Chapter 7: Training Days

"Breath,

Should I take a deep?

Faith,

Should I take a leap?

Taste,

What a bittersweet!

Let me face my fears

Won't be long,

Won't be long

I'm almost here

Watch me cry all me tears."

Face My Fears, by Utada Hikaru

"So, Kakashi told me you could use some guidance from Konoha's most youthful jonin sensei, and I, for one, intend to make the most of these two days."

Sasuke harrumphed, not really getting why he got stuck with the weird green-suit guy or how Sakura put up with his antics on a daily basis at all. He was even tempted to leave him to his musings and look for Kakashi, who would be doing something of use with Sakura. Since they had exchanged teachers without his consent he felt entitled to do so. Wasn't he supposed to have Kakashi for a month? Why the sudden change? He ought to find out.

His resolution was short-lived, however, because Gai addressed him again.

"And since you seem so passionate about beating my student, I've brought…" He rummaged on his pouch rather enthusiastically, which irked Sasuke to no end. The young Uchiha had the feeling he was about to witness something horrendous, like that time Naruto laughed so hard eating ramen he ended up expelling noodles from his nose. Gross. "This!" A green spandex suit. Exactly like the one he had on. A onesie piece of glorious —or so said Gai— shiny green material. "Now, put it on!"

"No. Way. In. Hell." Sasuke hissed, and he did so in a way it had Gai wondering for a moment if he wasn't talking with a pissed off cat. To be honest, it was kinda cute, the way that Sasuke reminded him of a younger stick-up-his-ass Kakashi.

"If you don't train like Lee-san, how do you expect to beat him at anything? Besides, do you think the spandex doesn't contribute to anything? If that were the case, I wouldn't be asking you to put in on. Moreover, I have some weights for you to wear on top." He grinned, a five-carat smile.

Sasuke considered his offer long and hard. Lee's taijutsu abilities were over the top, even for him since he had witnessed them firsthand. He figured the only way someone like him got that strong was through heavy training, maybe even heavier training that he himself overtook daily. If that was the case, then he should consider the fact that Gai had something to do with it, and that while his methods weren't exactly conventional, the results were undeniable. If Sakura could withstand it —and he remembered her getting rather beat up and dropping dead on her futon at night— then he could too. That was for sure.

But as he looked at that horrendous excuse of attire hanging languidly from Gai's fisted hand, he couldn't help but wonder: At what cost?

…

She had managed to sneak into her clan's secret library, which existence wasn't exactly a secret, but then again, nobody was supposed to enter without the main branch's specific permission. The fact that she had managed to get inside on a compound full of all-seeing eyes was a marvel on its own. She had been working on suppressing her chakra to the bare minimum, which both did wonders on her control and, in turn, enhanced her reserves. Every day since the preliminaries were over and she had heard of her impending battle against Neji, she had been meditating and practicing non-stop. However, if she wanted to beat Neji, she would have to step up her game, dig into the clan's techniques and test her luck. Since she was part of the main branch, her being there wasn't exactly uncalled for but, if she had simply gone through the doors, the guards would have alerted her father, which would have resulted in her having to explain her motives.

Her motives? She needed all the help she could get, seeing as she wasn't getting it.

In her head she could hear her father's acknowledgement of Hanabi's strength, even if he didn't voice them as much. Her sister had a fire in her that burned bright and blinding, and Hinata often found herself caught on the shadows of its unbearable existence. She did love Hanabi, but in her core, she knew her sister would always strive to be strong and powerful, to be a successful clan heir. She also knew that's what Hiashi was determined to get, having witnessed his younger daughter shining through on her training.

But just as Hinata knew her sister could thrive as clan heir, she was also aware of one fact that was fundamental: her sister was ignorant to the true essence of their clan, to what needed to be changed. She doubted Hanabi would dare oppose their father's wishes, and if she did she had yet to show it. It looked as if her sister, just like Neji, had taken on a role settled before any of them had learned to utter a word. She would know, because she herself was constantly striving to make Hiashi proud, even if it never happened regardless of what she accomplished. And yes, she had been scared and she was still scared, and she'll be forever scared.

