Naruto 1. First Meeting

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story. What happens when Sakura (9-years old) finds a bloody and battered Kakashi in the forest? And how will she react when they meet again, years later? **

**I hope you'll enjoy my (first!) story, and find the time to review. Inner Sakura is quite mature in here, kind of already grown up but helping the still young Sakura on her way… xD**

**Enough with my ranting, onwards with the story!**

Little Haruno Sakura, 8 years old, had always had an affinity with chakra. Of course, she hadn't always known it to be named chakra, or its incredible usefulness. No, she'd always thought it to be some sort of magic, her own little secret, and had never told anyone about what she was able to do with it, not even her parents. Upon entering the ninja-academy, she'd found out everyone knew about it, had it, was able to use it, and she'd been sort of sad. But she was still capable of understanding, using and inventing practical ways to use it for, way better than most of her classmates. It came to her almost as if solely by instinct. And of course, it was all instincts, at least in her pre-academy days. While attending the academy, she had learned to control it on command, but it felt as though her chakra was her friend, helper, ally and companion. It was around that time that 'Inner Sakura' made it's first appearance, and she couldn't help but feel a slight connection between the two…

Her chakra control was nearly perfect to begin with, so she started practising other jutsu forms as well. Genjutsu was easy, as is was almost solely based on chakra, but taijutsu was just plain HELL. She had basically _no_ stamina, at all. Rather than doing (one-handed) push-ups, or running 500 laps around the village on her hands (just thinking about that Rock Lee dude made her shudder), she decided to put her focus on weaponry. Her teacher at the Academy, Umino Iruka, had began giving them kunai- and shurikenpractice, and she fared resonably well. Though she couldn't help but find them a bit… blunt… somehow. She couldn't quite place the feeling at first, but when she walked past _Kanketsu_ one day, Konoha's finest shop for Ninja Weaponry (specialised in Senbon), she spotted something slinsering in the corner of the window. Drawn to it as if by some higher force, she walked into the shop, while keeping her eyes locked onto the shiny object, as though in a trance. Displayed were some of the finest senbon(-needles) she'd ever seen in her life, their quality could almost be seen radiating from them. It was as if something clicked inside her brain, thery were perfect! Thin and elegant, yet deadly when used right, and highly functional! Of course there was no _way_ she'd be able to buy these, but there were other options! A plan started forming in her mind, and almost embarrassed at the simplicity of it, she quickly exited the shop and stalked off, homebound.

0o0

Upon arriving at her home, a pink-banged girl kicked off her shoes, but then (remembering her mothers last reprimand), went back and placed them neatly in the closet nearby the door. 'Tadaima!' she exclaimed, then paused and listened carefully to the 'Okaeri, Sakura-chan!' that was bound to follow, to determine where her mother was located. It turned out to be in the kitchen. 'Ne, Okaa-san', Sakura started off, as she walked into said room, 'can you teach me how to embroider?'. Though her mother was taken aback a little by the sudden question, she agreed to teach her daughter the basics of emboidering. And while Sakura planned, at first, to only use it as a ruse to gain access to her mothers needles, she found embroidering turning out to be quite fun and relaxing. Killing two birds with one stone, she spent the next week (aside from eating, sleeping, school, homework and drooling over Sasuke-kun) spending almost every fee minute at her new-found hobby. Her mother, when convinced it wasn't a fleeting obsession for the girl, got Sakura her very own set of needles, so she wouldn't keep on borrowing her mothers needles when the aforementioned wanted to use them herself. Sakura, thrilled by this, went out and bought herself a needle-sharpener from her allowance, shooting down her parents concerns over this with the words: 'But I intend on using them very frequently, so they _will_ get dull…'

School came first for Sakura, of course, and doing homework second. Furthermore she spent quite a lot of her time (not so) secretly admiring and gathering information about Uchiha Sasuke, or 'Sasuke-kun', as she called him. He was a boy she'd met at school and who was positively "the cutest, hottest, coolest, smartest and best boy EVER!" Too bad he didn't really seemed interested in anything other than getting stronger, faster and better, and had only ever shown interest in the practical lessons of Iruka-sensei: Kunai- and shurikenpractise, and real combat situations/simulations. The latter weren't really Sakura's cup of tea, but the former she trained very hard on, hoping to receive some kind of acknowledgement from Sasuke-kun. And to out-do Ino-Pig, of course. Ino was the girl that got her out of her shell, and taught her not to be ashamed of her forehead. They were best friends for a while. Then Sakura found out Ino was also hopelessly in love with Sasuke-kun. That was when they broke up as friends, determined to out-do each other at anything and everything, including winning Sasuke's heart.

The last two activities Sakura spent time on were embroidering (whenever het mother watched het at home), and training with her needles (which she'd secretly dubbed 'senbon' in her head) in the forest. She'd also gained knowledge on how to attach strings of chakra to her 'senbon', and how to (slightly) change their direction with it, and that way is was also easier to collect them again after training. Even though she'd found out about this particular skill by accident, she quickly realised it's usefullness and practicality, and added 'learning how to attach chakra-strings to senbon' to her traininglist. She knew the radiation of her chakra would be a give-away to anyone passing her, and she'd thought of explaining it by saying it helped her guiding the threads through the fabric. Too see if it was true (in case someone would actually demand proof for some reason) she tried it a few times, and found out it was actually true! She then tried to manipulate them a little more than just through the fabric, and thus the new addition to her traininglist was born.

0o0

About ¾ of a year after she came across needles for the first time, Sakura'd managed to (almost) perfect the art of hitting any moving or non-moving object with her needles, though she still lacked the determination to hit actual humans with the intent to kill. Not that that hindered her, mind you. She'd rather wait a few more years with that. Neither did it hinder her that she could've perfectioned it in far less time, if she hadn't spent all that time ooh-ing and aah-ing over Sasuke-kun, trying to impress him. Perhaps it would've impressed him to've seen the skills she'd been training on, but that was her secret. She wasn't going to share that with anyone (yet), not even precious Sasuke-kun…

She trained alone, in the forest, and in secret, making sure she wasn't seen. And it somehow, somebody did happen to come by, passing through the remore part of the forest she was training in, she quickly hid all but one of her needles, and acted as though she'd been embroidering a cushion all along. She'd gotten quite well at the art of hiding evidence of her training. She was aware such a ruse couldn't hold up forever, if she stayed in one place too long people were bound discover her. The marks of her senbon on the surrounding area weren't the biggest deal, there were marks of ninja-weapons on almost every tree in the whole forest, yet she still switched locations a lot.

Sakura still liked embroidering, and, since training all the time (the time she didn't spend on school or swooning over Sasuke-kun) wasn't all that fun either, she still found herself embroidering for the relaxation of it. Plus, it gave her some solid evidence of the alibi she was forming for herself. For she couldn't just tell her mom she was training to use her needles as senbon, of course, so she told her parents she went into the forest to embroid in peace, that the forest relaxed her, and gave her inspiration. Her parents did believe her, however they (all but) demanded to see some of the work she'd been doing, they were quite curious. Another reason for Sakura to embroid cushions, handkerchiefs, little blankets, jackets and so on.

0o0

And thus she was, than one fatefull day, sitting high-up in a tree, ebroidering a cute little kitten on one of her friends white handkerchiefs. Hyuuga Hinata had found out about her friends new hobby, and had shyly asked if she could embroid a kitten for her on one of her handkerchiefs. Suddenly, Sakura heared rather than sensed someone approaching. Because of the above mentioned method of detecting his/her presence, 9-year old Sakura didn't sport very much concern for herself and her wellbeing, but it never hurt ot be cautious, so she kept the façade of not having spotted anyone. Waiting for him/herself to 'make their presence known.' She thought she'd braced herself for 'the worst', or 'anything', yet she certainly wasn't prepared for the sight that met her eyes when it exited the bushes, and ented the clearing. More like crashing down on it, he hardly seemed able to keep upright. What the cherry blossom saw was a grown-up man in ANBU-uniform, donning a white mask with almost wolf-like stripes adorning it, slits for eye-holes and not a single expression present on it. His posture and general physical appearance gave her the impression that he wasn't all that old, yet his gravity-defying silver hair threw her off a bit. All of these impressions were a tad warped, though, as this man not only seemed to be _soaked_ in blood, he also appeared to have quite some trouble keeping himself on his feet. The pink-banged girl, still clutching the handkerchief and a single needle in her small hands, sat frozen in her current tree. She'd heared about the illustrious ANBU-members, ninja's of the highest elite. They were to be taken seriously, even (or maybe especially?) when seemingly almost unable to walk, let alone fight.

The ANBU had finally noticed her, and had tilted his head upwards. He started to lift a hand up, but suddenly Sakura snapped. It was probably a combination of not quite knowing why he'd started raising his hand (greeting or a possible threat/attack?), and the fact that Inner Sakura had been screaming: _"ANBU EQUALS DANGER! RUUUUUUN!"._ Her stupor broken, Sakura focussed chakra to her fingertops almost instinctively, cutting the thread which connected her needle to the handkerchief. She then flung the needle towards the figure down below, whilst almost simultaniously jumping for cover in some bushes that adorned the edge of spoken clearing, carefull not to make any excess sounds.

The ANBU had found the strenght somewhere to sense the approaching senbon, and had managed to jump out of the way from it. The needle it a tree behind him, and stayed embedded in it. To Sakura's enormous surprise, the stranger lost his footing upon the landing of his backflip, slipped, and fell whilst hitting his head on a rock in the process. For obvious reasons, Sakura immediately felt horrible, afraid, and somewhat impressed/awed that the man (who was now lying seemingly out cold on the forest floor) had been able to pull that kind of trick when he had to be in an excruciating pain (judging from the extent of his wounds). About 20 of Sakura's mind was still expecting a trap of some kind, and if it hadn't been so horribly _real_ she'd have thought it to be another of that Naruto-brats doings. Baka. Slowly, yet steadily, she inched closer out of hiding, keeping her eyes trained on the man before her at all times. Sakura almost crawled out of anticipation. The needle still embedded in the tree was buried almost halfway in, yet she didn't pay any heed to that, all her focus was on the masked stranger before her. Something about him made her instinctively reach out, gripping the mask obstructing his face, and peel it off. What met her eyes was a hidden face. Because of the mask covering the lower half of his face, the hitai-ate covering his left eye, and the (red-streaked) silver hair hanging down over almost all of the rest of his face, she could scarcely make a man out underneath it all. When the removel of his mask didn't seem to rouse the man, she prodded his cheek a little, then jumped a few foot back when he groaned.

0o0

The man grunted, then twisted a little, turning his head towards the offender who'd assaulted his face. Sakura was relieved he hadn't moved any more than that. A tad anxious, she slowly moved forward once more, listening carefully as he seemed to want to say something to her. Apparently he could still talk, though it costed him a lot of trouble, and his speach sounded somewhat slurred. In a hoarse voice, in between violent coughs, he enquired after her name. Giving in a moment of concideration, then deciding it couldn't hurt much, she answered him with: "Ano, my name is Sakura, mister ANBU-sama. Haruno Sakura." Then, very quickly as she remembered the respect she had to show such a powerfull and potentially dangerous man, she added: "Nice to meet you…" Even though it probably wasn't the best of additions, she figured her mother hadn't thaught her polite manners for nothing, though they seemed a little inappropriate in this particular situation. The ANBU chuckled at her words, though it turned into a coughing fit quite suddenly.

Sakura stood a petrified. Normally she was the ever-helpful person, patting said coughing persons back to relieve the tension. Yet with this particular man being covered in blood and all, plus the fact that she didn't knew if he had any further injuries she could be worsening, she refrained herself from her usual course of action. Thankfully it didn't last (the coughing), and the silver haired shinobi adressed her once more, though with an even hoarser voice this time: "Well, Haruno Sakura-chan, I must say I'm impressed with your aim. Where have you learned to throw like that?" Sakura, thoroughly confused by his sudden compliment, felt a (to her) familiar pink hue rise up to her cheeckbones, and stammered out: "I- I- Iruka-sensei taught us how to use shuriken and kunai… But they just never really felt right to me. Then I conviced my okaa-san to teach me how to embroider, after I'd seen the senbon in the shop, and I learned about them, and the threads, and manipulating them with chakra, and…"

The little girl stopped abruptly in mid-rant, as she realised she was babbling her head off in front of a stranger, purely out of anxiety and partly because she didn't really knew what else to do. If her silver haired companion-for-the-moment was fazed by her antics, he didn't show it. Instead, his features seemed to relax a bit, which was quite hard to tell really, since the mask still covered the lower half of his face, and all the bloody hair sticking to his otherwise visible features. Inner Sakura kindly pointed out: _"Are you aware that he now hardly seemes able to keep conscious?"_ Barely the sound of a wisper passed Sakura's lips, as she stroked said hair out of his face with a tenderness she hadn't even realised she posessed. "Uuhm, ANBU-sama?" the pink banged and cheecked girl quietly enquired, her hands falling into some kind of pattern, repeatedly stroking the sides of his face softly.

She shot up at his next words, or rather, 'word', namely a mumbled "Medic…"

"Of course!" Sakura thought to herself, mentally slapping herself over the head, why hadn't she thought of this before? Yes, his entrance had been abrupt, presence was alarming, as was his status, but that shouldn't have kept her from running back to the village's hospital or even the guards at the gate the instant she'd laid eyes on him. For all she knew he could've died because of her inability to see what needed to be done! What was it about him that had fascinated her so, as to make her abandon al rational thoughts? Was it his appearance, his words, the hoarse and sensitive voice he used when he asked for her name? Or was it his silver hair that had enthralled her, or his ANBU-mask, or the one visible eye that had been trained on her, or… _"No, no, no! Bad girl, bad girl!"_ Inner Sakura admonised. _"No matter how much I'd love to continue that train of thought with you (and mind you, I'll get back on that), this man needs medical, professional help, and he needs it NOW!" _

Sakura couldn't help but feel a strange sense of loss, yet realised the importance and truth of Inner Sakura's words. "Don't worry, ANBU-sama, I'll get you a medic as quick as possible!" she all but shouted, then took off, through trees and bushes which scraped at her arms and legs, over the paths she came across, making a beeline towards the entrance-gates of Konoha Village. Her current training ground had been, of course, the one located the furthest into the forest. That, combined with the fact that Sakura's stamina wasn't the highest of the village (read: near non-existent), it came as no surprise that she ran out of breath halfway back. And yet, for the sake of a man she didn't even knew, she pushed herself, way beyond her usual limit. She tapped into a hidden strength she hadn't even realised she had up until this point, and someway, _somehow,_ she managed to make it back.\

0o0

A few hundred yards from the village, the main gates came into view. Sakura nearly fell over from relief. She refrained from that course of action, however, until she was actually at the gate. Leaning heavily on the counter of the guards desk, leaving a trail of blood (_his!_ She realised) in her wake, she fought a spell of dizziness off for a few seconds, unnerving the two guards behind the counter, and also the shinobi who was standing next to her. Truth be told, she only noticed the person next to her because he had a senbon twirling in his mouth. Struggling to regain the ability to breathe, she still managed to deliver her message, panting out: "Forest… ANBU… man… hurt bad… silver hair… mask…" The three shinobi around her watched and listened to her with growing alarm evident in their eyes. After her last three words (she felt ready to collapse at the spot), the three looked stricken. Then, after a few heavy laden seconds, they all seemed to take action at the exact same moment. A few words were exchanged ("Kotetsu, you and Genma go fetch Kakashi, I'll get someone to alert the hospital and make them send some medics after you." And "Hai, Izumo."), and then suddenly the person who she now knew as 'Genma' scooped her up in his arms, and he and 'Kotetsu' were off.

Whilst hopping from tree to tree (well, being carried, the men did all the jumping) Sakura understood the unspoken request even before they could even begin to form it, and she silently pointed them in the right direction, showing them where a certain short-cut could be taken. None of them uttered a sound during the trip, but Kotetsu and Genma did exchange some glances, consisting of _"I hope we'll make it in time…"_, _"Kakashi had better still be alive when we get there, wherever 'there' may be."_, "_This girl sure knows her way around this part of the forest…"_ and _"Did she run all this way at top speed? It's a miracle she hasn't passed out already. Better have the medics take a look at her too. After they save Kakashi, that is…" _

Sakura didn't care about the silent communication that was taking place over her head, she was too absorbed in her own little world of thoughts. She tried to reign her thoughts in, though in vain, and then decided to try and figure out what this mess in her head was about. "Why do I want to see him again? And so badly? And what is this pit I'm feeling in my stomach? It must be from the long run I made…" Inner Sakura said nothing, just chuckled to herself knowingly. "Someone's looking like pleased, and as if she's enjoying herself…" Sakura thought annoyed. She couldn't help but wonder what it was about, but just as she was about to hold a cross-interrogation on her Inner self, they arrived at the clearing where the elusive 'Kakashi' still lay.

