[ a pile, pile of bodies.
In that pile, there are men, women, children, the elderly, mom and, dad.
Atop it all that stood a long raven-haired girl. With eyes as red as the blood that she spelt.
The dead bodies moan from the pain and reach out to find salvation.
I see mom with bleeding hollow eyes reaching out to me. Pulling me into the pile.
I was scared .....for but a moment.
I let her take me. She embraces me in her arms.
The cold, smelly rotten arms embrace me tightly.
She stabs with a tonto me every second we are in that embrace.
But I don't let go .....cause this is the only time I can hug mom.
Then suddenly she pushes me away.
For a split second, I see Mom, in her usual self.
Smiling brightly at me.
Again she is pulled into the pile.
I cry out...
But can never reach her.]
######
the cock in the backyard yells its head off as I wake up.
I somehow get on my feet and drag a sack full of chicken feed to the yard.
The chickens love this shit.
I collect the eggs in a basket while I brush my teeth.
Wash them up, and put them in a plastic bag.
Draw the Uchiha logo on it.
And make my way to the local market to open up shop. By shop I mean, sitting at the academy gate, where mothers come to drop off their wanna-be ninja kids.
The 3 dozen eggs sell in minutes.
I pack up and leave for the day.
Makes up for some extra pocket money.
Though tedious, it's honest work.
It used to be one of my late aunt's business.
Itachi nee killed her but left her chickens alone.
I wonder what plan she had for them.
Putting away 4 eggs for the ceremony, I make my way to the training ground.
Naruto is here already. With a campfire, ready with 3 cups of ramen.
Sakura is sitting there, in front of the fire watching Naruto work.
I set down the eggs, and mix spices.
We add hot water to each of our cups.
When it is done, I pick mine and raise it to the heavens.
I chant the words.
"Oh the lord who bestowed us ramen on the Faithfull day. We pledge to be ever so Faithfull. With the newest member of the ramen cult.
Today, we are complete. As Sakura has joined our cause. May Ramen guide her path!!"
With a short speech, we proceed to slurp. I raise my left hand at a 45-degree angle.
"Hail ramen!", I say loudly in between slurps.
"Hail ramen!", also Naruto slurps.
After a very....very confused look, Sakura also raises her hand.
With a very low " Hail ramen " She also slurps.
In silence.
"Oh no...Sakura-chan. you have to slurp! Make sound so that the ramen the god can hear our faith!", he says loudly.
After one long look at me and Naruto, Sakura proceeds to slurp as instructed.
After the meal, we thank the Lord.
"Do you eat this in the morning every day?", Sakura asks.
"Yes", me and Naruto Say in unison.
"I would like to resign from the ramen cult", Says Sakura with her usual smile.
We gained and lost our first-ever female member.
The path to ramen is treacherous. But we will prevail.
This is how Team 7 starts its first-ever morning.
######
Kakashi never came.
But a big white growling dog did, with a saliva-drenched note in its mouth. That said,
"Do the job"
With a bounty poster for a cat named Tora.
Me and Naruto take a closer look at the paper, while Sakura cuddles the dog.
She really likes dogs, huh?
There is another poster for a lost kite and another for delivery of louch boxes for a construction site.
We can split up or we can do one by one.
If my experience says anything, we are better off doing them one by one together.
We first set off to find Taro, since his last seen location is close to where we are.
"It's a "hard to find" cat and a staple first assignment for any freshly baked genin", I muttered.
Sakura, done cuddling the dog, proceeds to look at the poster.
"Ara... it's taro, granny Aoba's cat", she says with a finger to the chin.
"You know him, Sakura-chan?, Naruto asks.
"It's a her, more specifically. On the colder months her kind go into heat for mating", she says.
"We will likely find her among other cats", I conclude.
"Alright let's be done with it and eat some ramen!", Naruto declares.
We go to the site.
Ask around some folks for clues.
Cats have been acting up a few blocks away from the site. According to one of the Inuzuka passers an alpha has taken over.
We reach the destination.
I take out the cat nip. A few dozen pairs of glowing eyes glare at us from the dark ally.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen.....let's do this", I say with a smirk.
######
The Hokage sat at the office.
