A/N: Hello, everybody!

Well, first things first, I am incredibly sorry to have kept you all waiting so long for Porcelain. I have had such a hard time with this story, but I promised I would finish and I was determined to. There were many bumps in the road, but I never felt like I could give up on Porcelain. It was my ball and chain for a long, something I dreaded to do, but I just couldn't let it go.

But no more. Porcelain is COMPLETED.

It took my hours of writing, deleting, rewriting, demolishing the plan to rebuild it, once, twice, thrice. This story has been rebuilt from the ground up to a version I felt was more fitting and interesting. I hope you will think so, too.

This has been a roller coaster ride, an unforgettable one. I restarted Porcelain last week end. During the first three days I had off, I spent the entire time writing. No jokes, I barely ate. It was pure, sweet madness. Then, yesterday, after another nine hours and 13,000 words, I finished. I finished. I FINISHED. I can't say it enough. I wrote Porcelain, in its entirety, in four days. I am proud of myself and still bursting into fits of giggles and kicking the air in victory.

Porcelain wasn't the end of me!

Now, now. The work isn't quite over. Editing is gravely needed. As I type this, I've only reread the first chapter and edited that one only, but I couldn't wait to share it with you. I feel like I will cry as I reread further, whether out of self hate or an impending feeling of doom at what I have to rework, but it will come. I won't make you guys wait anymore. I'll make sure to post a chapter every week, to keep a good pace. The brunt of the work is done.

Without further ado, here it is.

Behind the Porcelain Mask

xxx

"Sakura?"

Turning away from the trees that lined the pavement, Sakura's green eyes looked to Kakashi's ever masked face.

"Yes, sensei?"

Kakashi stood still for a moment, his hands shoved into his pockets. Sakura was sitting on that same bench she'd been betrayed that night, watching the only road he could have taken on his way out the village. With her feet up on the bench and her arms around her legs, Sakura looked just as small as she had back then, two years ago, the night of his desertion.

"It's lunch time."

Sakura frowned, rubbing at her dry eyes. "I know."

"Let's have lunch together."

Sakura's frown remained, but then the lines in her forehead smoothed and she hesitated, until her lips parted in a small, shaky smile. "Okay."

Kakashi smiled to himself as she walked to his side, looking down at her as he ruffled her hair. Sakura hated it, as always, and growled in anger. Then, he started walking, and Sakura remained behind him for a moment, before running to his side, strides in time with his.

"It's sunny today," Sakura said, a smile on her lips he didn't know to look at to know was there.

xxx

Chapter One: For Old Times' Sake

…

Sakura held her breath as she watched the four people around her, spine stiff. Kakashi stood directly across from her, leaning on Tsunade's desk with his arm crossed on his chest. Even with the dog porcelain mask, he was so easy to recognize with his wild silver hair. The uniform looked foreign on him to her eyes, even if she had grown accustomed to seeing the friendly reminder of his past tattooed on his left shoulder from years of being his assigned medic. Only, today, the past was now. Kakashi appeared taller, even slouched as he always, in the lighter ANBU attire. Kakashi was in ANBU now, not a decade and a half ago.

"I don't recognize her," Kakashi finally said, head turned towards Tsunade and entirely ignoring the existence of Sakura. "I assume she has worthy skills if you suggest her?"

Sakura swallowed, brushing a strand of short, blonde hair behind her ear. The first part of the plan had succeeded. Kakashi didn't immediately recognize her.

"Who do you take me for?" Tsunade scoffed, leaning her palm heavily on the desk. "Suzuka here is one of our finest. Trained directly under mine and Sakura's mentoring for the past seven years. If you don't think she fits the bill for your team, then you'll be without a medic."

Kakashi nodded. "That would be unacceptable."

"Indeed." Tsunade tapped her fingernails on the wall, the sharp clicking reminding Sakura to stand straighter.

"Well," Kakashi said, finally pushing himself into a full standing position. "Looks like we've found our winner."

Sakura bowed, staring at her feet. "I will do you proud, Captain."

"You'll do us proud when you don't let us bleed out in battle," the first man on Kakashi's left said, tone clipped.

