AN: Riddle me this. What is Red and Pink with Purple spots? The answer is simple! Sakura after one of her training sessions with Anko! Which you can read all about in today's chapter of Suffering and Elegance by yours truly, Team Scrimshaw! Where we can learn all about Team 7 as they train, bond and prepare for what's totally gonna be a normal Chunin Exam with no changes whatsoever.

No siree!

As always, we'd like to thank Weise for their continued patronage, and all those who enjoy this story and our version of Sakura the Mad Scientist.

Now then, onto the Science!

I mean, onto the reading!

Suffering and Elegance - Chapter 6

Sakura Haruno

There was something oddly therapeutic about tending to one's injuries.

Granted, Sakura wasn't a fan of blood and grime - she was a pristine young lady after all - but the idea of putting together something that was once broken was most appealing. There was also something therapeutic about mending and putting together the pieces until you had something new and your own. It just… appealed to her in ways she didn't remember back when they were teaching basic emergency treatment at the academy.

Maybe it was the simple things, like applying salve, threading a needle, tying bandages, and by now Sakura felt she could do that with her eyes closed and hands tied behind her back. The little movements of flesh and thread and the tug and pull of both. It was as if she was making something right in the world.

Naruto, who was currently filling the role of her practice dummy, vehemently opposed the idea. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Watch where you stick that thing!"

Raising her eyebrows, the pinkette tried not to remark on how much of a baby her teammate was being.

"I thought you were a brave ninja."

She failed and Naruto laughed awkwardly.

"I just don't like needles, is all."

"Oh stop whining. Gai-sensei's training leaves you with less scratches than what Anko-sensei does to me!" Lifting up the hem of her shirt, she let her blonde comrade get a good look of the color coordinated cross stitch Sakura had managed across her stomach. "I took an exploding tree branch to the gut, had to go to the hospital and get my intestines cleaned in case of shrapnel. Then I sewed myself up because those idiots wanted to use staples."

Having started blushing, the blonde idiot gaped until Sakura, gently, bapped him on the head.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." They both pretended he hadn't used the familiar honorific and the girl got back to her needle and thread. It wasn't like she got many chances to even pull her sewing kit on him. Training with Lee's sensei didn't often end up in cuts, mostly just lots of bruises and the occasional black eye. An unfortunate state of things, sure, but the man was a taijutsu master so that was to be expected.

Plus there was also the problem that even if he did come back with cuts, Sakura found most of them had already mended by the time she got around to applying her salves!

Even now, as she tied a fresh set of bandages around the blonde's torso, Sakura couldn't help but marvel at how the bruises seemed to lightening rather than darkening. He probably wouldn't even feel any pain when he woke up the next day, despite having come to her with a few cracked bones.

"You heal way too fast." Sakura looked away.

She wasn't pouting.

"I'm just awesome like that!"

'He is lucky we aren't practicing rebreaking bones!'

Not that there was anything wrong with it. Her technique was effortless and flawless from all the times she was forced to patch herself up after training with Anko in the forest; it had been a long weekish or so of training. The woman was effective, but relentless in a way Sakura hadn't expected. 'Well, maybe I did expect some of that intensity. Obviously the Hokage is taking Orochimaru's attack seriously. She did throw a kunai at Naruto for mouthing off in the middle of her monologue though. So I suppose I shouldn't be too nice.'

"So, uh, am I all good to go? Can I put my shirt back on?" The blonde had started wriggling around again, already pulling at her knots, so the totally-not-a-medic nin jabbed him in a bruise with the blunt end of her scalpel.

"No pulling at the bandages. You might be fine in a day or two but you need to keep those bones from moving too much, otherwise you'll be on medical leave and can't train! Now sit still while I finish wrapping up your calf - that was a two inch stone splinter I pulled out of you and I don't want you bleeding all over your apartment again."

Meekly submitting to her not so tender mercies, the now silent whiskered, preteen child soldier allowed the pink haired, definitely traumatized child soldier to continue addressing the potentially maiming injuries inflicted upon him by a very experienced veteran child soldier that punched things really, really, hard.

But this was different.

Sakura felt there was something personal about it.

