Chapter Text
.
Sakura Haruno sat with her arms wrapped around her knees and tear marks on her cheeks. The last few weeks had been a total nightmare. Sasuke left the village. He’d thanked her and left the village to go to Orochimaru. Then, while the other genins that had been tasked to bring him back failed and were injured in the attempt, Sakura was sat in a T&I cell being interrogated about her role in the whole thing.
She may have been cleared, but she could see that she was being looked at in suspicion by the shinobi in the ranks above her. It had even filtered down to the other rookies. Only Naruto had treated her the same as he always did, though he’d been a lot less exuberant about it before he disappeared to train with Jiraiya to get stronger and he didn’t even say goodbye. She had to find out from Iruka- who Naruto had said goodbye to that he was gone and would be gone for three years.
She was feeling very unloved and unvalued and useless. Discarded by her team in the most casual manner. They had just...left. Had Team Seven been disbanded? She didn’t know, she hadn’t seen Kakashi since he’d separated the boys from their fight on the Hospital roof. Sakura buried her head in her knees as fresh tears formed and fell. She was alone. Not even her parents were present to comfort her having been sent to Kumo months ago to establish a permanent trade route into Lightning.
She had been informed by her father’s uncle- the family head, after being released by T&I, that they had been killed in a landslide shortly after the disastrous final stage of the exams. In the next breath she was informed that being associated with a village traitor didn’t reflect well on the family that raised her and being a kunoichi wasn’t contributing to the family in any meaningful way. When she refused to give up her role as a kunoichi she was disowned and told that she wasn’t welcome in their circle anymore meaning that she was required to find a new place to live.
She’d gone to the Yondaime and begged him to take her on as an apprentice or even as an assistant. She wanted to get stronger, to get better. She didn’t want to watch the boys pull away from her and leave her behind. She wanted to be able to fight side-by-side with them, not need them to save her all the time.
Naruto’s father hadn’t been unkind about it, but he had said no and informed her of her immediate transfer to the Genin Corps. Sakura rubbed at her eyes, leaving them dry and red. The Genin Corps were looked down on because they didn’t have the skills to advance. Intellectually she knew that they were a needed workforce for the village, doing the D-rank tasks that freed up the higher ranks to bring in the riskier and higher paying jobs. But going into the Corps was like walking into a dead end alley. There was no way forward. No way out.
Sakura heaved out a sigh. She couldn’t really blame the Hokage for his decision. She hadn’t exactly helped herself by doing only the bare minimum in training. She could try and blame Kakashi for not encouraging her, but deep down she knew that even if he had, she would have either found a way out of it, or she would have ignored him entirely. She only had herself to blame.
She clenched her hands so hard that she cut her palms with her nails. She hated that she’d sabotaged her career without thinking about it and an angry ball of rage and resolve started to form in her gut. She stared down at the tiny red crescents on her hands intently. She would get better. She would improve. She’d show all of them that she was more than just a stupid little fangirl. She would become one of the elite. Not for anyone else. But for herself.
It was hard to hold that thought at the forefront of her mind as she returned back to her parent’s apartment, intent on moving out. Think of it like its a mission she told herself. There was a lot to do and there was no point in putting it off. She went and begged for some boxes that were being thrown out by the bakery downstairs and started packing. Starting in the living room, she took down the ornaments and wrapped them carefully. She separated out what would go into long term storage, and what she wanted to keep with her. She found a box of sealing scrolls in the top cupboard and was reminded that her mother had once been a kunoichi. Sakura checked to make sure that the seals were still intact and that the scrolls themselves wouldn’t deteriorate before she put them to use in sealing up the furniture and the packed boxes full of household items.
Sakura cried when she entered her parents bedroom. The smell of them lingered. What had been the scent of warm hugs and unconditional support was now tainted with bitter tears and the knowledge that she would never smell this particular mix of scents ever again. It was a good thing that there was no immediate deadline for reporting to the Genin Corps, because it took her a while to pack up the room as she got lost in her grief.
There was a box of clothes that Sakura had no use for and couldn’t donate as they were embroidered with the Haruno circle, and she left it on the kitchen counter so that they could be distributed to whoever in the clan needed them. She did keep her mother’s wedding kimono, and her father’s favourite one that was a deep green and covered in plum and cherry blossoms.
Sakura slept in her parent’s bed and woke tired and groggy with the sun. She ate a quiet breakfast and continued to clean and pack until all that was left was her own bedroom. She opened the door and took in the white and pale pink decor with a critical eye. There were lots of stuffed animals and her wardrobe was full of impractical clothes that she never wore. She’d spent so much money on them while her weapons languished in number and in sharpness. Her bookcase held a lot of books but they were mainly romances with the odd collection of notes rolled up and stacked together with her academy textbooks.
