A/N: Welcome to my story. From this point on, most of my author's notes are on my profile. Enjoy!
A blade is masked by a sheath,
the stars hide at first dawn.
A butterfly is born from a caterpillar,
and fire explodes from a bomb.
Sometimes…
Something different is hidden inside.
Genin Exams
"Why, you," Iruka-sensei growled, glaring at his most obnoxious student. Uzumaki Naruto cackled wildly.
He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and pinned a sharp look on Naruto. "Maybe Sakura can show you how to do a proper transformation," he ground out through clenched teeth. At his words, a small girl with dirty pink hair walked to the front. She transformed into the sensei without a word.
"That is how you transform!" the teacher exclaimed in exasperation to Naruto.
The girl named Haruno Sakura shared a shy smile with Hyūga Hinata and walked silently back to her seat.
A day later, Sakura walked into the Academy examination room and bowed to the proctors.
"You did well on the written part. The last part of the exam requires you to make two clones." The chūnin who was sitting next to Iruka-sensei smiled at her. Sakura stared at them, surprised.
They didn't look like they were joking, so Sakura formed the seals for the clone jutsu. She steeled herself against the horrible drain of chakra and the rush of lightheadedness and nausea. Once that was over, two perfect clones stood next to her.
"Congratulations Sakura, you've graduated." Iruka grinned at her, holding out the blue Konoha headband.
"Thank you, sensei," she replied quietly. She bowed and took the blue hitai-ate he handed to her.
Sakura walked out of the classroom and crossed the academy grounds over to her uncle, who was waiting near the other parents. She stopped in front of him and bowed again.
"Sakura," Uncle Shin said coldly. "It seems that idiot Iruka thinks you can act like a true shinobi instead of just a brat playing ninja. I will decide for myself."
Sakura cleared her face of any emotion as her uncle turned and strode back towards the Haruno training yard.
When they reached their home, Uncle Shin's test was as brutal as Sakura had expected. Each time she blocked one of his hits two more were behind it, twice as fast and twice as unyielding. For hours, he tested her physical strength, jutsu, and reflexes.
"Weak," he sneered at her collapsed form long after the moon had risen. "You aren't worthy of the title of shinobi, nor of that headband you earned." He turned his back on Sakura and walked towards the Haruno house. Sakura gritted her teeth.
"Uncle, wait, I-"
Shin turned back to stare at her small body trembling, trying to stand in a defensive position. He smirked and picked up a handful of rocks.
He started tossing them, one at a time, at the pink-haired brat. She dodged the first few and Shin began to throw them with more force. The few hits she had landed on him during their spar made his throw less accurate, but regardless he could finish this.
One small stone hit the brat's shoulder; she flinched and fell to her knees again. Shin used another to knock the new hitai-ate off her head with a crack. Perhaps that would make her finally understand.
She fell backward and lay there, motionless except for the rise and fall of her chest. Shin sighed and walked toward her. "Sakura, all your enemy needs is a handful of rocks." He shook his head. "You're pitiful. A failure doesn't deserve to wear the leaf of Konoha, and you're only going to end up dead."
Shin used his foot to grind her headband into the ground, then he laughed bitterly. "At least you'll know that you're weak and useless before you go get yourself killed on a mission you weren't ready for, like your parents. My brother," he spat.
Shin turned his back on her and left.
Sakura reached for the hitai-ate now half-buried in the yard, but it was still too far away.
She leaned back on the ground and closed her eyes. She was too exhausted to cry, but tears still ran down her cheeks, mixing with the dirt and blood and leaving behind trails of mud on her face.
She expected this, but it hurt anyway.