Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Slight AU warning.
Don't forget to review when you're finished reading!
Summary: What if Konoha was a destitute, paltry city that bred nothing of worth within its walls? The people of this miserable community barely keep going every day. The shinobi are no different. However, the dreams of two ninja triggers a feeling of rebirth within their hearts and now they strive to reach their own dreams. Will they find themselves on the right road...or lost forever?
Note: Italicized lines often mean thoughts of a character or in some cases dreams. Bolded lines often mean Inner Sakura's dialogue. Bolded italicized lines often mean flashbacks.
The Author Speaks: There will be multiple couplings, but romance is not what is this fic is completely centered around. Despite this, you won't be disappointed come romance time. Look for the teenage ninja angst however! I will warn you, there will be heavy amounts of violence, swearing, blood, substance abuse, molestation, you name it! I don't like flames, but I do like constructive criticism. Also note; money! I have no idea what the equivalent to a dollar is when it comes to ryo, so I'm just doing it simple. 100 ryo equals 1 dollar. I'll trust you're intelligent enough to be able to perform equivalents with that piece of information given.There will be limes/possible lemons in this fic, mentioned rape and explicit scenes.
Timeline: Being as how it's slightly AU, the time period is the same except most of the characters are fifteen instead of thirteen. Also, Otogakure is the main village of the Land of Fire, the biggest city with the most powerful army. It's located where it is in the series, except the Land of Rice Fields is no more; it's part of the Land of Fire. And yes, you guessed it! The Otokage is Orochimaru. Kakashi never lost his eye.
Definitions:
Nindo – ninja way (ever notice they always say it like "my nindo – my ninja way!" it gets annoying)
Kekkei Genkai – bloodline limit
Songs: "Sakura Drops" by Utada Hikaru (for Sakura)
"Cruel to Be Kind" by Letters to Cleo
"Born To Lead" by Hoobastank
Show Me a Hero
Chapter 3 – Secrets
Kakashi blocked an oncoming kunai with a quick chakra burst in front of him. Sasuke was approaching, looking livid.
"You stupid moron."
Kakashi chuckled at the not-so-subtle greeting.
He was sitting on an old monument, rusty and decayed by nature and time. It was for the creator of Konohagakure, Lord Sarutobi's short-lived father. The monument also had quite a few notches from weapon blades.
"I'm glad you think so," he replied, throwing the kunai back at the boy who caught it easily.
Sasuke stopped at the foot of the monument and looked up at his sensei. "You were drunk again."
"Oh no, I've been found out. I guess I'm grounded again."
"It's not funny!" Sasuke spat. "What good are you to me if you can't even walk? Not to mention you trampled all over Sakura's spirit."
Kakashi's smile faded. "...look, she just came at a bad time."
Sasuke's short bangs pointed at the monument s the breeze swept by. The stars were just beginning to turn on, and the temperature was dropping quickly. "She wants me to train her. Because you denied her."
"I have good reasons to deny her. And if Naruto comes along, he won't get any farther than she did," Kakashi said.
"You didn't with me," Sasuke said.
"There's a reason for that, and you know it." Kakashi took out a flask and unscrewed the cap, moving it out of range of a kunai and took a large swig.
Sasuke made a face. "...I'm going to do it."
"You're filling her with false hope. You did hear her nindo, correct? Then you'll know the battle is doomed."
"I've witnessed her fighting skills firsthand and I will not make any promises to what you say. Remember, the only reason I'm letting you train me is so I can learn the skills I don't have access to. Once I've learned all I can from you – which isn't much, I'll have surpassed you. Don't you find that the least bit pathetic?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms.
"Well, seeing as how I'm not that great it means nothing more than you're a little better than average." Kakashi took another large swig.
"I know you want to be more," Sasuke said in a coaxing voice. "You could put down the bottle for three seconds, pick up a book, and you'd be a lot greater."
He turned. "I'm cancelling today's session. I need to go back home and take care of something."
"You know Sakura and Naruto would never be able to forgive you if they found out about our little sessions." Kakashi shook his head, smirking.
"I don't intend to tell them," Sasuke said, leaving.
