"Alright, you three focus on your tree climbing for a bit, while Hajime and I walk Sakura through a couple of more advanced exercises, and we'll focus on water walking later, ok?" Tomomi says that evening.
Once more they have booked one of the training grounds, though this one has a river with deeper water and faster currents, but still with plenty of little creeks with calmer waters.
Hiroshi and Takeshi scowl, sending her near-identical glares before obeying. Aimi does not glare, but hesitates anyway.
"Can I come too?" she asks, and after their day of bonding Sakura isn't entirely surprised. Aimi's been mostly amicable all day and Sakura has honestly been enjoying her company.
"Like I said, we're going to walk Sakura through some more advanced exercises-"
"But I'm almost as good as Sakura is now!" Aimi interrupts Tomomi. "Why can't I come too?"
Sakura stays quiet but gives Tomomi a questioning look. It's true, after all, that Aimi has improved greatly.
There is also a warm, fluttery feeling in her stomach at the knowledge that Aimi actually wants to spend time with her. To train with her.
"Your tree climbing skills aren't up to par for this exercise," Hajime interjects, his voice surprisingly gentle. "We'll show you too later, when you have reached Sakura's-"
"But what if I can show you that I'm good enough?" Aimi interrupts again, her face more determined now. "What if I show you that I can walk up that tree right there, just like she did yesterday?"
Sakura doesn't even try to hide the encouraging smile that tugs at her lips. Apparently 'the nail that sticks out gets hammered down' only goes so far, after all.
"Please give her a chance?" Sakura pleads, honestly wishing for Aimi to be able to join them.
Hajime looks at Tomomi, who smiles and gestures for Aimi to give it a go.
Hiroshi and Takeshi are staring. If Aimi notices she pretends not to as she confidently steps up to the tree, frowning slightly before starting to walk up it. About halfway up she falters for a moment.
"You can do it Aimi!" Sakura calls.
And Aimi regains her control and finishes her walk up to the very top of the tree before turning around and beginning a slow descent back towards the ground.
"See!" she says proudly once she's back on the ground. "I'm good enough!"
"It seems you are," Tomomi agrees. "Come along then."
With an order for the boys - who are now glaring daggers at both Sakura and Aimi - to get back to training, Tomomi and Hajime lead them a bit further into the forest, where the trees stand closer and taller.
Together they climb the trees, finding thick branches at about similar height to stand on as Tomomi explains the exercise.
"Running through the trees is roughly speaking an extension of tree climbing. It requires you to keep that focus of chakra in your feet for as long as you want your foot to stay on the branch, but release that focus at the right moment as you push off. Like this."
Tomomi shows them how she does it, moving slowly as she takes a small jump to a nearby branch.
"Release your focus too soon and you risk slipping, release it too late and you risk stumbling. Which at these heights," Hajime adds, pointing towards the ground, "is clearly something you want to avoid."
"Shouldn't we practise closer to the ground, just to be safe?" Aimi asks.
"That would be ideal, but branches closer to the ground are usually further apart and actually more difficult to run through," Tomomi explains. "Practising up here allows you to get a handle on jumping from one branch to another before we move on to the next step."
"And Tomomi and me are both here specifically to catch you if you fall," Hajime agrees.
Sakura, glancing down at the ground far, far beneath them, is more than a little bit relieved to have both Hajime and Tomomi here. She can easily see herself panicking if falling from this height mid-jump.
"What's the next step?" she asks, shaking her head to chase away the sudden fear of heights.
"Next step will be to increase your strides. As you can imagine, you won't always be running through trees as closely together as these, so you'll need to learn to consciously circulate chakra through your legs while also maintaining the focus of chakra to your feet. Like this."
Tomomi takes a large leap, landing on a branch much further away.
"Most shinobi already circulate their chakra throughout their body unconsciously, which allows you to be faster and stronger than non-shinobi. This exercise builds on that."
"Alrighty then, let's get started, shall we?" Hajime says, clapping his hands once Tomomi has returned to standing on the branch next to his. "Who wants to go first?"
Sakura glances at Aimi and their eyes meet. Aimi looks nervous, her face pale and her pupils dilated, so Sakura offers what she hopes is a comforting smile.
"I'll go first," she says.
When Aimi looks relieved she's certain that she made the right choice.
Taking a steadying breath she takes aim for a nearby branch. It's just a short leap away, barely more than a step, but she's acutely aware of how high up in the air they are.
"Tomomi and I'll catch you if you fall," Hajime reminds her.
She nods at the reassurance and takes the leap.
And lands perfectly steadily on the intended branch, feeling utterly ridiculous for her fear.
"Good," Hajime says. "Now do it again."
So she does.
"Again."
It feels surprisingly much like ordinary running. Like she's running through the streets, aiming for specific cobblestones rather than branches. The thought makes Sakura smile as she takes another jump.
"Again."
"Again."
"Again"
There is indeed a certain technique to focusing her chakra to her feet and releasing at the right moment, but as she speeds up she finds that it becomes more and more natural. Her release of focus has to come just a moment after she kicks off, just as her toes strain the most.
She runs in a little circle before returning to her original branch, looking up at last to face the others with a grin tugging at her lips.
"That was great, Sakura!" Aimi exclaims, and the fact that she doesn't even call her 'Forehead' just makes Sakura smile wider.
"Very good indeed," Hajime agrees, smiling back at her. "Seems like you're a natural."
"Just like your mother," Tomomi adds.
The last part adds a new warmth to Sakura's stomach, and for a moment it feels as if she'll explode with pride and joy. Then she recalls last night, and Hajime's reaction to her displaying her skills, and her smile falters.
"I'm sorry," Tomomi says. "I shouldn't have brought that up."
"No, that's ok." Sakura shakes her head. "I'm happy if I'm anything like her."
"Well, you are. She had excellent chakra control, though her health didn't really allow her to develop it as she could have."
"And my dad?"
Tomomi snorts.
"Kizashi certainly couldn't have done what you just did."
"He was a good man, but he certainly wasn't a genius," Hajime adds.
Sakura glances between them, taking in their smiles. Is there a tension in Hajime's jaw? A sharpness beneath the smile in his eyes?
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to gloat."
She averts her gaze, shoulders rising. So what if her mother had good chakra control too? She shouldn't be showing it in their faces like this, shouldn't be rejoicing in her growth without knowing where the parameters for normal are. She should've let Aimi go first, and then-
"There is nothing wrong with celebrating a victory," Hajime says. "You did good and you should be proud of that."
As she hesitantly glances up at him he reaches out to ruffle her hair, and she pulls away with a grimace. She really should start putting it up or something, so that it won't be so easily ruffled.
"My turn!"
Aimi grins at her and turns to find her own nearest branch, swallowing nervously. "Keep the chakra focused to the feet, then release as you push off," she repeats quietly, before doing just that.
The first step is wobbly, and Aimi almost slips before remembering to focus her chakra again.
"Good. Again," Hajime orders.
Still hesitant, Aimi obeys. She stumbles a little as she's too late to release her focus, but catches herself easily enough on the next branch.
"I'm doing it!"
"Yes you are, but don't lose your focus!" Tomomi cautions.
Just then Aimi slips on her next landing, her foot sliding on a piece of damaged bark before she can gain proper footing.
Hajime and Tomomi move immediately, both of them jumping to catch her, but Aimi manages to catch herself. Hanging by her arms from a branch she swallows nervously, her face pale as she looks from Hajime to Tomomi and then to Sakura.
"Please tell me you didn't see that, Forehead?"
Despite her worry a moment before, Sakura can't resist the urge to smile a little at Aimi.
"Saw what?"
They continue to practice after that, Tomomi staying close to Aimi and Hajime to Sakura. Jumping from branch to branch she quickly grows more and more confident, the ground no longer feeling quite so far beneath or Hajime's carefully watching eyes quite so judging.
She glances over at Aimi, curious to see what kind of progress she's making. Aimi is still focused on one jump at a time, Tomomi watching her every move and offering advice.
"Don't look away!" Hajime tells her, his voice a little bit stricter now. "Stay focused on what you're doing, or you'll fall."
There is a part of her that shies away at his tone, and another part that makes her want to roll her eyes. True, this isn't exactly easy, but like water walking it's not exactly hard either.
Except water walking is apparently meant to actually be difficult. She frowns at the thought, taking a slightly longer leap.
