
Marigolds
The morning after came as slow as possible for Sakura.
Once she arrived home she had decided to take a bath and had received a joint call from her two best friends. Ino had complained about how insufferable the two boys in her team were while Hinata had admitted she wasn’t quite sure how to interact with Kiba and Shino since both boys were quite eccentric. Ino had grilled her about Sasuke and what he had done and how it felt to be blessed by his presence and with every other anecdote, Sakura could feel her cheeks getting red and her heart quickening just thinking about him. She could only pray her words weren’t giving away her feelings.
After her call she had prepared her equipment for the mission and gotten ready to sleep so as to wake up early the following morning. Thirty minutes after waking up, she had found herself in front of the great Konoha gates alone. Her long hair flowed in the wind as it picked up in the early morning, and her mind swirled back to the day before.
No matter how different they looked or thought, her two teammates were very similar. Both boys were very competitive and extremely sore losers, once they made up their minds about something there was almost nothing that could change it. Two sides of the same coin, so where did that leave her?
Sakura leaned back on the wall next to the gates, her backpack lying next to her on the ground and her eyes fixated on the floor while she thought. Their sensei was a mystery, he kept too many secrets and he was also a very skilled shinobi. Sakura remembered that Kakashi-sensei was a Jonin and it made her wonder how much of his skills he hid behind his lazy facade. During their survival training, he had easily outmaneuvered even Sasuke while never taking his eyes off the page of his erotic book. He was good at reading people, he had known exactly how to rile her up and how to bait Naruto. She wouldn’t be shocked if Kakashi-sensei was more skilled and powerful than he let on.
So, in a team with a dim-witted but potentially capable shinobi, the last heir to one of the founding clans and one of the most powerful families in Konoha and a mysterious but skilled-beyond-what-he-shows Sensei, where did she fit in?
The brown in front of her quickly turned to a bright yellow color, the change catching her off guard and making her jump back with a yelp. Naruto chuckled while pointing at her, “Haha! I totally scared you! You were so distracted that it was just too easy not to do it!” his seemingly permanent smile displayed on his face. Sakura blushed with embarrassment “You did not! I was just not expecting you to do that!” Naruto didn’t reply, his laughter just escalated and Sakura’s blush deepened in response.
Before she could lecture him further, a swift kick to his back had him on the ground. A courtesy from their last teammate to arrive, Sasuke. “It’s too damn early for your antics, deadlast. Shut your mouth.”
“Why you-!”
A puff of smoke appeared next to the trio, and in it was their sensei. “Good morning, I’m glad to see all of you with a ton of energy today.”
Sakura picked up her small bag and stood next to her two male teammates, Naruto had seemed to get up just as quickly as humanly possible. His smile back again in his face at the prospect of a mission, “Ya bet! I’m all ready to go kick some major ass out there!”
Kakashi-sensei’s eyebrow rose up, “Out there?”
The blonde crossed his arms, “Yeah! We’re taking a mission out of the village today, right?”
“Why would we go out?” he asked.
Naruto visibly deflated little by little, “Cause, we goin’ on a mission? So we gotta go out?” Kakashi-sensei smiled deviously “Ah, yes. The mission.” three pairs of eyes looked up at him excitedly, “Today we are helping Ms. Kobayashi with her lizards.”
“LIZARDS?” Three indignanted voices echoed, Kakashi-sensei nodded again. “Well they’re more like geckos, we are going to help her clean the enclosure she keeps them in.”
Three groans replied to him. “We’re Ninjas! Why are we doing something lame!” Naruto whined.
Kakashi-sensei gave a knowing look to Sakura,”Sakura-chan, why are we doing something lame today?” she sighed and crossed her arms in defeat. “Genin level ninjas are assigned missions depending on their current skill set, typically D or C rank missions.”
“Mhm.”
“However, recently graduated Ninjas can only take D-rank missions until they’re deemed capable by their team leader.” she finishes.
Kakashi-sensei nods, “What a good reason. How very convenient to have the smartest girl in our group.” Sakura could feel her cheeks warm up again with embarrassment, as well as two pairs of eyes on her. Naruto patted her right shoulder, “Ya really are Sakura-chan, and also very pretty too. On that note, how about you and me-“
A swift kick on the back of his knees had him falling to the ground again, “Ah! What was that for ya bastard?!” Sasuke had already started to walk away towards Ms. Kobayashi’s house, “For acting like an idiot, you loser deadlast.” Naruto picked himself up again, running after his rival to keep arguing. Kakashi-sensei started to walk behind the pair as well, giving Sakura an encouraging look before taking out his erotic novel and following the two hurricanes that they assigned him.
The pink haired girl tightened her grip on her backpack, Kakashi-sensei totally made her look like the biggest nerd in the world! Well, she’s always been more of a bookworm when it comes to her studies, but that’s just to be fully prepared for the future missions they’re assigned!
She let out a deep breath, picked her head up and ran after her new team.
She then remembered what Iruka-sensei had said the other day when the teams were assigned, ‘The teams are arranged to balance each other out’. In a team with a high spirited blonde, an agile and skilled black haired boy and a mysterious gray haired teacher, Sakura was the book smart pink haired girl.
