"Kakashi-sensei!"

The called one he tried to pretend for a moment that he hadn't heard his former apprentice screaming behind him. He knew perfectly well what she was mad at him about and he didn't want to deal with her... not on Christmas Eve.

Therefore, he used one of his favourite techniques and he dissolved into thin air, which made the girl even more furious. Well, it was quite flattering of her to get so upset with him.

"Shannaro!" He heard her scream as he landed round the corner in a blind alley, wanting to wait out her fit of rage somehow, but seeing her walk past his hideout, stamping loudly and with her hands clenched into fists, he laughed softly.

Sakura always knew how to make him laugh. In fact, she was his favourite student, he strongly preferred her than Sasuke, who rebelled and decided to kill his friend just like that, and she was also much more disarming than Naruto, who made up for quite a lot with his stupidity.

"I was just talking to Naruto, I know what you did! You can't hide from me, Kakashi-sensei!" she roared, and the mentioned one narrowed his eyes under the influence of the smile that appeared on his face.

Until he remembered as he was training Sakura for her second chūnin attempt. In addition to her monstrous strength and medical abilities, she had to possess at least one elemental technique, and this was the earth style that turned out to be quite a good idea for her considering her chakra manipulation skills and thus her supernatural strength.

She managed to win the preliminary fights and he had to admit that it was an interesting show. In the second part of the fight, she had to face two opponents, she won only one of these matches, but in the second part she showed real caution, which is why Tsunade proclaimed her a chūnin. Kakashi felt that she fully deserved this title.

So far, at the age of eighteen, kunoichi decided that it was enough for her. Perhaps one day she will take part in the jōnin exam, but so far, she hasn't had the time for it. Especially since she would have to face her true nature, which Kakashi discovered quite by accident, although Sakura had a much easier time mastering the release of the earth than capturing the nature of the water. Perhaps someday they will resume their trainings...

Sakura walked on, so Kakashi, still with a smile wandering on his lips, came out of his hiding place and walked in the completely opposite direction when he suddenly felt someone push him against the wall with all her might. The man stumbled back, but didn't use the body substitution technique, knowing full well that his apprentice could tear down half the village if she wanted to, and that in turn didn't suit him. Besides, he was curious about the confrontation.

"Ohayo, Sakura," he greeted, her fist hitting the wall next to his face, breaking the hard building material a bit.

Kakashi smiled innocently.

"I just talked to Naruto," the pink-hair said through her clenched teeth. "How could you decline my invitation to Christmas dinner, Kakashi-sensei?"

Her face was way too close to his. Her green eyes radiated such fury that more than one might get scared, but not him. He had seen her like this too many times in their training sessions together. Too many times he had almost been hit with the ton of boulders she was throwing. He knew her inside out...

"Well, I thought you'd better spend this time in a group of your peers..." he replied, staring into her eyes.

Sakura gritted her teeth in rage.

"Apart from Naruto and all the rest of our friends, there will also be Kurenai-sensei with her daughter, and also Gai-sensei, because without him it would be boring, and Iruka-sensei, and even Tsunade herself... You have to come! This is important! I don't want Naruto to be alone this Christmas, and we're a family..."

Kakashi sighed bored. "I'm sure your company is enough for him."

"I don't think so, shannaro!" Sakura clenched her fist on his vest. "You have to come, Kakashi-sensei! You know perfectly well how much you mean to Naruto... you have always been important to him, we are the only remaining members of Team Seven, and to him we are like family."

The man smiled, clearly amused by her open anger.

"It's okay," he agreed. "Only if you and Naruto stop calling me sensei, you're both already chūnin, so it doesn't make sense for you to call me in such wa..."

"But this is out of respect to our first teacher!" Sakura huffed.

Kakashi smirked.

"Sasuke somehow had no problem with it."

"He has no respect for you..."

"At least he understands perfectly well how the shinobi system works," said Hatake after some thought.

Sakura growled something incomprehensible.

"All right! We're not calling you sensei anymore, Kakashi!" She muttered his name through gritted teeth, which in turn made him laugh.

"Wonderfully. If you can handle it, I'll come over for this Christmas dinner."

Sakura bit her lower lip as she realized that she still had her hand clamped on Kakashi's clothes, and as his breath wrapped her through the mask, she also realized how close their faces were to each other. She blushed and quickly moved away from her former teacher.

"Great then!" she snapped, then turned on her heel and walked away.

Kakashi wondered if they could keep their word, and Sakura, in turn, wondered how — the hell — was she able to convince Naruto to give up exaggerated civilities...