Her Experience

by Tiny.Dncer

Sakura has been taking care of her sick civilian mother alone since she was 8. But now a full fledged ninja placed on team 7, she must learn how to stop holding herself back and let her team in, although, that proves challenging when her teammates are the wild and childish Naruto Uzumaki and her cold closed off long time crush, Sasuke Uchiha. (Better explanation inside.)

4. The Land of Waves pt 2

"inner sakura"

"Sakura's thoughts" (Unless otherwise specified)

memory

"Talking"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.

---

Sakura was beginning to feel a growing kinship with Tazuna and his family. While their house was far bigger than her apartment, it was undoubtedly shabby. The wood was old and worn and the house was very sparsely furnished. It was evident that while the family had space to spare, they didn't have too much else.

Kakashi was set up in an open but almost completely empty room on the one spare futon the family could dig up.

"Are you alright, Kakashi-san?" Tsunami, Tazuna's 28 year old daughter asked.

"No…but I will be in about a week…"

When they saw that he was awake, his students rushed into the room. Sakura, very familiar with taking care of sick adults, gracefully settled herself at Kakashi's side while her teammates flopped down awkwardly a little further away. This was very out of their wheelhouse—they'd never had to look after a sick person before. Out of habit, Sakura placed her hand on Kakashi's forehead, checking for a fever. He seemed ok, other than extreme exhaustion. His lips looked rather dry though.

She didn't process her teammate's eyes on her as she popped up and darted out of the room, returning fluidly to her place moments later with her canteen. She slid her arm under Kakashi's shoulders and gently propped him up a little, holding the canteen to his lips.

"Drink Sensei. That was a long battle coming out of a long journey. You're dehydrated and it'll slow down your recovery time."

Sasuke watched the interaction with stoic fascination. The way the girl in front of him was acting, she seemed almost like an adult rather than a twelve year old. It wasn't the first time he'd thought Sakura spoke more like a grown up than a child. He'd meant what he said earlier. His pink haired teammate was indeed like a walking encyclopedia. But books couldn't account for bedside manner, which Sakura seemed to have in spades, based on how she was handling Kakashi, the way she handled Naruto's hand, or even how she'd treated his arm during the bell test. Maybe it was a female thing…his mom had always been the one to take care of him when he was sick or look after his injuries. Itachi would check in on him, but it was his mother who did the most in those moments. But he knew plenty of girls who didn't seem capable of this—most of his fangirls for instance. He absently wondered where Sakura's maturity came from.

"Your Sharingan is incredibly powerful sensei, but if it puts this much strain on your body, is it really worth it?" Sakura lectured, putting the canteen to the side and easing Kakashi back down.

"Of course it's worth it Sakura-chan! We won, y'know?" Naruto said, brightly.

"That's right!" Tazuna added. "You took down your strongest foe yet! We can probably relax for a little while!"

Sasuke watched as Sakura ran a hand through her long pink hair. He noticed she did that whenever she was anxious or something was on her mind.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

Her jade eyes snapped to his in surprise and her cheeks colored a little. She always seemed so shocked that he'd talk to her…He guessed he couldn't blame her at first, given how he'd told her she made him sick the first time he ever talked to her, but he thought she'd be used to it by now. They were teammates after all.

"It's just…I keep thinking about that masked boy."

Sasuke ignored the weird needling feeling that shot through him. "What about him?"

She felt her sensei's eye focus in on her as well. "I-it's nothing really. I'm probably overthinking it, just…his word choice was a bit strange…"

Kakashi's eye narrowed at his female student. He couldn't shake the feeling he'd overlooked something big. Something not good. Sakura had correctly figured out a lot thanks to analyzing word choice…she may have figured out what he was missing.

"What is it Sakura?" He prompted, struggling himself into a sitting position, despite Sakura's protests.

"As he was leaving, he said, 'Your battle is over for now'…why for now? If Zabuza's dead, we won. Our battle is definitively over. His mission was to track and kill Zabuza…He shouldn't know anything about us and our mission, or about Tazuna-san being targeted. As far as he should have been concerned, that was our battle and it was over when Zabuza died…"

"I don't know Sakura-chan, don't you think that's over thinking it a bit?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head. She turned to look away, embarrassed.

"I already told you I thought I was…" She muttered, running her hand through her hair again.

Kakashi's eye shot open wide. That's what he'd missed! Sakura hadn't quite caught it, but she wasn't far off. "No she's not. That boy was a member of Hidden Mist ANBU. Part of an elite unit often code-named the 'undertaker squad,' because they dispose of corpses so thoroughly it's as if they never existed."

"Why do that?" Naruto asked.

"Even after death, a shinobi's corpse might yield up secrets of the skills it's mastered, ingredients of any drugs, potions, or medical treatments the body consumed, even the aura of the chakras it was steeped in in the ninja's native lands. It all becomes an open book. In the same way, when I die, if an enemy were to gain possession of my corpse, it would reveal all the anatomical idiosyncrasies unique to those who posses the sharingan. In the worst case, the enemy might gain enough information to duplicate and master that power.

"Ninja corpses tell too many tales. Shinobi hunters, like that boy, specialize in tracking down and eliminating rogue ninja, then obliterating their remains."

"So Zabuza's corpse is going to be dismembered and destroyed? That's so…"

"Creepy." She heard her internal voice finish, unable to shake the image of Zabuza's corpse chopped into pieces and stacked in a pile.

"…No…I don't think it will be…"

"Huh? But you just said—"

"A hunter nin is supposed to dispose of the body on the spot."

"So what?" Naruto asked.

"But this one didn't." Sasuke answered. "This one took the body."

"Right. Normally a hunter nin would handle the body on site and just bring back the head for proof of mission success." Kakashi closed his eyes in thought. "There's also the mystery of his weapon of choice."

"Senbon…needles are also commonly used for acupuncture, which focuses are energy and tension points through out the body…if one knew the spots well enough, they might be able too…"

She and Sasuke reached their conclusions at the same time. Both jolting in shock.

"No way…" "—But that would mean—"

"Yes. Zabuza's still alive."

There was a beat of silence as his declaration sunk in, and then the explosion.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled.

"H-how's that possible?! You checked yourself! You said he was dead!" Sakura added.

"I made sure of it. But a deathlike trance could have created a very convincing illusion of the real thing…" His lone eye glanced over at Sakura. "Why are you so surprised? Isn't this what you suspected all along?"

Sakura shook her head. "I thought maybe the masked boy also worked for Gato somehow, or knew something about the hit on Tazuna-san, but I didn't think he was Zabuza's accomplice…although, needles like that…if they hit a vital they could be deadly but otherwise…"

"They wouldn't cause mortal damage." Sasuke finished.

"That's right. As a member of corpse disposal, he'd have an intimate knowledge of human physiology. It would be simple for him to put someone in a near death state. Given his choice of weapon, and that he moved the body instead of dealing with it on the spot…it suggests that the kid's objective was to put Zabuza in a death state while he rescued him. Things may be just the way they seem, but we need to consider the other possibility."

"Aren't you just reading into this?" Tazuna asked hopefully. "It is a hunter's job to get rid of rogue ninja."

"Maybe. But ignoring something that smells fishy is a great first step to being caught completely unprepared. And preparation is a shinobi's most important skill! Besides, whether Zabuza is dead or alive, your enemy Gato may have more—even deadlier—ninja in his employ." He would have expected this to frighten his students, but Naruto was actually shivering with excitement, Sasuke's eyes held a gleam of challenge, and although Sakura looked rightfully anxious, there was also determination shining through it.

"Sensei…you talk about preparation, but you can't even move right now…what are you going to do?" Sakura asked, voice laced with concern. He was already suffering from chakra exhaustion, he shouldn't be trying anything big right now.

"I'm going to increase your training schedule!" Kakashi declared, his eye closing in a smile.

"Our…training schedule…?"

"Shannaro! What the hell is he trying to do? Get us killed?! His damned sharingan was barely enough and it left him incapacitated for a week! We're Genin! Does he really expect a little extra goddamn training to be enough!?"

"When I was caught, it was you three who rescued me. Sakura, your analysis of the situation, Sasuke and Naruto, your skill and teamwork. You three are all maturing, progressing rapidly, your powers growing exponentially…especially yours, Naruto! You've grown the most!"

The blond gave a wide smile.

