Chapter 2 - Training

Sakura reminisced with her squad's time of their most recent mission to the Land of Waves as she lay sprawled in her bed. It was hot in the village of Konoha today. Even having the window open doesn't seem like it was helping.

Memories slowly faded in and out as she processed the whole journey. It was their first real mission that her knucklehead teammate, Naruto had begged the Hokage for. Honestly, she agreed with him. D rank after D rank. Just mindless, boring missions. She felt like her brain needed to stimulated more. She was itching for combat for some reason, which was completely unlike her.

Sakura was the only one to really get a hold of chakra control, even Kakashi giving her kudos. Though, there was still obvious favoritism he had for both of the boys. And she didn't blame him. They both talented, strong, and both brilliant in their own way. Especially Naruto. But she was falling behind, and didn't even have any new jutsu to practice on. She could already feel herself lacking. All she can do is study material over and over, but now that also is getting boring. Not really improving or getting stronger. She wanted to move. She needed hands-on experience. She was getting sick and tired of being put to the side.

The only time she really learned, was when she ran into Naruto with Haku in the Land of Waves. They sat and chatted in the small forest where their teacher trained them on chakra control for the first time. Before their big battle, Haku taught her so many plants, herbs and remedies that could help in a pinch. He was such a beautiful boy. He was so kind and had such gentle, soft hands. She could have fallen for him. However her heart remained loyal to her comrade Sasuke. She looked at one of the tiny corked bottles she had made with Haku, imagining his smiling reflection to her. She had made her own salve she had created for minor cuts and wounds. Even though it was just a balm, everything attached to it felt so special. Haku should have never died, and heart ached at the result of his hardship.

Their first meeting was when he took Zabuza's body, but she met the real Haku in that forest when she went to check on Naruto. As usual, no matter how many times she tells the knucklehead ninja to not overdo it, he overdoes it each time. Maybe she'll try reverse psychology on him, but she doubted it.

Haku welcomed her warmly, and his eyes filled with sorrow but a beautiful dark chocolate color when the sun reached between the trees. Naruto was always happy to see her and greeted her with his wide goofy smile with his bright blue ocean eyes. He was covered in dirt from all the falls when trying to reach the top of the tree. Sakura was able to get to the very top with ease. It was like second nature to her when dispersing her chakra in certain areas as she wished.

When she reached the top with all the tree branches, her breath was taken away from the view. The Land of Waves ocean breeze gusts caressed her face, she closed her eyes as she listened to the relaxing sounds of the tides. She inhaled a deep breath, catching the small whiff of saltwater and its villagers seafood from its fresh stock. Whatever they could catch that is before being either caught or robbed by the hired ninja mafia.

The sunset reflecting on the ocean waters, and with a completed furnished bridge would make it picture-esque. Kakashi met up with her, standing on a thin branch next to her. He had his arm in a sling and used his crutch on another branch to keep his balance. Sakura was in awe, even when he was badly injured, he could still somewhat walk and even use his chakra effortlessly.

"Very impressive, Sakura. I mean that." Kakashi said as he took in the view with her, ignoring the grunts of pain and yelling between the two boys. Sakura couldn't help but crack a smile, for once she was ahead of them in something. And for once, she got real recognition from her teacher.

Haku was content and eager to answer all of Sakura's curiosities of his work of herbs the following day.

The plant's fascinated her, and that nature all around them could be used for almost anything and everything. From burns, to poisons, paralysis, and what helps get a good night's sleep. When she returned home, she received a simple black leather worn journal. Pages were unevenly poking out, some of the pages didn't even match the book or even had the right size of the page. There was no recipient on who sent it. She wasn't sure how, but the only explanation was Haku's brilliant pre-planning. Flashes of his face came to her mind from the small journey. He was so sad, and there was nothing she could do. Just like Sasuke. How she wished so much to ease someone's pain like that. There had been some difference she could make.

A small slip of paper, much newer than the pages that were almost torn, had slipped out when she opened it.

