Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Come Undone ❯ chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

 

Disclaimer: Naruto characters and original story property of Masashi Kishimoto

 

//NOTES//

 

Rating -- PG-13 (may increase later) for language, violence, and sexual situations.

 

Summary -- After a series of sloppy solo missions, Tsunade is starting to lose faith in the abilities of the so called `genius ninja' Hatake Kakashi. She decides to employ the help of Sakura to keep tabs on the copy-nin during missions to see if he really is `losing his touch'. [Eventual KakaSaku]

 

Spoiler Warning* -- This story diverges where part II begins, but anything from part I is fair game (especially the Kakashi-Gaiden chapters). This means if you have not read up to chapter 245 of the Naruto manga, you will be spoiled.

 

IMPORTANT! -- This is a KakashiXSakura pairing story. Sakura will be 17, making Kakashi about 31. If this pairing bothers you, stop reading now. You know what you're getting yourself into, so let's not waste each other's time.

 

FYI - the 1rst part of this chapter is a prologue, taking place about 6 months after Naruto left to train with Jiraiya. The bulk of the story will take place about 2 years after Naruto's return. Hopefully this isn't too confusing.

 

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***

.:Come Undone:.

.:Prologue/01:.

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“Anything is better than nothing.”

 

It had to be someone's fault. The tight humid air was suffocating and Tsunade's particularly bad mood during the regular training session had done little to appease Sakura's mood. She was angry… at everything. Like the heavy clouds that weighed on the sky, Sakura could no longer hold in her frustrations. She had to find someone to blame. Somebody had to take responsibility for her.

 

Drip.

 

She clenched her fists, angry that the sky might let loose before she did. How long had she been waiting? She stood stiffly against the warm wooden doorframe as her thoughts tumbled upon one another. Did Kakashi actually intend to be late coming home to his empty apartment?

 

Idiot.

 

She knew for a fact he reported back from his mission at precisely 7:24 pm. Being the hokage's most studious apprentice did have its advantages, after all. She at least assumed eavesdropping on Tsuanade's meetings would guarantee a chance to catch up with the infuriating jounin before he left on his next A-Rank mission. Yet, there she was, for exactly three hours and sixteen minutes, waiting in front of his apartment doorway.

 

Dammit.

 

A burst of cool wind brushed her hot skin, but it did little to extinguish her mood. Kakashi was not really even the person she wanted to talk to, but he was the only link to team 7 that still bothered to show up on occasion. For that, she figured he might be the only one who could understand why she felt the way she did.

 

Even so, he never once stopped by to check up on her training with Tsunade when he stopped by town in between missions. When she passed him on the street she was lucky if she got even a `yo' or a wave. His apathy was enough to make her dictate her anger in its entirety toward him. Perhaps it wasn't his fault, but that was not at all her concern at the moment.

 

She stood, glaring, with her fists balled so tightly her knuckles were stark white. He finally showed up, standing directly inside her line of vision with his usual bored expression. She tried her best to intensify her glare but he simply scratched his head.

 

“Sakura… do you need help with something?” he finally drew out after an unnecessarily frustrating exaggerated pause.

 

She tightened her lips into a thin line, trying to maintain the anger that she stored all day. Earlier, it seemed to be a good idea, but now standing face to face with her former teacher, she forgot what her perfectly planned speech was supposed to accomplish. But, it was too late to change her mind.

 

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and simply waited for her to speak as he studied each emotion that passed through her face. She caught the act and it irritated he enough to finally bring her words out.

 

“YOU LIED!” she screamed.

 

Okay, so it wasn't going to come out like she planned. He blinked in response but seemed otherwise unfazed.

 

“You Said!” she yelled, but her voice cracked with tears. “You said everything would be okay! You said you wouldn't let this happen! YOU LIED!”

 

In her mind, her speech had been so tactful and well considered. And yet there were her words coming out in a mess. She was screwing up yet again. The sobs the wrecked her body prevented her from speaking forward though she had so much to say. She wanted him to know how much it hurt to have her team torn apart. She wanted him to know how much she missed Sasuke and Naruto. She wanted him to feel awful for not doing anything to prevent it.

 

“Are you finished?” He finally asked, bringing her tear filled eyes back to him.

 

No.

 

“Yes.” She replied in a broken voice as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

 

He nodded and walked past her. She felt something tear in her stomach and whirled her head around as he pushed his key into his door. He was just going to ignore her? Did he really care that little?

 

He paused as he walked into the doorframe. The silence between them was broken by the sound of the rain finally pouring from the heavens.

 

“I'm sorry, Sakura…” he finally spoke, “I thought you were stronger than that.”

 

Sakura tilted her head in confusion and he turned his head to smile at her. Half of her brain wanted to be insulted by the remark, but she felt the warm feeling of mild comfort wash through her.

 

She sniffed, wondering if she should apologize as well. He had assured her, with what she thought to be true sincerity, that everything would be okay. Maybe she had been to rash in casting off his words. She guessed there was still time to fix things. That's why they were all working so hard, wasn't it? She opened her mouth to speak but he interrupted her.

