Twelve year old Sakura was bored. A little too bored for the occasion, maybe.
Today was finally the day of her year's Academy graduation. Nearly everyone had passed except for Uzumaki Naruto, but he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with a hitai-ate shining on his forehead when she walked into the classroom this morning. It made her unconsciously tighten her own around the top of her head. Her long pink hair had been twisted into a high bun—no flyaways, stray hairs, or out-of-place strands could be seen.
"It's now time to list off your new genin teams," Iruka announced. "Team One will consist of..."
She looked up at the tap on her shoulder and saw Kiba grinning down at her.
"You look excited," he whispered. Sakura nearly rolled her eyes.
"They could just have our new sensei come and take us instead of making this a whole thing."
"Maybe you're just boring."
"Maybe I'm being sensible."
"Team Three," continued Iruka. He cleared his throat and sent a warning glare in their general direction, "will consist of..."
Kiba and Sakura waited some moments before the former started murmuring from the corner of his mouth. "You'd think after all this time he'd finally separate us by putting us on opposite sides of the room."
"He did. Then he got tired of us throwing paper planes at each other." Sakura reached down to her kunai pouch to take quick inventory of her supplies. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, wire, and a small medical kit. Papa always said it was necessary to be prepared at all moments on any day. There was no use on overstocking on weapons if no one knew how to use them effectively.
"Team Seven!" their teacher called out. "Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Hinata!"
Both Kiba and Sakura shared a wince. What a team. Sasuke already had problems once the massacre happened and his brother deserted, Naruto hated Sasuke the most in the class, and Hinata had the biggest crush on Naruto since the beginning of the Academy. But Sakura supposed it made sense. Sasuke was the last remaining Uchiha, Hinata was the heiress to her clan, and Naruto...
She cast him a sidelong glance and narrowed her eyes. There was nothing notable about Naruto which made it so odd that there was such high clearance on anything about him.
"Team Eight! Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Sakura!"
She high fived the hand dangling in front of her face before turning in her seat to gaze at one of the students in the top row. Shino was a quiet character in the class that never interacted with other students unless it was absolutely necessary. Part of his unsociable tendencies, she found, was that their classmates didn't take well to the insects he used to work his family's jutsu. She didn't mind them, though. She understood their use and acknowledged their part in his skills.
He caught her eye and sent a minuscule nod her way.
Sakura waved back.
::
"—or you can shut the fuck up—"
"You know, I'm real fucking glad we don't meet up face to face like this all the time, un, 'cause your stupid shit—"
"Jashin will smite you, you fucki—"
Kisame tuned out the conversation with ease and resumed marking up the latest addition of the Bingo Book. Kakuzu had given him a list of names that were key for the six month cycle before the next edition came out, and he had to do some studying for when it came time to collect the bounties.
But ultimately, his mind ended up drifting off to his little pup and to the day he decided to let that Konoha group find her.
An abandoned warehouse caught his eye from the edge of his window view, prompting him to feel for some of his chakra-suppressing seals he kept in his pouch to help in avoiding detection.
Paranoia was his friend, and that friend was telling him that there were people here for him. He always listened because it never hurt to. And, if they were who he hoped they were, this was going to be an easier story than the one he made before he left Amegakure.
"Pup?" he called softly. She looked up from her meal.
"Yeah, Papa?"
"Leave your things and come with me."
He told her she would only hide for an hour or two, but when he was attacked by Konoha shinobi, his heart dropped knowing he would never get to tell her goodbye.
He blinked away the growing wetness in his eyes and looked up to the banter still raging in the room. Hidan was inducted into the organization a year ago. Deidara came not too long after that, and the mere thought of it made him grimace. He wouldn't have had a problem with Akatsuki's recruiting strategies if they stopped taking them in at such a damn young age. Deidara was taken in at fourteen and Itachi was taken in at thirteen.
Sakura was twelve years old this year. The thought of her being a full-fledged Akatsuki member now made him queasy. He could only hope that she was still in Konoha and would never find herself in an organization as soul constricting as this one.
"You appear rather tolerant of the noise in this room."
He glanced up at Itachi, who'd taken a seat in the chair beside him. Though seventeen years old and no longer considered a child, Kisame couldn't help but discourage the circumstance that lead his path in the direction of destruction.
"Heh, really? Can't take me for a patient guy like you?"
The Uchiha angled his head slightly and opened the briefing folder that was to be read before the meeting scheduled in an hour. "They're acting like children."
Kisame smiled humorlessly—so much so that it made Itachi pause for a portion of a millisecond before collecting himself so that none could take notice.
