Target
A/N- There is a bit of a time skip. No suggestive themes. Also, later on in this story, there will be a very miniscule reference to Anko. [Spoiler]This is AU, so I made Madara kill Anko when Kabuto was finished with her. I made no reference to that part of the manga, though.
She felt him hot on her heels. She had a feeling he knew where she was going. If he had half a mind he would know not to interfere. But there was this one thing about Sasuke. He's going to make sure of where she's going before he actually does something about it. Either that or he likes the view of her ass from behind.
She smiled. They had a race like this through Konoha the day she beat him in a sparring match.
-Flashback-
"Getting tired, Sakura?" He said as she lagged behind. She could see chakra pouring through the soles of his feet.
"Not even. I'm just getting started!" She pushed chakra to her feet and ran past him.
"Damn it! I'm already using chakra!" How did she even keep up without it?
-End Flashback-
She quickly reprimanded herself for smiling. She couldn't waste time on memories. Those things that are a constant reminder of how weak she's been. Those are in the past.
Besides, she has a job to do.
They were halfway through the village now. When she turned the corner, she saw Sasuke was no longer behind her. Good. He finally gave up. She skidded to a stop when she saw Naruto about 20 feet in front of her. Damn it.
Sasuke made his presence known by dropping a few good feet behind her off a rooftop.
"Uzumaki! Get out of my way!" She called out to him while putting her hands on her hips.
"No way, Haruno. I'm not letting you go past." He said as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Alright then," She pointed a finger towards him. "I'll just force my way through." She took a fighting stance with chakra drawn to her hands.
She started running towards him, one fist poised for battle, the other as a backup. Naruto, was waiting while cracking his knuckles.
Still thinks lowly of me, huh? I'll show him how much I've grown. She thought as she came at him.
He flickered behind her with his fist ready to punch her in the back. But she's gotten faster. She turned around, grabbed his positioned fist and twisted it backward. That'll only disable him for 3 minutes given his healing time. Considering she broke it in three places, she'll max it to ten. She didn't have much time. She had to run fast. Sasuke chose this time to jump forward and land behind Naruto.
"What the hell? Naruto, you got stabbed in the back by six of Pein's rods, yet you cry over a broken hand? Dobe!" Sasuke said as jumping past Naruto's doubled over form.
"Oi, Teme! It hurts!"
Grateful for the distraction, she continues to run ignoring her hair whipping her face and neck. She comes upon a particular house. "One floor, blue, two windows in front, deadbolt lock." She took stock of the features of the TenTen's house for later.
She stopped when she came across the door. While she could manipulate the lock with her chakra, it would be much more fun to break it with her bare hands.
"Hell yeah!" She shouted as the splintered pieces of the door came flying past her while a few got stuck in her skin. Yeah, it would hurt later. But for now, she was numbed to the pain by the feeling that the adrenaline brought.
She walked into an empty house.
"Where the hell are you, coward?"She shouted as she walked into the kitchen, fists ready for punching.
"Show your face!" She kicked over a coffee table. At that moment a carrier pigeon landed on her shoulder, but out of instinct she smacked away. With her reflexes she caught it before it hit the ground and did a full check on it. No injuries. The Flight Department would have her head otherwise. She snatched the message off its leg before it disappeared.
'Training ground three.'
"Damn it!" She ripped the paper in half and stalked out the door. She ran in the opposite direction and only when she got to the Ichiraku ramen stand did she stopped.
"I'm close enough." She made the necessary hand signs to teleport her to training ground three.
When she regained her balance, she figured she was in training grounds seven, there were no tree stumps.
"Damned sense of direction!" She started running. "6…5…4…3!" When she saw TenTen, she skidded to a stop. Sure enough, she was standing on the stump to the left. The one Sasuke sat at…How did she know? Maybe it was by pure luck?
"You whore. You mock me, and you have no remorse. Do you know who you're up against?" She saw red. Chakra seeped through the pores of her hands. It burned because she didn't have her gloves. It was alright, she was numb.
"Yes, I do." She leaped off the stump and pulled out her scrolls. "An overly cocky slut who's known by association! Face it. You're only arrogant because you have your filthy teammates to back you up! You can't fight. Not really. Who's the one always getting saved Sakura-chan?"
Sakura ran toward her with chakra flowing behind her fists in her wake. Seeing this TenTen opened her scrolls and a barrage of shuriken flew towards Sakura. She dodged a few, but some got imbedded in her shoulders and side. But she kept on. She was too dizzy to run straight. What did she put in these shuriken? Was she trying to kill her? She started to flush out what she could, but her chakra levels were depleted from running and breaking Naruto's hand. This fight couldn't go on much longer.
When the next barrage of shuriken came, 4 figures came from the treetops and landed in separate places. There was a blur of blue spinning in front of her, while she was being pulled backwards by the waist from another. TenTen's scrolls were being snapped shut by something green, and a flash of orange stood right in front of her. Just when the dizziness started to fade, a hand smacked her forehead and remained there. The dizziness returned. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again everything was clear. Neji was the blue blur with his Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin. Lee was the green. She and TenTen were now about thirty feet apart.
"I have no problem with your teammate Neji," Naruto shouted. So that was the orange. And the hand still pressed against her face. "But if she lays so much as her little finger on my teammate again, I'll make sure Sakura's wishes of seeing this fight to the end are attended to…By me." He pressed his thumb to his chest.
"Those words are true to your teammate as well, Naruto." Neji said in a crisp voice. Then the three of them disappeared to the treetops.
"Sakura, are you okay?" So those were Kakashi's hands at her waist. Her head lolled back to rest on his chest.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just what did she put in those shuriken?" She started to drool. Kakashi picked her up.
"Naruto, we're going to my place, its closer. She put something in the shuriken?" When you fight a comrade, even if you're not friends, you don't fight to kill.
