Medical Pupil [Kazuma]

[Haruno Sakura]

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"This time, everyone, get a good look at my back."
✿❀✿ ♡нαяυησ×ѕαкυяα♡ ✿❀✿
She's Good For One Day Of Comfort, Only Because She Has Suffered

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A request much like her own a number of years ago, huh? Sakura wasn't entirely surprised... But all this meant was that Tsunade was loading more work onto her. Already she was the escort for Ketsueki Sora, the liason between the Ketsueki clan and Konoha, as well as the medical assistant and guard of Kogitsune, the contract shinobi from Hoshigakure. There was a lot that was going on in Konoha... And it seemed a lot of it centered around her.

Aside from all of that, however... She still couldn't get over him. And no, 'him' was not talking about the nukenin Uchiha boy, Sasuke. No. This boy's surname started with a U, yes, but his first name... Was Naruto. She still couldn't fully comprehend it... She didn't understand it at all. Well, at least all of this work would let her keep her mind off of things. Today was the day before the festival, the one which she'd... Yet to find Naruto about. She wanted to go to the dancing that night, and she knew Ino would rub the fact that she had Kiba in her face the whole night if that were the case. No, she'd have to find the Uzumaki boy... Hopefully there, so she could point that out to Ino, at least. Her blonde friend was pure and unadulterated cruelty sometimes...

Nonetheless, here she was, walking up the stairs to Tsunade's office as the woman's voice sounded from behind the door. She must have been explaining to the Genin about his new tutor... Sakura hoped Ishimaru would be a quick learner. From what Tsunade had told her in the message she'd received, Ishimaru wanted to learn medical ninjutsu; however, Tsunade felt she had enough work already, and had pawned the job off on her own pupil, to 'further enhance her own skills'. Yeah... As if. Sakura wasn't going to dare pass on the infamous strength she'd received from her teacher, however; she'd only pass on her medical prowess to the young boy, and maybe if she thought him worthy enough, the chakra-controlled strength.

Opening the door to Tsunade's office, Sakura was greeted by the blonde woman with a smile. "Good morning, Shishou-sama," Sakura said, bowing slightly and walking to stand behind the woman, as she usually did.

"Good morning, Sakura. This is to be your new student... Kazuma Ishimaru," Sakura heard, and she turned towards the Genin boy who stood there. She flashed him a gentle smile, keeping her cool around the woman... She didn't want to have someone's head spin in circles, after all. She knew what Tsunade was really like when it came down to things... And honestly, she would take every measure to prevent bringing that out. Naruto was already one idiot to handle... She hoped she wouldn't have to deal with a second one.

"Hi there, Ishimaru," Sakura said, waving an ungloved hand. Her gloves were in her hip pouch, as always, because she didn't need them at the moment. The kid looked... Well, she couldn't tell much from a distance, but he looked somewhat promising... She just hoped he had some form of innate chakra control like Sakura'd had. She'd have to figure that one out with a simple test; the tree climbing and the water walking. Why those, one might have asked? Well, it had been the test that had told Sakura herself, as well as her former sensei, Kakashi, that she was adept at chakra control. She'd gone higher than both Sasuke and Naruto on her first try... Much, much higher. For her, water walking and tree climbing was like second nature... Especially now that her control over her chakra had increased quite a bit.

"As you might already know, Sakura is my own pupil, Ishimaru, and a Chuunin at that. However, I feel no need to take on a pupil myself as of yet... Hence, why I am offering you the skill of my own student, who had learned her ability from myself." Well, this would prove to be an interesting ordeal...

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[Kazuma Ishimaru]

Kazuma had gotten a rather interesting message from his mother that morning. Apparently she had sent a request in to the Hokage Tsunade herself to request some specialized training in the medical arts. It was a surprising development for the young boy, but not an unwanted one. While he doubted he would be able to be taught by the Legendary Sannin herself, the chance to get a mentor wasn’t something he was going to simply passed up. There were plenty of other candidates for the job out there, and any of them would most likely be able to help improve his knowledge of medical jutsu.

He started getting his equipment together, when he eventually got to his lancet. Picking it up, he started giving it a look over to make sure it was in good shape. It still sparkled, almost like new. Of course, that was because it was knew, a graduation gift from his mother. In her words, “If he was going to be a medical-nin, he needed a good scalpel.” Of course the lancet was also not bad for a combat knife if needed, being double bladed and all. That was, of course, what drew him towards it. A scalpel was a tool made to heal people, to help them with their wounds and injuries. But in the right hands, it could be a deadly weapon on par with any knife or kunai. In fact, it served as a good symbol for him as well. He was a medical-nin, but he planned on turning it into more than just a support class, but into a full fledge combat style.