0o0

Instantly, all thoughts were erased from her mind, as she felt that he now looked even worse than when she had left him. She heard Genma utter a "Shit, Kakashi!" at the sight of the shinobi. He put her back down on her feet again, and as soon as she felt solid ground under the soles of her sandals, she took off running towards the fallen man. The "No! Stop, girl, come back here!" and the "You're better off not seeing him right now, stop!" didn't even reach her ears, let alone her mind, and neither did the sound of two pairs of feet chasing after her. Even if she had heard the words, she wouldn't have cared, for she had already seen him up close, and wanted (for some strange reason) to repeat that experience, and ASAP! All of her focus was on the man in front of her, and as soon as she reached him, she dropped down on her knees next to him, her (slightly trembling) hands reaching for his face tentatively. The fingers of one hand threaded through his knotted hair, whilst her other cupped his cheek, shaking him slightly. "Ka… Kakashi-sama?" she whispered, the new name strangely odd yet pleasant on her tongue. The two men behind her had unwittingly held their breath at the abnormal display of curious affection, but released it from shock as their fellow comrade actually opened his eyes at the sound of the little girls voice, albeit a tad unfocussed. Sakura had not expected him to open his eyes either, and as he did, she felt like either falling backwards on her bum, or blacking out from all the strain she had unknowingly put on herself. Thankfully (and with a little help from Inner Sakura), she did neither, but instead chose to give the silver haired shinobi a hesitant and careful hug, making sure that she wasn't crushing him, or causing him any additional damage/pain, while whispering in a barely audible voice: "Thank Kami you're okay…". Neither of the four moved for several minutes, which felt like hours, and just as all of them were starting to relax, if only a little, they heard the medics from Konoha Hospital approach (following the trail left by Kotetsu on their way). Sakura retreated, with her almost signature blush creeping up again, and she could just feel it spread over her entire face and neck. Hell, her whole body seemed to feel aflame! When she heard Genma saying: "Hey Kakashi, even beaten into a bloody pulp you still attract girls like bees to honey. Honestly, why aren't I more envious?" in a way that could only be described as habitual, her blush increased tenfold (or so it felt) and she was very, _VERY _sorely tempted to fling a senbon at his babbling head. She realised the man was probably just worried over his friend, and trying to cheer him up somewhat, but she still didn't appreciate his choice of subject, let alone the words he had used…

The newly arrived medics (a team of three) quickly assessed the situation, then brought out their garb as they made their way over to the silver haired bloody mess known as 'Kakashi'. "Hatake-san? Hatake-san!" one of them urged the human wreck on, as the other flicked a light on and off in front of his eyes after a few more routine checks to determine just in how bad a shape he was, two of the medics sat down on both sides of him. Their hands started glowing green, and as they placed them over his body, the healing process started. The remaining medic took Genma and Kakashi aside, and gave them a brief summary of the events up untill now.

Izumo had grabbed hold of the first person passing by, which had happened to be Maito Gai. Genma and Kotetsu groaned at this, aware of what they were about to be briefed upon next. Gai had rushed off to the hospital to alert the medics, then had insisted upon his joining them. It took 5 medics to hold him back, he would only've been a burden.

Gai was waiting for Hatake Kakashi's arrival back at the hospital, no doubt to praise him for his 'Joyfull Youthfullness, His Ardent Sense Of Right and Wrong, His Hip Posture And Incredible Stamina!' and then to challenge him to yet another stupid contest as soon as he was out of the hospital again, which was to be _very _soon, considering Hatake-san's deeply running dislike of hospitals in general.

0o0

At the moment, as they were informed by the medic, his two colleagues were trying to stabilise Hatake-san. Genma and Kotetsu instantly agreed to help carry Kakashi back to Konoha on a stretcher. It would be some 20 minutes more before they would possibly be able to move out, the medic told them. Kotetsu and Genma offered to guard their surroundings, but when the medic enquired after the status of their own health, Kotetsu suddenly remembered the little girl. Feeling ashamed over having forgotten all about her that easily, he quickly informed the medic what she had put herself through, and how he and Genma viewed her situation. The medic looked alarmed, it didn't sound very promising, but when he asked after her whereabouts, the men couldn't answer him. _"She was just here a minute ago!" _A quick scan of their surroundings found her at Hatake Kakashi's head, holding said appendage on her lap, stroking it tenderly.

When Genma and Kotetsu had walked off for a bit to discus matters , Sakura hadn't minded. Instead, she'd been kind of fascinated by what the medics were doing. After only a few minutes, their patient seemed to appear marginally better already, a fact which stunned Sakura beyond words. That humans were possible of such actions while needing only chakra had surprised and enthralled her.

Quietly, as not to keep the 'doctors' from their work, she sat down next to his head with her legs crossed. She lifted his head, softly and carefully, then scooted a little closer still, so she could lower his head onto her lap. The medics noticed her, and her actions, of course, but couldn't really do much, as they had just entered a critical phase of the healing, so they decided to just let her be, as long as she didn't do anything to further endanger their patient. Sakura relaxed, and laid her hands on both sides of his head, gently massaging and stroking it. Sakura let her thoughts flow free as she relaxed into her current position. But when she had only followed a few trails of thoughts, she felt something tugging at the very end of her senses. It took her a few minutes, but she was finally able to determine it's source; the chakra of the two medics, who were sending it throughout Hatake Kakashi's body, in order to heal him. But, even now she knew where the tugging originated from, she still couldn't stop it from annoying her. It felt like one of those itches you desperately want to scratch, but are _just_ unable to reach, and it just _won't _stop irritating you. Such was Sakura's perception of the chakra.

Finally, after some uncomfortable minutes of twisting and twirling on the spot and in her place (around the time she felt if it lasted only _one_ more second she couldn't take it anymore), she found a solution for it. Instead of scampering away from her (newly dubbed-) 'friend', she slowly released some of her own chakra (what little remained of it) into his still rigid body. The itch disappeared instantly. Sakura didn't want to hurt this Kakashi-fellow, so she didn't utilise the chakra she'd sent into his body, but instead left it there to dwell, waiting for the medical nins to pick it up and use it properly.

The chakra had forced some kind of connection between the two, as Sakura now felt as if it was her who had been beaten into a pulp and was not receiving the according treatment for it. She massaged his temples even more, unwittingly redirecting a miniscule amount of her chakra that was in his body towards said appendage. Then suddenly, all went black, and she passed out on top of him.

0o0

"Onnanoko!" the medic shouted out, as he and the two other men beside him saw the girl collapse. "Daijobu desu-ka?" he exclaimed, hurrying towards her. The two other medics were still working on Hatake's body, and weren't to be disturbed, so Genma, Kotetsu and the remaining medic had to approach Sakura with delicacy and the had to be damn-some careful. When they finally did manage to reach her, they found it impossible to remove her from her current position. She had clamped down on Hatake-san almost vice-like, yet she didn't seem to pose as a threat to her 'captive's' health, so the medic decided to allow her to stay. Of course, he could've forced her muscles to relax, but that would've meant he had to cause some damage to her. Non that couldn't be dealt with, of course, but this kind of treatment was always discouraged on children of not yet legal age.

They waited at her side for some minutes, then shot up again as she suddenly started convulsing heavily. Just as quick however, the convulsions seized again, and she rolled over to the side (effectively releasing her 'prisoner' from her grip) as she appeared to be in a very deep slumber.

The five healthy adults transported Kakashi and Sakura back to Konoha Hospital, where both were given beds in adjacent rooms (after the additional testing on both of them came up clean). Kakashi was in for some recuperating, but would survive nonetheless, and Sakura only appeared to be in need of some extensive resting up. Sakura's parents were alerted, and they came immediately. They sat at her side, alternating as though running shifts while one slept and the other kept guard, sitting on a chair next to her bed.

0o0

_After Sakura's blackout: A flowery field in the burning sun, a clear sky, and a lake glinstering and reflecting the sunlight brightly smile at little Sakura._

_Sakura woke up in a field, the smell of a least a thousand flowers permeating the air. She sat up and took a look around, before deeming it safe to stand up and walk around. The field lay on the side of a huge lake, and had a forest lining the opposite end. Deciding to venture around a bit, out of the scalding sun that shone down on her, she headed towards said forest to escape the heat a bit. She stopped at 5 yards into the forest to take another good look at her surroundings. The air was crystal clear, as was the water in the like (which reflected the sunlight into a blinding glare), the sun stood high up in the middle of the sky, which had her assume it was suddenly around midday. At a whim, Sakura formed a hand seal and whispered: "Kai!" , yet the image didn't even flicker for a second, so it couldn't be genjutsu, right? But then __how__ had she ended up here, and just __where__ was here? As she travelled even further into the forest, cautiously, she came upon clearing after clearing. At the 5th one, she noted something out of the ordinary. In the middle of said clearing stood the man from before! But this time, his ANBU-mask was still in place, he seemed to (still) be unharmed, yet still on guard for something. _

_She wanted to shout out to him, alert him of her presence, yet somehow she just stood paralyzed in her current spot, f the very edge of the clearing. Hatake Kakashi, as she remembered his name to be, suddenly called out: "I know you're out there, you know. Will you treat my like an equal and show yourselves, or must I chase you out like the children you are?". Then, out of nowhere and seemingly even everywhere, weapons (shuriken, senbon, kunai, etc.) flew towards the 'unsuspecting' man, who turned into a log with a poof of smoke as the first weapon hit. Unfortunately, this caused his height to diminish greatly, and a few of the senbon aimed for his head missed, heading straight towards Sakura! Said girl was still frozen in place, and at this point fully expected to die painfully and slow. Yet as she readied herself for the seemingly inevitable, her surprise was great when said weapons just passed right through her, lodging themselves into the bark of the tree behind her. She twirled around, reaching for the one closest to her to touch it, perhaps discover what the had just happened, then she realised… She could move again! Even greater was her surprise when she appeared to be unable to touch the senbon, her hand slipped right through all of them. _

_In the mean time, the ANBU-clad man had engaged into a fight with at least a dozen men at the same time. Testing her theory, Sakura stepped right in front of one of the charging men (still half expecting to be knocked over) and as her other half had already foreseen, he sped right through her! She didn't quite understood what on earth was happening, but at this point she really didn't care anymore. She now focussed solely on the scene folding out before her, and the ensuing fight. As she crept closer and closer towards the group, she kept her eyes on the only familiar (though masked) face, that of Kakashi's, while repeating the same mantra over and over in her head: "Please don't die… __Please don't die…". _

_At first he appeared to have no trouble at all, but as he continued on, and only 5 of the previous 12 survived his rampaging, he seemed to actually have to put some effort into defeating them. He stopped, all of the sudden, as did his assailants, as the air filled itself with a general tension, almost like anticipation. Sakura ventured to stand directly in front of him (secure enough he wouldn't be noticed by anyone, or be open to any physical harm) as he peeled the white and black mask off of his face, then lifted his hitae-ate off of his left eye to reveal a completely red eye, with three comma-shaped black shapes twirling in it. They started out slowly, almost leisurely, but picked up speed faster and faster, until only a black circle could be seen. _

_Sakura, who all but stood up on her toes to lean in even closer, mesmerised by his left eye, had all her hair suddenly stand on end as he leaped off, of course, right through her. To her great shock (and wonder), the silver haired loner looked back at the place where Sakura stood (though she knew he couldn't see her), with an almost quizzical expression in his eye(s?). then, just as quickly however, he deflected several kunai who'd been aimed for his back, and the actual fight-to-the-death had begun… _


	2. The Trip back to Real Life

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Even though I forgot to state so in my previous chapter; Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto-series, I (unfortunately) do not.**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. XD**

**Anyways, onwards to the story! (And don't forget to review at the end!)**

**Chapter two: The Trip back to Real Life.**

_Sakura watched as the fight progressed, cringing every time 'her' fighter took a hit, silently cheering when he landed one on the opponent. Nonetheless, she still cringed at the sight of so much blood, and curled up into a small, frightened, shivering ball not much after. She still watched, though, determined not to faint. A _true_ shinobi would be able to handle such situations, or so she thought, and even with Inner Sakura encouraging her to look without throwing up and/or passing out, it was still not an easy feat. _

_Twenty-eight minutes later (she'd counted the seconds), the fight was over. Sakura found 28 minutes to be quite a long time for a battle this fierce, but then again, she had no previous experience to compate it with, it could just as well have been very short._

_As the final assailant fell to the forestfloor with a thud, she found Hatake Kakashi in te near exact state he'd been in when she'd encountered him while embroidering. He took off into the direction of the sun, which she guessed was the direction in which Konoha lay, though at such a slow pace Sakura could easily keep up with him. They kept to the backroads, and after half a days of travel, Kakashi set up a camp for the night. He seemed determined to stay awake, Sakura following his example. After all, she hardly felt tired (which left her a bit mystified, as no amount of exercise seemed to have _any_ affect on her __at all__), plus that if she fell asleep and he left during that period, she'd __definitly__ wouldn't be able to find her way back home… So she settled down on the ground next to him, not feeling cold even though he hadn't made a fire. _

_0o0_

_But as time went on, and 1 AM neared, the man beside her had started to fall asleep slowly but steadily. He tried to fight it, of course, but it was no use. When he finally toppled over onto his futon (which he'd already laid out before), he felt just too comfortable, and couldn't summon up the strength to get up again. Yet he still wasn't asleep, desperately hanging on his last straw, which was his sense of duty and adversity to sleeping in an insecure place. Then, out of the blue, he felt a wave of relaxation with just a tint of relief wash over him. That feeling had been Sakura, though he didn't know that._

_Sakura'd been aware of his struggle, and had felt strangely helpless. So when he collapsed, and she sensed a chance to be of use, she jumped on it. She skidded over just a bit, and petted him over/through the head (which resulted in a peculiar, yet not unpleasant feeling for her), as she wispered in the general direction of his ear: "Shh… Shh…". She added "You don't have to worry, I'm here, you're perfectly safe…" as she closed her eyes and let her warm and soft chakra flow through his head. She located the source of his worries, his concerns, and the reason he was still awake quite quickly. Even now, while he looked completely at ease, this particular area of him was keeping him awake, depriving him of his much needed rest. She oozed her chakra over and through the clot, and felt and saw it dissolve, though not with her regular senses (as her eyes were still closed, and her hands hadn't strayed from their position on top of his head. And as she quietly uttered her final words to him ("I'll keep watch for and over you tonight, now, go to sleep, shh…"), his breathing pattern deepened, grew heavy, and he was out like a light in under a minute._

_Sakura didn't feel sleepy even in the slightest, and she kept true to her word. She stayed awake, though she did wander around the surrounding terrain at the beginning, scanning for something of which she wasn't even sure what it was. But as she strayed __just__ a little too far from the clearing, and the trees completely covered her from view, she heared a strange noise coming from the open spot. Hurrying back, Sakura found Kakashi trashing about relentlessly, restlessly, though he did not wake up. He wouldn't stop, not untill she was back at his side again, stroking his arm with her hand soothingly. _

_0o0_

_From that moment on, she didn't leave the clearing anymore, let alone his side. In a way, she was glad for his company, even if he was unaware of it, as merely his presence alone had a calming effect on her. Actually, he had kind of a double effect on her; his chakra (or at least what she assumed was his chakra, but what could just as easily have been his general aura) had a stimulating effect on her, she never seemed to get tired of anything, and merely looking at him had her thriving with a sudden surge of energy. On the other hand, despite the constant high-alert-aware mode for just about everything, the gracefull poise he exuded and his highly mysterious looks had her sedated, kept her relaxed, comfortable, and it also kept her from going completely out of her mind (since all the freakishly weird sensations he was having her feel, and the general feeling of 'surrealness' had her kind of on edge…). _

_At 7.30 AM, after a good 6,5 hours of sleep (for Kakashi anyway), Sakura felt a chakra-signature enter the reach of her senses, probably still a few miles away. It was masked, and quite well done at that, but her (already heightened) senses picked it up regardlessly. Forgetting, if only for a moment, that she wasn't 'solid', she tried to nudge the sleeping man awake, and ended up with half her arms in is chest as a result of that. Deciding that the contact would probably have at least somewhat of an effect on him, she moved one hand up to his neck and kept the other one in place. _

