I really didn't expect anyone to read my other story when I posted it, so I'm extremely flattered and grateful to all you who have favorited, reviewed, or followed me. I will post the second chapter eventually, and just had to write this story in the meantime. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
"The designation of Team 7 is as follows: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Na—"
"Yes!" the Uzumaki crowed. His fist shot up in the air, his blonde hair practically thrumming with electric energy. He leaped over the classroom table with both hands.
"Hurry up, Bastard!"
The Uzumaki turned around to chuck a folded paper shuriken at his bosom buddy, the Uchiha, in a practiced gesture. For all the Uzumaki's sloppy taijutsu, his aim was deadly accurate. The Uchiha's fingers snapped around the origami, and he glared back fiercely before flinging back several of his own.
As expected of one of the top students of the year, the Uchiha's weighted paper shuriken pinpointed the Uzumaki's vulnerable spots with textbook precision. If they were real, they would have incapacitated the Uzumaki. As it was, it probably still hurt. Showoff.
"Idiot." Sakura heard him mutter as he stalked down the stairs to the front. The Uzumaki grinned in response and snatched both their folders from Iruka-sensei.
"UZUMAKI!" Iruka-sensei thundered, pelting the orange menace with dusty chalkboard wipes.
Ino and her posse giggled, probably imagining some perverted scenario from the way they blushed and squirmed. Strangely enough, the bitter rivalry between the pro-Uzumaki fangirls and the pro-Uchiha fangirls in their class seemed to have disappeared as they bonded over one shared fantasy-a romantic uke-seme relationship between the boys. Inspired by the boys' accidental kiss earlier that week no doubt.
"Iruka-sensei…" The blond whined, patting the remaining dust from his orange jumpsuit. Their instructor rolled his eyes and smacked Naruto on his head with the remaining folder in his hand.
"Don't interrupt. Haruno, come pick up your files."
She pushed her chair back and made her way down the stairs, conscious of the collective gaze of her class. She could practically hear Ino and her posse grinding their teeth in envy. She mentally scoffed at them. Like she wanted to team up with those two. The little hairs on the back of her neck stood as she passed the Nara, his appraisal sharp despite his desire to be uninvolved in anything "troublesome."
She was puzzled too. Why had she been paired with them? And she said paired because the Uzumaki and the Uchiha were practically joined at the hip. It'd been obvious from the start of the year that the Uchiha and the Uzumaki would be together, but why was she, an apparent civilian nin as far as anyone knew, with the prodigy? She had taken great pains since her mother's death to appear as average as possible, deliberately scoring just enough to avoid unwanted attention.
Sakura aimed a genial smile at Iruka-sensei and grabbed her folder from his outstretched hand.
"Alright. Team Eight…" Iruka-sensei began as she walked back to her seat, part of her mind keeping track of who was assigned where even as she flipped open her file and skimmed the contents.
Hatake Kakashi was her new sensei. Wonderful. She should have considered this possibility, but in all honesty she had anticipated assignment to a non-combative unit. After all, more than half of the genin graduates would be attached to some administrative department. Like the other average civilian majority of her class, she should have been relocated to a clerical position but it seemed she'd miscalculated somewhere along the way.
Where? Or perhaps the better question was, who?
There was only one person who knew of her kekkei genkai and had the ability to authorize her team assignment-the Hokage. SIx years had passed since her mother's death, yet he still remembered her. She came from a civilian family on her father's side, and never scored high enough or low enough to merit attention. The Hokage had plans for her yet, and with Sharigan Kakashi as her sensei, she would have to tread more carefully.
She was annoyed, but mostly at herself. Despite the fact that she knew the Hokage had to approve each team assignment, the possibility that he would take a personal interest in her career was nil. Or so she had thought. He was a very busy man. Although he gave the final approval, genin teams were usually arranged by a joint council of the Academy teachers, who would have the most exposure to the students, and the jonin instructors. She had assumed then, that because of her father's civilian family background and her unimpressive scores, they would have assigned her a cushy desk job. Then as a genin she would have had access to Konoha's general shinobi register, as well as near anonymity to continue digging for information. No one really took notice of genin, who usually ran the errands and performed the tasks that kept a busy hidden village like Konoha functioning.
The fact that the Hokage had taken the time necessary to assign her to Team 7, with both the Uzumaki and Uchiha...was not good. Especially since it was Team 7, the same team that had produced the three legendary Sannin, the Yondaime, and Hatake-sensei himself. And she couldn't forget that the God of Shinobi's hand had molded each generation to become the fearsome nin they were today. Molded them for the "good" of the village. But where were they now? The last Senju princess was drinking and gambling her way across the nations, seeking her death. The Toad Sage rambled around the nation, purportedly seeking "inspiration" for his perverted novels. No she hadn't read his books, but, being a voracious reader, had come across them too many times to count.
