Hello fellow readers, just a few things before getting to the good stuff:

1- I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

2- English is NOT my first language, therefore errors may (or more accurately, WILL) happen.

3- This is my first ever published fic, s E, be gentle while writing reviews or comments or whatever, I'm about as sensitive as Haruno Sakura and might cry my eyeballs out. (Obviuouly joking, I'm more an Uchiha type person, I'll just ignore and let you speaking to yourself, but deeeeeeep down I'll be hurting, ok? I'm pretty sure I have feelings.)

Last but not least, ENJOY! I hope you'll like it.

Chapter 01

That damned forehead!

Why did it had to be SO BIG? sighing, her hands stopping just as her fingers touched the metal to try and adjust the bandana to cover it, but she could actually hear Ino shouting at her and, she'd never admit to it, but the blond was right, unfortunately. She should embrace it so that eventually nobody could use it to torment her anymore. But, Gods, it was hard! Should I get a fringe to hide it?

No. That would be just as bad as using her bandana to cover it up and she was suppose to get used to it, but-

"Sakura! If you miss breakfast I will not allow you to go to those awful ninja classes of yours!", she looked herself in the mirror once again to make sure she was pretty, everything was as good as it could get. Damn, I wish I had Ino's confidence. Even we she's a mess she just act as she just came out of a makeover session, she always looks freaking beautiful and she knows it. Well, whatever. Wishing it won't change a thing and I'm sure I can still make Sasuke-kun fall for me now that he won't be seeing her so often.

Turning on her heels, she went downstairs, following the smell of food and coffee.

"Arg. Not classes mom, it's training. Remember I told you I'll be in a team now? It's our first day together and I wanna look my best becau-"

"Because Susoke will be on your team. Yeah yeah, I know. But you'll need a healthy body too. I don't want you fainting around because you didn't have enough fuel to keep going." Sighting, Mebuki placed some eggs and veggies on a plate for them both.

"It's Sa-su-ke, mom!" She said angrily. But sat down and began eating her food quickly, too hungry to keep talking about how she couldn't be more thrilled to be on Sasuke-kun's team and how Ino-pig would be so jealous that she'd be the one to look every day at those beautiful onix black eyes, smooth skin and those lips-

Stop, Sakura! You can't be blushing every time you think about him, how will you be able to go on missions with him if you keep this up? She scolded herself and resumed eating before leaving her house and going to the training grounds where she was supposed to meet team 7 and their sensei.

Sasuke and Naruto were already there when Sakura arrived and just as the last saw her, he came running and yelling "Oi! Sakura-chan!". Doing her best to pretend not to listen, she faked being lost in thoughts, but that didn't seem to matter for the blond, as he called her again and again until he was in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling big when she looked at him. His smile was so warm that she couldn't ignore it and smiled shyly back "Hello, Naruto-kun". Looking ahead at Sasuke, her heart that was already beating fast, quickened its pace, her smile growing larger, only to fall into a frown when she realized he wasn't even looking at her. As they approached him, she noticed he was actually looking everywhere but her and when she risked a "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" he didn't even bother to answer, instead, he just nodded once and resumed looking away.

Ouch. Is he mad that I said hello to Naruto before him? He didn't even noticed how good I look today... She sighed, but said nothing more as Naruto started ranting about how their sensei was late.

After about an hour and a half, the whole thing was getting on her nerves to be honest. The sensei was nowhere to be seen, Naruto had yet to shut up and worst of all, Sasuke didn't even spare a moment of attention to her. Naruto was beginning to ramble - again! - about how he would be complaining to the Hokage about their sensei being late so they could get a better one instead and-

"Shut up, Naruto!" they both said at the same time, stopping the blond mid sentence with wide eyes and looking at each other in surprise. Sakura smiled shyly and earned back a small smirk from Sasuke, which disappeared almost as soon as it was formed, another feeling overshadowing it before setting back on his usual bored-like face, but that didn't even registered in Sakura's head.