"Naruto has?"

"Well he's more grown up then he used to be…especially the way he handled that fight earlier…"

"This is the same kid who hours ago threw a kunai at an empty bush to look cool…"

She couldn't argue with herself on that one.

"…That being said, this training will be an interim thing only, to tide us over until I'm recovered enough to take over."

"Kakahsi-sensei…If Zabuza's alive, how can we just train without knowing when he might come after us again?"

"Excellent question. Once a person has been placed in a death trance, it takes quite some time before the body recovers to its previous health."

"Zabuza was incredibly strong though, and if that boy has the medical knowledge to place him in a death trance, he might know ways to speed up the healing process." Sakura pointed out.

"Hmm. That's a fair point. Left on its own, it would take a normal person placed in a death trance two weeks to a month to fully come out of it. Let's work under the assumption that we have half of the shorter time frame." Kakashi reasoned.

"So one week."

"Alright! So we train while we're waiting! Let's go!" Naruto jumped up excitedly.

Much to everyone's shock so did Sakura, her hands on her hips glaring at her hyperactive blond teammate.

"Absolutely not! Kakashi-sensei can barely move—he shouldn't even be sitting up right now!" She yelled, tossing her teacher an irate glare. "We can start training tomorrow, but Kakashi-sensei needs at the very least 12 hours of rest before that! And don't argue with me sensei! You need to lie back down and get some rest! Take three sips of water every fifteen minutes to rehydrate. I'll bring you some food a bit later."

Everyone in the room stared at her in surprise. She'd just issued a command to her sensei, fourteen years her senior, and her tone held so much authority, that most of him didn't even question following her orders. But the small part of him that did wondered at how this twelve year old, who frequently hesitated to voice her thoughts, and when she did they often came out laced with insecurity, could sound so confident. It was a situation any other Genin would be ill at ease with—the knowledge that a powerful enemy was after them and their teacher incapacitated. It was clear from their distance and awkwardness that the boys had no idea how to handle someone severely weakened. Of course, the boys were all alone and Sakura wasn't. She must be working from the example her mother set, but still…

Sasuke wouldn't show it but he was baffled. This girl had always been incredibly respectful of authority. For as much as she lectured Naruto about being a dumb ass, or even the very rare occasions where she chided him, she'd never once raised her voice or issued an order to their teacher. On top of that, her tone had been not only confident, but the words had come from her as if they were instinctual—this from the girl who overthought everything she ever said.

Naruto felt something warm in his chest, the same way he had when she bandaged his hand, fed him during the bell test, and stuck up for him during their introductions. Honestly, even when she would lecture and yell at him, he felt that warmth. He'd had a crush on Sakura before because she was pretty, but now it was because he felt looked after and cared about when he was with her. Evidently it was just how she was, and it didn't matter that it wasn't directed at him in that moment. She was always so busy, rarely spending time with them outside their mandatory training time and missions, and always turning down team dinners. He frequently found himself wondering if she really cared about their team. If they mattered to her at all…the way all of them mattered to him—and Sasuke, but he knew the bastard would never admit it. So seeing her like this, caring so much for the well being of her team members, made him feel a warm sense of elation.

"Hehe sorry Sakura-chan, I got a bit excited. Of course we'll start tomorrow! Training while we wait—this'll be fun!"

"It won't be fun for you."

Everyone turned to look at the young boy standing by the opening.

"Who the heck are you—"

"Inari! Where have you been?!" Tazuna asked excitedly, holding his arms open.

"Welcome home Grandpa…" The boy gave a somewhat lack luster greeting as he went to hug his grandpa.

"Inari! Greet our guests properly! They're esteemed ninja who brought your grandfather home safely." Tsunami scolded, standing in a very similar pose to the one Sakura had taken moments before. The boy glared at the three Genin, examining them before turning to his mother.

"But, mama, they're all gonna die."

"Listen you little twerp—" Naruto exploded.

"No one can beat Gato and his men." The boy stated. But Sakura didn't miss the defeated air around him. She recognized it clearly since it was something she actively had to combat every time she looked at her mom.

"You Brat—!" Naruto exploded once again, but this time was held back by Sakura.

"Get it together Naruto! He's just a little boy!"

"Right." He grumbled. "Hey! Pay attention, little guy…My name's Uzumaki Naruto and I'm a superhero who will one day be the Hokage of the Leaf Village! Gato? You really expect me to be afraid of someone who sends others to do his work for him?!"

"Hero? Are you dumb? There's no such thing!"

"What the—!" Sakura once again had to hold him back.

"I said quit it!"

"If you don't want to die, go home now." The kid murmured. Turning for the door to the hallway.

"Where are you off to, Inari?" Tazuna asked.

"I'm going to watch the ocean from my room…" The child slammed the sliding door shut behind him.

"Please forgive him…" Tazuna sighed. Naruto, not being able to let this go, stormed out of the room.

The room began to slowly empty out. Tazuna went to take a rest, and Tsunami went to cook dinner.

Sakura helped ease Kakashi back down after giving him some more water. She ordered him once again to sleep, and regardless of his wishes, it didn't take long for exhaustion to pull him into unconsciousness. Once he was out, Sakura instinctually checked his forehead again, satisfied that there was no apparent fever.

She turned to find Sasuke scrutinizing her, and her face immediately warmed.

"S-something wrong?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed more. She was back to insecurity again. How could this girl be so good at handling delicate situations, like their weakened sensei, and so unsure of herself otherwise. It was weird. If she could handle this with so much confidence why was she always second guessing herself?

"…You're annoying…"

"I'm…annoying…?"

"Aw c'mon?! What'd we do this time?" Her own voice moped in her head.

He watched as she deflated, feeling more annoyed. That hadn't been his intention. Why did his words mean so much to her anyways? There were moments where he saw similarities between his fangirl's behavior and Sakura's. The frequent blushing around him being the biggest, though there was also the honorific she applied to his name, and the occasional stuttering when he spoke to her. He'd observed her enough to know that she didn't react that way to any other guys. In those moments, he suspected she might like him, the way his fangirls claimed too. But she was more mature than his fangirls—she was more mature than most sixteen year olds, let alone twelve…and she was frustratingly hard to read. She kept so much hidden. If she did like him, she was damn good at compartmentalizing—and based on his experience, no other girl their age was.

"Sasuke-kun. Lift up your shirt."

"Hn?!" He couldn't hide the surprise from his voice. It had been such an abrupt order that seemed to come from nowhere. This was another one of her discrepancies. It was a very rare occasion when she didn't carefully sensor every word that came out her mouth. And when those rare occasions happened he was always thrown by how different her raw unpolished thoughts were from what she shared with others. Despite the difference, it never felt fake…what she consciously revealed and what she accidentally spewed were both unquestionably Sakura, though how that was possible was beyond him. The only thing fake about her was the smile she frequently wore—and it was a convincing one…

Sakura was very red and avoiding eye contact. When she spoke again, her voice was small.

"You got hit really hard earlier…you coughed up blood…I wanted to check on you then, but I didn't want to leave Tazuna-san or get in your or Naruto's way…and then afterwards, so much was going on and I didn't have a chance to…and even if I ask, you'll probably say you're fine, whether you are or aren't…so, I thought I'd just check…"

"Nice going…I made Sasuke-kun uncomfortable…He probably won't want me around anymore!"

"It was a good choice. He's always telling you to say what you're thinking and what you're thinking is you wanna see him with his shirt off!"

"You know that's not it!"

"Ok, maybe not entirely it, but you certainly wouldn't mind."

Her inner voice was too loud and it was making her blush harder. She couldn't be around him like this. Abruptly, she stood up and crossed to their sensei, intent on "checking" on him. Really she just needed to put some space between Sasuke and herself. She couldn't just leave it now. Not only would it invalidate everything she just told him, but he'd said it himself, she was as closed to a doctor as the team had available. She couldn't just leave one of her teammates when they might be in pain. Especially not Sasuke. Her word choice had been a mistake but she needed to see this through. She made her bed, she'd lay on it. But being that close to him made her head feel foggy. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable," it was easier to talk now that she had her back to him, "but you're the one who said I'm a walking encyclopedia. I might be able to help. I'll be quick about it, but I need to take a look."

