AN:Another chapter for you all! A little bit of an interlude before we begin the Chunin Exams proper. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7: Guessing is it X or maybe Y…?
The rest of our trip back home was relatively boring, Kakashi deciding that we'd take a leisurely pace back to Konoha. Not that I was complaining, any time out of the Village meant that we weren't about to go chasing after that asshole cat for the umpteenth time after it had escaped the Daimyo's wife's grasp. There was only so many times the ferocious feline could take a chunk out of me before I started taking it personally. It only solidified my preference for dogs anyway.
Speaking of dogs, I'd somehow completely forgotten that Kakashi had the ability to summon dogs whenever he wanted. Needless to say I'd made a point of pestering him to let those bestest boys out once in a while. Kakashi had responded in a way that honestly had me respecting the man even more.
I wasn't going to complain about him giving me what I wanted. Even if he had summoned his biggest dog to land right on top of me.
But Bull was such a good boy!
"Ow! Fuck!" I yelped as I fell to the ground, my eyes coming up to glare at my smirking teammate.
"And match! Good hustle Sasuke." Kakashi sounded off with a clap. "Sakura, you need to keep your guard up for follow up attacks. And watch out for kicks to the face." He noted idly.
"Hate you." I grumbled. "Hate you, so much right now."
"Don't worry Sakura, you almost had the Teme this time!" Naruto let out a cheer that didn't help as much as he probably thought. Bless him for trying though.
"Thanks Naru." I replied with a sigh, sitting up and shaking my head.
Blinking, I brought my hand up to my face, surprised to find my fingers coming back coated in red. I was bleeding quite heavily from the nose. "I think you broke my nose." I murmured, tentatively poking it only to let out a hiss of pain. "Yeah, definitely broken. You suck, Uchiha."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at my insult, moving towards me and holding out his hand. I was surprised when a green glow enveloped it, my dark haired teammate bringing it to my nose as I looked on with surprise.
"That's what sensei was having you practice?" I ask. The idea of Sasuke Uchiha taking up healing jutsu was just plain bizarre. After all, he couldn't heal his brother to death and if it didn't go towards that goal he would usually dismiss it. Just what had changed?
"Hn." The prick at least had the temerity to look smug about it. "With you and the Dobe on my team, it seemed like a good idea. Can't have either of you dying on me, can I, Isōrō?"
Oh.
I was taken aback by the revelation, as patronizing as Sasuke had decided to put it. He'd taken it up for them, to help ensure their survival. I think my heart might have skipped a beat there. Had I really changed that much?
"There." Sasuke said with a nod, withdrawing his hand and gesturing for me to check. I did so, finding that it was indeed fixed, only a slight ache under the skin. "Apparently I've got talent in the field."
"I'll say…" I breathed, still a little knocked off balance.
A sniff to our sides had us turning, finding a teary eyed Naruto crouched next to us. "Teme…" He began with a hitch in his voice. "YOU DO CARE!" With that, he flung his arms out and tackled the both of us to the floor, wrapping us both in a crushing hug.
"Oi! Dobe, get off!" Sasuke squeaked, trying in vain to squirm out of the affectionate hold.
Seeing an opportunity, I wrapped my own arms around the brooding teen. "Yeah! I knew you loved us really!" I added.
"I will kill you both!" Sasuke threatened. "Kakashi, help!"
I was almost disappointed when sensei appeared above us, only for him to add himself to the pile, hugging the three of us. "Team bonding is important, Sasuke." He rebuked with an amused tone.
"I hate you all!"
D-Ranks were bullshit.
I was already well aware of that fact. Most ninja out of the academy were, but the return to Konoha had really cemented the opinion.
After we had given our reports for the mission the Hokage had seen fit to upgrade our mission from a C-Rank to an A-Rank. Of course, that had happened in Canon but what wasn't addressed was the sheer difference in the pay given for an A-Rank in comparison to even a C-Rank. Months of doing those chores disguised as missions and we'd barely earned a twentieth of what I was holding in my hand.
And that was between the three of us.
As we slowly exited the Hokage Offices I couldn't help but glance at Kakashi. The man had a long record with more B-Rank missions and above than his charges. "Sensei?" I ventured after a long while.
"Hmm? Yes, Sakura?" He asked idly, turning a page of his usual smut novel.
"Just how rich are you?"
