Chapter 2 || First Steps

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It was... comforting, in a way, being surrounded by so many books and scrolls, despite the task that loomed before her. Pre-Ino Sakura grew up with books, her inborn shyness and fear of getting bullied made her introverted by necessity. The rosette remembered how she used to spend days upon days reading, and even after meeting the blonde, she retained the ability to consume entire tomes in the space of a few hours. Unbidden, a smile bloomed on her face, her earlier nerves completely gone – here she was, a paper ninja in a room full of books and scrolls. She was in her element if she could claim anything to be her element.

It was with that thought in mind that she nodded at the jounin manning the library desk, forgoing asking for assistance for the time being as she carefully navigated to the ninja section which was marked as available for genin. Her eyes scanned the titles as her finger traced over every scroll and book on the shelf, occasionally stopping to pull out ones she deemed appropriate, to begin with; Sakura chose to begin with pure chakra theory, mentally preparing herself for a refresher of some of the material covered in the Academy, but hoping to find some new hints and pointers regardless. Soon, five scrolls were clutched in her arms, and she settled down at one of the tables in the open area in the middle of the library as she stole a glance at the clock – Team 7 had reached the Village in the early afternoon, and thanks to her quick stop at home, Sakura still had over five hours before she would need to go home and start preparing dinner for when her parents got off work. Five hours for five scrolls, she thought happily as she pulled out a notebook she had snagged from home and unravelled the first scroll labelled Chakra: Channelling and Manipulation.

Perfect.

Walking out of the library after that first afternoon had assured Sakura of one thing – the Academy curriculum barely even skimmed the surface of the iceberg that was chakra. There was so much she had not known, so many details she was unaware of even in the concepts that she had been familiar with. Her hand had cramped towards the end with the number of notes she was taking, but she could not stop even if she wanted to – Sakura felt like her eyes were being forcefully pried open and, for once, she didn't mind.

Tree walking, water walking, muscle augmentation, chakra scalpels, chakra blades, speed, strength-!

All of those were but a handful of uses of chakra she had been unaware of prior to that day; the Academy mainly preached chakra as the catalyst for supplementary ninjutsu that they needed to pass the tests and briefly touched on its usage with elemental manipulation. She had no idea that there were so many other uses, so many uses that seemed possible even for her, and as such she had not been able to stifle some of her awed gasps at some of the material she came across, but her eyes never left the texts – not even when she became aware of the jounin at the desk laughing at her.

So Sakura went back.

Every day for a fortnight she would head to the library when training was over and she would spend hours upon hours perusing the knowledge trapped in the scrolls just waiting to be read and appreciated. She kept careful track of the titles of every scroll she read, came up with her own rating system for the difficulty, danger and usefulness of every technique she learned, and when every scroll on chakra theory on the bookshelf had been read, she moved on to Stage Two – genjutsu.

And the whole process started again.

She tackled genjutsu theory with a single-minded intensity that surprised even her; she learned that there were two ways of casting the illusions – one which affected an entire area, using the caster's chakra to alter the way the surroundings appeared to their opponent to their will, and the other on the opponent themselves, using chakra to change perceptions from the inside. The latter was infinitely more dangerous, she soon realized, because it required not only perfect control of chakra but also knowledge of how the mind worked. Still, the more she read about the application, about the history of internal-effect genjutsu, the more she realized the sheer need she felt to learn it. When she accepted that need, she was quick to reassure herself that knowledge of the workings of the human brain was a difficulty she could easily overcome – a quick scan of the, admittedly few, medical texts available to genin had revealed two she deemed capable of providing her with the necessary theory. Theory was theory, whether chakra or genjutsu or medical – she would not allow fear of further research to become a deterrent.

So she studied the link between the amygdala and how to amplify fear, learnt how to stimulate the limbic system and the neurons in the hippocampus to make people relive their worst memories, learned how to suppress the suprachiasmatic nucleus to completely stop the part of the brain responsible for controlling heart rate, all the while thinking of how every technique she came across could be made all that little bit more terrifying if she could induce a real reaction to a false image-!

