***NOTES***

Still setting a foundation. (Please continue to bear with me.) This is the last thing to set up. Last of the tracks I need to lay...next week, the wheels start rolling.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 3: I am your Teammate-Part 1

Sakura slept well, which was a rare occurrence these days.

She usually slept on the hard forest floor on a mission, or more likely face down on her desk at work. And on the more rare lovely occurrences, in her own bed before the little pitter-patter of children and dogs woke her up.

But while the quality of sleep was good that night—

Sakura rose the next morning utterly in denial.

She kept her eyes shut stubbornly and thought if she willed it hard enough: she would wake up in her own bed, in her own home, and in her own time.

But even she couldn't manage that.

Well, Madara's testes and scrotum—

She groaned to herself.

Sakura stretched in the spare futon that Kakashi had taken out for her last night. It was cozy enough, and he even offered her an old spare undershirt shirt that swallowed her entire body. She wasn't new to this arrangement and so she felt mostly comfortable.

Kakashi, however, did not look comfortable.

She heard him struggle to sleep last night as he constantly shifted in his bed on the far side of the room. Sakura could tell his breathing had never leveled out to a solid REM sleep all night…

…and she emphasized—truly she did—with what it must be like to have, what must feel like a complete stranger, move into your personal space.

How could anyone feel comfortable like that?

She sat up in her futon and rubbed her eyes.

Light was beginning to pour into the room from the window, but its pale blues and muted purples suggested it was still early morning. The sunrise was on the horizon, and the kunoichi knew Kakashi had already moved to the small bathroom to shower and dress for the day.

She yawned and looked around. On Kakashi's bed lay several curled up sleeping dogs while a few others were dispersed around the apartment–some at the foot of her futon, others on the small couch near her, and of course, Bull in his giant bed in the corner.

Guruko and Akino looked at her drowsily from the end of her futon and shifted to an empty dog bed across the room. She smiled as their soft snores began again, and decided to get up and start folding the futon to put it away.

As if on cue, Kakashi appeared from the bathroom door. His silver hair was damp and limp with the weight of water, as he attempted to dry it with the towel around his neck. He was wearing only his sleeveless masked undershirt and pair of standard pants.

Her eyes trailed his lean arms and ANBU seal; his current build still felt familiar-yet-unfamiliar.

She watched as the silver-haired nin began pulling on his standard blue jonin fatigues with a green flak vest that all seemed two sizes too big—a notion that Sakura wondered if he did on purpose to hide his true musculature.

It's been a while since she's seen this old uniform since they changed the design after the war. He tied his hitai-ate in place over his scarred eye—

Annnnd the transformation was complete.

He was suddenly the Kakashi of her childhood again.

What a sentimental sight.

"Ohayo," he announced in a low, soft voice.

"Good morning..." Sakura smiled drowsily as she rose to stand and she pointed to the bathroom, "Do you mind if I...?"

He nodded and stepped aside for her.

By the time Sakura finished changing, she entered the studio apartment to find Kakashi finishing his breakfast. All eight canines were notably missing from the small space already, meaning their master had already fed and dismissed them for now.

It suddenly felt smaller with just her and Kakashi in the room. Like the dogs took all the noise and distraction with them and just left...them. Him and Her.

She drifted toward the table and smelled the nostalgic scent of a traditional breakfast. Sakura knew he was a man of simple tastes, so breakfast was exactly what she knew it would be: steamed rice, miso soup, natto, and tamagoyaki with shaved daikon. A salad or pickles.

She smiled to herself. It pleased her immensely to know that some things never change.

"This looks delicious! Thank you for cooking again."

All she got was a grunt and terse nod.

Not that she expected more—he was obviously worn out. The poor man had such an obvious dark circle under his single eye that she could only pity him.

Kakashi wandered off to the couch as he pulled out a familiar orange covered book and sprawled himself out to read.

After she was done, she too roamed to his collection of books and found one to hold her interest and read. (Aihara Takashi: Secrets of Photography? Sure, why not.)

