Author's note: Hi! That was a very bad summery so I feel the need to elaborate. Kishimoto even admitted that he is bad at writing females and that Sakura wasn't supposed to be a main character and was only written for Sasuke. This story is if Sakura had been treated like a main character and given equal care and just something to work with. It'll follow the canon story lines, the only difference really being Sakura.

Initially, In my head I had replaced her character entirely with a new one, but I like Sakura as a character too much to erase her, so I'm trying to fuse her with the character I replaced her with. If she seems too different from her canon self, that's why. This'll be Sakura-centric although it is written in omniscient third person, so other character's perspectives (mainly Sasuke's) will bleed through.

Memory

"Sakura's thoughts" (unless otherwise specified)

"Inner Sakura"

"talking"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

Sakura was running late again. On the last day she ever wanted to run late. Today was the day she officially became a ninja.

It couldn't be helped. She'd had to finish a large batch of ointment, which she needed to sell to the village apothecary. She'd hoped she'd be able to do it this morning but she ran out of time, instead shoving the jars into her tattered back pack to deal with on a break.

She skidded to a stop in front of the classroom, listening to Iruka-sensei's voice carry through the door. There was no way to sneak in. Steeling her nerves, she pushed open the door and walked in.

"—of today you're all ninjas—" Iruka was cut off by the sound of the door opening. "You're late again Sakura." He sighed.

"Well what do you know, the walking jinx really did manage to graduate." The snarky voice of Watanabe Ami rang from the middle of the class. A small wave of laughter erupted, mainly from Ami's lackeys. Sakura ignored her.

"I'm sorry sensei." She said, bowing, before taking a seat at the front near the widow.

"Right. As I was saying, to get here you've faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin, first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into three man squads. Each squad will be lead by a Jonin, an elite ninja."

A wave of murmurs broke through the class. It was the first time any of them heard about squad placement.

"Well someone's gotta be in Sasuke-kun's group. I wonder who." She heard Ino say from her spot a few rows back, in between the bored looking Uchiha Sasuke and a rather bruised Uzumaki Naruto.

"Watch it be me, you hog! Shannaro!" She heard her own voice echo in the back of her mind. Another her, manifested from every repressed angry, childish, thought she couldn't afford to have.

"It wouldn't matter if it was. I can't afford a crush or boyfriend right now." Of course, feelings could never be dictated by the mind. Like Ino, and the most of the other girls in her class, she'd had a crush on Uchiha Sasuke since she was five.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads…"

Sakura zoned out. So long as she wasn't on a squad with Ami or any of her cronies, she'd be fine…actually on second thought, it probably wouldn't be too good to be on a squad with Ino either. Things were still awkward between them since that day she'd made that choice that ended their friendship. She also found Naruto incredibly frustrating. So maybe not him either.

"Squad 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Suck it pig! We really were placed with Sasuke-kun!"

"Yeah but we're also stuck with Naruto."

"So? Just smack him if he gets annoying."

"We're supposed to be a team."

"And teams can't smack each other if they get annoying?"

Sakura sighed. Now wasn't the time to be fighting with herself.

Iruka continued reading off the newly formed squads. Squad 8: Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino…Squad 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji. Sakura vaguely heard Ino and Shikamaru start arguing.

"Iruka-Sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?!" Naruto demanded loudly, making sakura sigh.

"Hm. Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores!" Iruka admonished, making the class break out in laughter. "To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student."

Sakura absently wondered what that meant about her.

"Just make sure you don't get in my way. Loser." The sound of Sasuke's cool voice broke her out of her musing.

"Grrr…What did you say!"

"Hard of hearing?"

Sakura twitched and sighed again.

"Ehem." Iruka called the class back to attention. "After lunch, you'll meet your new Jonin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."

Sakura grabbed her bag and quickly bolted from the room. She didn't have a lot of time.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto caught up with her. "Wanna have lunch together to get to know each other better? Since we're a team now?"

"Sorry. I can't. I'm busy."

She sped off leaving a frustrated Naruto in her wake.

"I bet she wouldn't be so busy if it was that bastard who asked." A maniacal idea occurred to Naruto and he abruptly went off in search of Sasuke. He needed to make sure that bastard wouldn't show up and ruin everything when he'd try to ask her again, this time using Sasuke's face. unfortunately for Naruto, when he did put his ingenious plan into motion, Sakura was no where to be found.

"Ikehara-san?" Sakura called, walking into the small shop. She had to get back before lunch was over, so she needed to sell this quick.

"You're back. That was fast." Came the gruff voice of the older shop keeper. He ducked out from the backroom coming to meet her at the counter.

"12 dozen jars of antibacterial, antimicrobial, soothing topical ointment! Good for bruises, minor cuts, and burns." She said with a bright smile, placing an armful of the crudely carved wooden jars on the counter. The man sighed.

"Look kid, I still have some of your last batch I haven't sold yet. I don't need this many. I'll take half."

