Haruno Sakura woke up with a muffled gasp, tears welling in her eyes. She could feel a dull throb in her nightgown covered chest, where she could clearly imagine every detail of the scar she had recently acquired.
It wasn't her first scar, of course. She had been a child, and children get hurt, especially children who are training for a career in assassination and front line combat. She had a small scar on the outside of her right thigh from when she had fallen down from a sling onto some rocks. She had a small burn on her left index finger from when she had accidently touched a boiling hot pot. She had a small scar from a training kunai cut that had not healed properly. And before she had woken up at the hospital and saw the wound on her chest, the scars that marred her skin were something to be embarrassed about. After all she was a girl, and for a long period of time, she was a girl that had priorities - her looks and Sasuke first, everything else second.
Nowadays, this was no longer the case.
It was something that had been building for a while, ever since she had been assigned to a genin team. It had been a point of pride for her that she had managed to score high enough in the Academy to be put in the same team as Sasuke, who was without a doubt the class idol, the last Uchiha, possessing a powerful bloodline, and the most talented student in their year. And of course you could not forget Naruto. Naruto the outcast, who everyone seemed to hate without actually knowing why. Well, actually it was not everyone. Sakura was an observant girl and she had noticed that only kids from civilian families seemed to distrust him. But the truth was that everyone grudgingly respected him. He was the only one who could keep up with Sasuke. He was always polite, if just a little detached. He kept to himself and did not actively seek out company. And to everyone's amazement he was the only one in the entire class who was on friendly terms with the last Uchiha.
Of course she couldn't forget her Jounin sensei, and as she had later learned, the son of the Hokage, Asuma. She had only the highest respect for the man, not only for his skills and strength, but also for his attitude. From day one he had been nothing but fair and reasonable with them, if a little childish at times. He had never demeaned any of them, being quick to give praise when it was due, and even quicker to offer his help when it was needed. In many ways he was the best teacher she had ever had.
Sakura had been proud of her performance in the Academy. She was both proud and happy of being put into team 7. She had been confident that her grades would easily translate into her being an excellent shinobi and that finally, Sasuke would notice her.
That is, until she actually saw her two teammates in action…
Sasuke doing well had been expected. Sakura had and still firmly believe in his talent and now, more than ever looked up to him for it. No, the real surprise was Naruto. She had known he was strong, but actually seeing him fight had made a real impression on her. And this was without even mentioning the oppressive aura of death that she felt emanate from him.
She had looked up the so called "killing intent" in her free time. It wasn't really a technique or a similar trick. It was more of a manifestation of someone's willingness to hurt and kill. It was a chakra response more than anything, and one of the reasons why many considered chakra a living entity of sorts instead of simple energy. It was also mentioned that most shinobi did not start developing killing intent before their first kill because they had no real concept about taking a life.
All of this information had made Naruto's killing intent something of a mystery.
In comparison, Sakura's performance was nothing to brag about. She had done well, but she knew skill wise, she was leagues bellow both of her teammates. She had expected this of course - even she herself knew that she wasn't the greatest in practical application of the shinobi arts. How-ever, the sheer gap in skill between herself and her two team-mates made her question if she even wanted to continue trying.
The confusion about her life choices was a short lived notion though, for they had passed and she had found out that she actually had a place in a team considered to be elite. That she was hand-picked to be in a team that was fully expected to outperform the rest. It wasn't a responsibility that she could easily shrink away from.
The flash of Ino's mocking face if she did decide to quit helped her reach her final decision.
Sakura had thrown herself into training. It was exhausting and harder than everything she had ever done before, but the steady praise of Asuma, Naruto's silent encouragement, and the respectful glances from Sasuke had made it all worth it.
And she had indeed improved by leaps and bounds. She still wasn't that useful in a pure frontline battle, but her medical tutors had stressed that she had a tremendous talent in their field. And it was true - she found herself understanding and assimilating medical facts and procedures at a rapid phase.
Then the mission had come… It was horrible; she had killed and killed and killed with there being no end in sight. Finally at the end of it all, everyone in the camp was dead. She hadn't kept count of how many people she had killed. Her sub-consciousness had, and their pale, bloodied faces constantly flashed in her nightmares. But there was no time to mourn, to freak out, to fall into hysteria, because more people had come and they had not meant well.
During the month of intense training she had felt Naruto's killing intent more times than she cared to remember and was slowly but surely starting to develop an immunity for it. At the time, the aura of his intent only caused her to slightly shiver. She had thought that she was ready to face it in the field, she had been wrong. The combined intent of the adults and Naruto had almost caused her to fall down to her knees and start sobbing. She had just managed to hold firm, hiding her fear. It was a small point of pride for her.