HE SMILED AT ME! And that timing! We're meant to be, I KNEW IT! IN YOU FACE INO-PIG! Sasuke-kun will be mi-

Someone appeared out of nowhere just in front of them, catching them off guard. He was very strange. Spiky gray hair, a mask covering up half of his face and his bandana on top of his left eye. Why? Must be a pain in the ass breathing through it all day long… And there's no knowing for sure if he's handsome or not… While her only response was to consider the man's appearance, Sasuke and Naruto each already had a kunai ready and pointed at him. The man just glared at them with what seemed a tired eye, but nodded at the boys and somewhat frowned upon seeing Sakura just standing and not actually having a defensive response to someone she didn't even know popping out in front of her. Ignoring all that, he waved at the kids - just like he's not right in front of us - and said

"Hello puppies! I'm Kakashi, your sense-"

"You're LATE!" shouted Naruto.

Sakura was mortified that the very first thing he (or the team, as a matter of fact) said to their sensei was that. Oh, Gods, he's an idiot. Kakashi-sensei's gonna hate us. Sasuke-kun frowned but said nothing and the sensei just ignored and kept talking. "For your first lesson, you'll have to tr-"

"When will we learn some cool jutsus?" Naruto cut him off almost immediately.

"You'll have to try and take one of the petals of this flowers" Kakashi finished up as if the interruption never happened and showed them two small white roses, holding them between his fingers like a cigarette. "You'll have until lunch time to accomplish the tas-"

"But thats so booooring, why can't we learn some jutsus instead, huh?" Naruto whined interrupting the sensei for the third time, a devilish smile widening in his face while he finished with a rather gawky blink.

Sasuke made a small choking noise but nodded in agreement, never really saying a thing. Sakura froze to her place and didn't know what to say, she was still in shock that Naruto pulled something like that on the very first day of training.

Ok, that's it. We're doomed. Kakashi-sensei seems mad… I think. Oh, Gods, how can I tell when practically ALL of his face is covered?

"Well, if this is so boring, perhaps we can make it a little bit more daring. You'll have no more than one hour to take the flowers from me." When the blond began to open - that damned mouth - again, he just raised a hand to silence him and smiled. "You see, Naruto, there are only two roses, so one of you will be left empty-handed. That means that this person will not be having lunch today. Also, this person will be the least one to be going home, after walking my dogs. I like them to be stay fit." Kakashi's eye wrinkling on the side, a sign that he was smiling. I think. They all stiffened up a little bit but even Naruto had the sense to keep quiet. Finally!

She knew that Kakashi's intention was to punish Naruto, but when it came to it, she was the one that couldn't get a rose, despite trying her very best. It was already then that she began to noticed how weak she was compared to the two boys.

As the months passed, Sakura grew more and more aware of the humongous difference between hers and the boys improvements. She just couldn't keep up. Even when they were training chakra control (which she was actually the best, much to everyone's silent chock), she couldn't keep the pace for long, she often ran out of chakra not even halfway through the training and end up just watching the boys, drained enough to be unable to spar latter on.

I am quite possibly the WORST kunoichi to EVER exist. No, scratch that. I'll never be able to be even considered a kunoichi. How will I ever get Sasuke-kun's attention like this? Well, the good kind of attention, not the annoyance I see in his eyes every time I catch him glancing at me. She was just furious at herself. She was failing so hard that not even her sensei seemed too tempted to teach her, he just kind of left her there watching them after her chakra was too low to keep training.

I'm a lost cause. All I can do is stay out of their way so I won't be an even bigger burden to them while on missions. And even that's proving to be an issue, since I'm pretty sure the reason Hokage-sama refuses to let us have harder missions is because of me and how I'm a liability to my team.

