A/N: Hey, y'all! I updated this chapter (8/27/21) to add this note to the top and let y'all know that... I made a Spotify playlist to go with the story. LINK IS ON MY PROFILE, as FanFiction does not appear to support adding links inside of chapters/documents. Enjoy!
When I was younger, I often wished my life was destined for great things. I dreamt it would be inspiring and full of adventures. All of the books I adored, the movies and TV shows that I watched religiously, all followed a similar formula. The characters attained extraordinary abilities and power. They suffered trials spoken into their worlds by their creators. The circumstances confined them in giving them the fighting spirit to endure, it forced them to advance. They found their vocation and clung to it. They discovered who they were and upheld their values- good or bad, it's hard to say until you've lived life through their perspective. That's what I wanted. I wanted to undergo both struggle and recovery.
A life like that... It just wasn't meant for me. Movies, TV shows, books. They were just fairytales, stories that another hapless sucker had created. I had no creator to dictate my life or bring it purpose. I had to find that on my own. My story? It started when two deceiving and doomed bloodlines came together. Their blended traumas passed down over generations. Equally dismayed, alienated families continued the cycle. I grew up distracted, battling with both inner and outer demons most of my childhood. I had been so uncertain of myself. My thoughts, who I was, what I was with other people. Most days I felt a riddle even to myself. It's a wonder that I stood a chance at all. Over the years of harsh experiences and cold awakenings, and with the help of people who I held dear, I finally got to a good place. I toughened up. I was happier with each passing day. It was no surprise that life would hear all of my past pleas, too little too late. When given a second chance at life and self-redemption, would I jump back into the pre-established cycle of royally fucking up my life for other people?
With a gasp, I shot up and clutched at my heaving chest, frantically willing it to settle back down to its usual resting beat. My bedsheets and clothing clung to my skin sticky from sweat. The sound of birds chirruping noisily outside suggested that it was too late to roll over and try to get some more zzz's. I let out a deep sigh, rubbing my palm over my forehead tiredly as I swung my legs over the side of my bed and pushed myself up to stand.
I made a beeline to the shower and cranked the hot water, squinting my eyes as the light overhead felt as though it was piercing my skull. I peeled out of my grossly damp pajamas and tossed them casually on the floor before stepping into the shower and regulating the temperature. With my eyes closed, I washed off the restless night with a bar of soap and my loofah, relishing the therapeutic warmth of the water. After some time, I cut the water off and opened up the shower door. The steam swirled up out of the shower and filled the room hazily. I grabbed the closest towel off of the rack and dried off. With the towel now wrapped around my torso, I stepped outside of the bathroom and abruptly halted in my tracks.
This was not my bedroom. The walls were a light tan-brown color, the floor matching with long and skinny wood boards. Straight ahead was a dark, open closet. There was a large wardrobe/desk combination up against the wall next to it, a chair pushed forward into space beneath the desk. Various books filled the back wall of the desk. There was an ovular body mirror to the right of it.
At the furthest end of the room, there were long, white blinds covering what looked to be a sliding balcony door. A tall potted plant hung on one of the two walls in the corner, right above the bed that it shared a wall with. For a few more moments I gathered my bearings, the gears in my brain clicking rapidly through several scenarios. I went to the wardrobe and dug through it, luckily finding a set of matching black underclothes that had been rolled up together. The bottom half of the wardrobe contained typical supplies you would find in an office desk. The upper half contained underclothes, socks, other random accessories. Everything was feminine and neutral colored.
I walked into the closet and flipped through the clothing hung there quickly. There were multiple sets of maroon dresses with white trimming and slits up either side. Dark green shorts hung directly to the left of the dresses. I frowned, finding the sight familiar. I shook the thoughts from my head and focused on getting the hell out of here. Moving further down towards the end of the row of clothes, I picked the first article of clothing that wasn't a dress. It was a dark green shirt with a black vest wrapped around it on the same hanger. The rest of the row held other shirts, crop tops, jackets, and the like. I went to the opposing row of clothes and grabbed a pair of dark purple denim shorts that had been patched up from rips using thin black clothing.
