In You I Trust
Chapter 1: The Return
Routine plays a huge part in Haruno Sakura's life. Wake up, get ready for another long day at the hospital, work, come home, eat, and sleep. Today as she made her way back home, she shut the front door and glanced at the faded nine year old photo, back when Team 7 still existed physically…and when Sasuke was there. It has been nine years since she was that love-struck young twelve year old. Hopefully, she was now more experienced, mature, and patient. However, every time she looked back at that old photo, she couldn't help but sigh deeply in her heart.
Sure, change has happened. Despite Kakashi's memorable phrase, "Don't worry, things will be the way they were before," things between the team have fallen apart. Like the fading photo, Team 7 has yellowed and aged. Kakashi is rarely seen anymore, as he takes long extended missions…probably just to avoid seeing the ghosts of Team 7. Naruto, fiery and adamant as ever, has finally turned his interests to the quiet Hyuga girl, Hinata.
Sakura tucked a pink strand of hair behind her ear, tired eyes roaming the picture. Naruto, smiling broadly. Kakashi in the back, his face contorted in some semblance of a grin. Sakura, beaming blushingly next to the handsome brooding Sasuke. Sakura snorted. What a fool she had been. If only she had concentrated on her ninja studies instead of lusting over Sasuke, she would have been much stronger now. Too late for such regrets, she thought. Sakura flopped on her Spartan bed, exhausted from the day's work. One of her patients was in the critical care unit and she had to balance her other duties as well. Tsunade had urged her to take a break from hospital duty, but she refused. She needed something to occupy her. Years under Tsunade's tutelage has honed her perfect chakra control into something both capable of healing and destruction. If only Sasuke could see her now. He would never have dreamed of her accomplishment as a kunoichi, both as a medic, and in the field.
Since the day that Sasuke had rejected her and left Konoha for Orochimaru, Team 7 was emotionally broken. Sai, a new addition to their group physically completed them, but did not satisfy the team's emotional wants and needs. At least he is less emotionally retarded than he was at first, and he and Naruto had formed a shaky friendship. Sai's biting humor often reminded Sakura of another spiky haired boy back when they were genin.
News of Sasuke, now a rogue ninja, trickled in from time to time—for instance, the death of Itachi and Orochimaru, but his whereabouts remained unknown.
Despite the nine long years of absence, Sasuke remained fresh in the group's mind, almost as if he left only yesterday.
Naruto, undaunted by anything, still believed that Sasuke could be changed back and reinstated in their team. He trained hard for the day that he could bring Sasuke back and fulfill his promise, despite the fact that Sakura had already released him from it. In his mind, there was still hope. He brushed off Jiraiya's warnings of Sasuke's betrayal, which paralleled with Jiraiya's own path to try to change Orochimaru's mind.
Time has changed Sakura's previous infatuation into concern that one feels for their family members. In her eyes, Team 7 is her family, and no matter how drastically a member has changed, he is still part of them.
Instead, to take her mind off past ghosts, she threw herself to her studies. After promotion to jonin, Sakura had not seen anyone from the "old days" much. Hell, she hardly dated anyone either. The only one who occasionally swung by was Naruto, usually asking her to join him and Hinata at Ichiraku's. Now that Sakura and Naruto were jonin status, Kakashi was technically no longer their teacher. He had renounced the educational path, pleading to Tsunade that he was not cut out to be a teacher, and re-joined the ANBU to take his mind off the languishing Team. They rarely met up except on impromptu training sessions at the fields, usually just to keep their skills up. And so he left three months earlier on a mission, and was still not back.
She remembered that haunted look in Kakashi's eyes the day before he left. Hardly the idealistic mindset before a major mission, but she could not shake that feeling of apprehension as he left that day. He had refused to speak to her, his curt reply being that the mission was strictly classified.
But no more depressing thoughts for tonight. Sakura shifted to a more comfortable position in her bed. She hoped that Kakashi would be back soon...they had a lot to catch up on.
A reunion would be nice. Sakura mused as she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
Sakura sat up with a jolt. She could have sworn she heard a noise outside her door. Instead she groaned and rolled over, running a hand through her rumpled hair. Whatever it was, it could wait.
A quick peek at the clock told her it was still 4:00 in the morning. She curled up in her blankets, pulling it over her neck. Her eyes closed before a loud incessant knocking ensued instead. Muttering to no one in particular, she threw the blanket covers off and padded silently to the door, and flung it open. It was still dark outside and she could barely make out a figure leaning heavily against the wall of her apartment.
"Yo." The figure raised a hand weakly, the other hand clamped at his side. The trademark silver hair glinted in the moonlight. With a start, Sakura recognized the lazy tilt of a Konoha headband.
"Kakashi?" Sakura stammered momentarily, and then hoisted him up in the apartment a second later. She hurried him in her apartment, turning on the lights as she made her way to the living room. She grimaced at his nonchalance. Men. Avoiding hospitals like the plague. Her mind immediately shifted to medic mode.
"Ah…yes…sorry about that…" He answered unapologetically as she laid him flat on her couch. She pulled away his hand from his side, probing his wounds none too gently. He raised a hand in protest, which she immediately knocked away. His jacket was ripped, leaving his side slightly exposed. The wounds looked fresh, as if he had been attacked on the way home. Various minor wounds dotted the rest of his gaunt physique. The three months away from home had been hard on him.
