I was never really a part of my so-called team. I was just there to take up space. Nobody ever paid any attention to me. I was the weak one, the one who couldn't amount to anything, the one they had to push back to succeed. Nobody could be bothered with me. While Ino-pig was bickering with Shika-kun, and Ten-chan was training with Neji-kun, I was alone out in the muggy air, waiting for a sensei who never showed up. It was as if I was an afterthought, no, I was an afterthought. That was the real reason I asked Tsunade to train me. I had to do something. I was in deep, and I was in it alone. I shoved away my loneliness and that's when I found the anger. I wasn't weak, they were just powerful. But I couldn't let myself be pushed aside for being an average girl placed on a team of superheroes. I wouldn't let that happen. So after I'd learned everything I could force out of Tsunade-shishou, I began training with Ibiki-sensei, Guy-san, Kurenai-sensei, and sometimes even the other Jounins, and pretty soon the whole of the ANBU knew me on a first-name basis. I actually surpassed the whole of them, with the help of Shika-kun and Neji-kun and Lee-kun, and I was soon admitted as one of them. I wished on the official day, that my ex-team could see me then. Not that they'd believe, nor care about, it.

Yes, ex-team. I had myself taken off of Team 7. I wanted to make a name of my own, I didn't want to take the help of theirs. Instead, Shikamaru, Neji, and I were put on a dream team, and we've stayed together since we were Chunins, continuing into our Jonin, and then ANBU ranks.

I got a mask. A pure white one, with blood red whisker markings and lines on the forehead and nose, cut in a feline face. Shika and Neji got their own, too.

Shika's is a bear's, which fits, what with the hibernating and the protectiveness, while Neji's is a falcon's, like his bird in a cage simile.

I love them, you know. They're my real team. They're the teammates that Team 7 never was. I mean, Naruto left to train with Jiraiya and then immediately left to get Sasuke. Sai went with him. Kakashi, I couldn't even find him those first three years, then Naruto came back and all of a sudden he's back with that cheesy grin. Then he left with the other two. Big freaking shocker, huh? Not to mention they lied to my fucking face about it.

Great moral support, guys. Really. Where in hell would I be without you?

I live with Shika and Neji now. They stay so the nightmares stay away. About the times I was interrogated and kidnapped and viciously tortured by some fags that wanted to know what my ex-team was planning or where my ex-team was or some shit.

I didn't even know, nor did I care, until they brought it up. It haunted me. I was scared to go on solo missions for weeks, until Hinata and Ino slapped some sense into me.

Oh, yeah, Ino and I are besties again. Hinata, too. I missed them, even though they'll never be near as close to me as my team. Or Gaara-kun.

Yeah, the Kazekage is another close friend of mine. He always asks for me specifically when they're in need of a medic-ninja or an ambassador or anything at all really. They've made me a personal room out of one of their old guest rooms, one of the special-guest guest rooms. I never get any other room. It's rigth next to all of theirs. I'm very honored.

I'm also a favorite of the Raikage's. Whenever they send a ninja for negotiation purposes, they send me, in hopes that reminding him that I live here will lead to better favor. Sometimes, I think it actually works, too.

I've mastered my skills while the village heroes have been away. I've turned myself into a heroine, actually. Everybody knows me, and half the town, I believe, knows that it's Team 7's fault that I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Half of them roll their eyes at the talk of the grandeur of my old teammates. Even the civilians do, at times, I notice. Shika-kun tells me they've taken to calling me a perfect kunoichi of sorts. Well that really boosts my ego, despite my attempts at staying humble. I try to be kind and caring and gentle with everyone, even my enemies, but I can only truly stay this way with children. Especially the broken ones.

Nah, I'm not superhuman like my old team. I'm stubborn and brash and violent and emotional. But I'm also warm and doubtful and cunning and stoic. It kills being a ninja. Quite literally at times.

No pun intended at first, so I apologize.

I'm impulsive and bossy and cocky and still too weak. I can be sadistic and masochistic and I do believe I'm quite mad. Crazy, insane. After all, I was a schizo as a kid. Hehe.

Inner Sakura has become me. Our two personalities twisted into one another at first, but now, the old Sakura has almost faded away completely.

Because they left me. Again. They all did. They never even gave me a chance. They just assumed that because I'm a girl with no demon or Kekkai Genkai or specialty, that I'm so weak I can't even protect myself. They always excluded me in anything that could be dangerous.

How could a team leave a comrade behind? It's a team's responsibility to improve each other's strengths and overcome weaknesses, that's the whole point! But apparently, it's not the case for them. It really hurt me back when I was alone.

Kakashi, he never pain attention to me. His main concern was Sasuke's training and Naruto's potential. In his eyes, I wasn't as important as the Kyuubi or the Sharingan. He was the one that told me to open up, the one that promoted teamwork so much.

Sasuke, he left me to burn. He left me on a cold, hard bench to be raped, kidnapped, mugged, or murdered, and didn't even give a shit about the love I had for him. I wasn't a friend like Naruto, and I wasn't power like Kakashi. I was just that whiny little hinderance.

Naruto, he never even loved me like he promised. I confessed to him and he turned me down, unwilling to believe it. He promised me we'd stick together and that he'd never leave me. He vowed to keep me from breaking like this. He forgot me.

So I don't see the right others have to tell me that I should be more loyal than to join another team, or that I should be out there supporting them. In case you haven't noticed, Konoha, but they've done just fine without me, and it's not like I haven't served you well enough from here.

And I know that most people will say that they were just trying to keep me safe. But that's just not right. I'm a freaking kunoichi if you haven't noticed, I'll never be fully safe. I chose this path to follow. Nobody forced me into it, and I'm not going to hold back because I'm afraid to die. That's what being a ninja and serving the Hokage is all about, risking your life for the good of the masses. I had and still have potential. All of my teachers assure me that how Kakashi couldn't see it was beyond them.

So here it is blunt. I was abandoned by my team when they all demanded the mission. Others saw potential in me and they gave me an opportunity to cut my ties from these traitors. They acted like nobody saw it coming, but honestly? It didn't surprise me. They've done it once, they could do it again.

So I asked the Hokage to remove me from Team 7, by all means. Boohoo.

Shikamaru and Neji surprised me when they bought our apartment, because they didn't approve of my living alone and they sure as hell weren't about to let anybody else do it. We really had to fight the Elders tooth and nail to get it allowed for a team to live together. They had a lot of help from the Naras and even the Hyugas as well. Neji tells me Hiashi approves of me greatly, while Shika-kun claims that his mom and dad want me to be a part of the family. I think he's overreacting, though.

It's been about three years since my ex-team left on their mission and I joined up with Shika and Neji. They devoted days upon days to me, encouraging me and pushing me past my limits. Everybody, even the Tsunade, tells us that we're the best team Konoha has seen since the Sanins. I couldn't be prouder of my boys and me.

Yet even now, I pain myself whenever I think about how they left me because they believed me to be too weak.

Yeah.. just a oneshot i randomly thought up. One last insert before i go!

And uh, I'm thinking I'm gonna base a story off of this when I'm done with my two other brand new stories, so I'm excited about that.

Hey people I fixed it! :D Okay not that much, I just kind of edited it and added more drabble detail! Haha.