"Yeah, uh, some, some sleeping agent. It'll also knock out a few of my senses, and all of my common sense. Yep. Oh and, my morals will be pretty loose, so keep me out of the streets, okay?" She was steadily trying to keep herself awake but at the same time, trying to think of what is going to stall the sleeping agent.
"Is there anything to stop the poison from spreading?" Naruto this time.
"Sleeping agent. Not poison. Oh yeah, aspirin will help a lot."
"Alright, Kakashi, I'll meet you at your house. I'll go get some aspirin. " Naruto shouted as he sped away.
Kakashi started through the treetops as he checked her body for anymore injuries.
"Sakura, what happened to your hands? And why are you bleeding?"Her eyes were still closed, but at least her hearing wasn't gone.
"Well, my gloves are still at Sasuke's house. Maybe we could go get them? And on my way to the training grounds, I depleted a whole bunch of my chakra breaking Naruto's hand which was a real waste because he can just heal himself." She frowned.
"No, No, his hand was wrapped up. It's still pretty much broken. You did a good job at making sure it wouldn't mend on its own."
"Yeah, I like to take pride in what I do." She smiled as he rolled his eyes. He could see his house in the distance. But he had to keep her awake; at least as long as it takes for Naruto to get back.
"Sakura, what do you want to talk about?"
"Me."
"Arrogant." He saw her face fall. And though her eyes were still closed, he could still see her eyes moving behind her eyelids like in REM sleep.
"TenTen called me that. Do you know why she did it Kakashi?" This caught his attention.
"Did what?"
"Why she slept with Sasuke." His visible eye widened. How much did he miss? Is that why Sakura came to his apartment crying on more than one occasion? Why she was so determined to fight this girl?
"Tell me what happened, and maybe I can figure it out." He suddenly wanted to know why she ended up in his bed, asking him to sponsor her for Anbu.
"Oh yeah, you are pretty smart." She nodded. Not to toot any horns but the Hatake are geniuses."Well, Sasuke was acting like an over controlling asshole when we were about to have sex, so I slapped him. He tore my bindings, my shirt, and burnt my skin in the process, see?" She reached towards her shirt to pull it up. Luckily she had shorts on. But no bra. He sighed. Lose inhibitions. Check. He pulled her shirt back over her breasts and tried to get himself back under control, though not before glancing at the ugly burns that stained her back and the underside of her breasts. He jumped down to his doorstep and jiggled the doorknob before it creaked open.
'Baka' He thought. Anyone can steal from him if his door opens that easily. But of course, who would really want to break into his house? The Copy Nin's house. Nope. No one. He closed the door with his foot and sat Sakura up straight on the couch so she could stay awake. When he sat down after her, she started to lean into him. He could feel the curve of her breasts pressing into his arm and tried to practice the self-control that he steeled himself with over the years.
"Did you heal it Sakura?" He looked down at her face. Hopefully she wasn't asleep yet.
"No, but if I do when I get better, it's only going to leave a slight grazing. But that's if I have all my chakra back." She snuggled into him more and slowly moved her feet onto the couch.
"What else happened?"
"Well, I went to the training grounds and completely demolished it before I passed out. Thank goodness for Tenzou though," He remembers the look on his face after calling him when he found Sakura. Priceless. He chuckled silently at that. "Well then, you didn't have any bandages, that morning after you left, so I used gauze. I found Naruto in the streets, then the gauze popped and Naruto got a hard-on. After that Naruto showed me that maybe our relationship wasn't broken you know? He didn't actually break up with me, and we fought before." He remembers that day. They were supposed to get the bell of the highest tree in the village. Sakura used being a woman to her advantage by hanging upside now on a limb above Sasuke and let them pop out. By the time Sasuke recovered, Sakura already had the bell.
"So when I went to his house, we kissed and…now that I think of it, he apologized for sleeping with her. Sasuke doesn't apologize. So that has to mean something. But I went to get my clothes, and he tried to stop me. I saw TenTen and hyperventilated. You basically know the rest." He did. Naruto told him. And it was his house she showed up to…again. "But I don't see how that's fair. I could've made love to Sasuke yesterday if he didn't have sex with her. So, I'm still a virgin, and she gets to be a part of one of the greatest acts of passion in life." She pouted. She was really telling him too much information. Loose morals. Check.
"Maybe TenTen is jealous? You can have anyone you want. Even Neji. That's what scares her." He sounds like a freaking guidance counselor. Why was he doing this again?
"Ohhhhhhh. That makes sense. I did kiss Neji on her 17th birthday, so maybe she's the type of person to hold grudges?" He rolled his eyes. Well, duh. He pulled out his trusty book to avoid future conversation. But if she couldn't see, what was the point?
"Kakashi?" She opened her eyes, but they were glazed. What did she put in those shuriken?
"Hm?" But she still didn't get the memo did she?
"Is there," He started to yawn. "Anything wrong with me?" Then he started to choke and gasp for air. She gave him a pat on his shoulder, which helped nothing. When his breathing got under control, he was thinking of one of his useful excuses to use in these types of situations.
"No, Sakura." He started that out perfectly. "There's nothing wrong with you." Generic. But what was he supposed to say without it bordering on the edge of taboo?
"Then, why did…why did he—" She looked like she didn't want to finish the sentence.
"Hey guys, I got the aspirin!" Saved by Naruto. He really didn't want to continue on with this conversation.
Kakashi shot up and grabbed the aspirin from his hands. "What the hell took you so long?" He turned towards his kitchen to get a glass of water.
"Sakura, how's it going?" Naruto stated cheerfully as he went to take a seat next to Sakura. In his absence, her head fell to the seat of the couch. Getting worse.
She raised her hand and flicked him off. He got up and went towards the kitchen. "Great. At least we know her peachy personality hasn't disappeared." Naruto said mockingly as he examined his broken hand Tsunade-baa-chan kindly patched up for him. He was to slow to dodge the pillow that whizzed towards his head. He rubbed the spot where it hit.
