The rain pounded on the rooftops and the dark clouds covered every inch of the sky. Giant bolts of lightning light up the village; causing all the hiding shadows to come out and play, the overwhelming crashes of the thunder shook everything—even the lingering ninja.
The storm made it hard for her to concentrate, but she pushed on. She knew that this wasn't her limit; she wasn't ready yet. The exams were just a few days ahead, how could she face her team if she didn't improve at all? She had to become stronger…only this time it wasn't for him.
She was out of chakra, energy, and will-power; she was an empty shell. But why was it that she still felt the need to go on; to never stop until her body gave out…completely? She looked at her beaten hands; they were covered in blood, and she knew that somewhere under the crimson liquid were the hands of a weakling. The only thing that kept her going was the thought of all her previous missions, and how she just stood there and cheered on her team. The thought of joining in never once entered her head.
"Not this time…"she whispered. "This time, I'm not going to hide like a coward!"
She put all her remaining energy and power into one last kick; it finally fell. She had been working on the same tree all day long. Her goal was to bring it down by sunset. She failed; it was already dark and the tree just now fell. Anger and frustration fueled her as she shouted the last few words for the night, "They could have done it in half the time!"
"Sakura?" a familiar voice rang in her ears, "What are you still doing here? Are you okay, you look like you're in pretty bad shape?" It was Naruto. Before she could respond, Sakura collapsed from fatigue.
The light in the strange room was unbelievably bright, and the walls were covered in tacky wallpaper. There was an extremely annoying beeping noise that never stopped; she was in the hospital…
"No! I can't be here! I have to train…I have to get stronger!" One of the nurses came rushing in at the sound of Sakura's panicked screams. She was relieved to see that nothing was wrong.
"Uh, Sakura…you can't train; you're still way too-"
She shot him a bitter look and interrupted Naruto in mid-sentence, "Don't…say it."
Sakura looked out at the empty blue sky with longing eyes. "I already know that I'm too weak."