But were her sister to be on her shoes now, she would have sneaked into the place, no doubt about that. Whatever fears she had about the matter disappeared as she strode through the tiles on the floor as silently as she could. She patted herself figuratively on the back for asking Kurenai-sensei about genjutsu. Even though her teacher was occupied at the moment training someone else, she had taken the time to teach her some multilayered cloaking genjutsu. It wouldn't last long against her clan's dojutsu, so she needed to be fast. Going farther back on the drawers and scroll shelfs, she picked one red tinted scroll with a black ribbon enveloping its surface. When she opened it, there was nothing but a red sheet of paper.

In a rush, she activated the Byakugan, mindful of the rupture in her carefully crafted (but still basic) cloaked genjutusu. And on black beautifully shaped strokes, she read:

Jūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō*

…

"There is not much I remember from before I became what I am now… There was warmth, laughter, a faint voice, someone calling upon me, distressed, as if worried about me. Then, pain all over my body. Yes, that is it. I was stabbed multiple times, by whom or what I don't know. I… I was trying to protect someone. And their children… Yes, their unborn children." Suigintou seemed deep in thought, mystified. "Yes, I believe I had been happy before, but it seems like a millennium has passed since then." Her visage fell slightly forward, to her hands, as if she were somehow looking at them, despite having no eyes. "I also had a name other than Suigintou, but I cannot recall…"

Sakura was staring at her, transfixed. There was nothing she could think worth saying. Suigintou looked lost, as if her reason of existence had ceased to be a long time ago.

"I remember dying bitter and in love, the uncertainty of not knowing if I protected them or not… Then, suddenly, I was awakened, as I am now, from a deep slumber, from having being part of something greater." She made a pause to collect her thoughts, but the strain of pain was there in every word. "I searched for the vital energy of that person I tried to protect. It guided me to this place, but the world wasn't quite as I remembered it. I got lost, but my search brought me here. Then, the accident with that nurse happened… She had been pregnant too when those shinobi assaulted her."

Suigintou gripped at the robes of her white kimono, bracing herself. "The whole ordeal tagged at my memories, however briefly, and before I knew it, I discovered I could control bodies and trap their respective souls in this realm. Even consume them when they are inside."

Sakura contained a shudder, to which Suigintou chucked.

"It is not in my best interest to eat you, girl. Besides, I am not fond of doing it unless I feel that I have to." She conceded, trying to reassure her.

"Does that mean that, when summoning you, I'll be possessed?"

"Not necessarily. As I told you before, your blood has a lot of energy… Chakra, I believe you call it." Suigintou brought her delicate hands to Sakura's arm and gripped her gently. "It runs within you, but not like other people… It runs in your blood too… I can tell you died once because your soul is older than it looks, just like mine. Well, maybe not as old as mine, but still…" Seeing Sakura tensing up, she lessened her grip until it was nothing but a caress. "Your blood is enough powerful for me to have a connection to the physical realm, so that I can appear as I am."

"So my blood can bound your true body to the real world?"

Suigintou nodded. "Probably. Most likely."

Sakura dreaded to think of what would happen if that wasn't the case but refrained from saying anything. "What really happened? To the nurse, I mean."

Suigintou sighed. Still, no air came out of her face, but her chest swelled with air. From where? Sakura didn't know. "She wanted to end her life. She did not want to live with the shame of what had happened, but I refused to give her that. So instead, I…"

"You…" Sakura urged, determined to get the full story before deciding on anything. If she was going to sign a summoning contract with this being, she had the right to know. Or what she could get, at least. Suigintou didn't seem like a bad person —or ghost—. In fact, she kind of reminded her of herself. They were lost, their loved ones gone, only Suigintou didn't recall them and Sakura… Sakura was stuck with their replacements. At least, the pink-haired kunoichi had the opportunity to regain what she had then, or even turn it into something better. What had Suigintou to look forward to? "You what?"

"I absorbed one of the shinobi's chakra. The one with a kekkei genkai, and trapped the girl, Yuuka, inside that man's body, since she didn't want her life anymore."

"You killed him?" Suigintou nodded. "Somehow, I don't think that was a good idea…"

"Me neither, but that was the only option at the time. She refused to return to her body, to be who she was, and he was the only one alive in the room, even though I left him with one crippled leg. It was the only way." She shrugged.

"And where is she —or him— now?"

"She managed to disguise as a simple merchant and stablish her life in this town. I believe the kiri shinobi are here to find clues on how the kekkei genkai user disappeared."

