I walk down the hospitals corridor for the last time today, relieved that I've done my best here despite working for five hours over my contracted time...The Hokage may get pissed off but I couldn't care less if I tried...You can't put a price on peoples lives so I'm more than prepared to not get paid for the extra hours I've worked.
I sigh softly while swiftly taking out my pen and scribbling on the rota to inform the manager what time I've worked till.
Stuffing my pen back into my pocket, I turn on my heels and start to walk in the direction of the exit.
"Sakura? You've finished early if you're on the late shift." I hear the familiar sound of my friend mumble from my left. It would seem he was watching me from his desk.
Seikatsu has been my friend ever since I started working in the hospital a few years ago. He introduced himself to me in the middle of a major operation on one of my first patient's...What odd timing.
I look directly in his eyes and offered a small smile. His short brown hair was curlier than usual and his honey coloured eyes bored into mine. He wasn't in his usual medic attire, so I can only assume he came to visit his crush in the ward.
He stood up and started to walk towards me.
"I've actually just finished my early shift...There were loads of problems today so...Y'know..." I respond, continuing my route to the hospitals exit.
"Jeesh, Sakura...You can't keep doing this...I've been getting complaints from other staff members because their shifts are getting cut back..." He moaned, taking a place by my side and keeping up with my pace.
"I'm sure that's because of their lack of dedication rather than me staying later...Sometimes I don't get paid for the extra hours I pour into this hospital...So perhaps they should start looking at themselves before blaming me." I retort, pulling a door with a bit more force than what is considered normal.
"No-ones blaming you...and it's not right to do work for free." He replies as sharply.
"Well, I don't like to put a price on a life." I mutter to myself. "Anyway, I'll see you bright and early in the morning."
"I think you should take the day off tomorrow, Sakura." Seikatsu stops walking, ending up a few steps behind me by the time I mimic his action.
"I think you're not the boss of me. I'm fine. I'll be ready for my shift."
"You've been working long hours for a month straight...I think it's taking its' toll on you..." He states, slightly nervously.
I was about to reply with a snappy comment, however, I notice that Seikatsu is holding himself in a very tense position...I guess it took him a lot of courage to say this...
I let out a long sigh.
"I know you're concerned about me. But I assure you, I'm perfectly fine." I offer.
Seikatsu still looks tense.
"I'll even leave my paperwork for tonight so I can get a few hours of extra sleep..?" I state unsurely.
Seikatsu smirks before walking towards me.
"I know you, Sakura." He says as he takes my bag off of my shoulder. "I'll take these. Get some rest." He says before taking off.
I rub my eyes in slight irritation...He does know me well enough to predict that I lied about not doing the paperwork...
"Sakura..." I hear as soon as I exit the hospital.
I look around before noticing that Iruka sat on the bench opposite the hospital.
"Iruka, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I say, trying my hardest not to sound too sarcastic.
He hauls himself off the bench in a huff.
"The Hokage's summoning you to his office." Iruka informs bluntly. I raise an eyebrow. "I've been waiting for you to finish your shift."
I shrug apologetically and smile slightly.
"Sorry, Iruka...I didn't want to leave my patient-"
"It's whatever...Naruto is gonna be so pissed..." He mumbles to himself...I almost forgot that he hangs out with the ninetails. I guess he feels sorry for him or something, he is admitted to the hospital a lot...for minor injuries mostly.
"Sorry Iruka, I'm sure he'll understand." I offer before darting away in the direction of the Hokage tower.
"I wonder if a patient has filed a complaint about me..." I say quietly to myself, debating why it is that the Hokage wants to talk to me.
I enter the tower and walk towards the office door. I can feel more than one presence behind it so I raise my closed hand to knock on it twice.
"Come in." I hear Sarutobi's voice command.
I waste no time in getting into the room.
I instantly see a few of my former comrades in the room, turning my stomach in anticipation.
"I don't think I like where this is going to go..." I say while Asuma closes the door behind me.
"Sakura, I'm relieving you of your duties at the Hospital." He gets straight to it, confirming my suspicions.
"Nope." I say as I rest one of my hands on my hip.
