Hey guys, sorry for the update drought. I've been really focused on my other story (A Chance Encounter) and have not been updating this one as much as I should. I promise I will do my best to try and update this more! Reviews are always appreciated! Now, please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter Four: Less Concentration More Instinct
Edited October 27th, 2015
Xxx Sakura xxX
Sakura's eyes opened and she couldn't prevent the tired sigh that escaped her. She was exhausted; the training session with Lee had gone well into the early morning hours. The training session had been completely eye opening. Sakura hadn't realized that there were Genin out there that were probably stronger than Sasuke-kun… Lee-senpai was so fast and strong; she had never seen someone use taijutsu in the way he had.
Rolling out of bed, Sakura practically dragged herself to her bathroom. Her muscles ached with every move that she made, but Sakura tried her best to ignore the pain. She was supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei for a morning training session; the two of them were going to go over how to make a clone (which she could already do, thanks to the academy), and sensing chakra. To tell the truth, Sakura was more than excited to start sensing people's chakra better. She could already do a pretty good job, but she knew she would have to do an even better job if she wanted to get stronger.
As Sakura turned on the shower head and stripped out of her clothes, she tried to ignore the discouraging words Naruto and Sasuke-kun had spoken about her the night before... Naruto and Sasuke-kun were the two people that she wanted to be strong for, but they were also two people who didn't believe in her at all.
Sakura felt tears fall as her face hit the running water from the shower. She was so frustrated with the two! She understood that she was weak, but wouldn't they want to help her get stronger? If she were stronger, then it would make the whole team stronger!
Washing up quickly, Sakura ignored the tears as she got out of the shower. Walking to her closet, Sakura decided she had more important things to do today than cry and throw herself a pity party. Steeling herself, Sakura picked a dark blue tank top and some dark red biker shorts. Wrapping her kunai pouch around her right thigh, Sakura then quickly put on her new weights.
The weights on her wrists and ankles felt foreign to her still, even though she had trained with them the night before. Grabbing her head band, Sakura decided to check her parent's room to see if they had returned. The two had been away for over three weeks now, and Sakura wondered when the two would be finally coming home. After opening their bedroom door, Sakura shrugged slightly with a frown; the two weren't home yet.
This was fairly common for the pinkette. Her mother and father would be gone majority of the year, especially during the summer and holidays. It was lonely sometimes, but she had to be grateful that she had parents; both of her teammates did not, and she wouldn't forget that.
Grabbing a pear from the kitchen island, Sakura frowned. She hadn't found the time to get groceries yesterday with all of the chaos that had been going on. Biting into her pear, Sakura promised herself she would go pick up some between one of her training sessions.
Walking out the door, Sakura noticed the sun had just risen. She was a little early to meet Kakashi-sensei, so Sakura decided to take the long route. Walking over to the red bridge where Team Seven usually met up, Sakura shook her head slightly before stopping to rest against the bridge. Looking over the small creek that was under the bridge, Sakura's eyes caught sight of someone she had not seen in a while.
Grinning slightly, Sakura walked over to where said person lay. The brunette headed male's eyes were closed and his arms were leaned casually behind his back. Knowing the male wasn't asleep, but probably didn't want to be bothered, Sakura sat quietly beside him.
"…If you're going to say anything about Ino or her beloved 'Sasuke-kun' I don't want to hear it," the Nara grumbled under his breath. Sakura's grin widened before she looked over to the male. His eyes were still closed, but his posture was stiffer than it had been before she had sat down.
"I don't want to talk about either of those Shikamaru," Sakura said honestly as she enjoyed the morning sun. "I'm just surprised you're already awake and out here is all."
Shikamaru grunted before his posture relaxed. "My dad challenged me to a game of Go, and I lost. When I lost he told me I had to wake up early every day for a week," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "If he lost he was going to have to do my chores for a week."
"Go?" Sakura questioned as her eyes shone slightly. "That's a strategy game right?"
She watched Shikamaru nod his head slightly. "If you're waking up early every day for the rest of the week, then maybe you'd like to play Go with me before my training session with Kakashi-sensei."
"… I guess it would beat just laying here waiting for the clouds," Shikamaru muttered before finally opening his eyes. Sakura smiled as she saw his chocolate brown eyes stare at her in interest.
"Great!" She said while standing. "I'm going to be heading to the training grounds now, but maybe tomorrow you'd like to come over to my house early for our game? My parents aren't home, and I can make us some tea."
In response, Shikamaru's eyes closed and he nodded once. The smile on Sakura's face grew as she started to walk away. Shikamaru had always been the smartest one in her class, and now she was going to play Go against him. She knew she would be learning a lot, even from just watching the way he did things. She hoped this would help her in the long run.
The walk to the training grounds was short, and Sakura was surprised to find she was the second one there. Kakashi had already arrived, and it looked like he had arrived more than a few minutes ago. The silver haired male was currently leaned up against a tree with his notorious orange book out; Sakura wondered what the book was about.
"Good morning Kakashi-sensei," Sakura called as she walked closer to the male. "I can't believe you're early!"
"Hai," Kakashi-sensei said as he stood from his location on the tree. He pocketed the orange book into his kunai pouch. "I figured I would give you as much attention as I could; you seemed pretty serious yesterday about training."
"I am," Sakura said as determination filled her eyes. "I have a lot to prove to my team… I don't want to be the weakest person on the team any longer."
"Sakura," Kakashi started uncertainly, but Sakura cut him off.
"You don't have to say I'm not, sensei," Sakura said as she took in a deep breath and steeled her resolve. "I know I am, that's why I want to change. I'm going to take being a ninja seriously, because if I don't someone I care about might die… I know you, Naruto, and Sasuke-kun don't think I'm strong enough, but I'm going to prove you all wrong."
"Sakura," Kakashi said with a sigh, but Sakura shook her head.
"I don't need sympathy, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said as she set her shoulders straight. She would ignore her teammate's words, and try to only focus on becoming stronger.
Nodding in what Sakura could only think was understanding, Kakashi-sensei took a step forward and let the previous topic drop. He eyed her weights instead. "I'm glad you remembered to wear them; how do they feel?"
"Different," Sakura said honestly as she lifted her left arm up and down; it had surprisingly been easy to drop the topic of her insecurities. "Lee-senpai said it was only a little more than five pounds, but it's starting to make my limbs ache a little bit already."
"As it should," Kakashi said with a nod. "It's added weight, Sakura.
"But let's get started," Kakashi spoke again. "I already am aware you know how to make a clone; to graduate the academy one must make a clone. I need you to make one for me right now; try to use as little chakra as possible."
Nodding, Sakura brought her hands into the tiger seal. The pinkette concentrated on not putting too much chakra into her clone, just as much as was needed. Putting chakra into her hands, Sakura felt a puff of smoke next to her and could tell she had created a clone.
"Good," Kakashi said with a nod as Sakura dismissed the clone. "I knew you were the best on our team with chakra control. You used very little chakra to create the clone, but you still exerted a little bit too much chakra to be considered perfect. You yourself said you don't have much chakra. If you don't have a lot, and are not going to get a lot soon, you need to make sure you use your chakra sparingly."
"Okay," Sakura said with a nod. "So I need to concentrate more on using less chakra?"
"Kind of," Kakashi said with a slight nod. "But I want you to not need to concentrate while doing this; I want it to become like second nature to you: instinct. When you, Sasuke, and Naruto are going to be in the chunnin exams I don't think you'll have time to concentrate when someone else is attacking you."
"Okay," Sakura said with a slightly confused face. "How am I going to learn that then?"
"Well," Kakashi said with a slight grin. "Since you were already able to walk on trees without your hands, I'm going to try something different. You're going to learn how to walk on water."
Sakura's eyes shone brightly as she remembered something. "Like you did when you were fighting Zabuza for the first time," Sakura said with a grin. "Okay, I think I can do that."
The weird look on Kakashi's face from the day before returned, but this time it had a little bit of an evil look to it. "Walking on water takes a lot more concentration than walking on a tree does, Sakura," Kakashi said.
"But I thought you didn't want me to concentrate?" Sakura's voice was filled with confusion.
"Exactly."
Xxx Sakura xxX
Sakura tried to wring out her clothes the best she could; it had been two hours since her training with Kakashi-sensei had begun, and the pinkette was drenched in water. Kakashi had created a small pond for Sakura to try to walk on with a water jutsu, and then told her to try her best. Sakura had been confident at first, balancing out her chakra the same way she did when she climbed up the tree, but within a few seconds she had fallen into the water.
After a few tries of this, Sakura looked over to her silver haired sensei and asked him to explain how he was able to walk on water.
"It's all about dispersing your chakra around correctly," the male had told her. "You cannot use the same amount of chakra in each part of your foot because the water is always changing."
It had taken Sakura fifteen more tries before she had decided to take a break, which is what she was currently doing.
"You can't plan to get everything mastered on the first try," Kakashi said to her as he sat beside her.
"I guess you're right," Sakura said with a sigh. "But I feel like I need to. I'm so far behind Sasuke-kun and Naruto; I just wish I could catch up quickly."
"It's going to take time," Kakashi-sensei said with a sigh. "I'm impressed at your progress though; that last one you almost stayed up for ten seconds."
"That was when I thought least about what I was doing," Sakura admitted with a slight grin. "Maybe I shouldn't concentrate as much as I usually do."
Kakashi chuckled before nodding. "Now we have an hour or so before we meet up with the boys," Kakashi said after looking up at the sun. "Are you going to go home and change?"
"No," Sakura said with a shake of her head. "I need to get groceries, and something to snack on; hopefully it can help refill a little of my chakra."
Sakura watched as Kakashi-sensei nodded before walking off. Standing up from her position on the ground, Sakura found it pretty hard to actually move. Her muscles were still sore from the training with Lee-senpai the night before.
Cringing slightly, Sakura started to make her way towards town. As she walked, she started to list the things she knew she needed. Rice, tea, dango, tomatoes, ramen, salmon, apples, pears, pickles, and pockey, Sakura thought as the grocery store came into sight. She also needed miso soup and anko dumplings.
Nodding her head slightly, she grabbed a cart as she entered the store. Walking to the produce aisle, Sakura was surprised to find Sasuke-kun standing near the tomatoes.
Deciding to ignore the male, Sakura grabbed the items she needed before heading towards the tomatoes. She didn't really need the tomatoes, but she had planned to make tomato soup later in the week. Going to the side to Sasuke-kun's right, Sakura grabbed seven tomatoes before she started to head down a different aisle. As she did this, she heard Sasuke-kun's quiet footfalls follow her.
"Why are you all wet?" Sakura heard from behind her. Turning to look over her shoulder, Sakura felt the urge to yell at the male who stood before her.
The things he had said the night before had been hurtful, and even if he didn't think she would be hearing them didn't mean he should have said them. She was working on it, damn it.
"Training," Sakura said easily as she continued her way to grab the rice. Hearing Sasuke-kun's footsteps follow her again, Sakura sighed before turning fully around to face him.
"What's on your ankles and wrists?"
Kami, Sakura thought as she gripped her shopping basket a little more tightly, when was the last time Sasuke-kun had talked to her so much? She was sure if it had been before the Wave mission, Sakura herself would have died from all the attention. Now, however, Sakura found it to be slightly annoying, especially when Sasuke-kun looked at her with his emotionless mask on; he didn't really care, he just wanted to know.
"Weights," Sakura said the word just as quickly as she had said the one before it. The female looked away from Sasuke and continued down the aisle. She collected the things she needed before heading to the checkout lane. Feeling her teammate stand behind her in line caused a slight chill to go down her spine.
She could tell she had irritated the raven haired male, but Sakura wasn't really worried about that. The male had done more than irritate her the night before, even if he didn't know it.
As Sakura placed her things down in front of the cashier, Sakura smiled as the cashier smiled at her. He was probably a little bit older than she was, and he seemed friendly.
"Just a few things this time?" The male asked with a grin as he started to ring up Sakura's food. Just as the male was finishing, a large pile of tomatoes was added to the pile of food.
"Hn," Sasuke said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "These too."
As Sakura was about to question Sasuke-kun about why she was going to pay for his tomatoes, Sasuke-kun took a wad of bills out and paid the cashier the correct amount. Raising an eyebrow, Sakura watched as her teammate collected the bags and started to walk out of the grocery store.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura called as the male quickened his pace; had he really just paid for her groceries? "Wait, where are you going?"
"Your house," Sasuke spoke easily. Sakura shook her head slightly before she fell into step with her raven haired teammate.
"What was that back there?" Sakura questioned as the two turned down a few streets before her home came in view.
"Hn," Sasuke spoke as the two arrived at her door. Sakura was more than a little confused with his actions, but she tried not to overthink them. Of course she still crushed over the male before her; she was in love with Sasuke-kun, but that didn't mean she wasn't still mad at him, because she totally was.
Opening the door to her house, she let Sasuke-kun walk in before closing the door behind him. She kicked off her ninja sandals before leading the way to her kitchen. Sakura watched as Sasuke-kun placed her bags on the kitchen island before heading back the way he had come.
Sakura followed him as he opened the front door and started to leave.
"Um, well thanks Sasuke-kun," Sakura called after him as the door shut.
It took Sakura ten minutes of trying to decipher what Sasuke-kun's actions said before she had come to a conclusion: that was probably Sasuke-kun's way of showing he cared.
Xxx Sasuke xxX
He wasn't quite sure himself why he had bought her groceries. He had been pondering what to make for dinner that night when Sakura had suddenly appeared near the tomatoes. The girl had been drenched in water, and Sasuke was more than a little curious (and maybe a little concerned) of why she looked the way she did.
And so he had decided to ask, which had not been a Sasuke thing to do. And when she had given him a short answer, which had not been a Sakura thing to do, Sasuke didn't know how to feel or what to do. So he followed her. Down the next aisle he had noticed new cloth on her wrists and ankles and wondered what they were there for. He wasn't stupid, he knew they weren't a new fashion statement; they had tares on them and looked to be used.
He had been surprised when she had said they were weights. Was she really serious about training? He and Naruto had both agreed over dinner that she wasn't, but seeing her today, maybe she was?
He hadn't quite known what to do when she practically blew him off for a second time by walking away again. He hadn't been done questioning her yet…
Following her to the checkout line, Sasuke had immediately noticed the older boy's stare, and he had not liked it one bit. Sasuke didn't know why he hadn't liked the older male smiling at Sakura, he just hadn't.
So, to get them both out of there as quickly as he could he had paid for all of their combined food, grabbed the bags and walked out.
He hadn't been thinking obviously, but he wasn't going to admit that to Sakura. As he walked her home and she questioned his motives, he didn't have an answer for her: he just went by instinct, which really was something he didn't usually do.
Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke headed to the training grounds. Once again, he had been thinking about Sakura when he should have been more focused on his goal. Revenge against Itachi should be the only thing on my mind, Sasuke reminded himself. And as thoughts of Sakura floated away again, Sasuke only picture the numerous ways he could kill his brother when he got stronger.