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Sakura's Decision
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Sakura invited her teacher and two teammates, Sasuke and Naho, for dinner. It had been her parents' idea. They kept bothering her, saying they wanted to meet the man that was responsible for her safety, as well as the teammates she was going on missions with. So Sakura eventually gave in and invited them over.
Naho was the first to arrive that evening. For once, Sakura was happy to see her. She wasn't sure if her mother and father could quite appreciate Sasuke's coolness and the thought of being alone with him and her parents terrified her. Naho on the other hand was the perfect teammate to show to them, polite and boring, but, most importantly, a girl too. And not just any girl, but one that looked just as frail as Sakura herself, if not even more so with her reserved attitude. Maybe her parents would finally realise that girls could choose the life of a shinobi too. Even when they weren't born into a clan and raised as shinobi from birth.
"This is Naho." She showed Naho to the dining table and introduced her to her parents. The bell rang again soon after, and Sakura ran back to the door.
"Sorry for being late," Kakashi said. "On my way I…"
"You don't have to make up an excuse, Kakashi-sensei. You are on time, actually." He looked at her somewhat surprised. "I averaged the time you came too late to our missions and gave you a different time accordingly." A grin formed on her lips. "I guess I outsmarted you, sensei." She stepped aside to let him in too.
"This is how trust-issues develop among teammates, Sakura," he said casually as he stepped inside, hands stuck in his pockets.
In the dining room, her parents were already busy bombarding Naho with questions about her life as a shinobi. "I'm sure your parents are worried a lot about you too, aren't they?" Sakura's father asked just as Sakura returned with Kakashi. Naho looked like she wanted to hide underneath the table.
"This is Kakashi-sensei." Sakura interrupted them.
Her parents both jumped up from their chairs to greet him, throwing phrases of admiration at him. They had always thought that shinobi deserved the biggest respect possible for protecting the village and its people, just not when their own daughter was the shinobi in question.
"How's my daughter holding up? I hope she's not in the way too much?" Her father asked, showing Kakashi to his seat.
"Stop it, dad. We haven't even started eating yet and you are already embarrassing me."
"Where's that other teammate of yours? Sasuke was his name, right?" her mother asked, looking at the clock.
Sakura looked at the time herself. He probably wouldn't come, she realised. He never said he would. A short 'I'll think about it' had been all she'd gotten from him. But maybe it was better that way, she told herself despite feeling disappointed. A dinner with her parents was definitely nothing that would help her win him over.
The bell rang again, and Sakura opened the door to Sasuke, who apologised for being late. Sakura stared at him for a moment, blushing. He truly came, to her house. She shook the thoughts away. There were still her more than embarrassing parents sitting at the dinner table, so this evening was far from being a success. She showed him inside.
Sasuke looked at the people sitting at the dinner table, realising Naruto was still missing as well. "Is Na-", he started.
"Is Naho's hair different? I thought so too. It looks really nice," Sakura laughed, showing Sasuke to his seat. Naho touched her hair, throwing a surprised look at Sakura. "Let's start eating since everyone who wanted to come is here."
"What about Na-," Naho was about to ask about Naruto.
"Napkins? I'll get some right away. Dad, you wanted to get to know my team, right? Well, here they are." Sakura smiled the best smile her lips could offer.
"Right, so tell me Kakashi, how's my daughter doing?"
Sakura sat down, holding back a big sigh.
"Sakura is doing well," Kakashi said with a smile on his face. Sakura looked at him in surprise. "She's really a smart one too."
Her father nodded. "Yes, she's always studied hard. Which is why I was thinking a scholarly career would be good for her." The rest of the room was quiet as Sakura's father kept on criticising his daughter's life choices and offered his ideal alternatives.
"Father, I thought you wanted to get to know my team? Can we just stop talking about me?" Sakura asked politely, clenching her fists only under the table.
Her father fell silent, and her mother started talking instead. "Naho-chan, are your parents shinobis too? I feel like most of Sakura's classmates belonged to some clan."
"No, they aren't shinobis," Naho said in a low voice.
"Was it hard for them to accept your decision?" Sakura's father asked.
"You know, this baked salmon is really tasty, Mrs. Haruno. What are all these spices?" Kakashi smiled at Sakura's mother, pointing at a dish with obvious fake excitement.
They talked about food briefly, but Naho could feel Sakura's father looking at her, aware that she hadn't answered his question yet. She grabbed her glass, drinking whenever another moment of silence occurred, hoping they would be too polite to interrupt her.
Sakura watched Sasuke, he kept on eating like nothing happened, silent as he always was. And maybe it all wasn't as bad, Sakura thought. Her father was a strict man worried about his only daughter's future. It was completely ordinary, she told herself.