"Owww,"
Kakashi went towards the couch to sit Sakura back up. He tried to put the glass of water in her hands, but she wouldn't grasp it. So he forced the two pills into her mouth and poured the water down her throat, only to have most of it spill on his shirt. How many shirts of his did she have?
"Great. She can't swallow Naruto."
"No, I'm fine. I got the aspirin down so I can sleep while it works its way through my system." She dropped once again to the couch. Naruto came and wrapped a blanket around her.
"So what do we do now?" Naruto said as he stared at the already sleeping form of Sakura.
"First, we put a jutsu on this house so nobody can get in, and nobody can get out. Then we go untie Sasuke." Kakashi started towards the door with Naruto in tow.
"Sakura, don't do anything stupid." He knew the statement fell on deaf ears, but he had to say it. Kakashi knew Sakura had a knack for getting into trouble these days, so saying something about it made him feel more at ease.
"I don't see why this was necessary. Chakra restrains? You guys really don't want me to go after her, do you?" Sasuke said as Kakashi cut his chakra binds. Naruto started working on unclasping the bands around his wrists.
"You really want me to answer that?" Naruto stopped his work and looked up.
"You know, you just separated our whole team." Naruto finished as he stood back and glared at Sasuke. He kept his gaze impassive. "How will we practice, or even go on missions when Kami knows she's going to ignore your sorry ass until hell freezes over."
"She's joining Anbu, Sasuke." Kakashi chose this time to speak. Sasuke looked up.
"Is that supposed to be my problem?" He spat. His words said one thing, but Kakashi could see in his eyes he didn't mean it. "Another empty dream she's hoping for. She's not going to make it pass the first three months." He stood up and flexed his previously restrained arms. He walked to the entrance of his house. He paused in the doorway.
"If she knows what's good for her," The hand that rested on the doorknob twisted it and pulled. "She'll come back to me. She always does." With that he slammed the door. Naruto looked angry. He had a foot up ready to run after him, but Kakashi was suddenly in front of him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Just leave him, Naruto." Kakashi let him go and waited at the door. Naruto followed the path to Sasuke's bedroom. He heard him whisper Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the four pops that signified he needed extra help to pack her things. He put Sakura's belongings in three large trash bags. They looked heavy by the way he was lugging them around. He went to Kakashi and pushed the trash bags into his hands.
"She's staying with you." He said firmly and went for the door.
"What?" Naruto turned towards him with a weary face.
"Look, you know the most about Anbu. If she really wants to do it, then fine. And you better do a damned good job at it. Don't leave her half-assed like you did when we were genin." Kakashi heard the door click shut.
Was he really that bad of a teacher?
Sakura awoke with a throbbing pain in her head. She could see, she was sure she could smell, and she was pretty sure if someone offered her drugs, she would say no.
She hadn't showered in three days, and she was starting to feel sticky. She went over to Kakashi closet to find some more of his pants when she saw kanji written on a small slip of paper. She tried jiggling the door knob, but even that wouldn't move. When she tried to punch it, it produced nothing but pain. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she could clearly see the burn marks on her hands from over using her chakra. She went to the windows of the house to find that they had the same slip of paper with the same kanji written on it. She went to the front door to find that it had four. She had no chakra, so how would she get through those? Stupid man. The only place that didn't have that slip of paper on it was the bathroom. At least he had some decency.
She entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She gripped the bottom of his shirt to pull it over her head when she felt her hands become sticky. When she put the shirt back down and looked at her hands, she found them red.
"Damn it." She got his shirt bloody. She continued to lift it over her head and placed it on the sink. She rifled through his medicine cabinet for soap and smiled when she saw he replaced the roll of bandages. She laughed silently when she saw he had a razor, too. When she found some, she diligently started to scrub the blood away. She was thirty minutes into it when she wondered where they both went. He didn't even have a window in his bathroom so she couldn't tell what time it was.
It looked like she was on her own in this one.
He dispelled the kanji written on the front door and walked inside. He was tired. He had to carry all of her belongings all the way across Konoha seeing that Sasuke lived on the edge of the village. How much stuff did she have? He sighed as he tried to walk as quietly as he could with three large trash bags in his hands. No wonder Naruto had to use his clones to pack this stuff.
He took an alternate path through the kitchen trying not to wake her. He still couldn't sense her chakra so the sleeping agent must still be in her system. He deposited the bags on his bedroom floor and took off his clothes and sandals. He put his hitai-ate on the night stand and grabbed two towels out of his closet after dispelling the kanji on his closet door. He went back out of his room and opened the bathroom door.
What he saw there almost gave him a nosebleed.
"S-Sakura?" His visible eye widened.
She was almost done getting the blood stains out when she her the doorknob turn. She turned towards it almost immediately reaching for her weapons pouch only to find that it wasn't there. She saw Kakashi's body emerge. Kakashi's naked body. Well, other than his mask.
"Agghhh!" She let out a long undignified squeal and covered her chest as best as she could. Kakashi took one of the towels from his arms and quickly wrapped it around his waist.
"What the hell are you doing, Kakashi?" She reprimanded him as her eyes widened from anger. "You can't just pop up on me in the bathroom!"
"What do you mean pop up on you? It's my house!" He yelled back. He was tired. All he wanted to do was take a nice bath. The Gods really did hate him.
"Either way, can't you sense if another person's in your house, Hatake?" She went towards him and to emphasize her sentence poked him in the chest. His bare, lean, muscular…
I'm supposed to be mad at him! She thought. Not analyzing his chest!
"You don't have any damn chakra! What is there to sense?" He grabbed her intruding finger and moved it back towards her person. "What I can't understand is why you don't have a shirt on!" He pointed to her bare chest. She secured her arms more tightly around herself.
"Why I don't have a shirt on? Why are you walking around naked?" She pointed down to the towel that covered up his nakedness.
