So here's an all-around played out time travel fic! Hope ya'll enjoy!
Summary: When Sakura and Naruto are attacked by Tobu in Konoha, instead of Naruto getting caught in Tobi's genjutsu Sakura pushes him out of the way in time and is caught alone. Unbeknownst to Tobi his genjutsu was something far different. Something had gone terribly wrong. He did not send Sakura into a parallel universe of his own creating but sent her back in time, not knowing what he did wrong until it was too late. Now Sakura wakes to find herself thrown back in her Genin days the day she graduates from the academy.
Chapter 5 – Training –
Sakura was out of bed in no time, a few hours after she woke Inari's mother came in the room.
"Sakura dear, Kakashi wants to speak with you." The older dark-haired woman spoke her long hair was tied in a loosely at the base of er neck, keeping the long strands contained. Sakura sat up from the futon she was laying in and felt herself sway, as she got lightheaded. In an instant Sasuke was there steadying her, Sakura looked up at hm with grateful eyes.
"Thanks Sasuke-kun." She stated. Sasuke and Naruto both tried to follow her out the room until the older woman spoke.
"Sorry boys Kakashi made it very clear he needed to speak with Sakura alone for a second then you'll be able to join after" Inari's mother stood tall in front of the two boys who now had scowls on their faces Sakura assured them she was fine and that Kakashi just wanted to see how she was doing since she fainted. Sakura readied herself for the overflow of questions. She knew her sensei was about to bombard her with taking a deep breath before she entered the room where Kakashi was staying, she slid the door open.
"You wanted to speak with me Kakashi sensei?" The young girl asked when she looked at her sensei who seemed to have aged 10 years in a few hours. He looked exhausted, he was paler than usual and had bags underneath his eyes, Sakura observed the pair of crutches that were alongside his futon and recalled that last time he was just as beat up.
"Ahh Sakura, yes, I have a few questions I need answered." He spoke softly so any prying ears that may be near could not hear him.
"Hmm, yes I figured as much when I heard you wanted to speak with me alone." Sakura responded just as softly.
"Zabuza isn't dead, is he?"
"No." Sakura answered flatly she could see the gears in her sensei mind start turning deciphering which questions were best to ask at this time.
"What happened when you lived through this?" Sakura put her hand up to her chin and thought earnestly for a few minutes.
"I don't think it matters anymore Kakashi sensei, the events that happened before so far are almost exactly similar, even though this I time I made sure to do my part rather than tremble with fear the outcome was the same, but if I being honest my main objective is to make Sasuke stay in the village no matter what so I made sure the invents had a similar but not an exact same outcome. There are some things I feel still need to happen, for Naruto and Sasukes sake. There is something Sasuke must witness in Naruto, and vice versa, it what starts to really form Naruto and Sasukes bond. Sasuke must seemingly sacrifice himself to protect Naruto and Naruto must overcome all with his Nine-Tails chakra in order to eventually be met with Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi's eyes widened at this.
"You know of Narutos…of course you do what am I saying. I guess what I need to know is with what you know, what should we do moving forward." Sakura smiled brightly at this and laughed a bit.
"Kakashi sensei, you tell me. Because you already knew that Zabuza wasn't dead, so whatever you think we should do is what must happen." Kakashi slightly irritated with his student's response sighed, he now spoke at a voice level that the two boys from the hall could hear now.
"Naruto, Sasuke, you can come in now Sakura, and I have finished." The two obviously defeated boys walked into the room feeling dejected from not being able to hear what their teammate and their sensei were talking about but also embarrassed about getting caught.
"Why did you have to talk to Sakura-chan alone Kakashi sensei? What were you talking about anyways?" Naruto grumbled as he and Sasuke each took a seat on the opposite sides of Sakura.
"I was just seeing how my dear student was after the battle." He lied sweetly.
"But that's not what matters right now. We have bigger problems at hand.
