Chapter 1: Eye of the Beholder

In which Sakura does not blossom in the springtime of her youth, she wilts.

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Sakura Haruno was not born for war, but she was raised by it. She grew with rationed food, with ripped and hemmed and tattered clothing, with crying mothers and crying children, and she knew nothing else.

Konoha fell victim to the Great War, or simply the War, as some people liked to say with hints of disdain under their breaths, when Sakura was merely five years old. She could not remember much about life before wartime, but she was fairly certain there was much more food to spare and much less tension permeating the air in those forgotten years.

Things changed as soon as Kiri declared war on Konoha. Factories were instructed to only make weapons and military gear, farmers were required to hand over a certain amount of their harvest in preparation for the soldiers, and the borders were immediately shut down.

They took the men, aged 18 to 40. At first, they only took the volunteers, but as the fighting dragged on and on, the drafts began. But Konoha was not a large country, and eight years into the war, there were no more men to take.

Then they took the boys, as young as 13. It was a solemn day, Sakura remembered, the sun was unfittingly bright and the heat was stifling. Mothers watched their sons, their children , march off to war without an inkling of an idea if they would ever be seen alive again.

On this day, Sakura watched many of the boys she grew up with leave for the battlefield. They were supposed to all go back to school again that upcoming September, at their village's only schoolhouse at the very top of the hill. The classroom would be suffocatingly empty.

But Naruto and Sasuke were not just nameless faces she can group with the rest of her classmates. The three of them had known each other since birth and never learned how to live without each other. They had just reached the cutoff age, and this time there was no draft. There was an order.

Konoha might have ordered them to the battlefield, but Sakura ordered them to come home safely. She cried only when they turned to leave and the train carried them far, far away to where they have never ventured before. (Away from her.)

And it still was not enough.

They took the girls no more than a year later, but they did not take the women, lest they be a country of soldiers. On that morning, Sakura reported to the station like a good soldier, armed with nothing but a brave face and the clothes on her back.

Mebuki sobbed, holding fast to her daughter and not wanting to let her go. She had already lost a husband to this forsaken war and now Konoha wished to take the rest of her family as well. But she was one of the lucky ones. There were some families (women who have been left behind) who had been a victim of all three calls to war. She had been subject to only two.

Within hours, the girls were put on a train and whisked away to Foxtrot 3, a camp that laid in the flat lands near the north border. It served as both a military base and a training camp because Konoha lacked the funds to build them separately.

Sakura stepped off the train and took a breath of fresh air, which was a luxury after being cramped in a crowded train car for hours on end. It was cool and crisp in the north, something she was unused to. Her hometown experienced heavy heat for all but two months of the year, which made it an ideal farming village.

"Sakura-chan!" a voice screamed, and it wasn't hard to immediately recognize who it was. A familiar figure came barreling towards her.

"Naruto!" she yelled back and was nearly knocked by the force of his hug. "I missed you so much." She buried her face into his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, forcing the tears away.

When they finally pulled apart, she grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him over. "You've grown so much in just a year, seriously! You used to be so short."

"It's because he eats other people's rations too." Sasuke interrupted, approaching them from out of nowhere, "Blame him for why rationing is so bad back home."

Sakura grinned and threw her arms around him as well while Naruto punched him on the shoulder with a scowl.

"How'd you guys know I would end up here?" she asked, looking up at the two of them curiously.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, we heard about girls being ordered to serve. And everyone else from the village ended up at Foxtrot 3."

"Surprisingly, Naruto has his smart ish moments."

"Asshole!"

Sakura laughed and allowed herself to be momentarily happy that the three of them were finally reunited.

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Sakura started in the medical program, like all the rest of the girls. It was not by choice, they had been forced into it. While Konoha was desperate to summon the fairer sex to war, they still placed them in these traditionally womanly roles.

Training was quick, evidence of the desperation of the war effort. They had to get the girls trained and ready to go to the field as soon as possible. Unlike the training for soldiers, practice was limited. A soldier could shoot a target, but no one would ever intentionally break an arm or be shot for the sake of some snotty brats learning a few things.

