Sakura, who had just finished training and had time to lose before her next appointment, decided to spend it by coaching.

Arriving at Lil Tykes, she saw someone already training the kids. A person she doesn't usually see but was familiar with.

"Old man!"

Turning to the sound of her voice, the old man sneered, "Pinky." Despite the mocking tone, he motioned for her to stand beside him, "The kids are getting better with their approach. Is this your doing?" Said kids greeted her excitedly before being told by the man to focus on their training.

She grinned, "You bet it is." She watched them practice their timing, noticing a few errors that should be corrected, but nonetheless was proud of the children's progress.

They pointed out ways for the aspiring athletes to get better, watching them correct their postures and arm swings, "How's that Senju doing?" He asked a few moments later, "Still gambling?"

"Of course, it's her way of life," Sakura chuckled, "She's doing fine. Been complaining a lot about the paperwork, but nothing new."

"What about you, though?" She turned to him, asking the question that has been on her mind since arriving, "Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital?"

"I'll come back when I feel the need to," He crossed his arms, "These kids have been visiting me, asking when I'll be back."

"Since when did you listen to kids?" She scoffed, "What, was a month of no volleyball too much for you, old man?"

Before he could reply, her phone's alarm went off, telling her it's time for her next appointment. At the man's look, she smiled sheepishly, "I kinda promised to go fetch Shrimpy today for some additional training," Glancing at the kids on the court, "I'll make it up to them next time."

"We still need one more player for the Neighborhood team…"

Neighborhood team? Sakura knocked on the gym doors before entering, puzzled as to why there were older men in the gym. A practice match?

A blonde man taking up the referee position turned to her, "Who's this, the manager?" The question directed to the team captain.

Daichi shook his head, "Hinata's friend." He greeted her with a nod, smiling. She returned the gesture.

"Sakura-senpai!" Shoyo waved from the court, "This match suddenly came up, I'm sorry!" Sakura waved off his apology. A match would be better as training than their one-on-one sessions.

"Do you play?" The man asked her, with her nodding in reply, "Perfect. The other team needs one more player. Can you play with pants?"

Sakura turned to the team in question, seeing a few familiar faces with Sugawara waving at her. Nodding, she placed down her bag beside the gym doors. She would be lying if she said she wasn't excited at the prospect of playing against the males, something she had been wanting to do ever since meeting them.

"It's okay, right?" The acting-referee addressed the players on the court, "For a girl to play against you guys?"

"A girl?" Hinata repeated from the court, "She's an ace! I want her on my team!" He complained, "Can I exchange her for Tsukishima?"

The tall player scowled, but said nothing. The referee hummed, "An ace, huh?" He looked at Sakura, doing her a once-over, "No, the Neighborhood team needs a hitter."

Awkwardly stepping onto the court, she was greeted by Sugawara, with Nishinoya giving her a smile. She immediately noticed the latter's lack of enthusiasm, finding it completely out of character. He seemed tense, along with Sugawara.

"Alright, now we can start the match." The referee announced, blowing his whistle.

She took up the rear with another male with longhair tied up in a bun, with Nishinoya acting as the libero. Two older men were in the front with Sugawara as setter.

As the game progressed, she could feel the tense air of her team, not being able to pinpoint the cause. It was gone momentarily when the duo of the other team did their quick, with her unable to receive it due to being distracted by her mind being elsewhere, but was back almost immediately after. Was she the only one feeling it? She glanced at the two older men on her team, seeing them glance at each other. No, it wasn't just her.

She looked at Sugawara, then to Nishinoya, until her gaze locked onto the form of the last member on the team, just in time for him to say something, "More time."

That seemed to capture the attention of Nishinoya, who turned to him in question, "Even if I'm repeatedly blocked, I think I want to hit it one more time." The player expounded.

Ah. Now she understands.

The other player must be the 'Asahi' mentioned before, Karasuno's ace.

She almost wanted to beat herself up for mistaking him as one of the older men, his goatee and towering build having fueled her assumption. It was just her luck that she was placed on the same team as him. She'll finally be able to see the ace in action.

And, as if reading her thoughts, the ball was directed to him, and it was blocked.

