Sakura was a night owl and not a morning person. Six a.m seemed too early for her and she turned off her alarm clock before going back to sleep. But her mind told her that she wouldn't accomplish her goal if she didn't start learning how to wake up early hence she forced herself out of her warm cocoon of blankets roughly five minutes later. The pinkette went to the bathroom and took a long cold shower to remove any lingering sleep before turning off the knob and drying herself. She went back to her room to change and doned her usual attire. Though she wasn't a ninja but she certainly dressed like one, her mother told her one day. An impractical ninja, she had added as an afterthought. She combed her hair meticulously and religiously, there was no question about how much she loved her hair.

A red ribbon lay on her vanity, one she had been gifted by Ayame on her seventh birthday, saying she didn't need to hide her forehead and should wear it proudly. She had been hesitant and insecure. She still was now but she didn't want the brunette to feel bad hence she swallowed down her fear and tied the ribbon on top of her head, leaving her massive forehead exposed to the world with pink bangs framing either sides of her face. She cringed at her reflection in the mirror.


The Haruno took her sling bag and left the house. Her parents hadn't come home yesterday. They were probably held up with arranging the new stock at their supermarket. She decided to pay a visit to the Hokage Tower. Though she wanted nothing to do with ninjas but if she was going to control them, then at least she had know them. She hoped that she could get the Hokage to give her access to some information about the budget of their resources and what ninjas were in need of. She could start from there.


Sakura went to the reception and put on her best smile. "Good morning ma'am." The woman looked up from her scroll and peered at her through small squinted eyes behind large framed glasses. "What do you want missy?" Her voice was rude and cranky, reflecting her emotions clearly with a large frown. Sakura took a mental note that one of the things she would venture into as a businessperson was hospitality services. This woman left a very bad taste in her mouth, she wondered how a shinobi who had gone through a hard mission would react if they had been treated like scum by a mere receptionist.

"I want to request an audience with the Hokage," she said confidently with her posture straight. Dark eyes sized her up with barely concealed spite. "Who are you?" the cranky woman asked. For someone in her midthirties, she sure acted like the old croons at her civilian district. "I'm Sakura Haruno-" "Are you a civilian?" Sakura bit back a snarky remark and nodded her head dutifully. "Then you have no business with the Hokage. If you have any problems, take it up with the Civilian Council," she spoke as she turned back to her scroll. "But-" "Missy, I'm going to call security if you don't leave within the next second. Now hurry along, some of us have way bigger problems than your forehead."

Sakura could only gape at the lady. She was so, so...urgh!

Deciding she had enough of the snobby attitude, she frog marched out of the tower in a blaze of anger. She bumped into a random ninja and mumbled a quick apology without turning to look them.

'Fine, if she isn't going to give me the information I want. Then I'll just have to get it myself,' she thought with a dark look on her face.


Sakura found herself yet again at the library. This time, she was browsing through the ninjutsu section. There had to be a jutsu which could alter one's appearance. She found the book in less than five minutes and went to sit at her secluded corner. Opening it, the pinkette perused the pages quickly before she found exactly what she was looking for: the Transformation Jutsu. She studied the hand seals, they were only three. But could she do it? She had never used chakra before, as in never.

She hesitated as she stared hard at the book. She promised herself that she was going to achieve her goal without being a ninja. If she used chakra, it would be going against her word. With firm resolution, she closed the book and returned it to its shelf before exiting the library and making her way to the clothing stores. There were more than enough ways to change one's appearance without using ninjutsu.


It was late at night and the pinkette found herself staring at her attire which lay on her bed. She had decided that if she wanted information, she would have to find out from the shinobi themselves. If she was going to start a business, she would have to hear from the horse's mouth what she should establish.

Her parents had arrived a few hours ago and quickly retired to bed. She doubted they would notice if she was gone for a few hours. Plus it's not like she was planning to spend whole night at the bar. Buying the clothes had taken a large chunk out of her savings but it was worth it. If she was stingy enough to spend a few ryo to get what she wanted then she wasn't fit to become a business tycoon.

The attire was simple but to Sakura, it went against her moral code. She had tried to buy that which wasn't too revealing and could be seen wearing by typical kunoichi. She had taken inspiration from Ino and another kunoichi with a weird fetish for snakes called Anko. She decided to put the clothes on. When she was done, she could hardly believe that she was looking at herself in the mirror.

Her attire consisted of a red sleeveless crop top which was open all the way except held by a button at the collar with white lining around her collar and the hem. The garment left her entire midriff exposed but was covered in a black fishnet top. She wore a black sports bra to cover her nonexistent chest. Black fingerless gloves reaching all the way to her elbows covered her arms. She wore a pair of red loose shorts which reached midthigh with dark grey tights covering her legs entirely. To top of it off, she wore a pair of black high heeled boots with open toes which reached just below her knees. The boots gave her an extra four inches in height. She thanked her mother for forcing her to take those damned walking lessons when she was nine otherwise she would've immediately toppled over with the heels.

She had asked her family's seamstress to stitch the Konoha symbol on the back of her top like a clan symbol. Since she didn't have a headband, she hoped the stitching would be fine.

To say she looked different would be the understatement of the year. She looked so mature, so grown up. Even though she didn't have the curves like Amy but her body wasn't entirely flat as she thought. And the boots made her legs seemed longer, despite her short stature. She looked almost sexy.