"Like what Kakashi sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"The shinobi hunters who manage corpse disposals are supposed to destroy the bodies of this they kill at once, right on the spot. The kid in the mask took the body, even though all he needed to do was take home proof he made the kill, he only needed Zabuzas head. More so there's a mystery surrounding the weapons that the hunter used to dispatch his prey." Kakashi waited for his students to put together what he was saying, Sasuke shocked spoke first.
"No way…are you-"
"Yes way!"
"What the hell kind of nonsense are you are muttering about!" Tazuna jumped in as he walked through the door.
"That Zabuza is still alive." Kakashi answered.
"You checked his pulse to make sure he was dead didn't you sensei!?" Naruto screamed.
"Yes, I made sure of it but a death like trance could have created a very convincing illusion of the real thing…those senbon needle weapons that the shinobi hunter used can be deadly if they hit a vital spot. The mortality rate is surprisingly low and remember, they were originally designed as medical treatment tools. Shinobi hunters and all members of any village's corpse disposal squad, also known as trackers, must possess an intimate and thorough knowledge of human physiology. It would be simple for one of them to place a person into a near death state. First, the masked boy went through the trouble of taking Zabuzas heavy body, secondly, the senbon needles used as weapons, while potentially deadly, can also be used to inflict non-mortal injury. These two points suggest that the kid's objective was to give the illusion of killing Zabuza, while he rescued him. Things may be just the way they seemed, but we have to consider the other possibility."
"Aren't you over thinking things? Tracker ninja are supposed to hunt outlaw shinobi, right?" Tazuna asked, getting clearly angry by the preposterous suggestion.
"Usually but ignoring something that smells this fishy a first step to being caught completely unprepared and preparation is a ninjas most important skill. And even if Zabuza by chance is dead, there may be more shinobi even deadlier than him In Gatos service."
"Master, you said preparation is a shinobis most important skill, but right now you can't move. What are you going to do?" Sakura asked while smirking, both her arms crossed over her chest, already knowing his answer.
"Well isn't it obvious, I'm going to train you, as I said before you've all matured, especially you Naruto, I think you've grown the most." Sakura and Kakashi locked eyes, having a secret conversation between the two, Kakashi now understood why she wouldn't divulge any information to him.
"But that being said the skills I teach you now will be small to tide us over until I recover enough to take over."
"How will be know when hell attack again though?" Sakura asked trying her best to sound convincing enough for the others.
"what an excellent question Sakura. You see once a person has been placed into a near-death trance it is quite some time before their body returns to its previous state of health and readiness."
"This is firing me up! So, we'll train while we're waiting! Sounds fun!" Naruto exclaimed loudly barely able to contain his eagerness.
"It WON'T be fun for you!" A small boy who had his face slightly covered with a black and tan hat with black hair and eyes walked into the room, he wore blue overalls with a white short-sleeved shirt underneath that had a wide neckline. Sakura and Sasuke looked at the little boy who claimed the step from the outside door making his way towards Tazuna.
"Who the heck are you!?" Naruto demanded and the little boy simply ignored him.
"Welcome home grandpa."
"Inari! Where have you been?!" Tazuna gasped as he hugged the small child.
"Inari! Greet our guests properly! They are the esteemed ninja who brought your grandfather home safely!" The boy's mother scolded him.
"But mama, they're all gonna die." He pointed it out bluntly. Sakura merely put her hand up to her head, she knew the small boy acted the way he did for a reason.
"LISTEN YOU LITTLE TWERP-!" Naruto begins yelling at the small boy but was cut off blatantly.
"No one can beat Gato and his men." This enraged Naruto even more he was about to go after the little boy and smack him across the head but was stopped by his small female teammate, she wrapped her small arms around Naruto.
"Pull yourself together Naruto he's just a kid!" The blonde boy stiffened at her touch causing a small blush that crept down his neck, calmy for a second but regaining his posture, staying in place.
"Right! Listen here kid! My name is Naruto Uzamaki and I'm a hero who'll become the most extreme ninja, and I will be Hokage someday! Gato? This guy's name is chocolate you can't seriously expect me to be afraid of that!" Naruto continued as he explained this to the smaller boy.
