Accepting Changes

Chapter One

"Tsunade-sama, we were ambushed," Sakura explained as she busted through the door to the Hokage's office. It took them a day to get back to the village, they were all exhausted but someone had to report their mission progress. She volunteered herself. "The mission was a trap."

Tsunade's eyes widened, "Is everyone okay?" Sakura was given time to take in her surroundings and noticed a few extra people in the room: Shizune was walking back and forth throughout the room gathering random papers, Kakashi was just standing there looking confused and rather angry, and two other people she couldn't recognize.

The first was a black haired girl, sitting down to the side as if she was waiting for something; she had a green sleeveless form fitting turtle-neck shirt. She wore a black mini skirt and sandal-boots, and a pair black gloves that extended up her arm, stopping just short half way up her biceps.

The other was standing in front the Hokage's desk, he was turned away from her. He wore a white sleeveless jacket, a blood red long sleeve shirt could be seen underneath it but the right sleeve was missing. That shirt was tucked into a pair of black baggy pants that hung loosely around his waist and fell over his sandals; his black fingerless glove covered hands hung at his sides. His short white hair fell down his head, the end of it being covered by the collar of his jacket.

"You!" Sakura yelled and pointed at the unknown white haired man. He turned around and she was sure it was the same white haired man that saved her teammate. A million questions ran through her head as she saw the recognition in his eyes, he remembered her, and secretly, she was happy. She shook her head and everybody just looked at her, but she ignored it until Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Sakura, I asked if everyone was okay," Tsunade repeated, feeling some of the extra tension building up in the room. Sakura dropped her hand.

"They're fine, Naruto was ambushed and injured and I healed him mostly, then he ended up saving us. He set off a trap that killed most of the enemy ninja and almost got himself killed until someone jumped in and caught him," she explained, her eyes never leaving the mysterious man.

"I see, well since it seems like you two already know each other, I don't need to do any intro--"

"Actually, I never got his name," Tsunade was interrupted, you could see the confusion on her face.

"Alright then, Sakura Haruno, this is Kenji Okaida, your new teammate," the Hokage didn't wait for her student to respond, "Sai left."

Sakura's eyes widened, that was like a weight dropped on her shoulders. Another teammate left her, and she couldn't do anything about it, again. She was stunned and went numb. She mumbled an inaudible 'okay' and left the room. She kept walking, she didn't know where her feet were taking her. She didn't notice anyone she walked by, she was in her own world. She found a door, opened it and stepped through; being hit by the air of mid-day, she stepped by all the pedestrians as she walked to the Ramen Shop. As she stepped in, she noticed Naruto and took a seat next to him.

Naruto was stuffing his face with ramen, not even noticing Sakura until a bowl was sat down next to him. "Hey, Sakura," he yelled, practically spitting food at her, in his usual joyful way. She just sat there, stirring her soup with a far away look on her face. Naruto's face instantly dropped serious, "What's wrong?"

"Sai left," she muttered, and after that she let go of everything, "first Sasuke, now Sai, it's because I'm weak isn't it," she spat bitterly. "I don't get it, I try to get stronger everyday but I just end up pushing people away, making them leave the village. What's next, you, Kakashi, hell, Tsunade, and she's the Hokage. I just don't get it, you know? And just like that, he was replaced; by the guy that saved you nonetheless, I'm just lost, and confused and, and I hate it. But, at the same time, I have to accept it because I can't fight it or get away from it."

"That sucks," he commented, swallowing the food in his mouth, "I get what you're thinking, but it's not your fault. Sai left on his own accord, not because of anyone but himself. It can't be your fault if you did nothing wrong."

"Really, and how would you know that? You weren't exactly here when he left," she muttered defensively, she kept her face down. She knew Naruto didn't deserve her anger, no one did, but she had to vent on someone and she knew he would understand. They had enough of these conversations for him to get used to her nerves and emotions.

"If I remember, you weren't there when he left either. And like I told you before, I get what you're thinking. I used to think like that all the time. I thought would push people away and whatever but I realized, people can be cruel and you need thick skin to handle it. So you just got to relax and handle it. Besides, your anger's not going to bring Sai, or even Sasuke, back."

"Thanks," the sarcasm practically leaked from her lips. But there was a smile there as she got up and left, leaving her bowl of untouched soup on the ledge.

