This is, I hope, a welcome break from the incessant mary sues and high school fics :)

I think I should clarify a few things about the clergy. Clearly I don't want to tell too much because I would prefer for the story to gradually bring you the whole picture, but I will give you this. The clergy is made up of ninjas. Ninjas are typically chakra users, but may also be orphans or other children given over to the clergy who have learned to do the non-chakra types of ninjutsu. That said, the clergy of the Six Tails often let their combat abilities slide in order to focus on their healing, and because many feel that it is contrary to the nature of a healer to injure another person. This is not universal; hence Sakura's desire to keep her combat skills sharp is considered unusual but certainly not wrong.

The hierarchy is as follows:

Initiates - generally children under the age of 13 who are trained communally by all the temples.

Novices - children and youth 13 to 20 years of age who have been dedicated to a particular temple but have not yet completed their pilgrimage (a rite of passage).

Acolytes - youths aged 16 to 25 who have completed their pilgrimage. These youths are given additional training and still take classes.

Priests - members of the clergy who have completed their final training and are considered full participants of that temple. In this category are a number of sub-hierarchies including specialists and individuals who head up specific departments or domains within a temple.

Head Priest/Priestesses - leaders of the temples that are not the head temple of a particular god.

High Priest/Priestesses - ultimate human authority for a particular temple. Most gods choose their own high priest or priestess. These are usually very favoured mortals.

There are also special cases that come along every now and then, such as the saints, but that will be demonstrated more in the story itself.

Enjoy this latest chapter. (Punctuation fixed 2016)


Chapter 4

Tsunade was exactly right, Sakura thought. If she came late to the refectory, she was unlikely to get anything good. She made it there just as the bells were ringing to signal the supper meal, and joined the line. Getting her food (stir fry beef, tonight, not bad), she looked around at the tables and spotted Hinata and Ino together. They gave her a wave and she came over.

"Forehead!" Ino greeted her. "How was the city?"

"Good," Sakura said. "It was a test."

"Ohhh?" Ino asked. "Did you pass?"

"Yep!" Sakura replied, and then paused to shovel food into her mouth. It was unladylike but she was hungry.

"You went into the city? On a test? What did you have to do?" Hinata asked. The shy, quiet Hyūga novice was a good friend of Sakura. She was of a hereditary line as well, the Hyūga family was and old and venerable shinobi family. Most of them were sanctimonious assholes, but Hinata was almost terminally nice. Sakura was glad she was in the Six Tails' priesthood, poor little Hinata was too gentle to be in some of the other houses. She'd blossomed here, opening up and losing her stutter nearly completely, except for when she was very nervous.

"Lady Tsunade wanted me to go into the city and fetch about 30 different things. One of which was an illegal drug," Sakura said, in between bites.

Both Ino and Hinata goggled.

"An illegal drug? Which one?" Ino demanded.

"R-r-really? Illegal?" Hinata looked a little wan.

"Yup!" Sakura grinned. "Geddys leaf. It's also called 'murky green' on the street, I didn't know that. I probably wouldn't have been able to get it – heh, even Tsunade didn't think I would, but I had help."

"Help?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, there's this guy I met over at the battle god's—," Sakura began, only to be cut off by Ino, who came instantly alert at the word 'guy'.

"Forehead!" she exclaimed, "Dish!"

"A boy?" Hinata asked, blushing.

"Uhh, Ino, it's not like that!" Sakura protested.

"Whatever, Forehead. Tell us about him. Is he good looking?"

Sakura's blush telegraphed that he was. Very much so. Ino whooped, causing people nearby to stop eating and look over at their table.

"Ino, people are staring!" Sakura hissed. Ino slapped her hand over her mouth and hunkered down conspiratorially.

"Tell us about him. Now!" The blonde commanded.

"Well, he's 17, and he's an acolyte already," Sakura began. "I think he's hereditary—uh, no offense Hinata."

"None taken." Hinata smiled.

"He's taller than me and he's skinny, but he's got that wiry look, you know, like Lee and Shikamaru?" Sakura continued, mentioning two of their academy mates.

"Yeah," Ino said, blushing at the mention of Shikamaru. "Go on." Aha! Sakura thought. So it was Shikamaru, eh?

"He's got red hair, the colour of blood lilies, a tattoo on his forehead, and I can't decide whether his eyes are blue or green," Sakura went on. She remembered those captivating eyes, beneath his dark-rimmed lids. He'd said he wasn't fond of sleeping. Maybe that's why his eyes had such dark outlines. It hadn't detracted from his attractiveness in the slightest. If anything it had enhanced the pale flawlessness of his skin. She found herself blushing. All right, Gaara was good looking, and Sakura was silly for letting this affect her.

