This is Chapter five, my B day speacial! This chapter didn't come out as well as I hoped it would but O well. I don't own Naruto, you should know that by now. Please review. Bunny love!
A pair of almond shaped emerald eyes fluttered lazily open, her long black lashes casting a small shadow over her face. Sakura shifted her arms while pulling her upper body into a sitting position. Her visions was still cloudy with sleepiness making her surroundings appear fuzzy. She grunted and slid her legs over the bed's side. Today was her first day of training and the day before her birthday.
Yesterday she stopped at the hospitable to pick up her backpack and say hi to Naruto. He seemed a little more jumpy then usual but by the end of her visit he was his old self. She stepped into her black body suite and red jacket after discarding her sleeping garments. She pulled her hair back into a tight braid tying it off with a leather cord.
She growled when the late morning sun hit her in the eyes, wait...late morning...? She blinked and looked over at the clock above her stove. It read 9:45. Team seven was scheduled to meet at 7:00. "Kuso." She muttered under her breath while heading out the door. She decided not to rush since she was already so late. It wasn't like her to be late but adjusting to current environment too a lot of effort. And to add to it Sakura was no morning person.
While strolling through the streets towards team seven's meeting place she was surprised to see Kakashi ahead of her with his nose buried deep in a book. "What is he doing here?" She thought lifting an eyebrow. "Kakashi?"She called running up to him. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh hello Sakura. I'm reading." Kakashi replied with a smile.
"I mean why are you here and not with your team." Sakura replied.
"Oh well you see I saw a black cat in front of my path and had to take the long way around." He replied sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh, O.K. I can understand that." Sakura replied calmly believing him. Okami fell over in her head cursing to herself. Sakura was too trusting for a ninja.
"Well since you're with me why don't we walk together. It will be a lot easier to introduce you to the team this way."
"Hai Kakashi sensei." Sakura nodded.
As they approached the bridge Sakura fell into steep behind Kakashi so that her full figure was hidden behind his own. She saw Naruto leaning against the railing along with two dark haired boys on the other side of the bridge. "Hey there guys sorry I'm late but you see there was this black cat and..."
"LIAR!" Naruto shouted pointing a finger at Kakashi's face in anger.
"Liar? Naruto I'm hurt, this time I was really telling the truth but you didn't let me finish, I had to escort you new teammate here." He replied as Sakura stepped out from behind him.
"...Sakura chan!" Naruto cried happily jumping up and hugging the pink haired girl.
"What do you mean new teammate? I though there could only be four on a team." Sasuke replied a little annoyed thinking it was another fan girl of his. Sai nodded without looking up from his sketch pad thinking the same thing. Both boys just so happened to be very popular with the girls. There was barley a girl in the whole town that hasn't fallen for them yet.
"Yeah well it's Hokage's orders." Kakashi replied rubbing the back of his head.
"I don't mind. Sasuke, Sai this is the girl I was talking about." Said Naruto pointing to Sakura. Sakura nodded towards the two boys in greeting.
"You mean the one you wouldn't stop talking about." Sasuke grumbled rubbing his head remembering how the blond fox boy wouldn't shut up. He let his cold onyx eyes scan the girl beside Naruto. She was completely covered in black clothing and little could be seen of her face. A baggy red jacket hid her figure well so he couldn't see what she looked like. She wore some matching dark red leg warmers around her legs and a pair of fishnet gloves that exposed the tips of her fingers. He also noticed that she didn't wear any shoes or sandles.
Sakura looked over at Sasuke and caught him staring at her. Instead of blushing or turning away like Sasuke thought she would, she narrowed his eyes and glared coldly. Sasuke stiffened a little and turned away surprised. The faint hint of pink that fanned his face went unseen.
Sai looked up from his sketch pad and waved a little before disappearing behind his drawing book once again.
"Now that introductions are over how about we get in some training." Kakashi suggested in a carefree tone.
Sakura huffed a little as she leaned against a tree's trunk. So far her training was fairly basic. What made it so exhausting was the other three boys. In the first few moments Sakura quickly learned that all three boys hated each other's guts. She sighed again, her ears were still hurting from all their shouting. Naruto lay on his back a few feet away from her while Sasuke and Sai were still standing but panting just like her. Sakura swallowed and stood up straighting up as her strength returned.
For the past two hours, Kakashi put his team through a basic dodging and deflecting training. Sakura mostly used her speed to dodge the weapons not very good at deflection without Okami. Since it was her first day they had a light training session. They first thing Kakashi made them do was start running laps around the arena until they fell over. After that they had Kuni pratice and then lunch.
Sasuke glanced behind him to see Sakura straighting up recovering from Kakashi's last attack. For the hundredth time that day she had surprised him. She wasn't like Ino or Hinta or any of the other girls from his village, she was much stronger and she wasn't a fan girl. It was no wonder Naruto wouldn't stop talking about her. He regained his composure and narrowed his eyes once again making a mental note to keep an eye on her.
Kakashi lept down from the tree's branch and pulled out his book. "O.K. I think you're all done for today, you can go home now." He stated no even bothering to look at them.
Naruto jumped up to his feet suddenly full of energy. "Yes we're done!" He cried jumping up and down excitably. Sakura smirked at how energetic he could get. "Hey Kakashi sensei did you say yesterday that we could get tomorrow off?"
