A/N: Wow! Thank you to all those that read and reviewed, I kept beaming 'til my cheeks hurt when I opened my e-mail. Thank you guys!! Please keep it going, and I'll never let you down!!
Listen, though this installation may seem quicker, please don't take advantage over this and please do not deprive yourself of reviewing (if that made any sense O.o), please keep it going, because maybe one day, there might be one with an unbelievably long update. That's all!
Start
The Sarutobi's compound was fairly large and an extension had been built for Tsunade and Sakura to occupy, granting them the privacy either party needed. However, the backyard was one and both sides treated it as a training ground. It was morning and the daily orchestra lead by nature's creatures had begun. The cool breeze scanned through the trees, easing Sakura's tension.
She heard her mommy's mutters and they did not sound very promising. She wondered what she had done wrong, or maybe this was how big girls are being treated. Her mommy stood before her, all the motherly aura was replaced by a strict stranger.
"From here on out, you will not call me mommy, instead, it shall be sensei, got that?" barked Tsunade
Sakura jumped in response, though unwillingly, and whimpered, "yes, mo--sensei!"
"Louder!"
"Yes, sensei"
"LOUDER!!"
"Yes! Sensei!"
"LOUDER, DAMNIT!"
"YES SENSEI!"
Tsunade smirked, grasping her hands behind her back. Staring at Sakura was like looking at herself when she was young; it was like reliving the twisted version of her first meeting with Sakura at the age of seven, "much better"
Sakura sighed in relief.
"Did I tell you to stand at ease?" harped Tsunade. Sakura was near to tears but held them back; the sudden transformation that took on Tsunade was like an avalanche crashing down on her. It hurt her, put each pain that was shoved in to her was easily turned numb, and she slowly tolerated it.
"No, sensei!" and quickly her back stiffened once more
"Starting from today, I will mold you into a powerful ninja, beyond what a mere kunoichi can do. Yes, you are still a kunoichi, manage yourself, grow wise, and use your assets against the enemy, but other than that, never accept your failure, embrace your weakness and overcome it"
Sakura listened intently to her mo--sensei's speech, and somehow the wick of inspiration ignited, the girl's pride grew and a longing desire to make her momma proud settled in. She didn't care if her mommy tells her to call her sensei, honestly, she wouldn't give a damn about teachers, but she sure did if it was her mom.
Tsunade continued, "From the books you've read, you know what chakra is, right?"
"Yes, sensei!"
"Proceed to your explanation, child!"
"Chakra is the resulting energy produced, when Physical and Spiritual energies become mixed together. Hand Seals are then used to harness this energy and expel it out of the body; Usually in the form of some kind of attack."
"Very good," smirked Tsunade, as expected from her former Sakura-sensei. Unfortunately, it didn't seem necessary to punish Sakura when it came to interrogating her knowledge. It seemed to be Sakura's specialty to be a natural know-it-all; it seems that training might put on a greater strain on the toddler. Soon enough, they were at it, increasing her stamina.
"More bunny hops!" barked Tsunade
It had been almost two hours Sakura had been running through the three bodily stages of the bunny hop. The first was stand up right, second was squat like a frog, third was to stretch your body out like the push-up position, before the cycle returns to the second then the first then the third then back again to second. It was a grueling task, and I've experienced it, hundred percent sure that even I can't even keep going after ten of those, and no, I'm not fat.
"No chakra! Just raw energy!" snapped Tsunade, "do you want me to throw a rock at you, child?"
"No, sensei!" shouted Sakura in between grunts as she resumed to the first phase of the whole cycle. She had never been thrown a rock at, and surely didn't like the idea of experiencing it.
"Ten more because of that!" commanded Tsunade
"Yes, sensei!" roared the toddler, waging war against the tears that dared escape her eyes
"Tsunade, what are you doing to the child?" gasped the voice of Megumi who suddenly came into the field a little while ago
"Training her, and she is not a child. She is a big girl now," answered Tsunade with ease
"What are you talking about? Sakura is just three and a half!"
"Correction, she's turning four"
"Exactly!" gasped Megumi
Sakura had plopped on the grass after finishing her bunny hops, no longer caring if her mommy always told her not to, since it was dirty and had many germs. But like what her mommy said, she was a big girl now, and her mommy is now her sensei.
"Sakura, go back in there and take a break" said Megumi
She rose sluggishly
"Sakura, use your chakra to recuperate" said Tsunade
Immediately, the toddler sat cross-legged and did the traditional hand seal. Through what she had learned through the books, she applied them to her body, and successfully performed the task she wanted. She was happy, and so was Tsunade.