"Where else would my old ass be!" He mused to himself.
Aside from "bird watching ", or occasional stocking of konoha academy students, all he does is paperwork.
The reports of this year's rookie 9 came in.
"Finally he took a team", Hairuzen huffed.
But considering what his team comprised of, it was logical that he would pass them.
The villaige piraiyah and the last Uchiha.
And a civilian born?
The answer is yes and no.
The "No" answer is she is adopted by an anbu agent. Her parents were somehow affiliated with "Edo" the Black Mamba. Took the role of godfather and a loving parent.
And it is pretty much-classified info.
Coming back to the report itself.
Naruto and Kage bunshin jutsu.
"What if he used Sexy jutsu with it?", Hairuzen shuddered at the thought.
And Sasuke Uchiha.
Has unlocked Sharingan,
An axe wielder? Pretty....unique.
"Oh?...explosive weapon? Report detonation?
Explosive book?" He wonders.
Takes a good long look at the blue illustrated version of the Icha icha that sat on his desk.
"There is no way Kakashi won't be able to recognise a rigged book received as a gift?", muses.
Probably played along with them.
"The Bobby trap was undiscovered until the last moment? Is he losing his edge?" He wondered.
He goes over the details.
"Sakura Haruno. Shows excellent stealth capabilities and was undetected for 2 hours after the confrontation. Now I'm pretty sure to say Kakashi is losing his edge", he mused.
"What is hokage sama?", Iruka perks up from his seat. He has been assigned to distribute the D tanks for the week.
"Nothing Iruka, just going over some of your student's performance reports, pretty surprising actually!", he says.
"Yeah....!", Iruka smiled. Naruto, his favourite had passed a test done by Kakashi of the Sharingan, who never have taken a genin team ....like ever.
So yeah....he is proud.
The beaded curtain on the door moves.
A trio comes in with a cat and a kite.
######
We were done with the missions and entered the Hokage office.
I see Iruka sensei is here. Naruto waves violently at him.
We are done with our first triad of D ranks.
We turn in the items.
And Iruka gave us a paper each.
Then we are kicked out.
I look at my paper, Naruto looks at his.
"What is this thing?", Naruto asks.
"Beats me?" I say while closely observing it.
It has an amount written on it.
1500 Ryo?
What am I supposed to do with it?
"It's a cheque ", Says Sakura. Her eyebrows are high.
"You don't know what a cheque is?", she asks.
We shake our heads in unison.
Sakura sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
She opens her mouth to comment, but for some reason doesn't.
"Alright boys, follow me," She commands.
We get on the streets and arrive at a place that they call a financial district.
"Where is she gonna take us?", whispers Naruto.
"If are curious ask her, I'm as dumb as you are on this!", I whisper back.
She took us to a bank, set up accounts and withdrew our first-ever pay cheque.
I and Naruto looked in awe at those smelly crunchy bills.
Naruto wanted to lick one, so I smacked him.
It's not like I didn't wanna do it too. But, someone's gotta be the adult, right?
I see a smiling Sakura looking at us.
We bow our heads in gratitude.
"Thanks for the help Sakura-san. I know that was embersing even for you, to have annoying teammates like us", I say with a grimace.
Sakura shakes her head, she bites her lips for a moment.
Then she regains her smile and ruffles Naruto's hair.
"Okay...so what do you wanna do now?", asks Naruto.
"Hmm....wanna mess with some academy kids? I saw Konohamru is out ", I say with a smirk.
Naruto frowns at me.
"Come on man, it's fun! ", I say.
Naruto shakes his head.
"Then let's just spar somewhere huh?", I suggest.
"Okay, let's do a race first", Says Naruto.
"Hmm....Sakura? Wanna race?", I ask Sakura.
She looked like broke out of a trance.
"You want me to come with you?", she asks.
"If you are free...you know? Like nothing else to do?", I explain.
"I'm free", Sakura says hastily.
"Okei dokei..... right. as soon as the coin hits the floor, we run", I declare.
Then we ran.
On the streets, on the sidewalk, on the walls, on the wires, thought the houses, by the balconies,
Over people's heads.