"Eh… I get by." Kakashi replied nonchalantly.
It was kind of impressive that I, along with Naruto and Sasuke, snorted simultaneously.
Kakshi just gave a simple eye-smile. "Well team, while not how I would have liked our first mission outside the village, I'd say you deserve a treat."
"Ichiraku!" Naruto called immediately.
"You know, I actually agree with the Dobe for once." Sasuke stated, causing all of us to turn to him in shock.
Nudging him in the side, I grinned at the Uchiha with amusement. "And I suppose that has nothing to do with you wanting to show off your new eyes to the pretty waitress, does it?"
It made my day when he blushed. Almost as much as Naruto tackling him for even thinking of dishonoring Ayame.
It was good to be home.
Fight or Flight.
It's a pretty basic survival instinct, something everyone did without even thinking. When faced with a clear and present danger, every fiber of your being weighed up the benefits of facing or fleeing said danger.
Finding myself walking right into Anko-sensei on my way home after training had me falling right into that dilemma.
Having interacted with the Torture and Interrogation specialist for these past few months, I'd come to have a decent reading of the woman. She was surprisingly open for a Ninja of her rank, having the skill and power to back it up.
So when she looked at me with a grin resembling a shark, I couldn't help but feel threatened. That look never spelled anything good.
"H-Hey, Anko-sama…. Fancy seeing you here." I stuttered, trying and failing to hold back a gulp of air.
"Hey there kiddo." She replied jovially.
I was so dead.
"I heard you had quite the interesting mission. Full of mystery, intrigue and violence." Anko continued.
"Well, it was certainly interesting." I replied weakly, my eyes scanning for some sort of escape.
Clearly Anko was able to see through my planning as he placed her hand on my shoulder. "I bet." She agreed with a nod. "Kakashi had many things to say. Like how you did your own little bit of spycraft. You make your master proud."
It was then her eyes grew sharper. "He also told me about you throwing yourself in front of his assassination jutsu." The pressure on my shoulder increased sharply. "And that got me thinking…"
A familiar dragging feeling overtook me as Anko transported us both in a swirl of leaves. My stomach turned over and over, sending me dizzy as we traveled. I was barely able to register that we'd arrived before I found myself gasping on the floor.
"If you want to throw yourself into those sorts of situations, I can oblige you." She finished with a feral grin.
"Fuck! It's like the worst parts about being drunk." I panted, trying to regain some semblance of focus.
"What's so bad about being drunk?" Anko-sama asked curiously.
"Ask a glass of water." I grumble, gaining a laugh from the Jonin.
It was then her words finally registered, my eyes slowly going up to meet hers. Glancing around I wasn't totally surprised to find myself just outside the perimeter fence of the Forest of Death. "So… any chance I can talk you out of doing this?" I ask hopefully.
"Nope." Anko denied smugly. "Now, we're going to play a little game of predator…" She gestured to herself. "And prey." No points for guessing who she pointed at there.
"Anko-sama, no." I tried.
"Anko-sama, yes." She grinned. "But because I like you so much, I'm willing to give you a thirty second head start."
"Mighty kind of you." Letting out a sigh, I stood up. "Fine… just, try not to damage the face?"
"Sure thing kid." She agreed. "Twenty-five." She counted with a smile.
Needing no other prompting, I dashed into the dangerous forest, hoping to put as much distance between myself and Anko.
I was a little proud I lasted five minutes before she started using me like a tambourine.
Fuck you Kakashi.
"It's not fair!" Naruto decried to me as we rested on the training ground floor, having just finished a session of Kakashi's frankly psychopathic training. Our other teammate was currently taking lessons in the Konoha Hospital, leaving Naruto and I to get some more focused tort- I mean training. "Sasuke gets to learn a cool new jutsu and you get to learn how to be super fast and strong."
"I'll trade if you want." I offered it sincerely. The Gai regimen was madness.
His face faltered at my offer. "W-Well maybe not something exactly like yours."
"Uh-huh."
"Chakra control is just so boring! It's not like I have trouble doing jutsu anyway." He grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. "To be fair, Naru, better control means you can do more jutsu before you run out of steam."
Naruto let out a groan. "I know! It's just so gosh darn dull!"
"'Gosh darn'?" I couldn't help but ask.
"I'm too bored to come up with something better, that's how bad it is!"
