Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.
Thinking
'Signs to communicate.'
"Speaking"
Inner Sakura
A/N: this story will contain POVs from other characters too.
Previously,
Iruka-sensei enters and starts his speech on our responsibilities as Genin and how we have to respect our jounin senseis. I zone out and think about the teams.
Will it be like canon? Or have I changed things?
"Now, let's get on with the teams." Iruka-sensei finally says.
"Team One will be..."
I stop listening, and by the bored expression on Sasuke's face, he wasn't listening either. His expression turned into one of...
What is that expression?
"Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara and Sakura Haruno." Iruka-sensei said. "Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."
"Yes!" I say while punching my hand in the air.
Kakashi is my jounin sensei! *Squeal* I love him!
Sasuke just smiles.
"Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame." Iruka-sensei raises his voice a bit to get us to focus, "Your sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai."
"Team 9 is still functional. Team 10 will be Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka and Naruto Uzumaki."
"What?! Why didn't I get Sasuke-kun?" Ino whines.
"Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma. You all have one hour for lunch. Your respective sensei will come after that." Iruka-sensei leaves the classroom, and many other students rush out with their bento boxes in hand.
I turn to Sasuke, and smirk.
"Uh, Sasuke? You might want to look behind you."
He turns and his expression turns to one of horror. Ino was running towards Sasuke with her arms spread.
"Sasuke-kun! Give me a hug before I leave!"
Sasuke looks at me and hisses, "Switch!"
I raise an eyebrow and give him an amused expression.
"Sakura, if you switch with me, I'll get you as much dango as you want!"
"Relax, then!" I whisper. I had taken a liking to dango.
I gather my chakra and feel Sasuke loosen up. I make the hand signs and Substitute with Sasuke. Since I had switched at the last second, Ino hugged me instead of Sasuke.
"Sorry Ino-pig, I don't swing that way." I say with an amused expression. She flushes, and those who were still in class burst out laughing. Ino flushes even more.
"Move, Forehead! I want to sit with my Sasuke-kun!"
"But does he want to sit with you?"
"Of course, he does!"
I turn to Sasuke and ask, "Do you want her to sit with you?"
"Hn," I smack him on his head.
"Ow!" Sasuke whines.
Ino gasps, "How dare you touch Sasuke-kun?!"
"Shut it, Ino-pig."
I look at Sasuke and say, "Use your words, Duck-Ass."
"But Sakura..." He whines again.
I glare at him. He sighs, "Fine. I'm sorry Yamanaka-san, I would like to sit with my teammates instead."
"Now was that really so hard?" I ask him.
He huffs. Ino just stands there staring at us.
"S-Sakura... did you really g-get Sasuke-kun to t-talk?"
"Uh, yes...?"
has stopped working.
Ino jerks her head back, turns around like a robot, and then walks away. Sasuke releases a sigh of relief.
"You know, you didn't have to be so formal right? You could've just said, 'Get lost, Ino'?" I ask him.
"Eh." he shrugs.
I take out my bento and offer the tomatoes to Sasuke. He quickly snatches them from my box and devours it. My mother always packs tomatoes for him ever since we started hanging out.
"Should I call Shikamaru?" I ask, "I mean, you did say you wanted to sit with your teammates."
"Sure,"
I turn around to call Shikamaru, and... he's sleeping. I decide to wake him up once Kakashi comes to pick us up. He is going to be at least an hour late, so why not.
"He's sleeping."
"No surprises there." Sasuke snorts.
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One hour later-
One by one the teams are taken by their senseis till team 7, 8 and 10 are left. After a few minutes, a bearded man comes in with a cigarette in his mouth, and a woman with red eyes and white and black clothes. Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei, for sure.
"Team 8, come with me." Kurenai-sensei says. Hinata, Kiba and Shino walk out with her.
Asuma-sensei says the same thing to team 10. Choji, Ino and Naruto walk out. Ino waves at Sasuke and glares at me.
Now, Shikamaru, Sasuke and I are the last ones left.
I notice Sasuke starting to get annoyed.
Two more hours pass before a grey-haired man with a mask enters.
"You're late." I mutter.
He eye-smiles and says, "Sorry about that. I was on my way, but then I got lost on the Road of Life."
I smirk inwardly, but put on a worried expression, "Oh no! I'm glad you were able to find your way again! The Road of Life can be very dangerous."
"I'm glad you understand!" Kakashi-sensei says with elation in his voice.
Sasuke and Shikamaru look at me in surprise and irritation. I grin at them.
"Anyway," Kakashi-sensei starts, "Meet me on the roof."
He vanishes in a poof of smoke. We shrug and follow him. Not without Shikamaru muttering, "Troublesome," of course.
All three of us see Sensei sitting there, so we go sit in front of him.
"Alright, introductions! Each of tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and goals for the future. I'll start. I'm Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your concern, my hobbies... I don't feel like telling you, and goals for the future... I haven't thought about it. You, Uchiha. You go next."
"Sasuke Uchiha. I like a few things, but dislike a lot more things. My hobby is training and hanging out with Sakura. My goal for the future is to protect my friend, kill a certain man, and avenge my clan."
My eyes soften, then say, "I'll fill in for him. He likes tomatoes, curry, training and me. He dislikes when I make him do something he doesn't want to do, and sweet things."
"Thank you, Pinky. Now tell us about yourself." Kakashi-sensei says in a cheerful voice.
I glare at him for calling me 'Pinky' but I say, "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like Sasuke, dango, medical jutsu and Genjutsu. I dislike when Sasuke goes emo mode, people who think women can't be good shinobi, when someone hurts people close to me, and when people call me 'Pinky'," I shoot a pointed look at Sensei and Sasuke, "My hobby is training and hanging out with Sasuke, and goals for the future is to be an S-Rank shinobi, the best healer, and help Sasuke kill that certain someone."
Kakashi stares at me for a few seconds, then tells Shikamaru to introduce himself.
"Troublesome... Shikamaru Nara. I like sleeping and cloud watching. I dislike troublesome things, women and when I have to do troublesome things. My hobby is sleeping and cloud watching. My goal in life is to marry someone not to pretty or ugly, have 2 kids, a girl and a boy, and I'll retire when the boy is a ninja and the girl is married."