"Hero? You're dumb! There's no such thing! If you don't wanna die, go home now." Naruto completely fuming now stood his place.
"I'm gonna go watch the ocean from my room." With that said Inari made his exit from the room. Tazuba sighed alongside Inari's mother, who stared wordily after her only son.
"Please forgive him." Tazuna spoke. Sakura nodded her head, and watched after Naruto who was now on his way to find the boy and give him a piece of his mind. When Sakura saw Naruto come back lost in thought she knew he had heard something upsetting, but they must focus on the task at hand if she remembered she would ask him about it.
The three young genin followed their injured sensei out in the forest. Kakashi was using crutches to help him move along, once he finally stopped, they were at a clearing that was alongside the ocean. The left side opened, showing nothing but clear skies with a few clouds and on the right was tall trees that towered over building nearby.
"So, it's decided. The new training regimen begins today! But first, let us discuss the basis of your ninja powers. The body energies known as chakras." Naruto sighed, not expecting this to be a part of the training his sensei spoke.
"Uhhh, really? So, uh chakras, what are those again?" Naruto moaned out loud, and the grunted when Sakura hit him over the head, slightly irritated.
"Seriously Naruto! Come on! Did you sleep through every class we had at the academy?"
"Well I guess you can say I got some high-quality nap time then?" Naruto chuckled nervously and he rubbed his head where Sakura whacked him.
"All, right Sakura? Can you take over from here?" Kakashi asked not wanting to explain something so simple.
"Yes sensei! Ok, so please pay attention Naruto. It's a pain, but I'll try to keep it simple. Try to find some storage space for this information somewhere in that smooth brain of your." Sakura joked as she winked in Naruto direction showing him, she meant it as fun.
"Chakras are, to put it simply, the energies that a shinobi requires in order to preform ninjutsu, basically these energies are One, those of the body. Drawn from each and every one of the approximately 13 trillion cells that are believed to make up the human body. Two, those of the mental and spiritual energy acquired over the course of much training and experience, together those two forms of energy are what make up the chakras. In effect, all the arts and techniques of the shinobi are born of a combination of those two energies brought forth from the body and the spirit, in what is called manipulating the chakras, and focused in the mystic process known as weaving the signs." Sakura finished while examining Naruto knowing he got nothing out of what she just said. 'No matter how many times I explain he still doesn't understand...haha..totally hopeless.'
"That's correct!" Kakashi praised.
"Yeah, yeah whatever! I don't do so well with long explanations, but if you could just show me, my body can learn it." Naruto stated completely oblivious to the obvious.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but Narutos right, we all already employ the ninja arts and techniques." Sasuke said.
"WRONG! None of you expect for maybe Sakura, has full mastery of your chakra…now listen. As Sakura said, manipulation of the chakra refers to summoning physical and mental energies and combining them withing your own body. Depending on which technique you wish to use, the amount of the energy you need to absorb would vary. As would the makeup of elements you'd need to combine. Right now, none of you are using your chakras effectively! No matter how great the amount of chakra you summon and manipulate. If you can support your balance, whatever the technique, not only will the effectiveness of your maneuver be cut in half, but you could blunder so badly the jutsu may not be released at all. And because you end up squandering your energies you not only lack the stamina for a protracted fight, but you also develop significant vulnerabilities."
"So uh, what do we do?" Naruto asked cheekily.
"You learn to control your body through the harsh training, go out on a limb and learn from the experience."
"But how do-"Sakura cut Naruto off.
"Isn't it obvious? By climbing trees. Right sensei?" Sakura smiled.
"Right! Listen up you three. This won't be any ordinary tree climbing. You're not allowed to use your hands."
"How?" Naruto asked confused, but still excited nonetheless.
"Watch and learn.
" Kakashi said as he gathered chakra in his feet, he started climbing the tallest tree until he was standing upside down on the highest branch. Sakura acted surprised along with both the boys who stood next to her.
"He's climbing with his legs parallel to the ground." Naruto whispered with excitement.
