I really hope you enjoy this! Be nice okay? First time writing a story on Fanfic!
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Sakura ducked as the kunai whizzed through her hair, cutting some of the pale pink strands. What was supposed to be on a Rank C mission that had quickly escalated in level when they had been ambushed by some unknown ninja. It confused Sakura as to why they were being attacked though.
She let out a grunt as she blocked a particularly hard hit from the ninja attacking her. Naruto and Sasuke were behind her, also in combat. Her brow furrowed when she didn't sense Kakashi's chakra in the open valley they had been passing through. She grabbed the ninja's hair in a firm grip and pulled his head down and brought her knee up into the ninja's face with the satisfying sound of bones crunching before scanning the area quickly. There were only two ninjas left out of the twenty of them that had come practically out of nowhere. And speaking of nowhere, where was Kakashi?
She sucked in a breath. The ninja's were only a decoy, probably not here for the merchant they were escorting, but for Kakashi.
"Naruto! Sasuke! Kakashi is gone!" She shouted to them in panic as they quickly finished off their attackers.
A bright orange suit flashed in front of her along with the blue and black of Sasuke's outfit.
They were by her in a moment, "Whadaya mean?"
Sakura's eye twitched at Naruto's annoying question.
"I mean." She grounded out, "He's not here!"
It took them all a moment to let the shock pass. Kakashi had never just disappeared like this.
They all scanned the area, spreading out their chakra to see if they could touch their Sensei's. A lump formed in her throat when nothing happened, all of them still scanning the dusk tinted land while ignoring the squawking of the merchant. Sakura had forgotten about him…She would worry about him later, right now she needed to find Kakashi more than calm down some idiot man.
She bit her bottom lip, trying to be reasonable about the situation instead of letting the panic take over as she had a habit of doing in her younger days.
No Sakura! Get it together! You're a Jonin now so start acting like one!! She scolded herself mentally.
"The ninja's were decoy." Sasuke stated gruffly, his eyes sharply looking over anything that had been missed.
Sakura nodded and noticed that Naruto was being uncharacteristically quite and Sakura was just waiting for him to pop out some idiotic question, though she did have to give him some credit of maturing over the years.
When he still didn't say anything, Sakura spoke, "You two go on ahead and get the merchant to the destination, and I'm the fastest so I'll do a quick run around to see if there are some clues before reporting to Tsundae of what has happened. I doubt I'll run into trouble"
"That's reasonable." Sasuke said sounding only slightly surprised.
Sakura let herself have a small smirk and even though she had long been over her crush of Sasuke, it still felt good when she did something that he acknowledged as right.
"You can't go alone! You could get hurt!" Naruto protested.
Sakura sighed at her overly protective friend, though she still found it comforting that he cared so much "I doubt I'm going to have any trouble. Kakashi is probably long gone by now." Turning to Sasuke she asked, "Do you know which village the ninja's were? I didn't see any headbands or other clues that gave anything away."
He shook his head, "No. They mostly fought like rogue ninjas. They were probably paid to do this by someone, not knowing anything other than that they were going to get paid." Sasuke's gaze fell on the orange-gold sunset that was setting. "We need to go now so we can get back sooner."
Sakura nodded in agreement before sending Chakra down to her feet and bursting off into a run leaving Sasuke and Naruto before Naruto could make any more protests and letting the deal with the flustered merchant.
The wind harshly bit at her face, causing her to squint while she ran but not making it any less effective at scanning. Millions of things ran through her head as her legs pumped silently through a forest she had reached about an hour ago. Concentrating on not hitting a tree and watching her surroundings she almost failed to notice the soft touch of her Sensei's chakra against hers.
She headed silently in that direction surprised that they were so close. She would of thought they would have fled as quickly as possible since they had what they wanted; assuming Kakashi was what they wanted. She masked her chakra and slowed down when she heard a woman's laughter. Using the skills Tsundae had been teaching her for years as her apprentice she hid behind a bush dangerously close to Kakashi and a woman.
