I am not used to writing outside of canon so this is hard for me but fun! I am getting better at it.


Two weeks since Training began!

"This is fun."

Inoichi smiled at Naruto as the boy moved a block from it's spot on the tower of blocks, never knowing that it was in fact on of a dozen different IQ tests he had the boy playing with that day. It had been an easy thing to call Naruto in for a second day after his therapy session that week. The boy had been making incredible progress already both in and out of therapy. Tsunade had shown him how he had used the lessons from Lee and Neji to restore the loss of his skills and how much the boy had been studying, even being smart enough ( When directed by Neji) to get a dictionary and thesaurus when he struggled to understand the bigger words in the study guides. Inoichi realized he had to get a grip on the boy's intelligence now, early on, and compare in the next year to see what working hard and great direction did for the boy's mind.

So far the results had been promising... very, very promising.

"I am glad Naruto, these games are something I hoped you would enjoy."

Naruto smiled as he finished his game. "So... why are we playing games? I mean I like it so I don't mind but it does seem weird."

" Well that's easy, to test your IQ."

"What's IQ?"

"Intelligence Quotient, it is to see how smart you are when compared to your peers." That stopped Naruto in his tracks, just as he in fact finished his last test.

"Really... " His voice broke here. "A test?"

"One best taken if you don't know you are taking it. Disguised as games, you did well." Inoichi began to tally the points up from the last test and a smile crossed his face. " Alright Naruto, if one hundred is average and One fifty is genius... you are testing at a one forty seven right now. Very, very near genius. And that is with your focus still needing help, which means you are probably a genius kid."

Naruto's eyes filled with sad tears, tears of disbelief and shock. "But I... I'm not that smart. I failed the Academy three times, I couldn't get summoning until Jiraiya tossed me down a canyon... I..."

"Have not been dealt a fair hand. No one helped you with anything, not even your attention problems or the fact that your were alone in your studying and all lessons of life. You never had a fair shake Naruto, but now you do so we are seeing your true potential. Many, many genius' need help early on, everyone of them do actually. We all need help at some point, it sets our foundation. Itachi Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, the Fourth Hokage even... they all needed help. I would know, I went to school with the Fourth Hokage. Trust me, even he needed help at times. Why should you be any exception?"

There was a silence, of pain and sorrow, before a tearful Naruto looked up at Inoichi's face. "Do you really mean that?"

"I am sworn by oath never to lie to you Naruto, unless it involves your safety. This has nothing to do with safety so you can absolutely believe it." He smiled softer. "Naruto, you were able to prank a national monument in broad daylight in an orange Jumpsuit... without getting caught. You mastered two A rank Jutsu in a very, very short time. You have proven to be quite intelligent, you just were hampered by your attention span, lack of help and a few other issues. The more you work on your issues the more your true potential will be shown. I have no doubt your score will go up considerably once you increase your knowledge and work on your emotional issues. If you can do that, the sky's the limit. That is what I know, not believe ... know."

""

Tsunade felt smug as she forced Jiriaya to look at Naruto in her orb. "Almost a genius and that is with a lot of attention problems... hmm... sounds a lot like you and yet you still neglected him. Funny how that works isn't it?"

The man before her gritted his teeth hatefully, tears glistening in his eyes. " Do you enjoy rubbing my failures in my face?"

"Only when they involve the child you swore to care for. He was your responsibility not only as your godchild but as your student and you failed him in both senses. You need this, to see what you screwed up on so you can make amends. You will make amends to him one day, I will assure that personally."

The man gritted more before sighing. " Can I go?"

"Nope. I want you to watch him training. He has been at it for two weeks now. Only two more weeks till he takes he test. He is already approaching Genin level, I have no doubt he will pass. I want you to see just what you failed with so you can grow. Kami knows you need it... now shut up and watch."

"""

With a freer heart then ever, Naruto rushed to his training field with a pep in his step. "Almost a genius, probably a genius... I can't believe it." Naruto actually chuckled as he fell into a stance the moment he entered his training field. Before he started his runs, he moved through his stances, making sure he could remember his every movement as he promised Lee he would try. It was easy, the movements were simple enough that he found them easy to master.

