Here's Sakura's prologue. I added (can't really change what's not really there) quite a bit of stuff to make some of her early actions make sense and a clear direction outside of her crush.
Naruto is a work created by Masashi Kishimoto. I do not own the characters or story; this is just my take on the story if I was involved in its conception. Please support it in official channels if so desired (preferably the manga as Studio Pierrot has a flanderization problem).
Prologue: A Scholar's Limits
A pleasant breeze blew through the open field within the academy's campus, rustling papers spread around a girl with eye-catching pink hair. Sakura had been trying to organize the notes she had taken while observing the exams.
"I'll have no problem with the ninjutsu section…but the rest of the exam…," she mumbled.
The exam was broken up into three distinct sections: sparring to test taijutsu, an extensive obstacle course to test endurance and coordination, and finally ninjutsu proficiency with seals along with the transformation and clone jutsu.
"Why would they make the exam so focused on physicality? There's more to being a ninja than raw power," a voice that seemed like a twisted version of her own spoke.
Sakura wasn't sure what it was or when it started, but it was her greatest champion and enemy. She didn't like to think too hard about it.
'Obviously it's to make sure no one unqualified gets sent to their death or becomes a dead weight,' she thought toward the voice. 'I just wish that I could show more of my strengths.' The pinkette had always been inclined to take on more mental challenges rather than physical ones. The solutions to puzzles and strategies were always fun to find and create.
It wasn't even like she didn't train her body at all. It's just that even when she did, she got so little out of it. She gained no muscle or got much faster. The only metric she could see any growth was her stamina, and even that was negligible. The lack of growth just made her push off any extra training since, even when she raised the intensity, she gained nothing.
She huffs as she glares down at her lean figure. She knew she should have put more effort into physical training; she just wasn't expecting her inattention to come bite her in the rear at the first hurdle.
Sighing, she pulled out her bento and a little sachet. She opened it up to see mostly rice, two pieces of tamagoyaki and a small fish filet. 'Maybe if I change my diet? It could be too restrictive,' she wondered.
Opening the sachet, she sprinkled some powder onto her lunch. A simple seasoning that her father taught her to make. He said it was something that their family picked up when they were still nomadic and it was supposed to help in her development.
"It obviously wasn't for physical development," she grumbled as she ate, glaring at her thin arms.
"This could be a sign that people like you weren't meant to be ninja. Like you said, they don't want dead weight and if you're struggling at the gate…," it snickered maliciously and Sakura was sure that it was smiling even if she couldn't see the source of the voice.
'Shut up! I still have a chance,' she aggressively thought at the thing.
Ignoring the continued laughter in her mind, she finished her food and went back to her notes. She knew her physical deficiencies would not clear up in any way by the time she would be forced to take the test. She needed to get through the physically demanding sections with enough competence so that her grasp of ninjutsu could pull her performance into one worthy of graduating.
"I need more info to make a strategy. That means observation," she muttered. Only one of the early exams has been administered and there would be four more early ones and the last final test. Sakura wondered why there were so many test dates but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
That being said, the pinkette wasn't the best at making her own strategies. She usually looked up the best way to do something and clip together the best bits. She would have to do her own trial and error, which could lead to her failing. She knew that by the time she could make a plan, she likely would only have one chance.
She roughly ran her fingers through her hair and wished that Shikamaru actually bothered to come to the morning conditioning. He had taken the earliest test so he could sleep in, but it wouldn't kill that lazy bum to come every once in a while. He was the perfect person to ask about this sort of thing.
"You could always just go to the Nara residence," the voice said nonchalantly. It seemed bored with her plight now that it had its fun.
"I can't do that," she said flatly. "He's more Ino's friend than mine. Showing up unannounced is rude."
"Then ask Ino," the voice almost sounded annoyed until a malicious glee colored its voice, "She comes to almost all the morning conditionings and she would lo~ove to help you."
Even with the malicious way the voice brought it up, Sakura gave it some thought. Ino had passed the first available exam and the way she did, it was possible for her to copy with a little work. Even if she couldn't, she could help her talk to Shikamaru to come up with a plan faster than she could on her own. Rivals could help each other, right?
An image of Ino's smug face flashed through her mind. Shaking her head, she made her decision.
"No, I'll figure this out on my own," she said with determination.
If she went running to Ino every time she faced a challenge, there would have been no point in pushing her away.
