Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Bored emerald eyes watch as clan heads and council members exchange verbal blows fervently. The harried blonde man at the top of the platform tries and fails to help them achieve peace. 

Sakura looks to her left, staring up at her grandmother. A woman as sturdy as a tree named Ume. She had been leading the Haruno Merchants for well over four decades and was still going strong. Her son, Sakura’s papa, was not in line for the family head position since he’s a man, but her mama is a terrifyingly competent woman who O-bāchan absolutely loves.

To her right, her mama’s hand moves rapidly across a notepad, likely taking meticulous notes. 

From the few words Sakura can spy, it seems she is recording the arguments and who they’re between.

Is she… keeping track of who hates who?

Sakura is impressed, and as the heiress to the family, she makes a mental note to keep track of the same thing. Having been groomed from the moment she could walk and talk to lead the clan, she is well aware of her role. 

(Though she finds the whole idea monotonous and dull. Predictable. Her eidetic memory and quick thinking make the process… mundane. Sakura is five. A toddler in the eyes of society, but even she is self-aware enough to know she lacks motivation. A true desire and want for something. She hopes that one day she will find it-)

A crushing weight falls upon the Assembly Hall. Sakura feels like she’s suffocating. The chokehold the invisible force has on her clutches everyone else, to lesser degrees for some.

(The shinobi clans don’t look as physically sick as she and the civilian clans and attendees.)

The pressure eases, seeming to move elsewhere. 

“Let’s keep things cordial, Shimura-sama. Hyūga-sama.” The blonde man sitting at the highest point orders, words neutral but tone icy. 

The two men who had been standing up, throwing insults at one another, looked properly reproached as they spat out contrite apologies.

“Apologies, Minato-sama,” The pretty man with long brown hair and pearl colored eyes murmurs.

“Do forgive me, Yondaime-sama,” The old man with a cane, eye patch, and wrapped arm grates out.

Conversations start up again, moving through the agenda seamlessly, if slightly tense.

Sakura’s brow furrows, and she gently pulls on her mama’s sleeve.

Mebuki’s evergreen eyes slide to Sakura as her small but calloused hands brush Sakura’s bangs from her face. A perfect sandy blonde brow rises.

Sakura can read the question in the motion.

Are you okay? What’s wrong?

Sakura nods and gestures for her pen and notepad. Bemused, Mebuki hands her both items. Sakura writes out her question.

'What is a Yondaime?'

Mebuki’s brows raise in shock and embarrassment before she writes back.

'Yondaime means fourth. As in he is the fourth Hokage.'

Sakura’s pink brows furrow at the words her mama wrote. She knew what a Hokage was. While her studies were primarily civilian and merchant in nature, she did have basic knowledge about the political system of Konoha. 

The Hokage was the military leader of their village. Approved by the Daimyō himself as well as a council of elders. That was all she knew.

And while her clan did have shinobi customers, they focused mainly on civilians and civilian nobles. Shinobi clans usually had their own outfitters and blacksmiths. Civilian-born shinobi obviously did not, so they were a large part of the audience that visited Haruno weaponries. 

Emerald eyes turn toward the large window to the right of the assembly hall wall. Outside the window, in her direct line of sight, is a mountain with four faces. The last face, near identical to the man who had, moments ago, shut down a budding fight.

Sakura scribbles out, 'Is the Hokage a good ninja?'

'The Hokage is always the strongest ninja within the village', her mama writes back. 

Sakura pauses at that sentence. Her mama said the strongest. Not the richest. Not the most powerful (politically).

Just strong. 

Wide and (for the first time in ages) curious emerald eyes leave the rock monument to stare at the blonde man as he nods along. He seems to notice her stare because his head turns to her, and his deep blue eyes, that resemble her papa’s, brighten at the sight of her. His hands give a little wave, and Sakura tilts her head with a small smile in return.

Sakura begins to catalogue everything she can about the man. He seems to be around her parents' age, despite his “baby face”, as her O-bāchan would say. He is also, without a doubt, a beautiful man. Judging from the many smiling faces that pop up when he speaks, he is also well-liked. 

For all intents and purposes, the man is far too beautiful, in Sakura’s opinion, to be a ninja. And when he retires, he should look into a career in modeling or acting. 

Sakura’s brilliant mind goes back to the four male faces carved into the rock behind her. All men who are likely from shinobi clans or families. 

A new feeling burns in her stomach. A fire sparks, desperate to kindle something. 

For the first time in all her cogniscent years, Haruno Sakura has a want. 

A desire.

Sakura holds her mother’s hand as they walk back in the direction of their compound. 

Gripping the hand extra tight, she turns her head to look back at the Hokage Monument for a second before looking straight ahead. 

“Mama. O-bāchan.”

Both women stop talking and look down at their heiress. They don't get to ask her what’s wrong, stunned by the pure determination writ on her little cherub face. Something fierce burning in her large emerald eyes.

Mebuki might not be a born Haruno, but she had their backbone, drive, and terrifying charisma. 

Mebuki and Ume know that whatever Sakura is about to say is not up for debate. That they and the clan will have to bend over backwards to help her. 

For when a Haruno set their eyes on something it needed to be theirs.

“I’m going to become Hokage,” Sakura declares with stone-cold certainty.

The older women don’t even get to stop, pause, and gape at the young girl, because she has since let go of her mother’s hand and kept walking. Spine straight, eyes on a prize in the far distance.

Chapter Text

Haruno Sakura is five years old, thus unable to join the academy. After the Third Shinobi War ended, the age minimums were reinstated. One for registration and a new one for graduation.

This means she has a year to catch up to all the other children who will be at the Shinobi Academy. 

Shinobi Clan children. Children born to civilian-born shinobi.

Both groups of children who have plenty on her in skill and experience. 

(Of course, she knows there is a world of difference between a child trained by a meticulous clan and a child put into the academy with vague guidance from regular shinobi parents. But the gap is there, regardless. And she needs to bridge it.)

Sakura might have more knowledge in Hi no Kuni history, arithmetic, science, law, and finance in her head.

But that information is not what she needs now.

She needs katas. 

Chakra meditation methods. 

Ninjutsu theory.

Shinobi clan history and background information.

Weapons.

Ninja rankings.

For the first time in her five years of life, Haruno Sakura wakes up and does not go to the family library, something often envied by guests.

No, her papa takes her hand and walks her to the Konoha Library. A beast of a building with several floors. The smell of parchment, ink, and wood is familiar. The sound of pages flipping, but not of her own fingers, is new but welcomed.

“Good morning,” Her papa greets the bored-looking shinobi manning the desk. “My little petal would like to sign up for a library card.”

The teenage shinobi blinks at Kizashi before leaning over his desk to look down and spy Sakura. 

Sakura, who smiles brightly at him, “Good morning, shinobi-san!”

The young man huffs and hands her papa a clipboard, “Fill this out, and we’ll need a sample of her blood to create the card.”

Her papa pales, but Sakura nods, nonplussed.

“Here you go,” An older woman with various scars on her arms and neck says as she hands Sakura her little plastic card. The woman was clearly a kunoichi in her youth. Maybe even still right now. Shinobi aged differently. “As a civilian, you have access to all the books and scrolls up until the fourth floor. Do not try to break in. There is fuinjutsu meant to block. It hurts.”

Sakura turns the card over in her hands once, nods, and smiles softly at the head librarian, “Thank you very much.”

The kunoichi waves her and her papa off. 

The man is her chaperone for the day, as he won’t need to go on a caravan for a few more weeks.

Large warm hands ruffle her hair, prompting her to look up at the man she got her hair color from, “Where should we start, blossom?”

Scanning the first floor, taking note of all the signs she can read, she spots a corner that says “Study Room”. 

Sakura points at the wall, “Can we reserve a room, Papa?”

Kizashi follows her line of sight, and his eyes brighten in approval, “A wise decision. Let us go book one for a few hours.

