Title: Look At it Broken
Author: Hiko Mokushi
Fandom/Community: Naruto / 50scenes
Prompt: Table 2: #4 – Change
Pairing: Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura
Rating: R
Warning: Harsh language, descriptive violence, alcohol and drug abuse, some sexuality
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei owns Naruto.
Summery: Sakura had never really thought about it before, but the man had some serious bad luck. Fortunately enough for her, his bad luck was her incredible gain.

Prologue.

People crowded the room, eager to see this strange feat. Sakura growled when an elbow found its way into her stomach.

"Momo-chan, get me four bags of type O."

The golden-haired girl blinked at her dark-haired superior, frozen momentarily.

Shizune paused, stethoscope half-raised to the chest of the body before her. Her eyes narrowed angrily. "Momo-chan, I need those four CCs now!" she snapped again, snapping her fingers impatiently before the girl's eyes.

Momo blinked, and then nodded furiously, cheeks flushing crimson. "Of course, Shizune-san! Right away!" She hurried from the room and sped away.

The black-haired medic-nin smirked and glanced at her coworker. "Interns," she said with a shake her head. "Sakura-chan," she asked, sliding her fingertips along the man's clavicle, "get this room cleared out."

She fingered the metal charm at the top of her zipper, tugging it down slightly.

"This is a hospital, not a bar room!" Tucking a lock of cotton candy pink hair behind her ears, she slowly began shoving bodies forcibly out of the room. "Anybody that doesn't have authorized clearance, get the hell out of my way!" Steadily—but still grumbling in response—the group of collected medical personnel started filing out of the room. Momo slipped past Sakura's iron fist quick enough to hand Shizune four plastic bags of a brownish liquid and scurry back out.

The black-haired woman chuckled.

A young medic seemed to not hear Sakura, even though she was standing dangerously within punching range. The medic-nin inched closer and threw her arm out—her hand whizzing centimeters from the girl's face. "I said out!"

The girl jumped, eyes widening, frightened. "So sorry, Haruno-san!" She made a beeline for the door, following Momo's exit strategy. Sakura slammed the door shut behind her, leaning against it; she slid down to sit on the floor and then sighed, wiping at her forehead.

Shizune took a deep breath. "Ah, I can breathe now." The woman glanced over her shoulder at the pink-haired jounin and smirked. "How long have you been here, Sakura-chan?"

"Since Kakashi-sensei came in, last night."

The older woman crossed her arms and raised a dark eyebrow. "Meaning you've been here over sixteen hours? Kami, Sakura, don't you think you're overdoing it just a little? The man isn't dying."

Sakura placed her left hand on her right shoulder, making small circling motions in the air with her elbow until she heard the joint crack. She sighed contentedly. "It's my fault he got hit in the first place," the young woman said pointedly. She held her arms out before cracking her knuckles in a series of rapid pops. "I was so stupid. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. It's the least I can do."

"I don't understand how your mind works, Sakura-chan, but whatever you say." Shizune wiped her bloody hands on a towel before hooking one of the blood packets up to the IV in the man's arm. "I would think running yourself ragged in the field trying to make sure he was okay would have been enough. Or staying awake beside his bedside. But if you believe that you need to do something else to 'make it up to him'. . ." The elder jounin smirked.

Sakura's retort, however, was interrupted by the sudden knock to the room door. The young woman scooted away from the door to allow it to open.

"Shizune-san, Haruno-san," the young man said, lowering his eyes, "Hokage-sama would like to see the both of you right away. And she sounded angry. And sober."

Shizune nodded. "Thank you, Eiji-kun. We'll leave right away."

The man nodded and closed the door again, as the two woman turned to look at each other. They stared at each other for a few moments before they both burst out into laughter—Shizune helped Sakura up from the floor, and they continued to laugh their way into the Hokage's office.

. . . until a large ink bottle shattered over their heads, spilling down onto them slightly. Shizune flinched, and Sakura groaned, pulling a hand through her now black-stained pink hair.

"How the helldid this happen?"

