Ingome: So it really has been a long time. But this idea sort of came to me when I woke up one morning. Of course I had to share my story with you! Also I really don't know if i'll finish Hate It or Love It or if I'll give it to someone else. I'm still thinking about it. So enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters so blah blah blah!
Chapter 1
Naruto POV
Crying. That's what the sky and I have in common right now. We're crying out for the same person. We're both sad. We both want revenge. But unlike the sky i have no purpose anymore. The sun doesn't shine my way. Only darkness that has consumed my heart, which not even kami himself could cure. If only I could spend one more minute with him. Tell him how much he meant to me. It's too late now. He's gone. Forever.
Sasuke POV
Disbelief. Shock. Regret. Anger. Sadness. These words can not describe how I feel this moment. Nothing can. What am I suppose to say? What am I suppose to say when the man who has been like a father to me just died on a simple recon mission? Do I say sorry? Or do I say idiot? Do I say I hate him for leaving me? Or do I say I'm sad he didn't take me with him? So many things to say, yet i say nothing.I can barely stand here. I feel betrayed once again. How sad.
Sakura POV
I can't believe he's gone. I can't believe it. Maybe it's a trick. Maybe he'll jump up out of the coffin and smile with his book in his hand and say "gotcha!" Maybe he's just hiding so he can get a few days off. Yea, that's it's..no it's not. He's gone. Forever. This can't be happening. He has to be alive no matter what they say, I don't believe he's dead. Yet, deep in my heart, the part that's crying, I know he's gone. We all do. We know this isn't some crazy trick of his, it's real. If only I had followed him on the mission. I could have brought him back. Anything to keep him from dying. But I didn't follow. He left, and he died. Why him? Why Kakashi?
Normal POV
The clouds darkened with every minute passing by. People all over Konoha came to the funeral. This was perhaps one of the saddest days the village has ever known. The pearl black coffin was set at the center of the small clearing with pictures of Kakashi and his former teams. One by one, people came and placed a white rose on the coffin, lit a candle, and gave their blessings. After the service, the Hokage assembled every ninja in the village on top of the Hokage building.
Tsunade cleared her throat. "This is indeed one of the saddest days any of us has come upon since the death of Sarutobi and Asuma." A few murmurs of indeed was heard.
"However," she continued, "we shall not continue to mourn our lost, but instead recount of the times we have shared with Kakashi. Only our memories of him will sustain. It should be our memories that Kakashi live inside forever." With that said, Tsunade dismissed the ninjas and returned to her office. She was not surprised when she saw the three ninjas standing before her.
"So," she started as she moved towards her desk. "Is this what you two really want, Sasuke and Naruto?"
Naruto slowly looked towards her, tears gleaming in his dim blue oracles. "Yes, we do. There's no point without Kakashi. We would feel like we were betraying not only him, but ourselves also."
Tsunade looked at Sasuke. "And what about you Sasuke?"
"This is what I want." His voice was empty.
"Well then, if this is what you two choose then so be it." She pushed back a strand of her hair back and sighed. "Sakura, what is your wish?"
Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at her master. "I will still study under you, but I wish to not go on any missions."
Tsunade studies them a few seconds before taking out a piece of paper and her official seal. She stamped the paper and glanced at them. "It has been arranged. Sasuke and Naruto, you too are no longer of ninja status. Sakura, you are now my secretary. you are dismissed." With said, they left the building into the darkness waiting for them.
3 Years Later
"Sakura, don't you think it's time for you to head home?" Shizune asked her.
Sakura looked at the clock and her eyes widen. "Oh my! I didn't know it was that late!" Shizune giggled. Sakura sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, I'll leave, but I have one more paper to finish then I'm gone."
Shizune nodded at her and left her to her work. Sakura sighed again. After finishing the paper, she left towards her house.
'Wow, how did I not know what time it was?' she asked herself. 'Well off to bed - huh?' She stopped and turned her head slightly, listening.
'Strange.' she thought. She continued walking home, but avoided alleys and low bridges. She wasn't an idiot. Walking up the stairs to her apartment she noticed her lights were off. 'Weird, I always leave at least one light on.'
She walked up to her door and listened. There was no one inside, but better safe than sorry. She opened the window to her bedroom and cautiously entered. She watched her every step until she made it to the door of her room leading to the living room. Slowly, Sakura opened her bedroom door. The second it reached a reasonable size a kunai knife flew her way. Quickly, she slammed the door shut and locked it.
She doved to her closet and pulled out a box. She could hear footsteps getting closer to her door. Sakura grabbed the box and jumped on top of her bed. She pushed at a loose tile in the ceiling and placed the box inside the ceiling. She swiftly put the tile back in place and moved to the other side of her bed.
