-3 Months Later-

-Tsunade POV-

"Come along we only have 2 more weeks before the start of the Chunin exams" I yell out to Sakura who was standing across the clearing from me "Yes of course Lady Tsunade" she calls back out before punching the ground causing it to shatter into several pieces and dirt and grass to go flying in every direction.

"Very good" I compliment her before calling it a day "We will start our trek back to the village now and I expect you to keep working on that for the remainder of the two weeks" I tell her even though she had already perfected many of the things I had taught her over the course of three months.

"Of course" she nods smiling at me while covered in dirt and sweat from working all day long 'hehe can't let up not even once with this girl' I laugh in my thoughts "Go take a dip in the river and wash up" I point towards the tree line and let out a laugh when she sprints in that direction immediately.

'Good grief' I think in my thoughts "Shizune" I call out to my assistant and she races over to me "What can I do for you Lady Tsunade" she asks pleasantly "Go help Sakura catch some fish while she's at the river for diner she needs to learn some survival skill" I order before sitting down on a flat rock.

"Yes My Lady" she says speeding off in the direction I had pointed out to Sakura "I can't believe it's already been three months since I took that girl on as my apprentice" I whisper to myself smiling slightly remembering all the times that she had messed up and I had punched her nearly unconscious.

-Sakura POV-

"Shizune" I call out when I hear a bush rattle behind me "Yes it's me Sakura Lady Tsunade has decided that I should teach you how to catch fish for some survival lessons while we are here" she answers coming out of the tree line to stand before me "Ok" I say standing at the ready.

"First Sakura you'll need some shuriken" she instructs and I grab some from the pouch I carry with me at all times "Second you throw one and wait until they jump from the water and then you throw the rest and you have to get it just right or you miss the catch" she says showing me.

"Alright thanks Shizune" I smile before trying it throwing one shuriken and waiting for some fish to jump and with deadly accuracy I throw the rest of the shuriken catching a couple of fish immediately on my first try "Very good Sakura you'll have no problem learning the rest" she compliments.

Smiling sheepishly at her I gather my catches and place them on dry ground before trying to catch more and after several moments I have caught 5 fish for dinner gathering them in my hands we head back to our small camp as Shizune tells me some more information about survival methods.

"You won't always be able to get your catches once you've hit them and you may loose them as well so it's better if you wrap ninja wire around the shuriken that way when you do catch some you won't loose them" she says as we reach the clearing and I speed ahead to Lady Tsunade.

"Look I caught them all by myself" I smile proudly showing her my catches before setting them on the ground waiting for the next set of instructions "Well done now for your next survival lesson it's learning how to create a fire without the use of chakra because you won't always be able to use your abilities" she points out.

"Of course" I nod understanding the hidden meaning behind her words when she takes some dry leaves and some dry grass and a couple of rocks and a stick and hitting the rocks together near the grass and leaves some sparks catch and she blows on them creating a small fire before throwing the stick on to the pile.

"That's how you create a fire without the use of chakra" she says sitting back on her knees and picking up a stick spears a fish and places it over the fire to cook "I've got it" I say committing the instructions to my memory for future use 'cause I feel like sooner or later I'll have to use this information' I think in my thoughts.

And so over the next week as we make our way back the Village Hidden in the Leaves for the first time in over 3 months Lady Tsunade teaches me every little survival lesson there is about what kind of food there may be what not to eat what's safe or not and other little things all while I'm training.

On the 7th day we reach a small clearing right next to the gate where Lady Tsunade imparts one final lesson on me "Alright Sakura after today there is only one week left before the Chunin exams and I want you ready" she says before hurling herself at me with amazing speed.

Dodging the kick that was aimed at my gut I crouch low avoiding her punch before jumping up into the air avoiding her kick cart wheeling backwards I narrow my eyes taking in her position before going through a set of handsigns "Water Style: Gunshot" I call out feeling the chakra rise in the back of my throat before releasing it.

Hidden behind the jutsu I fly through another set of handsigns "Water Style: Water Clone" I call out softly hiding in the safety of the trees as my attack subsides suppressing my chakra as well as I could I watch my clone duck out of the way of Lady Tsunade's kick before leading her around the clearing giving me a chance to launch my next attack.

'Ok Sakura calm down and think of your next attack' I think threw several strategies before deciding to just chance it before remembering 'Oh I remember Zabuza using that technique once' I surprise myself by going through the handsigns and call out "Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

Now that the visibility had decreased in the area I jump out of my hiding place still suppressing my chakra and move through the mist to Lady Tsunade as silent as possible dispersing my clone already having figured out that this was just a clone as well I gather chakra in my hand and punch as hard as I could.

Hitting the clone hard it disappears with a pop and I disperse the mist calling out to Lady Tsunade as I do so "I've beaten your clone Lady Tsunade you can come out now" I snigger out as she appears from behind a tree with Shizune in tow "That was well thought out Sakura I had no idea that you could use that jutsu" she comments in surprise.

Laughing in embarrassment "I didn't know I could until just a few minutes ago either" I smile up at her grinning sheepishly "Then how did you know the handsigns to the jutsu" she asks in confusion and I think back to the day that I had trained with Team Ten and their sensei.

"Well before we left the village I was training with Team Ten and their Sensei Asuma and he brought Zabuza along to help us in learning how to locate chakra with zero visibility and I saw him use that jutsu" I answer her as she looks on in surprise "It seems you really do have a talent that's uniquely yours" she says patting my head ruffling my hair.

And for the next several hours Lady Tsunade has me train and by the end of the day when the sun is just going down in the sky and I'm covered in dirt, sweat, and all kinds of bruises "That's enough now go home Sakura and get some rest for the week but no slacking off either" and with that Lady Tsunade disappears.

