AN: *IMPORTANT PLEASE READ*

Hello friends. If anyone of you recognize the word "Adrenochrome" then I am truly, very sorry for that. Maybe you didn't want to be reminded of such a grim topic, maybe you viewed my stories as an escape from all the hard-hitting stuff of our reality. I am so sorry for stabbing you in the back like this, if that's the case. But I feel SO much for this topic, and I want to include it in manner that will make sense. It will be extremely relevant for the unfolding storyline that I have decided upon. I want to shed some light on this.

Now If you don't know what the word "Adrenochrome" entails, I sorta envy you. I wish I could go back to the days when I led a different life, a more simple life, a more innocent one. But I cannot turn back time, and whatever happens, happens for a reason. Even though it is truly terrible. I won't tell you to google the word, I would prefer if you don't. That way, you won't be spoiled of the overall theme. Yet, even if you do google it, please remember that you can shut off your computer whenever you choose to.

Also, some of you will not simply believe it. Some of you are wary when it comes to topics that happen to have the polarizing term "conspiracy theory" attached to it. I understand and fully support your skepticism. I bless it with unconditional love and I am very happy for its existence. I don't want to force anyone to believe anything, least of all a thing like this. Yet, I have a feeling that you gotta have a somewhat open mind to still be here XD

I come from a different place with this topic, but it is always a place of love. I think we all come from a place of love, even if we don't always agree on the little things in life. I am not right, nor am I wrong. I am just a consciousness, observing my thoughts, observing my feelings, observing the polarity. I try not to pick sides, even though it is extremely hard sometimes, even though I fail at it and will continue to do so in the future. Yet, I will try for you guys, because I do love you all and I love writing.

Also I'm so sorry for the lack of Sasori in this chapter XD

Happy reading and please take good care of yourselves! Xoxoxo

Adrenochrome

Chapter 1

Learn through fear

She was no early bird by any the stretch of the imagination, but she hadn't been able to go to sleep. Her eyes were tired with plenty of bags under them, unfocused and deep in thought. Thoughts she wished she could run from. Thoughts she wished she could hide from. Alas it was futile. She had tried everything to distract herself. Cleaning her weapons, practicing her fan-dancing, reading her books and scrolls...

Too bad she was all out of Nemuri as well... it seemed to disappear faster and faster nowadays and she was scared to tell Sasori. She didn't want to be seen as an addict.

So now, she had nothing to calm her razing mind. Nothing could keep her from brooding over the events of the night. Her dull thoughts had kept her up and now the clock was around 6 in the morning. Her brain felt beyond tired as she stared into the mirror at the wall. Her neck looked… painfully bruised.

Sasori had brought her home. He healed the wounds on her arms and legs, but he'd left behind the bruises on her neck.

"I'm not gonna waste my chakra on something that will go away on its own, give it time and wear turtlenecks," he'd simply said, his voice so casual and so inconsiderate that it left her feeling strangely numb.

Like there was a hole in her chest, crucial parts of her soul, missing.

How could he be so careless? How could he be so cold? Didn't he ever stop to think of her life? Of how she would now have to hide her neck for weeks, that is if she didn't seek out a medic. A medic that wouldn't gossip about the obvious cause for the marks. Hinata was the heiress to a powerful clan after all, and rumors were her worst enemy. Besides she was too embarrassed to seek out a medic anyway, it wasn't worth the risk.

And she wasn't good at healing wounds, much less her own… No matter how many classes she took with Sakura, Tsunade and Shizune, it would never be her specialty.

The troubled girl sighed and snuggled deeper into her bathrobe. She picked up her phone and took in the missed calls and messages from her friends. No doubt, they would want to know what had happened, after seeing her kissing a stranger in Suna gear...

Her headache expanded and she groaned, burying her head in her pillow. Hinata ached to tell someone. She truly, really needed to tell someone… She wanted some support, some advice. Because she just couldn't deal with this alone, he was- She swallowed thickly, almost feeling sick.