And then they had retreated, leaving their sensei to fight against two opponents. She knew that there had been a very real possibility that he would die as she was running. So she had ran far faster than ever before, with adrenaline pumping throughout her veins, but of course that hadn't been enough.
Her next stable memory was staring at a ceiling whilst lying in a hospital bed before trying to sit up, only to gasp from a sharp pain from her chest. She had looked down her hospital gown and seen a thick layer of bandages. Then the doctors had come and there had been examinations, questions and more examinations and more questions.
Then she had healed and the bandage had been removed, and now she had a fresh red scar above her left breast. She had been lucky, the doctors said, because the kunai had missed the heart. There was no luck involved of course - she had heard the person that had stabbed her speak. She had been merchandise to him, her only value was in the money she brought him. And she would bring next to nothing if she were dead.
The scar was still red and fresh, the end of it could barely be seen peeking out from the collars of the type of clothes she usually wore. It made her feel self-conscious, because she had almost died, almost been carted off to some village to be experimented on, or something worse. She was fine now - she was home, in the village, surrounded by people who did not wish her bad.
But she was still tense and jumpy; she didn't think that she could ever be completely calm.
It was strange how much a single event could change your worldly views.
She had become a shinobi because Ino had unknowingly pushed her to it.
She had actually become competent because she had purpose and her team.
But she would become strong, because she liked to be alive, and to survive in this world was obviously not as easy as she had thought.
XXXXX
Sakura heard a light series of knocks against the closed door of her bedroom, much like every other morning from when she could remember. Her father made it a point to not leave for work before saying good morning to his little girl. He had been especially insistent ever since she had entered the Academy. Sakura could appreciate the sentiment now.
The pink-haired girl pulled herself up off her bed and swiftly entered into her routine of morning stretches that she had been doing ever since she had left the hospital. The doctors had insisted that she do them so as to eliminate any stiffness that might remain from the wound. It was interesting, but Sakura actually felt much better and wide awake after doing the exercises. She had even made it a point to research into something more than the basic Academy set and had constructed quite the elaborate routine. But honestly, she had never felt so free in her own skin.
She dressed far quicker than she would have thought possible even a month ago, paying little attention to the act. She had found herself caring little about her wardrobe as of late, something that had not escaped the notice of her mother if the disapproving looks were anything to go by. She wore a simple set of black, knee length shorts and a slightly formfitting red t-shirt, her simple work-out attire. Her hand hovered over her supply pouch and kunai bags, because technically she had one more day of being out of service, but she attached them anyway. It was always better to have shinobi tools on hand rather than being caught without them. Taking one last look at her rather innocent looking room, with her big mirror, sets of makeup and the large wardrobe of clothes, she made her way downstairs absently thinking how her room required a small redecoration.
Sakura entered her families' kitchen where could see that her mother and father had already started on their breakfast, both of them eating quietly, no doubt preparing a list of the day's work that had to be done.
She made her way over to her father, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, before grabbing a piece of bread from the table.
"Good morning dad."
"Good morning sweetie, sleep well?" Her father asked, turning his head to face her with a wide smile.
It was an innocent question and Sakura managed to keep the grimace off her face, instead smiling and replying.
"Like a baby dad."
"Good morning dear." her mother said before motioning to the chair next to her. "Have a seat."
The smile instantly disappeared from Sakura's face. She had learnt from past experience that the worlds 'have a seat' did not bode well for her when they came from her mother's mouth. Still, she sat down munching on the piece of bread, waiting for her mother to speak. She did not do so, seemingly thinking, periodically opening and closing her mouth before pursing her lips together. Her father seemed to have found his food very interesting for some reason, but Sakura knew perfectly well that he was paying attention to the inevitable conversation.
Finally, her mother turned to her and said exactly what Sakura was sure she would.
Exactly the wrong thing.
"Sakura, I want you to quit being a shinobi," her mother said, with all the authority of a parent.
Sakura's father visibly flinched.
Sakura held back her immediate response, for it would not do to simply tell her mother to fuck off. She slowly counted to 10, pushing down the anger that raged inside of her. She knew perfectly well that her mother had never approved her choice of career and that she knew that she did only what she thought was best for her.
But quitting? No chance.
"No," Sakura said, in a perfectly even tone of voice that left no room for argument.
