonde continued watching him with wide open eyes and mouth.

"Oi, oi, oi!", Kakashi waved his hand in front of his face, "It really was not my idea!"

"Ha?! Then what? She came wearing the robe and seduced you?! Don't be ridiculous! That's Sakura-chan we're talking about.", Naruto yelled still a little bit overwhelmed. Yeah, he expected it but to finally know the truth. It was something else.

Kakashi only looked blankly at his former student. The Copy nin knew Naruto would react like this. It was indeed inappropriate and probably shocking for them to have that kind of relationship but still... He couldn't lie and say that he regretted it.

"So, what? She really did seduce you?", Naruto's mouth dropped down even more and the boy sat again on the couch, "Damn."

The silver-haired jonin raised questioningly his eyebrow at the Jinchuuriki, "So that's it?", Naruto looked at him puzzled, "No more yelling?"

"Sensei… I would have done that if you were the one who initiated it but since she…man… I can't even say it!", the Jinchuuriki sighed and then grinned, "All I'm saying is that you're a man too, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura she's, well, you know how she is…", Naruto laughed still a little bit flushed, "So, what? You're dating now?"

"The truth is she doesn't even know what she feels for me.", Kakashi shrugged. Topics like these didn't mess with his head anymore. As the months passed and there was not a single word from her it actually became easier for him not to think about it, "But it's OK now.", the Copy nin hurried to add when he noticed the pitiful look Naruto sent him, "I think it's best if we stay friends anyway."

"If you say so.", Naruto smiled sadly, "If she ever comes back…do you think things could be the same as before?"

"Honestly? No. The things she had to go through, the pain she suffered…she had already changed. Even something simple like living with Sasuke in a cottage is changing her. His existence near Sakura is reversing her emotions and the way she looks at the world around her.", Kakashi sighed, "We have to be grateful if she ever decides to come home, Naruto. That's what I'm thinking."

"Kakashi-sensei, all these years chasing after Sasuke, I don't think I have the same strength to chase after Sakura-chan as well.", the boy's gaze fell and Kakashi felt his chest tightening.

Was it his fault that his team was falling apart? He didn't try hard enough, he knew that but he never thought those kids would be affected that much. They had a flame in their eyes but he had mistaken those flames, they weren't burning to protect the village, they were ignited by their own desires – to be acknowledged, to be loved, to get revenge. If he had seen that earlier maybe he wouldn't treat them like he did. He would have trained Sakura harder, he would have been stricter with Sasuke and be the father, Naruto never had the chance to meet. His team was the strongest in Konoha, that's what the statistical data showed but at the same time it was the weakest. And the poorest link in that team was him.

Kakashi closed his eyes, sighing and stood on his feet, "Let's go to the training grounds."

Naruto looked at the blank gaze of his former teacher and stood up and followed him, closing quietly the door behind him.

"Seriously, Sasuke? Seriously?", Sakura pulled her hair in a high ponytail and tied it up with the rubber band. The kunoichi glared disapprovingly at the improvised training grounds that Sasuke had build for them yesterday. The past five and half months they've been training one versus another, slowly but constantly improving Sakura's speed and evasion. With her perfect chakra control it was easier to adapt to the fighting method Sasuke showed her. The teachings of Tsunade were actually the most suitable for a medical nin but if she ever found herself in a situation where she had to fight alone against a strong opponent only evading wouldn't be enough.

As much as she needed Sasuke to take her seriously and spar with the intent to kill, the Uchiha never fully used his capacity. And she knew the reason. He was afraid that her injuries might not be fully recovered. And all thanks to Mahi. When she showed up months ago to report that she had delivered the poison sample and the Konoha had successfully managed to create the antidote, the slug unintentionally raised the question about Sakura's severed limb and that's how Sasuke found out about what happened while he was unconscious. Ever since then the dark-haired shinobi never even once let her exert her body, insisting to the point where it bordered to nagging.

Sakura had healed completely her leg and it wasn't causing her problems anymore but still Sasuke continued to behave cautiously around her. And right now the kunoichi was standing in front of a hand-made track with different obstacles scattered around it. She could distinguish a small pyramid build from rolling logs with a small flat area on top where she had to end up if she wanted to continue to the next obstacle.

"You notice the water around the obstacles?", Sasuke asked while preparing the hourglass in his hand.