"...ok, so I have to tell you that you haven't become genin yet. You have to pass a test that I will give you tomorrow morning. So, meet me at Training Ground 7 at 6:30 for your test tomorrow. I would recommend not eating, because you'll just puke it up. Don't be late!"
Shikamaru lies down and stares at the sky.
"Guys... Don't bother going to the Ground till 8:15. If he was late today, I'm willing to bet he won't be on time tomorrow." Shikamaru shrugs, and Sasuke gets up.
Sasuke and I start walking towards his house,
"Sasuke, I'll come to your house by 8:15 tomorrow. Okay?"
"Alright."
"... And you changed your goal and likes." I said in a soft tone.
He blushed and said, "Well, you've managed to do that. And you changed your goal too. You've never mentioned helping me kill him."
I smile, "Sasuke, did you actually think I was going to let you go alone? I mean someone has to stop you from accidentally killing yourself, right?"
Sasuke snorts.
"Hey, I was wondering if you, umm, wanted to stay over at my house from tomorrow? I said, while looking down.
"What?"
"Um, whenever I'm at your house, I always notice that you're uncomfortable when you have to go into some rooms. So, I was wondering if you wanted to stay over with me for a while. I mean, my parents are going on a business trip tomorrow, so..."
"Thank you, Sakura."
"Huh?" I ask, confused. I thought he would be mad at me for bringing the Massacre up.
"Thank you for caring about me. Others see only the Last Uchiha. You see and care about Sasuke. I always get pitying looks from everyone, but no one does anything about it. You are the first one who has noticed and is trying to do something about it. Thank you for being my true friend, Sakura." I gently pull him into a hug. I feel him stiffen, then he hugs me back.
"Sasuke, I'm always going to care about you, as you. Even if you become the Hokage, you'll always be Sasuke to me. I'll never let you be alone. I'll always be there for you, even if you don't want me there. If you need anything, I'll always be here. No matter what. I promise."
"Thank you, Sakura. I swear I'll never leave you either. And I'll be here when you need me too."
I break the hug. "Come on, we're going to get something to eat."
Sasuke chuckles, and says, "Sure."
I lead him to one of my favorite places. It's not fancy or expensive, but it's still one of my favorite places. I have never brought him here before. I usually come here to celebrate. Either when I master a jutsu, or when I occasionally beat Sasuke at something.
When we enter, one of the waitresses, Ria, who knows me well, asks, "Sakura! Did you graduate?"
"Yup!" I say while pointing to my head band.
"Oh, congratulations! Today's meal is on the house!"
"Thank you!"
Then she notices Sasuke, "And who is this? Your boyfriend?" She teases. Sasuke and I blush and look away.
"No, of course not! This is my best friend, Sasuke Uchiha."
"Um, hi." Sasuke says shyly.
"Hello, Uchiha-san. Why don't you two take a seat?"
I thank her and drag Sasuke to one of the tables outside. He picks up the menu then puts it down just as fast.
I wave over to one of the waiters, and we give our orders.
"I'll have a chocolate shake, please." We both say in unison. Then look at each other in surprise, and laugh. The waiter smiles and walks back to the kitchen.
Sasuke and I talk about our teams, training, Sensei and anything else that comes to mind.
After an hour or two, we both decide to go home. Just before Sasuke went inside his compound, I pulled him into a hug. He stiffened at first, but then he relaxed and put his arms around me. I stood there for a minute, then pulled away.
"Bye Sasuke. I'll see you tomorrow." Sasuke gave me a wave and I walked to my house.
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Sasuke POV
Sasuke was asleep in his room, but he was having a nightmare.
He watched his parents and family get killed repeatedly, but the end was what woke him up. That man walked towards someone he couldn't see. At least not until he attacked and disappeared. There, on the floor, was the dead body of -
"Sakura!"
Sasuke woke up panting, with cold sweat drenching his clothes. He looked around and found himself in bed, with his alarm clock showing the time as 6:30 am. He took a deep breath, and fell back onto the bed. He tried to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw her dead body covered with blood.
After 10 minutes, Sasuke decided to get up. He threw back the covers and went into the bathroom. He washed his face with cold water, then looked at himself in the mirror.
His eyes. The same eyes as his brother. Those cold, onyx eyes staring at a younger Sasuke. Those eyes that didn't have any emotion in them even after having killed an entire clan. His own clan.
Sasuke would never forget his brother's cold, yet emotionless voice when he told Sasuke to 'cling to life like the pathetic coward that he is' and to 'hate him. Hate him if he wanted to kill him.'
How could someone not show any emotion after killing their own family? How could they not feel anything? Did he not care about his family? Did he not care about Sasuke when he took his family away?
Why? Why did he do it? It couldn't have been to just 'test his limits', could it? Why did his older brother, his aniki, the one who told him he would always love Sasuke, do that to him?
Sasuke had many such questions swirling away in his mind, to which he couldn't find answers. On most days, he was able to push all those questions to the back of his brain, but today... he couldn't help but think about it. Once he started thinking about it, he couldn't stop. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got.
To calm himself down, he walked into the garden where he grew tomatoes. He examined each plant, and plucked the ones that were ripe. He collected all of them in a basket and put them in the kitchen sink to wash. He rinsed them, and picked one up. He gently rubbed the tomato on his t-shirt and bit into it.
Sasuke loved the feeling of the seeds moving around his mouth, the sweet and sour taste, and the juice that would drip from his hand.
He picked a few and sliced them up. He took 3 eggs from the fridge and whisked them together. Sasuke would never admit it to anyone, but cooking was one of the things that helped calm him down. He stood at the gas, waiting for the eggs to cook. After a few minutes, he grabbed a plate, put the eggs in it. He got distracted by something outside his window, that he burned his hand.
"Damn it." He quickly put his hand under running water. He sighed in relief when the cold water soothed the burn. It was a mild burn, and he had many from when he was learning the Great Fireball Jutsu. He remembered when his tou-san would complement him on getting his Fireball correct, or big. Then he had to go and take it away from him.