They learned by following the doctors around during their rounds, learning only the about the injuries that appeared before them, and not worrying about anything that did not enter the infirmary. As long as they had the basics, they would be able to figure out the finer details by themselves.

And while she was damn good at medical procedures, but her aim was even better. She learned this a few weeks into her training when Naruto and Sasuke took her out to the range with them once, on the rare occasion when they were all free.

"I really don't think this is allowed," Sakura said, holding Naruto's service rifle in her hands, "Don't they keep an eye on ammo levels and stuff like that?"

"Maa, it's fine, Sakura-chan. It's just for fun and a few shots won't hurt." He patted her back reassuringly and pushed her gently towards the range, where they had prepared a target for her at 100 meters away.

Sakura looked at Sasuke, who only shrugged. It wasn't his rifle.

She sighed. The risk was pretty high, no matter what Naruto said. But even so, when else would she get to shoot a gun? Not at any other time at camp, and certainly not at home. Surely it would be fine if it was just the once.

The only problem was figuring out how to actually work the damn thing. Naruto had been incredibly vague when describing how to use the firearm. Sasuke was a bit more helpful, but in the end, she could only rely on what she had observed in the past. She closed her left eye, tilted her head, raised the barrel, and lined it up with the target, in the same manner she had seen the soldiers do. Her fingers closed on the trigger.

The gun fired and she was almost knocked back by the recoil. And why had no one told her how loud it would be? She groaned and held the ear that had been closest to the gun, hoping to stop the ringing in her head.

"You hit dead center," Sasuke's words penetrated her thoughts, his voice a mix of wonder and confusion. He rose from his chair to get a closer look, reaching past Sakura to pull the rope to bring the target closer.

It was true, on the flimsy piece of paper, there was a distinct bullet hole right at the bullseye.

"Holy shit," Naruto muttered, childishly putting his finger through the hole, "You're a crackshot, you gotta do that again!"

Sakura stared dumbfounded at the paper, but nodded anyway. They set up a new target and placed it further back, first to 200, then 300, and even all the way to 400.

On all three targets, there was a hole in the center. "But the 400 meter one doesn't count," Sakura huffed, holding said target in her hands, "I completely missed the first shot on it. Not even on one of the other rings, just not on the paper at all!"

"Are you kidding me? It's impressive you hit anything at all. You've never even held a gun before!" Naruto waved the rest of the papers in her face. "Even Teme completely whiffed it his first, like, five times at the range."

Sasuke scowled at Naruto's comment, but chose to ignore the blond. "He's not completely wrong," he admitted, "I didn't whiff my first time, but I certainly didn't hit center until a week into training. You just might be in the wrong program."

At their praise, Sakura grinned. "Thanks guys, but this is probably the first and last time this is ever going to happen. But I'm glad you guys convinced me to come out and try it."

"Uzumaki. Uchiha."

The two boys stiffened and slowly turned to face the approaching officer. They obviously recognized him by the way their faces paled, but Sakura had never seen the man before. She certainly would have recognized his mask or his eyepatch if she had.

They were screwed. They were past screwed. Not only were they not allowed to be at the range without permission, but they had brought a girl and allowed her to hold and fire a weapon. It was a near dischargeable offense.

"Captain Hatake," they greeted in unison, immediately shifting to stand at attention. Naruto stuttered slightly and gave a backward glance at Sakura while Sasuke shifted to block her from view, but it was too late.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing at the range during off hours?" His one visible eye bore into them, past them, and into Sakura, who shuddered at the stern sound of his voice. The gun in her hand felt hot, and she wanted nothing more than to drop it and run. And maybe scream just a little bit.

"Nothing sir, just practicing," Sasuke replied evenly, his calm facade not betraying the pure panic they were all experiencing.

The officer did not respond immediately, staring at them for what felt like an eternity. "You will run fifty laps around the camp as punishment. I expect them to be finished before the dinner bell. You are dismissed."

There was no way they really got off that easy. Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and looked up at the two of them.

Sasuke shook his was no point in questioning it, only to be thankful that they were only let off with this warning.

