Pink Avenger

Depressing three years. Mature and more skilled than ever. She still loved him, no doubt.

Chapter 1: Still the Same

Everyone in the village was impressed of a certain young nin's medical skills in Konoha Hospital. She would attend to every sick patient, always putting others before herself and never lost her patience. Though young, she was determined to learn, expanding her horizons and now she was as accomplished as her sensei, Tsunade-sama. She was more hardworking and modest than any of the other young nins. She was the only one who had the capabilities to graduate within two and a half years.

Haruno Sakura, sixteen, had come a long way to reach this stage. She wiped away the sweat collecting on her forehead. She had undergone a significant physical transformation after three years of perseverance. Her face was shapelier and she was beginning to have the curves of a breath-taking young woman. Her short hair which now reached her shoulders remained a vibrant cherry-pink and contrasted with her supple lips, her mesmerizing emerald eyes and her cute little button nose. It would be a pity if she wasn't attached anytime soon.

Shizune carefully approached the hospital bed and frowned in concern at Sakura who was busy examining a young girl's wound. "Sakura, your skills are already better than my own. You don't need to prove yourself by making yourself work harder."

The stubborn teenager, immersed in her work paid no attention to her. Shizune sighed as she glanced at the clock and said, "It's almost lunch time, why don't you take a break?"

Sakura still paying no mind to the older woman, carefully bandaged the girl's leg with a lightness in her hands and ensured that the wound wasn't infected. She completed the bandaging with a little knot and smiling reassuringly, patted the little girl on the back, "Here, you should be fine now." The young girl looked at the cute knot and returned the smile, "Thank you." Then she walked slowly out the door where her mother was waiting.

The young medic-nin allowed her arms to drop limply by her side as she stared dreamily at the little girl accompanying her mother. The little girl held hands with her mother as she recounted the day's events and her mother bent down to say something back to her. Would she ever have a chance of holding hands with her mother and listen to her talk about her day? No, never. Mum was dead. Dad was dead. Everyone had vanished out of her tarnished life as quickly as the autumn breeze.

"Sakura? Sakura? Are you listening to what I'm saying?" Shizune asked exasperatedly. With one hand positioned on her hip in annoyance, she waved her other hand in front of Sakura's dazed face. The pink-haired teenager immediately snapped out of her daydreaming and giggled, "Yeah. So sorry there, I was just thinking about some issues. I'll be done soon, there are still some more children with injuries."

"I'll be here to attend to them; you can go and have your well-deserved break. The weather is so nice today, so don't coop yourself in here all the time, it's unhealthy," Shizune advised and extracted some bandages from the cabinet before she went to a crying little boy.

Sakura decided taking a break was plausible but still felt a bit uneasy about leaving and letting those poor kids suffer. She also wasn't very hungry, working was her energy. With her mind made, she took a handful of plasters but was stopped by a firm hand on her arm. "What did I teach you? Medical nins are humans too, we need to rest," Tsunade said sternly and eyed Sakura's face, calculating her.

"Tsunade-sama…" Sakura whispered as she stared deeply into Tsunade's fiery eyes and let the plasters fall to the ground.

Shizune arrived at the scene and said delightedly, "I'm glad you are here, Tsunade-sama." The 5th Hokage acknowledged the short-haired woman with a smile and pulled tightly at the sleeve of Sakura's kimono, dragging her out of the room. Shizune shook her head and muttered under her breath, "Not this plan again…"

-

"Do you need me to drag you out here everytime you are behaving like a kid?" Tsunade chided and pushed her to the ground where she fell to face the graves of her parents. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and fought back the dirt seeping into her eyes. She then opened them slowly, as everything in her field of vision came into view and dusted the sand away from her palms. Here she was again, facing her parents for what seemed to be the thousandth time; she was losing count of it as this had become almost daily routine. She remained silent and waited for her sensei's arriving lecture.

"Sakura, it's not like when I'm happy I'll drag you out here," Tsunade said sullenly as a light breeze picked up. Sakura could feel the sand prickling her eyes again but she blinked them back hurriedly as she stared forcefully at the chipped gravestones that towered above her head.

"I'm upset over the fact that I have to drag you out here. I've got to admit that you are growing up and it's hard. You have become a woman whom I can no longer familiarize with. I recognized you three years ago but now, I no longer know you as the girl who always laughed at herself. You've been keeping to yourself and there's nothing I can do but to bring you here and make you reflect," Tsunade said sadly and looked at the reformed Sakura who still remained silent and immobile.

Strands of cherry hair fell over her eyes as she softly muttered, "I'm still the same." Her hands clenched into fists and she knew she was lying to herself and her sensei, deep inside her frozen and tainted heart. She had become numb to all emotions ever since her parents' deaths and when he left. Everyone had obtained ranks higher than her, making her feel inferior to her peers and to make matters worse, left her behind to suffer. She, the lowly rank and the utterly weak one, still remained in this place, doing what was best for her, healing. She could take away pain, but not from her own heart.

