The never-ending cycle of pain Chapter 1
Have you ever heard of the Haruno downfall?
Everyone has heard of the Uchiha Incident.
However, does everyone know of the Haruno downfall?
Only Shinobi's that have worked for more that four years have knowledge over the bloodbath, which reigned down upon the Haruno's.
Still, who were the Haruno's? Are they really that important?
Yes.
They were one of the very powerful clans that contained highly skilled shinobi, despite being quite small. Each and every Haruno inherits a certain ability, making them quite special.
So, what forced their clan into an almost extinct group?
Who knew just one small mistake during a war could end destroy everything they have?
Well… It isn't too rare is it? A leader makes a mistake, which results the death of thousands. It's just another one of those.
Though, soon after, a certain group made sure to remove any primary resources regarding the Haruno Clan.
However, that didn't stop rumors from circulating around the village.
Still, it seems that certain group forgot about the girl who was left behind in that mess.
Sakura Haruno.
A prodigy born into the main family, treated like a god.
Born into the clan that is known famously for their ability to hear one's frequency of Chakra.
Was known in her clan to have one of the best inheritances of their ability.
A descendent of the head of the Haruno clan, which rivals the Uchiha clan in terms of power.
That isn't all though. Oh no, not that she was just a born genius. This person was looked at like a god, but also as a demon.
Why?
If only you could see what is locked up inside of her small 'fragile' body.
What does that usually result in?
Confinement and isolation.
'I'll never forget that day. The day when everything changed for me. The stench of blood. I can still remember each and every corpse on that day. The ringing in my ears, I can still hear it.'
"I'm leaving now…" A monotone voice booms throughout the empty corridor. Green eyes trail over the floor, while the person slips their shoes on and exits the building without a word. It did not feel lonely but rather, 'peaceful'. Their long cherry blossom colored hair flutters in the wind as they walk calmly towards the academy.
'I guess I'm a bit early…' The girl thinks to herself as they walk into her classroom. Stepping into the room, a voice booms out towards the girl as they make contact, "Hn… Sakura huh?"
Sharp black eyes pierce into the emerald eyes of the girl named Sakura. Her ears ring faintly from hearing the Chakra inside of him.
"Sasuke…" She mumbles under her breath, only loud enough for herself to hear.
The Uchiha reminiscence about the first day she suddenly appeared, causing a massive stir in the class. She easily beat him in training, tests and in every way possible. Of course, as he was the top student until she arrived, he was slightly jealous. However, since he is in fact very hardheaded and stubborn, he would never admit it. After their brief eye contact, Sakura breaks it by closing her eyes and walking towards a seat, which was directly opposite to his location.
Sensing a large group of people with low frequencies of Chakra, Sakura groans in annoyance and closes her eyes. Her classmates begin to walk in, having a conversation, and sit themselves down. After a few minutes, Sakura opens her green eyes again and trails them to look at Sasuke.
Ino, who coincidently, spots this and goes up to Sakura, "Hm? You interested in Sasuke? I always knew you had a thing for him. Too bad he's not yours." Sakura sighs and ignores the comment made by the Yamanaka and moves her head to look at the wall. "Oh come on Sakura! Don't try to hide your love Sasuke." Ino Ino carries on, Sakura gives her a cold glare which makes her stop and walk away. As Iruka walks in, Sakura looks at the figure he is carrying behind him.
'Oh… It's just Naruto.' Sakura thinks plainly in her head, gazing at the tied up Naruto. As he begins to lecture Naruto, the cherry coloured girl lays her head against the palm of her hand. She begins to go off into wonderland until,"We will have a re-test on the transformation jutsu! Even those who already passed will take it!" Iruka shouts at the entire class, earning whines and complaints. The side of Sakura's eye twitches in annoyance as she curses Naruto in her mind, 'how annoying.'Lining up one by one, the students stand in front of their classroom. Sakura, who stands on the right-most side, goes first.
"…" Before Iruka says anything, Sakura quickly transforms into a perfect duplication of her teacher."Uhm… Good Sakura!" Iruka compliments her. She says nothing, quickly walking back to her seat. 'I thought the academy would be more… interesting. Instead it's equally boring here like when I'm at home.' Sakura sits on her chair and observes her other classmates.
"Next, Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka says, reading off of his small black clipboard. "Yes." Sasuke walks up to his teacher, also quickly transforming.
