Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it belongs to its writers, animators, and producers. I gain nothing but writing and editing experience from writing this.
Summary: After waking up from a horrible dream Sakura's life takes a turn for the...well something? She only hopes it will be good and will end better than her dream suggests her life will. The secret family trade is hers to learn, and in the process she will become a stronger kunoichi. Sometimes all it takes is a little wake up call.
Betas: Thank Anonymous56789 and AkatsukiLover465 for their insight, and support. They have been wonderful betas.
A/N: For the first dozen or so chapters, I was attempting to make chapters a single chunk of text. Meaning, there shouldn't be any page breaks, though the scene will change. That was and still partially is my personal challenge for this fanfic. So these first two chapters constitute one day. Edited 2/17/2019 Hope you enjoy ~ with love, depressedchildren
Chapter Two: Building Resolve.
Sakura raced off toward the academy with tears gathering in her eyes. How could her parents not believe in her? They didn't want her to be a ninja or follow her dreams. But then, was being a ninja her dream anymore? Sakura's steps faltered, and she knew the tears would start flowing. She quickly found an alley and leaned back against a wall.
Once upon a time, she had wanted to be a ninja to protect civilians like her aunt, but she had lost sight of that. Sakura tried to remember when or how that happened.
Sakura had been at the back of the class for the first few years because she didn't have anyone to train her outside of the classroom. She struggled and fought to reach Ino's level. In fact, Sakura remembered resenting Ino for the ease she had with the academy classes. The only thing Sakura had excelled at which Ino didn't was numbers and patterns. Then Sakura had begun memorizing the textbooks so she could give perfect responses—all in an attempt to be better than Ino. But why? They weren't rivals over boys for another year or two. Then the answer came to Sakura: she hadn't wanted Ino to always protect her; Sakura wanted to protect Ino too.
Then things changed after the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke-ku-san had been so withdrawn and cold. She could vaguely remember Sasuke-k-san from before the massacre. He had been an odd boy: unexpressive, surly with peers, yet eager to please instructors. Even stranger, he had lit up every time he talked about his "aniki." If Sakura pressed herself, she could recall a time when Sasuke-san had got into an actual argument with an instructor because his big brother had taught him something contrary to what the teacher was saying. Sakura remembered wanting to see the boy talk again or light up about something after the massacre. In fact, plenty of the other kids acted the same, but Sasuke-san rebuffed all of them.
From there, whatever innocent intentions Sakura had had with Sasuke-san began to change. She couldn't remember how or why, but one day the desire to help someone so upset feel happy again changed into a competition with the other girls over the cute brooding boy in class. They all knew the romance stories. Those stories where this sweet girl meets this cold, shut off, distanced man who just works and doesn't live. The girl and her kind ways change the man and he begins living again. Every girl in class wanted to be that romantic character, the girl who gets "Sasuke-kun" to smile again. The only reason they kept up with studies was because the Uchiha heir said he valued strong people and the academy guaranteed they could see him almost every day.
Sakura's legs buckled under her and she slid down the wall as she continued to cry. What had happened? Where had her drive gone? She had lost her motivation—or it had been corrupted. She still wanted to help Sasuke-ku-san. She wanted to help him so badly, but she didn't really know him, did she? She felt bad for him and kind of missed the weird boy he had been before the massacre. But that wasn't a reason to be a ninja. Did she even want to protect people like she used to promise?
Sakura covered her face as she cried.
Being a ninja meant serving your country to the death. To protect people a ninja killed enemies and sacrificed him or herself. Was she ready for any of that? Sure she was taught the various lethal points on a body and had struck realistic dummies with kunai, but that wouldn't be the same as killing a living person. Moreover, did she care about Konoha and everyone else enough to actually die for them? Sure she would have died to save her Oba-san or her parents, but random people? Sakura had kept going through the academy because of Sasuke-kun, so what would she really do if people were in danger. Would she just be there cheering her teammates on while she stood on the sidelines because she was unskillful and afraid to die?
She should resign and save everyone from the embarrassment and shame.
Sakura stood up and wiped at her remaining tears. She was still bleary-eyed when she left the alley and began walking on toward the academy. Maybe her team and sensei would still be there and she could tell them she was resigning?
Sakura blinked and faltered in her walk. She blinked again as she stared at the ground. Was that the old grocery store clerk from down the road? W-was she about to step in his blood. Why was he bleeding? Why was he pinned under a part of a building?
Sakura looked up and covered her mouth as she gasped. W-What happened to Konoha? She could see clear across the other side of the village even though buildings should have obstructed her view. Instead, there were heaps of rubble where stores had once stood. There was a large crater of debris at the edge of her sight. Two blurs were fighting there. Pulsing waves of force expanded out from one of the blurs, and lightning raced out from the other blur's hand. She thought it was future-Sasuke for a moment, but the lightning had taken on some sort of shape away from the blur's body.
Sakura looked closer to herself and saw…Iruka-sensei? He was trying to protect a bunch of academy kids from this figure in a black cloak with red clouds. She had seen these cloaks before, hadn't she? The masked man who killed her wore one, hadn't he?
A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder. "Sakura-chan?" A kindly and familiar voice called her name.
Sakura turned and expected to see her elderly neighbor, but the old woman was dead—no, she should be dead. Half of her face was caved in—as if something heavy had crushed her. Sakura stumbled back from the woman in fear, and consequently toward the rubble and blood. But she didn't trip over the rubble. I-it wasn't really there. This was another vision. Sakura looked down her arms and legs for one of the silvery thread-fish, but she couldn't find any. What?
This had to be a vision, but she could smell the blood and dust in the air. Yet…yet it wasn't really there because she felt no urge to cough. None of this was real, but it seemed so real!
Sakura swallowed thickly and continued to look around her. The fish had been disappearing a long with the hallucinations. So why was she having another visions? Why weren't the effects ending?!
"Sakura-chan? Should I get your parents?" the kind neighbor asked, but Sakura couldn't bear to look at the woman.
So Sakura ran. She ran for the academy. Each time there was rubble or corpses in her path, she faltered but pushed on. Her home was destroyed. The teahouse where her father took her for celebrations was on fire and the patrons were skewered on fallen beams. She gasped again and kept running even as acrid smoke filled her nose. She felt bile rising but pushed it back.
