Preface
Howdy Folks
My name is Cynystyr, and this is my first real attempt at writing. Just a few warnings about the upcoming piece you are (maybe) about to read- while I enjoy Naruto and its world/lore, there is a lot that I don't know, and didn't really want to take the time to find out. I think in general I know a fair amount, so I feel comfortable with using this universe as the basis for my first ever story, mostly because I can use an already established world to practice my writing as well as eventually introduce and flesh out a few characters of my own. I know full well there may be many errors with my writing in terms of lining up with what is canon in Naruto, but I hope you all can look past that and instead let me know how my storytelling and character development skills look. My goal with this piece is not to create a perfect Naruto fanfic, but instead to practice writing and see if it is something worth developing in the future.
This is probably going to be third person somewhat through Sakura's perspective for a good chunk of time, but eventually I will be introducing characters of my own, then I want to focus on them somewhat to test my character development skills. But I'll still be keeping the characters we all know and love in the mix plenty, so don't worry.
In terms of a "disclaimer" or whatever, I don't own Naruto- original ideas all belong to Masashi Kishimoto, I believe. But maybe this whole ordeal could fall under parody law or something to give me some leeway. We can just all pretend that it's a horribly done parody that doesn't succeed at being all too funny.
In terms of a rating, I would assume this is going to be T, since I don't plan on including anything too censor-worthy. I plan of having a few characters that use some colorful language, and there could potentially be violence, but I won't be including anything smutty. As far as I can think, there's no reason that the violence that I include will be worth bumping the T up to an M, and I don't think language does that either. But, this is my first time creating content on this website, so I don't know the rules all too well. We'll all learn as we go.
Anyway, I thought I'd just add this large foreword so as to let you folks know this piece is mostly about me practicing and hopefully finding something I am good at, or at least enjoy. For those of you that would like to provide feedback, please do so. Again, I'm not really looking for feedback that points out facts that I got wrong, necessarily. We can just pretend this is a slightly alternate universe with minor differences if there is anything too noticeably inaccurate. For the most part, I would appreciate feedback having to do with my writing skill and writing style. I see a lot of people say "no flames please" or whatever, but if you've got something that really rubs you the wrong way, go ahead and let me know. If I don't find out what I do that's bad, I'll never improve. At the same time, if there's something I do that you think is excellent, please let me know as well. It's important to work on both strengths and weaknesses for every hobby. That's about all for me. Thanks for reading this intro, and please enjoy the story.
Thanks for your time
Cynystyr
Chapter 1- Sunrise
Sakura opened her eyes to a blurry ceiling, despite being awake for the past half hour. She had spent the morning lying in bed, refusing to acknowledge the fact the day had gotten started, and instead chose to remain stagnant for as long as she could bear without feeling some semblance of guilt. She may have felt somewhat defeated by the realization of what today was, but she wouldn't let the world know that it had bested her this time.
She sat up and swiveled, begrudgingly sliding her feet into her sandals that she always had placed next to her bed, their familiarity not quite comfortable enough to dull the feeling of monotony. Routine had taken precedent over the past several months, dominating her life and way of thought. Everything around her continued to spiral in a new direction and change so quickly, but she couldn't stop feeling like stagnation had reared its ugly head and taken over her life.
It had been a full twelve months since the Chunin exams had transpired, with the village still recovering from the transgressions made by Orochimaru. The attempts to incubate and repair the damages had been slow but successful, allowing much of civilian life to return to normal. However, Sakura was still struggling to adapt to the losses, with both of her former teammates missing, whether for a noble cause or a more ambiguous reason. While she did have Lady Tsunade to help educate her and guide her along the path of becoming a proper medic, she felt an emptiness that she didn't think could truly be filled. The camaraderie she felt with Sasuke and Naruto was abrasive at times, but helped solidify her place in the social balance of the village's young adepts. She was the anchor of reason for many, while also being able to provide an emotional fount for others to draw upon. Her dynamic interaction with those two young ninja had been ripped from her, leaving her to question herself.
Well, now that she had gotten all of her self-pity out of the way, she deemed it as good a time as any to gather herself up and rise to the occasion of getting out of bed and living. The familiarity of her sandals finally sank in, allowing some inkling of control on herself as she began to shrug off the existential dread.
