Underdog

by Pinnacle of Failure (Cromirn)

Summary:

Underdog

Or the one where Sakura shames the Hyuuga clan in one move and now she has to tell her teammates of her betrothed in Kirigakure.

Notes:

ill /probably/ continue this, but theres no definitive answer to any 'will this be continued' questions. it wasn't supposed to get this long because it was prompt-based for this one discord server I'm in, but I've always wanted to see a fic where sakura is betrothed to someone and absolutely nobody can do shit about it cause of whatever reason and this fitted the bill.

Chapter 1: Underdog

Sakura has always been smart, he knew this. Too smart for her own good. He wonders what things would be like had the world been different.

She makes it to the final tournament with the Konoha hitai-ate, the stadium roaring with good-felt heartedness and a twinge of competitive something that can’t be described. He sits there, his Kiri hitai-ate tied loosely on his obi-like belt, his clan emblem stark red against his monotonous white and silver kimono top.

She is assigned to fight against some other no-name Konoha Genin. He’s of the Hyuuga clan, their kekkei genkai a rival for his own. He is just as distant and cold-hearted as him, but this Neji boy holds no respect for the people around him. He watches as Neji belittles Sakura for her ‘civilian’ background, for her immigrant family, for her large forehead and all of these little, inconvenient things that do not matter in the makings of a great shinobi. He also watches as Sakura verbally ‘tears him a new one’, as she’d so eloquently say to him, her insults little in how they hit but vast in quantity and rate of how they leave her lips.

Neji looks disgusted, but that’s only a glimpse of what she can do.

Soon, they do engage in a fight, but Neji outclasses Sakura in almost every field. He’s fast, strong, calculating, fierce. He bullies her around, and she’s weak to his attacks, folding into his hits like she’s nothing more than a strawman in target practice, like she’s a water balloon caving in being poked.

It’s all Hatake's fault, he muses, Sakura has an untouched potential that apparently no one else sees.

Sakura locks against the Hyuuga with a comically slow kick, jutting her heel so far out that Neji takes the opportunity to grab her by the ankle and swing her the other direction, and Sakura’s lithe fingers brush against his shoulder, his hair, using her elbow to propel her further from him, kicking up dust as she does so.

The Hyuuga mocks her, and she laughs. He mocks her for that, too, and she clutches her stomach as her face turns red as she makes ground between them. Her fingers curl into a release seal, and she hoots a ‘See ya!’

The stadium erupts into a bright light, the Hyuuga boy being the center of it. His screams are cut short from the sudden popping, and a quick spark to ignite the flames.

Kimimaro stares down at them all, remembering the way she’d allow Neji to strike her, and how all of those steps they’d taken together was only a distraction.

The Hyuuga might be fast, strong, calculating, fierce, but he isn’t Sakura.

In Kiri, she would have been a prize to be won. She is an underdog for every sense of the word, she had made her weakness into a tool and turned the tables so hard she’d made herself victorious in a game with all the odds against her.