The park where her mother took Sakura was some sort of fighting ground. She watched ninja she didn't even know be eviscerated and left bleeding out while their cloaked opponent remained unscathed. The whole village was in bedlam. It was death, chaos, destruction. She jumped over what appeared to be the ruined fence of the academy, but her foot caught as she misjudged the height. She fell but caught herself on her hands. It hurt, but the pain lifted the hallucination.
Sakura shakily stood up and rolled her wrists. She tenderly touched her aching palms as she looked around for the thread causing the vision. She didn't see it—she couldn't see any nearby. It must be hiding from her.
Frowning, Sakura continued toward the academy doors. She wasn't sure how long this reprieve would last and she wanted to be someplace familiar and safe. Surely there wouldn't be corpses in the academy—especially three hours after everyone should have already left.
Shaking, she pulled the doors open and entered the academy. Everything was the same still, but then, her hands were still throbbing from the fall. Perhaps it worked like a genjutsu, physical pain broke the vision?
Sakura turned onto the hallway for her old classroom and saw a gray haired man in a mask. He was almost to the door of her old classroom but paused to look at her with his head cocked slightly to the side—it was like he knew she was there before she even entered the hallway.
Sakura's attention was drawn to a nail protruding from his forehead and her hopes this hallucination had ended died. There was a trail of blood flowing down from the man's wound, which then brought her attention to his left eye. That was the same Sharingan-like eye the orange masked man had, but it was in the opposite eye.
Sakura was frozen in the hallway several meters from the man. He seemed so familiar but she knew she had not met him before, so who was he? Was he real or just a hallucination? Hadn't he been in her first premonition, so was this a continuation? Regardless, someone with an industrial nail in their head had to be dead. But if he was real, he had to have a reason for being here. "H-hello," she greeted. Hopefully she didn't just speak to a hallucination.
The gray-haired man looked at her a moment with his eyes narrowed slightly. "Genin Haruno, I presume," he returned the greeting. "Why aren't you with your teammates?"
"You're our sensei," she mumbled. Her thoughts were swirling around, but she couldn't grasp a single one, let alone think of something to say or ask. Her Sensei was really standing in front of her, so why did he have the nail sticking out of his head. Does that mean he dies? She wasn't sure what to think about it all.
The man just hummed as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked at her expectantly. "Why aren't you with your teammates?" he repeated the question before cocking his head to the side again and examining her-eyes still partially narrowed like he was trying to parse something out.
Sakura twitched slightly. "I-I was sick." Why couldn't she say anything without stuttering? And why was that nail still there?! She couldn't take her eyes off it.
The man hummed again at her response. "That is one way to put it," he replied. His expression relaxed and he stood quiet for a moment—as if weighing his options—before he sighed and moved toward her. Sakura tensed up for a moment. When he was close enough, he bent down slightly and said: "I will say this to you now to save you embarrassment from your teammates." She didn't like the reprimanding tone in his voice. "Don't ever come to a meeting or mission high again. I should report you and put you on probation, but that is a lot of paperwork, and you're not my problem yet." When he said that last part, his eyes crinkled up like he was smiling with them. "So" he began cheerily, "this is your only warning, genin Haruno. Don't ever do something so stupid or selfish again. You'll put yourself and your teammates in danger." Though he spoke cheerfully, Sakura only felt dread.
The man then straightened, turned away from her, and moved back to the classroom door. Sakura was shaking in her spot. She had never been reprimanded by a teacher before. She felt sick and small. She wanted to find a place to hide, but she was also thankful he had talked to her privately rather than in front of Sasuke-ku-san.
The gray-haired man was at the classroom door and made a beckoning motion. She took hesitant steps forward as he slid the door open wider and stepped through. An eraser fell on his head, and Sakura could hear Naruto laughing inside the room.
"He fell for it! He actually fell for it!" Naruto exclaimed. If she wasn't so shaken by everything that had happened that day, she might have rolled her eyes or smiled, but she couldn't muster up anything. Why had she had that stupid tea? Her parents said it should have worn off by now!
The Jounin paused until the chalk cloud dispersed. He was likely staring at the room's occupants. "My first impression is… I hate you," the man stated in a monotone. Sakura grimaced in the hallway and felt her throat constrict "Meet me on the roof," he drawled. She didn't know what happened next.
"But what about—" Naruto cut himself off when a swirl of smoke and leaves spun in the doorway. Naruto continued to speak in a slightly dejected manner, "—Sakura-ch-san…? Doesn't he want to know where she is?" So their sensei had vanished in that swirl of smoke and leaves.
"Who cares? If she misses our meeting, it's her own fault," Sasuke hissed from within the room.
The cold weight in Sakura's stomach grew heavier at her crush's words. Sakura closed her eyes against the sting of oncoming tears as she ran up the stairs. She had been humiliated enough today, but she refused to cry again—she refused! So her teacher thought she was a junkie or something because of her dad's stupid tea—she'd prove him wrong. So Sasuke thought she was-was what? Not worth time or mentioning? Well, who cared what some hunky, brooding, cute—No! Bad Sakura! He's not hunky or dreamy or mysterious—Uchiha thought?
Sakura was the first one to the roof, and sat down as she wiped at her eyes. Once finished, she looked up and out at the village. From the vantage point of the academy, she saw the devastation around her clearly. This was a vision of Konoha, her home, and in the future these people with black rod-like piercings destroyed it. Sakura moved to the rooftop's railings and stared out at the plumes of smoke and dust. She could hear pained screams of people trapped under rubble. She could hear the battles raging around her. Sakura couldn't stand this. It made her angry and sick. She clenched the railings along the rooftop tightly.
Sakura knew she couldn't resign—not after this vision (it felt too real to be a hallucination). She now knew she wasn't as selfish as she (or her teacher) thought. If it meant saving these people and protecting the village she grew up in, then she would gladly die against Konoha's enemies. Sakura would protect people.
She heard the roof's door slam open, so she turned around. She saw Sasuke and Naruto coming up, but they weren't boys, they were men. Naruto sported almost toad like eyes instead of the previous golden shroud or flame edged cloak. Regardless, Naruto's older image was comforting. However, a numb feeling spread through Sakura when she saw older Sasuke in the same cloak as those pierced invaders. Sasuke would become an enemy. He'd be part of the group who destroyed her neighbors, home, and friends. He hadn't been wearing that in the vision where he tried to kill her, but he hadn't been wearing any Konoha clothes either. He was going to be a traitor, he was going to destroy her home. Sakura's hands balled into fists at her sides as the cold feeling and dread grew.
