Another two years passed after that incident and Sakura studied relentlessly to better herself not just for herself but for her friends as well, they'd added another person to their group once she realized that the boy didn't have any friends at all.
So now Naruto Uzumaki was in her small circle of friends and she was content with just Hinata, Naruo and Sasuke "Hey Sakura since we have the next couple of weeks off and you can't go home would you like to go to the training grounds with me and work on your taijutsu" Sasuke asked.
That afternoon when they were about to get out of the academy "Well I do need to work on other things to such as my evasion and throwing skills with senbon needles, plus afterwards I can treat our wounds the civilian way" Sakura mused knowing it was a good idea.
Because she'd advanced so much further on her medical studies that it was unreal, she was just about ready to start learning how to use the mystical palm probably within the next couple of years actually and be battle ready when she became a genin.
Her friend blew out a breath of relief "Oh come on let me come to please" Naruto pleaded knowing that the friendly spar would be something to watch and because he couldn't stand it when he was left out of awesome things such as that.
Sakura and Sasuke turned at his exclamation before sharing a look with each other and nodding in acquiesce to his request "G..Good luck th..then S..Sakura-chan, Sasuke" Hinata offered from the other side of them side the four of them had squished themselves into a single row together.
To Iruka's amusement but since they were such excellent students, well Naruto still had a ways to go, he let it slide "Thanks Hinata" the little raven breathed then focused his attention on the history lesson that they were being given.
In recent years the lessons had evolved and now instead of just their village history, they learned about other village histories, math had grown difficult and very few of them understood it, taijutsu and physical fitness as well as their throwing lessons had evolved as well.
Kunoichi class for the girls had started up for the girls while the boys were given extra physical fitness and many more "Yeah thanks Hinata-chan, ooh look it seems Iruka-sensei is giving out no homework for the entire week" the little pinkette cheered.
As much as she loved homework because she had the highest marks in the class, she was glad to be able to focus completely on her training "Awesome this is gonna be good you know" the little blonde was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.
When they were finally released for the next couple of weeks with zero homework from any of their teachers "I..I'll see you t..two weeks from now" the little blunette sighed knowing that she would be focused on her own training in the mean time, which meant no contact with her friends.
Her three friends felt for her as they watched her trudge off and then it was to the Haruno Household to ask for permission to go to the training grounds "Guess that would be alright, but you'd be alone, since Koron and Kyogo had to go back to the Capital" Mebuki winced.
Feeling unsettled about having her niece and her two friends unattended by adults "Don't worry Sakura-chan can handle herself if anything happens, she's got those camouflage tags after all" Kizashi boomed from the living room.
"Mean I can't believe you left me behind Sakura-chan" Eda pouted as he barreled through the door to his house, he'd only been a few steps behind his cousin, so at least he wasn't completely alone on the walk home.
This earned him a wince "Now, now Eda-kun you know Sakura-chan is busy with her training" Mebuki shushed her youngest, who was now a whopping seven years old and two years in to the academy while her daughter.
Who appeared in that exact moment was a full fledged kunoichi now "If you'd like Mother I can oversee their training since I'm a genin and all that" Koeda offered knowing that the woman would be worried and since she was a shinobi now she would provide better protection.
"Actually your sensei came by you have a week long mission" Kizashi appeared with the scroll and handed it over to his daughter, who sighed, flashed her cousin and her friends an apologetic smile before heading to her room to pack for the mission.
Which left the three pouting ten year old's until Mebuki relented and they headed off for the training grounds for a couple of hours, to their surprise they found it occupied and so had to find a spot that wouldn't bother the other person training.
When they started sparring, this drew the other person's attention, especially when the lone girl drew out senbon needles "Oho so we have a good shot" he couldn't resist marching over to them when the girl threw her needles and two out of three made their mark in the boy she was sparring against.
The children jolted in response and only two of them took up defensive stances in front of the only blonde "Is there a reason your bothering us" Sasuke's tone was icy as he spoke because they only had a limited time to train and he didn't want anyone to hurt Naruto's feelings.
Only he was allowed to do that "Now, now kiddies I was only curious, usually it takes a long time to achieve mastery of a weapon as light as the senbon, but you, you can't be more than ten" the brunet pointed to the lone girl.
"Cause I've been practicing with it for a year, I'm studying how to be a medic-nin, I'm Sakura who are you anyway" Sakura introduced herself was customary, even though he should have introduced himself first since he was the one who approached them first.
But she was being the bigger person here "Really a medic-nin huh are you trying to surpass Tsunade-sama she's the best medical ninja there is in the world, and Genma Shiranui kid" Genma held out his hand expecting to get a hand shake.
Instead he got a wary look "Sakura-chan doesn't do hand shakes and I'm Naruto Uzumaki you know" the little blonde piped in put out that the spar hadn't lasted nearly as long as it usually did because someone had interrupted his friends.
His introduction caused the obvious Jonin to straighten and press his lips together "Ah you, well I won't bother you anymore" and then Genma was gone, Sakura huffing and puffing after the man for behaving so rudely.
