Naruto 1. The Bachelor

Sakura took a deep breath as she stretched her arms towards the impossibly blue sky. Fluffy clouds glided lazily by, and she couldn't help but think, it was really too bad that it was such a nice day today.

"SAKURA! EN GARDE!" Tsunade's voice ripped through the calm as five flaming volleyballs ripped through the air, all headed straight towards her. Sakura was quick to react, as she parried two of the volleyballs, kicked one to send it flying right back to Tsunade, and punched the remaining two with her bare fists. It stung a bit, but Sakura felt like showing off.

She barely had time to recover when Tsunade, dressed in a bizarre golf vest which did nothing to control her insanely-huge breasts, drew back with a great shout as she sent another volley, this time of golf balls. Sakura summoned up some chakra in her hands, which served as a buffer for the flaming objects. She caught them easily and swirled them in the palm of her hand before she served them right back at her shishou. The older woman then struck each one home, and sent them flying over the training grounds. One managed to get into a hole in the ground, as indicated by the tiny tremble of the flag that stood above it.

Sakura clapped politely. "Great shot, shishou!"

"Thank you." Tsunade bowed, looking pleased. Over the years, they had managed to create some kind of bizarre sport with rules only they understood. It involved a lot of flaming balls, with the goal is to get the hole-in-one while managing to look hot while doing it. The rules changed every now and then, but definitely, looking hot was one of the constants. Shinobi who valued their life and disliked flaming balls knew better than to train on the grounds while Sakura and Tsunade enjoyed their made-up sport.

Tsunade went over to the hole to pick up the charred golf ball. It disintegrated into dust in her hands. The older woman frowned. "Another round, Sakura-chan?" she asked happily.

Sakura yawned and stretched again. "Nah, I think I'm good, shishou."

She caught the expression on the older woman's face. "Something wrong?" she asked, as she dusted her hands off.

"Ah, I need to talk to you about something, but better come up to my office." the two women nodded to each other, and in a dual poof of smoke, transported themselves into the Hokage's office.

Tsunade sighed. "And here I was so relaxed already. We should play sports more often, Sakura-chan..."

"Good for the body and good for the mind..." Sakura finished for her. Not that she had anyone else to play it with. She crossed her arms. It was unlike her shishou to stall for time. "Anything on your mind, Tsunade-sama?"

"Well...yes." Tsunade sighed as she set down her golf club. "It's about Kakashi."

Sakura's eyes widened, already feared the worst. "Kakashi? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes, he's fine, the big lunk." Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, and Sakura visibly relaxed, but her curiosity now piqued. The Hokage now seated herself behind her desk and made a little show of shuffling papers around. "He's fine," she repeated. "But I have a big favor to ask of you with regards to him..." she took a deep breath. "You see, Kakashi's getting married."

Sakura, who was about to sit down on one of the chairs, missed it by an inch and ended up landing hard on her butt. The kunoichi ignored it though, as she gaped up to her shishou. "P-pardon me?"

"Mar-ried. Kakasi Hatake is getting married." Tsunade repeated as Sakura slowly stood up, mouth still agape. The Hokage brandished a scroll in front of Sakura's face, and somehow Sakura managed to read the flowy script:

_You are cordially invited _

_To witness the joining of two hearts_

_Kakashi Hatake_

_to_

_Meiko Kazahana_

Other than the cheesy execution of the invitation, and the implication that Kakashi had such a heart to announce it this way, Sakura's eye caught on the bride's name. Meiko Kazahana...

"She wouldn't happen to be from the Land of Spring, shishou?"

"Yes. Beloved cousin of Koyuki Kazahana, it would happen!" Tsunade said with false cheer as she snapped the scroll back. "Also the next daimyo of the Land of Spring, isn't it funny?"

"Shishou..." Sakura said warningly.

"Alright, alright." Tsunade huffed. "I know what you're thinking: arranged marriages are backward and rotten. I understand, I completely understand. But this is all Kakashi's idea." Sakura found that hard to believe, and it looked like Tsunade read her mind. "I know it's hard to believe, but he visited me a few months ago with this proposal. He's nearing forty now and he thought it would be prudent to continue his bloodline. He's practical that way, that Kakashi."

"I didn't think he'd have it in him..." Sakura said quietly. True, Kakashi was one of the more devoted shinobi of Konoha, but to propose an arranged marriage? To an heir of a daimyo, no less? All for the sake of bloodlines and alliances? It made her head swim.

"Well, he also informed me that since he's a famous war hero and all, he could also get a more lucrative marriage deal. Our alliances are strong, but inter-marriage is better, if planned and executed well." Tsunade had a sly look about her now. "It also helped that Kakashi 'accidentally' let his face show to Meiko in his last mission to Spring, and well, let's just say that he's all she could think about now."

"Eeeewwww!" Sakura made a disgusted face. Hey, wait a minute! That wasn't fair! She and Naruto had spent years plotting and scheming to see that face, and now all it took was for Kakashi to whore himself out to show it? She felt slightly disappointed in him. "That's gross, shishou. That poor girl...!"

"Now, now, you don't have to make it sound so vulgar! It's not like we're offering the son of the Noodle Dynasty to the heir of the Miso Soup Queen!"

"That's EXACTLY what it is! And since when was Kakashi such a...such a prince?!"

"This is an arrangement between two consenting adults. Who happen to be important people in their countries. Now, will you please get stop giving me that judgmental face of yours, and get on to the next part?" Tsunade was impatient now.

"What is it?"

"I need you to escort Kakashi to Spring Country."

The headache that started to throb earlier escalated by ten times. "An escort?! So he's really our prince now?! Since WHEN did he need an escort?!"

"Since he promised himself to someone who's practically a princess." Tsunade replied calmly. "Spring Country has very specific, strict traditions and we want to follow them as much as possible. One of them is for the groom to stay at Spring for a month for the wedding preparations. Traditionally, he's escorted by his family. But, since you know he doesn't have any..." she trailed off.

"Oh, come on!" Sakura stamped her foot. "Why don't you send NARUTO to do it? Or any of his other former teammates? I'm sure they'd be more than happy to see him get hitched. Sometimes I'm even surprised Kakashi remembers my name! Honestly, shishou!"

"Now Sakura..." Tsunade's voice was stern now. "We've all been through a lot together, all of us. But you're still his original genin team. That's different, and you know it." Sakura slumped back to her seat, defeated. "I'm afraid sending Naruto on this mission might cause us...some, errr, diplomatic tensions more than improve it, if you know what I mean. Same thing with Sai. This wedding is important, and I want our best foot forward. You're practically my daughter, Sakura. You'll be my eyes and ears, my proxy, but at the same time Kakashi will have someone familiar around."

On one hand, Sakura was touched that Tsunade felt that way, but on the other hand, there was some serious emotional manipulation going on here.

She was, in a word, trapped. Trapped in a mission too stupid for words, thought up by a man too idiotic to be named.

"By the way," Tsunade tossed the invitation to Sakura. "You're the Maid of Honor."

"I'M WHAT?!"

* * *

Kakashi sensed a disturbance in the air. He paused in folding his clothes and sniffed, then resumed his work.

Three...two...one.

His apartment door flew open, and his former student stood on the doorway, looking...well, he couldn't really put a name on her expression right now. Her features finally settled on looking irritated, as she crossed her arms and glowered at him.

"Oh, hello, Sakura-chan. Nice of you to drop by." he sketched a little wave and busied himself with his pack.

"I hear congratulations are in order." Sakura said flatly as she stormed in. She wasted no time to getting to the heart of the matter. "Kakashi...but WHY?"

"Hmm? Oh." he scratched his head in a distracted way. "I thought the Hokage already briefed you on this mission?"

"She did. You didn't answer my question." she sat down on his bed, looking reproachful.

He sighed. These kids...it's not like he had WANTED it, not really, but it was hard to explain to someone as young as Sakura. Hell, he'd be questioning himself if he were her age, but things had to be done, and if he was doing it anyway, why not make the most of it?

Anyway, he had hoped that Sakura would've had her questions answered by Tsunade-sama. It was too much to hope for, he guessed, but then the Hokage HAD promised to field the hard questions in exchange for his agreeing to Sakura to come along. He didn't want any sort of entourage, but he had to agree with the Hokage's point that having at least one family member around was something Spring viewed necessary. God knew he cared for many people here in Konoha, but for someone _presentable_...well, he couldn't go wrong with the mini-Hokage herself, Sakura Haruno.

Sakura was still waiting for an answer, though. With a sigh, he reached for something in his pouch and drew out a small box. "Sakura-chan," he began as he flipped the box open. "Do you think she'll like it?"

The effect was instantaneous. Sakura's sulky face immediately melted into awe as she gazed at the diamond ring nestled inside the box. It sparkled sunnily, and it helped soften up the kunoichi too. "It's beautiful!" she breathed.

Hmpf. Women and their jewelry.

"It was my mother's." he supplied, which of course made her a little bit more emotional. He snapped the box shut, ending the spell. She blinked confusedly at him.

"Your mother's ring..so you DO love her!" she clapped her hands happily, oddly resembling a pleased bunny for some reason. He shook his head.

"No, I don't. I just thought it would be a nice gesture." he almost laughed at Sakura's disappointed face. He shrugged. "It's not like I can wear it myself."

"So cold-hearted..." Sakura grumbled. She watched him fold away some clothes in a few blessed moments of silence. He still didn't like her judgmental look, though.

"What is it?" he finally said without looking up.

"Kakashi...I didn't think you'd be that sort of man." Sakura stood up and began to wander around his apartment. She patted Mr. Ukki and turned back to face him. "Don't you feel sorry for Meiko-san? If you really are marrying her if you don't love her?"

He began to tie up his bag tightly. "I'll learn to love her." Meiko Kazahana was pretty enough, he mused. She was no shinobi, but she had a good bloodline. She was nice and had a gentle way about her, too. It could be easy. He could do worse. "I'll do my best, anyway."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm swooning."

"I'll tell you more about our epic love story on the way there." Kakashi hoisted his bag up. He knew Sakura always kept a pack ready in case of on-the-fly missions, and that it was waiting outside.

"As epic as diarrhea, maybe..." Sakura muttered under her breath.

Kakashi paused mid-step and looked at the pink-haired kunoichi. "Sakura...you do know that this wedding is top-secret, right? I explicitly asked Tsunade-sama for your discretion."

Sakura blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? Of course I didn't-" but she didn't get to finish her sentence as Kakashi's front door slammed for the second time that day.

"My eternal rival!" Gai shouted exuberantly to no one in particular. "Felicitations on your upcoming nuptials! I understand that you wanted to do it in your usual hip style," he continued before Kakashi could respond, "...and get married in a manner most romantic and quiet to your ladylove! But alas, even your noble intentions could not stop my heart's dearest wish!"

Kakashi looked at Sakura, as if she had the answers to Gai's ramblings. Sakura looked at Kakashi, then shrugged. "He's YOUR friend," she said.

"Look, Gai...we were about to go..." Kakashi began.

