DISCLAIMER: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. Shefalls claims none of it for herself.

EDITED: 29/03/2021

The Leaves of the Tree

12.

It was a Saturday afternoon, exactly twenty five days after Sakura and Naruto were handed over to Jiraiya like sacrificial lambs.

He worked them to the bone while somehow smoothly continuing with his voyeurism even though Sakura did her level best to get in the pervert's way. She knew he was growing quite annoyed with just how much her attempts were improving each day, but Jiraiya stubbornly refused to acknowledged it and Sakura carried on – encouraged by Naruto's unrestrained enjoyment of her vengeance in their name. Every time she heard the enraged squeaks of women followed by loud, harsh thwacks, Sakura's annoyance was soothed, if only a little.

But still, Jiraiya worked them to the bone. It was why meeting up with their friends became ridiculously difficult. They'd even stopped their weekend training with Lee-san, because Jiraiya dominated every waking minute of his two students. He was absolutely needy, demanded their full attention all the time and got unbearably loud whenever they failed to provide it. Sakura often thought that the term 'overgrown baby' was invented because, and for, that damn albino hedgehog. She felt like an overworked mother at the tender age of thirteen, and that just wasn't on.

Today was different, though.

Today Jiraiya announced a two-day respite, because he had to continue with his research and couldn't spare anymore time. Sakura took it to mean her efforts in blocking every peeping spot around Konoha were successful, so the asshole was going to travel to satisfy his stupid hobby. Either way, she didn't care. Vacation was exactly what she needed, and the closest town was populated by ninja - too. They'd beat him half dead for the sake of women everywhere, no doubt about it.

Hidden in a corner of an unassuming side-street in the older part of Konoha's centre, 'Masurame's Yakiniku' was the number one place for great barbeque in the village. Booking a table always had to be done at least three days in advance, and even then you were guaranteed to wait in line outside for a minimum of twenty minutes. In addition to this, the owner and chef was Akimichi Masurame. This meant that civilians could only visit the restaurant twice a year, and for the rest of it the place was a shinobi-only establishment. As if this wasn't exclusive enough – Masurame's was banned for any shinobi below chunin. All in all, it was an exclusive, tasty, super-popular place.

And none of the rules ever applied to Akimichi Choji and his friends. You a civilian but friends with Choji? Come anytime. Oh, you a genin? Not a problem sweetie, take a seat. Get comfortable, pig out and be prepared to receive a hefty discount for being friends with the clan heir. You're guaranteed to enjoy, and definitely come again. Why? Because despite Choji's friendly nature he didn't have all that many genuine friends – just because Choji always smiled and was polite, didn't mean he liked you. If Choji invited yoy out for food that was your sign of his good will.

Sakura's first time munching out with Choji was when she was seven and he treated her to anmitsu after some brat smacked her on the forehead to win a bet. Safe to say, Sakura was Choji's friend.

Six o'clock found Sakura squished between Ino and Naruto, opposite an amused Tenten and a blushing Hinata, at one of Masurame's large tables. Choji was holding court, Shikamaru was footing the bill and Lee-san had been snatched by Guy-sensei, who sat a few tables down from them, to judge in his impromptu eating competition against an unfamiliar Jonin, under the bewildered gaze of Asuma-sensei. The atmosphere was loud and cheery. The food was Akimichi quality great.

Sakura was having a good time.

"So I told him to butt out," Naruto said loudly, "because there's no way I'm getting up that early for chakra training, yeah? And he – he just tossed me out the window!"

"Shithead," Ino deadpanned. "Your situation's getting worse, Forehead. From one pervert to another, and this one's nuts, to boot."

"Pfft. The last time he tried to pull that crap on me, Pakkun bit him," Sakura snorted. "Right where it counts."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru decided, while Choji shuddered and Tenten cackled in amusement.

"He's such a mess!" Naruto complained.

"B-but, I'm s-s-sure he'll train you well, Naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered out and she didn't even sway when Naruto targeted his blinding grin at her. "I mean, he knew Kushina-san, after all."

Naruto planted an arm around Hinata in a one-armed hug, and the Hyuuga girl bravely clung to consciousness despite her red face.

'Kudos,' Sakura thought, impressed. 'Our girl's improving.'

'We'll have her Frenching his face in no time!' Inner Sakura agreed enthusiastically.

'Ew.'

"So where's Chicken-Butt?" Tenten asked.

"Chicken-what-now?" Ino asked, perturbed.

"She means Sasuke," Naruto snickered.