"Could be worse, at least you've got your shadow clones to cut the time down." I offer.
Naruto froze at my words. "What do you mean?"
"You remember everything they do, right? Each one is an extra session you've done if you think about it. You could have a few clones doing it all the time. Not like D-Ranks take much if any real effort."
The blonde ray of sunshine let out a long groan. "I'm an idiot!"
"Hey, no argument here." I replied with a grin.
The frown he gave me in return was too much like a pout for me to take seriously.
The weeks flittered by, a routine taking shape as my team and I went about with training and dull missions. After Wave Kakashi had become very reluctant to allow us to take anything outside the village walls. Even the few C-Rank missions we had taken amounted to guard duty for VIPs within the village. The pay was at least decent, even if most of our clients seemed to think us more trumped up servants than the killers-in-training that we were.
It was a good thing that Sasuke was closer to us in this timeline, else he'd have gutted some of the more ornary clients. He was still a proud Uchiha after all.
Before long it became clear that the Chunin Exams were not going to occur any time soon. When I'd asked just why that was, I was unprepared for the explanation I'd been given.
"With the escalations of the civil war in Mist, the Chunin Exams have been postponed for the time being until the matter is resolved." Kakashi explained with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"I thought it was held every six months or so." I replied with a shrug. "And that Konoha was due to host this time."
I blinked.
"Wait, what do you mean, 'escalations in Mist'?" I demanded.
"Worried about your little boyfriend, Isōrō?" Sasuke asked from my side, gaining a dead arm from me.
"Fuck off." I growled before turning back on Kakashi. "Explain."
"Well… a lot of it is confidential…" Kakashi began, causing me to glare. "But what I can tell you is that the rebels have begun a full assault on the Mizukage's faction."
Damn…
If I remembered correctly, that wasn't supposed to happen for a while. At least until the time-skip. But then, originally Zabuza and Haku had died without being able to supply the Mist Resistance with the money from the Wave job. I supposed that it stood to reason that with that extra resource, Mei and her rebels had moved the time frame up a sizable amount.
I didn't think saving the surly Demon and the handsome Ice Prince would cause that much of a change. Would Mei still win? Would Haku be okay? Had I made everything wor-
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I turned to see Naruto giving me a comforting look. "They'll be okay." He reassured me.
Swallowing the ball of dread that had been forming, I gave him a shaky smile. "Thanks Naru."
"Hn. Your boyfriend isn't allowed to die until I've had my rematch anyway." Sasuke added with a cocky smirk, causing me to snort.
Kakahsi clapped his hands. "Sakura does raise a point though. The Chunin Exams will occur in the near future in any respect and if you three are willing, I will allow you to enter it."
"You think we're ready?" I had to ask, even if I knew the answer.
We were, after all, already stronger than our Canon counterparts had been at this point and they had mostly made it to the finals. It stood to reason we'd have similar results here.
"Eh, so-so." Kakahi responded with a vague motion. "But luckily for you, my sweet little Genin, I have a way to fix that." He continued with an evil glint in his eyes.
I am not one hundred percent sure the man knows the difference between training and torture.
Our interactions with the other rookies from the Academy had been few and far between since we'd graduated. A run in here and there around the village but nothing really significant. It seemed our Jonin senseis had decided to keep us apart, not having anything like shared training or something like that. Probably to stop us from knowing each other's weaknesses when it came time for the Exams.
So colour me surprised when I found a particular pale eyed girl being escorted by my dark haired teammate, carrying a box of various herbs and ingredients. As far as I could remember the two had very little interaction in the series, if any at all. Seeing Sasuke helping Hinata wasn't something I'd ever imagined seeing.
"H-Hello Sakura-san." Hinata stuttered as I approached, Sasuke giving his usual address.
"Hey Hinata, Sasuke." I replied with a smile and a nod, gazing at them curiously. "Fancy seeing you two."
Sasuke gave a grunt while Hinata smiled slightly. "I ran into Sasuke-kun at the hospital." She explained. "H-He offered to help me carry a few things." There was a slight dusting of red on her cheeks at the admission.
My eyebrows rose. 'Sasuke-kun'? Turning my gaze towards my teammate, the teen suddenly finding anywhere but my eyes more interesting to look at.
It couldn't be, could it?
"That's… awfully nice of him."
