Cherry Blossoms and Chakra Strings

[Sadguychet]

Nine-year-old Sakura Haruno was slow to wake up as usual. As she was pulled from her rest by a stray band of sunlight, the child spent several minutes just rolling around in bed, trying to sink back into the warm embrace of sleep that she had known for the past several hours, only to grumble and rise as she realized it was a futile endeavor.

The bright sun over Konoha shone through her bedroom window just a few feet away, illuminating the room as the pinkette slid from underneath her covers, planting her bare feet on the hardwood floor that had been warmed by the sun's rays.

She yawned, raising her arms high in the air in a stretch, before smacking her lips sleepily and glancing towards her alarm clock.

Her eyes widened, "It's nine already!? Why didn't anyone wake me up!?

Swiftly running out of her room, Sakura rushed down the stairs to the kitchen, only to pause slightly as she realized that she couldn't detect the usual scent or sound of breakfast being cooked wafting through the house.

"Kaa-chan? Tou-chan? Hanami? Are you guys here?" She called out as she reached the ground floor. There was no response and as the child reached the kitchen, she was met with a completely empty room.

Her eyes locked onto the piece of paper that had been taped to the refrigerator. There was writing on it that was way too small to see from across the room. Curious, Sakura made her way over to it and pulled it off of the fridge, looking it over.

Sakura, we're sorry that we couldn't say goodbye. The caravan got pushed ahead of schedule so we had to ship out extremely early this morning and we know how much you like your beauty sleep. Please do not sleep through your alarm again.

Your sister changed her mind last minute as usual and decided to come with us so make sure to tell Hana-san that she'll only be looking after you for the next few weeks.

Since Hanami isn't there to wake you up we hope you didn't sleep through your alarm again. Iruka-san may be forgiving, but being late so often isn't good for your studies if you want to be a powerful kunoichi one day.

Anyway, we need to get going. We'll make sure to bring you back a souvenir like always so please be good for your auntie!

We love you,
Kaa-chan and Tou-chan

"Aww! They already left? I wanted to say goodbye…" Sakura pouted as she finished the note, putting it back in its original place, "I hope they don't bring back colored sand like last time. It's just ink and sand! I can make that here! Kinda."

Sakura being left alone in her house was not an unusual occurrence and hadn't been since a few years ago when she fell extremely ill on her fifth birthday and couldn't travel. Her parents had left her with their neighbor, Hana (affectionately called auntie by the pinkette) and had her look after Sakura while they traveled to the Land of Tea with the caravan.

Hana hadn't minded one bit and after she got better, the two of them had a blast until her parents and sister returned. Since then it had become a regular occurrence.

Sakura didn't like the Land of Wind. It was too… windy, not to mention sand got everywhere and made her feel all gritty and grainy no matter how many baths she took. These days, any time her parents offered to bring her along on journeys to the country she always preferred to stay in the village.

Hanami, on the other hand, loved traveling with their parents. Unlike Sakura, her little sister had no issues with the arid land to the West and so was more than willing to join them in their journey.

Sakura suddenly paused, rereading that second paragraph, and paling at the realization that she made as she remembered her earlier panic that had brought her down here in the first place.

Her alarm clock said it was nine. That was three hours later than class started. She was late.

Again.

"Oh no!" She yelled, tossing the note away and rushing back up the stairs as fast as she could.

She got dressed faster than she ever had before, pulling on her shinobi pants that her aunt had gotten her and slipping on a dark red jacket with her family's merchant crest proudly displayed on the back.

She didn't bother styling her hair, simply putting it up in a messy ponytail that would keep it out of her eyes during the sparring portion of class. It wasn't like it was far off from how she usually wore it anyway so nobody would notice. Probably

She grimaced as she rushed down the stairs and out the door at record speeds, already imagining the reaction that she was going to receive for being over an hour late to class.

