Team Sharingan
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or assorted characters, I'm just messing up the world to fit the delusions coming from my skull.
Chapter 1
The remaining three members of Team 7 walked thru the gates of Konoha, the mission to Wave had been a disaster. It had started out as a low C-Rank mission, upgraded to A-Rank and it went to hell from there. Sasuke Uchiha died protecting his teammate Naruto Uzumaki from the attack from the masked nin Haku.
The battle went from bad to worse as Naruto enraged slaughtered Haku, Zabuza died at Kakashi's hands and Gato had shown up with an army of mercenaries made up of street thugs and samurai. Their client had been killed before the end when Sakura, who had lost her right eye due to a dagger from a thug slit Gato's throat.
Naruto was laying unconscious due to chakra exhaustion had his left eye missing, a broken arrow from a crossbow had been pulled out by the berserker enraged Naruto.
Kakashi seeing Sasuke dead, his Sharingan activated looked at his two wounded students and did the only thing he could think of, he performed the transplant procedure and put one of Sasuke's eyes in each of his teammates.
The funeral had been short as the Uchiha's body had been burnt to prevent others from learning its secrets. Team 7 left Wave, broken.
"We need to report to the Hokage." Kakashi said to his remaining two students who both had their headbands covering their sharingan covered eyes like him. Since the battle of the bridge, they had been sullen, sad and nearly unresponsive. Naruto dragged his feet, the blond had been devoid of anything since the bridge, Kakashi barely got the two of them to eat and then it was a bowl of broth, and he knew in Naruto's case that was wrong, he'd watched the boy go thru thirty bowls of ramen in one sitting still be hungry.
Without a word the remainder of Team 7 walked the streets. Kakashi without his book saw how the villagers were glaring at Naruto, and he heard the whispers. He put a hand on the blonds shoulder and they kept walking. Reaching the Hokage Tower they reached the top floor and faced the receptionist.
"Team 7 to see the Hokage. Mission to protect the bridge builder…" Kakashi hated it, but he continued, "Failure."
The secretary looked up from her paperwork. "Where's your other student?" she asked.
"Dead. We need to see the Hokage." He said.
Her eyes landed on Naruto and they narrowed. "And yet this thing is still alive…"
"Anna, report to Ibiki, NOW!" The Hokage said from his doorway. He looked at Team 7, his old eyes saddening as he took in their appearance. "Come in. ANBU." He called.
A cat masked ANBU appeared. "Send for Iruka, and then make sure we're not disturbed once he's here."
The ANBU bowed and vanished in a leaf shushin.
Once the door was closed Sarutobi watched as Kakashi got his students to sit. He saw they were barely responsive.
"What happened Kakashi?" he asked once the Jonin took his own seat.
"The mission was a bust from the start. The client lied about the parameters. We encountered the Demon Brothers on our second day out. It was then revealed that he was being hunted by Gato who hired several high ranked missing nin to kill him. I allowed my students to vote on if we should continue the mission or return. It is my fault as I should have followed procedure, but my pride…" he lowered his head.
"We reached the shore of Wave country when we were attacked by the Demon of the Bloody Mist. We managed to fight him off…" he looked at Naruto. "Naruto saved me from a mistake I'd made and we continued, I was weakened due to chakra exhaustion and during the week of guarding the client I had my team learning tree climbing to build their chakra…I…I should have taught them that weeks ago…but again, my pride…" he shook his head.
"Zabuza and his partner, a masked nin called Haku returned at the end of the week. The Client was killed, and during the battle, Sasuke Uchiha was as well by Haku while protecting a teammate. I had just killed Zabuza when…"
Kakashi closed his eyes. "Naruto in a rage tapped into the Kyuubi's power and slaughtered Haku."
"Ne, Sensei." Naruto spoke, his voice hollow. "I ripped him to shreds. I am what the villagers have said since I can remember, I am a monster."
"No, you're not Naruto." Sarutobi said.
Kakashi nodded his head and saw Sakura put a hand on Naruto's forearm. The pair shared a one-eyed look and Naruto nodded. During the time since Sasuke's death the pair had bonded as only survivors seem able to do, drawing on one another's strength to do so.
"You're not a monster Naruto. Sasuke saw you as a friend, even if he never spoke it aloud." Sakura said softly. Sarutobi agreed, and he was surprised that Kakashi would speak about the Kyuubi so openly. Seeing the Hokage's concern he spoke up. "Naruto told her…" he shook his head remembering the emotion he heard from the blond remembering how expected Sakura to hate him, to rage against him, and instead the pink haired kunoichi grabbed her teammate in a bone crushing hug and sobbed "Sorry" over and over until both passed out from sheer emotional rundown.
