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Hi, and welcome to Chapter two of Look at Me Now. I've finally figured out the bbcode on this site so it'll look much neater this time.
Summary: Strange old people in caves are generally to be avoided in the fairy-tales Sakura has grown up reading. But the offer of training from one old lady in a cave in the Land of the Waves not only makes Sakura throw caution to the wind, but teaches her that power comes to those who seize it. Strong!Sakura
Chapter II: The Lady's Mission
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Sakura figured out a little way to cheat. Tucking the instruction scroll in a pocket attached to her leggings, she looked over the edge of the bridge. Even on the third day of training nothing had really happened, so if Zabuza was alive he was definitely recuperating somewhere. That relieved her. As the only able-bodied member of Team 7 who wasn't currently stuck on climbing some tree, Tazuna's fate was in her hands. And Sakura knew that wasn't good chances for the bridge builder.
Said bridge builder gave her a glance as the ninja looked straight down.
"You know you might fall, don'tcha?"
Sakura gave him a simple smile.
"I'm a capable ninja. I'm just checking for enemy-nin." Lies, but he didn't know that. She hopped back to the stable parts of the bridge and looked over to the other side. The bridge was only half-completed. This gave her a serious advantage. Tree-walking and stone walking were easier due to the consistency of the material. If she merely walked down the side of the pier holding the furthest part of the bridge she'd be able to cut her water-walking distance considerably.
It wasn't exactly what Takehana probably had in mind but that was the way of the ninja. Think underneath the underneath and all that.
The other thing that was working in Sakura's favor was that it was very misty today. So much that she feared assassins from Gato but the day had progressed without any incident of course.
"Hey, kunoichi, I'm ready to go home."
Soon Sakura was back on the bridge, looking down. Breathing deeply she applied chakra to her feet as she stood on uncovered iron bar and held out her hand arms for balance. She hopped down several bars as she had seen ninja do in the village with tree branches and eventually found herself balancing on the water. Sakura clasped her hands in the Tiger seal.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
A subtle layer of mist to complement the environment wafted around her. Surprisingly her water-walking had not suffered from this. Sakura took a deep breath and sped off. Her feet barely touched the water but she knew she was getting closer. As she ran she put more effort into each step to propel her further and ending basically sliding her feet along the water, as if she was skating. Sakura put this discovery out of her mind for now as she focused on getting out of water. If she felt that the mist around her was too thin she would push a small amount of chakra to grab the mist around her to better shroud her path.
Her foot met ground.
Ecstatic, Sakura looked back at the Land of the Waves, completely shrouded in Mist.
'Yeah! We did it!' chanted Inner.
Sakura just gave the air an elated punch for getting this far and took the scroll out.
"Okay, let's start with the barks."
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"Got it! Looks like the machin is done." Sakura murmured to herself as she cut down the last of the fruit she needed.
It didn't look like Sakura would make it back to Tazuna's in time for dinner. Hopefully Kakashi wasn't too worried. The last of the plant matter the woman in the cave asked her to get was in her little satchel and so Sakura sped off, this time skating across the water without bothering to make a Kirigakure no Jutsu until she got closer to the bridge.
She all but skipped in the cave, smiling and dispelling the technique. Takehana cocked her head at the technique.
"Just learned it." Sakura grinned, setting down her satchel. It was dark and cold out, but Takehana was roasting something in the cave. Sakura looked down at the roasting rabbit with hungry eyes, which was noticed by the other woman.
"Please join me for a meal."
Sakura bowed and took her seat on one of the cushions. Strangely enough, Takehana passed her a paper plate and piled on a rice cake she hadn't even noticed. The woman's features were softened by the dull fire.
"I trust you were successful."
"Yes Takehana-san. I got across the water and covered myself with a technique I learned from my sensei. Gathering what you asked was easy once I got there."
