Disclaimer: No, I do not own Naruto
I would love to own Kakashi, but sadly, I don't own him either. However, any OC that I might throw in ARE mine.
Caught by the Dark
Chapter One
She had been running through the trees for hours, chakra helping her increase her speed. Her teammates and she were supposed to meet at the clearing in order to exchange information. That had been the plan, but everything changed once she realized she was being hunted.
Pain burned in her chest, her steps faltering for a mere second, but that second was more than enough to allow her pursuers the chance to catch up. Glancing around, all she saw was red clouds before she reacted instinctively and threw up an arm to block a punch and then swinging around to retaliate with a chakra enhanced kick.
She heard a small grunt of pain and then she was off, running again, hoping that she could vanish, but knowing it was hopeless. Mouth setting into a grim expression, she turned at the last second, kunai and shuriken in her hand. If she was going to be captured, she might as well go down fighting.
"…MIA, probably captured. There were signs of a struggle, part of the forest had been torn apart and there were several fire marks, as well as kunai and shuriken scattered everywhere."
The Fifth Hokage sighed and leaned back into her chair. Across from her desk were three people she wished with all her heart she didn't have to face right now. All three were probably struggling with guilt, with anger, and the need to find their missing teammate.
"We need to go find her!! Why are we just standing around doing nothing?" The usually exuberant blonde was glaring at her, hands clenched where they rested on her desks. "We can't let anyone hurt her! It-." His voice cracked slightly before he shook his head and continued. "It's our fault she's missing. We have to find her."
Tsunade finally looked up at her successor, struggling not to yell. At 20, Naruto was still loud, but he had toned down on other areas. He had finally realized that orange is not a ninja color and had taken to wearing blacks and deep blues. He had also proposed to Hinata the year before, and the Hyuuga had happily agreed. Their wedding had been three months ago, and the two were expecting their first child soon.
But Naruto was still as protective of those he loved, and the loss of his teammate was hard for him. Tsunade knew this, and knew that yelling would only make it worse.
"Naruto, it's not your fault. Sakura is more than capable of being able to take care of herself. If anything, it's my fault for sending her on a mission. I knew there were people looking for her, but I still sent her. If anyone is to blame, then it's me."
The white-haired jounin leaning against the wall frowned. "Hokage, who exactly is after Sakura? We haven't received any reports, or if you have, then why haven't we been informed?"
Tsunade sighed, she could feel a headache coming on. "Sakura didn't want me to tell anyone. She didn't want me to worry you. She thought that given time, they would just give up." Team Kakashi did nothing but watch her, their expressions demanding an explanation. Tsunade sighed again. "Shizune, could you fetch it please?" Her assistant nodded and fetched a book, handing it to the blonde Hokage. Flipping through a few pages, she held it open to the trio in front of her, ignoring their surprise.
"Understand now? If you had found out, you would have asked questions, would have never let her do anything. It's not something Sakura would have wanted."
"But what did Sakura do to get her into the Bingo Book old lady?" Tsunade glared. "Watch it your brat. I'm not old." She leaned back again. "First off, Sakura did kill Sasori, I'm sure you realize that that's not an easy thing to accomplish. Then she killed Sasuke, with some help of course, but it can't be denied that she didn't do it." Ignoring Naruto's sudden silence she went on.
"She's also the most well-known medic, other than Shizune and me, and as such, her talents would be sought by many." Now came the hardest part. "But the main reason, is that Sakura was in Anbu."
"No!!" Naruto shouted. "She can't! She's still on team, she doesn't have a mask, she doesn't even have a tattoo. How can she be Anbu? Why didn't she tell us?"
Tsunade merely watched as Kashi walked over to Naruto to lay a supportive hand on his shoulder. The third member, Sai, just stood still, fighting to keep his face neutral. Unlike Naruto, Sai had perfect control of his emotions. Usually.
Briskly Tsunade stood. "There are many reasons why you didn't know. Foremost, it's because Sakura didn't want you to know. As for the team, she asked to remain with Team Kakashi and I let her. You all go on missions that are A-ranked and S-ranked regularly, so it only helps to keep her on. And yes, she does have a mask and a tattoo. She just doesn't show you the mask, and she can easily mask the tattoo with a simple jutsu."
She walked over to look outside a window. "I know you want to find her. And I would rather I sent someone else. You are also in danger from the Akatsuki, and I would sooner not loose both of you. However, I'm giving Team Kakashi a new mission."
Three pairs of eyes looked at her curiously. She turned around and crossed her arms firmly. "Team Kakashi, your mission is to find Sakura Haruno."
A/N: Ok, so, this is my first Naruto fic. I hope I didn't make the characters OOC. If I did, please let me know so I can try not to do it again. Anyways, thanks for reading, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.