Whoever patched the damage did a stylish job.
After pulling on the clothes that I had picked out, a loud and feminine voice came from outside of the door.
"Sakura, isn't it time for you to get going?"
Sakura? I narrowed my eyes, slipping my feet into a pair of blue high-top sandals. I walked over to the desk and looked for the pair of scissors that I had seen moments before. At the sound of the door clicking open, I whipped around with my back pressed against the wardrobe, my hands grasping the pair of scissors in between. The sight of a tired-looking woman with honey-blonde hair, holding a pack of lunch lowered the snarl on my lips.
"I know, I know, I should have knocked first. But you're cutting it close on time for your orientation. Doesn't it start in 30 minutes?" She inquired as she walked over to me. She grabbed me gently by my shoulders and looked at my face, a sad smile gracing her lips. She began walking me over to face the mirror. I pocketed the scissors before she could see them.
I felt her pulling something through my hair and watched as she fastened a headband around my head, which helped keep layers of my hair out of my face. I couldn't help but widen my eyes in awe in the mirror. Sparkling green eyes peered back at me, reflecting the look of wonder on my, her, face. My hair fell in long, flowing pink locks behind my back.
"I like the new outfit... But you forgot a few things." The woman spoke as she finished tying the headband carefully so that it didn't have any strands of my hair coiled up in the knots. Glistening silver sat atop my head, an insignia that I had seen hundreds of times before displayed itself proudly in the carved metal.
Naruto.
"H-hey!" I objected quietly as she secured a kunai holster around my right thigh with bandages. She fastened another pack to the back of my shorts.
"I know, you're not a kid anymore..." She had a watery smile on her face. She wiped a small tear that threatened to spill from the corner of her eye and sniffed, hands clasped together as she admired the sight of her daughter, me, in ninja gear. With the headband to tie it all up neatly.
Ah, hell... I felt my mouth screw up into a scowl. How did this happen?
Why did this happen? What do I do from here?
My mind was whirring a mile a minute. I walked down a tight street surrounded by tall buildings with mom and pop shops in between.
Totally normal sight to see in a town where people go to Walmart or Sonic for fun. Not!
I was so focused on my own thoughts that I didn't notice someone was trying to get my attention. I snapped back to reality- hah, reality. There goes my inner gravity.
"I said good morning, Sakura!" A tall, beautiful long-haired blonde grumbled at me, her ocean-deep eyes somehow fired up with anger.
"Good morning, Ino." I replied coolly as I proceeded down the road. She raised a brow as I passed her and fell in step beside me. I honestly wasn't certain where I was going, so I lucked out that the timeline was following along as it should be. So far. I was bound to bring about changes sooner or later. I hoped that Sakura was still in here somewhere and subconsciously I, she, knew where to go by heart.
"So, they actually let you graduate? What a surprise. " Ino smirked, watching me closely for a reaction. Inwardly, I sighed. What was it that Sakura said to her back then?
"Listen, we're both ninjas now, Ino. It's not about winning and losing against each other anymore. It's about protecting and serving the village." Her eyebrows raised in surprise by my seriousness, and I briefly pondered whether or not that was the wrong thing to say. She looked stunned by the answer, but hid it well. She puffed her chest out with pride and walked ahead of me at a faster pace. Eventually, I quickened my own so that I wouldn't lose sight of her. She took this as a challenge. A few minutes later we were both sprinting down the street. Some older villagers laughed and shook their heads at us as we passed. I managed to make out one of them saying "ahh, to be young and fresh out of the academy."
I don't know where I'm going! I pursed my lips in a slight pout, my legs burning. It's a wonder that they did let Sakura graduate. We hadn't been running for long, but her, my, body was tiring already. I suppose the superb chakra control and book smarts sealed the deal on her graduation.
Before long we got to the Academy. Ino continued the race inside. I slowed to a walk as soon as we got to the entrance of the building and the sound of her feet pounding on the floor directly to the correct classroom.
"I win again, Sakura!" Ino chirped happily. She was leaning up against the wall next to the door when I walked in, clearly waiting for me to arrive so she could rub in her victory.