"What do you mean 'nope'." Kurenai speaks out, glaring in my direction.
"I have to perform an operation tomorrow and more paperwork to fill in. Plus we have an ANBU squad returning to the village for their medical check-up and that has to be done by a professional." I state surely.
"I've already made the arrangements for your replacement." Sarutobi chimes in.
"Replacement?" I repeat, slightly offended.
"Yes, replacement."
I stand in silence for a couple of moments.
"Okay, so what would you have me do? I need to earn money to pay my rent." I ask, not really wanting to hear the answer.
"I'm going to assign you the role of a sensei, a squad leader." He answers.
I wait for him to carry on, however he doesn't.
"Right. What rank?" I ask bluntly.
"Genin."
I look around at the other people in the room.
"Why can't any of these guys do it?" I question childishly.
"They are. You all are." He replies.
I sigh before crossing my arms.
"Okay, well don't think for a second that I'll be going easy on these kids just because they're Genin. If they're not fit enough to be by my side, I won't pass them." I state surely, earning me a few glares.
"I wouldn't ask anything less of you, Sakura."
"You guys fail." the words fall off my tongue easily as I speak to the three Genin in front of me.
Silence fills the air as I pick up my backpack.
"Wait, No. You can't do that! We worked so hard to get here you hag!" The smaller kid shrieks.
"That doesn't show. And it's rude to disrespect your elders." I retort, bored of rejecting students of Iruka's. "I suggest you head back to the academy, now." I order.
The three kids moan to each other as they run back to the academy.
My shoulders droop as I let out a long sigh. It's been five years since the Hokage assigned me the role of a sensei...and all the squads I'd been given have been rubbish...I've not passed a single one of them. They all fail to understand what it is to be a team...
The other sensei's are talking about me using my title to scrounge money from the Hokage without putting in the work they do...But All of the other sensei's have has slight issues with their squad at some point...
"At least I can pay respects to my old friends more often..." I murmur as I place a hand on top of the memorial.
I wake up the next morning and get myself ready for the day ahead.
The Hokage assigned me another team after hearing I failed the last squad. It confused me at first as he assigned me an all boy squad, but when he told me exactly who it was that I would be mentoring, I put it down to one of the Hokage's bad attempts at trying to impress me.
Sasuke Uchiha, the last remaining Uchiha in the village and a painful reminder that I didn't save anyone in the Uchiha massacre. As far as I've seen, he's not awakened his sharingan so he should prove to not be much of a problem...
Kakashi Hatake, I was close friends with his father when I was a lot younger. His passing was horrible, he loved Kakashi dearly but the villagers attitude towards him drove me crazy. I wish I picked up on his depressed state...he always downplayed how he truly felt...If only I'd taken a leaf out of his book rather than take unnecessary risks.
And lastly, Naruto Uzumaki. He's the kid with the ninetails inside of him. Minato Sensei always spoke so fondly of him before he was born, as if he had any idea what he'd turn out to be...Unfortunately Naruto has caused nothing but grief to the village...not sure that Minato would be proud but it's surreal that I've been given the opportunity to mentor him.
Grabbing a red apple, I fix my headband on my head and exit my house.
I was running a bit late, but I've got used to leaving later as I didn't want to be met with the disapproving looks of the other Sensei's...especially since this time around, Asuma and the other guys would be assigned their second squad since I saw them last in the Hokage's office.
I throw my apple into the bin after eating it on the way and enter the academy swiftly.
The silent halls were like music to my ears.
"Pft, Like a Jonin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap." I heard a voice murmur ahead of me.
Must be the new squad. I feel slightly tense in anticipation.
As soon as I got to the classroom, I notice that the door is slightly ajar.
I look up and notice a board eraser full of chalk...Well, this is something that I've never encountered before, what a weird bunch of kids.
Maybe I should try something new with these kids...Have a bit of fun.
I walked directly into Naruto's trap, refraining from coughing as the dust from the chalk threatens to completely fill my lungs.
"Gyahahaha! You fell for it!" Naruto roars, clearly impressed with himself. I ignore him as I take a look at the other two kids.