Sakura's eyes rose to meet the Hokage's, who was sitting—shaking—on the edge of her desk, and shrugged helplessly. "I have absolutely no clue, Shishou," she murmured, risking a glance over her shoulder; her mind settled on the supine form lying in the hospital bed back in the room they'd just left. "Really. Your guess is as good as mine."

Tsunade took a deep breath as she crossed her arms. "You need to tell me everything that happened on this mission—from the beginning."

Sakura nodded furiously; anything to calm her teacher down. Shizune had sidled away from Sakura—obviously understanding that there was more anger being directed toward the young woman's person than her own. "Really, Tsunade-sama," her friend murmured, "it's not that big a deal."

The woman's brown eyes snapped open and Sakura grinned when Tsunade glanced at the black-haired woman instead, sticking out her tongue.

"Not that big a deal?" Tsunade's voice was ominously soft. "One of my best jounin is not only critically poisoned, but he's a teenager again! How the fuck is this not a big deal?"

Sakura winced, her head lowering slightly towards the ground, and she wasn't even the person being yelled at.

"Well," Sakura mumbled, bracing her back against the wall as she stared at the fuming Tsunade, "I don't think the poison's that serious actually. The worst it's doing at the moment is keeping his blood from clotting, so we have to keep giving him transfusions. But really, I'm not sure what happened. I think it was a jutsu."

Tsunade settled against her desk and steeled herself. "Continue, Sakura," she ground out, teeth clenched slightly. Her right eye twitched angrily every few seconds. "Start from the beginning."

"Well, I was born on a warm summer's day. . ."

A pencil fixed in the wall far too close to her ear to be comfortable.

Guess comic relief is out of the question. . .

"Okay, well, you gave the mission," Sakura recited, thinking back to yesterday morning. "If I recall, it was just a standard B-rank, 'cause Naruto bitched up a storm about how three elite jounin should not be sent on stupid missions." She put her finger to her chin, biting her lip as she screwed her eyes up to try and remember all the details—even the smallest thing could prove crucial. "We got the scroll, killed I think seven ninja in the process and then we were on our way home. . ."

Her green eyes lit up.

"There was an attack—Kakashi-sensei pushed me down and then everybody was off in different directions. I. . . I remember fighting some huge ninja, and just barely being able to take him out before I found Naruto. He'd cracked his hip and while I was healing him, there was the huge flash of light."

"A flash of light?" Tsunade repeated. "What color?"

Sakura blinked. "Color? Uhhh, white? Or bluish-white, it was kind of hard to tell, it all happened so fast. But there was the huge flash of light and then this loud thud. Once Naruto could stand again, I helped him as we went to find where Kakashi-sensei went."

Shizune's eyes were wide with curiosity. "And?"

"Well, he was lying on the ground," said Sakura dramatically, amused at the woman's interest. "You saw him—he basically looks the same. Same body size, same height; except a little less tired. I didn't notice anything until I started to heal him. He had four kunai in his stomach and a large gash on his thigh. I started working immediately while Naruto kept watch. All of a sudden he sat up and looked at me. He looked really confused, and I told him to lie back down, because he'd lost too much blood."

Tsunade looked less calm than she had when they had first come into the room, but her voice was strangely steadier. "And then. . . Sakura? What happened after that?"

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek.

"He called me 'Rin'."

Her hands wrung involuntarily in front of her, and her brows furrowed nervously. "I've never heard of a Rin; but he looked at me and called me that name, and then. . ." She took a deep breath; Shizune was back at her side and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "He said, "You're supposed to be dead"." Tsunade-shishou, what does that mean? Who's this Rin? And why is Kakashi-sensei suddenly a teenager again?"

"I can't tell you that, Sakura." Tsunade held her hand up at the girl's protest, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but that is something that Kakashi needs to tell you himself. But I can say that Rin is not a bad person to be compared to. She was a wonderful person. . . and a very gifted medic."

"So it's a girl." Sakura's eyes hardened and she crossed her arms. "And she's obviously dead."