Grabbing my bag and my weapons I look around the clearing that looked a little worse for wear I wipe the sweat from my brow and stand up before trudging my way back through the trees completely exhausted seeing as I had been worked all the way down to my aching bones.

Speeding up slightly upon seeing the familiar gates of the entrance to the Hidden Leave Village I sprint through signing in with the sentries before walking through the village feeling completely at ease upon seeing the familiar surroundings I had known my entire life.

Breathing deeply I let out a happy sigh going straight for the Yamanaka Flower Shop unsure of whether or not my mother was still home or if she had left I decide to just go see Ino anyway as I had been missing her 'Of course I've also missed everyone else even Naruto' I laugh in my thoughts.

After a few minutes of walking I stand before the Yamanaka Flower Shop and taking a deep breath I push open the door hearing the ringing of the bell "Hello and Welcome" Mrs. Yamanaka's familiar voice calls out from the front of the store and I smile relaxing further upon my surroundings.

"Hello Mrs. Yamanaka" I call out walking towards and she lets out a startled gasp "Is that you Sakura dear my word what on earth has happened to you" she asks in surprise "Hehe training with Lady Tsunade" I quip smiling widely at her to show her that I was alright.

"Is Ino in" I ask spreading out my senses hoping that she was "Sorry she's still at team practice" she frowns and I smile "Well then I'm just gonna go find her" I skip out of the shop humming to myself as I let my chakra flare out just a bit and I locate her in the usual training grounds.

Pushing chakra in my legs I speed in her direction and arrive at the training ground a few minutes afterwards stopping I catch my breath before looking up realizing that I hadn't been spotted yet I start forward slowly transforming myself into a slightly different person so I wouldn't be recognized.

"Hehe what do we have here three little brats" I snigger out changing my voice just a bit so it was at a higher pitch "WHO DO YOU THINK YOUR CALLING A BRAT" Ino screeches out barely being restrained by Shikamaru "That would be you" I smirk flipping my long brown hair over my shoulder snottily.

Watching her eyes light up in anger I know I wouldn't be able to hold the transformation for much longer "WHY YOU" she spits out and I lose my composure collapsing in a fit of giggles "Hey pig how's it going" I break into a smile as my henge drops causing them all to look at me in surprise.

"You that was really you Sakura" she splutters out looking around for the mysterious woman before looking back at me "Yep" I answer proudly smiling happily at the thought that I had caught her off guard "Really Ino I thought you would have been able to recognize my chakra at least" I huff out in exasperation.

"Yeah well I didn't expect you to do that either you've changed again" she mutters out under her breath kicking the ground while pouting causing us all to laugh before she breaks out into a wide grin "Glad your back Forehead I missed you" Ino says before turning away from me "Yeah me to" I smile looking around.

-A few hours later-

"That's enough for the day you lot get home and rest easy for the rest of the week I want you all at top notch for the Chunin exams" Asuma says looking at all three of his students "Yes Asuma-sensei" they say in unison before he walks away "Alright forehead lets go" Ino says grabbing my arm and dragging me back to the Flower shop.

"You don't have to drag me" I say sarcastically digging my heels into the ground to stop her "Ok now hurry up there are so many things I want to ask you" she says letting my hand drop I start walking forward once more when a voice screams my name "SAKURA" and I'm tackled to the ground.

"What the hell Naruto" I screech out smacking him on the head and he falls backwards off of me "Ow ow ow ow ow Sakura that hurts" he whines out clutching his head as I stand up "I'm sorry Naruto but you startled me let that be a lesson" I say smartly standing up holding a hand out to me.

Looking up at me in fear of another whack I laugh "Don't worry Naruto I'm not gonna hit you again actually I could heal that for you if you'd like" I ask in worry noticing the large lump forming on his head from where I had hit him "You'd really do that Sakura-chan" he sniffs jumping up.

"Well yeah it's my fault but still you did startle me" I chide him going through the set of handsigns letting my chakra flow into my hands and they glow green as I place them on the knot that had formed on Naruto's head "Wow Sakura that's pretty cool do you think you could teach me that" Ino asks as I finish up.

"Sure but it won't be easy" I tell her patting Naruto's head "Hey I'll see you later Naruto" I smile at him as we start walking back to Ino's once more "Ok Sakura-chan I'll let Kakashi-sensei know your back as well" he runs off into the opposite direction and I sigh in relief.

"I see Naruto hasn't changed a bit" I giggle out as we walk into the Flower Shop once more "Yeah I don't think he ever will" Ino says calling out to her mom before leading me up to her room "Alright you've got to tell me everything that has happened forehead" she turns to me suddenly.

With that I launch into all of the things that I had learned and how it was like one big adventure "Wow you really did all that in just three months" she asks in awe and I smile at her "Yeah but don't tell anyone about the guy I want to keep it a secret" I whisper to her.

"Oh yeah of course" she responds flippantly "Ino I mean it" I hiss out at her causing her to smile "I know just messing with you Sakura" she laughs flopping down on her bed "Man Asuma-sensei has really been working us down to the bone in the last few weeks" she complains.

"Doesn't he always though Ino" I ask in confusion "Yeah but the last couple of weeks have been worse since the Chunin exams are coming up right around the corner" she sighs out in exhaustion "What about you Sakura" she asks suddenly causing me to crack my neck as I turn to look at her.

"Oh yeah Lady Tsunade was always tough I don't think she took it easy on me not even once" I sigh out as well "Hahaha sounds like you've had an even tougher time than me" she mutters out before falling silent after a few minutes I look over and see her passed out and I decide to do the same and soon I'm in a deep sleep.