Chapter 2
It was an old D-rank mission that she found by chance at the mission counter a month ago. No one seemed interested in getting her, even though they offered enough for three D ranks.
It was a rose surrounded by thorns, which no one warned about.
Only later did Sakura discover the reason why no one took this mission or why she was always present, it was simply because the mission was to take care of an elderly woman in a District that she didn't even know existed, but which she later found out was for retired shinobi.
Sakura took a deep breath and prepared her mind and body for the challenge ahead of her.
She dodged the kunai towards her head as soon as she opened the door, undoing the light genjutsu that followed, along with other sharp weapons that were thrown towards her. One almost caught her, making a slight scratch on her neck.
She needed to improve her reflexes, otherwise she will die next time, where the welcome traps always intensify every week.
It was the morbid fun of the owner of this house.
A retired shinobi, an elderly woman who has a split personality and is considered crazy by Sakura.
- Good afternoon, Takuma-san! How are you? Still having foot pain?
Sakura asked the routine questions, with a smile on her face and a cheerful voice, receiving a cold and analytical look from the old lady sitting on a chair in the room, while knitting with very sharp objects. Sakura knew, because the old woman had already used them against her once.
The girl with pink hair still remembers the cuts on her body, that old woman took her by surprise and guaranteed to leave marks due to her inattention.
Let's say that Sakura never wanted to see knitting so soon again in her short life and made sure to train her reflexes after this episode and so many others.
The money was too good to give up on the mission and the crazy old woman seemed to know this, because she liked to increase the amount every week.
A very dangerous temptation for a poor, hungry girl.
Sneaky old lady.
Soon after her introduction, the elderly woman's expression changed completely and she welcomed Sakura with a gentle smile on her face and a motherly look full of warmth.
The perfect image of a docile and harmless grandmother.
Sakura learned the lesson of never judging a book by its cover, no matter how old it is.
- Hello my dear! I thought I wouldn't see you for a few days, but little Kuro-chan said you would come and see me.
- I would never stop coming to take care of you, Takuma-san! -Sakura replied, not commenting on the fact that the old woman always tries to kill her or that Kuro-chan, who she knows is an imaginary being in the old woman's mind or voices in her head.
The two laughed a little and Sakura went to do her usual chores.
Knowing that even in another room of the house, there were eyes on her person.
Getting money to survive was very difficult and a challenge every day.
Having already spent hours cleaning the house with a shadow clone, which she learned from Naruto hidden from Kakashi-sensei, which was weak enough to last very little, due to its low chakra reserves. Sakura went to do her last task, which was to organize all the crochet lines in a box. Which wasn't so simple, after all, there were more than 500 lines and they all looked like they were fighting a war.
Sitting on the living room floor, listening to Mrs. Takuma-san's knitting, as well as keeping her senses alert in case the old woman tried to throw any weapon at her, Sakura tried to erase the moments from earlier from her memory, however, she was interrupted by the voice of the kind lady who always seemed to change her personality.
The tone of her voice was too docile. Sakura was alert.
Sometimes, the pink-haired girl didn't know when the moment happened, but the old woman liked to pretend sometimes and those moments were the most dangerous.
Dealing with retired shinobi was almost a suicide mission.
The girl with emerald eyes sometimes thinks she is becoming a masochist.
-Sakura-chan.
- Yes, Takuma-san - Sakura turned her body towards her, not leaving her back to any attack, where she was greeted by a harmonious smile on her face and piercing blue eyes, which seemed curious at the same time as sharp as a kunai that had just been struck. be used to kill someone, which made her quite uncomfortable and cautious. She hid her discomfort well, but from the lady's amused smile, she doesn't seem to be carrying out her mission well.
- Did you know that in the past, roses were seen just for their beauty, only to be considered more than just something beautiful? - Sakura nodded, she read a lot of history books as a child - They were like an object that if they weren't beautiful, they were thrown away as something useless.
A thick ball appeared in her throat, surrounded by thorns that scratched until she drew blood.
- Do you know why they were considered useless initially?
A silence took over the room, those ice blue eyes stared at her with an oppressive intensity.
- Because they were of no use to anyone.
- Wrong, my little one.