"Good job, Ino!" I responded with genuine friendliness. It seemed to piss her off. I looked across the room at someone who was wearing a rather...loud, obnoxiously orange outfit. He was waving me over. I made my way over to him, ignoring Ino's snooty "hey, where are you going!" coming from behind me.
"Hi, Sakura-chan. What's up? " Naruto said in his best smooth voice, stepping out from the desk and offering me a seat in the middle beside him. He continued, "Would you like to sit together?" I wonder if he did that because he doesn't want to sit next to Sasuke. I mused to myself as I slid in, turning to give Naruto a greeting back after getting settled. He did seem to have a crush on Sakura for a long time though.
"Um, you know, I'm making it. Thanks," I began a bit uncomfortable as I scanned the harsh, piercing glares coming from most of the rest of the girls in the classroom "Of course we can sit together, Naruto." I finished. From the corner of my eye in my peripheral, I saw Sasuke looking over at me and Naruto. Ino seemed to sense his attention and her glare became darker.
"I'm sitting next to Sasuke. I walked into the classroom before you did! Everybody saw it." Ino said, pushing Naruto out of his seat and onto the steps next to the long bench-style desk.
"Actually, I got here before either of you." A girl piped in.
"So did I! I'm sitting next to Sasuke. " Another girl said matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes and reached my hand out to Naruto, clasping his forearm and helping him back up to a standing position.
"No, I am!" A crowd of females began to form and I slid lower down into my seat, wishing I had never rolled out of bed this morning.
"Clueless..." I glanced at Sasuke upon hearing his low slight towards his fan club, who had a bit of an exasperated look on his face. Then remembered this may encourage said pack of wildebeests that were still bickering among themselves over my seat. I settled with snorting impolitely at his comment, resting my chin in my left palm. He turned his head towards me and I could feel the negative energy coming off of him in waves. He seemed expectant for me to fangirl and swoon at his mere glance. Which, I suppose I had been a fangirl of his. Until now, anyway. I mean, she had been. Suddenly an orange flash shot past and Sasuke tore his eyes from me.
Thud.
Naruto was squatting on top of the desk, his face mere inches from Sasuke's, a confused growling noise coming from his throat. Sasuke glowered back at him.
"Naruto!" Ino cried in anger. "Hey, stop glaring at Sasuke!" Naruto turned to look at Ino, like a kicked puppy dog, before he turned back to his staring contest with Sasuke.
I could see the anger simmering inside of Sasuke coming to a boil, electricity practically zapping between their eyes.
The protests from the girls were becoming deafening. But I knew what would come next. It would make them all fall silent. Any moment now.
With a small smirk, I watched the boy sitting in the row in front of Sasuke in modestly sadistic joy. He was talking with one of his friends animatedly. Suddenly, the boy's elbow popped backward as he proclaimed energetically.
"Whoa! This is great! " He seemed to realize that his elbow had just knocked into somebody.
"Sorry, did I bump you?" The boy said, looking back with wonder at whom and how he could have elbowed while sitting at his desk.
The wildebeests fell silent. The classroom followed shortly as everyone turned to see what finally got them to shut the hell up.
"What the-" A tiny, horrified squeak from Ino before she broke out into a blood-curdling scream fueled by pure rage. The pack of wildebeests followed suit. The boy had pushed Naruto forward, causing a firm lip-lock between him and Sasuke thanks to the proximity of their faces. They had frozen for a couple of seconds, I imagine questioning the life choices that brought them to this moment in time. They pulled away as if they were shocked, gagging and coughing with disgust as they clutched at their throats.
I fought to hold back my laughter, but a giggle worked its way out. This made Sasuke and Naruto both whip their heads around in my direction, horrified looks on their faces, and that's what pushed me over the edge. I lost it when they looked at me. I busted out into warm laughter, pointing between the two of them as I covered my mouth to hide the huge grin on my face.
"Sakura..." At Ino's quiet and confused tone, I fell silent and took a deep breath. I knew I kinda fucked up by laughing. Sakura would never act that way. Sakura would be right next to Ino, ready to pummel the poor boy into crumbs for daring to take what they hoped and believed to be Sasuke's first intimate experience involving lips. A moment that they all wished to share with him.
