Disclaimer: I own nothing but a slide rule and a calculus textbook...
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I always appreciate comments, and I'll try to improve my writing as per your suggestions.
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Chapter 2: Kakashi's Role
It was slightly past three o'clock in the morning when Kakashi gave up all hope of falling asleep. Swearing under his breath, Kakashi frustratedly pushed himself out of bed and began to pace his bedroom floor. Hands clasped behind his back, his usually calm exterior was shattered, and in the dark his handsome features were arranged in an expression reflective of the inner turmoil of his thoughts. His mind a whirling mess of information and speculation, he attempted to objectively evaluate the happenings of the previous day.
Kakashi had woken up in a place different from where he had fallen asleep, without any evidence of struggle or having been drugged. After years of obvious infatuation, Haruno Sakura had effectively dismissed Uchiha Sasuke as unimportant to the boy's face, and passed up an easy opportunity to be alone with him. An expensive necklace had been lost, and his team had located it quickly in a place that had been previously searched many times. Somewhere in the far recesses of his mind, an idea sprung to life - but was smothered before it could rise to the level of conscious thought. Kakashi sighed. There had to be a connection somewhere. His train of thought having hit an unsurmountable barrier, he decided to calm himself by taking a walk through the crisp, cool night air.
Hastily throwing on his usual ninja garb, Kakashi wandered through the streets, alert but paying little heed to his surroundings. Suddenly a strange sensation came over him, and out of the corner of his one revealed eye he noted an irregularly shaped shadow moving swiftly across a picket fence. Narrowing his eyes, he lifted his forehead protector to uncover the Sharingan, but not in time to catch the mysterious shadow before it disappeared. It was only then that he noticed where he was. Kakashi's nocturnal stroll had led him to stop outside the Haruno household.
"Hmm...Isn't that coincidence." he said aloud to himself, eyebrows raised. Then he heard it - muffled sobbing noises coming from an open window. The light was on inside the room.
The Sharingan still revealed, he walked up the front path and quietly onto the lawn to stop beneath the window. Hesitantly, he whispered "Sakura?"
After a moment's pause, he saw a flash of pink, then Sakura's face looking down at him through the window. "Kakashi-sensei?" she said slowly, sniffing. "Come...in..."
Kakashi looked around to no avail for something to climb. He shrugged. Sakura had moved away from the window, so in a flash he jumped through the window to land in her bedroom. Then he took a closer look at his student.
Sakura sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest and breathing unevenly. Her normally smooth pink hair was uncombed, matted and wet from her tears. Her green eyes, fixed upon a spot on the ground in front of her, gave away that she had been crying. Except for an occasional unrepressable sob, she was completely still. Kakashi felt a surge of anger flow through him.
"Sakura. What happened here." he said through clenched teeth, a dangerous edge to his tone. His hand hovered by his side, ready to extract his kunai from its hiding place.
He watched as she attempted to regain her composure, and slowly shook her head. "Nothing happened..." she gasped, her breathing ragged. "I just..there was a voice."
And at that, tears quietly began flowing freely down her face.
Kakashi sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around Sakura protectively. She sobbed into his vest, as he sat motionless, waiting patiently for her to finish, but impatient for an explanation. Gradually he heard her breathing return to normal. She slowly pushed herself away from him.
Kakashi moved back, and said gently, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Her gaze once again fixed on her bedroom floor, she said hesitantly, "I had a dream...twice...I'm in a dark room. I can't get out, and I can sense that there's no one with me. But then, this voice..." Here she drifted off.
"Yes?" prodded Kakashi.
"The voice..." she continued, with some effort. "It's not a threatening voice - it's insistent, but not dangerous. And...it sounds almost...sad..."
Silence settled upon the two of them. Kakashi finally broke the silence with a question "What does the voice say, Sakura?"
Sakura turned to look directly into Kakashi's eyes. Even the Sharingan widened under the strength of her gaze as she said, "It tells me that it will happen soon."
There was an awkward pause as Kakashi took a moment to process what he had just been told. What will happen soon? Was it only a bad dream? His Sharingan had seen nothing strange about her, but considering the strange events of late... One look at Sakura's huddled up, miserable figure decided the answer. Kakashi stood up and closed the window. Closing his eyes briefly, he slid the forehead protector back to its usual position before turning back to face Sakura. She was staring in his direction, but she seemed to be looking through him.
