"Sakura, I'm… I'm sorry."
"What're you apologising for? You and your kooky antics! What do we do with you?... Man, you look like a mummy."
...
"I'm sorry… I-"
"You know, you really should keep the curtain open. See how gorgeous it is out?"
...
"Sakura! I… I'll keep my promise. It's… my promise of a lifetime. I meant what I said."
"It's okay, Naruto. Forget it."
"Sakura! He's-"
"You remember… it's like I always say… I never go back on my word, 'cause that's my Ninja Way…"
...
"Naruto…"
All she did was cry for help…
She just cried, and reached out, and clung to him…
She did nothing…
"Naruto, I'm sorry. You'll need to wait for a while…"
...
"Because next time, I'm coming with you!"
-~X~-
Early Autumn, 2E 296
Konohagakure, Land of Fire
-~X~-
"Train me."
The Sannin looked at her strangely, as if wondering whether she was joking or not. She'd shocked him so much that he had to lower his notebook, so he must've thought she wasn't serious. Or, maybe he was just intrigued. His interest thoroughly piqued by the seemingly out-of-nowhere request.
"What's this all about, girly?" Jiraiya asked, scratching his chin idly as he peered down at her. A full head or two taller than her, even though he was leaning back against the fence and not standing upright. "You sure you don't want to train with Tsunade, instead?" At her silence, he continued. "My training is pretty intense. I don't think you can handle it."
"So, what? I should go be a glorified doctor, because you don't think I can work hard? No thanks." It came out more bitter than she'd intended, and at his slightly incredulous look she folded her arms across her chest and turned her eyes away from him. "I'm not going to just stand by, anymore..." she mumbled, and at that the man closed his notebook, a sigh escaping him as he ran his hand through his mass of wild white hair.
"That's not what I'm saying, it's just…" he considered her for a moment. Her fierce emerald eyes, her shoulder length pink hair which the wind did its damndest to make a mess of. Her arms crossed over her chest and her mouth pressed firmly into a frown.
She'd told Naruto she was going with him, and she meant it.
"Tell you what, girly. If you can learn the Rasengan before Naruto and I set out, you can come with us." It was as if a weight was lifted off of her, all the tension in her small form easing at once. "But if you can't do it, I want you to go find Tsunade."
Her relief diminished a bit, giving way to stubborn determination. No matter what, she wasn't going to just sit around the village for gods knew how long, twiddling her thumbs and playing nurse with the Hokage while Naruto ventured to gods knew where with Jiraiya. Nurses didn't bring back rogue ninja.
So either Jiraiya would take her, or she'd follow them on her own.
But she decided that she didn't need to let him know that. If he thought she'd just leave either way he'd tell Tsunade, then she'd be confined with ANBU watching her until he got back. She wasn't stupid. He'd tried the same thing with Sasuke, after all.
And look how well that had turned out…
With a huff and a nod, the girl agreed, as outwardly sincere as she could manage. She'd learn that damn Rasengan, then she'd get out of the village. Then she'd be one step closer to catching up with Naruto and Sasuke. And, they'd bring their teammate back together.
"Alright," she offered, nodding again. "You've got a deal, Jiraiya-sensei."
He lifted an eyebrow at that, rubbing his chin once again. "'Sensei', huh? Is that confidence I'm sensing?" He asked, earning a wide grin from the pinkette. "Good, because you'll need it. Because the Rasengan took me years to master. A little girl like you? You haven't got a chance."
Sakura deflated a little at that, but her inner thrust anger forward to shut out the self deprecation she already felt coming back. She'd told herself before that she'd be rid of her weakness if it was the last thing she did! So who the hell was he to tell her otherwise?
That's right! Hell yeah!
"And how long did it take Naruto, Sensei?" She asked, false sweetness dripping from her every irritated word. "He hasn't been training to use that Rasengan of his for even one year, so maybe you're just a little slower than us, old man."
Yeah! You tell him!
"And what's that supposed to mean, girly?" He yelled as he jumped up to his feet, clearly resolving not to back down to a girl like her.
"Just that anything Naruto can do, I can do better. So whatever his time is, I'll half it."
That seemed to surprise him as much as her telling him to train her had, but his surprise gave way to snickering. "Yeah, right. No way you're doing that." He said, folding his arms across his chest. "Naruto mastered it in forty days. Well, thirty-seven, but you'll need all the time you can get if you're gonna 'half his time.' Don't you think?"
"Hell no! You're not handicapping me! I'll master it in two weeks!" She held up two fingers and thrust her hand up toward his face to make sure he got a good look. Her point thoroughly punctuated, she lowered her hand and began running through all her possible options going forward.
Two weeks was maybe a bit too little time, but she refused to back down now. She was tired of giving up, and tired of making excuses for herself. One way or another, by the time these two weeks were over she'd have not just learned that damn Rasengan, she'd have mastered it.
Her grinning was cut short when he cleared his throat rather sharply, and she looked up to find that he looked rather serious now. "You should head on home now, girly. And make sure you get a good night's sleep. If you're gonna be doing this in two weeks, you'll need all the rest you can get. Because starting tomorrow, from sunrise to sunset, you and I are training."