And the last...Orochimaru, that fucking forked-tongue pedophile. He was the reason why-
She forcefully turned her mind back to the matter at hand. There was no doubt the Hokage was a dangerous man. She needed more information without giving herself away. So she would follow his plan for now, bide her time, and take this chance to observe the developing legend that was her sensei.
She felt better now that she made a decision. Now she could return her attention to Iruka-sensei and the new genin teams.
As she had expected, Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi were paired together on Team 10. Following with tradition, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would most likely be utilized as an infiltration and intelligence team. The Hyuuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame formed another combat team, and would be ideal for tracking and reconnaissance. The remaining twelve students were likewise split into teams of three, and assigned to other departments, like she should have been. She took note of who went where for future use. She had a passing acquaintance with a few of her classmates and she was satisfied to see she had made the right friendships when Iruka-sensei announced the rest of the teams.
Except for the unexpectedness of placing her on the prodigal team, everything was as it should be. The Hokage had her where he wanted her, but she still had much to her advantage. In fact, this track might be better. With the Uchiha's precious son and the Hokage's favored student on her team, people would be too busy watching them to take note of her. It would be even easier for them to underestimate her.
"Dismissed!" Iruka-sensei's voice brought her out of her musings. Sudden noise filled the air as her classmates conversed excitedly about their teams and chairs scraped back. "Haruno, Uchiha, and Uzumaki, your instructor will come pick you up from here."
Sato-chan, a friendly girl who seemed to like helping people, and who was well-suited to her new place in the Outreach and Recruitment department, gave her a small smile and left to join her friends, now her teammates. Sakura returned the smile, though perhaps it was less genuine. Though she didn't consider them "friends," she needed to maintain a semblance of normalcy.
Sakura turned up the wattage of her smile and swung that brilliance around to the Uchiha, who had been watching her for the past few minutes. He kept his gaze on her even after she looked at him, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. He wanted her to know that he was watching her. He didn't trust her. Good for him. To reward his behavior, she thought of the time Lee-san wiped the floor with her in one of their first taijutsu matches and felt herself blush. She lowered her eyes bashfully too. It was from embarrassment at the memory of that fight, but let the Uchiha think what he would.
After a moment or two, when it seemed that all she would do was fidget and blush, she felt his attention return to the Uzumaki at his side, who was wildly gesturing about something. She didn't know why he was suddenly suspicious of her, but it hardly mattered. Within the past year they had been classmates, she had surmised that he was narcissistic, arrogant, self-centered, and surprisingly possessive of the Uzumaki, though not in the romantic way her female classmates fantasized about. It was more of the way a spoiled child didn't want to share his toys with others. As long as she didn't infringe upon their close relationship as they became a "team," he would probably leave her alone. Suited her just fine.
In ten minutes the room was completely empty except for the two prodigies and herself. She idly wondered how long they would be waiting for their new sensei and mentally reviewed what she had wrote about him in her little black book, which she did not keep for potential booty-calls or dates. It was her own Bingo book where she kept track of all the notable shinobi she encountered, whether through her history books or in person.
Hatake-sensei was a war veteran, whose father had been a celebrated hero before the events that led to his suicide. A genius himself, he helped turn the tide of the Third Shinobi War in Konoha's favor, alongside Maito Gai. He served in ANBU for an uncertain number of years, presumably after the war. He was well-respected in the village, and had a fearsome reputation. He probably took after his father, a silver-haired lanky man.
Everything she knew was general information, available to all academy students and probably well known amongst the civilian population. She had never seen or met him, didn't know what he specialized in, what the range of his techniques were, or how useful he would be. Judging from the respect and awe he inspired in her teachers as well as his reputation, he was probably an A-rank shinobi.
She ran her forefinger over her bottom lip, chin in hand. Why was he their instructor? She could think of two reasons. First, the Hokage wanted to continue the legacy of Team 7 by building another power team with his quasi-adopted son the Uzumaki and the Uchiha heir's brother. Second, with Hatake-sensei as their sensei, most enemies would think twice before attempting to kidnap the Uchiha. Was that all this was then?
She observed the bickering pair two rows down.
The Uchiha had yet to develop the Sharigan, but he was competent in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, especially in comparison to their classmates. He was arrogant-as all Uchiha were-but it was more so the misplaced and naive arrogance of a big fish within a little pond. In their class, where more than half of the students were from civilian families and the rest were from notable but less powerful nin clans, he would indeed stand out. As an Uchiha, he was always at risk for kidnapping, doubly so because he was the second son of the clan head. Leaving the relative safety of the village was risky for the Uchiha, and the risk would increase the farther away they were from allies.
