[Chapter 19: Spending Time with a "Useless" Character!]

"Hey, where's Sasuke's room?!" Naruto yelled out in the hospital. He was immediately punched to the head by Sakura, who also came with us.

"Shut it!" The pinkette whispered loudly, pulling her fist back.

"It's a hospital yet there's violence," I commented with a smile and hands behind my back, giggling softly at the irony.

"Sorry, Sasuke is not allowed any visitors at the moment." One of the receptionist stated from behind their desk.

"Huh?! What's up with that?!" Sakura complained, fists up. The blond beside us agreed loudly with her.

"Ehhhh...? Not even me?" I added on, as being a family member, even though I already knew the reason why.

"Naruto," Came a voice coming right about the corner. "Be quiet inside the hospital," Kakashi commented, leaning against the wall.

We all dashed towards the silver-head, like the little kids we were. "Hey, hey, hey! (Bokuto?!) Kakashi-sensei, I have a request!" The adorable blonde exclaimed.

"No need to tell me: I already know what you want." The jonin said, shifting just a little. "I already found someone who will look after you." The little hellion squawked in response.

Cue Ebisu.

In the background was us: Sakura and I just staring at them. Well, I guess that makes sense, Sakura didn't even appear in this scene if I recall. "They really are loud..." The pinkette noted, mainly to herself.

I giggled at her, "Well, it would be weird if Naruto was quiet." I craned my head at her, "What'cha gonna do for the last phase? Got any plans?"

She lowered her head slightly, seeming to be in thought. "I don't know..." The kunoichi smiled and let out a small laugh. "To be honest, I didn't think I'd get so far." Deciding to just stare in reply, I gingerly raised a hand and caressed her cheek, causing her to blink and flinch against my sudden touch. "Me-Megumi-chan, what are you—?"

Pinch.

I let out a satisfied giggle as I continued squeezing her cheeks, using both of my hands this time. Sakura whined at the slight pain, obviously not completely okay with my actions but enough to not create brain damage. So cute...! I don't know if she's letting me do this because she actually loves me, I'm Sasuke's sister, or that she was just tired. But I'm going for the former for both of our sakes.

After much more of her whining, I let go of her cheeks, resulting in the young kunoichi turning away and rubbing them. "Ya know, if ya keep on doubting yourself, Imma pinch your cheeks so hard they'll be redder than Elmo!" And he's really red.

"Who...?" She wanted to comment but thought not too, deciding to look back at me. "You're right, thanks!" Sakura smiled. I shed a fake tear, they're growing so fast...! It feels like it was only yesterday that they were naive little ninjas foolishly heading to their death! The girl then walked towards the Scarecrow, who was still chatting with Naruto and Ebisu. "Hey, Kakashi-Sensei, what about me?"

The silver head hummed in her intrusion of their conversation, thumb, and index finger on the bottom of his tilted head. "Mah... I haven't figured out yet." The girl slumped dejected, letting out a low 'cha...! Why?' I could only giggle in response as I stepped into the little circle we made. In the background was now the other two males, bickering about whatever. "Sorry, it's just that there's not really any teachers that have experienced with a Hyuuga."

(Uso de aru. This man knew exactly who to go to but didn't know if he wanted his female student to suffer.)

"Then how about I teach her?" I piped in, causing them to perk up at my voice.

"Huh? Really?" My good female friend questioned.

My smile deepened. "Yup! I'm friends with the Hyuuga twins after all! And, I've also sparred with Hiro a few times so I know how he fights."

( This girl has never fought the male Hyuuga all her life. The said boy had profusely refused any sort of sparring, saying that he was, and I quote, 'respecting women'.)

To be honest, the reason why I even brought up this suggestion in the first place is that I didn't want her to be trained by Gai. No offense, he's probably a good teacher, especially if he trained Lee to be like how he was now, but I felt like he would be too... youthful for Sakura.

I also know that Kakashi thought of Gai too, cuz he's smart like that. I'm guessing that he's just wondering if he should be merciful or not. Yeah, he may be cruel but not Orochinchin cruel. Agh...

I think my favorite Dum dum got what I was thinking and crinkled his visible eye up to show happiness, "That's a good idea. At least until I find a proper one." He stated.

Sakura turned at me with a smile, "Thanks Megumi-chan!" I only giggled and shrugged her off, telling her to meet me a day after tomorrow. She then walked away contently. Speaking of which, Ebisu and Naruto were long gone, probably at the hot spring and Ebisu getting absolutely rekt by Jiraiya.

I tugged Kakashi's sleeve before he could body flicker to who knows where the adult (pfft) looking down with a 'Hm?' "Is my dear foolish younger brother gonna be with you the whole time?"

"No," He bluntly answered, shifting his weight to his other leg. "At least mostly: he'll still have time to go home in time for dinner."

"Bold of you to assume that dinner isn't served at 3:33 am for us."

"Haha... sure."

