Chapter 7


Eventually Team 7 made it out to a wide grassy area with tall, tall trees surrounding them.

True to his word, Kakashi had choked down the whole pot of odious tea Sakura had brewed for him as well as taken a pill of mysterious origin Sakura insisted he take. He suspected it was a soldier pill of some sort, but Sakura had been purposefully cagey about it. It was just as likely to have been a placebo sugar pill meant to psych him out. Regardless, everything Sakura had given him was helping and he barely needed the crutches he was leaning on now.

Sasuke stayed at least three steps away from the rosette maiden, still nearly incandescent in her feminine rage against men for looking down on her. Her eyes held no patience in them and even he was wise enough to not provoke her any further.

Naruto, oblivious as ever looked excited to just be out in the sunshine with the promise of training.

"Alright! Training! Let's get started!"

"Ok then. First, we should begin with a review of chakra. Understanding chakra is essential to a shinobi."

"BLAH BAH BLAH. Elemental life energy, spiritual energy and physical energy and being in balance with one another and using hand signs as a conduit for the focus of the chakra to be unleashed, WE GET IT ALREADY! LET'S SKIP TO THE GOOD STUFF."

Naruto waved away any explanation Sakura or Kakashi might have given, impatient in his haste to learn something new.

"For once, I agree with Naruto. We already know this stuff."

"AND BESIDES. ISN'T THE WHOLE POINT TO LEARN THE JUTSU? WE'RE ALREADY USING CHAKRA IN OUR JUTSUS ANYWAY."

Standing side by side, it was likely the very first time Sasuke and Naruto had ever been on the same side about something. Each of them looked to Kakashi with quirked brows and tense shoulders.

"NO. You haven't mastered it. You've barely scratched the surface."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"Calm down Naruto. Let Kakashi-sensei finish." Sakura could only stand so much it before she snapped at him. "He's trying to say something important."

"Thank you, Sakura. What I'm trying to say is that every different type of jutsu needs a different amount of chakra for it. Remember that chakra is both physical and spiritual energy. Up until now you've just been guessing at what ratio of chakra to use, hoping that it would turn out all right. What I'm going to show you know is how to start controlling it."

Kakashi, not one to give up an opportunity for theatrics, bowed his head, "In order to find this control you must train so hard that it becomes second nature. You must be ready... to put your lives on the line."

Sakura rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. But she could see how Naruto tensed with a nervous gulp and how even Sasuke looked mildly enraptured, curious about what Kakashi would tell them to do.

"So sensei, what do we have to do?" Sakura fed him the setup for the punchline with a deliberately bored tone of voice.

Kakashi raised his head smiling widely at them all and chuckling softly. "Climb a tree."

"CLIMB A TREE?"

"What?"

"Of course we do."

"That's right. But there's just one rule. No hands."

"NO HANDS?"

"Naruto! Stop yelling and repeating everything!"

Kakashi cleared his throat for attention. "Yes, well. I'm sure you've seen Sakura doing her chakra exercises during training back home? Why don't you lead this lesson today, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded, "Well, I've been practicing my chakra control and I've got a fairly good grip on it. Chakra control is very important for a medical ninja, but according to some of the doctors, I have a natural talent for it." Psh, understatement.

"Take my word for this, it's not as easy as it looks." Sakura took in Naruto's wide expectant eyes and Sasuke's disbelieving stare.

She made a show of breathing in deeply, concentrating and bringing chakra to her feet. She then walked calmly over to a tree, placing one foot above the other until she reached a high bough. Walking underneath the bough she looked back at her team completely upside down, a small smile on her face.

"Whoa! Sakura-chan! You climbed straight up!"

Sakura's smile morphed into a full out grin. "Focus your chakra to the soles of your feet. Then you can use it to connect to the tree."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he tipped his face up to her.

"Hn. Nice trick Sakura, but how is this supposed to help exactly?"

Sakura worked her jaw a bit, wanting to not get riled up. "Doing this exercise causes you to focus, using a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy you'll have to bring a precise amount of chakra to a precise point on your body: the soles of your feet."

"Sakura's right," Kakashi chimed in, "If you can master this skill, you can master any jutsu - well in theory."

"And it's not just bringing your chakra to your feet, but about maintaining it as well. It'll be even more difficult in battle when you'll have to focus on other things. Controlling your chakra should become second nature to you."

Sakura pulled two kunai knives from her holster and threw them. They each landed right in front of the boys.

