Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Kakashi would be my sancho.

Spoilers: AU. The truth has been twisted to meet my needs, as all truths should be!

Warnings: no beta. Language. Yamato spoilers.

Title: Underneath

The walk to her house was quiet and slightly awkward. Sakura wasn't exactly sure how to talk to Shin about the things he knew, or the questions he had. When she had shown him where his room was he only nodded before locating a dresser and unpacking his clothes.

There were things she was not prepared to face. Questions she wasn't sure she could answer. She didn't want him to ask the questions she knew he wanted to ask; questions he needed to ask. She wouldn't lie to him. He didn't deserve lies, especially hers. She didn't want to tell him the truth, because the truth hurt. His truth was going to hurt.

Sakura had planned on killing time by dusting and buying groceries, but it seems like someone had come into the house the day before and took care of it all. It was probably Naruto. Maybe even Sai. It sure as hell wasn't Kakashi, although the discovery of an Icha Icha book on her nightstand made her question that opinion.

Signing Sakura left the kitchen and headed towards the back porch. It was past noon already and there was still a lot of time left in the day. As she walked through the living room she spotted a framed picture of her graduating academy class hanging on the wall. The picture brought back so many memories.

As she looked at the picture Sakura sensed Shin walk into the room. Sakura turned and looked at him. "Are you okay?"

Shin took a moment to contemplate his response. He looked at Sakura in the face before dropping his gaze and shaking his head.

Sakura moved toward the back porch where she had spotted a bench. "Follow me. It's nice out back."

For some time they both just sat in silence. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but Sakura could sense the tension that was slowly growing under the surface. Sakura took the moment to observe Shin. Sakura watched as Shin closed his hands into fists and looked straight ahead. He was struggling with himself. Although he had moments where he showed emotion, those were usually moments where he was caught off guard. She could tell that it wasn't that he tried to remain emotionless; rather he wasn't comfortable showing emotion. He didn't know how to express himself.

"Jii-san told me I had no mother or father. That I was a living copy of someone Kabuto wanted. He didn't know why. He said all he knew about that person was their name; Sasuke. When I stayed with Naruto-san I asked if I could look through their books. I found a picture of him and his team."

His voice was only a whisper when he spoke. Sakura sighed. It could be worse she thought, but not by much.

"Is what Jii-san said true?"

Sakura turned to look at Shin's profile. This was what she was dreading. She would answer honestly, but should she elaborate or be vague. She had an obligation to answer his questions, but she also needed to make sure she didn't overdue it with the information. She wasn't sure if either one of them was ready for it.

"Yes. Kabuto had knowledge on how to create clones, or living copies of people. Kabuto worked for a person who wanted Sasuke."

"I was a backup."

Sakura watched as Shin's knuckles turned white. He was smart and quick. She knew subtly would not be lost on him. As Sakura looked from his hands to his face she couldn't help but feel sad. She needed him to understand that none of that mattered anymore. He needed to know that someone cared.

"It doesn't matter anymore. You're home now. You can make your life be whatever you want it to be."

Shin looked down at Sakura's hand before lifting his gaze to her face. He seemed to study her face for a moment. "You look like the girl on his team. So does Naruto-san.

"We were Team 7. Both Naruto and Sasuke were orphans. When we were placed together as a team they hated each other, but eventually they treated each other like brothers. We were like family. I did my best to keep up with them."

Sakura smiled at the warm memory. Things were so innocent when they were 12. She was in love, Naruto was in love, and Sasuke…he needed a friend. She was proud of the fact that she was able to be there. She only wished she had the maturity at that time to see how much Sasuke was suffering. She didn't want Shin to continue further. There would be other times to talk about Sasuke.

Sakura stood up turned and pulled Shin up from the bench. "Look we have plenty of time to talk about the past, but for right now I want to focus on the present." Taking a step back Sakura made Shin spread his arms so she can get a good look at his clothes. His clothes were visibly old, and they seem vaguely familiar. "Is that your shirt?"

