I've decided to break from my last story, so, here is a new one. It's how I would have preferred things to have gone concerning Sakura.

Thus I give you Sakura's Evolution.

Chapter 1: Reality Check

Haruno Sakura sighed as she continued to walk through the park. It was a gorgeous and wonderful afternoon and normally Sakura would be smiling, but today she didn't feel like much like it. Yesterday had been her twelfth birthday and she had had a wonderful (albeit a bit strained) time with her parents and had woken up to a beautiful Monday. The perfect weather coupled with the still-present thrill of being twelve had given her confidence. She'd gone through the day with a radiant smile and after classes were out, the pinkette had asked, blushing and with a slight stutter, Uchiha Sasuke out to ramen.

To which he promptly scowled in disgust, rejected her inquires harsher than ever before, and walked away- leaving a tearful Sakura behind.

Not wanting to go home, the girl had escaped to the park. Hiding among the trees, she had cried her eyes out before finally calming down. Just to be sure no remnants of fallen tears remained (a pink nose red, puffy eyes), she stayed and listened to the birds as they sang.

Sakura was now heading towards the park exit so she could get home before it got too late. Heaving a sigh, she rounded another corner. . .

. . .and immediately hid behind the nearest tree.

"A-ano, Reitan-kun, I-I w-was wondering if you would like to go out sometime, you know, with…me?" Oh, yes. Sakura's timing must be the worst in the entire world. She had stumbled on a very personal moment between two people. The viridian-eyed pre-teen would have groaned if it wouldn't have given her away.

An aggravated sigh brought her out of her thoughts. "Hikari, when will you get it? I do not want to go out with you! You've asked me that practically every week for I don't know how long! The answer has always been no, and it will always be no."

"B-but, why, Reitan-kun?"

"Because you're just another fangirl." Crunching footsteps let Sakura know this 'Reitan' was leaving.

'How pathetic.'Her inself sneered and Outer Sakura couldn't help but agree as she shifted further into the shadows when Hikari- a very pretty civilian about her age with long black hair- raced past her hiding spot with tears streaming down her face. Though her heart went out to the poor girl, she couldn't help but think how dense she must be. Seriously, who asks out a guy every week? If he says no the first time, the girl shouldn't bother him about it again and move on. What's more, what kind of girl is obsessed enough to join a fanclub?

. . .oh.

Mortified, ashamed, and feeling like a total hypocrite, Sakura sank to the ground and leaned back against the tree. She had just overheard a situation practically identical to the one that occurred to herself not much more than an hour ago. It was almost verbatim, for Kami's sake! Groaning rather loudly, Sakura pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and let her slightly-bigger-than-normal forehead rest against her knees, not giving any notice when her long pink tresses fell in a curtain around her face. Four years. She had pined after Sasuke's love for four years. She had been so caught up in, well, him, that most everything she did was about him.

'No,' she thought with growing horror, 'it isn't just mostof what I do, it's practically everything. Not to mention, almost every time I do something not Sasuke-related, it leads to Sasuke related thoughts.'This was true. If she was watching a movie, it was: "I hope Sasuke-kun says that to me one day!" Shopping for clothes: "I wonder if Sasuke-kun will think I look good in this." Weapons: " Will Sasuke-kun notice my new weapons?" It seemed the only thing she did that wasn't Sasuke related and didn't turn Sasuke related is when she used the toilet!

Plus, think of all the tears she's cried for him- because of him. All those millions upon millions of water droplets that could have kept her hydrated. All those tears and the gallons of pain that came with them- wasted on a stupid boy!

Finally, there was the time. For four years, she had wasted her time being an idiot rather than training. As she sat there, the pinkette remembered why she chose the shinobi path. At the age of seven, Sakura had had enough of the teasing and bullying and decided to become a ninja so she would be strong enough to do just about anything- including protecting her parents if and when war came their way. Unfortunately, it didn't go over well with them; her dad being the most vocal of the two about his objections. It didn't stop her from signing up for the Ninja Academy a year later though. This resulted in a rather limited relationship with her father and a tense one with her mother. (The strain was still going on- her father only spoke to her so he could put her down and her mother was always talking about it was "a woman's job to take care of the house, not traipsing around playing ninja.)

