(A/N: Play the media for more effect.)

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Learning to find our place,

Learning to meet each other's face,

Learning to work together,

It will make everything better.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Sakura has a hard time focusing on anything with Naruto and Sasuke engaged in one of their larger-than-life arguments over something incredibly petty - by her standards - while she is attempting to chop vegetables for an early, light lunch. Kakashi was a no-show at 8 AM. At 9, Sakura grew annoyed and challenged Sasuke to a spar with Naruto as the moderator - it ended in a draw. At 10, Sakura stated she would be returning home for lunch because they're wasting time just waiting there.

Of course, she invited her teammates. Sasuke is a decent cook, but Naruto - not so much. He's usually stuck with setting the table and washing dishes; not that he's made outward complaints...until today, that is.

" - maybe if you weren't so bad at this, you'd be able to help," Sasuke snaps.

"Shut up! I can cut some damn tomatoes!"

Patience, patience, patience...

"You butchered them the last time you tried to help, idiot!"

Patience, patience, pat -

Sakura's eyes flicker to the tree directly in front of her, a couple of feet away from the sink. The sacred tree, beautifully blossomed, looks back at her. It's who's hiding in the tree that has Sakura smirking to herself. She's always aware of whoever is in that tree. The connection between her and the tree runs deep despite the lack of happiness that Sakura feels when she enters the garden.

"Naruto, come take over for me. I need to step outside for a moment."

Simultaneously, Sasuke and Naruto turn to look at her. Sasuke's expression has her biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from cracking up. Naruto looks like Christmas came early.

"Okay!" Naruto shoots forward. Sakura hands him the knife carefully. "Please don't get into a fight while I'm outside."

Sasuke snorts while Naruto beams. "What do you take us for, Sakura-chan?! We can get this done!"

Shaking her head, Sakura unties the apron around her waist and tosses it over the back of one of the dining table chairs as she passes it to go outside. The moment she sets a bare foot on the lush green grass leading to the center of the garden, Sakura feels a little more at peace. The ground ripples in acknowledgment as she walks along the path to the sacred tree.

The moment she's before it, Sakura crosses her arms and looks up. "I'm not apologizing for not being at the meeting place when you finally decided to show up, sensei. You told us to meet at 8 and we waited until 10."

A moment of silence and then - "It was an order."

"I don't believe I should follow orders of the sensei who doesn't seem to care about the growth of me and my teammates."

In a flicker of black, Kakashi stands before her with his arms crossed over his chest as well. "What makes you think I don't care?"

"Yesterday, you didn't show up until three hours after the scheduled time. Today, I grew tired of waiting. You gave us a time to meet and didn't even show up yourself." Sakura turns around so that her back faces him. "If you don't want to take this seriously or have decided to not be our mentor, then please see the Hokage so he can find a suitable replacement. It's not fair that Sasuke, Naruto, and I are treated in such a manner."

"You're a particular young girl, Sakura-chan."

"So I've been told," she replies with an air of indifference and starts walking towards the house.

"I do take this team seriously," Kakashi calls after her and is rewarded with Sakura's halted form.

"If that's the case, then please join us for lunch." A moment of silence, then "Sensei," And she continues to walk towards the house without looking back once. Kakashi stands there for a moment before following after her.

Particular indeed, eh, Sakura-chan...

The moment they enter the house, Sakura makes a dash for the kitchen upon hearing a loud bang followed by a yelp of pain. Arriving, she just stares at her teammates with a bubbling mixture of relief and hilarity. Sasuke and Naruto had fallen at some point. It's the position they landed in that has Sakura wishing she were there to see it from the beginning. Faces merely an inch or two apart, Naruto and Sasuke were starring at each other completely frozen. Naruto is on all fours over Sasuke's body, both their knives are on the floor.

"If you two need some alone time, Sakura-chan and I can pick up takeout."

Like a broken spell, Naruto scrambles off Sasuke in such a haste that he trips and lands on his butt. Sasuke is already on his feet, face bright red as he glares angerly at Naruto.

"Don't be weird, sensei!" Naruto yells.