"I didn't say you could leave, girl."

Sakura froze.

He looked at Sasuke and Naruto expectantly. "You will receive you firearm back tomorrow, Uzumaki. Now, I believe I did, in fact, dismiss the two of you."

With one last parting look before her inevitable demise, Sasuke and Naruto followed the Captain's orders, probably off to complete their punishment.

Sakura struggled to avoid looking him in the eyes, but she tried to stand at attention, copying how Naruto and Sasuke had done it: hands behind back, back straight, and chin up.

"What's your name?" he asked, after taking a moment to look over her with his calculating eye, as if assessing everything about her.

"Sakura Haruno," she squeaked, and then hastily added, "U-uh, sir."

"Well Sakura Haruno, you do realized how serious of an infraction it is for you to be shooting that gun, let alone shooting it."

"I fully understand. But it was all my idea! I dragged Naruto and Sasuke into this, they're innocent, I swear."

The Captain raised an eyebrow and then looked over to the range, where one of the targets she had shot was still hanging.

"Do it again."

"What?" Sakura sputtered, "I-I'm not sure what you mean."

"I'm going to place it at 600 meters and I want you to hit the bullseye," he explained, already in the process of replacing the paper and setting its distance, "I was watching the three of you for a while before I interrupted, I know it certainly wasn't the other two who put the bullets through those targets."

Sakura simply gaped at him.

"Well? Target won't shoot itself, you know."

Was that a joke? Sakura can't tell, but she repressed a grimace. First he's glaring and reprimanding them and then a split second later he's joking? Her heart couldn't handle this.

Slowly, she set herself up like she had hesitated. The distance was far greater than she had previously shot at, and not to mention her complete miss at 400. There was no telling if the same would happen yet again. But she could feel Captain Hatake staring her down. Sudden good mood or not, his gaze was intense.

The moment the bullet erupted from the barrel of the gun, the world seemed to slow down around them. Her eyes watched the bullet, traversing its path down, down, down the range, all 600 meters of it. She felt herself sitting back, clicking the safety on slowly, but not daring to turn her attention away.

It approached the target and its path became strikingly clear. Not a complete miss, for which she was immensely relieved, but it was not a direct hit either. The bullet pierced the target and suddenly the world reverted to its normal speed.

Even so, the two of them stood there for a while. Captain Hatake did not say nor do anything, while Sakura was simply too scared of his wrath to do much else. Instead, she clung to the gun and shifted her gaze nervously between him and the target.

He moved suddenly and she resisted the urge to flinch away, but he only reached up to pull the rope and bring the piece of paper close to them. As it approached, the position of her shot became glaringly obvious. No, not a bullseye, because it seemed her luck had run out, but it at least stood at the very edge of it, right at the line between the center circle and the first contrasting ring.

The deafening silence continued to reign, even as he took the paper in hand and studied it carefully. Surely there couldn't be anything quite so interesting that it required so much attention?

"This is your first time shooting a gun at that distance, correct?" he asked, eye flickering up to look at her for a brief second before returning to study the page.

She nodded.

The Captain muttered something under his breath which her ears could not pick up. "Alright," he sighed, folding the target and putting it into his pocket, "That will be all for now Haruno. Please return Uzumaki's service rifle to me."

"R-really, that's it?" Sakura tried to resist the smile that tugged on the corners of her lips as she placed the gun in his outstretched hand. But even so, there was no hiding the pure shock and elation that crept into her voice.

"Yes, and I suggest you don't hang around much longer, unless you wish to be running alongside your other two friends."

Well he certainly didn't need to tell her twice. Like she had wanted to form the very beginning, she broke out into a sprint that take her far, far away from the scary man and the firgin range. She needed to go find Naruto and Sasuke and kick their asses for getting them in so much trouble.

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No one but Sakura noticed when Captain Hatake entered the infirmary with man she didn't recognize. He had long brown hair that definitely could not be regulation and a toothpick sticking out the side of his mouth.

"It's this one?" the brown-haired man whispered non-too-discretely and pointed towards her.

