Sakura sat in front of Ibiki Morino's desk, Anko watching her from her place on the windowsill behind him. Ibiki leaned forward. Sakura did not flinch and continued lounging in her chair staring at the head of T&I as if his glare didn't affect her. Her hair, henged into brown and pulled up in a ponytail, swishing back and forth in a display of boredom.
Finally he sighed in defeat and sat back in his chair. "All right Haruno lets make this clear. The only reason that you're getting any of this information is because we don't want you to reveal your true skills." Ibiki paused and Sakura sat up straight, attentive and listening now that their usual power play was over. He smirked internally, Anko has done a good job with this one, and slapped a file onto the desk. "Your gennin Sensei has been revealed as on Hatake Kakashi."
Sakura grabbed the file and flipped through it, "I'm not sure what this has to do with anything."
"I was getting there. Hatake is going to test you and your team after he meets you. His usual test has never been passed," Sakura crossed her arms, "Not because of skill, but because the real test is to work together. We are telling you about him for two reasons. One: so that you won't use any of your real skills during the test, and two: so you don't use them on missions. Unless it is a life or death situation, which it shouldn't, you are not allowed to show any real skill. Hatake is an Anbu and is trained well enough to protect all of you. Understood?"
Sakura put the file back on the desk, "Understood."
He tossed the file into a pile of papers, "Good. You and Anko are free to train."
Sakura didn't bother bowing as she left. Strangely enough her and Ibiki had developed an understanding these past few years. The first time she met Ibiki Morino was the day Anko took her to T&I headquarters to ask her boss if it was okay for her to have an apprentice.
~Flashback~
"No," Ibiki didn't even look up from his paperwork.
Anko sighed, "Sorry kid, but the old man has his mind made up."
Sakura looked in horror between the two adults. This had been her only chance to get strong she couldn't let it slip out of her grip. "Please Old Man-sama! I need Anko to help make me stronger."
Anko snorted at the 'old man-sama'. Ibiki looked up for the first time. "She has pink hair."
"Yup."
"Mitarashi, what kind of ninja has pink hair," he asked in disbelief.
Sakura wasn't finished yet, "Please! I'll do anything you ask me. I'll buy you dango. I'll do you paperwork. I'll-I'll… spy on people! No one suspects a child."
Ibiki lost interest and went back to his paperwork, "You've got pink hair kid. You're the last person who would be able to do infiltration work."
"But there are shinobi techniques that change your appearance."
"Can you do them?
"No, but-"
"Then what use are you?"
"I can learn!" Her sensei had told her that she had excellent chakra control. When the class had done the leaf exercise hers hadn't fallen, not even once.
Ibiki tilted his head, "Fine if you can learn how to henge in a week without Mitarashi's help, then I'll allow her to take you as an apprentice. Now scram."
The look on Ibiki's face when she came back not even two days later transformed into Anko was priceless.
~End Flashback~
After Ibiki had sanctioned Sakura's involvement, and told her that she'd be required to be henged at all time when she was with Anko or in the T&I office, Anko had gone to work starting Sakura all over with the basics. She relearned all the taijutsu forms, went through all the chakra exercises like leaf sticking, tree walking, water walking and meditaion. Learning her elements were earth and water. Basic ninjutsu and genjutsu. As well as basic interrogation techniques and general ninja knowledge.
Sakura became a prodigy and with her ever changing appearance she was the perfect spy.
~Flashback`
"Now," Anko had told her one day when they were sparing, "Because you always change you're the perfect spy. No one knows that you train with me, so no one will suspect a girl with pink hair who does less than average in practical ninja arts. One day we're going to need you to be able to be 'Sakura' and spy on people or just monitor them and you'll be the last person anyone will suspect."
The day they spoke of had come sooner than expected when one day Ibiki called them into his office and thrust a file at them, "Sasuke Uchiha. Only survivor of the Uchiha massacre. Inoichi said that he passed the psychological evaluation, but the Hokage wants us to watch him to make sure that he's not a threat. That's where you come in Cherry," Sakura rolled her eyes at her oh so clever nick name, "We want you to act like all the other girls in your class and swoon over the Uchiha brat."