Sasuke gives a stiff nod.

Sakura looks at the poorly chopped cucumbers and smashed tomatoes and sighs. The task was so simple, but Sasuke and Naruto - being Sasuke and Naruto - just had to turn everything into a competition. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you two?"

"Let's sell the idiot and replace him with a cat," Sasuke states as if speaking about the weather.

Sakura smiles to herself at Naruto's squawk of anger. "Ah, but a cat wouldn't perform well on missions," Kakashi interjects before another argument can break out.

Sasuke huffs. "Whatever." He moves back to the counter. "I can still save most of these," he directions this towards Sakura. "It's for the pasta anyway."

"What are you even doing here, sensei?" Naruto asks while he starts pulling dishes out of the upper cabinet, situation seemly forgotten. "We were going to head back in half an hour."

Kakashi moves to leans against the counter next to Sakura as she attempts to better chop the cucumbers to go in the pasta. "I was looking for my students because they weren't where they should have been." Sakura snorts knowing damn well Kakashi can hear it.

"We figured you'd be three hours late or something to that degree," Sasuke replies as he scraps the majority of the tomatoes into a large pot on the stove next to him and turns on the burner.

"My students have such little faith in me."

"Can you blame us?" Naruto starts grabbing glasses from the cabinet near Sasuke. "You're late twice."

Sakura laughs under her breath. "They have a point, sensei."

Kakashi sighs. "Such little faith. I actually have your first D-Rank, but since you weren't where you were supposed to be...maybe I just won't assign it."

At this, Sakura and Sasuke snort at the same time. "Wow, missing one D-Rank mission," Sasuke replies with an eye-roll.

"What is it?" Sakura asks while dumping the cucumbers in with the tomatoes before setting about to chop onions. "Pulling weeds? Chasing a cat? Painting a fence?"

Kakashi sniffs. "None of you are cute. I want my cute genin from yesterday."

"Will we go on this D-Rank mission after lunch?" Naruto asks as he moves to stand next to Sasuke and help clean up the mess from earlier.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On how will lunch is." And with that, he takes a seat at the dining table.

Lunch goes as well as Sakura can imagine. It's kind of nice to have her sensei over for the meal. Naruto and Sasuke are on their best behavior - relatively speaking - and the conversation is polite. They enjoy lunch outside under the sacred tree. Unlike other days, where leaves would be falling to caress Sakura's cheeks and hair, today the tree only provides them with shade.

The ground of which they sit on is incredibly smooth. No bumps or rocks or weeds. Just nice, clean cut grass complimenting a beautiful, cloudless day. Kakashi is the fourth person she has invited into her garden. Earlier, he entered without permission and that sent her into a semi-unbalanced state. Even so, the tree did not question his presence nor forced him out.

If the sacred tree can trust her sensei, then maybe she can as well.

"Your first D-Rank mission is simple enough. Madam Ama Nekoyi's cat is missing and it's your duty to find the cat and return it to her safely."

"Sounds easy enough," Naruto mumbles.

Having been paying attention to Kakashi, Sakura notices the mischievous glint in his eyes. It only causes her to roll her eyes. Their sensei is going to make them pay for not being where he wanted them to be earlier. She snorts quietly, effectively earning his attention and actively choosing to ignore him.

You're going to learn that punctuality is key, sensei.

"You have exactly two hours to complete this mission once we start. Failure will result in a punishment often given to jonin who disobey directs orders from the Hokage."

Naruto snorts. "Yeah, as if dad will punish us too terribly."

"What's the punishment? If it's anything like what my brother had to deal with when he was a jonin, then I think I'll be fine." Sasuke politely slurps his drink.

Sakura only smiles at Kakashi, eyes glinting with amusement. Kakashi sighs. Not intimidated. Disrespectful. Absolutely no fun to be around when they're treating what he says and does as a joke.

"Please complete the mission within the time limit. I would hate to have to explain why you three ended up in the hospital should you fail your mission and receive the punishment." Ah, and here are the reactions he wanted.

