Ibiki barely bat an eye when he walked home and saw a white board in his living room along with five small bodies invading the couches. Sakura had a marker in hand and currently pointed towards an anatomical body drawn beside the words Poisons 101. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, hey, old man!" Sakura greeted. "You came just in time for Friday lessons! We just started if you wanted to sit in."

"No thanks," he said. Then paused. "Did you steal that whiteboard?"

She held her hand over her heart in deep offense.

"Why do you always think I'm doing something like that? Not everything I do is illegal," she pouted. Shino adjusted his glasses from his seat to her right.

"Only most of it," he commented. Akamaru yipped in agreement, causing Kiba to bark out a laugh.

"Come on, Sak. We all know you probably took it from the Academy when Iruka-sensei wasn't looking."

Sakura snatched a pillow from beside a giggling Hinata and half-heartedly smacked him in the face. Ino cried out a "HAH " in triumph from beside the heiress on the couch adjacent to the mess and pointed.

"That's karma, dog boy! You shouldn't have uprooted those flowers even after I told you not to!"

"And Iruka-sensei let me borrow the whiteboard, you doubters. Especially you, old man! Want me to get a permit for that too?"

"Stuff it, kid," Ibiki grunted. He pulled out the papers from under his arm and set it down on the counter with his gaze lingering on the two others on the third couch. Sasuke had a sketchbook in his lap and charcoal residue smearing his fingers, his attention on whatever he was working on. 

Drawing? He couldn't really remember a time when the boy even spared a thought at the art. Next to him was a girl he vaguely recognized as one of Maito Gai's new genin-- Tenten, if he recalled correctly, who was all smiles and chuckles despite being a new addition to the group.

He caught Sakura's eye from across the way and jerked his head towards the counter. She nodded as she tossed her marker in Sasuke's direction.

"I need the respiratory system next," she said. He stood.

"Hm. Colored?"

"If you want to."

Ibiki's gaze lingered on the group for a bit longer as the idle chatter raised in volume and Sasuke started drawing a pair of lungs in a frightening amount of detail. Sakura quietly slid up to his side as she scanned the papers splayed in front of her.

"Since when did the Uchiha brat get all artsy?" he murmured.

"Since he met Sai at the community center during one of his anger management sessions," she replied, equally as quiet. "Remember Sai? Pale skin, dark hair, can speak a million words without taking a breath-"

Ibiki involuntarily twitched. Danzo's civilian grand-nephew who didn't know how to shut the hell up. Right.

"-anyway, Sai goes a lot of different places to find scenes for his 'Daily Life' portfolio he started about a year ago. When he's not in school, he hangs out at every place he can think of to sketch people's, you know, daily lives. Long story short, Sasuke got angry because Sai unintentionally insulted him, they bantered a bit, and now Sai's teaching him how to draw. I think it's a good outlet for Sasuke's anger."

The interrogator let out a low hum. He'd heard about Sasuke's infamous anger issues. His outbursts didn't happen too often and always had a good reason stacked behind them, but the confrontations always ended in some form of physical assault or the appearance of his mangekyou. The kid obviously had some unsolved issues and it was good that he was finally getting around to fixing some of them.

He glanced down at his ward.

"What about your poison's class? Don't tell me you bordered multiple legal boundaries just so you could become a teacher."

Sakura shrugged.

"It's not like keeping this knowledge to myself is going to do me any good. So, I offered it to my friends, got potential trackers to join, and now I'm training future shinobi of Konoha," she said, spreading her hands in a wide arc like she was mimicking the creation of a rainbow. Ibiki nearly snorted. "Now what did you need me for?"

He gestured to the papers and lowered his voice a bit more, just in case there were any wandering ears.

"Formalities. Hokage-sama wants to keep you under wraps until this year's Chuunin Exams at your formal introduction, so he wants you paperwork signed and ready by next week. He thinks it'll be easier. I think it'll just cause more problems."

She picked up a pen and started signing her name next to the x's.

"Everyone's going to find out eventually."

"By everyone I hope you don't mean ROOT because those fucking-"

"Old man," she interrupted with a lengthy sigh. "We've been through this."