Takehana was silent as she took the rabbit off the fire, taking a pretty but old-looking kaiken from her kimono sleeve. Sakura's eyes sparkled at the knife; generally noblewomen hid those in their kimonos. Deadly and pretty, kaiken were a form of tanto that were very good for self-defense, close-range killing, and from what she heard of stories, suicide. Takehana noticed her looks at the knife and turned so Sakura could see it.
"Family heirloom."
"Ah."
It was on the tip of Sakura's tongue to ask the woman where her family was and whether she found her grandsons, or why she staying in a cave when her kimono looked nice enough to buy the Land of the Waves but something told her that Takehana wouldn't take nicely to any of those questions, or at least not yet. Careful examination of her cutting the rabbit into pieces told Sakura that whatever her origin, Takehana had used that kaiken often.
Quickly muttering an itadakimasu, Sakura dug into the rice cakes and rabbit, feeling very hungry after the mission she just completed. Takehana merely took small bites of her food before clapping her hands on her lap to get her dinner companion's attention. Sakura looked up immediately.
"Sakura, what do I intend to teach you with the things you collected?"
Sakura stopped eating for a second before reciting with perfect memory.
"Well I got willow bark, so something to take care of headaches and fevers. You had me get machin and torikabuto because those are commonly found deadly poisons-"
"You'll be specifically using the machin." Takehana cut her off.
Sakura looked a little perplexed. Machin was a uncommonly used poison but sometimes used in medicine. But it was quite deadly, first appearing to give the victim constipation and then the runs. Three hours later the machin would cause severe muscle convulsions and eventually cause foaming at the mouth as the person asphyxiated. A nasty, dramatic death. Not that subtle but because machin was found so readily in these parts, easy to get, and to make, it perhaps wouldn't attract too much attention.
"I will teach you how to brew these two poisons and some relievers. Perhaps an antidote, though I feel you should learn how to make those on your own. But before I do so, I must ask you, how much are you willing to do?"
Sakura blinked.
"Well," Sakura began, "I already said I'm going to learn what you wish to teach me, so please be sure that I'll do what yo-"
"Sakura," Takehana cut her off. "You're going to need to kill a man for me."
Sakura's eyes widened. She wasn't sure what to answer the woman with. Inside Sakura was a girl who wanted to be noticed, to be seen as having potential. That little girl sent looks at Sasuke, felt devastated when her parents refused to train or talk about Shinobi life with her, and felt ecstasy when Kakashi ruffled her hair in praise. That girl was what Sakura had thought of when she accepted the strange woman's training.
But killing? She was a ninja, but killing someone had been so far from her mind when she accepted this woman's training, when she put her forehead protector on, too. Killing someone seemed distant, a problem that Sakura would never deal with. There was a night a couple of weeks after she graduated where her Mother, of all people, had tried to sit down with her and explain to her the perils of being a kunoichi but Sakura just took as her mother nagging her about quitting again (they were often fighting anyway).
It was no surprise how frightened she had felt when they encountered the ninja, first the two with the chain and then Zabuza. Her first instinct, besides running away, was to protect the charge, that much had been drilled into her by the Academy. But she had been so aware of her mortality at the moment, just the feeling of that battle made her breath hitch. Ninja were to kill or be killed, but Sakura felt so strange about claiming a life, especially since it wasn't ordered.
"You haven't killed before."
It wasn't a question and Sakura did not look up from her food.
"I am not here to reassure you that killing will be easy or that it will be hard. But sometimes lives need to be taken. Rest assured the man I want to kill is not an ally of yours. It will be done covertly and in a way none of your team will get suspicious. And by killing this person, you might be saving many lives, including that of your teammates'."
Sakura's head snapped to look at Takehana in shock. Did she mean Zabuza?
"Who are you talking about?"
Takehana stared out of the cave and at a ship in the distance. She pointed to it.
"The man responsible for the blockade and the continued suffering of this land. Our target is there. We have three days until we strike, though you shall being doing the work. His defense is made up of criminals with little skill, except two waylaid shinobi who his despicable presence alienates. You will sneak on board and poison him with machin, killing him in a way that will be written off as a business competitor killing or perhaps the work of two disgruntled nukenin. Then the ports will open, allowing the people of this land to rebuild their villages and their lives."
