A loud clamor startled the young woman from her rest. Green eyes peered sleepily towards her bedroom door as if willing it to be transparent and allow her to see the other side without having to get up.

She kicked off her blanket and stood, adjusting her pajama top that had somehow twisted itself around her torso.

Another muffled sound emerged from the other room.

Was someone in her apartment?

More alert now, she crept towards her door, staying light on her feet to keep the wooden floorboards from creaking beneath her.

She opened her door as quietly as she could and peered through. Directly in her line of vision was her kitchen, and in it stood a tall blonde, frantically waving a towel at a small fire that licked its way upwards from the stove top.

"Shit! Sasuke!?" His desperate plea for help fell on apathetic ears.

"You look like you've got it handled." A strong voice answered.

Sakura stepped out to see Sasuke sitting on the couch, a kunai and cloth in his lap- she could smell the strong chemical smell of polish. He had a smirk on his face as he watched Naruto ruffle his hair in panic, but his dark eyes moved to her when she came into sight.

He offered a small nod, smirk still in place, amusement dancing in his eyes.

She smiled in response, thinking he looked much more handsome when he was displaying emotion.

She made a mental note to try and make him laugh more.

He broke eye contact suddenly when his eyes darted back to Naruto just as he threw a cup of water onto the fire.

A burst of heat hit the side of Sakura's face just as Naruto let out a shriek so high a pitch, Sakura would have mistaken it for the cry of a small child if she didn't witness it come from a grown man.

"That's a grease fire, Dobe!" Sasuke boomed, and he was off the couch and in the kitchen so fast Sakura questioned if she blacked out for a moment.

'He's fast.' She acknowledged, turning to face the disaster that was unfolding in her kitchen. Naruto wore an expression of absolute horror as he pressed himself against the counter and away from the fire currently trying to snake its way up the cabinets. Sasuke slammed a large cookie sheet over the inferno on the stove, effectively cutting it off from the source. He shot a deadly look at Naruto.

"So… you guys come over to demolish my apartment often?" Sakura asked with light humor.

Naruto's eyes darted up and to the left before looking guiltily at his feet, and Sakura followed his gaze to find an actual hole in one of the tiles of the ceiling on the other side of the living room. How had she missed that before? Apparently this wasn't his first debacle.

She had the feeling she wouldn't be getting any kind of security deposit back on this place.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan! I just wanted to make you some breakfast!" He gave her his best puppy dog eyes, complete with singed eyebrows, and she couldn't help but laugh. His confused expression told her he had expected a more volatile reaction.

But what did she care? Sure, the upper cabinets were now tinged black from the flames, but the original color was horrible anyways.

Even if this is where she lived, it felt distant to her. It wasn't really her home.

With a sigh, Sasuke left the kitchen to go back to the living room. "We'll just grab something in the village." He stated, picking up several kunai that were laid out neatly on the table. "Here, they hadn't been cleaned since the last mission." He stated, handing them to her.

She accepted them awkwardly. "Oh, thanks."

"We were thinking after eating, you'd want to join us in the training grounds? You don't have to spar if you're not feeling up to it yet." He said by way of explanation.

"Yeah we thought maybe just seeing a spar would help you remember some things!" Naruto came up beside her, hands on his hips and a radiant smile on his face.

Well how could she say no to that?

"Ok." She agreed with a smile of her own. "Let me go get dressed."

xXx

After breakfast, the trio made their way to the training grounds. Sasuke had insisted on paying for Sakura again, even though she had been sure to bring her own money this time. Sakura didn't put up much of a fight, too excited at the prospect of seeing what the two men beside her were capable of. They had been passive aggressively taunting each other throughout the entire morning. It was apparent that this was their process- they would hype each other up and feed the tension between them right up until they could spar. She could feel both the bodies beside her practically thrumming with chakra and anticipation.

And it made her body thrum in anticipation as well. These were her teammates- they had fought beside one another, protected one another, relied on each other.

If she was on their team, seeing their ability should be a good measure of her own.

Right?

They finally stopped at a large open grassy field. Naruto began stretching out an arm half-heartedly.

"You want first go, Sakura?" He asked, mischief gleaming in his blue eyes.

