Chapter 7
Sakura had been training to increase her chakra reserves. Her knowledge is much more than her physical strength as one would guess, so she has to train her body. She is on a break now when she sees Sasuke.
He has at least three boxes that are neatly wrapped with a bow on each one. He seems like he's used to this but is acting suspicious nonetheless. Does he have fangirls after all? No, that doesn't make sense. The girls in class clearly showed favor to Sai without giving a single glance at Sasuke.
Then, why? She follows Sasuke, hiding behind convenient objects or blending in with the crowd the many times Sasuke glances back. He finally reaches an empty training ground and huffs in annoyance.
"I'm trying to ignore you, you idiot," he says more to himself. She is certain he is not referring to her. Sasuke flips through some handseals -- the ones she now associates with the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu -- and burns the boxes.
She is about to go down to talk to him when a hand catches her shoulder. She looks over to see Sai. He just holds a finger to his mouth and shakes his head.
"Stupid! Stupid! And his stupid gifts! I don't want anything but for you to leave me alone!" Sasuke yells. The Uchiha breathes heavily. Is he…?
"He comes to this training ground on the eighteenth of every month to burn these presents he gets," Sai whispers. "I'm trying to figure out who they're from."
"Do you know what's inside?" Sakura asks quietly.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, the idiot doesn't like it," Sai informs her. "Why are you here anyways? Shouldn't you be training for the Finals?"
"Shouldn't you be training for the Finals?" Sakura counters.
Sai seems to be thinking about something before he finally responds with, "Touché."
* * *
Sakura writes what she needs to do before the Chūnin Exam Finals.
1.) Train Sasuke. (Naruto didn't have many moves.)
2.) Train myself. (I wasn't useful until I trained with Lady Tsunade!)
3.) Make sure nobody -- Sai? -- defects. (Sasuke hurt everyone in the end -- including himself.)
4.) Help Hinata. (I think she's 'me' here. I'll have to help her get stronger than I was.)
5.) Find out more about Akatsuki. (They are dangerous and any information that I can will be worth it.)
Sakura looks at her list and hides it. I would be no good if anybody found it. But first thing on the list is training Sasuke. She needs to make sure he knows a good Jutsu other than whatever… She stops for a second and wonders who 'Jiraiya' would be in this world. If she assumes the Sannin all switch spots. Jiraiya is definitely Orochimaru, Orochimaru is Tsunade, and Tsunade is Jiraiya. Sakura giggles at the thought.
Tsunade being a pervert that writes those explicit books? Orochimaru being Hokage? Jiraiya being… who Orochimaru was?
Wait. Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First Hokage. Does that mean Orochimaru could be somehow related to one of the Hokage? She can't imagine him looking like anything but himself. And none of the Hokage really fit what he looks like?
That doesn't matter. She should meet up with Sasuke and get to work on training him. She'll explain to him that she had a change of heart and wants to make sure all her friends are strong. And if that doesn't convince him, she'll resort to Plan B.
* * *
She walks forward with an air of confidence. Her back is straight, her head is held high, and her face only betrays that she means business. Earlier she had stopped by Hinata's home to ask her about Sasuke. Hinata had thankfully been compliant and directed her to where Sasuke is apparently training with one of the Sannin.
Sakura is now heading towards the training ground when she sees Sasuke with Lady Tsunade. She hides behind a tree and watched their interaction. It's an interesting match-up to say the least, but they should be the same as their otherworldly pair of Naruto and Jiraiya. Sasuke is trying to make some sort of summon, it seems.
She decides to leave her hiding, not wanting to seem suspicious, and she walks forward. Sakura calls out, "Sasuke!"
He stops and turns to Sakura with a confused look. He asks, "What're you doing here, Sakura?"
"Don't talk down to me like that. You act like you think women are lesser than men or that I'm lesser than you in general. We're in the same graduating class. I want to become better friends. Is that too much trouble?" Sakura asks.
"Well, no, but you've never cared before. Why should you now?" he asks suspiciously.
"I'm a kunoichi now. I'm supposed to be more mature. I want to act like it, so my first order of business is amending any broken or underdeveloped relationships," Sakura informs him, and she has to admit, it's only a half-lie.
"I don't know. Uh… anyways! I'm busy right now with Granny!" Sasuke redirects the conversation.
"I'm not old, brat!" Tsunade yells indignantly.
"Well, how about tomorrow? Find me, and I'll treat you to something good," Sakura tells him.
Then, she leaves without waiting for a response. She doesn't know what a Naruto version of Sasuke would like. Her Naruto didn't like vegetables, but her Sasuke liked tomatoes. Her Naruto liked ramen, but she's not too sure how her Sasuke felt about it. So she isn't sure what this Sasuke will like.
* * *
Sasuke and she have been sitting her for the past few minutes awkwardly, waiting for somebody to wait at their table or for the other to talk.
"Um, so-" "Sasuk-"
They both start and stop. Sakura takes the initiative, "I called you here today to discuss with you a deal, but I'll have to ask you some odd questions. So don't be surprised if I ask you something obvious."
"O…kay?" he says, clearly not really caring and making the kind of face that means he thinks she's weird. He has the expressiveness of her Naruto; that's for sure.
"First," she inquires, pulling out a clipboard, "what is your name and age?"
"Uchiha Sasuke. Age thirteen," he answers easily.
"Who are your teammates and sensei, Sasuke?" she asks.
"Hyūga Hinata and Sai. Sensei is Uchiha Obito."
"Oh? Uchiha? Can you tell me about him?" she asks curiously.
"After… something with the clan happened, I've seen him around more often. And this one time…," Sasuke trails off, staring into space. He is most likely recalling whatever event happened.
Sakura snaps her fingers a few times to catch him attention. He jumps in surprise with an intelligent, "Hn?"
"Anyways," Sakura moves past the subject, "how are you training for the Chūnin Exams?"
"If you think you can beat me, you're mistaken," Sasuke tells her confidently. "I may have been the absolute dead last in the Academy, but I've gotten stronger, and I found a trainer."
"I bet," Sakura says with a cross of her arms, "that I can help you."
"…Help me?" Sasuke asks after a moment of silence.
"Yeah, but I have to know how many jutsu you know so far," she tells her fellow rookie.
"I see. That makes sense.
* * *
"He only knows one Katon Jutsu. He's an Uchiha. That's a little weird. And who did Madara switch with to make the place Niidaime Hokage?" Sakura asks herself as she paces her room. "Hashirama and Tobirama. In the books, Tobirama and Madara founded the village. Something happened, making Hashirama defect… That's it!"
"Hashirama is Madara," Sakura says in confidence.
"What?" she hears from her doorway. It's a confused voice that she doesn't recognize. She turns and sees…