To the people who reviewed and/or added this story to your favorites... THANK YOU~! It's because of you guys that I continue this story! :)
A message to the reviewers:
ChicFreakSistaFierce: Thanks for pointing out my mistakes, and I fixed the ones you mentioned. :) Sorry... I get decapitated and amputated mixed up a lot. :P
Sakura-Da-Rockstar: Thank yoouuuuu~ I will. :)
SakuraLuver: Thhhaaaannnnkkkssssss~ On with the story! :)
Konnichiha Yoshi-Chan: Thanks~! I enjoyed typing it! :D
-s-
Apple colored irises stared up at the ceiling blankly. To others, it would seem as if the girl was bored. Well, good. They're supposed to think so. In reality, Sakura was really seeking out Naruto's chakra, wondering how he was doing... and to her surprise, his chakra was flying all over the place. He was forcing a lot more chakra out than needed for this jutsu. She sighed. His chakra control needs some work... and she could maybe... help him.
"Hey! New girl!
Sakura nearly squeaked in surprise but she managed to hold it back and look for the one who called her. She then realized that the voice belonged to Kiba. The puppy on his head yapped cutely and the girl fell head over heels for the cute dog. Why didn't she notice that it was cute before he grew into a giant? She approached Akamaru with closed eyes and slowly extended a closed fist to him. At first, the puppy sniffed doubtfully at the fist, but Sakura moved it so that the knuckles would rub behind his ears. Tongue lolling out happily, Akamaru barked in approval and pleasure.
It was then that Sakura opened her eyes shining with delight and loosed her fist to scratch him openly.
Kiba, to say the least, was surprised. Usually, girls would just rush up and try to pet the dog, but this girl was different. In fact, she made sure that his dog felt completely comfortable around her before petting him.
Sakura felt some relief in her swell up to see that the dog's snow white fur wasn't drenched in blood. Seeing the deaths of your friends can really make people easy to please.
Kiba, always the ladies' man, complimented her, "You know, you're actually pretty cute."
The other girls who liked him were preparing to tackle their future competition, but then stopped when she asked, "And how many girls have heard that line before?"
Now Kiba was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to answer to a question like that?
Every student in the class was watching the event play out. Sakura had an eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer. Kiba's mouth was slightly ajar, but no sound came out. After a few seconds Sakura decided to let the dog boy escape with his dignity and distracted herself with the blonde who just exited the testing room.
"Naruto! How did you do?" she asked, hoping that he might've passed.
Instead, there was glum silence and a weak smile.
He failed...
Sakura steeled herself and slung her arm in a friendly way over Naruto's shoulder.
"How about we get some ramen afterwards? You and me."
Naruto's eyes lit up, but then the girl threw in, "It's not a date."
He pouted childishly, sending his new friend into a fit of giggles.
Then... a problem arose. Where was she going to get the money?
-s-
Sakura walked over to Naruto, headband in one hand and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. A darker presence enetered her range of chakra and she narrowed her eyes. She whispered a faint warning to Naruto before disappearing inside the croud. That fake idiot, Mizuki, was Naruto's to take care of.
She was walking with her head down, immersed in her own thoughts, when she crashed into someone's back and fell onto her rump.
"Oh... G-Gomen-nesai..." she muttered and looked up from her shoes.
Emerald eyes slid up and stopped at a achingly familiar collared shirt and stopped there. They slid up nervously to dark, cold eyes. Recognition flashed in those eyes until they returned to their previous stoic manner.
She noted that she had accidentally knocked him down too. Hurriedly standing up and brushing herself off, Sakura offered a hand for him to take, which he swatted away and started pushing himself up.
It was something about this boy that made her anger rise easily... something about him that made her feel frustrated. That something was maybe the reason that she pushed him back down and hold her hand in front of him.
Sasuke glared at the hand and ignored it again, starting to stand up once more... but he didn't know of Sakura's stubbornness. She pushed him back down before he could even stand up and resumed her position of one hand held out, the other hand resting on her hip patiently.