Sakura bit her lip. Half wouldn't pay enough. She looked around trying to think and caught the glint of her hitai-ate in the window. She looked back at him with determination.

"Three fourths."

"What?"

"Buy three fourths. I'm an official ninja now. I'll be going on missions with my team and won't have the time to make these as much. Stock up now. At least buy three fourths." Ikehara studied her. He'd never admit it but he liked this kid a lot. She was smart, hard working, and determined. He actually respected her and had come to think of her as something of a niece he wanted to look out for.

"So you graduated, huh?"

"Yes sir."

The man pondered the jars on the counter for a while before letting out a small huff.

"You make a good argument, kid. I'll take 'em all."

"You will?" Her spring green eyes widened with excitement and surprise.

"Call it a graduation gift." He said, handing her a stack of bills, scooping up the jars, and disappearing behind the curtained off backroom.

Sakura quickly counted the money, making sure it was all there. When she looked up, she noticed there were four jars left on the counter.

"Ikehara-san, would you like me to put these on the shelf for you?"

"Those are yours."

"Huh?" He peaked out from behind the curtain.

"For you and your team. Knowing you, you probably didn't save any for yourself."

It took a second for Sakura to find her words. "Thank you. So much."

"I'm rootin' for you, kid. Don't forget to stop in from time to time."

Sakura beamed at him and nodded. She stuffed the four jars into her worn out pack and took off with a pleasant wave goodbye.

She made it back with 10 minutes to spare. She didn't feel like going into the classroom early and listening to Ami berate her in front of her new teammates, so she settled herself on a bench outside and took out her little note book she used for budgeting.

Ikehara-san had paid her 300 ryo for the ointment. She needed to set 80 aside for rent (the first of the month was coming up after all), which left her with 220 for the month. 40 a week for food would total 160, which would only leave her 60 ryo to spare. She'd still had to get a few ingredients for her mother's medicine and she needed some new kunai…60 wouldn't be enough…of course now she'd start getting missions which would pay but she couldn't account for rate or amount and she didn't want to bank on a variable. Since her mother's illness had taken a turn for the worst, Sakura was the sole breadwinner for them. Her father had died on a mission when she was four, leaving Sakura and her civilian mother alone in a village built and run for shinobi. Haruno Mebuki was a force to be reckoned with. She'd worked two jobs for years to keep them afloat and send Sakura to the academy. When Sakura had turned 8, her mother got sick. At first she'd continued to work through it, but it got worse and she'd had to stop one of her jobs. They'd gone to the hospital but only Shinobi had access to free healthcare and they couldn't afford it without pulling Sakura from the academy, which Mebuki refused to do. So Sakura had started studying. She read up on as much about the human body, diseases, and medicines as she could. By the time Sakura was ten, Mebuki was too sick to continue working at all. Sakura did her best to treat her mother's symptoms, creating her own medicines and treatments based on what she studied, and worked various odd jobs, side hustles (like the ointment), and occasional shoplifting on the truly desperate occasion, to get by. Her medicines did seem to help with the symptoms and stop Mebuki from getting worse. But she knew it would only help for so long. Her mom needed a real doctor to give her a real diagnosis and real treatment.

Long story short, sakura needed more than 60 ryo.

"I have a few of the ointment containers I carved left, maybe I could sell those…They're not exactly the epitome of craftsmanship though."

"Have you seen that jerk, Naruto?"

"Sasuke-kun!" Her hand immediately slammed her note book closed, a blush coloring her cheeks. Sasuke's eyes lingered on the book a few seconds before drifting back to her.

"Naruto. You seen him?" He repeated sharply.

"Naruto? Why are you…" Sakura was smart. It only took her a quick glance at his angry demeanor to put two and two together. "He caused trouble again?" Sakura felt something in her snap. Thoughts that she normally kept buried suddenly started bubbling up uncontrollably. "Ugh. He was badly brought up. He's never had any parents. He doesn't have anyone to answer to and it's made him completely selfish. He was never given an ounce of responsibility—since he's totally alone he just gets to do whatever he wants. I could never do that! Kids without families always grow up selfish."

"That, and lonely." Sasuke's tone was deadly sharp, breaking her out of whatever mind space had let her mouth run so freely.

"What?"

"Being scolded by your parents doesn't even compare!"

"…wha…what's gotten into you all of the sudden?"

The wind stirred his hair and shirt, somehow making him seem even more intimidating.

"You…make me sick!" He spat, storming off.

"I…make him sick?" she thought, collapsing against the bench. It hurt. A lot. No matter how much she told herself she didn't have time for a crush, it didn't stop her heart from picking up speed whenever she saw him, or her cheeks to tint pink whenever he looked at her, or her need to hear him acknowledge her. She might not be able to waste time following Sasuke around and learning everything about him the way Ino and the others could, but the feelings were still there.

"What the hell was I saying? I'd trade freedom a thousand times over for mom…I don't have the right to complain! And I need to be nicer to Naruto…We're teammates now, after all."

