"Absolutely not."
Sakura had mixed feelings about tailor shops.
On one hand, she'd practically grown up in one. Her mother had been a tailor, and so had her grandfather, and so had his mother, and-well, you get the point. Sakura had been able to sew before she'd been able to hold a kunai.
On the other hand, the tailor shop she'd grown up running around in had been destroyed in the Invasion. It was just another crushed memory.
And, of course, there was the man in front of her.
"I don't deal with brats." He said, not even bothering to look up from the dress he was sewing. "Kids like you take terrible care of your clothes. It's an insult to the craft."
Aoba had been the one to recommend this store. Apparently, it was solid quality, but cheaper than most shinobi tailors and unaffiliated with any clans. The owner, Akio Sehei, was an older man with greying red hair, and hadn't even waited for Sakura to finish her first sentence before denying her.
She narrowed her eyes. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of my clothing." She said stiffly. "I'm not looking for much, I just want-"
"You dress is a mess." He interrupted. "It was good quality too, for civilian make, but you still managed to destroy it. You haven't even bothered to get the blood out of it."
Words died in Sakura's throat.
He wasn't wrong. Sakura had been wearing the same torn, bloodied dress since the Invasion. She just-hadn't had time to buy more clothes. Or do a deep clean of this one. She didn't have the space or equipment. She'd been busy!
The dress was one of the only things her mother had made that she had left.
Sakura forced herself to take a slow, steadying breath. "I'm just looking for some sturdy pants. I'll alter them myself if I have to, I just need something."
He snorted. "If sewing was that easy, I'd be out of a job. Don't bite off more than you can chew."
Her lips curled ever so slightly. "My mother was a tailor." She said coolly. "I know my way around a needle."
"Then the state of your dress is doubly an insult." He made a shooing motion. "Now get out of my sight."
Sakura's ears burned with humiliation and anger. Tailor shops had always been a safe space for her, somewhere she was comfortable and in control. But for the first time, she felt disjointed.
She left the store without another word.
The days after Sakura's promotion to chuunin had gone by in a blur.
She still didn't quite believe it. It felt like a joke gone too far, a mistake in the paperwork that no one had bothered to correct. But no, apparently all three of her teachers had approved of this, something she was going to be wrapping her head around for a long time.
The initiation ceremony was brief and impersonal. Sakura, along with two dozen other shinobi, stood shoulder to shoulder while the chuunin commander gave them a rundown of their new responsibilities and privileges.
She recognised a few of the other shinobi as candidates of the chuunin exam, ones who hadn't made it to the final round. Most notably, she saw Shino and Shikamaru a few rows up.
"You are here because you have either shown potential during the chuunin exams, or during the Invasion. The transition will not be smooth, but you are necessary for Konoha's continued growth."
They were necessary because enough corpses had piled up to cause staffing shortages.
"Chuunin are vital to keeping this village running smoothly. You are expected to maintain the backbone of Konoha. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir!" They echoed.
"You'll be assigned to already established chuunin squads and work with them unless explicitly assigned otherwise." He gestured to a stack of papers. "Your assignment details are here, as well as the relevant paperwork. Be aware that you will have a psychological evaluation within the next two weeks. Your appointments have already been confirmed."
Ah. That would be. Fun.
"You are Konoha shinobi, let the Will of Fire burn in your hearts. Dismissed."
Despite the chuunin commander's words, they still had to shuffle awkwardly into a line as they picked up their paperwork.
Shikamaru slid in next to her. "I see you got the short end of the stick too, huh." He murmured.
She shrugged. "Someone has to." And it was usually her.
"You should drop by the flower shop sometime." He continued, his gaze briefly flickering over her with unnerving sharpness. "Ino said you haven't been since the Invasion. She's worried about you."
Guilt clawed on the inside of Sakura. Had it really been that long? "I've been busy." She said distantly. Busy watching her team fall to pieces and ruining her friendships. Busy laying her parents to rest and getting a promotion she didn't feel ready for.
