Hey guys, I know this is a little late, but I forgot that I had said 38 reviews, when I thought I had said 40. Sorry! So I went in and edited the last chapter, chapter 8. All I did was fix typos and grammatical errors, etc. I didn't change the story any.

So for the next chap, 45 reviews! I knocked it back down as my way of apologizing. I'll probably have another chapter for The Exchange and Moments out soon as well.

..::Stronger::..

Throwing stars were already littering the ground by the time Sakura made it to training field 53. When she saw Shikamaru and Ino, she decided that today she wanted to train alone, so she left for another one of Konoha's various training areas. However, before she left, Shikamaru caught a glimpse of her. I wonder what her problem is.

Finally, blissfully, alone, Sakura pulled out several training stars and began throwing. She was off by about a foot. Yes, she had a lot to work on. She refused to think about anything but getting stronger. What else did she have to live for? Her mother was gone, she had no siblings, and her father was dead to her.

Strength.

That's all that she needed. Strength and knowledge, and she could get on. One day, when she had a family, she'd be strong enough to protect them. She had to be. It was that, or she wasn't worthy of a family at all. She would earn that privilege. Then she would teach her children to be strong, not to be weak, and she would hope they would never have to serve the consequences of such.

The shuriken were a bit closer now. Good. She kept throwing, and kept getting closer. She would have smiled, but where an accomplishment as this would usually bring joy, she felt nothing. She felt empty, not even anger or sorrow consumed her. Is this how...Sasuke feels? She stopped mid-throw. Could this be why Sasuke had been helping her lately?

Sakura sat back against a tree, looking at the log about fifty feet in front of her, and noticed how shuriken covered it and the ground around it. She'd have to pick them up before she could throw anymore.

She though about how Sasuke had helped her when he found out what was happening, how he had been there for her. Then she recalled how he had held her when she grieved over her mother's death. Ofcourse, she thought, his parents were murdered too, his entire family was... She wondered how she had the right to cry when he had suffered so much more than her. If she felt empty, he must feel, well, Sakura couldn't even comprehend what he must feel. She could sort of get why he would want revenge, it was logical in a way.

Then she remembered how he had dropped her. Telling her she had to it on her own. How she needed to be strong. Like him. He had to become strong on his own. She started to wallow in her weakness, and when she realized this, she stood up and walked to where her many shuriken lay.

..::Sasuke::..

He had somehow ended up at the same training field as Sakura. He didn't realize it, to consumed in his own thoughts, until he saw pink and a lot of steel gray. He looked towards the log, and noticed how the ground contained more throwing stars than it did. Hmph, weak, just like I thought. He wanted to see what she'd do now. He wanted to know whether or not she was going to give up. He watched as she picked up the majority of the shuriken and walked about fifty feet back.

She began throwing again, determined.

A little stunned, Sasuke watched as a good third of the stars missed their target. Most were pretty close though. Disgusted that she could barely hit a target only fifty feet away, Sasuke appeared behind her.

..::Sakura::..

Sakura was among the average genin who didn't sense another chakra unless paying close attention for it, which she wasn't. So when Sasuke appeared behind her, she was stunned for a moment, her arm frozen and the star still in her grip.

Sasuke, behind her, wrapped his arm around hers, and covered her hand with his. A light blush colored her cheeks, getting darker with relief when she realized she still could feel. The thought that all her emotions were gone had scared her.

Sasuke moved his arm back, pulling hers with it, before shooting it forward again, commanding her to 'release' at the appropriate time. The shuriken hit the log dead on.

Sakura was even more stunned now. Sasuke was still behind her, "Throw it like from now on and you'll hit. You jerk last minute, causing it to go off path." He stepped back, and Sakura felt cool air rush against her back.

"Throw again" he commanded.

She threw another star, it didn't hit quite dead on, but only a few inches from the other. "Arigoto Sasuke-kun."

"Hn" he walked towards another target, and stepped around a hundred and fifty feet back. Sakura's eyes widened, could he really make it...? He did. She smiled, that's how she wanted to be, strong.

She began throwing again, periodically having to step forward and pick more up. She threw until her muscles were cramping, but she kept throwing, and whenever she missed, she made herself throw ten more on-target hits in its place. So every miss meant ten on target, even when she missed out of the ten she'd add another ten. She would do this until she was perfect. Tomorrow she would work with kunia, after this, she practice vision training, getting better sight in the dark.

The sun was lowering and the moon was rising, yet she was still at it. Sasuke was impressed, he had stopped not to long ago, and sat in the tree behind her to watch. Her green eyes glowed in the moonlight, and her face showed strong determination and self discipline. He smirked. Maybe she would work for him after all.

His smile disappeared. First, he had to deal with Itachi.