"Tsunade, look at her, let her live her childhood, it's not like she's being trained for Hokage" snapped Megumi
"But she needs to regain her real strength and knowledge. You don't know who she really is Megumi, so do not interfere my training with her"
"Wait 'til dad hears about this" was all that the woman could say before marching right off. Apparently, this was their first real argument, seeing to it that, at times, they did fight over taking care of Sakura, of course, in Tsunade's favor. A reason why Sakura was more attached to Tsunade than she is with the Sarutobi family.
"Rise when you're done"
After that was said, Sakura obliged. Tsunade's brows slightly furrowed, worried if Sakura really was pushing herself, or she was really done. She hoped it was the latter; she didn't want to bring home a fainted child with a crooning Megumi of her being correct the whole time.
"Run around the yard, till you drop dead. At your top speed with the most laps, got it?"
"Yes, sensei!" quickly, Sakura huddled to the starting point, which was by the entrance of the yard itself. An hour had gone by and Sakura succeeded to run seven times around a four hundred meter yard, collapsing on the ground before she reached her eighth mark.
Quickly, Tsunade came to her aide. To maintain her speed like that for her age, was extraordinary, but feared that she relied on chakra in doing so. Her purpose for letting the kid run was to see how high her stamina was, her chakra needed to be reserved to recuperate for later. If not, she would have passed out.
Apparently, it was what the woman feared. Nursing Sakura back to health with her chakra, the toddler got up in her fullest energy and asked how she did, Tsunade's answer?
"Failure!"
Sakura stiffened, ready to listen what her mistake was, and what her punishment would be
"Drop and give me ten"
Blinking, Sakura did plop to the ground and began picking ten grassblades, before handing them over to Tsunade. The woman, who would naturally laugh at this for her amusement, threw it to the side and glared at her student. Sakura winced before her sensei, feeling daggers stabbing her heart. She tolerated that, and held back tears.
"I expect you to push yourself up from the ground ten times, they're called push ups"
"Oh," said Sakura, having read the procedures of such ludicrous exercises, she obliged, successfully getting into position
"Do not use your chakra at all"
The toddler groaned and found it harder than she expected, her arms, after all, were too weak and puny; still too fragile for her age, but that didn't stop her. During the next three weeks, Sakura soldiered on for the sake of getting her mommy back, the most innocent thought that all toddlers would do anything for, was to get their mommy back.
Though Tsunade did switch back to motherly mode, it only began from dinner and ended the moment they rose the next morning. They slept early and rose early. A routine Sakura gradually got used to. Their training got harsher by half, its intensity increasing every time they set foot on the yard. Sakura did run lapses, but without chakra, she managed to cover two and a half lapses before collapsing, instinctively using her chakra to replenish herself.
Her stamina grew, and so did her strength, all done, still without the use of chakra. Tsunade was beyond impressed, but it was what she expected from her sensei.
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When Megumi said that she'd get her daddy, the Hokage, she'd really get him. And unless Tsunade had a really good reason in doing the things that she does, she was let off. Currently, the Hokage--who finally managed to have spare time to study Tsunade's training method with Sakura--he wouldn't deny that Tsunade walked in Sakura's path when it was the other way around, when it was Sakura who was training Tsunade. It was, according to Sarutobi, like reliving the past with a twist.
Though the training was harsh, it was a success for Sakura. She matched the level of a genin at the age of four, and that was what feared him. Her enemies are on the look out when the rumor spread, willingly or not. She was the only pinkette in the village, and the hair color was rare unless casted a genjutsu upon. She was vulnerable as of now, and he knew she would be needing to regain her strength as early as possible.
Sarutobi wanted her to be strong again to defend herself, and maybe rest the next title of Hokage in her hands.
"So what did I tell you, father?" asked Megumi, letting go of the curtains, turning to the man
"I should praise Tsunade"
"I knew it--what?!"
"You have much more to know before judging them, Megumi," sighed Sarutobi
"I don't get it? Though I may not be a ninja, I know that is still not right!"
With a heavy sigh, he knew the burden of carrying the knowledge about the toddler, but realized how much his daughter-in-law needed to know to understand the situation.
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Sakura was a simple person even before she was reduced to a newborn child. Tsunade even tried to change that, by indulging her to shopping and spoiling her in the toystore. In the end, Sakura refused to spend money, even if she earned it from being successful in the training.
Throughout the four months of training, Sakura's stamina had rapidly increased, but that was besides the point. Today was her fourth birthday, and her old friends came by, with some other who she was about to get acquainted with.
Despite being a simple girl, Sakura could not refuse her mommy when she insisted to organize the party, along with Megumi's side. The gifts she received from her friends were humbly received, moving on to the more fun games that captured Sakura's attention.
Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto played a rowdy game of tag, with Sakura avoided being tagged it, even if Tsunade told her not to reveal her true strength to the gang, she managed to do it all without suspicion. As they ran in the open backyard, she palpitated, costing her her focus, thus being tagged it.