Sasori was too much for her to handle right now. She needed help. But she couldn't possibly tell anyone of his identity. So she had to figure out what she could say, and what she couldn't. She knew she would have to lie and omit certain details. But she also knew that she couldn't do this alone anymore.

The young Hyuga rolled over unto her back, biting her nails and ruining the manicure Ino had done for her. Her blonde, bombastic friend was out of the question… she couldn't keep a secret, even if her life depended on it. And Tenten was too good, too genuine and she would most certainly want to tell someone as well.

Sakura on the other hand… Sakura was discreet, quiet and understanding. Sakura would probably be her best bet. Slowly but surely, a plan started to form in the depths of her mind. Sakura could heal her bruises as well. It was a good idea, better than anything else she had going on at least.

# # #

Tsunade seemed boosted by the arrival of her former teammate, her demeanor, more jolly and dare she say it, carefree? It had to be due to Jiraiya, because Sakura would never admit that her teacher's excitement could also have been spurred on by Retsu.

She watched with interest as her teacher complimented her newest student. The pinkette was watching from shadows, hidden behind a tree. She didn't know why she was hiding but… something stopped her from making her presence known.

Maybe a certain someone, stealing her light away. The light that was Tsunade's approval, Tsunade's praise. Her mentor seemed absolutely, indescribably smitten by Retsu. Retsu who had come out of nowhere it seemed. The Tanaka girl that learned fast and learned good.

She'd hate to admit it, but Tanaka Retsu had a gift and maybe she was even more fit for Tsunade's techniques than herself. Something hot, something corrosive, uncoiled itself in the pit of her stomach, rising up like a snake. Poisonous jealousy clouded her green gaze even more green, as she observed Retsu turn another ice-glazed boulder into gravel. Pure gravel.

It was like the stone had just exploded, shaking the ground beneath it and splitting it apart.

Sakura had never been able to do that to a stone of such magnitude before and she noticed that Retsu didn't even wear gloves. Her white hands didn't have as much as a scratch on them. Not only that, but she hadn't even used her fist... she'd used the flat of her hand. Sure Sakura could easily break the stone but to completely obliterate it into pure gravel? Her cheeks turned as pink as her hair, a sudden embarrassment overcoming her.

Just imagine what her fists would do to a human?

The Tanaka girl laughed at something Tsunade had said, her teeth bared, her mouth wide. She flinched at the sound of it. Just imagine what her fists would do to you, inner Sakura warned and unease stirred inside of her.

Her jade eyes observed as Retsu took a stance against her mentor. Hand to hand combat with Tsunade? This would be interesting…

"I obviously won't go all out but I would like for you to demonstrate your fighting style," her mentor said, nodding at Retsu to attack her.

And attack her she did. Without hesitation. Uncanny was the word for it. Her jade eyes became wider and wider. She moved fast. Her kicks and punches, precise, her body agile. Though they all looked deadly beyond belief, none of them reached Tsunade, who easily blocked her fists with her forearms, evading her kicks, smoothly so and without effort.

Though Retsu seemed determined. She advanced and gained ground, obviously only because the Hokage let her. Her mentor was walking backwards, a grin on her lips as she blocked her attacks with ease.

"Good, very good," Tsunade stated, ducking away from a swing of Retsu's foot, "How long have you practiced martial arts of this kind?"

"Since I was a child," replied the Tanaka girl, turning around and coming at her with both her fists.

Tsunade raised her arms, stopping her advance. Though as Retsu raised her knee and propelled a kick to her mentor's side, the blonde hadn't had time to evade it. Yet no sound escaped the Hokage and she didn't even move an inch from the powerful kick. She remained vigilant.

To Sakura's eyes, the swift movements of her mentor was but a blur of colours. She slammed Retsu's fists away with her arms and took a hold of her foot, which was still lodged in her waist. With a sharp yell, she swung the Tanaka girl around in a 360 degree circle and catapulted her away into the forest.

