A/N: Hello people!

I don't own Naruto.

I have no beta.

Enjoy!

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ORIGINAL CHAPTER WAS 2,233 WORDS LONG.

NEW CHAPTER IS 3,363 WORDS LONG.

From every wound there is a scar, and every scar, tells a story. A story that says, I survived.-Unknown.

"Why does my daughter have to be removed?!" the grown man demanded, his mauve eyes sparkling with his obvious anger.

Hiruzen Sarutobi heaved a sigh. This was what he wasn't looking forward to.

He had brought it to the gathered Council's attention, that for the first time in ten years, someone was going to be removed from the ninja program. The shinobi part of the council were shocked, while the civilians didn't really care. That was, until the father of said child was informed. Then it all went downhill and fast.

Haruno Sakuro was informed that his daughter Sakura was being dropped, and the man lost it. If he ever had it to begin with. He cursed for several minutes and when he'd finally worn himself out enough, had addressed his leader with heavy disrespect and an annoying, pouted lip that was befitting of a grown adult to display.

"Haruno-san, I have Team Seven's Jonin sensei here, as well as a Tokubetsu Jonin who accompanied the team on their last mission. They are prepared to give reasons to the entire council, should they be required," the old Hokage explained, just wanting everything to be over and done with.

"Then bring them in!" the civilian man demanded, folding his arms in annoyance.

Sarutobi nodded toward the two Anbu guarding the doors to let the two shinobi in.

Hatake Kakashi and Shiranui Genma walked in and bowed to the Hokage, before facing the councils.

Kakashi stepped forward. "I am Jonin Hatake Kakashi, and I am Haruno Sakura's sensei. I have to report that she has made no improvements within the month since graduating. She spends her time following Uchiha Sasuke around and trying to get him to date her, instead of training."

The shinobi part of the council all cringed and rolled their eyes. This was what kunoichi were becoming. Kami help them all if their lives and the lives of their families were in the hands of such people.

"She has no skills in anything beyond memorization. Even her chakra reserves are unnaturally low for a Genin. She lets her weaknesses be known and is easily defeated because she isn't subtle. She has no respect for her superiors or her fellow Genin. The girl has no hope in becoming a respectable shinobi," Kakashi finished and took a step back.

Genma stepped up and cleared his throat. "I am Shiranui Genma, a Tokubetsu Jonin who was assigned as help to Team Seven's last mission. We were hired to watch the Hi no Kuni's Daimyo's special gathering because of all the important, political figures attending. There was an attack by a band of rogue shinobi. Two of them being A rank missing ninja. As expected, Uchiha Sasuke did exceptional in his fighting."

Fugaku straightened a little, in pride for his youngest.

"Uzumaki Naruko did exceptional as well. Unfortunately, Haruno Sakura fainted from fear, forcing the young Uchiha to protect her from four shinobi at once. One of them being an A rank. Uzumaki saved the Daimyo and his wife from a ninja and then rushed to the Uchiha's aid just as he had successfully killed one of his attackers. With the distraction, Uchiha was able to kill another ninja while Uzumaki took on the A rank on her own. Two more shinobi appeared and injured her while she was fighting, but she was smart enough to trick the enemy into killing them. She then delivered the final blow. After that, she and Uchiha joined Kakashi and I in defeating the last ninja," Genma explained to everyone.

The reactions were interesting. The shinobi were impressed that a Genin could take out an A ranked shinobi on her own. The civilians weren't all that thrilled about hearing Naruko's success. It was a battle between respect and hatred in the councils.

Genma decided to finish with his observations. "I was only with the team for three days, but that was enough to notice that Haruno is a spoiled brat that has never lifted a finger a day in her life. She complains about everything and puts Uzumaki down all the time. I found out from both Uzumaki and Uchiha, that when they have missions, Haruno never does anything and just makes up excuses to why she can't do them. She iss weak, and put Uchiha in danger because of it. If she had been at least partially like her teammates, Uchiha wouldn't have had to take on four enemy shinobi on his own. Her intelligence level is not outstanding when she is overshadowed by her teammates, and she, in my opinion, isn't worthy of being a ninja."