For now, however, he had to get through this meeting with Tsunade about his mentor. He placed the lancet inside the pouch on his left of the belt. With a quick goodbye to his mother, he headed outside and began to walk towards the Hokage’s Tower. As he did, he wondered just who would he end up with since Tsunade would most likely be available. There wasn’t that many ninja he knew, even with his mother’s position. Unless for some reason he got that Sakura Haruno he was always hearing about, he’d be going in this blind. Of course, most likely there would be introductions or something so he could figure them out rather quick.

Upon entering, he was quickly rushed to Tsunade’s office. Apparently he was there early, and had to just wait patiently in the room. Of course, he couldn’t forget his manners.

“Good morning Hokage-sama,” he said with a small bow before quieting up. He wanted to appear considerate of her position and let her deal with her work till his mentor arrived.

That didn’t seem to take long, however. A woman walked into the room and greeted the Hokage. She had pink-colored hair, which was enough to tip Kazuma off that she must have been this Sakura Haruno he was always hearing about. For a split second there was a devious smile on his face, but by the time Tsunade began to talk it was gone, back to his usual pleasant smile. However, deep down he was rather glad it was this girl, because if what he had heard about her was true, she had a lot to teach him. The chakra-enhanced strength would be nice, but he didn’t care that much about it. Since the legendary Sannin had taught her herself, she was bound to have a large knowledge of the medical arts. All he had to do was take that and twist it to his own combat-oriented purpose.

When Sakura said hello to him, he responded with his own.

“Hello and good morning Sakura-san,” he said, giving a slight bow. He wanted to get on her good side, not only because she may be his tutor, but also because he also knew she could make heads roll. If his mother was correct, she had some…interesting ways of expressing her anger. Add in the chakra-enhanced strength, and it could be quite powerful.

He listened closely as Tsunade explained the situation. Apparently Sakura was to be his mentor because, as he guessed earlier, Tsunade herself was too busy. This was going to be rather fun…as long as he didn’t get her mad. But he was good at that sort of thing, and he hoped it would hold up against his new mentor.

”Thank you Hokage-sama. I’m sure Haruno-sensei will have a lot to teach me.”

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[Haruno Sakura]

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"This time, everyone, get a good look at my back."
✿❀✿ ♡нαяυησ×ѕαкυяα♡ ✿❀✿
She's Good For One Day Of Comfort, Only Because She Has Suffered

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Haruno-sensei... Inwardly, Sakura cringed at that. The name simply sounded awkward... Most of the time she was either called Sakura-chan, usually by Naruto, Sakura-san by a few others, and the most different one was Haruno-san, sometimes by Kogitsune. Of course, she'd tried to get him used to calling her simply Sakura, but it seemed he now settled for Sakura-san... She smiled slightly at that. Kogitsune seemed to be so confused by their ways...

As Tsunade dismissed both of them with the ghost of a smile to Sakura, the rosette kunoichi led her new student out of the building and towards the training grounds... One might have asked what she was doing, but Sakura knew exactly how to test this boy's chakra control... The same way they'd found out Sakura had an apt for chakra control. The tree climbing... If he didn't do it with ease, chances were this would take a lot of work... Well, at least, part of it with ease.

"All right... You're a fresh graduate, from what I've heard, so I'm going to teach you something, and if you can't get that... I'll tell you, you won't be cut out to even try being a medical ninja." She sounded harsh, but it was true. Even Naruto, being the idiot he was, had been able to get this on the first couple tries. She stopped in front of Ishimaru as they were in a clearing... The exact same clearing that Sakura had learned her own tree climbing in. Nostalgia overcame her for a moment as she looked at the tree she'd used.. And up near a high branch was an old, rusted kunai. Walking up to the tree, she literally began to walk vertical, then stood on the branch.

"You see this kunai? Pass that on your very first try, and you'll truly impress me. Three years ago, I learned the same thing here. On my first try, I reached that height with my chakra. I was twelve." She then pointed to one of the other trees.