The bell rang, snapping her out of her depression. It was time to meet her new Jonin Sensei.

Team 7 sat alone in the now emptied classroom. Naruto kept jumping all over the place and looking outside for their new sensei.

"Seriously what's with this guy? He's later than us! Shannaro!"

"Naruto, just sit down! Looking around like that won't make him show up any faster," she said.

"I don't want to! How come our teacher's the only one that's late? The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some new adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei's gone too!"

"I know ok." She looked up at the sound of clattering to see Naruto on top of a stool on the doorway positioning a chalkboard eraser wedged between the slider and the wall. "What are you doing?"

"That's what he gets for showing up late! Surprise!" Naruto cheered as he jumped from the stool.

"You're asking for trouble! You know you shouldn't do that!" She said, her hands on her hips.

"This looks fun!"

"It's completely childish!"

"We are children."

"Our teacher is an elite Jonin. You really think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke's bored eyes studied the dumb prank.

"Yeah! Sasuke's right! You're—" She was cut off by a hand pushing the door open to reveal an attractive young man with white hair spiked to the side, a mask covering half his face, and his hitai-ate covering one eye, who froze in shock as the eraser landed on his head.

"You fell for it!" Naruto burst out laughing. Sasuke looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"I'm sorry Sensei, I told him not to do it!" Sakura cried, immediately trying to separate herself from the childish prank.

"Bullseye! Hell yeah!"

The man bent to pick up the eraser. "Hmm, how should I put this." He murmured thoughtfully. "My first impression of this group: You're all idiots."

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves." Their new teacher drawled, leaning against the railing of the school roof.

"What would you like us to say?" Sakura asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that."

"Why don't you go first Sensei, to show us how it works!" Naruto pressed.

"Alright. I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate…I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future…never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

"Well that was totally useless. All he really told us was his name."

"All right, your turn. you on the right. You first."

"All right! Believe it! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant Ramen in a cup and I really like the Ramen Iruka-sensei got me from Ichirakus! But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them! And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will have to stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody! Somebody important!"

Kakashi continued to look bored. "Alright. Next."

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like reading, dancing, and money. I hate the first of the month, taxes, and bullies. My hobbies are dancing, studying, and reading. My dream for the future is to make a lot of money."

Kakashi was mildly surprised. That wasn't quite the answer he'd expected from a girl her age. Given the way she blushed around her dark haired teammate, and how the rest of the girls in her class seemed to act, he would have expected an answer more centered around him. And he certainly hadn't expected a 12 year old to have any opinion about taxes.

"What's wrong with the first of the month? Is that like your period or something?" Naruto asked, confused.

Anger shot straight through to her fist and before she even processed what she was doing, her knuckles collided with his cheek. "You can't just ask a girl if that's her time of the month you moron!"

As soon as it happened she reeled back a little mortified at how she lost it.

"I can't believe I just did that."

"Shannaro! Nailed 'em!"

All of the male's eyes were on her in mild confusion and surprise—in the academy she'd always seemed more stand-offish than hotheaded.

She took a shaky breath and looked at where she'd sent the blond sprawling. "S-sorry Naruto…If you don't know what's wrong with the first of the month, then you're lucky."

Kakashi studied her for a second longer before clearing his throat. His focus shifted to Sasuke. "Last one."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."

She felt herself blushing again—he was just so cool. It took her a second for her mind to actually process his answer.

"Wait…restore his clan? What happened to—" Her mind jumped back to how mad he'd gotten earlier when she'd been complaining about Naruto's bad upbringing. She was smart. It didn't take long to put two and two together. "Oh…no wonder he hates me…"

"Good," Kakashi said, breaking the silence she hadn't realized was there. "You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our fist mission, tomorrow."

Naruto hollered with excitement. "What kinda mission?"

"A survival exercise."

"I thought this was supposed to be a real mission, not more practice. We already did this kind of training at the academy, that's how we got here." She tried to push down her annoyance. She'd been hoping to start missions immediately so she could get paid sooner.

"This won't be like your previous training."

"What kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi started laughing, and Sakura felt the sudden urge to kick the man. Naruto got laughed at and ridiculed a lot—frequently because he said something stupid, but this wasn't one of those times. He didn't deserve to have their new teacher dismissing him the way the rest of his classmates had. Sure, he was wild and undisciplined since he'd never had anyone to raise him and teach him otherwise, but that meant the adults in his life should be stepping up to help him, not put him down more!

"Why are you laughing?" She demanded. "That was a good question!" Naruto looked over at her in surprise. No one ever defended him like that before.

"Well it's just that you won't like my answer. Of the 27 graduates that came here, only nine will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%."

"WHAT?" Naruto roared, "We worked so hard to get here! What was that graduation exam even for then?"

"Oh that? To select candidates that might become Genin. Or not. That's how it is. I decide if you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5am. And bring your Ninja gear."

