Sakura has been no stranger to men, women, children ogling her pink hair, back home, whenever they are in a mission outside of konoha, people stare at her hair, however it was different in here, they look at her as if she was an alien.

She looked at the pink locks touching her shoulders and sighed, as much as she loved her hair she needed to cut it , tomorrow will be her first mission outside the walls, and she wanted to be prepared, short hair always more practical and suited her better.

When she was certain the squad members are all gathered outside, she grabbed the pair of scissors kept in petra's

drawers and a lighted lamp from her own bedside table and begins to snip at

where the ends tickle her shoulder and the back of her neck.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" petra's voice starteld the pinkett.

"Cutting my hair" Sakura answered without looking at the brunette.

"Woah, why, your hair is so beautiful" Petra stood behind her, Observing sakura's work.

"it gets in the way, and give me that girly girl look "

Petra giggled "Don't say that in front of Eld, he'll be offended."

The blond guy face flushed in sakura's memory, oh Eld the guy with the bun, she knows him, the one who's been extra nice to her.

"I wouldn't, the bun suites him anyway" she said.

Petra smiled "Oh he'll be glad to hear that, here let me help" she takes the scissors from sakura's hand and runs the toothed edge of the comb down her hair.

Sakura's hand shoots out and catches Petra's wrist as she jerks her head forwards.

"Do you even know how to do this?"

The brunette places her upturned palm on sakura's forehead and gently pushes her head back.

"Relax, I cut my hair alone, it can't be any worse than this work of abstract art."

Petra started cutting the ends " Eld must be angry now" murmured the brunette à smile on her face.

"Why?"

"He asked me to convince you to join us outside, we are playing chess"

"OH"

"He likes you, you know " added the brunette.

Sakura wasn't sure how to react to that,a part of her knew he likes her, with the way he acted around her and all.

"I see" she said.

Petra frowned "I see? Is that all you have to say, the guy is so into you"

"What should I say?"

"I'll be flattered if someone like Eld liked me, I mean he's handsome, Don't you think so ?"

Sakura tried to remember the blond face, blonds were never her type of guys , but yeah he was good looking " He's handsome, I guess" she said, and the other girl smile widened "Then you should give him a chance, life is too short, no one knows when he'll die"

Sakura knows that first hand, life is too short.

"Done, tadddaa" Petra looked to be proud of her work and the pinkett couldn't help but smile at her "thanks, looks good"

"You know sakura, you and I are the only girls in Levi's squad we should be friends"

Friends? Was she ready for new friends?

"That is if we came back alive from tomorrow's mission" added the brunette.

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When she entered the cafeteria the next morning, Levi was the only one in there, setting at the corner, tea cup in his hand, he frowned at the sight of her

"Good morning captain , where's everyone? " she took the seat next to him, after all they were the only ones in here, and it would be rude if she ignored him.

The short man glanced at her

"weren't you informed that i ordered you not to have breakfast before the mission" He said, his eyes never leaving her, he looked displeased.

Sakura took a bite of bread "And they actually listened to you ?"

His frown deepened . "you'll be punished for not following my orders, that is if you made it back alive"

Sakura side glanced at the captain, he was looking forward, his dark bangs covering his eyes. " I'll take whatever punishment you decide, sir "

He didn't say anything in return.

"So why have you ordered the new recruits not to have breakfast before the mission?"

Levi smirked "That, you'll know at the mission"

She huffed and shoved another piece of bread into her mouth.

"I don't usually break the rules, it's just that I have bad memories with skipping breakfast" she blubbered, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face as she remembered the bell test with Kakashi.

"Going by your expression , I'd say it wasn't that bad" he muttered, taking a minute to look at her new hair cut, it suited her better, he thought.

Sakura only hummed and continued eating in silence, levi drank the rest of his tea and left.

111111111111111111111111111111111

She rode next to Eld, Levi at the front, they weren't to attack titans and break the formation until something happens.

Sakura looked at the mindless monsters with awe, what was those things?

A red flare, it's danger, coming from the right wing, she continued in her path, as ordered.