- What? Then why? -Sakura didn't understand at the same time that she wanted to leave.
- Because, in the beginning, the moment they didn't please the intended person or became withered, they were said to be something useless. But, you see, that was in the beginning, until, out of ignorance, people didn't realize that some of these flowers, when they withered, released deadly poisons that killed or caused great pain. Other flowers, which at the simple touch, induced death in those who saw it only as a beautiful flower. It was only after this, after his ignorance became deadly, that flowers gained a new meaning, but truly, he discovered that because they thought there was only beauty in them, they left aside how dangerous they were beneath their colorful petals and they were deceived by what they let on.
Sakura looked at her hands full of small cuts and dirt, broken nails.
- However, sometimes flowers die when they allow themselves to be handled by someone else's and incapable hands, who do not know their true value. However, a flower can grow on its own to survive on its own. She just needs to know where she will live and how she will survive in a place, since the ignorance of those around her can be her greatest weapon of defense and attack.
Sakura looked surprised at the old woman who was now looking at her with the blue eyes of a predator. Sakura swallowed hard and got up from her seat, she had already finished her work and it seemed like at any moment, she would be eaten by the crazy animal in front of her.
- It's a very interesting story, Takuma-san - Blue eyes were filled with darkness and madness within them, the smile began to have sharp edges, Sakura knew this was a good time for her to leave and save her own life - I'm done my chores, I'll see you next week. I loved spending time with you, Takuma-san.
Her expression was one of happiness, but Sakura bit her lip hard to keep her smile.
The feeling of a thousand eyes staring at her with bloodlust increased drastically in the last few seconds.
- Before you go, dear! Remember, to catch an experienced hunter, you have to be attractive enough prey and play the right cards, after all, sometimes in a game, the prey becomes the hunter. Or has the prey always been a hunter hiding in sheep's clothing?
The old woman laughed, a laugh that gave Sakura chills, especially when she could see the madness swirling in those pools of blue in intensity.
Her farewell was brief and Sakura left calmly before running away from that bizarre District, feeling thousands of eyes watching her. Good thing this mission was once a week.
With her heart still beating in her chest, Sakura ran along a familiar path, but one that she had stopped going for a long time.
She entered silently, looking like the most believable civilian Genin of all, a silly girl with no talents who was just passing through. She looks like she got it right by the slight eye roll from the 40 year old Genin at the counter. Other than her, it seemed like there was no one else in the library.
Sakura walked through the furthest rows that were originally books for Genins, but after the attack, there was a lot of mess and some sections were left with books and parchment mixed together.
It didn't look like they would fix it anytime soon and Sakura discovered this factor a few weeks ago, one of the children in the building commented to her.
Going to the feeling of Genins, Sakura hunted for the darkest corner where these extra scrolls and books were.
Finding what she was looking for, she sat down at the end of the hall and looked at the time, she still had three hours before the library closed.
Sakura had understood very well what Takuma-san meant.
The title of the book in her hands showed this.
Iron ninjutsu for beginners.
If she wanted the Hokage to give her a chance, Sakura would have to show that she was better than anyone, she would have to impress the blonde woman, to the point that she wanted her in the end.
As she could not carry the books and scrolls around her, which also included material on chakra control and genjutsu, Sakura had to struggle to use her eidetic memory to the fullest, to remember everything she had in them and to take notes at home. .
After a while, already in her third book about the human body, Sakura looked at her hand, more specifically, at the cut on her finger.
With concentration and focus on her chakra, a light green light appeared in her hand, healing the cut until only a small tear remained, which soon disappeared.
It still wasn't perfect, but her control was improving over it.
Her contemplation was interrupted by the presence of a shadow at the other end of the corridor, her eyes widened in fright, thinking she was caught with material from the Chunin and Jounin section, but she soon managed her expressions to appear as casual as possible.
Anyone will ignore it if they don't show that they are hiding something.
She slowly raised her emerald eyes and discovered who was at the end of the hallway, sitting comfortably on the floor with one leg straight and the other bent, supporting one of her arms.
It was an Anbu.
There was a damn Anbu looking at her.
Sakura swallowed and stared.
He appeared to be a large, muscular man, he had a cape covering his head, not showing a single strand of hair. His mask was that of a fox and he wore a coal-black shield.