"Iruka-sensei is going to let me have it!"

~~~ Academy ~~~

Ten minutes of frantic running later and apologizing to anyone she ran into along the way, Sakura opened the door to her classroom panting and completely out of breath, "I'm here!" she nearly shouted, shoulders heaving with her breathing as the entire room turned to look at her, "I'm here…"

Her teacher, Iruka Umino, looked away from the sentence he was writing on the chalkboard to give her a partly-amused, partly-annoyed smile that she was all-too familiar with.

"Good morning, Sakura. It's good to see you finally decided to join us." The man said, placing the chalk back onto the board's rim as he turned to face her fully. He raised an eyebrow at her disheveled appearance, "And I see you've decided to start a new fashion trend. Inside out shirts haven't really been popular recently but I'm sure if you wear it with confidence everything will turn out just fine."

Sakura blushed, giving her sensei a sheepish smile as the other students began snickering at her blunder, "Sorry, sensei. I slept through my alarm and my parents left Konoha this morning so they couldn't wake me up. It won't happen again."

Iruka just gave her a smile that was exasperated yet somehow fond at the same time, "Yes it will, but as long as you don't do it too often and at least show up for most of my lectures, I guess I can cut you some slack."

"Hey, that's not fair!" A blonde student sitting in the back shouted, "When I'm late you always yell at me, Iruka-sensei!"

A vein pulsed on Iruka's head as he whirled around to his most troublesome student, "That's because Sakura doesn't try to sneak out in the middle of my class, Naruto! Get back inside here and close the window!"

Naruto sheepishly did as the man asked, pulling his leg back inside the classroom as his escape attempt was foiled.

Iruka sighed, "Naruto, I know your mother has taught you most of this already, but there's nothing wrong with learning something twice. Sit down and listen and you might actually get a new perspective on things."

"Yeah yeah." Naruto grumbled as he retook his seat beside Sasuke. The Uchiha gave his friend a superior look, clearly having told him that his plan was doomed to fail in the first place, "Shut up, Sasuke."

Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes as numerous girls in the room immediately jumped upon the Uzumaki in some perceived attempt to defend Sasuke's 'honor' despite it just being friendly banter between friends.

She didn't really understand the obsession with the pretty boy

As the volume of the room increased, the vein on Iruka's head only worsened, "Enough! Everyone quiet down, NOW!" Immediately, every student in the room shut their mouths and the teacher sighed, turning to Sakura, "Go ahead and take your seat. We've mostly been going over stuff we've already covered so you should be fine. And don't let this become a habit."

Sakura gave the man a mock salute, "Yes, Iruka-sensei!"

He rolled his eyes at her antics and she gave him an unrepentant grin as she made her way to her seat in the back of the class.

Her neighbor gave her a nod as she reached him, adjusting his dark glasses as she sat down, "I am glad you are here, Sakura. I was worried I would be alone for the day."
Sakura gave her friend a grin as she sat down beside him, "Heh, yeah sorry about that, Shino. My parents went to the Land of Wind and took Hanami with them. I slept through my alarm clock."
The Aburame tilted his head at her words, "Does your alarm clock not function?"

She blushed, "Not good enough. Hanami's usually the one waking me up. Kaa-san says that the only deeper sleeper than me is the Hokage Monument."

Shino made a noise of confusion, "The monument isn't alive and therefore cannot wake up."

"Exactly."

Shino just nodded his head, accepting the joke for what it was without comment and Sakura grinned as she turned to the front as Iruka began his lecture once more.

Shino had been Sakura's first friend at the Academy. Unlike nearly all the other civilian girls, she hadn't been grossed out in the slightest by his clan's kekkei genkai and had actually found the whole 'living hive' thing extremely interesting.

A few questions and chats later, and the unlikely pair had become fast friends. They often ate together and had been seat neighbors for years, even hanging out at Sakura's house on occasion which was a rarity for any clan heir, much less an Aburame and despite being much quieter than she was, Sakura was glad to have met him.

She turned her attention back to Iruka as the man suddenly placed his chalk on the rim of the chalkboard with an oddly defining 'clack' silencing the room that had been steadily growing louder and louder as he worked.

He sighed, clearly deciding that there was no use teaching as he had been when it was clearly barely anybody was listening. Sakura felt slightly bad as she hadn't been listening either, but she already knew all about chakra natures from her studying so there really hadn't been any point.

Iruka looked out at his class who were beginning to whisper to each other once more, "Since you're all so full of energy, I guess we can start the sparring portion of class early." Cheers rang out at his words and he suddenly smirked, "But you will be graded on your performance."

Cue the groans from the students who had been cheering, "It's been a few months since I graded you all on your taijutsu abilities. I'd say it's about time to see where you all stand again."

"Aww, but sensei! That takes all the fun out of it!" Naruto complained loudly.

His words sparked a response from the kid sitting in front of him, a brunette with fang tattoos on his cheeks and a puppy sitting on his head. He turned back to Naruto with a challenging grin on his face, "You just know you're gonna get a bad grade. Guess all that training with Sasuke didn't really amount to much, did it?"

Naruto's face went red, "Shut it, dog breath! I'll kick your ass any day of the week!" He shouted, getting into the other boy's face.

Kiba grinned back, sharp teeth on full display as Akamaru yipped and growled on his head, "Oh yeah? Bring it on, blondie!"

"Break it up you two! Or at least wait until we're outside." Iruka sighed, feeling a headache make itself known.

As they all made their way out of the classroom, led by Iruka, Sakura could sense that Shino wasn't happy about this sudden turn in events.

"Cheer up, Shino. The two of us are at least in the top seven in taijutsu. I'm sure we'll get good grades!" Sakura reassured him

"That may be true, but I would still prefer not doing it." The Aburame commented, adjusting his glasses, "My clan do not specialize in hand-to-hand combat as it carries a high risk of damaging our Kikaichu. I am unsure how I will perform."

"Aww, you'll be fine." Sakura grinned, patting him on the back, "Most of these guys can't fight their way out of a paper bag. You got this."

Shino didn't respond except for a slight nod of his head. Sakura knew that meant that the boy had accepted her words, and so she grinned, turning back forward as they made their way to the yard.

Since it was going to be a graded soar and not freeform, they skipped by the large open field that they usually used and instead made their way to a large patch of dirt that had a circle drawn on the ground with chalk.