"Naho, why don't you and your parents come over for dinner some day too? My husband always gets so overly worried about Sakura, maybe talking to other parents in his position would do him good." Sakura's mother smiled at Naho, who still held her glass in front of her face.
Naho took another sip, and another, until the glass was empty. Slowly, she put it back down on the table. "My parents are both dead. So I don't really know what they think of me being a shinobi."
There was surprise in everyone's eyes except for Kakashi's, who, of course, had received a background check of each of his students when assigned as their teacher. The room turned silent again.
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After dinner, Sakura accompanied her guests outside. Naho was polite enough to thank her for dinner, before she and Sasuke both left into different directions, fleeing the scene. Kakashi stayed behind.
"You didn't invite Naruto," he noted.
"What? Yes, I did. He just didn't have time to come tonight."
"You tried hard to avoid his name from ever coming up."
Sakura looked away. "You saw what my father thinks of me being a shinobi, right? My parents are scared of Naruto. They are convinced he is a monster. I couldn't possibly tell them we are on the same team. They would straight up forbid me to ever leave the house again until I gave up on team 7."
"Your parents will find out eventually. You can't just pretend to not have anything to do with Naruto at all when you two spend most of your days together doing missions." He sighed. "Besides, pretending your teammate doesn't exist is not the teamwork I was talking about. How do you think Naruto will feel when he learns that you excluded him specifically from a dinner party?"
Sakura kept staring at her feet. Deep inside she knew her teacher was right. But there was no way she could tell her parents. She was doomed either way.
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Team 7 met up at the training grounds the next morning. They had no mission assigned for the day, so Kakashi told them they'd be working on their ninja skills instead. Of course, he was running late once again.
Naruto was the only one of the four to show up in a good mood, despite still having a black eye and bruises all across his face from his fight with Hinata's bodyguard. Naho could barely look at Sakura. And Sasuke never seemed to be in a good mood to begin with, so Sakura wasn't quite sure if he thought any different of her after getting to know her embarrassing father.
"What's up with you?" Naruto asked, eyeing both Sakura and Naho. "Has anything happened?"
"Huh? No, of course not," Sakura immediately said. "What happened to your face?"
"Oh, I beat a guy up. It's nothing. But you both do look like something's bothering you. Has Sasuke said mean things again?" His eyes narrowed at his teammate.
"You are the only one who's a bother here," Sasuke returned.
"Yo." Kakashi appeared behind them, holding up his hand to greet them.
"Why are you always late?" Naruto complained.
"Well, I had to help a nice old lady carry her groceries."
"What nice old lady is doing her groceries at 7 in the morning?" Naruto crossed his arms. Clearly their teacher didn't care about punctuality even a bit.
"Today you guys are going to improve your chakra control." Kakashi went on explaining the exercise, ignoring the looks Naruto threw at him. "Follow me." They left the village and went further into the woods that surrounded Konoha until the trees around them became bigger and bigger.
"What are we doing here? Are you gonna teach us new jutsu?" Naruto looked around, but trees were all there was.
"No, I want you guys to improve your chakra control first. You might think you are proficient at this already, but this will be a difficult training that requires you to put your life on the line," he said, trying to sound scary.
"What will we do?" Naruto became more excited instead of scared.
"Tree climbing." He pointed upwards. "But you are not allowed to use your hands. And if all of you succeed, and I am talking about all of you, I might be willing to take you guys on a C-rank mission soon."
Naruto jumped up and down in excitement.
"Is climbing a tree without using hands even possible?" Sakura wondered.
Kakashi formed a sign to gather chakra at his feet, and went on to casually walk up a tree like he was taking a stroll in a park. "You have to accumulate exactly the required amount of chakra in your feet. It's a very subtle amount that you'll need, and the bottom of one's feet is the most difficult place to gather chakra," he explained, while hanging heads-down from a branch, hands still in his pockets. "This exercise is surprisingly difficult, so don't take it lightly. However, if you do succeed, it will mean your chakra control has improved significantly and learning new jutsu will prove much easier." He let himself fall down and landed in front of them. "But talking won't really teach you. You'll have to learn this by trying. Take out a kunai and mark how far you managed to climb. That way you can see your improvement."
"Hah, this sounds easy enough." Naruto pulled out a kunai and walked up to a tree.
"You better not be the reason we don't get that C-rank mission." Sasuke chose the tree next to Naruto to climb.
