Mevy: Hey there everyone, Mayeevee here with a new installment of Blooming
Sakura: (Sigh) And as late as always
Mevy: There is a reason I never made an updating schedule
Shisui: Kami you have no shame
Mevy: (Grinning) Nope
Sasuke: Why do we put up with this bi-
Mevy: (Holding a knife against Sasuke's neck) What was that?
Sasuke: (Gulp) Nothing
Tsunade: Just start the story, I do not have time for this
Mevy; (Slightly scared) Yes ma'am, Neji sweetcheeks, the disclaimer
Neji: (Disturbed) Hn, Mayeevee does not own Naruto or any of the characters from the franchise in this story. This is just her sorry excuse of a fanfic.
Mevy: (Crying) Cold-hearted jerk as always. Welp, here are the review responses
LadyCalus: You truly are an angel, thank you for informing me of the typo. My computer seems to auto-correct Shisui's name as Sasuke's name, but I finally added Shisui to the dictionary so hopefully that won't happen again. Thank you again for taking the time to inform me of this and please enjoy this new chapter.
Emma3mikan: Haha as long as I have great reviewers as you I certainly will. I feel so happy kindhearted people review my story, thank you and please enjoy this new chapter.
GinaCat: I'm so happy that people are actually enjoying this. I really hope you will continue to like this chapter and further chapters to come.
Emzy2k11: Sorry for the wait, I am not the most punctual of people. I;m happy that you are enjoying the story so far, hopefully you will equally like this new installment.
Marisilveirad: I'm happy that you do, I really love hearing that people actually love this story. I hope you continue to read. Enjoy this new chapter.
Nedrag94: Well here it is! Hopefully it lives up to your expectations lol
Bloodmoon Goddess: You don't know how much I am touched you are a faithful reader, I am so happy that you love this story so much. People like you are the muses that keep me writing, thank you and hopefully you will stick around as the plot further unfolds. Believe me, the plot has not truly begun just yet. Enjoy!
Ael24strawberry: Haha, hopefully this didn't come out as late as I think it did. I am glad you enjoy the story so far and hopefully you stick around to the end. Enjoy this new chapter
daliap. perez: Es mi placer! Denuevo lo siento si mi espanol esta mal, soy mexicana pero no lo e practicado tanto jaja. Bueno lo que Sakura está escondiendo va a ser revelado muy pronto, mas le lo que piensas. Espero que te guste este nuevo capítulo
Naomipy: Glad to know you liked it, hopefully you like this one just as much.
Guest: I'm happy to know that you like the story so far, hopefully you like this new chapter!
Angeldancer93: First of all, thank you so much for your wonderful review, it really made my day to read it. Also, the reason for which Shisui and Itachi took her, well it wasn't really one of those "We saw her and we knew she was the one" type of thing. In the end, it was pure timing, luck, and a sense of duty. Mostly pity though, which I don't like either but it's the truth. Shisui saw Sakura like someone would see an abandoned puppy, he wanted to take care of her, he is someone who loves justice if what his biography said was true, and he wouldn't take such blatant show of desertion for he also believed in teamwork. Itachi was mostly just pulled along by his cousin's show of duty, that and a new sort of interest in Sakura's new technique. So, really Sakura was just lucky she met them at that time, alone and in need of someone to give her a chance. Lol, now I just ranted, sorry about that. Also, you will have to wait until later chapters to see what will happen between Sakura and Team Seven, the three met of team seven will soon have a fresh wake up call in terms of Sakura lol
Savemechocolate: Haha, I updated! Lol sorry for the wait, I am not the greatest in timing. I'm happy that you are enjoying the story so far and Hope that you like this new chapter of Blooming!
Mevy: I am soo happy that so many people are reviewing to this story, it is truly mind blowing. Thank you all for your support and hope that you like this new chapter!
Chapter 7: I trust you
Her mind swam in the blissful black oblivion. She felt as if she was for once truly free as she floated around the dark surroundings. Suddenly, a light was seen in the distance.
At first she had the desire to stay away from the bright light, wanting to stay in the welcomed darkness, yet that resolve suddenly broke as she heard familiar voices calling her name.
"Sakura? Sakura please wake up! Sakura!"