Sakura stood straight again. She didn't recognize him, nor the other. He was only a tad taller than Kakashi, his brown hair reminding her of the Akimichi clan. Though, his frame wasn't quite as large to be possibly one of them.

"Don't be so snarky," Kakashi chuckled. "This is Shokubai. He's a bit rough around the edges, but you'll see, he's just a massive teddy bear."

This was more familiar territory. Kakashi's humor never changed.

"And this," Kakashi leaned forward to motion towards their last teammate, "is Kunan."

Kunan was quieter than both of them. Sakura didn't know him either. With the porcelain mask covering his face, the only feature to be noted was his mid-length black hair, styled in a short ponytail with bangs that hung from his forehead. Silent and stoic as he was, Sakura already knew what to expect of him. She'd had plenty of experience with the silent and stoic types, after all.

"Suzuka, was it?"

Sakura's head whipped back to Kakashi and she nodded. "I assume you are Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi removed his dog mask, revealing his trademark smiling masked face. "It was that easy to guess?"

"The hair gives it away," Sakura said quietly, flashing him a smile of her own.

"It's not bubblegum pink, at the very least," Kakashi joked, replacing his mask. He turned to Tsunade, leaning his thighs on the desk again. "Is our mission ready?"

Tsunade nodded. "We received a report from Ame. A team stationed there heard rumors of an attack on the customs at the border between Ame and Suna. They seem to be sweeping this under the rug, as I've received no official report from them."

Brows bunched in thought, Tsunade stepped closer to her desk to retrieve envelopes. Distributing them to the team, she continued, "You'll go there, as tourists. See what you can find out about this attack without revealing our involvement."

"But Ame is part of Fire Country, now," Sakura said, frowning. Ever since the end of the war and the death of Ame's former leader, Ame had been appropriated by the Fire Country, due to Pein's defeat at the hands of Naruto. They were mostly left to their own devices and managed to the country by themselves still, though. "Why would it be abnormal for Konoha to investigate?"

"Don't be so naive," Kakashi cut in, riffling through the papers in the envelope. "Our acquisition of Ame is controversial at best. Whoever perpetrated the crime, it's best if they believe Konoha is left in the dark of such going-ons."

"What do you think happened?" Shokubai asked, leaning over Kakashi's shoulder to read his papers. He pushed aside his mask for a better view and Sakura could see its design clearer now. A porcupine. "The report says the border was attacked, but not from which side. I can see Ame protesting Suna's nth raise of taxes. No wonder they wouldn't be reporting this."

Tsunade handed Sakura her envelope at last. Sakura didn't lose time to open it up. Skimming over the text, Sakura found it was mostly comprised of information surrounding the area they were scouting. A few maps and a sheet with their directions completed the pile.

Kunan was already stuffing the sheets back in the envelope. "Then Suna should report the attack within days."

"Whichever it is," Tsunade interrupted, her honey eyes severe even in the dim lighting of dawn, "I'm not going to waste time to see who comes forward first. You leave this afternoon. Find out what you can in the meantime."

"Understood," Kakashi said, folding the envelope so it would fit in his pants pocket. "We'll meet at the west exit in three hours. Follow the instructions in the envelope."

Shokubai and Kunan nodded and left the room, not acknowledging Sakura any further. Kakashi stayed behind for a moment, standing at Sakura's side.

"Don't mind them," he said, encouraging. He laid a heavy palm on her shoulder and smiled under his mask. "If Sakura trained you, I'm sure you're not as frail as you look."

Sakura nodded, slipping her mask over her face to hide her embarrassment.

Once Kakashi had left, Tsunade stepped closer to her, removing Sakura's snake mask. "Don't make me regret this, Sakura," she said, running a hand through Sakura's blonde hair.

"I won't, shishou," Sakura said, confident smile on her lips. "I'm the best medic they could have."

"Blonde doesn't fit you," Tsunade chuckled, toying with a strand. "Leave that to Ino next time."

"I have to go get ready." Sakura slipped her mask back on, rearranging the black and grey clothes that still felt so strange to her. "Everything will be just fine."

