A/N: Day seven. What a week.
When Sakura graduates, she expects to become a genin. Her expectations are thrown out the window as she and Sai are summoned to the Hokage, after the announcement of their success on the early graduation exam. Together, they stand before the Sandaime Hokage whom Shion isn't very fond of.
"You wish to induct us into the ANBU Initiate Program?" Sai queries with a tilted head, glancing at her. She makes a subtle movement and he turns his attention back onto the Hokage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen is still a legend, but what she sees is an exhausted man wishing to sleep for a few decades. Stacks of files surround his desk and she feels like it's understandable. Paperwork can be quite tedious and boring if the subject matter isn't interesting.
"Your files have some impressive content, considering your ages." the Hokage sighs, then seems to gather himself to don a proud smile. He looks like he's in pain whenever he looks at her. "The ANBU Initiate Program has a similar structure to the four-man cells of genin." he shifts, as if to crack his back. "However, you will undergo a year of intensive ANBU training that includes specified regimes and missions that rank from high-level C-ranks to mid-level A-ranks. After a year, you will undergo an examination and then be registered as a fully-fledged ANBU team."
Sakura yawns, despite herself. Shion gives a nasty chuckle at the unintended disrespect towards the Hokage. Sai shifts and Hiruzen himself gives a painful sigh as if reminded of an unpleasant memory.
"I've heard many things about you, Sakura-chan." the Hokage comments, smiling towards her. "From Naruto-kun, of course. He was indeed correct when he said you have a striking appearance."
Sakura curbs her instinctive reaction to contort her expression into one of repulsion. Shion cackles harder, sounding rather deranged. She must really dislike the Hokage.
"Excuse my disrespect, Hokage-sama," Sai begins to speak, and she knows how this is going to end, "but Sakura-neesama is seven."
Shion sounds like she's dying. Hiruzen's expression morphs into one of mortification as he leans back. Sakura doesn't understand how this always happens to her whenever it's about old men in positions of authority.
"No! I didn't mean it like that!" the Hokage exclaims, coughing as he chokes from his smoke. "I would never ̶ ! What has your father done to make you think like that?!"
Sakura smiles, tilting her head when Sai makes a hum of consideration. "You were saying about the ANBU Initiate Program?" she prompts, because whilst a part of her wishes to make everything worse, a larger part wants to leave and tend to her garden.
The elderly man coughs, gathering himself. "Yes, right. As I was saying, you two have been recommended to be participants in the ANBU Initiate Program. If you refuse, you will be slotted into a genin team of the standard forces. If you accept, I will arrange for you to meet your captain and fellow initiate by tomorrow at the earliest. Your father has already been informed and has approved of the possible situation."
Sai looks to her and she blinks at him. "We accept your proposal, Hokage-sama." she answers, both her and Sai straightening to appear more professional.
Hiruzen smiles. "Good luck to you, Sakura-chan, Sai-kun. Congratulations on graduating. Dismissed."
Sai and Sakura complete their early morning routines before moving off to meet their new team. They spent the day before purchasing new clothes and supplies, with her removing the metal plate from their hitai-ate to sew it onto their new obi, that's meant to hold their significantly large scrolls at their backs.
Including the sleeveless and skin-tight turtle neck along with form fitting pants, they bought arm sleeves that double as fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back of the hands. Their ninja sandals have been replaced with sturdier, knee-length ones meant to withstand even mountainous regions. As per the standard, they bought new shuriken holsters and she even acquired a belt to hold even more tools.
Wearing it all is heavy, but they'll quickly get used to it. She's mildly pleased to know that Sai's taken to wearing his higanbana crown without complaint, now imbued with the properties of her own to increase the range of her olfactory genjutsu. She might have to give two to her new teammates, but she's still wary of who they might be.
After all, she'd be rendering them immune to her olfactory genjutsu and then what happens if they happen to become her enemy? Perhaps it's paranoid of her, but she thinks it anyway.
"Look at you adorable little shits, guh! All professional ANBU minions with cute flower crowns. Reminds me of my time in ANBU, you know? The ANBU Initiate program was something Minato and I founded when he was still Hokage, yeah. I was the captain to silver bun, dango berry and sweet cheese for a while, but the team was split up and I became partners with silver bun. That was fun, you know, until I died and all."
