The next morning and the rest of the week Sakura found it extremely difficult to get in sync with her new teammates "Honestly what does that man think he's doing" Sakura groused one morning, the start of their second week in Konohagakure.
Karin buried her face in her arms a little more, "Every day he's late for hours then he just makes us do a few measly D ranks without even training us" Sakura ranted, more than a little unhappy with the situation.
"At least your teammates don't insult you at every turn" Karin rolled her eyes lightly, finally lifting her head in order to eat breakfast that Sakura had clearly put a little effort into that morning for some reason.
Sakura smiled "Kakashi wants to do a survival exercise and said don't eat so obviously I'm gonna eat just to spite him then go way early to set up traps to make him take me seriously instead of brushing me to the side like some weak insignificant little girl" Sakura explained.
Dead serious not that Karin was surprised any if there was one thing anybody learned about Sakura it was that she hated being treated like a child "I can't wait for this bloody month to be over with" Karin sighed.
Eager to be on a team with just Sakura again almost as much as Sakura was eager to get back to the way things use to be and how they were supposed to be here in Leaf "Well if I want to get that head start I better go now" Sakura grunted.
Mood fouler than it has ever been proving that Cee had rubbed off on the pinkette some "Good luck Sakura" Karin waved, thankful to have a day off from missions and team training with Ami the demon and Fuki.
With that Sakura stood, cleaned up and disappeared out the door on the way to her team training grounds, Sasuke was already there but she ignored him in favor of preparing her traps "Haruno my Father wants you over for dinner to meet my new teammate" Sasuke intoned derisively.
Like he didn't think she was deserving of having a meal prepared by his mother nor was she deserving of eating with his family at all, Sakura merely curled her lip "Why would I go within five feet of the man Uchiha" Sakura shot back.
Obviously not the easily manipulated type "Because he's the Patriarch of the Uchiha Clan and Head of the Leaf Police Force, my Father is powerful and could make your life difficult if you don't conform" Sasuke said in the most arrogant tone.
"Okay that's it, I'm out of here" Sakura immediately dropped what she was doing, briefly leaked killing intent at the fool who thought he could threaten her into doing what he wanted and stormed off the field.
Back to home where she didn't have to listen to his snide comments, Karin wasn't surprised that she'd finally gotten fed up as she slammed the door shut and purposefully placed anti space time seals around the apartment after locking and using a barrier seal on the door.
So when Kakashi showed up hours later expecting to find his students waiting for him he was understandably confused "Where's Sakura" Kakashi frowned behind his mask because it wasn't like the girl to not show up.
Sasuke shifted uncomfortably and he wanted to groan "What did you do Teme" Naruto rounded on his teammate instantly after seeing the slightly guilty expression hidden well on Sasuke's face but still visible.
"I might have threatened her by telling her that my Father could make her life difficult if she didn't conform to the way things were run here in Leaf when she rejected my offer to come to dinner with my parents and brother" Sasuke shrugged.
Kakashi really did groan at hearing what the boy had done so he went to body flicker to his students apartment only to find himself stuck in place after the puff of smoke dissipated "Guess we're walking come on Sasuke you have an apology to make to your teammate" Kakashi said.
Frog-marching his student from the field and down the streets to Naruto's apartment complex and up to the third floor where his kunoichi lived but when he knocked no one answered and he stood there wondering what to do.
When five minutes later the door cracked open a bit and a crimson orb glared out at them "Can I help you Kakashi-sensei" Karin asked not impressed with the man stood outside her and Sakura's apartment in the least.
The man sighed "Sakura's late for the survival exercise and Sasuke wants to apologize" Kakashi informed, thinking that would be that and the girl would go fetch Sakura for him, he was wrong as Karin stood there.
Raising her brow "Yeah I don't think Sakura-chan really wants to come out today or even listen to someone who repeatedly insults her and threatens her" Karin snorted before shutting the door again uncaring if she was rude.
In her mind anyone that was rude to Sakura deserved to have a door or five slammed in their face "Er what do we do now Kakashi-sensei" Naruto scratched his head in confusion, a little upset that the pinkette didn't even want to be friends with him.