He got up after a while and walked towards her, Sakura swallowed hard.
He stopped in front of her and Sakura noticed that he was huge, taller than Kakashi-sensei.
His hand had a book that he extended towards her, without much courage and with shaking hands, Sakura took the book and looked at the title.
Main points of the human body.
When Sakura looked up, he was gone.
She opened the book and quickly saw that it talked in more detail about the parts of the body, as well as presenting the function of each one in images.
She even had it stating, specified parts of the human body, if attacked in a certain way, the person would die or have such an effect on them.
Sakura swallowed hard and stood up to leave, she gripped the books in her hand tightly. She didn't think she was part of the library. What if the Anbu comes after him later? It seems he lent it to Sakura, so it was logical to think he'll come back for it. Sakura took it with her out of the library for safety, she would read it when she got home.
The librarian didn't even seem to be paying attention to her, fixated on some book in her hands.
Making his way towards an abandoned park near his decaying building, which passed by the Hokage Tower. Sakura couldn't resist and glanced at the Tower, in its majesty, thinking about the number 269.
269 times.
Her fists clenched tightly, marking his hands.
She shook her head and followed her destiny, she needed to train and test her theory in iron ninjutsu. However, the small child did not notice a pair of honey-colored, almost golden eyes, looking at her in the Tower's window in contemplation.
If she had, she would know that the hunter already had his eye on her prey.
As it was an abandoned park near the building already known to be cursed, Sakura didn't worry about some company.
No one used it or entered it.
Sitting on the floor, she checked her chakra levels, as Sakura had a civilian background, she already had the disadvantage of not being born with huge or even average chakra reserves. In other words, she had to train her already natural control, so that it goes beyond perfect, where she doesn't even spend an ounce more than necessary in any activity related to the use of chakra.
Which wasn't an easy task, but as she had been doing this since she was a child, she was able to keep up the pace easily.
Her reserves were fine, using just one clone could drain a lot, but Sakura managed to minimize the amount of chakra, making it possible to use only a third of what she actually used the first few times.
An achievement for a civilian Genin, who did not have enough importance or money to be treated in the hospital with chakra exhaustion.
With the preparations made, Sakura took a breath and calmed her mind. She pulled out a kunai and cut her hand in a sharp, straight line, the sting made her want to cry, but she held back the tears. She has already started to get used to these pains.
A sacrifice for her goal.
With her hand still bleeding, she concentrated on making her chakra turn green and on the instructions that the book in the library said.
She imagined cells coming together and new tissue being formed with the help of chakra, which helped and accelerated the process.
Her eyes were closed in her concentration.
When she opened it, she realized that there was only a small, thin scratch left in place of the medium cut she made on her own hand.
She didn't like it.
With her good hand, she took out her old notebook, which she always carried with her, and wrote down her newest development, along with all the other research and notes about what she could deduce from iron ninjutsu.
She was so focused, that she didn't notice a shadow a few meters away.
- You need to add more chakra so that the cut heals completely, but without overdoing it so that it doesn't overload and damage the chakra pathways in your hand, girl.
The cold, commanding voice scared her enough to drop the notebook on the floor. Her emerald eyes hunted for the person she was already used to hearing her voice over the past few months, complaining about his existence in her life.
Leaning against a tree not far away, Tsunade Senju, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, stood with her arms crossed, looking at her with narrowed eyes in contemplation.
Her mouth opened to repeat the words that had become routine between them over the past three months, but Takuma-san's voice in her mind made her think better, as did the faces of three smiling girls.
This caused a delicate eyebrow to arch in question, but it didn't stop the Hokage from continuing to hold back on her desires.
- What, have you given up on me, pink?
Sakura stood up and stood before the woman who refused her requests to make her her apprentice, in all her 269 times that Sakura sought without pause. Sakura knew deep down that she only had one more chance and that there wouldn't even be a possibility later.
Number 270 would be his last.
Instead of asking to accept her as an apprentice, Sakura followed the instructions of the crazy old woman, Takuma-san. In these three months that she pursued the new Hokage, Sakura practically began to know what most irritated and fascinated the blonde woman.
