Author: striped-dianthus
Title: Tempus Fugis
Summary: During the fight with Zabuza and Haku, Sakura realized that she was weak. She was useless…and she hated it.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, etc. etc.
Prologue
She was weak.
That was the only thought going through Sakura's head when she saw Sasuke-kun's bleeding body, covered with senbon needles. It felt as if she was in a genjutsu, this couldn't be real. It couldn't, it couldn't! And she wasn't able to remember, no matter how hard she tried, how to dispel a genjutsu. It didn't matter if she was top kunoichi in the Academy. It didn't matter at all, not out here, outside of Konoha. Outside in the real world, away from the protective cocoon that her parents had built for her.
Dimly, she could see Kakashi-sensei fighting Zabuza with his Sharingan. But it didn't feel as if it was really happening. And even after the fight was over, she still knelt in the same position, her kunai long forgotten as it dropped out of her limp fingers.
Tazuna was shaking her, and she thought how funny it was that she, a kunoichi, was weak and useless whilst a civilian was somehow stronger than she was. Because despite all the glory she had thought, or had used to think, that being one of the top students at the academy was, what did it matter? What use was it after she had studied countless critical situations and how best to deal with them, out in the real world? Out in the real world, when one second could mean the difference between life or death?
And she realized that she was useless. For the first time, she realized what being a kunoichi meant.
It was no glorified princess story where her prince on a white horse would come and save her or rescue her or whatever else. It was dangerous and it was deadly.
And for the first time she understood that. No matter how many times she had recited the Shinobi Rules or been told that being a ninja was dangerous, it had all felt like some sort of game. A grand adventure where the grand prize would be Sasuke's love.
But now she realized and she understood. And at that moment, covered in Sasuke-kun's, no, Sasuke-san's blood and sweat and numerous other things, she vowed that she would never feel like this again.
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