1,210A/N: Moving right into the canon timeline after some time travel shenanigans and Sakura doing some good deeds. If there are any other events that Sakura should have a say in, let me know. There are so many characters in Naruto, it's hard to keep track of them all. Since this story is in snippets rather than rigid chronological order, I can add in your suggestions in the other chapters!
Just like before, I do not have this chapter beta-ed, beware of inevitable mistakes.
Happy reading!
El
Chapter 2
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"Get up."
Sakura heaved, spitting out blood and dragging a trembling fist against her dirt stained cheek. Never in all her years of being a shinobi had she ever felt so hopelessly, and utterly, outclassed. Even when Kaguya had threatened them, she still had Naruto and Sasuke. Still had Kakashi.
Here? She was on her own.
Cycling chakra through her body, Sakura glared up at the four shinobi standing before her, looking more or less in optimal fighting condition. She had shattered the ribcage of Itachi's Susanoo an hour before, but it hardly hindered its destructive movements. Jiraiya and Obito were still moving freely, and Kakashi had a raikiri blazing in his hand.
"Come on, Sakura," Kakashi chided. "You can do better."
Jiraiya slammed his hands onto the cavern floor, and a wide swamp appeared under her body, forcing her to move. Flashing away with a double step Hiraishin, Sakura reappeared behind the Sannin, chakra blade swinging in retaliation. Her attack blast away his back in a diagonal slash, and she rolled left, already knowing she had seconds before he regenerated himself.
The distinct chirp of lightning caught her ear, and she felt the hot chakra of Kakashi's raikiri graze her side before she flashed away, landing right beside Itachi. Just as her chakra-enhanced foot was about to meet the skeletal hand of his Susanoo, she felt the distinct pull of Obito's kamui on her left arm, forcing her to teleport away.
She landed gracelessly onto the floor, barely catching herself before Jiraiya appeared behind her back, Rasengan spinning in his hand. Leaping out of the way, she jumped high into the air with a deep inhale, releasing her strongest fire jutsu onto the cavern ground.
A water dragon erupted from Kakashi's chakra, meeting her jutsu head on. Thick mist settled into the air as Sakura landed back on the floor, shaking from the adrenaline.
"Are you going to give up now, Sakura-chan?" Jiraiya called, landing a few dozen feet away. "If this is your limit, say so."
She spat against the dirt, clenching her fingers as she gave him a deadly glare. "I'll never give up."
With a renewed cry, she charged.
.
.
"Sakura! Sakura! HARUNO SAKURA!"
She jolted, snapping her eyes open as a stalk of blackboard chalk came flying at her face. Moving her head, she dodged the deadly stick as it hit the desk behind her, spinning and ricocheting to smack Shikamaru in the back on his head.
"Ow," the boy mumbled, lazily rubbing the area where he had been hit.
Naruto and Sasuke snickered next to her.
"That's it! This is the fourth time this week," Iruka bellowed. "Sakura, Shikamaru, stay behind after the class ends."
There was a groan behind her where Shikamaru sat, and Sakura didn't even bother giving her meditation excuse anymore. Iruka hadn't believed her since day one.
"Hai, sensei," she grumbled, giving Naruto and Sasuke a glare. They promptly schooled their features.
Iruka dragged the class along in a long explanation of Konoha history for the remainder of the day, and Sakura fought to keep herself looking mildly interested. She didn't know if she could take this for the next five years at the Academy. The practical lessons were somewhat more intensive, but she wasn't learning anything new at all.
When Iruka finally released the class, Naruto and Sasuke gave her a snickering pat on the shoulder.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I'll have beaten Sasuke-teme by the time you get back."
He snorted. "Yeah, right, dobe."
She smiled. "All right. See you guys there."
The two left as the class emptied out, bickering back and forth about who'd defeat the other. Sakura felt her cheeks strain from the grin, her chest humming with satisfaction as she watched them leave. Their bond as brothers and rivals was already so strong.
"All right, Sakura, Shikamaru," Iruka crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating. "Must I lecture you two on this again? How many times has it been now?"
Sakura didn't bother answering and neither did the resident genius behind her.
Iruka sighed. "I don't understand, especially you, Sakura! I know you can do better!"
"Meh," she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not very interested."
"As expected," he muttered, turning to Shikamaru next. "And you! You don't even try at all! You're grades are horrendous, Shikamaru! You need to stop turning in your tests blank!"
He gave Iruka a flat look. "But that requires effort."
Iruka gave a long, suffering sigh and simply gave up. It was the same lecture every week, and Sakura wondered when he would give it up for good.
"I have your punishment here," he jabbed a finger towards the two buckets on the ground. "I expect the entire room to be sparkling clean for tomorrow, understand? Even the ceiling."
Sakura frowned at the buckets, noting the large towel rags that were folded behind. "Hai."
Nodding that he at least received an answer from one of them, he grabbed his papers and headed out the door with the snap.
For a moment, neither of them spoke until Shikamaru muttered under his breath, pushing himself to his feet.
"This is so troublesome, but if I'm not home for dinner it'll be even more troublesome."
"Agreed," she nodding, walking down the steps after him. "How should we do this?"
Shikamaru picked up one of the rags before drenching it in his bucket of soapy water. "Dunno. We'd probably need to stack the desks and chairs to get the walls and ceiling though."
She picked up her own rag, releasing a pulse of sensory chakra to make sure no Anbu or high-level shinobi were in the area, possibly watching them. When her scan returned clean, she smirked.
"Leave the walls and ceiling to me, Shikamaru," she said easily. "You get everything else on the ground floor."
He looked inquisitive for a moment before deciding that it was too much effort to even ask. "Deal."
Ringing out the extra water, Sakura walked over to the back wall first, slipping off her shoes. She rolled her sleeves above her elbows and pressed the pad of her foot against the wall with chakra.
She felt Shikamaru's eyes bore into her back as she walked up the wall. Starting from the top left corner, she got into a crouching position, the towel stretched out in front of her. With a kick, she ran along the top edge of the wall, dragging all the dirt and dust with her. As she neared the corner, she forced her body to flip, using the adjacent wall as leverage and twisted around in the other direction.
Back and forth she ran across in a zigzag formation, gradually making her way down to the floor. When the last row was sparkling clean, she released the chakra from her feet, jumping onto the floor.
Shikamaru was still staring.
"You know what'll be real troublesome, Shikamaru?" she asked cheerily, cleaning the dirt out of her rag. "You end up missing dinner because you spent the entire time staring instead of cleaning."
He snorted. "Iruka-sensei wasn't lying I see."
"Why? Refused to believe that I was actually competent regardless of my sleep schedule?"
The corner of his lips tugged up. "I thought you were 'meditating'?"
She grumbled. "I was! Why does no one ever believe me?"
Shikamaru got on all fours, and started cleaning the ground. "Who the heck mediates? What do you even mediate about?"
"There's no subject to meditate on, that would be called analyzing something," she argued, walking up the east wall with a clean rag. "It's too clear your mind, and to promote easier chakra regulation in the long run."
"Got a lot on your mind?" he grunted.
She refused to sigh. Just saving the world, no big deal. "You don't even know the half of it."
"So why don't you graduate early?"
"Why don't you?" she shot back.
He momentarily stopped, looking up at her. "I'm dead-last, Sakura. As if I can."
"Don't give me that crap," she chided, jumping off the wall. "I know you're smart, Shikamaru. You know you're smart. I admit your lazy façade throws people off but it's hard to hide intelligence, you know."
He looked stunned.
She gave him a grin. "You can't hide intelligence like yours. Besides, who doesn't know that the Nara clan pops out tactical geniuses every generation?"
"But that's all I've got, Sakura," he shrugged, returning to his work. There was something in his eyes that seemed sharper now, as if his previous barrier of cautious laziness disappeared. "I'm smart in situations. I could give you hundreds of different ways to subdue a man with a kunai—but implementing it? That's another ordeal."
"Then practice," she said earnestly. "It might sound cliché, but you really can't improve without failure."
He looked contemplative.
"You have to push me, Sakura," Shikamaru rubbed his hands together, a habit that showed he was frustrated. "Every day I tell myself things could have been better if I had been stronger earlier. That I could have saved Sasuke when he defected Konoha during our Genin days. That I could have saved Asuma-sensei. That I could have saved Chouji and Ino—"
"That's not it, Shikamaru," she argued. "You know that mission's failure wasn't on your shoulders and yours only. None of it was."
"No, it's true," he raised a hand, halting her objection. "Even during my fight with Temari in the Chunin Exams, I could think of ten perfect moves but my chakra reserves didn't allow me to. It's situations like those where I wish now, I would have tried harder when I was younger."