The morning then passed lazily and quietly, as the starting sun bloomed into its more vibrant and energetic counterpart of oranges and yellows.

An hour passed...and then another...and Sakura started growing stir-crazy by the second.

Quiet mornings are for quiet thoughts, Sakura. Her Mother used to always say.

She repeated in her head like a mantra. She thought she had mastered this.

Back when she didn't know how to curb her overactive mind and worries. Back when she used to wake at ungodly hours fretting about her appearance, or Ino's inane thoughts on her dress. And her Mother would set a hot cup of tea in front of her and tell her politely to calm the hell down.

She shifted while sitting. She tried laying down. She sat up again. She tapped her fingers. She bounced her knee. She did anything and everything to keep focused on her book.

Until finally, Sakura firmly closed the cover of her book with a determined smack and tossed it aside.

She stood from where she sat on the floor and walked over behind the couch. With a defiant hand on her hip, she stared down at him.

He was lounging on the couch in the exact same position from hours ago, never moving once in the span of time. She bitterly wondered how one could stay so focused.

He turned a page with a long, pale finger. Her green eyes traced the thick vein that ran from his elbow down to disappear behind his finger-less gloves. She shook her head to diffuse her muddled thoughts.

"I was wondering when you would crack."

"Not everything's a competition, you know." She snorted as she cocked her hip further. Another page turned. "I need to do something, Kakashi! I'm going crazy."

His gaze never left his book.

"We are doing something—we are reading; while we are waiting for your so-called 'rescue team'."

His fingers begin to thumb another page.

"I know, I know... but I've got to do something!...I know I made it sound like they would be here at any moment, but you know Naruto and Sasuke! They could take forever." She's not proud of it, but she full-on pouted. Like the child she thought she outgrew. "Can't we just go out and about, just for a little bit?"

"So, you can somehow cause a temporal catastrophe? I'll take my chances here." Sakura's eyes narrowed as she watched him flip another stupid page.

"Am I a prisoner? Is there anything physically keeping me here?"

"Not that I know of." He shrugged as he continued reading.

"Good. Then, let's do something!"

Then she did the unthinkable—

The sin of all sins—

She plucked the book from his hands, clapped it shut, and tossed it next to hers on the ground by the couch.

She knew it was rude—but desperate times and all that.

As expected, Kakashi's eye widened and immediately turned to hers in a heated glare. He sat up and faced her audacity with a stern, silent reluctance—and a healthy dose of irritation.

She ignored it.

"I think we should have a little bell test of our own. In fact, let's make it a wager! If I win, you have to do whatever I say within reason. And if you win, I'll...I'll…" Come on, Sakura. Buy dinner? No, no she didn't have the money. "Cook your favorite dinner?"

His eyes narrowed at the suggestion. "Let me guess—you know my favorite dinner too?"

She smiled knowingly and bent down to where her elbow rested on the back of the couch so that her face was level with his.

She leaned in closer to him and spoke quietly like she was telling the most scandalous of secrets, "Of course I do, you silly man–rice, miso soup, grilled eggplant...and glazed fish!"

He raised an eyebrow, but his bored stare never waivered, "Has anyone ever told you that you're a little creepy?"

She swatted his shoulder, but the grin on her face was unoffended. "Oh, who cares…I know everything about my teammates. You're my boys!"

He froze.

"I'm sorry." He paused in disbelief. "Did you just call us 'your boys'?"

Sakura's smile turned predatory. Oh, she loved this. "The entire village calls you all that."

"..."

"Don't worry. You'll learn to love it–it's practically a badge of honor." She felt her eyes sparkle with glee.

The Copy-Nin groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Has Future-Me ever told you how much I hate it?"

"Repeatedly. However—it's irrelevant. We are stuck together. Team 7 are teammates for life."

"Teammates, Hmm?"

Sakura realized it's been a long time since he truly considered anyone his true teammates.

"Of course! You'll see. I realize we three must be still pretty new to you, but one day we'll be as irreplaceable as Team Minato to you." She moved around the couch to sit next to him. "You were our teacher, but somewhere along the way that changed and we became equals. Not going to lie—it's going to be one hell of a ride," she said with a grin.