"It's okay Sakura, he's just a stupid adult anyway" Sasuke snorted resuming their spar and by the time their two hours was nearly over, both of them were covered in a multitude of scratches and light bruises that hurt something fierce.
Sakura flopped down on the ground gracefully "Ouch you really know how to hit someone Sasuke" the little pinkette sulked pulling out her medical pouch that Darui had brought her a few months ago for her birthday, Cee had chipped in on it so it had been a joint birthday present.
"Yeah Sakura-chan is a girl you know Sasuke-teme" Naruto pointed out bluntly also settling on the ground as ointment, bruise cream and bandages were pulled out of the pouch and Sakura got started on tending to their injuries and bruises.
Sasuke gave the blonde the stink eye "I know that but Sakura can hit just as equally as hard as I can and besides how else are we going to learn if we don't face each other seriously" the little raven huffed lightly.
His friend rolled her green eyes "Boys honestly enough with the arguing, I can handle it Naruto, and Sasuke's right we have to face each other seriously" the little pinkette clapped her hands putting away her supplies then hopping up off the ground.
"Guess I'll see you tomorrow for more training then" the little blonde waved heading off to his apartment that he was all alone in, he'd been alone for a long time up until the last two years but now he had three awesome friends.
Two of which watched him go before turning in opposite directions to return home "Goodness what happened to you" Mebuki nearly shrieked when her niece wandered into the house at the standard time covered in bandages and bruises.
"Little boys hit hard huh Sakura-chan, I bet you gave it to him as good as you got right" Kizashi wasn't worried in the least, knowing that his niece was going to be a fierce little fighter, much like his daughter was.
Sakura grinned widely "Oh yeah and don't worry Mebuki-oba-chan, Sasuke does kind of take it easy on me, but we spar seriously so we can improve and push each other past our current limits" the fuscia haired girl announced.
Mebuki let out a long suffering sigh "Ne, ne did you have to go to the hospital Sakura-chan" Eda popped from out of no where and attached himself to his cousin, who would be the only one there with him since his sister was off on one of her missions.
"Nope I tended to myself and Sasuke all by myself since I learned how to use the items in the medical pouch Darui-kun brought me, now all that's left is common antidotes and poisons and learning the mystical palm jutsu" Sakura chattered.
With that they all sat down for dinner, partway through when they were nearly finished Mebuki vanished "Drew your bath for you Sakura, just make sure you wash thoroughly" Mebuki sighed taking in her bruise and scratch riddled niece.
This earned her a beaming smile "Just glad Koeda-chan wasn't here to see that, she would have freaked to" Kizashi chuckled knowing that his daughter was just as big a worrywart as her mother was which earned him an elbow to the ribs.
And for their youngest to snigger at him unsympathetically "Deserved it Father" Eda grinned ducking under the whack his mother sent him and scampered off to take his own bath once they were done with dinner.
"Goodnight Oji-san, Oba-chan, Eda-kun" Sakura called quietly from her room once she'd finished dressing in her sleeping yukata, wanting to read some more so that maybe tomorrow she could start practicing tentatively learning the mystical palm jutsu.
The next morning after breakfast she vanished out the door "I'm going to work on my chakra control today" the pinkette explained when she arrived on the training grounds, Naruto and Sasuke already there waiting for her.
Both boys looked intrigued "How do you do that Sakura-chan" the little blonde asked as they headed further in and towards a group of tree's, which made him wary, she wasn't going to actually try and climb it was she.
Apparently she was "Whoa hey Sakura what are you doing" the little raven jumped in when he saw her making a hand sign then get a running start at the tree she was stood in front of, though at his question she paused and nearly stumbled head first into the tree.
If it weren't for someone suddenly dropping down in front of her and she rammed headfirst into him instead, the same guy from yesterday "It's the rude guy from yesterday and I was going to work on my chakra control, tree climbing is a form of exercise to help that" Sakura answered smartly.
Green eyes focused on the brunet before her accusingly who stared at her in confusion "Now hang out how am I the rude one, you kiddies are the one who were acting all suspicious yesterday and besides I did tell you my name and you know that kind of exercise is for genin not children" Genma pointed out.
Her eyes narrowed further until they were practically slits "You don't know Sakura very well then, she has good control and if anyone can get that exercise down it's her and you gave the Dope a somewhat disgruntled look that's why your rude in her eyes" Sasuke snorted.
While said blonde was hidden behind Sakura using her slightly taller height to his advantage "Did I" Genma blinked again, then he realized he had left rather quickly when the boy had introduced himself, but that hadn't been the reason.
"You did, you did Believe it" Naruto practically burst their eardrums still using Sakura to hide behind earning exasperated stares from two of his friends, the last was stuck in clan training which sucked big time.
Genma winced "Okay, okay I didn't mean anything by it or my hasty departure, it just seemed like you were tired of being bothered is all, now if you'd like I can oversee your training in the tree climbing exercise as apology" the brunet held up his hands.
That's all it took one little offer and wham the kids were all over him practically bouncing up and down in excitement, though the lone girl was the only one to stand in front of tree, the two boys probably not confident enough to attempt the exercise themselves.
"Now I gather my chakra in my feet again make sure I have the right amount and go" the little pinkette whispered to herself, making a hand sign to gather chakra into the soles of her feet before getting another running start.