"What do you want to me do?"
"I need the encouragement to do better," he said firmly. "I'll probably be an unbelievable pain in the ass and a lazy coward to boot, but I'll thank you now while we're here."
She smiled. "I won't let you down."
"I dunno," he mumbled, wiping down the front row of desks. "I don't really find a point in it all."
After all four walls were done, Sakura walked up to the ceiling, using chakra to stop the blood from piling in her head. "Shikamaru, what's your favorite thing to do?"
"Watch clouds," he replied easily.
"Let me rephrase: what do you do best?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Shōgi."
She inwardly grinned. Bingo. "Are you confident in your abilities?"
"Depends on whom I'm playing against," he replied slowly, giving her a stare.
"Let's make a deal, Shikamaru," she suggested, landing in front of him. "If I can win against you in a game of Shōgi, you have to come out and train with Naruto, Sasuke and I every day after the Academy ends."
He stared unblinkingly. "And what if I win?"
"Make your offer."
He seemed to think, tilting his head as if to get a better analysis of her. "I'll think about it."
"You seem pretty confident that you'll win," she said simply, catching his gaze.
"So do you."
Sakura gave him a wicked grin. "Let's figure out then, shall we?"
.
.
Naruto yelled in alarm as the bark on the tree exploded outwards, forcing his body to jump away. He twisted in the air, landing uncoordinatedly on his back.
"Too much chakra, dobe. Use smaller amounts."
"I know, I know!" he grumbled, picking himself back up. "I get how to do it but using the right amount is impossible! My chakra doesn't want to listen to me."
Sasuke grunted as his own tree splintered underneath his foot and he was forced to jump away at the loss of balance.
"Maaah, where's Sakura-chan?" he glanced at the sun, noting how close it was to the horizon. "She's never been this late."
Sasuke's face flickered to one of curiosity as well before worry. "Who knows? Iruka-sensei could have had them cleaning the entire Academy."
Naruto wasn't fooled. "What if she's in trouble or something? Come on! We gotta go look for her!"
"What trouble?" Sasuke snorted. "She's probably just held back."
"I see you eyeing the scrape on your leg," Naruto commented shrewdly. "You wouldn't have to deal with it if we went to find Sakura-chan."
The Uchiha stilled, narrowing his eyes. "Is this blackmail, dobe?"
"Just saying," Naruto shrugged innocently.
"Naruto! Sasuke!"
Both boys snapped their heads around at the familiar voice, and Naruto felt his chest burst with warmth at her approach.
"Sakura-chan!" he shot to his feet. "Where were you? You're so late!"
Sasuke grunted in agreement.
"Sorry! Heh, I got caught up with—"
"Eh? Is that Shikamaru?" he asked, not having noticed the boy before.
Sure enough, Shikamaru was quite literally being dragged across the training ground with Sakura's hand firmly gripped the collar of his shirt. His face was uncharacteristically blushing red, a soft groan escaping his throat.
"Yeah!" she said cheerily, practically dumping the boy in between them. "Shikamaru's going to start training with us from now on."
"This lazy bastard?" Naruto stared at the dark haired boy in a new light. "I didn't know you even liked training."
"I don't," the Nara groaned, mumbling into the dirt ground. "But… ugh, this is so troublesome."
"Come on, up, up!" Sakura grinned, turning to him and Sasuke. Her brilliant green eyes surveyed the two of them, noting for injuries.
"Sasuke, leg?"
"Hn," he nodded, presenting the long scrape along his calf.
Naruto felt a sense of satisfaction—he knew the bastard's leg was bothering him. He himself never needed Sakura's medical attention too much because his injuries always seemed to heal on their own. He supposed it was some super cool ability of his.
"You can use medical ninjutsu too?" Shikamaru frowned, mouth slightly open.
"Of course!" he answered for her, pumping a fist in the air. "Sakura-chan's the best!"
"Another disclosed secret, all right?" she shot a smile at Shikamaru.
He nodded slowly. "So what are we doing?"
Sakura finished healing Sasuke's leg and turned to him with excitement. "Why, Shikamaru, you and I are going to spar of course!"
He felt his chest about to burst with delight. Watching Sakura fight was one of the coolest things in Naruto's book. "Yeah! Sakura-chan will totally beat you!"
"But you're a girl," he whined. "It's not right for boys to hit girls."
Sakura raised a brow, stretching out her muscles. "Is that going to be your excuse when you're put up against enemy kunoichi?"
Sasuke came to sit by him, a smirk pulling the corner of his lips.
"Well, no, but you're not exactly an enemy kunoichi."
"You're right. I'm a shinobi, Shikamaru, One that demands you take this seriously. Only taijutsu okay?"
"But—"
"Start!" Naruto shouted.
Sakura ran towards him with incredible speed, and Shikamaru dodged the last minute, throwing his head down as her fist sailed over. Her knee came flying and he moved to the side, stumbling slightly at the movement.
Her fighting was graceful as always, and Naruto noticed Sasuke watch the match with intense concentration, undoubtedly trying to learn her style. He had still yet to defeat her, and was trying to bridge their gap every day.
"You're a little lacking in the taijutsu department, Shikamaru," Sakura commented, throwing her leg in a sweep.
He jumped, landing shakily before restoring balance. "My clan doesn't deal with taijutsu much. We're predominately long distance fighters."
"Then force yourself," she grinned, and Naruto had no idea what she was talking about. "Use that head of yours."
Shikamaru grunted.
"Are you honestly going to let a girl, the same one mind you, defeat you twice in the same day?" Sakura asked slyly, and again, Naruto had no idea what she was referring to.
Just what happen during their detention?
Something seemed to spark in Shikamaru's eyes, and he began to fight back with renewed vigor. His form was quick and efficient, and Naruto felt surprise for the boy. He never knew Shikamaru was such a decent fighter. He mostly dozed off during taijutsu practice, and they were never paired together for a spar.
A sense of excitement built in his chest—something he only felt for Sasuke and Sakura—and he felt the need to spar Shikamaru too. Like Sakura had once said, fighting someone was the best way to build understanding between shinobi.
Sakura began to pick up the pace, perfectly executing a taijutsu combination that Naruto recognized. Her sharpened speed caught the boy off guard, and an open palm came sailing towards his abdomen. The strike made a solid hit, and Shikamaru went flying backwards into the bushes with a surprised grunt.
Naruto cheered at her victory.
"Ow," Shikamaru drawled, his legs sticking out from the bushes. "I think you broke something."
Sakura laughed walking over to him and pulling him out of the shrubbery. "Toughen up. You did well."
"Yeah!" Naruto jumped into the air, excitement bubbling in his stomach. "Me too, Shikamaru! I wanna fight you next!"
The Nara groaned, limping out of the trees and collapsing dramatically onto the ground. "I don't think I can move, Naruto."
He wilted, before quickly smiling again. "Okay! Then I call first dibs tomorrow!"
Sakura placed her glowing hands on Shikamaru's chest, soothing away the bruise that was beginning to form. "Nothing's broken. So you have no excuse."
"How troublesome," he muttered, still clearly out of breath. "I can't believe I agreed into doing this."
"Come on," she nudged. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"
He looked to be in thought. "Why're you guys doing this anyway? What's all the extra training for?"
"Cause I'm gonna be Hokage!" Naruto shouted with conviction. "I gotta train hard and be the best of the best!"
Sasuke shrugged, muttering about surpassing his brother no matter what is took.
"So I can protect the people close to me," Sakura whispered, catching Shikamaru's attention again. "I never want to be in a situation where I'm unable to do anything due to my own weakness."
He gave her a funny look. "That's the life of a shinobi, Sakura. Not all of us can live to the old age of the Hokage."
She smiled. "I know. But I can't replace friends when they're gone. If it means putting in the extra work now then I'll do it without complaint. Don't you have a reason for being a shinobi?"
"Dunno. I do come from a clan so I don't think I can exactly walk away and become a merchant or something."
"I'm sure you'll find it," she said with confidence. "And one day you'll realize where all your hard work is leading up to."
"Maybe," he murmured, sounding far away in thought.
"Okay, all done," she chirped, pulling her hands away. "Let's do some katas!"
Naruto whooped in agreement, readying his stance. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Shikamaru groan in complaint, but copy Sakura's form.
Maybe befriending Shikamaru wouldn't be so bad either.
.
.
Sakura was ten the first time Shisui actively sought her out.
It had been four months since she saved him from his poison induced coma, and she had made it a nightly habit of perching at the highest cliff to overlook Konoha.
For years and years, she had wandered without a village, without a home; getting to glance at it every night didn't seem to be enough.