"That's it in a nutshell. Focus all of your chakra toward the soles of your feet and use that power to cling to the trunk. When you have full mastery over your own chakra this is the kind of thing you can accomplish. The point of the goal is greater mastery over the chakras. To use no more than necessary, but to maximize its effectiveness in where and how it is applied. That subtle control is the most critical aspect of every jutsu and technique you'll ever apply. It is also the most difficult skill for even a master ninja to command. The type of tree climbing we are doing here requires the most fine and delicate application of chakra energy imaginable. Especially because the bottom of the foot is an area where it's most difficult to manipulate one's energies. In other words, if you can master the control needed for this skill, not jutsu should ever be beyond you, in theory anyway. The secondary objective is to build up enough stamina necessary to complete your task once the chakra has been focused. If you think this looks hard, it's even more difficult to support your chakra when using ninjutsu. In battle circumstances are constantly changing and a true shinobi must be able to manipulate and maintain his or her chakra on the fly, if he or she ever hopes to prevail. The time you need to just stand around trying to summon and control your own powers is a luxury you won't have. So, while you're climbing those trees, you'll also be mastering skills that will probably save your lives. Now no more talk. It's time for action. The only way to learn is by doing." Kakashi yelled from the high branch he now stood from, he grabbed three kunai from his ouch and threw them to his students from below.
"Use the kunai to score the bark at the highest point you can climb to. It will serve as a reminder for later. Your goal is to make a mark on a higher spot each time you climb. I don't expect any of you to reach the treetop on your first try. A running start will probably give enough momentum for a good first effort. All right?"
"No sweat! I could do this one before breakfast! I'm the fastest developing ninja on this team!" Naruto shouted at his sensei.
"Less talk and more action. Choose your trees and up you go."
All three of his students displayed a look of determination in their faces as they charged up each of their own tress. Naruto had made it halfway up the tree before he fell straight down face first in the plush grass. Sasuke was almost the same he had made it halfway up as well but was forced back by a brut of chakra from his feet the tree under his footing had its bark smashed, but he managed to land skillfully at the bottom, the two boys lost in their thoughts.
"You'll get it in no time Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun. I can help if you want!" Sakura shouted, her voice softly echoing through many tree branches. Both boys snapped their heads up towards the direction of their teammates' voice. The small girl was sitting on top of the highest branch, her legs dangling over with her feet swaying.
"Sa-Sakura!?" both boys shouted from the ground.
"Well now we know which of you three has the best control over her chakras. Our young lady."
"Incredible Sakura! Way to go! That's my girl!" Naruto shouted happily. Sakura blushed from the compliment, knowing that even when she didn't have the knowledge before this was still the same outcome.
"Well! Understanding the use of one's chakras and manipulating them successfully is quite an achievement so far, Sakura is probably the one closest to overtaking our leader Lord Hokage, despite all Narutos boasts and aspirations. And the finest hope of the Uchiha clan doesn't seem too impressive either."
"Kakashi sensei! That's not true, even you started at level one no matter when it was!" Sakura shouted at her sensei from across the trees. Hours passed and all three young students kept at it, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stood all exhausted. Sakura looked over at her two teammates. 'These two really do have so much stamina, and here I am shaking, I mean they aren't splitting their chakra control into two like I am but-NO! I can't think like that I have more experience than them I can't sit here and compare because no matter what I'm always walking behind them! No, this time I will walk with them no matter what! I have to endure.' Sakura thought as she tried to calm her breathing down. Sakura noticed movement to her right and turned so see Naruto approaching her.
"Hey Sakura-chan! Uh I was wondering could you help me get the hang of this?" Sakura smiled and laughed lightly.
"Sure Naruto-kun!" Kakashi smiled as he limped away on his crutches, knowing his students were not ready to come back until they couldn't move.
