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!'

---

Next five chapters available for Patrons

 

[Sadguychet]

~~~ Week One: Day 5 ~~~

Creating chakra strings was a lot easier than Sakura imagined it would be. She had basically already gotten halfway there just from her attempt in the bushes and after a bit of instruction on how to properly thread her chakra through her fingers, the skill came easily to her.

Keeping the threads in existence was a bit harder. Being the purest form of chakra, the threads required a constant and more importantly stable flow of chakra to keep them active. The slightest wavering in the user's flow would lead to them either disappearing from too little chakra or popping from two much. It was a delicate balance and one that took Sakura nearly an entire week to get a handle on.

But she was pretty sure she finally had it. Sakura squinted, focusing her chakra to fix a fault she found in her strings, bringing them back to normal strength the instant that they began to falter. An approving noise sounded out behind her and she grinned, knowing that her sensei was pleased with her.

Chiyo, for her part, watched her student train with a critical eye. Puppetry was an art that took months to learn and years to master. To teach it to a child within four weeks was a laughable endeavor, but Chiyo was nothing if not stubborn and Sakura was nothing if not willing to learn. And learn she did.

The girl was currently using her chakra threads to manipulate several sticks and twigs independently of one another, a task that all potential members of the puppet corps were required to do. As she watched the girl practice, her eyes searched for any flaws or wavering chakra in the threads that she was currently weaving that the girl herself hadn't yet noticed.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she spotted something, "You are putting too much chakra into your right tertiary thread. If you keep doing that it'll fall apart! Fix it!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

Chiyo nodded approvingly as Sakura immediately corrected her mistake, dialing back on the amount of chakra that she was putting into the middle finger on her right hand. The bright blue that the string had been glowing faded back into the soft blue that it was supposed to be as it stabilized once more, "Good. Keep that up and you'll be a master in no time, girl!"

The pinkette smiled blindingly at her praise, before returning to her task, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as her brows furrowed in concentration.

Chiyo had taken many students in her relatively long life. She had taught dozens the foundations of her art and was left disappointed more often than not by the lack of passion and drive to learn the skill that she had dedicated a good portion of her life to.

But Sakura… Sakura was truly something else. The girl soaked up her lessons and knowledge like a sponge, showing a zeal and passion for learning everything that Chiyo had to teach her and displaying a burning curiosity that surpassed some of the most inquisitive of Suna's scholars.

Already she had managed to fray the ends of her chakra threads to control multiple points and if she wasn't practicing on sticks, Chiyo was positive she would be able to move a puppet. Manipulate it precisely? Probably not, but she would certainly be able to move it, and that was often the most difficult part for new practitioners.

She watched with some semblance of pride as the pink-haired child managed in a week what took some months to manage. Prodigy wasn't a word that she used often, but when faced with Sakura's astounding growth, she wasn't sure what other name to put to her.

She wasn't going to tell the child of course. Success breeds arrogance, and there was nothing more deadly to a ninja than arrogance. She would know.

Coming out of her thoughts, Chiyo clapped her hands once, getting her student's attention.

"Alright, that's enough." Chiyo called out, bringing Sakura's eyes to her, "You're as good as you're going to get at this exercise. It's time to begin the next step in your training."

Sakura gasped in excitement, her chakra threads disappearing into the ether as she turned and ran over to her sensei. She grinned massively, staring up at the woman with big, green eyes, "Are you gonna let me practice with a puppet now?!" She said excitedly.

Her face fell in slight confusion as Chiyo literally laughed out loud at her words. The woman shook her head as she calmed down, "Puppet's aren't something that are just given out willy-nilly, girl. You might be one of the first students I've had that's worth your salt, but I've got no intention of giving you a puppet."

Sakura was understandably shocked and more than a little outraged at what she was hearing, "What?! I thought that was the whole point of training me! How am I supposed to become a puppet master without a puppet?!"