XxXxXx
Sakura opened her eyes just as Sasuke returned. She sat up and held her head in response to a jolt of pain. Ugh...that fight really hurt.
Her stomach hurt and she felt very woozy, even after some rest. Looking around, she had a feeling that she was in Sasuke's home, what with books scattered everywhere.
It seems like I've been waking up in other people's houses lately...
Sasuke entered the parlor and acknowledged her with a stare. He threw something at her, which bounced off her chest and onto her lap. It was a pack of pain-relieving tablets.
"Thank you," she said, popping a few in her mouth. The pain went away almost instantly.
"You have crap reflexes," he responded.
What the hell kind of you're welcome is that? I ought to kick his ass!
We tried that already, Sakura pointed out to her inner self. It didn't really have the effect we wanted.
"Thanks for the insult. My reflexes are only as good as the next civilians. I'm not entirely sure how to improve them. Throw kunai at myself? But we're already been through what I'm unable to do," the pink-haired girl said, not kindly.
"Be here two days from now at eight sharp. Bring your weapons and any other shinobi materials." Sasuke crossed over to a pile of books and picked it up, throwing it at Sakura, who attempted to catch it. It hit her palm painfully and fell onto the couch. "Bring that too."
Sakura picked it up. "'The True Meaning of Being a Ninja: A Statement'," she read. "Wait...does this mean...you'll train me?"
"Your revelation is dead-on. Read that for our first session. You'll notice everything in it was probably not told to you in school."
"Thank you so much. Really, you don't know how much this means to me!" Sakura almost cried. She had been having such a rough week, and finally she was given some sort of respite in the form of her teammate.
Sasuke continued. "It's not going to be easy. I want you to get as healthy a sleep as possible, do not overeat or diet, and make sure you have as much chakra as you are able to hold before you come to training. You have to clear your schedule for training outside of sessions."
Sakura nodded fervently. "I will! I'm ready to train as hard as I can. I'll be ready for the exams before you know it!"
"Enthusiasm is useless without strength, and strength is useless without enthusiasm," Sasuke recited. "Remember that."
"I will, Sasuke-sensei!" she said with a giggle.
He scowled. "It's just Sasuke."
XxXxXx
The two days seemed to go by so slowly. Sakura absorbed herself in the book Sasuke had given her—it was a real eye opener. Ninja had to be prepared to take on many things; pain, climate endurance, self-sacrifice, deaths of friends, strict guidelines, and the weight of an entire village on their shoulders. She knew they had rough lives, but never this rough. She had never thought of shinobi in such a way because she hadn't found one she could respect, other than Sasuke. Sure, Naruto's ideas she respected, but she couldn't think of him as a ninja just yet.
One day, she had gone out for some fresh air and decided to take a detour to see what her former classmates were doing. Hinata was out with Kiba at a bar. Kiba was very drunk and was clinging to Hinata like a fly on flypaper. She was helping him out the bar, looking repulsed. Shikamaru was nowhere to be found, and she assumed he was home, being lazy. Chouji was at a supermarket with his father, buying food. Ino was shopping, buying an absurd amount of skimpy clothing. Shino was usually sulking around at a park, watching insects while smoking (which Sakura found pointless, as the bugs were chased away by the smoke coming from the cigarette). Naruto was cleaning his house with Iruka, which disappointed Sakura. She had expected him to have been absent for a week because of training.
Sasuke was a very brusque person. Without a greeting, he quizzed her on what she had learned from the reading. After being apparently pleased by her answers, he instructed her to follow him to the Uchiha training ground.
There, he gave her instructions to use all of the jutsu she knew. He glowered after she was finished with the few she had mastered.
"Your knowledge is pathetic. I will give you credit for one thing, however—you are releasing perfect amounts of chakra for each jutsu. I assume you don't know the correct amounts from the school's textbooks, do you?" he asked.
"Not at all. It's just something that comes naturally. I just know when I don't need any more, because I get this feeling. It's hard to describe," she replied.
"Amazing...you have perfect chakra control," Sasuke said, sounding awed. "I would have never thought it."
"What? Why's it so amazing?" Sakura asked.
