A/N: Hello and thank you for choosing to read! This is my first ever fanfiction, so please bear with me as I write this as I'm entirely new to this style of writing. I apologize in advance if any of the dialogue or interactions are stiff or seem rushed - the first chapter is notably the most difficult, but I have a lot planned for the future and things will most certainly loosen up and flow more freely as we progress. As a side note, each chapter takes its title from a particular song that I feel fits the general theme of the current event; accompanying this are song lyrics to kick off each chapter.

Enough rambling - enjoy!

you will surely be the death of me,

but how could i have known?

Sakura's hospital shifts for the day were few and far, granting her the opportunity to slip out early before her mentor assigned her more duties. It wasn't that she hated work - truthfully, she loved her job, and being a medic (one of the top ones in Konoha, mind you) certainly had a limitless amount of benefits. It was a selfless thing, one she carried with pride, though a break was a necessity after working 12 hour shifts 6 days in the week. Of course, Sakura's luck was predictable at best, and it was as she was about to step out that Tsunade appeared from around the corner. "Sakura!" she barked, her features sharp and stern as she fixed the girl with a stare. Sakura straightened her posture and turned to face the woman, greeting her with a small bow before meeting her honey gaze. "Yes, m'lady?" Polite as always. Or a kiss-ass. She wrinkled her nose distastefully and mentally chided her inner conscience, though quickly recovered with the finesse of... well, something less-than-graceful. Idiot! Tsunade regarded her coolly for a few more moments, only momentarily perturbed by the disturbance of emotions that crossed the girl's features, before raising a finger to point at her student, tilting her chin at an incline as she spoke. "I have a mission for you, undercover and outside of Konoha. Meet me in my office for more." A mission? Involving her? Confusion flitted across her features momentarily, but she knew better than to question the decisions made by their Hokage, so she instead gave another bow and turned to leave. This was not without incident - why would anything be superficially easy? - and she was stopped again by Tsunade's commanding voice. "Oh," she added, tone raising a bit to emphasize that she was not finished. "And go find Kakashi. You'll be working together." With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared back the way she had come, leaving a befuddled Sakura to ponder what the hell kind of mission would require the both of them.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The weather was particularly sweet given the time of year - summer had only recently turned to autumn, and the shift in season brought with it a familiar chill in the air. Thankfully, the sun had opted to power through and gift Konoha with its light and warmth, radiating through to the souls of those who worked themselves to the bone. Kakashi may have been considered one of those people - devoted to his work, certainly - but his perceived laziness often tarnished his name. Sure, he enjoyed lounging, and while much of his time was spent at the memorial stone, a lot of it was dedicated to... being lazy. The noose was tied around his neck with that one. Even still, the Hatake name was renowned in all the lands - the copy ninja was not to be taken lightly. If only his students were familiar with it.

He was content to lounge in the tree, nestled amidst the cluster of branches and invisible to the prying eyes of Konoha's finest; of course, peace and quiet never came without a cost, and it wasn't long before his muted tranquility was interrupted by a voice. Her voice. "Kakashi-sensei!" she called up towards him, her tone a mixture of irritation and impatience. Uh oh. His charcoal eyes flitted from the page of his book to her distant figure - both hands were on her hips, and she fixed him with an agitated stare.

"Did someone steal your bike, Sakura-chan?" he asked nonchalantly, turning a page in Icha Icha and skimming his gaze across the etchings of ink before him.

"Not funny, old man! Get down here!"

Defeated once more. Heaving a sigh from the depths of his chest, he snapped his book shut and tucked it into his waistband before leaping down from the branch, landing neatly before her with both hands buried in his pockets.

"Do you need something? I was having a great nap."

"You were reading those books, you damned pervert. Tsunade summoned us."

