Hi people. I actually posted this story a long time ago, but I found myself lacking time and motivation to give it the focus I wanted. Which is why I am now making another attempt at writing this story. If you have read it before, the beginning has not changed much, as I have tried to keep the old story and plot. However, through the fanfic, I will change both minor and major details.

This fanfic is sorely focused on Sakura and yes, it is an ItaSaku story, so if you are not into that, then I hope you will still give this a chance. ItaSaku will in no way happen quickly in this story and for now, I have rated it as T (might change later on)

My chapters will usually be 4500 words or more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I would probably just ruin it if I did.

…

Sakura exhaled deeply while she looked at her teammates sleeping figures. She had wanted to take the first watch. Time alone was not easy to get when in a team, especially not in her team. Lifting her head and shifting her gaze up at the darkening sky, she observed the night taking over, letting the stars shine brighter as more of them appeared.

Almost a year ago, the three of them had become a team. Team Seven. Lead by Kakashi Hatake, she and her two teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki had become a genin team. And in two months, they would be going to their second chunin exams. The mess that had happened during their first exam had now been dealt with and their Sensei thought they should try again.

Old and ruined buildings had been rebuilt through the last four months and the builders had just finished the new Hokage head. One of their new leader, who swore to protect Konoha.

Sakura had a great admiration for the new Hokage, she was the first woman to take the position and she was one of the legendary Sannin. Tsunade Senju was not a woman to mess with, even though the stories she had heard from Naruto made her think twice about the admiration she held for the woman. And others made her almost fear the woman.

But in the end, it made little difference. Sakura had nothing to complain about, and even if she had, who would listen?

It had taken her some time, but Sakura had noticed it, and now she could no longer ignore it. The problem was so obvious now that she had become aware of it. She had become a hindrance to her team, even more so than she was at the beginning. They had grown so much, both Naruto and Sasuke had trained to exhaustion and their efforts were paying off.

Sasuke came from a prominent and important family, which often shone through his personality and how he treated their work. He was skilled far beyond his years and he knew it, but he did not gloat.

He was a prodigy.

Not in the same way his older brother was, but Sasuke still had more talent than any other genin in the village. He had known how to handle a kunai before Sakura even knew how to read.

And then there was Naruto, a boy whom Sakura had thought would fail before even making it to the rank of Genin. He worked hard, more than both she and Sasuke and Sakura could now understand what Lee always said. A genius of hard work. That was exactly what Naruto was.

To add to his development, Naruto had also formed a bond with Jiraiya, another of the three Sannin who had been written down in books for his many skills and his achievements. He was famous and even more so in the male population, who read his published works.

Not many read the books in public, but there were still some, like her Sensei, who did it.

Sakura had a lot on her mind, one thought shifting quickly to another and before she knew it, she was no longer looking at the sky, but so deep in thought, she had forgotten about her surroundings. Her two teammates were stronger than her. Much stronger.

It made Sakura uncomfortable to think about how large the gap between her and the two others had become, it made her stomach ache in an unpleasant way. She knew that one day, they would both leave her behind and she would stay the way she was.

Alone, a genin, and utterly useless.

Sakura could not fool herself any longer, the day was coming soon and she knew it. Especially now that they had been informed of the upcoming Chunin exams.

The exams were to take place in Suna this time, a way for them to show good faith between the villages, now that Orochimaru had been blamed for the entire thing that happened in Konoha at the previous Chunin exam.

It was hard for her to believe that it had only been four months since she had stood in the middle of something like a war zone. Dead shinobi everywhere, the smell of blood and the screams still kept her up some nights.

Orochimaru had used the Kazekage's body, killed him and taken his place to fool everyone. A fight had broken out in the middle of the last stage of the Chunin exam and even though Sakura had not been at the arena for long, she had seen the barrier the Sandaime had been captured in.

He had died in there, fighting for his village, fighting for his people. And his bravery and strength had not been for nothing, because he had trusted his shinobi to succeed when he failed. And that was the only good thing that had come out of the entire war. Orochimaru was dead.

Sakura had not been there when it happened, no, she had been out with her team, trying to stop Gaara and she had been unable to do anything like usual. Unlike her, the shinobi from Konoha had acted quickly, even without orders from a Hokage.