Instinctively turning to face with where the adults where, she caught sight of an onyx-eyed ebony haired boy. Her heart raced faster than after a hard training, hammering her fragile ribs. Her stomach churned in an inexplicable three hundred sixty degrees by just looking at him, and nearly fainted when he glanced her way and locked gazes.
"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto, the ever-caring boy
"Y-yeah" breathed Sakura, quickly averting her gaze just in time before fainting, "why don't we pause for a moment's time to replenish our energy, exhausted by the game? Or better yet, shall we satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst?"
"A reasonable idea, Sakura-chan" responded Shino
Everyone just blankly stared, until Naruto spoke out, "What? What was that? Was that martian?"
Sakura just laughed, "I said, let's take a break and have something to munch, silly"
Quickly all toddlers raced to their parents to do as Sakura had suggested, be fed and quench their thirst. Tsunade happened to have been happily chatting away with Mikoto along with the other mothers, leaving Sakura to feed on her own, despite sitting on her mommy's lap. However, eating peacefully seemed to be an issue, for across the table sat Mikoto's youngest son.
"Are you choking?" asked the boy from afar
Sakura quickly shook her head and stuffed her mouth with food before finally choking at last; Tsunade was too busy to notice and downed her apple juice nearby.
"You're weird," stated the boy before leaving, his food left untouched
"Sasuke-kun, get back here! You haven't finished eating yet!" cried Mikoto, before sighing, turning to her left, she spoke to her eldest son, "Itachi, will you please fetch your brother?"
"Yes, mother," said the boy, departing from the table, casting a quick glance at Sakura, who's spine also chilled. One thing was for sure, being around the Uchiha brothers surely didn't feel pleasant at all. Sakura hopped down from Tsunade's lap and began searching for her other buddies, receiving a layer of goosebumps by simply glancing over the Uchiha father.
She ran away to the field, bumping into Naruto. She beamed, "there you are! Let's play!"
The day was exhausting, though it did not match her training with Tsunade. When she was ready for bed, she began telling Tsunade about how she felt being around the Uchiha males. The woman at first thought it was a cute little crush, but then the same feeling with the older brother seemed odd, then when the girl explained about the Uchiha man-- that was just plain wrong.
Sighing, she just told her little girl to avoid them all if it would make her feel better. Sakura nodded and went to sleep.
The next day, Sakura could manage to maintain her speed and cover ten laps with ease. Tsunade halted her student and held a leaf up, "now using your chakra let this stick to your forehead"
And it was done again, with impressive results. As the weeks went by, it was no longer a girl you saw running, it seemed like there was a rogue shrub on the loose or a frighteningly green blur that was just not Gai, running around the Sarutobi's backyard. The sight was hilarious, but Tsunade held a firm visage, not letting the image ruin her strict sensei outlook. She remembered having forced by Sakura to do the same thing; she was just simply returning the favor.
It only proved that Sakura maintained her perfect chakra control, and decided that her genjutsu now needed to be focused on. Watching her student run the yard, she knew that Sakura was a brilliant teacher and mentored a handful of students, she either taught them because she was obliged to, or simply because she believed that the child had a potential or earned the right to be taught.
When Tsunade was eighteen, she found Sakura mentoring a new face at around the young age of five. The wisened Kunoichi introduced them both and explained that she was helping the young girl become a genjutsu mistress and would be teaching her half of what she knew about the technique
"What's her name again" asked Tsunade to herself
The girl had porcelain skin, raven hair and ruby red eyes, she smiled politely at Tsunade and spoke, "Hello, My name is..."
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"Kurenai" beamed Tsunade joining the jounin in the bench beneath the tree, she watched the woman sip her tea before greeting back,
"I was wondering, if you can help my daughter with genjutsu"
"Wow, you mean Sakura?" responded Kurenai, "now?"
Tsunade nodded
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Auntie Kurenai, as Sakura calls her, believed that she was kinder than mommy. And so the child's schedule was rescheduled. After lunchtime, she'll be spending time with Kurenai to begin some genjutsu.
"Sakura-chan, I'd like to know what you know about genjutsu" smiled Kurenai, sitting cross-legged in front of the little girl. Sakura joined her and plopped down on the Hokage's grassy backyard.
Sakura beamed and spoke, "Genjutsu are techniques that are employed in the same fashion as Ninjutsu, requiring chakra and hand seals. However, the primary difference between the two is that the effect of Genjutsu is illusory, creating chakra imbalances in the victim's brain, causing a disruption in their senses. This is often used to create false images or cause pain from trauma (because the body is led to believe it is in pain, and it feels real), however there are plenty of other uses depending on the situation. They are not used as often as ninjutsu because they don't physically harm the opponent, but several crafty characters have made themselves well known for their great execution of genjutsu. Genjutsu is created when a ninja extends their chakra flow through the cerebral nervous system of their opponent to control their mind's chakra, thereby affecting their five senses.Genjutsu is translated as"Illusionary Techniques"
Kurenai's jaw dropped, her eyes nearly bulging.