"Oh Okay…" Iruka says awkwardly. Sasuke quickly transforms back into his normal self, with his hands stuffed into his pocket.
'Hmph… Trying to look cool…' Sakura leans against her arm once again.
"Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"
As he uses the Jutsu 'Sexy no Jutsu', no one notices a certain girl disappear from their classroom.
'Everyone is just a bunch of idiots…' Sakura walks home, returning to her enormous mansion filled with emptiness.
"I'm home…" Sakura whispers to no one in particular. Plopping herself down onto the bed, Sakura falls into a slumber.
Sakura is suddenly wakened to a large ringing in her ears. She covers her ears and looks outside of her window, "What the heck is that?"
'This murderous intent… but that's not all; chakra is spreading out over there?' Sakura looks outside and tries to figure out what is currently happening, 'Could it be clones?' Unknown to her, a fight between Naruto and Mizuki was breaking down.
After a while, the rapid changes in frequencies die down. Sakura sighs and lies back down onto her bed. 'I bet it was nothing anyways.'
Next day…
Sakura enters the classroom, once again, to see that Naruto gapping at her with flushed cheeks. Observing her class, she spots majority of the girl classmates quarreling over who gets to sit next to Sasuke. She rolls her eyes and groans and the amount of noise.
In another area…
"Is that this years second highest rookie, Sasuke Uchiha?" One Jonin queries. A crowd of Jonin's observe the ball displaying a live video feed of the classroom.
"Yes." The Hokage replies with his hands folded.
"The sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan?"
"Yes."
The ball begins to move towards the corner of the room, showing Sakura leaning against the wall with plain boredom painted on her face. Some Jonin's flinch at the image, "Isn't she from the extinct Haruno Clan? Sakura Haruno?"
"…" The Hokage stays silent and nods his head slowly, causing the crowd to mummer.
"To think she would actually join the academy…" One says in surprise.
"Didn't she score the highest in the academy overall?" Another one whispers
A certain Jonin with spikey silver hair and dark grey eyes thinks in his head, 'hmm… Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.'
Back to the classroom…
Due to the sudden sheer silence, Sakura decided to actually look in their direction and see what is happening. She widens her eyes to see Naruto and Sasuke… kissing. Everyone begins to tell Naruto off, causing him to cower in fear. Sakura looks away, covering her face. Surprisingly, her cheeks go red as she tries to stifle laughter. She places her fist next to her mouth and attempts to hold in her smile. Sasuke, looking in her direction, spots Sakura smiling faintly. He internally keeps that image in mind and just sighs deeply. As everyone sits down, Sakura notices that only seat open is the one between Sasuke and Naruto. She groans on the inside and sits down there. Iruka begins to explain the principles of a team and being led by a Jonin.
'Hmph… squad of three? I hope I don't get paired up with Sasuke; he will just annoy me by trying to show off or be 'cool'.' Sakura thinks with deep annoyance. As Iruka continues to announce the groups, Sakura begins to close her eyes and focus on each person's frequency of chakra. She memorizes each and every pattern in the classroom, however she questions Naruto's pattern, It's so… irregular. Zoning back in, Sakura sighs and hopes she isn't paired up with him.
"Now then, next is group seven." Iruka says, "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke." As Naruto sulks, Sakura grits her teeth in frustration, 'The two people I hoped to not involve myself with…!'. Sakura bites the bottom of her lip before calming herself down.
Iruka begins to read out the names for Group 8, 9, 10, etc.
"Iruka-sensei! Why does an outstanding Shinobi like me have to be on the same team as that guy over there?!" Naruto protests, pointing his index finger at Sasuke.
Iruka sighs, "Sasuke's grades were the second best, right behind Sakura, out of all 27 graduates and yours were dead last. Do you understand? We have to do this to balance the teams, right?"
"Hn, just don't get in the way Dead Last." Sasuke says while still looking forward. He wouldn't admit it, but he was annoyed that he only got second highest.
"What did you call me?!" Naruto fires back.
Sitting down on a bench, Sakura bites into her riceball and begins to each her lunch. She looks across the pathway to see 'Sasuke' looking directly at her.'… Naruto that idiot.' Sakura thinks in her mind, ' I know it's you transformed as Sasuke; your frequencies are way different compared to his'.'Sasuke' walks up to Sakura, complimenting her forehead.