"Yeah."

"Think of it as an abyss. Once you step into the water surface you're out.", the Uchiha explained glanced at the girl beside him, "You'd better tie your hair into a bun or else it might suffer."

Sakura looked at him annoyed but wrapped her ponytail around the rubber band and fixed it in place with the other band which was on her wrist, "Better?"

"Mhm.", Sasuke grinned, "You'll have minute and a half for all of the obstacles. No weapons or chakra allowed, not even for speed boost. You understand?"

Sakura nodded, "Just tell me, why I have to do this?"

"I just want to see the results of your training, I passed the track already and added additional 20 seconds to my time limit.", the Uchiha explained, "I'll move first to set up some of the obstacles. When I give you the signal you'll begin. OK?"

"Understood.", Sakura dropped her pouch on the ground and stretched her arms and legs.

Sasuke made a handseal and a kage bunshin appeared next to him. The clone raised his hand readying to give the signal; the Uchiha ran forward and disappeared from Sakura's sight. Soon after that the bunshin dropped his hand and the kunoichi sprinted to the first obstacle.

There was a small water pit dividing the track from the rolling log pyramid and Sakura narrowed her eyes. Only one of the logs wasn't moving, that's where she should land. The girl jumped and stretched her legs to reach the wooden surface. She felt the log under her feet starting to spin. "Damn! He had stopped it intentionally.". Sakura quickly jumped up and landed on the flat area on the top. Quickly she studied the slope. With the rolling logs it was impossible to slide without falling into the water so the girl just took a deep breath and jumped, making a double spin, landing roughly on her feet.

Sakura quickly braced herself and studied the next obstacle it was a simple inclined wooden plane at what? 65o degrees? She could do it. The medic rushed and ran on the plane but somewhere on the middle her inertia disappeared and she felt that she'd fall behind. Immediately she grabbed the edge of the wooden board, but a sharp pain cut through her palm. The girl looked and noticed the small nails sticking out from the edge of the plane. "Fuck you, Sasuke!" the kunoichi clenched her teeth and tried to push out from the board. Quickly she jumped grabbing for the handle at the top of the plane.

The kunoichi sighed, catching her breath for a second and continued. How long has it been since she started? 20 seconds? More? She couldn't tell. It seemed like extremely long time. Sakura sprinted to the next obstacle and she found herself standing in front of yet another pit full of water but this time there was a tiny narrow plank connecting the both sides. She looked around. It was suspicious. It was just too easy for her to simply walk across it without any trap. Sakura took off her gloves and threw the first a step further from the beginning of the plank. Nothing happened. Then she threw the second glove a little after the middle. Suddenly flaming swinging hammers appeared out of nowhere. Sasuke must have put a genjutsu to hide them. She would have been seriously injured if she hadn't checked first. The kunoichi measured the intervals at which ever hammer passed with the next one and rushed but if she calculated them wrongly or simply one of them was swinging irregularly and she didn't notice, Sakura didn't know. But one of the hammers slammed her directly at her side causing her to reel and nearly fall off the plank. The kunoichi yelped as she felt the fire burning through her clothes. Quickly Sakura recovered her balance and evaded the other hammers, reaching the end of the plank.

The medic took a deep breath and continued forward. There was no time for her to waste. After this she'd check her injuries.

She never imagined it would be this difficult for her to pass these obstacles without chakra. Sasuke had been right. Shinobi's strongest instrument was his body not the chakra. That's why Lee could keep up with them despite him being unable to collect chakra. Sakura continued running on the track when suddenly the ground under her foot sagged and she jumped to the side startled. There was a hole. Once she looked inside, her eyes widened terrified. There was a bear trap on the bottom. Loaded bear trap. Her pupils expanded and nearly hid the green irises. They began moving chaotically and Sakura broke out in cold sweat with clearly visible drops on her forehead, rolling down her cheeks and nose. Her heart skipped a beat and the kunoichi realized she had stopped breathing. She tried to calm her heartbeat and to think clearly but her eyes simply could avert from the metal trap.

Sakura yelped childishly and covered her face with palm, kneeling on the track. Her body was trembling and she felt the goose bumps appearing on her arms and legs from the cold wave that passed through her skin. The kunoichi started swaying herself with covered face and closed eyes. She felt a hand on her shoulder and quickly jumped on her feet, turning around with terrified expression.