"Sakura-cha-san! You're here! I thought you were sick, 'tebayo. How d'you know to come here?" Naruto asked loudly as he sat down in front of their new teacher. If the blonde had a tail, he'd probably be wagging it. Surprisingly, her high state didn't conjure one up.
Wait… Where was the dust, smoke, and screams? Also, why did her palms hurt again? Sakura blinked and looked down at her hands to see her nails had actually cut into her palms. The vision… it was gone again. She could even look at her sensei without seeing that nail stick out.
"Neh, Sakura-san, are you psychic or something?" Naruto asked almost jokingly when she hadn't responded. He had a sly sort of smile on his face.
Sakura blinked slightly and couldn't keep from laughing at the ironic truth of Naruto's question. With the hallucinations gone and her newfound resolve, she couldn't help but smile a bit dazedly. "You bet I am!" she announced as she sat down next Naruto so the blonde was a buffer between her and Sasuke.
"So you know if I become Hokage then?" he asked, continuing the joke.
Sakura hummed and tilted her head to the side. By the Hokage, she felt like a weight had lifted off of her now that she had her resolve! The future would be awful and people would die, but she just felt relieved.
Sakura shook her head while smiling. "I don't know about that, but I already told you you'd become powerful, right?" she teased and began laughing a little. Her life had been turned upside down, but she felt right somehow.
Naruto flushed bright red and looked down at his feet, but Sasuke scoffed. She turned to glare at him. "Shut up," she whispered before she turned to look to their sensei. She didn't care what that traitor thought anymore. Even if he wasn't one yet, Sasuke had to be a traitor to wear the same cloak as the people who will destroy Konoha. Sakura was through being a fan-girl to some crazy jerk!
"Hatake-sensei, why are we up here?" she asked with her arms folded over her chest. She remembered Iruka-sensei telling them the man's name, but had forgotten due to her previous state of mind. She felt focused and determined now.
The man had been staring at them as they settled down and he continued to stare for a moment. "Team introductions," he finally stated curtly. He gave them one last calculating look before his visible eye changed into an upside down "U"—almost like he was smiling with his eye. That was what he had done in the hallway when he reprimanded her-only her hallucination hadn't hidden his left eye.
The gray-haired man then pulled out an orange book from his vest. "Firstly, I prefer to go by Kakashi, so it's Kakashi-sensei to all of you," he stated as he began to read. The genin nodded, and he continued. "Now Psychic, introduce yourself."
Sakura's regained confidence faltered slightly. She had heard something almost judging in the way he said Psychic. Was that supposed to be a comment about the tea and her high state? She didn't think she was high anymore. To distract herself, she glanced at the book in his hand but indignation filled her. Was that an erotic novel!? She glared at the spine of the book.
"What are we supposed to say Hatake-sensei, why don't you introduce yourself first?" Her questions might have had a slightly bitter edge to them. The man narrowed his eye marginally as he looked over his book at her. Then again, she could have imagined it because he was eye-smiling again.
"I thought you were a psychic, oh well," he teased. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My hobbies and interests are my own, as are my dislikes. As for my dreams, well… that's for me to know." Sakura knew she was not the only one glaring at him for the chipper and dismissive introduction.
"So we only learn your name!?" Naruto exclaimed with his arms folded over his chest. Kakashi-sensei just eye-smiled again and nodded cheerfully.
Sakura sighed. "Fine then," she said with some resignation. Sakura would just have to be more helpful than him. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes…" she paused. What were her likes? Until today she would have said "Sasuke-kun," but that was not so anymore.
"My likes are…" Sakura repeated with a frown. What were her likes? "Flower arranging, I guess?" Had so much of her life really involved the Uchiha? She shook her head and continued speaking, "I also like having tea with my father" Except not today's tea, she thought. "Umm, well, usually I like having tea with my father," she amended weakly.
"My hobbies are…training, I guess?" Sakura announced hesitantly. She chewed her lip in thought. Normally it was stalking her crush but…
Sakura shook her head and moved on. "My dislikes are…..are…" she trailed off and frowned. Before today she'd have said Naruto. She felt betrayed about Sasuke, but that wasn't the same as dislike, right? "Well I'm not sure. And my goal?" Sakura thought back to her premonition and visions. Her eyes became hard with resolve. "My goal is to be a strong kunoichi who will protect people. I want to be a kunoichi who isn't afraid to die for her village, but also someone who will still try to survive through and help end wars." She nodded her head firmly. She wasn't a coward or selfish; she'd do what she must to protect her village.
Sasuke looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Naruto looked at her amazed. Their sensei just hummed and gestured for Naruto to introduce himself. "You next, Blondie," the man drawled.
"Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! I like ramen, especially Ichikaru's ramen. I hate the three minutes you have to wait for instant ramen. My hobbies include eating different flavors of ramen and training. My dream is to become the greatest Hokage of all time!" He cheered, "Dattebayo!"
Sakura found herself smiling instead of feeling annoyed. She believed he could do it; he could become Hokage. Kakashi looked interested, though perhaps that was a trick of light. "Alright Broody, you go," he gestured for Sasuke to begin.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything and I hate many things. My hobbies are training, and my dream, no ambition, is to kill a certain man," he announced in an almost sinister fashion.
Three things took place within Sakura at that moment. One, a sharp and sudden pain flared in her lower back. It was a deep sort of pain, like it was radiating from her bones. However, as soon as the pain started, it dwindled to a dull pain. It became like a bruise that was forgotten until touched. Second, Sakura felt emotionally conflicted. Part of her wanted to swoon at his mysterious broodiness, but another part of her was disturbed. She had found this attractive?! Perhaps the image of him trying to skewer her with lightning was distorting her perception of him, or the realization he would become a traitor—really the previous vision should have prepared her more for the second one. Regardless, she felt uneasy and the sudden pain had increased her unease. This lead to third thing: Sakura was annoyed and fed up. She felt uneasy around Sasuke, and she was sick of feeling that way. So Sakura reacted.
"Dream and ambition are synonyms," she blurted out, and Naruto burst out laughing.
"Ah-haha, Sakura-chan's right!" Naruto practically crowed. Sakura sighed and flicked Naruto in the head with her index finger while she ignored Sasuke's glare.