"There's nothing wrong with children, Itachi-san."
"You speak from experience?"
There was a loose shrug of a shoulder, like brushing off the notion as if it were nothing more than half-minded dust.
"Maybe I'm just a sentimental guy."
::
Yuuhi Kurenai wasn't in the Top Fifty Shinobi, but she had a decent price on her head. She was an A-rank sensor type who specialized in genjutsu that was said to rival that of Uchiha Itachi. Sakura doubted the claim not because she doubted the jounin's abilities, but through the sheer fact that Uchiha Itachi was in the Top Ten and attained such a high ranking at an incredibly young age. He was on a whole other level of genius.
"It's very nice to finally meet you three. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai and I'll be your teacher the duration of your genin team status," Kurenai introduced kindly. "I'm currently a Jounin, graduated the Academy at nine years old, and became chuunin at thirteen. I specialize in genjutsu and intelligence, and I'm looking forward to working with you all in our coming time. If you could all introduce yourselves as well..."
Kiba looked around the training area their new sensei had brought them to before taking himself up on the first answer. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is my partner, Akamaru," he started. Akamaru barked from the front of his jacket. "I don't do too well in book stuff, but I was in the Top Ten physically!"
"I'm Sakura," Sakura said right after. "No surname. I stayed in the Top Fifteen all six years and would like to consider myself a well-rounded student."
Kurenai noted the pouty look Kiba gave her—like she hadn't spoken the whole truth—then looked to the last member of the team.
"... Aburame Shino," the last spoke up. "I was also in the Top Fifteen all six years and considered myself more aligned with intelligence gathering. My kikaichu make it possible for the latter."
Sakura perked up and leaned forward to peer around Kiba's form. "Your kikaichu are your insects, right? How are they used for reconnaissance?"
"Ah, you're interested?"
"They've always been naturally interesting to begin with. For me, anyway."
He mulled over her statement, wondering if she was truly genuine or not. No one had ever shown an inherent interest in his insects and normally shied away when they were brought up around others. But she didn't seem to find them gross, and neither did Kiba. He only appeared to not care that much at all—as expected from one of the problem students of the class.
Kurenai cleared her throat and moved the newly minted genins' attention back to her. "I know you all want to get to know each other better, but please listen to me for the next few minutes. It won't take too long at all." As they quieted down, she continued. "Today, I will fight you all one on one to assess your abilities and we'll come together tomorrow as a team to talk about what you all need to work on. Alright?"
"Yes," they chorused. She brightened at their mannerisms.
"Good. We'll head further into Training Ground Eight and begin."
Kiba and Sakura walked side by side with Shino trailing a bit behind the latter's free side.
"An 'all around student'?" Kiba mouthed. She shrugged, her eyes watching her sensei's back some distance away from them.
"That's what my grades say," she muttered. She turned to Shino and raised her voice to its normal levels. "Tomorrow, can you tell me about your kikaichu?"
He pushed up his glasses. "I don't see why not. I'll bring more of my other colonies. Why? Because I feel you'll be interested."
Kiba's brow pinched together before he sighed and let his chin drop into his chest. Great. Another weird one. And with his luck of this ridiculous 2:1 ratio of weirdness, he found it safe to say that the odds were clearly stacked against him and that if he was going to turn weird too, it'd be Sakura and Shino's fault. More Sakura's, though. He'd known her the longest.
::
At the training ground, Kiba volunteered to go first.
Kurenai had no qualms with the arrangement and prepared herself to spar. In his file, it was stated he was prone to make rash decisions. While she assumed he had all traits the Inuzuka were known for, he wasn't the best at planning and tended to flop once a battle turned to be one of wits and strategy.
When she called start, he and Akamaru lunged.
Granted, it wasn't the smartest move, but it allowed Kurenai insight on three things. One, he really was just as fast as any Inuzuka before him. He attacked with the vigor of a beast, baring his fangs and showing no hesitation. That was good for an offensive shinobi, but his certain lack of no resistance in his methods made him more susceptible to being overturned on his tactics.
She blocked a sharpened swipe with her kunai and shot a leg out to knock him off his feet which he avoided—narrowly.
Two, his enhanced senses were developing into a fine tool. The Inuzuka were renowned trackers that used their noses and ears but mostly the former, as scent tracing was one of the more popular ways to track down a target. Kurenai knew this, but that particular skill was next to useless in situations like hand to hand combat.
She shunshinned behind him and landed a swift kick that sent him sprawling onto the grass in front of him. She smiled.
