The Ninja Way
Full Summary: What would you do if the world suddenly turned upside-down? Would you change yourself to adjust, and risk breaking apart, or would you keep on going the same way you always have? The ninja way you uphold must be flexible, but can it ever be?
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
When Sasuke, the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan and my former infatuation, betrayed us all, I was broken. He was all I could think about for a long time. I was angry with him for leaving, angry that I could not stop him, angry that I couldn't change his mind, and above all else, I was forced to acknowledge the fact that while Naruto and Sasuke had only progressed in their ninja skills, I had remained despicably weak.
Upon realizing that I could not accompany Naruto and the others in the Sasuke Retrieval mission because I would just become a liability, the only thing I could do was to hope that they all came back alive. It would've been better if they had brought Sasuke, but Sasuke was the reason most of them came back half-dead or on the very brink of death. Seeing Naruto wounded so fatally, and the Chidori burn on his chest, and being told that Sasuke was responsible, was a slap in the face for me.
I resolved to be nicer to Naruto. I had hated him, but I came to realize what a great guy he is. He's obnoxious, loud, and sometimes crude, but Naruto is Naruto, and always will be. I formed a brother-sister relationship with him. When he and Jiraiya returned to Konoha with Tsunade-sama who had accepted the position of being the Fifth Hokage, I was relieved to see he was okay. A few days after she arrived, I steeled myself to become stronger. I swore to myself that the next time Naruto confronted Sasuke, I'd be strong enough to help.
Tsunade-sama accepted me as her secondary apprentice because of my excellent chakra control, and the fact that I was allegedly like she was when she was my age. She taught me a lot of useful things, and I practiced medical Ninjutsu. My chakra control made for a superior medic-nin, but even now, I'm convinced that my strongest skill is Genjutsu, and have been working to boost my Taijutsu.
It's been three years since I started training under the Fifth Hokage. I don't know what the future will bring, but whatever happens, I'll never allow myself to be the liability again. I'm going to face things head-on, and the next time an opportunity arises to get Sasuke back, I'll be right beside Naruto, for better, or for worse. My name is Haruno Sakura, and this is my story.
Sorry guys! bows apologetically I haven't had any inspiration for the next chapter of High School Trauma, so I'm gonna try to get rid of my writer's block by starting a new one in the meantime! This one's a little more serious. There'll be some humor, but this one will be a little less random. I'm trying to work on diversity in my stories, so yeah. The first chapter's short, but I'll try to make them longer, and this chapter was just the introductory chapter, anyway. Ja ne, you guys!