 

“I'm not used to the long hair…”

 

“Huh?” Sakura blinked as he smiled again and closed the door, and left her standing confused outside his apartment. She fingered her hair, finally long enough to fall past her shoulders.

 

 

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“DOBE!”

 

Sakura put her fingers to her temple and groaned. Another C-Rank mission was dragging on longer than necessary thanks to Naruto and Sasuke's constant bickering. Their assignment was dull but simple. An in-town mission that required the three to clean one wing of the main building that housed the more esteemed visitors of Konoha. If the two boys would simply focus for even a few minutes the job would have been finished hours earlier.

 

Unfortunately, they much preferred to rant and flail about like children.

 

“Sasuke-bastard!” Naruto growled as he carelessly flung a soaking washcloth to his right, “My side would be cleaner if you didn't keep messing it up!”

 

“You idiot.” Sasuke drew out, “You're just getting dirty water all over the place and making it harder for the rest of us.”

 

“You…” Naruto ground out as he charged toward Sasuke. Two steps later he was flat on his back lying on the slippery ground. “Dammit Sasuke!”

 

“Moron. That was your own damn fault.” Sasuke replied as he went to stand over his fallen teammate.

 

“Would you two just quit?!” Sakura screeched from the opposite side of the room where she sat cleaning her section of the floor. “I'm going to leave and have the two of you finish by yourself if you don't start working!”

 

Naruto sat up and glanced at her with genuine guilt shining in his eyes. “heh heh… sorry, Sakura-chan.”

 

Sasuke snorted and walked off, sure that the conflict was not his fault. Sakura sighed and continued working, all the while grumbling about the quality alone time she was missing out on.

 

No, after all their team went through, not much had really changed. Naruto and Sasuke still made everything a competition, fought constantly, and acted like the same twelve year olds assigned to team 7 five years before while Sakura tried to play peace-maker. It was hard to believe the group was separated for almost three years, painfully torn apart by circumstance.

 

In fact, it was only a little over a year since the group managed to drag Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru in one piece. Due to the worry from a large portion of the village that Sasuke - who betrayed Konoha - would run off again if placed back into the militant power, Tsunade reached a compromise. He was unable to participate in any advancement exams (though it was well known he was likely at Jounin level already), and he could only leave the village on team missions under Kakashi's command.

 

When Kakashi was alone on missions, as he was currently, the three were restricted to C-Rank missions inside the village walls. The work was boring and paid horribly but only Naruto was ever dumb enough to complain to the Godaime, which never made a bad situation any better.

 

The arrangement allowed for team 7 to remain intact and everything gradually returned to normal. It was really just as though they were still genin, eager and naïve, ready to take on a world they still didn't quite understand. Never mind that the sannin-trained trio was likely to reach their jounin status within the next couple years.

 

“Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!” Naruto gleefully exclaimed as he ran toward the mildly irritated kunoichi.

 

“What?” she muttered, not bothering to look up.

 

“I just remembered! Hinata-chan invited me to eat ramen with her when we finished. You'll come too, right?” He let out excitedly.

 

Sakura rolled her eyes, “No, I think you should go meet her alone, Naruto.”

 

“But… why?” He asked, scratching his head.

 

“Because…” Sakura sighed in exasperation. Why did he just not get it? “Hinata invited you, not me.”

 

Naruto's eyes squinted and he furrowed his brow in confusion. “I'm sure she wouldn't mind, Sakura-chan…”

 

“I'm supposed to meet with Tsunade-sama when we finish and I don't want to make you guys wait. I don't know how long I'll be, so I'll come eat ramen with you later this week, how's that?" Sakura explained. She put on a sweet smile for emphasis in hopes it would suffice as an explanation.

 

“Oh, okay!” Naruto replied happily. “You can still meet us the old lady doesn't keep you too long, right?”

 

Success. “Of course.” She replied with a grin.

 

“Naruto… leave her alone and get back to work.” Sasuke called from across the room.

 

“Heh. I'm still gonna finish before you!” Naruto declared as he rushed back to his corner of the room.

 

Sakura sighed, the two were arguing again in just a few minutes.

 

…

 

 

By the time Sakura was making her way toward Tsunade's headquarters, the sun was set and the air was slightly chilled. She ran her hands up her arms as she entered the building. By the time they finished cleaning, she barely had enough time for a shower. She groaned, running her hands through her damp, cold hair.

 

She passed other ninjas of various ranks as she walked through the halls and they all looked her way. If she looked half as bad as she felt, then she understood why. Her legs ached from spending so much time crouched down mopping the rooms, her hands were sore and worn raw from polishing the hardwood floors, and her head was throbbing, still hearing the overzealous voice of Naruto yelling against Sasuke's deadpan tone.

 

The thought of her warm, cozy, soft bed was the only thing that kept her moving forward but she had a stinging suspicion Tsunade was going to ask her to fill in for night shifts at the hospital again. That seemed to be the only reason the hokage ever asked for a meeting with so late in the evening. It was funny how Sakura seemed to get more rest on missions than during her `relaxation' time back home.