She wasn't interrupted this time by curious boys and up she went the highest she felt comfortable "Wow Sakura-chan that was totally awesome believe it" the little blonde called up to her and she realized that she'd managed the exercise a lot easier than she'd thought she would.
Even the jonin looked shocked "Perfect chakra control from an obvious civilian girl now there's a surprise" Genma stared at her in contemplation as she walked calmly down the tree, getting the exercise down easily.
He wondered if she'd struggle with the water walking exercise "Yeah your gonna be the best medical ninja in the world, I bet you could even bypass that Tsunade person" the little raven grinned from ear to ear when she was stood before them again.
Lips curved upwards into a smile "Thanks Naruto, Sasuke, but that was only the first step, I'm gonna see if I can do the water walking exercise now, which is gonna be a lot more difficult" Sakura announced seriously.
In order to start learning the mystical palm she had to be absolutely sure of her chakra control, then work on syncing her chakra to a fish, bird, small living creature etc, before she could even begin to work on healing people.
Genma crinkled his nose "Just why are you so determined to be a medic-nin anyway kid" the brunet questioned as they all headed towards the nearest source of water, a small slow moving river that ran through the training grounds to be exact.
She paused in gathering her chakra into her feet again "Because I want to be able to heal my precious people, that's what I decided would be my nindo, my ninja way" her eyes burned straight into his soul as she spoke those words.
Having taken to heart the will of fire and all Iruka's teachings it seemed "Yeah and though I suck at academics, these two have stuck with me through thick and thin the last two years, my nindo is to never back down even when the going gets tough I won't quit" blue eyes met brown.
"What about you little Uchiha do you have a nindo as well" Genma turned his gaze onto the silent boy, knowing that he must be burning with rage to take down his brother for what the thirteen year old had done.
Sasuke's onyx eyes darkened "My nindo is to never be the person Itachi wants me to be when I face him, I won't rely on hate to beat him, but love that was given to me by my friends which will strengthen me beyond what he thinks I'm capable of" obsidian irises seared straight through him.
And the Jonin reeled back "Then your going to be a bunch of powerhouses when you become genin and I wish you luck" the brunet patted each child on the head knowing they didn't need him to oversee their training anymore and disappeared in a plume of smoke to think on all he'd learned.
Children that already had their nindo was kind of crazy "What do you suppose all that was about" the little blonde tilted his head to the side in confusion at the Jonin's hasty retreat leaving them to their own devices again.
"No idea Dope, why don't we spar while Sakura works on that water walking exercise" the little raven suggested and launched himself into the taijutsu spar with the blonde, knowing he would win, but dragging it out so she would have enough time to see what she needed to work.
Glad that they were giving her some time to herself Sakura took a deep breath gathered chakra into her feet and stepped out onto the water, only to immediately fall in with a loud splash "Ack that's cold" the little pinkette dragged herself onto dry land again.
Soaked to the core which sucked big time, but that didn't deter her as she went to step out again thinking that she needed to add more chakra, no change and Sakura set her jaw in frustration wishing the Jonin had stayed so he could give her some pointers.
Before she shook her head, this was her nindo, she couldn't rely on others to teach her, she had to do it herself or she wouldn't be satisfied, so once again she tried to step out onto the water only to receive the same results as the first two times.
It hit her after a few more tries, perhaps the point wasn't the amount of chakra, but to keep her chakra consistent, so the eighth time she tried, she immediately reapplied the same amount of chakra to her feet once she was stood on the water's surface.
And stood there for about three seconds before falling in "Ugh I think that's enough chakra control training for the day, now for taijutsu, evasion and throwing practice" Sakura groaned heaving herself onto dry land for the final time.
Thoroughly soaked and feeling waterlogged "At least you got the exercise a little bit right Sakura" Sasuke asked as they settled into their stances before launching themselves at each other to start off their taijutsu practice.
Sakura nodded "Then you'll just get better and better from here on out Sakura-chan" Naruto cheered watching the spar and feeling a little banged up himself, it was a little awe-inspiring watching his two friends until they called it and flopped on the ground to tend to their injuries.
More scratches and bruises and even he had to get tended to a little bit "Say Sakura do you think we can go to the ninja gear store and buy weights and bandages, I heard it's suppose to help us increase our physical speed by a lot instead of wasting our chakra" the raven prodded suddenly.
When they were headed from the training grounds and back into the village for early lunch before going to the library to study until their heads nearly exploded, which brought up an interesting theory to Sakura at least.
"Course we can, what do you say Naruto, you want to wear weights with us to" the little pinkette giggled walking between the two boys and wishing Hinata was there with them as well, but knowing that her Father would never let her hang out with them.
Naruto wrinkled his nose up in though "Guess so long as their not to heavy you know" the blonde relented to the looks, but first they headed to Ichiraku for ramen, then it was off to the ninja gear store which was filled with lots of weapons and gear they hadn't even known existed.
And so it was with wide eyes the three children nearly spent an hour in the shop and bought more than just 1 pound weights and bandages for each of them, but gloves for Sakura, ninja wire and shuriken for Sasuke and some smoke bombs for Naruto.