"I can't afford to fail, I have to pass this test. If I don't, it would make all those tuition payments and mom's sacrifice a complete waste! Not to mention I'll have no options…I put all my eggs in this basket, I can't drop it now."

"Well that's it. You're dismissed. Oh, and you'd best skip breakfast tomorrow. Otherwise you'll puke."

"I'm home, mom!" She announced rather unnecessarily. The apartment door opened into the one main room, where Mebuki was sitting up on her futon. There wasn't even enough floor space for two beds. Sakura usually slept on the bare floor next to her mother, or leaned up against the kitchen window. It only took two steps from the main room, up and across the small ledge they called a hallway, to get to the tiny kitchen which housed the only window in the apartment. To the left of the kitchen in their "hallway" was their stall of a bathroom…at least the hot water worked.

Mebuki had always taught Sakura to announce when she was home, despite their apartment being the size of a shoe box. "You're up! How are you feeling?" She asked kneeling in front of her mother and placing a hand on her forehead to gauge her temperature. Mebuki shooed her hand away.

"That's not important right now! How was your first day?" She asked, excitedly. Though severely ill, she never acted like it.

"I got placed on Team 7, with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. We have our first mission tomorrow!" She said brightly. There was no way she was going to tell her mother, who gave up everything so she could become a ninja, that her "mission" was actually a survival test with a higher chance of failing than passing.

"Uchiha and Uzumaki, huh? Those poor boys have had it rough. You be good to them, understand? They're your team now. Your father always said that his team was a part of his family, and god knows those two could use some family."

That confirmed her suspicion about Sasuke. "I know Naruto's always been alone, but what happened to Sasuke-kun?"

"His entire clan was killed. I think you were around 8 at the time."

"Oh…I didn't know." She looked down at her hands, a swell of guilt suffocating her chest. He had every right to hate her after what she'd said. It had been so insensitive. To Naruto too. She was terrified of her mother dying, doing everything in her meager power to prevent it. How could she have even thought for a second that his childish freedom was worth the price of being alone, when that in and of itself was one of her greatest fears. Sasuke had been right…of course she made him sick, she made herself sick.

It did explain the discrepancy in her memory. She remembered seeing Sasuke smile and even laugh a few times when they were younger. Out of nowhere he seemed to stop and grow cold. It must have been because of the murders. If he'd been 8 at the time his family was killed, then that was the same year her mother got sick…8 had been a bad year for them both.

Mebuki studied the girl's saddened and guilty face. Her daughter had gotten her brains from somewhere—Mebuki was smart and it didn't take long for her to figure out Sakura had probably said something unknowingly insensitive. Her kid already incorrectly blamed herself for her mother's illness. She was so desperately focused on trying to heal her and keep them afloat that she acted much older than her age, and frequently seemed to forget that she was a child. And children were allowed to mess up and be selfish and inconsiderate every now and then.

"Wait a minute, Sasuke-kun? Uchiha Sasuke is that Sasuke-kun? The one you haven't shut up about since you were 5?"

Sakura's pink head jerked up in surprise, her cheeks matching her hair and her eyes huge.

"H-hey t-that's—"

"It must be fate!" Her mother teased, a huge smile on her face.

"Mom!" Sakura whined. She loved when her daughter got like this, she sounded like her age for once. Mebuki burst out laughing. Unfortunately the playful air didn't last long. Mebuki's laughs turned into a long bout of coughing. Sakura's flustered demeanor was instantly turned serious, running to the kitchen and returning with a full glass of water in the blink of an eye. She helped her mother drink and the coughing fit gradually calmed. Sakura rubbed her back in gentle circles.

"Don't worry mom. I'm a ninja now. I'll make a ton of money and we can finally get you treated by a real doctor." Her mother sighed sadly. "Hey it'll be ok! I promise. I can take care of everything now. We'll finally have a stable income again. I'll get you the best treatment possible, I swear!" She said giving her mother a reassuring smile as she got up and crossed to the kitchen to scrape up some dinner. Mebuki shook her head. That wasn't the kind of promise a child was supposed to make to their parent.

"Sakura…Do you remember why you wanted to become a ninja?"

"To make money. It's the only reliable career path in a place like this."

Mebuki shook her head again. Either the girl didn't remember her original reason, or she was repressing it. Sakura came back in carrying a tray with their meager dinner. Immediately the older woman caught that Sakura had given herself a smaller portion.

"Stop doing that!" She snapped irritably, spooning some of her own rice into her daughters bowl. "You're a ninja now and you're going to need your strength."

"Mom." Sakura said pointedly. "You need to keep your energy up. Besides, you used to do this for me when I was younger."

"Yes. Cause I'm a mom and you're my kid. I'm entitled. You, missy, are not."

Sakura wanted to argue but decided that this wasn't a hill worth dying on. Her mom was too stubborn. And she had a point. Sakura had skipped both lunch and breakfast, and if she had to skip breakfast for her test tomorrow, then she needed to make sure she ate now. Besides, once she was a full fledged Genin, she'd make enough to at least allow for equal food portions. Hopefully.

