-I am so sorry for the late update, but here it is. Hope you all who read this story like this story, and please tell me if there is anything you would like to see! Also Thank you all for reading, fav and follows on the story. Without future ado, here is the story.
-I don't own Naruto or anything, only my OC.
Ch. 4
Sakura was really content after training, she had finally felt like there was something she could do. Aoba-san had given her three books and one scroll all useful and all giving her an insight into how to hit the target right. There was one book that was a bit different from the rest, and that was the bingo book. He had told her and Naruto that a bingo book was something they should read, in his eyes it was important to know when to run and when to engage an enemy. Even if he had told them that it wasn't so important to read it at the moment. He did recommend them to look through the book from time to time when they could, so they got to know the world better. The other two books were both medical books written about the body rather than healing all in all. The first book dived into the chakra system in a very detailed way. Explained every little detail one could think about having Sakura hooked and sucking up all the knowledge she could. The other book was about a different way to take out your enemy all from lethal too non-lethal. The last thing Aoba had made Sakura read on was herbs and plants that grew all around the Fire country. The reason he had her reading about herbs and plants was obvious, she needed to know what she could eat and what would be poisonous.
The reason Sakura had all the books was another obvious thing, she was a swamp to knowledge. The girl read a lot in her free time when she wasn't out looking for Sasuke-kun. Sakura couldn't help but frown a bit, she hadn't seen him since Kakashi-sensei had announced that they were recommended for the Chūnin examine. The Pinkett looked out her window wondering if he was still training or maybe he too was reading on something. She shook her head, she didn't have the time right now as she had to study hard.
Her mind wondered a bit again as she was looking at the bingo book on her bed. Training after lunch had been fun, they had learned a lot of new technique and she felt like she finally was on the right track. Frowning once again she realized her problem was her love for Sasuke-kun, but what could she do about it? Maybe it would just work out after she gets stronger. She nods to herself, yes, if I get stronger maybe everything will just fit, and all will be perfect! With this thought dwelling in her mind, she turned off the light and went to sleep.
The next day she woke up early, made breakfast, went out for a jog, showered before reading some more. When the clock was eight she stretched a bit before jumping up from her place on the couch. "I am going to train now!" she yelled before walking out the door. "Take care Sakura!" she could hear her mother yell back.
As she entered the training ground Aoba-san was there already, but the blond had yet to come. Sakura had to hide a tiny smile blooming on her face. She wasn't used to a teacher who showed up on time, she wasn't used to this excitement filling her whole body, and most of all she wasn't used to feeling like she really could do something useful and learn something important.
"Good morning Aoba-san" she chippered cheerfully earning a raised brow from the man "Good morning Sakura-san" he answered giving her a tiny smile. "How was the reading, did you get some sleep?" he questioned her, maybe even teased her. Sakura did her best to suppress a blush growing, as she nodded "It was very interesting, and yeah I got some sleep". Before they could say much more both heard Naruto yelling out his hello and could see the blond running with all his might as if the devil was on his tail. The boy looked up as he was huffing and panting, but he had a big grin on his face. "I made it, didn't I?" his question earning him a frown from Sakura and an amused look from Aoba.
"Yeah, you did Naruto, even having a minute to spare" Their new Sensei said. Sakura was shaking her head now "Naruto, why did you run like that?" she had to question him, but soon she regrets even asking. "Ahhh well you see Sakura-chan.." he began sheepishly, even scratching the back of his head. "I tried to wake up early and well eat and all, but on the way to the shop there was this old lady how needed help, so I tried to help her on my way here, but I was already late and all. She frowned at me and started to chase me around, accusing me of stealing…" his voice faded away only for a moment before grinning again like normal "so I had to run away from the old lady" Sakura was shocked at hearing this, of course, the young girl knew that many people didn't like Naruto, but she truly believed the reason came from all his pranking. She blinked once, then twice, before she even knew the meaning behind his words. She had to bite her bottom lip thinking, trying to come up with something to say to the boy. Her savior and new Sensei came in with a few words "Well nothing you can do, but train and work hard to make them see your true nature" Aoba said as it was the simplest thing in the world. "But back to training kids, we don't have all the time in the world to get you guys ready or at least a bit prepared for the exam" he hummed at the excited look in both of them.
"We will advance on, but at the same time keep raising your aim. Today we will start with the water walking, but before that, I am going to test you on what I made you both read" he smirked. Naruto, on the other hand, wanted to protest to this, but Sakura just wanted to get ahead with training, so she drove her elbow in the side of him. This made Naruto look at Sakura, but he was smart enough not to keep quiet.
"Well, Sakura as you read a bit about herbs, what is important to know, when you have two very similar plants in front of you and one of them is poisonous?" he asked the young girl. She smiled confidently "Well, first you need to know what you are working with, like what plant, what family and what use the each have. When you have established that, you need to know what makes them different, there is always a tiny difference, so you must be 100% sure before you do anything with either of them. A dog is also known for its keen nose, so you can have a dog trained up to sniff out the poisonous one" she answered with her head held high, she was after all known to be a 'know it all'. "Correct Sakura, good job, I don't think I have anything else to add on. Other than to use a book if uncertain and if that doesn't help then don't use it".