Then it was off to the library "Geez I never even knew all that stuff existed and we're definitely going to go back again" Sakura was chattering up a storm, though all in a whisper as they sat down at the usual table to study and improve their knowledge.
She was just glad she didn't have her regular lessons these next two weeks or it would totally suck "Definitely Sakura cause that stuff is totally cool" Sasuke nodded his agreement, flipping through the book he'd brought with him.
"Exactly even if I have to drag you two with me" Naruto sniggered quietly not reading, just watching like usual, he wasn't very good at academics anyway and studying in the academy was enough for him and he didn't want to do it on his break.
At his words Sakura looked up "I think it might be me dragging you two along sometimes" Sakura snickered softly taking in all the information on common poisons and antidotes and knew that soon she would have to update her medical pouch with that sort of stuff.
In the case anyone on her future team was poisoned with one of the common poisons, she would have the necessary supplies "Probably Sakura, then again it could be me doing it sometimes to, so we're all gonna have to do it sometime" Sasuke grinned.
Reading about the sharingan in his spare time, his hadn't activated even with the trauma he'd experienced from what had happened, but thanks to his few friends, he'd found a goal to work towards and be the complete opposite of what Itachi had wanted him to be.
He still didn't understand how his kind, yet busy older brother could have turned into such a monster but he was determined to get to the bottom of it someday no matter what it took "Hey you there Teme" the blonde in their group waved his hand in front of Sasuke's face.
"Was just thinking Dope about Itachi, the real reason why he killed everyone in our clan and our parents and said all that stuff about testing his strength" the little raven admitted quietly, eyes dark in remembrance of that night and all he'd suffered.
To the point he'd thought that his brother had actually gone after one of his only two friends he'd had at the time "It's okay Sasuke, we'll get the truth out of him that I can promise" Sakura's eyes burned straight through him as she made a vow.
Sasuke knew the truth and then they all immersed themselves in studying before it was time to return to their individual homes "Heavens you just look awful Sakura-chan" Mebuki like she had yesterday shrieked at the sight of her niece.
Who was now covered in even more scratches and bruises "You should see Sasuke" the fuscia haired girl snickered as she sat gracefully at the table waiting for dinner to be doled out to everyone so she could eat.
Physically and mentally training her body, mind and spirit was hard stuff after all "Bet he looks just as awful huh Sakura-chan" Kizashi chuckled, the girl certainly was spirited and she was already one of the best academy students.
"Hey, hey Sakura-chan what did you do today for your training" Eda piped in not wanting to be forgotten about the entire meal, not that he ever was, but he was still kind of forgotten about since his cousin and sister was always to busy for him.
Sakura turned "Chakra control, I started learning the basics of the water walking exercise, then once I get that down I'm going to start practicing the mystical palm on fish and small creatures until I can sync my chakra with them before moving on to people" she answered calmly.
"Getting advanced now are you Sakura-san" a voice she didn't expect appeared from the doorway that led to the living room and her eyes trailed in his direction and yep there he stood in his pale blonde glory.
Her eyes widened "Cee-san I didn't know you were here, what about Darui-kun or was he unable to come" Sakura chattered a mile a minute before stopping to catch her breath and allow the nineteen year old to answer her questions.
Before he did a chuckle came from his right "We're both here Sakura-san and yeah had business in the area, something about mending burnt bridges in Raikage-sama's words, it's gonna be a three week long mission here in Leaf for us" Cee explained.
Emerald irises lit up in excitement "And yes we'll help you train when we have time, we'll also be staying here again" Darui chuckled, just as excitable as he remembered, though he hadn't thought she'd get so far so quickly when they weren't looking.
The little pinkette couldn't resist popping up and gracefully trailing in his direction "Missed you Darui-kun and I'm glad your here, you to Cee-san and that would nice to have someone there instructing me but I have to do most of it myself" Sakura reminded.
Because it was her dream after all and if she had people doing everything for her then she wouldn't be very dependable when they did become genin and she was put on a team, her teammates would suffer because of her.
"Okay, okay now lets eat shall we" Darui deposited the girl in her seat so quickly it shocked her, but no further chatter came from Sakura as she ate before vanishing to take a bath and read in the living room for a bit, studious nature still shining through.
And finally it was time for bed before the days repeated, the third, fourth and fifth day consisted of working on her chakra control and physical speed, alongside taijutsu and working on her throwing skills "A little more vicious today aren't you" Sasuke was surprised.
When their session came to an end just a little before lunch and his bruises were a little darker than usual, "Sorry it's just I saw Ami and she was picking on this little girl, who probably wasn't even in the academy yet and it just ticked me off" Sakura huffed.
Flopping down for once uncaring of being graceful "Quite the mouth you have there Sakura" Darui chuckled from off to the side, of course who wouldn't pick up on a few cuss words being friends with two very foul mouthed boys.
Sakura smiled sheepishly "Don't worry about it, we won't tell anyone, it's our little secret" Cee laughed as he tended to their injuries, healing the worst of the bruises before letting her take over "Perhaps it's time to start practicing the mystical palm" he offered.
