Gifts From the Heart

In Which They Brainstorm and Iruka Makes a Suggestion

The wooded training grounds were nearly silent in the early evening sunlight. Despite the oppressive heat of the day, birds still sang cheerfully in the treetops surrounding the small clearing that sat near the memorial stone. The only other sound permeating the area came from three exhausted genin who were attempting to remain upright. Heavy breathing accompanied the trembling of their arms as the three junior shinobi struggled to maintain the handstands they had been ordered to hold for the greater part of the last hour.

Sakura pulled in a ragged breath as she felt herself slip slightly. She wobbled precariously for a second before she threw a surge of chakra into her palms, rooting her firmly back in place. She had little left to spare and felt the effects of chakra depletion creep up on her.

By the looks on the faces of her sweat-soaked cohorts, Naruto and Sasuke weren't fairing much better than she was. Sasuke's eyes were starting to glaze over; Naruto has turned an unflattering shade of red from effort. As they had spent the day running drills and were worn out before they had even begun the handstands, all three ninja had little energy left for a prolonged strength exercise.

The pink-haired kunoichi shot a half-hearted glare at Naruto. The punishment they were being subjected to was entirely his fault. Sakura was still angry with him, even though her inner-self had long since run out of nasty names to call the blonde boy. He had completely botched their mock-up mission but, in the spirit of teamwork, Kakashi-sensei chose to punish all three of them.

Sakura turned her eyes away from her teammates, seeking out the form of their jonin sensei. He sat a few yards away, back against the trunk of a tall maple. His nose was buried in the ever-present orange Icha Icha book but Sakura wasn't fooled for a moment; she knew he was very well aware of his surroundings.

Her arms gave a small tremor and Sakura screwed her eyes shut, taking a few more deep breaths. If this went on much longer, she was certain she would collapse, and then what would Sasuke think of her? Gritting her teeth, Sakura braced herself. She had to hold on and prove she was just as good as the boys.

"Alright, I think you've had enough for one day." Kakashi's voice floated lazily over to his students. He snapped his book shut and gained his feet in a fluid motion. He crossed the clearing to stand near the genin as they crumpled into undignified heaps at his feet.
"Tomorrow. Six a.m." Without another word, their sensei spun around and stalked off, hands shoved into his pockets. He was gone in a matter of moments.

"I can't feel my arms," Sakura murmured between gasps. She rolled onto her side, clutching the leaden limbs to her chest.
Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position and then slumped forward, groaning. From his other side, Sasuke merely grunted as he stared up at the sky, arms flung out to either side of his body.

"Hey," Naruto started hesitantly, flexing stiff fingers. He lifted his head and glanced between Sakura and Sasuke. "What d'ya suppose is wrong with Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura frowned and forced herself to sit up. She knew if she lay on the ground much longer, her muscles would start to freeze up. With a deep sigh and a grimace, she fumbled to her feet. "Everyone has bad days, Naruto," she said with a hint of condescension.

"Yeah, but he's been really grumpy for the last week," Naruto defended. He started stretching slowly.

Beside him, Sasuke was standing stiffly. "It's probably the heat," the dark-haired boy murmured, rolling his shoulders.

"Naruto has a point, though," Sakura admitted grudgingly. She didn't like to contradict Sasuke's opinion but Naruto had hit on something she had been noticing as well. Their usually lackadaisical sensei had been very testy lately. He even went as far as to snap at her a couple days ago when she missed her target during kunai practice. Kakashi-sensei was not known to raise his voice at them unless there was actually a danger of someone getting hurt, and there had been no chance of anyone being remotely damaged by her bad aim that day.