Training again, but at least this time they were running. Sakura spared a moment to be grateful that this exercise was not the gravel. Their team had progressed further than that basic exercise almost three years ago, but the thought of the painful training and how mediocre her abilities had been at the time was embarrassing to the point of being painful itself. But now she was running, and maintaining the silence that she had so painfully earned all that time ago.

They had all increased in skill, but unfortunately the training-induced pain was constant, and so was Kurenai's level of patience. It made sense, but to Sakura the aching in her body was outweighing her desire to feel sensible about Kurenai's training tactics.

Her legs and ankles were supposed to be bandaged tightly, compressing her limbs to run at her current breakneck pace, but they were loosening. With scratches and nicks in them and droplets of blood softening their tautness, in a few more minutes they would be useless. Another scratch on her face, fresher than those on her arms and her legs, was stinging acutely, but the trickle of blood from it was enough to cool her face momentarily, and Sakura spared another moment for mock gratitude.

She leapt from a dense tree branch, her arms held tight to her side even as she landed. There was a small danger of becoming unbalanced, but the danger of ambient noise or leaving a trail would be greater if she were flailing her arms to balance herself.

Sudden crackling to her right was all the warning she had to summon a handful of metal needles from her sleeve. Ino knew the signals to approach safely, and the other two were nowhere in sight, but the noise had been too precise to be an animal or wind. Too unnatural.

From veiled casings they shot down her arm, cool and comforting, and fanned into her fingers before being launched at the undergrowth. Sakura continued running forward. With a mental count to ten, she looked back over her shoulder to see half of Kurenai's body covered in a billowing cloud of smoke.

"Kawarimi!" Sakura thought angrily, green eyes already focused once more on the path ahead of her.

Her distraction was enough for the Hyuuga heiress, to appear in her view and attack. An open palm, fingers held erect buried itself in her soft stomach, fingers threatening the juncture of her ribs. The pink-haired kunoichi's body curled around the palm, feeling a ripple of pain washing outward from the victimized organ as the tenketsu beneath the hand suddenly closed. Tiny though she was, Hinata utilized her family's technique to her fullest capability, and the knee-jerk reaction to having the wind knocked from her was too much for Sakura to ignore.

Conditioning kicked in quickly as she gave into the urge to fall over her teammate's outstretched arm. A split-second later, her right hand, full of senbon, was swiping at her attacker's exposed left side while her left held onto the hand buried in her gut. Hinata's left hand was free, though, and knowing Sakura's attack pattern she was able to counter by burying two swift finger's into her victim's right shoulder.

All of the senbon clattered like raindrops to the tree limb they were perched on even before Sakura's arm fell like willow branches to her side.

They paused for a moment, Sakura still trying to recover her breath from the initial blow. Her thin left hand was locked over Hinata's right wrist, but her own right arm was dangling like limp ramen at her side. It would take a few minutes to recover, but until then it was clear who had the upper hand, and Hinata was not going to give Sakura the time she needed.

"Press the advantage," Sakura willed her silently, even knowing the consequences. She looked up into the milky white eyes of her hunter. They were placid, mirroring Sakura's own expression, she was sure. Yet there was a sudden niggling at the back of the attacked girl's mind, forgetting that they were trained to adopt this demeanor. They were trained to put aside their emotions even in the heat of battle. Sakura momentarily forgot that thought and her own serene countenance cracked as she wondered if Hinata cared about the damage she had wrought with the Gentle Fist. "Fifteen years old and already…"

That blank demeanor reappeared as Ino's leg shot out and swept Hinata's feet clean from under her. Her ally had returned.

"Press the advantage!" Sakura's hold on Hinata was released as she expelled the girl away from her body with two controlled feet, off of the tree branch and into the cool night air. It was certain that the violet-haired would catch herself, not allowing such a thing to stop her from pursuing her prey, and so Sakura did not look back as Ino grabbed her good wrist and began pulling her away. Their flight was but momentary sanctuary.