He watched her expressionless. "Equals, you say?"

Her smile grew.

"Let me prove it at the training grounds. Maybe I exaggerated a bit. I may have even surpassed you..."

Kakashi scoffed. Sakura beamed.

She grabbed the sleeve of his shirt with just the tip of her fingers grasping the fabric, and gave it a light tug to pull him up to stand. She shushinned them away leaving a swirl of leaves behind in their place.

She watched as he noted with an unsurprised glance, that pink sakura blossoms fluttered among the leaves.

***かかし ***

Kakashi recognized training ground eleven as soon as they landed from the shushin.

…She didn't even give him time to grab his book. (Damn, her.)

The pink-haired woman beside him was still holding the fabric of his shirt where he rolled it up to his elbow as she looked around with wide green eyes that seemed to be reminiscing excitedly.

He pocketed his hands, making sure that his arm shifted enough that the movement would jostle the hand attached to it. Her jade eyes trailed to their attached limbs as she blinked and released her grasp, and moved a few steps away.

He noticed that she unconsciously sought out small casual touches.

Sometimes it was her latching on to some part of his uniform with those slim fingers; other times a playful swat of her hand or a comforting squeeze on his shoulder.

They weren't necessarily provocative touches in their nature, but it certainly indicated she was comfortable with him.

Body language rarely lies, after all.

Even last night she settled into his apartment and in his old clothes like it was the most natural thing in the world—which to Kakashi—was somewhat alarming.

Especially when she casually walked out from the bathroom last night, freshly showered and smelling overwhelming of her own dewy scent that was saturated and mingling with his own. The old shirt he gave her devoured her form, but left her long bare legs visible.

He didn't think it was such a big deal at first—that was until night came—and he found out she slept like a maniac.

As soon as her breathing leveled out, she was a mass of limbs—thrashing and kicking the covers off while shifting and turning restlessly. And that traitorous old shirt of his slowly slid up higher and higher up her pale thighs—to the point where she was about to unknowingly give him a full view.

Kakashi tried to be a decent person—strangers aren't generally comfortable with flashing their panties.

So, he threw the futon blanket back on her and before he could even make it to his bed, he heard her shift again. He risked a glance, and saw a future struggle of Him vs. the Blanket—a truly noble endeavor—but one Kakashi didn't ultimately want to be a part of.

So, he nimbly picked up two sleeping pups and silently crept over to her. After replacing the blanket on top of her, Kakashi delicately and strategically placed the dogs on her futon to pin the blanket in place.

He wished them luck, and retreated back to his bed. And turned to face the wall.

And tried not to think about legs, and thighs, and things he definitely didn't see…

…Heedless to say, it wasn't the most restful sleep of his life.

Kakashi glanced at the woman with drained eyes. She was stretching beside him with a small smile on her face, oblivious to his chivalry.

She raised her arms to stretch above her. But then folded one over her head, yanked her head to the side, and cracked her neck threateningly.

For fuck's sake.

Kakashi stared at the scene with a sigh. He was tired and frustrated on many different levels, but he knew it would be a mistake to underestimate Haruno Sakura again.

So, he lifted his hitai-ate and revealed his Sharingan.

This made her grin widen immediately, as she dropped into a low stance. He took the two silver bells out of his vest pocket and jingled them in front of her.

"Oooh? We mean business today. Not going to underestimate me?"

"I saw you fall from the sky and blow a crater into the ground." He deadpanned, but his eye creased into a fake smile. "I think we are well past that."

Her eyes gleamed. "Don't worry, Kakashi. I promise to fix everything I break."

Kakashi couldn't help laughing lightly at this very impressive (also, terrifying) woman in front of him. He mirrored her stance and readied himself.

"No restrictions?" He confirmed.

"Good," Her eyes positively sparkled. "Let's go—!"

And Sakura was off.

She was a blur of black and pink that collided into him at full strength.

He was glad that he wasn't stupid enough to not use his Sharingan; he definitely needed it.

