Eighteen: Frozen

"You know, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Sakura said as she and Kakashi dashed through the leaves. They were moving a bit faster than their usual pace, because the temperature seemed to have dropped another ten degrees that night. They were both freezing when they'd woken up in the morning.

"And what is that?" Kakashi asked, falling into stride with her.

"Are you trying to grow your hair out?"

Kakashi almost tripped on a stray branch. He'd completely forgotten about his hair. He'd meant to ask Sakura to cut it before they left on their mission, but once he forgot he was just hoping she wouldn't notice. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side, and Sakura's perceptive skills were as sharp as ever.

"Because if you are," Sakura continued, "you really should let me style it or something. I seriously didn't think your hair could get anymore lopsided, but with only one side long enough to pull back…well, I just think it could use a little work."

"I'm not growing my hair out," Kakashi grumbled. "Who do you think I am, Sasuke? I just didn't have time to cut it before I went on that ANBU mission, and I forgot to ask you to cut it last week."

She paused, squinting at him. "Can you even use your Sharingan? Your bangs are like a foot long!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes, then realized Sakura couldn't see that he did, because his bangs were too long.

"You can cut it tonight when we make camp."

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, I'm thinking I'd better. Wouldn't want you tripping and falling because you can't see where you're going."

"It's not that bad."

"Yes it is. At least, it is on your left side. How does your hair even grow like that?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I dunno."

"You're such a guy."

They made quick time, easily making it into the Land of Silver by that afternoon. The ANBU pair stopped to take few breaks, mainly because they were both too cold to want to stay still for too long, and they found the sun was still up when Kakashi signaled her to stop.

"We should stop here tonight," Kakashi said. "The rebels aren't willing to come out this far. It's too close to the border."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked. "This area looks like it wouldn't make a bad campsite.

"That's why I used it to make a base when I was here earlier. But yeah, I'm positive they won't find us."

"Then let's get a fire going. I'm freezing!"

Kakashi went around collecting firewood while Sakura rummaged around in her pack, looking for something to eat. She was cold, she was tired, and she didn't feel like eating rations again for dinner.

"What are you looking for?" Kakashi asked, performing the hand signs for a fireball jutsu to get the fire started.

"Real food," Sakura said, grinning.

Finally, she found the package she was looking for. It was just a few bits of meat that she'd wrapped up before leaving, but it was better than what they'd had for lunch or dinner last night.

They ate in a companionable silence. Neither felt the need to say anything; they simply enjoyed the fire's warmth while they allowed their weary bodies to rest. They had traveled hard that day.

"We're going to have to put the fire out soon, aren't we?" Sakura moped as she watched the sun set lower in the sky. They days were certainly getting longer, which gave the pink-haired medic hope that warmer weather was on its way, but that wasn't any comfort to her now.

"Sorry," Kakashi nodded. "We can't afford to be seen by the enemy."

"I thought you said the enemy wouldn't come out this far."

He shrugged. "We have to be careful."

"I know," Sakura sighed. "Sorry, I'm just grumpy because it's cold. Come here, I need to cut your hair before we lose all the light."

Kakashi complied, sliding over to sit between Sakura and the fire. The soft flames tickled his skin, warming his body. He grimaced, not wanting to think about how he would feel once the sun went down and they had to put out their only source of warmth.

"You want me to make it look like it always does?" Sakura asked, pulling a kunai knife out of her pouch. She'd thought about using her katana, but thought that maybe Kakashi would protest.

"Might as well. It always grows out like that anyway, so why bother fighting it?"

Sakura laughed. "I think you've gotten a little attached to your hair."

He smiled. "Well, I'm not like you girls. I'm perfectly content to have one hairstyle for my entire life. Besides, I already know how to fight with it like that."

"You're so boring."

"I am not."

"Alright, alright," Sakura said. "I'll make it look how it usually does."

It didn't take her long to finish Kakashi's haircut. She would never understand it, but it was like his hair wanted to go back to its usual left-leaning spikiness. Once she'd cut off the excess inches, it seemed like it just popped back into place.

"I wish my hair would do that," she grumbled, slicing of a few split ends and packing her kunai away. "Okay. All finished."

"How does it look?" Kakashi asked.

"Exactly how it always does."

"Good. I was beginning to think something was going to change. I really hate change, you know?"

Sakura snorted. "Yeah. I know. I've seen how hideously out of date everything in your apartment is. You know, usually it's only old people who hate change."

"I'm not that old," Kakashi scoffed, causing Sakura to laugh.

"Always so defensive when it comes to age, aren't we?"

Kakashi glared at her, but Sakura knew he wasn't mad. He'd walked into that one.

"We really should put out the fire," he said, moving to unroll his sleeping bag.

"Yeah, I suppose we should. I really don't want to, though." She shivered in anticipation of the cold night ahead.

"It'll get warmer soon," he assured her, but his words didn't make her feel any warmer when he put out the fire as the sun finally dipped under the horizon.

Sakura unrolled her sleeping bag, laying it out beside Kakashi's and promptly crawling in it.

"G-goodnight," she said through chattering teeth.

"Goodnight, Sakura."

Sasuke groaned. Leave it to Naruto to find the one ramen shop in the entire village and decide that was where he wanted to go for dinner. Every. Single. Night.

"Aw, come on Sasuke! I know it's not as good as Ichiraku's but it's still ramen!"

"That's the point!" the Sharingan user exclaimed.

"Huh?" The blonde cocked his head to one side, confused.

"I think Sasuke means that because we eat ramen so much back in Konoha that we might have been hoping for a bit of a break."

"But why would anyone want a break from ramen?"