Sakura took a moment to observe the situation before moving. Kakashi was on his knees, his hands tied behind his back in some kind of ropes that prevented use of jutsus or chakra; She could feel a jutsu on it. His silver hair hung in his eyes obscuring Sakura's view of his face. She looked at the woman crouching next to him next. Long black hair hung in luscious waves around her face, she wore simple form fitting pants that enabled flexibility. The shirt stopped at her shoulders and dipped low showing a hefty amount of her cleavage. Long nails stroked the side of Kakashi's face
Go now before it's too late!!!Inner Sakura shouted at her.
I can't! She wailed back, she's too strong for me!
Inner Sakura sighed at Sakura, Just get Kakashi loose so he can kick her butt!
Instead of replying she snuck into a bush behind Kakashi where the woman was whispering things into Kakashi's ear.
If she had caught him before then that means she can probably beat him, you idiot! She shouted mentally.
Whatever…
Sakura hoped on everything she owned that she had just caught Kakashi off guard.
"Kakashi," The lady crooned to him, "Did you think you could just kill my brother and not face the consequences?"
She shoved him over onto his back. If his hands hadn't been tied behind his back it would of looked like he was lazily lying on the ground with his head resting back.
"Don't have anything to say?" She hissed before standing up and kicking him in his side.
The only reaction she got was a slight wince. That must have been a hard kick Sakura thought meekly. The lady's curse brought her back to the scene in front of her. She was fumbling around in a pack for something she obviously wasn't finding. She turned pack to Kakashi and placed a hand around his throat, her eyes flashing.
"I doubt you'll be able to get free while I go fetch something, not with those idiot children you call Jonin. It's a wonder how they passed in the first place," She said, seeming to be talking to herself for the last part before turning back to Kakashi, not giving Sakura enough time to feel insulted at the comment she had made, "Stay put."
She disappeared into a puff of smoke. Sakura thought for a moment. This could very well be a trap, but she doubted it. She was an expert at staying unnoticed and hidden. She approached Kakashi's still form on the ground quickly. He jumped when she rolled him over.
"Sa-Sakura." His voice sounded raw. The rope must have been draining his energy or something.
She cut through it without a problem though, which did surprise her a little.
"Can you stand up?" Sakura whispered.
Kakashi leaned forward and unsteadily got onto his feet, falling forward. Sakura cursed silently before slipping under her old Sensei's arm, letting him lean all her wait on her.
"Hurry." He urged, seeming to sound a little better.
She used her Chakra to run at full speed while literally dragging Kakashi. She didn't want to wait around for that woman to come back. She was already expecting her to pop up at any moment and chop her head off. It had been to perfect when she left, a very stupid move on her part in which Sakura doubted was actually accidentally done, but it could be possible. She pushed herself as fast as she could go without hurting Kakashi, looking back occasionally to make sure they weren't being followed.
Sakura gaped in horror as she left the forest when she heard a ghastly scream, making a flock of black birds in a tree rush into flight to escape the screech. Sakura guessed that she had made a stupid move then.
"Kakashi," She gasped, her heaving breaths, "Are you getting your strength back?"
He shook his head, "No, it will take a couple of hours for me to get moving again."
Sakura bit her bottom lip hard. It had taken a lot of chakra running around before and after finding Kakashi. She could set up a camp and hide both of their chakra and hope that the woman would miss them, which was pretty slim or she could keep running and run out of even more of her chakra so if she found her and Kakashi she would have even less of a chance. Stopping it was then.
Sakura set Kakashi down with his back against a large boulder and took a place aside him so he could lean against her.
"How did she get you?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi grimaced, "She's a very good illusionist."
"Ah." He isn't saying something, "Care to elaborate?"
"No."
Sakura blanched. He usually didn't just say it like that, so bluntly.
"Why not!" Sakura demanded.
"It's not important and I'm tired."
"Fine." Sakura grumbled and put her hand to his forehead, "Do you have any injuries?"
She remembered the kick to his side and expected some broken ribs. She knew what he would say before he did.
"No."
