Chapter 8 – Try though you might fail
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 body.
A/N:
1. Firstly, thank you for everyone who liked the story! I haven't polished the idea of the whole story yet so I'm just really glad that a lot of people liked the setting and the way this story is growing.
2. Thank you for everyone who made their reviews too. I appreciate the thoughts and I would definitely weave them as I write.
3. Sara was actually just saying the truth when she told them that she didn't want people who couldn't watch her back. Maybe it was a little mean, but she knew how messed up team 7 would be, so let's just say that she was hinting on it. And yeah, she was hoping she could push someone to act on teamwork.
4. Sara is a fan of the cannon timeline, that was why she was initially dedicated to not changing anything. But since she's at the heart of it all now, she'll develop her own side of the story, and maintain a relevant character as the story progresses.
5. I realize that she does sound too perfect. I think that she's just investing in a lot now because Sasuke and Naruto would suddenly grow super strong in the future. She's actually not perfect though, she'll have a few problems on the way so let's watch out for that.
Thank you again and don't forget to give comments!
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"This is Sasuke, arrived at Point B." Sasuke said in a low voice from the spot he was hiding in, behind the pavement around the corner.
Sara slowly climbed up to her position on the roof, peaking down at their target area. "This is Sara arrived at point C."
Silence was the only response for a few seconds.
After a few beats, the radio finally cackled again. "This is Naruto arrived at point A." Naruto said from the roof on the other side of Sara's.
Kakashi's sigh was heard through the radio they were using to communicate with each other. "You're slow, Naruto."
Sara giggled. "He was just making sure he's positioned perfectly." She shot a conspiring wink at Naruto from her position, raising her head a little to catch his gaze. Naruto gave her a wide grin in response, nodding his head as if she was totally right about the excuse she came up with for him.
Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Don't side with him Sara. You're always spoiling him."
"And you're always not. So it's only fair." She replied cheekily, tossing a look at Kakashi and raising her brows up and down. Kakashi was situated at a high pole which overlooked all the positions of his students. He just shook his head at her, giving her a disapproving frown.
"Spoiled brat." Sasuke murmured, his eyes still on their target even as he jumped in to infuriate Naruto, as always. If he didn't say a word, it would have looked like he didn't care about their earlier conversation and was totally engrossed on the mission. But as it was, of course he just had to piss the blond again.
Naruto growled, his usual temper flaring. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
Sasuke glared at him. "Yeah that's right Dobe. Scream. Chase our target away."
Naruto flushed in anger, his cheeks turning red as he huffed at the boy beneath his position. But he pursed his lips to stop another angry hiss anyway. It already took some time for them to locate the target. He didn't want it to notice that they were at its tail, and make an escape again. Fortunately, the cat didn't look like it noticed anything and just continued about with its business, lying on the ground leisurely.
Exhaling in relief, Naruto casted an annoyed look at Sasuke. "Whatever Teme. You're just jealous."
Sara cleared her throat, knowing that the boys were about to launch another pissing contest. She raised a hand and signaled to Naruto. "So what will you have us do, leader?"
Tearing his angry glare away from Sasuke, Naruto sighed and made himself focus on the task at hand. He sat in a crouching position and surveyed the location, his eyes narrowing as he spotted the cat they were supposed to 'rescue', rubbing itself contentedly behind the bins.
"I would say let's just jump on it now but..."
"But you know it's not a good strategy." Sara finished, eyeing him with a look. The area was too open. There were too many alleys and routes for the cat to escape to. The moment they make any sudden movements, the cat would simply slip away again. They'd have to track it down once more if that happens.
Naruto pouted at that, but he dutifully returned his gaze on the area and scratched his head in thought. His eyes ran on where Sasuke was situated, the latter scoffing at him for his inability to come up with a good way to catch the cat. Naruto's fists clenched at that. Stupid Sasuke had been able to command the team in catching the cat quickly and efficiently before. Naruto refused to lose to the jerk. So he narrowed his eyes and swept the place with a careful gaze.
Then as if a lightbulb appeared above his head, he straightened up in realization of something. He eyed all the exits and he mentally calculated all the resource at hand that they could use. He formulated how he would execute his newly formed plan. Finally, his eyes brightened giddily and he softly clapped his hands once. His lips started to twist in a slow manic grin.
"Alright team, gather up. I have a plan."
Kakashi watched his students with amusement as they reconvened, shaking his head as he wondered exactly what Naruto was planning. As the hailed King of Pranks, Kakashi was sure Naruto would make a mess.
It was a wonder that doing the D ranks missions with this team didn't bore Kakashi at all. He initially prepared to resign himself in doing the village chores for the next months, knowing that it was an inevitable task when he finally passed a genin team. He even prepared his books to make sure he wouldn't die of boredom, because of course, he wasn't really going to do the D ranks himself. He was supposed to only "supervise", which for Kakashi meant "just don't let them die". He was fully prepared to sit back and read while they finish the chores.
But he ended up watching his team's antics every time, stuffing his nose on his book and pretending to read while minutely observing the kids.
The kids always turned their D rank missions into incredibly challenging games and tasks. It was all Sara's idea at first. The first time they had the mission on catching Tora, the cat, Sara informed her teammates that it was a pretty popular mission, and that they would probably get this same mission again sometime in the future.
So she suggested that they each take turns in leading the team to catch the cat. She said that this would demonstrate the team's mobility when one of them had to take the lead. It was also an exercise of showing their strengths and their understanding of the others' by crafting a team plan to catch the cat. The "leader" had to analyze exactly which strength of their teammates they would craftily use for the plan he/she had formulated.
You'd think that they were planning an actual assault and rescue with the way the team actually went on about it.