Sakura yelped as a fist suddenly bopped her on the head the moment the outburst was finished, "Of course I'm not going to give you a puppet you foolish little girl!" Chiyo said angrily as Sakura looked at her with teary eyes, "That would go against everything being a puppet user stands for!"

Sakura's hurt expression twisted in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Every single puppet that has ever been created was done so for the creator's use alone." Chiyo explained with an impatient tone, "The hidden traps and tricks that every puppet is known for is conceived during their creation. For another puppeteer to use your puppet without knowing its exact function is just asking for them to break something important! Especially a novice such as yourself!"

"B-but what about that one girl!?" Sakura demanded, "You let her practice on one of your puppets. She didn't manage to do anything with it but you still let her try!"

She whined as another fist knocked her in the head, Chiyo making her displeasure known, "That's because it was her puppet! Puppet's rarely change hands unless they're handed down or gifted to someone already proficient in the art. She got her from her father, another snot-nosed student of mine."

Chiyo sniffed, "Not a lick of talent in that one. I was hoping his daughter would be better but I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Already, you're just as good as he is with your chakra strings. Makes me wonder if we should start sourcing our puppet corps from civilians instead of established families."

She shook her head, ending the tangent before it could begin, "As I was saying, I am preparing you for all you need to utilize my art. It's up to you to create your own puppet suited to yourself which I will be teaching you how to do in the time that I have left in Konoha."

Sakura blinked in surprise, before a massive smile came over her face, all previous disappointment fading away, "So you're going to teach me how to make my own puppet!?"

"That's the plan."

Sakura immediately bowed low, ignoring the pain in her head as the blood rushed to the forming lump, "I'm sorry for my outburst, sensei! I got excited!"

Chiyo waved her off, "Bah! You're still young. You've still got that youthful naivety in your tiny head. I'll beat it out of you in time."

Ignoring the woman's words, Sakura raised herself back up, giving Chiyo a curious look, "So what are we going to do next?"

"First, I'm going to get you started on sealing." Chiyo responded, "It's best to start early in your journey so that you'll be at least a little proficient by the time you construct your puppet."

"Sealing?" Sakura had heard the phrase before but wasn't exactly sure what it was, "What's that?"

In response to her question, Chiyo stared at her in surprise.

"What's sealing!? What in the world are they teaching you in the academy, girl?" Chiyo asked, bewildered, "You were once allied with the greatest clan of seal masters in the Elemental Nations! You have their village's crest on the back of your flak jackets, and you're telling me you've never even heard of sealing?"

Sakura's face burned in embarrassment at her lack of knowledge, "I mean I've heard of it I think, but I don't really know what it is…"

Chiyo sighed, "Kami preserve me…" Her face hardened, "Listen up because I'm only going to explain this once! As a puppeteer, one of the things that will determine your abilities are your seals. With them, you can make your puppet do things that your opponent won't expect. With the right seals, you can extend the limbs of your puppet tenfold, can store one hundred times the poison in their joints or even carry the puppet itself in a scroll the size of a tin can! There's practically no limit to what you can do with the right seals and a little bit of imagination!"

"The greatest puppet masters have just as much knowledge of seals as they do of puppetry techniques." Chiyo explained, unfurling the scroll in front of Sakura's increasingly wide eyes. She placed her hand on its face and with a puff of smoke, a rather large book was left in her hand.

She held it out to her student, "This is where your next lesson begins. This is a beginners guide to the art of sealing. You'll be studying it alongside your other training in the coming weeks and I expect you to have it finished by the time I leave so you'd better get to it."

Sakura stared at the thing with a sort of reverence. This was the secret to all of the tricks that had caused her to be interested in puppetry in the first place, what allowed them to do all those incredible things that decided explanation and logic!

With great enthusiasm, Sakura flipped open the book and immediately began reading, plopping down right where she was standing to sit on the grass as Chiyo watched her with slight amusement.

She'd be sure to become just as proficient in this new art as she had with her chakra strings! No matter how difficult it was!

