Hello, I finally decided to start to post this story. Basically I rewatched the beginning of Naruto ( chunin exam and Wave-mission, you know what I'm talking about) and thought that I wanted to relive that beautifull atmosphere and the team dynamics but then see them grow and not fall apart.
That's how this was born. My goals were:
1. Write that beautifull friendship and see the kids evolve in interesting and individual ways and don't become copies of their mentors/fathers/brothers...
2. Make the Narutp world slightly more realistic, which includes not sugercoating the darker parts but also try to conserve the quirky and fascinating aspects of it.
3. Really include Kakashi into the team and explore on his character too.
So I'll stop now. I have over fourty chapters that are ready. They will be divided into four parts ( one for each season) and I'll try to update twice a week.
Part 1: Late summer haze
Prologe: Of tales of the past
"Sakura-sama. You are the last one alive from the legendary team 7, do you think, do you think... you could tell us a little bit about your adventures."
A timid little girl with curly brown hair was looking at her from underneath her bushy mane. Her question brought forth a large clamor of enthusiasm.
Sakura had come visit the academy to talk about the importance of learning first-aid and how it could help them on the field but truthfully she had covered the subject as far as she dared with 9-year-olds. That and in her old age she was overcome by ridiculous bouts of nostalgia and that young girl with her unusual looks, obvious lack of self confidence and intelligent blue eyes was bringing forth old memories.
"What do you want to know she said with a kind smile."
"Euh...everything."
"Mmh, everything."
She got up from her stool and felt all the aches her very advanced age inflicted upon her. She walked to the window and looked out at the village, so familiar but ever-changing at the same time. The warm sun of september was making the red-tiled roofs of the village glow. The distant sound of voices, children playing, dogs barking. The sweet melody of home.
" I often wondered how I managed to become so old. God knows there were enough times were I thought I wouldn't make it out alive. From the day I graduated the academy and I was put on a team with these two knuckleheads my life was thrown into chaos. My two teammates..."
" ...the sixth Hokage and the legendary prince of Uchiha."
" Yes, these two. Well at that time we weren't legendary anythings. And these two idiots were very far from being the shinobi you heard of. I suppose that in some ways they never really changed either, I swear, boys... Crazy, these two and deeply idiotic too. Wouldn't have known common sense if it had punched them in the face."
Thirty young faces were looking up at her with awe and confusion.
"It's surprising really that they managed to become as old as they did. Imbeciles the both of them."
"But they were really great ninja's" a fiery brown haired kid, one of Kiba's many grandchildren maybe, judging by the red markings and sharp teeth.
"Certainly. She acknowledged gravely. They were the bravest and greatest shinobi I ever knew. They were my most important people. Let me gather my thoughts for a second...Well, how did it begin. With our sensei obviously. The day of our graduation."
"Kakashi of the Sharingan!"
"Yes, albeit at that time he was most-well known as the copy-nin. But that is a discussion for another time. I was a little genin, certainly good at school but very unsure of myself." She looked straight at the brown haired girl while saying that.
"Sensei was already well-known, a recognized jonin, an experienced shinobi. He was quite young still but we didn't understand that back then. Honestly he was probably more stressed than us about having a genin-team. I first thought he was an idiot."
Sakura thought back to that very first day, the discussion on the roof, how terribly strange she had found her sensei. She began her tale. She was honest about her superficial goals, about her weaknesses and insecurities hoping that some would be able to relate and learn. She told them about the training and numerous D-ranks and then about her first C- rank mission in Wave and how terribly scared she had been. The mention of the battle excited the class and she relived it with them. Her voice painted all the details of the battle. Vivid images seemed to fill the room. She felt the moist mist, the ice. Heard the rumble of Zabuza's voice.
She described the end of the battle, the aftermath.
"I wasn' t really a shinobi back then. You are young still but in a few years you will receive your forehead protectors. The leaf that is etched in it represents your vows to protect Konoha. However it does not make ninjas out of you. Experience will teach you, you will grow to become shinobi. That' s how it is."
A young Hyuga girl frowned and lifted her hand.
"Yes?"
"When did you become a shinobi. A real shinobi."
"Difficult question."
Sakura looked down at her slightly wrinkled hands. She had never perfected the jutzu that allowed Tsunade to appear so young to quite the same extend. It let her avoid most of the signs of the passing time but at the advanced age of 85 she could no longer hold back all of it. It only let a smile appear on her lips. She was old yes, but no less a shinobi than the young and strong kunoichis that she saw strutting down the streets. When had it truly begun, when had she been able to call herself a shinobi for the first time, knowing truly what it enticed.
"I suppose that it's during our first Chunin-exam that for the first time I thought of myself as a valuable teammate and not just someone who was in the way. Let me tell you about it. I learnt a lot during that exam. Do we have the time teacher-san?"
The young blond man that was so different and so similar to Iruka nodded respectfully and the classroom erupted in excited shouts of gratitude.
We were very excited to compete in the exam. We had only been shinobis for less than a year but it was not unheard of to take part in the exam that early. We were waiting impatiently for some news...