Sasuke knitted his brows at the frightened expression Sakura gave him. There were bloody spots on her cheeks where her injured palm had rubbed. The Uchiha made a step closer and reached out his arm to her. He noticed her body shrieking as if it was trying to avoid the physical contact. As if he was trying to pet a small scared kitten which was trembling and shaking, Sasuke slowly placed his hand on her upper arm without breaking the eye contact with her. When he felt her body calming down, the shinobi pulled her in his embrace and buried hand in her hair, destroying the quickly made bun.

"I'm sorry. But otherwise you'd never admit that you're still affected by what happened six months ago, Sakura.", he tightened his hug and heard her sobbing, muffled by his body.

Sakura pulled away a little and gazed at him with glistening eyes, "I don't want to remember anymore. Can't you make it go away?"

The Uchiha clenched his fists and frowned, "That's the easy way out, Sakura. You know better than anyone that forgetting isn't the same as solving the problem. And I believe that you'll be able to overcome this.", the dark-haired shinobi sighed, "Kakashi. He's been through some gruesome stuff as well but he had kept going, Sakura. Because he had you and Naruto by his side."

"He kept going because he's detached from any normal feeling a human should have.", Sakura murmured and brushed away her tears.

"Well, that too.", Sasuke smiled.

Sakura sighed and suddenly swung her fist at Sasuke, hitting him in the stomach, forcing him to cough and spit, "That's for those burning things." The Uchiha opened his mouth to say something but then a second punch, this time chakra enhanced, found his nose, "And that's for the bear trap." the kunoichi snorted at the shinobi who was now bend in two, pressing hand at his nose. The medic turned around and stomped back to their cottage.

Sasuke cursed loudly. It was most probably broken. Damn. He had to set it by himself. The Uchiha cursed again and followed into her footsteps.

Kakashi swung his kunai but the weapon missed its target as Naruto swished past him. The Copy nin cursed and made the handseals of Doton jutsu. The dirt wall appeared just in time to stop the Rasengan aimed by Naruto. The Jinchuuriki grinned mockingly and jumped back, landing gently on his feet. Kakashi only stared at his former student. He wasn't foolish enough not to notice that the person standing before him was a kage bunshin, somewhen the blonde had managed to replace himself with the clone. His speed was remarkable. The silver-haired shinobi cracked his neck and took a defensive stance.

Suddenly a loud explosion made the ground under their feet rumble. Naruto turned around at direction to the Hokage tower, a thick black smoke was rising from it. The highest floor that could be visible from the training grounds now was missing and instead there were only destroyed walls with painted rocks. The Jinchuuriki glared at Kakashi with terrified expression.

The Copy nin shrugged and ran in direction to the explosion. Naruto followed him with worried frown, "Baa-chan. She…"

"She wasn't there.", the shinobi answered calmly and increased his pace, "I advised her to stay somewhere else. I imagined that if they attacked us directly in Konoha, the Tower would be the first to fall."

Naruto released his breath and nodded in agreement. Did some incident happened or they were under attack? The young shinobi glanced at his former sensei. He was calm, the only thing giving away his nervousness was the knitting of his silver brows. As soon as they entered the main part of the city they were surrounded by running terrified civilians. Most of them were already heading with their families towards the hideouts as they were informed beforehand of the possibility of upcoming war in Konoha.

"Go and find Shikaku. He should be in the deer forest with Shikamaru. Tell him to meet us in front of the Tower.", Kakashi ordered as he checked the contents of his weapon pouch.

The Jinchuuriki drifted away changing the direction and the Copy nin continued to run straight forward. Suddenly a child cry reached his ears; instinctively he froze into place and looked around. A small blonde girl no more than three or four years old was standing in the middle of the chaotic street with covered with palms face and tears running down her cheeks. A strange clattering noise appeared behind and the shinobi turned around to see a wooden cart accelerating towards him. He could quickly evade it but the young girl wouldn't be able to. Kakashi rushed forward and grabbed the crying child, jumping away from the cart's path. He put the girl on the ground and looked into her eyes. She had stopped crying startled by the sudden intervention of the scary masked shinobi. Once she came to her senses she began sobbing again, trying to escape Kakashi's grip. The Copy nin winked quickly surprised by her reaction and then smiled pulling down his mask, revealing his face.

