Title: Sakura's Home
Author: Winter Ashby (rosweldrmr)
Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I don't own anything about Naruto, this is just for fun and if I did own Naruto I wouldn't have to right this, because I would have a team of very talented people turning this into a saga right now...
Rating: K+
Warning: this not only has spoilers until Manga 270ish, but it's kind of required for you to know what's going on. I use a lot of the Gaara mission, just made it AUish.
Summary: Sakura was kicked out of Konoha five years ago but now has been asked to return… She will meet old friends and be faced with the consequences of her actions. Future AU Sakura centric. No pairings, and you need to be up to date in the manga and series.
Authors Notes: In response to all my reviewers, thank you so much. I'm so happy to see that people are taking an interest in this. If anyone is wondering how long this little fic is going to be, I'm estimating around 23 chapters right now. (Because that my favorite number!) I think that about covers everything so far. This chapter focuses a little on Kakashi's back-story. You definitely should know all this by now, cause if not, you're totally gonna get lost later on. The manga is part of my canon. Okay, I'm done - begin... NOW!

Chapter 4 – History

"What do you mean, 'say my goodbyes'!?" she stood, careful not to jar the unconscious man and tenderly releasing his hand. "We can't just let him die! All we have to do is remove the Sharingan. He can't handle the effects of it." She was angry now, and the pure rage that shot through her veins was like acid. It was painful and satisfying. Here was the reaction her inner self craved so desperately.

"Are you aware of how he received that sharingan?" he asked her calming, completely ignoring her pain and anger. Her silence was misconstrued as ignorance, so he continued. "In my many missions with Hatake Kakashi-san I have learned many things about his past. That sharingan of his was the dying gift of an Uchiha who was a member of his team. On more than one occasion, I've heard him make references to Obito being much like Naruto-kun."

Sakura looked up at him, not sure where this story was going, but it was slowly curbing her anger before she lost control.

"It was on his first mission as a jounin that he lost his eye. The last member of his team, during the Third Great Ninja Wars, was a girl – Rin." He looked down at her, with poignant concentration. It wasn't until that moment that she saw the strain in his eyes and heard the slight, almost non-existent quiver in his voice. In fact, if she hadn't been straining to hear it at that moment, she was sure she would have missed it. He respected Kakashi, so she nodded and listening, realizing that this history lesson must be relevant.

"He has also mentioned to me before, in the years you've been exiled, that you reminded him of her. She was also a medical shinobi." He looked away then, preparing to tell her the difficult part. She always knew that Kakashi was a sad man. He had regret seeping from his pores. But she'd never heard the whole story. But apparently, in her absence, Shino got to know him quite well.

"She was taken leaving Obito and Kakashi to decide what to do. His father's legacy weighed heavy on him, but in the end – he choose to abandon the mission to save his teammate." No wonder Kakashi was so sad. Not only had he lived through the shame of his father, of which she was familiar, and the Ninja Wars, he also endured constant reminders of everything he lost. But it was the startling similarities between her childhood and his that struck her as ironically depressing.

"Obito was killed. But before he died, he passed on his kekkei genkai to Kakashi. It was Rin who preformed the transplantation. That sharingan is was what gave him the ability to perform his only original jutsu. You see, that sharingan may not have been his from birth but it is rightfully his. And just before he slipped into his own genjutsu tsukiyomi, he made me promise that he would be buried with that sharingan."

She remembered his quiet mourning in the wake of the third's passing but it wasn't until now that she really understood. He lost his sensei, the Fourth, and all the members of his team. The quiet pain that she'd always tried to ignore sweeping off him in the past came crashing down on her with an infinite connection.

She shook her head, even with all the new information; she wasn't just going to give up on him. "But he doesn't have to die!" she moved past him, gracefully and pulled the door open with a loud thud. The morning sun on her face in the hall gave her chills.

She felt four pairs of eyes on her, ready to pounce at any moment. Ino's face greeted her with a sad kind of resentment. "You knew didn't you, you knew and you were just going to let him die. You all knew why I was called here, I can save him. What good is all this damn chakra now? Sasuke's dead! At least let me save what's left of my team, he doesn't need to die. Not like this, not alone, lost and in pain." She looked from one pair of indifferent eyes to the next. Each person seemed less willing to meet her gaze than the first.

"You know I'm right!" she marched over and stood right in front of Lee. "Please, just let me save him!" she looked deep into his eyes and was surprised to find anger hidden in his rounded edges.

He took a step closer and noted how small she felt being so close to someone with that much raw power. Even without any chakra, she could feel his power emanating off him in angry waves. "Say your farewell and leave this village, Sakura. You've caused enough trouble." Then, with only a second of moving air was she aware that he'd left. She turned, mouth hanging open for some kind of sympathy from her old friends.

Finding none, she fortified her emotions, chastising herself for showing any sentiment. That wasn't who she was anymore. She was hard, cold, and emotionless – like all great shinobi. Finding no solace in the company, she sprang off toward the Hokage's head quarters. She didn't make more that three seconds before Shino was right along side her.

"You are no longer a member of this village, Sakura. You can't just go wherever you please." She could feel his restless bugs begin to stir so she stopped on a rooftop that overlooked the mountains in the distance. Tsunade-sama's face was beginning to look more natural, proper. It was hard to get used to at first, because she'd grown up with four faces, and now there were five. But imagining the powerful faces carved into the cliff for so many years in her mind made it seem like maybe there had always been five sets of stone eyes keeping watch over Konoha.

"Why did Pakkun track me down if all you wanted me to do was sit around and watch him die!?" she accused him angrily, at this point she was ready for a fight. "You could have just notified me after he passed, so I wouldn't have had to go through this!"

"I had no knowledge of your summoning, and if I was involved in the decision process, I would not have invited you back into this village." Shino stated plainly with all the contempt he still held for her. Even though it had been five years, she knew that such wounds that she'd made couldn't be healed. She would never be forgiven for what she took, and she didn't want to be. That face still haunted her in her nightmares and made her train even harder so that something like that would never happen again.

"Then who called me here!?" she asked from her perched position on the middle of the steep rooftop.

"I did." She turned to see a very familiar orange jacket and blazing yellow hair.

Acknowledgements:

So-kun - you make me more motivated to write!

To Cesia and Chi: thank you for taking an interest, and I've finally taken your advice and gotten ride of the Japanese.

To WolfRainSS: I know, I know - but bear with the mystery for a while. You won't find out what happened until around chapter 13ish. Sorry! Also, in response to pairings. There will be none. I just wanted this be like Sakura's epic tale. It's like Cesia and Chi said, there are a lot of these kinds of fics for Naruto and Sasuke. Well I thought it was about time for the chicks to get kick butt and angsty, cause you know... girls equal angst!

To DeliciousAmbiguity: I'm glad you're getting so into it. It's so nice to see that people like my plot development. Yay for you! Enjoy more... shovels more fic in your general direction.