Sixteen: The Next Task

"Now that you're back, you three have certainly earned some rest," Tsunade said, looking over the ninja standing before her. She was looking at them as a medic, not as the Hokage, Sakura noted.

"Unfortunately," the blonde continued, "I can't give you as much time off as I'd like."

The three deflated at her words, but they did their best not to let it show. They were shinobi of the Leaf, after all, and they had jobs to do.

"As you all know, there has been unrest in the Land of Silver lately, and Tanosuke Sasaki, lord of one of the main villages there has requested that information be brought to him about the suspected rebellion."

Sakura frowned, wondering where her shishou was going with all this. They all knew those details; it was Kakashi who had been sent on that recon mission to get all that information.

"I sent the remaining members of Team Kakashi to the Land of Silver to check it out and act as protection for the Sasaki family should the need arise. Unfortunately it has. Sasuke has been staying there since last week, and Naruto and Sai headed back yesterday. Given the circumstances, I will be sending one of the team's two captains back, while the other will go with Sakura and engage in some more information gathering. Because the mission could be dangerous, it would be best if there's a medic around.

"We now know the identity of two of the rebellion's main players, but its official leader still remains a mystery, as well as any details of their plans. The other two will be responsible for finding out this information. Do you follow?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage," they echoed, each taking in the new information.

"It doesn't matter to me which of you stays with Sakura and which of you goes with Team Seven, so I'll leave it to you to decide," Tsunade said, looking between Yamato and Kakashi.

"I'll go with Team Seven, then," Yamato said, without even bothering to consult with Kakashi. He'd decided on his own that it would be good for Kakashi and Sakura to work together as mission partners.

"Is that alright?" Sakura asked, looking up at the silver-haired jonin.

"Of course," he smiled at her. "It makes more sense for me to do the information-gathering anyway, seeing as I've already done it once."

Tsunade nodded. "Fine. Just remember, they know your face, so if you have to infiltrate any bases, make sure it's Sakura who goes in. You're too recognizable as it is."

Sakura giggled. Kakashi had told her about the rebels' obsession with his one-eyedness on their journey back, as well as filled her in on everything that had happened to him on his mission.

"Maybe we need to start aiming for the eyes when we fight our enemies from now on, huh?" she asked.

Kakashi groaned, not really thinking it was funny, since he'd once had his own eye sliced out.

"Very well then," Tsunade said, signing her seal onto the bottom of two mission scrolls and handing them to Yamato and Kakashi, respectively. "Yamato, you'll leave in two days, as soon as you've had a chance to recover. Kakashi, Sakura, you two will leave in a week. You'll need extra time to rest up, since you won't be living as comfortably as Yamato here."

The wood user grinned at them. "Sorry."

"He doesn't look very sorry," Sakura grumbled, lowering her voice so only Kakashi could hear her.

He chuckled softly beside her. "Yes, but he'll have to deal with Naruto. A Naruto who hasn't had Ichiraku's in a week."

Her lip quirked upward. "Yeah. I guess that's punishment enough. I'm beginning to think Yamato got the short end of the stick."

Kakashi laughed again, and Yamato shot them another worried glance. He wasn't sure he liked what was coming from the pair across from him. They were acting like they knew something that he didn't.

"If you don't have any questions, then you're dismissed," Tsunade said. "Go rest up and make sure all your injuries are healed. And I don't want Sakura doing it! She has to save up her chakra."

"Yes, shishou," Sakura said resignedly.

"Now get out of here!" the blonde barked. "I want to drink my sake in peace!"

"Man, am I looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again!" Sakura said, stretching her arms above her head as the trio walked out into the sunlight.

"That will be nice," Yamato said.

"Don't even talk to me about it," Kakashi grumbled. "I've been away a lot longer than you two have."

"How long is our next mission supposed to last?" Sakura asked.

"Don't know," Kakashi shrugged. "Haven't read the scroll yet."

The pink-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes. "Are you going to?"

He shook his head. "Not anytime soon. I'm going to enjoy my well-earned rest."

Sakura turned to Yamato. "Does he always get like this after ANBU missions?"

"Get like what?" Kakashi sounded offended.

She turned back to him and gave him a smile that was decidedly too sweet.

"Stubborn and whiny like a teenager."

Yamato grinned. "Always."

"Really?" Sakura asked, turning back to the brown-haired man.

"Yup."

"Every time?"

"Every time."

"Oh, do tell me more."

