Side note: this is a Sakura/Kakashi fanfic. It's my first so please be kind.

Re-edited on 02-10-2008

Please re-read this chapter before going to the next, I have edited it and have added a few things.

Mission Recall

Part 001

By DanniMarie

'Just a little further, I have to make it.'

The cold winter air burned in her lungs as she ran, not needing to turn around to know that they where still after her, pain not slowing them down as it was her.

Six Months Ago

Sitting there, behind her desk Lady Tsunade looked at the scroll in her hands. She didn't want to believe that what she was reading was true; however she knew that it was, there was no way that it could be a lie.

She had sent a team to look into some rumors about some rouge ninja between the borders of the Hidden Rock and the Hidden Waterfall. Knowing that is was unlikely to be connected to the Sound village. Sound had been quite as of late, and they hadn't heard anything out of Akatsuki for a few years.

'Could this be a new threat we need to worry about?' She thought as she looked up from the scroll and over her desk. There before her where the two people she knew that she could trust.

"Sakura, Kakashi, I have a mission for the both of you. This will be a team effort; however you won't be working together." At this, they looked at her as to question her, but thought it best to keep quite. They knew something was up; Lady Tsunade didn't give out orders at six in the morning.

"I sent a team to look into some rumors about a rouge ninja team between Rock and Waterfall. The mission took about two weeks, and in that time they where unable to gather anything from the people in the villages. It seems that they are too scared to talk, someone got to them, meaning that they have something to hide. I want to know what. I need to know if this is something that we need to worry about. I can't allow some group of rouge ninja gain power to attack Konoha, not again."

"We'll do the best we can." Sakura said, looking over to her former teacher, Kakashi. It had been over five years and she was more of a partner then a student to him. They had been on a few missions together, with Naruto of course. Tsunade didn't see a need to break the team up, or add anyone else; they all seemed to work great together.

"I know that Naruto is also a part of your team, however I can't allow him to go on this mission. I need him to keep training with Jiraiya. I'm sorry."

"We understand." Kakashi nodded.

"Good. Now I know that you are used to planning for missions on your own, however because of the importance of this mission, I have taken the time to plan it out."

"Sakura, you are going to travel to the Hidden Waterfall Village, there you will find work. What you do I don't care, however you are not able to use any Chakra, nothing to let others know that you are a ninja. You are to blend in, make friends; it's going to take time to gain the trust of the village." Sakura nodded, understanding what her role would be. If Tsunade didn't want anyone to know that the leaf village was looking into this, then she would die before she let that information get out.

"As for you Kakashi, you are going to stay here. Every few weeks you are going to go and check in on Sakura, make sure that there is nothing going on, and if she has any messages to send back to me, you will deliver it back to me. Other then that you are to keep up with your other missions, we can't allow anyone to find out that we are looking into this."

"Understood." Kakashi spoke, getting up from his chair and walking over to the window, he wouldn't use a door unless he had to.

"I'm giving you a year to complete this mission. Sakura, I know that this is going to be hard for you, but I need to know that you can handle this." Tsunade knew that she had been thought so much the last few years, the loss of Sasuke, the new training, and the long hard hours at the hospital.

"Lady Tsunade, you shouldn't have to ask. You have given me a mission and I'll complete it, whatever the cost."

Kakashi couldn't help but smile under his mask. Over the last few years she had grown up so fast, she knew what it meant to be a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. When he had found out that she would be studding under the Hokage herself, he couldn't believe it. He had taught her everything that he could, he had known that her chakra was different, knew it was one of a medic, and he didn't know the first thing about training one.

When she had ran up to him telling him that she was going to be taught be Lady Tsunade herself, he couldn't have been more overjoyed. He knew that she would surpass others, make a name for herself, and couldn't wait to see her in her prime.

And there she was in front of him, getting ready to take a mission that nether one of them knew much about.

"Very well, I want you to leave as soon as you can, Kakashi, you are allowed to travel with her as far as the border, and then you are to return. Is that understood?"