Taking note of how careful she was when applying the ointment and bandages to herself and Sasuke, there was only so much of the civilian way medic-nin's could take after all, Sakura blinked at him before glancing down at her work.
Before nodding seriously "That's cool Sakura-chan now what are we going to do" Naruto, who was equally as banged up but not as bad as his two friends piped in wanting to know if their standard go to the ninja gear shop and lastly library would still be in affect.
"Mm well I really wanted to go to the ninja gear shop and try and find some antidotes to the common poisons that are around, stock it in my medical pouch and get some feverfew herb pills, plus upgrade the weights, since one pound isn't cutting it anymore" the pinkette ticked off her fingers.
Darui and Cee blinked, then scanned the girl over, indeed she was wearing weights, not just her but Sasuke and Naruto as well "Yeah I adjusted to one pound after the second day of wearing them" the little raven poked his bandage wrapped legs and arms.
Feeling nothing "Me to, though I think I felt comfortable after the third day" the little blonde commented moving his arms around animatedly proving that he also was no longer bothered by wearing just one pound weights.
"Right then off to the ninja gear store" Cee chuckled as he finished looking the three ten year old's over just in case he'd missed any major bruises, he didn't find any and so off they went back into the village and to the now frequented shop.
Where antidote pills, 2 pound weights and feverfew herb pills were bought, along with a couple books on crafting antidotes, and some common mild poison for Sakura, new kunai for Sasuke and a pair of new sandals for Naruto before they headed to Ichiraku.
"Do you three eat here every single day or something" Darui questioned once they'd sat on the stools and ordered their lunch, knowing that soon after they would all be heading to the library to study until their brains melted, well not Naruto.
Who nodded "Yep cause Old Man's ramen is the best in the entire village" Naruto flashed a whiskered grin at the nineteen year old, that had not once ever looked at him in disgust like ninety percent of the adults did in the Leaf Village.
"Can't argue with you there, but there are tons of other things I like to eat to, but sacrificing one meal to have ramen with the Dope isn't so bad" Sasuke snorted and ducked when a hand swung out to whack him.
He missed that hand, but the second one he didn't as it smacked his leg gently "Shush now and stop making fun of Naruto, Sasuke honestly your just as bad as him with your obsession with tomatoes" Sakura smiled innocently.
Sasuke wisely didn't pick on Naruto for his ramen obsession anymore and they ate silently for a few minutes before conversation flowed between them again, once they were done, they paid, thanked Teuchi for the meal and loped off towards the library to study some more.
It was ingrained in two of the children to study consistently after all "Indulge me for a moment Sakura-san, once you've learned all there is to know about medical ninjutsu and can successfully use it what then will you focus your studies on" the older blonde asked suddenly.
Once they were all settled down at a table "Genjutsu, I want to create an illusion that's unique to myself, make it so real that the enemy doesn't know if it's the illusion or reality he's seeing" the pinkette answered smartly.
Having already started reading about theory of genjutsu and crafting her own illusion "Slow down would ya Sakura" the white haired nineteen year old whistled, she was going to be extremely busy even after she graduated from the academy.
"Sakura-chan slow down, now that's like asking a mule not to kick you when your back is turned you know" the little blonde sniggered suddenly only to wince as a foot was embedded in his shin, gently though and not enough to bruise.
Sasuke kept his mouth shut because he didn't want the same treatment "But what about after that Sakura" the little raven haired boy questioned knowing that it wouldn't take her very long to devour book after book on the subject.
At the question she paused before shrugging, she hadn't found anything else that peaked her interest yet beyond medical ninjutsu and genjutsu "No idea but I'm sure I'll find something" Sakura finally said, then immersed herself in her book again.
So he did the same while their goofy knucklehead friend sat there looking positively bored "Yawn you two do this everyday for hours, how can your brains not melt with all the information you stuff in it" Naruto yawned out a question suddenly.
Green eyes flickered in his direction "Because Dope we have to be ready for the Academy Graduation Exams in two years time, who knows what will be on the test, both physical and written" Sasuke snorted barely glancing up himself before staring much harsher at his book.
No matter how much he trained he couldn't seem to get his sharingan to activate and it was a constant point of irritation for him "He's right you know Naruto-san, it's been awhile for us, but there were many things on the graduation exams" Cee pointed out gently.
Causing the boy to slump in his seat, before all together finding a book to read and stuff his brain full of knowledge not wanting to be left behind "Just like that huh" Darui chuckled under his breath as the three ten year old's read until their heads pounded from all they'd taken in.
Then it was time to return home, eat dinner, take baths and finally head to bed, before regrouping on the training grounds again the next day "I'm ready Cee-san to learn how to use the mystical palm" Sakura turned to the blonde, knowing he'd start her off, but the rest was up to her.
He gave her a small smile then caught a large fish before dragging his kunai down the creature's side "First you must will your chakra to heal something" Cee instructed showing her his bright green chakra, then had her try.
"It's probably gonna be a bit you two, so might as well get started on your spar" Darui pointed his thumb at the duo by the river, the first actual lesson on how to use the mystical palm, he was certain Sakura would get it.