~~~ The Yamanaka Household ~~~

Just as she had agreed to weeks before, Sakura had been visiting the Yamanaka Household to spar with Ino at least every other day. She would say that the blonde was progressing in her fights just as much as she herself was in puppetry but well… she'd be lying.

Ino grunted in pain as Sakura's fist slammed into her stomach, sending her reeling backwards clutching the injury. As she backed away, the pinkette didn't attempt to pursue, instead dropping her stance and looking at the blonde in slight concern, "You really need to tighten your guard, Ino, and look at my eyes, not my fists. I know it hurts to get hit but you'll be able to actually predict my moves if you're looking at my face thanks to your peripheral vision."

Ino huffed, immediately wincing at the pain in her stomach, "Easy for you to say when you're not on the receiving end of those things! Jeez, Sakura, I know you're basically training me but would it kill you to hold back a bit?"

Sakura blinked, looking down at her hand, "I have been though."

"Well that doesn't make me feel better at all!" Ino cried, "How am I supposed to get better if you holding back is still enough to knock me on my ass without even trying!?"
Sakura winced at the sudden increase in volume. Why was this girl always so loud? "You just need to learn how to block properly. You're actually a pretty good fighter but you sort of fall apart when someone hits back. If you can learn where to block you might actually stand a chance against… well, not me but maybe Naruto? He just sort of throws himself at his enemy and takes the punches."

Actually, did Naruto even have a fighting style? Sakura was pretty sure that pretty much everyone in class had at least landed a hit on him. Even Ami! From what she remembered, his mother had been an accomplished kunoichi in her time so he should have been getting some good training. Maybe it just hadn't stuck?

As she mused to herself, Ino huffed, crossing her arms, "Great, I stand a chance against the lunkhead who eats fists for breakfast. We both know how durable he is and I know I can't throw him out of the ring like you can, you freakish brute!"

"Rude." Sakura frowned slightly at the blonde's attitude, "And you won't always be stronger than your enemy, Ino. In fact, I doubt you ever really will be. At least not before we graduate."

Ino's eyes narrowed dangerously and Sakura could feel she'd made a mistake, "What did you just say?"

"I meant physically, not skillfully!" She hastily corrected herself as the blonde began stomping towards her. Luckily her words saved her from Ino's wrath as the other girl froze before giving her a the motion to continue, causing Sakura to sigh in relief

"You aren't a bad fighter, Ino. From what I'm able to tell, you'd probably rank much higher in the class if you practiced more on defending and figuring out where to strike instead of attacking whatever you can hit." The pinkette explained, "You've got a much lighter build than I do thanks to your diet so you can't hit as hard. You need to aim for weak spots and try to get your opponent into a position where you can get to them."

Ino crossed her arms, "Okay, and how am I supposed to do that?"

"By controlling the flow of the fight." Ino's face twisted in confusion so Sakura explained it to her, "It's like… okay look, you saw my fight with Sasuke? The way that he was almost always moving and responding to my attacks and the way that I could barely hit him? That was because he was fighting in a way that let him choose what my next move would be. He makes me block so he can take advantage of the way my arms are placed or makes me dodge into his next attack in a way that I can't avoid."

Sakura scratched her head, "He probably learned it from his brother or something because they definitely don't teach that in class. I only figured it out because I was looking through scrolls to help me fight better and even then I can't do it a hundred percent of the time. Maybe closer to thirty percent..."

Ino stared at her for a long time after her explanation ended, blue eyes wide with incredulity at the words that just spewed out of the pinkette's mouth, "How are you not at the top of the class when you can figure that stuff out on your own?!" She demanded.