Her mother appeared visibly shocked. They had argued in the past of course, many times, but Sakura had never so completely disregarded her opinion. As if it were not worth anything.
"What do you mean no?" she hissed "You were hurt, you almost died! I've told you a million times that this is not a profession for a young lady! You will quit and you will start training for the day when you will pick up this families' business."
Sakura turned to face her mother, her face steely, blank of any emotion. Her eyes were a different story though. They held inside all the bottled anger and indignation that she was feeling hearing those words, when she understood exactly how little her mother respected her choices and wishes. The rage she was all so trying to bottle up.
"I said no mom, I will not be quitting," she looked down "I've already made my decision."
"Young lady, while you are living in my house you will follow my rules and respect my wishes. You will quit and that. Is. final!" Sakura's mother screamed in her shrill high pitched voice that Sakura herself had inherited.
Sakura stood up so quickly that the chair she had been sitting on was bowled over, the rage finally breaking out onto her face, with her finger stabbed towards her mother. Her mother wasn't tall by any means and whilst standing up, Sakura simply towered above her. The atmosphere in the room immediately changed as Sakura's anger caused her chakra to react and so a subtle sense of malice was felt hovering in the air. The young girl was too riled up at the moment to notice it, but when she did, she would be glad that she could now start training with Naruto in nurturing her budding killing intent.
"No, mother." Sakura hissed as she practically spat the word out, before continuing with her voice rising with each world "I am a genin of Konoha, which makes me legally an adult! You cannot order me to DO anything. I will listen to you only if I so choose. You will not try anything and you WILLstop bothering me on this topic or I swear, I will leave this house and you will never see me again. Is that understood!" she finished her voice loud and filled with anger, but not shrieking like her mothers had been.
Sakura sent her father an apologetic before she stormed out of the room, leaving her mother spluttering in indignation. The last thing she saw before slamming the front door closed was her father softly talking to her mother.
She hoped he would convince her to see reason. She really didn't want to have to leave home.
But she knew that if she had to, she would.
Being a shinobi just meant too much for her now...
XXXXX
Sakura angrily stomped through the village, no particular direction in mind, inwardly fuming at the earlier argument with her mother. She loved her, she really did, but this particular subject was not something her mother would have any say in and not simply because of sentimental reasons or lack of intimate knowledge of how the shinobi world worked. In the end, a hidden village was an elaborate private army of sorts, one that served under the countries daimyo. His orders and the defense of the country with its interests came first. In return, the village was relatively self-governed and was allowed to accept mercenary work, as long as it did not go against the countries' interests in any way.
When one became an active shinobi, like Sakura and her classmates had, they for all intents and purposes became legal adults, with all the responsibilities and consequences that the status entitled. But they were also sworn to the village first, the Hokage second, and the council third. Barring a career crippling injury, one could only quit the shinobi force if both the council and the Hokage allowed it. It couldn't be allowed for a person excessively trained in shady skills who possibly knew village secrets to be left to roam free. Retirement was not particularly encouraged, as was evident with the current Hokage, and it rarely happened.
Most simply didn't live long enough to become old, often being bested as their skills deteriorated with age.
All of this meant that it was unlikely that her mother could do anything to get her discharged from the force, and that was without herself being so completely against it. The pink-haired girl knew that her family had quite a bit of power and money they could try and throw around, and while the Hokage might be understanding and allow it, there was no shot in hell that the council would let her go.
Lost in her thoughts, Sakura made her way through the village; turning her focus inwards and allowing her feet take her wherever they would. Finally, after almost running into a person for the fifth time, she looked up and actually focused on her surroundings.
She found herself at the entrance to one of the bigger merchandise sectors in the village. It was stationed close to the west entrance of the city and mostly catered to civilians and their needs. Many traders that came from the land of Wind and other smaller countries that dotted the border could be seen trying to sell spices, tea and other types of merchandise. It seemed to be a busy and profitable day, with many people going around spending money.
Sakura wondered what she was going to do for the rest of the day. She still had until tomorrow before she would be back on the active duty roster and the medic nin in the hospital had given her a strongly worded suggestion not to strain herself too much until then. The slight tightness that she felt from the scar on her chest only served to further turn her off of training for the day.
She could shop, she supposed, with there being near so many merchants nearby. That option didn't appeal to Sakura though, seeing as she didn't immediately need anything and wasn't really in the mood for spending hours just looking around for a new article of clothing. Although, maybe she could use a new shinobi uniform, there was that large piece of her old one missing and she wasn't sure she could wear it without remembering, even if she had it fixed.