"What time do you have to meet your team tomorrow?"

"5 am."

"That's early…Oh well. You're usually up anyway."

Sakura winced a little. "You knew?"

"I'm your mother. I know everything. I'd lecture you about how you're a growing girl and need eight hours of sleep, but I know you won't listen. Between me, our situation, and your career path, it's unlikely you'd get that much sleep anyways. May as well get used to it now."

Sakura's face softened. "Thanks mom."

By the time Sakura arrived at the designated training ground, Naruto and Sasuke were already there. She was late again, though not by too much.

"Morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted bright though a little tiredly.

"Morning Naruto. Sasuke-kun." She said flashing a smile.

"Why are you always late?" It wasn't so much of a question as it was a demand for answers. She tried hard not to flush at the thought that he took interest in her.

"I had some stuff I needed to take care of." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. While it was true, it was vague and without knowing the details of her situation, it was hard to believe that everyday, a twelve year old girl was being held up by various unnamed tasks. Especially this early.

"At 5am?"

"Mhm." She nodded but didn't elaborate. Her mother had told her to be good to her team. They had enough to weight to carry, she didn't need to burden them with her baggage as well. Besides, it would be insensitive to complain when she still had her mother, and she now knew that they both had no one.

"Oh lay off her bastard! It's not like Kakashi-sensei's even here yet." Naruto defended. He had a point. Their Jonin instructor was no where to be seen. In fact, it was another five hours before he decided to show up.

"Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?"

"Hey! You're late!" Naruto yelled pointing an accusing finger at him. Sakura's own irritation was bubbling up so much she almost joined him.

"Well. A black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around."

"What kind of crappy excuse it that?!" She heard her own voice internally screech.

"Well let's get started." Kakashi drawled lazily, distracting them from their ire. He placed an alarm clock on a stump. "Okay it's set for noon. Your assignment is simple. Take these two bells away from me by noon. Those who can't do it won't get lunch. They'll be tied to that log over there while I eat my lunch in front of them."

"So that's why he wanted us to skip breakfast."

"Jokes on him! We're used to this! We can work through no food for at least 36 hours! Shannaro!"

"That's not something to be proud of…wait a minute…"

"Kakashi-sensei, why are there only two bells?" She asked.

"So that way, someone ends up tied to the log without lunch." He said smiling behind his mask. "That person will be disqualified for failing the mission, and will return to the academy. It might be one of you or it could be all three of you. You can use your shuriken. You won't be able to take the bells from me if you don't come at me with the intent to kill me."

"You sure you want to do that? You couldn't even evade a chalkboard eraser!" Naruto yelled cockily.

"In this world, those who aren't skilled enough tend to complain more. Well, just ignore the loser…"

Naruto growled. Sakura couldn't blame him. It was one thing to be called a loser by Sasuke, a peer, it was another to hear it from an adult who was supposed to be mentoring them.

"Begin on my 'ready-go' signal."

Apparently the 'loser' comment sat less well with Naruto then she originally thought. He took out a kunai and immediately charged their sensei. Sakura didn't even see what happened. Faster than she could visually comprehend, Kakashi had Naruto by the hair, holding the blonds own kunai against the back of his head. "Don't be so hasty. I didn't say 'start' yet." He released Naruto, who stumbled away from him.

"Well, that's fine. At least you came at me with the intent to kill me…how can I put this? I feel like I'm starting to like you guys. Ok. Ready? Start."

Immediately all three of them jumped away to hide. Well, except for one.

"All right! Let's face off fair and square!" The loud mouth yelled.

"Oh? You know, compared to the other two, you're a little weird."

"The only thing weird here is your hair style!" He yelled, charging the Jonin yet again.

"Alright. Shinobi battle skills number 1: Taijutsu." He said, reaching into his weapon pouch. Except it wasn't a weapon he pulled out. It was a little orange book—Icha Icha Paradise.

"What?! What's with the book?"

"Well, I'm curious about what happens next. Don't worry. With you guys as opponents, it makes no difference if I'm reading or not."

That only enraged Naruto more. He charged again, attempting to punch and kick the Jonin, but he kept being blocked by one hand. The blond tried once again to punch him but his fist only met air.

"You shouldn't let your enemy get behind you so easily."

Sakura recognized the position of Kakashi's hand. It was a hand sign for a ninjutsu—one that could easily kill Naruto! It wasn't tactically wise to give away her position, but her mouth moved before she could stop herself.

"Naruto! Get out of there quick! He'll kill you!"

"Too late—Leaf Village Secret Ultimate Taijutsu! One Thousand Years of Death!" Kakashi delivered a swift hard jab up Naruto's butt, who immediately leapt into the air, howling, crashing into the river.

"Oh…It's not a ninjutsu." She thought flatly. "Even so…we're Genin. How are we supposed to go up against a Jonin's strength?"

Naruto crawled out of the water looking pathetic.

"Come now, you can't eat lunch if you don't get a bell by noon."