"I see… So that's why they are here now. It probably took them a long while to track his movements, and once they did and found out about the nurse and the hunted hospital, they became quite relentless with their research." Sakura regarded her, now her attention focused on Suigintou's face, or lack of thereof. "Do you know what kind of kekkei genkai he wielded?"

"It had to do with the mind, as he tried to fool me with it, but it did not work since it was aimed for Yuuka. I expelled it. After all, I only control bodies from in here, it is not like I am completely there, since I am trapped in between two realms." She regarded Sakura silently. "What about you, child?"

"Me?"

"Your story, care to share it?" Her tone was inviting, friendly.

"Well…" Sakura spoke, and she didn't even know why, but her gut instinct told her she could confide in Suigintou, if not out of confidence, then out of camaraderie. "I'm not from here."

"That is an understatement." Suigintou chimed in.

"I mean I'm not from this timeline." She side-eyed her companion, waiting for some sound of disbelief. When none came, she continued. "I managed to travel back in time with a jutsu when all was lost, so that I could mend what happened and have a go at life again… A better life. There is nothing left for me where I come from… Only onwards."

"Another timeline… I struggle to imagine what could have gone wrong for you to try something that reckless…"

"I'm surprised you believe me."

"I can tell you are serious. Besides, I cannot judge you. My mere existence is an oddity." She made a pause, seemingly weighting something on her mind. "You triggered your death with the jutsu, did you not?"

"I had to… There was no other way I could perform it."

"And how did you do it?"

"I would rather not share it. It's a technique that should have never existed. I only did it out of desperation and I would rather take it to my grave." She answered, solemn.

"I see… You have to know then, that whatever you did to yourself has conditioned your body. If I can feel the flow of this strange chakra on your veins, others as perceptive as me will also notice. You have to prepare yourself for when the time comes."

"Ever since I woke up, I have been doing nothing but prepare myself." She deadpanned.

At that, the ghost found nothing to do but nod. "Will you help me then? Should you ever require my assistance, I will come to your aid, if you ever summon me again."

Sakura thought about it long and hard, staring at Suigintou's face with a blank expression. She had toyed with the idea of gaining allies, but the thought of revealing her true identity and inadvertently spoil any chance at succeeding on her personal quest had prevented her from doing so. On many occasions during her time on the Ashen Village it had crossed her mind to share her pain with Kakashi or Sasuke, but it was simply too risky. A ghost would do nicely since she had nothing to do with the events that unfolded into war. She was a third party with nothing to say about it.

That suited her fine.

And even if the vote of confidence came back to bite her in the ass, she knew she wouldn't regret a thing.

Death was something expected. If she didn't make it, she just had to make sure to change things enough for the outcome to be different. She could count on Naruto at the end of all things. She'd just have to make sure her sunshine boy made it to the end. Until then, any potential ally was a win in her eyes.

"I'll help you, and I'll make you my summon." She finally responded.

"Perfect." Suigintou got up, seemingly excited. From under her sleeves, she took out a kodachi, sculptured and sharp. "I believe we need blood, do we not?"

Sakura nodded. "Conventionally a contract would be the right way to do it, but since our circumstances are special and you don't really belong to any family of summons, any part of your body will do." She checked the ghost, as if pondering where to place her mark. When Suigintou handed her the weapon, she added: "So, where do you want the mark?"

Suigintou pointed to her blank face. "Where else? My face is nothing but a blank canvas. And I'm sick of seeing nothing on it. No eyes, no mouth, nothing to relate or remember…" If Sakura had to determine her feelings by the quality of her voice, she would say her friend was disgusted at herself.

She knew that feeling all too well.

"Your face it is, then."

Without another word, she sliced at her finger with the edge of the kodachi, and the rest of the exchange went in private understanding, a bond so great it would determine the future outcome of the world. Of both of their worlds.

…

Wherever Naruto went, there was Sasuke. Sakura knew it. It was an universal law. Something that repeated itself once and twice, again and again. They pulled at each other like the two ends of a magnet. Their rivalry always made them clash, but they never strayed from the other. That is why, not really far from Naruto's corpse, there laid Sasuke's.

Only he was still breathing. She run to him in a frenzy, still not a drop of chakra left on her. Her knees buckled and collided against the debris. Half his body was trapped in mounds of shattered ground, the remnants of the Valley of the End a mockery to its former glory days.

"How the mighty have fallen."