For the first time in a long time, Kimimaro smiles.

~~~

Later in the day, he finds her. She might not remember him like he does her, but he knows she will know who he is. She is with the Uchiha, his fight almost killing him as he’d been forced against the ichibi’s jinchuuriki, Gaara. The Uchiha lounges in a cot, the room empty as he scowls at his teammates.

“You did such a great job against him, Sasuke!” She croons, “You’ve really gotten stronger since the preliminaries!”

“Yea!” Boists the blond one, shoving a fist in the air as he jumps onto the bed, the smell of fresh cut flowers and linen washing over Kimimaro as he further opens the door, “When you did the bah-bah POW!! And he fell and you kept on him and-”

“What do you want?” The Uchiha snaps at Kimimaro, thoroughly ignoring his teammates. Sakura looks at him with recognition in her gaze, and a grin splits her face as she leaps away from the Uchiha and towards him.

“Kimi-kun!” She squeals, her arms open as she takes him into a surprisingly tight hug. “I didn’t know you were here for the exams! I would’ve brought a gift had I known.”

“It has been years, Sakura-chan, I wouldn’t have expected anything to see you.” He says, placing a gentle hand on the top of her hand, her eyes crinkling as her smile grows, “Watching you fight was enough of a gift.”

She leaves his embrace, red dusting her cheeks, “Oh, that? Well, Neji is still getting promoted, so I don’t think it was much of a sight to see. You noticed what I did, though, right?”

“The Hyuuga is color-blind, I doubt he’ll notice that his rank does not signify his strength,” Kimimaro says, adjusting the hitai-ate on top of her head before allowing his hands to drop to his sides, “He is deluded. Shinobi like that do not last long.”

“Saku-chan, who the hell’s this guy?!” Naruto shouts, scrambling away from the Uchiha and placing himself in front of Sakura, his stance wide and arms crossed, puffing his chest up as if that will make him look intimidating, “He looks like he eats pure salt in the morning! I mean, who else has white hair? Are you related? He has green eyes like you, and I know that eye color is genetic. Shikamaru has the same eyes as his father, and so does Ino, and so does Hinata. You know, I think every clan kid has the same eyes as their parents. Does that mean they’re inbred? I learned that as well where-”

“Naruto,” she snarls, pinching him by the cheek and pulling him down, “shut up.”

“Ohhh,” his ridiculously blue eyes gleam, ignoring that she’s got him by the face, “You are related. Or are you dating? Is it a thing to like people ‘cause of eye color? I never thought of that!”

“Just shut up, Naruto,” Sasuke hisses, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinizes Kimimaro, even if his figure is mostly obscured by Sakura who still stands in front of him, “Sakura, who the hell is this guy? Why is he here?”

Sakura opens her mouth to speak, but Kimimaro speaks over her, “I am Kaguya Kimimaro, jonin of Kirigakure. I am here to speak to Sakura regarding her citizenship with Konoha.”

“Her citizenship-” Sasuke bites out, the stress lines premature on his face deepening as he scowls at Kimimaro, “What the hell does that mean? Why does he of all people, a kiri-nin, need to know your status, Sakura?”

Sakura looks away, biting her lip as she takes a step back from Kimimaro. "We should take this somewhere else," she tells him, "I don't want my teammates to know right away."

“Sakura,” Sasuke says as if he’s a parent and his child has done something stupid, his voice with a tilt to it that can only be perceived as threatening. “What’s going on.”

“Yea, Saku-chan, what’s this guy's business with you anyways? He doesn’t look impressive!”

Sakura groans as she presses a hand to her nose, “We were betrothed before my family fled from the Bloody Mist.”

Sasuke has the dignity to look appalled, while Naruto screeches, “Betrothed!?!”

“Yes, now shut up, I don’t need anyone else to know. God, if Ino finds out about this I’m dead.”

“I wasn’t aware it was a norm for Konoha genin to participate so freely in murder,” Kimimaro says, and maybe his shoulders tenses, and maybe he considers bringing Sakura back to Kirigakure where it may be safer.

“How the hell is this possible!” Sasuke snaps, his voice ragged, throwing his hands up in exacerbation, “That doesn’t even sound legal. How were you able to leave Kiri if you’re betrothed? How is he able to demand your status inside of Konoha if you’ve already left Kiri? How is any of this possible with Kiri’s shaky relationship with us?”

“Sasuke…” Sakura says with a sigh, “I- I don’t know, honestly, but this can’t be all that bad, can it?”

“This does not sound legal, at all. Do you need a lawyer? I can help you with finding a good lawyer.” He states as if she’ll comply with him, like Kimimaro hasn’t already been in contact with her via letters for a whole year now, like she wasn’t the one to reach out to him after their first mission outside of Fire.

“I’ll be fine without that, Sasuke-kun, please don’t worry about me. I appreciate the offer, though,” Sakura replies, stepping closer to Kimimaro and taking his hand into her warm ones, “I’ll talk to Kimimaro first. Whatever we decide upon I’ll tell you the moment I find you.”

Chapter 2

Notes:

i dont think this is going to be as serious as some of the other works I've done(which have probably been deleted already), or as lengthy as some of the project I have in mind(which will probably take me several years to get around to xD), but I feel like this would be a great way to work on my writing, formating, plotting, etc etc.