She looked down at the Introduction to Senses textbook she’d unearthed from the bottom of her cupboard and then at her dresser that had her strong smelling cosmetics laid out on top along with her perfumes. She winced. She had more to correct than she’d originally thought.
Start at the beginning. She told herself. Small steps. Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Prove your worth.
She separated out everything that would help her in her career as a kunoichi and it was a pitifully small pile. Some clothes were added to the box in the kitchen, some yukata and kimono were kept for festivals. She sealed everything else away in scrolls, some things to be donated, some things to be sold, some things packed away until she needed them again.
Sakura spent the rest of the day cleaning the apartment. She left the keys and the box of clothes with her Great Aunt, who tried to apologise for her husband’s actions, in the morning. Sakura wasn’t interested in apologies. Apologies didn’t give her a roof over her head. Apologies didn’t give her her parent’s back.
.
.
The three chūnin sat opposite her, observing her, reading her file.
“Recently graduated...Made it through to the preliminary rounds of the disastrous exams...Genjutsu type...Kunoichi...Could be pretty if her hair grew out and was styled differently to hide her wide forehead...Intelligence is high according to her Academy scores...Already has an A-rank under her belt...Has good chakra control.”
They spoke about her as if she wasn’t in the room. It had her clenching her fists and grinding her teeth, but she kept silent. She didn’t have anywhere else to go. She couldn’t afford to mess this up by letting her temper get the better of her.
“Taijutsu is weak...reserves are on the low end of average...she’ll do as a village grunt.” They stamped the paperwork and someone came to lead her away.
He wore what looked like a standard a black uniform though he didn’t wear a flak jacket and the right side of his face was pitted and scarred under his spiky black hair. She grew suspicious when he looked into three consecutive rooms until he pushed her into an empty break room.
“Who are you?” she demanded and his lips lifted in a small smile.
“Very good Haruno-san, I am not part of the Genin Corps and I was not the person that was supposed to collect you. Would you like to take a guess as to who I am?” he asked and even though she was apprehensive, she felt like this was a test. She also didn’t correct him as to her family circumstances. She took in his appearance. He wore no clan markings, no insignias, he didn’t even wear his hitae-ate so she couldn’t be sure that he was even from Konoha- but why wouldn’t he be? She wasn’t anyone special. She didn’t have any foreign powers out to get her, and as had been made abundantly clear, she didn’t have any ties to anyone who cared about her.
“You’re an Uchiha,” she stated not caring if her words were blunt to the point of rudeness and didn’t contain the necessary tone of respect that a member of a noble clan was owed. His smile widened and he nodded.
“Keep going.”
“You know I’m pretty done with Uchiha’s at the moment. What do you want?” This time her words elected a frown.
“To give you an apology,” he said slowly, the amusement in his eyes had turned calculating. “Though it’s probably not worth much seeing as I’m apologising on behalf of others.”
Sakura scoffed. “If you’re about to apologise for a selfish self-centred teme who would betray his village and everyone that even remotely cared about him just to one-up his precious Aniki then save your breath because I don’t want it. I don’t accept it. He felt we were holding him back so he left. He left and I got hauled into T&I and was interrogated like I was in on it. I was a fangirl with a stupid crush on her teammate who wouldn’t think twice about stepping on or over her if it gave him an advantage. Then after they finally admit that I had no clue what he was going to do I find out that everyone is looking at me like I was the one who turned traitor. The next time I see that stuck up shit stain I’m going to rip out his spine and choke him with it.”
Sakura didn’t give him a chance to respond to her declaration and turned, throwing open the door ready to storm out. She almost didn’t notice when he switched places with her via a substitution jutsu, she was too shocked by what she’d just uttered. Inner hadn’t been giving her usual internal commentary for a while but her words had just come out of her mouth. To an Uchiha.
She pursed her lips and glared at him and he held up his hands. “Okay, no apology on behalf of Sasuke-chan. What about an apology on behalf of Bakashi?” Sakura glared harder.
“Next you’ll be wanting to apologise for Naruto leaving on a three year training trip without telling me.”
“What?” He was surprised but he wasn’t overly shocked. Naruto could be incredibly dense at times.
“You’re Obito aren’t you,” she stated and he confirmed it with a singular nod. “Naruto left on a three year training trip less than a week after I got released from T&I and I find this out from our academy sensei because he didn’t even bother to say goodbye. I haven’t seen- What did you call him? Bakashi? I haven’t seen Bakashi-sensei since before the-” she caught her tongue, “since before Sasuke left. He went on and on about being a team, telling us how you were worse than trash if you abandoned your teammates. He didn’t even have the guts to tell me that the team was disbanded. I don’t want an apology I want to cut out their hearts and grind them into the dirt because that’s what they did to me. Since I know that’s not possible I just want to forget them. Now do you mind? I need to come to terms with the soul sucking realisation that I have very likely already risen as far in the shinobi ranks as I ever will.”