"Uh huh. Of course not." She said, reaching forward and unzipping his vest. He was probably to tired to decline, letting her slip it off his shoulders while he watched her through lidded eyes. She tried not to squirm under his gaze but found it made her extremely uncomfortable, especially when she was peeling the sweat-dampened shirt from his body.
"Can't you like, look somewhere else while I do this?" Sakura asked, glaring at him.
"Hn."
Sakura went back to undressing him when she looked back up at him to see he hadn't shifted his gaze.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" She asked wiping her hand across it, figuring that was the reason for his insistent stare.
He only shook his head and watched as Sakura lifted the shirt over his head, the cool air meeting his chest. Sakura paused the shirt still covering his face.
Wow. Do you see that?!? Inner Sakura squealed at her but her mouth was agape and her eyes frozen on the sculpted chest in front of her. She trailed her gaze down his neck to his side were she was shocked back into reality when she saw the bruise stretching across his skin. She quickly jerked the shirt over his head so his face appeared again. She didn't have to see his lips to know he was grinning. Sakura groaned inside, he knew her eyes had been glued to him.
Thankfully he didn't say anything about it though. She put her above the bruise and let her chakra soak into him and heal the bruise before she placed her hand on the skin to heal the bone.
"Your hand is cold." He stated, running a hand through his silver hair.
"Suck it up." She mumble, not caring to try and sound sharp while she was concentrating.
"Why must you be so cruel to your old Sensei?" He said humorously.
Sakura let out a small laugh before taking her hands off of him and leaning against the tree again, the bark pressing against her back.
"Did Naruto and Sasuke finish the mission?" He asked, not looking at her but resting his head back against the tree and closing his eyes.
"They're finishing it. I was going to scout the area for clues before going to Tsundae to report what happened. I hadn't expected to fi-"
"I didn't expect you to be so close." A voice sneered at them.
Sakura hopped up into a fighting position.
"Is the little pinky going to try and fight me?" The woman laughed with her head thrown back, making the waves of hair silken tumble back.
Sakura's heart was pounding against her chest. There was no way she could beat this woman, fighting her would probably lead to a painful death, but what else could she do without revealing her skill was more than just Jonin? The woman noticed her panicked expression and mistook it for the fight to come before Sakura cook but on a stone façade and she mentally cursed herself.
"Kakashi?" Sakura asked softly. He lifted his head and looked up at her looking perfectly calm. Sakura envied him at the moment.
"Hm?"
Sakura knew he could see the question in her eyes, what do I do?
You're a Jounin Sakura. I know you can do this, Was what his expression said. Sakura turned back to the lady whose expression was amused while she had watched the little exchange.
"I can see you care about your student. It will be all the better to see what you do when I kill her!" She hissed and threw a kunai at Sakura, who barely dodged it.
Sakura immediately took a stance in front of Kakashi where the woman smirked.
"I'm letting him live to see you die, so don't worry about protecting him. I need some exercise, no matter how much of a small amount." The woman laughed again.
Sakura turned to look at Kakashi again to see that he had passed out. Her eyes widened a moment until a fist connected with her jaw, throwing her a few feet away from Kakashi. She got up and glared at the woman before turning it into a smirk, the possibilities occurring to her now that Kakashi wasn't able to see. She shuddered at the feeling of letting the chakra she had stored rush into her. Sakura had found that she could store her chakra in her body, saving it when she truly needed it, like now. Just one of the tricks she had learned over her training by herself.
The woman watched wide-eyed, no doubt feeling the unnatural amount of chakra running through the Jounin. Sakura let out a laugh that sounded, even to her, a little on the crazy side. She charged at the lady with a large amount of speed and slammed her fist into her stomach. She flew back with an 'oof'.
"Who are you?" Sakura demanded, pinning the lady to the ground with her knee in her back and holding a kunai to her throat.
The woman snickered beneath her flipping around and shoving Sakura off of her back.
"You're going to need much more than that, Little Pinky, to defeat me." She said, putting her hands together and making hand signals, "Henge no Jutsu!"
Sakura watched, confused as the woman turned into a copy image of Sakura.
The woman laughed again at Sakura's confusion, "Just in case someone happens to wake up."
That woman laughs too much… Inner Sakura stated.