"Sasuke…"

He coughed up blood. Red goo that splattered her arms when she attempted to hold his head. His eyes, voids of charcoal, stared at her with something akin to regret. It was smoothed out in an instant the moment he registered her face.

"Saku-ra…" She could tell he was struggling to breathe as she supported his body to the best of her capabilities.

"Shhh" She ushered him, clearly distressed. "I'll get you out of here."

"Don't." He whispered. "I know you don't have any chakra. If you had, you'd have saved the dobe…" He coughed as he finished.

"I can—"

"I felt him dying." He whispered weakly, as if the harshness of it all would wash away just because the words were said in murmurs.

"Yes… He's dead." She swallowed; the lump on her throat too great to ignore. If she had the strength to say something more, she would curse him until death came and took him away. She didn't quite understand her feelings at the moment. She hated his guts, but also loved his guts. She hated that it had to end this way. She hated his hatred. She hated what it had made of them.

He nodded, his head lolling to the side to gaze at the body laying a few meters away. Naruto laid still, uncharacteristic of him considering he was practically hyperactive. "I wanted to beat him…" He grimaced, his lungs slowly drowning in his own blood. "But not like this. He didn't want to kill me. Didn't fight seriously—" A trail of blood came out his mouth. Another cough.

Sakura's eyes brimmed with tears again. He didn't want to feel pity for him, but she did regardless. "He loved you like a brother, and you betrayed him." She condemned.

"I'll die knowing I fought for what I believed in… Even if you hate me." He said it as if that was his only regret, as if sacrificing her good opinion on him was painful. "But I'm selfish enough to hope you'll forgive me some day…" He exhaled; breath labored.

Sakura contemplated for a second, her gaze focused on his eyes, ignoring the rest of his crushed body.

"I fucking hate you for doing this to me."

"No matter how much I hate this, or how much I hate you, I know my heart will forgive you one day, just like it will Naruto for leaving me behind." She spat, half agitated, half disgusted at herself. "So, rot in hell, Sasuke. I'll see you there."

He chucked; the sound humid like the blood dripping from his mouth. "Thank you, Sakura… And I'm sorry." And just like that, his eyes lost all focus. His last sight of the world had been her tear-filled eyes, the grief he had cursed her with. He took it with him, a curse for himself. Because he did deserve it, and he embraced it. He didn't want to forget, not even in death.

As Sakura gathered both of them and buried their bodies on the ground below what had been the Valley of the End, one beside the other, hands raw from moving around dried lifeless sand and rock, she cried her sorrow and bitterness, screaming until her throat went numb.

She would never forget either.

…

Her eyes fluttered open, only to realize the sky had turned a few shades darker. She dared look left and right, but luckily there wasn't anyone who could have witnessed her long slumber. She supposed Suigintou had been looking out for her inside her own realm. Should have something happened, she would have alerted Sakura.

The young kunoichi glanced at her finger, registering the small cut which had transcended both realms and thus proved her newly formed bond. Without thinking much, she immediately healed it, her own flow of chakra calming her irked nerves. Someway between Suigintou's realm and reality, she had dreamed of the past, of something she'd have rather not remember.

She always did have a good memory. He mother had often touted about it. A double-edged sword, she had called it, affronted. She couldn't agree more than she did at that moment.

With a quick breath to restore her calmness, she settled on her previous task, trying to store and compartmentalize what had happened. Her new signed contract still lingering on her chakra, a strange feeling of resolution at the back of her mouth. A lingering taste of death and ashes.

History would not repeat itself, and she had a shunshin to master until daylight.

…

Kakashi was really mindful of where he put his things. His scrolls, his book of choice, his pouch, his change for clothes, his summoning contract, his dog food, his food... Everything was in place in case he had to bolt and get into a fight.

So, where the fuck was his Icha Icha storage scroll?

He had looked all over the room when he woke up at 5AM from one of his episodic nightmares. This month it was the nightmare of spring: spring like Rin's rose-colored cheeks losing his tint on the road to death. He had woken up with sweat all over his body, reaching for his porn, because he didn't know any other way of forgetting. Well, he could turn into an alcoholic but that was against the shinobi code.

Besides, alcoholism was overrated. He was better off reading porn like a creep.