Kakashi was even tasked to step back and follow their order as well. He was momentarily shocked at that. As the actual team leader, Kakashi was a little miffed for being ordered around. But he was curious of their plans, so he yielded anyway and observed with interest. Sara was right after all, this was a good chance for each of the kids to try to lead.
Sara went first. Her strategy was the smartest. She observed the house where the cat lived in to investigate exactly how the cat acted. She profiled the cat, found out that it liked open and quiet spaces (because the majority of the cat fur gathered around isolated balconies, terraces, and empty rooms with the windows wide open.), that its favorite food were beans and mushrooms (because the other cat food was still full and those beans packets were already ¾ eaten), that it was attracted to darker colors (because of the numerous scratches on specific colors on the walls) and so on.
Kakashi watched with fascination as Sara completely profiled the cat then went about to catch it using the knowledge. She traced where the cat would be and lured it out from its hiding place using the information she gathered. It amazed Kakashi, to say the least, that she managed to pat down the cat as if it was an actual criminal on the loose.
Sasuke went next. His strategy was the most precise and the most efficient. He simply overpowered the cat by applying ninja cornering tactics and placing each of his teammates in their most beneficial positions. He placed Sara on the roof because she had the chakra control needed to stay there and not fall off, and she had to use that same control so she could stealthily observe and follow without alerting the cat. Her task was to watch from above and relay to the rest of the team where the cat will go.
He put Naruto on the easy exits of alleys because he provided a great distraction. Putting Naruto there would push the cat to choose another alley to escape to. His task was to manipulate the cat into taking alleys that Sasuke and Kakashi could easily slip through. So he made messes and loud displays on the alleys the cat shouldn't go through. It worked perfectly because he successfully frightened the cat whenever it turned up, forcing it to run away to the opposite direction.
Sasuke put Kakashi in front of him so Kakashi could help track the cat as it ran. Kakashi and Sara made the perfect navigation team because Sara would describe the next alleys they would encounter and where the cat would most likely run to, then Kakashi would tell him exactly where they were on the alleys Sara mentioned.
Finally, Sasuke's task was simply to catch the cat. He was fast and ruthless, and aided by his team, Sasuke easily caught the target.
And now, it looked like Naruto's plan would be the grandest. Kakashi didn't say it was the greatest or the best one out of the three. Simply, it meant that Naruto's plan would prove to be the most flamboyant.
And it was.
Naruto actually pranked the cat.
He used colorful powders, small but loud explosives, strings, papers, and numerous assortments of stuff, which his teammates helped set up sneakily around the place the cat was lounging in. Sara looked fascinated as she did this, studying Naruto's step by step plan into the prank. Sasuke looked indifferent, following his temporary leader with an annoyed sigh. He was a little curious whether the elaborate plan would work though.
After some coaxing, the cat finally moved and it set off a series of events that the cat would have never expected. The prank effectively trapped the cat in a hilarious situation of slipping, jumping, being squeezed and being tossed into 5 directions before it ended with it hanging upside down, a single rope tied on its tail. Its fur turned rainbow color, and its mouth hanged open in a shocked expression because of how fast it all happened.
The mini explosions and the popping of colors startled the kids playing on the streets. They immediately gathered around the area, their faces morphing into awe as they surveyed the after-prank scene. They clapped their hands happily, laughing and pointing at the colorful swinging upside down cat.
As Kakashi thought, it was Naruto's plan so of course it would be loud and extravagant.
Naruto guffawed in bursts of laughter as the cat swayed about defenselessly on his strings.
Kakashi rubbed his head, pretending to be exasperated, even though he was really amused. "I am not cleaning that cat up. We have to return it in pristine condition to the daimyo's wife."
Naruto was still shaking with laughter, waving his hand away in dismissal. "Yeah yeah I know. It was still totally worth it. Stupid cat."
Sasuke actually looked satisfied, glaring vindictively at the cat that was still too shocked to even utter a sweet meow. The cat always escaped so it constantly needed to be rescued. Sometimes, you just have to teach it a lesson. And Naruto delivered, to Sasuke's grudging admission.
Sara just giggled, giving a thumbs up to Naruto while the boy chuckled in victory.
Kakashi crossed his arms and made a show of sighing heavily. "What am I going to do with you three?"
Sara happily twirled towards him and batted her eyelashes. "Love us?"
"Ha! I told ya I can do it!" Naruto bragged loudly, staring up proudly at the swaying cat, and sticking a tongue out to his rival.
"Decent job, if nothing else." Sasuke scoffed, waving his hand in dismissal.
Naruto's face twisted into a scowl. "Nothing else? Well it was still so much more satisfying than your boring plan!"
Sara shrugged at them and proceeded to skip towards Kakashi, beaming widely, as always. She probably preferred to come to him instead of stopping the 2 fight again. So she ignored the bickering behind her and tilted her head on her sensei.
"The next time we get this mission, you'll lead us." She casually informed him.
Kakashi raised his brows questioningly. "You think you need to test me?"
Sara rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Of course not. You could probably get the cat 5 minutes after the mission was given."
"So could the three of you." He admonished, though his single eye gleamed with approval, telling her that he wasn't really scolding her. "You three just always make it so much harder."
Sara shrugged and twirled the tips of her hair on a finger, smiling mischievously. "Well duh. Where's the fun in doing it straight?"
Kakashi just shook his head and mumbled something that sounded like "crazy rowdy kids."
"So why am I leading you?"
"Because after experiencing bouts of leadership, now we need to learn how to act under your orders. Think of it as a trust exercise. We're going to follow you in missions after all, we need to learn how to operate under that."
Wise as always. Kakashi thought, smiling down at his only female student.