Dear Sakura,

As you know, my death has probably finally come. I want you to have this, not only to help your loved ones like Naruto, but also for you. I enjoyed our short time together in the forest with you both. These are my findings that I know will help in the future that I know you will appreciate. Send my regards to Kakashi and Naruto.

A friend,

Haku

It was his own guideline of remedies and described the properties of herbs. The pages were crinkled and the bind worn so much that she could fold it in half behind it. Some of the herbs themselves were pressed in between the pages, petals and leaves barely poking out as if they were leaking from the pages. The scents of lavenders, thyme and rosemary wafted to her nostrils each time she flipped through its wrinkly and stiff papers. She got lost with his beautiful calligraphy, tracing over the ink with her thumb. She heard there was a huge book of the hospital of the Nara clan with their hidden secrets. She considered asking to take a look to see if there weren't any new secrets to compare or add. But for some reason, she wanted to keep this to herself. For now at least.

She sure learned a lot more on that mission than Kakashi's actual teachings, which bothered her. Especially in the chunin exams that he's asked her about.

"It's your decision if you're ready."

No, she wasn't ready at all. She had already read through the packet he's given her front to back of its conditions and requirements. He had to have known that she was falling behind the boys. It was time to speak up and demand for some clarity and equality.

A ninja also must learn how to track discreetly.

Luckily, she worked part time with Hokage Sarutobi whenever she didn't have any missions to attend or volunteer hospital work. Asking for her own teacher's schedule wasn't that hard. She gave a sweet smile that she learned from her rival. Ino would practice her blessed looks on the other boys in their class in hopes to win Sasuke over one day with her stunning smile. It worked on some of her classmates but never for her stone cold teammate. Who never bothered to even give a glance to her direction, which for some reason made Ino want him more. But also gave her a sense of relief that Sasuke couldn't be fooled with cheap tricks.

Sakura made sure to use her manners with the Hokage with a please and thank you. That always went far with the elders.

It was perfect, he would be returning to Konaha soon from another mission. She carefully folded his schedule and waited patiently by the giant Konaha green gates with arms folded across her chest, leaning against one of the tall red pillars.

Her patience rewarded her, her teacher Kakashi nonchalantly returning to their village with hands in his pockets.

"Come along." He said, without really looking toward his student. Of course he would know instantly she was there. They've been training for almost half a year now, he was bound to know what kind of presence she had.

"Sensei," she greeted, her long pink hair flowing behind her as she jogged to catch up. "I'll take the chunin exams."

Kakashi seemed pleased at this. "That's great, Sakura. I was hoping you would —"

"On one condition." She interrupted. Her bright green eyes narrowed straight into his single exposed one.

She could see his confusion through his mask, she had gotten better at deciphering his facial expressions. He waited for her patiently to continue.

"I know you favor Naruto and Sasuke."

"That's not—" she silenced him with a hand like in their first training session.

"I'm not finished. I want you to either train me or find a better teacher for my abilities. I'll do it. But let's face it, I'm the weakest one of them all and you know it. So instead of focusing on the two boys who are already strong, shouldn't you be focusing on someone who isn't, and who may not have a chance of surviving in the future?"

Kakashi paused before giving a reply. What a predicament, he couldn't help but give an exasperated sigh. She was smart, and observant, he's always known that. She sure also called him out. He hated to admit it, and this was the result of it. He thought between Naruto and Sasukes ability with Sakura. She was basically their support, but she did have a point in her needing some offense and defense if she were going to be in the exams. And they are not treated lightly, she might as well be thrown into a wrestling ring with it being on fire at the same time.

"Alright, Sakura. You got me." He admitted. Wow, I'm getting told off by a twelve year old, he thought . But he should know better, he was doing the same at her age with his own teacher.

"I'll train you till I can find someone better."

"On time." She warned, her green eyes narrowing him.

"And on time ." He repeated, he couldn't help himself but let out a smugly smile at that, "I promise I'm not playing favorites but I will admit I got too focused on them. I will tell you this." He crouched to her height, "You're smarter than Sasuke and of course Naruto combined. You might as well be up near Shikamaru."

She quirked up a brow, "Shikamaru?"