"Careful!" Hajime calls.
She glances over at Aimi again. Still struggling leap by leap, not leaping from one branch to another in quick succession like Sakura is. Is that how she's supposed to act as well?
Experimentally she slows down, taking each leap slower, focusing on when she needs to focus and release her chakra. It feels awkward. Like focusing on how her muscles move with every step.
"What's wrong?" Hajime asks, landing next to her.
Sakura shrugs her shoulders.
"I don't know. Am I doing something wrong?"
"Not as far as I can tell. You're doing really good, actually."
"Sorry."
"Why?"
Hajime doesn't sound angry or tense, but rather honestly confused.
Sakura shrugs again.
"I shouldn't be gloating."
"You're not."
She doesn't know what to say to that, and so she says nothing.
Hajime makes a frustrated noise.
"Look at me."
Reluctantly she does, steeling herself for his anger.
"What you did yesterday was gloating: throwing your skills in the faces of those who have been less privileged in order to make yourself feel better."
"Kakashi-sensei didn't really teach me much anyway," she defends herself quietly.
"Three students on one bad jounin sensei is still more than three on none. And it was your attitude, not your skills, that was the problem."
Sakura ponders that for a moment, watching Aimi as she continues to struggle.
"This pace you're seeing, you have to understand that it is an accelerated one," Hajime continues. "Tomomi and me weren't really going to introduce water walking for another couple of weeks just yet."
"So you did it because of me?"
Hajime nods, and Sakura isn't sure how to feel about that.
"Your presence is making the others push themselves harder. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing-"
Hajime gestures towards Aimi for emphasis.
"- but you also need to realise that not everyone will be able to keep up with that. When you gloat about your skills like you did yesterday, you might end up pushing others harder than they can manage."
"Like Hiroshi and Takeshi?"
"Exactly. There is a reason that we are all genin. You might not realise it, but a lot of the members of the Genin Corps can't actually do what you can."
"They can't?"
Hajime shakes his head. "Like it or not, this is the reality of the capabilities of most members of the Genin Corps, and as long as you are working with us you cannot look down on anyone less skilled than you."
Sakura thinks of Kakashi-sensei, of Naruto and Sasuke-kun. She thinks of Hiroshi and Takeshi and Aimi, and she thinks of adults - of fellow genin - that might not actually be able to walk on water or climb trees without using their hands, and she thinks she understands. Sakura is used to being the weakest link of team 7, used to being around powerhouses like Sasuke-kun, but that's also the elite-track. The Genin Corps are those that failed to impress their jounin sensei, who didn't have enough skill to manage the more intense pace of training. Arguably, Sakura never had those skills either, but she's so used to being around those that do that she forgot that she wasn't anymore.
She recalls her last disastrous training with team 7 and Sasuke-kun rushing ahead without a care for anyone else, without caring whether she was able to keep up or not. She recalls his willingness to continue on with the Chunin Exams, heedless of the risk to his teammates.
"I'll be careful," she promises quietly.
The last thing she wants is to push her new teammates too hard, to risk hurting them. If she needs to hide her skills in order to do that, then that's what she'll do. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, as Aimi told her just earlier that day.
"Which is not to say that you should hide your skills," Hajime says, matching her thoughts so perfectly she almost flinches. "You are good and you should be proud of that, and continue to train and become as good as you can. I'm sorry if I made you think differently."
She looks up at him then, meeting his gaze and seeing only sincerity there.
"So do my best, but be mindful of others?" she asks.
For some reason the image of Ino appears to her inner mind, such as she used to be back when Sakura and her first met: beautiful and popular, yet both kind and strong. Sakura thinks she'd like to become that kind of person.
"Exactly."
Hajime smiles at her and Sakura smiles back, then asks cheekily:
"Does that mean I can try some longer leaps?"
Something weary enters Hajime's eyes but he nods his agreement regardless.
Her mind more at ease after their conversation Sakura allows herself to focus entirely on the exercise at hand; at the rhythm of one leap after another, of the continuous thud of her feet against the branches and the focus-and-release of chakra.
The longer strides that come naturally with running from tree to tree means that she's moving faster, Hajime having to put more effort into keeping up with her. Her thighs take the brunt of the strain, quickly starting to burn with the strain of the semi-new movement.
"Don't just use your muscles to leap, use your chakra as well," Hajime tells her. "It will make it easier, and allow you to keep going longer."
Frowning in concentration Sakura tries to follow the instructions, thankful for the advice but struggling to figure it out while still running. She almost slips twice before she figures out how to maintain the focus of chakra to her feet while also running chakra through her legs. The effect is immediate, reducing the burn in her thighs and strengthening her muscles.
From one leap to another she gains what feels like an inordinate amount of power, overshooting her leap and missing her intended branch by several metres. Hastily she manages to catch herself on another, lower one.
"Careful!" Hajime shouts, sounding distressed. "Don't overdo it."
The advice proves to be sound. When Sakura pushes away again, aiming for a branch high above her to regain the height she has lost, her branch breaks beneath her from the force. It tumbles to the ground with a creak and she only reaches halfway to her goal thanks to it.
"See?" Hajime grabs her hand, saving her from falling and pulling her to safety on another branch. "Just like with tree climbing, you've got to use just enough chakra."
"Got it. Thank you."
It takes her another few minutes of running before she's somewhat confident, experimenting a little with how much chakra to use and how far she can leap. Soon enough she gets the hang of it and is able to keep a steady pace as they circle the training ground.
"Un-fucking-believable," Hajime panths beside her.
Sakura laughs and pushes herself to run just a little bit faster, enjoying the feeling of wind in her hair as Hajime scurries to catch up with her.
Not that much later Tomomi calls for an end to their exercise and they return to the clearing where Hiroshi and Takeshi are still practising their tree climbing skills. Hajime and Tomomi evaluate their progress before allowing Hiroshi to practise walking on water in one of the river's calmer creeks, while Takeshi is advised to either keep practising tree climbing or just walking on the wet rocks by the riverside.
With Sakura declared competent enough to practise walking on water on her own they split apart, Tomomi taking Aimi out onto the deeper parts of the river, where the current is faster and more treacherous, and Hajime supervising Hiroshi.
At first Sakura stays near Tomomi and Aimi, though she quickly starts to feel like a fifth wheel. Aimi doesn't really need two teachers, and Sakura doesn't really want the responsibility of pulling Aimi out the river if she fails, and so she ventures further away from them.
Instead she takes to jumping between the river and the nearby trees, practising the switch of her flow in chakra. From the river to the tree is easy enough, but back from the tree and to the river takes her a couple of tries to get just right. Soon enough she's able to land with only the barest of splashes beneath her sandals.
A yelp from the riverside draws her attention, and as she looks over she spots Takeshi slipping on the wet rocks. He falls to his knees, earning himself a rather nasty scrape judging by the curses he utters.
Sakura hesitates, glancing at the others. Hajime is busy guiding Hiroshi through a couple of very wobbly looking steps on the water, and Tomomi and Aimi are all the way out into the middle of the river, where the water is at its wildest.
"Do you want me to help you?" she asks, emboldened by her recent success at semi-befriending Aimi.
"Like you could be of any help!"
Despite his snarling and the glare he sends her way Sakura finds herself mostly unaffected. Takeshi's anger has nothing on Sasuke-kun's, she muses. Or Kakashi-sensei's for that matter. And she doesn't really like Takeshi at all, so it's not as if she truly cares what he thinks about her anyway.
"I helped Aimi figure it out."
"So what?"
"I could give you a couple tips. Help you figure it out as well."
"Like you could teach me anything! You're not that special, you know!"
"I know I'm better at this than you are."
His shoulders visibly tense and she has a moment to regret her frankness, before Takeshi is moving.
"Go to hell!" he growls, chucking a fist-sized rock at her.
She dodges it easily enough, seeing as he's still kneeling and his movements are sloppy.
"Takeshi! If you don't want help, just say so!"
Hajime's shout has both of them ducking their heads. When Sakura looks at him he meets her gaze and tilts his head to the side, indicating that she should back away. Shrugging, she does so, venturing out into the middle of the river instead.
Aimi waves briefly at Sakura before quickly returning her focus to the water beneath her feet. She's improving quickly, but she still gets uneasy as the current grows stronger, so Tomomi is guiding her as she practises.