He had to admire her; every step she took was confident and honed with no unwasted movement. But she fought with a tenacity like she had to prove the world they were wrong about her. She was fast—faster than he expected truthfully—but he was faster.

She also seemed to know this–so she adjusted her strategy: she became an overwhelming force.

She was a mass of barraging fists and harsh kicks that were unrelenting and unforgiving—like a wave continually crashing into stone, wearing her opponent down with each strike. She drove ahead with a dizzying frontal ambush that never let up or gave him a second to observe or plan ahead.

It felt like fighting Gai—a taijutsu specialist? That was unexpected.

And although he had the Sharingan, he felt like she was reading him just as well. He realized just how much of a disadvantage it was to have someone know your fighting style.

He would have to make the assumption that she knew all his skills and usual behavior.

Kakashi knew he needed to create distance between them.

He tried to jump away from her assault, hoping he was fast enough, but she followed him step by step without losing an ounce of distance.

Despite her small unassuming frame, Kakashi felt like he was going up against a wall. He knew one slip could lead to a direct hit, and if her strength was what he imagined it to be thanks to that crater—it would definitely be lethal.

Every impact—whether he dodged or blocked the assault—felt like it was wearing down on his body just from the insane amount of pressure she was exuding with each strike.

The Copy-Nin wondered if knowing him so well would also work as a deterrent. When she struck again using a small fist, Kakashi grabbed her wrist and pulled her in closer.

And just for a second—he activated his Chidori.

The overwhelming smell of burnt ozone and the shrill chirping of a thousand birds surrounded them.

He watched Sakura's green eyes widen in instant recognition as she immediately pulled off him to retreat away from his left hand. Kakashi made a show of trailing after her with his attack, just enough that it forced Sakura to jump back.

With enough space between them, Kakashi dispersed his Chidori and jumped back as his hands quickly arranged the hand signs for the Hidden Mist jutsu. A thick mist rolled in and covered the surrounding battle ground. He couldn't attack head on—so he chose underground.

He was just below her when she spoke.

"A trophy you took from Zabuza?" he heard her say with a muffled laugh. "Now, now Kakashi. It's amazing how surprisingly predictable you can be sometimes."

He heard a sickening crack that creaked and rumbled around him copiously. And then the earth broke around him into a million pieces and he felt almost flattened by the force. He managed to climb his way out and when the dust settled, he saw the extent of the damage around him.

The crater she created was three times the small one she produced upon her arrival. He realized she probably couldn't pinpoint his exact location and just decided to break everything.

…He knew she was physically strong, but he didn't realize she was monstrous.

Okay, well fuck. Time for a new plan.

He removed himself from the debris as fast as possible, but she was already zeroing in on him. She rushed forward and threw senbon at him that he managed to dodge.

Or he thought he did—that was until he felt his right leg go numb. Kakashi cursed his short-sightedness; he should have known that as a combat medic she would be familiar with poisons.

He managed to somehow keep his distance with a barrage of flame jutsu that warned her off at first—but then a geyser of water was shooting towards him, and he knew it was going to be now or never.

He will admit he was surprised to see ninjutsu—considering young Sakura had zero affinity for it. She was much more well-rounded than he originally thought.

Taijutsu. Ninjustu. All that was left was Genjutsu.

Kakashi rushed forward as much as his hastily numbing leg would allow him. He met her, kunai against senbon, in a grueling clash of metal against metal. They were eye to eye now. And she was smart enough to know not to look directly at his face.

The Copy-nin took a gamble. She probably still had a temper, right?

"Maa, Sakura-chan. I thought you said we became 'equals'?" he said, as lazy and condescending as possible.

She took the bait—guess not much has changed—and immediately looked up to glare into his eyes as if it was reflex.

Kakashi took advantage of this and cast his genjutsu with his Sharingan.

He tried to keep it simple: a scenario played out that had her pushing him back in defeat and as he went underground again for cover, her monstrous punch to the ground caused him to be crushed by the debris. All by accident, of course. It wasn't very original, but he imagined the left side of his body was crushed under a large rock—just as he saw Obito's body before.