When Orochimaru had tried to flee, helped by his followers, the Captain of the Anbu had followed and it was then their fates had been sealed. Her own Sensei had even followed the Anbu Captain and helped.

The two of them came back with the five bodies, not looking as if they had just been in a major battle. And Sakura knew who the Anbu was; she had seen him before without his mask. He had saved her life in the Forest of Death, pushing her aside and stopping an oncoming attack before going to his younger brother. The scene that had unravelled had made Sakura both fear and respect the man.

Itachi Uchiha was unlike any shinobi she had imagined could exist. Even with Sasuke refusing to let his brother fight for him, Itachi had gotten them out of the way with his clones and done something to Naruto that made him wake up. He seemed to know why her teammate had been unconscious.

And right before leaving them to finish the exam, his clone had said something to Sasuke, which had made him angry but accept the situation. The days spent in the forest with her team would never leave her mind.

Sakura had no idea how long she had been sitting there, locked in her own thoughts. It was only when he spoke that she flinched and looked up at her teammate who was watching her with tired eyes, "Guard duty doesn't matter if you are not aware," he said calmly and Sakura looked down at her folded hands.

His words strung. He had only called her useless once and she knew he regretted it, but Sakura almost wished he would just yell at her. She was not good enough to be on their team. She stood and brushed off her red qipao and walked past him, ignoring the sudden look of concern he had on his face.

Sasuke would never ask her what was wrong and this one time, she was grateful for his lack of attention. What could she even say? There was no excuse for being a hindrance and simply, a horrid shinobi.

…

Sasuke had been the captain for the short mission they had been on and Sakura kept quiet while he made the official report. A few times, her eyes landed on the secretary, who was writing everything down so that Tsunade could sign it later.

It had been a simple C ranked mission, not involving any threat. They had gone out of the village to find some specific herbs and plants that were needed in the hospital. Sasuke answered the questions but when it came to the plants, he surprised Sakura by looking at her for the answer "I'm sorry Hokage-sama, what was the question?" she blurted out as soon as she understood what was going on.

He wanted her to answer all the boring specifics about the plants, which only she could answer, as she was the one who had gathered them.

"I was asking if everything I put on the list was gathered and if some of them were hard to find. We have to stock up on the herbs we can, as some of them cannot grow here in the city," the words from Tsunade Senju were directed at her now, and Sakura felt herself blush, she had made a fool out of herself in front of her new Hokage by not paying attention.

"There was no problem in locating the herbs, they were in places which matched the description of the environment they would thrive the most in. The already suggested locations were a help, although I have written other places in the report, which seemed to have some of the herbs with better quality," she answered, not even having to think over what she said. Answers like these were basic and for a short second, she was reminded of the Academy. Sakura missed the days where she just had to answer questions to feel accomplished.

The Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure looked at the pink haired genin with scepticism. "How would you know some herbs have a better quality than the others?" she asked, smirking when she saw the girl turn red and straighten her back.

"Uh-uhm," she stammered and looked to her teammates for help, but received none. Golden eyes met green again, and Tsunade raised her eyebrow slightly, seeing a familiar calculating face on the genin. She was reminded of herself.

Gathering up her courage, Sakura answered, "Well, most of the herbs we were asked to collect are usually used in poisons or antidotes, which is why it is important for the plant to be collected with the most water in it. Having to get them at dawn also made it easier to see which of the plants had the best leaves and stems, as they usually have a slightly darker green than others. The places I wrote down had better plants because they were in more secluded areas matching their environmental descriptions. This meant that they would only get the sunlight needed for them and not too much, while also be more likely to be uncontaminated by anything other than nature itself"

Her long answer made Tsunade look at the girl an extra time, there was nothing particularly special about her other than her hair. Although the answer still made a smirk appear on her lips, the girl clearly had a brain beneath her slightly large forehead.

"Very well, Naruto, Uchiha, you are dismissed. Haruno, stay here" the two male genins stared at their teammate with pity in their eyes while they left, not being able to do anything else. Sakura looked at the older woman in the room, then to the secretary, who was still ready to type any words that were spoken.

"For how long have you been a genin?" Tsunade started out by asking, even though she knew the answer. The girl looked ready to kill herself out of pure nervousness and that was not the situation she was aiming for, Tsunade wanted to calm her down. "A-a year," Sakura stammered.