Sasuke glares at him, clearly unamused. Naruto's eyes widen. Perhaps he's realizing his dad won't rescue him if he fails. Sakura, on the other hand, merely takes on a blank face. There's fury in her eyes. When they dart to Sasuke and Naruto and then back to him, Kakashi feels as though he should have burst into flames. Such intense anger is something they'll need to work on. If she reacts this way with her teammates, then she needs to challenge such anger into her abilities.

"Now, now. Finish eating. We don't have all day."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Kakashi quickly learns to be careful with his subtle threats. While the mission was a success with his cute little team getting it done in recording-breaking time, how they went about it is concerning. As genin, he excepted them to take a long time to locate the cat, create a plan to capture it, and then dutifully return it to its owner.

They find the cat - taking less than 10 minutes. Capturing it was too easy - the cat kept tripping over its self while running on the ground and didn't have much luck in the trees. Upon capturing it, Sakura easily knocked it out after it managed to scratch Naruto twice. They reported to Kakashi with the cat and together, the four of them returned the poor thing to its overbearing owner.

Now, he's aware that they aren't technically considered "fresh" genin. The three of them graduated at the same time. He's also aware that Sakura trains on her own or with the boys - and occasionally Yamanaka Ino - while Sasuke is with his brother and Naruto is under his mother (a capable kunoichi in her own right) and sometimes with his father.

Part of him feels duped. Yesterday's bell test gave him the impression that they weren't capable of moving beyond the basics just yet because they didn't showcase anything special. He expected Sasuke to try and hit him with a fire type jutsu or Naruto with his father's signature wind style weapon technique or Sakura make a dash at him with her incredible speed.

He's seen the test results in the Academy. Sakura, perhaps unknowingly, beat Uchiha Itachi's Academy record of hitting each target during weapon practice blindfolded and at such a speed, the gossip about it made it to the higher ranks. Sasuke's ability to adapt to situations should have been showcased yesterday and Naruto's strength should have been made known.

Did they not try their hardest? He studies each of his students. Naruto is laughing at something Sasuke said but his eyes scan the clearing every other minute or so. He's alert. Sasuke is shaking his head at Naruto's laughter but his hand stays firmly on his hip pouch. He's prepared. Sakura is smiling at both of them, body relaxed, but the look in her eyes are telling. She's willing.

Yes, perhaps he had been duped by his cute little students.

"So," Naruto begins, breaking Kakashi's train of thought. "When's our next mission?"

"Hmm, when I decide to assign one to you."

Sakura only pats Naruto's hand. "Don't take it to heart, Naruto. Sensei is just annoyed that we did so well for our first mission." She turns to Kakashi, grinning but says nothing.

"You're my least favorite," Kakashi states with a sniff. "You take the fun out of everything."

Sakura sniffs, pretending to be sad - Kakashi can see right through her actions - and turns away.

"Hey, don't be mean to Sakura-chan or else!" Naruto raises a clenched fist threateningly.

This had Kakashi laughing. "Or else what, Naruto?"

"Of else I'll tell my mom!"

And just like that, Kakashi stops and frowns under his mask. Namikaze Kushina's temper is famous around Konoha and those who have suffered under it have steered clear of her since. Not even his old sensei would do anything to upset his wife. At times, people joked that maybe Kushina should be Hokage with her ability to get her way.

"Mah mah, Naruto. No need to go to such an extreme. Anyway," he redirects the conversation, "your next mission will be tomorrow." He pulls out his orange book and begins reading. "I was lenient today, but you will meet in the correct place tomorrow to be assigned your next mission. Failure to do so will result in a personal punishment of my choice. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Wonderful." And with that, Kakashi flickers away.

"I can't believe you threatened to tell your mom," Sasuke says the moment Kakashi is out of sight. "That's pretty low."

Sakura knows better. Through vibrations of the ground - nature's way of informing her - she is pointed to their sensei's location quickly. Kakashi is hiding in the tree behind them, probably with his book still out, observing them. Why? She cares not to find out today. As long as Naruto and Sasuke remain safe, then she'll leave that to explore another day.