"Your unseasoned mind probably thinks everyone has perfect chakra control. That's not true. In fact, that's one of the things most shinobi struggle with; chakra distribution. You were born with the uncanny ability to figure out the correct amounts of chakra without prior knowledge."
Sakura was stunned. "Really? I...I never knew. But how? I'm from a non-shinobi family."
"It's actually more common in non-shinobi families, though I don't know the reason. If you can expand the amount of chakra you can hold...this could make you very powerful. Plus we don't have to dedicate any sessions to teaching chakra control. It looks like you're already ahead," Sasuke voiced.
"You can just call that extra credit," Sakura joked.
Sasuke didn't laugh. "Let's begin with warm-ups."
The training session was long and very tiring. Sakura had never worked so hard in her life. Sasuke pushed her to her limits. Warm-ups were a half-hour, and the session was filled with ninjutsu ("You didn't use one jutsu when we fought that day; you need to learn how to use it in the heat of combat"). Sasuke assaulted her at various levels, always increasing his strength and speed when he deemed her improving. He always shouted tips ("don't use jutsu that take a long time to activate if I'm so close to you!") and criticism ("you call that an attack? Stop dancing around like a monkey and actually hit me!") while they sparred.
By the end of the session, which had lasted until late afternoon, Sakura had learned the fundamentals of ninjutsu and had cracked the surface of taijutsu, by far her more problematic subject.
Once they returned to the house, she collapsed on the couch, exhausted and out of chakra.
"That was a good lesson; you're eager," he said.
"You're killing me," she gasped.
"If that's what it takes to get you to improve, then that's what I'll do," Sasuke stated.
"How can you have so much endurance? You don't look very tired."
"Believe me, I'm tired. I just don't flaunt it like you do." He was marking off pages in a boisterous volume.
Sakura groaned when she saw the clock. "It's already three? I can't handle this."
"Don't complain, you took several breaks. There will be less of those once you develop more." Sasuke threw her a few books, two of which she was able to catch with dirty and aching hands. The other one hit her in the head, which annoyed her.
"Read those. They're on ninjutsu techniques, chakra use, and taijutsu basics. I want you to master all of the jutsu on the pages I've marked, and start building up your chakra immediately. The taijutsu you don't need to worry about much; just read through it and attempt a style you think you're able to tackle. We'll see how much you've improved two days from now, same time."
Sakura, who had been reading through all the marked pages, nearly had a heart attack. "Two days?! That's crazy! I can't learn all of this in two days!"
"You should get started then. Ninja can't take forever to learn," Sasuke affirmed. "I told you it wasn't going to be easy. Now, if you're done complaining, go home."
"Alright, fine...Sasuke-sensei," the kunoichi grumbled.
"Don't call me sensei."
"Sasuke-kun."
"Whatever."
XxXxXx
Hinata hated it when Kiba attached himself to her. She felt like he always suffocated her with his gruff figure, and he wasn't a comforting person either. Today, he had his arm around her in a way that almost looked like he was choking her with his arm joint.
They were walking around the marketplace, eating sweets dubbed 'snow puffs' that were only available near the beginning of winter. Hinata had a fondness for sweets and the wintertime. Kiba on the other hand hated snow, and usually remained indoors, chewing on jerky.
Hinata shivered when a cold breeze ran through her. Kiba squeezed her closer to him. "You cold?"
"Not anymore," Hinata said unenthusiastically. Now she just felt more suffocated.
"Winter sucks. You can't run around without your legs freezing off." Kiba scowled.
"It's a beautiful time of year. You should appreciate it more. The sparkling snow, the pearl skies..."
"Snow gets everywhere and is a bitch to shovel. Not to mention everyone starts serving hot chocolate with everything. I hate hot chocolate."
"That's just you, Kiba," Hinata said with a slight giggle. She especially loved hot cocoa, with two large marshmallows, cinnamon, and some whipped cream to top it off. Some mint didn't hurt either.
"Me and three other people. They should think of the minorities more," he complained.
Hinata noticed a woman selling homemade quilts. One of them had a pattern of white foxes, which made the black-haired girl smile. She wormed away from Kiba's chokehold and ambled over to the storefront. She inspected the quilt. The foxes made her think of a certain blond-haired boy she knew.