One minute Eld was next to her the other he was up a titans throat, he managed to kill it easily, however 3 more approached, she was to engage, her first actual titan kill could be now, the Pinkett used her ODM gear to get closer to one of the monsters and then cut his nape in one presised blow.

Eld had already killed the other two "Good job" he said.

",You were the one who killed three of them Eld" she muttered looking at the corps.

They were about to follow the rest of the team, when they heard screams close by, Sakura looked that way only to find many red flares.

She was about to ride there when Eld stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder "No, it's an abnormal, you'r not trained for that, and we shouldn't break the formation"

More screams could be heard "Formation can go to hell" she snapped shrugging his hand off her shoulder and guided her horse as fast as she could to the source of noise.

A horrible sight was waiting for her, a head a human head on the floor, other limbs here and there, she looked up to see the abnormal, he was still trying to eat one man holding him close to his mouth.

She screamed and hurried toward them, but the titan mouth was faster than her horse,

She could hear the bons breaking sound, smell the blood, see the soldier horrified expressions.

At the sight of the titan eating the screaming soldier her stomach rose in her throat, she couldn't move, she was far, couldn't possibly reach him in time, she was transfixed by the sight.

"What the hell are you doing" It was Levi, he screamed something else and run toward to 30 meters titan.

She watched as levi slaughtered him in no time, the man was fast, too fast for a person without Chakra, heck he moved so gracefully and his use of the blades was perfect.

He then went back to her "If you don't want to be eaten alive you better move"

"I... I..I couldn't help, he... " She tried to say but the captain cut her off "You were far away, couldn't have possibly made it in time, and it was an abnormal anyway, don't think you could have been much of help. "

"He ate them" she muttered her face blank

Sakura was no stranger to death, after all her friends died in front of her, but she had never seen anyone got eaten alive., She let out a loud gasp to get Levi's attention before getting down from her horse , and bracing her hands against the tree trunk.

She took a shuddering breath, holding on tightly to the tree as she vomited. She hated the warmth of the tears that leaked from her eyes, but couldn't wipe them away as she heaved again, gagging. Levi stood nearby, calming her breathing, willing her body to ease.

"Disgusting" he muttered

Sakura lifted her head to give him a withering glare, " excuse me for feeling disgusted after seeing someone got eaten alive"

His expression were as bored as ever

"I told you not to eat before we left."

"Are you done being a jerk?" she wasn't taking his attitude, not today.

"Are you done vomiting your guts up?" he shot back.

"For the time being," she snapped. "Perhaps I'll just vomit all over you next time ."

"Tsk, be careful pinky" he said before riding away, not even glancing back to see if she managed to get on her horse.

The mission ended 15 minutes later, and Sakura found herself happy to be inside the walls again, away from the images of blood and screams, many other soldiers felt the same.

."Don't you ever do anything other than read?" . She looked from her chair on the balcony as Eld took a seat beside her. The late-afternoon sunlight warmed her face, and the last balmy breeze of sun rushed through her short hair.

She looked at the blond frowning, why was he bothering her? " I love to read" She said, simply. The reality is that she's trying to read more complicated books in order to improve her language, she's a quick learner yes, but how can she learn the complicated fancy sentences if nobody used them.

Something flitted across Eld eyes as he pointed to the book in her lap. "I saw at lunch that you're reading The Wind and the Rain, and I wanted to ask where did you find that book, it's a rare one"

He'd really come to talk about a book when 5 people had been eaten alive just yesterday!

"Commander Erwin collection, honestly I guess It's a bit dense," she admitted, holding up the brown volume in her lap. When he didn't reply, she asked, "Why are you really here?"

"I had a long day, Alfred was a friend, I had to go with captain Levi to inform his family ." he sighed, his face dropping.

"I'm sorry for your loss" She offered.

Eld brown eyes were fixed on her now "Saw you vomiting, and I can relate really, my first time outside the walls was as horrible, if not worst, thought I can give you an advice on how to take that images out of your head" He said.

"Does it ever go away?" she asked

"No" he said simply "But you get used to it, all you have to do, is to remember that those people who died yesterday were heros, and that many others will die in order to get freedom"

"Freedom hin?"

"Yes, freedom outside the walls" he muttered looking at horizon from the balcony

Sakura went silent for a minute before saying "You think death and suffering will stop when you get your freedom?"

