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If Sakura had taken the time to be honest with herself, it would have been obvious to predict that she would have ended up in an interrogation cell.
Born to two first-generation shinobi, she did not grow up crushed by the expectation of legacy like many of her classmates, but that did not mean she never experienced political hardships, nor was she unaware of them. The path to become a shinobi was paved in blood, sweat, and tears. Even as a child, she knew that.
By striving to earn a hitai-ate, she would be permanently branding a target on her back. Every move she made would serve as a reflection of her village and it’s shinobi population. She thought she could handle it, so long as Ino was by her side.
Yet she threw it all away for a boy who would never look at her as anything but dead weight.
It seemed so foolish now. The sheer amount of time she wasted gushing over a boy who couldn't care less about her. It was truly embarrassing.
Then there was the fact they were teamed up with the village pariah, which still made no sense to her.
Naruto was an enigma.
Growing up, she was constantly warned by the adults to stay away from him. Whispers of demons dogged his every step. And while he could certainly work on some self-restraint, he was nice. He was loud, bold, and carried a determination that shattered all expectations. She did not understand why an orphan was treated so badly. But she did not want to get in trouble, so she did as she was told. Now she wished she was more like Shikamaru and took that chance.
Sasuke always felt like a dream.
He was amazing at everything he set his mind to. Be it schoolwork, his clan’s taijutsu, ninjutsu, nothing seemed difficult for him. The fact he was so cold made every girl ache to be the one to warm his frozen heart. She wanted to be that girl, yet even she knew her chances were pitiful. He carried so much suffering and at the end of the day she burned to see him happy or, at the very least, remember he was not alone.
Finishing up their team was Kakashi.
Sakura could not claim to know much about him. It was clear he was not thrilled to be their teacher, but time showed he really cared about them and their right to be children, if only for a little longer. She could not explain it, but something just felt fundamentally broken about him.
When she did the math, his career landed him on the front lines of the Third Great Shinobi War years before they earned the rank of Genin. And there were rumors placing him at the Memorial Stone every morning for hours.
The more she thought about it, the more she questioned why they were brought together in the first place.
The D-rank missions did give her hope that they could become a team. They may have been simple, but they were an important part of their shinobi career. It allowed them to grow closer, practice writing reports in a controlled setting, and establish themselves as productive members of Konoha.
Although Sakura had a theory the Tora mission was more of a hazing ritual than anything else.
Their self-assigned mission to see underneath Kakashi-sensei’s mask was really fun. It was nice to see Sasuke act like a child, unburdened by indescribable pain and loss. Naruto came up with some creative approaches she could see working in future missions. And it was obvious their teamwork was vastly superior than when they were first assigned together. Still sucked they never saw anything, even with Sukea’s camera.
During their mission to Wave she had been useless. It did not matter if she was the first to master tree walking, nothing came from it. Her sensei did not move on to more advanced training. If anything, her success was used to motivate the boys.
And when the time came to defend Tanzuma, she just stood in formation with a kunai, no different than a week ago. When she saw Sasuke collapse, she truly thought she had witnessed her crush die defending a comrade.
Then came that awful chakra, followed by the chirping of a thousand birds tinged with burning ozone.
Their return to Konoha was supposed to be a new beginning, but in some ways, it felt like all their progress as teammates was erased. It was like their rhythm had been shaken, and they did not know how to resync. Kakashi-sensei was not joking when he commented that their teamwork had been rocky.
In hindsight, he probably did not submit them to the Chunin exams with any expectations of even one of them passing. This was a chance for them to witness just how far behind they were compared to their peers. A source of motivation to truly improve.
If only he knew what he was exposing them to.
But how could anyone predict a rogue Sanin would give her teammate a cursed hickey? Or that two supposed allies would choose to invade? Or that one of the late Kazekage’s children was possessed by a sand demon?
Everything went so wrong after the first test.
Her battle against the Oto team was terrifying. She was almost certain she was going to die protecting her teammates. Some part of her was okay with that, but only if she gave it her all.
Turns out her all was only worth a few minutes.
Were it not for their peers Sakura had full confidence they would be dead. Or at least she would be.
