A Different Path: Chapter 1
Summary: Sakura's journey down the path to becoming an elite shinobi suddenly changes direction when Kakashi begins playing a new role in her life. SPOILERS through the current manga (to be safe)!
AN: Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic so please review and let me know where to improve! Judging from how things are progressing so far, this fic will be fairly long. I will warn you now that this is intended for more mature audiences so please be aware. I am also aware that some may find this pairing offesive, if that is the case please read at your own risk.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto there would be several characters still alive...
Sakura gazed into her locker at the hospital and stretched. Several vertebrae in her back cracked and she winced. Today wasn't even that stressful, she thought. Making up her mind to hurry home so she could help her mother with dinner, Sakura grabbed her civilian clothes and hastily yanked them on. She threw her scrubs in the laundry bin as she walked by and was soon purposefully striding through the late afternoon sun on her way home.
She glanced at the upstairs windows of her house and saw that the lights were on. Her mother's silhouette was faintly visible, crossing back and forth through the glass and Sakura's stomach tightened momentarily as she noted that her father was home as well.
He had been gone for over a month this last time and she had become complacent. Usually she was on her guard when he was around but she had become used to the absence of his presence. Now she wondered what would greet her when she walked in the door. Would he be her father, or would he be a frustrated ninja who was angry about his impending retirement and was looking for a fight?
Sakura had been able to defend herself for several years now, and he never laid a hand on her. His normal treatment of the daughter he had never wanted included stony silences and the occasional harsh rebuff. And then when he lost his temper…
Since Tsunade had taught her how to defend herself he hadn't even considered hitting Sakura, but what he lacked in physical abuse he made up for with his words. She'd felt his dislike from an early age and had wondered why he hated her so much.
Her mother had finally broken down one day to tell Sakura the sad story behind her birth.
Hoshi and Nariko were much in love when they were younger. Nariko had been a few years behind Hoshi at the academy, but she had always looked up to him. After they had both graduated and become chuunin they had been paired up on a few missions. A shaky acquaintance led to a few dates.
And suddenly, Sakura's mother discovered she was pregnant.
Ninja babies were rare in Konoha. In fact, they were rare in most of the hidden villages as most ninja simply did not survive long enough to both find a mate and reproduce. Nariko considered abortion, or even adoption, but the end she gave into the pressure of her family and hokage. She would keep her baby and raise it to be a shinobi, like its parents.
Hoshi was an honorable man, and he would not let his young lover suffer the burdens of parenthood by herself. So, they agreed to marry. He was pleased at the thought of having an heir to carry on his line.
The day came as Nariko went into labor. She dutifully reported to the hospital and her labor progressed with agonizing slowness. After nearly thirty-six hours in labor the medics' facial expressions suddenly changed.
Nariko's placenta was tearing away from the uterine wall and what had been previously slow labor suddenly turned into a race against time to save the baby. The medics ordered everyone out of the room so they could perform an emergency C-section. When a healthy green-eyed baby girl was born a few minutes later, relief swept through the room. Nariko lied on the operating table in a daze as the medics around her rushed to stop her bleeding and sew her back together. She was faint and dizzy from losing blood and being in pain and the room seemed to spin around her. As the pain medications took over she faded into darkness.
When the doctors placed the tiny, squalling infant in her arms she wept with joy. This was a little bundle of magic that she had somehow been lucky enough to create.
But her dreams sank as she looked, smiling, into the face of Hoshi.
A little girl, a little helpless, pink haired girl, had not been his vision. Where was his strapping ninja boy who would carry on his line and grow strong? This tiny, wrinkled thing his wife held in her arms could not possibly belong to him.
And there was worse news. No one had told Nariko yet but there had been complications from the C-section. This would be her only child.
His features were grim and as Nariko looked on in horror his expression grew darker and darker. This stupid woman had trapped him. He knew that she had been scheming all along to get him to marry her and now he stuck, not only with this bitch, but with a squalling, weak daughter and no sons to boot. He would hate her forever for torturing him this way.