this will most likely be a series of oneshots following a loose plot, shit might change, I might make a few omakes for this, who knows.

She paces in front of Kimimaro, her palms sweaty as she hides her face. “I don’t think they’ll react too fondly to you, Kimi-kun,” she says with a whine in her voice, “I mean, you’re only two years older than us and a renowned jonin, they won't take that too lightly. It’s insulting when someone ‘their age’ is stronger than them, apparently.”

He is sat at the bench outside of a quiet dango shop, plate of sweets in one hand and a stick in the other. He hums, but does not deign her with words.

“And Sasuke-kun, god, he’s the worst, absolute worst! He looked at you as if you were a threat, and like he wanted to show you that he’s the top dog here, not the other way around!”

“He did seem distressed when you told him of our arrangement,” he says slowly, picking up another stick of dango, his green eyes following Sakura’s form as her pace quickens, “But he is of no concern. He is an Uchiha, it’s only natural that they are possessive of their teammates.”

“It doesn’t make any sense!” She says in a strangled cry, throwing her hands up in anguish. “He doesn’t like me like that! He’s made it a point that I’m nothing to him. I’ve tried to be friendly with him, but he only looks at me with disgust, like I’m something beneath him.”

“You are an exchange student from Kirigakure, fresh out of the Blood Mist Regime, demand the respect that you are due,” is all he says, his voice stern but with an edge of urge in it. “You have been in Konoha for most of your life, yes, but you are due to make a great shinobi to tether Konohagakure and Kirigakure together.”

She snarls, pulling her lips taught over her teeth, and he averts his gaze.

“‘Make a great shinobi’ my ass, Hatake-sensei is too focused on the boys to even look at me. I’ve had to sit down and talk to him several times to explain that it’s his duty to Konohagakure to show Kiri that they’re competent enough to train the shinobi they did in the war. But does he listen? No! The first time he’d just throw me at other teachers to train me while he’s off giving Naruto and Sasuke these flashy new jutsu, and he’s already given Sasuke his signature chidori, and Naruto already knows his fathers rasengan. And what do I get? For a man of a thousand jutsu he sure doesn’t show it.”

Kimimaro keeps silent.

“Like- I’m good, I learn quick, I’m not shy nor am I opposed to all the unconventional methods, but I’m not good enough. I bet in Kiri I’d be ten thousand times better than I am now, ‘cause I’ve got you and Mei-sama and Chojuro and everyone else. Here? No matter how hard I try, I’m still that one girl who acts all weird and doesn’t smell right or looks odd or whatever it is.”

“I can help you,” he says, placing down his half eaten dango, holding Sakura down with a placid look, “I’m here to review your progress, anyway. Per that, it is my duty to alert Mei-sama of your qualms, of your lack of progress. I’ll have to test you on that myself, but I can teach you once when I know where you stand.”

Sakura groans, throwing her head back as she firmly plants herself next to him, nearly sitting on top of the plate of sweets, “Thank the seas, oh my, I swear I would’ve done this shit by myself, but I’m not allowed to get past the civilian sector in the library despite the fact I’m literally a genin, and despite the fact that one of the other sensei’s was allowed to drag me into the genin sector several times before.”

He shrugs. “Konoha protocols are weird things. With your status, however, you will not have that problem in Kiri. Nor will you run into any knots with your training.”

She turns to him, her face tight and words coiled at her lips like a sea snake ready to strike, “Are you trying to take me back to Kirigakure?” She asks, a dangerous tilt to her voice that he knows like the hilt of his blade. She’s upset with him. For what, he doesn’t know. But she has always been open with him, he will know soon enough.

And like a gardener planting his seeds, he hums with a small smile, as if fancying the idea. “You have potential,” he says, “And clearly the waters of Konoha are not suitable for the koi fish to grow to her full size.”
Sakura flusters, her face reddening and averting her gaze from him, “You know we can’t do that. Not until the Hokage and Mizukage approve of a new exchange student.”

“The Konoha exchange student has been floundering in Kirigakure, nearly the same predicament you are in,” Kimimaro says, “However, he is doing much better in terms of statistical strength and learning capabilities. There might be a chance if you use your political power over the Mei-sama, that you are unsure if you are meeting the Kiri quota in Konoha, and demand the quality of training you are expecting to surpass that of what we offer to their kin.”

She scowls, stealing one of his sticks of bright dango and tears the food from where it is nestled, her lips smacking together as she eats as if some sort of wild dog in the dumps. He can spot the pearly whites of her pointed teeth, and the pink of her tongue, and he knows that she’s doing it on purpose. Testing the waters around him, seeing what pushes and pulls him, what makes him submit and what makes him not. It’s a subtle threat, but he knows that she is harmless.

“You think I haven’t done that yet?” She asks, her voice thick with a Konoha drawl.

“It is still worth another attempt.”

 