"I know that!"

"You're not very energetic for someone who claims they'll surpass the Hokage." Kakashi stated blandly. Naruto's stomach chose that moment to give a loud rumble.

"Damn it! Damn it! I can still fight, even if I'm hungry!"

His words briefly brought her attention to her own empty stomach, but she didn't dwell on it. She'd long ago gotten used to hunger pangs and operating on little to no food. She was probably the only one on the team that wasn't particularly hindered by hunger.

"Damn it! Hunger or not, I'm going to become a ninja no matter what!" Naruto loudly proclaimed as several Naruto's suddenly leapt from the water. "Now for my favorite! Multi Shadow clone Jutsu!"

"What…Seven Narutos? And they're not just images either. They can't all be the real thing?!"

Kakashi seemed unfazed, until a Naruto jumped out of no where and grabbed him from behind.

"You shouldn't let your enemy get behind you so easily Sensei! I sent my clones out to distract you while I hid in the water to come at you from behind!"

"A diversionary tactic…not bad Naruto!"

Naruto's upper hand didn't last long though. Kakashi used a substitution jutsu, switching places with one of the clones and causing mass upheaval in the Naruto army, resulting in the blond punching himself senseless, before finally dispelling the jutsu.

"That…was embarrassing to watch…Ok time to focus. Of the three of us, the strongest is definitely Sasuke-kun. So if I stick close to him, my chances of getting a bell will go up by at least 33%."

She watched as Naruto fell for an incredibly obvious trap and Kakashi started berating him.

"A ninja must see through deception."

"I know that! Believe it!"

"You know, I'm telling you because you don't get it. Listen up! Your movements are wasteful—" The rest of Kakashi's lecture got cut off by a barrage of shuriken. He'd finally dropped his guard and Sasuke had taken advantage of it—or so it seemed. Kakashi's body disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving a log in its place. Sasuke immediately took off, concerned that he'd given away his location. Sakura followed. She needed to stick close to Sasuke if she had any hopes of getting a bell.

The problem was he was too fast and she lost track of him.

"Damn, where'd he go? Did Kakashi-sensei find him already? I need to get to them before Kakashi-sensei does anything to Sasuke-kun. My only shot will be if I can grab a bell while Kakashi-sensei's distracted. I can't let myself be sent back!"

She almost let out a squeak of surprise when she nearly ran straight into the Jonin. Sakura ducked behind a bush quickly, letting out a sigh of relief that he hadn't noticed her.

"Sakura. Behind you."

Sakura never had very much time to train given her home situation. Her physical skills were definitely lacking. However, Sakura did love to dance, and she was very good at it. One of her side hustles was street performing. Being a dancer gave her a few skills that proved highly useful: incredible flexibility, perfect body sense and control, and very fast reaction time. And she found those skills kicking in instinctually. The second Kakashi had said her name, she jumped flipping into the clearing to put some space between them.

While her quick reflexes and grace were a little impressive, Kakashi didn't dwell on them. She'd barely landed when he cast the genjutsu in a swirl of leaves.

"Huh?" She looked around but couldn't find her sensei anywhere.

"Where did he go? I could have sworn he was behind me! Where is he? What's going on?"

"Sa…ku…ra." She whipped around, pink hair flying, and felt her heart stop. Her mom was somehow in front of her. And before she could even question what she was doing there, her mother fell to her knees, and then to the ground. Sakura's world stopped. She was only vaguely aware of her own scream before she fainted.

Kakashi sighed. "Maybe I went a little overboard casting an illusion of her greatest fear…But it's really something she should notice. Shinobi battle skills #2: Genjutsu. Sakura was easily lured." He looked around. Sasuke was nearby. It was time to go knock the last brat on their ass.

Sakura awoke feeling clammy. She looked around but there was no sign of her mother which meant…"Genjutsu. I should have known. Mom wouldn't be able to make it all the way here…"

"ARRGGHHH! I'm gonna kill Kakashi-sensei for giving me a heart attack like that! Shannaro!"

"We can kill him after we're officially ninja. For now, I've gotta focus on getting a bell. My best bet is still Sasuke-kun."

She stood and shook herself off, searching for her most skilled teammate. Surprisingly, it didn't take her too long to find him. She darted out into a clearing and stopped mid stride at the sight of Sasuke's head sticking out of the ground. She stared at him, frozen for a second.

"He didn't put me in a genjutsu again, did he?"

"Kai…" She attempted the release a little unsurely. Sasuke's head still remained. "Uh…"

"Sakura…" He sounded a little surprised to see her.

She blinking a couple times, and tried to release the genjutsu once more, but nothing changed. He just continued to look at her blankly. "So not a genjutsu."

"Sasuke-kun, what happened?"

"What do you think happened?" He glowered darkly. She felt herself flush a little at why she'd asked him such a dumb question.

"R-right. Um…hold on." She found a long, sturdy stick. "Here, we can use this to leverage some of the dirt, which should give you enough space to move."