She swam faster towards the light, or did she float? She no longer knew the difference really, all she knew was that she needed to go closer to those voices, she needed to escape this peacefully world.
Finally she dove into the light, white filled her vision as she felt herself waking up.
"Sakura, you're finally awake!" She heard a cheerful voice exclaim. At first she believed it had come from Naruto, at the thought a warm feeling swarmed in her mind, that would most likely mean her team had been there, they were worried for her!
Seconds later those hopefully thoughts left her, the voice had been too deep to be Naruto's, there was also the fact that she could see black hair in her blurring vision.
At first the realization squashed her heart, her team had not come to check on her. The pained feeling soon left when she realized the person calling to her was in fact Shisui. Once more her heart fluttered, even more so when she saw Itachi standing a little ways away yet close enough for her to make him out.
Blinking a few more times, Sakura tried to adjust her blurry vision as she looked at the two Uchihas. Before any questions could be asked a certain blonde woman suddenly appeared in the room.
"Seems you have awaken" Tsunade said with an irritated voice, yet happiness can be made out by the slight tilt of her lips and the softness form her honey brown eyes. "How are you feeling brat?"
Sakura took a moment to slightly check in on herself. Other than some tiredness she felt just fine, which was a wonder seeing as that she had been resting for all this time.
"Great actually" Sakura decided to say, hoping that would be enough for her to be discharged and be sent on her merry way.
"That's good actually, because we have something very important to discuss." Tsunade claimed, her warm eyes narrowing from seriousness as her stare penetrated Sakura's form.
Sakura felt the atmosphere change in an instant. She notice the slight stiffen in the two Uchihas postures (Shisui being the most noticeable) as Tsunade looked directly into her eyes, honey brown analyzing her very being.
"Sakura you had another nightmare, this one while you were recuperating. Thankfully you didn't manage to cause too much harm in your physique, but it was still quite a serious reaction." Tsunade said, her words cutting as she never took her eyes away from her student's own.
Sakura felt her whole world falling out of its axis. She thought she had gotten over those Kami forsaken nightmares. She believed she was cured, that she had finally made peace with the past events.
'Why? Why can't I just accept the past as the past. Why do I have to keep re-seeing those awful events?'
"Sakura, we want you to tell us what's wrong, me and Tachi-chan here want to help you. All you have to do is let us in" Shisui then cut in, his own gaze strong as it seemed to hold Sakura in place. She could not look away from his oblivion orbs as she gritted her teeth.
His words pulled at Sakura's chest as she tried to look away, but to no avail. Could she? Could she really let these two men who she barely knew? Should she tell them those thoughts would have been taboo before? Even when her own team did not even know of the nightmares she was haunted by, much less the cause for them.
Sakura took in a deep breath, she didn't know whether to tell them or not, the pain was as still too fresh, too deep. She wanted to tell them, Oh how much she wished she could let all this weight leave her shoulders if even a bit, even if it will have to be carried by another, was that too selfish of her?
Sakura felt comfort as Shisui stared at her with soft black eyes, Itachi too now stood next to her, his posture much more approachable. This made up her mind as Sakura readied herself for what she was about to say, yet at the same time she felt anxious at the words about to leave her mouth.
Should she really reveal this? Especially to people she had just barely met?
Shaking her head Sakura let all those negative thoughts leave her mind. They had been there for her more than the team she had been assigned to. They had taught her more in the few hours she had been with them than Kakashi himself had in the months she had been under his tutelage. Maybe this was the first step she had to take to make them trust her. Maybe, if she opened herself first, they would follow through soon enough. A team was built on trust, something she had not experienced with Team Seven, but maybe, just maybe, she would be able to accomplish it with these two. These thoughts made up her mind as Sakura finally spoke.
"A few years ago, around the time I was 8 or 9, my mother contacted a disease unknown the the Konoha hospital. The doctors thought that this disease would not be terminal, that it was some kind of genetic factor that made my mother act up. If only it had been just that, the disease went from some type of genetic factor to a full out killer in a few weeks. At first it had only been small stuff, things like fatigue or loss of appetite. The more serious signs had been coughing of blood leading up to random fainting.
It had gone to the point where my mother could no longer control any body function. She couldn't even talk, having lost most feeling in her mouth area, it was to the point where she was bedridden and had to be fed through tubes..."
