That's MY Book!

Disclaimer: Not japanese. Didn't create Naruto.

A/N: You guys are so awesome. And about the angst... you can blame that on the angsty fanfic I read before I started writing. It kinda got me in that sort of mood. -grins- Hmm, in case you haven't noticed, or didn't really care or whatever, +reviews = +speed in update. But don't feel obligated.
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It was raining.

Kakashi was near his usual spot. The memorial stone stood in all its stony glory. And right now, Kakashi envied the names carved there. They didn't have to feel the turmoil of emotions the living felt. Yet even as he thought that, he regretted it in the next instant.

'Obito... Rin.... My old teammates.' He touched his Sharingan eye. Or rather, the forehead protecter covering it. In a sudden movement, he yanked the forehead protector off and pulled his mask down, nearly ripping it with the force he put in the simple act. He had nothing to hide from them. His comrades. 'May you rest in peace.'

A peace Kakashi felt he would never have. Not for a while. He doubted his doted books would cheer him up right now. They may have been his salvation sometimes... but he couldn't turn to them all the time. Why had he fallen for her? Why did she have to remind him so much of... Rin...? They were both reasonably attractive females. Both medic nins. But both were different. He wanted to believe that. He hadn't fallen for Sakura because of... Rin, had he?

With a sigh, the jounin turned his face upwards, eyes closed against the onslaught of cold rain. It didn't matter. He had blown it. Been a fool about it. 'You see, this is what happens when I start to CARE about things.'

"I... don't deserve strawberries..." He spoke softly to the unmoving slab.

;-;

Sakura felt the mood outside reflected her own perfectly. Gloomy. Downcast.

'Don't forget dumb. Idiotic. Stupid.' Her inner self added in.

"I don't get it. I DON'T get it..." Sakura frowned, turning to the only scapegoat she could find, "Stupid book. Stupid, damn book. Why. Why?"

'It's not about the book, dumbass.' Her inner self argued.

"Sure it is. That's what started this whole mess." Sakura said grumpily.

'Did the book make me kiss Kakashi?'

"Yes."

'Did the book make me LIKE the kiss?'

"... That's just stupid. I didn't LIKE the ki-"

'Don't even TRY to DENY it,' she found her arguing with herself. And Sakura wasn't sure which was worse. That she was having a two sided argument with herself, or that she couldn't even counter with a comeback to that last thought.

"Naruto's not the only one that's hopeless..." Sakura plopped down on her bed, suddenly exhausted.

;-;

"When the hell did you ever start liking strawberries?"

Kakashi paused. Did... the memorial stone just... talk to him? That wasn't possible. It was impossible. And not only that, it had cussed at him. WTF?

"Okay, I don't know what I did to deserve this from an inanimate object, but I do not feel like dealing with that right now."

"And what the hell's wrong with you?" Genma questioned as he walked up to the sullen Copy nin, hands shoved in his pockets.

The brown haired Tokubetsu Jonin had only been out for a couple minutes and already he was dripping wet. He knew Kakashi must've been chilled to the bones.

It registered to the silver haired jounin that he had sensed Genma coming a while ago. It just hadn't connected.

The brown haired Jonin's grin turned grim as he recieved a small, bleary eyed glance from the other one.

Kakashi just continued sitting morosely in the puddle that was forming, "Does it matter?"

Genma quirked one of his eyebrows, scratching the back of his head, "Damn, Kakashi. It's only strawberries."

The jounin heard his words, but chose not to reply. What could he say? Oh, I wasn't really talking about strawberries. You see, I just recently discovered it wasn't the strawberries at all. It was my former student that was bothering me. You know, the one that's like twenty times younger than me and goes by the name Sakura. You know her, right? Yeah, I've been having thoughts that include the bed and no clothes.

Well, he HAD hadn't he?

"Oh GOD." Kakashi groaned, slapping a hand over half his face. That was so wrong. It had to be. Then why was he still thinking about it? 'Stop thinking,' he chanted in his mind, 'stop thinking. Stop thinking about it.'

But now he was imagining things. He could almost detect a faint aroma of strawberries under the thick veil of the rain. He was dillusional. This couldn't be right. "D-damn strawberries."

"Look, if you want strawberries THAT much..." Genma trailed off.

"Just... just forget it."

The tone made the other shinobi drop it immediately. Something was definately bothering the silver haired jounin. And it definately wasn't strawberries.

::::A couple days later:::

He was avoiding her. KAKASHI was AVOIDING her.

It shouldn't have annoyed her so much. Shouldn't have made her lose focus during her job and nearly chop a patient's arm off. Shouldn't have. But it did. And what was worse was that it was all Sakura's fault.