"We don't know, Kakashi-sensei kidnapped him," Sakura answered simultaneously.

At first it took Sakura by surprise just how completely unimpressed Tenten was by Sasuke. Overtime she'd grown to expect it, but she never really understood how anyone with eyes could be so blatantly uninterested in, at least, his pretty face. Then Sakura saw Hyuuga Neji at the exams and she finally figured out exactly what Tenten's problem was. Sasuke and Neji were both ridiculously pretty, and both absolute massive dickheads. It was impossible to refute or deny, not now that she actually knew Sasuke on a slightly better lever. He was an ass, Sakura loved him anyway. Such was life.

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun!" Ino screeched, offended beyond belief.

"Nah," Sakura shrugged, "his hair does look like a chicken's ass."

Naruto snorted so enthusiastically, he fell off his seat.

"Forehead!" Ino hissed.

"It's true!" Sakura protested. "I've been telling him to grow it out for months, but the jerk won't do it. Maybe if other people notice the resemblance he'll cave! Come on, Pig, we deserve it!"

'Deserve or not, we want it!' Inner Sakura leered, 'imagine it, Piggy. Just imagine it.'

Ino blinked.

Sakura could see the cogs in her head turning, as she tried to picture Sasuke with longer hair. Hair hanging down to his nape, shoulder length, maybe – please, please, if there's any god out there – even longer?

Ino's eyes glazed over, her face flushed a flattering pink in a way Sakura would never in a million years manage, and she slapped Sakura's shoulder a little too hard with a dumb smile on her lips. Sakura had no doubt Sasuke would be known village-wide as 'chicken-butt' by tomorrow.

'Which guarantees he'll cave, the dramatic sod,' Inner Sakura grumbled.

Sakura smirked and snatched the last short-rib slice right from under Choji's nose. It really was a great day so far.

The weekend flew by in a blink and Sakura spent it glued to her friends' side. She had more fun in those two days than she did in months. They ate, went shopping, played kunai-target with Naruto's shadow clones and just generally made a ruckus. Ino braided purple blooms into Sakura's hair and then pastel pink one's into Hinata's short bob, after which she'd bullied the two girls into painstakingly decorating her own blonde locks with pretty red flowers. Tenten waxed poetic about having unruly curly hair, and then evilly imagined Neji with flowers in his waist-length brown hair. Naruto and Lee-san beat each other up. Choji made them treats. Shikamaru napped under a tree. It was truly a great, great weekend.

Sakura should've known it wouldn't last.

Jiraiya returned bright and early on Monday, his spirits unexpectedly high and his attitude even more revolting than usual. He'd somehow managed to summon – actually summon – Naruto and Sakura onto that one cliff above a waterfall, where they had the absolute displeasure of becoming his temporary charges for the first time. Jiraiya had already set-up camp: there was a fire pit, one folding chair with a little parasol above it, and what suspiciously looked like the ingredients to make a half-assed tent. Jiraiya lounged on the chair, wearing sunglasses and cackling over an adult magazine.

Sakura instinctively picked up a rock and lugged it at the pervert's head. Jiraiya, well practiced by now, dodged – but he didn't expect the second rock, courtesy of an irritated Naruto, that smacked him straight on the nose.

"Oi!" Jiraiya howled, "you ungrateful brats!"

"Pervert," Sakura snapped right back.

"Hedgehog-head!" Naruto yelled. "Why'd you bring us here? How'd you bring us here?!"

"Ah, that's the question, isn't it?" Jiraiya drawled in a sickeningly sweet yet condescending tone he knew both of them hated. "You still have the talismans I gave you?"

"You told us to keep them in our pockets at all times," Sakura said waspishly and pulled out a little ball of crumpled paper from her pajama's single pocket. She strongly suspected it was a useless scribble when Jiraiya handed it to her before he departed over the weekend, but turns out she was wrong.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed grumpily and pulled out his own crumpled little note. He eyed it suspiciously and sniffed with what Sakura learned could only be derision. "It's written bad."

"Badly written," Jiraiya corrected and then tilted his head. "How do you mean?"

"It's a weak seal," Naruto said flatly as he uncrumpled the talisman and then shoved it under Jiraiya's nose. "It says in 'Guide to Fuinjutsu part four' that connecting a seal with just one line, without adding anything else to hold it together, makes it weak and unpredictable."

Sakura blinked and then sat down, expecting a long triad.

