Sakura Petals

Sensei Returns

Important A/N! I won't be able to update for a long time starting really soon. I will be leaving the country and doing some traveling for work, even with COVID-19 going around. It may be close to a year before I get back and won't have time to really write, but I will try to make something work, maybe. Until then enjoy this chapter and possibly one more before I leave! Stay healthy everyone!

The very next day after having met Lady Tsunade, I had returned to the training ground to work on fighting with Senbonzakura to strengthen our bond.

When I reached the grounds though there was a pleasant surprise waiting for me.

"Ibiki-sensei!" I yelled happily.

the man in turn looked at me with a stoic face. not that I expected him to burst out in joy or anything like that, but a smile at least would have been nice.

"Hey there brat. How has your training been going? Figure out which chakra nature suits you best?" I nodded my head in confirmation.

"Yes. Water was one that flowed the easiest for me. Wind would have to be the second, it was quite easy to make things float around with the levitation jutsu. It's a shame I can't use it on people though, it would have been fun seeing the look on Naruto's face if I had been able to pick him up off the ground mid insult." This time Ibiki let out a grin.

"Yes, it is a shame. What about Earth Style jutsu?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I can perform the jutsu's but they aren't as strong as I'd like them to be. I don't think I have enough chakra in my system to make them strong enough." Ibiki nodded at my deductions, fully agreeing with me.

"Don't worry too much about what you can't do right now, it will only hold you back. For now, you said water and wind worked out well for you, that's more than enough. But that's not what your schedule for training looks like today. If I'm not mistaken, today is your second day of working on whatever Senbonzakura wants to teach you."

I nodded my head enthusiastically.

"Yes! You should have been here yesterday to see what he taught me. But today, I'm going to be working on my swordsmanship, so that way I can strengthen my bond with him."

Ibiki nodded his head. "That makes sense I suppose. Well then, shall we get started?"

I nodded my head excitedly and drew my sword. Senbonzakura was giving off small vibrations in his eagerness to teach me something new.

I took my stance that I learned at the beginning of my training. I trained with Ibiki for hours, perfecting my stance, my swing, and my aim.

Believe it or not, it was a little difficult.

Ibiki had gone to the store and bought hundreds of rubber balls and threw them at me for target practice.

I had to slice them directly down the middle in order for him to be satisfied, but using something as thin as a sword proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated. So needless to say, I had failed to slice the rubber balls exactly in half.

As a matter of fact, it was hard just to get a good slice through it. Sometimes I was able to cut the top off, other times it was maybe a quarter I managed to slice off. But most times, I had missed.

We finished the day off with Ibiki reminding me I had the next day off to recuperate. Normally I would protest, with it being so close to the exam finals, but I had no choice. Especially with Senbonzakura breathing down my neck about taking a break as well.

He said just because we were taking a day off doesn't mean we had to spend it doing nothing productive.

So on my day off of training I went through the notes I took on wind and water based jutsu and memorized the hand signs and how the jutsu was supposed to work.