AN: Greetings everyone! this happens to be my first fanfic and it's kinda nerve wracking to be putting my works out there like this for all to see *twiddles fingers nervously* well in any case, I hope you like my first chapter of this story and I suppose I should let you get to it, fair warning though, I have issues with grammar so expect mistakes (yes I edited but I'm sure I missed something)
Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from Naruto, my OCs are mine though.
"How long has it been like this?" asked Sakura as she and Tazuna walked down a decrepit street full of destitute people with sunken expressions
"Ever since Gato arrived . . . now you can see why we need this bridge to be built" Said the elderly man, on the verge of tears. The two stood there for a moment longer before continuing on. As they walked, a shadow watched from the roof tops behind them, staying well out of their peripheral vision.
Turning a corner, Tazuna ran head first into three men, swords belted at their waists.
"Well lookie here, if it ain't the bridge builder and a little ninja brat" said one of the three armed thugs. He had an eye patch over his left eye and his angled chin was covered in grey stubble that matched his spiky grey hair. "Beat it brat, we only need the builder" he said, drawing his sword slowly and methodically. The other two men grinned like idiots as they too drew their swords.
"Get behind me" said Sakura, darting in front of Tazuna and drawing her kunai from her pouch. "I'll protect you"
"Yeah, I suppose now I'll get to see what makes you exceptional" said Tazuna with a little sarcasm mixed in with a lot of fear.
"Well well, sorry to see you still here brat, now I'm gonna have to kill ya" said eye patch. Sakura's attention was solely on him and the other two men blended into the background with generic samurai clothes and hairstyles.
Without warning, eye patch lunged towards Sakura, catching her off guard slightly. With little room to move and unable to retreat due to Tazuna being directly behind her, Sakura blocked the sword. It was a last possible instant move and the thug had recovered immediately, swinging his sword around from the top down and Sakura was only just able to block that as well but Sakura lost her Kunai in the process.
"Well, looks like you didn't have much of a fight in ya after all" said the eye patch wearing thug as he put his sword on Sakura's shoulder "Too bad kid, you would have been fun to play with but heh, gotta kill ya know" Sakura merely stared at the kunai that had clattered over to the feet of the other two thugs. The thug pulled his sword back with the intention to cut Sakura's head off but just then, Sakura felt something brush past her shoulder.
"Now now gentlemen, isn't this a predicament" Said an unknown voice from behind the three thugs. All three of them turned around in shock at the surprise entrance and Sakura was able to get a look at the man. He was taller than the three thugs, wore a black coat that went down to his knees and had a forehead protector around his neck but he was standing side on with his hands in his pockets so Sakura couldn't get a good look. The man's brown hair was cut to above his ears in a shaggy mess and he was much more pale than any of the other men present.
"Who the hell are you!" called one of the background thugs
"This don't concern you, shove off!" called out eye patch
"It isn't polite to pick on ladies, children or elderly gentlemen and I fear you three have done all of the above with interest . . . I may just have to intervene" the new comer said, ignoring the thugs' comments entirely
"I said, shove off!" eye patch called out again and walked towards the newcomer, brandishing his sword. The entire time the man had his head down and his eyes closed but just at that moment, he snapped his head up, eyes open and suddenly he was standing in the middle of the group with two knives in his hands. The knives were the vague size and appearance of Kunai but were just a bit longer and were curved almost to a hook. The three men collapsed to the ground with pools of blood spreading out from their throats. Sakura stared at the bodies wided eyed, she had just watched them die but even so, the man moved so fast that they were dead before she could blink.
"Come my dear, good sir, shall we find a less messy part of town to converse?" the man posed it like a question but indicated a direction and gently nudged Sakura away from the street they had walked down.
