Chapter 6 – Introducing Me

Summary: She was just a sickly girl back home, living her short life to its fullest. She was supposed to die, but she woke up in an entirely new world as a completely different person in a baby's bod

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Sara walked up the stairs at a more leisurely pace. Naruto was practically brimming with excitement so he skipped up the stairs with a big smile. Sara just giggled at him. Naruto was really one hyperactive little boy with the greatest heart and dream. She wasn't Sakura but Naruto was warm and kind to her all the same. Sara admitted to feeling a little giddy, knowing that she will get to work alongside the hero of the world.

Sasuke walked at a faster pace ahead of her, frowning at the ball of energy in front of him. This hostility between the two would cause serious headaches for Sara. She would very much like to just ignore them, but it wouldn't do to work within a broken team.

Sara stared at her teammates, exhaling a heavy sigh. This is it then. I'm really in this team. Sara honestly had no idea how to go about this. It was one thing to already get involved with the Rookie 9 by being in the same class. But it was a whole other thing to be shoved in the heart of the crisis, in team 7 of all teams.

Sara wasn't sure what she was supposed to do in Sakura's role. Would she need to encourage Naruto to become better? Would she need to fawn over Sasuke so he would know that people care about him and that he would always have a home to go back to? Would she need to be on the sides to cheer for the two of them?

Sara got those medical books because that was the only role she was sure of that she needed to fulfill. The overtaking of the original Sannin was done by team 7. She knew she needed to do her part especially when the timeline of the Shippuden came. Expertise in the medical field was the aspect of Sakura that greatly benefitted the team in the future. She knew she needed to become that too to survive and assist in the coming events.

Even though medic practice really bored her. She struggled to not be sleepy while reading her books earlier. She wasn't undermining the skill of it. It was still very difficult, but it all came down to chakra control. It was a precise study.

Her seal making always required a certain level of creativity and cunning to achieve the effect she wanted. That excited her and thrilled her, no matter how many sleepless nights she had just to solve a specific mystery.

But medic art was more direct. She did agree that it would be useful in the long run so she swallowed her distaste and pushed herself to keep reading those books. Her respect for the Sakura character of Naruto who became a great medic nin considerably heightened.

Sakura accomplished a lot of great things medically. But anything mental and behavioral that Sakura affected was something that Sara cannot ascertain.

Now that she was in the heart of what mattered, she was deliberating exactly what she needed to do. The original plan was to take a step back and let things happen. But if she was here and she stuck to that plan, then it meant letting deaths happen under her watch. She just wasn't sure she could stomach it, to battle her guilt by chanting 'It was supposed to happen.'

Sara sighed again, closing her eyes and shaking her head at the magnanimous things that would follow.

Sasuke glanced at her, brows furrowing. But before she could look back, Sasuke already looked away.

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At the rooftop, Kakashi leaned against the railing of the terrace, gesturing to the floor in front of him for them to sit on.

Sara stared at her new sensei. It was THE Kakashi, with all his glorious cool and angst, in the flesh. Sara had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from squealing. He looked a little goofy now, but she suspected that he was portraying himself like that on purpose. He normally looked suspicious because of the mask covering ¾ of his face. But moreover, he was slouched on the railing, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but talking to three kids.

Whatever image he wanted to disillusion them with, Sara remembered his gorgeous face with his beauty mark. She remembered the great man becoming the 6th Hokage. She remembered his strength and precision when he fought. She remembered his genius, kindness and fairness.

So she looked up at the silly looking man and gave him her brightest smile. Kakashi caught that and merely eye smiled at his enthusiastic students.

Well, aren't they a happy bunch. He thought to himself, watching two of his students eagerly wait for him to start. Sasuke was throwing glances at his teammates, then at him, which was honestly more mobile than Kakashi expected him to be. He had expected Sasuke to just fold his arms in front of him and ignore everyone.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves?"

A pause. Naruto jerked up, his bottom wiggling in his seat. "Eh eh what do you want us to say?

Kakashi crossed his arms. "What you like, hate, dreams and hobbies." He lifted his hands in a shrug. "Something like that."