"Since it's not even noon yet, why don't we train?" Sakura suggests to break up the snickering coming from her boys. "Clearly sensei wasn't expecting us to do so well our first time and left with no other instruction than to meet tomorrow."

"How sad," Sasuke comments.

"Unfortunate," Naruto replies.

"That aside," Sakura begins as she crouches, "I'll race you two to Ground 3! Ready, set, go!" And she took off in a cloud of dust all while laughing at the shouts of her "not being fair" and to "hold on."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Silently, he observes them for the next five hours. A feat even for himself. This is his plan after all; an easier way for him to assess their abilities without risk of having what happened during the bell test repeated for his sake. Kakashi is now convinced that he has been duped by his precious students. Either that or these kids are beyond genin level.

"Training" consists of one-on-one spars between each other while the last one stands off to the side as moderator. What really gets to Kakashi is how brutal the sparring quickly becomes. For genin, at least. None of his students hold back against each other: Sakura literally sent Sasuke crashing into a tree twice with a smirk, Sasuke didn't hesitate to use fire style ninjutsu against Naruto (setting him on fire though it was taken care of quickly), and Naruto doesn't even blink when Sakura is struck by one of his kunai.

It's a completely different atmosphere around them. No holding back, no hiding.

"Have they always been this way?" He asks to the new presence behind him.

"Upon the death of her parents, Sakura requested that neither Sasuke nor Naruto holds back against her. That request, in turn, became a promise amongst the three of them. They take it to heart." Uchiha Itachi drops down to crouch next to Kakashi. "It will look brutal to first-time viewers, but it is how they are. They take their training seriously."

"It's as if their personalities change completely," Kakashi states quietly when Naruto sends Sakura flying across the clearing via punch. "They did not showcase this during their exam yesterday. At least, not until the end." To be fair, it took them a while to reconnect after figuring out the main point of the test. After that, they blended well together and their teamwork and determination caused him to pass them.

Now I see why you waited, sensei.

"You're an outsider entering into their territory," comes the semi-unexpected reply. "Sakura and Sasuke don't often showcase their abilities unless necessary. Naruto doesn't always take things seriously at first." And then, "Sasuke told me about the end of the exam."

A sudden thought struck Kakashi as Sasuke calls an end to the spar and Naruto and Sakura collapse to the ground, one grinning widely and the other much more reserved. "Has Sakura ever expressed any goals or dreams? Maybe an ambition?" He asks this because Sakura is close to Sasuke and Itachi and shares a brother-sister relationship with both. Over the years, she may have said something outright or in passing and Kakashi wouldn't put it behind Itachi to remember the "little" things.

"No." Damn it! "However..." Kakashi blinks at the hesitance. Itachi rarely - if ever, really - hesitates. "However, I believe she wishes to find those who murdered her parents and eliminate them." Itachi ends this by looking Kakashi directly in the eye. "She is reserved, but the most reserved people - "

" - have the uncanny habit of surprising you," Kakashi ends. "And not always in a good way."

Itachi nods. "If that is what she wishes to do then I believe," Itachi looks away and Kakashi follows his gaze to look at his team, "she is well on her way."

When Sakura calls it quits just after she and Sasuke clash with enough force to send both of them backward, they move. Or rather, Itachi silently bids him a good afternoon and drops down from their hiding spot to greet his brother and his brother's teammates and Kakashi adjusts his position. He watches as both Naruto and Sasuke are shocked by his sudden presence - Naruto being much more dramatic - while Sakura merely stands there. She didn't jump or look startled in any given way.

Either she knew he was up here, although I don't know how she would be able to know, or she's very good at masking her emotions when she wants too. And if that's the case, Kakashi wonders if she knows he's up here too. Impossible. He shifts silently, his legs tingle from his crouch, but in that moment Sakura's eyes snap to his location. Kakashi just stares. She knows. How does she know?

"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight, Sakura?" Sasuke asks.

Sakura looks away from the tree and nods towards Sasuke. "If I were to say no, your mother would show up on my doorstep wondering if I'm eating right. Usually with several boxes of food."