Yet she was perfectly happy being friends with the redhead and Ino's team as he'd heard "I'm probably going to regret this but Sakura-chan needs to be put in her place" Kakashi declared as he reached forward and easily shattered the barrier on the door.
Before practically breaking it off its hinges to enter the apartment "Can't just settle for insulting me now you have to add breaking and entering to that list to" Sakura glared at him from the couch, reading from an extremely advanced book.
He felt his brow twitch "That wouldn't have been necessary if you hadn't been late Sakura-chan and I think it's time for you to stop resisting so much, your here in Leaf, this is your home now and you have to abide by our rules" Kakashi scolded in the most patronizing way he could.
Not realizing he was inciting her wrath even more "My home is Kumogakure and you know what I didn't even want to come here in the first place, and you want to talk down to me about being late, your late all the time so don't even start" Sakura snapped back.
So he could give her that one, he hadn't exactly been a model sensei "Well I'm the sensei if I want to be late all the time I will and there's nothing you can do about it" Kakashi informed simply trying to get through to the girl.
Who became impossibly rigid "I quit then, here's my hitai-ate, now you have no obligation to come in here and treat me like that, I didn't become a shinobi to be continually treated like a child who knows nothing after all" Sakura announced throwing him her headband.
And sitting back down on her couch "What no you can't quit Sakura-chan" Naruto whined, tears in his blue eyes as he tried to make his teammate come to her senses, not having thought this day would turn out like it was.
"Oh yes I can and if I have to wait three years to be a shinobi then I will but what I won't do is allow myself to be treated the way your treating me" Sakura intoned seriously, dead serious in fact that it even made Naruto quiet down for once.
Even Sasuke was silent knowing that this little spat was mostly his fault or rather it was his fault Sakura had been pushed off the deep-end "Okay maybe we all got started off on the wrong foot Sakura-chan, please tell me what I can do to fix this" Kakashi sighed.
Not wanting to be the one who told the Hokage that the girl they'd brought back had quit after her first week of being a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village "Perhaps if everyone would give us some space that would help" Karin interjected.
"What I want is the promise Lord Hokage made Raikage-sama to be honored instead of this bullshit" Sakura scoffed derisively past her limit of usual patience, she'd just known that coming back would be a bad idea.
Considering Leaf liked to baby their shinobi "Be reasonable Sakura-chan you and I both know that, that's not going to happen for three more weeks, I know your frustrated, I am to you know" Karin scolded lightly.
Sakura groaned in irritation "Stop being late all the time and actually teach us something instead of making us do a few measly d ranks" Sakura relented pinning her verdant orbs on Kakashi who had to be the laziest sensei she'd ever known.
The next person she glared at was Sasuke "You stop threatening me and insulting me all the time or I'm just simply going to punch you out and you Naruto, stop trying to hug me and ask me out all the time it's never going to happen" Sakura glanced briefly at Naruto.
Who hadn't helped any either with all of his attempts at driving her completely insane "Alright I will do my best so lets go to the training grounds and get the survival exercise out of the way then I'll teach you something" Kakashi compromised.
Handing Sakura her headband and she tied it loosely around her neck before following him and her teammates back to Team Seven's training grounds where he subjected his students to the bell test none of them got a bell however.
Though they had attempted to work together somewhat "As for what I'm going to teach you, it's the tree climbing exercise" Kakashi announced, purposefully ignoring Sakura's glare even as he taught them the trick.
"Good job Sakura-chan" Kakashi praised when Sakura got the exercise down first, Sakura simply scoffed and rolled her eyes not impressed as she jumped down and landed neatly on her feet after walking up the tree to the tiptop.
Less than an hour later when neither Naruto or Sasuke got the trick down he dismissed them "My Father still wants you over for dinner tonight" Sasuke turned on Sakura who curled her lip at him and stalked off without a word.
All the way back to the apartment "Well how did things go" Karin asked when Sakura entered the apartment again after only being gone for a few hours, Sakura grit her teeth looking like she was about to blow up again.
But Sakura made the effort to reign in her anger by marching into the kitchen to start cooking dinner "I need a real teacher not that lazy bastard" Sakura scowled once supper was done and they were both sat at the table eating it.