"Sakura."
Sakura started, then focused her gaze on Kakashi. He noted that her tears had dried, and she looked up at him expectantly.
"Tomorrow morning, you and I are going to take a trip to speak to some people, and look through the Konoha archives." he said, uncomfortably aware of the pressure he was under to say something reassuring. He coughed. "Sakura..."
Sakura heaved a sigh and began "Don't worry about me, sensei, I'll be fine ---"
Kakashi cut her off. "We're going to get to the bottom of this."
Sakura blinked rapidly, then gave Kakashi a small smile. He heartened at that sight, and forcing himself to speak in a confident tone, added "We have a long day ahead of us. I'll stay right here until you fall asleep, okay?"
She nodded. Somehow she knew that with Kakashi there, the voice would not come. She felt safe.
Kakashi watched his student fall into a peaceful slumber, and was half way out the window when Sakura suddenly cried out in her sleep. He sighed to himself, climbed back into her room and sat down on her floor. He pulled out his trusty book and settled comfortably into reading. It was almost daybreak anyways.
The morning found Naruto and Sasuke walking side by side towards Sakura's house. Sasuke wore a sullen expression on his face, walking briskly with smooth, measured strides. Naruto was bouncing up and down, speculating out loud about possible reasons for the sudden change of meeting venue.
"Why didn't Kakashi-sensei tell us himself that the meeting place changed?" he wondered.
Sasuke ignored him.
"Why did he send Pakkun instead of telling us himself?" insisted Naruto.
Sasuke heaved a sigh.
"Why did the dog call me a stupid fox?" he pouted.
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Why are we going to Sakura-chan's house?"
Sasuke quickened his pace, but Naruto matched his step.
"Why wasn't Sakura-chan at the meeting place?"
Sasuke stopped, and glared at Naruto. Naruto froze.
"Maybe because she's at her house, dobe." Sasuke said, biting off every word.
They walked in silence for a minute. And only a minute.
"Why is Sakura-chan still at home?"
By the time they arrived at their destination, Sasuke was seething. Sakura'd better have an amazing explanation for this, he thought to himself grimly. What had that silly girl gotten herself into this time? While she wasn't anywhere near as annoying as she used to be, having to save her all the time was kind of getting on his nerves.
Naruto got to the door first, bounding up the steps and ringing the doorbell with unnecessary enthusiasm. When the door opened slowly, Naruto cheerfully began "Ohayo, Saku--"
Standing in the doorway was Kakashi, his droopy eye was even more sleepy looking than usual.
The boys were both taken aback by the unexpected appearance of their sensei. "Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto. "What are you doing in Sakura-chan's house?"
Sasuke shot Naruto an ice glare, but was secretly wondering the same thing. Instead, he asked quietly "What happened to Sakura?"
Kakashi wasn't surprised that Sasuke had arrived at that conclusion. He had a shrewd mind, that one. Kakashi opened his mouth to tell them about the situation when a sudden thought held him back. Their presence wouldn't be required for what he planned to accomplish that day. Besides, there was no way to explain in words what Sakura was experiencing, especially since he wasn't completely sure himself.
As such, Kakashi merely summoned up his usual nonchalant demeanor and said "Hnn...What? Nothing happened to Sakura. She's just not feeling so well, that's all, so I was checking up on her."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow skeptically, but said nothing. Naruto accepted Kakashi's explanation without a second thought.
"Hey, hey, is Sakura-chan okay?" he asked, worriedly.
Kakashi laughed. "Of course she is. She'll be fine tomorrow." Naruto grinned happily.
Kakashi continued, "Our usual routine will resume tomorrow, but for today I've arranged for the two of you could train with Gai-sensei's team. They should be at academy training grounds."
If Sasuke's eyebrow could go any higher, it would have.
Naruto went bug-eyed. "Whaaaaaat??" he yelled. "Whyyyyyyy???"
Sasuke shot one final look at Kakashi, who returned his student's scruntinizing gaze with a bemused, calm stare that betrayed nothing of his inner thoughts. Then Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him off, still complaining, in the direction of the academy.
Kakashi watched them go. Convinced that they were following his instructions, Kakashi then turned to go back into the house. Time to think of a way to explain his presence to Sakura's parents.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I always appreciate comments, and I'll try to improve my writing as per your suggestions.
