Author's Note: Hello!
This is my first Naruto fic. Warning: I have not seen part 2, but this is the world of immense spoilers and I did ample research to make my story make sense (at least I hope it does). Please enjoy!
(title from False Alarm by the Head and the Heart)
Kakashi didn't know what day everything changed. Maybe it was all at once, but he missed it. Perhaps it was gradual, a slow change, overtaking him bit by bit before he noticed his attitude had shifted. No matter that strategy, it still made the Lifeblood Assault the worst war he had experienced in this shinobi career. Not in terms of casualties, but emotional impact and destruction.
It was a devastating battle. It tore families apart, partners fought against each other without a second thought. Friends as old as they could remember were ripped apart.
And no one could stop themselves.
Here's how it all started.
"Kakashi-sensei," his old student greeted him as he walked into the Hokage's office. Naruto relaxed his feet on the desk covered in stacks of papers, files, and other village business. He obviously did not care that the Hokage could—and would—walk in at any moment, resulting in a bad flick of the head and a bruise that would last for a few days.
"As I always insist, it's just Kakashi now, Naruto," he said. "Everyone in our old team should just call me Kakashi."
Naruto smiled at him. "You'll always be Kakashi-sensei to me, no matter what." He tapped his chin. "Although I'm not sure how Sasuke-kun or Sakura-chan feel about this."
Of course he didn't, the oblivious fool. Sasuke never really acknowledged Kakashi as a suitable teacher since he arrived late to their first team meeting. And Sakura was hard to crack—still continued to be. By the time she fully accepted her position as head medic, Kakashi eventually convinced her to drop the formalities once in a while, considering Tsunade had taken over as her sensei many years ago. But being her stubborn self, she still tacked on the annoying title. Kakashi didn't exactly know why, but it had started to bother him more and more recently.
"You're to go on a mission with me?" Kakashi asked instead. No reason to divulge that information.
Sitting up in his chair, Naruto gave him an excited look, blue eyes wide. "That would be so fun! I hope so. But I don't actually know, I haven't been given any details on why I'm here either."
Kakashi felt her before she entered the room. Without a need to hide her chakra, the Hokage let her energy exude wherever she went, enticing both fear and apprehension in her wake. Kakashi himself stood straighter in anticipation, but Naruto, still not being aware, played with an empty bottle of sake on the desk. How he could miss the powerful presence of Tsunade mystified Kakashi.
He sensed Genma and Raido set up position by the front door, and the Hokage burst in. She was clearly aggravated on top of her constant sleep deprivation. Mid-sentence, Tsunade didn't even notice Naruto at her desk as she continued talking to Shizune.
"And then make sure that Shikamaru doesn't overthink that one—he's a smart ninja, but even the best chest players overshoot when they believe their opponents to be of equal competence." Kakashi held his breath as he watched Tsunade pull back her chair, causing Naruto to fumble with his lost footing, and then promptly sit on the young shinobi.
Her train of thought completely halted, her eyes bulging from their sockets. Naruto sent a panicked looked at Kakashi who maintained a neutral composure, while Shizune just rolled her eyes. Tsunade braced her hands on her desk, painted nails scratching the wood.
"Please tell me you aren't sitting in the most powerful person in this village's chair, Naruto," she said in a low voice.
There was a moment of silence.
"No," Naruto finally said.
Closing her eyes, Tsunade said, "When I get up, I better be able to feel the cushion under my ass in under a second." Without warning she stood, and Naruto seized the opportunity to escape and rushed to stand at attention next to Kakashi. Sighing contentedly, Tsunade relaxed into her seat. Then she tensed up again. She stared right at Naruto.
"Also tell me you didn't mess with the settings on the chair, Naruto," danger dragged from her voice.
Kakashi practically heard Naruto shrink. "No," he squeaks out. Oh no, Kakashi thought in his head.
Quick as lighting, Tsunade grabbed an empty sake bottle and chucked it at Naruto's head. "Fool! It took me months to find the perfect combination for maximum relaxation! Get out! No more mission for you!" Naruto managed to dodge the flying drink, but the office wall didn't stand a chance. It slid through the wall like butter, crashing into the hallway. Genma and Raido sent a startled glance back into the room through the sake-shaped hole.
Shaking in his orange jumpsuit, Naruto said, "Grandma! That's not fair!"
Kakashi resisted the urge to shake his head. He never learns, even after so many lessons.