Snickering caught her attention and, looking over, she saw a familiar group. Hands over smiles and mocking glances. With Ino gone for most of the day, those bullies seemed to think she was an easy target again. Glaring their way, she gathered her meager notes and walked off.
"Stop talking to me. You're making me look crazy," she huffed out.
"You're the one speaking aloud. I'm just a figment of your mind after all," it laughed at her.
Shaking the odd laughter from her mind, she walked faster.
****0****
Sakura was in the library surrounded by several textbooks as she looked over her notes. Roughly two months and three tests later, she had collected a significant amount of observations.
The spars also allowed ninjutsu, which many examinees used to their advantage. She saw several kids forcing the spar to a stalemate rather than waiting for the instructor to allow them to move on. That tactic wouldn't work for every teacher, but it would be a great way to conserve her stamina.
Some students even skipped most of the obstacle section and still graduated. She wondered if it was because they showed creativity while showcasing interesting clan techniques.
"I'm sure I could do something similar with what the academy taught us…," she muttered as she picked up a textbook leafing through it.
"You're talking to yourself again," the voice laughed.
"Shut up," Sakura muttered half-heartedly as she read.
She mentally grumbled about the limited selection she had access to as a student. Shouldn't they be encouraging their future ninjas to learn more? Huffing, she kept flipping through jutsu that were barely better than party tricks until she found a pair of utility based jutsu.
The Binding Jutsu binds a piece of rope, or other object, onto a target. The Unbinding Jutsu releases the binding jutsu before the chakra placed into the technique runs out. The hand seals needed for these jutsu were the same, but in mirrored orders. They were straightforward and as she read the complete descriptions; she saw they used a pitiful amount of chakra to work. Memorizing the seals and visualization for the technique, she made a mental note to get a long piece of rope and kept reading.
The utility section of jutsu also gave her a body enhancement technique to practice. It seemed to be older than even the basic one they taught in class. The technique wanted her to force her chakra to be evenly distributed throughout her entire chakra system.
'Wasn't her system always full and even when she built up her chakra,' she wondered as she scratched her head.
Taking a moment to mold some chakra, she noticed it seemed to collect around her navel and her head, leaving the rest of her channels practically empty. Why did it do that?
'I wonder if this one isn't taught anymore because they assume the students already know about how their chakra likes to stick to itself,' she thought.
These types of jutsu weren't taught often considering that most students that went to academy were from shinobi clans. The instructors only taught how to focus chakra to specific limbs rather than make sure she was filling her entire chakra system too. It wouldn't surprise her that a technique that encompasses the whole body was common and tailored to the strengths of each clan.
"There's no reason to get upset. Why would they cater to the few civilians looking to go beyond their station?" the voice snarked. Sakura knew it agreed with her frustration, it just didn't want to admit it.
Shaking her pink head, she molded chakra to add to her system while she pushed it around her body. Closing her eyes to help her focus, she noticed that getting chakra to her hands was easy and familiar, but it was hard for her to push it away from saturated spots and spread it through the empty channels. It felt like she was trying to eat her favorite jellied yokan with a narrow straw.
She wondered if it was because she never tried to move such a large quantity of chakra through her system before. Trying again, she only pushed a bit of chakra toward the empty areas of her system. It was easier, but her chakra kept wanting to stick to itself clogging her channels or move back to that spiral under her navel. She got her chakra to settle throughout her entire system. It made her feel a little stronger and energized. But it was far from the even distribution the technique called for. When she tried to force more chakra away from her abdomen to the less concentrated areas, she felt an odd resistance.
Afraid she would damage her chakra system, she let her control slip and noticed her chakra slowly draining from her body. "Draining already? Aren't reserves supposed to keep the chakra inside the body until we use it?" she muttered on and on as she watched as only the chakra near her head and navel remained in her body.
'Is my reserve just small? Is it because my body is weak?' she wondered.
Feeling like she has more questions than answers, reminding herself to ask a teacher later, she puts it out of mind.
"I bet the clans would know," the voice sang maliciously. Sakura ignored it.
Flipping through another textbook, she came across the transformation jutsu. Since it was part of the test, she refreshed herself with its description.
The Transformation Jutsu is a technique that envelops the user with chakra and reshapes their form into the conjured image. There were only three hand seals.
Sakura reread the description of how this jutsu worked. The visualization seemed vague and lacking. It didn't involve drawing any kanji to focus the chakra. There weren't even any limitations stated or specified weaknesses to look out for.