"-san, Naruto-san," she corrected. "At least until we gain some trust, remember?" Naruto looked thoroughly chastised as he bowed his head slightly.
"Well, if you don't pass the test tomorrow, you won't have to worry about gaining trust," the Jounin stated cheerfully with an eye-smile. All of them turned to stare at Kakashi with wide eyes. They were all speechless. "You see," Kakashi began, "the exams you passed just weeded out those who had no potential. The real genin test is tomorrow and only 60 percent usually pass. Be at training ground 7 at sunrise. Oh"—he added as if he had forgotten but likely hadn't—"and don't eat breakfast. You might throw it up."
He then vanished in a swirl of leaves. The three of them just stared after their sensei. A test?! They had another test. Sakura stared in shock at where the Jounin had been standing.
"I thought you were psychic," Sasuke mocked as he began to leave the roof. Naruto stood up glaring.
"Shut up Sasuke-te-san!" Naruto partly shouted before he sat back down with his arms folded over his chest. Sakura chewed her lip in thought.
"Neh….Naruto-san, do you want to make plans for the test?" she asked. She knew Sasuke was already long gone, and wouldn't want to work them anyways.
"Huh?!" Naruto turned to look at her in shock. "You know what the test is gonna be?"
Sakura shook her head. "No, but that doesn't mean we can't plan for things. It might help us anyways…" she trailed off and looked around.
"But won't we need Sasuke-te-san?" Naruto asked, barely stopping himself from calling Sasuke teme.
Sakura blushed slightly and continued to look away. "Uh, not really," Sakura confessed. "I do kind of know most of his moves." Sakura had gotten really good at stalking the boy, so Sasuke didn't always spot her and she got to see his advance techniques.
"Uh, okay then Sakura-san." Naruto cheered and hopped onto his feet. "Where do you want to go?"
Sakura hummed in thought for a moment. "Well we should show each other what we can do, right? So let's find a training ground or something?" she suggested. She wanted to see if she could do that punch move she had seen in her vision.
"Uh, the ninja at the training grounds always told me you need an instructor to sign you in for the training ground," Naruto stated almost sheepishly.
Sakura frowned. "But we need the room," she mumbled. What if she could do the punch and she destroyed her parent's limited yard space or worse?
The blonde boy began fidgeting uneasily. "Uh, I might know a place," he mumbled. "It's a little out of the way."
Sakura gestured for Naruto to lead the way and the blonde began to head back for the rooftop door. Then they were running through the village toward the woods.
Sakura was panting heavily by the time they reached an overgrown shack near the edge of the village. It looked like a battle had happened there recently too. Naruto looked around the area with a frown on his face.
"Did something happen here?" she asked uneasily.
The surprisingly sober blonde shook his head, but Sakura knew that was a lie. It was quiet for a moment. This was weird. Naruto was the class clown; he wasn't supposed to be all quiet and serious.
Sakura coughed and shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, well there's this punch I want to try," she announced. "Don't laugh at me if it fails," she added partially to get some rise out of the boy.
"Huh? You're trying a new move. That's so cool!" Naruto said loudly—it had been like a flipped switch because now the blonde was smiling again. "Don't worry, Sakura-ch-san, I wouldn't ever laugh at you!"
Sakura smiled slightly and then got into a ready stance. She focused on her fist and chakra. She visualized her chakra's movement first. She could feel her hand heating up several times and a few times Naruto mumbled some exclamation. She stopped when her hand began to tingle. She then opened her eyes and looked over to Naruto who was staring at her.
"Wind kept coming out of your fist. It was so cool, 'tebayo!" Naruto exclaimed now that she wasn't concentrating.
"It was?" she asked as she looked at her fist. It was red and there were little scratches against her knuckles. It reminded her of chakra cuts and burns. According to textbooks, doing a jutsu improperly could lead to one's own chakra harming the user, but usually the results were worse than this. Perhaps the wind Naruto was talking about was her chakra flaring out from her fist?
"So how does that become an attack?" Naruto asked. He was sitting with his feet pressed together as he watched her.
Sakura stared back at her fist. "When I hit something, that chakra should burst out at contact. So…" Sakura trailed off as she braced herself. She focused on her chakra again and punched the ground.
Sakura gave a startled cry. That really hurt! She pulled her arm back and shook it out. Her whole arm was throbbing and felt like there were little sparks all long it. She had expelled the chakra too soon.
"Ah! Sakura-chan! Are you okay. Should I get a medic?!" Naruto yelled in panic. He was now at her side again. He was hovering with his hands out like he was going to help her but didn't know how.
Sakura breathed through the pain a few times. "W-why don't you show me what you can do while I rest my arm?" she suggested. She held her arm to her chest and sat down where Naruto had been sitting before.
"Uh, okay," Naruto agreed even though he looked ready to get a medic for her. "Umm, so I learned this super cool jutsu the other day, 'tebayo." He pressed his hands together in an addition sign like formation. He said the name of the jutsu and—that's a lot of Narutos.
"What do ya think Sakura-chan?" they all asked in stereo.
"-san, Naruto-san," she reminded. Against expectation, each clone responded to the chastisement differently: one ducked its head, another scratched the back of its head sheepishly, and even another scuffed its foot against the ground. "How are they all doing something different?" she asked.
"Huh?" the Narutos asked. They had each perked up at the question.
"Bunshin are illusions and it takes a lot of control and genjutsu skill to make them act differently—otherwise they act like reflections," Sakura explained. But then, hadn't she seen and heard one of the Narutos scuff his foot against the ground. She had thought it was the real Naruto but all of them seemed to have weight and shadows.
"Are these solid?" Sakura asked slowly. She was standing up and moving to poke one in the cheek.
"Of course they are, dattebayo. That's what makes it super awesome!" One Naruto—likely the original—announced. Sakura poked one as he was saying it and that one blushed slightly. "That tickles," it said.
Sakura stepped back and stared. "So they can fight and do physical damage. Can they do jutsu?" she asked.
"Yep!" "Yeah" "Dattebayo!" "We knocked the closet pervert out with the Harem jutsu!" Sakura just sat back at the flood of affirmations, and stared oddly at the clone that talked longer than the rest of them.
"I don't want to know what that jutsu was, and we aren't using it ever." The blonde clones practically cowered at Sakura's tone. They began making assurances they would never do such a thing, but one clone shouted the contrary.