"Oh no, I'll leave you boys to it." She waved him off. "Besides, Kakashi-sensei said he would come by at noon to train with me a bit one on one." She had to remember to tack on the 'sensei' to the man's name.

Sasuke's head tilted to the side in thought. "When did you see Kakashi-sensei?"

"Ha!" Naruto interrupted loudly. "If he said he'll be here at 12, you won't be seeing him until dinner. But suit yourself! You can just watch me pummel Sasuke into the dirt until then." He shrugged, his face all business.

"Keep dreaming." Sasuke muttered.

Their eyes connected- obsidian met cerulean- and then there was nothing but gently swaying grass where they had stood.

Startled, Sakura's eyes darted around searching for them. The growing shadows on the ground prompted her to look skywards, and sure enough, they were already locked in battle mid air.

She lightly jogged to a large tree on the edge of the field, ensuring that they were given a wide enough berth. She had a feeling they weren't exactly the types to pull punches.

And she was right. As she watched on, the young woman was in awe of what she witnessed.

The two men were a blur of orange and navy blue. By the time her ears picked up the metallic ring of kunai against Kusanagi to her left, they were already flashing in sight to her right. They met each other head on, again and again. The kick, punch, elbow, knee of one being blocked, parried, or carried through by the other. And though admittedly her eyes could not follow every movement, she could not look away. The pair seemed to be displaying a deadly dance- a parody of battle- with movements so graceful and seamless, every action seemed to set up the other's reaction. It was like they could read each other, effortlessly.

Is this what she used to look like?

Could she ever reach that level again?

Determination settled in her chest, her eyes hardening on the spar before her.

She would. She would reach her previous level- and surpass it.

She was kunoichi. She was shinobi. She was a part of the elite, like the two on the field. It wasn't a matter of if, only a matter of when.

Sakura was not going to let a slight hiccup in her life keep her from progressing. She was going to see to it that the name Haruno Sakura was said in reverence, even if she had to start over from scratch.

With the fire within her sufficiently stoked, she continued to watch the men before her. But instead of passive awe, her eyes sharpened on their movements, predicting what they were going to do next. Deciding what she would have done next if it had been her, in the milliseconds it took between actions.

She could feel her muscles twitch in reaction with a dodge, a punch, a kick. Her heart began to pound with awakened adrenaline as her mind fully immersed in the fight before her.

"You look like you're ready to jump in."

The cool voice from behind startled her, and her hand flew to her chest as her heightened heartbeat spiked in surprise.

"Or… out of your skin." She turned to find the culprit rubbing the back of his neck with chagrin, his crinkled eye offering an apology at sneaking up on her.

"Geez Kakashi-sensei, you scared me."

"Sorry about that. But consider it a lesson in being aware of your surroundings."

"Yeah, yeah."

She stood, brushing stray strings of grass off her legs, and glanced back to the boys who didn't even seem to notice there was an additional presence on the field.

"Are they always this intense?" She whispered.

"Oh yes, for as long as I have known them." The silver haired man watched her out of the corner of his eye. Her sharp eyes were trained on them with a fervency he had never seen from her before- and he could tell it was very different from the interest she would show before just because she was watching Sasuke. Her body was tense, like a dog ready to attack as soon as it was given the command. Whenever he thought back to training with her before, she always came off as nonchalant- like she was indifferent to even participating. Like she was just indulging her team, trying to be a part of it but not wanting to take any attention off her teammates.

She had always cared too much of what others had thought of her.

But this Sakura was different. She was eager. She was focused. She had shown up for the betterment of herself, not just to feel like a part of Team 7.

His observations piqued him. Sakura had always been a top-notch student, but now he was eager to see exactly how much more she would apply herself.

"Are you ready?"

Her emerald eyes sparkled up at him like she was a five year old and he had just offered her free ice cream.

"You bet!"

He smirked beneath his mask and began walking to a separate corner of the clearing, hearing her fall into step behind him.

When he stopped to face her, her eyes still held the spark of excitement but a small shadow of hesitation dulled it.