All four Genin formed the sign like their teacher did and gathered a small amount of chakra in their feet. Naruto really couldn't feel any chakra building up at all, but he tried walking up the tree regardless. He put a foot on the bark. It wouldn't stick to it. Realising he didn't have enough chakra in his feet, he formed the sign again and kept his foot pressed onto the tree. He figured he'd feel once it stuck to it, but he didn't. Instead, the bark started to crack.
"Naruto, you are supposed to climb the tree, not chop it down," Kakashi said, sitting in the shade reading.
The other three weren't successful either, and everyone soon realised this was no task they'd complete in a day. Kakashi eventually gave them another advice, saying they might try running up instead of walking. Other than that, he quietly kept reading, leaving his students to figure it out themselves.
Sakura was the first who managed getting her feet stuck to the tree. She hung horizontally in the air for a few seconds, fighting to keep up both body tension as well as the amount of chakra she stored in her feet. Her feet eventually disconnected, and she fell down, landing on her butt. She was the first one to make some progress in their training, but also the first one to eventually sit down in exhaustion.
"How can you guys still be going? We've trained all day." She leaned at the tree and looked at her three teammates. Naruto and Sasuke both tried running up again, and again. Neither of them was ready to stop. Naho too was still giving her best, though her approach seemed less passionate compared to the other two.
"It's alright, Sakura." Kakashi said, looking up from his book. "Some people just have more chakra reserves than others, so they get tired less rapidly. Your chakra control seems to be much better though, you were the only one to make real progress today. Good job." He smiled at her.
"Hah, it was a piece of cake." Sakura said, but couldn't help feeling happy at the praise she received. "What's that book you keep reading, Kakashi-sensei? Icha Icha Paradise?" She read the title out loud, until her brain suddenly realised just what kind of book it was, and she started blushing. "How can you read something like that in public? And while you are training with us?!"
"It's really gripping right now," Kakashi casually said, turning a page.
Sasuke and Naruto kept on training until the sun started setting, and even then, had no intention of stopping. Kakashi told them to call it a day and go home. The two boys weren't happy with themselves and their achievements. Sasuke had at least made some small progress, while Naruto felt like he had not achieved anything at all. This whole walking up trees seemed like a huge mystery to him, and hadn't Kakashi showed him before, he'd be convinced it wasn't possible after all.
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The next morning, the four students met at the same spot again. Naruto had been there first and was already continuing his training when the others arrived. Kakashi only showed up around noon, when his students were already practicing on their own, and Sakura was able to take a few steps up the trees by the time he arrived.
"Mh, it seems like Sakura is the best at chakra control here. I guess she is closest to becoming Hokage right now, unlike someone else here," Kakashi said when he arrived, glancing at Naruto.
Naruto's frustration was growing as he still wasn't making progress at all.
Sasuke sneered at Naruto's lack of success, a gesture Kakashi didn't miss.
"It also seems like the Uchiha clan isn't that great either." His teasing just added fuel to the inner fires of the two.
The team kept training, with everyone slowly getting the hang of it except for Naruto. He was visibly frustrated by the end of the day, refusing to go back to the village with the others. Kakashi knew it wasn't his fault. It was the seal. But at this rate, Naruto wasn't going to make any progress unless they removed it. At this rate, Naruto most likely wouldn't be able to become a shinobi. At least none that used chakra.
"Naruto, tomorrow is another day. You won't make any progress if you are all exhausted." Kakashi tried his best to calm him down, but the boy wasn't going to change his mind. He didn't want to be the one to hold the team back.
"I'm not tired yet. I'll just keep trying all night long. I'm not giving up just because the sun's setting."
Sasuke immediately turned around as well and rose to the challenge. If Naruto was still going, so would he. His chakra control was already a lot better than Naruto's, but he couldn't risk Naruto overtaking him in a night.
Sakura took a deep breath. "Are you guys for real? Every muscle in my body feels numb already. I really need my bed."
"What should I do? I guess I could train some more, but…" Naho was talking to herself rather than anyone else.
Sakura's body tensed at the thought that she might be the only one to call it a day. Leaving when everyone else continued training was not an option.
"It's alright, girls. A shinobi needs to know when to rest too. You did well today." Kakashi smiled at them, a smile they both gladly returned. He fairly easily convinced them to continue their training after a good night's sleep.
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Naruto and Sasuke were both leaning against a tree when Sakura and Naho arrived at their training spot again the next morning. They were fast asleep. Sakura blushed looking at the peacefully sleeping Sasuke. She was about to go into raptures over the cute look on his face. The frown he usually wore was completely gone. But the moment didn't last long. Sasuke woke up as soon as the two girls got close to him.
