"Tainted Demon Eyes"
By Nes Mikel
Acknowledgment;
I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot. Enjoy.
- Chapter Three -
"Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard"
"Next, Team Seven…" – Iruka
Every time she opened her eyes, the girl always wondered when it was she had fallen asleep. It was an intriguing question, its answer never apparent. Unlike the moment you know that you're waking up, drifting into sleep was a much gradual process – hence, it was never clear. Even when she had felt dreadfully tired, she never had gone to sleep pronto. So when did she? It was a stupid question, she knew, and answering it wouldn't amount to nothing, but it was a question she wished to know the answer to one day.
Rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand to ease the deep fatigue usually associated with morning sickness, the pink-hair girl flipped the bed sheets off her bed as she climbed out. She almost considered going back to bed again, given her inebriated mood. Her inner desires told her that it wasn't such a bad idea, the mattress she had spent the past eight hours in quiet hibernation was comfortable and it was a piece of furniture she had grown to like. Employing her will power that was slowly coming online, she fought the temptation of sleep and haphazardly strolled over to the nearby kitchen sink. Twisting the faucet open, she summoned forth the streaming water and let it run for a while until the muck that had collected over from yesterday was flushed out. Then, pooling some of the clear liquid in her two hands, she splashed the cool water on her face. She felt the desired effect thereupon.
Aaah, much better.
It was a daily routine Sakura employed since god knows when. For as long as she could remember she was the only person who had lived in the Haruno clan household – if you can call it a clan, that is. As far as she could tell, she was the only survivor of the now extinct clan.
Sakura was by no means stupid. She had once tried to find out her origin, hanging onto the hope that perhaps she wasn't alone after all. Sakura knew her house once housed a clan, as her rather large residence was adorned everywhere with the simple round circle that she came to realize as the symbol of the Harunos. It was a dead giveaway.
So, it was only natural to think that perhaps a relative of hers still lived somewhere in the lands. She had rummaged through her entire house then, turning every piece of furniture upside-down to find any clues that had to do with her heritage. It didn't take long until she finally found what she was looking for: the scroll that listed her clan's entire family tree. It was definitely authentic – she was overjoyed to find her name on the bottom of the long list. The only thing she found odd, however, was the two blank spaces on top of her name where the names of her parents should've been written down. It wasn't there. Just… blank.
It was as if they never existed.
She had felt sad then, but the other members of the clan that were written down as clear as words engraved in stone had comforted her instead. She scanned the long list: Haruno Kiku, Haruno Satsuki, Haruno Ayame, Haruno Hasu, Haruno Yuri … she didn't practically find it surprising that all members born into the clan were named after flowers. What did surprise her was that every single member born into the clan was female. All of the male members of the clan were outsiders with no apparent relation with them, only invited into the lineage because they were the husbands of the many women within in the clan. It gave Sakura some pride in being a woman of the Haruno.
She could remember clearly the day she visited the local ninja registry office the next day. Proudly presenting them the scroll of her family lineage, she requested the few ANBU workers in charge there to look up all of the names written on the scroll to check up on their current status. The men agreed, and they disappeared into the darks of their offices to grant her wish, taking the scroll with them. She had sat patiently in front of the doors of the building, not wanting to miss the good news she was sure to hear from them.
It didn't turn out like she had hoped.
A faint cough sounded behind her. "Sakura-san… was it? We have some results."
Ten-year old Sakura spun around, a hint of immaturity still in her sea-green eyes as she fired off her next few sentences like a machinegun. "Aaah! Hayate-san! Yes, yes, I'm here!" she jumped up from her sitting position and had her fists clenched in front of her in anticipation. "Well, what did you find? How many are still alive? Where are the others now? Do some of them still live in this village? Tell me tell me tell me!"
The noticeably weak man in front of her coughed weakly once more, making her worry a little.
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.
"Ah… yes. Well," the ANBU man known as Gekkou Hayate reached inside his jacket to take out a scroll. Carefully, he placed the wrapped document back into the small girl's hands. "I believe this is yours."
"Oh, yeah, thank you!" she eagerly thanked the man, but quickly changed the subject to what she deemed was going to be the most important even in her ten-year life. "So. So! What did you find? Did you find many? They're still here in this village right? Oh man, I have a family! Not just a family, my own clan! Hell yeah! They must be just shy to visit me… yeah, of course, that's it!