"Stop it, Sasuke! Don't let those thoughts take over!" He chided himself.
For some reason, Sasuke found himself worrying about Sakura.
"Why am I worrying about her? I'm sure she's fine." He said out loud to himself.
But no matter what he said to himself, he couldn't stop feeling like there was something wrong.
"It's just the nightmare messing with me." He said while shaking his head. Sasuke absent-mindedly ate his breakfast, while wondering what the test later in the day would be. He took the dishes and washed them quickly. Sakura was supposed to come over in half an hour. He quickly changed his clothes and packed all his ninja gear. Sasuke had just finished putting his kunai and shuriken into his waist bag and leg bag, when he heard Sakura call out, "Sasuke! Come on!"
Hearing her voice, Sasuke felt a wave of relief crash over him.
"Coming!" He shouted back and quickly ran outside to meet her. She was standing outside with her hands on her waist, and a smile on her face. Was it just Sasuke, or did Sakura look paler than usual?
He decided he would ask her later and they both set out for their test. He couldn't look at Sakura for more than a few seconds without the image of her lifeless body covered with blood coming to mind.
"Did you eat?" Sasuke asked.
"Of course. I went for medic training too remember? If I didn't eat, I would've fainted." Sakura said with a small smile on her face.
"Good."
Sasuke noticed her rolling her eyes for his tone.
"I'm not a kid, Duck-Ass." She said irritably.
"Sure, Pinky." He said with sarcasm leaking into his words. Sakura turned to glare at him, when she noticed his smirk. She just chuckled and shook her head.
When they reached the Training Ground, they found Shikamaru lying down under a tree, as usual.
"Hey Shikamaru!" Sakura waved.
Shikamaru being the lazy ass that he is, lifted his head, then plopped it back down. Sasuke and Sakura both rolled their eyes. Sakura sat beside Shikamaru and asked, "When did you get here?"
"Around 7. My mom was being troublesome, so I came here and slept."
"Of course, you did." Sasuke muttered.
Shikamaru fell asleep, Sakura closed her eyes, and Sasuke thought about anything except Itachi.
Whatever he thought about, he would somehow circle back to Sakura's dead body. He had seen her. He had seen the blood on her body. He had seen the tears on her face. He saw her pink hair matted with blood. Her own blood. And the one thing he never wanted to see; he had seen the light leaving her green eyes. He saw the bright light that had managed to get him to open up, leave her green eyes, changing them into cold, hard and dead eyes. Her throat had been slit, and she had been stabbed through her stomach. And it was done by his monster of a brother.
Kakashi-sensei arrived in a poof of smoke. Sasuke woke Shikamaru and Sakura up.
"Oi! Lazy ass, Pinky, Sensei's here."
When the two of them woke up, Sasuke asked, "Did you get lost on the Road of Life today too, Sensei?" Sarcasm dripped from his words.
"No actually, I was walking here when a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way here."
Sasuke mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" Kakashi-sensei asked.
"I said, at least we didn't have to wait long."
"You haven't been here since 6:30?" Sensei asked with surprise in his tone.
Sasuke smirked, "No, because Sakura told us to come here only by 8:15. She said that since you were late yesterday, why should we be on time today?"
"You idiot, you're not supposed to tell him that!" Sakura smacked him on his head.
"I see. Now onto the test," Sensei placed an alarm clock on one of the three posts, "You have 2 hours, I would've given three, but since you were late, you have only 2. Anyway, you have to take one of these bells if you want to pass. That means one you are going back to the Academy. If you don't get a bell by 11, you are going to be tied to the post while we have our food in front of you. Okay? Okay. Begin."
All three of them immediately jumped into the woods. Sakura and Sasuke jumped back together and called Shikamaru to them.
"Guys," Sakura started, "It's a test of teamwork."
"How?" Sasuke asked.
"There are two bells, and the three of us. I have personally never heard of a three-man squad. It's a test to see if we are willing to sacrifice for our teammates. Anyway, we need a plan. Shikamaru?"
"Troublesome... Sasuke, Taijutsu with ninjutsu. Sakura, help him with Taijutsu and place a subtle genjutsu on the bells whenever you can, and I'll try to trap Sensei in my shadow. Got it?"
Sasuke and Sakura both nodded.
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Kakashi POV
Kakashi had taken out his book, when he heard a twig breaking. He turned towards the sound, and saw Sasuke and Sakura running towards him. Sasuke threw a kunai at him and sped up. Kakashi lazily caught the kunai and threw it in such a way that it grazed the skin on Sasuke's hand. Both the genin attacked him together, and they were complementing each other's attack. Kakashi was quite impressed with their teamwork. From what the Hokage told him, they had been training together for almost a year.
Suddenly, Sasuke jumped back and flashed through a few hand signs as Sakura jumped toward Sasuke. She quickly pulled out a few kunai and was ready to run.
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Sasuke called out and blew a fire ball at Kakashi.
Fireball Jutsu? A genin should not have so much chakra to be able to use a Fireball. Kakashi thought, with surprise evident on his face.
Sakura ran towards Kakashi as soon as Sasuke used the fire ball, and took advantage of the fire. She threw a few kunai at him, that he dodged easily, and then leapt at Kakashi. He grabbed her arm and threw her into the lake.
Sasuke ran and tried to kick Kakashi, but he sidestepped and Sasuke fell.
This is going to be fun, Kakashi thought before giggling and calling out, "Konoha's Secret Taijutsu Technique: A Thousand Years of Death!"
Kakashi poked Sasuke, and Sasuke went flying into the woods, while screaming.
"Hm. He didn't go very high. I think I'm losing my touch," Kakashi said while staring at his hands. His head snapped up, and he turned around and side stepped again, when he felt Sakura coming behind him.
He continued dodging while she got frustrated at not being able to hit him even once. Her frustration was visible, as her moves started to get sloppier.
After 10 minutes, she jumped back and tried to catch her breath. Kakashi noticed something on the ground from the corner of his eye, he jumped ahead. Then he saw Shikamaru standing behind him and extending his shadow.
"Damn it." He heard the boy mutter.