Honestly, it wasn't so much that Sasuke minded. He trusted her. Whatever the nature of her feelings were towards him, she wouldn't let it get in the way or cross any lines. He knew she was asking out of a place of concern. He just didn't want to deal with Naruto if the idiot walked in on them. Or if Kakashi woke up and saw them. Neither of them would let it go and it would get annoying.

"Hn…Be quick about it."

Sakura turned in surprise. She hadn't expected him to agree so easily. She shifted over to where he sat, and he pulled up his shirt. It took a lot of effort but Sakura managed to keep her focus on her task instead of his lean but well muscled build. There was a lot of bruising, she just hoped it wasn't an indicator of internal bleeding. She dredged up every medical text she ever read and went through the checklist of possibilities she was aware of and knew how to check for. She pressed gently on and around the bruise, and was met with hard muscle. Her face flamed.

"That's good, that means there isn't any fluid build up. We can likely rule out internal bleeding."

"Know what else is good? Sasuke's abs!"

"S-shut up!"

"Are you in any pain when you inhale or move?"

"No."

"Good. No broken ribs."

She stared at the large purple bruise staining his pale skin.

"The only things I know how to check for are broken bones and internal bleeding, neither of which you show signs of…" She pulled out her ointment and gently spread it over the bruise. Sasuke's eyes fell on the jar.

"I thought it was for cuts." She felt the vibrations of his voice through her fingers.

"Bruises, burns, and minor cuts." She responded. Pulling away and capping the jar. Sasuke dropped his shirt back in place. An awkward tension filled the room as Sakura suddenly became aware of how hard her heart was pounding. Sasuke was staring at her intensely.

For his part, he was curious as to how she learned to make such a useful multipurpose ointment…one that was so effective. That surely couldn't have just come from a book. Had the apothecary taught her? That couldn't be it, otherwise he'd just make it himself instead of buying it from her. And why make it in the first place? She barely trained, what need did she have to develop such a product?

Before he could voice any of these questions, Sakura suddenly sprung up from her spot, looking flushed. "I should go help Tsunami-san with dinner!" She said, running out of the room.

Weird choice. Highly unnecessary—helping Tazuna's family with household tasks wasn't part of their mission, but oh well. So much for asking her anything.

---

The next day, Team 7 stood in the woods not too far from Tazuna's house. Kakashi stood facing them, he needed to lean his weight on a crutch, much to Sakura's chagrin. If he needed a crutch to stand, how could he effectively train them?

"So, our new training regiment begins today!" Kakashi began. Naruto whooped loudly. "But first, let's talk about the basis of your ninja powers. Chakra."

"Oh uh, right…what are those again?"

Sakura twitched. "You call yourself a ninja?! Did you sleep through every class you ever took?!"

"Why don't you say I got in some really high quality nap time?"

Kakashi sighed. "Sakura, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Right. Pay attention and try and learn something for once, Naruto! I'll try and keep this simple. Put simply, chakras are the energies required to perform any ninjutsu or genjutsu. These energies are made up of 1) those of the body drawn from each and every one of the approximately 13 trillion cells believed to make up the human body, or 2) those of the mental and spiritual energy acquired over the course of much training and experience. All shinobi arts and techniques are born from a combination of those two energies, mixed from the body and spirit in process known as 'chakra manipulation' and focused through the weaving of hand signs."

"That's correct. Good to know Iruka-sensei taught some of his students well." Kakashi said with a pointed look at Naruto.

"Oh whatever—I don't do so good with long explanations but if you just show me, my body can learn!"

"If you wanna be Hokage so badly, then get used to long explanations damnit!" Sakura growled.

"Naruto's right…We already employ ninja arts and techniques." Sasuke stated.

"Wrong! None of you has full mastery of your chakra yet."

"What?!" Naruto shouted. He could make an army of shadow clones—how was that not full mastery of chakra?

"As Sakura said, manipulation of chakra refers to the summoning of physical and mental energy and combining them within your own body. Depending on which technique you want to use, the amount you'd need to put out would vary, as would the makeup of elements you'd need to combine. Right now, none of you are using your chakras effectively. No matter how much chakra you summon and manipulate, if you can't maintain your balance, your technique will at best be half as effective, and at worst won't work at all. And because of how quickly you burn through your energy, you not only lack the stamina for continuous battle, but you also develop significant vulnerabilities."

"So, uh, what do we do?" Naruto asked.

"You learn to control your body through the harshest of training…"

"Harshest of training?" Sakura didn't think Kakashi was in any state to be administering training like that.

"That's right. Tree climbing." His student's reactions were immediate. They all began talking at once.

"Just climbing trees?"

"Is this some joke to him?!"

"How does that qualify as harsh training?" Saskue asked.

"That's a waste of time, Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"This won't be ordinary tree climbing. You're not allowed to use your hands." That changed their minds.

"Wait! That sounds like fun!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke's disgruntled expression changed to one of curiosity.

"How?" Sakura asked.

"Watch and learn." His students watched with wide eyes as Kakashi walked up the side of the tree, completely parallel to the ground. He turned to address them again when he was standing upside down from a branch.

"Focus all the energy of your chakra to the soles of your feet and use that power to cling to the trunk. When you have full mastery over your chakras, this is the kind of thing you can accomplish."

"How will this make us stronger?" Sasuke asked. It was more of a clarification than a challenge. Sasuke and Naruto were both used to offensive kinds of training, learning ninjutsu and taijutsu. To them, that was obvious strength training. Something more subtle like chakra control was far less obvious of a benefit to them.

"The point of this is to gain greater mastery of the chakras. To use no more than necessary, but maximize it's effectiveness in where and how it's applied. That subtle control is the most crucial aspect of every jutsu and technique you'll ever apply. It's also the most difficult skill for a ninja to command. This exercise requires the most fine and delicate application of chakra imaginable. Especially since the bottom of the foot is one of the most difficult locations to manipulate energy from. In other words…if you can master the chakra control needed for this, no jutsu should be beyond your reach. In theory anyway." Kakashi explained tiredly.

That satisfied Naruto and Sasuke. If they mastered this they could learn any jutsu. That would clearly make them stronger.

"It will also help build up the stamina necessary to complete your task once your chakra has been focused. If you think this is hard, it's even more difficult to maintain your chakra while using a ninjutsu. In battle, circumstances are constantly changing. A true shinobi has to be able to manipulate and maintain chakras on the fly if they ever wish to prevail. The time you need to stand around to summon and control your chakra is a luxury you won't have." Kakashi threw three Kunai at his students feet.

"The only way you'll learn is by doing. Use the kunai to score the highest point you can climb. It'll serve as a reminder for later. Your goal is to make a higher mark each time you climb. I doubt any of you will reach the top on your first try. A running start will probably give you enough momentum for a good first effort. Choose your trees and go!"

"No sweat! I could do this before breakfast I am the fastest developing ninja on this team!" Naruto cheered.

"Less talk more climbing." Kakashi said with a bored tone.

"Sensei? Is this the same technique Zabuza used to stand on water?" Sakura asked, picking up her kunai and twirling it around her fingers in thought.

"Hm. They're similar and utilize the same theory, but that technique is harder, since the surface of water is constantly changing and your chakra output has to match that." Kakashi answered. "Now get climbing already."

"That gave me a hint. It's about matching the output of the surface…since a tree is stagnant, my chakra output shouldn't fluctuate. So, all I really need to do is figure out and match the energy frequency of the surface and let that dictate my chakra usage!"

The three took a moment to concentrate their chakra, before charging at the their trees.

Kakashi watched as Sasuke managed to get maybe an eighth of the way up his tree before the bark fractured under his over use of chakra, pushing him off. Naruto didn't even manage a successful step before falling. He hadn't applied enough chakra, so he didn't stick at all. It was about what Kakashi had expected…

The second Sakura's foot made contact with the bark, she got a read on the tree's energy output against her own, and immediately scaled hers to match it. Encouraged when she didn't immediately fall off, she kept going. It was surprisingly easy to maintain.

"It's kinda like…dancing…" The process felt a little like a pose she would often hold—on her toes with one leg up and back behind her and her arms up out in front of her. She reached the highest branch that would support her weight and stopped staring out. She could actually catch a view of the ocean from up here and the wind in her hair made her feel so exhilarated and free…so different from how she felt at home. An honest laugh bubbled up inside her and she couldn't hold it back. She didn't want to. When was the last time she truly freely laughed?