A bit further up the stream from Aimi, Sakura stops, widening her stance and starting on her katas. She focuses on her breathing, on getting the movements just right and on keeping herself afloat. The last part doesn't really require much of her attention anymore, and so she finds her gaze wandering. Back towards Aimi, who's doing great. To Hiroshi, who's managed not to sink in for a couple of minutes now at least. And to Takeshi, who has now abandoned the riverside altogether and returned to practising to climb a tree.
Shifting into another series of katas, Sakura frowns to herself. Naruto and Sasuke-kun had gotten the basics in a couple of hours. Aimi had been a bit slower than that, but only by hours, and even Hiroshi is starting to get it. Not to mention how comparably easy Sakura herself had found the skill when she first tried it out. So what's Takeshi's problem?
As she continues to watch, trying to at least be a little discrete about it, he actually gets worse. Previously he'd been able to get about halfway up the tree, but now he's struggling to get even a third of the way up; his feet slipping on the bark, then the bark breaking beneath his feet before he slips again.
Over and over and over again.
Experimentally Sakura kicks off into a somersault, focusing her chakra in first her hands, then her feet, her hands then her feet again in rapid succession as she propells herself forward. Despite the strong current just beneath her, the surface of the water remains almost as steady as earth beneath both her feet and hands.
Takeshi takes a particularly bad tumble from the tree, landing on his behind. A quick glance around tells her that Tomomi is still busy with Aimi, and that Hajime is busy pulling Hiroshi out of the water.
"Your chakra output is too uneven," she tells Takeshi, slowly approaching him again.
"Well, thank you for telling me what I already know!"
Keeping her distance, mindful of the possibility that he might decide to throw another rock at her, Sakura frowns.
"Perhaps you should start with something easier?"
"Like what? Using my hands and climbing like a normal human being?"
Tilting her head a little, Sakura tries to think. Climbing a tree is obviously easier than walking on water, but what is easier than climbing a tree? Obviously Takeshi has enough chakra control to manage the basic Academy jutsu, since he did manage to graduate, but there must be some sort of step between those jutsu and climbing trees.
"Maybe," Sakura agrees hesitantly. "Focusing chakra to the hands is much easier than to the feet, which is why shinobi use hand seals to -"
"Spare me from your useless lecture! Get lost if you can't help!"
Resisting the urge to smirk, Sakura nonetheless raises an eyebrow at him.
"So you do want my help then?"
When he just glowers angrily at her she decides to take that as agreement.
"Can you get your hand to stick to the tree if you focus your chakra there? Like this?"
Stepping up to the nearest tree - not the one previously abused by Takeshi's lacking chakra control, but an unharmed one - Sakura shows him what she means. With a deep sigh Takeshi stands, brushes the dirt off of his slacks and slowly comes to stand next to her.
"Like this?"
She frowns at his hand, wishing that she could actually see his chakra.
"Can you tug at it without your hand moving? Like this?"
She tugs at her own arm, still focusing her chakra to the palm of her hand. The hand on the tree remains planted firmly on the bark, regardless of her tugging.
Biting his lip, Takeshi does the same - except his hand doesn't stay as firmly against the bark. Instead it moves, just a little at first but almost coming off entirely a moment later.
"Maybe start with this then," she suggests. "There are more tenketsu in your hands than in your feet, so it should be easier, and when you can stick your hands to the tree using only your chakra, then maybe you can move on to trying with your feet?"
Takeshi scoffs but obeys, quietly repeating his attempt with very similar results.
"How's it going?" Hajime asks, appearing next to them.
When Takeshi just grunts, too occupied with his exercise, Sakura turns to him and quietly replies;
"I think his chakra output is too uneven."
"Looks like you're right. I'm afraid I don't know many exercises in chakra control though. I'll ask Tomomi."
Watching Hajime's retreating back Sakura suddenly finds herself wishing for Iruka-sensei, or even Kakashi-sensei. Mostly Iruka-sensei, though. He'd always been able to find new ways to explain things, always finding new exercises for Naruto and the others who'd struggled. Even her, back when she was six and terrified to hurt herself on her practice-kunai.
Not that she's ungrateful to have Hajime or Tomomi teaching her either, far from it! They're far more attentive teachers than Kakashi-sensei, but although they have literal decades of experience on her they're still Genin. Still the same ranks as her. A jounin like Kakashi-sensei, or even a chunin like Iruka-sensei, would have a greater theoretical knowledge to pull from. Iruka-sensei in particular had always been able to figure out new, interesting exercises to keep even the likes of Naruto interested.
"Do you remember Iruka-sensei teaching us about chakra?" she asks, turning back to Takeshi as inspiration suddenly strikes her.
"What?"
She resists the urge to roll her eyes when he just frowns in confusion.
"Back when Iruka-sensei started teaching us about chakra, he showed us how to stick a leaf to our foreheads using only our chakra, remember?"
Pulling a leaf from the nearest branch she sticks it to her forehead, showing him what she means.
"You mean you actually used chakra for that?"
"Of course! You didn't?"
"No. I just got nervous and the leaf stuck to my sweaty forehead."
Takeshi looks sheepish as he makes the admission, and Sakura has to fight the urge to laugh at the mental image.
"Well, can you do it now?" she asks instead.
Even that much takes him a couple of tries before he gets it, and Sakura has to mentally shake her head. Takeshi managing to perform a clone jutsu good enough to pass the Academy graduation exam must've been a miracle. Even Naruto's chakra control seems strong in comparison.
"Good," she tells him when he finally has the leaf stuck to his forehead. "Try just keeping it there for a while. Then you can try sticking it to other places, like your cheeks or your chin, and then maybe try your hands?"
As Takeshi continues practising, making slow but semi-steady progress, they sit down on the ground. Sakura entertains herself by quietly mimicking Takeshi's efforts, sticking leaves to various places on her body; four on her forehead, two each on her cheek, one on her chin, another one on the top of her nose. Whenever Takeshi does something right she makes sure to tell him so, encouraging him to continue trying even though the exercise itself isn't very fun.
She places a neat row of leaves down each of her arms, from her shoulders down to the back of her hand, then another leaf in each of her palms before she just starts sticking them randomly to her chest, stomach and legs.
"Having fun?" Tomomi asks, startling Sakura.
Looking up she spots both Hajime and her standing over her, looking strangely amused.
"Yeah, Takeshi's doing great! Look!" she tells them, gesturing to Takeshi as he succeeds in focusing chakra to the tip of one of his fingers, his one leaf sticking even as a slight breeze tries to tug it away.
They both agree that he's indeed making great progress, which ironically makes Takeshi drop the leaf as he blushes at the praise.
"Anyway, it's getting late and we should be heading back," Tomomi says.
Looking up at the sky she's surprised to realise that it's indeed getting late.
"We're coming," Takeshi says, quickly standing and brushing the dirt off of his slacks again.
"You can practise with the leaf anywhere," Sakura tells him as they begin to head back. "I used to practise while walking to the Academy, and while doing my homework and everything. Drove my aunt crazy!"
The memory makes her smile. Aunt Kasumi hadn't been happy about her dragging leaves everywhere but her mother had encouraged her anyway, so Sakura had continued to practice until she'd grown bored with the leaves a couple of days later.
"Are you trying to camouflage as a tree, or what, Forehead?" Aimi asks, coming up on Sakura's other side.
Realising that she's still covered in leaves Sakura laughs sheepishly, releasing her chakra control and shaking herself to get them off.
"Thanks for the help, I guess."
Takeshi bows his head slightly, before running ahead to catch up with Hiroshi, who's soaking wet and stalking angrily back towards the Headquarters. Sakura is no longer entirely surprised when Aimi doesn't join them, but instead slings an arm around Sakura's shoulders.
"Takeshi can be prickly, but he's mostly alright."
"Yeah, I guess I'm starting to see that," Sakura agrees, pondering the strange boy. He'd thrown a rock at her, but then he'd gone a good while without insulting her and even thanked her after it all. "A bit different from how he used to be back in the Academy, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess." Aimi looks thoughtful for a moment. "Then again, that was a long time ago. I guess we've all changed a bit since then."
"It was four months ago."
Behind them Hajime laughs out loud. Sakura glances over her shoulder, noticing that both Hajime and Tomomi are watching Aimi and her with amused expressions.
