Here is the next chapter!

Enjoy.

Kakashi was struggling.

For once in his life he couldn't keep his eye on his beloved book, as it kept rudely drifting off the masterpiece in his hands to watch his students. He couldn't believe there was something that could steal his attention away from Icha Icha Paradise.

Kakashi sat on a blanket in the middle of the woods, with Sakura-chan against his side, thoroughly entertained. Shizune was off at a local hospital gathering supplies which left himself and the boys with Tsunade. The two genin, with their abundance of free time, decided that they were going to 'help' Tsunade with her impersonation.

Everything about this situation was great.

Kakashi happily watched Naruto circle the transformed Sannin.

"You look like Sakura-chan Granny, but now we have to work on your attitude."

Kakashi looked down at Naruto's words, comparing their Sakura-chan to Tsunade's transformation. As he thought she would, Tsunade pulled it off perfectly. He pat the unconscious girl's head, hopefully Tsunade also captured the 'touch' aspect as well as the 'sight' one. If Sakura-chan's head no longer felt like a fluffy pink cloud it could blow their cover. Her parents had to ruffle Sakura-chan's hair as much as he did. If it stopped feeling like normal they were bound to notice. It wasn't because Kakashi needed all three of his students to keep their fluffy heads, not at all.

For something as vital as this, Kakashi would bring it up later.

"Hmm, that's not it either Granny." Naruto shook his head.

"What do you mean that's not it? I'm acting just like the pink brat."

"You're not even close." Sasuke agreed.

Naruto rubbed his chin.

"Don't worry Granny, as Sakura's best friend–"

"Self-proclaimed."

Naruto glared at the interruption and threw a kunai at Sasuke, who happened to be standing in front of Kakashi. Sasuke dodged leaving the projectile heading straight towards himself and Sakura-chan. With a minute shift, Kakashi evaded and snatched the kunai out of the air.

He sighed, no respect for their Sensei at all.

"Naruto, Sasuke. Ten laps tonight, and you have the honor of washing my clothes again."

Kakashi smiled as the boys wilted, he was happy he found a punishment that suited them. He would need to make time to thank Haruno-san for that.

Naruto cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, as Sakura-chan's best friend," Naruto took a moment to stick his tongue out at Sasuke, "I know her the best and will make sure nobody notices a difference."

Tsunade raised a brow, which Kakashi thought eerily looked like something Sakura-chan would do.

"Alright kid, what do you suggest?"

With a smug glance at Sasuke, Naruto approached Tsunade and grabbed her shoulders and moved them back.

"First things first, we need to fix your posture. Sakura-chan always has perfect posture. Your head should always be raised, never stare at the ground, it's beneath you. The only thing you're allowed to look down on is other people. Your facial expression should be calm, but somewhat domineering. It's all very similar to Sasuke, but not as constipated, and way cooler."

"I do not look constipated!" Sasuke argued.

Kakashi chuckled.

Naruto ignored them both and watched as Tsunade made some adjustments.

"Like this?"

"That's pretty good, but it looks strained, we will have to practice that. Now, if anyone insults the Haruno name, you beat them up."

"No, you threaten them first, stare them down, and then beat them up if they aren't cowering." Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded. "Sounds right."

"Hmm, I think I'm starting to like the pinky." Tsunade joked.

Kakashi was speechless. Just how in the world did the boys view Sakura-chan? He knew Sakura had pride as great as the oldest clans in Konoha, but she wasn't that bad… right?

"Onto friends… I am her best friend, of course. Kakashi-sensei is just Sensei, but Sakura-chan has accepted him. She loves his head pats." Kakashi smiled a bit wider at that and patted the girl next to him again.

Naruto continued.

"Sasuke… is sadly now a friend, and she is secretly in denial about being friends with Yamanaka Ino, so you can count her as half a friend. She also knows about the situation, so we can talk to her about it."

"She hates Nara Shikamaru, so insult him whenever you meet him. The other rookies she tolerates, so act neutral." Sasuke added.

Naruto snapped his fingers.

"Oh! She has pet fish so make sure you feed them. And kiss her mom on the cheek when you come home from missions and training."

Sasuke looked at him weirdly.

"How would you know that?"

Naruto practically preened.

"Because, as her best friend I have been to her house to train, and have met her parents."

The expression on Sasuke's face almost made Kakashi snort.

"Don't look at me like that! I can't help that while you were busy brooding, Sakura-chan and I were doing awesome stuff." Naruto said, defending himself.

Kakashi felt his Sensei senses start to tingle and quickly inserted himself between the two boys, picking them up, and throwing them over his shoulders.

"Now, now boys, no fighting. How about we get some dinner, then you two can do your punishment?"

They groaned.

Sometimes Kakashi loved being a Sensei.

.

"You want me to steal that?"

Sakura stared at the subject of her questioning from the shadows of an overhang. Across the room sat a triangular-shaped object. It was one of many others in the room, with two silver cylinders jutting out from the sides, meshing seamlessly with the darker shade of the main body. It looked well designed, though Sakura struggled to associate it with the word 'ship' that the voice called it, as it looked like it would sink the first time it was placed in water.

