Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Hello, everyone, this is my first fic so don't sue;) To be honest, I've wrote it because I was fed up with all those stories where Kakashi is such an inactive emo-boy. I wanted mighty Kakashi and a happy ending!!! And here you go. It's angsty but better in later chapters. R&R but please, be gentle.

'So Kaka-sensei, do you have any advice for your future boss?' said Naruto with a sneaky smile. 'Ya know, you really should start being nice to me, so that I won't make you work in mission room!'

The man couldn't help but to chuckle after hearing such statement. 'Well actually I do.'

'Really? Tell me! Tell me!' Naruto cried with curiosity.

'All right but come closer. It's only for your hearing' Kakashi leaned slowly so his masked lips were now close to the boy's ear. 'Eat vegetables, Naruto.'

'What?!' yelled the teenager. 'I thought you were going to be serious!'

Kakashi grinned 'But I was, Naruto. You know, you've really got stronger since our first meeting. And I know that you're soon going to be even more powerful'.

'Therefore, I'm pretty sure that you and Jirayia can handle with everything except, of course, healthy food. This is why I mentioned it' he explained smoothly, grinning even more when he saw this ex-student's blush.

The truth was that Naruto's cheeks were red as tomato and he was totally speechless (for the first time during last hour, mind you). Still a bit puzzled after being so praised, he only managed to say 'Um, thanks, Kakashi-sensei.'

'Maa, at your service, Naruto-kun.' said jounin with amusement and scratched boy's hair.

'Take care of yourself' he added a bit more seriously. Naruto looked at him with determination and nodded.

'Well, it goes also to you, brat. Watch out for yourself.' It seemed that Jiraiya finally finished his heated discussion with Tsunade about report frequency, and now was speaking to Kakashi.

The younger man smiled underneath his mask 'Yeah… you too … Ji-san'. The Toad Sannin looked at him with surprise when he heard an old pet-name. Kakashi just smirked and continued 'I wish you good luck', he looked at Naruto, sighed and said with a mock pity, 'You're really gonna need it'.

'Hey, just what do you mean?' growled Naruto.

'Hush, hush, kid, I was kidding.'

Jirayia lifted up his rucksack and checked the sun's position 'Well, I suppose, we should go now. Ready, Naruto?'

'Sure, anytime' the blond grinned. 'You'd better start preparing the Kage clothes for me, Tsunade-baachan!'

The Godaime raised her eyebrow 'Yeah, super-small ones?' she laughed when she saw Naruto's insulted expression, 'You still have a long way to go. Do your best' she added and lifted up a thump.

'Yeah, do your best Naruto!' said Sakura.

'Ha, I will! See you!' the blonde exclaimed and joined Jiraiya. The remaining three watched them until they disappeared in the forest.

'So, this is it.' said Tsunade after a while. 'Kakashi, Sakura, follow me to my office'.

Kakashi shrugged a little. After all he'd been expecting it for a while

In the Hokage Tower Tsunade sat behind her large desk and looked through the window. It was a bright day and even there they could hear how villagers were enjoying the weather.

The woman sighed and smiled a little 'Eh, it's only a few minutes and the village seems much quieter' she turned back to Kakashi and Sakura.

'But now the business' she gazed at the silent two, her eyes suddenly serious 'I know you expect it, while it's so obvious, but we still have to do it formally' she straightened up.

'Due to latest events I've decided to dissolve Team 7'

Kakashi nodded but remained silent. It was Sakura who asked 'Is it … permanent, Tsunade-sama?'

Jounin looked at her, positively surprised at her choice of words 'I thought she would say temporary. Smart girl, she feels what's going on'.

'Yes' and she didn't have to add anything more. They all knew situation and cruel reality of shinobi world. Even if they managed to bring Sasuke back, nothing would be the same.

Tsunade continued 'As you may know, Kakashi, I've accepted Sakura as my apprentice so you will be pulled back into regular Jounin ranks'

'Hai' he said reading between lines that he would not have another gennin team once he had so terribly fucked up with this one.

'You're free now; I'll call you if I have some mission for you. Sakura, tomorrow be here at 7 o'clock. That's all for now' she said and started sorting the mass of papers covering her desk.

Kakashi and his ex-student made their way out. The man was quite amused by the red shade of her cheeks.

'Kami-save, did she really think I'm blind and deaf? Ah, even my student lost her faith in me. On the other hand, it is only my fault, isn't it?'

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Sakura's voice.

'Sensei?' He looked at her with interest but said nothing.

'I wanted to tell about this, I really did. It's just I wasn't sure…'

'How to say that you're abandoning me?' He could see that girl's cheeks got even redder and burst into laugh.