Kakashi felt a hand swipe at his waist and saw Sasuke about to take the bells. He kicked Sasuke in the chest and made him collide into the Nara. He noticed Sakura flashing through some hand signs.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique." She muttered.
It wasn't very strong, but Kakashi saw himself Chidori Rin through the heart again.
She has a good grasp on this Jutsu. And her chakra control is on-point for it to be this smooth!
He flared his chakra, and saw Pinky rushing towards him.
She swiped at the bells, and Kakashi bent down and elbowed her in the stomach. She fell down coughing and the alarm rang, signaling the end of the test.
"Damn it! We were so close!" Shikamaru cursed.
Kakashi eye-smiled, "Yes, you were. Well, someone has to get tied to the post. Hmm, who should it be?"
He looked at all three of them, then focused on Shikamaru.
"You."
"Sensei!" Sakura interrupted, "He made the plan. I barely did anything. Don't tie him up."
"Sakura, you did a lot. Sensei, I'll go without food." Sasuke said.
Kakashi... did not expect this. He expected Pinky to be a fangirl to Sasuke, Sasuke to be obsessed with revenge, and Shikamaru... well, he didn't exactly expect much from the Nara. He was sad at first, at not getting his Sensei's son, but this team... he might just be able to work with them.
"Guys, it's ok. I don't mind getting tied up." Shikamaru protested. All three of them started arguing about it.
Kakashi eye-smiled again and cleared his throat to get their attention, "Ahem! Now that I have your attention, you guys pass." He said simply.
"Wait, what?" Sasuke said, confused. Sakura and Shikamaru looked like they're thinking hard. Sakura's eyes lit up.
"I get it! This was a test too, wasn't it? The bell test was about teamwork, to see if we were willing to sacrifice for our teammates, but since we weren't able to get the bells, you didn't know whether we would work together, or not. Now this time, you chose Shikamaru to see if we agreed with you and let him be tied up, or whether we were going to argue with our sensei for our teammate! Am I right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Correct, my cute little minion!" Sakura looked in surprise at him calling her a 'minion', "And since you put your teammate first, you passed my test. You are the first team I have ever passed! Everyone else agreed with their sensei and let their teammate be tied up. They had no teamwork whatsoever! Now, meet me here every day at 8 am. Don't be late!"
Sasuke started to get up when Kakashi, while pointing to his arm, said, "You should get that healed, duckling."
Sasuke scowled at getting called a duckling, but Sakura got up and walked towards him.
"I'll do it. I need the practice anyway."
"Are you sure you have enough chakra, Sakura?" Sasuke asked uncertainly.
"Yes, I do. Now give me your arm."
Sasuke hesitated, but held his arm out.
Kakashi watched her healing her teammate. She was apparently very good with her chakra control if she can use healing jutsu.
Since it was a small wound, Sakura healed it quickly and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Sasuke shook his head.
"Shikamaru, what about you?"
"I'm fine, Sakura."
"Very good, Sakura! It's good to see someone knows Medical-jutsu on our team!" Kakashi said with pride.
Sakura smiled.
"Goodbye, my adorable genin!" Kakashi gave them a two-fingered wave, and vanished in a poof of smoke.
After spending a few hours at home, Kakashi strolled through the market while reading, in his unbiased opinion, the greatest book series to ever grace the world, Icha Icha Paradise, and bumped into Anko.
"Hey, watch it!" She scowled.
"Maa, sorry about that." Kakashi said while rubbing the back of his head.
Anko just shook her head and continued walking.
Kakashi used a shunshin to reach the Hokage tower.
"Sorry I'm late. I was on my way but I saw an old lady who needed help with her groceries." He said.
"Just sit down, Kakashi." The Hokage said with a sigh. "Alright, now let's get on with the reports."
"Team One fail."
"Team Two fail."
A few jounin stood up and said the same thing before,
"Team 7 pass." Kakashi said in a lazy tone.
Everyone stared at Kakashi. Genma's senbon fell down. Asuma dropped his cigarette. Kakashi just gave them an eye-smile.
"Ahem, Team 8 pass." Kurenai said, breaking the silence.
"Team 10 pass." Asuma followed.
"Well then, now that we have the teams, you all are dismissed." Everyone stood up, "Except Kakashi." He added when the silver haired jounin got up. Kakashi sighed and put his book back in his pocket.
Once everyone else left, Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "This is the first team you've ever passed. What did they do?"
"Hokage-sama, this is the first team I've seen who questions their own sensei for their teammates. Each and every one of them was willing to sacrifice for their teammate. Two of them were apparently good friends, but they barely knew the third. Even so, they were willing to take his position to get tied to the post so that he didn't have to." Kakashi explained everything that happened.
At the end of it, Hiruzen gave a small smile, "The Will of Fire burns brightly in them."
"It does."
"Thank you, Kakashi. You may leave."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kakashi gave a bow and shunshined away.
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Sasuke POV
Sasuke was staying over with Sakura since her parents left on the trip. He had the same nightmare today too. When he woke up, Sakura was nowhere to be seen.
She must've left for the Hospital.
Sasuke strolled into the kitchen, and found a note.
"Tomatoes and eggs are in the fridge. Make a few eggs, leave some for me, and I'll be back by 7:30.
Love,
Sakura."
Sasuke read out loud. He made his eggs, and waited for Sakura to come back. Sasuke checked the time, and it was already 7:15. He packed up everything that was necessary, and waited for Sakura on the couch. After a few minutes, Sakura came skipping in,
"Hey Sakura."
"Hello," Sakura said in a cheerful voice.
She quickly scarfed down her eggs, and they both left for the Training Ground.
"Sasuke? Can you please tell me why you refuse to look at me?" Sakura said while giving him a side-glance.
"What? I'm not doing that." He lied.
"Really? Then look me in the eye for more than a few seconds."
Sasuke forced himself to meet her gaze, but after a few seconds, he dropped it.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. I can't tell you."
"Sasuke, aren't we best friends? I can tell you haven't been sleeping well. The dark circles under your eyes are darker." She gasped. "It's a nightmare, isn't it?"