Not much had changed since Anko's initial 'assessment' of her. Sakura would enter the Forest of Death through one of the various gates. She would try and get to the tower like they did during the second stage of the exams while being chased by the purple haired woman and dodging traps and the local wildlife.

Privately, the pinkette was a bit worried at the fact she was starting to run out of room to store her pelts!

The worst part of it all though? It was working!

That madwoman's training regime was actually effective. Between all the running around, dodging traps, and fighting against massive beasts on their own turf, Sakura felt pleasantly sore after every training session. She was getting closer to the tower every day and avoiding 'death' more often.

…Which only seemed to make Anko want to jack up the difficulty of the course.

It was like the tokubetsu jounin was expecting something from her. What it was? Well, Sakura didn't have the faintest idea.

Was she supposed to crack under pressure and reveal she was actually a double agent? She was sure there were better ways to wring a confession out of a genin than putting them through remedial training. Sakura's tutor was a member of the Torture and Interrogation Unit after all, so there must have been something she was missing.

"Sakura!"

She flinched, ears ringing from the sudden shout.

"What was that for?!"

"You were totally zoned out. I think you ran out of bandages."

Looking down, the young ninja felt her cheeks color in embarrassment. Indeed, she'd run out and bandages, yet her hands had still been going through the motion of applying them. So, of course, the kunoichi did what any well mannered young lady would when faced with those circumstances.

Jumped away, slipped on the tiles, and fell onto the pile of tiger pelts she'd left behind.

Her teammate, of course, laughed.

The jerk.

"You okay?" The blonde choked in between laughs.

Well, she amended, he was a considerate jerk at least.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. See if I don't bandage you up with poison ivy next time."

Snorting, Naruto just rolled his eyes at her. However, now that she actually was done, he sat up and shifted around a little. Partly it was to get comfy and partly it was to scooch a bit further away. Sakura, however, decided it was time to work on what she really came here for.

"Naruto, I need your help." Pulling out her wallet, a die pack, a glitter bomb, and a fake large denomination koku note, the kunoichi gave her teammate an expectant look.

"Uhhhhhh, what?"

And with two elegant words, the dead last of the class displayed every ounce of his intellect.

"Naruto, quit goofing off, I need you to help me get even with my tutor!" Grumbling in annoyance, this was what he did best after all, she pushed the materials closer to him. "She keeps stealing my wallet and whenever I don't have money in it she just opens up a tab in my name at random food stalls. Apparently no one is brave enough to tell her no and I want to get back at that, that, that bitch!"

Blushing as pink as her hair, the young woman clapped her hands over her mouth.

Choosing to be honest, the bewhiskered young man fell over, rolling on the floor as he howled with laughter. Shoulders shaking with suppressed chuckles, it took a while but Sakura started laughing too.

It was nice, she decided, to just lean back and let go.

Sasuke Uchiha

When Kakashi told him they would be training over the course of the next month for the third phase of the Chunin Exam, Sasuke felt vindicated. It felt good to advance, to see his efforts bearing fruit as proof of his budding skills. In less flowery terms the shinobi was just happy that he was, in fact, going to be getting serious training.

Because he was angry and frustrated. First Zabuza, then Haku, then Orochimaru, and now Gaara - opponent after opponent he couldn't even touch. Lee was faster and stronger than him, faster than the snake-faced bastard had been, and the simple fact was that neither the taijutsu specialist, nor the rogue sanin measured up to the sheer weight of bloodlust the younger, foreign genin pumped out.

When he remembered the fight in the forest against Orochimaru his mood immediately soured, but the details were seared into his mind.

The traitor had played with him, had treated the whole thing like a joke, and, worst of all, had looked down on Sasuke! As much as the alleged pride of the Uchihas was counterproductive, they had been a near millenia old family of killers. They learned murder and assassination with their mother's milk, their father's sang songs of old victories when they had worked fields and fisheries, and in the village, well, they had meant something.

'Or we used to, at least.'

In the end, what was most important was that he wouldn't be here if Naruto and Sakura hadn't carried him all the way to the tower. Probably wouldn't have been able to participate if she hadn't gotten whatever it was he'd been poisoned with out of his system as soon as she could. He could have died there, without ever getting closer to his objective, all for the sake of some sick experiment.

