A/N: Ehehe?
This is a continuation of Day 3, aka "Privacy, Heard Of It?"
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.
Day 15: Take a Break
"- they turn ferocious, and that's why we don't use garlic on vampires. Do you understand, Sakura?" A silver haired young man told his pink haired student. Sakura nodded her head,
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." She replied as she jotted down the information into her thick notebook which was rapidly being filled up. Hatake Kakashi's only visible eye closed in exasperation,
"Sakura, I told you not to call me sensei, it makes me feel old." He whined; damnit, he was only 7 years her senior! Sakura shrugged as she packed up her stuff,
"Well, it's a term of respect since you are teaching me…" She explained simply. Kakashi looked dejected before he took out his beloved book,
"I really can't hope to ask you to stop respecting me… That'll just cause me more problems and I have enough of those… Now shoo, you better get to Gai's class before he barges in here to challenge me again." He waved her off, his face already buried deep within his book. Sakura shook her head as she made her way through the door to her next appointment, how many times has he read through it already?
The agency had accepted her as one of them and was thrilled with the discovery of her telepathic abilities. They had promised to give her the necessary skills to deal with the supernatural entities and in return they would benefit from her using her telepathy to pick out the supernatural living illegally in the human world. Some of the benefits that Sakura received were a place to stay, self-defence training against the supernatural, knowledge of the supernatural, honing her mental skill and providing her with the necessary means to complete her medical studies. Although filled with good intentions, Sakura suddenly found her days filled to the brim with various activities… Every day, Sakura started her routine early in the morning only to end it very late into the night. Any leftover time was used solely to sleep, bath and eat; there was almost no time for her to relax! She wondered if she could ask for a change in the scheduling.
Kakashi was tasked to introduce Sakura to the world of psionic vampires, as well as other supernatural entities that the agency might encounter from time to time. It is her duty to learn more them so that she would have the necessary information; such as their attack patterns, weakness, habits and strengths; to take the right action against them.
xxx
"Another ten laps, Sakura! After that, Lee here will assist you in a fight simulation." Might Gai's passionate voice called out and Sakura could barely huff out a reply.
Her fitness training fell into the hands of Might Gai and his star pupil, Rock Lee. They were both in charge of getting Sakura fit for action. Working for the agency meant that Sakura is expected to be in chases and fights and her body needed to be in top condition for that. Her training included muscle and reflex training followed by learning how to fight and how to wield a weapon of her choice.
Sakura felt as if she was about to collapse onto the ground; her legs felt like jelly and her lungs burned for oxygen. Compared to Lee who looked like he was about ready to go for another 30 laps, Sakura felt like absolute shit. Sakura never thought herself to be unfit, but this was really pushing her muscles to the limit. Warm up started with twenty push ups and sit ups with three repetitions, a ten kilometre run at various speeds to build up her stamina and various other medieval tortures. Only after that was she allowed to train on different kinds of combat, from hand to hand to weapons. Gai came over and gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder,
"Don't worry, Sakura, we all start from somewhere. Look at Lee, he wasn't able to do this on the first day as well, he took two weeks!" Gai boasted and Sakura groaned inwardly, she had been here for a whole two months already! She casted a shadowed glance towards Lee who had started hand walking; what kind of stamina did he possess?! Gai followed her gaze,
"Keep up the good work, Lee! But we now have to train Sakura-chan! You'll have time to continue with training later!" He gave his pupil a thumb up and a bright smile. Lee looked towards them in surprise,
"Oh, of course Gai-sensei!" He saluted with a hand before he jumped back into a standing position. Sakura felt her energy drain as his enthusiasm increased. Lee took her hands in his,
"I apologise for inconveniencing you, beautiful Sakura-san! I'll run a hundred laps after your training to make up for it!" He declared with great energy. Sakura winced; that sounded horrible to her. She held her hands up,
"It's okay, Lee-san. You don't have to do that for me…I wasn't inconvenienced anyways." She tried to calm him down; she was grateful for the extra minutes of rest anyways. Lee shook his head and flashed his 'good guy' pose and Sakura knew there was no way she was going to win an argument with him. Perfectly lacking the level of enthusiasm the two of them possessed, Sakura got ready with round two of her training.
xxx
"You're late, Sakura!" Chocolate brown eyes stared sternly and Sakura bowed in respect of the honey blonde in front of her. Senju Tsunade was the current head of the agency and she had a temper to be feared.