'Does this mean that, so long as you keep your concentration, you could turn into anything? Regardless of size or makeup?' she wondered, scratching her head again. 'Then why do we only turn into other people in class?'
*****0******
Sakura had been a cat for nearly two hours now and it was still hard for her to just walk. The kitten wobbled and nearly toppled over several times before she released the transformation with a huff.
"I guess I figured out why it's always another person in class," she ranted. "You get the form, but none of the instincts or dexterity on even a basic level!" The pinkette was pacing and waving her arms as she practically screamed to no one in an empty training area on school grounds.
Despite her struggles with it, the transformation jutsu was fun to play with. She had turned into several animals, some she only saw in books, with ease. However, she could barely do more than breathe. Unless there was a more advanced version of the jutsu, it was going to take a lot of practice to even be able to walk, let alone fight, as any of the animals she took an interest in.
After calming down, she looked over notes as she pushed what chakra she had left to be distributed throughout her system. Her progress in this area has been the best. The meridians of her system feel a lot more open and getting really close to being as comfortable as pushing chakra toward her hands.
Losing concentration when a crash sounded close by, she looked up to see that kid in orange running across the rooftops covered in paint. Looking towards the village monument, she saw it was covered in colorful markings.
"How has he not been banished or something yet?" she muttered. Defacing that monument was essentially social suicide, and he did it almost every week. She was sure if a civilian was even to touch that place disrespectfully, they'd end up in prison.
"He is in the heir class. Maybe he gets the leeway because he's technically the Uzumaki clan head?" the voice wondered aloud? Sakura didn't want to think too hard about the disembodied voice's ability to think and speak to itself.
"I guess he is the only Uzumaki in the village," she responded.
That just made her wonder why he was the only Uzumaki. The clan was dissolved and scattered, but he was considered the last official Uzumaki. 'Even if his parents are gone, why were there no other Uzumakis that came to Konoha?'
She shook her head and started reading and adding to her notes. That was something to look into after she graduated.
****0*****
"I can do this. I practiced everything to perfection," she consoled herself as she tangled her fingers with the ends of her pink hair. "The teachers wouldn't do anything they didn't prepare the students for."
"Nothing the clanned kids couldn't handle, anyway. The clan techniques are a marvel, aren't they?" The dumb voice seemed to enjoy adding to her distress.
Sakura tried to ignore its snide remarks, but as they kept coming, it became harder. Her hands fisted the skirt of her qipao until they turned white as her breathing got shorter and quicker.
She wasn't capable of this. She was too weak to become a ninja. If they couldn't do it, what made her think she could do any better? She would never realize their goals. Their work was going to be forgotten, and it would be all her fault.
As her spiral sent her sinking deeper, a dark figure materialized in her blurring periphery. It looked like a vague monochrome version of herself. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and started shaking her head aggressively.
When that only seemed to make her feel worse and the figure to grow more distinct despite her closed eyes, she molded her chakra. Breathing in a rhythmic pattern, she made her chakra fill her system and pulse out in tandem. As she calmed, the shadowy figure dispersed with a displeased sigh.
"Sakura Haruno!" A voice boomed. It was her turn to take the exam.
As she walked up, she saw that the instructor she was supposed to spar with was Mizuki. 'Shannaro!' she mentally yelled.
"Well, aren't you lucky?" The voice seemed genuinely happy for her. It was about time for it to be on her side.
Mizuki is one of the chuunin instructors at the academy. He has made a name for himself for having a 'chip on his shoulder', as the other teachers put it. Apparently, he was quick to put down his students and colleagues if they're from a civilian background. He was shortsighted and quick to make assumptions, which has caused several failed missions. That and his lack of mastery in his specialization of scrolls and ambush tactics is the reason he has not been promoted to special jounin.
Sakura hid a smile. An opponent that looks down on their adversary is the perfect target for sneak attacks.
Walking up to him, she bowed and greeted him respectfully, "Thank you for your guidance, Sensei."
Mizuki ignored her greeting and faced her with no move to ready himself for the spar. Even if she expected his behavior, Sakura was bothered by it even as she was internally relieved that her knowledge of him was right.
Looking over at the other instructor stationed to make sure the spar doesn't go too far and saw that she did not approve of his behavior either.