She wasn't worried. She had strapped on her ANBU uniform and wore her mask, releasing her limiter seals in case she had to make an escape.
But it never came to that.
The nights were always fairly peaceful and quiet, and she could listen to the sounds of people going about their way, chattering endlessly, and bickering amongst each other—she could hear life.
Stepping towards her favorite spot on the cliff, Sakura stopped as she sensed a familiar signature already there. His chakra was bluntly unconcealed as if he wanted to give no surprises.
His back was turned to her, eyes gazing out to the village below.
"I can see why you come here," he murmured. "It's certainly nice."
She blinked. "Are you here for the view, or for me?"
Shisui grinned, turning to face her. "A little bit of both actually. You don't mind if I intrude on your spot for a while?"
She continued her walk, stopping at an arm's distance away. "I don't. How long did it take for you to find this place?"
"Too long," he sourly admitted, face scrunching. "I've been looking all around Konoha for your seals after you healed me—which, since I didn't get a chance to tell you personally, thank you."
She inwardly sighed. So Itachi told him of her Hiraishin seal. Even though she had erased the mark, it was already branded into his memory thanks to the Sharingan.
"So you've been looking for me," she concluded. "Is this an attempt to get me to the Hokage?"
He snorted. "As if I could. You've saved me twice now, and I'm not someone who ignores that, orders or not."
"Then why are you here?" She asked, surprised.
He seemed to hesitate, rubbing his fingers together in an anxious habit.
"I need your help," he said frankly.
"With what?"
He shook his head. "Actually no, let me rephrase: Itachi needs your help."
Lifting an eyebrow, she gave him a stare. "For?"
Shisui gave a tired sigh, lowering himself onto the ground. "When he was eight, Itachi was diagnosed with some form of disease in his lungs. It gives him terrible coughing fits and difficulty breathing, but he hasn't done anything about it—no, there isn't much anyone can do about it according to the Konoha medics."
Sakura stilled. Itachi had told her about this. The Edo Tensei had removed the disease entirely, but he had attempted to give her a detailed account of the problem regardless. She had been wondering about how to approach the elusive Uchiha about the matter, and this was the perfect opportunity.
"It's getting worse," Shisui strained to speak. "He's been drowning himself in pain relieving medication, but unless we find the slug princess herself, I don't think he'll live much longer. Fugaku and Mikoto-san, as much as they love him, they can't stop this, and they would rather cut their own hands off than to allow Itachi to live the rest of his life as a civilian."
She grimaced at the thought. "So you want me to try and heal him."
He turned to face her fully, eyes glinting in determination. "I know you don't owe me anything and you've saved my life far more than reason, but if I have to beg, I will. Please, help him."
A soft smile stretched her lips. Shisui's love for his cousin ran unfathomably wide. It was no wonder Itachi's Mangekyō awakened with his death.
"You don't have to beg, Shisui-san. I'll do my best to help him, but I can't make any guarantees. Where is he?
He breathed in clear relief, dark eyes shining with gratitude. "Training ground. I'll take you to him."
Nodding, Shisui left in a leap and Sakura followed after, mind swirling with possibilities.
Itachi had told her his disease began acting up the year he joined Akatsuki. It was already two years past that point, and she wondered how much of his body had been damaged. Originally, He had kept himself alive with the thought of Sasuke killing him, but now that the massacre had been avoided, was there anything Itachi was living for?
A troubling sense of sorrow filled her thoughts. Did he even want to live? Sakura knew that he wasn't suicidal, but the man was a pacifist by nature. If there was a way out of the shinobi world, especially in one where he didn't seem to be all needed, would he take it?
They neared one of the training grounds on the outskirts of the village and Shisui spiked his chakra. Soon after, Itachi gave a response, pointing them a little more west.
Sakura could pinpoint the exact moment Itachi saw her. He stopped his training, standing in the midst of a ruined field, Sharingan spinning to keep track of her movements.
"Itachi," Shisui landed a few feet away and Sakura kept a respectable distance from the two. "You're probably going to smack me for this, but I—"
"Have no common sense?" Itachi smoothly interrupted, glancing at her. "I already knew. What is he doing here?"
Sakura bit back a grin as Shisui sighed.
"I brought him to take a look at your lungs."
Itachi froze, displeasure running through his normally stoic face. "So that's why you've been running around Konoha for the past few months."
"You caught me," Shisui gave a small smile.
Itachi sighed quietly, sheathing his sword. "There's nothing that can be done for—"
"Yes, there is," He interrupted, eyes narrowing. "You saw first hand how he brought me back when every Konoha medic said I wouldn't make it! You were there! I asked, and he's willing to try for you, so please just—just don't give up yet."
There was a heavy silence that met Shisui's outburst before Itachi closed his eyes, giving him a barely there nod.
"If you must."
Sakura took this as her cue to approach, glancing at Shisui as she past. She pointed to an untouched area of the field, looking at Itachi.
"Remove your shirt and take a seat, Itachi-san. I'll do an analysis today and see if I can help."
Slipping out of his mesh shirt, Itachi walked over to the designated area and sat down, revealing his bare back to her.
"It's going to feel a little intrusive but don't fight back," she ordered gently, taking a seat behind him.
He gave a small nod.
Shisui also sat down a few feet away, watching with a worried gaze. Sakura slipped off her gloves and placed her hands over his back, sending in a wave of diagnostic chakra.
Closing her eyes, she allowed her chakra to visualize for her.
Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as Itachi had described it to be during the last year of his life. The disease was beginning to take root but it hadn't progressed far enough that it was completely untreatable.
She could still help him.
Pinpointing the areas of concern, Sakura committed the damage to memory, going through dozens of different ways to help cure him. She had already created a few methods before coming back in time, but now that she had direct observation, those theories could be vastly improved.
"Hold your breath," she commanded. "When I say 'go', you're going to cough as hard as you can. Lean forward."
He took in a breath.
Quickly and efficiently as possible, she isolated all the clogged mucus and blood in his lungs, forcing them to separate. With a surge of chakra, she moved to expel it through his esophagus.
"Go."
He gave a chest-heaving cough, retching everything that she had been able to grab from his lungs. He choked slightly and shuddered, tightening his hand into a trembling fist as to not fall over completely.
"One more time," she urged.
Instead of complaining, he took in a large breath as she cycled through his lungs again, picking up every last bit of gunk that remained. "Go."
Shisui gave a small wince of sympathy as Itachi coughed and spat against the ground, blood trailing down his chin.
With a soft glow of her hands, she sent in a wave healing chakra in order to soothe his irritated lungs, urging the healthy cells to fix the damage the disease had caused.
She heard Itachi take in a deep breath, and smiled at the smoothness of it.
"Breathing easier?" She checked.
He cleared his throat. "Yes."
"So, White Anbu-san, is my idiot of a cousin curable?"
She lifted an eyebrow at the nickname, forgetting for a moment that he could not see behind the mask. "The disease isn't at a terminal stage at the moment, but his lungs have already taken an incredible amount of damage. What I've done today is just a treatment. With the dependence we put on our lungs everyday, I suspect I'll have to do this once a week before I can find a cure."
Shisui took in a sharp breath. "So you can? Cure him that is?"
"I can," she affirmed. Itachi stilled under her hands. "But only if Itachi-san would allow me to. You'd have to go under an intensive surgery, and at this point, I'd say your survival rate is fifty-fifty."
"He'll take it," Shisui answered, glaring at his cousin as if daring him to argue.
Itachi heaved a long sigh, as if testing out his temporary fix. He then gave a firm nod.
"Very well," she breathed, feeling relief pass through her. Maybe he had a reason to live after all. "Until I can come up with a cure, I will meet you here once a week to treat your lungs. Is this acceptable?"
"More than," Shisui once again answered. "I… I can't explain how grateful I am that you're doing this."
"I don't need thanks," she said seriously, getting to her feet. "Just continue to protect and treasure Konoha. Is that a promise?"
A fleeting look of surprise flashed through his face before his grinned. "Aah, you have my word."
Smiling to herself, she turned on her heel and disappeared from the field.
.
.
"Sakura! Sakura-chan!"
Groaning, she forced an eye to open, seeing the blurry image of Naruto stand over her, blue eyes round with worry. Sasuke was next to him, giving her a strange look.
"Whazzit?" she grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Academy's over," he said. "Iruka-sensei let us out five minutes ago. Are... Are you okay?"
Oh God. She had slept through an entire day of lessons?
"Oh," she said lamely, getting up from her seat. "Yeah, I'm just really tired."
The three left the classroom as Sasuke kept sending her suspicious looks. "Sakura. I think you're sick. You look pretty terrible too."
