Space to Breathe - [ Sakura Haruno ]

CHAPTER 31

Sakura sighed as she slumped down onto her bed. She'd been working on the technique for months now, and she was making progress slowly.

She had contemplated giving it up, focusing on her Genjutsu again or even training more with Shino in Kenjutsu, but in the end she just couldn't.

She may have been a Jonin, but to her it was nothing but a fancy title and a pat on the back at this point.

Until she had something that truly set her apart from a chunin, she refused to acknowledge herself as a Jonin.

And to her, that thing had to be this technique.

She knew how deviating this technique could become, and the practicality of it was unmatched, too.

But it was difficult, even with Nanako's help.

She hadn't slacked off with her other training, her Kenjutsu especially. Chakra flow was tough when using elemental manipulation but it panned out. She could now use her Water Palm Blade through her blue Chokuto and also use Earth Release to increase the weight of her brown one.

She even asked Masato to add durability seals to both, after what happened with Hidan tearing her old one apart like butter. The boy went even further however, and added a storage seal to be water blade to store the earth blade, in case she wanted to only use her primary element.

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"We'll be leaving in six months," Sakura declared to her teammates, all now aged fourteen. They had stayed in Mountains country for a little over a year, and had finally received word of their return date.

"Finally," Kiba yawned, having just woken up. "I miss the compound."

Hinata, surprisingly, nods alongside her Inuzuka teammate, as does Shino.

"I miss having half decent Fuinjutsu supplies," Masato complains. He'd been making do with homemade inks and civilian brushes for a few months, and it was tiring him out having to redraw each seal a few times to make them useable.

"I don't really miss much," Nanako shrugged then, "I mean, you guys are all here, and you're the only thing I'd really miss. Oh, and Anko-sensei I guess."

Sakura smiled at her team as they turned slightly to look at her. "I guess the thing I miss most is Ibiki-sensei," she said, purposefully omitting how much she couldn't wait to see Shikamaru again. "And Anko, Izumo, Kotetsu and Yugao-sensei."

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"So, this will be out last trip together," Ginmaru noted as he walked alongside Team Three. "I'll miss having you lot around, the peace of mind you provide is nice."

Sakura let's a small chuckle escape her lips at that, "you're own skills as a samurai haven't dulled any over the year we've been here," she notes, "I'd guess your swordsmanship has only improved."

The man smiles kindly at that, and Sakura returns it. The man wasn't a mentor, but he was a comrade during their time in Mountains country, and she enjoyed his company enough.

They continued walking for some time after that. They were headed towards Earth country, which was making the pink haired kunoichi nervous.

Earth country's capital would have been nerve-wracking, but she imagined it would have been manageable for her.

But instead, their destination was Iwagakure, a place no Konoha shinobi had stepped within freely. Ever.