"Looks like you got a beating of your life, Sensei." Sakura said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Kakashi closed his eyes in answer.
"For the record, I had the upper hand," he retorted.
"Right."
She peeled off his bloodstained vest, much to his protest, and pushed up his standard black shirt, exposing his side. Kakashi fussed momentarily until Sakura gave him a pointed glare. She laid her fingertips gently on his lacerated side, pouring healing chakra in it quickly. Two of his ribs were cracked, so she found some medical tape and bound his torso.
"Don't overexert yourself for the next two weeks. Actually, you're not allowed to leave the bed for at least three days." She glanced for other wounds on his body, searching for noticeable bloodstains. Her eyes fixed on his mask, which looked worse for wear.
"And the mask too," she added. Kakashi glared at her.
"Just because I am a bit scraped up does not mean that you have permission to—don't touch that!" Kakashi pulled his face away from her fingers, which had almost managed to pull the cloth down. "My face is fine," he fibbed. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the growing bloodstain at his mask. She poked his cheek experimentally and he flinched. He sighed.
"Fine, but no looking." Sakura rolled her eyes and then closed her eyes obediently. She extended her hands, reaching out blindly. Kakashi waved his hand experimentally in front of her face, which she immediately batted away.
"You're peeking!" He accused almost comically.
"Well, I can feel the air shifting as you waved…" Sakura replied sarcastically. "Can we just get on with this?" She lowered her hands, flinching as her index finger brushed something wet and sticky.
"And you said you weren't hurt." She snapped as she traced his smooth cheek for the wound. Sakura felt him shrug as she passed an explorative hand over his other cheek and the bridge of his nose. Tapered and pointed, almost Grecian, Sakura thought appreciatively.
"It continues down to my neck…" Kakashi supplied as she moved her hand accordingly. She sucked in a breath as her fingers evaluated the damage. The cut was long and deep with a jagged end. Someone had really tried to kill him.
"Any further and it would have hit your carotid artery." Sakura murmured, half to herself. She felt the familiar tingling sensation as her chakra left her and pooled in the wound. Kakashi closed his eyes in appreciation, sighing in relief as the pain faded to nothing more than a memory.
"Thanks, Sakura." His eyes snapped open as she ran her fingers down the curve of his cheek towards his mouth—
Sakura twitched, fighting the urge to open her eyes as she traced his jaw line slowly. She was about to touch his mouth until something soft and wet nipped her fingers playfully. Withdrawing immediately, she opened her eyes in surprise, poised to retaliate with a smack.
Instead, she stopped as soon as she saw the infuriating man fully masked once more.
"Jerk." She muttered, glaring at him.
"You started it." He shot back, crinkling his eye cheerfully.
"It shouldn't scar. You better rest up. Your wounds are still healing." She instructed as she straightened, standing up. Sakura paused shortly, as if suddenly remembering something.
"Your Sharingan." She murmured. Kakashi raised his head, alarmed. Sakura bent down once more, placing her cool hands on his left eye. The building headache on the side of his head dissipated as Sakura once again applied healing chakra in his eye. Perhaps he had strained himself too much during the mission.
"Do be more careful, Kakashi…" Sakura remarked almost sadly. His characteristic eye reminded her of another who bore the kekkei genkai for the Uchiha clan.
Three months without proper medical care had really strained his implanted eye. Sakura quickly repaired the optic nerves in his eye. She frowned with concern. If he wasn't too careful, he might end up going blind like Itachi. A gift with a heavy price.
Instead, she decided not to dwell on those thoughts. Kakashi's other eye glanced at her worriedly. He opened his mouth, about to speak. Before he could reply though, Sakura changed the subject.
"Well, I suppose you're not as bad looking as I thought." She teased. "I don't see why you would insist on wearing that blood-stained mask."
"The same reason why you wear a scarf when it's cold…why you wear gloves for a better grip…" Sakura rolled her eyes as he rattled off meaningless excuses, and tossed him her red scarf. He caught it expertly, fingering the soft material lazily. He looked at her, asking for permission.
"Until you get home and get a new one." She explained as she headed for her kitchen. The clock announced that it was 6:00 in the morning, and time to get going to work. As soon as she turned back, her scarf was already in place on his face and he was leaning against the couch.
"Thanks Sakura," He murmured softly once more as he closed his eyes sleepily. Sakura smiled sadly in response, and headed for the bathroom. Kakashi could hear the water turn on loudly and smirked as he heard her swear colorfully as she dropped her soap. Ten minutes later, Sakura breezed by the living room, bringing with her a distinct aroma of flowers. She pulled on her overcoat and peeked an eye at the sleeping Kakashi.
"I'll check up on how you are healing when I get back," She reminded him. His eyes flew open as he glanced at her with concerned look. She looked slightly sad. "I'm glad you're finally back." She choked out before she left, shutting the door behind her with a note of finality.
Kakashi breathed in the flowery scent of her scarf deeply, memorizing the scent. It smelled like cherry blossoms, like her namesake, and something more...like home. He had missed Konoha. It was good to be back.
A/N: Well this is it...
Feedback/constructive criticism would be great.
First time tackling a fanfic in a while, especially this pairing...it will have more mature themes later, but for now, it'll probably be pretty slow.
I also tried to keep them in character as much as possible. Let me know if it seems otherwise!