In hindsight it had been a ridiculous request. Embarrassment slowly flooded her cheeks as she realized how foolish she must've sounded when she had asked the woman who is the world's best medic and the fifth hokage to teach her on top of all her other responsibilities. Of course she would say no.

"Ah, Tsunade-sama, I know I'm asking a lot, but if you could please just let me prove-" Sakura begins to plead, but Tsunade is having none of it. "Haruno Sakura, my answer is final. Pestering me will only result in you getting D ranks for at least a month." Tsunade's tone softens slightly, but her expression remains firm. "I am uncertain you have the necessary skills to become my apprentice."

Sakura barely manages to suppress a wince. So it's because she's weak then. She's always been weak, and she hates it. "I understand. Sorry to have bothered you." She replies softly. Shizune, who'd actually been the hokage's student, gives her a look of pity. "Look. If you're still interested in becoming a medic, perhaps someone at the hospital will be willing to teach you." Tsunade tells her. Sakura nods and quickly excuses herself. She goes home and it isn't until she's clicked her front door shut that she starts crying.

"Stupid, I've been so stupid." Sakura berates herself between sobs. What, did she think that because her teammates were being trained by Sanin she would be too? Sakura let out a harsh laugh through her tears. Stupid. Her teammates were the last Uchiha and a demon container. She was a paper ninja from a civilian family. She couldn't compete with them.

But what could she do? She didn't have any teammates in the village or a sensei to teach her. She had been left behind. Again. Sakura dragged herself up to her bedroom before throwing herself u gracefully onto her bed. What came next?

"I'm tired of being weak. Of being left behind." Sakura said to herself. But what could she do to change that? Could she change that? But how? Her attempt to get Tsunade to train her failed spectacularly, so what did that leave her?

Sakura bit her lip. Retiring as a thirteen year old genin? How humiliating. But being so weak as to remain a genin while all her peers moved forward was even worse. What would her teammates think? What would Ino think? Sakura grit her teeth. Her teammates might not even notice. Well, Naruto would when he got back, whenever that was. Sasuke might not even come back, and Kakashi? She hadn't seen him in ages! Even when she was the only student he had left to train he didn't pay much attention to her.

"I'll just have to find my own teacher then." Sakura declared, feeling only half as confident as she sounded. Tsunade had mentioned going to the hospital. Sakura nodded, "It's a start. I'll go there tomorrow."

X-X-X

The hospital was open 24-7, but Sakura highly doubted they'd want her there at the crack of dawn. So she didn't wake up any earlier than she normally did, and took her time making her way to the hospital. Hopefully things would go better here than they had with Tsunade. Well, the hokage did send her here, and she probably wouldn't have bothered if they'd just turn her away too. Unless she lied to Sakura to get her out of her hair. Sakura grimaced, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. The sound of her name snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Sakura! Over here forehead!" It was Ino. Even if she hadn't recognized the voice, no one else would've dared to call her that. Sakura turned around and gave her rival and friend a smile, "What's up, Pig?" Ino rolled her eyes at the nickname, but was smiling, "I've got an apprenticeship, so I'm going to the hospital." Sakura blinked, had Ino gotten the same idea too? Sakura considered telling her that she was planning on obtaining an apprenticeship herself, but with the previous rejection fresh in her mind she didn't bring it up.

"So the hospital staff has agreed to teach you? That's great!" Sakura said instead. Ino's smile grew and she brightened, "Even better! Tsunade-Sama herself agreed to teach me when I approached her the other day. She says I have good potential." Ino bragged. "Oh." Sakura stated, suddenly feeling unpleasant and very, very upset. "T-that's amazing Ino! I'm happy for you." Sakura told her friend. "Thanks. So what are you up to?" Ino questioned.

"The library. My minds my greatest strength, isn't it? I've gotta keep it sharp." Sakura tapped a finger to her head and put on a fake smile. Ino might not have bought it, but didn't question further. "You do that. The hospital is up ahead, I'll see you later." Ino left with a wave.

Sakura clenched her hands into fists. Tsunade rejected her, but not Ino. Sakura couldn't help but feel jealous. Ino was her equal, what did Tsunade see in Ino that she couldn't also see in Sakura? Sakura felt horrible for thinking it and knew if it was the other way around Ino would probably be happy for her, but she couldn't help it. The dismay over yesterday returned in full force, with the information of Ino's apprenticeship on top of it. Sakura quickly blinked the unshed tears out of her eyes. No, she needed to get a grip, not be jealous over Ino. If Tsunade wants to train Ino and not Sakura, fine. Sakura would train herself, and she wouldn't let her rival leave her behind. Not when everyone else had.