"Four months is a long time! Besides, you're not the same now as you were back then, so my point still stands!"
"I'm not?"
"Of course not! You used to be a snooty know-it-all, and now it's almost like you're an actual human being, Forehead!"
It stings, hearing herself described like that, and her first impulse is to deny it. She'd been working her ass off back in the Academy, not only going to the same classes as everyone else but also her lady-lessons with aunt Kasumi in the evenings and weekends. And she'd been at the top of all of her academic classes and frankly been far from the worst in her practical classes, despite not having the same amount of spare time to practise as everyone else!
But then … maybe that's the point Aimi is making. Aimi wouldn't have known how hard Sakura had been working, how tired she'd been from staying up late studying after aunt Kasumi's lessons, how busy her mind had been with embroidery patterns and chakra theory and poetry memorisation and calculations of shuriken flight curves. Nor would she have seen how her hands grew calluses from spending hours handling kunai and shuriken in the day and then new calluses from hours and hours in the evening slaving over the koto, or how her body ached from the practical lessons in the Academy and then spending hours in posture-perfect sieza practising her tea ceremonies, calligraphy, flower arranging and so on.
"Well, you're different too," she mutters to Akemi, not quite ready to dive into that mess of self-reflection.
"And that's precisely my point! I'm different, you're different, Takeshi's different … the only thing that's still the same is that Sasuke-kun is still the hottest guy around!"
Which isn't untrue, despite Sakura's recent familiarity with his bad temper.
"Time moves on, seasons change, people grow up and the only thing that remains unchanged is girls pining over handsome boys, isn't that right, Tomomi?"
Both Aimi and Sakura glare back at the adults, and Tomomi gives him a shove that is just a little too hard to be entirely playful.
"Oh, shut it you uncultured beast! Girls grow up but you're still an idiot!"
Hajime gives Tomomi a look as if she's just stabbed him in the back and she playfully waves him off.
"Anyway Forehead, I was wondering if you'd teach me how to do that leaf-trick you did?"
"Don't tell me you stuck it to your sweaty forehead too?!" Sakura exclaims, appalled at the thought of more than one of her classmates having cheated like that.
"Ew, of course not! But I never did more than one leaf, like how Iruka-sensei showed us, so how'd you do it?"
"Well, try it!" As they pass by a tree Sakura reaches up, snagging a handful of leaves from it and handing it over to Aimi. "It's not really that difficult."
To her surprise Aimi is not the only one reaching for the leaves. Hajime and Tomomi do the same, and they proceed to spend the rest of their walk sticking leaves to their faces. By the time they reach the dormitories Aimi's got two leaves on her forehead and one on her chin, Hajime's got one on each cheek and Tomomi has one each on the fingertips of her left hand.
"Fun little trick," Tomomi comments as they dump the leaves outside before heading in. "Good job, Sakura."
"Harder than it looks though," Hajime grumbles.
On wednesday morning Sakura startles awake to the sound of glass shattering and a smoke grenade detonating. It's early enough that it's still dark outside, moonlight and the distant Konoha street lights providing just enough light to make out the explosively growing cloud of gas in her room.
Still sleep-groggy and bleary-eyed she rolls out of bed, away from the gas. Her legs get tangled in the blankets and with a grunt she hits the floor, scraping her elbows in the process. The pain pushes away some of the grogginess and she presses her face to the floor, pulling her pyjamas up to cover the lower part of her face.
Already the room is filled with thick smoke, but thankfully not as dense down on the floor. Between having her face pressed to the floorboards and her pyjamas acting as an improvised gas-mask, she's able to take a moment to orient herself.
Already the smoke burns in her throat and lungs but it must not be poisonous, or she'd be feeling a lot worse already. That is a small comfort, however, as the smoke itself is dangerous enough in a confined space such as her bedroom.
Finding the bed with her feet, Sakura tries to figure out exactly where on the floor she is before she starts crawling towards the door, continuing to keep her head down. Her lungs burn from the smoke and lack of oxygen, her mind a haze of fear and confusion and the overwhelming need to get out of here.
Though the room isn't ordinarily that large it takes far too much time for Sakura's comfort to finally reach the opposite wall, and when she does reach the wall she realises with dread that she's missed the door. However, fumbling around a little she soon finds it just to her left.
Taking as deep of a breath as she dares she then pushes herself up to her knees, reaching for the door handle and fumbles with the lock for a moment before finally pushing it open. The momentum of the push brings her falling forward as well, landing ungracefully on the floor again.
Above her the smoke is belching out, quickly filling the empty corridor, but down at the floor there is enough air for Sakura to take a deep, refreshing breath. The next moment some sort of thick liquid hits her and for a moment she thinks there's snow falling all around her.
Then the fire alarms start blaring, the loud BEEP BEEP BEEP jarring her already scrambled mind.
She pushes herself up to her knees, wincing as the thick, sticky liquid drips from her, slow tendrils flowing towards the parts of her that aren't already covered.
"What the-" she gasps, pushing herself to a standing and stumbling forward.
She's too slow to notice the door flying open right in front of her, and doesn't have the time to protect her face. Her eyes tear up and she instinctively reaches for her nose, stumbling backwards.
"Sorry, I didn't-"
The same liquid covering most of her body proves surprisingly slippery and she falls backwards, narrowly avoiding hitting her head as she does so. Then the next moment there's someone next to her, and she's able to identify that someone as Hajime through his worried voice rather than by looking at him through her teary eyes and the smoke still belching out of her room.
"Sakura! What happened? Are you alright?"
Finally the fire sprinklers come on, showering them in a steady stream of water.
"Let's get you out of here!"
Hajime's voice is barely audible above the BEEP BEEP BEEP of the fire alarm but Sakura allows herself to be picked up, relieved that she's at least no longer alone in this frightening, confusing mess. Uncaring about the sticky - and feathery? - stuff covering her she wraps one of her arms around his neck as he carries her away.
As she leans her head against his t-shirt covered chest the fabric is quickly colored red with blood from her nose.
"- covered in fucking tar and feathers?"
Thanks to the fire sprinklers the smoke is quickly clearing up, allowing Sakura to see that they're not the only ones in the corridor. A group of fellow genin are already checking out her room, someone using a wind-jutsu to clear the air whilst the majority work on safely evacuating.
Soon enough they're outside on the training field behind the dormitories and Sakura sighs in relief at the relative silence. There is a growing crowd of people, all of them dressed in pyjamas or dressing-gowns or even hastily wrapped in blankets.
"Hajime! Sakura! Are you ok?!"
Tomomi, who's room is on the floor beneath Sakura's, rushes over.
"I think we're fine," Hajime answers, gently putting Sakura down. "The nose looks to be the worst of it."
"Here, let me see."
Ever so gently Tomomi turns Sakura's head to face her, fingers ever so gentle as she examines her nose. Sakura winces anyway, already thoroughly done with this day.
"Doesn't look broken," Tomomi says at last. "Just bleeding a lot is all. Here."
Gratefully Sakura accepts the handkerchief handed to her.
More people are arriving around them, chunin and jounin in uniform coming to investigate, some of them rushing inside while others gather the people milling about outside into groups and starting to question them.
"What's happening? Is there a fire?"
Aimi comes running, Takeshi close on her heels and both of them sporting matching worried expressions. They turn first to Tomomi, who turns to Hajime.
"I don't know," Hajime says. "I woke up from the fire alarms, and then I think I accidentally slammed my door into Sakura when I left my room to investigate, and the corridor was full of smoke and -"
"Is that tar?" Takeshi exclaims, now staring at Sakura. "And feathers?"
Finally having a chance to collect herself, Sakura reaches out with an arm, discovering that it is indeed covered in feathers and tar.
"I think so," she groans, already despairing how difficult it will be to get the tar out of her hair.
"Sakura, can you remember what happened?"
Tomomi's voice is gentle but firm and Sakura forces herself to take a couple of deep breaths, trying to make sense of the unending confusion since she woke up.
"Haha, looking good there, chicken!" Hiroshi laughs, joining them. "An improvement from your usual looks!"
Tomomi and Hajime both glare disapprovingly at him but before they can rebuke him the fire alarms turn off and a jounin calls for everyone's attention.