Kakashi continued his report. "Before we could recover, Gato showed up with a hundred mercenaries and samurai. During the battle both Sakura and Naruto became wounded each of them losing an eye at some point." He looked at the Hokage. "I did the only thing I could to save my team at that time as they were both laying there bleeding out, I took Sasuke's newly acquired Sharingan eyes and transplanted them, one into each."
Sarutobi let out a breath. The council is going to have a shit fit. He thought. Not to mention the mission failure, but what will they do now that Naruto possesses the Sharingan?
"What will happen to us now Lord Hokage?" Sakura asked, he nearly missed her question as he voice was low, her head bowed.
He sighed, "It depends on the three of you." He finally said. "The two of you can return to the academy to be recycled onto new teams with the next graduating class." He saw the look in their single eyes and knew they didn't want that.
"You can continue on as a two person cell until a third teammate can be found." He looked at Kakashi. "Or you can retire from the life of ninja's. Those are your options."
Naruto and Sakura exchanged glances. "I'll give you a week to decide. Take that time to mourn and heal up." The pair nodded. "Dismissed." Sarutobi said, and he watched sadly as Naruto shuffled from the room, Sakura behind him. Kakashi paused.
"Lord Hokage…" he started coming to attention.
"Yes Kakashi?"
"I…I request that should they opt to remain ninja and a team…I ask that I be allowed to take them on an extended training trip. I need to show them how to use their new eyes…and I need to make amends for the mistakes I made in regards to both of them, and I don't think they'll be able to heal here in Konoha."
"Why?" Sarutobi had an idea, but he wanted to hear Kakashi's reasoning.
"The villagers hate Naruto, and once it gets out Sasuke died protecting him…" he trailed off. "I don't think it will be good for his mental health, and by extension Sakura's. since Sasuke's death…he's been the only thing keeping her sane. On the bridge, she snapped…she tore into the mercenaries without caution. She lost her eye during that, and when Gato taunted about Sasuke…there was no emotion on her face when she slit that man's throat. When she saw Naruto go down…"
Kakashi's lone eye closed. "I thought she was going to go catatonic until he pulled the crossbow bolt from his eye, she was at his side screaming for him not to leave her too."
Sarutobi nodded at this. "Regardless of their decision, I want them to spend time with Inoshi Yamanaka. After he evaluates them and helps them deal with the trauma, I give you permission to take them out of the village."
Kakashi nodded. "Thank you lord Hokage." Kakashi left. It was only after a few moments that he noticed that Kakashi had not once pulled his book out to read.
XX
Naruto stopped. "Your home Sakura." He said, his voice hollow. He went to move, but Sakura had yet to release his hand. "Don't go. Come in." she said.
Naruto shook his head. "No…your mother…" he remembered the elder Haruno woman who worked at the library, how she kept kicking him out and calling ANBU on him.
"Please." Sakura said.
Naruto swallowed and nodded. The pair had walked from the Hokage's tower and many people were talking about the headbands covering their eye. Sakura had heard the whispers about Naruto.
Was I so shallow not to notice the pain he was in?
Naruto followed her in, and she sat on the living room couch, Naruto sitting silently next to her.
"What are we going to do?" she asked after ten minutes of silence.
Before the blond next to her could say anything, she heard the front door slide open. "Sakura? Are you home?"
"In here mom." She answered, her hand gripping Naruto's in a plea for him to stay no matter what was said.
"Ira down at the market said she saw you come…YOU!" she yelled seeing Naruto in her living room.
XX
Kakashi sat at the ninja only bar the "Straight Edge" and sipped his sake. He had come straight here after making his report and ordered a bottle. His whole posture screamed out failure. I failed Obito, and I failed Sasuke. I can't fail Naruto and Sakura again. They're at their breaking point right now. He looked at the bottle before him and at the saucer before pouring the alcohol back into the bottle. The ninja in the bar watched as he stood up and strode from the bar, the rumors already spreading about the loss of the Uchiha.
XX
"MOM!" Sakura said putting herself between her mother and her sole remaining teammate.
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE DEMON!" Sakura's mom yelled and threw a vase at him. Sakura smacked it out of the air and glared at her mother. "He's not a demon. He's my teammate and friend."
"Sakura dear, you don't know what you're saying!" her mother said.
"I know about the Kyuubi mother. Naruto isn't the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi wouldn't have cared about Sasuke dying. A demon or monster wouldn't have cared about me being hurt."
Sakura kept a hold of Naruto's arm as she kept herself between her mother and Naruto.
"You've brainwashed my daughter."
"He's done no such thing." Sakura fired back. "Mom, please I need you to understand. We're both hurt, we just lost our teammate, I need my mother to accept me, and to accept my friend."
Kimura Haruno looked at her daughter. She noticed both teens had an eye covered. She didn't think her daughter had been hurt.
"You did this you monster. You hurt my baby girl." Kimura hissed at Naruto.