"Do you like it?" the woman asked, abandoning the counter and standing next to Hinata.
"I-It's cute," Hinata said. "They look very warm."
"Quilting's the only thing I can do well. I love the winter; it brings home money for me and the kids."
Hinata felt dispirited from the woman's view on winter. The woman noticed her headband around Hinata's neck. "You're a ninja?"
"Y-Yes," Hinata said.
The woman became nostalgic. "My husband was a ninja too. He wasn't a very good one, but they had to send him on a high-ranked mission a few years ago...he was killed. Sometimes I wonder why we're still a hidden village. These quilts remind me of him. We met when my quilt blew away in the wind, and he caught it for me."
"Oh..." Hinata wondered if Neji was sent on any high-ranked missions. "I think I'll buy one."
Kiba approached the store. "Hinata, what's taking you? Let's get going."
"I'll be a minute." Hinata picked out the fox quilt. "I'll take this one."
The woman smiled. "I'll ring it up for you." She turned to Kiba. "I bet your boyfriend would like one too."
Hinata doubted it, but she humored the woman. "D-Do you want one too, Kiba?" she asked. "Kiba?"
Kiba was staring at the woman with a frightened look on his face. He began to shake. "Hinata, let's get out of here. I don't want one."
The woman sighed. "I guess you wouldn't. I don't want to push it on you."
Kiba grabbed Hinata's arm. "Let's go."
"Wait! I want a quilt, K-Kiba! Please."
"No! I said let's go. Are you fucking deaf?" Kiba asked, dragging her away.
"Kiba, p-please! Let go of me!" Hinata yelled, trying to pull away.
Kiba whipped around to face her. "Shut up!"
A group of girls who were standing by a dollar store noticed the couple. A redhead yelled at Kiba. "Let her be you freak!"
Kiba bared his teeth angrily and looked at who had yelled. His expression went from anger to fear as the group advanced. "Get away from us!" he yelled in a crazed voice, running from them, poor Hinata being yanked along.
They rounded a pedestrian-free corner and Kiba threw Hinata up against a picket fence. He boxed her in with his hands, giving her a vicious look. "I told you to leave. Why the fuck did you have to make me suffer through that?"
"Suffer t-through what?" Hinata demanded, afraid. "You were being u-unreasonable!"
"Me? You're the one talking to strange women, trying to buy useless shit!" Kiba snarled.
"Strange women? She was just trying to sell me something!"
"Don't ever draw attention to me like that again."
"You're the one who was drawing it to yourself!"
Kiba punched Hinata. "Those women were so goddamn close to me. I don't want any women like them near me again. Don't you fucking make up excuses!"
Hinata clutched her cheek, with began to burn. "I'm n-not! Why are you so afraid of them? Do y-you know them?"
"Why the fuck would I know them! I hate them all!"
"How can you hate them if you don't know them?!"
Kiba grabbed her and threw her to the ground. "Don't talk back to me, stupid bitch!" He kicked her.
"K-Kiba, stop it!"
"How dare you scare me like that. You think that it's funny, doing that to me do you?!" he kicked her again and once more when she didn't answer. "Do you?!"
She scrambled up, coughing and doubled over in pain. "What did I do to you?"
"Don't deny it you fucking bitch!" he yelled, grabbing her by her hair and throwing her against the fence.
Hinata cried as he beat her furiously, yelling at her about things she didn't understand. She had no idea what she did wrong. She didn't know why Kiba had been so afraid of that woman and that group of girls. She just wanted to buy a quilt.
Kiba left her on the ground, curled in a fetal position and crying. He walked home in a bad mood, kicking rocks and yelling at spectators.
He arrived home noisily, slamming the door as loudly as possible. "FUCKING DAMNIT!" he screamed.
"What's wrong with you?" he heard his older sister Hana ask.
He didn't want to turn and face her. He felt his fear returning. "Please tell me Mom isn't home."
"She is, and she'll be pissed from your yelling," Hana stated.