The next morning Sakura woke to the sounds of metal banging in the distance, and birds chirping alongside the wind. She looked over to her right to see Naruto sprawled out on his futon, snoring like a bear. 'I know Kakashi sensei is gonna ask me to watch over Tazuna but nothing is going to happen today anyways. I need to find him, but I need to shower I reek, I can smell me and Naruto.' Sakura thought as she covered her nose and grabbed her extra set of clothes, she figured she could wash these ones after she showered and awake Naruto after she talked to Kakashi sensei if he hasn't already wakened up yet.
Sakura stood up and put away her futon, grabbed her bag and walked to the bathroom. Sakura turned the shower on and looked at herself in the mirror examining her knotted hair. 'I used to keep my hair long because I heard Sasuke like it that way, such a silly thing to do, and when it got cut in the chunin exams it was a symbol of my strength so I couldn't grow it out even though I wanted to and not for Sasuke but cause I like it long, well this time ill prove my strength so there won't be a need for a symbol of one.'
Sakura dressed and came out of the bathroom with her dirty clothes in one arm. She was now wearing a black turtle neck with one long sleeve on her right arm, and her left was sleeveless, it came down to a little above her belly button, she wore a different black strapless mesh shirt underneath it and a matching pair of her black short the came down mid-thigh, on top of that she had a dark maroon skirt that had slits on both sides of her legs that reached the top, allowing her the freedom of movement she needed. Her long pink hair was down, still damp from her shower, and her headband protector hung around her ninja belt for now.
She walked down the hallway and stairs quietly trying not wake Naruto up and walked into the kitchen looking for Inari's mother to ask where she could wash her clothes there, she found Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi sensei, Tazuna, and Inari's mother either sitting or standing around the table. All her boys were eating, as was Tazuna while Inari's mother served the food.
"Eh Sakura-chan you changed your clothes!" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura put her free hand on her hip and leaned on it.
"Of course, I did! I woke up smelling your stink along with my own, I'm sure I would have smelt Sasukes too, but he was long gone! It wouldn't kill you to shower and spare everyone your smell Naruto." Kakashi along with everyone else snickered.
"Ahh Sakura-Chan why you gotta be so mean…" Naruto grumbled as he finished his last but and slumped his way to the bathroom to clean up. Sakura then directed her gaze to Sasuke with one light pink eyebrow raised. Sasuke in turn set his fork down and placed both hands up in front of him.
"I woke up earlier and showered already. Tsunami offered to wash our clothes considering everyone could smell us all last night." Sakura blushed at this; I mean she was a ninja, so the smell was gonna happen but still it was embarrassing.
"Please Sakura give me those I've made you a plate please sit and eat." Tsunami said as she grabbed Sakura's clothes with one hand and handed her a plate of food with the other. Sakura accepted gladly, and thanked Inari's mother. She took a seat next to Sasuke who was almost finished with his meal.
"Sakura, I want you to watch over Tazuna today." Sakura was currently devouring her plate of food as she looked up to see Kakashi surprised face. She completely forgot where she was for a moment and slowed her pace, she was starving, all that training yesterday left her famished.
"Kakashi sensei I was thinking, if we are to go up against Zabuza or any other ninja for that matter, I would like to train more with Naruto-Kun, and Sasuke-kun. I have a feeling Tazuna will be safe for at least 6 more days." Sakura said as she hoped her sensei would catch on to what she was meaning. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and stood from the table grabbing his crutches.
"if that what you really want to do I see no problem with that, Tazuna is that ok with you?"
"One less brat to deal with the better." Tazuna said as he sipped his cup of tea. Sakura beamed at his answer and finished her food quickly sucking down cup of water. Sasuke watched the girl in awe, no other girl he had ever met had ever eaten food like that in front of him other than his mother on certain days. With that memory entering his mind he stood abruptly from the table said his thanks and walked out of the small home. "I'm going on ahead." He said before stalking off, Sakura gazed after him for a few moments wondering what she had done to upset him, but quickly regained her thoughts and jumped up grabbing all the dishes. She would wait for Naruto to come down before leaving and help clean up in the meantime.
I wasn't long after Sakura had finished the dishes, did Naruto come down the stairs handing his dirty pair of clothes off to Tsunami. Sakura balked at him, Naruto noticing this started to blush.
