Summary: Team 7's greatest failing is that they don't function as a team at all. Sakura getting replaced by a more teamwork oriented and dedicated kunoichi can only make things better, right? Not really. OC replaces Sakura story, with a twist. Sometimes a person means less than they think.
''Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Yasunori Mika. Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi.''
This was it. The moment Mika had been waiting for all her life. Not only was she an officially graduated ninja, she was also going to be assigned to her genin team. Her three new friends, if she was lucky, her new family.
She swung around in her seat, eagerly drinking in the sight of her new teammates. She knew them, of course, but now that she knew that they would be hers (her teammates, her everything), she viewed them with wholly new eyes.
Sasuke was as distant as ever, his dark eyes blank as they met her briefly and passed by without acknowledgement. That rankled. But, it was to be expected! He didn't have many friends in their class, even if he wasn't short on admirers, so probably he just didn't know or wasn't interested in making friends. That would definitely change now that he had a team to rely on. She would help him, and Naruto too.
Even if Naruto was currently preoccupied with screaming insults. Most of them were directed at Sasuke, but some were about his displeasure on being separated from his precious Sakura. Mika gritted her teeth at that, but her anger soon subsided.
She supposed that it didn't matter if they were unhappy with the placement. Her team would grow to love her as she loved them. Those were the rules of such things, or so she'd heard from her older clansmen and the adventure stories she liked to read. It was inevitable.
Mika was so preoccupied with her daydreams about the things she could do with her team, that she didn't even notice the room emptying until she was left alone with her new teammates in an increasingly awkward silence.
It occurred to her that despite being in the same class at the academy, she's never really spoken with the two of them. Her skillset, while not the worst, placed her firmly in the average bracket, even with her clan background.
The Yasunori's were hardly a big or especially important clan. They specialized in information gathering and treaty negotiations. Rarely were they assigned anywhere else but logistics. Still, it put her in an advantage over her civilian classmates. She wasn't a genius, and her progress was largely inhibited by the vast amount of fiction she read on a daily basis.
There was a pocket of silence between the three new genin, during which Mika desperately tried to think of how to break it. She started sweating. The other two seemed unaffected; Sasuke was focused on looking out the window and Naruto was scowling at the desk in front of him. She had to do something!
Just as she finally decided to speak and opened her mouth, she was interrupted by Naruto.
'Why, why Sakura-chan? How could this happen, we were fated to be together! Stupid Sasuke, this is your entire fault! If it weren't for you, then Sakura-chan would be on my team and then she would have to go on a date with me…''
And so Uzumaki Naruto unknowingly steamrolled right over her quiet hello and shocked her into silence.
Mika finally took a good (realistic) look at her teammates. The Uchiha, lounging by the window, who was responding to Naruto's complains with an irritated ''Hn'' and had not even cared to acknowledge her presence with a glance. Naruto's tirade was still going strong and he didn't even bother to recognize that another human was in the room beside him and Sasuke.
A horrifying thought struck her.
''But what if they don't like me?''
Strangely enough, during all of her daydreams, the possibility hadn't even occurred to her.
Their sensei arrived more than two hours late and his annoyed words didn't reassure her any. She'd counted on him as her ally in getting her team together, but so far it seemed like he had no interest in them at all.
''Let's see, my name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes are none of your business. I have a lot of hobbies and dislikes. My goals, hm, who knows,'' were the words delivered while her new sensei had his nose buried in abook. Inside Mika was becoming more and more frantic.
At Naruto's introduction she made a mental note to find some food coupons for a restaurant that served ramen for some team bonding time. And at his goal, she just nodded to herself.
She would have to rehash her plans for the future and figure out how to place herself in a political position of power, so he would have some sort of support when he moved into office. Her goal was to support her teammates and believe in them unconditionally, and she would follow it. Even if the loud-mouthed Naruto that was currently picking his nose hardly seemed suited to be the village leader.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have a lot of dislikes, but it doesn't matter since there is nothing I like. My dream for the future… no, my ambition is to revive my clan, and to kill a certain man."
Her train of thought was interrupted by Sasuke's words. Once again she tried to think on how she could possibly help Sasuke with his goals. Killing a man was doable, they were ninja of course, and they just needed to get stronger. She would need more information about this man Sasuke wanted dead. As for reviving the clan…at this point a small blush covered her cheeks. She wasn't blind to the fact that her teammate was quite attractive, but to go that far… Thankfully her thought process was broken, this time by three pairs of eyes staring at her expectantly.
"Oh…um…hi! My name is Yasunori Mika and I like my teammates and my family. I dislike being left alone. My hobbies are reading, gardening and taking pictures. My goal is to become a strong ninja and an important person to the village!" she said, proud of how it all came out without a stutter.
The others seemed unimpressed and almost bored by the proceedings. Sasuke was looking out into the distance with an emotionless look on his face, Kakashi's head was buried in his orange book and Naruto was…
"You're the one that isn't Sakura-chan! Lame!" that was Naruto. Even though he was her precious teammate, hitting him repeatedly on the head was getting quite tempting.
"So what do we do now sensei!? Do we get to go on a mission to save a princess or save a village or…"on and on and on it went, Naruto not even stopping to take a breath.
"Oh no…not quite yet," answered Kakashi, with a creepy smile. "Tomorrow we're going to do some survival training."
"Ehhhhh!? Survival training? That's lame! I want a mission!"
"Well, too bad then. You three still haven't passed the real test. You see, out of all the teams assigned today, only three will graduate and become genin. As your teacher, I get to choose your test. And let me tell you, I haven't passed a team yet."
Her head was swimming. Not genin? No team?
She would not let this happen, no way.
Calmed, she listened to the rest of the instructions.
"Meet me at Training ground 3, tomorrow 5 o'clock sharp. Oh and don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw it up." And with those inspiring words he vanished in a pile of leaves.
'Now is my chance! I have to invite them to dinner so we can plan for tomorrow!' Mika thought. However, when she looked up at her teammates, she discovered that they had both wandered off. She was too late.
Slowly she shuffled her feet towards home. Hot tears were beginning to gather at the corners of her eyes and she took the back alleys towards her house in the center of the compound. She didn't want anyone from the clan accidentally seeing her cry.
She slammed the front door behind her, falling to her knees, sobs echoing in the empty house.
It just wasn't right. They were her teammates, they were supposed to like her. Their bond would be a bond for life. They were hers. Her team.
She stayed in that position for a while. After all, the household was empty, so there was no one to pick her up and comfort her. Slowly, she gathered herself up and went about her business as usual, thinking about what to pack for tomorrow's test. If anyone had been with her in the house, they might have noticed a new glint in her eyes and resolve in her steps.
If they didn't like her then she would just make them. Starting with tomorrow's test.
So here it is. My first Naruto fanfic and I go with the cliché. However, just to spite my stupid brain that seems to always come up with scenarios on how improved the story would be if it were me in the story instead, I wrote this. Mika is someone that should be able to patch things up where things went wrong with Sakura. As you can see it's not going so well. And Mika isn't exactly completely normal herself. Oh she won't have any supernatural powers, except perhaps a clan jutsu or two (which I have to agonize over for the next chapter), but her mindset is a bit twisted. Not the fun psycho twisted, the 'I look normal until I snap twisted'. This should be fun.
Thank you for reading and please review if you have the time!
Love, J.