"Ya."

"I know that you can both handle it. This is going to go down in the books as a A-Rank mission, however you both are going to get paid for a S-Rank. Now get going, I don't want to waist any more time." With that said, she turned to some paper work that needed to be signed.

Seeing as how it was still so early, Sakura thought it would be best to go ahead and get the things she would need and head out. Seeing as how she wasn't able to let out her true identity, she didn't bother bring her weapons. She changed into some everyday clothing and packed a small back pack with some money and food.

"You almost ready?" Kakashi asked from the window.

"Just about." She looked over the items and closed the pack, lifting it and placing it over her back.

It didn't take them long to make it to the border and they had agreed to meet every two weeks in the marked place. He would come as a traveler, walk the village till he found her and then they would take it from there. They thought it best if they did it in the day light seeing as how they didn't know what would be going on once the sun went down.

Once she had made it to the village she had gotten a job working for one of the inns. She was to clean the rooms after the guests left. It took her a few days to get used to cleaning up the mess and taking the sheets off, some of them she just wanted to burn.

'I don't get how some men can have that many women at the same time.' She thought to herself as she cleaned.

She had thought it best not to jump right into asking people questions, but to take it nice and slow. It was clear to her that something was very wrong in this village though. She had gotten the first job she had asked about, and was told that 'Women like you should just go around these parts alone.' She didn't ask more on it; however the owner had told her that if she ever needed to go anywhere to get anything that his son was to go with her.

She thought that, with someone following her around would make her mission a little bit harder. However it seemed to work out. He was a young guy, just a little older then her, and he kept to himself and didn't mind going with her when she needed it. It was nice to have someone to talk to as well, thought she never got a full sentence out of him, a lot like Kakashi.

The fist meeting with Kakashi had gone very well, even with Jin following her. She had told Jin that she needed to go into town to grab some flowers to put in some of the rooms, to add some color. He had grabbed his sword and put it on his hip as he followed her out of the inn and down the road.

It wasn't hard to find Kakashi, even though he wasn't in is uniform, he still had his face covered, clamming that he had bad breath, if anyone asked. He had acted like he bumped into her, knocking her over.

"Oh I'm sorry miss I didn't see you there, I hope that your alright." He said as he held out his hand to help her up.

"You must not be from around here." Jin asked walking up to them.

"Oh, no I'm not I'm just passing thought." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Well no harm done." Sakura said, and letting Kakashi know that everything was just fine on her end.

"Again I'm sorry." And with that he continued on his way.

He was glad to know that she was doing well so far, however he didn't much like that the fact that she had someone following her everywhere. It was good and bad.

Good, in the way that if anything happened to her, she would have time to get out, let that guy fight.

Bad, in the way that he could be one of the rouge ninja that she was to gather info on. They way that he walked and carried himself was sign of a master… not just a young man trying to show off to the young pretty women.

It was a couple of months of the same thing, nothing really coming up. Until one night she overheard Jin and his father fighting about something. Sliding by the door she was able to hear that they where arguing about.

"You know that they are going to come within the next few nights." That was Jin; even though he was quit she knew his voice.

"I don't care! You are not going to fight them, they are to strong. And that one, his eyes… I don't trust them!"

"Father, do you hear yourself?! You are asking me to just set back and let him do what they want to this village. They said that they wouldn't hurt anyone if we gave them what they wanted. They came here seeking the scroll, and we sent them on a wild goose chase. It's a matter of time before they come back and kill everyone here, and they won't stop till they have it."

'Scroll? What scroll?' Sakura asked herself as she lost herself in thought she didn't hear the foot steps leading to the door, nor did she hear the door opening to see Jin and his father there.

"What did you hear?" Jin's father asked, pulling her inside and closing the door. "Do you work for them? Are you going to tell them what you have found out, that we lied to them!?" He asked walking around her. The worry clear in his voice.

"I'm sorry but I have no clue as to who you are talking about!" she said looking down. She knew she had to play her cards right, she couldn't lose her only chance to find out what was going on here.