But Gai shook his head, which made a quite interesting effect on his bowl-shaped haircut. "I am not here to challenge you, my eternal rival! Although that is quite a natural assumption! No, no, no." He flashed his too-bright smile and pointed a finger to confused-looking Sakura. "I am here to challenge YOU, Haruno-san!"

"M-me?" Sakura pointed to herself.

"Yes! I am sure it has not escaped your attention that I am Kakashi's oldest and dearest friend." Gai said. Kakashi had to stop himself from snorting. Oldest, yes. Dearest? That was cutting it close, even for Gai.

"And as such," Gai continued, "I believe that I have right of first refusal as Kakashi's Best Man."

Kakashi glared at the man in the green spandex, and wished that his normal eye had the power to put people on fire in a second. "Therefore, I will challenge you for it!"

Sakura smirked then raised two fingers in farewell. "You can have it, Gai-san. No need to challenge me over it. See ya!"

"H-hoy! Sakura!" Kakashi hurried after her and put one hand on her shoulder. She looked mightily amused. "You can't just walk out on a MISSION like this!" he hissed, hoping that somewhere he had taught this girl some sort of feeling of..of..RESPONSIBILITY towards classified, top-secret missions.

Sakura just looked bored. "This is a stupid mission anyway, and it's a waste of my time."

"Tsunade-sama's not going to be happy about this." Kakashi hated pleading, but no way in hell was he going to bring Gai along to his wedding!

She shrugged. "She'll get over it. And what worse can she do to me?"

"It would really mean a lot to me, Sakura-chan."

She studied her nails in disinterest. "...Nyeeeh," she finally said.

Damn this girl. He had a brainwave. He extended one hand. "I'll teach you Chidori."

Sakura suddenly went stock-still. Green eyes turned to him in suspicion. "I beg your pardon?"

Kakashi leaned back. "You heard what I said."

The annoyed look she was wearing earlier returned. "So you're going to teach me something that you should've taught me all those years ago? So I can go to your crummy wedding? My opinion of you is going lower and lower by the minute, Kakashi."

"Hey, don't oversell yourself. I couldn't have taught you Chidori at your state back then." She looked like she was going to retort angrily, so he beat her to the punch. "But, hey, if you don't think you're up to it, then I guess you better wave that white flag to Gai right now."

She threw him a look of deepest irritation and marched back to Gai, who was still striking a ridiculous pose. She extended a hand towards him.

"Gai-san, I accept your challenge."

* * *

**A/N: Funny story. I have a 7k word monster of a chapter waiting for Hanabira. I tussled with it for a moment, lost, and it told me that I should train some more. Hence this fic. But it should be ready after I get my thoughts straight about it.**

**I should warn you that this is fluff, fluff, fluff. That means all those dudes who bring a negative vibe (read: big baddies), are all eating biscuits in Britain. That includes Sasuke. Don't worry, they're happy there, too!**

**The line about the Noodle Dynasty and Miso Queen was shamelessly ripped off from the movie Sabrina.**

**That said, I hope you enjoyed it and review! :) Thanks.**


	2. Made of Honor

The afternoon wind blew hard against Sakura's apron skirt, causing it to flutter around her like a distressed butterfly. She snapped on her gloves, eyeing Gai carefully. Unfortunately, the man chose the same moment to do some exaggerated squat warm ups so she had to look away again.

She had to remind herself: Gai might be ridiculous, but he wasn't to be underestimated.

Kakashi coughed into his hand. "Alright then," he intoned seriously. "First round will be a test of speed and accuracy." He gestured to a pile of random fruits laid in a pile on the ground. "I will be tossing up these fruit in the air, and these nice genin over here," he pointed to three kids who grinned toothily up at them. "Will catch the fruit once they fall on the ground. However, the fruit should be perfectly sliced. The person who gets the most fruits sliced in the given time, wins. But you should also avoid the bombs I throw in the mix. Who ever detonates the bomb, automatically loses." The Copy Nin looked absurdly pleased with himself with this challenge. "I call this...Fruit Ninja."

"You didn't invent this challenge!" Sakura protested.

"Yes, I did." She could swear he was pouting underneath that mask.

Stupid name, stupid challenge. Sakura wondered for the nth time why she was even doing this in the first place. But then again, this day started out pretty stupid, too, and had to reach its natural end of even more stupidity.

She should say that word again: Stupid.

Both ninjas readied their kunai. Kakashi raised one arm, and assumed a disaffected look. "Go!"

Fruits began raining down from the sky, and Sakura had to stop herself from rolling her eyes again. She didn't have a second to waste. Gai had already launched himself into the air, hitting at the falling fruit with showy but quick swipes. Sakura followed suit, and what she couldn't match in speed, she made up for efficiency. In addition to the kunai in one hand, she generated chakra blades in each finger on the other hand as she kept an eye out for bright colors and held back at the sight of the black-and-red bombs.

Below them, those cute little genin were trying hard to keep up as they tried to catch the sliced fruit. After several more seconds, Kakashi finally blew the whistle.

Gai and Sakura landed lightly on their feet and walked over to the panting genin. They were really so cute, Sakura thought. Had she really been that little, once upon a time? The ground was littered with plated fruit, and Sakura was a bit surprised that she didn't do all that bad, considering. In fact...

Kakashi took one look at it. "I declare this challenge a tie."

Gai wasn't disappointed, however.

"Ah, Haruno-san!" he declared loudly, hands on his hips. "It is no wonder that you're the object of Lee's unrequited affections! You are wonderful! Just wonderful!"

Did this guy ever use his indoors voice? Sakura wondered, as a blush spread on her cheeks at the mention of Lee's longstanding crush on her.

"An angel of Konoha, who has gracefully bestowed her beauty and talent on us...!" Gai was still going, frightening the kids a bit with his loud voice.

"Kakashi..." her eyebrow twitched. "Are we going to get a move on to the next challenge, or what?"

Kakashi scratched his head distractedly. "I guess." He looked over to the genin. "You guys, take those fruit home!"

"All this...? Man...!" one of the kids complained loudly. "Are you guys really jounin? What kind of stupid..."

"Little punks..." Sakura muttered. Maybe they weren't so cute, after all.

Kakashi merely smiled. "You're a good bunch," he said to them. "I'll put in a good word for you three."

"HURRAAAAH!" this enlivened the genin, who hurriedly took up on his earlier order. The scooped up as many of the plates as they could and scampered off. At the heart of himself, Sakura mused, Kakashi had a soft spot for children.

The two stood side by side as they watched them go. Another breeze passed through them, cooling her slightly heated forehead. "Aaa..." she said, just for something to say. "I can't believe I used to be a snotty-nosed kid like that."

He glanced at her. "What made you think you're not anymore?"

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?!" She made a move to take a swipe at him, but was held back by a finger to her forehead. He was smiling more openly now as she bared her teeth and flailed.

"KAKASHI! WHY YOU-! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"

"Just kidding!"

Ugh! Was her childhood self something she wouldn't ever live down!? She hated that Kakashi had been witness to her most embarrassing and vulnerable moments; and sometimes she actually convinced herself that he'd forgotten. All it took was a comment like that to make her feel humiliated all over again.

He put his hands in his pockets. "You haven't been a kid for long while, Sakura. You shouldn't take my comments too seriously."

Her face was red all over. Maybe their shared history as teacher-student might not really go away, she sighed to herself. He'd always be that big brother type who'd bring out your embarrassing childhood pictures to show off to your friends.

But then again...

If he was getting married...

He won't be around to do that to her anymore!

Hehehe...

"Why so happy all of a sudden? You look like a demon with that smile." Kakashi commented.

Ugh. Damn this guy. Seriously.

"CHOSEN BY THE HOKAGE AS HER TRUE HEIR! PART OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM OF THE HIPPEST JOUNIN IN KONOHA!" Gai was still going at it behind them.

"Um...Kakashi...maybe we should really move on to the next challenge before Gai-san loses oxygen. He's practically purple in the face..."

* * *

The next challenge found them at one of the Academy's classrooms.

Really, was Kakashi going to just rub it in her face about her being a kid? She squirmed in her seat, which was just a tad too tiny, and she had to bend over to rest her elbows on the writing table. Gai had opted to lean against one arm on a windowsill, as he still (unsuccessfully) tried to strike another cool pose (his butt still stuck out a little too much).

Sakura took a deep breath, comforted by the smell of chalk, pencils and wood. She hadn't been here for a while, and while everything looked weirdly small, it was a nice nostalgia trip. She put both hands against her cheeks and smiled. So nice...woo...

A hand slapped a piece of paper in front of her, ruining her good mood. "I've never seen a person so happy to be in a classroom, Sakura." Kakashi said as he walked past her to give Gai the same piece of paper.

Eh. She felt like she'd turned into stone.

"What's this?" Gai squinted at the writing.

"A math problem? Seriously?" Sakura asked, dubious. Kakashi had plopped himself down next to her, all awkward limbs and a bored look.

"Do I look like someone who has time to think up of challenges?" Kakashi asked. He did have a point. But geez, did it have to be the chuunin exam all over again? Sakura frowned at the question.

_If a shinobi roughly six feet and 150 pounds were shot from a cannon from the Hokage Monument at the speed of 250 mph, and had to set down explosive tags to detract 12 enemy shinobi, and a maximum number of 6 jutsus to execute, when and where will he end up when he finally defeats them? Illustrate your answer._

"Ah my eternal rival! You are so wise to remind us that every now and then, jounin like us should go back to the basics!" Gai was doing some sort of weird grinding dance now, and Sakura tried very very hard to just keep her attention on her paper.

Despite her feeling of annoyance, Sakura felt that strange surge of power and confidence that she usually got when faced with a difficult exam. Before she knew it, thirty minutes had passed and she was done.

Before she could even look up from her paper, Kakashi's hand slammed on the desk. "You're done?" He asked.

"Yeah."

He picked up her test. "Hmmm. This is incomplete."

"What?!" She snatched the paper back and stuck her nose on it. Her calculations were precise and showed how she got the answer step-by-step. "Can't be!"

Kakashi simply shook his head and smiled infuriatingly.

* * *

If someone told Sakura a week ago that she would be loaded into an actual cannon like a goddamned cartoon cat, she would've laughed and said that was crazy.

She wasn't laughing now. "KAKASHI! YOU CRAZY ASS! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Her arms were wedged tightly at her sides as she tried to project the full force of her annoyance with her eyes.

Kakashi patted her head sympathetically. "You're in a cannon!" he supplied unhelpfully. He looked over at Gai, who was also loaded in a cannon but was much more accepting of it. "You okay there, Gai?"

"I'm ready to win this challenge, if that's what you mean, Kakashi!"

Whatever drug that induced Gai's perpetual spring of eternal youth, Sakura wanted lots of it.

"Okay, you two!" Kakashi stood in front of the two cannons, hands on hips. "This is where we prove your theory correct. Of course you'll have to make some necessary adjustments to fulfill the requirements of the math problem, but I'm sure you can handle it."