"It's my house!" He figured this conversation was going nowhere fast.
"Ugh! Just get OUT!" She pushed him forward and the door was slammed in his face. He rubbed a tired hand through his unkempt hair.
I just got kicked out…of my own bathroom. He thought while going into the kitchen. He took a seat at the island and rested his head in his hands. He waited there for roughly fifteen minutes before he heard the door slowly creak open.
"Um, Kakashi?" Her demanding voice was gone and was replaced with a small, timid one.
"…" He looked in the direction of the bathroom.
"Do you mind, uh, getting me a fresh towel?" He sighed deeply and got up to go to his bedroom. He went into his closet and snatched one of the towels hanging on the rack. He went back to the bathroom and handed a towel to her outstretched hands.
"Thank-you," He waited on the wall beside the bathroom. He heard a loud curse and a stomp. His poor floor. It was another five minutes before she emerged. He may have…accidentally given her one of his hair towels. She glared at him when she stepped out. She kept pulling it up because it showed too much cleavage, and she kept tugging it down because it showed the curve of her ass. He threw in hands up in an effort to placate her. But he couldn't help the grin behind his mask.
"Accident. Truly." He said keeping his eye glued to her face.
"Go to hell!" She screamed and started towards his bedroom.
"Your clothes are there," He called out to her before he heard his room door shut. When he stepped into the bathroom, he found it to be quite steamy. He saw his jonin shirt hanging on the shower rod…wet. He moved it to the rack along with his towels and proceeded to take off his mask.
He went to the sink to grab his razor and saw that it was covered in bright pink hair. He located his brush on the edge of the sink and also saw that it was littered with bright pink hair. He sighed. He liked her newly grown long hair. He liked the bangs that fell over her eyebrows and shaped her face. How they fell just above her lower back. But he didn't like how she grew it all back for Sasuke...again.
When he thought of Sasuke's statement, he really did wish she could be like him. Emotionally withdrawn, without a need for a person on your bedside. He wanted Sasuke to take back his words. But that would never happen. He sighed.
He dropped the razor and leaned forward to run the bath water. Then the door flung open and he sees Sakura in her own standard jonin clothes. He quickly grabs a towel from the rack and wraps it around his face.
"Ha! How does it feel to have your privacy…Are you kidding me?" She looked mortified that her plan to get him to understand how she felt failed. She pointed a shaking finger at his face.
"You hide your face instead of your…your…" She starts to stutter as she points to his member with a shaking finger. "I can't believe you." She turned sharply and slammed the door behind her. She saw it before, if only for that split second twenty minutes ago. Why should he hide something he has pride in?
He chuckled to himself as he went to lock the door. He peeled off his makeshift mask and stepped into the bath. He had one foot in before it was sharply pulled back out and he winced. He was positive that he put on the hot water. He started to drain the tub. Turning the knob of the hot water back on, he felt it was icy cold. He shut it off and took an exasperated sigh.
She took his bed, his clothes, his brush, and now all his hot water? Why couldn't she have stayed with Naruto? When he thought about it, he did offer most of those niceties to her. Except for the brush. That was his.
He turned back around and turned the hot-turned-cold water back on. Hopefully it would heat up. And since he didn't want to wait in a bath of cold water, he turned the knob for the showerhead. He sighed for the umpthteenth time that day.
Hospitality has a limit.
That night, he had Tenzou come over and build him a bed. Well, not for himself, he was getting the king bed that he bought. She's getting the makeshift. They had an argument after she figured out who was getting the wooden bed and why (more one-sided, he ignored her with his porn), before he went to his closet, laid down 2 bed sheets, a pillow, and a folded up blanket on her makeshift bed before he shut out all the lights and went behind the half-wall that Tenzou had also kindly built for him (not without Kakashi's sweet talking of course) towards his room and shut the door. He laid on the bed with one hand behind his head, and the other grasping his beloved book.
He heard her muttering obscenities as she started thrashing the sheets around trying to make as much noise as possible. It's already 11:00 pm. If she holds on to this anger, she won't be able to sleep. If she can't sleep, well, she's going to be in for a rude awakening tomorrow morning. He shut his book and placed it on the night stand. He had to be up early in the morning too, so now would be as good as any to get some shut eye.
She felt two different sets of hands roughly pull her up and her eyes snapped open. She punched one of them in the chest and had one foot up midair ready to strike when she was caught by the foot and thrown against the wall. The wind was knocked out of her. When she recovered, she quickly got up with her hands ready to strike again, but she looked towards those mysterious figures and found that those hands that had her before were connected to Anbu masks. One was a wolf; the other looked like a…lion? She inwardly groaned and dropped her hands. Can't this wait until later? She squinted at the wall clock— 4:00 am. Her eyes roved to Kakashi's opened room and craned her neck to look inside. She found he wasn't there.
"Haruno Sakura." The Anbu with the wolf mask addressed her.
"What?" She tried to rub the crust out of her eyes. Can't they give a warning or something before they mysteriously appear in someone's house for unknown reasons? She started to walk towards the bathroom to wash her face when she was grabbed by the wrist. She turned and glared. She saw that hand belonged to the Anbu with the lion mask. He seemed unaffected. But how would she know when she couldn't see his face? The Anbu with the wolf mask continued.
"You are to be escorted to Anbu HQ at exactly 0430 hours. We will wait outside for you to prepare yourself." He turned and looked at the lion-masked Anbu. She snatched her hand out of his grasp and waited until they closed the door behind them did she start to take off her night clothes. Then she continued her disrupted path to the bathroom to wash her face and teeth. When she was done, she went to his bedroom.