Ino tossed a long, clean needle to Sakura who plucked it from the air with her left hand. Her right was still mostly useless, but there was a prickling feeling that washed over it every few moments in waves. Sensation was returning. Sakura's eyes darted to their left corner, watching as Ino began rolling her own needle through her the fingers of her right hand. It flowed around the digits, tapping her fingertips then her knuckles, then rolling again.

"Happened back there?" A question. Ino was annoyed.

Sakura's movements were slightly fumbled as she began to manipulate the senbon. The left hand was not her dominant, and she had never trained her hands to be ambidextrous. Her movements were similar to, but did not mirror Ino's exactly.

"Kurenai, kawarimi. Distracted. Hinata employed Hyuuga-ryu. Right arm out."

Ino rolled her eyes and continued communicating. The senbon was silent and its movements were subtle. It was a perfect communication device. Even Kurenai had been impressed when the girls had developed their favorite weapon to continue speaking. How else were Sakura and Ino ever to pass all of their teacher's exams without losing their minds in silence? Not to mention it was cool to use a language that no one else could.

"No more separation. New Plan. Together," and the weapon was tucked away. Sakura tossed Ino's back to her, not waiting to see her teammate catch it.

She rolled her shoulder as chakra accumulated in her calves and then expelled as she launched herself into the air again. Cautiously she allowed one of her weapons to grace her fingers as she tested the strength in her fingers. The barest sensation of the senbon in her fingers kept her from tucking it back into her sleeve. Her left hand absently rubbed her stomach. She would have readily accepted the burning ache there for feeling in her arm.

They continued running at a top pace, consumed by the war games that Kurenai had demanded. For once, Ino and Sakura had been paired together. And a team they were, reading each other's movements well enough to interpret the slightest roll of the eyes or turn of the head. So when Ino's face turned slightly in Sakura's direction the pink-haired ninja came to a full halt, her arm cutting in a downward arc through the air like a whip while the metal stick in her fingers flailed like a baton through the rain.

Five chinks. Five small tinkling sounds of metal against metal as Sakura used her weapon to deflect the needles aimed at the bundle of nerves running through her teammate's thigh. A hit would have stopped them completely. Sakura released a tight breath, trying to force her body to relax. It tensed involuntarily as she felt Ino's slim hand on her shoulder.

There were no words of thanks, but none were needed. Instead, she pointed down to the ground and Sakura nodded. Two small jumps followed, enough to get them out of the air and to the ground.

Hinata was already there, one hand held in the same flat position it had been as it had found its way to Sakura's stomach. Kurenai was nowhere to be seen. Ino took a small step ahead of Sakura toward Hinata. She wanted to engage the girl? That was quite alright. Sakura had had enough of the Gentle Fist to last her a lifetime.

She pivoted, her back to Ino's as she guarded her teammate and friend. If the trio had come to this kind of standoff, then Kurenai would not be long in making an appearance.

The ebon-haired woman did, and it was a sign of will power that Sakura's plain expression remained so. Her lips did quirk at the sight of her instructor, who appeared to have just come from the powder room, fresh and clean. A glistening sheen of sweat was the only sign of exertion on the woman and that could have been put down to humidity. The momentary break in her demeanor only served to remind Sakura of her own appearance and the dried blood on her face.

Sakura licked her lips, hating the chapped feel of them and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the woman in front of her. She, herself, was worn down and in the worst shape of the three of them. Then again, such was the entire purpose of this exercise- it all came down to this moment. Her fingers itched for her favorite needles, but she did not summon them.

Instead her left shoulder dropped deep, and in her sleeve she could feel a taught roll falling downward toward her hand.

Ino and Hinata had both already been through this experience. It might have been easier for her to be worn down this way by simply lying in the floor and letting them kick her around, but Kurenai had stressed that the scenario had to be as real as possible. Sakura had to be made truly aware of her situation, to feel her adrenaline pumping through her veins, to feel the burden of protecting a teammate, and to feel exhaustion settling into every fiber of her being. That was how it had been explained, and now that they were at the climax of the exercise, she understood. She fully understood.

Kurenai charged and Sakura's left hand took hold of the scroll that had been stored against her shoulder; a bit slow, she would have to find another storage cavity with easier access. It was all part of the training. When, how, where to use it was up to her. She only had to make sure that she used it, and that she followed through.

