Chapter 10 Heading out

After bidding goodbye to her mother, Sakura closed the door to her home and began her run towards the gate. Waiting for Naruto's little 'surprise' to get cooked and secured in her sealing scroll took longer than anticipated and she was a little late. Sakura didn't pack too much, just a few changes of outfitting, some food, and a medical book she had been studying for a while to read in her free time. Her kunai holster was packed, and her medical sealing scroll was filled with all the equipment she deemed necessary.

It wasn't long until the grand front gates of Konoha were in her sight, and she caught a glimpse at Shikamaru. He was missing his backpack, lying down on his back in the middle of the pathway, looking up at the clouds. Sakura couldn't help but shake her head at the Lazy genius's antics. "Hello Shikamaru…where is your back pack?"

Without giving any recognition to Sakura's presence, Shikamaru proudly pointed to the sealing scroll clipped to his side. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she frowned, "…There is a reason we do not seal EVERYTHING in one scroll you know that right?" She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

Shikamaru finally acknowledged her presence with a smirk and meeting her eye to eye, "Heh, but carrying around a heavy bag is such a hassle." He said sheepishly.

Sakura chose to forget about it and sighed,"Has Lee-san arrived yet?"

Shikamaru pointed his finger behind her, she in turn, followed its direction and saw a small layer or dust rising to the sky, Sakura noticed it appeared like some kind of trail…and the trail was leading towards their position. Within seconds the cause of the dust was sprinting right towards them then came to an abrupt stop in front of them.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting I-"

"Got lost on the road in life?"

Sakura turned wide eyed and confused at Shikamaru's statement, 'When did he of all people know about Kakashi-sensei's excuses?'

Lee tried again "No, I-"

"Saw a black cat and had to take an alternate route?"

"Shikamaru!" barked an agitated Sakura.

'When did Shikamaru of all people enjoy endless teasing?!' Sakura thought, glaring daggers at the lazy shadow user on the ground. Lee tried for a third time

"Sorry. I was trying to find Gai-sensei and say goodbye before going, but I unfortunately couldn't find him anywhere. Somebody said something about him going to go see a dentist for a cleaning." Lee shrugged, with a clearly confused expression on his face.

Sakura cringed at the thought, but quickly shook it off, and waved her hand dismissively, "No worries, Lee-san, I only just got here as well."

"Oh…I see." Lee said, when he remembered something and dropped his pack and unzipped his bag.

"That's right, Sakura-san I have something for you"

Sakura's eyebrows rose in question. She let out a small gasp when she was presented with the set of expensive weights, "L-Lee-san I- I can't accept those, their…"

Sakura honestly didn't have time to look around in equipment stores often. But she knew a pair of chakra adjustable weights when she saw them. She was silenced by a toothy grin from Lee.

"Sakura-san, I cannot use these at all…as I'm sure you understand why. Really it's more than fine by me if you or anybody uses them."

Sakura hesitated while looking hard at the weights, "I'll pay for them when we get back to Konoha, I know roughly how much they are worth… thank you Lee-san." She said giving a soft grateful smile, and then quickly changing to a concentrated expression.

"How do they work Lee-san?"

Lee began, while handing one over to Sakura, "Their pretty straight forward, they are worn similar to a brace." He demonstrated with his own wrist, while Sakura followed.

"When they are secure, you will hear a click meaning they have locked."

Like clockwork, two clicks were heard from both of the weights, "To release them they have a simple lock here-"

Lee span around his arm, showing a clear button. Lee presses it an a release 'click' was heard, as the weight then hung loosely from Lee's arm, as he handed the other over to Sakura, who locked it in on her other wrist.

Lee nodded in approval, "Now to change how much they weigh, you perform a sheep seal for increasing the weight, or a tiger seal for decreasing."

Sakura followed as instructed by forming a Sheep seal, Lee nodded again, "Now place a free palm on the weight you want to adjust and mould chakra in that hand, the weight increases at a steady pace, and it will mark on the seal paper of the amount it weighs in pounds. However they decrease instantly, in case of an emergency situation."

Sakura nodded and then asked, "What is a good starting size that you recommend?"