Hayate lowered his gloomy, sick eyes down a little. "Sakura-san, I am sorry."
His voice wouldn't have reached her eyes if he didn't sound so compassionate. "Huh?" her cheerfulness slowly ebbed. "Why are you sorry?
"Your family…" Another cough. "Eh, pardon me, your clan."
She didn't notice she was growing tense, as a wave of bad vibes swept over her. It was clear to Sakura that Hayate was hesitating about something "What… what about my clan?
"Sakura-san, everyone but you in your clan is already dead."
Sakura stopped brushing her teeth midway. Her squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, erecting a dam in her mind to stop the flow of thoughts. Why was she thinking of such trivial things now? That revelation didn't change anything, she reminded herself. She was still alone. So she was the tragic survivor of a clan that had been wiped out years ago, and apparently because she was the youngest she had survived – although she had no idea if that theory held true. Dismissing the thought aside, she spat out the toothpaste and washed her mouth clean with a fresh glass of water. Returning back to her living room, she wrestled with the clothes she wore for a moment before throwing them inside a basket made out of bamboo nearby.
Walking over to her closet that kept her entire wardrobe, she slowly pulled open and marveled at the wide variety of clothing before her. The Harunos, being a clan (or at least, what she assumed) that revolved around its female members, the huge walk-in closet in the house (it was bigger than her living room!) was packed full with feminine clothing with such diversify. Despite the wide selection of clothes, however, Sakura walked over to a rather dark corner within the walk-in closet and pulled out a single red uniform from the rack.
It was her usual uniform.
She didn't dislike the other choices presented before her. Some of them were outlandish and just simply too wild for her taste, but many others she liked. So what had prompted this pink-haired girl to pick this uniform?
Well, for one, it was her favorite uniform, and she thought it fit her style. Her short, neatly groomed pink-hair didn't get in the way of displaying her Haruno Clan symbol sown proudly on the back, her two shoulders, and the one that hung loosely down from the front. She also liked the uniqueness of the slightly crooked L-shaped zipper in front of her dress, and the short sleeves that made moving around far easier. But those were all minor reasons. There was a much more important reason as to why this uniform was her favorite.
The discovery came when she was rummaging through her house two years ago to search for signs of her heritage. The walk-in closet was one of the first places she looked, and she was pleased to discover that most of the clothes in the large closet had their respective owner's names sown upon it. Now that Sakura thought about it, it made sense as to why the Haruno women did that. She chuckled as she imagined members of her clan fighting over who owned which piece of what clothing. Upon closer inspection, Sakura came to realize that arrangement of clothes inside the walk-in closet seemed rather… well, territorial. Even traps weren't uncommon.
Henceforth, it had perked ten-year old Sakura's curiosity when she discovered a set of clothing without any names sown upon it in the far left-hand corner of the closet. She first dismissed that strange discovery – the clothes were bland and out of style. But when Sakura discovered that every single other piece of clothing had names on them except those, and upon the revelation that her parents' name wasn't written down in the scroll of the clan's family tree, the conclusion was automatic.
This uniform… was my mother's.
Climbing into the said garment quickly and effortlessly, she then proudly tied her Leaf forehead protector around her hair. Allowing herself a glance at a mirror on a nearby wall, she liked what she saw. Her gaze shifted to the right a little to the calendar than hung nearby, silently reminding herself of today's date. Quickly dashing out of her closet and back into the kitchen, she grabbed a piece of bagel in the fridge before running out of her house.
I'm a ninja – starting today! Hell yeah!
She couldn't help but feel that someone was smiling over her as she ran to the Ninja Academy for her orientation.
Elsewhere, a certain blond haired boy exited his apartment to begin a day that had already begun for many others. Upon hearing the soft click that notified him that his home was now safely locked, the young soon-to-be man slowly walked away from his abode and into the bright light the sun overhead provided for all. He brought one of his hands up to shield himself from the light, narrowing his eyes for a moment as he let it adjust. When that was done, he calmly took his first few steps towards his destination for today.
Normally, a person would be overjoyed that the day had turned out to be such a magnificent day like today. There wasn't but a cloud in the air, just bright blue sky stretching across the horizon. Many took it as a sign for good things to come, but unlike the many this boy's mood remained static – as always. He was the type to never be in a cheerful mood; but instead he felt his self-inflicted responsibilities weigh heavily on his shoulders more than ever.
