Metamorphosis
Written and typed by LittleMissEffervescent
Spoilers: Chapters 309 and beyond, I think.
Chapter One
Resolve
'I couldn't even land a punch on him.' Sakura reflected bitterly. 'I was useless and a burden.'
Sakura had sped straight to a deserted training area right after she and her team arrived back to Konoha, with full intent on sweating out her frustrations. It wasn't much of a concern to Sakura that she and her team had failed to retrieve Sasuke –which was not the original mission objective regardless- but the fact that even after her rigorous and nearly endless training the past two years, she still couldn't prove herself strong. She had severely incapacitated and aided in the death of a renowned and deadly Akatsuki member, but couldn't land a simple punch on the stubborn and incredibly dense idiot that held her past affections.
The only thing that Sakura was of use on the mission was healing injuries and providing back up. It was what she was trained for. She was not supposed to get injured in a blindly rushed attempt to calm down her raging teammate, thus, resulting in her relying on the sadistic medic, Kabuto for unwanted assistance.
And when she and her team had run into Sasuke, she acted like a complete lunatic, lunging for one of her current teammate's neck and yelling at him, only to come face to face with the young man she desperately searched for. She could barely form a coherent sentence when she noticed his presence. She had stood, horrified, when Sasuke had injured her team captain and her other two teammates… Sakura had stood there, staring blankly at the battle scene, not making a single movement to try and assist her team. At all.
What was wrong with me?
Even after training under the renowned and infamous Sannin, Tsunade, Sakura still couldn't rid herself of her complete and utter incapability to do anything. Her other teammates were miles ahead of her in skills, prowess, and experience. She may have had her knowledge and chakra control but knowing what exactly what a mitochondria was didn't precisely help her when fighting a shinobi three times her size and muscle density. She may have made up for her lack of natural strength with her practically inhuman chakra control, but she was basically useless once her chakra was depleted. Not to mention her stamina. She had the endurance of a rotting corpse.
Sakura growled in frustration.
Why did I just stand there, gaping like I was senile?
A loud and satisfying thud of the tree's trunk alerted Sakura that she had indeed chucked the tree a good fifty meters from where she stood panting, reveling in her thoughts.
Sakura straightened, wiping the slick sheen of sweat on her forehead and removed her dirt-caked leather gloves. Stowing them casually in her back pouch, she began her slow trek to her apartment, her arms hanging limply at her sides.
"I'm home," Sakura muttered quietly as she entered her dark apartment. She reflected what she was going to eat for dinner with a thoughtful expression while absently flicking on the dim florescent lights.
Untying and slipping her crimson headband in her back pouch, she discarded her gear and trappings, swiftly throwing them in their designated corner. Then, she began to rifle through her cabinets inattentively, searching for a small meal to last her the night until she purchased groceries the next morning.
An amused scoff blew out her lips when Sakura found a relatively large pile of instant ramen cups stacked –painstakingly by Naruto, she assumed- in a private shelf directly atop the cabinet that housed her kettle. She quickly grabbed a cup without much care for what flavor it was, and began to pour water from her sink tap into the kettle.
She sank into one of her dining table chairs, after setting the kettle on the heating stove, with an exhausted sigh. Sakura stretched lethargically while glimpsing around her homey, empty apartment. Her eyes fell to the bright photograph that hung beside her dulled family photo. She smiled wistfully while gazing at her past's gleeful smile, her bright, swaying hair, and her two scowling teammates.
Her melancholy smile faded, contorting into a slight grimace. Reminders of her obsolete self during her latest mission were not needed at the moment. Sakura slid out of the wooden chair and lifted the whistling kettle off of the stove and turned it off with a flick of her wrist. She set the kettle in her sink and silently padded into her bathroom for a shower.
Slipping on a plain red tank top, Sakura rubbed her white towel in her hair while stepping out of her torrid bathroom. After pulling on a pair of comfortable black shorts, she threw the towel on her bed with a haphazard glance and walked into her kitchen.
Sakura set the steaming mug of tea on her coffee table and made her self comfortable on one of her single armchairs with a hefty medical textbook in hand. She took a long sip from her mug while absently flipping to a page she bookmarked and began reading.
"You've got to stop cramming in the middle of the night. Your neck is gonna snap if you keep on sleeping like that, Sakura," a scratchy voice remarked softly.
She sat up, stretching lethargically, ignoring the textbook that fell from her lap onto the hardwood floor. "I gave you one of my apartment keys in case of an emergency, so unless someone I know is on the verge of dying, I'm going to shove a chopstick up your nose when we go to eat today."