As Sakura grew and her green eyes watched the events happening around her with astounding intelligence, Nariko became the barrier between Hoshi and Sakura, stepping in the harsh punishments he meted out went too far. Sakura tried to please her father with the devotion that children always feel towards their parents, but nothing seemed to make him happy.
By the time Sakura became a chuunin she had given up on ever pleasing her father. Becoming Tsunade's apprentice had given her another parent figure and a new view of life which she desperately needed. Her constant disappointment at angering her father turned to apathy as she mentally removed him from her life. His cruel words and expressions faded away until the no matter what he did it couldn't penetrate the haze surrounding her thoughts when she dealt with him. She was confident her abilities on her own and now and no longer wasted time seeking his useless approval.
Sakura approached the front door of her home with trepidation and quietly slipped in the foyer to remove her shoes. The house was quiet except for the sound of Nariko putting dinner together in the kitchen.
"Hello?" Sakura called, trying to remain nonchalant. "I'm home!" She wandered into the dining area where father was seated.
"Welcome home father. I hope that your mission went well."
His green eyes rose from the paper he was reading to narrow at her.
"It's certainly none of your business." He snapped.
"Yes father." Sakura bowed her head and went to help her mother.
"Sakura." Nariko said, "How was your day at the hospital?"
Sakura gave her mother a pleased smile. "Fine. I'm working on deciphering the components of a new poison we've encountered."
Hoshi cleared his throat nosily. "How much longer until dinner?"
Nariko paled for a moment and then answered, "Ten minutes dear."
Hoshi growled. "I've been away, working my tail off to provide for you on a month long mission and you can't even manage to have dinner ready for me in timely manner? What have you been doing with yourself all day Nariko?"
She cowered next to the stove as he turned an icy green glare at her. "I'm sorry Hoshi. If I had known that you were getting home tonight I certainly would have started dinner earlier."
"Yes. I bet looking back on it there are lots of things you would have done differently." He muttered rudely.
Sakura couldn't help tensing up when he put her mother down, but there was little she could do.
When dinner was served they sat together at the table in the kitchen, eating quietly. Hoshi glanced at Nariko.
"Did you manage to accomplish anything while I was away?" he grumbled.
"I finally managed to get caught up on some of the paperwork that has been piling up. It seems like there have a lot of missions lately." Nariko was in charge of getting all the mission scrolls written up for the hokage and then filing the subsequent report when the shinobi returned.
"Paperwork, eh? Well, that was a good use of your time." Hoshi replied sarcastically. "I don't know why the village still pays you. Anyone could do that job with their hands tied behind their back. Pathetic."
Sakura's mother jerked back in her chair. She was normally used to these comments but he had been for long enough she had forgotten how awful it was when he picked on her.
"I mean really, what an absolute waste of money. And you're so stupid sometimes, Nariko. I'm sure one of the hokage's other assistants could do your job. Why don't you give it up and just quit?"
Sakura was bristling in her own chair.
Hoshi turned his attack on his daughter now. "And what about you, how many people have you killed at the hospital since I've been gone? Or are you sleeping with one of the doctors so he'll cover up your mistakes? Knowing how often you screw up you're probably sleeping with half of the staff by now. Whoring yourself out are you? Always knew you'd be nothing by trash."
Nariko gasped at his words and a hand flew to cover her mouth.
Sakura was trying to breathe evenly through her nose. Calm down Sakura. You know what he says isn't true and he's just baiting you. Breathe. She glared at the top of the table as she purposefully kept her gaze from Hoshi.
"What's it like, being a whore? I always wonder what they're thinking while I'm fucking them. Care to share some insight, Sakura?" Between his words and the wicked glint in Hoshi's eye, he had finally crossed the line.
Sakura's chair shoved back from the table with such force it left track marks on the floor of the kitchen. She leapt up and stared into Hoshi's hostile face.
"That's it!" she shouted. "I've put up with your crap for nineteen years now, and I'm done. I'm of age, I make a good income, and I don't have to live here anymore! You're a horrible person. You've hated me since the day I was born and you've been nothing but cruel to my mother. I could never feel as much anger toward anyone as I feel toward you. I hope you rot in hell!" Sakura leered, getting in Hoshi's face, and she watched him flinch back from her in fear with satisfaction. Her outburst over, Sakura turned and walked briskly from the kitchen.