Sasuke nodded. "Sakura, can we please not talk about this right now?" He begged.
Sakura hesitated, "Fine. But we are going to talk about it later."
They reached the training ground, and it was empty, so Sakura suggested they both start training. Sasuke started with his tree-walking, and Sakura started running around the Training Ground. Ever since Sakura had shown tree walking to Sasuke, he had been trying to do the exercise whenever he could. Whenever he was free, he would go to his backyard and try walking up a tree.
Flashback
"All you have to do is apply a thin layer of chakra on your feet and walk up. Like this." Sakura put one foot on the tree, then walked up as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Sakura had told him that she had learnt this from her medical teacher, Shizuka-sensei, for better chakra control.
"How much time did it take for you to get it, Sakura?" Sasuke asked.
"Around ten minutes." She replied with a smirk. "And I bet you won't be able to do it today."
"Deal." He said quickly. "50 Ryō?"
"Sure," Sakura said cockily. "If you can master this exercise today, I'll give you 50 Ryō. But if you can't, then you have to give me 50 Ryō."
Sasuke nodded and tried to walk up. It resulted in his falling flat on his back. It was evident in Sakura's expression that she was trying hard not to laugh. He glared at her and tried again.
Not very surprisingly, Sasuke couldn't master it and he had to hand over 50 Ryō to Sakura.
Flashback End
This time, he was able to walk up to the highest branch, slowly, and then he walked back down with a grin on his face. After half an hour, Shikamaru appeared and waved to Sasuke, who was still on the tree, and Sakura, who was drenched in sweat and was stretching. After waiting for half an hour, Shikamaru sighed and stood up.
"Sakura, what is Sasuke doing right now?"
Sakura blinked, "Tree walking."
"How do I do it?"
Sakura stared at him for a few seconds and said, "Uh, put a thin layer of chakra on your feet, and walk up. Not too much or you'll fall, not too little or you'll fall."
Shikamaru nodded and walked over to the tree next to Sasuke. He applied a thin layer of chakra, and carefully placed one foot on the base of the tree. He cautiously placed both and stood in place for a few seconds, before trying to walk up. Every time he tried; he would fall flat on his back. After an hour, Kakashi decided to show up. By now, everyone was tired and panting.
"Hello everyone."
"Hi Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted from the far end of the ground, and started running back.
"What's... going on here?" Kakashi asked slowly when he saw his team drenched in sweat.
"Well, you were late so Sasuke and I started training and Shikamaru joined in." Sakura said with a shrug.
Kakashi's visible eye blinked, and he said, "...Ok then, let's go for our missions."
He led them to the Hokage tower.
"Team 7 here for a mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said in a lazy tone.
"Which missions would you like?" The Sandaime asked with a smile. "We have... painting Akiko's new house's fence, catching Tora, walking the Inuzuka dogs-"
"We'll take all three, Hokage-sama." Kakashi cut in.
"Alright then." The Hokage said while chuckling.
In the afternoon, after they had finished their 'missions', Kakashi had them working on the tree-climbing exercise.
"Um, Kakashi-sensei? Sasuke and I already know this." Sakura cut in.
"You do? Care to show me?" Kakashi said in a surprised tone.
Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and simply walked up a tree and were hanging from their feet from a branch.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru grunted.
Kakashi looked at Shikamaru and was about to say something, when he interrupted, "I don't know this. I was practicing in the morning." Kakashi simply nodded and said, "You get started on that, I'll see what all these two can do."
Shikamaru sighed and got started. Kakashi took Sakura and Sasuke aside and asked, "What all do you know?"
Sasuke said, "I know a few Uchiha fire techniques. No genjutsu. But I'm pretty good with the shuriken Jutsu."
"I know a few Genjutsu and medical-ninjutsu. And I'm good at the Shuriken Jutsu."
"I see. What about Taijutsu?" Kakashi asked them.
"I'm familiar with the Interceptor Fist from the Uchiha Clan." Sasuke answered.
"I know the Academy basics." Sakura said.
"Ok then, both of you spar and I'll tell you where you are with Taijutsu." He said with an eye-smile.
The two of them stood in front of each other, and took their stances.
Sasuke charged first, and aimed a kick at Sakura's stomach. She dodged it punched him in his side, then kicked him away. She ran towards him and tried to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and threw her behind. She flipped in mid-air and landed on her feet.
Sasuke threw another punch at her, but she blocked and tried a foot sweep. He jumped above it, and hit her on the shoulder with a hard punch.
Sakura spun back and aimed a heel kick at his head, but he ducked under it, and tried a punch at her chin. She jerked her head back and grabbed his hand and twisted it hard.
She then kicked him with enough power to make him fall behind. He jumped up and was about to charge, when Kakashi shouted, "Stop."
Sasuke and Sakura immediately turned towards their Sensei, and tried to catch their breath.
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Kakashi POV
Hm. Sakura needs to work on her stamina.
Kakashi let out a perverted giggle at that thought, then assessed the fight again.
Sasuke needs to change his Taijutsu style. He's using the Uchiha's, but it's not working for him without the Sharingan. I'll teach him a new style.
"That was a good spar. Sakura, you still need to work on your stamina." Sakura frowned, but nodded.
"Sasuke, your Taijutsu is good, but you are relying on the Uchiha style too much. It might work once you activate your Sharingan, but for now, I'll be teaching you another style." Sasuke nodded too, "Other than that, you both are above average genin."
Kakashi gives them an eye-smile, "Now, tell me what you want to do. You can either work on your stamina and wait for Shikamaru to get the hang of tree-walking and then move on together, or you could start the next step."
"I'm going to work on my stamina." Sakura said after a moment.
"Same." Sasuke agreed.
"Ok then. Oh, before you both start," Kakashi unsealed a box from somewhere, and took out two pairs of ankle weights, and two wrist weights. "Here, wear them at all times. Sasuke, your weights are 10 pounds, and Sakura, yours are 5. I'll increase it once you are able to move properly with these. You have to wear these even while you are training. The only time you'll remove these when I tell you to. Understood?" Kakashi's voice took a more serious tone at the end.