Forcing down the urge to punch him through the wall, she sighed. For the last two months, she had been preparing her surgery for Itachi's lungs, and was finally able to change the success rate to a whopping eighty-three percent. Within the last week, she had been getting ready for the procedure by secretly stealing some needed supplies from the hospital day by day.
"I'm fine," she insisted, scrunching her face. A sudden idea came to mind and she paused. "But I think I'll visit the hospital just in case. I am feeling a little woozy."
Naruto looked devastated. "But you're never sick! Are you gonna be all right?"
She smiled. "Of course, Naruto! You know sickness can't hold me down. I'll be up and running before you know it."
He looked relieved. "Good. Cause who's gonna heal all the injuries I'm going to give Sasuke-teme this weekend?"
"What was that?" The Uchiha growled. "We'll see who's going to give who injuries, and I'll have you know, it's not going to be me that needs healing."
"Bring it, Sasuke! I'll beat your stupid Uchiha superiority out of your head any day!"
"You're on!"
Sakura felt a smile tug at her lips as they left the Academy, and she took in a deep breath, stitching the moment into her memory.
Hopefully, things would always remain like this.
Early in the following morning, Sakura stood at the highest cliff overlooking Konoha, waiting in her customary Anbu gear. She had all her medical supplies packed with her, and took a deep inhale of the crisp air. The sun was barely rising.
There was a flicker of chakra and two shinobi landed behind her, dressed as if they were taking a rest day—which, according to their excuse for the Hokage, they certainly were.
She had left a clone behind in bed, convincing Naruto and Sasuke that she needed the weekend to recover from a terrible cold, and not to visit unless they wanted to catch what she had. She had threatened to bash their faces in if they got sick because of her.
She hoped that it would keep them away.
Turning on her heel, she eyed both Uchihas. "Ready?"
They gave her a nod.
"Give me your hand, both of you," she asked, lifting her own hands palm up.
They each dropped their respective hands into her grasp and there was a flare of chakra before she warped them out of Konoha.
Sakura landed with well-practiced grace while Itachi and Shisui looked slightly shaken from the teleportation. She inwardly smirked. The first time she had tried the Hiraishin, she landed flat on her face.
"Wow," Shisui blinked. "So that's what it feels like to fly through time and space. I'm not sure I like it."
"It takes time to get used to," she admitted.
"Where is this?" Itachi asked softly, glancing around the dark hall.
"An abandoned area in whirlpool," she said, leading them deeper down into the building.
Shisui looked stunned. "You mean we're not even in Fire Country anymore?"
"No," she confirmed. "I thought it would be best due to it being neutral grounds since its destruction."
No other questions were asked as Sakura led them into the deepest sector of the corridor. The room was far brighter with lights hung up along the walls and ceiling, she squinted slightly to adjust. There was an operating table in the far back hooked to many machines and monitors that she had taken from the hospital. She knew from personal experience that the extra machines were hardly accounted for—it would take a long while before anyone noticed they were missing.
"You've really got this place filled out," Shisui commented, glancing around.
"It's a twenty-eight hour surgery," she said simply. "I need everything I could get. Itachi-san if you will."
She pointed to the table and he walked over, slipping out of his clothes.
"Shisui-san, I need you to check the perimeter every two hours. Whirlpool may have been destroyed, but it doesn't mean shinobi don't pass through the area. I don't want to take any chances."
"Right," he nodded. "I'll take my first round."
Slipping on his weapon gear, he was gone in a flicker.
A bright light flooded Itachi's pale form as she clicked on the lamp, and she studied his physique with a quick clinical scan. He was tall for his age but still grossly underweight due to his sickness.
Placing a hand on his bicep, she slid and IV through his arm, prepping the machines to read his signals.
"Relax," she said softly, placing a mask over his mouth and nose. "Count to ten in your head… It'll all be over by the time you wake up."
Within moments, his breathing evened out, eyelids shutting close. Sakura took a deep inhale, lifting off all her worries and insecurities. She was in her element.
She was going to save him.
.
.
"Hiru-kun! Thanks for cleaning out the lab last week. I didn't notice at first but you did a really good job with sanitizing everything."
A black haired man raised his head from the microscope. "Masaki-chan? I... Wait, I thought you were the one who cleaned them out."
She made a face of confusion. "No...? I thought you..."
He shrugged. "Probably one of the interns cleaned it for us. How nice of them."
"Oh, that's quite thoughtful," she smiled, thinking about which one could have done it. They were all sweet mannered and hard working; it could have been all of them. "I want to do something nice for them too. How about we buy them dinner?"
He gave a grin. "Sounds good. I know they've been working pretty hard."
"So did you ever find out what happened to Uchiha Shisui?" She asked, rummaging through the cabinets for the right painkillers. "I know you were placed under Okuro-sensei with his case."
Hiru shook his head. "No idea. Sensei said there was some sort of unidentifiable poison clogging his brain, extracting it meant death. He certainly wasn't going to do it and have the Uchiha die under his hand. The clan would have been after his head. And if sensei couldn't, no one could."
"And yet?" She pressed.
"It's sort of hard to believe… Uchiha-san simply woke up one morning, and a quick scan revealed his head and body completely free of any toxins. Even that huge scar across his torso disappeared."
She felt a sense of awe grip her. "So it was true."
"Yeah," Hiru nodded, turning a knob ever so slowly. "It's been under tight wraps, but you know how the Uchiha are. It might be some freak of nature power that they have."
"Wow," she murmured, hugging the bottle of painkillers to her chest. "Then what about that Uchiha Itachi? Is he—"
"Shhh!" He hushed, snapping his head around. "You know that's a top secret patient of sensei's."
She nodded. "But is he still... You know?"
Hiru nodded. "Okuro-sensei's the best in Konoha and even he gave the Uchiha genius three more years to live at most."
"How tragic," she whispered, darting her eyes around just in case. "But Hiru-kun, what if he somehow miraculously recovers like Shisui-san?"
He gave a snort. "I'll believe it when I see it."
"Yeah," she breathed. "You're right, that'd be so silly. Since when were the Uchihas such capable self-healers?"
"Exactly," Hiru nodded, snapping the microscope off. "Now let's think about dinner. What do you have in mind?"
She smiled, all thoughts of Uchihas leaving her mind.
"Hmm... How does barbecue sound?"
.
.
When Shisui returned from his last perimeter check, he was terribly tired and dreary. There had been a brief confrontation with a few bandits, some travelers, and a couple gold diggers, but they were nothing he couldn't handle with a little genjutsu.
Jumping back into the abandoned building the White Anbu had brought them to; he felt his legs lengthen in strides as he approached. Itachi's surgery should have finished by now.
He flared his chakra, letting the occupants know of his identity before busting into the room.
The Anbu was no longer standing restlessly over Itachi, but slouched in a chair, head titled back in obvious exhaustion.
"Success," his whispered, voice raspy and low.
Shisui could have cried right then and there, but he kept his emotions inside, unwilling to shed them. Itachi probably would have smacked him if he were awake.
He approached his cousin, taking note of his smooth and deep breathing while listening to his heart monitor beep.
"He'll be out for another day," the Anbu said gently. "I'll give him two more days of aftercare and rest before he can be moved."
He felt his chest lighten. He owed so much to this person and he didn't even know his face or name.
"You should rest," Shisui urged.
"So should you."
He sighed. It was like arguing with Itachi. "I promise I won't peek under your mask."
"Aah," he breathed, a sense of mirth in his tone. "You don't have to worry about that. I need to pick up some things in Konoha so I will be returning there for rest. Itachi-san's vital readings are linked to my chakra so if anything goes wrong, I'll be here in seconds."
"Thank you," he said firmly, trying to meet his eyes. "You're probably sick of hearing this from Itachi and I but there's no other way to express my gratitude."
"You're welcome, Shisui-san."
He pursed his lips. "Just out of curiosity, do you go around Konoha doing good deeds and mysteriously saving people every day?"
His chest bubbled in slight laughter and Shisui noted that it was quite soft and melodious. "Sometimes."
"For how long?" He asked, pressing his luck. "Because I'm really starting to doubt your age. You must be under some sort of highly complex appearance jutsu. I've heard rumors that Tsunade of the Sannin uses something similar that even the Sharingan can't see past."
"Now, Shisui-san, aren't you getting a little personal? There's a reason I have a mask on my face you know."
He gasped, a sudden idea popping into his head. "Are you perhaps... The Yondaime reincarnated?"
The Anbu nearly fell out of his chair. "Hah...?"