Sakura shrugged, "I don't really care about that stuff and Sasuke's really just better than me. He's faster, stronger, and better at predicting his opponents than I am. When he's actually trying, I don't think anyone in class can keep up with him except for maybe Hinata."
"Yeah well she's a Hyuga so it makes sense that taijutsu would be her forte." Ino said before a dreamy smile came over her face, "But that just means Sasuke-kun is so great that only a Hyuga can keep up with him in a fist fight!"

Sakura rolled her eyes at the girl's words, "Right. Anyway, let's continue where we left off. If you want to dictate the fight, you need speed first and foremost. If we're gonna get you up to where you want to be, you'll need to…""

From the sidelines, the other member of their group watched what was happening with critical eyes. Inoichi Yamanaka normally wouldn't have been here for his daughter's practice with her pink-haired friend but he had finished all of his work at T&I early today and had been curious so he was sitting in for his nephew who normally watched over them in his stead.

He watched curiously as Sakura lectured his daughter, an intelligent glint in her eyes that completely contrasted with her childish appearance. She suddenly extended a hand, and Inoichi's curiosity turned to shock as blue threads of chakra extended from her fingertips, sticking to Ino's clothing and causing his daughter to yelp in shock.

"These are the places people guard most so we'll focus on them first." Sakura said, causing Ino to look down at the threads. One suddenly glowed brighter than the rest, "Like here. Your liver is one of your most vital organs. You need to protect it especially hard in a fist fight because one good hit will send you down for a long time. Even with how light your punches are, you could do some real damage. Most people will know better than to leave it open though so you'll need to try hard to get their guard open for it."

As Ino poked at the strange strings attached to her body with a confused look, Inoichi stared in shock as this child who was his daughter's age demonstrated an ability that even few, if any, Konoha ninja could utilize.

The ability to create and use tangible chakra threads was a skill that took more time, effort, and most importantly, chakra control for most ninja to even attempt. Most didn't even bother with it, deeming it too difficult to learn for the little use they would get out of it.

Not to mention, it wasn't exactly a skill one could learn by themselves. Creating chakra threads was an intricate process that required at least some form of prior knowledge on how to do it. Inoichi had heard stories of cocky shinobi who thought they could mimic Suna's most secretive art only to lose the ability to weave seals as their fingers were blown off of whatever hand made the attempt.

And yet here Sakura was, with all ten fingers and chakra threads just as bright and tangible as a member of Suna's puppet corps. So that begged the question, where had the girl learned to do this?

Curiosity getting the better of him, and because it was getting pretty late, Inoichi called out to the two girls as they settled across from each other to go at it once again, "Alright, you two, that's enough for the day. Ino, dinner should be ready inside."

Both of the girls immediately dropped from their stances at his words, "Okay Tou-sama!" "Yes sir!"

As the two of them crossed the field back towards Ino's house, the blonde suddenly sighed, "Hey Sakura, are you sure this is working? We've been doing this for like two weeks and I'm still not able to handle fighting you for more than a few dozen seconds."

"That's because you've only been fighting me." Sakura responded, "I'm better than most people in class so when you're fighting me, you don't notice the change but I do. Despite what I said earlier, you aren't a bad fighter, you just don't block that well or really try to dodge."

Ino sighed, not at all comforted by her words, "Great. I'm better than the creepy bug boy who doesn't even like to fight in the first place. Yay me."

Sakura scowled as Ino called her best friend creepy, but wasn't able to say anything as Inoichi suddenly spoke up as they reached them.

"You should listen to your friend, Ino. Today's the first day I've watched you two spar but I can already see some improvement. If you keep it up, you're sure to catch the eye of that Uchiha kid you talk about so much." He said and Sakura raised an eyebrow as he blatantly played to Ino's massive crush on Sasuke. There was no way she wouldn't see right through tha-

"HELL YEAH!" Sakura whipped her head to the side, incredulous as Ino pumped a fist high in the air with a determined expression on her face, "I'll train until I can wipe the floor with everyone in class and then none of those hussies will stand a chance with Sasuke-kun!"