"Alrighty folks, looks like the danger's over. Those of you who've got your rooms on the first and third floors can head back to bed. Those of you who've got rooms on the second floor, or who feel you might've seen what happened, please stay a bit longer."
Slowly the mass of people start to thin out as people obey the orders. Neither Tomomi, Aimi nor Takeshi move to leave though, glancing at Sakura before stepping closer. Almost protectively, she thinks wishfully. Only Hiroshi starts to leave, but Hajime grabs his arm to hold him back.
"Stay."
"But I'm on the third floor, remember?" Hiroshi objects.
"Stay."
Hajime's voice brokes no argument. Hiroshi huffs and looks supremely annoyed but obediently stays.
A door slams open on one of the other wings of the Genin Corps' Headquarters, and out storms Commander Hatake. Sakura notes with worry that he's leaning heavily on his cane and visibly wincing with every step. Before he has to venture too far out the jounin and chunin hurry to gather around him though.
Sakura shivers, suddenly feeling cold. July is usually warm but given that the sun has not even risen yet there is no warmth in the air, and she's soaked with water on top of the tar and feathers. Tomomi gives her a sympathetic look.
"Hopefully we won't have to stay out here much longer."
The Commander, the jounin and the chunin confer for a few minutes before their group starts to split, most of them leaving until only a handful of them remain.
"Looks like a smoke grenade exploded in one of the bedrooms," Commander Hatake says, addressing them all now. "The smoke set off the fire alarms, which accidentally also set off some of the sprinklers. If your room was not affected and you've not seen anything important you're free to return to your rooms."
The majority of the remaining genin shuffle back towards the dormitories, casting curious looks at Sakura and her group. Sakura clenches her jaw and refuses to duck her head.
"You heard the Commander. Can I go now?" Hiroshi asks dryly, pointedly glaring at Hajime's hand, which is still wrapped around his arm.
"No."
"Look, if the rest of you want to stand around out here in the middle of the night that's fine, but I'm freezing, so if you'll excuse me-"
"And yet you're the only one here properly dressed," Hajime points out, his voice ice-cold. "One could almost think you'd actually had the time to get dressed before all of this happened."
Hiroshi pales at that and tries to tug his arm free, but Hajime holds firm.
"Sakura," the Commander says, walking towards their group at a more sedate pace than before, "I understand all of this started in your room. Can you tell me what happened?"
Still acutely and suddenly aware that Hajime is completely right, Hiroshi is the only one actually dressed to be outside at this time of day, Sakura tries to gather her thoughts, ignoring the sinking sensation in her stomach. Hesitant at first she recalls the morning's events, starting with waking up to her room filling with smoke and stopping with her door apparently somehow being booby trapped to cover her in feathers and tar. The Commander and the remaining group of chunin and jounin look grim as they listen to her brief story.
"I see," he sighs when she's done. "Any idea who might want to harm you?"
Glancing at Hajime, still holding on to Hiroshi, Sakura shakes her head slowly.
"Hiroshi must've done it," Aimi speaks up, startling Sakura. "Why else would he be the only one actually dressed right now?"
"Maybe because I was going for a walk?" Hiroshi snarls back. "Since when is that a crime?"
"You were cursing over her yesterday," Takeshi adds, stepping closer to Aimi and glaring at Hiroshi. "Making fun of her for that thing she did with the leaves, saying that someone ought to "put her in her place properly", as you put it. You even said you had a couple of ideas for more "fitting" things to cover her with."
"You're lying. Besides, that wouldn't mean that I did it anyway!"
"But you did, didn't you?" Aimi insists. "You're always going on about her being a foreigner, complaining about her like you're-"
"I haven't done anything! You're just making things up!"
"Aimi's right though! And it's one thing to talk, but to attack a fellow Konoha shinobi-"
"She's no Konoha shinobi!" Hiroshi interrupts Takeshi, his voice rising to a shout. "People like her don't deserve to wear a headband, and she never should've been allowed to even go to the Academy like a real shinobi!"
"People like what?" Aimi demands loudly, glaring daggers.
"Like her -"
"Like what? Say it!"
"Fucking Uzu-scum!"
Whether it is because no one really expects Aimi to move, or because no one really cares to stop her, a moment later Aimi's fists connect with Hiroshi's face, sending him stumbling backwards. Hajime releases his grip at last, allowing Hiroshi to fall to the ground in a heap, grasping his now very bloody nose.
"You bitch!"
"Don't you fucking dare insult us Uzushio-folks, you scumbag! I'm tired of listening to you-"
Tomomi places a hand on Aimi's shoulder, gently holding her back from continuing her attack.
"I think that's enough for now."
Sakura can only stare, her throat suddenly tight and her eyes tearing up again at the fact that not only is Hajime and Tomomi on her side, but so is Aimi and even Takeshi.
"I think we've heard enough, for now," the Commander states quietly.
He dips his head, indicating Hiroshi, and one of the chunin at his side steps forward, pulling Hiroshi back to his feet and leading him away.
"I'll have someone clean up your room, Sakura," the Commander continues. "Why don't you go take a bath in the meantime? Take the morning off and sleep in for a bit too."
"I'll help you wash your hair, if you'd like," Tomomi offers.
"Me too!" Aimi says.
And so it is that after such a horrible morning Sakura finds herself herded by Tomomi and Aimi towards the showers. The last thing she sees before going inside, throwing a last look over her shoulder, is the Commander and Hajime talking, both of them looking grim.
Washing the tar and feathers out of her hair does indeed wind up taking forever, even with the help of both Tomomi and Aimi. Sakura is grateful for their help, certain that without them she would've ended up taking scissors to her hair.
By the time she makes her way back to her room her skin is red from scrubbing, the sun has risen and breakfast must be well underway in the mess hall. Sakura hesitates briefly, looking at her freshly made bed and the patched up window, before getting dressed in her uniform and heading downstairs.
She finds Takeshi sitting on his own by a table and quietly joins him. They sit in mostly comfortable silence until Tomomi and Aimi join them as well. When Hajime appears a little bit later, he too washed and dressed, it almost feels like having their complete group gathered, despite Hiroshi's notable absence.
"The Commander has given us a choice," Hajime says towards the end of the meal, producing two mission scrolls from a pocket. "Either we can clean and repair the public playground near the Academy, or -"
He pauses for dramatic effect, his eyes shining as Sakura and the others reluctantly lean forward in anticipation.
" - or we do a C-ranked hunting for a wild boar causing trouble in a village about one day's run from here."
Despite the bad start to the day Sakura feels herself growing excited at the prospect of a C-ranked mission. Her first! And outside the village too!
"I think I can see which we prefer," Hajime chuckles. "Just to be sure though; Aimi?"
"The C-ranked of course!"
"Takeshi?"
"I'm with Aimi. The C-ranked."
"Sakura?"
He smiles at her, and there's a layer of something else beneath the amusement. Something a little bit hesitant, but also understanding, and she just knows that if she were to say no he'd accept it and they'd all stay in Konoha and fix that playground. Which might be good and wise, considering her rough start to the day, but not at all what Sakura really wants.
"The C-ranked one," she tells him. Then she swallows, suddenly a little bit apprehensive too. "I've never done a C-ranked though."
Nor has she been outside of the village, but that just seems obvious given her previous admission.
"You haven't?" Takeshi exclaims. "But even we've done a couple!"
"Yeah, I thought those with a jounin-sensei were on the fast track towards chunin?" Aimi agrees.
Embarassed by their surprise Sakura ducks her head, but remembering how they'd both stood up for her earlier she quickly raises her gaze again.
"Well, I haven't. We did get one, I just … I couldn't go, that time. And apparently they ran into some S-ranked missing-nin and nearly died fighting them, so I guess Kakashi-sensei wasn't too keen on taking us on another mission outside the village."
Tomomi whistles quietly at that. "Damn. The first time doing a C-ranked is usually tough, but that's probably some of the worst I've heard of a mission going wrong."
"At least since the war," Hajime agrees. "No worries though. This is just a wild boar. Not even a ninja-boar."
"Then why is it even a C-rank?" Takeshi wonders.
"Because these villages are super-important in making sure that Konoha has proper food rations in case of a war. We can't let a boar destroy their harvest."
"We'll need some packing then," Tomomi states. "We'll be gone at least two nights, possibly more if the boar proves troublesome. Do you all know what to pack?"