"_Wake up! Wake up, Hatake-san. ANBU-sama. Kakashi-san?", she urged him on, trying out various combinations of names in order to find the one he responded to most. He seemed to give a stir at 'Kakashi', so she continued on that trail. "Kakashi-sama. Kakashi-san, Kakashi-sensei, Kakashi-sempai. Kakashi-kun?" she tried, then blushed as she realised he'd responded best to the last one. She had to wake him up, no doubt about that, but to do so by calling a man at least a decade her senior '-kun', as though he was an intimate friend of hers, still embarrassed her somewhat. After all, her mother had taught her to be polite (in the extreme) to everyone who wasn't a dear and/or close fried, so she'd never give offence to anyone._

_All the while, the chakra signature had kept on gaining ground towards them, and she was getting a little nervous because of it. Nervous for his safety, as she was quite sure she herself wouldn't be in any imminent danger. Not being 'solid' seemed to have some upsides as well. Her fright grew up until a point she felt Inner Sakura preparing to take over. Inner Sakura had a tendency to take over her body in times of extreme stress, caused by either at the verge of fainting, going into shock, or just a full-blown panic attack. This was one of the reasons Sakura's parents and friends thought her to have an almost solid attitude, she never overreacted in a way that would've caused alarm, and was never frightened when getting wounded. Of course, in such cases Inner Sakura had taken over, but nobody could tell the difference as they were one, in a way, and they shared the same memories and characteristics. Sakura wanted to stay in control of her body this time, so she desperately asked Inner Sakura for words of advise, on how to wake him up, for she felt he would probably be okay if he woke up (he wouldn't do anyone any good when asleep)._

_Ignoring the turmoil Inner Sakura's words of advise caused, she complied to them instantly, her mind set on pushing her embarrassment aside for the time being. Whisper/shouting "Kakashi-kun… KAKASHI!" in his ear, she moved both hands over to his heart-section. And, as if shocked up by a lightning-bolt, he shot up (consequently, Sakura ended up with her head in his chest), trying to determine by what or who and for which reason he'd been woken up. As Sakura moved her head out of its (very weird) position, he seemed even more conflicted, and a flicker of disappointment ran through his eyes. Sakura, who hadn't seen said flicker as she was currently trying to sort her thoughts out (Inner Sakura had placed some VERY inappropriate one's in her head), wondered, if only for a moment, why he'd seemed disturbed. "Perhaps at the loss of contact?" She wondered, as she herself had felt a pang when they lost said contact, quite an unpleasant feeling. Her stomach constricted for a moment at the thought, then released it's tension again immediately, as he probably had only been disturbed by the loss of a nice dream he had been having._

_But, as mentioned before, this moment of confusion only lasted for a second, as he too became aware of the third chakra signature permeating in the air. She could see instant awareness course through his body, his muscles tensing as he readied himself for the fight that would probably cost him dearly, even with the solid 6 hours of sleep he'd had, given his current (still excessively wounded) condition._

_0o0_

_When the mysterious arrived, however, he didn't attack. He merely emerged from the bushes and eyes Kakashi with such a fixed stare, Sakura had shivers running down her spine, and it hadn't even been directed at her. The new arrival then summed up a list of qualities he'd presumably learned by heart: "Silver hair, masked lower face, Sharingan-eye but covered by hitae-ate, possibly injured… You wouldn't happen to be Hatake Kakashi, a.k.a. Copy-Cat Sharingan, would you?". His voice was an irritatingly high-pitched one, which clashed with his overall burly appearance, slightly resembling a gorilla in a ninja outfit. And yet, most likely because of the latter trait, she doubted he'd ever been picked upon over it._

"_Depends…" Kakashi brought forth, no-so-subtle urging the man to state his reasons. "Ookinaru." Was all the man deigned to reply, and Sakura saw Kakashi's shoulders deflate as a balloon punctured in response to the (obvious) codeword. Inner Sakura was having a bit of trouble keeping her laughter in check, honestly, __who__ picked 'swordfish' for a codeword when in the freaking __Fire Country__! Outer Sakura gave her a violent "Shut up for second, will ya? I'm _trying_ to hear what they're saying!" Inner Sakura responded to this with a knowing smile which confused Outer Sakura, who in return had expected an indignant rant about god knows what, yet didn't linger on it, as she brought her focus back to the 'real' world, as the stranger spoke again._

_He said: "Here's your objective." As he handed a single scroll over, which Kakashi accepted gladly, then stuffed it into a pocket of his jeans. Then the stranger added: "I'm under orders to return back to my base immediately, yet my orders also state I had to give you a chakra-infusion if you seemed to beaten up to make it back without it." He then hurried on to his next set of words strung into a sentence, as said beaten up shinobi made an attempt to interrupt him: "There is no point in arguing with me, for I'm sure we both know you __won't__ make it back otherwise. Now lets get this over with, I'm also sure you dislike accepting chakra from a 'stranger' just as much as I dislike giving it to one, but it must be done, orders are orders." After this, Kakashi just had a resigned look on his features that, even though Sakura hadn't known him for long, she still identified as just completely __wrong__ for him, on so many levels._

_But he did accept the foreign chakra into his body, and then wasted no more time, packing up what little personal items he still had left and took off, at a noticeably quicker pace this time, with Sakura following in his footsteps. She found it harder to keep up, yet managed without loosing the ability to breath, and with every stop she found the abundance of energy still present. Even a stop of merely a minute had her reserves filled to the brim again. This inhuman strength, stamina and prowess had her mystified, as she didn't knew where it came from, but who was complaining? She sure as hell wasn't… _

_0o0_

_It was just past midday when Sakura found that if Kakashi didn't take a break right this instant, he might very well pass out and fall over stone dead for sure. So she increased her pace a little, just enough to catch up with him completely (meaning she stepped into place with him, literally) and she felt the (now becoming alarmingly familiar) surge of chakra reaction flare up between them. This little thing seemed to do the trick, because as soon as he stumbled upon the next clearing, he slowed down with the intent to take a break. Sakura swooped down after him and then froze on the spot again (pattern, much?). there, right in front of them, high up in a tree, sat a complete clone of her, seemingly embroidering. __**(A/N: This is where the 'real'-life part where Sakura starts convulsing)**_

_With a look of horror and disbelief, Sakura couldn't do anything other than just watch what was progressing in front of her, as an all too familiar scene was played out. It was only when Kakashi hit the ground that she found her strength returning to her legs, as she practically jumped on him out of need, the need for the contact that would have all of her nerve-ends reacting and her hair standing up straight. The contact that would calm her down, allow her to come to her senses, the contact she all but craved at the moment. When she touched him, with barely just one finger, she felt the contact she'd wanted, and she suddenly felt as if being lulled into sleep by the most irresistible lullaby on earth. As she drifted off, she crashed down forward, through him. __**(A/N: And this is where she relaxes again, and she's taken back to Konoha Hospital)**__. Her last parting thoughts to this unreal, yet (in a way) pleasant world were: "Kuso… I didn't even get to see his face properly beneath the mask…" Though that could just as easily have been Inner Sakura taking over for a sec._

To Be Continued


	3. Awakening and Disclosure

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Even though I forgot to state so in my previous chapter; Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto-series, I (unfortunately) do not.**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. XD**

**Anyways, onwards to the story! (And don't forget to review at the end!)**

**Chapter three: Awakening and Disclosure.**

Back to the 'real' life again:

Sakura had awoken after a solid 30 hours of sleep, but Kakashi stayed in a semi-coma for about a week and a half. Semi, for he was completely aware of his surroundings, yet could not will his body into either moving, or responding to stimuli. During this period of Sakura being awake, and Kakashi conscious yet unable to show, Sakura had stayed by his side nearly all the time. Thank god for summer break, as she felt she wouldn't be able to focus knowing he could be waking up at any given moment.

0o0

When Kakashi first became aware of the predicament he was in, his body hardly ached anymore, but the loss of bodily functions had (almost) scared him a bit. Said functions were returning to him one by one, though achingly slow. Not soon after he regained his sense of smell, the distinct aura of disinfectant he'd come to associate with hospitals invaded his nose. The strange notion of something explicitly _pink_ kept popping up in his head, accompanied by a sense of unexplainable restlessness, but he couldn't place it at first. He did, however, smell a hint of _rose_ intruding his nose, but attributed it to have been the perfume of one of the nurses that were undoubtedly assigned to him.

Then his hearing 'switched on' again, (he heard birds outside and deducted it to be early morning), then he realised he wasn't alone in the room. He heard a sound which astonished him completely: the sound of muffled sniffles and suppressed crying. He had never, _never_ allowed someone that close again, close enough to make them care. He was sure of it, so why was this girl (by the sound of it) weeping over him. There was of course the possibility she wasn't crying over him, but his ears told him they were the only two occupants of the room.

He waited patiently for the sounds to cease, and when silence finally ensued again, just in time actually, he heard the door open and then two, no, three pairs of footsteps enter the room. The bed dipped slightly on the left side, and Kakashi deducted said person leaning into his bed didn't weigh all that much. A young girl? He was snapped out of his reverie when a kind and tender, distinctly female adult voice spoke softly: "Here you go, honey, we've brought you some bento. It's better for us to bring it then you forgetting about eating all together, now isn't it?" a soft, not unkind laugh was heard before she went on: "No one is making you stay you know… It isn't forbidden to leave his side, sweety. But we understand, of course."

Kakashi reasoned quite a few things out from these words:

First of all the woman seemed to be the mother and/or caretaker of the girl by his side, and she wasn't alone, probably the father was one of the other footsteps he'd heard. That still left the 3rd pair, though.

Secondly, judging from her choice of words the person/girl by his side apparently hadn't left said position for a long time, several days at least, evidently refusing to leave even for food.

Thirdly, from her tone and the silence of the other occupants of the footsteps he'd heard, all three of them had noticed she'd been crying only seconds prior to their entering, yet they were trying their hardest not to comment on it. Her eyes were probably still bloodshot, and his nose (which had been coming closer and closer to its original state) had picked up the minute smell of salt in the room.

0o0

Droning out the distinct disinfectant smell that was typical for hospitals, he picked up a few more enticing smells, which almost knocked him back literally (but he was already laying down, unable to move). It wasn't so much the smell itself (rose-like, sweet yet clean in a way, and with just the slightest hint of clarity, simplicity and something quite indescribably unique), as well as the striking familiarity of it, that caught him off-guard, almost making him miss the next words that were spoken. Which were: "Sakura-chan, darling… It's been almost a week and a half now. We've tried not to push you in the slightest, we'd never hurt you intentionally, you know that… But… " The voice was robust, male, yet filled with agony about having to speak such words to (presumably) his daughter.

Kakashi (triggered by the ever lingering hint of the smell that had invaded his nose earlier) suddenly had a flashback which included a lot of pink, striking emerald eyes with an unspoken and unexplainable emotion swirling in them, and again a strange feeling of warmth.

He was immediately snapped back to a state of full awareness to his surroundings as the man/voice of before spoke again: "Sakura… This shinobi laying here, Hatake-san I believe he was called? Well, he still hasn't recovered properly, and considering the… reaction… you've had, Hokage-sama here expressed the wish to have a few words with you, privately. Would you mind terribly if he were to… impost on your… private time… with Hatake-san?". So, the Hokage was in the room now?

Hatake-san, as he was now dubbed, wasn't surprised by the request, all info needed to be gathered up, yet he felt a pang of something quite unfamiliar to him surge through his veins at the tone of Sakura's father when he mentioned her 'private time' with him. He understood why a father would be unsettled by such a show of… devotion of a kind, yet it also made him feel alive, perhaps even wanted and/or needed in a way?

As soon as the true depth of the question settled in, Kakashi felt even more dissatisfied with his current disposition for he could not pay the Sandaime the respect he was due. "I… I… Of course, Hokage-sama." Sakura stuttered out, seeming to have deflated at the request, but complying none-the-less. Who could refuse _any_ direct request from the Hokage anyway? She sure couldn't.

"Okay then, Sakura-chan, honey, we'll see you some time tonight. Ittekimasu!" was heard, and two sets of footsteps removing themselves indicated Kakashi, Sakura and the Sandaime were now alone.

0o0

Kakashi, unwillingly playing possum for all the world to see, was not counted as a factor by the Hokage (who'd settled down on a chair on the opposite side of the bed from Sakura), yet the little girl seemed to be counting him in regardless. Kakashi felt a fairly small and slim, yet distinctively female hand brush some stray gravity defying hairs out of his face almost possessively, with utmost delicacy and tenderness.

He didn't know what came over him. First a girl touched him more intimate than most of his friends were allowed or had ever gotten close to, secondly said girl did so with the air of someone who owned the right to do so and had evidently no problem with displaying it, thirdly (probably the point which surprised him most) was that he did not object to it, and would not have even if he had had the opportunity or means to do so. Then, lastly, there was this very knowing chuckle coming from the other side of the bed, where (though Kakashi had, for a moment, fully and perhaps even purposely for gotten he was there) the Hokage resided.

0o0

A laden minute later, heavily filled with a pressing silence and the relaxing sensation of five fingers and a hand threading through Kakashi's hair, the Sandaime decided to start his little bout of questioning. He did not feel all that happy about having to do so, but some things just had to be done for the greater good of Konoha, and the safety of it's citizens. Including the Haruno family.

"Haruno Sakura…" came the (almost raspy) voice from the right of Kakashi, and he felt said girl on his left stiffen almost minutely. "Hai, Hokage-sama?" she replied wearily, as she was aware of the importance of the situation as well. "I've already gotten the report from the other shinobi, Hatake excluded of course, but I would like to hear your side of it as well." The old man continued, clarifying the situation to Sakura (who already was aware of all this).

She took a gulp of breath, steadying herself mentally (as well as silencing Inner Sakura who was trying to point out just how _good_ it felt to trail her hand through Kakashi's hair. Really, it should've been the very last thing on her mind, yet it seemed to be the most prominent…) and then she started relating her story to the Hokage, who listened to it silently, not interrupting her once, and to Kakashi, who could not interrupt even if he wanted to. He felt helpless, dependent, and he did not like it one bit.

She told them about embroidering in the forest (conveniently 'forgetting' to mention why she'd been in the forest that deep, nor did she utter a word about training with senbon), she told them about Kakashi appearing bloody and beaten up, out of nowhere (again, conveniently leaving out her attacking him), she was quickly leading herself up to a soar throat, even though she felt she was leaving about ¾ of the story out.

On she went, about her short conversation with Kakashi (she called him Hatake-san for the sake of propriety, but it felt almost like a sin to do so), then she told them about her rush back to Konoha, about the immense reserve of chakra she'd found in herself, the near-collapse when she finally reached the Main Gates, meeting with Genma, Kotetsu and Izumo, debriefing, and then the trip back into the forest with the former two.

She got to the point where Genma and Kotetsu had stepped aside with one of the medics, and consequently also the part where she'd sat down next to Kakashi's head, had pulled said appendage onto her lap.

0o0

The still frigid Kakashi could just _hear_ the blush that was now spreading all over the girls features, he could hear it in her words and voice, and listened with fascination. He figured he must've passed out at some previous point, because he could not remember any of the things she was now telling them. Hearing her talk about spreading her chakra through him, he suddenly remembered the warm, fuzzy feeling he'd felt just before all went black. And, he now realised, he'd felt it before too. Thinking back _hard_, he came to the conclusion he'd first felt it after his heated battle, the one that had nearly gotten him killed. The memories, even though unsettling in a way (he was sure she had been nowhere near him at the time) filled him with a strange sense of content, warmth, he practically felt glowing!

Then, in a small voice, Sakura rushed through the story. About Kakashi's fight, about the journey towards Konoha, about how she'd taken care of him during that period, about the Sand shinobi they'd met on the way, about them meeting herself on the clearing, about being frozen and unable to do anything, about rushing to Kakashi's aid, and finally about the relaxing emotion she'd felt when she touched him, about falling into a deep slumber.

Kakashi had listened intently, but had drifted off as she had described the latter emotion. He only knew it too well… He forcibly pulled himself back to the present when he realised the girl (he had already started calling her Sakura in his mind) stopped her ranting altogether, and was now (it felt almost unintentionally) oozing her chakra over his scalp. She quickly stopped as she realised just what she'd been doing, as she remembered what it had led to the last time she'd done such a thing, but the 'damage' had already been done.

0o0

While the Hokage at first had seemed mildly interested at best, as not to scare Sakura into silence, he now snapped his full attention back to Kakashi. The latter had felt as though a veil had been lifted off of his clouded brain, and he finally found himself able to do what he'd been dying to do ever since he'd realised he was laying in the hospital. He opened his eyes. Of course, he shut them again immediately, for the light was way too bright for his newly opened eyes, but he got used to it fairly quickly.