"Alright," Iruka began as they all lined up before him, "As you know, this is a graded set of spars. That means that the pairs will be mostly randomized and both male and female students will have the opportunity to have their name called."

He looked down at his clipboard, jotting something down, "The first pair is… Ino Yamanaka and Kiba Inuzuka."

Sakura winced as Kiba cheered and Ino sighed, "Ooh, that's gonna suck."

Shino nodded silently beside her as the two stepped into the ring. As the two of them took their stances, Sakura turned to her friend in order to spare herself the incoming beatdown that the blonde was about to suffer.

"You think I could sneak away to turn my shirt back the right way?" She asked, glancing towards Iruka as he did something with the clipboard in his hands.

Shino was silent for a moment, "I doubt it. Why? Because this match isn't going to last long enough for you to leave and come back in time."

As it turned out, he was right. Ino was a better fighter than most of the civilian kids but when it came to the Inuzuka, practically their entire thing was taijutsu. She didn't have a chance from the start.

She tried to put up a fight but soon enough she was sent to the ground my a hard lunch to her cheek, Kiba immediately moving to restrain her and end the match.

As the two made their way out of the ring, one of them much happier than the other, Iruka spoke up once more.

"Next pair, Sakura Haruno and Ami Hanase!"

Sakura cursed silently as her name was called. It looked like Shino was right. She'd have to wait till after to fix her clothes.

"You should give up now, Forehead!" Ami called out to her as they got into positions across from each other, smirking cockily, "You know you've got no shot at beating me!"

"If you say so." Sakura responded, more than used to those sorts of comments by now. She got into a modified academy stance, settling her limbs in a way that was more comfortable than the basic stance and waiting for her sensei to begin the match.

Ami frowned at her lackluster response, settling into her own stance and mirroring Sakura's except for a few key aspects that the pinkette had changed, "Alright then, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Iruku looked towards both of them, raising his hand in the air, "Ready…BEGIN!'

"I'll make this quick!" Ami shouted, rushing forward towards the pinkette. As she reached her, she jumped up, aiming a kick at Sakura's head which the pinkette leaned back to dodge.

As Ami landed she thrust her arm out in a palm strike aimed to knock the wind out of Sakura while she was unbalanced, but the girl just stepped around the telegraphed attack, twisting grabbing the outstretched limb and causing the girl to freeze in shock.

"Ha!" With a shout, she pivoted on her heel and pulled the girl over her head by the captured limb, letting go of her at the apex of her arc and sending her soaring out of the ring.

Ami landed on her face several feet away skidding along the dirt in what was a definite ring out and Sakura grinned as she dusted her hands off, "Well you were right. It was definitely quick."

Iruka raised his arm once more, "Enough! That's the match. Sakura, well done. That was a well performed maneuver, few wasted movements and you achieved what you wanted to. Ami, we'll have to work on your counters when we get the chance, you should have been able to do something other than freeze in panic when she grabbed you."

"Thank you, sensei." "Yes, sensei!"

"Make the seal of reconciliation." Iruka said, jotting something down on his clipboard. They did as he said, interlocking their first to fingers in a manner to show that there were no hard feelings from the spar.

Though with how fast Amy pulled her hand back after they were done, immediately turning her back on Sakura and walking away, the pinkette had a feeling it was just a formality.

Iruka shook his head at the display, writing something else down on his board before turning to address the class once more

"Alright, the next pair. Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno!" He called out, making Sakura freeze as she went to step out of the ring.

His words sparked confusion in the class, the other students muttering to themselves or each other about this decision. Naruto was, as usual, one of the loudest people questioning Iruka's decision.

"But Iruka-sensei, she just fought! Why are you having her go again." He called out, clearly upset that he and Sasuke wouldn't get their usual spar.

"It wasn't really much of a fight." The Uchiha muttered loud enough for virtually everyone to hear. The other students laughed at his words and Sakura caught sight of Ami's face turning bright red before she looked away.

"Unfortunately, Sasuke's right." Iruka said, causing Sakura to look at him in shock, "While Sakura's performance was good, the fight didn't last long enough for me to accurately grade her taijutsu abilities." He explained, only adding more fuel to the fires of Ami's embarrassment.

'So he's making me go up against the strongest fighter in class as a way to test my abilities?' Sakura thought to herself as Sasuke shrugged and made his way into the ring, Naruto shouting words of encouragement behind him. She gulped as he locked eyes with her before that signature Uchiha smirk appeared on his face, 'Oh, this is gonna suck.'

Still, her parents didn't raise a quitter, and so as Sakura gave a bow to her opponent that he returned, she resolved to at least make it a good fight.

"I don't think we've ever fought, Haruno." Sasuke commented as he settled into a stance that Sakura couldn't name but had seen him use numerous times before, "Try to make it a good one."

"I'll do my best." Was all Sakura said in response, redying herself as well.

"Are you ready?" Iruka looked at them both, hand raised in the air, "BEGIN!"

The moment that Iruka's hand dropped, Sasuke immediately rushed forward at a speed that Sakura had trouble keeping up with. She frowned and tightened her guard as the Uchiha approached, already predicting his first move.

As always, Sasuke jumped up into the air as he reached her, twisting his body around for a spin kick that had worked to end nearly every match he didn't feel like dragging out. His onyx eyes widened as Sakura dipped underneath his attack, letting it pass over her head as she moved forward, swinging out at him with all of her force as he landed on the ground.

He was quick to recover, slapping her fist away with a hand and turning to deliver a sharp punch to her solar plexus. Sakura just barely managed to get her hand in the way of his strike, allowing it to slap her palm harmlessly.

She threw it to the side, causing Sasuke to stumble slightly and immediately began her own assault. A punch thrown towards his solar plexus was blocked and the following kick to his knee was dodged as the Uchiha jumped away from her, gaining some distance in the process.

They stared at each other for a long moment, emerald eyes gazing into onyx with intensity, before they both rushed forward to continue their fight

Their next exchange was just as quick as the last, with Sakura dodging or blocking his probing strikes and blows and throwing some of her own out as well, before her eyes widened as Sasuke got into an extremely familiar stance.

