Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Masks and Smiles ❯ Chapter 1

 

It was a cloudless summer night. The air was fresh and the breeze that blew through Konoha was cool. It was late, as the village lay sleeping, children tucked in their beds, adults sleeping in theirs. All but one…

Kakashi laid there, on the small meadow where Shikamaru often gazed at the clouds from, hands behind his head, staring at the endless stars, visible on that cloudless night. He would find no sleep on that summer night, haunted by memories and nightmares of the past. So he sought for present memories, more recent ones, of his team for half a year, number 7, consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. And, of course, Uzumaki Naruto. Yes, that was his team. Both famous - because of Sasuke (of course) - and infamous - because of Naruto (of course). Being made up of the village's cool and aloof rookie, as well as the village's trouble-making prankster, with one of the village's well known hotheads who was well adapted to loathing her teammate with a passion and loving the other with the same passion at the same time...yes… Kakashi smiled. Every day was an experience. And not always a good one. But there were laughs every so often, in between heated and intense conflict and competition, there was always laughter, and good memories to be made. Kakashi loved his team, would risk his life for any one of them. Each member had their own lovable, endearing qualities, and each had their own unbearable quirks. Of course, Kakashi had his own set of quirks. He chuckled at his students' constant look of exasperation and annoyance whenever he took out his infamous book. And the death glares he received every morning before practice or a mission, due to his predictable lateness. Of course he was always late. It had become a sort of ritual to stop by the monumental stone every morning. The stone… with his best friends' names on it…

D*mn it! He was brought back to the dark memories of his past with a harsh tug. D*mn it, D*mn it! Well, if he was bound to live in his past, there had to be something in it that didn't haunt him, had to be something in his past he didn't mind remembering. Kakashi racked his brain, digging almost frantically at his mind to try to come up with something, anything, that didn't drive him insane with grief and guilt.

Her face flashed through his mind. Kakashi froze. Her. He had almost forgotten all about her. Her. Kakashi suddenly felt a calm slowly wash over him. It was strange how she would have an affect like that on him. Just remembering her brought a soothing and welcomed peace to his mind. It was odd. He hadn't thought of her in years, and yet, Kakashi thought, she was always somehow subconsciously on his mind. And it was an odd feeling her memory brought with her, the calm. After all, Kakashi had always remembered her generally with her cold and impassive expression that went oh-so-well with her none-too-different personality; and the time they had together wasn't all that enviable, even if it had its moments. True, she didn't die tragically like the rest of Kakashi's friends from the past, but neither did she stay and live happily with him…

But this was it. This was a memory that didn't crush him with grief, or suffocate him in guilt. The memory wasn't exactly cheerful… but the time he had spent with her… the memory… it was at some level… happy…

Kakashi turned back to the beckoning stars and allowed himself… to remember… about her…

 

 

Twenty-one year old Kakashi sighed. He had just gotten back from an ANBU mission two days ago and now the hokage was calling him on yet another mission. Being a member of the elite of the elite, a member of the ANBU, wasn't exactly everything he had dreamed of. Not that he really dreamed of much. Mostly nightmares. Kakashi mentally shook his head. No, being an ANBU may not have been a vacation, but it had its uses. Forcing him to constantly concentrate on the mission at hand also forced out the monsters in his head, the dark memories of the not so distant past. Kakashi sighed, then, ANBU mask in hand (he was still wearing his usual black face mask), he knocked on the door leading to the hokage's office and stepped in.

From his desk, the Third Hokage liked up from a small pile of paperwork. “Kakashi,” he greeted.

Kakashi bowed. “Hokage-sama. You called?”

The hokage nodded. “I apologize, Kakashi, I know you only just got back from your last mission… but this is important, and you're the best shinobi for this job.”

Kakashi bowed his head. “I understand, Hokage-sama.”

“This is an escorting mission, but not the usual one. The person you and two other ANBU will be escorting is a girl, twelve years old, named Ichikawa Akina. I have already briefed the other two about the mission. You and your team are to escort the girl to the other side of the Rock country, where Akina will then find a ship and sail to the land of Dainami.”

“Dainami...! That's a whole other continent!”

“Yes. It will be a long journey and the girl is traveling far. Normally I would give this mission to the chuunin, seeing as they are the journeyman ninja, but this is somewhat of a special case. The girl is running away from her family's main household to go to live with her aunt on Dainami. As she is the only heir to her family's large wealth, there will be other shinobi after her, sent by her family to bring her back, or from other sources trying to take her for ransom. This will be a dangerous mission.”

Kakashi sighed, then bowed. “I understand.”

“Good. While you're here, why don't you meet the rest of your team.”

He sent for the other two ANBU. “And while you're at it, send the girl in,” the hokage ordered. An attendant at the door bowed, then invited in a person waiting on the other side.

Kakashi saw a girl, about twelve years old, step through the door. She had short brown hair that reached her chin, slightly curling in at the end. She wore a casual and simple green kimono, slightly dusty from travel. She looked nervously around the room with her large, innocent brown eyes, then hesitatingly walked up to the hokage's desk. She bowed, then stood there quietly.

The door opened again. Two figures stepped in to the room, dressed in their ANBU outfits, as Kakashi was. Both were about Kakashi's age.

One was a young man with slightly long brown hair, just barely reaching his shoulders. He had brown eyes and a soft face, a friendly smile playing his lips. He wore the usual ANBU uniform and in his hand was the ANBU mask of a fox.

The other was a woman with shoulder length very dark brown hair. She had on a slightly hard expression; her sharp brown eyes taking in the room (think Kurenai). She also wore the usual ANBU outfit and in her hand was the mask of a falcon.

They both walked up to the hokage's desk and stood next to Kakashi.

“Kakashi, meet your team; Katsu Hiro,” the young man, “and Danjuro Isano,” the young woman. “This is Hatake Kakashi. He will be leading your next mission,” the Hokage said the two.

“Now, meet Ichikawa Akina. Akina, you heard who they were. Akina will be your charge until she is safely on the ship taking her to Dainami.”

Akina looked at the three ANBUs curiously, then smiled and bowed. “Thank you, Kakashi-san, Hiro-san, and Isano-san for your help.”

Kakashi grinned. “No problem. It's our job.” Hiro also grinned. Isano hinted a smile and nodded.

“Alright, if there are no further questions, you four are to leave tomorrow first thing in the morning. You are dismissed.”

 

 

Off in the woods outside of the village hidden in the leaves, three figures stood, hidden in the shadows of the trees.

“Is this where she is?” asked the first person. She was whispering, but even then, one could pick out the confidence and cheerfulness of the voice.

“It should be, this is the village of Konoha, right?” said the second person, almost hesitantly. She, too, was whispering, but her voice said that she was used to speaking softly.

“Yeah, it says so, there on the gate. We're here then,” said the first person.

“Alright. How long has it been since she left?” asked the second person.

“Three days now.”

“That means she should be leaving the village tomorrow.”

“Should we go in and get her? It's dark now, the village should be sleeping. We can just go in, grab her, then come out, no problem. The villagers won't know she's missing until morning,” suggested the first person.

“I don't know… we don't want to create too much trouble. It might be easier to get her once she's out of the city. The village of Konoha is known for its shinobi. We might get noticed. Then we'd be outnumbered and things could get messy…” said the second person. “What should we do…?”

From the branch above the first two came a cold, impassive female voice.

“We wait,” said the third person.

 

 

 

 

AN: BTW, this is my first posted Fanfic^^ please read and review^^ and please don't kill me… or if you do, do it in the nicest way possible?