"You do know that I will kill you after this, right?" Sakura growled.

Kakashi merely shrugged. "You can try." He sparked two matches alight. "Alright! Ready! Get set! Goooooo!"

Before she knew it, Sakura was launched into the air as her limbs flailed uselessly about. She was going to die. Well, it wouldn't be too bad-the view from Konoha was lovely from up here. But she shouldn't really haven't eaten all those dumplings.

She held her vomit back (didn't want to rain vomit on some poor schmuck walking down the street somewhere) and realigned her body so that she would fall straight as an arrow back to the ground. Gai had already done the same, and the two fell like a green and red meteor back to the village.

She hit the ground running, adjusting her chakra to meet the weight and the speed that the math problem dictated. The enemy shinobi should be coming any moment now, and she wondered...

She didn't wait long. Footsteps began to follow her and she chanced a peek over her shoulder.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAN!"

Twelve Naruto clones were on her tail, bounding happily from point to point.

"N-N-Naruto!? What are you doing here?!"

"Kakashi-sensei said that you're doing a challenge with Gai!" the clones said in unison. "He said that you said that if I can catch or stop you, you'd give me a kiss!"

"WHAT!"

"Sakura-chaaaaaaan!" All clones were now puckering up, arms outstretched.

"AAAAAAH NO KEEP AWAY!" In sheer panic, Sakura began tearing out huge chunks of pavement to throw at the clones. _Shit, I'm limited to six jutsus! _She realized as she threw the third one. It managed to hit two clones, who disappeared with a satisfying _pop_!

_The explosive tags! _They weren't limited, so Sakura flung several in the air, hoping to distract Naruto long enough so she could plant more in his path. But she needed to distract him. Her test answer calculated that she should be at the market place, fresh fruits section by five minutes. Naruto was not to be underestimated, so her distractions had to be really good.

"Naruto, look, it's Hinata in a bikini!"

"Look, Naruto, FLYING RAMEN!"

"GUESS WHAT! SASUKE CALLED AND ADMITTED THAT YOU WERE A GENIUS!"

Pop! Pop! Pop! Eight down, four more to go. She tore another chunk of rock from the ground and threw it towards a clone. Naruto shattered through with surprising ease, which was just what Sakura wanted.

A piece of rock caught her by her abdomen and she pretended to double over. "N-N-Naruto-kun...!" she choked before she collapsed to the ground.

The effect was instantaneous. Naruto was at her side, cradling her body. "Sakura-chan! Are you okay?!"

She cracked one eye open. "I..I think I'm dying! Hold me!" she croaked. Okay, so the request for him to hold her was a bit overdramatic, but it sold the scene. She felt sorry for him, but she had a challenge to do, after all. As Naruto panicked, she gathered chakra in one fist and punched the clone. The force of the blow sent the clone flying to his copy that lagged behind, making both of them disappear.

"That was a dirty trick!" The remaining two Narutos chorused.

She winked. "This is an even dirtier one!" The last jutsu had to count. She quickly formed a set of hand seals and did what she never thought she would do...

"Sexy no jutsu!" A more enhanced (and naked) version of herself appeared in her stead, and it did quick work of knocking out the two clones by virtue of blood loss via nosebleed.

She was never going to hear the end of it from the original Naruto. Desperate measures and all that, she reasoned to herself. Yeah, she could live with that.

One minute to go.

* * *

Well. That was...interesting. When did Sakura learn the Sexy no Jutsu? Much less use it?

Kakashi scratched his head absently as he watched Sakura make short work of the two remaining clothes by doing the Sexy no Jutsu. Wherever did she get those measurements to base the illusion on? Tsunade-sama must've gotten to her.

He didn't really want to dwell on it. One, it was weird. Two, it was just weird. Three, oh yeah, he was about to get married.

He jumped from the tree where he was observing from and began the short walk to the end goal. He didn't expect Sakura to be approving of his plans, but he was totally caught off-guard by how prickly she was to the whole thing. Usually Sakura blew off some steam with a well-placed punch, but now, no amount of punching would do with just how annoyed she was. She simply had rolled her eyes at him countless times and threatened to abandon him.

He didn't like that at all. He'd rather that she punched him.

It was Sakura's mother hen thing, he rationalized. Through the years Kakashi had depended on Sakura to keep the team toed in line in his frequent absences. When he couldn't read the temperature between any two members, she was the first person he asked to read it for him. It was a partnership that worked surprisingly well, although Sakura had hinted at being annoyed by mentoring when she needed to be mentored as well.

Was that it? A combination of her resentment to being left to her own devices, as well as an extension of her mothering towards him? Kakashi realized that he really didn't know much about Sakura's own temperament, and that he was having a hard time reading her.

Ah, the woman herself was waiting, engaged in a friendly chatter with her challenger. Naruto was also with them, nursing what seemed to be a very bloody nose. Gai caught sight of Kakashi first and made a suave wave.

"Kakashi! Looks like my challenger's youth and beauty is enough to keep up with my fighting spirit!" Gai said cheerfully. _Oh, Gai, if only you knew how much, _Kakashi thought amusedly. It was, of course, a tie. The challenge really wasn't too hard. Kakashi just wanted to fire them out of cannons for the fun of it.

"Ugh, I just want this over with!" Sakura exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"Sensei...how could you fool me into this..." Naruto complained, nose stuffed with cotton.

"This last one isn't going to be too hard." Kakashi reassured all of them. "Gai, you told me that being someone's Best Man meant that two people had to know each other very well, is that correct?"

"Correct." Gai nodded sagely.

"This is the last challenge: A question. Only the person here who knows me best would know the answer to this question." Kakashi looked at the three faces waiting.

"What is my mother's name?"

* * *

Sakura's body stiffed. _Is he serious? _

Kakashi, as usual, radiated calm as he surveyed their faces, but she knew better than to trust that.

"That's not fair, sensei! Everyone knows you sprouted out of an Icha Icha printing house fully-formed!" Naruto complained, his elbows folded behind his head.

"...You're not even part of this challenge..." Kakashi muttered.

Gai looked thoughtful. _Is it possible that Gai knows? _

Much to her shock, Gai finally shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kakashi might scoff at Gai's claims to be one of the people who knew the Copy Nin best, but it occurred to her that everyone assumed it was true.

How couldn't anyone know the answer to such a simple question? Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi's father, was famous. He had married a civilian from Lightning Country during a prolonged mission there, who had died giving birth to Kakashi before they returned to Konoha. Due to her status, her name wasn't on the cenotaph and, well, Kakashi just never brought her up, but she never realized just how much he had kept that particular piece of information so close to his vest.

All three men were now looking at her expectantly. She noticed that Gai had a serious, thoughtful look on his face. She didn't want to dwell on it, but he had noted that this was information that she shouldn't have known.

But she did.

She leaned in and whispered the name in Kakashi's ear.

* * *

Gai clapped a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I have to hand it to you," he said, ever-gracious in his defeat. "To know this much about my eternal rival...You truly deserve this honor."

"This very, very, dubious honor." Sakura replied. She was glad (and kind of surprised) that in the end, Gai wasn't making such a big deal out of it. Maybe he just liked challenges THAT much. Naruto blinked, the perfect picture of obliviousness. She was glad that Gai knew enough of the mission not to blurt it out in front of Naruto.

"So, shall we go?" Kakashi looked at the pink-haired kunoichi expectantly.

"That's it?! You'll just leave me like that!" Naruto was still grousing. "That punch hurt me, Sakura-chan! And you pretended to be dying!" He was very close to pouting.

"Fine, fine." Sakura put her arms around her friend and kissed him soundly on his cheek. "Will this do?"

"Nehehehe! Yeeees!" He was easily pleased, this one, Kakashi thought wryly.

Gai approached Kakashi and offered a warm handshake. "Good luck my dear friend! May the sun always shine down on your endeavors!"

"Thanks, Gai." Kakashi smiled, grateful.

"Ugh...these old guys and their bromance..." Naruto muttered.

She gave Naruto a fond bop on the head. "Stupid," she murmured. "I'll be back in a month, let's eat at Ichiraku when I do, ok?"

"Still can't believe you did sexy-" Naruto was saying, but she quickly clamped a hand on his mouth.

"Ahahaha...see you around you two! Gai-san! Naruto!" She took Kakashi by hand and practically pulled him along. The two waved back, smiling.

When they were safely out of view, she let go of his hand. She wasn't smiling anymore.

WHOMP!

Her fist caught squarely against his face, which sent him skidding across the ground.

"You think I'm stupid? What're you gonna teach me next? How to use the Sharingan?"

He gripped his jaw with one hand and smiled underneath his mask. "Well, if you haven't noticed, I was kind of desperate." The pink-haired girl looked deeply unconvinced. "How else would you get the chance to punch me in the face over it unless you took up the challenge to prove me wrong about your intelligence?" He knew he had a point. He was pretty sure Sakura had been itching for a reason to punch him soundly throughout the years, and he just gave her the opportunity that she couldn't resist.

She shook her head and crossed her arms. "What's your problem? You should've made the last challenge the first so we could've gotten that over and done with!"

"Well, I had to get my fun somewhere. I'm not getting a bachelor party, after all." He said, as if that explained anything. She went easy on him, probably would only bruise lightly. It didn't matter, though. Sakura had already approached to heal any broken capillaries.

"If I didn't know you any better, Kakashi, I'd say you were stalling." she said softly as her hands hovered around his jaw.

He closed his eyes. "Well, you do know me the best, don't you?"

When he opened his eyes again, she was looking at him with an unreadable expression. She backed away. "All done," she said, looking off at one side with a carefully neutral face.

So, she didn't want to talk about it, then.

He sighed. This was getting more complicated than he expected. "Let's head out."

* * *

**A/N:** Hark! A plot?

Today my Christmas vacation starts! I won't be at work until next year (woot!) so I hope to be working very hard on the next chapters. Reviews will help fuel this burning desire! *strikes ridic Gai pose* Please? :)


	3. In and Out

"Do you even know what her favorite color is?"

Kakashi looked up from the fire he was tending. Day two of their trek to Spring Country and she was already asking all these questions. He'd so far avoided having to answer them by resolutely sticking his nose in his Icha Icha, but he could only pretend to ignore her for so long.

She sighed and placed the firewood she gathered to one side. "Kakashi?" she prodded gently.

"Uhh..." he glanced at her head. "I think it's pink."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence."

She was trying to annoy him, he knew, but he had a lifetime's worth of experience feeling blase about most things, and it wasn't going to change now. "What do you want to know that you already don't know, Sakura?" he said softly.

She sat down across him and gripped her elbows tightly to herself. The fire grew bigger, and it made her eyes glow. "I know I should be clinical about these things. I mean, I'm a medic and all, and I study DNA...but are bloodlines really all that important?"

"The Uchihas and the Hyugas of this world didn't get to where they were with their sparkling personality, that's for sure." Kakashi chuckled.