That day is the official beginning of Sakura’s journey into Shinobi-hood. For the next three weeks, she reads every book available to her that is shinobi-related.

She officially learns about all the shinobi clans, large and minor, within the village. Their current populations. Their skill sets. When they first joined Konoha. Who the founding heads were at the time of assimilation. 

She learns about all the shinobi villages. From their location to whether they are currently an ally.

Sakura learns the foundational knowledge needed to use chakra. She cannot access any meditation methods or scrolls on ninjutsu or genjutsu, but the foundational knowledge is all she needs. Her family could easily buy her the other books or scrolls when she is ready.

She learns about Shinobi no Kami. She learns about the Hokages.

Most importantly, she learns about the burning sensation in her stomach. Hi no Ishi. A will of fire.

Current Hokage, the Yondaime- Namikaze-Uzumaki Minato. Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō. 

A civilian-born prodigy turned orphan during the Second Shinobi War. A war hero from the Third Shinobi War and student of one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Renown as a fuinjutsu master and ninjutsu specialist. Most known techniques were a futon attribute attack called Rasengan and a fuinjtusu technique first developed by the Nidaime, Senju Tobirama, the Hiraishin. He has been Hokage for six years. Currently married and has one child. 

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. One of the few shinobi given the moniker Shinobi no Kami, but also referred to as The Professor.

Current patriarch of the Sarutobi Clan. Disciple to both the Shodaime and Nidaime and later became the jōnin sensei to the Legendary Sannin, heroes of the Second Shinobi War. Son of Sarutobi Sasuke, the patriarch who had led the clan to join Konoha, his clan is one of the few founding clans. A ninjutsu specialist who outshone the Nidaime, he was a natural prodigy. Like many in his clan, he has a primate summon. Sarutobi Hiruzen is also proficient in bukijutsu, specifically bōjutsu. He weilds an adamantine staff reminiscent of the Monkey King's staff. Meritously, he was the longest serving Hokage at over 30 years. The Sandaime was a big supporter of Hi no Ishi and currently still lives within the village.

The Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama, was the younger brother of Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime. While no moniker had been given to him, he was a fearsome shinobi and a prodigy sensor of unparalleled talent with high intelligence. He created the academy as well as the shinobi ranks currently used worldwide. Never married, he dedicated his life to stabilizing the village and protecting her citizens. He also helped to revolutionize iryō-ninjutsu. He trained many shinobi, most notable being Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Kagami. Outside his sensor skills, Tobirama excelled in fuinjutsu and practically breathed suiton jutsus. Many of the jutsus used in the current age were created by or modified for better output by him. Much of his personal life is unknown due to his private nature. He passed away during the First Shinobi War at the hands of the Kinkachu Twins.

The Shodaime, Senju Hashirama, was the first person to ever be given the title, Shinobi no Kami. Patriarch to the Senju clan, he founded Konohagakure no Sato alongside his childhood best friend and rival, Uchiha Madara. While he did not have a dedicated team, he did mentor many shinobi alongside his brother. Skilled in fuinjutsu and blessed with outrageous chakra reserves, he was most known for being the third ever person to use mokuton. He married Uzumaki Mito, the princess of Uzu no Kuni; their union helped bring the island shinobi to the mainland peacefully. What is not often remarked upon was his love for healing. Hashirama worked tirelessly to develop a healing skill similar to his innate physiology. He is the grandfather of Senju Tsunade, the Slug Princess, the War Hero, and the sole woman of the Legendary Sannin. Senju Hashirama was a terrible gambler, a compassionate individual, and well-loved among the populace for establishing peace. He is said to have died in his battle against Uchiha Madara.

Sakura only finds exactly three bits of information about Uchiha Madara, the Uchiha no Bōrei. The one and only equal to Senju Hashirama.

He founded Konoha alongside his best friend, Senju Hashirama, while acting as the Uchiha Clan patriarch.

He was said to be able to battle for days on end without taking a break and used a gunbei as his primary weapon. 

Uchiha Madara is presumed to have died in his final battle against Senju Hashirama.

At the end of her three weeks, Sakura’s head hurts from the vast amount of knowledge she essentially swallowed, but the smile on her face could not be brighter. Summer, and essentially summer vacation, starts in a week. What follows is the fall and winter leading up to her entrance into the academy.

Sakura officially leaves the library behind her with dozens of shinobi and kunoichi librarians staring at her in morbid fascination and shock. 

At the vast amount of books she read or the fact that they can tell she will not be back for the foreseeable future, she does not know.

What she does know are the five criteria required of a kage.

A large chakra reserve, multitalented, intelligent, a deep devotion to the village, and renown.

Sakura subconsciously skips back to the Haruno compound, a growing smile on her face and burning drive in her gaze. 

I need a tutor. A mentor. Several.

Chapter Text

The academy entrance exam was laughably easy. 

The one for the civilian-born children, at least. It was clearly a way to determine rank and intelligence as well as skill. No doubt those with few skills or intelligence would be put in the remedial classes. These classes typically hold mainly civilian children and orphans. Children who are only at the academy to learn to read, write, and do basic math. Foundational skills anyone would need.

Those with high intelligence but no skills or plenty of skills but low intelligence would be put in the average to intermediate classes. This class will likely be a mix of children from civilian-born shinobi and shinobi-clan branch members. Maybe even a dedicated child of regular civilians or an orphan dedicated to becoming a ninja.

Those with the skill and intelligence (and unspoken pedigree), are in the advanced classes. Also known as the Clan Children Class. A class full of shinobi clan children from the main branch or exceedingly talented branch families. The occasional civilian-born shinobi kids whose parents actually trained them to be more.

Of course, this year it seemed every shinobi clan had a clan heir or something adjacent entering the academy. 

Sakura casually catalogues every child she sees by their features or clan kamon. 

(Of course, she is in this class. She worked hard to only solve the original questions, leaving the extra credit ones blank. She showed that she was smart but not above the curriculum. A trying task, mind you, as she did not like being wrong or doing things halfway. But it was a necessary evil. One, her cousins who had shinobi experience insisted upon.)

(Another part of her is excited. Not to learn more about becoming a shinobi, but the possibility of making a friend. When her mama and papa reassured her that, just like the civilian academy, it was possible to make friends. A new feeling bubbled up inside her. Made her giddy.. So yes, Sakura is determined to become Hokage, but a small part of her, who has always been the youngest in her family, is excited to be around those within her age group.) 

Sakura stares curiously at the three cousins before her. Each one with a shade of pink or plum hair, intentionally ranked no higher than chūnin and in “paper ninja” roles. 

Yuri works in the diplomatic corps, and they look at Sakura as if they are analyzing her.

Tsubaki works in crypto-analysis. He grins mischievously at her.

Himawari works at the mission desk and aviary alternating. She smiles widely at Sakura, eyes twinkling in glee.

Tsubaki, with his shoulder-length fuchsia hair, tilts his head to the side, “So you wanna be Hokage, huh, pipsqueak?”

Sakura pouts and scowls at the 23-year-old, “Please do not call me that, and I will become Hokage.”

Yuri raises an intrigued brow, “Do you know what, exactly, a shinobi does?”

Jade eyes narrow, “Shinobi are the main military power in the series. A female ninja can be referred to as a kunoichi if she wants. Most come from a hidden village, some of whom come from specialized ninja clans, and will perform missions for a fee. But a large part of the shinobi workforce is civilian-born. These missions can include: doing manual labor, acting as escorts, gathering secret information, retrieving stolen items, carrying out assassinations, etc. A common requirement for becoming a shinobi, however, is being able to manipulate chakra. Shinobi are expected to be loyal to their villages for life, and any defectors are considered to be missing-nin and will be marked for death.”

Her cousins look at her in varying degrees of shock and amusement, but Sakura simply blinks at them, waiting patiently for her lessons.