Days passed, and days became weeks, and weeks turned into three months of doing little errands around the village as D-rank missions. Then, Kakashi-sensei escorted them to the most important building in the village, the Hokage tower.
“Why’re we going to see Old Gramps Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura wondered who Naruto’s grandfather could be, she thought Naruto was an orphan?
Kakashi-sensei gave him a look, “You really should start calling the Lord Third by his right title Naruto, he’s not just any old man.” Sakura’s widened, “Wait the Hokage is your grandfather?”
“Huh? No he ain’t, why would ya ask?”
Sasuke snorts, earning a glare from Naruto.
The young kunoichi sighed, “I see.” He’s just referring to him by a casual title. “Wait, how do you know Hokage-sama, Naruto?”
The blonde shrugged, “He visits from time to time.”
Kakashi-sensei stops in front of a door and knocks three times to announce their arrival. “Come in.” A voice says from the other side.The Jonin turns to look at his three students, “To answer your first question Naruto, we’re here for something important.” and with that, he opens the door and lets the three students in.
The main Hokage office was a round room with many wide windows, Sakura noted the portraits of the previous Hokages hanging from the wall. There was a faint smell of smoke in the room, and the scrolls behind the Hokage’s desk seemed never ending. As she lined up with her teammates, she took the initiative to bow respectfully at the man standing in front of the windows with a hand behind his back. “Team seven reporting to the Hokage.”
“It’s good to see all of you are getting along well.” The Hokage responds, finally stepping away from his window and taking a seat. He sets his pipe down on a tray and straightens his back, “I have taken a look through some reviews of your missions.”
Sasuke crosses his arms while Naruto puts his hands behind his head and scoffs “Ya mean chores?” Sakura nudges him and pushes his head down to a half bow, “I apologize Hokage-sama! Naruto did not mean to say that!” she hurriedly explains. The Third Hokage just chuckles, “That’s quite alright Miss Haruno, he is right. Most D-rank missions are chores given to starting Genin, it serves as a foundation in which your team will build a strong bond.”
Sakura lets go of the blonde’s head and lets him straighten up, the Hokage continues, “C-rank missions, on the other hand, will test that foundation. If these reports are true, I do believe team seven is ready for theirs.”
Naruto immediately starts cheering while Sasuke nods, trying to keep a straight face but having his smirk take over anyways. Sakura looks at their Sensei with excitement, he gives her a small nod in approval. That’s why he brought us here! The Hokage continues talking “As you are still getting used to what being a ninja really is, this will only be an escorting mission. Mr. Tazuna has asked for aid as he returns back to his home, The Land of Waves. You will be taking him there and then returning, nothing more.”
But it was so much more.
Just an hour after leaving the village, they had gotten attacked by rouge ninjas that were way above their capabilities. Had Kakashi-sensei not been there, Sakura doubts they would’ve made it out in one piece . Then, Mr. Tazuna admits that the ranking of the mission was actually higher than what he could afford. He was a man with a huge target on his back just because he wanted to free his village from a money-hungry tyrant.
Once finally in the village, they get attacked again by another rogue ninja that wants Mr. Tazuna dead. Except this time Kakashi-sensei struggled more to defend everyone, had Sasuke-kun not jumped in to help with Naruto, their sensei could’ve died. As she tended to Kakashi-sensei’s injuries while in Mr. Tazuna’s home, she thought back to that fight.
Despite their constant bickering and stupid competitions, Naruto and Sasuke worked perfectly in sync. They carried out a very well coordinated maneuver, with no previous practice or any big commands given to each other, they just knew what to do. And all she could do is just pretend she can fend off the enemy if the rest of the team falls. Even as the Mist Demon tried to attack her, it was Sasuke-kun who jumped in to save her. Just thinking of it gave her butterflies.
But it also reminded her of her limits. Her only strength was books. Since Kakashi was still recovering from his fatigue, he had decided to give them a very quick lesson in chakra control in the forest near their customer’s home. The masked Jonin had his foot wrapped up and was using crutches to move around, he had lined them up in front of some tall trees as he explained what he wanted them to do. “All you have to do is climb this tree without your hands”
As usual, Naruto complained loudly, “What?! How’re we supposed to do that?!”
Kakashi nodded, “Back in the academy you learned everything to use this skill, just pool your chakra on your feet and then climb.” he said, using the wooden crutches to walk towards the tree, “Just like this.” he continues, putting one foot on the tree and then the next. Just like it was the most natural thing in the world, Kakashi-sensei easily walked up the trunk and upside-down to the middle of a nearby branch. “Woah..” Sakura exclaimed in amazement.
The Jonin threw a kunai in front of each of them from where he hanged. “Now you try.” Without a second to waste, all three of them grabbed the weapon, did the same hand sign and ran towards the tree across from them.
Sakura had spent most of her time in the Academy reading and studying theories like these, so she adjusted the chakra till it felt right and then hoped for the best. It seems her studies did not fail her, just like Kakashi-sensei had done she walked up the tree, her body trembled in excitement and a smile spread wide across her face as she kept running until she felt whatever small amount of chakra ran low. Before she lost her balance, she ran towards one of the many thick branches of the tree and took a seat to catch her breath.