Naruto scratched his head, grimacing. Then he pointed cheerily at Kakashi. "Hey, hey. Why don't you introduce yourself first, sensei?"

Kakashi pointed at himself lazily. "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream..." He paused. Then he looked up in thought. "I have a few hobbies."

Naruto gaped at him, looking incredulous.

Sara folded her legs and rested her chin on her knees, beaming at her teacher. "Hello Kakashi sensei. Nice to meet you."

Sasuke frowned at her. Sara shrugged at him.

Kakashi chucked. He gestured towards them. "Now, it's your turn." He crossed his arms and nodded at Naruto.

Naruto grinned and straightened up. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He said, fiddling with his forehead protector. "I like cup ramen. But I like the ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought for me even more. I hate the 3 minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water. My hobby is to eat and compare cup ramens." Then he raised clenched fists in determination. "And my dream is to become greater than the Hokages. I'm going to make all the villagers recognize my existence!"

Sara's eyes twinkled at Naruto's familiar intro. With the way he was going, she almost assumed he would say his dream was to be a ramen cook.

Kakashi's eyes widened , then returned to looking bored. I see. He grew up in an interesting way.

Kakashi's eyes moved to Sara. "Okay, next."

Sara shrunk in her seat, looking upwards in thought. How will I go about this? "Uhmm...my name is Sara. Just Sara." She started twiddling the ends of her hair on her fingers. "I like a lot of good things." She liked a great lot of things, she wasn't sure which to mention at the moment. "I don't like bad things." Okay, I'm starting to sound lame. She clicked her tongue, her nose wrinkling. "You'll just have to spend time with me to know about them." She decided, not really knowing how to compartmentalize her interests.

Then she sighed. "My goal is to save someone." There, it was final. She was officially making it her goal. She thought hard about it, and she decided that she would never be able to live with herself if she let it happen. She was in this schmuck team now anyway, she had access, if limited.

It was crazy how her number one goal was to save Itachi of all people. She never even got to know him in her life here. But she was a dedicated fangirl. And he wasn't just a character here now anyway; he lived, loved and breathed. While he went about saving everyone without credit, who would save him?

She decided that she was going to save him, and probably some others she could get her hands on. She'd have to be sneaky about it though. The bloody timeline had to be protected. If she was going to start saving people, she needed to find a way so that the timeline would still remain undisturbed. But she had time to plot. She prayed that she would be capable enough not to muck things up.

"Save who?" Sasuke's voice broke through her thoughts, surprising her. Kakashi raised his brows at Sasuke's sudden inquiry. But Sasuke's steely eyes watched her, obviously demanding for an answer.

Sara blinked slowly. "Someone precious to...people." Sara looked away from his piercing gaze. Why is he so curious? "He's surrounded by bad people. I need to be strong enough to go through them. Then I need to be strong enough to resist him when I find him." That was as much as she could say without giving away too much. She initially played with the idea of announcing a goal so Sasuke wouldn't be so frustrated because he lost to her every time. She wanted Sasuke to feel that she was also working hard towards a goal, so she needed to be stronger.

Sasuke probably hated losing to someone who yearned for nothing. But now that her goal was real, she would really work hard to achieve it. She had a feeling that being in team 7 would require that kind of determination anyway. She needed to be fixated in something, to move towards something, to keep surviving in her destructive team.

She toyed with the idea of actually announcing that her goal was to save Itachi. She could picture Sasuke jumping on her and throwing her off the roof.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to ask more, but Sara pursed her lips and turned away from him. Sasuke frowned at that.

Kakashi alternated his gaze between the two. His eyes landed on the lone kunoichi of his team. Well well. I would have thought that girls her age would be more interested in their love lives. She's serious, if nothing else. She still hadn't said much about herself though. What is she playing at?

Kakashi jerked his head towards Sasuke. "Last guy!"

Sasuke turned his glare to Kakashi. His eyes weren't really looking at his teacher though. It was like he was seeing something that wasn't there. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things that I hate and there aren't a lot of things that I like."

Kakashi inwardly shook his head. So in this team, only Naruto really introduced himself properly. Sara was all "I like good things and I don't like bad things." Now Sasuke says he has many things he hate and less things he likes.

