“Please line up in front of my desk to receive your team assignments. Teams have been organized into three man cells, with two boys and one girl per team. These teams were carefully constructed to best balance strengths and weaknesses, so don’t come whining to me because these decisions are final!” Iruka-sensei was particularly fierce in anticipation of the whining that was sure to come. There were already some nervous whisperings among groups of friends, worried that they would be slit apart.
Slowly the line snaked its way around the desks until a girl named Haruno Sakura reached the front. She was often outspoken and passionate, often volunteering (correct!) answers in class, and she had a burning motivation to surpass Yamanaka Ino, her best friend and rival.
“Sakura,” Iruka-sensei was practically dripping with giddiness as he addressed her. “I have some wonderful news for you! Godaime-sama himself has taken notice of your extraordinary potential to become a great medical ninja. He has even called upon the legendary Tsunade-sama to offer you an apprenticeship! You would, of course, have to postpone your assignment to a team, perhaps indefinitely, depending on whether the ANBU can make use of your skills. So, what do you say?” Iruka beamed. He obviously thought that he was offering Sakura a great treat, but the hesitation in Sakura’s voice betrayed her feelings on the matter.
“Well, I, er...you see...” Sakura’s head tilted slightly as she stole a furtive glance as the retreating back of certain Uchiha Sasuke who had just received his team assignment. It was common knowledge that Sakura had a crush on said boy and had been absolutely giddy with excitement over the possibility of becoming a member of his team.
Now, she was faced with the choice between keeping faith and closing the door on that chance, possibly forever.
Sakura was visibly wavering. “Iruka-sensei, I don’t think...I mean, I can’t possibly...” But Iruka’s attention was elsewhere. There was a commotion in the hallway beginning with several loud crashes and ending with a resonating “Hey, bastard! Don’t just walk away from me!” The voice unmistakably belonged to Uzumaki Naruto.
“Dammit, Naruto!” shouted Iruka, all benevolence drained from his voice as he stalked off to investigate the source of the disturbance.
“How could he expect me to say ‘yes’?” Sakura muttered rhetorically twisting her hands with anxiety.
“Hey, forehead-girl, what’s got your panties in a bunch?” It was none other than Ino, who had just returned from an unsuccessful attempt to catch Sasuke’s eye and was accordingly in a pissy mood.
Sakura flared up instantly. “Well, Ino-pig, Iruka-sensei just told me that they’re calling in one of the legendary sannin to train me, one-on-one! Still think you’re better than me?” she spat with satisfaction.
Ino’s fierce look withered away. “But that means you won’t be assigned to a team, doesn’t it?” She had secretly been hoping to be put on the same team as Sakura. She missed her ex-best friend.
“I know that, Ino-pig...” she retorted, but her voice had lost its edge as well.
There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence before Ino spoke up again. “Psh, what am I worried about? You’ll never such an offer. Everything you do is for Sasuke-kun, isn’t it?” Ino sounded bitter.
“Well, now the pot’s calling the kettle black, hmm?” said Sakura as she tugged Ino’s long hair for emphasis. They had both grown out their hair because they had heard that Sasuke preferred girls with long hair.
Ino just turned up her nose and turned her back on Sakura. She couldn’t deny that she was often guilty of being Sasuke-centric. However, her words still had an effect on Sakura. It was true, Sakura never did anything for herself; everything was for Sasuke. At first she had thought that was a good thing, had called it ‘devotion’, but now she found another word for it, ‘obsession’, and she didn’t like it.
Iruka returned leaving no more time for further contemplation. “I’m sorry Sakura. What were you saying?” It was the moment of truth, do or die.
“I was saying that I couldn’t possibly...” she suddenly stopped. Sakura looked at Ino, the girl who encouraged her to be stronger when they were children, then she glanced back at Sasuke, the boy who had pushed that out of her mind. Shaking her head she continued, “I couldn’t possible refuse such an offer. I would be honored.” And with a small bow Sakura accepted a small scroll and strode from the room with her head held high.
“Well, Ino, it’s your turn.” Iruka prodded the gaping girl.
“Right...”
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Six years earlier, Sakura had been a very different person...
“Hey, look! It’s that girl with the big forehead!” A little boy said as he pointed and laughed at a six-year old Sakura.