A bit young for me... But not for Sakura.
"Alright, class. Settle down. " Came a familiar, authoritative yet warm voice. I looked down towards the bottom of the classroom to see Iruka. Saved by the teacher! Luckily, my seating arrangement seemed finalized by his presence. I was still in between Naruto and Sasuke. Everyone else who was still standing moved on quickly to find an empty seat.
Naruto didn't get beat to a pulp this time. Maybe he won't have as much of a grudge against Sasuke. At that thought, I remembered Sakura had been nothing but cruel to Naruto up until today, and for no good reason. Who am I kidding, he will. Sakura treated Naruto horribly throughout the years. Why would Naruto be any different towards Sasuke? Was it today's lip-locking with Sasuke that had set Sakura's demeanor towards Naruto in stone?
No matter, I would be sure that Sakura, I, would treat him better. He was Konoha's unsung hero, after all. Naruto deserved better than what the village had given him all those lonely years.
I turned to the boy in mind. "Thank you for offering to let me sit with you, Naruto." I began, smiling warmly at the boy. He looked at me with wonder and surprise sparkling in his blue eyes. "I was so nervous about orientation this morning that I almost didn't show up..." A lie. I almost didn't show up because I had been moments from losing my shit all morning. I was cherry-picked and placed into a world I knew well, but a world that could kill me in a heartbeat any moment, faster than my original one. A world I had prayed and pleaded to be a part of as a child, to whatever deity may have or could have been listening. If this were an anime, I would have a sweat drop animation.
Oh, wait...
"As of today, you are all ninjas," Iruka spoke. Naruto did not get the chance to respond to my gratitude, his full attention snapped back on Iruka.
"Now you're only Genin, first-level ninjas. To get here, you all faced difficult trials and hardships."
Some more than others... I flickered my eyes to Sasuke and back to Naruto, keeping my head still so that the movement was not totally obvious.
"But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. All the Genin will be grouped into three-man squads today. Each squad will be led by a Jonin, an elite ninja." Naruto and I perked up with attention at the same time and I heard a gasp come from Ino. Kakashi's face- well, masked face- flashed through my mind. Iruka carried on, announcing the squads.
Out of all in team 7, it is certainly Kakashi who has experienced the most hardships thus far. How long will he stand at the memorial and have us wait today?
"Well, someone's got to be in Sasuke's group." Ino practically purred from behind me, I could hear the sly smile on her face through her tone. I rolled my eyes, already tired of hearing about nothing but Sasuke.
It's called NARUTO, not Sasuke. Na-ru-to.
"I wonder who?" Ino finished with an edge of competitiveness in her voice. I had already moved on.
"I don't know and I don't care," I said in a light and blithe tone, glancing over at Sasuke, who had an unreadable expression on his face. "As long as he doesn't slow me down." Ino guffawed in disbelief. I smirked when Sasuke looked at me with some surprise at my remark, his eyes narrowing into a small glare. I remembered he had those same thoughts himself around this time in the episode.
Should I even consider these moments as episodes anymore? Ahh, but fuck I really shouldn't keep acting so strangely. Internally whining at the thought of even pretending to be a loud, obnoxious fangirl, I slunk down into my seat.
"Squad Seven! Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno." I shot Naruto a smile as he cheered. "And Sasuke Uchiha." At that name, Naruto's cheer was cut short and he, too, slunk down into his seat. "I'm doomed." The boy stated sadly.
Meet me at my level, Naruto.
Ino growled as Iruka continued announcing squads.
"Ugh! How did you get in his group?! " I ignored Ino as she and Shikamaru began bickering behind me, sparing me from more conversation. I'm so tired and it's still morning... I yawned, lowering my head down on my crossed arms.
"Iruka-Sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug-like Sasuke?" I cracked my eyes open and peeked towards the front of the class. The look on Iruka's face could stop a student in their tracks any day. Iruka closed his eyes and summoned up the patience that only a school teacher would have.
"Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores." Our classmates began laughing at that information. "To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student."