It went like this in all their D rank missions. Somehow, someway, they managed to turn all their easy missions into all out draining strategic exercises. Kakashi knew that they were really converting their D ranks into subtle trainings. They turn grocery shopping into information extraction and manipulation, babysitting into data inception, gardening into perfect organization and rearrangement, and catching Tora the cat into a high rank rescue mission.
The difficulty of the challenges even shut up the energetic Naruto into submission every time. Of course, Naruto often complained about how tiring all of it was. But Naruto set about the job anyway as seriously as the other two. Kakashi guessed that Naruto really preferred training and spending time with their dysfunctional team than going home alone in his messy and lonely apartment. Even if hanging around with their team meant putting up with his rival.
So no matter how much he complained, Naruto would plan with the two and even actively participate in executing the plans.
Kakashi personally thought it was a clever and a good use of team time. It was definitely a hassle, but they were shaping up into a talented genin team. They were multitasking after all; completing village chores and training at the same time.
Besides, they usually part ways after missions, so there was really no other time to do proper training sessions. This was not including mornings though, because Kakashi found out that his team actually trained together every morning. In fact, after trainings, they would even have breakfast together. He knew this because Sara never failed to bring him something from their breakfast every day.
"Sensei." Speaking of. "Here! It's Ichiraku again because Naruto was about to revolt earlier." She giggled, holding up a bento box for him.
"Maa Sara chan, I told you not to bring me anything anymore." Kakashi mumbled, politely shaking his head on the offered bento.
Sara pouted, leaning in closer to him. "Well I already did. Now do what you want with it, throw it away or whatever. But you're taking it." She shoved the bento in his hands.
Kakashi took it, sighing defeatedly. "It's just takeout too." He eyed the Ichiraku logo branded at the top of the box, tutting in disapproval.
"Now I thought you didn't want me bringing you anything, and now you're possibly suggesting I cook you homemade?" Sara tilted her head back and laughed. "I could always try and cook you something again."
Kakashi quickly shook his head, his single eye widening. "Oh, no please. Have mercy on my taste buds." The last time she tried to cook something for the team, he noticed how disgruntled the other boys were when they all met for the day and how they watched him vindictively with evil smiles as Sara handed his bento to him. It seemed like they already ate some of it during their breakfast together, and now they were sharing the misfortune of it with him.
Later when he went home, he realized exactly why they looked so smug as he puked out the contents in his toilet bowl.
Sara's eyes twinkled. "So you do eat what I give you after all!"
"Well I wouldn't waste food. And it's free." Kakashi simply told her, shrugging. It was comforting to say the least, to eat what they bought for him. Even if he didn't have breakfast with them, it felt like he did. He didn't know why it was important, but maybe the kids were taking his teamwork lesson to heart, and it made him satisfied if nothing else.
He watched the 2 boys still arguing on the other side, then switched his gaze to the little girl who was looking up at him with such admiration. He chuckled at that. Sara really was an oddball. She was still fairly mysterious because it was obvious that she was always holding back. Kakashi didn't have the faintest idea what it could be. She had no clan so he had no reference what she could have up her sleeve. But it was still apparent that Sara was simply a sweet little girl who cared about the people she hanged around with.
He almost envied her. She was so innocent and pure, and she obviously never had a tragedy on her life yet. She might be an orphan, but she never witnessed the cruelty of the world, unlike Naruto and Sasuke. He almost felt bad knowing that there would come a time when that innocence would shatter, because such was the life of a ninja. So while she was still happy, he could let her get away with it, let her enjoy the last free moments of her life.
He gave her a jolly eye smile and patted her head.
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On Sara's part, she really didn't mean to do all that.
She wasn't trying to make team 7 better. She wasn't even trying to make their relationship with each other better. She was still a big fan of the canon timeline and she believed that a dysfunctional team 7 would serve a higher purpose in the future. The love hate relationship of Sasuke and Naruto was the underlying plot line of the whole series, and it was also Naruto's greatest motivation when he was trying to get stronger.
But as it was, she was just really bored.
When she thought about it before, she knew that the D rank missions would be a complete waste of her time. She understood that it was supposed to help them with their team dynamics and introduce them softly to doing missions. But Sara had never been idle ever since she was born into this world. Even at 1 year old, she already occupied her time learning something new every minute of the day.
It irked her to think about wasting half of the day doing menial things when she could be mastering the impossible area of medical ninjutsu.
So she made their D ranks interesting, if nothing else. It looked like Kakashi was entertained by it. And both Sasuke and Naruto were really focusing on it, trying to outdo each other every time. So it was a win. The team improvement and the harnessing of their own individual ninja skills were just bonuses in the end. She wasn't trying to be smart and determined. It really just happened.
"Helloooo. Earth to Sara!" Ino's snarky voice intruded in her thoughts. When she snapped her head towards the voice, she found Ino smirking at her.
Sara blinked. "Um what?"
Ino gestured outside the window of the coffee shop they were currently in. "You were totally ogling your sensei's ass."
Sara blinked several more times in confusion and looked out the window again. Ino was right, Kakashi was there, strolling lazily with his orange book in hand. But she wasn't ogling him earlier. She just happened to stare out the window and dazed off. Again, things just happen.
But now that he was there, might as well ogle the fine man that was her sensei.
She sighed and put her chin on her hands.
Hinata giggled beside her. "Sara told me that she thinks her sensei is sexy. Should I tell Neji niisan that he has competition?"
Sakura gasped from Ino's side, but she ended up laughing as well. "Your taste in men is strange Sara chan." She shook her head. "And you never liked Sasuke. He might be difficult, but he was our classmate and now he's your teammate! But no, you want strange impossible men. You always had a higher standard."