Kakashi gave a small quiet laugh. "Yes, according to his teacher his IQ is pretty high. You have way more control and understanding of chakra and I should have been more attentive to that sooner. Meet me at the grounds tomorrow. We'll start then."

"Chunin exams are next week though. How am I gonna get any stronger in a few days —" Before she could protest more, Kakashi had already disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. Close enough, she got what she wanted. He must have some sort of plan if they were gonna be training in a short amount of time. She was sure he was probably scrambling around how to fit her into his schedule with the two favorable ones.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of jealousy. She knew she wasn't that great, but dammit all, she'll take it in her own hands if she has to.

In the meantime, she went ahead and practiced her taijutsu on the wooden stumps where her team first trained. Then more practice on some of her genjutsu.

She found herself against the wooden stump, absorbing more of Haku's writings. His dedication to Zabuza never faltered. There were always some notes about how he can improve either Zabuza's ability or his health. Such a kind boy, but a lethal dangerous ninja. She was afraid that Naruto or Sasuke would end up like this. Naruto, maybe not sunmuch with his upbeat attitude and overwhelming optimism. Sasuke however, worried her the most.

Something in her heart felt like it was cracking. She couldn't tell what or how, or even why. And there wasn't any improvement on her and Sasuke's relationship, barely even surface level. She was so sure she caught him sneaking glimpses at her every now and then, but never could be hundred percent certain.

Then there were times where Naruto had left them alone for some moments, and during those quiet moments felt so meaningful to her. Even when they didn't say anything. She wondered if it was the same for him. So calm, and enjoying each other's presence in silence. Before she could even ask, Naruto had always somehow and in some way found himself inserting between them at the most inconvenient timing. She suspected it was on purpose, but knowing her teammate, it was just total coincidence and knucklehead fashion of him. Most of the time, she was sure it was an accident. Without a word, Naruto would be chattering something to her as she would watch Sasuke walk away from the commotion.

On the following day, as promised, Sakura met with Kakashi on the training grounds. Well, it was just her. She began to walk off the grounds, even her own teacher can't be on time for her just this —

"Leaving so soon already?" Kakashi had called out for her, jumping down from above from one of the nearby buildings.

"I said I would be on time wouldn't I?" He pulled his blue long sleeve, revealing his watch, exactly on the dot of their agreed time.

"Fine. Where do I start?" Sakura asked. She gathered her long pink hair into a short bun, her headband proudly tied on her forehead.

"Geez, you're worse than the boys. Train me this, train me that. Wouldn't you rather look up at the clouds and relax or something?" He complained with his head towards the cloudy sky.

She just glared at him. He would do anything to get out of a teaching lesson. Kakashi exhaled a defeated sigh. "Alright, cutting to the chase." He thought for a moment before deciding, placing a curved hand to his chin. Sakura was definitely different between the two. She has a good understanding of all jutsu types. Perceptive, but lacking in strength. And immense control of chakra, he noted that for her future teacher. It was like he was scanning through an endless list of techniques in his head before coming up with the perfect one.

"You know your chakra type?" He asked.

"Earth and water."

"Good. Unlike Naruto, I'm glad I have at least one student who listens."

He first started her off with basic earth styles. Like hiding underground like he did with Sasuke in the first training session. Then, a water style based jutsu. Nothing like the water dragon she saw he conjured, too advanced for her. He only gave her one after another of earth and water. Each of one different, each set of hand signs were different and more difficult to remember. It was till almost literally pitch black at night of their training session.

She did all kinds of water and earth techniques; she wasn't even sure she could remember them all. Her knees were weak, barely able to keep up. Once her teacher gave the final word that she was done, she collapsed to the floor.

He gave a satisfactory nod. "Was that what you were looking for, Sakura?"

She nodded weakly.

Kakashi returned a proud smile, "Good. Cause it's gonna get messy."

The next day, they were all the same jutsu again. He was harder on her this time.

"Get up!"

"Start running!"

"Not like that, you're lacking Sakura!"

"Pick up your feet!"

"Wrong hand sign, Sakura. Do it again."

"Too slow, again!"

