Weekends in the Uchiha district were always so much fun. Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii would always join their training whenever they didn't have missions. When they couldn't come, the three of them would simply train by themselves and had Mikoto Oba-san check on them. After that, they'd always head out to the Uchiha main house and have lunch with Sasuke's family.

Sasuke's family was also very welcoming. Fugaku Oji-san never talked much, but at least he wasn't rude to his guests. Mikoto Oba-san was like an angel and superchef combined, all of her food was amazing and she was always so eager to feed any guest she had. Itachi-nii was silent most of the time, just like his father, but was more generous in giving away expressions on his face, especially when it came to Sasuke. Shisui-nii was very funny and he liked to rile Sasuke up whenever he got the chance.

Oh! There was also a new Uchiha little Sakura came to know. Her name was Izumi, and she was a close friend of both Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii. She was very pretty with her long brown hair and a beauty mark below her right eye. She also had frequent suspicious blush whenever she got too close to Itachi-nii.

All in all, the Uchiha she came to know had become her favourite people, right after Ino and Naruto.

It had been weeks since the first training in Uchiha district. Which also means it had been weeks of constant questioning of Sakura's skills in her mind. She was very sure something didn't add up, but she wasn't sure to whom she should talk about it.

After weeks of fruitless agonizing, she finally brought the subject to Shikamaru by accident when she had the same schedule as him to do the chores of cleaning their classroom. She didn't tell him everything, but she told him enough for him to give a brilliant answer, as expected of him.

"So, you think you have a problem, but unsure to talk about it with anyone?"

"Yes."

"Hm... Then, why don't you read a book about that problem you're having. Surely, there's a book talking about whatever it is you're having problem with?"

Little Sakura's eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'o'. Why didn't she think about this sooner? Two heads were indeed better than one.

"You're right! I'll go to Konoha Public Library then! Thanks Shikamaru!"

"Hn."

And that was the reason why little Sakura was now surrounded by stacks of large books in the corner of the library. She didn't know where to start, so she just took whatever book that mentioned shurikenjutsu.

After hours of reading, she still couldn't come up with any explanation. And right before she gave up and closed the book she's holding, she saw those two words. Muscle memory.

She read the whole paragraph containing those two words and decided to do more research. Next, she decided to go to the medical section of the library and absorb everything there was to know about muscle memory.

After days of researching, she finally understood muscle memory didn't mean that her muscles had memory of their own, but instead, the memories were stored in the brain and overtime it resulted in automatic coordinated motor skill.

It still didn't answer why she had such muscle memory, though.

However, after days of immersing herself in medical books, she came to love all the knowledge that can be found there. It was so interesting to know the in-and-out of the human body, and it made her wonder if there was a way for her to be a shinobi and be involved in medical stuff at the same time.

She brought this up to Izumi nee-chan the next time they met.

Little Sakura was sitting against a tree trunk while watching Sasuke and Naruto training. Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii couldn't come to their training today, and some time after they started training, the both of them had started another rival competition that Sakura didn't care to join.

"They're quite stubborn in their rivalry, aren't they?"

Sakura turned her head to her right and smiled when she saw the older girl, "Izumi nee-chan! Yes, they're both really stubborn!"

Izumi chuckled, "Well, at least it's a healthy rivalry."

She took a seat next to Sakura and both of them continued to watch Sasuke and Naruto's shenanigans.

"Ne, Izumi nee-chan…"

"Hm?" Izumi looked at Sakura.

"Do you think there's a way for me to be a shinobi and be involved in medical stuff at the same time?"

"Medical stuff? Are you interested in medicine?"

"Yep! I was reading medical books in the library and found them to be so interesting. It would be nice to be able to heal myself whenever I get hurt too."

"Well… you can try to be a medic-nin, Sakura-chan. They're shinobi, but their main focus isn't in fighting the enemies but rather in healing their injured comrades."

"We have such a thing as that?" Sakura asked with wide eyes.

Izumi smiled, "Yes, though I must give you fair warning, that it's not going to be an easy journey if you choose to be a medic-nin. You must have excellent chakra control, and not many people can achieve such a feat, which is why we have very few shinobi applying to be medic-nins."

Sakura nodded her head and tapped a finger to her chin, "That means I must learn how to control my chakra well. Do you know how to do that, Izumi nee-chan?"

"Sorry, but that's not my expertise," Izumi smiled sheepishly. "You can ask me to teach you any kind of shurikenjutsu, but chakra control is simply not my forte."

Sakura smiled at that, "It's alright, I'll just do my research in the library first."

"You seem to be really serious about this."

"Oh, yes I am! I don't know why but I think I've found my calling, Izumi nee-chan!"

Izumi chuckled at her enthusiasm and patted her head, "Hai, hai. Little Sakura will grow up to be a wonderful medic-nin, ne?"

Time passed and final exam was finally around the corner. Iruka sensei reminded the whole class to study well for both written and practical exams. Students' groans could be heard from all around the class, and Naruto's groan was the loudest of them all.

"Arghhh! Why do we have such things as exams? Can't we just learn stuff and be done with it?"

"We need exams to assess our learning progress, Dobe."

"What did you say! You, Teme!"

"Dobe!"

"Teme!"

"Guys, stop."

The both of them looked at their pink-haired seatmate. Naruto pouted and Sasuke turned his head away.

Sakura sighed, "I think you both can do well in the practical exam, but I'm not so sure about the written exam for you, Naruto."

"Hey! That's mean, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke snorted.

"I mean it in the friendliest way possible, Naruto. Which is why I think we should all study together to prepare for the exams."

Sasuke turned his head sharply to Sakura, "Studying with Naruto would be a disaster. I refuse."

"Hey! What do you mean by disaster? I'm a fast learner, you know!"

"Really? Then tell me the cause of the second shinobi war that Iruka sensei just taught us."

"Th-that's..." Naruto stuttered.

"Yeah, right. I thought as much."

"You want a fight, don't you, Teme?!"

"Guys, stop," Sakura stood up and put both of her hands to her sides.

"I'll study with Naruto, seeing that you don't have difficulties with written exams. However you can join us too, if you feel like it," Sakura said while turning her head towards Sasuke.

Naruto grinned and Sasuke scowled.

"Just come to my house and study there," Sasuke took his bag and walked out of the class.

"Wait, does that mean Teme wants to study together?" Naruto asked astonishedly.

Author's Note: I'm thinking of writing more childhood scenes before going to the heavy stuffs we all know are going to happen once they become full-fledged genin. It's also for the sake of strengthening their bonds with each other. What do you, readers, think? :)