Sakura shoved down her feelings of anger and inadequacy and marched over to the library. The sight of the library soothed her, once she was inside and surrounded by books and paper and quiet, Sakura felt almost completely calm. She was in her element.

She browsed the shelves, looking for a book that caught her interest. There was one on medical ninjutsu, Sakura reached out for it but stopped, and let her hand drop back to her side. As useful of a skill as it would be, Tsunade's rejection was still fresh in her mind, and more importantly, she wasn't going to have people think she was trying to copy Ino. She was her own person, and she'd find something that would better distinguish herself from her peers and keep her on their level. A thin red book caught her attention.

"The Fundamentals of Genjutsu. Huh." Sakura gave the book a thoughtful look. Iruka and the other academy instructors always said she seemed to have an affinity for genjutsu, something not many leaf ninja specialized in. "Genjutsu it is then." Sakura decided before tucking the book under her arm. She wondered if she could find any other books on the subject while she was here.

To her disappointment, she only found two other books. One that focused on the sensing and dispelling of genjutsu (which would undoubtedly be helpful) and another that was primarily about genjutsu and its affect on the mind and body. Compared to the numerous books and scrolls on ninjutsu and taijutsu, Sakura was underwhelmed. But something was better than nothing.

Finding an unoccupied table, Sakura wasted no time getting to work. None of the books were all that thick, so she managed to get a quarter way done with the second book sometime in the afternoon. Sakura had been so engrossed in her readings that she was unaware of how much time had passed until her stomach began to rumble.

'It's already half past one? I've been in the library this whole time.' Sakura blinked in surprise before stretching. She had a solid understanding of the basics of genjutsu's effect on the body and how it was supposed to be done, now it was time to attempt to actually do it. Her stomach growled again. "Maybe I can grab some lunch first."

Sakura checked out her books and picked up some dango before heading over to the training grounds, a spring in her step. It was so exciting! She'd finally have something to help put her on equal footing with everyone else. Sure, genjutsu might not be flashy or destructive like ninjutsu, but it definitely had its uses. Maybe not against the sharingan or byakugan, but she doubted she'd be facing off against any Uchiha or Hyuga anytime soon.

The training ground was empty, much to Sakura's relief, and she made quick work of one of her dango sticks before opening The Fundamentals of Genjutsu. The book contained two basic genjutsu techniques: the false surroundings technique and the hell viewing technique. Sakura read through the instructions one final time before attempting the false surroundings illusion.

Sakura carefully ran her hands through the required seals and attempted to make the flat, grassy training area look like a dense forest. The scenery changed, but not entirely. There were a few massive trees with large leaves and vines and other foliage here and there, but the area she tried to cover was large, and the genjutsu almost seemed to be spread too thin. Plants and trees lacked detail, and seemed...fake. The leaves did not have any veins and the bark looked too smooth. Sakura dispelled the genjutsu.

She needed things to be more detailed, and less spread out. Maybe if she tried again in a smaller area? But that wouldn't guarantee things would be more realistic. Maybe if she just concentrated harder? Sakura ran her hands through the seals again, and envisioned a dense jungle, much like the one in the forest of death. The grassy portion of the training grounds around her became dark, dense forest, with thick leafy bushes and trees that towered over her.

"It looks a little more realistic this time." Sakura mused. An improvement, but she could make it better. If she really wanted to fool people, she had to get even the smallest details correct. With that in mind, Sakura ran through the required seals and cast the illusion all over again.

Sakura had spent the better part of an hour practicing the false surroundings illusion, but she was finally satisfied with the results. "Too bad I don't have someone to test them on." Sakura sighed. She glanced over at the second technique in her book, the hell viewing illusion. Sakura had plenty of experience with it unfortunately, from both her sensei and an S-class criminal. Sakura glanced over the instructions of the jutsu. It didn't seem too complex, but she'd need someone to cast it on if she wanted to know whether or not it'd work.

Sakura considered attempting it anyway, but took a moment to check her reserves. "Nearly depleted. I guess I'll have to try later." Sakura commented, feeling slightly annoyed. Sasuke wouldn't have been winded after an hour, and Naruto had enough chakra to last him for days, even Ino wouldn't have run out of chakra yet!

Sakura let out a huff. She really needed to do something about that. Maybe the library had something that would be of use to her. With a stretch and a yawn, Sakura gathered her things and left the training ground, she'd do more tomorrow.