Sakura suddenly choked up, tears managing to fall from her eyes as the memories of her mother being in such a sad state entered her thoughts. The once independent and strong woman being bedridden and left to depend for the most basic of things, it had been a truly agonising sight, one which continues to hunt Sakura's memories throughout her life.
"There had been nothing that could be done, all the the doctors could really do was take samples of her blood and give her medicine to better circulate the blood which seemed to not be traveling fluidly, yet they weren't sickle cells like the doctors had first thought, the cells were normal in shape but the chemical function had been different. It got to the point where my mom had to be injected with different antibiotics almost every single day because even the slightest of colds could kill her at that point.
Then it was almost like a miracle stoke, my mom got better, the cells traveled more easily through the vessels as she seemed to make remarkable recovery. The doctors believed that if she continued to make such recoveries she would be cured in no time."
A sob escaped Sakura's lips as she tried to stop the tears from falling, yet it was in vain as further tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Almost a week later I visited my mother, I commonly visited once a day if not every two days, trying to keep her company. The doctor had just finished checking on her, everything seemed fine." Another sob escaped Sakura as Shisui took her hands into his own, trying to comfort her the best he could. Yet he made no sound, even though he had an idea of what was coming next.
"The heart monitor had suddenly started to pick up." Sakura continued retelling, her eyes now closed as she leaned fully into Shisu. Her voice came out in with increasing effort. She was holding back sobs, wanting to tell the whole story before she fully broke down. " It had been out of nowhere, she was having an attack and all I could do was cry out to the doctors while at the same time begging my mother to stay with me, to not give up."
Sakura took a as she tightened her hold on Shisui's hands, trying to find comfort in them as she buried her cheek against his chest.
"She died in my arms, the last things she had said was 'I love you little blossom', it had been slightly incoherent yet I still managed to understand her completely as she layed in my arms, letting out her last breath as the doctors tried in vain to help her, using chakra to try and restart her heart, too busy to even think of removing me as they tried to bring my mother back. In the end they gave up, they tried removing me from her but I wouldn't let them. I stayed there holding my mother's corpse until a childhood friend and new guardian had come and taken me back home. In the end I decided to join the Ninja academy, my mother's friend taking full custody of me."
Sakura finished off the story, tears still flowing her hands letting go of Shisui's as she wrapped them around herself, her face now buried in his chest. She tried to rid the images of her mother laying in her arms, the once warm and lively woman reduced to a still and cold corpse while all Sakura could do was hold her close and ask her to hold on in vain.
She felt warmth envelope her as he face was crushed more fully against Shisui's chest. She could feel the soft fabric as large hands started to rub her back gently. She heard Shisui whisper sweet nothings in her ear as she gave in and snuggled into his embrace. She allowed herself to be pulled into the warmness as tears continued to flow, not looking ready to stop just yet.
Finally, after a few more minutes sobs subdued to simple hiccups as her tear supply seemed to have finally dried up. Sakura gently leaned back from Shisui yet didn't exactly get out of his embrace. Her cheeks burned from embarrassment as she quickly wiped away the rest of her tears, trying to revive the sliver of dignity she had left.
"Sh-shisui...I'm so sorry! Your shirt-" before Sakura could continue Shisui gently shushed her as he gave her his usual large gins.
"It's fine Blossom-!" At the sudden realization of what he had called her, Shisui clamped up, remembering what Sakura had said had been her mother's last words to her.
Sakura revised what made Shisui suddenly go silent, understanding filled her as she gave him a sad smile. "I really like it when you call me that, it reminds me of how she used to call me. It makes me feel…..safe."
Sakura blushed at what she had just said as she buried her face in her arms, wishing for the ground to open and swallow her whole.
For a moment Shisui was flabbergasted at what the little pink haired genie had just said, never having believed she would ever say something like that out loud. A grin made itself once more known on his face as Shisui's eyes glinted in amusement.
"Then from now on your new new nickname will be blossom, ne Tachi-chan you'll also have to call her that."
At first Itachi was going to argue back one that the statement. He was not one to mess around with the childish antics of giving nicknames, finding the very function of them useless. If one already had a name there was no need in giving each other varying names just for the fun of it. Codenames he could understand, but simple nicknames for friends? He couldn't truly fathom the idea.