Tsunade nodded, worry still shining in her light eyes, though she didn't try to hold Sakura back. Tsunade trusted Sakura and her ability to make the right choice, unlike Kakashi. He would learn to trust her now.

...xxx...xxx...xxx...

"These kinds of missions are the worst," Kunan said, running a hand through his black hair to keep it from flying into his face again. The winds truly were annoying today. "It'll take at least two days to get to Ame this way."

"Already whining?" Shokubai laughed, nudging Kunan's shoulder with his own. As tourists, they didn't get the luxury of running through the trees. Sakura didn't mind the slow walk, for once. Fire Country was beautiful. "We've just been walking for an hour."

"Settle down, kids," Kakashi said. He led the way as he always did, a few paces away from them on the dirt road. "The train is only another three hours away."

"I'm the one who's supposed to say that," Shokubai chuckled, throwing an arm over Sakura's shoulders. "Eh, dear daughter?"

Sakura only threw him a venomous glare, to which he laughed. As part of their mission, they had taken on false identities. Shokubai, being Kakashi's elder by almost by a whole decade, best fit the description to act as her father. Kunan was her betrothed and Kakashi her older brother. Unlike Shokubai, Kakashi could pass as much younger, with or without the mask.

The oddest part of it all had to be Kakashi's dyed hair. The silver mess was now a brown mess. No improvement there. The clothes were still as baggy, the headband replaced by a patch. The mask was gone. Even as a civilian, he couldn't look normal.

"Don't stare at him that way," Kunan said from her side, leaning in close so she could feel his breath on her cheeks. Kunan, though, had no trouble there. He knew how to brush his hair and look acceptable to most people's standards. "I could get jealous, love."

Sakura scoffed and shoved him away, though he was quick to recover and walk too close to her again. "You're not my husband just yet."

"All the same," Kunan said, a wicked smile on his lips.

Sakura's throat dried up for a moment, the sight of Kunan almost too familiar. The black hair, the black eyes, even his personality reminded her…

"Now you're more convincing," he said, nodding in approval. "Now walk faster."

Sakura rolled her eyes, skipping forward to walk by Kakashi's side. Immediately, Kakashi ruffled her hair and she growled in frustration, swatting his hand away. "You too, really?"

Over her shoulder, Sakura peeked back at Kunan. His black eyes were staring back at her, unaffected. Sakura frowned and looked ahead at the road. Her feet were already aching from her wrong choice of shoes and she didn't need another reason to kick herself.

"Don't worry," Kakashi said, his smile an unusual sight without his blue mask. "Soon enough you'll have proved yourself and everything will be fine."

Those words, Sakura had already heard them. So many times. From Kakashi himself, from Tsunade, from Shizune, from so many more… Over and over until the war and she finally unleashed the results of three years' incessant training. Then, she had proved her worth. Going back so far was disheartening, to say the least. Regardless, Sakura grit her teeth and endured it.

"I've heard that so many times," she mumbled, looking away from Kakashi.

When Kakashi didn't reply, Sakura turned back to him, on her toes immediately. Kakashi's gaze lingered too long, and Sakura knew she'd given too much away. He had doubts already. He knew her far too well to not recognize her.

"You should grow your hair out," Kakashi said after a moment. "You'd be prettier."

Already, he was looking for more clues. Sakura ran a hand through her blonde locks, the wig shorter than her hair but not by so much. "I was thinking about it."

She was too self-conscious of her answer. Acting had never been her forte.

"I second that," Kunan said, suddenly at her side, his fingers running through her hair. "Long hair would fit you much better."

"What's with all the comments on my looks now?" Sakura growled, slapping Kunan's hand away when he tried to touch her hair again. "Do I tell you how to shave your fucking face?"

"Suzuka!" Shokubai reprimanded, a few steps behind them. "Watch your mouth!"

"I'm a grown woman, daddy," Sakura spat, craning her neck to look behind her. Shokubai had his hands on his hips, feigning indignation. "Don't tell me what to do anymore."

"I'm going to regret marrying you," Kunan sighed, shaking his head. "Won't I?"

Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, much less invasive than the two other men. "Such a way to talk about my little sister."

Sakura groaned and hung her head. This would be a long, long trip.