However, the tense atmosphere at home had no effect on her high spirits when classes started. The wretched thing about classes was that there other kids. Other kids meant more potential bullies to pick on her. And pick on her they did.

Then she and Ino became best friends. This meant her list of reasons to be a kunoichi was expanding. She now also wanted to be able to protect Ino as well as her parents, and she would make them all proud. But naïve little Sakura just hadto go and get a crush on Sasuke, thus making her A) break off her friendship with Ino and B) lose track of her ninja career and dignity.

Well, not anymore. From now on, Sakura was going to live her life the way she had originally intended. She was going to be one of the most feared kunoichis in Konoha, and nothing was going to distract her from that again.

There were six months left before the genin exams. Though Sakura was confident she would pass, she didn't feel as though she had earned. 'That's going to change though,'the pinkette thought savagely as she stood up, brushing the dirt off her dress and walking towards the park exit. 'I swear I will work hard and deserve the title of genin, and then I'll keep working hard so I can go beyond that.

'Look out world, Haruno Sakura has re-claimed her life, and she's not about to let it go again.'

"K-kura-chan, can we stop for today?"

"That," the pink-haired girl gasped out, "would be the best idea I've heard all year Tenten." Exhaling relieved sighs, both girls simultaneously collapsed onto the slightly dewy grass.

Ever since that day in the park six months ago, Sakura had been working ass off. Every day she got up at five am, took a half an hour to wake up, dress, and eat. Then she would head to the training grounds where she would warm-up for an hour doing laps around Konoha, push-ups, curl-ups, and meditation. After that, she would get down to the real training. Sometimes Tenten (a genin one year older than Sakura herself whom had met Sakura when the Academy student was training) would join her in this part of the training and spar. At seven thirty she grabbed her school things and medic books (Tenten had explained how much first aid could be of use in a team) and would go to school.

At which time the Uchiha Sasuke fangirls would glare and shoot insults about her forehead. To say the least, the fanclub had not appreciated her resignation, and, as such, acted accordingly. However they were unimportant, and were only met with subtle verbal aggression, and beat downs during the practical training portion of the curriculum.

After school, it was back to the training grounds until dinner. Before bed she showered and studied medical ninjustu until eight o'clock. It was a well-kept schedule that was only varied by Tenten, emergencies, library visits, and the increasing number of physical warm-ups.

As the two girls lay panting on the ground, an approaching chakra signature alerted them to another's presence. Sakura groaned at having to open her eyes (the sun, it was too bright!) but did so anyways. A boy with white, freaky eyes and long brown hair stood over them with his arms crossed and looking a bit annoyed. Sakura blinked, surprised. Tenten scurried into a standing position after and, after a moment Sakura slowly copied her actions.

"Neji? What are you doing here?" The bun-haired, brown-eyed girl asked.

"Yes, Hyuuga Neji-chan , what are you doing here?" Sakura snickered as she wiped the grass off of the back of the black tank top and matching black bike shorts she usually wore under her red dress. The Hyuuga boy glared at Sakura.

"Tenten," he began, "was supposed to meet me at ten thirty." Here he glared at his teammate before continuing. "And you, Sakura-san, shouldn't you be at the Academy for your genin team assignments?"

Ah, yes, the team assignments. Yesterday had been the genin exams and Sakura had passed with excellence, pride and feeling as if she actually deserved the title. Her nimble hands reached up to adjust the forehead protector that rested on top of her head and held back her hair. 'Today, I am officially a genin!' She thought, a small smile tugging its way onto her face. The girl blinked and remembered Neji's question.

"Not yet. We don't have to be there until eleven and I've set my watch alarm to go off at 10:15- which it hasn't. So, you're early." Ha! Take that you Hyuuga she-man!'Inner Sakura crowed. Neji glared at her as if he could hear her inner as clearly as he could hear Tenten.

"Not according to my watch, which says it is-" the brunette glanced at his wrist-watch "-10:50 am." At his assertion, Sakura scoffed, earning yet another glare from the thirteen-year-old branch member. (In the background, Tenten could be seen sighing and shaking her head. Really, the two were good friends- they just loved annoying each other.)