He felt something click. "Yeah, it'd make sense! The Yondaime died ten years ago sealing the Kyūbi, and you're the perfect size for his reincarnation! Am I right? I mean, how else would you be able to utilize Hiraishin so well?"
The Anbu burst out in laughter, quite literally falling of the chair as he clutched his stomach. His voice was hoarse and weary from exhaustion, but Shisui could sense true amusement in it.
He wilted. "So either I'm dead right or completely wrong. Which is it?"
His laughter died into slow breaths, and Shisui could have sworn he was smirking under the mask.
"I don't think I'll say anything," he replied shrewdly. "Now are you done asking questions?"
He grumbled. "I'm a curious shinobi by nature. Can't help it."
With another amused grunt, the Anbu got to his feet, steadily testing out his balance. "Well then, I'm sure you could use that curiosity to keep Itachi-san safe while I'm gone. I will return in twelve hours."
Shisui gave him an affirmative nod and a sigh. "Very well."
After giving the room once last glance, the Anbu pivoted on his heal and disappeared in a flash.
Walking over to the second chair, Shisui collapsed onto the seat with his head rolled back.
"Hey, Itachi, our roles are sorta reversed now, eh? How does it feel?"
Even breathing responded to the silence, occasionally disrupted by the heart monitor.
Leaning back further into the chair, Shisui allowed himself to close his eyes, listening to his cousin's heartbeat. Before entering, he had placed a strong genjutsu around the entire building, if it was broken, he'd immediately know.
With that thought, he allowed himself to succumb to sleep, imagining all the teasing remarks of 'I told you so' that he would throw when his silly cousin awoke.
.
.
A large smile stretched across her lips as Sakura picked up the get-well card on her nightstand, reading the message inside.
Itachi was on his way to recovery, resting in the confines of the old Uchiha compound with Shisui. She had told them that if there were any problems, she could be found sitting on the highest cliff that overlooked Konoha every night—the exact spot where Shisui had first found her.
She did her damn best within the last three days to help him recover, and hoped Itachi would take his rest seriously. If he ended up getting some sort of infection due to training when he should have been sleeping—she had threatened to gouge out his eyeballs and transplant them in backwards.
Sakura sighed as her clone's memories settled in her mind. Naruto and Sasuke had visited her twice, and she had pretended to sleep both times they were over. The card in her hand had a delicately written letter for her health, and the bottom was signed off with Naruto and Sasuke's name. It was then roughly crossed out and replaced with Sasuke and Naruto. That was crossed out as well, replaced with Naruto and the teme. Another cross. Sasuke and the dobe. A large 'X' covered the entire mess of signatures before a delicate hand concluded the letter with 'Sincerely, Mikoto and the boys'.
She burst out into laughter, imagining the two fighting over who's name would be written first. Of course they would fight about it.
A momentary sense of guilt washed over her at fooling them, but she quashed it without mercy. Itachi's life was far more important than her silly feelings of guilt.
Setting the card down, she turned to glance at the single sunflower on her stand. She immediately recognized the wrapping as the style from Ino's shop, but a quick retrace of her clone's memories proved that the blonde had not visited her.
Shikamaru.
Sliding out of bed, Sakura quickly made her way to the bathroom in order to ready herself for the day. After coming in with chakra exhaustion, she had woken up well into the afternoon, missing the morning lessons of the Academy.
After getting out of the shower and pulling on her clothes, Sakura left the house with a quick snack. Her parents had left on another business trip, and wouldn't be back for the next two months.
Closing the door behind her with a tune on her lips, Sakura turned to the streets and stopped dead in her tracks.
The Hokage Mountain was orange.
Bright orange.
Her sandwich nearly dropped from her hand as her jaw dropped, unable to turn away from the atrocious image. Whispers and shrieks of disbelief ran through the streets as people stopped and turned to look at the carved faces on the cliff's edge.
Hashirama had been given a black, perfectly curved mustache, contrasting greatly with his new orange color; Tobirama had been turned into a drag queen; the Third had his beard littered with black dots, making it look as if he had fleas, and Naruto's father was sporting the face of a clown.
By the reactions of the people in the streets, this had not been the case until very recently.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, Sakura hastened her strides to the Academy. She kept a keen ear on the whispers, wondering if the culprits had been caught already.
Three streets down, she felt familiar chakra signatures come into her range.
They were running.
From the other end of the road, Sakura could spot Naruto in the lead with Sasuke on his left and Shikamaru right behind, running as if their lives depended on it.
"Sakura-chan!"
She stopped dead, blinking in horror. She assumed they would stop to tell her the news, but she was very, very wrong. Two arms hooked her under the shoulder, and Shikamaru's arm wrapped around her ankles, hoisting her into the air and running on without pause.
"What are you guys doing?" she spluttered. The rockiness of their running was jostling her grip on her sandwich.
"We'll explain later!" Sasuke yelled back, picking up the pace.
From the other end of the street, she spotted Iruka and a few other Chūnins rounding the corner, looking absolutely murderous.
"Sakura!" Iruka bellowed, spotting her hanging within the boys' grasp. "So this is why you were absent this morning!"
She let out a horrified gasp. "Wait, what?"
"Naruto!" Shikamaru called. "They're gaining on us!"
"I know! I know!" the blonde answered. "Just follow my lead! I know exactly where to go!"
Sakura could only tilt her head back in confusion, trying to see where the boys were leading her.
"Did you guys do that to the Hokage Mountain?" she demanded, trying to glare the answer out of them.
"It wasn't my idea," Shikamaru groaned, readjusting his grip on her legs.
"Of course," Sasuke smirked. "It's a masterpiece."
Naruto suddenly took them in a steep right, and she felt her body being pulled from odd directions before the other two boys followed along.
She jerked her head back, trying to see the road with upside down vision. They were rapidly approaching a tall brown fence.
Naruto cackled, bringing up a hand seal. "Sasuke! Shikamaru! How are your henge skills?"
"Perfect," the Uchiha muttered, bringing up his own ram seal.
Shikamaru grunted. "Passable."
"Good!" Naruto yelled. "Prepare to henge into some women!"
There was a moment of confusion that passed through the dark haired boys, but it was too late. With a mighty leap, Naruto jumped into the air with Sasuke and Shikamaru following his lead without hesitation. Sakura's jaw dropped as she soared through the air between them, understanding dawning through her.
Her sandwich fell from her grasp.
"Oiroke no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled.
There were three clouds of smoke that erupted around her, and Sakura looked down to see them passing over the tall wooden fence, heading straight towards the women's hot springs.
There was a short cry of surprise from the occupants as four bodies fell into the wide pool of the scalding hot water, and Sakura felt her limbs being released. Righting herself, she shot her head out of the surface, gasping as the air hit her tingling skin. Three more heads burst from the surface, and she felt her jaw lower at the sight of them.
Naruto was Naruto. He had transformed into his customary version of his sexier, female counterpart, pigtails thoroughly drenched.
Shikamaru looked like a younger version of his mother.
And Sasuke—he could give Haku a run for his money. Long ebony hair trailed down from head to waist, framing the most delicate of facial features.
"My goodness!" one of the elder ladies in the pool put a hand on her chest. Her bare chest. "W-Where did you four come from?"
Shikamaru blushed red, forcing himself to look down, and Sasuke seemed to hold back his flush with pure willpower. He opted to look at the fence.
"You've got to help us, lady!" Naruto shouted, his voice uncharacteristically high pitched. "There's these perverted shinobi that are after us!"
"What?" another woman gasped, looking scandalized. "Perverts?"
That seemed to catch the attention of everyone in the hot springs, and Sakura glanced around to see at least a dozen women in the pool.
In a beat, the fence shook as a half-dozen shinobi landed on the top of the railing. "Naruto, you—Holy!"
Iruka promptly went beet red, a spurt of blood trailing from his nose. He fell backwards, disappearing behind the fence.
"It's the perverts!" one of the women screeched, her voice echoing through the hot springs. "Protect the young ones!"
"Wait a minute!" A Chūnin held his hands out. "T-This isn't what it looks like. We're here for—"
Immediately, a swarm of women surrounded the four of them in the water, and Sakura thought Shikamaru was about to faint from turning so red. Sasuke didn't look any better.
"Get out of here, you perverts!"
"You disgusting excuse of a shinobi! I ought to emasculate you!"
The Shinobi dodged a barrage of flip-flops and deadly aimed bars of soap, looking mixed between embarrassed and stunned.
"We only want those four! They're not who you—"
"Pedophiles!" the elderly lady screamed. "The worst kind! How dare you show your face here!"
"What? No! We're—"
"Get out!"
"Perverts!"
"Pedophiles!"