After learning of their living arrangement, to Kakashi's dismay, she packed all her belongings into his closet. Which was a lot, by the way. She picked out her customized jonin outfit. When she went to the quartermaster, she had it tailored much like Anko's with a few tweaks. Her outfit had a black overcoat with a folded-over collar with two buttons. She had two pleats put in the back. She had a full body sleeveless mesh suit that ended mid-thigh. And because she wasn't as shameless as Anko, she had nude bra fit for ninja built into the mesh. She had a dark red fitting skirt, flexible, but instead of a belt that started in the middle of her stomach, she got that replaced with her medical hip pouch that spanned across the front of her skirt which contained her ninja tools and basic first-aid supplies. Under her medic pouch she had her hitai-ate dyed black; much like Naruto's. The band of her forehead protector was stitched into the material of the skirt with the metal plate held on by the band.
She hadn't got a chance to wear it yet, and if she said so herself, she looks damn good in it. As she was leaving Kakashi's bedroom, she tied her long hair (that now stopped at her lower back) into a ponytail in the middle of her head. She grabbed her shuriken holster off of the kitchen island and went to the window sill. Taking the key from under Mr. Ukki she left out the door and locked it behind her.
She didn't see the Anbu anywhere, so when they appeared from the ground behind her, she let out an earsplitting scream.
"The bastards! Why can't you just walk?" Apparently they felt like answering with their fists because in a split second, the one with the wolf mask was behind her. Before she got the chance to attack her arms were grabbed behind her back and she was knocked out.
She lifted her head off the cold, metal table. She started to blink trying to get her eyes to adjust to the light resting above her. She rubbed the spot in the back of her head where she was punched and immediately a scowl formed on her face.
"She's awake." She heard a voice echo in the silent room. Then a heavy door opened and shut and she heard the sound of feet moving towards her. She shouldn't be scared; she's in her own village for Pete's sake. So why were the butterflies in her stomach refusing to die down?
A paper and pen was pushed towards her on the metal table. After taking a quick scan of the questions, she smiled. Kakashi hadn't lied. She really was going to be a part of Anbu. That is, if she passed all the tests thrown her way. She heard those footsteps retreat and a heavy door being shut.
She started rolling her eyes when she saw questions like 'Have you ever killed someone?' Then she took a second glance at follow-up questions like 'Do you enjoy killing?' and 'Do you like the feel of blood on your hands?' She felt the only way to answer questions like that was with a generic answer: 'I do what I must for the sake of my village.', and 'I'm a medic-nin of the Leaf Village and a Shinobi. I deal with blood 90% of the time so I must cope. She felt that was good enough. More things like that appeared on the test. Most of them questioning her sanity, others questioning her physical and mental stability. There were some intelligence questions that asked about the basic rules of Shinobi. If nothing else, she knew those were correct. When she was a genin, she memorized the entire book.
Then there was a particular question that caught her eye. 'What is more important; the mission or your comrades?' She thought long and hard on that one. She felt that she should answer it the way she was taught. 'The mission is most important. That's true. But in the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' As soon as she put the pen down the test disappeared in a puff of smoke and when it cleared, three scrolls sat in its place. Then she heard the loud voice again.
"You are to deposit those three scrolls on your person, memorize them, and burn them. Although you will return to Anbu HQ at 2400 hours without an escort, there will be a member of Anbu at HQ to take you where need be." Just as she reached for the scrolls to put them in her pouch, she heard the voice again. "Release any information…You will die."
Instinct told her something was coming. She was right. Just then three kunai came whizzing towards her head from 3 different directions and she deflected them with her own kunai. She heard the metal weapons hit the floor.
"You may go now." With a scowl on her face, she grabbed the scrolls and stuffed them into one of the pockets of her jacket. As she approached the door, it flung open before her and she stepped out. Before she took another step down the corridor, she was again grabbed by her hands and knocked out. In the same spot.
When she came to the second time, she was sitting in a chair in what she recognized as Anbu HQ. Yeah, she thought. I'm really going to do the world harm by knowing my way out of some underground base. Shitheads. She angrily forced open the door and walked out into the cold morning. She's been there about two hours by the positioning of the sun. It must be 6:00.
Not many people were out and about at this time of the morning. Most of the shops were closed. As far as she could see, she and one other person were the only ones walking on this path. That person was…running towards her?
"Miss Haruno! Miss Haruno!" It was a chunin messenger.
"Yes?" She just wanted to go back to sleep. But she realized even if that messenger hadn't come across her, she would've had to memorize those scrolls she was given. By the lump they made in her pocket, she assumed them to be pretty long.
"Lady Hokage wants to see you right away!" Then the messenger turned around and sped off in the direction she came from. Sakura sighed deeply. She turned around and started towards the Hokage Tower. It 6:00 in the morning.
What could she possibly want with her?
"Sakura,"
"Yes, Shishou?"
"When was the last time you came to work?" When was the last time she came to work?
"Um, about, a week ago? Maybe…" She looked pissed, so maybe she should be on her guard for flying objects. And she didn't see her sake anywhere in sight, so she must be taking out her anger on everybody.
"When was the last time you had a mission?"
"About… two months ago…" She should really be wary of her surroundings right now…
"Why?" Her hand was resting on the paperweight on her desk. She was going to throw it.
"I took myself off the mission roster…" She started to shrink.
"Why?" She wasn't going to like her answer.
"Um,"
"Tell me, NOW!" She took this time to duck as a paperweight flew towards her head. Tsunade's eyes were glowering. She lowered her head and spoke fast.
"Sasuke got injured on a mission two months ago and I took myself off the mission roster to help him recover and I never thought to put myself back." When she looked up, she saw Tsunade's eyes had softened. She had a feeling where this conversation was going. She had to stop it in their tracks.
"No, Shishou. We're not together anymore and I would appreciate if we didn't talk about this, rather we talk about why I was summoned here, my lady."
"Sakura, you are being put on administrative leave indefinitely." Sakura looked dumbfounded.
"Shishou, it was only two weeks, I can make it up I promise! Overtime and—" She was sputtering, anything to get out of the current situation.