"The concept is easy. Take a kunai, and concentrate chakra into the soles of your feet. Make it a medium that will allow your feet to stick to the bark of the tree, and let it hold you there. Sometimes a running start helps you to get as high as possible. Then, walk up the tree, and when you're at the highest point you can get, make a mark in the tree with the kunai. Use one of the trees that haven't already been marked." As she spoke, Sakura decided, out of memory, to do a little trick; she literally walked around the branch so she was hanging upside-down from it. She remembered Kakashi-sensei doing that, and it made her smile. Once she was finished, she walked along the branch, upside-down, and walked down the bark of the tree.

"You might ask why I'm getting you to do this... The key to medical ninjutsu is absolute chakra control. You have to match the flow of chakra from your hands to the severity of the wound in order to properly heal it. Too much or too little chakra can cause problems." That was all she said before she lounged against a tree, waiting for Ishimaru to start his little tree-climbing experience.

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[Kazuma Ishimaru]

Kazuma didn’t notice anything about Sakura being uncomfortable with the title of Haruno-sensei. He saw no reason to think she didn’t like it. Sensei was a title of honor and respect that a student used for his teacher. She was to be his teacher for medical jutsu, therefore he expected that the correct thing to do was to use the title. So until told otherwise, he was going to use the title when speaking with her. It was the easiest way for him to get some kind of bond with her.

The only reason he wanted a friendly, stable relation with this girl of course was because she was probably the second best medical-nin in the Leaf Village. The only one better was Tsunade, the Hokage. She would not be available for training, but Sakura was. If he wanted to get the best training available to him, then he’d have to do anything to stay on her good side. Since he knew little about the girl outside of what he had heard, he was playing it safe by being polite towards her, and quiet of course. When they were dismissed and heading towards the training grounds, he was as quiet as a mouse.

Upon entering the training grounds, Kazuma found himself being slightly confused. He had expected medical training to take place not in the woods, but in some study or hospital. What purpose was there to be out in the woods when they could be working on memorizing the human body or various diseases? While he thought it odd, he kept quiet about it. Sakura was the sensei afterall, so who was he to disagree with her outloud. Instead, he listened intently as she started to explain the situation ahead. From the sound of it, whatever they were going to do was important enough that failing it meant he wouldn’t have a chance to be a medical ninja.

He kept his eyes on her at all times as she walked up the tree, which is when he started to get an idea of what this was about. Unless she was just trying to show off, it meant that he would have to copy her and walk up the tree. Such a feat required a good sense of chakra control, which was also important for a medical ninja. It was something that was drilled into his head repeatedly by not only his instructors, but both of his parents. During his spare time he worked on it, but this would be the first time it would truly be put to the test. Doing it in a study was one thing, but doing it for real was something else.

”While I don’t expect to get as far as that old kunai up there, I think I can get a pretty good height. Both of my parents worked in the medical corp, so the whole ‘chakra control is important for medical nin’ was a rather common phrase around my house,” he said, trying to strike up a friendly conversation before he started on his tree-climbing.

Taking her suggestion of a running start, Kazuma walked back some before lining himself up with one of the random trees around the area. He grabbed a kunai knife out of his pouch, and held it securely in his right hand. Taking a deep breath to relax himself, he started to focus the chakra towards the bottom of his feet. While he wouldn’t need it till he reached the tree, he could gain just a small feel of what was to come as he ran towards it. The ground, while not as rough as bark, was still bumpy and had cracks and grooves. It was, to a degree, a miniaturized version of what he was going to have to face when he ran up the bark.

From what he could remember, he was supposed to increase and decrease the flow of chakra to his feet depending on the surface. An uneven surface like bark meant he would have to keep a constant but slightly changing flow of chakra to his feet if he wanted to stick and be able to run up the tree.

Taking one last breath, he started off at a slow run towards the tree before speeding up as he approached. He focused almost completely on the chakra on his feet, making sure to keep some sort of attention on the tree so he didn’t smash into it. The moment of truth came when his foot hit the wood, and he started to run upwards. He found that it was a lot more difficult than he thought, and so it was only a few seconds before he found his grip was starting to slip a little.

He didn’t want to ruin his chance at being a medical nin, however, over something as simple as walking on a tree. Even if he didn’t reach that kunai Sakura pointed out, he was going to force himself to get as close to it as possible. His mind soon concentrated fully on that chakra flowing to his feet, making sure that it met every groove and curve of that bark he was on. He slowed down the flow of chakra when he started to feel as if something was going to push him off. For a moment he wanted to turn his neck to see how far up he was, but he resisted the urge and kept pressing ahead.

