Genkai Member

Aww, not the face Haymitch. Though I'm sure Katniss is gonna insist Haymitch be nicer. XD

Riiiight. Glad you liked it, I look forward to a reply though as know, the sooner the better but good luck with the other stuffs.

I had to keep re-writing Gale's part because I knew either way, he ain't helping. >___>' Shhh, just look pretty Gale...

Awesome! 

Though her goal wasn't to impress Kakashi or his crew of dogs, it would have been nice to know she had made some positive or even noteworthy impact, since expectations were likely low or nonexistent due to not knowing one another very well. The silver haired teacher addressed his crew and then they all vanished except for Pakkun who seemed rather thoughtful, something she'd never have associated with a dog before. Though he was unlike any other dog she had ever encountered. He then claimed to be her rival which caused her to smile. **"Alright, I'll see you later then."** Sakura told him before he vanished like the others had. Now they were able to get moving. Sakura walked with Kakashi though her stride wasn't as long or as brisk so she was about a step behind him. The pace was slow and leisurely though which she was pretty sure was done on purpose. Her legs were still functioning but they felt a little bit like miso jelly. The silence between them was a little weird though she hadn't a clue what to say to him but soon Kakashi spoke up, saving her the trouble of finding a topic they could both be engaged in. He began to mention that she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to but Sakura wasn't really interested in keeping secrets anymore. That seemed childish and with so much to do, there was little time for polite conversation. **"It's alright."** She just told him, though since she didn't know what he was getting at, she could only assume it had to do with Naruto or Sasuke. Sakura was deathly quiet as Kakashi spoke about the beginning of their team's formation and how her focus had been on Sasuke and not much else. He went on to talk about where she now stood. It was something to chew on but by the time they arrived at Ichiraku, she hadn't said anything in regards to his question. It wasn't that it was too personal, and as her teacher he did have a right to know what was going on inside her head. She knew if she was focused on something else, training would be useless. **"Oh, me too, please."** She added to Kakashi's order and sat down beside him. Sakura was still rather pensive as Kakashi asked again about how she felt. Under everything, she still prided herself on her intelligence and right now, words mattered more than anything else. Turning to Kakashi, she rested an arm on the wooden bar in front of them, her other arm resting on her lap causally. **"I wanted to become a ninja because I wanted to be strong."** She told him. **"In the beginning I wanted to be strong for myself but then as the years passed and graduation approached, I knew I could be strong others as well, that I could someday mean the difference between someone living and someone dying."** Sakura continued. **"In my eyes, Sasuke wasn't too different and I know I...I know I romanticized him and in doing so, lost myself and forgot that he had his own hardships that I knew very little about."** She knew she had been star-struck and deep down, she still admired Sasuke but knew he wasn't the answer anymore. That she had people like Naruto and Ino to rely upon and that her focus on Sasuke had been determintal to her own growth. **"I lost a friendship because of my feelings for Sasuke, they were unjust and I was being silly."** She admitted heavily. **"I see myself helping people in the years to come, possibly teaching at the Academy or helping at the hospital."** She told Kakashi, her tone changing from cool and quiet to more fiery and upbeat. Sakura had gotten to know Naruto and Sasuke as they spent more time together as Team 7, and yet she still felt like an outsider, someone who could only look at the surface but not the contents under it. The pink haired kunnoichi wanted to get back to her roots and in doing so, might help Sasuke if ever possible. Just then their two bowls of ramen were set down in front of them. Sakura turned to the steaming bowl of noodled and grabbed herself a pair of wooden chopsticks and broke them apart. Before she dug in though, she glanced back to her teacher. **"Since I answered your question, I'd like you answer one of mine.**" She said to him, not feeling the need to ask if it was okay. **"Your focus was mostly on Naruto and Sasuke when we first came together a team but then it shifted to just Sasuke. I can understand the events of the Chunin Exam playing a part in that and that you probably knew his history better than me and Naruto but...did you ever think it was unfair for you to neglect Naruto and me? We had to fend for ourselves while everything began to unravel."** She reminded him. **"Or did you think what you were doing was completely justified? Your answer won't matter much to me because what's done is done...but I'm just curious about your perception of the situation."** She said as she began to eat slowly, not wanting to seem disrespectful to the man beside her since she had just asked him a sensitive question. If the Jounin defended his actions, she'd understand. If he showed some regret, she'd also understand. Sakura just wanted to know what he thought about the deterioration of their once happy team. It was hard to remember that they were happy once, before everyone went so wrong. **"We were all a team at one point but looking back, it's hard to tell...I don't know we really knew each other the way Ino's team knows each other. I guess i'm being a little silly."** She considered as she took a drink of tea.

Great~ And I figure we maybe have one more post before we'd wanna skip to the party? That sound good?