Today was going to be an important day for him. Boring probably, but a day that held certain significance to this striving young man. One hand in his pocket, he used the other to tug on his bright orange jumpsuit to ease an itch. It was a jumpsuit that he used to train so hard in over the years.
He didn't find anything around him out of place. People hurried past him, going about their usual businesses in their everyday lives. A few took notice of him, and paused briefly to bow their heads to him out of respect. He wasn't that heartless to not accept their acknowledgement, and he titled his head forward slightly in return every time. Yet the emptiness in his heart was still there, as he knew they were only paying his respects to his now long since deceased father.
His father. The blond boy stared ahead, his vision's focus donated entirely upon the large monument that loomed over the entire village, and settled upon a certain engraved face. The face of Kazama Arashi, the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, the hero that saved his people twelve years ago.
His father.
Hmph.
Grumbling to himself, Uzumaki Naruto kicked a small stone in trivial frustration.
A knock on the door. A quiet but firm voice from behind. "Otouto, are you awake?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be down there in a moment!" onyx eyes darted back and forth across his neatly organized (thanks to his ever so persistent mother) room, trying to find the forehead protector he had earned just days ago. He was already dressed for the day, but was lacking just one item. Dammit, just where did he put that thing? He couldn't remember…
"If you are looking for your forehead protector, I have it in my possession."
The door of his room literally flew open. The hinges would've hit his older brother in his face if he hadn't wisely stepped back to avoid the blow. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner aniki!" the youngest member in the household said, snatching the said item away from his older brother. Quickly trying the headband with the village symbol engraved upon around his forehead, he hastily combed his hair before checking his appearance in the mirror in his room. "There we go. Much better."
A sigh. "Whom are you going after this time?"
The younger brother shrugged as he followed his older brother down the stairs of their home. "No one in particular… just someone."
"A certain Yamanaka girl has been waiting in front of our house for about ten minutes."
"What? Oh shit…" he let his own hand slap his forehead. "That's right… I promised with her…"
"You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep." he saw his older brother smile a faint smile.
Another shrug. "Well, I really don't care much for her… she just was the loudest one of the bunch, and only went out with her so she'll be quiet… I guess she took it more seriously than I thought. And… hey!" he pointed an accusing finger at his older brother. "You shouldn't say what you just said, aniki! You've made more girls cry than I have."
"At least I held true to my word."
"Geez, I don't understand you. You have better looks than me, you're stronger than me, you have more ladies swoon over you, yet you don't take advantage of that!"
"My training takes priority."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, I'll be late, and I don't want Ino crying in front of me – that'll make me look bad. I have an image to keep you know."
"So you say."
"Stop with those sarcastic remarks, I'm seriously getting tired of them." He said as he started to put his shoes on. His took a quick peek over his brother's shoulder. "Where's mother and father anyhow?"
"They are-"
"At work." He finished his sentence for his elder brother. "Figures. They don't even care that I'm going to be a ninja today."
"Otouto, I'm sure they-"
Uchiha Itachi never had the time to throw those comforting words to his younger brother. Sasuke was already out of the door, his mind calculating rapidly with what excuses he could come up with to sooth the girl that had waited fifteen minutes for him.
Ah, that's it, a bright smile. That always worked.
It worked immediately, turning the frustrated girl from the florist shop into something much more workable.
Not too long ago, a conversation of certain importance took place in a small isolated room within the Hokage residence.
"Hokage-sama… are you sure about this?"
"Iruka, the decision is final."
"But…"
"Do I have to repeat myself?"
"The other arrangements I have no quarrel with. However, the configuration of this team could prove rather… disastrous."
"Even if I had placed them in different teams, it wouldn't have mattered. They will have found out sooner or later. This way, the damage will be minimal when they do find out. It is for the best."
"Still…"
"Umino Iruka, I will say this the last time. The decision is final."
"I… yes, of course."
"Hmm, why the heck are you here?"
Sakura looked behind from where she sat in the classroom to see a bored looking boy standing besides her. "Oh, it's you." she said flatly before returning her attention to the book she was just reading.
"No, really, why are you here?" the boy known as Nara Shikamaru asked as she heard him scratch his head. "This orientation is only for those who passed."
She put her book down as grinned widely at the boy. "Why, didn't your old man tell you?"
