Sakura, having watched her entire family brutally murdered by bandits on a reunion trip, seals up her heart. She hides herself away, underneath the mask of a perfectly normal, bubbly little girl. She hides the monster, the calculating beast born of desperation, and the horror of watching the ones she loved die while she could only look on in horror.
The Sakura who is brought back by a border patrol is already hiding her scars.
As soon as she's released from the hospital, she asks to be accepted into the next Ninja Academy class session. With her all her relatives dead, it's the Civilian Council that makes the decision. To them the decision is easy, it takes far longer to complete a civilian education - it is only after graduation and the recognition of majority that Haruno Sakura can be removed from the already over-filled rolls of the Orphan's Fund. Her parents died without debt, so all their worldly effects and property were fully paid off, meaning that the Council wouldn't have to provide lodgings for her either. The Civilian Council forgets about the little pink haired girl, who stood before them with dead eyes and a rigid stance. Even if they had seen her again, they wouldn't have recognised the bright, bubbly fangirl.
She grew too good at hiding her true self too quickly.
Because there's no one at home to tell her not to, Sakura stays at the Konoha Civilian Library late into the evening most nights. The allotment she gets from the Orphan's Fund is standardised, so it can just cover buying three meals a day because it doesn't have to cover rent or new clothes and equipment. For the first few months she is aimless, picking up random stacks of books and heading to the back corner of the library with an exhaustive dictionary and a few scrolls for note taking. She's not truly paying attention to what's she's learning. But in the process her note taking becomes formidable, and her vocabulary and knowledge of obscure kanji grows exponentially. In those first few months, without even realising it, Sakura trains her mind into a fearsome weapon.
Then the Academy notice arrives, the next session is to start in one month, and Sakura realises that now she needs money for ninja supplies. "I'll have to start making my own food." She muses, looking over the list of supplies and the places to buy them that's included in the orientation packet for the civilian parents of prospective ninja. A few days later, and a few charmed shop assistants, that is confirmed. Apparently, the average Academy student burns through six sets of basic supplies during their time as a pre-genin. So, the next time she's at the library, she heads determinedly towards the far left corner. To the ceiling high stacks loaded up with books on cooking, gardening and preserving harvests. The Haruno main house has a sizeable garden out the back. Sakura hasn't touched it, apart from when she moved herself and a small amount stuff into one of the rooms near the back of the house. It is a ten tatami mat room that used to belong to an uncle or a cousin, someone she rarely saw. It hurts less than staying in the house she had grown up in; the empty spaces where her parents used to be are too painful to bare. "It's somewhere to start." She mutters, looking out at the weeds that are reaching up to knees now.
For the next two weeks she buys groceries and makes her own food, choking down burnt, undercooked and over-seasoned meals until she learns how to do it right. She learns how to make food that can last a week in a storage seal, stacked bento packed with calories and nutrients for eating after training sessions at the Academy. She learns how to make a filling breakfast, that she can carry and eat on the run if she needs to, while half asleep. Then, she incorporates a basic warm up into her morning routine as well: using pots as weights, stretching every time she reaches for something. Honing a sharp focus, controlling her every movement at any given moment throughout it all. Somehow, she don't think the Academy is going to be at all sympathetic to the unaccustomed body of a civilian girl.
Her whole body aches, just doing the little she does in the morning for the first week. But it gets better, and by the day before the Academy orientation Sakura can easily finish her morning routine, and then spend the rest of the day out in the backyard tending to the garden.
It had taken a whole week to clear the weeds and then plow the centre section of the backyard that she had marked out for planting. There was a section along the side fence Sakura was eyeing off for planting some fruit trees. One of the books she had read had been all about preserving fruit, and another had mentioned the benefits of eating just two pieces of fruit a day. To Sakura they seemed like an incredibly efficient way to get a small boost of energy. It seemed like a good idea, but vegetables came first, then maybe some chickens. A small flock would help keep the pests down, and the eggs would be very useful. If any of hens turned out to be broody, once the chicks matured she could slaughter them for meat as well. It would be a lot of work but Sakura hoped, that by doing all of that, it would leave enough money in the allowance she received from the Orphans Fund to buy meat, milk and rice, as well as the Academy supplies. And it wasn't like she would be regularly leaving the village any time in the next several years, the time investment should still be possible for a good while.
"At the very least, I've got enough to spare for the first round of supplies." Sakura mutters as she stands just inside the front door to the main house, preparing to put on the 'cheerful little girl' mask she always wears out in public. The pink haired girl who skips down the street isn't recognisable as the real Sakura, despite that their features are an uncanny match. This Sakura has bright eyes and a delighted smile, she's excited to finally get her things to become a ninja.
It's only a short walk to the marketplace near the house, but the ninja supply shops are all over by the Academy, a twenty minute walk to the west.
"Ne, ne! Shopkeeper-san! What should I get? I'm about to start at the Academy tomorrow." The shopkeeper smiles automatically at the enthusiasm in that voice, schooling his face back to neutral as he turns to help his newest customer. He doesn't notice even the slightest trace of the bloodlust Sakura keeps locked up tight inside her.
"Well, first things first. You'll want a training set of kunai and shuriken. They're just over here."
"Oh! Thank you, Oji-san!" Sakura bounces in place slightly before she heads over to the stacks of weapons, aware of the shopkeeper following her more sedately. "Those are shuriken," She says, pointing as the small metal stars, "And these are kunai." Her finger skips over to a ring handled knife. "Right?" She pouts up at the shopkeeper, and hides her smirk as he softens even further.