"No, Sakura. I'm sure you have more pressing matters to take care of at the moment." She winked. So she knows…Well of course she knows, she's the Hokage! Sakura slapped her hand to her face.
"Thank-you, Shishou." Sakura took a quick bow.
"Get out of my office, Sakura." She scurried out of the Hokage Tower. She felt her pockets to check if those three lumps were still there. She then ran to her temporary home.
She heard a loud ringing noise. She opened her eyes and saw that the clock read 11:54 pm.
"Damn it!" She shot up and smacked the alarm. She was supposed to be up at 11:30, but it took her all day to memorize those scrolls. She grabbed them off the nightstand and stuffed them in her pocket. She tried her best to smooth her clothes out. She didn't have time to change. She grabbed the key under Mr. Ukki and grabbed her sandals on the way out.
After locking the door and running down 3 flights of steps from Kakashi's flat, she went around the back of the apartment complex. She emptied her pockets of the three scrolls.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She watched as those three scrolls started to burn. She waited until they were little wisps ash before she started her hand signs again.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Then, you couldn't even tell that there were scrolls there. Except for the big patch of burnt grass and that the ground squeaked and produced water when you walked.
She ran back around the front of the complex and started towards Anbu HQ. The only thing she could see that wasn't closed was the pub. And probably most of her generation was in there. If they saw her, she would be done for. She jumped to the rooftops to avoid being seen.
"Your late." She turned her head to the wall clock as she took heavy pants for breath.
"Only by like, 30 seconds." She looked dumbfounded. The person dressed in all back looked indifferent. If Kakashi can do it, why can't she?
"Tardiness will not be accepted. When you are asked for, you must be punctual." She shouldn't stand up to her superiors. Besides, Kakashi probably started coming late after he got instated. She took a bow.
"Hai." When she got back up, the person in black was gone. She heard three separate bangs. Like someone coming up stairs. Very loudly. When she saw a man emerge from, basically thin air, she nonchalantly slipped her hand into her pouch and kept it there. He looked pissed. Then there was a 'pop', and a scroll appeared at her feet. She picked it up and quickly broke the seal. It was directions. She quickly read it. When she rolled it back up to burn, there was another 'pop', and it was gone.
"You killed my brother, I'll kill you!" He was pretty big. And that was an understatement. He wobbled when he walked and it looked as though his Shinobi sandals were bursting at the seams.
"What? I didn't kill your brother!" Did she? And if she did, that would have to be two months ago. And if he really wanted to kill her, he would've found her a while ago. She supposed she had to fight this guy.
"I'll kill you!" He started running towards her at an incredible speed. She poised her fists for battle. When he was before her, she raised her leg to kick him and she was grabbed and thrown. For the second time that day.
When she ran towards and started to punch him, it looked as though he wasn't budging. What was that, dried mud falling? So he was earth style? She started her hand signs.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The place wasn't that big. She really hoped she didn't drench anything important.
She found that it worked as the man before her started to—What? Mud? Really? She had a feeling that Yamato-taichou had something to do with this. Damned Anbu. She shook her head and started to run in the direction that the scroll told her to go.
"Damn!" She said as she fell face first. "Chakra wire!" She looked to both of her sides to see who could've been controlling them, but she saw no one. She really wished she had a Sharingan. Or even a Byakugan. Anything that could help her see what she couldn't in this dark state. She really didn't want to fight another person. She kept on her path. But this time she was alert.
"Stop, Kunoichi!" Damn it. She thought. At least this person wasn't blocking her path. She started her hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!" She was really going to pay for all this damage done to HQ. It wasn't her fault that they made her fight. It wasn't.
"Hey!" She heard pounding against the wall. She needed to get far away enough before the wall fell. Another corner and three flights of stairs and she would be safe. Maybe. She skidded to a stop when she turned the corner.
"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" Actually she did. This person was in full Anbu gear. But they also had a type of hood that made it so she couldn't see anything but their shoulders and just above their elbow.
"The other ones weren't that tough. But I'll make sure you go home running." She might as well get this over with. She started towards what she believed to be the last person with the way he was talking.
When her fist made it to his face, he flickered and appeared behind her. The wind was knocked out of her. She was doubled over when she felt a kick to her back. She was on her knees trying to bring air to her lungs when she heard him speak again.
"You're not cut out for Anbu. Weak. Pathetic. You're not fast enough. Strong enough. Come back when you've bettered yourself." The masked Anbu started to walk away. She grabbed his ankle as quickly as she could, and flipped him over her back.
"How dare you walk away from me? Trying to make me give up, huh? Go home, That's what you're saying right? I'll show you what you're missing out on." She was pissed now. Weak? Pathetic? He walked away from her! She was going to give this guy more than a piece of her mind.
She saw him reach under his mask and wipe his mouth. She made sure she put chakra in that one.
"They don't call you mini-Tsunade for nothing," She smirked. He ran toward her with his Katana out. She pulled out her kunai.
As he started to strike, she felt bits and pieces of her clothes being torn off. Looks like this guy was skilled with a Katana. She tried to deflect the hits as best as she could, but this fight was going to go nowhere if she could get that sword out of his hand. She sent a kick to his hand as he raised it for another swipe and the weapon was thrown a few feet back and the hilt of the weapon was broken.
She sent a flurry of kicks to his face and saw that this wasn't going to be a fight about who has the most jutsu. When she punched his mask and it cracked, she saw he was momentarily disabled. It was going to take him about 15 seconds to recover from the shock, so she took this time to reach into her pocket and pull out a poisoned senbon. She aimed just below the pressure point behind his ear. She saw his hand fly to where he was hit, but it was too late. He was going to be asleep in a matter of seconds. Maybe minutes because of his weight.
"What did you—?"
"I would love to chat, but I have somewhere to be. It was a good fight. Maybe we can meet somewhere for tea?" She gave a wave with her hands as she found the steps.