The Uchiha knew that this would go on all day if he kept refusing, so he took one last glare at the girl- who glared at him back- and reluctantly took her wrist. Sakura shrugged. Close enough. When she saw that he was making no move to stand up, she made the move for him and pulled him up by force, letting him land delicately on his feet.
He'd never admit it but he was impressed with her strength. She was a lot stronger than her thin arms looked. Sakura, now happy again, smiled a farewell and started going to opposite direction of where she was facing. Time to go work at Ichiraku's again.
She never made it.
When she was nearly halfway to her destination, an ANBU appeared in front of her.
"Hokage-sama wants a word with you. Be there as soon as you can."
With those words, he/she disappeared. Sakura sighed and switched directions, knowing with a sinking feeling that it's not going to only be just one word.
-s-
"Hokage-sama," Sakura greeted with a small bow.
The hokage in turn nodded back to acknowledge her presence and went straight to the questions.
"Explain why you had a headband on when you were washed up."
At first, Sakura was confused as to why he asked for her to explain that... when she remembered that only ninja wore headbands. As in genin and above. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip.
Should she tell him the truth?
"And why I didn't find any records at all about the 'Haruno Clan'."
Sakura's mouth opened to say something, but the only sound came from the sharp intake of breath. Sarutobi sat there with his hands folded, patiently waiting for her to explain. Her breath came back out in defeat.
Tell him and see his reaction or not tell him and be kicked out of the village. The answer was pretty damn easy.
"I'm from the future."
Tell him.
When there was no laughing, Sakura decided to start where she deemed necessary. She started with the day squad 7 was grouped and told him everything- the curse seal, the Chunin Exams, the fight on the roof, and Sasuke running away with Orochimaru. From there, she skipped a few years and continued with Sasuke killing his older brother and later on finding out the truth. She told him about the Akatsuki and their goal to extract the Tailed Demons from their host's body. Then she explained the tension between Rain and Konoha and how Rain Country launched an attack on Konoha, leaving it weak.
This was the Akatsuki's chance to further destroy the Village Hidden in the Leaves and look for the last Tailed Demon needed; the Nine Tailed Fox. Then she told him about the chase before Sasuke stole Naruto's body.
"- And I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I guess there was something in the water that washed me back here... in the past. For reasons unknown, my headband stayed with me as well as my clothes and the weapons in my back. I guess it was just my physical body that changed."
Throughout her whole explanation, the Hokage had not uttered a word.
He finally responded with, "I believe you."
"I know this sounds absurd bu- wait, what?"
Sakura had prepared for the worst. To say the least, she had not expected him to accept so easily.
Hiruzen Sarutobi rearranged some papers on his desk and repeated, "I believe you."
At Sakura's confused look, he continued, "You couldn't possibly have known who the Akatsuki were, you somehow knew about the conflict between Rain and Fire, you knew about Orochimaru's curse seal, and you knew about the Uchiha Massacre and the truth behind it. No one could've known all that in one setting."
The kunoichi smiled at the hidden compliment inside, but the Hokage wasn't done with his questions yet.
"What was your rank before you were washed up?"
"ANBU."
"Congratulations on making ANBU, Sakura Haruno... although you're going to have to take the test again if you want to rejoin our ranks."
"Oh, I would like very much to rejoin ANBU... but I don't want suspicion to arise. Instead, could I take a C rank solo mission? I'm short on money for the time being."
"Of course... but this will be a short mission."
Sakura nodded. He didn't completely trust her yet. She could understand that. Then something else came up.
"May I... work shifts in the hospital too? I was a medic trained under Tsunade as well."
Sarutobi's eyebrows rose a bit. Being an apprentice under one of the Three Sages was a rare opportunity.
"Come back tomorrow and show me your skills as a medic. Then, I will decide. For now, you have a mission to take care of... though it'll be strange having a twelve year old take a solo mission."
Sakura solved that problem by transforming into her 15 year old self and grinned at her hokage.
