Hey friends! I'm happy to update this again, and guess what?! The next chapter will be the beginning of the exams! Yay! Woot woot! I know many of you have been waiting very patiently for that : )
This chapter is dedicated to: The Imperfect Me, kopycat101, and bookmaniac849! Plus a special thank you to everyone who helped me reach 600 reviews! I am so appreciative and love you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 36: A Month of Training 11
Edited October 24th, 2015
Xxx Sakura xxX
Sakura was happy to be distracted, but even though she had people distracting her all day long, she still found herself more lost in her thoughts than not. After everything that Gaara had said…
She knew he had been talking about her parents. She just knew it. Her heart hurt even thinking about it. If Gaara had been the one to kill her parents, then that meant he would have to be in cahoots with Orochimaru and that meant that-
Sakura ducked as a palm was thrust her way. Shaking her head slightly, Sakura turned her body to the left to avoid another palm. Her current opponent didn't leave her a lot of time to let her mind wander… Sakura was thankful for that, because it hurt too much to dwell on it.
"What a youthful dodge Sakura-Chan!" Gai called as he jumped up and down at the side of their match. "Keep at it Neji-kun! I am sure you will be able to hit her soon!"
Sakura heard Neji grumble, and it caused her to smirk slightly. Neji and her both currently had on a blindfold, and in addition to the blindfold, the two had a handicap of sorts. Gai had told Neji to try to not use his byakugan. The byakugan was his doujutsu that allowed him to see almost 360 degrees, and he could even see with his eyes closed. Neji's seeing ability wasn't something he could just turn off; he had to concentrate greatly if he didn't want to use it.
Sakura was in the same boat as Neji though, because she had to actively fight her constant need to sense for other chakra around her. Gai didn't want them to have to depend on one thing, so he had challenged them not to. Sakura had found it hard at first, because she was used to just unconsciously sensing chakra as she went, but she had understood why Gai had been teaching them the way he was.
Concentrating her chakra into her ears, Sakura tried to listen to Neji's movements as he came at her again. If Sakura hadn't been using her chakra to enhance her senses, Sakura never would have heard the quiet Hyuga. Training with Shino and Kiba had been surprisingly productive, even if it had only been that one time.
Dipping her body down as Neji's palm was thrust her way, Sakura took in a deep breath as she caught Neji's other wrist with her palm. His palm was about an inch away from her chest, and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief at knowing she was able to stop his attack.
"Good Sakura-Chan!" Gai praised again. "Now I'm going to have you switch rolls. Sakura-Chan you are on attack, and Neji-kun you are on defense!"
Sakura shifted her stance and let go of Neji's hand to give him a head start. She didn't want to go easy on Neji, but she wanted to train; keeping his hand in hers would have been an easy way to win. The chakra around her ears hummed as she tried to focus on where Neji had gone.
She heard the wind blow his hair softly to her left, and she had to fight a smirk. Of course she was hearing his hair of all things.
Jumping into action quickly, Sakura threw a kunai toward where she heard Neji. Hearing him rotate his body to deflect the kunai, Sakura knew that she had to wait until he was done rotating to attack again. After seeing his rotation first hand an hour or so earlier, Sakura knew that it would be impossible for her to attack him while he was using it. She calculated how long it would take him to end his rotation before jumping forward.
Sakura was behind Neji just as he stopped his rotation, and Sakura slammed her fist to the back of Neji's lower back. Neji was able to spin out of the way a second before her fist was going to connect, and Sakura took the chance to drop to her knees and try to kick Neji's legs out from under him.
She connected with Neji's first leg before he managed to jump out of the way. She tried to follow Neji's quiet movements, but he disappeared rather quickly.
Concentrating on her senses again, Sakura paused when she heard the back door open. Were her teammates home already? If they were, then why hadn't Kakashi-sensei warned her they were back? She knew Kakashi-sensei would have sensed her and Neji training with Gai.
"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto's whiney voice was carried from the house into the backyard. "What are you doing with this bastard?!"
Kakashi-sensei had totally set her up on this one… she knew he would be able to tell she was training with Neji. Knowing Kakashi-sensei, he probably pointed that fact out to the two of them… she knew how much Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun didn't like Neji.
"Hn," Without even seeing the two, Sakura could already imagine how they were looking. Naruto-kun was more than likely pouting, and Sasuke-kun was probably glaring at Neji with his arms crossed. Lifting up her blindfold, Sakura was happy to know that her thought had been right.