 

When she reached Tsunade's door she saw a particularly distraught looking Shizune leaning against the wall. Her short hair was messy and her eyes were staring at the floor while her hands nervously fidgeted with her robe. Sakura grimaced. Tsunade must intend to put both of them on overnight medic duty.

 

Shizune smiled brightly when she finally noticed Sakura's presence. “Sakura! Tsunade-sama is meeting with some of the town elders right now, she'll be ready to meet with you in just a few minutes!” the nervous medic ninja spurted out quickly with the gaping smile still plastered on her face.

 

Sakura nodded, but felt a sudden surge of dread. If Tsunade was meeting with the elders, was there a more serious mission for them? Perhaps it was totally unrelated, Sakura decided. The hokage was always busy after all.

 

She forced herself to relax and leaned against the wall by the door opposite of Shizune. She closed her eyes and wished her headache away but the action only seemed to force the day's exhaustion to catch up with her.

 

She started to feel herself drift into a world of half-sleep when the door next to her suddenly flew open. Her eyes widened and she jumped out of the way to see Tsunade lead two of the elders down the hall where a chuunin led them away. The Godaime turned and sighed, rubbing her temples with her hand as she walked back toward her office.

 

Sakura mentally grimaced. Dealing with a frustrated Tsunade was never an enjoyable experience. When the hokage finally reached her doorway she motioned her two apprentices in while her hand still occupied her head.

 

Tsunade made an exaggerated sigh as she seated herself at her desk and the two women stood side by side in front of her. They both waited for Tsunade to speak first, neither one willing to speak for fear of irritating the volatile and frightening woman in front of them.

 

“Sakura…” Tsunade finally spoke, resting her chin on her hands so she could bring her golden eyes to meet Sakura's. “What are your thoughts on Kakashi?”

 

Sakura furrowed her brows and briefly glanced to Shizune at her left. “Ano… I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Tsunade-sama.”

 

Tsunade sighed again. “Are you satisfied with his position as your team commander?”

 

“Well…” Sakura started, confused by the questions. “Yes. We all work well together. I have never had a problem with him.”

 

“Hm.” Tsunade nodded, “Are you aware that it is highly unusual for a jounin to stick with his assigned genin team for this long?”

 

“I thought since none of us have yet been promoted to Jounin, he was intended to remain in charge of our team.” Sakura replied.

 

“Right.” Tsunade affirmed, “However, there are many people in this village that feel he may not be… apt… enough to look after Sasuke and Naruto.”

 

Sakura frowned. For five years, after all the hell they went through, how could anyone think Kakashi was unable to take care of them?

 

“When Sasuke was returned to the village, it was partly Kakashi's own request to leave your team intact.” Tsunade continued to explain, “Given the circumstances, I was advised and decided to trust Kakashi's instincts. However, many of us are growing concerned with his performances lately.”

 

“What do you mean?” Sakura asked.

 

“Ten years ago, he was one of Konoha's top jounin, but lately he seems to be becoming more of a liability than an asset.” Tsunade asserted. She pulled a sheet of paper from a drawer in her desk and laid it out in front of her. “Six of his last twenty eight assassination missions were failures. If I am to believe what I am told by my advisors, he used to be flawless. Furthermore, he often returns to the village injured or drained of chakra. This is a great concern for us considering your team is so particularly sensitive. We cannot allow someone who makes mistakes to be in charge of both the Uchiha and Uzumaki.”

 

Sakura's throat felt dry.

 

“Now, I have someone who is completely against this.” Tsunade said, her tone lightening up a bit, “He advised that I take the time to fully appraise Kakashi before I assign you a new leader. But, to do this I will need your help, Sakura.”

 

Sakura nodded, “I'll do whatever I can.”

 

Tsunade smiled. “Good. I need you to start keeping a record on every mission you gone with Kakashi. I need you to include details of any battles, but also of his decisions. In a few months I'm going to take your reports through the panel of elders and a decision will be made based upon your observations. It's very important you are completely honest and thorough.”

 

Sakura took a breath. “Understood.”

 

“I'm glad. Report here tomorrow for training as usual.” Tsunade replied off handedly as she stood from her desk.

 

A massive web of thoughts whirled around in her head as Sakura bowed slightly and turned to leave. In her eyes, Kakashi was strength. He was always one of the most able ninjas, besides the Hokages, she had ever been in the presence of. She trusted him, not only as a fellow teammate, but also as a mentor and protector. The idea that Konoha could be losing faith in someone she thought of so highly fringed her temper.

 

Not to mention, she was unsure if she was even comfortable with her assignment. Kakashi would surely catch on to the little scheme and having never really experienced his anger herself, Sakura was fairly certain she was not ready to face it. As she meandered her way down the hall, she convinced herself she could only cross that bridge once she arrived. As far as she was concerned, he could not fail.

 

 

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A/N:

 

There are probably a billion spelling/grammar errors, and I'm very sorry for that. I haven't written in quite some time and I'm very rusty. Hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon.

 

Comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.