Yuri recovers first and hands Sakura a leather bundle, “Stamina building.”

When Sakura reaches to take the bundle, she falls flat on her face.

“You’ll be wearing these from now on,” She orders, looking down at Sakura, waiting for her to get up. “You are already behind many of your future colleagues. Most of whom have been training since they could walk. Between the three of us, Sakura-chan, we will improve your stamina, marksmanship, and increase your chakra pool.”

Sakura figures it is obvious to everyone within the clan that her intelligence surpasses a majority of them. So she grits her teeth and struggles to get up.

“We will have Obāsama let the kitchen know to change your diet. A civilian girl can look thin and petite, but not a kunoichi,” Himawari adds.

Sakura exhales sharply.

So be it.

“Good morning, everyone,” A friendly-looking teen with tan skin begins at the front of the classroom. “My name is Umino Iruka. I will be one of your main instructors for the next six years. Please call me Iruka-sensei.”

A chorus of ‘hai’ resounds in the class before Iruka-sensei gestures to the sour-faced gentleman with silver hair next to him, “Same thing. Call me Mizuki-sensei.”

Another round of ‘hai’ echo, and the two chūnin instructors begin to take attendance.

“... Haruno… Sakura?”

Sakura finds that since she decided to become a shinobi and later, the Hokage, she's been introduced to a multitude of new feelings and emotions. 

The newest feeling currently is self-consciousness. 

Because it took one pause and a confused questioning utterance of her name from Iruka-sensei for her to realize that Sakura was the only civilian-born student in the classroom. The only one who likely did not know the others in some manner that was likely built from connections as old as the village's founding. 

Oh, she heard other names of civilian origin be called, but Sakura is smart enough to catch the physical similarities many have to other children from shinobi clans. 

Nearly 24 small heads turn to look at the back of the room where she sits. 

Suddenly, the room is too small. Her clothes are too tight. Her face burns as if she has a fever. Shoulders that she had been trained to keep straight and powerful, curl inward. 

Every single pair of eyes dissects her in a way that feels worse than anything she had been subjected to when she sat in on clan meetings with her clan elders. 

Why do their stares bother me so much… Why are they still staring? 

“H-here, Iruka-sensei..” Her face burns hotter at the sudden stutter she had never once had. For once, she wishes the freshly cut blunt bangs her mother had done for her didn’t stop above her brows, but covered her eyes. 

The tan-skinned man stops gaping and smiles softly at her before moving on. Sakura, as self-conscious as she is currently, doesn't miss the sneer of disdain the silver-haired sensei sends her way before he wipes his face of all emotion. 

The attention. The clear shock and visible dislike have Sakura shrinking in her seat. Thankful no one else is to her immediate left and right. 

Lunch is called, and immediately all the kids run out. Not once, during any of the breaks, did a single person come talk to her. Let alone look at her. The latter of which she was thankful for, since she was still reeling from the nauseating sensation from when all that attention had been on her. 

As silently and inconspicuously as she can, Sakura leaves her classroom and goes to find a secluded spot to eat her lunch in peace. Before, she had been determined to make a friend during her lunch break; now, she simply wants space. 

To dissect, analyze, and understand her feelings and reactions to the first part of the day.

She finds a thriving and bright green momiji and decides to make this her spot. In the distance, she can make out the screams and laughter of children. Children who likely have friends and are enjoying each other's company. 

It’s fine, she assures herself, Papa said it takes time to make friends. 

Unwrapping her bento, Sakura slowly begins to eat her lunch and read the new book on Suna poisons her merchant cousins had brought back for her. She makes it as far as chapter four- sand toad venom, and it’s many applications- when a shadow blocks her vision. 

Sakura had known other kids had made their way to the back of the school, but she hadn’t known they were heading straight for her. She was not yet on sensory techniques, having only learned the basics of spatial awareness.

Jade eyes flicker up, confused, to stare at the group of girls leering down at her. As new to social interactions with her age group Sakura is, even she can tell that this interaction is not one with good intentions. 

The girl at the forefront, she recognizes, as they are in the same class, Uzuki Ami. The purple hair is a typical trait of one of the many Uzu clans that sought refuge in the village after the fall of Uzushiogakure. The clan that the physical feature belongs to is the Uzuki clan. A mostly female clan known for their sensors. 

The two girls behind her are not in her class. Judging by the facial features, body size, and the auburn curly hair of one, Sakura is certain the girl is a branch member of the Akimichi clan. 

(Branch because all main clan members have tattoos on their cheeks of some sort.)

The other girl has no clear clan features and looks more civilian in nature, likely the child of a civilian-born shinobi. 

Finished assessing the girls in front of her, Sakura blinks, “Can I help you?” 

Ami’s glare deepens, “Who do you think you are?”

Sakura tilts her head in confusion, “My name is Haruno Sakura.”

The girls all scoff, but Ami is the one who remains talking. 

“I don’t care about your stupid name, freak. I’m asking how you got into the clan heir class!”

“I did very well on the written test…”

“Written test? What written test?”

Sakura’s eyes flash with understanding, children from the shinobi clans or immediate shinobi heritage don’t take the written exam. It is only used for the civilian-born to test their intelligence and assign a rank…

Sakura doesn’t know how she feels about that, but she puts those thoughts on the back burner. Instead, she nods slowly, “Yes. When I signed up, I had to take a test. According to the proctors, I received a perfect score.”

Hence why I am in the advanced class - not the heir class - is unsaid but definitely heard, judging by the angry blush that crosses their faces.

“That doesn’t explain how a stupid civilian gets to mingle with us! There are far more worthy clan kids that spot could have been given to,” She hisses, leaning further into Sakura’s space.

Sakura pouts, unsure of where this conversation is going, “And what would you have me do about it?”

All three girls smirk maliciously and pleased, “Transfer to the cannon fodder class, obviously.”

The Akimichi girl raises a brow and snorts, “Better yet, drop out. With hair the bright and pink, you wouldn’t even have worth as cannon fodder.”

The third girl and Ami snicker. 

By now, Sakura can once again feel the stares of other children on her person. She does not like it. Not one bit. 

Her throat threatens to close on her, but she decides to swallow her uncomfortable feeling and retaliate as her mama and obāchan would. 

Backhandedly and ruthlessly. 

Willing the tears that for some reason threaten to fall, to stay, Sakura sniffs, sits up straighter, and raises a brow back at the girls.

Bullies, her mind supplies. These girls are bullies. Mama said bullies aren’t worth my time. Obāchan said they would be stepping stones. 

“So because I have bright hair and I am a civilian, I am worthless?”

There is a pause from the bullies and a curious silence from the onlookers, but the girls seem to find their second wind and backbone. Likely not willing to back down or look like losers.

Unfortunately for them, Sakura was raised by merchants. Ruthless, cutthroat merchants. And what these girls don’t, or have yet to realize, is that without civilians, the village would be nothing. And a merchant family of her standing could easily topple the economy and government. 

Instead, an amused and vicious smile graces her face, “Did you hear that, Uzumaki-san? They said Hokage-sama, your father, is worthless.”

All three girls blanch, but Sakura is already looking at the table that Uzumaki Naruto sits at with Uchiha Sasuke and Inuzuka Kiba. 

It takes Sasuke quickly explaining her words for Naruto to growl and glare at the girls, “My Otōsan is not worthless!” 

The blonde Uzumaki stands up, making to stomp over when the girls begin to splutter apologies to the ‘honorable son’.

But Sakura isn’t done yet. Her frigid foam green eyes cut to one more person in their class. Age-mate interactions, Sakura is not used to, but hierarchy she most certainly is used to.

Baby blue clashes with meadow green, and Sakura can read the intrigue in the girl’s eyes.

“Yamanaka-san, it seems you would also be cannon fodder, according to them. Considering your hair color. Maybe your entire clan is.”