Inoichi shook his head as Ino's trudging gate turned into a power walk as she made her way into the house, a determined expression on her face at the thought of catching her crush's attention.

"I'll see you later, Ino! Remember what I said." Sakura called after her friend as she disappeared into her home.

"Ah, one moment Sakura." Inoichi called out to the girl, stopping her before she turned to leave.. She looked at him curiously and he gave her a disarming smile, "I was wondering where you learned to use those chakra threads you showed earlier. It's not a skill that anyone here would be able to teach you. How'd you learn it?"

Sakura blinked at the sudden question. She rubbed the back of her head, "Oh uh, it's kinda embarrassing actually. I was walking by one of the training grounds a few days ago and heard some voices. One thing led to another and I ended up in the bushes, spying on some of the Sun's ninja training."

"And I assume they caught you?" Inoichi smiled as Sakura blushed in slight embarrassment.

"Yeah they did. Or well, one of them did. I was watching them use chakra threads and wanted to try it myself so I stopped paying attention to them. I got pretty far in making my own strings when Chiyo-sensei stopped me. Scared the crap out of me too." Sakura looked down at one of her hands, "It was probably a good thing she did. She said I was about to blow my fingers off or something.

Inoichi was starting to form a picture of what was happening and he couldn't believe it, "Sensei, eh? She's training you?"

Sakura grinned brightly, completely unaware of how incredible her circumstances were, "Yep! Chiyo-sensei said that I was super talented and offered to teach me how to use puppets! I'm gonna be Konoha's greatest puppet mistress!"

Inoichi laughed lightly even though he could hardly believe that Lady Chiyo of all people would even entertain the idea of teaching someone from another village.

Still, that explained where her ability had come from. It was no wonder that Sakura was able to make chakra strings at such a young age if Lady Chiyo of all people was willing to teach her. She must really be something special to catch the woman's eye enough for her to take her on.

He'd have to inform the Hokage of course, maybe assign a squad of anbu to keep an eye on her training, but if all went well, then Konoha might just gain another powerful technique to help them against their future enemies.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?" Inoichi asked, motioning inside of his house, "I'm sure my wife made more than enough to feed all four of us. I wouldn't mind talking a bit more about your training and despite her attitude, I know Ino enjoys your company as well."

"She does?" Sakura blinked as Inoichi nodded, "She yells at me so much that I thought she didn't really like me."

Inoichi chuckled, "I can see how you might think that. Ino's always been more outspoken than children her age. She gets her personality from her mother. Believe me when I tell you that she wouldn't spend any time with you whatsoever if she didn't consider you a friend."

Sakura looked towards the door where Ino had disappeared, "Huh… Well she's pretty cool too, I guess." She looked back to him, an apologetic expression coming over her face, "Anyway, I'm sorry but I can't stay for dinner. My parents and sister are getting back from their trip tonight and I wanna eat with them."

Inoichi smiled, showing there was no harm done, "Ah, maybe next time then. Get home safe, Sakura."
She gave him a grin as she turned to leave, "Will do!"

As Inoichi entered his house once again, he happened across his daughter as she was coming down the stairs. She had changed out of her earlier outfit into something much more fitting for lounging around the house instead of sparring.

"Say, Ino." Inoichi spoke up as they both made their way to the kitchen, "Your friend, do you know where her parents are from?"

Ino gave him a confused look, "What do you mean? I'm pretty sure they're from here."

"You're sure?" He kept his voice casual, knowing how sharp his little girl could be sometimes, "They're not from say, Suna or somewhere in the Land of Wind?"

Ino shook her head, "No, they're from Konoha. They're merchants though and are pretty much always out of the village based on what Sakura told me so they probably visit places all over the continent. Actually, I think they just got back from the Land of Wind today."

Inoichi rubbed his chin in thought, "Interesting…"

"What's interesting?" Ino asked, completely confused about her father's questions.