Considering how much time and effort she'd put into studying everything she needed to know about the subject "We know, before you got here we'd already been sparring to keep ourselves busy while she practice" Sasuke snorted lightly.
Focusing his attention on Naruto, who settled into a loose stance "Ready or not here I come Teme" then launched himself forward intent to tackle but Sasuke sidestepped him smoothly and sent a careful punch restraining himself since the blonde was a bit more sensitive about his vanity.
Darui chuckled then allowed his gaze to drift in her direction as she held her hands, already encased in a blue glow and tried to will her chakra to heal something, ever so slowly it turned into a bright green glow to match her eyes which lit up in pride when she managed the first part.
Cee allowed another smile to form on his lips "For the second part, you must try to sync your chakra to your patient whether that be humans or creatures so that you don't harm them and make sure you don't use to much or to little chakra" he instructed yet again.
Gesturing at the fish "Got it Cee-san" the little pinkette spread out her senses trying to figure out how she was supposed to sync her chakra to a fish of all things, though a lesson that had been taught was firmly in her mind that all things had chakra even plant life.
In the next moment she threw caution to the wind and pressed her glowing green hands to the fish only to pull away hastily in the next moment "Oooh poor fish" the dark skinned white haired male winced at the burnt to a crisp fish.
Sakura shut her eyes feeling like an idiot, she'd done it to quickly and now the fish had paid for her mistake "It's okay Sakura-chan that's why your starting on the fish so you can learn how to and learn patience in healing" the younger blonde on the field was right there at her side suddenly.
Peering down at the completely dead fish where as before it was alive then to his friend "Yeah and we've no doubt you'll get it, now get back over here Dope so we can spar some more" the little raven hollered.
Earning a snicker from Sakura before the blonde zipped back towards Sasuke to resume their light sparring until she gave up on trying to sync her chakra to the fish's for the day and started her own spar with Sasuke, also working on her dodging, throwing and taijutsu skills.
Until it was time for lunch yet again "Ugh I feel like death warmed over" Sakura groaned feeling exceedingly more exhausted than the other days and she figured that, that was because of the fact she was now actively using her chakra to try and heal something.
To which she'd failed spectacularly "You look it Sakura but hey that's what practice is for, if we don't push ourselves past our limits we'll never improve" Sasuke pointed out matter of factly dipping his chopsticks into his bowl of ramen.
"Right, right and you just got to believe you'll improve Sakura-chan, you know" Naruto rattled off, knowing that the kind of training his friend was putting herself through couldn't exactly be easy and she'd been preparing herself for five years already.
Sakura gave him a smile in response to that "Just to let you know, you nearly had it before you decided to call it quits for the day and work on other things" Cee piped in helpfully renewing her determination, but what everyone expected for her to do, she never did and that was quit.
"Just have to keep working on it Sakura" Darui commented staring at his friend in shock, she really would be the next best medical shinobi in the world all because of him, he felt honored and he couldn't resist pulling her in for a hug.
Despite the disapproving glance that was sent his way by the stand owner before the five of them finished eating, paid, thanked Teuchi for the meal and loped towards the library like they did everyday which would probably never change.
Waiting for them though was someone unexpected "Musubime-ni, what are you doing here in Leaf, Koron-chan, Kyogo-kun I though that there was an emergency" the pinkette pulled up short upon seeing her brother standing there in all his glory.
Even Sasuke was shocked at the sight of the preteen prince of Fire Country "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me Imouto-chan, and I was the emergency, Mother and Father are here as well, we'll be moving into a house here for a few months while things calm down" Musubime explained.
Her brow creased in confusion "There's a rather persistent noble girl after him and she tried to have him kidnapped" Kyogo coughed out earning a small glare from his Prince and an elbow in the side from his sister.
Poor Sakura looked as if she was about to burst out laughing "Ni-san your to much sometimes, surely she can't be that bad right" Sakura managed to get out through her giggles prompting laughter from her friends, samurai guard and the two Cloud Shinobi.
Musubime grimaced and looked to his toes flushing horribly "She's pretty but she can be extremely annoying, so I'm hoping in the next few years she'll calm down, right now though I just can't" the blonde shook his head.
"Wow I never even knew you had a brother Sakura-chan and how come I've never seen him at your house" Naruto piped in cluelessly as if she hadn't explained it to him a thousand times and Sakura sighed in exasperation.
Thankfully Sasuke came to the rescue "Dope honestly, she's told you she's had a brother about a million times now, you just don't listen and the reason why you've never seen him is because Sakura lives with her Aunt and Uncle, and he lives all the way elsewhere" the little raven said.
Carefully leaving out any and all mention that his friend was in fact the Princess of the Country and they shouldn't even be interacting with her as they had for the last several years because she should be in the Capital learning how to lead them in case something happened to her brother.
"So these are your friends Naruto-san and Sasuke-san I believe, I'm sorry for what happened to your family, I know my apology is probably unwanted, but I wanted to say it anyway, I'm Musubime Haruno, Sakura's older brother and Pr….." Musubime was cut off.
By Koron "Now, now surely we can talk later about that, but for now don't you three have studying to do" Koron cleared her throat, hoping no one but Sakura and Sasuke had noticed the slip up, Naruto though was just as clueless as usual.
