A/N: Woohoo! Sakura can kick major ass!
xoxoxoxox
Ahh yes, the good ol' training grounds! Sakura thought to herself as she arrived at the forest.
She pulled out the necessary weapons to practice with from her pouch. She positioned herself in a clearing that was surrounded by trees. She decided to make scratches on each of the barks so she can use them as targets. After that, she stood in the middle and leapt in the air. She tucked shurikens in her right hand and kunais in her left. As she leapt in the air, she decided to rotate her body, forming somersaults in the air. She looked like she was a professional competitor in a diving competition. As she did this, she simultaneously threw each weapon at its targets. As she gracefully landed on the ground on her two feet, she saw that she hit all of her intended targets, except for one. Damn it! I missed one target again! I have to perfect this! Bah! I'll do this one later.
Sakura continued on with her training. She positioned herself on the ground and did many break-dancing style taijutsu moves. She positioned her hands on the ground and made her legs go straight up so she can form a hand stand. She proceeded to twirl her legs in the air like a windmill and practiced against a tree bark for target taijutsu practice. Even though it wasn't soft to cushion the force, she didn't care. As long as she had "target" to practice with, then it was fine with her. She kept doing this until she noticed some splinters go into her toes and through her black gloves in the knuckle area, some making them bleed. Argh! More splinters to pull out! Maybe next time I should really buy one of those dummy cushions…
She proceeded to bring her legs down and rest them on the ground. She propped herself up and dusted off dirt and such.
She went to another clearing in the forest, where there were hardly any trees, and proceeded to gather up chakra in her gloved right hand. Even though her gloves had some splinters poking through it and were hurting her knuckles, she couldn't care less. Sakura mainly concentrated on practicing to become physically stronger, even if it meant pushing herself over the limit. She wanted to make up for "lost time" back when she was a useless and weak 12-year-old genin, who had to frequently be defended by Naruto and him. She didn't want them to do that anymore, and she promised herself that it will be her that will protect the both, or actually just Naruto.
With that thought in mind, a certain midnight-haired shinobi crossed her mind, but she cringed to herself and proceeded to launch her right arm into the hard earth below her. The earth started to separate below her, with cracks forming. She jumped away so she wouldn't get affected. She observed how the earth around her started to crack and separate like a domino effect. Sweat drops started to form on her wide forehead and she panted very hard. I clearly told myself that I wouldn't think of that particular person…
She observed the damage that she created on to the surroundings around her. It looked like an earthquake rocked Konoha and destroyed everything in its path. Sorry Mother Nature, I just had to destroy your beautiful soil once again. At least I'm improving…
Ah! I really need to take a little break! Hmm, perhaps I'll splash some water on my face. That will cool me down. Sakura walked towards a beautiful waterfall nearby. It was beautiful and was sparkly and crystal clear. She sat herself near the edge by the clear river, next to the waterfall. She scooped her hands into the water and splashed some water on to her porcelain face. She whipped her head back with refreshment, as her pastel pink tresses fluttered in the air. She opened up her eyelids and exposed her jaded orbs. She leaned over the water and proceeded to look at her reflection in the water.
I've grown up since graduating from the academy. Life has been full of twist and turns. I wonder how the following years will be like for me. Will I even have a successful future ahead for me? Or will I be a miserable and solitary failure? I hope not! I've come this far in my life, and I'm not going to let myself get depressed and hurt like before. I want true happiness, dammit! Actually, I want true bliss! I actually want to experience that, especially true love! When the hell will that ever happen to me? Will it even happen to me? Argh whatever. I shouldn't be searching for love; I should let it search for me. Plus, I should become emotionally stronger. No more of that crap! Remember Sakura! Who knows, if I don't act like a useless, emotional weakling, then something might unexpectedly happen to me and it will bring me joy. Gah! I think way too much for my own good…Sakura continued to look at her reflection. She swore she just saw a brief appearance of her 12-year-old self, with glazed sea foam eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks. She vigorously shook her head and looked at the water again, only to see her current appearance in the reflection. I'm 17-years-old, dammit! Not that pathetic 12-year-old I used to be!
She stood up and positioned herself on the grass. Now it's time to practice my summoning technique. She took off her gloves and bit her right thumb to let the blood flow out. She made some quick hand seals, distributed the necessary amount of chakra, and shouted out "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke formed on the ground and as it dissipated, a slug of about 3-foot high in size appeared. It was white with baby blue spots speckled about on its body. It glanced up at Sakura with its eyeless (or maybe barely visible eyes) at her. Sakura smiled to herself and petted the slug. Hey! At least it's bigger than before! It's not Katsuya, but it looks like a miniature version of her!
Sakura kept practicing until she became exhausted. At the end, she managed to summon a slug as tall as her. She was improving indeed. Yes! I sooo kick major ass! Inner Sakura exclaimed with her fist in the air.
Fuck, I am exhausted! Maybe I should grab a bite to eat at Ichiraku. I'll probably bump into Naruto there anyways. She grinned to herself and she feebly started walking out of the forest to go to the little ramen shop.
A raven started to soar in the sky above the forest trees. Sakura looked up at it blankly and thought nothing of it. She continued to walk on.