Without ever seeing his brother.

Without ever getting revenge.

It was a sobering thought.

So he took his frustrations out on his opponent.

It was a bit petty, but Sasuke didn't know what to do or what to say - least of all to the rest of Team 7. So he made sure to advance and show them that what they did was worth the effort. It was, after all, the least he could do.

"Distracted?"

Throwing a handful of Shuriken towards the voice, Sasuke heard the faint snapping of a branch and ruffling of trees, his eyes taking in the world around him with as much detail as possible. Down to the very imperfections in all of creation.

"No."

Sending fire down the metal threads attached to the spinning disks, he created a twisting wall of flaming death. This attack was obvious, over the top, and, most important, excellent at area denial. There was a flash of steel and a puff of smoke when a large log - with several sizzling paper tags strapped to it - popped into existence next to the shinobi.

His eyes bought him enough time to dodge, using his wires to toss the explosive rigged log away, and even identify where the replacement technique had deposited his target.

Meaning he was free to dash forward, kunai aiming to skewer the threat. Unfortunately, his opponent also had the exact same advantage, one red eye spinning as each blade was snatched out of the air as they came, returning to their sender with twice the force.

"You know, I'm starting to think you aren't taking this seriously."

Sasuke turned, kunai in hand, only for a kick to send him tumbling back as wood fragments, smoke, and embers rained down around them. Slamming into a tree trunk, he pulsed his own chakra, desperately trying to keep from being thrown farther as the feeling of chakra ran across his back. Something tore, or maybe burst, and a sharp burning sensation told him that skin and maybe muscle had been damaged as the younger ninja pushed against the bark of the tree.

Still, he was able to get his balance back and even managed an actual backflip as he pushed off, grabbing onto a nearby branch just in time to swing himself out of the way of the barrage of thrown blades sent by his teacher. Letting go, Sasuke went through a sequence of hand signs, one he already knew by heart, and breathed out a blast of flames towards the canopy above.

Then, when a wave surged down, he knew to jump again - a blast of chakra propelling him further. Far enough to avoid the impromptu waterfall but not fast enough to avoid a second kick to his sternum.

He recovered fast enough, throwing the kunai he had in hand, his teacher dodging with ease.

Until the knife started sizzling.

BOOM!

The explosion shook the training ground, rattling his bones and echoing through his ears. The smoke and soot covering his, now tattered, blue outfit actually burned a little as it was still hot.

"That was smart… if not a bit destructive. An overpacked explosive tag, along with what looks like some kind of accelerator mixed in. What would you have done if that was the real me?" Kakashi simply appeared in a flicker - kawarimi allowing him to take the place of a smouldering leaf slowly floating through the air. "Because that would definitely kill someone if it hit."

"Had that been the real you, it would have dodged." Sasuke twisted in place, driving his kunai up and into his teacher's throat. Using a reinforced grip, he angled a tanto to come up and around. This managed to surprise the man, who had been expecting another kunai, and it caught him right under the chin.

"Hmm. I guess you are getting a little better."

Kakashi, this time the real one, called out from a branch above as the shadow clone dispersed into its own cloud of smoke. His face, buried in the pages of his orange novel as per usual, was totally without worry for the small forest fire raging behind him. The man didn't have a scratch on him, not a hair out of place, and didn't even have the decency to get a bit dirty from the ash raining from the sky!

And as infuriated as Sasuke was by the lack of progress, this time he couldn't help but feel a fire lit within him. After all, this was it… the summit he was aiming for.

"Not going to tell me what's got you so distracted?"

Sasuke looked away, uninterested.

"It's nothing."

"Thinking about the Forest, aren't you?"

Considering whether to add the silver-haired man to his currently one name list of people he dearly wished to see dead, Sasuke didn't respond. He obviously didn't need to if the Jonin already knew it and he wouldn't give him the satisfaction of admitting that the older man was annoying.

"It was my first defeat."

His sensei's brow quirked in amusement.

"Second defeat." He amended with a sigh.