"Sensei's a total pervert. It might work on him. Did you see what book he was reading?" the clone asked.
Sakura clenched her fist at the reminder. "Don't remind me!" she snapped, and resisted the temptation to punch that clone in the face. The clone backed away like he anticipated the hit—well, several clones backed away. That didn't make her feel the greatest; it reinforced her revelation from earlier: she was a jerk.
Sakura sat down again and pushed those thoughts away to focus on this new jutsu. "So these clones are physical and autonomous, can deal damage, and do jutsu. What's the down side? Does it cost a lot of chakra or something?" she asked, and the blondes all scratched their heads.
"I dunno," a few announced before the real Naruto spoke up. "I guess I was pretty tired when I finally got the jutsu right, but it doesn't feel like a lot of chakra when I've been doing it lately."
"But it has to cost a lot of chakra. These are physical clones!" Sakura exclaimed. Just how much chakra did Naruto have?
"Really?" Naruto and the clones asked clueless.
Sakura sighed in frustration. "Well there has to be some down side," she reasoned.
"There kind of is," one Naruto stated before pulling out a kunai and cutting its hand. No sooner did the kunai cut into the skin did the clone and kunai disperse into smoke.
"So they can't take any damage?" she asked. "Unless you're really fast, it wouldn't be that great in a battle. You'd have to constantly make more clones, which should drain on your chakra."
"I made like a hundred clones when I fought—" the blonde cut himself off suddenly and each clone shifted uneasily.
"Naruto-san?" she asked cautiously, but the blonde waved off her concern.
"I can make lots of these, so that shouldn't be an issue," the real blonde said dismissively.
Sakura frowned again. "Okay, so what have you thought about using these clones for?" Her mind was racing with possibilities. "Can they retain information? Could you use them to gather information? Can you use them to substitute with yourself so you won't get hurt? Can they coordinate attacks separate from you so you don't have to order them?"
"Uh…" several Narutos said, but a few chirped that they could coordinate attacks. But one Naruto (likely the original) said sheepishly, "I've never tried those things."
Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly in thought while she pursed her lips. "Okay, so why don't you send a few clones to spy on Sasuke and then have them report back? Maybe we'll see what he's planning for Sensei?" she suggested.
Naruto had initially looked at her warily, but at the practical application he gained a mischievous smirk. "Alright!" he agreed.
Two clones raised their hands. "We'll go Taichou!" they announced. The two blondes then raced off in the general direction of the Uchiha compound.
"Why don't you have a few practice using kawarimi with you while you dodge kunai?" Sakura suggested. The blonde nodded his head after a moment.
"Okay, and what are you gonna do, Sakura-chan? Are you gonna throw the kunai?" he asked.
Sakura practiced clenching and unclenching her injured fist. It still stung a little, but it wasn't as painful. "I think I'll practice that punch again," she replied. She received several worried looks. "If I hurt myself again, I'll go to the hospital," she promised, and the blondes all nodded to varying degrees of reluctance.
And so time passed as they each practiced. Sakura started with punching the air while releasing her chakra out. She was struggling at combining the movement with the chakra release. Eventually she began moving to punch at the ground without releasing any chakra. Since it was a different angle, she was trying to familiarize her body. Just as she was getting the motion down, and Naruto was down to his last two clones, the blonde perked up.
"Neh, Sasuke-teme found out about the clones. He sent a bunch a shuriken at one, but it substituted with the other one. The bastard was working on his traps. They aren't that bad, but I would go with the Tsuchi—" the blonde cut himself off at Sakura's open mouthed expression.
"Naruto-san, how do you know that?" she asked. "The other clone hasn't come back to tell you yet."
The blonde blinked a few times. "Um…when the clone turned to smoke I got this memory…" the blonde trailed off as he realized what he just said. "I remember what my clones remember! That is so cool, dattebayo! This is the coolest jutsu of all time!"
"But your clones remember too, right?" Sakura asked. "Because your clones were bad at timing the kawarimi at the beginning, but that clone at Sasuke-san's could do it right away."
"Sakura-chan's right, Taichou," one of the remaining clones announced.
"-san!" Sakura chided.
"This jutsu can't get any cooler!" the blonde exclaimed as he jumped up and down.
"This also gives us a lot of possibilities," Sakura announced as she set her hand to her chin. The clones could keep an eye on sensei while they set up whatever they needed.
"We are totally going to pass this test!" Sakura announced excitedly. The applications for these clones were almost innumerable.
"R-really?" Naruto asked taken aback. The two clones were blushing and fidgeting. "But we don't even know what the test will be."
"We can make contingencies for different test scenarios," Sakura stated confidently.
"Continga-what?" he asked.
"Plans, Naruto-san," Sakura explained a little resigned to the blonde's bouts of stupidity.
"Then why didn't you say that?"
Sakura just shook her head, but couldn't stop from smiling a little. "Well, you learned a new word, didn't you?" she asked. Naruto agreed if a little reluctantly.
The blonde then sat down and watched Sakura as she got back in her ready stance. "How is your punch going?" he asked.
"I think I almost have it," Sakura replied. She focused on her chakra this time as she aimed at the ground. When her fist connected with the ground, she released the chakra and—"Ahh!" Sakura fell flat on her butt in the crater she had made. "Ow…" she mumbled as she stood up and rubbed her bottom. Sakura also coughed a little as she breathed in the dirt cloud her punch had made.
"That was so cool, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered from the edge of the crater. All the Narutos were cheering her actually. Sakura couldn't help but smile from within her little crater. It felt kind of nice to be cheered like that.
Sakura jumped out and readied herself again. Time to make sure it wasn't a fluke. When she punched the ground, she released the chakra again and the results were the same, but she caught herself this time. Sakura jumped out of the little carter again and tried once more. She felt energized by the cheers and encouragement. She hadn't felt encouraged in her ninja studies for some time! This third attempt was even bigger because Sakura had focused more on the release of the accumulated charka. She didn't need more chakra to make a bigger impact, but more refined chakra.
Sakura stepped back and stared at what she had done. The Narutos were staring too. Sakura wiped sweat and dirt from her forehead and smiled again. Part of her felt really gross and wanted a shower, but it was just Naruto with her so she didn't care as much. If it was Sasuke-san, she might have been more…conflicted. She shouldn't care what he thought of her, especially if she was sweaty and stuff, but part of her still quailed at the thought of him seeing her sweat.