The Uchiha had a habit of ending fights that he didn't feel like participating in with a particular combo that was meant to take his opponent out in just a few strikes. That was the stance that he had taken.

Luckily, Sakura had watched the Uchiha fight just enough to know how this would play out and more importantly, how to defend against it.

First up was a telegraphed but quick jab towards the face, meant to make an opponent guard followed by a palm strike to the elbow to break said guard. Sakura managed to slap the punch away, redirecting it off to the side and dodging the subsequent palm slap by simply not being there in the first place.

Sasuke's eyes widened minutely at what she had done, but he continued his combo all the same, picking up the speed just a bit in hopes that she wouldn't be able to keep up with him. Normally she wouldn't, but Sakura had seen these exact actions performed more times than she cared to admit, and so she knew exactly what was coming next.

A punch to the liver meant to stun her was met with one of her own, their knuckles clacking together loudly as both she and Sasuke winced at the noise and feeling. She jumped over his next attack, a low leg sweep meant to send his opponent to the ground and end the fight, kicking out at his head as he attempted to rise.

The Uchiha was forced to back off unless he wanted to catch a sandal to the temple, rolling to the side and springboarding to his feet a few feet away with a surprised look on his face.

"Wow. You're actually pretty good." He complimented as he faced her again. The cheers from his numerous fans and those that were just enjoying the fight went silent as he spoke, everyone wanting to hear the two combatants speak without interruptions, "I don't think anyone but the Hyuga have been able to dodge that combo. Even Naruto has trouble keeping up with it but his brain's small enough that he just eats the first punch."

"Hey!" The blonde shouted angrily, "You won't be saying that next time we fight, Sasuke! I'm gonna beat you so bad your mom won't even recognize you!"
Both of them ignored him and Sakura gave Sasuke a grin, blood pumping in her veins at the fight, "You do it too much. Any time you don't want to fight somebody anymore, those are the moves you make to end the fight as fast as possible."

Sasuke made an odd face, "Huh, I didn't think anyone noticed that. Alright then, hope you don't mind if I step it up a bit."

She did actually, but didn't let her wariness show on her face, instead giving him a grin that was full of confidence she didn't really have, "Go right ahead."

Immediately after her words exited her mouth, Sasuke rushed forward at least twice as fast as he had before. Sakura's eyes widened and she stepped back, putting her hands in front of her to block whatever he was about to do.

She grunted in pain as he suddenly blurred, kicking her in the knee and causing it to buckle. She just barely recovered fast enough to block a punch that was aimed for her jaw but wasn't fast enough to stop the one that hit her in the ribs.

And from there things fell apart. Sakura had always known that Sasuke was fast. But he was fast. Like, hit her twice before she even moved to block the first punch kinda fast, and she was soon out on the backfoot as she struggled to defend herself.

And even sooner after that, it was over. With one final sweep of his leg that she couldn't dodge, Sakura's own legs were suddenly swept out from under her and she yelped as she was sent down to the floor.

She grunted as she hit the ground before hissing in pain as Sasuke immediately got on top of her to prevent her from recovering, pressing a knee into her lower back painfully. Her arm was forced upwards against her back in a standard restraining hold, and Sakura was only able to bear it and attempt to escape for a moment before she recognized it was hopeless.

"I give! I give!" She shouted. Immediately, the pressure disappeared as Sasuke got off of her. She sighed as her arm returned to its natural position, "Owwww… that's gonna hurt all day, isn't it?"

Sasuke snorted as he leaned down, helping her to her feet, "Probably, but you'll be fine. You're stronger than these other wimps."

"...Thanks?" Sakura wasn't really sure how to respond to that. Sasuke just smirked at her before walking out of the ring towards Naruto who shouted something Sakura couldn't understand at the Uchiha.

Sakura rolled her shoulder, wincing slightly as she returned to her friend's side, "Jeez, he's fast."

"You did well, Sakura. I have no doubt you'll receive a good grade for this assignment." Shino complimented as she reached him.

Sakura grinned, rubbing the back of her head, "Think so? I'm pretty sure he was just going easy on me."

"Who cares!" Sakura was startled by a new voice and looked over to find Ino staring at her with intense eyes. One of the blonde's cheeks was bruised from her fight with Kiba, but she clearly wasn't letting that keep her down as she was filled with the same fire as she always was, "Where did you learn to fight like that!?" She demanded.

Sakura blinked, surprised at the question, "Oh uh, my parent's caravan sometimes hires ninja to guard them and when I traveled with them, they would teach me a little. I just sort of added what I learned to the academy stuff until it felt comfortable I guess."

Ino stared at her so intently that Sakura felt sweat begin to bead on the back of her neck before…

"Train with me." The blonde said.

Sakura blinked and even Shino stiffened slightly, a motion akin to dropping his jaw in shock for the Aburame.

Sakura recovered quickly, "Uhh… Why me?"

Ino gave her an odd look, "I need someone to train with and you just have Sasuke an actual fight." The Yamanaka said like she was stupid.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I got that. I mean why me specifically? Wouldn't you rather train with Hinata or someone?

"Clan heirs aren't allowed to train with each other unless we're being monitored by our clan heads which almost never happens and you're the best girl fighter in class besides Hinata." Ino explained, "Since you're a civilian, there won't be an issue with it as long as a member of my clan is present."

That made sense. Most clans were secretive with their training to make sure that their secrets didn't fall into the wrong hands. It would be bad if an enemy village managed to get ahold of the upcoming clan head's fighting style because they managed to sneak a peek at their training.

Sakura scratched her cheek, "I guess I wouldn't mind training with you. Are you really sure you-"

"Yes. I'm sure." Ino interrupted, before flipping her hair in a particularly sassy way and turning away, "I'll drop by your house to discuss the details tomorrow after I talk with Tou-sama. See you then."

And then she walked away leaving Sakura staring after her, mouth agape, "But you don't even know where I… live. And she's gone.

The pinkette turned to her friend who had been silent thus far, "That was weird, wasn't it? It's not just me?" She asked.

"It was."

She nodded, "Good. Just making sure I wasn't going crazy or something."

Shino went to respond but was cut off as Iruka called out the next duo to spar, "Next pair! Hinata Hyuga and Daki Shinazawa!"

"Hell yeah!" "O-Okay."

Sakura turned away from her friend to watch the new pair duke it out. With Hinata's shy nature and Daki's… not that, she had a feeling this would be an interesting fight.