...xxx...xxx...xxx...

Sakura was all too happy to crash into bed that night. The train ride had been as long and boring as the trek. Her legs ached, something that would forever baffle her. She could train and run for hours on end, but walking was more painful somehow. Even with all her medical knowledge, the body retained secrets from her.

"Don't hog it all to yourself," Kunan said from her side, shedding his heavy sweater. Under it, he wore the same muscle shirt as Kakashi. Standard jonin clothes. "I'm not sleeping on the floor."

How Sakura missed the days of being a small child. Back in her genin days, Sakura would always sleep in her own bed on missions, Kakashi favoring a couch or the floor for her own comfort. Guilt nagged at her, now, for making him so uncomfortable, but the thought was appreciated.

"I'll take all the space I want," Sakura mumbled. "That's how married life is."

Kunan dropped into bed besides her, stretching his limbs. "It goes both ways then."

Splayed over the bed, he took a lot more space than her, weighing down her torso and legs with the leg and arm he laid over her. Sakura groaned and rolled out of bed. Sleeping in her day clothes was an option, but she decided not to opt for it. Winter clothes were too cumbersome to sleep in, for someone like Sakura who always hated wearing more than the bare minimum to bed. She kept her back to Kunan as she changed, feeling his eyes on her for a moment only.

When she flipped the light switch off and returned to bed, he rolled on his side. "Can you set the alarm?"

"How long do you take to get ready?" Kunan asked, his hands fumbling in the dark for the antiquated item that served as an alarm clock.

"The same as you," Sakura grumbled, slipping under the covers. The inn was was priced cheaply; heating wasn't their priority, accordingly.

"If you say so."

The alarm set, he followed her under the blanket, lying on his back. Sakura's toes brushed against one of his legs. His pant leg had ridden up and his coarse hair tickled her somewhat Over the years, Sakura had gone on many missions. Yet, she had been on few missions without Kakashi. He was always there to watch over her, always the one to share a room or bed with her. Closing her eyes, Sakura reminded herself that she was a grown kunoichi. Sharing a bed with a teammate, male or female, was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Why are you so tense?"

"I'm not," Sakura said, the sound muffled by her pillow.

"Right," Kunan answered, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Sakura frowned, burying her head further in her pillow to ignore him better. Still, even after a long while like this, she found herself still awake. Kunan was as well, if she could trust his uneven breathing.

"Do you often share a bed with female teammates?" Sakura asked, too curious not to ask. Or perhaps trying to validate herself. "On missions, I mean."

"Not often," Kunan said, clearly as awake as she was. "My teams have almost always been men exclusively."

Sakura hummed. Unable to see Kunan in the darkness of the room, she could hear the rustling of his hair and pillow when he turned his head towards her.

"I take it you're not used to this." Though he spoke evenly, Sakura could feel the mockery behind his tone. "How old are you?"

"That's none of your business," Sakura said, turning on her side to face away from him. "I'm used to it, if you will. I just had the luck of always being on missions with the same teammate."

"That's how it was for me as well." Kunan's voice was softer, the change only a subtle one. Sakura guessed he had been on few times, like her. Until things changed. "Before I joined ANBU."

"Why did you join?"

Sakura could feel Kunan stiffen behind her.

"My team was killed," he finally said, his tone the trained indifference that one perfected when they were too well acquainted with death. Most shinobi affected this voice with ease. "ANBU was a new start."

"Why do you think Kakashi joined ANBU?" Sakura knew the question was odd, but she had to ask. She rolled again to face Kunan, expecting. Certainly, Kakashi wouldn't truthfully answer her, but maybe his teammate. "He still had teammates."

"Kakashi doesn't talk much, besides the fooling around." Kunan shrugged. "That's a question you should ask his sidekick, that girl he always went on missions with before ANBU. Sakura, was it? She was your mentor?"

Sakura spread her legs a little, the balled up position she had adopted becoming too uncomfortable. Her calf brushed against Kunan's, but he seemed to remain oblivious to it. It was an odd thing to share a bed with someone new. After years of this with Kakashi, she always knew how he slept. There were no surprise brushes and touches. Only habit.