Sakura cocked her head. "I dunno. You must've been spending too much time with your ninken, Kakashi."

"Why's that?"

"You've convinced yourself that you're a dog that needs to breed."

He threw his head back and laughed heartily. Sakura grinned, unable to help herself.

After the initial hilarity, he sombered again. Was she going to purposely misunderstand him for the rest of this mission? Then again, how could she understand? She was still young, and he was older. It wasn't that he felt any angst over his mortality, but in recent years he had felt the need to leave something behind. Something more permanent than his name in the bingo books.

When he didn't become any more forthcoming, Sakura sighed. "If Sasuke-kun came back and asked me to repopulate his clan in such a heartless way, I would never say yes!"

Now that was interesting. "Who said I asked her heartlessly?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "If you even TRY to pull out 'the moves' on me to prove a point, I swear, you'll have Pakkun as your best man."

"You're no fun."

She shrugged. "I'm a medic. If you haven't noticed, I haven't been fun in years."

"You do that weird sports with the flaming balls with Tsunade-sama," he pointed out.

That made her smile. "Yeah, but that's more the exception than the rule."

"You did that challenge with Gai."

"I wanted to prove a point and punch your smug face."

She got him there. Kakashi regarded his former student thoughtfully. In recent years, he usually saw Sakura in the presence of Naruto and the other members of Team Seven, and the company's usual silliness brought out the fun in her. However, now that they weren't around, Kakashi had to acknowledge the fact that yes, Sakura had become a more sombre and sedate person in recent years. If it was because she was older, or because she was a medic and had seen so many die...

Sakura slapped her hands on her lap. "Well! You've managed to turn this conversation around successfully. I had a feeling you'd do that." She pulled out a notebook from her pouch and started to scribble some notes. "If you don't mind, since I'm your best man and all, I'd like to ask you a favor."

"You're not going to question me on my life choices anymore? I'm disappointed."

"I might, if you're a good boy." she said jokingly. "Nope, I just want to ask your permission if we can do a detour to the River colony before we get out of the border."

The River colony was one of the settlements that stood outside Konoha. Founded by a group of nomads who were attracted by the environment's access to water and fertile land, they decided to live outside the relative security of Konoha, although it still fell under the Hokage's jurisdiction. They provided the bulk of crops that needed to be grown in the forest setting, such as medicinal herbs and agricultural products. They didn't produce much offspring that went on to become ninjas, but he knew the place well. It was, after all, one of the nearer places you can rest in after a mission before actually arriving at Konoha.

"What for? House calls?"

"Yup." Sakura nodded. "I was due to give them a visit this week, before I got rudely interrupted with your love life. It's just going to be a slight delay, I promise. In and out."

The fish that he'd cooked earlier was now cool enough to eat. Kakashi wordlessly handed her one and she received it with a smile and a word of thanks. Her mind already on the tasks for the next day, she proceeded to ignore him altogether and look through her notes.

He forced himself to look at her, really look at her. Sakura had grown competent and strong in the past few years, and none of her major improvements were because of him. She had even dropped the honorific "sensei" one day for no major reason. He supposed he had deserved that, in some way. It didn't really bother him. After all, she still called Tsunade-sama "shisou" despite technically no longer being under the woman's wing. She obviously felt more of that mentorship under her.

Would Sakura marry, he wondered. She was a pretty girl, and her unofficial title as "the next Tsunade" was not for nothing. Like Tsunade, she had a great lost love, but like the Hokage, would that stop any desire to be with someone else? She had mentioned Sasuke earlier, but he detected a carelessness when she said his name.

"Kakashi," Sakura said calmly without looking up from her work. "If you don't stop staring at my forehead, I'm going to deck you."

Obediently, Kakashi shifted his gaze somewhere else. He never was the target of Sakura's scolding before, too. Well, at least not this much. Whenever he fell out of her favor, she usually held it back with a frown or a scowl. Now she was expressing her displeasure openly. This wedding was bringing out all kinds of weirdness in his former student. Then again, he was doing something she deeply disagreed with, so he shouldn't really be surprised.

"Well," he stood up and stretched. "I better wash up and hit the sack. Take the first watch?"

"Sure," she said without looking up. "I'm still working, anyway."

He felt like he should say something to quell her worries, and she seemed to be waiting for it, too.

There really wasn't anything to say. So he simply smiled, like he always did.

* * *

What kind of woman did Kakashi like?

It was a question she never thought she'd actually ask at one point in her life. She remembered being so thrilled when she found out several years ago that there was a possibility that Kakashi actually liked someone. Hanare, that spy from Lock. She was gentle, beautiful and talented, and Sakura was pretty sure that there was something between them. It was really too bad that she was a spy.

Sakura would've given anything for Kakashi to marry Hanare instead, but that was neither here nor there. Up until yesterday, Kakashi had everyone convinced that he was perfectly happy with his life as a bachelor. She had to admit, it suited him. He wasn't weighed down with familial obligations, he had full focus on the work at hand, and he didn't have to be afraid of orphaning children if he died on duty.

She wondered how much of his decision to stay single for the majority of his life arose from his actual preferences and how much of it arose from his own parents' early deaths. Not just his parent's deaths...his own sensei's deaths, and his teammates' deaths. She fought back a shudder. She didn't want to think these things, Kakashi wouldn't want her to.

A lesser man would've broken down, but Kakashi was a better man than that. For that alone, she admired him, and for that too, she thought he was better than this kind of marriage.

Even when he was lying down, he was so tense. His shoulders were in stiff, straight lines, and his back ramrod-straight. No curling up or snoring for this one. She hoped Meiko, whatever she was like, would gradually learn how to sleep with such a stressful bedfellow.

"Sakura," Kakashi said in the exact same tone she used on him earlier. "I can feel your eyes drilling into my back." He shifted so that he was facing her, head pillowed on one folded arm. "What is it?"

She wasn't used to Kakashi's undivided attention, but she wanted to ask him things that he knew he wouldn't answer anyway.

Instead, she smiled. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I think we started this mission on the wrong foot." She suddenly felt embarrassed and actually _blushed_. "I hope that you're happy with your decision."

"Why would I do something that wouldn't make me happy?"

"I don't know. You seem to do a lot of things that wouldn't necessarily make you happy." She regretted it the moment she said it. Sure, she made it abundantly clear that she frowned on arranged marriage, but she didn't want him to think that she judged him on his life as a whole.

He frowned for a split second, then shrugged. "Eh." He simply said.

They were quiet for a few minutes. When it was clear he wasn't going to get back to sleep, Kakashi sat up and scratched his head. She wondered if he was offended. Probably not. Most times, Kakashi couldn't muster enough energy to be offended, especially on silly slip-ups like what she did just now.

Sakura reached out her chakra to detect Kakashi's low-burning one. As expected, like all the others it was different from hers, but in a very distinct way. Warm and controlled, but deep and hidden, like water in a well. She had seen him do some amazing things with his white chakra, one that he's now so eager to pass on. His father's chakra, his father's legacy, was now all on Kakashi's shoulders. _The White Fang of Konoha..._

He quirked an eyebrow at her, as if conscious of her intrusion. Sakura hastily withdrew her chakra away. "Anyway, Tsunade-sama also tasked me with another thing to do when we arrive at Spring," she announced.

"If you haven't noticed, Sakura, I was trying to get some sleep."

"Tsunade-sama said that the Lady Meiko loves traditional arts like writing haikus and ikebana." Kakashi opened his mouth to protest, but Sakura barrelled along. "And everyone knows male shinobi aren't trained in those arts like us kunoichi, so she asked me to uh, refresh your skills, so to speak."

He stared at her dumbly. "Haiku and ikebana?"

"Tsunade-sama said, 'Lady Meiko loves him for sure, but we have to make it really sure.' She wanted you to spend more time with your fiancee, Kakashi, do things with her that she likes." Sakura fixed a hard look on him.

"That is so unnecessary." Kakashi whined.

Sakura crossed her arms. "Orders are orders!"

"I can write haikus!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it." She marched over to his bedroll and thrust her notebook under Kakashi's nose. He looked down on her notes (a list of symptoms), back up to the kunoichi, and back down to the notes.

He made an impatient noise. "Incorrigible woman."

He scribbled something and returned the notebook, and it read:

_All I want is sleep_  
_But you are an annoying_  
_Hippopotamus_

Sakura felt herself go red in the face. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING HIPPOPOTAMUS?!"

But Kakashi had already made his escape in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

Sakura had already reached River Colony when Kakashi made his reappearance. His timing was impeccable for once, because she didn't have time to berate him when a group of children ran up to them and began to tug for her attention.

"Sakura-san! Sakura-san!" They called happily, their faces alight with excitement. It was almost enough to dispel her foul temper completely. They grabbed her hands and pulled her along, except for one mischievous-looking kid, who stayed behind and looked up to Kakashi.

"Who's this old geezer? Sakura-san's boooooooyfriend ah!"

"Oi! Don't say such stupid things!" Sakura swivelled to yell at the kid.

"Who are you calling an old geezer..?" Kakashi muttered.

The kid gave Kakashi a toothy smile. "Name's Jin!" he said as he offered one hand.

"Kakashi." the Copy Nin took the proffered hand and shook it. Sakura bopped the kid on the head at the same time.

"Hey, Jin. Instead of wasting our time, why don't you call your grandma and tell her that I'm at the clinic?" She stood there with her hands on her hips, the very picture of authority.

"Fine, fine!" Jin saluted Kakashi. "See you later old, geezer!" He dispersed along with the other children, eager to announce that Sakura had arrived to their parents.

She and Kakashi exchanged a look. Whatever annoyance she had against him was gone now.

"Follow me...old geezer."

Or maybe not.

They arrived at a small hut in the outskirts of the village. Sakura drew out a key and unlocked the door. She flipped the sign that hung outside the door to read, 'The Doctor is In.'

Once inside, Sakura made short work of making the clinic comfortable. She asked Kakashi to open the windows while she swept the surfaces and the floor with some cleaning tools at hand. She stepped back to survey the clinic one last time before she opened a small cabinet and slipped on her doctor's jacket.

"Wait a sec," she called before running out. She returned with a vase filled with wildflowers, which she put on the doctor's desk. She smiled, pleased. "All set."

He couldn't help but smile, too. "All set." He echoed.

Sakura blinked at him, as if she just remembered he was there. "You know your way around, right? Can you come back for me after three hours, after all my consultations are done?"

"Alright. Maybe I'll practice my ikebana or something in the meantime." He couldn't help but tease.

She rolled her eyes. "I seriously doubt that." She pressed both palms on his back and playfully pushed him out. "Go on, now, shoo!" Truthfully, he felt a little relieved that she was a little bit more immune to his teasing by now, or at least got over it quicker.

He suddenly remembered Sakura as a genin, always trailing after him.

_Sensei! Look at this! Isn't it cool?_

_Yes, of course, Sakura. _

_Sensei! You aren't even paying attention!_

Now she was pushing him out of the way and didn't want him around. He felt a little sad about it, to be perfectly honest. She gave him a little wave and disappeared back inside the clinic, and he had to step aside for the first patient of the day. He felt weirdly forlorn all of a sudden, and turned to go.