The Hokage gave her a pitying glance, eyes trailing to Shizune for a moment before returning. "I'm very sorry, Sakura."

Her eyes prickled with tears, and Sakura wiped at them furiously; angry not only with Kakashi, but angry with herself. For allowing this situation to happen, for allowing herself to get her feelings hurt over not knowing. "He's never told us anything." She sniffed and glanced swiftly away, staring out the window, hair falling and covering her face. "Ever since the beginning. Kakashi-sensei never trusted us enough with his past or his feelings."

Ooh. . . Me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future. . .? Well, I have a lot of hobbies. . .

"Kakashi has always been a private person, Sakura," Shizune said quietly, trying to soothe her.

"Don't let one of his little quirks change your idea of the man Kakashi is." A small smile worked its way onto the Hokage's face and she shook her head. "Just because there are other people that know doesn't mean he told them—most of us were alive when it happened. He's just not ready to share it with others. I promise, he'll tell you when he's ready."

Sakura's eyes darkened. "Care to make a wager on that?"

"I would bet my life."

The girl sighed and shook her head. "Liar. Even you wouldn't take that bet."

"True. . ." Then Tsunade laughed and shook her head, spirits finally back in place. "But trust me. Kakashi will be fine. If it is a jutsu, we will either find the counter-jutsu or we will find some other way to reverse the effects. Not that Kakashi will mind of course. He'll probably try to impede our progress. Shinobi and wanting to be young forever. He already has problems with thinking he's still young."

Sakura would have made a comment about the pot calling the kettle black—who used their own de-aging jutsu?—but this was Tsunade.

The Hokage smirked. "If you must, go to him. We have given him enough blood that soon we should be able to close all his wounds, and you've known how to do that since you were fifteen, so I know you'll have no problem; even with an idiot like Kakashi. Just make sure that you tell him he's welcome to stay in the hospital if he wants to avoid the rest of the jounin."

The young woman laughed. "Kakashi-sensei? Stay in the hospital? That's laughable."

"Very much so," agreed Tsunade with a smirk, "but wait and watch for his expression. That is more laughable." The woman sighed and she nodded absently. "Don't. . . don't tell him what happened. It will be easier for me to explain it to him. It'll take a lot to convince him that he's not in enemy territory under some genjutsu. After he wakes up, if you're not there, have the nurses notify you and you can escort him here.

"The Sandaime was his Hokage, so just say it was the Hokage, and not me. It'll make him even more suspicious. Shizune and I left shortly after his fifteenth birthday. . ." Tsunade glanced over her shoulder at Shizune, who nodded in agreement. "It will be very hard for him to accept."

Sakura nodded. "What about Naruto?"

Tsunade replied, "He saw Kakashi, he knows something is up; might as well tell him to keep him quiet. Just make sure you tell him that if he says anything to anyone—even Hinata—that I'll have his head and he'll never be Hokage."

The young woman grinned.

"Alright, then," Sakura murmured, offering a short bow for kicks. "I'll be sure to bring him as soon as he wakes up, Shishou! I'll have to watch him incredibly close—we know how he likes to leave the hospital." Sakura closed the door behind her, rubbing her temples in small, soothing circles. Food first. Then Kakashi-sensei. She tugged a hand through her hair. Wincing, she tugged furiously at the knots, her fingers coming back streaked with ink. No, shower, first, then food and Kakashi-sensei.

"Sakura-chan!"

The young woman turned, staring as the blond stopped short of running into her. "Hey, Naruto. Your hip okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Yea, it feels great! You did perfect." The young man leaned forward, glancing around nervously. His voice dropped a few pitches. "How's Kakashi-sensei? Does Baa-san have any idea what happened?"

"No, we're not sure." Sakura's voice lowered as well, and she motioned for Naruto to follow her. She glanced around the open street, before leading him into a deserted alleyway where they wouldn't be overheard. She leaned up against the side of a building tiredly. "This comes straight from Shishou. Don't tell anybody what happened, okay? Until we find out what happened exactly, don't mention it to anyone—not even Hinata."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Then what do I say?"