"Use the kunai to mark the tree when you get to your highest point. Then, try again. And again. And again. Until you get as far as you can. Use a running start to give you momentum until you get used to it."

Naruto snatched up the kunai in front of him, a fierce glower on his face. "Don't worry about me Sakura-chan! I'm gonna go all the way. Believe it!"

Sasuke locked eyes with Sakura, promising her in silent gestures that he too was going to try his best, echoing Naruto's sentiment. Then, the two rivals exchanged glares before closing their eyes in concentration.

Sakura reached up, letting go of the branch by the soles of her feet, only to swing herself up by her hands. She settled herself comfortably against the trunk in order to watch their progress. She saw Kakashi's exposed eye focused on the two as well.

"RAAHHH." Naruto ran headfirst into the tree, getting almost the same reaction as he had the first time Sakura remembered him trying this. However, this time around, he got more than just 2 steps in. He managed to make it up the tree at least a good three feet before losing control and falling back down.

Sakura shifted to see Sasuke's progress. He was doing well. Almost three stories up before the bark underneath his feet cracked due to too much chakra pressure. She could practically hear his mind racing, figuring out what he had done wrong and comparing it to Naruto's attempt and Sakura's ease.

A sharp ache echoed in Sakura's chest.

From above like this, without being able to see the color of his eyes, Sasuke looked like Satoshi, give or take an inch or two. She chuckled a little sadly to herself at how strong the Uchiha genes must be. Satoshi looked exactly like his father. Did Sasuke look like his father? She wondered.

She'd been able to push most of her longing away but sometimes it hit her too hard. Her hand reached up to her necklace.

And now this.

She knew she wouldn't be able to keep the ring a secret for long. But how was she supposed to explain to Sasuke why she had it?

"Sakura."

Her head snapped up. Kakashi's eye looked into hers. Sometime during her internal debate, he had come up to sit beside her, his crutches across his lap.

"Yes?" Sakura shook her head softly, refocusing her attention to her boys. Judging from the marks on the tree, Sasuke looked to be on his fourth attempt and Naruto on his seventh.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi's solemn eye brooked no argument and making sure that the two others were sufficiently distracted, Sakura began in a small voice,

"I just... Lots of things? It's hard Kakashi. Like that fight with Zabuza. I could have beat him. I should have been able to take him. At least put up a better fight. But I had to hold back. And that's part of the problem. How much do I hold back? How much do I give? How do I keep the balance and still change enough to make a difference? This was a one-time shot. If I mess up, I mess up and the future is... left without hope. And I know I'm not doing well so far. I- I- just can't. Naruto and Sasuke both suspect something. Sasuke more than Naruto."

She deliberately left out mention of the ring, even though she knew Kakashi knew it's importance to her. The only thing she brought back with her and the only physical reminder left of a future that shouldn't exist.

"And my son Kakashi. I love my son more than anything. But what if he's never born? What if... what if he never comes into existence? Will all I'll be left with is memories from another lifetime? I just..."

Sakura's mouth snapped shut when she felt herself blink back the sting of tears once more. She breathed deeply, concentrating on keeping taking even breaths. In order to distract herself, she turned her head to look at Naruto. Ten feet up and still going.

Kakashi's hand landed on her head, comforting. Because Kakashi was never good with females. Especially teenage females. Especially crying teenage females. But he's there. And he's alive. And even if he doesn't understand fully what she's trying to say or what she's feeling, he's there.

Sakura turned into Kakashi's hand, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek before moving to walk down.

"Thanks Kakashi. I'll go and try to give the boys some more advice. You sit and rest some more."

Halfway down she stopped and turned around to face him again.

"Wait. Why do I feel like I'm the sensei on this team sometimes?" Sakura called out.

Kakashi's only response was to smile slightly and to reply, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Sakura."

"Lazy ass." Sakura muttered under her breath before smiling widely. "Naruto! Come here! I've got some advice for you."

Kakashi's sharp eye took in Naruto's gleeful smile and Sasuke's quick pivot to face Sakura. He saw how Naruto bounded over, eager for advice. Saw Sasuke's scowl deepen and his fists clenched before turning away.

Interesting. Kakashi wondered if that was for Naruto's sake or Sakura's.

Sakura sat down with Naruto as Sasuke attempted to climb the tree once more. Kakashi couldn't hear their hushed voices but he could read Sakura's lips telling Naruto to slow down, concentrate, don't get too worked up, try to maintain an even stream of chakra, forget about Sasuke and focus on yourself.

Naruto nodded, taking deep breaths like Sakura instructed before closing his eyes to try and focus himself.