If Eld was taken back by her question, he didn't Show it " You don't?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her.

She shook her heard lightly, making her pink locks move a bit to the side.

"No, I don't, humans will always find another way to kill each other and suffering would never stop for good , once a man said" The end of every war is the beginning of new one "

Eld shrugged " Seems like a pessimistic person to me "

" maybe, but he's right tho, wars never ends for good "

Eld leaned back in his chair " Well we could at least use a break from fighting ."

Sakura nodded "Yes, guess so" "Thanks for checking on me Eld, I'm fine now. " She added.

The blond offerd her a faint smile " That's what teammates do"

They went silent for a minute, Sakura was about to resume her reading when he spoke " Where are you from Sakura?"

She tensed " Why are you asking?"

"it's just that I don't know anything about you."

"I." Her heartbeat calmed. "There's nothing to know ."

"There is ," he said with a sigh. " Like where you learned how to fight like that —and why have you joined the survey corps ."

"It's not interesting.".

"I wouldn't find it boring."

She didn't say anything.

"Oh come on, we are teammates we should know more about each other if we were to work together, for exemple I'm from stotch, and I joined the military to make my father proud, later I found another objective, helping humanity."

Her mouth twisted to the side and she looked at the table. What harm was there to answer some questions ? She could choose not to reply if she didn't like the question "Very well, ask me what do you want to know about me."

He grinned. "I need a moment to think of a good question ." She rolled her eyes, this guy was really interested in her, she'd hate to destroy his hopes but if things developed she'll have to do it.

After a few seconds, he asked, "what does your name mean ?"

She made a face. " Is that what do you want to know "

"seems like a logical question, i'v never heard a name like yours, I mean don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful name , but very uncommon."

She let out a long breath through her nose and stared at the table. "it's a tree name, the sakura's tree, it has pink, petals, flowers . . ."

"Wow never heard of it, must be beautiful "

"it is ."

Sakura smiled slightly. "Now it's my turn to ask you, are there any limitations?"

Eld wasn't expecting that, he smiled back at her

"No." the blond tucked his hands behind his head. "I'm not nearly as private as you are."

She made a face as she thought of the question. "Are you married?"

"Married? Heck no. I'm nineteen!"

"You have a ring " she said mentioning to the golden ring in his right hand

"It's not a marriage ring, I'm very single" he stated.

His uncomfortable expressions amused her, "So then you just love wearing rings?"

Eld crossed his arms. She tried not to notice the cut of muscle that shifted just beneath the fabric of his shirt. "Ask another question Sakura."

The Pinkett giggled, maybe talking about rings was his weak point, that she didn't expect.

To say she didn't enjoy her conversation with the blond would be a lie, they talked about different things and she felt better, less sad, maybe she just missed human interaction, maybe making new friends isn't that bad after all.

Erwin wanted him to talk to her, see if she's good, he refused, it wasn't his job to comfort new recruits, if she can't handel seeing a couples of deaths than she shouldn't be part oh his squad. But he went anyway, he can't say no to Erwin, even if it meant doing something as stupid as comforting a new recruit.

When he approached the library where Petra said he could find the Pinkett, a pleasant sound of soft giggles caught his attention, Sakura sat near the balcony, her pink lockes glowing under the sun, her green eyes brighter than anything he had seen, she was giggling like a school girl at something, and it made her appear so young, well of course she's only 16 for God sake, the captain reminded himself.

She wasn't alone. Across from her sat a blond tall guy, who was smiling like a fool.

Levi watched his two subordinates chat, exchanging jokes and smiles.

Sakura looked to be enjoying herself, Eld however had that weird look on his face, he didn't take his eyes off the Pinkett, (not that Levi blamed him) all of his attention was on her, and he had that dreamy look on his face. Oh this is not good, Levi thought, frowning, all he needed was a love drama in his team.

The short capitain, turned to walk away, annoyed, of course he'd be annoyed, his team should be professional. That's what he told himself when he walked back to his office .

Sakura joined her team training first thing in the morning, feeling a little bit better, her talk with Eld yesterday helped, it took her mind off the images of the mission.