Ever since Naruto developed an interest in sealing, courtesy of his mysterious mother Kushina, he became something of a walking preacher on the importance of proper work. The first time Naruto went off on Tenten, moaning about careless sealing scrolls and how abhorrent the standard seal work was, Sakura nearly fainted. Naruto used big words, correctly and repeatedly. And Tenten swore he didn't make a single mistake. The two often geeked out about fuinjutsu together after that, sowing general panic among those who knew Naruto, but hadn't picked up on his new hobby. Naruto? Study? Remember entire volumes of information? The end of the world must be coming.

But either way, Sakura knew that no matter how much of a dumbass Naruto was on the daily, and just how completely out-of-it he could be under any sort of circumstance, when the subject was fuinjutsu Naruto didn't fuck around. His usual wildness gave way to a sort of morbid seriousness, accompanied by a near fanatical adoration for the art of his ancestors, and Naruto could go on for hours. He kept pulling fact after fact, straight out of his ass, and waxing poetic about things Sakura couldn't ever see him taking an interest in – like the type of ink used, for example.

It was quite a shock for first-timers.

Jiraiya was no exception.

The Sannin looked like he was scared for his life for the first two minutes of Naruto's rant. Then he looked confused, followed by amazed and finally settled on a sort of awed curiosity. Sakura marveled at how soft his expression turned, how his black eyes beheld Naruto with a fondness no-one developed quite so soon for any living being other than family. Naruto was starting the tenth minute of his impromptu complaining session and Jiraiya just nodded at him, listening with rapt attention. Sakura half expected him to start taking notes.

'Wait a sec, family,' Sakura blinked, straightened in her sitting position, and narrowed her eyes on Jiraiya suspiciously. 'He knows something.'

'We need to watch it,' Inner Sakura ordered. 'This requires gentle handling.'

'Yeah.'

'We've got to corner him and tease the info out, or else –'

"You knew Kushina-san very well, didn't you?"

'What the hell!' Inner Sakura yelled, but Sakura couldn't care less.

Her timing was perfect. Jiraiya was so startled he nearly fell out of his seat. Naruto stopped mid sentence to turn big blue eyes onto their temporary teacher.

"Can you tell us?" Sakura asked with all the innocence of a little child. She opened her eyes extra wide and even let her bottom lip tremble. Naruto obviously picked up on his cue because Sakura could practically sense how the tears gathered in his eyes and his nostrils flared.

"No one ever tells me anything," Naruto mumbled miserably. "I only found out about her at all by accident. From the old records in the library."

"Repeat that," Jiraiya said suddenly, his expression shocked.

"I found an old mission report," Sakura explained immediately. She smelled weakness and she was going in for the kill. "It was signed Uzumaki Kushina, but we never heard about another Uzumaki."

"So we tried to look it up," Naruto picked it up smoothly. "We found her graduation details and then my friend Hinata-chan asked her dad –"

'More like robbed her dad, but sure,' Inner Sakura chuckled.

"And he told her Kushina died during the Kyubi attack on my birthday."

"Wasn't hard to figure out the rest," Sakura slapped on the partial lie easily.

Jiraiya studied them in silence and at first, Sakura thought he was looking for a way to wiggle out of this. Then, Naruto backed away. That was her first clue that something was wrong. Naruto never backed away, and Naruto wasn't in the slightest afraid of Jiraiya.

The second clue was the rapid spike in chakra barely a moment after Naruto's hasty retreat. If Sakura could sense the rage in it then Naruto must be drowning – since his sensing abilities had gotten remarkably more advanced ever since Sakura helped him control his own chakra better. Jiraiya's chakra was becoming visible – angry orange wisps flowing slowly, but with determination around him.

'Quiet anger is the worst type of anger,' Sakura thought, a little dazed by the sheer volume of chakra the old pervert had in him.

Third was the killing intent. The only reason Sakura hadn't crumpled to the ground was because not a single drop had been aimed at them. Jiraiya was furious enough to want to kill, but who the target was Sakura couldn't tell. She didn't really want to, either.

"Oh, I knew Kushina-chan," Jiraiya said finally and immediately all the angry chakra and killing intent disappeared. "She was… she was incredible. The prettiest girl in her generation. Always loud, always happy. An absolute beast out on the field, too," He gave Naruto that strangely soft and fond look again. "You look like her. You act like her. You've the same style."

"Really?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Jiraiya's mouth twisted, as if he wanted to scowl. "I understand the secrecy but to erase Kushina-chan… after everything she did for Konoha, after all the sacrifice… some Will of Fire that is."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Maybe when you make it to jonin, I'll tell you," Jiraiya snapped, not missing a beat. Then he promptly brightened up. "Now, let's talk training! You two are ready for some justu now, I think. With how your chakra control improved."