Kakashi's eyes shot up at the sound of melodic feminine laughter. He hadn't paid any attention to his female student. She was far weaker than the other two and had such a small amount of chakra at her disposal. Naruto and Sasuke on the other hand were untapped wells of energy, with the former having an even greater amount than the latter. Energy that would be invaluable if they could access it in the coming battle. But Sakura had shockingly made it all the way up the tree in her first attempt. That was an impressive amount of control to have for a fresh out of the academy Genin, no matter how little chakra she possessed. Yet again, Kakashi found himself editing his earlier stance on her future as a ninja.

"Incredible! You go Sakura-chan!" Naruto called boisterously, though internally annoyed that he hadn't gotten it first.

Sasuke looked up at Sakura, eyes narrowing. She barely trained at all, how could she be this good? It was…impressive. And annoying. He trained daily, why was he having so much trouble with this? Her laughter sounded so musical and full. It was his first time hearing it. Every other time she'd laughed it had been strained, tense, or fake. It soothed his growing frustration slightly.

Kakashi decided to use this as motivation. The boys were competitive, after all.

"Well, now we know which of you three has the best chakra control. Our young lady…well, understanding the use of one's chakra and manipulating them successfully, is quite an achievement so far…Sakura is probably the one closest to overtaking our Hokage, despite all your boasts and aspirations Naruto." The blond's face fell into a pout. "And the finest hope for the Uchiha clan doesn't seem that promising." Sasuke glared intensely.

"Why would you say that, geezer?! Sasuke-kun's gonna hate me now!"

Naruto and Sasuke turned their glare on each other. They may not have been able to beat Sakura on this front, but they sure as hell wouldn't lose to each other. The two started to work their way up the tree with renewed vigor.

"I can't believe I beat them…although, now that I think about it, the minimal training I could do was more in this sort of vein…dancing while maintaining a henge…But I've completed this exercise and I actually have time to train, since I can't do anything for mom at the moment…"

"Kakashi-sensei!" She called. Her sensei looked away from the boy's progress and up at her.

"I've completed this exercise. Is there another I can do? Or some other kind of training?"

Kakashi considered her for a moment. She was right. She'd completed this kind of training in one shot. Clearly she could summon and maintain her chakra, sending it to one location. How about quickly sending it to multiple. The girl had said dancing was a hobby, right? She was plenty graceful.

"Hm…Next I want you to work on moving your chakra quickly through your body while maintaining it. Dance up and down the tree. Make sure you're constantly changing your point of contact or balance point. If you don't move your chakra quickly enough, or lose focus, you'll fall."

Impulsively, Sakura ran a hand through her hair. She'd never danced in front of Naruto or Sasuke before…but it should be fine. They were too focused on getting up the tree and their own rivalry to pay too much attention to her. She gave an affirmative nod, and began on this new exercise.

Of course, she wasn't aware that Sasuke somehow always managed to keep her in his periphery. Which was good, because if she knew, she'd probably feel too embarrassed to carry out this training, which was already proving to be much more difficult than simply running up had been.

Even just going up on her toes required a change in her chakra allocation. Before, she'd kept her chakra evenly dispersed through the bottom of her feet, but in the same way her weight had to shift forward to hold her balance, so too did her chakra. A fact which she learned the hard way, after attempting to go on her toes and dropping a meter down the tree, barely catching herself with chakra laden feet.

After safely managing to go on her toes, and bring one of her legs up, she decided to attempt at spin. She hadn't accounted for her chakra reducing the friction of her shoes and the bark, resulting in her spinning faster and completing more rotations than she'd been prepared for. The dizziness and disorientation made her lose control of her chakra and she dropped again, only just managing to take control of her fall before she hit the ground. This was much much harder than running up the tree. And she hadn't even shifted her point of contact yet.

"Is this what running up the tree is like for them?"

"Shannaro! We're not quitting yet!"

"I know! I'm finally able to do something, so I have to do it! I've never had the luxury of quitting just cause something's tough…so why start now?"

She took a deep breath, focused her chakra and started up the tree again. This time, instead of running, she used a complicated sequence of footwork and small hops, shifting from her full foot to her toes and back, alternating feet and giving small kicks. Now prepared for the lack of friction, she managed a controlled single spin, and seeing as she was now half way up the tree, she landed her spin and prepared to go directly into a cartwheel.

"Have to send chakra to my hands fast, and then back to my feet!"

It wasn't fast enough. There wasn't enough chakra in her hands to keep her stuck to the tree and she fell again. She landed in a graceful back hand spring, but as she looked up at the tree, she felt her breath coming out hard. She was already tired.

"Not yet…"

"I have to at least manage a change in contact points before I let myself take a break!"

She danced her way up the tree again, managing a double spin this time, but the results were no different when she went in for a cartwheel again.

"Ugh! Why isn't it working?"

"Maybe it's too big a jump…I'm not used to moving my chakra that fast. And even if we build up enough, we still have to match it to the surfaces energy…"

"That's too many steps! Why can't we just skip to the last one? We already know the surfaces energy."

"That's—…not wrong. We don't need to amass and rescale…we already know how much is needed. That should cut down time."

Sakura tried again. She still wasn't fast enough. She was closer though. A couple seconds after she began falling, she felt the correct amount of chakra reach her hands. She managed to catch herself on the tree, but the momentum of the fall made the bark rip at her hands and the pain broke her concentration.

"Ouch!"

Right before her chakra failed her she pushed off the tree to give her self a more controlled decent.

She landed and immediately sunk to her knees in exhaustion—still controlled and graceful, as years of dancing had ingrained in her. Her breath came out in rasps and her arms were shaking.

She looked up at the boys, who were still going. They hadn't even reached a quarter of the way up the tree, but still they kept running at it, moving higher by centimeters, but still going. They should be expending more chakra than her, given that they weren't allocating it properly. Sure, they were breathing hard and their clothes were dirty, but they were still going.

"We're not done yet! Shannaro!"

She pushed herself up and managed a step before she sank to her knees again.

"Damn…How do they have so much energy…"

She watched Sasuke land, breathing heavy as he looked up at his tree. He stopped for a second and looked at her, keen eyes narrowing at her exhausted appearance.

She felt the all too familiar self loathing crawl up her throat and looked down at her torn up hands.

"He always tells me I should train more…and he's right. And now when I'm handed the opportunity I can hardly handle an hour's worth of effort?! Why am I so useless? I didn't do anything useful when Zabuza attacked and left it all to Sasuke-kun and Naruto. I'm so pathetic, I wouldn't want me as a teammate…I can't even help my own mother…I truly am useless."

"So what are you gonna do about it?! Just sit here and whine? Cause that'll change oh so much!"

She looked up and her eyes locked directly with Sasuke's onyx ones. She couldn't read them, they were carefully blank, but she felt a wave of determination wash over her self loathing. She wanted that boy to trust her. To believe in her. To want her on his team. He occasionally said things that made her believe that he did feel that way. She wanted him to continue feeling it, and would give him every reason she could to do so. She turned her eyes back to her tree.

"There isn't very much I'm able to do, which means I have to do what little I can, and work that much harder when I'm given the chance."

She closed her eyes, brought her hands into a seal to focus her chakra, and took a deep breath.

"I don't have much chakra left, which means I have to be all the more careful about allocating it. I can't move it quickly enough to get it to my hands from my feet. But there are other points of contact I can use, and work my way up to my hands…"

Sakura took another deep breath and got to her feet. Steadying herself, she only sent her chakra to her feet once she made contact with the tree trunk, conserving as much as possible until the last minute. She danced her way half way up the tree before spinning six times, holding her right leg straight up against her face. After completing her sixth rotation, she let herself fall forward into a split, concentrating her chakra all through her legs to hold herself in place.

"This is a waste—if I just concentrate my chakra into specific areas, I'll still stay in place without wasting as much…"

She focused her chakra specifically into the middle of her thighs and her ankles, instead of the entirety of her legs, giving her just a little more chakra and time to work with. She held the split for seven seconds before gracefully swinging her back leg around and pivoting herself into a kneeling position, thrilled out how quickly she was able to bring her chakra to her left knee and right foot. She held that position for five seconds. Her chakra was almost gone, she had to dismount fast while she was still in control. She quickly tucked into a summersault, cutting off her chakra off, before refocusing it into her feet and to push off the trunk when they made contact with the bark again. She flipped gracefully through the air, landing lightly. Her legs buckled and she sunk to the ground.