"Say that he's been poisoned, but should recovered soon, and that there's nothing to worry about." Sakura cracked her knuckles before rubbing the side of her neck slowly. "Tsunade-shishou doesn't want this getting out."

"Okay." He looked disappointed. "Can I see him?"

"Do you want to stare at a sleeping man?" Sakura asked teasingly, a smirk growing on her face. "I promise, you won't see his face."

"Awwh! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura laughed. "Naruto, he's my patient—I have to respect his privacy. That would be really rude of me, as well as unprofessional, and I just can't do that. The man's had his age screwed with. I don't think we should do anything that could possibly cause him to hate us."

It was Naruto's turn to laugh. "C'mon, Sakura-chan," he chided, scratching his head wearily. "Kakashi-sensei would never hate us."

"Naruto. . . he may not even remember us."

The young man paused, his face turning nervous. "What?"

Sakura felt odd, explaining about Kakashi, as though he were some other person. "Until he wakes up, we won't know how his mind is working." She sighed and turned her eyes away from him. "Kakashi-sensei's body is estimated roughly to be about eighteen—just about our age. Think about it, Naruto. If his body is eighteen, there's a good chance that his mind is also. He wouldn't remember us if his mind works at Kakashi-sensei eighteen-point-oh."

Naruto shook his head. "But. . ." he struggled, biting his lip awkwardly. "I don't. . ."

"We were twelve when Kakashi-sensei took us on as his genin team," murmured Sakura, water flooding her green eyes. She slowly brought her arms to clutch at her sides, hugging herself comfortingly. "He was twenty-six at the time. If Kakashi-sensei's mind is working at the age we think it is we wouldn't even be in the Academy. We'd be a little over three years old."

"He wouldn't even know us," Naruto whispered, staring horrified at Sakura. He reached out, and she grasped his hand tightly, entwining her fingers with his. Her eyes met his, and she couldn't look away; compelled to merely tug him into her arms and hold him as he closed his eyes. "Sasuke's gone, Sakura-chan. . ." His voice was breathy and about as un-macho as he could get. "Kakashi-sensei's all we got left. We can't—we can't lose him too."

Sakura clutched him tightly, and pressed her lips to his cheek. "We won't, Naruto, I promise." She pulled her head back and laid her forehead against his, staring into his eyes. "I promise you, I will do everything in my ability to bring our Kakashi-sensei back to us. In three weeks we have a wedding, don't we?" A smile cracked her features. "I need my groomsman to walk me down the aisle as one of Hinata's bridesmaids. I refuse to walk down with someone else."

Naruto let out a broken chuckle, pulling back slightly. "Yea. If anybody could do it, it'd be you, Sakura-chan."

"Thanks for the faith, Naruto." Sakura tugged at his hand as she pulled away from the wall, letting her smile brighten at his laughter. "C'mon. Lemme treat you to some ramen. Iruka-sensei's busy with the Academy right now, and I know I'm a poor substitute; but if I'm hungry, I know you have to be too."

The blond young man smiled broadly. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

He dragged her away slowly, not even noticing as Sakura covered her mouth with her free hand to yawn. Eighteen hours, she thought to herself, as he led her forcibly toward the Ichiraku stand. I really need some sleep.

Dinner with Naruto had lasted longer as Kiba and Lee had come to join them.

By the time she'd gotten home, undressed, and fallen into her bed, she'd completely forgotten about Kakashi. It wasn't like she had to come back, but she felt slightly bad that she hadn't been there to heal him. She'd always been there before. She planned on making up for it with spending a few hours trying to figure out about this mysterious jutsu.

Sakura yawned, covering her wide-open mouth with her hand. A brown-haired nurse waved to her as she walked onto the third floor and she managed a small nod of her head. She yawned again, turning the knob of Kakashi's hospital room as she invited herself in. Her green eyes skimmed the bed.

Theempty bed.

"Hey! Stop!"