Sara rolled her eyes, her lips twitching in amusement. "Oh honey, Sasuke is also pretty impossible. He's just too boyish for me." Sasuke was literally a child to her. After all, she was mentally closer to Kakashi's age than Sasuke's. Not that she was actually salivating over her teacher. Kakashi was just really a fine man. And speaking of Neji, she only mentioned Neji offhandedly before because she spotted him walking randomly by their classroom. But in truth, Neji was also a child to her. One of these days, she just had to accept that she was a child now too.
She pretended to scowl at Hinata. "And no. You will not say a word to Neji. I'm just glad that he never found out that I'm the reason his fangirls increased by a whole academy batch."
Hinata bit the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from laughing, patting Sara's back reassuringly.
Sakura sniffed and crossed her arms. "Sasuke is closer to a man than any of the boys in our class!"
Sara raised her palms up, chuckling. "Spoken like a girl in love." Sakura smirked triumphantly and nodded in victory, feeling like she successfully defended her crush.
But Sara looked at Sakura seriously and leaned closer to her, eyeing her smile with concern. "So, how are things going with you?" She asked the pink haired girl softly.
Sakura's face fell at that, looking embarrassed as her gaze shifted to Hinata, Ino, then landed again on Sara. Her eyes watered, then she bit her lip and looked away.
"Mmm...good, I guess?"
Sakura failed her team exam. It was expected for Sara because even in cannon, only teams 7, 8, and 10 managed to pull through. And Sakura simply wasn't strong enough yet to carry her whole team by herself. In fact, if Sara was being honest, the only reason Sakura passed her exam in cannon was because she was with Sasuke and Naruto.
Sara felt so guilty because of that. She took the boys away from Sakura when Sara placed herself in that team, even if it was just a lack of foresight on her part. Sakura could have been a legend beside the two of them. But now, she didn't even have a team. She didn't even make it to be a part of the Rookie 9. Sara wallowed in guilt for the girl.
The day after all of Rookie 9 except for Sakura, passed, she dragged Hinata and Ino to visit the would-have-been medic.
Sakura and Ino were her friends, but they weren't that close to her back in the Academy. However, this incident continued to flood her heart, so she just had to be there for the girl. Besides, she liked the 2. Hinata was her best friend through and through. But she also admired the 2 girls who would grow up to be strong and competent kunoichis in the future.
Ino was actually about to visit Sakura when Hinata and Sara tagged along. Together, they all treated Sakura to a girl's night out. Sara felt so silly doing that; makeovers, movies, magazines, gossips, shopping the next day. Sara had always been a bit boyish, even in her past life. It was also a rare time when Sara put down her books completely and just focused on having a good time. So Sakura smiled contentedly through her teary eyes and Sara felt happy for that.
Ino and Sakura were all giddy, sticking to her the whole time. Hinata giggled as she told Sara that it was probably the thrill of being the sole focus of the most popular girl in school that made them so excited. Sara rolled her eyes at that.
Sakura was sad that she had to take another 2 years at the Academy before she could take another team test. But Ino and Sara promised her that it would be great because they would be so much more experienced at that time, so they could both teach Sakura everything they know. Hinata quietly agreed at the side, holding Sakura's clenched fists comfortingly. Sara told her that the whole of Rookie 9 won't hesitate to help her when the time comes. (Sara had to force a nod when Sakura asked "Even Sasuke-kun?" enthusiastically.)
The worst part of taking Sakura's place was that it looked like Sara wouldn't be as good at what Sakura did.
"Cardiac Surgery, recent advances and techniques." Hinata read the book she had opened on her lap under the coffee table. Hinata looked at her with disbelief. "Why are you so fascinated with the cardiovascular system these days? It's a little shocking because you just learned how to do a chakra scalpel, and now you're trying to learn how to do a heart surgery?"
Because the stupid wave mission is coming! "Eh it's just random light reading." Sara shrugged off nonchalantly, trying to look calm while she sipped her coffee.
Hinata raised her brows. "Light reading? You read about nothing else but this subject for the past 2 months."
Ino's eyes widened, gawking at Sara with her mouth open. "No way! I heard that you can read a hundred books per week! If you read nothing else for 2 months..."
"Aren't you jumping too far?" Sakura commented, frowning at her. "I continued reading medical journals and books because the first one you gave me was really interesting." Sara sighed. Of course Sakura would be a natural at this. "But if you just learned the scalpel, then you can't jump to surgeries immediately. You need to learn more about the processes of the body and how medic chakra can affect them. And even then, you still have to learn more about the precise chakra balance to maximize the healing effect. And even then...!"
Sara sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples tiredly. She knew that it was hilariously ridiculous to even attempt such a thing, surgery of the heart of all things. But the Wave Mission was coming and she really had no choice. She probably couldn't do it in the end, but she had to try. She felt bile coming up her throat as she thought about failing.
It was probably not the best plan anyway. She read fanfictions about scenarios where they were able to save both Haku and Zabuza. And it always seemed so easy, but in reality, it was extremely difficult. It was no easy feat to do a surgery after the heat of the battle. It was next to impossible to perform one on a body that had been Chidori'd. She studied about the effects of Chidori and she stole some medicinal archives on the bodies that were unfortunate enough to be hit by one. She saw the massive amounts of damage it had on those bodies, and she wondered how the hell she could reverse that.
Sara spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to find a solution.
She cursed herself because she only started learning medical jutsu three months ago after the team assignments. It really was a lack of foresight on her part. She could have studied it for a long time, but she just never expected to be in team 7 so she just did what she wanted, pore over her seals and condition her body to be stronger.