She was willing to push herself, but the girl before him no longer knew her own body and what it was capable of. Jumping right into a spar would be like jumping into the ocean when never having swam before- could you trust your body to just know what to do on instinct?

"We'll start with the basic kata, let your muscles remember the correct forms. And then we'll move into simple sparring- taijutsu only at first until you feel comfortable to enough to start integrating ninjutsu."

She gave a quick nod of her head, a smirk sliding into place across her pink lips.

A rush of satisfaction filled him as he watched the hesitation in her eyes evaporate.

xXx

Sakura went through her kata forms flawlessly- with a little technical correction from Kakashi in the beginning. But it seemed her body did remember the forms even if she herself didn't. Although Kakashi sensei claimed that she had always been a very quick learner- whichever the case may be, Sakura was grateful. The kata had given her more confidence and familiarity with her body, and she was eager to test her mettle.

Standing across from Kakashi on the field, the sounds of continuous conflict from the boys on the other end faded into the back of her mind. Her focus narrowed on the silver haired man before her, muscles tensed in anticipation.

A lone slate eye watched her with calm reserve. His stance was a mixture of lackadaisical and feigned disinterest.

He was obviously inviting her to have the first move.

"You don't have to worry about strategy at this stage- it's best to just rediscover your own fighting style first—"

But strategy was the last thing on her mind as she charged forward and took a swing at him- which was harder than she expected with their considerable height difference.

She missed, of course.

He leaned back and away from her fist, and with his center of gravity shifting backwards she took the opportunity to kick at one of his legs.

But he jumped into a backwards flip, landing five feet away from her.

Her arms fell to her sides in frustration.

"How am I going to relearn how to spar if you're just going to dodge and run away?"

"You'll have to excuse me. A punch or kick from you used to mean certain death, you know. Old habits." He shrugged.

She glanced at her fist in wonderment. It felt more like she was going to dislocate her own shoulder than do any damage to an enemy.

"But I also wanted to make sure you weren't going to utilize chakra in your attacks- it used to be second nature for you. I was uncertain if your body would automatically fall back on that."

He took a couple steps closer to her.

"It looks like I won't need to be worrying about that yet, however."

Sakura frowned, wondering how easy it would be to relearn that trick.

But then Kakashi was suddenly right in front of her, and she was blocking an elbow, sidestepping a knee and throwing an elbow of her own. She smirked through the constant and methodical movements.

At least this seemed to come easy to her.

xXx

When Kakashi finally decided to call it a day, Sakura's chest was heaving and her loose shirt clung to her wet skin.

Their shadows were long against the grass, and a cool breeze was finally beginning to breathe through the field as the hottest part of the day waned.

At some point during their spar the boys had finished their own fight and brought back premade bento boxes from a nearby shop for the four of them. Sakura plopped down next to Naruto and across from Sasuke while Kakashi scooped his box up and leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Water?" The pink haired girl asked, breathless.

Naruto held one out and she snatched the bottle and downed it so fast he could only stare with a look of downtrodden amazement.

"Actually, that was mine… I was just offering you… some…" He mumbled.

Sakura smacked her newly refreshed lips and gave a half apologetic smile before digging into her food. She was ravenous. She didn't give a second thought to the company around her as she was already stuffing the next onigiri into her mouth without having even chewed the first yet.

Naruto was still staring at her with lightly veiled horror.

"Please do make sure not to choke." Was Kakashi's offhanded comment as he discreetly ate his food even faster than she was.

She stopped long enough to thump Naruto on the forehead with her chopsticks.

"Don't stare at me while I eat. It's rude."

He let out a small "Ow!" before gingerly rubbing his forehead.

A throat cleared from across from them and Sakura looked up to see Sasuke sitting cross legged, back straight and perfectly poised while he held his bento in one hand and clean chopsticks in the other.

"You looked good out there, Sakura."

His compliment took her off guard and she struggled to choke down a mouthful of rice but in her haste it went down the wrong pipe. Sputtering as gracefully as she could, she grabbed at the other water bottle laying in reach and gulped down a couple mouthfuls.

A loud sigh and "What did I say?" Could be heard from behind her.

Wiping the excess moisture from her mouth with the back of her hand, she looked back up to the dark haired man in front of her with a genuine smile.

