I don't own Naruto

Chapter 4

"Good Morning my cute little genins!"

"You're late again you lazy sensei!" Naruto seems to be making up for being quiet last night by being extra loud this morning.

But Kakashi-sensei is late, three hours late.

"Sorry guys, you see I got lost on the way here so I had start over from my apartment a couple times." He puts his hand behind his head, like that makes it okay.

My blonde teammate looks like he's about to blow up and my sullen teammate doesn't look too far behind him, so I interject "So what are we doing today sensei?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked Sakura-chan. Today we will be training. You three will spar each other in turns, so you can get a better understanding of each other's fighting style." That, actually, sounds like a good idea. I had begun to think that our sensei was never going to be useful.

"Alright! Let's go! I'm totally going to kick your ass Teme!" That last sentence seems to have snapped Sasuke's temper and they both take off for the training grounds at high speed, yelling profanities at each other the entire way.

"Well, seems like they're going first. Shall we sensei?"

"We better before they destroy something."

Walking towards the training grounds where we had the bell test, the sounds of the fight get louder. The training grounds are simple, a forested area with a river to one side and a clearing in the middle. Kakashi-sensei and I stop at the edge of the clearing to watch the boys spar. Though it doesn't look like a fight between ninja. The boys are in the middle of a knock down drag out fist fight, no jutsu, no weapons, just a contest to see who can make the other bruise more. Naruto might actually be winning; the boy can take a hit. However, Sasuke's not the rookie of the year for nothing; he's letting Naruto's fists hit in a way that minimizes the damage, yet all of Sasuke's hits are landing solid. I couldn't do this if my life depended on it.

"Kakashi-sensei, I need help."

"In what way Sakura-chan?" Sensei's not even looking at me; he's got that stupid book out again.

"I'm weak sensei. I can't keep up with them." Just one of their hits would knock me out.

"Now what makes you say that? You have been a genin for such a short amount of time, why would you be behind already?"

Now when he says it like that it makes sense, but I've noticed a few things. "I am just a girl from a civilian family. My father tolerated me going to the academy, but he never let me train on my own. As soon as I got done with school for the day, I had to go home and begin what he called my 'real studies.' In physical strength I'm behind everyone right now."

"Now don't be so hard on yourself. There are others that were in the academy that came from civilian backgrounds."

"Yes, you're right, but they were all paired with each other. Not a single one was paired with a genin from a ninja background, like I was. They are all at the same level, so they can all work together equally. Unlike me, those two are so far ahead of me all I'll ever do is hold them back."

"That's a good observation-"

"And that's not all, I know that Sasuke has had private tutors since he was, like, eight. The clan would spare no expense for the second son of their esteemed leader. And Naruto, don't think I never noticed the ANBU that used to walk him home. At first I thought it was because of the pranks, but then I took a real long glance at a picture of the fourth Hokage. I'm nothing compared to the son of the greatest Hokage we've ever had and the son of Konoha's strongest clan."

I seem to have actually stunned Kakashi-sensei; he put his book away and fully turned towards me. "That, right there, is why you were chosen for this team. Your mind is one of the sharpest to ever come out of the academy. You may not have known this, but you scored first on every test you have ever been given by the academy. No one has done that since Uchiha Itachi. Your IQ rivals the Nara clan's."

That can't be right. I know I'm smart and I studied a lot, but I'm no genius. I thought my score on the final was a fluke. Kakashi-sensei actually chuckles when I tell him this.

"This isn't funny, I'm not a genius."

"According to your grades you are. You have an incredible instinct, that's how you got every question right. If you didn't automatically know the answer, you could reason through it. I know this because the Hokage made me watch over the exam so no one could cheat."

"I…there's no way…" He must be insane, I'm not that good. I'm just lucky. "Whatever, that's off topic. I need to get stronger so I can hold my own with the boys." There, back in safe territory.

He lets out another chuckle, but lets the previous topic pass. "Alright then, all you can do is train. Start with building muscle and chakra, that's all I can tell you." I can feel my face fall. He's not going to help me, he's my sensei, isn't he supposed to help me. He must see these thoughts pass across my face, because he glances at the boys then nods for me to follow him into the forest.

"Alright Sakura, I'll get you started on something that can help you until you can 'hold your own.' Remember the bell test?" At my nod he continues "Think back to when Sasuke came at me, what did he use against me?"

"He used various jutsu and projectiles," and after a pause I add, "and wires."

"Bingo, wires, what do you know about them?"

Wires? He's going to teach me about wires? "Um… They're often used in traps or in ploys to get the enemy distracted?" I know this ended up sounding like a question, but I really don't see where he's going with it.

Maybe he's being kinky? He does read that book.

Oh my god, shut up.

"Right, but they can also be used to restrain an enemy, or save yourself from a fall, or even to retrieve objects. Wires have a wide range of uses, I'll get you started then you can adapt them for almost anything."

At my eager nod, he reaches into his pouch and takes out a set of wires and hands it to me. "Okay, what now, sensei?"

"Now you get to know the wires and how they move, tie a kunai to the end and try to loop it around that branch." He points to a medium sized tree on my right, about midway up there's an oddball branch that sticks out farther than the others.

"Okay." This shouldn't be too hard. I take out my kunai and ready the wire. Holding the wire be the kunai, I throw it at the branch. It soars there perfectly and loops around the branch. Happy with my success I look for my next instruction.

"Nice try, but next time don't let go of the wire." I look down and sure enough, I'm an idiot.

After retrieving the wire and kunai I loop one end around my hand and let it fly again. Once again it loops the branch and I look to Kakashi-sensei.

"Not bad, now pull tight." I do as he says and the kunai flips over the branch and takes a nosedive back to the earth, taking the wire with it. Okay, so that didn't work. Reeling the kunai back in, I try again with similar results.

Ten attempts later with no success, Kakashi stops me. "Try pulling tight quicker. Keep complete control of the wire." Three tries later and I have the wire strung tight between me and the tree.

"Good, now pull tighter," I do as he says. And end up letting out a cry of pain as the end wrapped around me hand bites into the flesh. "Don't wrap it around you bare hand."

No Duh! Thanks for the warning.

For once I agree with Inner, and send a glare to Kakashi-sensei.

"How am I supposed to hold it then?" With a slightly demeaning look he points to his own glove covered hand.

"Wires are sharp and can hurt you as much as they hurt your opponent, don't use them in a real battle until you have control of them. If you want to control them even better then saturate them in your chakra. That will improve your aim and make them stronger; some can even move them like extensions of their bodies if they have good enough chakra control."

As I'm taking all this in, I can hear the boy's fight escalating. It sounds like there're getting louder, or maybe close-oomph.

"Just, give up Naruto."

"You give up, you can barely stand."

"Look who's talking."

Those idiot boys have just rolled to where Kakashi-sensei and I were training. Smacking right into me, and then continuing their fight. Though neither one is actually standing, they've locked hands and are on their knees, trying to make the other give in. They're bruised and bloody, and I'm pretty sure they are keeping each other up.

Kakashi-sensei joins me in watching the pathetic spectacle my teammates are making and asks, "You wanted to be strong like that?"


Chapter 4 done. Don't worry Sakura is not going to become some super ninja, she's just smart. All that studying had to go somewhere right?