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Chapter 2: Kakashi's Role
It was slightly past three o'clock in the morning when Kakashi gave up all hope of falling asleep. Swearing under his breath, Kakashi frustratedly pushed himself out of bed and began to pace his bedroom floor. Hands clasped behind his back, his usually calm exterior was shattered, and in the dark his handsome features were arranged in an expression reflective of the inner turmoil of his thoughts. His mind a whirling mess of information and speculation, he attempted to objectively evaluate the happenings of the previous day.
Kakashi had woken up in a place different from where he had fallen asleep, without any evidence of struggle or having been drugged. After years of obvious infatuation, Haruno Sakura had effectively dismissed Uchiha Sasuke as unimportant to the boy's face, and passed up an easy opportunity to be alone with him. An expensive necklace had been lost, and his team had located it quickly in a place that had been previously searched many times. Somewhere in the far recesses of his mind, an idea sprung to life - but was smothered before it could rise to the level of conscious thought. Kakashi sighed. There had to be a connection somewhere. His train of thought having hit an unsurmountable barrier, he decided to calm himself by taking a walk through the crisp, cool night air.
Hastily throwing on his usual ninja garb, Kakashi wandered through the streets, alert but paying little heed to his surroundings. Suddenly a strange sensation came over him, and out of the corner of his one revealed eye he noted an irregularly shaped shadow moving swiftly across a picket fence. Narrowing his eyes, he lifted his forehead protector to uncover the Sharingan, but not in time to catch the mysterious shadow before it disappeared. It was only then that he noticed where he was. Kakashi's nocturnal stroll had led him to stop outside the Haruno household.
"Hmm...Isn't that coincidence." he said aloud to himself, eyebrows raised. Then he heard it - muffled sobbing noises coming from an open window. The light was on inside the room.
The Sharingan still revealed, he walked up the front path and quietly onto the lawn to stop beneath the window. Hesitantly, he whispered "Sakura?"
After a moment's pause, he saw a flash of pink, then Sakura's face looking down at him through the window. "Kakashi-sensei?" she said slowly, sniffing. "Come...in..."
Kakashi looked around to no avail for something to climb. He shrugged. Sakura had moved away from the window, so in a flash he jumped through the window to land in her bedroom. Then he took a closer look at his student.
Sakura sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest and breathing unevenly. Her normally smooth pink hair was uncombed, matted and wet from her tears. Her green eyes, fixed upon a spot on the ground in front of her, gave away that she had been crying. Except for an occasional unrepressable sob, she was completely still. Kakashi felt a surge of anger flow through him.
"Sakura. What happened here." he said through clenched teeth, a dangerous edge to his tone. His hand hovered by his side, ready to extract his kunai from its hiding place.
He watched as she attempted to regain her composure, and slowly shook her head. "Nothing happened..." she gasped, her breathing ragged. "I just..there was a voice."
And at that, tears quietly began flowing freely down her face.
Kakashi sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around Sakura protectively. She sobbed into his vest, as he sat motionless, waiting patiently for her to finish, but impatient for an explanation. Gradually he heard her breathing return to normal. She slowly pushed herself away from him.
Kakashi moved back, and said gently, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Her gaze once again fixed on her bedroom floor, she said hesitantly, "I had a dream...twice...I'm in a dark room. I can't get out, and I can sense that there's no one with me. But then, this voice..." Here she drifted off.
"Yes?" prodded Kakashi.
"The voice..." she continued, with some effort. "It's not a threatening voice - it's insistent, but not dangerous. And...it sounds almost...sad..."
Silence settled upon the two of them. Kakashi finally broke the silence with a question "What does the voice say, Sakura?"
Sakura turned to look directly into Kakashi's eyes. Even the Sharingan widened under the strength of her gaze as she said, "It tells me that it will happen soon."
There was an awkward pause as Kakashi took a moment to process what he had just been told. What will happen soon? Was it only a bad dream? His Sharingan had seen nothing strange about her, but considering the strange events of late... One look at Sakura's huddled up, miserable figure decided the answer. Kakashi stood up and closed the window. Closing his eyes briefly, he slid the forehead protector back to its usual position before turning back to face Sakura. She was staring in his direction, but she seemed to be looking through him.
