"It isn't necessary for you guys to go back to the Academy." Kakashi stated as we got seated. And by we, I mean Sasuke and I. "The three of you should resign as Shinobi."
A shrill "QUIT AS NINJA!" echoed from Naruto, who was tied to the middle post in the clearing. "Why do we have to quit?"
"Not one of you truly deserves to be a ninja."
Sasuke bolted toward Kakashi and was promptly thrown to the ground, face down in the dirt within seconds. Kakashi twisted one of his arms behind his back to keep him immobilized, sitting on top of him. He placed his foot on the back of Sasuke's head, further humiliating the boy.
What did you expect to happen, Sasuke?
"Are all of you underestimating ninjas?" Kakashi said darkly as he glanced down at Sasuke, who was gritting his teeth in frustration. "Why do you think that you were divided into teams? Why are you doing this training?"
"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned, his hands tightening into fists.
"On the battlefield, squads that do not know how to coordinate their work or recognize the value of looking out for each other will most likely be the first ones to die." As I recited a variation of the words I had spoken to them in class yesterday, Naruto and Sasuke looked at me with wide eyes, realization surfacing on their faces.
"We're doing this training to give you a better sense of our teamwork, right Sensei?" I asked Kakashi, looking off to the side. Despite my love of knowing the answers to things, I hated being in the center of attention, quite opposite to Sakura.
But Kakashi doesn't know that.
"Yes, the answer is teamwork. With your teammates, you might have been able to take me down and collect the bells."
"There are only two bells. One of us would still fail." Sasuke seethed from underneath Kakashi, the point going right over his head.
"It was never about the bells." I said quietly.
"This test was deliberately devised to cause you to fight amongst yourselves." Kakashi replied, leaning in to put extra weight into his foot and thus on Sasuke's head. The boy beneath him winced involuntarily. "The purpose is to test whether you can put aside your own interests and focus on the team's – what's best for the village."
The attention he shifted to Naruto caused him to stiffen in his restraints.
"Naruto! You just did everything on your own." A rare, quiet pause ensued as Naruto was left without words to protest. Guiltily, he looked down.
"Sasuke, you assumed the others would get in your way and tried to do everything yourself. The only motive you had for cutting Naruto down was that you laid the trap that he fell into in the first place." The boy's cheek was rubbed into the dirt as Kakashi's shoe twisted down into his head.
Did he hear us? Of course, he did... I twisted my lips. I always hated people dropping eaves on my conversations. What did you expect, Sakura? I thought mockingly to myself, just as I had towards Sasuke earlier.
Kakashi turned back to us just as Naruto seemed to be contemplating saying something about the aforementioned traps, his mouth already opened in protest. Kakashi looked me in the eye, and while my mind slouched into myself, I did not flee from the unspoken challenge. I withstood the urge to shy away from him, rather I maintained eye contact.
"You might have been the only one in your group to grasp the true concept of this test. But the team may as well fail lethally next to such a martyr, Sakura."
I averted my gaze at that and held my tongue as my pride burned, finding a crow that was resting on a tree branch at the edge of the forest so much more appealing than Kakashi's patronizing face.
It is not martyrdom that causes death, but your words put a closer focus on my motives than I expected them to, Kakashi.
"The superior individual is critical to a ninja as well as teamwork. Individual play disrupting the team makes you vulnerable to putting your comrades at risk and even your life. For example..." Taking out a kunai from his back pouch, Kakashi brought the gleaming tip to Sasuke's neck, pressing in just enough to cause the boy to still.
Here we go.
"Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies." Kakashi commanded, tone leaving no room for arguments.
"What?!" Naruto cried out as I shook my head.
"You see?" Kakashi said after pulling the kunai away and getting up off the lone Uchiha. "The chances of you and your teammates dying at the enemy's hands is much greater if a hostage is taken. You will be at high risk." A somber expression played across Sasuke's face as he pushed himself up from the ground and slowly wiped the dirt from his cheek.
Despite his intense gaze, Kakashi's face softened before he turned his back to us and walked to the memorial.
"Inscribed on this stone are the names of ninjas who are revered as heroes in this village."
"I want my name carved on that stone too. I want to be a hero!" Naruto grinned, having missed our teacher's sadness. Sasuke turned his back to the memorial and crossed his arms.
"They are not like ordinary heroes." Kakashi replied evenly.
"Well, what kind of heroes are they then?" Naruto asked.
"They were all killed in the line of duty." Sasuke said. Naruto froze and the smile slowly slipped from his face.