'Well, I've made two of my students blush in one day; it's a good score.'

'Maa Sakura-chan. I was just kidding, there's absolutely no need for you to feel guilty' she looked at him, still uncertain. 'You know, I was excepting this.'

'Really?' disbelief was clear in her voice.

'Yeah, really. I've just read underneath the underneath. I'm not your teacher any more, but please, don't underestimate me, 'kay?' She smiled and nodded.

'Besides, if you hadn't asked Tsunade by yourself, I would do it.'

'You would? But why?'

Kakashi just chucked 'For the same reasons you have. We both know that your genjutsu abilities are exceptional. And I'm not an expert at this stuff. Therefore, to awake your full potential, you just need a new teacher. Tsunade-sama is the best one, so it's the only choice which makes sense.'

'Yeah, I guess so. And, ekhm, thanks that you're not angry.'

'Angry? On my beautiful and super-intelligent kunoichi? Nah, never.'

She giggled a little. 'You're good at flattering.'

'Ah, but it's just a pure truth. You're the strongest and most talented among all rookie kunoichis and I'm proud that I could be your sensei … even if it hadn't last long.'

His visible eye row curved into a very familiar crescent. 'You've got also lot of courage … to walk probably the most difficult path shinobi can choose. However, I've got faith in you … and so does Tsunade, because she wouldn't accept you other way. So make sure to do your best, 'kay?' he asked as he ruffled her hair.

'Sure' Sakura grinned 'You, too, Kaka-sensei … or me and Naruto will beat you to the ground next time',

'Ha, don't be so sure Sakura-chan.'

'Well, I think I gotta go now. See you around sensei.'

'Till the next meeting' he waved her for goodbye while checking his mental list of activities

'Well, let's see … a farewell to Naruto and Jiraiya who I won't see for over two years? Checked. Praising Naruto? Yup, checked as well. An official announcement of Team 7's break up? Checked. Praising Sakura? Checked.

'Well, it's pretty everything. Finally' he sighed heavily, 'Hell, now I can go and find some nice, peaceful place... where I could scream and beat myself to death.'

Like any other shinobi village, Konoha was surrounded by mass of training grounds. This particular one was situated rather far away from the center and considered as pretty tough.

There were a few animals living in the bushes -only those with suicidal instincts; the rest was killed by flying shurikens or wisely moved to more peaceful areas. Nevertheless, the remaining fauna – two squirrels, a snake, a family of sparrows, a hedgehog and one almost deaf fox – was used to groups of crazy jounins and even more insane ANBU members who wanted to forget about recent missions.

However, that afternoon there was only one silver-haired man. The animals silently witnessed his attempts to knock himself to the ground. But after hours of kicking trees and punching logs, even those veterans began to feel nervous.

Entire ground was covered by blood and the man's attacks seemed even more desperate. If any animal dared to come closer, it could hear that shinobi started talking to himself – and it's never a good sign, is it? Between following punches there were almost inaudible hoarse whispers.

'If only I had listened to Gai or Iruka before exams… (kick) Sasuke would have never encountered that damn snake-pervert'.

'If only I had tried more…'

'If only I had spent more time with them…'

'If only I had defeated Itachi'. (kick and then the log was broken)

'If only I weren't so closed.'

'If only I weren't so stupid.'

'If only I weren't so pathetic.'

'If only I weren't so weak … so fucking weak'.

His hands instinctively moved to kunais but he forced them to let go. 'Ibiki's far too perceptive for this'

But as he continued training, pain, fury and self-hatred grew stronger, simply to much for human to bear. He had a very little choice left. And so…

'Tough Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!' the man screamed and his three copies appeared in a puff of smoke. 'Heh, let's play guys'.

It had been really long time once the animals saw such ruthless battle. Kakashi definitely wasn't holding back. And by pushing in an extra amount of chakra he made sure that clones could deal even with strong attacks.

After a while…

'Chidori!'

A sound of thousand birds that had brought death to so many people.

The man run with unexpected speed, reached the first clone within a second and sliced it with chidori. Then the second and the last one.

3 perfect hits.

3 perfect holes in the middle of chests.

'Ah, the beauty of masochism' he smirked while breathing heavily. He knew it wasn't healthy but somehow, it always made him feel better. He deserved that pain. Still gasping, he managed to stand up. He closed his eyes 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' …

The last sunrise fell on exhausted man lying on the ground. He had to repeat that particular action 3 times to get rid of all emotions, which held back his attention from real problem

His broken team.

His kids.

When the sun finally hid behind the forest, Kakashi created a plan.