Prologue

"Hatake-san, as Haruno-san's husband, you are the first contact on the emergency list and we need you to come to the hospital right away. It's urgent." Kakashi froze. Sakura had been on a mission for a few days and they had been waiting for her to come home for a few hours now.

He had been playing in the living room with Narumi, their one year-old daughter, before two masked ANBU urgently knocked at the door. Putting the two brightly coloured play blocks he had in his hands, he had stood up and answered the door. Seeing the infamous Copy-ninja with a baby in his arms hadn't fazed them in the slightest however, and they had quickly delivered their message, one that Kakashi hoped he would never hear.

"We need you to identify the body, Hatake-san. We're very sorry." The ANBU lowered their heads.

No… no… that couldn't be right. Sakura had only been sent on a simple B-rank mission, a piece of cake for a powerful kunoichi like herself. They had to be mistaken. However, their posture indicated that what they said was hard for them to deliver. From their voices, Kakashi could easily tell that Genma and Tenten were the ANBU.

In a flash, he was gone.

Kakashi ran to the hospital without even looking back at the ANBU in his doorway. He almost forgot that he had Narumi in his arms, but her loud cries made him hold her closer to his chest. To think that he had lost Sakura, his wife, the love of his life… How could he possibly recover from another blow like this?

From roof to roof and street to street, Kakashi had never moved this fast before. That, he knew, but he still felt like he was going too slow. The streetlights were blurs to him. Making sure that he didn't shake his daughter too much, he quickly made his way to the hospital. The building had never seemed so terrifying than at that moment.

Almost breaking the door off of its hinges, Kakashi stormed in the hospital, barely missing a few nurses and patients as he made his way towards Tsunade's familiar chakra signature. He still couldn't sense Sakura's one. Several people were looking at him with sad expressions on their faces, no doubt already knowing about his wife's condition. Naruto was also coming this way, his chakra blazing hot.

Seeing both Shizune and Tsunade's faces confirmed what he already knew. Entering the rom, Kakashi saw a cloth-covered shape on a hospital bed.

He gripped the nearest table so hard that it broke. In his rage, he kicked it into the wall, startling Narumi. She began to wail, afraid. Her cries were the only thing preventing Kakashi from tearing down the whole hospital, the whole village. He swiftly gave her to Shizune, not wanting to hurt her, his precious daughter, the only person he had left to love.

Kakashi only lifted the sheet for a few seconds before quickly letting it go. What was under it made him want to be sick. The body under it was so cut up and burnt that even a long-time shinobi like himself had a hard time looking at it. The fact that it was Sakura only made it much worse for Kakashi. But after knowing her for so long, he knew everything about her and could tell this was indeed his late wife. He had to grip the headboard to keep himself from falling to the floor in despair.

He saw Naruto barging in the room out of the corner of his eyes. The boy had grown into a well-respected ninja, just like Sakura had. The two had been best friends for the longest of times since she had finally accepted him. Sasuke's absence had only made the two closer. Their relationship had always remained platonic, sibling-like.

Staggering to the side of the bed, Naruto fell to his knees. He looked up at Kakashi, his eyes glistering with tears. "We'll make whoever did this pay! That bastard!" He punched the floor, breaking the white tiles. "We'll kill him, Kakashi."

He could only nod, but he was hard set in determination. His wife's killer was his next target. The Copy-ninja wanted his blood and with the help of Naruto, there was no way this vile person could survive.

"Kakashi, Naruto, maybe going after the people that did this wouldn't be the wisest idea." Came the reply from a still teary Tsunade.

"What the hell? You're just going to let them get away with this? Didn't she mean anything to you?" shouted Naruto in his rage. "I can't believe you! As Hokage, shouldn't you do something? Because if you don't, we will!"

"Naruto…" sighed Tsunade "You know well enough that we're all grieving her loss, but sending people there for revenge would be suicide, especially for you, Naruto. You've grown into a legendary shinobi, but the Akatsuki have also surpassed themselves these past years."

"Akatsuki… why are they involved?" he had begun to calm down, sensing the importance of the discussion. Kakashi was still listening distractedly, his mind filled with vengeance and grief.

"I sent her on a small but crucial mission to spy out the Akatsuki. Nothing too complicated, but they had apparently known that someone would be there at that time, or maybe she was just unlucky. They ambushed her, four members. The one who finished her was Uchiha Itachi." She said, head bowed. "Had I not sent her there… Kami, she would still be alive."

Kakashi spoke for the first time since he arrived at the hospital. "How do you know all of this? If you had people there that made it back alive and well to tell you all the details, how come didn't they save her?" His fists were clenched, his whole body tense.

"A small slug summon that she had with her came back to me and told us the whole thing. There was no hope. Even you would probably have died there."

"Who were the others involved in this, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked.

"The other members that helped Uchiha Itachi were Hoshigaki Kisame, Hidan and another member named Deidara. She only managed to get in a couple hits before they overwhelmed her."

Kakashi looked at his now sleeping daughter, unaware of what was going on around them. For her, he would not go head-first into a fight with the entire Akatsuki. Strong as he was, he did not want to have her grow up without both her parents.

He locked eyes with Naruto, his gaze vindictive. Oh yes, they would pay. While the Hokage couldn't do anything about the situation without sending more shinobi to their deaths, if they ever were to see one of those four people, they would give them what they deserved.

With one last kiss to Sakura's cloth covered forehead, Kakashi took Narumi and slowly walked back home.

This is my first story ever and I'm writing it to practise my English, so if you can give me any tips, they would be greatly appreciated! This story will probably include some OOCs, so feel free to skip over this work if that really bothers you.