Pulling My Weight

Chapter 10 || Forward

"I'd like for you to teach me medical jutsu."

Tsunade laughed, startled but amused. "Damn, kid, I've got to admit, you've got some guts to waltz in here and ask me like this. But the answer is no, so go pester some nurse – maybe she'll be willing to let you oversee her work." she snorted again at the end, but Jiraiya just looked curious.

Sakura straightened her back and squared her shoulders while she tried to ignore how badly that easy dismissal stung. "With all due respect, Tsunade-sama, I must insist on it being you."

This time, Tsunade's eyebrow shot up and some of the earlier amusement melted into intrigue mixed with irritation. "Oh?" she asked, and her smile grew sharp. "By all means, do share with me your justification for such a claim."

The rosette frowned, trying to remember why she was actively arguing with her Hokage. You're doing this for Genma-san. Don't be a wimp.

"Because I believe that I already have the foundations for medical ninjutsu. All I need is a firm hand to guide me." she explained, trying to will the blonde into seeing her side of things. "A firm hand which a nurse on duty may not be able to spare."

Tsunade scoffed. "That's what they all say." she waved Sakura off, but surprisingly elaborated. "All the hopefuls. And then they realise that a very small margin of shinobi has the control that's necessary to be a medic, much less the precision. So tell me, kid, how good is your chakra control?" she asked, clearly challenging the rosette.

Sakura felt her hands go clammy as she tried to remember back to how Neji had referred to it in one of their spars. "My chakra control is in the 95th percentile." she said at last. Seeing how both Tsunade and Jiraiya looked shocked at her declaration, she hastened to add "And I can prove it."

Unable to find a water source in the Hokage's office, Sakura decided that she'd have to improvise. Mind going back to a trick Neji had recently taught her, she began directing her chakra to her arms and legs. The trick in itself was simple – it merely required that the user channel so much chakra at once that it becomes visible.

So, with a frown creasing her brow, but feeling reasonably confident about her success rate, Sakura concentrated on the action she'd spent the better part of a month practising.

Suddenly, right before the Sannins' eyes, a visible blue glow enveloped her arms all the way from the tips of her fingers to her collarbones, and her legs from the soles of her feet to her hipbones. The chakra surrounding her body seemed to buzz, not unlike electrical energy would. She heard Jiraiya's quiet intake of breath and Tsunade's surprised grunt, then cancelled the chakra flow.

Everything was silent for a few seconds as all parties seemed to digest what had just transpired. Then, Sakura broke the silence with her last, pleading appeal. "It's for Genma." She rushed out quickly. "He's done so much for me over the last few months, yet when I w-walked in and found him bleeding out on our couch, I could do nothing. I can't let that happen. If he's not willing to see a medic whenever he gets injured, I'll just have to make sure that a medic can always see him." She swallowed and soldiered on, voicing the thoughts that had led her to march up and make demands of her Hokage in the first place. "I know I can do it. I know I can learn it. My chakra control is good enough, and I have always been a paper-ninja, Tsunade-sama; the theory will come easy. I just- please. All I need is a chance."

She finished, swallowed noisily to wet her suddenly dry throat, and hung her head, screwing her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable rejection. As such, she missed the encouraging look Jiraiya shot at Tsunade, and the blonde's answering sneer. A few more seconds passed by, then, at last, Tsunade sighed.