Straight at her...

Sakura barely had any time to react as Retsu came flying towards her like an omen of death. She staggered back and was glad that the black mass only passed her by some inches. But at that very same moment, she felt a pair of cold fingers wrap around her elbow and she was promptly tugged off her feet.

The wind threw her hair back, a scream rising in her throat. Retsu had a firm grip on her arm, dragging her with her as they flew straight into some bushes. The force from their landing drowned out her scream, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as thorns pricked her skin, snow getting inside her clothes. Her whole body hurt and her arm was bent, twisted in the iron grip Retsu had on her. Bruising her skin with a fervor.

"What the actual fuck!" Sakura all but roared, ripping her arm out of her Retsu's grasp with her enhanced strength and rolled away from her.

Her teeth clattered as she shivered from the cold, wasting no time as she unbuttoned her cloak and shrugged the snow off of her. A hoarse chuckle could be heard from the other girl. She rose up to a crouched position, her hand massaging her jaw.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," she said, a lopsided grin on her thin lips, revealing her teeth.

Too many teeth for Sakura's comfort. She briefly thought back to her interactions with the older Kunoichi back at the lucky lemon garage, she had seemed different then. Sakura had even liked her quite a bit, finding her alluring.

But now she held nothing but scorn for the girl. This girl that didn't seem the least bit sorry for injuring her like she had, out of the blue. Retsu stood up, cracking the joints in her neck as she bent her head to the side and somehow, that action made her skin crawl. Sakura rose up as well, staring up at the taller girl, who in turn, stared down at her.

The pinkette's cheeks flushed in deep crimson hue, anger coursing through her veins.

"I doubt that very much," she seethed, her fists clenched, her knuckles whitening.

"Sakura!" Tsunade called, calmly walking over to the both of them. "Glad you could join us."

The fuming girl wanted to reply with sarcasm but just as she opened her mouth, Retsu beat her to it.

"She's been here for some time now, watching us," the Tanaka girl smugly said, removing thorns and leaves from her clothes and hair.

"I know," replied Tsunade, leaning her back against a tree, taking in the embarrassed and angry expression on her pink haired student.

"Oh! So you DID see me then huh?!" she nearly barked at the older girl who only regarded her with cold amusement.

Inner Sakura snarled in outrage, she couldn't believe this arrogant prick-

"Of course I did, It's rather hard to miss that pink hair of yours," Retsu commented, raising a dark eyebrow at her.

She was looking down at her.

"Why the hell did you drag me with you? You almost dislocated my arm!" Sakura yelled up at kunoichi, holding her arm and pushing up her sleeve to observe the blooming bruises there.

"Well, I figured you could soften my landing but you proved to be inadequate…" she replied, rolling her moss-green eyes.

She sputtered at that, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe her ears and snapped her jade eyes over to Tsunade who looked thoroughly entertained.

"Stop bickering now girls," her mentor asserted, brown eyes flickering back and forth between the two shinobis. "Retsu, heal Sakura's arm. I have yet to see your abilities on that front," she suddenly commanded.

This made Sakura stare at her teacher in horror, she didn't want Retsu's chakra anywhere near her. Though she wanted to protest, she bit her lip and hindered the foul words that wanted so dearly to be released. Because, she knew she was acting childish right now, and that was not a good look to don in front of Tsunade. Or even Retsu for that matter.

Her jade eyes snapped back to the Tanaka girl who actually looked just as ticked off and uncomfortable as herself. Her jaw clenched and unclenched itself, like she was grinding her teeth.

"I'm not gifted in that area, I'm more of a fighter than a healer," Retsu got out, her voice rather strained.

A smirk played on Sakura's lips. It seemed that this person had a great difficulty with admitting her setbacks. Though that smirk slightly slipped from her face as the Tanaka girl turned her head in her direction. She fixed Sakura with the most piercing glare she'd ever gotten, like she was dismembering the girl in her head.