However, the two boys in her team were not as successful. Moments after they both ran up the tree, Naruto fell hard on his butt while Sasuke-kun had broken the bark with his last step and jumped backwards into a flip and landed on the ground. Kakashi-sensei hummed, “It seems our little lady is not only quite an amazing genius, but her chakra control is even more refined than the so-called future Hokage.” he mocks as Naruto punches the dirt in frustration, then looks over at Sasuke who is already glaring at him, “Or the all powerful Uchiha bloodline.”
“Sensei!” Sakura yells with embarrassment and the Jonin only gives her a devious smile as an answer. The young kunoichi tries to explain herself but Naruto steals her thunder as he dusts himself off the ground and tightens his headband, “I’m not giving up! I’m gonna make you eat ya words! Believe it!” he declares with so much determination.
“Hn.” Sasuke-kun tightens his grip on the kunai, giving her a passing glare and scowling at Kakashi-sensei before taking off and running towards the tree to try once more.
Once she had caught her breath, she jumped from her sitting position and made her way back to her starting position to try once again to climb the tree. This time, she took it as slow as her sensei had done and concentrated on just walking up the trunk. It took her a minute or two before she figured how to correctly manage the flow and timing of the chakra until she was just strolling up the bark with ease, she continued and noted at how much both of her other teammates were struggling in something that came naturally to her. Just the thought made her smile.
Sakura continued until she could feel her chakra slowly giving out, making her kick off and away from the tree into a back flipping down and to her original position once again. She was sweating from the effort and control she tried to keep while trying to also even out her breath.
It’s incredibly difficult!
A thud next to her caught her attention as Naruto had fallen yet again from the tree. Sakura noted that while the blonde relied on his starting run to climb higher up the bark, the raven haired boy put too much of his chakra as he ran and ended making the bark beneath his feet explode. Sakura fanned herself and watched them with an amused smile, it was a vision she wanted to print out her memory: the two seemingly peerless rivals struggling with something that came to her as easily as writing. Truly a sight to be seen.
While both of her male teammates did progress with each new attempt, they were not making much headway from where they originally began. With an amused smile, the pinkette turned around to pick up her water bottle and took a big swing that soothed her parched mouth. She felt a slight tap on her shoulder and she turned around to an apologetic whiskered smile, “Yo, Sakura-chan.”
She blinked, “Yes?”
Naruto leaned closer to her, covering his mouth from Sasuke’s stare while whispering to her “I was thinking, since ya climbed the tree pretty easy then could ya gimmie a tip?” Sakura couldn’t help but giggle at his antics, she covered the side of her mouth as well and whispered back, “Sure.”
“Okay but don’t tell the bastard, this gotta stay between us.”
Another giggle, “Okay okay, I got it.”
“So what do I do?”
“You have to already have chakra on your feet as you put the first foot on the tree. Oh but don’t put all your chakra on it or your foot will go through the bark.”
“Like the bastard!”
Another laugh escapes her and before she can continue coaching the blonde, Sasuke grips the back of his orange jacket and pulls him away. “Stop distracting him Sakura, we have training to do and this deadlast loser is the one that needs it the most.” he scolds her and she could see the tips of his ears burning red with what she assumed was anger as he walked away with Naruto protesting, but she doesn’t take it to heart. He was right, training was important and while Naruto had the energy of a squirrel it did not mean much if he didn’t have the skills to use it wisely. So they go back to their training and continue to hone their new skill.
The rest of the week passes by like that, while Naruto and Sasuke-kun start competing to see who reaches the top of the tree first, Sakura oversees the safety of the builders while Kakashi-sensei recuperates. “You’re a very fast learner, Sakura-chan” her sensei tells her one day, the comment surprises her and she smiles politely. “Thank you sensei, I guess all my studies are finally paying off for something.” Kakashi-sensei nods slowly, “How did you figure out how to walk up the tree?”
Sakura looks towards where the workers were, “I read a lot of theory in ninjutsu back in the academy, I guess it kinda helped make sense to how to use my chakra to go up the tree.” Kakashi-sensei nods again, “How long do you think it took me to master that trick?”
Sakura shrugged, “Like, seconds?”
The masked Jonin hummed, pulling out his ever-present erotic book and reading it while speaking with her, “It took me three hours to figure out the right balance of chakra, and two days to learn how to put it in practice.” She whipped her head to look back at her sensei with wide eyes, “It took you the five minutes I used to walk up that tree to figure out the theory and to master the skill.” he notes and looks away from his novel and at her with pride, “Chakra control is essential in all we do as ninjas, Sakura-chan.” He places a hand gently on her shoulder, emerald eyes look up to a single coal eye, her sensei smiles at her from behind his mask, “Good job, miss kunoichi.”
Sakura looks at the ground, trying not to cry and failing. She was happy. For the first time since she set foot in the Academy she felt like she’s finally a ninja. She felt like becoming a great kunoichi was possible, not just a fairytale dream.
She was capable and worthy of being part of the team.