Sakura decided it would be best to go into the spar without using the body enhancement technique. It wouldn't do her any good to trigger Mizuki to take this seriously.
Charging at him with a running leap, aiming at his temple with a downward hammer fist. He easily sidestepped the slow strike and lazily struck at her. She barely dodged without the extra speed the body enhancement would have given her. She grabbed his arm to try a hip throw that he easily shook himself out of.
She immediately tried to strike him in between the eyes while he was still bent from his lazy attack. Mizuki only tilted his head to avoid the strike.
He smirked as he grabbed her dress at the shoulder to perform the throw she had failed to do on him. Sending her across the field.
Rolling into the fall, Sakura launched herself back at him immediately. She aimed to punch his solar plexus, only for Mizuki to throw her again. She repeated her landing and launched at him, only to be thrown again.
The spar quickly fell into this repetitive pattern.
When he threw her again, she molded and pushed her chakra throughout her system. While her back was turned toward him in her roll, she performed hand seals.
Dog - Boar - Ram
[Transformation Jutsu]
Stalling the jutsu effects, she launched herself at the older man again. Her sudden speed surprised the chuunin, and he took a step back. Sakura grabbed his outstretched hand as though she were going to throw him. Mizuki leaned back, preparing to shake her hold, but his unsteady footing caused him to trip. As he fell, the pinkette moved to jump into his fall, allowing the jutsu to change her form.
Mizuki was frozen with a shocked expression as he looked down to see the scales of a snake wrapped around his arm and shoulder, jaws wide, fangs ready to sink into his jugular.
The girl turned snake allowed saliva to drip down her serpent fangs, hoping the teachers would think it was venom as she waited.
The attending Kunoichi called, "Haruno wins! Proceed!"
Immediately, Sakura allowed the transformation to drop and dashed to the second section of the test. Not looking back to take in the shocked expressions of the watching crowd and instructors.
Running as fast as she could while enhanced allowed her to make it to the rock wall quickly. She made quick work of the realistic stone wall. Knowing all the signs of weak foot and hand holds, avoiding them. At the top, she pulled out a long, roundup rope with a hook at the end.
Rabbit - Bird - Dog
[Binding Jutsu]
Forcing the jutsu to bind one end of the rope to her wrist, she started swinging the hook in tight arcs. Scanning the obstacle course for the tallest unobstructed structure, she aimed and threw. The chakra infused rope flew fast and wrapped onto a platform with the hook sinking into it.
Sakura positioned herself on the farthest edge of the rock-wall and sprinted to the other side and jumped. She swung in a sweeping arc around most of the obstacles.
Noticing she wouldn't clear the section completely, she mentally cursed. Loosening her grip on the rope, she went through the seals to free the rope.
Dog - Bird - Rabbit
[Unbinding Jutsu]
"I told you the rope needed to be longer," the voice nagged.
Ignoring the voice, she made the rope wrap around her waist as it flew back to her; grabbing the hook and tucking it into the loop.
Bracing herself for the jerk as she grabs hold of the circular rings at the end of the course. Using the momentum, she swung past several rings as she finished the course with a rolled landing.
Sprinting to the last section, Sakura went to the scroll and went through the sealing process easily. Immediately made her way to the table where Hitai-ate and two of the teachers sat, one she didn't recognize. She wondered if the kunoichi worked in administration as she expertly transformed into the familiar Iruka-sensei and made a clone in close succession.
The teachers that watched, or took part in, the previous sections gathered as they spoke of her performance. Sakura waited with bated breath to hear if she graduated. Doubt slipping into her mind as the teachers talked amongst themselves.
Those doubts were busted apart as Iruka-sensei got up to present her with a hitai-ate.
Launching into a hug before giving proper gratitude to her teachers' work in instructing her. She held the forehead protector tightly to her chest as she bounced excitedly through Iruka-sensei's speech about being an official ninja and to come for conditioning until the Jounin teams were decided in a week. Iruka-sensei seemed to notice her poor attention and cut it short.
As soon as she was cleared to leave, she sprinted off the academy grounds. She barely got her sandals off as she entered the house and bounded into the kitchen, where her parents were setting down an early dinner.
Out of breath and chakra, she announced, "I'm officially an adult ninja!" presenting her new headband with great pride.
"Sakura, make sure you clean the engawa before you eat dinner," her mother, Mebuki, said as she placed a bowl full of rice in front of her father, Kizashi.