'Didn't know ours was lacking,' Inner Sakura snarked.

'Damn straight,' Sakura thought but she had to give it to Jiraiya, he did improve what she thought had already been perfected. It was uncanny.

"What're you teaching us?" Naruto asked excitedly. "Is it some cool super kick ass jutsu?!"

"Something like that," Jiraiya smirked. "Naruto, go stand over there. Sakura goes first."

Jiraiya had given her a blank scroll and a notebook.

"Sealing?" Sakura blinked. "I don't know any fuinjutsu."

"You're about to learn," Jiraiya said seriously and that caused Sakura to look up at him. "You know what Naruto is."

Sakura didn't even flinch. She immediately brought up her most confused expression and the lie was on the tip of her tongue when Jiraiya carried on.

"Don't try to deny it, it's quite obvious," Jiraiya ordered. "It's good that you do. You're smart, pinkie. Smarter than many of the jonin around. You remind me of one of my old students."

"Huh?"

"At some point, the village is going to ask Naruto to control the fox," Jiraiya said flatly. "They're going to try and make him into a weapon, it's inevitable."

"Over my dead body," Sakura said vehemently.

"You're talking treason, little girl," Jiraiya hissed.

"Anything for Naruto," Sakura hissed right back, twice as determined as before.

"Good," Jiraiya's expression brightened a little. "You're going to learn fuinjutsu. You're smart enough and your chakra control is as perfect as it gets. You can make up for lack of reserves. I'm going to teach Naruto how to access the fox's chakra without drawing it out. You – you're going to learn how to put it down if it does."

Sakura was left to it after that. She had to manage the thing on her own, Jiraiya couldn't practice the technique for her.

He'd told her to put a genjutsu inside the sealing scroll. Basically, she was to weaponize it.

It wasn't a beginners' fuinjutsu, but Jiraiya didn't do beginners' anything. He strongly implied that if Sakura couldn't handle it then she would be of no use to Naruto in the long run. She would have to step aside for someone else, someone who could get the knack of it and was capable of mastering techniques strong enough to restrain the kyubi. That meant telling Naruto's secret to another person and exposing him to extra danger.

'Over our dead body,' Inner Sakura growled.

'As we've said,' Sakura agreed.

'Let's seal a genjutsu up in this bitch!'

It was a complicated thing, and it demanded a lot. Much more than any task Kakashi-sensei had ever given Sakura.

The first thing she did was go the library and haul up all the beginners' guides on fuinjutsu. For the first time Sakura regretted not studying alongside Naruto when he started following in his mother's footsteps. Then again, she was drowning in the vast archives about genjutsu at the time and couldn't really be blamed for not wanting to take up another difficult thing. So now Sakura had to figure out the basics and quickly graduate from them to moderate, as Jiraiya obviously didn't have the patience to hold her hand through it.

Sakura liked it that way.

As it stood now, at least Sakura had absolute mastery over all D-rank genjutsu taught at the academy. Thanks to Kakashi-sensei she had reached a level of control over her favorite Hell Viewing Technique where she no longer needed hand signs – just intent. Her Hell Viewing Technique was so good it trapped Kakashi-sensei for ten minutes, once. He congratulated her on making a D-rank jutsu reach nearly B-level strength, after he hurled in the bushes for a solid sixty five seconds and then stared at Sakura as if she was a stranger. It surprised him, and he banned her from ever using it when sparring with her teammates.

'Hell Viewing Technique it is,' Sakura decided. 'It'll be useful bound to scrolls, since it's a short range jutsu.'

'Imagine an unsuspecting idiot catching the scroll and bam! Nightmare time,' Inner Sakura hummed.

Sakura tried very hard not to grin sadistically. Kakashi-sensei would definitely be her first victim.

It took Sakura nearly two weeks to figure out how to bind other types of jutsu with fuinjutsu. When she figured it out – it was an accident, brought on by an encompassing desire to mutilate she hadn't felt before.

Jiraiya had thrown Naruto off a cliff, you see.

It went down like this:

Sakura was minding her own business. That was the truth for a change, too. She'd been making steady progress with her fuinjutsu capabilities. Jiraiya had been right: Sakura's total chakra control and brain power simplified things. While Naruto had the disadvantage of so much chakra he couldn't make it listen, Sakura's natural reserve was very small and highly eager to please. She got the basics down quickly and made it to moderate level – that is, the stage Tenten was at currently – at a remarkable speed. And that's where Sakura was stuck.