Eventually he found that the strain was getting to much, and he could feel his grip starting to loosen. Remembering the kunai in his hand, he stabbed it into the tree before finally deciding to let gravity take a hold of him. Or at least he would have if he was an idiot, and while he couldn’t keep himself from falling, he tried his hardest to keep himself from crashing to the ground by jumping off the bark. At least that way, when he fell, he controlled the landing.

A small hitch occurred when, due to his concerns being placed on his chakra and not on his surroundings, he failed to notice the branch that was below him. Smacking straight into it interrupted his originally planned smooth, graceful fall to the ground. Two hands shot out to grab a hold of it, seeing as hanging on a branch was better then falling, but they slipped, and soon he landed with a small thud on the ground.

He held back a groan as he sat up, not wanting to appear weak over some simple soreness. From what he could tell he didn’t break anything, so all he would have to deal with would be some mild bruising. He made a mental note of that branch’s location, in case he had to run up into the tree. Hopefully he could get a moment to loosen up after that fall, because running after such an injuring was probably not a great idea.

”I think I need to work on the dismount some,” he said, with a weak laugh that he hoped would relieve some of the tension that may occur after his rather pathetic attempt to land.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Haruno Sakura]

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"This time, everyone, get a good look at my back."
✿❀✿ ♡нαяυησ×ѕαкυяα♡ ✿❀✿
She's Good For One Day Of Comfort, Only Because She Has Suffered

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Both of the boy's parents, in the medical corp? How interesting... It made sense that they would want him to learn medical ninjutsu, then. Well, he was being taught by someone who'd been taught very, very well. Sakura wasn't as proficient as her teacher was, of course, but she definitely topped the Rookie Nine, at least, as they called them. She'd been trained by the Godaime Hokage herself; this boy should have been honoured to learn from the Haruno girl herself.

She watched as Kazuma took a few steps back and went with the running start... Sakura couldn't remember if she'd done even that. She probably had... But she was surprised when he got up as far as he did. Of course, she'd seen better... A lot better, but it was rather interesting. Except, however... His dismount, as he even stated later, was rather... Disheartening. He obviously hadn't managed to take that into account, now had he?

The fact that he hit the tree branch and fell flat on his ass, however, sent Sakura into fits of laughter. Oh, now who did that look like? It wasn't hard to tell. Sakura clutched an arm across her abdomen, doubled-over in laughter... It was funny and nostalgic at the same time.

"Well..." Sakura managed to gasp between giggles, "At least... You didn't.. land... On your head... Hahahahh..." She was basically leaning against the tree for support, because it was quite hilarious... Of course, when Naruto had first done it, he hadn't landed on his rear... No, he'd landed clean on his head. It was mostly that she was laughing about, not Kazuma's own dismount. Oh, how the seemingly mighty will fall...

But what made it funnier, however, was the fact that he'd only made it about nine or ten feet up the tree. Well, now that she looked at it, it was more like twelve feet up the tree, but that didn't really matter, now did it? It was still rather hilarious... But he hadn't impressed her enough to continue. Finally regaining her wits again, Sakura walked up to the tree and continued walking... Straight up the trunk, without even having to concentrate to use the chakra. She didn't waver; it was as if she were walking along a regular, flat surface like any other given day. When she was thirty feet up into the tree, she stabbed a kunai into the bark, turned around, and looked directly down at the boy.

"I should teach you a proper dismount from this level," she said, her hair hanging down on either side of her face due to the forces of gravity. She went into a crouching stance, like she would have if she were on a flat surface, and jumped off the tree. Whilst in the air, she turned her body so her legs were in front of her, and landed against the bark of another tree on an angle. She performed the same manoeuvre numerous times between the two trees until she angled herself straight to the ground, landing in a crouched position.

"Well, seeing as you seem to have most of the whole... Chakra control part down, the second part is efficiency of movement. I would assume you plan on taking the route of a medical shinobi rather than a nurse at the hospital, which means that you need to learn both the efficiency of movement and the ability to predict attacks.

"Medical shinobi, as you may already know, are what keeps a team alive. Therefore, if the medical shinobi dies... The chance and risk of the rest of the team dying increases drastically. That is why the medical shinobi has to be quick on their feet and a quick thinker at the same time. You must learn to predict the movements of your opponent in order to keep yourself alive. As well... Most medical shinobi have something that will help them to stay alive, namely, abilities." As she spoke the last sentence, she walked towards one of the trees in the area, her fist already gloved with a single black glove. "I, as well as Tsunade-sama, have something very unique to the both of us; enhanced strength." Without any sort of warning or indication other than the statement, Sakura punched the tree. Her fist went cleanly through it, and it fell over as if she'd snapped it like a toothpick.

