Purun.
Sakura halted mid-step and glanced down. Had her chest just jiggled?
"Oiiii, Sakura-chaaan!"
Looking up, Sakura saw Naruto bounding towards her, a puppy-dog look in his eyes. Judging by Kakashi and Yamato-sensei conferring in the background, Naruto hadn't begun his specialised training yet— which suited her just fine. It gave her the perfect opportunity to show off her new Kekkei Genkai!
"You cut your hair," said Naruto haltingly.
In the original timeline, Sakura had cut her long hair to free herself from Kin Tsuchi's grip, to protect the unconscious Naruto and Sasuke from Team Dosu. It had been a symbolic yet mostly hollow gesture; casting aside her feminine beauty to do whatever was necessary to defend her comrades.
"Yep," said Sakura with a strained smile. "A lot of it was burnt, anyway."
During the first few months of her new life, Sakura had often grappled with the disintegration of her identity, but with the life-threatening demands of her work and the constant presence of her teammates, she'd managed to pull through. And not only had she survived; she had thrived.
So, if haircuts symbolised leaving the past behind…
Sakura had to accept that her feminine charms were an inseparable part of her. She was not her former male self, and neither was she the original Sakura— she was a brand-new girl. Her beauty was the source of her powers, and if others thought less of her because of her curves, then that was their problem.
Because as long as she loved herself, and those she cared for loved her in return, she would be just fine.
"All right, let's get this training started!" said Sakura cheerfully. "Let's strive for a hundred-metre bustline!"
"Er, ya know…" said Naruto, scratching his head. "Aren't you here to help me with my training, Sakura-chan?"
Kakashi and Yamato walked up to the chattering pair.
"I was just about to send Pakkun to fetch you," Kakashi told her. "We were just discussing which finishing move would suit Naruto best, and we thought the simplest way to supercharge his combat ability would be to build on what he already knows."
At first, Naruto had been reluctant to make what was meant to be his unique, signature Ninjutsu a technique that someone else had already invented ("Stop being so picky," Kakashi had told him)— but the moment Naruto realised Sakura would have to train him personally, he changed his tune rather quickly. He would take the Rasengan and go beyond what even Sakura had come up with!
"I don't mind helping out," said Sakura pleasantly. "I'd never have come up with the Rasenchakram if Pervy— I mean, Jiraiya-sama— hadn't seen fit to teach it to me in the first place."
To think she had been forced to learn the Rasengan behind Jiraiya's back by asking Naruto innocent-seeming questions about the training steps…
"In order to perform the Rasenchakram," said Kakashi, holding up two fingers, "Sakura performs two things at once: a change in chakra form and a change in chakra nature… though I'm still not entirely sure how she manages both to such an extent at the same time."
Naruto crossed his arms and frowned, tilting his head from side to side.
As expected, he didn't get it…
"By mastering the Rasengan, you can already count yourself among the best in the world at changing chakra form," Sakura explained gently. "So you're already halfway there! Well done, Naruto!"
Naruto's nose seemed to extend a few centimetres, like Pinocchio.
"Aww, shucks… well, ya know…" he said bashfully, blushing and rubbing the back of his head. "It was nothing, really…"
Kakashi looked bemusedly at his two disciples. Even without her chest, Sakura could still push Naruto's buttons, lead him by the nose, and play him like a fiddle all at once. The pair reminded him, more and more, of Minato-sensei and his wife, Kushina…
"Which leaves only nature transformation," said Kakashi, raining on Naruto's parade. "Like this, watch… Chidori!"
One by one, Kakashi slowly demonstrated the hand signs. Then, a light blue glow enveloped his right hand as chakra emanated from its Tenketsu.
"Normally, I perform all the steps in rapid sequence within my body," he explained. "But for demonstration's sake, I'll show them one by one, outside my body, so you can see what's happening."
Sakura felt the hairs on her scalp rise and stand on end.
Zap! The chakra enveloping Kakashi's hand began to buzz and crackle softly, deepening to a richer shade of blue. Without performing hand signs, he had to concentrate far more, which made the process noticeably slower.
"This is nature transformation," he explained. "My chakra now acts like an electrical current."
Kakashi concentrated, focusing the raging currents inwards, and at last, the Chidori's tell-tale chirp of a thousand birds rang out.
Sakura's hair settled back down.
"Then, I perform shape transformation to give the Chidori its sharp and piercing properties," Kakashi concluded. "This way, it will stay on my hand and only discharge when I want it to."
Though comparatively harder to learn, nature transformation was the simplest way to turn chakra into a weapon. Although the Rasengan didn't involve a change in nature, it still stood as a powerful Ninjutsu in its own right, thanks to the sheer volume of rotating chakra packed into it. Which meant that if change in nature was added on top of it, it would unrivalled.
"Change in nature, got it!" said Naruto excitedly. "So, er… what's my nature, anyway?"
With a wave of his hand, Kakashi flicked two paper squares between his forefinger and middle finger.
"That's what were about to find out," he said, handing out the slips. "Here, Sakura, you take one too— just run your chakra through the paper."
Sakura already knew exactly what those squares were— crafted from chakra paper, made from a rare tree that absorbed chakra as it grew. Depending on what happened when she ran her chakra through the paper, she would learn her primary chakra nature… though, thanks to her System, she didn't exactly need to.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Naruto, eyes wide as Sakura's paper burst into flames, quickly reduced to ashes. "Oh, mine split…" he said, disappointed. "What does that mean, exactly?"
Sakura felt a twinge of disappointment that the paper didn't trigger all the reactions, despite all her affinities being over 100%. It seemed her fire affinity was simply too overwhelmingly strong…