X-X-X

The library, Sakura reflected as she made her way to the training grounds, was a vastly underused resource for Shinobi. There was so much knowledge on such a wide variety of things, yet Sakura seemed to be the only one really utilizing it, and even she'd only just start to take advantage of what it had to offer. She checked out two different books on chakra theory and manipulation and even found a section on various ways to increase ones reserves.

"With these exercises, maybe I'll finally have enough chakra to learn some ninjutsu!" Sakura exclaimed. Or at the very least not constantly suffer from chakra exhaustion. Still, it would be cool to learn an elemental jutsu or two later on. But she had enough to work on for now.

"Since we have a mission later today, but I'm cutting our training session sort for today. Good job everyone. I'll see you at the Hokage tower in two hours." A pleasant voice says from the other side of the field. It's someone Sakura has actually been considering seeking out. Kurenai, the greatest (and as far as she knows) only genjutsu expert in Kohona. And she's with her team.

Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat at the sight of them. She couldn't make out the words, but they were happy. Kiba was doing most of the talking as he lead his teammates from the training grounds, Akamaru at his heels, while the other two listened to him and occasionally put in their own input.

Sakura wondered if they were going out to eat together. It was almost lunch time. Her team rarely ate lunch together. In fact, Sakura could count all the times on her fingers when two or more of them went and ate ramen together (Naruto, being himself, refused to eat elsewhere). Come to think of it her team rarely did anything together outside of missions and training. Once they were dismissed they had been all to eager to get away from each other. Naruto always did like to ask her on a date, and she'd be lying if she claimed she'd never done the same to Sasuke-kun. Sakura watches their retreating figures with a twinge of jealously, before she remembers that Kurenai is still there, and the older woman's eyes are focused on her.

They're a lovely shade of red, warm and intelligent, and Sakura thinks that everything else about Kurenai is pretty lovely too. Black hair that was intentionally scruffy, but didn't make her look messy, and a fully matured body with a figure subtly emphasized with the tightly wrapped bandages making up her dress. The Jounin raises a brow, and Sakura flushes at having been caught staring.

"Ah, hello Yuhi-san." Sakura greets, unsure of how to go about asking the woman for tips on genjutsu. She gives Sakura a small smile, "Hello. Sakura-chan, is that right?" Kurenai asks. Sakura nods, feeling slightly less nervous thanks to the woman's amiable tone. "It's nice to meet you. I, um, study genjutsu too. Though I'm nowhere near advanced. Just starting out really." Sakura finishes in a rush. She doesn't want to sound cocky, especially since she's only just gotten started.

Kurenai nods, and as if sensing Sakura's thoughts she gives her an offer, "I see. Did you perhaps want any pointers?" "R-really? I mean, only if that's okay, I really don't want to bother you." Sakura stammers. She can't help but feel surprised that the woman would bother to help her out. Maybe she just didn't want Sakura beating around the bush. Still, it was an opportunity she wouldn't let go to waste.

"I've been working on the hell viewing technique, but I don't know if it works without someone to test it on. I was also curious why the false surroundings technique seems to work better on a smaller area, or if that's just cause I'm starting out." Sakura spoke quickly, trying to get all her questions out while she had the chance.

Kurenai blinked before tapping a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I see. Concerning the hell viewing technique, it's different from the false surroundings. The hell viewing is aimed at specific targets whilst the false surroundings is on anyone close enough who's unaware of the jutsu. The hell viewing is very basic, but like all genjutsu that don't act more similarly to the false surroundings a sort of image or "secondary layer" can appear to show you what the target sees, as well as if you're doing it right. However you do need an actual target. Perhaps your sensei can help you with that. Kakashi isn't bad with genjutsu either."

Sakura fidgets and is uncertain of how to tactfully explain her sensei's ineptness for teaching, but Kurenai continues, saving her the trouble. "I suppose he might not have in depth explanations. He's never been a fan of lengthy educational lectures. As for the false surroundings, it was designed for a small area, so it can't be helped. However with enough practice you should be able to modify it and make it cover a larger area, at the expense of more chakra, of course. I hope that helped."

Sakura nodded, "Very much, thank you." Kurenai smiles, "I'm happy to give you pointers when I'm not working with my team. It's not often I find someone interested in genjutsu. It's refreshing. See you around Sakura-chan." Kurenai gave her a wave before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Note: the wiki says Kurenai is like an older sister type. So I figure she's supportive and wouldn't mind helping Sakura out. Any suggestions on how to improve characterizations would be helpful though. Or just my writing in general.