"Forgive me, Shishou; there was an incredibly long line at the cafeteria." Sakura apologised. The voluptuous woman was about to start a lecture when Sakura produced a bottle of sake from behind her. Tsunade stopped short and an eyebrow rose,
"Since when did my disciple learn how to bribe? I certainly never thought you that… Was it that Kakashi?" She inquired but reached for the sake anyways. Sakura grinned; it was actually Hyuuga Hinata from Intelligence that shared the secret with Sakura when she was moaning about the lecture she'd gotten from Tsunade one afternoon. It wasn't Sakura's fault that training with Gai-sensei always ate into her lunch time…
Tsunade poured herself a cup of sake and sipped gratefully; Shizune was always taking her stash away! She turned her attention back onto Sakura,
"We're going to continue where we left off yesterday." Tsunade instructed and then stood. Sakura bowed and followed after her Shishou, towards the medical facilities of the agency. It wasn't necessary for Sakura to complete her medical studies after she joined the agency but she was adamant to finish it. Besides, the agency could use another doctor since the entities they were dealing with are usually dangerous. Granted, now she'd have to study various ways to treat toxins and injuries of the supernatural kind, but saving lives was something that she was passionate about. Sakura peered at the miasma that oozed from the patient in front of her; more than half of his body seemed to have decayed. Tsunade said that even at this state, it was still possible to save his life. Sakura slipped on her gloves and braced herself; well, time to save a life…
xxx
Sakura slumped against the wall, the treatment was complicated and took much longer to complete. Her precious free time was almost up and it was nearly time for her next lesson with Yamanaka Ino. Sakura trudged along tiredly; she didn't know how she was going to last her lesson with Ino… Much like her, Ino was a telepath as well, although Ino specialised in long distance telepathy and could communicate through it. Unlike Sakura however, who had constant access to it, Ino needed to concentrate to access her power. Even though her lessons were not physically straining, it required them to concentrate for long periods of time. Knowing her, Sakura knew that she'll fall asleep immediately as soon as she closed her eyes.
She passed an unoccupied dojo with its Shoji doors open and she stopped in her tracks; it wouldn't hurt to have a quick nap before meeting Ino, right? After all, Ino wasn't as strict with timing as Tsunade was… Sakura nodded decisively; yeah, she'll do just that. She sat crossed leg and leaned against the wooden wall and hoped to get some shut eye when she heard someone walk into the dojo. Sakura almost wailed out in despair; she should have shut the Shoji doors closed! She peeked through tired eyes and was surprised Sasuke staring back at her in confusion,
"Are you feeling alright?" He quizzed with a slight tilt of his head. Sakura nodded,
"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun, I'm just really tired, that's all." She replied as she gave him a quick once over. He was dressed casually in a hakama with a sword at his hip and a duffel bag in his eyes. Sakura widened her eyes in realisation,
"I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun! I didn't know that you were using the dojo!" She apologised hastily and started to get up only to be stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder. Sasuke shook his head,
"It's fine, Sakura. You can rest in here for a while…If you don't mind me practising, of course." He stated and Sakura sat back down. She smiled at him,
"As long as you don't mind having me as an audience, Sasuke-kun." She teased and Sasuke smirked before he set his duffel bag next to her. Sakura leaned comfortably back onto the wall as Sasuke took his stance. He began and Sakura was instantly awestruck; his every move was precise and powerful. Yet, his movements were fluid like water flowing in the stream; his grace and agility was something that she could only hope to achieve. Like a snake's dangerous dance; Sasuke's every movement mesmerized her and she stared at him, almost in a trance. She never noticed how her entire body relaxed and her eyes slowly closing…
Sasuke finished a kata and turned towards Sakura, only to find her fast asleep. Her head tilted slightly to the side and her soft breathing could be heard. He shook his head, the edges of his lips slightly tilted upwards as he made his way to his duffel bag. He extracted his water bottle and took a sit beside her, as he took a break from his practice. Suddenly, there was a light thump on his shoulder and he looked down to find that Sakura had her head on it. Sasuke debated whether or not to shift her into a more comfortable position before he gave up; he wouldn't want to wake her up anyways…
From beyond the Shoji screen, Sasuke's keen ears picked up the familiar sounds of Ino who was calling out for Sakura. Her steps slowed as she neared the dojo and a soft knock on the Shoji door could be heard; Ino knew better than to disturb the Uchiha. The doors slid open slowly and the blonde peered in. Her baby blue eyes locked onto the pair and she gave a bright smile as she found the person of her search. Sasuke shook his head silently and brought a slim finger to his lips, Ino understood immediately.
"Hello, Sasuke. I was just looking for Sakura over there." She whispered gently with a small gesture at Sakura.
"I was hoping that maybe you could pass a message to Sakura for me?" She requested. Sasuke nodded his head and Ino took that as a cue for her to continue,
"You see, I'm a bit preoccupied this afternoon; so I wanted to cancel training with her for today." She explained. Sasuke nodded his head in agreement,
"Aa, I'll tell her that when she wakes up." He promised as he looked back down at the sleeping pinkette. She looked like she needed a break anyways… Ino grinned brightly at him,
"Great, thanks Sasuke-kun! You're a big help!" She expressed with two thumbs up before she slid the Shoji doors closed… a sly smile on her face. Wait till the other girls hear about this! The usually cold Uchiha had actually allowed Sakura to sleep on him! Well, leaned against him…But the small details don't matter! Grinning widely, she skipped down the hallway, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone in the peace and quiet of the dojo.
~Up next, Day 16~