Shannaro
In the moments they spoke, she was a charming conversationalist. Never too much. Sometimes, Sasuke found himself wanting to hear her more. Other times, he'd notice her adopting his phrases and styles. Hearing her own little, "Hn," or, "Tch," made him grin with amusement. It made sense, he supposed, since they only had each other to speak to on most days.
And so, as they stood in an open field littered with craters and chunks of broken earth from their training, the fifth or sixth "hn" escaping her lips, he decided to point it out.
"You sound like me, now," he teased nonchalantly as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked back to see that his comment had earned him a pretty blush from her cheeks.
"Don't be so flattered." Sakura folded her arms defensively over her chest. "I'm sure you've picked up some little quirks from me, too."
"I doubt it."
"Enough talk," she waved her left hand dismissively at the conversation and went back to being a firm instructor. "A little more explosive, Sasuke-kun. Your timing is slightly off on the release. If you don't do it right on impact, you'll be wasting chakra."
"Explain further, one more time."
She tilted her head in thought for a moment. "It's like...a good yell. The moment you release it from your fist, exhale hard." When he merely stared at her blankly, signaling her explanation was of little help, she sighed. "I guess it might help if you actually yell. Maybe it'll help with the timing."
The Uchiha nodded before weaving a hand seal to erect another stone wall. He looked down at his knuckles, red and raw from his attempts at creating some semblance of her powerful punches. Sasuke then exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. He concentrated on gathering his chakra into the bones, muscles, and joints of his right arm and hand.
"Hn," Sakura hummed in approval. Sasuke had to keep a smirk from forming on his face at the familiar sound.
"Mimicry is flattery," he couldn't help but tease again.
"Sasuke-kun," she admonished, embarrassed. "Just punch the wall, please."
He focused once more, though lips still twitched with amusement. Like a good yell, he echoed silently. He sucked in a controlled breath as he flexed the muscles in his arm, drawing it back while piling more and more chakra. He stepped forward with his left leg before jolting ahead with explosive speed. Like a good yell, the thought came again.
"Shan—"
Is that...my voice?
"—naro!"
Rock exploded around them, flying fast away from Sasuke's chakra-infused punch. He felt the wall crumble upon impact, his chakra releasing with timing so precise he didn't feel any pain like his previous attempts. This was power, he realized, momentarily distracted from his tongue's echo of Sakura's usual battle cry.
When the dust and debris settled, however, he could nearly feel her eyes widen as she stared at him. He turned around as he shook his hand from its tight fist, trying his best not to appear sheepish and opting to appear unfazed. She didn't hear that...did she?
Oh, but she did.
Sakura's face broke out into her own amused smile. "Good job, Sasuke-kun," she chimed, gathering his beaten fist in her hands to heal his broken skin. Her smile then turned mischievous. "You really doubted that you picked anything up from me?"
Sasuke frowned and felt his cheeks warm. "I may have," he admitted reluctantly. "Possibly."
Her laugh rang out in the field surrounding them, a musical noise that warmed him.
"Mimicry is flattery," she teased, his words so, so amusing. "Say it again?" she asked sweetly, blinking up at him in the way she knew he couldn't resist. Clearly, he was wrapped around her finger in more ways than one.
Sasuke sighed, knowing he lost this battle, and muttered, "Sh...shannaro..."