Naruto: Reborn as Sakura with Manyuu Chifusa Template

'Why don't we ask Sasuke-kun for some pointers?' said Inner Sakura shyly, as Sakura approached the lone Sasuke. 'While we're both here…'

Sakura glanced at her surroundings— Sasuke appeared to be training alone. And judging by the conical drill-shaped holes in the ground and in the various boulders littering the training grounds, he'd been practising Kakashi-sensei's Chidori.

"I thought I might find you here, Sasuke!" Sakura called out to him cheerfully. "Kakashi's not with you? Figures…"

Sasuke turned to face Sakura and Boruto, scowling— which somehow set Sakura's heart aflutter.

"Oh, it's you," said Sasuke gruffly. "What do you want?"

Just having to look at Boruto's very punchable face irritated Sasuke— it reminded him of another annoying loser who just wouldn't let him be. On the other hand, Boruto was over the moon— Sasuke-sensei looked like just like he did in his old pictures!

Boruto took a step forward with his hand outstretched for a handshake, but just as he was about to introduce himself, Sasuke spoke up again and cut him off before he could even open his mouth.

"That jacket…" said Sasuke, his eyes flickering to Sakura's flak jacket.

"Oh yeah, I'm a Chūnin, now!" said Sakura proudly, beaming at Sasuke. "Guess I'm the first one in Team Kakashi to get promoted, eh? You and Naruto had better work hard and catch up to me, 'cause I'm not gonna wait forever for you two!"

Sasuke's face darkened— how could Sakura, of all people, have passed the Chūnin exams while he hadn't? He couldn't help but remember how his older brother Itachi had competed in the Chūnin exams (without a team to back him!) up at age 10 and passed on his first try…

"I-I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," Sakura stammered, noticing the evil glimmer in Sasuke's eyes. "I didn't mean to put too much pressure on you, I just wanted to encourage you…"

Golden child Itachi, the genius who succeeded in his every endeavour without even needing to try hard… only to turn around and murder his entire family, just to test his powers.

Sasuke clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, looking Sakura dead in the eye. No matter how much stronger than him Itachi currently was, he would take his head, sooner or later… and Sakura would be the first stepping stool for him to fulfil his ambitions!

"Fight me," said Sasuke quietly.

Even though Orochimaru had switched targets from Sasuke to Sakura, that did not mean that the hatred in Sasuke's heart had ceased to fester— it only meant that he would stay in Konoha for as long as it remained the best place for him to gain strength.

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Sakura quickly. "Listen, I came to you because I needed your help— I'd rather not fight before I know what's going on in the village…"

"Why not?" Sasuke growled, his temper flaring. "Is it because you think I'm too weak to be worth your time? Kakashi told me all about your infiltration of the Hidden Cloud— he told me that not even he could have done what you did!"

Kakashi was a splendid shinobi and a genius, but he was limited by his relatively ordinary stamina— in his entire lifetime, he would never surpass his teacher, the Fourth Hokage; his father, the legendary White Fang; or even the three Sannin.

(Unless, of course, you counted the brief period of time when Kakashi was endowed with both of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.)

"Oh, fine," Sakura snapped. "Come on, then— I've still got to find a place for Boruto to stay the night before it gets dark."

Sakura made the Seal of Confrontation, but Sasuke declined to reciprocate, opting instead to attack without warning. He flickered towards Sakura, nearly causing her to go cross-eyed as she tried to follow his movements with her eyes.

'Watch out!' Inner Sakura cried out. 'He's as fast as Lee!'

By relying on his Sharingan, there was nothing that Sasuke couldn't copy— whether it was Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or Taijutsu. But unlike Kakashi, who was renowned as the Copy Ninja for his mastery of this particular feature of the Sharingan, Sasuke sparingly copied new Jutsu, preferring instead to rely on his own techniques— but for Rock Lee's Taijutsu, Sasuke hadn't hesitated to copy his moves!

Sakura clumsily parried Sasuke's first few moves… and ended up getting a bloody nose within seconds, for even trying to engage in hand-to-hand combat with him— Taijutsu just wasn't her forte.

She much preferred standing behind her comrades, firing off Ninjutsu and Genjutsu at range— and even if it ended up coming down to a fight in melee range, she would pull out her longsword and use her Kenjutsu, granting her some breathing space against her opponents.

"Enough!" Sakura bellowed angrily, blood trickling from her nose. "Shannaroooo!"

Even though Sakura didn't like Taijutsu, that didn't mean she was hopeless at it. Thanks to her absorption of Tsunade's genes, she had gained her super strength. Furthermore, Tsunade's chakra imprint sealed within her breasts had also communicated to Sakura the true method to using Chakra Enhanced Strength, leading her to finally master the Jutsu during the final stretch of her journey home!

"Chakra Enhanced Strength!"

Sakura stomped the ground with her right foot, causing the earth beneath her feet to crack and rupture. Sasuke jumped back just in time to avoid the shockwave, but he stumbled over the fissures in the ground upon landing, causing him to lose some momentum.

Seeing an opportunity to land a solid blow, Sakura began weaving hand signs.

Snake! Ram! Boar! Horse—

But to Sakura's shock, Sasuke began replicating her hand signs— and even overtaking her!

Snake! Ram! Boar! Horse! Bird! Clap!

Sasuke had already seen Sakura use this particular Ninjutsu during the Chūnin exams, so he was able to complete the seals before her with his dextrous fingers, which was really embarrassing for Sakura— she really needed to work on her sealing speed if she wanted to become a master of Ninjutsu!

"Wind Style: Gale Palms!"

"Wind Style: Gale Palms!"

The two combatants snapped their palms against the air, causing the space between them to shimmer as they sent waves of pressurized air at each other.

A fraction of a second later, the waves slammed into each other, creating an explosion of gale-force winds, which blasted Sasuke away, sending him sailing up into the air— even though Sasuke's Sharingan could temporarily copy Sakura's 175% Wind affinity, he could not replicate the amount of chakra she had poured into the Jutsu!

However, the airborne Sasuke was not done yet. He quickly formed a series of hand signs, before blowing out a gigantic ball of roiling incandescent chakra from his mouth!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Even though Sasuke had formed the seals so fast that Sakura had only seen a blur of fingers, she didn't need any help guessing which Ninjutsu he had just used. Sakura hastily moulded an adequate amount of chakra to counter Sasuke's Jutsu and poured it into her stomach; to efficiently convert its nature. Burning hot chakra quickly filled Sakura's stomach, but unlike the previous times she had used the Ninjutsu, the temperature in her belly kept climbing and climbing, until she could bear it no more:

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

A current of blue flames erupted from Sakura's mouth, before blooming into a spherical fireball a short distance away from her. Sakura's blue fireball slammed into Sasuke's orange fireball— and strangely enough, Sakura's flames rapidly began consuming Sasuke's until none were left.

"NO!" Sakura shouted in fear— the blue flames were about to devour Sasuke alive!

Almost as if they were alive, the blue flames winked out of existence, revealing Sasuke's figure— he was diving straight towards her, holding a mass of blue sparks in his right hand!

"¡SAKURAAA!"

A blue sphere of spinning chakra reflexively appeared in Sakura's palm.

"¡SASUKEEE!"