Sakura knew she was an idiot sometimes. For example, right that moment.
Laying on the pond's surface, she let herself sink only an inch as she laid on her back with her limbs spread out. She swore every muscle she had was twitching with soreness. Maybe she had gone a bit too hard showing off the katas she had forced herself to learn just that morning. Well, technically, she had stayed up late to read the scroll and practiced the katas until she had perfected them that morning.
The style Orochimaru had chosen was all about balance and using quick movements to stay out of an enemy's path while landing blows. It was much better than the heavy-footed katas of the Academy's Steady Tree form, but in her excitement to prove herself, Sakura had over done it. Especially when she was being watched by the top members of the Hyuuga clan. While she had left an impression, she knew she hadn't garnered any sympathy from Orochimaru.
After all, he had straight out told her to take her physical training slowly so not to exhaust herself and potentially hurt herself. And well, here she was, cursing her ego and her body for being so out of shape. The katas weren't overly exerting, but doing them as quickly as she did while so tense with anxiousness had not helped with her already aching muscles.
Sighing, she kept her chakra circulating in the hope that it would break up the lactic acid in her muscles. She had been using the trick all morning to keep her body relaxed so she could keep going through the katas. Gai-sensei had been kind enough to teach her that trick when he had seen her out of breath after a training session with Kakashi-sensei.
Coating her limbs in soothing chakra, she could feel it seeping deep into the muscle and sighed. She might have succeeded in learning the katas, but now the issue was using them in a fight, which she didn't feel confident about.
"I didn't realize your training involved becoming part fish."
Cracking her eyes open, Sakura stared up at Kakashi's upside down face that was far too amused in her opinion. Pouting, she gingerly sat up, taking the hand that was offered to her.
"I'm stuck on katas and chakra control right now," she sulked. "And I don't understand half the stuff in this book!"
"Usually," Kakashi glanced at the book's title. "People start with something a little less advanced. Where'd you get that anyway? That's strictly a jonin text."
"Oro let me pick a jonin book out of the shinobi library," Sakura mumbled, cheeks suddenly hot. She had been so excited to be allowed into the section, she had grabbed the first thing to catch her attention, not even realizing until they got back to the compound how advanced the tomb was.
"Try Ninjutsu for Beginners instead, then come back to this one," he told her gently, tapping the book. "But, in the meantime, I got something a bit simpler for you to read."
Blinking up at him, Sakura stared at the two books he pulled out of his pouch. She almost cracked a joke about his infamous, little orange book, but reframed when she saw the book titles.
"The World of Summons and Greatest Swordsmen in the Shinobi Nations," she read them allowed.
"Yep!" Kakashi eye smiled at her brightly, stacking them on top of her other book. They added to the weight, but she refused to let that affect her smarting muscles. She wouldn't be beaten by some books! "Since you're hoping to learn kenjutsu and sign your own summoning contract, I thought some homework would be in order."
"Gee, thanks," she deadpanned.
"You're welcome, my dear student!" He sassed right back. "Take a look through them. They're a bit dated, but that's to be expected when new contracts are being signed and there's up and coming swordsmen coming out of the woodworks. But for now, I think you need a break."
"I'm fine," she quickly said.
"Sakura," Kakashi leveled her with a firm look. "Not even the hokages became what they are in one day."
"I know!" She puffed her cheeks out. "But I want to be better!"
"It'll come," his tone gentled. "It took me a long time to get where I'm at, too."
"How'd you do it?" She was curious. Even though he didn't always show it with his lazier nature, her old sensei was a genius.
"Pacing myself, and naps. Plenty of naps." He chuckled.
"That… doesn't sound right," she eyed him suspiciously.
"On my soul," he said, placing a hand over his heart and doing his best to look sincere. Sakura felt he looked constipated. Dropping the act, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, if there's any advice Orochimaru-sama and I can agree on, it's that taking a nap in a warm patch of sunlight is heavenly."
Following him dubiously, Sakura didn't complain when Kakashi summoned his own pack of ninken. Cuddling up to Bull, Sakura decided that she would follow in Kakashi's footsteps and take plenty of naps after training.
BOOM!
Jerking awake, Sakura's heart nearly burst out of her chest as the ninken around her began to growl, and Kakashi was standing in front of her, kunai at the ready.
"I'M HOME!"
What?
"Deidara!"
Well, if Kimimaro was yelling, then it mustn't be too horrible. If Kakashi and the ninken weren't still tensed and guarded, she would have laid her head back down to finish her nap, but as it stood, she should probably go find out what had happened. Standing, she stretched and yawned.
"That's one of Oro's other kids," she nudged Kakashi, who didn't seem to relax in the least. Rolling her eyes, grabbed his arm and tugged him out of his battle-ready stance. "It's fine, sensei."
"I'm not so sure when it comes to Orochimaru's spawn." He said lowly. "No offense."
"None taken," she snorted. In fact, she was pleased she had been included and hoped to add to that dread in his voice. She waved goodbye to the ninken as Kakashi dismissed them; she couldn't wait to start on the book he had given her about summons. What kind of summon would she receive? While she wasn't against the snake contract, she wanted something that fit her personally.
"Well, let's go see if there's any fire," Kakashi sighed.
It wasn't hard to locate the offenders—all they had to do was following the shouting and they found Kimimaro and a blonde yelling at each other. The young man reminded Sakura of Ino, but she had to wonder if that was simply because of his hairstyle, or his loud personality. Both fit, honestly. He was wearing a dark cloak with plenty of under mesh, but the most noticeable part of his ensemble was the large, yellow snake draped around his neck. So, this is who Kiiro was waiting for, Sakura thought to herself.