"Auntie Kurenai," began Sakura, never encountering such reaction, she scooted closer to the lady and waved her riny hand in front of her face, "are you alright?"
"Y-yeah I am." Her mouth, though still slack-jawed managed to form an open grin (if that was possible, and took in a deep breath, "H-how old did... did you say you were again?"
"I'm four and a half!" said Sakura proudly, "why?"
"How did you learn all that?" asked Kurenai, unconsciously kneeling on her knees and sitting on her heels
"From reading... should I explain how to counter the genjutsus?" asked Sakura
Kurenai merely smiled and shook her head, "I don't think that's necessary, I think you do know a lot about genjutsu"
Sakura grinned
"Can you name a few?" asked Kurenai, apparently, Sakura didn't know the exact number that a few held, and began a long list of genjutsu techniques from the sand, from the rain, from the grass, from the leaf--
"Ooookaaaayyy, stop. Stop it right there," interrupted Kurenai, lifting a hand with the gesture, "I take it you know thousands. Do you know some that you can perform?"
Sakura blinked, "I haven't tried due to precautionary matters, mommy said I casted a genjutsu when I was a baby that confused her with my presence in her old home"
"Oh really?" asked Kurenai, "You said you were a baby?"
Sakura nodded, "I didn't exactly know any genjutsu by then, thus contradicting the exact explanation that I've read from--"
"Okay, let's just... I'd like to see you do that genjutsu you've told me about," Kurenai inwardly began to freak out at the sophisticated sentences that this four-and-a-half year old kid was babbling, but kept all her thoughts at bay.
"Okay... I'll try, but I don't think I remembered it..." so Sakura brought her hands together in the traditional seal, she sat before the anxious Kurenai who waited to see some progress. The lady just watched the child concentrate with eyes closed, bringing her hands underneath her chin. Just waiting for something... to happen.
And it did, she felt Sakura right next to her, and then a second later behind her, then above her, beneath her, by her ear, several feet before her all at the same time. And yet the girl was still sitting before her, but the unspoken genjutsu she was performing was casting an eerie atmosphere under the afternoon sun.
Kurenai sensed the chakra in the air and dispelled it, Sakura spasmed in surprise when her concentrated chakra had been disconnected.
"What happened?" asked the innocent child, "was that a failure?"
"Oh no, it wasn't," smiled Kurenai, "but strangely, we can't call that a genjutsu, though it was one. As you've told me you need handseals as well and not chakra exertion alone."
"So..." began the girl, "what did I do?"
Kurenai bit her bottom lip in deep thought before suggesting, "why don't we do some real genjutsu instead?"
And after a month or so, she managed to surpass Kurenai, as Tsunade has expected. There really wasn't much to be surprised about with Sakura anymore, as Tsunade believed. But the other woman couldn't and encouraged that Sakura might one day be a genjutsu mistress.
Tsunade couldn't help but deny, "Oh no, Kurenai, she'll be far greater than that"
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Now she had to find another one of Sakura's student's who was taught the art of Taijutsu, and it pained her when she racked her brains for some memory. One day, over breakfast, Sakura shared a dream to Tsunade, and it went a little something like this
"Oh mommy, I had the worst nightmare ever! I dreamt of this boy, with unnaturally thick brows and a horrible hairstyle who proposed to marry me. But in my dream, I was an old woman and he was a very young child!"
"So what did you do, sweetie?" asked Tsunade with her eyes closed
"I told him to enjoy being young, since his passion was hotter than the flames of hell. I told him to enjoy the beauty of youth, especially now that it was just springtime, a perfect beginning to all things."
"And then what happened?" she stirred her coffee before taking a sip
"I saw him again clad in green spandex, saying so that his outfit would match my eyes, and he grew more enthusiastic than he already is about chasing me. So in my dream, I decided to teach him, mommy! I was a good teacher!"
Unnaturally thick brows, horrible hairstyle...
Young... youth... flames... springtime?
Green spandex...more enthusiastic than already is?
Thick brows, bad hair, green spandex, over zealousness... FLAMING SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH?!
Tsunade choked, "but of course, Sakura taught Taijutsu to Gai!"
To Be Continued...
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A/N: Til then, the next chappie may be on quite a hold unless I receive at least twenty (20) reviews in this chappie or more , no shit, just pure honesty and seriousness. Please bear with me and do review! I am aware that I'm quite bitchy this way, but I just had an aweful day, thus affecting everything that I do. The next chappie is on hold until I get some inspiration, if not from life, from FanFic. Thank You.