"I did it…It wasn't my hands, but I sent my chakra to other contact points!"

Kakashi, who had long since walked down the tree and settled on the ground, found himself observing Sakura's training more than Naruto's and Sasuke's. To be fair there wasn't much to see with them. Their rivalry and sense of competition kept them steadily improving, but the progress was slow. Creeping up centimeters at a time. And for the most part they kept making the same mistakes. Just barely past their highest mark, they'd lose the balance. Sasuke would apply a little too much chakra and rebound off, Naruto would apply too little and no longer stick.

However, the exercise Sakura was doing was far more visually interesting. The girl was dancing after all. And she was quite good. He now understood why her reflexes were so quick and her movements so graceful. He'd never gotten a good look at Sakura's movements and fighting style before. Outside of mandatory team training sessions, she didn't give any time to training or sparring—a stark contrast from Sasuke and Naruto who practically lived on the training grounds. The level of body control and awareness she had was unusually high, and may have played a part in her chakra manipulation skill.

What was particularly interesting to see was the way she self evaluated and self corrected. Each time she fell, it was because of a new problem. She didn't make the same mistake twice. After losing control of her spin and falling the first time, every spin after was carefully controlled. So much so that this last time she'd completed six rotations and flowed right out of it like it was the simplest thing in the world. When she'd began trying to shift her point of contact to her hands, he saw the way she kept fixing aspects she was struggling with, and that she had reached the conclusion that she needed to work her way up to that without a hint. But then she'd been able to focus her chakra to different points on each leg simultaneously. That wasn't something easily done. And she'd been able to analyze and correct all of that herself.

He was also surprised by her determination. She wasn't as loud or in your face with it as Naruto, but her fighting spirit was truly formidable. She shouldn't have been able to manage that last pass at all with how low her chakra levels were. Not only had she, but it had been the one she completed the exercise with.

Kakashi had changed his opinion of Sakura and her future as a ninja several times over, but he found himself deciding conclusively, that Sakura had the potential to be an amazing shinobi. She didn't have the latent power her two teammates had, she might have a pathetically small amount of chakra in comparison, but between her analytical skill, memory, book smarts, reflexes, body awareness, and chakra control, she could become truly great.

"Take a break." Kakashi called to her when he saw her legs buckle beneath her. He noticed Sasuke had been watching her, but when he turned to look at the boy, he merely turned back to his tree and continued working his way up.

Sakura dragged herself over to a tree near her sensei and leaned her back against it, breathing heavy. Kakashi handed her some water, and it took all her internal nagging to take a sip every twenty seconds instead of just gulping it down.

"That was impressive Sakura. I didn't expect you to succeed in changing your contact point so quickly…Honestly, I didn't think you'd make it past spinning yet. Of course, I didn't know how skilled of a dancer you really were."

"I wasn't able to make my hands a contact point though…" Sakura replied, studying her tree seriously.

He'd picked up on it long ago that Sakura was incredibly hard on herself. "Maybe not yet…but at the rate you're going, I wouldn't be shocked if you get it by the end of today. Or tomorrow morning. Do you know where you're running into trouble?"

Sakura nodded. He knew she did anyway. "At first, I was trying to build up too much chakra and then match it to the surfaces energy…that was too many steps. The surface isn't changing, so I don't need to rematch, when I already know how much I need. That takes out a step. But I'm still not moving my chakra fast enough…" She took another sip of water.

"You'll get it. You've already analyzed the problem so I'm sure you'll figure out a solution sooner than you think. Once you manage to switch your contact point between your feet and hands seamlessly, you'll have completed this training."

"If I complete this training, is there any other training I could do?"

"When you complete it." He corrected. "And not while I'm in this state. Besides, we still have a mission. Someone will have to stay with Tazuna-san. Gato still might send someone else after him."

Sakura gave a tired nod as she watched the boys climb. Sasuke was beating Naruto at the moment, but the blond was catching up.

"How do they do it?"

Kakashi could hear the admiration, frustration, and sadness in his student's tone.

"They have a lot of chakra." He answered honestly. She let out a sad sigh. He wanted to say something to console or encourage her, but he was never good with this kind of stuff. The pink haired girl gave a dry smile and shook her head.

"Don't worry about it sensei. Like you said. I have to get used to there being shinobi younger than me and stronger than you."

Conversing with Sakura was strange. It felt more like speaking with an adult than a child.

"That doesn't mean that you can't grow to rival them."

"Of course…of the three of us, I'm the closest to overtaking the Hokage after all."

After a three hour break, she had enough chakra to get back to work. She successfully changed contact points from her feet to other parts of her legs twice, and to her back once. She was already tired again.

"That should be enough build up. I should be able to get to my hands now…"

She danced her way up the tree, twirled twice, spun the opposite direction once, and went into a cartwheel. Her hands stuck to the bark, her chakra managed to reach them in time. But her excitement was very short lived. She wasn't able to send her chakra back to her feet quick enough, and after a painful rebound off the trunk, and graceful landing on the ground, she fell onto her back looking up at the sky between the leaves and breathing hard. Her hands fisted in the grass beneath her.

"It's no good if I can't get my chakra back to my feet in time…"

She glanced over at Sasuke scoring away at his tree. He had started advancing more than Naruto but the blond wasn't so far behind that he couldn't catch up. They were relentless, barely taking any break.

"Sasuke-kun uses too much chakra and Naruto not enough…"

"If they just met in the middle, they'd have perfect control."

"…The middle…? The Middle!" She shot up, her eyes widening. "Oh my god! That's it! I'm so stupid how did I miss this?!" Chakra was made and circulated through the center of the body. It didn't require all of her chakra to lock on to the tree's surface. She'd kept trying to pass her chakra from her feet to her hands and back, but that was completely unnecessary. She just had to send the amount of chakra she needed directly to her hands from her center. It meant having to split her focus of where she sent chakra, but she could manage that…it couldn't be too much different than maintaining her posture while high kicking to the front.

Sakura took a deep breath, focusing her chakra, and for the eighth time that day, danced her way up the tree.

Sasuke stopped to watch with his full attention. He watched how fluidly her body moved, with such a controlled ease of motion, that the incredibly complex sequence of movements looked as natural and instinctual as blinking. He noted the small tears forming on her thighs and calves as she swung the back leg of her split across the bark and pivoted on her knee, the rough wood raking across her skin—she seemed to take no notice. She spun so fast, her other leg changing position several times over before she dropped into a successful cartwheel, flowing from it into a roundoff, and then a double handspring down the tree before pushing off and gracefully alighting on the ground. Her long pink hair floating down around her, catching the light and revealing the strands of red and blond. She dropped to her knees, breathing hard, but she was smiling a real smile and her mint green eyes sparkled with happiness, pride, and relief.

It was so different from the expressions she usually wore, that he couldn't pull his eyes away.

"Well Sakura, you've completed this training." Kakashi said, hobbling over to her with a masked smile. "And the sun's not even setting yet."

Sakura let out a small musical laugh. "You were right sensei."

"Take a break. You can head back to Tazuna-san's when you're ready."

"You should head back soon, too Sensei. You need to rest." Kakashi waved her off.

She crawled over to her tree and leaned her back against it in exhaustion.

"They're still going…seriously, just how much chakra do they have?"

Naruto fell for the hundredth time and looked up at his barely advancing score marks. Why wasn't he getting it? He glanced over to see that Sasuke was beating him. He could still catch up but not if he didn't start making greater progress. Time for plan B.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" He said, walking over to his exhausted teammate and squatting down. "Can you help me get the hang of this?" Sakura blinked in surprise. Naruto never asked her for help with his training—she was too weak to be much help to either of her teammates on that front.

"You want my help?"

"Well yeah! You're the best Sakura-chan, believe it!"

"What happened to not liking long explanations?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring lightly.

"Eh heh," Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish laugh. "I promise I'll listen close this time Sakura-chan!"

"Alright, pay attention. It takes mental energy to generate and manipulate chakra, so if you get all stressed of distracted, you'll lose control and won't be able to do it. Take it easy. Relax and focus on the tree until you can feel how much or how little energy you'll need to center in the soles of your feet."

"But how can I tell how much energy I'll need?"