"Ino, you're like the o-n-l-y one I can ever trust enough to talk about this…" Sakura tried holding back her tears, but failed miserably and they ran down her face like a waterfall. "I'm so weak, I'm scared to go on missions because I feel like I might get one of them killed due to my weakness. They're always having to protect me and the enemies can see that, some have already tried to use me as an advantage before! What if-" she sobbed, locking green with blue "what if they get killed trying to protect me? I'll never be able to forgive myself!". Her eyes going wide at the thought, her chest feeling heavy and it didn't help that Ino was silent, just patting her back unsurely.

Of all the moments Ino-pig could be silent, THIS is the one she chooses?

But, despite the anger, she knew the blond meant no harm. Ever since they began their training as genins, Ino was improving so fast, easily keeping up with her teammates. So she just couldn't understand how Sakura was feeling. And even though she was always trying to help Sakura improve, her development was at such a slow pace that Sakura stopped asking, feeling embarrassed to be still stuck into basics and holding her best friend back.

Ino opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not knowing what to say to help and eventually decided on repeating the same thing as always "You have to work harder Sakura." - She didn't even call me 'Forehead', oh Gods, she's pitting me. My best friend pitties me. That's even worse than the annoyed looks Sasuke gives me, or the way Naruto always try to hide new skills from me so I won't be sad, or even Kakashi-sensei's lack of interest in teaching me… - Taking her hands into a firm grip, the blond called her attention back. "If you don't want to be a burden to them, you have to train harder. Push yourself over your limit. Show them you're a force to be reckoned with! Bloom and catch up to them!".

Even though Ino should know better by now, Sakura never once saw doubt in her best friend's eyes. She really believed everything she was saying to Sakura and that comforted her.

Ever since the talk with Ino, Sakura decided she wasn't going to be the reason why her boys would die. She may never be the best kunoichi, but she wouldn't hold them back any longer. Sakura was so set on her decision, she even gave up on trying to gain Sasuke's attention - it wouldn't matter anyways, he doesn't see me and when he's forced to acknowledge me, all I can see in his eyes is bitterness to be stuck with me on the team - so she decided it would have to be enough not to be such a hinder to any of her teammates and hoping that would put an end to the annoyed and pitiful looks Sasuke gave her - I would much prefer him not looking at me at all than keep having him reminding me how much he despises my weakness - or how Naruto seemed to think she'd break at any show of his development as a shinobi to the point that he carefully avoided any of those subjects whenever possible.

When even Naruto pitties you, that's when you know you've reached rock-bottom. At least, from here on, the only way is up, I hope.

So for months, she trained her body to be able to fight without chakra, because having so little of it meant she had to be very smart about how she'd go about using it.

She started to crash some of Rock Lee's alone training sessions and, eventually, he began teaching her some moves, which - thank Gods! - she was able to learn rather quickly. Every day after training with team 7, she'd go train with Lee as they forged a friendship, bonding over talking (or, for Sakura, just complaining really) about how easy theirs friends had with their clans secret techniques, kekkei genkais and large amounts of chakra to go out and about like it would never end. And I just happen to be stuck with, apparently, two of the genins with the biggest chakra pools of us all. Even though Lee is on the same team as Neji, the Hyuuga prodigee, Gai-sensei actually teaches him stuff, so he's steadily improving his skills.

She was set on playing to her strengths and, since no one on team 7 really paid her much attention anyway, she began training - all alone and forgot, hah! Pitiful, indeed. - her chakra control. I already have so little of it, I NEED to be able to control it to perfection!

She began to almost avoid them, always keeping to herself, making sure she was never on their way on battles and kind of really fading into the background as much as possible (which made her be almost left behind on a strange city in one occasion when her teammates actually forgot about her, only to be remembered when she started following them, their look of embarrassment froze on their faces, even discernible on Kakashi despite the mask and bandana. That day often plagued her in nightmares waking her up in utter panic and then crying herself to a dreamless sleep).