"Ahh-wait! Kakashi!" Sakura was suddenly running back out again, white doctor's coat flapping behind her. She cradled something carefully in her hands and extended it to him. "Can you please do me a favor and deliver this to that old woman who lives in that house?" She pointed a finger to brown hut a few meters away.

He looked down at the small package. "Is this medicine?"

She nodded. "But more than that, it's a trade." He wondered why she was telling him this. In a move that surprised him, she put the medicine in his hands and folded her fingers around them.

"What did you trade it for?" he asked.

She smiled sunnily up at him. "It's my gift to you." Before he could ask her to elaborate, she had already begun to run back to the clinic. "See you later, Kakashi!"

He stared after her for a few minutes and then sighed. Women. So troublesome and indirect. He began the short walk towards the hut Sakura had pointed out. He hadn't been in River Colony for a while, he mused as he took a deep breath of that woodsy smell that he loved so much. He didn't even know that Sakura reported here every so often.

He approached the hut and knocked on the door. It slid open with a loud thump, and he found the boy Jin staring up to him. "Huh! It's you, old geezer."

He raised one eyebrow at the kid. "So it would seem."

"Sakura-san sent you, huh?" Kakashi idly wondered why Sakura earned an honorific from this boy, when the boy very easily settled on calling him an old geezer. Pondering this mystery, he slid off his sandals and stepped into the house.

"Over here." Jin gestured for him to a small room in the hut.

One one side of the room facing open windows was an elderly woman sitting on a futon. She didn't make a move upon his and Jin's entrance as she stared happily out into the forest. Kakashi stood awkwardly there for a few minutes before finally opting to cough politely in his hand.

"We have a visitor, grandma." Jin announced before he darted out of the room.

The old woman shifted in her position and turned dark eyes on him, which widened with surprise.

"Sakumo Hatake...?!"

He felt himself go cold. "No...not exactly grandma."

She peered more closely at him. "You're right. But you look extremely like him. Come closer, child." Kakashi was quick to comply and sat across her, near her futon.

"My name is Michiyo." she said. "And you're Sakumo's son, Kakashi."

He nodded.

"Sakura-chan told me all about you, the dear girl." Michiyo smiled fondly. "But I did know your father before he died. He used to come here for some rest before returning to Konoha." She folded her hands neatly on her lap. "As you did, too, I suppose. But unlike you, your father was a little more friendly with the locals here."

Whether this was a gentle rebuke, Kakashi did not know, but he didn't want to press the matter. Instead, he handed her the medicine Sakura had prepared. "Sakura asked me to give this to you."

"Ah, thank you. She finally came around to doing this for me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"This," she held up the box to the sunlight, "Is one of the gentlest but most potent poisons ever created in all the Five Countries, and Sakura made it herself." The old woman smiled at Kakashi's expression. "Now don't look so scandalized, boy. I don't mean to use it to harm anyone-I have a grandchild to worry about, you know."

"Are you going to kill yourself?" Kakashi asked quietly.

"You wouldn't believe the arguments me and Sakura-chan had over this. But I am in much pain, boy, and sometimes the body clings to life no matter how wretched it has become. It's not easy for young people like you and Sakura-chan to understand, but my life has become tedious to live, as of late."

"But what about your grandson?"

"The village will raise him. It is our way." She smiled. "We do not abandon our orphans the way Konoha does."

Another rebuke.

"But I do worry about the way I will go, I don't want to hurt him. This medicine Sakura-chan gave me...it will give me a painless and dreamless sleep that I will not wake from. And she made me enough just for one dosage." To his surprise, Michiyo reached over and patted his hand. "You don't know how much Sakura-chan cried to argue me out of this. She is such a dear, dear girl. She didn't want to give this to me herself, it would hurt her too much. But I promised her something in return, to remember me by."

Michiyo pointed a wizened finger to a wooden trunk that stood near Kakashi. "Can you be a dear and open that trunk? My body hurts to move too much."

Intrigued, Kakashi did as he was told and opened the trunk. Inside were many scrolls, all rolled up neatly and categorized. He was surprised to see his father's name as a label on one of them. He drew it out and stared at it for a few seconds.

"I see you've found it." Michiyo said. "Go on, open it."

He didn't know why he was trembling. He unrolled the scroll gently, and the painting revealed itself.

It was a delicate watercolor painting of his parents. Sakumo, young and proud, stood over his wife, who was seated with her hands folded delicately over her lap. She was young and beautiful too, and smiled serenely. She had auburn hair that fell down her waist like a waterfall, her eyes the color of bluebells. They were both dressed formally, for their wedding. He suddenly realized who he was talking to.

"You're Michiyo Kanzashi, the famous artist." he said. The old woman simply nodded. "You're famous for making accurate paintings based on description alone."

"That's right. And oh, Sakumo described your mother so well."

"I don't know what to say," he admitted at length. "I thought you don't part with your paintings so easily."

"I plan on giving them to Jin, so he can make use of them however he wants." Michiyo replied placidly. "Sakura-chan...is an exemption. She's done so much for me. In fact...you're not the only one who will leave this place with my painting. There is another scroll there under her name. That one, I did on my own. I think it's one of my best work."

He did as was told, and drew out the scroll with Sakura's name. He set down his parents' portrait carefully to unroll the second one. It was a beautiful painting of Sakura laughing, her hair stylized in such a way that they were made out of tiny sakura blossoms. It was such a lifelike portrait that even Kakashi could be fooled into thinking that it was a photograph. The green eyes were brilliant and full of life. This was a portrait made by someone who loved the subject, and he felt it.

"If you stare at that too long, young man, you'll burn a hole through it!" Michiyo chastised, laughing. Kakashi hastily rolled up the scroll again, embarrassed.

"Ahahaha...you young ones always amuse me so much." Michiyo said. "Now, don't be so lazy and make us some tea..."

* * *

By the time Michiyo was done telling him stories about his father, it was past three hours when Kakashi was due to return to Sakura.

The clinic was dark and quiet when he arrived. Kakashi slipped noiselessly inside, shutting the door behind him. On the desk were a scattering of papers, a pencil. Sakura's white doctor's coat was already hung up on the coat rack. As for the doctor herself, she was lying down on one side of the clinic's only bed, still wearing her jounin uniform. Upon closer inspection, he saw that she was lying next to Jin, with her one arm hugging the boy close to her.

As if she sensed his eyes on her, she took in a sharp breath and shifted. Green eyes opened to meet gray.

"Oh, you're here." she muttered sleepily. "What took you so long?"

He shrugged. "Michiyo-baachan." he said as way of explanation.

She chuckled. "I see." She glanced down at Jin, who was still fast asleep. "Poor thing. He came over crying. I think he knows what his grandmother's up to."

"Ahh." Sakura curled up her legs to make room for him to sit on the bed. He sat down, suddenly feeling a little strange about how domestic the atmosphere felt, like Sakura was his wife and Jin his child, waiting for him to come home after a mission. What a strange thought.

She closed her eyes again. "Sorry for delaying our mission."

"It's alright." Kakashi said. "Sakura..."

"Yes?"

"Michiyo-baachan won't...she won't do it right now, won't she?"

She opened her eyes again and stared into the darkness. "Maybe in a few days. She's ready and made all the arrangements for Jin. I already gave her instructions on how to use it."

Kakashi studied Sakura's profile, her face hidden by her hair. He prided himself on being a private man, but it occurred to him now how far Sakura had drifted from his daily consciousness, and how she had let him. Peacetime had afforded them more freedom to do as they will and her choice of career meant that he saw less and less of her. Despite the silliness of the previous day, he was glad for it, if only it meant that he was able to touch base with Sakura again. But now he saw that she had a life totally separate from him and Team 7, and that she had her own responsibilities now, like River Colony, and Jin, and the people in it. Her heartaches were private and her own, and he felt a prick of conscience for not being there for her.

"I'm sorry for the trouble." Kakashi said, and he meant it.

"Not at all. I've said my goodbye to her...it'd be too hard for me to see her again." her arms instinctively tightened around Jin. "I guess I am a coward that way."

"That's not true."

She shifted her eyes towards him. "It was supposed to be a birthday gift, not a wedding gift, you know."

He laughed softly. "Well, I was never too big on birthday gifts in the first place." As he said it, he touched over his left eye, covered by his hitai-ate. "But thank you. I really appreciate it." Beyond the painting, it was good to have been able to talk to someone who had known his father, even for a little while.

She smiled. "It's no problem. I would've liked to have acquired it under better circumstances, but I'm glad you liked it." She stirred and hopped off the bed, gathering Jin in her arms. "Well, I better drop this kid off. Michiyo-baachan should be asleep by now. Then we can go."

He meant to tell her about the other painting. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura had already exited the room. He remembered Michiyo-baachan's instructions to him.

_Why don't you hold on that picture until you two reach the end of your destination, hmm? I think it would make for a good parting gift. _

He didn't really see the point, but he didn't see the point not to follow it, either.

He followed Sakura outside. "Hey Sakura," he called lazily. "I made another haiku, want to hear it?"

"NO!"

* * *

**A/N**: A break in silliness! Nooo! But there had to be a quiet moment somewhere, right?

Just sharing: I really like the idea of Kakashi's mother being a civilian. There are sooo many super-powered amazing kunoichi out there, but having a legend like Sakumo Hatake fall in love with someone "ordinary" would be a really interesting story, don't you think? It'd also tie Kakashi's love for Konoha a little deeper...because he loves its people too, because his mother was one of them. I am blabbing. Blab blab blab.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you leave a review. I'm trying to get a hang of replying to them (I'm shy), but I will do my best.


	4. Fools Rush In

So far Sakura had found out the following about Meiko Kazahana:

- Her favorite dessert was the hanabiramochi  
- She was skilled in calligraphy

That was it. Trying to get more information from Kakashi was like pulling teeth from a toothless man: difficult and pointless. One would think that having known him forever would make it easier for the copy nin to open up to her. For the most part, as Sakura was finding out, the opposite was true. It didn't seem like Kakashi was particularly ashamed to be in an arranged marriage, and he didn't seem to dislike the idea of marrying Meiko Kazahana...but if she was to compare his attitude to when he set out a mission, it was akin to him being handed a D-class mission during their genin days. He had this air of, "It must be done," and really, that was what bothered Sakura about this whole thing. And this whole thing bothered her, as a whole.

Kakashi had also been a little more quiet than usual after leaving River Colony. He seemed genuinely pleased with the painting, but maybe the circumstances of how it was acquired dampened the mood. However, it wasn't like Sakura didn't understand. She would've given anything to have acquired his parents' painting under different circumstances. She would definitely stop by River Colony on the way back, after the wedding was done.