"No, Naruto-san gave it to me."

"Show me what other clothes you have."

It didn't take Shin long to show her all he owned, and the majority of it were hand me downs. They were covered in holes and were drab. Some looked as though they should have been thrown away long ago. No wonder Naruto gave him a shirt. None of it would work. He needed new clothes.

Sakura thanked her lucky stars that she had saved up all her money, because she knew she was going to be spending a lot of it on Shin. He needed clothes, weapons, and shoes. When she took him to pick out clothes she wasn't surprised when he favored the darker clothes. She let him pick out whatever he wanted only giving her opinion if it didn't look good, or would get in the way of his training.

It was during one of his many trips to the changing room that Sakura again noticed the glances she was getting. As with before she thought it was because they knew who she was or because of the way she was dressed, but when Shin would approach her the glances turned into whispers and nods. She was pretty sure he noticed the looks as well.

Shin ended up deciding on a pair of dark blue shorts and a black, plain long sleeve shirt. He tended to lean towards the form fitting clothes. Sakura made sure to buy multiples of each item, including some that were a size bigger for when he started to outgrow them. When she approached the registrar the cashier quickly rang her up. Sakura could tell she wanted to say something, but it wasn't until Sakura went to pay that she finally spoke.

"You're Haruno Sakura, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay. Well it's good to have you back in Konoha."

Sakura took her change and handed the bags to Shin. As she turned to walk out she overheard the cashier talking to one of the other customers.

"See I told you it was her. Which means that the boy…"

"She left to hide his birth obviously."

Sakura couldn't stop the short, loud laugh that escaped her as she walked out of the store. Shin turned and give her strange look, but she just waved him off. She had heard some crazy rumors during her travels but this one topped them all.

"Let's get you some weapons."

"Mind if I join you?"

Sakura turned and smiled at Kakashi. As he approached them she took the time to really look at him. He hadn't changed much. He still had the same lazy demeanor, grey hair and welcoming smile (even if all she could see what his eye). She did notice that he was getting a small wrinkle around his eye, but that only made his smile look warmer. It didn't distract from his overall attractiveness.

"Shin, allow me to introduce Hatake Kakashi. He was my sensei many years ago."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Hatake-san."

"Sakura-chan, when you say it like that it makes me feel old."

"You are old." Sakura turned and started to walk in the direction of the weapons shop leaving Shin and Kakashi behind. The teasing made her happy. It almost felt as if no time had passed between them at all.

Kakashi turned and smiled at Shin, "Be careful with this one, she can be very mean. And she has quite a temper."

As the trio walked down the street Kakashi quickened his pace to walk next to Sakura. "Is he always that formal?"

"Yes he is, and there is nothing wrong with that." Sakura made sure to throw Shin a smile over her shoulder as she spoke. Her smile only grew bigger when she noticed the slight blush spread across his nose.

Once inside the shop Sakura again let Shin roam and try anything he wanted. He seemed to have an affinity to shuriken, which was quickly eclipsed when he spotted the katanas. For someone who had no exposure to shinobi's and weapon's he was assimilating quite well. It made Sakura wonder if being a shinobi was something that was engrained in a person. She wasn't sure how much Shin knew about the outside world before actually walking out of the lab, but she had yet to see any hesitation from him regarding training, weapons, or shinobi's in general. He seemed to just absorb all of it. As Sakura observed Shin she noticed Kakashi come up behind her and invaded her personal space.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Don't worry I can smell the poison from here." Sakura could hear the smile in his voice, but his tone quickly changed. "Have you noticed the looks the two of you are getting?"

"Yes. They think he's my secret love child." From the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi lower his head and shake it in disbelief.

"This might not be good for him."

Sakura turned to face Kakashi. It was only then that she realized just how close he had gotten. He smelled fresh, like a forest after rain. "What do you suggest?"

