Before Betrayal

Successful Meeting

I don't own Naruto, there that's my disclaimer.

Sakura was up at 230 the next morning, wanting to be ready to greet her student. Eating a protein bar, she headed to the private training ground. Finding this earlier in the week, it was secluded enough to not be bothered. Hanabi staggered to meet Sakura, clear that she was not used to waking up this early

"We'll begin by warming up by stretching then moving into cardio," Sakura spoke

"Hai," Hanabi murmured starting what her sensei said

Sakura made sure to drag it out, giving Hanabi time to adjust to the time. It was exactly what Tsunade did with her, slowly increasing the intensity. Moving into the actual training, she started by having Hanabi show her where her knowledge was. Which wasn't much. Starting at the very beginning, thankfully Sakura had planned for that. She was exaggerating to her father about her skills, not that she would be the one to tell him that.

As the sun was beginning to shine through the trees, Sakura could see that Hanabi was starting to tire. The work was becoming sloppy, with unnecessary mistakes.

"Enough. Your work is becoming sloppy and would become useless in a real scenario. Finish up with the laps around the compound. We will meet here again at four." Sakura announced to her student

"Hai, sensei." Hanabi spoke picking her things up, her voice was tired. Smiling at her student, her student ran off. Feeling someone approaching from behind, she turned to see Neji walking toward her.

"Morning." Sakura smiled

Giving her a nod to her gesture, "How did day one go?"

"Well, she's not as far along as perceived. She gained a lot, but there is going to be a long road for her to travel."

"She'll catch on. She's got a great teacher."

"How do you know? I could be a terrible teacher."

"I doubt that, you've had some good influences."

Sakura nodded, that she did. Packing up the supplies from the first day, Neji led them back to their rooms, Sakura had some reading to do. Surprised when one of the servants brought her a tray of food, the hunger from the morning finally catching up to her. Taking it, she knew that lunch was around the corner. It was a great snack to tide her over.

Lunch came and went quickly, Sakura engrossed by scrolls. Neji looked on, hoping that she would acknowledge those around her. Yet, she finished quickly. With the rest of them catching up, Neji yet again left her in her room reading. Even though it didn't seem like she was relaxing, to Sakura she couldn't be more content than reading. It was something she didn't get to do often.

Hearing the familiar knock on her door, she called out to them to enter. Neji walked in, smirking at her disregard.

"You yet again allow anyone to enter your room." Sakura shrugged at him, finishing where she was.

"I guess it's a good thing the people around me tell me I can take care of myself."

Neji chuckled at the girl, "Why don't you put your scrolls away and come train with me and show me what you've been learning."

Amused that Neji seemed to be jealous of her reading, rather than paying attention to him she put away the scroll. Standing, Neji began the way to the same training grounds he found her at this morning.

"Are there any rules?" Sakura asked

"No breaking the ground." Snickering at him, Sakura agreed to the rule

They set about starting their training with one another. Both paying attention to how each other worked. Clearly, they were starting with basic combat before moving on to more. Before long, Neji started calling out suggestions. Whether it be on her form or how much chakra was behind the attack. Sakura took it all in, slowly learning how to make the adjustments. It was still nowhere near fair as Neji had the upper hand, but Sakura was gaining.