Karin winced in response "How about after we're finished we go train for a bit okay" Karin suggested knowing that Sakura would need an outlet to work off the extreme anger she felt at the moment.
Just then pounding erupted on the door and Karin sighed wondering what else was going to go wrong that day as Sakura hopped up like she was on fire and whipped the door open "What" Sakura hissed like a feral cat at Shisui.
Who blinked slowly in confusion at the vitriol he was on the receiving end of "I came to invite you to dinner of course with Auntie Mikoto and Fugaku-sama, cause Sasuke-chan often forgets" Shisui said with a charming smile.
Hoping that it would work this time "I believe I told Sasuke-chan that I wasn't interested now please leave me alone to eat my own dinner in peace Uchiha-san" Sakura spat, slamming the door in Shisui's face for good measure.
Shisui jerked his head back to avoid getting whacked by the door "What did you do Sasuke, Sakura-chan was very upset" Shisui said when he returned to the compound and to the main family house where he had to explain that Sakura had refused.
And he knew that Sasuke had to have done something when the boy lowered his gaze but Sasuke was tight-lipped for once "Perhaps another time then" Mikoto sighed in disappointment having really wanted to meet the girl who'd been put on her youngest son's team.
"Maybe I can go ask in Sasuke-chan's stead ahead of time before she can make plans with Karin-chan" Shisui popped up after he was done eating and was gone a second later all the way across the village.
To where he felt Sakura's chakra which was on the training grounds and what he saw was horrifying as that tiny pink haired girl threw a weapon her height but probably the same weight as herself with frightening accuracy at targets.
Quick as a flash in order to stop her from getting hit as the boomerang came back like it was supposed to he stepped in and caught the weapon "Phew that was close wasn't it Sakura-chan" Shisui breathed a sigh of relief.
Glad that he'd stopped her from getting hurt "Give me my weapon Uchiha-san" Sakura held out her hand, trying really hard not to snap especially when Shisui was blatantly treating her like some weak little girl.
In response Shisui held the weapon away from her "No this weapon is to dangerous for you Sakura-chan, a little girl like you shouldn't be playing with it like it's some kind of toy without supervision" Shisui scolded.
"Uchiha don't you fucking dare treat me like a child give me back my weapon now" Sakura demanded, anger rising when he refused until she'd finally had enough and simply snatched it out of his hands and sealed her boomerang away where no one could touch it but her.
As surprised as he was Shisui didn't let on "You know Sakura-chan your being very rude when I've been the absolute nicest that I could be to you and Karin-chan yet I keep getting doors slammed in my face all the time" Shisui commented.
Wanting to find out what he was doing wrong "And I was under the impression that you were only supposed to check up on us ONCE a week not EVERY damn day MULTIPLE times a day" Sakura sneered back.
Shisui frowned "Of course I'm going to check up on you more than once, we're not heartless to leave children on their own twenty-four seven, especially when they need a lot of help" Shisui said.
For Sakura it was the final straw that day "You don't get it at all do you…..listen to me very closely Uchiha-san, Karin and I are not children, we're shinobi, and we DON'T NEED YOU CONSTANTLY HOVERING OVER US" Sakura shouted.
"Sakura-chan is right, your hovering to much when we need space to come to terms with our new surroundings, maybe we shouldn't have jumped straight in to being shinobi of this village especially when all you all want to do is treat us like little kids" Karin chimed in.
Agreeing with her sister "But you are little kids, you don't know the horrors of the outside world like Chunin and Jonin do" Shisui stressed about to be very surprised when Sakura laughed at him mockingly.
"My parents were killed by a rogue Uchiha-san right in front of me, I lost my memories for seven years, the woman that took me in that became like a second mom to me died and the village I lived in for three years turned its back on me, I killed for Karin-chan" Sakura intoned flatly.
"SO DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF HORRORS LIVE IN THIS WORLD WHEN I DO" Sakura shouted hoping to finally get it through Shisui's thick head that she wasn't an innocent flower that needed to be protected and watched after.
It seemed to do the trick at long last as Shisui gave her a pained smile and body flickered leaving them on their own "Are you okay Sakura-chan" Karin asked, taking a seat next to the pinkette when Sakura sat down under a tree.
