Team Kakashi

By: Lady Evelynn

A/N: It's my first Naruto fic, so be easy with me! This story is a complete AU even though there are many elements of the original Naruto—such as jutsos and such! This story is a very dark theme, even though it seems very light at first. You've been forewarned.

All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I own nothing but the plot! Naruto everything is the belongings of Masashi Kishimoto. So don't think about nagging to me about what and what doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 1: A Fortune. . . of Misfortune.

"Sakura-chan,"

At the soft voice, greens eyes revealed themselves. Slowly, they found the source of the voice and emitted a questioning gaze.

"Sakura-chan, Tsunade-sama called. You're on duty,"

Though spoken in a soft tone, the young woman's words snapped the green eyed maiden out of her sleep instantly.

"Neh?" Sakura yelled, waking up in an instant. "How long was I out for?" She sat up quickly, blood rushed to her head but she ignored it, and pulled her legs out from under a thin layer of cloth throwing it over the side of the couch. "I'm on duty tonight? I should have known, this whole week has been hectic— everyday, every night, every second. I barely any time for school, too," Sakura complained grumpily. Bringing her pale, thin arms up to her uncanny colored hair she brushed her fingers through a section of pink. She then sighed deeply, mentally preparing herself for another chaotic night.

"Just like her too, so unpredictable," Sakura laughed, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Sakura-chan, Tsunade-sama said it was an emergency," The young woman standing before her reminded.

Sakura blinked a few times then looked up to her friend. "'An emergency'?" It wasn't a question, just more of a clarification to herself. The other girl nodded in reply. Sakura growled, now psychically getting herself psyched up, and then with lighting speed, changed into her medical attire, which were always near her person encase of emergencies and late notices like this one. Sakura waved off to her roommate, thanking her in a hurried fashion.

"Sakura-chan, be careful," Hinata smiled, her smile hinted with worry. Sakura smiled bravely back.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the big ol' boogieman won't come and get me around this time of night. I mean it's after three in the morning, even the monsters need sleep," She laughed, reassuring she'd be fine. With those confident words, Hinata smiled truly and then waved Sakura off. "Ja!" Sakura said before slamming the door.

"Sayonara," Hinata whispered.

Seventeen year old, Haruno Sakura; grade twelve and enough knowledge to surpass a sophomore in college, make that a super senior in college. The unusual pink hair of this girl isn't the only thing that makes her stand out among the rest of the Konoha crowd, but also her alluring, sharp green eyes. Her dream is to become a great doctor and to achieve her life goal as a hardworking—

"Why I outta kick that Tenten right where it hurts! If only she didn't break my pager and then fix it… it wouldn't have been broken beyond repair!" Sakura yelled in frustration, racing through the empty streets of her hometown. Sakura could sense that the moon was still up, though barely; it was too early to be called on an emergency call, being that she still is a student. But nonetheless Sakura was loyal to her cause, or her ambition, to become a renowned doctor.

As the young woman ran down on the sidewalks of Konoha, she envisioned herself as a mature woman, like her sensei, with an entourage of many willing students with starry eyes.

'I wonder what Tsunade-sensei is dealing with right now. She is an excellent medic, yes, but why would she need me? I'm just an apprentice, wait! Not even that, I'm just her extra pair of arms, only noticed because these extra pair of arms needs a good grade in class and can give her a break. Even if I do seem promising, I still lack credentials to even become a nurse,'

Lost in thought, she didn't notice the object in front of her, making her slam her body fully into the barricade. Feeling pain erupting throughout her body, she snapped instantly out of her daze enough to quickly peeled herself off. With enough experience, her mind registered she had collided with a very strong body.

Body?

Blinking in realization, Sakura snapped her head up to apologize but stopped immediately when she saw what she bumped into.

"Huh?" Sakura breathed.

The person was covered from neck to ankle in a black cloak decorated with red clouds. The person's face was obscured by the collar of the cloak and a straw hat which deflated any hopes of identifying him. But even in the dark of night, Sakura could make out his eyes. They were deep red, like the blood she sees on a regular basis from the hospital's patients. Also in his piercing eyes, something was amiss. His pupils were flaked with some sort of design. To be exact, four evenly distributed comma-like figures circled his pupils. And she got that all in a millisecond.