Their few days' journey on foot was nearing the end. Kakashi informed her that they were expecting a welcoming committee from Spring to rendezvous with them in a town called Hanazaki. Sakura had never been to this town before, but then again it had been a while since their mission to the place that was known as Yukigakure. However, she understood that Spring was swiftly becoming an economic powerhouse, with its improved climate and technological advances. The other countries were starting to pay attention to its increasing influence, and Konoha was making a big statement with this wedding.

You wouldn't know it with how bored Kakashi was looking right now.

"So, what kind of welcome committee are we expecting?" Sakura asked as they strolled down Hanazaki's streets. She tried not to act too much of a tourist, and she liked to think that she'd seen a lot of the world since becoming a shinobi, but Hanazaki was amazing. She didn't know where to look. There were shops and cafes everywhere, and the streets were paved with the prettiest burnt-red cobblestones, lined with flowers. Smartly-dressed women strolled along, speaking softly as children ran past, laughing.

He shrugged lazily. "Someone," he said vaguely.

Sakura stopped hard in her tracks. "Kakashi," she began testily, causing the older man to stop as well. "I've had it up to here," she held a hand up to her forehead, brow creasing, "with your attitude. If you don't quit it, I'm ditching you right here, right now."

Kakashi paused and looked at her. She thought he'd be a little more alarmed, seeing as how violently he was against her leaving him before they left Konoha. But now he just completely at ease with his surroundings and her threat. "Are you sure about that, Sakura? It's such a fine day today, and Meiko-san told me that we're welcome to visit all the shops and try all the cafes, absolutely free."

Damn it.

"There's even a place that only sells pickled goods like umeboshi...bamboo shoots...radishes...but surely you're not interested in stuff like that, right?" The infuriating man absentmindedly scratched his head, gaze wandering elsewhere. "Oh well! You seem to be dead-set on leaving me. I guess I'll go shopping for shoes or something."

_Thirty minutes later: _

"I hate you," Sakura grumbled, her mouth full of rice and umeboshi as Kakashi smiled at her from across the table.

"You're welcome,"he replied, one gray eye already scanning the premises. It was something that Sakura had gotten used to-Kakashi's habit of checking for the nearest exit points in anywhere they were. It used to be really annoying when she was younger, but Sakura knew better now. That's just how he was, sometimes. In fact she should take pointers from him, she was too relaxed these days.

"So you mind telling me about this welcome committee? Anyone I should know about?"

Kakashi sighed heavily, as if her questioning actually caused him physical pain. "Did you know that you've been interrogating me for nearly a whole week now? It's like you were possessed with the ghost of Naruto's persistence."

"Stop changing the subject!" Sakura pointed her chopsticks at him, trying to muster up the annoyance she felt towards him earlier and miserably failing. She really couldn't be angry at Kakashi for so long, as she couldn't be angry for too long at Naruto or Sai. It was a particular weakness that she wished she didn't have right now. "You know I'm here on an official basis, and you should never ever keep a teammate in the dark about important details like this!"

"That's not true," Kakashi countered. "I keep you guys in the dark all the time. Famous ninja like me, wasting my time on little squirts like you. I usually carried out B-rank and A-rank missions in addition to our Team 7 D-rank missions you know, without you guys even knowing."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. "Wh-what?"

"Yeah," Kakashi shrugged. "Whenever you guys retrieved cats or mowed lawns, I was doing something else, and you never noticed." He said this a little too smugly, and Sakura really, really wanted to punch him again.

"That's unbelievable!"

"So I've heard." He went back to looking disinterested again.

"That mission where we got rid of possums in the Hyuga compound?" Sakura asked, disbelieving.

"I was rescuing kidnapped children."

"And when we gathering flowers for the Yamanakas?"

"Taking out a dangerous terrorist." Kakashi shrugged, like it was no big deal.

"When we were tutoring students at the academy?!" Sakura's face was steadily becoming redder than her hair now.

"Preventing an assassination attempt on an important businessman," Kakashi almost sounded like he wanted to laugh now. "What?" he feigned innocence at Sakura's scandalized expression. "It was efficient, and a better way to utilize a man of my skill," he said honestly, in that infuriating Kakashi way of saying things that sounded like he was bragging, but he wasn't really bragging at all.

"But you were supposed to be looking out for us!" Sakura sputtered, waving her chopsticks wildly in the air. "I mean, they were D-rank missions, sure! But you were responsible for us!" Privately though, she always wondered how Kakashi could have withstood all those excruciatingly boring missions when they were genin, and now she had her answer. She would've jumped at the chance to do something else, if she were in his shoes. But she wasn't going to admit that right now! She had her self-righteousness to cling to!

"Aaa...really?" Kakashi looked unimpressed, resting his head in one hand and blinking lazily. "But possums don't have rabies..."

"That's not the point!" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Then, please do give me the point of this conversation."

He got her there. Sakura blinked at him, suddenly realizing that he had successfully confused her in missing the point altogether. Insufferable man. To make up for her embarrassment, she swallowed an umeboshi and glared at him.

Kakashi sighed and straightened up. "Actually, this won't do at all," he said, gesturing towards her vaguely, as if he was shooing a wayward fly.

"What won't?" she asked, still chewing.

"Your clothes?"

"Why the HELL not?" her patience was really wearing thin now. Embarrassment did that to her sometimes.

"Because the welcome committee is a high-ranking shinobi...well, WAS a high-ranking shinobi of Yukigakure and he's arriving in oh, in ten minutes." Kakashi filched an umeboshi from Sakura's plate and popped it in his mouth. "And you know Tsunade-sama gave you explicit orders to represent her in the best way possible, and..."

"WHAT?!" Sakura stood up so suddenly that she hit the table and made it wobble dangerously, drawing stares from the customers. She looked around in alarm. Ten minutes?! She was going to KILL Kakashi! But the jounin was still looking at her like it was no big deal, taking another umeboshi from her plate. No, it definitely wouldn't do to meet the welcoming committee looking like...well, looking like herself!

She grabbed her bag from the floor and hurried to the restrooms, slamming the door behind her loudly to displace some of her anger at being told so late about such important information. Damn Kakashi! She shucked off her clothes with a quickness, climbing out of her usual red top and apron skirt and stuffing them randomly in some pocket of her bag. Still burning with annoyance, Sakura mussed up her hair and stared at her reflection in the cold light of the restroom.

_I look tired_, she thought, green eyes staring back at herself. She couldn't believe she actually convinced herself that this mission would be fun, a way to catch up with Kakashi and all. But after River Colony (which was a whole can of worms she was not even ready to think about), Kakashi had been evasive and aggravating every step of the way, and for all the years she'd known him, she felt a little niggle of _something-not-being-right-is_ about the whole situation. Tsunade-sama had drilled into her the importance of this political union, and Sakura understood, and Kakashi seemed quite alright with all the arrangements, but still...

Kakashi seemed...sad, somehow.

But then again, Kakashi always seemed sad, now that she knew him and his history better.

Shaking herself from the path her thoughts threatened to go, Sakura turned sideways to study her reflection in the mirror. So thin and so pale, she thought with a sigh. All her hard-won muscles seemed to have withered away with the increased peace between the countries and her focus on her medical career. She did train, quite regularly, but it was not quite the same as being out on missions. She felt guilty that she even yearned for missions, which were not always savory, or nice, or even moral, but she was still after all, a shinobi. And shinobi usually didn't look pale and wan like this. Maybe she'd ask Tsunade-sama for a B-rank mission once she returned to Konoha. Something with Sai and Naruto and Yamato-taichou. That might do the trick.

Cheered by this thought, Sakura carefully brought out her ceremonial kimono, made especially for occasions that Kakashi had so _thoughtfully _failed to inform her on time for. Her unofficial position as the Hokage's apprentice and proxy was unprecedented and had no actual rules, but for the most part was accepted unquestioningly by both Konoha's citizens and even their elders. Tsunade-sama had been quite busy with rebuilding Konoha back to its former glory, and then some, and she needed all the help she could get.

She touched the kimono gently. It was made out of the finest silk, adorned in the Hokage's colors of red and white. Instead of the geometric patterns and loud prints that usually came with the Hokage's ceremonial clothes, this kimono's print were of softer lines of leaves falling down. Sakura loved it. She remembered first getting this and just staring at it for hours on end like a crazy person. Chuckling at the memory, she set it aside as she put on her white undergarments. Unfolding the kimono, she slipped the precious thing through her arms, pulling gently to ensure that the everything fell into the right places. With one quick movement she tied around the himo tightly around her waist. The obi followed, a spring-green one that matched her eyes and was a break from the red pattern of the kimono. Measuring and pulling, she arranged her obi to close around her into a neat bow, which she adjusted to rest at her back. Satisfied with her work, she slipped off her sandals to step into the more traditional geta to finish off the look.

She sighed and tried to feel brave. She can do this! She's met dignitaries before! "Alright, Sakura," she whispered to herself with determination. "Let's do this!"

"Alright, Kakashi!" she called out loudly as she exited...only to be surprised by the tap of knuckles on her famously-wide forehead.

She froze on the spot. "What...the...hell..."

Kakashi seemed equally surprised, his other hand holding his Icha Icha as he knocked on Sakura's forehead with the other. "Oh, Sakura," he said casually, without any sense of embarrassment at all. "What took you so long? I was wondering if you got flushed in the toilet!"

She wondered if she would get into jail punching through the masked face of Yukigakure's future prince. Jail seemed worth it. She was actually clenching her fist when Kakashi suddenly said,

"You look beautiful, by the way."

_Wait, what?_

Kakashi reached out and gathered her pink hair, holding it up against the back of her head with gentle fingers. "Maybe putting your hair up like this would look better, I would think." he murmured.

She felt heat flooding her cheeks at the unexpected compliment. _What what what_, her brain suddenly went stupidly as she stared at him uncomprehendingly. Maybe it was the way he said it, or just the mere fact that Kakashi just didn't dole out compliments, if at all, that had an effect on her. Yeah, that was it.

She swatted his hand away, annoyed all over again. "Thanks for the fashion advice, Kakashi, but you have no right rushing me and then telling me what to do with my hair okay?" Honestly, if he had given her a heads-up on how high-level their welcome committee was, she wouldn't in be this dumb situation. She brushed past him in a huff.

"Well, it's not like it was a big deal anyway," he called after her. "He won't change his mind about me."

She turned around to look at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Before Kakashi could even open his mouth to reply, a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass filled the air, punctuated with surprised shouts from the other customers in the restaurant, startling Sakura.

"KAKASHI! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN, YOU COWARDLY DOG!" A thunderous voice called out as people began to run out of the cafe. A man was silhouetted against the daylight at the entrance, and squint as she might, Sakura could barely make out his face.

Kakashi snapped his Icha Icha shut and stowed it away, a grim look on this face. He ran up to Sakura and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura," he said seriously. "Whatever happens, do NOT engage this man. Just leave him to me."

"Just what the heck is going on?!" Sakura demanded, but Kakashi had already bounded outside the window, the mysterious man in hot pursuit. _Goddammit!_ She realized belatedly that getting her into the precious kimono was part of Kakashi's ploy all along. He knew this man would be coming, and the kimono would force her to stay put.

