Yes, it's been a while. I've finished my teaching degree and I'm now a substitute teacher. It's good work and I'm hoping I'll get some time to write and some inclination to write (that latter part is the more serious matter). Atarashii Tanjou did the beta for this, but most of their suggestions were changing my Canadian English to American English (sorry, still not going to happen). They did find a few mistakes, and no doubt I'll find a few more when I read this over again, that always seems to happen no matter how many times I reread my work.

Chapter 21

That evening, after finishing her duties in Intensive Care, Sakura made her way to the Four Tails temple. She was a little surprised, upon entering the temple walls, to find Ino's beau Shikamaru flat on his back off to one side of the courtyard, between two statues of the monkey god.

"What are you doing?" she asked, stopping dead in her tracks despite herself.

"Eh? Sakura? Oh, you're doing your pilgrimage, right," Shikamaru replied, making no effort to move.

"Shikamaru? Are you ok? Do you need healing?" There had to be some good reason he wasn't getting up. Maybe he'd hurt himself training?

"Oi, I'm fine, I'm fine. Just watching the clouds," Shikamaru insisted quickly. "I'm not hurt."

Sakura quirked a brow at him, and then recalled several things she'd learned about the Four Tails' acolyte from Ino. He was supposed to be some kind of amazing genius, but he was notoriously lazy and had a habit of watching clouds. She smirked, wondering if she could force him off his lazy ass. "Oh, I see. Well, since you're not busy, maybe you can lead me to the shrine?"

"Uh…" Shikamaru's dark eyes darted to her, looking slightly evasive.

"I'm sure I could find it on my own, eventually, but then I'd be late for supper and Ino—."

"No, no, that's ok," the lazy nin said, rising to his feet and dusting off his backside absently. "I can take you there. You're going to see Ino tonight?"

"I see Ino every day, usually."

"Err, uh, that's great. Just let her know I took you to the shrine, ok? She's been after me about my cloud gazing lately," he muttered.

Sakura kept the smile from her face.

The young acolyte led her to the shrine, commenting irreverently on the various statues and features of the temple as they passed. He paused at an entrance to a chamber hung with curtains and gestured. "That's room we use for strategy games. You know, it's open to everyone. I play shogi there."

"Oh, I see," Sakura said, feigning interest. Strategy games were interesting enough, but she'd never really played too many of them, instead preferring battle training and training as a medic. Her idea of a good time was a good medical text or a good workout.

"Anyhow, the shrine's this way. What did you bring for an offering?"

"Uh, a go set."

"He should like that. I gave a go set too."

She felt a little bit more secure about her choice of offerings at his admission. If the genius acolyte of the Four Tails gave a go set and it was accepted, likely hers wouldn't be rejected either. She'd never heard of anyone's pilgrimage offerings being rejected, but she didn't want to take chances. What did you get a temple specializing in brains? A game seemed as good a bet as any.

"Well, here you are. Good luck, Sakura. Tell Ino I said 'hi'," Shikamaru said as they entered the shrine room.

"Yeah I will, but you can tell her yourself if you want to come spar with us," Sakura replied.

"Spar?" Immediately the young man perked up, looking far less bored than he had so far.

"Oh, I guess she hasn't told you. A bunch of us are meeting at the practice grounds after the evening meal, and having group spars. So far it's me, Ino, Hinata, Naruto and Gaara from the Nine Tails and One Tail temples. But I think we have room for more!" Sakura chirped cheerfully.

"After supper? I'll have to check that out. In groups as well? Hmmm…" Shikamaru said, thumbing his chin thoughtfully.

Sakura gave him a grin and then approached the shrine, pulling the go game from her pouch. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, kneeling below the stone. She prayed.

The presence of the god filled the shrine, and Sakura could feel his power, and his deep patience. She sensed the attention of the god on her offering, and then on her. There was a feeling of being scrutinized, followed by a swift sense of amusement.

"Such games as these build pathways in the minds of mortals. Like a pathway, the more you practice the easier the passage of the strategic thought." Sakura was slightly surprised to discover that there was such clear communication with the god, but perhaps she should not have been. The voice of the Four Tails was clear and focused, befitting his divine portfolio. "Very well… Sakura. My task for you is thus: carve me a shogi set. And do not bring it to me having never been played."

The god's touch retreated, and Sakura slumped, feeling slightly defeated. Carve a shogi set? She blinked. She didn't know how to carve anything! Well, it looked like she would have to learn how to carve before she completed this task. She rose.

"Well?" Shikamaru asked from where he was leaning against the wall. She hadn't realized he'd stuck around.

"I have to carve a shogi set."

The other nin raised an eyebrow. "Ever carved before?"