Yet, something about seeing Sakura splutter in opposition and shock made him play along, just to be able to see what type of face she would make.
"Blossom is is," that was one for the first times Itachi had to suppress a chuckle in years as Sakura turned beat red. She opened and closed her mouth that akin to a fish until she finally closed it with a final snap, not finding any words to say as she instead decided to once more bury her face in her arms, her ears still showing an alarming shade of red.
"Tachi you bully," Itachi couldn't help himself from chuckling as the pinkette retaliated with the same nickname his cousin had given him. Sakura's head shot up at the sound of his chuckling as she stared at him in amazement, eyes shining as if she had just found the most extravagant treasure there was.
Itachi let a small smile show as he gently picked her forehead, patting her head afterwards.
Tsunade watched the scene from the sidelines; a smile pulling at the corners of her lips as she saw the interactions between the three of them. She had never seen Sakura so relaxed before, no one would have ever know the atmosphere had been so depressing before as they seemed to communicate with each other without using words.
'Seems like you found another place to belong Sakura.' Suddenly Tsunade's demeanor took a turn as her eyes grew serious. 'I wonder how your teammates will take to this new development.'
Tsunade sighed, knowing that a confrontation will take place in the coming future. She just hoped Sakura will make the right choice once the time came.
'What is it that you want, Sakura?' the answer, she was sure, not even Sakura knew herself.
O.O.O
A few hours more of checkups and 'recovery' Sakura had finally been given the green light to leave the hospital. She had been able to convince Tsunade, just barely mind you, to not inform Team 7 of what had occurred. Letting them know would have opened up countless questions and the pinkette wasn't exactly in the mood to lie to her team, but neither was she ready to tell them the truth.
Sadly, after being discharged Sakura was informed by her mentor that she would have to take therapy sessions once more, not only because of the hospital mishap but also for something that had seemed to happen in the last mission -what it was Sakura was unsure of- They had to make sure she was coherently sane and not about to snap unexpectedly.
Sighing for the thousandth time that day, the young genin continued her walk towards her home. It was now close to nighttime and she had to make sure she was in top shape for tomorrow. Her stay at the hospital had taken up surprisingly a little more a day and a half,, which could explain why she was not in the most tip top of shape. The doctors tried to keep her overnight once more, but finding nothing wrong with her (other than the nightmares, yet there was nothing they could do for her other than giving her sleeping pills) she was begrudgingly let free.
Itachi and Shisui had left hours earlier, having been called in by their clan. Something about a last minute meeting that had been scheduled. They had apologised to her, but she had waved their words away telling them that she was okay and that they had nothing to worry about. They had left, rather unconvinced by her assurance, and she could not help but feel slightly saddened looking at their retreating backs.
Tsunade, bless her soul, had put a potted plant from the hallways inside her room at her request, letting her feel peaceful in the remainder of her stay. Her mentor had looked at her questionably when she had asked, but chose not to comment and had instead told one of the nurses to bring in the plant. The pinkette's chakra a had automatically gone in the plant, causing Tsunade to watch in wonder. She had asked questions such as what she had found in the library over this finding, causing Sakura the disclose the notebook she had found in the restricted area. Tsunade had looked quite intrigued by the information and had told Sakura to continue her search as soon as possible.
Sighing once more, Sakura found that she had finally made it to her house while deep in thought. Grabbing the keys from her back pocket in her shorts, she opened the locked door and went inside. Taking off her shoe, Sakura smiled sadly at the picture of her parents.
"I almost forgot how much I missed you these past few weeks. Seems like the memories striked back with vengeance because of it. Though, now that I think about it, the dream before the nightmare was particular. I wonder what it was about." Shaking her head Sakura mentally berated herself over her paranoia, it had just been a normal confusing dream that was nothing more than her imagination acting up.
Walking farther in her apartment, Sakura decided that a shower was in order to try and wash away the events of the day.
O.O.O
The next day Sakura readied herself for her normal morning hospital schedule. Deciding to eat sushi rather than dango that morning, Sakura quickly prepared the easier food, making sure to make extra for lunch. Once finished Sakura quickly took off towards the hospital via rooftops to arrive on time.
