Assay

Needless to say, when Sakura arrived at Training Ground 3 to Naruto rhapsodizing at length to Sasuke about how he was going to be personally trained by the ‘Pervy Hermit’, she felt like screaming.Or punching someone in the face. Preferably her teammates' faces, but she didn’t want to discriminate, anybody would do. Sighing as she placed her pack down under the shade of a tree and sat on a gnarled tree root, she subtly looked around for the ANBU that were undoubtedly in the area.

She couldn’t detect any chakra signatures, but she knew they were there. 50 meters wasn’t very wide, after all. Leaning back against the rough bark of the tree, she sighed once more as she listened in on her team's conversation.

“You’re going to be trained by granny!? Temeeeee, you gonna save us when we get an ouchy? BAHAHAHA!”

“I will end you, Dobe.”

Scintillating conversation, naturally.

Her only consolation was that the ANBU had to listen as well. Sakura snickered at the thought of the elite of the elite, cream of the crop shinobi forced to listen to preteen arguments.Her teammates turned to her at the sound of her laughter, Naruto’s eyes shone as he bounded over to her like an energetic labradoodle. She could see Sasuke giving her the best impression he could of a murderous ice cube behind the blond.

“Sakura-Chan! Hiya! When did you get here? I didn’t see you!”

‘You’re not the only one Naruto, nobody seems to’

Before Sakura could muster the strength to pull herself out of the now quickly familiar feeling of bitterness and resentment to reply, a puff of smoke exploded from behind her. She whirled around, sensing her sensei’s chakra signature along with an unfamiliar one. Hatake Kakashi stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes crinkled in one of his signature eye-smiles. A dark haired, pale boy stood behind him. His muscles looked like they were frozen, mouth set in a very wide, toothy grin.

“Hello my wonderful, adorable little students! I, your amazing sensei, bring you fresh meat!”

The boy looked up to the Jounin, smile still locked in place.

“Hatake-sensei, I was unaware that we had to bring protein to this gathering. I can procure some at the local market.”
Sakura noted his robotic way of speaking along with what appeared to be a lack of understanding for social convention as she shifted nervously, not knowing how to greet the stranger.Glancing at her teammates, she noticed she wasn’t the only one at a loss.

“Don’t worry about it Sai, it’s just an idiom! Now, time to introduce you,”

Sai turned back to them,the unnerving smile still frozen on his face.

“My cute little students, this is your new teammate, Sai.”

There was stunned silence for a moment before the blond knucklehead ninja of Team 7 started shouting his questions.

“What?! Kakashi-sensei! That robot? Seriously!?”

“Mah, Naruto, don’t be rude to your new teammate.”

Sai tilted his head to the side as he looked at the blond, inspecting him thoroughly. He nodded, almost solemnly, as he pointed a finger at the Uzumaki.

“You look pretty weak, are you even a guy? I’m going to call you Dickless.”

There were a few seconds of silence, Sakura could swear the wind stopped moving, then-

“WHAT DID THIS PASTY FUCKER JUST CALL ME!?”

All hell broke loose.

All Sakura registered was shouting, an explosion, then the sound of a thud as the smoke cleared and she looked down from where she had taken cover, the same tree she had placed her pack under, to see her sensei sitting on her seething teammate as Sai stood calmly next to him.

“Trying to attack him certainly counts as rude, Naruto.”

Sasuke stood cooly to the side, hands in his pockets as he regarded the three shinobi in front of him. Sai looked at him, the same look of deep thought falling over his face as his head tilted to the side once more.

“Sasuke Uchiha. I believe you are what they call an Asshole.”

Sakura tried. She tried very, very hard to resist. In the end, she ended up joining Naruto’s nearly deranged sounding peals of laughter. That is, until Sai turned to her and delivered his final verdict.

“You. Ugly.”

The laughing abruptly stopped as Sakura’s eyes narrowed. This bitch. Maybe she would get to punch someone after all.

“Naruto, you hold him down, I’ll punch him. Sasuke, you make sure he doesn’t get away.”

As Team 7 started preparing their attack, fueled by righteous anger at being insulted, Kakashi sighed and rubbed between his eyes, muttering something about demon children and being too old.

“Okay, stand down. No attacking fellow Konoha shinobi. While I admire your attempt at teamwork, fratricide isn’t exactly the best motivator.”

The words were laced in typical Kakashi nonchalance, while reading his signature orange book and slouched over. Sakura dropped down from her spot on the tree, the grass cushioning her fall with a soft thud, her sandals digging into dirt as she stood from her crouch.

“Sensei, Genin cells are typically four man teams, composed of three Genin and a Jounin. Why are we getting a new teammate?”

She shot a glare towards their latest addition after she finished speaking, his only response was widening his serene smile. Kakashi snapped his book shut as he ruffled her hair, eye smile ever present.

“Thank you for asking, my cute pastel student! As you all know, Princess Sasuke over here has an entourage,”

Kakashi vaguely waved his hand in a direction somewhere to their left, presumably where the ANBU operatives were hidden in the thick leaves of the forest.

She wasn’t sure how much they liked being called an entourage, though she noted, amused, from the corner of her eye that Sasuke was none too happy about being called a princess.

“As a security measure to protect him from certain diabolical snake Sannin. As a Genin cell, especially with Chuunin exam experience, you’re going to have more missions that take you outside the village. It would be counterproductive to have Sasuke go on these missions, since it would pose a great security risk, even with the nice ANBU keeping him company. This would make you a man short, and that's where Sai comes in.”
Sakura released a breath, realization dawning. Naturally, keeping Sasuke in the village, and under direct supervision by the Godaime was in the best interests of everyone, having him take missions that were out-of-village was an unnecessary risk that their superiors circumvented by sending another Genin. Her mind whirled as she berated herself internally for not figuring it out sooner.