"You expect my old man to tell me anything?"
He has a point. Her grin widened even more as she titled her head forward slightly and pointed at her own forehead protector. "Can't you see this?"
Sakura was a little disappointed when he didn't look as surprised as his father. "Oh, so you passed. Congratulations."
She didn't miss the dismissive tone when he offered his complements. "What, you sound as if you're annoyed that I passed. Is that it?" Sakura glared at him menacingly.
"Naw…" Shikamaru replied, the bored tone still in his voice. "You're smart, you do well in your written tests and all, and your stamina is pretty good. The only shortcoming you have is that you just suck at executing jutsus. But given your other qualities, it's not that surprising that you eventually managed to find a way to pass. It's simple observation."
Sakura was speechless. Everything he had said had hit dead-on, and she didn't know if she wanted to yell at him or thank him for it. She decided to do the latter. "Uh, thanks, I guess."
Shikamaru shrugged as he sat down besides her. "Whatever."
To put it nicely, Shikamaru was the closest thing Sakura had to a friend. He was the only one who had put up with her attitude, but mainly because he was too lazy to even care. At first she only thought that he was incredibly patient with people, but as things turned out it went beyond that – he was just lazy as hell at everything. However, as she spoke with him more and more Sakura realized that he was actually quite smart, and she found herself enjoying conversations she shared with him, however annoying and unresponsive he could be at times. Sakura got along with him very well, and would've really considered being friends with him if he wasn't so damn bored with everything.
The one reason he had probably put up with Sakura was because Shikamaru's list of friends was rather short. Akimichi Chouji was one, Sakura knew, but the chubby boy was too busy right now consuming quantities and quantities of food and Shikamaru knew better than to interrupt him then. And as for his other 'friend'…
"Hellooo everybody!"
Speak of the devil. Two people had walked into the classroom together right then, the girl shouting loudly in glee and the boy a step behind her following the girl quietly. They were Yamanaka Ino and Uchiha Sasuke – two people Sakura detested.
It was Ino who shouted to the entire class. Raising one of her hands high in the air, she made it plainly obvious to all that she and Sasuke were holding hands together right now. It had the desired effect she wanted – many of the girls in the classroom glared at Ino in jealously.
"Yo." Sasuke raised his free hand, addressing everyone as Ino had done (probably at the ladies, Sakura assumed). He did rather look miserable and embarrassed holding Ino's hand like that, yet he had still managed to look cool at the same time, successfully drawing a few embarrassed blushes.
UGH! Inner Sakura screamed, and her Outer self wanted to do the same. It was painfully obvious that Sasuke was no ladies man – the list of girls he had were long and impressive, and Ino was his latest prize. For Ino, Sasuke was a trophy. It seemed like every girl except Sakura had a crush on that Sasuke boy, and whoever had ended up with him was a target of extreme jealously. It was as if there seemed to be an underground tournament in which every other girl except her attended and whoever came out top was grated the extreme honor of being "the girl that dated Sasuke". To top it off, Sasuke seemed to enjoy all that, and had dated many girls and broken just as many hearts. Yet his popularity never seemed to ebb.
Sakura however, wasn't like that. She knew what Sasuke was like, and therefore she didn't understand what the obsession about Sasuke was. So he was rather strong, he was good looking (that much Sakura had to admit), he was a child of that genius Uchiha clan… but so what? He was a womanizer! Inner Sakura would've vomited all over the floor in disgust.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the Ino girl had crept up to her. "Oh, there you are, Shikamaru." Ino leaned her head towards him slightly "What are you doing, chatting up big forehead girl for a date?"
"Why would I-" he started to retort.
"I know, I know, you're getting desperate after seeing me date such a handsome guy! Isn't that right Sasuke-kun?" she flashed a brilliant smile to the male companion besides her. He nodded briefly, and Ino's ego was inflated even further. "See!"
"I don't see why that should matter." Shikamaru said, his eyes trying to avoid Ino's. She didn't let him get off that easily.
"Yeah, yeah, try as you may, you can't help but admit that I'm better! Hohohoho!" her vixen-like laugher echoed in the room. "But honestly, I never thought you would sink so low as to ask big forehead girl-"
Oh that does it. Sakura stood up from her chair and glared threateningly at the offending wench. "Shut up, Ino-pig."