Naruto just grinned and grabbed her bowl, then scowled when he realized something, "Sakura, you left me with your bill again!"

Her smile grew as she jogged away. Back to the Hokage's office.

"What was that all about?" Kenji asked as he looked around.

"That's really not important at the moment," Kakashi commented, "So your nineteen. What's your specialty?"

"Chakra control," Kenji answered almost automatically, "my kekei genkai allows me to control anything weak-willed that I put my chakra into."

"Impressive, any signature moves?" he continued his questions, "I mean, I have to know my teammates specialties and limitations." he commented with little annoyance.

"Actually I do have one, a move I created sometime ago. I call it the Chakra Discharge. It's like using chakra induced strength with no contact, forcing the chakra out of my fist," Kakashi was answered swiftly, Kenji wasn't completely affected by the interrogation, "and, it's alright, I keep up to date with my knowledge, so I know all the information I need about the team I'm on."

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched in amusement as he continued to grill him with questions. And every question asked, Kenji answered easily; the cycle kept going on until Sakura walked through the open door, then all went silent. She walked up to Kenji and offered him a hand, apologizing for the way she acted before. He effortlessly took it. "Sorry again," she told him. Kakashi asked if she had a talk with Naruto, "Yeah." And everything was back to normal, all the awkwardness and tension was gone, for most. The newest teammate felt a little out of place and thought something was wrong but couldn't put his finger on it; that is, until Sakura left.

"Is there still something wrong with Sakura?" the question left his mouth before he could even process it. Everyone in the room just looked at him, except for the girl still sitting in the chair. She hadn't said anything since she sat down and honestly, Kenji forgot she was there.

"No, why?" Tsunade asked, clueless to what the white haired man could be talking about.

"Nothing," he responded, confused about the entire encounter the had with the mysterious and extremely baffling girl. Then he left the office in search of her, he had questions and he wanted answers.

He found her in a clearing but, when he called her name, she didn't answer. He walked up and sat down next to her, leaning against a tree. She had her eyes closed and, to his knowledge, she didn't know he was there; so, he just stared at her, taking in her appearance. His eyes, to his vision, scanned her entire body. He was so lost in thought about this perplexing women, he didn't notice her open her eyes and scream as she crawled back. "What are you doing here, how did you find this place."

"I was looking for you, I have some questions to ask you," he said dully, as he just took in regard that she moved at all.

"What if I don't have, or don't want to give you, the answers you want?" she replied innocently, but he knew she was toying with him and he wouldn't have anymore of it.

"You faked your entire personality when you came back to her office, why?" he ignored her question.

"What makes you think that? I mean, you've only known me for what, a day and a half and you already think you know me well enough to know that I'm lying about something. It doesn't really make sense that you would think that," the innocent look on her face never left and he would have believed her if it hadn't been for the gut feeling he had, and the fact that she answered him almost mockingly.

"I don't know, truthfully, you're a good actress. But something about you seemed off; now can you answer my question?" that last part was more like a demand then a question. He was getting tired of her act. And from the look on her face, which was slowly losing it's innocence, she was getting annoyed with his persistent questions.

"Fine," her face dropped and she scowled, "the truth is, I don't trust you." It came out harsher than intended but she didn't care, she just wanted him to leave.

"Ouch," he faked being hurt, "I wouldn't expect you to trust me, you just met me. But I think that you should've started trusting me ever since I saved Naruto."

"Like saving someone allows you trust them," she said sarcastically, "that only works with normal people, not ninjas."

"Ninja aren't normal people," he sounded offended, "you really need to get your priorities straight." He was definitely getting annoyed, they both knew that. But she was do a fine of avoiding each of his questions. She would make an interrogator tear their hair out. Then out of nowhere, she got up and began to walk away, "Hey, where are you going?"

She stopped and turned back, "This conversation is going nowhere, you're not going to get any more answers from me, and truthfully, I'm getting bored." And with that, she left. Kenji wasn't confused anymore. He knew she was just plain mean, or she was hiding something and being a very good ninja about it. He was pretty sure it was the latter, so he just had to figure out what she was hiding. And he would, because, she was a mystery he was getting used to being around.

A/N: Well, there's chapter 1 enjoy