Sakura's body filled with energy at the sudden sight of the man on the floor. Dashing towards him, she fell to her knees, trying to pry his hand away. She swatted at it in an attempt to keep him from pulling the IV from his hand. "I said stop, idiot!" she snapped, hitting him hard on the shoulder. "Do I need to tie you to the bed?"

"I'm leaving," he ground out—not looking at her face—merely trying to tug his arm out of her grip.

"Over my dead body," she shot back. She thrust her hand forward and pressed her fingers roughly down against the pressure point in his shoulder. He stopped struggled almost instantly. "I was a ninja before I was a medic. Don't test me."

The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes, and she could practically feel the flush in her face. "You don't know who you're messing with," he threatened quietly.

For a moment, the corner of her lip lifted in a smirk. "I know exactly who you are, Hatake Kakashi, and if you want to keep that preciousIcha Icha collection of yours safe, then I'd shut my mouth before you piss me off."

A strangled choke caused her to look up, fearing that she's pressed the needle back in his arm too hard, to find him staring at her. "What?" she asked, nonplussed.

"H-h-how do you know about Icha Icha?"

For a moment, she thought something was wrong at the look on his face. Then she realized the strange look was caused by a faint blush on the visible portions of his face.

Sakura stifled a giggle.

Kakashi? Blush? Now she was sure this couldn't be the same man she'd known.

"Uh. . ." She struggled, smoothing the tape over the back of his hand where he'd mussed it. "We'll. . . explain that in due time." Getting to her feet, Sakura stuck out her hand—an amiable gesture to help him up. "I've been told to tell you that the Hokage wanted to see you. After that, you're welcome to stay in the hospital—not like you ever would. After that, you'd be allowed to leave, however, as soon as I give the go ahead."

Kakashi stared up at the young woman, his odd-matched eyes narrowed. Sakura could see him struggling with himself before he took her hand. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

Sakura's mouth went dry.

As the Copy-nin stood, she found her eyes locked onto his face. It wasn't that he looked bad; it was just there were obvious differences between the man she'd known and the one that stood—too closely—before her.

His skin was pale, still slightly flushed with color. His eyes had a less-droopy expression about them, and the lazy, lackadaisical look she'd come to know as Kakashi was replaced with a more boyish, puppy-dog appearance. His hair stood straighter than it did before, it's color more white than silver; and combined with its pale mix the two, his skin appeared even paler. His right eye was a dark, mercuric-gray, almost like ash.

It seemed more natural that his left eye was open and not closed—as the Kakashi she knew did. It made him look hard core. The only problem was it still made her shake when she saw it. Too many memories of Sasuke's eyes in the dark of night.

"H-haruno Sakura." Kami, she was as bad as Hinata when put on the spot. Since when she did stutter?

Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly. His head tilted calmly to the side, observing her quietly, like a dog. It only enhanced her previous opinion of his puppy-dog like appearance. "Haruno?" he echoed quietly. "Don't recognize the name. Are you a new Clan?"

Sakura shook her head. "No Clan; my parents were civilians. Owned a bakery."

"Were?"

She blinked. "They. . ." Then she glanced away, bangs falling discretely in her face. "And I don't have to discuss this with you."

Kakashi awkwardly shifted backwards.

The pink-haired woman narrowed her eyes before reaching forward. "Gimme your hand."

"Why?" asked Kakashi warily.

Sakura's eye twitched. "Just give it to me, or I'll take it by force." Same old Kakashi—still as mistrusting as ever.

The man sighed and held out his right hand. Sakura took it and quickly slipped the IV out of his skin. He grunted slightly, before flexing his first once she let go of him again. She crossed to a small desk across the room before walking back.

She tossed him a plastic bag. "The rest of your clothes, your hitai-ate, and your weapons are all in there." Sakura crossed her arms.

"I'm supposed to escort you to see the Hokage. Sh. . . They don't want you running off and avoiding you post-mission debriefing." She hadn't ad-libbed this much since trying to avoid Lee's infernal dating requests. "You look healthy enough. And even so, I'll be there in case anything should go wrong. Besides, maybe it'd make you a bit more trust worthy if your life was in jeopardy and somebody saved you."

