Fun fact: I started this story because I wanted to write chapter 2. Now that I'm planning out the story, I no longer like chapter 2. *sigh*

As always, a huge thank you to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed/read this story! You guys are really motivating! :)

To the reviewers by the way: I love love love your comments! You are all so kind! :)

Lastly, this is planned to be a loooonggg story, so note that the main plot won't be coming all at once. There will be a lot of slice-of-life(?) chapters like this one as Sakura slowly grows up. Are you guys in it for the long haul?

Chapter 5

Sweat trails down her spine, soaks into her hair, pools at her collarbones. Striking out with her left palm, Sakura narrowly avoids the fist heading towards her jaw and performs a sweeping kick that is easily blocked. Breathing heavily, she quickly switches to defense, erratically dodging the well-practiced set of punches being aimed at her torso. She is quicker, but her opponent's better taijutsu form means she can do little more than evade the attacks.

Plus, her stamina is running out fast. With one last burst of speed, Sakura launches herself forward, blocking a fist with her arm and slipping momentarily past the boy's guard with the movement, right hand stretching towards his throat-

"Halt!" It registers as a distant echo in her ear, and her brain starts in confusion, fingers slowing-

And then she is on the ground, arm twisted behind her, a knee digging into her back.

"Okay everyone, that's all for today! Thank your partners, take ten minutes or so to cool down and then you guys can head on home. Remember to study for the theory test on Friday!" Dismissing the class with a cheerful wave, Iruka-sensei returns to scribbling away on his clipboard.

The pressure on her back disappears, and Sakura claws her way to her feet, lungs fluctuating frantically. Turning to bow to her sparring partner, she finds that he has already wandered off to rejoin his friends. They laugh, and snicker, and a couple glance over at her with smirks on their faces. Something burns coldly in her and Sakura looks away, begins to run through a few stretches.

Missing two weeks of lessons has put her taijutsu skills firmly at the bottom of the class. Muscles screaming at the return of long-forgotten sensations, Sakura thanks the gods that she hasn't stopped her daily jogs around the village-at least she still has muscles. She guesses she should also be grateful towards Shisui for forcing her to return to school. He had refused to teach her genjutsu otherwise, laughing that at the level her ninjutsu and chakra levels are now, she'd never be able to execute any genjutsu. Sakura scowls at the memory.

She is suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when a hand roughly grips her hair.

"Long time no see, Forehead." Ami sneers. "Nice taijutsu skills there." A snicker erupts from somewhere next to the purple-haired girl, and Sakura immediately smooths out her facial expressions. From the corner of her eye, she spots Fuki along with two taller girls standing behind Ami, casually blocking the group from Iruka-sensei's sight.

Sakura doesn't struggle.

"What do you want." She has a feeling that the hit-and-run method won't work this time with all the students around, and Ami is physically much stronger. Not to mention the cronies grouped around her.

Although, Sakura considers, such a big commotion would definitely draw Iruka-sensei's attention.

"Oh, we just realized that we haven't thanked you yet for getting us in trouble with Iruka-sensei!" Ami yanks her hair hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. "Of course you would have to run to a sensei to deal with your problems." The group sniggers.

"You know," continues Ami, leaning in to her ear, "even teachers can't solve all your problems." She leans back, face twisted in a look of pleasure. The type of pleasure that comes from others' pain. "Is that why you've been hiding for so long?" she whispers. "Did Iruka-sensei let you down 'cuz he couldn't bring your traitor father back?"

Something in Sakura snaps, and she whirls around so quickly her hair is pulled out of Ami's grasp, fist pulled back, vision blank save for the flash of fear in the other girl's eyes. 'Stop, stop!' A voice screams in her mind.

"Oi."

Sakura stops.

The boy's spiky hair is pulled back in a ponytail, dark eyes regarding them with apparent boredom. Sakura drops her fist, jaw tensing.

"Fighting's not allowed at school, you know." The boy, whose name Sakura either forgot or never bothered to learn, sticks his hands in his trouser pockets.