Shikamaru hummed. "She's working next Friday in the afternoon. The Akimichi usually send over sweets in the morning, so you might be able to steal a few."
Something that was almost a smile curled onto her face. "This is some pretty blatant bribery for a Nara."
He shrugged.
Finally, they were at the front of the line. There was less paper than she'd been expecting, and it was easy to locate the information about her new squad. Team 43. She didn't recognise any of the names.
"Well, it could be worse." Shikamaru muttered, scanning his own papers. "But these guys go on missions pretty regularly, which means I'm going to have to wake up early." He sighed. "This is such a drag."
Sakura wasn't sure whether constant missions outside the village or non-stop rebuilding would be worse for her. On one hand, she doubted she had the actual skill to complete chuunin level missions outside the village, and was more likely to die. On the other hand, being inside Konoha for too long was bound to drive her insane.
She offered her paper to Shikamaru. "Do you know if my squad is the same?"
He changed focus and leaned over her shoulder. The shadow of his face fell over the paper and his eyes snagged on something. The air around them-shifted.
Shikamaru's expression was exactly the same, but she suddenly felt that he was paying a lot more attention than he had just moments before.
"You probably won't get a lot of missions outside the village." He said eventually. "Your squad leader is a bit of a hard ass, but good at her job. I have a cousin who's worked with her before."
Sakura nodded slowly. "Recognise anyone else?"
"Not really."
The shadows on the paper moved, just enough to be noticeable. It curved around a single name.
Iwana Shimura.
He met her gaze head on. "Good luck with your team."
Sakura would be lying if she said that Shikamaru's warning wasn't half the reason she finally got around to restocking her weapons.
She had been functioning with a skeleton of the gear she should be carrying for admittedly too long. She should have refilled them before going on the mission with Team Gai, but she hadn't, and now her supplies was even lower.
Considering she was supposed to meet her new squad tomorrow, this was a good a time as any to finally get her shit together.
It was early in the afternoon, so the line for weapon distribution was long enough to be annoying. She'd waited longer before, but she felt-uneasy. It had been a long time since she hadn't, really.
Time inched by, and finally she made it to the front of the line.
"Name, rank, and registration number." The bored looking kunoichi droned.
"Sakura Haruno, gen-I mean chuunin. Registration number 012601."
She flipped through a large book with impressive speed, eventually coming to an abrupt stop. The kunoichi frowned. "You've already been allocated your max amount of gear for the month. If you want any more, you'll have to buy it yourself."
That was impossible. The last time Sakura had gone to collect gear was in the middle of her training month for the chuunin exams. She should have her full amount.
"When does it say I took the gear out?" Sakura questioned.
The kunoichi checked the records again. "Two weeks ago."
Sakura had been on a mission with Team Gai at that point. "I wasn't even in the village."
She shrugged. "Maybe it was misfiled, maybe you're a liar. Either way, I can't give you anything. Next!"
Sakura forced her legs to move out of the way, mind whirling at the possibilities.
The village had been hectic and was still recovering from the Invasion. It was entirely reasonable that someone had made a filing mistake.
"You've made a lot of very powerful people very uncomfortable. Angry, even." Kabuto's eyes bored into her. "They won't treat you kindly, when this is all over."
Or maybe it wasn't a mistake.
Sakura's hands twitched.
Training ground 15 was about as average as physically possible.
Sakura was pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to distinguish it from a dozen other training grounds if someone had a kunai to her throat. It was that generic.
The early morning sun filtered through the leaves. It was a beautiful day, but that did little to settle her nerves.
Three of her new squad mates were already there, which made her the second last to arrive. Being around this many unfamiliar faces was uncomfortable, but in the past weeks in had become routine. She didn't often work with people she knew very well, and the camp she was staying at was mostly strangers.
No one said anything when she crept into the clearing, though they all noticed her. A few minutes later, the last shinobi showed up.
The kunoichi at the front cleared her throat. "I am Kazaze Chitage, the leader of this squad. I am aware that most of you haven't worked together before, so we'll be doing basic introductions."