Sakura's mouth was left open. Gato. This old woman wanted her to infiltrate a ship and kill one of the wealthiest people in the world. Her. Not Sasuke, not Kakashi-sensei, not anyone who was a capable ninja. Her, weak Sakura Haruno, a rookie ninja whose only accomplishments were being good on paper.
"Takehana-san, I think you're putting the hopes on the wrong shino-"
"Do not speak!"
As if controlled, Sakura's mouth clamped up.
"I decided to train you because you acknowledged you were lacking in many areas. Because you had the desire to be better. Those who want power need merely seek it and will be granted. Those who doubt and do not bother remain where they are for the rest of their lives. Gato is vile and long overdue for such a fate. The only question that remains is whether you are going to play a hand in it."
Sakura didn't speak. There, as she suspected before, was something downright frightening about this old woman. Even her wizened voice sounded ethereal when she was angry. The fire which had softened features now illuminated a frightening shadow on the wall and glinted off sharp nails. Even more frightening was the zeal with which the woman had spoken of power. It was wistful, as if she was telling tales of her past. Sakura wasn't sure how describe the look in the woman's eyes which were now boring holes into her skin with their stare.
"Well, girl? Will you?"
Sakura looked down at her hands and remembered the face of the child that asked her for candy. She remembered the look on Tsunami's face as Tazuna described Kaiza's execution, her husband. The fear that man who quit his job on the bridge had in his eyes. Gato was a terrible man. But was she ready to do something like kill a man?
'You're forgetting that he's gonna try to get you killed too, along with Sasuke-kun, Naruto, and Kakashi.'
Sakura didn't always want to agree with her inner voice. But this is one of the few times where there was sound agreement. She was a ninja of the Leaf and this is what her mother had tried to explain to her when she had been too foolish to listen. As frightening as her temporary teacher was, at least Takehana was offering her a chance to do this. Kakashi, she sadly realized, would never allow his students to take care of this problem as easily the old woman wanted to. Maybe if Gato died soon enough, a fight could be avoided between Zabuza and her team.
Her fists tightened. A ninja must never show emotions but why did she want to cry?
"I'll do it. But I won't kill anyone else if I can help it."
The teeth in Takehana's mouth looked too sharp as she smiled and told Sakura her tasks to dwell upon at home.
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"Where were you? You missed dinner."
Sakura sighed at her sensei sleepily. For someone so aloof he sure was interested in what she was doing. The urge to tell him about Takehana was there, but somehow the words felt thick in her mouth. So she shrugged her shoulders and told him she was practicing a new technique.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to perform it.
"I'm too tired sensei."
"Maa, maa, I'm sure you can do it."
Sakura sighed again before walking back to the creek she had train on yesterday. This time she walked on the water, noting how Kakashi closed his book in shock. Pushing her foot in the same motion she had done earlier that day, she basically skated around the creek, even spinning just for kicks, as she would on ice. After a few minutes of showing it off, she hopped back on land and patted her sore legs.
"Sakura?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Remind me to teach your nature transformation once we get back. Don't take no for an answer either."
'Yes, sensei.' She thought. 'I won't.'
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Sakura got up early the next morning, leaving a note for Kakashi and Tazuna that she was going to be practicing her techniques in various parts of the island. Takehana had told that she didn't need to be combat-skilled for this mission, just figure out how to disguise herself properly and train in stealth. All that took was a simple Henge. For around thirty minutes Sakura disguised herself as an old man beggar, unnoticed by most.
Takehana told her to meet her after her job was done in the village, but for now Sakura practiced. Eventually she moved her old man body to a part of the closed of docks where Tazuna had pointed out Gato's henchmen. Stumbling on the place gave her an idea, though a dangerous one. She'd already learned how to gather intelligence from some D-rank missions so this wasn't that far out from her league.