"Good morning Sakura" It was Petra

"Good morning" she replied smiling at the brunette.

"I didn't see you when I woke up, nor in cafeteria where where you?"

" Couldn't sleep, I ate early and went for a run" she answered.

"Morning girls" It was Eld, he approached both girls, the old guy next to him.

"Good morning, where's the captain?"

Sakura asked, her eyes searching for the short capitain.

"He's never late, he'll show up anytime" oulé was the one to speak this time.

"Oh there he is" Petra said and grabbed Sakura by the hand taking her few feets away from the rest of the team, Sakura followed, the brunette leaned on Sakura and whispered "How do I look?"

Sakura raised one Eyebrow "What do you mean? You look normal"

The brunette hushed Sakura immediately "quite they'll hear you"

Sakura turned to see the boys eyes on them.

"I want to know if I look good" added the brunette, a blush on her face.

"Oh, you look fine Petra" stated the Pinkett and walked away, joining the rest of the team, (who was Petra trying to impress?)she wondered.

Couldn't be Eld, for petra was the one who told her about his crush on her, couldn't be Gunther, Petra rarely interact with him.

Could it be oulé? But he's old! Oh no no way.

Levi approached them, " Good morning" he greeted them.

His eyes going over each one of them as they saluted him.

"we will be working in teams of two today, our training session will be like this, each two will try to take down as many fake titans as they can, while fighting to stay alive, there will be people hiding in the forest trying to take you down, don't hurt each other, it's training, and don't help other teams, one pair would be the winner"

The team members exchanged looks.

"Let's be a team" Petra wishepered to Sakura, but that didn't escape Levi's sharp hearing.

"No" he said "I'll be choosing your partners"

He looked at them for a minute before saying

"Petra, with Gunther, Sakura and Oulé"

He then looked at Eld " Eld you'll be with me"

Everyone nodded, and moved to put their ODM gear

Sakura was in the front, oule followed her, during the first 15 minutes of theirs training, they made an unspoken agreement, she kept an eye on the enemies, and he killed the titans.

Sakura's senses where better than anyone in the squad, second only to captain Levi, and that's because his reaction was faster.

Oulé, knows that, and thus, he didn't argue when she gave him signs to announce an approaching enemie.

They managed to kill 3 titans and escape 4 soldiers, without a scratch.

Sakura kicked the soldier who jumped on her from above with her fist, and then leg, moving fast enough to escape him.

"come on old man, a titan to your left" she muttered glancing back at oule, who snorted "I can see that" he advanced toward the titan doll and killed them both titans dolls, the one to his right and the one in front of him.

"You sure move fast for an old guy" Sakura murmured as she approached her teammates.

"Okay, that's enough" He snapped "Stop calling me old man, I'm nineteen" he added.

The pinkett eyes went wide with surprise "What? You're Nineteen!! Wowo you sure look older"

Oulé shot her a glare " Are you planning to stop insulting me anytime soon?"

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean it that way" she said blushing.

Oulé smirked

"After all am not the one with bubble gum hair color" He muttered, smiling to himself.

The pinkett frowned " Why you!..." she started but stopped to look behind her " Be careful, someone is approaching, fast "

As expected Levi and Eld were the winner team, but that's to be expected since the captain was with him, Sakura and oulé ranked second and then Petra and ghunter.

"I guess we make a good team pinky" Oulé said while standing next to the pink haired girl, a wide smile on his face, he seemed to be very proud of himself.

"Yes we... What did you just call me old man?" She snapped at him.

" just what you heard pinky" Oulé muttered.

Their little barking caught Levi's eyes, they were loud.The captain looked at the pair, Oulé seemed to be enjoying himself, while Sakura was fuming, It's rather impressive how a woman who has the sweet face of a doll manages to glare with such effectiveness, he thought to himself.

Eld and Petra joined them, and Levi rolled hid eyes at Eld's blushing face whenever the pinkett address him, the kid was too obvious for his own good.

"Captain" it was Petra who woke him from his thoughts.

"Yes"

"We will be eating together, as a team, wanna join us? " she asked.

"No, enjoy your food" with that being said he strode away.

