A/N: Again I'll remind you, this is going to be a fast paced story, and some of the things won't make sense, but things regarding the government (especially when I make a fic that isn't fantasy based-meaning no weird superpowers-or supernatural) don't often make sense for me. Think of the show The Unit...it's kinda like that, with the flashing to diff scenes all the time and never really making a lot of sense. (BTW, I 3 The Unit, so I wasn't dissing it, just so yaknow). I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
Chapter 1: Haruno
Sakura sighed as she sat at the table and matched receipts to pictures. Sasuke was trying to fight the prenup, as she knew he would. He was a greedy bastard who'd married her for her obvious wealth. She'd known this, but she had been in desperate need of a male role model for her sons. She sweat dropped as she realized she'd not done a very good job. However, as she put receipts to all the pictures, highlight what account they came from and when, she thought about the life she'd left behind when she'd walked out on her children's father.
She'd just found out she was pregnant with Sei when she'd disappeared the first time, telling him she had things to take care of back in the states. She'd taken eleven months off work, had her son, left him with her mother with a picture of herself and told her mother she'd be back in two months to check on her child. She'd done this for four years, until she found out she was pregnant again. By then, she couldn't take it anymore. She'd drawn up her resignation papers, contacted her boss, told him her situation, and had left without a trace.
Four years later, she'd been sitting in the kitchen of her mother's house when a newsflash had gone off. She was feeding four year old Rori and eight year old Sei had been throwing spaghetti at her head when she'd seen the images of a war torn middle eastern country, civilians being senselessly murdered, and the headline that four 'high U.S. officials' had gone missing. She'd gulped and gripped her cellphone. Seconds later, it had rang. She'd answered it emotionlessly, not willing to show how much it hurt her to see these things. She never showed it to anyone…except him.
That day had been the worst day of her life. These 'high ranking U.S. officials' had been her ex-partner, whom she'd loved like a little brother, her best friend at the time, and the father of her children. The fourth had been some politician she didn't know. She'd hung up the phone without another word and grabbed her coat. Her mother had shook her head sadly, but then smiled at the whimpering children and made faces at them, causing them to laugh.
Sakura had run the six miles into town, despite the rain, and to the nearest payphone she could find. She'd called in, told them she could help, and had been on a plane to D.C. the next morning. They'd handed over operations to her, and she'd managed to bring home three of the four missing people. The fourth…she felt tears burning her eyes even now and looked up. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away. She heard the screeching of brakes and smiled. She stood and walked to the front door and outside to the street, meeting her kids as they got off the school bus.
She gave Sei a high five, instead of hugging him in front of his friends, and picked Rori up, throwing him in the air. Both boys laughed, their emerald eyes filled with joy. But she could see the underlying worries, the sadness…the fear. She kissed Rori on the head and pulled him in close to her body. She pulled Sei under her shoulder and kissed him on top of his head. "Who wants to go see grandma tonight?" she asked. The instant joy on their faces made Sakura laugh. Seeing their grandmother always made them smile. Since Sakura had recently moved her mother closer to where she was, since the weather in Minnesota wasn't exactly good for the aging lady, and was glad she'd done it. She didn't know what she'd have done without her charismatic mother over the last few days of court battling with her soon to be ex-husband. She put her eight year old son on the ground and help his hand as they walked to the house.
As soon as they were in, she heard her answering machine beeping. Frowning, because everyone called her on her cellphone, she went to it and played it. She stiffened at the voice of her old boss. "Haruno, hope this message finds you well. I sent the boys' birthday presents, they should arrive within the week." she could hear the ecstatic chatter of her old partner in the background. However, it was squelched by her boss, who yelled at him to shut up. She shook her head and laughed. They'd known for a while where she was, and she didn't mind. They sometimes visited, but not often enough for the boys to remember them. However, she knew this wasn't a pleasure call. Kakashi only ever called her for one reason.
"Regardless, I have news for you. In one month, we are initiating a covert operation to retrieve Agent Sabaku from his current prison…we would like you to lead the operation. Call me back as soon as you get this." all the color drained from her face as she stared at the machine. They'd found him? Alive? Tears fell from her eyes as she processed this. Two small hands on her, one on her back and one on her leg, had her standing up straight and looking down into the faces of her worried sons.
"Momma, why are you crying? Was it Sas-gay again?" Sakura knew she should reprimand him for his language, but it was funny. However, she was still in shock. Her youngest, Rori, started to sniffle.
"M-mommy…why you cry mommy?" he asked in a small, pitiful voice. She knelt down gracefully and gathered her sons to her smiling while tears fell down her face.