"So who are you?" asked Sakura, finally finding her voice. The three had been walking a ways in a more round about route to get to Tazuna's house and by now the sun was really setting and barely any light was left over the horizon
"Ahh, forgive my poor manners but I'm afraid i shan't be answering that question . . . it's less to do with disrespect and more to do with not being considered in such a kind light by the hidden villages" he said and Sakura was immediately on guard
"Oh yeah? What gives then?" she said, stopping and staring at the man. Now that she had a good look at the man, she could see that he was wearing some old ninja outfit that was covered up by his long coat and the head band's emblem had been covered up with a strip of cloth
"Call me Taka . . . it was my nickname way back when and fitting I use it as a name I suppose" said Taka, stopping to face Sakura
"Taka? Doesn't that mean hawk?" the girl asked, cocking her head to one side "Why was that your nickname?"
"Well, a couple reasons . . . but i digress, it isn't so much important anymore since few people are around who know them anyway. I'd like to know more about you however, you've heard the closest you're going to get to my name so how about yours hmm?" replied Taka, his hands in his pockets and a kind smile on his face.
"Sakura . . . Sakura Haruno" replied the pink konouchi
"Well then miss Haruno, it's nice to meet you" said Taka, offering a slight bow "And you mister, i'm afraid i already know your name mister Tazuna . . . although i'm sorry that i only know your given name but in any case, pleased to meet you" he said, giving a bow to Tazuna as well. "And i believe this belongs to you" he said, handing Sakura's discarded Kunai.
"What? But when did you? How?" Sakura took the kunai dumbfounded that he had picked it up without her noticing
"The hawk watches from afar and then strikes faster than the eye can track" said Taka giving a slight chuckle as he watched the girl "Perhaps leaving you to guard Tazuna-san wasn't the best idea . . . not alone anyway, since your training is a bit lax . . . not to discredit your teachers of course but I'm afraid I am discrediting your own training regime" Sakura just stared at him
"Say what?" she asked, narrowing her eyes
"My what pretty, soft and good smelling hair you have . . . how much time do you spend a day tending to it? How much time do you spend afterwards fawning over that boy in the dark attire? And then, how much time is left in the day to train? And how much of that time do you spend at the training fields actually training?" Taka said, firing off his questions in rapid fire
"I think that's enough, leave the poor girl alone, she is just a child and it's their right to be girls" said Tazuna, speaking up for Sakura
"But of course, my apologies . . . but still, how much time of a day do you have that you could spend improving yourself? Of course discounting the time you use to be a girl, what's left after that?" said Taka, watching as Sakura looked at him
"What are you getting at? Why is this important" she asked after a moment
"Because my dear, I can teach you a few things. You ARE exceptional but I fear few people have ever noticed it, most people see a cute girl with pretty hair and skip over to someone that looks like a real ninja a real shinobi . . . where are your squadmates? Are they receiving personal training from your sensei? I can rectify this slight injustice and prove you aren't just a pretty face to stand in the background and be forgotten in light of the some more exceptional shinobi" Taka said, taking his hands out of his pockets to use them to express himself as he paced back and forth
"W-what is it you wanted to teach me?" Sakura asked, more curious than anything and it hadn't escaped her that her teammates seemed to be the center of attention. She thought about how it seemed as though Kakashi had made her guard Tazuna just to get her out of the way of the two boys' training.
"For now? Two jutsu and a little bit of taijutsu . . . the second of the two jutsu is one i want you to practice the handsigns and not the actual jutsu . . . it's a bit advanced. The first one you might even be able to use pretty soon" said Taka, putting his hands back into his pockets.
"What jutsu is it?" asked Sakura, the notion of having a Jutsu to use appealing to her.
"I call it the water ring jutsu, when cast, you draw water from what sources are around you and focus them into rings around you. When you have at least one ring, you can use them to do a variety of things from countering enemy attacks to lancing those enemies with those water rings . . . takes a lot of chakra control but other than that, it's pretty easy to learn" replied Taka "Here, let me show you the handsigns and then i'll let you practise it on your own"
"You're late" came the voice of Katakshi as Tazuna and Sakura walked in through the door of his place
"Ahh yeah, we ran into a little bit of trouble but nothing that Sakura couldn't handle . . . i hear she is exceptional" replied Tazuna and Kakashi narrowed his eye at the old man before switching to his characteristic eye smile.
