The path to herself

Something didn't fit. Only what? Inner's answer was logical, but somehow not satisfying. Kakashi-sensei had never taught them anything voluntarily and training sessions consisted only of practice fights, although she mostly stayed behind on the side. Not that she had really seriously participated in the sessions so far. Unfortunately she had to admit this to herself, but it did not change the fact that it was not a normal behaviour of her sensei. Something was going on in his head and Sakura didn't get to the bottom of it much to her displeasure. “Sensei?” Her skepticism had won, she had to ask and when she was sure she had the attention of the copy ninja, she went on. "Why are we going to the woods to train and why right now? Couldn't we have trained what is coming now in Konoha? Sensei expects another attack, doesn't he?" She clearly felt the glances of her teammates on her, but she couldn't really look into anyone's eyes and therefore preferred to stare at the ground in front of her. No, out of kindness Kakashi wouldn't train them. There had to be another reason and the oppressive feeling she had felt since arrival had still not left her. Not even when the mask wearer woke up. "Maa, maa Sakura-chan. You're sometimes too smart for your own good."

Came it nonchalantly from the Jonin. "I haven't taught you the following yet because your teamwork needed more focus and the forest is best for the following exercise because there are many trees, but yes I wouldn't allow training on a mission if it wasn't important. Zabuza is still alive." At first she was hurt by his words, even a little upset. No way she was too smart for her own good and teamwork instead of real training. They were ninjas and her knowledge was all she had and where her strength lay. But she couldn't concentrate any further on the insults when she heard that Zabuza was still alive.

Without first realizing it, her heart rate had increased and her posture stiffened. She didn't even notice how Naruto gave a loud "WHAT?" and didn't want to believe their sensei a word. They had at least seen the hunter-nin take out Zabuza and disappeared. Just in passing she took Kakashi's answer why he assumed the missing-nin was vivid. ~So my feeling hasn't deceived me the last few days. Something, much more someone, is actually waiting for us behind the fog. I haven't been afraid for no reason, but that doesn't make the situation much better. I couldn't even move at the first encounter, or even make any adjustments, how is that supposed to end if... and can the training make any difference at all when we face him again?~ Sakura's mind raced. Only when a Kunai drilled himself into the ground in front of her did she snatch from her thoughts and stare from the Kunai to the evildoer. Did Kakashi actually hang upside down from a branch, only holding himself with his feet to the branch? Wait, wasn't that one of the exercises she had read about in her scroll? "And with the Kunai you mark the height to where you made it, then you see your progress." Heard she the last words of her Sensei and apparently she had spent the whole explanation in her own mind, when she noticed Naruto and Sasuke-kun reaching for the Kunais and racing towards a tree.

She watched her two boys as they made their first attempts, while she herself grabbed the Kunai that was stuck in the ground. 'We should be able to do this easily. We did a heavier exercise and tree climbing came right after the exercise with the leaf on the forehead. Let's show Kakashi-sensei that we have more than just brain. CHA!' Sakura's grip tightened around her Kunai at Inner's words and she agreed inwardly. She wanted to change and she wouldn't be a liability to her team anymore! With these thoughts she approached a tree, concentrated her chakra in her feet and placed it against the tree. Carefully she tried to lift her other foot off the ground and when she didn't slip she collected the same amount of chakra in her other foot and placed it over her other. Contrary to the exercise she had done that night, climbing trees was easy for her. It was almost like normal walking and before she knew it, she had arrived at the top of the tree. A proud grin lay on her features as she let her gaze wander over the treetops. "That was easy." Satisfied, proud and happy she looked down to her team and giggled.

In fact she had done something before Naruto and Sasuke-kun! Even Kakashi seemed to be surprised by her achievement. But her exaltation didn't last long. As soon as he spoke a word of praise, his other words were addressed to her boys and what he said made both of them look at her with a gaze she didn't want to see from her teammates. In particular Sasuke-kun seemed angry and fierce, why wasn’t clear to her. Shouldn't he be more content because she took training seriously? Instead that her success brought her closer to her team, she felt it removed her more from them. It wasn't supposed to be that way, was it?