He looked around in confusion for a moment, wondering why he wasn't in his bed. "Did I fall asleep? What time is it?" The tree behind Sasuke showed the progress he'd made overnight. The mark moved further up. Not by much, but it did. Naruto's tree had no new marks at all. Only some more cracked bark that looked like Naruto had punched it in frustration.
Naruto woke up in a similar manner to Sasuke, except that there was a lot more yawning, stretching and disorientation involved. A fight between the two broke out as soon as Naruto realised that Sasuke had made more progress than him. Sasuke called him a loser. Naruto claimed he was just taking it slow for now but would catch up soon.
"Sakura, can you give me some advice, please?" Naruto approached her as soon as Sasuke had gone back to training.
Sakura was proud of herself. This was the first real exercise their teacher had given them, and she proved the most talented. Naho stood next to them, listening carefully to what Sakura had to say. Even Sasuke blinked into their direction every once in a while, too proud to ask for advice himself.
The three talked for a while. It was a bright day and even the sun rays found their way through the tree crowns to greet them. Someone approached. Sasuke was the first to notice, though he didn't say anything. The other three soon realised too. It was obvious it wasn't Kakashi. They never heard Kakashi approach. This person stepped on dry leaves and little branches. And soon, Sakura's mother appeared from behind a tree, carrying a bag filled with food.
Sakura instantly dashed towards her, asking her what she was doing there, trying her best to block her mother's view from Naruto. But it was too late.
"You forgot your bento this morning. Having a full belly is important when training all day, so I thought I…" Her eyes fell on Naruto. "What is he doing here, Sakura?" Her voice was almost a whisper.
"Nothing, mom. Thanks for bringing me my lunch. You can leave again."
"You were talking to him right now. Why? Why is he here?" Her mother rose her voice.
"Please, mom. We used to be in the same class. We sometimes talk. That's all." Sakura tried to pull her away. But this was not a topic her mother would just let slide.
"Your father and I told you again and again that we want you to stay away from him." She was visibly angry with her daughter. "I already have to listen to your father complain all day because you are out doing dangerous missions. What do you think he'll say once he hears you are acquainted with that boy?"
Naho's eyes fell on Naruto. They could hear every word Sakura's mother threw at her daughter. And they weren't nice words. Naruto only stared at the ground, but Naho could see his body tense up. She looked at Sasuke for help, who had stopped his training to observe the scene playing in front of him, but it didn't seem like he was going to get involved.
Naruto wasn't someone to stay quiet for long though when someone did him wrong. So eventually, he stomped towards Sakura and her mother, who instantly took a few steps backwards.
"Shut up," he yelled at her. "You already stared at me with that weird face of yours on the day of the graduation ceremony. What did I do to you?"
"Naruto, stop it. She doesn't mean it that way." Sakura still tried her best to keep the scene from escalating.
"No, Sakura. I'm sorry I'm telling this to your mom of all people. Because I like you, and I really want your mom to like me too, but I can't stand the way she looks at me. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of everyone treating me like a monster just because…" He stopped. "I didn't do anything wrong. Stop treating me like I did. Sakura is my teammate, so suck it up."
The leaves around them rustled in the wind. It was the only sound there was, as Sakura's mother stared at her daughter with an open mouth. Her face slowly lost all it's colour. "Teammate?" she eventually stumbled. "Why is he calling you his teammate, Sakura?"
Sakura was about to tell an excuse, but Naruto cut her off. "Don't look so confused. Sakura and I are a team. We've been doing missions together for the last weeks, so you better get used to seeing me with her."
"Sakura." Her mother frowned at her. "Why did we know nothing of this? I thought Sasuke and Naho are your teammates. If your father hears of this…" She turned around, arms crossed in front of her. Her eyes lingered on Naruto. His presence made her nervous.
"Can't you just not tell dad?" Sakura knew that her mother was the more reasonable of the two. And the one who was more likely to give in. But if her father knew, her life as a shinobi would turn out to be a short one.
"I'm not going to lie to him like you did all these weeks. No wonder you acted so weird when we invited your team for dinner. I knew there was something up." Sakura's mother went on to tell her daughter that she'd better think about an explanation for this situation to her father once she'd get home. Then she handed her daughter the bento and reluctantly left her and Naruto alone.
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, arms crossed behind his head.
"Naruto!" Sakura punched his shoulder. "I know she's annoying at times, but that's still my mother you're pointing your tongue at. So mind your manners!"
Naruto's muscles loosened up again as he apologised to her, until another realisation hit him. "Argh, what will our wedding day be like if your mother already hates me? Will they even approve of our marriage?"
Sakura hit him again, and again. "Stop saying nonsense that will never happen! There's only one guy here that I'm going to marry and it's not you!"