She was only a breath away! Her right thumb tore through the binding on the scroll and deft fingers suddenly whipped it away from her body like a banner in the midst of a battle. Was this really happening? Ino and Hinata had passed this exam, but afterwards…

"Shannaro!" she heard herself scream, panicked as her fingers clamped onto the scroll and she dropped to the ground. The scroll in her hands spread the soft dirt beneath it like a stone dropped into water and then everything went white.

"Maito Gai was a very fine man, and a very fine man was he… He called for his jump suit, and he called for his toothbrush, and he called for his cute little Lee!" Gai hummed to himself as he watched his favorite student follow through one of their daily kata. The young man's body cut through the air like an axe, cutting with deadly accuracy and clean lines to boot.

The passionate Kiba and excitable Naruto had already left for the day. They were dedicated, especially Naruto, but their goals lay elsewhere. Naruto desperately wanted to be Hokage, but he would have to strengthen his ninjutsu and genjustu before he would have a right to even attempt that title. Kiba was dedicated to competition, and Rock Lee's goal lay through the taijutsu training grounds.

Gai's thoughts of his other students were abandoned as he watched Lee leap into the Konoha Whirlwind. He had seen it before, many times, but it never failed to make him proud when his own attack was executed flawlessly. "That was wonderful Lee! Your invigorating energy overflows with the bounty of youth! Again!"

Maybe it was because he was busy praising his student, because Maito Gai was never caught off guard, but when Yuuhi Kurenai appeared at his side as easily and quietly as a gentle breath of wind, it was only his Jounin training that kept him from jumping out of his green suit.

Even though she stood directly beside him, neither behind nor ahead of him (really, the precious kunoichi could be heated about their equality sometimes) she did not regard him. Her stone-faced expression was turned on his student who was still moving through his kata. If Lee had seen the woman he gave no notice of her. Otherwise, his sense of honor as a man would have obligated him to greet his lovely female superior.

Unwilling to show his surprise or curiosity at her presence, Gai asked only, "Do you see the superiority of his flow and movement?" At that she did turn to him, only slightly, enough to let him know that she was aware of his question, but she did not answer. Gai grinned. That was enough of an answer for him. Women were modest, and it would be wholly against his tender heart to embarrass her by addressing her awe!

"Unfortunately, I did come to observe Lee's training," she replied quietly, controlled.

"Hmm, as much as your modern attitude would magnify my style to the heights, it is just that- my style!" Kurenai was regarding him now with beautiful but dispassionate cherry eyes. She seemed to be waiting for something else. What could it be? "Of course!" Gai thought, his face turning stern. Kurenai was unfazed. Before she could say anything, if she had indeed been going to, his mouth cracked, showing two brilliantly white rows of teeth, and his left thumb flashed upward. "Nice guy, pose! Okay!"

A long, long pause passed between the two jounin, the only sound being that of Lee's grunts as he thrust and kicked. Then Gai's grin turned extremely bright. It had worked!

Kurenai's tiny smile poked from beneath cherry red lips. "Your style," she spoke in the same calm voice. "Is exactly what I am hear to discuss."

The room was dark now. Ino had just finished drawing the curtains. The blond girl scrubbed at her face lazily with one hand before scooting towards her bed. With a graceless flop she joined her two teammates, perhaps ex-teammates was more appropriate, on the bed and the three laid in silence, only broken by the rustling of Sakura's hands as she took one of theirs in each of her own.

Kurenai's words were still hanging in the air. "Effective immediately," she had said, but the official announcement had another two days to go. Two days to kiss away five years of training, sweating, and bleeding together.

"We'll be all right," she heard herself murmur. Words held no comfort, yet it was still amazing how passable they sounded, even to her. She squeezed their hands instead, trying to convey her fear, her anticipation, and trying to pass along her courage. They would all need it. Both squeezed back.