Sakura smirked as she once again charged for to punch the woman's face but was blocked. They exchanged and blocked each other for what was probably an hour until Sakura got annoyed.
Just go all out!!
I can't! If I don't kill her then everybody will know! And If I do kill her Kakashi will know something is up. With the skills everybody thinks I have I would never be able to beat her!
You could say it was luck? Inner Sakura suggested.
After that inner Sakura stayed quite while Sakura's frustration grew. Finally, Sakura jumped back and decided to wait for the woman's attack.
"Your breathing is as stable as when you started, which means your holding back. Is there something the little pinky is hiding?" The woman questioned, her eyes glinting.
"Don't call me that!" Sakura ground through her teeth and ignored the statement, her jade eyes flashing.
The woman smirked and glanced at Kakashi, in which Sakura realized she hadn't been able to put his shirt back on. He had twitched his hand, which meant he might wake up soon and if he did, it would probably be with a whole lot of energy. Sakura let out a sigh of relief before she took advantage of the woman's distracted look by kicking her knee with her famous strength and had the satisfaction of hearing a snap. She let out a pained groan and fell to the ground with an enraged expression.
"You'll pay for that!Kirigakure no Jutsu!" She shouted, her hands moving quickly before a thick fog blanketed the area, blocking Sakura's view of everything expect close objects. She must be able to see me somehow. Sakura crouched, ready to dodge or attack.
Sakura hurried over to where Kakashi was leaning and made sure he was still breathing before standing up.
She bowed her head to concentrate, "Thank you Naruto. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Several clones popped up and spread out over the area, careful not to trip over anything. She waited for a moment before hearing one of her clones being destroyed.
"Shihou Hapou Shuriken no Maki!" Sakura shouted, and her clones all threw shuriken in all directions. She got ready to block just in case. Sakura heard the lady cry out in pain a couple strides to her left before the fog cleared up to reveal the lady with several shuriken embedded deeply within her chest, arms, and legs. Sakura raised her head up proudly. Naruto had taught her how to do that when she had been depressed. He had done it in an attempt to distract her, and it had worked well. She had practiced it for weeks before she had gotten it perfect, for which she was now glad.
It appeared as if the lady had tried to heal her leg for she was standing on it awkwardly, which wouldn't of been possible had it still been fully broken. Sakura could tell she didn't know much about healing by the way she was standing though. The woman grimaced as she ripped the shuriken out of her. Blood dripped down the silver metal as she tossed them on the ground beside her, still grinning.
"That was tricky." She said, still grinning. It looked strange when it was Sakura's face she was grinning with. "I think I misjudged you. I'm Akane, missing-nin."
Akane began to walk toward Sakura unsteadily, her blood leaking down her clothes "You won't be able to fight in your condition. Too much blood loss and a broken leg will restrain you terribly."
Akane stopped and seemed to think for a moment before smiling meekly, "This is what I get for trying to get revenge."
Neither of them said anything for a moment before Akane changed back to herself in a poof of smoke and sat down with a heavy groan to lean against the nearest tree. It was night by now; the only source of light was the moon and Sakura was surprised at how much time had gone by.
Sakura found it odd the change in attitude of Akane. Right now she seemed so friendly and approachable unlike before when she had seemed almost manic.
"I don't want to seem insulting, but for a ninja of you rank, from sensing your chakra, it wasn't very difficult to defeat you." Sakura said cautiously, not wanting to ruin the weird bond they had made just a few minutes ago.
Akane sighed and ran a hand through her long hair, "I fought very recently, my strength was drained. I was foolish in thinking I could just kill Hatake and be done with it. I should have waited until I was fully recovered."
Akane smiled at Sakura, "And what about you? Why hold back when you can be so much more?"
Sakura hesitated and glanced at Kakashi who still was slumped against the tree with his eyes closed. "I…if anyone knew…I would be thrown into mission after mission and I wouldn't be apart of the team anymore." Flashes of how insecure she had been kept intruding her thoughts. She didn't want to leave now when she had just become an equal.
Akane nodded and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry you know."
