22 Chapter no.22 Comparing Teammates over Dango

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"So, who's this? Friend of yours?" Tenji asked, looking to her while the bun haired brunette pulled out a sealing scroll of her own, sealed away the roll of weapons, and put all four in her pouch.

"Oh, just a rookie, looking to better herself." The obviously a weapon specialist answered before gesturing an open hand towards her. "Tenji, this is Sakura. Sakura, let me introduce you to Tenji, one of the best weapon dealers in the village."

The shop owner rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Eh, I hardly think so, but I'm not going to turn down free advertisement." He said with a chuckle before turning a grin to the pink-haired girl. "So, looking for something to help in training, I take it?" At her nod, he stepped out from behind the counter and put a hand to his chin.

"How about some arm and leg weights to start with?" Tenten suggested.

He shrugged. "Yeah, good as place as any." He gestured for her to follow as he walked over to a far wall with all sorts of training equipment on display.

Sakura was doubtful. "Arm and leg weights?"

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, sounds simple, but they really do help. You've just gotta make sure you use both, or you'll screw up your balance... unless you're looking to focus on punches or kicks or you want to make yourself a speed freak."

"Ah, here we go..." He said, placing his hands on a display. "These are top of the line. You could go with the standard weights and have to switch 'em out whenever you're looking to increase the weight... or you could use these." The objects on display looked like standard wrist and ankle guards.

"These babies have sealing jutsu engraved on the inside. Just channel chakra into them to increase the weight. Too much, just touch and release the chakra inside, like any sealing scroll and, it goes back to normal. Just don't go overboard with all of them at once and turn yourself into a living floor mat, and they're perfect for training." He said with a laugh that said he probably knew people who'd turned themselves into anchors with these things.

Huh... ok, that was pretty neat...

"So... how much for them?" The pink-haired genin asked, thinking in the back of her mind she should get some for Naruto and Sasuke too while she was at it. It would help them out just the same, and it'd be a good first step towards being a truly helpful teammate.

"5200 Ryo a set. That's wrist or ankle guards, not both."

Sakura stared for a moment, then her eyes bugged out into large pits of solid white. "WHAT!?"

"What 'what'? Tell me they aren't worth it. Though, to be fair, you could get the same result for free if you're good with sealing jutsu. Or if you know someone who is..." He raised a brow. "You got those skills? Or got a friend who does?"

Well, nice of him to give her an out. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she did. Kakashi said he'd tutor Naruto in the art, but she didn't know for sure how good he was. Besides, if he could have done something like this, wouldn't he have suggested it already?

She then remembered how he didn't teach them the tree climbing exercise until they were on an A-rank mission. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure.

She turned to look forlornly at the training tools. 31200 Ryo... plus tax... this would wipe out her entire savings. Everything she'd saved up before graduation and all the pay from their missions. She could only barely afford it because of that time they captured Tora.

The one reason that there wasn't a strike on that particular mission, despite how annoying that cat was and how many times it got away. It was owned by the wife of the Fire Daimyo. That meant refusal was not an option... and the pay was good.

"Well, going to go for it?" Tenten asked by her side. "Personally, I don't really have a preference, and my teammate prefers the old fashioned kind, but it's your choice."

Sakura looked at the display before mentally kissing her savings goodbye. "... I'll take three sets of each."

Sakura stared at the scroll that now contained her newly bought training gear as she walked down the road, her face slightly pale.

"Wow, really generous of you to buy some for your teammates too," Tenten said, raising a brow.

"It was for the team..." Sakura replied in monotone. "After how I acted, I owe them. This is the least I can do." She said without a hint of emotion.

"Well, nice to know you're serious about making it up to them..." Tenten said with a sympathetic smile. Sakura got the feeling she'd probably blown all her money on weapons at one point or another.

"Got any more advice?"

"Yeah, get a light start tonight, but talk to your sensei before doing anything too extreme. You don't want to overdo it when you're just starting out. Pace yourself, and once you get used to it, start pushing harder." Tenten continued as Sakura nodded absentmindedly, thoughts still on her empty savings. The brunette seemed to take pity on her. "Let's talk more over lunch. My treat." She gave a slight laugh. "I get the feeling you won't be eating out on your own for a while..."

Sakura grimaced. "Yeah. Thanks..."

"Anywhere you want to go in particular?"

Sakura closed her eyes and set aside all thought of her practically non-existent bank account, with some difficulty. This would probably be the last time she could eat out in a while. Might as well get what she liked best. "How about the Nakamura's Dango Shop?"

"Sounds good to me."

It didn't take too long for the two girls to make it to the shop. Sakura ordered her favorite: anmitsu, while Tenten just went with the shop's signature dish.

"So, what's your team like?" Tenten asked after swallowing the first bite of her dango.

"Hm?" Sakura looked up from her anmitsu before looking to the sky. "Well, there's Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha. He's..." She curled in on herself and blushed.

"The guy you like?" Tenten guessed.

She nodded, "He's just so cool... He was at the top of our class. He's always aloof, never lets anything get to him. He's just so dreamy..."

"Heh, reminds me of my teammate," Tenten commented. "The aloof part, I mean. Not that I want to ask him out or anything. His name's Neji Hyuga. Always serious, kinda on the cold side. But that's a bit of a breath of fresh air on my team."

"Oh?" Sakura voiced curiously.

Tenten tilted her head back and placed a hand on her head, looking like she'd gotten a headache. "My other teammate: Rock Lee and my sensei Gai are kinda nuts... no, I take that back, they are nuts. They're always so intense! Then train until you drop types and always screaming about the POWER OF YOUTH!" She said the last words in an ardent voice before looking to the side, her expression a combination of annoyed and exhausted. "They make these insane challenges for themselves all the time. Like 'if I can't do five hundred squats, then I will do six hundred push-ups' or 'if I can't do three hundred sit-ups, I will do a hundred laps around the village!'." She sighed. "I just wish they'd cool down and grow up a bit..."

Sakura chuckled. "Sounds tough. But at least your sensei makes you work hard. Mine was... hands-off, to put things lightly. He's only now starting to shape up after we almost got killed."

Tenten frowned. "What? What happened?"

Sakura waved her hand. "Long story. The short version; the client lied about what we were up against."

The bun haired girl's face wrinkled in exasperation. "Oh, one of those..."

"Well, his whole country was in a bad way, so I get why he did it, but still..." Sakura sighed. "It took that to get him to teach us how to climb trees with chakra."

Tenten seemed surprised, then frustrated. "What? Are you kidding? That's one of the first things Gai-sensei taught us!"

"Yeah, looking back, I thought that was something we should have worked on earlier... ugh." The younger kunoichi shook her head. "Well, at least he's actually trying now. Really drove us into the ground the other day. It's tough, but I think it's better than him leaving us to train by ourselves unless it's literally life and death..."

"Suddenly, I find myself appreciating Gai-sensei..." Tenten said dully. "... Just a little."

Sakura smirked. "My other teammate is Naruto Uzumaki. Remember the kid who graffiti the Hokage Monument?"

Tenten chuckled. "Oh geez, how can I forget? Still can't believe no one noticed until he was almost done..."

"He's a show-off and a loudmouth, and he can be kinda stupid... but he's the kinda guy who's always willing to lend a hand to someone in need. Though I only saw that recently..." She said, thinking of how determined he was to pull Inari from his isolation and despair.

"Well, sounds like your team got off to a rough start. Here's hoping better days are ahead." She said, raising her dango in mock salute.

"Here, here!"