I pursed my lips, unable to hide my disapproval. That was a lie, whether Iruka knew it or not. I would think they are grouped on purpose. They are both chakra powerhouses, which produces a great offensive team. I can't help but wonder, why did they group Sakura with them? Did they have hopes that her smarts may assist with battlefield strategies like Shikamaru's will in the future?
"Just make sure you don't get in my way... Loser." Sasuke said smoothly, provoking Naruto.
"Hey, what did you say?!" Naruto growled, clenching his fist.
"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke retorted, bringing more laughs from the class.
Bonus is the thought process that Sasuke's Sharingan may have the ability to keep Naruto in line if Kyuubi emerges. How ironic.
"Knock it off, both of you. We are not children anymore. " I huffed, rolling my eyes at their childish banter. Better get used to it. "What do you think happens to squads that don't know how to look out for each other? They are most probable to die first on the battlefield." You could probably hear a pin drop in the silence that resulted from that. Naruto had a guilty look on his face, whereas Sasuke shot an ugly scowl at me. I smiled back sweetly. He is so full of himself.
"Ahem." Iruka cleared his throat uncomfortably, bringing the attention back to him. "After lunch, I will begin introducing you to your new Jounin teachers. Please take advantage of this time and get to know your teammates better. Class dismissed."
On that note, students in the classroom began grouping up by squads and dispersing. Sasuke pushed himself up from his seat and left the room with haste, trying to dodge his fangirls I presumed. I stayed seated, waiting for the majority of the crowd to leave before I stood up and made my way towards the exit. I found Naruto on the stone path outside. It looked like he may have been waiting on me. He rubbed the back of his head, avoiding making eye contact with me as he spoke.
"Hey, Sakura... Since we're on the same team and all, I was thinking we could have lunch together and get to know each other? " He was bracing himself for immediate rejection.
"Sure! Where do you want to eat? " I asked, looking around to see if there were any good spots close by. Naruto's eyes gleamed with happiness and disbelief.
"Whoa, really?! I know the perfect place, come on!" Naruto cheered, grabbing my hand and running back inside of the academy. He led me up a few flights of stairs until we made it to a rooftop. There were large, rice farm container-looking pillars on the roof. He jumped up on top of the largest pillar, which had another, a taller pillar on top.
"This is the perfect time of year to eat up here, it's not so hot that the metal burns you when you sit on it!" Naruto grinned, looking down at me as he sat down and swung his legs over the side. I gave an uncertain smile back at him, suddenly feeling out of place. "Come on up!" He finished, watching me expectantly.
"Ahh, um..." I muttered, my mind was somewhat panicking. I had not tried to access Sakura's- I mean, my chakra since I figured out where I was. Taking a deep breath in through my nose, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on any feeling of energy in my abdomen. I remembered it looked to feel like a flame when the characters were focusing on it in the show. After a few moments, I felt a flicker of warmth.
I need to trust that this body has the muscle memory to recognize my intentions. I need to set my intentions with confidence.
With hidden determination, I opened my eyes up and let a deep breath out slowly through my mouth. I willed and pictured the warm energy to go down to my calf muscles. Once I felt as close to confident as I could get that the chakra had enveloped the muscles, I bent my knees and pushed up forcefully off the roof, springing up high into the air. With a grin, I relished the feeling of the wind on my face and through my hair, making eye contact with Naruto. His own grin began to falter as I started coming back down.
Oh, no...
Crash!
"Oh, my god!" I immediately scrambled off of the poor boy. "I am so sorry, Naruto."
"Th-that's okay, Sakura!" Naruto reassured me, albeit painfully. I pulled him back up to his sitting position.
"I don't know what happened, I guess I forgot how to land." I said sheepishly, pulling a sandwich that... my mother, had made. French bread. Nice. Is it called French bread here? I didn't see that Naruto had lunch with him, so I gave him a large quarter of my sandwich. There's no way it's called French bread here. For starters, there is no such place called France. Secondly, did it even originate from France?
"Gee, thanks Sakura!"
There was still another third of the long sandwich leftover and slices of tomato and cucumber were packaged separately from it. A piece of paper stuck out from between the packaging. I pulled it out to read it, my lips twitching up into a sad smile.