And she caught herself at that thought.

Because her aim was not to make things terrifying. It was not to stop her opponents' hearts with just a thought and a pulse of chakra. It was not to become as ruthless as Zabuza was, a ninja who knew no quarter. Her goal was altogether much simpler, but at the same time equally as challenging: her goal was to become a better teammate, to be someone people could trust, could depend on.

But... she thought, as she recalled Zabuza on the bridge and the sheer intent to kill that radiated off of that man in nauseating waves. I cannot help Naruto and Sasuke-kun, I cannot be a better teammate if I am not willing to match my opponents in intensity. And I have no chance in taijutsu, nor elemental ninjutsu like Sasuke-kun, nor do I have the sheer resilience and brawl on my side as Naruto. But... Her gaze strayed to the scroll still unravelled before her, to the chakra systems and pressure points and the fragility of the human consciousness. But this, this psychological manipulation, this battlefield made of science and chakra rather than fire and steel, this may be a battlefield where I can stand as their equal. This will be the battlefield where I'll stand as their equal.

Her doubts about the morality of her actions and plans temporarily subdued, she returned to her reading with renewed determination, forgetting all but the goal that stood before her, but just out of reach.

I will not fail my team again.

Genma sighed.

His one month of Hokage-induced break from active service in the form of manning the library desk had seemed like a month of grudging vacation, especially for a shinobi who spent the better part of his early teens in a state of war and on the front lines protecting the Yondaime, not that the Yellow Flash had needed it much. But, to his utmost surprise, it was proving to be a serious exercise in patience.

All because of a goddamn prepubescent pink-haired brat.

Not even Ebisu during their genin days, despite how much Genma had bullied him about being a bookworm with a stick up his ass, had made a habit of holing himself up in the library for hours upon hours at a time. And, unless his eyes were deceiving him, Ebisu had definitely not been able to almost devour over fifty scrolls and books on something as dull as chakra control and genjutsu theory in the space of less than a fortnight.

Genma had initially taken the ignore and observe route, but when two weeks had gone by and the rosette still came to the library like clockwork, his patience ran out.

It proved just how absorbed into her reading the kid was that she didn't notice his approach even when he was essentially looming over her and there was no other person around.

"Oi, brat, is there a reason you decided to become a living, breathing container of the Academy curriculum?" he asked with his long-ago perfected nonchalance, eyebrow-raising when the girl jumped as if she'd been electrocuted, wide emerald eyes snapping to meet his in alarm.

He watched in silence as a myriad of emotions played across her features – surprise, confusion, a hint of annoyance, exasperation before it finally settled on something that looked all-too resigned to be comfortable for Genma.

"I- uh..." she paused, eyes falling back to the scroll before her, this one on – if he wasn't mistaken – the Double False Surroundings genjutsu before they flitted back to meet his carefully-neutral gaze. "I know a lot of these." She absently indicated the notes and jutsu scrolls and books spread around her on the table. "But I have no one to practise with at the moment. So I thought... I might learn as much theory as I can until I find someone to help me with the practical aspects."

Genma's other eyebrow soared to join the first one. "What about your teammates?" he asked despite himself. "Genin are put into three-man squads for this exact reason." He didn't miss the wince that passed over her features at the mention of her team.

"My teammates are... they're the reason I'm in here in the first place." She eventually admitted, a self-deprecating smile appearing on her face. Genma stifled the need to offer comfort to a kid he didn't even know.

"Your sensei then?" another wince. Damn it.