If looks could kill, Naruto would be dead ten times now. "Get. Out." Tsunade growled, even more irritated after his use of her nickname she always insisted he never utter.
"But Grandma—"
"That's it! Errand duty, until an undefined time," Tsunade announced. Then she leapt over the desk, and tossed Naruto from the office through the sake hole. Of course, Naruto, being a little bit larger than a bottle of alcohol, made the extent of the damaged wall increase. Genma groaned from the other side of the hole.
Taking a deep breath, Tsunade calmed herself. After she returned to her desk, she pulled out a new bottle of sake. As she poured herself a generous cup, Shizune muttered. "I'm sure I checked everywhere…"
Tsunade enjoyed her alcohol, taking a big gulp and sighing contentedly as she settled into her chair despite the altered settings. It seems she'd forgotten all about summoning Kakashi, and he waited about another four minutes before he began to talk.
"Godaime—"
"So Kakashi," Tsunade said over him. "Now we are in a bit of a predicament."
"We are?" He asked, keeping his bláse attitude.
Twisting her in chair, Tsunade looked out her window overlooking the village. "Indeed. There's been word of unrest coming from the Land of Mountain Streams in regards to our trading with them. Whispers of a new type of chemical warfare being developed in their lands have reached us, and I need a pair of our soldiers to investigate."
"Sounds like that was an issue before Naruto was," Kakashi noted.
"It was," Tsunade agreed. "But it's a mission that required two people; and ones that know each other very well."
"May I ask why?"
"You'll learn once you're closer to your destination, that's not important for the time being." She waves her hand in the air. "So, you're obviously a good candidate with your ninken, therefore I needed someone that hopefully understood you and your behavior. But now Naruto has irritated me, and I don't know what to do." She directed a frown outside.
"What about Gai?" Kakashi suggested. If he had to admit it to himself, Kakashi would say there was no one else who knew him quite like Gai does. Even with his repetitive and often mind-boggling rivalry challenges, Gai had proven himself to be the closest friend of Kakashi's that had managed to keep themselves alive.
Tsunade shook her head. "This mission requires the delicate use of ninjutsu. Besides, I need Gai for something else."
Tilting his head to the side, Kakashi asked, "So you thought your next best option was Naruto?"
Laughing, Tsunade grabs her stomach. "Goodness, no," she says. "I thought of Genma here, and even Anko first, but that didn't add up to a successful mission. And before you say anything, I did the calculations of a mission with Naruto. You can't deny the numbers: even with his mishaps, Naruto gets jobs done. And he worked with you for a long time. So he was pretty much perfect. So who else would know you as well as Naruto?" She gazed outside, scanning the village. "He was a former student of yours. You don't have many, if any, others of those. Sasuke is out of the village doing Kami knows what, and…" Her eyes fell on the village hospital. "Sakura… Sakura?" She repeats. Spinning, she excitedly poured her chakra out at Kakashi. "Sakura! I forgot about her!"
Something dark churned in Kakashi's stomach. "You forgot about your own student?"
"No, of course not," Tsunade insisted. "I forgot she was a student under you, since she is, and has been, mine for so long. You used to teach her. She knows you almost as good as Might Gai does. She'll go with you. Perfect. Crisis averted."
"Sakura? Come with me on this mission?" Kakashi practically repeated her orders, for some reason dazed. Not that he and Sakura have had any falling out, but the shinobi had found himself avoiding his former pupil more and more as of late. She didn't need him pestering her, she was too busy, he didn't deserve to bother her...
Kakashi is knocked out from his slight confusing with a hand wave from Tsunade. "Well, who else is there? Besides, Sakura is getting antsy in the surgical room. She loves it there, but she also loves being out in the field. This will get her off my back. Here are the mission details, please share them with her when you're closer to the village." A manila folder is shoved across the desk.
Kakashi accepted the mission, of course, like the good soldier he was. He's had years, decades, to separate his emotions and personal feelings from his job. He didn't fully understand his hesitance or presentiment about this particular assignment, but that didn't mean compartmentalizing wouldn't be possible.
With a nod, Kakashi was excused from the Hokage's presence. He could get through a little mission with Sakura. He'd been through a lot with her: exams, wars, injuries. So what if they weren't as close as they used to be. It wasn't a big deal.
He could do this.
It'll be quick, he told himself. No big deal. He would get the job done, and he'll put the pink-haired kunoichi out of his mind.