"Show me," was all Tsunade said back.

Without further ado, Retsu briskly strode up to her and grabbed her arm, although she was surprisingly gentle. Not that that made her feel any calmer. She swallowed thickly, her eyes intently focused on the girl looming over her.

Her thumb lightly traced the bruises over her arm, her eyes narrowing in concentration. Sakura drew a breath as her other hand splayed itself over her bruises, nearly covering them all. Her hands were rather big now that she thought of it.

A vibrant green light enclosed her hand, though it flickered, clearly unstable. Not only that but it was in the wrong colour as well. Healing jutsus usually had a light green tone to them, but this one had a dark tone, like a dark green fog.

Tsunade quickly walked up to them and closely observed the light, her eyebrows drawn low in what looked to be skepticism, but also confusion. Sakura's eyes flickered back and forth between Retsu's hand, her teacher and Retsu's agitated face. Her thin lips became even thinner, morphing into a straight line.

The green light flickered some more and Sakura could tell now that something was clearly off. Because normally, the warmth from a healing jutsu was supposed to feel soothing but now it only stung her. She tensed up and hissed in pain.

"Shit," cursed Retsu, quickly withdrawing her hand.

They all just watched as the bruises on her skin only became more vibrant in colour, going from a brownish yellow to an indigo blue. Her arm trembled, still feeling the pain.

"Oh my god," breathed Tsunade, her fingers hovering over the blooming bruises. "Your chakra made it worse, it's still on the offense and not only that, the colour is way off."

Retsu released her arm and observed the dark green chakra, still hovering around her hand.

"This is the same colour as my chakra signature," she told them.

"Well for some reason, you chakra seem to believe that you want to hurt when you want to heal. Like it can't quite tell the difference between the two, stuck in a loop of some sort. I have only witnessed this condition once before... Retsu, your chakra is not used to healing at all, though it is very much attuned to the opposite…" explained Tsunade, removing her scrutinizing gaze from the odd glow around the Tanaka girl's hand.

Carefully, she took a hold of Sakura's arm and began to heal her bruises herself. Sakura looked back at Retsu, taking in her reaction. She didn't even look surprised at Tsunade's words, she had probably expected as much. The glow faded from her hand completely and she shrugged her shoulders.

"That makes sense, I literally never heal. Whenever I try, I just end up doing more harm than good," she replied almost casually, though the tension in her jaw hadn't lessened.

Tsunade nodded at her words, her chakra soothing the bruises until they faded away completely, restoring Sakura's creamy, unblemished skin.

"To be completely honest with you, I will be really hard to turn this boat around. You are 17 years old now, it would be a whole other matter if you were 12. Alas, you are frankly too old to adjust your chakra to the degree needed. However, with time and practice, you might be able to heal small injuries, like bruises and small cuts. You shouldn't aim for anything higher than that but that's only my advice," the Hokage concluded.

Tsunade released Sakura's arm and turned her attention to Retsu, awaiting her response. The girl creased her brows in what almost looked like annoyance.

"Healing is just not in my nature, I'm much more gifted in combat. What I really need to work on is enhancing my strength. I want to learn how to channel and concentrate my chakra to the point where my attacks are even more potent. Where I can turn a log into splinters by just tapping my fingers on it," Retsu insisted, her eyes growing, more and more intense as she gazed at her mentor.

There was a pause between them. And then, Tsunade let out a shrill laugh, throwing her head back.

"As if I would teach you that, when you can't even heal bruises! Mark my words, I will teach all of that when you have learned to heal!" the Hokage emphasized, narrowing her eyes at the Tanaka girl.

Retsu's right eye twitched, her lips drew themselves back in what could have been a snarl but it looked more like a grimace. Tsunade disregarded it and turned her bronze gaze to Sakura.