"Looks like our training is done for now Sakura," Neji said while he lifted his blindfold. In the short time she had been spending with Neji, she could tell that he seemed to be both a little amused and a lot irritated at Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun's presence.
"Good," Naruto said as he mimicked Sasuke's position and crossed his arms over his chest like a child. Sakura sighed at Naruto-kun's immaturity.
Ignoring her overbearing teammates for now, Sakura turned towards Neji and Gai with a smile. "Thanks for helping me out today, Neji," Sakura said, and she could practically feel the glare her teammates were sending her way.
"It was both unlucky and lucky that Tenten-Chan was sick today!" Gai said with a fist pump. "I was very happy you two could youthfully work together even though you may be facing each other in the exams!"
"Hn," Neji said with a slight nod. "This training was different, but not completely unwelcome. I'd be willing to train with you again tomorrow if Tenten is still ill, Sakura."
"What?" Naruto's loud voice carried over the backyard, and Sakura noticed both his and Sasuke-kun's look of shock. "You should feel privileged to train with Sakura-Chan! After that response, there's no way she is training with you again."
"I agree," Sasuke said with a nod and a glare. "Especially not at our home."
"As I see it," Neji said with a slight smirk. Oh no… Neji was going to tease them wasn't he? "It is Sakura's choice in who she wishes to train with. If she chooses to train with me as opposed to the two of you… well that seems like it's something the two of you will have to work on."
"You-"
"Don't tease them Neji," Sakura said with a sigh as she cut off Naruto-kun. She knew Naruto-kun would go on an angry rant, and she could feel Sasuke-kun quietly raging with anger behind her. "You know I'll train with anyone who can help me become stronger. You, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Gai-sensei… anyone who can help make me stronger."
"Hn," Neji's response was enough to tell her that she knew what he was thinking. He still held the belief that you were only destined to be as strong as fate allowed you to be. Sakura thought that his thinking was garbage, but she'd need Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun to help her with teaching him that.
"Don't you think it's getting kind of late Gai?" Sakura heard Kakashi-sensei question as he took a step into the backyard. Sakura shot Kakashi-sensei a thankful look; she'd forgive him for sending her teammates out into the back yard in the first place if he could get Gai and Neji to leave without a fight breaking out. "Shouldn't you and Neji get going home?"
"Oh you're right my eternal rival!" Gai said while he looked to Neji with a bright smile. "We are supposed to be training very early tomorrow morning! Let's get you home so you can get a youthful night's sleep!"
"Bye Gai-sensei!" Sakura called as the two headed out through the gate of her backyard. Sakura hadn't realized how late it had been getting when she had been training, but as she watched Gai-sensei and Neji walk out of her backyard the position of the moon made her realize how late it really was. "Bye Neji!"
After the two had effectively left her backyard, Sakura turned a questioning eyebrow toward her teammates. "You know you don't have to be so mean to Neji… it was Gai-sensei who had suggested we train together anyways."
"But he's a bastard Sakura-Chan!" Naruto whined again. "And he's going to be facing Teme in the exams! You didn't give him any pointers did you?"
"No," Sakura said with a shake of her head. "But I was able to assess his battle tactics and jutsu."
"..And you'd be willing to share that information?" Sasuke asked in quiet hope. Sakura knew that if this would have been a couple months ago, Sasuke-kun never would have asked for her help. She had a feeling of pride warm in her chest at his question.
"I might," Sakura said with a grin as she started to walk into the house.
"Might?" Naruto was the one to question her. "What does might mean, Sakura-Chan?"
"Well it depends on if Sasuke-kun will teach me that really complicated trap Anko-san taught him the other day," Sakura said with a grin as she kept walking.
Xxx Sakura xxX
She was up again, and couldn't sleep. She actually hadn't even tried to sleep, but that was beside the point. She knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep even if she tried.
So instead of laying in the dark thinking about things she didn't want to think about, Sakura found herself going through a pile of scrolls she hadn't read yet. The scrolls were a mix of scrolls from the library, scrolls from Shikaku, and scrolls from the Uchiha manor.
Reading had kept her mind at bay for the moment, but she kept being distracted by little thoughts that would seemingly pop out of nowhere. She was distracted by the thought of Gaara and what he had done to her parents, because when she had thought about it, the look in his eye had been enough to prove to her that he had done it.
She was also distracted by the picture in her kunai pouch of Sasuke-kun and his brother. She wanted to talk to Sasuke-kun about it, to see what his side of the story was, but it seemed like too delicate of a subject to broach with Sasuke-kun. Especially when he was worrying about the upcoming exams.
