Deceitful (A Naruto Fanfic)

Ch.39:Sakura

Hey guys. I love you all so I updated and it's currently 12:40. Uhmm. Kakashi might be OOC. Sorry if he is. This chap's more serious. Oh yeah, Psycho pass is an amazing show, so watch it. Then we can fangirl. K bye.

"What were you doing before you found me anyways?" I questioned.

"On my way back from a mission, was supposed to take out a pair of assassins headed towards the Mist, but when I got there, someone already finished the job, though they shouldn't have been so cruel." Kakashi explained normally.

"Oh, so what I'm hearing is you failed your mission and was upstaged by another ninja?" I continued innocently.

"You're way too much like Tsunade. Maybe you should be the Hokage someday." He joked.

"I could never pull that off! Plus, isn't that Naruto's job?" I joked.

"He's a little focused on Sasuke." Was the reply.

"Oh."

The wind picked up, causing me to shiver.

"Damn, I hate the cold." I muttered to myself.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't know you swear." Kakashi said with an amused look on his face.

"There's a lot you don't know." Inner replied internally.

"Does my word choice really affect my capabilities as a ninja?" I asked dubiously.

"Not at all." Kakashi spoke with a straight face.

I sighed. He was a pretty good liar.

"Where are we off to, Hatake?" I asked as we kept moving.

"Since when can a student address a teacher by last name?" Kakashi asked incrediously.

"Since that student no longer exists." I shot back.

I continued moving but I noticed he stopped. Going backwards, I was face to face with him.

"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi asked softly.

"That weak Sakura who you used to know doesn't exist. Actually, maybe I just don't exist." I mumbled.

Kakashi leaned his back on a tree and pointed to a tree nearby, in front of him.

"Climb it. Using your chakra." Kakashi commanded.

"S-Kakashi, you already know I can do that." I pointed out.

"Just do it you stubborn Haruno." He instructed.

"Well this conversation just went from serious to unusual." Inner remarked.

I took a running start and let out even bursts of chakra from the soles of my feet, not too strong, but not too weak. After about 20 steps up the tree, I swung my legs onto a nearby branch and sat down.

Kakashi sighed.

"Now do you see what I mean? My student learned that. That Sakura is still in you, just like how you still remember this technique." Kakashi explained.

I didn't answer, there wasn't anything I could say.

Kakashi analyzed the tree, looking to where my feet made contact into the bark, and was measuring how much chakra was pushed out for each step, just with a glance.

His finger pressed into the bark and when it didn't cave in, he smiled from underneath his hand, you know, since he still didn't have his mask.

"This is the new Sakura. Each of your steps were perfectly calculated to where you wouldn't have to take as many to get to the branch you were on. You didn't just try to get as high up as you can. You knew where you were going, and had a solid plan beforehand. Your chakra amount exerted was perfect. And if the bark was weaker in some areas you used your chakra to make it level with the whole tree, making it almost undetectable. By swinging onto the branch, if someone were to track your steps, they'd think you vanished because your steps were gone. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd left." Kakashi grinned.

"No, no. You're giving me too much credit." I answered, my hands in a surrender kind of gesture.

"But do you see Sakura? That was the new you, and the old you. Just like how these two techniques are intertwined, so is your past self and your present. Your experienced and inexperienced. You need one to balance the other. It isn't weakness, it is a strength. One that you seem to possess." Kakashi finished.

"But where's the balance between the two?" I questioned.

"Between your past and present or your strength and weakness?" Kakashi wondered.

"Both." I clarified.

"That's just something you'll have to figure out for yourself." He answered.

"Huh. You know for being such an elderly you seem to have a great memory when it comes to advice." I stated.

"Never at a loss for words are you, Sakura?" Kakashi sighed.

"That's right." I grinned.

Quickly scaling down the tree I reached Kakashi. He took a glance at the tree and shook his head.

"What?" I grumbled, feeling like he was going to criticize me.

"Another perfect chakra exertion. Just become a Jounin why don't you." Kakashi muttered.

"Perfection is an illusion." I quoted as we started to walk again.

"Illusions are what confuse us." Kakashi recited back.

"Perfection confuses us, then?" I replied, stepping over a fallen log.

"In a sense, yes." Kakashi spoke while reading his map.

"So I confuse you?" I stated uncertain of my assumption.

"Yes."

"Well you confuse me too." I mumbled to myself.

"Who said that was a bad thing? Come on Sakura, let's get to some shelter, I heard it's going to be extremely cold tonight." Kakashi directed.

I followed him wordlessly for fifteen minutes until I made out some lights in the distance. A town. Dusk was slowly making itself known.

"It's easier to just to be oblivious to what's around you than to face it." I finally spoke.

"Hm?" Kakashi turned towards me. We were at the top of a hill, overlooking the city.

"You know, back then, I just deluded myself. pretended the bad didn't exist. I would just laugh off being a ninja, laugh off the fact I knew sooner or later my hands would be stained with someone else's blood. It was the only way I stayed sane for so long, being a total idiot." I elaborated.

We both sat down onto the long grass. Kakashi waited for me to continue, so I did.

"I don't think I could ever face Konoha again like this, the way I am right now. I'd just go back to playing along and live in the make believe world where being a ninja wasn't a hardship. But then again, I don't have anyone to stay sane for." I stated, looking straght up at the few stars coming up.

I looked and Kakashi was laying on his side facing the other way, breathing evenly.

"Looks like he's asleep." Inner commented.

I smiled a sad smile. Laying a few feet away, I decided I would take first watch. Just because I've had an emotional rollercoaster doesn't mean I abandon being a ninja.

Ninja. I sighed, trying to keep my eyes open. Wrapping my arms around my legs I curled into a ball and rested my head. Was there even a balance between sanity and insanity? I took one last look at Kakashi before I closed my eyes.

"Stay sane for me." A voice proposed quietly.

"Okay, Sensei."

...