"Neg Sakura-Chan what are you staring at your making me nervous." He chuckled as he scratched his head, a toothy smile plastered across his face. 'Yes! Sakura-chan is checking me out, she's finally noticing me more and more every day! This is everything I dreamed of, well minus being Hokage! But still, I can't stop blushing…'
"Those are the exact same clothes you wore yesterday?" Sakura finally spoke causing Naruto to lose his grin and in place he looked flabbergasted. 'She wasn't checking me out, she was looking at my clothes!'
"Ah I have like 10 pairs of the same outfit!" The defeated blonde boy muttered as he started walking out of the house to where they trained before giving his thanks to Inari's mother. Sakura walked alongside him. Sakura looked over at the boy wondering why he was so glum.
"Hey Naruto-kun what's the matter you seem super unsettled right now." Sakura asked. Naruto looked over at her from the corner of his eye.
"You'll never like me the way you like Sasuke, huh Sakura?" Sakura stopped in her tracks looking at the boy in front of her with his back turned towards her.
"Look at me Nartuo-kun." She said waiting for the boy to oblige, after a few seconds he turned around his eyes looking at the ground around her feet.
"Naruto-kun, I won't lie to you, I will never feel the way for you as I do Sasuke-kun." The girl could see his whole-body flinch from her words as she continued.
"Just like I will never feel the same way about Sasuke-kun as I do with you." He looked up at her, his eyes shining the bright cerulean blue they were, glittering in the sunlight. Sakura smiled.
"It's true my feelings for Sasuke-kun are didn't than the ones I have for you, but you are very important to me, I would die to protect you, I would kill to protect you. You Naruto Uzamaki are one of my most treasured friends. I don't want anything interfering with that…I hope that's ok…" Sakura said as the last part came out in a whisper. Naruto met the girls own glittering eyes in the sunlight, Emerald reflected against blue and vice versa.
"Sakura-chan! Even though I'm not completely happy with that response I can live with it. You are very special to me and all you said well same goes for me too with you, and with Sasuke! I won't give up though!" He finished giving her a thumbs up with his eyes squinted closed from the big smile that adorned his face. Sakura smiled and nodded as she and Naruto made their way to where Sasuke was. 'Naruto you big idiot, you can't even see that the way you say you feel for me is the way Hinata-chan feels for you.'
The two teammates came to find Sasuke huffing with a kunai in hand his reach on the tree had gotten better, but very slimly. Yesterday he did not come to Sakura to ask for any help, and figured he would figure it out on his own, or so he hoped. Naruto stiffened up next to Sakura causing the girl to look over at him.
"You ok Naruto-kun?" Naruto sheepishly smiled as he slowly retreated from the girl walking backwards finally turning his back running away.
"I'm fine Sakura-chan I forgot my ninja tools! I'll be back in a flash." He called from his back, leaving Sakura with Sasuke alone. Sakura merely waved to the boy and started stretching so she wouldn't get any cramps later for ignoring her muscles. Sasuke turned his back to the girl and stood there doing nothing, this caught Sakura attention, she waited knowing he was about to ask her something.
"Sakura?"
"Yes Sasuke-kun?"Sasuke turned to face her a slight tone of pink on his cheeks Sakura knew it was from his training earlier one but still liked the way it looked.
"What did you tell Naruto yesterday when he asked for your help." Sakura mentally grinned this was her chance to see why he ran out in a hurry earlier.
"Why, I can't seem to remember, but maybe I could if you told me why you ran out earlier like I had the plague?" Sasukes tsked and turned his back.
"That's none of your business, forget it." Sakura sighed knowing he wouldn't say anything unless he wanted too.
"Ah, I just told him to think of his chakra like he was filling up a cup of water, to make sure he stopped pouring water into the cup before everything flowed over." Sasuke now looked at the girl again, contemplating on his next words.
"You reminded me of someone who was very close to me once…"He said as he trailed off, Sakura wide eyes were now half lidded, she knew he must of meant someone from his family that was brutally murdered by his older brother Itachi.