He was glad for the new style, the Strong Fist was something he excelled in enough to maybe almost believe that he was the genius that Inoichi told him he was. He felt... uplifted by the mere suggestion that he was more then he realized. More then anyone thought possible. He wanted to rub it in everyone's faces, especially Jiriaya and Kakashi's face. They failed him.

He finally realized that now. Seeing how great Neji and Lee and Inoichi and Tsunade had been to him made him realize just how screwed he had been by the world. He actually understood taijtusu, why you did certian moves when and where. He understood why History was important and why you should learn from it. He actually got things. He felt... amazing. Like for the first time he mattered and damn it it was a good feeling.

"Alright, time for my runs."

And so he went off, knowing that only after two weeks of hard training he was already half way at the minute that Lee told him he needed to be at. Right now it was a full two minutes and thirty seconds to make the full lap, maybe that was partly due to the healing factor that made his muscles stronger, or maybe it was the weights, or maybe it was his determination... he had no idea but he was already there. He was proud of that.

He knew he would make it, make and complete all of the goals he had set before him before he became capable of making the grade to become a genin once again. He could do it, he would do it...

Believe it!

"Wait... I feel that thing again... that fuzzy... " He frowned, closing his eyes he had ran around the water. "Is that Hinata again?" Annoyed, he called out. "I know your out there, come out!"

There was a rustle of leaves before someone popped out of the leaves... and it wasn't Hinata.

"""

With a shameful heart, Sakura came from her hiding place and approached her teammate. She had heard, like Ino and from Ino, what had happened to the boy and it left her feeling pained. 'Did I cause this, did I push him to hard to find Sasuke?' These thoughts filled her head as she learned of Naruto's death and the panic attacks. So ashamed was she that she had avoided him... until now.

"How did you know I was here?" She asked, loudly, getting what she assumed was a smirk from her sort of friend.

He, from his place coming closer around the pond, called out. " I could feel you!"

"Your not a sensor though?"

He just smirked at her, leaving her wondering what the hell had happened to him? She decided to wait as he hurried towards her, huffing only a little as he finished his lap. "So , why are you here Sakura?"

She smiled a little, hiding her guilt. "I just wanted to see that your okay."

His smile was radiant, if not a little hesitant. "I'm fine. Therapy and training seem to be helping a lot... how are you Sakura?"

"Exhausted, Lady Tsunade is a hell of a teacher." She shuddered, thinking of her training sessions with the brutal lady. "I would have visited you before, but...I wasn't sure if you would want to be around. I mean with your panic attacks... and... I... well..."

"Are the cause of a few of them?" Naruto's voice wasn't cold, but the old warmth vanished a little. She actually jumped at his words, shocked by the pain they held. " I know... it's a lot. I have been dealing with a lot. In therapy, Inoichi said to be honest and deal with my real feelings... instead of masking it with a smile. That's been hard, but I guess until I saw you I never needed to try... you were awful to me Sakura, and hypocritical. You fawned over Sasuke and mocked me for being a orphan. I don't know why I liked you so much. Why I still like you... so much... but I need to get over it. You were never good to me... and I wasn't great to you either, I never left you alone and I got in your space and harassed you a lot. It never deserved your cruelty or abuse but I guess I get it a little... so I wanted to say that maybe we should start over. I'll stop asking you on dates but you have to be nicer... and stop hitting me. Can you do that?"

The words, the advanced explanation threw Sakura hard... but they also hurt her. She couldn't deny their power, their honesty... and so she did all she could and nodded slowly, painfully. " Okay..."

"Great... wanna spar then? I haven't had a good spar since Lee and Neji stopped helping me train."

"Sure... what are the rules?"

"No regular jutsu just taijutsu with some chakra enhancement allowed, I want to see what Lady Tsunade has taught you!" Naruto smiled, a fist pumped in the air!

Sakura just sighed, barely noticing the change in the respectful way he said Tsunade's name... then smiled. " Let's do this!"

"""

"Ooooh, I wanted to see how they would fair. I wonder if Naruto will beat her, her taijutsu was painfully average before. She has made progress but not as much as with her healing." Tsuande leaned in, excited. "I would bet on this but I don't want or ruin it."

Jiraiya just snorted. "Shocker."

She just ignored him and watched the spar.

Both kids fell into a low stance, Sakura's familiar and simple as it was Tsunade's own. Naruto's was identical to that of Lee's, his stance itself flawless. Apparently Sakura saw the similarities as she gasped a little. " But that's...?"