He did his best to relay details of that time to add texture to the illusion: the smell of dust in the air...the sound of crumbling rock in the far off distance...the sight of blood pooling around him.

It was an effective A-rank genjutsu that he had rarely ever seen broken before. All of it based on a true memory.

He felt her get caught in it. Her eyes glazed over and her body relaxed in its assault. He watched her hand limply drop the senbon to the ground and he was already reaching out to catch her body when she inevitably fell.

...But then of course, life is full of surprises.

He blinked as he saw her body straighten, instead of fall limp.

"Did you just try to Obito yourself?!" she shrieked venomously.

He felt killing intent being aimed at him, but by the time he looked up in shock—she had already yanked the bells from his vest with one hand and drew back the other in a fist.

And punched straight towards his chest.

Kakashi could only do one thing: he flooded his arms with chakra and hoped he could withstand the blow.

Now, Hatake Kakashi had never seen Tsunade-hime in action, but he had heard all the stories. He knew about her ridiculous strength that was said to be able to crush mountains and flatten cliffs.

…But he really didn't understand the extent of such an impact until now.

The Copy-nin was instinctively fighting the pink-haired woman like she was a heavy-hitter–like she was some kind of giant man using all muscles and strength.

So, when her punch came in contact with his arms—he leaned in with his full weight and braced himself.

(In hindsight, this may have made things worse.)

Her fist came in contact with his body and the punch itself—while much stronger than most human standards—was not what caused earth to crumble.

She wasn't a muscle man; she was a keg of gunpowder.

She didn't bash; she exploded.

Her tiny fist thrust a wave of chakra that burst out—colliding and resonating out in a devastating explosion. At the time, Kakashi thought leaning into it would be smart. That was until he felt the resounding ripple of chakra move through his body as it shattered everything in its path. Including his defenses.

Everything connected in between the weighted vibration—skin to muscle; muscle to bone.

Oh, fu—

He could feel his forearm fracture at the pressure and his shoulder dislocate from its socket as the rest of the blow went straight to his ribs.

His entire body was propelled backwards without his control and it wasn't until he slammed into a tree, that the inertia was dissipated.

He must have blacked out for a few seconds, because when he came to, she was leaning over him worried green eyes and a small frown. Her glowing green hands were hovering over his body.

"Don't move for a second. Damn, I'm so sorry Kakashi...I went a little overboard again."

He tried to laugh, but his bruised ribs stifled the noise. "...Seems like a common occurrence with you."

She smiled wryly at him and forced her soothing green chakra into him. It didn't take long before his forearm and ribs were healed. Well, that's impressive.

"Okay! Almost done," she reached into her leg pouch to pull out a small purple pill and handed it to him.

"This is the antitoxin for your leg. I want you to put this in your mouth and on the count of three, bite down to crunch it, okay?" She looked away from him as he reached for his mask. "Ready? One...two...and three!"

He bit down hard as he heard the crunch of the pill in sync with a sickening pop!.

He let out a painful hiss as he realized she popped his shoulder back in place. Kakashi couldn't help but glare at her.

Sakura smiled at him sheepishly. "There! You're all fixed up, Hatake. These are yours too." She chunked the silver bells towards him. "That's one favor owed, by the way."

The Copy-nin quickly caught the bells and stretched his arm while rotating it to test his shoulder out. When he deemed it acceptable, he hopped up and looked at the pink-haired nin.

She was accessing her own injuries—mostly bruising on her arms from blocking and a singed shoulder from a stray fire jutsu. She set to work on her self healing.

He should say something, right?

"Your medical jutsu is really impressive. Thank you for healing me," he said as he slipped his hitai-ate back in place to cover his eye.

"It's no problem. Believe me, I'm used to healing you." He watched her raw burn disappear under her glowing hand.

"I have no doubt..." he mumbled. "Just out of curiosity: who's better, current me or 'old man' me?"

Sakura rolled her jade eyes.