"I might have have to report you if you continue." He levels a lazy stare at Ami.

The girl's face is an odd mixture of wary and furious. "Nara." She spits, face dark. "Don't you have some clouds to watch, or something?" The boy shrugs a lethargic shoulder.

"I was trying. You're too loud."

Ami snarls. "Nara, this is none of your business-"

Nara-boy yawns, "Oh hey, Iruka-sensei's coming over." And he is: clipboard under one arm, a first-aid kit in the other.

With a start, the bullies quickly step back from the pair. "You better watch out, Forehead!" Ami hisses in parting, and the girls send her and the boy quick glares before hurrying toward the Academy doors.

"You didn't have to do that." Sakura looks down, straightens her hair. "Now they'll hate you too."

"Ehh, they already hate me," the boy shrugs, "my clan's bigger than theirs."

He snorts. "How troublesome." He shoots her a 'what-can-you-do?' look, and rolls his eyes.

Sakura has to fight the twitch of her lips.

"...Thanks." She pauses. "For saving me."

'For stopping me.' She clenches her hands into fists.

The boy hums in response. "No problem," he gets out through a full-body yawn. "I'm Shikamaru."

Watching him is starting to make her a little bit sleepy as well. She smiles a little. "I'm Sakura."

"I know." Shikamaru smirks at her. "But you clearly didn't know my name, so."

"Wha-" Sakura sputters, "How'd you-was it that obvious?"

To her surprise, the boy starts laughing. "Your poker face isn't that great."

Sakura opens her mouth on reflex, closes it, then opens it again, mind caught somewhere between indignance and amusement.

A hand on her head cuts off her frozen train of thought. "Ready to go home kids?" Iruka smiles down at the two of them and ruffles their hair. Shikamaru scowls and pulls away.

The training yard is nearly empty, and Sakura offers the man an apologetic smile. "Sorry Iruka-sensei, we'll be going now!" In an uncharacteristically bold move, she grasps onto Shikamaru's shirt sleeve with one hand and tentatively starts to tug him away. The boy-surprisingly-follows without complaint.

"Bye kids! And Sakura-it's good to have you back." The words wrap around her like a blanket, and she whips her head around in time to catch the big, sincere smile on his face.

It is hard to resist the responding curve of her own lips as she drags her new acquaintance-friend?-out to the Academy gates.

"Shika-kun! Your late!" A sharp-looking woman calls out as they near the entrance, brown hair flowing freely down her back, a woven basket in one hand.

"Aw, crap." Shikamaru mutters by Sakura's side. "I forgot-I'm supposed to help pick up groceries today." He heaves a long suffering sigh.

"Don't sigh at me, young man!" The woman drapes an affectionate hand over his shoulder, mouth breaking out into an amused smile. "And who's your friend?" She turns her coffee gaze onto the pinkette.

Her body reacts faster than her brain, insides immediately freezing up while her mind hastens to figure out why.

"Okaa-san. This is Haruno Sakura."

Ah.

Her shoulders stiffen. Shikamaru knows about her-his mother must know too.

"Oh?" The woman stares at her for a moment, but gives no other indication that anything is out of the norm. "Well, Sakura-chan, my name is Nara Yoshino. It is a pleasure to meet you." She flashes Sakura warm smile.

For a moment, Sakura can only stare in befuddlement. Then her manners kick in. Feeling like her body is moving through water, she clumsily manages a bow. "Thank you, Nara-san! It is a pleasure to meet you as well!"

Shikamaru snickers. Straightening up to shoot him a glare, Sakura is faced instead with his mother blinking at her with an unreadable expression.

And then the woman grins.

"Awwwww, what a sweet young lady!" Nara-san cooes. "Call me Yoshino! Nara-san is my husband anyway." The woman snorts. "It's great that Shika-kun has found a friend as polite as you! I hope you rub off on him," she winks at Sakura, then narrows her eyes at Shikamaru in a mock-scolding look. "Kami-sama knows my son needs to learn some manners. And some work ethic!"

"Okaa-san!" Scowling, Shikamaru pulls away from his mother and harrumphs. "How troublesome."

The woman laughs. "Just teasing, Shika-kun."

"Let's just go to the market."

"Ah right, I nearly forgot!" Fingers tightening around her basket, Yoshino-san straightens and turns to Sakura. "Would you like to come with us, Sakura-chan? You can stay for dinner! You look way too skinny for a girl your age-are you eating enough?" The lady flashes Sakura a worried, probing look. A shot of warmth trickles down the girl's spine.

"Aa Yoshino-san, I know how to cook." Sakura bites her lip. "Unfortunately though, I cannot join you today-I have to meet someone soon."

Yoshino-san waves off her apology with a smile. "No problem, Sakura-chan! Some other time then-maybe next week?"

"That sounds wonderful, Yoshino-san." Sakura smiles.

"Perfect!" The woman beams. "Shika-kun will let you know which day. I look forward to seeing you again soon!" Wrapping her arm around her son's neck once more, she proceeds to drag him toward the marketplace. "'Bye Sakura!" She chirps.

Shikamaru grunts and raises a hand in farewell. "See you."

Feeling oddly light, Sakura nods back, and waves at them until they disappear from sight down the street.

"Goodbye Yoshino-san, Shikamaru!"

She is late. Skidding to a halt by the training posts stationed at the center of training ground six, Sakura frantically scans the clearing for the any hint of black. Finding none, she sags against the nearest pillar and pants heavily, eyes cast towards the ground, trying to ignore the little pit of disappointment swirling around in her gut.

The fault is hers, she knows. The heavy feeling grows, darkens. She had gotten caught up with Ami's words…

"BOO."

Shrieking, Sakura whirls around, loses her balance, and falls on her butt in a rush of vertigo. Cackling ensues above her.

"HAHAHA. You should have seen your face Chibi-chan!" The boy doubles over, arms wrapped around his middle. Sakura kicks him.

"Ow!" Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, he shoots her a parody of a glare. "It's your fault for being so unaware of your surroundings, you know! We're going to have to work on that…." He giggles again.

Lips forming a slight pout, Sakura nevertheless feels a rush of relief chase away her previous gloom as she climbs back to her feet and dusts herself off.

He had waited.

"Sorry for my lateness, Shisui-sensei."

"Oiiiii, since when did I become a sensei?! Just because I'm going to give you some genjutsu pointers doesn't mean I deserve that title!" He ruffles his hair. "Besides, it makes me feel kinda old."

"But, it would be extremely rude of me to merely call you 'Shisui-san', wouldn't it?" Sakura furrows her eyebrows as the pair settles beneath a tree at the edges of the clearing.

"Hmm. How about 'Shisui-senpai' then? Oh! And don't worry about it," he waves a hand vaguely, "you weren't that late anyway. I actually got here after you." He offers her a sheepish smile.

Sakura is torn between exasperation and amusement. "What!? And here I thought-"

"GREAT, let's start the lesson!" Shisui chirps with a megawatt grin. "Ready, Chibi-chan?"

Sakura sighs. "As ready as ever." Her blood pumps in anticipation.

"Okay, let's start with some theory." The boy's countenance immediately calms and sharpens, tone becoming serious.

"I told you that there are three types of genjutsu the other day, so I'll begin with that." Turning his head a little, he points at a small white mushroom peeking out between the grass at their feet. "Chibi-chan, how do you know that this mushroom is here?"

Sakura blinks. "I...can see it?"

A warm palm settles across her eyes. "Now, where is the mushroom? Find it."

Confused, Sakura reaches out her hand and slowly gropes across the grass until her fingers brush against soft, velvety sponge. "Here?"

"How do you know that the mushroom is there?"

"...I can feel it?" Sakura stops. "Oh!"

"Yeah?" He removes his hand.

"My senses. I can sense it!"

"Exactly. And that's just partially the answer." Shisui ruffles her hair. "The three types of genjutsu correspond with the three main 'stages' of the process that allows us to perceive the world outside of ourselves. The senses are the middle stage, because in order for us to sense something, that object must actually exist in the world. And once our senses receive information from our surroundings, they relay their findings to the brain to be processed, which is the last stage. Does that make sense?"

Sakura feels her forehead crinkle. "I think so. So each type of genjutsu...tries to create illusions of these three stages?"

Shisui huffs out a surprised laugh. "You're a smart cookie! That's mostly correct. Rather than 'create' though, I think the word 'manipulate' might be a better fit." He scratches his head. "Okay let me give you an example, that will probably make things a lot easier."

He gestures to the mushroom again, eyebrows furrowed as he gathers his thoughts. "Okay. Take the mushroom again. Say I want you to see two mushrooms instead of one. I can do this in three ways. First, I can create a 'shadow mushroom' that looks, feels, even tastes like a mushroom if I think adding in a taste element is important-this is the first stage. Conversely, I can tinker with your senses in a way that makes them see, feel, taste the second mushroom even though no 'shadow object' is actually in the space where the mushroom appears to be. Lastly, I can mess with your brain so that even though there is no 'shadow mushroom' in that spot and your senses actually don't feel anything, your mind still thinks there is a mushroom there. You following?"

Sakura nods, eyes alight with interest.

"Great! Now take a different scenario: say I actually want you to think that there are no mushrooms here at all. Genjutsu can also accomplish this by 'shrouding' the mushroom-essentially a camouflaging process that hides the object from our senses. Or, we can cast a genjutsu that tricks the senses into sensing nothing even if they do encounter the mushroom. Lastly, we can manipulate the mind directly to stop the sensory information from registering." The boy smiles down at the frowning pinkette. "You look like you have a question, Chibi-chan."

"Well," Sakura hesitates, "the three types of genjutsu sound like very different processes. Does that mean that performing all of them will require learning three sets of techniques?"

"Excellent question!" Shisui beams approvingly. "And the answer is kind of 'yes', but mostly 'no'." He laughs. "That probably wasn't very helpful."

Sakura looks at him dryly.

"So this analogy probably isn't perfect, but it should illustrate the idea." He rubs his chin. "It's kind of like if I asked an artist to paint me the same scene using oil, acrylic, and watercolor. Each medium behaves differently, so he would have to know how to comfortably switch between them. But the underlying knowledge-how to shade, set a perspective, etc.-is the same. As long as that artist has the fundamental skills down, he should be able to acquaint himself with the different mediums without too much effort."

Leaning his back against the trunk, Shisui folds his arms behind his head and regards Sakura with a speculative gleam in his eyes.

"I told you before that genjutsu is a discipline that requires extensive specialization, right?"

Sakura nods.

"Well, besides excellent chakra control and high intelligence, the other main ability needed to master genjutsu is actually artistic talent. Creativity." He closes his eyes with a smile. "You're clearly more than qualified in the chakra control and smarts departments. How'd you feel about your artsy side?"

Honestly, Sakura has never really attempted painting before. She bites her lip. The Academy doesn't exactly have an art class, either.

"...I can do a bit of calligraphy?"

Shisui snickers, legs stretched out in a picture of lazy contentment. "I guess that counts-could come in handy if you ever want to learn fuuinjutsu." Straightening suddenly, he props an elbow on one bent knee and flashes Sakura a roguish smile. "We won't know until we start, though!"

'Already?' Sakura's eyes widen, simultaneously excited and apprehensive. Fisting clammy palms, she unconsciously leans forward. What if she actually has no art talent whatsoever? What if she...lets him down? What if he loses interest in teaching-in her?

What if-

"But not today! Exercises are going to start next time, I'm afraid!" And then Shisui proceeds to throw his head back and guffaw obnoxiously. "Relax, Chibi-chan! You look more wound up than a rusty screw!" He pauses. "That made no sense. Well anyway, I have a feeling you're going to be just fine, so stop worrying!" He throws a handful of grass at her with a casual flick of his wrist.

Combing grass out of her hair, Sakura levels him with a glare. "Why are we starting next time?"

"You need to get comfortable with the different 'mediums' first before you can actually do anything," he explains, forming air quotes with his fingers. "To do that, you're going to have to do a LOT of reading. Homework!" He nods in mock seriousness. "I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow-it'll probably last around five or six days, so why don't we meet here again next week? Same day, same time."

"Sounds good, Shisui-senpai."

"Awesome. While I'm gone, here's your assignment. First, I need you to go read up on how the senses work: how do the eyes take in information? Your skin? Your taste buds?" He scratches his head in his signature thinking pose. "I also want you to read up on the anatomy of the brain: what parts of the brain are linked to which parts of the body, which parts house our memories, etc. You follow?"

Sakura nods silently, already starting to plan out her week in her head. "I can find all of these books at the library, right?"

"Of course! They're located closer to the back-not many people look for them, so you'll likely have no trouble getting everything. That's probably more than enough reading for one week, but in case you have some extra time, see if you can read up on how light works, or something. Like," he waves a hand vaguely, "figure out what a molecule is, and what kinds of molecules correspond with different scents, things like that." He snorts. "That probably made no sense to you whatsoever."

Sakura shrugs. "I will make sure to read up on it! I am a bit of a bookworm anyway, so this will be fun." Smiling crookedly, she looks down and tugs at the dark blue ribbon in her hair. "I...already know what a molecule is, too, so maybe I can learn faster."

"Awwwwww, you're so kawaii Chibi-chan!" The older boy wraps her in a tight hug without warning, squeezing her like a teddy bear.

"Oof." Weakly beating his chest with her fist, she gasps for air when he pulls back. She really hopes he doesn't start making a habit out of this.

"It's difficult information-most students won't start learning about this stuff until their last year at the Academy, and only those who are interested in things like genjutsu or medical jutsu-but I think you can take it." He pats her head, and starts to stand up.

"Also, if you have any questions at all we can definitely go over them next time! Or feel free to ask Itachi-he's home this week, so he'll be going to the Academy to pick up Sasuke every day."

"Okay." Sakura nods. "Ano...where is Itachi-senpai?" Standing up herself, she avoids Shisui's eyes as she fusses with the bottom of her shirt. The pair starts to walk.

Itachi isn't her teacher, there's no reason why he should come to her lessons-

"He's at a clan meeting right now."

Something in Shisui's tone makes her look up.

His eyes are oddly unreadable, face uncharacteristically still. "He wanted to come. It was a last-minute meeting," he explains softly. "He's the son of the clan head, so he couldn't skip it."

They reach the main path.

"I see." She doesn't know what else to say. "I hope it goes well."

"Me too." He sighs. Rakes a hand through his hair. "He'll probably be here next week though! Get ready Chibi-chan, it's going to be exciting!" His face splits into an evil grin.

"O-okay….I'm going to go now." Sakura subtly backs away. "Thank you for the lesson, Shisui-senpai! Good luck on your mission!"

He chuckles as he starts off in the opposite direction. "Remember to go to class, Chibi-chan! If you don't improve your stamina and physical technique this week you're never going to make it through our next lesson!"

His ominous cackle echoes in her ears all the way home.

Was the theory too complicated?

Some reviewers seem to have questions, so I thought I would try to either 1) answer them here if they are not too plot-based, or 2) cackle. (Please let me know if you would rather I not reply to you here.)

curious viewer: Firstly, thank you for letting me know how you felt about the training bits! Very very helpful; love love love :) As for your question, this is a Sakura-centric not a Team 7-centric, so...mwahahha :P

Allie: I am glad you liked it! I can't believe it made you cry-that is the greatest compliment! :D About your question: interesting idea...I wasn't planning on it, but maybe! :)

xXWinterRoseXx: Mwahahha! ;P

CelticSpring: ...Kekekeke ;)

Teyona: Fufufufufufufu~ ;D