The Haimaru Triplets were snoozing in a corner up until Kiba arrived. They were now gazing at him angrily, annoyed from the interruption of their sleep. Kiba stuck his tongue out at them. Hana rolled her eyes. "You have major immaturity issues. I thought you were with Hinata?"
"Not anymore obviously," Kiba spat.
"Raise your voice at me again and you'll regret it."
Butterflies flew around his stomach. His voice dropped to a frightened whisper. "Please don't..."
Hana smirked. "That's more like it. Be a good little boy and go get Akamaru. He's playing outside."
Kiba obediently went outside and found the little dog swiping at a butterfly. He smiled in amusement. "Hey, Akamaru! Time to go inside!"
Akamaru turned and, when he noticed Kiba, barked happily and dashed towards him, jumping at him.
Kiba caught him easily and laughed. "Don't hurt yourself little guy."
He put the dog down, who ran through the open door. As Kiba walked in, however, he was met with a very hard slap to the face.
Kiba fell to the ground, completely unaware of what just happened. He gazed up at his angry mother, and his pupils contracted when he saw her angry face.
"M-Mom..."
"You really are an idiot. You come into my house, yelling and interrupting my work. You stupid, worthless brat. Do something like that again and I'll rip your head off."
Kuromaru appeared at her side, gazing down at him with his one eye. "Kiba, listen to her."
Kiba had crawled into the corner, shaking and terrified, his eyes watering. Akamaru yipped at him but was silenced with a gaze from Kuromaru.
"Were you out training?" she asked.
"I-I..."
"He was out with Hinata again," Hana said to her.
Damnit Hana...ratting me out...
Kiba winced when his mother raised her clawed hands angrily. "You spend too much time with her! I'm sure she's sick of you by now; get back to training! I will not have a son as brainless as you. I quit being a ninja after this village stopped appreciating what shinobi were; but that doesn't mean I'm letting you!"
"Please Tsume, go easy on him today," Kuromaru asked.
Kiba's hands were covering his face defensively. To Kuromaru, he looked so small, crouched in the corner, hiccupping from his swallowed cries.
His mother lowered her hand. "Fine. Hana, Kuromaru, come help me upstairs. Kiba! No more seeing Hinata this week. Train."
Kiba nodded, wiping his face. Once they were upstairs, Akamaru crossed over to Kiba and jumped on his knee, licking away his tears. Kiba hiccupped again and smiled. "You're tickling me you idiot." He flicked the dog on the nose, who yipped happily and chased his tail in an effort to cheer Kiba up.
Kiba picked Akamaru up and set him on the counter. "...Fuck. I can't see Hinata again. Do you think she'll be angry?"
Akamaru cocked his head.
"Nah, I didn't think so either."
XxXxXx
Naruto whistled gaily, a shopping bag filled with goods swinging from his arm. Iruka and he had just finished cleaning and organizing his cramped house. The roaches had been taken care of, and the blond was ready to begin training with his favorite sensei.
He rounded the corner, the dark street empty and filled with the sounds of a sniffling girl. Naruto stopped and scrutinized the road, and found the noise coming from a heap in the corner.
"Hinata-chan?" he asked.
Said girl silenced, gulping loudly. "N-Naruto-kun?"
Naruto strolled over to her. His eyes widened and he dropped his bag, buckling down to her eye level. "What happened?" he demanded.
Hinata was covered in cuts and bruises. Her eye was swollen and the damaged skin around it was turning a nasty yellow color. She shook her head. "I-It's nothing."
"Nothing my ass. What happened?!"
"I-I was training..." Hinata was beginning to feel like the excuse was becoming hackneyed.
"You trained this hard? Are you serious?" Naruto was filled with an angry wonder.
"I-I didn't k-know when to s-stop, I guess." Hinata forced a laugh.
Naruto put his hand to her cheek, and began to trace her wounds. Hinata froze. His calloused touch was comforting, and her stomach began to churn in agitation. He surveyed her reactions when his fingers brushed over an injury. She winced, and he sighed.
"You need medical attention. You can't do this to yourself," he voiced in a troubled tone.
"I w-want to be strong." Hinata wasn't lying there.