Maybe if she ignored them, they would go away and she could forget all about the incident that happened the day before. After she ran off and the boys had finally finished their laps, she made sure to find them and give them both a good punch to the back of the head. With love, of course.

Kakashi hummed something like recognition and the pair approached the group surrounding the doctor they had been assigned to shadow for the day.

"Sorry Dr." Hatake paused and squinted at the medic's nametag, "Shimada. I hope you don't mind but we'll have to borrow Haruno here for a little bit."

"Of course, Captain."

Sakura scowled, but said nothing as they led her out of the infirmary and continued walking. Soon, they were out of the area of Foxtrot 3 that she was familiar with. The medical area and doctor's offices was the farthest she had been thus far, and it was a good indicator of where the training area ended and actual military base began. They entered one of office buildings.

As the go into one the offices, the unknown man took a seat behind the desk and she was ushered by the Captain to sit in one of the chairs in front of it. He took the other.

There was a plaque on the desk and Sakura learned forward to read it, eager to finally learn this man's name. Colonel Genma Shiranui, it read, in pristine gold letters.

"I've talked to the Colonel about your time at the firing range a few days ago." The Captain nodded to the man sitting in front of them.

Sakura grimaced. Well all hope that she could just forget the incident was out the window. "Ah, right, I'm extremely sorry about that, sir, I can promise it will not happen again."

"Don't worry," Genma laughed, which was strange to hear from such a high ranking official, "You're not in trouble or anything. Those service rifles, without a scope and long distance modifications are only supposed to have an effective range of 300 meters. Did you know that haven't been any records like yours in the past 20 years? Granted, we've only been in war for 9 of those and your shots aren't officially on record, but it's still rather impressive."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "To get straight to the point, we'd like to switch the program that you're in. It's a bit unorthodox to be sure, but aim like yours doesn't come around too often. All females have been assigned to the medical one, correct?"

"Huh?" Sakura stared at both of them incredulously, unable to collect herself enough to offer them much more of an answer than that.

"We thought about placing you in field training with the boys who just arrived, but Genma and I think it would be better to place you in the long range division. You certainly have the scores for it."

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head, "I don't understand. I didn't hit the target center at 600 meters and I missed at 400. I can't do something like that! Aren't I just supposed to stick with the program I'm in?" There had been no female in the frontlines of any of Konoha's wars before, at least not officially. There were rumors of women dressing as men to take their relatives places, but what they were offering her some completely different.

"I suppose it's your choice, in the end," the Colonel shrugged and sat back in his chair, "But it's a damn shame to not use it. I won't lie, training will be more work than you're used to, but I think it's worth it. In my humble opinion."

He sighed and fiddled with the toothpick, switching it between the corners of his mouth. When neither Sakura nor Kakashi had anything more to say, he spoke again, "Well, you don't have to give an answer right now, but we'd like something official by the end of the week. You know where my office is."

Kakashi turned to her, "You can find your way back, right?" His eyes, however, were not on her and something unsaid seemed to be exchanged between the two men. She ignored it.

Instead, Sakura only nodded numbly and left when they dismissed her. Her mind was swimming with the possibilities that they were hinting. They had the power to actually go against such old regulations? And not to mention how difficult it would be. Long range meant her aim had to improve drastically, certainly not miss something that was only 100 meters away. Besides, there was also-

"Sakura."

She jolted when a hand was placed on her shoulder, gently shaking her.

"I've been calling your name for a while now," Sasuke said with a frown, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, it's…" she trailed off and bit the inside of her cheek. She wanted to tell him, she could really use the advise, but was she allowed to?

Fuck it. If they were breaking the rules by even thinking about putting her in a different program, she could break the rules too and let him know. "You remember how Captain Hatake kept me behind while you two ran laps?" she asked, tugging his sleeve to walk her back to the infirmary, "Well he had me shoot again at 600 meters. I missed the bullseye, by the way, and he dismissed me."

Sasuke nodded slowly as she told her story.

"I thought it would be the end of it, but him and Colonel Shirui pulled me from training today. They want to switch me out of my program."