"You're right," Hinata added. "We'll be all right. We just have to become chuunin as quickly as possible. Then we can work together again." Sakura sighed and nodded against the comforter of the bed. The concern in Hinata's voice brought back a flash of memory from a time she had not been so concerned, when her flat hand had been buried to the wrist in Sakura's torso. That was two years ago now. Two years and even then Sakura knew that the girl had not wanted to attack her…

Ino sighed and tried to become comfortable. She was fidgeting as she broke through the fake serenity, "The shinobi will still be there." None of them wanted to hear it, but Ino had always been the painfully honest one.

Sakura sighed and tipped to her right, rolling her head over Ino's stomach and down to her abdomen. Her hands still held both Hinata's, whose grip was now a slight stretch, and Ino's as the latter began to stroke her crown, trying to both soothe and reassure. The motion looped down her neck to her shoulders and down her back, then up to her shoulders again in slow, soft motions. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes, her hands feeling out Hinata's shoulders. They were tense and taut and Sakura began to work at the muscles gently and first, but then squeezing deeper.

Hinata was the first to break the silence this time, saying, "I wonder what it will be like." Sakura paused in her ministrations as did Ino, both listening intently to their quieter teammate. "Working with men, that is…" Her uncertain tone did not go unnoticed.

Sakura did not bother looking at Ino. Though she was not sure what the blond girl was thinking, she was certain it had something to do with Hyuuga Hiashi and the demands he placed on his daughter. There had been more than one occasion over the five years when Hinata had made passing remarks, meant to be light and tension-dispelling that had had the opposite effect, and over those years Sakura and Ino had pooled their information. Their teammate and best friend had a rougher life than she let on.

The pink-haired kunoichi sat up and her hands once again found the smaller girl's shoulders. With slow, careful movements, she slid her arms around the girl's shoulders and pulled her back into her chest, hugging her gently. "It'll be all right, Hinata-chan. Everything will be okay." Ino re-situated and hugged her from the front, but if Hinata seemed surprised at the display of affection, she did not show it.

"In the end," Ino explained, "We're all ninja of the Hidden Leaf." Blue eyes smiled at green above the expanse of violet hair and green eyes smiled back. Hinata pulled away from beneath their protective hugs. Their smiles did not fade. They were worried about her.

"I know," she replied to Ino's statement, but she did not smile. Very slowly, she wrapped one arm around each of her teammates and pulled them to her, hugging them both as they had her. "I'm going to be strong for both of you, so I don't want you to worry about me, okay?" A compromising situation, being hugged to the bosom of the future leader of the Hyuuga clan who was also an adept user of the Gentle Fist. "Please promise me that you won't worry about me." Compromising, indeed.

Then again, they were still teammates, and if either Ino or Sakura had wanted to, they could have cowed the girl into complacency. They could have done any number of things, but there would be no cowing today, not when they were vulnerable enough as it was. Sakura could not help it when her smile grew watery as she looked down at the smallest of their trio. "Idiot," she murmured and then snaked her arms around the girl once more. "You're my friend. It'd be impossible not to worry about you, and Ino too."

Minutes later after having expelled more tears, the girls laid looking up at the ceiling, holding hands once more and trying to draw the strength they knew they would need to face the coming change.

"Ne," Ino spoke, more chipper than any of them had managed since hearing the news. Sakura turned her head to look at the blond and Hinata turned to look at the back of Sakura's head. Both waited patiently.

Sakura wondered at Ino's sudden grin. "Just out of curiosity who would you like the shinobi on your team to be?" Sakura could not control her snort of derision, but Ino only grinned more brightly. The coral-haired young woman propped up on one elbow.

"What game are you playing?" Sakura asked, quirking a slender pink brow at her best friend. Ino's reply was a casual shrug.

"No game! Just answer the question."

Sakura shrugged and flopped solidly onto her back.

"Sasuke, right? Me too." Ino's grin faded slightly as she began to seriously contemplate the idea. Sakura simply watched her from the corner of a bright green eye.