"Ok!" Was what I exclaimed when we girls gathered on that day. I clapped my hands together gleefully, placing them under a side of my face with a smile. "We're going to eat a feast!"

"...Huh?" Was all Sakura said with a deadpan. I giggled. We were at the entrance of me and Sasuke's apartment in the bright morning sun gleaming its disgusting rays at us. "You-you're joking, right?" Her eye twitched.

"Nope!" In that instant, she bonked my head harshly, shrieking a 'Cha! I can't believe it!'. I fell to my knees with my hands clutching the top of my head. "I-I have a reason though~" I whined in absolute pain. Well, at least her fists aren't sexist. She let out a confused hum as I struggled to get up and gather my surroundings.

When I finally did so, I cleared my throat, creating a sound that vaguely resembled a disfigured demon but that's probably just me. And I'll ignore the weird look my dear pinkette shot at me. "Anyways, it seems like you haven't taken my advice for eating," She blinked, not knowing where I was going with this. "And, well, ya not gonna beat Hiro with that scrawny body of yours, no offense." I grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the apartments. "C'mon, let's just eat first, and then I'll spare the details."

After searching for a place, we settled for a normal cafe, both of us ordering anko dango. The cafe wasn't as good as the usual place me and Hiro went to but it was still comfy and the dango tasted great.

"So, Megumi-chan, what were you gonna say?" Sakura questioned, expressing disbelief at the amount of dango I had ordered for her, which wasn't much actually: just 3 sticks. Jebus rice, just how much has she been fasting?!

I ate a ball from my 2nd stick, "Oh yeah, about that, ya gonna need to eat more to get stronger, bub." I stated as I nibbled on the third ball on the skinny wood.

She looked like she wanted to object and so she did. "Bu-but-"

I pointed my stick at her, successfully shushing the young ninja up as she reared back slightly. I giggled, why is it so easy to scare people these days? I moved my hand back. "No buts~!" I ate the final dumpling on that stick. "Anyways, what you need to even have a chance of winning against a Hyuuga is Hyuuga and lots of energy— what just water and maybe a sandwich can't give. Well, unless it's a sandwich from Castle Crashers." I elaborated, adding the last part at the last second.

Sakura slightly lowered her head and darted her green eyes away from me. She's feeling a little dejected. I noted, sighing through my nose. "Sakura-chan, I get that you wanna keep your image for Sasuke but a crush is not supposed to be the first priority if ya wanna survive and such."

The kunoichi looked up. "I... I know that!" She stated. I blinked, well, I'm glad she at least admitted that. I smiled as she continued. "I realized that in the chunin exams. It's just that... I get scared. I feel like if I let my guard down for even a second, someone might just take away my chance to be with him... I can't help it." She confessed. Not the purest motives but at least she acknowledges it now.

I smiled as I then pinched her cheek, snapping her furrowed eyes out of her daze. I giggled, I say I would do it. "Don't worry about that, my dear foolish little brother doesn't really care about that." She cutely tilted her head in confusion. "Yep. Sure, he'll prefer someone to be attractive but he's more likely to fall in love with someone who doesn't care about their looks but their strength." I explained to her.

I released my hold of her and leaned against my chair. "So how about ya think about improving yourself before you think about your love life. And when I mean to improve, I mean enough to punch Madara's off."

Sakura raised a brow at my last statement but got the gist of it, falling silent as she took in my words for a minute. The girl then nodded. "Ok." Was all she said before digging into her dango in a haste pace.

I couldn't help but giggle at her. "Don't eat so fast or ya choke!"

Long story short: she did choke. But that was fine.

Because now she's trying to change herself for the better.

ᕗᕗ

"And here we are!" I said when we entered the third training grounds. It was just noon now, and everybody was busy training who knows where. When we reached the tree we usually hung around whenever we were summoned here, I sat down and patted a spot next to me, as if I was gonna spill the tea. And, I guess in this case, I kinda was. Oh well!

"Ok, oshiete, oshiete yo," I spoke when the Pink haired female sat down. She glanced at me weirdly when I said those words in a certain tone. Ah, ya gotta love saying references that no one will understand. "Tell me what you know about the Hyuuga?"

She rose a brow in confusion but complied with no complaints, "The Hyuuga are best known for their Kekkai Genkai, the Byakugan, and their unique fighting stance, the gentle fist." Oh wow, such a textbook answer. I wonder if she knows how to successfully poison someone with piss?

"Mkay... and how would you be able to turn that in your favor?" I persisted in my questions.

Sakura placed a hand under her chin in thought, finally thinking for her own. It took maybe a minute for her to snap her fingers and look back at me, "They rely on it too much!"

I giggled and smiled at her, "And?"

"It makes them not very versatile. Also, using the Byakugan requires chakra, which means they can't use it all the time." The Genin responded, giving an actual genuine answer this time.