'Is this what they call flirting?' Sakura thinks as she proceeds to eat her lunch. "What do you think of Naruto?" 'Sasuke' asks with a tint of nervousness in his voice. Sakura swallows her food and sighs and thinks, 'I should probably just play along since I feel kind of bad for him.'
"He doesn't understand anything…" Sakura says, looking into his eyes. As they continue to make eye contact, 'Sasuke' blushes and leans in closer.
He clutches his stomach and stands up. 'Sasuke' starts to mumble something along the lines of toilet and stomach.
A few moments later…
A small tingle in her ears causes Sakura to look up, but still chewing on her food. Here comes the real Sasuke… Maybe I should play around with his head since I'm bored…' Sakura thinks mischievously."Your back Sasuke?" Sakura says with a plain face. "…? What do you mean I'm back?" Sasuke tilts his head to the side, "Where's Naruto?" Giggling on the inside, Sakura smirks a bit, "Hmmm… Maybe I'll tell you, maybe I won't."
Sasuke glares at her, making Sakura return the favor.
After a while, Sasuke decides to break the silence, "You're annoying…"
"Heh," Sakura scoffs and raises her head a bit while crossing her arms, "So are you, you attention seeking brat."
Sasuke growls at her, making her smirk slightly.
'At least that was interesting and not boring in a way.' Sakura begins to walk towards the academy once again.
"…I'm heading back to the academy," Sakura waves her hand at him, "See you…"
"Why is our team 7 Sensei so damn late?!" Naruto screams. Placing a blackboard duster in between the door and wall, Naruto grins proudly at his prank."That's what you get for being late!" Naruto jumps off of the stool and onto the floor.
'Hm… Look's interesting to watch…' Sakura gets up and says to Naruto, "If he asks, I'm not part of it."
"Like a Jonin would fall for such a stupid booby trap." Sasuke plainly explains. As Sasuke says that, their supposed Sensei walks in and falls for the trap.
The teacher places his finger and thumb on his chin and says with a closed eye smile, "How can I say this? My first impression is… I don't like you guys."
"Well, lets begin by introducing yourselves." Their Sensei says.
"What do you want to know?" Naruto asks.
"How about you likes, dislikes… Your dream for the future and things like that…" He trails off.
"Hey Hey, why don't you introduce yourself first?!" Naruto grumbles.
"At least introduce your name…" Sakura mumbles while staring plainly at her supposed Sensei.
"Oh me? My name is Hatake Kakashi… I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes…" Kakashi continues, "Dreams for the future hmm… and I have lots of hobbies…"
"So all he told us is his name?" Sakura tilts her head to the side.
"Now it's your turn, let's start on the right." Kakshi directs his speech to Naruto.
"Alright! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What I like is Cup Ramen," Naruto holds his head protector proudly, "What I like even more is when Iruka Sensei pays for my Ramen. What I dislike is waiting 3 minutes for the ramen to cook…"
'Ramen, ramen, ramen… Is that all he thinks about?' Sakura thinks in her mind.
"And my dream…" Naruto grins widely and stands up, "Is to surpass the Hokage and then have people acknowledge my existence."
"My hobbies… Pranks, I guess?" Naruto sits back down.
"Next." Kakashi rubs his head.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything, and I can't really call it a dream," Sasuke intertwines his finger with his own, "But I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."
'The attention seeking brat strikes again.' Sakura makes a low sound of annoyance and disgust.
"And lastly, the girl." Kakashi folds his arms.
"Haruno Sakura. I like… some stuff?" Sakura scratches the back of her head, trying to think of something and turns to Sasuke while smirking, "I hate attention seeking brats."
Sasuke glares at her for a brief second and looks away.
"My dream? Find out who caused the Haruno Downfall probably and prove to this village that my clan is the ultimate and best clan…" Sakura places her hands on her lap and gives her usual monotone face, "Hobbies are probably trying to not be bored maybe?" Sasuke looks at her with shocked eyes, 'Haruno downfall…? I've heard of that somewhere before…'
'Haruno Sakura hm...?' Kakashi ponders, 'she's going to be an interesting student.'
Sakura begins to zone out once again, dreaming in her wonderland. She picks up Kakashi saying something about a test, failing, sent back, skip breakfast, paper has information. Sakura takes the paper and reads it plainly with bored eyes, "Is this it?"
"Yeah." Kakashi replies.