Several gasps echo, followed by a heavy silence. Yamanaka Ino’s eyes flash with something decidedly amused. Sakura can already tell the Yamanaka heiress will side with Sakura, if only because, again, they both have bright hair colors. 

To not side with Sakura would make the girl a hypocrite, as well as in agreement with the comment about their military leader.

When Sakura looks back at the three girls, they all have gone from pale to green. Having caught onto what Sakura has done. Flipped their attempt at bullying into a matter of honor (for the clans insulted) and treason (for the slight against their Hokage).

The Nara heir raises a curious brow at her audacity, and the Akimichi heir chomps through his chips nervously. He likely wants to defend his kin, but knows there is more value in backing Ino.

(That’s right, Sakura knows all about Ino-Shika-Chō.)

Ino has since left her table with her bosom buddies and stalked toward the four of them, Naruto at her heels. The brighter blonde is piping mad, visibly, but it is Ino’s blank face that Sakura is more wary of. 

Naruto growls and leans into the space of the three bullies, “Say that about my otōsan again!”

Ino tilts her head, “Please feel free to explain further about my clan as well. I’m sure my father would love some advice on how to help our clan avoid such a terrible fate.”

All three girls blush furiously. Ami opens her mouth to rebut, but likely catches the mean smile on Sakura’s face and stops.

Finally, having realized that her attempt to ‘put a civilian in her place’ has been turned into a trap by Sakura that she walked into with her own two feet, big mouth, elitism, and entitlement. 

All three girls bow at a 90-degree angle before dropping to their knees, “Please forgive us. We meant no disrespect towards the Yamanaka clan or the Hokage.”

Yes, Haruno Sakura has virtually no knowledge of the inner workings of shinobi clans.

But she’s read every book available that laid out their foundational history, how they work with the village, and has studied power since she could talk.

This was not a battle she was going to lose.

(That doesn’t mean she won’t absolutely bawl once she gets home.)

“Hey.”

Sakura snaps her head to look at the voice.

Yamanaka Ino smirks at her with her hands on her hips and approval in her eyes, “Yamanaka Ino.”

“... Haruno Sakura.”

Baby blue eyes roll, “Do you want to come sit with me, Shika, and Chōji?”

Sakura’s eyes widen, not noticing that the three girls have run away and Naruto has frog-marched back to his friends, still spitting mad. 

She must be staring at Ino for a moment too long, because suddenly, her book and bento box are snatched from her hand, and she herself is pulled to her feet. 

Ino drags her back to the table. 

“I think we’re going to be great friends, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura feels her face burn at the blonde girl’s words, and she stutters through an apology, “I’m sorry for bringing you guys into my… thing.”

The Yamanaka heiress huffs, “No need for apologies. It was a smart move. I never liked Ami anyway, and it was good to see someone else put her in her place for once.”

Ino looks over her shoulder to grin and wink at Sakura. 

Sakura blushes further.

Chapter Text

Sakura looks to the left and right of her for the fourth time this hour. The view she sees never changes. In fact, it gets clearer despite her wishes. Because no matter how often she blinks and stares at the two boys who have rudely taken to arguing with each other as she sits behind them doesn't change. 

Her day had started so well. Mama had shown her the outfit she had dubbed “your genin attire”. A beautiful and reasonable ensemble. Black cargo pants with loads of pockets. A burgundy halter top with the Haruno circle stitched on the back, a forest green bomber jacket with enough pockets to rival her pants, an around-the-bust holster and thick kunoichi boots. Reasonable. Fashionable. 

(Ino, her best friend and rival, had screeched in jealousy and then demanded the outfitters. Sakura has no doubt the Yamanaka family will be by either this evening or tomorrow to get Ino a new outfit that isn't so… garish.) 

Yes, the ensemble was perfect. Tied with her standard hitai-ate around her head to replace the ribbon Ino had gifted her and a tight fish tail braid, Sakura felt ready. She felt like a ninja. A shinobi.

Yet, as she looks to the left and bites back a frown to stare at Uchiha Sasuke and swallows her growl when she looks to the right and still sees Uzumaki fucking Naruto, she can't help but wonder… 

Which kami did I piss off in a past life? 

Because, judging from the shocked and worried look that Chōji, Ino, and Shikamaru shot her when the team members and team number were called, they know as well as Sakura does, that neglect for her training and coddling of her team members is what her future holds. 

Six years I've been in the academy. I can count on both hands the number of interactions I've had with Naruto and Sasuke, and still have four fingers left. All three of us and with one or the other. 

BOOM

Sakura jumps and very carefully doesn't throw a kunai. Looking to the entrance, it seems that in her existential crisis and mild panic attack, her lovely teammates had decided to right the door and prank their new jōnin sensei. 

Naruto cackles, “Kaka-nii! We got you good, dattebayo!”

The man drenched in bright orange paint, glitter, and other things Sakura can't bother to name, bursts into a cloud. 

“Maa… so eager for action and yet still too naive, Naruto.”

Sasuke pouts, “You’re late! You deserved it.”

Sakura refrains from slamming her head on the desk and groaning. 

The word Kaka-nii echo through her mind, further confirming the nepotism at play here. 

(Not once has any of them addressed her. Granted, she's suppressed her chakra from the moment the team announcements and then blocked her scent. She's determined to blend into the background for as long as possible. Part to hide and gather her bearings. Part to observe the skills of her new... team.) 

Hatake fucking Kakashi, pseudo son to Namikaze Minato and actual son to war hero Hatake Sakumo, stands in the entrance, behind where the exploded kage bunshin had just stood. His gravity-defying silver hair and face mask are dead giveaways to his identity. 

“I knew I was going to regret letting Minato-sensei talk me into this...” The boys cry out in offended rage. “Meet me on the roof in five minutes.”

The jōnin disappears in a seal-less shunshin, no doubt a testament to his skill, and the boys rush out the front door. 

(Again, not one of them looked at her. Including her new… sensei.)

Which is fine… Sakura hums, tucking her scroll away. I'll just break down the wall they've put up with my fist. I refuse to be ignored and overlooked. 

Sakura slides the window to her left open and plants her foot on the side of the building. With the same ease that shocked her cousins three years ago, the rosette easily and effortlessly scales the academy wall and hops over the railing. 

She takes great joy in the minuscule flinch Kakashi-sensei does once he feels (and likely smells) the chakra she kept suppressed, pop up behind him. 

“Maa… it seems I have one promising student.”

Sakura's been attending combined clan council meetings with her mama and obāchan since she was a child. Even more merchant meetings. She can read what he's really saying. 

Who taught you - a civilian - such advanced techniques? 

Sakura smiles innocently, mimicking the same one he has, and sits on the steps in front of where he leans. 

“I'm glad you think so, Kakashi-sensei.”

I dare you to ignore me. 

The rooftop door slams open, and Naruto and Sasuke stomp over to where she sits. They're panting, no doubt because they unnecessarily roughhoused on the way, and glare at her. 

It's Sasuke who glares at her harshest, the competitive bastard, “How did you beat us here?!”

Naruto squints at her in suspicion beside him.

“When'd you even get here? We haven't seen ya since Iruka-sensei announced the team assignments.”

It takes everything in Sakura not to let her disgust show on her face at their words. Sakura can taste the amusement trickling from Kakashi-sensei’s chakra (make no mistake, Sakura is not by any means a sensor. Her range is piss poor, but she is a chakra control prodigy with a knack for ninjutsu theory. So she crafted her own). 

Sakura blinks at them innocently and decides to answer Sasuke's question, “I walked.”

Their squawk of outrage is music to her ears. 

Her papa, Kizashi, is sitting at the dining table, going over trade routes, when she stomps into the house. Her obāchan and mama, who had been offering advice, stop talking. 

All three adults look at her with raised brows as she plops onto the couch and uncharacteristically screams into the cushion. 