"Oh, I'm sorry Sasuke-kun you were right it wasn't any of my business, please forgive me, I don't know how you feel at all, and I couldn't even begin to understand but I know that it must have made your heart sink." The boy in front of her sighed.
"It- It's alright, I don't really mind talking about it with you it's just not my favorite subject."
"Do you? I mean want to talk about it we have time before Naruto gets back."
"No. Not today but when I do I promise I will find you." Sakura blushed at this never in a million years did she think she would hear Sasuke talk to her like this. She simply smiled at the boy and nodded.
"So Sasuke-kun let's see if what I informed you of just now works, neh?" Sakura said as she closed one eye and stuck her tongue out at her teammate. Sasuke simply smirked a hint of a smile underneath it and ran at the tree.
Sakura was exhausted her Sasuke, and Naruto trained all day long, food was the last thing on her mind she felt like if she ate, she would just throw it all up and it didn't help that her two teammates were stuffing their faces, making all kinds of sounds. 'Is this what I looked like earlier? Oh man I think I'm gonna hurl.' She thought as she put her hand up to cover her mouth.
"Boy this is real fun! I can't remember the last time I shared a meal with so many people!" Tazuna exclaimed as he eyed Tsunami, Inari, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.
"More please!" the two young shinobi both exclaimed at the same time, as their eyes met you could almost see mental dagger being thrown between the two. Within seconds of asking for more both boys hurled what they had just eaten, Sakura cringed.
"Stop eating if you are just gonna hurl it back up! It's sickening!" She yelled at both her teammates.
"No…I wanna eat!" Sasuke spoke first as he wiped his face.
"Because even if we make ourselves sick to do it, we have to eat if we want to get strong." Naruto finished explaining as he caught his breath. 'These guys are unbelievable.' Sakura was just disgusted; she would never scarf food down again in her life. The pink hared kunoichi took a deep breath and started eating, forcing every bite down resisting the urge to hurl it back up, even if her teammates were acting like pigs, they were right. Sakura tried focusing on something else other than the grunting and slurping coming from Naruto and Sasuke, she had finished her dinner but was waiting for her two teammates to finish as well. Her eyes landed on a torn picture of the wall. She saw a younger Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari, all of them looked extremely happy.
"Why is this picture torn? I saw Inari looking at this the whole time we were having dinner. Someone's face is gone…"
"It was a picture of Inari's father." Tsunami spoke as she was washing the dishes her voice soft full of hurt.
"Once upon a time, if you will, our entire city called him a hero." As Tazuna spoke Inari abruptly left the table in a rush.
"Inari! Where are you going?" Tsunami called after her son as he walked out of the house slamming the door behind him.
"INARI!" Tsunami cried, the worry on her face clear.
"FATHER! I've told you time and time again not to mention that in front of my son!" Tsunami screamed at her father, as she too walked out of the kitchen slamming yet another door. 'That's right this is a sensitive subject for Inari, I mean its only to be suspected since his father was killed in front of his eyes' Sakura thought to herself now feeling guilty for even saying anything.
"The man in the picture was not Inari's birth father, but they were as loving and close as any biological father and son could have been. Inari was such a happy, laughing child back then. But Inari changed after happened to his father." Tazuna said as tears started flowing down his face.
Sakura was exhausted she knew it seemed rude, but she couldn't hear this tale again, the first time she heard it was enough, and she refused to hear it again, she snuck out of the room while the others listened, she knew Kakashi had seen her leave but when she made eye contact with him, she simply school her head hoping he would understand. Sakura walked up the stairs and went to the shower, last night she didn't change into her sleepwear and honestly if she didn't know they would be staying where they were she would of not packed any, or any extra clothing in general, but she knew so she did, as she told her teammate to at least back an extra pair as well, giving them a half assed explanation as to why. Sakura just rinsed the clothes she trained in and hung them outside the second story window to dry.