"You talk too much." Kakashi's eyes had narrowed to slits. There was something in those dark eyes she couldn't fathom. However incomprehensible to her, it looked strangely familiar. "Let's just go."

So much for getting to know him.

Sakura had been amazed that it was Shizune who greeted them. Then she realized Shizune and Kakashi were—originally—around the same age. They should have known, or at least heard of, each other by their eighteenth birthday.

"Nice jutsu, Shizune-san," said Kakashi, strolling down the hall outside the Hokage's office like he owned it. "You look like you've gained ten years. That's a creepy reminder of how we grow up."

The pink-haired kunoichi's mouth dropped. Gained ten years? She was surprised that Shizune didn't deck him.

The dark-haired woman just laughed.

Still, Shizune pushed at her bangs awkwardly. "Kakashi-sempai, didn't your mother ever teach you manners? You're never supposed to mention a woman's age."

The woman glanced at Sakura and winked. Then Sakura realized: Shizune was playing along. And even if she'd been insulted, she couldn't really correct him; she had gained ten years on Kakashi—just the normal way.

"So, do you happen to remember why you got put in the hospital?" Shizune asked sweetly. "You've been asleep for a week."

Kakashi shook his head.

"Didn't you wonder why?"

"Happens all the time," he shrugged, like it was nothing. "I often wake up after a mission like this: not remembering what mission I was on, not remembering I was injured, what I did to injure myself. Normally it's from overusing my Sharingan. I don't feel any pain in my eye, so I'm guessing that's not it. But there are other things that are more important. . . like why you're suddenly back in town."

Shizune's better at improvisation than I am, Sakura thought to herself, as the woman shrugged the slightly suspicious remark away like it was nothing. Kakashi-sensei's still as perceptive as always though.

"Tsunade-sama was called back the village elders. 'Urgent' request, you know." Shizune made quotations with her first two fingers in the air. It wasn't a lie—though it had been nearly ten years ago, Tsunade had come back to Konoha at the request of the Elders. "She's in there now. I'll escort you."

Kakashi didn't seem to think there was anything amiss, and walked in front of her as she held out her arm. The moment he passed, Shizune glanced at Sakura and beckoned her furiously to follow. The young kunoichi narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but followed the pair into the Hokage's office. While Shizune led Kakashi into the center of the room, Sakura only stepped up to the door, unsure of why the older woman had motioned for her to follow as well.

"Where is Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi, glancing at Tsunade—who'd perched herself as usual on the edge of the desk.

Tsunade glanced beyond him, looking at Sakura. A hand landed on the pink-haired woman's shoulder, and Sakura turned to see Naruto walking past her, further into the room. He stopped just behind Kakashi, his head raised.

The woman nodded. "Ah, we're all here now," she said, clasping her hand together in her lap. "Sakura, you're welcome to join us as well, now that Naruto is here."

Kakashi glanced behind him, looked back to Tsunade, before his eyes did a double take and fixed on Naruto. The blond boy was strangely serious as he stared back at his ex-teacher. Tsunade sighed, rubbing at her temple slowly. She shifted a pile of folders on her desk, picking them up and tapped the end of the pile against her desk to level them. She sat them down again, finally glancing at the jounin. "Now, Kakashi. . . how old are you now, would you say?"

The silver-haired man's right eye twitched slightly. "I'll be twenty-one on the fifteenth of September."

Shizune and Tsunade exchanged a dark look. "It's as I feared," the Hokage muttered, shaking her head slightly. "You have absolutely no memory of what happened."

Naruto glanced over his shoulder at her, a slightly amused expression breaking through the gloom. "That makes us what? Six?" he whispered so that only they could hear.

She didn't laugh.

Instead, Sakura risked a glance at the man who used to be her teacher.