(She does not like letting her temper get the best of her.) 

It's her father who decides to bite the metaphorical bullet, “How'd team assignments go, petal?”

She grumbles and growls into the cushions. 

Her mama snorts, “Say that again. We don't speak couch gremlin.”

Lifting her head to glare at her family, she mutters bitterly, “Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto under the guidance of one esteemed Hatake Kakashi.”

The look on their combined faces is exactly how she feels. 

This is a gross oversight and completely irresponsible. 

“You have until 12 o'clock when the alarm rings to steal these bells. Anyone without a bell will be sent back to the academy,” Kakashi-sensei chirps with false enthusiasm, and Sakura frowns. “Any questions before we begin? Remember to come at me with the intent to kill. Begin!”

Immediately, the two boys on her team disperse without her, and Sakura closes her eyes to count her breath. 

I will not lose my temper. I will not lose my temper. 

“Maa… Sakura-chan, aren't you going to attack me and attempt to get the bells?”

Frigid jade eyes open to stare intensely at the silver-haired shinobi before her. 

Her lips curl into a disrespectful and slightly unintentional sneer, “I'm not an idiot, Kakashi-sensei. And unlike my… teammates, it seems I'm the only one among us who actually read the shinobi handbook as well as genin guidelines in chapter six, section b.”

The grey eyes sharpen in interest at her, “Meaning?”

Crossing her arms, she looks him up and down rudely (her temper is beginning to slip. Being ignored, underestimated, and considered an idiot are slowly cracking her carefully crafted composure), “Meaning I know what you just said is a bald-faced lie.”

The training ground goes deathly quiet, but she's started, and she can't stop, “Ever since the Yondaime came into power, genin teams require a minimum of three genin. Anyone who fails to impress their potential sensei is, in fact, not sent back to the academy because of the words of just one jōnin, considering we did our final test in front of a panel consisting of the Hokage and five chūnin sensei. We'd be sent to the genin corps.”

His eyes widen, and even with Sakura's measly sensing, she can feel the incredulous looks she feels tickling her face are from her hidden teammates. 

“As such, this test is not about getting the bells but likely about teamwork since we are likely a front-line team. And I refuse to play this game, considering my teammates have yet to address me directly except for yesterday on the roof. Not to mention, took off together, with clearly no intention to include me in their plan, determined to stick together and cast me out. Meaning, we fail. I will likely be sent to the corps. And because this team was clearly built on nepotism, elitism, favouritism, and utter ignorance, I expect both boys will unjustly find themselves with an apprenticeship despite the rules about rank requirement outside of extenuating circumstances. Sasuke with a family member in the police force. Naruto is likely with some family or adjacent for fuinjutsu. There is also the option, where only I'm kicked off the team, and you find a more… compatible (compliant) third member.”

Kakashi stares at her blankly. Naruto and Sasuke come from the treeline to her right. Sasuke is glaring, and Naruto looks shocked. Both have a slightly guilty but offended countenance. 

“Kaka-nii.. Is what she said true? This test was about teamwork?”

Sakura raises a brow at the jōnin expectantly. 

A deep sigh leaves his mask-covered lips, and he glares at her half-heartedly, “Has anyone ever called you a killjoy or pessimist?"

Sakura scoffs and rolls her eyes, “I prefer realist.”

Sasuke is the one who furrows his brows as he looks between Sakura and Kakashi, “What was the other intention for this test, besides teamwork?”

Sakura closes her eyes, tilts her head up to the sky, and prays for the patience she quickly finds herself losing. 

Through clenched teeth and repressed frustration, she explains, “This test was meant to see how we handle going up against a foe clearly out of our league. He was testing to see if we had the brains to realise that a one-on-one approach would be fruitless. Kakashi-sensei was also likely testing whether we would put the mission before a team member.”

Naruto and Sasuke look back at Kakashi-sensei with curious and guilty eyes. 

“She's right,” He sounds bitter, having to acknowledge her answer verbally. “Had Sakura-chan not spoken, you likely would have failed the exercise. You two silently agreed to work together, disregarding her. Though who knows. Anything could happen during the exercise.”

When both boys look back at Sakura, who has her arms crossed and a fierce scowl on her face, they actually look upset but slightly guilty. 

Naruto apologises first, looking like an unreptentant puppy, “We're sorry, Sakura. We didn't stop to think, and that almost cost us the test.”

Sasuke looks like an upset kitten with his upturned nose and pout, “We should have introduced ourselves properly. Talked to you yesterday after the assignments were announced. We’re just used to…”

Not having a third person in our space, is unsaid but heard.

Sakura hums, not at all in the mood for their excuses, “I accept your apology. Now, Kakashi-sensei, is there an alternate version of this test that we can take, considering the original became… pointless?”

This time, Sakura can tell the older man is smiling genuinely at them. Why? She doesn't know and isn't in the mood to figure out. 

“Yes, Sakura-chan, there is. The goal is the same, but the punishment is that if your group doesn't take a bell by… 12:30, I'll leave all three of you tied up to these wooden poles until the morning. Hungry.”

Sakura very carefully doesn't think about the large breakfast she had because she'd be a fool not to fuel herself up for the day. Especially considering his exact words were “survival exercise”. Though judging from the stomach growls of the boys next to her, they didn't take such precautions. 

Aren't they supposed to be children of high-ranking shinobi? Was no advice offered to them? How do they expect them to survive? 

Sakura is once again confronted with the power imbalance and inequality between her and her team members. She trained like hell with little resources to come out on top. She hid many of her skills as her cousins said, to hide her true talent. Despite being the child of merchants with enough money and then some, Sakure took nothing for granted. Not a single lesson. Yet these two were acting as if this was a game. Sakura would bet her left arm that they were… coddled in a way she stopped accepting once she set her sight on the Hokage hat. 

Sakura has no doubt in her mind that if their group “failed” the exercise, it would have been her alone sent to the Genin Corps, likely to never get assigned to another genin team. She's going to make this team work. She has a goal, and she will achieve it. 

(But Sakura isn't heartless. She's a keen observer. It's not lost on her how Naruto and Sasuke orbited around each other to an obsessive degree. For good reason, too. Outside of the clan heirs, almost everyone else who interacted with them were fans. And while many could enter their gravitational pull, they never lasted or stayed long. Sakura has a feeling she was put on this team to force them to learn how to interact with others in a professional setting. Her academy file paints her as a paper ninja, a purposeful mask she's worn for six years. Someone with little attachment to them but the potential to care. She was put on this team, not to (just) be canon fodder, but for Naruto and Sasuke's social and professional development.) 

Too bad for them, seafoam eyes glint as she snatches the boys by the scruff of their tops and takes off in the opposite direction of their sensei. I've been determined to break down every wall and mountain in my way since I was six. 

Crouched and hidden behind dense foliage, she looks at the two subdued boys. They both finally look at her with something more than passing interest. Not quite trust, but trust isn’t built in one day. It takes time. 

“Ok,” Onyx and sky blue meet her gaze. “Let's share skill sets and come up with a feasible plan.”

Sakura heads home conflicted, proud, and bruised. 

Despite their lack of interaction in the academy and blatant undermining at the beginning of this assignment, Sakura can see their team working well. It will take work, patience, and opening of her personal boundaries, but it’s possible.

Spring green eyes stare up at the Kage Monument on her walk home. Just like when she was a child, four stone faces, all male, stare down at her. Calloused and dirty fingers clench into a fist determinedly as realisation sets in. 

Kage’s have always been someone on Team 7 or taught Team 7. Whether this is something intentional or not is unknown, but Sakura is inclined to think it is. Nothing is ever simple when in a Hidden Shinobi Village. 

This team was not in her plans at all. She never even considered that she would be placed on a team with any of the clan heirs, despite being in the same class as them. 

But I can’t deny this helps my chances…

And considering the bruises that definitely have bruises that are visible and hidden, Sakura is certain that their sensei will not only take their team seriously, but also her. 