As they all headed into the library "This is where we leave you, since we do have a mission to work on" Cee stood suddenly as if remembering and hurried from the library, his partner dawdling for a moment.
"See you back at your Aunt and Uncles" Darui waved disappearing after his friend, leaving the now three children, one preteen and royal samurai guards alone to study until it felt like their brains were going to melt.
Musubime was shocked when he took in his little sister fully "What on earth happened to you, your covered in scratches and bruises imouto-chan" Musubime frowned deeply not liking the sight of the bruises in the least.
She probably had never expected she would have to explain them to him either as she met his gaze hesitantly "Training Ni-san, Sasuke and I spar, to push ourselves past our limits to improve and better ourselves" she answered carefully.
"Easy does it Musubime, being a shinobi is not all fun and games in the academy after all" Kyogo caught sight of the rising anger in the quick to anger preteen, he had a temper that he'd gotten from his mother, who was usually all smiles.
Much like Sakura herself, she was just better at reigning herself in "If it's any consolation, she hits me back twice as hard as I hit her" Sasuke piped in and then everything was right as rain in Musubime's world again.
He really cared for his little sister it seemed "Kind of sucks that I've never…wait a second how old are you" Naruto narrowed his eyes on the slightly older blonde with blue eyes, it was strange now that he was thinking about it, this guy must be a genin.
"Twelve Naruto-san and no I'm not a shinobi like my sister aspires to be" Musubime answered easily seeing the curiosity, then Naruto's shoulders slumped and he focused on reading an interesting book about chakra natures.
Which made him curious about what he had before they all knew it, it was time to go "We'll see you tomorrow then" Koron announced and the two boys that had stuck like glue to her charge since she'd befriended them scattered in different directions.
As they headed towards Mebuki and Kizashi's "Guess you're moving out for a few months huh" Kizashi chuckled when the quartet arrived and the two samurai guards vanished to pack most things from Sakura's room.
"Yep cause I really do love Mother and Father and miss them and it's really great having them here in the Leaf Village" Sakura chattered ecstatically holding Musubime's hand tightly, even if she was a big girl now.
Then it hit her, her parents were going to freak when they saw the bruises and multitude of scratches from a shuriken gone array, that was until Cee appeared "Don't freak out and breathe Sakura-san" the blonde instructed.
All the breath whooshed out of her lungs as his hands glowed a bright green, then all of her bruises and scratches disappeared, to which she removed the bandages and even took off her 2 pound weights which was proving a little harder to adjust to.
"Now you look like the imouto-chan I remember" Musubime commented when she was taken away for several minutes and dressed in a kimono to greet her parents, he had no doubt though that it would be back to her ninja gear and training outfits the next day.
Sakura smiled sheepishly "We'll see you around Sakura-chan and let Koeda know what's going on when she gets back from her mission tomorrow" Mebuki waved as the quartet started towards the door.
Just before they were to exit it flew open "Sorry I'm late, had a detention with Iruka-sensei cause another one of the kids in my class blamed an accident on me" Eda appeared only to stop and stare before he launched himself as he was known to do "Musubime what are you doing here" he exclaimed.
"Emergency in the Capital, gonna be staying here for a few months, though we have our own house, but I promise I'll visit tomorrow since imouto-chan is gonna be busy with training" Musubime hugged the seven year old boy.
Eda pouted "I wish I could find an awesome friend but everyone picks on me, even some of the older kids at the academy" Eda sighed trudging wearily towards the kitchen to disappear, poor boy was just having a time of it during his time at the academy.
His parents felt for him "Time to go, Mebuki-sama, Kizashi-sama" Kyogo nodded his head at the two that he was also obligated to protect since Kizashi was Juhi's twin and Mebuki was Juhi's sister in law, both would also take over if anything ever happened to Juhi or Sayuri.
Or Musubime, "Right we'll see you" Koron led the way to the very normal house several streets down nearer to the shinobi section of the village, but still in the civilian sector, but the inside of the house was a lot more lavish.
"Goodness where on earth have you been we've been waiting for three hours" Sayuri scolded lightly knowing that her daughter had probably been busy training with her friends and trying to improve herself to be considered a notable shinobi in the first.
Sakura's lips curved upwards into a smile "Training Mother, with Sasuke and Naruto, Cee-san got me started on learning how to use the mystical palm today" Sakura answered lightly hugging her mother glad that she was there in the Leaf Village for a bit.
Even if the reason they were there was absolutely hilarious it was still nice to have them around for a few months "And just what else do you do during these training sessions of yours" Juhi appeared from no where.
"Lots of things, we work on our taijutsu, evasion and throwing skills, which usually leads to bruises and a multitude of scratches whenever we're done" Sakura admitted waiting for the scolding but it didn't come.
Instead she was pat on the head "We know Sakura that we can't stop you from that sort of thing, but I wish you didn't have to feel pain, you're a princess, our princess, but we're going to be strong for you since this was your decision" Sayuri announced.
And Sakura felt as if years suddenly lifted off her shoulders in that single moment "If we couldn't handle the fact that you were going to eventually get hurt by being a ninja, we wouldn't have let you come here to train in the shinobi arts" Juhi added.