Tsunade? Surprise etched itself to his face momentarily before erasing itself clean with the coming of a smile, punctuated by his trademark eye-crinkle. "We can walk together, if you don't mind," he offered, tilting his head back and glancing at the sky. Overcast, grey. A sullen matte of clouds hung precariously on invisible threads, threatening to unleash their wrath in the form of heavy rain. Whatever Tsunade wanted, he only hoped it was something indoors. 'A little rain never hurt anyone,' quipped the workings of his mind, and he bit back a scowl at the thought. 'Maybe not, but it'd hurt my hair.' Sakura would have laughed humorlessly had she overheard - thankfully, she didn't, and instead took to replying to his first string of words. "Sounds lovely," she returned, only a hint of sarcasm lining each syllable while a gentle smile tugged at her lips. Drawing that smile out was his only goal, really, and his own widened almost sheepishly as they both turned and began their leisure stroll back to the Hokage's office.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As excited as she was, it was amazing that she was able to form coherent sentences with the silver-haired ninja, let alone find herself capable of drilling him with her usual temper. To her surprise, his mood was a bit more... chipper. Perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps he was just as eager to get out as she was. Either way, she didn't mind - catching the copy-nin at all was rare, and catching him in high spirits? Forget about it. Her eyes gave a sideways glance towards him as they walked, assessing the bits of his face he allowed to the world and filling in the puzzle as her gaze made its way down to his neck. Time had changed him, as had loss, and while he outwardly did not show it, she could read it in the lines of his features. Sakura's intuitive nature was something he had cursed once upon a time - only half-joking, of course. "Kakashi?" she inquired after a stretch of silence, bringing her eyes back to his face. He returned with a look of his own, lips upturning into a smile and eyes crinkling to follow. "Yes, Sakura?" Damn him. Her own lips formed a temporary pout as she debated whether or not to continue, but the latter of her mind won out and she proceeded nonetheless. "When was your last mission?" Her voice was light, gentle, and she tried to maintain it at a level of genuine curiosity versus the nosiness that would usually plague someone like Naruto. His hand came up to scratch at the back of his head, chin tilted in thought, and he turned to her with another small smile. "I believe it was about three weeks ago. I had injured my arm during a fight." How the hell had she forgotten? She was the one who healed him! Embarrassment tainted her features for but a moment, skin flushing pink with a rush of blood, and she turned her head and continued to march towards the Hokage's office, muttering incoherently as she moved away from him. He, however, was left to stare after her, bewildered at what could have triggered her this time.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura had grown significantly in the last decade since he had met her - she was now twenty three and a beautiful young adult. Just as the name given to her had predicted, she had blossomed into a flower through the years, all of it right before the eyes of her teacher. 'Ex-teacher,' he bitterly reminded himself, though it eased his misgivings and granted him the chance to study her once more as they ascended the stairs in relative silence. Four years ago, he'd noticed the shift, the change in who she was internally and externally, and while he knew not what it meant at the time, it was coming clear each and every day. Beautiful didn't begin to summarize what she had become. Maybe he was an old pervert.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dull was the evening and dreary was the sky as the conglomerate of team seven finished their meals at one of the Leaf Village's finer restaraunts - much to Naruto's dismay, of course, but Sakura insisted that they go somewhere nice and Kakashi insisted that he treat them. He was already regretting it; God, that boy could eat. His misgivings between Naruto's stomach and his wallet were tossed aside, though, and the meal was rather pleasurable as they enjoyed each other's company. Sakura gushed over Sasuke - what else was new? - and he, per usual, merely brushed her off. Naruto, oblivious as always, blissfully inhaled his dinner, though Kakashi felt... Different. It was his norm to disregard the banter, to allow them to work it out, but somewhere along the way, his head and his heart stopped communicating and he was forced to observe through a different sort of lens. She was crestfallen when he took a jab at her forehead, a particular soft-spot that Ino had aimed for through the years, and while it wasn't in Kakashi's nature to step in, he felt anger curling tightly around his throat like a vice.

"Thanks for the food!" Naruto cheered, both hands planted firmly on his swollen stomach as he hobbled out. Sasuke merely clicked his tongue, regarding Kakashi with a curt nod, and followed suit with the blonde haired boy.

That left two people - Konoha's pink haired medic, and the silver haired copy-nin. "I'd better get going, too," she admitted, lips curving into a delicate smile as she peered up towards him before turning and taking a step towards the door. It was now or never, wasn't it? "Sakura, wait," he cautioned quietly, advancing forward in a flash and hooking his fingers around her wrist to stop her from leaving. She turned to meet his stare, clearly bewildered with whatever was so urgent, and Kakashi found himself choking on the words as his brain sputtered to rationalize why the hell he cared. "You can do better," he chided, his voice stern and thick with anger towards the raven haired Uchiha. Everything within him screamed to go home - who was he to get involved with the petty affairs of teenagers? Did it matter when one of the two was Sakura? His grip on her wrist tightened, if only a fraction, and he stared down at her with millions of emotions swimming through his charcoal eyes. "Kakashi, I don't th-" she began, her voice quavering with hesitation, though before she could finish, he was gone; the only telltale sign of his prior existence was the puff of smoke that had consumed his previous position. Her flesh burned from where his had made contact, and she absentmindedly rubbed the skin as though the sensation could be wiped away. If only. The trek home gave her the time to ponder, though the strange pit in her stomach rang like an alarm bell as she pushed through the door and began her shuffle back to her apartment.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The halt in her footsteps announced their arrival at their destination, and Sakura's knuckles rapped lightly three times against the thick wooden door. She was nervous. Her stomach churned endlessly to attest to the fact, and her fingers fiddled with a loose string on her shirt. Anything undercover meant the possibility of messing up, right? And she was good at that. Or she used to be. But what if she still was? Her mind cranked a mile a minute to fill her small body with doubts til the voice of reason broke through, manifested in the form of a smooth timbre that was comfortably calming. "Relax, Sakura," he crooned, creasing his eyes with a reassuring smile. "We've worked together for years. This isn't something new. You'll do fine no matter what it is." She averted her gaze from his and fixed it on her feet, murmuring out a quiet "thank you" before Tsunade chimed in from behind the door.

"Enter."