In her bedroom she grabbed a duffel bag from under her bed. She began stuffing clothing into it, trying to calm her rage and not put a hole through the bag. Sakura didn't pack much. She figured that her mother could smuggle her a few other things a couple days.
Grabbing her weapons pack off the top of her dresser, she turned, ready to storm out the front door. She stopped short. Nariko was standing in the hall outside her bedroom.
"Sakura," she whispered quietly, pain leaking into her quiet tone. "I'm so sorry it has to be like this. Where will you go?"
"I'll stay with Ino for a few days until I find my own place. Don't worry Mom, I'm a big girl now, remember?" Sakura took a deep, shaking breath. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. "I'll be fine."
Sakura leaned over and kissed her mother's cheek. "See you in a few days, Mom." Her hands flew through the familiar seals and then Sakura had vanished in a spray of pink petals.
The night air on the street had cooled since had walked home from the hospital and the moon was about half full, its silvery light emphasizing the planes of her face. She rushed to Ino's front door. She had moved out of her parents' home three months ago and into the tiny apartment tucked in above their flower shop. It was a cozy little apartment and Sakura had spent several afternoon there, curled up on the couch Ino had purchased, gossiping about their jobs.
"Ino?" Sakura called as she knocked on the door. No answer. The kunoichi glanced up to see if there were any lights on inside, but it appeared to be dark. Shit. Figures that the night I need her she's out somewhere or on a mission.
Sakura hitched her duffel bag up over her shoulder again and headed for the bar she and Ino liked. If the blonde ninja wasn't there then Sakura would go on to plan B. Noise spilled out the open door as she approached the establishment and two shinobi exited.
"Sakura?" One of them called.
She glanced up in surprise, not paying attention to what was going on around her.
The silver hair was unmistakable, even in the moonlight. "Kakashi-sensei." She greeted.
Kakashi's gaze ran over his student's tense form. "Are you alright?" he asked suspiciously.
Sakura glanced down at her feet for a moment and then back towards him. "Umm, yes, it's fine. I'm just looking for Ino. Do you know if she's here?"
"Haven't seen her all night. Have you seen her, Genma?"
The other shinobi shook his head.
Sakura sighed in frustration. At this rate she was going to be sleeping in a spare hospital room.
"What did you need from her?" Kakashi asked, stepping closer so that their conversation would be a little more private.
She bit her lip awkwardly. "Well, actually, I needed a place to stay for a few days and I wanted to see if I could crash on her couch. I um…sort of got in a fight with my father."
Kakashi's eye widened for a moment and then narrowed. His hands came up to grip her bare arms hard enough to leave marks. His inspected her again with more scrutiny this time. His voice was low and dangerous when he spoke. "Did he hurt you?"
She shrugged, looking down the street and not meeting his eyes. "Sakura, I asked if he hurt you?"
"If you mean do I have any bruises the answer is no." she muttered.
His sigh was long a weary. He did not want to get involved in this mess, but Sakura was hurting. If he was smart he'd tell her to simply break into Ino's apartment. He was sure the blonde wouldn't mind, after all. But, she was shaken and he knew he couldn't, in good conscience, leave her alone. His voice was louder now, carrying to where Genma was standing. "Sorry Genma, but I think I'll have to take a rain check on our plans tonight."
"No problem senpai. See you tomorrow." The jounin vanished without another word and now Kakashi turned his full attention to the distraught girl in front of him.
He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably for a moment. "Sakura, why don't you come and stay with me until we get this sorted out?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. Had super-introverted Kakashi just asked her to stay with him? "Sensei? Are you sure?"
He looked ready to rescind his invitation for a moment and then replied, "Of course I'm sure. Come on."
Kakashi turned and began walking, so after a moment's hesitation Sakura turned and followed him into the darkness.
Okay everyone, just make sure you hit that cute review button at the bottom of the page! I have the next chapter pretty well written so hopefully there will be an update in the near future.