The other girl raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh ho, so the big forehead girl has some resolve left in her. I'm surprised. But I still don't know what you see in her, Shikamaru. So she's rather smart, but she sucks at everything else, not to mention the shape of her body is so ugly. Her breasts and butt are below average… heck, the other thing that's above average is her forehead."
"Ino, that's quite enough…" Shikamaru said annoyingly.
"Oh but I'm not done." Ino taunted.
"I said SHUT UP." It was rather safe to say that Sakura was beyond ill tempered now. She was downright furious! How dare she say those things to her! Who did she think she was? A princess? "You have no right to-"
"I'm dating Sasuke-kun. That makes me better than you."
A nerve must've burst somewhere within her system. She felt blood rushing to her cheeks, making them flush red in anger. "DOES NOT!"
"DOES TOO!" Ino yelled back.
"DOES NOT!"
"DOES TOO!"
"DOES NOT!"
"You two, that's quite enough-" That was Shikamaru.
"SHUT UP!" shouted Sakura and Ino at the same time, for once agreeing in something.
True to his nature of not involving himself in troublesome events, Shikamaru gave up, letting the two girls fight each other out. The verbal match soon evolved into something more physical, as scratches and punches and kicks were mixed within the battle of two remarkably stubborn women. Their fight had drawn in a crowd, and Sakura noticed they were starting to root for whoever came out best. She barely heard them as she continued to tug at Ino's long blonde hair as painfully as she could.
"Aaargh, stop that!" Ino said as she threw a punch at Sakura's stomach. The fist connected, and Sakura let go of Ino's hair in recoil. Screeching in rage, Sakura attempted her own punch at the Yamanaka girl's face with all her might, but didn't count on Ino sidestepping her latest offensive. Unable to stop her momentum Sakura tripped on the small gradation on the classroom floor and bumped into someone by accident. The person she unfortunately bumped into as a result was Sasuke, who happened to be standing behind Ino all along. But it wasn't just a simple 'bump into'. Haruno Sakura had not only her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace in attempt to halt her fall, but she found her lips on top of his.
Haruno Sakura found herself kissing Uchiha Sasuke. On. His. Lips!
A deathly still silence quickly washed over the room, everyone too shocked at what had just happened. Even that loud Ino-pig was quiet now, no doubt traumatized as much as Sakura was. In a flash, Sakura quickly pulled away from Sasuke as she desperately tried to wipe off whatever vermin that had attached itself to her skin, especially her mouth. She felt as if it was growing rotten.
It was Sasuke that spoke first. "Why Sakura-san, what a bold way to confess your love to m-"
"ARRRRRRRGGGGHHH!" came the pink-haired girl's reaction of pure distaste. She unhesitatingly gave the presumptuous skirt chaser the hardest slap he'd ever experienced in his entire twelve year old life.
Naruto couldn't be more bothered even if they were actually doing it on purpose, and from what he'd seen so far he wondered if they were actually really doing it on purpose. Causing a commotion was one thing, but when the results of the fight had turned out like that, he couldn't help but laugh at them even if he didn't show it. In his opinion the fault was Sasuke's for making such a lewd comment like that, and couldn't blame that Sakura girl for smacking him senseless as she did. Given the circumstances, he himself would've knocked Sasuke senseless if Sakura hadn't. Well, not in public anyway. Perhaps some other time when no one was around…
Immobile from his chair, Naruto slowly shook his head sideways, a slight smirk of amusement depicted on his lips.
Iruka scanned the small crowd in front of him. Twenty-seven students. A lot more graduates that he had originally come to expect. Well, 'graduates' weren't exactly the word for these young ninja hopefuls… he just wished that they wouldn't crack under the pressure when they would eventually learn that the 'final exam' was far from over. After all, it was basic knowledge that a ninja must read underneath the underneath… he hoped they would realize that before it was too late, which especially held true for one particular pink-haired student of his.
He sounded a cough loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear. After he was sure that he'd gotten the attention of everyone, he began his speech. "Beginning today, all of you are real ninjas. However! You all are still merely rookie Genin. The hard part has just started."
He paced back and forth in front of the chalkboard, allowing some time to digest the words he said. "Now," he started again. "You will soon be assigned duties by the village. Therefore, we're going to divide you up into three-man teams and assign each team a Jounin Sensei. You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete your assigned duties."