"Hai Sensei!" Sasuke and Sakura said in unison.
"Now, go on and start training, my adorable genin!" Kakashi said with an eye-smile.
At the end of the day, Shikamaru was able to walk up the tree, and all three of them had started water-walking. Sakura got it within a few tries, Sasuke and Shikamaru took longer, but were able to take a few steps, before they got soaked.
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The rest of the month passed with them doing their D-Ranks, and learning the basics. Sakura could heal wounds without getting very tired and learned a new Genjutsu, and Kakashi made them work on their teamwork for a while, but actually started teaching once they were very familiar with each other's strength and weaknesses and could cover it well. Kakashi increased their weights from 5 pounds (Sakura) to 10 pounds, 10 pounds (Sasuke) to 15 pounds and another 5 pounds (Shikamaru) to 10 pounds.
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Sakura POV (First person)
"Team 7 reporting for duty, Hokage-sama." Kakashi-sensei says.
"Which mission will you take today?" The Sandaime asks.
"Um, Kakashi-sensei?" I ask hesitantly.
"Yes, Sakura?"
"Can we go on a C-Rank?"
"A C-Rank? Hm. Why not?"
I blink with surprise. He actually agreed? It took Naruto a temper tantrum for a C-Rank in canon.
"Hokage-sama? Any C-Ranks available?" Kakashi-sensei asks the Hokage in a lazy tone.
"Hm, we have an escort mission."
"We'll take it, Hokage-sama."
"Very well. Bring him in!" Hiruzen shouts, then speaks to us, "Your mission is to escort Kazumi Takiyo to the Land of Tea. He is a very famous merchant in the Land of Tea and there might be bandit attacks. You four are expected to get him there without a hitch."
We nodded with determination. Kakashi-sensei just put his hands in his pocket.
A bearded man walks in with the grace and poise of royalty. The Hokage points at us and says, "Kazumi-san, this will be your escort team. Team 7, this is Kazumi Takiyo."
"It's nice to meet you, Kazumi-san." I say with a smile.
He nods in acknowledgement, "Thank you for escorting me."
"Alright, what time and where are we meeting up?" Shikamaru asks in a lazy tone, matching Kakashi.
"How about in an hour at the front gate?" Kakashi-sensei suggests.
Everyone nods in agreement. Team 7 and Kazumi walk out and I call out, "Kakashi-sensei, you better not be late!"
Sensei just raises a hand and keeps walking. Sasuke and I head over to my house first, since it's closer.
"Sasuke, do you want to talk about it now, or after the mission?" I ask in a quiet voice. Sasuke blinks and stares at me for a minute, then in a blank voice says, "After the mission."
I nod and let it go. I skip to my room and come out after a few seconds.
"I'm done." I call out.
"Already? You just went in!" Sasuke says in surprise.
"Yeah, I planned to ask Sensei for a C-Rank, so I packed in advance. You done?"
Sasuke glared at me and said, "Almost."
I shrug and fall on my couch. I close my eyes, then I suddenly jump up.
"Sasuke! I have to go somewhere. I'll meet you at the meeting point." I yell while running out the door.
I rush to the Hospital, and run to Shizuka-sensei.
"Shizuka-sensei! Shizuka-sensei!"
"Slow down, Sakura-chan! What's wrong?" Shizuka-sensei asks.
"I had to tell you that my team is going on a C-Rank mission in an hour so I won't be coming here for at least a week."
"Ah, so that finally happened, huh? I was expecting it, so I got these for you." She walks to a cupboard and gets three books out. She drops them in my arms and says, "These are what I would have taught you if you were here. Study them whenever you can, and I will quiz you after you come back. You know what, you're going for a week so pop quiz!"
I groan. Her pop quizzes are hard! She asks the question and expects me to answer in five seconds.
"Ok, what is the name of the most important nerve in the body and where is it located?"
"The Vagus Nerve is the most important nerve and it goes from the brain to the face and thorax to the abdomen." I answer in an instant.
"Very good. Now what is the..."
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"Sorry I'm late!" I say while panting.
"Where were you?" Sasuke asks.
"I was... lost on the Road of Life." I say with a slight smirk on my face.
I debated on telling the truth, but thought Sensei would be prouder of me if I was 'Lost on the Road of Life'.
Kakashi looks at me in surprise, then in pride.
He ruffles my hair, then says, "My favorite student." While wiping mock tears.
I giggle while Sasuke and Shikamaru look at us in exasperation. Kazumi has an expression of irritation.
"Can we go now?" He asks.
"Good idea. Let's go!" Kakashi-sensei says in a cheerful voice.
We had been walking in a diamond formation for a while with Sasuke in front, Shikamaru on the right, me on the left, Kakashi-sensei at the back, and Kazumi-san in the middle.
Suddenly, a rustle of bushes catches my eye. I quickly pull out a kunai and hide it in the sleeve of my jacket. It can't be a shinobi since they would be good at stealth, so it has to be either am animal or bandits.
I clear my throat, and Shikamaru turns to me. I make a few of our hand signs, 'Be on guard. Possible ambush. Tell Duck-Ass.' Shikamaru gives a slight nod and walks to Sasuke. He whispers something to Sasuke and he nods too.
Flashback
"Hey, why don't we make our own hand signs to communicate?" I asked.
We had been talking about standard hand signals and I wanted something to show that we're a team, so I asked.
"Ugh, troublesome..." Shikamaru grunted.
I rolled my eyes, and looked at Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei.
"...I don't mind it." Sasuke said after a moment.
"Sure, why not?" Kakashi-sensei said while turning a page of his Icha Icha.
Flashback End
Since that day, we have been using our own signs to communicate.
Just as I signal to Sensei, six people jump out at us.
"Hand over the merchant!" One of them shouts.
"Bandits!" Sasuke yells. Kakashi sensei uses a Substitution with a log. Guess he thought we could handle it. Sasuke immediately runs towards them and starts attacking, Shikamaru stays back and protects Kazumi, and I run forward while flashing through the hand signs for a genjutsu,
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!" I mutter. I cast it on two of them, and throw a kunai at each of them. One of them gets hit in the chest, while the other kunai embeds itself into Bandit No. 2's neck. I hear them scream, and slowly they both stop moving. I stare at them. I don't want to see the light fade, but I can't look away. I feel the urge to puke, but I push it down and tear my eyes away from Bandit 1 and 2, to help my teammates.
