(A/N: Listen to the music in the media for more effect. Also, read the message at the end of the chapter.)

"Ano..." Genta lead off, "You're a shinobi, right? Doesn't that mean you can do jutsus 'n stuff?"

"Hai. I am able to perform jutsu. How is it you have knowledge of shinobi?" She glanced at the dark-haired boy.

"Well, m'mom 'n dad are dead now. They were killed by 'n 'sassin."

"Your parents were killed by an assassin," Sakura repeated.

The boy nodded. "Yea. An' then no one had time for me anymore, so I had to take care of m'self."

"And you have a place to stay I assume," the pinkette stated, although it was more of a question.

"Yep! I live near where we met, y'know?"

"..." Sakura stared at the little boy she had picked off the streets. He had been living in an alley for the majority of his life, with no one to take care of him. This reestablished what Sakura had forgotten: the strong survived, and the weak perished.

"Sak'ra?"

Her eye twitched, attempting not to correct the boy's grammatical errors. "Come," She turned and walked in the opposite direction, back towards Tazuna's house.

Genta eagerly followed with a hopeful look in his eye.

:::

"Who's this kid," Tazuna slurred, pointing at Genta. His right hand had a tight grip on the sake bottle.

"This," Sakura introduced, pointing to the small boy, "Is Genta."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto asked, "Where'd you find him, dattebayo?" He had returned shortly before his pink-haired teammate, announcing his presence and that he was done training. 

Tsunami winced at the pointing and referring to the small boy as if he were trash on the streets. She glanced at Inari, whom had left his room to see what everyone was talking about. "Come here," she ushered Genta to a seat, then left to bring food back from the kitchen for her guests.

Before Sakura could answer, the door swung open, revealing the last member of the genin squad. "Sakura, Naruto," he nodded to them in acknowledgement.

"Oh, hey Teme! Sakura-chan brought back this little boy, dattebayo, and she was just about to explain why he's here," The blonde boy jabbed a thumb in the boy's direction.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, then looked at Sakura for an explanation. When she didn't pick up that he wanted her to explain, he verbally said so. "It's unlike you to be...kind," he explained, making Naruto shake his head vigorously.

"I see. Genta," she placed a hand on his shoulder not-so-gently. "Explain," Sakura ordered, but Genta cheerfully accepted her stoic self and smiled brightly.

"I'm Genta...I don't know m'last name, sorry," He bowed his head and then looked back up to see encouraging smiles from Naruto and Tsunami, who had returned with food. "Sak'ra foun' me tryin' to take some money from 'er bag, but instead of hitting me or somethin', she said she'd teach me how to fight an' stuff!"

Everyone minus Kakashi, who was resting, looked at Sakura in surprise. Instead of looking back, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

Do they think you're a heartless person?

...I possess a heart. Otherwise I would not be able to live.

...

"Ano...Sakura-chan did?"

"Yep! I already know somethin', too!"

"What's the point of trying?" A new voice came from the outskirts of the kitchen.

"Why not?" Genta shot back before anyone could reply to Inari. "If you're gonna get anywhere'n life, you've gotta try your hardest! Y'know, I'm gon' work real hard so I can be a shinobi jus' like Sak'ra, and then I'll be there t' help 'er too!"

Everyone turned back to Sakura, who remained impassive, other than the ghost of a smirk on her lips.

Good. Perhaps it was wise to train this boy...he will be an asset to me later on.

:::

"Hurry, Inari! Sak'ra an' the others 'ave left to train already!" Genta cried out, and began to run with his small legs of his.

"I'm coming!" Inari hollered back, clutching the lunch his mother had for the two of them. It had been a few days since Genta had first made an appearance, and was now fitting in, with Inari's hand-me-down clothes and silly grin. The man that Sakura identified as her sensei had woken, and deduced that the assassin Zabuza was still alive, and was now teaching the three genin a new technique.

"C'mon, for all we know, they could be done, an' have moved onto somethin' else!"

"You think so?!" Inari asked, astonished.

"I've seen Sak'ra! She's really good," Genta exclaimed, bobbing his head in further confirmation.

"I-I know a shortcut! It could be dangerous, though...Okaa-san told me I shouldn't use it! There are wild boars and sometimes bandits..."

"There's a reason why rules're made," the boy scolded Inari, "t'be broken!"

:::

"How'd you do that, dattebayo?!"

Before Kakashi could answer, Sakura did. "Kakashi was able to perform such a feat because of chakra."

"Uhh..."

Sasuke scoffed. "Tch, Dobe. You can't even remember what chakra is, much less what you had for breakfast."

"I know what I ate, —ttebayo! It was...uh, we ate—"

"Enough talking. We have wasted too much time on what Ramen-boy can not recall."

"Sakura-chan!? I thought you were nice, dattebayo?!"

"I am not nice, nor am I mean. I am a shinobi that has duties," Sakura recited in her monotone voice, as usual.

"...Right," Kakashi said to fill the silence. "Anyways, we're going to use chakra to climb trees!" He smiled with his eyes closed, the beginnings of crow's feet appearing in the corners of his eyes.

"Hai!"

The three genin watched their sensei walk to the trunk of a large, tall tree...and then walk up vertically. "Wow,  —ttebayo! You can use chakra to do that?"

"Yes," the grey-haired man said, climbing down. "Use your kunai to mark the highest point." He turned to face all three of his students, who picked up the kunai and charged their chakra.

"Let's go, dattebayo!"

We found out why Sakura took agents in! Did anyone expect that?

How will Sakura do in the tree-climbing exercise?

Author's Note: I will be taking longer to publish chapters, as some can already tell. This book is NOT on hiatus, it will just take longer for each chapter to be published. Thanks!