"Ah! Because we eat it every freaking day!" Sasuke said, nearly pulling out his hair. It was bad enough that he was followed by a posse of crazy fangirls—much like the one from his genin days—who thought he was some sort of rock star, but now Naruto wanted ramen for dinner. Again.

He was getting really sick of this mission, and being team leader.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize you hated it so much. I'm sorry, Sasuke. We can go somewhere else."

His blonde best friend actually looked sad—an expression Sasuke hadn't seen much of since he'd come back to the village—and it made the dark-haired Uchiha feel bad that he'd snapped.

"It's alright, Naruto. I wasn't mad at you or anything. I guess we could get ramen—"

"Yeah! All right! You're the best, Sasuke. Let's go Sai!"

The blonde jinchuriki grabbed the ex-foundation shinobi by the arm, dragging him away to the ramen shop, and Sasuke knew his friend had pulled a fast one on him.

"Hmph," he grunted, following his two friends. As unappealing as ramen sounded, he couldn't go without dinner.

Naruto and Sai had already found a table when Sasuke walked in. The first time the trio had walked into the restaurant, Sasuke had hoped that they served more than just ramen—they had a menu, after all—but he'd been disappointed. Naruto, of course, had been elated that they had so many different types of ramen, and before Sasuke or Sai had a chance to have a say in the matter, he had proclaimed that he would try them all.

Sasuke slid into the empty spot next to Sai. Naruto, he noted, was already looking around for a waiter. Then the blonde frowned, squinting his eyes to get a better look at a figure standing outside.

Sasuke followed his line of sight and saw a somewhat tall, brown-haired man that looked familiar.

"Isn't that—" Sai started, but he was cut off by the jinchuriki.

"Hey! Captain Yamato! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, waving the wood-style user over to them.

"Hi guys. I'm here to back you up. Lady Tsunade thought it would be best if you had a full squad here," he said as he sat down next to the blonde. Sasuke and Sai looked over at him.

"So Sakura's mission is finished then?" Sasuke asked. "How'd it go?"

Yamato ran a hand through his hair. "Well, we ran into some trouble."

Sai frowned. "What kind of trouble?"

"There was a group of Rain ninja out there collecting on old bounties. We ran into them, but Kakashi showed up at the last minute to help us out."

He decided to leave out the fact that Sakura had nearly been killed. That was something she could tell the boys if she wanted. Plus he didn't fancy the trio beating him up on his first day back.

"So that's why he took off then," Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, he must have known the group was in that area and gone after you two. Lucky."

The dark-haired Uchiha looked at Yamato on that last word, and the ANBU captain had to resist the urge to flinch under his gaze. Even without the Sharingan, Sasuke Uchiha's eyes were intense.

"So then where are Sakura and Kakashi-sensei now?" Naruto asked, looking around as if they might appear from the same place as Yamato.

"Sakura may have taken her first ANBU mission, but she still isn't completely finished with her training. She still needs someone to supervise her for another couple months, and given everything that happened, I think Kakashi realized that it would be best for everyone if he took on that role."

Again, Yamato left out the fact that he had basically made the decision for them by volunteering to come to the Land of Silver. But it was for their own good.

"Hn," Sasuke said, a small frown on his face, but it was Naruto that voiced their thoughts.

"Wow, really? I mean, I'm glad he's willing to train her and all, but I guess I sort of thought that he'd be mad at her or something. I mean, there had to be a reason Sakura didn't tell him she was joining ANBU when he left, right?"

"Yeah, he was a bit…hesitant…at first, but I think he's gotten over it," Yamato said. "It'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right. It's Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. What could possibly go wrong?"

Kakashi didn't want to be caught out in the cold any more than Sakura had, but he had to make a few last minute checks to the perimeter before he would allow himself to fall unconscious. When he returned, pulling the edges of his sleeping bag to his chin, he noticed Sakura still shaking uncontrollably. He waited another five minutes, but her tremors never stopped.

Kakashi sighed. She would never get to sleep like that.

"Sakura?" he called.

The pink-haired girl turned towards him, a pained look on her face. "What?"

"Bring your sleeping bag over here."

"What?"

"You're so cold you're shaking. You'll never get to sleep at this rate. Come here."

"What, you want to share body heat?" she asked, always thinking like a medic.

"That would be the idea," Kakashi responded, patting the empty space next to him.

She laid her sleeping bag down and crawled inside. He pulled her small frame close to his chest, frowning when he realized how cold the medic actually was. He rubbed her arms, generating friction that would hopefully help to warm her up.

"Thanks," she said, as she stopped shaking.

Kakashi grinned. "You're welcome, you wimp."

"It's not my fault I don't have as much body mass as you to keep me warm," she shot back.

Kakashi was silent for a moment before he realized what she was implying. "Are you calling me fat, Haruno?"

He felt her laugh as she tucked her head against his chest.

"I don't think you want me to answer that question."

~A/N: Hey guys! I hope you're all still enjoying this story. Anyway, I just wanted to give you all a heads up. I'm going to be out of town until next week, so there won't be another chapter until Sunday at the absolute earliest. I'd bet more on Monday or maybe even Tuesday though. Sorry, I've been pampering you with at least two a week, sometimes more haha. But anyway, I tried not to leave it on a cliffhanger or something mean like that. I'm going to a bunch of baseball games with my dad, and I'm not bringing my computer with me.

Also, on an unrelated note, Barnes and Noble is having a big manga sale (buy 2 get 1 free) with their VIZ titles, so guess who updated her Naruto collection just now? Hehe sales are the best. I just did the same thing with Bleach last spring, so I figured now's a good a time as any to update my other favorite collection