Reporting In

(Lynn Haruno x Kakashi Hatake)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Lynn Haruno is my own creation.

Chapter One

"I'm sorry, Lynn, but you're one of the best shinobi for this mission. After proving yourself successful on your last report, I've concluded you're just as suited for this one."

The redheaded Haruno stood there with shaky hands, barely able to read the words on the mission dossier. In simple font it read: Infiltrate the criminal organization Akatsuki for Intel gathering. She had heard about this group. S ranked criminals with extensive backgrounds.

Why her? Why was she the one chosen for this mission? After all, she had just gotten back from the Hidden Sound Village and she just barely escaped from that Hell. And now, Old Man Third was throwing her to the wolves? Granted she had experience and plenty of strength but blending in with the Akatsuki? Why?

Not only that, but she knew of one shinobi in particular, one that she had quite the close connection to, that would make this a conflict of interest mission...

"We've already formed a criminal record for you that will guarantee your entrance into the organization."

The elder Haruno bit down on her bottom lip, a bad habit of hers that she did out of pure frustration. Her thoughts got the better of her as a drop of copper hit her tongue. Of course you have...you planned this...you planned for this mission to go directly to me...

Lynn took a deep breath in, trying to control her emotions and temper: One of the first rules of the shinobi code of conduct: one must never disobey a direct order from the Hokage. She had no choice but to take this mission. She responded with a, "yes sir," before being dismissed.


Three to four months had passed since then. The initial blending in took some time and the fear of being found out put the redhead on edge. Being she had been part of the ANBU Black Ops for some time, she knew how to keep her emotions and facial expressions at bay when it was necessary.

That part was particularly useful upon stumbling into the shinobi that would have been her downfall if emotions got the better of her. Itachi Uchiha, the very first man she had ever let into her heart. She knew he was part of this organization and knew that in order to complete her mission, she needed to put as much distance between them as humanly possible. She may have been a kunoichi, but she still had a woman's heart, one that had never fully recovered from the heartbreak she suffered.

She had been thrown onto the same team as the explosive expert Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand. And since Lynn was in the medical field, it made even more sense considering Sasori was a master at poison. There was a list of jutsu she could combine with both Deidara and Sasori, although she tried to stay out of their way when she wasn't needed. What didn't help was that those two fought like cats and dogs. She kept to herself at first, mentally gathering every bit of Intel she could without being noticed.

With each passing day, she studied the movements of her "teammates", seeing when they turned their back or dropped their guard. She did this for the first few months, making sure it appeared she was one of them, a criminal who just cared about following the leader's rules.

But, all it took was one day. One day for her to go unnoticed and even dare say forgotten about for her to make her move. She had waited until everyone was called back to base, including her new "comrades". Being she wasn't important enough for the meetings that were called (and was actually told that to her face), she took the opportunity to sneak back to Konoha as quick as she could. It was time for her to start the mission she was assigned.


While on the outskirts of the village, Lynn made sure to ditch the Akatsuki cloak in a place that only she knew about, a place she had used once before while on ANBU missions. She made sure to arrive only in the early morning, when the village was just starting to wake up and businesses were just starting to open. She made sure to keep her long red hair out of her signature ponytail and flowing down her back as she checked in with the two Chuunin at the main gate.

After quickly and quietly stating her business, she was escorted to the Hokage's office. Inside, she handed over the few scrolls she had taken record in and recapped everything verbally. The Third was pleased and surprised she managed to escape unnoticed. The redhead stated she wouldn't be able to sneak away as often as she'd like but she'd make do with what little time she would get. She knew she would only get about a day at most before someone would see she was gone so she wanted to use her time wisely.

And it seemed she arrived at the perfect time of the year. It was the time for the new Genin squads to pass their tests and get started with their new Jounin commanders. The team that Lynn mainly focused on was Squad Seven, led by none other than the Copy Nin himself, her former senpai, Kakashi Hatake.

Flying through the rooftops and trees of the village, knowing every back way to take being this was her home, Lynn made it to the training grounds of Squad Seven right in time to catch the start of their training. Blending herself into the colors of the background, her hazel eyes landed on one person in particular, the one she cared about the most, the one she missed like Hell on a daily basis: her younger and only sister.

