Next chapter is finally here!

From a very young age, Sakura Haruno wanted to be a skilled kunoichi. She had heard of stories of her parents and how skilled they were when they were alive; her father was good with genjutsu and chakra control while her mother was a talented taijutsu user. She wanted to honor them, to have people look at her, and not only acknowledge her skill but to remember her parents as well. So she worked hard, taking her academic work very seriously and trained to build up her physical abilities.

But being skillful isn't all she wanted.

Sakura remembered when she was young, and in kunoichi-only classes with her friend turned rival Ino; the women who taught those classes were always so cool, beautiful, and stylish. Sakura looked up to them and wanted to considered cool and stylish as well.

So once she had officially graduated, Sakura spent time in front of her full-length mirror, trying out different ways of wearing her headband. She tried it out in a few places; first around her neck, it was cute, but she found it uncomfortable to wear for an extended period of time. She tried wearing it on her arm, her waist, and various other places, but nothing felt right. She wouldn't put it on her forehead. She was saving that for a special occasion. Sakura couldn't decide at the moment, so she sat her headband on her dresser and went out for a walk. She still had some time before she needed to go to her photoshoot.

She went around through the village, seeing all of her classmates proudly wearing their headbands. They all looked so happy and proud of themselves while they were out with their families and friends. Sakura understood their feelings well, but she couldn't help but also feeling lonely.

"Well, if it isn't little miss billboard brow!"

Sakura whirled around and saw Ino Yamanaka standing behind her with two other girls from the academy. Ino looked the same as always with her platinum blonde hair in a high ponytail, a bang framing the right side of her face. She was wearing her usual high-collared blouse and matching apron skirt. She had on arm warmers and bandages wrapped around her legs and abdomen. Her forehead protector sat around her waist like a belt.

Sakura huffed and folded her arms. "What do you want, Ino-pig?"

Sakura could see Ino's eyes twitch, and she smirked to herself.

"Where's your forehead protector," Ino asked. "Is it too small?" The girls behind her laughed.

"Actually," Sakura started, "I'm saving it for my ID photo. I wouldn't want it to get dirty like...someone..." she trailed off and motioned to Ino's headband.

Ino looked down at her forehead protector and then back at Sakura. "What are you talking about; my headband isn't dirty."

"You sure?" Sakura asked. "Maybe you should look closer!"

Sakura kicked her leg upwards and sent a cloud of dirt and dust right at Ino and her goons. The girls squealed and coughed.

"Sakura!"

Sakura ran down the road with Ino and her goons right on her heels. She dodged between people and shops, trying to find a quick corner to duck into and hide. She hadn't brought any of her ninja tools with her on her walk, and now she regretted it.

She rounded the corner and skidded to a stop at the sight before her. Ino and her gang ended up crashing into Sakura's back, and they all fell over. Ino ended up falling on top of her.

"What did you stop running for!?" Ino asked her face bright red.

Sakura pushed up and got the other three girls off of her. "Look." She pointed toward a bathhouse and the two figures standing in front of it.

The figure on the right was short and fat, with brown hair in a spiky bun. The figure on the left was a bit taller, had long blonde hair pulled into two pigtails, and from what it looked like very distinctive cheek marks. Sakura didn't know who the figure on the right was, but she'd recognize those markings anywhere.

"Is that Naruto?"

"Ugh," one of Ino's goons said, "I can't believe they let a guy like that graduate!"

"Is he trying to sneak into the girl's bathhouse?"

"He's a creep and a pervert! You know I heard he made up some gross sexy jutsu so he could turn into a naked lady!"

Sakura never considered herself one of those students who hated Naruto like others in the academy. She found him annoying sure, but the time they've talked wasn't terrible. But there was no way she could forgive something like this! How could he use his ninja training to do something so...so distasteful! Sakura clenched her fist, hard enough for a vein to pop on it.

