A/n: This chapter is also called "Part 3: Assimilation", but my friends, after reading the chapter, said this title sounded better.
So, I think I need to say that this Finale is split in two chapters because it would be too long otherwise. This is Part One of the final part of the "Humble Beginnings Arc". It is also the first chapter to introduce the new arc, which is called the "Gathering Divisions Arc". In the new arc, more and more people will come into play as secrets are revealed and power displayed.
Enough of this crap, on with the show!
Chapter 7: Foundation of the Divisions, Finale! Shadow of Sakura! (Part 1 of 2)
Naruto was peacefully snoozing in his bed, dreaming of scantily clad girls serving his every need as he lounged in a pool.
"WAKE UP YOU DUMBASS BLOND!"
"What the—YOWH!" Naruto cried out as two tiny feet slammed into his back.
Konohamaru… ugh, Naruto could only wish it was a nightmare.
The boy had joined in on the Divisions because his grandfather thought it would do him some good. His grandfather being their Head-Captain and the Kage of their village had everything to do with it.
"Oi, oi! Konohamaru! Why'd you go and do that? I was having this really nice dream about the hot spring maidens, and—KUH!" Naruto was again kicked, this time in the face by the tiny boy who was dressed in black robes with a small wooden toy dagger in his white sash.
"I don't care about your pervert dreams, blondie! We've been knocking on your door and calling your name for the past ten minutes! The hell is wrong with you!" Konohamaru jabbed an accusatory finger in Naruto's face.
"What the—What do you mean we? Who else is here?" Naruto said nasally as he had to hold his bleeding nose shut.
Just then, Iruka came into view with a sigh and the shake of his head.
"I told Konohamaru to take it easy when waking you up…" Iruka slammed his fist down onto Konoahamaru's noggin, making the boy roll around on the floor while clutching the top of his head. "Seems none of you brats will make my life any easier…"
"Hey there, Iruka-sensei! What can I do for you?" Naruto asked, hiding his nose and lower half of his face behind a small paper fan. He still couldn't hide the nasally sound of his voice, however, as his nose was still being pinched shut.
"I came to give you more chakra control exercises to practice in your training… the Third Hokage himself has seen fit for these to go to you. You should feel lucky he's taken such an interest in your training." Iruka said, placing a few scrolls down on Naruto's nightstand.
Naruto's eyes lost the mischievous glint that had been sparkling in them before.
"Well now… that sounds like a lot of hard work ahead of me… What to do… What to do…" Naruto fanned himself lightly. "If one takes life too seriously, they can become an Uchiha, or Kuchiki… However, the same trap exists if one takes life too casually, as they can become a Nara or Kyoraku. Hmm, what to do…"
Iruka stared at Naruto for a while before rolling his eyes. "Regardless of your philosophical opinion, you will be studying these exercises. The Third Hokage has placed a lot of faith in you. Take your exams seriously, as they are now only half a year away."
Naruto gave a jovial laugh as he fanned himself. "In that case, I'm sure I can scrape together a passing grade! However, if I should fail in some spectacular fashion, then please refrain from beating me! After all, I'm only a poor and humble ramen-loving candy shop owner! Aha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Ugh! Shut up!" Konohamaru jumped up and kicked Naruto in the face again, tearing apart the paper fan in the process. "Your voice is so annoying!"
"Wait, Konohamaru! Stop! Ow! Not there, not there!" Naruto cried in horror as Iruka watched the blond be pummeled by an eight-year-old.
After it was over, Iruka decided to finally speak up. "Now Konohamaru, why would go and beat up on your senior like that?"
Konohamaru, breathing harshly, crossed his arms in defiance. "I didn't like the way his face looked, Iruka-sensei. So, I rearranged it for him."
"Hmm," Iruka hummed in thought before walking away. "Very well. You two have fun with your little comic book games. I have to attend a meeting for all teachers at the Academy. I'll meet you two for ramen later in the evening."
With that, he waved a dismissive hand over his back and began exiting the apartment.
"Ramen!" the two boys cried happily behind him. Naruto was up again, this time without a single injury on him. Iruka knew Naruto would be fine playing with Konohamaru.
"Konohamaru, wait! No, not the face!"
But from the wails of pain behind him a moment later, he doubted if Naruto could fake injury well enough to keep Konohamaru from seriously hurting something this time.
He sighed. Boys would be boys…
"AH-HA! FINALLY CAUGHT YOU ALL RED-HANDED!" a voice cut through the scene like a hot knife in butter.
When all eyes turned to the intruder, they pinned their unexpected guest with the weight of their presence.
What made this even more significant was the fact that this trespasser was, in fact, Sakura Haruno.
"Oh my…" Hinata gasped, covering her mouth delicately.
"What the hell…?" Kiba asked in equal parts shock and surprise.
"Haruno…" Shikamaru grumbled while scratching his head in confusion. Choji tilted his head, pausing only for a moment in eating his powdered donuts.
Sasuke and Ino said nothing as they merely glared at Sakura, then each other while gritting their teeth in annoyance.
Finally, Naruto locked eyes with Sakura, and she collapsed to her knees.
"What the…? What is this heavy feeling? I can't breathe… I can't move… All I feel is his stare on me… It's crushing me… It feels like I'm drowning in iron… And all he's doing is lookingatme… This was a bad idea… I feel like I'm going to die—!"
Before she could think any further, a veil of white cloth covered her vision, and she found herself able to gulp up air into her lungs. She could breath. She could think.
"Get a'hold of yourself there, Forehead…" Ino said, but without her usual edge toward the pink-haired girl. She was kneeling in front her former best-friend, shielding her from the gaze of Naruto and the others. Ino gave a small sad smile as she smoothed down Sakura's hair and comforted the girl. "You're making women everywhere look bad if you can't handle even this small amount of spiritual power."
"Sakura Haruno… this is a very grave transgression you have committed…" Naruto spoke, and Sakura didn't even recognize his voice. It was gruff and old, like a veteran elder. "Tell me, how do you plea?"
Just earlier the same day, if you had asked Sakura about willingly stepping foot in Naruto's apartment, she would have laughed in your face before insulting your intelligence.