'Doesn't mean I can't wish this didn't smell so bad.' Thought Sakura as her disguised hands ruffled through a stinking rubbish heap of rotten fish and broken bottles. As expected, the two rough-looking guys nearby didn't pay the old homeless man any attention and just continued loudly arguing.
"No, I'm telling you, it was definitely one of those ninja Gato hired. The smaller one with the mask." Sakura almost gasped from that. So the hunter-nin who took down Zabuza was working with him. That meant Zabuza was alive!
"Nonsense, why would they break Gato's wrist? He hired them."
"You can't tell with rogue ninja-types, idiot. Especially the one with the sword. I heard he tried to kill his own leader before leaving."
"Well, shit. I hope Gato gets rid of 'em soon, shinobi give me the creeps." The man who said this looked around as if a shinobi might pop up behind him. Sakura resisted the urge to smirk. There should be a ninja rule stating underlings are freaking stupid somewhere. She made herself release a few pained groans, the sound of not finding anything interesting in the rubbish, catching the attention of the guards.
"Hey, old man, get the hell outta here!" The man who said this had a huge bat with pointy things sticking out of it. He swung it threateningly at the homeless man and Sakura hobbled away the best she could from the area. Really, while she was glad that she avoided the pointy things, the urge to go back there and laugh at how dumb they were was too strong.
She dropped the henge after a few good minutes and patted herself for a job well done. Good intelligence she could share with both Takehana and Kakashi, intelligence that she had gotten using Academy-level techniques. She washed her hands before coming, congratulating herself on getting there before Tazuna.
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She didn't go to Takehana's straight away, instead deciding to clue Kakashi in first. Even though he was pointedly ignoring her in favor of reading his book.
'Ugh! I've been trying to talk to him for two minutes! Just punch him; he can't dodge it while he's injured.'
Sakura didn't think punching him in the face was one of the acceptable interactions between teacher and student outside of spars. So she resorted to poking him in the shoulder.
"Kakashi-sensei, I have something reeeeeaaaally important to tell youuuuuu." She whined.
"Is it more important than Junko realizing that the strange woman sitting next to her in the onsen is extremely attractive?" he asked, flipping another page.
"No- wait, what?" Sakura turned red at what she just heard. Kakashi kept on reading, not even looking at his student. Sakura sighed. She was pretty sure Junko or whoever was more interesting to listen to than her flat-chested genin self but this was bordering on insane. And if she wasted more time talking to Kakashi, Takehana would be mad.
"Okay, sensei, I was eavesdropping on two men who work for Gato near the docks today and they mentioned that Gato's wrist was broken by two rogue ninjas he had hired. Oh and Gato wants to get rid of them. Have fun reading your smut."
And with that, Sakura left, leaving Kakashi to the wonders of same-*** attraction in hot springs.
"Maa, maa, of course I wil- wait, what?"
Sakura could hear Inner howling with laughter.
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"So Gato is injured and will eventually dispose of his hired ninja? Zabuza is alive and that hunter-nin is working for him and he broke Gato's wrist?"
"Yep."
"Excellent work, Sakura." Takehana said while pouring tea into her cup.
They were to be there only briefly today. Takehana was to take her around the village for some reconnaissance and tomorrow they would work on making the poisons work. Sakura took the cup and shook it gently, watching the tea leaves swirl in a spiral. The intense Takehana of last night had been replaced by a serene one.
She had already filled on the woman on the details of the fight between her sensei and the nukenin. There seemed to be a flicker of interest on the woman's face as she described the Sharingan and her two teammates. Sakura almost thought the woman was chuckling when she told her of the accidental kiss the two shared during team assignments.
It was very weird, given the intensity of yesterday and sober task ahead of her that today felt like such a light-hearted day. The only time Takehana had given Sakura a fright was when they set out to stake out the ship Gato lived on and Sakura saw Takehana do a henge without handseals. Sakura immediately started asking questions about that which were shut down with Takehana admitting that only she could that skill. It did add to the list of questions Sakura had about the woman, though. If she wasn't a shinobi, how could she henge?
