Training !

Day 130

Training is the activity that every self-respecting shinobi does in almost all his free time. He trains in order to keep his body in shape, both physically and mentally. He develops his body to go beyond its limits, to push his body to the extreme, so that it knows how to react when it is exhausted. Because it's easy to anticipate an enemy when you're fresh. But when you've been fighting for hours, your chakra reserves are at their lowest and your weaponry is only a few weapons, you only have your mind and your intelligence to get through. So the shinobi trains, so that his body reacts automatically, he trains his eyes to see what the common mortal would not see, he works his vision to deduce and see the next movements of his opponent.

Because training is not only physical, of course, your body needs a muscle memory in order to follow the orders of your brain. But it is your brain that will make your physical training useful. With a visual memory, you will be better able to dodge projectiles, you will more easily analyse your opponent's style to counter it. All your hard work is for one thing only : to kill as quickly as possible so that you live !

Because once you are dead, you are useless ! So Madara was getting tougher, he had spent his life doing this, so it was normal for him to constantly improve.

Under Sakura's supervision they had been training for a few hours now. They had started with warm up exercises, then physical exercises, without the use of chakra with the intention of strengthening his body like anyone else.

Madara was someone who had fought all his life, trained since he was a kid to be one of the best, but he never thought he would ever meet someone as crazy as he was. Sakura Haruno was the epitome of what one could call a torturer in her demands. She knew when to make him stop so he wouldn't get hurt, but she knew moves and placements that worked his muscles more effectively than his old routines. It was painful, but he could feel his body working twice... no, three times as hard because of what Sakura was teaching him. Her understanding of the human body was a real advantage in developing himself.

The first few days they'd been running together she'd agreed to keep up with him because he'd only just come out of recovery, but that was over now. Doing a set of squats, stopping in the middle to gain muscle before moving on to an abdominal exercise. It was something unorthodox, but it had the merit of working his whole body to prepare him for any situation.

But there was something that infuriated Madara during these exercises... she was doing them at the same time as him and he felt like a fool against her. They were doing a series of push-ups, she was going lower than him and while he was using both arms, she was only using one ! They placed a rock in each of their hands and held them at arm's length for as long as they could. Except Sakura's were twice as heavy as hers ! All the exercises they performed were better than his ! By her position, by her sheathing, by her load, by her suppleness, by her agility but also because of her arrogant smiles doubled by her remarks.

For Sakura had understood that Madara was a very proud person, so what better way to motivate such an energetic person than to make him feel weak. It worked, he didn't give up and gave it his all, but his self-esteem took a hit.

— "I bet I can outlast you Madara-san," Sakura taunted in a sheathing position with Madara in front of her. Both of them were covered in sweat from the exertion.

— "We'll see about that," Madara growled back.

This was what training was all about, but that was only because she was in great shape while he had to regain everything he had lost from all that time in bed. However, Madara recognized that there were some things he couldn't match : her strength and flexibility. Sakura even surprised him at times, leaving him speechless at some of her demonstrations.

Then the time for chakra training began.

He was forbidden to use the chakra in his left arm, as it was not fully healed. He could do physical exercises with it, but no channeling was allowed.

He began with the exercise of climbing trees with his chakra. Compared to their journey home where he used a simple propulsion of his energy, here he had to maintain it. It was however very easy for him to manage to climb the tree, it was second nature to him. He let the chakra invade his legs before transferring it to his feet in a continuous manner. He climbed quietly before finding himself upside down, he looked at the young woman who strangely enough had a smile on her face.

— "Here are the rules of the game Madara-san," Sakura announced before pulling out some kunai. She also picked up a stone from the ground. "No parrying the projectiles, you must only dodge, but..."

— "But ?" Madara continued, looking at the young woman who threw her stone in the air before retrieving it several times.

— "You are not allowed to move your feet from where they are ! If you manage to do so, I agree to answer one of your questions ! Whatever it is !" Sakura announced, knowing that Madara would do anything to get this opportunity. And indeed, she wasn't wrong as a look of pure determination crept across his features.

Sakura threw her stone next to Madara, only she put a lot of chakra into her shot, making the stone very difficult to dodge. A loud crash was heard behind Madara who turned his head. The stone had gone through a trunk behind him and his eyes widened slightly. This woman was out of her mind.