Her battle with Ino was a reminder of where she started. Of the little girl who was mocked and bullied for her looks. Of her desperation to never be singled out as to become a target again. Of why she wanted to become a shinobi in the first place.
Sakura wanted to be strong, to be confident, to be able to stare down those who looked down on her and see them look away first. She wanted to be like Ino, someone who never apologizes for existing, who could look someone dead in the eyes without fear.
She lost so much.
Her first friendship, her self-respect, and her drive.
No more.
While the battle may have appeared the weakest of the showing, it was world-shattering to her.
She was not surprised to have been overlooked for the month before the final test. Still hurt.
So she set out to find other ways to improve, leading her to Konoha’s shinobi library.
By perusing the shelves, she found herself immersed in hundreds of documents detailing chakra theory, anatomy, and low-ranked jutsu. Sadly, there was nothing crazy like a clan’s specialty jutsu, but there were plenty of basic techniques that were certain to give her an edge in the future.
She didn’t feel comfortable trying for nature transformation just yet. She didn’t even know what her elemental affiliation was (she was hoping for water or earth).
Maybe she could bring it up to Kakshi-sensei after the Chunin Exams. Both she and Naruto could learn it together. She was betting on either lightning or wind for him. Sasuke probably had a fire affiliation like the Uchiha tended to, but they could include him, so he didn’t feel left out.
And their sensei had copied over a thousand jutsus, logically, he had to know something for any element.
Through her research, she discovered the next stage of her training was water walking. Similar to tree walking, the individual needed to maintain a steady flow of chakra to keep themselves above water while being mindful of the constantly rippling surface.
It sounded simple enough, and she could practice at her favorite spot by the river.
It only took her a few minutes to be able to find the right balance and start running. To celebrate, she spent the rest of the day basically skating across the surface.
Her next obstacle was genjutsu.
All the scrolls warned that training alone was dangerous, especially for a beginner. Kakashi had vanished to give Sasuke personal lessons and she had no idea where Naruto was training. She sought out the Genin Corps, genin who were either survivors of former teams or had graduated from the academy after a second year of training.
She was tempted to ask Kurenai, one of the village’s top genjutsu specialists and jonin of Team 8, but it did not seem proper during the exams. Especially after what happened to Hinata. It wasn’t like they ever had a proper conversation before, and it seemed rude to walk up just to ask for lessons.
Thankfully, she was able to find two older genin who were bored and curious enough to lend some aid for a few hours. She focused on simple techniques. One that would essentially coax the mind to overlook her presence or view her as uninteresting. And another that could induce paralysis. At her current mastery, she could only push it to last a few seconds, and against more experienced opponents, she would be lucky to have it last a full second, but it was leagues above where she had been mere weeks ago.
She was so eager to show the boys what she had learned, but things got out of hand.
The Konoha Crush, as it would soon be called, saw her being entrusted with an important yet odd mission. Yes, she fully agreed Sasuke needed to be brought back before he did something stupid. Sakura was not sure what came out of that sand shield, but one did not need to be a genius to sense it was beyond their capabilities.
In some strange way, it reminded her of that crimson chakra from the bridge.
Her main complaint was that she had not been able to free any more of the gathered genin and chunin. Watching Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei carve through the enemy like tissue paper was impressive, but there was no doubt a few extra hands would be helpful.
When they caught up to Sasuke and Gaara, it was like something out of a horror novel her cousin claimed she hated.
Sasuke was clutching his neck as marks shaped like black flames eagerly spread across his skin. His opponent seemed to be transforming into a monstrous yokai. She didn’t know why, but the image of a tanuki filled her mind.
Naruto wasted no time getting involved, so she figured she had better pull her weight. Using everything she had learned, Sakura felt for Gaara’s chakra and began to weave an illusion. She wasn’t aiming for anything too crazy, but if she could present an opening, it could make all the difference.
Yet no matter how complex she made it or how she approached it, nothing stuck.
It almost felt like there were two minds in one body. Any time one began to fall under her deceit, the other would simply shock it awake with a burst of chakra.
The techniques she spent hours learning were utterly useless!
They were useless…
Just as before, she was left standing there with a kunai.
The fact they survived impossible odds once again was a miracle. But it was little more than a prelude to the next disaster.