It would take too long to run down the steps so she summoned chakra to her feet and ran from the side of the wall to the ceiling and started to run down from there. Her bangs were sticking to her face from the sweat she acquired and her ponytail and overcoat were hanging below her.
When she reached the bottom of the steps, there was the Anbu with the wolf mask again.
"Well done. You beat one of our top captains. You may enter now." He disappeared into the floor as she jumped down from the ceiling and walked into the dark room. When she stepped in, lights started to come on one by one. Like dominoes, but reversed. She went to the lone table in the room and sat there when the Anbu with the cracked mask appeared from a puff of smoke. He started to take off his mask and attached hood.
"I'll take you up on your offer for tea," He said as his face was revealed to her.
"Kakashi-sensei? Are you serious?"
"Thanks again for the cracked mask and the broken Katana. You'll be paying for that by the way." She gave a nervous laugh. She looked at the table where his cracked mask lye and looked at its design. Henohenomoheji. Why didn't she notice? The face that was used to draw a scarecrow. Which meant Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei, why—"
"I'm not your sensei anymore. We're equals now. But I can't answer your questions."
"Weren't we equals before?" His hand automatically went to that same spot in the back of his head.
"Well, uh—" She swore if he didn't have that mask, he would be blushing.
"Anyways, the senbon that I shot at you was poisoned. Why aren't you asleep yet?" His eyes narrowed as he pondered her question.
"Poisoned? It wasn't poisoned, Sakura." He watched as she started to search her pouch.
"Damn it! I put the wrong senbon in my weapons pouch!" She banged her fists on the table and he saw it dent.
"So you were trying…to poison me." It was her turn to blush. She started to wave her hands in an effort to placate him.
"No, no, no. Nothing like that Kaka-sen—I mean Kakashi!" Then her eyes narrowed.
"What about my clothes? You basically ripped them to shreds! And I just got this one!"
"I wasn't supposed to show mercy. You were my student, so they expected me to show favoritism, so I couldn't just give you a break." He looked confident in his choice of a reply. She knew it was complete and total bull.
"Yeah, y—" She stopped as another Anbu appeared from the ground.
"Did you memorize the scrolls?" She rolled her eyes as she remembered them. She nodded.
"Recite." He ordered.
"The first scroll read: Tempura, Sashimi, Yakitori, Tonkatsu, and Soba and Udon." Someone's dinner menu, most likely.
"The second and third scroll read…" She closed her eyes and started to recite all of the rules from the Anbu rule book. When she opened her eyes, everyone she fought (or didn't fight) were standing before her. And look at that. Captain Yamato.
"Congratulations, Haruno Sakura." Kakashi's voice. "You have passed the preliminary rounds. You've gotten approved by your Hokage," Yes! She thought. "And now you only have 24 months of lockdown to see if you are really ready to be a part of Anbu Black Ops."
"2 years? What about my, my job? And my teammates? My life?" Her eyes were as wide as saucers. Where was she going to be for 24 months? Then Captain Yamato started to speak.
"Your absence will be accounted for. As for your lockdown, you will be trained in all arts of the sword. You will know what it means to put your life on the line for your Hokage and your Village. You will sacrifice yourself for your comrades, and they you. And most importantly, you will learn the Will of Fire."
"Hai." She really hoped she was cut out for this.
"You will be leaving tomorrow at 1800 hours. The base is at the edge of Fire Country and will take approximately three days to get there. Say your goodbyes. Your partner will be Hatake Kakashi. You are dismissed."
She got up and bowed as everyone before her disappeared. She left the room and started for the stairs with a smile on her face. She was really going to do it. She was really going to be classified as Anbu. She was going to be in the form fitting get-up, and more importantly, she was going to be seen as something more than a Kunoichi. Something more important than Naruto or Sasuke. Anbu. And the first one of her teammates to join, too.
It was three in the morning, but she didn't care. She took her time walking back. Tomorrow, she was going to be a part of something different. And that warmed her insides.
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24 Months Later…
"Race you to the gates?"
"Isn't it a bit too early to be making noise?"
"It's 11 am. Everybody's up by now.
"Not me,"
"Fine, suit yourself."
They were about a mile from the gates, and each had their own share of heavy bags to carry, but she couldn't wait to get back home. Four months, and if she had a say, she's turned herself into a hardened Shinobi by Anbu standards. She had too much money, and today, she's going to get her standard Anbu gear along with her tattoo. Plus, this was about the time Naruto went to Ichiraku to get his pre-lunch. So if she got there fast enough, she'll be able to catch him before he dug into his first bowl.
She felt him fall into step beside her. It was so familiar for the past months that she didn't have to turn her head to know that he was smirking behind his mask. She's gotten that much better at reading his facial expressions. Four months and he's still been able to keep his face from her. Four months and they'd actually had a cup of tea together three times. Four months and she was finally home.
"I won."
"No you didn't!"
"What makes you say that?"
"I got through the gates before you did!"
"Even if you did win, which you didn't, you cheated because you had a head start."
"You didn't want to race!"
"But yet I conquered in the end."
"Ugh!" Four months and you'd think she'd be able to control her anger. Never worked.
"Uzumaki Naruto! I have a bone to pick with you!" Said person swung around on his stool to face whoever just interrupted him seconds away from digging into his first pre-lunch bowl.
His expression softened when he saw that it was his teammate who's been on a mission for four months. He shot up off his stool and crushed her in a bear hug.
"Sakura! I missed you so much!" She hugged him just as tightly as she tried to keep from tripping over the bags at her feet.
"I've missed you too, Naruto." And she did. Kakashi was never annoying enough or stupid enough to will her feelings of homesickness away.
"Why don't you grab a bowl with me, and we can catch up?" He said as he extended a hand towards the stools at the ramen stand.