She wasn't perfect at all. She had never been physically strong even in her old life, so she spent years honing her body for Taijutsu in this new world. That was the only reason why she was leaps ahead on that area, because time was a gift she spent wisely. Sealing, on the other hand, came naturally at her because she was just good at formulas and balancing it. She was extremely smart so it also did her good. Chakra control was also an asset because she started off with really small chakra reserves for being a civilian. Controlling it had been a result of good practice and exercise.
Her ninjutsu was nonexistent. She had come to rely more on her seals, her arsenal including fire seals, water seals, wind seals, or anything that could be used as an offensive. While that was great, the downside of elemental seals was she couldn't adjust the technique if she wanted to. Like how Naruto converted his single rasengan to Rasenshuriken, Giant Rasengan (Odama Rasengan), Massive Rasengan (Cho odama Rasengan), Rasengan Barrage, Barrage line, Planetary Rasengan, etc.
If she really wanted to alter her seal, she needed to replace some symbols, and calculate its balance again before she could alter it in anyway. That would take time and quick thinking to pull it off. But she was still pretty dependent on it so up until now, she absolutely did not know any ninjutsu. That was still fine though because her seals could still do it for her. It was a valid alternative if nothing else.
But her medic jutsu was downright terrible. She had the control for it, but somehow, she couldn't absorb exactly how to do all of those chakra conversions and therapeutic applications. She couldn't connect to the system of whatever or whoever she was trying to heal. The fishes kept dying under her hands. And it terrified her to no end. The Wave mission was coming and she still couldn't grasp how to deliver her plan even after reading hundreds of books.
"Help me." She blurted out, cutting off Sakura's continued tirade.
Sakura, Ino and Hinata looked gob smacked at her plea. Her voice was clearly begging, and her eyes held Sakura's with such intensity.
Sara never asked for help. She was always so self-sufficient, that was why she could manage to stay on her own. Hinata was a companion and a friend, but even Hinata knew that Sara didn't really need her if it came down to it. Sara was always her own genius. But now, it looked like she was ready to get on her knees.
"Sakura." She repeated, because the other girls were still staring at her in surprised silence. "Help me."
Sakura's lips trembled nervously. "Mmm.. Mmmm. But. But Sara chan, how could I-"
"You understand this shit better." Sara cut her off, heaving a deep frustrated sigh. "And you love this. I can't, for the life of me, grasp how all of this works. So read the material then teach me. I promise to teach you how to fight in return."
Ino gasped at that. Everyone knew just how good Sara was, flipping everyone's assess off as if they weighed nothing. Even Sasuke's strength and combat genius couldn't beat her.
On Sara's end, Sakura was supposed to be the one in her place anyway. This way, she could make sure that the girl still lived up to her legend, and maybe she could even cajole Tsunade in the future into taking the both of them as her apprentice. After all, the original Sakura got Tsunade to get Ino for a short time too.
Sakura might learn at a slower pace than her, but she was positive that the girl will take everything she learned by heart. So whatever she learned would be of quality, and it would be passed down to Sara in good detail.
"Try to get an internship at the hospital and work there for experience. Teach me everything you will learn. If you do, I'll teach you some seals."
Sara was totally handing down the job to Sakura. But canon already proved that she would be good for it anyway. Sara already knew she couldn't do it on her own, as evidenced by all those poor fishes, and Naruto's and Sasuke's poor scowls whenever she had to try and heal them. This way, Sakura would still be an essential part of Rookie 9, as the same legend she would have been if she landed in Team 7. She just had to work through Sara. But really, same difference.
Sakura's lips slowly turned into a brilliant smile. "I was already planning on doing all that anyway. I mean, reading more medical books and interning at the hospital. When you gave me that book, I just fell in love with it. Teaching you would be great perk of it!"
Ino pouted beside them. "Aww I wish I had a knack of it too so I could join the club. How come you get all the goodies Sakura."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I failed Ino! I have more time on my hands you know. I'm going to go through the same materials I already perfected for the next two years. Studying something else would be more productive for me."
Ino laughed weakly at that, remembering that Sakura actually had to go back to the Academy. "Oh. Er. Right. I could teach you some new things too when I learn about them."
Hinata giggled and shook her head. She nudged Sara on the shoulder. "I hope you'd relax more now. This cardio thing is stressing you up too much."
Sara smiled sadly. Ino and Sakura were already bickering infront of them. So she turned to Hinata and laid her head on her best friend's shoulder. "I'm just so tired Hina chan. Even with Sakura's help now, I still won't have enough time to finish this. Her help would be great later on, but for now..."
Hinata held her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Why? Are you on a deadline or something? Who do you need to perform heart surgery on?"
Ooops. Sometimes, Sara knew that Hinata could see right through her. She was too close to Hinata. And Hinata was far from a dense and weak girl. Hinata was smart and she was always aware of her surroundings. Heck, Hinata knew what books she read every time. That's why Hinata knew that she had pored over Cardiovascular books for some time now.
And even though Sara knew that stepping back would be better, she couldn't let herself drift away from her friend. She just needed to believe that Hinata would trust her enough to let her get away with whatever Hinata would notice.
So Sara just sighed in response and shook her head.
Hinata stared at her from the corner of her eyes for a long time, before nodding her head in understanding. Sara was pretty sure that Hinata didn't really understand. But her friend was kind enough to just accept it for her.
"You know." Hinata said, patting Sara's hand lightly. "Sometimes, all that matters is that we try hard enough."
Sara raised her head and blinked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
Hinata shrugged and smiled kindly at her. "Maybe you won't be able to pull it off. Honestly, who can? But know that you tried. And sometimes, that's all that matters."
Maybe Hinata understood after all.
But failing still weighs heavily in her heart. Failing meant letting someone die. Death wasn't a new concept to her. She had to deal with the possibility of dying ever since she was 5 years old in her old world. But at that time, she was dealing with her own death.