Kakashi took a step back and motioned to Shin. "As much as I hate to do this, do you mind if I try something?"

Sakura shook her head and watched as he approached Shin. She trusted Kakashi with whatever resolution he had decided upon. He never steered her wrong before. After a few brief words between Kakashi and Shin they walked over to the small clothing section where Kakashi pointed out the masks. It made her a little sad to know that hiding his face may be the only way for him to avoid any additional hardships.

As she watched the two of them she couldn't help but think about her interactions with Kakashi. It was obvious he was noticing her physical development, and she could confidently say that she had also noticed him. She trusted him with her life and she knew he did as well. No one else knew her quite as well as he did. He knew her weakness and her strengths. As a teenager she hadn't noticed his attractiveness, but now as an adult she was noticing. It had been quite some time since she'd been with a man. Was it worth the possibility of ruining her relationship with him just for a moment of quick pleasure?

Although she doubted he would be quick.

"Haruno-sensei, are you alright?"

"Yes. Sorry. Do you need help?" Sakura could feel that her face was getting hot and she knew for a fact Kakashi noticed.

"Which mask do you think I should get?" Shin held up two masks. One that would only cover the bottom half of his face, much like Kakashi's, and the other would cover all of his face and hair with the exception of his eyes.

"Get the half face one." Although covering his hair may help, she couldn't bring herself to let him cover it.

Shin took quite a long time trying out weapons. Every now and then he would ask Sakura for assistance figuring out how to handle a particular weapon. She made sure to exaggerate her handling of some, to which she was pleased he cracked a small smile. In the end Shin picked a short blade katana and a dozen of the standard weapons all shinobi had. Sakura let him know that she would hold on to the katana until she felt he was properly prepared to handle it correctly. She saw that he wanted to protest, but said nothing.

It was in those small moments that she saw Sasuke, and they scared her.

On the way home Kakashi bought them takeout and invited himself over for dinner. Sakura didn't protest as she wanted to talk to him about Shin. She needed a second opinion regarding what to tell him about Sasuke and just his overall opinion on Shin. It had nothing to do with spending more time with him. That was just an added bonus.

As they sat around the table and ate, Sakura and Kakashi fell into a comfortable banter. She would call him old, he would say that hurt his feelings, she would call him a liar and so forth. A couple of times Sakura noticed the small smile that Shin would have.

"Kakashi don't you think it's time you show me that ugly mole you have. Or was it horse teeth?"

At the mention of Kakashi's face Shin lowered his chopsticks and stared at Kakashi. Sakura couldn't stop the huge smile from spreading on her face as she could tell that Shin was imagining the ugly features on Kakashi's face. It reminded her of when she was young and they tried to see Kakashi without his mask. Those were happy days.

"Hatake-san—"

"Call me Kakashi, everyone else does." Sakura swore Kakashi winked at her, but she just wrote it off as blinking.

"Okay, Kakashi-san, I understand why it would benefit me to wear one, but why do you wear one?"

"Sometimes a little mystery can be of benefit to a shiobi. Take Sakura for example."

Kakashi pointed his hand at Sakura as if presenting her to Shin for the first time. Shin turned his attention to Sakura, but she could tell he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to notice or take as an example.

"Notice how she is dressed. She is wearing expensive, well tailored clothing. Her hair and make-up is impeccable. Her hands look delicate, particularly her nice long nails. If you didn't know she was a shinobi you would think she was the daughter of someone with great power or money; someone who didn't know a hard day's work if it fell on her."

Sakura watched as Shin looked from her hair to her nails. He wasn't looking at her in the same way a man would, he was studying her.

"People, I'm sure, have made the mistake of assuming Sakura was weak simply because of the way she looked." Kakashi once again gave her the look he had given her earlier that day. This time Sakura was ready and she was able to stop her blush. "That would be their biggest, and possibly last, mistake and her advantage. For example, did you know Sakura could destroy every bone in your body with one punch and then heal them all back together?"