Petra's eyes followed him, a disappointed expression on her face, Sakura was the only one who noticed that.

She elbowed the brunette "So, wanna tell me something?

2 days later

The candle light flickered against the stone walls , casting long shadows across the floor of captain Levi's office, it was late and he still had a lot of paper work to do, it's what he hated most, he leaned back in his chair, with a sight he cast aside the current report he was working on, and decided to head to the kitchen, a cup of tea would definitely help.

Arriving at the kitchen, Levi found that he didn't appear to be the only one who had the idea of late refreshments.

Green eyes met his as the pink haired girl turned to look at him, momentary abondoning her tea making.

"Evening captain" she greeted him, her smile was dazzling, blinding in fact.

"Sakura" he nodded his head at his subordinate "Stiil awake I see"

"Sort of" she said.

Levi moved to stand beside her, taking the tea spoon from her hand "Sort of? You're either asleep or not, what's sort of" he said not too nicely.

She frowned "Would it hurt you to be nice sometimes?"

Levi glanced at her " Try answering the question clearly next time"

They went silent for few minutes until he spoke again "You look like shit, you should go sleep"

Sakura raised her gaze to meet his " I don't feel like sleeping"

He let out a grunt "And then you'll be salking, too tired to do your damn job, you were so useless in today's mission"

It was a small mission just in front of the wall Maria, they were trying to capture one titan alive, they failed any way "

the sight of the titan reminded her of the screaming man, the blood, she wasn't weak, but that guy had looked at her in his last moments, pleading her to help, but she was too weak to do it, she failed him just like she failed everyone else back home.

"I'm sorry" she murmured

" Your sorrys are a pile of shit, your sorrys are no good to me when you're dead at the hands of a fucking titan, now drink your tea and go sleep " He sounded harsh, but she didn't mind.

Sakura nodded at him, and moved to pour herself a cup of tea.

He watched her movements carefully, she seemed to be heavy with sadness, and he found himself wanting to know what's wrong, that's out of character for him, maybe he's just worried about the squad or just wants her to talk to him.

"What the fuck Is going on with you?"

He asked looking at her.

"Nothing important" she shrugged.

"Spill it out brat"

Under his gray determined gaze she found herself speaking "I just... I just can't take the images of the the dying soldierout of my mind, I failed him, I failed him just like I failed everyone else back home, nothing changed am still as useless as ever"

Levi's gaze softened, he knows how that feels, after all, he too failed a lot of people, his mom, farlan, Isabel, his old teams."

"Don't beat yourself up, it will only make you more useless, think about those you can help, those you will save and those you saved before, you're only one person can't save everyone. "

Tears poured down her face, she was standing in front of him and he found himself patting her back, it was only to calm her down. He didn't expect her to hug him, she threw her hands around him and hugged him lightly, sobbing on his shirt.

He flinched a bit before relaxing, she smelled good, of soap and freshness, he loved the smell of cleanness.

The sobbing stopped and she backed away, her face flushed.

"Sorry, I just get a little bit emotional sometimes, won't happen again, sir"

He managed to nod.

"Thank u capitain, I will be going, goodnight"

"good night" he said.

Sakura was about to be out of the door when she turned to look at the dark haired captain "You should take your own advice and sleep sir"

When she's back inside her room, Sakura found Petra awake "Sakura what took you so long, you said you'll be back to tell me if he was there"

Sakura slammed her forehead ", Damn, I..."

"Don't tell me he was there and you didn't call for me"

The Pinkett hesitated, can't tell Petra that she totally forgot and instead kept talking to the captain and fucking hugged him, Petra might get the wrong idea, God, why did she hug him in the first place? He just looked so much like Kakashi when he talked about losses.

"He wasn't there, I prepared a cup of tea, drank it and that's all" she lied not meeting the brunette eyes.

"Oh, thought he'd surely be there" Petra's voice held some disappointment, and Sakura felt a little bit guilty, after all she didn't forget on purpose, it's the captain who distracted her by his questions.

"Maybe tomorrow, you can wait for him in the kitchen, I'm sure he'll show up tomorrow"

And that'd it. Don't forget to tell me what you think guys.

Thanks for reading by the way