Sakura was growing into such a beautiful young woman. Lynn hated herself for missing out on her life. She had left when the pinkette was just a young child and now, look at her. Some older sister she was.

But, she couldn't make herself known to her or her parents. As far as they knew, she had gone rogue, joining the ranks of Orochimaru and now, the Akatsuki. Although the real truth was she was undercover, living a lie was for the better, for her family anyways. This way, they were safe and no harm would befall them.

She couldn't help but find the training entertaining, what with Naruto being the spunky kid he was, Sasuke wanting to do everything himself and Sakura...well...she was learning, which is what mattered. The redhead found herself laughing quietly to herself as she watched the head of pink hair fly and heard her cry when something happened to Sasuke. Oh, her sister, the love sick puppy dog for the Uchiha...guess she followed in her elder sister's footsteps in one way...

"Well, look who's hiding up here. It's been awhile."

Thanks to Lynn's guard being down this entire time, which was always a bad decision on a shinobi's part, the redhead barely caught herself from falling out of the tree. She didn't even have time to grab a kunai before turning her gaze upon the voice and presence next to her. She sighed out of relief however when she noticed it was only Kakashi and the sudden want to smack him made her hand twitch.

"I'm sorry." The copy nin chuckled, holding his hand up. "I didn't mean to spook you."

Lynn just sighed. "How long did you know I was up here?"

"The entire time, obviously." He smiled behind his mask. "I just gave you your space because I figured you were here to see someone."

This made the redhead smile. Kakashi was good at reading people and she was glad he respected her enough to leave her alone. "Don't you think you should get back down there? It looks like they're getting impatient." She chuckled, listening to Naruto pitch a fit and Sakura shouting at him to shut up.

"And here I wanted to know how you managed to make it back." It was almost like Kakashi was pouting and Lynn had to admit, it felt nice to relax slightly.

"Let's meet up later." Was all she said as she threw up her hand sign and disappeared in a poof of smoke.


When night fell upon the village, the redhead raced through the back alleyways. After peeking into her house and seeing her parents and sister relaxing and turning in for the night, Lynn quickly sped through the village upon sighting a certain silver haired Jounin. She did say they would meet up later but no exact time or location was mentioned. So, why not have a little fun with her former senpai? Test his skills as a shinobi.

She was actually personally winning, following him all the way to his apartment until a kunai flew past her face, missing her cheek by a mere inch.

"For a ninja, you're sloppy." Kakashi spoke out loud, his one visible eye narrowed, another kunai at the ready in his right palm. "Show yourself. I won't let you get away with following me."

"Guess I should have been more careful." Lynn smiled with a soft chuckle as she moved into the light of the street lamp. Her red hair was up in her usual signature ponytail, her Leaf headband tied on the waistband of her black pants. Her zippered purple sleeveless top bore the white Haruno circular symbol on her back.

The surprise was obvious in Kakashi's eye as a soft sigh of relief that it was just her slipped from his covered mouth. "Lynn. Good to know it was only you."

"Sorry about that, Kakashi-senpai." The Haruno smiled. "I was trying to see how long it would take before the great Copy Nin would notice me. Guess that was a miserable fail." She laughed.

"It's not that often that I get stalked here at home but good to know it was by a pretty girl." Kakashi's words made Lynn roll her eyes and sigh, shaking her head but knew it was out of fun.

She then glanced around the area and motioned with her eyes to his apartment. She knew he would understand the hint about getting out of the public eye. Considering she was known as a "missing nin", it would be dangerous if she were found out in the open.

Once inside, it was quiet, peaceful even. This was something Lynn missed on a daily basis. In the Akatsuki hideout, it was dark, emotionless, void of anything happy. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She took her home for granted, she realized. Within a moment, she realized why she was back home in the first place. Reality loved to crash down upon her like a ton of bricks.

"I don't have much time, Kakashi-senpai, so I need to make this quick."

"Well then, to what do I owe this visit?" Kakashi gave a masked smile, leaning against the wall by his bed.

"Well, I wanted to thank you. For taking Sakura underneath your wing. I'm hoping your tutelage will be just what she needs to help her grow up."

The Copy Nin raised his brow. "That's something you don't have to thank me for. I'm more than happy to teach her."

