Pulp again! So, I can tell people enjoyed that last chapter, and as always I am so very happy and I will continue this story with renewed vigor!
I've been throwing some ideas back and forth in my head the past few days and I only recently decided on how I'd let the story play out in this next chapter. I won't tell you too much, but...
At the beginning of each chapter now, there will be some text in Italics, this will be a flashback to her time back in the war. It won't really coexist with the way the story plays out so you can just skip it. Putting that out there now to avoid confusion.
Please read, review, and tell me what you think! Constructive criticism, while hurtful at times is what I'm looking for here. Hope you enjoy, and see you soon. This chapter will be a bit shorter, as I really need to strategize for awhile to get the event correct for the next chapter. Enjoy.
I don't own Naruto.
[Restart]
"Rotation!"
Sakura watched helplessly as her friend was once again locked in a spinning dome of chakra, deflecting all incoming kunai and senbon, making her range just long enough to lock the pinkette in it too.
Her long, silky bluish hair flowed behind her, milky lavender eyes transfixed on her performance.
Sakura felt tears coming to her eyes as she held the prone, cold body of Neji closer to her. Her legs were out of commission; too many fractured bones and ripped muscles, she couldn't move an inch without pain.
They were attacked out of the blue. It was a simple mission, really; go to Konoha and grab the necessary medicines and herbs, sneak around the tight security and dissolve any that interfere.
Looks like they were underestimated.
They had it in the bag; they were going to win but more and more just kept coming. The security got tighter, and there were just so many to spare. Soon she couldn't fight, and ruined herself, leaving her defenseless body to the dogs.
But again, someone had to save her.
The attacks were getting stronger. Hinata's chakra getting lower. The rotation taking longer.
Soon, she faltered.
It was just a tiny, almost imperceptible mistake; the slightest shift in her left foot as she almost tumbled over.
But the enemy took it in their favor.
In that moment, weapons of all kind rained upon them, covering up the sun with metallic clangs. Her emerald eyes widened, and she reached out to pull Hinata under her, reinforcing her joints unconsciously with chakra.
"Hi-Hinata
"R-Rotation!"
Once again, trapped in the spinning blue ball as her friend from school (could you even call them that?) took on the weapons all by herself. As soon as she stopped they pierced her in every possible place. Sakura remembered the moment perfectly; seeing the life drain from her eyes as she went down to her knees, and tumbled onto her side, dying slowly in a pool of her own blood.
Jade eyes darkened once more.
Yet another precious person died..because I was too useless to do anything myself
She quickly numbed her legs with medical chakra, and even knowing that she wouldn't get far, picked up both Hyuuga's bodies and repeatedly Shunshined to a safe place.
If there was any actual safe place anymore.
She mourned her savior in a quick, silent prayer as she continued longingly to reach the medical camp, to be assaulted by the smells of burning flesh and the air of disappointment, if only she could live a while longer.
—Restart—
"one step at a time."
"So, introduce yourselves."
They sat on the roof of the familiar Academy building, her old teacher lazily explaining how their meeting was going to work. She looked at him with hidden sully, trying her hardest not to break down in the presence of so many familiar faces.
She had already made a plan on how she'll approach Sasuke. Like she was supposed to, she'll gradually show her prowess after the Wave Mission, where it would seem like she was taken out of her mindset. That would be the most believable plan of action, but she still needs to repair the relationship between the entire team, so she'll contact Naruto and they'll make a plan.
Although, on the subject of the Chūnin Exams, hopefully by then they'll all be equals and Sasuke will trust her in the Forest of Death. Her mission will fail if she lets him get the Curse Mark. There was no way she could break so many of his barriers while under Orochimaru's influence. He'd lash out.
But there's still the Akatsuki to worry about, she was hoping to get in contact with Itachi and tell him the truth, so he can take care of that terrorist group for her. Then there's Obito and Black Zetsu who she needs to seal, and if she finds a way to seal him, could she also seal Orochimaru? Or would that blow her cover? What if she fails in her attempt?
She also needs to keep Naruto safe, and Sasuke's Sharingan needs to activate under a positive type of pressure, and what about Pain's attack on the village? What about Sasuke's revenge in the first place? Will people see her as a prodigy? Will someone see through her facade? and-
"You next, pinky."
Her head snapped up and her fingers curled over her kneecaps a bit tighter. What was she supposed to say? She doesn't want them to see her as a drooling fan girl, she wants to have some sort of potential!
"My name is Haruno Sakura..my likes..."
Sweets. Medicinal studies. Boots. Poison identifying. Being useful.
"I'm not sure.I guess sweets, and reading...my dislikes..."