"Father she isn't one of them, however she isn't just a poor girl that was looking for work ether. Who are you?" Jin asked, trying to calm his father down.

She had a choice to make, tell them the truth about whom she was, and why she was here. Or lie and she was a bad lire.

Taking a deep breath she stood up and looked to Jin and then his father. "Do I have your word that what I am about to tell you doesn't leave this room?" She asked them. They looked at each other then to her with a nod.

"My real name in Sakura Haruno, I'm from the Hidden Leaf Village. I was sent here to look into a group of rouge ninja, believed to be roaming in this area. No one is to know that I'm here."

Taking a deep breath, Jin looked to his father. "So the message did make it to the Hokage."

"Message, what message?" Sakura asked. Had Tsunade left something out?

"Yes you see the group that we have been having trouble with, is made up of S-class missing-nin."

"The Akatsuki?" 'But we aren't ready to fight them right now; I need to get this information back to Tsunade now.' Sakura thought, her mind running away with her.

"No it's not the Akatsuki. We don't know what they are called, they are led be a mad man, all he cares about is gaining power. Not caring about who he has to kill, or how many village he had to destroy to get what he wants. I have held Jin off from fighting him and going after them this long, however I believe that he is right, they are going to soon find out that they where lied to and when they come back, they aren't going to spare anything, or anyone."

"What are they looking for?" Maybe if she knew what they where after she could plan something out, she wished that Kakashi was here. He was far better at planning these kinds of things.

The look that was shared between them said all that she needed to know. Whatever it was, it was something that shouldn't be in the hands of a mad man.

"Come I'll show you." Following him out of the room they where in, they walking down a hall to the end. He moved a hand over a panel; a soft red glow outlined a sill, a very strong one. 'Who are these people?' She thought to herself as she was being led into a dark tunnel, they where going under ground.

"They are looking for the Earth Scroll. Who ever can read from it, well gain the power to control fire, wind, water, earth and anything else that is in the earth. It isn't something that can be moved either."

"Why?" She asked, however her answer was in front of her. What they had walked into was a camber, that was made into a make shift bed room. On the bed lay a small boy, his skin covered in a soft red glow.

"He was the son of the last to care for the safety of the scroll; there is no one else who can take his place. The power of the scroll knows this and has kept him alive this long. We where worried that if we tried to move him that it would kill him.

"You have been caring for him, even in his pain." She walked up to him and the glowing red hue darkened a little. She looked back to two men to see if they knew why it would do such a thing. The look told her that they had not a clue.

Binding down she looked over the boy to saw what his problem was. "It's killing him. The Scroll feeds off Chakra, the stronger the Chakra, the stronger the power, it's like it is trying to find a strong chakra to consume."

She wasn't able to think more on the matter as large explosion went off.

Present Time

She was almost there; she hadn't made it this far to be stopped now. Her feet bare, and the cold ground cutting into her, she made her way seeing a frozen lake ahead of her.

'Don't have time to go around.' She thought not slowing down. Braking thought the trees she began to slide on the ice. Trying to gain her balance, she didn't hear them behind her, didn't hear the Shurikens or the Kunai flying to meet there mark.

A loud scream pierced the air as on hit her shoulder, losing her footing she fell to the ground. She didn't have time to pull it out, and just as she was about to get back up she was hit once again, this time in her leg.

'This can't be happening, I'm so close. I won't give up!' pushing her pain away she began to crawl along the frozen water.

A pull on her leg got her to look to see that there was a rope tied to the end of the kunai knife, they where trying to pull her back.

Grabbing at the knife lodged in her leg, she knew that she had to pull it out or they would have her. With all the strength she had left she pulled it out and slammed it in the ice. Turning around she began to make her way to the other side.

'Almost there, just a little bit further.' she began to lose vision; she knew that she was losing too much blood. 'Kakashi, where are you when I need you?' Was her last thought as she felt her body drift into cold, dark nothingness.

Ok that's it for part one! Let me know what you think!!