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Chapter 6

For once, Kakashi's dreams were pleasant. It had been weeks since he wasn't awakened by nightmares of the mistakes of his past. As he slept, his dreams were of the woman that currently shared his bed and roused his passion. They were pleasing, dreams of sharing their love, dreams of just being together. Unconsciously, he pulled her closer to himself, his tether to normalcy, his shield against the demons in his head. Soon the images faded away as he slipped into deeper sleep. All that remained was the sense of peace he felt. It had been a long time since he slept so well. His body craved the much needed rest. A content sigh left his lips as he slept on.

Genma and his team waited anxiously for the two other teams to arrive to take over their guard. The Hokage thought it prudent to have two teams guard at night figuring that if any mischief were to occur, it would be under the cover of darkness. Genma's team fidgeted anxiously as they awaited the two teams to appear. Even though they had an important job to do, it was extremely boring for the highly skilled team. With his mask on, Genma couldn't chew on his signature senbon, much to his irritation. As his mind drifted, he could sense the replacement teams moving quickly through the forest towards their location.

All three teams met at the edge of the forest that surrounded the cottage. The two leaders of the replacement teams greeted Genma then gave their instructions to their teams to sweep the area to make sure that there were no chakra signatures nearby, with the instructions of giving a wide berth around the cottage. Genma's team joined the two other teams as they all took off into the forest. The team leaders all sat down on a nearby stump so Genma could brief them. Sensing that the teams were out of earshot, Genma faced his peers to begin.

Toad and Hawk's masks stared blankly waiting for the senbon user to tell them what had happened during his team's shift. For the past few weeks, they have been part of the team protecting Kakashi and helping Sakura in any way they could. Kakashi's dreams were intense, and in the beginning, they needed to be close at hand to help her. It pained both men to see their sensei tortured nightly and watch their team mate stand helplessly at his side while the nightmares ran their course. Both were apprehensive when they were pulled away from guard duty to perform needed missions. Each one of them wondered if everything was fine when they were far from home. Needless to say, the two men quickly completed their assigned tasks so they could get home to assist Sakura and Kakashi in any way they could.

Genma started his report and suggested to Sasuke and Naruto to give the couple some privacy tonight. The two shinobi looked at each other in surprise of the turn of events. Sasuke activated his sharingan and could see that the two were resting intimately together. A smile played on his lips, pleased that his friend and team mate had found some happiness finally. Naruto looked up at his companion and could see all was well with the two other members of their original team. Both men hoped that Kakashi's injuries would mend so the two could both move on with their lives, just as they had.

Genma recalled his summons that was watching the cottage nearby. Naruto and Sasuke called up their own to watch over the couple from a distance so they could be alerted if something was amiss.

Slowly Kakashi was aware of the forest slowly coming into view as his dream started. He could see three teams of ANBU patrolling an area of the forest nearby. The group stopped, acknowledging each other as two of the members took off towards the village once Genma had joined them. Naruto and Sasuke joined the groups and gave their instructions to each of their teams. Silently nodding that they understood their instructions, the two teams took off in opposite directions.

Kakashi's dream followed Naruto's group as they made their way noiselessly through the forest, making sure that there wasn't any chakra signatures in the area. As he watched the group, he was proud of the way that Naruto had matured. The unpredictable shinobi had learned how to be an effective leader and nurtured his subordinates in a way that they couldn't help but improve on their skills. The Uchiha heir had become better skilled at developing his underlings with the help of his best friend, although he wasn't as proficient as Naruto. It was satisfying to watch the once rivals complement each other as they made their way through the upper ranks of the elite. Both of their teams were highly respected and the most skilled in the village. To be part of either's team was an honor. Finally, the two men understood Kakashi's lessons on team work. Kakashi couldn't help but feel proud as they developed into the elite shinobi that they were born to be.

Suddenly, he saw Naruto stop his team abruptly. Motioning to his team, they took up a defensive position around an unidentified chakra signature lurking within the trees. As the group closed in on the intruder, it became clear that they had intercepted a possible assassin. Naruto quickly released the scroll which held one of Sasuke's hawks to summon his partner as back up. With his team in position, Naruto gave the signal to apprehend the interloper.

Kakashi watched from a vantage point above the team, in his dream, as they fought with the now discovered shinobi. The intruder was highly skilled and the team was hard pressed trying to subdue him. Naruto wanted him alive so the trespasser could be interrogated to see what his devious mission was and who had sent him. Naruto's team held the trespasser at bay until Sasuke swooped in with his sharingan glaring, thus stopping the assassin cold in his tracks.

The two captains gave each other their signature high five and went to assess the damage done to Naruto's team. Before they could tie up the prisoner, the intruder's arm quickly came up, with knife in hand, and slashed one of Naruto's team member's abdomen, opening a large wound on the man. Surprised by the shinobi's movement, Sasuke descended on the prisoner menacingly knocking him unconscious, as his wires incapacitated him.