"Well you already have, haven't you? You've been able to get at least four and a half meters up. So just remember that and focus on maintaining it…if you can't get it that way, use the momentum of your running start and slowly increase your chakra output until you stick, and then maintain that. Honestly it'll be tougher to do it that way since you'll only have maybe three steps to figure it out."

"But I always end up losing control. How do you maintain the balance while doing all those hard moves?"

"It's because you lose focus. Every time you pass your last mark, you get too excited, that distracts you and you lose your grip on your chakra. Don't start celebrating too early."

"Alright! I can totally do that! Believe it!" Naruto cheered, bouncing back to his tree to try and apply her advice. It sort of worked. He got further past the highest mark than he had before, but then got excited that it was working, lost his focus and fell. And when Sasuke got higher than him, his sense of rivalry took over and all sense of relaxation completely left his body.

Sakura sighed. This would take a while.

---

Since she'd cleared her training, and there was still time left in the day, Sakura went to the bridge to keep an eye on Tazuna. She was exhausted from training, but it made her uncomfortable that they left the bridge builder alone for so long. They were supposed to be his bodyguards after all, and just because Zabuza was temporarily neutralized, didn't mean Gato wouldn't send someone else.

She sat along the railing of the construction site and yawned. She had very little chakra left after training, but at least if something happened she could get Tazuna away and alert the others.

"All alone?" Tazuna asked as he passed by, lugging a piece of lumber over his shoulder. "Where are the blond and the pretty-boy."

"Sasuke-kun would probably hate that descriptor."

"Old man's got taste!"

"Training."

"Then why aren't you with them."

"I was. Kakashi-sensei told me to come here and protect you."

"Really…?" Tazuna wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. Of the three kids, she seemed to be the most mature and trustworthy as a person, but the other two were clearly stronger. And strength was what you wanted from someone protecting you. Why had Kakashi sent her away? Had the training been too much for her?

"Tazuna, can I talk to you?"

The old man set down the beam he was holding and turned to the source of the interruption. "What's wrong, Giichi?"

"I've been thinking it over…I want off this bridge project!" The man announced.

"What?! Out of nowhere—You of all people?!" Tazuna felt betrayed.

"Tazuna! We go back a long way. I want to help you but I can't take this risk. Gato will kill us if we don't stop! And if you die—it won't just be this one project, we'll lose everything!" Giichi looked down, ashamed but desperate. "Please…just give up…the bridge isn't worth it."

Sakura watched the exchange tensely. "I can see where he's coming from, but this bridge has to be built! Or this entire city will continue to live in poverty…"

Tazuna had the same opinion. "I can't do that. This bridge belongs to all of us. It's everything we've been working toward, for our entire city. When it's finished, it'll bring commerce and affluence to us. It'll put the Land of Waves on the map!"

"But we're talking about lives here! Your life!" The man yelled.

"It's afternoon already, isn't it? Let's call it a day." Tazuna said, turning his back to him. "Giichi…You don't have to come back tomorrow."

Sakura followed Tazuna as he walked away.

---

"My daughter asked me to pick up some things for our dinner on the way home." Tazuna explained as they walked through the city.

Sakura took in the groups of homeless people sitting along the edges of buildings, the skinny, pinched look of malnutrition almost everyone seemed to have, the dejected slump of their shoulders and hopeless look in their eyes. She felt all of it like a stab wound. This was one of her fears and anxieties—she and her mother ending up homeless and living on the streets. There was no way her mother would be able to survive that with her illness.

She heard a cry of "Stop! Thief!" It wasn't the first one she'd heard since they set foot on the main street. These people needed that bridge. They needed a chance.

"Here we are." They came to a stop outside of a shopfront. A boy in torn and ragged clothes sat out front, head buried in his arms, a small empty collection cup in front of him.

"He's just like me…no, he's got it even worse than I do…"

"Shannaro! I'll kill Gato for this!"

They stepped into the Grocery, but she was met with the sight of almost completely bare shelves.

"It's like looking at my kitchen…except my kitchen only has to feed two people. This place is supposed to feed a whole city…"

The only other person in the store noted the girl with long, well cared for pink hair, and the bag resting on her hip. She must have some money. He tried to sneakily reach for her bag but his hand brushed against her backside. Suddenly a small but calloused hand locked around his wrist and pulled his weight back, while she fluidly kicked his legs out from under him.

"Pervert!" Sakura yelled, her body and mind having gone on autopilot the second she felt something touch her butt.

"N-no I…!" The man on the ground protested weakly. It's not like telling her he was trying to pick pocket her was a much of a defense. Weirdly, her face softened a little.

"Oh." She said putting the man's feeble protest together with the state of the people around and the bag at her hip. "Trust me. I don't have anything useful to you." The man got to his feet and ran out of the shop.

Tazuna came up to her, having been making his purchases at the time, though he witnessed the whole interaction. He watched the man run out and sighed.

"It's been like this ever since Gato moved in. We've become a city of slackers, cowards and fools. That's why the bridge we are building is so important. It will be an emblem or courage. Maybe the people who've taken the path of least resistance will be willing to walk the road of courage and dignity again." The old man walked out of the store, Sakura in toe.

---

"Tazuna-san…If that man leaves the project…" She began as they continued through the impoverished city.

"He wouldn't be the first. That's part of why it's taking so long. I keep losing crew members. They're too scared of Gato."

"I'll help." The words were out of her mouth before she processed what she was offering.

"You know how to build a bridge?"

"No. But I'm not bad with tools. And I learn quickly."

"Why would you want to? That's not your mission."

"You're a target until that bridge is finished. The longer it takes, the longer you're in danger. Why wouldn't I, as your bodyguard, want you out of danger faster?" It was a bit of a stretch but it still made sense, she reasoned. "Besides, I have to stay close to you anyways. Why sit around when I could be helping speed things up?"

"Hmm…I guess I could use all the help I can get. Just don't get in the way. Screw something up and you're benched. This is a bridge we're talking about after all."

"Shannaro! Let's finish this shit and bring that psycho's corrupt business down!"

Sakura's thoughts were cut off by a tug at her backside.

"Again?" Turning around she faced the large eyes and smiling face of a small seven year old girl, who held out her hands asking for food. Her clothes were baggy and dirty, and she was too skinny. It was like looking at herself if her life had gone just a bit worse than it was…

Sakura, who barely ate enough herself, had nothing to give the girl, but she couldn't turn her away either. She crouched so she was eye level with the child.

"What's your name?"

"Ageha! You're pretty, Onee-chan!"

"Smart kid…ego and vanity stroking are good tactics for getting people to give you things…"

"Ageha-chan, do you have a stove at home?"

"Yeah, we use it mostly for heat since there's nothin' much to cook." Ageha answered, confused by the weird question. The pretty girl with the sparkly green eyes and shiny pink hair turned to the old man next to her.

"Tazuna-san, do you mind if we make a quick detour?"

"Not at all." The man replied curiously.

Sakura turned back to the little girl in front of her. "Can I show you something?"

Ageha nodded, with a confused smile and followed the older girl, grabbing onto the corner of her dress to not get separated.

---

Sakura held up an acorn and a pinecone. She'd lead them to the forest.

"If you soak acorns until the water's clear, you can roast, boil or mash them. They're a good source of protein. If you boil pinecones they get soft enough to eat, they have a lot of healthy sugars so they'll give you short bursts of energy." She pointed to a nearby plant. "See this plant here? That's rhubarb. You can tell by the wide, ruffled leaves, and the red color of the stem. The leaves are toxic, but the stem if really good for you. You'll need to soften it first though."

The little girl stared at her wide eyed. "Really?"

"Yes. Can you remember everything I just told you?" Ageha nodded enthusiastically. "Good. Repeat it back to me."

Tazuna watched the interaction with needling curiosity, as the little girl recited what she'd been told, Sakura nodding gravely. She handed her the pinecone and acorn she was holding, and showed her how to dig up the rhubarb. The bridge builder had been confused by Sakura's reactions to things for a little while. When they first arrived at his home, unlike her teammates, Sakura hadn't seemed phased by the shabby accommodations, if anything, she'd almost seemed impressed. Her offer to help him build the bridge as well…the others on her team wouldn't have offered—well, the loudmouth blond may have, but he'd probably cause trouble.

"Thank you! You're real smart Onee-chan!"

"So are you. Show your friends, ok?"