He stopped in his tracks, looking at her with shock. "They want to what?" he asked and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What other tracks are girls even allowed to go into?"

"That's what has me worked up! They said they want to put me in the long distance program."

"No. Absolutely not, you're not allowed to accept."

"What!?" she hissed, glaring at him, "Since when do you get to make my decisions for me?"

"Since I know your mother and I know what she would have to say about it. Sakura, do you even know how dangerous it is?" He glared back.

"I know that. Don't you think I had to come to terms with that when you and Naruto left? You know what? I'm sorry for telling you." She turned away from him and began to stalk off, refusing to let him see the tears that she could feel threaten to spill.

"Sakura," he said tersely as he grabbed her wrist, "This conversation isn't over."

She refused to face him and instead, wrenched out of his grasp. "Yes, it is. I'll see you later, Sasuke." After walking a few feet away, she added, "Don't follow me."

How the hell did she know that? Sasuke tsked, but did as she asked, turning hotly on his heels to go find Naruto. Maybe the idiot would see his point and talk some sense into her. He could certainly convey the point a lot better, he had a way with his words.

"No, you're really just an asshole," Naruto concluded when Sasuke had found him in the barracks, "Sure, it's dangerous but Sakura's tough. Besides, I think it's pretty awesome. No other girl has done it before." He looked over to Sasuke laying on his bed. "Honestly, have you ever considered being nice to Sakura-chan? Even, like, just once."

Sasuke groaned and slammed his face into his pillow. "Shut up , dobe!"

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To be honest, her decision was made after her conversation with Sasuke. The next morning she went right up to Colonel Shiranui and accepted his offer. Training would start at the beginning of next week, he had told her, not even attempting to hide the grin as she told him the news.

In hindsight, she really should have at least thought it over a bit when she calmed down and talked to Naruto about it as well. She still felt a little guilty about the last part, Naruto was one of her best friends and deserved to know, but there was no backing out and getting his opinion now.

There was only one group of long distance specialists still in training and though they already halfway through the program, she was placed with them anyway. The training was designed to be short, only a month in total, Konoha needed soldiers on the field sooner rather than later.

Genma was right when he said training would be hard. She had never been pushed like this before in her life. After being assigned a uniform that was still much too baggy on her, she was thrown into the deep end, right into training with a group of boys who had two weeks of experience on her. The first day was thoroughly exhausting and by the end of training, she was tired and sweaty and almost about ready to give up. Not to mention she hadn't even held a gun yet, what other purpose was there to go through the motions of everything else?

There were snide remarks from the other trainees. Of course no one wanted a girl there, it was strange and unprecedented and just plain wrong . It wasn't overt bullying, like what she had experienced when she was little, with hair pulling and name calling. It was worse, the insults to her supposedly legendary aim, her physical abilities, her gender .

If the instructors were biased as well, they did a much better job of hiding it because they never said anything. At least not at the very beginning. She suspected it was only because they dared not go against the Colonel's direct orders. None of the instructors were above the Lieutenant rank themselves.

"It's hard. I never used to run before this," she sighed, resting her back against Naruto's. It was another one of those are occasions where they all had free time off. "Did you guys have to go through this when you were still in training?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't understand why they're having you train so hard. If you're going to be fighting the enemy from a distance, what's the point in having to be able to do everything that a normal soldier can?" He was still unhappy about the whole situation, but he had at least apologized. And hearing Sasuke of all people apologize was priceless.

"Better safe than sorry," Naruto countered, making sense for once in his life.

On the third day, they placed her own service rifle in her hands. It was different than the one given to the normal infantry. Though it used the same ammo, it was modified to shoot from a farther distance, outfitted with a longer barrel and a scope.

Then they took her back to the range, but this time, they set the target at a full 1000 meters. Sakura set up as she had before and tried to ignore the instructors and the trainees hovering around her. Their gaze was not as intense as the Captain's, but it unnerved her nonetheless. And though it should be much easier with the aid of the scope, her fingers hesitate on the trigger.