"Oh yeah, tomorrow is the first day of spring and (I want a excuse for a break) so tomorrow there is no training." Kakashi stated lazily with a laugh.
Sakura looked away, first day of spring...her birthday...that day. She nodded and began to walk away.
"Sakura chan!" She head someone call and she turned around to see Naruto running her way. "Sakura chan would you...um...like to go out with me to get some Ramen?" He asked a deep pink blush covering his face while he played with his fingers.
"Ramen? What's that?" She asked only hearing of the food a few times in her life.
"Naruto twitched and looked at her like she was a ghost. "You've never had...the holy food?" Sakura shook her head. "That's it come on." He exclaimed taking her by the hand and leading her to the Ramen stand.
"But Naruto I don't have any money on me." She protested following the hyper blond.
"That's O.K. Sakura chan it's my treat." He replied flashing her a bright smile. The two sudden;y stopped outside the small Ramen bar. "Sakura chan this is the Ichiraku Ramen bar! Old man Teuchi, Ayame...!" Naruto called as the two sat down on the stools.
A young brown haired girl with kind eyes came out from the back followed by her father. "Hello there Naruto." She greeted. "Will it be the usual?"
"Yeah but double that order Ayame, I have a friend with me today."Naruto replied as the man behind the counter began to cook the noodles. The girl looked over at Sakura then back at Naruto and giggled before whispering something in his ear. "Uh...well not...not really...but I...uh..." he stuttered turning a deep shade of red.
"Here are your orders Naruto." The elderly man stated handing the two a pair of bowels filled with noodles after a brief wait. Sakura bowed her head in thanks before breaking her chopsticks like Naruto and eating her noodles. She sighed happily tasting the meal for the first time.
"You like?" Naruto asked.
"Like it, gosh I love it! I could basically live off this stuff. Naruto...?Naruto are you alright?"
Naruto sighed with hearts in his eyes while looking at Sakura."She likes Ramen, she likes Ramen, she likes Ramen, she likes Ramen..." He thought.
"So About you teammates how do you like them?" She asked taking another slurp of her noodles.
"I hate both of them." He replied quickly making Sakura laugh. " I do, Sasuke thinks he so cool and emo and Sai always starts the fights they are both evil I tell you!"
"I'll have to agree with you on that, Sasuke dose seem a bit too emo. Do you have any other friends?"
"Well I have a friend in Suna, his name is Garra. I first met him in the chunin exams. We weren't friends at first but I guess you could say we found out we had a lot more in conman than we though. You know he's coming back to leaf in a few days with his brother and sister. I could introduce you to him!"
'Garra! That was the name Tsunada mentioned when she was talking about my demonic aura. Meet him meet him!' Okami chanted in her head. "I would like that very much Naruto. Thanks." Sakura replied with a smile.
" So Sakura do you have any friends?"
"Me...friends? ...I never had any friends, I was always alone." She replied looking away flinching from having to dig into un-plesent memories.
'Alone that word...' Naruto thought remembering how he felt when he was younger. Flashes of past events ran through his head behind closed eyes. The feeling was so inhuman, it was the worst experience ever. "That's not true Sakura chan, you have at least one friend." Sakura looked over at him with questioning eyes. "Me. I won't let you be alone anymore."
Sakura's eyes widened a bit from surprise before softening "Naruto..."
It was dark when Sakura's eyes flashed open. Her room was dark and chilly; goose bumps formed on her arms and shoulders. It was a few minuets before dawn, the time when nothing moves and life waits for the first warm touches of sunlight. Sakura clutched her heart lying on her back. Today was the first day of spring and the day of her birth. She growled, deep in her heart she could already feel it. Today was the day she killed her precious mother.
"Mom." She whispered sitting up and sliding out of bed.
Her feet seemed to carry her by themselves as she drifted through the streets of the hidden Leaf village. It was now well past noon and the streets were very busy with people running to and fro. Her eyes were hard and cold as she headed towards the Sakura trees.
Thankfully the beautiful area was deserted leaving Sakura alone with her sorrow. She pulled out a necklace from under her black body suite with a Victorian style key. She knelt at the foot of the tree and bowed her head with the key in hand. "Hi there mom, It's been a while since we last talked. I bet you would be proud to hear that I made a new friend and that I'm not alone anymore.." Sakura paused lowering her head as a few tears fell from her closed eyes. "I miss you so much. I really wish I could have met you even for a day. All I have of you is your key." Sakura's voice spiked as she lost control. She fell down on her side clutching her key letting the tears fall silently.
Okami whined to herself in the back of Sakura's mind. She felt so guilty for taking her mother's life. If it wasn't for her Sakura's mom would still be alive.
A breeze played by releasing a few stray cherry blossoms. One fell onto her wet cheek. "Mom...I miss you. But now I'm no longer alone with my sorrow. I love you mom."
Tsunada let a breeze play through her hair as her eyes scanned her village from her ofice window. "The nine tailed fox, the one tailed raccoon, and now the eight tailed wolf. Konohagakure is now the main target for both Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. I don't know how we are going to get through this."
There it is Please, please, please review! I won't be updating for a while like the end of Jan. In Jan I'll also be starting another fanfic about Sakura only in moder day. It's one I have been thinking about for a long time now so please keep an eye out for that. More bunny love!