Sakura shook her head "No I want to go home back to Kumogakure if this is what we have to live through for the next three years then I don't want to be here" Sakura cried, Karin nodded in understanding trying really hard not to break down crying herself.
"Come on Sakura-chan lets go visit the greenhouse so you can tend your plants okay" Karin suggested holding out a hand to the rosette who simply let herself be heaved onto her feet so that they could go to the greenhouse.
Unaware of the coal black irises watching them before he disappeared in a flurry of crow feathers "Well Itachi what did you find out, are they planning on trying to escape from the village, do we need to consider them lost causes and brand them traitors" Fugaku demanded to know.
When his oldest son and heir returned "No Father, I believe they, more Haruno-san really are grieving" Itachi shook his head, having seen the pain the two girls were trying to hide from everyone as they tried to fit in there in Leaf.
Fugaku furrowed his brow "Grieving what would they be grieving over surely not Haruno's parents, she's had seven years to get over that" Fugaku scoffed, still irritated that the girl refused to come to dinner.
Shisui spoke up then "Actually Uncle, Sakura couldn't remember for those years and apparently only just remembered when Asuma and his students stumbled across her, plus she's probably missing all her friends back in Kumo" Shisui admitted.
Having finally realized after Sakura had practically screamed it at him that his constant hovering was what made both girls keep pushing him away brutally at that "Then perhaps we should have given her time to decide what she truly wanted" Fugaku rubbed his temples.
Knowing that while Hiruzen's intentions had been pure to try and bring the girl home, they'd also acted to quickly without thinking about Sakura's feelings "She said something about Lord Hokage not honoring a promise he made to the Raikage" Sasuke chimed in.
Letting his Father, brother and clan mate know that he was there as well "I'll go speak with him and try to figure out a better way to handle this escalating situation where we won't loose two genin" Fugaku sighed.
Heading for the center of the village "Oh Fugaku what brings you here so late in the day" Hiruzen asked when the Uchiha Patriarch marched into his office near dinner time when he should be at home resting with his family after a long day of work.
"I'm here to figure out what we can do to prevent the defection of our newly acquired genin because as it stands Haruno-san is on the precipice of doing so already" Fugaku informed as he took a seat in the chair before the Hokage's desk.
As Hiruzen choked and coughed in surprise "Whatever for, as I heard from Kakashi things are going quite well between the children and she is doing well in home life as well" the Hokage frowned, setting down his pipe.
Fugaku raised a single brow "You are blind Lord Hokage, you only believe what you've heard, not seen, the girl is a mess of angry emotions and grief for the parents she never got to grieve for, while going through a move all while trying to figure out how to get along with people she doesn't know" Fugaku declared.
"We are her people Fugaku if given enough time Sakura-chan will see that this was the best option for her and Karin-chan so they will never have to go back to Kumogakure" Hiruzen spluttered before managing to retain his composure.
The man before him shook his head "Right now we are the enemy to her, though she wouldn't outright say she see's us that way, we haven't helped by simply throwing her or the other girl in at the deep end by making them jump straight in to being a genin of this village" Fugaku sighed.
Beginning to understand that this was quite the argument to tackle when Hiruzen wanted to believe everything was rainbows and sunshine "What exactly are you asking me to do here Fugaku, let them govern themselves" Hiruzen frowned again.
A brow lifted "And give them time to settle before asking much more of them, also according to Sasuke you didn't honor a promise that you made the Raikage" Fugaku commented, wanting to address that concerning bit of news as well.
Hiruzen took his turn to sigh "Yes, a promise that I never meant to make, and will never honor, it is simply the way things are done here in Leaf, those two girls will never be teammates" Hiruzen informed firmly.
"Now you're an even blinder fool than before if you think that girl will accept that as your reasoning for breaking a promise to someone she trusts above you either honor it or she will simply leave with the other girl in tow back to Kumogakure regardless" Fugaku declared.
Staring intently at the Hokage who stared back before deflating "Is she really having that hard of a time adjusting Fugaku, I truly thought that everything was going well" Hiruzen asked, wanting to attempt to rectify his mistakes.
