Sakura Haruno: The Prodigy

35

Two lone graves were visited by 4 shinobi. Silence filled the small group, but the Hokage's son quietly glanced at his pink-haired teammate. "You killed someone, Sakura," Naruto stared at her small hand. The one that had been covered in Haku's blood. Sasuke stared at her, keeping his distance from her. "In this world, you must be strong to survive, Naruto," Sakura stated and gave a bow to the graves. "It doesn't matter! They didn't deserve to die, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, and Sakura blankly stared at him." Do you think that this village deserved to be terrorized?" Sakura calmly said ,and Kakashi quickly stepped in, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, in this world, you must follow the orders your village has given to you. Our orders was to protect Tazuna, but this mission turned into a higher ranking mission. One that isn't of your level. Higher ranking missions involve life and death situations. Its either your blood in the floor or the opponent's," Kakashi calmly said and patted his students' heads. "You can talk to your father about this, but its time for us to go." With that Team 7 made their journey home in a heavy silence.

*in Konoha a day after*

"We'll get to travel and see new places. We also get to help people and try out new hobbies," Asuma said to his students, and Ino let out an excited gasp.
"Being a Shinobi sounds so much fun," Ino exclaimed and Shikamaru and Choji nodded. Asuma gave them a smile but wanted to give them a frown. There wasn't any fun in the shinobi world. Look at how some of his friends turned out. Kakashi and Sakura grew up too fast. Itachi and many others as well. People he had made memories with were long gone. He let out a puff of smoke and dismissed his team. Sasuke let out a grin and picked up his pace as he saw the familiar gates to the village. "Alright, mom! I'm home!" Naruto exclaimed as he caught sight of his mother. He quickly left his team and walked along side his cheery mother. Kakashi and Sakura slowly walked into the village, and Sasuke quickly ran to his brother.

"Brother, you won't believe what happened," Sasuke said in an excited tone, and Itachi poked his forehead. He looked up from his brother and noticed the two prodigies that walked past them. He let out a frown at the lack of a gretting, but he shook his head. How can he expect a greeting after their past. "Come on, Sasuke. Let's go tell our parents about your mission." Kakashi and Sakura kept walking in silence and briefly reported the way their mission had went to the Hokage. "Eh, well. The mission went up to a B rank and we had to eliminate some shinobi," Kakashi announced and Minato sighed. "Was Naruto there when it happened?" "He was, Lord Hokage," Sakura stated, and he face palmed.

"I see. Good job on the completion of the mission. Even though there were some set backs, you came back with all members safe and sound. You'll get paid tomorrow. You're dismissed." Kakashi and Sakura quickly bowed and left the office. "How about we go meet Kurenai and Asuma. I'm sure Kurenai would love to hear about the little stunt you pulled by sleeping in the woods, Sakura," kakashi said with a grin, and she grimaced. "I'd rather not have her give me a lecture about that." Kakashi gave her a smile, and they both walked into a familiar barbeque shop. Asuma and Kurenai were calmly talking in low voices, but stopped as they felt two familair chakras. "Kakashi, Sakura! Over here," Kurenai exclaimed and waved her hand.

"Ah, nice to see both of you. It's been some time since we ate at this place," kakashi said and sat down in front of them. "Well your team was quite busy with a mission. Congrats by the way," Asuma replied and ate a piece of barbeque. "Yeah, not the best mission. It was pretty slow," Sakura replied, and Kurenai looked at her. "Did you bond with any boys?? Made new friends??" Sakura gulped and looked at the two males at the table for help. "Well, no but  I slept inside a house-" Sakura was going to continue with her story but was interrupted by her dad. "Now, now , Sakues don't lie to Kurenai. Why don't you tell her that you slept in the middle of the woods for a whole night,?" He sweetly asked in an innocent tone, and Sakura took in a deep breath.

"You did, what!? Sakura that's dangerous. We must get you cleaned right now," Kurenai announced and stood up from the table. Sakura let out a nervous chuckle and put her hands up in surrender. "There's no need for that. Why don't we enjoy a warm meal and socialize?" Kurenai quickly grasped the young shinobi's arm and dragged her out the store. "Well that's unfortunate, but Asuma I know you didn't call me for a gathering." Asuma calmly leaned back against his chair and let out a sigh. "The Chunin Exams are coming up, but there has been sightings of the Akatsuki. We wouldn't have to worry about them, but the sightings are a btt close to the gates. We have no clue what they want, but knowing them it can't be good."