The little girl nodded and ran off. Her arms full of acorns, pinecones, and rhubarb.

"I'm sorry about that, Tazuna-san. We can go now."

"Alright…Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you really want to help with the bridge?"

Sakura looked towards the run down city, thinking about the widespread poverty.

"Cause you need help." It was a loaded statement. She could have been talking about Tazuna or the city. It could have been a practical statement or a deeply empathetic one. He could interpret it how he liked.

Tazuna studied her for a second longer before grunting. Her statement didn't reveal much, but it was honest. "Let's head back."

"Right."

---

"Boy this is real fun! I can't remember the last time we shared a meal with so many people!" Tazuna cheered jovially.

"I'm not sure fun is the word I'd use…"

There was palpable tension between Naruto and Sasuke. The two kept glaring at each other and weirdly, occasionally, Sasuke would glance over at her.

Earlier, after Sakura had departed the clearing, the two had kept training. But Sasuke's progress had been slow and he noticed Naruto was beginning to catch up. He'd noticed Naruto talking to Sakura earlier, and it kept needling at him. What had they talked about? It continued to bug him. And Naruto had seemed to get a bit better after talking to her. Had she given him advice? Or encouragement? Or was it unrelated to training? His curiosity kept distracting him so much that he eventually gave into his pride and asked the blond what she said. But then the idiot had to annoy him further by refusing to tell him. Since that moment, everything became about who reached the top first. Even eating.

Sakura watched as the two inhaled their food, not even finishing what was in their mouths before both simultaneously held out their just emptied bowls.

"More Please!" They simultaneously requested.

But the speed with which they ate didn't do their digestive track any favors and both promptly turned away and vomited.

That made Sakura's anger spike so quickly, her words sounded more like the came from her internal voice than her normal one.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?! Stop eating if you're just gonna hurl it back up, Damnit!" She yelled, slamming her hands on the table.

"…No, I wanna eat!" Sasuke muttered, wiping his mouth.

"Because, even if we make ourselves sick to do it, we have to eat if we want to get stronger!" Naruto declared.

"How stupid are you?! You don't get any benefit from food you don't keep down!" She snapped. She took a deep breath and managed to regain some control over herself. "Besides, doing that is wasteful. These people don't have a lot. You're being a burden."

That managed to reign in both boys.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Tsunami said, "but it's alright. This is the least we can do for how hard you all are working to keep my father safe."

"Tch she shouldn't let them off so easily."

"Yeah. But I get it. I know what it's like to owe someone too…" Images of her mother and Ino flashed across her mind.

"About that. What is this training you're doing exactly? Sakura said you released her from it to keep an eye on me." Tazuna asked.

"We're trying to climb trees using only our chakra!" Naruto said excitedly.

"And I released Sakura from it because she completed the exercise and then some with flying colors." Kakashi finished, having read between the lines of Tazuna's statement.

"Oh? Did she?" The old man asked, a little surprised. It hadn't been the way she presented it earlier.

"Sakura-chan? She's the best! She can do way more than just run up trees! She can spin and flip and stuff too!" Everyone's attention, except Inari's, landed on the girl.

"That's right?! We're the best!"

Sakura found herself simultaneously thrilled and wildly uncomfortable being the center of attention. Any time she had been in the past, it was because she was being bullied. The positive attention felt good, but she didn't know what she was supposed to do or how to respond to it. So she turned her attention to the one person not looking at her, Tazuna's grandson. He had a troubled, far away look on his face and was staring intently at a ripped picture on the wall.

She felt the weight of almost everyones eyes on her, and quickly stood up. "I'll help clean up Tsunami-san!" She said, desperate for something to do, and immediately began clearing her place. To her surprise, Sasuke got up to clear his as well.

"I never imagined Sasuke-kun doing housework…It makes sense though. He's all alone, no one else would do it for him…"

She placed her dishes in the sink and headed back to the table to finish clearing the rest of them, but paused at the ripped picture on the wall studying it closely.

"Tsunami-san, why is this picture torn? Inari-chan was looking at this the whole time we were having dinner…Someone's face is completely gone. Is that deliberate?"

She immediately saw the family tense and regretted asking. "Why'd I do that? There's plenty of personal stuff I don't share…I shouldn't have asked…"

"…It was a picture of Inari's father." Tsunami answered quietly.

"Once upon a time…our city called him a hero." Tazuna elaborated.

Inari pushed away from the table and walked out of the room, slamming the sliding door behind him.

"Inari!" Tsunami whirled on her father. "I've told you repeatedly not to mention that in front of my son!" She yelled, running out of the room after him.

"Inari-chan…seems to react strongly to that word…'hero'…" Sakura observed quietly.

"It sounds like there's a story there…" Kakashi agreed.

Naruto and Sasuke both were turned to where Inari left from, their expressions unreadable. Tazuna sighed sadly.

"The man in that picture is not Inari's birth father. But they were as close as a biological father and son could have been. Inari was such a happy child back then." The old man began to sob, making Naruto and Kakashi glance at him in concern. "…But Inari changed…after what happened to his father…"

"Like Sasuke-kun did…"

"Our people—especially Inari—were robbed of the very meaning of courage because of what happened that day…" Tazuna said, capturing the attention of all of team 7.

"'What happened'? What was it? What could have changed Inari so much?"

Tazuna removed his glasses to wipe his eyes. "Let me start at the beginning and tell you about the man our entire land called a hero and a champion."

"Champion…?" Naruto murmured quietly.

"It was about three years ago that Inari first met that man. Some kids were bullying him and threw his dog in the water. He was drowning, and Inari was desperate to save him but hesitated because he didn't know how to swim. One of the boys pushed him in. In that moment, the dog figured out how to dog paddle, and abandoned Inari to get to shore…Inari almost died that day. But he was saved by that man. The man looked after him until he woke up, and comforted him with these words, 'If something is precious to you, no matter how painful or hard it seems, no matter what it might cost you, you have to hang in there and protect it with all the strength you've got! Even at the risk of your own life.' He was someone who truly lived by those words. His name was Kaiza. He was a fisherman who came here from abroad to seek his fortune.

From that day on, Inari's admiration and affection for Kaiza grew and grew. It probably had something to do with Inari's real father having died before the boy was old enough to remember him, but even so…that boy stuck to Kaiza like white on rice. They were always together, like any real father and son. In no time at all, Kaiza was like one of the family. And he was just the kind of person this city needed more of. He saved the city from flooding when one of the water locks wasn't going up. He jumped into the raging water and tied a rope to the lock, allowing the others to pull it up into place. That was when people started calling Kaiza a champion and hero. With a father like that, Inari could hold his head up high…Until Gato came to town…"

"And the incident you alluded to took place." Kakashi surmised. Tazuna looked down. "So…What happened?" Kakashi prompted.

"In front of the entire city…Gato had Kaiza put to death." The three Genin's eyes widened in horror. "He claimed that Kaiza was a terrorist who committed violent acts against his company, and that his supposed crimes deserved a public execution. Inari saw the whole thing. Ever since then, Inari, Tsunami, everyone in the city has changed."

Silence fell around the room.

"I wonder how they feel about this…" Sakura thought, looking at her two brooding teammates. "Sasuke-kun lost his family, and it changed him too…and Naruto never had one, but it's obvious that he looks up to Iruka-sensei like a father…"

"…Daddy…" Her internal voice sounded much smaller and younger than she was used to hearing. Blurry images suddenly rushed through her head of her dad smiling at her, picking her up, ruffling her hair…they were all fleeting, passing through quickly. She didn't remember much about her father. He'd died when she was so young. And things had gotten so hard for her and her mother so quickly, that she never had time to focus on that loss. Instead she placed all that energy on adapting to the changes as her and her mother had to adjust. They went to his grave twice a year every year, one on his birthday and the other on the day of his death, until her mother got too sick, then she'd gone on her own. And they had a tiny memorial table—more of a step stool, really—set up in a corner of the main room, but her mother attended to that more than she did. She was too busy keeping them sheltered and fed. If anything, as she'd gotten older, she'd began to vaguely resent her father for leaving her and her mother to struggle on their own.

But Inari's story had jarred loose feelings and memories of her father she didn't know she had.

---

Her father held her hand as they walked through the Village square.

"Where are we going daddy?"

"You'll see! You're gonna love this, Sakura-chan!"