With that in mind, as well as the memory of a building about to collapse and alone in an apartment without anyone, with young children starving. So, as she knew that she would possibly die on some mission if she left the Village, her objective changed. In other words, she had nothing to lose in her new plan.
- Make a bet with me.
- What? -Tsunade expected another request, which she was already used to, but this proposal took her by surprise. She hid her amusement very well from the girl in front of her and to satisfy her curiosity and whatever plan the girl had planned, she accepted. Never had anyone come to her to ask for a bet, this was getting better than signing thousands of documents in the Tower.
-Make a bet with me- Sakura repeated, from the Hokage's silence, she knew she had accepted, but in order not to be caught off guard, she waited for a verbal response.
Tsunade closed her eyes at the girl, she was cautious and smart.
- Okay, surprise me, Pink.
With the Hokage's acceptance, Sakura tried to control her anxiety so as not to interfere with what she was going to propose.
- Take a test.
- Girl, I didn't already say-
- I'm not asking for learning, we're making a bet. Take a test! A single test, if I pass it, I gain a wish.
- Um. What if you… lose? - This improvised game was becoming attractive. She saw the girl swallow hard, fear in her emerald eyes, but those same emeralds glowed with determination and fire.
A fire that greatly attracts the Fifth Hokage.
- I give up on being a shinobi and I won't appear in your life again..
An oppressive silence filled the space between them. Tsunade knew that this was a big loss for the girl, she was throwing away what most made her be herself, her dream. At the same time she was taking a chance that could very well destroy her dream or achieve it. With a predatory smile on her lips, Tsunade decided what the test would be.
- Very well - With emeralds shining in happiness at the same time in caution, Tsunade thought of something darker - The test is very simple.
Sakura waited for a response, but what she received was the Hokage calling someone and after a while, a small slug appeared on her shoulder that slid into the blonde woman's palm, who asked Sakura to extend one of her hands.
Without any warning, the slug released a substance into her hand, Sakura only realized that it was pure acid when she felt a searing pain that made her fall to her knees and let out a scream.
She wasn't prepared for this.
The pain was so great, it burned inside and out, his ears remained silent for a few seconds that seemed like hours, after that, he heard the Hokage's distant voice, telling him to heal or lose the bet.
Pain. So much pain...
It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts…
Stop, please... Stop, please...
Her body shakes with the amount of pain she is feeling, she tries to hold back the tears that fall as a sign of such anguish and suffering that the pink-haired girl was feeling. With her tears partially contained, Sakura looked at her hand, however, she was not prepared to see her own member having its skin melted and continuing to be destroyed by the acid.
Her body paralyzed again, but it was from terror at the sight.
With her other hand shaking, Sakura grabbed her water bottle and threw it on her injured hand, already waiting for the pain to multiply, which wasn't wrong and made her scream even more.
Pain. So much pain...
It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts…
She tore off a piece of her old clothes and put it in her mouth, she didn't want to hear her own screams.
It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts…
Pain. So much pain...
With her body still shaking, she tried to push the pain she felt out of her mind and focus on her chakra.
But it was so… difficult.
Hurt so much.
She didn't want to, but the blonde woman did the favor of helping her resolve. She heard the Fifth Hokage's malicious and cold voice close to her ear.
Sakura had her head down and her hair covering her eyes, hiding the anger that arose after hearing the Hokage's words.
- As you made a very beautiful and adorable bet, it would be regrettable if I didn't transform it into all its splendor. Therefore, I also thought about helping with the test, with a more… personal touch, did you like it? If you can't heal your hand, you'll have to amputate it or be left with a useless limb, meaning your shinobi career would end today, Pink.
With a new found determination, Sakura focused her mind solely on focusing on her chakra. Any thoughts of suffering from the wound or sight of melting skin were pushed away with sheer force of will. Her hand was now free of the acid, she closed her eyes and imagined that healing green chakra.
She thought about all the tissues that made up the human body and everything that made up the structure of her hand.
Her chakra was more than half full, but for the normal shinobi, it was practically a crumb. So, Sakura had to make a miracle with what she had.
