Sakura, the Beginning of a Kunoichi

Pain, Konan, Sasori and Kisame

Not even a night had passed since Itachi had left on a mission, leaving Sakura alone in her new home. Although she felt saddened by the morning farewell when Itachi departed, Sakura had shown him a wide smile and wished him success on his mission. She wanted to demonstrate her strength now that she had a new life and a new family.

Once Itachi was gone, Sakura decided it was time to continue training diligently with her chakra to surprise him with her progress upon his return. She scaled walls, practiced distributing her chakra to different parts of her body, and used her chakra radar until she finally grew tired and bored. She wandered around her room and watched raindrops fall on the buildings from the window. Eventually, she lay down on the bed, gazing at the ceiling with profound boredom.

With nothing else to do in her room and only a few hours since Itachi's departure, Sakura, her heart racing, decided to open the door and peer into the long, dark, empty hallway. She wanted to use her chakra to detect if anyone was approaching so she could hide, but Itachi had warned her not to do so if her reserves were too low, and Sakura knew they were.

With courage, she stepped out of her room and cautiously made her way through the building. Her hands began to sweat with excitement and fear of encountering other people. The only sound was the echo of her footsteps in the seemingly empty building. Normally, being in long dark corridors would fill her with fear and lead her to cry until someone came to fetch her. But now she couldn't afford to show fear. If she wanted to prove that she was as strong and powerful as Itachi, she couldn't be paralyzed by something as simple as long, dark, poorly lit corridors.

Thanks to her creative mind, she began to think that this could be a good opportunity to explore and find places to play hide-and-seek in the future, if anyone wanted to play with her. After exploring for a while, searching and observing curious rooms with open doors, she was disappointed to realize that she hadn't come across anyone. She began to get bored until, in the midst of her musings, she stumbled upon someone.

"Sorry," she murmured in a complaining tone before looking up. Her mouth opened slightly as she found herself face to face with a woman with blue hair who was looking down at her.

"Be more careful," she heard the cold voice with which she was addressed. It was Konan. In a way, seeing the woman's gaze reminded Sakura of the way her father used to talk to her after mistreating her. By inertia, she began to remember all the moments when her father would hit her or say derogatory words to her, which made tears start to well up in her eyes until she was interrupted by a hand that appeared in front of her, surprising her. She blinked twice before looking up, where Konan was extending her hand. As a delayed reaction, she took Konan's hand and helped her to her feet.

Once upstairs, Sakura watched as the only woman she had seen in the criminal organization turned around and began walking in the opposite direction. Confused, she took a hesitant step forward before stopping, unsure whether she should follow her or run back to the safety of the room she shared with Itachi, or simply stay there indefinitely.

"Do you want to be recognized, right?" whispered a voice in Sakura's head, jolting her into action. She ran to catch up with Konan, who kept walking. Cautiously, she looked up, hoping for some explanation from the woman. When she received no response, she gave a small smile of satisfaction at her small achievement. For every step Konan took, Sakura had to take two, but she didn't mind; she tried to keep up with Konan's pace until they finally reached the doors she recognized as the ones they had passed through the day before when they met the leader.

As Konan opened the doors and stepped inside, Sakura stood in place, expecting them to be closed in her face. However, she was surprised when Konan turned around and looked at her from inside, waiting for her to follow, just as she had done so far. Happily, she jumped into the room. The first thing she noticed was that this time the room was well-lit and Pain was at the back, on what looked like a somewhat strange balcony. She walked over to him until she was standing by his side, sitting on the edge.