But he had woken up, his hand stretched for a dumb moment to palm the empty space below his pillow. Confusion became apprehension at the thought of someone getting past his usual restlessness. Frantically, he threw away the mattress of his futon and stood on a hurry. The window was open. Yes, definitely someone had entered his room and taken his precious Icha Icha collection from under his pillow. Surely it had to be a mastermind—

"Looking for something, Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura's voice drove him out of his musings, his head snapping to the ceiling. She was face down, with her feet stuck to the ceiling just above him. For her to surprise him she had had to suppress her chakra masterfully; the thought gave him the chills for a hot second. He composed himself thought, gaze set on his scroll.

What followed next was a pair of bodies flickering around the room, Kakashi's leaving leaves behind and Sakura's nothing at all. She had settled her mind on not wasting any chakra, so her body moved from one place to another with no extra genjutsu to back it up. Kakashi picked up on this, and the pursue nearly destroyed his room as they passed right though any piece of furniture which dared stand on their way.

In a last-ditch effort, she stopped on her tracks, kunai in hand and the scroll on the other. Kakashi stilled himself a few meters away from her, his sole eye set on the hand holding his beloved scroll.

"Maa, maa, Sakura-chan, can't we talk about it?" His eye creased, a forced smile overcoming his features. Sakura could see through his bullshit though, and she recognized perfectly the way in which his shoulders tensed when he was about to strike.

"No. You teach me the water ninjutsu or I swear to kami you'll have to go and buy every last volume all over again." She threatened, dead serious. "As you have seen, I made it. I sort of mastered the shunshin, now I can polish it on my own." When he attempted to step closer, she neared the sharp edge to the paper. "So, Kakashi-sensei, what is it gonna be, ninjutsu or no ninjutsu?"

For a moment he was still silent, pondering. What if he flash-stepped and snatched his scroll away before she noticed? But no, the force would tear it apart if she made the barest movement.

"Well, I was going to teach you anyways, so why not?" He finally conceded, still internally cursing his student to hell and back. Not only had she triggered his anxious ass, but she had successfully stolen the scroll from under his nose. These nightmares that were plaguing his thoughts ever since she almost died were interfering with his sensor abilities.

"Good."

"Great. Now, can I have my Icha Icha back?"

"No."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry sensei, I need a hostage, just to make sure you'll honor me with your presence this afternoon."

He gasped theatrically, putting a hand on his chest, right where his heart was supposed to be.

"I'd never."

"Yeah, sure." She rolled her eyes, not believing him for a second. "I'll take care of them, I swear. Think about what you're gonna show me today."

Kakashi shook his head in disapproval. "Rest. I'm sure you stayed up all night." At her guilty silence, he slipped a smirk under his mask. "If you're up for it this afternoon, come find me. If not, we'll train tomorrow."

"But—"

"Sakura. Go to sleep." And even though he was smiling tenderly under the mask, his voice left no room for argument.

"Right… Okay then."

…

He tossed and turned, clearly distressed. Sakura couldn't find it in her to be annoyed, knowing he was most likely having a nightmare. Maybe he was reviving a memory from the past. She would know because she got quite twitchy at night too. In the silence provided by blinding darkness her remembrance played tricks on her sleep-deprived body. She had known —or at least, had imagined— that her Sasuke had suffered from the same kind of pain throughout his life. Now that she had come back to the past, she knew exactly what kind of demons plagued his thoughts. When half an hour went by of her trying to respect his intimacy and he started twitching and griping at his shoulder, right where the cursed mark still laid dormant, she decided it was high time to do something; anything.

She still cared. That was undeniably true.

Sakura stepped close to his futon. The bedding was sprawled all over, his hands tightly fisted, so much so that she could've sworn he was about to disjoint his shoulder. His nails were digging on scarred skin. Sakura gathered some healing chakra to her hand before touching him. It went to the shoulder, over the damned seal. Sasuke hummed, unconsciously itching closer to her body, probably in acceptance. The healing chakra could do nothing to erase the seal or its influence, but she figured at least her presence could chase away some of his fears. Kneeled at his side, she whispered fondly: "It's okay… You are okay. You don't need to be anything else than what you already are... You don't need to listen to him."

She couldn't explain why, but there were tears on her eyes and her body was shaking. She blinked them away as they gently fell from her face to Sasuke's tense fingers.

