AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.

Proofread by: Author

First off. Apologies for the unusually long delay today. I was almost done before I was suddenly caught up in something else, and it took me hours to resolve, resulting in this chapter being delayed by a few hours.

Secondly, I hope you all enjoy the little pieces of peaceful chapters after all the excitement we've had, but don't think I'm leaving you all dry and wanting here. We'll be focusing on some other important parts of the story here, so enjoy.

Chapter 112: Thinking, planning, shopping, and stopping


"Oh, if you're training to become a medical-nin, we could compare notes!" Sakura replied enthusiastically.

"You're training to become a medical-nin as well?" Karin asked, clearly excited, with a hint of confusion mixed in. "I haven't seen you around the hospital." She pointed out.

"Oh, no," Sakura replied, shaking her head. "I'm not aiming to be a medical-nin, but I know a thing or two about medicine, poison, and anatomy. Tsunade taught me a bit as well, and I can perform the mystical palm technique, so I can do the job in a pinch at least." Sakura explained while Karin looked at her wide-eyed, impressed by Sakura's claim.

"That's… Wow. You're amazing Sakura. I wish I could train under Tsunade." Karin admitted, hanging her head slightly before sighing. "Although, if she's already teaching you, I doubt she'll accept anyone else," Karin concluded.

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Shizune is still her apprentice, yet she was willing to take me on as a second one until I declined. If you have the talent for it, which I think you do, she might consider taking you on as another apprentice. All you have to do is ask her." Sakura corrected Karin, who looked up to meet her gaze.

"Really?" Karin asked, now looking optimistic and hopeful.

"Really. I'm sure that she'd be willing to work with you. You have remarkable chakra control for how much chakra you have." Sakura pointed out, while Karin looked confused.

"Wait, how do you know how much chakra I have?" Karin asked, making Sakura chuckle slightly.

"I don't. I merely assumed you do, because of your abilities. You have an incredible range with your sensing abilities, suggesting you've used it a lot, and have the chakra to keep it active for longer periods of time. Also, the healing chakra you release when someone bites you, it is capable of healing severe injuries in a short amount of time. Considering how you can heal multiple people within a short time frame, and the estimate of how much chakra it does to do the same using the mystical palm technique, I reasoned that you'd have some incredible chakra reserves." Sakura explained her reasoning before Heikō took control and flipped their braid over to the left shoulder, signifying the change for Karin who they knew had learned of it from Naruto.

"Not to mention that Naruto has an ungodly amount of chakra himself. We assumed it is an Uzumaki trait." Heikō weighed in with a smirk. And that was without considering the additional reserves Naruto had thanks to being a Jinchuriki. "You could probably learn the Shadow clone technique." She reasoned.

Karin blinked in surprise at deduction from Heikō and then nodded thoughtfully. "I doubt I'd be allowed to learn it. It's a forbidden technique, and I only recently became acknowledged as a Konoha shinobi." Karin reminded them.

"Eh, I think it's fine. If I had the chakra for it, I would likely already have learned it, and I don't think anyone that matters concerning that decision would really mind. Kakashi and Naruto would likely be willing to teach you. So would I for that matter, if I manage to learn it myself." Heikō revealed, smiling at Karin who looked shocked and touched. Sakura took the moment to take back over and flipped their braid back to the right shoulder.

"You plan on learning the Shadow clone technique then?" Karin asked, receiving a nod in confirmation from Sakura. "I suppose they're useful, but if you can only make one, using most of your chakra, then how will it be of help to you?" Karin wondered, and Sakura shook her head in mirth, realizing Karin hadn't realized the true advantage of Shadow clones.

"Karin. On average, for how long, and how often do you sleep?" Sakura asked her.

"Um, six to seven hours I guess, every night?" Karin told Sakura, shrugging, while a little confused where Sakura was going with this.

"And how long could you stay awake if you had to before you begin feeling the drawbacks of staying up too late?" Sakura continued asking.

"A day and a half I suppose? Four days with the right kind of food-pill. Why?" Karin asked, making Sakura chuckle.

"Right, so nearly one-third of the day, seven hours out of twenty-four is lost to sleep. Now, imagine, that each night, before going to bed, you make a Shadow clone. I don't know if the clone would be as physically tired as you are, but even if it is, it could remain awake, read a book or practice some jutsu while you sleep. Upon awakening, you allow the clone to dispel. The remaining chakra and memories of the clone are given back to you. You get six to seven hours of training and sleep at the same time. This means that you can focus on physical training during the day and on mental training during the night, without losing any time on sleep. That is what you can accomplish with just a single clone." Sakura explained with a huge smile, while Karin stared at her, wide-eyed as Sakura's explanation hit home and realization dawned in Karin's eyes.

Noticing how silent things had gotten around them, Sakura looked around and realized that the other Shinobi present in the store were all looking at her, equally wide-eyed in realizing just how much of an advantage Shadow clones could be, even outside of combat.

"Welp, looks like we're actually smarter than some Jōnin," Heikō commented smugly, as they realized that one of the Jonin in the back had decided to write something down in response to their revelation.

"We should probably inform Tsunade, that if she's sober by the time she leaves her office, she can leave a clone to tackle paperwork during the night. She'd love it, and she'd likely agree to let us learn the Shadow clone technique as a reward, provided we have the chakra for it." Sakura responded, thinking about the possibility with a smile.