Now she was alone and afraid.
Sasuke was gone. Naruto was off training with a legendary Sanin. Kakashi was scheduled to take A and S-rank missions until he fainted. And she had nothing to entice herself as an apprentice to anyone!
Before Naruto left, she promised to get stronger so they could bring Sasuke back together. Her first instinct was to learn some medical skills. Watching Choji and Neji return on stretchers, broken and bloodied, was terrifying. Seeing them so close to death and knowing there was nothing she could do.
It would have been a dream to learn under Lady Tsunade, but why would she even look at a girl like her?
She wasn’t a chunin. She didn’t have the backing of a clan. She had not shown exemplary talent as a healer. Nor could she claim to be particularly close to their new Kage.
But she couldn’t let that stop her.
Naruto could not, should not, do this on his own again. Sakura would be there with him. A path to strength existed, and she would find it while staying loyal to her home.
And if she needed to walk into the domain of Enma, so be it.
Deep within Konoha, where light and hope had long been forgotten, a former blade had returned. Chipped and dented, but still sharp, still useful.
By all accounts, they were alone, but Kakashi was far too experienced to assume privacy was ever an option.
“Why?” He all but growled at the man who thought trying to recruit his student would ever be acceptable.
The creature who had commanded Konoha’s darkness for decades didn’t even twitch in his direction. No, his attention was focused on something far more interesting. “I would have expected you to know better than to throw around such senseless questions?”
“With all due respect, sir, why did you think it was acceptable to poach my genin?” Kakashi growled. His canines ached to sink into tender flesh, an instinct he had long thought to have erased, but he was more than aware of the likelihood of being able to touch the old warhawk.
One did not live to their seventies as a shinobi by being weak.
From his desk, Danzo merely glanced at the young prodigy with disappointment. “You truly have rusted in the light.”
The fact he was even asking such questions was all the proof he needed to know Kakashi should never have been removed from the shadows. Regardless of whatever Maito and Hiruzen felt, the Hatake belonged in the darkness. “There were several reasons you were assigned that team and you failed at every turn,” Danzo stated factually.
“The Uchiha has turned traitor. The Kyuubi’s Jinchuuriki has been entrusted to a perverted idealist. And your final pupil has barely progressed since graduation.” For any jonin instructor, it was truly a display in failure, but for one such as Kakashi it was inexcusable.
Returning to his documents, Danzo could not help but see how all this would play out. “Hiruzen believed those three would flourish under your guidance, once again, my old friend was proven too optimistic.”
The creaking of gloves was the only outwardly sign of the Copy Ninja’s suppressed fury. “They just graduated, we are not at war.” He grit out from clenched teeth. “There was no reason to prepare them for the meat grinder.” It was not like when he was a kid. They had time to make mistakes. They could afford to take it slow.
They had the chance to be children!
The bandaged elder was unmoved by the passionate outburst. No, rather he grew more visibly disappointed. “And that was your biggest mistake.” No matter the era, war was always a possibility. Even without Orochimaru, it was only a matter of time before something else threatened their peace.
It was far better to prepare them early than risk their lives by leaving them incompetent.
“You treated your genin like children instead of the shinobi they were meant to become. In your selfishness, you stifled their growth, leading them to seek out other sources of power.” It was as simple as that.
Danzo proceeded to signal their conversation was over, but not before leaving him with one last thought. “Once you have gathered yourself, you may apply for the position of her captain.”
Kakashi retraced his steps towards the light.
Each step closely monitored by dozens of masked killers. Once he happily joined their ranks, desperate to erase the pain. Even now, it was tempting.
Especially now.
By the time he reached his apartment, the sun had long set. Leaving him to undo the various wards he placed around his door, illuminated by the stars and what street lamps remained.
Just a few weeks ago, the streets would be filled with drunken shinobi laughing as they stumbled down the street. Now there was nothing but silence.
When he finally closed the door around him and reset the seals, Kakashi made the decision to try and get some sleep. Hopefully, tomorrow he’ll come up with a plan.
Yet when he reached his bed, it was not unoccupied. His breath caught in his throat. Not only was his territory trespassed upon, but they left it…
Lying on the pillow was a porcelain mask.