"That's the ship." Takehana disguised herself as a younger woman, though a very shabbily dressed poor one. Sakura looked like an eight-year with tattered clothing. Sakura quickly assessed the guard on the ship. While most of the people looked like non-shinobi bandits, it didn't mean they wouldn't be hard to bypass when killing Gato.
"The problem with shinobi," Takehana told her, "is that they are too noticeable for what they claim to do. This can be done with a small maid pouring an unnoticeable poison into her master's food or drink and then slipping away before anyone noticed. Poisons can be very dramatic and can also be very unnoticeable, only wreaking havoc months after ingestion. You do not need complicated techniques to kill a person, but you need them to battle one."
Sakura had never heard the distinction between the two made. She supposed Takehana was right. She had noticed during the fight that Zabuza had several chances to kill them quickly and without a fuss. But he didn't take them, preferring to battle them outright. And while the battle-style fit her romantic notions of ninja life more, the practical part of Sakura felt that the sneaky, secretive techniques were more befitting a shinobi when they wanted to get the job done.
Both women had noticed that the ship was mainly frequented by a few groups of people; mercenaries, prostitutes, and servers. Sakura outright refused to disguise herself as a prostitute because that was something she was not ready for. Mercenaries wouldn't be able to get to Gato. A simple servant girl would be the best path to take out the man.
"Try it out for a few minutes."
Sakura stared at Takehana in confusion. They were not too close to the ship, but close enough that they could see the boards that let people on board.
"You've seen what the cleaning girls who go on board wear. Henge and scrub the floors for thirty minutes. Map out what you can." Sakura was about to open her mouth to say that no, she was not ready to take this much of a risk but the memory of how Takehana had told her off last night was fresh. She made the seal for henge and out popped a plain, slightly chubby teen girl. Takehana waved her off and Sakura approached the docks.
"Ah, you must be one of the nightshift cleaning girls. Go on ahead." said the burly man who was guarding the entrance. Sakura's stomach developed butterflies as she boarded the ship. If she got caught she could be in so much trouble. Part of her wondered if she could ever share this adventure with Sasuke-kun and Naruto. Surely her infiltrations were cool (though she knew the boys like flashy bang-bang battles more than disguised kunoichi scrubbing floors in enemy territory for thirty minutes).
Upon boarding some strict matronly type of woman yelled at her for being late and told her to go wash the bathroom. Sakura's nose crinkled at the chore considering she hated doing things like this at home, why did she have to do it on missions? But as she passed corridor after corridor, the layout of the ship became clearer. Gato's suite was, thankfully near the edges of the ship and not submerged in water. According to the directions the head cleaning woman had given her Gato's suites were large enough to touch two porthole windows and three large clear windows, allowing her that option of entrance if she wanted. Sakura made sure to ask Kakashi later if the tree climbing exercise could be done with hands.
Soon the toilet bowl in one bathroom had been cleaned and Sakura took advantage of an open window to escape and hide herself with Kirigakure no Justu.
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What Sakura hadn't counted on was being questioned publicly by Kakashi-sensei at dinner. Blushing, Sakura admitted that she was training to sharpen her skills and realized that since Gato was gunning for Tazuna, she thought that perhaps they could find out when they'd be attacked next. Kakashi's expression was unreadable but Naruto's whoops of "Sakura-chan's so cool!" were enough to make her smile at her dinner of roasted fish.
"Sensei, heeey, sensei. You think Sasuke and I can go do some reconséance? Can we? Can we?"
"Dobe, it's called reconnaissance." Sasuke added, looking down at his food. Sakura couldn't tell what he thought of her escapades but it was his approval she wanted more than anything. But the normally stoic boy didn't seem to care and just grunted when she offered to show them to the area where the underlings could be found.
"Ah, but Sasuke and you haven't seemed to make it on top of your trees yet."