With the greatest concentration she'd ever had in her life, Sakura imagined the chakra dividing slowly but surely toward her hand. She imagined particles of them, very fine, settling and covering the entire length of the wound. Then, she applied another layer and began the process of stimulating the cells to begin regenerating calmly and in a way that would conserve the little chakra she had.
Her reserves were decreasing to a dangerous level, but Sakura controlled it with an iron fist and tried to use the chakra she already deposited in her hand, to be more efficient and not run away.
She doesn't know how long she spent with this process and didn't even notice how her body felt like it would collapse at any moment, she only knew that the excruciating pain subsided and there was a phantom pain that made her shudder, but that was already bearable.
She opened her eyes and saw her hand completely healed, without a single clue or trace that it was burned by acid.
There was only a little blood.
A sigh of relief took over her being and she looked for the Hokage. The blonde woman was in front of her, leaning against a tree, looking at her with something that Sakura couldn't identify within those pools of honey.
Her voice was slurred, but the objective was clear.
- G-I won.
Tsunade looked at the girl's physical state, she looked like shit, her reserves were at a very low level, however, the girl managed it.
- Very well, now you are my newest apprentice, huh.
Sakura couldn't get up after all that, but she didn't like the sentence and the words that came out of the Fifth Hokage's lips, because it reminded her of three smiling faces and the number 269.
269 times.
She went through all this torture alone and just accepting it, as simple as that, left a bad taste in the roof of her mouth.
- No.
- No? -Tsunade asked without understanding, but deep down she knew what was going through the girl's mind, her eyes said it all.
- I didn't say that was my wish.
- Oh, so the doll wants something else. What? - Tsunade was interested in knowing.
Sakura thought about Takuma-san's words, remembered the three smiling girls who were the Hokage's new apprentices. Even if she became the new apprentice, she wouldn't have the attention or all the privileges that the others had, they had their influential senseis and Clans helping them. As well as teammates, who supported them.
Sakura would just be a competitor, who has a chance of being discarded as a nobody, in favor of the other three girls.
She needed the Hokage to see her as the main one among them all.
Your juiciest prey.
But, Sakura also no longer wanted to be weak and defenseless, however, she would be all of that, if she entered the midst of heirs of Shinobi Clans or let herself be caught by the influence of the other senseis.
Nothing was guaranteed.
The pink-haired girl remembers the looks from Ino's parents when she was a child and they learned that Sakura, a civilian girl, got a higher grade than their daughter at a simple family dinner. Let's say that after that, Ino never invited her again and, suddenly, some teachers, especially the one in charge of Kunoichi classes, ignored her and put wrong grades on answers that Sakura knew were right.
Sakura decided, she would no longer be defenseless.
She would be a flower who would use everyone's ignorance to her advantage.
What she needs isn't the title of Hokage's apprentice or the fame that comes with it.
No.
What she needs is something else.
Survival.
And to achieve that goal, she needed the training and knowledge that this woman possesses and can give to Sakura.
- I want you to teach me everything you know without limits. - The rest, Sakura would take care of on her own.
The Fifth Hokage looked at her for an indeterminable amount of time, and then let out an amused laugh in her direction. After she calmed down from the amusement she found with Sakura's chosen desire, honey colored eyes that glowed gold, gazed at her with an insatiable hunger in their deep pools, a predatory smile adorned the last Senju's beautiful face.
- Very good…
Sakura smiled at her victory, but the Hokage didn't finish speaking and that left her at a loss to understand.
- … I will teach everything I know, but I don't accept mistakes. No matter how small, you can manage on your own - Sakura nodded, she has already achieved more than she imagined - However, you will be my fifth apprentice and close your mouth so I can continue, brat. However, no one will know this detail and as I don't have time to teach so many brats, you will have to be self-taught many times.
- Okay - Sakura was already expecting the last part, but didn't understand why she wanted him to be her apprentice, even if she was anonymous.
She turned him down 269 times.
- Very well, do something with that shitty appearance and show up at my office early tomorrow morning - With that said, the Hokage left, leaving a girl with pink hair, who lowered her head so as not to show the tears that were falling on her face. face.
Sakura did it.
She did it.
The small, emerald-eyed girl staggered back to her musty, lonely apartment, but the feeling of victory didn't wipe the smile from her face.