"You won't be very strong if you die of overwork." Naruto took her arm and delicately picked her up off the ground.
Hinata reclined against the fence, her eye throbbing. A tear trickled down her face. Naruto caught it with his finger, brushing it away gently. The girl hope Naruto wouldn't notice the blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Take a break. I myself am going to start training soon; but I'm definitely not going be as drastic as you." Naruto moved away from her.
Hinata noticed his baggy black shirt was open slightly. His hairless chest seemed perfect in so many ways, Hinata fought off the urge to bury herself in it.
"I don't like staying inside much," she professed.
Naruto look thoughtful for a minute. "Then..." his eyes lit up, "spend tomorrow with me."
"A-A-Ah? What?" To spend time with Naruto-kun...would be the best time of my life.
He grinned goofily. "Take a break, and spend some time with me. Actually, I'm going to start training tomorrow, so how about in a few days? Wednesday, that sound good to you?"
"T-T-That sounds..." Amazing, wonderful, great, fantastic.
"Alright then, it's a date! I hope Kiba doesn't mind."
Hinata kicked herself mentally. Of course Kiba will mind! But, I can never say no to Naruto-kun...
"I'll see you then, okay Hinata? I'll come pick you up." Naruto fetched his dropped bag. "I gotta go; Iruka-sensei's probably starving."
Hinata watched him walk away, and turn and wave. A smile splayed across her face. Naruto-kun...
She walked home, smiling all the way despite her pain. When she arrived home, Neji was reading at the kitchen table. Ingredients for dinner were spread across the counter.
"I-I'm home," she announced quietly.
Neji nearly jumped out of skin. The magazine he was reading disappeared under the table. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
"I'm sorry," she said while bowing apologetically. She didn't bother pointing out that Neji could have sensed her arrival had he been paying enough attention.
He spun the chair around. His lips went crooked. "The hell happened to you?"
Not again... "Training difficulties."
He pursed his lips. More like Kiba difficulties. "Sure, you say that. So, does that mean you're too hurt to cook dinner?" he asked, expecting her negative answer.
"M-My eye hurts...I'm going to put on a healing pad and lie down for a l-little while."
"Sure. Of course you can't cook. You break a nail and you can't do anything. Fine, I'll call you when it's ready. Don't let Hanabi see you, she'll freak out."
Hinata bowed again and slid open the door to the hall. Neji waited until she was gone, and retrieved the magazine from under the table. The pages contained heaps of sexually explicit pictures and dirty stories. He had found it at the library, and decided it was a lot more satisfying than the Icha Icha novels he had stashed in his room.
He turned the page and saw a woman spread-eagle on a bed, with a man on top of her, ready to penetrate. His pants throbbed as he read the article underneath. His hand slipped into his pants while he read on, his fingers tickling his throbbing length. He turned the page and swallowed, sweat beads popping up on his forehead.
He couldn't take it anymore. In a moment's notice he had taken out his length and was stroking it expertly, letting out small grunts of pleasure and he caressed the tip.
He lost track of the time and was only brought back into reality when he felt a warm, sticky substance coat his hands. Looking down at his crotch, he cursed loudly, completely unaware of what he had just done. He tucked it back in, extremely glad that Hinata or Hanabi hadn't walked in. He felt enormously better, and threw the magazine behind the counter, licking his release off his hands and washing them before starting dinner.
XxXxXx
"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Sasuke snapped, pivoting his foot and dodging a thrown kunai.
Sakura performed the needed hand symbols and ran at Sasuke, spreading out her fingers. "Trap Web Jutsu!" she yelled.
Webs of chakra flowed from her hands at Sasuke, wrapping around his legs and dragging him to the ground. He slashed them away quickly with shuriken, throwing them at Sakura who caught them in mid-flight and threw them back at him. He reciprocated by throwing five more while she threw them back. The ones meant for him were knocked to the ground while the others whizzed at Sakura. They caught her shoulder and she hissed in pain.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, aiming a stream of fire at her.
"Water Style: Inflammable Jutsu!" she countered, her entire body encased in a shield of water, which evaporated from contact.
Sasuke smirked and teleported behind her, holding a kunai up to her neck. She paused in mid-step, ready to jump in the air.