Turning his head might've been a bit too much of an effort, the control over his muscles came back but slowly, yet he managed to flick his eager eyes towards the far left, only to catch only the slightest glimpse of pink hair and watery eyes when a pair of young, feminine yet surprisingly strong arms wrapped themselves around his chest. Sakura was hanging onto Kakashi for dear life, had burst into tears of pure joy over his awakening.

Perplexed, and not quite sure of what to do at such an occasion, he tried (and succeeded) in lifting his arms up to embrace her back, patting her back gently, wrapping her in a semi-hug (for he didn't have all that much strength in his arms yet).

The Sandaime was in fact truly curious as to what was happening, and watched intently to the scene now playing out before him. To his credit, the look of disbelief only flickered over his features for a mere fraction of a second, and he managed to hide the fact that he was taken aback well. The story Sakura'd told him, and the affection with which she'd told it, explained the situation to him, yet any other onlooker would've highly doubted the intentions of both participants of the hug. Not that either of them cared…

0o0

He coughed, trying to get the attention of the rooms other occupants back to himself, who in turn completely ignored him for the time being.

Sakura was still sniffing, though feeling happy and relieved, and she was clinging to Kakashi with all she had. He in turn had the serenest look on his face, as he held the girl gently, possessively.

The fact alone that Kakashi was able to hold anyone in such a manner would've blown just about everyone out of their socks, yet Konoha's Sandaime had known Kakashi longer than most of the, and knew him to be capable of such acts. This did not mean that he was not taken aback by it, however, he still felt a shock at seeing it portrayed so blatantly in front of him. What was more, they actually seemed to _fit_ together, in a weird sort of way, they seemed to melt into one being when hugging thusly. In a strange, inexplicable way, something about the hugging 'couple' seemed perfectly normal, she fit into his embrace like a glove, despite his being at least a decade her senior.

"More like 14…" a voice inside the Hokage's head pointed out to him, effectively shaking him out of his reverie. The two in front of him however, had yet to acknowledge his presence, and he had absolutely _no_ idea on how to go about alerting them…

To be continued, dear readers! :)


	4. Leading up to Sakura’s Memory Loss

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto-series, if I did, well, let's just say it wouldn't be quite the same…**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. xD**

**Anyways, onwards to the story! (And don't forget to review at the end!)**

**Chapter four: Leading up to Sakura's Memory Loss.**

"Err… AHUM!" suddenly sounded, resembling a thunder, scaring the living daylights out of Kakashi and Sakura, who'd been so absorbed in their own little world, that they'd forgotten all about the third person in the room.

Kakashi shook the girl in his arms a little, knowing that it was time, yet feeling oddly reluctant to let her go, out of his arms. There was this kind of electricity flowing between them, and though he hadn't known what it was before, after her explanation Kakashi realised their chakra's were mixing, mingling, reacting to each other in the very pleasantest of ways. And the tension and friction it created between them was quite nice, actually.

0o0

But Hatake Kakashi wasn't a genius for nothing, nor was he falsely placed in all those bingo books. He was the best damn assassin Konoha had, and he knew the importance of information well. If Sakura had somehow gained knowledge about something a little girl wasn't supposed to know about, not only would her parents probably kill him, then revive him and kill him again, slowly (nothing he couldn't handle), but she herself could be in danger as well. And that was the fact which pulled on his heartstrings, strings he hadn't even been aware of he had until he'd met her.

So he changed the pattern of his rocking to one of shaking to attention. As she looked up at him with red and puffed, yet caring and trusting eyes, he felt said heartstrings being pulled even more. God, where and when did a little girl gain so much power over him? He was utterly baffled by it.

He did his best to give her a reassuring eye-crease, before croaking out: "I believe… it would be best… if we were to… your parents", pausing after every few words or so, for his voice needed to be broken in again after so long an absence of speaking. Sakura first gave him a fuzzy, concerned look at the sound of his voice, but as his words sunk in, hit home if you will, she nodded dejectedly before she turned her face back to the Sandaime. When the latter looked up at her, she spoke towards him and Kakashi, in a small yet very determined voice. She requested of them that they would not utter a single word about what had exactly happened in her 'dream', for she wished it to remain between the two of them, three now.

What she had related contained some important issues that needed to be looked into further, but the Hokage and Copy-nin of Konoha found themselves unable to deny her request, to grant her her wish.

0o0

After this, Sakura got up from the bed (in the process of hugging they'd both ended up laying down comfortably on the bed), and walked over to the Hokage. When she turned around to say goodbye and thanks to Kakashi, and perhaps ask him to escort her back to her parents, she found herself looking at an empty bed, with leaves swirling above it. And on the bed lay a single senbon. The Hokage sighed, and got up from his chair to walk over to the door. He opened said door and called for a nurse, informing her Hatake-san had exited the hospital unregistered. Again.

In the mean while, Sakura had al but pounced on the bed to retrieve the senbon laying there. The Sandaime had not noticed it, but Sakura was sure he'd left it for there for her. For her, as a gift and a compliment. Gathering the small weapon up in her hands, she smiled and suddenly felt all woozy with excitement and warmth.

Then the realised the Hokage was looking at her strangely from the doorway (she'd hidden the senbon earlier), and she hurried over to his side, then they both walked of in search of her parents.

0o0

Hatake Kakashi had went home that night, only to find he couldn't sleep. So it was no wonder that he was still up when the Hokage called in at around 10 PM. "So, now please, tell me your story." Was all he'd said. And Kakashi told him. He told him of his previous encounters with the fuzzy feeling, about not knowing what it was, about meeting Sakura, about the blackout, and about being absolutely sure he had not seen her anywhere before. The Hokage believed him, yet found it quite a strange development. He ordered Kakashi to come to his office at 7 AM the following morning, then left.

Kakashi laid himself down on his bed, and found that even though he hadn't been able to fall asleep before, as he turned his thoughts towards a certain little pink haired girl (and the feeling he got (from the connection?) every time she was near) he found himself drifting off before long.

0o0

After the Sandaime and Sakura had located the girls parents, they all travelled back to the Hokage's office to have a little 'chat'. The Hokage related Sakura's antics to her parents, yet, true to his promise, he mentioned nothing of the chakra connection their daughter and his ANBU shared, nor any of the other items she'd asked him to conceal. He did elaborate on the possibilities of the situation, on the fact that he would probably get some medic-nins to look into the matter. But there was the issue of safety. He'd be receiving a message from the Kazekage the following morning, and requested that Sakura and her parents meet him at 9 AM sharp the following day. If complications would arise, they'd deal with it swiftly.

Sakura's parents took their only girl home after that, and the following morning they reported back, as they'd promised. The Sandaime was waiting for them in his office, with a sour look on his face. He told them that he'd had some _very_ disturbing news from Kage of the Sand, but insisted to wait the narration until Hatake was present. He'd ordered him at his office at 7 AM, so he would probably be here any minute now…

0o0

True to his character, said shinobi appeared in a whirl of leaves not a minute later. He took the last vacant seat in between Sakura and her father, and he exchanged a single glance with the former that conveyed warmth and strength, compassion for her situation. It went unnoticed by the other occupants in the room, but Sakura felt her whole being light up from it, she sat up a little straighter.

0o0

"You are not going to like this…" the Hokage started off, "but the Sand-ninja Hatake-san encountered was not a sand ninja." All heads (minus Kakashi's) shot up in shock. "The Kazekage has informed me that his designated shinobi never made it to the rendezvous point. Instead, he met a rogue-nin on his way, and was… incapacitated…" The listeners all realised he kept his words 'decent' for the girl. "On my request, the Kazekage added a description of his contact: 'a demure person, sleek appearance, under average height, slimly built'." Both Kakashi and Sakura and her parents realised the person 'they' (Kakashi and Sakura) had met, was just about as far from the description you could get, but only Kakashi realised the true implications.

The Sandaime sighed, then addressed Sakura's parents: "Not only are we unable to find an explanation about how on earth your daughter has been able to share Hatake-san's memory so lively, we are also quite concerned about her having information stored in her head about a person who is most likely a missing-nin." Then he turned towards Kakashi and said: "Hatake-san, I've already disclosed this with you, but could you please take Sakura-chan here into the next room with you? I would like to speak to her parents in private for a moment…" and with that he turned towards said people with a meaningful glance.

0o0

Kakashi took the (very obvious) hint, and stood up. "Come, Sakura-chan." He said, as he headed for the door. Sakura felt a surge of emotion rise when he said her name, and was not quite sure what happened in the following minutes. All she knew was that she found herself sitting in a chair in a different room, when she finally came to her senses again. Kakashi was seated in front of her, though a little to the left, looking at her. He seemed to be waiting for something, but she wasn't sure what it was. When the awareness re-entered her eyes, he seemed to lighten up a bit, and though it was hard to tell, Sakura just knew it to be true.

And indeed it was. Kakashi had been a little concerned about her when her eyes had glazed over in a most peculiar and (only a little) frightening way. She had followed him without a complaint, and seated her in the chair he'd pointed out for her. But she hadn't acknowledged any of his questions, so he'd settled down himself, waiting for her to come out of her stupor.

Sakura still felt a little fuzzy, but the urge to reassure him (only encouraged by Inner Sakura (_'Damn it girl, the man's all but eating himself up in front of you out of worry, DO SOMETHING!'_) who was making quite a point out of it) was stronger. "I'm fine." She told him, "honestly, I am." After a pregnant pauze she added: "I know it is probably wrong from me to think and say so, but if it is I don't care at the moment. Please, hear me out, and believe me when I say: "I _trust _you." With all my being, I trust you, you make me feel safer than I've ever felt before… I feel like you could never intentionally hurt me, no matter how hard the rational part of my mind tries to tell me differently. Please, allow me to express myself thusly, for I trust you even more than I trust myself at the moment."

During this little speech, Kakashi hadn't been able to interrupt even if he wanted to, for his throat was thick for reasons he couldn't comprehend. He just knew he never wanted to let this girl down. This girl, who'd found her way into his heart without him even realising it before it was too late. She was a dangerous creature indeed…

0o0

Hardening his resolve, Kakashi ventured to tell Sakura about just exactly what kind of danger she was in. The missin-nin she'd somehow witnessed in his memories had been dubbed unranked an highly dangerous. He had only been pronounced missing a few days ago, and had had quite a high position prior to his betrayal, which explained how he had known about the planned rendezvous with Kakashi, and also why he hadn't shown up in any important bingobook yet, or why Kakashi didn't know (about) him.

When Sakura asked about the chakra-infusion, which had been meant to take him down, Kakashi replied he didn't knew all the particulars, but the doctor he'd visited had told him the foreign chakra (laced with ill-intent) had probably ignited his defence system. His defence system had then 'purified' the chakra, an unusual and irregular occurance, but not unheard of, and the chakra had transformed into a usable source of energy, which explained the rush he'd gotten from it. Instead of shutting him down, the enemy's chakra had achieved exactly the opposite effect, and Kakashi and Sakura were both glad for it.

0o0

After a moment of (expected) awkwardness, Kakashi felt like chickening out. But he'd promised himself to be honest with her, as she had been towards him and the Hokage. So he (almost shyly) related her effect on him, how he'd experienced their chakra connection as well, how it had helped and encouraged him to continue, how it had relaxed and lulled him into sleep. Sakura seemed relieved to not be the only one experiencing it's effects, and a comfortable, trusted easiness settled down between them.

Then the 'hard' part began. "Ano, Sakura…" he started, then quickly added "-chan", but the 'damage' had already been done. He knew she knew, and she knew he knew she knew, but she didn't care. She'd already expressed her complete trust to him, and if anything, she felt relieved, glad, and perhaps even minutely exited by him using such a familiar term with her. Her hope and happiness quickly dissapeared again, however, when she realised what the intro had been for. It was time…

"The Hokage has decided that if someone ever found out you knew the identity of this particular missing-nin, you would be in grave danger. So the Sandaime had ordered me to… erase… your memory of the event, which includes ever meeting me in the first place." A heavy silence reigned, before he added: "I'm really, truly sorry, and if there was any other way, I wouldn't hesitate. But as there isn't any alternative, and orders are orders, I'm afraid you and I both will have to comply…"

Kakashi waited patiently for her reply, which came a minute later as Sakura needed some time to process what he'd said. "Hey, what, why, _how?_" Kakashi chuckled both mirthlessly and humorless. "You would remember, if only in your subconcious, and it could be extracted. Your parents will undergo treatment with a medic, as they've only heared of the memory. You however, have the full memory intact, and stored deep within your mind. It needs to be completely inaccessible for you, in order to ensure your safety. I could never extract a memory completely, but I could certainly make it… unavailable…"

He then answered all the questions she had about the procedure, and just about every she had about his Sharingan. The procedure itself would not hurt, or cause any additional damage, but it could be uncomfortable, as it was a rather intimate process, he would be accessing her mind, after all. Sakura realised, yet again, the importance of the set course of action, yet couldn't help but feel sad. This meant she would lose every memory of ever having met the 'Great Hatake Kakashi', nor would she be likely to ever feel their special connection ever again. She felt sad.

The Sharingan could not completely erase all aspects of a memore, like a certain feeling, or a certain smell of something linking back to it, but Sakura would not be able to linger on it. She had to keep reminding herself it was for the best of Konoha, for her parents and for her own good, because every inch of her being and subconcious screamed to her, telling her to get the hell out of there, to protest untill she was hoarse.

Kakashi was having a bit of trouble of his own, as they sat in silence for a few minutes that felt like hours. He really, _really_ didn't want to be doing this, but he knew he had no choice, nor a say in the matter. "Sakura, we should head back. The Hokage will be done informing your parents about now, and it would probably be better for all of you if you spoke again, before…" he sighed, then continued: "This will take a lot out of me, as well as out of you. It would be best if we performed this procedure with you laying in a hospital bed, so you won't have to be moved after wards, and care will be nearby. I'll have a couch nearby, for it will take a lot out of me as well, but I'll be gone once you come round again. It would do neither of us good to meet again, with you not remembering who I am…" The last part was added with pain resounding in his voice, and Sakura placed a hand on his arm, and looked into his eyes with compassion, and understanding.

"Hai, that would be for the best…" she stated, after which she stood up. She waited untill he'd stood up as well, before walking towards the door. She allowed him to lead the way back to her parents and the Hokage in the latter one's office, and she felt a feeling of dread growing stronger and stronger in her stomach...

To be continued, dear readers! :)


	5. Sakura's Memory Loss

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto-series, I don't…**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. XD**

**I hope the wait has been worth it, and I will now no longer detain you from reading another chapter of my first fanfic.**

**As always, please don't forget to review at the end, and I will mention again: All your comments and constructive criticism are welcomed. Please, no flamers though. If you don't like the story, or the pairings in it, then why would you even read this far? **

**Chapter five: Sakura's Memory Loss, or, Kakashi's Embarrassing Meeting.**

Kakashi knocked on the Hokage's door, and he and Sakura waited politely untill they were called in. They entered, and sat down on the two available chairs. All but Kakashi looked at Sakura with a mixture of anxiety and dread. She, in turn, just sighed, and dropped her head in resignation. She had no choice but to obey.

0o0

Not soon after, Sakura's parents said goodbye to 'Hokage-sama and Hatake-san', and hugged and kissed their daugther. They promised her they would come and find her as soon as it was over. After they'd left, the Sandaime, Kakashi and Sakura were alone once more. The two latter nodded their goodbyes to the Hokage of Konoha as well, and set off in search of the private hospital room that had been preparated for them.

But with said room, they also found a nurse waiting for them. She explained (after their questioning glances) that the head of the hospital had requested she be present, in case any problems should arise. Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a mutual glance, and at the question in his eye, Sakura nodded almost invisibly. She steered herself towards the bed, and layed down in it, while Kakashi took the nurse to the side to have a little 'chat' with her. Within 5 minutes, a thouroughly spooked looking nurse had left the room, and the troubled pair had the privacy they'd need.

Kakashi walked over to the hospital bed, and had to swallow a fiercely large lump at the innocent sight of the little girl lying there. She looked almost like a doll, so preciously cute, but her eyes showed a weariness that shouldn't have been there, if it hadn't been for the situation they both were in. He sat down on the side of the bed, after having pulled the chair up close. He lifted his hitae-ate up, and Sakura was amazed by his Sharingan eye. He'd told her before what it was capable of, and she marvelled at being able to see his eye, knowingly, without him having to resort to it in a battle environment.