He eyed her for a second before nodding his assent. Sakura shoved the stick into ground directly in front of his shoulder, and pulled it back against Sasuke. He felt the dirt shift around him, allowing him to free his arm and pull himself out.

Once he was out, he brushed himself off, determined to go after the bells again, but stopped short when he felt her grab his arm. "Let g—"

Sakura dumped some water on a cut along his forearm. He hadn't even noticed it. Still holding his arm in one hand she reached into her pack and pulled out a small crudely carved wood jar.

"Can you open it?" She asked holding it out to him. "If I let go of you, you'll probably walk away and leave this cut for later. But you shouldn't leave things like this untreated for so long or they'll get infected, Sasuke-kun."

"It's fine Sakura."

"The faster you open it, the faster I'll let go." She answered stubbornly, knowing it was a lost cause trying to keep herself from blushing.

Sasuke stared her down another second before sighing and opening the jar. She quickly dipped her fingers in the ointment and began spreading it along the gash. He'd expected it to sting, but the balm actually felt cool and soothing.

"I'm sorry. For what I said yesterday. I didn't know about your family, and regardless I was wrong to say it. I wasn't exactly talking about being scolded—well it's not important what I was talking about. You're right. Nothing's worse than being alone." Her face was burning and she couldn't look at him the whole time, though she felt his eyes on her. She released his arm but was surprised when he didn't immediately bolt.

"At that time…I was crying…"

Sakura looked up, surprised. Sasuke's obsidian eyes were still on her, but they seemed to be looking far past her.

"That man…He left me alone…with no one…" He wasn't sure what he was saying or why he was saying it. Maybe because for the first time in four years, someone was taking care of him. Tending to his cut the way his mother used to. Or maybe it was her apology, her acknowledgment of how terrible it was to be left alone.

"My o—I'm the only one who can kill that man…I'm an avenger. I must become stronger than him…" The sound of an alarm cut him off. "Damn it…I wasted too much time talking." He turned and walked off.

Too many things were going on in Sakura's head. Her face was flaming and her heart raced at the fact that she'd actually touched Sasuke, and that he'd opened up to her a little. Meanwhile her head was screaming out how she'd failed the test and anxiety gnawed at her stomach.

"Damn…"

"I swear I'll put Kakashi-sensei in a choke hold if he tries to send us back! Shannaro!"

Sakura and Sasuke sat on either side of Naruto, who was tied to a log.

"Your stomachs are growling." Kakashi observed. "By the way about this test, they'll be no need for you guys to go back to the academy."

Naruto cheered loudly. Sakura couldn't believe it, her hopes were rising as the knot in her stomach loosened slightly.

"The three of you…must quit being ninja!"

The knot in her stomach tightened hard.

"SHANNARO! What the hell does this jerk wad think he's saying?!"

"WHAT? Why do we have to quit?! I mean, yeah, we didn't get the bells, but why does that mean that we have to stop being ninja?!" Naruto yelled, flailing his legs.

"Because, you're all brats who aren't qualified to be ninja."

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore, he changed at Kakashi in a blind rage, but the Jonin was too fast for him and in the blink of an eye, Sasuke was on his stomach, Kakashi twisting one of his hands behind his back while stepping on his head.

"Like I said. Brats."

"Get your dirty foot off Sasuke-kun you geezer!"

"Do you kids think being a ninja is easy? Why do you think you're doing this exercise in teams?"

"Wha-what do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

"It's as if you guys have no understanding of the answer to this test. Why do you think you're placed in three man squads?"

"So what if we're in a three man squad?" Naruto demanded.

"Teamwork!"

"Wait…You wanted us to work together?" Sakura asked.

"You may have been able to take the bells if the three of you coordinated and attacked together."

"If you wanted us to use teamwork then why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked. "If the three of us were to desperately go after the bells, with one of us having to be held back, that wouldn't create teamwork—it would cause internal discord!"

"Of course. This is a test purposely designed to pit you against each other. It's under just such conditions where one's own interests aren't the issue. The intention was to select those who could prioritize teamwork. But you idiots…" Kakashi took a deep breath. "Sakura!"

She straightened under his intense one-eyed glare. "You spent the whole time chasing after Sasuke when you weren't even certain of where he was, completely ignoring Naruto when he was right in front of you. I don't know whether your reason was personal or tactical but it was a failing either way. If personal, then as a teammate and a human, you should have found it in yourself to care enough to at least help Naruto down. If tactical, then you completely overlooked a powerful option, especially after seeing that high level multi shadow clone jutsu."

"He's…completely right…what was I doing?"

"Who cares if he's right!? His stupid test was rigged! Shannaro!"

"Naruto! All you do is run in solo, no matter how many times it failed to work. You even went so far as to try and steal what may have been one of your teammate's lunches." He shifted his lone eye down to Sasuke. "And you. You labeled the other two as hindrances and acted on your own." He looked up again. "Missions are carried out in squads. Of course individual skills are important, but teamwork is more important than that. Individual actions that disrupt teamwork throw the team into crisis and lead to death…For example," he took out a kunai and held it against Sasuke's neck. "Sakura. Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies…"

"He can't be serious…there's…there's no way I could make a choice like that!"