There was silence. The shinobi council were looking at Sakuro in disgust. They were appalled with the information. What was the man thinking letting his daughter become like that? Did he care about her at all? It was parents like him that made the others strive not to be like that.

Hiruzen sighed, "I have something to add."

All attention was on him in that instant. What else could there be?

"Haruno Sakura has stalker like tendencies regarding Uchiha Sasuke. Two years ago, she was escorted to the police station by Uchiha Itachi, for sneaking into the Uchiha Compound and trying to spy on Sasuke. She got the wrong room though and instead, was discovered within Itachi's room. A restraining order was drawn up when Sakuro refused to punish his daughter for her actions. She cannot go anywhere near the Uchiha Compound, for the rest of her life," he told them all.

Genma's mouth had dropped, his senbon hitting the floor.

The others in the room were horrified. What kind of parent was Haruno Sakuro? Even the civilians were uncomfortable with the information. That a girl was allowed to sneak into people's homes and not receive any kind of punishment for it, made them all wary of leaving their lives in the hands of said girl.

"I'm sorry about this, Sakuro, but I'm putting this to a vote. All those in favor of the removal of Haruno Sakura from the ninja program," Hiruzen announced.

All of the shinobi hands went up and half of the civilians raised their hands.

"All opposed?"

Sakuro's hand shot up, along with a few others.

Sarutobi looked at his advisors and Danzo. "You didn't place a vote. Care to share your thoughts?"

Homura and Koharu looked to Danzo to leadership and the old War Hawk cleared his throat. "I would like to see the members of Team Seven, in order to properly give my vote." The other two nodded in agreement. All three remained stone faced.

Sarutobi sighed and ordered an Anbu to fetch the Genin.

A few minutes later, Naruko and Sasuke walked in the room, side by side. They bowed to the Hokage and continued to hold a very silent conversation with each other, ignoring everyone in the room. Their lines of vision were connected and they seemed to be sharing what looked to be a discussion of great importance.

Sakura showed up ten minutes later, much to everyone's irritation.

The gathered council members all took notice of how she didn't bow to the Hokage. They were further mortified when she even had the gall to ask, "How long is this going to take?"

"As long as needed, gaki!" Inuzuka Tsume snarled, nearly rising out of her chair in her desire to teach the whelp a lesson she would never forget!

The pinkette just rolled her eyes, ignoring the clan leader. Tsume growled at the disrespect. Tsume was of the mind that disrespect was paid for in heavy punishment. She had her pups sit for an hour with a non-toxic soap in their mouths. She'd give anything to do it to this little runt.

Danzo spoke, reclaiming everyone's attention for himself. "We have called you here, to clarify something. Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke snapped to attention and looked at the War Hawk of legend.

"Give us your honest opinion of your team," Danzo ordered.

Sasuke nodded and sighed, "Kakashi-sensei is good, though he has a horrible habit of being late. His hobby is a bit unnerving, but not something that really disturbs me. I trust him with my life. Naruko was Rookie of the Year. She has proven to be an exceptional ninja in my eyes, and even the eyes of my family. I don't have to worry when she'd around, because I know that she pulls her own weight. Even more, if it's necessary."

He stopped and took a deep breath. "Sakura is useless." he continued, pretending not to hear the offended squeak from said girl. "She does nothing to help. She drags her feet and whines all the time. I'm disgusted that she calls herself a kunoichi when she's an embarrassment to the real kunoichi out there. My mother would be insulted to be placed in the same category as Sakura," he finished, sending a sharp glare in the girl's direction.

Danzo nodded his head and looked at Naruko. "Uzumaki, please tell us what you think about your team."

She nodded. "I think Kaka-sensei is awesome! He's smart and definitely lives up to his title and stats in the Bingo Book. His views on teamwork and camaraderie are inspiring to me. I'd like to be like him someday. Without the porn addiction."

The shinobi in the room laughed. All of them knowing the lazy ninja well. Kakashi just waved a hand, pulling out the very object that had everyone laughing at him.