Now, letting someone die when she knew about it beforehand was terrifying for her. She couldn't let it happen. She didn't know these people yet, but it still scared her. It was like playing God. The lives were on her hands, and if she wasn't careful, they would slip away as if they meant nothing.
She wished someone else had taken this burden. It was different when she was just Sara and she wasn't in team 7. It was okay to let it all happen when she was outside of the main story. It would have been like watching the anime from the sidelines. She didn't have to see it. She didn't have to experience it. She never had to meet these people. She would never know them. They would be mere names that happened outside of her circle.
But now, she knew she would have to watch people die because she's directly in the frontline. She would see it happen, the Chidori through Haku's chest and dying while confessing his eternal loyalty to his master. And then his master would die, confessing his love and care for his student, who would never hear it because he was already dead.
She shivered. It felt so heavy. She looked down on her hands and she knew she wasn't strong enough. It was so hard, and she was so close to just letting all of it happen and not giving a damn. But she fell in love with this world, and she loved the people in it. It was such a beautiful world of magic. But she now had a major responsibility as the third member of team 7. She needed to save the world with her team. She felt like choking.
She gripped Hinata's hand, wishing she could tell her best friend and just share the burden. Hinata's reassuring squeeze made her feel better. She wasn't alone at least.
But because of it all, for the first time in this new life, she wished she wasn't born into this world.
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"Itadakimasu!"
"Shut up Dobe. You're killing my head." Sasuke groaned, his eyes closed tightly as he rubbed his temples.
Naruto stuck his tongue out. "Weak ass."
Sasuke's eyes snapped open. He eyed the blond, who was clearly still energetic and lively, digging in his food with much gusto. Sasuke's face morphed into a fierce scowl, cursing the heavens for all his rotten luck. "I can't even grasp how you're not dead on your feet right now."
"Well." Naruto smirked, shrugging 'meekly'. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that. "What can I say, I'm clearly just awesome. Why? Are you totally exhausted, baby Sasuke?"
Sasuke's fists clenched. And for a moment, it looked like he was going to throw a vicious punch at Naruto. But after a few tense beats, he just sneered and straightened his back, even puffing his chest out. "Of course not."
Sara rolled her eyes and sighed at the two. They just finished their morning training session today. They were currently having breakfast at a new restaurant because Sasuke and Sara were sick and tired of Naruto's Ichiraku streak. To be honest, Sara didn't really expect them to keep training with her. As far as she knew, Sasuke always went solo in canon. And Naruto would go around the town to cause trouble in his free time. More than likely, he would still be asleep at this time.
But somehow, after the first time she took them through her morning obstacles after that bell test, they made it a point to come every day.
Every. Day.
Even Hinata couldn't handle trying to torture her body through her hellish exercise every single day.
The first time the boys tried it, they only managed to go through half before they dropped exhaustedly on the ground, every muscle paralyzed from shock. Of course they'd be shocked. They couldn't just push their bodies like that so suddenly. So Sara told them they could go under a shade and wait for her to finish. But Sasuke merely glanced at her for a minute or so, eyeing her form with narrowed eyes, before he forced himself to get up and continue on. Of course, Naruto saw him do that so he also got up and pushed himself to continue.
They went on a slower pace while Sara left them behind. She was not about to be held back on her own training just because they were behind her. It made Sasuke try to push harder, and Naruto followed suit. After they finally finished, the boys looked broken, sprawled unattractively on the ground, their vision filled with floating black spots, and their ears ringing.
Sara, on the other hand, was still performing a cool down exercise and was calmly stretching, as if she didn't just go through the rollercoaster of death that was her training, at a much faster rate than both Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke glared at her with such ferocity while Naruto stared up at her with a pout.
Sara kindly told them that she had been doing this for years. She wasn't great at taijutsu at all when she was starting. That was why she really invested in it. She even showed them her weights. That seemed like a bad idea though because their eyes widened comically, realizing that she could even go faster if she wanted to.
The next day, Sasuke bought weights for himself. Naruto was angry because he wanted one too. But after Sasuke tried to go through the training with his weights and ended up broken before he even reached half, Naruto laughed himself silly and was happy to be 'smart enough' to know that suddenly forcing weights was not a good idea. Or at least he tried convincing them that it was the reason why he didn't get weights.
Sasuke reluctantly got rid of his weights after Sara told him that he had to ease his body into it first, otherwise it would be damaged beyond repair.
The two of them came and bugged her everyday. It was obvious that they had a really hard time trying to keep up, as they always end up bruised and battered. And they only rested for a day every week, even though Sara told them to rest some more. Sasuke growled that Sara herself only got one resting day. Naruto said he just wanted to be awesome like her (the cutie patootie).
Hinata was happy to have more people whenever she came around to Sara's morning trainings too. (She was especially happy that one of those people was Naruto.) She was a little shy that Naruto would get to see her all sweaty and huffing, but Naruto was pretty focused in not dying while doing the obstacles. So eventually, Hinata relaxed and focused on her own training.
Sasuke was annoyed that Hinata got weights too. But Sara calmly told him that Hinata had trained with her for quite some time now so her body was at least conditioned to the intensity of it all.
Hinata cooked them meals whenever she could, much to Naruto's delight. Sara would try to keep Naruto from hugging Hinata as his thanks because Hinata would faint and Sara would have to carry her back to the Hyuga compound again. On second thought, that was extra training so she resolved to let Naruto do what he liked next time.
And so, it became a ritual between the three of them. They would always get breakfast right after because the two would usually be dead on their feet, and Sara just couldn't leave them there to rot in their own sweat. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Naruto would always recover quicker. Sara knew it was because of the Kyubi. So Sasuke was really lucked out on that.