"You're too slow," he whispered into her ear, before slashing the air violently.
Sakura staggered, gasping for breath. Sasuke pocketed the kunai. The training grounds were littered with used weapons.
"You learned a lot from your reading. You're actually fighting with weapons and jutsu now. However, you're misplacing the times when each aspect comes in handy. You might have saved yourself from some painful burns from my Phoenix Flower with your Inflammable, but you could have just as easily used your Tsunami, doused my fire, and brought down my defenses. You'll also observe Tsunami takes less chakra to use." Sasuke walked around, collecting the weapons.
"I-Inflammable is u-useless then?" she asked, her heart pounding.
"Pretty much."
"Then w-why did you have me learn it?"
"Because, all ninja will find themselves faced with decisions to make in battle. All ninja know a few useless jutsu, and they need to prepare for a situation where they must decide which jutsu is useless and which isn't. I shouldn't say a few...a lot of jutsu are useless depending on the situation. It's all connected to quick thinking," Sasuke voiced.
"S-So, Tsunami might be the worse choice? When?" Sakura swayed. She was dehydrated and tired.
"If you're going to a place where you'll have to face boiling water. If you use Inflammable, you have a shield of cool water to protect your body heat. However, if you use Tsunami you'll just spread the boiling water around." Sasuke was holding an armful of kunai and shuriken. He tossed them into a bag. "Those will be cleaned later. I need to teach you weapon maintenance at some point."
He heard a thump behind him, and turned to see Sakura collapsed on the ground. He sighed. "I didn't even give you the homework."
He walked over to her. He examined her face, illuminated by the sun's rays. Her pale skin was flushed and decorated with tiny cuts. Her pink hair stuck to the back of her neck and her sweaty cheeks.
He felt the urge to smile, and fought it with considerable difficulty. He picked her up and carried her inside, laying her on the couch.
The spiky-haired boy went into the kitchen to make two health smoothies. His thoughts were consumed with Sakura.
I've been tutoring her for a few weeks now, and she's improved a lot by far. Even on her bad days, she's so confident. She might complain a lot, but she's gotten over the whiny stage. I don't think I've ever seen someone so eager to learn. Perhaps she really can achieve her goal.
He chuckled as he dumped the ingredients into his old blender. But not if she keeps on collapsing.
He mixed the smoothies and poured them into two glasses, and placed them on a tray. He somehow made it into the other room without spilling anything. Sakura was awake and reading a book on medical jutsu.
He placed the tray on the table, and sat next to her. "What are you reading?"
"It's something Naruto got from Iruka. He had to steal it from the library," Sakura added with a laugh. "This stuff interests me."
Sasuke handed her a glass. "Tomato, carrot and mango."
"Odd combination." She took a sip, and smiled. "But quite tasty."
"Your homework is to read 'Advanced Genjutsu for the Rookie Ninja', all of the pages I've marked, and to review the ninjutsu list I composed for you. If you didn't master something on the list do it. Read the first five chapters of 'In the Heat of Battle: Training the Mind'. Also, raise your chakra capacity by at least another three percent."
"When's all this due?" she asked with a tired sigh, taking another sip.
"Next Tuesday." Sasuke downed half of his smoothie, using some chakra to prevent a brain freeze
Sakura lowered her glass from her lips. "Why so long?"
"...I have a quick job to do. I've got taxes and bills to pay too, you know." Sasuke sounded like he didn't want to be reminded.
"We all have that, don't we?" Sakura asked, her heart sinking. Her parents had arrived home for a few days, only to throw a ridiculously minute amount of money at her and take off again. All of her payments rid her of the money she had been given.
"At some point before exams we have to start practicing with Naruto." Sasuke placed his empty glass back on the tray.
"I don't know if he's been training or not. Whenever I stop by he's always goofing around with Iruka. He's also been hanging out with Hinata a lot lately. I wonder if Hinata's caught him. She's liked him forever." Sakura giggled.
"I don't keep up with the gossip. It's all nonsense to me."
"That's you, Sasuke-kun."
"If Naruto is placing his relationship with a girl over his training, then he'll just drag us all down."