Kakashi leaves when his students break into varying loudnesses of laughter.

"So full of surprises."

Too many surprises.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

"Already?" Minato asks, completely thrown off. "Can you explain your reasoning? It's only been two days and the second day isn't over yet."

Well, Kakashi thinks. I could have introduced the request better.

"Your son and his teammates are above genin level, sensei." At the blank face he receives, Kakashi sighs. "You know this already."

Minato nods while leaning back in his chair. "In terms of his abilities, Sasuke is very much a prodigy like his brother. Then again, the Uchiha often produce prodigies. Naruto may have struggled in school, but he adapts to a situation quickly - almost too quickly - and, believe it or not, is always on alert. Do not let that carefree smile fool you. Sakura was a top student. Her test scores tied with a Hyuga. As far as intelligence goes, the Hyuga have always been right up there with the Nara. But even more so, she's highly gifted and incredibly well-rounded."

"I don't understand, sensei. Why did you make them wait so long before placing them on a team together? They blend well together. The three of them graduated at the Academy at the age of eight."

"Itachi requested that his brother not be placed on a team at such a young age. Following that, his father marched in here and stated that Sasuke wouldn't be placed on a team until he deemed him ready." Together, they share an eye roll. "As for Naruto, Kushina simply wouldn't allow it. We also quickly agreed that Naruto wasn't ready yet."

"And Sakura?" Kakashi presses.

"She came in here every year on the anniversary of her parent's deaths and requested that I place her on a team." Minato rubs his forehead. "I told her she wasn't ready. I finally told her she would be placed on a team with Naruto and Sasuke when the time is right."

"She would have done fine on her own, sensei."

"Call me selfish, Kakashi, but I love Sakura like a daughter. I wasn't ready to throw her into the workforce like Hizuren did with Itachi. Like he did with you."

"This isn't about me or Itachi," Kakashi interrupts. He knows where a conversation like this will head if he allows his former sensei to reminisce the old days.

He barely conceals the flinch the bitter chuckle that exits his sensei's mouth brings forth. "I have to accept that our way of life is not pleasant. No. Beyond unpleasant. It's miserable. Even if times are peaceful. I'm trying to make it better, but progress takes time." Minato glances up at the ceiling. "The idea of placing a child, 12 or younger, on the battle field...we don't blink because this is the norm. I was trying to spare Sakura that experience for as long as I could but even my excuses lacked. She knew this too. She's a very bright girl." Finally, he sits up properly and staples his fingers together in front of his face, elbows resting on his desk. "Every village produces child soldiers." He says it bluntly. "In that regard, we're no better than places like Kiri and Iwa and Ame." Then he smiles albeit somewhat sadly. "We have the reputation of being the 'nice village,' but that mostly comes with how much we focus on creating and maintaining bonds. It's why we have these tests of teamwork. This belief that there is someone you can rely on, in and out of a mission, is why our village succeeds. At least, I am of that opinion. If we place children on the battle field, then it's our duty to look after them."

Kakashi nods, slowly grasping what his sensei is trying to communicate. "Sakura will benefit from her teammates and they from her. Their bond is what makes them a powerful force to be reckoned with."

"Indeed," Minato chuckles and with that chuckle, the tension in the room dissolves. "Kushina jokes that they may become the next Sannin."

"It's definitely a possibility, but are you sure you want Naruto to meet Jiraiya?"

"Haha, Kushina needs to be there or she'll get very angry." For a moment, Kakashi contemplates if he should mention that his son threatened him with his mother but ultimately decides not to. "But to answer your earlier question, I going to deny your request for the time-being. I would like for them to become better acquainted with you before your four go on a mission outside of the village. It will do all of you some good."

Kakashi blinks. He had completely forgotten why he showed in the first place during their conversation. Right...a request for his team to have a mission outside of Konoha. A little field work, he mentioned before.

"I trust your judgment, sensei."