"I'll report you to the Hokage!"
The final threat seemed to do it as the last remaining shinobi, who hadn't fainted from a nosebleed, jumped off the fence, red faced.
As their chakra signatures went away, Sakura glanced up, finding a very prominent pair of breasts right in front of her face.
"Are you four okay?" the women cooed, patting her soaked hair as some form of comfort. "There, there, don't be scared. The big sisters sent them all away."
"Thanks, nee-chan!" Naruto gave a cheek splitting grin. "We really owe you!"
"Nonsense!" another lady smiled warmly. "We girls have to look out for each other, ne? If they bother you again, you four come straight to us!"
Naruto nodded eagerly. "You're the best!"
There was a round of mutual agreement that went through the women as Sakura grabbed Shikamaru and Sasuke's arms, towing them out of the water.
"Oh my god," Shikamaru muttered under his breath. "My mother will kill me when she finds out."
"If she finds out," Sasuke threw back. "Because my mother will not be hearing of this."
Sakura just smacked both of them upside the head as they walked out of the building, glancing around to make sure no Chūnins were waiting to ambush them. Naruto finally made his way out last. There was a simultaneous poof of smoke as the three boys released their jutsu, reverting back to their usual forms.
"Congratulations on getting better, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, his hair still dripping wet.
She smacked the back of his head as well, causing the blonde to cry in alarm, mirroring Shikamaru and Sasuke's pose.
"What was that for?" all three chorused.
She gave a dramatic sigh. "I lost my sandwich, you idiots!"
.
.
Sakura lifted an eyebrow at the two boys in front of her, watching them slightly squirm under her gaze.
"What did you do this time?" She asked, wanting to sigh in exasperation. She spends one Sunday evening with her parents and something clearly goes wrong.
Naruto grunted. "It's Sasuke-teme's fault—"
"Is not!" He immediately defended. "You're the one who wanted to challenge him in the first place!"
"He called us losers by fate!" Naruto shot back. "Were you really gonna stand there and let him insult you?"
"Of course not, but that didn't mean you had to run your mouth off about Sakura!" Sasuke growled. "He's already a Genin!"
"I don't care!" The blonde crossed his arms. "He kept shouting about the greatness of clan kids and how we'll never match up—he's worse than you cold fish Uchihas!"
"Hey! Quit insulting my clan!"
Sakura suddenly had a dreadful feeling, already having a good idea who they were talking about.
"Okay, okay, enough," she raised her hands. "So you challenged some stuck up Genin to a fight. Did you at least win?"
Naruto immediately wilted. "Well, we didn't actually fight because, um, I might have... sort of..."
"He challenged him with your name," Sasuke said instead, giving Naruto a glare. "Said you could defeat him in taijutsu match."
Sakura wanted to smack her face. Of course Naruto would.
"He kept saying you wouldn't match up because you didn't come from a clan!" Naruto said, clenching his fists. "I—I was just so angry and he was insulting you and I—"
"Naruto," she called softly, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. I'm happy that you stood up for me. I don't believe in this fate nonsense either."
He looked ready to cry. "You... You're not mad?"
"I'm not," she assured, and she saw Sasuke lower his shoulders in relief as well. "Just tell me who you challenged."
He scrunched his face. "Er, Some weird eyed—"
"Hyūga Neji," Sasuke supplied.
"Yeah that's the name!" Naruto nodded. "I told him we'll be at training ground eleven after the academy ends."
Sakura glanced at the clock, wanting to sigh. "Well, we're already ten minutes late. Shall we go?"
She took the lead out the door with Sasuke and Naruto silently following behind.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan," Naruto muttered as they walked out of the building. "You'll win for sure."
"How do you know?" She asked with honest curiosity. "I could just as easily lose."
"You won't," Sasuke said, voice filled with such conviction, she nearly faltered. "Because he's a loner of a shinobi. Naruto and I briefly watched him train with his team yesterday, and he doesn't respect either of them. You won't lose to a guy like that."
She felt a smile creep onto her face. "Thanks, you two."
Within minutes, they neared the field of training ground eleven, and she send a slither of chakra to her ear, allowing her to pick up three voices.
"Of course they're not coming," a cold voice said, and she automatically linked it to Neji's. "They're just Academy students. They probably realized that they don't stand a chance."
"You were too harsh," a softer voice scolded. Tenten. "They said they were going to graduate in four months. You can't call them doomed failures."
"Tenten is right," Lee's ever-enthusiastic voice intervened. "Gai-sensei always says that the students are the future of a youthful Konoha!"
"You're no different than them, Lee," Neji shot back. "Just give it up. You'll never defeat me either."
Tenten gave a soft sigh just as Sakura walked into the field, catching their attention.
"We're here, you fate-obsessed jerk!" Naruto announced, pointing a finger at the Hyūga. "Get ready to be pummeled into the ground by—"
"Naruto!" She groaned, swiping his finger away. "Pointing fingers isn't nice manners."
He grumbled. "I don't think this guy even knows what nice manners are."
Neji narrowed his snowy eyes. "So the losers have returned."
"Hey! We didn't lose in anything!" Naruto growled. Sasuke nodded vehemently in agreement.
"Doesn't matter how many people you bring," Neji sneered. "Once a loser is always a loser. And it looks like I'll have to break you out of your delusion in thinking that you're worth anything."
Sakura gave a quiet exhale, feeling a spike of anger cloud her eyes. She knew she was no Naruto, but she was perfectly capable of knocking him down a couple notches.
She missed the old Neji dearly. The one who had learned to depend on others, to let go of his bitterness—the one who saved Naruto's life.
Flashes of his death flew past her eyes, and she held back a shudder. Had she been faster—stronger—had more chakra—
No. Never again.
She met his gaze squarely.
"No one else is needed, Hyūga-san," she said softly, walking into the center of the field. "I am enough."
He scowled. "Such useless confidence. Are you the clanless one that those two were going about yesterday? Just give it up, you won't get anywhere in the shinobi life either. It's your fate."
"Neji!" Tenten frowned, clearly unhappy with his words. Sakura remembered that she also came from a clanless background.
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Let's make a deal, Hyūga-san, if you win this match, I'll admit to being a failure and quit being a Shinobi."
Naruto gasped and Sasuke stiffened, eyes widening.
"Sakura-chan, no! It's not—"
She put up a hand, halting the blonde's words. "I don't go back on my word. Now, if I win—"
"There's no need to say it," Neji spat. "Your fate was sealed the moment you decided to come here. You won't win."
"Do not interrupt me, Hyūga," she said coldly, eyes hardening. "If I win, you will sincerely apologize to your teammates as well as Naruto and Sasuke for your belittling words."
Tenten gave her a bewildered look and Lee's jaw dropped.
"Fine," Neji nodded. "If you want to quit being a shinobi so desperately, I'll gladly do the honors."
She smiled. "In fact, I'll make it easy for you. Land one solid hit on me, and I'll consider it your victory."
Naruto looked close to fainting and Sasuke was glaring hard.
"Your stupidity is overwhelming," he snarled, clearly detesting the fact that his skills were being undermined. "I'll finish this in seconds."
Sakura crouched down, discreetly unwrapping the bandage on her left leg and releasing a flare of chakra into the weight seal. It disabled at her touch, and she felt a series of clicks run down her spine, traveling to the tips of her fingers and to her feet.
She was free.
Rewrapping her ankle, she stood up, eyeing the boy across from her. He settled into the gentle fist stance, veins protruding from the side of his eyes.
A tense silence hung in the air as both waited to observe.
Sakura knew he was gravely underestimating her, and it would turn to be his downfall.
As expected, Neji lashed out first, palm flying through the air to strike her chest. She sidestepped nimbly, sensing the wash of chakra that surrounded his fingers.
He came from her left, and she made a smooth dodge, missing his hand by inches. Again and again, Sakura maneuvered around his strikes in a graceful dance, noting the surprise that was starting to grow in his eyes.
"Is running the only thing you can do?" he hissed.
His movements started to quicken, momentarily forcing her on the defensive. Increasing her speed, Sakura parried his blows with chakra-coated hands of her own, neutralizing his attacks. It was an extremely difficult skill to master that needed absolute precision, but if there was one thing she was strong in, it was her chakra control.
Sakura ducked under a strike and finally lifted a hand in retaliation. His eyes widened as she slipped past his guard, hand moving to his face. With a chakra-enhanced finger, she flicked his forehead protector, sending him flying back with a surprised grunt.
Not giving him time to catch himself, Sakura shunshined behind him in a flash, slamming her heel into his chest with the slightest bit of chakra—just enough to bruise painfully but not break. She didn't want to incapacitate him for life.