Yamato tapped his chin. "Well, let me think. There was this one time, it was after a rather long mission to Suna, and Kakashi had been craving—"

"Okay that's enough, Tenzo. Sakura doesn't want to hear your boring stories," Kakashi said, putting his hands on Sakura's shoulders and steering her away from Yamato, as if that would help. "Right, Sakura?"

"I don't know, Kakashi. These stories sound pretty interesting," she teased.

"I can assure you, they're not. I'm really quite a boring person."

"That's not what loads of our 'friends' we made on our missions together would say," Yamato said with a wink.

Sakura's jaw dropped as she turned to face the silver-haired man, who looked equally as shocked as she did. They'd been joking around, and Sakura had been having fun teasing him, but there were some things that she definitely did not want to know about her former sensei.

Yamato snickered. "Oh, you two should have seen the looks on your faces."

"He was making it up?" Sakura turned to Kakashi, who merely shrugged.

"It seems that Tenzo has gotten the better of both of us."

Sakura's eyes lit up mischievously. "Well, it's a good thing we've got a whole ANBU-length mission ahead of us to plan our revenge, then, isn't it?"

Kakashi grinned. "I suppose it is."

Yamato eyed them warily. "I don't like the sound of that. I'd better warn Naruto and the others to be on their guard. I bet they'll be willing to help out an old friend."

"Sasuke will take our side," Sakura said. "So I guess it'll be even. Three-on-three."

"Not if I get Naruto to convince him to take ours. Then you'll be out of luck."

"Well," Kakashi said lightly, stepping forward, "the way I see it, it's two-on-one right now, isn't it Sakura?"

"That's right, Kakashi. We do appear to have the advantage."

The wood-style user laughed nervously. "Oh, would you look at that! My apartment just happens to be right this way. Too bad you guys are going in the opposite direction. Maybe I'll see you in the Land of Silver sometime, eh?"

Sakura and Kakashi laughed, giving up on their revenge for now.

"I guess you're right. See you later, Tenzo. Watch out for my team, and take care of yourself."

"I will, Kakashi-sempai. I'll see you later, Sakura. I'm proud of you."

Sakura smiled, hesitating only for a second before throwing herself at him and wrapping him in a hug that was just a little too tight for his newly healed ribs.

"Thank you, Yamato. Not just for the training."

He smiled, knowing exactly what she meant. "Of course Sakura."

His smile stayed firmly on his face as he watched the pair of shinobi disappear around the corner ahead, and he knew they would both be fine.

Silly girl. It's about time she started believing in herself. Everyone else already did.

Sakura hadn't seen Kakashi since they'd bid Yamato farewell on the day the brown-haired shinobi headed off to the Land of Silver, to meet up with the rest of Team Seven. Four days ago.

They were supposed to head out for their ANBU mission the next day, and Sakura still hadn't received all the details. She sighed, wondering if Kakashi had even read the scroll yet. She knew they were supposed to attempt to find out the identity of the unknown rebel leader, but she had no clue as to where they would be going, or how long they would be gone. She didn't even know what to pack!

"So you're telling me you know nothing," Ino said, sorting through what little clothes Sakura owned.

"Yup," the pink-haired girl said, flopping onto the bed. "Kakashi hasn't told me squat."

"Maybe it's bad. Like maybe, you have to pretend to be bandits or something. Or homeless people, or bad guys, or ooh! Maybe you guys have to pretend to be married!"

"Ino! It's a recon mission. We don't have to pretend to be anything unless we decide the situation calls for it. And I hardly think we're going to have to pretend to be lovers."

"That would be kinda hot though."

"Pig!"

The blonde girl shrugged. "What? He was your teacher once, but Kakashi Hatake's totally a looker."

"Ino."

She held up her hands defensively. "Alright, alright. Chill. I'm just saying."

"Let it go."

"If you insist," but Ino's tone told Sakura the blonde wasn't ready to let the subject drop.

"You're pretty close with Kakashi-sensei though, right? Like closer than most teachers and students?"

"Ino, we've been over this. He hasn't been my teacher in like five years! And even when he was he was way more focused on the boys than he ever was on me. We're more like friends now."

"Close friends?"

She shot the blonde a glare. "I'm close with everyone on Team Kakashi."

"So what about you and Captain Yamato? You guys were alone together for all that training, you know?" Ino said, wagging her eyebrows. "I know what I'd do if I were all by myself with someone as hot as Captain Yamato..."

"Ah! Ino, would you cut it out? I'm not getting it on with any of my teammates. We're all just really close friends!"