"Sorry, Sakura, I just kinda decided to come earlier," Naruto grinned sheepishly. "I don't know why. Kakashi won't be at Ichiraku for another half hour so…"
Sakura rolled her eyes blearily while picking up her textbook and placing it in its correct place on her bookshelf. She didn't bother to find out why but, she couldn't find it in her self to give Naruto a reassuring smile. "Just give me ten minutes to get ready and we can head out. We might have to cut breakfast a little short today; I have to see Tsunade-sama and hand in my mission report… that I haven't finished yet. Damn it. I fell asleep before I could complete it." Sakura hopped quickly into her study and began to rifle through her desk, in search for her mission report.
Her teammate cautiously stuck his head in the room and glanced around with a doubtful gaze. "Did you even start it?"
"I really don't know. I don't think so," Sakura murmured thoughtfully. She turned her head towards the doorway. "Did you?"
Naruto nodded with a small triumphant smile. "Finished it last night at two in the morning. I got kinda in-depth with the detail. It's probably the longest mission report I've ever written." Naruto paused. "Did you… Were you planning on mentioning what happened with Sasuke and Orochimaru?"
Her figure tensed slightly in the midst closing one of the drawers in her cherry wood desk. Sakura turned back toward Naruto with a sigh and a small shrug of her shoulders. "I probably have to. You, Yamato and Sai included them in your reports so it would be weird if I didn't."
Her companion nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess."
The two stood silently in Sakura's study, one staring at the other, Sakura staring inattentively at her vacant desk. Naruto studied Sakura's melancholy expression intently. Her entire form was still and was epitome of on edge. She was biting on her bottom lip viciously while her hands were fisted tightly at her sides.
Naruto took a tentative step forward. "Why don't you go and get ready to leave, Sakura? We can meet up with Sai after we eat and get some training done."
The young woman turned towards Naruto with a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, I think I could use some sparring. Just wait out in the living room; I'll be out in ten minutes."
"You did this didn't you?" Naruto asked flatly as he surveyed the vandalized training area. Trees randomly spread out through the open area on their sides, and large boulder sized cracks and faults zigzagged in precarious places everywhere. Both Sakura and Naruto stood observing the destruction at a safe distance, Naruto looking a bit too straight faced for Sakura's liking. Then, he started smiling wildly.
She shrugged with uncaring nonchalance, effectively shrouding her surprise. Sakura had dealt more damage to the training ground than she had thought. She was extremely frustrated, Sakura admitted, but had she really cleaved that large oak tree in half during her wordless tirade?
Naruto was still grinning, his head swerving from side to side, estimating how many trees Sakura had uprooted. "Do you think we can squeeze in a sparring session in this mess?"
Sakura shook her head with a humorless laugh. "I suppose I should clean some of this up. No one will be able to use this training area with it like this." She muttered while effortlessly lifting a thick and hefty tree in the middle of the field and tossing it aside. "Do you think we should try and put these trees back in the ground or just leave them on the side for people to use as posts?"
The blond kicked a smaller tree out of his way as he approached Sakura. "Nah, I don't think it'll work. Just leave all the trees in a pile and let the people who want to use them find them. It'll take up too much work to try and replant every single tree you took out."
Sakura smiled sheepishly before turning back around and beginning to clear a path through the field, Naruto creating another path behind her.
"You two seem tired," the telltale voice of Kakashi came behind Naruto as he and Sakura stood examining their handiwork.
Sakura sighed. "Where have you been for the past three hours, Kakashi?"
"Yeah, we worked our asses off nearly all morning and you decide after we just finish cleaning up to show?" Naruto growled.
"Ah, forgive me. I was just released from the hospital an hour ago and then I had to have something decent to eat. No offense to the hospital food, but I don't particularly find it digestible, or edible for that matter. So, I decided to get some food at a restaurant," Kakashi drawled absently while waving a hand dismissively at Naruto, his head buried in a bright red book.
Brandishing a rude hand gesture at Kakashi as he was reading, Naruto opened his mouth to accuse him of blasphemy but Sakura cut him off with a roll of her eyes. "I happen to know for a fact that you were released from the hospital two days ago at your own request, Kakashi. You would still be in the hospital if you didn't demand your release. Do not lie to the people who know your indecent punctuality like they know Naruto's love of ramen. Is this what you greet your pupils with after they just returned from a mission?" Sakura clucked her tongue with a raised eyebrow as Naruto tapped his foot impatiently beside her.
Kakashi closed his book with a muted snap before launching himself off the tree branch he was sitting on and landed leisurely in front of his two old students, one glaring holes through his mask and the other looking expectantly at him with a small smile on her face.