"I don't need to swoon over him to watch him."
"No you don't, but it'll raise less questions later if a fangirl watches him 24/7 than if the quiet one does."
~End Flashback~
And Ibiki had been right. Sasuke had practiced by himself relentlessly and one day when she was following him home he finally noticed. He'd called her out and she'd preteded to be an airheaded bimbo and asked if he wanted to go to the park together. He'd sneered at her and told her to go home, but didn't call her out when she followed him home again.
To be honest not even her parents knew her other side. At home and at school she dressed in her dresses with her long pink hair loose and a bow in it. At work she braided her long hair back and worked in easy to move in pants. At home she cast a low level genjutsu over her scrolls to make them look like romance novels and hid her kunai, shuriken and senbon in pretty jewelry boxes. At school she aced her written work and did only well enough to pass in practical work. The only people who knew of her true skills where Anko, Ibiki and the Hokage.
When she'd had to start swooning over Sasuke, Ino had broken off their friendship. When Anko had asked her about it she'd told her, "I want to be stronger to protect myself and Konoha. There will be sacrifices." Anko had asked her about friends and she replied, "I have you." Anko had stated that she was her teacher not her friend and Sakura had laughed and cheekily replied that, "You're far too young to be a sensei," and Anko had ruffled her hair and told her that she was her favorite.
Now Anko skipped beside her on their way to the Anbu training fields, "Oh kami! The look on Ibiki's face when he realized that you weren't going to fold was the best! I bet he's wishing for the days when you called him old man-sama and were still afraid of him."
Sakura hip bumped her. "What can I say, I learned from the best."
"Suck up."
"You know it," she chuckled, "So what can you tell me about my new sensei that isn't in the file?"
Anko hummed as she pulled out her training gloves, "Well, he reads porn in public, gives lectures about the necessity of working together, and lets his summons sleep in his house."
Sakura cringed at the thought of her and Anko's snake summons being given free range of either of their houses. That would work so well with her civilian parents.
Anko laughed as she sunk into her fighting position, "Yeah I know, right? Anyway let's jump right in and work off some steam before you go meet one of the most frustrating men ever."
Sakura sunk into the same position. "Come and get me, Bitch," she joked.
"Here I come, Brat!" Anko growled playfully ducking Sakura's starting uppercut.
Sakura's fighting style was simple. Hit them before they hit you and there is no shame in fighting dirty. Once Genma had asked her why she fought so dirty during a spar, Sakura had thrown dirt in his eyes and responded, "An honorable death is still death, I prefer to remain alive." Anko had never been so proud.
Of course now when Anko was the one fighting her she retracted her previous statement. For one thing the only part of the young girl's fighting style that was predictable what the fact that she always tried to get the first hit. After that Sakura was as predictable as the weather which is to say not at all.
Anko sent snakes out her sleeves to capture Sakura. In return she crouched to the ground and used her arms to propel her legs into Anko's stomach. At last minute the older woman replaced herself with a startled Anbu. Sakura patted the Anbu on the head in apology and took off towards the trees where she felt her mentor's chakra signature. Anko launched herself from the trees tackling Sakura to the ground.
The two spent an hour engaging in similar activities before Anko hauled the girl over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "All right brat, I just saw the Uzumaki kid run down the street screaming about being late, so you best be on your way. Come report to us when you get done meeting Hatake."
Sakura slid of Anko's shoulder, "Yeah, Yeah."
Anko glared.
Sakura sighed. "Yes I'll come report."
"Good, now scram."
Anko walked back into the building as Sakura did the hand seals for the transportation jutsu and transported to the girls bathroom at the academy. Once inside she dropped the henge, took her hair out of its braid, and unsealed her red dress from a scroll and changed clothing. There, she thought, I'm now the Sakura the world knows and hates.