Minato smiles a little. "Perhaps a month or so from now, but until then it will be D-Rank missions and training." Narrowing his eyes, he continues. "You have to train them, Kakashi. You passed them so now it's your duty as their mentor." Minato shuffles some papers on his desk. "Besides, if Kushina found out you were slacking in your duties...well, you know what'll happen."

With a sigh, Kakashi nods. "The problem is figuring out a training regimen. Have you seen your son spar with Sasuke and Sakura?" Receiving a nod, Kakashi runs a hand through his hair. "I observed them today. They spar as if they're battle trained."

"Naruto and Sasuke made a promise to never go easy on Sakura. Look at how early they started in this career. Four years since they graduated from the Academy and not once did they allow each other to slack. And yes," Minato picks up his writing utensil, "there have been times when Naruto has come home covered in bruises or ended up in the hospital because he and the other two go too hard at each other. Adapt to their way of thinking and I'm sure you'll do fine. You are dismissed." Kakashi salutes before disappearing from the office in a plume of white smoke.

Once he's gone, Minato puts down his pencil and turns his chair to gaze out the window at the barely setting sun. "You kids have the ability to be great. The greatest, really."

Dinner at Sasuke's house is always an adventure. Sakura has learned, over the years while being a guest in Sasuke's home, that each Uchiha closest to her friend brings a unique perspective of life. For example, Sasuke's older cousin - Shisui, though he prefers "ShiShi" for some reason - is part of the ANBU, yet he's probably the most playful person she knows. And that says a lot considering one of her best friends is Naruto. Itachi is also part of the ANBU, but he's incredibly kind and gentle and Sakura is never ashamed to call him "Itachi-nii."

Sakura doesn't have much to say about Sasuke's father. The older man is often staring down his nose at her and Naruto, mouth twisted in a grim look and eyes relatively blank. He's civil enough, makes quick conversation, and is polite, but Sakura doesn't feel anything for him. To her, he's just the head of a clan and the indifferent, boring father of one of her best friends.

As for Sasuke's mother...Sakura utterly adores Uchiha Mikoto. She can (often, really) be overbearing with her worrying nature. Though, if Sakura admits to herself, she's full of love and that love has helped Sakura in some of her darkest moments over the last four years. Naruto's mother (and sometimes Ino's mother) is also there, but Sakura will sooner turn to the Uchiha matriarch before the others. Mostly because Mikoto will know when to show up on her doorstep on a particularly bad day.

"Mother's tuition," she replies when Sakura asks while she's being served hot chocolate and homemade dumplings.

Part of her feels bad for preferring one mother-like figure over the others, but Sakura knows that neither of her two other friend's mothers has the same amount of free time like Sasuke's. Ino's mother, Yamanaka Yana, works between her flower shop and the civilian school. Namikaze Kushina may be a retired jonin, but she still plays a major part in maintaining the archives in the information department within the Hokage's tower.

Uchiha Mikoto, much like Ino's mother, never took the path of becoming a shinobi. Sakura silently believes this is because she wasn't allowed too. The Uchiha are well-known for disregarding their female members, preferring to marry them off when they come of age. However, upon seeing Mikoto's accuracy when throwing kunai (during a point some few years ago or so when she came outside to watch her son and his friends), Sakura believes she would have made a great kunoichi.

"I'm making chicken dumplings tonight, Sakura-chan! Your favorite!" Mikoto calls.

Sakura blinks, returning to the present. "That sounds wonderful, Mikoto-san."

"Hey, hey! Chicken dumplings are my favorite too, Auntie!" Shisui replies with a pout.

Sasuke rolls his eyes, Itachi hums, and Naruto just laughs. Mikoto and Sakura share an amused look. "Of course, ShiShi. Of course." Mikoto pats his head as she walks by with a bowl of raw chicken cut up into small bits. Dinner that night is surprisingly calm. However, at some point, Sakura falls under the calculating gaze of Sasuke's older brother. She acknowledge's this with a single eyebrow raised, but doesn't bother pursuing the matter when Itachi subtly shakes his head.

She trusts him to speak to her if there's a problem.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

" - and then he just walks over to the tree, sits down, and falls asleep. Can you believe that?!" Ino asks. "When I try to wake him up, he just calls me 'troublesome' and goes back to sleep!"