Her hair was down again, she had tied it up for training but sleeping with it up knotted it really bad the next day. She sat on top of the second story roof only in her dark blue spandex shorts that were a bit shorter than normal for her and a white baggy T-shirt. She took a deep beath and closed her eyes lifting her face towards the starry night sky, she could hear Kakashi sensei talking to Inari at the end of the pier. Finally, after a few moments she heard the sound of her Sensei's crutches retreating from the small boy and knew her teammates would be coming soon. She opened her eyes and gazed at the stars leaning on her hands that were placed behind her back, her long flowing all around her in the slight breeze that came. She could see the moon rising over the ocean and for a moment she let herself relax completely.
"It's not like you to run away when someone's talking." Sakura slightly jumped, she turned her head to see her black-haired teammate standing behind her leaning against the wall by the window.
"Oh Sasuke-kun, it's you."
"Who else would it be? Naruto came up to find you but ended up passing out instead."
"Is that so? Haha same old Naruto-kun." Sakura said as she crossed her legs in front of her and placed her hands on each of her things, trying to cover herself up. 'I know it's not that shorter but I'm suddenly self-conscious about my legs, oh man Sasuke-kun looks so handsome right now, I need to play it cool.' Sasuke walked next to Sakura and sat down next to her.
"You didn't answer me."
"Oh yea, well I just- I, ah, I guess I felt bad about bringing something that upset Miss Tsunami and Inari up. And I was just – I don't know, I just didn't feel right…" Sasuke kept staring out in the ocean seemly watching the moon rise as well.
"Sounds really selfish when I say it out loud…" Sakura confessed while turning her head to Sasuke, it was then he turned to stare at her as well. Both staring in each other's eyes which seemed like eternity for Sakura but was really just a few minutes
"I don't think it was selfish, but it definitely wasn't something you'd normally do. Tazuna didn't even notice, after he told us about how Gato killed Inari's father in front of Inari and the other villagers he seemed pretty out of it and walked off." Sasuke watched Sakura closely trying to decipher her reaction to what he just said and when he got none, he became even more suspicious.
"Hmm." Sakura said and they both sat in silence Sakura was the first to tear her gaze away from Sasuke. 'Did she really just use my own strategy against me? What is going on with Sakura, she's so different, I don't mind it in fact I find it refreshing…its actually nice to be around her now…' Sasuke thought to himself as he finally looked back at the moon ahead rising from the ocean, its silvery light reflecting like a mirror in the waves.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" she asked, keeping her eyes glued to the scene at hand.
"Ah." They sat in silence for a few more minutes.
"Sakura?"
"Yeah?"
"Earlier today I told you, you reminded me of someone important to me."
"Yeah you did."
"It was my mother." Sakura stiffened at the revelation, waiting to see if he would continue.
"When she would be out all-day running errands and…HE was home, he would cook, and she would come home and stuff her face. It would make me laugh, it feels like forever ago, and in reality, it was been a while but not too long…I ran out earlier because I wanted to laugh, but I don't feel as though I should." Sakura waited five minutes to see if he would say more and when he didn't, she spoke.
"I don't know how or what to say to that…I'm happy you told me…but if I say anything more, I'm scared it'll be the wrong thing."
"Say it, I promise I won't get upset." The moon was now completely risen over the horizon of the ocean, full bright and beautiful.
"I wouldn't think any mother wouldn't want her child to laugh, not matter what." Sakura said as she turned her head to find Sasuke staring at her, she mustered up the softest smile she could.
"You're right." Sasuke agreed, turning his head from hers and standing up. The faintest smiled adorned his face, without looking at Sakura he extended his hand towards her.
"We have to train tomorrow we should get some sleep."
"Yeah." Sakura said as she expected his hand. The two young shinobi crawled back through the window and let the dark night take over as they fell in a deep slumber.
OKAY YALL SO I KNOW I ASKED FOR AN OPINION NOW IM REALLY ASKING. IS IT GOOD OR NAH? CAUSE I SORTA FEEL LIKE IF IT ISNT I SHOULD JUSTSTOP HERE….ANYWAYS CHAPTER COMPLETE. PEACE!