A small grin quirks up on her lips as she gathers a second wind to run all the way home.

“I can do this.”

Chapter Text

“I beg your fattest pardon?”

Kakashi-sensei, despite only his eyes being visible, stares at her amusedly. All grace leaves Sakura as she gapes at the man who just threw her for a loop as if he were commenting on the weather.

“Naruto and Sasuke’s families want to invite you and your parents to the family - now, team - dinner, tonight. This week, we will be at the Uchiha compound.”

That’s what I feared he had said…

It’s been exactly four days since the Bell Test, and since then, Kakashi-sensei has taken to throwing every single teambuilding activity in existence in their faces.

Six-legged races.

Trust falls.

Shodaime Says.

No eyes, mouth, or ears.

Currently, he had dumped the task of teaching the boys how to walk on trees to her after the boys failed to succeed using his instructions. 

She was succeeding… barely.

Naruto clearly had an attention disorder. Coupled with his vast amount of chakra, regular lesson plans could not be used for him since they wouldn’t land or stick.

The blonde Uzumaki gaped at her for a full minute before determination showed in his eyes, and he immediately succeeded in reaching five feet up the tree far more stably than before.

All it took was a metaphor comparing chakra to ramen.

Sasuke looked at the two of them, made eye contact with Sakura, turned his nose up at her and began to tackle his tree all over again with renewed and failing vigour.

Sakura huffed and went back to the genjutsu scroll Kakashi-sensei brought her. She wasn’t going to offer advice to someone who didn’t want it. And she knew the advice she gave to Naruto would do absolutely nothing for Sasuke. Whereas Naruto had no control over chakra at all, considering his vast amount, Sasuke was simply not using enough. Add to that his self-esteem issues and rivalry with Naruto certainly wasn’t helping his usually solid concentration.

By the end of the day, Naruto could make it about six meters up before his control waned. 

Sasuke had only made it up two meters, from pure spite, if the shattered bark footprints were any indication.

“Sakura-chan?”

She jolts as she shuts her still gaping mouth. 

“Uh- yes, Kakashi-sensei. I will ask my parents if they would be interested in attending. What time?”

The Uchiha compound sits directly next to the Senju compound. An intention meant to foster unity and show the first villagers that the clan could get along, not only from afar, but in close quarters. And while the Senju compound was practically empty save for a few elders who had no other home, it was not accessible to the outside. Especially those who married outside of the clan and have since given up the Senju name.

Fuinjutsu will be the next thing I study, Sakura decides as she walks between her parents. 

They stop at the towering gates that make up the entrance to the thriving Uchiha compound. 

“Will you be on your best behavior, petal?” Her papa teases. 

Sakura snorts, “Ask mama. If anyone is going to start a fight, I think it will be her.”

Mebuki smacks her head with a huff as she leads them to the entrance, where three guards stand at attention.

“The Haruno family, here for an invitation to dinner,” Her mama announces with poise. “My daughter is on the genin team of Uchiha Sasuke.”

The guards all stare wide-eyed before stiffly stepping aside. 

The Uchiha in the center nods at them, expression back to blank stoicism, “Yes. Mikoto-sama informed us to expect your family. I will escort you to the main house.”

Sakura follows behind her parents, head held high, shoulders back, and anxiety swirling in her gut.

This is a recipe for disaster.

Uchiha Shisui loves his clan. He loves being a shinobi. He loves being on the police force even more. And as an accomplished S-rank jōnin and ANBU captain, there wasn’t much he hadn’t seen. Much less things he was afraid of. 

In fact, he could count the things (or people) he was terrified of on one hand, and still have fingers left over. 

Kushina-sama was ranked third on his list. The semi-retired kunoichi, to this day, is a force of nature that anyone with sense would think better than to get on the bad side of the Hokage’s wife, let alone the woman dubbed the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. And while she hardly ever left the village for a mission, she was still active in the barrier division.

Itachi-chan is second, if only because his first baby cousin did not play with his sweets and alone time. As jokester-like as Shisui is, he values himself very much alive. So when Itachi wants alone time. He gives it to him. When his cousin gets desserts, Shisui makes sure he buys his own supply because Itachi will cut a bitch for touching his. 

At the top of the list is the clan head, Uchiha Mikoto. The great-granddaughter of Madara himself, Mikoto-ba, was something to be wary of at all costs. Her pleasant smile and docile-looking nature were a facade she kept because, as matriarch, she had to have a certain level of feminine finesse. But make no mistake, Uchiha Mikoto, the Tiger Empress, was a terrifying kunoichi and likely the second strongest woman in the village, Senju Tsunade reigning supreme (because immortality was the ultimate cheat).

Yet, Shisui finds himself adjusting his list at the moment. 

Because a civilian merchant she may be, but Haruno Mebuki set his nerves on edge in a way that even his aunt Mikoto didn’t. 

Sharp forest green eyes, cutting smile, impeccable blonde hair with not a strand out of place, Shisui wonders why this woman didn’t become a kunoichi. 

Judging by the silent but concerned conversation all the men but Haruno Kizashi were having, they felt it too. 

(Shisui tries not to question the lovestruck and lustful expression in the titan of a man’s expression as he gazes upon his wife. Uchihas would be the last to judge a man's attraction to terrifying, powerful women.)

His eyes slide to the rosette that Sasuke wouldn’t stop grouching about. From the moment their family entered the home, Naruto and Sasuke had stiffened and been on their best behaviour. When she sat between them, no questions asked or room for debate, both boys paled and shrank in on themselves.

Bright emerald green eyes from her mother and light Haruno pink hair, inherited from her father, Haruno Sakura was, physically, the perfect mix of her parents. 

Yet watching her pretty smile turn more and more predatory each time Naruto and Sasuke flinched in her direction, he realizes the truth. 

(Kakashi-senpai and Obito-nii haven’t stopped snickering. Though Rin-nee has elbowed them both several times.)

Haruno Sakura is a hellion. 

“So, Sakura-chan,” Minato-sama decides to address her first, completely willing to ignore the conversation the matriarchs are having (Shisui knows they are speaking in double and no doubt talking shit as well, weighing the other). “How do you like the team so far? Kakashi-kun tells me your chakra control is phenomenal.”

Fugkau-oji nods, “Indeed. I’ve never heard of anyone succeeding at tree-climbing or water walking on their first attempt.”

Rin gasps in delight, “Oh! What’s your percentile? Are you interested in becoming an iryō-nin? I would be more than happy to get you signed up for some introductory courses. ”

Naruto and Sasuke have taken to shoveling as much food into their mouths as they possibly can without making a mess. The boys make eye contact with no one and utter not a peep.

A glance at Itachi and Shisui knows his cousin is just as curious about this team dynamic as he is. 

We’re definitely going to be watching their next training session in secret, Shisui grins as he sips his glass of water, eyes trained on Haruno Sakura.

A side eye to the boys and Sakura makes eye contact with Minato-sama, “I like them very well, Minato-sama. Thank you for asking. I can see our potential as a frontline squad immediately.”

The Yondaime’s eyes widen, but Sakura is already staring at Fugaku-oji to respond to him, “Thank you for the compliment. My shinobi cousins were just as shocked when I tried it as a child. My O-bāchan hasn’t quite forgiven them for teaching me that skill so early. I often used it to hide from everyone.”

The raised brow of his uncle lets Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke know he is impressed.

Finally, spring green eyes land on Rin-nee, something decidedly amused in them.

Sakura, who had since put down her chopsticks quietly, innocently tilted her head, and smiled sweetly, simply said, “When my cousin tested it a few days before graduation, it was in the 98th percentile.”

Everyone at the table except her family chokes.

Mikoto-ba stares in shock at her, “Sakura-chan… you do realize that that score is even higher than Tsunade-hime’s?”