"I'm hungry," Sakura announced after she finished admiring her craters.
"Me too!" the Narutos exclaimed before Naruto dispersed them with a single hand-sign. "Do you wanna go to Ichikaru's?" he asked.
Sakura immediately felt uneasy at the blonde's hopeful tone. It was the unease she got whenever he asked her on an unsolicited date. It wasn't just that Naruto was the Dead Last and class clown, but being asked out by someone she didn't like made her anxious and kind of…scared. Even someone so genuinely kind and benign like Naruto made her uneasy when dates came up. It was one thing to do something clearly platonic like training than going to dinner alone. Maybe it was all the stories she'd heard about dates gone bad, or the "women are targets" lessons from her kunoichi classes.
"My parents can make us dinner," she suggested instead. They still needed to talk about contingencies and this would give her more control over how they did that. "We can talk over our plans at my house" she stated.
Naruto's eyes got all wide, but then he began to frown, "Ar-are you sure about that Sakura-san? Most adults hate me—your mom especially seems to hate me."
Sakura frowned and slowly shook her head. "I don't think she hates you, at least not after talking with you today. So don't worry about it, okay Naruto-san?"
The blonde hesitated for a moment but then nodded his head. They then ran out of the forest and back toward civilization. Once in town, they slowed down to walk so they wouldn't get glares from the villagers. It was starting to get dark now too, so it was probably for the best they were going to her home.
"Neh, Sakura-san, do you have any ideas of what our test's gonna be?" Naruto asked and actually remembered to call her –san this time. She shrugged and bit her lip.
"I don't know Naruto-san, but it has to be different from the Academy. We're in teams now so…so maybe it's a team test?" She scrunched up her face and shook her head. Team tests seemed silly, right? But it didn't make sense any other way. Why test them again when all that has changed was being put into teams?
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked beside her. "I mean, I hope you're right, but what if you're wrong?"
What if she was wrong? Sakura closed her eyes. There had to be a reason. Like Sensei said: they were first tested on their skills. If he was to be believed, then the genin test weeded out those with no skills. So this new test had to be on something other than skills. Maybe it was Konoha-specific? Something every Konoha ninja needed to be successful.
"Neh, Naruto-san, what's Konoha known for?" Sakura asked. Perhaps he could shed some light on the problem—and that was a thought Sakura never thought she'd have.
"Uh…fire jutsu?" he replied in a "no-duh" manner. Sakura frowned. He was right.
"But not everyone can do fire jutsu. Half the population knows earth jutsu too."
Naruto frowned at her rebuttal before gasping. "What about the Will of Fire?" he asked excitedly.
Sakura blinked. Yeah, the Will of Fire had been mentioned in plenty of their lectures. It was a metaphor for Konoha's indomitable will. "So we'll be tested on our perseverance?" Sakura murmured questioningly. But then that begged the question, why were they in teams? They had been tested on their will to fight countless times while in the academy, same with teamwork drills, but not on the graduation test…
"Oh…" Sakura trailed off as her mind processed what she had just thought of. "Naruto-san, what were the Sannin known for?"
"Surviving against Hanzo the Salamander?" Naruto questioned slowly. He was watching her like he did academy instructors he knew were expecting a specific response from a question.
"Right, and how did they manage that?" Sakura questioned in return.
The blonde narrowed his eyes in thought and rubbed his chin. He even hummed for a moment before his eyes widened. "Teamwork and the Will of Fire!" he exclaimed. So Sakura wasn't alone in her thought process then, good.
The blonde continued speaking, "Konoha's won wars through teamwork! So it's testing that we can work in a team together and persever—I mean, that one word!" the blonde shook his head and Sakura stopped herself from laughing.
"Persevere?" Sakura offered and the blonde nodded.
"Yeah, that word," he agreed. "So, it's only as a team we can pass, like the Sannin against Hanzo!" Naruto cheered and looked ready to jump up and down in his excitement. "We gotta tell Sasuke-teme!"
Naruto began to pull on her arm, but she didn't follow after him. He turned around to look at her in confusion. If there was one thing Sakura knew about Sasuke after all the time she stalked him, it was that he hated working with others. He always had to prove himself to be the strongest or best, and it always had to be on his own. Before she thought that was dreamy, but now—now when things were put into perspective—she couldn't help but frown.
"First, it's –san, Naruto-san," she corrected the boy. "Second, I don't think Sasuke-san will agree, no matter how hard we try to convince him." Naruto was frowning and mumbling about stubborn, big-headed Uchiha, and she had to agree with him.
"But, I think we can plan around him; you know, incorporate him without his knowing," Sakura suggested after a moment.
Naruto's eyes went wide. "So you know his moves, I know how he acts in a fight…" the blonde trailed off and smiled mischievously. "We totally got this! Dattebayo!" he cheered.
"So we know it's about teamwork, but what else?" Naruto asked after a moment. They had started moving toward her house again.
"Well, it could be anything, especially with the perseverance element. It could be some impossible test or obstacle course." Sakura sighed and shook her head as she continued "It could really be anything from placing the team above mission objectives to finding a way to complete the mission objective as a team." Sakura sighed and rubbed her face tiredly. She hadn't seen any visions of a test, but then the visions had been overwhelming her so perhaps that was good…
Sakura smiled grimly. "Maybe we should plan for as many cases as we can?" she suggested weakly.
"Eh, if you think that will help us, Sakura-san." Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I'll do my best to follow any plans you make," he said.
"Any plans we make," she emphasized, which made the blonde smile and laugh a little as they approached Sakura's house.
"Okay, but I improvise a lot," he warned with a grimace, as if expecting chastisement.
"That's okay Naruto-san. We can't plan everything out. As long as we have a general idea of what to do, then we should be good, right?" Sakura reassured the younger genin. The blonde cheered up and nodded his head energetically.
At this point, they made it to Sakura's house. Naruto was tense behind her and he had his shoulders drawn up to his ear. "I'm home!" Sakura called out as she entered the house and began to take off her shoes. "And I brought one of my teammates," she announced as her mother came out from the kitchen. The woman immediately began to frown when she noticed the blonde boy—perhaps she was still making up her mind about Naruto?
Naruto had already taken off his shoes and he was now fidgeting nervously behind Sakura. "Um, hello again Haruno-san" he greeted as cheerfully as he could before bowing in greeting.