Kazaze was barely taller than Sakura, but built broad enough that she could probably toss her across a room with one arm. She had brown hair too short to grab and a scar that ran from the corner of her mouth to her ear. According to her, Kazaze was a close ranged fighter who primarily used taijutsu and earth ninjutsu. She'd previously worked on the border of Fire Country, but had been recalled since the Invasion.
She said all of this with a blunt, flat tone. Then, she gave them an expectant look.
Yoshisu Rinha was wiry but tall. He had amber coloured eyes and black hair that fell far past his shoulders. He was a field medic, but also skilled in lightning ninjutsu. Most of his last squad had died in the Invasion, so he had been reshuffled into this new one.
Josuki Sarutobi held herself with a poise Sakura wished she could emulate. She had long dark brown hair that she'd tied into a braid, and sharp brown eyes. She used seals and tags, and had previously worked with the falconry division. Much like Kazaze, she'd been relocated.
Iwana Shimura's introduction was-ordinary. He was an average looking man, with short black hair and brown eyes. He used a sword and fire jutsu, and had also worked in border patrol. However, he'd been stationed around Konoha instead of the edges of Fire Country.
There was nothing that immediately struck her as threatening, no hint about what Shikamaru had warned her about. That was worse somehow, than if he'd immediately set off alarm bells.
She was so caught up trying to figure out what Shikamaru had been trying to caution her against, that she almost didn't realise it was her turn.
"My name is Sakura Haruno," she began slowly. "I primarily use poisons and basic genjutsu. I was only recently promoted, so I was on a genin team before this."
Yoshisu made a small noise. "Oh! I remember you. You fought against the Hyuuga in the chuunin exams."
She smiled awkwardly. "Yeah."
Kazaze cleared her throat pointedly. "This squad has been assigned clean-up duty for the foreseeable future. I know it's not glamorous, but I expect all of you to be on time and to do actual work." She continued for a few more minutes, mainly detailing how they would communicate with each other and where they would be working. "That's everything I have to say. Anyone have questions?"
No one said anything.
"Good, you're all free until after lunch. Haruno!"
Sakura's heart leapt to her throat. "Yes?"
"Stay behind. I need to talk to you."
Well, that wasn't ominous at all.
Sakura's new squad mates quickly evacuated the training grounds, leaving her alone with Kazaze.
"Your promotion was extremely recent," she began. "But with the Invasion, you won't be given nearly as much time to adjust. I will not be able to go easy on you, but if you are struggling, speak up. Chuunin squads may not be as tightly knit as genin teams, but that doesn't mean I'll let you fall through the cracks. Do you understand?"
Sakura nodded slowly, a lump forming in her throat.
"Good." Kazaze eyed her outfit with dismay. "And get something else to wear. The bloodstains are bad enough, but that dress is going to fall apart sooner rather than later."
Sakura swallowed her protest and nodded again.
"That's all I wanted to say. Dismissed."
Sakura swung open the door to the tailor shop with none of the carefulness she'd had before. This time, she wasn't going to leave until she had what she needed.
Akio looked up from his work and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I kick you out of here last week?"
"You did," she admitted. "But I'm not here to buy any of your clothing."
He leaned back. "Then what are you doing in my store?"
She fished out her list and rattled off the materials. "I know you have them. If you're not going to sell me clothes, then at least let me buy those off you."
"And you think you can make something out of them yourself?" He sounded halfway between amused and intrigued.
"I guess I'll find out." She said blithely. "Now, are you willing to sell me these, or not?"
"Show me your design." Part of her bristled at the command, but she obliged anyway. At least this way he could see that she wasn't doing this on a whim.
Akio stared at her drawings and outlines for a long time.
"I'll make it."
Her thoughts stuttered to a halt. "You-what?"
"I'll make it." He repeated. "
She narrowed her eyes. "How much?"
Akio's eyes glinted. "Well now, I'm sure you know how to bargain."
Determination and spite swelled in her core.
Sakura was the daughter of a tailor and a merchant. She could do this in her sleep.