Naruko inhaled. "Sasuke is, as expected from an Uchiha, the perfect teammate. He trains hard every day and has proven that the Uchiha are the best. But he doesn't let his family name puff his head up. He isn't a fool, and has all of my trust."

Naruko's mouth went from the smile it had taken on when she spoke of the Uchiha, to a frown. Though the mask covered her face, everyone could tell how unhappy she was. The hard glare and lack of pleased twinkle just proved it.

"Sakura should've never been entered in the academy. She has nothing going for her in this lifestyle. She's a whiner, a stalker, and a spoiled brat. She doesn't do anything ever, and she thinks that she's the best, even though she is the dead last. I personally don't like her for many more reasons, but they don't pertain to teamwork. I can tell you though, that she puts everyone in danger by having such a weak constitution. She also lets too much about herself be known. Kaka-sensei took care of her easily on our Genin test, with just a Genjutsu that was centered on a bloodied Sasuke, whereupon the girl fainted from fear. She doesn't belong in the ninja world, for she's a liability to the entire village."

Danzo looked to Sakura who huffed, "Kakashi is lazy. Sasuke-kun is perfect in everything!" She looked at her crush with hearts in her eyes. She turned to Naruko, "Naruko's a bitch, who is jealous of how great a kunoichi I am. She tries to come off all cool with her mask as a way to get my Sasuke-kun's attention, when really, she's just a waste of space."

The occupants in the room looked at the blonde who was rolling her only visible eye. She was looking at the wall, as if it wa mores interesting than what was going on at present.

"She's just a pathetic orphan whose parents didn't even love her."

"Sakura!" Kakashi snapped. "What did I tell to you about that?!"

The girl just shrugged.

Many noticed how Naruko had looked at Sasuke for a good moment. They were shocked to see him place a hand on her shoulder. They had thought it was in comfort, but when Naruko started walking toward Sakura, Sasuke's hand pushed down as his other hand wrapped around her waist. Keeping her still.

Even the civilians knew that Naruko wasn't abandoned by her parents. The Hokage had explained that her parents were killed when fighting the demon that was sealed within the girl. Sure, they hated her, but they could tell that the Haruno was petty and they weren't impressed. To leave their lives in the hands of such a pathetic shinobi would be disastrous! They trusted the demon container more, even if it wasn't by much.

They couldn't really go against the girl anyway. If the blonde was backed by the Uchiha clan, she was then out of their reach. They could still hate her, but that was all they could do.

As for the pink haired brat, many of the people in the room were appalled by her behavior.

Danzo wasn't impressed. He'd been hoping that the girl was actually something that he could shape into a weapon, but she was worthless. He could tell that almost everyone in the room was for the removal of the girl. Only her father seemed to want her to continue being a kunoichi.

"Hatake, what say you?" he asked the young prodigy, knowing that while the man would be hurt to have to do such a thing, he would be honest first and foremost.

"I think Sasuke and Naruko have perfect teamwork. They fight well together and are apt pupils. Sakura... I tried to get them to work together, but she isn't working. I was hoping that it would all work out, but it didn't. She's disrespectful and arrogant and I'm disappointed that she learned nothing in the past month when I was able to successfully teach the other two the Tree Climbing exercise and how to walk on water. I have to agree with Hokage-sama and say that she needs to be removed from the program," the Copy Ninja said, his disappointment nearly palpable.

Danzo looked to Koharu and Homura, who both shook their heads frantically. "Hokage-sama, we have decided that the girl should be dropped."

Sasuke and Naruko both let out sighs of relief. They gave each other a look that spoke volumes of their feelings on the matter. The Kami were on their side today.

Sasuke released the girl from his arms, slightly sad at the loss of warmth, though not understanding why. Just another of those things in life for him to constantly question and received no answers to.

"Then by the power vested in me, as the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, I hereby remove Haruno Sakura from the ninja program and therefore strip her of her Genin status. This meeting is adjourned," Sarutobi announced, much to everyone's delight.