"Good evening, Uzumaki-san," her mother greeted almost stiltedly. Even the –san seemed to be added after deliberation. The woman then moved back into the kitchen. Naruto still perked up at the sudden polite difference he had received.
Sakura's father came out from his study at this point and he began frowning. "Why don't we have tea while your mother finishes cooking," he suggested, and Sakura's eyes widened in delight and understanding.
"Of course! I'll prepare it," she exclaimed before she hurried into the kitchen. She saw her mother had already set the kettle on the stove. She also vaguely heard Naruto say something about not wanting the tea they had had this morning. Sakura silently agreed with him while she retrieved the teacups from the cupboard—not the special ones in the china cabinet, of course—and grabbed a canister of tealeaves from the tea cabinet (yes, they had a full cabinet dedicated to teas). Her father reassured the blonde that that tea was only for family members and special occasions.
Sakura brought all materials to the table where Naruto was left fidgeting as her father stared at him. She gave her dad a deadpanned look while shaking her head. He already knew the blonde was the glowing man but he seemed to be holding out for some kind of further confirmation. He wasn't exactly being hostile, per se, but he wasn't being very friendly either. Sakura began preparing the cups and tealeaves.
"Neh, Sakura-san?" Naruto asked as he fidgeted in place. "You drink loose-leaf tea? How do you do that?"
Sakura chuckled and shook her head. Her father had a slight smile on his face, clearly he was amused too.
"What?" the blonde asked innocently as he tilted his head to the side.
"Nothing, Naruto-san, just don't drink the leaves," she stated smiling, "and it's okay to leave a little tea at the bottom of the cup."
Naruto nodded to himself. Soon the kettle was whistling, and Sakura retrieved it from her mother before she began to pour the boiling water. "There we go," she said as she handed him his cup. He accepted it before blowing on the tea. He fidgeted again. Likely Naruto wanted to take the tea with something, but that would ruin the reading, so they hadn't offered any sugar or milk.
"So…should we start making contingencies?" Sakura suggested.
"Oh, that word. Can you explain continga-thingies again?" Naruto asked as he scratched his head and took a tentative sip. He seemed pleased with the tea because he quickly drank some more.
"Uh, well, contingencies are plans you make for possible events," her father defined the word, but he looked a little worried. Likely he was afraid she was left with an incompetent team member and it would get her killed regardless of the blonde's future ability level.
"So we could make a plan of attack in case we came across, um…" Sakura trailed off as she tried to think what possible things they could run into. Perhaps an example would help the blonde remember the word better.
"A missing-nin!" Naruto suggested, his eyes alight with understand now. "Or if-if like a mission got upgraded or something? Right? Do I got it right, Sakura-ch-san?"
Sakura couldn't stop from chuckling at the endearing earnestness exuding off the boy. "Yeah, like that, but we'd modify it for what the exam could be. There's nothing like being prepared, right?"
Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion before he began to nod. "Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. My pranks are best when I've prepared the most, 'tebayo."
"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "Think of this like a big prank. You have to be prepared for them right, and you have to anticipate what your target's going to do." Who would have thought juvenile acts could apply to the shinobi world?
Naruto began to rub his hands together and cackle. His expression was downright devious. Sakura's father hummed as he finished his tea. He then spun his cup thrice in a casual manner. "If you two are finished with your, tea I can clear the table up for dinner," he offered.
Sakura quickly drank the rest of her tea and spun the cup; to her surprise, Naruto mimicked her actions. Her father subtly slid his cup toward Sakura, and she noted there was a good omen in his cup: strength and loyalty, a good and faithful friend. She imagined her father had been focusing on her teammate as he drank, and he was now relieved. He'd likely relay the message to her mother when he put the tea cups away. In Sakura's own cup she saw signs of success, and it was likely pertaining to their official genin exam. Of course, the reading would be more accurate if they flipped the cups upside down and let the excess tea drip out, but that would be a bit strange for a guest to see. Her father then gave them both a fond smile as he cleared up their cups.
Naruto went back to business eagerly. "So what should be our first continga-thingy?"
"Contingency," she corrected, and Naruto quickly repeated the word a few times to show he could say it correctly.
"Well," Sakura began, "that depends on what we think the test is, and there could be countless types of tests sensei could put us through to test our teamwork and perseverance."
Naruto nodded with his eyes closed. His arms were folded over his chest while one hand came up to hold onto his chin in a pensive manner. "Yeah, lots of possibilities…"
Before they could discuss things further Sakura's parents returned with plates of food and a stack of dishes. Naruto jumped up. "Can I help Haruno-san?" he asked earnestly, and both Sakura's parents chuckled.
"We have it all covered," Sakura's mother stated before adding awkwardly, "Thank you, Naruto-kun." Naruto dumbly sat in his seat. Her mother paused in passing out the plates. "Oh, excuse me. Should I continue calling you by your family name?" she asked the blonde who just shook his head.
"N-no, Naruto is fine," he mumbled with his eyes trained on the table. His shock was evident, but he looked really happy too. Sakura wondered why that was. Surely other people called him Naruto-kun? But then, her mom had literally just started calling Naruto by his name. It had always been that boy or that troublemaker before. Sakura frowned. She didn't like where her thoughts were going. Was Naruto treated so poorly by people that it was a miracle when someone was nice to him? She shook her head and helped serve food.
"So did you make it in time for the meeting?" Sakura's mother asked after eating a little. Naruto was surprisingly eating at a sedate pace; Sakura was used to seeing him scarf down his food when they had lunch at the academy.
"Umm, I actually met Sensei in the hallway," Sakura replied as she fidgeted in her seat. "He warned me to never have that tea again before meetings or missions. I could be reported and put on probation," she explained as calmly as she could, but her hands were shaking.
"He…oh…" her father trailed off and coughed. "Should I…" he trailed off again with a frown. They couldn't exactly explain themselves, but it seemed her father wanted to do something to remedy the situation.
Sakura understood where all the secrecy came from now. Shinobi villages dealt with secrets, and knowledge was power—especially knowledge on enemies and foreign powers. If people actually believed she was psychic, she could be taken from her family and who knows what else. Her imagination wasn't exactly supplying her with the best images.
Naruto was frowning now. "Sakura-san, are you in trouble with Sensei?" he asked slowly and worriedly. "Was that tea you had really that bad?"