After a few moments, the people in the store all went back to doing what they had been before overhearing Sakura's explanation.

"Sakura, that's… that's amazing! That opens up so many possibilities!" Karin exclaimed, amazed.

"Yeah, and with your chakra reserves, you'd be able to create multiple clones at once, just like Naruto." Sakura pointed out, chuckling as Karin froze in place, once again sporting a wide-eyed look of realization.

"I've got to go." Karin suddenly told them, before running out of the story, prompting the clerk to shout after her angrily.

"Hey! You still haven't paid for that yet!" He shouted, prompting a blushing and apologetic Karin to return and instead hold out some kind of paper, which seemed to calm the clerk down before he accepted the paper as payment and let Karin go.

"Bye, Sakura, He-" Karin began, before cutting herself off as she passed them by one last time and headed out, remembering not to address Heikō in public.

"Well, I guess she has a lot to be excited for," Heikō concluded, sounding amused. Sakura couldn't help but be equally amused, both at Karin's blunder to forget to pay, as well as her hurry to go and see about getting herself some of those useful clones to use.

"Great, now I'm envious." Sakura realized, sighing before she walked over to pick up the supplies they had come to purchase in the first place.

"We should consider updating our outfit. Like, getting us an iron mesh shirt for protection or something. It could end up saving our lives." Heikō pointed out, and Sakura nodded in agreement. They had gotten part of Naruto's and Jiraiya's mission pay for their part in bringing Tsunade back to the village. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any bounty for Kabuto, as he had been considered dead, but they should still have enough money to at least get a decent mesh shirt. Although, one made of iron was likely going to be heavy, so getting one made out of a lighter, yet equally strong, or stronger metal would cost more.

On a whim, Sakura added a brush and a bottle of quality ink to their purchase of a binder and a mechanical pen, with a storage scroll to store it all. Fūinjutsu had been an interesting topic they had considered learning, but to even begin, they would at least require a brush and ink of their own if they were to try and convince either Jiraiya or Fezā to teach them since they didn't seem to have a natural talent for it, but were determined to learn it. From what they had seen of Jiraiya using it, and what the contract scrolls of Summons showed, Fūinjutsu was a very versatile and useful art that could be combined with and support many other different areas. Some of the more impressive seal-works Sakura and Heikō knew of were Naruto's Jinchuriki Seal and Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal.

Having purchased their supplies, Sakura sealed them in the newly purchased storage scroll and set a new path towards a weapons and armor shop.


Finding a mesh armor that was light, durable, comfortable yet affordable turned out to be a task and a half. By the time Sakura left the shop, it was already dark outside. However, sealed into the storage scroll was a new mesh shirt made out of stainless steel mesh. There had been others made out of more expensive metals, but stainless steel was sturdy and light enough to satisfy them. Sadly, they couldn't reinforce it with any kind of ease, as it wasn't chakra conductive, but considering how expensive it would be to get something like that, it would have been overkill anyway. Besides, their chakra reserves weren't big enough to really support the idea of continuous reinforcement of armor throughout a battle.

Either, way, they had still taken the opportunity to try different mesh shirts on, to get a feel for the difference. It turned out that the quality of all of them had been great either way, so comfort hadn't been an issue. The biggest differences were the weight, strength, and prices. Yet, going for the third cheapest option had still afforded them a decent purchase, which left them in a good mood as they walked home under a dark sky, on streets illuminated by streetlights or nearby buildings.

Reaching out with their senses, they could feel a pair of ANBU following them, but they were easily recognized as two of their usual tails, so they weren't a worry. The Hokage had cleared the entire thing up for them, as it turned out they were under ANBU surveillance for their own protection. It made them wonder, however, where said protection had been when they had been kidnapped.

In the end, they reached their home without incident. Aware of the rather late hour, Sakura took out her key and opened the door, trying to be silent about her entry, only to see the futility of her actions as their father stood in the hallway, looking rather upset. Before either Sakura or Heikō could react, Kizashi had already scooped them up into his arms, hugging them close as he began crying.

"Oh, my dear little blossoms! You're home, you're finally home! I'm so sorry! Please, don't give me such a heart attack again!" He cried, loudly, while Sakura struggled to get out of his hug.

"Daad! You're overreacting! It was just a sudden mission and-" Sakura began, only for her father to suddenly stop and give her a hurt, disappointed, yet serious look that shut her up in surprise, although Kizashi kept hugging them tightly.

"Sakura, Heikō. How can you say that? How can you think I wouldn't be worried when you were kidnapped of all things?!" He demanded to know, leaving Sakura and Heikō confused with how their father had found out about it.

"W-what? What do you mean?" Sakura tried to play stupid, although she immediately knew it hadn't worked as their father looked even sadder than before.

"I found out about it at the latest clan meeting. I'm sorry you had to go through that, and I understand why you kept it secret, but… we need to talk about this," Kizashi told them, letting go of them, the atmosphere suddenly uncomfortably serious.


AN: Well, this chapter covered quite a bit I think. Shadow clones and their uses, even if you can only barely make one are still useful as heck. New tools and future paths being explored, followed by a decent addition to Sakura's and Heikō's wardrobe has been added, followed by a sudden reveal that Sakura's dad knows what really happened. Now, what happened at that clan meeting I wonder?