"Quite right, little miss."
"What about the others?" Sakura points to the long needles, and then flicks her wrist to encompass the rest of the display.
"Well, those ones you pointed at are called 'Senbon'. They're used in medical jutsu, and their use is often taught to Hunting and Tracking teams. They can also be dipped in poison."
"Oh…" Sakura keeps her voice soft and a little wistful. "I'd like to become a medic, maybe." She runs a finger down one of the long, thin needles. 'These look like they'd be easy to hide, and even if someone found them, they look quite pitiful. Just perfect.'
"Well." The shopkeeper hums thoughtfully, "Did your parents give any extra, past what they recommend on the Academy orientation pamphlet?
"Yep! And I added some from my piggy bank too." She peers up at him, and blinks faux innocently to hide the immediate and visceral twitch that comes from any mention of her family. All gone, metal and red so thick it sticks in her throat, and the screaming...
"Alright then, you should have enough to add a basic set of senbon to the kunai and shuriken you'll need for the Academy. Why don't you grab a set of each - you'll want 10 - and take them up to the front counter. One of the assistants will start bagging them up for you."
"Alright!" Sakura grins sweetly up at him, and for once Outer is matching her, 'There's no point in getting the Academy sets, when Genin sets cost exactly the same, for three lots of 10 apiece.' "What should I look at after?"
"Well, next would be a basic medical kit - bandages and the like - and a ninja outfit with grab bags for your gear."
"Can you show me where they are?"She bites at her lower lip, and watches the shopkeeper soften even further.
"Of course, little miss, they're over on the far side of the shop. Why don't I get down the basics of an Academy med-kit, with a little extra, since I know you want to be a medic nin?"
"Really?" Perfect. "Thank you oji-san." With the shopkeeper successfully diverted, Sakura gathers up a set each of combat grade shuriken, senbon and kunai. Letting her Outer mask drop slightly, she walks calmly up the front desk, concealing her presence almost entirely.
The assistant, reading some magazine behind the desk, doesn't even notice the pile of weapons until a senbon at the top of the pile rolls off, clinking against the others. Sakura scoffs inwardly at the start of surprise she gives, but she just starts bundling them all up into cloth wrappings, marking the total down on a scrap of paper. All according to plan. When she pops back up at his side, with the Outer mask firmly in place, the shopkeeper has a small array of medical supplies laid out on a bench.
"Hello again, little miss."
"Hello again, oji-san." She says with a tinkling laugh, perfectly childlike without a trace of the sardonic edge that would be more accurate. "What are all these?"
"Well. We have basic bandages," He points to four rolls of white cloth, "Some antiseptic cream, and low grade painkillers," He points to a small purple tube and a small bottle of blue pills, "A general antidote, some soldier pills, and finally alcohol wipes." The antidote is in a clear glass bottle with an eyedropper attached to the lid, the soldier pills look the same as the painkillers but red. The alcohol wipes are individually wrapped in little sealed squares of pale purple. "They're coloured to make it easier to remember."
"Oh, so purple for disinfecting, blue for pain relief, red for energy, white for bandaging and clear for poison."
"Pretty much, medic nin use a bunch of different techniques to be able to differentiate what's in their grab bags easily. Some use colour, others the texture, or shape."
"Huh. Colours sounds good." Sakura muses. 'I'll add something textured to the smooth bottles, so that I can identify them by touch, but this is a start.'
"Glad you agree, little miss. Now, medic nin tend to use a segmented grab bag, one that has divided sections to allow for more attachment loops than the weapon holster ones used for kunai and the like." He sets a tan, roughly square looking cloth bag down, and then two black rounded ones next to it. "Senbon are often just poked straight into the weave of another weapons grab bag." He adds, when he sees her tilt her head.
"Okay." Sakura says with a shrug. 'I was planning something similar anyway.' She looks back up at the shopkeeper and says, "Take this up to the counter, too?"
"Yes, little miss. Then you only have your training clothes, and you're done. I'm sure a smart miss like you can make her own choices on that matter. The clothing racks are up the front, come back to the counter when you're ready to pay for it all."
"Okay, oji-san."
Once the medical supplies have created another pile on the counter, next to the wrapped weapons, without the lowering of the Outer mask because the shopkeeper might actually be paying attention this time, Sakura heads towards the racks and piles of clothing at the front of the store. Flicking through the various combinations of ninja friendly clothes, Sakura stilled on a sleeveless tunic. It would fall to her knees, split up the sides to her hips, when she was a bit taller. For the moment, when she held it up to her front, the hem fell almost to her ankles, but being so large in the shoulder meant it would be easy to move in. It had fastenings all the way up one side, and it was reversible. Bright red and white on one side, sensible black and dark green on the other. 'Outer can wear red, that's suitably boisterous. And the black and green side will suit ninja work quite well.' She soon picked out a second, similar tunic top that one a soft pink one side, and a pale grey on the other. Four sets of shorts in black and dark green, appropriately colour matched to her new tunics join the pile in her arms. With a smile on her face, Sakura skips back to the counter.
She thanks the shopkeeper for his help in a soft sweet tone as he folds and wraps the clothes, placing all of them in a small Academy-standard black rucksack. The final tally, once added to the cost of the weapons noted by the assistant, came in to just under what remained of Sakura's allowance for the week. Guess this is the start of my savings. She heads back to the main house with the solid weight of the rucksack beating a tattoo against her back the whole way.