Sasuke's expression was as clear as an open book, looking at me with an intense glare, clearly underestimating my capabilities.
Kakashi, however, looks uninterested and returns his gaze to outside as soon as my eyes make contact with his.
"Haha...huh? Haruno-Chan?" Naruto says as his face starts to turn pale. "I'm so sorry! That was meant for our Sensei." He explains as he waves his hands around frantically.
" I am your Senei." I clarify while dusting my hair off. "And I gotta say, my first impression of you all..." I continue before crossing my arms. "I don't like you guys."
After leading the three to the rooftop of the academy, I take my usual place leaning against the metal bars.
"Okay, I suppose we should start with introductions." I state routinely, boring into the faces of my temporary students.
"What do you want to know, Haruno-Chan?" Naruto asks.
"You'll address me as 'Sakura-Sensei' now, Naruto. Let's start with your likes and dislikes, dreams for the future...Hobbies...stuff like that." I say, already bored of talking.
"Hey! Why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Naruto asks. I raise an eyebrow.
"Yeah, You look suspicious..." Kakashi chimes in. I cross my arms while sighting...what stubborn kids.
"Alright, My name is Sakura Haruno. I like to spend my time doing my duties in the village. I dislike slackers. Dreams for the future are none of your concern." I attempt as I look at the three kids.
They're unimpressed. Good.
"Now it's your turn, starting from the right."
"Oh! That's me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like cup ramen! What I like even more is the restaurant Ramen Iruka Sensei buys me. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the cup ramen to cook.."
Jeesh, does this kid think about anything other than ramen?
"My dream, is to surpass the Hokage! Then have all the people of this village acknowledge my existence!"
Whoa...That's something I didn't expect...but relieving that he doesn't want to mess around.
"My hobbies...uh pranks, I guess?" He finishes. I scratch my head before pointing to Sasuke.
"Okay, Thank you Naruto. Next."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are lots of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. I don't want to use the word 'dream but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man." Sasuke mutters in a low tone.
The kids beside him turn to face him with contrasting faces.
Naruto's being as white as a sheet and Kakashi's being very unimpressed.
I, however, match Kakashi's face. Nothing surprising but it's a little dark for a kid. I'm guessing that this resentment towards his brother will drag the team down.
"Alright...Sasuke, and lastly, you." I break the silence while looking at Kakashi.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes are following the Shinobi Laws, My dislikes are those who break those rules. My dream is uncertain, I'm sure I'll find something along the journey. My hobby is reading books." He said quickly, giving me little space for imagination. I'll have to keep a close eye on Kakashi...He seems a little inward.
"Okay, well that's enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow. We'll be doing something with just the four of us." I inform.
"What?!" Naruto exclaims loudly. I ignore the interruption and continue.
"We will be doing Survival training."
"Survival training?!" Naruto repeats.
"Why is our duty, training? We did plenty of that at the Academy." Kakashi joins in, causing me to smirk.
"I'll be your opponent, but this isn't normal training." I respond.
"Then...What is it?!" Naruto responds impatiently.
"Of the twenty seven graduates, only nine will be chosen as Genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty six percent." I explain calmly, Naruto's face contorts into a stern frown.
"What the hell?! But we worked so hard...What was the point of graduating!?" Naruto shouts, clearly annoyed.
"That's just to select those that have the chance to become Genin." I respond.
"Uhh...What?!"
"Anyway," I say, moving the conversation on. "Tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your Shinobi tools. Oh, and skip breakfast...unless you enjoy throwing up." I finish as I rummage through my side pouch quickly to find the small leaflets I prepared for the group.
"The details can be read on this printout. Don't be late tomorrow." I walk towards Naruto to hand him the sheet first, then Sasuke and finally Kakashi. I refrained from scowling at Sasuke as he immediately scrunches up the piece of paper.
Leaving the kids behind, I jump down from the roof and head in the direction of the bar.
I'll be needing a nightcap tonight.
I'm re-doing my Fanfiction! So Hopefully I'll follow through with it more this time ^_^ I'm also publishing this on Wattpad where I'll be including 1 piece of artwork per chapter so check it out if you like!
user/Haiyaku_