Kakashi was very relentless today. He didn't let her slack for a second. Sakura's alertness to her surroundings were at its peak. She was sparring him one on one. And she was losing - again.

She didn't know what his plan was, but she could definitely feel her own strength coming to her. Her arms were sore, her legs trembled and begging to rest. It felt like her brain was so over packed with information and jutsu she felt like her mind would explode if she had to remember anything else.

It was no wonder her teacher was famous. She had done some more research she could on him. Trained directly under the 4th Hokage before his death. Became a jonin just at her age, and then the ANBU in the next year.

"Alright, relax." He called out.

Collapse.

She didn't hesitate for a rest. Her teacher came over and poured his cool water from a fresh bottle to her sweating face. She didn't flinch, it felt so refreshing. Summers in Konaha were always hot and humid, especially when it didn't have its usual breeze. And it was on those nights where her hair would get frizzy and greasy. She had it up luckily, so the water was quicker to spread down her neck.

Quickly he scribbled down in his notepad, tearing it and handing it to her. Some drops fell onto it wrinkling the paper and ink but she was still able to make it out. Her eyes squinted.

"What's this for? It's… there's like over ten jutsus on here."

"Only thirteen, all of which I taught you over the course of the past two days. Memorize it. I won't be repeating it again."

"What?!" She exclaimed, "You only taught me all of them once or twice!"

"Yep. And it'll be a quiz tomorrow too. I'm sure you'll pass though, right? You're good at those. Time to study. Oh, and don't eat breakfast."

Poof!

Of course he would disappear without her getting a word in. Either too busy, didn't want to hear it or both. What on earth was he planning? He did meet his bargain, she had to give him that. And he took her seriously for once. She couldn't be too upset with him when he just worked her like one of his dogs for the past two days.

That leaves just three more days until the chunin exams. So she crammed as much as she could throughout the majority of the night as soon as she returned home. Even when her mind felt like it was going to burst it also felt like it wasn't enough. Didn't even bother getting into the shower to get all the grime and dirt off. No time, she had to focus.

Both her parents Kizashi and Mebuki would check on her through the night, peeking through the small crack. Dimly lit, they saw Sakura furiously scribble on her papers. Closing her eyes, trying to find the right hand signs for each technique that she had to memorize. Papers would shuffle and groans of frustrations would be heard.

Her mother, Mebuki, would set a tray of her favorite side dishes and potential foods that would help stimulate her mind. Like poached eggs with slices of avocado with whole grain toast. Chunky salmon onigiri and steamed broccoli and rice on the side. She didn't want to interrupt her daughter's process, so she would leave it right by the door. So when Sakura took a break, she saw the carefully placed food tray, all of her utensils neatly sorted.

She devoured all of it, barely any crumbs were left behind. And in the next morning, Mebuki would see the empty tray from the night before, her heart filling so full with pride and love. She even wrote her husband a huge list of groceries for their darling, Sakura.

Sakura skipped breakfast for this morning like he mentioned, whatever Kakashi was up to, she was ready for it. Her cherry blossom hair was tightly woven into a French braid down the middle that reached down her back almost like a tail.

"Today, you're going to perform each jutsu that I call out to test your memory. Then we'll go from there." He was so aloof. His body even on guard looked so casual. She only gave him a nod, she even studied the list for twenty minutes before she came in.

"Water style: Vortex"

Bird, dog, horse, tiger.

Okay, he was gonna start off easy. She knew it was going to get harder from there. She rapidly signed her hands, performing a large cyclone that eventually showered them brefy before dissipating

"Good, well done. Let's see… Earth Style: Heaven Slam."

Definitely not going easy. What was that one again? She paused as tried to scan through the list of signs. She inhaled deeply, concentrating.

Snake, monkey, hare, monkey, ram .

Sakura lifted her arm high, summoning her chakra up and down her entire forearm and to her palm. She slammed her hand into their earth. It cracked and rumbled loudly beneath them as the plates of the earth began to shift all around. It reminded her of a volcano about to erupt.

