CHAPTER 4: SOME INTENSE TRAINING

Training Ground 7

The morning sun peeked over the trees to the east and a steady light breeze graced the environment. To Sakura Haruno, it was calmingly peaceful. She sat on a rock next to a large tree, waiting for her teammates to show up. While waiting, she absent-mindedly spun a Kunai around her index finger, gradually making it increase in speed with each rotation.

I really miss the old days, Sakura pondered, back when all of us would meet here for training. She smiled inwardly at the somewhat recent memories of Sasuke and Naruto always trying to outdo each other. It was always entertaining to watch. But at the same time, she was always in the background. She was a fangirl who was almost completely dependent on Sasuke and thoughtlessly let Naruto fight her battles. After seeing what Sasuke did to her whisker-faced comrade, she decided to become a medic and has been training under Tsunade in Medical Jutsu of all kinds. She promised herself that she would be there to help Naruto from now on.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" The sudden appearance of the same hyper blond she was musing about broke her concentration, sending her Kunai flying off her finger- and straight at Naruto's face! It happened so fast, Sakura could only gasp before Naruto moved his head to the side while deflecting the Kunai in the opposite direction with his bare hand, cutting it in the process.

"Naruto! Oh my god, I'm sorry!" Sakura was frantic as she ran to where her teammate stood. She grabbed Naruto's cut hand and healed it within seconds.

"No need to fret, Sakura-chan. It was an accident," Naruto assured comfortingly. Sakura nodded with a grin, not wanting to take it any further.

For the next hour, Naruto and Sakura continued to wait for their sensei to arrive. While Felicia was busy trying to snatch a butterfly out of the air nearby, Naruto showed Sakura the katana he picked up during his solo mission. The blade was a beautiful shade of silver that gleamed in the sunlight while the handle had a red jewel on either side of the bottom part. What intrigued both Genin, however, was that the hand guard was shaped like the head of a dog or some similar animal.

"You should let Ten Ten see it," Sakura concluded, "She should be able to help you."

As if on cue, Kakashi Hatake poofed into existence in front of blond and pinkette, scaring both half to death. He snapped his adult novel closed before putting it away and turning his attention to his students.

"Don't bother with the excuses, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto cut off in annoyance.

"Maybe you should cut back on reading that smut," Sakura added, "Probably why you're always late to everything." Kakashi cocked his one visible eyebrow and simply replied, "Good morning to you, too." He then looked over to where Felicia was still busy trying to catch the same butterfly.

"Is that a human female with cat-like features?" he asked. Naruto knew he was referring to Felicia so he spoke up.

"That's a catgirl named Felicia," he responded to Kakashi's question, "She's currently living with me for the time being. I met her while I was returning from my solo mission the other day." Naruto then went on to retell the story he told Tsunade. Sakura was tearing up as the story came to Felicia's backstory- only to double in emotion upon hearing Naruto's backstory once again.

Sakura already knew of what was sealed inside Naruto. When the blond worked up the courage to tell her after his battle with Sasuke, she finally understood why the adults were so mean to him. Naruto told her of the beatings and insults openly distributed by many of the villagers, how he was a regular at the hospital because of it and how half of the hospital's staff was just as mean. He was halfway through recalling a time when he needed immediate surgical treatment from a very severe mob-fueled beating and the doctors refused to do anything, preferring to let him die of his injuries. Sakura stopped him from continuing by suddenly capturing him in a shaky-yet-firm embrace and crying into his hair. Between sobs, she managed to choke out, "You're not alone anymore. You no longer have to suffer."

Sakura was brought back to reality when Kakashi called her and Naruto's names.

"Despite being 1 member short, we can still work as a team," Kakashi explained, "For today, you two will work as a duo in a sparring match against me. Through this, I will analyze where your strengths are and tweak your future training accordingly." Naruto and Sakura nodded and immediately went on the attack, Sakura targeting Kakashi's legs and Naruto aiming for the head. Kakashi was caught off guard due to the session starting before he could signal to begin, leading to his legs being swept out from under him. He fell forward and took a direct hit in the face from Naruto's fist. The impact sent him flying a good 15 feet away.

"Yatta!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Yosh!" Naruto grunted with satisfaction while high-fiving Sakura.

"No fair!" Kakashi whined as he got to his feet, "I didn't even say to start yet."

"Kakashi-sensei, have you forgotten that I'm Konoha's most unpredictable Shinobi?" Naruto smirked.

"I haven't forgotten, Naruto," Kakashi replied with a mask-hidden smirk of his own, "But you seem to have forgotten that you're fighting an elite Jonin." Before either Naruto or Sakura could react, Kakashi grabbed Naruto from behind and held a kunai to his throat.

"Yield, Sakura," Kakashi warned, "Your partner is as good as dead if you choose otherwise." The seriousness in her sensei's voice scared Sakura greatly. She tried to come up with a plan but desperation was clouding her thinking as she was tensing up every time Kakashi's Kunai inched closer to cutting Naruto's jugular.

Why is Kakashi-sensei doing this? I have to work fast if-, Sakura's thought was interrupted by Kakashi stating, "Too long," and making a move to cut Naruto's throat.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shrieked as she charged her sensei with a kunai in each hand. She arched her swings around Naruto, targeting where Kakashi's neck and shoulder met. Kakashi jumped out of the way, losing his grip on Naruto.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled her teammate's name as she rushed to his side to keep him from collapsing out of shock. Naruto sunk to his knees, his breathing coming out as labored wheezing.

"I'm so sorry! I should've acted sooner," Sakura sobbed while holding his face in her hands. Kakashi watched this from where he stood. While he felt bad for what he just did, he kept in mind that it was for the sake of training. He then approached the two teens and laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder, causing her whip around with a kunai in hand.

"Whoa! Sakura let me explain at least!" Kakashi said defensively.

"Why?" Sakura choked out through fresh tears, "How could you do that?!" Kakashi's heart stung from seeing this but he pressed onward in reasoning.

"I have to prepare both of you for when a scenario like that actually happens," the one-eyed Jonin explained, "If one of you is in trouble, the other must be able to act fast with no hesitation whatsoever. The fate of your comrade is in your hands." Sakura simply looked down to the ground, not saying anything. Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto who was finally snapping out of his shocked state and placed a caring hand on his head.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I understand your shock," the teens' sensei lamented in apology, "But I was trying to teach you an important thing in the Shinobi world: be careful who you trust because even your closest allies can turn on you." The grave expression didn't leave Naruto's face as he nodded in acknowledgement.

Kakashi suddenly stood up and took a few steps away from the teens before turn back around and saying, "How about some Ichiraku's to cheer you guys up? My treat." Naruto was at his sensei's side faster than he could say Chidori. Sakura hurried over to catch up with Felicia bringing up the rear.