They've been away in a mission for about a week now, but she knew they were already close to home. It would only take a couple more hours to get to the gates. I'll fiiiinally be able to take a proper shower! Thank Gods! And then I can go tell Ino that never once I was a burden to them this time! Even though I'm dying at the pace they're keeping and I have basically no chakra left. But hell'd freeze before I'd complain and ruin this small victory of mine! At least all those hours training with Lee helped with my stamina.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed her teammates stopping and assuming a defensive position, barely refraining herself from crashing into Naruto, but they paid her no attention, scanning the surroundings. Just when she noticed people were coming - fast - their way and before she could fall into a defensive stance, she heard a small sigh of relief from Kakashi as he recognised who was coming towards them, waving to the trees. "Oh, hello there guys, care to join us on the way back?"

Sasuke also relaxed at the recognition of someone Sakura couldn't see yet and Naruto stood up straight in front of her, not letting go of the kunai but also waving at the trees. That's when three people appeared on the tree next to them. The first she recognised as Ino's dad, Yamanaka Inoichi, his light hair framing his face when he stopped running. The other two wore similar colours - Uchiha colours -, both with raven black hair, one with plain grey eyes and the other with the red sharingan scanning them as he looked at Kakashi, nodding to his previous question, then turning to Sasuke, half-smiling at him before nodding to Naruto as well. Inoichi saw her and said her name, waving, to which she responded with a shy smile.

Seeming to only notice her after the older man said her name, the sharingan darted at her, first with boredom and then, widening his eyes ever so slightly, with some sort of curiosity.

Who are they? And why is he staring at me? She fought the urge to check her face for something, instead just holding his gaze until he turned and began moving towards Konoha again, team 7 behind them. No one said a thing.

Upon reaching the gates, Kakashi said he'd be going to the Hokage Tower to report on their return and dismissed them before setting off with the other three man. Sakura stared at their figures as they got smaller until she couldn't see them any longer and turned to make her way back home, not bothering to say goodbye to the boys who had already forgotten about her as they made plans about going for some ramen, too excited to notice her tears and hurt of being left out once more.

** Itachi's POV **

The whole time he was at the Hokage's office, he was restraining himself from asking about what he just saw, curiosity almost getting the best of him. Now that he was on his way home, he allowed his thoughts to run wild.

That girl. Was she actually a kunoichi? Well, she certainly was with Kakashi's team, but besides that, she was all wrong. I mean, her clothes were more suited for civilians than for a shinobi, it had no pockets to keep weapons or protection from the weather. She didn't even had a kunai on hand, she was just standing behind Naruto, looking at them. Also, she had about as much chakra as a dog. I didn't even notice her until Inoichi-san acknowledge her. I guess that might have a reason, she might have had a fight or whatever, but none of the other members of the team seemed to have such chakra depletion, Sasuke's was almost full! Maybe they let her battle alone? But she wasn't dirty, there were no blood spatters on her, unlike Naruto and Sasuke. I know Kakashi wouldn't let them fight if he wasn't confident in their skills, but… She's too young and anonymous to be able to go through a fight without a single scratch. So who was she? What was her story? And most importantly, why on earth did she have that se-

"Onii-chan, can we spar today? I'm trying to perfect a few moves Kakashi-sensei was teaching us before the mission." Sasuke was grinning wildly with expectation.

"Sure Sasuke, just let me meet Father first. I'll meet you in about an hour and we can go, ok?" I can use the opportunity to not only see for myself how he's improving, but also ask a bit about the girl so I can understand better what I saw.

At the nod from Sasuke, he sprinted over their house, reaching the clan's headquarters in a split second. Knocked on the door and at the quiet "Come in" he entered his father's office. Fugaku was behind a big pile of papers, but smiled softly at the sight of his elder son "Itachi, back already? That was fast." Itachi blushed a little bit but just nodded with a "Hn".

