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"I'm sorry!!!"
"I'm fine, really--"
"I swear I didn't mean to hit you that hard--"
"Ino. Seriously. Chill out."
The tall blonde stomped her foot, lacing her fingers together and setting her hands on her head, frowning as she uncharacteristically spewed out apology after apology. In front of her, Sakura sat with Sai's head in her lap, as she used two green, glowing hands to mend her teammates busted head.
"I'm just--fuck! I'm sorry Sai."
As if Ino wasn't there, Sai looked up at Sakura with a concerned glance, seemingly forgetting about the large gash on the side of his head. "Why does she keep apologizing, even though we keep telling her to not to."
"If I told you, she'd melt my brains." Sakura mumbled under her breath. Seconds later she was dodging a slap upside the head from Ino. "Oh, cut it out." She snapped up toward her anxious best friend. "He's oblivious." She almost rolled her eyes as she reminded Ino of Sai's lack of social awareness for what felt like the dozenth time. "Also concussed." She added as an afterthought.
Eyeing the rest of their comrades around them, Sakura had to bite back a sigh. She thought that these training sessions would be a good idea; a way for them to heal from the war while simultaneously distract themselves from the inevitable nightmares and heartache they were all bound to be experiencing.
A bonding exercise, if you will.
But she didn't expect it to be such a train wreck during their first training session.
"She broke my arm during a spar once and I didn't even get a 'sorry'," Sakura heard Shikamaru mutter to someone under his breath.
"I didn't even know she could say sorry," she heard Kiba reply with a fake laugh.
"How about," Sakura spoke up, growing annoyed with her friends, "instead of watching Sai bleed all over my shorts, we start a new match." Not waiting for a reply, she turned and stared pointedly at Naruto, who was hanging by his legs from a nearby tree.
"Naruto."
"Yes! I'm up!"
Flipping himself down and out of the tree Naruto made the extra effort to land solely on his newly-implanted prosthetic arm.
"Careful!" Sakura scolded harshly. "Actually, no. I changed my mind. You can wait."
"Hey--no no no! Not fair!" He straightened himself up and crossed his arms over his chest. "I've been waiting around all morning because you promised me I could try out my new arm! And I refuse to leave without sparring with at least one person!"
Not bothering to cover up her groan, Sakura rolled her eyes before turning toward the rest of her friends. Very quickly, she found exactly who she needed; someone else who hadn't gone yet, but who'd most likely go fairly easy on Naruto and his new arm.
"Hinata, you're up!" She smirked as she noticed Naruto falter in his step out of the corner of her eye. Now that she really thought about it... she wasn't entirely sure that Naruto and Hinata had ever trained together, let alone sparred against one another.
"Against Naruto-kun?" The mousy girl asked, as if unsure whether her pink-haired friend was serious. Receiving a nod as confirmation, the small girl slowly stood up from where she'd sat beside Shino and swiftly made her way over.
"You sure about this?" She heard Ino lean down to whisper into her ear. "I doubt he'll really fight her."
"He might be apprehensive," she replied in a voice just as quiet as they witnessed both Naruto and Hinata walk toward the center of the large clearing in the training grounds, "but I know for a fact that Hinata won't even give him time to think about it." After receiving another doubtful look from her blonde best friend, she grinned. "Trust me. If Naruto doesn't brace himself, and if he underestimates her--which he will--he's going to get his ass handed to him."
So for a long minute they watched. She couldn't hear them but she could see Naruto and Hinata exchange a few words. Naruto laughed, Hinata smiled--Sakura could see the girl's blush from where she sat on the sidelines--and they both took their stances and readied themselves.
Within the first twenty seconds of their spar, Hinata had flipped Naruto over her shoulder and had a knee on his chest and a palm in his face, blue chakra glowing out from her hands.
On the sidelines, Kiba laughed, Shino grinned, and everyone else cheered.
Mentally, Sakura counted to ten, watching as the realization hit Naruto--the realization that he couldn't underestimate Hinata.
She could almost pinpoint the moment his demeanor changed and his expression turned more serious, a playful smile tugging at his lips.
And when they started back up, Sakura was once more confident in her decision to set this all up. Now, she knew Naruto would never underestimate Hinata ever again.
And as she watched Hinata pin Naruto again, she laughed.
It was about time.