'It's a flying ship, we haven't had to go by water in eons, and where we are going there will be none. You will need to commandeer it within ten minutes. It can't leave without you.'

Ten minutes? That wasn't a lot of time. With the amount of El'os in the room the odds of getting spotted were high, and Sakura didn't have her chakra either. Still, she would figure something out, she always did. This was a mission, she would not fail. She just had to figure out a way to make an opening.

'The barrel of the gun, the part with the hole in it, can be rotated to the right to turn on the shock mode. Find a way to stun the enemies and get to the ship. Any part of the body works, just pull the trigger as I explained earlier. Do not, under any circumstances, kill them. Once one of them dies, their chip will alert the station and everyone will know.'

Chips, it was always the stupid chips that ruined everything.

Sakura shook her head to focus, she couldn't let herself fall into anger, no matter how justified it was. With a calmer mind she observed her enemies.

There didn't seem to be a patrol route from what she could tell, and thankfully most of the El'os congregated on the opposite side of where she was supposed to go. A few were walking around the mission objective, and one could be seen inside, but Sakura didn't think that would be a problem.

She removed the gun from its holster, turned the barrel a click to the right, and set off. Sakura moved silently out of the overhang using other ships as a cover. No matter what body she was in she still had her training, that would be enough.

Sakura made it halfway there when she heard footsteps. Immediately she dropped and rolled under the nearest ship. It was uncomfortable, but Sakura was glad she did when the footsteps that were on the other side stopped where she originally was.

Boots turned to face the ship and Sakura didn't hesitate. She grabbed one heel and pulled, using her other arm to slam her elbow into the El'os just below the knee on an angle. The enemy dropped to the ground with a thud, and Sakura pounced. Placing the gun on the exposed neck she pulled the trigger. A blue spark shot out from the hole and the El'os convulsed into unconsciousness. Sakura stared at the gun, puzzled.

Excluding the light that behavior seemed familiar. Was this… the Burning? It was strange, using the Burning instead of being it's victim, but Sakura didn't have time to contemplate it's existence. She had to get on the ship. Sakura pulled herself the rest of the way out of the ship, and pushed the stunned El'os into her previous position. She stood and could barely see the body. That was good. The chance of being caught was now lowered, since someone would have to be practically on top of the ship to notice.

'You have five minutes.'

Sakura continued on at a steady pace, when the front of the ship once again came into sight.

'How do I get on?'

'Approach from the back, the ramp should still be lowered. The last ten minutes before takeoff is always a preflight check.'

She took a moment to look for the El'os she saw earlier, but couldn't spot them.

'Do you know how many will be on the ship?'

'Only one, the others you saw earlier are part of the station crew. If you don't see them then they have already moved on to another ship.'

She could handle one.

Sakura cautiously approached the back of the ship, stopping every so often to listen. Hearing no signs of being approached, she went inside. There were no signs of any El'os upon entry, or anything living at all. It appeared she was in some sort of cargo area, the contents similar to the merchant caravans she has seen in the past. Except the wooden crates and cloth sacks she would have expected to see were replaced with weird looking metal crates. They were stacked neatly in rows, a blue light visible on every box. It was strange, but Sakura had seen a lot of strange things today. She was starting to get used to it.

She moved on.

Reaching the other side of room Sakura saw three doors.

'Any idea which door I should take?'

'The center one. That should lead to the bridge, but you will need to attack as soon as you enter. Place your hand on the blue scanner to unlock the door.'

Sakura knelt next to the door, and took a few breaths to settle. When she was ready she placed her palm on the scanner.

"Door unlocking."

As soon as the door slid to the side Sakura darted in. The El'os sitting in the chair barely had time to turn before he got an arm around his throat and a gun shoved into the side of his head. With the pull of the trigger, he collapsed. Sakura tugged him out of the seat, and carried him back into the hanger. She didn't want him to be onboard when he woke up. She found an out of the way spot and threw the body there. It would have to be good enough. She didn't have much time left.

Sakura returned to the bridge and sat down in the same chair.

'Strap yourself in, flip the first switch on the left, and then press the green button.'

Sakura did as instructed.

"Attention all crew, the rear hatch is closing and take off will commence. Please return to your seats. Auto-pilot has been activated."

'And this is heading towards Inner?"

'Yes, this ship is heading towards the Archive."

Sakura felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She was one step closer to saving Inner, she just hoped they would make it in time.

'We should, just remember guns are a ranged weapon. Don't waste time trying to get close.'

Guns… were ranged weapons? And he didn't think to tell her that earlier?

'… I hate you.'

She had another person to add to the list of people she wanted to punch in the face.

The boys help Tsunade with her disguise and Sakura continues on her mission to save Inner.

Hope you all liked the chapter, I had fun writing this one.

Next chapter will be out on a Sunday sometime in the future, as usual.

Thanks for reading!