Naruto did his best to dodge Sakura's punches, but some still hit, and they hit good. She eventually stopped after landing an especially good one.
"But what was that dinner your mother was talking about?" Naruto eventually asked.
"Oh, that was nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Did you have a dinner party with the others?" He could see that Sakura was holding something back, so he turned to Naho. "What dinner party?"
Naho looked like she'd been struck by lightning all of a sudden. She stuttered, her cheeks red. Obviously, Sakura didn't want her to say anything. Obviously, Naruto wanted her to say everything. It wasn't a situation Naho liked being in. If she could have vanished in the ground, she would have done so.
"Sakura invited us to a dinner party two days ago to meet her parents," Sasuke eventually said. His voice was calm, and for once, he didn't seem to be teasing Naruto.
Naruto looked at Sakura again, who now as well wished for a way to just dissolve into thin air. "You never invited me," Naruto realised.
"It wasn't really a big deal. Honestly, you should be happy you didn't have to come. My parents are really annoying."
Naruto wasn't angry. He'd felt angry at Sakura's mother just now. But the feeling inside of him now was a different one. One that felt even worse.
"I see," he said, scratching his cheek. "Well, it's almost noon and I haven't even had breakfast yet. My stomach's been rumbling all night long, I should really get something to eat before I continue training." He gave her a short smile and ran off before Sakura could say another word.
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When Kakashi arrived at their training spot, Naruto was nowhere to be seen. The silence immediately alarmed the teacher. His team was not a quiet team.
"Naho," he called the girl over. Sasuke had been training ever since Kakashi arrived, and Sakura was sitting on some branch and tore leaves apart with a gloomy look on her face. "Fill me in on what happened here."
The girl shortly explained the meeting between Naruto, Sakura and her mother.
"I see. So what are you going to do about it? Internal conflict can prove fatal for both missions and your own lives," he said with a wagging finger.
"Me? Why me? I didn't do anything."
Because you are the team leader for today." The girl looked at him with big, confused eyes. "It's a new rule as of today. From now on, every day I will assign a new team leader. And a team leader naturally has to deal with situations like these." He smiled at her. "Congratulations, for today, I chose you."
"But… I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
"This is a learning opportunity. I'm sure you will figure it out." He walked away, proud of the idea he'd just come up with. This way, his students were forced to deal with their issues on their own while he could sit down again to continue his read.
Naho sat down in the shades of a tree, resisting the urge to hit her head against it. A sudden flashback to their first day came to her mind. When she was supposed to note down her dislikes, she couldn't think of anything. But now she'd have an answer. She disliked conflict, people being angry at each other. Only now did she realise what a peaceful childhood she'd had. Her parents never argued. Neither with themselves nor with her. And her best friends used to be a cow and a horse. They hadn't exactly been into arguments either. Was she supposed to know how to deal with situations like this? Because she didn't.
Sasuke was still running up the tree again and again. It seemed he kept out of the situation completely. Naho would have liked to do the same. Sakura had gone from ripping apart leaves to breaking branches. Naho didn't know what was going on in the two. She barely knew anything about them. Even Naruto who usually talked all day long was more of a stranger to her than a friend. And there was so much she didn't understand about him.
"Kakashi-sensei." Naho walked over to her teacher again and sat down next to him. "Who exactly is Naruto?" The question sounded weird once it had passed her lips. Weird and out of place. "I mean, Naruto says he's the son of the Fourth Hokage. But I've heard people in the village call him a liar. Instead, they said that… he is a monster. Sakura's mother seemed to hate him too."
"You've met Naruto personally. You should know who he is."
Naho was about to get discouraged from her teacher's evasive answer. She wasn't someone to push matters. But this had been on her mind for too long. "If you want me to solve this problem, I should know all the background information, right?"
Kakashi sighed. "Usually it would be best to ask Naruto himself about his past. But I guess in this instance, I'll make an exception and tell you about it. It's a bit complicated. It's true that Naruto is the Fourth Hokage's son. But it's also true that one of the nine demons has been sealed inside of him. It was Naruto's father that sealed the kyuubi in Naruto 12 years ago."
"His own father? Why would he do that?"
"I'm sure it was no easy decision. But you have to understand that these demons only bring destruction if they ever break out from a seal. It's said that they destroyed whole countries in the past. And 12 years ago, the kyuubi threatened to destroy Konoha. All the Fourth Hokage could do was to seal it away again."
"But why would he seal it in his own son? It seems like such a cruel thing to do."
"Sealing a demon is no easy task. But the younger the vessel, the higher the chances are that the sealing succeeds. And Naruto had only been born that day. He was Minato's best bet at succeeding before he died."