Naruto was the lamest kid in their entire school. Her parents always told her to stay away from him because he was raised without parents and possessed no manners to speak of. When she began attending the academy, she witnessed Naruto's punk attitude and hooligan nature firsthand. He was rude, crude, and lewd. More so than any boy their age should be. He was loud in the academy, he used bad words when he was in a mood, and he ate like a wild animal. His clothes were shabby and his overt casualness with everyone around him chaffed her polite upbringing. The blond boy ran around like he owned the place, and talked a big game without ever having anything to show for it.
It was maddening! Sakura simply didn't understand it. How could the blond be so prideful, and yet so stupid?
And to make matters worse, Ino was obviously hanging out with the moron!
"Oh, come on, Ino." Sakura groaned, her expression pained as Ino sat coolly atop a desk. "I know you've been getting friendly with those losers. How can you sit there, and be so nonchalant about it?"
"Hmm," Ino hummed as she went through a magazine on civilian fashions. "What I don't get is how ladies can wear such big hats without feeling silly… All those fake flowers and frills on them, too. It's just ridiculous. And these strange dresses with so many layers of fabric… Ugh, it makes my stomach turn just looking."
Ino tossed the magazine over her shoulder, hitting Kiba atop the head.
When Ino glanced over at Sakura, she saw an expression on the pinkette's face like a cat ate the canary.
"You know, Ino, if I didn't know any better…" Sakura sang while tapping her chin cutely, "Well, I'd say you actually like hanging out with those hooligans."
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't… Who's to say really?" Ino stretched her legs out in front of her.
"So…?" Sakura asked coyly, looking up at Ino as she sat at her desk unlike her friend who had her butt atop her own. "Which of them is it?"
"What?" Ino narrowed her eyes.
"You know!" Sakura cackled like a witch, her left hand cutely in front her mouth while her right waved at Ino. "What boy is it, hmm?"
"I think you've gone insane." Ino sneered, crossing her arms tightly.
"Choji is the nicest," Sakura started, her smile sickly sweet. "He may be a little pudgy, but he's kind-hearted and polite. Though if you two went on a date, he'd probably eat enough for both of you thanks to his clan's ninjutsu…"
Ino raised an eyebrow, surprised that Sakura knew anything at all about a clan's techniques. Then again, the Akimichi clan wasn't much for secrets in their ninjutsu as only someone with Akimichi genes could stomach eating five times their weight in fatty foods to build the stored energy for size adjustment.
"Kiba is just… ugh, I can't even…" Sakura pulled a face. "He's almost as bad as Naruto. In fact, he's worse! He had to be taught manners and proper etiquette, and still acts like a street mutt with no home training."
"Hey!" Kiba shouted, hearing the conversation.
"Shut up, Kiba!" Ino and Sakura snapped in unison. Kiba ducked his head in the Deathberry manga volume he was reading.
Sakura rolled her eyes in disgust before turning back to Ino. "Like I was saying, Kiba is too rough and stupid to be the one. Then there is Shikamaru. A guy as lazy and unenthused if ever there was one. A date with him would be cloud watching, or some other such nonsense."
"Shika and Cho are like brothers to me… and Kiba is more of a dumb cousin than anything." Ino said, flicking dirt from under her fingernails.
"Then its… Eww!" Sakura jumped up from her seat, and Ino glared at her. "Eww, eww, eww! Ino! How could you?"
"How could I what, Forehead?" Ino asked behind gritted teeth.
"Naruto? Of all people? Him?"
A head of sun-kissed hair poked up from behind the two girls. Three kunai embedded themselves in the hardwood beside the blond head of hair.
The blond head of hair slowly ducked back down from whence it came…
"You seem to be making a thing out of the boys I train alongside." Ino said, now drumming her fingers on the desk. "I hang out with girls, too, ya know. I train with Hinata. I'm on good terms with Tenten from the year ahead of us. I grab lunch and stuff with them. I even said something nice to Ami last week."
"Now that is surprising." Sakura replied, blinking twice. Ino was never nice to Ami. It must have thrown the poor girl for a loop. "But still, Ino! Naruto?"
"I'm not dating him, if that's what you've been getting at this whole time." Ino rolled her eyes. "We train, we talk, we eat. He sometimes buys me things when I make him. Naruto is basically a wallet with legs for me."
"I don't believe that." Sakura deadpanned.
Ino smirked. "Good, because I've been trying my best to be nicer, and not see people as walking wallets is a great start to that."
"I mean, I get that Naruto has improved a bit over the last few years, but he's still so… Naruto!" Sakura emphasized with a gag.
"Tell me something, Sakura." Ino began, leaning forward to be in Sakura's personal space. "Is this a real inquiry because you feel some genuine concern for my wellbeing, or something? Or is this because your popularity might take a hit if your one-sided rivalry isn't there anymore?"
Sakura's eye twitched and her fists clenched tightly. "Are you trying to say you're better than me?"
Ino continued on a bit louder, ignoring Sakura's interruption, "Or maybe you're just displaying your usual childish pent-up aggressions? Well, Sakura-chan, which is it?"
"OOOhhh! Ino-pig, you make me so mad!" Sakura screeched, a vein visibly throbbing in her forehead. "But it doesn't even matter! I know without a doubt it is Naruto! I know it because I saw it!"
"What?" Ino blinked in total confusion.
Three heads popped up this time. Seven shuriken lodged quickly into the wood over the heads.
The three heads quickly disappeared.
"I caught you red-handed, Ino-chan!" Sakura sang smugly as Ino turned back to her. "I saw you and Naruto walking through the abandoned block in the village. You two were talking and laughing with each other. It was almost like the two of you were on some kind of—"
"Sasuke." Ino sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose.
The name-drop alone gave Ino exactly what she wanted out of the pink-haired girl. Sakura sat up, ramrod straight in her seat. Her jade green eyes lit up and landed directly on Ino with undivided attention.
Honestly, it was crazy. Sakura's obsession with Sasuke was like a bad idea with deep roots in the girl's brain.