In the end the decision of what to do was taken from her hands, as a familiar voice rang out from behind her.
"Hey Forehead!"
With a sigh, Sakura turned around to face the voice and saw Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji walking towards her. Ino was walking with her usual perky and confident stride, making her way towards the pink-haired girl. In contrast both Shikamaru and Chouji walked much slower, especially the Nara. Of course that wasn't much of a surprise - the boy had always been ridiculously lazy. Sakura sometimes wondered how he had even made the effort of passing the genin test. Chouji was munching on a bag of chips whilst talking to Shikamaru quietly. All in all, it seemed that Ino was dragging her teammates along. It made perfect sense to Sakura, her one time friend had always been a "take control" kind of girl.
"Hello Ino-p…Ino," Sakura answered as the girl walked up to her, almost slipping and calling Ino by the derogatory nickname she had used for what seemed like forever. She didn't really want to argue with her rival right now and a little common courtesy should help with that.
For her part Ino looked at her strangely. Both Shikamaru and Chouji gave her nods of acknowledgment, which she returned. She had never been particularly close with either of them.
"I haven't seen you around the village since team placement, Forehead! Did you get sent back to the Academy?" said the blond in a teasing voice, lacking any real malice.
Sakura sighed again. So much for her grand plan of a peaceful conversation.
"No, Ino, I haven't. We've been busy training."
"Really? What about missions?" the blond answered with a skeptical look.
"We've only done the one for now."
"Hah, either you guys are the worst team ever, which is impossible because Sasuke-kun is on the team, or your sensei is even lazier than ours. Hell, he's probably lazier than Shikamaru!" Ino said. Shikamaru simply grunted in annoyance.
"No, Ino, we had orders to train intensely and get a C-rank mission directly afterwards. Actually we got back from it some time ago. Although I'm not sure it's still considered C-rank." Sakura said, pointedly ignoring the jibe towards her team, although it was a close thing.
"Well, we just got back from our first C-rank mission too! Kakashi-sensei, he's a lazy pervert but he's alright, said that we were probably ready for it so we had to escort a merchant to the border. We even fought with some bandits, but we kicked their ass!" Ino said cheerfully, missing Sakura's slight flinch at the word bandit. Shikamaru noticed it, but decided not to comment. It would be too troublesome, especially if Ino decided to pry.
"I'm glad you did well on your mission Ino" said Sakura calmly.
"Well, it's only natural. But I'm sure you didn't need to do anything at all at your mission. Sasuke-kun probably did anything by himself."
Sakura's tentative grasp on her temper broke like a dam, her face twisting into an ugly picture of rage. She didn't do anything? Didn't do anything? She could still feel the blood on her hands, no matter how much she cleaned them. She could feel her scar with every breath she took and that, that… little girl had the nerve to say that she didn't do anything?
Just as she was about to explode at her one time friend something passed through the street, through her, washing all of her anger away, leaving her confused. It took a moment to identify it as chakra. Everyone on the street that had any chakra awareness at all was turning to stare in confusion after the shockwave. It took her a moment more to identify who it belonged to and understand why it left her feeling so at ease.
"Naruto…" she whispered, quietly for anyone to hear. Shikamaru's eyes widened, having red her lips, furiously thinking how strong exactly his ex-classmate had to be to have created the giant dome of chakra that had passed through them.
"What?" asked Ino, not quite hearing what Sakura had said, but seeing her lips move.
Sakura's gaze snapped back towards the blond and Ino had to resist the urge to step back. There was a furious fire in those eyes, one that was missing before, one that was in complete contrast with the otherwise calm face of the pink-haired girl.
"Ino, I'd like a light spar if you don't mind. I suddenly have the urge to hit you and I prefer it being sanctioned," Sakura said serenely.
Ino's eyebrows shot upward. She had definitely not expected such a response, but she wasn't opposed to it. Sakura had never been stronger than her, so she felt there was no way that she would lose.
"Sure Forehead, but don't go crying when I beat you."
Sakura simply continued to look at her, It was disconcerting. She nodded in the direction of the closest training ground and started walking, fully expecting Ino to follow her.
Just as the blond stepped forward, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't do it Ino. You'll lose."
Shaking off the hand with a bit more force than necessary, the blond followed after Sakura. Shikamaru just shook his head and sighed, "Troublesome…" he mumbled. Chouji presented his bag of chips toward his best friend and after a moment of deliberation Shikamaru took one.
