Muttering an incoherent phrase, Sakura Haruno placed her fingertips on the supposed drawer next to her comfy mattress, only to find air.
Mfph. I must be on a mission of some sort... at a daimyo's mansion, perhaps, to protect him from god-knows-what...
Slowly, cautiously, Sakura widened her viridian orbs, only to meet a bright, cotton-candy coloured pink ceiling.
Chuckling, the kunoichi muttered, "What kind of daimyo has pink ceilings?"
"Sakura-chan, if I recall, you are supposed to meet your new team in thirty minutes!" An all too-familiar voice pierced the calm silence, causing the pinkette to stiffen with both realization and a tint of melancholy.
Mom...
Memories flooded into Sakura's brain like a waterfall.
"So that's it... it really isn't a dream..." she sighed, her face cupped in her hands.
"I'm coming, mom."
~
Instead of going Team 7's assigned training ground, the rosette ventured on instead to an abandoned training ground to catch up on some much needed training. The grounds were clearly abandoned for a reason. Meteor-sized craters littered the ground, some particularily deep. Any trees that had been spared were charred and rotting. Dry, cracked soil replaced what should've been grass. Overall, it was not a pretty sight - but it would have to do.
"Kage Bun- Ack!" Sakura rubbed her nose, scowling as she took out Tsunade's scroll.
Sakura,
When Sasuke attacked Konoha, he was headed for the civilians, was he not? However, as you know, village elders and such are also located there. If he was headed for them, I might be able to find out the reason for his attack. Anyway, Shizune and Shikamaru are on it, so you need not worry.
Remember, Sakura. You have many chances to fix everything, but once Sasuke leaves, it's all over.
Tsunade.
For a long time Sakura stood there, gazing at Tsunade's small, neat writing.
"Sasuke... attacking village elders?"
Hurriedly, she grabbed out a small handy paintbrush -courtesy of Sai, who had given her it on her 16th birthday.
Tsunade-sama,
I have no idea why Sasuke would head for the civilians or the council elders. After he had killed Itachi, he hadn't seemed satisfied in the slightest. Thanks for the reassurance though.
Sakura.
~
The two young boys of Team 7 stood - or rather, Sasuke stood while Naruto sat, on their lush green training ground, glaring at the distance as the sun rose high into the sky.
"Oh come on, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan were supposed to be here two hours ago!"
"Hn." This is stupid. Naruto's a dobe. Sakura's probably not taking it seriously, and to top it all off, our teacher is an idiot.
~
Sakura lay on the ugly hard dirt, panting as she gazed up at the sky. She had cut her hair so that it reached her shoulders – slightly longer than she had cut it in the Chuunin exams.
The kunoichi giggled at the grounds that lay before her – it was truly a mess. There were no longer any trees, and her chakra-infused punches had smashed the ground into bits.
"Ah," she sighed, "noon. The best time of the day."
Sakura bolted upright, her hand covering her mouth.
"Noon... It's already noon?! I'm going to be even later than Kakashi-sensei!"
~
Naruto and Sasuke stood, tummies growling and eyes twitching.
Until finally, Kakashi stepped into view.
"Why, hello, students –"
"Eeep! I'm sorry I'm late, guys!'
Kakashi briefly raised an eyebrow at his pink-haired student who staggered towards them from the foliage. She looked fine, though there was a noticeably red gash beginning to swell on her hind calf, and her hair was noticeably shorter. Saying nothing, the jounin gazed at each of his students.
"You're late!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists. He stared at his teacher.
"Hn."
"Why yes. I was simply talking to the grocery man – he had a great deal going on –"
"LIES!" Naruto yelled – and this time, Sakura joined in too.
"Oh? Well Sakura, why were you late?" The white-haired man smiled under his dark navy mask.
"I… uh… I was… I overslept." Sakura hung her head down. One might've thought she was in shame, but really Sakura was trying her best to hide her nervous face – she was never a good liar.
"Ah. I see. So that particularly deep gash on your calf must be from your sleep, then?"
"…What?" The rosette stared at her leg, gasping with realization.
I must've missed it while healing my injuries!
"Oh, uh, yeah. Probably."
Even Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Sakura mentally groaned. She had to be more careful.
"So," Kakashi's voice rang loud and clear. Placing emphasis on every word, he continued, "I'm giving you a survival test. I have two bells here. Your goal is to take these bells from me using whatever method you'd like. Of course, each of you need one bell to pass this test. The odd one out will go back to the academy. But then again, all three of you could fail the test, as well."
Kakashi stared at each student carefully. Slight fear clouded Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes, satisfying the jounin.
But wait. He gazed at the female of the team. Unlike the others, she seemed quite calm and composed.
Hmm… either she's being reckless… or she's hiding something…
"Anyway, you guys have until noon to get the bells back. Those who fail will be tied up to the post and will watch everyone else eat their lunches."
As if on cue, Naruto and Sasuke's stomachs growled.
"Begin."
~
For fifteen minutes the pink-haired kunoichi laid low, devising several tactics as she hid herself on a high, well-covered branch.
