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Disclaimer: I do not own naruto but I do own this idea
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6th meeting

Too slow

Barely dodge a punch eyes widening as a stream of chakra lashes out and slices several trash cans in half, barely react in time to half-way knock aside flashing punch, gasp in pain as an unnoticed knife brings forth a thin line of blood along the arm.

Too weak

Lash out with a slash only to be grabbed and thrown, recover and kick out at the legs only to feel pain spring through the ankle while the other barely twitches, jump up and fire off a straight kick only to freeze as the foot is grabbed and the momentum is shifted sending her up, over, and into a wall with a heavy crash and a gasp of pain.

Too unaware

Slowly beat away the pain and jump back on aching legs only to whirl around unable to find the other, warily step out into the centre of the alley scanning fruitlessly for the other, suddenly look up only to sigh in relief at the nothingness above her only to go pale as a watery moon as the word 'foolish' drifts past her ears.

A word just prior to a pair of hands reaching out of the ground and dragging her down to her neck.

"Well at least you show some improvement, recruit Sakura" came the mocking yet toneless voice of Zan as he crouched down in front of her.

"That is if some could be taken as barely any growth at all" he said with an audible growl as his hand flashed out and grabbed her head in a crushing grip.

"Have you ever trained physically? Something makes me doubt that you ever did anything other than the absolute essentials demanded from the academy. Well guess what girl. That ends now. Tomorrow you will 'wander' past training ground 24 where you will find Jounin named Maito Gai. You ensure that you are noticed by him and will introduce yourself, bringing up the fact that you are a student of Kakashi. You will listen through ensuing speech and, after professing yourself to be interested in becoming stronger, you will request some tips on training and mention having heard of body weights and also ask where you might buy some. You will be 'gifted'with a set of them. After thanking him you will leave, making up some excuse for having to leave him." His grip shifted painfully eliciting gasp and a yelp of pain

"The only time you will take off those weights will be to shower and sleep. Likely you will wish to change your wardrobe to conceal them in some manner due to some foolish desire to remain somewhat feminine in the eyes of others. It matters not in the least what you wear only remember that mobility must be the ultimate concern to be considered. Your 'homework' is in the usual form, learn the two techniques I used and make comprehensive, easy to understand notes to be placed in an open lockbox at the base of the Hokage monument where you will also find the details on our next meeting place." His grip suddenly tightened as with a grunt of effort he ripped her out of the ground dangling her a foot or so off the ground for a moment before throwing her to the side into the row of trash cans that had been slashed in half earlier generating several jagged cuts on her arms, cuts which elicited a disdainful snort from Zan

"And in addition, for you poor workmanship, you will also learn and make notes for some basic healing techniques. Too many scars and cuts will make others suspicious of you even if you play them off as training accidents"

And with that he vanished, the telltale chakra marks denoting a Shunshin the only thing remaining and even those faded leaving Sakura to painfully pick herself up and slowly drag herself home where she could patch herself up and try to get some sleep before getting up in early the next morning to be prepared for her meeting with Gai.

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Naruto huddled on the roof of one of the few buildings within several hundred feet of training ground 24, watching as Sakura walked up to one of the true melee beasts of Konoha, Maito Gai. An amused smirk slid across his face as he watched events play out, painfully mirroring his own first meeting with the eccentric man years ago during his early academy days. His hand wandered down to feel the cool metal bands encircling his legs from ankle to knee, the same bands that also ran from wrist to elbow on his arms, wincing slightly as he touched the part of his leg Sakura had kicked the previous night, feeling a rather bad bruise forming.

Still it was with no little satisfaction that he thought about the techniques he was going to learn from Sakura, though a grimace suddenly jumped to his face as he reached into his pouch and pulled out the mini handsaw that was part of his survival kit, rendered completely useless from using it to saw those trash cans in half. He tossed the saw off the edge of the roof, landing it easily in a dumpster beneath him. The frown remained on his face for only a few moments before a grin replaced it thinking of his other trick. He had found out that there was a slightly pressurized water main directly beneath that alley and had drilled a tiny hole down to it, puncturing it and creating a sinkhole. Mending the puncture a few days later had been tricky and it was harder still to cut out an unbroken hole in the thin concrete in order to place a clone in the dried out sinkhole.

He was suddenly drawn back into the world of the waking as he noticed with a start noticing that Sakura was quick stepping away from the training ground, or at least as much of a quick step as could be made when carrying a armload of rather heavy arm and leg weights. An amused smile seeped onto his face as he noted the look of frenzied panic and terror on Sakura's face.

Now that really reminded him of his meeting with Gai.