"Well I'm pretty tired." Sara said with a smile. Naruto and Sasuke snorted in disbelief at her statement. She chuckled and just shook her head. "No, really. There's nothing wrong with being tired you know." Sasuke pursed his lips stubbornly while Naruto just gave her a weak smile. Obviously, they still hated being so worn out while she looked as fresh as coming out of the shower. Sara couldn't help being amused by them. Someday, they would suddenly power up and get to be on god levels. They were just little boys now, so they wouldn't even begin to believe how they could save the whole world someday with their sheer powers.
Well if they both wanted to follow her around like puppies, she certainly won't protest. Time was moving so fast after all. Before she knew it, chuunin exams would come and Sasuke would break up their makeshift peaceful team. So she was just letting them do what they want for now, be the cute boys they were while they were still at it.
Sara looked at the menu and hummed in thought.
Naruto glanced at her, noisily scarfing down and swallowing his food. "Are you choosing food for Kakashi sensei?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Sara answered distractedly, wondering what her teacher might like. He always graciously accepted the food, but she wasn't sure what he did with it. She wondered what he would appreciate.
"Why do you do that?" Sasuke suddenly asked her. Her eyes switched from the menu to Sasuke out of surprise. Sasuke wasn't always one to ask for anything. "I mean, you don't have to. And he might just be throwing it away, you know."
Sara blinked at him, frowning. "Well I just think it's nice to do that. Kakashi sensei is a part of our team after all. He's always alone, so I thought at least we could give him food."
Sasuke raised his brows. "You could try to invite him instead."
"He won't accept. You know him. Or he will probably accept, but he'll be so late that it'd be time for an afternoon snack when he comes." Sara explained, shaking her head dejectedly.
"Then just don't buy him food if he'll be like that anyway." Sasuke said bluntly. Naruto snickered beside them.
"Are you jealous again Sasuke? Leave Sara chan alone. If she wants to buy food for Bakakashi, then let her." He said, shooting Sasuke with a tight lipped grin.
Sasuke's nostrils flared, his cheeks burning. "Shut up Dobe! She makes us share the payment for his food! I have a say on it!"
"Oh, you don't have to share on it if you don't want to." Sara told him reassuringly, a smile on her face.
Sasuke glowered at her, his lips pursing. Sasuke and Naruto knew that Sara was actually poor. They knew that she had to sing before and after their D rank missions to buy herself some supplies. Sara never capitalized on this but her chivalrous teammates (even Sasuke, although he looked like someone had a gun on him.) always tried to make it easier for her. She never let them pay for her food though, so they just lend her cheap weapons and share on Kakashi's meal.
Sasuke tutted, crossing his arms. "No. I'll pay for that perverted sensei's food."
Sara grinned at him, nudging his shoulders fondly. "No, really. If you decide not to, it would really be okay."
Sasuke started mumbling grouchily, some of it sounded like "stubborn women."
Naruto ordered himself another bowl of food, while Sara just contentedly ate hers. She looked out the window, wondering when everything would start to fall apart. She knew the Wave mission was coming. It would be her first real exposure to the true dangers of this world. And it would be the first life on her hands.
She felt the skin on her neck prick, that heavy feeling of being watched, so she turned her head and found Sasuke staring at her.
He was giving her a look that demanded to know if she was alright. Sara forced a smile and shrugged. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that.
Sighing, she put a cheek on her fist and leaned on the table, facing Sasuke. "Sasuke." She murmured, watching his gaze shift to curiosity.
"If...if you somehow fail at killing your brother, what would you do?"
She shouldn't have asked. Sasuke's expression immediately darkened. His grip on his chopsticks made her wary, because it looked like he was about to snap it.
Sara flushed, feeling like she had crossed a line. She just thought that Sasuke could understand her. He had a goal too, something he knew that was coming. He knew Itachi would come after him someday. So he's focusing all his efforts now into getting stronger to defeat him.
Her goal wasn't as extreme. But she knew what was coming too. And she also knew what she had to do. But she was scared of failure. She thought Sasuke would know what it was like to fear the hovering possibility of failing, even if you gave it your all.
"S-Sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"I won't fail." Sasuke said, his voice so low that she wouldn't have heard him if she didn't see his lips move. "I just need to make sure that there will be no way I would fail."
Sara frowned. It was an evasive answer, heavy on denial. There was always the possibility of failing. Something bad could always happen in the way of your plans, no matter how deep your planning was. This was what she was worried about. Not only did she fear her own ability to make it happen, she was also scared of the uncertain things that might happen.
She sighed and nodded at Sasuke, as if she understood. He continued staring at her, as if searching her face. She forced her face to remain neutral. She didn't want him to pick a fight with her, not now. She was sorry she brought it up.
"But." Sasuke suddenly said. Sara's eyes widened, startled. She thought for sure that he would finally give her his famous silent treatment, especially after crossing that red burning line. But Sasuke continued speaking, his eyes still on her face. "If...If I fail. If I...die because I couldn't kill him... then at least I know I dedicated my life doing it. I'd rather try and fail, than not try and let him get away with it."
Sasuke was lying. Sara knew it. He would never accept the scenario where Itachi would end up killing him. Sasuke would claw his way out of the grave if it meant ending Itachi.
But Sara also knew that he was just saying this because he probably felt her stressing out on something. It was nice of him to say the words he wasn't at all comfortable with, just because she saw his teammate suffering. It was totally uncharacteristic of him. But that only made him so much nicer for attempting to tell her comforting words.
Besides, his words made sense. It was a good principle to follow, even if the speaker himself didn't believe it.