“They really did you dirty didn’t they,” he said, his tone devoid of all amusement.
“Yeah well I’m civilian born, how else do you expect me to be treated?” she sourly replied.
“Better than that. For what it’s worth I am sorry that you’ve been forced to endure all of that. Even the months you were his student. I pulled your file and I can’t see anything in there that shows that he taught you anything other than tree-walking and water-walking.”
“He was too busy trying to keep the boys from killing each other and I didn’t push,” there was bitterness and self-loathing in her tone. He nodded and gestured for her to take a seat, closing the door behind him again. He watched as she dropped heavily onto the sofa and then lifted her feet so she was hugging her knees.
“I think you have a lot of potential Haruno-san. Your chakra control is through the roof and you have a sharp mind I feel you could go a long way if you put in some actual effort.” Her shoulders hunched. He wasn’t telling her anything that she didn’t already know. “I’m here because I want to offer you an apprenticeship.” Sakura’s head shot up and she stared at him with wide confused eyes. “I was planning on approaching you after the exams but then they turned out the way they did and I’ve been busy with missions. I’m currently on a two week medical stand-down because I came back with chakra exhaustion from my last outing. I figure that I’m not going to get a better chance than this to see if you want out of the Corps?”
Sakura’s mind flittered through his words, turning them over and looking at them from all angles.
“You were planing this before the exams?” He nodded. “Why?”
“As I said I think you have a lot of potential.”
“You didn’t think I would get promoted?”
“I pulled your file after your preliminary round against the Yamanaka heir.” He didn’t sugar coat it but he wasn’t harsh with it either. Sakura liked that and a small tentative respect for him formed. “Naruto-kun’s got the power to make chūnin but he doesn’t have the maturity,” he continued. “Sensei was always going to send him out to apprentice under Jiraiya.” Sakura flinched slightly at that. Sounded like she was doomed from the start. “Sasuke-chan was likely to advance if he didn’t let his hot head rule him, so it meant that Team Seven was always going to disband, and I knew that you were destined for the Corps.” She sighed and rested her chin on her knees. “I took a look at your file and was surprised that you got so far with so little training and expertise. There was a note that said you passed the first stage without having to resort to cheating. I took a look at the questions and they were a mixture of genin, chūnin, and jōnin ranked questions. You got them all right. It got me wondering what you could do with actual training and support. I’m not offering this out of pity Haruno‑san. If you didn’t have the potential to be great I wouldn’t be here.”
She finally raised her eyes to his again. “I want to get better. I want to get stronger. I do,” she insisted quietly. “I just-” she took a deep breath and let it out slowly building up the courage to say her next words. “I just don’t want to be tossed away like trash again,” she finished on a whisper.
Obito looked down at his hands and his heart clenched for the girl. He was going to beat his former teammate into the dirt the next time he saw him.
“Haruno-san. I’m the one that always said abandoning your teammates makes you less than trash. Bakashi copied that from me.” She hiccuped and he looked at her intently. “For him it’s just a saying. For me. It’s my nindo. Once you have that bond with me, it’s there forever. If you accept my offer and become my apprentice, I will never abandon you. I will always be there for my precious people.”
Sakura’s mouth dropped open at his intense declaration. She could feel his resolve echoing loudly in his words. His Will of Fire. She found that she had no other answer for him but ‘yes’.
He burnt the form in her file that declared her part of the Genin Corps and they filled out the Notice of Apprenticeship together. She had to explain why she didn’t include her clan name on the paperwork, and why they couldn’t get her parents or even her family head to sign off on the form. Obito had to forcibly unclench his jaw when he realised that he was grinding his teeth. Tossed away like trash. The Gods had placed her on a rough path. He hoped that he could help her overcome it. He silently handed her the form that would update her next of kin and her address.
“I don’t have anywhere to live yet Obito-shishō,” she said. “I was going to apply to live in the subsidised housing today but I haven’t had a chance to go there yet.”
“We’ll go there next,” he promised. “When was the last time you went for a check up?” he asked.
“After the final exam. I was pinned to a tree by Gaara in his transformed state, I had a few broken ribs and a punctured lung that needed mending.”
“Okay, now don’t go all weird on me. You’re about the right age but you’re underweight so you probably don’t have them yet, but have you had your first period?”
Sakura blushed at the question but indicated that she had before whispering, “Yeah, I had my first just after we got back from Wave. I’ve been taught the jutsu that gets it all over and done with and I have been warned not to use it if I don’t need to, and I’ve opted for the contraceptive bar so that’s covered for the next few years.”
