The information he had given her had been helpful. Unlike Naruto or possibly Sasuke, Sakura actually enjoyed leaning which was why being in the top tier of the class wasn't too difficult for Sakura. Sasuke was also in the top but she would wager his desire to learn wasn't fueled by genuine curiosity, but something darker. Shikamaru was also pretty smart when he applied himself, as was Shino. But Sakura still liked to think the enjoyment she got from reading about other clans, jutsu and history, was something most, if not all, of her fellow graduates didn't share. It was a shame really, because to Sakura you could learn so much by just opening your eyes to other people instead of focusing solely on Konoha and it's own history. It was impressive to know that their Second Hokage was someone who was very familiar with the jutsu she was learning, as well as its origins.
Though the idea of making her own jutsu or at the least building atop one already well practiced and honed, came up and Sakura really did like the idea of adding to the history books somehow. Kakashi noted that some jutsu were typically made by those with a kekki genkai, which she was aware of it. Her family wasn't steeped in ninja experience and that was likely due to not having their own trademark kekki genkai. Perhaps if they did have one from years ago, her family's life would be very different but it wasn't the case and this was hardly the time for daydreaming. Not that she didn't pine after having a kekki genkai, they were tricky and imposed a great deal of weight on someone's shoulders. People like Sasuke, Hinata and even Kakashi had different burdens to carry around with them, compared to everyone else.
Kakashi mentioned it may be possible for some sort of breakthrough to occur but she wasn't so sure.
The work would be grueling.
Not that that was what was stopping her, but it just felt too soon to be getting her hopes raised beyond her reach.
Now though, her teacher brought up the topic of facing overwhelming odds. Sakura gave him a slightly worried look. It was important to handle yourself well when overpowered, outnumbered or worse, but the idea itself still didn't sound very appealing to her, even if she knew it was a good thing to train for. She remained silent as he continued to speak, but soon stopped as he tossed the clone a kunai and it went for her. Even though his words should have been enough of a tip, Sakura was certainly caught off guard. "What?" She took a few steps back as the water clone went after her, using its kunai to try and land any cut or slash. Once Sakura regained her footing, she was trying hard to focus on where the attacks were coming from and how to avoid them. Jumping away, she had just enough time to grab her own kunai from her leg pouch as it pursued her, their metal weapons clashing. The clone's force was much stronger than her own, making it a challenge to hold onto her own weapon without sinking into the water underneath them.
Her teeth were gritted as it used many kicks, as well as punches with the free hand. Sakura moved to her left to dodge a punch to her head but in another fluid motion, the clone's other arm swept around and sliced through the air. It took a split second for her adjust her head before a bit of her hair had been taken off. That was a very close call. If she had been positioned differently, even slightly she would have surely gotten her face cut up. Sakura used her own kunai to try and block the next attack but it ended up flying from her hand and sank down into the bottom of the lake bed. There was no way she would bother to retrieve it. The clone slashed at her again when her guard was done. Sakura let out a gasp and had no other choice but to release the chakra holding her up, in order to dodge the quick attack. With a splash, she fell under the water and stayed under it as she swam to another area. Thankfully the water wasn't too clear but she also knew her chakra could give her position away.
When her feet finally hit the bottom of the soil under her, she pushed herself up and flew up through the water and used her chakra to get her up to its surface, pushing it to her knees and then she got to her feed and the chakra settled there. With enough distance, she threw a kunai at the clones and then sped forward, not wanting the clone to be the one to close the gap between them. It deflected the kunai and Sakura threw a punch at the clone, it grabbed her arm, twisted her around and threw her away. She applied more chakra to her feet to stabilize her as it lunged for her again. The two went back to it on the offensive with her trying to dodge, with little time to even counter. It landed a few hits as well as managing to cut her upper left arm. After another two minutes, the clone slowed down its chaotic pace and Sakura knew this was a blatant window for her to use.
Even so, she wasn't about to let it slip away.
She let out a cry as she twisted her body back and then threw a large kick at its chest and while it flew back, she jumped forward and used her opposite fist to land a punch to the side of its face, causing it to fly back and hit the water, and also reduce itself to water. Sakura panted heavily and looked back over to where Kakashi and the other clone were. That had been a very difficult task and she knew the training session could only get tougher. His goal was to make her try to keep her wits about her when faced with an impossible opponent but even so, she wasn't sure this was going to help their traveling the rest of the day if she was worn out. Still, she wasn't going to complain when she had just voiced a desire to do more close combat. "He's not as friendly as you." She said as she started to catch her breath. Her right hand went to her cut on the left upper outer arm. It was bleeding but not horribly so. While she caught her breath, she used her medic training to heal up the wound, not wanting it to get infected.
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