Sakura smiled in satisfaction before moving over to where an agitated Sasuke had fallen once more.


"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura skipped over lightly to the Uchiha only to be met with a sharp glare

"What?" Sasuke bit out at her.

Sakura's smile dropped into an irritated frown of her own.

"I only want to help Sasuke. You don't need to bite my head off."

"I don't need your help."

Sakura's lips thinned. Was it only that morning the they'd come to some sort of understanding? Was it only that morning that Sasuke had reprimanded her for her lack of teamwork?

"Sasuke-kun, you may be the number one rookie of our year, you may be a natural genius at a lot of things, and you may be the great Uchiha Sasuke, beloved of all the fangirls in Konoha, but not even you can get everything perfectly right the very first time. Or the second. Or even the third."

Sakura spoke gently. Her hand reached out to him. Sasuke's eye narrowed at her, wanting to protest, and the corner of his lip curled.

"Look, you want to know what your problem is?"

"What?" He snapped sharply.

She put her hands on his shoulders, reaching up only slightly, and looked him in the eyes. She could see the way his eyes flickered over her shoulder to gauge Naruto's progress. Exasperated, she turned him around so that his back was to the blonde boy.

"I'm gonna give you the same advice I gave Naruto. Slow down. Focus on yourself. It doesn't matter how Naruto's doing. I know you want to make everything a part of your rivalry, and Kakashi probably provokes you purposefully to light a fire under your asses, but honestly? We have the time now and if you're able to do this without wanting to slit Naruto's throat, all the better."

She smiled up at him, letting her hands fall.

"I know it's not your style, but try it. Kay?" Sakura made to move past him but Sasuke caught her by the wrist.

"Sakura?" His voice was softer, with a hard edge to it. It sounded reluctant. But because it was Sasuke and Sasuke was Sasuke was Sasuke was Sasuke was Sasuke who had given her Satoshi but not yet (or maybe not ever?) Sakura turned back around to answer him.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

She could see the way his jaw was clenched a bit, how he was working it from side to side before he opened his mouth to ask her,

"Can you show it to me again?"

Warm happiness suffused her being.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun!"

Kakashi's ever watchful eye continued to document every moment in front of him. Though Sakura missed it, he caught the smirk Sasuke aimed towards Naruto. Had the other boy caught it as well? Yes, it seemed he did.


By the end of the day, with Sakura's help, the boys could reach more than halfway up the trees with a good running start. They still didn't have the ease that Sakura controlled her chakra with, but then very few people did even after a lifetime of chakra control.

However, Sasuke could still reach just a bit higher than Naruto and the two were at each other's necks once again. Although, to Sakura, it seemed it was somehow more than just the tree-climbing exercise. It seemed like there was another factor fueling their feud. But she had been with both of them the whole time and there hadn't been any other incident. She watched as they scarfed down bowl after bowl of rice, fish, and stir fried vegetables. Another contest.

Back and forth the two went until Sakura could see they had reached their limit. Swiftly taking away the bowls, she reprimanded them,

"The two of you are going to puke if you keep eating! You'd think you'd be smarter than that!"

Sasuke and Naruto glared at her, then at each other. They opened their mouths to yell when they both gagged. Coughing harshly to the side, the boys struggled to breathe deeply without losing their dinner.

"I have to eat." Sasuke ground out through clenched teeth. He glared at Naruto.

"And I have to eat more than him." Naruto fired back.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Without speaking, she pulled two pills rom her pouch and turned back to the stove to heat some more water. As the boys finished gagging, breathing deeply, Sakura put two cups of peppermint tea in front of them and gave them each a pill.

"Here. This should be soothing to your palate."

Dark eyes locked with bright blue ones and both immediately swallowed the pill, downing their cups of tea. Naruto slammed his cup back down, making everyone wince.

"THANK YOU SAKURA-CHAN. YOU'RE THE BEST. I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR ME. UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE. YOU'RE THE GREATEST FRIEND EVER."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he turned his head, not deigning to give a response to that. Sakura's eyebrow rose at the odd compliment.

"Okay...? Thank you?" Reaching over to help Tsunami clear up the other dishes, Sakura's eye was caught by Tazuna reaching into another cabinet for yet another bottle. Wordlessly she stomped over to him, grabbed the bottle out of his hands and sealed the cabinet closed.

"No alcohol means no alcohol, Tazuna-san. Even after I leave I'd like for you to cut down to a half a bottle a week. ONE BOTTLE AT MOST. And I want you to keep eating vegetables like these-"

"You mean weeds? I admit, girlie, that it was a pretty good meal, but you can't expect me to eat weeds everyday do you?"

