A/N: Follow my Pinterest page if you want to see my writing inspirations. My username is also ARosy Summer there, and the profile pic is the same!
And now, without further ado, on with the show!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just this Fanfic plot!
XXX
"Finally," Ino sighed. "It's all over."
Sitting at the counter of Ichiraku Ramen, Ino and I were waiting for our food to be ready. Behind the counter, all of the workers bustled over boiling pots and chopped a myriad of vegetables.
And all the while, a smile was plastered on my face. I couldn't believe it. It was Friday night, and all the finals were done. Over. Finished. Just this weekend stood between me and the training I craved to better myself.
Naruto plopped down on the stool next to me and ordered a pork ramen. Ino gave him an incredulous look and asked, "Naruto, what are you doing here?"
He looked at her like she had five heads. "I'm always here."
True. Ichiraku Ramen was the place Naruto could always be found at. If he wasn't at his tiny, messy apartment, he was here.
She rolled her eyes. "I mean what are you doing sitting with us?"
"Sakura's my friend, and I want to sit by her," he answered simply.
I couldn't believe he was being so casual about it when before he didn't want Ino to know at all. Turning to Ino, I saw her features adorn a look of utter shock.
"What's he talking about?" she asked me.
I shrugged my shoulders. "We hang out sometimes."
"Sakura helped me study a lot," Naruto confessed.
I whipped my head around to stare at him incredulously. Was he serious?
"Why were you so hell-bent on keeping our studying sessions a complete secret and then now you just go and confess to them all nonchalant!" The freaking idiot made life so difficult for me by sneaking around and being so careful to make sure that Ino and most of the others in our class were totally clueless about our situation.
He turned to give me a look and sneered at me. My instincts kicked in, adrenaline suddenly pumping throughout my body. This wasn't Naruto.
My body acted on its own, jumping off the stool, feet skidding across the ground. Ino was up a second after me, obviously noting something to be off as well.
"Who are you?" I ordered.
The fake Naruto gave a cold chuckle and in a flash had a small dagger held at his side. He eyed me up and down, assessing me as a predator looking over its prey.
"Ah-ah," fake Naruto waggled a finger in my direction. "There's no fun in that."
And then he attacked.
My own dagger met his instantly, the clash ringing through my ears. As in all my spars I'd had at the Academy, a wave of calm rushed over me and I let my body take over. My muscles were trained for this. I was going to find out who this was no matter what.
Ino waste no time in countering from the side. She had taken out a pair of daggers and attacked with both. Fake Naruto jumped back and started running away, down the street and passed all the pedestrians taking an afternoon walk.
Ino and I took off after him, the wind whipping my hair furiously, but I paid it no mind. This enemy obviously knew where he was going, he wasn't fumbling around a city he was unfamiliar with. No, he knew the lay of the land and that really pissed me off. How long has he been in the village? How long has the guard allowed a complete ill-intended stranger into our home?
He took a sharp turn to the left up ahead, and I knew exactly where he was heading. To my favorite training site.
Ino called out to me, giving me the signal that she would go around and try to cut him off as I pursued him this way. I nodded and faced forward again. I broke through a slight lining of trees before bursting into an open field. Fake Naruto was standing smack in the middle, looking at me with a hungry expression.
"Why are you here?" I seethed out, holding out the dagger in front of my and mentally cursed that I hadn't been more prepared. Stuck with such a small weapon against who knows what kind of monster.
The smile he made was mocking and somewhat familiar, but I didn't have time to analyze it further as he made a full on sprint in my direction. I stood my ground and threw the knife, the weapon slicing through the air with confidence straight for his head. He ducked to the right easily, giving me just enough time to slam my fist into his face. The crunch of bone filled me with pleasure, and I reared my fist back to slam it into the same spot a second time, but I didn't connect.
He flipped back before the second attack landing, holding onto his bloodied nose. He looked pissed.
I charged, preparing to kick his legs out from under him. Ino showed up, swiftly making to attack him from the back. I couldn't help but smirk, this was our favorite tag-team move. Everyone at the Academy hated us for it.
With a snap, fake Naruto fixed his nose and moved away so quickly that my eyes didn't even register that he was gone before I collided into Ino.
We both let out a groan, but rose to our feets quickly. Scanning the area, I could no longer see any sight of the enemy.
"Ino, use your-"
And I was hit by the side. I snarled in fury, trying to grab ahold of the fake Naruto to push him off of me. I couldn't quite latch onto anything in time before he had me pinned to the ground. He manacled both of my wrists above my head with one of his hands and smirked down at me.
Slowly, his face began to morph. Naurto's features faded away to make room for long pastel blonde hair, honey colored eyes and a smug smirk that I could recognize anywhere.
"Ugh, Tsunade! What are you doing?" I bucked my hips to get my older sister off of me, but she wouldn't move an inch.
Ino ran over to us and stared in shock at the scene that unfolded before her. I glared up at her, silently begging for her to help me. She just wouldn't take her eyes off of Tsunade though to see me.
"Welcome to training, Sakura," Tsunade cooed. Her eyes lit up in pure enjoyment at the words.
No.
No, no, no, no.
No.
This wasn't real.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I asked in disbelief.
She finally got off of me and stood up, her hands situated low on her hips. "You're looking at your Hunter Captain. Time to show some respect, Sakura."
XXX
I slammed the door shut behind me so furiously that I wouldn't be surprised if I cracked the surrounding wood from the impact. My mom rushed out of the kitchen at the sound, but I kept my pace as I flew by her.
"Sakura?" she called worriedly.
I slammed the door again, this time I was in my own room. I twisted the lock so mom couldn't come in and plopped down face first onto my bed. The pillow engulfed my face, and I balled my hands into tight fists.
