Blood for the Blade's Granddaughter (Naruto X Dream SMP Fanfic)

Chapter 23

Sakura yawned as her arms stretched upwards, her shoulders slightly cracking. It had been around seven days since Tazuna's story, and Naruto had taken it to heart. Sakura looked around the kitchen to see that neither he nor Sasuke were in the room.

"Did Naruto stay out all night again...?" Sakura asked, even though she was sure of the answer. "One of these days he's gonna drop dead out there. Then I'm going to laugh at his grave and call him an idiot."

"We all know that's a lie, Sakura," Kakashi replied, doing some warm-up exercises on the floor as Miss Tsunami prepared breakfast.

Sakura yawned again as Miss Tsunami handed her a bowl of rice porridge and a spoon. Sakura thanked her before sitting down at the table to eat. After this, she would probably accompany Tazuna to the bridge again, then follow him back to the house when he was done. Sakura was a bit bored with the routine and wished that she had some extra training to do, but she understood that Naruto and Sasuke gaining chakra control was important and that Kakashi was out of commission.

Once Sakura had finished her breakfast, she took her bowl over to the sink. She quickly rinsed and scrubbed at the bowl before setting it back on the counter. Sakura didn't want Tsunami to do more work than she had to.

"Come with me quick, Sakura," Kakashi said, standing up as he finished his exercises, grabbing the crutch he'd been using. "Let's make sure Naruto hasn't died out there, yeah?" Sakura nodded and followed Kakashi out the back door and into the forest.

"Any reason you wanted to take us with you today, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, well I have to change up your routine a little, don't I?" Kakashi said. "I know you're getting bored of the whole "guarding Tazuna" bit. Gotta be honest, the only reason I sent you with him was because I didn't plan on you mastering tree-walking so quickly."

"It's fine sensei, I understand," Sakura said with a slight giggle. "The voices have already told me you tend to be a horrible teacher."

"Of course they did..." Kakashi sighed. "...you're so much like him sometimes, y'know?"

Before Sakura could reply, they both heard the soft thunk of a kunai hitting the ground in front of them. When they looked up, they saw Naruto, and- woah, he was much higher than Sakura saw last. He was laying on a branch with crows surrounding him.

"Well? What do ya think? Look how high I made it!" Naruto shouted.

Ah, he's done it!

Look at him! I'm so proud!

Little fox has climbed so high!

"Woah, great job, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Naruto grinned and went to stand on the branch, but then he suddenly slipped backward.

"Whu- oh no!" He shouted.

Sakura tensed as the voices entered a panicked state, but before she or Kakashi could move...

"PSYCH!" Naruto yelled, his feet glued to the bottom of the branch. "Haha, I gotcha, didn't I?"

"You- You gave us a heart attack, you idiot!" Sakura scolded as Kakashi sighed. "You cannot scare me like that!"

"Heh, sorry Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. He began to adjust himself to be right side up, but suddenly he began to drop.

Shit, that's for real!

He's gonna fall!

D O  S O M E T H I N G !

Before Sakura could process her panic, she was sprinting up the side of a nearby tree. Quickly leaping onto the branch Naruto fell from, she hung upside down as she gripped him by the ankle.

"Phew...you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Y-Yeah! Thank you so much, Sakura-chan! You saved me!" Naruto babbled.

"Idiot, what'd I tell you?" Sakura heard. She looked to her left to see Sasuke on a nearby tree. "That was a bad idea. You're lucky Sakura had the sense to grab you."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it!" Naruto yelled. "Can you let me down now?"

Sakura smiled at Naruto as she helped him descend from the tree. Once they were on the ground, Naruto did some quick stretches before running back to the tree.

"When will he learn..." Kakashi muttered as he and Sakura walked back to the cabin.

Sakura shook her head to herself. Her boys sure were determined to see this through.