"Naruto!" She yelled and ran forward. She could hear Ino and the other girls following after her.

Naruto and his companion jumped and looked in their direction. When they realized what was happening, they quickly turned and ran away. The girls chased them for a while throughout the village until they lost them. The two goons ran off in one direction, leaving Sakura and Ino alone.

"Hey...Sakura."

"Hm?"

"Really, why aren't you wearing your headband?"

Sakura glanced over at Ino. "I already told you-"

"I don't believe that," Ino cut in. "We're rivals, but I still know you best. What are you planning?"

"You don't know everything about me," Sakura yelled, turning to face Ino and folded her arms. They were standing close, and Ino looked away and stepped back.

"Whatever," she said, "You can keep whatever dumb reason you have to yourself, Billboard Brow. But I don't think they have any larger sizes."

Sakura's annoyance flared, and for a moment, she thought back to when she and Ino were kids in class together. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"You know...I'm not that little girl that used to follow you around everywhere," Sakura started. "I won't be outclassed by you. Not anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

Sakura had finally figured out how she would wear her headband. "Here," she reached up and untied her red ribbon from her hair, letting her bangs fall back into her forehead. She held out the piece of fabric for Ino to take. "I'm returning this."

"That was a gift."

"You wanted to know about my forehead protector, then I'll tell you," she said. "I'll put it on my forehead when you and I can face each other as an equal kunoichi. Not a moment before then."

Ino looked at Sakura and then down at the ribbon in her hands. After a moment, she smirked and clasped Sakura's hand.

"Alright, Sakura, then I'll do the same. When we meet on the battlefield as equals, we'll wear our headbands with pride."

Sakura felt her heart swell; when she had declared Ino her rival all those years ago, it felt like an uphill battle. Through their friendship, Sakura had gained a lot of confidence, but she still thought herself lacking in certain areas compared to Ino. Ino was the centerpiece, and Sakura was always the compliment, but that would no longer be the case. Ino agreeing to her terms made it feel like things were properly getting started. Now she was officially a ninja. She knew she had her work cut out for her, but this was only the beginning.

Sakura went home to put on her headband and then gotten her ID photo taken. It was official now, and tomorrow she would be put on her genin team. All of her hard work was paying off, and she couldn't wait to get out in the field and show off her stuff. She felt like she was walking on air.

"Oh, Sakura-chan!"

She turned and frowned. Naruto was running up to her, still transformed into a girl with long pigtails.

She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're still like that? You're such a pervert."

"No, it's not what you think!"

"Sure."

"No...well...I mean," he sighed. "Okay, when you caught me earlier, I was trying to sneak into a ladies' bath, but only because I was trying to teach Konohamaru the Sexy Jutsu!"

Sakura's right eye twitched; did he think that made it better? "Showing the Third Hokage's grandson, something like that is disgraceful!"

"Wha...He wanted to learn from me since my technique was so cool, and who am I to deny that to a kid? Otherwise, he would have learned by himself."

Sakura's face remained unimpressed. "Fine, whatever, you 'taught' him. Why are you still like that?"

"Oh, um..." Naruto looked down at himself and then back up at her. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Well...it's comfortable, y'know? Natural?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Exactly what I said? I mean, I don't do this a lot but...it's just-"

"It's weird," Sakura cut in. She wasn't in the mood for whatever weird thing Naruto was trying to pull.

While Sakura wasn't like other kids in the village who hated Naruto and would steer clear of him whenever they could, but she wouldn't say she liked him either. He was well known throughout the academy for being annoying and a troublemaker for a reason, after all. Stunts like these were part of the reason why. She shook her head at him.

"You're going to have to cut stuff like this out. You're a ninja now, Naruto, you can't keep goofing off forever, you'll just end up holding yourself back."

She turned and left then, not wanting to talk to him any longer than she already had. Quietly to herself, Sakura hoped that she got put on a decent squad the next day.

Preferably one that didn't have Naruto on it.