"Sakura."
Sakura started, then focused her gaze on Kakashi. He noted that her tears had dried, and she looked up at him expectantly.
"Tomorrow morning, you and I are going to take a trip to speak to some people, and look through the Konoha archives." he said, uncomfortably aware of the pressure he was under to say something reassuring. He coughed. "Sakura..."
Sakura heaved a sigh and began "Don't worry about me, sensei, I'll be fine ---"
Kakashi cut her off. "We're going to get to the bottom of this."
Sakura blinked rapidly, then gave Kakashi a small smile. He heartened at that sight, and forcing himself to speak in a confident tone, added "We have a long day ahead of us. I'll stay right here until you fall asleep, okay?"
She nodded. Somehow she knew that with Kakashi there, the voice would not come. She felt safe.
Kakashi watched his student fall into a peaceful slumber, and was half way out the window when Sakura suddenly cried out in her sleep. He sighed to himself, climbed back into her room and sat down on her floor. He pulled out his trusty book and settled comfortably into reading. It was almost daybreak anyways.
The morning found Naruto and Sasuke walking side by side towards Sakura's house. Sasuke wore a sullen expression on his face, walking briskly with smooth, measured strides. Naruto was bouncing up and down, speculating out loud about possible reasons for the sudden change of meeting venue.
"Why didn't Kakashi-sensei tell us himself that the meeting place changed?" he wondered.
Sasuke ignored him.
"Why did he send Pakkun instead of telling us himself?" insisted Naruto.
Sasuke heaved a sigh.
"Why did the dog call me a stupid fox?" he pouted.
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Why are we going to Sakura-chan's house?"
Sasuke quickened his pace, but Naruto matched his step.
"Why wasn't Sakura-chan at the meeting place?"
Sasuke stopped, and glared at Naruto. Naruto froze.
"Maybe because she's at her house, dobe." Sasuke said, biting off every word.
They walked in silence for a minute. And only a minute.
"Why is Sakura-chan still at home?"
By the time they arrived at their destination, Sasuke was seething. Sakura'd better have an amazing explanation for this, he thought to himself grimly. What had that silly girl gotten herself into this time? While she wasn't anywhere near as annoying as she used to be, having to save her all the time was kind of getting on his nerves.
Naruto got to the door first, bounding up the steps and ringing the doorbell with unnecessary enthusiasm. When the door opened slowly, Naruto cheerfully began "Ohayo, Saku--"
Standing in the doorway was Kakashi, his droopy eye was even more sleepy looking than usual.
The boys were both taken aback by the unexpected appearance of their sensei. "Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto. "What are you doing in Sakura-chan's house?"
Sasuke shot Naruto an ice glare, but was secretly wondering the same thing. Instead, he asked quietly "What happened to Sakura?"
Kakashi wasn't surprised that Sasuke had arrived at that conclusion. He had a shrewd mind, that one. Kakashi opened his mouth to tell them about the situation when a sudden thought held him back. Their presence wouldn't be required for what he planned to accomplish that day. Besides, there was no way to explain in words what Sakura was experiencing, especially since he wasn't completely sure himself.
As such, Kakashi merely summoned up his usual nonchalant demeanor and said "Hnn...What? Nothing happened to Sakura. She's just not feeling so well, that's all, so I was checking up on her."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow skeptically, but said nothing. Naruto accepted Kakashi's explanation without a second thought.
"Hey, hey, is Sakura-chan okay?" he asked, worriedly.
Kakashi laughed. "Of course she is. She'll be fine tomorrow." Naruto grinned happily.
Kakashi continued, "Our usual routine will resume tomorrow, but for today I've arranged for the two of you could train with Gai-sensei's team. They should be at academy training grounds."
If Sasuke's eyebrow could go any higher, it would have.
Naruto went bug-eyed. "Whaaaaaat??" he yelled. "Whyyyyyyy???"
Sasuke shot one final look at Kakashi, who returned his student's scruntinizing gaze with a bemused, calm stare that betrayed nothing of his inner thoughts. Then Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him off, still complaining, in the direction of the academy.
Kakashi watched them go. Convinced that they were following his instructions, Kakashi then turned to go back into the house. Time to think of a way to explain his presence to Sakura's parents.