"Excuse me, Neji-onee-chan,-" Sakura grinned at his glower-"but according to my watch it is-" here she made a big show of checking her watch- "10:50 am."

Silence reigned as a breeze blew through the grounds.

And then. . .

"Oh my god, I only have ten minutes to get the academy!" Sakura shrieked before rushing around, grabbing up all of her shuriken and kunai, and stuffing them in their respective places. Picking up her weight belt and buckling it around her waist, the pinkette rushed over to her bag and books, snatched them up, and booked it out of the clearing, ignoring Tenten who called her back.

'Damn it! The Academy is all the way on the other side of town! I'm not gonna make it in time!'

'Urusai, Sakura!' Inner Sakura growled. 'We have never been late before and we are not gonna start now! Shannaro!'

'You're right! I will not be late! Okay, the shortest way to the Academy it through Market Street. Please, please, please don't let it be-' the genin girl skidded to a halt right at the start of Market Street and stared, horrified.

'-packed!'Gritting her teeth, Sakura turned and continued running straight, not bothering to even try to get through the vendors and consumers. 'I'll have to take the back allies- it may be the longer way, but going through that crowd will take ten minutes in itself.' Pumping chakra to her legs, the girl quickened her pace. To the few pedestrians she passed, the official genin was just a blur before she literally left them in her dust.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" She growled out through her teeth. More chakra to her feet, and she dared a glance at her watch. 'Kuso! Only three minutes!'Mercifully, the academy was in sight. Another minute and she burst through the doors. Taking the stairs two at a time, the pre-teen swore under her breath at whoever had the bright idea to put Iruka's room on top floor, on the opposite side of the side stairwell. When she reached the fourth floor, Sakura didn't stop but sent another split-second glance at her watch. 'Forty-nine seconds!'Rounding three more corners, her sensei's door came into sight with ten seconds left.

Nine. . .

Eight. . .

Seven. . .

Six. . .

Five. . .

. . .she was halfway there. . .

Four. . .

. . .right outside the door. . .

Three. . .

Two. . .

The kunoichi crossed the threshold. Cheering rather vivaciously, Sakura skid to a stop on the wood floor.

Well, she tried to; key word being 'try.' Apparently, someone had decided to wax the classroom floors for the genin team assignments. Having practically no chakra or strength left to stop her speed sprinting, the girl slid across the floor full tilt.

Screaming and pin-wheeling her arms for balance, the pinkette continued careening across the floor straight into the windowed-walls opposite the door. And of course, the window directly in front of her was wide open, so when her legs rammed into the wall, her upper body continued moving forward, causing her topple head-first out the window.

"Sakura!" Iruka started for the window, only to jerk backwards when a kunai flew through the window and embedded itself in the ceiling. Attached to the handle was a taut, near-invisible wire. Rushing towards the window, Iruka leaned out, his eyes searching for pink, and sighed in relief. Sakura was hanging from the other end of the wire, not two feet below the windowsill.

Said Haruno was wrapped in relief, and Inner Sakura had fainted from shock.

'Safe.'

"All right now for the team assignments. You will be set in groups of three, and a jounin will be your team leader. Team One. . ."

Sakura sighed. After being pulled back into the classroom and getting her bearings, the first thing she had done was grab her sensei by vest, look him straight in the eye, and demand to know if she was late. After a moment of surprise and another of laughter, Iruka said that no, he supposed she was not. Then it was time for class, and Sakura was forced to sit in the only open seat between Sasuke and Naruto. She had protested, and even asked to switch seats with someone else (to which every Sasuke-fangirl said, "I'll trade seats with her sensei!"), but she was still forced to sit between the two.