She couldn't see past the differences to the similarities. This new, impersonal Kakashi and her Kakashi (it was the only way that she could separate them her mind and it make sense to her) were so different. . . She was having trouble connecting them at all. If not for the same silver hair, the same matching, mismatched eyes, he could be a completely different person.

Her Kakashi—the Kakashi she knew—had always been so calm, so cool, collected. His shoulders had an ever-present slouch, his visible eye always hangdog even when he creased it in a smile. Even if he'd never opened up to them, they at least knew him. He didn't change, he was always the same. He had been the single rock foundation that she'd found in her life. Sasuke was gone, her parents were gone, Naruto was busy, even if he was still here for her. She didn't want that Kakashi to leave.

But he was. . . He was disappearing behind the man with the cold eyes and bad attitude.

The new Kakashi didn't even fit into Her Kakashi's clothes. He was the same height, but slightly leaner. Her Kakashi was a jounin at the peak of his life, and his chorded muscles had formed with age—this new Kakashi was still slim and pale, scarless. His blue jogging pants hung low, loosely at his hips, his vest slack on his torso. And his temper.

"I don't. . ." Kakashi's hands were fists at his sides, and they shook slightly. His eyes, which were narrowed to slits, had not left Naruto's face. For once, the young man showed far more maturity than he normally would—he completely ignored the way Kakashi was staring.

Tsunade's eyes softened and she pursed her lips sadly. "He looks almost identical to Minato, doesn't he?"

Kakashi's eyes were back on her. Sakura's narrowed suspiciously. Minato? she though. Who's that? Someone else like Rin? From his past?

Naruto, however, glancing up suddenly, and Sakura's heart wrenched. Tears pooled in the blond man's blue eyes. "Do I really look like my dad?"

The woman walked swiftly forward and grabbed his elbow, tugging him towards her. He complied, allowing Sakura to pull him into a comforting embrace—his eyes remained on Kakashi over the woman's shoulder however. Lifting a hand, he wiped at his face roughly, before rubbing Sakura's back. "I'm okay," he whispered, tightening his hug. "Thank you."

Sakura nodded and stepped out of his personal space, hugging herself quietly.

Kakashi's face was a conflict of emotion. "Tsunade-sama, what—?"

The Hokage sighed, holding her up her hand for him to stop. "Kakashi, there are some things we need to explain to you. And if I know you, you're not going to take them very well. The only thing I can ask you to do is remain calm. That's gonna be a hard thing to do in a few minutes—but please, for the sake of you elite jounin status and the past events you've already overcome, I can only ask that you don't freak out on us."

The young pink-haired woman watched for his reaction. It was difficult to tell—mainly because of the mask—but also because Kakashi was a master. He'd perfected the lazy, bored look that he could maintain even while in the most heated of battles. If he could do it then, even Sakura could believe that it must have been even better during ANBU, where emotions were not only a liability and weakness, but practically a sin.

She could see his jaw tighten slightly, fists clenching at his side. His back was poker-straight, so unlike his normal, lackadaisical slouch.

Tsunade nodded, taking a breath. "First of all, I want to say you're not supposed to be twenty—you're supposed to be thirty-three. We've just had a minor. . . well, set-back, if you'll pardon the pun. Second, I would like you to turn around and say hello to these two young jounins behind you," she said. "This was your genin team."

Sakura nearly flinched when Kakashi's burning gaze slid over her face. She could feel it. The Kakashi she knew was never harsh, never needlessly cold. This man before her made her feel like an enemy ninja. "I never. . ."

"But you did," Tsunade interrupted yet again, unwillingly to let him finish. "I'd like to introduce you to Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura, the two remaining members of Team 7—the genin squad that you led. They're obviously not your students anymore as they are both jounin, but they do function on the acting Team Kakashi. After a year under your tutelage, both Naruto and Sakura decided to take on specific instructors. Naruto trains under Jiraiya now. Sakura is my apprentice."

"I don't remember any of this, Tsunade-sama," said the man finally, narrowed his gaze as he returned it to her. "Last time I remember you weren't even in town. And it was Sarutobi-sama that owned this room; you haven't been in town for years. How is that all of this happens and I have no recollection? Unless this isn't real. . ."