The rosette looks no further impressed than she did when she first entered the Main family house, “Is it? I don’t follow iryō-nin news, typically.”

The women all openly gape at her, and Rin loses all sense of propriety when she stands up and slams her palms on the table, “I will introduce you to Tsunade-sama immediately! Control like yours is unheard of.”

Sakura raises a brow and smirks, “I already intended to sign our team up for introductory iryō-nin first-aid lesson, considering the nature of our squad delegation. But I have no intention of becoming a full-fledged iryō-nin.”

Rin looks positively livid, “What-?!”

The rosette ignores Rin’s outburst, “I am going to become Hokage.”

Minato-sama, Kushina-sama, Fugaku-oji, Obito-nii, and Naruto openly gape at her.

Hellion. She’s a hellion.

Shisui bursts out laughing in delight at the drama unfolding before him, brushing off the reprimanding glare Itachi shoots him.

Chapter Text

Sakura’s customer service smile had not once faded. 

Not when the drunk old man swaggered into the Hokage’s office and proceeded to insult her team. 

Not when she spotted that stupid puddle in the middle of the road despite it not having rained in weeks.

Not when Kakashi tricked her idiot teammates into thinking he was shredded to pieces. 

Not when they voted to keep going with the mission despite the clear violations of the Konohagakure shinobi handbook.

Not when Kakashi-sensei decided to fight the missing s-rank shinobi working for the fat fuck Gato.

As she hoists the incapacitated chakra-exhausted jōnin over her shoulder like a sack of rice, her smile never wavers.

“Kaka-sensei!” 

Naruto and Sasuke are pale as they hover nearby. Concern and slight fear in their eyes and posture as the reality of their situation settles in. 

Sakura, still smiling, cuts her eyes to Tazuna. The drunkard flinches and curls his shoulders in.

“My house isn’t far from here. About 10 minutes out…”

Sasuke’s hand reaches out to her, “Sakura, I can carry sensei.”

Sakura ignores him and Naruto. Marching in the direction Tazuna began walking in. She keeps her smile on because the moment she loses it, she’s going to hurt feelings in a way she had only ever seen Ino do.

Tsunami-san, the drunkard's daughter, had given their team the largest room. Four separate futons, of declining quality, are passed along moments later. Sakura doesn’t have the heart to tell the woman that shinobi bring sleeping bags and thus, have no need. As furious as Sakura is right now, the woman she has just met does not deserve her wrath and ire. Not when her dark brown eyes glisten with genuine thanks.

Sakura continues to ignore Naruto and Sasuke, as she places her stupid sensei down on the bedding and tucks him in. Tsunami-san had left her with a bowl and a rag, which Sakura used for her sensei. 

Giving a final glance at the adult responsible for them, she turns around to stare unblinkingly at her teammates. 

Smile gone.

“Well?” She hisses, arms crossed as she sits in seiza. “Are you proud of yourselves? Your decision?”

Blue and obsidian eyes flicker down. As poor a sensor as she is, even she can feel the warbling chakra that belongs to the guilty boys before her. Neither responds to her questions so she plows on.

“In your quest to prove yourselves, you’ve broken several rules of the Konohagakure Shinobi Handbook. You’ve overestimated your skills so horrendously that not only is our lying client still in danger, but our team is in danger.”

Naruto frowns at her, “We couldn’t leave him to die!”

“So you’re fine with our team dying instead?” Sakura snaps back. Naruto bites his tongue.

“We handled the chūnin missing-nins just fine,” Sasuke scoffs, unrepetant.

“Wrong. We handled them fine. Naruto froze up.”

Both flinch again. The bandage around Naruto's self-inflicted wound a glaring reminder.

Sakura exhales sharply, “Let me explain something to you that I should have explained from day one. That the senseis should have if they hadn’t been so busy bootlicking.”

A sneer curls at her lips, “The real world does not care about who your daddies are. Who your brother is. Your actions have consequences. Consequences that impact you. Impact those around you. And even those you have yet to meet. In your quest to impress Itachi and be a hero, you’ve not only broken the little trust I’ve given you. You’ve placed a target on all of our backs.”

Sakura stands up with her hands on her hips to lean over them, “Tell me. How do you intend to handle Gato? Protect the bridge builder? Fight off the stupidly strong shinobi and mercenaries he’s hired? Are you sharing your family's summoning contracts? Have you somehow sent a message requesting reinforcements when I wasn’t looking?”

Neither will look her in the eyes. Determinedly, they stare at opposite walls, not willing to retort or agree.

“The shinobi who put our s-rank sensei in this condition is an s-rank missing nin from Kiri- Biwa Juzo. A Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichininshū with a bounty as high as his kill list and no moral codes. The man deserted his homeland because the new Kage’s reign was too peaceful.”

Suddenly, both are looking at each other and back at her, confused. Naruto is the one to ask, “How do you know all that, ttebayo?”

The disgust on her face is visceral, “Your fathers are the Hokage and chief of police. Your brothers are well-known ANBU agents. Have you never once thought to ask them for the most recent bounty book? How much longer do you intend to be spoonfed shinobi protocol and life?”

Sakura stands up to her full height and cracks her back, “You need to get your minds in order. Shinobi are almost never heroes. Shinobi who can’t look ahead are often the first to die or be led astray. Make no mistake, when we make it back home, I will be reporting you to the Hokage, and you both will be sanctioned. It’s time you learned that your families can’t protect you anymore. Your clan children status will not protect you anymore. This isn’t the academy. This is the real world. Once you accepted those headbands, you became adults in the eyes of society. And often, the consequences of your impractical actions are death.”

Sasuke glares at her, and Naruto looks on the verge of tears. But Sakura has no sympathy or pity to spare them. These idiots have been living life on easy mode. Something afforded to them because of their overprotective families, and now they were paying for it. 

Not even Ino and her team were this sheltered. She highly suspected the same could be said about Hinata’s team.

Naruto holds in his tears and tilts his head, “When? You think we will make it home? Do you have a plan?”

Even Sasuke manages to look hopeful about the idea.

Sakura spins around and opens the only window in the room. The only tree within their immediate line of sight was well shaded. And unfortunately for the two men in the trees, Sakura is a genjutsu type. And this mission just proved she can see past Sharingan-based genjutsu.

“Are you both going to keep hiding? I think at this point, you’re allowed to intervene. Our commanding officer won’t wake up for at least three more days.”

Naruto and Sasuke have since both stood up and come to the very window that Sakura leaned against. When they finally made it to her sides, they both gasped and then frowned.

Because crouching there on the tree branches, one looking stoic and the other looking guilty, were two very familiar Uchiha.

“Shisui-nii?!”

“Nii-san?!”

Sakura leans back and crosses her arms, “Hence my unspoken point, you are coddled and spoiled.”

Chapter Text

“You’re pretty brutal, aren’t ya, Sa-chan?” 

Sakura backs up for the chuckling raven ANBU, and silent Weasel. Naruto and Sasuke have not stopped staring in shock or blushing.

“Better to be brutally honest than needlessly coddling,” She growls back.

Shisui pauses and cackles, whereas Itachi flinches. Miniscually. She only sees it because she’s watching him pointedly.

“How long have you been following us?” Sasuke demands.

Naruto jumps in, “Yeah!? Did my old man send you after us? Why?”

Both elder Uchiha remove their ANBU mask, a major faux pas. ANBU identities are supposed to be secret. 

Though there are some that are known to keep up appearances and elevate a village's notoriety’.. Three of our village’s happen to be in this room.

“Since you left the village, otōto. Otōsan was worried about the political climate of Nami no Kuni.”

Sasuke frowns, “It’s just some merchant with a fat pocket. The situation can’t be that bad.”

Whatever Shisui is about to say gets cut off by Sakura.