"Aww, come on." groaned Naruto, leaning back with his head on his hands. He gave Sasuke a shifty look while Sasuke smirked at him. Sakura frowned at this. Of course in an outside mission people would grow closer, but she had been so busy with her secret training sessions that it took only a few days for her to feel left out. Angry at being left out again, she accidentally snapped her chopsticks.
Sighing, Sakura thanked Tsunami for the meal and left the table early. Perhaps she could do some training exercise before bed.
Kakashi's eye followed his strange little genin as she left the room. They say it took a c-rank for you to truly grasp your students and his were an odder bunch than he thought. Sakura's strategic thinking was of notable interest to him, apparently her profile hadn't lied in that aspect either.
But he could see the girl's frustration. She wasn't as good at fighting as the other two, but hell, it looked like she was trying. He also noticed that she hadn't yet disturbed Sasuke by asking him on date, which was good, since that meant that most her focus was somewhere else. But it wasn't like he hadn't noticed the jealous looks she had shot Naruto and Sasuke. Apparently by singling her out from them, he'd made a little gap between his one female student and his two boys.
Kakashi sighed and closed his book. Some teamwork exercises were needed. Preferably on Sasuke's part, Naruto was usually more than willing to do anything with Sakura. Plus, he needed to focus on the fact that Zabuza and his hunter-nin were still alive and apparently angry with their employer.
"Sasuke, take a break from tree-climbing tonight and see if you help Sakura with her aim." Two intensely black eyes were glaring at him. Kakashi merely avoided the Uchiha's gaze and looked back at his book. After five minutes Sasuke gave up and went outside.
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Sasuke left the house to find Sakura attempting to climb the trees with her hands.
"What are you doing?"
Sakura hadn't heard him come up and slid down.
"Oww!"
No, Sakura was not going to rub her butt in pain in front of Sasuke. She'd sooner die of embarrassment. Sasuke looked annoyed.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun. I was just curious to see if we can stick to the trees the same way with hands."
Sakura found that while it was possible, it was really hard. For one thing, she couldn't raise her hand while climbing, leaving her to mimic the motions of a climbing lizard. When she did raise her hand and apply chakra to stick to it again, it caused the bark to crack and the tree to go inwards. Now that was exciting in itself because that meant that more chakra in her hands meant more force, but that wasn't what she needed now. Of course, chakra-enhanced punches were very useful and Sakura couldn't wait to try them out, but once again, not useful in this case. Sasuke wasn't sure of what to really make of how excited his teammate looked at the idea of trying to climb trees differently than the already sufficient way she already had.
"Why?"
Sakura shrugged.
"It's just interesting to see how it works. Feet are hard to get chakra into. Hands are easier but harder to maneuver. I guess I like chakra control." Sasuke stared at her for a second.
"Hn."
It was at this point that Sakura realized that she was alone with Sasuke and actually having a conversation with him that didn't involve her asking him for a date only to be rejected, him calling her useless, or mission details. A blush spread immediately on her face. Whether Sasuke noticed her face in the dark or not didn't matter because he broke her out of her stupor anyway.
"Sensei wants me to help you improve your aim."
"Oh."
Sakura's happiness deflated a bit. While spending time with Sasuke was nice, it would have been nicer if he came to her because he wanted to, not because Kakashi ordered him too. The few times she had "caught up" with Ino, which was more bickering than catching up, Ino had mentioned their many "team things" and Sakura felt jealous. The frequent barbeque dinners, the earrings, all of this made Sakura jealous. What did Team 7 do together outside of sessions?
Nothing, except occasionally plot to unmask Kakashi.
The blush didn't go away as Sasuke handed her some shuriken and walked with her to a part of the forest where trees surrounded them completely.
Sasuke took out seven kunai and gestured to the five trees surrounding them in a ring. Sakura's eyebrows raised as looked at him preparing to do something. A gasp left her lips as he jumped up high and let five kunai in the air. Three headed for the direction of their respective trees but two were off course until Sasuke turned and sent two more kunai at them, knocking their trajectory and making sure the kunai were able to reach spots behind him as well. The glinting of flying kunai in the night sky was beautiful and Sakura's mouth opened in wonder.