"Look. I'm not scary anymore.", he said sweetly. The young girl sniffed and cautiously looked at him the child yelped and threw her little arms around Kakashi's neck. The silver-haired jonin stood up with the kid in his embrace. Suddenly a young woman grabbed his sleeve and pulled him.

"You've found my daughter! Thank you.", she reached and hugged her child, the little girl snuggle in her mother.

Kakashi nodded, pulling his mask up and continued running toward the Tower, he wasted too much time here. Around him the shinobi forces had began mobilizing, trying to put some order in that chaos. Nobody had been expecting it to happen so soon so most of the ninjas were either out of the city on missions or just simply relaxing at their homes. The sudden burst of multiple chakra signatures meant that that wasn't an accident. The war had started. The question was how many were the enemies?

Once he reached the area around the Tower he could barely recognize the place. Dead bodies of the staffs working in the offices, scattered along with remains of what once was the Hokage's cabinet, burnt cardboard folders, paintings, blocks of the stone walls, broken glass was sparkling under the sun rays. The smell of roasted pork filled his nostrils and Kakashi frowned. The medical units were already inspecting the bodies for survivors but the dark expressions on their faces told him that there were none. His eyes studied the surroundings – there should have been shinobi fighting the enemy, why there were none. He could sense the fights but they were coming from the north border. The Tower was attacked but the enemy was nowhere to be seen. How could they attack the centre of the village among all that security and at the same time not be around it?

The shinobi summoned Pakkun and once the pub appeared the Copy nin kneeled down, "Track down Gai and Tenzo. Tell them to go to Tsunade-sama. I'm worried that there is a security bridge."

"Where are you going?", the dog asked preparing to carry out his master's order.

"To the north gate.", Kakashi ran without looking back and Pakkun stared at his back for a second and then gave a silent howl, the other members of the pack jumped from the nearby roof and they circled the small pub, "Bisuke. Urushi. Go to Gai and Tenzo. The others go to where Tsunade is."

"Master would be mad if we act on our own again.", Uhei said with opened mouth and barely hidden grin.

"He'll be too busy to care. Now go!", Pakkun raised his paw in pointing gesture.

"What about you?", Bull growled standing up on his feet.

"I gotta inform the other members of team 7.", a smug expression appeared on Pakkun's muzzle

Sakura carefully slid the whetstone over the tempered blade, relaxing under the grating sound it gave away. It had become kind of a habit of hers whenever she needed to cool down her head to sharpen her ninjatō. Her eyes distractedly drifted to the boy sitting on the large stump which was an old-time pine tree. Sasuke silently meditated with crossed legs under him and katana lying horizontally in his lap. If it wasn't for him, she'd never consider learning a swordsmanship but since her abilities were limited to close combat she found it weirdly useful and assuring to have a short blade attached to her lower back. The kunoichi smiled softly, many things had changed with her and between them. Perhaps, at some point, without her realizing she had started to accept him something closer to what they had been before he left Konoha. The shocking and terrifying truth about the village made her see him a little bit more clearly and helped her understand the bloodthirsty grudge he kept in him.

On the other hand, the more layers she peeled from his soul, the more she buried hers until Sakura had difficulty drawing a line between black and white, good and back, justice and loyalty. The medic had never even once doubted the righteousness of Konoha. A postulate, a gospel truth that nobody dared to question – that were the village's decisions for her. The kunoichi did her best not to think about that during her stay with Sasuke, but now when the time of the meeting with her friends, family and comrades was drawing closer, she couldn't help but dwell on it. And the worst part was that she couldn't find the answer she needed. Sakura, the girl who had memorized the Shinobi Codex by the time of graduating to her second year in the Academy, now couldn't decide whether her village had made the right call. The pinkette closed tightly her eyes and slid the stone once more over the blade. "What's happened to me?"

Kakashi deflected the prickles that one of the White Zetsu clones sent flying at his direction, the Copy nin panted as he rolled over the ground to close the distance between him and the attacker. The silver-haired shinobi pulled out a kunai and slit the enemy's throat, frowning at the spray of blood that splashed on his jonin vest. Its green colour was barely visible now from all of the mud and blood dried on it.