Then comes the river. We cross it, it will just be at the border of the forbidden forest of death. Filled with giant insects, bears and cows.
Yeah...the cows there are delicious. Although they have red glowing eyes, fast legs and horns that tear a man open, they are pretty easy to deal with.
We jump on the water and start running again.
I started sliding. Yeah, once you have good enough chakra control, one can actually slide on the surface.
Something doesn't feel right.
I don't see Sakura-san.
I stop. Naruto stops.
"Hei...teme...why'd you stop, lounch is gonna get away", Says Naruto pointing at the dove that sat at the bank.
"You see Sakura?", I scream.
"Wha...she was right...behind me?", Naruto asks in return.
I see Sakura all the way back to the bank, staring at us dumbfounded.
"She doesn't know water walk!", I shudder.
"No she doesn't ", Naruto also says in disbelief.
"What do we do?", I ask in despair.
Even from a distance, I see Sakura biting down her bottom lips with a red face from embarrassment, and eyes threatening to flood.
"Oh...maan!", I shudder.
Me and Naruto walk back and meet up with her.
She is just looking at the ground.
"I...see you tomorrow ", she turns.
"Wait...wait...te te te....just wait,", I hastily say.
She stops and turns to look at my outstretched hand.
Eyes teary. Oh man, she is cute.
"Take my hand", I carefully say.
"What?", asks a confused Sakura.
Naruto also stretches his hand.
"Take our hands", Naruto says.
"Just trust us!", I say with a flushed face. The thought of holding a girl's hand is ...I don't know, fuck my single ass. She takes an amused look at my face. she is flushing as well.
But Naruto is holding too. So it's okay.
Sakura with teary eyes takes our hands.
"Now, step on the water", I say as softly as I can.
"I... I never...."
"You can....just try to push some chakra in your foot. We will help you the rest of the way!", I say.
I turn on my sharingan and Naruto pushes his chakra.
I also push mine. With the eye, I monitor, Sakura and Naruto's flow using mine like a pump.
Sakura stands on the water. A little wobbly. But she is standing.
Then we walk.
Her one leg sinks in, and she silently "eep"s.
But me and Naruto pull her up and Continue.
She seemed scared at first, then worried, then smile, then smile turned to giggles. She dipped a little here and there, but we made sure she was dry.
Suddenly I see a steady flow of her chakra.
I nod at Naruto.
Sakura is grasping it. She is controlling on her own.
Then we let go.
She runs....giggling and laughing all the way.
Naruto and I look at her dumbstruck.
We didn't have assistance like this, but it took us months to be able to walk.
Sakura is jumping around.
She takes a handful of water and splashes at us.
"Come on boys! Or I will leave you in the dust", she screams.
More like water.
A true genius.
"She is.....not normal", Says a Silent Naruto who is supposed to be loud. Even he knew the pain of learning the Jesus walk.
"Hei...you don't say that! Just take it with a grain of salt", I try.
Sakura is now sliding.
"She is a monster", I exclaim. I feel my face turning green. It took me 2 years to do that!!!!
Our jaws are dropped and our eyes bulge.
Sakura casually slides between us and then around us.
She just learned it, I saw how radical her chakra was at the beginning.
Next thing I know , she is imitating our chakra dispersal. How can a person have this much chakra control? That's like...
"Crazy...", naruto chuckled.
"Hmm?", Sakura asks.
"You're looking cool Sakura san", I give her a thumbs up with a forced smile.
We continue our race and reach the bank.
Sakura is still jumpy from earlier.
"Sakura-san, I know it may seem like we are having fun....", I try to get her attention.
Seeing even Naruto become wary of his surroundings she gains back her usual composure and listens.
"I'm listening ", she confirms.
"As I'm saying, it may seem like all fun and games. But this is the Forest of Death. It has the harshest environment, oldest and tallest of the tree to fall from and monster 4 times the normal size", I say with a finger to the forest.
And then I point my finger at her and with my left hand, I point at Naruto.
"As soon as we set foot in here- You 2 are my enemies", I say .
"As it's your first time here with us today, we will have a count down, Naruto you okay with it?", I state.
"Yeah...since Sakura is here", he says with a grin.