While Naruto suffered for months to get the basics down once he managed it he became a sort of monster. He had a knack for the truly difficult techniques. Whether it was his Uzumaki blood or some unforeseen talent – Naruto was the only genin in Konoha who could pull off a B-rank fuinjutsu with zero casualties and no harm to himself. He was probably the only shinobi in Konoha who could look at a diagram of an A-rank or S-rank fuinjutsu and figure out where to begin. Sakura couldn't understand Tenten's frustration with Naruto's progress until she was smacked with the same feeling in the face, herself.

It didn't help that Sakura was hands-down confident Naruto would've figured out her task by now, too. Her only consolation was Naruto had hit a block on his fuinjutsu progress, too, and there was still a heck of a chance for her to catch up. If she did, they'll advance together. They'll stay together.

'As it should be!' Inner Sakura announced.

The problem at the moment wasn't even Sakura's roadblock. She'll figure it out eventually, no matter what. Sakura had complete faith in her intellect. No, the problem was Naruto's lack of progress. Even with her meagre knowledge on the subject Sakura could tell the seal holding the kyubi inside Naruto was obsolete. It was designed to keep it in and not allow a single wisp of it out. Only when Naruto was in danger or under extreme duress did the kyubi manage to pock it's nose and sniff at what was happening – but even that mostly depended on Naruto's emotional state. It required hatred and blind rage.

Naruto had neither.

He was the single most forgiving, happiest, kindest, and most loving twerp Sakura ever had the unquestionable pleasure of meeting. She doubted he'll ever summon up the negativity necessary to prod the kyubi into cooperation.

'He probably doesn't even realise that's the problem,' Inner Sakura bemoaned. 'If only Jiraiya-peeper would let us talk to each other!'

That was another part of Jiraiya's brilliant training plan. They were expressly forbidden from helping each other in any way.

'Figure it out on your own, for a change,' he'd snarked at them from behind his blatant porn. 'If you don't learn to stand on your own feet, you'll never improve. Teamwork's only worth it when all parties have something to contribute.'

So here they were. Sakura, alternating between glaring at the empty scroll and her detailed notes. Naruto, squatting a good distance away, howling in determination and producing zero results. Jiraiya, lounging in his chair but visibly quite done with the whole thing.

Progress happened, as it were, unexpectantly.

"That's it." Jiraiya had announced, drawing both Naruto's and Sakura's attention. "Yo, midget, c'mere."

"Who you calling a midget, geezer?" Naruto yelled, but he obediently came over, anyway.

So trusting, Naruto was.

Jiraiya grabbed him by the shoulders and bodily flung him over the damn cliff. At the bottom of which were very sharp rocks. And a deep pool.

And Naruto couldn't fucking swim.

Sakura's world exploded in a flood of cold horror and burning rage. Inner Sakura was struck speechless, rendered almost frozen in the recesses of Sakura's mind. It was as if a haze descended over her, as if somebody else was moving Sakura's body, commanding her chakra as its own.

She felt some of it speed down her arm and into the empty sealing scroll. Then, the scroll was flying through the air and colliding with jiraiya's head. He yelped, startled, and swung at something only he could see for several seconds until the Sannin threw off the genjutsu and shook his head to clear it.

Those seconds were enough.

Sakura rammed into him, feet planted on Jiraiya's chest in a rough kick, backed by all her unimpressive weight but also by precisely controlled chakra with the sole purpose of maiming the degenerate who'd hurt Sakura's precious blonde. She was going to tear him apart, she didn't care who he was. Sannin, hero, legend – Sakura was going to cut his throat and watch him bleed until he was nothing, an empty husk of a pervert who messed with wrong fucking person.

"Sakura –" Jiraiya began, but Sakura ignored him completely.

She was crouched over him, legs applying pressure on Jiraiya's shoulders to keep him down in the little crater she'd created. One hand pulled on his hair with all the viciousness of a grieving girl who'd just seen a member of her family thrown to his death by someone they trusted. Someone who was meant to keep them safe. Her other hand pressed a kunai to his throat and pricked at his skin, drawing blood.

"You traitorous piece of scum," Sakura choked out, but she refused to cry. If she cried, it'll mar her sight. She wouldn't be able to see him die.

"Sakura, calm down –"

"How could you, how could you, I'll kill you!"

"Holy shit! Sakura-chan! Check out the size of this toad, dattebayo!"

'What?'