The Third didn't waste any time telling her the mission she was going to be assigned to, "You are going to be escorting a feudal lord back to his estate. A word of warning; he's lecherous."
The female inwardly groaned. Just great.
-s-
Sakura found herself sitting by the lord inside the carriage by his orders, clenching her jaw to hold back the punch she wanted to unleash on his cheek bone. A hand was groping at her butt for the tenth time that day.
"Please keep your hands to yourself, My Lord," Sakura gritted out.
Instead of doing as she asked, the Feudal Lord purred, "Your ass has such a nice shape."
Hands clenched as she abruptly stood up, face red with restrained anger.
"I'm going out for fresh air," she muttered, brushed the curtains aside, and jumped out onto the dirt road.
She wanted to take down a whole forest, but knew that the mission could be jeopardized because of her temper. The Lord's son- who was 11 years old- caught up to her.
"Sorry about my Otou-sama. He can't help it."
Sakura sent a smile down at the boy and sighed, her anger flying out along with her breath. What was his name again? Oh yeah. Kazuhiko.
"It's alright, Kazu-kun."
Something caught Sakura's eye. A brown kitten lay at the side of the road unconscious. Being the medic she was, Sakura was by the helpless creature in a flash. Behind her, Kakuhiko followed, a bit surprised that she hadn't called him 'Kazuhiko-sama'.
Sakura observed the cat and mumbled to herself, "It seems like this kitten was run over by something... perhaps something with wheels."
Without a second thought, her hands were placed above the injured cat's body and started healing the skin, then started healing the tissue. The procedure was done quickly so that she wouldn't waste too much time, and she gently cradled the kit in her arms, making sure that nothing would ache once it woke up again.
Kazuhiko gazed in amazement at the girl in front of him. Amazing.
His curiosity got the best of him and he finally burst out, "How did you do that?"
Sakura grinned at him and explained what medics do but he was still curious, so she showed him a few herbs that they passed along the way and how people used them. The rest of the trip was filled in with their chatter.
"Thank you for escorting us safely, Sakura-san," the Lord thanked with a sly grin. "You may visit any time you like."
The girl ignored the last suggestion and bowed in response. She then turned to Kazuhiko and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"See you later, Kazu-kun. Oh... and here's a present so that you won't forget me."
She handed over the now awake brown cat and the cat purred, rubbing against the Prince's chin. Kazu beamed at his present and then turned his smile to Sakura, who returned the grin warmly. With one last wave, she was gone and out the doors.
After she vanished from sight, the boy murmured, "I doubt I'll ever forget you, Sakura-chan..."
-s-
"Here's your reward for completing the mission successfully... and in record time too."
Forest green eyes shone in appreciation and excitement once the sack of money fell into her hands.
"Arigato, Sarutobi-sama!" Sakura thanked, saluting to him.
The hokage gave her a small smile at her childish behavior and watched as she poofed back to her 12 year old form and stretched her arms. Frowning a bit in disappointment.
When Sarutobi asked what was wrong, Sakura replied, "My muscles aren't what they used to be so my speed, strength, and stamina aren't what they used to be..."
"Well this might be a good time to show me your medical skills, Sakura. You made it fast enough... but do you have enough chakra?"
Sakura nodded eagerly as her answer and asked, "So what do I have to do to prove myself?"
"You'll work on the patient that checked in last."
"Hai!"
-s-
Sakura walked in the door with her white nurse outfit on, ready to check the patient... and then leaped back in surprise.
'I-Iruka?'
Hiruzen's voice came from behind, "I hope this isn't a problem, Sakura."
The medic shook her head nervously and tip-toed over to her patient.
'He seems to be unconscious... Thank Kami...'
Her hands went up to his stomach where the wound was and started healing. Once she was satisfied with her work, Sakura wiped her forehead and turned to raise an eyebrow at her hokage.
'Damn... I don't have as much chakra as I used to...'
Sarutobi walked towards Iruka to observe her work, and after a few circles around the bed, he finally nodded.