Sakura blushed, feeling that she had stared too long into this mysterious stranger's eyes. "I-I'm sorry, please forgive me," Sakura then, without looking back, rushed off after giving a curt bow. Scolding herself, Sakura dismissed the occurrence and ran even faster to the hospital.

'An emergency, huh?'

[[Flashback]]

"Girl! Girl! You there, with the pink hair! I see an aura around you! No more hiding behind that façade of yours anymore!" A woman yelled out in the street.

Sakura turned around to find an old woman pointing at her standing behind a table, located in an alleyway. The sign below it, Sakura noticed, read 'Fortunes, Fortunes, Fortunes!' followed directly by a smaller print below it reading 'at cheap prices too.'

Sakura laughed at the sign then continued walking. She never really bothered with that rubbish. She made her own decisions in life, and she suffers through her own consequences.

'What an idiot… fortunes, blah!' Sakura thought. She had been on her way to Tsunade's Hospital from School. It wasn't a long walk and she had time to spare.

Sakura felt a threatening presence behind her and quickly turned around. The woman was right beside her now and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll only take a few minutes,"

"Wha—? How'd you do that?"

"Tsunade's apprentice, huh? Not as promising on the outside,"

Sakura twitched, physically restraining herself from making a huge decision that might came back to haunt her. She was close to pummeling the old woman though. Disappearing from her vision, Sakura's attention went back to the shabby stand the older woman made her business at. She was there, in her chair again, and expectantly waiting for Sakura to follow.

"What?" Sakura asked, irritation evidence in her voice. "I have to meet—"

"I know," Sakura made her way towards the old woman, not wanting to cause a huge scene, "extend your hand please," The old woman said.

Sakura complied, thought reluctantly, she just wanted to get this whole thing done with.

"Why, my child! You are a lucky one at that? Expect a lot of fortunes!" At her words, Sakura smiled.

"Really?" Even though she disliked all the fortune telling rubbish, it didn't mean she didn't like being told good things.

"Hm. Your love life… not so bright, but if you try hard enough, you might succeed to have many affairs,"

"What? But a woman's life is just all about love! Not withstanding honor and dignity, and besting those cheap bastards who get all the glory in the end," Sakura growled. "Other than that… my love life? Please, more," Sakura, all hyped up, demanded loudly.

"Why, I'm an old woman and I am of need of a little—"

"Rip off," Sakura muttered taking her hand back and turning away.

"Be careful of shadows. If you stay in the dark too long, the one you love won't be there to save you anymore…" Was her last warning, the old woman then began to call over some random people again leaving Sakura in a wondered state.

[[End Flashback]]

Finally reaching the hospital in record breaking time, Sakura hurriedly entered the emergency elevator and pressed the button for the designated floor. Tapping her toe lightly out of impatience, the green eyed beauty's mind started to drift off about the stranger she bumped into early on. From what she made out of him, he seemed quite attractive. Tall, enigmatic, strong, "No," She stopped, biting her lip from keeping herself drooling over nothing, "I'm on a mission to be on a mission: to finally be recognized," Sakura smiled, dismissing her trailing thoughts.

Inside, she was burning with excitement. "HELL YEAH!" Her mind screamed, eager to accomplish her goals.

With that out of her system, or rather echoing throughout her head, the elevator reached its destination and Sakura ran out with renewed strength. "Tenten," Sakura called out hurriedly.

A girl with odango's in her hair standing behind a receptionist desk, lifted her head and waved. "Sakura-chan," She greeted.

Getting to the point, Sakura asked, "How long?"

"Fifteen, you better hurry,"

Nodding, Sakura rushed though the opened glass doors followed by a yell from Tenten which sounded like 'Five Twenty-Two.' With a nod, Sakura power walked to the room and frowned. Blood was everywhere, nurses were around but Tsunade wasn't in sight.

"Sakura-chan, hurry, Tsunade called you here on emergency! This boy is going to die!"

A boy? With determination on her face, Sakura grabbed clean gloves and placed them on her hands. No child on her watch was going to die.

Sakura began to analyze the situation. She couldn't tell what his hair color was or how old he was, except for the fact he seemed like an young man than a boy, only that it was a now or never chance at saving his life. He was a bloody mess, he had many cuts and some were beyond deep. Whatever happened, he was lucky to survive. She'd have to stitch him up and give him blood. With that, Sakura grabbed the nearest utensil readied for her and began to work. 'Not on my watch' She replied silently, concentrating on procedures that were elementary to her.