The three tomoes swirled lazily at first, then faster and faster untill only a black loop could be seen. Mesmerised, and quite possibly already a little hypnotised, Sakura lifted one of her small hands up to his face, tracing her fingers over it. Over the scar that bisected his eye, along his brows, down his cheek to the bridge of his nose, the down, ever so slowly, to cup his cheek a little. While he tensed almost inperceptibly, Kakashi did nothing to stop her. It showed a trust in her he wasn't even aware of he posessed himself, and he was glad when that trust was not broken. Sakura just examined his face through the mask, and never gave even the smallest hints of wanting to remove his mask, and for that he was gratefull. As was she, for the fact that she was allowed to act in such a manner.

Then she nodded that she was ready. The intensity of Kakashi's gaze seemed to multiply in mere seconds. Said shinobi sat down on the chair near the bed, while at the same time turning Sakura's face to the side. They never broke eyecontact. As Kakashi settled down, he leaned his hands on the bed to suport his head a little. He felt the expected heaviness of limbs as he entered the little girls head, but the feeling soon vanished to the furthest regions of his conciousness. For his entire mind was drawing into hers, and inside one's mind there is no room for 'mere physical' awarenesses. Or so he thought…

0o0

Entering another persons mind was by no means easy, nor was it painless. But Kakashi had made sure that Sakura was in such a deep state of unconciousness that she would feel no pain. No, she would be safe from it, though he himself still felt the pull, the stretch, the pain. But he ignored it. How could he not? It was in her best interest, and who was he to deny her a perfectly normal, safe life, without the imminent threat of a missing nin looming over it?

The first barriers to her mind were easily surpassed, as most of her defenses were down already, but the further he got, the more he felt like he was being watched. He wanted to ignore the feeling in favor of the all but consuming pain, to tell himself he was being stupid. That there was no way Sakura would still be able to either sense him, or block him. But his ingrained ninja-senses had already had him in a state of high-alert for his whole life, and weren't about to stop now. And so, when he finally reached the final border of the rozy-haired girls brain, he wasn't completely shocked to find someone waiting for him there. Not completely, but not far from it either. The border itself was depicted as a large set of doors, but this was not what had taken him by surprise. What had, was the vision of a female, a woman so beautifull he actually rubbed _both_ of his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He swallowed, then again, as his eyes travelled up her form, starting at her feet. She was seated against the door, as if she'd been waiting for him for a long time. She wore black boots, sturdy enough to make him suspect she was a ninja, as well as that she had hidden training weights in them. Her knees were bare, but a black set of stretchy shorts reached up from half-thigh. A set of kunai-pouch and bindings adored her right leg, and a pink, skirt-like contraption saved some of her modesty from the lycra. But Kakashi still found himself somewhat drooling over it. He tried to knock himself over the head mentally for it, but seeing as he was already mentally in someone else's head, the only option he had was knocking himself over the head for real, and that would just be _too_ embarassing to live through, if someone found out about it. So he settled for observing her some more. Bad choice.

His eyes went up further, to the black gloved hand that encircled her elbows, which were protected by a pink cloth. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, covered by a tight fitting shirt which left her shoulders bare. She was, from what he could tell, well endowed, though she used bindings as to make sure her 'female attributes' would not hinder her during training or missions. Her whole posture betrayed hidden strenght, as well as agility and flexibility. Kakashi now had to forcefully tear his eyes away from her general bodily area, and his eyes finally made their way up to her face.

The first thing he noticed about it, was the sakura-colored hair framing it, as well as the Konoha hitae-ate holding it back. The second thing that stood out, were her impossibly green eyes. They surveyed him gently, though determination shone through them, as her bud-like mouth curved up in a knowing smile. Again, Kakashi had to swallow. He knew those combination of looks… For one of the first times in his life, he felt uncertain, as he called out to her: "Haruno-san? Why are you here…? I though you and your husband left to get treated… Are you, by any chance, a memory? A memory of Sakura's, a memory of her mother when she was young?". This was all said with some unease audible in his voice, a testament to just exactly how much she had shaken him up.

At this, the woman in front of him grinned, softly at first, but it soon gained strength and volume. _"Why, Kakashi, after all we've been through…"_ she answered him, with mock-sadness just _pouring_ through. She continued on: _"I'd have thought you would _at least_ call me by my given name, not that of my mother…"_, though this was said with mirth, and she showed her teeth to him in a smile that lit up her whole face. She watched him process her words, as she sat in silence, waiting for him to respond.

0o0

It took him about a minute, which was actually quite long for a supposed genius, but Kakashi was finally able to stammer out: "But, if you're Sakura…", still lost as to how this all had come to be, "Wait, no… This can't be! What, or rather, how? How is or can this be possible? For I am fairly sure the Sakura still laying in the bed in front of me was… younger… at the very least. Not to mention…" At this point, Kakashi was truly shaking his head in wonder, and couldn't make any sense of it. So 'Inner Sakura', for it was her, took pity on him, and ventured to explain to him: _"Yes, the girl you left in that bed was Sakura, and yes, she's quite a lot younger than me. I'm sure it is highly uncommon, but since the day she was born, we have been together in this mind, Sakura and I. We are different, yet we are the same. Both of us are Sakura, yet we are both of us unique as well. I'm only just a little older, a little wiser, and a _hell_ of a lot more outgoing that her."_

Seeing that Kakashi was starting to understand, but still had a slightly confused look in both of his eyes, she went on: _"We feel, see, smell, hear and think the same things, but having two minds in one body can be highly functional as well. Our ability to share information and logic to one-another is extremely usefull, and as I'm an adult, as you've certainly noticed…"_ at this, Kakashi all but blushed, but Inner Sakura ignored it and continued on: _"My worldy experiences are that much larger, that I'm extremely usefull for and to Sakura. I help her on her way, and try my absolute best to keep her from harm. Which is exactly why I'm here right now. I don't want this to happen, but we three of us all know it is inevitable. So I'm here to… lighten the burden a bit. I will help you find the memory you seek more easily, and also give you a little insight as to who 'Sakura' really is. So, follow me, if you please…"_ After she'd spoken these words, Inner Sakura pushed herself up from the ground gracefully, and turned towards the doors behind her. She placed her right hand on it, and wispered something Kakashi didn't quite catch. The big doors suddenly opened up, and allowed the pair entrance.

0o0

Along they went, the two of them, passing along memory lanes and paths. Inner Sakura gave Kakashi a 'grand tour', for reasons only known to her. To be honest, she realised that the chance of getting _that_ memory back later on in life were very slim, yet the possibility of meeting Kakashi again in real life were not. So she wanted to take every precaution to make sure that Kakashi wouldn't forget about 'Sakura', and perhaps even approach her later on. If not for her friendship, then at least because her mind worked in at least several fascinating ways, right?

Oh, and Kakashi was fascinated all right. Not only by Inner Sakura, whom, by the way, he was trying to avoid looking at too much, but also by the workings of a (girls) mind. Not only did he got a chance to learn about a mind and it's workings by an actual 'inhabitant', but you didn't meet persons with a separate mind that often. Sure, split personalities galore, yet an actual second presense in a mind? In a brain? Almost a separate entity? No, those were very rare, and one had to appreciate such a chance whenever such an opportunity arose.

0o0

"_Well, that concludes our 'tour' for the day, ladies and gentleman. I hope you've enjoyed your stay, and please come again." _Inner Sakura said jokingly, as she led Kakashi away from the last facet she'd shown Kakashi. He now knew _far_ more about Sakura than any other person alive, exept Sakura and Inner Sakura herself, but he still didn't know everything. Some things were just too personal, or too private, and Kakashi respected the descision of not showing it to him in both of the Sakura's.

Inner Sakura halted at a certain wall that had erupted out of seemingly nowhere, and a single, white door adorned it's surface. _"Beyond this door lies what you seek." _She said, completely serious now, in an almost mystic voice. Kakashi understood. He bowed deeply to the lady in front of him, expressing his gratitude for the honor that he'd been presented with. She returned his bow. Then she spoke her last, parting words to him:_ "The exit, as you've probably noticed, is not far from here. Just down the 'hall', I assume you'll make it back on your own. It is in your best interest, after all. Please, excuse me, as I've no intention at all of viewing such a heinous, painfull act." _After having spoken thusly, she left silently, though graceful as well.

Kakashi was on his own again. He contemplated those last words for a moment. He knew that the 'heinous' part was not an attack aimed towards him, rather than the Hokage who'd ultimately ordered it, yet it still stung. But he was a man of duty, a Konoha shinobi, and he had a job to do. His mind being set, he determinedly reached for the doorknob, twisted it round, and watched as said door swung open. The doorway seemed to exude a white, peaceful light, and he could all but _feel_ it envelop him as he stepped forwards, to complete the job he'd been assigned.

0o0

Sakura awoke feeling refreshed, completely relaxed, though with a slight feeling of nausea, and the distinct impression that something was amiss somewhere. Was there something missing? From the room perhaps? At this thought, she took another good look at her surroundings, and shot up from shock. _Where was she?_

"_Sorry love, can't help you this time…" _Inner Sakura answered Sakura's unspoken request for help. _"You're on your own here. But don't worry, I can hear our parents coming towards us down the hall. You'll be okay, trust me on this one." _Sakura had no time to consider her brain-roommate's comments, as she too heard footsteps advancing her way. And, after all, Inner Sakura had never lied to her before. So Sakura allowed her body, which was now rigid from the adrenaline rush she'd just experienced, to fall back down on the mattress again.

The door opened to reveal her parents, just as she'd been told. Sakura turned her head and eyes towards the door, where her parents stood. "Okaa-san, Otou-san, _where am I?_" she asked, falling back on the formal terms for mother and father out of pure exasperation. The white, sterile room had given her no clue as to her where-abouts, nor had the window, which had only displayed a blue sky, with the occasional roaming cloud.

At the sound of her meek, rasping voice, her parents seemed to be shocked out of the stupor they'd fallen in on viewing their daughter, and they shot forward resembling arrows from a bow. They were at her side in mere seconds, stroking her hair, telling her it was okay. At her questioning them on 'what' exactly was okay, they just smiled and hugged her some more. "Darling, you're in the hospital…" her mother finally brought forth. Sakura looked stricken, so her mother explained: "It's okay, sweety, you just caught a 24-hour bug. You fainted, so we brought you to the hospital, just to have you checked over. Shush, honey, you're perfectly allright."

Sakura could not remember being sick at all, nor being taken to the hospital. The eyes of her mother and father betrayed they knew more than they let on. But the little girl suddenly felt exhausted, and dead tired, though she'd just slept for over 16 hours straight. She wanted nothing more than to go home, with her parents, and be coddled, nursed, and loved. And she did just that. Her parents were happy to oblige, and home they went.

0o0

None of them noticed a shinobi, with silver, gravity-defying hair, as he sat on top of the hospital roof. He observed the threesome carefully, and then let out a sigh. Then he dissapeared in a whirl of leaves, thinking he'd probably never see the pink haired girl again…

To Be Continued. Please, let me know what you think of it?


	6. The Years In Between

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the Naruto-series…**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. XD**

**I would like to thank all the faithfull reviewers that have kept up with me, in particular those who've reviewed at least 3 chapters so far: **_**'Goddess Psyche'**_**, **_**'moodymel'**_** and **_**'a thousand cranes'**_**. And finally, last but not least, I would expressively like to thank **_**'InARealPickle'**_** and **_**'LadyNorth76'**_**, who have both managed to review EVERY chapter so far. Thank you both so very much!**

**As always, please don't forget to review at the end, and I will mention it (yet) again: All your comments and constructive criticism are welcomed. **

**Chapter six: The Years In Between (a short chapter).**

Sakura had accepted her parents theory about a 24-hour bug, as an explanation on how she had ended up in the hospital in the first place. To be honest, it hurt her head if she thought about it for too long, so she had just taken it for granted in order to be rid of the agonizing headache. After a little while, she forgot all about it, as 'insignificant' events tended to for younger children.

0o0

Sakura's parents noticed some changes in their little girl, but thought nothing much of it. For instance, she spent less and less time outside 'embroidering' than sh had done before. Of course, her parents did not know that 'embroidering outside' was a synonym for 'practising with senbon', but still… They noticed she spent a lot more of her time inside, reading, and nearly ¾ of the time left after her homework was dedicated to one certain boy… Uchiha Sasuke-kun.

While she was quite happy as a child, and even though she had a huge case of unrequited love to look after, Sakura felt off somehow. She did everything the way she did before (granted, she did not practise her senbon as much as she used to, but still), she ate, slept, thought and acted like she'd always had, and generally speaking she was okay. But every now and then, when meditating, or suddenly waking up in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason, she felt… weird… and watched…

The feeling was quite indescribable, but it was not unpleasant. It was strange, but in its special way it was also comforting. Almost as if she had her very own guardian angel looking over her shoulder every now and then.

0o0

Over the years, Kakashi's friends hadn't noticed the changes in him as he himself had. Kakashi found himself reminiscing more and more. And also, more often than not actually, to the day he had met a certain pink haired girl, with emerald-like eyes and a kind smile on her lips. And also a certain grown-up version of her, though he tried to shut that particular subject out of his mind as soon as it had entered. He dared not refer to her by her given name, Haruno Sakura, which he knew by heart, for if he did it'd surely become a more frequent occurrence. And if it did, there was the possibility of it slipping his tongue unwillingly, something which could put him in quite the predicament…

Though the girl remembered nothing of either him nor their meeting (_She had better not! Or I would have to re-wipe her memory... And _that's_ something I'm not quite sure I could do a second time…_), Kakashi still watched over her, witnessed the changes she went through as she grew up little by little. He recognised the 'Sasuke-kun' she had a crush on as an Uchiha-member, he recognised the boy who had a crush on _her _as Naruto, the Kyuubi Vessel, and he recognised her teacher at the academy as Umino Iruka, a kind-hearted man with a seemingly endless supply of patience. He deduced them all not to be a threat to her at that time. The reason why or even how he thought of such things never crossed his mind.

He still remembered their 'first' meeting clearly, as well as the surprisingly easy way at which she seemed to handle senbon at that occasion, and the way she'd been able to link them with chakra already. It spoke of huge chakra-control. Now, said control mightn't have faded, but her skills with the senbon took quite a few hits over time. She suddenly seemed to have lost interest in them, lost her motivation, and Kakashi couldn't help but blame the memory-wipe for at least a part of that. Her skills slowly desintegrated, and while she could probably still exercise the most basic of moves and kata's with them, the fluidness and grace she'd had before, as well as mastering said skill into perfection, had dissapeared.

She still exelled, though, make no mistake of that. She always had and always would put school first, and she put herself 110 into everything that caught her interest. It came as no surprise to Kakashi that she ended up as one of the top-grading students in her year, every year. Of course, there were also the Uchiha's, and the Hyuuga's, and the like, children of bloodline-families. Their natural abilities in Jutsu and the like earned them the upper-most positions in the 'internal foodchain' of their year, yet Sakura came in second right after them, with no bloodline abilities or hereditary jutsu's to fall back on. Kakashi realised the bloodline-children also did their best to excel, that they also had had to earn their top grades, but he felt Sakura deserved them the most. He wasn't biased, it was just his honest opinion.

0o0

It was a sweltering hot day in June, and the schools (including the Ninja Academy) had all let their students run off for the day, for a number of reasons. The first being, of course, that it was so agonizingly hot that sitting in a classroom was a recipe for a meltdown. The second, that it was the Thursday before the summer vacation, and neither the students nor the teachers had much work left to do, nor any energy left to sustain _any _kind of exercise. And thirdly, which was very much like the first reason, and also the main subject of any other reason that could be thought of (in this heat), was that it was just too damn hot!