"My sensei is a busy man. And... he only has eyes for one of us." This time, he openly sighed, drawing a curious glance from the kid. Genma was no stranger to favouritism, though luckily not from personal experience – Gai, for all that the brunet loved him for his infallible good cheer and determination, clearly saw nothing wrong in creating a literal carbon copy of himself and having it run around the Village, but Genma, in the few minutes he'd had with Team Gai by means of being introduced as 'my youthful teammate from my own genin days!', had not missed the clear resentment for his old teammate in the lilac eyes of the Hyuuga, or the slight disappointment in his kunoichi. No, Genma knew perhaps better than most the negative effects of favouritism on those left out of the loop. But, he reckoned, he rarely saw it channelled into something as productive as that which was being done by the rosette, which was the only reason he could later come up with for what came out of his – stupid stupid stupid! – mouth less than a few seconds later.

"What about your clan? Surely they can help?"

A dejected shake of the head. "My family is civilian."

Don't do it don't don't don't-!

"Tell you what, kid," fucking stop right now-! "I get Saturday afternoons off, so if you come here again tomorrow I'll let you practise on me. I'm no expert on genjutsu," he cast a meaningful glance at the scrolls on the table, "but I know the basics, which should be enough to hold off a genin." The voice in his head seemed to give one last, dejected sigh before it disappeared, and he felt like he suddenly regained control of his body and nearly face-palmed at the offer that left his lips, wanting desperately to recall it, because why would she want to take him up on it if he was nothing but a stranger and for all, she knew-

"You'd do that?"

Whoa. He was not prepared for the amount of awe and desperate hope in her voice, nor for the eyes which stared at him as he had just done her the biggest favour in the world.

"Yeah," he nodded, ignoring the desire to run away while he still could. "why else would I offer?"

But, unbeknownst to Genma, he really had done her the biggest favour in the world.

He gave her a chance.

Sakura showed up at the library the next day equal parts terrified and excited – training had gone awfully that day; Naruto and Sasuke-kun had been at each other's throats from early morning, Kakashi-sensei had been even later than usual and even once he'd arrived he had done little to separate the boys or even tell them off, and he didn't even notice when Sakura gave up trying to calm them down and went, instead, to practise tree-climbing again, walking, running, crawling and climbing up the trees over and over again for hours till she felt faint from the amount of chakra she'd used up and her palms and knees were scuffed and bleeding. She went home only long enough to put antiseptic cream on her scratches and change out of her sweaty red dress into a red top and loose grey hakama pants which she secured with bandages at the ankles and tucked into her sandals before she quickly grabbed her notebook and weapons pouch and left for the library.

Genma, as always, was already there, but for once he wasn't sitting behind the desk but was instead leaning against it and chatting with another jounin who sat in his usual spot, but when he spotted her he paused and pushed off, throwing a 'see ya later, Rai' over his shoulder as he met her at the door. The other man's eyes widened as they fell on her but he remained silent, offering a grunt in response as he went back to his papers so Sakura dismissed his bizarre reaction, focusing on the fast-approaching brunet.

"Thought you were going to chicken out, kid." Was his greeting, and Sakura didn't quite manage to stifle her snort, drawing an amused glance her way as she blushed.

"That would've been stupid of me." She replied, then quickly amended, remembering that she was essentially talking to a stranger. "I mean, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." She apologized, bowing shallowly, then startled when he chuckled.

"Don't worry, kid. I'm not gonna complain about getting more time to relax." They had walked out of the library while Sakura was making a fool of herself, and she let Genma lead her wherever he thought best for the 'experiment'. When they arrived at the training grounds, Genma stopped so suddenly she almost ran into him. Walking around to face him, she raised an eyebrow as he spread his arms in a gesture that exuded comfort.

"Well, shoot, kid, what do you want to try? You seem to have all the theory down judging by the last two weeks you spent inhaling all the books." And when he saw the rosette stiffen at his words, he sighed inwardly; here we go.