XXXXX
Sakura and Ino were standing across from one another in a small clearing. There was a soft cold breeze that made the leaves of the trees rumble slightly. The sun was high in the air and Sakura had made sure that it was behind her back so as to not get accidently blinded during the spar. Ino was glaring across at Sakura and psyching herself up for the spar, while Sakura was stretching, still with a infuriatingly calm look upon her face.
After a moment she stood up straight, and taking a page from Naruto's book, allowed a small knowing smile to appear on her face. That seemed to further infuriate the blond. That was good. Anger made you sloppy.
"First blood or fatal blow?" asked Ino impatiently, obviously itching to start the fight and get it over with.
"Fatal blow," replied Sakura. Lucky shots happened and she didn't want to lose due to one.
The blond nodded and fell into the standard Academy fighting stance.
Sakura didn't use an obvious stance, but her arm hung next to her kunai pouch, and she tensed, ready to react to whatever her counterpart tried.
Ino quickly ran forward, trying to shorten the distance between themselves, while at the same time throwing 3 shuriken at the pink-haired girl.
Sakura sidestepped the shuriken, returning fire with a volley her own, more accurately thrown shuriken, which in turn caused Ino to turn sharply to the right from her intended course, lest she be pierced by the small metal stars. They still almost grazed her, causing Sakura to inwardly flinch. She had once been a breath weaker than the Yamanaka. The pink-haired girl wondered how the hell she had been allowed to graduate at all, not to mention at the top of the class.
Sakura was already in movement, having predicted where Ino would go. A kunai was held in her hands and the blond quickly took note as she pulled out one of her own. The blades met with a dull clang and the two stopped for a moment, each pushing against the other. Sakura was mostly holding back, wanting to see how physically strong the other girl was.
She was disappointed.
Ino was far weaker than her, even with her stay in the hospital, which had left her rusty and far from her ideal condition. Ino's aim wasn't the best, she was slow. She had her family jutsu, but only the basics, which were practically useless in a one on one confrontation.
Ino had absolutely no chance of winning. Sakura knew it. But based on the somewhat mocking expression on the blond's face, Sakura guessed Ino had no clue.
Sakura's temper spiked again and she decided that this had been a bad idea. There was no point, really in fighting, since she had known that she would win. Asuma-sensei would be disappointed in her. Naruto and Sasuke would probably be too. She hoped that they might have been pleased that she had done it partially on their behalf, but they would still probably be disappointed.
And, in the end, she didn't want to completely humiliate the girl. They had been friends once after all, and they could probably still be friends again. What she did want was to show her a very small glimpse of the real world, beyond the safe walls of the city and the very protective education system she had grown up with. It was better for her in the long run. She'd probably even thank her, someday.
The two were still locked in a standstill, Sakura carefully controlling her strength to completely counter the force that the other girl put behind her blade. Suddenly, Sakura applied more strength, causing Ino to lose her balance. Quickly, she ducked down to avoid a panicked high slash from Ino's kunai before sweeping the feet out from under the already unsteady blond. From her crouched position, she shot forward and planted her knee in the other girl's belly while she pressed her kunai to press against her neck softly. And just like that the spar was over.
Ino's face quickly flashed through confusion and amazement, as she was beaten in the span of maybe a second.
"H-How…?" she spluttered, the only world that she could form at the moment.
"Things change Ino, the world is a harsh place. You would do well to learn that, preferablly sooner than later. I don't want to go to your funereal." Sakura said as she stood, her face completely serious as she tugged at her blouse subconsciously, accidently revealing part of her scar. Ino saw it and quietly gasp and the fresh mark.
Sakura turned to leave and took a couple of steps. Then she stopped and turned to Ino with a bright smile.
"Oh, and by the way Ino, Sasuke really hates it when someone uses honorifics to address him. Naruto told me that one. He does it sometimes, just to annoy him."
With that the pink-haired girl turned and left Ino with her thoughts.
Sometime later, Shikamaru and Chouji came across Ino, who was still lying on her back, trying to figure out what had happened to her childhood friend in such little time.
XXXXX
Ten minutes after her spar found Sakura by herself in the village again. One thought, dominating her current thoughts as she pondered on it.
'I just beat the girl that has been my rival for as long as I can remember.
"Now what…?"
Author's notes:
New chapter up.
If someone is interested talking plot, preferably someone who can make me look dumb, I'd appreciate it. I have a somewhat clear idea where this is going, but I'd prefer to not leave any obvious plot holes open because I didn't pay attention.
As per usual, many thanks to IncludeYourBanana.
-IncludeYourBanana- He is most welcome :D
Cheers,
Simon