"Kay, I'm going home." Sakura stuffs the paper into her pocket and walks home slowly.
Next day…
"Hey guys! Good morning!" Kakashi waves happily at them.
"YOU'RE LATE" Naruto, Sasuke and even Sakura (well she angrily groaned) scream.
"Okay, it's set for noon," Kakashi presses an alarm, "I have two bells; your task is to take these from me before times up. Those who don't have a bell by noon… get's no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you."
"You only have to take one bell. There are two, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump and the person who doesn't take a bell fails. So at least one of you will be sent to the academy." Kakashi scares the genin's. Sakura notices Naruto and Sasuke getting slightly scared, 'Hm… Scared? Your frequencies are slowly getting higher…'. Kakashi begins to talk more and more, making Sakura slightly bored. She zones out and begins to notice how the sky is blue.
Suddenly their Sensei is screaming, "BEGIN", making Sakura zone back in. She pauses for a second before running to a bush and hiding there.
'It's nice a cool in this area… I feel like taking a nap…' Sakura grins, however her stomach rumbles making her slightly annoyed, 'I'm so damn hungry though so I'll quickly get a bell and eat.'
"Come here and fight me!" Naruto stands in the plain open, making Sakura give him a look of pity.
Kakashi takes out his book and begins to read it. Naruto continues to attack Kakashi, however he dodges each attack perfectly without taking his eyes off of his book. After giving him a thousand years of pain, Naruto begins to use weapons against him.
'I'm impressed Kakashi…' Sakura thinks, 'should I make a move soon? Nah… This place is nice to lie down in…'. The green eyed girl continues to observe Sasuke's attempt to attack Kakashi, while Naruto get's caught in traps. Feeling a small tingle in her ears, she lets out a large sigh, "Kakashi sensei, if you are going to sneak up on me, at least do it properly."
"Impressive Sakura," Kakashi makes eye contact with her cold green eyes, "I have a question, are you not scared of my test?"
"I've been through worse Sensei, this is pretty much nothing compared to that night…" Sakura places a fake smile on her face, "I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."
"…I know you are powerful Sakura. So why won't you use your power now?" Kakashi gives Sakura a serious look, he even out his book away.
"Well…" Sakura starts while closing her eyes, making Kakashi gulp, "I'm hungry and I can't be bothered right now." Kakashi stares at her with a box face," Can't be bothered? You know I can send you back to the academy right?". Sakura shakes her head and says with a monotone voice, "I've been playing with you since the beginning. I know your lying; I can hear it in your voice."
"To be able to hear chakra frequencies… What a fearsome ability…" Kakashi mumbles.
"Yeah. You should know, your chakra frequency can change even with the smallest emotion." Sakura puts up a peace sign with her hand. Before Kakashi can attack Sakura, she stops him by coughing, "By the way, the bells that we need to get. I wasn't really listening to you during your explanation but do they look like this?". Sakura dangles the bell, which Kakashi was holding, in his face.
"…!" Kakashi looks at his pocket and notices one missing, "When did you…?"
"Hmm…" Sakura places her index finger on her chin, "This isn't too fun… Here, I'll give the bell back to you and pretend that I never got it, okay?". She takes Kakashi's hand and places the bell in his palm. Sakura walks away, pretending that she never saw Kakashi. 'I knew it… She really is strong…' Kakashi says, pulling on his mask.
Walking for about a minute, Sakura spots a head on the floor. She walks up to it and places her hand over her mouth from wanting to laugh. "…Nice getting caught in Kakashi's trap Sasuke…" Sakura says beneath her hand. Sasuke is currently seething underneath the ground he is stuck in. "Shut up…" Sasuke spits at her, struggling to get out.
'Should I play with his head as well?' Sakura ponders in her mind. She puts her fist on her palm, deciding that she would play with Sasuke's mind. "It's okay Sasuke; you can always try next time." Sakura mischievously says, causing Sasuke to grit his teeth and force his way out of the ground. He glares sharply at Sakura, "There's a man only I can kill. I'm an avenger; I have to become stronger than him; I can't just stay here and do nothing."
'Hm… Maybe I went to far.' Sakura narrows her eyes. Hearing the ring of the alarm, Sasuke stuffs his hands in his pockets, "Tch… Wasted too much time."