Ibiki crossed his arms and frowned.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

She signed the last sheet of paper before neatly compiling them and slipping them back in the folder where they belonged. There was a knot in her chest at the weight of her acceptance what she so openly declared to Nekomata just a couple of weeks ago.

Danzo's successor to ROOT.

The day she'd admit her willingness to take the position was the day she'd give Ibiki, Genma, and Anko a heart attack.

::

It was a decent day out for Team Seven. Their training had finished but the day was still young, and they resolved to stay in each other's company for a few more hours until they all went their separate ways. Kakashi, antisocial as he always was, sat by his lonesome on a tree branch as his team sprawled out on the grass below him.

Naruto gazed up at the shining leaves overhead as he lay on his back, Sakura was nose deep in some medical text, and Sasuke had taken to practice his skills with colored pencils.

"Sakura-chan, I feel like you and sensei don't have any good hobbies," Naruto mused, squinting his eyes against the bright light. The two he called out both looked up from each of their respective books as Kakashi raised a brow.

"What?"

"Like, all you guys do is just sit there and work or whatever. Iruka told me that all shinobi should have a hobby to help with stress," he recited seriously. "He likes restoring books. I like gardening. Even Sasuke started drawing to help with his anger and he's getting really, really good, dattebayo!"

Sasuke turned his sketchbook for the group and- quite blankly- stated:

"I drew the dobe with a ramen cup body."

"Dammit, you stupid butt, just take the compliment!"

Sakura thoughtfully closed her textbook and set her chin on the binding. A hobby? She didn't have time for one of those. She had actual duties to take care of, like studying her poisons, improving her medical techniques, keeping tabs on everyone in the village, planning with Sasori and Hidan, meeting with Danzo, working at T&I, looking out for Nagato and sending missives to Yagura...

A hobby would be nice, but it required time she couldn't afford to spend.

"I don't have space for that," Kakashi stated simply, and she nodded in agreement. Naruto pouted.

"Everyone has time to relax sometimes!" he exclaimed. "Chouji and Hinata bake, Shikamaru watches clouds and play shogi, Ino arranges flowers, Shino does origami, Kiba watches movies, Tenten-san plays instruments, Lee-san works out, Neji-san meditates, bandana guy makes little wooden sculptures, Mori-"

"Alright, Naruto, I get it," Sakura cut off. "Everyone else has hobbies and we don't."

"Which means," Sasuke intervened, "that you two should find something. So you don't burn out."

Sakura and Kakashi exchanged glances.

"So... if we find a hobby that doesn't relate to work..."

"Then you'll be happier when you learn how to loosen up," Naruto finished happily. Sasuke took this moment to show the rest of his team his sketchbook once more, this time showing a picture of an animated ocean pushing Naruto off a pier.

"Remember when we were training in Wave and the dobe said he was going to fight the ocean?" the Uchiha intoned with a smirk. "Here's him losing."

He was tackled not a second later.

::

First Hobby Trial

Shikamaru had lots of chess and shogi sets at his disposal and easily lent one of the former to Sakura, telling her that she could keep it for as long as she wanted. Her and Kakashi decided to take an empty table at a nearby park to try and see if this was the hobby for them.

"Why are we doing this together?"

"Something about building our relationship." Sakura said as she set up the board. "Naruto and Sasuke think we should get along better, but I think if you just appreciate the little things I do, we'd get somewhere."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Catnip."

"You know, the day you let that go is the day you finally get that stick out your ass. You're first, by the way. Don't be upset when I beat you."

The man's fingers curled around one of his knights.

"We'll see," he said.

Five hours, two games, and no winner later, the two went their separate ways with splintered pieces of wood dumped in a nearby trash can.

They'd buy Shikamaru another board tomorrow.

Second Hobby Trial

Whack.

It was calm on the red bridge at the lake. The sun was high, there was no wind to rustle the leaves, and it was the perfect day to fish.

Whack.

Kakashi didn't have much of an opinion on it yet. He and Sakura had only started fishing half an hour ago and were only beginning to get the hang of the whole idea after reading a short Fishing For Dummies handbook. It was relatively peaceful, at least, even if they hadn't caught anything yet.