Sakura nods along with Aimi and Takeshi, feeling the anticipation rising within her.
"Alright then, time for you to stretch your wings a little, Pinky."
They finish their breakfast and head back to their rooms to pack.
An hour later they're heading out.
Sakura doesn't even realise that today is the day that the second stage of the Chunin Exam finishes.
The chunin-messenger finds Kakashi just after lunchtime and delivers the message from the Hokage; emergency gathering of the jounin. Now.
To which Kakashi has only two words for an answer: No. Busy.
The poor chunin looks flustered but reluctantly leaves to deliver Kakashi's answer.
Sasuke gives him a questioning look, but when Kakashi nods for him to return to training he easily lets the issue go.
He's improving, Kakashi notes. There is nothing easy about learning to focus enough chakra into one's hand to get a visible manifestation of it, and then also changing the nature of said chakra on top of that, but Sasuke is making steady progress. Though they have been at it for days, Sasuke's improvement is quite frankly remarkable.
The ironic part is that the more progress he makes, the more painful the training gets. The more chakra he's able to gather in his hand, the stronger the electric current he's able to generate, the more effectively it fries the skin and flesh of his hand and lower arm. Not to mention the toll it takes on his chakra reserves, or the mental focus the jutsu takes.
As the pain finally grows severe enough to break Sasuke's focus the boy stumbles backwards, cursing and holding back tears. The tears are a perfectly natural, physical reaction to the pain of having one's skin slowly peeled off. Unfortunately the only way to stop the jutsu from hurting the skin is to build up thicker skin and learn to control the jutsu better, both of which require continued practice.
"You're doing good," Kakashi tells him.
"Not good enough."
Sasuke's voice is a growl, and with furious determination he wipes the tears away and starts over.
Kakashi can only watch and provide pointers wherever possible.
The two ANBU-agents do not try to hide their approach, which is smart of them. Kakashi is tense enough - and sleep-deprived enough - to attack first and ask questions later.
"Boar," he quietly greets the first one as they appear next to him, masked and draped in cloaks despite the warmth of the summer afternoon. "Fox."
He's not particularly familiar with either of them, but Boar is a fellow ANBU-captain and Fox is new but said to have some healing knowledge.
"We're here to relieve you, Hatake," Boar says, straight to the point.
If he recognises Kakashi as Hound without the ANBU-mask he does not show it, as is protocol. Kakashi has some idea of who Boar might be behind the mask, but he's not certain and it's against the rules to investigate. Formally Kakashi only really knows the identities of his own ANBU-team.
"Are you now?"
Kakashi's voice is dry and he's still not really looking at them. Instead he's looking at Sasuke, who is too focused on the jutsu to have noticed the new arrivals.
"Hokage's orders."
"It's an emergency. You're to attend the jounin meeting," Fox adds. He sounds young. Not pre-puberty young, but late-teens young - which is still a lot older than Kakashi was when he joined, and yet the impatience and inexperience he displays by offering the unnecessary clarification indicates that he's a new recruit.
"You don't say?" Kakashi drawls.
Wordlessly Boar tilts his head, acknowledging his subordinate's inexperience. Fox subtly straightens his posture.
Kakashi does not move to leave.
They stand in a quiet stand-off, Fox growing more and more fidgety until he finally breaks and speaks again.
"Are you going to disobey the Hokage's orders?"
Very new then, Kakashi deduces. Possibly even plucked from the ranks of chunin.
Despite the masks and the cloaks Boar radiates a faint amusement.
"Disobeying the Hokage's orders would be insubordination," Kakashi points out, and Boar is definitely further amused.
Fox is less so.
"So are you going to do it or not?"
With something between a growl and a whine Sasuke loses control of the jutsu at last, and the chakra fizzles out. Gasping he falls back, allowing himself to land on his back in the soft grass.
"Time for a break," Kakashi states, reaching for the bottled water and stepping up to Sasuke.
With a grunt Sasuke accepts the bottle, pausing with it halfway to his mouth as he finally notices their company.
"I have an errand to run," Kakashi continues. "Shouldn't take too long, and Boar and Fox here will keep you company."
As expected, Sasuke's eyes narrow suspiciously.
"Why?"
Because there might be a Sanin running around, looking for an opportunity to carve out Sasuke's eyes. Not that Sasuke knows that much, of course.
"Oh, you know, in case you need help with anything."
"I don't need a babysitter."
Kakashi smiles behind his mask.
"Perhaps not, but you'll play nice with them anyway, ok?"
Instead of answering Sasuke gives the two ANBU-agents another long, suspicious glare before finally taking a swig from the bottle.
"Good. And just to be on the safe side-"
He brings his hands together in a series of familiar seals, quickly producing a shadow clone.
"- I'll leave a babysitter for your babysitters."
Boar makes a noise suspiciously like a chuckle, while Fox lets out something like an indignated squeak.
Finally, reluctantly, Kakashi hurries off towards the meeting of the jounin.
He should've known Boar's amusement was suspicious. And he really should've been suspicious about the cloaks, conveniently blocking all traces of their scents.
Screw Kakashi, Sasuke thinks. Actually, screw Kakashi, his stupid clone and his stupid babysitters! And just for good measure, screw the idiot and, more than anything else, screw her!
Cursing loudly as another blister bursts - painfully so, the damn things only seem to get worse - Sasuke resists the urge to stomp his foot in anger and glares at his audience. They've retreated some distance away, standing in the shadow of a tree now as they watch him train. Watch him fail.
No wonder Kakashi won't trust him to be alone for even a couple of minutes of training. He's been watching Sasuke continue to fail and fail and fail and fail all over again for almost a week now! Of course he doesn't think Sasuke is capable of anything after all that!
Kakashi can say whatever he wants about understanding where he's coming from and having seen revenge lead people to disaster before, Sasuke can't afford to be distracted. He needs to get stronger and he needs to avenge his clan.
The memories, as always, are painful, wrenching his heart in all kinds of terrible ways. His mother and father, laying in a pool of their own blood. In their own home. The familiar, safe streets of the Uchiha Compound turned nightmarish from long, dark shadows, pools of red and bodies splayed about.
So many bodies. So many dead, slaughtered beyond recognition.
Sharingan-red eyes.
Worse still is the voice, always ringing in his mind whenever the memories float to the surface of his awareness. Foolish little brother. There is no value in killing the likes of you.
He clenches his hands into fists, yet the painful blisters are not enough to distract him.
If you want to kill me, curse me! Hate me! Cling to your pitiful life.
He bites his teeth together, hard enough to give himself a headache. It still isn't enough.
And then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me.
It has been years already. He has the eyes, the sharingan, but he knows plenty well that he's not nearly strong enough. Participating in the chunin exams might have given him a chance to measure himself against others, to grow stronger and gain actual experience. If she hadn't intervened.
Just thinking about it makes him furious. She might just be his second most hated person, right after him. The idiot is an idiot of course, but he's at least useful sometimes. And Sasuke won't ever say so out loud but the idiot even has his surprisingly strong moments. That's another reason that he needs to become stronger. He can't let the idiot win.
Foolish little brother … He knows only one way to deal with that pain, to silence that voice. With a quiet growl he widens his stance again, focusing on his hand and on gathering his chakra there.
"My, my, aren't you a busy one."
The voice - slow and teasing, sickeningly sweet yet somehow dangerously sharp - catches him by surprise. Looking up he quickly identifies the source as the taller of the two ANBU-guards. Except he's no longer standing where he was, but now he's just a few steps away from Sasuke.
"What do you want?"
"Rude little thing, aren't you?"
Slowly the man reaches out to remove his mask, revealing a vaguely familiar face. Pale, with black eyes and long, black hair framing it. About 18, Sasuke guesses, and for some unfathomable reason sporting a headband with the symbol of Kusugakura - Hidden Grass Village. It is the headband that finally makes it click for Sasuke.
This person was taking the Chunin Exams.
Which begs the question; what is he doing here now, disguised as Konoha ANBU?
As if sensing Sasuke's rapidly growing unease, the stranger smiles. The smile is purely predatory and Sasuke resists the temptation to look around nervously, suddenly feeling as if he's the prey unknowingly caught in a trap he has yet to even identify.
A quick glance tells him that the Kakashi-clone is still standing under the tree, looking perfectly relaxed. Probably caught in some sort of genjutsu then. No help coming from him, and the other ANBU-agent is either equally useless or in league with this one.