"He did not. It was bandits and mercenaries." Sakura said. "Naruto fought his hardest to keep me safe. He took a crossbow bolt meant for me and lost his eye saving ME!"
Kimura looked at her daughter. "And you lost your eye, how?"
Sakura closed her green eye. "I'd been incensed when Sasuke died." She felt Naruto tense, but kept her grip on his arm. "Gato taunted me about his and Naruto's death. I went crazy and a merc slipped past my defenses and stabbed me in my eye with a dagger. I kept going…I killed Gato, I slit a man's throat mother."
She felt tears slip from her regular eye, the sharingan one still too new to be connected to her tear ducts properly.
"If you think Naruto's a monster, then I am too, because I killed those men, I slashed their throats, I stabbed them over and over again."
She turned and buried her face into Naruto's shoulder, the blond held her. "Naruto is the only thing keeping me sane, and if you kick him out mother, I'm going with him, because he's that important to me."
Kimura Haruno looked at her shattered, broken daughter then at the blond boy who was gently holding her, whispering softly to her, trying to sooth her. For the first time ever, Kimura looked at the blond boy, really looked at him. She didn't see the fox that had killed her husband, but a hurt young boy, hurt more than her daughter, comforting Sakura, trying to be her pillar of strength even as he looked ready to shatter into a million pieces himself.
Swallowing the lump in her throat she spoke. "N-Naruto was it?" she said, her own voice hesitant. He nodded slowly while still soothing Sakura. "Why don't you both sit down, I'll make some tea, and get you both something to eat…you both look like you haven't eaten in days."
He nodded, his voice hollow. "Nothing more than broth, neither of us have been hungry Mrs. Haruno."
She didn't flinch at the defeated tone his voice held. She watched as the boy got her daughter to sit on the couch and she saw her daughter keeping a grip on his arm.
My poor baby…and I just added to your pain… she thought as she went to the kitchen. She would accept the boy for Sakura's sake. She put a pot on the stove and went to make a chicken broth as well.
She turned when she heard the front door open and close.
Peering from the kitchen she saw the two still on the couch, but they were joined by a white haired man who like the two children had one eye covered.
That's their sensei, Hatake. I remember Sakura telling me about him.
"Hello?" she said.
Kakashi turned from where he was sitting across from the pair. "Forgive my intrusion, but I needed to speak with my students…"
"Haven't you done enough?" Kimura asked.
Kakashi actually winced.
"Its okay mom." Sakura said, her voice sounding tired. "What were you saying Kakashi-sensei?"
He turned back to his students. "I know we just returned, but I spoke with the Hokage, and you both are coming with me, we're heading back out to a special training ground my family owns a mile out of Konoha. I've spoken with Inoichi Yamanaka and he's going to be helping you both with the…(sigh) with the death of Sasuke and the lives we took that day. He's also going to help you Naruto with everything you've been through."
"Why?" Naruto asked, his voice dead. "What's it matter, I'm the demon…"
"NO!" Sakura yelled and grabbed his chin forcing him to look at her. "You're not the Kyuubi. You're Naruto Uzumaki. You might not be the greatest ninja from the academy, but someday you will be Hokage." She said.
Kimura saw her daughters lone eye, the sudden steel behind her gaze. I've only seen her like that when its important to her. Who are you Naruto Uzumaki that has snared my daughter into your life?
"Say it Naruto, you are not the Kyuubi, everyone who thinks you are, are nothing but idiots."
"Sakura-chan." He said softly.
"Say it Naruto. You are not the Kyuubi." Her lone green eye was watering again.
"She's right Naruto." Kakashi said. He stood and crouching before the pair on the couch put a hand on each one's shoulder.
"We'll get through this." He said.
"What if I can't?" Naruto asked. "What if they don't let me?"
"We'll deal. Remember we're a team. Those who break the rules are trash…"
Naruto's lone eye met his sensei's. "But those who abandon their friends and teammates are worse than trash."
Sakura nodded. "We aren't splitting up, nor going back to the academy." She shared a look.
"Do we quit?" she asked. Naruto's eye met hers. "It would be easy to walk away." He said, his voice cracking.
Sakura nodded. "It would, but we don't do easy, do we?"
Naruto nodded.
"Then we go with Kakashi-sensei and we get better." Sakura said. "We heal and we do our best to make Sasuke proud of us."
Kimura watched her daughter and the boy who not more than ten minutes ago she thought of as a demon. She watched as they drew strength from one another and comfort from their sensei.
"Sleep tonight, we'll get started tomorrow." Kakashi said.
XX
Kimura watched the Jonin leave and went back to the kitchen. She came back out with tea to find both teens asleep against one another. Her first reaction was to pull her daughter away. She squashed it down and went and got a blanket and covered them.
Treat my daughter well Naruto Uzumaki. You hold her shattered and broken heart in your hands.
AN: First try at this pairing. It was a plot that hit me when my pc was dead.