Konoha --- Old-Growth Training Stand
Day five.
The second thread arrived at six forty-three in the morning.
Naruto was counting crows this time.
There were seven in the stand.
The one on the highest branch had not moved once in twenty minutes, which he was noting with the specific approval of someone who understood stillness better than he had four days ago.
The natural energy came the same way it always came now --- not dramatically, not in a rush.
Just moving toward him the way water moved toward a low point.
Because he was receptive rather than reaching.
The first thread settled.
Then, after a moment, a second one found the path the first had made.
Thinner than the first.
Briefer.
But real.
Jiraiya felt it.
He kept his face neutral.
He'd learned that Naruto's awareness was sensitive enough now that any reaction from Jiraiya would create a ripple that disrupted the absorption.
He kept counting crows internally and waited.
The second thread held for ninety seconds.
Then Naruto's attention shifted slightly --- he'd registered that something new had happened --- and it dissolved.
He opened his eyes.
"Two," he said.
"Yes."
"The second one was steadier than I expected."
"The first thread creates a pathway. The second finds it easier." Jiraiya uncrossed his arms. "It'll compound. The third will be faster than the second."
Naruto looked at his hands.
He'd been doing this every morning for four days now.
Each session longer than the last.
Each thread a little more confident.
He thought about the Sage Imprint in his chakra system.
Warm.
Patient.
Like something that had been waiting for exactly this pace.
"Jiraiya-sensei," he said.
"Mm."
"How many threads before the first functional stage?"
"Twelve to fifteen, typically. With the Imprint, maybe eight or nine." Jiraiya looked at the trees. "Your father needed four months for the foundation without the Imprint."
"We don't have four months."
"I know."
"But we might have enough."
"We might," Jiraiya said carefully. "Especially if you keep the census going outside of formal sessions."
"I've been doing it everywhere," Naruto said. "At the shop. Walking to the training ground. Eating breakfast." He paused. "Ayame-nee asked why I was counting the people who came in for ramen."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her I was learning to be still."
Jiraiya looked at him.
"What did she say?"
Naruto smiled.
"She said that sounds like my father," he said. "I told her it kind of was."
Jiraiya was quiet for a moment.
Then he said: "Ayame has good instincts."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "She always did."
He stood.
Stretched.
Looked at the morning.
"Sakura's meeting Tsunade today," he said.
"I heard."
"Do you think she'll take her?"
Jiraiya thought about the scroll's evaluation.
About currently twelve years old and largely unremarkable. By the time this ranking is read again, she will not be unremarkable.
"Yes," he said. "Eventually. Today might be the first of several meetings."
"Tsunade doesn't say yes easily."
"No. But she recognizes something real when she sees it." He paused. "Sakura is real."
Naruto nodded.
He looked toward Konoha.
"I'm going to check on her after," he said. "Later."
"Don't hover," Jiraiya said.
"I'm not hovering."
"You're planning to hover."
"I'm planning to check in, which is different---"
"Naruto."
"What."
"Let her handle it."
He looked at Jiraiya.
At the expression that said I know what you're thinking and I know it comes from care and it's still not helpful.
"...Yeah," he said. "Okay."
He went to find breakfast.
Third census of the morning on the walk back.
Seven people before he reached the main road.
He noted them all.
Konoha --- Temporary Hokage Administrative Building
Tsunade had been in this office for four days and she already hated everything about it.
The paperwork.
The interruptions.
The way everyone knocked with a specific timid quality that said I know you're terrifying and I'm doing this anyway.
She missed gambling halls.
She missed the specific freedom of having absolutely no responsibilities.
She did not miss it enough to leave, because the scroll had essentially said you were always going to be here and she was Senju Tsunade and she didn't run from things that were true.
But she didn't have to like the paperwork.
The knock at the door at nine-thirty had the usual timid quality.
"Come in," she said without looking up.
The person who came in was not timid.
She stood at the door with her hands at her sides and her chin at a level angle and said: "Lady Tsunade. I'm Sakura Haruno. I'd like to request an apprenticeship."
Tsunade put down her pen.
She looked at the girl.
Twelve years old.
Pink hair.
Wide forehead.
Nothing obviously remarkable about her physically.
She'd read the scroll's evaluation.
She knew the name.
Currently twelve years old and largely unremarkable. By the time this ranking is read again, she will not be.
She studied the girl for a moment.
"You read the evaluation," she said.
"Yes."
"And you're here because of it."
"No," Sakura said.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"I was going to come anyway," Sakura said. "I said it during the scroll. Before I knew what it would say about me." She paused. "The evaluation just confirmed what I already decided."
Tsunade looked at her.
"Why me specifically?" she said.
Sakura looked back.
"Because the scroll said you understand loss," she said. "And you came back anyway. And you became Hokage. And you're the best medical ninja alive." She paused. "I want to learn from someone who knows how to stand back up."
Tsunade studied her for a long moment.
The girl hadn't looked away.
She hadn't performed confidence, either --- that specific kind of false bravado that people used when they were scared but trying not to show it.
She'd just said what she meant.
Directly.
And held the look.
Tsunade thought about the evaluation.
About the best thing Tsunade ever taught was not a technique. It was that you could fall apart and still be worth something.