Sakura seemed to roll her eyes. But she again takes a look at Naruto . She noticed the twitch in his hands, that are dying to go for the Kunai.
"Need a countdown?", I ask Sakura.
With a quick consideration, she nods.
"Okey.....1...."
Naruto again twiches.
"2...."
Sakura has a sweat dropping.
"3...."
A shuriken flies at me, and d and swiftly dodges, which continues towards Sakura.
Sakura defelcts it with her kunai and catches it.
Attampsts to throw it at me.
"Wrong move!", I chuckle.
A dumbfounded Sakura sees her hand firmly stuck to the Kunai.
But my axe is already at her throat.
"Points for me", I declare.
"Hei....that was my kill", Naruto declares.
He gets down and swings at me. I dodge.
"Okay...so if we score a point, we start over", I say while pushing an angry Naruto away .
Suddenly I feel the temperature drop.
A blackish aura visible to my Sharingan is oozing from Sakura.
It's killing intent.
But the t next second it was gone.
Sakura looks up, tearing the kunai away from her hand.
"I think, now I get how this works", She says in her usual smile.
She suppresses her chakra, to the the point of nothing. Just a faint glow , that you would see in freshly dead bodies.
I gasp for a second. Something unknown grips my throat.
Fear.
I feel my face twice. Naruto has gone silent.
"Need a countdown? Boys?", she asks.
I can't take my eyes off. She is beautiful, she is cute. Elegant.
But Naruto and both know....that's just part of the reason.
Sakura puts her bungi on. Lightly tugs her hair in.
Then she holds 3 fingers in front of us.
1 finger down.
"You look awful when you smile like that Sasuke Kun!", she comments.
2 fingers down. "Don't focus on her fingers , goddamn it. Naruto! Truce! Temporary! " I give sasa asignalwith fingers.
"Did anybody tell you, that you shouldn't stare at a lady like that, you're perverts", she says with a smile. I can't see her eyes. I can see it .....but it's as if she is wearing an iron musk over them.
"We didn't mean to be rude, but it's just that Sakura chan is so cute", Says an honest Naruto.
Goddamn it don't lose focus.
Her mask fell. There is a slight blush .
I feel Naruto swirling his chakra in an "O".
He has agreed to a Truce.
3rd finger down.
Sakura chan vanishes into thin air.
I can't feel her, can't smell her.
She vanished right in front of me yet I don't know where she is.
She is.... using the invisibility jutsu that Jiraya used.
On top with what little amount of chakra she has suppressed down to nothing.
With pure instinct and desperation, I swirl around with an axe at hand.
I see Naruto attacking me with a Kunai.
Why!!!!???
There is no way its a genjutsu. And it's the real him.
Naruto kept on attacking me , summoned a dozclonesess senset them.
In pure desperation, I scream," Naruto .....what the hell man!!!!".
"She promised me a date", is what Naruto's clones declared.
"No! It's me who she promised", Maybe the real one?
"No it's me", Says another.
"Drop it...let's beat his ass first", Says a clone.
"You.....we had a truce!!!!", I scream.
"Fuck your truce!!!", Screams the clone squad.
"I thought we were brothers man!", I scream. I feel like crying. How could this happen? How could Sakura do this? Playing with man's feelings.
The Naruto squad shuts up.
One of them points out his kunai.
"Yeah...we are brothers. But....sometimes...you just gotta make sacrifices man. It's you or me", he says.
"She is playing with your feelings brother", I scream with a shaky voice.
My flash bang is cooked.
Naruto sighs..." Yeah.....I know!"
I let go of the pin.
A loud bang and a flash.
Naruto's clones dispel and the real one is holding his ear.
If I go for Naruto now....I can finish this session.
Start over.
But something feels off.
a kunai strapped with an explosive tag falls between us.
I roll away. Pick up Naruto and jump up.
Atlast I see Sakura dangling upside down from a branch.
An explosion takes place. The whole ground is splattered with pink colour.
Our eyes met.
She wants to take both of us down, simultaneously.
"Truce?", I ask again. Not taking my eyes off her.
Naruto nods.
Again, Sakura vanishes.
This is gonna be hard.