Yay! Chapter two is done!
Thanks to harvestangel99 and orochimaru's cherry blossom for reviewing! Makes my day to read reviews to my story 3
Just to let everyone know that after this there will be a six year time skip.
Yes, six years.
I'll explain more at the end. Don't want to ruin anything for you guys! ;)
Btw, I don't own anything except for my plot.
Enjoy!
Kakashi realized it was nearly morning and he had yet to fall asleep.
He normally wasn't one to lay awake all night, sleep eluding him. But here he was, staring at the ceiling and trying to will his mind to shut off so he could finally get some sleep.
He never had this much trouble.
Normally he would read a few chapters in his book and by then he would be so tired he had been known to fall asleep in the middle of a paragraph.
And he had finished his few chapters an hour and a half ago.
Raking his left hand through his hair in annoyance, he rolled over onto his stomach and buried his head in his pillow.
After the previous mission he should have fallen asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow, but instead his mind kept replying what had happened over and over.
He had almost lost her.
The fear with that knowledge consumed him, scared him. She was his closest friend. They had spent the last three years on mission after mission together.
He hadn't let himself get this close to someone since the loss of his first genin team. Since Rin.
He knew he had to back off. He couldn't continue to be this close to someone who could one day die on him.
Rolling over onto his back, he tried to figure out how he could keep himself from getting hurt again.
It was then that Kakashi sat up and slowly got off the couch. He tried to be as quite as possible as he walked down the hall into Sakura's bedroom.
She appeared to be fine.
Just as quietly he walked back into the living room and gathered his stuff and placed it into his bag he had brought from his apartment.
Once he knew he had everything, he opened her front door and walked out into the early morning.
He couldn't let himself get hurt again.
..00..
When consciousness finally returned to Sakura she realized she had slept later than she had in a very long time.
Not that it surprised her though.
Sitting up in her bed and stretching, Sakura let the details of the previous day enter her mind.
She had come close to dying. It was the first time she had ever had such a close call and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it.
Yes, sure, she was a shinobi and with that came the possibility of death. It just wasn't ever real to her until yesterday.
Sighing she got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.
Well, that was her original destination, until she glanced into her living room and realized that Kakashi was gone.
That's strange; I would have thought that he would have woken me up to tell me that he was leaving.
Trying to ignore the small amount of worry that had entered into her mind, she made her way back to the bathroom to take a shower.
She felt the need to pay Tsunade a visit.
..00..
After Sakura had gotten out of the shower and dressed in her normal outfit of tight black shorts and red dress that hit her at mid thigh and had slight up to her hips she made her way out of her apartment and to the Hokage Tower.
She thankfully didn't pass too many people on the way; she was too wrapped up analyzing why she was worried to stop and talk to anyone.
As she finally arrived she greeted the woman at the reception desk and walk on through seeing as how everyone that worked there knew who she was. Tsunade's office was on the fifth floor and was the only office on that floor. So when she made it up the steps she went and knocked on the only door in the hallway.
It only took a few seconds before she heard Tsunade yell for whoever was at the door to come it.
Tsunade wasn't known for being very professional when she was stuck in her office all day.
So Sakura opened the door and was greeted with the familiar sight of her mentor sitting at her desk; a desk that was currently covered in paperwork.
"Ah, Sakura, what brings you in? I thought I told you to take the next two months off?" Tsunade questioned when she realized who was walking into her office.
"Aye, I knew you didn't really mean it. At most you'd made us take a week off" Sakura teased.
"Maybe not this time. Sakura, you have no idea how close you came to dying yesterday."
"Shishou, you know as well as I do that situations like that are normal for shinobi, especially those of ANBU."
"Yes, but most of those aren't people who I consider a daughter. You are. I don't like having to patch you back together."
Sakura took a moment to let those words sink in before replying.
"Shishou, thank you. But I am not different than any other ninja, we all have a job to do."
"Be that as it may, but you are still taking time off. While you may be right in me not making you take two months off, I still want you to take at least another week or two off. After that time you'll have a new assignment."
Confusion washed over Sakura and she knew Tsunade could tell by what she said next.
"Kakashi came to me this morning and requested to be put back on solo missions."
"What, why? Why would he do that?! We've been a team for the past three years!" Sakura felt betrayal flow through her veins.
Tsunade got up from behind her desk and walked over to the young pink hair woman who was about to fall in the floor.
"Sakura, sit down. You're still weak from yesterday."
Walking over to the nearby chair Sakura sat down and then once again resumed her questions.
"Please, Shishou, what did he say? Why does he no longer want to work with me?"
Tsunade looked at Sakura a long time before answering.
"Sakura, I don't believe it has anything to do with you. Kakashi, well, he doesn't get close to people. I think he needs to be on his own again."
Sakura nodded once, before getting up.
"Thank you for telling me. Do you know who my next partner or team will be?"
Nodding Tsunade walked over to her desk and pulled a file from out of the piles and piles of paperwork.
"Mitarashi Anko will be your new partner for the most part and occasionally will join other teams if the situation calls for it. You will meet her at the ANBU headquarters in a week's time. Get to know each other and then within the week that follows I'll send you both on your first mission."
Looking at Sakura once again, Tsunade could help but to add, "Please, don't over think why Kakashi asked for solo missions. Trust me when I say it has absolutely nothing to do with you."
Nodding, Sakura walked towards the door and quickly walked out.
She never once broke down and the way back to her apartment. But once the door shut she sank down to the floor and buried her face in her hands.
She was too weak to keep Kakashi as a partner.
..00..
Tsunade watched as the pink hair young woman made her way out of her office. She knew she was on her way home and when she arrived there she would lose whatever strength she had.
She was angry.
Kakashi should have known what this would do to Sakura. Everyone she cared about had left her to get stronger, leaving her to believer that she wasn't strong enough to keep them by her side.
And now here Kakashi goes, doing the same thing.
Sighing she began to rub her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
If only Sakura knew the real reason that Kakashi had done this.
If only she knew.
..00..
0.o
So yeah, Kakashi asked to be removed from doing missions with Sakura!
Wonder why.
*Evil laughs because I know*
Why do y'all think he did? I know I alluded to it during this chapter at the beginning, but there is actually a lot more to the story.
Any who, the six year time skip. The reason for this is I want to give Sakura time to grow into her own and I want her a little older for the upcoming romance. And I want Kakashi to do some growing of his own too.
I wanted to start here thought because this whole thing with them being teammates until Kakashi asked to do solo missions had to be done. It'll set the whole mood for the next chapters.
So in chapter 3 Sakura will now be 26 and Kakashi will be 39.
Wonder what they'll be like in six years….
Until next time! 3
