With Raidou's advice and demonstration, it was only a matter of four hours and devouring two books on chakra control for Sakura to get the leaf spinning on her forehead. Her issue and been a combination of spinning in the wrong direction, of course, as Raidou had initially explained. Her chakra coils spun to the left, and it was several degrees easier to get it started when she was spinning it with her chakra and not against it. The second part was visualization. She was using chakra to manipulate the leaf, holding it in place on her forehead and direction it to spin, but she wasn't actually manifesting or shaping the energy. It was all about mental control, keeping her mind focused.
So, it made sense that Kenga-sensei had his classes work on it while he lectured. The lecture forced the gennins to split their focus. They had to listen well and take detailed notes in order to write any essays Kenga-sensei assigned, but they also had to keep a small but constant flow of chakra to their foreheads to affix the leaf in place. In Sakura's case, she had another layer having to spin it, which required her to spin her chakra at a steady rate.
One of the books had explained how the leaf concentration exercise (Sakura had rolled her eyes at how basic training skills got straightforward naming conventions but super strong jutsu, like the Yellow Flash's famed jutsu which earned him the infamous moniker, was called the Flying Thunder God Technique) was just the first of several stages of techniques specifically cultivated towards developing an awareness of your bodies chakra—type, strength, element, rotation, density—while simultaneously teaching them how to mold chakra, sense how much they needed to power a specific jutsu and get them to the point they could do it unconsciously in the midst of fighting so they didn't have to stop and think about it.
It was almost like honing their physical reflexes, except for chakra instead. The next few techniques seemed a lot cooler based on name, tree-walking and water-walking. The preteen girl was ready to add it to her morning routine when she read the warning at the end that a common mistake was using too much chakra and blowing up the tree bark. She might be doing better than the rest of her classmates in the chakra control department, but she didn't want to push her luck and have to explain to the dorm-sensei how she had blown a hole in her wall. Tenten was fantastic at covering up the nicks and scratches and small gouges her kunai and shuriken left, but a literal hole in the wall would be another story.
Chakra reflexes sounded pretty cool to her. And the guys would probably agree. Naruto already struggled with chakra control because he had a truly insane amount of chakra for someone his age. Way more than any of the gennins in their year group and she would guess all of the ones above too. The blonde fared much better in purely physical aspects of their classes, but he was trying really hard to master the first chakra control exercise because he kept overloading the lowest ranked ones. He was the only one amongst them who couldn't make a clone. Naruto's always emerged into existence like they had already lost the will to live and had one foot in the grave. Kenga-sensei thought Naruto was playing a practical joke and the blonde nearly wound up with a week's worth of detention until his second, third, fourth, and fifth attempts turned out just as sickly.
Now that Sakura had figured it out, she could teach Naruto and finally pay him back for the week he had Shisui drilling basic katas into her brain and muscle memory.
Tomorrow, her tired brain pleaded, still feeling the headache from three days of failure. What she needed was sleep, and maybe a cup of Tenten's peppermint tea.
Naruto loved both food and sleeping in, so one never knew if he would be on time for breakfast or not. Luck was on her side today, as the cheery blonde was in his usual spot next to Sasuke and only halfway through his meal. The ninja in training were spoiled for choice when it came to food. With the Shinobi institute housed in its own wing of the Chikara palace, a kitchen had been designated to cater directly to all of the students and the intense dietary needs of shinobi, which far outstripped civilians.
Sakura typically favored more traditional breakfast foods like steamed rice, grilled fish, miso soup and whatever fresh vegetables were available that day. Naruto always took some off everything, including fried eggs, sausage links, potatoes, etc.
She idly wondered if the amount of chakra a person had related to their appetite, because she had noticed that Naruto and Gaara (though he was much more subtle about it) boasted appetites to rival Chouji, who needed more calories for his clan jutsus. She filed the query away as something to ask Tsunade-shishou later and squeezed her way in between Shino and Kiba to sit across from her target.
"Morning, Satoshi!" grinned Naruto."
"Still want help with the leaf exercise?" She was too excited about her success to think about eating.
Naruto was halfway on top of the table, eyes shining less than a foot from her own. "You bet'cha, datteboyo! I knew you would figure it out!"