Shin's eyes became as wide as plates as he quickly turned and looked at Sakura again. She could see the questions forming in his head. He didn't understand how she could be able to do the things Kakashi mentioned. She knew Shin trusted them both.

"You have to look underneath the underneath."

She saw the same confusion in his face that she probably had on her face the first time Kakashi had said the same words to her. If only she truly understood the meaning behind those words then. She thought she had figured it out, but looking back on it now she was wrong. So very wrong.

"Tomorrow morning I'll take you to one of the training fields and you can figure out what me means; unless you want to wait?"

"No, tomorrow morning is good."

Sakura wouldn't be so concerned about his enthusiasm if he had been raised in the village, but that was not the case. It made her worry. She would have to take extra care to ensure he became a shinobi for the right reasons. She didn't want him to walk down an oh so familiar path.

Once they were finished eating Sakura had to usher Shin to his room since he insisted on helping clear the table. Once she was sure he was asleep and everything had been cleared away Sakura pulled out the file she had taken from Tsunade. Kakashi sat across from her at the table and turned his chair sideways as he pulled out an orange book.

"I thought they weren't publishing those anymore?"

"Naruto took over as author. He's surprisingly good."

Sakura shook her head as she opened the file folder. The first documents were pictures of the lab. She almost gasped. How could any child be raised in this type of environment and still be sane?

"What do you think if him?"

At her question Kakashi lowered the book and tilted his head towards her. "I have no doubt he has talent. But his enthusiasm worries me. He has no fear."

"But then again he was raised in this place." Sakura lifted a picture of a hospital operating room that had obviously been modified. All the tools and surfaces in the room were rusted over. There were jars containing, who knows what, lined along the wall. The place was terrifying.

"That is one of the reasons you were selected. He needs someone to be warm to him."

Sakura understood what he was trying to say. Shin needed to know that someone cared. She wasn't sure just how well the old man took care of him, but there must have been a lack of affection and interaction between the two.

If someone had asked her yesterday if she could be that person to him she would have said no. But after spending the whole day with him she couldn't help but be drawn in. For all of the good manners and strong front he presented she could see he was still emotionally stinted. She not only needed to teach him how to be a shinobi, but also how to be a person. A whole person. She wasn't expecting him to be an open book like Naruto, but she also didn't want him to bottle everything away like Sasuke. She wanted to help him find that middle ground that was both comfortable and healthy for him.

"How was he with Naruto?"

"Nervous, but Hinata worked miracles. She reassured him. Apparently yesterday he asked about going to the library so he could read up on our history."

"I'll have Sai show him around. Shin needs to be exposed to more people."

"Sakura, does Sai know what happened to Sasuke?"

Sakura lifted her gaze from the files to Kakashi. He too was looking at her, measuring her. She knew Kakashi knew all of the details surrounding Sasuke's death. Although he was not present for the moment, he saw the aftermath. He learned the details later, that was one of the benefits that came with being an advisor to the Hokage. But the details around his death were known by the members of Team 7 and the Hokage. Sakura herself knew for a fact that no one else from the Rookie 9 knew the details. Naruto had promised her he would never tell anyone the full details and she knew Tsunade and Kakashi would never discuss it with anyone. Sakura sure as hell wasn't going to tell anyone. No one needed to know how badly they had failed to save Sasuke; how badly she had failed.

"No he doesn't know the details."

Kakashi said nothing, he just nodded his head and went back to his book. They continued to read in silence that way for quite some time. When Sakura kicked Kakashi out it was past midnight. He hesitated for a split second on her doorstep before saying good night and leaving. As he walked away from her house Sakura felt a bit lonely. She hadn't felt that way in a really long time, not since before she left village.

Author's Note: Yeah I spent two chapters to write about one day. So kill me. I don't care. I will provide further details surround Sasuke's last days in future chapters. Don't ask me about the details surround his death now as it is a major part of my story.