Train Together

Sakura stood outside Naruto's apartment with a calm expression on her face. After apologizing to Naruto, Sakura immediately ran back home to prepare for her first tutoring session.

'This is where Naruto lives?' Sakura whispered, feeling bad again for having made fun of Naruto. How could he even forgive her so casually? She had been making fun of him for years now.

Sakura shook her head. 'No, Naruto doesn't want you to feel bad about him. Remember, he's working hard to have better living conditions.' Sakura reminded herself before knocking on the door.

The door opened, revealing Naruto dressed in casual clothes. A black shirt and orange pants. Sakura smiled warmly at him while Naruto grinned broadly at her.

"Hi Sakura-chan!!"

"Hello Naruto. Are you ready for the tutoring session?" Sakura asked him. Naruto nodded and stepped aside.

"You bet I am! Come on in!" Naruto invited her. Sakura took off her shoes before stepping in his small apartment. She looked around the place, it was small but very clean. She was mostly expecting the place to be littered with empty cups of cupped ramen.

"There's the living room. The dining room is over there. Toilet is there and that's it. It's not much but it's all I can afford right now unfortunately." Naruto whispered sadly, making Sakura frown at his words. Naruto noticed her sad face.

"Don't worry! I'm working on that! The next time we have these tutoring sessions, you'll be stepping into a whole another place! Believe it!" Naruto assured her confidently. Sakura smiled and nodded. There was one thing she liked about Naruto, it was his confidence and the way he spoke. Even though it may seem impossible for him, the way he words it makes you trust that he can do it.

They sat on the seats near the dining table and the tutoring session started then. Naruto realized that if he was to pass the graduation exam with flying colors, he needed to focus no matter how boring the subject might be.

Sakura, despite being a first time teacher, was actually doing quite well teaching mathematics to the hyperactive blonde. She had asked Iruka for advice on how to teach him.

She learned from Iruka that he was remarkable at tactile learning. So she had him do a bunch of practice questions so that he could get a good understanding of the formulas.

Naruto was quite good if you actually have patience to explain complicated things to him. Sakura was surprised at the level of patience she has in herself. She was 100% sure that she would've been extremely frustrated at the constant questions Naruto was asking her.

A few hours has passed and Naruto has already caught up with a quarter of this year's syllabus. It would take a while to get him to fully master it, but that was for another session. Sakura was proud of herself and Naruto.

"And that's it for today! You did very well, Naruto!" Sakura praised him. Naruto blushed and laughed nervously.

" Oh stop it, Sakura-chan! You're making me blush! " Naruto replied while scratching the back of his head. Sakura giggled at his reaction.

"Ahh! Now that it's over, I can finally go train now!" Naruto declared before gathering his shinobi equipment. He turned to look at Sakura who was getting ready to leave his home.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you down for some training?" Naruto asked, making Sakura jolt at the sudden question. Sakura looked at him nervously.

"Ehehe....Sorry Naruto, but I have some business to take care of." Sakura gave a lame excuse, hoping Naruto wouldn't question her further. Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't buying her excuse one bit.

"Oh come on Sakura-chan! Don't tell me you're afraid of some dirt and sweat! You're a future Shinobi, and training sessions is gonna be a normal thing once you're in a Genin team! It's gonna be fun, believe it! We'll do some Bukijutsu training, some cardio and maybe a little sparring!" Naruto argued with her while he tied his shuriken holster around his right knee properly.

"Um....." Sakura was unsure how to answer him. No one knew this but she was scared about training. She was scared because training would make her not look like a girl and she was focusing on getting Satsuki's attention above everything else.

"If you don't want to train, then what was the reason you signed up for the Academy? Huh Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked Sakura while raising a brow at her. Naruto was learning more about Sakura now more than he ever did in the academy. She is definitely ill-prepared for the duties of a shinobi.

"I'll take your silence as an answer. You don't really know what you're doing there are you?" Naruto asked with a frown on his face. Sakura widened her eyes.

"Yes I do! I'm gonna be a strong kunoichi! Stronger than every kunoichi in the world, even Lady Tsunade!" Sakura declared.

" Well start working on it then! That title won't be yours if you don't work for it! I'm gonna become Hokage so that everyone will acknowledge me! If I don't work myself to death, I'll remain a loser forever! Believe it!!" Naruto replied. Sakura made her decision then and there.

" W-well, is it too late to join you, Naruto? "

" Nope! C'mon, let's go!! "

.

.

" Wow, Sakura-chan. I'd never thought I'd say this, but you suck. We haven't even been sparring for 5 minutes and you look like you're about to die." Naruto commented bluntly while looking at Sakura who was lying down on the ground in a spread eagle position.

Sakura had no stamina, no strength and no durability at all. She lacked any particular combat skill, other than the basic skills and the Academy taijutsu stance she learned in the Academy.

"You.... don't need.... to tell me.... that.... idiot...." Sakura wheezed out. Naruto laughed as he sat beside her.