“That’s good to hear. I don’t expect to take you out of the village just yet, but when we do go out, it’s good to know that you can handle that aspect of your bodily functions in the field, and I’m pleased to hear that you are protected from having kids until you want them.” She watched him gather his thoughts, and when he spoke it was with carefully selected words. “Being my apprentice will shield you from being forced into... unenviable career paths, since you are now effectively under the protection of my clan. But sometimes missions go bad and as a girl you need to be prepared for a whole range of things that boys often don’t need to worry about. Do you understand?”
“Rape.”
“It’s a favourite of the criminal element and it’s unfortunately an effective torture technique,” he stated flatly. “I promise I’ll do my best to see that that never happens okay?”
“Okay.” He was so very different to Bakashi-sensei. He didn’t avoid the hard conversations or the embarrassing ones. Sakura felt very cared for because of it, it gave the impression that she could truly rely on him. It was a novel feeling. She’d have to see if it was true.
She answered a few more pertinent questions and then they were off to the housing supervisor.
“You have three options. Option A isn’t really an option. It’s the same building that Bakashi lives in. Option B also isn’t really an option since it’s really close to the Hokage Tower so you have shinobi rushing past at all hours. Option C is my suggestion, it’s close to the Police Headquarters which surprisingly means that it’s quieter, but it’s also close to training ground five and the Nagano Hot Springs which you’ll thank me for later,” he grinned down at her sadistically and she winced sympathetically for her future self.
“Option C it is,” she agreed.
It was a smaller apartment building but the apartments were slightly larger than the ones closer to the village centre which was pleasing. The apartment that she was assigned had a shower over a bath and space and connections for her own washing machine. It had a tiny kitchen, barely big enough to cook a meal, but it would be serving only her and occasionally maybe her Shishō. The bedroom was separate to the rest of the living area, and there was also a tiny balcony that was large enough to hold a clothes-horse or a small table and a couple of chairs. It came unfurnished but that wasn’t an issue with scrolls full of her parents belongings all neatly packed up.
Obito paid the bond and the first three months of rent out of his own money saying that it was his responsibility as her Shishō to see that she had a roof over her head, had food to eat, and that she was properly outfitted at least until she was able to afford those things on her own. He helped her unpack and shift around unwieldy furniture at the same time making lists of all the things that he told her that she needed. As the list grew longer and longer she was happier and happier that he was the one footing the bill, her parents had had a small amount of money that would come to her, but it would take time to get sorted and it was unlikely to cover even half of what Obito was intent on her needing.
With everything arranged and put away, and a dozen traps set up that Sakura wasn’t entirely sure that she’d be able to disarm in time to not get skewered or blown up, they set out for the Hokage Tower.
Sakura was sent to stand outside while Obito talked to the Hokage. She felt the chakra seals get activated and she took a seat having the odd feeling that they would be there for a while. She was wrong. Obito sauntered out only a few minutes later with a satisfied smirk twisting his lips. He gestured for her to follow him and then he proceeded to drag her all over the village on a shopping spree that Ino would be envious of.
Sakura’s living room was practically covered with bags from all types of shops and stalls by the time they were done for the day. They’d returned to the apartment twice over the course of the day, once with the bags of weapons and clothes and books, and once after their last adventure out into the village saw Sakura’s cupboards fully stocked. Obito had made sure that she had plenty of non-scented hygiene products for both her and her clothes, and proper food that he expected her to eat and not pick at like a bird.
He cooked dinner while she washed her new clothes and shelved her new reference books and he watched her to see if she knew how to put a sharp edge onto her new set of weapons after they’d eaten and after he’d packed away the leftovers into bento boxes for the next day.
“Get those done and then get a good nights rest. I will meet you at training ground five at seven am. Eat something light, and make sure you bring something to drink and those bentos to eat later. We’re going to see where your limits are so we can come up with a training plan and you’ll need the energy.”
Sakura felt a lot of trepidation about the morning, she was worried that when he saw just how bad she was, he’d go and burn the Notice of Apprenticeship just like he did the form assigning her to the Genin Corps. She spent a few hours on sharpening her two packs of kunai and tucking them into her new larger weapons pouch that would be strapped to her leg.
Obito had suggested- and Sakura had jumped at the idea, that she stain her hair. The shinobi hair stainer was a solid bar that worked just like soap, and it was permanent unless treated with another bar that stripped the stain right out. She just needed to use it at least once a week to touch up any regrowth. She was too pale to have black hair but the medium dark brown hair colour looked natural with her complexion and it had the added bonus of making her eyes take on a darker shade too.
Making sure that her pouches had everything she needed even though Obito had completed that task while testing her knowledge on every item that he ensured was in them, Sakura checked the locks and the traps and crawled into her parents bed only to stare at the ceiling for the longest time. Her mind had gone quiet while her hands had had so much to do. Now it was the opposite. It was the first night in a new home, and it was the night before her evaluation. Her brain didn’t shut down until it was nearly time to get up again.
.