She had properly packed and prettied herself up the previous night in order to make the new morning as efficient as possible. She hoped that she would have as much time as she would like to enjoy the lovely weather on the moment of her impending departure, but unfortunately fate would not allow her even that much. The day was almost uninteresting enough to merit interest, but it was unfortunately so average that none could even notice how remarkably bland it was. The overcast clouds adequately reflected her mood, stifling any brightness with their grey indifference. Sakura took a brief moment to take in the weather in slight disappointment before noticing the climate's melancholy that so appropriately matched her mood.
Outside Lady Tsunade's instruction in the arts of medicinal treatment (along with the assistance of Shizune), this was Sakura's first official mandated mission since the attack on the village. She was finally getting to go back in to the heat of things, yet she felt hollow. She had plenty of time on the walk towards the village gates to think of why she was underwhelmed, so she came up with a small list. Perhaps she was disappointed with the fact that her first return to real action was simply going to be attending a re-run: another round of Chunin exams was occurring, as they do every six months, only with the added benefit of having to spend an uncomfortable amount of hours running to the impending judgement instead of having the convenience of hosting the trials in her own village. Perhaps she did not view the trials as proper challenge after her rather substantial growth under the guidance of her mentor, her assistant, and a rather personable hog. Or, perhaps she was simply downtrodden based on the fact that this was her first mission outside the city after losing the two people she was (begrudgingly) closest to in their entire educational system. No matter the reason for her suboptimal disposition, she didn't have the opportunity to dwell on it for too long as the gates, and some of her friends, came in to view with the sun finally peeking out behind them.
The usual greetings commenced, with the withdrawn nods of acknowledgement coming from the likes of Neji and Shino complemented by the relatively normal greetings from those like Ino and Tenten, not to be outdone by the outlandishly boisterous exclamations of excitement from Guy and Lee. There was also the usual round of light sniffing performed by Kiba and Akamaru, but at this point Sakura had grown used to it and hardly noticed it.
All her original classmates were there, save Naruto and Sasuke. Even Shikamaru was tagging along, despite graduating. Tsunade had instructed him to join as the most recent student to pass the exam, thinking he could provide insight and advice for his peers as they returned to the trials. Of course, he had no choice but to accept the direct orders, but he added in a few grumbles to show his disapproval. Since he was the only member of their social circle to pass the exam, Sasuke had defected, and Naruto had run off to train with Jiraiya, the numbers aligned to allow Sakura to be shoehorned in to what was team Asuma, now consisting of her, her rival, and Chouji. She was unsure if she was growing more mature, if Ino was more manageable, or if she was just too drained to make an ordeal out of the scenario, but upon receiving information that Sakura would be placed on a team with her best friend/worst enemy, she made no fuss and simply acknowledged the statement.
Kakashi elected not to tag along with them, seeing as his team effectively no longer existed. Sakura would be under the tutelage of Asuma if she had any questions, though Kakashi felt she would be more than ready for most challenges after spending so much time with the Hokage. He also felt like his talents could be used back home, in case anything else went awry.
After the attack on the Village Hidden in the Leaves, many rogue factions of disenfranchised ninja had been growing bolder, seeing the successful destruction incurred by the assault of the previous exams. While they obviously did not pose nearly as potent of a threat as Orochimaru and his accomplices, their actions were nevertheless posing problems, usually for smaller, more vulnerable towns. Kakashi being held back could serve as a powerful threat and an even more powerful tool to be used should any need for action arise, whether it be in the Leaf or a smaller settlement calling upon the Hokage for help.
And so the Konoha 11, save Naruto, ventured southwest, towards a somewhat surprising location. The Village Hidden in the Sand had offered to host the newest round of Chunin exams as a show of good will, looking to ease the tensions between primarily themselves and the Leaf. Political shrewdness can occasionally lead to rather amicable ideas, and the largest villages all agreed that the proposal was a genuine display of reconciliation. This sentiment was not entirely adopted by the youth from Konoha, nor their instructors. But they all hoped for the best, knowing that if Suna followed through and graciously hosted a fair examination process, the bonds held across the land, mostly between Leaf and Sand would be repaired, strengthened, and solidified.
With this hope in their hearts, the teams all set out together, thankful for each other's' company on the long journey, and the clouds parted further, sending a warm light down upon them.