Stay put!? Like hell she would!

Kunai in both hands, Sakura hurried outside, drawn by the sounds of fighting. What had been well-ordered streets and peaceful small town sights had been wrecked into havoc and chaos. Fruit stalls were overturned, sending random produce scattered on the pavement. Several more stalls lay smashed, destroyed by chakra-fueled jumps. Burn marks stained the walls, the sign of fire jutsus. Sakura's mind worked furiously to make sense of the information she was presented. Whoever Kakashi's attacker was was a talented shinobi, and although she saw no sign of casualties, he obviously had no compunction in destroying property.

She ran up to where she spotted Kakashi in heated battle against the unknown attacker. The copy nin was deflecting blows with his hands and one kunai, his preferred weapon. His sharingan, curiously enough, remained unexposed. Upon closer inspection she noted that Kakashi was on full-on defense mode, as his attacker pressed on offensive. Whether how long he would hold out like this, she didn't know, but she didn't want to wait to find out.

She sent several kunai flying aimed for the attacker. The man turned mid-air and deflected them, giving Kakashi enough time to jump away from a well-aimed kick to his head. The weapons flew back to her feet as Sakura launched herself into the air. She still didn't know what the heck was going on, but she was going to find out.

A pair of strong arms suddenly went around her as she and Kakashi suddenly went into a flying detour back to earth. "Sakura!" Kakashi angry voice filled her ears. "I told you not to get involved!"

They landed with a hard thump back into the soft grass, Kakashi's chakra-fuelled palm taking most of the force. His Sharingan was exposed at last as he glared down at her, tomoes swirling in that one red eye.

She glared right back at him, not willing to back down quite yet. "Just what the hell is going on, Kakashi!" She was torn between concern and hitting him herself, so angry that he was keeping her in the dark.

He didn't have time to respond as they both sensed the attacker approaching. A great fireball was thrown their way as they both jumped out of the way, Sakura throwing a large piece of pavement in the way to absorb most of the fire jutsu.

Both men met in another clash of fire and lightning, but she saw that once again, Kakashi didn't put up an offense. If he kept this up, it wouldn't end too well. He was talented, but not putting up an offense could only hold out for so long.

Then the worst happened.

Kakashi jerked in pain and doubled over mid-air, clutching his head in his hands. Sakura's heart flew up in her throat as the sudden vulnerability left him open to a chakra-fueled blow aimed straight to Kakashi's head.

Without even thinking about it, Sakura was suddenly in between them as she took the full force of the blow for Kakashi. There was no time for anywhere else. The world spun dizzily around her as the attacker's fist hit her squarely in the face, sending her flying. She caught the attacker's stunned eyes as he suddenly withdrew and then, to her shock, held out his hands to break her fall.

What the hell was going on?!

Her head reeling, she only managed to hold on for dear life as they landed on ground with a thud. Still uncomprehending of what was going on, Sakura looked around for Kakashi, who was already running up to her.

"Sakura-!" the jounin cried, concern etched in his voice. "You're going to pay for that, you fucking bastard!"

"I didn't-I-" The man stuttered. Sakura finally managed to gather her wits and look, really look, upon Kakashi's attacker.

The face of Sasuke Uchiha gazed down back at her.

* * *

A wild Sasuke appears! But not everything is what it seems! OoooOooh..

I'm sorry for the late updates -_-; I really have no excuse other than IRL being the way it is: all-consuming. I've had to recalibrate the story quite a lot, in my head, but I hope to have a steadier uploading rate. In any case, I hope you enjoyed and please do leave a review! *throws Valentine's chocolates at readers*


	5. Bride and Prejudice

**Bride and Prejudice**

Sakura dreamt about the night Sasuke left.

It was a dream she often had. It started, oddly enough, with her waking within the dream, in her one bedroom apartment in Konoha. Despite her relative mastery in genjutsu, Sakura almost always mistook the dream for reality, all logic forgotten as she ran down familar/unfamilar streets in a place that largely resembled her village. She would be filled with a sense of dread and urgency as she instinctively knew what to do.

The streets would be quiet save for the sound of her footsteps on the pavement, her own quick beating heart. Sakura ran and ran, in near tears, desperate to find Sasuke and stop him from what she suspected he would do. She had watched him for so many years now-from childhood until they were grouped together in Team Seven, and had known the subtle changes in his moods, what they meant. She didn't tell anyone, and not everyone could tell, but Sasuke had changed drastically after Orochimaru's assault on him. He had tried and struggled against the darkness that threatened enveloped him, but she knew, deep down, that it was only a matter of time before Sasuke gave in.

So she ran.

Finally, she reached an intersection and she paused, unsure of where to go, hating herself for her indecision. As she turned this way and that, a familiar figure caught her eye, silhouetted against the dull orange street lights. She tried to shout out a name but at the last minute, she had forgotten who she was looking for, and she had lost her voice.

She picked up her feet and began to run again. The figure remained very very still, and it seemed an eternity before she could reach him. But as Sakura stretched out her hands to touch him, this elusive figure, his name on the tip of her tongue when...

The sound of a door closing jolted her awake.

She sat up in a shot, but found that she was alone. The sound of the door closing seemed to ring in her ears as she took in the room around her. She was no longer wearing her kimono, she noted, as she saw that it was folded neatly on a nearby chair. No sign of Kakashi being in the room recently.

She tried to recall the events that took place earlier in the day, if it was still the same day. Sakura's head felt clogged, like full of thick soup, exacerbated by the dream that she just had. Remembering the dream jolted her into realizing about the person whose face she saw before she got knocked out.

Sasuke?

She stood up from bed and quickly located a robe to pull around herself. If she moved quick enough, maybe she could catch up with whoever just left the room moments before. She practically shoved her feet through her paper-thin hospital slippers in her eagerness to get a move on.

She slid the door open and glanced out. The hallway, white and pristine, was completely deserted. Sakura could hear out faint murmurs but just barely. Other doors lined up the hallway, and it was clear that she was in a hospital, but it was very strange to be in a wing that was so devoid of activity.

A moving shadow that disappeared around the corner caught her eye. As she walked quickly down the hall to follow where the shadow went, Sakura tried to rearrange her thoughts. Was it possible that she really saw Sasuke before she blacked out?

Against her will, she felt a twinge of pain at the memory of Sasuke. They had...not parted well.

It was a little over a year following the war when Sasuke had left Konoha. Sakura, along with everyone else, had expected him to stay on longer to help with rebuilding the village and healing the hurts that he was also largely to blame for. As a matter of course, Sasuke was also to be tried as a criminal, and that wasn't something Sakura could do anything about. She could not deny that he was guilty of many crimes, no more than she could deny that the sky was blue. However, she promised to herself that she would help him see it through, although he never truly went out of his way to extract that promise out of her.

But something had bothered Sasuke in the last few days since she last saw him. It had, in a way, mirrored his departure when he first left. It was strange how quickly she slipped back into being so attuned to what Sasuke was feeling, if not attuned to what he was actually thinking. She had once or twice attempted to talk to Sasuke, but had been rebuffed in all instances. She thought she had more time to try and repair what had been damaged by time and circumstance, but Sasuke didn't give her the opportunity even for that, suddenly disappearing into the night as he did, all those years ago.

Tsunade-sama didn't even give her an explanation, not even when Sakura had nicely ask. "Let him go, Sakura," her mentor intoned, with a look that brooked no argument. The Hokage did apologize, though, saying that she had no hand in Sasuke's disappearance, that it was a self-imposed exile of sorts. Tsunade could tell her no more, no less. And just like that, Sasuke was out of her life.

Until now, it seemed.

Sakura paused, trying to fight the urge to tiptoe. The place was too damned quiet and she had the ridiculous feeling that she should be as quiet as possible, herself. Where was she anyway? She looked around hopefully, as if willing the blank white walls of the hospital to give her any clue. But they were all clean and pristine, devoid of any identifying markers, indeed, of any markers at all. Sakura was beginning to think that she was still in a dream when suddenly-

"You."

An authoritative voice reverberated down the empty hallway, filling Sakura's ears. The kunoichi swivelled on one heel to locate where the voice came from. At the far end of the hallway, a woman stood, tall and imposing despite the distance. She beckoned to Sakura.

Sakura did a double take and looked around her before pointing to herself. "Eh? Are you talking to me?"

"You," the woman repeated, her expression unchanging. "You're a doctor, aren't you?"

"Medic-nin," Sakura clarified, not that there was any significant difference, when one thought about it.

The woman nodded. "Alright. Come on here, I need your help." Without another word, she turned around to go, already expecting Sakura to follow. For some reason or another, Sakura found herself following the woman. Something about the woman's attitude reminded her of Tsunade-sama. In any case, her gut feeling told her that this was not someone to be trifled with.

Sakura jogged the rest of way to catch up with the stranger. The woman maintained her pace, brown hair tied up in a tight ponytail-the preferred hairstyle of many women doctors-swishing behind her as she went. Sakura saw that the other woman was a bit older than her, slightly taller, with a golden complexion and a proud tilt to her chin.

Finally she caught pace with the mysterious doctor as they approached the swinging doors of what seemed to be the operating room. The woman pushed through and Sakura followed. She made a move towards the sinks to sterilize her hands, assuming that this what she was brought here for, when the woman shook her head.

"No need for that, Haruno-san. I brought you here for a procedure that requires a different sort of specialization altogether."

As she spoke, Sakura soon saw what the woman was referring to. On the operating table, another young woman strained against bindings on his limbs, moaning in pain. Sakura gave a quick cursory look at the patient and her vital signs, care of the nurse who handed her the patient's stats. "She just came in," the nurse helpfully supplied as Sakura laid one palm flat on his chest, feeling out the damage within.

"Can you do something, Haruno-san?" the brown-haired woman asked calmly, watching her with careful dark eyes. "Or are you too tired?"

"I'm fine," Sakura replied, and she meant it. "Please everyone, give me some space." The woman nodded, and the nurses quickly acquiesced to Sakura's request. Closing her eyes, Sakura delved deeper into the patient's system with her chakra, felt that the poison had clogged up important chakra pathways which affected the physical pathways to internal organs. She'd be dead in a few hours without the proper intervention. Under normal circumstances, Sakura would have had said no, this situation was too weird, how'd she end up here anyway, she was just trying to figure out where everywhere went. But in this case, where it was a matter of life or death, everything else took second priority. All questions melted away in that instance. It was a feeling she was familiar to, even following the war. Right here, right now, all there is was the work.

And work she did, all thoughts of Sasuke and Kakashi and Kakashi's upcoming nuptials fled from her mind as she concentrated on the task at hand. From the first feel of the poison coursing through the woman's veins she had sensed that this poison specifically targeted both internal organs and chakra pathways as well, a method of poison that was becoming more popular, for the lack of a better term. One learned quickly that preferred poisons tended to follow a trend, and this was the latest one, favored due to its efficacy and the lack of any really well-trained medic-nin who were familiar with it. Fortunately for this young woman, Sakura happened to be one of the really well-trained medic-nin who knew how to handle these kinds of poisons.