A small murmur erupted in the room, no doubt surprised by this announcement. It was to be expected – it was like this for him too. "We tried to balance each team's strength, so we've decided what team gets which person. I'll now announce them! First team…
Pfft… three man teams? Naruto thought annoyingly. Just more people in my way… well, if that's the case, I suppose it doesn't matter who I'll be teamed up with… Naruto thought annoyingly.
Naruto wasn't the only one annoyed at this. Sakura was just as disturbed at this announcement. Well, I guess it isn't too bad as long as I don't have to be paired with Ino or Sasuke… ESPECIALLY Sasuke! Maybe Shikamaru and Choji… they seem to be good friends, and I can probably get along with them.
Sasuke on the other hand was probably the most enthusiastic of the bunch. Hmm… three man teams eh? Good, it'll give me more opportunities to make good impression on girls, especially if I get teamed up with one. Just hope I don't get teamed up with Ino… she's starting to become boring. Perhaps that Sakura will do, he eyed the pink-haired kunoichi in of the corner his eye. She isn't that bad looking, and above all, she looks like a challenge.
"Next, Team Seven…" Iruka continued as he read up the names. "Haruno Sakura."
Ah, that's me! Sakura leaned forward from her chair. Wonder who it'll be!
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Hmm, that kid huh? Sakura flashed a brief glace at the small kid with long blond hair that sat quietly in the far corner of the classroom. Always the quiet one… well, I guess he won't be annoying.
So it's her…. Naruto didn't match Sakura's gaze, but he knew she was watching him. Interesting
"And, Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka finished.
Sasuke smiled to himself. Perfect. Thanks, Iruka-sensei. He gave his mentor a slight nod in appreciation.
Sakura felt the exact opposite. NOOO! Inner Sakura screamed in utter terror. Why, of all people, him? Damn you Iruka-sensei! Damn you!
She wasn't the only person feeling dread at that announcement, however. My gawd! How could I be separated from Sasuke-kun! Not only that, he's teamed up with big forehead girl! Oh, that's so cruel! Poor Sasuke-kun! Little did Ino know that she wouldn't have time to worry about (what she thought was) her one true love when she learned what her own fate was to become.
"Team Eight. Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, and Rock Lee."
I'm teamed up with a fatass and a fashion-sense zero thick eyebrows freak? NOOO! How could they do this to me! Those was Ino's thoughts, of course.
Heh, serves her right. Shikamaru thought as he learned of his childhood friend's fate. Hmm, but I wasn't teamed up with Chouji… oh well.
Iruka finished listing up the members of Team Nine as he moved on to the next team. "Team Ten. Hyuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, and Hyuga Hinata."
Shikamaru immediately felt two pairs of white eyes glare at each other as he learned whom his other two teammates were. Uh oh, this could be troublesome.
"That's it for the teams!" Iruka announced as he finished reading through the list of newly formed three-man teams. "We will be introducing your Jounin Sensei's later this afternoon. Any questions?" A hand was raised. "Yes Sakura?"
"Iruka-sensei! Why the heck was I teamed up with… with…" she pointed an accusing finger at the boy that was (unfortunately for her) sitting not too far away. "With that lecher?"
"Sasuke-kun is a lecher?" Iruka asked as he scratched his head, oblivious to the events that had transpired just moments before he had first stepped into the classroom.
The accused boy simply chucked at this. "Oh, come on, Sakura-san, don't deny it. You wanted -"
"You shut up!" Sakura wanted to strange the Uchiha boy, but she managed to restrain herself, which was rather surprising given her personality.
"Well Sakura," Iruka started to explain. "Like I said earlier, it was to balance the teams. Your written test scores were outstanding, but you lack major skills when it comes down to taijutsu and ninjutsu. Saskue is well versed in both areas, but his test scores weren't as impressive as yours. Naruto, your other teammate, is exponential in all areas. Balance. Understand?"
"…dammit." Sakura cursed. Defeated, she slumped down in her chair, and instead contemplated on various ways to maximize the distance between her and Sasuke now that it seemed they were teamed up for good. Iruka wanted to smile at the exchange, but he didn't let it show. He was, in fact, displeased with whom Sakura was teamed up with.