His praise was loud and boisterous, earning the attention of the rest of the table of first years and carrying further now that they were half their number. Most turned away, well-used to the sight of the Hokage's son making a spectacle of himself—he did have an odd habit of crouching on top of furniture to be at eye level with people.
"Show me!" he begged, tearing off a piece of braised cabbage from his plate to thrust in her direction.
The young girl recoiled and would have fallen off the bench if not for the quick reactions of Kiba and Shino on either side of her. Meanwhile, Sasuke gripped the bottom of Naruto's jacket, practically yanking the other boy down off the table and back into his seat.
"That's disgusting, dobe."
"Well, it's not like I had a leaf on hand, teme," Naruto defended, hotly.
The boys continued to bicker, ultimately taking their dispute to the training fields to determine the victor by brute force before they needed to head to class. For her part, Sakura sat dumbfounded, surprised at how quickly Naruto had forgotten about seeing her spin the leaf on her forehead in favor of fighting with Sasuke.
Kiba barked with laughter, thumping her on the back in a consoling manner. "Typical idiot. Show me instead, Satoshi. It'll serve him right for running off on you."
"Yeah, sure."
Sakura retrieved the leaf she still had from her pocket, setting it against her forehead and spinning it with an ease that belied four days of struggle. Kiba's grin was toothy as he offered congratulations. And not in a bright and wide or cheeky kind of way, but rather a little predatory.
"If you are offering tips, I also wish to be included. Why? Because one cannot improve until they master the fundamentals."
Sakura glanced between her classmates. She didn't mind helping them and felt a little robbed of her opportunity to show off now that Naruto and Sasuke had ditched them. But she had promised Naruto that she would show him first and still owed him a debt she had yet to repay. But it wasn't like she was breaking her promise if Naruto ran off because she could demonstrate.
Chouji shyly asked if he could be included as well, effectively breaking the last of her resolve, and thus Sakura spent the remainder of the breakfast hour coaching her friends through the visualization that helped her finally succeed, and Raidou's hair trick to determine which way they needed to spin their chakra.
"It's all about mental focus. I pull my chakra to the surface and imagine a whirlpool or a whirlwind. The leaf is caught in the current and is spun round and round by the force."
"Leaf concentration exercise already? Old Kenga starts earlier and earlier every year, doesn't it seem, Itachi?"
Shisui's cheerful remark broke the boys' concentration as their attention turned to him. The older students didn't often interact with the younger years beyond assigned mentorships, so it was a little unusual for the crown prince and his cousin to suddenly show up at their breakfast table.
Said teen hummed in response, which seemed to be all Shisui needed to ramble about how the ducklings were growing so fast and wasn't it just yesterday that Itachi and himself were gennin.
Kiba puffed out his chest. "Just goes to show that our generation is going to surpass yours. And I'm going to be the strongest one!"
Kiba's bold words spurred the rest of the gennin into exclamations of how they were better at various ninja arts and a heated debate quickly formed.
"You're certainly working hard at your studies, Satoshi-kun. Would you update me on how your extra curricular studies are progressing?"
Sakura almost choked on the sudden feeling of fear that overwhelmed her. The only time she had approached Itachi was after the visit to the Dancing Hawk and she hadn't had a thought to spare to the tangled web that was the Uchiha cousins' involvement with Akatsuki. Or the damnable cat accessory under her bed that she suspected had some kind of eavesdropping jutsu.
She felt herself go pale. The mid-term exams had whole encompassed her every moment and she still hadn't gotten around to researching if an eavesdropping jutsu was possible, but with her brain no longer fogged with the constant worry of being cut she realized that she had a potential listen device hidden in the sanctity of her personal space. Did Tenten always refer to her as 'my lord' or Satoshi? Had they inadvertently revealed her secret to the crown prince because Sakura was too stupid and too prideful to throw away a cat hairbow?
"My door will be open for you. You can study in my room this evening and tell me how the first half of the year treated you."
The words were pleasant and delivered encouragingly, but there was no mistaking the invitation for the directive it was. Sakura was expected at the prince's room that evening and that was it.
