Ok! So a new fic! I've been in a bit of a funk recently (some bad times T.T) but hopefully this fic will give me something to occupy me for a while! I hope you all like it - I've been intending it to be something warm and fuzzy but alas, my own grump has bled into my writing! :O

Spoilers (lol) up to 699 (700 doesn't exist for me!) So this story will pick up assuming 699 was the last chapter - I also haven't been able to read any of the Hiden series, so I'm writing on the basis they don't exist in this universe (for those who've read/love them, sorry guys!)

Here's just a little diddy prologue for you ^.~

A Nameless Fear

Prologue

Kakashi stood at the memorial stone, his eyes lingering on the well worn names he regularly glanced at whilst trying to ignore the later additions. The sun was bright but his mood was irreparably low, as he knew it would be; it was exactly a year to the day, the first very unhappy anniversary of a date he half wished he never lived to see. It had been almost one in the morning when Kakashi had been jerked awake by the sound of an explosion that had his apartment walls shake, he'd leapt out of bed, grabbed a fist full of kunai and leapt onto his roof, to find the administration building little more than a burning pile of ruins, the morbid remains of what had once been one of the oldest buildings in Konoha.

The shouts of the other shinobi had broken him from his momentary revere of shock as he darted over to try and assess and contain what he could of the situation, numerous ANBU were crowding around a specific circle, a mess of kunai, kibakufuda and jutsus: all of which were being countered or replied with unnerving ease by the apparent enemy. Kakashi had leapt to the forefront, despite being only in his sleeveless vest with mask and trousers, he appeared beside Inoichi though as his eyes focussed on the enemy his breath caught in his throat.

Sasuke.

He'd seized control of Konoha that night, his first hit had destroyed the administration building and everyone in it; ANBU and the Jounins had fought him for hours with little success. Sasuke had merely stood there defending himself though without any real intent to kill any of the other shinobi. There were regular curses at the fact Naruto was away on a long term mission at that point, which in retrospect, was probably why Sasuke had chosen that time to strike. Eventually, Kakashi had drained himself, his injuries almost life-threatening, though had forced himself to keep conscious as the collective strength of the village began to wane, eventually Sasuke held up his hands and spoke loudly and clearly:

"The village is now mine, I have killed the current Hokage and I claim his place, accept your new Hokage and there will be no more deaths," The silence that followed was utterly deafening. Kakashi shared a glance with the nearest shinobi next to him, was he serious? The leaf nin weren't sure at all what to do - they were at the end of their limits and the strange behaviour of Sasuke's counter attacks had them fairly certain he wasn't about to unleash a death-jutsu on them and his apparent claim on becoming the sixth Hokage meant he must actually want the village survive so he'd have something to run… But what the hell?

The hours, weeks and months that followed had been beyond confusing; the Jounins and ANBU had regular clandestine meetings to organise how they felt and what they were supposed to do. Almost every single shinobi had agreed Kakashi was still the Rokudaime but even their combined strength hadn't been enough to defeat Sasuke with his completed Susanoo and rinnegan capabilities, not to mention the fact Kakashi having lost his sharingan meant they were at a severe disadvantage. The only thing Kakashi had been able to suggest at that time was to hold their tempers and wait for a suitable time to strike back, throwing their lives away would only have make the situation worse; frustrated and angry as they were, they agreed with him. Still a few had tried to tackle Sasuke here and there, but his strengths and the added protection of those who'd supported him meant he was almost beyond their reach.

Sasuke had very quickly put a lot of blockades on the free movement of shinobi in and out of Konoha, their movements were well tracked and the records of shinobi out on missions being information - Naruto's whereabouts, far to the west, were obscure and he was deeply entrenched in a very sensitive mission, so risking contacting him was folly at best. Unfortunately for the Leaf nin, the remains of ROOT had eagerly sided with Sasuke and had intercepted Naruto on his return home, less than a month after Sasuke's coup, as he apparently unaware of the situation, had gone with them and they'd sealed his access to the majority of the Kyuubi's power before he could protest.

Naruto had been as outraged — and then depressed — as almost everyone else had been as he discovered what had happened, those who'd died and his own powerlessness. The months and the missions passed slowly as the village adjusted uncomfortably to changes: Sasuke had set up his own administration in the old Uchiha quarter, taken himself several "wives" with which to re-spawn the Uchiha clan and had taken an aggressive, preemptive stance with regard to missions: where previously Konoha had worked to maintain the balance of power and often leant a hand to needy civilians, they were now often forced on missions to begin fights and upset the balance between the other nations, factions or even vaguely militant groups.

Konoha had lost so much more than it's reputation as honest and trustworthy nation: a large proportion of the civilian population had moved away from under the oppressive rule of Sasuke and even the closest allies of Leaf, Sunagakure, had been forced to withdraw its alliance after some of Konoha's more unnerving actions against other nations.

Kakashi, during that first month had been operating in grey mode, as if in some twisted nightmare he did as ordered and followed his normal routine not daring to think too much about that night. It had been sheer dumb luck that he hadn't been in the administration building that night — he'd been serving as Hokage for the past five years and spent a majority of his time there, the elders Koharu and Homoru, who were (still) poking their noses in, under the direction of daimyo, had send him home early for his trite attitude having worked the previous three days almost straight. It hadn't taken long for Naruto to seek him out and demand all the answers as if Kakashi himself was the deity of the Fire Nation.

"What happened?" He'd asked his eyes wide and his face aghast, his numerous follow up questions had tumbled from his mouth in such quick succession Kakashi was barely able to discern one before the next one cut it off, at least, until the last question he'd asked, which had almost been enough to make Kakashi blanche, "And where's Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi issued a long breath as he was brought back to himself, the bright sunshine in his two eyes as he lifted his gazed up to the azure, cloudless sky; he was two hours late for his mission briefing with the 'Hokage' not to mention that Sasuke'd already stolen damn near everything from him: if Sasuke wanted him to start playing the game, he'd have to give him his village back — and everyone in it — first.

"Hatake-san, the Hokage requests to know why you are late to his briefing," A ROOT ANBU appeared by his side, his tone clipped with impatience,

"I was just visiting some old friends," He answered blandly, his eyes falling back to the stone, slipping dangerously low,

"You are to come with me immediately,"

"Hai, hai," Kakashi sighed as his eyes fell ever further before he could stop them, the final name engraved deeply on that permanent stone, the bane of his life:

Haruno Sakura.

...Thoughts?