"I did that before school," she said as she brought her hitai-ate above her head so it would be eye level with her parents. "Anyway, look!"
Mebuki finally looked at the metal plate with the leaf symbol cut into it. Kizashi ate unbothered. The young kunoichi deflated as she watched her mother sigh and look relieved.
"So now that you've graduated, you'll stop all this ninja nonsense. You've made your point," she spoke as though she was dealing with a toddler's tantrum.
"Wh-," Sakura wasn't sure if she was more surprised or angry.
"You can finally be useful and help your father and I with the business. I'm glad this little phase of yours at least gave you an education that'll keep the books balanced," Mebuki went on.
"But you pro-," the pinkette was interrupted again.
"Luckily, you didn't gain a mannish figure, so we don't need to bring up this little indiscretion when looking for future pr-"
"OKAASAN!"
"Sakura. Don't yell at your mother," her father warned evenly as he continued eating. Never once looking over at the pair.
"Bu-but she promised if I could graduate…I want to accomplish the goals the Harunos made when they came to Konoha. And she promised I could if-"
Her parents sighed as though she was the one causing the argument, even when they were the ones in the wrong. She was barely keeping her temper in check. Before she could defend her right to do as she was promised she could, her father spoke again.
"I only told you those stories about them to keep their memory alive. What kind of parents would we be if we allowed you to put yourself in danger for an impossible goal?"
"It's not impossible! I only need to be a chuunin to start-"
"Sakura, you had to work harder than most of the students just to graduate. Don't tell me you think you can go beyond genin?" her mother questioned with undisguised venom. She always got like this when Sakura was anything less than obedient.
Sakura looked to her father to see he had gone back to eating. Glaring as she gripped the skirt of her dress, "The jounin mentorship program has always led to promotion and even if I don't make the cut, I can still-"
"What!? That subpar genin program?" her mother's venom was getting under her skin. Even as she tried to keep herself calm, the voice was riled and encouraged her to meet her mother's temper.
"The Crucible is a legitimate training program! The instructors may not all be jounin, but they all have just as much experience! They'll know how to teach me to use what I have at my disposal!" she was yelling, unable to control her voice with her growing anger.
"Sakura! If you can't control yourself, then I suggest you head to your room," Kizashi scolded, not even looking her way.
She glared at the floor as her mother started complaining about how she had no respect or gratitude. Not wanting to hear anymore, and knowing she would just start yelling again, the girl stomped her way upstairs to her room.
"What respect!? What gratitude!? They haven't spent a single Ryo on my school or equipment! I've been doing the finances for their textile shop for as long as I could remember! Everything they've given me, I earned!" She ranted and raved as she paced her room. She flopped onto her folded futon and screamed into it.
Turning, she stared at the ceiling, feeling sorry for herself. She had hoped that even if they disagreed with what she wanted to do that they would still at least praise her efforts. She hoped that her mother would have waited at least a day before trying to tear down her dream. She had hoped that her father would have taken her side for once, or at least try to stop her mother from insulting her. She had so many expectations and all were dashed. Why was it so wrong that she wanted to walk the path their family had painstakingly planned to go? Was it really selfish to want that? A stray thought about a kid in orange caught her attention.
'Maybe if I was alone like him, I could do what I want without pushback or repercussions?'
She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she noticed a shadowy figure trying to take shape. She tried to pulse her chakra like before the test, but only grew restless.
'I guess that pattern only works for anxiety,' the girl thought listlessly.
She got up and moved to the window where a low table she used as a desk and opened a drawer as she knelt in front of it. Picking up an old beaten journal uncommonly bound in leather. The young Haruno undid the string wrapped around it and laid it open.
"All life is precious. Learning all ways to preserve and enrich life, no matter how small, is our clan's ambition," she whispered. Finding comfort that even if her contribution would be small, it would be significant and appreciated.
I always found it interesting that Sakura was at the academy at all. She didn't know Ino and Sasuke when she first started school and was getting bullied. Villagers are not forced to attend the academy (the mini guide about the academy makes it sound that some children can even fail the requirements for entry; though it would be very hard to fail). So why was she there and why did she stay despite the bullying? We never really got that motivation since it superseded by her friendship and insecurity with Ino and again by her dynamic with Naruto and Sasuke. So this is my take and what could have been there before I get into any major divergences.
Thank you for reading. Plz comment your thoughts.