"Get yourself together," Sakura told herself as she went to her vanity. The civilian took out her makeup set and dusted light compact powder which seemed almost nonexistent on her face. Since there would be poor lighting at the bar, she needed to at least look like she belonged there than to melt with the shadows. She added golden highlight powder to her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She was supposed to have put some on her forehead too but she didn't want her large forehead to be the first thing anyone noticed about her. She added dark kohl around her eyes and mascara to make them pop out more. She put light pink eyeshadow which matched with her hair. Her hair was swept to one side and braided the other side. She put on a metallic hair clip which resembled a kunai so her hair didn't fall in her face. All in all, she looked the part she was trying to go with. Ayame would be so pleased with her right now.

She glanced at the clock on her bedside drawer. It read 2239. It was perfect for her as she had discovered that the night truly started at midnight for most shinobi. She draped a large cream trench coat on top and left her house as quietly as possible.


Sakura's legs trembled as she made her way to Asuna's Pub. Her nerves were wreck but she forced herself to calm down as she neared her destination. 'If you're gonna be a weak ass before even starting this journey, why even bother with the effort?' Inner spoke snarkily in her head. She didn't reply her inner persona as she had spoken the truth. One thing she had learned about Inner Sakura, about herself, was not to argue when she could avoid it. And right now, she didn't want herself shouting in her ear when she was going to be surrounded by beings she wasn't too fond of.

She stopped just a few feet away from the entrance. Surprisingly, there was no bouncer as she had been expecting. Well, good for her. She took several deep breaths as she cleared her mind and connected with Inner Sakura. When she was finished, her eyes were like hardened steel. Tossing away all thoughts of the meek Sakura who was polite to everyone, she strutted confidently into the bar. She could feel all eyes on her as she made her way to the bartender. She could even hear a few whistles but she paid them no mind. She knew that she looked good, she had been trained by the best diva in all of Konoha for eight years straight.

Sakura took a seat and crossed her leg over her knee in a way that was careless yet appealing, inviting. She slammed a couple of ryo onto the counter and ordered a Martini. She didn't turn to look as the bartender took her money and began preparing her drink. Instead, she was looking for someone she could talk to and get the information she wanted. A ninja with a headband working as a bandana to cover the top of his head whilst chewing a senbon caught her attention. As if feeling eyes on him, her target turned around and caught her eye. The two had a face off for a moment before he beckoned her to come over with a nod of his head. Sakura allowed a smirk to grace her features. He was perfect.

She turned back to the bartender and gave him a wink before taking her Martini gracefully and stride towards the table. Her steps were slow and deliberate, she could feel the man's eyes roaming over her figure in an assessing manner. She hoped she met his standards as she didn't want him to have his guard up just because her assets were a little too small. She took a seat opposite from him, draping her trench coat over the chair as she placed her drink on the table.

The pinkette flipped her hair casually as she became comfortable in her seat. Nursing her drink, she gave him a cool look as she regarded him. "Hey there sweetheart. I've never seen you around here," he started as he flashed what Makima called the sexy look. He was pretty good at it, she noted. "I've never seen you either," she replied, her voice a tad bit deeper than her usual tone. "Well, it's not like I want to have a hangover every day of the week," he replied with a grin. "I guess so," she replied nonchalantly as she took a sip out of her drink.

"What's your name?" he asked her smoothly. "It's a bit rude to ask for someone's name without giving your own first," she told him as she looked at him dead in the eye with a blank face. The man was taken aback as he blinked at her expression. She could hear Inner cheering in her mind. "The name's Genma," he told her as he eased back into his flirtatious attitude. "Mizuho," she replied. "Isn't that a boy's name?" he asked as her gave her a once over, eyes staring a second too longer at her forehead. She hoped a vein didn't tick on her forehead as she looked at him in annoyance.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I mean, with the pink hair and all, I figured your parents would name you Sakura or something," he cleared his throat and took a large gulp of his beer. "Maybe they weren't very creative," she snorted as she finished her drink in one go. Genma chuckled at her antics. "I can guess why they didn't name you after something so fragile," he said as he leaned back in his chair. "And that is?" she asked as she raised a pink eye brow. "You don't take anybody's shit," the ninja grinned at her. "Glad to see we're on the same page," she said as she popped her shoulders.

Again, she thanked Makima for making her, scratch that, forcing her to take gymnastics lessons every week since she was five. Her body was very flexible and she could see the older shinobi watching her every movement almost hungrily.

The civilian felt an immensely overwhelming presence behind and before she could react, she felt a calloused hand on her bare shoulders.

"Man, I was beginning to think that you had ditched me!" Genma grinned at the person behind her.

Sakura didn't react, instead she remained perfectly still as the man took a seat beside, shivering unconsciously as the warmth of his hand left her. She turned to regard him with a curious face. He had a shock of silver spiky hair on his head with a headband wrapped around his forehead and over his eye. He was dressed in a black form fitting shirt which left his arms exposed and connected with the mask that covered over half of his face. A single black pupil stared back, assessing her as she did to him.

"Aren't you a little too young to be here?" he asked monotonously as his eyes strayed to her almost flat chest. "Aren't you a little old to be here?" she replied with a pointed look at his hair. "Sukea," he said as he stretched out his hand towards her. "Mizuho," she retorted, though she didn't dare take his hand, opting to look at him dead in the eye with blank expression.


I kept procrastinating to update this fic and it's like what, six months without an update? Sorry for all those who were expecting quicker updates, I'll try to be better. I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for your support!

Tozoonana

AfricanFire