Aoba looked at Naruto with a tiny frown, thinking about what he could ask the boy. "Naruto, what did we learn yesterday? And what did you learn?" he questioned, knowing very well that the boy had a lot of potentials, but too much energy to use it constructively. "Oh, oh, I know that! We were tested in our skills and we learned that, um, not to throw a lot and that it's better to have a good aim!" he smiled brightly, but he was a bit uncertain of himself. "Good Naruto, I am glad that you are learning. I believe that both of you have learned and we can continue our training" He said praising them both because he knew that they would need motivation for the training they would do today. "So, we are going to start with where we left it yesterday, we started with walking on still water, but today we will go over to moving water and evading" he had a smirk on his face, and if they could see his eyes behind the sunglass both genin would have noticed the glim. "The reason we are doing this is?" Aoba added the question, so both knew and understood the training. Sakura stretched her hand high up in the air, she knew the answer of course. Naruto knew it too, but he didn't want to say anything wrong, afraid that either Sakura or Aoba would be disappointed in him.
"Naruto, are you uncertain or did the cat get your tongue?" The older man's eyes were looking or rather study the younger boy. "I… Well…" Naruto stumbled with his word, but a smile from Sakura and a nod from Aoba made him relax. "You need to know how to walk on water to be an awesome ninja, right? And evading is to look and be strong, so you don't get hit, Dattebayo!" he exclaimed at the end with his energy back on top as he felt no negativity from either of them. The blond one turned to Sakura and gave her something that could remind one of Guy's awesome pose with a grin and a thumb up. "Yeah.." Aoba had to collect himself a bit before just shaking his head "…more or less, anyway I think we should start with the training" He smiled to them, sending shivers down the Genin's spine. Even if Aoba was a kind and good teacher he had a knack for driving people to their limits and beyond that. With a gulp, they started with a bit of warm-up before getting unto water walking.
Way past noon Sakura and Naruto were soaking wet, they had been switching from aiming practice with different weapons to walking on the water walking. The weapon range went from everything that could be used as a throwing weapon and under this Sakura had found out that she liked the thought of using senbon needles, she had a hard time with it, but she understood that they were harder to detect and they could be faster. Of course, the needles weren't as deadly without a precise aim, but Aoba had told the Pinkett that if she trained hard and worked with her aim she could be as deadly as anyone. Naruto, on the other hand, was having a harder time, not with the aim precisely, oh no, he had a problem with focusing on the task, his energy and that basic training wasn't something he liked much. Naruto went as far as to where Aoba had to adjust the training just for Naruto, making the boy run around aiming at crows and mark on the trees. It was a bit funny to watch Naruto jump around trying to hit, and he did hit things, every now and then. With Sakura's analytical mind she could see the difference in both her own skill and Naruto's skills, just after one and a half day of the training. She herself had learned a lot about the basic thing, and how important it is to have that down and she started to understand what she lacked as a ninja. Sakura was starting to see a lot of faults in herself, but she was also starting to hope and believe that she could change for the better.
"Ne, Sakura-chan, can you tell me how you are able to stand on the water" plead a wet and shivering Naruto. Her emerald green eyes went over to him as she tried to multitask, keep her chakra steady and not fall face first into the water. "Well, water isn't stable, so you have to keep a steady stream of chakra, sort of, to your feet. When the water moves you adjust the chakra at your feet" she stopped a bit when she felt I tiny wave, as she regained her balance once again her eyes went to Naruto. The boy looked like a question mark and his big blue eyes looked from her feet to her face then to the water. "But How Sakura-chan?" he questioned her, he was trying hard to understand this. A frown formed on the girl's face, how could she explain it really simple for Naruto. However, all this thinking wasn't a smart move, not long after Naruto had questioned her once again both Naruto and their sensei could hear a shriek and a plop.
Naruto gulped as Sakura resurfaced and started to swim towards the shore. The boy was sure he would get an earful for distracting his teammate when she was concentrating. This was, luckily, not the case as soon as Sakura had pulled herself onto land she laid on her back and started to laugh. At first, it came as a few chuckles she clearly tried to resist, but the odds where against her, so she laughed. This made Naruto really uncertain of himself, was Sakura broke or something? Aoba just blinked and was a bit uncertain himself, maybe he had pushed her too far? He shook his head, that couldn't be the case, right? "S-Sakura-chan are you alright?" Naruto had to ask her afraid that something was wrong with her, but when she looked at him Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. Her long hair hung in the braid, but some had escaped, this made her look more like a true kunoichi. Her eyes were what really made him feel a blush creep up, they sparkled in a beautiful green. Truly the Sakura he knew was gone and replaced with someone new and someone he could maybe even call a friend. Sakura's voice snapped him out "Oh... Yeah" she had to take a deep breath to calm herself, she didn't know why, but when she had seen the look on Naruto's face she lost it. "I just, well your face was so funny Naruto when I fell into the water" She told him as she calmed herself down. "Sorry about that" she even added, after all, Sakura didn't want Naruto to feel like she was making fun of him. "Oh, then that's good!" His voice was almost like sunshine. "I am glad that I could make you laugh" The blond said, always trying to look on the bright side.
Sakura smiled at the idiot, but she felt happy that Naruto hadn't misunderstood her or reacted in a negative way. "Oh, but I think I know a way to make you understand!" she suddenly remembered as she turned serious. "So, when you have gel or something that has a really unstable surface, but it's still a surface you can touch without sinking into it" she took a break to see if Naruto was following her words, and he was. Naruto gave her a nod, hinting to Sakura that she could continue on. Aoba couldn't help but let a smile bloom. The man had of course done some research on both of them, he even had a talk with Kakashi (The jōnin understood why Sakura had started to study on her own, the copy-nin was pretty much helpless as a teacher). Shaking his head, he focused back on his students. Both of them was said to be a few hopeless cases, but he knew better. The kids just needed some help and motivation, this was where he came in and this was where he could finally help someone.