"I love you Mother, Father, Musubime-ni" Sakura couldn't help herself as tears gathered in her eyes and she hugged all three of her family making sure to give them an extra big squish before they flounced into the dining room to eat dinner.
Before there was a lesson, on politics, since they were now old enough to somewhat understand and because they would eventually have to lead, they needed to start now, before they were given baths and told to go to bed.
The next day marked Koeda's return from her week long mission and she was surprised to see slightly younger cousin by about five days sitting in her living room "Musubime" Koeda asked not sure if she was really seeing him since it had been a long time and it was hard to recognize him.
"It's me Koeda, sorry it's been so long but as I understand it you've been as equally as busy as Sakura-imouto and now you're a genin which means going on missions and whatnot" Musubime waved from the couch.
Where he was reading, Eda at the academy since he didn't have a few weeks off like the older academy students did "Well yeah, anyway what are you doing here Musubime" Koeda took her sandals off and placed her pack on a hook before trailing towards the couch.
Musubime smiled "There's a rather persistent noble girl that likes me and wants to marry me to the point she tried to have me kidnapped, I think I might like her but right now she's well to annoying" he grimaced in the next moment.
Koeda laughed at him in response "That is quite the predicament, I assume Sakura-chan is training again" she asked through her snickers and Musubime nodded, speaking off, she was going through another day of trying to sync her chakra up to a fish's chakra.
Without help from Cee because he and Darui were conducting their mission, trying to mend burnt bridges, while Naruto and Sasuke sparred as they usually did until by the time she decided to call it quits on the mystical palm for the day something changed.
She felt for just a moment as if her chakra had been synced to the fish's and went for one last try, healed the large slit only about an inch of it before her chakra flickered out and she lost the sync up, which in the end she had to throw the poor fish in the trash like she had countless others.
"Almost had it that time but ugh I lost it at the last second, healed about an inch of the scratch" Sakura huffed as she focused on the spar, trying to be mindful of how many bruises and scratches she received that day.
No matter how okay her parents were with it, they would for sure feel shocked if she wandered back to the safe house covered in dark bruises and long thin scratches all over her body "You'll get it just keep trying Sakura-chan" Naruto reminded.
"Exactly because if anyone has the drive to do it, it's you Sakura" Sasuke grunted as she landed a punch to his shoulder and struck out with his foot sweeping her off her feet and went to punch her carefully in the stomach when she rolled out of the way and onto her feet in the nick of time.
Before launching into a flurry of punches and kicks confusing him until they'd exhausted themselves and it was time to patch up their injuries "I've been wondering, what do you think our chakra nature's are Sakura-chan, and yes Teme we already know yours is fire" Naruto said suddenly.
"Don't know but there has to be a way to find out, after lunch lets go to the ninja gear shop and see if we can ask for a way to do that" Sakura perked up now ten times more excited for the next day's training session.
Even Sasuke looked intrigued "How hard do you think it would be to learn a second chakra nature" the little raven haired boy mused aloud as they ate at Ichiraku as they always did before looping towards their favorite store in the entire village.
In the end they bought a book on all five elements, a scroll with jutsu's for each and the nature sensing paper that was needed before heading towards the library "Are we gonna try them out tomorrow" Naruto asked just to be sure.
"Of course Dope as if I would skip out on learning if I have any underlying natures besides my Fire" Sasuke snorted immersing himself in his book as he always did still trying to figure out a way to awaken his sharingan.
Sakura's lips curved upwards "Exactly Naruto" Sakura giggled and with that they all got to reading before it was time to go home, eat, another lesson on politics was given by her parents, before bath time and finally bed.
By the time the remaining two weeks they had off, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had trained so much they were leagues ahead of their other classmates, they'd practiced until their fingers were sore and bloody, bodies were beaten, bruises and covered in scratches and studied until their brains felt as if they were going to melt.
"J..Just w..what exactly did you three do d..during our break" Hinata eyed the trio as they flopped down on the bench still covered in bandages and bruises littered their bodies, not even she looked that bad after a single training session.
Which led her to believe that they'd trained the entire time they were on their break "Ugh my brain hurts, my brain hurts" Naruto moaned pitifully holding his head as it still pounded with all the information he'd crammed in it.
Iruka was mildly amused "I would like to know as well, you three look as if you've had a no holds bar spar with one another" the brunet appeared in front of the four children, who all jumped because they hadn't noticed his approach.
"Kind of Iruka-sensei, we worked on our taijutsu, throwing and evasion skills, plus I was learning how to use the mystical palm to, and we studied every day as well, and wore weights, we now are up to 4.5 pounds on each arm and leg" Sakura announced with pride in her tone.
And her sensei was proud "Well so long as your able to concentrate I think I can let it slide that you look as if you got beat up by bullies" Iruka patted their heads, eyed Ami Himekari who was all the way on the other side of the classroom and not in her usual seat next to Ino.
Who was completely avoiding looking in the purple haired girls direction it looks as if they'd had a fight "Thanks Iruka-sensei and don't worry we'll be able to concentrate" Sasuke beamed at the praise and Iruka started the class.