Another thought occurred to her as she watched the Uzumaki. In addition to being the Hokage's favorite genin, Uzumaki Naruto, a war orphan, had frighteningly strong charisma that marked him as a future leader. He was stupidly cheerful and seemed to have trouble with taijutsu and genjutsu, but ninjutsu came naturally to him. Whereas the Uchiha attracted attention with his cold confidence and pale-faced beauty, the Uzumaki radiated a vibrant charisma that drew people in like a magnet. He was also extremely reckless and impulsive, with a one-track mind. Easy to predict.
They were both of them annoyingly naive and secure in their own little world, never having bathed their hands in blood and death.
Regardless, perhaps she had been too hasty to assume this move was about her. Hatake-sensei could be a candidate for Godaime, so perhaps the far-seeing Hokage was setting up the Uzumaki to be groomed as Hatake-sensei's successor.
Now she was being naive. The Hokage had uses for her kekkei genkai, and was ensuring her availability and development at his convenience. It was probably for all those reasons she'd just thought about that Hatake-sensei was their instructor.
She became aware of the chakra presence a second before the Uzumaki did, and noted that only when the Uzumaki tensed did the Uchiha notice the chakra signature. So the Uzumaki was more sensitive to chakra. They must also spend a lot of time together training for the Uchiha to pick up on the Uzumaki's focused awareness so quickly.
The door slid open and a messy silver-headed masked face peered out. He didn't bother with more than a quick glance before mumbling, "My first impression of you...I don't like you."
Ten minutes later found them all situated on the roof. Hatake-sensei peered at them from beneath one half-closed eyelid. He sat across from them on the rooftop railing, long limbs loose. She couldn't read his expression, but his body said he was utterly relaxed and bored. Shinobi were trained to deceive, so she didn't trust his body language either.
She sat a little apart from both boys, feet tucked together, hands in her lap like any good civilian surrounded by bigger nin. She didn't have to work hard to appear innocent, what with her small frame and pink hair.
"Well," Hatake-sensei's voice was a pleasant tenor. "why don't we get to know one another? Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future."
Sakura raised her hand. "Why don't you start sensei?"
She saw the Uchiha sneer at her from the corner of her eye as the Uzumaki bounced on the concrete step he sat on. "Oooh, I can start! Let me go!"
Hatake-sensei waved his hand in a go-ahead gesture as he glanced at her.
She had already ducked her head before he looked at her when the Uzumaki spoke. Hatake-sensei was gauging her reaction to the boys' dismissal of her place on their team.
The Uzumaki jumped to his feet and rocked forward on his heels. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I love ramen and Oba-san's cooking, the bastard here's alright, and I really dislike it when people lie. My dream, is to become the Hokage!"
He punctuated this statement with a raised fist.
"Ah," Hatake-sensei said, seeming to slouch even more. "next."
The Uzumaki grinned as he sat down and nudged the Uchiha, who elbowed him back and scooted farther away. "I am Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything, or dislike anything except ramen. I will join ANBU and become commander."
Hatake-sensei said nothing to this but looked at her with his dark eye.
"Um, my name is Haruno Sakura. I like pressing flowers, reading, and writing. I...don't like getting dirty. My dream…" Only her name and the part about enjoying reading was true but to stay in character she hesitated and looked at her toes. "My dream is to help the people of Konoha."
She felt Hatake-sensei stare at her a moment longer before he made a noncommittal sound.
"Hm. I'm Hatake Kakashi, your instructor if you pass my test tomorrow."
"What?!" Both the Uzumaki and Uchiha exclaimed, though at different decibels. They exchanged a look before the Uchiha, tension lining his shoulders, carefully said, "Hatake-sensei, it was my understanding that you were already assigned to be our instructor."
"Hm, yes, you passed the Academy's test. That doesn't mean you are genin." His visible eye crinkled at them in a false smile. "And unless you pass my test, you won't be my students. You'll be coming back here for the next year."
Interesting. He was definitely too cheery for it to be a joke. And there was no way she was going to repeat another dull year. She glanced to the side. The Uchiha's scowl had intensified until he could have struck lightning with the thunderclouds on his face. Next to her, the Uzumaki's mouth gaped open.
"Meet me at Training Ground 27 tomorrow, six o'clock sharp." Hatake-sensei stood, hands in pockets. "Ah, don't eat breakfast. You'll regret it."
Then he vanished in a swirl of leaves. An extraordinarily quick shunshin.
Time for her to leave too. She made her way to the exit and was nearly to the door when she heard the Uzumaki's voice.
"Sakura-chan!"
She looked over her shoulder, default smile fixed in place.
The Uzumaki had taken a few steps forward. "Do you want to come eat lunch with us? Uh, my treat!"