"Ding ding ding! You're completely right!" The girl brightened and let out a smile in satisfaction, Awwww, I wonder if I can convince her that the Easter Bunny bribed children into Christianity with candy? But then again, Christianity doesn't exist here, I think. "So, all you have to rally do is survive until he loses chakra to be able to use it!"

My friend slumped in her position, "Easier said than done..." She trailed off in a low voice. I giggled at her, gaining her attention once again.

"It's possible though! And that's why we're here today!" Shuffling through my... skirt? Cloth? I don't know, the author just drew for fun! I mean-- what? Anyways, I grabbed what I wanted from one of the many pockets and showed it to her.

"Paper?"

"Not just any paper, chakra paper!" I objected whilst holding a few numbers of said item. I had to use a bit more money then I thought I would but we don't talk about that. "It's used to find what chakra affinity you have!"

"It's easy: ya just need a push a little chakra like so!" For a little demonstration, I pushed my own into one. The quick result was it burning into flames and turning into ash. Typical for an Uchiha. But if I wasn't one, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten water.

My hands pushed the price of wood onto her own. "Come on, Put some chakra onto it." She hesitantly held it in curiosity, turning it around to further inspect it. When she finished, she let her chakra seep in the paper, her hand coating blue. In an instant, the paper crumbled away to dust. "Ah." We both blinked. "Well, I guess you have Earth release!" Which is cool cuz I don't think they ever revealed Sakura's Element... at least not in the anime. She nodded.

"So, does that mean I'll learn Ninjutsu now?" She questioned me.

"Nah, I'm too lazy to get earth scrolls," I admitted, casually waving her off. For a second I saw Sakura's eye twitch but that's probably me, right~? "Besides, ya need to improve ya stamina before ya can even think about fighting Hiro!"

"And how are we gonna do that?"

I smiled at her, and I heard a gulp. "You're gonna run."

"...Hah...?"

I couldn't help but giggle at her. "Chop chop, my dear student! Go jog around this training ground three times!"

"Wha- I can't do that!"

"If the Nindaime found a way to teleport, you can jog that much. Besides, I'll run with you! It'll be fine~"

Long story short: it wasn't fine. It was a whole ass and a half dealing with it.

∀

"You've punched a tree before, right?"

"Huh? Uh, yes?"

"Okay, did it hurt like your knuckles were going through labor?"

"... What kind of comparison is that?"

It was about one in the afternoon now. The instant we finally finished those damn laps, we both dropped dead for like 15 minutes. But now, after getting our sweaty asses up, we were somewhat weakly standing next to a tree. "Well, that's because you weren't protecting yourself?" I explained, earning a confused tilt from my pink-haired friend. I internally sighed, why didn't they teach this in the academy?

Shoving my hand in my skirt thing for the second time, I pulled out white fabric. "Bandages?" Sakura questioned. Why does Sakura do that? Doesn't she, like, have a really good memory?

"Mhm! Even though they're more known for medical purposes, they can also be used to prevent injury! Examples are Lee and Hiro himself." I added on, ok, now I feel like an encyclopedia. Ugh. It doesn't help my image but Sakura needs some early development!

After taking the time to help the young civilian girl attach the bandages, I instructed her to punch the wall. "!" She blinked at the force, reeling her fist back and staring at it like a Danganronpa character. "It didn't hurt that much." I giggled.

"Ya." I leaned against the wood, "And so for the week, we'll be improving your stamina, power, and Taijutsu." The girl nods eagerly with a determined smile on her face.

"Ehehehe..." Letting out a few soft laughs, I continued to observe her stance as she focused on getting better.

Sometimes, spending time with these people feels just a bit nostalgic.

Extra:

"Kyaaaaaa~ you're so cute!!"

"E-eh...?!"

And here I was, gushing about this adorable redhead in front of my eyes. I grabbed her hands and nudged closer to her. She tensed but seemed too flustered to do anything about it. "Hey, hey! What's your name?" I mean, I already know but it would be weird if I just said it.

She blinked owlishly with red cheeks, "Ka... Karin Uzumaki..." She spoke in a soft manner. I squealed, she's like a redhead version of Hinata! Damn, Orochidragqueen and her village really must have messed her up...

I twirled her around giddily with a giggle, "You're so !"

Karin remover herself from my hold and stepped back, eyeing me in disbelief, "Re-really?"

"Mhm!" Was my immediate answer. "Who would not when they see that face of yo-"

"Oi! Hurry up, you!" Came a sudden voice from afar. Karin flinched. As I continued examining her figure, I could see the small trembles she makes as she lowered her head.

That won't do... I placed my hands on hers again and smiled, prompting Karin to crane her neck up at me. "Let's meet again!" I decided for her. She widened her red eyes slightly, not believing what she was hearing. I giggled and let go, thinking best to leave my hands behind my back as I stepped away from her. "The name's Megumi Uchiha; nice to meetcha!" And with a wave, I left her, knowing that I wouldn't see her for a very long time.