She went to speak, suddenly overwhelmed by bubbly euphoria, but he held up a hand to quiet her. "Thank me after these two weeks are up. I don't want you whining tomorrow, or for the rest of the month. We meet at sunrise at the training field, we train. We have lunch at noon, we train. Then you go home and sleep off the fatigue so we can do it all again the next day. Got it, girly?"
The Haruno nodded vigorously, her grin returning in full as she fought to keep the girlish squeal of joy she felt rising in her from escaping her. This was her opportunity! She'd finally stop being a burden, and she only needed to learn one technique. So she'd do it, no matter what.
"Alright. Get outta here. And don't forget, girly. Sunrise to sun-"
"Sunset! I got it!" She called back to him, already running off to her next destination. It'd been easy, if a bit irritating at first, to get Jiraiya to agree to train her. Or at least to offer her a window of opportunity, which was all she needed.
Her parents were going to lose it!
-~X~-
"That's nice, Sakura."
"You weren't even listening, though," the pinkette whined, dropping her chopsticks and folding her arms across her chest. Her father just grinned at her, his cheek resting in his hand as he beamed at her. He hadn't touched his food since she started, but he had that faraway look that told him that everything she said to him was going in one ear and out the other.
She hated it when he got like that.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Sakura." Her mother's voice rang behind her, the woman placing down a small dish by her bowl of rice. With the discarded chopsticks, the woman lifted the fish from the saucer to her lips. "Open up. I think I did pretty good tonight," the blonde continued as her daughter parted her lips and took a small bite of the fish. All at once, she disregarded her irritation with her father as she took the chopsticks back and quickly finished the small piece of fish.
"Good, right?"
"Mhm! Mhm!" The turned in her seat, holding the saucer up to her mother. "I want some more," she told her. And, as the woman took the offered dish and headed back around the bar to the kitchen she sat forward and took hurried bites of her rice. Only stopping when the woman returned again, this time with a larger dish of fish.
"So," her mother started again, taking a seat as well as the girl switched from rice back to fish. "What was this about Jiraiya-san?"
"Mm!" She swallowed, lowering her chopsticks and turned her green-eyed gaze from her food to her mom. The woman seemed wholly invested, unlike her father who was still in his own world. Probably thinking about Jiraiya's books. "He said he'd train me. But, I have to learn his jutsu, first. The Rasengan."
The older female tilted her head, lifting her eyebrows. "But that's an A-rank jutsu." Sakura nodded, as if she should've known that, and her parents exchanged a brief glance. That, it seemed, was the thing that got her dad's attention. After a moment of quiet between the three of them, during which the girl went back to her food, her mother spoke again. "How long have you got to learn it?"
Again, she swallowed. "I've got two weeks."
Quiet fell again before her father's heart, booming laughter filled the dining area. His large form quaked with the force of it, and she felt a frown creeping back onto her lips. "It sounds like he's either nuttier than I remember or you've got a head start."
"And why's that?" The girl asked, a bit of her earlier irritation rising to the surface again. She'd at least hoped that her parents would believe she was able learn one stupid jutsu. But, obviously, she was wrong. A huff escaping her, she went back to her food. It, at least, didn't have anything to say that'd get on her nerves.
"Well," her mother started, shrugging slightly. "It took Kushina-chan a whole year to learn that jutsu. Maybe you can do it in a few months, but just two weeks?"
The pinkette's frown fell slightly as her parents lapsed into a conversation she wasn't really listening to, though that was more because she had no idea who they were talking about. And, in all honesty, she didn't particularly care. It didn't matter that that Kushina lady took a year to learn the Rasengan. She wouldn't take a year. Heck, she wouldn't even take a month!
Yeah! And what's two weeks, anyway? I'll bet we can learn it in one!
Okay. Maybe she was getting a bit ahead of herself, now. Two weeks was an honest stretch, but doable for her. One was utterly outlandish. Even for her.
Sighing, Sakura finished her rice with a few quick bites before she slid her chair back from the table. The sound was enough to get her parents' attention, and their conversation halted briefly as they both turned their attention to her. A curious expression from her father and raised eyebrows from her mother.
It was the latter who spoke.
"You're going already, Sakura?" The woman asked, "You usually eat more than that." She added, and when the pinkette nodded she smiled. "Well, if you're going to be training, I guess you'd better get all the rest you can get, huh? Just make sure you shower first."
"I will," she said, starting away and stopping. She turned slightly to face the two of them. Her father was grinning again, beaming up at her from where he sat as if she'd done something to make him truly proud. And her mother had that same curious look she always wore, her eyebrows slightly raised and her lips pressed into a small smile.
Looking at the two of them now, she didn't know if she'd be able to handle being away from them for long. No matter how much they seemed to enjoy getting on her nerves, sometimes. But, still, she had to go. She wouldn't go back on her word.
Even if it hurt to have to leave them.
"Goodnight, you two. And... thank you."
-~X~-
"I've always considered myself to be a true ninja...
but those were just empty words...
because Sasuke and Naruto were always in the lead!..."
...
"But...
now it's my turn to take the lead...
and all of you can watch me from the background!"