Sakura had trained herself for a little while, but in the end gave up. She admitted defeat to the gruesomely warm weather, and went home to take a good soak in the family bath tub. After which, she had a nice meal with Okaa-san and Otou-san, they played 'Clue' and 'Scrabble' for a while (Sakura beating her parents at both games, and they were trying their very hardest), and then she went to bed. Tomorrow was the last day of school before the holidays, and she was bound to get another day off anyway, seeing as the heat wouldn't let off for just one little girl, who just happened to want to absorb a little more knowledge into the sponge that was her brain. Too bad…

0o0

_Sakura was running, fleeing, tripping and scrambling as fast as she could, all but flying through the familiar scenery of Konoha's forest at night. Her surroundings were dark, filled with shadows that wreaked havoc on her nerves, and the light of the full moon had way too much leaves to pass through before reaching the ground. This resulted in an even darker forest, and even more shadows and shades that could hold any number of villains, enemies, or worse. The air was hot, and humid, and Sakura's breath was labored. She was panting, her longs were screaming for air, and she felt as though she'd been running for miles on end. She daren't look back to who or what was following her, lest she stumble, or worse. She didn't even know what she was running from. All she knew, was she wasn't to be caught, or she'd be dead. This one truth shone through her like the moon lighting up in the dark._

_For what seemed like hours, she kept on running, adrenaline rushing through her veins at every sound other than that of her own footfalls on branches. The darkness that surrounded her, which she'd always perceived as comforting, now haunted her. Very little light made it through the branches of the trees, even though it was a clear night, and one could see stars for miles, if one wasn't fleeing for some unknown enemy in a dark forest._

_Sakura's own heartbeat drumming in her ears sounded like a machine gun, going faster and faster and faster, untill she felt she would explode._

_Then, suddenly, all the things around her seemed to still for a moment, and the whole world (or at least the forest) seemed to take a collective breath, then held it in. It would seem things were finally going to come to a climax..._

_Bracing herself for the inevitable, she all but stumbled down upon a clearing, which she just happened to come across, and took in her surroundings. Everything seemed normal alright, but the haunted scenery wreaked havoc on Sakura's nerves, and she imagined an enemy in every niche of darkness she saw._

_One place of the clearing was blessed with light, one ray of moonshine made it through all the leaves to touch down ont that particular patch of dirt, leaves and earth. And it was precisely in that ray of light, that her pursuer made his appearance._

_It was a man, but appeared like a ghost, so quietly and sleek. He had a face, yet it was masked. His posture was that of a youngster, yet his hair was grey. He'd been pursuing her, yet he seemed harmless at the moment. His eyes and chakra held an enormous killing intent, yet it was not directed at her. He seemed harmless enough in general, but all these opposites in him made her hair stand on edge. She wanted to run, to hide, never to see him again, yet also to run towards him, embrace him, thank him for coming. This scared Sakura even more, for she'd never met the guy before, that much she knew._

_Frozen on the spot, Sakura watched him. He approached her, yet she heared no footfalls on the forest ground. She could hardly see his legs and feet move, so it wasn't that hard for her to imagine him floating towards her. Gradually picking up his pace, his speed increased rapidly, and within seconds he was all but storming towards her. She felt no fear at him approaching, only hesitance, and anxiety, combined with an uncertain feeling somewhere deep in her stomach. Who was he? What did he want from her? And most of all, why was he running towards her._

_His eyes seemed to be focussed on a point just above her head, as well as just behind her. Suddenly, as though detecting a pair of eyes glaring at the back of her head menacingly, Sakura shuddered. When the charging stranger in front of her reached the 1-meter mark she'd unconciously set, she whirled herself to the side, gaining extra force from the push the stranger'd given her. Then she saw him raising a kunai, utilising it seemingly effortlessly in a series of rapid movements, almost to quick for the eye to see, effectively deflecting the 12 kunai that had appeared out of nowhere, aimed for her back. Up close, Sakura marvelled at the sight of him. Even though it was still dark like the darkest night, and although there were only glares and shimmers she could discern, Sakura still managed to catch a glimpse of her now dubiously dubbed 'saviour''s face. A cloth mask covered the lower half of his face, but his eyes seemed strangely out of place, out of sorts, with a dual coloring that was highly unusual. It was almost as though his left eye was… red? His other was 'normal, plain' grey, yet still strangely enticing and fascinating._

_Then suddenly, her 'saviour' turned on her. He seemed to be under the impression the danger she'd faced was now gone, or at least eliminated for the moment. Stalking towards her, he looked down at her squarely from above her. Then he murmurred something unintelligible, while forming an odd seal with his hands. Sakura only got a quick look at it, before she saw him raise his hands, to run through his hair, which never seemed to catch any light, and therefore was virtually invisible. But instead of completing the movement, his hand seemed to change direction to her head, as though wanting to give her a little 'pat' for being a 'good girl' and 'not getting killed'. But just when his hand seemed to touch the top-most of her hairs…_

She woke up in her bed, startled and sweating heavy. 'What the _hell_ was that all about?' She mentally asked herself, waiting for Inner Sakura to give her a response. When none came, she was surprised, yet knew he shouldn't have expected anything,as even Inner Sakura was known to need rest, and it being 4AM in the middle of the night and all, it wasn't all that surprising…

0o0

A certain silver haired shinobi went to his weekly spot of seclusion, the memorial stone. "Hey guys, I'm back…" he muttered, "Rin, Obito, how are you today? I've not that much to tell you.". After a moments of consideration, he added: "The little girl's doing well, but I guess you already knew that. I've decided to start up on teaching again. I'm not even sure how I managed to get away with flunking all of them so many times, but really, those kids were just horrible, and they had absolutely _no_ sense of teamwork… I'm hoping these years students have at least a _little_ bit of common sense. Or not, because then I'd be able to fail them again, and have another free year ahead of me…"

He greeted some other friends of his, all KIA's, had a little small talk with them, then turned quiet again. He stayed like that for a while, silently contemplating what had happened since he last came here, what else he needed to get off his chest. He decided there wasn't really all that much news in his life. So he said his silent goodbyes, and returned home…


	7. The Second First Meeting

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**sigh … Nope, still don't own … sigh.**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. XD**

**I was on a holiday for three weeks, sorry for the delay. I hope you can forgive me. I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I find it easier to leave the first 'dropout'-mission for the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy!**

**Do I still need to mention it? Guess I do, ne? Reviews please! ;) **

**Chapter seven: The Second First Meeting**

Sakura was exited. She'd passed the final exam with ease (as had Sasuke-kun!), and today they would find out with whom they'd be teamed up! As she speed-walked to school (she sure as hell couldn't let Ino-pig beat her, now could she?), she thought about her wishes for the teams. They were quite simple, actually, she had but two. One; to be teamed up with Sasuke… and the second; _not_ to be teamed up with Naruto. How had that baka managed to graduate anyway? She couldn't remember seeing him at the afterparty. But then again, Naruto didn't show up for half of the parties, claiming he wouldn't come to school on his free nights, so it wasn't really a surprise for him not to show up…

As she entered the classroom, she noticed the seat next to Sasuke was still Ino-free, this had to be her lucky day! She moved in for the kill, but Naruto was in her way. She decided, because he'd managed to graduate, to refrain from her usual course of action (that course being knocking him in the side of the head brutally), but instead just tapped his shoulder. She could all but see his eyes light up (really, _how_ did he do that?), then quickly moved past him and settled down next to Sasuke. The moment she did, however, she was violently pulled back by her collar, and collided with Ino, her best friend/rival for the love of Sasuke.

Sakura was about to scold Ino for removing her from Sasuke's side, when she (and every other girl in the room) saw Naruto crouched on the desk before Sasuke, the two of them glaring at each other menacingly. Naruto seemed to have taken her dismissal of him for Sasuke a little more serious this time than he usually did… "Naruto…" every girl in the room seemed to growl, but he didn't respond. Sakura felt the tension in the room growing, growing, and then growing even more… It all seemed to build up to a certain climax, as the two boy continued their staring match.

The girls, who developed quicker than boys anyway, were budding into puberty already, and thus developing hormones. You could all but _see_ the waves of pheromones coursing through the air. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, Toru (a boy a row in front of them, who'd just been explaining to Daichi and Tomomi just how big a fish he'd caught), stretched his arms out wide, showing them the length of the fish, and subsequently knocked and unsuspecting Naruto into an even less expecting Sasuke, and they ended up KISSING!

Several girls (those who were furthest along into puberty, and especially those with slight yaoi-fangirl-tendencies) ended up with bloody noses, while the rest looked at the scene before them positively freaked out, before bursting into a raging fit. Sakura felt more than heard herself growling out: "Na…Ru…To!", and then she contemplated on whether to murder him (and the best way of doing so), or to drop in a dead faint. In the mean while, Inner Sakura was switching between raging at Naruto (SHE was supposed to have gotten Sasuke's _first _kiss!), and staring into the deeps of their shared mind, pensively…

0o0

Outer Sakura's deliberation only lasted a few mere seconds, but just when she'd decided on the former, however, Iruka-sensei entered, and she (and just about every other child in the room) soon forgot about the incident for the moment. After all, they were about to be told where they would meet their new sensei's, as well as who they were going to be teamed up with (for a _very_ long time).

At Iruka-sensei's request, everyone returned to their seats. First they had to endure a speech by Iruka-sensei (truly, the man had no skills for that particular subject of teaching, especially when he got all emotional over it), but they all understood. A lot of them cried too, because they'd known him for such a long, and now they were leaving. But in the end, Iruka-sensei cheered them all up, saying it wasn't as if they weren't going to see each other anymore at all. Each and every one of them was welcome to come back and chat with him whenever they wanted to. And with that, he started calling out the teams, starting at team 1.

"We've arranged all the groups such that the overall abilities are as near equivalent as we could get them, with a few, minor changes here and there." Iruka-sensei told them, then proceeded. It seemed to take ages, at least for Sakura, and Naruto. They both had patience-issues... But then it finally came! "Team Seven!", Iruka-sensei said, "Will consist of Uzumaki Naruto… Haruno Sakura…" Sakura wailed, while Naruto cheered. "And Uchiha Sasuke." It was now Naruto's time for despair, and Sakura's to laugh from joy. Sasuke remained indifferent throughout the whole. At the end of the listing (Team 8: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino; Team 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji), Naruto shot up, pointing at Sasuke, while blaring out: "Why is a top-student like me in a group with this guy?". Iruka frowned, then explained: "Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. And you, Naruto, had the WORST scores! This happened because we wanted to evenly divide abilities between the groups." Then, after a moment of thought, and a quick look at the incredulous look on Sakura's face, he added: "Sakura being the exception I mentioned earlier. She, too, falls into the higher category, but this was the best way to round you guys up." Iruka paused for a moment, then continued on with: "Team 7 is to wait in this classroom for their sensei. He will be here half an hour after I finish up with the rest of the teams. Now, Team 8…"

0o0

Afterwards, the three of them waited diligently for about 2 hours. Sasuke looked as bored as ever, Sakura tried to keep Naruto in check, and said (dead)last ninja decided to make their sensei pay for being late, and leaving them to themselves for so long. He produced a board sweeper, and proceeded to bolt it between the shoji-screens that made the door to their classroom. Sakura tried to stop him, but only for a little bit, as she seemed to realise (somewhere deep, _deep_ down), that she actually enjoyed the idea of the prank. So when they heard footsteps approach (after another hour and a half), she did nothing to alert their new sensei of it.

A hand appeared, it pushed the door to the side, and the sweeper fell down on a head filled with grey hair, just as planned. Something seemed familiar to Sakura, about the head, but she couldn't place it properly. She didn't dwell on it for too long, however, as she tried to convince their new sensei that she'd had nothing to do with it, that it was all Naruto's fault, that she'd tried to stop him, that… "My first impressions of you guys are…" the man cut her off, making her lay her eyes on him fully for the first time. He had a mask on his face that covered the lower half, and wore his hitae-ate diagonally. So, in effect, the only visible part of his head was his right eye, and a little part of his upper cheek. His hair appeared grey, but there was a certain glimmer over it, that made her consider 'silver' as another possible name for the unique color. Just as unique as her own, actually. She was pulled out of her musings over his facial features (which, by the way, she felt strangely connected to, as though she'd had them memorised, yet had forgotten about), when the man in front of the trio continued his explanation of the first impression they'd made on him with : "I hate you guys."

Sakura felt her heart break at those words. Outwardly, she just seemed to get a little shot down (Naruto was quite vocal, though, and Sasuke showed no perceptible emotions as usual), but inwardly… Inwardly, Inner Sakura was ranting "No! NO! _NO! _We've told him it was Naruto's idea! Why'd he hate us too? Why him, of all people, not him! Nooooo!" and so forth. While Outer Sakura shared the sentiment, she was wondering why Inner Sakura seemed to act as though she knew their sensei already, and why she placed such values in his opinion. She'd only voiced the thought for a second, when Inner Sakura seemed to stop dead in her tracks. "Yeah, that's right, why _do_ I care so much for his opinion, anyway?" And then she just went on with her ramblings, just leaving the 'why him?' part out, with renewed vigor.

0o0

Kakashi'd never passed a class as of yet. At all. Mainly because he felt none of this academy students would've made good Genin, or decent ninja's, though part of his decision was based on his fear of human contact. Nothing good ever came of it when he mingled with others, he'd learnt that lesson a long time ago. But when he got the manes of the next team he'd have to test, for the first time in kami-knew how long, he felt a reaction. Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi-vessel, loudmouthed and dead-last. Uchiha Sasuke, sole (innocent) survivor of the Uchiha-massacre, emotionless (or so he wanted to portray himself), and probably just as inclined to talk small-talk as Kakashi himself was… In other words, not. Other than the very essentials, in any way. And last, but most certainly not least, Haruno Sakura…

Over the years, Kakashi thought he'd done quite a good job at removing, barring, _erasing_ her from his thoughts. But that theory flew out the window faster than Naruto needed to cross the whole village of Konoha when there was ramen at stake, when he first saw her name written in kanji at his instruction scroll again. Fate, it would seem, had led their respective life paths on a collision course. He wondered…The Sandaime couldn't possibly have forgotten about the incident, could he? Not only did the man have the memory capacity of an elephant, their particular case had been an extremely special one. He knew, for a fact, that the file was currently, and had been from the beginning, been ranked 'unranked'. This meant that nobody, except for the Hokage of someone with directly given permission from said Hokage, had access to the file. And now she was paired up with Uchiha and Uzumaki, with _him_ as a Jounin-sensei? What on earth had the Hokage been thinking, if at all?

Sighing, Kakashi shook his head, and told the 3 of them to meet him at Ishi-no-yane in 15 minutes. He strolled off, but kept his ears open.

At first, all he could hear were whispers, rapidly diminishing as he gained ground. Then Uzumaki Naruto's (loud) voice, enquiring where he could find Ishi-no-yane, and then quick footfalls, trailing him. He only heard one set, but he'd learned never to make assumptions (the hard way), so he didn't, not even in the case of three not-even-Genin-ranked teenagers.

Figuring he'd already made them wait long enough for the day, Kakashi headed directly to Ishi-no-yane. When he got there, he was mildly surprised to see the three of them already seated there. He turned around, just in time to see a clone of Sakura's waive daintily at him, before disappearing into a fog of smoke. For a moment, he felt an odd notion, an urge even, to waive back at the now-smoke, but he dismissed it just as quickly. He turned back toward the trio, then smiled. It wasn't all that visible because of his mask, but he smiled anyway, a fake one, out of habit.

0o0

"Now then," he started, "tell me something about yourself." At their non-descript stares, he explained: "You know, things you like, hate, your dreams, your hobbies and the like. You there, you go first!"  
"Huh? Why me, why me?" Naruto yelled at a _way_ too loud a volume of voice. Then he quieted down a little, and asked: "Sensei, why don't you introduce yourself first?"

Oh well… Might as well give them _something… _Kakashi thought, then said: "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream… I have a few hobbies."

Sakura frowned, then whispered to the boys: "So all we really found out was his name…" They nodded. At the man who they now knew as Hatake Kakashi's former request, Naruto went first.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen. But I like the ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought for me even more. I hate the three minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water with the ramen. My hobby is to eat and compare cup ramen!" Inner Sakura asked outer, what the chance was that he'd want to become a 'cup ramen' in the future. Outer Sakura had to literally put her fist in her mouth to stop giggling... Though she already kind of knew the answer. So Naruto continued: "And my dream is to become greater than the Hokage's, the best of them all! I'm going to make the villagers recognise my existence!" Kakashi murmured to himself: "I see, he grew up in an interesting way", then in a louder voice he said: "Okay, next."

Sakura was next, and she couldn't quite contain her giggles as well as she would've liked to. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like… well, the person I like is…" she shot a quick glance at Sasuke, "and my hobby is… well, my dream is to…" another set of glances, then she cried out: "Nyaaaa!"

Kakashi frowned at her words. Somehow, Uchiha Sasuke had just lost a few points in his esteem, though he couldn't tell why for the life of him. Perhaps the personal, protective streak he'd felt for the girl rooted a little deeper than he'd originally thought? He spoke out loud in a stage whisper: "Girls your age must be more interested in love than in ninja training…", in the hopes of making her realise what she was doing. When she didn't, however, he just said: "Last guy." To get it over with.