"Well, I know that you are the only one in your team who does not seem to have grown much since then. Have you thought about doing something else with your life?" The question Tsunade asked contradicted her earlier thought to calm the girl, but something about her made the Hokage want to light a fire. The stuttered answer was not something that should come from a shinobi.

"No, Hokage-sama. Both my mother and father are shinobi of this village, I want to follow their wishes," she said. It was true, all Sakura had ever wanted, was to be a Shinobi, but now that she was one, she was seeing the cruel truth. She did not stand a chance.

Having these thoughts register in her mind, she suddenly had a memory in her head, one of Sasuke who had been injured on a mission to Kiri a month ago. That vivid picture in her head did something; it sparked something in her that made her act without thinking, almost as if she was being pushed around inside her own brain.

"Hokage-sama!" she almost shouted at the woman, making the Sannin lift her eyebrow again, this time in surprise. It was clear the sudden change in the Genins demeanour would lead to something interesting.

"Please take me as your apprentice!" Sakura nearly shouted the words and bowed low to keep her head down, in fear of looking at the woman in front of her. "Why in the world should I agree to take another apprentice?" Tsunade answered after a few silent seconds. Sakura slowly went back to standing straight, this time looking directly into the Sannin's smouldering golden eyes.

"I am weak," she started truthfully, "My only strong point is my chakra control, which would be beneficial in medical ninjutsu. I don't want Naruto or Sasuke to leave me behind, I want to stay in team seven!" Her last words had again been spoken in a raised voice, desperate, almost as if she was afraid to be overlooked and forgotten.

Tsunade knew that she could teach this girl something, maybe even enough for her to stand beside her teammates as an equal. It was a chance, a bet on the girl becoming strong and the thing that made Tsunade make her decision was that this bet, she wanted to win.

"Meet my assistant, Shizune, tomorrow at 6 AM." The Hokage smiled at the startled expression on Sakura's face. Her fast decision clearly shocked the child.

"Listen here, girl, every day you are in this village from now on, I will have something for you to do. You have one time in this apprenticeship where I'll let you complain or disobey me. Complain a second time and you're out. I will in no way tolerate you slaking off, being late or forgetting what I just said."

The words were in such a harsh and threatening tone that Sakura almost recoiled, but somehow, she managed to keep her back straight and get her voice under control. "Thank you, Hokage-Sama," Sakura said and bowed deeply again. After, she looked at the Hokage and noticed that the woman was writing something in quick and messy handwriting. When she was done, she folded the two papers and put one of them in a small envelope. Tsunade beckoned for Sakura to come closer and when she did, Tsunade held out the two papers.

Sakura took the folded paper and the envelope, her mind suddenly so hazy that she nearly missed it when Tsunade said, "You're dismissed."

The genin bowed her head quickly, "thank you, Tsunade-Sama," she said and had almost made it to the door when a small chuckle made her turn her head to see the Hokage stand up and give her a small smirk, "Girl, it's Tsunade-shishou now"

...

Sakura had not dared to answer her Hokage with anything other than another nod, which had been a smart thing. Her muscles had been so tense, making her feel weak in the knees when she was finally out of the building.

Looking to her hand, Sakura opened up the folded paper to find three words on it "Training Area 1" and she knew it had to be the place where she would have to meet Shizune, the assistant and apprentice to the Hokage.

The envelope was sealed, but on it, Sakura saw the name of her Sensei and she wondered what the Hokage had written. Not wanting curiosity to get the better of her, Sakura carefully put away the envelope.

Walking through the city, Sakura thought about how much of a disaster her earlier request could have ended in. She smiled and shook her head. Being lucky and determined had worked for her this time, she should be glad and take every opportunity she could to learn from this.

"Sakura-chan!" The call of her name made the pink haired genin turn around, Naruto was running towards her. Sasuke was walking bit further behind him, clearly not bothering to run. "Ne, what did Baa-chan want with you?" he asked eagerly, although Sakura could see the hint of concern in his eyes, which in a way, meant a lot to her.

"No need to worry, Naruto. She just wanted to talk about the herbs, also, she let me get lessons on them from her assistant, Shizune," she said happily, not really revealing everything to them at the moment.

Sakura feared that if she told them that she was going to become an apprentice of the Hokage, they would expect more from her all too quickly. She did not want to overplay her strength; it could get them all killed in the end. And more so, the Hokage might end up ending her apprenticeship when she realized how little Sakura could do.