"Yup, he taught me!"

"Any weights?" She asked, Sakura's voice a little desperate.

Naruto just smirked for a moment before unhooking the weights on his ankles, tossing them aside where they shook up some dirt. " Fifty pounds each. Nothing like Lee's but they make a big difference."

Even through the glass orb, Tsunade saw her student gulp. "Okay." She said, her voice shaky. "Just no primary lotus or any of that..."

"Don't worry, I'm not that advanced..." Then there was silence.

Sakura made the first move, shooting across the field with precision more then speed. She let out a loud roar before slamming her fist towards Naruto, how leaped to the side and kicked her hard in the side, sending her flying to the side. Sakura rolled with it, coming up just in time to dodge a series of kicks and punches expertly though only slightly sloppily thrown her way. She was almost dancing around the movements, as Tsunade had taught her.

Naruto growled after a few moments of this. "Your entire style is just evasion, weak!" Before, with what she knew was chakra, blasted forward to slam his fist into her chest sending her towards the water. Sakura once again used the motion to roll gracefully, minimizing the impact as much as she could though from her grimace Tsunade knew that Naruto had hit her hard.

"Ow." She said rubbing her chest. "You hit hard, when did that happen?"

"Always, I was always stronger then fast." Naruto smirked at her before blasting at her at full speed, only leaping with foot extended at the last moment. "Dynamic entry!" He called out, forcing Sakura to bend backward to dodge the move.

That was when she struck, using the bend to flip her legs over to grasp Naruto's outstretch leg with hers and slam him into the water in one movement. It was a smart movement, one Tsunade had done to Orochimaru or at least something similar during their last fight.

Naruto gasped a little as he sank into the water, shaking his head. "Ouch, that hurt... you've gotten better, but I think I got this. " Reaching back, Naruto pulled himself onto the water's surface, kicking upward to catch Sakura's chin ( barely) with his sandeled foot sending her back once more. The moment he landed he tackled her, and held her tight, squeezing with his superior strength. "Call it!"

Sakura struggled and groaned before she sighed. "Damn... you win."

"YATTA!" He let her go only to hug her close once more, making the girl sigh and hug him back.

"Yeah, yeah, you got lucky. That last hit was dirty but good. Your taijutsu is far better then it used to be."

"Thank Lee and Neji, Lee helped with taijutu and Neji with Chakra control. I can do a lot with my chakra now, even make myself faster and stronger but only for a little bit. It's called the chakra pulse and I guess Lady Tsunade uses it for her-"

"Super strength, I know, she's teaching me to use it." Sakura smirked, as did Tsunade, seeing Naruto's shudder. "If I had mastered that this fight would have been much different."

"Yeah, it would have been. I saw her fight before, trust me your going to be a monster. Yatta, that's exciting. We really are going to get Sasuke back, you with your badass strength and me with my new taijutsu and all the other things we are going to learn. We got this!"

Tsunade sighed, hating Naruto still wanted to get back Sasuke but couldn't blame him. If she could have redeemed Orochimaru she would have... she missed her old friend... dearly. She always liked him more then she did Jiraiya...

Sakura's smile was beautiful. "Yeah, we are going to do this! Anyway, want to get lunch? Or do you need to train some more?"

"I need to train more... but we can have dinner?"

"Cool, my treat. Just not ramen."

"Sure, just find a place that will let me in... people still hate me for... reasons."

Sakura nodded, a little unsure. "Sure... I'll... I'll find somewhere. When do you want to meet up?"

"How about seven? I can be showered by then and dressed nicer."

"Sounds amazing."

And with that, her beloved Naruto and wonderful student separated.

Happy, she looked back up to a very green Jiraiya. " See what just two weeks have done?" I would put him at Genin level already in taijutsu alone. He is a short ranged figher and kenetic learner by nature. He will become a juggernaut in taijutsu alone, that much is clear."

"I get your point...see ya later, Hime." Her old friend vanished in a swirl of dust, leaving Tsunade to lean back, content and happy with Naruto's progress. Only one thing stood out. " How did he sense Sakura... is he a sensor... is he hiding something from me... I can't wait to see what's going on there. Both his parents were sensors after all... very skilled ones. It would be only natural..."


Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was so much fun to write.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.