When she didn't immediately decline, he took it as a sign to keep talking. "I know this great ramen place that isn't too far, it's really good! I was just thinking that since we're gonna be teammates and all, we should get to know each other."
She glanced at the Uchiha, whose flinty gaze and lifted brow dared her to refuse. The Uzumaki's grin stretched. Did he really think they could be friends? The utter sincerity in the Uzumaki's eyes said yes, he did.
She re-evaluated her assessment of them. They were even more naive than she originally thought. Despite the Hokage's frequent spiels about the "Will of Fire" and "love," of all things, as the key to peace, the truth was that shinobi were murderers. They might delude themselves into thinking it was for some noble cause, but every shinobi was a killer first and foremost. The Hidden Village of Leaves certainly didn't carve its prominent place in the shinobi world with hugs and kisses. "Thank-you Naruto-kun, but I have an errand to run."
She waved just a bit sarcastically and left, headed for the Registrar's Office.
After she declined the Uzumaki's lunch invitation, she made her way to the Registrar's Office, a fifteen minute walk west of the Academy. Since it was important that she be seen leaving the Academy, she walked at an unhurried but purposeful pace towards one of the little marketplaces nearby. As she had predicted, the streets were full to bursting with busy civilians out for the lunch hour. When she was sure that no chakra signature within a half mile radius was developed enough to be a shinobi, she Kage Bunshin-ed a clone to run a few errands and Shunshin-ed to the Office.
She formed the picture of a brown-eyed, dark-haired girl in her mind and formed the seals for Henge no Jutsu. Although she felt no difference, she didn't doubt that it worked. She dedicated a small portion of her chakra to maintain the illusion and walked towards the unrestricted part of the Registrar Office. Two chuunin milled around the entrance and took little notice of her as she passed the doorway. The slight disturbance in her chakra told her that, like at the Academy, this section of the building also had the standard seal which interrupted low-level genjutsu. Fortunately, she'd practiced maintaining her illusion at the Academy so her henge wasn't dispelled.
It was nice and empty, so she had no trouble playing the earnest and innocent genin sent to make copies of some files for her sensei to the desk employee, a brown-haired chuunin with a torn right earlobe. As she'd observed before when gathering intel, the chuunin did not bother with verification papers or her genin ID beyond a glance at her new hitai-ate.
After the chuunin-Shizuka-chan-left her in the Academy Records room, she casually checked to see if anyone else was around. Determining that she was alone, and that security really was as lax as it seemed, she quickly located the files she wanted and copied the information with a simple jutsu she'd learned from Dead Techniques.
She stuck the sheaf of papers in the manila file folder she was still carrying from earlier and bowed politely to the chuunin before relocating to her headquarters, the massive storage shed behind the main house. She settled contentedly into her office and reviewed the information in her hands.
What she read was mildly surprising. Hatake-sensei had yet to pass a single genin team.
In her hands were the Academy profiles of the fifteen students he had failed within the past several years. Five teams total, and most of the genin seemed like the promising fresh recruits Konoha liked. Keeping in with Team 7's legacy, all former failed members were well-rounded, powerful nin. They had high marks on their Academy exams, with comments from instructors praising their skills and intellect. It made her wonder if Hatake-sensei had been strong-armed into becoming a teacher, since he didn't seem to have a passion for it unlike a certain spandex-clad person. If none of those top-performing genin had passed his test, then either he had extremely high standards for genin or they had failed to grasp the true nature of the exam somehow.
She reached out to snatch a steaming cup of tea just as her clone set the tray down. Oolong, yummy.
"Did you finish?" She asked, having sensed her own approaching chakra signature several minutes ago. A redundant question since she knew herself well enough, but she felt compelled to ask anyway.
She was sure her clone was rolling its eyes from its long-suffering tone of voice. "Yes, control freak, I finished the tasks. You'll get the memories back soon when I dispel."
She suppressed a fissure of irritation. Sakura knew she was a controlling person, to others maybe even manipulative but she liked to think of herself more as opportunistic-she took every chance to ensure she achieved her goals.
She pushed away that train of thought for later. "We need more information on the Hatake."
Her clone bit its lip in thought as it reviewed the information spread out on the table with a critical eye, sipping at its hot tea. From this angle, her clone looked just like their mother, minus the two dots on her forehead. At last her clone nodded.
"Maito Gai." Her clone confirmed, then dispelled in a burst of cloud.
Sakura took a moment to center herself as the memories of her clone rushed back into her mind. As always, it was momentarily disorienting, though she didn't have as much trouble assimilating the information as she used to. Normalizing the aftereffects of the forbidden technique was crucial since it left her vulnerable.
She glanced at the shadows cast by the trees outside her window. Time to find Gai-sensei. After this last cup.
A/N: What do you make of my interpretation of Sakura? I'm curious to know what you think.