"-VEGETABLES LIKE THESE." Sakura continued as if he hadn't said anything "And tomorrow morning before you go to work on the bridge, I'd like to conduct an examination of your liver. Well, as best as I can without performing surgery."

Everyone in the room shivered at Sakura's words. Her eyes glinted with a bright light and Naruto stood up, trying to inch away slowly out of the room before Sakura found some reason to use him as a surgical guinea pig. With the mood she was in now, there was no telling what she'd do next.

Instead of backing out of the room, Naruto hit the wall behind him, accidentally knocking off the lone picture on the wall.

The glass shattered making every head turn to him.

"Oh no!" It was Inari's voice that broke the silence. He tried rushing forward to scoop up the picture but was held back by Tsunami who didn't want him cutting himself on the glass.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Naruto winced as he saw how the broken glass was making nicks on the surface of the glossy photo.

Sakura grabbed a towel off the counter, scooping away the broken glass as Naruto saved the photo from the wreckage.

"Hey? Was this photo already torn? It looks like someone else was in this picture! Why is his face gone?"

Silence suffused the room. The whole family tensed and Kakashi's eye sharpened, his head coming up to attention.

Inari broke free and ran out of the room, tears already streaming down his face.

"Inari!" Tsunami ran after him.

Sakura continued to sweep up the broken glass as Tazuna sighed deeply, beginning the story of Kaiza and how Gato brought tragedy to their family. Listening absentmindedly to the story, she finished cleaning any pieces of stray glass and pulled out a tray from the cupboard.

On the tray, she put a sake cup and bottle which she filled from the large jug in the sealed cabinet.

Wordlessly she set the tray in front of Tazuna, who didn't pause in his story, but raised an eye at her. She shrugged in return.

"So that's it. Gato killed Kaiza. And now Inari doesn't believe in heroes anymore." He tok a long swig, forgoing the cup and draining the bottle. He took off his glasses to swipe at his wet eyes. "Hell, I don't even think I do either."

A soft growl made it's way to their ears.

Sakura turned her eyes to Naruto's trembling form. He backed away from the table, losing his balance in the progress.

"Naruto! You need to be careful. You've used up too much chakra today."

"NO! No, Sakura-chan! I'm gonna show him! Even if it means pushing myself to my absolute limits, I'm gonna show that kid what a real hero is! I'll show all of you what a real hero is!"

Though his whole body trembled from overexertion, Naruto still stood tall with a light glowing in his eyes.

And Sakura is so grateful that she can appreciate this moment, and all of Naruto's heroic moments to come.


Of course his body gave out on him, begging for rest. Sakura reached out to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Naruto, you're such a loser."

Sasuke's dull voice reached her ears, commanding her attention. She looked up to meets Sasuke's dark, condescending eyes.

"Yeah, well... You've got to give him credit for sheer knuckle headed perseverance. And besides. He may be a loser, but he's our loser."

Kakashi smiled at her over the top of his book while Tazuna rolled his eyes, trying to find more alcohol in his sake bottle. Sasuke did not deign to give her a reply, but stood up as she did and threw Naruto's other arm over his own shoulders.

Together, the two of them dragged their blonde idiot to their sleeping quarters.

"Sasuke-kun? Do you really not believe in Naruto? Do you really not think that he'll show everyone what a hero he could be?"

Again he was silent. The silence stretched on through the hallway and into the room they dumped him in. Sakura pursed her lips in frustration at being ignored. She opened her mouth to try and rephrase her question when the older boy answered her.

"The dobe will always be a dobe. Doesn't matter what he does from now on."

His words were harsh, but the tone was light. And Sakura had gotten very good at reading underneath the underneath. Her eyes filled with happiness, lightening to a clear, clear green.

Sasuke didn't look back at her, but he didn't have to. She was content in the knowledge that this day, this crazy, stressful, wonderful day, Sasuke solidified his bonds with his team.


I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know this is really much shorter than I usually do for a chapter, but this felt like such a good ending place. Plus, I've come to the end of my stash of future chapters and if I didn't upload this now you likely would not have gotten this until Monday. On that note, I'm warning you right now, next week will likely be late. Expect a Saturday or Sunday update next week. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Finals are right around the corner and I have spent every night this week (from 5-12) in rehearsal for a play I'm in and we perform tonight and tomorrow. Why is my life a mess?!

Please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!

Kiki