“Eww! Don’t get too close! Some of her ugliness might rub off!” A little girl squealed and ran off laughing in the other direction. The other children on the playground snickered as well and gave Sakura a wider berth.
Sakura felt very small standing in the middle of a circle of her giggling classmates. Her pail and shovel suddenly felt very heavy and weighed her down.
“I just wanted to play in the sandbox...,” she practically whispered.
“Oh yeah? Well even the sandbox doesn’t want to play with you!” one of the children shouted. The others seemed to find this very funny and started laughing again.
Sakura couldn’t take it anymore. She turned around and started running. She hadn’t made it more than two steps before tripping over her own feet and hitting the ground, hard. With her hands otherwise occupied with the pail and shovel, her face received most of the impact.
A few of the children gasped. They weren’t so cruel as to not recognize a painful fall. Maybe they would have helped her up. Sakura would never know because all she heard was her own stifled sobs before the tears that had been welling up since she’d arrived burst forth.
Abandoning her sandbox toys she just pushed herself up and started running again. She ran and ran and didn’t stop until her legs gave out and the sun hung low in the sky.
Curling up underneath a tree, she had every intention of crying until sleep overcame her, but something, or rather someone, interrupted her plans.
“Everyone makes fun of your forehead, huh?” Sakura looked up. It was one of the girls from the playground. Did she follow me all this way?
Sakura was embarrassed. There was dirt all over her dress from her fall and her eyes were surely puffy and red. She tried to wipe away from of the snot and tears from her face with the back of her hand.
“Who...are...” Sakura slowly stuttered out. Her breath hitched in her chest as her lungs desperately clambered for air that her sobs were obstructing.
“I’m Yamanaka Ino. What about you?” Ino answered even though Sakura hadn’t managed to complete the question.
“I’m...Sakura...Haruno Sakura...” she said with a little less difficulty.
“Ah...I see. So this is the big forehead.” At some point Ino had gotten close enough to poke Sakura’s head. “So you try to hide it with your hair. You look like a ghost,” Ino continued bluntly. Sakura would have thought she was making fun of her if Ino hadn’t gently brushed aside Sakura’s bangs.
Still, Sakura couldn’t help but start crying again and her lower lip quivered with the effort of holding in her wails. Sakura knew she was ugly, she didn’t need Ino to spell it out for her.
That’s when she felt Ino rearranging her hair.
“There!” Ino exclaimed triumphantly after fastening a ribbon around Sakura’s head to hold her bangs back. “See, Sakura, you’re much cuter this way. You can have that ribbon.”
Sakura just blushed. She was too shocked to even continue crying.
“Thanks...but...” Sakura began tremulously.
“But what?” Ino said with a small amount of indignation. Ino’s nice...Sakura thought, but a little scary too...
“...My forehead...” Sakura indicated.
“They make fun of it more ‘cause you try to hide it,” Ino explained angrily. “You have a cute face so show it off confidently! Confidently!” she lectured.
And Sakura couldn’t help but giggle.
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Sakura couldn’t help but puff up her chest with pride as she walked towards the heart of the village where the Hokage’s office was situated. She had always wanted to live more like Ino, confidently, but had never thought she’d had the strength. So, she had surprised even herself today when she’d agreed to give up her pursuit of Sasuke for this training.
“Well,” Sakura mused aloud, “I’m not really giving up Sasuke. I’m just putting him on hold for a while...”
The problem was that Sakura wasn’t sure how long she would have to keep him ‘on hold’. This training sounded like it would be more intense than anything she could imagine. Tsunade’s strength and medical prowess was legendary, was Sakura expected to rival that one-day? The thought was more than a little daunting. Luckily Sakura had an inner voice to pump her up.
“Shannaro!” Sakura shouted, echoing her inner voice. The villagers looked at Sakura strangely for this outburst but she didn’t mind. She was determined to give this training everything she had. She decided that she didn’t just want to match Ino’s strength, she wanted to surpass it.
Sakura was regretting her decision less and less with every passing minute. Besides, she thought. What are the odds that I would have actually been on Sasuke’s team?
And with that thought in mind, she walked over the threshold of the doorway into the Hokage’s tower and into the next phase of her life.
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Chapter notes: WARNING: This chapter conatains spoilers for chapter 54.