Whack.

His eye twitched as Sakura's fishing pole smacked the back of his head for the third time. She didn't say anything as she did it, but he could practically feel a stupid little grin crawling onto her face.

"Oh, sorry, Kakashi. My mistake," she chirped. Was this because of chess? Is that what he did to deserve her snark for today? No, that couldn't be it. She was just as insufferable every other day that he wasn't surprised anymore. Annoyed that she was a little tyrant, but unsurprised nonetheless.

Whack.

He dropped his fishing pole, picked Sakura up, and tossed her into lake.

Third Hobby Trial

Sakura eyed the several wine bottles displayed on the shelves.

"I could-"

"No."

"Just let me try one-"

"No. You're eleven. We're not wine tasting. We're leaving."

She sighed. What she wouldn't give for some alcohol right about now.

Fourth Hobby Trial

Perhaps this wasn't exactly the... best solution to their current problem. Meditation was used to relax both the mind and the body to help achieve some higher state of inner peace. Those who tried had to let down their walls and let their thoughts flow as easily as a running stream could have everything come clear.

Crushing. Horror. Regret.

Kakashi flinched, but tried to find that peace he'd been seeking for over ten years of his life. Maybe if he let go, he'd be happy. Maybe if he forgot, he could move on. Maybe if-

Blood. Rin. Blood. It's all your fault.

He opened his eyes after a minute and refused to shut them again, his lips forming a bitter smile. He never let himself be so alone with his thoughts before and now he remembered why. He couldn't let go. He couldn't forget.

Once glance at Sakura, who sat cross-legged beside him with her face buried in her hands, alerted him to the fact that she fared no better in trying to let her guard down for once, and if anything, probably quit trying to meditate faster than he did.

"We should try the next hobby," Kakashi suggested quietly. She drew in a deep breath and straightened up.

"Yeah."

Sakura stood and silently trailed Kakashi out of the open clearing, her face not sparing her reaction at the sudden flood of whispers that curled in the curves of her ears.

Fire. Sharingan. Burning. Smiles. You'll let them all down like you did to your little girl.

Fifth Hobby Trial

The moment Kakashi saw someone fold their legs under their arms and behind their head while lying flat on their back was the moment he started to walk out of the facility. Sakura grinned as she snagged his vest to keep him from going.

"Oi, Kakashi! You're not going to bend over backwards to give this a try?"

"I'm a shinobi, not a human pretzel."

"Come on, I'm sure your schedule's flexible."

He threw an irritated look down at her, his scowl practically visible beneath his mask. Sakura's grin widened.

"I mean, you might need to stretch it, but you not trying means you're saying yoga's for posers."

Kakashi's eye twitched. Her grin grew even wider.

"It's not like yoga-na die, right?"

The current yoga class suddenly turned their heads towards the observation window quick enough to see a shinobi stalking away with a cackling child tucked under his arm.

Sixth Hobby Trial

Sakura lowered her medical text and stared across to the other side of the picnic table.

"I feel a bit guilty about this."

"Why?"

"Well... Naruto got us into hobby hunting because all we do is read anyways. And now we're just reading. Maybe we should try something different?"

Kakashi sighed and closed his book.

"Fine."

Seventh Hobby Trial

It was raining.

Being a citizen of Konoha meant sunshine all day, more often than not. Even during winter if there was snow, it was sunny; it just came with the package of living in a village renowned for its beautiful, green trees. But on the rare chance it rained, everyone's spring wound down and most stayed indoors to take a break.

Rainy days were quiet days, and that's what people needed every once in awhile.

Kakashi's apartment was serenely quiet, save for the slight knocks of water against the windows. The kitchen light offered a dim glow to the expanse of the living room without being too luminous, allowing a calming atmosphere to settle in the air. A plastic bag from the local craft store sat at the foot of the couch and was filled to the brim with different shades of blue yarn-- a color eventually agreed upon after minutes of arguing.

