When Haruno Sakura meets her team for the first time, she thinks that maybe — just maybe — she will find family in them, the “home” Konoha’s never been to her.
Over time, Sakura finally admits to herself that she’s only ever had foolish hopes for them, and she is no more than a stranger. Over time, Sakura finally realises that there will never be a place for her in Konoha. It breaks her heart.
Yet, she tries.
She keeps on trying.
Sakura keeps her temper in check, she acts cordially. She doesn’t even complain when they start going to Ichiraku’s without her — after all, Sakura’s always been observant. She knows when she isn’t wanted.
Sakura doesn’t tell her parents.
She hasn’t, even in the Academy when her peers would grab her by the hair and push her face into the dirt. (She’d say ‘“it wuz a train’n accent, Ma!”)
(Her mother would scowl, but she’d never say another word. Even if Sakura didn’t, Mebuki knows what went on. The Bloody Mist trains their children from the get-go: Sakura picked up a sword twice her size before she could walk.)
(Sakura’s never had “accidents”. She’s only ever made deliberate, planned-out moves.)
Sakura remembers Kakashi’s scolding. Those who abandon their mission are scum, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum.
Konoha is different from Kiri, in many ways — and this ideology was only another difference.
In Kiri, she was taught that the mission was above all else. There was an individualistic sentiment ingrained in their heads — however, Sakura adapts. She changes herself, she’s lost count of how many times she’s done it.
At the end of the day, no matter how much Sakura tries to change, Konoha doesn’t. She’s still Kiri scum.
They start spending less time with her.
She’s given a wide berth during their D-Ranks. Naruto and Sasuke spar and train outside of Team-7 hours. However, Sakura isn’t surprised to learn that soon after the hours the two boys spend together quickly turn into “Team-7-without-the-Kiri-scum” hours.)
They go to Ichiraku’s without her.
Sakura feels lonely, so lonely.
She starts to resent Konoha, little by little.
She misses Kirigakure, even if she’s only known the blood in the water.
Sakura starts training without them. She’s tired.
Konoha will never accept, even if she accepts Konoha. She’ll only ever be the same “Kiri scum” in their eyes. It takes a while, until Sakura is tired and in the safety of her blanket she thinks to herself—
“If dee think o' me as Kiri scum , dun ay guess ay should show dem de ways o' Blewdy Mist.”
Sakura is only weak if she tries to morph into Konoha’s expectations. She’s tired of the demure, weak act. She’s tired of the rigidness that comes with Konoha. Sakura plays by her strengths.
She wields a sword that would be too big and too heavy for her, if not for the turbulent saltwater that ran in her veins. Her taijutsu is unrestrained, it is fluid and she feels free and powerful . It is nothing like Konoha’s rigid moves — Sakura can almost treat it like the dances during the solstices.
Sakura starts letting her Kiri accent slip into her voice even as she speaks the Konohan dialect. She doesn’t have any friends to immediately notice the change. Her teammates don’t care.
At one point of time, Sakura had a crush on the last Uchiha.
It died out pretty quickly, when she realised that this boy was the same as all the others. He didn’t see her as anything but an insect underneath the sole of his shoe. Her heart crushed when he spat out insults at her heritage.
Naruto, however, is kinder.
He knows what it’s like to be shunned. He’s kinder.
He’s kinder, but not kind enough to be her friend. Or maybe, he’s too oblivious to realise anything.
Either way, Sakura starts to protect him. By extension, her instincts protect Sasuke and even Kakashi.
Sakura’s closer to home than she has been in a long time.
Tazuna outright refuses to talk properly to anyone but her. He speaks to her in Kiri’s dialect, and Sakura finds comfort in it immediately. He tells her what it’s like in Wave, he tells her that things are bad and he’s pretty sure they’re going to be in danger, but there isn’t much he can do about it. He didn’t have enough money to pay for the correct rank of the mission.
Sakura mourns. She mourns for him, for Wave. Her heart hurts. The waves inside of her clash against each other in turmoil, in grief.
Their voices are thick and slightly slurred with sentiment and accent. Tazuna’s more than her, not just because Sakura's spent a long time in Konoha by now, but also because of the intoxication lasting on him.
She isn’t really surprised when rogue-nins spring on them.
The puddles were enough of a hint, really.
Sakura brings out her sword and finds comfort in a battle that lies right there in her playing field.
The grin on her face is ferocious , it is feral. Her too-sharp teeth rightfully cause shivers to travel down her opponents' spines.
She draws blood like she was taught to.
Naruto is displeased.
Sakura’s heart breaks. She loses another friend before he’s actually her friend.
The rejection is familiar, but bitter all the same.
“In the Mist, we’re taught to kill without remorse.” She wants to tell him. “In the Mist, this is what shinobi life looks like, none of the sheltered nonsense that Konoha teaches in the Academy.”
She doesn’t speak.
The surrounding mist is familiar, but suspicious. She’s right to be on her guard, she knows that the mist isn’t natural. There is a potential enemy.
The voice in her head rings loudly.
Sakura grimaces when her hunch proves correct — it is the same man she guessed him to be.
Momochi Zabuza.
“What’s a moray eel doing so far from the reef?” Zabuza taunts Sakura when their blades meet with a loud clang .
“Biding time,” she bites out. “Aren’t you?”
Zabuza is a skilled swordsman. He pushes her back, instead of bringing himself to behead her.
Sakura tries to help Wave the best she can. She doesn’t need the training sessions. She needs to make sure the village does well. She helps Kakashi recover from chakra exhaustion. Sakura teaches the children how to secure food from natural sources. She helps Tazuna build the bridge, she talks to Tsunami and helps her with the chores. She talks to Inari.
She feels more at home than she’s ever felt, back in Konoha.
Sakura beheads Gato, before cursing him.
“The water will never take you as her own.”
Zabuza grants her the rights to Kubikiribōchō. He tells her that the Bloody Mist is bound to change, he tells her to live to see it. He tells her to accept his blade.
Sakura mourns Zabuza and Haku.
They were kin .
Her teammates try to bury them, but Sakura stares them down with a ferocity they’ve never seen from her before.
“They are from Kiri ,” she practically growls. “Like me. They’re kin .” Those words go unspoken but everyone knows that they’re there . “We don’t bury our dead in Kiri. We push them out to the waters. Grant them enough mercy for the sea.” For the first time, they see her pointed teeth when she snarls.
They don’t argue after they see the tears held in her eyes.
Sakura bids a mournful goodbye. There’s a promise hidden in her words.
The Chunin exams come and go.
The invasion comes and goes.
Her parents are dead.
Konoha shuns her even more than before.
When the Godaime Hokage reigns, Sakura takes permission to resign. There is a new Mizukage, who Sakura has already written to. Kiri awaits her. Sakura bows to the Hokage and tells her as much.
Sakura leaves with no remorse. She says no goodbye, because no one stuck around long enough for her to miss. There is no longer anything tying her to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Kirigakure welcomes her with open arms, and Sakura is finally home .