~~~ Konoha Shinobi Sector ~~~

On her way back home that evening, Sakura made sure to stop by the shinobi sector, a part of Konoha specifically catering to its ninja population, to visit her favorite shop.

It was a guilty pleasure of hers, looking at the stores around this area and looking at the equipment and weapons that she would one day be able to buy, thinking about how she would use them it defend against them.

She grinned somewhat giddily as she caught sight of one particular store sign depicting a kunai slotted through a shuriken and sped up her pace, reaching the storefront very quickly.

The bell on the door alerted the owner to her entrance as Sakura made her way inside, gazing around with the same amount of awe that she had the first time she visited, staring around at the weapons lining the walls of her store.

Standard katana were hung beside tanto and chokuto and dozens of other different types of blades weapons, ranging from a kusarigama and even two chakram that looked particularly sharp. As Sakura bounded up to one of the displays giddily, a familiar voice called out to her.

"Hello, Sakura!" She turned to find the shop's owner, Tachi, with a smile on his face as he made his way over to the curious child who he often found in his store, "Are you planning to buy something today?" He asked jokingly.

Sakura's ponytail swished behind her as she shook her head, "No, Tachi, I'm just looking." She eyed a particularly shiny odachi, imagining wielding it against enemy ninja.

Tachi saw where she was looking and chuckled, "I think you're just a bit too small to be using something like that just yet." He patted her on the head.

She just gave him a grin, "I'm just planning for the future! Kaa-chan and Tou-chan said that the most important part of being a ninja was being prepared and careful planning!"

"That's very good advice. Although… Are you thinking about taking up kenjutsu when you become a kunoichi?" Tachi asked her, "If so, I've got some training blades that should fit someone your size. Never too early to start, you know."

Sakura just made an unsure noise, gazing up at the odachi as she thought, "I'm not really sure what kind of kunoichi I want to be. Genjutsu is pretty cool but I've heard it's also really hard, and I'm pretty good at taijutsu compared to all the other students but I can last more than a few seconds against Sasuke or Hinata when she's actually trying."

Her face soured, "And I don't have the chakra stores for ninjutsu right now. Iruka-sensei said that I had some of the smallest ones in class and that I needed to train my chakra more so they could grow."

She suddenly smiled, looking up at the taller man who stared at her curiously, "Maybe I could do all three? Be a jack of all trades?"

Tachi hummed, stroking his chin, "The official term for them is Generalists, ninja who don't specialize in any specific combat style and instead have filled out their skillset with all three. And yes, I suppose you could."

Sakura smiled at his words, so there were people like that? Maybe she could-"But I don't think you want to be one."

Sakura gave the man a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"Well for one, I don't strike me as the patient type." He chuckled, causing her to pout, "A good generalist puts in years upon years of effort to get to where others would be in half the time. They are an important part of our forces, yes, but it also takes a great deal of dedication to become an effective one.