Naruko and Sasuke were the first ones out the door.

"She's gone!" Naruko cheered once they were outside.

Sasuke nodded, just as glad, but better at hiding his emotions. He was an Uchiha after all. It was unbecoming for him to be seen doing such rowdy things.

"Now let's just hope that her replacement isn't inept," she added with a concerned look.

Sasuke shrugged. "Anyone is better than Sakura."

Naruko nodded. "You're right."

Free from the pink! Yes!

Congratulations Kit!

TenTen winced when Naruko managed to land a solid blow to her right arm. They were having a mock battle like they always did and she had just learned that Team Seven was getting a replacement and that none of the teammates were sad about it.

"Was she really that bad?" she asked, throwing a kunai that narrowly missed Naruko's head by mere centimeters. She internally cursed her friend's speed. It wasn't fair that she could move so fast at her age!

"Oh, yeah! Remember that girl Ayumi from your year?"

TenTen flipped away from Naruko's foot that had almost connected with her sternum. A mental vision of Okagawa Ayumi popped into her head and she winced again, but for a different reason this time.

"I remember her, alright. She was horrible. Do you mean to say that Haruno was that bad?"

"Worse."

Was it possible to be that bad?

TenTen grunted as an open palm to the chest sent her careening backward. She flipped over mid air and managed to land on her feet. Her thinking was making her lose!

"Stop talking to me while we're fighting!"

"It's makes for good distraction techniques!" Naruko said with a shrug, "Besides, it splits your attention multiple ways so you will learn to do more at once! It's a special kind of training!"

Naruko charged again, lifting her own kunai.

TenTen huffed. "Fine! Let's do it your way!" Lifting her own weapon, the brunette dashed forward to meet her friend.

"You remember my sensei?" the bun haired kunoichi asked, plan already in motion.

"Unfortunately."

"Think of him naked and covered in cheese."

Naruko's form slipped for one second as he lone eye crinkled, her brow furrowing in her disgust. TenTen took advantage and twisted herself around, using her hand to support her weight as she used her right leg to sweep Naruko's feet out from under her.

Naruko went down and TenTen rolled over her, holding the kunai to her covered throat.

The feeling of cool metal against her own throat had her realizing that while she'd gotten the drop on the blonde, she still hadn't managed to win. But a tie was a good place to start.

"Can I just ask why you would say such a thing?"

TenTen flushed and looked away. "It… uh, happened. Mission. I don't wanna talk about it!"

Naruko's hum was deceptive.

TenTen was standing and putting her weapons back in her scroll, when Naruko finally decided to ask, "So is he large?"

TenTen fainted.

Itachi was smiling at him and Sasuke didn't really know what to think. When Itachi was smiling, it usually meant that he had learned some new piece of information that he was going to use against Sasuke and the younger Uchiha was not prepared for it.

"Father informed me of something very interesting today, otouto. Care to hear about it?"

"You'll tell me anyway," said the boy, resigned to whatever his brother had planned.

Itachi's smile was devious and his coal eyes were alight with some emotion that Sasuke couldn't place. "Tell me, did Naruko feel warm while you held her?"

Sasuke's face flamed instantly and he turned around, fleeing for his bedroom immediately. How dare he bring that up! And how dare he laugh at Sasuke for it!

"Darling, it's okay!" he heard his mother shout. "She'll come around to you eventually, I'm sure of it!"

"Stop making fun of me!" he hissed down the hall, before sliding the door to his room shut with more force than necessary.

So he might have just a little crush on Naruko, but it wasn't like he was the only person to. Shikamaru had definitely liked her before Sasuke did and Shino had liked her long before either of them had.

Yeah. There was nothing wrong with it!

He buried his head in his pillow and screamed away his frustrations.

Being a pre-teen was so hard!

A/N: Another one bites the dust!

How was it? Let me know!

Check out my Harry Potter/Naruto crossover, Can Your Friends Do This?

It's a Kakashi/fem-Harry and Sasunaru.

Tsume Yuki made the prompt.

Ja ne! :D

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