He lead her to a crowd of people, picked her up and placed her on his shoulders.

"Whoa!" She cried at the sudden change in altitude. But her startled discomfort melted away when she looked at the center of the crowed. A band of traveling performers was visiting. One man was playing the flute, another some kind of drum. In front of them, a beautiful woman was dancing to the music they were generating. Sakura watched with rapt attention. The woman's dance was so graceful and breathtaking, not a move out of place. Sakura was an awe. She loved dancing around, but her movements were nothing like this…

When the show finished, her father placed her back on the ground, took her hand, and started home.

"Well? What did you think Sakura-chan?"

"That lady's dance was so pretty! Daddy, do you think I'll be able to move like her too?"

"I bet you'll be able to move even better than her Sakura-chan!" He said with a laugh. "Is that what you want to be? A dancer?"

"No! I wanna be a Ninja like you, daddy!"

"Oh? But what about dance?"

"Hmm…I can do both! Ninja have to move a lot too, you know?" Sakura stated arrogantly.

Her father chuckled, warmth sparkling in his dark green eyes.

---

The memory came at her so fast and unexpectedly that she felt winded. Her eyes burned with tears, which she quickly turned to blink away. Thankfully, no one noticed. It seemed her entire team was caught up in their own musings.

Naruto suddenly made to get up, but tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Ow!"

"What are you doing, Naruto?" She was glad her voice didn't betray any of her earlier emotions.

"…Don't even think about training any more today. If you try to work your chakras any more without getting some rest first, it would probably kill you." Kakashi said sternly.

"I'm going to prove to him that he's wrong!"

"What?" Sakura was confused who Naruto meant.

"I'm going to show Inari that there are still heroes in this world!" Naruto declared. He had that same determined light in his eye that he'd gotten when facing Zabuza. With that, he proudly marched out of the room.

---

Naruto didn't return that night, leaving Sakura alone in a room with Sasuke. The kids had been given a separate, smaller, storage room to sleep in so their sensei could fully rest and recover.

Sakura was always bad at sleeping. Either she had too many tasks to finish or too much anxiety. She was trained into being a light sleeper, frequently having to wake up to check on her mother. Her body had become used to staying up very late, and waking up very early and frequently. And despite how exhausted she was from her training, just being in a room alone with Sasuke was keeping her up.

"Eeeek! We're sleeping. In a room. Alone. With Sasuke-kun! It's like we're—"

"Teammates." She internally growled at herself. "It's like we're teammates! Teammates frequently sleep in the same room."

She tried to focus on her breathing instead of her accelerated heart rate, but it was no use, she knew it'd be a while yet before she fell asleep.

Sasuke wasn't good at sleeping either. When he slept, it was much more deeply than Sakura, waking up far less frequently. But it wasn't restful. Ever. He was always plagued by nightmares of what happened that night. Seeing blood and bodies everywhere. His brother slaughtering his parents. His brother's Sharingan. A world of red and black...Sasuke dreaded going to sleep. Often, he decided against it entirely, or would train himself to such a state of exhaustion that he'd pass out without much thought.

So, Sasuke stared up at the dark ceiling listening to Sakura's clearly not asleep breathing. His pink haired teammate was so annoying. Why was she awake? What would keep a girl like Sakura up at night? And why was she so evasive? Earlier when Naruto complimented her ability to control chakra, and everyones attention went to her, that would be where most kids would brag or proclaim they were the best. Maybe offer some possible explanation about how hard they trained or the skill running in the family. Or maybe they'd get shy and try and deny it, saying that they weren't that great or the more impressive feat was how the two boys kept training so hard. But Sakura had side stepped entirely, completely extracting herself from the situation. When Tazuna was explaining what happened to Inari, there was a moment where Sakura looked like she'd been punched in the stomach. He actually thought he saw her eyes water. Sure it had been a sad story, but why would it effect a girl like Sakura so strongly? It was him and Naruto who could relate more—him having witnessed his own father's murder and Naruto having found a surrogate father in Iruka-sensei. Was Sakura really just that empathetic? And what the hell had she talked with the idiot about earlier?

The girl turned on her side towards the window, her long pink hair trailing across the pillow.

"Sakura." He wasn't sure why he said it…the many questions surrounding her must have gotten to be too much for him. Whatever. They were both awake anyways.

Sakura jerked her head to Sasuke, worried she may have woken him up or kept him from falling asleep with her restlessness.

"S-sorry, Sasuke-kun. Did I wake you?"

"Where'd you learn to move like that?" So that's the question he went with first. That was fine, he was curious after all.

"Oh! I'm not sure really…I've always loved dancing around since I was a little girl. I guess I just sort of figured it out myself…" Sakura paused for a while, thinking of the memory of her father Tazuna's story had jarred loose. Sasuke had tried to tell her a little bit of his past—haltingly, but he still tried. It was only fair she do the same. "When I was really young I went to see some traveling street performers…My dad took me. There was this one dancer who was so beautiful. She moved so well. I wanted to be just like her…I guess, I used her as a model…"

Sasuke studied her. This was the most she'd ever revealed about herself. A part of him had expected her to give another evasive answer and side step the question entirely.

"You never moved like that in the academy."

"Do you think he liked what he saw?"

"That's not what he's saying…He's just making an observation."

"They never asked us to dance at the academy. Not even in Kunoichi classes."

That was fair, he guessed. He thought of how the tree bark had ripped at the skin of her hands and legs earlier.

"Did you take care of your injuries?"

"What injuries?"

Sasuke twitched. She freaked out over the smallest bruise or cut on him, Naruto, or Kakashi, but completely ignored her own. Why did she constantly treat others like they were more important than herself?

"Your hands. And legs. From the tree earlier."

"Oh you noticed that?" "He worried about our wellbeing! He totally cares about us! Eeek!"

Of course he'd noticed, she'd been bleeding.

"Those are nothing serious." She continued. "You don't have to be too concerned about them."

He wasn't. He was just curious. But she seemed to be in a forthcoming mood, so he should take advantage of that.

"Sakura, what did you and Naruto talk about earlier?" It was truly annoying him.

"He wanted advice of controlling his chakra."

"What'd you tell him?"

"He's totally jealous!"

"I don't think that's it…I think he's…"

"Do you really want to know what I told him? Or do you want advice?"

"Are they two different things? You said Naruto asked you for advice."

"They are. Because you two are having different problems."

Sasuke was silent for a while. It hurt his pride to ask for help from a girl who was barely effective in combat. But Sakura's analytical skill had been proven time and time again. And her chakra control was clearly the best of their team, not counting Kakashi, of course. He had to master this if he wanted to grow stronger. And he needed to be stronger to kill Itachi.

"…What's your advice?"

"Naruto doesn't focus enough. That's why he keeps failing. You focus too hard. You're too tense. You're pushing so hard in your movements that your chakra can't flow correctly. You need to relax. It's just running. We've been doing it since we were two or three. Your body knows what to do, so trust it and just let it happen. Otherwise you're forcing your chakra too much."

Sasuke mulled that over. He was always tense. Always pushing his body…her assessment made sense. He might as well try it. If it didn't work he could always try what he was doing before.

"Hn…"

"I'll take that as a thank you." Sakura said with a light, short, laugh.

He thought the sound ended too soon. Turning to his side he closed his eyes, thinking back on how she'd laughed earlier, and the way the melodic sound carried in the wind.

---

A/N: I did not realize this story had this many follows and favorites already! Thank you so much everyone! There's a lot in this but if anyone's confused about the timeline, the training and everything following it in the chapter takes place in the same day-their first full day at Tazuna's. The next chapter will skip ahead about six days in time because that's what happens in the manga. I did change the time of year a little, for future purposes. It's never explicitly said but I'm pretty sure in the anime/manga the Land of Waves arch happens during the summer and in this story it's winter-just a mild one.

To clarify incase anyone is worried Sakura's mother has two and a half weeks worth of food and a months worth of medicine available. I forget how long this mission takes canonically, but it's not taking longer than two weeks in this story.

Thank you so so much for all the favs/follows/ reviews! Please keep it up, I love reading them!

Twisted Musalih, Sunlow4life, nanacurlove, Re Zera, Blu3b3rryt3a, chica-flick, and Celestial-loner, Thank you so much for your continued love and support! You guys are the best!

Thanks for reading :)