Salvation
Disclaimer; All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter Eight
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Had she been a smart girl- she wouldn't have enrolled in the exams. If she didn't enroll neither could Sasuke or Naruto, but if she did that, a lot of necessary ties would be severed. Most devastatingly, the tie between Suna and Konoha through Gaara and Naruto's shared curse of being a jinjuriki. Necessary ties that would not only improve trade routes, but open the doorway for many other alliances between villages.
Sakura reminisced on the days when she had acted as a diplomat and all the days she spent cooped up in her mentor's office, looking over every tax return, mission report, business regiment she could get her hands on. She was always efficient and determined in her work. If there was anything left for her to be proud of about herself, it would be that.
Their friendship was something she could not afford to slip by simply because she wanted to take the easy route. Naruto also forms a light bond with Neji Hyuga here, though compared to the former, it was minuscule.
She would be forced to intercept Orochimaru in the forest of death. If she could prevent him from bestowing a curse seal upon Sasuke she could at least slow down his departure from the village in time to figure out what she was going to do to him, but in the mean time he'd not taken a step near her, avoiding her like the plague. She thoroughly enjoyed that she was seeing less of him, but was aware it was damaging Naruto and his own already shaky bond, just in the cusp of forming.
She couldn't prevent that.
She wracked her brain for just how she planned to intercept Orochimaru. She was entirely confident that had she been in her older body, she would have been able to do it, to kill him. But in her younger and frailer form she was no where near her prior physical poweress. She doubted that in the small, almost insignificant three month span between now and the chunin exams that she could work up enough muscle or widen her chakra gates to use half of her previous jutsus and attacks.
Since her debut in this world she'd starting storing chakra continuously to a point in her forehead once again. She doubted it would develop before Orochimaru arrived but it would be more than useful later on.
She began to pant ferociously on her second lap around the village. She was are she may either vomit or stumble soon, perhaps both. But training was useless if she didn't push herself past the limit- thus giving herself more room to improve.
She noted that instead of training, the first time around, she'd gone shopping and stayed inside, not really doing much of anything. It annoyed her that she hadn't taken the precious time to work her her technique, but it was the past, she would right all of her wrongs.
Kindness would not keep her friends and family alive, it would not keep her village's flame burning brightly. She would be forced to act like the ruthless, cold woman that the fourth war had made her. It wouldn't make her friends, but it would protect those she'd come to love.
Resolve now burning deep in the pit of her stomach, she pushed on. After the fourth lap she would focus on relaxing and stretching her chakra gates once again. If she still had the ability to move after that, it would be conditioning her arms and legs for combat.
The training that had once been a daily routine for her to hone her skills was now annoyingly difficult. She felt as though she were held prisoner in her body, It was one thing to be weak. It was another to know that you were strong and being unable to physically show it.
She'd ended up collapsing into bed, nearly unable to move from the throbbing pain of her muscles. Every tiny movement nearly brought tears to her eyes, yet she worked through it. The next morning was none the easier as she found herself in an equally as sore state, but she forced herself to repeat the process over and over, day by day,
Little by little she could feel her body becoming stronger- or perhaps accepting the pain, she wasn't entirely sure. She wanted to go and see Naruto, being away from her made her anxious, as if he may one day disappear once again, slipping from her grasp just as she'd gotten him back, but she was aware he was doing his own training with Jiraiya and she didn't want to loosen his resolve.
She'd started a collection of scars on her knuckles from pounding away at trees and training dummies. She bit through the pain, she had to assure herself that she could at least perform to her best abilities in combat. She wouldn't let her friends down.
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