Though Ino knew she really couldn't say much… seeing as she started the green-eyed girl out on that particular path…
"Huh? What?" Sakura's cheeks went flush, and her voice receded to a timid squeak. "What about my Sasuke-kun?"
"Your Sasuke-kun?" a voice in the front of the classroom called out.
"NOT NOW!" Sakura bellowed like a furious lioness.
"…I'll just be over here…"
Sakura turned back to Ino, who rolled her eyes at the pink-haired girl.
"Naruto and I were just as you said. We were walking together, talking about Volume 31 of the Deathberry manga and laughing. But, the reason the two of us were together is because he was showing me a shortcut to the Uchiha district where we were to meet Sasuke in order to hang out." Ino shrugged while Sakura's blush intensified and several girls in the class were watching her with obvious envy in their eyes. "So, there you go. You caught me. I was going to hang out with Sasuke Uchiha at his house."
Then Ino narrowed her eyes at Sakura and crossed her arms as well as her legs in a very womanish fashion. "But then again, none of that is really any of your business. Now is it?"
"I… You… But he…" Sakura sputtered while looking around. Sasuke had already disappeared from the classroom. He never stuck around long unless Naruto, Kiba, or Shikamaru asked him. "No one hangs out with Sasuke! Especially not at his house! H-He's Sasuke! The last Uchiha! The forlorn prince of Konoha!"
"Geez are you living in a fantasy world…" Ino shook her head sadly. "He's just a guy like all the others we go to school with. True, he's more skilled and certainly more focused than most of the others, but he's still a person."
Even Ino had to blink after her own words. A few years ago, no one in their right mind could have rationalized something like that to her. Sasuke was the closest thing to prince she had ever thought possible. He had seemed so perfect and untouchable.
But now… Now she knew who he really was… How he had become so cool and aloof…
She didn't wish that process on the village's worst enemies…
"But… But… He's still Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, seeming to be at the end of her rope.
"Yeah, he is." Ino agreed easily enough. "He has a nice house and makes my mother envious of how tidy he keeps the place."
"Even your parents have been there?!" Sakura looked ready to faint. In her mind, Ino was practically married to Sasuke with all this new knowledge of how close they were. She knew that Sasuke acknowledged Ino and the others in the nonsense Divisions gang at school, but she would have never believed in her wildest dreams that he hung out with them outside of it.
"But no… That's wrong…" Sakura thought to herself as she sank further and further into her shock. "They were up at the Hokage Monument that one time… and they disappear after classes… How could I have never connected this before? When did they get so friendly? How could I have let my beloved Sasuke-kun slip through my fingers without even a fight…?"
Sakura let her head hit the desk. It was over. Her life was over. Sasuke was beyond her now.
There was no hope.
"I'm not trying to brag," Ino sighed as she jumped off the desk and stretched lightly. "We train using his family's practice grounds, and sometimes he likes to show us new things he's come up with, or something he's been practicing from his family's scrolls. Sasuke is actually pretty approachable, Sakura… Well, once you get past that enormous stick up his ass…"
"I didn't realize I was spoken of in such disrespect behind my back by one such as you," came the sudden drawl of a cool and collected voice behind the pair of young women. Sakura scrambled out of her seat with a yelp. "One would thing you'd have better manners, Yamanaka."
Sasuke Uchiha had appeared behind the two without warning. Sakura's heart was racing, and not because it was the center of her affection. "In the name of Kami…! When and how did he get there!?" Sakura placed a hand over her heart and hoped to collect herself before she embarrassed herself in front of Sasuke.
Ino didn't even look surprised. In fact, she looked bored with Sasuke appearing out of thin air. Almost as if she saw him do it. "Anything I have to say, Uchiha, I can and will do so to your face. I think I've made that pretty clear over these last couple of years."
Sasuke glanced over at Sakura for a split second then returned his full attention to Ino. "Indeed, you have proven yourself one without shame or common decency. Just look at the company you keep…"
Ino narrowed her eyes, but then blinked in confusion. She glanced around the class, and gave a small curse for having missed something. When she returned to glaring at Sasuke, he had just turned away from her and Sakura in the same moment. The girls who were still hanging around the classroom began to whisper and mutter amongst themselves.
"Never the less, your presence is required. The meeting will commence shortly." The last Uchiha said while walking away. "Tardiness is next to poverty, I've been told… So, the question is, should I wait to escort you there in a timely fashion? Or maybe I should just go and report to the others that you'll be running late."
Ino had a smile that was like a razor's edge. "Oh my, look who thinks himself such a big shot. If memory serves me correctly, our last racing score was tied at seven a piece."
Sakura looked between Ino and Sasuke, trying to figure out what they were playing at. A race? Why would they need to race? And what meeting? And with what people? So many questions were buzzing through her head.
Sasuke looked at the blonde girl over his shoulder, onyx-colored eyes narrowing in challenge. "Shall we break the tie with my victory?"
"You're naïve if you think I'll let you win." Ino snorted, but walked up beside the Uchiha. The two were now staring at the open window in front of them.
"Your opinion and charity matter not, Yamanaka." Sasuke retorted coolly. "Only facts remain. I have surpassed you ages ago. Prepare to lose."
"I'll let you call it then, since you'll need the second-long head start." Ino smiled, and Sasuke seethed.
"I will make you eat those words in training later." Sasuke gritted out, but Ino did not flinch.
"That's fine, because you're about to eat a nice helping of my dust, little Uchiha." Ino grinned.
The two flashed away in a blur of purple and blue that disappeared in a sudden gust of displaced air. Sakura was left windswept and gaping at their speed.
"They… They didn't even move from their standing position! What the hell kind chakra-enhanced speed was that?" she thought in absolute shock and awe. "When did Ino become so fast? I hardly saw them disappear, let alone move out the window! I didn't even hear a single footstep, never mind the fact that they're actually running off somewhere!"
"UUGH! But I can't give up!" Sakura shouted to herself out loud, gripping her long pink hair in frustration. "I won't lose to Ino-pig like this! They may be fast, but I can still catch up to them! I'll follow their tracks, and pick up the trial! CHA! Love will conquer anything!"
With her mind made up, Sakura bolted from the classroom as fast as her legs would carry her. Though she hesitated for a second, she leapt out the window and began looking for any sign at all of Ino and Sasuke's quick departure.
She found it without much looking. The tree right outside had a branch snapped unnaturally hard. Climbing up to it, Sakura found a footprint stamped hard as if someone had jumped from the branch.
"Hmm, this is obviously Sasuke's footprint… It's too wide to be Ino, plus Ino has been wearing a different type of shoe for the past few years. This print is a shinobi sandal, not a shoe, so it has to be Sasuke…" Sakura analyzed for a second, "Given the direction of the footprint, and the heft of it, I say they're racing on a direct course to where they're going. And they'll probably want to avoid the streets, if they don't want to slow down in their weird race… So, they must have taken the rooftops! Which means that if I find footprints on the rooftops going in… that direction, I'll be able to tell where they went in the village by narrowing the places I know Ino visits on a regular basis! CHA! Smart girls rule!"
Sakura ran across the street to the nearest building, climbing up the side with almost cat-like ease as she landed nimbly on the roof. There she found two sets of footprints at one end of the roof, and the same set at the opposite edge. "So, this time Ino was hitting the ground hard, too… Which means that their race really picked up as soon as they cleared the Academy. Though Ino's prints are much lighter than the ones left by Sasuke, which means she was lighter on her feet than him. That either means she was going faster, or he's not as skilled in the high-speed movement as Ino apparently… Hmm…"
So deep was she in her investigation that she didn't even realize what she just said could have been taken as a slight against her precious Sasuke.
"None the less, they are still heading in the same direction from the Academy. Which means… they have plenty of buildings until short of the abandoned district where Naruto hangs out! OH! They've gone to hang out with Naruto and their little group! CHA! I'VE CRACKED THE CASE!"
Sakura pumped a fist into the air and gave herself a pat on the back for using her intellect to figure it all out in under ten minutes. She dashed across the rooftops cautiously, being sure to be safe unlike Ino and Sasuke, whose shoe prints were sometimes at the very edges of the roofs. Half the time, it looked almost as if the racing pair propelled themselves forward off the edges where they could have fallen and broken their necks. Sakura couldn't imagine why. There was no race in the world she would need to win that badly to be so neglectful with her safety and life.
Arriving at the last rooftop, Sakura stopped before jumping down and landing in a crouch. This was the abandoned district. Sakura knew her mother would be so mad with her if she found out she had been there for any reason. She was always told to avoid the place unless she wanted to end up dead. Sakura never really understood why her mom told her that, but she recently discovered that Naruto hung around the place, so she figured it was a place for hoodlums and hooligans to have an anarchy type of fun with no rules and zero authority.
The large apartment complex stood out like a sore thumb. All the area around it was in need of repairs, and the building itself didn't look too fresh. Though what threw the pink-haired girl for a loop was the fact that in a corner of the apartment complex's courtyard… a garden of some sort was growing. Being the naturally curious girl that she was, Sakura walked over to the garden, observing the fact that several vegetables and medicinal herbs were growing well in the dilapidated courtyard as if in the Garden of Gods.
"This is… weird…" Sakura said, inspecting an herb used to ease burns and chakra exhaustion. "Who is even growing this stuff? Shinobi can grow these plants in their window ledges, and civilians would need a special permit from the Shinobi Affairs Office to grow their own… I'll have to tell Iruka-sensei I saw this tom—"
Sakura jerked back as she heard a voice shouting from the apartment complex. With all the training her class had been going through the past few months to prepare for their exams and becoming Genin ninja, the Haruno daughter threw herself into the shadows and waited with baited breath in hiding. She cursed herself for letting this be the one day she didn't carry an emergency blade like her mother told her. Oh, how her mother would cry if she discovered her daughter dead at the hands of some street thug, or worst—
"QUIET! ALL OF YOU, DATTEBAYO!"
"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed in a whisper, breathing a sigh of relief. Her shoulders relaxed as she took her hand off a splintered wooden frame. She wouldn't need that emergency wooden shiv lesson that Iruka-sensei had been drilling them on. "I can just ask Naruto if he's seen Ino and Sasuke come through here. Or, I'm right and they'll be up there… somewhere…"
Sakura honestly had no idea where in the entire complex Naruto's voice was even coming from. He sounded pretty high, but the building had about five or six floors. He could be on the third floor, and she wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Not to mention where on either of the floors he was. There had to be at least ten apartments per floor. What if someone actually lived here?
Or worst! What if she went up there and street toughs were hanging out just waiting for a young beautiful maiden like her?
Sakura felt faint on her feet. Suddenly, all her courage and tenacity left her. She felt very small. Like the little girl she was the day before ninja school… before she met Ino… before she met Naruto… before she knew Sasuke even existed…
All of a sudden, her adventure into claiming her true love's heart from Ino's evil clutches seemed stupid and scary. She was in a place she had never been. A place she was told to never go… Her mother's voice and face sprang to mind, tears running down her face.
"You could have been hurt! You could have been killed, Sakura!" her mom would cry.
Then her dad would just stand there, a patient expression on his face before asking if she was positively sure she wanted to continue her path of becoming a ninja. A ninja who was supposed to be brave. To be fearless. To be strong and powerful and serve the village with honor and glory…
"And that's supposed to be me…" Sakura muttered to herself, still hiding in the shadows as she began to hear more voices in the building above her. "That has to be me! I have to be a ninja!"
The voices sounded like they were coming from the top floor.
Sakura screwed her eyes shut tight. "If… If I can't do this! Be in a place inside the village and feel safe, then how should I feel walking down any street or buying fruit in the market? I'm not going to feel like that my whole life just because we live in this dangerous place! We live in a ninja village! I have to be a ninja! Because if I'm not a ninja, then I'm just…! I'm just…! I don't even know what!"
Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran at the stairs. Her heart was racing. She felt like walls were closing in on her. She hated that feeling. It drove her crazy. Her father always said it was the Haruno family survival instinct. That when the tough got going, the Haruno family fought like cornered wild animals. The Haruno family always made it out of a bad spot of trouble.
As she ran from floor to floor, Sakura knew somewhere inside her that he was right. Let the goons and thugs come for her. She'd bite their fingers off. Let a perv try to take her, she'd make sure he never tried it with anyone ever again. Sakura Haruno was not going to live a life in fear.
Because that was no life worth living at all.
Sakura finally stopped in front a door at the very top. Unlike all the doors she ran past, this one did not have paint chipping away from it. In fact, it seemed recently painted. Plus, there was even a small garden of plants growing from the ledge. Sakura didn't care about that though. She jerked at the doorknob, and found it to be unlocked. As she threw the door open, jade green eyes caught sight of several familiar faces that turned immediately toward her intrusion.
"AH-HA!" her voice cut through their scene like a hot knife through butter, "FINALLY CAUGHT YOU ALL RED-HANDED!"
When all eyes actually registered her as a trespasser, Sakura felt the weight of their gazes pinning her in place. All bravo drained from her as some of them looked not only confused by her presence, but angry as well.
Finally, Naruto locked eyes with her, and an unbearable weight crashed down onto her shoulders. The pink-haired girl collapsed to her knees. What was this feeling? She couldn't move. She felt her breath leave her. She couldn't fill her lungs. It was like drowning. No, it was crushing. Suffocating.
Oh Kami-sama, what fresh hell was this? Was this Naruto? Was he sucking the air from her lungs because she had invaded his territory? All he was doing was looking at her. Starring into her eyes with an unnaturally stern expression she had never seen from him before. This was terrible. This was death. She was going to die. She was going to die, and they were all just going to watch—!
Before she could think any further, Ino was in front of her, a white haori coat on just like the one Naruto went parading around the village in. Sakura gasped heavily in that same second, gulping down as much air as her lungs could handle. She could breath. She could think. Thank the gods… Thank the gods!
"Get a'hold of yourself there, Forehead…" Ino's voice was soft and comforting. Sakura didn't care about anything else in the world as she clung to her friend for dear life. She had felt her sanity slip away for a second there, and it had scared her more than anything. Sakura felt Ino's hand move to smooth down her hair in gentle, petting motions. Normally she hated when people touched her hair, but at the moment she could care less. "You're making women everywhere look bad if you can't handle even this small amount of spiritual power."
What…? What did that even mean?
Sakura was still shaking, and she became aware that a cold sheen of sweat was upon her face.
What kind of hell did Naruto put her in by simply staring at her?
Or, had it all been in her imagination? Surely Naruto of all people possessed no demonic power to make a person die or feel like they were dying just by staring at them. If that were the case, he would have killed Sasuke years ago instead of befriending him.
What did it mean, this—this spiritual power? What nonsense was that?
"Sakura Haruno…" a voice that Sakura didn't recognize called out at her. Not to her. But, at her. As if she were in a far-off chamber where she was imprisoned.
Did this spiritual power have some connection to chakra? Or maybe its spiritual component? But it made no sense, what so ever! You couldn't use only one half of chakra! People could die trying that! Even an imbalance of chakra could seriously hurt the individual as told to them by every teacher at the academy!
"This is a very grave transgression you have committed…" the voice continued, and Sakura looked up and past Ino with bleary eyes. The voice belonged to Naruto. It was Naruto speaking. But… the voice was all wrong. Naruto's voice was annoying, loud, and immature. This voice that came from Naruto's mouth… it was old, ancient even. It was gruff and somber, like that of the village elders.
"Tell me," Naruto went on, and Sakura avoided his gaze like the plague, "How do you plea?"
Ino was over to Naruto in an instantly, chopping him over the head with her hand. "Shut the hell up, will ya! Can't you see we scared the poor girl half to death with the way we zeroed in on her! Give her a few minutes of peace, goddammit!"
"Ow, ow, ow!" Naruto whined as Ino continued to lightly beat at him. "Okay, okay! Just stop! What the hell is she doing here anyway, dattebayo?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes into a glare again at the frail appearance of Sakura. She looked like a leaf in the wind. It was disgusting. "That is something I think we can all agree on for once."
Shikamaru's attention was not on Sakura, but instead between Ino and Sasuke. "Didn't you mention Sakura as the reason for being late earlier? Did she by chance follow you here?"
Ino waved a hand dismissively. "Impossible. Sasuke and I raced here using flash-step. There is no way Sakura kept us with us going at that speed."
"Yet highly possible she tracked you two at a much lower speed." Shikamaru sighed while shaking his head. "If you two disappeared from the academy in so flashy an exit with racing each other on your minds, then you weren't concerned at all about concealing your movements."
"I believe…" Sasuke closed his eyes to keep from glaring at the Nara genius, "That you've just accused us of sloppiness."
"Sakura is here in our meeting having a near-death experience." Shikamaru deadpanned with a gesture toward stated pink-haired girl, "I think we are way past the point of accusations."
"But how did she know to find us here?" Kiba asked while scratching his head. Akamaru barked in agreement. "And was that her screaming earlier? Sounded like someone came at her with an axe, or somethin'…"
"Gotta say," Choji chimed in with a good-natured smile, "Sakura sure has a future in the tracking or sensor department if normal ninja work doesn't pan out for her."
"Yes, I agree…" Hinata hesitantly put in, her own smile timid. "It must have taken quite the bit of legwork and deductive reasoning for her to get here. There are Chunin ninja that have trouble tracking us down when they need to find us."
"Don't go giving her too much credit just yet." Ino snorted while casting off her white haori. It landed on a couch that was normally not against a wall. All the furniture had been spaced out for their meeting. "None of us were too concerned with covering our tracks or anything. For all we know she could have followed any one of us here."
"T-Two sets of footprints…" Sakura muttered, talking to herself. "One light and practiced, the other heel-heavy and careless…"
Ino's face fell as she face-palmed herself. "Yup, no… It was me and Sasuke… Goddammit…"
Naruto turned to Sasuke, who looked enraged with his eyes closed. "Heel-heavy and careless, Sasuke? I thought we were working on that?"