Sasuke is on his own. Defiantly he raises his chin, glaring demandingly at the other shinobi. If he's expecting Sasuke to cower in fear he's sorely mistaken!
"You disappointed me, you know?" the man continues. "I had hoped that you would pass the first stage of the exams, and that we could meet during the second."
The thought of her only makes him more angry. His anger must be visible on his face, because the stranger chuckles quietly.
"I see you're quite displeased with your little teammate. Quite understandable, I assure you. Some connections only serve to hold you back, regardless of what your teachers might have taught you. It is better to cut such ties as soon as possible."
"Again, what do you want?" Sasuke demands, refusing to soften in the face of the other's attempt at flattery.
How long will it take Kakashi to get back? Will he even be able to figure out that something is wrong, or will he too be caught in whatever genjutsu is affecting his clone? Are there any actual ANBU-guards on patrol around here, or is Sasuke the only one available to deal with this impostor?
Probably not just a regular genin, he decides, looking at the older man. Skilled enough to trick Kakashi and catch his clone in a genjutsu. Probably chunin or even jounin, but how can someone with long hair like that be a serious shinobi?
He refuses to think of any other shinobi with long, dark hair. Other shinobi he used to look up to, to admire, love even.
"Since we didn't get a chance to properly meet during the exams I thought I would approach you here instead. Though it took some arranging to get your sensei out of the way."
So the man had been watching him then. Mentally Sasuke curses at Kakashi. Where is he when he's needed? Not that Sasuke needs protection, of course. The mere thought makes him scoff. He just doesn't like this feeling of being prey.
"I've heard so much about the sharingan, and I wanted to see for myself if it was all true."
That catches his attention for real. Who is this guy, coming to Konoha and thinking that he knows so much about his kekkei genkai? The sharingan has a reputation, true, but the look in the older man's eyes isn't one of respect, but rather more like hunger. Greed.
"So what do you want?" He's repeating himself but it all comes down to the same question, doesn't it? Balling his hands into fists, Sasuke makes a decision. If he doesn't get a straight answer this time he'll beat the stranger into a pulp, consequences be damned.
"Let's begin then," the other shinobi smirks, lowering his chin and giving Sasuke an intently focused look.
Cold washes over him like someone has suddenly decided to dump a lake over him, freezing him in place. Breath escapes him and he struggles to get enough air, lungs feeling like they're being squeezed empty of every last breath of his.
He's going to die.
The realisation is all encompassing, blinding him to everything else as his mind is filled with images of how he's killed in various gruesome ways.
Why did he antagonise this guy? It's stupid to think that he has as much as a chance against someone like … He's less than a rabbit before a tiger, so outclassed that there's not even a point in trying …
He stumbles, legs suddenly feeling weak like noodles but somehow managing to remain standing.
Some sort of illusion? It's a desperate, stray thought just before his stomach protests and heaves. He hasn't had dinner yet but this time he does fall onto his hands and knees, dry heaving and emptying his stomach of what little remains of his lunch. His throat burns, his eyes and nose sting and his whole body is trembling with the knowledge of how pathetically powerless he is.
No, just a killing intent, he thinks when he finally stops dry heaving. The stranger still hasn't approached him, just stands there looking completely relaxed and watching him crawl in his own weakness. Trying to stand he finds that his legs won't carry him and he falls back, landing on his behind and unable to look away from the stranger.
Zabuza was nothing, he realises. This is what true power is.
He has to run. There is no fighting an enemy like this. Like the rabbit before the tiger his only hope is to manage to run quickly enough and be able to find somewhere to hide until the tiger loses interest in him.
His body won't obey him.
Run! he orders it, but his limbs just tremble in response.
The enemy chuckles. "You already can't move?"
Run! Move! Anything! It's a desperate chanting in his mind, every instinct he has trying to urge him to do whatever it takes to survive. He'll kill me if I don't move! Probably kill him regardless, but definitely so if he doesn't move!
Slowly, his hand creeps towards his kunai holster, trembling enough that he can't even flip it open at first. He's still struggling to breathe and his fingers feel stiff with fear but somehow he manages to grasp onto a kunai handle. The cold metal against his fingers manages to ground him somewhat, giving him enough courage and power to ever so slowly get first on his knees and then standing on his feet. He doesn't look away from the enemy for a moment, unable to tear his gaze away.
Even if he can only move a little bit …
Move! Run!
"What are you going to do with that?" the enemy asks. Amused. Like Sasuke is nothing but a child playing with a toy he can't yet understand. Like he's no threat at all. And of course, in his current state he isn't.
Move!
"Relax, I will end things here quickly. You won't suffer for too long."
Slowly beginning to walk forward, closer to Sasuke's huddled form, the enemy draws a single kunai. It glints dangerously in the evening sun, promising death more certainly than any words. Sasuke trembles, unable to move now that he's standing.
"I wanted to have a little more fun. Now I'm disappointed."
With those words the enemy raises his hand, a confidently wide-open move leaving him vulnerable to attacks, and sends the kunai flying through the air with deadly precision.
Sasuke sees the kunai coming.
He knows that he has to duck but can't make his body obey.
He'll die.
The pain of his own kunai burying in his thigh manages to distract him from the sheer terror keeping him frozen in place. He doesn't have time to wonder how or when he stabbed himself, he just moves, sharingan flashing.
A moment later the enemy's kunai pierces the air where he just stood.
He doesn't look back. He runs - as fast as he can, with no thought of pride or honour or the pain in his leg. This is about survival. There is no time for thinking, only for instincts and actions.
After a few moments of dashing through the underbrush of Konoha's woods he dives for cover behind an uprooted tree. An obvious hiding place but he can't be picky, still blindingly terrified and with a kunai sticking out of his thigh.
Panting, the sound of his own heartbeats deafeningly loud in his ears, he presses himself against the cool earth of the uprooted roots. Birds chirp some distance away, the sound obnoxiously loud in the otherwise silent forest.
If the enemy is after him Sasuke can't hear him. That does not mean that he's safe by any means, but for now it'll have to do.
Grunting quietly he pulls the kunai out, grimacing as blood splatters around him. The sight is more than a little disturbing. Fighting the urge to be sick again he quickly tears a strap of fabric from his shirt, fastening it around his tight to create an improvised compression bandage.
Now what?
Looking around he tries to orient himself, figure out where he is. There were no conscious thoughts of direction when he fled earlier and it shows now. He ran in the complete opposite direction of the village, further into the forest. The nearest chunin guard station is about a kilometre away, back the way he came.
He has to keep running. But where, and how? The shortest way to safety is guaranteed to lead him back to that foreign shinobi. At the same time he can't stay hiding either. He'll be found soon enough.
If not for the overwhelming terror he'd be embarrassed how easily the giant fucking monster snake manages to sneak up on him. The shriek that escapes him is … not stoic or manly or worthy of any Uchiha at all, yet entirely proportional to just how ridiculously huge the thing is.
Panicking, he pulls out a bunch of shuriken and sends them flying towards the snake. It's not exactly on par with his usual skill, but he does manage to keep his head cool enough to aim for the eyes. Mostly.
"Don't get near me!"
He follows it up with a barricade of kunai covered in explosive tags, one of which manages to go straight into the beast's open, roaring mouth and into the throat. Bringing his hands together Sasuke triggers the seals, causing the tags to explode. The snake rears backwards, hitting its head on a solid tree trunk and goes slack, falling across the tree Sasuke is hiding beneath. He jumps, narrowly avoiding being crushed by it.
Not about to trust the monster to be dead yet Sasuke lingers uncertainly, crouching on a nearby tree trunk and ready to flee at the first sign of movement.
He is not prepared to see the very skin of the snake start to crack up, shattering outwards as the shinobi from earlier literally climbs out of the snake's body. Thanks to the sharingan the disgusting sight will be forever burned into his mind with crystal clear details, down to the disgusting blood and slime covering the other.
"You can't let your guard down. Prey like you need to strain their minds, paying attention every second in the presence of a predator." The shinobi smirks again, clearly comfortable in his role as predator.
Fuck! Sasuke curses in his mind, desperately trying to come up with some sort of plan. Any plan. Shouldn't this fight have allerted some sort of security anyway? If he can just keep the other shinobi occupied for long enough perhaps village reinforcement will arrive.