— "Ready ?" Sakura asked before starting to throw stones.

And Madara did his best to avoid the projectiles. The young shinobi was a totally unpredictable person and thankfully he had experience. She sent projectiles of varying degrees of power, from several angles, several at a time forcing him to take sometimes crazy positions.

— "She's a total sadist !" Madara grumbled to himself after about thirty minutes of dodging everything. He was sweating and thankfully he was using his chakra to enhance and support his body physically. He would occasionally use his Sharingan for a second to read the trajectory of the stones.

After a while Sakura was running out of ammunition and Madara realized that he had potentially won. A smile played on his lips but quickly faded as he saw Sakura pick up a rock that was literally his size before throwing it in his direction.

— "What a bitch !" Madara swore as she saw the rock. She had no intention of letting him win. This piece of cliff was in no way dodgeable, it was destined to make him lose. It was too big and even with complex placement it would hit. But that was not knowing Madara ! Especially when he was motivated to get what he wanted !

The Uchiha clan leader quickly channeled wind chakra into his right hand so that it became as sharp as a weapon. He struck the branch on which he had been hanging from the beginning. The branch did not resist under the power of the strike and fell, attracted by gravity, Madara included. No sooner had he fallen towards the ground than he saw the rock pass over him at the very spot where he had been standing. As he landed on solid ground, he did a somersault to catch himself. Then a huge crashing sound was heard, a sign that the rock had broken against an obstacle.

Madara walked towards Sakura, who didn't seem to be very happy that he had succeeded. So with a cocky smile Madara stood right in front of her. This was his first victory over the young woman since they had been training and he intended to enjoy it. The young woman crossed her arms and looked away in annoyance. The dark-haired man brought Sakura's face up to look at him as he placed his hand on her chin, it was a gesture he'd been making relatively often lately.

— "Even if your pout is the most adorable... you owe me an answer !" Madara said with a smile.

— "Humpf... well... but the training isn't over yet !" Sakura pouted.

Then without warning Sakura started to run again. Either she was a workaholic, or her teachers were bullies to get her used to such a level of intensity. But he wasn't someone who was going to complain, especially when it came to training. They left Sakura's garden and headed into the valley, but not without saying hello to the people working in the rice fields.

After a while they reached the bottom of the valley where there was a lake. Once at the edge Sakura didn't slow down and continued to channel her chakra under her feet to run across the water followed by the brunette.

— "How are you feeling ?" Sakura asked as she turned back to the Uchiha.

— "I feel fine," Madara answered immediately, though he felt his body trembling slightly after the exercises he had done, and Sakura didn't miss it.

— "When you channel your chakra into your feet consistently, do you feel every muscle as it passes through ?" Sakura asked.

— "What do you mean by that ?" Madara questioned, he had never asked himself that question.

— "When you focus on your coils, you feel your energy flowing through your body, right ?" Sakura explained in a different way.

— "Yes."

— "Our chakra is connected to our bloodstream, to our muscles, so I'd like you to focus on your legs," Sakura asked before seeing the dark-haired man close his eyes and concentrate.

— "In order to work properly, our muscles need energy which is provided by the food we eat every day. However, as a scientist has shown : nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything is transformed," Sakura explained as Madara concentrated. "And our muscles do the same thing, the energy they use to make them work turns into waste... and that's why your body is shaking right now. Because your muscles have almost reached their limit."

— "I am not..."

— "Weak ! I know, Madara-san !" Sakura anticipated as she got to know the Uchiha. "Nevertheless, to counteract this, we shinobi are taught to support our muscles with our chakra system, thus slowing the process. Except that from my point of view, this is a waste of chakra !"

— "What would you do then ?" Madara questioned, he had done this all his life, even everyone he knew had always done it the same way.

— "All you have to do is use a tiny amount of chakra to get rid of the waste produced by your muscles. That way you'll save energy, but you'll still be one hundred percent physically," Sakura explained, and thanks to Tsunade she had discovered a new way to fight.