"Our 'strength' is enhanced to the point that a single blow to a vital area, such as the torso, is a lethal blow if we use all of the chakra that we can. However, it requires precision to pull off as well, so as to avoid injuring oneself in the process.

"You're going to learn efficiency of movement the best way I know possible; you are going to spar me in a Taijutsu match." Time to see how he'd swallow something like that after her little demonstration.

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[Kazuma Ishimaru]

Since he was the student, Kazuma had expected for Sakura to show a little concern about him. Instead she started laughing, and pretty hard from the sound and look of it. As she did so Kazuma just looked, perfectly clueless at what to do or say at this point. He could have been critically injured, and she was laughing? This girl might have just been more disturbed than he was. Laughing at the pain of a student, what a way for a sensei to act. Though her comments about landing on the head gave him a hint that maybe his dismount had jogged some memory from her past, and that was what was funny. Still, it didn’t seem appropriate for the situation.

Kazuma gave her a quick angry glare, but softened it up when he remembered that such glares would probably not be appreciated. Instead, he tried to fake up a smile, but it was much harder than usual. Even if he knew he was supposed to try and hide it, the complete fury he was having at being laughed at still spilled through.

”Yes, I’m sure falling on my head would have been a lot worse….” he said with a slight grumble tone to his voice.

Now that he was no longer falling, he could actually see how high he had gotten up the tree…and he did not like what he saw. All that effort and trouble led him to only getting up about maybe twelve feet. Supposedly not bad for a first try, but the fact that immediately afterwards Sakura walked up about 30 without breaking a sweat just made him all the more frustrated. He was used to being one of the better ninja around at the Academy, and with both parents as medical nin he thought he’d have learned better chakra control than that.

As the girl explained how to do a proper dismount, he watched her as she zig-zagged between the two trees. Such movements would have required concentration that he didn’t have during that first run up the tree. If he hadn’t been so focused on the chakra he would have probably been able to notice that branch. Whether he could have landed without slipping would have been troublesome, he admitted. This was, however, just not his day it seemed. In the end, however, he would still come out on top against this training. He always came out on top.

As she started to speak, Kazuma listened. A lot of this he had heard before, though her comments on him having the chakra control part down helped his spirits some. So he had the good chakra control, it was efficiency he was lacking. Not really ever having the chance to use his chakra control for something, it was understandable. When this session was done he was going to have to practice walking around the walls in his room or in whatever location he could fine. He would master the efficiency like everything he had done before this point.

His eyes followed Sakura as she walked up to a tree. The enhanced strength part caught his interest, but what followed afterwards was rather unexpected. He almost literally jumped when the girl smashed through the tree, falling it as if it was nothing. Such a massive power, all through efficient chakra control he assumed (it was a large part of what they were discussing). A very impressive technique that, even if he wasn’t exactly aiming for that style of fighting, he hoped this girl would teach him eventually. To do that, though, he would have to keep up with her, and press his acting skills to their limits to keep on her good side.

Her next proposal, however, made him turn rather pale. She just punched through and destroyed a tree, and she wanted him to battle her in taijutsu? This was probably the first time that Kazuma probably felt an inkling of true fear. It was a rather new experience, to have his heart and mind racing a mile a minute as he tried to think of something to say. Rather exhilarating really, but not an emotion he wished to experience often. Physically exhilarating, but all the thoughts of the damage she could do to him weren’t so enjoyable.

”Uhm, don’t you think that might be a little dangerous to do, if you’re using that technique at least.” he asked with a slight quiver in his voice that he never remembered using before.

It seemed rather reasonable for him to fear this match. Not only because of that jutsu, which was an obvious reason, it was the skill difference. This girl would most likely know how to use taijutsu rather well, which, when combined with that jutsu, would sweep the floor with him. Kazuma had always been more along the line of a theoretical medical-nin, studying diseases and theory to come up with ideas on how to do so-and-so. He had basic taijutsu training, but he doubted it would be good enough to survive this. What had he gotten himself into?