Sakura, it shouldn't be Sasuke you should be so worried about. Rather, he's the least of your problems… The young Academy teacher's eyes drifted to the quiet blond-haired boy in the right, Sakura's other teammate. It is him that worries me… Thrid, I certainly hope you're sure about this…
"Any other questions?" the room stayed silent at Iruka's question. "Alright then, dismissed!"
Later that day, Sasuke was looking all over for his new female teammate, planning to ask her out for lunch to 'loosen her up'. However, he was instead assaulted by dozens of other of girls, Ino unfortunately included, asking him out for lunch instead. As much as he didn't like Ino anymore, he was unable to resist this opportunity so he went with them, his mind oblivious of the well being of his other two teammates.
Sakura hid herself from Sasuke's view atop a nearby tree-branch, watching him from afar. As she had predicted, Sasuke was just a womanizer, a person she needed to avoid contact with as much as possible. Then a thought occurred to her, and with Inner Sakura's encouragement, a couple of evil plans to ruin his "cool image" formulated in her head. Smiling mischievously, she disappeared from the branch as she hastily went to work.
The last teammate, Naruto, observed the actions of his other two teammates while hiding his presence from those two completely. He smiled slightly in amusement. These two were going to provide him a form of entertainment he couldn't enjoy anywhere else. Yet… Naruto shook his head to clear his mind. He had to remind himself time and time again never to stray too far from his goals. He had to accomplish his task, no matter the cost.
It was safe to say that Team Seven didn't start off in the best of footings.
I knew it was going to be bothersome from the beginning…
But honestly, I didn't expect for things to turn out like this.
- Nara Shikamaru
-
Tainted Demon Eyes
- Chapter Three -
"Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard"
-END-
Author's Notes:
Dammit, I guess I sort of rushed this chapter (again), and ended up shorter than the first two. It also ended rather abruptly, but I wanted to leave some sort of cliffhanger. Why was Iruka opposed to having Naruto in Sakura's team? Find out next chapter!
Er, ahem, before you fans kill me for making Naruto a calm, quiet character and Sasuke a womanizer (dodges countless volleys of god-knows-what, a few hitting him in the head) AAAAAH! Lemee explain! (slight pause) Ahh… well, Naruto's personality will be explained in the next chapter, but Sasuke's… honestly, if Itachi didn't kill off the entire Uchiha Clan in cold blood I believe Sasuke will actually turn out like that. Really. I mean, the child Sasuke I saw in the flashbacks seemed cocky and overconfident and all… and since he has that "dark and mysterious (?)" look that makes lots of girls fall for him, so it shouldn't be too surprising when he takes advantage of that if he wasn't so obsessed with killing his brother. Since Itachi is a good guy in this fic (barely dodges a kunai thrown at his head)… er, well, it makes it more interesting.
Anyhow! The AU should be very apparent by now! We get a little glimpse into Sakura's past and her Haruno clan! I don't know if the Harunos are really all women-centered, but since I had a suspicion (due to the fact we never ever hear from her father, only her mother in the anime), I extended that thought and came up with this (and yes, Sakura has short hair, not long, because she isn't trying impress a certain anyone ). I thought it turned out okay. Hayate as the deliverer of the bad news – I think that suits him well. He sorta has that undertaker look (chuckle).
As for the altered teams, and my reasons behind them… er, well, "I felt like it" would be the best answer. How did I come up with them? Well… actually… it was… I made a lottery and picked out names by random. Well, to make this fic more AU I thought altering the teams would be a good idea.
By the way, the weird chapter subtitles I keep on coming up with – they're songs (if you haven't realized it by now), all written by a certain band. As for why I chose that band, don't ask. Thought it might be neat to have a theme… (whistles innocently)
Eep, long rant…
Reviews, comments, criticism, always welcome! Ta for now. Until the next chapter!
- Nes Mikel
(Chapter Format Revised, 01/15/06)
Japanese Word Translations in Chapter Three (in order of appearance):
kiku, satsuki, ayame, hasu, yuri – names of flowers. I'm not sure which is what – I'm not familiar with those translations. They're just… names of some flowers in Japanese.
ninja – a member of a class of 14th-century Japanese mercenary agents who were trained in the martial arts and hired for covert operations such as assassination and sabotage. Note that the ninja's in this fic is not based off real life, but based off the ninja's in "Naruto"
anbu – literal translation: "dark squad". In "Naruto" these are elite ninja squads that accomplish the most dangerous missions such as assassinations. They sort of act like military police too.