"How many times have I told you to stop blowing up the compound!" Kimimaro growled.
"And how many times have I told you that I'm making it better with my art?" Deidara hissed back. "Sometimes it feels as if none of you appreciate my talents!"
"Your only talent is being a pain in the ass!"
Sakura couldn't help her snort of amusement. How Kimimaro seemed to be so composed why so furious would always leave her in a mess of giggles, of course, when his anger wasn't pointed at her. So far, that hadn't happened, fingers crossed and all that. At her noise, the blonde's head snapped around to stare at her. His eyes widened, before a smile split his face.
"I guess Asahi was right when all he said was 'pink'!" In a blink of an eye, the older shinobi was in front of her, and he completely ignored the low noise Kakashi made as he shoved his face into hers. "Congrats on joining the family, squirt!"
"Uh, thanks?"
"The name's Deidara," he smiled even wider. "The most talented of this bunch of stuck-up assholes. Tell me, Pinky, got any experience with explosions?"
"Not much," Sakura said slowly. She glanced at the large crater now adorning the middle of the path leading to the house. Where was this going and what part did she want in it? Meeting his eyes and seeing a familiar spark of mischief, she decided she very much wanted to know what he was offering. "But, I've been wanting to play around with paper bombs for a while now…"
"Now you're speaking my language, imouto," Deidara smiled wickedly.
"Deidara, are you corrupting my apprentice already?"
They all turned their attention towards the house where Orochimaru was leaning on the doorway, an unimpressed eyebrow raised as he watched them.
"Of course not, Oro-kaa-san!" The blonde bounded over the man, wrapping him up in a hug. While they were about the same height, Deidara's presence seemed to encompass Orochimaru, especially when his long, blond hair swept over him and almost swallowed him whole. "I am simply encouraging my little sister's natural talents in art and destruction."
"Arson, more like," Kakashi mumbled next to her.
"I wouldn't be against that, either," she whispered back, enjoying the way he tensed next to her, and no doubt sent her a sharp glance.
"Either way," Orochimaru sighed. "We will be having guests tonight, so I expect the compound to be put into its rightful state. You'll be staying for dinner as well, pup."
"Yes, Oro-kaa-san."
"Understood, Orochimaru-sama."
"And you're training is finished for the day, hatchling."
"Yes, Oro."
Naruto fidgeted in the orange yukata he was wearing. He could already hear his mother's voice scolding him to knock it off, but he couldn't help it. They were finally leaving for the Orochi compound!
It wasn't uncommon for the Uzumaki family to be spotted at the Sannin's home, especially since one of his adopted children was an Uzumaki himself. With both of Naruto's parents having a close bond with Orochimaru, he had been excited to not only call Jiraiya uncle, but the Snake Sannin as well.
While Naruto had been disappointed to not be chosen by Orochimaru, he had been honestly excited for Sakura. Many might think he didn't pay attention, but he could see how shocked Sakura had been to receive her apprenticeship, but Naruto hadn't been too surprised. While it wasn't obvious, Orochimaru was a prankster just like him, albeit his pranks involved messing with people even Naruto wouldn't dare touch.
Thinking back to the matches, Naruto could still feel the sting of hurt when Sakura had snapped at him after her and Sasuke's fight. He had wanted to make sure she had been all right, but she hadn't wanted any kind of comfort at that moment. Maybe she would be better now and accept his attentions.
When they had entered the arena together, Naruto had hesitated to fight her—not because she was a girl or anything stupid like that, but she was his teammate. She was someone precious to him and he never wanted to see her hurt, especially not hurt by him. However, after the tests, his father had pulled him aside and explained why Sakura had been upset. Naruto wishes he could explained sooner that he hadn't meant to ignore her as an opponent.
If there was anyone Naruto always wanted by his side, it was Sakura.
There was no mistaking how smart she was, and it was really cool seeing her haggle with people in the market. Naruto would never have the same silver tongue she did when buying ingredients for ramen. It also helped that his mother mentioned that the Haruno clan had been one of the only merchants to trade with Uzushiogakure when it had still existed. How a merchant clan could be so old, Naruto didn't know, but he had wanted to ask Sakura about it for a while now, but with the Chunin Exams and Orochimaru's tests, he hadn't found time.
But! He'd get to see her soon!
"Kaa-san! Are you ready yet, dattebayo?"
"Not yet, brat, dattebane!"
"Hmmph!"
Throwing himself onto the couch, Naruto crossed his arms. His father was late again, and now his mother was taking forever! He had asked her one time why she just didn't cut her hair if it took so long to do, and he had ended up with a lecture on femininity and the power kunoichi held in their beauty. He had come out of it more confused about why gender even mattered, but hadn't asked his mother more questions in fear of another lecture.
"Ribbit."
"Huh?"
Looking down, Naruto shot up at the little frog sitting in front of him.
"Hey! Whatcha got, little guy?" He knelt down, poking the frog's head. It snapped at his finger and glared, but he only laughed. "Got a message from Yahiko-nii?"
In response, the frog began to convulse before throwing up a small scroll. Ignoring the slime, Naruto quickly opened it and his face lit up.
"Kaa-san! The cousins are coming home tonight!"
"I bet Oro's going to be thrilled," she laughed.
Rubbing the little frog's head, Naruto laughed along. He was still excited to see Sakura, but now that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were going to be there too, he really wished they could leave right now!
"Are you ready yet?" He shouted again.
"No!"