"And Sakura, that's where you come into the picture. While Retsu here need to train on her healing abilities -or lack thereof- you on the other hand, need to learn how to control your strength better. You already have very good chakra control but we all have our limitations. You will learn how to store and channel your chakra more efficiently from Retsu, and in turn, Retsu will learn how to heal from you," Tsunade concluded, her voice authoritarian and determined.

There was no room for argue, yet the pinkette stared at her mentor in absolute despair. She couldn't be serious! NO WAY.

"B-But-" she tried, tripping over her words.

"This is my final decision," cut Tsunade in, raising her head and crossing her arms.

"So if I understand you correctly, this girl is a better teacher than you, someone that's had years upon years of experience with healing?" Retsu smoothly warbled out, her tone a bit condescending as her green eyes roamed over Sakura's form, making her extremely uncomfortable.

Tsunade caught unto that, her eyes hardening into two unrelenting brown stones.

"Exactly. Because all you need to learn is to heal cuts and bruises and that's child's play for Sakura who can easily regenerate holes in people's abdomen. Besides, she will have more time on her hands than me, and trust me… you will need time to learn this," she coldly said to the Tanaka girl.

Retsu bit her lip, her own eyes hardening into emerald gems, but she nodded in agreement.

"Understood," she icily said, looking away from her mentor to stare at Sakura once more.

Sakura tensed up, watching the frustration on the girl's face, the fake smile she had on her lips. She wanted to say something but her throat shriveled up like a raisin. She was rather speechless, though full of lamentation as she cursed her situation. It seemed she was stuck with this person now. This person... This lunatic whose fake smile turned into a sneer, coldly regarding her from head to toe.

Tsunade clapped both of their backs, watching them both with the sort of interest a scientist would have, observing his experiments. Throwing two people together that obviously had their differences... It was probably greatly amusing for her.

"See this as a win-win, I mean now you two will learn how to get along better!" she cheered, giving their shoulders one last squeeze before letting them go. "You both have a mission now to learn from each other and to show me your improvements the next time we meet. Now you'll have to excuse me, but my tedious paperwork won't get sorted out on its own."

With that little comment, she gave Sakura a pat on her head, nodding at both of them. The two kunoichis both muttered their goodbyes as their shared teacher took her leave.

Sakura watched her go with a hard lump in throat and an even harder knot in her stomach. They both stared after their mentor, until she was out of sight. Retsu was the first one to speak.

"We'll begin with you."

She immediately felt offended for some reason.

"I think you have more work to do than me actually-" she started to say, crossing her arms.

"I don't agree," she snapped, her voice strong. "Now let's where you are, strength-vice. Punch the ground as hard as possible and don't hold anything back," she went on to say, threading around her, circling her.

Retsu came to stand at a tree, a bit away from her. Sakura swallowed thickly, her hands going inside the pockets of her pink winter coat. She picked out her black gloves and slid them on.

"Alright," she retorted, already feeling her arm and consequently her fist, buzzing with chakra.

Her clenched fist raised itself high, building up its strength to the fullest. She felt how every little strain of muscle worked itself into a frenzy, because now she meant business. As hard as she was capable of, Sakura slammed her fist down on the ground, a fierce shout rising in her throat as she felt the ground quake and split apart beneath her knuckles. A crater boomed into existence, a cloud of dirt and snow, flying around her and getting in her hair. She had enough sense to close her eyes.

When the cloud of dirt had cleared itself, she climbed out of the hole she had created, half a meter deep and as wide as herself on the length. Sakura gave Retsu a wide grin, her eyes challenging and tad bit proud. The older kunoichi met her eyes with a wide grin of her own, growing more and more wider by the second.

A chuckle, white teeth smiling down at her. Dark green eyes, narrowed and amused.

"What's so funny?" breathed Sakura, her grin fading a bit, a disgruntled unease crawling up her spine.

"You," exhaled Retsu, uncrossing her arms and stepping up to her, getting into her personal space.

Sakura stared up at her, her eyebrows creased, her breathing uneven. She stumbled back and tried to put some distance between them… though she abruptly forgot where she was standing. This wasn't like her at all...