Other thoughts raced through her head too: thoughts about her upcoming battle with Shikamaru-kun, thoughts about the monster that lived inside of Naruto-kun, the monster that lived inside Gaara, of Orochimaru and the fact he had actually ordered someone to kill her parents…
Sakura sighed in frustration as she shoved some of the scrolls she had been looking at off of her bed. She bit her lip as the tears started to reach her eyes. Why was life so complicated? Why couldn't her parents still be here? Why couldn't Orochimaru have left them alone?
Why had he been after Sasuke-kun in the first place, Sakura wondered to herself, and would he continue to go after him? The final part of the exams were so close, and Sakura had a bad feeling about them. As Sakura's mind kept racing, Sakura didn't even notice her door open slightly.
"Sakura?" Kakashi's voice was quiet, and she knew he didn't want to wake the boys. She should have known Kakashi-sensei would know she would be awake. "Have you slept at all?"
"No," Sakura said as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes; they didn't fall, but that didn't mean she wanted him to see them. She should have known, though, because Kakashi-sensei saw everything.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he walked into her room and sat on the side of her bed. It was comforting to see the concern in his lone eye.
She didn't want to burden him with her thoughts, but she couldn't stop herself. She trusted Kakashi-sensei, and knew he would be able to alleviate some of the worries and thoughts that were racing through her mind.
"I'm pretty sure Gaara was the one to kill my parents," Sakura said as she felt a weight get lifted from her chest. "Which means he is somehow working with or for Orochimaru…
"Even after saying that, I don't know how, or why, but I feel like it isn't Gaara's fault. He scares me Kakashi-sensei, and if he's the one that killed my parents a part of me wants to hate him, but then I see him all alone, and I think of Naruto-kun… and a part of me pities him too."
"Sakura-Chan," Kakashi sighed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder; she sank into his warmth immediately. "Gaara… Gaara is someone you shouldn't mess around with. He's a jinchuuriki like Naruto-kun, but that doesn't mean he and Naruto are the same, because they're not. Gaara has no control over the monster inside of him.
"He attacked you," Kakashi said as his eyes went to her neck which still held a bruise. "He murdered your parents. There is nothing you should pity about him, Sakura-Chan."
Sakura found herself nodding while she leaned her head against Kakashi-sensei's shoulder. Gaara had been the one to take two of her precious people away from her; he had destroyed the bonds she had made with them, and he had threatened to do the same with the rest of her bonds. But even if Kakashi-sensei had said not to pity him, Sakura couldn't help it. Gaara didn't even know what bonds were.
"Thanks Kaka-sensei," Sakura said as her eyes slipped to the scrolls that littered her bed.
"You're still not going to sleep are you?" Kakashi asked her with a knowing look.
"Nope," Sakura said with a slight smile, because even after the talk the two had, Sakura knew sleep would still be elusive.
She heard him sigh as he scooted next to her. "Alright," Kakashi said as he leaned back against the pillows next to her. "What are we studying then?"
Xxx Sakura xxX
Sakura was on her way to training with Anko when she caught sight of Hayate. After not seeing Hayate for the last two weeks, Sakura could say she was definitely worried about him. Kakashi-sensei had reassured her that Hayate was on a mission, and that he was fine, but after what had happened the last time she had seen him she wasn't so sure.
Whatever Gaara's sensei and Kabuto had been talking about had caused Hayate to be jittery, and she had been worried about him ever since. She couldn't explain her reasoning, it was just a gut feeling.
"Hayate-sensei!" Sakura called as she watched he and Yuugao walk through the fruit market together. Hayate turned toward Sakura, and a smile touched his lips.
"Sakura," Hayate nodded as she walked toward him. "It's good to see you're safe."
"I'm glad you're back from your mission," Sakura said as she stopped a foot or so in front of him. She was curious at the way he had said his previous statement, but she held back her curiosity. "It's good to see that you're safe as well."
"Of course," Hayate nodded seriously as his eyes scanned the area around them. "Could I actually talk to you privately for a second Sakura?"
"Um, sure," Sakura said with a nod as she waved to Yuugao. Yuugao was looking at a batch of tomatoes as she waved to the two. Even as the two walked away, she could feel Yuuago's eyes on their backs.
Following Hayate into an alley way, Sakura had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What's up, Hayate?"
"I want you to be careful if you end up winning your first match," Hayate said as he looked at her seriously in the eye. He coughed slightly into his fist before he spoke again. "If you end up going against Gaara… bad things could happen. I can't say too much, but please be careful, and use your best judgement."