— "That's interesting," Madara admitted, managing to understand what Sakura meant. Anyone of standard intelligence wouldn't have understood, but Madara wasn't just anyone : he was a virtuoso, with an unusual intelligence and an ability to retain and analyze information. He then sent chakra into his muscles to clean them as the young woman had advised. Soon he felt better, his muscles stopped shaking and a feeling of rest came over him.

— "Chakra is amazing, everything can be done with chakra... strengthen our muscles, support them, regulate our body temperature and so much more," the young woman nodded, still in the middle of the lake.

— "Can we increase the source of his chakra tenfold ?" Madara asked suddenly.

Sakura didn't answer right away, because that would force her to talk about the Hachimon gates : the heavenly gates of the human body. But after a moment's thought Sakura decided to tell him.

— "Hai, focus on your chakra again, but this time on where it comes from," Sakura guided. "Can you feel it ?"

— "Hai, I can feel it coming from several places in my body," Madara confirmed as he felt it coming from eight separate points.

— "These sources of chakra are what I call gates, our system is regulated by these sources, Sakura explained as she felt the brown man play with the flow of his energy.

— "Can we increase these sources tenfold ?" Madara asked interestedly.

— "Yes... opening these gates increases the flow of chakra in the body tenfold, allowing the user to access a colossal amount of physical energy and overcome the limitations of their body," Sakura elaborated, remembering how Maito Gaï and Rock Lee had used them against Madara during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

— "But there is a but...," Madara realized, opening his eyes.

— "There is indeed a but... a downside. The user suffers a backlash that results in extreme fatigue and wear and tear. Furthermore, if the opening of the doors is not properly mastered, it can cost the user their life," Sakura replied, remembering Maito Gaï who after two years was still in a wheelchair for opening the eight heavenly doors.

— "Have you ever seen anyone use them, am I right ?" Madara asked, seeing the look on her face made him realize that this was indeed the case.

— "Is that your question Madara-san ?" Sakura asked.

He thought for a moment, did he really want her to answer that question when the answer was completely obvious.

— "No, he didn't."

— "Good," Sakura finally cut in before moving into a Taijutsu stance as the Uchiha looked on in amazement. With her right hand positioned forward she motioned for the brunette to approach. "Show me what the legendary Uchiha Madara is worth !"

Madara hated war, he only wanted peace, but a lifetime of training, fighting, battles and wars, after a while : you like fighting ! With a smile on his face, the Uchiha charged the young woman to get a glimpse of her skills after all this time.

Once in range, Madara jumped forward.

Seeing this, Sakura jumped back and deflected with her hands, one, two, three, four quick kicks directed at her chest. By the time he landed on the ground Sakura guided her right fist towards Madara's face who tilted his trunk backwards, dodging the blow. As he ducked backwards the experienced eye of the shinobi saw the young woman's leg move to sweep him off his feet. He took advantage of the momentum of her swing to finally do a back somersault not without kicking Sakura twice in the chest as she recoiled from the impact.

He landed on all fours, channelling chakra into his hands to keep from sinking into the water. He used the momentum of his bent legs to close the gap between them. Madara aimed his right arm at Sakura's face and she swung it downwards. He coupled the momentum of his body and the one given by the young woman to put both hands on the ground and do a cartwheel. His right foot parried, but the second one hit Sakura's cheek and she toppled over under the power.

She cursed Madara and the Uchiha clan's style that relied on the strength of the opponent and the strength given by the enemy's blows. Sakura charged back, once again targeting the Uchiha's head, which once again flew backwards. To prevent him from doing a somersault again, she struck with her other fist right into his thigh. Unable to do any acrobatics, Madara used his free leg to strike the young shinobi's face as she leaned forward while bending her legs. In a crouch, she used the strength of her legs to direct her fist at Madara's chin in hopes of landing an uppercut.

Damn Sharingan ! She saw that it was activated for a second, allowing his to dodge her hook. Nevertheless, she took advantage of the propulsion her legs gave her to leap into the air and place both feet towards Madara's torso, who stepped back a meter. He didn't waste a moment and attacked Sakura's upper body again, she bent over once more. Unfortunately for him, Sakura never seemed to do the same thing twice and she penetrated his guard to strike at his right pectoral. Madara saw the second fist coming straight for his stomach and decided to use his strength to stop it. The two fists collided and Madara immediately regretted his choice. She was stronger than he was and he felt the vibrations of the blow through his entire arm.