She closed her eyes for a moment, to gather her thoughts and calm her shaky breath. But when she opened them, he found his staring back. His clenched hand came to hers, the one which was still on his shoulder, and he clasped it gently. She figured he did it because he wanted her to stop with the petty touching, but instead, he intertwined his fingers with hers. She convinced herself them and there that she was doing it simply out of comfort and that he probably wasn't on his right mind. However, a strange urge within her —the kind of urge she thought she had left behind along with her previous life— demanded she gave him more confort. Before she could process what was happening, her body moved on its own and she was facing him, sprayed on the bed at his side.

"I need to be more." He stated, not seeming to mind her inviting herself on his bed, dead serious, as if talking about the weather. But also, with a finality that showed his conviction.

"You shouldn't have to." She answered. Also completely convinced.

He didn't say anything more, but he didn't need to. They would always reach an impasse when it came to the important things: he was hungry for power to fuel his hate, and she was hungry for power to protect what was precious to her.

It hurt, nonetheless. But she didn't voice it. He didn't ask her why she was crying, and she didn't ask him about his nightmares. However, it looked as if he wasn't bothered, as if the thought of her crying over him was comforting to some degree.

The bastard.

"You don't have to, either." He added after a few moments of utter silence. When her gaze came back to him, she found his black orbs hadn't strayed from her face.

"What?"

"Be more or anything else. You don't have to." He deadpanned.

"I need to."

At that, he smirked, a gesture small enough to tell her it was insincere. "You are a hypocrite."

"Perhaps." Their hands were still joined between their bodies which suddenly seemed to be miles apart. More than a gesture of comfort it looked as if they were taking a pulse on each other's will. There was no winner however, as she laughed humorlessly through her tears. "But are we going to pretend that you aren't too, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

Silence passed between them and for a while Sakura heard nothing but the soft noises of movement beyond their small room, of people going about their business, still unperturbed by the looming shadow hanging over their heads. For a moment, she closed her eyes in contempt. "The ghost paid me a visit today."

She felt rather than saw the way he tensed through their joined hands.

"What did she want?" He immediately asked.

Her mint orbs crossed over his on a display of annoyance. "You know? For someone who calls me stupid because of my overprotective tendencies, you sure are overprotective yourself." She mocked in hopes of annoying him in return. "I know you've been breathing down my neck every night to see if Suigintou came back or not."

"I was just looking out for the mission."

"The mission my ass!" She hissed, attempting to toss the mattress aside and get out of there, but his pale hand tightened around hers.

"What happened with the ghost, Sakura?" Even though he tried really hard to hide it, his worriedness spilled through his voice, his eyes slowly narrowed. Belatedly, Sakura would remember this moment and agree that this was the most predictable Sasuke had ever been, the most earnest. Later in life, if nothing changed, his indifference would carve a permanent path on his face, the emotional unavailability seeping from the outside to the inside, forever trapping the boy she had once loved into the man she had despised.

So, she told him, because she wanted to come clean for once, even though she wasn't yet convinced she could trust him fully. Everything excluding the fact that she had signed a summoning contract, that is. The naïve part of her wanted to believe he was still a good person, a good teammate, that things could change.

He tried to press her into telling Kakashi, but she rejected the idea instantly.

"I'll tell him myself, when I'm ready…"

Frowning, he retorted. "And when exactly will that be?"

"Soon, now shut up and sleep, Sasuke-kun."

A couple of minutes went by in silence.

"Sakura."

"What." She snapped.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?" She mocked him. She understood perfectly what he meant.

"The other day." He answered, abashed, trying to cover his expression by lying face down on the pillow.

"Yes, I had to."

"You know I can take care of myself, so I don't see why—"

"I think you misunderstand. I don't do it because I think you can't take care of yourself or because you're weak. I do it because I'll always have your back, just like I'll have Naruto's, no matter what." She muttered, but when she received nothing but ground-shattering silence, she decided to give up on the conversation, loosening the grip on her consciousness. In truth, she was fucking tired.

If she hadn't, she wouldn't have missed the way Sasuke stared at her.

…

By the time she woke up, Sasuke wasn't there. Sakura was relieved he wasn't. The thought of having fallen sleep by his side had her nervous, and his reaction too, as if their relationship wasn't strained as it was.

She got up with a sigh, ignoring the constant flux of movement outside of the room. Discarding her nightclothes and getting on her haori and leggings, she reached for the weapon pouch. The clock on the thin wall marked approximately two in the afternoon, meaning she had missed breakfast and lunch. Her only consolation was that she had the afternoon and evening to train, and she hoped it would be enough to master whatever jutsu Kakashi decided to teach her.

