Disclaimer: I don't own the anime or Naruto/Naruto Shippuden characters written about in this chapter, if I did... Well you will just have to wonder about that~
Chapter 2
Kakashi returned that night to report to Lady Tsunade, concluding his A- rank mission. He found her sobbing at her desk with sake bottles fallen or shattered around her. He learned of what happened to his former students from Shizune since Lady Tsunade couldn't stop sobbing or hiccupping long enough for him to understand what she was saying.
Kakashi was devastated that he wasn't there to stop them and that Sakura had been the one to find them. He could only feel sorry for what she had to witness and understood the pain she must have felt and is going through. She ultimately watched the two most important people in her life die, in a fight that ended up killing each other.
He asked where Sakura was and was told that she went to her apartment after reporting to Lady Tsunade with Naruto's corpse in her arms and her friends trailing behind her with Sasuke's corpse, like a morbid parade, that before she left she had asked to be left alone. He stood in front of her apartment, his hand raised to knock on the green, paint chipped door, but he couldn't find the will to do it.
Instead he went home to his apartment and collapsed on the couch, not bother to change from the clothes he wore on his mission or wash away the grime that had accumulated on his skin. A lone tear fell from his uncovered onyx eye as he drifted into an unrestful sleep.
The next day Naruto and Sasuke's funerals were held and Kakashi didn't see Sakura there. Lady Tsunade was sober and speaking to all of the villagers that had gathered for the service. It was surprising yet Kakashi somewhat expected this because Naruto hadn't just affected the ninja of the Leaf Village but also the normal civilians.
Naruto was no longer the demon of the Leaf or a monster to be avoided, he had protected them, saved them numerous times and he had become their hero. Lady Tsunade decided that since Naruto was unable to achieve his dream while he was alive, he would forever be memorialized on Hokage Mountain alongside the other Hokages that he had strived to surpass. His strength had surpassed them and had he lived for a few more years, Lady Tsunade would have stepped down from her role and given it to Naruto.
Kakashi asked Ino and Kiba but Shino answered. "We haven't seen her but take a look at Naruto's and Sasuke's graves." There on the stone plaques were branches of pale pink cherry blossoms, those that were the same color as Sakura's hair.
Somehow Sakura had placed the branches there without anyone noticing her presence. It sent a small feeling of pride through Kakashi to know that Sakura have progressed so far in stealth and masking her chakra, but it also made him worry, she hadn't wanted to see anyone and interact with her friends or former teachers. Nor had she wanted anyone to see her.
She was obviously suffering greatly at the loss of her former teammates. That thought only made Kakashi feel guiltier for not being there for her and her having been the one to find them, undeservingly suffering with that burden.
After the funeral was over Kakashi went to Sakura's apartment once more. He knocked on the door lightly, calling out her name softly. "Sakura? Sakura, are you home? I didn't see you at the funeral but I saw the cherry blossoms, they were very beautiful… Everyone is worried about you…" He was at a loss of what to say and spoke what was obvious to him.
He rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for an answer, an order to leave, anything… But it never came. Sighing, he reached out and grabbed the doorknob, planning to try and open it. To his surprise it opened all on its own, the door had been unlocked.
He poked his head in and looked around. "Sakura?" His unease grew as his worry became more apparent. He hesitantly went inside as again there was no reply. He searched her apartment but found no signs of Sakura's presence. Leaving the apartment in a hurry, he went to Lady Tsunade to inform her that Sakura was missing.
Lady Tsunade summoned all of the ninja teams to her office and ordered them to search the village for Sakura. Everyone searched for hours upon hours, turning into days, but everyone returned to her office with the same news, they couldn't find her. There wasn't a trace that could have led them to her or given them any idea to where she had gone or been taken to.
Kakashi didn't listen; he stormed out of Lady Tsunade's office and ordered them to search the village for Sakura. He would find her and he didn't care how long it took him, he wouldn't give up on her. He wasn't about to lose another person he cared for.
He searched for days, weeks, never stopping, not eating or sleeping. He was running himself rampant, fueled on guilt and desperation. Thoughts that kept running through his mind were, 'I should have been there for her. I should have gone and seen her that night. I should have stopped her from leaving or helped her.'
Kakashi prayed to whatever gods that would listen that the kunoichi had left and nothing bad had happened to her. Lady Tsunade finally ordered him to stop searching for Sakura. It broke her heart to see him this way and even more because she wished that she could have been right alongside him searching for Sakura, but the man was tearing himself apart.
She couldn't allow it to continue. Kakashi hated her for that and she knew it even if he didn't tell her. When she sent him on missions she could see how much he loathed her in his eyes.