He had confused Sakura a great deal with his words, but she could only nod before watching Hayate-sensei walk back out into the market place. His warning… it left an even worse feeling in Sakura's stomach.
Biting her lip, Sakura continued her trek to the training grounds. Hayate-sensei's words had both worried her and warmed her heart. He had obviously been worried about her, which is why he warned her, but because he had warned her there was obviously something going on.
She needed to talk to Kakashi-sensei again. If something bigger was going on, then he would know. Without even flaring her chakra, Sakura knew exactly where Kakashi-sensei would be at the moment. If he was not training the three of them, then he would be at the memorial stone. Kakashi-sensei hadn't opened up about why he stayed there for at least an hour a day, but Sakura could feel that Kakashi-sensei would open up to them at some point.
She only felt a little bad about her going to see her sensei instead of going to training. She really should be focusing on training, but she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate with all the thoughts raging through her head.
She also knew Anko would be angry at her for being late, because even as crazy as she was, Anko was a stickler about being on time. She would just have to make up an excuse, or bring Kakashi along to act as a buffer.
Arriving at the memorial stone, Sakura waited for her sensei to acknowledge her presence before speaking. Whoever it was he came to see here was important to him, and the time they shared meant a lot to the silver haired shinobi.
Sakura watched as Kakashi-sensei bowed his head once before turning to look at her. He raised an eyebrow in question at her, and Sakura felt some of the dread leave her.
"Why did Hayate-sensei warn me to be careful if I were going up against Gaara?" Sakura asked as Kakashi-sensei got closer. "I know he saw what happened to Lee-senpai, but he pulled me off to the side to warn me… Is there something going on Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi sighed before he motioned for the two of them to start walking. "For you to skip Anko's training to seek me out… this must be bothering you quite a bit. I can't… I can't explain everything to you Sakura-Chan, but I can tell you that Hayate's warning was right: if you end up facing Gaara you need to be extremely careful."
The answer was vague, and Sakura wasn't quite happy with it, but she knew Kakashi-sensei wouldn't give her any more than that. Her sensei could be elusive sometimes, but there was always a reason for his elusiveness. Could this be a secret of some kind?
"It kind of goes along with what we talked about last night," Kakashi continued. "But then again it kind of doesn't."
"That doesn't really make any sense, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said with a sigh.
"I know," Kakashi said with a nod. "But after the exams it will.
"Now let me take you to the training grounds," Kakashi-sensei said, and Sakura could hear the frown on his face. "We don't need Anko to come searching for you."
"Anko can be a little scary, can't she sensei?" Sakura asked with a frown of her own as she kept walking.
"You have no idea, Sakura-Chan," Kakashi said with a shudder as he patted the top of her head. "Try not to make her angry… she can hold grudges on people for a very long time."
"It sounds like you're talking from experience," Sakura accused with an amused smile. Even if he hadn't been able to answer all of her questions, she at least knew more than she had when she had sought him out. She understood there were things Kakashi-sensei couldn't tell her.
"He is," an angry voice called from in front of them. Sakura's smile immediately left her face when she saw Anko and Sasuke-kun standing a few yards away from them. Sasuke-kun's arms were crossed over his chest and he was glaring at her; really she couldn't be late once? "Why the hell were you gallivanting off with someone I was supposed to be training, huh Hakate?"
The silence between the two groups was deafening until Kakashi nonchalantly shrugged.
"Well you see Anko…" Kakashi started to trail off. "Sakura-Chan wanted to help a little old lady cross the street but there were these bandits and they-"
Kakashi didn't even have the chance to finish his lame excuse before Anko lunged at him. The attack seemed to surprise Kakashi as his eye widened in shock before he pushed Sakura to a safe distance.
Sakura watched in awe as Kakashi-sensei dodged the kunai, shuriken, and snakes that were thrown his way. The snakes made Sakura shiver in disgust, but she could appreciate their effectiveness.
Feeling Sasuke-kun appear beside her, Sakura could only shrug at the questioning look he shot her.
"Where were you?" Sasuke asked with a frown as they watched Kakashi-sensei dodge all of Anko's weapons.
"I needed to talk to Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said as she winced. One of Anko's snakes had wrapped itself around Kakashi's left foot effectively tripping him. Seeing the malicious grin on Anko's face made her shudder; she knew Anko was going to capitalize on this.
Sakura watched Anko stalk to where Kakashi-sensei lay. More of her snakes had wrapped themselves around Kakashi's other limbs and kept him stuck on the ground.