"Yes, Uchiha Sasuke," the blond repeated. "That prodigy is definitely too hot for his own good. A little arrogant, but he can walk the walk. Besides, I can knock his arrogance down a notch or two. Wise choice, Haruno-san," she teased finally, grinning at Sakura. For her part, Sakura only quirked a brow at the ceiling, her face becoming placid once more. She was glad for Ino's presumption, glad that her friend thought she knew everything, because in moment's like these Sakura felt amazingly superior. It was comforting to know that Ino still didn't know everything about her, and Sakura took strength from that.

"Whoever said anything about Sasuke?" she finally retorted. "I would pick Itachi."

"Whaaat!" Ino drawled and Sakura squeezed Hinata's hand to convey her mirth. "He's too old for you!"

"I'm a mature sixteen year old woman. He's only in his early twenties. That's not too much older. Besides, he could be a kunoichi if he wanted."

There was a silence that followed her statement and suddenly it was no longer of the comfortable variety. Unfortunately, Hinata's tinkling laughter broke it, and Sakura's opinion had not been made in jest. Her thin fingers squeezed Hinata's again, this time in reprimand. The Hyuuga only laughed harder. "What?" Sakura demanded, turning her head to face the violet-haired young woman. "He's beautiful, graceful, and talented. And he's mysterious. Isn't that good enough?"

Ino suddenly shot up and looked down at Sakura with an expression that could only be described as maniacal. Strange how it seemed so sincere…

"Let's marry brothers!" Her azure gaze was cast on Hinata whose cheeks were still tinged pink from laughter. "And you can marry Uzumaki Naruto!" The smallest young woman froze while her pink cheeks were consumed in red fire.

Sakura squeezed her hand quickly again and turned her back to Ino, shutting out the blond girl's nonsensical talking. Wasn't Ino supposed to be the honest one? "Maybe I'll just take that responsibility on my own shoulders," she thought and took a deep breath. "We'll probably never get married."

Hinata was saved from further embarrassment as Ino dropped back onto her back. The light-hearted mood had effectively been killed. Sakura stared at Hinata's enflamed cheeks, feeling a growing unpleasantness in the pit of her heart. She closed her eyes, no longer seeing her friends, no longer seeing her past with them.

Instead, before her was a tall blond man, somewhat feminine even in his middle years, but nothing delicate about him. The Fourth's blue eyes could not be placid, they had to be hard. Sakura grimaced and imagined the slightest downturn of his lips. That frown was caused by the fangs poking out from behind said thin lips, and of course he only had fangs to match the great brown horns that were on either side of his head. Upturned horns would have been comical. Best to make them downward, and curling, and thick!

Sakura sighed and almost immediately felt two hands squeeze her. The image of the demonic Yondaime shattered and in its place was left a handsome blond man with placid blue eyes. He did not smile, but he did not frown either. Sakura frowned for him. What kind of man would make such a decision? What would push him to make such a decision? Why? That was the question she wanted answered so desperately, and despite her training and her perceptiveness, she could not divine the answer to those three small letters.

The pair on either side of her was quiet, and they had not made a sound since her declaration. She recognized the hesitation hanging in the air, the small quirk of Hinata's eyebrows. They were waiting for her to continue speaking. With a deep breath, she dispelled The Fourth from her mind and continued, "Tools of the village could die at any moment, be called to do any task, maybe even masquerade as another man's wife. Marriages can't survive under that kind of strain. They are to be nurtured and respected, not thrown into the wind."

Another memory bombarded her, unwelcome and unwanted. The girl in front of the white box was crying; always crying on that day. Sakura brushed the memory away, trying to remain in control. That particular appearance was not one she wanted to be burdened with right now. "Even as ninja, we are only human."

Silence again. It was not just uncomfortable. It was unbearable.

"Should I have a face that does not show tears?" Slowly, her right hand released Ino's in favor of clutching at the soft tissue she had brought for this moment. Her heart was aching. "Why?" the pink-haired one whispered. "Why does it feel like everything important is slipping away from me?"

From either side of her she heard the rustling of the comforter and felt the foreign mattress give way under her friend's shifting weights. Ino spooned against her back, throwing an arm around her waist. In front of her, pearl eyes shined with concern and Sakura sighed, trying to take in their comfort.

She could find none.