At the interrogative look in Fugaku's face (he knew there was something he wanted to say), he looked around like he was double checking that they were indeed alone, but decided not to ask what he intended at first. His father was a very cunning man and, as much as Itachi trusted him, he felt like this wasn't his secret to tell, so he decided to let it go for now. "Father, I'll be sparing with Sasuke later today. It's been a while since I last checked his development. I'm sure he'd be happy if you dropped by for a bit." Fugaku raised an eyebrow "Hn, you can tell me all about it later tonight, I have a lot to deal with today, I don't think I can make it to the spar in time."

"You're improving Sasuke. Be sure to keep working hard and you'll become a good shinobi." he said as his little brother laid on the grass, catching up his breath and closing his eyes. He saw a small frown on his face, but ignored it. "How was your mission?"

"Arg, you know… Boring as hell! Kakashi-sensei stared at that damn book the entire time we weren't on the move and Naruto! Oh Gods, he wouldn't shut up for a single second, but we got to train a little bit yesterday and I kicked his butt!" He said giggling at himself. Sitting up he locked eyes with Itachi "What about yours? Can you tell me something?" he didn't mention her. Was I wrong in assuming she was part of their team? "It was a success, that's about all I can tell you."

Sasuke's face was clearly set in a discontent look and he was about to protest when he cut him "The other person on your team, am I correct in assuming it was that girl with pink hair?" much to his surprise, his discontent seemed to only get deepen and he just made a grunt of agreement. "What? Did she fight with you?"

He was even more surprised with the burst of laughter that escaped the younger boy's mouth. "Sakura? Fight me?" He was beginning to bend while holding his stomach, the laughter getting the best of him "She could never."

Seeing the confusion on Itachi's face he controlled the laugh before explaining "She's too weak, onii-chan. She has just a little bit more chakra than a civilian, it's ridiculous that she was even admitted at the academy, but then so was Lee and he has even lower chakra levels than her, but he still manages to be better than she is."

** Itachi's POV **

"You're rambling Sasuke" he said flatly, to which his brother blushed a little and resumed to the explanation "Long story short, onii-chan, she can't keep up with us, so she's there just as a fill-in, so we can actually go on missions, because we need three people on a team. She knows it too and always just stays out of our way while on fights." So that's why she wasn't even dirty and-

"There was even this time when we were on a mission and we completely forgot about her, even Kakashi-sensei. We just noticed when she began to follow us as we were leaving." his blush deepening and frowning but before Itachi could scold him for almost leaving a teammate behind he added "She used to follow me around like a fangirl up until about ten months ago I guess. That's when she just stopped and started keeping it to herself. Now she never speaks unless she must or we address her first, it's all very weird, but I prefer it like this. I mean, she really was a burden to us all and even Naruto, who is friends with just about everyone, was getting tired of her. We weren't getting any missions and he told me that he overheard a conversation between Hokage-sama and Kakashi-sensei saying that the reason why they wouldn't get us missions was because they just couldn't send her. Kakashi would have to be always babysitting her because she couldn't defend herself." he stopped to breath but kept on with the monologue as if he forgot about Itachi's presence.

"We were about to ask Hokage-sama to put someone else on our team when she started changing, I think she began training more on her own, since she never really had the energy to spar with us. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't recall ever seeing her fight." he looked confused for a minute and Itachi took the chance to speak "Which clan is she from?"

Another laughter assaulted Sasuke "Clan? Onii-chan, I don't think any clan could ever have such a weak member even if they tried. No, her parents are civilians." the look of disgust in his little brother was enough to tell Itachi two things. First, Sasuke had yet a lot to learn, for he had met a lot of strong shinobi whose parents were civilians. Second, the girl was an interesting enough puzzle and now he really wanted to figure out her secret.

Hello again!

I reeeally hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I've been quite scared to release it and could really use some reviews to know if I'm doing good or need to improve.

This story is meant to be slowburn and even though this chapter is not, it'll get there.

That's it! I hope to get some feedback, soif you can, please leave a note! Thank you!

Peace!