It's his only hope, though it makes for a hopelessly bad plan. Step 1, stay alive. Step 2, hope reinforcements will arrive and save his ass.
Useless. Weak. Foolish little -
Chuckling, no doubt able to read the desperation practically reeking off of him, the enemy eagerly licks his mouth with a tongue that is far too long to be natural. Sasuke stares, fascinated and disgusted in equal measures.
Then the shinobi is moving and this time it is nothing like how a human enemy might move. No, instead he throws himself forward, body elongating to slither around the trunk of the tree Sasuke is standing in, in a mimicry of the now definitely dead snake.
Dodging the attack Sasuke jumps from tree to tree, closely followed by the snakelike human. Another barrage of shuriken has no effect other than making the enemy chuckle in amusement.
Run! Get away from this thing! he thinks desperately, continuing to dodge and trying to outrun the oncoming attacks.
Foolish little brother, another voice echoes in his mind. Cling to your pitiful life. Run … Run …
He can't continue running! Not if he ever wants to avenge his clan, not if he truly wants to grow stronger.
Not if he wants to stay alive.
In a split second, Sasuke makes a decision.
On his next landing on a tree he turns, and then he's charging straight at the enemy. A roar escapes him, part terror at what he's doing and part determination. His sharingan is still flashing, making everything seem clearer than normal.
Again he sends a barrage of kunai which the enemy easily dodges. Sasuke allows the momentum of his jump to carry him forward, using it to strengthen the kick he aims at the enemy's head.
His kick is effortlessly blocked with a forearm. Not about to let that discourage him Sasuke follows up with another kick and a series of blows until he once again finds himself with his feet firmly planted on the ground, exchanging a quick round of kicks and punches with the enemy.
It is clear already that he is outmatched but thanks to the sharingan he is able to follow the enemy's movements, to keep up even, and dodge the attacks aimed his way.
"Sadly I don't think we have that much time for you to show me your strength, little rabbit," the enemy taunts, still sporting that same, amused face. "Though you are definitely of the Uchiha Clan."
Faster than even the Sharingan can follow, the enemy finds an opening in his guard, grasping Sasuke's forearm with deceptively delicate fingers, and then he finds himself thrown through the air.
From the corner of his eye he catches a glimpse of silver, and there's the by now very familiar sound of numerous chirping birds, accompanied by the flickering of electricity in the air.
Sasuke has a moment of reluctant relief as he twists in the air, coming to a skidding landing just in time to see Kakashi charging at the enemy.
"Sasuke, run!"
Despite the order he finds his feet frozen in place as he stares at the two powerful shinobi in anticipation of seeing the chidori's true power.
"I'm not interested in playing with you, little mongrel!" the enemy snarls, his face contorted in fury and annoyance.
Then he strikes, once more too fast for Sasuke's Sharingan to follow.
The shadow clone goes up in smoke, the chidori fizzling out to nothing.
As Sasuke watches in horror, the enemy rolls his shoulders and turns back towards him.
"Let's finish this before anyone else decides to interrupt, shall we?"
And with those words he attacks, Sasuke struggling to follow the blows and kicks and react quickly enough to block or dodge.
Kakashi's clone was taken out with a single hit, too quickly for Sasuke to even get a good look of what happened. That means that whoever the enemy is, they still aren't taking Sasuke seriously. They're humouring him. Toying with him.
With a growl Sasuke dodges a barrage of kunai coming from different directions, throws himself to the side and then quickly flashes through the hand signs for his prefered fireball jutsu.
It's a direct hit and he quickly follows it up with another fireball, spewing fire for all his life is worth. Literally. The heat is intense, burning at his cheeks and lips but years of training allows him to ignore the slight discomfort.
When the fire dies down the enemy once again charges at him, in snake style along the ground, seemingly completely unharmed.
What the ..? He jumps backwards, dodging the attack whilst staring in horror. How could anyone survive two direct hits with his fireball jutsu, much less completely unharmed?
Doesn't matter!
Try again.
There must be some way to kill it!
Some sort of wind jutsu catches him off guard while he's still in the air, unable to dodge properly. The force of it throws him roughly into a nearby tree, the force of it making the tree crack under him and Sasuke groans with pain. That'll be one impressive bruise if he manages to survive this.
Before he can collect himself the enemy is there again, following the jutsu up with a series of kicks and blows. Sasuke blocks but his movements are sloppy, too slow and he's still too disoriented. In desperation he manages to drop a few paper bombs just before he is once again thrown into a tree.
It takes the breath out of him and for a few moments he lays crumpled on the ground, struggling not to fall unconscious.
"That was too easy. You're not really living up to the name of Uchiha, are you?"
The enemy stands over him, mocking and ready to deal the killing blow. Every part of his body hurts, his lungs burning with the effort it takes to breathe.
"I'm going to crush you like a bug -"
With pure willpower he manages to bring his hands together, activating the paper bombs. The blast hits the enemy from behind, ironically shielding Sasuke from the worst of it. With a cry of surprise the enemy stumbles forward, Sasuke just managing to avoid being trampled.
This is it. This is his last chance. He just knows it.
Every muscle protests loudly as he throws himself into the air, hurling another set of shuriken at the still unbalanced enemy. They are easily dodged but ninja wire glimmers in their wake, and by the time the enemy notices it is already too late. Using both of his hands and his mouth to control the missiles Sasuke changes their trajectory, using the momentum of the weapons to wrap the wires around a tree trunk and the enemy both.
This time there is a high pitched, tortured scream when his most powerful fire jutsu envelops the enemy. Even from a distance the heat is almost burning his skin and the force of jutsu alone is enough to burn a large hole in the tree trunk.
The jutsu leaves him drained of chakra and panting for his breath. The enemy, body still somehow intact, hangs limply against the ninja wires. The stench of burning flesh hangs heavily in the air, threatening to make him sick again.
Don't kill with fire again, if avoidable, he makes a mental note.
His legs give out underneath him and with a silent thud against the forest floor he falls on his knees. At least the enemy is dead now.
The wires squeak, then snap.
Abruptly looking up, Sasuke sees the enemy stumbling forward, despite his face literally melting. However, where there should be flesh and bone lies another face. As if the one melting is just a mask, hiding the enemy's true face.
The true face is far paler than the first one. Sickly isn't even enough to describe it, it's a sickening white-grey with dangerous, yellow eyes.
That is all Sasuke has time to notice before he suddenly finds himself unable to move again. Some sort of paralysis, he realises. It's different from the earlier killing intent and preceded by one quick hand sign. Sasuke can only stare as the enemy straightens up, looking at him with another satisfied smile.
As if his body and clothes aren't still burning and melting off of him.
"You use your sharingan well for your age."
The voice is different now, double-layered, as if two voices are talking at once. There is a darker tone to it now and the sweetness is almost gone, replaced instead by sharp danger.
"You live up to the name of Uchiha after all."
Groaning he tries desperately to escape whatever jutsu is holding him in place but only succeeds to lean forward slightly.
"You remind me of your brother. Though your eyes say you carry more potential than him."
The mention of him leaves Sasuke breathless once more, staring at the enemy in bewilderment.
"Who are you?" It's the only thought running through his mind and before he realises it he has spoken it out loud.
Smirking the enemy steps closer. "I'm Orochimaru."
He pauses and cocks his head slightly.
"Sadly, it seems we're out of time. However, I'll leave you with a parting gift. Come see me if you like it and want more."
With those words the enemy - Orochimaru - brings his hands together in an intricate series of hand signs once more. His neck elongates, growing impossibly long and moving like the body of a snake striking out to attack. Before Sasuke can react, teeth have sunk into his neck.
I'm dead.
Except he's not dead. Not yet at least. The bite burns - with venom, is his immediate thought, though he's not sure if it's right or not - and Orochimaru's breath is warm and moist against his neck.
Urgh, is his second thought. Get it off of me!
"Consider it a foretaste of what I can give you," Orochimaru says as he withdraws.
Somehow the pain gets even worse once Orochimaru's teeth have left the wound - the burning becomes almost unbearable, his whole body trembles and spasms in protest as his blood and chakra both run wild, pumping far too quickly. He groans out loud - or maybe he screams, he's not sure - and collapses on the ground.
Then everything grows dark around him.