Sasuke sighed, then got a very serious look on his face. He spoke in a low voice: "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate, and there aren't a lot of things I like. Also, for the future, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. The revival of my clan, and to… kill a certain man." Naruto freaked out silently at those last words, hoping with all his might that Sasuke wasn't referring to him, and Sakura could do nothing more than admire him for his coolness.

"Just as I thought… Alright, you three all have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow." The scarecrow said. "Oooh, mission? What kind of mission, will we get to fight, what do we need to bring, where do we meet, who…" BANG! Sakura'd knocked Naruto over the head for the many questions he'd asked, but Kakashi decided to answer them anyway, because it was information they needed. But first… He giggled manicly, and at their inquiry he said: "Well, if I say this, you three are certainly going to be surprised. Out of the 27 graduates, only 9 are going to become genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a 66 percent dropout rate."

They all stared at him in shock, no! This couldn't be! "See, you are surprised!" Hatake Kakashi grinned. When Naruto got over his stupor, he ground out: "No way! I went through so much trouble… Then what was the final test at the academy for?" His sensei answered: "Simple! It just picks out those who are qualified to become a genin." Then he thought for a moment, and gave them the information they'd asked for earlier, though he doubted whether they'd still remember asking for it.

"Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at the training grounds. Bring your shinobi equipment and meet at 5 A.M. at ground 4!" Then he added, with his meanest, most intimidating grin/look/stare: "Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You're going to throw it up if you do."

All of them shivered.

**That's it, for now then, folks. But I promise a new chapter, and soon.**

Yakusoku desu!


	8. Dream Meeting

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters.**

'**Inner Sakura' is quite mature in this fic, kind of already grown up, but helping the (still young) Outer Sakura on her way to adulthood. xD**

**Thanks to all you reviewers out there, you've really made my day! (/week/month, but you get the picture :P). Every time I read a review, it doesn't matter what it says, I'm glad to know people find the story worth of a review. It fills my heart with joy… **

**This chapter just **_**rolled**_** out, so it's about twice as long as I usually make them. ****Enjoy!**

**And now, without further ado; **

**Chapter eight:** **Dream Meeting**

Sakura returned home just an hour before dinner time, exhausted mentally as well as physically. Of course, she hadn't really done all that much today, that her parents knew of, yet she still all but collapsed as soon as she entered the house. "Tadaima…" she spoke softly to those listening, then immediately went upstairs to prepare a bath. She felt that was just what she needed to relax completely. As she waited for it to fill, she thought back to the previous day. How she'd asked Sasuke to come home with her, and how he'd refused her yet _again._ How Naruto'd tried to take her up on her offer, and how she'd shot him down. Really, baka…

Then she thought about what tomorrow would bring, and the shivers ran down her back. Their new sensei, Hatake Kakashi was his name? He was weird. And not just plain, regular weird. No, he was abnormally fierce, trembling awkwardly, Inner Sakura becoming silent, shaking on her feet- weird. And that ranked _way_ high up in her book.

She undressed, and scubbed herself down. Then she washed the soap off, and slowly lowered herself in the tub. "Atatakai!" she whimpered, but her body adjusted to the temperature fairly quick, and she felt her aching muscles relax, bit by bit. She was out of practise, she realised, and that was where the cramp came from. Especially her arms.

This afternoon, she'd suddenly felt an urge she hadn't felt for a while; the urge to practise with senbon. She'd all but forgotten about the needles with deadly potential she still caried around out of habit. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she was on her way to become a 'real' Genin now, or something with their new sensei perhaps? She sort of got the feeling he was connected to her senbon, in a way.

She'd spent the rest of the day, after getting rid of Naruto, practising in the forest. It had felt refreshing, to scale the woods, re-discovering all her favorite places. But for some reason, she stayed in the part of the forest closest to the big gates. Anything further than about a mile away, and she started to feel distinctly uncomfortable. Also, the few times she'd actively tried to go further, Inner Sakura had come up out of seemingly nowhere, and told her about 'all the better places there were closer to the gates', and 'all their plus-points', and so forth. So she just decided to stay close, in order to avoid the headache that came from venturing too far out.

And as if the training itself hadn't been enough, she wanted to know if she still knew how to weave strings of chakra to her senbon. That was what'd exhausted her the most, as she found she'd all but lost the skill. Determined to regain it, and _at least _get it up to par with her former level again, she'd all but drained her entire chakra supply training. Afterwards, she realised she still had to walk all the way back to her house, and also just how much chakra she used in her daily life. Including speeding her step up a bit…

0o0

_Sakura opened her eyes to find herself looking at a wall, covered with senbon. The wall itself appeared pink in color, though Sakura wasn't too sure about that, as there was not really any space left not covered with the deadly needles. She realised she was lying on a (pink) floor, and rolled over to face the other wall. She saw a pink ceiling on the way, before her eyes fixated on the far wall, which was, surprise surprise, pink as well. She gave the room a quick once-over; it was about 4 by 5 by 2 metres and none of the other walls conained anything, other than a bright layer of pink paint. And not just any pink, but the magenta-kind of pink her own hair posessed. There were lots of kinds of pink (créme pink, hot pink, neon pink, magenta, rose, etc.), but Sakura was pretty sure the name for this particular color was magenta._

_The room had no windows or (visible) doors, but included a strangely comfy looking love-seat, and a little training spot in one of the far corners. By now, all of the overwhelming pink was getting on her nerves, as she didn't seem able to escape it, even when she closed her eyes in exasperation. She loningly thought of her own room, which she'd had her parents paint into a real life forest as soon as she'd had any say in the matter. Just because her hair was pink, didn't neccecarily mean she wanted everything else in her life to be so too! And every year, on her birthday, on top of all the other presents she got, her parents had an additional aspect added to the forest, whether it be a deer, a special tree, or a pair of menacing, yellow eyes hidden in the growth somewhere._

_When Sakura opened her eyes again, the room had changed color to the one she'd just described to herself, though the forest seemed much more real to her now, for some reason. Sakura normally would've stood (or in her case, laid) in shock, but she found herself throwing a few surprised glances around, and assessing the situation calmly. When'd she acquired such maturity, and sharpness in reaction? She honestly couldn't tell. Then, the realised, she was feeling kinda odd, as she normally felt when deeply submersed in a discussion with Inner Sakura. As she considered the implications of that, her body seemed to move towards a corner slowly. And she couldn't do anything to stop it! 'Her' body then sighed, and mumbled to 'herself' in her mind "Quite the experience, ne?" Sakura realised she had to've (somehow…) switched places with Inner Sakura, at least for a while. And indeed, an experience it was…Being only a viewer instead of a participator gave you a whole new _view_ of a situation. _

_While she mused about all she'd found out I a few mere seconds, Inner (now Outer, really) Sakura'd set het eyes on the door that had mysteriously appeared on the wall to the right, and was now slowly advancing towards it, checking the surroundings on her way as to discern any trap that might've been hidden. (Now Inner) Sakura decided to just 'go with the flow', and see where she ended up. She now understood how 'Inner Sakura' had to feel all the time. To be able to feel, see, hear, smell (and so forth) all the things the 'real' Sakura could, but having no way to actually participate in it, other than give comments in their shared mind. It had to be a HUGE change, and suddenly feeling a compassionate streak, Sakura decided to give 'her' the opportunity to make the most of it. _

_The strange thing about the door was, it had no (visible) knob. Sakura (both of them) tried to summon some chakra to their hands, but found herself unable to do so. Shocked, she tried it once more, then proceeded to a quick and easy henge, and the cloning justu. All failed, due to lack (or rather, absense) of chakra. Positively freaked out now, 'they' reached for the door in one synchronised motion, or so it felt. As soon as her hand touched the door, it swung open outwards, and she had to shield her eyes from the bright glare that _something_ from the outside seemed to emit. _

_She stepped outside, and the doo fell into the lock behind her. She turned around, fast on her heels, but she was too late. Any sign of the door even having been there had dissapeared. She turned again, and faces a forest clearing, with a lake to the left. It was night time, and the full moon was out, bathing everything in it's light. It was hard to imagine it blinding her before, but seeing as there wasn't any other sourse of light around, it was the only possibility. Then she wondered, wasn't it only a new moon yesterday?_

_Facing the lake again, Sakura felt the sudden urge to go for a dive. She realised it was very hot, and the water appeared deliciously cool and clear. When she'd listened eagerly for (what felt like) five minutes, and heard nothing strange, or anything that appeared to've come from human origine, she decided, what the heck. She'd take the risk._

_She'd hidden behind a bush out of habit, but it was so dark there (some branches overhead removed all traces of the moon even being out at all), she had to undress by touch alone. She couldn't remember putting on her clothes that morning (which consisted, apparently, of underwear, a thin summer dress, and (thank god, low) heels). She was surprised she hadn't keeled over the moment she took a step, she almost never wore heels. Though, she did almost fall flat on her face when trying to remove the offending objects from her feet, behind a bush with 0 percent visibility. When she had removed all of her clothes exept for her panties (a girl wanted at least _some_ privacy, even when there wasn't anyone around…), and had even let her hair down (she'd pinned it up with senbon from the room earlier), she rounded the bush, and headed for the lake._

_She reached the edge of the lake, (thank god the moon could reach her now, and she could use it's shine to prevent herself from tripping), and knelt down to feel for the temperature of the lake with her hand. It was cool enough, but she almost fell face-forward into the lake from the surprise she encountered in the reflection of the lake. That person wasn't her! Or was it…?_

_It seemed to move like her, pulled the same face as her when extremely surprised (which, she thought, was in all honestly actually a pretty lame face), tripped like her, and by now, looked just as confused as she felt herself. She tentatively reached her hand out once more, towards the surface of the lake, and saw the reflection stranger perform the same act. _

_The now-Outer Sakura didn't seem to give more than a little thought to the matter, as she knew this to be her usual look. She was merely surprised she'd even changed bodies with her minds co-inhabitant. To give 'her' a little more awareness of the body she was inhabiting at the moment, she skimmed her own body with her eyes, from the top down. She allowed now-Inner Sakura to memorise all of 'her' new curves, as well as elongated bone-structure, and strong muscles that seemed to be able to pack quite a punch._

_After a minute or so, she felt she'd given enough of an exploration, and proceeded to dive into the fabulously cool water. She'd deal with everything else later, when she'd cooled down some. The lake streched out further than she'd originally thought, she found, as she swam to the far shore and back a few times. The forest surrounding said far shore was a little denser still, giving it a creepy look. And the vision of her own, slightly pale legs in comparison to the darkness of the depths of the lake below her, was also quite eery._

0o0

After Kakashi'd left the three Academy-graduates to wallow in despair (over what he'd allegedly was going to do to them on the morrow), he swiftly transported himself back to the memorial stone, to gather his thoughts back on track. He stood there for about 20 to 25 minutes, then walked a few yards back. He settled down, with his back against a tree, and thought back to his meeting. Sakura… He couldn't for the life of him figure out just exactly how or what he felt for or about her. He'd been glad to've been able to see her again in the flesh, but dissapointed to find out she wasn't the ninja he'd been at that age. Then again, nobody was the ninja he'd been at that, or any, age. But he'd at least expected her to've focussed a little more on ninja-training then on boys. Or just _a boy_.

It still stung that she'd only had eyes for the Uchiha-survivor (whom, by the way, he would have to keep a close watch on in any case, since his hatred for his aniki Itachi could pose a problem in the near future, considering his determination to get revenge). And he didn't even know why it stung. Which, on it's own, was another mystery surrounding the Haruno girl that'd invaded his thoughts more than he would've liked. And Uzumaki… Well, he was just a category on his own, and that was that. Strange, that a meeting with a girl from way back could do to him, what endless different therapies hadn't accomplished. To get him to relax. Slowly, as he tried to figure out whether he wanted the trio to pass or not, Kakashi did just that.

0o0

_Kakashi was running, jumping from treebranch to treebranch. Not just running, he realised, and nog even merely running at his fastest. No, he was _fleeing_! He wasn't sure from what or whom, or what'd caused Hatake Kakashi, Copycat Sharingan to run like hell. All he knew, was that he was nearly scared out of his wits, and that someplace nearby was a safe haven he was desperately trying to reach. He didn't know what the safe place entailed, or why it was a safe place, or even how he knew about it. Only his gut feeling counted at the moment, and said gut feeling was telling him to speed up even more, because _it_ was near. And near it was…_

_Because not a second later, he stumbled on a clearing, (the nth one, kami knew he hadn't kept track), and he suddenly felt safe, almost _home_. He listened attentively to his surroundings, and at first sight everything seemed to be okay. No trace of pursuers left, and no immediate human prescense he could sense in the nearby area. And this was what scared him even more, because why did feel safe all of the sudden? He was carefull not to let his guard down _too_ much, but the place just seemed to inspire peace, and had to characteristics of a genjustu. So when he saw the edge of a seemingly small pond on the other side, and when he realised just how thirsty he suddenly was, he decided to go for it._

_Still acutely aware of the fright he'd feltjust moments before, and weary of the sudden relaxation of his nerves, he inched closer to said edge. He then knelt down, and eyed the softly ripling water. The other edge wasn't visible, so he couldn't discern what was making the rimples. He kept his one eye traight forwards as he scooped up water with his hands, and enjoyed the coolnes of it, and the structure. But to drink, he had to lower his mask, because he didn't particularly felt like sucking the water through his mask. So he lowered it, slowly, and then gave in to temptation. He lunged forward, and gulped as much water down as he could in a short amount of time, with the lightning speed he was known for._

0o0

_Just exactly _how_ she became aware of his prescense, Sakura never found out. Suddenly, she just __knew__ he was there, still too far away to be seen. As he approached, she scrambled back to the nearest ledge to hide behind it. She tucked her legs in as far as she could, but they were longer than the one's she'd had before, so she'd measured the distance a little wrongly. She hoped that the paleness of them agains the dark water wouldn't stick out too much, nor that the stranger would notice the parts that didn't fit inside her hiding place. She proceeded to witness his arrival at the other side of the lake. He managed to stay hidden in the shades for almost the entire 'trip', so she didn't even know what he looked like. He knelt down, still hidden by the shadow of an overhanging tree limb. She felt that he seemed to stick to the darkness almost by instinct, as he didn't seem to put too much (visible) effort into the matter. Then he removed a mask Sakura hadn't even been aware he'd been wearing, and leaned down to drink._

_Sakura's breath stuck in her throat, he was gorgeous! Up until now, she hadn't looked far beyond Sasuke, and when she did, it was only to the other kids in her age-group. But in that group, Kiba was too wild, Shino too scary, Naruto too annoying, and Neji had smoother hair than she did (really, she intended to ask him for his secret, if she ever worked up the courage to approach the stand-offish boy), and so forth, and so forth. All of them seemed to have a problem, seemed to inhabit something designed to run her off. And Sasuke… well, he was just Sasuke. And strangely enough, it even took her some effort to summon Sasuke from the depths of her mind, as she regarded the man now with her. What kind of miracle was he?_

_She hadn't even looked at men __that__ way before, but this man! Wow, he really blew the tops off all of her scales! She watched him drink, and was fascinated by the visual he provided. So entranced was she, that she forgot to stay behind the ledge. Oh, she remembered to stay to the sides alright, but she swam closer and closer none the less._

0o0

_Kakashi was drinking water, when he noticed some of the rimples in the water didn't originate from him, and were too strong to be mere reflections of his own rimples agains the sides. Careful not to show he knew, he let his eyes drift towards their sourse, as to determine what or whom'd caused them. Then suddenly, all seemed to collapse around him._

"_Sa… Sa…" he stammered, but couldn't bring himself to voice her name out loud. He realised, on a deeper level, that he'd been aware of her chakra signature long before, but it had felt so familiar to his soul, that it'd neglected to make itself decently known to his consciousness._

_He stared at her, as she stared back at him, straight in his eyes. He was mesmerised. And then, against his wishes, almost by instinct (though god knew he hadn't indulged in _that_ particular instinct for years), his eyes roamed lower, slowly raking down her body._

0o0

_Sakura stared in his eyes, and they seemed to give her all kinds of shivers down her back, though the water wasn't all _that_ cold… And then she watched as his eyes went lower, to her nose, her lips, her _chest_! _

_What the …? Who on earth did he think he was? And… Well, she found she couldn't _really _stay mad at him, as she found his attention quite the feeling. Other than Naruto (and he was an immature baka…) no boy (or man) had __ever__ looked at her that way. She found it exhiliarating, though a little scary at first. It made her feel special, more special than she'd ever felt in her life before…_

0o0

_Kakashi seemed to realise just exactly what he was doing, as soon as her posture stood up a little straighter, a litte more rigid. But the fact was, this displayed her legs even more, and her flat tummy, and… "Oh dear god, what's she doing to me?" he though to himself, as he forcefully turned away from the alluring sight in front of him. "Ne, miss, why are you out here?" he then said aloud, wondering whether he really wanted an answer to that, or merely to hear her voice, for him to verify if she really was who he though she was…_

0o0

"_I… I'm not sure…" Sakura said, trying to figure out for herself, _why_ she was where she was. She saw him turn away, and then trotted over to him, almost in trance. She reached out to his face, and touched it with her index finger, tracing a little line across his cheek. He didn't seem to mind, yet made no move to face her again. So she walked around him, to look at his face more clearly in the light of the full moon. "Do… Do I know you?" she asked, stammering a little. Oh, how she hoped he would say yes!_

0o0

_At the sound of her words, he found his heart aching. There was a little sing-songy tune to them, yet laced with a slight thread of worry. And suddenly, all he wanted at the moment was to hold her. So he did. He embraced the girl/woman, then tugged her down, until they were both sitting down. He held her tightly, protectively, yet kept his hands in reasonable places, considered that she was still (all but) naked. Even the temptation to let them wander was gone, and for that, he was grateful. Ever so slowly, he felt her relax into his embrace._

0o0

_When he slowly leaned forward, and streched his arms out, Sakura didn't know whether to give in to the heart-warming feeling they suddenly represented, or to smack him for (possible) lecherous thoughts. But he just acted like a close friend. One who'd just witnessed her in a deeply confused state, and offered nothing more than an embrace to lose herself in for the moment, to forget about all else in the world, and just feel safe. So she did. She leaned into him, and his chiseled chest felt comforting. She felt the skin of his hands and face, the former enclosed around her waist, but not _too_ low, and the latter while it rested on her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair, it seemed. And she didn't object to it at all. If anything, she just seemed to appreciate the contact even more, as it gave her proof of life, of security, of trust._

_And then suddenly, out of nowhere, clouds covered the skies. And within seconds, they'd burst open, unleashing a torrent of rain down on the pair._

0o0

Sakura and Kakashi both awoke with a start, and wet.