My breathing came sporadically and I could do nothing to calm it. My mind was going in every which way, making it impossible for me to grasp onto any singular thought. Well...all but one.
Tsunade was my Hunter Captain. How was that fair? How could the Academy do this to me?
I have been a good student, the best. And I'm rewarded like this?
Total and utter betrayal!
"Sakura, dear," mom called through the door, her voice muffled from the barrier separating us. "What's wrong?"
The door wobbled, she must be trying to get in. Rather than answering, I buried my face further into my pillow, pulling the sides up to cover my ears.
There had to be a mistake. Someone made a mistake. This couldn't be right.
I flung off my bed and opened my window up wide, a slight breeze blew in to make my curtains dance. It was easy to slip through and plant my feet on the roof. I puffed a loose hair out of my eyes and jumped down to the ground effortlessly. My body shoved forward in my eagerness to get to the Academy.
Friday night, Schmiday night. Someone would be there and they were going to give me answers.
The night was approaching, some stars began to twinkle up above. Street lights flickered to life around me, my shadow moving swiftly on the sidewalk below as I passed under them. People gave me strange looks, but I paid them no mind.
The doors eventually came into view, making me slow down into a brisk walking pace. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart, but it didn't work. My heart was working harder at the anxiety over Tsunade being my teacher for who knew how long rather than the short sprint I'd taken down the streets of Konoha.
Being in the Academy at night was a bit disconcerting, though I wasn't afraid. I was taught to be calm in the night, most of my work would eventually be done being surrounded by blackness after all. I better get used to it.
I ran my hand over the lockers to my right, my fingers moving up and down over the grooves in the metal infrastructures. My footsteps echoed around me in the empty halls, and I took comfort in them being the only ones I heard.
Eventually, I made my way to the Hokage's office. Along with overseeing the day to day activities of the Academy, the Hokage was in charge of the entire village. It was a big job, and I respected it. So, in his infinite wisdom, why, oh why, could he have okayed this?
The light was on underneath the doorway, so I knew he'd be in there. I knocked and entered when I heard him mumble "Come in."
He sat behind a desk littered with stacks of papers, some almost a few feet high. Kakashi was a simple man, who didn't partake in many personal hobbies, aside from reading. He was a sucker for cheesy romances, and I couldn't help but snicker at the sight of one propped open upside down in front of him.
"Ah, Sakura," he called calmly. "To what do I owe this visit?"
I looked him over. His grey hair was spiked up and to the side a bit, possibly from sleeping on the same side of his face too much at his desk during late nights. His eyes crinkled in amusement at the sight of me, and he extended a fingerless gloved hand in the direction of one of the chairs in front of him.
I took a few steps nearer, but didn't take a seat. "How could you?" I seethed.
"How could I what?" he asked innocently.
"Don't play dumb with me," I snapped.
He sighed. "I thought you and your sister were better?"
"What gave you that idea?" The words dripped from my mouth like venom.
"Tsunade gave me reason to believe that this would be a good thing." Kakashi's voice painted him as puzzled. The look he gave me a few seconds later only confirmed this.
Well, that was news to me. "What?"
"She was so happy when I said I would let her be your Captain," he explained. "I've actually never seen her happier."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah, she's happy she'll be able to torture me."
Kakashi leveled me with a look. It was one of those rare moments when I could actually see him as an authority figure. Usually he acted so care-free. But now, he looked as if he was staring death in the face. Maybe he was, maybe he finally grasped how ready to kill I was.
A snarl escaped my lips. "Did you know she attacked me in the middle of the village? With people all around us?!"
Kakashi nodded. "You weren't in any real danger. She already cleared it with me."
"In what world is that a good idea?"
Kakashi laced his fingers together and rested his chin over them. His expression was more tranquil now, though his eyes still held onto a bit of the bite they had just moments ago.
"Sakura, you won't be getting another teacher. Deal with it." His order was absolute, the finality in his voice was something that would haunt me for the rest of my miserable life, I just knew it. "Your sister is amazingly talented, you can learn a lot from her."
I worried at my bottom lip angrily. Hot tears began to form at the corners of my eyes, something that often happened when I was angry. I opened my eyes wider to keep them from falling.
"Shoo, go home. Rest up this weekend because afterward, the real work begins." His hands waved me away, willing me to go out the door I came in.
I begrudgingly listened, and painstakingly held onto the stubborn will to not shed tears. Even if no one was going to see, I would still know that Tsunade made me cry.
And that was something I would not, could not, tolerate.
Before I couldn't wait for Monday to come, to be assigned a Captain and go on missions. I scoffed at my idiocy at thinking that everything would be like I pictured it would. Apparently, the universe felt like my journey was meant to be a torturous one, one where I had to face a lot of demons in order to grow.
And by all of my demons, I wasn't referring to the vampires or werewolves and the like. No, my sister and I had a lot to go through. And I wasn't going to let her knock me around. I wasn't the same helpless girl she thought I was.
My hands clenched into fists. I was going to show her I was better. I'll be the better fighter, the smarter Hunter, the best. One day, I'll be able to rub Tsunade's face in it.
I was going to prove her wrong. And she would be the one to resent me for my strength this time.
xxx
A/N: Just a quick note here about Tsunade's age in this story. Imagine that she's in her mid to late 20s! This is the link to the pic that I imagine her to look like when she's in this story (minus the lacy dress...She's in regular combat clothes in my story): Type in deviantart dot com AND THEN PASTE THIS AFTER IT: /instantmiso/art/CM-Sakura9283-516084876
JEEZ it is so freaking hard to get a link onto FF, such a pain.