When she didn't answer, Kunan asked again, "How old are you?"

"Why do you want to know?" Sakura mumbled.

"I'll tell you my age if you tell me yours." He rolled on his side to face her, one of his knee now on top of her thigh. The bed was too small for two strangers, but not for a couple. "Fair deal."

"Twenty-six."

"I'd guessed a few years younger," he said, pensive. "It must be the hair."

"So, how old are you?" Sakura prodded, hugging the blanket to her chest. "We had a deal."

"I have no such memory," Kunan replied, his teeth visible through his smirk.

"You liar," Sakura growled, reaching between them to slap Kunan's shoulder. "You promised, now tell me."

"One day, maybe," Kunan chuckled, shifting to lie on his back.

Sakura frowned and held her upper body up on her elbow, using her other hand to slap Kunan's exposed shoulder again. He jumped in surprise, grabbing her wrist before she could continue her assault.

"You're a violent one," he said, laughing.

"You're making me," Sakura huffed.

"Am I?" he chuckled, rolling over to pin Sakura's wrist to her pillow, beside her head. Though it was still dark, Sakura's eyes had begun to adjust and she could still him smiling. She could hear him breathing, too, as it was the only sound in the room. The night was quiet tonight. "I can be like that too. Are you going to make me?"

Sakura scoffed indignantly, keeping her strength in check and letting Kunan believe he had the upper hand. His upper body hovered above hers, a respectable distance away. "That would be to easy."

Kunan laughed, leaning down to whisper in Sakura's ear. "I'm twenty-nine." He placed a brief, chaste kiss to her temple and moved away from her, retreating to his half of the bed. "Now let's get some sleep, love. Unless you prefer to keep me awake all night."

"You couldn't handle it," Sakura scoffed, spreading her legs to hog more of the bed, disregarding how her leg pressed against his. "Sweet dreams, love."

"Sweet dreams," he chuckled.

...xxx...xxx...xxx...

Ame's weather had never friendly. Constant rains and frequent thunderstorms had always made its terrain a harsh one to journey through. Today was no different, though the violence of nature was mild. Sakura pulled the hood of her cloak closer to her face, warding off the heavy raindrops pelting her. At the border, the clouds weren't quite as angry.

"Captain," Sakura called, waving to Kakashi. "Here."

Kakashi jogged over to her, where she stood in a large hole in the wall of the customs building. It turned out the attack had been a bombing. No jutsu to possibly leave a recognizable trace such as Kakashi's raikiri would leave.

"What did you find?"

"Powder," Sakura said, rubbing some between her gloved fingers to show Kakashi. "I'm no explosive expert, but someone like Kenshi might figure something out from the mix of residues left in this. A recipe of some sort that would leave a signature."

"Kenshi?" Kakashi asked, searching for a face.

"In the BUA division," Sakura replied without a thought. The biological and unstable arms division was all too familiar to her, thanks to her expertise in poison. "He's the lead developer for Konoha's next-generation explosive weapons."

"I see."

While Sakura bent out to scoop some of the powder in a plastic bag, Kakashi reached for her neck. Before she could swat his hand away, Kakashi had already found what he was searching for. The small vial of poison she kept hidden there, hooked right to her skin, for desperate times.

"I knew it."

Sakura stood back up, dusting herself. "Of course you did."

"Keep searching," Kakashi said, biting back anger. His arms were stiff at his sides, but his face showed little more than neutrality. "We need to be out of here before sunrise."

Sakura nodded and walked away from him. There was no use tormenting each other until they had time to talk privately. Shokubai wasn't long to join her.

"Did you find something?" he asked, going through a pile of rubble that hadn't quite been picked through yet. Even with his flashlight, he seemed to be struggling to see anything.

"Powder," Sakura answered, kicking a few rocks away. "From the explosive they used to blow this part up."

It was hard to even tell where the attack had begun or come from. Both Ame and Suna's sides seemed to have been hit evenly.

"Suzuka," Kunan called, from the other side of the room they were searching.

Sakura jogged over to where he was leaning over a corpse, covering her mouth and nose with her shirt to keep out the putrefying smell. "What is it?"