"…is what would happen." He said removing the kunai and finally releasing Sasuke. "You're faced with two impossible choices and end up being killed. Every mission is a life risking assignment." Kakashi walked over to a stone engraved with hundreds of names. "Look over here. These are all the ninjas who are called heroes in the village."

"That! That! I like that! I'm gonna get my name up there too!" Naruto flailed excitedly.

"But…these aren't regular heroes."

"What kinda heroes are they?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"They're all KIA."

"KIA? That sounds cool! What's that mean?"

We're sorry, Haruno-san. Your husband's KIA…

"It means killed in action, Naruto. They all died on missions." Sakura said softly.

The blond's smile immediately faded. Sasuke's eyes tightened.

"This is a memorial. It has the names of my friends engraved on it." Sakura immediately felt her heart go out to the man before her, all the anger she'd been building towards him dropping.

"I'll give you guys one more chance! However, this time it'll be a harsher battle to take the bells. Those who want the challenge can eat lunch, however, don't give Naruto any. It's punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat lunch on your own. If someone lets him eat, that person will be disqualified on the spot. I make the rules here. Got it?"

Sakura couldn't remember the last time she'd had such a full and balanced meal. Meals like this were rarely something she could afford, and when one was offered to her for free she knew to take full advantage of it…who knows when she'd get a chance to actually eat her fill again. Except Naruto's incessant stomach growling was filling her with guilt. She knew what it was like to watch people eating in front of you when you're hungry. Plus she felt bad for completely disregarding him earlier. His stomach gave another loud rumble.

"I'm ok with not eating lunch! No sweat at all! Believe it!" It would have been more believable if his exclamation wasn't punctuated by yet another loud growl.

"I want to give him some…but who knows when I'll get a chance to eat like this again."

Individual actions that disrupt teamwork throw the team into crisis…

"Screw it. I'm more used to being hungry anyways."

"Here." "-Here." Both she and Sasuke had held out their lunches to Naruto at the same time. All three stared at each other in surprise.

"But what about Kakashi-sensei's rules…You two could get in serious trouble…" Naruto murmured in shock.

"It's ok. There's no sign of him right now. The three of us are going to get the bells together. It'll be trouble for me if you become a hinderance so…"

Naruto's eyes slid over to Sakura for confirmation. She gave him a small smile.

"Kakashi-sensei said it'll be harder this time. You'll need your strength. Besides, I don't eat as much as Sasuke-kun, so, don't worry about it and have at it." She felt Sasuke's onyx eyes land on her and did her best not to blush.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said thickly, his eyes watering, "thank you."

"Don't thank me. Just hurry up and eat! Before he comes back."

"But…" Naruto flexed his arm against the rope. Sakura felt her eye twitch in annoyance.

"This is a one time thing, got it." She said feeding him a bite. As she went to give him a second one, Sasuke grabbed her wrist. This time there was no fighting it, her cheeks turned tomato red.

"Let's switch off. That way we all get to eat a more equal amount."

Secretly very relieved by that offer, Sakura smiled and nodded. They made it through three cycles before an explosion of smoke in front of them marked the arrival of their teacher.

"You three!" He yelled. "You defied the rules, so you know what's coming!" His hands sped through signs, conjuring dark storm clouds above them. "Do you have something to say?" He asked them coldly, over the howling wind.

"But…But-but-but! But you said sensei! These two…"

"We're a three man squad, right?" Sasuke picked up.

Your father always said that his team was a part of his family…

"That's right!" Sakura declared. "The three of us are one! So…"

"So that's right! That's right! That's right! Believe it!" Naruto emphasized.

"The three of you are one, huh?" He looked them over, all staring back defiantly at him, ready to fight for their right to be a team. "You pass!" Kakashi said, his visible eye closing in a smile.

"What?" All of them looked confused and unsure if they should drop their guard.

"You pass."

"We do? Why?" Sakura asked unsurely, like she didn't trust what she was hearing.

"You guys are the first. Up until now, it was always just dunces who would meekly listen to what I said. A ninja must see through deception. In the Ninja world, those who break the rules are branded as scum…but, those who don't cherish their friends are even worse than scum."

The three were finally willing to believe his words. Sasuke smirked, Naruto teared up, mumbling that Kakashi was actually kinda cool. Sakura smiled in a way that wasn't a front for the first time in a very long time. Her mother, who wasn't even a Ninja, had known all along.

You be good to them, understand? They're your team now. Your father always said that his team was a part of his family, and god knows those two could use some family.

"That's it for this exercise. Everyone passes! Team 7 starts their first official mission tomorrow!" Kakashi said, giving them a thumbs up.

"Don't worry mom, I'll be good to my team."

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading! If you liked it, please leave a review! :)