7 Years Later
During those 7 years, Sakura sailed around the rest of the East Blue. She stayed with Ace and Luffy for 2 years to keep them company and to train them to become stronger. After that, when she was around 16, she decided to join the Marines so she could go to the Grand Line. Sakura was too eager to explore the Grand Line, so she decided to not explore the South and West Blue.
<A/n: The stories below all occur during these 7 years!>
One day while Sakura was traveling back to an island called Avalon to eat the amazing food there, she was having a quick snack when there seemed to be a robbery. "Thief!" someone yelled. He was running in Sakura's direction.
"Move! Move! Get out of my way!" he demanded. What a prick, Sakura thought as she stepped aside. But as she did that, she unsheathed one katana and proceeded to trip him with the dull side of her blade. As soon as his body hit the pavement, Sakura jumped onto him and placed her right foot on his body and the blade right at his neck, never taking her attention off of her snack.
"Don't be so dam rude. Excuse me could've worked too." The thief was so shocked by fear that he couldn't say anything.
"That's pretty impressive, you brought him down in seconds." Sakura turned around to see a tall, thin, elderly woman with gray hair tied back.
"Who are you?" Sakura asked.
"My name is Tsuru and I'm a Marine."
"Oh, you're a Marine! Can I ask you a couple of questions?" Tsuru nodded. "Well I've been thinking about joining the Marines, but I'm not sure how to, well join." Tsuru paused.
"Why don't you join my crew? You defiantly got potential."
"But Tsuru-san, don't I have to sign up or like take a test?"
"Well think of the thief that you just caught to be your test, and for signing up, you can fill out an application form at my ship."
"Thank you!" Sakura bowed.
=~+~=
"Now that all of the forms have been completed, I now welcome you to the Marines," Tsuru-san declared.
"Thank you, ma'am, it's an honor to be apart of the Marines." Sakura stayed on the ship and was briefed on the protocols and duties of being a Marine. She was also taught propper Marine etiquette, such as learning how to salute, how to march in a single file line, and much more. Sakura was a quick learner and learned to be a proper Marine in a little more than a week. After that, Sakura was given the title "Chore Boy", or in her case "Chore Girl." It only took Sakura a couple of days to get promoted to the rank of "Cheif Petty Officer," when she won a mock battle competition, which consisted of multiple matches where the winner would advance to the next round. Sakura made it all the way to the quarter-final rounds before she lost. She was also issued a traditional Marine uniform.
=~+~=
One night, Sakura decided to call the troublemakers to tell them about her choice to become a Marine. "Hello, who is this, what do you want," Dadan demanded.
"Why hello Dadan, angry as usual?"
"Oh, Sakura, those two will slowly drive me insane, but why are you calling?"
"Can you get Ace and Luffy for me, I want to tell them something, you can listen too of course."
"Well, I'll see what I can do. Give me about 20 minutes." 20 minutes later, a familiar voice speaks in the Den Den Mushi.
"Hello? Hello! Sakura-san?" Luffy called.
"Hello, Luffy! How are you doing? Is Ace with you?"
"I've been getting stronger and Ace is right here!"
"You wanted to tell us something?" Ace asked.
"Well you two, and everyone else, I've decided to join the Marines."
"What?! Why Sakura-san you know that we're going to become pirates! Do you want to catch us or something?!" Luffy exclaimed.
"No, no Luffy, it's nothing like that, the reason I joined the Marines was that I wanted to explore the Grand Line without the hassle of finding a crew."
"But finding your crew is one of the most exciting parts of becoming a pirate!" Ace argued.
"For you guys maybe, but all I want is to explore! But don't worry, I won't be your ordinary marine, you guys know that!"
"She isn't wrong about that, Sakura is definitely not one to go by the rulebook," Dadan sighed.
"Oh shush Dadan!" Sakura joked. "Anyway, it's almost time for me to go on watch, talk to you guys later!"
=~+~=
A couple of months before Ace turns 17, Sakura is already at the rank of "Commander." She trained very hard with Tsuru-san and the other marines on the ship. When Tsuru-san's warship was docked at Marine Headquarters, Sakura was always in awe to lay her eyes on such an impregnable fortress. "Hey Sakura, wanna be my escort to go Marine Headquarters?" Tsuru asked.
"M-me? Be your escort? Can I?!" Sakura replied in shock. She nodded. "I would be honored to ma'am!"
=~+~=
"You called for me Sengoku?" Tsuru asked.
"Sakura?" someone said. Sakura was distracted by how amazing Headquarters was. She turns to see Garp-san literally lounging in Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office and was eating rice crackers.
"Garp-san?!"
"You never told me that you became a Marine!" he laughed.
"Well whenever I called Dadan, you were never there so-," Sakura shut herself up when she realized that Tsuru-san and Sengoku-san were staring at her.
"Sakura, you know Garp?" Tsuru asked.
"Yeah, he's the friend of someone I met before I joined the Marines." Sakura could feel Sengoku's gaze on her. "Sengoku sir, can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, Sakura, can I talk to you privately for a second?"
"Of course sir."
When everyone stepped out, Sengoku asked "Violet eyes... Sakura, do you know someone called Rosinante?"
"No sir, I don't, I've never even heard of that name before. Maybe you can show me a picture and I could possibly recognize them? I'm better at remembering faces rather than names." Sengoku reached for a drawer in his desk and pulled out a photo of a man with awfully long blonde hair that covered his eyes.
"Do you recognize him?"
"No, I don't, sorry sir, but I must say, he looks very familiar. He looks like an old friend that I met when I first started traveling, his name was Corazon. But he died years ago." Sakura looked up and saw how shocked he looked. "Sengoku sir, are you alright?"
"You were the girl with violet eyes that Rosinante would talk about! He would never say your name but he would refer to you as a girl with violet eyes!" Shocked, Sakura wondered how Corazon would know Sengoku.
"Wait are you telling me that Corazon was a Marine?"
"Yes, his actual name is Rosinante, Corazon was his code name, and he was a commander just like you."
"He never told me..."
"It was my order to not tell anyone, even friends."
"Well, I buried Corazon on the North-East side of Minion island on a cliffside if you ever want to visit him."
"Thank you for telling me that Sakura, now can you please call them back in?"
"Of course sir."
=~+~=
The day that Ace was finally 17, everyone waved him goodbye, along with Sakura, as he sailed off into the horizon. "I'll be a lot stronger when I leave here in three years!" Luffy declared. He wasn't the slightest bit sad, instead, he seemed even more determined.
[End of the 1st Timeskip]