"Are you blushing, Forehead? You're blushing. Oh my gods!" Ino whispered loudly. Sakura blushed a little darker red.

"Shut up, Ino."

"So, tall, redheaded, and obviously cute or you wouldn't be blushing like that," Ino said. "Anything else?"

"Uh…" Sakura said. "He's got amazing chakra. And he's a good shinobi. He led me on a pretty good chase across the rooftops to get to the docks."

"You went to the docks? At night? Weren't you scared?" Hinata asked, sinking further into her chair in sympathetic nervousness.

"Not really, you know Tsunade has me on advanced combat too. We're shinobi, Hinata. I should be able to fend off some street thugs," Sakura pointed out. If she couldn't keep away a petty thief or pervert, she hardly deserved to call herself a kunoichi.

"I g-g-g-guess so," Hinata said, flushing.

"Oh don't worry, Hinata. I was fine," Sakura said. "Besides, Gaara's the battle god's. That means his training is as good or better than ours, you know."

"Gaara, huh? I've never heard of him. Is he new?" Ino asked.

"I think so." Sakura grinned back. "He said he came from the desert, not that long ago."

"From the desert? Some kind of hot shot, is he?" Ino crinkled up her nose.

"I think so," Sakura grinned back, "he was kind of an arrogant brat," she admitted.

Ino snorted. Hinata gave a small smile, half covered by her hand.

"So… Forehead… do you like him?" Ino grinned wolfishly at her.

Sakura put her palms on the table and glared indignantly at the blonde. "I don't think that's any of your business," she said.

"Of course it is, Forehead," Ino remarked. "Now dish."

Sakura sighed. "I don't know yet, to be honest. He seems like a nice guy but he's a little…" she scrunched up her nose, "irreverent I guess."

Ino snorted. "Is that all?"

Hinata pushed her fingers together and spoke up. "Irreverence isn't becoming in an acolyte of any of the tailed gods."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed.

"What did he do that's so irreverent?" Ino asked avidly.

"Well…" Sakura began. "He ate from the offering pile."

"So? So do we." Ino grinned.

"I don't know about you, but I usually wait for it to be received first," Sakura said. Ino laughed. "And he took my blood lily."

"Your blood lily. Didn't you give it as an offering?" Ino demanded.

Sakura blushed again. "Well, yeah…"

"Then it's the god's blood lily, not yours," Ino pointed out.

"I still don't know why, of all the blood lilies in the pile, he had to pull out mine. That's weird." Sakura squirmed.

"Was it near the top?" Hinata asked.

"Well, yeah," Sakura admitted.

"Maybe he just grabbed the easiest one to get, then," Hinata supplied.

"Maybe." Sakura didn't think it was likely, for some reason. Gaara's selection of her blood lily seemed carry with it some additional weight she didn't fully understand.

"So are you going to see him again?" Ino leaned over the table and grinned wolfishly at Sakura.

"I don't know. He said I would but unless he comes in for a healing or I go to the battle god's temple for something, I don't see it happening," Sakura said.

Hinata giggled at that. "Well if anyone tall, redheaded and tattooed comes in on my watch I'll refer him to you," she promised. Ino laughed, and Sakura blushed and smiled.

"I'll do the same. But why would you go to the battle god's temple?" Ino asked.

"Well to pray. And if I get disciplinary duty," Sakura said. She wasn't going to admit her predilection for fighting in the arena to Ino.

"Well you'll get disciplinary duty if you're caught with him," Ino snorted.

"I doubt that Tsunade would send me over to heal the arena losers if I got caught with someone from the One Tail's house," Sakura commented dryly.

Hinata giggled.

"You're probably right, but you could always try it. I bet he won't complain if you kiss him," Ino suggested

"Ino!" Sakura hissed, blushing. The pink-hair sighed. Sometimes her blonde friend was just too much.

"Well, you could. I don't think there's any boy who'd mind that," Ino said, grinning slyly.

"We're still under 18," Sakura muttered.

"You'll be 17 soon. Surely that year won't matter that much," Ino said.

"You're just saying that because you want to kiss Shikamaru!" Sakura accused. Ino flushed bright red and Sakura knew she'd hit target. Hinata looked embarrassed for both of them.

"Be quiet!" Ino hissed. Sakura rolled her green eyes. So it was ok when it was anyone else's gossip but Ino's. Ah well. She finished her food and stared at her empty plate.