Lee remembered back when he started using weights with Gai, and then looked back at Sakura, "For starting I would try between six to ten pounds, on either arms or feet, and increase it at your own pace in one-to-two pound intervals." Sakura nodded then moulded chakra in her hand, then repeated the same seal, and moulded chakra in the other weight. Sakura had settled for eight pounds.

She took two steps back from Lee, and tried lifting her arms. Then she tried a quick punch or two at thin air. Lastly she ran through the seal set for kawarimi no jutsu, noticing that indeed her speed had slowed with her seal forming.

"Do they hurt?" Lee asked.

Sakura shook her head, "No, while I do feel their weight it doesn't hurt. How long do I wear them for?"

Lee nodded and then decided to say a slightly altered version of what Gai told him when he asked the same question, "It is best to wear them for as long as possible, if you find that they begin to hurt within an hour of use, decrease their amount. I would recommend that you wear them during missions as well, but only you can decide when you think it is appropriate to release them. While it is good to train with them, it is not worth it when your own life or a teammate's life is at risk."

Sakura reassessed all the information she was told by Lee, finally nodding,"Hai, I understand, thank you again, Lee-san, and like I said, I owe you when we return." Lee nodded, although he probably wasn't going to accept the money anyway, since technically he hadn't purchased them in the first place, and team Gai had long forgotten about them after their hiccup.

Sakura then remembered something, "You said on arms or feet earlier?" She asked for elaboration, which Lee responded with a sharp nod.

"Hai, they can be used on either wrists or above the ankles, unfortunately I only have that single pair, so I would suggest alternating between feet and arms each day until we return."

Sakura again nodded, paying a quick glance at her current choice of combat sandals.

'Lucky I packed a pair of normal sandals as well.' She mused. Sakura recalled the noticeable speed difference Lee made when he removed his weights, and chuckled internally.

'Kakashi-sensei will be in for a pleasant surprise the next time we spar.'

It was then that Shikamaru chose to butt in, "Alright guys gather around." He ushered lazily, kneeling down and unfolding his map on ground.

Sakura and Lee kneeled down as well, "Ok, before we head to our destination can I just get a look at what equipment you are bringing, just what is in your weapon pouches is fine." All three presented their weapon pouches and opened them. Shikamaru gave a quick glance at Lee's other two weapons clipped to his belt, and took note of them before giving a firm nod that he was satisfied.

"Sakura, do you still remember what path your team took originally to get to wave?"

Sakura nodded, "Hai." she then showed the path team 7 originally took on the map. Shikamaru nodded when his suspicion was confirmed.

"Since we aren't escorting a civilian this time, we can save time by cutting through the forest here-"

He pointed at one of his markings on the map, "-I estimate it will be night fall by the time we pass through and reach here-"

He motioned towards his next marking that wasn't far from the first, "That is where we will rest, taking rotations for the night, and then we will move out by sunrise."

Shikamaru paused briefly before continuing, "As long as we don't run into anything troublesome, I predict we will reach the start of the bridge by early morning."

Shikamaru looked up at his other two teammates, and noticed Sakura had a questioning gaze when she spoke, "It doesn't take long to get to Wave, we could travel through the night and arrive before dawn."

Shikamaru had already took this into consideration, "I am going with the worst case assumption that Wave or possibly even ourselves will be attacked before or during our arrival, we wouldn't be in top condition if we didn't stop and rest during the night."

Sakura admitted defeat with a stern nod.

"We best get moving then, Lee, you're the strongest in the group, so you're in the front, I'll be in the middle to give instructions to both of you, and Sakura you will remain in the back and focus on detecting any foreign chakra signatures. Let's keep it one branch space between us as we move through the forest as well." Shikamaru yawned, as he folded his well used map up and slid it back in his weapon pouch, and proceeded walking through the giant sized gates.

Lee looked confused for a moment and was about to question Shikamaru about something until Sakura answered his question, "His backpack and other supplies are sealed in that scroll… if that's what you're going to ask Lee-san." She said dryly, still showing her disapproval of Shikamaru's actions.

"…Oh...how hip."