"What were you two doing the entire morning?" was his lazy question as he examined the two's worn posture and the dirt and scratches on them.
Naruto grinned proudly. "We were cleaning up some damage. You should have seen what this place looked like before Sakura and I got here. It looked like a stampede went through after an earthquake hit. I thought Shizune let out the old Grandma out in the field drunk or something at first. You weren't drunk when you did this were you, Sakura?"
Sakura rolled her eyes while smacking Naruto's arm playfully. "I was not drunk. I just needed to vent and, while I could have beaten the snot out of you for enjoyment, the training area was the first thing I thought of. I didn't even do much during the mission so… I had plenty of chakra to spare." Her tone had taken a quieter, more subdued turn. Sakura's gaze became melancholy as she shifted around uneasily.
Kakashi observed Sakura's agitation curiously before turning his gaze to Naruto, who was staring his teammate confusedly. He sighed. "Since you guys are so tired out, I'll take you to Ichiraku. My treat."
Naruto brightened instantly. Sakura, however, replied with a small regretful smile and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I can't. I have to discuss with Tsunade about some things. It'll take a while so… can I have a rain check on the ramen?"
"Of course," her former teacher patted her head affectionately while giving her a reassuring smile. "Anytime."
"Are you sure, Sakura?" Naruto's worried expression made Sakura want to laugh bitterly. "Can't Tsunade wait?"
His teammate shook her head and waved her hand at them, gesturing for them to hurry. "There's ramen waiting for you two. I'll eat with you some other time. Besides, Naruto, I ate breakfast with you today. Eat one bowl of ramen for me, will you?"
Naruto nodded slowly, his expression still confused and unsure, before he and Kakashi began their walk to Ichiraku. The remaining Team Seven member watched her teammates as they both left, a bitter, nostalgic smile on her face.
Sakura marched slowly through the throng of bustling people, her determined gaze focused intently on the path in front of her. She didn't seem to mind or notice the greetings or inquisitive gazes cast her way. Tucking a few stray strands of pink hair back and taking a deep, calming breath, Sakura knocked on the Hokage office door.
Her teacher's confident, piercing voice barely sounded muffled as she uttered an absent, "Enter."
Sakura gripped the door knob tightly as she swung the door open and stepped inside Tsunade's office. Her master didn't glance up as she busily signed papers, a strange and extremely abnormal gleam of concentration and seriousness in her eyes. Sakura sighed. At lease Tsunade was sober.
The Hokage looked up when she heard Sakura's sigh of relief and blinked. She set down her pen and straightened the papers in front of her with a small cough. "What is it, Sakura?"
She saw her student's jaw clench as she stiffly handed her a small stack of papers. "My mission report," Sakura explained. "Along with a briefing of what occurred after we passed the mission objective." Sakura had stopped by her apartment to finish her mission report and to take a shower, before heading to the Hokage Mansion to address her master.
Tsunade nodded. She had read Sakura's other teammates' reports. Truthfully, she wasn't particularly surprised with the failure to capture and return Uchiha Sasuke to Konoha. Sakura's team simply wasn't prepared. "Alright. I will review your mission report later on."
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively before reaching for her pen but paused. Sakura had been dismissed, but she showed no inclination to leave the office. She stood completely still, her hands braced at her sides; her eyes held Tsunade's determinedly but her head held low, a sign of respect. Tsunade was briefly reminded of Sakura's expression of fortitude and nervousness as she requested training from Tsunade three years previously. Except this time, her student didn't have an ounce of nerves in her expression. Sakura clearly wasn't going to leave soon.
The Hokage raised her eyebrows expectantly.
And Sakura responded with a slight smile before straightening and cleared her throat. "Tsunade-sama, I would like you to intensify my training starting tomorrow for the next year or two to prepare me for the Jounin Exams. I would like to take them to gauge my strength and improve my skills. The one thing that I know I lack as a shinobi is experience. The Exams will lessen that. Also, the Exams don't require my need of a team and considering the… circumstances, that won't be much of an issue."
Tsunade observed Sakura skeptically. "You want to partake in the Jounin Exams so soon?"
Sakura smiled. "If there's something that's been branded into my mind during my training under you, it's that strength is something you acquire with experience, intensive training, strong will, and the knowing of the possibility of getting your ass handed to you repeatedly."
"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."
- Anthony Robbins
Review? Comment? Critique? Complain? Anythings? :D Thanks for reading! Should I continue?
Standard Disclaimer for my Fan Fiction:
Naruto is the rightful property of Masashi Kishimoto... who I am not... nor ever will be... -sniffle-