"Mother wants both of you to come to dinner tonight," Sasuke suddenly said in his usual monotone voice, changing the subject. "Yes!" Naruto shouted excitedly, both Sakura and Sasuke knew how much Naruto enjoyed the home cooked meals and how Mikoto would always give him all the leftover food to take home.

Sakura had often wondered why the woman was so inclined to help Naruto, even though a lot of adults in the village disliked the blonde. Sakura guessed she just saw a boy without parents and in need of some motherly influence. But she also had a few other theories, ones she knew not to voice.

They had been a genin team for nearly a year and it was always Sasuke who had them over for dinner. He said it was because of his mother, Mikoto, who pestered him to have them come visit often.

Sakura knew her own parents had not been as open as Sasuke's, but they had grown to accept her teammates, even though her mother had been against Naruto at first. She would not tell Sakura why, but the young girl had a good idea already as to what the cause was.

Nonetheless, her parents were both career chunin and were not often home, resulting in them always going to the Uchiha compound in their spare time. There, they also used the private training grounds the clan had.

Personally, Sakura found the clan a bit too cold and detached for her liking, but it still had its charm. Plus she knew that her moody teammate actually liked their company now, even if it had not started out that way.

It had helped when Sakura realized how silly her infatuation with him was, not long after the first chunin exams ended. Now they had gotten to a point where Sakura was sure he was actually her friend and not just a teammate.

…

At five in the morning, before the sun had risen, Sakura crawled out of her bed, unsure of why her alarm rang as early as it did. Turning it off, she crawled back into bed, nearly falling asleep again. A shock equivalent to that of lightning tore her up in a sitting position. She had her first training today.

Now fully awake, she got out of her bed, running around her room to find everything she needed. The books about medical ninjutsu were on the floor, having fallen from the bed after she had fallen asleep while reading. Leaving a note for her mother in the kitchen, she took an apple and ran out of the door.

…

Sakura exhaled deeply when she made it to the training ground, a little winded from her run. She was ten minutes early. When she walked closer, her green eyes quickly found the woman she recognized as the Hokage's student and assistant.

The woman observed her closely before asking, "how far away is your home?" Sakura did not see the reason for the question but answered nonetheless. "By the market near the Hyuga compound" her voice was steady and she impressed herself by holding the older shinobi's gaze.

"Do ten laps around the outer city wall, if you are done before your training time with your genin team, we can begin. You have no stamina and that is a crucial step to all shinobi training" her words made Sakura blush. It was true that she had gotten a little winded from the run to the training ground, but she had thought she hid it well enough.

"You can only complain once" the Hokage's voice rang in her head, reminding her at what was at stake. She bit her lip and nodded at her new instructor "Yes, Shizune-Senpai". When she made to turn away from the medical ninja, Sakura was stopped.

"Wait for a moment" Shizune began, "I know this is going to be hard, believe me. But follow my advice and do as I say and you will make progress. I promise you. Every morning you are in the village, you will meet me here at six. After that you will run ten laps, how soon you master running ten laps is up to you, but if you slack off, you will not be left with any time for actual training in medical ninjutsu. You're dismissed, for now, I will see you tomorrow morning" and then she disappeared like it was the easiest thing to do. Sakura stood frozen for a few seconds before she forced herself to move towards the gates of the city.

She felt a bit humiliated, and it made her angry. It made her burn with determination and as soon as she walked past the giant gates looming over her, Sakura broke out into a run.

Six rounds were all she had successfully completed in two hours, she was sweating and the fire within her had burned out as if she had been running in the cold rain.

Moving at snail speed towards training ground seven, Sakura felt horrible. Maybe she should give up now? Just ask her Sensei for help instead? Questions tore through her mind, but when she flopped down by the big tree in the training area, she remembered why she had asked the Hokage for help in the first place.

Her own Sensei, Kakashi Hatake was notorious for being late to everything and only showed up on time, when someone thought they could spend their time otherwise while waiting. Naruto had slept in so many times, which usually resulted in them starting training early because Kakashi would show up with the blonde, still half asleep and in his night clothes.

"What happened to you?" Sakura turned to see Sasuke walking towards her, it embarrassed her even further that she had not sensed her own teammate arriving. "I decided to go for a run," her answer did not seem to satisfy the Uchiha, but he said nothing more than "Hn" and walked to sit down a little further away.