A shocked gasp leaped out of her as tripped over the edge of her crater. Panicking she reached out to Retsu, trying to catch the side of her black jacket. Instead, a strong, rather cold hand gripped hers and roughly tugged her up and away from her impending doom.

She tripped into her, steadying herself by putting a hand on her shoulder. Her widened eyes glanced up at her face and her hand immediately left her shoulder. Retsu looked very much satisfied at her making a fool out of herself. A furious heat coated her cheeks, as pink as her hair.

Sakura tugged her hand out of hers and side stepped her, swallowing thickly.

"Thanks…" she murmured, hiding her chin in her scarf.

"Pardon me?"

Her complacent, calm voice made her tense up in even more discomfort and she took another step back from the girl. Sakura wasn't sure why she was so uncomfortable around her. She had just helped her, she shouldn't be this impolite… But there was just something about that smoothness, that smugness...

"Thank you for catching me," she tried again, trying with all her might to sound pleasant and grateful.

The older teen blinked at her, the smile tugging on her lips, revealing even more teeth.

"My pleasure."

The Tanaka girl turned and walked around the crater, gesturing for her to follow. She did, quietly so.

"Watch and observe," she called over her shoulder, briefly glancing over at the younger girl.

Sakura gave a small nod, keeping her jade eyes fixed on her tall figure. She had green-grey camo-pants on, loose-fitting with some reddish, brown spots on them. Blood? It was the only thing that came to mind, and as her jade eyes inspected her black boots, she noticed even more of the stains. She snapped her eyes up again, trying ignore her nagging thoughts. Retsu took a few more steps back, assessing the ground between them. She cocked her head to side and shrugged her shoulders.

Then her fist clenched, her arm drawing itself back. It promptly became a black blur, as she moved faster than her eyes could follow. She punched down, her knuckles meeting the ground with an agonizing boom, so loud that came as a shock to her ears, almost a shock to her system. The ground moved beneath her, shaking and trembling as Retsu disappeared into a massive cloud of dirt and snow.

A striking collapse unfolded before her, the ground crumbling away in milliseconds as the crater took form. And boy was it a crater… twice or maybe thrice as large at the one Sakura had created. She shielded her eyes from the wave of dust and dirt coming her way, taking a step back.

After a second or two, or maybe three, she blinked several times and coughed. Blearily, she looked up and once more took in the huge crater with something akin to awe in her eyes. She was utterly flabbergasted. She had only seen Tsunade do this kind of damage before. It looked like someone had blown something up.

Bit by bit, the top of Retsu's head was revealed as she climbed up from the crater. Eventually, she appeared at its edge, blowing an unruly lock of hair out of her eyes. She gestured for her to come closer and she did. Sakura walked up to her, her face rather wary.

She came up to her side and looked over the edge. It was at least a good meter deep, she shook her head in utter disbelief.

"B-But how?" she'd blurted out before she knew it.

A laugh echoed out of Retsu's mouth, that same shark-like grin still plastered on her face.

"I've been practicing enhanced chakra strength ever since I was eight. What you're looking at is the result."

Baffled, the pinkette just stared at her, not really computing what she was saying. In fact, it didn't make sense at all.

"How in the world were to able to learn this without Tsunade?" she asked.

Retsu gave a sigh, raising her dark eyebrows in a casual manner.

"Enhancing strength with chakra is an old technique, it's been around for as long as chakra has been on this planet. It is worldwide, not a technique native to any culture or any village. However, the fifth Hokage is without a doubt, the one and only true master of it. She revolutionized and modernized the technique, changed it, perfected it. Her unique ways still remains a secret to me, but it obviously has to do with how she channels her chakra. I came to Konoha, because I obviously wanted to learn from her," she explained in a -matter of fact- kinda tone, it was almost patronizing.

Yet that didn't quite cut it for Sakura, who only became more and more suspicious.