Kunan nodded towards the corpse, also covering his face. No amount of time around corpses immunized to that stench. "No external wounds. You're the medic."

Sakura nodded and kneeled by the corpse, her glowing hands hovering the body. Indeed, there were no external wounds, or at the very least, none severe enough to pose a risk to life. Blood clearly dripped from its nose and mouth, signaling an internal wound that she was quick to find. Kakashi and Shokubai stood at her sides, watching like hawks.

"Damage to the heart, left lung and pancreas. Puncture wounds to the heart and lung. Cause of death, cardiac arrest. Insufficient blood reaching the heart."

"Puncture wounds?" Shokubai asked, frowning. "From what?"

Sakura remained silent, jaw tight.

"That's Sakura's technique," Kakashi finally said, stiff. "Isn't it?"

Sakura nodded. "Hokage-sama's, to be precise. She only perfected it. This version is subpar, to say the least."

It was no secret that the crib of modern ninja medicine was Konoha, stemming from no other than Tsunade. From there, it dripped down to Shizune and her poisons; and Sakura and her combat-adapted knowledge of chakra control. Sakura had taught the new generation how to manipulate chakra the way Tsunade had learned to, though only in order to heal. It had been a gift between nations to celebrate the peace between the nations ensuing the war.

"I'm not quite following," Shokubai said, watching Kakashi and Sakura's grave faces.

It was only natural for Shokubai to be confused. Few ninja spread the secrets of their techniques. Teammates might be lucky to, due to having to fight together, but the vast majority were kept in the dark.

"At the end of the war," Kunan started, "it was agreed that Tsunade's apprentice would teach children from every nation her medical ninjutsu. The technique to manipulate chakra in order to alter the body. It's my understanding that this apprentice adapted the technique further to make it a lethal jutsu, though this part wasn't shared."

"I remember," Shokubai said, nodding. "Most of the kids were from Suna."

Kunan nodded. Lips tight, Sakura glanced down at the corpse again. One of her students had, perhaps, started to try and mimic her technique and killed this man.

"Keep searching," Kakashi barked, startling his teammates. "We're not done yet."

They nodded, returning to searching the piles of rubble. Sakura would ponder over this later. The building had been hit hard, too much to remain functional, although most of it was still intact. This particular building processed the incoming and outgoing cargo trains between Suna and Ame, verifying their goods and receiving tax payments on said cargo. It went without saying that most of the trains were bound towards Suna. Suna exported little; they had to import everything.

Sakura sighed to herself, rubbing a hand down her face. She was tired of the masquerade already. Kakashi already knew who she was. Still, there was no use destabilizing the team in the middle of a mission. She would tell them the truth soon enough. It would be a relief when she didn't have to maintain a genjutsu anymore.

"You were useful after all," Shokubai said, breaking Sakura from her thoughts. "Little Suzuka might be worth the trouble after all."

"What trouble?" Sakura scoffed.

"Women are always trouble," Shokubai chuckled, helping Sakura move a particularly large chunk of wall.

Sakura kneeled down to inspect what littered the floor under it. "And men are little miracle-making fucking angels."

Shokubai laughed, his voice deep and gravelly. "I don't think I've ever quite seen such a mouth on a woman."

"Get used to it," Sakura spat, picking up a dead bug, but recognizing it as a native to Ame - a familiar bug she often used to extract a particular molecule from for poison. "I'm not going anywhere."

"They all say that." Shokubai picked up a rock, finding some interest in it. "Then when the going gets tough, they run back home crying; they can't handle this life."

"I'd love to see you tell that to Tsunade-sama." Sakura smirked, imagining just how Tsunade would break walls with his body. "If you have the balls to."

"You might be proud of your teacher, kiddo," Shokubai said, shaking his head, "but she's the first culprit. You seem to forget she abandoned Konoha for decades after her boyfriend's death. Woman couldn't stomach the sight of blood anymore."

Sakura stilled. She had been too young then to hear of Tsunade's desertion. She had learned about it, hearing of her struggles through Kakashi. It had never occurred to Sakura that Tsunade had once been weak, too weak to even follow her teammates anymore.