"Well still, I'm glad she's on your team. It looks like she already has some great friends so with them helping her, I know she'll develop into a great kunoichi." She paused for a moment, thinking about her sister and what she saw today on the training grounds. It was then that a light bulb went off. "I have a favor to ask of you, senpai."

"Oh?"

The redhead sighed softly. "Well, I'd like to keep coming back to you about my sister. I want to make sure she's okay, that she's growing as a ninja, to see how far she's advancing. I don't get much time when I come back home, only a day before someone notices I'm gone. So I'd like to spend that time getting to know as much as possible about Sakura. My family doesn't know the truth about my mission. As much as I hate it, I'd like for it to stay that way, Hokage's orders of course."

Kakashi stayed quiet for a moment. "And our meetings?"

"I'd like for them to stay secret as well. I've never asked anything of you, Kakashi-senpai - I'd like for these meetings to be the exception."

After a moment, the Copy Nin nodded. "All right. I'll tell you as much as I can about your sister when you come visit. Just don't follow me like a stalker again, okay?"

"Yes, sir." The redhead smiled with a soft giggle before saying goodbye and disappearing in a puff of smoke.


"She fainted after the first genjutsu I caught her in. It was disappointing."

"Do you have to be so mean?" Lynn couldn't help but laugh with a big smile as Kakashi briefed her about Sakura and their training. She knew her sister was a bit of a softy but fainting? She sighed and shook her head. "Oh Sakura...you silly girl."

"But, when it comes to chakra control, she's ahead of her teammates. She has them beat by a few minutes when it comes to anything of that nature." Kakashi continued.

Lynn topped off her glass of alcohol and took another big gulp, falling onto her back on the bed after. "Beating both Naruto and Sasuke, huh? Well, good for her." She smiled , feeling the heat of her drink rush to her cheeks. "I'm glad she's taking her training seriously."

"Well," Kakashi chuckled. "I don't know about seriously, but I can tell she's maturing everyday. I'm sure that's what you wanted to hear."

The redhead glanced over at the Copy Nin and stuck out her tongue. After a few visits, they had grown close enough to be comfortable with each other. It was with him that Lynn could forgot about her new life in the Akatsuki and just relax for a change. They could just hang out in his bedroom and talk like normal people.

And, because of these visits, the redhead grew to realize that Kakashi understood what it meant to be alone in the darkness. He had lost his family and comrades at a young age and bad luck had followed him like a plague.

Lynn had been through almost the same thing. She had watched her teammates get slaughtered in cold blood by Orochimaru and then, to top it off, gained his curse mark calling card. And now, she was separated from her family and sister thanks to the missions her life had steered her on. Being with Kakashi was the one slice of happiness she could allow herself, even if it was for a brief period.

"When it comes to my sister, I want to hear everything. I don't have selective hearing like you men do."

"Oh?" Kakashi laughed. "And who says all men have that?"

"Because you do!" Lynn shouted, popping up on her hands and knees and moving closer to Kakashi, her face mere inches away from his. "All men have selective hearing. If they hear something that doesn't agree with them, they tune it out and quickly change the subject."

Her hazel orbs locked onto Kakashi's visible onyx eye and something in her belly sparked to life. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking but...being this close to his face, she couldn't help but notice how...handsome he was, even with the mask. What was so bad underneath it that he felt the need to keep it covered?

"Well, do you think I have selective hearing?"

Damnit, he had her there. She pouted slightly and growled a bit out of frustration.

A chuckle came from Kakashi's throat. "Looks like I just proved you wrong."

"Oh, shut up!" Maybe the alcohol was indeed to blame, or because they had grown so close over the last several months but Lynn wasn't in control of her own actions. In a mere moment, with fire burning in her belly, she crushed her mouth to Kakashi's, tasting only fabric. But she was able to feel the heat coming off his lips and she wasn't going to lie...she liked it.

A second was all it took for her to pull away and realize what she had done. Already red, her face grew hotter as fear made her heart beat like a jackrabbit. She gathered herself and jumped to her feet.

"U-until next time!" Was all she said before she made her escape.


Author's Note: YES, this is a completely crack pairing. I just wanted to throw that out there before you turned to chapter two :) I'll have another note at the end of the next chapter.