"Fine, fine!" Ino said, waving her friend off before she went into attack-mode. "Don't get your panties in a knot. I was just asking."

"My panties are not—!" Sakura started, but thought better of it and decided to switch the subject to something Ino would be sure to talk about. "So how's Choji been lately?"

Sure enough, the blonde blushed. "He's been good. I've actually gotten to work with him a lot more lately. I think Shika knows, and pulled some strings."

"It wouldn't surprise me if he knew," Sakura snorted. "The guy is the most revered genius in Konoha now."

"Yeah," Ino said distantly, and Sakura instantly felt horrible. The reason Shikamaru was now Konoha's genius was because his father had been killed during the Fourth Great Ninja War—the same war Ino's father had died in.

"Oh, Ino, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's okay, Sakura, really. I think…I think I'm starting to finally recover from it. Choji was a great help, you know? His whole family was, to both me and Shikamaru. I think that's when I started falling for him."

"Ino."

"He's always had such a kind heart."

To Sakura's dismay, she found that her friend was actually crying. Considering she cried so often herself, it was somewhat surprising that she didn't really know how to react when the tables were turned and it was her best friend who found herself in tears. Maybe it was because Sakura had always thought of Ino as the strong one, but she hated it when her friend cried.

"You should tell him how you feel," Sakura said, moving to sit beside Ino and rubbing her back encouragingly. "I bet you'd feel better."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same way? I don't want to lose our friendship. I don't want him to hate me," Ino sobbed.

"He could never hate you. You guys are part of the fearless Ino-Shika-Cho combination, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess we are." Ino laughed and started wiping away her tears. "Geez, forehead, now I know how it feels like to be you."

Sakura grinned. "Do you see the appeal now? Crying makes everyone so much more attractive."

"Yeah, sure."

"Don't sweat it. It happens to the best of us."

"I bet Tenten never cries," Ino pointed out. "She's got Lee, and he's always doing something crazy to make everyone laugh."

"Yeah," Sakura said, a beat too late, because the pink-haired medic knew a secret that very few others had known.

Tenten and Neji had confessed to each other right before the war, and they'd planned to make their relationship official after the fighting was over. But Neji had died before they'd gotten the chance. She was glad that Tenten had found a way to be happy with her other teammate, but she knew the weapons master still mourned the loss of her first love.

Sakura was lucky in that respect. Sasuke had survived, and even though she no longer loved him, she knew she would have been devastated if he'd died.

"You know, you're right, forehead," Ino said suddenly, a newfound resolve. "I think I will confess to Choji. He's supposed to get back from a mission with his dad in a few days, and he said we'd go out to dinner when he got back."

"That's perfect, pig. I'm sure he'll be happy."

"I hope so. Anyway, enough about me. I did come all the way over here to help you pack for your mysterious ANBU mission, after all."

"It wouldn't be so mysterious if Kakashi would just show me the scroll," Sakura grumbled. "And you know what the worst part is? I bet he just forgot. No 'wanting to add an air of mystery' or no 'oh it's top secret, blah, blah.' No, I bet he just. Plain. Forgot."

"Forgot what?" a voice said from her windowsill. "Forgot this?"

Both girls yelped, turning toward the open window where Kakashi sat, perched on the edge, holding up a mission scroll.

Sakura recovered first. "Yes. Forgot that."

"I didn't forget."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Then when were you planning on giving it to me?"

"Um...right now?"

"Uh-huh. And why don't I believe you?"

Kakashi grinned, cocking his head to the side like he always did when any of his teammates caught him lying. "Well, I was going to give it to you three days ago, but when I tried to read it, I suddenly found that I'd gone blind in my right eye. But I couldn't use the Sharingan, you see, because I was supposed to be resting…"

"Save it," Sakura said, stopping him with a hand. "I get the picture. You forgot. I hope this thing tells me what to pack," she grumbled, walking over and taking the offered scroll containing the details of what would be her life for the next who knew how long.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then!" Kakashi said brightly. "At eight o'clock sharp!"

"So eleven?"

He grinned. "More like ten."

Sakura sighed. "Twelve," she said to Ino, as Kakashi disappeared from her apartment window with a poof.

Ino shook her head. "All these years, and I still don't know how to tell Kakashi time."

"Believe me, it's a headache. It took me this long just to figure it out, and I'm on his team."

Sakura opened the scroll and skimmed its contents. There wasn't much in the way of detailing what sort of situations they might come across, but the scroll was clear. They would be on their mission until they found their objective.

"We'd better pack some durable clothes, and for warmer weather, too. This could be a long mission."