Sakura runs a brush through her hair as Ino speaks about her team's test from two days, nodding and humming at the appropriate times to indicate that she's listening. Truth be told, Sakura isn't surprised. Nara Shikamaru has a reputation for being lazy and, despite having the title 'genius' attached to his name, he did poorly in regards to testing in the Academy.

"And when Asuma-sensei wakes him up, he gets up. Why couldn't he have done that for me?!" Ino huffs from her position on Sakura's bed, squeezing one of the pillows close to her chest. "I wasn't even rude, Sakura! I was very polite and I even said please."

"He's a Nara, Ino. What are two things you can always expect from a Nara?" Sakura turns and raises an eyebrow at Ino.

"Laziness and genius," they say in unison.

"But still!" Ino cries. "The very least he can do is acknowledge me!"

"Agreed. Perhaps you should make that apparent? A team performs better when the respect is equal."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get on his case tomorrow. Now tell me, how'd it go with your sensei? What are they like? What sort of test did you and the boys do?"

Sakura places her brush down, gathers her long hair, and pulls it over her shoulder to put into a loose braid. From there, she gets up and walks over to her bed and flops down next to Ino. "His name is Hatake Kakashi. He's...unique, to put it simply. Three times now, he's been tardy to our meet-ups. The day we met him, he was late by three hours. The day he gave us our test, he was late again. So yesterday, after about two hours of waiting, I invited Sasuke and Naruto over for an early lunch. We figured he wouldn't be there for another hour or so, but turns out he showed up and got annoyed because we weren't there for him to assign us our first D-Rank mission."

Ino snorts. "He got a taste of his own medicine then?"

"In a sense, yes. He showed up at my house, I put my foot down, he took me seriously, and I invited him in for lunch. We ate lunch together as a team and then we were assigned a mission to capture a poor cat that had to be returned to a semi-terrible owner. After that one mission, he told us when we were to meet again and left. There were some threats of punishment if we failed to be where we were told to be, but..." Sakura shrugs. "I have a hard time taking his 'threats' seriously."

"One silly little D-Rank mission and you were done for the day? What a waste. Asuma-sensei said he'd assign us three to five each time we meet up."

"He's going to learn," Sakura states while rolling over to face Ino. "Naruto, Sasuke, and I aren't messing around. We each have goals we want to obtain and I won't tolerate a lack of interest or unstructured training."

At the very least, I don't want sensei to be the reason Sasuke and Naruto don't advance.

"A-Always so serious these days, Sakura." Ino yawns again.

Sakura reaches out and pokes Ino's nose, smiling when her friend's face scrunches up. "Can you blame me?"

"Of course not, but sometimes you have to slow down and enjoy the little things in life. Which reminds me," Ino yawns again, "I need help making flower arrangements tomorrow night for a wedding."

Shifting closer, Sakura moves her head so that it's resting against Ino's arm. "What time do you want me over?"

"Just come over for dinner and we can start after. My mom's been meaning to have you over for some time but Mikoto-san always gets to you first."

"I'm sorry."

Ino shrugs, blinking slowly at Sakura. "It's a part of life and I told her that. You're on a team with Sasuke and Naruto, you've known them longer, and it's convenient for you just to follow after them...at least when food is concerned."

Sakura punches Ino's arm, grinning at the squeak she gets in return and shakes her head. "You three are my closest, most cherished friends and I'm sorry if it seems like I'm neglecting you. Also, as far as eating goes, I literally have so many leftovers that I fill bad for throwing them out when they go bad. It's overwhelming at times, but I know all of your moms mean well."

"Family," Ino replies sleepily. "You're family."

Chuckling, Sakura gets up. "Let's get under the covers and take a nap."

"You always have the best ideas."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

"Look alive!" Kakashi calls after he appears in a plume of white smoke before them, almost three hours late on the following day. "I have several D-Rank missions for you three today. First, you'll be painting a fence. Second, pulling weeds from a garden. Third, filling out a shopping list and delivering groceries. Fourth, walking a group of dogs. And finally, retiling a roof."