He crashed into the ground, breaking into the earth, and his byakugan faded from her disturbing shock of chakra. She saw his right shoulder dislocate under the pressure, and her other foot came sliding into his throat, forcing his chin back and exposing his neck.
The training ground went silent.
She pressed a kunai to his jugular, giving him the coldest look she could muster.
"Do you know where a shinobi gains his strength from, Hyūga-san?" She asked, watching him struggle underneath her foot. "The reason why I was able to defeat you today was because of Naruto and Sasuke. They are the ones that pull me forward and strengthen my spirit to get stronger every day. But you? You fight for yourself. A shinobi is only as strong as the people or things he wants to protect. If you have none of that, it's no wonder you lost to me."
He spat out blood, eyes narrowing. "You wouldn't understand anything."
"I don't need to understand," she said simply. "I may not come from a clan but that doesn't mean I can't be a shinobi. It doesn't matter where you were born; we all climb the ladder the same way through hard work and determination. Frankly, the only idea of fate that is chaining you down—is yourself."
Pushing off his chest, Sakura rose to her feet and tucked her kunai away.
"You may give your apologies at your own time," she said, glancing back to his shocked teammates. "Because if a shinobi is anything, he doesn't go back on his given word."
"Ah," she turned back to him, watching him struggle out of the broken earth. "You should probably visit the hospital too. When you become a true shinobi worthy of my respect, I'll consider healing you then."
In a pivot of her heel, she walked back to her boys, nothing the look of relief that was on their faces.
Betting with your shinobi career was unheard of, after all.
"Sakura-chan, you scared me for a moment there," Naruto whispered, clutching his jacket.
Sasuke glared. "If Sakura had lost her shinobi career because you ran your mouth off, I was going to pummel you myself."
He gave a feeble nod. "Sounds acceptable."
Laughing lightly, she threw her arms around them with a warm smile. "Wanna get some ramen? I'm too lazy to make dinner."
Sasuke gave a smirk and Naruto cheered excitedly, his previous disposition fading.
"You got it, Sakura-chan! Ramen bonding time is a must!"
"Dobe, don't give it such a weird name," Sasuke grimaced. "Let's call it a weekly gathering or something."
"But that's so boring," the blonde complained. "How about an epic noodle meeting?"
Sasuke sighed, and she gave a silly grin. "Done. From now on, our weekly visits to Ichiraku shall be called Epic Noodle Meetings!"
.
.
"I'll fail them."
Sarutobi sighed, looking at the war hardened shinobi in front of him. "You haven't even looked at their profiles, Kakashi."
The copy nin shrugged, looking perfectly unruffled. "Don't need to. No one is going to meet my expectations, Hokage-sama. They're all children trying to play shinobi."
He felt a smile creep onto his face. "I insist Kakashi, take a look at your team."
A file flew in the air and Kakashi caught the folder easily, flipping the cover open. There was a slight stiffening of his shoulders and Sarutobi knew he saw the first candidate.
"You're giving me Minato's son?"
"You'd be the most capable," he nodded. "Naruto's scores are not too terrible either. His written exam was atrocious but he did pass."
"I won't give him special circumstances just because he's Minato's son," Kakashi said seriously. "If he doesn't meet, he fails."
"As I would expect," Sarutobi replied easily.
Kakashi flipped to the next profile, one eye narrowing. "Uchiha Sasuke. I heard he hardly matches up to his brother's genius."
"He's this year's number one rookie," Sarutobi reminded. "Maybe not a prodigy by your standards but he does come from that clan—he's bound to get interesting developments."
"His scores are decent," the copy-nin nodded slowly, scanning the profile.
He gave a deep puff of smoke from his pipe. "Just give him a chance, Kakashi."
"We'll see," Kakashi muttered, flipping to the last candidate. "Haruno Sakura? Isn't this the civilian girl that Naruto was friends with as a kid?"
"The one and only. You'll see that she's no simple civilian, regardless of her background. Take a look at her final test scores—reminds you of someone you know, hm?"
"Itachi…" he murmured, lone eye wide. "But her yearly class scores are terribly average."
"Don't let it fool you," Sarutobi warned. "She's highly intelligent for her age. Shikaku told me she bested his son, Shikamaru, in Shōgi when they were seven—still continues to if I may add."
"So she's paper smart," Kakashi argued.
He gave a knowing smile. "As you're quite close to Gai, I'm assuming you heard about what happened to his genius student just four months ago?"
Kakashi gave a quick and wary glance around the office as if he expected the green clad shinobi to come bursting into the room.
"Er, something about 'a youthful blossom of such grace that changed the boy forever', is all I got from the conversation," Kakashi admitted.
Sarutobi chuckled. "I don't know the details myself but Haruno Sakura somehow ended up fighting Hyuuga Neji and defeated him mercilessly. I believe he got a rude awakening from being crushed by an Academy student."
Kakashi's eyebrow rose. "So my team consists of a jinchūriki, an Uchiha, and civilian born genius? What are you setting them up for? Hunter-nin?"
He sighed. "Surprisingly, that was not what I had in mind. The three of them simply gravitated together over the years of being close friends—I don't think it'd be wise to separate them. Besides, their academy scores balance eachother out more or less."
"Hn," Kakashi grunted, snapping the folder shut. "We'll see how they do tomorrow."
He walked out of the office in a nonchalant pose, but Sarutobi had seen the glimmer of curiosity in his eye. He had him caught.
.
.
"Hatake Kakashi," her voice rang out in the empty room. Naruto and Sasuke were peering with interest over her shoulder. "Also known as Copy-nin Kakashi for having a Sharingan in his left eye from an unknown incident many years back. Rumored to have copied over a thousand jutsu."
"What?" Sasuke frowned, staring at the book in her hands. "I've never heard of that. Our clan has tight regulations on the Sharingan. How the hell did he get it?"
She shrugged, knowing the story would pop up later. "Guess we'll figure out, eh? Let's see… Graduated from the Academy when he was five, made Chūnin promotion when he was six—"
"Five?" Naruto screeched, disbelief over his face. "We all entered the Academy at five!"
"It was during the Third Shinobi War, dobe," Sasuke clarified, still frowning. "They forced kids out of the Academy as soon as possible if they showed even the slightest bit of potential. It's what happened to Itachi-nii."
"Oh," Naruto quieted, looking uncharacteristically dispirited. "What else?"
"He was in a team under the fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, widely known for his genius at ninjutsu and keen intelligence."
"A formidable shinobi," Sasuke nodded in satisfaction.
Sakura grinned. "He also has a habit of being notoriously late to everything. You know what that means?"
Naruto gave a sly smile. "The prank is on!"
Sasuke smirked.
…
"Eraser ready?"
"Check."
"Paintballs?"
"Check."
"Wires?"
"Hn."
"Water?"
"Check, check, check! Let's get this started, Sakura-chan!"
She grinned, feeling Naruto's excitement fill the room. "It's been a few hours so he should be here soon. Sit down and act innocent."
The blonde snickered, sitting down next to her as they surveyed the rigged room. It was a masterpiece.
Sure enough, Sakura sensed a familiar chakra signature walk down the hallway towards their room. She tensed slightly, alerting Naruto and Sasuke to their guest.
A hand gripped the edge of the door, freeing the eraser that was held against the wall. Faster than she could blink, the wires triggered as the door moved, and a launch of paintballs flew towards the white haired Jōnin at the doorstep. A bucket of water swung from the adjacent wall pouring its contents as another set of wires wrapped around the nin to hold him in place. A great splat sounded as the paintballs meant their mark, and there was an explosion of color.
Naruto cheered and Sasuke grinned at the sight of their sensei covered and dripping in paint, wrapped tightly in wires. Their joy was short lasted however, as Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving behind a thoroughly vandalized Academy chair.
"Maa, so eager for action."
All three whipped their heads around at the voice, finding the masked nin staring down at them from the desk a row back, completely clean.
Sakura smirked. An excellent substitution jutsu if she said so herself.
"What the heck, sensei!" Naruto yelled, pointing. "We so had you!"
His eye crinkled in the oh-so familiar way Sakura was used to, and she felt the sudden desire to cry. Kakashi had been her stronghold and her anchor for the last ten years after the war. He was her constant companion through thick and thin. To finally be able to see him up close and well made her heart constrict.
"How can I say this?" he rubbed his chin, looking at the three of them. "My first impression is… I don't like you guys."
She had promised him too.
"Meet me at the roof by the south garden," he ordered, and with a poof, he disappeared.
"Maaaan! We were so close!" Naruto wailed.
"At least now we know he's somewhat competent," Sasuke smirked, a sense of respect in his eyes.