She fired three times, like they had ordered her to. The first only barely skimmed the edge of the target and her ears burned in shame. There was snickering behind her and it made her grip the gun tighter. She could not hear the words that were being said about her, but she could certainly imagine them. She took a deep, shuddered breath and readjusted.

There was no hesitation between the second and third shot, she fired them in quick succession. The talking ceased and they were instead left in an uncomfortable silence as the instructor retrieved the target. Two bullet holes sat side by side in the dead center of the page for everyone to see.

The instructor was the first to speak. Lieutenant Mizuki cleared his throat and stared down at her with obvious disdain. "I was lead to believe you were better than this, Haruno," he sneered, "Both Captain Hatake and Colonel Shiranui endorsed your admission into the program. They would surely be disappointed."

Her mouth twisted into a scowl and she bit back the words she wanted to say.

"Am I understood, Private?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "Yes sir."

Eventually, the training got easier. Not by much, but enough so that she built up muscle on her skinny frame and she swore she could even see the beginning of a six pack. Her aim improved immensely as well, perhaps partially out of spite, but no matter how perfect her scores, the Lieutenant always found something to criticize her on.

Graduation came earlier than expected and only those who were able to pass the final examination were allowed onto the field. She had only been in the program for two weeks, half the time that the others had been enrolled, but she passed the with flying colors. And to top it all off, it was Lieutenant Mizuki who reported her scores to her and officially released her for field work.

The day after, they were to be assigned a spotter whose role was to communicate targets to them while they set up for their shots. " You're my spotter, really?" Sakura asked incredulously when Sasuke walked up to her, though she couldn't help the grin that broke out onto her face, "Whose ass did you have to kiss to get that one pulled off?"

He shrugged, that irritating smirk of his tugging the corners of his lips. "Guess you're just lucky."

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Her first deployment (and Sasuke's third) was a week later, in the middle of the forest in a clearing that laid on the border between Konoha and Iaw. It was where the trenches had been dug and a battle had already been raging for months. Her orders were simple, set up where she could get a clear view and unobstructed shot, take out any of the Kiri soldiers she could, and most importantly, do not let her position be compromised.

So they observe the area. There wasn't much high ground for her to work with, the forest and the area surrounding was mostly flat land for miles and miles. But Sasuke was her spotter for good reason, and he found a tree behind enemy lines that stood far above the rest. It wasn't an ideal spot, but it would do.

It was early in the morning that they prepare, in the time just before the sun and the rest of the soldiers would rise. They stuck to the shadows, away from the fleeting daylight that began to permeate the day and hid in the dense foliage of the forest around them. They made it near the top of the tree before each of the opposing sides began to stir and the nightwatch was replaced with the day shift.

They would have to act soon. The push that the Konoha troops in the trenches, the 16th and 19th Platoons, was heavily reliant in the confusion that her shots would cause. There was only a little less than a hour until the rest of the Kiri camp would be fully awake.

The first half of the hour was spent observing the enemy trenches with a watchful eye, learning the layout and the guard schedules and paths.

Sasuke held the binoculars to his eyes, twisting the focus delicately. "Velocity 4 west, distance 600, first target armed and isolated, section 3," he whispered, choosing the man who stood the farthest away from his counterparts. His body would be discovered the slowest and buy them some more time.

"Copy," Sakura quietly replied, bringing the scope to her right eye. The wind would shift her bullet slightly off its course and the distance would only cause a minimal drop. The position in the tree would factor in as well, her aim was steadiest when lying prone, but she could keep the sway of her barrel to a minimum. She found her target quickly and adjusted her aim according to the conditions.

There was no time to hesitate. They only had minutes to complete their mission, but even still, this was a life she was taking. A man who was a son, perhaps a husband or a brother or a uncle or an infinite number of possibilities. But undoubtedly, he was a man who had a life away from this war. And all she had to do was pull the trigger to take it all.

Sasuke's voice probed her thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

He lowered his binoculars to look at her. It was obvious she was lying, or else she would have taken the shot already. He pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing. It was times like this that he wished he had Naruto's way with words.