"I just feel vexed thinking of you as the rebel who no longer listens to me. I know I've already graduated you but deep inside, you're still a kid who has to take some advice from others. You're not really grown up, you know that right?" Tsunade paused at the last part and glanced resignedly at her then the graves.

Her glazed blue eyes shifted over to the framed photographs. Overwrought with guilt and sadness, she studied the faces of Sakura's parents and thought, 'I tried my best to bring Sakura up as my daughter. I managed to teach her the medical skills I harbor but the rest is up to her.'

Sakura's parents were murdered. On that fateful day when the young kunoichi had become a fully-pledged medical nin, someone appeared at her home and committed two murders. When Sakura returned home, all happy and wanting to break the news to her parents she found them dead. Two lifeless bodies lying on the wooden floor, blood stains everywhere. Flowers had withered without any reason. All that remained were petals of a black rose and a broken stem full of thorns.

I guess that was when Sakura transformed into a woman I didn't know. She was always masking her sadness with a head held high and constant smiling after her parents' deaths, saying she got over it. Sakura dealt with a big blow and still is. Unfortunately, we were unable to track down the person who killed them and that's why the house was sealed off and Sakura was made to live with Ino, someone I could rest my mind with. But now, perhaps Ino isn't able to pry open her heart once more.

"Seems like you have more to think about than I do," Sakura said pensively and stood up, not bothering to brush herself off, "Bye." She left quietly. Tsunade broke from her train of thought and tried to stop the departing Sakura but she had already disappeared from view. The Hokage always seemed to be losing to Sakura in this game they were playing. But then again, Sakura would probably be wandering around before she realized she had to return to the hospital. Maybe, building the graves in this deserted forest where it was near the hospital was a good thing after all.

-

The kunoichi, lost in her cluttered mind, wandered aimlessly about the busy streets of Konoha. The lives of the villagers seemed much happier and simpler than before, unlike hers. She inspected the decorated shop in front of her and through the recently-polished windows saw Ino packing some sunflowers, bundling them up with a pink ribbon. Ino's parents had entrusted the blonde with the flower shop. She glimpsed outside and caught sight of Sakura peering into the window. She waved at Sakura happily. Ino still looked the same, though her hair had grown longer and was beginning to develop the curves. But the main spotlight was on Sakura.

Sakura waved back and entered the shop, the bell situated above the door creating a ringing noise. "I'm so glad that you dropped by and at the right time too. It's my break time now," Ino said happily and smiled as she retrieved her bag from behind the counter. "Let's go and eat something…" Ino offered and grabbed the freshly wrapped sunflowers, shaking the water from the petals. Sakura nodded slightly and looked at the sunflowers then at Ino, waiting for her to explain.

"Oh, this. Haha, erm… I'm just delivering it to some person…" Ino laughed nervously and played with the glossy wrapping. Sakura at once became more demanding, "Who's back?" Her voice pierced through Ino's slightly tanned skin.

Ino stood stock-still for a minute and then let out a rather forced laugh, "Okay, okay. Shikamaru's back, are you happy now? It's not him." Sakura dropped her gaze from Ino and studied the ground. So it was not him. She knew it wouldn't be possible either.

Sakura in an attempt to ease the tension in the shop, threw her head back and laughed, "I knew it couldn't be him of course. What were you thinking anyway? I just thought maybe nosey Naruto came back or Neji or Hinata or Kiba or…" Then she paused. Everyone was stronger and better.

"I just received the news today that Shikamaru, Naruto and Neji are coming back from a jounin quest. They should be arriving in the noon at Konoha Hospital. Sakura, what are you thinking? Hinata is right here, minding the Hyuuga family," Ino said seriously and wondered if Sakura was running a fever.

Sakura laughed shyly, "Yeah, of course, I knew that." Even though Hinata was still a chuunin, she was planning to take the jounin exam someday. Sakura was just the chuunin who was only knowledgeable in medical skills and nothing else. There was no way she was even qualified to do the jounin exam. She was still the helpless and weak girl as before who always needed help. Medical skills couldn't defeat opponents.

"You're daydreaming again. Grr. Come, let's have some ramen!" Ino squealed and pointed to the ramen shop opposite them that Naruto frequented and grabbed her friend's arm. The pink-haired girl stared at the shop, she hadn't eaten from there in a while. She couldn't bear eat from there, the very place brought back memories from a cracked heart. But Ino had already seated Sakura on one of the stools and was in the process of ordering her a large, steaming bowl of ramen.

"I can't have so much!" Sakura gasped and pushed away the piping-hot bowl. "What happened to the glutton who could eat three bowls and always challenged Naruto to a bowl of ramen?" Ino teased and forced a pair of chopsticks into Sakura's hand.

She positioned the chopsticks in her hand properly and smiled lightly. It would be best not to answer this question. She slowly brought the warm noodles to her lips and chewed them carefully as she listened attentively to Ino talk about what happened today. In a friendship, there were two kinds of people, a listener and a talker. Sakura was bound to be the listener who did nothing but listened and listened.

A/n: It's a bit short though, still thinking of the plot. Please review and I don't mind flames. I hope the characters aren't OOC this time.