"Well I'm glad it wasn't a serious threat then!" he said and Sakura flinched as though she had been hit, instantly remembering the conversation with Taka
"Grandpa!" shouted Inari as he ran up to the old man and wrapped him in a bear hug "I thought Gato had gotten you!" he was on the verge of crying
"Hey hey, it's alright! I had Sakura here to protect me! Ain't nothin gonna happen to me with these four ninja here!" said Tazuna, wrapping the boy up in a hug. Kakashi motioned for Sakura to follow him outside.
"So what really happened?" he asked as soon as they were out of earshot
"W-what do you mean?" asked Sakura, nervously fingering her hair
"For one, you took much longer than you should have to return, for two, the handles of your new knives and that new scroll pouch of yours and for three, you are nervously fingering your hair" Sakura pulled her hand from her hair almost immediately with a nervous laugh
"We ran into some thugs . . . and another shinobi . . . he dealt with the thugs and gave me some gifts to help in case I ran into more" she said
"This Shinobi didn't give you a name did he?" Kakashi asked, studying the nervous girl carefully
"Taka" replied Sakura
"He didn't give you his real name did he?" Sakura shook her head and Kakashi just sighed "what village was he from?"
"I don't know, he had a headband but the emblem was covered by a strip of cloth" the girl replied, looking up at Kakashi in the darkness that had settled over the town. "Sensei, how come you are only teaching Sasuke and Naruto? There has to be more for me to learn right? Like new jutsu or something?" Sakura could barely see Kakashi in the darkness but she could have sworn that he glossed over for a second
"Because Sakura, they have better talents right now but just need some time to bring those talents out, you on the other hand need more dedicated training of the kind that isn't advisable on mission . . . I need sasuke and naruto to be at the top of their game when we next fight Zabuza, you can't learn a proper jutsu in time to be able to use it in the next fight" Sakura just nodded at Kakashi's words "While I'm happy you have some new toys, I don't think you should try and use them, it would take time to learn them properly and that's something we don't have, stick to protecting Tazuna . . . you will be better off"
"You look like you had an interesting conversation with Kakashi sensei last night" said Taka as he and Sakura sat on the edge of the bridge, keeping Tazuna in view.
"He said it would take too long for me to learn a new jutsu and told me not to use your knives because there is no way I can learn how to use them in time for the next fight" said the pink konouchi with indignation, angrily resting her head on her hand while her inner self was yelling something along the lines of 'i'll show him when i blast him with my new jutsu. Shannaro!' Taka simply burst out laughing.
"I missed being a kid, everything was so much better back then ahh . . . but he is sorta right, using the knives in a fight might be a bit tricky because they require a certain 'knack'" he said and Sakura turned her attention to him. "The jutsu on the other hand, you will be able to use the water ring jutsu by the time you need it and that's why i taught it to you, it will negate the need to be proficient in taijutsu for now . . . i wouldn't rely on it too much though, speaking of which, have you been practising?"
"Of course! I memorised the signs and I think I could even cast the jutsu!" said the girl with enthusiasm
"That's great, cause I want you to show me! By the time I'm done, I want you to be able to hold three rings . . . that's the end of week goal" said Taka and Sakura got up with a bounce and ran out just a bit.
"Uhh I only have to do one ring right?" she said after a moment of gathering chakra
"Half a ring will do but a full ring would be nice" replied the black clad man sitting with his eyes shut and his hands in his pockets. Sakura began the handsigns needed to do the jutsu and, after a few moments, she finished the string and cast the Jutsu. Water droplets began forming around Sakura, slowly turning into a circle. At some point Taka had decided to watch her progress intently but for the moment, Sakura was too busy concentrating on creating her ring. A few moments later and a perfectly round ring of water surrounded her.