Sara would try. And if she failed, then at least she was a true ninja, who tried her best to save living breathing people to the best of her ability. Oh she would try until her fingers bleed. She would try if it meant dying for a second time. But no matter what happens, at least she tried. She'd rather give it her all and fail, than sit back and let them die anyway.
She gave Sasuke her biggest smile, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it softly.
"You're the best, Sasuke."
Sasuke froze at the contact, and his eyes widened at her expression. But Sara kept it there, wanting him to realize how much better she felt because of him. She tilted her head and gave him a wide toothy smile.
Sasuke's lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile back. But he only shrugged and continued eating, looking away from her, his ears turning a little red.
"Yes that's right Sara chan! Don't worry about anything! Our team is awesome, we'll get through anything!" Naruto declared, holding up his empty bowl with a foxy grin on his face. Of course, Naruto didn't really understand what was happening. But sunshine personified just couldn't help but spread love in a room.
Sara giggled and nudged him. "Please tell me that's your last one."
Naruto looked horrified. "No way!"
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"Ohh, my cute Tora chan." A considerably sizable lady in black elegant robes happily smooshed the cat to her face. The cat naturally started snarling and trying to pry itself away from the huge lady. "I was so worried about you!" That was Madam Shijimi, the wife of the fire country's feudal lord. And it was her cat, Tora, who kept needing to be rescued after numerous escapes.
It was their fourth time to finish this mission. This time, it was Kakashi who led them, as agreed upon previously. Kakashi amusedly joined their antics and acted like it was an A rank retrieval mission, much to their delight. He was strict and harsh, but he got the job done.
"That cat's getting what he deserves." Naruto mouthed to them, throwing dark looks at the struggling cat. "No wonder he keeps running away though."
The Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the god of shinobi himself, sat at the desk, lazily staring down at their team. He was far from the battle-hardened shinobi that he was supposed to be. Today, he looked weary and bored, shuffling papers with well-kept distaste.
Weirdly, Iruka sensei was also there, surveying their group with a small smile.
The Hokage cleared his throat to get their attention. "Now then, Kakashi's 7th unit's next mission is...Baby sitting Yojyu- sama's boy. Grocey shopping at the neighbor's town. Helping dig up potatoes at-"
Naruto suddenly stomped his feet, shocking everyone in the room, except for Sara who looked at Naruto with a horrified expression. She knew what was coming.
"No!" Naruto screamed indignantly. "No thanks to all of those! I want to do a more exciting mission. Choose something else."
Sasuke nodded slightly with approval. Their D ranks were challenging, but he was ready to move on to something else.
Sara tried her best to not start shaking in front of everyone. Kakashi looked down at her.
"Everything alright, Sara chan?" He asked softly, curiously assessing the suddenly terrified girl.
Sara took a deep breath, but her eyes steeled and she straightened her shoulders. "Yes, sensei. I'm ready." And she meant it. She was ready to kick ass and meet death in the face again. She had a few more weeks to prepare after her conversation with Sasuke the last time. She bugged Sakura to help her read the impossible Cardiovascular system and the colossal damage a Chidori could cause. She studied hard and spent sleepless nights with Hinata as she practiced everything she learned and prepared some seals she might have to use. She knew that she was ready as she could ever be. And Sasuke was right, she would try her best. If she failed, then so be it.
Iruka frowned sternly at Naruto. "Idiot! You're still a novice ninja. Everyone needs to start with the easy missions to gain experience."
Sara smiled at that. Iruka was Naruto's father figure. It was a warming thing to remember that Naruto had asked the man to be his father at his wedding in the future. One of these days, she would give Iruka a big hug as thanks for being Naruto's life changing savior. But for now, they were both quarreling with each other.
Naruto scowled up at him. "But...but! Ojii san, I swear to you, we're ready! We've been doing really difficult missions ya know! We know we could handle a higher mission by now!"
The Hokage chuckled at that, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
Iruka blinked, confusedly turning to the Hokage. "What does he mean? Difficult missions? But weren't they just doing D rank missions?"
"Ah Iruka." Hiruzen wheezed, nodding fondly at team 7. "Take out Naruto to lunch once so he could tell you all about it. He's right though. Team 7 is definitely taking things up a notch, aren't they Kakashi?"
Kakashi nodded, eye smiling. "I'd say they're better than just brats by now."
So Kakashi did report every one of their antics after all. Sara looked up at him in surprise, but she was pleased that he did. They did exert a lot of effort on those.
"Hey!" Naruto protested. "We're the most awesome team this year! We could handle anything!"
That was another change, Sara supposed. Naruto was happy with their team dynamics. Maybe it was because unlike the canon team where Naruto was often shunned by both Sakura and Sasuke, Sara happily invited Naruto everywhere and she created team activities that would always include him.
They could also force Sasuke into these team activities, another surprising thing. All she needed now was a way to get Kakashi in it too and she'll have completely revolutionized team 7. It was a weird thought. But at least they were an active team, if nothing else.
"If you insist, I will allow you to take on a C rank mission. It's to escort a certain person." The Hokage casually told them.
Naruto immediately perked up in excitement, gratitude shining in his eyes as he stared at the Hokage.
"Really? Who? Who? The feudal Lord, or a princess?"
"Don't get so hasty. I'll introduce him now. Can you please come in now?"
Here it was, the moment everything will begin. Sara took a deep breath. She steeled her heart and readied herself for whatever would happen.
I'm ready. I'm ready. She chanted firmly to herself, and a prayer of plea to the skies.
This was the mission that would finally flush all of her old-world values down the drain. This week, she would witness violence and smell death from the harshness of other people, not a natural death like her sickness.
But no matter, she was ready. So with a determined expression, she turned around to face their client.
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