Naho had read about the incident. She knew that the Fourth Hokage died that day, protecting the village from a tailed beast. But she hadn't known that he sealed the kyuubi inside Naruto that very day.
"But also," Kakashi added. "A person able to control one of these demons… has the capability to become one of the strongest shinobi to ever walk these lands. Minato probably thought his son could do it."
"But, that's no reason for everyone to be this mean to Naruto. It's not his fault that his father sealed the kyuubi inside him. If anything, they should be thankful to Naruto, right?"
Kakashi put a hand on her head, smiling. "You are right. Without Naruto to hold the demon in, Konoha might not exist anymore. But the older generation has seen what destruction the kyuubi brings. Many have lost loved ones because of it. It's not that they hate Naruto, they fear what's inside of him. They wish Naruto and the ninetails would be gone. But they don't understand that a demon is never gone." The girl looked at him with big, curious eyes. "That's enough for now. Naruto is Naruto. That's the important part you have to remember." He opened his book again where he'd left off.
Naho kept sitting next to him. She still had so many questions. But her teacher was right. Naruto was Naruto.
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The day they first met, Tenten told Naho that girls were supposed to always have each other's back. Because life as a kunoichi was hard enough already. That day, Naho and Tenten became friends. Tenten always told her that she wished for another girl on her team. Neji and Lee always had a special connection, a certain rivalry. Tenten wanted something like that.
Naho now had this other female teammate. Yet that invisible connection between two kunoichi Tenten always talked about was completely missing between the two.
She jumped up on the branch Sakura was sitting on. In her mind she repeated the words she'd worked out over and over again.
"What do you want?" Sakura's blunt question threw Naho off.
"Kakashi-sensei said that you and Naruto are supposed to make up." It wasn't what she'd thought of initially, but the first thing that came to her mind now.
"There is nothing to make up. I didn't do anything wrong. It was just a stupid dinner party." Sakura didn't look at her.
"But… I think you made Naruto sad by not inviting him. Can't you just apologise?"
"And then what?" She turned her head to Naho. There were tears in her eyes that she tried to blink away. "What good would it do? My father won't allow me to stay on team 7, so from tomorrow on I'll be gone anyway."
"But you want to be a shinobi, right? Your father should understand."
Sakura laughed at her. "You don't understand my situation at all. My father does what he thinks is best for me. It's always been like that. My parents have had very precise plans for my life. Becoming a shinobi was the first decision I made for myself." She sighed and her eyes rested on Sasuke for a moment, who was still doing tree-training. "If I'm lucky he might allow me to change teams."
"Maybe you should talk to Kakashi-sensei about this. He might know what to do."
"There's nothing to do about it." Sakura jumped down the branch and swiftly landed on the ground. "I don't feel like training anymore."
Naho sighed, burying her face in her hands. "This was awful," she mumbled to herself. "I didn't help at all." She looked at Sakura, who was on her way back to the village, ignoring Kakashi's question where she was going.
Sasuke suddenly jumped in front of her, involving himself in the matter for the first time. "You three take training very lightly today," he said, his eyes locked on Sakura's. "I'm not letting myself get held back by your childish problems. So I hope you are on your way to get Naruto back, because he really needs this training."
Sakura's eyes were big from surprise at Sasuke's words. But she soon averted them and walked past him, leaving him and her team behind.
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The two shinobi guarding Konoha's main gate completely ignored Sakura as she entered the village again. Sakura felt sick. Her life didn't feel like her life anymore. Everything had been fine just an hour ago, but now her whole life was different. She'd worked so hard to become a Genin, and then fate put her on the same team as Sasuke. But now, that was all gone. Because of Naruto.
She bit her lips. It wasn't Naruto's fault. She knew that. Yet she couldn't help feeling bitter.
Some merchants passed her, leaving Konoha with their carts to go trading in other villages. Two shinobi accompanied them. Hiring a shinobi was not cheap, but it did make sure that nothing happened to them outside the safety of Konoha's walls. The most important rules on guarding clients popped into Sakura's head. She knew them all by heart.
Further down the street, Sakura suddenly ran into Naruto. He was carrying a bag and seemed to be on his way back to their training spot.
"Oh, Sakura-chan. Why are you here? Are you done training yet?" Naruto smiled at her, and for a moment, Sakura wondered if she'd only imagine her fight with her mother.
"I'm going home."
"What? Why?" He held up the bag. "I bought some mochi for all of us, so we can have a nice break together later."
Sakura couldn't get her eyes off of the smile on Naruto's lips. "Aren't you angry with me?"