Kakashi touched the memorial, fingers brushing lightly over an inscription "My best friend's name is also carved here..." As we all fell silent, my heart broke for him, too.
I bit the inside of my cheek and looked back up at the crow, feeling the first signs of tears welling up in my eyes. Then, as if robotically, the bird tilted its head in my direction, returning my attention. I mimicked it, gazing at it curiously. A sigh came from Kakashi.
"I'll give you one final chance. But I'm going to make it even harder to get the bells. Those who still want to compete may eat lunch, but don't give Naruto any."
Naruto whined. I ripped my gaze from the crow and glanced at the bento lunches laying on the ground.
"It's punishment for trying to eat on your own. If anyone gives him food, you'll fail immediately. Got it? I make the rules here." His visible eye narrowed and his hands fell to his hips before he flickered away.
"Haha! No food for me. I'm fine." Naruto insisted just as his stomach began to growl. Sasuke sat down and opened up one of the bento boxes, so I reached for mine and leaned back against my pole to follow suit. While waiting patiently for Sasuke's heart to soften enough to offer Naruto his lunch, just as the story had gone, Naruto's stomach rumbled ferociously again.
"Here." Sasuke began, extending his arm out towards Naruto with the bento box in hand. "I don't sense him near us. We're going to get the bells after lunch. Without food, Naruto will just be in the way and that's going to hurt us." He concluded, explaining the logic behind his decision to be so generous towards the knucklehead ninja of his team.
I smiled and reached up, offering Naruto my own lunch. "That's right, Sasuke." Naruto smiled back at me.
"Thanks, guys..."
The once clear sky shifted into a rolling thunderstorm as Kakashi appeared through a puff of smoke that exploded. He towered over us, hands clasped on his hips just as he had before he flickered off.
"You guys...!" The tone of his voice began cold and harsh, but ended with the sweetest little laugh that most certainly could pass as psychotic. "Pass!"
One day he has GOT to teach me how to make an entrance like that.
Freaked out by Kakashi's immediate change of heart, Naruto asked in the smallest of voices, "But why?"
Our collective guards lowered as he spoke. "You guys are the first to take responsibility for each other and question my orders. Everyone else just did what I told them- they were all morons."
"A ninja is one who sees the invisible beneath the surface. Those who violate the rules and codes of the ninja world are referred to as trash... However, those who abandon their comrades, are lower than trash." In quoting Obito, he turned away from us.
Passing us is a very risky move for him personally, emotionally. He's truly lost everyone who he held dear to him growing up- Guy-sensei aside. Kakashi...
Kakashi didn't hold back on the last Uchiha living in the village, nor the son of his former sensei in his criticism- yet still, he passed them both. I stepped up next to him and reached for the end of his sleeve, grabbing it gently. I looked up to him and could see his sorrow fading into surprise as he gazed back down at me. The brief encounter seemed to pull him out of whatever flashbacks he was experiencing.
"Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will begin its official duties as ninjas of the Hidden Leaf. Why don't you guys grab lunch while I turn in some reports to the Hokage's office, then come back here for the team photo?" The original timeline had left Naruto tied to his post, and I couldn't recall the group photo taking place then. But, I suppose it made sense. I tried not to fret too much on it, instead I pushed myself up and brushed the dirt from my clothes.
Naruto looked up to me as I moved behind him and undid the knots in the rope, a bright smile on my face. "We should all go to Ichiraku Ramen. I do owe someone a bowl of thank-you ramen, yanno."
As soon as the ropes came loose enough, Naruto pushed them off his body. "I live for free ramen!"
Satisfied with Naruto's quick work of escaping, I turned to the Uchiha boy.
When I found Sasuke's attention, I curled my lips into a small pout at him, showing him the most pleading expression I could muster. Sasuke hesitated in response to my unspoken plea, observing my features with avid curiosity. I watched his eyes flicker from both of my eyes, down to my lips, and back up.
"Tch." He eventually scoffed, his gaze tearing away from my own as he turned to leave us. Kakashi gripped his shoulder to keep him facing us and spoke with a much too cheerful tone, his eye creasing.
"Why, what an excellent idea, Sakura! Why don't you three go on ahead, let's meet back here in, oh, how about an hour?" He pushed Sasuke forward towards us.