"…It will be corrected… Expediently…" Sasuke snarled through barely moving lips.
"Man am I glad I left to get here way before you two…" Kiba laughed, "She could have just followed me. I practically jogged straight here!"
"Am I incorrect in assuming we are forgetting the issue at hand?" Sasuke snapped, his eyes opening to pin Kiba with a frosty glare. "We have an intruder in our midst. In the heart of the Divisions. Is she not to be dealt with?"
Kiba was still in a teasing mood though. "I still find it funny that the girl who wants to command the Stealth Force and the guy who wants to be the elite of nobility were tracked down in less than twenty minutes by a pink-haired kunoichi-in-training. You have to admit that it's a little funny."
Sasuke turned completely to Kiba, his expression one of complete fury. "I admit nothing!"
"Doesn't make this situation any less of a drag… Geez, how troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered while clicking his teeth.
Choji and Hinata were quiet for the most, observing the fact that Sakura was slowly, but surely coming back around to her. Her shaking was stopping and the frail look of her was fast becoming replaced with bewilderment to the situation she had landed herself in. Even as Ino and Naruto argued in the background about an increase in speed and stealth training, Hinata and Choji silently watched Sakura. She was looking around Naruto's apartment with growing curiosity. It was kind of amusing for the two of them to see her gaze around for a minute or two before becoming aware of their attention being solely on her even as their cohorts bickered and raged at one another. She would get all self-conscious, bowing her head to hide her awkwardness and flushing cheek while avoiding their gazes. She probably thought they could make her feel like Naruto did. Thankfully though, the difference in power between them and Sakura was not so monstrously wide as between her and Naruto.
As between Naruto and most people, for that matter…
"SILENCE!" Naruto barked in a gruff voice, slamming the point of the bokken in his hands to the floor as Yamamoto would have his walking stick. The sound was like thunder ringing off the walls, and everyone fell quiet and formed back into a line-up on either side of him. They all returned to their respectable stations.
On his left were Hinata, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. On his right were Ino, Kiba, and Choji. This was the Divisions. A presentation of power and might for all of Konoha to aspire toward. Even Ino, though she was without her haori. This was fine, though, as Hinata and Choji never wore the ones they were presented anyway. Neither of the two felt worthy of the Captain coat for one reason or another. Kiba was never given one in the first place. Everyone knew why, and even Kiba couldn't argue a case for having a Captain's haori of his own.
So other than Naruto himself, the only others currently wearing their coats were Sasuke and Shikamaru. This was fine as well, since his lead position at the head of the line-up made the Captain's haori stand out even more prominently. It was a symbol of power. Of status.
And right now, Sakura needed to see that he was in charge here. He was going to take none of her know-it-all attitude, or Sasuke-favoritism.
It was Naruto time, dattebayo!
"Sakura Haruno…" Naruto spoke her name as if issuing sentence already. None of the others even flinched. They knew not to give away the game. Good, because if Kiba burst out laughing or Shikamaru yawned, then he was likely to beat them half to death with his bokken. "I will ask a very simple question. You will respond with a concise answer. Is that understood?"
"Y-Yes…" she mumbled, not daring to look him in the eye.
A part of him had felt bad about what happened to her earlier. Then a bigger part of him remembered the panic that had flooded his brain when she came bursting through his front door. Iruka, Konohamaru, even the damn Hokage had the decency to knock before coming inside.
A part of him thought she was the ANBU Black Ops or some rogue ninja that watched them for weeks and was coming to kill Sasuke or maybe take one of the clan heirs for ransom.
He had panicked, and tried with all considerable chakra to simply stun the enemy before deciding to either fight or flee.
Imagine his surprise when he looked up to see that it wasn't a rogue ninja or the secret police, but instead the girl he had a crush on a year ago.
Well, he could flush that little fantasy down the drain after today... No way was she going to go out with the guy that practically shoved his chakra in her face to jumpstart her halfway through a panic attack…
"Why are you here, Sakura?" Naruto asked, his voice now coming out kindly. He shifted his stance to appear more approachable. He relaxed his shoulders and opened his arms at his sides after sheathing his bokken. Taking a moment to blink, he made sure his eyes were perfectly laid to seem gentle and warm like a friendly and social person.
This was the stance of Sōsuke Aizen before his betrayal. Naruto hoped Sakura could appreciate such a change in approach.
"I, umm… Well…" Sakura didn't know where to look as her hands fidgeted together.
"It's okay, Sakura, you can look at me." Naruto smiled and spread his arms as if to give her a hug.
"Oh, umm… Okay…" Sakura met his eyes, and found only a bright warmness flutter over her. Like the gentle rays of the sun. "I came here today, because… Well… You guys have been acting really weird over the last couple of years. You've been secretive and strange. And I… I wanted to know why."
"FOOL!" Naruto roared, making Sakura flinch back, like he slapped her across the face. "You have allowed your curiosity to lead you astray! Privacy within dealings is everything to a ninja village, namely the one we are all living within. The punishment for such intrusion… is death!"
Sakura gasped, but Ino rolled her eyes super hard at Naruto's dramatic declaration. "That only applies to ninja and spies of foreign or traitorous intent. The most Sakura might get is imprisonment for a few months. At the most."
"Well damn, Ino, there's no reason to ruin the suspense I'm trynna build…" Naruto muttered while rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yes there is, because she probably thinks we're going to kill her." Ino snapped back.
"We should put it to a vote, then." Shikamaru proposed, and everyone agreed.
"All those in favor of execution." Naruto put forth, and only one person raised their hand.
Of course, this person was Sasuke, who had his eyes closed and was looking supremely unconcerned with the fact that he was calling for the execution of a twelve-year-old girl.
Sakura's heart broke a little right there…
"Holy hell, Captain Uchiha… That's just cold, man…" Kiba whistled while shaking his head sadly.
"It is the law. The law written does not specifically state if the enemy has to be a traitor or foreign adversary. It merely states that any found stalking, spying, or otherwise invading the space of citizens of Konoha will be subject to termination." Sasuke opened his eyes, his gaze landing swiftly upon Ino. "Termination means execution. We all know that is absolute."