"But if you want the real reason," the man smiled at her, "I can tell you have something special in your future, Sakura, could see it when you first walked into my shop. Focusing on so many things at once would be a waste of your innate talent. You should specialize."

Sakura gave him her full attention at the word, "Specialize? What do you mean?"

Tachi put a hand on his chin, thinking about how best to explain, "I mean… take the Sannin for example. Each of them are spectacular ninja in their own right and many say that even they aren't sure who would come out on top in a battle between them, but what do you think of when you imagine each of them?

She closed her eyes and thought hard, trying to remember what she knew about the legendary Shinobi.

"They all have specific things they're good at!" Sakura said in realization, "Tsunade-sama is the best healer in the world, Orochimaru-sama knows more jitsu than he can count, and Jiraiya-sama…uh…"

She was drawing a blank on that last name. She knew he was famous for something, but the only image that came to mind when she thought of him was her mother's angry face. She wondered why that was.

Tachi chuckled, "Yes well you have the gist of it. All three of the Sannin are exemplary ninja in all aspects, but they also have skills that are uniquely suited to skills that have made them known around the world and cover each other's strengths and weaknesses perfectly.

"You can still be an amazing ninja as a generalist, Sakura, but you could be something even greater once you find that one thing that truly clicks with you." Tachi finished gently,

"What kind of ninja do you want to be?"

The question rang in her ears as Tachi stepped away to go deal with another and she turned back to the sword she had been eyeing earlier. It followed out of Tachi's store, rolling over itself in the child's mind as she began to make her way back home.

What kind of ninja did she want to be? She didn't have an answer. She knew she wanted to be powerful, well known and well respected just like the Hokage, but when she actually thought about how she'd get there, she suddenly drew a blank.

She blinked as she suddenly remembered something important, breaking through the intense thoughts that had consumed her, "Oh yeah. I should probably buy some rice before I go. Hana usually cooks dinner and I think we were running low."

As she said this, she suddenly stopped, her ears perking up as she heard something coming from nearby. She strained her hearing

"...tterly hopeless! Try again!"

"Y-Yes!"

Someone was yelling at someone else. They sounded angry too and Sakura felt her curiosity grow.

For just a moment, she thought about continuing on her way and heading home. It was getting late and it would be dark in around an hour, not exactly the safest time for someone as young as her to be out and about.

But alas, Sakura was a child and an extremely curious one besides that, so it was only natural that she did a ninety degree turn from her original path in the direction of the yelling.

After only a minute of following the voices, Sakura was met with a large fence with a sign that was just as large attached to it.

'TRAINING GROUND 23' the sign read, and as Sakura processed this another shout came from just beyond the fence, "Again!"

There was a thick layer of brush that hadn't been cleaned up, preventing her from seeing inside but she knew for sure that that was where the voices were coming from.

Normally, she would see the massive dense surrounding the training ground and turn around to walk home. She had found what she was looking for after all,

Today though, Sakura's curiosity was just enough that it spurred her to find a way inside anyway.

"Just a little peek." She muttered, eying the fence as the voices continued, "And then I'll go get the rice…"

Looking around, it didn't take long for the pinkette to spoy a potential way inside of the training ground. There was a large tree growing close to the fence, tall enough that even the lower branches peeked over its top. She could use that.

The fence was there to keep any wandering civilians from blundering their way inside but Sakura wasn't a civilian. Okay, she technically still was, but she had one thing that made her different from the rest of them.

She had chakra. And a pretty good grasp on how to use it.

Placing her hands in the ram seal, Sakura closed her eyes in concentration, focusing on her chakra in the same way that she had practiced in the solitude of her bedroom. After a moment, she opened her eyes and stepped forward towards the tree. She hesitated for one moment as she reached it, before reaching up with a leg and placing her foot on the bark.

Immediately, she felt the chakra in her foot cling to the rough wooden surface and the nine-year-old grinned before planting her other foot on it as well, beginning to walk up the vertical surface like it was nothing.

Tree-climbing was a technique that Sakura by all means shouldn't have known, but just like it had mere moments ago, the child's curiosity had gotten the better of her when she had witnessed and older shinobi use the skill to scale the wall of a building to bypass foot-traffic and she just had to try it for herself.

It took weeks and several massive lumps on her head before she managed to get her chakra to consistently act in the way that she wanted to, but it had all been worth it. Her parents couldn't hide sweets from her on the top shelf ever again!
She giggled to herself as she got high enough in the tree to peer over the fence. She walked just a bit higher, climbing atop a thick branch that would make for a perfect jumping off point.

She took a moment to prepare herself, glancing down at the training ground to gauge the distance, before leaping off the branch and over the fence into the training ground.

Sakura landed on the ground with a thud, bending her knees just as she had been taught at the academy, only to yelp as her feet slipped out from under her thanks to a particularly loose weed, tripping forward and falling into a nearby bush before she could manage to recover.

She groaned, spitting leaves out of her mouth as she rose, only to immediately duck back into the bush as a voice rang throughout the training ground.