Sakura is surprised by this, because if Shion was capable of implementing programs with the Yondaime Hokage then she must have been influential. Yet, Shion's not known worldwide like Kakashi is. She wonders why that is, but then theorises that maybe it's because Shion was in ANBU and hid her identity so only Konoha shinobi knew of her true identity.
They received a message last night dictating which training ground is going to be used as a meeting. The Shi no Mori is not a surprising choice, as it's common for ANBU to train within it.
At the most immediate form of entering the training ground, she sees a small figure she assumes to be the third of the initiates from her vantage point hidden within the trees. Sai is crouched beside her, examining the figure as well.
It's a male, with long hair she thinks to be rather shiny in the sunlight. One of the Hyuuga then, she gathers. His attire is similar to hers, but he's less equipped for perhaps light movement. He also appears to be impatient, something about his demeanour buzzing with irritation.
They never had much of a specified time to show up, and if she looks up the sun will tell her it's about eight in the morning. She wonders how long he's been hanging around there.
"Stop hiding." the uptight voice of a child hailing from the Hyuuga demands, looking in her and Sai's direction with a constipated expression. "There's no point with me."
That just makes him sound arrogant, but he does have the Byakugan. She and Sai exchange a glance before revealing themselves in a swirl of flower petals and ink. Sai thought it would be artistic and Shion had agreed with an admittedly devious tone. Shion seems to enjoy going against blending in, Sakura thinks.
"I know you." Sai comments with his perpetual smile that she thinks has an insulting vibe to it. Shion likes it. "The Hyuuga prodigy from the branch house. Were you not inducted into the genin standard forces?"
Sakura blinks, placing a face to the name of Hyuuga Neji who appears to have a metallic rod placed up his rectum. Her impression only strengthens when he glares at her brother.
"I was finally approved for the ANBU Initiate Program by Hiashi-sama." he answers, his voice terse and his chin tilted upwards. He's got something against the Hyuuga clan leader, but that's understandable considering his background. "I shouldn't have been so insulted that it took so long if their standards are clanless children with silly flower crowns."
"Ohohoho! You hear that, jelly bean? Shade has been thrown, yeah! How are you going to respond?" Shion, rather than being insulted, is amused with this turn of events. Sakura supposes it's just as well, because Shion's probably had years of people underestimating her ability once looking at the flowers atop her head.
She realises that she still doesn't know what Shion looks like after all these years.
Sai's smile becomes sharper, as he gets defensive whenever it appears that she's being insulted. She's gained Shion's view over the years, as nondescript peers had given her time to develop an immunity. "I admit that I am surprised, Hyuuga-san. Here I had thought that the main house would consider you unworthy of being part of ANBU, after all, you are a branch member despite your talents."
Sakura slaps away the arm directed towards Sai before slamming her palm against Neji's chest, forcing him back and rendering him short of breath. As a result, she stands in front of Sai as a barrier and has a fierce staring contest with an overly emotional Hyuuga.
Her eyes stare down at the boy struggling to regulate his breathing, whom she thinks to be lacking in a regards to a few things. Perhaps that will change, but for now she would rather not have their first meeting end in a fight because of sore spots.
"My name is Haruno Sakura and this is my brother, Haruno Sai." she introduces them with a small smile and a strangely cool lilt to her voice. It reminds her vaguely of the time they were transferred into Naruto's class. "We're your new teammates, so if you wish for us to watch your back then you need to convince you're worthy of watching ours."
Neji's glare would be intimidating to another, but it's rather dismal in regards to others' eyes and they don't even need to glare to make an impact. Those Uchiha must traumatise everyone they meet.
"I have to convince you that I'm worthy?" he almost spits, regaining himself and standing up straight. "Who are you, some girl with outrageous hair, to dictate that?"
Sakura feels something cool within her, prompting her to step forward and invade his personal space. She doesn't smile, she'd be forcing it if so. His brow furrows, twitching back but refusing to actually step back and effectively admit submission.
"Do you smell the higanbana?" she murmurs in question, tilting her head. He's yet to break their eye contact, as he probably thinks it's yet another way of submitting. "I've heard many things about the Byakugan. I've been wanting to test some things out."
Then Hyuuga Neji releases a bloodcurdling scream that is for more intense than she expects. Perhaps it's a little too much, after all he's not Kakashi or Sai. Shion has a spectacular evil laugh, Sakura realises.