“Now then! Now that everyone is acquainted, we need to work on catching Sai up to speed with the team. I don’t think I have to tell you about how vital efficient team work is out on the field, after all. Sai, Naruto, spar for a bit, figure out each other's strengths and weaknesses. Sasuke, you’re coming with me for a second.”

Kakashi and Sasuke had begun to walk away by the time Sakura realized her Sensei neglected to give her an instruction, the feeling of being discarded swelling and churning like acid in her stomach.

“Sensei! What about me?”

Kakashi eyed her tense form from over his shoulder, his hand coming up to scratch at the back of his hand in a placating way.

“Oh, sorry about that, Sakura-Chan. Just watch Naruto and Sai, will you?”

Before she could say anything, The Hatake and Uchiha disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving only their new teammate, Naruto, Sakura, and her brewing maelstrom of fury. Her hands shook with repressed rage as her teeth grit together, nails cutting into her palms at the blatant disregard.

Hearing the sounds of Sai and Naruto’s spar beginning, Sakura stalked off in the opposite direction, sandal clad feet angrily hitting the ground as she entered a clearing. She was breathing heavily, holding back angry tears as she stopped walking, standing in front of a tree.With an almost animalistic snarl, she pulled her arm back and punched. Again and again, till her knuckles were bloody and beaten and her anger was more of a lick of flame rather than the raging inferno it had been previously.

“Haruno-San, I’m sure that whatever that tree did to you, it’s very sorry”

The pink haired Genin whirled around, searching for the source of the deep, gravelly voice. Looking up, she recognized the familiar mask, with its intricate line work and spots. He stood on top of the very same tree she had just unleashed her fury upon, seemingly casual while reading what appeared to be a scroll. His cloak, a dark green compared to the slate grey of other ANBU, she notes, was rolled up neatly next to him.

“Panther-san, hello. I- uh- Sasuke left with Kakashi sensei.”

“I am aware, Haruno-San. Hatake-Senpai informed me beforehand.”

“Oh.”

Under the almost crushing awkwardness of the situation, Sakura almost wished she also had a mask to hide behind, shuffling awkwardly in the dirt as the masked man continued to stare at her, unrelenting. The shinobi kicked off of the tree limb, the lithe movements shadow temporarily blocking the sun from beating down on her as he executed a front flip and landed crouched in front of her. Decompressing, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a tin and some bandages.

She stared dumbly at his hands, then at his mask. Then repeated the process again till his deep amused chuckle broke her out of her state of shock.

“Don’t worry, Haruno-San, while your team seems to have no hesitation in harming Konoha Shinobi, I have no such inclinations. It’s a healing salve and regular bandages, for your wounds.”

There was a teasing lilt to his gravelly voice, and Sakura felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of the elite shinobi witnessing what she now dubbed the Sai Incident. Choking back her embarrassment, she hastily took the salve and bandages, murmuring her appreciation.

With a nod, he turned around, ready to get back to his post when a sudden shot of bravery surged through her.

“Wait, Panther-San.”

He twisted to see her, looking over his shoulder. It was reminiscent of how Kakashi looked at her no less than 10 minutes ago.

“Have you ever felt invisible? Weak? Like the whole world has already written you off and labelled you as weak and placed you in this neat little box and never given you a chance to prove otherwise? Like everyones just waiting for you to give up and-.”

She halts, abruptly. She doesn’t know where this courage is coming from. Maybe it was the faux anonymity that came from the person in front of her having a mask, like she could rant and spill her guts and it would be completely forgotten, consigned to the throes of oblivion as she never speaks to the man again. Even as she confessed her deepest insecurities to a stranger, she felt lighter, like she had been drowning and had finally lifted her head above the water and breathed in air. When the masked ninja answers, voice low, it’s almost too soft for her to hear.

“Yes, Haruno-San.”
“W-What,”

“Yes, to all of it. Questioning yourself, having others question you, fear, doubt, It’s vital in our career. I Pity the fool of a Shinobi who says he is without fear or doubt. Have you ever heard of the phrase nanakorobi yaoki?”

“Fall seven times. Stand up eight.”

“Yes. In the Shinobi world, everyone's merit is judged off of the same basic rules. It’s a game of power, strength. It’s how it always has been. Some are born into might, with kekkei genkai or clans-”

“That’s the point, though! I’ve been set up to fail the game from the start! Everyone around me gets all these advantages, they’ve been slated to be great shinobi ever since they were born! To them, I’m nobody!”

The ANBU, now fully facing her, tilts his head up to the sky, considering.

“Haruno-San, do not allow others, or yourself, to cage you into mediocrity,”

Sakura flinched, the words stung, but Panther did not stop.

“Aptitude, talent, all these are useless without being honed. Hard work, determination, ambition. These are what make a Shinobi truly great. You may have heard that a Shinobi is one that endures. But the truth is, a true Shinobi is one that overcomes. The second you give up the fight, that’s when you lose the game.”

There is a long silence, both ninja staring at each other. Sakura digested everything the ninja had just told her. The masked man inclined his head in her direction.

“Your teammates have finished their spar, Haruno-San. I hope you’ve found whatever it is you wanted to find. I hope you don’t continue abusing the trees, they probably don’t like it very much.”

In less than a second, he was gone. Not a trace of smoke or leaves left behind.

Sakura could hear Naruto and Sai calling out for her, voice reverberating through the forest. As she walked back in silence, her bloody hands gripped the tin and bandages tight. Even if on the outside, she seemed subdued, her mind was racing.

Haruno Sakura was now a player in the Game of Shinobi.

And it was time to rewrite the rules.