Three, while he was strong, he wasn't as... sharp as she expected.
"That's enough, Kiba," she stated, pleased with what she had to work with and taking a mental note of what she'd observed thus far. "You may sit down now." She turned to the sidelines. "Who wants to go next?"
Both Shino and Sakura were quiet for a moment before the former stood silently and gave a slight nod of his head. "I'll go. Why? No one else was volunteering."
Kiba plopped down next to his friend as Kurenai swept back to her position on one end of the field. She cast a cursory glance to her right as Shino readied himself for battle; Sakura hadn't moved an inch since she'd sat down to watch the first fight and was gazing over the grounds with eyes as sharp as polished kunai.
Strange.
"Alright, same rules apply. You give it your all until I call time," Kurenai announced. "Are you ready?"
She took him sliding into an offensive stance as a yes.
"Start!"
Shino's techniques were more encompassing in the sense that he could use his insects to charge his opponent from any direction at any moment. A buzzing, black cloud erupted from his sleeves and dove at her like it had a mind of its own.
Down. Left. Right. Back. Left.
She threw shuriken, but they didn't land. Punches didn't either and neither did kicks. Whenever she made an attempt at collision with his colony, they'd simply make an opening for themselves and avoided her assault all together.
Kurenai jumped back for a handful of seconds, her red eyes blazing with calculation, before she launched herself forward with a new strategy. Completely shooting herself through the thick mist of bugs, they opened to let her slip through before she charged and met Shino with a taijutsu sequence.
He was good, but he didn't last long because it was one thing to concentrate on a far more skilled person before him than commanding his colony to be his first offensive line. The second his back connected to the ground with a slight grunt, Kurenai raised her hand to end the match.
"Well done, Shino," she smiled. "But we'll need to brush up on your taijutsu once we start our training."
He nodded once before taking the hand offered to him and pulling himself back up to his feet.
Sakura suddenly stood up the moment Shino stepped past the trees that surrounded the clearing. Akamaru moved himself from his spot at her feet to allow her space and Kiba stopped talking, gazing up at her with a hint of curiosity that Kurenai was observant enough to notice.
"This gonna be like all your other tests?" he questioned. The girl rolled her shoulders and assumed her spot in front of her teacher.
"Don't know what you mean. I always do my best."
He snorted, earning confused looks from the other two occupying the grounds. "Hope you don't fail."
"Never."
::
Sakura, according to her file, was an all around student just like she introduced herself as earlier. She had her collections of A's, B's, and C's throughout her six years of study that earned her a steady face among her peers at graduation. In fact, there was nothing really remarkable about her except the eccentric color of her hair and her truly ghastly attendance record. She was a plain student with no true strengths, weaknesses, or call to anything that could place her in a specific shinobi division.
But her being plain was the strangest thing about her. When Kurenai read through all the notes the Academy teachers wrote about her, all that was ever listed was the slight behavior problem of not showing up to class. She never answered questions, caused disruptions, or fought with other students without being provoked in the first place, but other than that, it was all average. Intelligence, strength, tactics, accuracy—simply average.
Though if she was average, she would've reacted negatively to the Aburame's collection of insects or would've had a touch more emotion when introducing herself. If she was just average, then she wouldn't have spent a near hour motionless while observing her teammates fight with the precision rarely found in a recent graduate.
Something wasn't adding up and Kurenai was determined to find out exactly why that was.
"Again, same rules. Do you need me to go over them?"
"No, sensei," Sakura replied. "I understand what's expected of me."
Kurenai nodded slightly. 'Good. But I don't know what to expect from you.'
Her fingers curled into a seal as she called start.
Immediately, she cast a genjutsu over her student and charged forward. The illusion was C-rank at best, meant to keep the opponent in a daze to allow the attacker to get a good hit in. But before she could lay a punch on the girl, Sakura's head jerked in the telltale sign of breaking the genjutsu's grip and she crossed her arms in front of her face to block. Not a second after that, she grabbed Kurenai's wrist and swung a heel kick so dangerously close to the woman's face that it would've connected if the other's skill was any lesser than it was now.
Green eyes flashed in a mere moment of panic before they assumed their typical blankness as Sakura quickly dropped the wrist and created a wide berth between her and her teacher.
Stunned, Kurenai could only stare.
::
What the hell was that?!
Shino straightened as he witnessed the scene in the clearing. When did Sakura get that fast? That strong? Or any level so advanced that she was able to break through a genjutsu quick enough to catch Kurenai off guard like that and nearly land a hit? Not even that—if Sakura was able to perform that level of competency, she should've been at the top of the class in at least the physical department. There was no reason for her to be wallowing in the middle of class rankings!