Everything went silent. For a second, Sakura thought the intruder had left. Then a definite bang was heard and her bedroom door flew open. She ducked her head to avoid the wood flying everywhere. When she looked up, there was a tall figure standing in front of her. As she was about to scream, the intruder slammed her head into the desk behind her. The scream fell silent before it could even start. The last thing she remembered was being carried from her home before finally blacking out.
"Ow, what the hell?" Naruto winced at the sun shining through his window. "Freaking sun."
He rolled out of bed and into the shower. He relaxed as soon as the warm water streamed onto his skin. 'Another tiresome day I bet.'
Knock knock!
"Who the hell is that?" he asked bitterly. He turned off the water and threw on a pair of shorts and a red shirt. Walking to the door he said, "I'm coming."
He opened the door to find Ino standing in front of him. She looked terrible. Her eyes were red as if she had cried for hours and she looked as if she hadn't gotten any sleep because of crying for hours.
"Ino? What's wrong?" Naruto asked. Ino grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him outside and started running. "What the hell? Ino, what are you doing?" he exclaimed.
She glanced toward him before turning and kept running. "We have to find Sasuke."
"Huh?" Naruto asked confused. "Why do we have to find Sasuke?" Naruto was confused. If she wanted Sasuke, she could have went to his house.
"No time to explain now, gotta find Sasuke first." It didn't take long to find him. He was exactly where Naruto thought he was.
As they knocked on his door, Ino tapped her foot impatiently. When Sasuke opened the door she pushed herself into the house and Naruto followed her in.
"Why the hell did you two just barge into my house?" Sasuke glared.
"That's what I want to know." claimed Naruto.
Ino looked at them and cleared her throat. "Something terrible happened." she stated in one breath.
"Terrible?" Naruto asked. "What's so terrible that you dragged me to Sasuke's house?"
"Sakura's been kidnapped." she said.
"Wha-what?" Naruto stuttered. "What do you mean Sakura's been kidnapped? She was just here yesterday and now you say she's gone!" he snapped.
"Naruto! Calm down." Sasuke hissed. He looked at Ino. "Now Ino, what makes you believe she's been kidnapped? Perhaps she just went to the store or is at work."
Ino wiped a few tears from her face. "That's what I thought at first. I went to Shizune and she said Sakura had the day off. Then I went to her house. I knocked, but there was no answer. I waited, but she still didn't come. When I asked one of her neighbors, they said she hasn't been out the house all morning."
"Well that's it!" exclaimed Naruto. "Maybe she's just sleeping. You know how Sakura sometimes overwork so she's just using her day off to rest more."
Ino frowned. "That's what I thought so I used the key she gave to me for emergencies. When I went inside, her bedroom door was in pieces and there was no trace of her, yet I could see signs of struggle."
Naruto gasped. "No. Not Sakura!"
Sasuke growled. "Ino, did you tell anyone else about this?"
"No," she replied. "Sakura once told me if something like this were to happen, I was to come straight to you two and to tell no one else."
"Why would she say that?" Naruto asked.
Ino flexed her fingers. "She was acting a little strange for awhile. I think you two should go check it out."
"Ino." Sasuke said suddenly. " While Naruto and I check out Sakura's apartment, look around for clues but keep yourself discreet. We don't want anyone to know she's gone just yet." Ino nodded. The three of them left and headed towards their destination not knowing what they'll find.
Naruto and Sasuke walked through the ruin bedroom. Pieces of Sakura's door was everywhere. They carefully walked around the room looking for anything that could lead them to Sakura. Minutes later Naruto cursed.
"There's nothing in here besides the broken door." He sighed and laid across the bed and buried his face into a pillow. 'This pillow smells so much of her.'
Sasuke glanced around the room once more. "I wish she could've did something to pronounce her kidnapper. Even hiding something will help us."
Naruto stretched and turned on his back. "Well we've searched everywhere and came up with nothing. Maybe Ino came up with something." He ran his hands through his hair and his eyes fell on the ceiling.
"Hey Sasuke." he said slowly. "Remember when I threw that kunai bomb on Sakura's ceiling?"
Sasuke nodded. "She was upset with you and made you fix it."
Naruto grinned. "Well, do you think she could have..." he trailed off.
They both looked at the ceiling for a few seconds. Suddenly, Naruto jumped on his feet and put his hands on the ceiling. Sasuke was close by ready to catch something. Naruto pushed the tile up and a box fell out. Sasuke quickly caught the box and sat down on the bed. Naruto sat next to him and stared as Sasuke opened the box. Inside the box was a map and many scrolls.
"What is this a map of?" Naruto asked. Sasuke eyes narrowed as he read one of the scrolls.
"Naruto read this." Naruto glanced at the scroll and read.
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Day 26
Research was intense today. The power the beast harnessed was great. The stats were off the charts. I feared that this would happen. A lot of power can lead to a lot of misfortune. Not only is the charka becoming stable, it's evolving to a different kind of chakra that is powerful enough to destroy two of the great ninja nations. Konoha's secret shall not be leaked above ground. They will not allow it. Those who have tried to betray them have been executed very horridly. I only hope that in my life time I will not live to see the destruction that will come to Konoha later. But fornow the conspiracy will not be revealed to those above ground. Not even the highest leaders to come.