The Hokage sighed. "I knew this was going to happen."

"What? That I was going to find you out?" His voice was cocky—such a strange difference to the way he'd sounded before.

"No, that'd you think we were lying to you." Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You want to start saying Kai? Go ahead. This is nota genjutsu, you're not in some hallucination, and you really are supposed to be thirty-three. Something happened on your last mission and it seems you've decreased in age thirteen years. Not quite sure how that happened, but trust us, we're trying our hardest to right you again. It hasn't endangered your life, so. . . our biggest problem at the moment is proving this to you."

Naruto tugged at Sakura's arm and she scooted over slightly to incline her ear to his speaking level. "What's something only we would know about Kakashi-sensei?" he whispered, blue eyes staring into hers.

Sakura blinked, then brightened. "Naruto, you're a genius!" she exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of the less-than-eased shinobi in the room. "I could kiss you." She seized him about the middle, hugging him tightly.

Naruto blushed as Tsunade laughed. "I don't think Hinata would appreciate that much, but please, do tell us what Naruto is such a genius for?"

"Have him do something only we would know about. Or tell him something only we would know. Kakashi-sensei would have to believe us then." Turning to her mentor, Sakura grinned, walking past Kakashi and ignoring him completely. If she'd been able to see his face, she probably would have been amused at the indignation coating his expression. "Like. . . he blushed earlier," — Naruto's head turned sharply at that— "when I mentioned his Icha Icha collection. Obviously, the Kakashi-sensei at twenty wasn't so outspoken about that subject of his life." Sakura also didn't notice the way her words brought another flush to the man's cheeks.

She bit her lip. "So, what do we know about him nobody else would know?"

"How about the shuriken bedspread?" snickered Naruto from behind her. "Or the dead plant he refuses to let us throw out?"

Sakura turned and laughed. "Mr. Ukki!"

Naruto was enjoying himself. He crossed his arms, noticing the way that Kakashi shifted awkwardly on his feet. "Or maybe the fact that you and Pakkun share the same hair-care products."

The woman's face fell into a glower and Naruto took a broad step backwards. "I thought we agreed to never mention that again?"

Shizune was hiding her face behind a manila folder to mask the smile and Tsunade was laughing openly.

"This is creepy." Kakashi's soft voice sounded childish compared to their laughter.

Tsunade sighed and smiled. "Like I said, this isn't some genjutsu. We're going to have to do some tests, but now that you're coherent, we'll make sure everything's in working order. Then you'll be free to go back to your apartment." The woman turned and glanced at Sakura. "Sakura can show you your way—I'm pretty sure you have a different apartment now than you did before. Weren't you living with Gai back then?"

Naruto glanced at him sharply. "Ew. How could you live with him?" The rest of the room started laughing again.

edit: I do not profess to know much about nursing, so it doesn't surprise me that I get jargon wrong. A kindly reviewer (who I wished would have left a name or email to thank them with) mentioned that four CCs is relatively equal to four drops of blood, and that it takes 29.57CCs to make up one ounce of fluid. As I don't feel like trying to figure out how many CCs are in four packets, I just fixed it so that Shizune said "get me four packets"—Momo's a medic-intern and thus understands what's going on. Also, I changed Minako to Minato. I have Minato on my saved computer file—I have no idea why it was Minako here.

Well, Here's Look at it Broken. This randomly came to me a while ago. I'm pretty sure the only people I've even spoke of it to on more than surface was Nami and beautyinsleep. I'm not sure about it. I'll be working on it in my spare time. Picture Trends is my number one priority.

Was this too confusing? I'm not sure. I wanted to write something where Kakashi and Sakura started out on more of a regular footing, not with one of them, or both of them, liking each other secretly behind their backs. I did that a little with Shines the Heavens, but that doesn't really count, as it's AU and I manipulated the story to fit my own agenda. Hope you guys like this.

- Hiko Mokushi