~~~

 

The next time she sees her teammates it’s with Chojurou hesitantly standing near them, Kakashi’s one-eyed glare nearly burning her poor friend into fried fish, Sasuke standing next to him like a near copy. Chojurou perks up just a little when he sees Sakura, but she’s too shocked to see Kakashi this early.

“You’re here, finally,” he says, taking a step to approach her, but is preemptively stopped by a little Kakashi-look-alike. “Mei-sama sent me here to check out your progress, Kimimaro was supposed to do this but he’s needed in Kirigakure.”

“Yea,” she sighs, dropping her bag next to the others and tilting her head at Kakashi and Sasuke. “Any reason why they’re like this?”

Chojurou chuckles lightly, flashing his teeth ever so slightly.

“Saku-chan,” Kakashi says slowly in a whine, nearly as if he’s a child, “How were we supposed to know his intentions? For all we knew he could have been waiting to steal you back to Kiri.”

“We told him about that Kimimaro guy, believe it!” Naruto butts in, “He’s weird lookin’ you shouldn’t hang with guys like them, anyway!”

Sasuke sneers, “Yes, and-”

“What did Mei-sama need to know? I’m willing to take on whatever you throw me,” Sakura interrupts, now standing in front of Chojurou, tethering her fingers behind her back.

“She needs to know the minimums of what you can do; like mastered jutsu’s, minimum sprinting speeds, how much you can bench before feeling exhausted, the kind of things you should’ve learned in kiri before you entered the program.”

“Mastered jutsus? We’re genin I don’t think we’re even allowed to know things that well,” Naruto snarks, looking towards Kakashi with a face that says ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’.

Chojurou lets out the slightest of huffs, barely containing his irate, “The baseline for Kiri. Whatever you Konoha ninja do is your own thing, however, the case would not stand in our homeland.”

“Tell me what I need to do, Chojurou-san,” Sakura says, throwing Naruto a swift punch to the side of his stomach.

Naruto groans in pain and Chojurou looks disappointed.

 

~~~

 

Kimimaro isn’t surprised when he hears back from his colleague. Sakura is in average standing compared to her fellow genin in Kiri, and in this case average can mean certain distrust between the nations. Is Konoha really against transfer students that they are willing to risk war?

He had taken the liberty to look into other transfer students across the board, and it seems it is much more of an issue than he had initially thought.

He is sure this is deeper than what he can handle.

After the ‘Hospital incident’, as Sakura had taken to calling it, he has been dealing with some Uchiha eyes on the back of his head, and he isn't sure how it came to be, but even the Hyuuga have been trailing him. In Kiri, that would have been enough to instigate a brawl in the streets, a skirmish between clans. In Kiri, he wouldn’t have to worry about his fiancee’s grades like she is some kind of civilian child.

The only good thing Chojurou had to say about Sakura is her willingness to fight. She is eager for someone being hindered by the Konoha logic, and she is smart for someone being hindered by the Kiri bloodlust that runs through her veins, and her intuition that won her several fights in the past is only another modifier to her skill sheet.

He is proud of her.