"So, you wanna give up on training now?" Naruto asked her. Sakura glared at him for saying such a thing.

"Hell no." Sakura replied determinedly. She felt extremely stupid right now. How could she not realize this sooner? In the academy, she succeeded through studying alone to the point of pride.

But as a shinobi, however, this is proven insufficient as missions cannot be truly completed merely with book smarts, and it is necessary to be able to fight so that other shinobi will not kill her or her teammates.

Sakura made the decision to change this about herself, deciding to make a training schedule for herself when she got home.

"How are you still standing?" Sakura asked as her breathing became more normal. Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know how to answer that, Sakura-chan. It's been like this since I was born. I have more chakra than most jonins in Konoha and I'm also called a stamina freak by Shikamaru." Naruto replied.

"It must be genetic." Sakura theorized, making Naruto shrug again because he genuinely didn't know if that is true or not.

"Can you walk?" Naruto asked, preparing to help Sakura in any way he can. Sakura sat up and grunted as she stood up.

"Yeah.... Don't worry about me Naruto— Woah!!" Sakura yelled as her legs went numb as soon as she took the first step. Naruto reacted just in time to catch her, preventing her from faceplanting the grassy ground.

"Alright, I'm giving you a piggyback ride back home." Naruto decided. Sakura didn't have time to argue because she was already being carried by Naruto the second after he made his decision.

Sakura sighed in defeat and put her head on his right shoulder. Naruto blushed, feeling her warmth on his back. He never felt more nervous in his life.

"Am I heavy?" Sakura asked in concern, noticing Naruto's flustered expression. Naruto grinned broadly.

"You're as heavy as a hippo could be." Naruto joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Shannaro!"

*BONK!!*

"You don't say that to a woman, idiot!" Sakura scolded after she bonked Naruto on the head. She had an embarrassed blush on her face hearing Naruto's words. Naruto huffed angrily, feeling some pain on his head.

"Geez, I was just joking." Naruto grumbled. Sakura snorted.

"Well you don't sound like you're joking!" Sakura argued. Naruto sighed and smiled wryly. Sakura giggled before lying down her head on his shoulder again.

Sakura noticed that the villagers were all glaring daggers at Naruto while looking at her with pity in their eyes. She felt uncomfortable and looked at Naruto to see that he was treating it was just a normal occurrence to him.

That made Sakura sad and confused. 'I know he's a prankster and all, but to have the villagers hate him out in the open like that? There must be something more to this than just hating him for being a prankster.' Sakura thought to herself, deciding to try and find out the real reason the Konoha villagers hate the blonde.

After receiving directions from Sakura, Naruto was now standing in front of the front door of her home. Naruto knocked on it.

*Knock Knock Knock!!!*

"Coming!!" He heard a woman shout from behind the door. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Mebuki Haruno, Sakura's mother.

Mebuki is a kunoichi and is apart of the Allied Moms Force. It is an age-old Konohagakure team made up solely of all the mothers in the village. During wartime, they would protect the village and those left within it until their loved ones returned from war.

Mebuki is a fair-skinned woman with shoulder-length, blonde hair with a single bang which falls down into her face. She also has green eyes and wears a white qipao dress with three red circular designs at the bottom of the front of her dress as well as the back. Underneath the dress, she wears pink ¾-length pants along with brown sandals.

"Oh my! Who are you handsome?" Mebuki smiled warmly at Naruto who blushed at the compliment. Naruto smiled at her.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I brought Sakura-chan home!" Naruto explained to Mebuki cheerfully. Sakura hid her face behind Naruto's head, not wanting to show her embarrassment at being in this position.

"Oh dear! What happened to you, Sakura?" Mebuki asked her daughter with a concerned frown on her face. Sakura grinned nervously at her mother.

"I trained with Naruto after I finished tutoring him. Turns out I'm very ill prepared for the Shinobi world." Sakura explained. Mebuki nodded as Naruto slowly and gently let Sakura down. Sakura stood on the ground and looked back at Naruto. She smiled warmly at him. "Thanks Naruto! I'll see you tomorrow alright?" Sakura asked him while holding out her hand. Naruto nodded and shook it.

"Yeah! See you tomorrow, Sakura-chan! It was nice meeting you too, miss!" Naruto waved at Sakura and Mebuki before he ran off.

"Stay safe now!" Mebuki shouted before looking down at her daughter. She smiled slyly at the pink haired girl, scaring her.

"So Sakura, is Naruto your boyfriend?" Mebuki teased her. Sakura's face instantly became as bright as her hair.

" Shannaro!!! Don't waste my energy anymore mom!! Hmph!!" Sakura huffed before stomping into her home. Mebuki giggled before entering it with her daughter, not forgetting to close the front door.

"I think you two would make a good couple."

" What did I just say?! "

To be continued.....

(Like Naruto, Sakura has her own catchphrase. Sakura's was 'Shannaro', something she would shout either when being too angry, excited or flustered. Naruto would use 'Believe It' after making a big statement.)