War. Death. Selfishness. Vengeance. Uselessness. Retreating. Failing my duties as a medic-nin.
"I don't know. I'd say...my dream would be to...to become a front-line medical Ninja, and protect my precious people."
'I won't let them die because I was too busy crying over petty problems. Not again.'
She felt the suprised gaze of Naruto on her, and she turned to him with a genuine smile. She watched his face heat up and explode with a foxy grin.
Kakashi-sempai—or is it sensei now?— looked deep in thought, probably not expecting that. "Front-line medical Ninja, huh? Only one person was able to accomplish that; will you? You're just a green Genin."
Sakura schooled her face, a determined glint in her green eyes.
"We were all rookies at a time, weren't we? Who's to say what I can achieve from here?"
Kakashi gave her one of his famous eye-smiles, and she was hard-pressed not to tear up. She hasn't seen him in so long!
"Well, now that we've finished the introductions, let's get down to our first mission."
She watched impassively as her blonde friend jumped up and down at the prospect of a mission, bombarding Kakashi-semp—sensei with questions. He chuckled.
"We're going to have survival training."
"Survival training? We did enough of that in the Academy, didn't we?" She said, so as to not look suspicious. Not like she'd know anyway. She hasn't been in the Academy for over 10 years.
"This is a different kind of survival training. The Genin test was just to see who could have the chance to become Genin. This is the real test. There is a 66% failure rate, so listen closely. "
She felt Sasuke visibly tense next to her, his already intertwined fingers tightening. Naruto was an open book and began shouting indignantly. They quickly blew through the rest of the familiar scene, and Kakashi poofed away.
'I need to get them to understand the point of this test..'
She noticed that when their teacher left, he just hid in a tree, most likely to see how this next scene would play out. And it wasn't the most obvious thing, but years of war change you.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! Wanna go on a date?!" She looked into Naruto's hopeful yet attentive blue eyes, and she watched his body imperceptibly coil in on itself in preparation to dodge, most likely her fist. She felt a pang of guilt at that.
'What was wrong with me?'
"Well, I'll have to decline the date, but how about we go out to eat as friends? We could also discuss this test we have tomorrow."
"Ooh! Okay!"
"Sasuke...kun, would you like to join?"
'That was close.'
"Don't take him with us!"
"We're a team now, Naruto. And we should discuss strategy for this test tomorrow."
"Hn."
"To make it easier for you, Sasuke..-kun, as soon as we're done, you can leave. But as a team, we now need to work as a team."
"Yeah, Teme!"
"Hn, fine."
She smiled, at least they're getting somewhere.
"Where should we go?"
"Ichiraku's!"
"I'm down with that."
"Hn."
"It's settled then!"
"Aw, yeah!"
[Restart]
Sakura's green eyes fluttered open, and she robotically started her morning routine. She grabbed the old dress she used to wear, but quickly tailored it, with a simple technique her mother taught her before her early demise, so the skirt doesn't go past mid-thigh. She grabbed the standard ninja sandals and put her hair up in a bun, keeping it steady with a quick senbon. She wrapped bandages around her hands habitually and was soon out the door.
'We're going to pass this test first try, and work on our teamwork. We can still put an impression on Sasuke.'
She decided she had a few hours to spare, so the pinkette made a quick visit over to a nearby weapons shop.
"Welcome! How may I help you?"
"I'd like to buy a few packs of senbon, please."
"I'll get that for you. In the meantime, please look around!"
Sakura watched quietly as the nice man disappeared behind the back door, most likely to go searching for her order. She turned around and started skimming the items on the racks. Her gaze landed on two daggers.
The metal was pitch black, and the hilt was a leather dark brown, with pale pink cherry blossom decals on the sides.
She'd always wanted to dabble a bit in kenjutsu.
She took them off the rack and placed them on the service counter, patiently waiting for the man to come back with her needles. It didn't take long, and he looked surprised to see a pair of knives on the table as well.
"I'd like to buy these, too."
"Ah, you're a young kunoichi, aren't you?"
"Yes sir!"
"Well, I don't think I've seen anyone your age pick out a pair of knives before. Tell you what, I'll give it to you half price."
"Sir, I can't allow you to do that! These look very expensive—"
"They are, but I can tell you're different from your generation. Use them well, okay?"
She couldn't help the small blush that crept up her cheeks. Different was the last thing she'd call herself at this age. Maybe different because she's just that weak compared to the rest of the Rookie Nine, but other than that...her blush came back full force.
"Th...thank you so much, sir."
"Not a problem!"