being made aware of a plan would have aided in Katniss' drive to survive but it would have allowed her to accept more responsibility since she felt burdened for bringing past Tributes into the Games again. Her choice would cost many innocent people their lives and if she could help some of them, it would have eased the guilt she often found herself thinking about when she was alone. The ones who returned were strong but had suffered more than enough and then the others who were new to the Games, had a very unfair disadvantage to begin with. It was almost guaranteed that a Tribute would win the Games, not someone like Gale or Prim. But then that's where she wanted to defy the odds, if something happened to her, she wanted Haymitch to get them out alive, as well as herself. She needed Peeta to promise to keep the others safe because too many bones had been thrown to her already, in her mind at least. Katniss wanted her sister to live a long and happy life and though it wouldn't be easy after the Hunger Games, Katniss wanted to believe it was possible. After all, in some other reality, she and Haymitch could have had a great future together but she knew their luck was soon to run out. While alliances were important and while she wanted to have a real future with him, she knew it wouldn't come easy or at a low price. Freedom was expensive and even then, hard to hold on to. After all, she and the other veterans assumed they wouldn't be called back and yet they were back again, back in the damned clutches of President Snow. "She was alright, nothing looked different about her." Katniss replied, though she knew the magic of the capitol and knew any injuries could be remedied quickly, after all interviews were coming up. "Yeah you should try that, you've been working hard with the knives, you may want to break it up now with other exercises." Katniss agreed with Prim. The smaller girl then applied the ointment and Katniss watched for a moment or two before she went back to eating, feeling rather hungry, more so than usual. "I know." She looked up, giving Prim a look of exasperation. "We always seem to be busy, you with Gale and me with Haymitch." She frowned. She loved spending time with Haymitch but she did miss spending time with Gale and Prim, even Peeta who seemed to be even more elusive and hard to catch. It still didn't seem fair for either of them to be putting guys before their own family bonds. "I've missed you, little duck. We've hardly spent any time together and when we do we're eating or with everyone else." She said. Though she wasn't great at heart to heart talks, or even talks in general, Katniss didn't want to spend their last days in peace, separated from one another. "We need to try spending more time together." It went without saying that their time together was becoming more and more limited. "Maybe we can try doing some training together this afternoon, doing that obstacle course or maybe doing some survival skills with fire or trapping." She suggested. Katniss felt like a bad big sister for always being so caught up in her own head and in the mess that she had made for everyone. It wasn't fair that Prim was where she was and Katniss would do anything to keep Prim safe. Anything. "You know mom might be a pretty good cook by the time we get home, after all it's just her and Buttercup." She joked a little, for now, not trying to think of the harsh truth that only one of them would be going back home. As the others gave their advice on what to do, Haymitch soon spoke up and mentioned his sword. Gale figured he'd do that but he didn't think it was much of a show if he just swung at a dummy or the air. He'd need to figure out something noteworthy that made him stand out but then again, not too much. Haymitch's advice was blunt and not very helpful but he hadn't expected the man to be. Johanna then commented and he grinned at her, not minding the attention from the spunky older woman. She was deadly and smart and very easy on the eyes. He knew he'd be a fool to be in awe of her, when she probably had as many demons as Katniss did. "Thanks." He smiled to her, relaxing a little more. Of course Haymitch wasn't very amused by this and dismissed Johanna's advice but it was clearly a joke to Gale. He went back to eating slowly and Haymitch reiterated his point about not worrying too much and to just do something with a sword. Gale gave a slow nod as he was still considering what to do. From what he had heard, Katniss had done something pretty bold last year and he wasn't sure if he could compete with that. But then again, he was sure Haymitch and Prim wouldn't try to be flashy either and all Katniss wanted to do was make a statement and piss people off, which he could tell was something Johanna also aimed to do. "Thanks guys." He just said and glanced back down at his tray of food. His mind soon wandered away from the expectations laid out in front of them and settled on Haymitch himself. They were teammates after all. While Districts didn't need to stick together, he knew Haymitch liked alliances and plans. Gale knew there was a plan and he also knew who was in on it. He knew he could get along with most everyone but Haymitch was still a tough nut he had yet cracked. Katniss had clearly taken some kind of liking to him recently but Gale was still unsure of what the details were. He couldn't believe it could be romantic because both Haymitch and Katniss weren't the romantic types. Still, something was going on between them and Gale wanted to make sure they didn't clash the way they had done back home in the woods. The last thing the plan needed was for two of the strongest people in it, who didn't even know about it, to be at each other's throats over something surely petty. Still, it didn't seem like the right situation to bring up Katniss. Lunch was soon finished and Gale had remained quiet but still added to the conversation as directed. He was still keen to get to know the others and hear what advice they could offer him. Finnick excused himself, followed by the others who went to go clean up and wander before lunch was over in about ten or fifteen minutes. "I was wondering if we could talk about you and Katniss." He spoke up before he could stop himself. "I don't know what's going on between you but she means the world to me and I just want her safe and happy." He started to say, not sure where he was going though. "You're important to her but I want to make sure when we all go into the Games, we're not distracted, that we remember what's at stake and what needs to be done." He said. Gale knew he was being slightly hypocritical but he had faith in himself and Prim as well as the plan, and since he hardly knew Haymitch and knew Katniss was still deeply haunted by last year, Gale needed reassurance. Peeta could only do so much on the outside.

I am leaning towards doing one, tomorrow will be slow, we have a family friend coming over for dinner but aside from that, I should be either free for more writing or sleep if I do an all nighter, which could mean some posts from us both~ Damn...well, you should be careful next time! XD And btw, my post is almost done...along with my introduction for this essay! Woooo~

I know hun. <3

I'm doing better, I've got one notebook where I actually don't write fanfics or doodle so I'm pretty proud about my restraint there. I've got an outline (loosely speaking) for one essay, the other has to wait until I've gotten the book and read the 11 chapters of crap but maybe I can find an audiobook in the meantime. The other "essay" is just a short story from like 5-15 pages but every time I get an idea to start it, it's crap and I don't have much more time before I submit it for workshop. Other than that stuff, things are pretty good...the classes themselves aren't hard, it's just the whole 'everything due at the same time' thing that's a killer but I am trying to get it done sooner than later. ^^' /ramble Because if I do get that all done, I can spend next week on the Guild rather than wondering why I waited until the last night. I am considering an all nighter tonight though because I'm hell bent on catching up on here as well as with my academia. With any luck, it is healing properly. It sounds like you are being careful. ^ ^ Maybe by the time your appointment rolls around, it'll be less bruised and you'll be able to get back to using both feet. But hey, there was the option of a kickass peg leg. And I think if you try kicking anything else in the future, the wall or door or anything else knows you're boss. XD