Sakura looked shocked. "Sasuke-kun! It's not like we can help who we like. The feelings might go away, but we shouldn't avoid them or neglect them for training."
"You don't seem to be with any boys you like. You can't make a point on something you don't have experience with." Sasuke stood up with the tray.
Sakura glowered at him. "I think you're mistaken."
Be with any boys you like? He-llo, who does he think HE is?
It's just a crush. It really doesn't matter. I don't have any plans to be with him.
You should. He's so hot. Plus, you've seen him go shirtless during training.
T-That was for heat purposes!
He was totally showing off.
You're just having delusions.
Sakura hit herself in the head, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you okay?"
"Don't mind me! Just having some inner conflicts." She smiled. "You know, I really feel like I've learned a lot from you. You're helping me so much..."
"I have my limits," Sasuke admitted, walking into the kitchen to dump the tray and glasses. When he returned, he leaned against the wall opposite Sakura.
"But you've got so many books!"
"Those are not for you. Those are books for the Uchiha clan only."
"What kind of abilities do you have that I can't have?" Sakura inquired.
"...Actually, we have a very powerful kekkei genkai," Sasuke told the kunoichi.
"Kekkei genkai?"
"A bloodline limit. It's an ability only people who share the same blood – siblings, relatives – can have, that's the limit. The Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai is called the Sharingan."
"The...Sharingan? It sounds powerful."
"It's a kekkei genkai centered on the eyes. It allows the user to predict the opponent's moves before even the opponent knows what he's going to do."
"That's amazing!" Sakura said in splendor. "That could really help you out during missions."
"It has its setbacks. It only works for ninjutsu and genjutsu; for taijutsu, it's useless. If I went up against a taijutsu master, my Sharingan would be useless." Sasuke rubbed his eye when he said that. "But..."
"What?"
"The Sharingan has been sealed. I can't use it," Sasuke said bitterly.
This caught Sakura off guard. "Are you serious?"
"Very. We don't want any outsiders to the Uchiha clan learning the secrets of the Sharingan, so when my brother, Itachi, went on a rampage my great-grandfather, the oldest generation to use the Sharingan, set a clan-wide seal on all of us before he was killed. This was to prevent anyone from extracting the Sharingan from us after our deaths." He walked over to Sakura and leaned down, closing his eyes and showing a small black slash traveling through each of them.
"I never noticed those..." the pink-haired girl was at a loss for words.
"Those are my seals. Without the use of Sharingan, I cannot be defined as a member of the Uchiha clan, and therefore hold no rights to the estate or anything that my family owned. I'm living here because Lord Sarutobi petitioned to the Otokage that I could stay."
"That's horrible! You shouldn't be defined because of your birthright," Sakura muttered.
"...That's why my nindo is to unseal the Sharingan, and prove my rights as an Uchiha. I want to rebuild my clan back to its former glory. All my dad wished was for me to grow strong, and that's what I'm planning to do." Why am I telling this to her? I've never told anyone my goals. I vowed not to establish relationships with anyone.
The two were silent for a minute. Sasuke started when Sakura stood up. "I'll help you!" she declared.
"What?"
"I'll help you achieve your goals. You're helping me, and I'll help you!"
"How can you help me if you're weaker than me?" Sasuke questioned, amused.
"I...I don't know. But I will. That's another vow of mine. To help you get your birthright back." Sakura put her hands on her hips. "Cha!"
"I don't..." want you to get hurt. "need your help." Sasuke couldn't get the right words out.
"Too bad then. Because if you don't let me help you..." Sakura looked thoughtful, and giggled. "I won't leave!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You really are..." funny. "annoying."
"I know, my friend, I know."
XxXxXx
Cheers for some romantic-like scenes! Yes, it's a bit of a cycle. Kiba beats Hinata, Kiba's mom beats Kiba. As for why Kiba freaked out when he was approached by the women, let's save that for another chapter. As for Neji...we'll just call him sexually frustrated. For the songs section, when I say a song's for someone, I'm dedicating to them. It's like a theme song! For next chapter you can expect to see more of Team 10. See you next chapter!