"Sounds like a plan, Sensei! See you later." I replied, matching his tone as I took the opportunity to link my arms with both boys. I turned us around towards the path leading out of the training grounds and caught sight of the crow flying off from its branch and away from the clearing. While Naruto and Sasuke were preoccupied with each other, quarreling about Sasuke's snare traps, I continued watching until it disappeared from sight.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered, breaking his chopsticks apart. "Thanks for the food!"
As he inhaled down his ramen noodles, I watched him with curious disgust, my face scrunching when he brought the bowl up to gulp the broth down loudly.
"Uh... Naruto, isn't it still a bit too hot for all that?" I laughed nervously, looking down at my own bowl of ramen, steam rolling up into my face.
"Aaah!" The boy exhaled steam, expressing his delight in the deliciousness of the flavors after he gulped down the last mouthful. Even Sasuke looked revolted by the speed of which Naruto consumed his food.
"It tastes best fresh from the pot, Sakura-chan!" Naruto defended himself with a serious tone, holding a hand up as the Ichiraku stand owner's daughter passed in front of us. She understood his motion immediately and promptly whipped another bowl out on the countertop. My heart skipped a beat at the impersonal nickname and I took a long pause to stare down at my reflection in the broth. I used my chopsticks to stir the contents of the bowl, breaking the reflection, grinning weakly over at Naruto.
"I'll take your word for it, but I'm afraid I might not taste anything for months if I try to follow your lead." I joked, bringing up some ramen noodles to my mouth so I could cool them down with light blows.
"Why did you owe Naruto a thank-you bowl?" Sasuke piped up, pushing his empty bowl forward and shaking his head when a fresh bowl was placed in front of him. The empty and fresh bowl were pulled from the counter to be taken to the back of the shop. Naruto stopped the daughter to gently take the fresh bowl from her hand and replace it with his own empty bowl. I looked off to the side a bit sheepishly, still feeling like a fraud.
He finished his bowl almost as fast as Naruto...
"None-ya, Sasuke!" Naruto broke away from his noodles long enough to stick a tongue out at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes at the childish behavior directed towards him.
"He helped me return something that I borrowed and nearly got in trouble for my sake, so... I wanted to show my gratitude for the risk and assistance." I answered his curiosity, offering up a small, albeit fake smile. I looked back down at my noodles and began chowing down at that, not feeling talkative anymore. It took a few moments before I could see in the corner of my vision that Sasuke had turned away from me. The only sounds to be heard were the loud slurps from Naruto as he inhaled his third bowl and quiet chewing of noodles from me.
I'm not Sakura-chan.
Following lunch, we spent some time at the training grounds learning about each other's strengths and weaknesses. Naruto and I had our forms tweaked by Sasuke a bit- more so my own than Naruto's. He had asked Naruto about his shadow clones, how he was so successful at producing so many, though Naruto wasn't able to provide a good explanation for it.
"You're both chakra powerhouses if you haven't noticed." I had complimented, which seemed to make the both of them puff up a bit in pride.
Surprisingly, Kakashi showed up at the agreed time with the photographer in tow. It made me realize that it was because we were at the memorial. Where else would he spend his time at? As the photographer set up his equipment, I scanned the clearing for any sign of the crow I had seen earlier. I almost mistook a regular blackbird for it, feeling disappointed when I realized it was too small to be it.
We all came together to group up for the photo at the photographer's prompting, aside from Sasuke. Kakashi herded us over to Sasuke, placing his hand on the boys' heads and motioning for me to take the front middle. I squatted down a bit, keeping the original Team 7's group photo in mind. I didn't feel too confident in my ability to look as cheerful as Sakura had, struggling to keep a real smile on my lips.
"Aww, you guys can do better than that!" The photographer challenged. I looked up and to both sides, seeing that the boys looked as cheerful as they had in the original photo. I rolled my eyes, an idea popping into my head.
"Kakashi-sensei, if we all take a good team photo, will you teach us how to walk up trees with our chakra? I saw some Chunin doing it the other day." I pouted up at sensei, who looked down at me with understanding in his eyes.
"I think that can be arranged." Kakashi replied smoothly, his eye also flickering from Naruto to Sasuke, who both perked up at learning something new. I reached out and looped my arms with the boys just as I had earlier today, a genuine smile creeping up on my face at the excitement they showed.
The photographer snapped the photo a brief moment later, letting us know that he would have 4 copies of it ready for pickup the next morning. Kakashi let him know that the Hokage's office would have the payment submitted to his name by then.
I discreetly motioned for Kakashi to stay behind a moment as Naruto and Sasuke began to walk off.