"Are you back in the children's ward tomorrow?" Hinata asked.

"No, Lady Tsunade has told me to take tomorrow off. I think I might try to find out if Lee is free and train with him." Ino wrinkled her nose when Sakura mentioned Lee. The pink-haired teen noticed. "What? There isn't anyone our age better at taijutsu than Rock Lee. You know that, Ino. Besides he's been a friend since our initiate days."

"A 'friend', yeah, Forehead, he totally has the hots for you," Ino said. "Besides he's so weird with that 'flower of youthfulness' crap he's always spouting, and that weird green jumpsuit." The blonde shuddered. Hinata giggled quietly again.

"He gets that from Might Guy," the Hyūga girl said, smiling. Rock Lee and his teacher were something of a punch line among many of the novices their age.

"He does not, Ino. He's my friend and nothing more. And yeah, the 'flower of youthfulness' stuff is goofy but he's a good teacher and sparring partner," Sakura defended her green-clad friend.

"Whatever, Forehead. I don't know why you would waste a perfectly good day off getting hot and sweaty and running laps around the temple compound with Rock Lee. Just you watch, he's going to challenge you to 1,000 laps or something else ridiculously 'youthful'," Ino smirked.

"Probably," Sakura agreed cheerfully. "But that's ok. It's good for me to train. I've been letting my combat studies slide."

"If you say so," snorted Ino.

"I'm glad we don't have to do combat studies if we don't want to," Hinata commented. Sakura was glad too, for Hinata's sake. The Hyūga family was known for its emphasis on combat success. Before she'd been accepted into the Six Tails' priesthood, Hinata had been under intense pressure to succeed in combat studies. A little too intense. It was made worse by the fact that another Hyūga in their generation, her cousin Neji, was something of a prodigy in the combat arts. Hinata could hold her own against any non shinobi and most shinobi, but next to a combat genius like Neji, she was nothing. And her family had made their displeasure known.

"I want to go study now, I think," Sakura said, again looking at her empty plate.

"Oh Forehead, only you would study on a day off," Ino snorted.

"Whatever, Ino-Pig," Sakura said. "I'll be at the library."

"Can I come with you?" Hinata asked.

"Of course, Hinata," Sakura said.

"Have fun, bookworms. I'm going to go to the girls' baths and soak in the hot pool for a while," Ino announced cheerfully. The girls gathered up their dishes and brought their trays to the belt that took the soiled dishes to the kitchen for washing. Sakura considered that punishment duty might easily consist of a weeks of kitchen duties, which were never pleasant, as easily as it could consist of healing up the failures in the arena.

Sakura and Hinata spent a few hours together in the library, reading books on anatomy and herbalism. Sakura, fresh from last night's adventures, was looking up the medicinal uses of geddys leaf and other illicit drugs. She'd known it was capable of making very powerful healing potions, and she was surprised to discover that most illicit drugs had powerful healing or poison curing effects when combined with the right other substances using the right methods. They were illegal largely because it was far easier to abuse them than to make them useful. She was grateful for Tsunade's test, because she probably wouldn't have been interested enough to look up this information on her own if it wasn't for her adventure acquiring the geddys leaf.

The next day she wandered over to the Eight Tails' compound, hoping to run into Rock Lee. It didn't take her long after walking past the wall before she spotted him. He was clad in green and running laps on the wall, following close behind his teacher, the high priest of the Eight Tailed Ox of Hard Work, Might Guy.

As he leaped over the gate, he spotted Sakura, and immediately screeched to a halt. Sakura was slightly amazed that he didn't fall off the wall. Despite the fact that most shinobi had chakra, Rock Lee had very little. But he was well placed as an acolyte (yes, an acolyte) of Hard Work.

"Sakura! The most beautiful flower of youth at the house of healing! I am very glad to see you this morning!" Lee exclaimed as he jumped from the wall down to greet her. Sakura giggled. Lee was sure over the top.

"Hi Lee!" She said "I've got the day off."

"How wonderful! Did you perhaps come here to train? Lord Guy has introduced me to the most youthful training program I have yet encountered! You can join in if you wish!" Lee declared. Sakura wondered if he was going to blink yet. That was always one of the unnerving things about Lee; his intense, unblinking stare, coupled with his oh-so-sincere expression and his very very bushy eyebrows. Some people found him creepy. Sakura found him very funny and considered him a good friend.

"Yeah I came to train with you, Lee. At least in the morning," Sakura admitted.