The poison hadn't spread out far in the patient's system, so she gathered her chakra to draw out the rivulets from her bloodstream. Concentrating harder, Sakura drew up her hands over the patient's chest, hovering over it. She felt a nurse's hand wiping away the sweat that began to bead all over her forehead.

Something like relief and adrenaline pumped through her veins when she began to see the droplets of dark liquid slowly seep through the patient's skin. A basin was made ready as Sakura carefully manipulated the poison cleanly out of the skin. The more she extracted, the more she noted that the patient's pained expression lessened. No matter how long she's been doing, or how often, there was quite nothing like seeing the instantaneous effects of your efforts on your patient. Encouraged by this, Sakura let her chakra flow a little more strongly. This part of the extraction was always the trickiest, and if one slacked off, the most dangerous for the patient. It was the point of no return. With a flick of her wrist, Sakura managed to get the last of the poison out, placing the last of the potent liquid in the basin.

When the task was finally done, Sakura stepped back and allowed herself a huge sigh of relief. The world around her brightened again, as she looked around. She finally located the brown-haired woman that she encountered at the hallway, and the woman was clapping politely.

"Beautiful, Haruno-san," the woman said as she approached. "That was like watching a pianist play a concerto. Not that I expected anything less from Tsunade's protégé."

Something about the whole scenario, the woman's air of authority, the deferential treatment of the other nurses, finally clued Sakura in, like a missing puzzle piece clicking in her mind. She turned around slowly and tried not to show her panic. "Oh god, please don't tell me you're Meiko Kazahana," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

In her defense, the brown-haired woman looked truly apologetic. "I really hate to break it to you-"

Sakura slapped one hand on her face, wincing as she did so. "Oh my god. Please tell me I'm still unconscious and that I'm in a nightmare. PLEASE." Tsunade was definitely, definitely going to kill her. This was so not on! She had envisioned a graceful, lovely introduction to Meiko, as diplomatic missions should be. Not like this,

"Actually…." The brown-haired woman pointed to something behind Sakura. "I am not, Haruno-san. The girl you just saved…is Meiko-sama."

_Say what now? _

Like something out of a comedy film, Sakura did a double take before swivelling slowly to face the patient whose life she just saved moments ago. The auburn-haired woman slowly sat up, aided by nurses, a weak smile breaking out across her features.

"Nice to meet you, Haruno-san," Meiko Kazahana greeted as another blanket was draped on her fair shoulders.

Sakura gulped. "Nice to meet you, Meiko-san," she somehow managed to say.

_I saw her boobs. Before Kakashi! _

_I think!_

She knocked herself on her head, wincing as she did so. _What the hell? Get yourself together, Haruno!_

"Everything alright, Haruno-san?" the brown-haired woman behind her asked.

"Please excuse my assistant, Sakura-san," Meiko said softly as she sat up straighter. "She was getting a bit nervous, so she was a little abrupt with you."

"Yes, of course," Sakura found herself answering but what she really meant was _what the hell was going on?_ Her mind still whirling, she couldn't help but ask, "Was this a recent attack on you, Meiko-san?"

"What?" Meiko asked, confusion on her face.

"What?" Sakura echoed, mirroring the exact same look on Meiko's face. She was in a world that didn't make sense. Maybe Obito won out after all, and she was living out the rest of her life in his alternative universe bizarro-world. She shook her head and frowned. Diplomacy be damned. She didn't want to be kept in the dark anymore. "Meiko-san….what exactly is going on here?" Sakura asked, in a tone

"Oh!" If Meiko showed any semblance of embarrassment at Sakura's confusion, she didn't show it. Instead, the heiress hopped off the bed, smiling sunnily. She was almost Sakura's height, and if not for the obvious deference given to her by the people surrounding her and the knowing look in her eye, would've passed for someone much younger. "I'm sorry for causing you distress, Sakura-chan. I know yesterday's events must not have been easy on you, compounded by the experiment today."

"Experiment?" Sakura shook her head, trying to catch up. "What experiment?"

"Why, me, of course." Meiko pointed to herself. "I was trying out the efficacy of this antidote but it didn't work out. Good thing you woke up just in time."

Sakura could only gape dumbly at her. Meiko's assistant rubbed her own forehead, looking pained. "Yeah, she does that a lot," she whispered underhandedly to the kunoichi.

"Well then!" Meiko clapped her hands. "I'll explain more later perhaps, hmm? Lira-chan," she sang to her assistant. "Will you be a darling and help Sakura-chan find normal clothes?"

"Of course, Meiko-sama."

"Then after that, maybe follow us at the gardens? My fiancé is waiting for me," Meiko said, and with Sakura's ears perked up at the mention of Kakashi. She felt Lira's hand already guiding her away from the room when Sakura stiffened her back and refused to budge.

"Kakashi is here?" She asked Meiko, wondering if he knew about his bride's unusual penchant for making herself a human guinea pig.

"Yes," Meiko replied calmly as she began braiding her hair. She saw the look on Sakura's eyes and smiled again. Sakura was beginning to think that Meiko smiled a little too much. It was a bit disconcerting, for someone who was quite willing to gamble her life on a curiosity. Sakura still didn't know what to think. "Oh, he wasn't here for me, of course. He doesn't even know I'm here. It's a secret between us girls, hmm?" Meiko tapped one side of her nose, winking. "He was here for you, waiting for word on your recovery. He's going to be very happy to see you out and about!"

And then Meiko was gone before Sakura could ask anything else.

She allowed herself to be led out of the room finally and to a dressing room where Sakura put on her normal uniform, already freshly laundered. She tried to initiate some sort of small talk with Lira, to find more about Sasuke and Kakashi, but Meiko's assistant remained stubbornly silent.

Eventually, Lira led her out through a series of hallways that led out to a sprawling garden. Sakura had to fight hard against gaping, forgetting her questions for a moment as she took in the scenery surrounding her. Wind blew towards her, making her pink locks flutter all around her, filled with a rosy scent. No wonder, as the garden was lined with rose bushes, thick with blossoming pink blooms. Tall, well-manicured chestnut trees provided shade to the various chairs and tables peopled with recovering patients. Everything was quiet and soft, even the sunlight and the little children who were running around barefoot. It was a dream. In a world where all nations were still struggling to get back on its feet from the war, Sakura could never have imagined a place like this existing.

Her amazement at her surroundings was broken at the sound of Meiko's voice calling her over. Snapping out of it, she shifted her gaze from the landscape towards a particular table on a raised dais. Meiko, now dressed in a white dress, was waving to her. Sakura waved back politely. She recognized Kakashi sitting opposite the Yukigakure heiress.

"Sakura-chan! Come, have tea with us!" Meiko invited, gesturing towards the food laid out on the table in between her and Kakashi. Upon even closer inspection, Kakashi himself was drinking tea from a dainty, hand-painted cup, like he was the Queen of the Five Countries himself. It wasn't even fazing her anymore—she'd begun to accept the fact that she had indeed woken up in bizarro world; but the sight of Kakashi drinking tea daintily infuriated her. She hated that he left her in the dark, in the mercy of these strangers. _He's going to be queen of the wrong side of my fist after I'm through with him_, Sakura fumed to herself as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Ah! Darling, see who's here!" Meiko's sunny voice broke through her decidedly dark thoughts. Kakashi lazily quirked one eyebrow at her; with his trademark lazy slouch, a rich spread of cakes and sandwiches in front of him, Sakura was hard-pressed to believe that he'd been as worried as Meiko had claimed. Nevertheless, she forced herself to stretch a smile across her face.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, raising one hand in greeting. "How are you feeling?"

"Super, thanks." Sakura was pretty sure she'd never had this big of a shit-eating grin since she punched Sai on the first days of their acquaintance. All thoughts of being curious of how Kakashi and Meiko interacted with each other disappeared when she saw how relaxed he looked.

Sakura clasped her hands behind her. "Kakashi," she said with a sweetness that implied that an axe murderer was hiding in the bushes behind him. "I hate to interrupt this lovely reunion, but may I have a moment with you please?"

Kakashi knew her all too well. He faked a big yawn and stretched his arms out. "Oh, I don't know Sakura, it's really nice out here, you know? Relax and—OW OW!"

She couldn't take another word and had gone on ahead and pinched his ear, dragging him along. "Excuse me, Meiko-san," she said politely as she pulled Kakashi along, who was whimpering pitifully.

She found the nearest room—which turned out to be a janitor's closet but never mind that—and slammed the door shut behind her. She swiped at the light switch with one impatient hand, whirled on Kakashi and poked an index finger on his chest as she advanced nearer to him.

"Kakashi. What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On!?"

Unbelievably, Kakashi opted to maintain his charade. He scratched his head, having at least the smallest grace to look embarrassed. "I'm not quite sure what you're talking about Sakura," he said, chuckling weakly.

Ever since this mission started, Sakura had always threatened some sort of angry outburst or even a well-earned punch or two on Kakashi's smug mug. But she never did it, because no matter how infuriating Kakashi was, this was still _Kakashi_, her once-teacher and always-friend, her Regimental Commander, her war comrade. It would take ten lifetimes' worth of anger and frustration and worry for her to ever get as angry as she always threatened to be. But now he was really pushing it, and Sakura was fighting hard from tightening her fist and drawing back her arm to strike out at him.

Sakura liked to think that above anything else, Kakashi had learned to respect her and had begun to see her as an equal. His revelation about going to higher-ranked missions on the side while mentoring him was a funny story, yes, but it spoke volumes about how he had valued their opinions back then, when they were just genin. But Sakura had proven her mettle in the many battles and war they had fought together. She liked to think that she had at least earned his respect, enough for him to be straightforward with her and to explain to her everything that was going on.

She was fighting back tears when she replied: "In the past 24 hours, I've been hoodwinked into meeting a mysterious representative of your _bride_, which turned out to be _Sasuke_, who was acting _bizarre_ and wanted to _kill_ you, who hit me in the face _instead_, upon which I woke up in a strange _hospital_, where I was summoned to save your _fiancé_, who turned out to be turning herself into a human guinea pig for _experiments _and I had to _save _her!" She was breathing heavily now, raging. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, no, I think you've covered it," Kakashi reassured her, nonplussed. His one exposed eye softened with concern. "I'll explain it to you…later. I promise, Sakura. But…we're not exactly alone here."

"What do you mean…?" But the answer made itself known in the form of Uchiha Sasuke, who abruptly opened the janitor closet door and shoved himself in.

"Sakura. Sensei." The Uchiha greeted, deadpan, totally the opposite of what he was yesterday, which meant—back to normal Sasuke. "What are you two doing here?"

* * *

I know….ending with another Sasuke teasing. But more answers to the questions in the next chapter plsdon'tkillme. Also I'm sorry this was late...life stuff happened DOH.


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Naruto, Humor, Romance