She thought about what that meant to have someone sit across from her and say I want to learn from someone who knows how to stand back up.
She thought about the Fourth Great Ninja War.
About Kaguya.
About what was coming.
She thought about a twelve-year-old girl who had made a decision and shown up to say so.
"Show me your chakra control," she said.
Sakura walked to the center of the room.
Held out her hand.
Concentrated chakra to her palm.
The precision was good.
Better than good for her age and classification.
Tsunade noted: no wastage. Clean edges. Steady pulse.
"Healing application?" Tsunade said.
"Basic. I've been self-teaching from standard texts."
"How far have you gotten?"
"I can close surface wounds. I've practiced on minor injuries." Sakura paused. "I know it's not much."
"It's more than nothing," Tsunade said. "Which is more than I expected for self-taught at twelve." She looked at her hands. "Strength training?"
"I've started," Sakura said. "Seriously. Four days ago."
"Why four days ago specifically?"
"Because the scroll told me what I was going to become," Sakura said. "And I decided I was going to start being that person now instead of waiting."
Tsunade looked at her.
She thought about herself at twelve.
Spoiled by Hashirama.
Certain of her own genius.
Not yet broken by anything.
She thought about Nawaki.
About Dan.
About every time the world had taken something from her and she'd had to decide whether to stand up again.
She thought about this girl, who had read an evaluation that called her largely unremarkable and had shown up the next day anyway.
"Come back tomorrow," she said. "Seven in the morning. Show me what your chakra control looks like after a full day of specific exercises I'm going to give you now." She picked up the pen. "If what I see tomorrow is better than what I see today, we'll talk about what an apprenticeship actually involves."
Sakura was quiet for a moment.
"Not a yes," she said.
"Not a yes," Tsunade agreed. "Come back tomorrow."
Sakura nodded.
She turned to go.
"Haruno."
She stopped.
"The scroll said you'll be remarkable," Tsunade said. She wasn't looking up from the paper she was writing the exercises on. "Don't disappoint it."
Sakura turned back.
"I won't," she said.
It came out flat and sure.
Not performed.
Just true.
Tsunade handed her the list without looking up.
Sakura took it.
She left.
Konoha Street --- Outside the Administrative Building
Sakura stood on the street.
Read the exercises.
There were fourteen of them.
Each one more specific and demanding than the last.
They ranged from basic chakra rotation drills to something at the bottom that said sustain a healing pulse at 40% capacity for twenty uninterrupted minutes without physical contact.
She read that last one twice.
She'd never done that.
Nobody at her level had done that.
She looked at the paper.
She put it in her pocket.
She started walking toward the training ground.
She had approximately ten hours before she needed to be asleep.
Ten hours was a lot of time.
She was going to use all of it.
Group Chat:
[Sakura Haruno: She said come back tomorrow.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: IS THAT GOOD OR BAD---]
[Sakura Haruno: Good. She gave me exercises.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: So she's considering it?]
[Sakura Haruno: She's testing me. If tomorrow looks better than today, we talk about the actual apprenticeship.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: THAT'S GREAT---]
[Sakura Haruno: Don't come to the training ground, Naruto.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: I wasn't going to---]
[Sakura Haruno: You were.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: I was just going to check---]
[Sakura Haruno: I know you were. Don't. I need to focus.]
A pause.
[Naruto Uzumaki: ...okay.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: You're going to be amazing tomorrow.]
[Sakura Haruno: I know.]
She put the chat away.
She started the first exercise.
Pure Land:
[Tsunade: Grandfather.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Little Tsunade!! You took a student!!]
[Tsunade: I haven't taken anyone yet. I told her to come back tomorrow.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: But you're considering it!!]
[Tsunade: I'm testing her.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: You wouldn't test someone you weren't interested in taking!]
[Tsunade: ...]
[Tsunade: Don't read into it.]
[Uzumaki Mito: Tsunade.]
[Tsunade: Lady Mito.]
[Uzumaki Mito: She sounds like you did at twelve.]
[Tsunade: She sounds nothing like I did at twelve.]
[Uzumaki Mito: She walked in and said what she wanted without performing.]
[Tsunade: ...]
[Uzumaki Mito: That's exactly what you did.]
[Tsunade: I was spoiled at twelve.]
[Uzumaki Mito: You were direct at twelve. The spoiled part came later and went away later still.]
Tsunade sat with that for a moment.
She thought about the girl holding chakra in her palm with clean edges and no wastage.
Self-taught.
Four days of serious strength training.
Standing in the door saying I want to learn from someone who knows how to stand back up.
She thought about what that girl was going to look like in five years.
[Tsunade: ...Don't tell Shizune I said this.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Of course!! What are you saying?!]
[Tsunade: She reminds me of why I started.]
[Tsunade: Before I stopped.]
[Tsunade: Before I ran.]
A pause.
[Tsunade: She's not running.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: ...Little Tsunade.]
[Tsunade: Don't.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: I'm proud of you.]
[Tsunade: I said DON'T.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: HAHAHA!! Too late!! I already said it!!]
[Tsunade: ...]
[Tsunade: ...Grandfather.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Yes?]
[Tsunade: I'm glad you're watching.]
The chat was very quiet for a moment.
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: ...Me too, Little Tsunade. Me too.]
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