With a growling stomach, she decided to make a detour to the canteen, because if Gay ever heard of her training with an empty stomach, he would have her head. So, when she wrapped her weights around arms and legs, securing them with bandages, she went straight to Konno-san. The older woman received her with a charming smile. She served some miso soup, tempura and green tea. The tea was brewed so carefully that Sakura could taste the fresh leaves on her tongue.

"It's good, isn't it?" Konno-san smiled, her old wrinkles twisting on her face like the carved edges of a statue.

"I brough them myself. They come straight from the Land of Tea." Added a graver voice.

Sakura turned her head slightly, glass still in hand, to end face to face to Konno Hioshi, their client. The man wore a tunic, his grey hair marring his face but lacking on some spots. He sat down next to her; his cane left aside resting beside the counter.

"It's good to see you again, Konno-san. Your wife told me you would be away for the most part, so I didn't think I would be seeing you so soon…" Sakura forced herself to avert her eyes from the old couple. Konno-san, the innkeeper, had a sour look on her that conveyed just what she had told her that day: she was unhappy, and could barely contain the sadness and resentment on her face. Meanwhile, the old man sat beside her had a stare so blank it managed to upset her. How could he be so obnoxious. "And yes, the tea is delicious, as always."

He nodded. "Can you serve me a cup too, dear?" He asked his wife, tilting his head. Sakura exchanged a glance to the woman at the other side of the counter and saw the exact moment the woman repressed her feelings in favor of a customer service smile. She couldn't tell if he noticed or not. Maybe he did but couldn't bring himself to care.

"I trust the investigation is going well?" He was looking at her now.

"According to Kakashi-sensei, we are waiting on the Konoha ANBU to convey information about the shinobi we arrested the other day, but so far, so good." He nodded at her, still face blank.

"I'm glad you're okay, you had us worried."

"And I'm both grateful and sorry for that. I was told you were the one to fetch a medic for me…"

He discarded her thought with a wave of his hand. "It was the least I could do. I couldn't bear the thought of a youngling like you dying because of something I hired you to do." He sipped on his tea and stared at the green water glistening on his cup. "Shinobi are so fleeting, don't you think? As fleeting as they're deadly." The lines around his eyes seemed to crease, the fingers grabbing at the mug tightened slightly.

"Perhaps…" She took a spoon filled of soup, staring as the old man took the cup to his dried lips. "I intend to live as long as I can, though." She smiled at him, even though the man wasn't on her good graces.

They remained in silence, she eating at her food, deep in thought, and him finishing his tea with a relaxed tilt of his head each time he neared the cup to his lips. Eventually, the man stood, holding his cup, his wife now distracted with a costumer on the distance. "Best of luck, kunoichi. Please, tell Hatake-san to keep me informed. I'll be on town the remaining of the month." He bowed in departure, and she returned the gesture.

Sakura stared at his back as he strode away, gaze fixated on his limp and the cane supporting his weight.

…

Ever since she saw the scroll, she had been venturing out the compound. Kiba and Shino were always training with their respective clans, as she should, but she just couldn't straight walk to his father and demand him to teach her about the scroll, or what it said. So, with what little information she had gathered before she had to lace it down where it belonged, she ventured every evening into training grounds thirty four, which was nicely covered by trees, far enough from her clan's prying, all-seeing eyes.

The technique seemed complicated enough, especially if your movement range wasn't fluid enough with plain sixty-four palms technique. As she trained on dummies, she worked with the movements for a long time, sweating and straining her eyes so that the basic katas could be performed to perfection. She wasn't anything if not stubborn. By the fifth training day and night, both in front of her sister's plain sight and outside the compound, she managed to perfect her technique. She even started to narrow down the chakra used in every swing of her palm. Sometimes, it looked like a straight line.

By the time she got to work on the trigrams, the space the technique was supposed to cover, she realized something: she would have to cover the space in front and behind herself. To practice and get a feel of the space she had to cover, she would get extend her arms and waver chakra around. However, as she progressed, she realized something: her arms reached everywhere, carrying her chakraall over the place, because she was flexible enough not to turn around.

It took days to find out it was because her flexibility was superior that she didn't need to turn around.

"What kind of kunoichi do I want to be?"

Distantly, she wondered what would happen if the fine lines of chakra she had formed on her palms through sheer control could be applied to the new jutsu somehow.