"Sakura! I am glad to see that Lady Tsunade values your physical training well. Are you here to join Lee and me in our youthfulness training?" Might Guy had completed one full circuit of the wall while she and Lee were speaking. He spotted them and leaped down to join them.

"Yeah, sure," Sakura said. She liked Lord Guy too. Lee was like his understudy. Both were perfectly suited to the Eight Tails' service. She covered her mouth to stifle the laugh that bubbled up to the surface at their antics, it would be inappropriate in the extreme to laugh at the high priest of any god. But these two were just too funny. "I want to go make my offering first, though, ok?"

"You can make your offering 50 laps on the wall!" Lord Guy declared. Sakura did laugh.

"Ok, Lord Guy!" she agreed cheerfully, following the two green-clad people onto the wall with a well executed leap. She started racing after them, desperate not to get lapped. Both of them would tease her mercilessly if they managed to encircle her at all.

A half hour later, they'd completed 50 laps, and Sakura felt like she was going to fall over. Lee and Guy looked barely winded. The god of hard work's dedicated servants, certainly. Sakura felt weak in the knees.

"You did good, Sakura. I will tell Lady Tsunade that you burn with the fires of youthfulness and hard work!" Lord Guy told her.

Sakura nodded weakly. At least Tsunade would know that she was making good use of her time off. Lord Guy went back into the temple, and both she and Lee watched his green spandex-clad form retreat into the Eight Tails' domain.

"Sakura, do you want to go spar at the training grounds? I have been over to the battle god's temple and learning new taijutsu moves! I would like to teach you!" Lee said. Sakura gave an exhausted smile. Lee only ever spoke in questions and exclamations. And naturally, he'd learned something new and wanted to show it off.

"I do. Let me catch my breath first, and maybe get some water."

"Oh of course, Sakura, how very cruel of me not to offer you water when you have been training very hard with us! Please, wait here while I get you some water!" Lee bowed to her twice in rapid succession and ran off into the temple. Sakura leaned against the wall and slid down with a puff-cheeked exhalation of breath, glad to be still for just a moment. A moment was all she had before Lee came dashing out carrying a sealed water skin. Sakura watched him run, glad that it was sealed, because he would have watered the cobblestones instead of her if it wasn't.

She stood again as he arrived, gratefully accepting the skin. "Thank you, Lee," she said, before uncorking it and downing most of the water in one go. She passed it to Lee, who finished it off before wiping his mouth with a satisfied 'Ahh'.

"Shall we train, Sakura?" Lee asked.

"Let's!" Sakura agreed. They raced to the training fields near the One Tail's temple. Lee won, naturally, but Sakura put up a good fight. They skidded to a halt on the sand. Unlike the sand inside the Tanuki's temple, this hadn't been brought from the desert. This sand came from Miyajima's shores, and was definitely not sacred.

There weren't too many people on the training grounds right now, so Lee and Sakura were able to find some space for themselves. They first spent some time warming up with a shuriken-throwing contest, which somehow escalated to a contest of 'throw anything you can find that you can fit in your hand', with Lee and Sakura throwing chunks of wood, stones, flowers, and any other random objects they could find. It was good practice, even if it was a bit silly when Lee hefted a log nearly as large as himself at the target. Sakura laughed so hard she fell down.

"Are you ready to learn some new taijutsu, Sakura?" Lee asked, standing over her and staring down at her with his wide black eyes. Sakura got a hold of herself, stopping her choking laughter and standing up.

"Yeah," she said. "Show me."

Lee took a ready stance, legs apart and his defensive hand palm out, and his guard hand near his hip. Sakura pulled over the log he'd tossed and sat on it, watching as Lee went through a complex routine once, twice, three times; and then she joined in on the fourth. Lee stopped mid-way to correct something she did wrong, and they started all over again.

Before an hour was out, Lee had her doing the routine fairly well. After that, they switched to sparring. Sparring with Lee was always interesting. Sakura usually lost, but she didn't mind. Nearly everyone lost against Lee. She always learned something new, and usually got to practice something he'd just taught her.

Partway through their sparring match, Sakura had the odd feeling of someone watching her. She glanced in the direction and was somewhat surprised to see Gaara, leaning against a post with that familiar arms-crossed stance, watching her and Lee spar. He met her eyes across the training grounds, and Sakura gave him a quick wave of acknowledgement before having to turn her attention back to dodging Lee. Heavens help her if he ever took off his weights and fought without handicaps. He was a difficult enough opponent as it was. Sakura had no doubt that her green-clad friend would end up either the next high priest of the Eight Tails or would end up otherwise highly placed in the Ox's priesthood.