He didn't dwell on the sensation and took advantage of their proximity to strike once at Sakura's stomach, a second time towards her chest, before landing a quick blow to her left forearm, followed by her triceps before hitting her stomach again with his knee. The blow to her stomach sent her reeling forward, he was about to continue when Sakura grabbed his right arm at the wrist and struck his torso with her flat chakra-laden palm. The force of the blow propelled him several feet away from her.

She caught her breath and saw during this short exchange that Madara was better than her in pure Taijutsu. If she could use her chakra she would be very dangerous, but for today, in this friendly confrontation where only pure skill was being used, he was dominating her. Despite her speed and flexibility, he was definitely better than her.

As the dark-haired man did a salto to break his fall, Sakura applied her Iryô Ninjutsu to her stomach. This last blow had been violent and she hadn't expected it.

Madara walked quietly closer to the young woman. He had loved this fight, the blows exchanged, the adrenaline coursing through his body, all his senses heightened by the fight. He hadn't fought for very long, but it was enough for Madara to understand a few things about this woman : she was dangerous and not to be taken lightly.

Yes he had dominated her, but this was just a small Taijutsu match and he was looking forward to the day when she would give it her all. Using then the whole range of shinobi : weapons, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Fûinjutsu.

— "Is everything alright Sakura-san ?" Madara asked slightly worried as she saw her healing.

— "Hai, your last blow was pretty nasty," Sakura said before covering her stomach with her red top.

— "What should I say about your last strike..."

— "That'll teach you to use your Sharingan to cheat."

— "I have no idea what you're talking about," Madara feigned with a small smile on his face. Sakura tapped him on the shoulder for cheating, nothing aggressive, in fact it was a... friendly gesture.

— "Come on, that'll do for today Madara-san," Sakura said, also smiling. "No pain to report ?"

— "My right arm, you hit hard," Madara remarked as the young woman applied her Iryô Ninjutsu to detect any sign of injury.

— "I warned you never to use force against me," Sakura replied, seeing what the problem was.

— "Hn !"

All the while, the villagers who were working in the rice fields had all stopped their activities to watch the two shinobi fight. It was fabulous and at the same time so frightening. To know that someone could walk on water, fight with such ease, hit so hard that you felt like an insect facing the moon.

— "When I grow up I will be like Lord-sama !" Said a little boy, watching the two protagonists move on the water.

— "I'll be like Saskura-sama ! She's so strong !" Said a little girl with blonde hair.

— "But she's not as strong as Lord-sama," retorted the little boy.

— "That's not true ! You saw how Sakura-sama pushed Lord-sama away from her !" The girl defended.

Both had stars in their eyes as they watched the two shinobi disappear from their sight.

The day passed without any other significant events for the villagers, who returned to their work as dusk approached.

After a good bath each, the two protagonists lit the candles in the house in anticipation of the night that would soon fall. Afterwards, Sakura put a vinyl record on the gramophone before heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner. She was dressed once again in white trousers, but had decided to put on a turquoise jumper that left her shoulders clear. After all, it was autumn, the leaves on the trees were many different colours and the temperature had dropped as well.

As for Madara, he had on his usual black kimono with a white neckline and sat down at the kitchen counter, as he had been doing for some time. He was enjoying his time with the young shinobi more and more. She was easy to talk to and every topic she discussed with him was informative. She was open-minded, intelligent and also took the time to listen to his views on every subject.

He couldn't cook, he'd never learned, he didn't see the point anyway. There had always been someone to cook for him. Whether it was a cook, a maid, a woman or even his mother, it had never been his role to do housework and that was not going to change tomorrow. But he loved Sakura's company, so he watched her prepare the meal while he remembered one of his mother's phrases. *It will be hard for you to think of any other woman but her when you find her.*

While Sakura was preparing the meal, Madara was deep in thought. He was thinking of what question to ask the young woman. There were so many topics he wanted to discuss with her, but she was so secretive that he had to choose. He could understand that her past was painful for not wanting to talk to her about it, but it was so frustrating.