Sasuke's mood darkened. "Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. The revival of my clan, and to kill...a certain man."

Naruto shivered. I hope he's not referring to me.

Kakashi looked grim. Just as I thought.

But Sara smiled enthusiastically at Sasuke. "Let's all work hard for our goals then, ne? Naruto will become Hokage. I will save a hero. And you will kill an evil man."

Although only one of us will succeed, Sasuke. Sara thought, inwardly shuddering.

Naruto beamed at her with shining eyes. It must be because she sounded certain when she declared that Naruto will become Hokage. Sara winked at him.

Then she turned to Sasuke with innocent eyes. "So, who did you want to kill, Sasuke?" He asked me who I wanted to save. So yes, I would dare to ask him.

Sasuke threw her a cold look. Sara wasn't fazed though. She tilted her head, waiting for his response.

Kakashi sighed. He cleared his throat, about to say something, when Sasuke actually responded.

"My brother."

Naruto looked confounded, gawking at Sasuke. Kakashi's eyes widened, not expecting Sasuke to really indulge the question.

Sara just looked at him though, her lips slightly parted in wonder. She didn't really expect him to answer too. But she was glad that he told her all the same. So she nodded at him and smiled. Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Alright." Kakashi called out. "You three have unique..." He eyed Sasuke and Sara. "...and mysterious personalities! I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow."

Naruto raised his hand in a salute "What kind of mission is that, sir?"

"First we're going to do something that we four can do." Kakashi informed them with a nod.

"What what what, what is it?" Naruto was bouncing on his seat.

Kakashi shrugged. "Survival training." He paused, looking at them seriously. "This is no ordinary training."

Naruto raised his hand, waving it. "Then then, what kind of training is it?"

Kakashi lowered his head, then he started chuckling darkly. Sara put her knuckles against her lips so he wouldn't see her smile. So overdramatic. Sara thought in amusement.

She cleared her throat. "S-So what's so funny s-sensei?" She was still trying not to laugh.

Kakashi waved his hand. "Well, if I say this, I'm sure you three are going to be surprised."

Naruto straightened, looking at him questioningly. "Huh?"

Kakashi splayed a hand on his face and eyed each of them with menace. "Out of the 27 graduates, only 9 are going to become genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a dropout rate of 66%."

Naruto's face morphed into shock. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Sara just looked at Kakashi, looking suspiciously bored.

Kakashi's eye twitched at that. But he raised his voice with mock laughter. "See? You three are surprised."

"No way!" Naruto growled, aggravated. "I went through so much trouble...Then what was the final exam for?"

Kakashi gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "That? It just picks out those who are qualified to be Genin."

Naruto started shaking. I'm not going to get dropped by a thing like this. I have to make him recognize my abilities, for real. He thought, fuming.

Sasuke clenched his fists.

Sara put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Why are you worrying Naruto, don't you believe that you will pass?"

Naruto jerked, shaking his head quickly. "Ofcourse I know I will pass! It's just that...the final exams..." He lowered his head, looking disgruntled.

"Eh, but you know. I think sensei is right to have a survival test." She said nonchalantly.

Naruto blinked up at her, surprised. "But...but Sara chan-!"

"Think about it." Sara cut him off. "To be honest, I think a lot of our classmates aren't really ready yet to be a ninja. We could die out there. The final exam was more paper tests and scenario reaction tests. The last test was to produce a clone. None of it simulates combat." She shrugged. "I think this survival test will showcase the accumulation of what we have learned." Which is to realize that we won't always be strong enough, so we need to work with our teammates. "Besides, this is just confirmation anyway. As long as we're really qualified to be genin, then passing shouldn't be a problem."

Sasuke raised his brows. "And if we fail?"

"Then we're not ready yet." Sara said without missing a beat. "I'd rather accept that I'm not ready yet, than push myself out there anyway, knowing I'm not, and get killed. We're just 12. There shouldn't be a rush. We get strong when we get strong."

Naruto pouted at her, but it looked like Naruto accepted that explanation with a sigh. He scratched his head, defeated.

Sasuke's mouth set in a grim line. But he also nodded, and moved to stand up.

