In the Blink of an Eye (Sasusaku)

Two Scrolls

The next morning, Sakura rose from her sleep in terror. Images of the war-torn nations flooded her mind, bringing in glimpses of the scorched limbs and lifeless bodies that covered the vast hills of the battlefield. Her heart pounded violently, her hand gripping onto the hidden kunai she kept under her pillow for dear life. It's okay, she tried to calm herself. It's just a nightmare.

That could easily become a reality.

Almost robotically, she sat up and shuffled to her vanity mirror, glancing at her clock on the way there. The symbols '6:00 am' blared loudly in blood-red. Standing in front of the mirror, Sakura observed the way forest green eyes stared back at her, piercing into her soul. Messy strands of rosy hair fell about her shoulders, framing her sleepy face and wide forehead. On a whim, the kunoichi raised the kunai in her hand and positioned it right above her shoulders.

Snap!

Locks of hair floated down to the bedroom floor, decorating the hardwood with strands of pink. Her hand kept moving, trimming her cascading hair and evening it out until it rested lightly on her head. Sakura made sure that the ends were all even, curling slightly inwards towards her face. After she finished, the kunoichi looked at herself in the mirror and nodded in approval.

Quietly, as to not wake her parents, she grabbed a cropped black hoodie with tight sleeves that left her stomach exposed. After practically begging her parents, Sakura had gotten her mom to sew the bold, white Haruno clan symbol on the back with evergreen hued vines curling up the circular sides and white lilies decorating them. She threw on a pair of dark shorts and wrapped tight bandages around her thigh, securing a weapon holster filled with not only kunai, but also various poisons and medical supplies. Finishing off her outfit, she pulled on a pair of high-heeled, ink-black boots with silver trimmings and clipped a small white lily with dark green gems flowing down from it on a string to her hair.

Eyeing the clock, the kunoichi gave herself one last look in the mirror before hopping out of her bedroom window. 

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It wasn't long before nighttime became Sakura's favorite time of the day. Every evening, she would sneak out from her bedroom window, careful not to alert her parents, and use the cover of darkness to sprint to the training grounds. After settling on the most remote, silent area, she would fall into her daily routine of conditioning. It started with laps around the grounds, followed by multiple sets of pushups, situps, and squats. Once she finished warming up, the kunoichi would use a good hour to build on her chakra enhancing strength. She would go through each and every jutsu she knew, refining and re-learning to the point where her reserves would be dried up. Once she couldn't use her chakra anymore, she ended the night with multiple taijutsu exercises, practicing her form and trying to strengthen her muscles. 

I need to be strong to protect the people I love. 

To save Konoha. 

She didn't only train at night, though. Every spare hour she had in training with Team Seven the medic re-enforced her rigorous routine, gaining as much muscle as she could to help her with her enhanced strength. The goal was to restore her formerly widely known strength to its glory. To be able to break mountains and crack the very earth with a single fist. At the current moment, however, the best Sakura could do was deliver a particularly nasty kick. I have enough strength to break bones while I attack, which is good for offense, but I can't use my strength on rocks or boulders if I don't want to break my hand.

The medic also decided that as long as she had the time, she should focus on getting stronger. Not only physically, but in the broad sense with her jutsu arsenal and taijutsu. She found the perfect opportunity to build on her taijutsu in particular when Kakashi arranged a team-building exercise with Team Seven and Gai-sensei's senior team.