Inspired by Truth in Misconceptions by Trapped in Icy Flames and A Woman's Touch by Mistress of Sarcasm. Thanks for the inspiration, guys! -
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A tribute to my favourite Naruto character: Haruno Sakura.
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Full Circle
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Contrary to popular belief, the circle on her clothes wasn't her clan symbol, largely because she didn't belong to a shinobi clan.
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Sakura would be lying if she said that she wasn't embarrassed of her past self.
But she would strongly defend the person she had been then.
If she thought back to it, she knew that back when she had disregarded Naruto, that she was only a superficial girl and couldn't see past people's exteriors. After Sasuke had reprimanded her for saying that she would never understand how Naruto felt because she had a loving, happy family, she knew he was right. But after he left, she finally knew how it felt to lose someone. Finally felt the despair that wouldn't go away until she could see that person again, felt that life was possibly not worth living during her darkest hours.
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"I may have friends and family, but if you leave...to me...to me, I would be as alone as you!" - Sakura
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She remembered back when Tsunade had asked her why a medic must know how to defend herself and she had answered it using a text-book answer. And when Tsunade had told her sharply that wasn't it, and told her the real thing, she realized that for all those information she had stored away with that commendable memory of hers, that not all of them could be applied to real-life situations.
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"If the medical ninja were to die, then who's there to treat the team members?" – Tsunade
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She knew that before that time in that Death Forest during the Chuunin exams, that she couldn't really call herself a shinobi. But at that moment, the moment when she decided to cut off that long hair she'd grown out and taken good care of, in order to protect her teammates, she knew that from then on she was slowly becoming a kunoichi.
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This time, get a good look at my back!! – Sakura
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She could've chosen a different way to get away from that Sound-nin who'd taken hold of her hair, but it was at that time that she fully realized how much of a hazard long hair could be for a shinobi. So without any hesitance whatsoever, she sliced off her silky locks and a new, stronger, less naive her was born.
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"Just trying to change my image! An image change! I like it longer, but...you know, in this forest it can get in the way." – Sakura
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She took those kunai shots she could've dodged from that other Sound-nin because she wanted to trick him into thinking she was using Kawarimi. She had bled that day for the first time in order to protect someone; her first bruises and scars had formed during that battle, marring her unblemished skin.
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"Sakura...who did that to you?" - Sasuke
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She knew that before they became teammates, that her feelings for Sasuke were only those for a crush. But that time when she openly confessed her feelings for him the night he left, she knew that she had truly, really meant them. Unlike Ino, her feelings had evolved from a mere schoolgirl crush to a lifelong-felt emotion that would either take a long, long time to fade away...or forever stay with her.
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"I...I love you with all my heart!" - Sakura
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She would confess that when she went to ask Tsunade if she could become her apprentice, that she wasn't only doing it to so she could retrieve Sasuke. She did it because she was tired of feeling helpless, tired of always having to depend on her teammates, sensei and all the other shinobi to protect her and do what she couldn't. She wanted to possess the strength to accomplish what she wanted to happen, with her own sweat and her own blood running from her own scars, the ones she will get from protecting all the people she cares about.
She wanted to be the one to take blows for others, to tell people to run to safety, not to be the one told to run. She wished to be the one to get the fatal wounds and almost die in the process of defending another.
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"H-hurry take the antidote...Chiyo-baasama...," - Sakura
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She was strong enough that she could withstand a fatal wound and still find the strength to defeat an enemy. Spouting blood, she would ask whoever she was protecting to run, would now think of them before she thought of herself every time.
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"Oho. Worrying about others even with an injury like this? What a girl," - Sasori
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She wanted to become strong enough that she would be acknowledged as an equal, wanted to be seen as someone worthy of a challenge. She refused to be ignored, refused to tail behind everyone and only look at their backs ever again. She will be right there, front and centre, right where she could look right into the enemy's eyes when she slips into a smooth stance and begins the dance of possible death.
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Hmph...I'll acknowledge that you're a brat to reckoned with... – Sasori
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She chose to become a medic because she knew that there was where her strengths lay, what with her perfect chakra control even before she graduated from ninja academy. With her amazing memorizing skills, she could remember every vein in the human body if need be.
She was second only to her shishou and was said to soon surpass her, but that was only what people said. Personally she thought that she was nowhere near that level yet, if she ever would be.
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So that even without my assistance, she can do it...a girl like this...Tsunade...you have a good apprentice indeed - Chiyo
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She now had a label to call herself, unlike before. Before, she was the only one without a specific trademark, the only one who didn't have his or her own unique signature. Naruto had that boundless energy and surprising creatively strategic mind; Sasuke had the Sharingan and was overall, an all-rounder; Kakashi had that Sharingan in one of his eyes, and could copy any jutsu he wanted to; Sai could literally bring his art to life and Yamato had some of the past Hokages' jutsus up his sleeve...
But now, now she could finally call herself a 'something' of the team. She could proudly call herself Team Kakashi's medic and the Konoha Godaime's apprentice.
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"Let me examine him!" – Sakura on the posioned Kankuro
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She chose to put a circle on her clothes because to her, it signified wholeness. And as she heals another injured patient successfully, she likes to think that her life has now come to a full circle.
Almost.
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I will save those two! – Sakura
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Until those two are safe, her life will not be whole. Until then, she will die if she has to, just to see them both safe.
Because she was a kunoichi and a med-nin, and being both, she will not let anyone die in front of her again, not if she could do anything about it. Because that day when she hacked off her hair was the day she had unconsciously promised herself to be the best kunoichi she would ever be.
And she would. Because she was Haruno Sakura, and Haruno Sakura kept her promises, no matter how long it takes.
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The end
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Thanks for taking your time to read Full Circle. I hoped you enjoyed it. I'm rather proud of this one, I have to admit, so I really hope you guys like it -