"Thanks!"

Sasuke's expression was a mix of slight disgust and barely concealed amusement.

"You got that right!" Naruto chimed in, hitting her back with the palm of his hand a couple times as if she was still choking.

"Next time, I call dibs on Sakura-chan!"

"Not so fast, Naruto." Kakashi slumped onto the grass between Sakura and Sasuke. She noticed he was completely done with his food already.

"Sakura did really well today, but it was strictly taijutsu. It's important that she relearns her foundations thoroughly before moving into a more serious spar."

Naruto made a face. "Well, how come I can't help her with some of the foundations?"

"Because." Sasuke cut in sharply. "You don't know the meaning of 'self restraint'."

"I don't know self restraint?!" The blonde shot back. "Who was the one who pulled a Chidori out of his ass when he was starting to lose?!"

A dark eyebrow twitched. "I only brought out Chidori when I saw your chakra swirling in the palm of your hand. You trying to pretend like I can't tell when you're building Rasengan?"

"Nah nah nah." Blonde hair swept back and forth as Naruto vehemently shook his head. "I only started Rasengan when I heard that horrible shrieking start-"

"Aaaaand that's why neither of you will be allowed to spar with Sakura for some time." Kakashi cut in nonchalantly. "Neither of you know the meaning of restraint."

His silver eye sharpened into cold steel. "And I shouldn't have to remind both of you that jutsu like Rasengan and Chidori should not be used against allies."

Both boys went back to eating their meals as if they had suddenly fallen deaf.

Kakashi sighed, his eye rolling skyward.

"In any matter, I know I promised to teach you doton justu, Sakura, but I think you will truly benefit from more practices like today before we venture into ninjutsu. Your taijutsu has never been something to scoff at, but that was because you relied on brute strength to get the job done. However, I saw an agility and fluidness in your taijutsu today that I had never seen you display before. If you can master that and then add in your strength… well, let's just say I wouldn't want to meet you on the other end of a real fight."

Her face warmed at such genuine and flattering critique.

"It's ultimately up to you, though." He was looking at her, an unease in his features. "A promise is a promise, and if you want me to make good on mine sooner rather than later, then I will."

She offered a brilliant smile to quiet his uncertainty. "No, your way is good. And you're right- I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and have too much too fast. I might end up choking again." She grabbed her throat and stuck her tongue out for emphasis, causing the older man to chuckle.

"Very well, meet here again tomorrow, same time?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Good." He pushed himself off the grass and lazily stretched out his back. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have to go see about a goat. Jaa Ne!"

He disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

Sakura watched them sleepily twirl towards the ground.

"Wait… what goat?"

Both boys shrugged.

"We don't ask anymore." Sasuke warned.

"Yeah, one time we actually followed him to check the validity of his weird excuses and… well… " Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks, then Naruto set his bento down and gently pushed it away from himself. Clearly he had lost his appetite.

"Let's just say you should be glad you don't remember that, at least." He offered as the only explanation.

Only slightly disturbed that her sensei could be a real weirdo, Sakura finished up her bento before standing.

Both boys looked up at her.

"What you wanna do now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Take a shower, for one." The breeze felt nice and all but her shirt was still sticking to her back and she was beginning to feel itchy from the grass.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Sasuke offered, even though he was still gingerly eating his meal.

"No, that's fine. I'll be ok. Thanks for inviting me along with you guys today. It was fun." She offered them a smile then turned to walk back to her apartment.

Overall she felt very satisfied by the day thus far. She was beginning to become more comfortable with the dynamic between her and her teammates, and she really enjoyed training with Kakashi. He was patient and observant, and she looked forward to training with him tomorrow as well. Her own body impressed her, reacting so swiftly she hardly had to think about it at all. It excited her to feel as if she had learned so much about herself and her own fighting style in just one day.

The only thing she didn't gain any new knowledge in was the relationship between her and Sasuke. Him volunteering to walk her home could have given her the opportunity for a little one on one time that may have alluded some foresight.

But she would prefer to get a little history before jumping into that just yet.

First- a nice refreshing shower.

Then- to find Ino.