Kei-Kei Yuki: Hello everyone, guest who's back? Me! I finally got back into my Naruto mood and decided to update the next chapter.
Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades
Drabble Seventeen
A new Sakura has Blossomed
Sakura was diligently watching over her two unconscious teammates when out of nowhere, three sound ninjas appeared in the vicinity. When they made a demand for Sasuke, Sakura, with trembling fingers, clutched the kunai that was in her hands and stood her ground. The poor genin was both exhausted and sleep deprived, but none of that mattered because she made a promise.
When the three charged forth, disabling the trap she had set up, Sakura's eyes brimmed with tears for the lives of her teammates when out of nowhere, the bushy brow guy who defeated Sasuke before the First Exam came to her aide. Relief flooded her entire system, especially once the battle seemed to be in Lee's favor.
But that relief vanished when Lee was defeated by the leader of sound ninja team. Unable to see her savior suffer any longer trying to protect them, Sakura stepped in to defend him. Only to have all her attacks rendered useless, her long pink tresses suddenly clutched in the hands of the sound kunoichi who held her hostage.
"Such pretty, shiny hair. It's even better than mine! If you have time to tend to your hair then you should've trained yourself better. Pathetic, leaf kunoichi!"
Those words were like knives that stabbed at Sakura, because in some sense, despite a part of her not wanting to admit it, the words that came from that sound kunoichi's sneering mouth held some truth. Ever since she had fallen in love with the last Uchiha savior, everything she did from that point forward revolved around impressing him.
She studied hard, got good grades. Heck, she even took extra care and grew her hair out just because of a rumor that spread around the academy that Sasuke liked girls with long hair. All that time and effort wasted, and Sasuke still paid little attention to her even after being on the same team as him. She was a burden to her team.
Since their time of becoming Team 7, both Sasuke and Naruko have had to come to her rescue. Yet, when both of them needed her the most, she was useless to even defend them. Frustrated tears welled up in Sakura's green eyes, pointing her eyes towards an unconscious Naruko. Recalling back to a moment from their academy days, it was a random day and Iruka-sensei had just dropped off a reluctant Naruko in their kunoichi class.
Suzume was fussing at Naruko, who responded back, saying; "Who cares about flowers and cooking?! A kunoichi is supposed to kick ass, not care about this lame stuff!" Suzume-sensei grew angry with Naruko and scolded her for the rest of the class. At that time, the girls, herself included, snickered and teased the blonde behind her back. Thinking that there was no way a failure like Naruko was going to grow into a proper kunoichi.
Back in the present, Sakura couldn't help but mockingly laugh at the irony of those thoughts. 'If Naruko was here right now, she would've kept fighting. Seeing how nothing can hold back that reckless knuckleheaded idiot. For a long time, I never understood her obsession with wanting to befriend me. Especially after the way I treated her. Yet, time after time, she held out her hand to me with that annoying smile on her face.' Contemplating over how she treated their blonde teammate in the past, a sense of guilt hit Sakura.
"Hey, Zaku, why don't you kill that Sasuke guy right in front of this pageant princess?"
"Okay, but how about I kill the blonde pipsqueak first as an appetizer?"
Once those words were said, the guilt from before vanished and a surge of overprotective rage filled Sakura's veins.
"Don't you dare touch them!" The pink-haired kunoichi roared. The pure rage that gleamed in those green eyes shocked not only Kin and Zaku, but even members of Team 10 were caught off guard, especially Ino. Who was once best friends with the once shy pinkett, but in their years of being friends and later rivals, this was Ino first time seeing Sakura express such a side of herself.
"I'm not strong like Naruko. Nor can even match up to Sasuke-kun," Sakura admitted out loud.
"What the heck is this princess talking about?" glared Kin as Sakura's hands stealthily moved towards her weapon holster.
"I admit. I am useless. Weak. Pathetic. All this time I have always been dependent on others, but today that stops here." Such self-mocking words tugged at Ino's heart, eyes on Sakura who displayed a wry smile. In one swift moment, Sakura pulled out her kunai and brought it to her hair.
'Naruko, I'm going to need some of that reckless courage that you always seem to possess. From this moment forth, a new me has been born. Never again will I be the one to stand behind and watch from a distance,' Sakura told herself as she sliced off her once long pink locks that she grew out just to impress Sasuke.
"I can't believe she really did it," muttered Ino with a stunned look on her face, watching Sakura stand on her feet as pink locks fell around her like sakura petals.
"I may be all those things, but I will not allow you to touch them. Not over my dead body!" vowed Sakura, standing strong and protectively in front of her team. Ino found this scene so captivating, that whether she realized it or not, a single tear escaped from her eye.
"A new Sakura has blossomed," Ino softly muttered with a smile; this new evolved Sakura brought forth a sense of awe and inspiration to her.
End of Drabble Seventeen