"No! Not like that you fool! Your threads are barely there, how do you expect to control anything with them like that!" The voice was angry, shouting at something or more likely something that she couldn't see.

Slowly, she peeked out of the bushes, flinching slightly at the sudden beam of light that shone right into her eyes before her vision focused on the two inhabitants of the training ground.

One of them, likely the one yelling, was an extremely old woman in a black robe with a white scarf wrapped around her neck. She currently had her arms folded in dissatisfaction, watching a much younger woman hold her hands out as she attempted to do… something to what looked like a bundle of clothes laying on the ground.

Sakura's eyes widened as she caught sight of the gleaming metal forehead protector on the younger woman's arm. The symbol on it wasn't the one that she had come to know from years living in Konoha, a swirling leaf. No, instead it was something much more simple, an hourglass shape with a single bar just floating above it.

Sakura had researched the other villages in class and so knew exactly which the symbol belonged to. These two were from Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand and Konoha's ally and trade partner for years at this point in time.

But what were they doing here, in one of Konoha's training grounds? She remembered hearing from her parents that there was a delegation from Suna that would be visiting some time this month, maybe they were a part of it?

She watched as the woman sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead in exasperation, "This isn't going to work. You barely even have the fundamentals of chakra channeling."

Her student hung her head, dropping her hands as the flow faded from her fingers, "I'm sorry Chiyo-sensei."

"Don't be sorry, be better!" The old woman chided, "You should have told me if you were having trouble creating your chakra strings because I would have had you stay in the village and focus on your training instead of bringing you all the way out here to this humid hellhole!"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock, 'Chiyo-sensei!? And they're from Sins! That means… that's Lady Chiyo!"

Lady Chiyo was a legendary kunoichi from Suns on the scale of the Sakumo Hatake or even Hanzo the Salamander. It was her poison that allowed Suna to be such a powerful force into the Second Shinobi War, decimating entire villages and rendering land inhospitable for generations afterwards.

In fact, if it wasn't for Tsunade Senju's abilities in medical ninjutsu and her skill in counteracting poisons of all types, it was extremely likely that Suna would have come out far better than Konoha in their numerous conflicts.

Sakura stared at the woman in awe and a little bit of worship as she suddenly stuck a hand out to a nearby bundle of clothing on the ground, blue strings of chakra extending from her fingertips latching onto it, "Watch and learn, girl! This is how it's done!"

The bundle began quivering and Sakura was suddenly struck with the realization that it wasn't a bundle of clothes at all! Sakura watched in amazement as it suddenly lifted off of the ground, guided by the glowing blue strings to reveal a wooden face with far too many eyes to be human.

'A puppet! Of course!' She thought in revelation.

The puppet kept rising, until it settled several feet above the ground, flowing black cloak settling around it's wooden limbs as a curtain of dark blue hair fell behind it. It made an odd clacking noise as it turned, facing a nearby section of the training ground as Chiyo guided it, before suddenly bursting into motion.

Sakura's eyes practically sparkled as she witnessed the woman's demonstration from her hiding place inside the bush, watching the clacking puppet race across the length of the field in mere seconds.

It was like watching art in motion. That was all Sakura could equate it to. The way its joints clicked together as it raced an incredible distance in mere moments, controlled only by glowing blue threads so thin they were nearly impossible to see in the evening sun, it was breathtaking.

"This is what you could do if you just keep practicing. With the right application of chakra to the right places," Chiyo lectured her student, maneuvering her fingers minutely, "You can control each of your puppet's limbs even better than you can your own, making it do things that no humans can to catch your enemy off guard."

Sakura let out a gasp of surprise as the puppet's limbs suddenly extended several meters away from its target. They shot forward at incredible speeds, small blades popping out of hidden slots along them as they wrapped around a nearby log in the fraction of a second.

The blades dug into the bark, trapping it firmly as the arms retracted to pull it back towards the puppet itself. Sakura thought that was the end, but Chiyo wasn't done.

"And when you have your enemy dead to rights, you can deal the finishing blow before they have a clue what's happening!" She said, flexing an index finger.

With a loud hiss, compartments opened up along the side of the puppet's face and a dark purple mist seeped forth, engulfing the area around the puppet in the fraction of a second.

'Poison!' Sakura realizes. Judging by the way the grass was already wilting near the puppet, it was a fast acting one too, enough to kill anyone near the cloud in only a few moments.

This was incredible! What this lady was doing was the essence of everything that a ninja should be! Her puppet was the perfect tool to capture or kill an opponent before they even knew what hit them, just like Iruka-sensei said a ninja should be!

And not only that, but there was something strangely entrancing about the way the whole sequence had played out. The puppet was clearly intricately designed and Sakura couldn't help the intense desire to see its internal mechanisms for itself, her brain working overtime to try to figure out how exactly everything worked.

Where had the poison come from? Was it just stored inside the puppet waiting to be released? No, that would be dangerous. What if the puppet broke or cracked and the poison was released prematurely, it had to be in some sort of seal.

But if that was the case, then what was the trigger to release the poison? Did it have something to do with those strings? They looked like they were made of pure chakra. She didn't even know that was possible!