Uncertainly she looked at her sensei, but he had already turned to his book again. What was she supposed to do now? Without further concrete instructions she repeated the exercise several times until she got bored and stopped on a stable branch. A light sweat film had formed on her skin and her chakra reserves were also largely exhausted. Looking at Naruto and Sasuke-kun she just sighed. Where did they get all their energy from? At least they were as sweaty as she was. While she watched the process of her boys, she got an idea, what she could try out besides the actual task. She had read and also seen older ninjas jump from roof to roof or from branch to branch. If she wasn't wrong, it had to be a principle similar to that of her current exercise. Her chakra would keep her on the branch. At the same time she had to interrupt the chakra flow in order not to stick to the branch when jumping off. For larger jumps she probably had to strengthen her muscles with chakra. That she could try later, first of all she wanted to start her first consideration. Concentrated she focused on her chakra and the branch she was standing on. Currently her chakra held her on the branch so she wouldn't fall down. Carefully Sakura went down in the knees, interrupted the chakra flow and jumped up slightly before she collected chakra in her soles again. It worked! She hadn' fallen from the branch and had actually jumped, even if only a few centimetres. Again she repeated her exercise this time more courageously and after her third or fourth attempt she snorted contentedly.

She was about to try jumping to the neighbouring branch when she heard the voice of her Sensei. She almost slipped and fell because of her surprise. "Since you have mastered the exercise and want to try things with exuberance that are not yet suitable for you and your training level, it is better to guard Tazuna on the bridge. It's gonna take the boys a while to get the slope out, and I'm gonna keep an eye on them. So off you go." Unbelieving she stared at her sensei. He didn't just say that, did he? She was anything but boisterous, but had carefully groped her way forward. Did he even monitor her progress? Probably not. Inside she was boiling as her gaze slipped to Naruto and Sasuke-kun. Those two were like everything he saw. It hadn't bothered her before this mission, but now, now she found it unfair. She had done nothing else but accompany Tazuna and help with the bridge during the past days, while the boys had done nothing for the actual mission. Instead of giving her another task to train, he pushed her away. Why? Did he forget again that there was a missing-nin out there waiting for them? She could use any damn training she could get, especially when she was lagging behind her teammates so much. What was she up to? Probably that was exactly why he didn't consider training her further. In the past she hadn't made efforts to get any better.

Frustrated she climbed down the tree and gave a not euphoric "Hai sensei" off. She was still a teacherpet and did what was asked of her, but as soon as she had left the training arena and could neither hear nor see her boys, another thought came to her. Kakashi would stay with the boys all day to keep an eye on them. He had sent her to the bridge to Tazuna, so he didn't believe Zabuza would show up today. For the day Tazuna was apparently safe and this gave her the opportunity to concentrate on her training without having to sneak out in the middle of the night! She would take this opportunity, who knew what else could happen to them on this mission and Sakura wanted to use her full potential when it came to it. But for that she had to train, something Kakashi-Sensei should have known but didn't follow. At least not with her. But she couldn't really condemn him for the attitude towards her either.

Her legs carried her further into the forest, in the western direction of Naruto and Co. In a clearing she stopped and looked around. A small river flowed into the forest at the end of the clearing and various herbs grew on the grassy area if she correctly assigned some of the plants. Walking on the water was the next exercise after tree walking and since Sakura's chakra reserves were not yet completely empty, she wanted to face the next challenge. If it came to a fight on water again, maybe she could come to the aid of Kakashi-sensei and distract the enemy. 

Determined to master this exercise by tonight, the young Kunoichi stepped to the riverbed and thought. While the surface of a tree was stable, robust and immovable, the water surface was constantly moving, unstable and flexible. Similarly she had to influence the flow of her chakra. With the tree it was constant, needed no adaptation, with the water she was quite sure that she could not proceed in such a way. To test her theory, she placed her palm on the water, collected some chakra in the inner surface of her hand and pressed it against the surface of the water. At first she held herself up, but when she added her second hand and put more weight on her hands, she broke through the surface of the water and landed face first in the cold wet. "Brrrr cold. Remember Sakura, you also have to take extra weight into account. How could I forget," sighed she straightened up again and brushed her wet hair out of her face. She tried herself again and only when the attempt was successful with her hands did she carefully dare her first steps on her feet. The first attempt failed after a few seconds, even the second did not keep her up for long. At her third attempt she got the hang of it and took her first steps on the water. It took all her concentration and she was quite wobbly on her legs, but she didn't fall into the wet. If that wasn't a success, then she didn't know either.