Sakura, who lifts Sasuke up by his high collar, “Are you incapable of feeling compassion, or are you telling me you pushed forward with this mission simply because you wanted to fight shinobi and samurai who EXTREMELY outclass you?”

Her voice is a low growl, and her eyes flash with pure anger as the other shinobi in the room begin to panic.

She drops Sasuke and glares down at him, “I think you vastly underestimate the power of money and merchants.”

Sakura turns to the ANBU, “Do either of you have a means to send a message back to the village?”

“Sakura-san,” Itachi steps forward, “As you have aptly mentioned, there is no need to call for reinforcements. We will assist you until your sensei recovers.”

Naruto helps up a glaring Sasuke, “You guys are going to take down Gatō, ‘ttebayo?”

The elder Uchihas share a loaded look before Shisui responds, “Not exactly, Naruto-chan. We will help you take turns protecting the bridge builder. Once Kakashi-senpai is up, we will make the next step plans. The most likely option is going back home.”

“What?!” Both Naruto and Sasuke are equally offended and upset.

“That’s the safest course of action, Naruto-kun,” Itachi begins. “We have no obligation to stay further to assist a client who lied and put Konoha assets in danger. Under normal circumstances, we would be escorting your team back right now, while carrying Kakashi-senpai.”

An argument and heated debate start between the four shinobi, but Sakura pays them no attention. She simply takes a scroll out of her mission pack and a brush. 

In definitive but stern language, she lays out the current circumstances within the waterside village. 

Gatō’s corruption and monopoly.

The starving faces of every child she’s passed by.

The terrified merchants and their broken stalls.

The rundown fishing boats.

And last, but most importantly, rumors about Tazuna’s plan for a bridge.

She doesn’t write any requests. 

She doesn’t put in pretty words about the duty of merchants or the huge faux pas that is Gatō’s entire being.

Sakura simply lists the situation from a merchant’s eye, while also maintaining mission secrecy. 

With fluid finality, she snaps the scroll shut, seals it, and interrupts the childish debate that she had been staunchly ignoring in favor of writing her letter.

Sakura fakes a cough to get their attention, “Ahem.”

Four heads whip to stare at her, no doubt shocked because they forgot her presence in their race to get points across, overestimate themselves, and coddle.

“Back to my original question, do either of you have a summons capable of going back to the village? I have a message for my mother and grandmother.”

Bewildered eyes flicker between her electric green eyes, the scarlet red of her Haruno family scroll, and each other.

Chapter Text

If there is one thing Haruno Sakura hates more than anything in the world, it’s being underestimated and undermined. And while it would work in her favor as a shinobi in the long run, coming from a background of merchants means she has little patience for it. 

And being a Haruno merchant meant respect was expected within the civilian and merchant communities- noble courts. Even minor shinobi clan communities- simply because they lacked the resources to have dedicated blacksmiths and weapons dealers.

As such, there is little the current heiress of the entire clan can’t do. Can’t get.

Haruno Sakura lets go of her shinobi identity and donned the face and atmosphere she reserves for her clan meetings and merchant council meetings. 

Because she has a want. And when a Haruno has a want. A Haruno gets it. To deny a Haruno was akin to stepping in front of a tiger and expecting to walk away unscathed.

And right now?

Haruno Sakura wants Gatō’s empire.

It’s somewhere between therapeutic and comedic, how quickly and easily Gatō falls. 

Not at the hands of war-hardened shinobi. Not betrayed samurai. Not desperate nuke-nin. Not even because of the cowardly Nami no Kuni magistrate.

But because a pink-haired little girl turned shinobi saw injustice and decided to turn it into an opportunity and freedom.

The day after Sakura sent her family a scroll, Itachi’s summon had come back with a single piece of paper that said “Okay.” and Sakura carried on like business was the same as usual. Completely disregarding the stares from the elder Uchihas and her two teammates. 

Kakashi-sensei wakes up 72 hours after his fight. He remains bedridden for another 48 hours because Sakura is the closest thing to an iryō-nin that their team has and she’s read damn near every book and scroll available to genin in regards to medicine and field care. 

In those five days, not only have Shisui and Itachi sparred with all three of them as a team, but also individually. Their team had mastered tree walking before they left the village and the boys were decent with water walking.

All this to say, none of the men she’s currently traveling with are in the least bit prepared for a middle-aged fuschia-haired woman to be standing on the bridge the very next morning guarded by Momochi Zabuza and three Kiri-genin. Dozens of new construction workers follow her every barked order with clinical precision and haste.

Tazuna looks confused beyond belief as he hesitantly steps forward, “What in the…”

Immediately, he is swept away by the tidal wave that was his original crew to discuss what is currently happening. Many of them have tears of joy in their eyes.

Kakashi-sensei, hobbling on his crutches, immediately gets defensive, whereas Shisui and Itachi have jumped between the two opposing groups- masks on and tantōs raised. The Kiri-genin watch their group curiously and Momochi Zabuza looks amused as he huffs before turning around to address the woman he seemed to be guarding.

Said woman turns around with an air of superiority and power. Her oceanic blue eyes are startlingly clear as she assesses their group. She stands imperiously as any noble from a Daimyō’s court in an elaborate kimono and royal blue metsuke haori. Yes, Haruno Fukushia is not a woman to be underestimated. 

“Obasama,” Sakura greets softly but firmly, bypassing her shocked teammates and ignoring the amused Kiri shinobi.

Sharp serrated incisors greet her in a grisly smile as her aunt hefts Sakura in her arms effortlessly. Let it be known that Sakura was the outlier in her family when it came to physical appearance. She had always been tiny, despite her above average strength.

“Little petal!” She coos, “All grown up and reporting corrupt officials and taking down monopolies! Are you sure you want to be Hokage? You’re already making waves in the merchant world or Daimyō’s court.”

Sakura smiles at the older woman, “I’m certain. One of my cousins can handle it. Or my parents can make another kid.”

Her aunt laughs heartily before setting her down and inspecting the people who accompanied Sakura to the bridge. To say she is not impressed is an understatement. Her eyes could cut glass with the way they dissect her companions.

“Well at the rate the builders I brought are working, the bridge should be finished soon and Nami no Kuni can come back to life. The nuke-nin, ronin, and mercenaries under his employ have all been turned in or left easily with their promised pay. The Nami no Kuni’s Daikans and Gundais have all been arrested as well. An investigation is ongoing to figure out the guilty parties.”

The more the older woman says, the lower Naruto and Sasuke’s jaw drops. Kakashi-sensei has developed a tick above his eye and Shisui’s masked form looks to be struggling to hold in his laughter.

Sakura simply smiles placidly. 

“Oh! This is the team I hired from Kiri to escort me from Mizu,” She then proceeds to introduce the four shinobi guarding her. Not once does her aunt ask what Sakura’s mission is or what it entails.

Momochi Zabuza, who she recognizes from bingo books. 

Chōjuro, a sweet shy boy with pale blue hair and a large sword.

Hozuki Suigetsu, a cocky looking bastard with silver hair and two swords.

Yuki Haku, a disgustingly beautiful boy, radiates ice.

“I’m confused..” Naruto starts, scratching the back of his neck. “Did Sakura-chan save the village?”

“No. I simply used my privilege to bring the corruption choking this village to the light. The village saved itself by persevering for so long.” 

Again they all stare at her in shock but she simply shrugs and goes to help the builders lift the heavy timber. 

Sakura is not so foolish as to think killing Gatō would have been the easiest way of handling things. Unlike her team mates and their family, Sakura actually understands how civilian villages function. How monopolies topple stable environments. And how easy it is for a new tyrant to pick up the discarded pieces. 

Sure, their team could have killed the shipping magnate and his goonies to immediately bring peace to Tazuna and his village. But that is a short term plan with a short term reward. 

And Sakura is a long term plan kind of girl. 

She hopes the boys take the lesson on privilege and power for what it is. 

(She's still reporting them when they get back to Konoha.)