Should he ask a question about her mother's origins and thus get the missing elements of her knowledge ? For if it was true, Tsunade Haruno came from a continent other than the elemental nations. Should he ask a more detailed question about who her sensei had been ? For someone who trained someone of Sakura's caliber could only be known, but he didn't know any Kakashi ! Then he found...

— "I have my question," Madara announced, interrupting Sakura's gesture for a moment. She had hoped he would forget about the bet, but she had only one word.

— "Fine, but I reserve the right to refuse once if the question is too difficult for me," Sakura demanded, not wanting to bring up certain topics.

— "The name of the one who destroyed those you love," Madara asked as he saw the pain in the young woman's eyes. He didn't want to hurt her, but he wanted to know so badly, he wanted to know the name of this Uchiha who had dared to do this. Sakura looked into his eyes for a few seconds, before they became a long minute.

— "Another question... please," Sakura begged, she wasn't ready to answer this question. When she looked at Madara she couldn't bring herself to tell him that it was actually him...

Madara didn't say anything and went back into his thoughts once more to find another question. Perhaps knowing where she got the knowledge of the Kage Bunshin would be a good question. Or maybe ask her if she had belonged to a clan. Or maybe...

— "My question is : Where exactly did you come from to seek asylum ? And I want a precise and detailed answer !" Madara announced, remembering his conversation with Hitomi. She had told him that Sakura had come to Ta No Kuni seeking asylum.

Sakura continued to cut her piece of red tuna into fine sashimi, then placed them on a small wooden plate. She placed a bolinette on the plate and took out two pairs of chopsticks. She placed everything in the centre of the counter before heading for a cupboard. She returned with two small glasses and a white bottle before settling down. As soon as she opened the bottle Madara knew what it was : alcohol.

She poured the clear liquid into the two glasses and placed one in front of Madara. She didn't even wait for him to take it before she gulped hers down before making a face. God she loved the burning sensation in her throat, as well as the taste that assaulted her taste buds. As Madara brought the glass up to his nostrils Sakura poured herself a second glass, then set the bottle down.

She looked into Madara's eyes, her gaze was heavy with pain at what she was about to reveal. At least that's what Madara understood, for Sakura was thinking of a plausible lie that would be a half truth.

— "I'm from Hi No Kuni," Sakura began as the Uchiha took a sip of the drink. It was good, it was even excellent, he had never had such delicious sake in his life. This bottle must have cost a fortune, but that shouldn't be a concern for this woman.

— "Where exactly ?" Madara asked as he dipped his chopsticks into the soy sauce before grabbing a piece of sashimi.

— "About twenty kilometres from Hi no Tera temple," Sakura continued before grabbing a piece of sashimi herself. "It was a small, mundane village. My parents were people who traveled constantly to learn new things... they... when mother got pregnant with me, it became too dangerous to travel and it would become even more so when I was born."

— "The war...," Madara remarked as the young woman poured herself a third drink and drank it down once more.

— "Hai, having a child during the provincial wars is not the most advisable thing to do. So they decided to settle in isolation from the rest of the world. The land of Hi no Tera was a neutral place that every ninja respected. So, settling close to this place was perfect for my parents," Sakura said before getting up to watch the rest of the dinner slowly cooking. "But... during their journey, mother and father made friends, but also enemies...

— "Was your sensei Kakashi one of them ?" Madara asked as he finished his cup of sake.

— "Hai, he was a close friend...," Sakura replied, thinking back on her relationship with Kakashi, the four of them had become great friends : Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and herself. "So even though they had been hiding out in the middle of nowhere, they found them..."

— "Black Zetsu and that other Uchiha ?" Madara asked, already knowing the answer, but not the name of this Uchiha.

— "Hai," Sakura whispered and picked up the empty wooden plate and put it in the sink. She stood there, looking at the sink as she thought of her loved ones who no longer existed, and the tears rolled down her cheeks once more. The fatigue of the day, the half-truths, the daily stress of knowing that the future was in her hands, the loss of her loved ones, all of which was heightened by the alcohol, made her break down.

Madara was not an expert at showing affection or comforting people. But seeing the young woman tremble slightly with sadness made him react without realizing it. He stood up and walked towards the young woman. He gently turned her towards him before taking her in his arms... and she cried... against him, silently.