Sakura, because she'd been sliding down the tub little by little, and had found her nose and mouth filled with water all of the sudden.

Kakashi, because it had started to rain outside. The leaves overhead had kept the rain from him, mostly, but even leaves had a breaking point. And when they reached that point, thy tended to let all the water they'd encompassed down in a tiny waterfall of sorts. And such a waterfall had awoken the Copycat.

Both of them though back to the dream, and wondered what it represented.

Sakura, about who that man had been, why she'd felt comfortable around him all but naked (she didn't even want to imagine that with anyone else, not even Sasuke), and why it had felt so good, so right in his arms, just being held.

And Kakashi thought about why he'd met 'Inner Sakura' again. And about if she'd been Inner Sakura at all, and why or how that could be possible, as he hadn't been around Sakura when asleep, that much he was sure of.

And both of them wondered, how the dreamworld'd known about the way they were to wake up to, and why it had portrayed it as a rainstorm.

But neither found the answers they were looking for…

**Thank you all for being so patient, and for reviewing.** I'm not sure when the next chapter'll come out, since I haven't the faintest clue what to write about next. I suppose the 'first mission', though that won't take up much time or words at all :)

**Also, could you tell me what you found of the change of perspective?** I found it very hard to write, and I hope it came out all right. Every bit of info can help me, so please, let me know!

**One last thing: I'd like to request of you guys to send me idea's.** Tell me what you want to read, give me suggestions about nice, funny, or even angsty things you would like to see, that you would like to happen. Anything, to give me some inspiration to continue on. I don't have a personal muse waiting, so you can all apply for the position xD


	9. Becoming Friends

**A/N: A Kaka/Saku-story.**

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters.**

**I would like to thank the few of you who actually responed to my 'cry for help', and gave me some idea's to work with. They've truly inspired me into writing some more… So domo arigatou; Goddess Psyche, sasukelover20, chiyuki101 **(I was aware of the time, so I won't really count _all _of the spelling mistakes, okay? xD**), and HalfBloodPhoenix. You made my day with your positive words, and kind advice. **

'**Inner Sakura', well, do I really still have to mention her? Look in previous chapters for more information about her, ne?**

**I hope you guys will enjoy what little I've managed to produce, and now onwards, my dear readers, ride into the light! :)**

**Chapter nine: Becoming Friends**

It was evening in Konoha, and if one would care to look into one of the more secluded bars in town, one would possibly find a silver haired shinobi sitting in one of the more private corners of said bar. In front of him stood a sake cup, next to it a sake container, and next to that lay his report on the three gennin who were now in his care, for all three of them passed the test. Smiling a little, if only to himself, he thought back to the events that had happened prior that day.

The kids'd been understandably put out when he told them of the rule, '_no eating without getting a bell from me_'. At first, they hadn't understood at all. The Uzumaki kid'd gone and challenged him outright, but he'd been dealt with accordingly… Next, he'd shown the Uchiha he wasn't all _that_ (yet), by burying him whole in the ground, leaving only his head sticking out like a failed crop. And Sakura…

Sakura had dissapointed him, in a way, by only having eye for Sasuke, and totally ignoring Naruto (who, by the way, had been right in front of her, and in some _dire_ need of assitance). Kakashi'd gotten his (petty) revenge, though, by showing her a vision of Sasuke totally beaten up, begging for her to help him. He suspected the last part was the one which'd scared her the most, as Sasuke _never_ asked _anyone_ for help. Yet, in some perverse way, Kakashi found himself enjoying the experience of portraying the boy so helpless, perhaps more so than he ought to have… That she'd stumbled on the real Sasuke after that and had fainted _again_ had only been a plus in his book.

But then, out of the blue, the three of them had surprised him. After a stern lecture (which half of his former groups had ignored, and the rest hadn't understood), they had actually managed to produce the guts to defy him. Sasuke and Sakura had offered their lunch up to a bound Naruto, against his _direct_ orders. He could've acted petty, Kakashi thought to himself, and beaten them down some more. But they had truly managed to speak to the softer part of his heart, which he'd thought had been hidden deeply in the recesses of the being that was Kakashi. So he passed them, believing them to be some pretty good shinobi material, with a little shaving here and there, of course.

Yes, they would take his freedom away, and yes, he wouldn't be taking any more A or S ranked missions anytime soon, but he just _knew_ thay would compensate for it in one way or another. And having a justified reason to spend some more time with Haruno Sakura was a (big? He wondered) plus as well. He was still curious about the connection they shared. At least, the one they'd had in the past. He had never indulged in thinking about it anymore, so he wasn't even sure if the connection still existed. There was the possiblity that it had all been a dream (not very likely, but still…), or that it'd simply ceased to exist. They hadn't had any physical, flesh on flesh contact since _then_, so he couldn't honestly say it was still there. Still, he was also anxious to take that last step that would give him closure. If it turned out to be real, and still there, it could form a problem. But on the other hand, if it had dissapeared over the years, he wasn't sure whether he would be dissapointed or not…

0o0

Kakashi'd impressed the three during training, by doing nothing more than giving instuctions, then leaving to them to tend for themselves, in favour of his little orange book. Needless to say, it hadn't been a good impression… But then again, when the three of them'd spied on him once, to figure out what was beneath his mask, they'd witnessed him sparring with not one, but _two_ ANBU, and beat them easily, he'd managed to instill at least _some_ respect for his power into them.

0o0

The first few missions as a team had been awkward for the whole lot of them. Sasuke was only trying to get strong, stronger, and even _stronger_ as fast as he could, so he just wanted to finish as much missions as he could in as little time as was possible. Naruto was only focussed in trying to match Sasuke's strength, beating him, and impressing Sakura to be of any real value, and Sakura herself felt generally miserable on the inside, though she always had a happy-mask planted firmly in place. Only during one time when it got _really_ bad, did she stay at home, for one day max, claiming it to be 'the time of the month', effectively smothering every chance or will the boys had to interrogate her.

The reason for this one, bad day, was that Sasuke's comments had finally gotten to her. His constant grunts and/or snide remarks on how her taijutsu was _way_ below average, her genjutsu just _barely _up to par, and her ninjutsu _hardly worth mentioning,_ had instilled some kind of consciousness in her that she hadn't been aware of before. Of course, the fact that she had had several more strange dreams over the course of the next month hadn't really helped either…

0o0

In the mean while, Kakashi was trying to identify the sudden surges of emotions he seemed to have around his team, or to be more precise, around a certain Haruno girl… Demo, while this was usually not so very hard for 'normal' people, it was doubly as hard for a certain shinobi… After all, he'd effectively managed to ban most of his emotions since early age, when he got accepted into ANBU. It was the only way to insure his sanity, though it came back as a good old bite in the butt, it would seem. Another reason for him to get his emotions in check, was his fondness of Icha Icha. And it just wouldn't do to pass out from bloodloss, now would it?  
Because a) nobody would notice, with him wearing a (dark) mask and all, and b) that he would never, and then really _never_ live it down in front of everyone else. Not that he cared, for that matter, but still…

0o0

But the team did eventually fall into a nice rhythm, that actually worked for them. It took them a while, but when the fourth month came around, the tension seemed to've seeped out of them. Their teamwork had improved (Kakashi'd told Sasuke that as long as the boy couldn't beat him, he shouldn't worry about the state of his teammate, that'd shut him up effectively), and they'd fallen into a semi-comfortable working/training environment.

Because they were a 4-man cell, usually they split up in teams of two during training, and whenever possible during missions. On one side there was Naruto and Sasuke, whose competitive sides wouldn't let them accept the other as superior. On the other side were Sakura and Kakashi, who, by now, were starting to form a little friendship of their own.

0o0

When Naruto, at one point, had stated (quite bluntly, but then again, he wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't) his dislike (more like complained loud-mouthedly) to the Hokage about their 'crappy missions'. He wondered (out _loud_, of course), why they weren't getting any 'cool one's', like escorting, or the like. The Hokage had surprised both him and his team, when he agreed to give them a 'test-case', a low-ranked escort of a wealthy merchant to a nearby village. Said mission went off without a hitch, and soon they were given more of the like.

Not _too_ much, mind you, but enough to keep Naruto from complaining every other minute, let alone second. And, as they were wont to, they developed a habit for this as well. During an escort-mission, Naruto and Sasuke split the front and back between them, changing every other mission, to keep an eye out. Kakashi watched the flank, as Sakura stayed close to 'the cargo', operating as both a mediator as well as a shinobi. The very few times when it actually got to a fight, Naruto and Sasuke were _miles_ ahead of Sakura in the offence, leaving her behind to man the defences, as well as take care of any potential threats that happened to make it past their defences. "Puh, like that'd ever happen…" Sakura'd mumbled to herself the third time they'd pointed that out to her. Kakashi was left to oversee the whole, and interject whenever neccesary.

And even though the only reason for the two boys' behaviour was the need to gain battle experience, Sakura still perceived it as them thinking her weak (no matter how many times Sasuke grunted, or Naruto denied it), and in the end, she'd worked up the courage to ask Kakashi-sensei for his help. This had taken a lot out of her, and it'd taken her about half a month to work up to it, but she found herself relieved when she finally managed to get the (what she thought were embarrassing) words out in the open. Of course, Kakashi'd agreed, though he had seemed a little hesitant at first.

0o0

When they first started off, Kakashi usually taught Sakura genjutsu, as she seemed to have a natural instinct for them. Because of a _certain reason_, he tried to refrain from taijutsu as long as he could, but in the end (with her almost _begging_ for it), he started rehearsing the basic kata with her.

At one point, (when Sasuke and Naruto were trying to see who could run the most rounds around Konoha's walls, thus leaving them to fend for themselves), Sakura'd been performing a certain kate so wrong, so completely and utterly wrong, that Kakashi'd told her so outright. This, of course, hadn't helped her selfesteem at _all,_ especially when she just couldn't understand what he was trying to make her do. So Kakashi approached her, and helped her along. This was the first time they'd ever had skin-to-skin contact, and they both immediately felt _it_. _It_ was still there, it seemed, though only Kakashi knew what _it_ meant. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked him timidly, while she sneaked a glance up at his eye, "did you feel that too?"

Kakashi thought about denying for a moment, but that wouldn't have done any more good that it would've done bad, he figured. "Hai, I did." He responded, then sighed. What to tell her? Oh well, best get startednow, it had to happen sooner or later. "I'll tell you what I can, but I'm afraid it isn't much, okay? That way we can get it over with in one time, and we won't have to get back on this particular subject again in the future." he said, then continued after her nod. "You just felt something you've probably not felt with anyone else before. I'm sorry to say I haven't the faintest clue as to what it means, only that it won't harm you in anyway, nor will it affect your abilities as a shinobi. Also, I would like you to refrain from mentioning this 'connection' we share to anyone other than me, and even then, only when in private. This is a matter of great importance, as it could relate to the safety of you and yours."

Sakura thought about this, then replied she understood, at least the part that he'd told her. As to the part he left out… "Kakashi-sensei?" she hesitantly put forward, and "Hai, Sakura?" he replied. She suddenly wanted to tell him something, anything, yet the words stuck in her throat. "Daijobu desu," Kakashi said, the grin barely audible in his voice, "I don't mind at all. So, if 'Your Highness' is ready, how 'bout 50 sit-ups, and then 75 push-ups, ne?"

"Aaaargh," Sakura groaned out, but complied none-the-less, while Kakashi 'supervised', aka, read his book in the shade of a tree, while yelling for her to speed up every minute or so. Whens he was done, she agreed to help Kakashi out with his training. Hers was over, true, but she couldn't resist an offer to spend more time to get to know this enigma of a man. Plus, Kakashi-sensei seemed so closed off from everything and everyone almost all the time she was around him, such an offer was a seemingly once in a life time opportunity. And Hell if she was going to let it get away!

His training consisted of 2500 one-fingered-push-ups. This number kind of spooked her out, especially when he told her that was only one of the _many_ things he did on an average training. "Demo," he told her, "you could help me out with this one, as it requires nothing more than for you to sit on me back, as added weight." Now, normally the weight of a now 14 year old girl wouldn't really have helped all that much, wouldn't you think? Wrong!

Because little Sakura had gotten so inspired by Kakashi on the subject of Genjutsu, that she'd actually borrowed all but half of the books she could find on the subject in Konoha's Library, and brought them _all_ to read in after training. So now, she sat on Kakashi's moving back, a huge load of books surrounding her, as she read. This way, the training worked for both of them, and it helped build up a sense of companionship between the two.

This type of training became a regular even between the two, whenever Naruto and Sasuke ran off somewhere to 'train', or as Sakura'd once called it (albeit whispering) 'laying them out on the table and measuring'.The first time Kakashi'd heard this, he wasn't sure if he'd heard it correctly. Surely, a 14-year old onna shouldn't, _couldn't_ be sprouting such words? Wrong again. Because when he asked her to repeat that, he sounded so serious, that she complied without a further thought. At that point, Kakashi had to try his hardest not to fall over laughing, though a few snickers wacked his shoulders a bit. No, falling over wouldn't have done him nor Sakura good, as she was curretly, yet again, posted on his back, with what now seemed (and felt!) like the _entire_ library there with her.

But most of the times, whenever this kind of training ensued, Sakura and Kakashi didn't exchange more than a dozen words between the two of them. If you'd have told _anyone_ of this, like for instance Sakura's okaa-san, or otou-san, or even Ino, they'd have sent you over to Konoha Hospital to get yourself checked over. Surely, Sakura couldn't go for more than 5, 10 minutes tops without at least uttering _something_? But it seemed that Kakashi had a calming influence on her, and a good one at that. Indeed, whenever Naruto got just a _little_ out of hand, and Sakura felt the urge coming up to smack him, she glanced at Kakashi. And more than half of the time, she actually felt some sort of relaxation wash over, just from knowing he was near, and undisturbed. That didn't keep her from knocking said baka's lights out the other half of the time, but still…

_As you all perfectly know, reviews make my day._

_But then again, I don't think even half of you will go through the trouble, now will you?_

_How about if I leave some cookies and milk out, ne? _

_They're waiting for you all by my back door, but you can _only _get some if you review... xD_

_And lastly: I'm still looking for some kind reviewers who will spike my muse back into action, or even just my imagination. Clues, hints, tips, flames, everything's welcome, as long as it'll give me something to work with.  
I'll get it done without you guys (and girls), of course, but won't it be _so_ much more fun if you actually had anything to say about what would happen in the next chapter? :)_


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Naruto, Romance