"Sasuke-kun," she whispered to him, "That was so cool." Sasuke didn't say anything to her as he landed on the ground, eyes showing his mind somewhere distant. His fist tightened suddenly and Sakura looked away, unsure of what to do. There were times when Sasuke seemed unfocused and spaced out, but they were rare. Sakura had only noticed those times because she had been so attentive to Sasuke and she always felt that like his mind, his heart was somewhere else and not with the world.
Settling for leaving Sasuke to his demons, if he had any, Sakura decided to try the shurikenjutsu he had just performed. It was pretty amazing to have watched that but Sakura was sure it was more of a demonstration than anything. It wouldn't hurt to try. She knew her aim wasn't the best, generally because she had slower reflexes.
Sakura took out seven kunai from her pouch and jumped in the air as well, sending five kunai flying around her. Within a few seconds she let two fly from her hands. One missed the kunai it was intended for entirely and the other only knocked the kunai off the path slightly, missing the tree. Sakura grimaced. She didn't expect to get the technique right on the first try but it seemed sad to her that even the straight forward kunai hadn't been dead on.
"You're slow and take too long to react to things." Sasuke said, startling her. His hands were in his pockets as he came up to the trees to take back his kunai. Sakura nodded, grimace turning into a frown. Sasuke was right about that. How foolish it must have been to want some approval from her crush when her aim was this bad. She peeked out at him through the curtains of her bangs.
"We should sharpen your reflexes." The boy positioned the kunai through the creases of his fingers, letting them fly from his hands instantly. Sakura did a cartwheel to the side to dodge them, but Sasuke kept projectiles coming.
Sometime later, Sakura was sitting on the floor, cuts and scrapes on her. Regardless of the damage, she wore a small grin as she looked up at Sasuke, not as winded as her but noticeably tired. Eventually she had begun sending kunai and shuriken back at her teammate when he was open between throws. This led to a more intense session of training, with both running out of pointy things to throw at each other. Sasuke had grabbed a kunai from the ground and ran at her. While she managed to mostly get out of Sasuke and his kunai's way, the other genin was too skilled and too finely trained to not hit her.
And that's how Sakura ended up exhausted on the ground with a split lip. But Sasuke was sporting a bruise or two as well, once it turned into an impromptu sparring session.
Sasuke looked at her for a second before walking up to Sakura and offering her a hand up. She took it without hesitation; a little stunned he had done that. Inner was doing some war dance of "he's mine!" in her head, but all Sakura could think of was that Sasuke had been kind to her.
"Thanks." She grinned at him, split lip and eyes creasing. When she opened them she saw that Sasuke was already walking away. An exhausted but happy Sakura caught up to him.
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Notes
Machin is a poison and well known and sometimes used in herbal Asian medicine. However, it would usually grow in places like Southern China and India because it needs a warmer climate. Considering that the Wave has mangroves that generally don't grow in Japan because of climate reasons, it stands to reason that the Land of the Waves has a warmer climate than the mainland and thus things like Nux Vomica, also known the Strychnine tree would grow there. Strychnine poisoning is one of the most painful poisons, and very much "dramatic" in how it kills someone. Takehana obviously wants to make a statement. The torikabuto mentioned in this chapter is another very known poison named Aconite, or Wolf's Bane. This is basically what Kabuto is named after.
Machin is a poison and well known and sometimes used in herbal Asian medicine. However, it would usually grow in places like Southern China and India because it needs a warmer climate. Considering that the Wave has mangroves that generally don't grow in Japan because of climate reasons, it stands to reason that the Land of the Waves has a warmer climate than the mainland and thus things like Nux Vomica, also known the Strychnine tree would grow there. Strychnine poisoning is one of the most painful poisons, and very much "dramatic" in how it kills someone. Takehana obviously wants to make a statement. The torikabuto mentioned in this chapter is another very known poison named Aconite, or Wolf's Bane. This is basically what Kabuto is named after.