"But it doesn't make sense that you are already so- so proficient, so skilled with the technique. You just- You couldn't have learned this on your own! N-Not at the level you are at now!" the pinkette rambled on, her tone a bit accusing.

She must have had a teacher, she must have. The question is who?

Another pearly laugh escaped the Tanaka girl but this time, it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sakura," she lowly said, her voice not quite a hiss and not quite a whisper. "There is a lot you don't know about our potential as living, breathing human beings. You just have to push someone far enough and they will easily break through their limitations."

Retsu spoke and spoke and she found herself getting lost in her words. Like she was falling down a rabbit hole. With each syllable, the kunoichi got closer and closer, calmly so, until she was only some feet away.

"Adrenaline releases all restraints, all the shackles your mind has placed on your body. Your programming will break down, the programming that tells you what's possible and what's not. If you don't think you can do something, you never will. Because your thoughts create your reality. Our true nature is that of utter limitlessness, the only limits you will ever have are those you place on yourself. We create our limits, so I decided to simply undo mine. All that is created can be un-created," she explained, a thrill in her voice, a sudden fire in her green eyes.

She took hold of Sakura's chin, her fingers rough and calloused, like she'd been holding weapons her entire life. The pinkette just stared up at her, jade eyes wide and alert, mouth gaping like a fish out of water. It dawned on her that she couldn't move an inch.

"When you are young and traumatized, adrenaline rushing through your veins, there is a sudden switch. Fight or flight, all reptilian brain. And well, since I couldn't run, I had to fight for my survival. And my body knew that, my muscles knew that, and thus I began to utilize my rampaging chakra to turn it into strength," she concluded, her eyes boring into her, piercing through her and she couldn't look away.

Sakura had never met someone who could change the quality of their voice, so drastically, so suddenly… Her voice was sharp, clean-cut and forceful. Yet not emotional, not at all.

"I-I'm sorry that you… that you had to go through that…" she hesitated, not really sure what to say.

But she knew she was sorry, because whatever happened to this person, it sure as hell hadn't been anything good…

Retsu furrowed her brows, for a split second, she seemed perplexed. Then her eyebrows shot up as she barked out a loud laugh. She threw her head back, releasing her jaw as her upper body shook and trembled.

"Oh girl! Don't be, It made me who I am, without it, I wouldn't be as strong as I am now!" she assured her, looking back down at her with a wide grin and this time it did reach her eyes.

Her eyes, which seemed more relaxed and mirthful than before, to her great relief.

"Here's the point with all of this," she went on to say, recapturing her attention which hadn't really wandered far in the beginning. Retsu placed both her hands on her shoulders and gave her a good shake.

"Fear is necessary for improvement, without fear, there is no evolution. The best way to grow stronger, the best way to know your limitations and to disband them, is through survival. You have to push yourself, force yourself. You have to have adrenaline in your bloodstream, you have to flick the switch. You have to think that you can, you have to believe it. And when you are in a state of fight or flight, there is no thinking, there is no believing. There is only doing, acting out your instincts. In that state of mind, you can literally achive anything, and best of all, you are not even thinking about it," she declared, staring down at her with the same fire she had seen before.

Sakura felt mute at first, taking the information in, feeling it play ping-pong with her brain. A coldness crept through her bones, rattling her insides.

"Y-You're not going to traumatize me right?" she slowly whispered, a bile rising in her throat.

Retsu's face faltered a bit, her eyebrows drew low in what looked to be a mild annoyance.

"No, I will not traumatize you," she emphasized, "But I will push you, I will force you to grow stronger simply because you won't have another choice. I will teach you my way."

She didn't know what to say to that, besides a meek: "Alright…"

Even though she was quite shaken, a part of her actually looked forward to their future training sessions. Yet another larger part of her dreaded them. Dread and anticipation, mixed up with a rising inquisitiveness. Just who was Tanaka Retsu and what the hell had she been through?