"What is it, Sakura?" Kakashi asked when they got out of hearing range, pulling out and opening up his book, his eyes flittering over the pages. I assumed to find and pick up where he had left off at.
"Can I keep one of the bells?"
Kakashi visibly paused, his attention pulled back away from his book. He looked at me with an unreadable expression.
"I'm curious, why do you want to keep one?" He asked, glancing back down as he flipped a page over.
"As a memento."
That evening Sakura's parents and I ate dinner together before they went out on missions. My idea of disaster control was to blow off any strange behavior or forgetfulness as just being fatigued after my first long day as a ninja. It made me wonder why Sakura hadn't spent quality time with her parents, since they bought the excuse so cheaply.
It's not like I spent much time with my own parents. I can't judge.
I washed off the sweat from the day and began snooping in my new room. Being the kind of girl she was, surely Sakura kept a daily journal. All of the boxes in her closet and under the bed were checked, as well as the books on her desk. After examining the underside and interior of the desk for false bottoms or tape, I pulled the wardrobe-desk combo out a bit from the wall to look behind it. I ran a search for loose floor tiles, inside of light fixtures, and then in the vents. I even went so far as to check Sakura's laundry basket in the bathroom and found something.
My pajamas.
MINE.
I remember I tossed them in the floor my first morning here, which led me to believe Sakura's mother went into her room and bathroom often.
I wonder...
Digging through the pockets of the pajama pants, I discovered something pleasantly surprising. It was the silver heart-shaped necklace that my boyfriend had gotten me with 'Truth & Love' engraved on the back. It had been around my neck for years. There was only one long period of time that I had taken it off. Even then only for a couple of days, until I got a replacement chain.
"My necklace... It's been so crazy, I didn't even notice it was gone." I whispered aloud to myself.
With a deep sigh, I sank back onto the bed and closed my eyes, slowly stroking my thumb over the engravements on the necklace. My body felt sluggish and the emotions rising from finding a connection to my home caused a painful lump to swell in my throat. I swallowed it down hard.
If I were Sakura Haruno...
I cracked my lids open when a fresh gust of air flowed in from the open balcony. The gentle wind played with the leaves of the potted plant, causing them to bob up and down. My muscles relaxed and I started to relive the past two days in my mind, vision blurring and eyes glazed over as I disassociated into the memories.
"Sakura, isn't it time for you to get going?"
Hands clasped together in admiration of her daughter, no, me, dressed in ninja gear.
The Konoha headband on my head.
"You need to flick your wrist more, like this..."
Sasuke following behind me.
The lunch we shared.
"I can get you in, no problem!"
Hands on our knees, huffing for air.
The teacher's guide.
"That time... I was crying."
Squeezing his shoulder.
The bells.
"My best friend's name is also carved here..."
Holding onto his sleeve.
The crow.
A leaf fell from the plant and twirled down until it rested on my forehead. My gaze focused back in on the plant in question.
"The potted plant." I said aloud with wonder to myself, scrambling up onto my knees in the bed and carefully pulling the plant down from the hook it hung from. As I pulled up on it to expose its roots, I apologized mentally to the plant and was amazed to discover a scroll underneath. The scroll looked old and was encrusted with dirt. There were dirty water stains all over it and I visibly cringed at the dampness of it when I picked it up.
Such a clever girl.
As I rolled the scroll out, I ignored the pieces of dirt and mud that now adorned the floor. I stared down at my thumb and contemplated if I could bite it like I had seen in the show time and time again.
Is it even necessary to shed blood for non-summoning scrolls?
Shrugging my shoulders, I placed my hand onto the center of the symbol drawn into the scroll, pushing chakra it into it. A small puff of smoke raised from it and when it cleared there were multiple stacks of books. I picked up the top book from the outer left stack and examined its covers and spine. It had a shakily written '7 - 1' on the spine, blank covers. The book was dark red.
I spent the rest of my night reading over Sakura Haruno's personal and intimate journal, written in the perspective of her as a 7 year old.
A/N: Yooo, I'm so sorry for the delay. Adult life has been kicking my ass and I went through a miserable period of writer's block when I did have the time to sit down and focus on the story. Have no fear, I'm aiming to have another chapter released later today or tomorrow. I've got most of it written up and reviewed. I just haven't decided if I want some scenes to happen now or later in the story. ;)
I think someone had questioned if the story would move away from canon soon, or that they hoped it would. It will as Ms. Imposter breaks up the original timeline more.
Thank you for all of the favorites, follows and reviews. The notification always makes my heart happy!
- Vee