"Yeah, I guess, but it still sucks."
She tapped both of their shoulders. "I can sense someone coming down the hall. Shall was make a hasty escape?"
They nodded eagerly, not wanting to stay as culprits for the mass of paint all over the room.
"AUUGHH! WHO DID THIS?!"
In the flash, they were gone.
Laughter erupted between them as they sat down on the steps, chattering about the poor soul who found the aftermath of their prank.
"Now, now, put that disaster behind us," Kakashi said easily, sitting on the rail. "Let's began with introducing ourselves."
"Like what, sensei?" she chirped, propping her chin in her palm.
"You know, your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future and stuff like that."
"You go first, sensei!" Naruto demanded excitedly. "Tell us how you got that Sharingan in your eye!"
Kakashi's lone eye widened by a fraction. "Well, looks like I've got quite the team eh? But that's a story for another time. I'm Hatake Kakashi, I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes, dreams for the future, hmm… and I have a lot of hobbies…"
A dead silence traveled through the air.
"Okay!" he clapped his hands, pointing to Naruto. "You're next, blondie."
"All right! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he gave a cheek splitting grin. "I like ramen and training with my friends and having sleepovers at Sakura-chan's house! I dislike playing old man games like Shōgi and having dinner at Sasuke-teme's place because they're all cold fishes—"
"What was that, dobe?!"
"—My hobbies are playing pranks and my dream is to become the best Hokage Konoha has ever seen!"
Sakura let a laugh bubble in her throat as Naruto and Sasuke resumed a glaring match, arguing about whether or not the Uchiha clan was a pleasure to eat with.
"All right, moving on," Kakashi cleared his throat. "You, dark and broody, you're up."
Her laugh burst out as Sasuke scowled, and his hand came to smack her upside the head. Cradling her head with tears in the corner of her eyes, she grinned.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he growled, glaring at the both of them before continuing. "I like going for morning runs and training, I dislike having to deal with stupid people and eating sweet food, my hobbies include kenjutsu and studying history, and my dream is to surpass my brother as a shinobi."
"Hm," Kakashi nodded, looking towards her. "And finally, giggly, your turn."
She smiled at the nickname. "I'm Haruno Sakura! I like hanging out with my friends and cooking, I dislike those who crave power over comrades, and my hobbies are playing old man games with Shikamaru and making seals. My dream is to be a field medic and protect people who are close to me."
Oh, and save the world.
Kakashi looked thoughtful.
"Okay! Introductions are over. Tomorrow we're going to start our duties as shinobi," he said clearly, "by starting off with survival training with the four of us."
"You're on, Kaka-sensei!" Naruto declared, jumping to his feet. "We can take anything!"
"Really?" he asked ominously. "Even if I told you that out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will pass as Genin? This training has a failure of sixty-six percent!"
Sakura got to her feet, Sasuke following soon after. She punched the palm of her other hand, giving Kakashi a feral grin.
"Challenge accepted. Name the time and place, sensei."
After years of being with the man, Sakura had learned to read his expression from the small exposed area of his face. He was excited too.
"Very well. The details are on this paper. Meet me tomorrow in the training grounds and don't eat breakfast—you might throw up."
With that, he disappeared in a plume of smoke.
.
.
Kakashi was more than surprised.
Although their profiles had indicated the three were close since childhood, he had never imagined it would have ingrained into their shinobi will as well. They were definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with.
He put down the timer on the tree stump, turning to see his potential students watch him back.
They have good eyes.
"Start!" he yelled.
Instead of going into hiding, all three charged him with a determined expression, Sakura in the lead. He easily maneuvered around their smaller forms, twisting and turning to dodge their limbs.
They were good. Speed and form wise, Sakura was undoubtedly the best, but the two boys weren't far behind. He couldn't even read his beloved Icha Icha.
"Naruto!" Sasuke called.
"On it! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Five more Naruto's popped into existence, and Kakashi took a moment to appreciate their coordination. This team was it.
They charged him with loud cries as Sakura and Sasuke jumped back to create space. They both flashed through quick seals and brought a hand over their mouth.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
"Gamayudan no Jutsu!"
A great fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth as Sakura released a torrential blast of thick oil—straight towards him. The entire training ground erupted in augmented flames, and Kakashi slid underground with a quick earth jutsu, shielding himself from most of the heat.
Before he could decide on his next move, the ground split open around him, forcing Kakashi to leap into the open air. He stared, wide-eyed, as Sakura's foot decimated the entire field.
A heavy force rammed into him from behind, and he turned to see Naruto grabbing onto his back, a wicked grin on his face.
"Got you, sensei!"
His hand reached for the bells on his waist, and Kakashi prepared for a substitution, but realized that the entire training field was burning in flames. Option two, then.
Turning to look Naruto in the eye, he placed a wide scale genjutsu over the boy that showed him grabbing the bells and releasing his hold.
Naruto blinked, his grasp loosening as both fell towards the ground.
"Genjutsu, Sasuke!"
"I got him!"
Sasuke leaped after Naruto's falling form, catching the blonde before he could hit the ground. Sakura ran towards him, her speed startling his expectations. It seemed that every time he made a conclusion about this girl, she'd continue to break it. He briefly heard Sasuke force Naruto out of the genjutsu, and decided to act.
How about a separation?
Creating two clones, he sent them after the boys, splitting them up into different areas of the field while he focused on the coral haired girl. She shunshined behind him, stomping her foot right where he stood moments before. The earth groaned under her attack, cracking and giving into her strength as he flickered away.
She was exceedingly fast, and wondered why none of this was written in her profile. It was as if he was fighting Shisui during his Anbu days.
Secretive girl.
As if realizing that one-on-one wasn't going to end well, she flickered backwards and away, heading right towards Sasuke. Their sudden combination caught his clone off guard as a well-placed palm strike from Sakura burst him from existence. Wordlessly, the two moved onto Naruto, eventually overpowering the second clone as well.
In a swift movement, Sakura grabbed both Sasuke and Naruto by the collar of their shirts and vanished into the burning trees.
A tactical regroup and retreat, eh?
It took a moment of wonder as Kakashi gazed around the destroyed training ground, noting the broken blocks of earth and the fire that seemed to rage strong. To his own surprise, his breathing had quickened and his Sharingan was spinning behind his headband, aching to be used.
Since when had he ever gotten a good fight from Genin?
Spreading out his senses, he felt the three of them clustered a hundred feet to his left. He lifted his headband by an inch, allowing his Sharingan to gaze at their chakra levels.
Naruto's, as he assumed, was massive and still raging like the sun. Sasuke was down by a fourth, and Sakura was also brimming with energy, her reserves going far deeper than he first thought. Impressive.
The group suddenly split and Kakashi lowered his headband, anticipating their next attack.
Sasuke came running out first, launching a barrage of kunai in his direction. He leaped right, letting the weapons fly by harmlessly onto the tree. The bushes rustled behind as Naruto leaped out, yelling in defiance. The two boys worked rather seamlessly, attacking and defending at given intervals, and soon enough, Sakura joined the fray.
She came from above slashing out with a kunai, and he leaped back to dodge it. All three charged him once more, pushing him closer and closer towards the river. When Sasuke's fingers got a little too close to the bells, Kakashi began his counterattack, quickly kicking Naruto and Sakura in the stomach, and sending Sasuke flying back with an elbow.
All three disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Startled, he made to move, but was frozen on the spot. The ground glowed beneath his feet and he stared down, noticing the complicated array of seals where he stood.
Sakura.
Sure enough, the real Sakura came forth, her hands together in a seal. "You can thank Shikaku-san for this seal, sensei!"
She raised her right hand in the air, and his own hand moved to copy her, leaving the bells wide open. The river burst from behind him, and Sasuke and Naruto leaped out, drenched but grinning madly.
Kakashi poured a sharp spike of chakra into the seal, trying to break it, but it quickly died as the letters glowed even brighter.
Chakra absorption.
He felt a laugh bubble in his throat as Naruto and Sasuke snatched a bell each from his waist, and ran to where Sakura stood. She released the seal, and the circle disappeared into the dirt.
"We did it! We did it!" Naruto cheered, swinging Sakura in a massive bear hug. "It worked!"
A melodious laugh filled the air as all three Genin stood, completely disheveled, soaked in river water and dirty, but utterly triumphant.
"So what's it going to be, sensei?" Sakura asked, slinging her arms around the two boys. "You take all of us, or none of us."
Kakashi felt his lips tug into a smile behind the mask, and his eye crinkled mischievously. "Aah. You all pass."
Watch over me, Minato-sensei. I'm going to make this team great.