"I-is this right?" she asked, panting a little from the effort of gathering the water
"Interesting, now try having the ring go over your head and place it over the edge" Taka watched as the ring moved up and over sakura's head but before it could get to the edge of the bridge, the ring turned into water droplets and crashed into the bridge.
"Sorry, I just couldn't hold it any more" she said as she collapsed onto her knees panting
"Well, nobody get's a jutsu so quickly as their first try, even Uchiha sharingan users had to practise the jutsu they copied a little but what's important is that you have taken several steps to mastering that jutsu. When you have finally gotten the ability to do what you want with it, you can start making up uses like whipping people with it . . . one thing to consider though, you should pick places with sources of water first before using your jutsu . . . it works better in wet environments . . . but as you just demonstrated, you can conjure water from seemingly nowhere in a pinch" Sakura's eyes widened as she realised she had just made water appear out of nowhere
"Did I just . . ." she began but trailed off
"Yes, yes you did, i told you that you were exceptional" Taka said, a grin settling onto his face and Sakura beamed at him in return before jumping up and letting out a resounding 'wahoo!' punching the air as she did. "One last thing before we move on" he said, producing what looked to be leg, chest and arm warmers "These are weights, if we are to work on your taijutsu, you will want to be wearing these but don't worry they are light and i recommend putting the chest weights on when you have time to yourself . . . it isn't proper for a young lady to reveal herself on a bridge full of men" Sakura blushed a little taking the weights from Taka and 'huffed' as the collective weight of all the weights was deposited into her arms
"How much do these weigh?" the pinkette asked in dismay. Taka merely grinned in response.
"So how am I supposed to use these anyway?" asked Sakura as she held the two curved knives in her hands. Her weights were now firmly attached to her person and if her team noticed the new leg and arm warmers, they said nothing.
"Well first of all, hold them in a cross guard and reverse grip, like so" Taka demonstrated with some regular Kunai since he gave his knives to Sakura. Sakura copied his stance, feet apart and ready to move in any direction with the knives in a reverse grip and held in a cross against her chest with the points of the knives facing forward.
"Now what?" she said as the two stood in their stances
"Now, step forward, bring your arms back so that your hands are in line with your hips" Sakura did as Taka said, stepping forward and moving her arms back. "Put all your weight on the leading foot" Sakura shifted her weight and leant forward "Now lunge forward and bring your arms back into a cross but as you do, flick your wrists upwards" Sakura did exactly that and the sack she had been aiming at suffered two cuts but the sand inside of it didn't spill out.
"Wha-but I did everything right didn't I?" she asked as she looked at the sack, panting slightly from the exertion her weights were providing.
"There is no substitute for physical training when it comes to taijutsu . . . cept when chakra is involved. Try again but this time redirect chakra into your feet and your arms so that you move both sets of limbs much faster, it's just the same principal as tree walking" Sakura looked at the sack, jumped back and concentrated. After a moment she lunged forward and the next thing she knew, she was standing on the other side of the training sack and had sand in her hair. Turning around she saw the sack in two pieces.
"I did it! Yeah! Eat that Kakashi!" Taka merely grinned as Sakura let her inner voice out to gloat for a bit
"That was one strike in a very complex series of movements, we will be spending a lot of time learning the forms needed to use but now you have a general idea. The last thing to learn for today is how to use those knives as ranged weapons" Sakura stopped cheering and looked at Taka
"Ranged weapons? But these are curved knives, they won't throw very well . . ." said the girl as she looked at her knives, still holding them in reverse grip
"Not unless chakra is involved" said Taka with a grin "I'm going to show you how to attach chakra strings to your knives so you can control them without them being in your hands, useful if you want to still be able to cast jutsu and thus very important for someone using both taijutsu and ninjutsu" Sakura's eyes widened.
AN: So, that ended abruptly . . . well, the thing is that the next phase of this little training montage is the battle on the bridge and I didn't think that I should start it in this chapter.
let me know what you think and what I need to improve/alter for the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and I shall see you again next time.
**Update!** edited with scene breaks for your convenience!