"Knitting has a lot of health benefits, apparently," Sakura commented. Sleepy eyes were trained on orange knitting needles as she slouched against a cushion. Kakashi didn't look up from his own knitting- his silver needles working just as slowly and easily as hers- and hummed.

"Like?"

His legs had stretched themselves out sometime between him reluctantly learning how to knit and him being five hours into the activity alongside Sakura and not minding it at all. His feet, now, had been wedged between the back of the couch and his student's side. Normally he'd retract immediately and chalk it up to the act that he found human contact far unfavorable compared to how he was with his ninken. 

But he didn't this time. And it made him wonder.

"Like having the same effect as meditation. Once you get the hang of it, you can zone out and focus on the yarn instead of anything else. I think that's good," she said. "It also helps with symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression... I don't know if it really does that, but it's nice to try."

"We are working together on making the same blanket. Judging by the fact that this hasn't turned into us destroying the yarn or impaling each other with the needles, I think it's working."

Sakura chuckled and snuggled further into the couch. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, his hands not stopping their weaving.

"What?"

"Did the great Hatake Kakashi just admit that he likes spending time with the bane of his existence? While making a joke?"

"Don't think too highly of yourself, tyrant."

"Asshole," she quipped, scrunching her face and sticking her tongue out. "Don't worry, I know Anko's first on your shit list and I'm running a close second, but I'll get that spot one day. You'll see."

She reached down into the plastic bag to get herself a darker blue, intent on creating the ombre effect coloring they agreed on. Kakashi glanced at the digital clock above his stove.

11:32 pm.

"Did Morino-san set up a curfew?" he asked.

"The old man? Nah, never. You know I never follow the rules anyway, so the less he has the less I have to break," she said. Sakura paused thoughtfully. "But he did tell me to stop leaving dead bodies in the pantry because he was tired of finding them instead of his cornflakes."

He didn't know if she was joking or not and found it better if he didn't ask. She sunk further into the couch and kept knitting as she stifled a yawn, continuing her answer as her eyes drooped down further. "Besides, I already told him I'd be going to a friend's house, so he's not worried."

Silver needles stopped millimeters away from each other. Friend? He didn't necessarily consider them to be... weren't they more acquaintances or student teacher, like they should've been this whole time? It's not like they hung out with each other, or bickered, or trained together, or talked both big and small things or-

...

God, they were friends, weren't they?

Kakashi looked up again to see Sakura had fallen asleep in the middle of completing a new row. The expression on her face was more tranquil than he'd seen it. He read in her file that she had severe troubles with sleeping, even having resorted to the use of an outlet not specified. If it wasn't specified, then he supposed it was safe to assume it was illegal.

It'd be a shame to wake her up if she was already having trouble.

So he leaned into the armrest of his couch, reached into the plastic bag, and took out a ball of lighter colored yarn.

::

"I hope you know what you're committing to when you accept this," Ibiki said. Sakura nodded once.

"Yeah. Higher pay."

She could hear Anko's useless attempts at trying to smother her laughter and saw, from her peripheral vision, Genma half-turning to stuff a fist in his mouth and keep his smile from being shown. Dan, seated at his desk, instead let out an amused smile as Shizune sighed in light fondness.

Ibiki nearly smacked the back of her head.

"Alright, alright, I'm kidding," she smiled. "But yes, I do accept the responsibilities that come with this. It just means I can continue what you assign me, but not having to find a legal reason behind it."

He really did smack her that time. And she pouted.

Dan took this as his opportunity to reach into his desk and pull out a mission scroll.

"That's good because I already have an assignment for you," the Godaime said. "Are you ready for your first official solo A-rank, Jounin Haruno Sakura?"

She smirked.

"Yes, sir!"

::

Someone commented that it seems that in all my stories I reference colors and shades and... I just noticed that I did.

Huh.

Anyways, Happy Holidays! <3

::

First, awesome fan art by AwesomeDragonTamer !

Two versions of a wonderful Sakura banner by Windshinobi !

A liked quote by poptart102 !

And several terrific covers by the following!

TheVVriter !

Ida-san !

blunteez !

And AnotherWorldOfLife !