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[Haruno Sakura]

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"This time, everyone, get a good look at my back."
✿❀✿ ♡нαяυησ×ѕαкυяα♡ ✿❀✿
She's Good For One Day Of Comfort, Only Because She Has Suffered

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"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized after her laughing bout and after Kazuma had commented on it, "But that fall reminded me a little too much of my old comrade, Uzumaki Naruto... The first time he did the tree climbing, he fell on his head. Except for him... He wasn't as high up in the tree." That smile was still spread across the kunoichi's face, and she could tell easily that Kazuma hadn't been hurt by the fall other than a bruise. She knew better, after all...

"Also, I see you look a little... Disheartened at the fact that I walked thirty feet up the tree and you barely scraped twelve. I guess I should mention that I've been working on and utilizing the tree climbing for about... Three, three and a half years now. Not to mention I've been taught efficient chakra control for about two and a half,"

At his surprise when she mentioned the Taijutsu training, Sakura was simply apathetic to the fear he showed openly. She could understand why he was scared shitless, of course... It wasn't hard for anyone to figure that out, not after seeing Sakura cleanly split a tree in half with her fist. She raised a single eyebrow, back to her more teacher-esque face once again.

"Dangerous? Oh yes, it's dangerous all right. You haven't seen dangerous nor scary until you have Tsunade train you," Sakura stated, her face completely bland. "Now that is dangerous. Efficiency of movement. If I'm using that, obviously you are not going to want to get hit, correct? In other words... Don't get hit. At the same time, I want you to attack me in any way you see possible. Look for openings in my stance, my attacks, everything. Don't worry about injuries... I won't kill you, I promise. I'm a trained medical professional... I know what I'm doing." The last bit was to give him some reassurance, because Sakura was definitely confident in her skills.

"The training starts... Now." With that, Sakura charged straight at the boy, fist outstretched. What he wouldn't notice, however, was that she wasn't using as much chakra as she could. She only had a minimal amount that would cause quite a bit of bruising and possibly split the skin if it hit, but it wouldn't break any bones if she released it. She knew how to control herself... Sort of. Should she hit the ground, however, she would immediately push more chakra into the fist and release it, causing a large explosion of the rock and dirt. She wanted him to be scared, to think she was going to really get him with such powerful strength... Great chakra control came in handy sometimes, and this situation was definitely no different.

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[Kazuma Ishimaru]

So his fall had jogged a memory from his sensei’s past? Well, at least she wasn’t laughing at him completely, but at this Naruto Uzumaki instead. Apparently that kid had it a lost worse, falling on his head and not even getting that high. The rest of her statements seemed to be a way to cheer him up a bit. By mentioning how long she had been working on her chakra control, Kazuma assumed Sakura was trying to tell him ‘it takes a lot of work and practice” and that he shouldn’t get upset because she did better than him. It helped a little, but the fact was he was used to catching onto training rather quickly, so to not even reach the height of that rusty kunai she pointed out earlier was a rather disturbing situation for him.

”Thank you for the attempt to cheer me up, but the fact I didn’t even reach the height of that kunai, and apparently being compared to a guy who fell on his head, kind of ruined my spirit a bit. But don’t worry, I’ll get it over it.” he said, suppressing the grumbling as he stood up.

His back and rear were still sore, but he doubted that would get him out of training. Sakura began to speak about training with the Hokage Tsunade, and how it was supposed to be even worse than her. With that in mind, he was rather glad the woman hadn’t the time to train him. The rest of the stuff sounded rather obvious, especially after her presentation on the enhanced strength. He’d run all the way to the Sand Village if it meant being able to avoid that attack. Even if she were to lower it’s strength to a non-lethal level, it would still end up hurting like hell. He rather doubted he’d be able to throw a counter-attack in, though if he didn’t it would show he didn’t have ‘efficiency of movement’.

Before he could finish processing her attempts to reassure him, Kazuma found himself on the wrong end of a charge. She was heading straight at him, and he’d only have a few seconds to react. Ducking was out of the question, and there was no way he was going to run right at her. If he wanted to survive, he was going to have to jump off to the side or something. He braced his legs, swallowed his fear, and decided to wait for her to get closer. If he jumped to early, then she would have time to change direction and go after him. Jump to late….he didn’t want to think about what would happen if that happened.

When Sakura was just a few feet ahead of him, and he thought that she had too much momentum to easily turn, he jumped out of the way in the direction opposite the hand she was using to punch with. That way, if his timing was wrong, he was at least not jumping straight into her fist. Due to the frantic nature of the jump, however, he rolled on the ground upon landing, but he picked himself up as fast as possible. He just hoped it was fast enough to get himself ready before she had a chance to get him.

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