"Sorry, I have a few errands to run. But I promise we'll catch up later, kay?" She gave him the best consoling look she could, but it was nothing to the pout he was shooting back at her. She started to gather the bags at her feet (which basically had all her things) and started in the direction of the more modern part of Konoha.
"See you later, Uzumaki!" She gave a backwards glance as she waved.
"You too, Haruno." She watched as he returned to his seat and started to eat his first bowl before she turned around.
When she walked up one flight of stairs at an apartment complex, there was a man waiting there for her. She dropped her bags at her feet and shook his hand.
"Just sign here and it's all yours." She took the papers from his hands and started to sign her name.
"There you go, Miss Haruno. I hope it is to your liking."
"Thank you, Mr. Yakibushi." She was handed a key and she knelt to pick her bags up. She used the key to unlock the door, and when it was opened, she almost squealed in delight. It looked exactly like Sasuke's house so she should be able to get around without much effort.
She took off her boots and walked further into the flat. It would be better if she showered before she got her tattoo. When she entered the bathroom, it was luxury. She dropped her bags by the door. She saw that the tube was huge, with a separate shower a few feet away. She might as well take a bath.
About an hour later, she emerged in fresh clothes and a feeling of rejuvenation. All there's left to do is go get Kakashi to take her to get her tattoo and uniform. It was about 12:30 pm, so he should be eating lunch on top of the Hokage monument. In their time spent together, he indulged her in his favorite hiding places. Now she would show him it was a mistake.
He saw a figure jumping from the rocks to each face on the monument. Most likely coming for him on the fourth Hokage's head. He closed his bento box and put it on one of the spikes in the fourths hair. He pulled up his mask.
"Kakashi." He looked up at her. Her hands were on her hips with her legs spread slightly apart. She went without her overcoat today, and she had on a sleeveless mesh shirt.
"Hm?" He turned back to his forgotten bento. He really wanted to finish lunch by himself today. But that's what he gets for getting drunk with a certain Haruno Sakura.
"Do you mind, um, coming with me to get my tattoo and uniform?" Her position changed as she sat cross legged facing his side.
"Yes. But I'll go anyways." She saw a smile through his mask and quickly got up.
"Then come on bed head, what are you waiting for?" She backed up and took a running start off the side of Tsunade's head.
"See you at the bottom!" He watched as she jumped off the monument hands in the air and landed as gracefully as a cat. He was going to take the easy route. He turned off the fourth's head and started down the steps off the mountain. When he reached the bottom, he saw a pout was evident on her face.
"I just ate, so if I were to jump, I would most likely lose my lunch. Consider that a favor from me to you." He gave an eye crinkle with that statement. She rolled her eyes and stomped onwards. She felt him fall into step beside her.
"How far is the tattoo specialist from here?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"Not far. Right around the corner. Incidentally, the quartermaster is right beside it."
"Hm." He pulled Icha Icha from his back pouch and started to read. He really hoped he didn't have to hold her hand. He wanted to stay as far as possible from the tattoo artist and Sakura.
When they arrived, he made sure Sakura gave the slip for an Anbu tattoo to the specialist before he started something she would end up paying for, and would eventually foot the bill to Kakashi, since he didn't remind her in the first place. When she was seated in the chair, he turned around and started for the door.
"H-hey, where are you going?"
"I'm standing right outside, just come when you're finished."
When he stepped outside, he replaced his book in front of his face and started to read. It wasn't long before he heard the buzzing of the ink pen and Sakura shrieking.
"What the hell are you doing?" He heard her yell.
"My job!" He supposed that was the specialist's voice. There was a pregnant pause before the buzzing started again. He could almost make out a vision of her gripping the chair, just willing it to break under her touch.
30 minutes later, a pissed Sakura emerged with a small baggie in her hand. In her other hand was a coin purse, that she most likely had to purge into for the broken chair.
"Let's go." She growled. He stepped off the wall and took a few back, waiting for her to go first. She swung the door of the quartermaster open. This close to breaking his nose. Thank Kami for small miracles.
He produced another slip from his pocket as Sakura took a seat in the waiting area.
"12 Anbu uniforms, please." He took the slip from Kakashi and turned it around in his hands. He took it with him as he went to the back room.
It wasn't long before he came back with a big box, most likely containing her uniforms, and pushed it in Kakashi's direction. He sighed. She ran up when the quartermaster produced a small velvet box and took it from his hands.
When she opened it, she took the mask in her hands and started to feel the intricate design. There was a lone cherry blossom branch that spread from the top right ear of the mask, stopping where her real ear would be. Under her left eye, there were green leaves mixing with falling cherry blossoms. The ears of the mask were painted green and pink.
"It's beautiful! How did you think of this design?"
"We go by your codename Miss. And here," He handed her Katana and arm guards to her. "Come back each month and get those refurbished." She took them in her hands and replaced the mask in the box before taking that too. She saw Kakashi start for the door with her box in his hand. She followed after him and grabbed his elbow.
"No, let me." She made the transporting hand signals and they were gone in a puff of smoke. When it cleared again, she was at her home, but Kakashi didn't know.
"Why are we at Sasuke's apartment?" He started looking around.
"No, baka. We're in my new apartment!"
"Oh." He dropped the box on the floor and Sakura started to kick it towards her room.
"I'm going to try it on so don't go anywhere!" Just then, a bird landed on her shoulder.
"Damn it!" She snatched the scroll off the leg of the bird and waved at it to go away.
"Ugh! Kakashi, we have a mission. An escort mission. What mission report did you fail to turn in now?"
He thought back. He didn't remember any mission reports he failed to turn in. Ohhhh. He thought. The 'mission' report was supposed to explain his and her absence without truly telling where they were. He heard her stomp out of her bedroom and slam the door shut.
"This is your fault. You lazy bastard." She then stomped out the house and slammed that door too.
Last time he checked, he wasn't the one who badgered him into sponsoring her for Anbu.
Sorry for the wait guys! But here it is. Please review!
-Keoo19