…

She had fetched Kakashi, who was hoping to get a day worth of rest, since Sakura was supposed to be exhausted and Sasuke was off to train with his crazy overworking friend. Regardless, any hope of lounging by the onsen went out the window once Sakura barged in on his room.

With a heavy heart, he left with her towards their usual spot, wondering just what he had done to deserve such a fate, or what gods had he offended to have such a good student under his wing, regardless of what said student would be currently keeping from him. She seemed rested. Not well rested but rested enough. He had commented on that, just to spite her, but she didn't give in an inch. It was clear she was determined to get something done that day, even if her chakra was halfway through depleting —without counting the seal, of course—. He wondered at this point if her determination to be better had to do with the actual exams, her sudden need to do right by her teammates, or simply something more.

Because when he looked at her eyes, always so deceiving and guarded despite the childish demeanor, he always saw something more.

"Konno-san wishes to be informed about the current state of the mission, sensei. I guess we got nothing new, since you haven't gathered us up to debrief what the ANBU got from the captive…"

"And you guessed right. There hasn't been a move since the other day on the hospital, so all we can do is wait for more intel. Gai and I usually switch shifts at night to keep an eye on the building but so far nothing unusual has happened…" He sighed, amused to an extent. "I was kind of hoping for some excitement, with all these ghost stories lurking around."

At the mention of ghosts, Sakura tensed. Kakashi never mentioned anything without a purpose, but it wasn't likely that he knew anything. However, he was paranoid enough to start putting things into place on his own, evidence be damned, so she figured she was better off not giving him any reason to guess any further. With great care, she willed her body to relax, gaze fixated on Kakashi's lone eye, which was crinkling with amusement at that moment.

Her weights were taking down her breath and stamina just by wearing them because she wasn't using her chakra to keep them steady, so she was relying on raw muscle. Gai had intended her to do that since the beginning, but all habits die hard. The good news were that her base chakra pool had extended and that her control was further perfected at that point —if it wasn't already—, meaning she was more likely to propel chakra through her limbs without breaking any bones or shattering her poor fingers. Then again, now that she had to keep her chakra to whatever it was Kakashi had planned, she seriously regretted having relied so much on it. Especially now, considering Gai had added more weight on her limbs a few days ago.

"So, about that water technique…"

"Ah, ah." He extended his palm. "First, give my Icha Icha back." And even though his tone gave up some musicality to it, as if he was all dandy and friendly, she could hear the menacing threat underneath the multilayered sweetness.

She raised an eyebrow, suspiciously.

"Sakura. The scroll." The seriousness on his tone made her concede, rather begrudgingly, but still. Once he had the scroll bad he didn't waste a second to store it somewhere on his pouch.

"Will you teach me now, please?" She added for good measure.

"Sure, but I won't be teaching suiton to you today." He replied nonchalantly.

"What?! But—"

"Considering we have little time left to finish our mission and train, I've decided to show you something I know you'll learn much quicker and that will prove useful to you in the future, not just for Gaara." He explained, and as he was saying he could have sworn he saw stars dancing on her eyes.

"Really?! What is it?" If only he knew her excitement had to do more with the fact that he would teach her something —anything—…

"Genjutsu."

A.N: I hate this chapter so fucking much it's not even funny. Like, I can tell it's all fragmented and scattered and it wasn't my intention, but I had to get a move on with the plot to reach the meaty, interesting stuff. Probably next chapter or the one after that will be the end of this arc, so we'll go back to chuunin exams soon enough. I hope that's enough to keep you hooked! Hopefully… Because I could tell as I was writing this that I was gonna disappoint. Still, the plot must move forward and as much as this chapter is chunky and slow, I still felt like it needed to be done.

I'll try to update two times next month so I can make up for the wait of this monstrosity.

Thank you for your support, by the way. All your comments have been lovely so far and they had kept me motivated to keep writing even though I wasn't entirely convinced. Let me now if there is something salvageable from this last chapter, because I sure as hell don't think so.

Regardless, I hope you're all okay.

Rose-Colored Amy

Side Note: Btw, I have an account on both Tumblr ( rose-coloredamy) and on AO3 (Rose_Colored_Amy), where I post one-shots and shit I can't publish here because of the guidelines (namely kakasaku and sasusaku smut). Anyways, feel free to contact me there and please leave a comment if you did like the chapter (or if you didn't, lol).

*Jūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō — Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms