"Sakura-chan? Are you saving up for something special?"

"Mm?" I looked up from my book; my voice came out mumbled around a mouthful of toast. Mebuki and I were having our early morning tea before we left for work and training.

"Because if there's something you need, you know your father and I would be happy to help, don't you?"

I swallowed my food and cleared my throat. "Uh, I'm not really. Where's this coming from?"

Mebuki frowned. "You received five payslips in the mail this morning for missions… Didn't you have your first mission yesterday? What on earth have you been doing, child?"

I hid my grin with a sip of tea. "Oh, you know. This and that."

"Sakura!"

I snorted out my next mouthful of tea and dissolved into helpless giggles. That had been the exact tone of voice she usually reserved for Kizashi.

Slowly, her look of consternation eased into something gentler. "Oh, it's good to hear you laugh again, Sakura-chan. Your father and I have been so worried… Your doctors were right, training has been good for you."

I rubbed the tears of laughter away and gave her a wide smile. "Yeah," I rubbed at my eyes again. "Yeah." I cleared my throat. "Don't worry so much. We're just going on lots of missions and working hard so we can get better ones..." I hummed. "Now that you mention it, maybe if I save up a lot of money, I can find classes on using medical chakra. Inoichi-san said I had a knack for it."

Mebuki frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure where such classes would be offered… perhaps at the hospital? I doubt they would charge you, but they may ask that you volunteer time with them… Would you like me to ask around?"

I nodded. "I've been pretty busy lately, but I'm sure I can find the time somewhere. It would be useful. I've always-" I stopped myself. Thought it over again and decided. "I remember wanting to be a medical researcher or doctor, in my other life. I don't know if I ever wanted anything like that here, but..."

Mebuki smiled, stood, and kissed the crown of my hair. "I'm sure you can do anything you set your mind to. You're a smart girl, Sakura-chan. There are a lot of active-duty ninjas who are also medic-nin. You don't have to decide between the two if you don't want to."

My shoulders relaxed as a weight I hadn't noticed lifted. There was a strong part of me that had always wanted to learn everything the world had to offer, and the case was still out on whether the ninja path would lead me in that direction. My new life had soft, vulnerable spots that I was still working my way around, trying to balance who I was and who I wanted to become.

Furthermore… Mebuki had never wanted her daughter to be a ninja, and even with this clear way of averting that path, she'd remained supportive.

"Thank you."

I'd expected to be alone in the training grounds that morning. With how we'd been training every single day, and having a mission later on in the morning, I'd expected the boys to look forward to a break.

Instead, I'd found that not only Sasuke but Naruto had arrived early.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto called, looking up from a fight with Sasuke. He promptly got knocked in the jaw. I winced.

"Cheap move," I chastised Sasuke as I approached closer.

"It's a fight. Both of you need to learn how to handle distraction and stop hesitating."

"Hey," I said, genuinely hurt. "I've been doing a lot better!"

Sasuke shrugged. "Yeah, I know."

I blinked at him and then let out a wide smile. "Senpai noticed me!"

His puzzled look did nothing to dispel my glee; if anything, it made it even better.

"Ne, Sakura! I acknowledge you too!" Naruto prompted.

"And I, you, brat!" I laughed, catching his head under my arm for a noogie. "It's a warm-fuzzy family all around!"

Sasuke made a noise of disgust. It was shaping up to be a beautiful morning.

In a short time, we all found ourselves sitting around doing basic chakra control exercises. We had a lot of work later in the morning; it was decided that we should avoid wearing ourselves out either physically or chakra-wise.

The boys were trying to balance tree branches in their palms by the tip of the branch, channelling chakra through to support the weight evenly. Their steps through the woods were uneven and slow; I thought it was odd since they seemed to be doing well with the exercise, but then realised I couldn't hear their footfalls. They were trying to do Silent Foot at the same time.

I might have been able to tell sooner, but I'd gotten used to using Silent Foot full-time. It seemed like a good habit to have, and it gave me the added benefit of keeping up my training on sensing the chakra under my feet.

I'd been starting to worry I had let the chakra-sensing fall on the periphery of my training; something I ran in the background instead of focusing on implicitly. Thus, as the boys wandered around doing chakra control, I found myself with both palms firmly planted on a tree trunk. Feeling with my chakra, not pushing.

I had been worrying for nothing. It was almost an addictive sensation; it was no wonder using it in the background came so naturally to me. Now that I'd gotten accustomed to feeling the environment around me, not doing it would feel akin to scratching out my own eyes.

A smile lingered on my lips as I held my eyes closed and felt through the tree-rings, to ants crawling under the bark, to the temperate patience of nutrient flowing through xylem and phloem tubes…

"Hey, Naruto? Can you stand still for a sec? I wanna try something," I said, finally removing my hands. Now that I was fully accustomed to it, I was no longer worried about pushing my chakra by accident. I wanted to see what the chakra of people felt like, not just plants and dirt.

"Huh? Sure."

I walked over to where he was balancing his branch and placed a hand over his arm, as Sensei had done with me not so long ago. I closed my eyes and let my chakra reach-

"Whoa! That's weird. Whatcha doing?"

"Huh," I breathed. "It's like… Sensei was telling me to work on my chakra sensing, so I wanted to see what your chakra felt like compared to the tree."

"Cool! What's it like?" He scrunched up his nose thoughtfully. "Well, I think I can feel your chakra too but it just kinda feels weird."

I hummed. "It's like..." The tugging feel of his chakra flowing through him, directing toward his hand to support the branch, overwhelming in its current. "It's like falling through the air in a cloud of leaves... Or running through the woods, or like a strong sea breeze… It's hard to describe. It's nice, though."

"Cool~!" He drew out the word. "Your chakra just feels like you, but like, way more nosy."

I glared at him. "Thanks."

"Try Sasuke-Bastard next!"

Sasuke looked back at us and shrugged. I took that as permission and walked over to place my hand on his shoulder.

He blinked. "He's right, that feels weird."

"Shh," I hushed, concentrating. I frowned. "If Naruto's chakra is leaves in a sea breeze, you're more like smoke from burning leaves." I could almost smell it, the same way I could almost smell the sea-salt and foliage in Naruto's. "Like burning leaves in a storm, or static in smoke. Huh."

"Mine's way better then, right?" Naruto prompted.

I let go of Sasuke and backed off. "Nah, they're both completely different. I can't compare them like that. They're both nice." I shrugged awkwardly.

For some reason, it felt like trying to compare them both on deeply personal traits. It was a little embarrassing. I would have almost regretted bringing it up, but I felt like I knew something about them now, and it was something I'd rather know.

"I wonder what your chakra's like?" Naruto mused.

I shrugged. "I'll have to ask Sensei later if you guys can't tell." I checked my watch. "Speaking of which, we'd better get on our way; we don't want to be late for our first big mission."

"Does this count as a big mission?" Sasuke asked, letting his tree branch fall to the ground as we began strolling out of the woods.

Naruto put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I think so! Hokage and Iruka-sensei were making a big deal out of it."

I nodded. "If we make this guy happy, it's going to make us look a lot better to clients. Remember what they said yesterday? The more we impress the clients, the better the missions we'll get."

Sasuke grunted. "Plus, if they spread the word around..."

"People will hear about how awesome Team 7 is and ask for us specifically." I grinned.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto pumped a fist in the air. "We're gonna be the most famous team in Konoha! You can believe it!"

We were nearing the old man's farm grounds when we caught sight of a woman staring up a tree on the side of the street.

"Baby, come down!" she wailed. The other pedestrians were giving her a wide berth.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, recognition dawning. "Isn't that the Daimyo's wife?"

Sasuke grunted. "Her cat must have gotten loose again."

We approached closer; she had tear-marks running down her face, spoiling her makeup. She turned at the sound of a shouted greeting from Naruto. She looked just as surprised to see us as we had been to see her.

"Oh! It's you again! I was just taking my baby home after we went shopping and a loud noise scared poor Tora-chan up a tree! I was about to give up and go to the Missions Desk again..."

"Don't worry, Obachan! I'll rescue Tora for you!" Naruto crowed.

I grabbed the scruff of his jacket before he could run up the tree. "Hold on. You still haven't learned to combine Silent Foot and Tree Walking yet. Let me handle this."

In due time, Tora was back in the arms of a very grateful woman. "Oh, I'll be sure to go down to the desk and let them know-"

Naruto scoffed indignantly and I waved her off. "This one's on the house, Obachan. It wouldn't be right to take your money for something like this."

"Feel free to tell everyone how awesome Team 7 is, though!" Naruto chimed.

"Oh, you!"

Naruto wailed as she pinched his cheek, and before long she was tottering away gaily, cat-in-arm.

I patted Naruto's cheek affectionately over the pink-pinched skin, with more force than strictly necessary. "Someone needs to get Tora-chan a harness..."

"Ow… ow! Sakura-chan!"

"Let's go," Sasuke cut in. For once, he was the one grabbing us by the arms and hauling us forward. "We're going to be late if you keep this up."

"Hell no! I'm not gonna be like Sensei! You can believe it!"

"Oh, yeah? Wanna race, brat?" I quirked an eyebrow at him. Ever since my conversation with Sasuke about using chakra to enhance muscle, I'd been trying to remember to use it with every physical action I did. A sprint would be a great way of testing myself.

"You know it! On three! One, two- Oi! Sasuke-Bastard! CHEATER!"

It wasn't long after that we found ourselves in the fields, arriving several minutes early at that. Naruto and I had made it in an exact tie; neither of us was in the mood to include Sasuke in the rankings. Kakashi was already there, sitting in the shade, reading. I wanted to accuse him of being early, but I didn't want to discourage him from good habits. Something told me he wasn't going to involve himself in the task at hand anyway.

Now that we weren't focused on just one patch, looking out at the extended fields was daunting. I didn't have the best eye for measurement, but the edge of the fields had to be well over a hundred yards away.

"Well, we have over a week to pick these vegetables and deliver them, so we should just focus on harvesting for today..." I gave Naruto a sly smile. "Which means we don't have to worry about conserving chakra for later."

"Yes!" Naruto laughed; his voice echoed back the same word twice, five times, a dozen times, twenty times.

I watched the Narutos running around and arranging themselves to different lines of the field we were working in. I slid my gaze over to Sasuke. "He may be a brat, but he really is the Most Valuable Player on this team. I hope you're alright with that."

"Hn," he grunted, working his way over to a row of his own.

"Don't get me wrong; you're my favourite training partner, but this kid does work."

Sasuke did not deign to reply. I followed his lead and went to work on my own row.

Five o'clock found us lined up in front of the old farmer again, sans nineteen Narutos. The farmer was shaking his head slowly, gazing at the sorted piles of vegetables in the crates behind us.

"Seven hours and every single field… twenty-four ninja for the price of four, well, I'll be..."

"Kakashi hardly counts," Naruto grumbled under his breath. I elbowed him, but gently. He had been too helpful to get annoyed with. Even if each individual Naruto moved slowly, it would still have taken us days to get through it all without him.

"Well!" The farmer put his hand on his hips. "Just throw some tarps over the crates for today; no point taking them all the way to storage. We'll put a wagon together in the morning and get on our first delivery; three days early!" He guffawed. "You ninja are really something!"

"Thank you, Ojiisan." I bowed. "It's always a pleasure to work for you."

"And don't forget to tell all your friends how awesome Team 7 is!" Naruto said. This time, Sasuke elbowed his other side. Naruto had taken our remarks about satisfied customers far too closely to heart.

"Oh, don't you doubt it, kiddo. Finish up and head on home, I'll see you the same time tomorrow. Get lots of rest, you deserve it!"

We covered the crates, cleaned up our tools, and made our way back out to the main streets of town. As soon as the old farmer had turned his back, Kakashi had disappeared again.

I cracked my knuckles "Good job, Team 7!… Is what Kakashi-sensei should be saying right now, I mean."

Sasuke grunted. "The client was happy, that's enough."

"Yeah, we don't need him!" Naruto was floating on cloud nine; it was amazing what a tiny bit of praise did for that kid's mood.

"Thanks again, Naruto. Without your clone-trick, that would have taken forever." I smiled widely at him. "How about I treat you boys to ramen tonight?"

"YES!" Naruto punched a fist in the air, simultaneously grabbing Sasuke's arm in a death grip. "Ichiraku, here we come!"

"… Why do you both always feel the need to grab me? I'm not going anywhere."

I shrugged. "You just kinda have that look."

"Yeah, that look," Naruto parroted.

"What kind of look?" Sasuke scowled.

"Yeah, that one! That's the look!"

Dinner with the boys was always fun, but it was lonely to come back home and spend the evening without Ino around. Maybe I should stop taking Naruto to Ichiraku and just bring the boys straight home for dinner. They'd make the house feel more lively.

I stretched my arms forward and turned another page in my book, skimming idly.

[… which hold a limited amount relative to their molecular structure. Unlike isotopic…]

I pulled back and pushed my legs in a split, bending forward to stretch my hamstrings, and turned another page.

[… and the residual energy… as heat or other output depending… common conductors of chakra variants…]

I froze, staring at the spread of pages in front of me.

It was right here, all along, in the very first book I'd cracked open in this room; Chakra: Form & Function.

"It can't be that simple," I mumbled to myself. I lunged forward sharply to snatch up the book and winced in pain as I overstretched a muscle. I curled up in a ball and cursed silently to myself.

"So dumb..." After I managed to massage my muscles into something more 'sore' than 'agonising', I picked my book back up and read through the chapter carefully. Twice.

I put the book down.

Chakra changed depending on its shape, makeup, purpose, container, and position.

If you purposefully concentrate some of your body's chakra into a certain muscle group, that muscle group would use the energy of the chakra to perform its natural function, to greater effect. No chakra would be wasted, as the chakra would be operating within its natural channels.

If you push chakra into a kunai and throw it, the chakra will reinforce the molecular structure of the kunai, helping the bonds along the edge of the blade stay tightly bound. Greater levels of chakra imbued in the blade would instead radiate outward, to be loaned toward the energy being expended in its flight; an extra jolt of energy to the existing kinetic energy.

If you're a natural at Mystical Palm Technique, but have no idea how to measure the energies, putting your chakra into a kunai lodged within damaged wooden cellular structures will fill the metal's molecular structure. The only energy that would radiate outward would be the precise amount of energy not needed to remove the kunai from its position, and the only form of chakra that would be accepted into the wood would be that chakra that could be used to repair the damaged structures. If you surpass this amount, the wood would simply break.

If you had good chakra control, you had an instinct for the exact amount of chakra that you can put into an object before causing strain, damage, or in more extreme cases, explosions.

These key factors in mind, thus when holding just a palm against that same damaged section of wood, the result would not be the same. Without an object to direct the path of chakra and act as both conductor and limiter, the energy would flood beyond the cellular structures and radiate outward to dissipate as heat, instead of running the minimum amount needed for the damaged cells to complete their natural healing cycle.

Which is a very long way of saying…

For completely normal, non-weird, scientifically-backed reasons…

Until I reached an immaculate level of chakra control...

I could only heal things with kunai.

Mystical Kunai Technique.

My head thudded against the book in disgust.

"Seriously?"

Extra Special Trivia Part 11: Pacing is important to me. I try to avoid packing too much information into a single chapter; it hurts the reading experience. Yet I find these chapters keep getting longer… That's the price of adequate action and smooth transitions, I guess.