"I don't want your genin to get your dumb habits, Hatake," Anko said threateningly as she stalked even closer. Taking out a kunai, Anko ran her finger up and down the sharp object while giving Kakashi a meaningful look. "And because I know they will, I'm going to make an example out of you."
"I've been better lately," Kakashi-sensei offered feebly as Anko stopped in front of him, and Sakura had to agree with him.
"Don't turn away kids," Anko said with a grin as she looked to Sasuke and Sakura. "I'm going to make an example out of your sensei."
"But I'm only like five minutes late…" Sakura said with a frown as she watched Anko slam the kunai down on Kakashi-sensei's chest. Just as the kunai touched Kakashi's chest, a puff of smoke was heard, and Kakashi's body had been replaced with a log.
"You elusive bastard!" Anko called as her eyes scanned the area for their elusive sensei. It seemed like she didn't want to let Kakashi go that easily.
"I'll see you kids at home," Kakashi called from somewhere behind Sakura. His voice echoed around the clearing, and it was hard to place his exact location. "Be good and don't get killed by Anko."
"Hai sensei," the two responded with a small smile.
"Don't 'hai sensei' him!" Anko yelled as she glared at the two genin. "Sasuke get the wire ready, Sakura grab the kunai! You're going to learn a new complicated trap. One that can even trap that bastard of a sensei you have!"
Xxx Sakura xxX
Tomorrow was the big day. It was crazy to think the month of training she had was now over. She had worked her body in ways she hadn't even thought possible, but it was enough to make Sakura happy with her progress.
There was no way she'd be able to take Orochimaru on, but that was beside the point. As long as she kept getting stronger, Sakura knew she would be able to beat that bastard one day.
Continuing her walk to the Nara compound, Sakura was surprised to find Shikamaru-kun in her path. Usually in the mornings, Shikamaru was training off alone or with Asuma. To see him standing in front of her was different… and wait, was he blushing?
Sakura had to shake the thoughts from her head before she stopped a foot or so from Shikamaru. The two had continued their shogi matches over the last week or so, and Sakura had been getting better at reading his strategy. She hadn't even gotten close to beating him yet, but that didn't mean she wouldn't beat him one day.
"Shikamaru-kun?" Sakura questioned as she tilted her head to the side. Sakura watched as Shikamaru-kun's eyes scanned her vest before his eyes darted to the ground. Why was he avoiding eye contact with her?
"Sakura-Chan," Shikamaru said with a sigh as he handed her a small package. She hadn't even noticed he had been holding it before. "I… I had this made for you, too."
"Too?" Sakura questioned before she could stop herself. Too implied he had something else made for her, and the only piece of clothing she had no knowledge of its origin was the vest she was currently wearing. Did that mean the vest was actually from him?
"I had the vest made for you," Shikamaru said as he refused to meet her eyes. Sakura could only smile when she noticed his red ears. "It was… it was because you had been wearing the Uchiha vest so often, and I knew you wore it for comfort… I figured you wanted a Haruno one."
"That was actually really sweet of you," Sakura said. She looked down to the package in her hand and gave Shikamaru-kun a look. "But if you already had this made for me, then why are you giving me something else?"
"No matter what happens tomorrow," Shikamaru said his voice growing serious. His chocolate brown eyes connected with her emerald ones. "You'll still be important to me…. This gift proves that to you."
Opening the package, Sakura couldn't help but smile. The color of the vest was familiar to her; it actually matched the grey color of Shikamaru's jacket to a T. Pulling the vest out from the wrappings, Sakura held the grey vest up to Shikamaru-kun's jacket and smiled. Turning the vest over, Sakura noticed the small Haruno circle in the bottom left corner. In the right left corner, there was the Nara's clan symbol.
"I love it Shikamaru-kun," Sakura said as she wrapped her arms around Shikamaru. She loved the look of it, but she loved what it meant more. Shikamaru-kun giving this to her showed that no matter what the outcome of their match tomorrow, she was still important to him. He would still consider her one of his important people. "Thank you."
The tips of his ears reddened a little more as Shikamaru hugged her back. "No problem."
To think he had two different articles of clothing made for her. She was used to just stealing an article of clothing from one of her boys. Thinking back on it, when had he actually given her the first vest? Hadn't she found it in her closet?
Sakura's brow furrowed. "Hey Shikamaru-kun," Sakura said as she took a step back from him. "If you were the one to give me the other vest, does that mean you broke into my house to put it in my closet?"
"… Troublesome," Was his only response as his cheeks reddened to match his ears.