"Why is everything a competition with you—even against yourself?" she scoffed. "And you are not an 'old man'. Can't we find a better name to differentiate?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm in my forties, right? I'm surprised I even made it that long. But if it bothers you, let's go with 'Future-Me'.

She shook head at him, but smiled.

"Fine. Now, as for who's better...?'' She paused and chose her words carefully. "You're definitely faster right now. And your ninjutsu certainly packs a punch. But Future-You knows me better, so it's much more difficult of a fight for me. And Future-Kakashi...he has a lot of experience under his belt. It's truly a sight to watch him fight."

"Ah, experience versus youth." He pocketed his hands.

"Now, you sound like an old man," she laughed. "At the end of day: I could probably take you in a fight if I had an element of surprise. But probably not him."

Then—

She held out two fingers in a friendship-sign, awaiting him.

Kakashi stared at her hand in surprise, before slowly raising his own to grasp her fingers. When she let go, Kakashi debated if it would be weird or not, but decided to just go for it—

He raised a hand and placed it on top of her head, like he had done several times to younger Sakura, and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Well done, Sakura. I'd be proud to have you as my teammate one day." Kakashi tried not to notice that his voice came out softer than he intended.

When he looked down at her, his hands stilled.

Her eyes had gone wide. She was flushing again; that same pretty blush from before spread across her face and neck, matching the color of her hair.

But her eyes were gleaming and wet as they stared at him, searching for something Kakashi couldn't understand.

Kakashi heard her take a deep shaky breath, as he moved to remove his hand from the top of her head. But before he could, she caught his wrist with her dainty fingers and held it in place.

He felt his heart rate speed up as he was unsure of what to do, and wondered if she could feel it racing under the soft fingers that were currently on the pulse point of his wrist.

They stayed like that for a moment—Sakura on the brink of tears; Kakashi in pure terror that he caused it somehow.

After what felt like forever, Kakashi watched her open her mouth as if to say something—but before she could speak, his attention shifted as his eye caught something behind her.

There, on the outskirts of her ridiculously huge crater, were three familiar chakra signatures walking out of the tree line.

Sakura must have noticed it too, as she immediately dropped his wrist and placed her hands together in a henge.

Just as she poofed into a cloud of smoke, three familiar heads of yellow, black, and pink appeared.

*** さくら ***

Sakura praised her younger-self's timing.

She was momentarily reeling inside. A great, big, ball of emotion; and she was thankful for the distraction.

He had thrown her off guard with the head pat and the soft voice that sounded much more like her Kakashi. It was a simple, unassuming touch—but it shook her to the bone.

Kakashi rarely gave true praise to anyone.

It wasn't in his nature to just tell someone he appreciated or truly cared for them.

Every one of his loved ones knew he cared because of the small gestures he made, not because he told them with actual verbal communication.

…Like sneaking groceries into Naruto's fridge or always showing up with her favorite tea on late night shifts…

He was a man of action; not words—especially since half the time his words were absolute bullshit.

It was shocking to hear him say it when he barely knew her yet. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry—but it made her so freaking proud, and a little wistful, too. She was yearning for her Kakashi.

But she felt the genin trio approach just in time before she embarrassingly gushed her emotional guts out in front of him.

Gods forbid, she cried on him. At least—not yet.

Sakura immediately flared her chakra to perform a henge. She went for minimal changes that were familiar and easy: purple eggplant-colored hair replaced her pink, her skin darkened several shades, and amber eyes hid her green ones. She turned to face the three genin just in time, as they approached their teacher.

Thus, a tiny younger version of herself stood between a Mini-Sasuke and an adorable Chibi-Naruto.

"Man, Kakashi-sensei what happened here?! Did a war break out?!" Chibi-Naruto practically yelled.

Sakura took a moment to look at their training ground with a wince: half of it was leveled into a giant crater where scorch marks and puddles sprinkled between stray senbon and kunai that littered around it.

She glanced at Kakashi. He was standing in his casual slouch with one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing the back of his neck unassumingly.

He gave an eye-crinkled smile. "Maa, we were just having a friendly spar. No need to worry, Naruto."