Kakashi's single eye widened. That's a very mature take. And her teammates listened to her. I guess she would be a good balance after all.

Kakashi turned his back to them and waved his arm in farewell. "Now then, meeting over."

He paused then looked back. "Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You're going to throw up if you do."

With that, he vanished into a swirl of leaves.

Sara immediately turned to Naruto. "So so, Naruto. Since we're teammates now, do you want to eat dinner together? My treat."

She knew Naruto wouldn't ask. She wasn't Sakura after all. But she wanted to connect with Naruto anyway. He was the freaking hero of the whole series. She might as well be close to him now that she was stuck on his team.

Naruto considerably brightened, giving her a lopsided grin. "Yatta! Yes yes! You're super nice Sara chan! Thank you!"

Sara smiled at him. She slowly turned to her other teammate. She expected him to turn her down, but it was polite to ask him.

"How about you Sasuke? Do you want to come with us?"

Sasuke had his back turned on them, but he paused, gracing her with an impassive look.

Naruto scowled at Sasuke's direction. "Eh?! Why are we bringing that teme Sara chan?!"

Sasuke glowered at Naruto, his teeth gritting. "I'll go on your stupid dinner."

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Of course, they ended up in Ichiraku Ramen because Naruto really really insisted. Sasuke argued on another place, but Sara piped up that Ichiraku Ramen was within her budget. So Sasuke came along with a defeated sigh, and a dirty look at Naruto.

Naruto enthusiastically recommended different bowls of ramen to them. Sara amusedly entertained the idea of Naruto being a professional ramen cook in the future instead. She had no doubt that she would definitely excel at it. It would probably be frightening if their future hero didn't develop the desire to become Hokage, and succumbed to the lure of his beloved ramen instead.

Naruto chattered as they ate their dinner, talking about his day and the things he did the last week. He was eager to tell his stories because he could see that Sara was really listening to him. She nodded, reacted and asked him questions. He grinned wide at her, glad that he was making a new friend...and not just any friend. Sara. Sara had never been aware of her popularity. But that was what made her so special. People had always watched her create her seals quietly, and read many advanced books. Then kick everyone's ass in the field...even Sasuke's. But she was very nice when spoken to, and never hesitated to help when asked.

There was just something about watching her answer automatically when drilled with high level questions as if they were nothing, her hands moving flawlessly across the board when answering equations, or moving lazily to avoid hits during combat, then striking precisely to incapacitate them so suddenly that no one saw it coming. Then when you approach her, she would grace you with the biggest smile.

Sara wasn't as obviously pretty as Sakura, or as charming as Ino. But she had her own shine, even as she huddled in a corner with Hinata, minding her own business. Shikamaru mentioned the other day how Sara wanted to be invisible. But even Naruto could see that she wasn't. Not at all. People always looked at her. Even Sasuke did. But he was always really sneaky about it. That jerk thought no one could see him staring.

And Naruto was happy that even if he was...him, it didn't seem like it mattered to her.

So he happily told her his stories.

Sara eventually turned towards his other teammate, who was eating quietly, shooting annoyed looks at Naruto.

"What do you usually do in your spare time?" She asked hesitantly. She only wanted to include him in the conversation. She really didn't expect him to come along. So she had no idea how to make him feel like a part of their 'team dinner'. Leaving him alone didn't seem very nice.

Sasuke cocked his head, his face blank. "What do you do in yours?" He threw back.

Sara tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, absently considering the question. "Train. Read."

Sasuke nodded, looking back at his food. "Train. Read." Sara wasn't sure if he just repeated what he said in thought, or he also answered her question.

But before she could ask him, Naruto nudged him. "You're always reading, Sara chan. I mean, you even have a book on your lap right now!"

Sara chuckled as she glanced at the open book on her lap under the counter. "Yeah. It's a really interesting book though, can't put it down."

Naruto shook his head with a laugh. "Can you even read while chatting and eating?"

Sara smirked.

And the rest of the dinner was spent with Naruto testing Sara again, making her chant the pages of the book word per word, Sasuke rolling his eyes beside them, but his eyes also widening when Sara really did chant the book.

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