Immediately followed-up by Nishinoya, she didn't have time to voice out her amazement at the receive as the ball was in the air, Sugawara in position to set the ball. Her senses told her to call for the toss, but she also knew she wasn't the best option, someone else deserved the honor, "Sugawara-san, give it to your ace!" Her words backed up by Kageyama.

"Suga-san!" The ace called out, "One more time!"

The yell surprised Sakura, but the emotion behind it wasn't lost on her. She was beginning to understand what the team must've went through for the star players to become so out-of-tune.

When the ball entrusted to the ace was hit, "Woah." Sakura couldn't help but let out, in awe. Seeing a fellow hitter completely break through a three-man wall will never fail to impress her.

"Asahi-san, was it?" She approached the panting male, "Nice kill!"

"Ah," He seemed surprised, almost embarrassed, "Thank you…?"

"Sakura-san!" Nishinoya exclaimed, back in character, causing Sakura to laugh, "Wasn't that amazing?!"

Nodding, "Yeah, it was, and your follow-up, too!" The libero scratched the back of his head as he thanked her, the other subject of their amazement standing awkwardly as they praised him.

Sugawara joined in, "Nice kill!"

They focused back on the match as the whistle was blown, their last attack sent back to them almost immediately as the duo on the other side did their quick, none of them able to receive it.

Sakura breathed out, snapping out of her daze. Once again, she had been reduced to a mere spectator. She couldn't help but stand still and watch the combo play out. At the back of her mind, she knew that if her coach were here, she'd probably be thrown to the other side of the room by now. But it wasn't an official match, she doubts any team she'll go against in the future had such a combo, so she didn't see any reason to seriously take on the attack head-on.

Shoyo, now in the front and acting as the middle blocker, wasn't able to block the ace's attack, resulting in the set ending on their favor. She frowned, aside from the blocking being all wrong, the orange-head seemed to have something on his mind right after the attempt.

Second set, and he was hit on the face.

"Shoyo!" She immediately went to the fallen boy, crouching down. Having received such a powerful hit directly on the face could result in a concussion, she thought, gently slapping the boy to regain his senses, "Are you alright?!"

"Sakura-senpai?" The boy asked in a daze, clutching his head, "Yeah, I'm used to it."

"Idiot!" She sighed, "You shouldn't get used to that." Then, brows furrowing, "What's on your mind?" She had a few ideas on what could've been swimming in his head that caused him to space out, but she wanted him to say it.

And he did, yelling it at Kageyama. And she was right.

And it made her angry.

Before heading back to her side of the court, she turned back to him, "Shoyo," Attention turned to her, probably noticing the edge in her tone, "I don't mean to make this all about me, but I'm not tall, am I?" At his confused look, she continued, "I'm not tall. In a game where height gives you an advantage, I'm severely lacking in that aspect."

She held up a hand to shush him when he opened his mouth to retort, "I'm not tall, but I'm an ace. You may think it's different since I play against girls who are as short as me, but I've played against girls who are even taller than Asahi-san." She turned around, ducking under the net, "Stop wanting more, and make use of what you have. "

As the game progressed, Sakura wasn't able to reign in her anger, evident through her narrowed eyes clenched jaw.

She had gone quiet, her team mates noticed. They haven't made use of her skills as an ace as of yet, but she was proving to be as solid as their libero in her receives and support.

Kageyama, she also realized, had good intentions. Hearing him raise up Shoyo's spirits warmed her heart. She would've done the same, but the topic of height had always been a touchy subject for her from all those times she had been singled out because of it. She understood where Shoyo was coming from, but hearing him practically trash his skills just because he wasn't as tall as the other players made her feel almost inferior. That her position as an ace, the effort she put to live up to the name, was a mere ruse because she didn't have the height to back it up.

She didn't like how Shoyo was capable of so much that others could only wish for, and yet push it aside because of a belief that stemmed from single-minded fools.

There it is again, her mind registered, that combo of theirs. Her arm instinctively raised to where the ball was sent even when she didn't intend it to, the ball brushing against her arm as it passed by her.

It didn't slip the notice of the other players.

"Wah," Tanaka voiced out, eyes wide, "Her eyes were looking in front and yet her arm just swung and almost received Hinata's spike with one arm!"

"To be able to move purely on instinct…" Nishinoya muttered, glancing at the pink-haired ace, "Just how hard does she train?"