"I don't know how to retile a roof!" Naruto replies immediately. "How do you do that, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi pats Naruto's head playfully. "Have no fear, Naruto-kun! I will show you how."

Sakura rolls her eyes. This obvious false kindness is annoying to see. It's clear Kakashi is still annoyed with yesterday's happenings despite getting a good lunch out of it. And then she smiles.

"Alright, sensei. Where's the fence?"

He eyes her questionably. Just what are you up to?

"Follow after me." It only takes them but five minutes to appear before an old, but clearly well-loved home. Buckets of white paint and various types of brushes are on the step in front of the door. There is also a small pack of sand paper next to the supplies and some gloves.

"Good morning," Sakura politely greets the old man that steps outside. "My name is Haruno Sakura and these are my teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, and our sensei, Hatake Kakashi. We are here to paint your fence."

Sakura feels Kakashi shift, just barely, next to her and stops herself from turning to the man and grinning widely.

"Ah, yes. Thank you for your help. These are all the supplies needed, I hope. Please let me know if you need more."

"This should be fine," Sasuke states while coming to stand next to Sakura. "We will have this done for you as soon as we can."

The old man smiles and points to the side of the house where a faded, paint-chipped fence is. "That one there, younglings. And thank you once again." He steps back into the house and closes the door.

"Alright, you know what you need to - " Kakashi stops when Sakura tosses him a pair of gloves.

"You're our sensei and, therefore, a part of this team. Our mission is your mission. You wouldn't abandon us on our mission, right sensei? We are, after all, recently appointed genin."

You sneaky, sneaky girl. Truth be told, Kakashi is mildly impressed by this assertive attitude.

"Sakura-chan's right!" Naruto cheers as he tosses a paint brush at Kakashi. "You're on this team so you get to work too!"

"Of course, of course. I wouldn't leave you to do this all by yourself. What sort of sensei would I be?"

That's exactly what you would have done.

If Naruto tells his parents, I'm as good as dead.

To completely different thoughts taking place at the same time as Sakura and Kakashi settle at one end of the fence to sand it down, Sasuke takes the middle with a paint brush and bucket of white paint, declaring the condition of the fence good enough to paint over, and Naruto - already happily chipping away paint while humming loud enough for all of them to hear - takes the end.

"You're a sneaky one, Sakura-chan."

"I'm just learning to read you, sensei."

"And what conclusion have you come to so far?"

Sakura snaps on her gloves, the sound carrying away from them, and turns to look at him. It's not a prideful or smug look like Kakashi expects, but one of someone who understands - or is attempting to understand - when someone has gone through a painful experience.

"I've done my research on you, sensei. I know what you've lost, both team and family wise, and it's...heartbreaking, to say the least." Kakashi stiffens. "You have more than one mask." He immediately gets what she is implying. "You know what loss feels like."

"Plenty of people know what loss feels like, Sakura-chan." He watches as her eyes flicker past him to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Yes," she replies. "Some of us just learn what it feels like at too early an age."

"You speak far more grown up than I would expect."

"I was forced to grow up, sensei, but you know that. You did not come into this mentorship blind. I know this because all three of my best friends come from acclaimed clans and the Hokage happens to be the father of one of them and your former sensei."

At this, Kakashi chuckles. Less humoring her and more at the bluntness of her statement. "That is so." For a while, they sand down the fence in silence. Sakura focuses on the task at hand and Kakashi thinks about a possible training regimen all three of his students can take part in so he can assess their skills from a better position and go from there.

"How long will it take before we're assigned a mission outside of the village?" Sakura asks quietly.

"Think you're ready to handle what's out there?"

"The real question is," she pauses briefly to blow a stray hair out of her face, "will you be ready to lead us on a mission? Sasuke, Naruto, and I perform well together."

Okay, ouch. "Sharp tongue you have there, Sakura-chan. But even so, until I can learn to work well with you three and you three with me, there will be no out-of-village missions."

He's disappointed when she only hums.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

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