Over time her steps became more secure and her confidence in her ability grew, and she also had to focus less and less on her chakra. It came more and more natural to her, the amount of chakra she needed to walk on the water. After almost two hours, however, her reserves were as good as used up and Sakura settled down exhausted on the grass of the clearing. Tired she saw a smile on her lips in the cloudy sky. She would have an hour or two before supper, so she didn't have to leave immediately. She probably wouldn't even reach Tazuna's house without a break, as ko as she currently was. With this thought the pink haired woman closed her eyes. ~Just for a moment. Then I'm on my way.~ Thought she herself and then slipped into the land of dreams.

A gentle shake on her shoulder and a cold shiver running over her back woke the young Kunoichi from her dreams. "The ground isn't a good place to sleep at night. You'd better go home before it gets dark." Alarmed Sakura straightened up. The voice seemed anything but familiar to her and as her eyes looked at the person, she instinctively grabbed to her kunai bag. However, she had not counted on the face that looked towards her. In front of her or better next to her squatted a girl? She was not quite sure, but the fine facial features and the long dark brown hair, which shimmered slightly in the light of the day and the warm, almost friendly expression in the eyes of the unknowns spoke for her theory. "Don't worry, I mean no harm to you. I only saw you lying here when I was looking for medicinal herbs and thought I'd wake you up before it got too cold. The nights here are not exactly warm to spend them on the ground." It was the way the unknown spoke and behaved that made Sakura relax and her hand slip from her pocket.

Even though Sakura visibly relaxed, she did not turn her gaze away from the person. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone here, but thanks for waking me." Danger didn't seem to come from the girl, yet it was surprising for Sakura to meet someone here. After all they were in the middle of a forest. "You said you collected medicinal plants? For what? Is anyone seriously injured in the village?" Even though she didn't live in the land of the waves, Sakura has always been a good-hearted person who couldn't see others suffer, at least not those who were innocent, which in her opinion all the people living here in the village were. "No problem, I wasn't expecting to meet anyone here either. Are you one of those ninjas who arrived here a few days ago? And yes I am collecting medicinal herbs for a person who is very important to me. Nothing serious, but some of the plants here help with the healing process, which is why I collect them. I am Haku, by the way". Without really being able to control it, a smile fell on Sakura's lips. "Pleased to meet you, Haku, I am Sakura and yes I arrived here three days ago with my team. I don't think anybody expected anyone here, if you like I can help you collecting so that your important person gets better quickly. Maybe..." Sakura was silent for a moment and looked uncertainly at Haku. Could she? Was she allowed? Was it all right at all? She had no idea. "So ähm just in case it's not too much to ask and you have time, of course. Do you think you could explain a little bit about the different medicinal plants to me? With that knowledge I could certainly help my team." With an insecure smile she looked at Haku, waited for what she would say and hoped she would not meet deaf ears. That she surprised Haku with her question or request was recognizable by the facial expression, which only normalized after a few moments. "I think it can be done, just not today. Surely your team is waiting for you and I am also expected. How about tomorrow after dinner? The hours until nightfall?" With a nod Sakura gave her consent and straightened up afterwards. "I'll see you tomorrow, Haku. Bye." With these words the pink haired Kunoichi said goodbye and made her way back to Tsunami, where she was already expected. Fortunately neither Kakashi nor Naruto or Sasuke-kun were back. But the three were not long in coming and together they ate dinner.

The mood at the dining table was tense and her two boys were in one of their many rivalry fights when Sakura noticed a picture, and she asked the family about it. What followed was the life story of Inari's father figure, the hero of the village, followed by an outburst on the part of the boy and Sakura could only watch as Inari made off. Her gaze automatically wandered to Naruto, worry in her gaze, but how should she help? When her blonde chaot got up and left the house, Sakura  helped Tsunami clear the table and apologized quietly for addressing the issue. Sasuke-kun and Kakashi were gone after she had helped out in the kitchen and Sakura decided to do her endurance training before getting ready for the night. She was just coming out of the shower when Kakashi dragged her two chaots into the house and thundered them to sleep before they continued training the next morning. That night Sakura didn't sneak out of the house, but slept restfully and peacefully in her sleeping bag, until she was awakened by the first rays of sunshine in the morning and this time she was awake before her teammates.