I see Sasuke handling 3 of them, while one of them heads straight to Shikamaru. He quickly catches the bandit in his Shadow Possession, and lifts his kunai. He hesitates, but then throws it straight at the bandit. Just when it's about to hit him, Shikamaru releases his Jutsu. The kunai hits him in his neck, and I see the blood staining his neck and clothes.
I turn back to Sasuke and see him struggling a bit with the three bandits. I shout out to him, "Sasuke! Fire!" I quickly flash through the hand signs and cast the same genjutsu. Sasuke uses a fireball and toasts two of them, and throws a kunai at the third one's chest. I immediately look away from the dead bodies. Then suddenly, fear creeps into my mind. Realization hits. The adrenaline is wearing off.
I killed someone. I just killed two people!
I run towards the bush and empty my stomach. I rinse my mouth to get rid of the taste, and collapse on the ground crying. I hear Sasuke and Shikamaru puking their guts out. Kakashi-sensei comes over to me and rubs my back soothingly. And then, he pulls out a kunai and deflects one coming towards me. He stares at the direction where it came from and gets up. A man with a scar running down his face comes out with a maniacal grin on his face.
"So, we finally meet, Kakashi." He says with glee.
Kakashi-sensei tilts his head to his side, "Do I know you?"
Rage fills the man's features. "How do you not remember me when you are the one who gave me this?" He yells while pointing to his face.
"It happened in the war. I was a kid, just like you. You alone killed my teammates, and gave me this scar! Now, you will pay!" He rushes toward Kakashi with a shout, but he doesn't get very far. Kakashi-sensei pulled out a kunai, and was suddenly behind him.
"The only one who is going to pay, is you, for attacking my team." Kakashi-sensei slits the man's throat, and lets the body crumple to the floor.
He's a straight up killer!
The way Sensei took him down, was... wow! That's our sensei!
He looks at me and eye-smiles, "Breathe, Sakura."
Oh. I'm holding my breath. I release it and take a deep breath. I look over to my teammates, and see that Sasuke just has a blank face and Shikamaru looks like he cried too.
Kakashi-sensei just says, "Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, let's go. We'll find a good spot and camp out there for tonight."
All three of nod, but I hear Kazumi protest, "Why are we camping so early? We still have some daylight! I can go on!"
Kakashi-sensei turns to him, "You might be fit to go on, but they just had their first kills. So, we'll let them rest." Sensei says in a cheerful tone.
"I refuse! I am paying you, so you must listen to me! I don't care if they just had their first kills! They should be mature enough to handle it themselves! I can go on so we will go on!" Kazumi burst out.
A murderous look flashed across Sensei's visible eye.
"Kazumi Takiyo, you are a civilian. You have never killed. You don't know how it feels when you have your first kill. These are my genin, and I care for them. I will not let them carry on right now. We will camp. Are. We. Clear?" Sensei increased the Killing Intent with each sentence.
"Y-Yes sir." Kazumi stutters, not used to the killing intent. I give a small smile. It's true. Hatake Kakashi, once he is attached, will not let his 'pack' be harmed.
I go over to Sasuke and Shikamaru, "You guys' ok?" I ask them in a quiet voice.
"Yes." Sasuke says in an emotionless voice. I frown at his tone. Is Sasuke not bothered about his kill? Or is this the way he's handling it?
Shikamaru sighs, "I know it's our job to kill, but..."
He didn't bother completing the sentence. We knew what he meant. It feels... wrong. Those people would have family too. Sure, they attacked us, but did we really need to kill them?
I see Kakashi-sensei making his way to us,
"Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, I know how you're feeling. It was your first kill, but I promise you, it gets easier over time. Now, if any of you needs to talk, I'm here for you, ok? Now, come on. It's time to go." His voice was surprisingly soft. I get up first and neither of the boys make an attempt to get up, so I grab their hands and drag them to sensei.
I notice Sasuke's hand is ice cold. I frown a little, but ignore it. We make our way into the forest and find a good place to set camp.
Once we had set up, Sasuke went into the woods to search for dinner, Shikamaru was staring at the sky, and I was searching for firewood for a fire.
All of a sudden, I felt a chakra signature and quickly pulled out a kunai. I sigh and put it back in the pouch when I feel it's only Sasuke.
"Sakura." I hear him call.
"Hm?"
"I got two rabbits."
"'Kay, can you start skinning them for me, please?" I ask without turning around.
"Sure," he says.
After an hour or two, all of us were done with dinner, and restless. We hadn't done a lot of training, so I decided to ask Kakashi-sensei for something to do.
"Kakashi-sensei? Can you give us some training?" I ask in a quiet voice.
"Training? Are you sure you're up to it?" He asks skeptically.
"I'm sure. None of us have done much training today, so we're restless and can't sit still." I say sheepishly.
Kakashi-sensei sighs, "Alright, I suppose I can give you something."
I beam at him and he eye-smiles and ruffles my hair.
"Come on my cute little minion. Let's go get your team."
"Oi Lazy-Ass! Sasuke!" I call out to them.
"How come you don't call him Duck-Ass anymore?" Shikamaru asks irritably.
"Simple. We made a deal that as long as I don't call him that, he won't call me Pinky." I shrug.
"Troublesome..."
"You called, Sakura?" Sasuke asks in an emotionless tone.
"Yeah, Sensei agreed to give us more training."
"Great." Sasuke's entire expression was a blank. I can't read him like I usually can.
"Alright my adorable genin! Today we are going to be checking your affinities!" Kakashi-sensei says with an eye-smile.
He gives us three slips of paper and says, "Now channel your chakra into the paper and if it crumbles - its earth. If it crinkles - lightning, gets wet - water, gets torn in half - wind, and if it burns - it's fire. Like this." Sensei channels chakra, and the paper crinkles, crumbles and gets soggy. "Mine are lightning, earth and water. Now you try."