"I wouldn't sweat it. There aren't many who can stand up to someone like Orochimaru. The man is one of the Legendary Sannin for a reason, you know."

And wasn't it a shock to learn that the man who had toyed with him effortlessly at the Forest of Death was none other than one of the most infamous deserters in Konoha's history. A man who was taught by the Third Hokage and a decade ago considered for the position of Fourth. Everything Sasuke knew told him he shouldn't have felt terribly torn over the loss.

But then ugly resentment reared its head to remind him of how weak he was.

So weak he had to be carried all the way back after losing.

"I should have done better."

"It's a miracle you're alive, Sasuke."

The younger ninja begged to disagree.

"He let me go. It wasn't even a fight to begin with."

"I'd say you're lucky. Orochimaru had something planned for you, but it didn't work out. Now you have a chance to prepare for when he comes back. That man isn't going to just let you go after slipping through his fingers like that."

Only he hadn't done anything.

Sakura did.

He didn't know the details. Kakashi hadn't told him much other than Sakura performing some kind of emergency operation to remove whatever venom Orochimaru had injected into him. Then, after fighting through the rest of the forest with Naruto carrying him, the two of them had been unceremoniously knocked out of the competition.

While he got to sleep, rest, and then take his frustrations out on a middling opponent.

He didn't know how to feel.

"Well, if you're gonna be distracted like that I don't think we'll get much done this month."

Sasuke glared.

"We have barely started."

"Yes, and you're obviously unfocused. Tell me, what do you think this training is for, Sasuke. Truthfully?"

"For my fight with Gaara."

"Yes, a clearly unhinged and highly dangerous foreign ninja who obviously doesn't have any problem with attacking, crippling, and killing other genin. This very same foreign ninja who walked through the Forest of Death without a single scratch on him. A feat that had I been in your position, would not have been able to achieve. Nor would anyone else have been able to achieve such at his age without a serious advantage. That's your enemy, Sasuke. Not Orochimaru and not whatever misplaced sense of guilt you have eating at you."

He knew that.

He watched him crush Lee's arm and leg, same as everyone else.

And while it wasn't nearly as intimidating as facing off against a legendary missing-nin, Sasuke still had his doubts whether anything he could learn in one month would make up for the other boy's impenetrable defense and crushing power.

"How can I beat him?"

Kakashi closed his book with a snap of his wrist.

"With your Sharingan, of course. Right now your eyes are only halfway developed. They can only follow so much and only take in so many details. In your little spar with Gai's student, you were forced to confront these limits. Even so, you have been able to learn and adapt some of his fighting style, no?"

The Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.

The movements of his Lion's Barrage.

"Lee couldn't beat him with those movements."

"Lee was the only one who could hurt him. Of course, he was also limited to Taijutsu, so even getting as far as he did proved his fighting style was effective against that sand defense. We'll also focus on broadening some of your skill set."

Sasuke perked up.

"Ninjutsu?"

"Genjutsu. Once your Sharingan is fully matured, I'll be coaching you on how to cast Genjutsu with it. Gaara's sand may be faster than your body, but it's not faster than the eye can see. All you'll need is one glance."

That felt… too good to be true.

"And the downside."

His mentor shrugged.

"I planned on teaching you a little trick of mine. Something to keep in mind for Orochimaru. Depending on how much progress we make until the third phase, we might not have enough time to cram in everything I had planned." Pausing, the veteran jounin's voice also took on a sly tone. "And just so you know, Naruto is training with Gai right about now… there is no doubt that your teammate is going to be learning all the most brutal parts of Goken."

Telling himself he wasn't glaring, the last of the Uchiha simply brought his knife up.

"Then let's get serious."

Kakashi flickered, hands suddenly snaking up from under him and grabbing at the genin. Relying on instinct, he hastily fired off a replacement technique - leaving a still burning, half charred chunk of blown to Enma wood in his place - and started moving.

His Sensei was faster - so Sasuke would be more clever.