"It's NOT my fault!!" Sakura suddenly shouted, scaring an old lady into dropping her groceries. For which the chuunin hastely and embarrasedly apologized for and remedied by helping out.

Which is how Sakura suddenly found herself in the Hokage's office, demanding to see Tsunade herself or so help her she would tear the whole building apart.

"And to what do I owe this... honor?" Tsunade asked, glimpsing above the paperwork at her desk.

Sakura didn't even bother pointing out she knew the Hokage had been in her 'secret' stash of sake again. Instead, she crossed her arms, trying to look as intimidating as possible. An effect wasted on the old geezer, who currently looked like a young geezer, before her.

"Who is Kakashi taking with him on his mission." It wasn't a question. It was more like a demand.

Tsunade being... well, Tsunade, wasn't phased in the slightest. "He chose to do it alone."

"What?! Where is he?"

"You know I cannot divulge mission info to just anyone."

Sakura didn't care, "Where???"

Sakura was slightly aware that the look in her eye must've been a bit much, if not totally deranged. What is my problem? KAKASHI, that's what. Him and his damn book and not asking me first if I wanted to go on the mission and then getting all mad just because of what happened with Sasuke which was nothing at all and shouldn't have made him react that way- At this point, Sakura's thoughts needed a breather and she paused. Realizing she had been clenching her fists so hard she was drawing blood, the tense chuunin relaxed slightly. Breath in. Breath out. Ask.

More softly, the pink haired chuunin asked, "...where...?"

At first, all she got was a deep blue stare from her sensei before her. She wasn't sure how to read Tsunade. She was never just the Hokage when she was training Sakura. If she had been, the chuunin might have had at least a tiny clue how to read her thoughts right now. All she could really guess right now was that Tsunade was thinking about... a crack on the wall? No, that's where she was staring. Sakura sighed, she might as well have been reading a brick wall.

"He should have left half an hour ago." The Hokage relented after a few moments. She wasn't heartless, after all.

The chuunin blinked. But recovered fast from the shock.

"Okay good." Sakura darted out of the office without even a small wave. She still had time to catch the sneaky silver haired jounin.

;-;

He shouldn't be doing this alone. Kakashi sighed. Genma and Asuma BOTH had told him that. As if he wasn't a grown jounin who could take care of himself. So what if it was an A-class mission. He handled those all the time. So what if it was supposed to be a co-op? He could just do a shadow clone jutsu. There. Problem solved.

He slung the pack over his shoulder and turned to head out the window. Yeah. The window. Not the door. Doors didn't seem to exist to the Copy nin. Who needed doors anyway?

'Not me,' Kakashi managed a grin. One that faltered as he saw just what was crouched at his window. Or rather, who.

"You won, you know. It appears you disapproved for nothing." Kakashi's false smile didn't decieve the chuunin one bit.

"I didn't win anything." Sasuke said in low tones, "And you shouldn't be doing this mission alone."

"How is it that everyone seems to know about it? What happened to mission secrecy and the whole, no talking about it?"

"Well, when the Hokage notices a shinobi volunteering for pointless suicide, word kind of spreads."

"Its not suicide." Kakashi scoffed, his tone overlayed with boredom, "I can handle myself."

"Like last time when I heard Iruka and the dobe talking about you almost bleeding to death?"

"I was careless. Wasn't thinking straight."

"And you are now?"

'Hmmm, he does have a point.' Kakashi found his frustratingly logical part thinking. But the part that was in control now decided against better judgement, "I can handle myself."

"I was just concerned." The Uchiha boy frowned slightly.

"Concern noted." Kakashi stated, slipping past the chuunin into the night.

The jounin had gotten past the village's gates without a problem. Though he did hear snippets of a conversation between the guards. Something about a 'large scream' and a 'terrified new guy'. But Kakashi didn't give it a second thought.

At first, he noticed no one behind him. But then a presence tickled at the edge of his senses. Someone was following him.

'Grrr... I already told them I could handle this myself.' He thought in irritation. He doubled his speed, randomly choosing his path in an attempt to dissuade his persuer. If they had been a little closer and he had been in a better state of mind, he might have stopped to figure out who it was. But right now, he just wanted out of there. Eventually, the presence lessened until the jounin was alone once more. Satisfied, he slowed his pace and soon found a place deep into the forest to camp as night fell.

He was just rolling out his sleeping bag, digging trap spells and other such protections out of his small pack, when he froze. He didn't even attempt to turn around.

His voice came out gruffer than he had expected, "What are you doing here?"