-Dr. Akira Mirasuki
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"Conspiracy?" Naruto questioned. "What the hell is this doing in Sakura's possession?"
Sasuke cursed. "Naruto, it's time to go." Naruto nodded and stood. They both left to find Ino waiting for them at Naruto's apartment.
"Sasuke, Naruto, did you find anything?" she asked.
Sasuke darkened. "Yes. Ino, do you know anything about a conspiracy in Konoha?"
"No." she said confused. "If you want to know about conspiracies you should ask Sai. Why did you ask?"
"Don't worry about it." Naruto replied with a smile. "So what did you find out?"
She shifted to the side. "Nothing. Nobody knows anything. I think it's time to report Sakura's disappearance."
"Yes, but you do it Ino. Naruto and I have more work to do." said Sasuke.
Ino nodded and left. "Naruto, we have to find Sai."
Naruto scoffed. "Knowing Sai, he's probably on a bridge painting." They took off towards a bridge that Sai usually hangs around. There he was with his art tools out.
"Hello." he cuued looking up from his painting.
"Sai, we need your help." said Naruto. "Do you know about any conspiracies within Konoha?"
Sai looked at them and smiled fakely. "Depends on which conspiracy. There are many floating around."
Sasuke glared at him. "Anything about a beast with immense chakra?"
There was a pregnant pause before Sai spoke. "It was a long time ago when the great nations were just being established. When nations were greater only in size. Before there was a kage or even a feudal lord. Only merchants could afford mercenaries. Each nation wanted more power to be stronger than the other. Of course many know this to be when the nations decided to take in the sacred tailed beasts. With the power the beasts held, a nation could easily overtake another. So training took place to capture a beast. Very intense training seeing how it took a lot just to restrain them for a few minutes. Sealing them was the hard part. Of course most of the beasts are sealed now, but what fun would that be if that was just that?"
"So what the hell was the conspiracy? Everyone knows about that part, but why would there be a secret to that?" Naruto questioned.
Sai smiled. "Eager aren't we? Well what many people don't know is that there were originally eight sacred beasts. All but the Kyuubi no Yoko were born into the demon world."
Naruto froze.
"Go on." Sasuke urged.
"Every nation had a sacred beast besides the few that managed to get away. Every nation except for Konoha. They were the only nation not to have a sacred beast, not because they couldn't capture one, but because some of the ninjas thought that having too much power was a sin. Because of this and other reasons the ninjas split, half went underground never to be heard of again, at least that's what most people know about the conspiracy."
"Then how do you know so much?" Sasuke pressed.
Sai blinked his eyes. "I was raised by ROOTS, remember? Anyways, when the ninjas moved underground they became busy with researching the sacred beasts. The original plan was to capture one and seal it into a root member's child. However the most powerful sacred beasts had been sealed already or could never be found. Of course they couldn't just settle with a weaker demon, they had to have the best.
Using the research they gathered, they started a new project. They planned to create a sacred beast more powerful than any of the known sacred beasts. It was torture to the members who worked directly into creating the beast. Many lost their lives. Ironic isn't it? Losing you life to give life to something else that you were going to use to destroy lives. Well when Kyuubi was finally created, there was a problem. Somehow it had gotten out of the facility and went above ground. Everyone in Konoha believe it was a new sacred beast that had been hiding for some time. The Hokage of that time was called upon to handle the situation. I'm sure you know the rest. There were more events that happened during the development of the beast, but they are so top secret that even I don't know."
Naruto shivered. "That's incredible. If this is just the basics of it, I'd hate to know what really went on." Somehow Naruto felt by saying that he had condemned himself to a dark path ahead.
Sai looked towards the sky. "She's gone isn't she?" He smiled at their shocked faces."I knew what Sakura was doing. That's why she came to me about it. Although if she came to me first she would have been here safely talking to you."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What did she talk to you about?"
"The same you wanted to know." he replied. "Except for a different reason. She had suspicions to believe the death of Kakashi was a cover up for something deeper and wanted to figure out why. Not many people know about her thoughts. Just me and now you two."
Sasuke and Naruto stood frozen. What they had just heard changed everything they thought they knew. This was different. They had to find Sakura before it was too late.
Naruto looked up at Sai. "Can you help us, please?"
Sai sighed. "Yes, she is my friend also."
"Good." said Sasuke. "Cause we're going to need it. And we'll get Ino, but no one else."
They both nodded. Later when they found Ino, she had already reported Sakura's disappearance. She told them she didn't mention anything about the box. She agreed to help them and soon they were off on the path to uncover the truth and find their missing friend.
Ingome: So tell me what you think about this story. Review please and tell me what you like and don't like.