"For what?" Sakura asked.
Akane grinned and shook her head, "For trying to kill you. But, if I had the chance I don't think I would be able to do it. Your not the one who killed my brother, it would cause Hatake a lot of pain but…it would cause me more, knowing that you had nothing to do with it."
Sakura didn't say anything, she just watched Akane wince when she moved slightly. She looked so majestic bathed in moonlight; her hair almost looked silver the way the light reflected in it, like Kakashi's. Sakura let out a sigh, not knowing what to do.
"Why did Kakashi kill your brother?" Sakura asked, "I know its personal bu-"
"It's fine." She stopped her, "It had been in a tournament, no one was supposed to die, but Hatake was angry at my brother so he killed him and made it look like an accident, all because of some silly girl."
A bitter laugh escape Akane's throat that turned into a sob halfway. She had started talking, not really to Sakura, but to herself.
"She had been there for less than a month when Hatake saw her. He fell in love with her; she fell in love with my brother and my brother with she. He proposed to her." A tear slid down Akane's pale skin, probably due to blood loss. , "He had been so happy. Of course Hatake had been angry, no… furious when he found out so he arranged for him to fight in an upcoming tournament against my brother. You can kind of guess from that part what happened."
Sakura glanced at the silver haired Jounin unconscious and peaceful looking against the tree. She had never known this, considering it was true or not.
Sakura plucked a weed from the ground trying to look uncaring about this subject. "Who was the girl?"
She saw Akane hesitate, "Her name was Rin."
She had said the name softly, almost motherly.
"What happened to her?" Sakura whispered afraid of what the answer might be. She couldn't help but be drawn into the story Akane was weaving in her head.
Sakura waited with her attention fully captivated by the sorrowful Akane, "She ran off in her pain and eventually got killed in some small accident. Trampled by cows I think..."
Sakura winced at the last part thinking it to be a horrible way to go. She waited to see if Akane would say something else before walking over to Kakashi and making sure he was still alive, though she wanted to strangle him at the moment, but it wasn't her business what her sensei…ex-sensei had done even if it had demolished all respect for him.
"How long ago was all this?"
"Many years ago. I had to train myself before I could confront Hatake because I had only been a Chounin at the time. I was foolish to think I could do this with only half of my strength. I had also left in a hurry, which is why I had to go back and get Rin's hairclip." She smiled sheepishly at Sakura, "I was going to give it to him before I killed him. Dramatic, but it probably would have been effective."
Kakashi moaned from his spot by the tree earning two gazes on his half naked form.
"Would it be too much to ask for you to kill him?" Akane asked hopefully, although she knew Sakura wouldn't.
Sakura laughed, "Believe me, that's all I feel like doing after hearing what you said, but one, this could all be a fake story, and two, because even if he did do such a horrible thing, he's still my ex-sensei who had my respect. And Tsundae would kill me."
Akane and Sakura smiled sadly at each other, "You know, if we had met in a different situation I think we would have been good friends."
Sakura nodded somberly, "I'm going to have to kill you now. Normally I would take you in and let Tsundae deal with you but…she would probably have you tortured and even though we were trying to kill each other, I want you to go peacefully."
Akane only nodded blankly.
Sakura hated this. All she wanted to do was run, run far away so she wouldn't have to kill this amazing woman who had so much strength but had done a foolish thing.
Akane's sigh was heard by Sakura who looked up at her, "I guess a lot of people would do what he did in that situation. I shouldn't blame him, but its so hard not to when I know he killed my brother. I…I guess he isn't really that bad. And to think I did all of this for nothing."
Sakura wiped her eye in her sleeve, catching a tear before it could fall, "It was an honor meeting you Akane, I really wish it didn't have to happen like this."
"Me too." She said wistfully. "But before I go, I want to give this to you."
Before Sakura could stop her Akane mumbled some words and moved her hands too fast for her to see.
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Finished this chapter! I thought it would be long enough, its like 4,345 words, so I thought I would be okay to stop there. Tell me what you think and sorry if there's any mistakes, I tried my best to scan through it and edit my errors. See you when I next update!