"Hinata-san has been supplying the hospital with healing salves that are above the standard quality. It seemed pertinent to help her." Sasuke clarified, causing the pale eyed girl to blush at the compliment.
"Y-You're over exaggerating, S-Sasuke-kun." Hinata complained, growing even redder under the praise.
"He doesn't usually give false praise." I countered with a grin. "But don't let me distract you two. I just needed to tell Sasuke that Kakashi-sensei wants us to meet at the bridge later."
Sasuke gave a grunt of acknowledgement. "I'll be there."
"Well, see you around Hinata. Don't let Mr. Grumpy over here boss you around." I said good naturedly.
"S-Sasuke-kun has been a perfect gentleman, Sakura-san." Hinata replied with a shake of her head.
"Good." With that I moved to walk past them, catching Sasuke with a smirk as I passed. His look in response promised murder causing me to let out a chuckle.
Was that wedding bells I could hear?
Since Wave, there had been quite a bit on my mind. The changes I'd wrought were becoming more and more prevalent as time went on and with them came a certain freedom. A freedom from playing my established role.
"Guys… I… We need to talk…" I spoke up one day after training as we rested.
"Yeah, Sakura?" Naruto asked, sitting up and looking at me with concern. He could obviously hear the trepidation in my voice.
"There's something I've been… hiding and…" I took a breath. "It's not that I don't trust you guys or anything but this isn't exactly…"
"Sakura." Sasuke spoke up. "You can trust us, whatever it is."
My mouth formed a thin line as I looked at them. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. My team. My… family, in all the ways that counted.
Taking a breath. "I'm… I'm a boy." I finally spoke, closing my eyes as I clenched my fists.
There was a long silence in the training field, only the sound of the gentle breeze audible as I waited for their reaction. It felt like an eternity before I heard Kakshi finally speak. "I had suspected." He replied idly, causing me to look at the Jonin in shock.
There was no scorn in his eyes, nor was there any in my teammates. Naruto, perhaps expectedly, looked a little confused. As for Sasuke, he looked to be deep in thought.
"You… suspected?"
"You wouldn't happen to be the first ninja I've met with such circumstances." He elaborated. "It's not so much of a taboo on this side of the fence, at least not amongst most ninja. Civilians and clans though… It's a topic that isn't advertised for their sensibilities." The way he said it made it clear what side of the fence the older ninja sat on and I felt a bit of hope begin to fill in my chest.
Still, the mention of clans had my eyes turning towards my black haired teammate. He appeared to feel my eyes on him, his own trailing up to meet mine. "I'm still going to call you Isōrō." He said seriously, causing me to let out a slight hysterical laugh. "But I don't have a problem with it."
"So… You're a boy…" Naruto finally piped up, seeming to have finally gotten his head around the statement. "Is that why you wanted me to stop calling you 'Sakura-chan'?" He asked, guilt forming on his face.
"Yeah." I admitted, looking away. "Don't worry Naru, I don't blame you for it. You didn't know."
"Still…" Naruto mumbled before he seemed to get an idea as he leapt to his feet. "Do… Do I still call you Sakura?"
I looked up at them once more, seeing their acceptance of what I'd told them and I felt my heart swell. I'd thought about it. What I'd want to be called if I had the choice. There had been one name that had appealed to me the most.
Taking a breath, I stood in front of them and bowed slightly. "My name is Rozu Haruno. Please take care of me." The stereotypical classroom greeting seemed to cut right through any tension left.
And as I was quickly assaulted by my team with a projectile hug, I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face, nor the happy tears that fell.
AN: Team Ohana for the win!
Also the reveal of our protagonists name going forward, which I'd love to say was planned from the start but not really. But when I found that particular name I knew it would be the right one, just felt right for them and as a bonus fit nicely with the title of the fic haha!
Plus, we got to see what Naruto and Sasuke were doing during the Wave Arc in terms of training. Sasuke training to be the team medic just felt right with his character and the trauma he had. With him being more accepting of the team here I felt it fit him to want to ensure their survival when they eventually take the fight to Itachi.
And his little crush on Hinata was just something I had to run with. I've always been a fan of unusual pairings and Sasuke/Hinata is pretty rare (outside of NTR fics which... no). Will that be the final ship? I don't know but I'm enjoying it for now.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, please don't hesitate to drop a comment on your thoughts on this chapter or the fic as a whole. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Until next time,
MurderousLord.