Ino stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm fairly certain that wording wasn't created with someone like Sakura in mind at the time. The Founders were concerned with powerful warring factions, not pink-haired school girls."
"If she had lived back in the time, I'm sure they would have her head on a pike." Sasuke supplied coolly.
"If she lived back in those times, Sakura would be bare-foot and pregnant." Ino countered with a hand on her hip.
"Regardless," Naruto stepped in before Sasuke and Ino put their fists where their mouths were, "Sasuke is the only vote in favor, and so it is taken off the table. Any other suggestions?"
Shikamaru stroked his chin for a moment, "I guess we could simply report her to the proper authorities. She wasn't invited here in the first place, and has not been friendly toward most of us. In fact, the only person she isn't hostile toward is Sasuke. And… he just voted for her death, so…"
"Hmm, fair point there." Choji agreed. "But, who are the proper authorities in this situation?"
"…Her parents, I guess…" Kiba shrugged cluelessly.
Sakura gasped. She would probably take execution over being ratted out to her parents. They would surely pull her from the Shinobi Program and make her take up some ridiculous trade, like textiles or something! She didn't want to make clothes! She wanted to wear them as she journeyed around the world as a kunoichi undercover!
While the pink-haired girl was having a miniature crisis, everyone else looked between themselves.
No one wanted to be a tattletale. It was just that simple.
"Okay, any other suggestions?" Naruto put forth, and everyone adopted thinking poses.
"U-Umm… I have a s-suggestion… That is, if you all don't mind…" Hinata began, the nervous habit of her index fingers pushing together. The Hyuga clan heiress rarely ever spoke in their meetings, and this would actually be the first time she proposed… well, anything. Hinata had always been more than comfortable letting the others take the lead in conversation, but now she felt almost as though she would be the only one thinking reasonably.
Hinata took a deep breath and steadied her courage. "Why don't we simply accept Haruno-san into the Divisions? That way, we'll be able to avoid any future offenses by her."
"I like that idea, Hinata!" Choji eagerly agreed to the idea, gleefully cheering. "Forcing someone to join us is much easier than actually convincing them to!"
Hinata felt a little apprehensive about that line of thought, but said nothing.
"Lets put it to a vote then," Naruto nodded to Hinata, who blushed and looked away shyly. "All those in favor of initiating Sakura Haruno into the Divisions?"
Naruto didn't raise his hand, but only because he would be a neutral party to this. Shikamaru, being a smart guy raised his own simply because having Sakura would increase their numbers. Choji, who was an all-around nice guy voted in favor of Sakura joining. Hinata proudly raised her own hand, being that it was her idea and all. Ino looked a little miffed with the whole idea, but still favored Sakura being in the group. Sasuke clicked his teeth and closed his eyes without putting up a hand. Kiba looked over at Sakura, snorted, and dismissed her with a wave.
"Well, there you have it. Sakura is to be inducted into the Divisions of Konoha at once!" Naruto proclaimed, and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief she didn't even know she was holding.
"Maybe this is my destiny. My chance to make Sasuke see me for who I really am. He doesn't think much of me now, but maybe this will change his opinion." Sakura thought while finally getting up from where she had been on her knees the entire time. "Can I just ask about what exactly is going on? The Divisions, I mean. It just you guys playing around. It doesn't mean anything. It's all just some game you all play."
"Perhaps," Choji was the one to speak up, "it may seem that way to you, however, to us the Divisions is very much real. We formed this organization devoted to the protection of Konoha."
Sakura squinted her eyes, appearing very skeptical of the whole thing. "But that's what the ninja of the village are for."
Shikamaru shook his head. "Only in times of emergency like invasion do the ninja act as the protectorate of the village. Besides, shinobi… are steeped in shadows…"
When all the others bowed their heads at this, Sakura became even more confused about what they were talking about.
"We have gotten off topic," Sasuke said with a small amount of edge to his tone, "and to the point; Sakura Haruno has yet to be inducted into our ranks. There is no need to inform her of our future goals just yet."
"Sasuke is right," Ino chimed in with a hand on her hip. "You guys always running your mouths… no wonder none of you are ninja yet… Sakura still has to be one of us and that hasn't happened yet!"
"But still," Choji turned to Ino with a smile. "No need to be secret about our self-assured mission. We of the Divisions will protect this village from all threats! Night or day! Our justice will be backed by unique and overwhelming power! It burns in us!"
"Tone it down, Choji, geez…" Ino shook her head. "You sound almost like those two idiots who run laps around the village in green spandex…"
"Again, I bring up our straying from the matter at hand." Sasuke was definitely annoyed by this point, his fists clenched at his sides.
Naruto clapped his hands together lightly, bringing all attention back to him. He took up a small and cheap hand fan that covered the lower half of his face. "As loathe as I am to admit it, the most honorable last Uchiha is right. Sakura has yet to join us, and all this talk is pointless until she's become one of us. Her initiation is not yet started."
"Initiation?" Sakura echoed the word in confusion. "But… I thought all I had to do was agree to join. What could I possibly have to do to be one of you guys?"
Kiba leaned out of line up in order to stare at Sakura with a rather smug look. "You must share with the group something about yourself that you want no other person to know. Something that ties you to this organization on pain of that secret being exposed to the world."
Sakura nearly died again, but this time from embarrassment. A secret!? They wanted a secret out of her!?
Her face was tomato red as she fidgeted in front the Division members. "B-But… I don't have any secrets! I'm a very open girl! Honest!"
Kiba turned away, muttering, "Yeah, sure… For your precious Sasuke-kun maybe…"
Ino and Sakura were on him in a hurry, both slamming their fists down on his head.
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH THERE, DOG-BREATH!" Sakura yelled as she stood over Kiba's crumpled form.
"Yeah, mutt, you're talking about a lady! Don't you forget it!" Ino shouted while shaking her fist at him, which was still steaming from the speed at which she struck him.