She can hear Naruto's chiding voice directed towards her in her mind, saying that traumatising teammates by making them believe their precious eyes have exploded is not the way to start a bond. She doesn't mean to, but she laughs at the thought.
It may be a little hysterical, but the ever growing absurdity of her life calls for it.
Shunshin no Shisui stands before her and her team, wearing a large grin she thinks to be somewhat psychotic. His eyes match, the insanity he wears far more exuberant and far more terrifying because of how different it is. He's understandably taller than them, but he's much taller than even Kakashi. So she's craning her neck, being dwarfed and stared down at by a new kind of monster.
"What's wrong with the little Hyuuga?" Shisui queries with a tone so sickeningly pleasant that there's no doubt it's insincere. The way he voices the question lets her know that he doesn't actually care if there's something wrong with Neji, just that he's curious to know.
The boy in question is staring at the ground, twitching erratically with a particularly traumatised look in his eyes that are still intact. She wouldn't actually blow up his eyes if he's going to be her teammate. After all, that would be counter-productive.
"Sakura-neesama placed him under a genjutsu. It was overwhelmingly successful." Sai explains, looking over at their teammate.
So perhaps Shion may have skewed Sakura's view of genjutsu moderation, but at least she made an impact and 'asserted dominance' as Shion puts it. Though, he's been rather… unresponsive, so she might have to fix him.
Shisui's eyes slide over to her, her stomach clenching at being directly stared at by him. She feels like he's looking past her skin and muscles to see her organs. It's such an unsettling feeling to have, which is why she just wants to stop associating herself with the Uchiha.
He leans down, closing the distance to examine her. She resists the urge to twitch her fingers. "You may be hiding it from me, but there's no doubt about it. It's nice to know Itachi-chan hasn't lost his mind from the little game he's playing." he comments with an amicable whisper, pleased as he grabs a lock of her hair and twirls it around his finger.
"What are you doing?" Sai questions from her side, but Sakura brushes the back of her hand against his. He quietens down.
"Name's Uchiha Shisui, Sakura-chan." Shisui introduces himself, winking at her. "As of today, I'm the ANBU captain of Team Yamaneko. I'm going bend you and break you, then I'm going to rebuild you and make you all into cute monsters of doom." the unnerving smile he directs to them is one full of ominous promises.
"Going to call it now and say you're fucked, sugar bean." Shion inputs with a yawn. It's not very helpful, but Sakura takes it anyway. "It's likely that it's my fault, but you know. Shit happens, yeah?"
Neji shivers from her peripheral. "Why lynxes…?" he croaks out, his throat sore from the agonised scream that tore through it earlier. He appears to be slowly regaining himself, directing the slightest of glares towards her before recoiling. Now he just seems angry with himself, the poor child.
"Do we get masks?" Sai inquires, opting to ignore Neji's question. That prompts everyone else to ignore it, though Sakura has half her mind theorising on how to fix the damage that she's done. It'd to her no good if he's unable to function properly.
Shisui chuckles. "Well, of course you do! This is mine." he reaches into his back pouch, pulling out a porcelain mask dyed red and in the shape of a lynx. The ears are large, with three prongs on each side of the cheeks to symbolise the fur. The eyes are slitted and with a dark lens that works akin to a one-way mirror, the grin large and ferocious. It's marked with elaborate black lines that are symmetrical on either side. Certainly eye-catching, she thinks.
"Yours," and something about the way he says it, alerts her that something's wrong, "is in there."
He points towards the Shi no Mori, and Sakura can't tell whether she's pleased for being correct or disappointed. Either way, she knows that this is most likely considered an evaluation and they'll have to search the entirety of the forest to find their own respective masks.
Shisui's expression is beginning to irritate her simply because he seems so psychotically pleased with this turn of events.
"You three are going to have to find your masks together by tonight. If you don't, then I'll make sure you stay the night to get better acquainted with the lovely little creatures lurking around. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
She supposes that she shouldn't expect any less.
In the words of Shion, Neji is such an angry baby turdmuffin. After having his life put in peril and forced to rely on two strangers with one having blown his eyes up in an illusion, he's lost all his 'calm and cool' composure that the Hyuuga are known for.