She reluctantly, though not as much, placed her money on the counter and strapped her daggers onto the small hook on her pouch, mentally planning to invest in a belt for a future sword she can no longer refuse.
'Sasuke and Naruto should be there by now, we'll go over our different strategies once more. I hope Sasuke will be more cooperative after the Wave mission...or I just might be screwed.'
She ran at a light jog all the way to Training Ground Seven, seeing that she didn't have much stamina nor endurance.
'I'm going to train like a freak the DAY AFTER. This is ridiculous!'
She saw her teammates in the distance, Sasuke brooding quietly with his back turned to her, and Naruto messing around with some traps he was told to make the night before. The latter saw her bright pink hair out of the corner of his eye and waved her over hysterically.
She let a laugh bubble out of her throat as she ran to meet up with her boys. She gave a brief greeting to Sasuke, who responded with a simple grunt, then kicked off her shoes and leaned over Naruto.
"Checking them last-minute, Naruto?"
"Yeah! I didn't want to set them up if you weren't here first."
"Good call, but don't think I wouldn't trust you with the amount you already pull. You must be an expert."
She watched him beam at the backhanded compliment before he started fiddling with the wires again, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.
"And..done! Let's go set them!"
"Remember we scoped out the area late night yesterday? Do you remember all the areas?"
"Puh-leeze, I'm a professional!"
She giggled at his antics before he scurried off to set the traps. She glanced at Sasuke, and took a small calming breath.
'This isn't the Sasuke you know.'
"Sasuke-k-kun, do you want to go over the strategies again?"
He scoffed, and she honestly couldn't blame him. She hasn't made the best impression, past and future. He probably thinks she's just swooning again.
"No."
"Do you already know them?"
"Hn."
"Recite them to me."
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, irritation lining his features as he stared at her slightly put-off features.
"I don't need to."
"You aren't going to be the one who ruins this for the rest of us. "
"I didn't want to work with you and the Dobe anyway."
'I knew this would happen.'
"Are you still working with us? Because you never gave one clear answer last night."
"Go away. You're annoying. I can do this on my own. "
'God, he's so easy to read. This teamwork thing isn't working. Oh well, plan B then.'
"Let me get this straight. You're not working with us because you believe you can beat an Elite Jonin, ex ANBU? By yourself, not to mention you're not even a Genin."
"Watch your mouth. I'm still leagues ahead of you."
'Crap, he's right. I'm gonna blow my cover.'
"Yeah..sorry, I-I got angry. Anyway, are you sure? It might be easier if-"
"Beat it, you're a nuisance."
'Jackpot.'
She schooled her features into one of shock, guilt, and then sadness. As soon as her face turned she went impassive and followed Naruto's chakra signature.
She found him playing with wire and smoothing out a pitfall in a large clearing. She called him over and he skipped to her side, inquiring.
"I just talked with Sasuke, he's not in the plan anymore. "
"What?! That blasted...!"
"Don't worry, I prepared for something like his after you guys left. He isn't going to be joining but we're going to make it look like he's part of the plan. We just have to wait at the last moment when he's about to be down for the count. He'll also grab the bells, though I hope he won't blow our cover from there. "
"You're so smart Sakura-Chan! So, what's the plan?"
She motioned for Naruto to come closer and she whispered into his ear, knowingly unknowing of the warm onyx gaze from up in one of the trees.
There was a slightly muffled 'poof' and Kakashi appeared among the smoke. Sakura wasted no time turning away from Naruto, hiding the fact they were ever conversing and standing up with him, shouting "You're late!"
"Ah, sorry. I got lost on the road of life." He replied cheekily, his tone indicating zilch apology. She felt her eyebrow twitch.
'I never did get over this.'
Their sensei-to-be pulled all alarm out of seemingly nowhere, and set in on one of the logs. She tensed; this test was one thing she could not afford to mess up.
"This timer is set for noon. You will all be fighting in a no-holds-barred match, and your goal is to take," he held up a pair of silver bells, "-these bells from me."
"But there are only two bells?" She inquired, hoping to get it through Naruto's thick skull the true meaning of this exercise.
"Yes, whoever doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the Academy." He stopped briefly, letting it sink in. He wasn't disappointed.
Naruto's eyes had gone wide, his mouth hanging open. Sasuke's face remained impassive, though his eyes were slightly narrowed. Sakura was a mix between Sasuke and Naruto, but behind the shock in her eyes he could see determinedness.
She briefly glanced at Naruto; he was shaking, but she could tell he was struggling to rein in his excitement. She smiled and gave him the signal; a simple "Yep-" popping the p, "I won't lose here!" and he subtly got into a takeoff position.
"Ready...go!"