You will need the extra energy today! Cheat days from diets are okay, my blossom.
Hearts drawn beneath the words. I wondered how little Sakura must have been eating for our mother to show such concern. From the current physical state of this body, I would imagine it was mostly teas and light snacks.
She pretty much has malnourished herself... Is it too late to put some meat on her bones?
I would need to look for evidence of puberty in our bedroom and bathroom.
For a few minutes, we ate together peacefully, in silence. There was a soft breeze up here that I had not felt before on the ground. One that made the trees surrounding the Academy rustle noisily. Birds were singing their tunes happily, now and then you could even hear a frog croak. The peacefulness in my observation of the beautiful scenery was short-lived. Naruto had made a displeased grunt and I took a gander in the direction he was staring down at. Sasuke was in a building, leaning back against the window frame and eating some... rice balls, it looked like.
Yuck. Just rice? I wasn't familiar enough with Japanese recipes to know any better.
"Man, he really grinds my gears." Naruto grumbled, taking a rather aggressive bite of his sandwich. I looked between the boys thoughtfully. Was there any hope in bringing them together at the same level? Would Naruto stay stuck with other people's opinion that he was a loser in mind? Will Sasuke ever give anyone he feels beneath him the light of day, much less any genuine respect?
Could I give better direction to this team? I didn't want to discredit Kakashi, but he had done such a poor job with these children in the beginning.
With a sigh, I wrapped my sandwich back up and stood. Pitiful hopes. Why not take some charge and see how the dice rolled?
"Hmm?" Naruto looked up at me with confusion. "What is it, Sakura? Did you change your mind about lunch?" He looked worried. Concerned that I had changed my mind, that I would leave him all alone.
"No, silly." I shook my head. "Iruka-Sensei said to eat together as a squad. We should go to Sasuke." His face scrunched up, his mouth opening to protest. I didn't give him the time to speak, bending down to grab and wrap his sandwich.
"Come on, we're going to be on the same squad for a long time. We all need to try to get along. I'll treat you to Ichiraku's tomorrow night if you play nice with him."
I could almost see Ramen bowls reflecting at me in his eyes.
"Well, let's go then!" He shouted, already having jumped off the pillar. I carefully followed suit, my knees shaking for a few steps after I landed. I will need to test my limits in this new body when I get time alone.
After another wobbly jump to the rooftop of the building adjacent, we made it over to Sasuke. He clicked his tongue, anger gracing his delicate features.
"Go away." Sasuke ordered.
Hah. Delicate, yeah?
Before Naruto could breathe, I clapped his back and put my best foot forward.
"I would rather not get a lecture from Iruka-Sensei about disobeying his orders. We may not be his students anymore after today, but for the time being he is still our direct supervisor." I tried to choose my words carefully and speak them in a reasonable tone. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to risk delaying any training with our new Sensei later because we have detention on our first day as full-fledged ninjas."
Sasuke was still skeptical, of course. But my choice of words seemed to ring reasonably with him.
"Whatever..." He continued to eat what looked to be the last of his rice balls and stare out the window pensively. His guard was up. Does it ever come down?
At that, I unwrapped mine and Naruto's sandwiches, handing Naruto his share. He sat down cross-legged next to a cardboard box and began munching happily. He also pulled a small bag of corn chips from his pack and set it down on the box in front of him. It looked like this was a storage room for the Academy's training dummies and target practicing boards. Some Kunai were sticking out of a board hanging on the wall.
I took a seat on a sturdy-looking box at the other end of the window from Sasuke and splayed the last third of the packaged sandwich, tomato slices and cucumber slices on the window frame. I made sure that the tomato and sandwich were closer to Sasuke's reach.
I read somewhere online that he liked tomatoes. Much unlike his older brother's sweet tooth.
"My mom packed my lunch and she made too much for me. I guess she was as nervous as I was." I said thoughtfully before eating the last bite of my own sandwich and taking a few slices of the cucumber into my hand. Sasuke's gaze fluttered over the food, stopping on the tomato. "You can have some if you want."