As they manoeuvre through a literal forest of death searching for small porcelain masks, Sakura's beginning to think that Neji is really a lonely and sad child who's also incredibly angry at the world. After all, his father is dead because of the Hyuuga Affair and he's forced to serve the main house. She would be upset if Father died and she was forced to serve some distant relatives.
"This isn't working." Sakura decides, stopping and prompting Sai to stop beside her. Neji's landed on the giant branch ahead of her, but he turns around to glare at her with more vigour than before. Despite his prowess, his glare is subpar since his face is too cute to be intimidating.
"You're trying to work without us and it's going to get one of us hurt if this keeps up." she states, jumping over to the branch the Hyuuga's standing on. Sai follows without a word. "It would look bad if any of us die, which would bring up the question of whether the remaining initiates are worthy."
Neji scowls at her, like she's the scum of the world and he should probably let her die. Both she and Sai have the thought that it wouldn't be either of the Haruno siblings to die here, but perhaps that's arrogant of them.
"Do you want me to apologise for using a genjutsu that blew your eyes up?" she tries, even though she knows her apology would be without sincerity. Sometimes, people just like hearing it, she supposes.
Though she thinks he may not be one of those people, because he appears to be taking a new level to his negative expressions. Sai must be enthralled since he rarely strains his facial muscles like that.
"Hug him into submission, yeah." Shion suggests. "He'll react violently at first, then be all conflicted and shit. He'll probably want you to get off of him, then he'll start crying because he probably doesn't even know the amazingness of hug therapy, yeah."
Well, Sakura doesn't have any better ideas so she assaults Neji with attempted hug therapy. As expected, he recoils and attempts to aggressively push her off. Unfortunately, she's wrapped her arms around his, rendering him unable to properly employ them. He starts to violently squirm, grabbing hold of her waist and attempting to push her away like that. It doesn't work very well, as she appears to have more strength than he does.
If he was thinking right, he could just poke her and disrupt her tenketsu in an attempt to get her off. Luckily, he's yet to realise that.
"Get off!" he demands, her ear right by his mouth. She frowns as she stares at the trunk of the tree ahead of her. "What is wrong with you?! I said get off!"
"If you continue yelling, you'll draw some unwanted guests towards us." she states, calm despite being inside a monstrous forest. Sai's on lookout and if they're truly in danger, Shion will help.
Neji's fingers dig into her skin as he tenses, abruptly quietening down. "Let go." he hisses. She's tempted to bite his ear, for some obscure reason. Perhaps bite it off, but that would just destroy any kind of possible bond she could have with him.
"How long has it been since you've been hugged, Neji-san?" she yawns, loosening her hold the slightest. She hears his breath hitch in surprise at the question. "You're so angry with the world that it's hurting you more than anyone else."
He's silent for a good fifteen seconds before he responds. "What would you know?" he spits, though it's lacking somewhat. "You don't know me."
"We may have started off on the wrong foot," Sakura starts, considering, "but we're a team now. You may have been alone before, but you have us now. We have to rely on each other or we'll all fall, especially considering we're an ANBU team."
His fingers are digging so hard into her skin that for a moment she thinks he might be able to pierce through the durable fabric. Then his grip loosens, his shoulders slumping in reluctant defeat.
"Never put me under that genjutsu again." Neji orders her, once more pushing at her waist but with less force. "And get off." this time, she listens and releases him. He's frowning at her, clearly unhappy with the situation. She considers it a win, so she smiles.
"I suppose that's fair enough. We'll have to stick together instead of hurting each other if Shunshin no Shisui is our captain, since he'll be hurting us enough anyway." she replies, glancing over to Sai whose expression is one of contemplative curiosity. Although that would only be evident to her.
"Why do I feel like there's this warped sort of déjà vu?" Shion questions herself. "But hey, you hugged the baby turdmuffin into temporary submission. He didn't cry, but whatever. Congratulations, sugar plum! Just try not to fuck it up, yeah?"
Sakura will try, at the very least.
Chapter Word Count: 3,442
Total Word Count: 21,701
Targeted Word Count: 1,667
A/N: So here we are reminded that Sakura is kind of messed up in the head. We also get an angry baby turdmuffin with silky hair, whose characterisation could be polished up a bit more, but whatever.
Just in case you're a little disoriented from the erratic pacing, each chapter goes forward a few months. Then the four segments can have monthly jumps or be within the same day. I did say there would be pacing problems.
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