Leaving behind a few explosive tags, he made sure to run for the part of the forest that wasn't on fire. Hopefully the explosions would keep his teacher from directly approaching from underground, because the point was to cover his actual plan. Grunting as his many injuries ached and pulled, the young boy pushed past all common sense and acted exactly like his deadlast teammate.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Just as his teacher popped up out of the ground again, almost exactly like before, back when he'd used the double suicide technique, the blue shirted bastard managed to pull off Naruto's signature technique!

However, instead of a wall of smoke and a dozen clones ready to pummel the unsuspecting teacher, there was instead a "poof" as a slightly sickly looking him manifested… just before an enormous wave of exhaustion hit him. Sasuke actually blacked out for a moment, all the time Kakashi had needed to pop his clone, and found himself being cradled like a child in his sensei's arms, a stick of smelling salts being waved under his nose.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up."

It took a moment for the boy to realize what his teacher was saying.

It took even longer to realize just how much panic was in that one good eye too.

"M'okay."

And just like that, Sasuke slipped back into unconsciousness.

Sakura Haruno

"So, Chakra exhaustion, right sensei?" The pinkette asked.

Her sensei just shrugged.

"You know he would have done something stupid sooner or later, right?"

Kakashi once more responded with a vague shrug.

"It's part of his whole avenger shtick. Did he get all serious for a moment? Did you tell him that Naruto was getting training too?"

No response and Sakura nodded, picking up the pot of tea and pouring two drinks.

"Yeah, I know those two are more focused on each other than anything else. Their whole 'rivalry'. Mostly I'm glad Sasuke did something… ambitious where you could save him."

There was a slight slumping of the white haired teacher's shoulders.

"No it doesn't make you a bad teacher for not stopping him - take this." She held out a cup of tea. "Look, I can deal with the whole non verbal conversation thing, but I'm not gonna hold the cup up to your face." Kakashi took the cup of green tea. "Good. Now, Naruto is still visiting Lee with Gai-sensei and Tenten so we have at least half an hour. Maybe more, now that I think about it. Bushy Brows is taking well to those supplements I whipped up."

A tilt of the head.

"Totally! While he might not get his whole body back, he's definitely going to walk again. Lee's far, far too stubborn not to. Heck, you could probably snap his spine and he'd hop right back up. Sasuke will too, he's strong like that."

This time her teacher looked at her and the pinkette nodded.

"I'll try and whip something up. The hospital staff have given up on stopping me, so maybe a nutrient paste, some vitamins, and Naruto jabbering at him for an hour or two ought to have him right as rain. Besides… that man was coming around again. The Shadow of the Leaf."

Her sensei's mask shifted slightly, distaste and incredulity mixing in one.

"Oh, that? I just asked one of the council members when they came to check up on Sasuke. Did you know they're actually his eighth cousins or something. Literally the closest living relative he has left in the village. I think the Hokage actually chewed Danzo out though, considering I saw him hobble out of the building while Hokage-sama watched through a window. He also said that you shouldn't just hand out a forbidden technique like it's candy."

He looked up again, the genin simply sighing when she noticed her teacher's tea was gone. Pouring another cup, she sat back down in the chair she had claimed, watching the slow rise and fall of her crush's chest. Mostly terrified at the thought of how easily he might not have been able to take another breath.

"I told the Hokage that I figured he copied it from Naruto, he did, didn't he?" There was a little tenseness in her teacher's back and she felt a spark of anger too. "So he didn't even ask!" Her shriek sent a momentary flash of embarrassment through her. Visibly calming down, and once more speaking in a normal voice, she turned back to her teacher and started jabbing a finger at him. "So you're telling me that idiot just saw some random clone technique and pulled it out of his as- butt during a training session. Without so much as asking anyone about it!?"

Collapsing back into her seat, she was glad that they were in a smaller side room. It wasn't used for critical condition patients and, other than an IV drip and an oxygen tube, Sasuke hadn't needed any serious equipment either.

"You know what? I'm gonna dose him with morphine so he has just the worst time when he wakes up."

As the pinkette stewed in frustration she heard a sound.

It was an impossible sound, the kind of sound that heralded the end of the world.

Deep and full, it was a chuckle - almost normal - but of course it couldn't be.

Because her sensei, the crazed lunatic that went knuckle deep in Naruto the very first time he decided to kick the crap out of them, was chuckling with a tired sort of amusement.