Then Naruto had oh-so-innocently mentioned how he liked her new look, which made her realize how she had run across town in just her bike shorts and her black and mesh tank top because she had forgot her friggin' dress at the training grounds. This made her mood go from hero to zero in a split-second flat, and she had to really fight to keep from screaming in frustration. Instead, she opted for an attempt at a polite smile, which actually looked more like a grimace, towards the blonde before plopping down on the seat between him and the wanna-be-my-older-brother, stoic Uchiha. Which, you know, just made her day so much better. Not.She really hated being anywhere near him now that she was no longer disillusioned by good looks and rivalry. Absently, Sakura wondered if all Uchiha were this emotionally constipated, or if 'dear Sasuke-kun'had just lucked out with the bad side of the gene pool. Regardless, all she wanted to do was him in that pretty face of his and hope it destroyed some of his ego, Inner Sakura behind her all the way.

As Iruka made his way through the list of teams, Sakura let a long, tortured sigh. Whoever was on her team, she hoped Uchiha was not one of them. If she had to, Sakura could probably tolerate him with the barest amount of civility for all of three hours, tops, before she tried to strangle him. Ino and Naruto put together would be better a choice, Inner Sakura pointed out. Give her anyone besides the Uchiha Sasuke, and they'd get along okay.

"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura…" Squeezing her eyes shut and crossing her fingers, Sakura prayed that she hadn't jinxed herself and gotten Yamanaka on her squad because that would truly suck and only the Uchiha could make it worse-

"…and Uchiha Sasuke."

"God DAMNITT!"

"Uh, Sakura? Do you have a problem with Sasuke being on your team?" That was when Sakura realized that she'd actually said that out loud, and could feel the embarrassed blush creeping up her neck. However, instead of denying it, the pink-haired kunoichi abruptly pulled herself to her feet and slammed her hands on the desk in front of her and glaring her hardest at the chunnin at the front of the room.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! Why, in the name of all seven hells, do I have to be on his-" insert a jerk of the head towards the stoic genin- "team, of all people? He's a rude, arrogant, stuck-up, jerk who wouldn't know what teamwork, or even civility, was even if it jumped up and bit him in the ass!"

Total silence- for about ten seconds, until all hell broke loose. Fangirls started screaming at her for "telling such obscene lies about dearest Sasuke-kun!" while Naruto started screaming similar sentiments to Sakura's in her ear, and, well, let's just say that Iruka was turning an interesting shade of red.

"ENOUGH!" Iruka roared. The room instantly fell silent. "Sakura, I really don't know what's gotten into you, but to answer your question, the teams were divided up like this for a reason. To help the balance and overall equality of the teams, we've taken your rankings in the class and finals and together teams of three, two shinobi and a kunoichi to each, that reflected relative equality when the scores were added together."

"Demo sa, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto interrupted, standing up and waving his arms in an attempt to express his exaggeration, "Sakura-chan graduated second in class on the exams! She doesn't need to be on Teme's team! And I'm way better than him too, so neither should I!"

"Yes, Naruto, you're so much better than him that you came in dead-last while Sasuke graduated as the top rookie. The reason we have the two top graduates on one team is to both counter-act each other and your stupidity, so pipe-down and accept your fate!" Pouting, the blonde sat down in his seat while the rest of the class broke out into laughter at his misfortune, and Sakura slowly did the same, taking deep breaths to reign in Inner Sakura.

As Iruka continued naming off squads, Sakura grudgingly acquiesced to herself that it was logical putting her and Sasuke on the same squad with Naruto. The blonde genin had somehow managed to pass the final exams, but only just barely scraping by, putting him on at the bottom of the ranking level and automatically guaranteeing him a spot on a team with the class' top rookie, Uchiha Sasuke. As for her, instead of putting someone in the exact middle of the class ranking (i.e., a completely average shinobi) on the squad to keep it balanced, they chose her for more singular matters. The only thing Naruto and Sasuke were both statistically similar in was the teamwork category.

Naruto and Sasuke had both averaged the lowest teamwork scores, one being too stubborn and the other too arrogant to work in teams. Sakura, on the other hand, excelled in that area, garnering her a spot in the top three of that category alone. There was also the fact of their individual jutsu types. Naruto was a taijutsu type, always running in without thinking, dukes raised. Sasuke was more ninjutsu, but he also relied on tai- a lot and ran into fights head first. Truth be told, the boy seemed to put only a margine more thought into his battles than his blonde counterpart did. Sakura was the complete opposite. Genjutsu type by nature, she put more thought into her fights, and her offense and defense always had some kind of plan. Despite this, her stamina and taijutsu were her worst aspects, and she didn't have a way to learn any ninjutsu that wasn't taught by the academy.