His answer was a single resolute nod "Just according to what Shisui has told me and Sasuke who hasn't helped either, I fear the girl might have the wrong impression of me because of my youngest as well" Fugaku sighed.
Deflating even more "Alright I'll give them the rest of the month to govern themselves, if they do well without guidance of a Jonin instructor, I'll let them figure themselves out and keep them as a duo team instead of how we normally do things" Hiruzen relented at long last.
"Good, I'll be the one to inform them and also tell Shisui that he is relieved of his duty, Shiranui as well, seeing as they've found their way around enough already" Fugaku nodded, glad that he'd gotten something worked out.
It may not have been to Hiruzen's exact demands but it was something that hopefully Sakura and Karin would find more fitting considering they were leagues ahead of the other genin as he headed towards the complex the girls were living in.
But when he got there he could feel no one inside the apartment so after briefly activating his chakra he followed the chakra trail that nearly led him all over the village before he ended up at one of the Akimichi greenhouses.
Where Sakura and Karin's chakra was more concentrated, lo and behold when Fugaku entered the greenhouse there the two in question were only Sakura was flitting between rows of freshly planted medicinal and herbal plants sprinkling water over the plots.
A soft smile on her face despite the tear tracks on her cheeks and bloodshot eyes this was clearly something Sakura enjoyed immensely while Karin sat back and simply watched and scribbled things down on a letter scroll.
Karin must have sensed his gaze for she abruptly grew rigid and threw him a fearful look, before standing, prompting Sakura to stop what she was doing and tense up as well "Fear not I have come in peace" Fugaku assured.
Deciding that now would not be the best time to mention his name "Then what have you come here for Uchiha-san" Sakura sounded tired, as she spoke to him, rather politely, not something he expected from a girl who was as temperamental as Tsunade was.
"To let you know that you are being removed from your individual teams as of today and Lord Hokage is allowing you to govern yourselves the rest of this month, if you do well he will allow you to remain a duo team without guidance of a Jonin Instructor" Fugaku informed.
Sakura narrowed her eyes in suspicion, slightly amusing him at her doubt "I assure you there is no catch with that I'll be going, also you won't be receiving anymore visits from Shisui or Shiranui, good day" Fugaku nodded his head once before turning on his heel.
Intent on leaving until Sakura called out to him "W..Would you tell Shisui-san I'm sorry for yelling at him, just because I've had a bad week doesn't mean I should have taken my frustration out on him, and also good day to you as well Uchiha-sama" Sakura requested quietly.
He didn't turn nor allow any hint of surprise to show on his face as he continued on his way leaving the girls to do whatever they pleased "How did everything go Dear" Mikoto inquired when her husband got back from visiting the Hokage.
"Hiruzen was stubborn at first of course but I got him to agree to allow those girls to take care of themselves with no interference from us for the rest of this month as a trial to see how they manage" Fugaku admitted as he took a seat.
Mikoto let out a gasp "Your planning something Fugaku, are you going to let me in on your new machinations" Mikoto accused at first with a smile before practically begging to be apart of whatever Fugaku was plotting.
Not that he was surprised she'd figured him out so quickly "I'm making an investment for the clan, it's a gamble of course but whats life without risks, I plan of hiring them for the new building I'm having built in the compound, if they prove me right about them" Fugaku explained.
His wife grinned "Are you sure they'll be suited for the job Fugaku, they haven't even displayed a talent for medical ninjutsu" Mikoto asked, looking worried until Sasuke stepped in and told her that Sakura could use the mystical palm and so could Karin or so he'd heard.
Just getting back from an impromptu visit to the Hokage's office himself "Kakashi was fuming, I've never seen him angry like that before" Sasuke commented, having decided that appearances were extremely deceiving in that singular moment.
When his sensei was told Sakura was no longer his student "Hatake will get over himself as of this moment I'm secretly in charge of those girls, oh and Shisui, Haruno-san apologizes for yelling at you and your relieved from your duty to check up on them as well" Fugaku scoffed.
Shisui blinked "Well how about that Sakura-chan can be nice, though I probably hadn't helped matters by being overbearing or treating her like a kid when she doesn't want to be" Shisui huffed out a laugh before grimacing but that was the end of the conversation and the day as well.