He arrived at the North gate in the thick of the battle. The few shinobi who had figured out what was going on were trying to hold the enemy's position, not allowing them to enter the village. The civilians hadn't evacuated yet and thus there would be unnecessary collateral damage. Kakashi quickly had taken the command of the soldiers there forming some kind of a resistance but the numbers were just overwhelming. The Copy nin felt a familiar chakra signature behind his back and sighed relieved as two ink tigers stormed past him and bit into the napes of two clones who were just about to attack the panting silver-haired shinobi.

"Kakashi-san, where's everybody?", Sai yelled across the battlefield as his tigers tore few more enemies and their artist cut one more with his ninjatō.

"Our sensor squad didn't alert the border patrol so nobody knew they were coming until they blow up the Hokage tower. ", Kakashi answered in between the clashes he exchanged with the White Zetsu clone.

"There are a lot of injured, we're losing our positions.", Sai yelled and made a handseal as the ink bird animated from his scroll, "We need to bring the wounded to the medics."

"I know but I can't afford you gone now.", the Copy nin panted as he took out another attacker, "Just a few minutes ago I was sparring with Naruto. My stamina is low."

Suddenly a loud scream barely muted by the battle roar reached Kakashi's ears, the silver-haired shinobi turned his attention to the origin of the sound immediately. A young girl probably still a chuunin was holding a male shinobi in her arms with disgusted expression. Kakashi's coal stare scanned the man's body, his arms were pale white and bony, he could easily distinguish even the tendons under the skin. The poison.

His eyes shot back to Sai just in time to see an enemy sneaking behind him and aiming a prickle at the young artist's back. Kakashi threw his kunai and managed to deflect the attack but at the cost of exposing himself to the enemy unarmed. He could feel the closing of another clone and the Copy nin knew there was not enough time to pull out another kunai or avoid the injury completely and thus being poisoned. He turned around and raised his hand protectively in front of his face when he noticed the still figure of the attacker. His eyes caught the tiny dark shadow tingling on the ground and he stumbled backwards relieved, "Nice timing, Shikamaru."

"Pay more attention, Kakashi-sensei. It's really troublesome to save your ass again.", the lazy tone reached the Copy nin's ears and the silver-haired shinobi gave the boy an eye crease.

"Where's Naruto?"

"He said something about checking up on Hinata.", Choji yelled from behind and placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, "'Sup, Shikamaru?"

"Wasn't Ino with you?", the young Nara shinobi sent a quick glance to his team mate.

"I thought she was with you.", Choji frowned and stepped forward to stand next to Shikamaru.

Kakashi noticed that the shinobi were slowly pushed back by the enemy forces and the Copy nin closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath, the more worked up he was the lesser was the control over his chakra flow. The silver-haired shinobi pulled out a kunai from his pouch and cracked his neck, "Ino's probably with Yamato. Focus on the battle. I hope the reinforcement will be here shortly." The shinobi stormed deeper into the battlefield, slashing the throats of few clones.

The younger ninjas shared a worried look but pulled out their own weapons and joined the fight.

Tsunade crossed her legs and placed arms over them, meditating. If she hadn't listened to Kakashi she'd have been most likely dead. She personally appointed the security ANBU guards that were responsible for the Tower. They couldn't have betrayed her and Konoha and none of them was to be taken lightly when it came to strength and abilities. The Hokage sighed trying to empty her mind. She had sent the letter to the Raikage and the Kazekage. She had sent Shizune to supervise the medical teams and she had officially declared the beginning of the war to the shinobi and appointed the platoons to their respected target places. Right now the only thing she could do was pray, worry and conserve chakra if it was inevitable for her to join the fight at some point.

Unknowingly Tsunade's eyes drifted to her guards – Gai looking as hyped up as ever with his team in a defensive formation around her and Tenzo, shifting his weight from one foot to another far more often than normal for a former ANBU. Something was bothering the young shinobi but the Hokage knew better than just ask him. He would never admit something as preposterous as him thinking about something else besides his duty as a guard of the Hokage.

The Slug Princess finally closed her eyes and let the hundreds of different and, here and there, familiar chakra signatures overflow in her consciousness. The sound of the battles drifted away in the background, she no longer could hear the clashing of the kunai and the yells. The only thing left was her consciousness and endless blackness.

TBC