Author's Note: Thank you everyone for reading my story! If you have any ideas that would make my story better, please review! I LOVE constructive criticism, so tell me what you think!

Note: All conversations in italics are between Sakura and her inner self. Any other text that is in italics is flashbacks.

Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own Naruto or any characters I didn't make up.

Chapter 3-Training

My kunai hit the target with a sharp twang. I closed my eyes and threw five more blindly; the sound of each hitting their targets assured me that they all had hit the center. With my eyes still closed I pictured an object behind me and I flipped in midair shooting Fire Style: Fire Phoenix Flower Jutsu at it. I landed perfectly and opened my eyes. The target was burnt to a crisp while the rest of my training area was left virtually untouched. I stood up straight and stretched my arms and legs-I had been training all day and the sun was starting to go down so I had to return home soon.

I loved my training area-no one knew about it besides me and it was protected by a strong Genjutsu so that no one could ever find it-It was where I could be free and not have to pretend to be some stupid, horrible, ninja fan-girl. I could use whatever powers I wanted and not have to worry about someone discovering my true identity. It was rather simple training area, as I had to build it myself and I had limited resources. It was a small clearing that was stuck in the middle of many closely knitted trees that completely covered it from the naked eye-the Genjutsu also helped with this. The training area itself had many targets that were set up at different angles and heights and were worn from the constant use over the years. I had many different wooden objects set around as well, for me to practice my Fire Jutsu; many of those were burnt badly and needed replaced. I had an area for other weapons training as well, so I was not limited to the use of the Kunai and Ninja Stars.

The weapons area was set us with many different types of katana, fans, several boomerang-like weapons, and a bow and arrows. I excelled with the boomerang-like weapons, but I preferred a katana over any of the other weapons. (I never used them during the academy or with my team either-not many Genin were skilled with them and I figured that I shouldn't bring attention to myself by using any other weapons then the normal Kunai and ninja stars.)

I had been coming to this training area almost every time I could get away from my team-we had been assigned very boring, very slow missions. I understood the reasons behind them, but that didn't make them any less dull. Just yesterday we had a mission to find a cat.

"What is your location?" the walkie-talkie crackled with the sound of Kakashi's voice.

"We are moving in on the target," Sasuke whispered. "We will chase him towards the west gate, be ready."

"Copy that," Kakashi stated.

I could see the target through the trees. He was calmly chasing a butterfly that was fluttering above him. His grey fur shined in the streaks of light that were breaking through the cloudy sky.

"Let's get ready!" I hissed quietly. I pressed the button on the walkie-talkie, "Naruto stand by!"

I got no reply from Naruto and I quickly understood why when he suddenly jumped out of a tree and tried to pounce on the cat. The cat reacted as any cat would. It hissed ferociously and clawed at Naruto's face, leaving him with three long, bloody scratches that ran down his cheek before dashing away under a bush.

"Yow!" Naruto screeched holding his cheek. "That baka of a cat!"

"You are the only idiot here!" Sasuke seethed. "Now we have to find that thing again! It took us all afternoon to track him before!"

We eventually found the animal again, but when we finally caught him, the sun was going down. The lady paid us for the mission and nearly squeezed "Mr. Fluffy" to death before putting the poor cat on a lease and threatening to never take him off of it again.

I smiled at the memory of yesterday. It was interesting to see Sasuke so worked up for once, when normally he isn't so passionate about anything.

The reason I was able to take the whole day to train was because we had done a mission almost every day since we had officially became Genin, and Kakashi decided that we all needed a break. Earlier I had passed Sasuke and Naruto training at the regular training grounds. They were fighting each other with Naruto definitely losing.

Tomorrow, we would have another mission to go on. I was slightly fed up with missions like chasing cats and weeding someone's garden (which Naruto failed on, as he ended up pulling all of the ladies flowers. We ended up not getting any mission money.), so I really hoped that there would be one that took us out of the village for a change.

"We could have been able to get out of this village sooner, if you weren't so dead set on keeping your powers a secret," my inner self piped up. "We could be Jounin by now or something more advanced than being a Genin who only does pathetic jobs."

"Yes, or we could be in the morgue of an enemy nation right now, while they try to figure out how to steal my powers to use against Konoha," I shot back.

"Whatever," she said before sinking back into wherever she dwells.

She is getting very annoying; she is constantly trying to get me to reveal my powers. Well either way, I will never do so. I don't want to give up my identity and put my mother or my village in any danger.

Returning to reality, I stretch a few more minutes before I used my Chakra senses to see if I could detect anyone outside before leaving my training grounds. Upon noticing that no one was around, I quickly sneaked out of the trees and begin to pretend that I was only walking home from a trip to the beach by the riverside. I had a towel hung over my shoulder from where I had hidden it right in front of the entrance of my training area; I even stuck on a pair of sunglasses to help the visual.

By the time I had crossed town to my home, the sun was almost completely gone from the sky. I was exhausted and was excited to eat dinner, take a bath, and then go to bed to rest up for tomorrow's mission.

I entered my house as soon as I reached it. My mother was sitting at the table drinking the disgusting brew that was called coffee.

"Hello, dear!" my mother cheerfully said. "I kept dinner warm for you. How was the beach?"

My mother of course, knew about my secret training, though she did not know the location. She was simple asking it like that in case someone was listening in on the conversation. "It was great, I got lots of sun! My skin is getting pretty tan!" I said back. I knew she quickly decoded this as: "I got a good amount of training done, and I have begun mastering a new technique!" (Fire Style: Fire Phoenix Flower Jutsu).

"That's good, I know that the sun doesn't come out very often and you don't get a chance to enjoy it!" she said. I decoded this as: "I'm glad your training went well. I'm sorry you have to do it in secret and very randomly."

"That's okay, mom. I like the sun, but if it didn't come out, I wouldn't be too disappointed. The sun always comes out again," I said meaning that if I couldn't have trained today, I would have found another time to do so.

"That's a good attitude, dear! Keep it up!" my mother said meaning exactly what she had said.

After my discussion with my mother, I ate my dinner and went to take a shower. I then went to bed and fell asleep instantly.

This is shorter than the last two chapters but have no fear! I will be posting another chapter today or tomorrow!