10 minutes later…
"You guys look really hungry, and by the way something about training," Kakashi starts off, "Well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy". Sasuke and Naruto let a sigh of relief slip under their breath. Cheering, Naruto excitedly moves his legs under the ropes he's tied against."Then all three of us…?!" Naruto shouts with excitement. "Yep, all three of you should quit as Shinobi!" Kakashi tells the young genin's.
'Looks like Sasuke and Naruto are scared once again.' Sakura covers one of her ears after hearing a small tingle.
"Even you Sakura!" Kakashi directs his speech to the green-eyed girl, making her glare at Kakashi.
"Are you guys underestimating Ninja's? Huh? Why do you think you were divided into teams and doing this training?" Kakashi asks the 3 with a harsh tone.
"What do you mean Sensei?" Sakura throws a serious look at her teacher, making Naruto and Sasuke's eyes to widen being able to take it anymore, Sasuke attacks Kakashi directly. However his actions fail, and Sasuke gets pinned to the ground with Kakashi sitting on him.
"You guys aren't understanding the answer to this test. The answers that will help you pass the test." Kakashi eyes hold a slight glare in them.
"Ah! Damn it! What's the answer already?!" Naruto screams in frustration.
"It's teamwork…" Kakashi says, slowly looking at Sakura to glare at her. The girl looks away and makes a small groan of annoyance.
"So there are two bell to make us fight among ourselves?" Sakura spits out.
"Yes. The purpose of this test is to see whether you can forget about your personal interests and successfully work along side each other, under these kind of circumstances." Kakashi looks into Naruto's eyes.
"Naruto! You were just running around by yourself!"
"Sasuke! You assumed the others would get in your way and tried to do everything by yourself!"
"And Sakura!" Kakashi narrows his eyes at the girl, "Do you think this is a game?! You're always fooling around, despite being strong."
"Individual play that can disrupt teamwork could put your teammates in danger and even get yourself killed." Kakashi gets off of Sasuke and walks towards a stone with numerous of names carved into it.
"Look at this. The numerous names carved on this stone. These are ninja's who are recognized as heroes of this village." Kakashi looks at Sakura, noticing her not looking straight into the stone. Sakura shifts around on her spot and looks in a direction where only tree's are visible.
"Hey!" Naruto outbursts, "I've decided to get my name carved on that stone too! That's what I'll become! A hero!". Pissed off from Naruto's obliviousness, Sakura stops Naruto's speech, "Naruto! Those aren't normal heroes…"
"Hm?" Naruto tilts his head in confusion, "What kind of heroes were they?"
"…" Unable to carry on, Sakura closes her eyes. Kakashi decided to answer Naruto's question, in replacement of, "They are all heroes who died while on duty". Hearing that, Naruto's smile immediately drops and an eerie silence is created through the group. Sakura grits her teeth, wanting to walk away from that area.
"This is a memorial… My best friends name is also carved in here…" Kakashi trails off. "I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch, I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch, but don't give any to Naruto. It's punishment for trying to eat by yourself. If anyone gives him food, they will fail immediately." Kakashi, straight after, disappears with a puff of smoke.
"Heh fine! I don't need any food!" Naruto's stomach begins to grumble, contradicting his statement.
Lunch Time…
In the exact same moment, Sakura and Sasuke both offer food to Naruto, "Here…"
"Wait! Kakashi just said!" Naruto stops them both.
"It's okay Naruto, I can't hear or sense him anywhere near here so…" Sakura says, trying to cover a small blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.
"Without food, you will just be in the way and that will hurt the team…" Sasuke tries to justify his actions.
"Hehe…" Naruto blushes and says with a big grin on his face, "Thanks."
A large explosion is seen in front of the three, and in the mist was Kakashi screaming, "You guys…!"
Sakura prepares to smash Kakashi in the face, before he says, "Pass!"
The three look at him with questionable faces and stay silent.
Widening her eyes, she lowers her fist and asks Kakashi, "…? Why?"
"A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the Ninja world are called trash… But, you know what?" Kakashi looks up, "Those who don't take care of their comrades… are lower than trash."
Sakura looks straight into the eyes of Kakashi, wondering, 'Did he quote that from somewhere or someone? I felt sadness in his voice…'
Naruto looks at Kakashi with admiration in his eyes.
Sticking a thumb up to the three, Kakashi says with happiness, "That ends training. All of you pass! Starting tomorrow, team 7 will begin it's duties!"
End of Chapter 1