"Nope," Sakura replied.

"That would be why. He likes introducing new skills. I had to cross stitch a map. Had I ever touched a needle and thread before? Hardly," Shikamaru snorted.

Cross stitch? Shikamaru had to cross stitch?! Sakura giggled at the thought.

"Hey, it was a good map, alright?" Shikamaru said. "Well, good luck. If you need to borrow some shogi sets as templates let me know. I have a few sets. If you want to play, too, let me know. Are you any good?"

"I haven't played in years," the pink-haired nin responded, truthfully.

"Well, no time like the present to get back into it," the acolyte suggested. "You'll want to play your set at least once before giving it to the god."

"Yeah, he told me it had better not come unplayed," Sakura commented.

"He did?" Shikamaru blinked. "That's kind of neat. He's a pretty awesome god to have. I can help you with that."

Sakura supposed it would be alright to have someone else help her with that part of the task, after all, the god had pretty much required it. Shogi was a two-person game, after all. However, she would have to make the shogi set first. "If you don't mind, Shikamaru, I'd like to borrow one of those sets of yours."

"Sure thing. I'll meet you in the courtyard – you can find your way back, right?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course," she shot him a dirty look. Any shinobi should be able to do that.

"Hey, hey, just making sure. I'll meet you there." Shikamaru gave her a casual wave and trudged out of the shrine room. Sakura left, heading for the courtyard, where she waited all of five minutes before the lazy-nin showed up.

"I see you didn't get lost after all," he laughed, holding out a box. "Here, it's a good set, everything fits into this folding box. The box doubles as a game board. Have fun, but be careful with it."

She accepted the box from him. "Thanks," she said, looking at it for a second before tucking it under her arm. "I appreciate it."

"It was nothing. Stop by if you ever want to play a game. I can help you brush up on your skills."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Shika," she repeated, using the shortened version of his name. He nodded.

"I think I might show up at your sparring thing. Don't tell Ino, okay? I want to surprise her," he requested.

"Ha ha, I won't," she grinned back. "I'd better get back to my temple if I want to be able to get any food, though."

"Yeah, refectories are all the same. If you don't get there in time, there's no food. I've lost track of the times I've had to go into the city… but novices don't get that option. I guess you do, you're on pilgrimage," he mused.

"I'd better go," she insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, go, then. I'll see you later," he waved a cheerful hand at her.

She sped back to the Six Tails temple, making it back to the refectory just as the supper rush hit.

"So do you have your task?" Ino asked as Sakura slid into her seat at her friends' table.

"Yeah. I have to carve a shogi set," Sakura replied.

"That's not so bad, I guess," Ino noted. "Have you ever carved anything before?"

"Nope."

"Then I guess you're going to learn. Hey, I never made ink before either," the blonde said.

"I wonder what I'll have to do when my turn comes…" Hinata trailed off. "Who knows, it could be fun."

"It could be. I'm supposed to play a game with it before I give it to the god," Sakura commented.

"Oh, you'd better get Shika to help you there. He loves shogi," Ino declared. Then she paused, looking thoughtful. "On second thought, he'd probably be tough to beat because he plays so much."

"I'll worry about it once I finish making the set," Sakura said.

"So are we going to spar again tonight?" Hinata changed the subject. Ino nodded in agreement.

"I don't see why not," said the pink-haired girl.

"Oh good, I was looking forward to it all day." Hinata smiled beatifically and Sakura wondered if the other girl had been looking forward to sparring, or… one of the sparring partners, in particular. She felt an echoing smile on her own lips, though this one wasn't as dreamy as Hinata's. It was more amused. Who would have ever thought shy little Hinata would develop such a deep attachment to a boy? A year ago, Hinata couldn't even look at a boy without blushing and stuttering so much she became incomprehensible.

"We'd better eat our food and get out to the practice sands, then," Sakura commented.

"Yeah, so let's hurry," Ino laughed, lifting her chopsticks and clicking them together. The other two girls laughed along and go to the serious business of finishing their suppers.

They dumped their trays on the refectory conveyor and headed out to the sands.

Once at the practice ground, the three girls found Naruto and Gaara already waiting. Surreptitiously, Sakura looked around, trying to spot the Nara, but couldn't find him. Perhaps he was so lazy he decided not to come. She gave it no mind – she had other things to worry about, like dodging Naruto's immediate, laughing attack.

"Hey, I wasn't ready yet!" she protested.

"Your enemy will not wait for you to be ready, Sakura!" Gaara shouted from where he was fending off Hinata's well-aimed kunai throws. Sakura had no doubt that the Hyūga was using her Byakugan, the hereditary eye technique of her family. Why give up an edge like that?