"Somehow you've managed to turn out pretty ok. Now I've just got to make sure the three of you don't die any time soon."

There was a melancholy in her teacher's eye, a sort of tiredness she'd never seen before, and a mixture of quiet self loathing and nostalgia common to pretty much every veteran shinobi. She'd even heard both of her parents use that exact same tone when she told them she wanted to be a kunoichi. Privately, Sakura wondered if this was what he spent so much time every day doing whenever he ended up late to one of their meetings.

'I wonder who it is he's mourning? A friend or a lover?' Tilting her head, she couldn't quite picture that latter - a woman could tell. 'Men just act different when there's someone they want to think well of them. Perhaps it was his teammates.'

We'll snoop later! Gossip and data to help us know sensei better. If we're lucky we'll even figure out a weakness and a way to make him take us seriously!

Frowning, inner Sakura seemed almost as surprised as actual Sakura at the thought. It was more than a little out of character for her and there was an issue with how much could be chalked up to wasn't about her, however, and so she set the issue aside for now. Though it did occur to her that a visit to Ino for non jutsu based therapy might be in order.

"So Sensei, why don't I go grab us some food from the cafeteria, is there anything in particular you'd like?"

"Yeah, ramen!" Naruto, with a pair of clones dutifully halling a small mound of containers, burst through the hospital room door. "Don't worry guys, my treat. It's all you two can eat, while I'm gonna enjoy myself too. Oh, uh, I got some tomato stuff too for the pretty boy."

Sakura opened her mouth to tell him off for making such a ruckus, this was a hospital after all, when the knuckle headed ninja reached into his back pocket and pulled out her wallet.

"And by the way, it's all ready for your 'tutor'."

Another clone had poofed into existence just to make the air quotes for him and Sakura, well, she sighed and smiled.

"Thanks Naruto. Here, let me help you with that."

She had to give it to the blonde boy. He certainly knew what he was doing when it came to preparing pranks. Her wallet looked pristine and untouched, looking like it had when she'd let Naruto have it.

"It looks… normal."

"Well yeah. It would be weird if it looked like you had more money in it if the scary snake lady has been stealing from you. It would look way too suspicious." He gave a sage nod and Sakura wondered how many had fallen prey to the boy's mischief. He was the one who painted the Hokage's monument in broad daylight, after all.

Poor Iruka. He definitely had his hands full.

"Tell you what, why don't you go downstairs and we'll grab some food."

Naruto smiled, bouncing in place energetically.

"You got it, Sakura-chan!" And then he was off in a cloud of dust, followed by several voices loudly telling him not to run in the hallways.

"Well, the two of you seem to be getting along."

Sakura looked away, warm embarrassment tinting her cheeks.

"I just asked for his help with getting back at Anko."

"Color me surprised. You actually are going to try and play her game. Don't think anyone has tried pranking her since I was a chunin." There was a hint of nostalgic sadness mixed in it, but Skura could tell he must have been thinking of someone who amused and exasperated him in equal measure.

Did his generation have their own Naruto?

Questions for later.

"Well, she's not making it easy, you know. She's having way too much fun yanking me around."

"Sounds like Anko. Careful not to start a grudge though. That woman can be downright vicious when she feels like it. And it's not like I can tell her to stop if you goad her into… upping the stakes."

Sakura let out a sigh.

"Are they even convinced that I'm not a flight risk?"

Wherever she went Sakura felt like there were eyes on her. Judging and keeping her in sight just on the off chance that she might do something crazy like flee the village to join the madman who attacked her in the forest. Did they think she was stupid or lacking in common sense?

"Well, you did put those Yamanaka in hospital beds."

"I didn't mean to! I don't even know why that happened."

"I know that and you know that. But the higher ups are concerned that Orochimaru might have left something… unpleasant in your body just like he did with Sasuke and Naruto. We can't rule out that hypothesis until that group wakes up."

She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Frustrated, perhaps. Annoyed that someone else decided to poke around her head. She also felt guilty about hurting someone with whatever was going on inside her head. She'd definitely try and have Ino give them something as an apology from her.