Team 7 was a perfect balance, statistically speaking. In all actuality, this team of new genin was either complete recipe for disaster or success. Sneaking a glance at the boys on her left and right, the pinkette knew this team was destined for the former unless one of them buckled down and played mediator. Scowling, Sakura knew if they had any chance of actually being a team, she'd have to do it. Both of those idiots were far to stubborn to even consider working together, so it was up to her.

Which meant being decent to Uchiha. 'Fan-fucking-tastic!'Inner Sakura snarled. Taking a deep breath, the new member of Team 7 pushed everything out of her mind and payed attention to Iruka who was finishing the teams. She'd just have to suck it up and play nice, she told herself, and with that, tuned out her Inner.

"Well class," Iruka sighed, "that's it. Your jounin leaders lill come pick you up here, after lunch. Before I dismiss you, I just want to say it has been a pleasure teaching all of you." Smiling at them, the chuunin placed the list of teams he'd been holding on the desk. "Good luck all of you, and remembered what you've learned. Dismissed!" Students began to gather with their newly assigned teams, making plans to eat lunch together and talk. Sakura sighed and followed Naruto and Sasuke out into the rapidly emptying hallway. The three of them stood there in awkward silence before the female sighed and locked her hands together behind her back. Both boys looked at her. 'Here goes nothing!'

"Sasuke-san, I'm sorry." They were gaping at her now, and she jumped at the chance to explain without interruption. "I shouldn't have said those things in class. To be honest," here she grimaced at what she was going to say, "I haven't given you any reason to be civil. Treating you like a piece of meat instead of a person was wrong. I'm sorry. But you should also know that I'm not a fangirl anymore. I don't have a crush on you, and I haven't for six months; you're just a fellow classmate, and now, a teammate to me. So, how about we forget the past, and just try to be friends. Truce?" She stuck out her hand.

There was a long moment of silence as both boys got their bearings. Glancing from her hand to her face, Sasuke nodded and grasped the appendage with his own. "Truce." Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Sakura gave him a shy smile, and turned to Naruto, who was looking at the scene with caution. "Naruto, I'm also sorry for all the times I've made fun of you and stuff. I know you have a crush on me, but I didn't treat you any better than Sasuke-san did me, and I shouldn't have. However!" She cut the blonde off at the hopeful gleam in his eye and blush on his face. "-I don't think of you that way. Let's just be friends, okay?" His countenance, was slightly less peppy, but he nodded and shook her outstretched hand as well.

Now, thrilled at the prospect of a fresh start with these two, she smiled her biggest and brightest, and clapped her hands together. "Great! Well, are either of you doing anything for lunch?" When both shook their heads no, her beam grew wider if possible. "Well, then I guess we're eating out together." Grabbing her teammates by the wrist, she began to pull them down the hallway. "Any preferences?"

"Oooh! Ooooh! Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, pulling the trio to a stop as he whilred in front of the pinkette to look her in the face. "Can we go to Ichiraku Ramen? They're the best!" Sakura blinked.

"Well," she began, "I don't mind. What about you Sasuke-san?" Looking at the stoic male, she caught his eye just as he finished rolling them. "Hn. I don't care. And stop calling me –san; it makes me twitch." With that, he turned his head to glare at the wall. Chuckling, Sakura turned to face the eager blonde. "I guess ramen it is."

"YES! ICHIRAKU RAMEN, HERE I COME!" Gripping her wrist tightly, the Naruto began running full tilt out of the Academy, dragging Sakura behind him. Yelping, Sakura tightened her hold on Sasuke in return, the two were raced to keep up with the hyperactive pre-teen.

"Na- Na- Naruto! SLOW DOWN!" "DOPE!"

"WOOOHOOO!"

'Just what,' Sakura groaned, 'have I gotten myself into this time?'

Well, I hope you like it. Reviews would be very much appreciated, but I might not update for at least a month as I am leaving soon on a month long trip to stay with my grandmother. Constructive criticism is welcome.-

I.C.