Kakashi didn't even flinch, and was actually impressed she had enough control to even perform that one. They stood from a distance as the plates slowly shifted back like a jigsaw puzzle, as if nothing ever moved. With a brilliant mind like that, Kakashi's plan was to test her ability of memory. He remembered when he spoke with the 3rd Hokage when being assigned to this squad. Sasuke and Naruto were the main components, but the girl was the heart for all.

"She's just as important. She has a craving for knowledge, with a photographic memory that every ninja wished they had." The memory of the 3rd Hokage resurfaced to him. "Under your guidance she can be lethal."

Kakashi really needed to listen to his elders. That was definitely one problem he had, taking orders from anybody always made him want to do the opposite. The 3rd flipped through Sakura's application file before handing it to him.

"A photographic memory? Is that all she has going for her?" Kakashi said doubtfully in the past. His heart stung from what he said. He's definitely gotten soft over the years, however, he saw this as a good thing. Jonin group after jonin, along with ANBU missions with other members of the ninja force not listening and losing their lives over nothing. Which was why he was assigned to start teaching in the first place.

"She scored perfect scores right next to Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara, and Shikamaru didn't even want to be in the academy. His father made him sign up for the entrance exams." He exhaled a deep drag from his long skinny pipe. Kakashi flipped through the soon to be ninja file, definitely not much going for her. What was he supposed to do with a blood thirsty avenger, a hyperactive tailed beast, and… just some girl who's really smart? What was he even supposed to do with that? And here she was, before his very eyes, proving to him how she was not just for brains.

He had Sakura perform jutsu after jutsu, seeing her eyes scan through her mind's eyes diligently. She was fast with her hands too, was she focusing that chakra into her hands as well to perform the ninjutsu? He was proven wrong once again, she was a monster in the making. He hated when he had to eat his words, he would have to form some sort of apology to the Hokage. He had to admit that he didn't really have faith in Sakura at first, and was pretty surprised to be asked to be trained for a girl who's obsession was just a boy. Something in her… had changed, motivated her in a different way where Sasuke wasn't a priority. He made the right call to tell Sasuke and Naruto to back off of her with her decision for the chunin exams. Not because of only for her sake, but for theirs . He could just imagine the brutal beating Naruto would get. But what would she have done to Sasuke if he made her angry? He didn't want to imagine it for too long.

She was panting now, still standing strong. Sakura had successfully performed each and every thirteen jutsu from memory, and he only taught them once or twice in the span of two days with her ability. And the amount of chakra she had to release, he was sure she could have performed at least ten more. For now, he didn't push it. This child was a force to be reckoned with, and he knew the most suitable teacher.

"You're done."

Sakura had her hands on her knees, a bit out of breath. Her head snapped straight up as soon as her teacher gave her the clear.

"W…what? That's it?"

"That's it." He confirmed.

"What was that even for?" She shouted, her teeth began to grit. Her temper was rising, she could feel her inner rage seeping.

"Calm down." He said. That just made her even more upset, but she took in a breath, hearing him before she rose her temper more. "I've taught you all you need to know for now. You're prepared for the exam just like asked. You have ninjutsu you can perform, and from memory at that." Then it clicked to her for what his plan was. And she didn't even need a sharingan for that.

"And?" She asked with anticipation, "My results?"

"Successful." He walked toward her, giving her a pat on the head and gave a warm smile through his mask. "I can confidently say that you're more than ready, Sakura." Her green eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky. Then, Sakura bursted with cheer, jumping up and down with the most enthusiasm he had ever seen in Sakura. It even reminded him of Naruto.

Kakashi had almost forgotten, this was just a twelve year old child who just performed over twenty jutsu in a matter of time. That was more than Sasuke, way more than Sasuke. Was it? His work was definitely cut out for him on these kids.

"Alright, alright. And don't worry, I already have a teacher for you in mind. But for now, it's time for the exams."

Sakura turned back to her teacher and nodded. Then, she gave a deep bow, facing him. He put his hands up to protest.

"Thank you, Sensei." Sakura then stood up straight, "For everything the past two days."

"Anytime, Sakura." Then he vanished with the breeze.