Kakashi woke with a start, knowing that that type of wound would be serious and needed attending right away. Breathing heavily, he knew if what he saw actually happen, the wounded man would not make it back to the village alive. Debating if he should wake up Sakura or not, he noticed that the pink haired medic beside him was looking up at him questioning why he had woke so abruptly.

"Kakashi, is everything okay?" she asked sleepily, concerned that he had just experienced another nightmare.

Kakashi looked down at her trying to form the words to tell her what he had just experienced and trying to judge if he was losing his mind or not. Finally, he decided that he needed to tell her what happened no matter what the outcome was. While he explained to her what he saw in his dream, she sat up and listened intently. As he finished his tale, before she could comment, there was an urgent knock at the door. Sakura grabbed her robe and Kakashi quickly dressed so they could answer the door.

As they opened the door, they were greeted by a distressed ANBU requesting Sakura's immediate assistance. Kakashi recognized the mask and knew that the ANBU standing before him was Nari, one of the newer members of Sasuke's team. The young woman quickly told them the story about how Naruto's team attacked the intruder and how Hiro had been cut by the interloper. Sakura and Kakashi stopped abruptly and just stared at each other, shocked by what they were just told. Right now was not the time to discuss what just happened, it would have to wait until Sakura healed Hiro and made sure he was out of harm's way.

Shortly after, Naruto and Sasuke approached carrying the injured young man. She could see that Naruto had placed a pressure bandage over the wound, just as she had instructed him to do if there was an injury in the field. Sakura quickly directed them to the open area in the living room so she could start healing him. She turned to Nari and asked her to get some warm water and towels from the other room so she could clean him up after she was done healing Hiro. The woman nodded and rushed to the other room dragging one of her team mates to help. Turning to the rest of the group, Sakura ordered all of them out of the room so she wouldn't be interrupted. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and the other 3 team members turned and made their way into the kitchen area.

The 3 younger shinobi were shaken by the events of this evening. They were not as seasoned as the veterans in their midst. Naruto and Sasuke ordered them to patrol the immediate area to make sure the intruder didn't have any friends nearby. Once they had left, Kakashi turned to his former students and inquired where they had placed the detainee. The two men told him that they had stashed him in a nearby shed awaiting pick up by a nearby ANBU recovery team. Unnerved by what he had just experienced, Kakashi questioned the two men on why they didn't secure the prisoner before anyone stepped anywhere near him.

Sasuke and Naruto stared at the silver-haired shinobi trying to figure out how he knew about what happened out in the field. Nari didn't see how Hiro was injured and had been sent for help before they could discuss the matter, so they knew that she didn't know details about what had taken place.

"Ummm…Kakashi," Naruto finally said, "How did you know about that?"

Kakashi realized in his irritation that he had given out too much information about his knowledge about what had transpired. Always the professional, he maintained his composure and he raced to find an explanation that would the two men in front of him would believe.

"I figured it out by the type of injury," he snapped, "I'm still waiting for your answer."

Accepting Kakashi's excuse, Naruto began explaining what had happened to his former sensei. Sasuke just stared at him. He wasn't buying his flimsy excuse, but for the life of him couldn't figure out what was going on. He could tell that Kakashi was unnerved by the situation and he knew it wasn't just because how Hiro was injured.

Before Sasuke could question Kakashi, Sakura walked into the room. Anxious, Naruto stood up waiting for her to update him on Hiro's injuries. Sakura assured her friend that the young man was out of harm's way but needed to be taken to the hospital right away due to the amount of blood he had loss. She could only do so much out here since her supplies were limited.

Naruto quickly produced four shadow clones to help with the task at hand. Turning to Sasuke, he told his longtime friend that he would leave one of the clones here to continue with guard duty while he and the rest of the clones took Hiro to the hospital. Nodding, Sasuke escorted the clone towards the rest of the group so they could secure the perimeter. He looked back at Sakura to confirm all was well with them before he left. Sakura's smile assured him that she had matters well in hand and that she didn't need his assistance. As the Uchiha heir left, he mentally noted to check in later to see what was going on and to inquire how Kakashi knew about the details of the evening.

After they had all left, Sakura turned and watched Kakashi as he stared blankly out the window into the darkness. She was sure that tonight's events had shaken him. Hell, tonight's events had completely floored her. Was this another side effect of the poison? Would Kakashi be left with the gift or curse of premonition? This was way out of her comfort zone, but she needed to help her lover any way she could through all of this. Sensing his apprehension, she quietly slid behind him and wrapped her arms around him to comfort him.

Feeling her warm arms wrap around him, he leaned into her embrace gently stroking her arms. His mind raced through everything that had happened tonight. He wondered how this new ability would affect him or if it was only a temporary thing. How would this impact his ability to be a shinobi? Would he ever heal from this horrific poison or be scarred for the rest of his life?

As he let out a sigh, Sakura pulled him closer into her embrace. He knew that she would stand by him no matter what. Strangely, this comforted him and gave him the strength that he needed to move forward. He just hoped that it would be enough to pull them through all of this and find the happiness that they deserved.

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