After a few minutes of nothing but the sound of Naruto crunching on his chips and nature outside, Sasuke's hand slowly reached over to pick up the tomato slices.
Victory.
I kept my face neutral at the small win and gathered up my bits of leftover trash from the meal, taking it over to the trashcan at the door. Looking around the room some more and seeing that we still had 30 minutes to spare, I walked over to the target board and began pulling the kunai out.
Suddenly, Naruto started yelling about forgetting something and bolted out of the room, his arms wrapped around his stomach suspiciously. He looked to be in a lot of pain.
Oh, Naruto...did you eat something spoiled for breakfast? With a sigh, I shook my head. Parents or no parent, I can't believe no one has bothered to teach Naruto the most basic of life skills outside of ninja skills.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted, seeming to agree. My face blanched.
"Did I say that out loud?" I questioned, laughing nervously more to myself than the boy beside me. Another sweat drop moment. He quirked a brow at me. And I just knew that was his way of asking if I was stupid.
I can't recall a time that it was explained how the boys had been raised in their early childhood. Had the village just given them a key to an apartment and a monthly allowance and called it good at that?
With a huff, I turned my focus to the target practice board and tightened my grip on one of the kunai in my left hand, wondering if I would be able to hit a bullseye. I wasn't terrible at darts, but certainly not the best.
Taking a deep breath, I raised the kunai in my hand and calmed my nerves. After a moment's hesitation to line up my shot, I tossed it at the board.
Thunk.
I was a little under an inch off, to the left of the bullseye. Transferring another kunai to my left hand, I lined up another shot.
Thunk.
It was a little under an inch above the bullseye this time. With a slight pout, I transferred to another kunai. I had two left after this attempt.
Thunk.
I groaned. It missed to the right this time. I felt one of my last two kunai's pulling from my hand.
"You're anticipating the loss of weight too soon, causing it to curve in the air at the last second..."
Huh?
"Pardon?" I looked at Sasuke and then down to his hands curiously. He held the kunai in one hand and the trash from the tomato slices and sandwich crumpled up in the other.
So he ate the sandwich, too. A satisfied smile crept to my face. He scrunched his nose up in the slightest, noticing my observation.
"You need to flick your wrist more, like this..." Sasuke spoke quietly, demonstrating the wrist movement to me slowly before he flickered his eyes over to the target. "Just put a bit more power behind it."
Thunk!
"Bullseye." I took the last kunai in my left hand and copied the movements Sasuke showed me eagerly. After practicing the motions, I gave it my best shot.
Thunk!
It hit the bullseye, alright. A hair to the left of Sasuke's kunai. It also went a quarter deeper in-depth than the other kunai had.
"I said a bit more power... That works too." Sasuke said. Beaming at the accomplishment, I walked back over to the target and collected the weapons. I split them into halves and handed one half to Sasuke.
"But I thought you were right-handed?" I faltered for a moment before putting a careful smile on my face.
"Doesn't hurt to be ambidextrous. I don't imagine the Academy would mind if we added these to our stock?" Carefully placing my own half into my kunai pouch, I walked over to the exit, turning back to look at Sasuke when I didn't hear him following behind me.
"We should get going now, lunchtime is about over. Naruto will find his way."
It's not like he will be late meeting our new Sensei.
I could hear Sasuke following behind me this time around.
Please let me know what you think, and if there was anything I messed up on that should be corrected. I would like to follow the main storyline as much as possible for now- as would the girl stuck inside of Sakura's body, I imagine. It could get crazy later down the road, who knows though. This story will likely be evolving a lot.
The beginning paragraphs prior to the first line break had been sitting in Doc Manager collecting dust for over a year. I got sparks of inspiration and decided to finally do something with it this past December or January. Helped that I got 3 weeks of time off work in-between jobs and due to Snowmageddon 2021 this past month too. Trying to give time to my old hobbies and find personal happiness in them again during these wild times.
I have Chapter 2 written up already. It's not post-worthy imo, not until Chapter 3 is written up. I revised, edited, and rewrote the majority of this chapter over 30 times after I finally had it all written up. So it might take a week for me to post Chapter 2.
Constructive feedback welcomed.