Going through the motions of her shift she was surprised when she met Shikamaru for a check up. The lazy genius seemed as bored as ever, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Sakura wanted nothing more than to die at that moment, looking down at her schedule she flipped the page over to see that he was in fact her next patient. Well, that's what she gets for not checking the schedule beforehand.
Sighing, the pinkette grabbed a hold of her bearings. She had hoped to Kami above that no one in her age group other than her team would ever see her in this outfit. Sadly it seemed that Kami was not on her side these past few days. Holding back the urge to run away screaming 'I QUIT,' around the hospital, Sakura put on her professional mask as she walked in the room with purpose.
"Nara-san, I presume you are here for your annual check up." Inwardly cringing at the words she had been drilled to say, she looked at the files she had been given beforehand. Checking over his information, she found that he had been to the hospital recently because of a broken foot and mild poisoning, courtesy of their last mission. Seems like Team 7 weren't the only ones with shitty luck on missions.
"Have you been feeling any discomforts or any pains that should be noted?" Sakura continued, noticing his blank stare as he seemed to gaze at her in confusion.
Finally snapping out of his trance, Shikamaru muttered a silent 'troublesome' before answering a simple no. Nodding her head Sakura checked it off of the checklist before stepping closer to the male.
"Okay, I'm going to be examining your internal organs to make sure that they are working correctly. First though, I would like you to please remove your shirt." Shikamaru blushed ever so slightly at her words. Sakura managed to fight her own blush down. Even after seeing so many shirtless men in her time as a nurse, she still had to manually control her cheeks from heating, stupid shinobi with their stupidly well built bodies.
Still looking uncomfortable, Shikamaru managed to take his shirt off as his muscles tensed over the new coldness. Nodding her head in thanks, she smiled at him before placing her clipboard down. "Okay, I'm going to put my hands on your chest. This might feel uncomfortable at first."
"Troublesome, just do it already." Not at his rudeness, Sakura's right hand glowed a light green as she placed it over the brunette's surprisingly well built body. Using the chakra to help relax his muscles, she later made sure that his lungs and heart worked correctly.
"Could you breath deeply for me?" Following her orders Shikamaru took in a deep breath before letting it go. Nodding, Sakura was happy to see his lungs expand normally. Letting her chakra check over the rest of his bodily organs, she was able to see just how well his systems were working. While they were mostly orderly, she was able to see a certain strain in both his back muscles and legs. Either from extensive training or too much weight of something she was unsure of, but it had to be uncomfortable.
"Nara-san, I am able to see certain strains in part of your body. I will try to relax them, but to do so you might feel uncomfortable at first." At his hesitant nod, Sakura placed her board in the stand next to the bed. "Now please lay down in you stomach."
Doing as she commanded, Shikamaru tensed as Sakura placed her hands on his back. Her hands glowing green, she worked in internally massaging his muscles while at the same time sucking away the fatigue using chakra, it was slightly grueling but effective as she felt Shikamaru relax under her. Moving her hands to his thigh, she thought about making him wear a hospital gown but thought better of it. While it would be more difficult to use chakra though cloth, Sakura was not about to make this visit more extensive than it already was. And so, wishing to all the gods that this will work, Sakura pushed her chakra through his inanimate clothing and into his skin. It took longer than it usually would, but once she found his strain she made quick work of it.
"All done Nara-san. Your systems are working well and now your muscles are all relaxed and unstrained. I would recommend visiting the hot springs more often. Too much strain and you might hurt your muscles irreparably." At his nod, Sakura gave him half a bow before leaving, trying not to run out like she wanted to. She really hoped this would be the last time she met anyone from the Rookie nine.
O.O.O
Sakura had become quite predictable, without her knowledge that was. If anyone asked, she would be found either in the hospital, or in the training grounds, not that anyone other than her two self appointed sensei's knew. So it shouldn't really have come as a shock to her when the only time they met outside of team training was in the training grounds, with their own respective teacher.
So that's how Sakura found herself facing both Naruto and Sasuke, standing besides Jiraiya and Kakashi respectively in her way to meditate, get some physical training, and read over scrolls about chakra control and how to sharpen it. Tsunade had told her she needed to be able to withstand weight twice her own and have almost perfect chakra control before she fully mastered inhuman strength.
Not only that but Itachi and Shisui had set up a meeting date tomorrow to train. She needed to sharpen her control so that she could be able to better meet their expectations this time.