After two hours when it was nearing ten, Kakashi showed up, and as always, he was reading his orange book. Then they had sparred and Sakura could feel her body was tired, but she fought through it. When it was the two boys on the team who began to spar, Sakura walked over to her Sensei.

"Kakashi-Sensei, here," she said nothing more, just stretched out her hand with the envelope from the Hokage in it. He took it without asking questions, read it and then looked to his only female student. "Sakura, run fifty times up and down the tree and then do fifty laps on the lake over by training ground eight," She did not ask why, already too tired to put up a fight.

…

A month passed quickly with her always doing the same thing. Running around the village, then sparring, running up and down a tree and then laps on the lake. This was usually followed by a D ranked mission or sometimes an easy C ranked mission before she went home. At night she read all the books she could keep her hands on. After having felt what the training did to her body, she had started on how to treat sore muscles.

Sakura was now able to run the ten laps and get half hour training by Shizune, before she had to meet her team. It made her proud that she could feel the progress and she had also felt the increase in her chakra.

Kakashi had asked her to have lunch with him after one of their D ranked missions, out of earshot from the two male genins on team seven. He had calmly explained to her that he would focus on her taijutsu and her chakra for the time being, as that was what the Hokage has asked him to do.

It would benefit her in the long run and she accepted his words, trying to train herself not to complain. A slip up could cost her the apprenticeship with the Hokage and Sakura did not wish for anything like that now that she was making progress.

…

Sakura sipped her tea as she turned a page in the heavy textbook she had on her lap. Poisons had become very interesting to her and every time she learned something new about them, she saw them to be more and more useful. Already making notes on possible combinations that could cause a variety of different side effects, Sakura was well on her way to understand the basics on poisons and antidotes.

She knew Sasuke had noticed the change in her, although he had not commented on it. She did not know what to make of this but chose to believe that he thought she was allowed some privacy too. Naruto was as oblivious as ever, even if his strength was growing even more than Sakuras own. Whenever she thought about it, she felt a small pang of jealousy within her, even though it also pushed her to train harder at the same time.

Thoughts about being left behind still clouded her mind like a thunderstorm but she was determined to do her best to keep up.

…

"You are advancing fairly quickly" Tsunade commented, looking at the pink haired girl. In a little over two weeks, Tsunade would see her and five other genin teams off as they left for the chunin exams in Sunagakure. The Hokage had been impressed with Sakura's determination and her skill at controlling her chakra, even if her reserves were now in rapid growth, her control was still something some jonin had not been able to achieve yet. It would not surprise Tsunade in the least if this girl got promoted. Tsunade's eyes continued to observe while sweat started to appear on Sakura's forehead. The fish she had been working on sprang back to life and started moving hectically, fighting to get back into the water.

"I think this is all for today, Shizune told me that you have been interested in poisons?" the question made Sakura feel a little unsure of herself, even though she was trying to remove that bad habit of hers. "Yes, Tsunade-shishou. I have been reading a lot about them, but I am still only starting to understand the basics."

Again, Sakura chose to downplay her knowledge, she had no desire for the woman in front of her to start believing she could do more than she was able to. She did not want to let her down.

"Interesting, I think that when you get back from Suna, you can start working with Shizune some evenings in the labs. She is a poison specialist, I will discuss it with her. Maybe I'll even find you a suitable teacher to teach you how to fight with them." Her words made Sakura look at the woman in a whole new light, there was a kindness in her eyes that she had not noticed before and Sakura suddenly felt like crying out of joy.

Even the Hokage sincerely wanted her to get better. Sakura bowed low and the pink stands of her hair hid her face while she said, "Thank you so much, Tsunade-shishou! I will do my best in the exams" A hand was lightly placed on her shoulder, making her look up "Mah, no need to stress yourself. Although, it wouldn't hurt to have another chunin around that can do some of my office work" the tone was slightly teasing, but somehow it still felt as if the Hokage expected her to be promoted.

…

Sakura stared at the rising sun, today she would depart for Suna with all of the others. Her mind was set on returning as a newly promoted chunin.

…

I hoped you enjoyed this first chapter, I will try to post the other one soon, as I have already started rewriting the story as a whole. Anyways, leave a comment if you feel like it or share an idea with me for the story.

Until next time.