"We're using chakra tonight," Naruto mentioned, no doubt grinning widely.

"Oh great. We poor medics don't stand a chance against you big battle nins!" Ino snorted.

"Don't sell yourself short, girl. None of you are weaklings." Gaara seemed fully confident in the three acolytes of the Six Tails. Sakura smiled – she was sure that they were up to the task.

The five of them practiced gleefully together for a while, until one of Naruto's clones accidentally tripped and fell during a multi-clone rush, which caused the entire wedge of copies behind it to fall in a big, yelling pile before poofing away in clouds of smoke. This pratfall cracked up everyone, even the normally sombre Gaara. The real Naruto just shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Suddenly, Ino started to shriek. Immediately, the four others looked her way, and were surprised to see the blonde standing in a patch of moonlight, twisted in an odd position, with her hands in the air and a leg raised.

"Hey, I can't move, what gives?!" the blonde shouted. While she was yelling, she continued to move, arms waving strangely. Sakura watched with wide eyes as Ino grabbed her own ponytail and tugged on it.

"Ino, what—?" Sakura shouted, voice confused.

"Shikamaru!" the other girl roared. "I know you're around here. You come out where I can kick your ass!"

Sakura looked around. So Shikamaru had put in an appearance after all? But where was he… the medic-nin noticed that Ino's shadow on the white sands was a lot longer than the position of the moons would indicate - it stretched off into the bushes… she quickly focused on her chakra sight and was unsurprised to see another person in the bushes.

"I don't know, Ino, you look like you're having fun," the nin in the bushes called.

"I'm going to kill you!" Ino growled.

"Ah, don't be troublesome, woman," laughed Shikamaru.

Sakura caught motion out of the corner of her eye. She flicked her gaze over to where she saw it, and noted that Hinata was on the move, slowly. The dark-haired girl was edging towards the bushes, slow enough that she didn't seem to be attracting Shikamaru's attention. Silently, the Hyūga slipped past the leaves, disappearing from sight. Sakura, maintaining her chakra senses, could see her closing in on Shikamaru.

"Boo!" Hinata shouted, doing something Sakura couldn't make out. Shikamaru gave a strangled yelp and Ino dropped to the sand gracelessly. The blonde girl picked herself up, dusting herself off and yelling imprecations.

Shikamaru stumbled out of the bushes and into the moonlight, and Sakura laughed as she saw him pulling what looked like a plain old gathering bag off his head. All medics carried bags like that in their kits – just in case they found some useful medicinal plants. Apparently, Hinata had found another, more novel use for it.

"Now you're going to get it," Ino called out, tauntingly. Shikamaru managed to get the bag off and toss it to the sands. Then the melee started as Naruto and Gaara appeared to independently decide that everyone had been standing around long enough and branched off into attacks. In the shadow-rich environment of the moonlit practice ground, Shikamaru was having a field day, at least when he was left alone long enough to get a shadow hold off. The whole sparring match had devolved into a messy free-for-all, with a great deal of laughter and commentary.

The next several days were a busy blur for Sakura; something which seemed to have become the rule rather than the exception in her life. After a busy day in Intensive Care, she had just enough time to go back to the Four Tails' temple to borrow two books – one on carving and one on shogi. She was determined to buy carving materials after she had read the book on carving. There was no sense in ruining anything in her ignorance. Then, it was time for supper, and afterwards, sparring.

That little smidgeon of time between punishment duties and the evening meal was the only time Sakura really had to devote to studying for her task, and after a few days she was beginning to worry that she would ever have the time to finish the shogi set for the Four Tails. The only small mercy was that novices on pilgrimage were not required to attend regular duties or studies. This of course, didn't apply to her punishment, but it was enough. Sakura was pretty sure she would be exploding with stress by now if she'd had to do it all.

Though they contributed to her tiredness and full days, she was grateful for the evening sparring sessions. There was something absolutely liberating about getting one's heart pounding and adrenaline up. Though sparring was supposed to be serious business, even Gaara had caved to the sheer fun of it and realized that they could pick up valuable combat skills while enjoying themselves.

Then one morning, Sakura reported for duty in Intensive Care, only to be confronted by a puzzled looking Yashamaru. "What? Did I do something wrong?" she asked, upon seeing her supervisor's odd expression.

"What are you doing here, Sakura? Your punishment ended yesterday," he replied.

Her hands flew to her lips and she blushed, rapidly trying to count back the days. All the time she'd spent in the jungle made it nearly an impossible task. Had 30 days truly come and gone?

"Really?"

Yashamaru smiled at her. "Yes, you're done now. Lost track of time?"