But she had not really visualized meeting her teammates. She contemplated turning around and running, but had a feeling they wouldn't take that too kindly.
"Sakura-chan! What are you doing here? Where's granny?" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes showing surprise as he started berating her with further questions so fast they were incomprehensible. Sakura, feeling her temper flair, hit him over the head as she finally shut him up. Trying to smile, she gritted her teeth slightly before responding with a shaky voice.
"She is currently busy doing paperwork. She sent me here to practice before she teached me a new skill." Sakura mentally wished she could escape now. While she loved Naruto, he could be quite nosy.
Naruto, seeming to recover from her hit, suddenly seemed to magically get back his strength as he started jumping up and down once more. "Hey hey, want to train with me and Sasuke-teme? You can tell me how awesome I am once I beat him black and blue!"
"As if dobe." Sasuke said with a snide, eyes than staring at Sakura as he seemed to look at her up and them before seeming to dismiss her presence.
Sakura gave the boy a fake smile, trying to make it as genuine as possible while at the same time trying to to murder Sasuke with a stick. "No thank you Naruto. The task Tsunade sent me to do is meant to be done alone in a ...quiet environment.." With Naruto around meditating was close to impossible, bringing in Sasuke to the equation and she would have better luck flying to the moon. That and there would be too many questions she didn't feel like answering just yet.
"Maa, Sakura. Aren't you suppose to be accompanied by a mentor or sensei to get into the training grounds though?" Kakashi asked, interfering when he heard her decline. Smiling at him, Sakura showed him the mark on her palm.
"You're forgetting just who my master is Kakashi-sensei. Tsunade has it all under control." With that Sakura turned, full intent on going to the trees and letting their peaceful chakra relax her. Maybe even practice a few theories she had thought about when reading on some accounts over Hashirama Senju's won jutsu.
"Well then see during tomorrow's training Sakura-chan!" She could still feel Kakashi's stare at her back when she left. She knew that while Sasuke and Naruto had not known about her little hospital visit, Kakashi had been informed. Him being her sensei, he needed to be told of such matters. Yet she had managed to keep Tsunade from telling him about Shisui and Itachi, promising she would do so soon. She needed to get stronger, to fully use the skills they would soon teach her. Then and only then will she tell everyone. She had decided to tell them on the Chunin exams. If she was not ready then, then she would never truly be ready to face her team about such things
Sighing, the pinkette rubbed her forehead, feeling a migraine forming. She quickened her pace as she came inside the training grounds she self-claimed as her own. Breathing in, she felt the tree's leaves shift slightly at the blow of the wind. Her chakra automatically left her body to make its home around the grass that surrounded her.
The small chakra signatures comforted her slightly as Sakura smiled. "Okay, let's do this." She whispered to herself, steeling herself as she sat down on the ground, crossing her legs. Closing her eyes, she let her breath leave her in controlled puffs as she sent her chakra into the trees around her. Like always, once her chakra was concentrated on more than one tree they fought in a game of tug and war.
She felt her headache come back, yet she tried her best to ignore it as she tried to bring down the chaotic presence of so many natural chakra resources. She tried persuading the trees to come down, to work together rather than fighting against each other for her attention. The trees payed no mind to the fruitless persuasion, instead they continued to pull at her chakra causing her senses to over-ride. It felt as if she was in more than one place at the time, as if her consciousness would soon be ripped apart and taken into every tree she had her chakra surround.
Just as she felt she was about to go mad, she felt a force bring something akin to a wall inside her mind as the tree's tug of war was blocked from her consciousness. Taking hold of this opportunity, she quickly brought back her chakra as she no longer had it wrapped around the possessive trees.
'Well that was idiotic of you, good thing you have me or else you would have gone mad.' Sakura sighed as she thanked Inner, still trying to piece her mind back together. Seems like trying to persuade the trees wasn't going to work, in other words she had to find a different way to bring them under control.
'Might advice in trying on less trees dear Saku-chan and going up from there, maybe then you will have a better chance of bringing your consciousness back. I ain't always going to be able to save your ass in times like these.' Sakura sighed, seeing her Inner's point.
'Promise I won't be as careless next time.' Her inner consciousness seemed happy by her promise, now staring towards the trees with a contemplative look on her face.