"All of this was just you two sparring?" Younger-Sakura asked with wide eyes as she surveyed their surroundings. Mini-Sasuke just stared at her with aloof boredom that he most definitely never outgrew.

"Were you the one that did all this damage?" the Mini-Uchiha asked after he finished sizing her up with a critical eye.

"Whaaaat?! There's no way!" Chibi-Naruto huffed. "Look how tiny this lady is? I'm like the same height as her. I bet you Kakashi-sensei beat her real quick!"

She shot Chibi-Naruto a glare and affectionately bonked him on the back of the head. "Don't underestimate people, you tiny idiot."

Mini-Sasuke turned to Kakashi. "Who is this?"

Kakashi cast her long glance. "She's my teammate...sort of."

"You can call me Chiharu if you want! I'm a friend of Kakashi's," She smiled politely. "I've heard about you three—you must be Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura."

"Kakashi-sensei has friends?!" Chibi-Naruto said in disbelief. Before she could reply, she heard a loud whack as Chibi-Naruto squatted down holding the back of his head in pain.

"Don't be rude, Naruto!" her younger-self said while holding her fist threateningly.

Sakura tried not to laugh at herself, and cast side-glance at Kakashi who was observing her silently. His lone eye gleamed in amusement. When she turned back to the trio, she noticed Mini-Sasuke had seen the exchange.

"You're close friends?" Mini-Sasuke asked fishing for answers (and absolutely no manners).

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "That's...a little difficult to say. But sure, I know him pretty well."

Younger-Sakura's head swiveled to her in excitement—she grabbed the back of the two boy's necks and shoved them down close to her and motioned with her hand for Sakura to come closer. Sakura knelt down to crouch near the group.

"Chiharu-san, have...Have you seen it?" her younger-self whispered while looking at Kakashi. Sakura looked at her confused. "—ya know? His FACE."

Sakura tried really really hard not to laugh.

She had forgotten how obsessed they all were with Kakashi's mask. She had to bite her lip to keep a smile forming on her face and turned back to look at Kakashi over her shoulder. He stood there looking bored, but had an eyebrow raised at her silently questioning her too.

Oh. He was curious.

With her eyes kept on his, she smiled a large, sly grin.

"Pay attention, Hatake. You're going to remember this one day!" His face immediately flooded with confusion. She turned to the kids. "I have seen it."

The three genin exploded in excitement. Sasuke leaned in closer, Sakura threw a fist in the air, and Naruto bounced on his feet like an excited puppy.

"No way! You have to tell us!" Younger-Sakura shouted.

"Does he have huge teeth?" Mini-Sasuke asked in a rare instance of eager curiosity.

"Naaah, it's gotta be fish-lips!" Chibi-Naruto said.

Sakura laughed full heartedly. "Definitely, none of that. He's just really...really...REALLY..." All three froze in place. "...handsome. Like stupidly, handsome."

The boys groaned in disappointment but Younger-Sakura kept her interest, so she went on.

"The kind of handsome that takes your breath away and makes your heart squeeze–It's actually quite dangerous, really. He should come with a warning sign."

"Oh, come on! " Chibi-Naruto griped with squinted eyes and a deep frown.

"I'm serious!" she looked back at Kakashi with a sweet smile. His eye was swimming with mirth. "He actually told me one time that he wears the mask so he won't have hoards of fan girls chasing him. It's seriously a distraction."

A total lie, but they'd never know.

"Tch, what a stupid reason." Mini-Sasuke commented.

She knew she was probably saying too much; but the feeling was bubbling up in her chest.

She made sure to catch Kakashi's lone eye with her own, despite her feeling that another telling smile was probably on her face. She decided to speak unabashedly and unashamed.

"It's true—" She paused with a way too big smile stretched across her face. "—he's the most beautiful person I have ever seen."

The trio of kids seemed to take this at face value. But Kakashi, she noticed, shifted his eye to the sky and sported pink tinged ears.

***END NOTES***

FUN FACT: Sakura is believed to have both Water and Earth type chakra. This is the assumption I'm working with.