Sometimes there's not a better way. Sometimes there's only the hard way. - Mary E. Pearson
Sakura forced herself out of bed early the next morning, fully intent on making the most of the day by heading to the library. It took her thirty minutes and stopping two people for directions before she found the place and that was enough to convince her that this day was going to suck.
'Little melodramatic aren't we?.'
She let out a huff as she entered the building, the librarian was quick to take her details and inform her which parts of the library she had access to. As a civilian she wouldn't be permitted into the shinobi sections and while the regular sections weren't small the amount of useful information was going to be limited.
Chakra was something altogether different in her old world, to her knowledge people mostly believed in its healing properties but that was about it. Here it was essential for performing any kind of jutsu. However, because she wasn't allowed into the shinobi section it meant that her options regarding reading material were minimal. Sure there were books that gave definitions and surface level explanations but that was all it was. Surface level.
It didn't surprise her that this would be the case, she was sure even clan kids probably weren't allowed into the genin section but they had what she didn't, a clan. Even kids who came from non-clan backgrounds but had shinobi parents held an edge over her and that was making the ever present nausea stir inside her stomach.
For a brief moment she entertained the idea of making friends with Ino early and see if she could borrow books from her or ask if Ino could show her some basics. The idea was quickly dismissed, Ino probably wouldn't be allowed to show her anything since she was part of a clan and they were both kids. Besides, Ino would quickly catch onto any hidden intentions regarding a sudden offer of friendship. Ino was a Yamanaka after all and they were known for being terribly observant. She also doubted Ino would take kindly at an attempt at being used or taken advantage of just like Sakura would be so no, she wasn't going to do that.
Sakura wanted to develop genuine friendships with her future classmates. 'Guess I'll have to make due.' She could use this as an opportunity to practice sneaking into places she wasn't supposed to be. If she could manage that then she'd feel a little more confident about sneaking into the academy.
Her emerald eyes drifted toward the person manning the desk of the shinobi section. She caught sight of a hitai-ate and it made sense that a shinobi would be guarding that section though their overall demeanor was anything but alert.
'Probably recovering from a mission or being punished.'
That would work in her favor but she'd need to observe more in order to determine any other potential opportunities to sneak past. Preferably when they either fell asleep or went to the bathroom or something where there was a moment of guaranteed distraction.
She'd figure it out another day though, despite her displeasure at the lack of material available, she couldn't ignore the fact that some of the books were somewhat useful. She had found one that gave an overview of chakra, nothing detailed of course, but it did give her a better understanding of it. There was one problem though, she had no idea what chakra was meant to feel like.
She understood that it was essentially something that connected the physical to the spiritual but nowhere could she find a description of what it was supposed to feel like and how to determine if it was there. There wasn't even a 'Chakra for Dummies' for crying out loud. She wanted to faceplant into the desk, why couldn't there just be a simple explanation that accurately described what she wanted to know. The books gave a history of chakra and its uses but nowhere did it say anything about how to feel it in your own body.
'Did everyone just naturally know it was there?'
Shaking her head, she returned the books to the correct sections before exiting the building, while she was exploring she had come across a field that looked like not many people visited. It was more secluded than other areas she'd seen and after a few days of scoping it out determined it was as good a place as any to get started on her physical training.
Luckily, one of Hannah's brothers had been a health nut and avid sports enthusiast so while she loathed physical exercise she had begrudgingly learned a few things from him. Sakura was small and wouldn't physically pose any kind of threat when compared to the others so speed and flexibility would be the best option. She nearly gave a shout of joy when her body showed signs of natural flexibility as she moved onto stretches and warm ups. The chances of her learning any kind of fighting style before entering the academy was exactly zero so she would work on her stamina, flexibility, strength and speed with what she had available to her.
'I'm starting to sound like a broken record.'
Her exercise routine consisted of a combination of stretching and simple movements to warm up her muscles and loosen her joints, doing a set of exercises and then stretching again to cool down, she grumbled at the realization of how sore she was going to be the next day. Once that was finished she began doing some static stretching to increase her body's natural flexibility. Building up her endurance was going to be a pain in the ass. She hated running but there was no better way to do it. She skipped it today though since what she had already done was going to be enough of a shock to her system and having her body collapse after just one day of exercise was not ideal.
Once finished she crossed her legs and assumed the meditation pose she had once thought was completely ridiculous. 'Oh the irony of it all.' Meditating was easier said than done though. It took an obscene amount of time to clear her head but trying to feel for something she had no idea how to identify only served to clutter her brain all over again.
'I have no idea what I'm doing.'
Instead of worrying about trying to feel for something she decided to try visualizing to help keep herself focused on one thing. She imagined a small ball of light and with each breath the ball would expand then as she exhaled it would shrink back to its original size. It was surprisingly effective in keeping her mind from wandering though she did slip up a few times. She spent around thirty minutes repeating the same process with no idea if it was actually working or not. She probably looked as much like an idiot as she felt, sitting in the middle of a field, covered in sweat and trying to meditate.
By the time she decided to call it quits it was late afternoon. She dusted herself off as best she could before making her way back home. Just because Mebuki was going to allow her to attend the academy didn't mean that Sakura would be excused from her daily lessons. The frequency of them would most likely go down since her parents were already planning a trip out of the village and their attention would soon be focused more on the shop than what Sakura was doing with herself.
She dragged her feet as walked. Her request had made the atmosphere of the house colder, it wasn't exactly warm before but now it might as well have been Antarctica. Mebuki used to tolerate the occasional mistake, now though Sakura was forced to repeat whatever she got wrong over and over and over again until her mother was satisfied. On top of that, her every move was scrutinized to the point where she was constantly in a state of tension. Kizashi wasn't around as much since he was spending more time at the shop and she found herself missing him despite the fact that he wasn't all that much involved with her before. She hadn't realized how much of a buffer her father was between the two of them and she knew he was most likely staying out of the way on purpose to follow his wife's lead.