Shisui stood with a flourish. "Keep up the good work kiddos. Now, get going before you're late."
As if summoned by his words, the warning bell rung, informing all students they needed to wrap up their breakfast if they wanted to be to the first day's lesson on time. Sakura belatedly realized that Shisui had been a distraction so his cousin could summon his mentee for a clandestine meeting in a way that was completely obvious and in line with his image of simply fulfilling his duties as her mentor.
The rest of her classmates were energized by Shisui's attention and encouragement, even Shikamaru managed to stay awake longer during morning lectures. Sakura's attention, conversely, suffered, as she worried over why Itachi was demanding her presence. Not even Kenga-sensei acknowledging her progress and improvement, shown by setting three leaves on her desk and instructing her to spin one on the back of each hand in addition to the one her forehead, could pull her brain out of its downward spiral as it envisioned one bad scenario after another in which her deception was revealed. Her afternoon classes fared a little better, but only because other thoughts had to take a back seat while she analyzed her sparring partner's fight pattern, and she could rely on muscle memory, instinct, and her ability to dodge.
Evening arrived far too quickly. Feeling like a proverbial ax hung overhead, Sakura navigated the halls to Itachi's room. Shisui was also inside, but he was never far from his younger cousin so his presence wasn't a surprise.
Silence blanketed the room. Sakura started to feel stifled and hot under the collar.
"Well, Satoshi? You survived the cut. Are your classes less stressful now that your place and rank have been secured? I'm assuming your academic classes are still no bother?"
"Did you really bring me here to ask about homework?"
"Of course," Itachi answered smoothly. "Now that you have secured your spot for the next three and a half years, barring any extenuating circumstances that would result in immediate expulsion, I'll be checking your progress more frequently. Start by explaining the choice behind pursuing medical ninjutsu and how you convinced Lady Tsunade to take you on as an apprentice."
Sakura's shoulders tagged in relief. The extra curricular he was interested in was her Iryō-ninjutsu training, not further involvement with the Akatsuki. "I didn't take no for an answer."
"That can't be it? Otherwise, she would have taken on an apprentice before now," Shisui said.
She shrugged. Tsunade would set a task with high expectations and Sakura, knowing she couldn't afford to fail, met every challenge head-on.
"Impressive no matter the reasoning. And if you apply yourself as well to her teachings as you do the rest of your lessons, you'll surely become an invaluable asset."
Sakura shot the prince an uneasy smile. The compliment appeared genuine, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the pair was interested in more than the extra training she put herself through.
"Medics are always beneficial. Skilled medics even more so. One trained by the legendary Sannin Tsunade herself? Can you imagine the worth of such skills?"
"Stop sugar coating it and using such fancy words, man," complained Shisui.
Itachi fixed him with a look of exasperation but complied with the request. "We have a proposition for you, Satoshi, and request that you accompany us to the Dancing Hawk tonight to discuss it."
Sakura could taste the dread on her tongue as nausea threatened to overwhelm her. Sage curse her curiosity, why did she have to stick her nose ninja places it didn't belong? Why couldn't she have stuck with having to fool a castle full of Shinobi for eight years and not follow shady chuunin into shadier bars?
"Just tell me one thing, first." Itachi inclined his head. "Was there a listening jutsu on the cat bow?"
Shisui blinked, seemingly stupefied by the question, having expected something more akin to their last conversation and the war Itachi had hinted at. "Why, Satoshi," he crawled, amusement dripping from each word, "worried about is overhearing something? Breaking any more laws that we should know about? Or maybe something a little more, naughty? Getting started a little early don't you think?" he finished with a suggestive leer.
Sakura flushed as red as her red-dyed hair. "Gross! No way! Why would you think that? I'm only ten!"
Shisui looked several years younger as he laughed boisterously. "Just for that reaction, Satoshi-kun. But to answer your question, no, there was no listening jutsu or tracking jutsu. It was just a test to see if you were capable."
"Did I pass?"
"Yahiko is inviting you back, so I would say so, yeah."
"Good to know. Can we get going now? I'll still have two worksheets and a fake correspondence letter on negotiations for Ebisu-sensei to write and I'd like to get some sleep tonight."