Sakura looked down at her own hands, clenching her fingers. Could she do that as well?

Deciding that it couldn't hurt to try, Sakura closed her eyes in concentration even as Chiyo continued speaking to her student, focusing on the pool of energy that sat inside of her core, before attempting to move it throughout her body as if she was using a jutsu.

It was hard. Her chakra felt like syrup as it moved through her system, unguided by her usual hand seals. Chiyo hadn't used hand seals though, and neither had her student so it was likely that this technique didn't require any. Slowly but surely Sakura managed to circulate her chakra into her hands, getting it as far as channeling it into her the appendage before she had to stop as she realized she had absolutely no idea how to actually form the strings that the Suna nin had.

She furrowed her brow in thought, thinking about what she knew of the chakra system and its tenketsu. There were several in the hand and three in each finger. Perhaps she needed to move the chakra through there?

Deciding that it couldn't hurt to try, Sakura began doing just that, forcing her sluggish chakra through each of the tiny gates held in her fingers, pushing them out towards the edges.

Almost immediately thin wisps of chakra extended from her fingertips just like it had for the Suna nin in the field and she just barely held back the urge to gasp in excitement. Even as her tenketsu ached, she forced more chakra into them, wanting to make them even longer just like theirs had been.

Sakura suddenly froze as a voice came from only a few feet away, "If you keep doing that, girl, your fingers are going to go flying all over this training ground. That's not a mess that I'm in the mood to clean up right now."

Chiyo had cottoned on to the little snooper that had happened upon her training her student the moment that the girl's feet had hit the ground. She had been a little annoyed, but it wasn't like she was hiding anything so she had been content to let the girl be. After feeling the telltale signs of someone channeling chakra, as well as knowing what she was likely trying to do, she had been forced to step in.

Although now... Chiyo suddenly paused as she took a closer look at the girl. She was young, clearly not even out of the academy yet, with hair so pink it actually hurt Chiyo's eyes to look at and eyes that were just as bright.


She suddenly paused as she took a closer look at the girl. She was young, clearly not even out of the academy yet, with hair so pink it actually hurt Chiyo's eyes to look at and eyes that were just as bright.

But her hands… Chiyo had thought it was just some brat who was about to blow her fingers off by channeling chakra to the wrong places but there plain as day, were the beginnings of chakra threads extending from her digits.

'From someone so young?' Chiyo thought in shock, staring at this pink-haired child, 'Her ability to control her own chakra must be incredibly advanced for her age!'

Someone so young creating chakra strings, even just the barest threads of them, was completely unheard of! Why, Chiyo imagined if the girl had used just a bit less chakra, she would have gotten the basics of the technique in just a single try!

…Was it possible? Could she have happened upon a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here? A chance to pass on her skills to someone actually worthy instead of just some snot-nosed brat that the council picked out for her?

Prodigy wasn't a work that Chiyo threw around lightly. She found the idea that some people were just innately talented to be laughable and quite frankly insane, but what else could this girl be? It had taken even Chiyo weeks to learn how to create tangible threads, and this girl had done it in just a few minutes of spying!

If she was able to learn how to create chakra threads just by watching her from the bushes, what else could she pick up with so little instruction?

Images of a certain blonde spoiled brat with a penchant for ruining her plans suddenly appeared in her mind, and Chiyo frowned.

She'd made up her mind. She would tutor this child in her art and in the process deny Konoha another Slug Princess.

And perhaps she would find someone actually worthy to be called a puppet master in the future.

Chiyo looked down at Sakura with a stern gaze, causing the girl to flinch back slightly, "Say, young lady, how would you like to learn the art of puppetry?" She asked out of nowhere.

Sakura's eyes widened massively at the elderly woman's words, "Really!? B-but I thought it was forbidden to share hidden techniques between villages even if they're in an alliance."

Ninja villages were notorious for safeguarding their respective techniques to the point of paranoia. It was unheard of for someone of Lady Chiyo's prestige to offer training even in their own village, much less someone from outside it!

Chiyo scoffed, "Bah! What those old codgers on the council don't know won't hurt them. There's exactly one person in Suna that might be worth any salt and he's a spoiled little brat so there's no telling how he'll pan out. I'll be in Konoha for another few weeks which should be more than enough time to teach you the basics."

'Old codgers? She's like eighty!' Sakura didn't voice her thoughts aloud, but some incredulity must have shown on her face because Chiyo gave her an annoyed look.

"Hey, girl! Stop giving me those eyes, I'm as ripe as a spring pear!" She said angrily, "Do you want to learn my art or not!? I don't have all day so you better answer now!"

Despite the complete and utter suddenness of the question, Sakura only had to think about it for just a moment before making a decision. There was no way she was going to pass up the chance to learn such a rare skill!

The nine-year-old bowed low to her new teacher, practically trembling with excitement at the idea of replicating such an incredible ninja art, "I'll be in your care, Chiyo-sensei!"

She thought back to the puppet and the intricate way it moved, unseen components shifting in a way that made Sakura's mind tingle with the desire to know more.

She grinned, 'I think I've found the type of ninja I want to be, Tachi!'

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