The pink haired girl punched her fist in the air and whispered, "Yosh!"
After her 'initiation' was finished, Sakura dragged herself home. Collapsing on the bed of leaves, sleep immediately claimed our heroine and she fell into much needed dreamless sleep.
-s-
Yawning, a disheveled figure rose out of their bed and stretched. Their legs carried them to the store with half lidded eyes and they took her out once she had a full outfit in her hands- as in a jersey, chest bondages, black rubber gloves, her miniskirt, and black shorts underneath.
The smaller pleasures of life were what you tend to miss... and one of those pleasures was hygiene. The public baths weren't something she favored, but she had a river to bathe in. Although, on her way she passed by the Porn Shop and found Naruto and Konohamaru sneaking towards it. Face blushing a dark red, gloved hands shot out and locked on shirt collars, yanking them back forcefully.
Sakura stepped in front of the two, face still red.
"Naruto! What do you think you're doing? Konohamaru is way too young for this!" she indicated to the shop.
"S-Sakura-chan?"
As punishment, a fist was brought upon his face, sending him flying a few feet back. Her eyes landed on the younger boy who was staring at his shoes. She grabbed his collar and lifted him up.
"Don't think that just because you're the Hokage's grandson, you're not going to get hurt. On the contrary..."
She punched him just like she punched Naruto, his figure flying backwards.
"You're an equal!"
Sakura stomped over to the two and gave threatened them before she felt satisfied and went on her way to the river. Casting a genjutsu over the area, she stripped down and jumped into the pool. While she was swimming the events that previously happened flashed into her mind.
'Irritating idiots...' she grumbled in her mind while floating on her back.
Once she was done she stepped out of the water and dried herself off.
Now fully clothed again, Sakura brought her dirty fabrics to the laundry... but something stopped her on the way. She saw two boys trying to sneak into the Ladies' Showers. Running in front of them to block their path, a gloved fist was slammed into two jawbones.
"Baka!" she shouted after them, and huffed.
'One more time and I'm beating them to a pulp!'
-s-
The next day, Sakura pulled herself out of her cabin. After her shift at the hospital, she walked back home and fell asleep. Her sleep was plagued by that same nightmare that left her covered in cold sweat once she woke up. Apparently, her limbs were moving about- even in her sleep- and it left her bone tired when she got up.
She met Hinata on the way to school and decided to stop her stuttering so that people would see her as the strong, independent girl underneath the thick layer of shyness. Hinata didn't blush the whole way which was a great improvement.
They entered the classroom hand in hand, Sakura swinging their arms enthusiastically while Hinata just had her finger over her lips timidly, letting her friend abuse their arms.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! Over here!" came Naruto's loud voice.
Sakura asked the Hyuuga with her eyes if she wanted to come along, but Hinata shook her head. She may be improving, but she wasn't ready to be so close to the hyperactive blonde yet! The pink haired girl nodded and they parted ways, Sakura opting to sit beside her best friend.
"Ohayo, Naruto!" she greeted and hesitated before greeting his seat-mate. "Ohayo Sasuke."
Suddenly, Sasuke's fangirls were by her.
"That's my seat, bitch!"
Sakura's temper flared to life, but she forced it back down, choosing to ignore the fangirls. She noticed that the one screaming at her was none other than Ren.
"Hey! Didn't you hear me? Are you tone deaf or something?"
The emerald eyed girl couldn't help but grumble, "I will be if you continue screeching in my ear..."
This only riled up the purple haired girl even more and she started screaming and cussing even louder. A mob of fangirls came up as well, their attention caught by the screaming and joined in.
Sakura hit her forehead on her desk and hollered, "If you keep yelling like that, Sasuke's going to hate you! He doesn't like girls that are loud!"
The noise stopped. It just... stopped... like someone pressed the pause button during a movie. A pink head looked up and saw that the girls were pointing rude finger gestures at her while clamping a hand over their mouths.
'It actually worked...'