"Say what you want," Sakura spat, wiping the doubt from her face. "She's saved the village from certain death."

That was the truth. Konoha wouldn't have survived Pein's attack without Tsunade's intervention. Tsunade had made a great sacrifice for it; there was no telling how many years she had cut from her life in order to do so.

Shokubai didn't bother replying, instead preferring to go search for clues elsewhere where Sakura wouldn't offend his sight. Sakura focused on the task at hand. Their duties came first and foremost, long before pettiness such as this. Sakura had long proved her strength and soon they would know.

...xxx...xxx...xxx...

At the end of the night, before their return to their inn in Ame, Kakashi had sent one of his dogs to deliver a message to Tsunade. Before the end of the next day, he would be back with her response and their next orders. Uhei was Kakashi's fastest dog and never failed to live up to his reputation.

"Don't fall asleep, sweetheart," Kunan said, poking Sakura's forearm with his chopsticks.

Sakura snapped back into a straight sitting position, not realizing how much she had let herself slip until now. Dinner had been before her for several minutes already, but she found little appetite. "Sorry. I didn't sleep well, I guess."

Of course, they hadn't slept at all. They would be lucky to sleep a full night tonight.

"Eat," Kakashi cut in, tone dry.

Sakura nodded, obeying promptly. Kakashi had done his best to ignore her presence since he had confirmed her identity. Waiting until they had a moment alone to settle it was torture.

"What's gotten between you two?" Kunan asked, frowning. He stabbed his chopsticks in his bowl of race and reclined in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "You've been looking on the verge of tearing each other to shreds since last night."

"Just a dandy sibling quarrel," Sakura said flippantly, raising her chopsticks to amplify the effect. Flashing Kakashi, a smile, she cocked her head and offered him the sweetest look she could muster. "Isn't it, brother?"

Kakashi's blood was no doubt boiling under his skin. And Sakura knew she was right when he put down his bowl of rice just a tad too hard on the table. "Exactly, sister."

"I don't know what it is," Kunan said, grimacing, "but something between you two is beyond weird."

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Sakura said mimicking Kunan's usual syrupy tone whenever he used the affectionate nickname. She laced her arms around his left arm, leaning down to look up at him through her lashes. "He's just jealous he's not the one getting married."

Kunan barely frowned, before giving into her game. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and brought his chopsticks to his mouth. "Let's just finish dinner already."

They did, quickly. Everyone was all too glad to return to their rooms, though Uhei's presence cut their hopes for rest short. Kakashi bent down to retrieve the scroll from his neck. Uhei whined, wagging his tail and cockting his tail. Chuckling, Kakashi pulled a treat from his jacket pocket and threw it in the air. Uhei barked, as enthusiastic as ever, and jumped, trapping the piece of dried meat between his jaws before he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"What's the plan?" Shokubai asked, watching Kakashi as he read the message.

Kakashi took a moment to read and reread before burning the paper. "We're heading to Suna first thing in the morning. Suna sent report of the attack, claiming it to be from Ame. We're to go give them a false report of our findings."

"I thought Tsunade-shishou didn't want anyone to know about this investigation?" Sakura said, frowning. "Why all the cover-up if we're just going to tell them?"

"They came forward with the report," Kakashi said evenly, sidestepping just enough to show her his profile. "This changes our plan. We'll cooperate with them to see what we can find on their side."

"I take it Ame is still hiding it, then?" Kunan asked, hands on his hips.

Kakashi nodded. "It's a mystery why, though they'll be forced to come forward at one point or another."

"We should go sleep, then," Sakura said, swallowing a yawn. They would have plenty of time tomorrow to argue over who the culprit was. "We'll need to be rested to travel all the way to Suna in a single day. We'll want to be presentable for Kazekage-sama."

Kakashi nodded again, and nobody lost time to obey. It was always a welcome event when you were ordered to sleep as much as you could. As she was following Kunan to their room, Sakura didn't miss the way Kakashi's glare lingered on her. It was not often that Kakashi lost. This time, he had, and at his game no less. Sakura would not feel guilty for leaving him in the dark a little longer. He deserved every second of it after what he had done to her.

...xxx...xxx...xxx...