Mebuki was purposefully making things difficult for her. Sakura knew it. It wasn't very subtle and not unexpected. Her mother wanted to break her resolve, get her to admit she couldn't follow through on her plans without any support. That her decision was nothing more than a childish fantasy.
'Adversity is the dust Heaven polishes its jewels with.' At least that's what she kept telling herself.
A week went by before she felt like she had settled into a comfortable routine to begin her investigation into any missing children. She was going to start with the kids in the Red Light District and other equally vulnerable areas of the village. Despite Konoha being considered a powerful and prosperous hidden village, there were areas of poverty like any other big city. She made sure to dress in the most worn out clothes she owned and even then she rolled around in the dirt to make it more believable.
Obviously the kids were extremely reluctant to speak with her, mostly because of self-preservation and they probably thought she was a little weird, so it took a while before she finally started making any progress.
Much to her surprise, Danzo had been less careful about hiding his identity when it came to the homeless kids. Several of them had seen him lurking about and two kids had witnessed actual abductions. She made sure to get their names down as well as their physical descriptions in case they were needed for testifying. There was no way she was going to be able to keep track of them so this was the next best thing. No one had reported the homeless kids missing so she began carrying around a messenger bag with pens and paper to create files on each kid.
When she got home she meticulously rewrote them over and over until her handwriting looked neat enough to be considered an adult's. She made sure to wear gloves as she wrote and handled the finished copies since she wasn't sure if fingerprint evidence was a thing here. She stored the finalized copies in a folder which she kept in the bag that she was now carrying around with her. She contemplated just hiding it under her bed but a spike of anxiety crashed over her at the thought of her mother finding it by accident. Not that there wasn't any anxiety filling her while she carried the bag around but what else could she do. She didn't have a sealing scroll.
Her eyebrows pinched together. She couldn't rely on her parents for money regarding anything to do with being a ninja so how was she going to earn money? She was only four-years-old. What could she even do? Genin teams tended to do menial jobs so those were out and while she thought about it there weren't many options for the homeless kids either. She had wondered why they hadn't just gone to the orphanage and when she brought it up one very straightforward girl asked her if she was stupid. Sakura tried not to take offense as she pressed the topic further.
Turns out the orphanage was filled to the brim and kids were being turned away or simply given food and clean clothes before they were shoved out the door. There just wasn't enough space and no second option for them. Most either ended up going to work in the Red Light District or resorting to theft since they had no way of gaining any work experience or education.
This time Sakura couldn't stop the bile rising up her throat. Why wasn't anyone addressing these issues? She had no idea what being in a position of power was like but surely no one could be that ignorant to the problems of the lower classes.
'Yes they could, it happens all the time.'
No matter how much it disgusted her, Sakura knew she had to set it aside. She couldn't tackle this issue. Not yet. She wasn't in place to do so and she had no way of finding a solution. It would have to be added to the long list of things she needed to figure out how to solve if her plan to expose Danzo was successful. For the moment however, she'd just have to bite her tongue and turn her anger into determination.
Along with interviewing kids, Sakura stuck to her library and exercise routine. She had gone through most of the relevant information fairly quickly since there wasn't a lot to begin with and was now itching to get into the genin section. Her goal wasn't to learn a jutsu, not that she was going to pass up the opportunity to go over some theory if she managed to sneak past but ultimately it was about practicing sneaking in and out. In theory, if she could do that without getting caught then she could get into the academy. In theory.
'But how?'
She would need to make herself unnoticeable or have a distraction that took their attention away from their work long enough for her to get past. When that particular thought struck her, the urge to smack herself became far too tempting. It was so painfully obvious. It was so plainly obvious. After all, what skills should shinobi possess? A lack of presence and the ability to misdirect attention. Those were fundamental skills. Her hair was going to be an issue but hey if Kuroko could do it with neon blue hair just to play basketball then surely she could do it to sneak into a section of the library.
'Maybe I'm overthinking the whole chakra thing too?'
Following that line of thought her feet took her to the medical section of the library. Her eyes scanned the shelves until she found what she was looking for. An anatomy book. Checking the index, Sakura resisted pulling her hair out when she found the title 'Chakra System.'
'I'm an idiot.'
Quickly opening the chapter her eyes widened at the detailed illustration of the chakra system, to her surprise it was similar to how the cardiovascular system functioned. She took out a piece of paper and began taking notes, copying the diagram to the best of her ability and placed the book back in the correct section before rushing out of the library. After arriving she began her regular routine; warm up, exercise sets, cool down. Static stretching she found better to do in the evenings after a bath. She hadn't been as stringent regarding her endurance so running was a two times a week thing, sometimes three if she was particularly anxious.
Adopting the meditation pose she took a deep breath, visualizing the pathway in her mind's eye with her core being the ball of light at the center of her stomach. With a deep inhale she focused on spinning the ball, making it grow bigger and with an exhale she imagined the ball unwinding, pushing the light into the pathways that traveled along her body. She repeated the process over and over again until she felt some kind of sensation moving in tandem with her breaths.
'Is this what chakra feels like?'
It wasn't unpleasant, in fact there was a cooling aspect which alleviated some of the burn in her muscles but it was weird. Nevertheless she repeated the exercise, spinning the ball tightly before unwinding it to push the light throughout her body before calling it a day.
Her legs were shaky when she stood and her limbs felt like lead. 'Maybe I overdid it with the exercises?' It only took two shaky steps before she found herself face down in the grass.
'Okay then.'
Thank you for reading!