He shook his head, "It's nothing, Ino, just thinking about something. Come on, I'm sure your mother is getting impatient. We'd better hurry and wash up before she brings out the frying pan."

Ino blinked before suddenly picking up the speed, leaving her father laughing as he watched her practically jog to the bathroom.

An up-and-coming Konoha ninja being trained personally by Lady Chiyo of all people. One who apparently had no ties to Suna in any discernible way…

"Shikaku's not going to believe this."

~~~ The Next Day ~~~

Sakura hummed in confusion as she looked over the seal she was working on with critical eyes. She was once again sitting in Training Ground 23, an unfurled sealing scroll held in front of her that her sensei had given her for practice.

Her fingers tapped on her thighs, newly painted nails glinting in the morning light as she cross referenced the seal she was working on with the open book sitting by her side, "What am I doing wrong?" She muttered, leaning over to get a closer look at what it was supposed to look like.

The seal she was currently working on could barely even be called an actual seal. It was a basic array that was meant for a beginner to practice their brush strokes with. Once it was complete, it would light up a brilliant blue to indicate that the new practitioner was ready to move on to the next step. Sakura's wasn't doing that.

Sealing was much more difficult for her than using chakra strings and even now, a full week later she still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. Her child brain had trouble keeping up with the new terms and line of thinking that was required to learn such an art, often leaving her with a headache after a full day of practice.

She persevered though. It was necessary if she wanted to be a true puppeteer so she would learn and master it like she was going to master everything else that she needed to become the greatest puppeteer the Elemental Nations had ever seen!

…First she needed to figure out how to fix this practice array though. It was supposed to be lighting up, not smoking.

She furrowed her bow in concentration, looking over the inky black array in search of the issue. Behind her, her sensei scrutinized her from a few feet away, keeping an eye on what she was doing. As she did so, Chiyo's eyes strayed down towards the girl's hands.

They were stained black with ink but the deep red covering her fingernails shone through easily. Strangely easily in fact, and Chiyo narrowed her eyes in slight confusion as she realized something.

"Hey, girl." She called out, causing her student to turn towards her, "Where in the world did you manage to get your hands on chakra conductive nail polish?"

Sakura blinked, surprised that the woman had been able to tell, before looking down at her fingernails, "Oh, uh, my parents brought it back from their trip to the Land of Wind. I didn't even know it was chakra conductive until I used my threads but it made it a lot easier to control them!"

Chiyo raised a brow, "That stuff is very expensive even in Suna where it's made. It takes months to gather enough ingredients for even a quart and it's usually all snatched up by the puppet corps before it even hits the market. Your parents must be very successful in life to afford a vial. Are they jonin?"

Sakura shook her head, "Nah, we're a merchant clan! I think I'm the only one who has any interest in being a ninja." She said happily as she returned to her scroll, "The Haruno family isn't as famous as the ninja clans but when it comes to the village's economy, we're pretty well known. They probably managed to get a good deal on it."

Chiyo's eyes widened in surprise before darting to the large white circle on the back of her student's jacket. Now that she mentioned it, Chiyo had seen it somewhere before though she hadn't given any thought to it but she certainly recognized the name.

The Haruno family was less of an actual family and more of a joined collection of merchant clans who joined together in order to trade skills and routes. It spanned nearly the entirety of the Elemental Nations, and while it was mostly inconsequential when it came to ninja affairs, few villages hadn't seen their business reach their gates.

At the center of it all, sat a family from Konoha who the coalition was named after, marked by the simple crest of a white circle. The same one that was displayed proudly on her student's back. If the girl truly was from the family, then it was no wonder that she had managed to obtain a vial of the stuff.

"The color suits you." Chiyo finally said, causing Sakura's eyes to widen, "You forgot to close the linking matrices in your locking seal. Fix it."

Sakura immediately moved to do that, unable to keep the grin off of her face at her sensei's words as she returned to her task with renewed enthusiasm.

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