"Yeah," she said.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I've seen you lose track of the hours in your zest to get things done and had to remind you that you were done for the day. Why should the number of days be any different?" Yashamaru was clearly amused.

Sakura gave him a weak smile.

"Anyhow, Sakura, it's been a pleasure having you here. You've done your duties well and without complaint, and I know it must have been hard to resist the temptation of jumping in to help with healing, but you handled that well also. I've already forwarded my praise to Tsunade, but you should have a chance to hear it too. I suspect you'll go far in our temple, and wouldn't be surprised to see you as a head priestess some day."

"Thank you, but certainly that's some ways away?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Finish your pilgrimage and make acolyte. You're an asset, and I'm certain the Six Tails is proud." Yashamaru stated.

"Thank you, Yashamaru," she repeated.

"Run along, now. You've got the whole day to work on your task for the Four Tails. What did he ask you to do?"

"Carve a shogi set," she answered.

Yashamaru's smile widened. "His tasks are always interesting. I was required to construct a coop for chickens."

"Chickens?"

"Yes, chickens. It was harder than you might think, at least until I got the idea to go speak to a carpenter, who laughed and pointed out what I was doing wrong. I think the coop is still standing, it's with the others by the common gardens." The common gardens were a space set aside for the growing of food plants and raising of small animals, shared by all the temples. Sakura wondered which coop Yashamaru's was.

"Anyhow, I must get back to my duties. You do your temple proud, Sakura. Don't let my pestiferous nephew get you into any more trouble," Yashamaru laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't!" Sakura grimaced determinedly, which of course only spurred more chuckles from her former supervisor. The young shinobi left Intensive Care, feeling oddly sad at the parting. The work might have been menial, but it had been important, and she'd made friends in the ward.

Sakura spent almost month on the Four Tails' task, working on her task during the day and practicing combat after supper. She was meticulous about the creation of the shogi set – practicing carving techniques and trying different kinds of wood until she felt she could trust her hands in the finely-detailed work required. In the meantime, more of their peers were joining in on the nightly exercises. The group grew from six shinobi to a much larger group of shinobi from various temples.

Shino, Chōji, Sai, Kiba, Haku and Lee joined in, bringing other friends with them, including people that Sakura hadn't met before, or hadn't interacted with since she was an initiate. She met Tenten, and was re-introduced to Neji; Hinata's cousin and the prodigy of the Hyūga. The group grew large enough that Sakura no longer had to worry about Gaara attempting to steal an illicit kiss – there were enough people around to preclude that possibility all together.

Yet Gaara, if anything, seemed thrilled by the turnout. Sakura theorized it was because pretty much everyone in their age group were now taking part in the training exercises. The red-headed son of the One Tail's high priest slipped into a natural position of organizer and commander of the manoeuvres, with Neji quickly rising to be his second in command, or, in some games, leader of the opposing forces. When Shikamaru could be bothered, he sometimes assisted with creating scenarios or strategies.

They had free-for-alls, and they had more organized games in which they were split into one or more teams. It became clear that Gaara, Shikamaru and Neji were planning things together prior to the nightly meetings, because the three shinobi would often present a proposal for the evening's games after everyone had arrived and had a warm-up spar. They devised a number of interesting scenarios, including removing 'wounded' comrades from the field of battle, protecting 'refugees' from advancing enemies, preventing 'assassinations', and combating 'enemy' squads. Naruto gleefully contributed his clone technique to creating artificial enemies.

The three girls from the Six Tails' temple even got to practice healing. While no one ever was seriously hurt, there were inevitably sprains and strains, bruises, and occasionally small cuts. Ino, Hinata and Sakura were given special status, where they could drop out of the combat at any time to attend to an injured comrade, though all three would usually attempt to extricate themselves 'naturally'. An enemy wouldn't give them a pass just because they were healers. In fact, they'd be targets.

Sakura was starting to see the benefit of the training in all of her peers. By the time she grew close to finishing her shogi set, the group had cohered nicely. Everyone was able to work with anyone else in the group at the drop of a hat, smoothly adapting to any group tactic required of them. They became used to each other's strengths and weaknesses and special techniques, including how to counter those special abilities. This, of course, led to innovation in preventing such counters. And while not everyone could attend every night, especially with several of the novices conducting pilgrimages and some of the acolytes being sent on missions, the practice sessions were fun enough that everyone did their best to come when they were able.

No doubt all the temple higher-ups were aware of these activities by now, but no one had ever come to break up the group or admonish them against practice. Every now and then, some of the older acolytes and younger priests would come and observe, or even ask to join in. Most of these didn't mind taking commands from Gaara and Neji, although some acted insulted when it became apparent that they weren't going to be automatically given command. Those ones either got over it or didn't come.