Shikamaru stares at the paper for a few seconds, then it crumbles and burns. "Mine's earth and fire then," he mutters.
Sasuke channels chakra, and it crinkles, and half of it is burnt.
"Lightning and fire." Kakashi-sensei says with his eye a little wide.
Sasuke smirks a bit, then goes back to his emotionless face.
I concentrate on my paper, and it gets wet, and part of it crumbles.
"Wait, so does that mean I have water and earth?" I ask with disbelief.
"It appears you do. All three of my genin have two affinities each!" Kakashi-sensei confirms with surprise and elation.
"Water and earth, lightning and fire, fire and earth," I mutter, "My water beats their fire, earth beats Sasuke's lightning, and Shikamaru has earth too. Huh."
"Hn." Sasuke grunts. I glare at him, but let it go this time. "Well then, my little minions, time for your affinity jutsu!"
Kakashi-sensei makes three clones, and says, "Pinky, Lazy-Ass, go with one of the clones, while I work on duckling."
The third clone goes and stands guard outside Kazumi's tent.
We both nod, and take off with a clone. Clone Kakashi-sensei leads me to the stream and asks, "Alrighty, now which one do you want to start with?"
"Uhm, water?"
"Sure. Now I'm going to teach you Water Release: Water Senbon. You have to release a droplet of water shape as a senbon and it will burst on contact. Now this won't harm the enemy, but it will weaken them a little. And for now, the water from the stream will help you with the Jutsu. If you're skilled enough, with a lot of practice you might be able to make water out of thin air like the Nidaime."
I nod in determination.
"Good, now these are the signs." Sensei shows me the signs and demonstrates the jutsu. He releases a senbon of water towards a rock, and the rock bursts on contact. My eyes widen, "Whoa!"
Sensei chuckles and says, "Yeah, now try doing the signs slowly and without chakra till you know it by heart. Keep doing it till you can do it fast, then add chakra. Keep doing it till you almost run out of chakra, then get back to camp, ok?"
"Yes, Sensei."
Sensei poofed away.
It's always been easy for me to memorize signs, so I got it down within the first 15 minutes. The first time I tried to use the jutsu, nothing happened.
It was just a droplet of water! How hard can it be? The answer is very. It seemed almost impossible for me to do it! And that's annoying. Even genjutsu or medical ninjutsu isn't as hard!
Oh wait... I have to read those books that Shizuka-sensei gave me. Damn it, I completely forgot about it.
After an hour, just as I was about to run out of chakra, I tried one last time, and bam! Water Senbon! Too bad I fainted as soon as I did it.
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The Next Morning
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Sasuke's face. He was in his sleeping bag right beside me, and his hair was all over his face. I get up and the first thing I remember is the jutsu. I search for a rock and try the jutsu.
I focus my chakra, turn it into water and shoot. A water senbon shoots to the rock and breaks a few pieces off of it. It didn't break fully, but it'll happen soon.
I rush to the river to wash myself, and when I get back, I see Kakashi-sensei up and reading his book.
"'Morning Kakashi-sensei."
"Good morning." He says with an eye-smile.
"I got the Jutsu down." I said while bouncing with excitement.
"Oh? Show me, please."
I flash through the hand signs and break a small rock.
"Good, Sakura!" Sensei praises. I beam at his praise. "But you still need practice. You should be able to break a big rock with one."
I nod my agreement.
Thankfully, the jutsu doesn't take up much chakra, and my chakra reserves have grown a lot over the past one and a half years.
"Morning." I hear a familiar voice say.
"Good morning, Sasuke!" I chirp.
"How are you feeling, Sakura?" He asks while looking at me with worry evident in his expression.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?" I ask slowly and in confusion.
"Oh, um. I found you on the ground yesterday. You had fainted from chakra exhaustion, so I put you to bed. You're fine now, right?" He asks hesitantly.
"I'm fine, Sasuke. Don't worry. Thank you for putting me to bed. Which jutsu did you get?"
"I got Current Transfer. I can send the lightning from my hand to whatever I have in my hand. So, I can charge my weapons with lightning chakra." His tone is emotionless again.
"That's so cool!" I exclaim.
Sasuke just nods, "I know. Which jutsu did you get?"
I smirk and destroy yet another small rock. Sasuke stares at the rock with wide eyes.
"Yup." I say while popping the P and laughing.
Sasuke shakes his head and heads over to the river.
Once everyone was up and about, we head of to the Land of Tea. We were walking in a diamond formation with Sasuke at the end, me and Shikamaru on the side and Sensei in front. I slow down to walk with Sasuke.
"How're you feeling?" I ask in a soft tone.
"I'm fine." He says stiffly.
"Sasuke, do not lie to me. I know you aren't 'fine'. Tell me how you're really feeling." I say sternly.
Sasuke just glares at me. I glare back and let a little killing intent slip. It isn't much, but it's only to prove my point.
"What would you know on how I'm feeling? You didn't have to kill three people!"
"I didn't have to kill three people?" I scoff, "I had to kill two, and help you kill three! And if I hadn't helped you, you could've been injured or worse! Do you really think I don't feel bad? Because I do. Now tell me what you are feeling and let me help you!" I glare at him.
He sighs, "I'm sorry. I just can't get the image out of my head. It's like it playing on repeat. It's just a video of me killing them, again and again."
My eyes soften, "It's the same for me too, Sasuke. But we are shinobi. This is what we do. We have to kill. Think about it this way; if you hadn't killed them, they might've killed you. You get to go home. They don't. Unfortunately, we have to fight and kill to survive. And from next time, don't even think about hiding your feelings from me. Alright?" A small smile plays across his face.
"Thank you, Sakura. I really appreciate it." I smile and give him a one-armed hug.
"Now come on. We don't want Kakashi-sensei to scold us." I told him. He looks ahead and notices that we had slowed down a lot, and the others were very ahead. We both run to our places and hope Sensei didn't notice.
When I reach my spot, Sensei turns to look at me and signs, 'I'm proud of you.'
My eyes widen, but then I smile. 'Thank you, Sensei.' I sign back.