Sakura sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair. Naruto felt worry rise up inside him. Did Sakura like the Ice Cube Prince too?
'What's so special about him anyways?' Naruto thought as he climbed on the desk to glare at his rival who glared back.
"Don't glare at him, Naruto," Sakura warned.
Naruto turned his head to stare at her, calculating whether or not she was mad or was just saying that for the heck of it. Either way, the kitsune locked glares with the Uchiha once again, this time getting closer and closer.
He could hear something like a snort from his friend, and darkened his glare. Was she expecting Sasuke to win? Someone behind bumped his butt lightly, causing Naruto and Sasuke to...
"YOU GUYS KISSED!" Sakura hooted, clutching her stomach and laughing.
The two males parted and started spitting out the saliva from another mouth while holding their necks as if they were choking. They wiped their mouths simultaneously and turned their attention to the girl laughing uncontrollably in her seat.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined. "Stop laughing!"
"I c-can't!" Sakura sputtered out and continued her laughing fit.
Behind her, the group of fangirls all cracked their knuckles, the atmosphere turned dark around them.
"Naruto..." they all growled with menacing looks on their faces.
The blonde huddled closer to his friend, the only place where the murderous feeling wouldn't touch. Sakura sat up again, wiping a tear from her eye that was forced out by the laughter. Only then did she notice the fangirls and she cracked her knuckles as well, glaring at the group.
"Touch a hair on him, and you'll be bald the next time you wake up," she threatened.
The fangirls backed up, since they all knew that Sasuke liked girls with long hair.
It was then that Iruka decided to arrive, and he sweat-dropped at the sight of his classroom, but proceeded to the front. He waited until all the fangirls chose a seat before he said anything.
"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you made it through physical trials and hardships... but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now... you are only genin; first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads- each squad will be lead by a jounin; an elite ninja."
Sakura felt the butterflies rise in her stomach. She was going to be able to start all over again... even if it was a genjutu... and this genjutsu is pretty damn convincing.
"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities- that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads."
In Sakura's mind, she didn't hear anything. She just blanked out, squirming in her seat impatiently... and then came squad seven.
"Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Ren Aki."
Inside, Sakura felt herself go numb. Ren... that girl stole her place! She faintly heard Naruto groan in disappointment. What group is she going to now? She snapped out of her trance-like state and listened attentively to the groups. Every group was exactly like the first time she went through this... except squad 7. Now with all the groups announced, Sakura sat there, shell-shocked.
Did she not make it past the academy?
Naruto voiced her fears, "Iruka-sensei! You forgot Sakura-chan! Did... did she not pass?"
Iruka answered, "Because of the numbers of students in this class, Sakura Haruno could not be placed in a three squad team. Instead, the Hokage requested that she go on a solo team. She displayed to him some of her skills and he thinks that she's going to be able to handle the task by herself."
All eyes turned to her direction and murmurs spread through the room.
"Wow, is she that powerful?"
"She looks like fragile china! How could she handle a one man squad?"
"If anyone deserves a one man squad, it's Sasuke or Neji."
"Sakura, could you please demonstrate some of your... power? This class needs to be reassured," Iruka requested.
She could tell that he was unsure about the Hokage's decision as well. Jade eyes slid from side to side nervously.
"I-I don't know the Hokage's reason to place me on a o-one man team either," she lied. "I'm only good at g-genjutsu."
"Well show us one of your deadly ones."
Sakura sighed, seeing that Iruka wasn't going to give up easily and obliged, using one of her less deadly ones. She looked all around as everyone saw their deaths right before their eyes. It was a short death, like the one Orochimaru used on her in the forest of death. Even Iruka flinched back.
Faint surprise raised her eyebrows as she noticed that everyone was sitting in their seats, frozen to the spot. Not one person was releasing the illusion.
"Shiroto..." (A/N: Translation: "Amateurs...")
-s-
... Well there's chapter three for ya~! :) Thanks for reviewing!
Ja Ne~
.xk