To his surprise, what came wasn't tears or shouting or even a tantrum – instead, a contemplative frown pulled at her brows as she assessed him. "That's just it." She murmured. "I have all the theory down. I know exactly how to cast it a genjutsu, I know exactly where to gather chakra and how long to hold it in and how to adjust the flow to manage water walking. I have detailed notes on where the amygdala is and how much chakra is needed to stimulate it while maintaining a genjutsu, how much I can push till it becomes too much." She paused, meeting his eyes with something like desperation. "But knowing how to do it doesn't mean that I can do it."

And Genma sympathised, so he smirked. "Alright. Now, prepare yourself, and I'll show you."

Sakura expected pointers, maybe a step-by-step tutorial, or a demonstration on a shadow clone; what she was not expecting was being subjected to a very vivid Hell Viewing Technique and the chuckle that somehow followed her even into the illusion.

Over the next two weeks, Sakura got almost exclusively hands-on instructions, as Genma took the list of books and scrolls she'd read and somehow managed to come up with exercises that tested something from every single one of them. It was more than the theory of casting genjutsu and tips on how to cast them best – for every illusion that he helped her cast, he made her experience it first-hand. Apparently, it was so she'd 'know better what pitfalls to avoid when casting her own', but Sakura was beginning to suspect Genma-san actually enjoyed her indignant glares and threats of bloody murder whenever he caught her off guard. That goddamn smirk of his certainly didn't imply anything on the contrary. Still, as infuriating as he might've been, Sakura was confident in her abilities to cast the Hell Viewing Technique, as well as both of the False-Surroundings genjutsu, though Hazy jutsy still required some work. Genma-san had also helped her with learning how to cycle chakra through her muscles and how to channel chakra to her feet to speed up her run by taking bigger leaps. He'd been only insistent that she doesn't try any new illusions when he wasn't there to test it on, and when she asked why, he turned the most serious she had ever seen him and explained: "There have been cases when ninja have experimented without supervision and ended up inverting the jutsu on themselves, trapped in their own mind. Genjutsu is a subtle art, requiring excellent chakra control and intelligence - not only because of the deadly effect it can have on your enemies, but for the consequences, it can have on you if you mess up." She had read about some of the side effects of genjutsu-gone-wrong when she studied the theory scrolls, but to see a jounin who seemed to never let anything faze him appear genuinely concerned by that possibility was unnerving enough that Sakura promised to take his warning seriously.

She was justifiably sad when he got called away for a courier mission about a week and a half into their arrangement, but she was surprised when he left a task for her to do and some of his own pointers for attempting water-walking as well as the best part of the river to try it out on. That was initiative. She hadn't expected initiative from a man who had no personal investment in her progress.

But, she would take what she was given, and she would take it gladly. So the next morning Sakura rose early, three hours before she was due at Team 7's training grounds, and as she was packing for another D-Rank or training with her team, she threw an extra top and a towel into her pack and set off. She had decided to skip her usual dress and went instead with a pair of black shorts and a short-sleeved grey top, having deemed them easier to dry and, if need be, throw away when she inevitably got soaked. After arriving at the stream indicated by Genma-san, she dropped her pack by the riverbank and thought about everything she'd read about the technique as well as Genma-san's pointers: the fundamental difference between the river and a tree lay in the fact that the tree was stable and unmoving, while the river constantly flowed, and the chakra, therefore, had to be constantly adjusted as well. Genma-san had advised starting in the shallowest parts, where the water barely went up past the knee and then progress to deeper water as she'd have to watch the chakra as the depth changed; deciding to just get it over and done with, chose the part of the bank which looked the least slippery and carefully, carefully stepped on the water with one foot.

And promptly fell on her knees, feeling the impact send a jolt up through her joints, hands slipping on algae-covered rocks at the bottom, her entire front drenched. Damn.

So she tried again, pushing chakra to her feet till she could literally feel the water like a solid surface beneath her feet and only wobbled a little as she stood. Once satisfied that she could balance on the water, she realized that the arguably more difficult wall to overcome was going to be actually moving. And that was something she really did not foresee going well.

And she was right.

An hour later, she had managed to fall in seven more times,

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