He glanced to the side to see if Kiba had a similar reaction to him, but it seemed he only looked somewhat thoughtful as he watched on.
Shino reeled in the several questions bubbling under his skin and refocused on the battle.
::
"You've assessed two of my battles," Kurenai began slowly. She poised a kunai in her hand and searched for an opening. "What can you say about my fighting style?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, inwardly berating herself at how she could let an advanced reaction show at her first training session. If she played dumb now, Kurenai would only get even more suspicious and prod further. At this point, it would only hurt more if she didn't allow some of her intelligence to show. "You don't use ninjutsu too much. Strength and stamina are your weak points. You favor speed and agility because it conserves your chakra and being a heavyhitter doesn't suit you. Your body isn't built for that sort."
"Correct. Accurately evaluating the opponent is a key skill to have. Are you good in academics?"
Sakura shrugged loosely, yet there was a tension in her eyes that grew more taut with each passing second. "I'm average."
She blocked more of Kurenai's attacks, weapons and limbs alike, until her breathing grew labored and she burned closer and closer to the end of her rope. Her teacher must have sensed it too, because she stopped suddenly and let her hands fall through a series of signs.
With the last of her energy, Sakura grit her teeth and curled her fingers into the release symbol. "KAI!"
The illusionary tree climbing up behind her abruptly stilled and faded, and Sakura slid down onto one knee as she tried to catch her breath. With her head bowed down to shield her face, Kurenai was blocked from reading the emotions that truly piqued her curiosity. She refrained from pushing, though, and let a content smile cross her face.
"Good job, Sakura," she commended. Sakura pushed herself to her feet and avoided eye contact, nodding once. "Everyone to me. I'd like to discuss tomorrow's schedule with you all."
Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakura gathered around her. They all were caked in a fair amount of sweat and grime, and Kurenai was surprised to note that none of them were complaining. They all stayed relatively quiet—even Kiba with his boisterous family background.
"Today I've gathered first hand information on your skills and noted some of the particular strengths each of you have," she started. "It turns out this team is rather balanced in terms of the three basic types of jutsu. Kiba's strength it taijutsu, Shino's is ninjutsu, and Sakura's is genjutsu. But before we can delve into each of your strong suits, we need to get down to the basics which includes strength, stamina, and dexterity. Think of the next few weeks as an advanced physical education class, because tomorrow at promptly eight in the morning, we'll meet in this exact spot and I'll tell you just how many laps around the grounds you'll be running. Yes?"
"Yes," the three chorused lowly. Kiba looked the most put-out about the promise of a monotonous training schedule and Shino appeared as impassive as he always was behind his high hood and glasses, but Sakura only raised her hand with a faint questioning expression. Kurenai gestured her way.
"What is it, Sakura?"
"Is it alright if I'm late? I'll be thirty minutes at most, and I promise not to take long."
Kurenai considered her for a moment. "What's the reason?"
"I'm moving out of the orphanage tomorrow," she said. Shino blinked rapidly behind his dark lenses. He hadn't known she was an orphan. "Since genin are seen as adults in the eyes of the law, I'm able to move into my own apartment and I no longer have to impose on the matron. The landlord won't give me the key until 7:45 and there's still some things she needs me to sign."
Kurenai was filled with momentary sympathy. Ah, yes. Now she remembered. This was that Sakura, found five years ago as Hoshigaki Kisame's hostage with no other family than the ones Hoshigaki presumably killed. She'd been the one to check the file for inconsistencies before approving it and filing it away in the archives. "That's fine, but each minute you're late is another lap you'll have to run."
"Yes, ma'am."
As the three of them were dismissed and went their separate ways, Kurenai couldn't help but trail her gaze after young Sakura, straight-backed and purposefully making her feet brush against the grass.
::
Sakura sighed as she set a box of her belongings on top of the rickety wooden table in her kitchenette. She tried not to think too much about yesterday and how royally she screwed up. What would her Papa say if he saw how badly she failed? Her teacher caught her so off guard that she accidentally acted on reflex, igniting suspicion. Kiba already knew of her fluke—would she have to let both Shino and Kurenai on it too?
She sighed again. She'd think about it later. For now, she had to make it to the first official day of training.
As she opened the front door to take her leave, the door to her right opened as well to reveal a horrible assault of blonde and orange.
She blinked.
"Uzumaki... Naruto?"