Last five points, "Woah, he did the same thing Sakura-senpai did against Seijou!" Hinata exclaimed, referring to the float serve. He was still uneasy, unsure of how to address the female, knowing he had unintentionally struck a nerve with his comment. She wouldn't meet his eyes no matter how much he stared at her.

Last point, Nishinoya received Tanaka's spike. In an attempt to appease the female, Asahi had directed the last ball to be given to the other ace, "Haruno-san!" Sugawara called, telling her to prepare her approach.

Finally, she thought, jumping as the ball was sent to her, the three-man block jumping in front of her with the orange-haired decoy in the middle.

"Woah, she could really jump!"

Meeting Shoyo's eyes, she spiked the ball directly on his inexperienced arms, taking advantage of the too wide gap between his appendages, her hit slamming down on the court.

"Oi, Pinky," The blonde man who acted as referee called out, causing a few heads to turn, "What school do you go to?"

The girl in question scowled at the nickname, "Konoha High."

The man made a sound of recognition, eyes widening, "From Tokyo, right?" The attention of the other players was on them, listening in on their conversation, "I didn't know you guys had a volleyball team."

Sakura shrugged, frowning as she shook her water bottle. She forgot to refill it back at her school, "Just formed last year."

"Just last year and yet you play like you've been playing your whole life."

"I've got a… good coach."

The team's manager—Shimizu, she recalls—approached her with an extra water bottle in hand, handing it to her. Smiling and voicing her thanks, she turned back to the man, "You heard of our school before?" The familiarity the man associated with her school's name didn't escape her notice.

"Of course!" The man exclaimed, "Your basketball team's pretty famous. You guys beat that school, right?"

"Ah," She nodded, "Those rainbow-haired brats." She could distinctly remember having been present as the basketball team's acting-manager during that particular game.

The match that resulted in what Naruto called, 'The Clash of Pink!'

She chuckled at the memory. She remembers asking her parents that day if she was adopted, or had a twin and was separated from birth, despite knowing that wasn't the case.

"Rainbow-haired—" Tanaka began, there was only one basketball team that would fit the description, his mouth forming an 'o', "Do you mean—" He clamped a hand on his mouth, realizing he had just made it known that he was eavesdropping.

Sakura laughed, already aware of the ears listening in on her interaction with the blonde man, "Yeah."

"Konoha High, huh…" The man trailed off before turning to the faculty advisor.

Tanaka walked closer to her, "That last spike sure was something, Haruno-san!" He complimented.

"Thanks, Tanaka-san," She smiled, "I'm sure your spike would've landed if it were any other receiver."

They chatted a bit, the male asking her about the way she handles her team, how they got so good at such a short amount of time, how she handled changing positions.

"It felt really weird at first," She admitted, "Sometimes, even up to this day, I think about returning as the libero. Back to how I started." Her mind thought back to such times, "But then I realized…"

"Maybe I'm just not meant for the supporting role." She shrugged.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she overheard, "No matter the nickname or position," She turned her head to the source, "Don't you think that the player the enemy team fears the most, like having them say "The middle blocker is dangerous, be careful!" about you, is the coolest?"

It was Asahi, his words directed to Shoyo, "So, don't belittle yourself, okay?" She smiled at the exchange.

Tanaka, noticing her attention directed elsewhere, turned to where she was looking, humming, "Asahi-san, even with his height, knows first-hand that being tall doesn't mean an immediate win." He turned to the pink-haired ace, thinking back to what she said to their orange-head member, "While I agree that height does give you an advantage in volleyball, I still think you can make up for it if you train hard enough."

Sakura agreed.

At this point, I just feel like re-writing everything.

I probably will in the future, but for now, I'll continue as it is.

I don't know, man. I just feel like I've been holding myself back. I'm kind of okay with this chapter, but the past ones leading up to this... It's lacking. Not in words or length, but creativity. It's as if I'm strictly sticking with what's canon or in the manga instead of taking a turn and actually change things. Maybe in fear of not knowing how it's going to be taken, or that I'd write myself into a corner. I really gotta challenge myself more.

Anyway, thank you for sticking around! Please keep in mind that I'm learning as I go on, and there might be changes in the near future in terms of how I write and/or how things in the HQverse go.