"Yes," her mother replied almost coldly before Sakura or her father could say anything contrary.
"It wasn't a big deal in the caravan," her father mumbled.
"Caravan?" Naruto asked. "Like trading caravans?"
Her father coughed again and shifted uneasily. "Uh, yes, Naruto-kun. My family had a trading caravan and traveled the elemental lands."
"So cool," the blonde exclaimed. "What were the other countries like?" he asked animatedly.
Her father smiled slightly and chuckled. "Perhaps after you and Sakura finished planning for your test I can tell you a few stories. How does that sound?"
"Speaking of, what is this test about?" Sakura's mother asked, likely to aid in her husband's attempt to divert attention from his family history.
"Well, we need to take Sensei's test so we can be a team," Naruto answered while he fidgeted slightly.
"So you need to pass this test in order to be genin," her father clarified, and the genin nodded their heads. He chuckled. "Oh I'm sure a clever trickster like you and my brilliant daughter can counter anything your sensei throws at you." The man had a sly smile on his face and a knowing look in his eyes. Naruto ducked his head and blushed brightly as he stuttered out a thank you.
"Is there any way just the two of you can pass?" her mother asked almost delicately, but Sakura knew what the woman's intention was. "And who was your instructor again?"
"Hatake Kakashi might be our sensei, and I don't think we can be a team without a third person, Kaasan," Sakura stated primly as she reached for her glass of water. Her parents managed to control their responses, but Sakura knew they were not pleased.
"But if you two were to pass and the Uchiha didn't, surely a there would be a genin on reserve? Konoha can't risk keeping two formidable ninja out of the ranks because the third member failed the test," her father tried to reason, but Sakura knew what he was trying to get at. Naruto was frowning slightly too, and Sakura feared he might have picked up on her parents hostility toward the last Uchiha.
"Ayumu," her mother addressed her father warningly. She glanced over to Naruto who was now frowning at the table's surface. The woman then shook her head once with her eyes narrowed slightly at her husband. The man coughed but nodded.
Sakura's mother relaxed slightly before she continued to speak. "Well, regardless of any genin on reserve, you know the rumors about Hatake-san; he was likely hand-selected to teach this team." Her father frowned at his wife's reasoning, but nodded reluctantly. Sakura wasn't sure what rumors they were talking about, but they seemed to both know something she didn't… Wait, didn't the jounin have a Sharingan in her visions?
"Okay, we should really plan," Sakura blurted out awkwardly while her realization played out in her mind. Of course the last Uchiha needed an instructor with a Sharingan. It made so much sense, but what did it mean for her and Naruto? Would their sensei ignore them in favor of Sasuke? Would Sasuke get a guaranteed pass because he could have the Sharingan?
"Um…" Naruto began when Sakura didn't continue. She mentally shook those thoughts away and focused back on Naruto. "So maybe the test will be scavenger hunt?" the boy suggested when he had her attention.
Sakura was relieved to have something else to focus on. "That's possible. In that scenario we would just spread out, search, and come back together—" Sakura cut herself off as she narrowed her eyes in thought. No, that wouldn't work. She shook her head. Sure the plan was the natural and immediate response, but it showed little in the way of teamwork.
"If it was a scavenger hunt then we'd have to get the items by working together, or Sensei might try to pick us off one by one, right?" Naruto reasoned as he tapped his chin. "So it would be better to stick together. But then, Sasuke-teme—I mean –san!—um…he likes doing things on his own and wouldn't want us around, dattebayo." The boy's verbal tic even sounded thoughtful.
"Exactly, so we'd have to shadow him and help him when he gets to the different items."
Naruto gasped and his eyes lit up. "Neh, Sakura-san, we can use my clones for that"
"Of course!" she agreed. "How many do you think you can make before you get tired?"
The blonde frowned. "I dunno, I never tried that."
"You must have a ton of chakra," Sakura commented in disbelief. Her parents shifted slightly at the mention of his chakra. That was a weird reaction.
Naruto blinked in surprise before smiling excitedly. "Of course I do! I'm just that awesome, dattebayo!" While her parents had remained quiet during the exchange, her father no longer could.
"Naruto-kun, I heard from some of my clients that the more chakra one has, the harder chakra control is." Her father seemed to have a reason to bring this up. Knowing him, the question stemmed from worry about her. Perhaps he wanted to make sure her teammate knew the limitations to his large chakra reserves?
Still this reminded her of a reading in one of her Academy textbooks and all the times they had chakra control exercises in class. "You were always terrible at chakra control exercises," Sakura piped in. "Naruto-san, you do know they're the basis for all techniques. You need good chakra control to do most jutsu."
The blonde blinked owlishly before it hit home what she was saying. "You mean, I gotta do that easy leaf exercise over and over?"
"You thought that was easy? It's exhausting!" Sakura couldn't help but shout. That was not fair! How could it be easy?
"Uh…well it took me a long time to learn it, but once I got it, I could do it for a week straight if I wanted."
It was Sakura's turn to blink owlishly. She then frowned in thought and pursed her lips. "Maybe we can ask sensei for more chakra control exercises—I mean, if we pass of course."
Naruto nodded with her, and immediately cheered up.
"Um… so what were we talking about before?" the blonde asked after a moment.
Her parents chuckled and continued to eat their dinner while Sakura planned with Naruto.
"Well, we were talking about your solid clones and different contingencies."
Naruto's expression lit up in recognition, and he nodded. "Right, right, I knew that!" he chuckled and scratched his head. "Neh, Sakura-san, can we make easy code names so I know what we're talking about. They need to describe the plan for me."
"Okay, so what will help you remember our 'shadow Sasuke-san' plan?"
The blonde hummed before smiling mischievously. "Duck Season."
Sakura blinked a few times in confusion but shrugged. If that was what it took for Naruto to remember this plan, fine. "Okay, Duck Season it is then," she agreed.
She shook her head and chuckled at the blonde's strangeness. Sure it had been annoying before, but now it was endearing and a relief. If the future was like her premonitions, then she'd like to have this goofy Naruto around, especially if he had that badass glowing technique.
TBC
A/N: I know the last joke is a Looney Tunes joke, but...I couldn't resist. I'm now also thinking of Lionel the Bardbarian and his duck totem… Anyways! Hope you enjoyed! ~ love, depressedchildren