AN: I'll try to update this whenever I can. The general plot inspiration was the idea that you're born with your soul mate's first words to you tattooed somewhere on your body.
This is a really short chapter that kind of just sets up the idea of the soul mate script and the characters. I always hated explaining established events so it really speeds through Sakura's first 11 years.
Sakura's life was normal… considering her soulmate was an asshole.
She'd had the messy script scribbled around her ribcage since she was born.
'How can I put this? As for my first impression of you… well, I hate you.'
Her parents tried to nicely convince her that the tattoo might just be situational. "He could be talking to someone else!" Mrs. Haruno would say, her worried smile gleaming across the counter to a small Sakura. Mr. Haruno would just grunt and say "I already don't like him." Sakura ignored them, but they didn't help her disappointment. Their scripts were common, yes, but they were at least pleasant.
When Sakura finally got the nerve to show her, Ino had laughed until she cried. The only way that Sakura got her to shut up was reminding her that it sounded like something Sasuke would say. Ino's own script was far too upbeat to be the gloomy Uchiha.
Ino practically pushed Sakura into Sasuke to see if his first words matched her script. But his brisk "You're annoying" sucked all the life out of Sakura (but made Ino feel better). If Sakura's soulmate wasn't Sasuke, then what was the point of having the script? She even considered getting his first sentence tattooed elsewhere and just trying to convince him it was legit. But Ino stopped her, saying that that was messing with things a little too much.
Together they swore that the scripts were bullshit and one of them was definitely his soulmate. This had even led to multiple attempts to search his body for his own script. Unfortunately, neither the Haruno nor the Yamanaka had the skills to catch him. All that they'd figured out was where it wasn't.
Her classes at the Academy were stress-filled introductions to see who would be her true love. Luckily, Naruto wasn't Sakura's soulmate. He complained that his painfully short script ("Hello Naruto.") was too simple to not be hers. Unluckily, none of her class was either. Everyone seemed excited to meet each other to see who matched.
Sakura felt a little better, as she realized she wasn't the only one with a weird script nor the only one who hadn't been matched. Shikamaru barely cared enough to say that no one in his class matched him. Choji's was so simple, people teased him that he'd marry a civilian (which he defended as an honorable thing). Hinata blushed way too much when Naruto introduced himself to her. She didn't respond, but everyone watching knew that his "You're so quiet, but I can be loud enough for both of us!" was somewhere on her.
People who were matched just paired up together, as it just seemed obvious. Those that weren't were stuck finding people to partner up with. Sakura and Ino stuck together, since Sasuke said denied both of them at every opportunity. This worked in their favor though, as they would both stand around and watch Sasuke train, instead of sparring themselves.
Sakura kept telling herself that she never got nerves. But it was the first day meeting everyone as a team and she was anxious about the whole day. Would Sasuke give her the time of day as a teammate? Why was she stuck with Naruto? Who would be her sensei?
She glanced at Sasuke who was walking slightly ahead of her to the Academy building. He seemed relaxed, and his hands were in his pockets. But something caught Sakura's eye. Peeking out from the top of his untucked shorts was the ending to his script. It wasn't Sakura's handwriting. It was too messy and broken to be any girl Sakura knew.
When they arrived at the Academy, Naruto was already waiting in the classroom and his cheezy 'I have something planned' smile was plastered across his face. He hid the dusty eraser in the crack of the door after Sakura and Sasuke walked in. The blonde was carefully adjusting the offending object to make sure that it didn't fall prematurely. Sakura yelled at Naruto to stop the prank, but secretly looked forward to it. Sasuke simply grunted and commented that a jounin wouldn't fall for such a simple trick. Naruto snickered as footsteps came down the hallway to the room.
The door slid open and poof! The Eraser landed in grey hair. The famous Copy-nin Kakashi Hatake seemed frozen in the doorway. The eraser slid off his head and clattered to the floor. He bent down and picked it up, almost to examine it. Naruto was laughing his ass off and Sasuke seemed disappointed in the man who fell for the trick.
"How can I put this? As for my first impression of you… well, I hate you."
The words cut straight through Sakura. Her script seemed to burn, driving home a point that she had already realized. The words that she'd studied and grown to hate were etched into her subconscious. But then came the problem. If Kakashi Hatake was her soulmate, then her reply would cause him to realize this too. He was also her sensei and like a bajillion times older than her.
She knew what she was going to say, and it seemed to spill out of her. "I-I'm sorry Sensei. I tried to stop him, but Naruto did it on his own."
His eyes widened imperceptibly, and his mask seemed to shift into a frown. Naruto seemed oblivious but Sasuke's frown deepened suspiciously. Kakashi roughly cleared his throat, still giving Sakura a strange expression and went on to take them to the rooftop of his favorite restaurant to ask everyone about themselves. He seemed to pay extra attention to Sakura, who was having a hard enough time talking with Sasuke watching without her new 40 year old soul mate sensei staring at her as well.
After the introduction of sorts, they went through Kakashi's strange bell test. Of course none of them though of working as a team. In retrospect, Sakura almost bashed her head against the nearest tree because she missed how obvious it was. Their first day as a team and they'd already messed it up. Luckily she'd somehow fixed it by giving Naruto some food. Sasuke probably figured it out before she did and offered Naruto food as well. When Kakashi returned, screaming his head off Sakura wanted to disappear. But he'd changed his mood almost instantly and seemed proud of them. He crinkled his eyes at Sakura and congratulated her on figuring it out.
On her way home, Sakura thought about her revelation. They both knew they were destined to be together, and they both were aware of the age difference and rank difference. So that meant that the relationship wasn't until much later. But if that was the case, why did it freak her out so much? Probably because she had just started growing up and she was destined to be with a man over twice her current age.
And he wasn't Sasuke.