Next to him, a gunshot erupted. "Kill confirmed." Sasuke's voice rang out when the man dropped to the floor with a gaping hole in his chest. His licked his dry, cracked lips and searched for their next target. They only had 24 minutes left.

The Kiri soldiers were inexperienced and it was painfully obvious. Even when the bodies were discovered and sniper fire rang out over their heads, they didn't bother to take cover and were not able to trace the origin of the shots.

"Sixth target unarmed and isolated, section 1 . "

Sakura found her target and inhaled sharply through her teeth at the sight of him.

He was a child. Baby fat still clung to his cheeks and his fingers barely fit around the handle of his gun. Konoha may have taken those who have only barely reached their teens, but Kiri tookchildren . He couldn't be more than 7.

He was tall for his age and was skinny too, but whether it was from genetics or lack of food, she couldn't tell. Like many of his fellow soldiers, his hair was black and had been hastily shaved to a sloppy buzz cut. His eyes were dark, a deep brown, but bright and alive and still full of hopes and dreams that she was about to take away and-

Before she could stop herself, before she had time to hesitate, before she could think about it more than she already had, she pulled the trigger.

It was headshot because her aim was true and the child's body crumpled to the ground in a puddle of red blood and grey brain matter and white skull fragments. And the worst was being able to see it all through her scope.

He felt no pain, she tried to tell herself. That it was over in an instant and she was saving him from this war.

At the last thought, Sakura recoiled and the bile that she hadn't even known was sitting at the back of her throat rose. She turned to the side and vomited.

"Kill confirmed," Sasuke whispered, though she didn't hear him. His hands shook slightly, but he was a soldier first and everything else second. He had to be strong for the both of them and there was no strength in tears. When the retching stopped, he spoke again. "Sakura. This is war."

"I know," she replied, because that made it all okay.

He didn't speak again, not even the "I told you so" that she was terrified to hear, but placed a hand on her back that she didn't shake off. They sat in silence, both too scared to speak.

After that, Sakura's hands were too unsteady to shoot again, but their mission was completed. They had successfully caused enough confusion that the Konoha forces could cross dead man's land without much resistance and storm the trenches.

In the midst of the battle, while all other sides were preoccupied, the two snuck back behind Konoha lines and lost sleep.

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The war was over in another 3 years. Though her deployment was nothing in comparison to the 9 years before her service, those 3 years seemed to drag on for a lifetime. The missions they were sent on drew them farther and farther away from the border until they could no longer spot Konoha's rolling green hills and open fields.

Kiri was rather dreary. Everything was either a bog or swamp. Solid footing that wasn't man made seemed to be a rarity in these parts and the Konoha soldiers, who had never had to encroach such territory before, had trouble navigating the lands that the Kiri natives knew and had grown with.

And if that wasn't enough, there seemed to be a constant fog that plagued the land, obscuring one's view and clinging to every little thing, which seemed to weigh everything it touched down. It was a wonder how anyone managed to live in the country. Just visiting made her itch to return home.

It was a sunny day in mid June when Kiri surrendered. Their supplies had dwindled to almost nothing and they had lost countless of their own, civilian and soldiers alike. And though they did not know it at the time, Konoha was not far behind. The leaders of each country met in neutral territory, a small town in Suna, and officially declared the war over.

Within a few short days, the soldiers, from those fresh from training to those who survived all 12 years, were finally sent home to their families.

The trains were packed full as they left the stony walls of Foxtrot 3. Those who had served the longest were to be sent first, leaving Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke on the very last train out of the facility. In comparison to the urgency that had previously plagued the place, it was instead eerily calm as they waited (not-so) patiently for their highly anticipated ride home.

"Hope I never see this shithole again!" Naruto screamed out the window, just as the train's wheels began to move, and they said nothing more for a while, only a unspoken prayer to never have to see such a terrible side of war.

.

.

.

The military officer ranking from lowest to highest in this story goes:

Lieutenant, Commander, Captain, Colonel, General

From here there will be lots of mention of mental illness. Lots of emotional shit. Sakura gets in her own head way too much and Itachi is out of his.

Do I already have too many ongoing stories? Yes. Am I in over my head? Yes.