Hinata, however, was more vocal and less violent with her disapproval. "Kiba… You should never say such things about a woman… If you continue to… You'll never get married in this life…"
Even Sasuke and Naruto blinked at her words. For Hinata, that was as good as anything Sakura or Ino could have hit him with physically.
Kiba got back up, dusting himself off while staring at Hinata in horror. Hinata ignored him in favor of Ino, who was now snorting as she spoke to Sakura.
"Come on, Forehead, everyone's got a secret!" Ino said with a pointed look at her pink-haired rival.
"Umm, umm…" Sakura struggled to get the words out, her face once again heating up. "Oh well… ummm… Okay fine! I like Sasuke! There! I said it! I like Sasuke!"
Kiba, Naruto, and Choji immediately began to boo her.
"That's not a secret!" Choji gave her a thumbs-down.
"Lame!" Kiba stuck his tongue out at her.
"You are literally the worst kind of person." Sasuke kicked Naruto for that one.
"Sakura," Shikamaru was pinching the bridge of his nose, "How can I put this? It's not a secret if anyone with working eyes has seen you in the last… however long it's been since you first laid eyes on Sasuke."
Ever the peaceful one, Hinata spoke up in Sakura's defense while her own cheeks were dusted a little pink. "Y-You guys… I don't think we should be so harsh on Sakura-san… she… What she did took a lot of c-courage…"
Hinata chanced a glance at Naruto, but only felt her heart stir at the sight of him. She squeaked as she looked away and hid her face.
Naruto, however, shrugged as he had no idea what Hinata was on about. If you liked a person all you had to do was hang out with them and spill the beans. It was super easy! He never made his intentions harder than they needed to be.
"Okay, how about this?" Kiba walked up to Sakura, looking her up and down in an assessing manner. Sakura felt a little worried by this, but it wasn't like one of Kiba's pervert moments. "Tell us… have you ever killed anyone?"
"What the—?" Sakura backed away from him.
"Ah-ha!" Kiba pointed to her dramatically. "So that's a yes!"
"No, you idiot! I was just super surprised you'd ask something like that!" Sakura came back to get in Kiba's face as she shouted at him.
"Sure, sure… cover your tracks now, huh…" Kiba dismissed as he got back into the lineup.
"What about poisoning your rich uncle to get all his land?" Choji asked.
"What? No!"
"How about stealing food to feed your sick sister that your family has kept a secret all these years?" Kiba asked, tilting his head.
"No! I don't have a sister!"
"What about secretly being an oil baron that wants to tear down an old studio?"
"No." Sakura was beginning to get less and less shocked by their combined stupidity.
"Secretly being from Iwa in order to infiltrate our village and kill the Third Hokage?"
"What? No!" Sakura shook her head, then caught sight of something Kiba was holding behind his back. "Wait! Are you morons reading these questions off a list?"
Kiba looked up at her as he crossed something off his paper. "Huh? Oh yeah!" he proudly held up the list. "Me and a couple others made this a while ago. This list is called, Why Sakura Has Pink Hair When Literally No One Else Does!"
Kiba was on the floor nursing a giant lump on his head for that. Choji wisely tucked away his copy of the list just as Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru did the same.
Even Ino and Hinata kept theirs in their pockets after that.
"All amusement aside, this is a very serious matter." Sasuke stated with narrowed eyes.
"I guess she really doesn't have any secrets." Ino shrugged, "Makes her a really boring person, though."
Sakura was just relieved that they'd stopped pressuring her.
Now they'd never know about the gold mine buried under her house.
Her family's secret was still safe…
"So, do I get to hear any of your secrets now?" Sakura asked brightly.
The others gave her a deadpan look.
"Yeah, I figured not…" she sighed.
"It has been decided then," Naruto said as he snapped his paper fan closed. He then pointed it dramatically at Sakura. "Since you've no secret to bind your loyalty to this society, we'll simply have to use our secondary method of proving your worth."
After Naruto shared a significant look with Shikamaru, the latter rubbed the back of his neck with a grumble. "Geez, how troublesome… Wish you could have just killed someone at this point. It would have been a hell of a lot easier…"
The Nara boy walked up to Sakura at a slow pace. Her heart pounded in her chest. What did he mean by easier? And what did Naruto mean by secondary method?
Shikamaru stopped plainly in front of her. "Things are about to get a lot more troublesome…"
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean—?" Sakura asked, but Shikamaru put a hand in front of her face, and it freaked her out for a second. She could almost feel the build of chakra as it suddenly rose up from the Nara clan heir.
Then all she knew was white noise and bright light before she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
"Shika, Kiba… Take little Miss Haruno… to the candy store…" Naruto laughed manically for a moment as the two boys nodded to his command.
"I guess we're making a day out of this… How disgraceful…" Sasuke said as he disappeared from the apartment in a blur.
"Choji and I will prepare the site for your arrival, Naruto." Hinata said softly as she and Choji vanished from their spots as well.
Naruto was going to get ready himself, but he was stopped by Ino's hand on his shoulder.
"I know we have ways of doing things and all, but… I just… Sakura… She has to join us. She has to become one of us. It's just… Sakura and me… I need to make up for… Look, a long time ago, we…" Ino seemed so unlike herself in that moment, Naruto was actually worried. Normally Ino was the cool, confident one that while rough around the edges was always so centered and focused.
Now, though… Ino seemed really unsure of herself. She was fidgeting with her haori in her arms and stumbling her words.
Naruto sighed as he turned away from her. "You know that's not for me to decide. Or you, for that matter. Only… Only the Head-Captain can decide if Sakura stays or goes… And that is only if she fails the test. Just... Just have a little faith in her. I'm sure she'll do fine."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Ino sighed, and flickered away without another word.
Naruto stayed for a little while longer. He wasn't sure why, but he could feel a change on the horizon. His gut was trying to tell him something about it, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out if it was good or bad.
Oh well, Naruto shrugged. Whatever was coming their way, he was sure they could handle it.
They were the Divisions, after all!
A/N: Dah, dah, dah! Another chapter bites the dust!
Watch as Sakura gets put through the ringer by the crazies of the Divisions! Next time!
Until Next Time, See Ya!