Phases (Naruto AU)

Desolate

The other recruits were all lined up behind her, safe for the moment, and Sakura was trying her best to keep from trembling.

Her nails had gouged vicious half circles into the insides of her palms, and she was biting the inside of her cheek so hard that she thought she registered the cold, metallic tint of blood on her taste buds. Despite that, the pink-haired kunoichi had to grit her teeth together to keep the lower half of her face from betraying any of the raw terror she felt. The weight of Sasuke's eyes trained on her back were the only thing that gave her a small measure of courage, enabling her to stand up straight and face Orochimaru with at least some amount of dignity.

He looked her over dismissively, though, and then seemed to stare right through her, at the man standing at her back. "Tell me, Kabuto," Orochimaru commented coldly, "does this...girl...have any redeeming qualities whatsoever?"

Sakura fought the urge to close her red-rimmed, aching eyes and indulge in a silent moment of desperate prayer. Regardless of the fact that she could practically feel the killing intent radiating off Sasuke in increasingly menacing waves, she knew that, regardless of how much Orochimaru wanted to cultivate him, it was Kabuto Yakushi who ultimately held her fate in his hands.

Regardless of the immediate, warm welcome that he had given Sasuke as soon as the two of them entered the first seemingly deserted military base on the outskirts of the village, Orochimaru had directed one look at her and written her off as a lost cause – but Sound, unlike Konoha, apparently had no inclination to waste resources on unskilled, weak shinobi like herself. He had announced as much to the present gathering, as well – one white-haired boy who looked like an unnerving mixture of shark and human, a redheaded girl who was staring at Sakura appraisingly, and a toweringly large boy who was observing the unfolding happenings quietly and calmly.

It had been humiliating, of course; enough to make Sakura want the ground underneath her to open into a giant chasm and swallow her up. Had she been stupid, to think that these people would be willing to train somebody like her? Maybe staying in Konoha would have been better; where she was embarrassed and hurt more by the things that people didn't say than the things that they did.

But that was useless thinking. The fact of the matter was that she had followed Sasuke here, and maybe, it would ultimately be worth nothing, and she would be discarded like the piece of trash that Tayuya had accused her of being.

A strange sense of calm detachment flooded over Sakura, countering the rage that she practically felt Sasuke quietly repressing. If they were alone, she would have fallen to her knees and begged Kabuto to let her live, if that was what he wanted her to do. She would do anything, but right now, she could do nothing. Even she had more pride than to lower herself like that in front of so many potential rival shinobi.

But then Kabuto's hands were on her shoulders, the unexpected touch startling and wearing on her already strained nerves so much that Sakura had to exercise a conscious effort not to flinch away from it. She heard Sasuke catch his breath, and Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, obviously quite surprised.

"She has quite a bit more than just 'redeeming qualities,' Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto stated quietly and smoothly, his voice echoing around the underground chamber, as he bowed his head out of respect. "If you allow it, I would like to place her under my tutelage. My experience in the chunin exams has taught me that little Sakura is incredibly intelligent, and that, combined with her excellent chakra control, should make her a perfect candidate for training as a medic-nin and specialized medical ninjutsu combatant. She can see through many genjutsu, as well, and I believe that she could even be trained as a genjutsu specialist if the other option fails."

Sakura tried not to look surprised – to accept the statement with calm indifference, as if she knew it to be true. But...perfect candidate? Medic-nin? Specialized medical ninjutsu combatant? What did all of that mean, and how could it actually be a viable future for her? Nobody in Konoha had ever hinted that she had any aptitude as a field shinobi like all of her comrades did, but nobody had mentioned this possible career option, either.