Ablaze: A Sakura Haruno Crossover Fanfiction Book 1

The Girl Who Suffered From Over Protection

Night had fallen yet the shrill cry of crickets went unheard. It was as if the world was holding its breath waiting to see what would happen next. Chaos reigned in a manner which had never before been seen by the ninja world. They were in the middle of the Fourth Great Ninja War and they weren't winning.

Kakashi Hatake walked sedately up the hill to join his team. He had broken away from the main fighting when he got word that Sasuke and Naruto were down and that Sakura had disappeared with Obito in order to save Naruto's life.

He thought that perhaps he had become a bit desensitized. The thought of Naruto being so severely wounded in battle that his life had to be saved instead of those of his companions was sobering. Naruto was not infallible. He was human just like the rest of them.

It was this line of reasoning that told Kakashi that he needed to find his team quickly. However, when he found Naruto it was only to discover that the rumors had been false. Naruto and Sasuke certainly weren't down. If anything they looked stronger than ever. He let out a breath of relief that he hadn't been aware that he'd been holding.

Then he realized that something or rather someone was missing.

The Copy Ninja glanced back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke noting the absence of one particular member. He waited for one or the other to speak up and tell him where she had disappeared to yet neither one of them deigned to answer the unspoken question and so he spoke it aloud.

"Where is Sakura?"

Naruto's countenance darkened and thereafter turned and looked at Sasuke causing Kakashi to do the same. Kakashi's fist clenched at his side when the Uchiha remained silent. Kakashi swore then that if Sasuke said that he had killed her then the war be damned, he'd kill the Uchiha where he stood. He had lost too much in his life. He wasn't going to lose either Sakura or Naruto as well.

Sasuke's lips curled in disgust, knowing that Kakashi wasn't going to budge until he had given him some sort of answer which showed Kakashi that Sasuke wasn't as idiotic as he had begun to believe.

"She's safe."

When no further explanation was forthcoming Kakashi slightly turned his head and looked at Naruto who wouldn't meet his gaze. Kakashi knew then that something was wrong. Naruto didn't avoid problems. He faced them head on. Something unpleasant twisted in Kakashi's gut.

"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?"

It didn't appear to Kakashi that Sasuke cared whether or not he believed him and before Kakashi knew it he had taken a menacing step forward. He had already tried to kill Sakura once. If he succeeded in his second attempt then it would be the last thing he accomplished. Before Kakashi had the opportunity to make good on his threat Naruto stepped between them. Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto who met his gaze unflinchingly.

"Sakura is safe, Sensei."

"Then where is she?" Seeing was believing, and until he saw her before him then she wasn't safe. She was in danger, and he wasn't certain his mind, on that particular day, was strong enough to accept losing another person. Maybe the next day he'd be able to take a step back away from the edge of insanity, but that day hadn't yet come.

"We sent her away."

Something about the way Naruto phrased his words didn't sit well with him.

"Sakura, one of our strongest medics, voluntarily left during the middle of the war? That doesn't make any sense, and it doesn't sound like Sakura at all."

Naruto looked away. Kakashi wished he would stop doing that.

"That's because we didn't ask her opinion as to whether she should stay or go. We sent her somewhere she would be safe."

Kakashi said the words they left unsaid hoping that by saying them aloud they would realize the magnitude of their actions. "Without her expressed permission. In other words you kidnapped her."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto interjected, but Kakashi would hear none of it.

"No. Don't pretend that my words are false. Just bring her back."

"No." Sasuke said, speaking up before Naruto had the chance to. "We don't need Sakura to win this war."

Kakashi couldn't believe he was hearing two of the people Sakura cared for the most in the world belittle everything she had done to become stronger, to stand at their sides as an equal.

"He's right, Sensei." Kakashi opened his mouth to retort, but Naruto's next words made them die in his throat. "We don't need Sakura to win this war. We need her to survive it. So we had to make sure she was safe. We're going to bring her back, honestly. Just not yet."

Kakashi gazed up at the darkened sky asking some deity for guidance that wasn't forthcoming. Sakura was going to kill both of them when she came home.

"Where is she?"

Kakashi finally asked when he realized he had no words of wisdom to offer the two boys. In fact, as soon as Sakura came home, he was going to throw them to the wolves. Tsunade and Sakura were going to give them hell, but they didn't need to know that right now.

"In another dimension."

Kakashi frowned. "You mean like the void that my Sharingan can send things into?"

"No."

Sasuke's taciturn reply did nothing to soothe his ire.

"We sent her to a whole new world, Sensei."

A new world? That wasn't any more reassuring. She could still be dead. He didn't doubt for a second that the possibility of a different world existed. There were many implausible things in the their world. The idea of a completely different world that existed outside their own was one of the saner ideas.

"Did you scout this new world before you sent her to it?"

They both fell silent and Naruto turned and looked at Sasuke who didn't return his gaze because it was obviously a stupid question. Of course they hadn't scouted the world. They were young and foolish and could have perhaps sent Sakura into unnecessary danger.

"Can you bring her back right now?"

Seconds passed before Sasuke replied with, "no."