Kakashi-sensei is obviously looking for teamwork, not really whether we'd get the bells…
Let's team up with Sasuke-kun then! Cha!
Sakura sighed. I say we should go with Naruto. He'd obviously listen to me more compared to him. She glared at Sasuke briefly. Now, where is he? Immediately, she spotted a blur of blue, orange, and yellow dangling by the ankle from the thickest branch of a small tree. Rolling her eyes, and sensing Kakashi's chakra signature some distance away with Sasuke's, Sakura leapt into Naruto's view. Before Naruto even opened his mouth, it was covered by Sakura's gloved hand.
"Naruto," Sakura muttered, staring at Naruto seriously. "I want you to team up with me. I have a plan. You got that? Now either you will work with me, or you'll be dangling from that tree forever."
Said boy nodded quickly. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! Now, uh… could you untie me?"
Sakura smirked. This was going to be real good.
~
The silver-haired jounin smirked at the young Uchiha whose face was barely above the ground, while the rest of his body was stuck deep into the hard soil.
"Well, you won't be getting out of that anytime soon, Uchiha." Flipping to the next page of his book, Kakashi headed towards Naruto to see if anything had changed.
It appeared it hadn't. Naruto, still dangling from a tree, yelled, "Come over here you wuss!"
"You're in no state to insult me, Naruto. After all, you're the one dangling from a tree branch." And with that, the jounin leaned against the bark of the tree, suppressing a small giggle as the young maiden in the story was whisked away by the handsome jounin off into the sunset.
What happened next was too fast for Kakashi to remember. One minute Naruto was grumbling as a thick rope bound him by the ankle, and the next Naruto was in front of him, once-rope-kunai dangerously close to Kakashi's neck. The man gazed with disbelief, but had not bothered to stand up properly. Instead he gripped the kunai.
"And you expect that to hurt me?"
"Nope." Naruto admitted, letting out a cheeky grin.
Kakashi barely had any time to raise an eyebrow before the bark behind him was bark no more, but instead, Sakura, who had grabbed her sensei by the vest as he stumbled from the lack of support.
"No, but I bet this will." Sakura punched her sensei, mind you, without chakra, so that he flew a couple meters back into another tree. However, it did not stop there. The tree poofed into the real Naruto, who had grabbed the bells the instant his sensei made impact with him.
"Sakura, catch!" Naruto threw the second bell towards Sakura, who smirked as she reached out for it – only to have missed as a blur of black and blue caught the bell instead.
"Hn. Too slow."
Sakura gaped at Sasuke. Meanwhile, Kakashi mocked, "Finally escaped, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn."
"Teme! You cheater!" Naruto yelled, glaring at Sasuke. "You tell him, Sakura-chan!"
It brought Sakura back to her senses. Anger began exploding from her lithe form.
And, by instinct, she kicked him in the gut – this time, with chakra. The force sent him back flying farther than Kakashi had done.
H-how… did she…?
Wild shouts of glee could be heard from Naruto as he smirked at the sight of a beaten Sasuke. "Cool, Sakura-chan!"
On the other hand, Kakashi was not as pleased with his student's performance. The way she fought mirrored a certain Sannin… who was it again? Nonetheless, he pushed that thought aside as the alarm clock Kakashi had set for noon rang, immediately wiping off the satisfied look off of Sakura's face.
"Well, well, well. I'm sorry, but… all of you are being sent back to the Academy."
"WHAT? BUT! I GOT A BELL, SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, arms flailing about.
"True," Kakashi smiled, as Sasuke slowly joined Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi.
"However, you are all lacking in one thing. Teamwork. It is true, Naruto and Sakura, that you two had devised this plan together, but without Sakura initiating it, you would have never even considered, would you, Naruto? And Sakura. You failed to notice your other teammate, instead working with only one. Teamwork includes everybody. And you, Sasuke Uchiha. Not only did you choose to work alone, you thought everyone else was beneath you when really you had relied on your teammates to get your bell. Life isn't always going to be easy, guys. Nonetheless, you still have punishments to carry out. Sasuke, tie Sakura to that post and then you and Naruto can have your lunch. I'll be off in that tree over there. I will give you guys one last chance. Do not feed Sakura, or you two will fail."
Naruto glared lividly at his sensei before settling down to eat his lunch. No matter what the circumstances were, he could never turn his nose at a good cup of ramen. Meanwhile, Sakura leaned calmly against the post. She had hoped she could offer her lunch to Sasuke, which would then allow Team 7 to pass, just like all those years ago. She doubted Sasuke would do it for her.
"You," the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan muttered, securing the rope around her, "are not Sakura. I know perfectly well what her abilities and personality is like."
"Well then," Sakura retorted, daring herself to glare at those mesmerizing onyx eyes, "I guess you don't know me at all then, Sasuke-ku – Sasuke."
"Acting indifferent is a completely useless tactic, especially for an annoying fangirl like you," the Uchiha stated.
The all-too-familiar words stung, but Sakura was not one to back down. "Oh? Well, you must know that no girl would ever like a chicken-butt-haired guy like you who's weaker than Naruto!"