"Huh? Why would I?" He scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I was a bit disappointed. I've never been to a dinner party and I'd really liked to go, but… I'm just happy that we can all have lunch together during missions and training. So you are coming back later, right? Don't take too long or I might eat your mochi." Naruto waved at her and ran ahead towards the gate.
Sakura stared after him for a while. She truly couldn't blame him. In no world was any of this mess Naruto's fault. It was her parents. And she knew that as soon as she reached her parent's house, there was a decision that had to be made.
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It was dark outside by the time Sakura's father came home from work. She was upstairs in her room, but she heard the front door open and close. Then she heard her parents talk. And soon after she heard them call her name. Sakura took a deep breath and went downstairs.
Her father was sitting at the dinner table, waiting for his daughter to sit down too. Her mother vanished back in the kitchen to prepare dinner.
"Your mother just told me that Naruto Namikaze is part of your team. Why didn't you tell me?"
Sakura didn't say anything. The answer seemed too obvious to her.
"You lied to us, Sakura. I'm disappointed."
"You made me lie," she interrupted.
"Quiet. You knew that staying away from that boy was the one condition you had to meet to go to the Academy."
"I'm not at the Academy anymore. And besides, we were assigned the same team. What did you expect me to do?"
Her father's eyes narrowed, but he still kept his calm. "You should have told us for starters. I could have talked to the Hokage."
Sakura laughed, but she couldn't get herself to look at her father. "You really wanted to talk to the Lord Hokage because of that? You think he'd really care about your complaints? The Hokage has better things to do."
"Show some respect, Sakura." He raised his voice. "I might not be a shinobi, but I'm still your father."
Sakura lowered her head. She didn't mean to be disrespectful. But somehow it felt harder and harder to truly respect her father.
"Your mother and I have always supported you, Sakura. We've always made sure that you had the best life possible. And yet you go ahead and betray our trust."
"You've not supported me." She interrupted him again. "I know you always bought me every book I needed, and paid the fees for the Academy, and you always praised me for good grades. But you never truly supported me. You never wanted me to succeed. You never wanted me to be a shinobi."
"Of course, I never wanted you to be a shinobi!" he now yelled at her. "You are my daughter. It's my duty to protect you! Why would I want you to become a shinobi who has to risk their life for others? I love you, Sakura. You are the most precious thing to me. Which is why I will not allow you to continue working with this team of yours. I'm done watching you act like an adult who knows what's best for them. Because you don't. You are a child."
"I'm not." Sakura wanted to protest, but this time it was her father who cut her off again.
"You are. You've not seen war. You've not seen fighting and death. And you have not seen what this Naruto boy truly is."
"Naruto is my friend!" Sakura stood up, pushing the chair away from her so hard that it fell over and crashed on the floor with a loud bang.
"He is a monster."
"You don't even know him. You act like you know all about being a shinobi, but you aren't even one yourself. You have no idea at all! I'm not giving up on being a shinobi. I've worked hard for this. And I'm definitely not giving up on Naruto and my team. You can't force me to. Because even if you might be convinced that I'm a child, legally I'm not. I'm a Genin. I can make my own decisions."
Her father was quiet. It irritated her. She didn't expect him to be this calm and reserved.
"As long as you live in my house and eat from my table, you are my child, and you will do as I say. And I say that you will not continue on your path as a ninja. This conversation is over."
Sakura was still standing. The chair was lying on the floor behind her. Her mother kept glancing in their direction, but didn't involve herself. "It really is over." Sakura turned around and went back upstairs. Discussing this matter any further with her father had no use. She pulled a backpack out from her closet and started filling it with clothes. This truly was over.
Sakura's father was visibly irritated when he saw his daughter come down the stairs again with a big backpack and another bag in her hands. The argument had been won on his side, or so he thought.
"Sakura, what are you doing? Dinner is ready," her mother said, putting the last pot on the table.
"I'm leaving." She made her way straight to the front door.
"What do you mean you are leaving?" Her mother walked after her.
"If I'm not able to make my own decisions and choose my own friends as long as I live in this house, then I'd rather leave." Her eyes only shortly stayed on her father, before she turned around and ran outside.
Her parents both followed her, yelling after her to come back, but they couldn't catch up to their ninja daughter. And with that, Sakura vanished in the night.
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Sakura sat on a bench, hugging the backpack she kept on her lap. It was late already, and the only people that ever passed her seemed to be on their way home after a long day of work. Where was her home now? When she'd made the decision to leave her parents, she hadn't exactly thought about where to go. Away had been the only plan she'd had. But she couldn't possibly spend the night on a bench outside. And, more importantly, she couldn't just go to her training session the next day without taking a shower first. She had enough money to stay at a hotel for one or two nights, but if they didn't continue doing missions soon again, she wouldn't even be able to pay for food.