"Mommy's happy, boys." she said and laughed, wiping the tears away, when Sei gave her a droll stare…so like his father's. She kissed his forehead and then Rori's. "That was mommy's old boss…you know, the one that used to send mommy on long trips?" Sei scrunched his forehead and looked at her. His eyes widened and he pointed at the picture at the end of the hall.
"OH! You mean the old guy with silver hair! Yeah, I remember him coming to my birthday party last year." his eyes darkened in anger. "He said something and made you cry. What does he want?" Sakura just laughed and held her sons close to her.
"Yes, the man with silver hair. And it wasn't so much him as the news he gave me. You see, the reason mommy is so sad, is because when you guys were really little, your daddy disappeared." She noticed the boys look at one another and then at her, as if wanting to hear more about their daddy. She smiled and kissed them both again. She wiped her tears away and pulled a small bundle from the drawer under the answering machine. She opened it to find a silver embossed photo album. She opened it and they saw a man with crimson hair, just like theirs. Rori squealed and touched the picture through the film. It was obviously taken with an old camera. It was the man with red hair and light green eyes and Sakura, who was smiling and waving at the camera.
In the next photo, there was a blonde man with the red head in a head lock, the red head looking thoroughly un-amused. Sakura was cheering in the background, her fist in the air. They were all wearing black fatigues and tight black shirts. Sakura's hair was shorter, barely chin length. She flipped to the next page and two more photos presented themselves. This one was of the red head, smirking, about to pile drive the blonde into a dune of sand. The blonde was no longer smiling, yet rather trying to get away. Sakura was laughing in the background. The next picture was of Sakura jumping on the red head's back and laughing as the red head smirked.
She turned again and there were two more pictures. This time, Sakura was shaking her fist at whoever was behind the camera, an obvious blush on her face. The red head was sitting up on a bed, smirking. The next picture was of the red head pressing his face against Sakura's, who was smiling happily, and seemed to have been taken at arms length. There was one last photo, as she flipped the page. It was a large group photo…kind of like the one at the end of the hall, but there were more people in it. She smiled sadly and touched it.
"This was my class right out of training. We were soldiers fighting to protect people like you and like grandma. Grandma didn't like it that I was in the military, but she knew that, like grandpa, it was something I felt I needed to do." she smiled as she reached down her shirt and pulled out her dog tags. Even after all these years, she still wore them…and the one she'd exchanged with Gaara.
She pointed at the tall silver haired guy, who was in the other photo. "That's Kakshi. He was our commanding officer, and later, our contact. He's the one that made sure mommy was safe each time she came home." the boys smiled and touched the picture where the guy was. She pointed to the guy right beside him, going from left to right. "That's Kakashi, of course, and then there's Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji on the end. This is Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Lee. Neji, Tenten, Sai, Naruto, me and…" she trailed off, tears coming to her eyes. She put her hand to her mouth and gave a sob. Her boys looked up at her, then back down at the picture. It was Sei that understood what happened.
"That's our dad…isn't it?" she nodded, tears falling from her eyes as she looked at the stoic red head she'd loved so much. She'd left him a note, telling him that she could no longer serve as a Black Ops with a clear conscience…not since that kid had gotten caught in the crossfire she had initiated with the terrorists they'd been fighting. She'd seen Sei in that kid's place and had almost had a break down. He'd told her he'd contact her when they got back and she'd told him, before she'd left, that she loved him. He smirked at her, told her she was being a girl, and she'd laughed. She'd known it would take a while for them to suppress the uprising…she'd waited, patiently. And then Kakashi had called, saying that Naruto, Shikamaru and Gaara had been captured by insurgents. She'd immediately gone back to find him, but she'd only managed to find Naruto and Shika. Gaara had not been with them. Her heart had died that day, four years ago, when she'd been unable to find him and bring him home. The only thing that had kept her going were her children.
Sakura smiled and hugged her boys to her, excitement coursing through her for the first time in four years. She smiled at them and ran her fingers over the photo. "Mr. Kakashi just called…they found daddy and they are going to bring him back." her excitement dimmed as she thought of leaving her babies behind. She looked at them with mixed feelings and Sei seemed to understand what was wrong.
"They need you to bring dad back…don't they?" he asked carefully and Sakura smiled sadly. She looked at her hands, which had not touched a weapon before the night she'd told Sasuke to get out. They were trembling.
"Yes. They need my help to bring Gaara back but…" she looked at her sons and both knew she didn't want to leave them. It was Rori that wrapped his little arms around her neck and looked up at her with the biggest, most innocent eyes she'd ever seen.
"Mommy…are you going to bring daddy home?" Sakura gasped and looked at Rori in shock. She looked over at Sei, who was smirking now…so much like his father. Sakura let out a sob and hugged her boys close to her. She made up her mind then and there…she was bringing her children's father home to them.