'Try sharpening your chakra control first, maybe that can help.'
'What do you think I should do? I more or less mastered tree climbing.'
'I was thinking water walking, you have that scroll right?'
Sakura went to the bag she left in the tree close to the clearing. Digging inside she took out the scroll she recently took out from the library. It was a scroll about chakra manipulation and control. Inside the large amount of information about chakra and its uses, towards the end it held an explanation about how water walking worked.
'This will be quite difficult without a teacher though…'
'May I remind you that you are a medic? If you take long on this Tsunade-shishou will throttle you.'
'Point taken.'
'There is a river in the training ground on the right, we'll start there. Shallow, easy, no immediate danger.'
Nodding her head, Sakura grabbed her bag quickly as she made her way through her training ground, heading towards where the stream was located in. She smiled happily, feeling her chakra brush lightly on the different plantation around her. While she didn't get as much information as she would if her chakra was fully wrapped around the trees and plants, she did get small pieces information here and there.
She suddenly heard the soft sound of a river nearby, quickly heading to it she sighed happily at the sight of the small water source.
'Okay, let's do this.' Stopping at the edge, she looked around cautiously. She let her chakra brushed farther in the tree line, trying to feel any hint or flash that would warn her of any shinobi nearby. Happy to see that there was none, she brought back her chakra. She had still not mastered her chakra fully, that being said she would not be able to perform water walking while having some of her chakra concentrated on the plantation nearby.
She took off her shinobi sandals, then her kimono shirt, shivering slightly at the breeze that hit her exposed skin. Breathing in, she felt her chakra deep in her core as she grabbed hold of it for all it was worth. She automatically concentrated the chakra on her feet, just like she did for the tree walking exercise. Remembering everything she had read in the scroll, Sakura put one foot into the water.
The foot quickly started to sink. Furrowing her eyebrows, Sakura took her foot away from the stream as she kneeled into the edge. She pushed chakra into her hands, then brought the hand down into the river. Her hand stayed in the top, even as she pressed against the water. She looked at how chakra moved in her hand. It seemed like the chakra made a sort of hardened force in the water, making it seem like the water was solid.
The water moved around under her, all she needed to do was stabilize her chakra and change her chakra movements to push against the movements of the river, in that way she made it possible to walk on water as if it were a solid surface. The more the water moved under her, the more her chakra had to shift to keep the water under her feet controlled and be strong enough to support her.
Filing all of this inside her mind, Sakura stood up with new found determination in her mind. She could do this, now that she knew the theory behind it she would be able to utilise this skill. Breathing in, chakra once more formed under her foot. She needed to start with a small amount, and then gradually increase the amount until her foot was afloat and on a solid surface in a sense. Seeing her foot sink, she increased the chakra until it was afloat. She checked the strength it held on her water, putting pressure under her foot.
Seeing she was not sinking, she carefully put the same amount of chakra on her other foot. At first she almost lost her balance, the pressure of having to concentrate on two foots and making sure both shifted its chakra to stay afloat almost causing her to fall. She steeled herself, making sure to keep shifting her chakra as she took another step forward. This time a small wave from the stream hit under her foot as Sakura lost control and found herself under water.
Sputtering, Sakura swam to the surface as she gasped and coughed. Groaning, Sakura swam to land as she pulled herself to the ground as she sighed. Well, she was not getting this in her first try this time it seemed. Great.
She tried a few more times, finding herself making friends with the fished each time. Finally, after countless failed attempts, Sakura stood afloat in the the edge of the stream as she concentrated on the steady flow of chakra under her feet. She stayed afloat, her chakra making a sort of floor under her feet to keep her afloat.
She took a tentative step forward, biting her lip as she made sure to keep her chakra stabilized and strong against the slight current. This time, she didn't wobble as much as she usually did. Smiling, Sakura made a few cautious baby steps. Seeing as that she was not underwater yet, Sakura took this as a sign that she was okay as she took normal steps.
A giggle escaped her mouth as she started to stroll around the river. She threw caution to the wild as she started to jump, prance, and then run around like a mad woman. She found herself underwater a few more times in her effort, but all she could do was laugh once in the surface as she merely pushed chakra though her hands and pulled herself up once more, doing the same again and again until she was able to do all of it without sinking once. Slowly but surely, she got used to the flow under her feet until she barely put any mind in the shifting of her chakra as she practically danced around the river.