"Hey, billboard brow." It was a familiar voice Sakura hadn't heard since they'd been assigned their Genin teams.
When she looked up, she saw Ino standing in front of her with her team. They looked like they'd just come back from a mission, with backpacks on their backs and kunai dangling at their waists.
"What's up with you? Did your team leave you here because of how useless you are?" Ino had her arms crossed in front of her, with a confident look on her face. She seemed glad to find Sakura all alone.
"Hurry up, Ino. Choji might starve if we don't make it to the barbecue soon." Asuma waited for his student while the other two had already gone ahead.
Ino nodded at her teacher, before turning her attention back to Sakura. "Where's Sasuke? I should invite him to dinner, so he can spend some time with actual capable clan members."
"Just get lost, Ino." Sakura didn't look at her. She wasn't in the mood of arguing with her former best friend.
Ino's smile slowly vanished as she realised that Sakura didn't rise to the challenge she'd thrown at her. Without saying another word, she left to go after her teacher and teammates
Sakura was alone once again. She sighed at the thought that a few years ago, Ino would have been the first person she'd turned to in this situation. But they'd broken up their friendship over a boy. Sakura had broken up their friendship over a boy. Over Sasuke. Yet Sasuke didn't care about her one bit even after being teammates for weeks.
Another sigh left her. She thought back to the day she first met Sasuke, and a little smile found its way back on her lips. She'd met him the same day when she decided to become a shinobi. A feeling of nostalgia overcame her as she closed her eyes to dwell in old memories. Memories of when she first decided to change herself. When she decided to become a shinobi, to love Sasuke, and to become strong and independent. It all happened on the same day, yet she had reached none of those goals yet.
"Sakura." Ino approached her once again. This time, she was alone. "Why are you sitting there all alone like a lost child?"
"What's that to you?" Sakura's answer was sharp. Too sharp, as she suddenly realised that there was no teasing in Ino's voice. "Sorry," she added. "I had an argument with my parents."
Ino's gaze fell on the big backpack in her arms. "I guess you are missing a best friend to crash at these days, huh?" She once again crossed her arms in front of her, and her sassy tone returned.
Sakura instantly regretted having said anything. She should have just told Ino to get lost again.
A smile formed on Ino's lips. "Why don't you come to my place later? I can't just let a poor puppy sit at the side of the road all night."
"I don't need your help anymore."
"Are you sure about that?" There was a moment of silence between the two, until Ino eventually held out her hand to Sakura. "Come on. Everyone needs help sometimes. We can continue fighting each other once you got a roof over your head again."
Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at Ino's hand reaching out to her. Where was this hand coming from? She almost expected Ino to pull it back again and stick her tongue out at Sakura if she tried to take it.
But Ino never did. Instead, she softly closed her fingers around Sakura's and pulled her up from the bench. Sakura thought she was dreaming. How were there all these good people in her life? How could Naruto just go and buy her mochi after a fight, and how could Ino just offer her hand to her after they'd been arguing over Sasuke for years? How were they not bitter? And when had she become so bitter?
"Close your mouth or a fly might land in there." Ino took the bag from Sakura and pulled her along.
"Where are we going?"
"Back to the barbecue. I left after we ordered the first round because you behaved so strangely. I don't even remember the last time you didn't insult me back in an instant." Ino laughed. It was a still familiar laugh, even though Ino hadn't shared it with her for years.
"But why, Ino? Why would you care?"
"Huh? You are my rival, aren't you? Rivals have to look out for each other, because if they didn't exist, there'd be no reason for you to try and improve yourself anymore. Also, it's hard not to worry about those sad big eyes of yours."
Sakura still didn't understand. But she also didn't stop Ino from leading her all the way back to the barbecue restaurant to have dinner with her and her team. And she didn't stop her from preparing a bed next to hers later.
She had admired Ino half her life. Right until the point that she'd decided to lead her own life and become her own person. Yet now, all these feelings returned. And she couldn't help but wish to be just a little bit more like Ino once again.
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A/N
I guess this is pretty much a Sakura-chapter. There will be different parts of the story that focus a bit more or less on characters of Team 7. Trying to keep it sort of balanced, but Sasuke with his quiet attitude kinda just wants to not say much so far… But we'll get there.
Also Ino… I never liked her too much when watching the anime, but in fanfiction, she's really grown onto me. So for this fic, she gets to be Sakura's best friend again a bit earlier. For Naho, I chose Tenten as a best friend. You know, just to get some side characters in there too.