She instantly regretted her words. Sasuke tugged on the ropes with a force she had never seen before, and it hurt, leaving her gasping for air.
"We'll see, Sakura." Sasuke left, taking his place on the post to the right of Sakura. She sighed as her teammates ate in silence.
"Here." Sasuke startled the kunoichi, prodding her with his uneaten lunch box. If anything, his demeanor had changed from the moments prior; his tone did not carry its usual arrogant note and he even looked guilt ridden to a certain extent.
"S-Sasuke? But what about you?"
"Just eat it before I change my mind."
Sakura's heart raced with happiness towards her stoic teammate. He wasn't such a stuck-up Uchiha, after all. Using her unbound hand, she brought the sandwich up to her mouth, noting the extra tomatoes stuffed between the pieces of bread.
"Ne, Sakura-chan… take my lunch too! Ramen's good for you!"
"Oh, Naruto, thanks." She smiled.
However, their moment of peace did not last long. Kakashi had arrived at the scene sooner than one could say ninja. A dark, furious aura surrounded him as a gazed down at the three Genin.
"Sasuke… Naruto… why did you do what I had strictly told you not to do?"
Naruto was the first to speak up. "Uhhh…" he muttered.
"Because we're a team." Sasuke's calm, cold voice rang.
"Oh?"
"We will go through obstacles… as a team."
"Yeah, that's it!" Naruto yelled, giving a thumbs up at Sasuke. Sakura nodded fervently. She hoped Kakashi would pass them…
"Ah. Well then, you guys pass! Congratulations!" Kakashi said with a hint of happiness in his voice.
"WHAT? WE DO?"
"Yup. Now meet me tomorrow at the bridge. We have work to do."
~
"Saaaaaaaaakura-chan!"
"Hm?" Sakura spun around, biting her lip as she gazed into his cerluean eyes that were once lifeless.
"Ne, ne, how did you manage to land those awesomely-crazy moves on Sasuke?"
"Well," said Sakura, trailing off. She was about to give Naruto a good tip when she noticed the familiar chakra signature of her sensei lurking nearby. He was most likely suspicious after today's performance. "It's a secret!" She giggled, sticking her tongue out.
"Awwww... Sakura-chan..."
~
Over the next two weeks, Team 7 did a variety of D-rank missions - from weeding the garden to picking up litter from the rivers. Sakura continued to maintain close contact with Tsunade-sama, all the while learning more and more about Sasuke's ambush intended for Konoha council elders.
The missions were grueling and monotonous, but nonetheless, Sakura reminded herself, it was a piece of cake compared to her training with Tsunade-sama and missions she had undergone in the past. However, she was dying to kick some butt, especially after dealing with Sasuke's harsh and arrogant personality - now, why didn't she see that before? - as well as Naruto's reluctant and annoying behaviour. She had been the one who had done the most work, since Naruto thought it was improper for the future Hokage to do such work and Sasuke, naturally, had thought that trivial things such as this were useless and a waste of time.
Naturally, Sakura was very much relieved when Naruto gave an indignant outburst at yet another trifling D-rank mission.
"Why are our missions SO boring? I wanna fight! We'll never improve if we keep on doing these stupid D-rank missions! Old geezer, give us a better mission!"
Kakashi, who had paused between a mid-flip of a page, sighed.
The Sandaime raised an eyebrow, gazing at the Jinchuuriki before him. "For that outburst, Naruto, no, I will not grant you a higher-ranking mission." Iruka-sensei nodded approvingly, also relieved that Naruto's immature actions would not put him in danger.
That is, until Sakura chose to spoke.
"Hokage-sama," she muttered, bowing her head in respect. "As loudmouthed as our teammate is," she scowled, causing Naruto to scratch his head absentmindedly, "I second Naruto's request. After all, I think we are perfectly capable of handling a C rank mission, are we not, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but muttered hesitatingly, "It is true... however, -"
"Hn." Sasuke's mutter silenced the jounin, also signalling his agreement. Sakura and Naruto smiled cheekily at each other before staring intently at the Sandaime.
"If you insist," the old man sighed. "In fact, we have a C-rank mission right now. You are escorting someone to the Land of Waves."
Iruka gaped at the Hokage in shock. "B-but, Hokage-sama!"
"No buts," the Hokage sighed, raising his hand. "You better not make me regret this, Kakashi."
"Ahaha... Hai."
"Oooh! Who are we escorting, old man? A princess from a far-away land? Or maybe someone from the Hidden Ramen Agency! Or maybe -"
"Naruto," Kakashi thundered, "I suggest you shut up."
"Yes. Well then, come in, Tazuna-san."
The slightly chipped mahogany door swung wide open with a deafening creak, revealing...
"Ew! It's an old drunken man with totally unstylish clothes!" Naruto yelled, causing Sakura to giggle.
"Why," the old man growled, "It's a bunch of little kids... not to mention an immature dumb runt. Just my luck."
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Chapter notes: The meaning of teamwork is enforced onto Team 7 - but this time, in a different manner...