"Looks like someone is having fun." A shriek escaped the pinkette's mouth as she slipped mid jump and started falling backwards. Chakra released itself from her hold as it practically exploded outside her body, wrapping itself around the grass around the stream and then traveling upwards on the form of the man that had suddenly spoken.
Sakura felt herself become surrounded by water once more. Liquid invaded her respiratory system as her eyes widened before she quickly pushed herself to the top. Too frantic to once more take hold of her disobedient chakra, Sakura pushed herself out of the stream as she coughed and hacked out the horrendous liquid.
Forcing some of her chakra into her hands, a green took form around her hand as she placed it on her lungs. Feeling liquid there, she quickly proceeded to force the liquid upwards until it escaped her mouth.
Coughing the last bit of water out, Sakura fell on her back as she became aware of the man walking closer to her form. Still breathing hard, Sakura slowly turned her head towards the man as she gave him a tired glare.
"The...fuck….?" She spoke through labored breaths, still trying to come out of her near death experience as she tried to clear her blurry vision to see her almost killer.
"Sorry kid, didn't think I would give you such a scare. Though, I would recommend against letting your guard down, especially in the training grounds." The genin could detect a teasing tone in his words, that in turn caused anger to fill her as she sat up, albeit with great difficult. Forcing her blurriness away, Sakura turned to see the soon to be dead man.
He looked to be a jounin, around Kakashi's age if she had to guess. He had shoulder length brown hair with his forehead protector used as some kind of bandanna. He wore the standard jounin uniform and, much to her med-nin side's shock, he had a senbon in his mouth. She forced down all the reprimanding she wished to give him about how unhygienic and dangerous that was. Stupid shinobi with the idiotic fashion sense.
"Who the hell are you?" Sakura cursed Inner Sakura, who had practically forced the words out of her mouth.
'What? We should at least learn the name of the man who almost caused our end.'
'He's a Jounin! Have more respect.'
'He almost killed us, I think our lack of respect is reasonable.'
Deciding that arguing with her stubborn personality was just not worth the effort, Sakura instead took her attention to the currently amused jounin.
"I have a feeling you're the cause of this." Sakura looked at him in confusion, but seeing his gaze going to his feet, Sakura suddenly became aware of her remaining chakra spreading through the grass and some of it making its way around the unknown man.
The young kunoichi cursed. 'So much for keeping this a secret Sakura.'
Rubbing the back of her neck, she quickly grabbed an iron hold of her chakra. It took more force than usual, mostly because her chakra could still feel her residue fear of life and wished to comfort her through the plants. Huffing, she forced the last bit of chakra inside of her core, keeping a strong hold of the rebellious energy.
"Interesting, can't say I've seen that before." For a moment Sakura contemplated making a run for it, but decided against it. This man seemed skilled, she couldn't get a foot away before he had her captured.
Suddenly he disappeared, her fear caused her chakra to break free once more as it took place on the life around her. She felt him appear behind her as she tensed. "Name's Genma, and I'm sure I'll be seeing you around kid." He whispered in her ear causing a shudder to run down her spine. She could almost feel the smirk he gave at her reaction before he disappeared again, leaving the pinkette alone in the clearing.
Mevy: And Genma shows himself at last! Yes! I wanted him to make an appearance soon. His part in this story will be later disclose, but let's just say you have not seen the last of him yet. I confess, he might just be one of my most favorite characters in Naruto….Second only to Itachi and Shisui. I love him, what can I say, and I was anticipating this chapter since chapter 4.
Sakura: Why do I feel like you just made my life more complicated?
Mevy: Oh Sakura, you have no idea…
Itachi: (Glaring at nothing)
Shisui: Agreed cousin, no man should get so close to Blossom. I mean, she doesn't even know him.
Mevy: I don't know wether to be surprised at how well you can understand each other or how easily you get jealous
Naruto: That bastard better stay away from my Sakura-chan!
Genma: Never saw your name on her (smirk)
Naruto: (Growling with Kyubi chakra starting to flow out of him)
Mevy: Hahaha, well that's all folks. Now if you don't mind me I'm getting out of here before I'm caught in the crossfire (Escapes through a trap door)