san – attached after a name, it is a way of calling people out of respect. It could mean "Mr", "Miss" or "Mrs".
hokage – literal translation is "shadow of fire". Title given to the leaders of the Hidden Leaf.
otouto – means "younger brother". Only used among siblings to call their younger brothers.
aniki – means "older brother". Used among siblings to call their older brothers.
sama – attached after a name, could mean "lord" or "master". Either work.
jutsu – technique
kun – attached after a name, basically it's used to call someone who is younger than you or about the same age. What makes it confusing is that it's used in some other situations that is rather hard to explain.
genin – novice-class ninjas on the ninja hierarchy.
jounin – expert-class ninjas on the ninja hierarchy.
sensei – teacher
kunoichi – female ninjas. Literal translation is "nine is one." If one combines the three kanji's (one of the three types of the Japanese alphabet) that make up the word kunoichi, it becomes another kanji that means "woman".
taijutsu – literal translation is "body technique." In "Naruto", these are physical combat techniques used by ninjas. Some combat taijutsus require the use of chakra, but most do not.
ninjutsu – literal translation is "ninja technique". In "Naruto", these are the techniques used by ninjas that require the use of chakra that does physical damage.
Review Replies (aka – the Cleanup/Explanations/Excuses corner):
Sycorax – Haha, did I sound discouraged? Thanks for your concern! Well, it started off slow, but I think the change is much more apparent now that other characters have been introduced. Only I now know how the dynamic will change and develop… hehehe.
Zsych – I wouldn't know. Since we can't travel back in time, we can never say things will turn out differently if Sakura had to walk through the same past as Naruto, girl or not. I think a person's development on their personalities strongly depends on their upbringings. In this situation I gave them identical pasts, hence the similarity (that's the excuse I came up with anyway ), but there is a slight change that has been implemented from the beginning which had evolved into the more original this chapter. I'm not too worried about the similarity issue as further analysis will force me to study human psychology to better understand one's mind – but this is a AU fic after all, almost anything goes (another lame excuse ). About the sexy no jutsu tidbit, an explanation to why she had developed that jutsu was there in the second chapter. I found it rather unsatisfactory myself, but it was the best I could come up with. In order to meet Konohamaru she had to defeat the Hokage when she stole the scroll, and I couldn't think up of some other jutsu to do the trick without overpowering her. As for Sakura breaking mentally, she almost did in the second chapter. Do also note that we rarely see Naruto in a state of self-reflection (partially because he's an idiot, an aspect we fans come to love about him ), but Sakura on the other hand is smart, and therefore the narratives. However, I don't view Sakura as mentally weak. In fact, I say that she's stronger than Naruto in that regard – she did break Ino's Shintenshin after all, and that requires a strong mind. And since in this fic her inner personality is more strongly represented, it shouldn't be too unrealistic that the outcome came out to be like this. I had given all this more thought than you might think, you know.
Miko-chan – The 'erk' problem you had with Sakura performing the sexy no jutsu I understand very well – in fact, I had the same feeling. However, I really wanted for Sakura to have a episode where she gets really depressed about being the container of the nine-tails fox and receive encouragement from someone else than Iruka, so I thought Konohamaru suited the role well. And in order for the whole Konohamaru episode to occur Sakura had to defeat the Third Hokage using some sort of technique only she could perform, and I couldn't think up of something else (that, or I was just being lazy )Ah, and as for why the Fourth picked a baby other than his own for the sacrifice, I plan to explain that in the later chapters.
Licht Sieger – Glad I got your approval. I'll work hard!
Grand Admiral Gin – Thank you for your kind words! I'm flattered.
GenocideHeart – Nothing to worry about, we all make mistakes. And hope you like the twists I've introduced in this chapter.
Riza – Yeah, I think I should've read over my work a few more times to comb through the many typo's/grammar mistakes scattered about… I'll get to that someday, but the ideas just keep on pouring fourth…
ccslover – Kakashi will appear in the next chapter. Till then, patience.
RuByMoOn17 – There you go.
--NC-- – I got the idea of the Nara family being photographers because certain clans seemed to employ their own clan businesses. Yamanaka's as florists, and the Akimichi's I got the impression they own some sort of restaurant, and since Sakura had to have a photo taken, what other clan would best suited to own a photography shop? I liked what I came up with too.