Truth be told, she could become a doctor is Tsunade deemed it so. She had that much experience, and her accelerated learning ability greatly allowed her to reduce the years that it took others to become a full-fledged doctor. She knew almost everything, and she had a lot of practice on the field, even down to leading in surgeries when Tsunade was out. When on the job, Sakura was serious; she was unstoppable.

When she was about finished with the procedure, a woman entered the room and pushed Sakura aside. It was Tsunade; she had returned to take over. Sakura bowed politely in her presence, and overlooked as she finished up.

The woman was tall, had sandy blonde hair and was strikingly beautiful. The older woman held a needle in her hands and injected the young man with it. Being a professional, everything came natural to her, so she didn't have to think twice about what she was doing. Sakura admired her and watched her as she worked on the patient.

A glowing light appear before her sensei's hands after she disposed of the injector, and with a few hand movements, the light evaporated into him. It appeared Tsunade gave the patient some energy, in order to handle the shot she had just injected into him. In effect, the beeping sounds of the room slowed in pace and the patient was now relaxed. The worst was over. Tsunade motioned Sakura towards her.

"Thank you. Hold him here," Tsunade requested, her voice unaffected by nervousness. Sakura nodded and Tsunade left, followed by the herd of nurses. Sakura let out a soft sigh and the frowned disapointedly.

"I wasn't much aide at all…" Sakura replied, to no one. A stir came from the young man and Sakura unglued her eyes from the, now, closed doors and watched as the patient awakened. "It's okay," Sakura smiled. "You're in good hands,"

"I-Itachi…" He murmured.

'Itachi? Weasel?' Sakura thought, confused by his muttering.

"Spell… Seal… Release," They were vague words, but Sakura knew what he meant. With gentleness, Sakura took one of his bloodied hands and placed his middle and ring finger to apply pressure on the spot Tsunade told her to hold. He complied, and daringly didn't show any sort of pain on his face. Sakura withdrew her hands and clasped them together. Furring her eyebrows, Sakura positioned her hands in into many hand symbols and placed her index and middle finger onto his neck, below the place she was ordered to apply pressure.

His facial expression relaxed and he was able to breathe deeply, though a bit shallow still.

'A seal? On this young man? Who is he? Itachi?' Sakura questioned. 'Tsunade only taught a few of her students that medical remedy, but I never knew I would ever need any use of it, I was the only one to actually get is down… I wonder if Tsunade knew'

"Girl," He spoke again, clearly now.

"Shh, you need your rest," Sakura smiled. At her tone, he did not look amused, though his eyes were still closed.

"There's a kunai stuck on my right side, I would appreciate it if you would kindly take it out," His voice was awful commanding for a person who almost died. Sakura, albeit taken aback at his attitude, complied and lifted up the patient's shirt.

She removed the poor excuse of a shirt, which had been tattered and beyond repair due to the surgery and whatever had happened to him and began to scan for the item stuck within his body. Tracing her fingers down his side, she felt many bones out of place—they'd have to be fixed once he regained consciousness and got enough blood in his system—but for now she'd have to find that penetrating object. It was odd, a kunai was a weapon used in assassination, for by assassins. Ws he a target, she couldn't help but think.

"Ah, found it," Sakura grinned, looping her finger around the deeply set weapon. To think no one had found this on him and removed it sooner. Sakura felt him tense slightly, "Ready? Now," She slid it out, being careful not to tear anymore tissue than was necessary. He relaxed afterwards. It was amazing he'd regained consciousness this early.

Looking at him one more time, she then brought the weapon closely to her face and examined it with curiosity. There seemed to be indentations along on side of the kunai. She walked over to the sink curiously and began to scrub off the kunai. After scrubbing it, she brought it once more to her face:

'Game Over' it read.

Sakura dropped the weapon and looked in horror at the unconscious man. 'Someone was trying to kill him!'' The revelation finally sunk in.

'WELL DUH! Didn't you see all the other signs?' She argued with herself. Of course, there were signs. The kunai must have been poisoned, Tsunade must have known this, she needed the medicine, that was why she called Sakura so she could release the spell and fix him up, giving her enough time to get the antidote. It all connected.

'Itachi'

Sakura backed away from the unconscious man and swallowed slightly. She had a feeling that she was going to be caught all up in the middle of something big; and it wasn't good.