The Legendary Fat Sheep

Ever since Sasuke saw Sakura demonstrate that move, he had barely said a word.

He walked toward the back of the group, lost in his own thoughts.

In theory, precise control of chakra could indeed accurately separate physical energy from spiritual energy.

Sasuke kicked a pebble with the toe of his shoe.

The pebble rolled into the roadside grass, startling a dusty sparrow into flight.

But it was still too early to talk about such things.

Even he, a person with Cursed Energy, hadn't fully grasped the mechanism of extracting it; dragging someone else in to experiment seemed pointless.

He would observe a bit longer; it wouldn't be too late if Sakura truly had the talent to use Cursed Energy.

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned his head.

Sakura was walking on his right, keeping about a person's distance from him.

She had tied her ponytail a little higher than usual today, and the mountain breeze had ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead; she was trying hard to make her expression look casual.

"There was a sign by the road just now, saying there are hot spring buns in the town ahead. Do you want to..."

"No."

Sakura closed her mouth, nodded, and turned her head back to watch the road.

After walking for about two minutes, Sakura turned her head again.

"Sasuke-kun, about what you said last time, the issue of recovery after a concentrated release of chakra..."

"I was thinking that maybe I could use the inertia of a rotation to pull my center of gravity back. Do you think that would be better?"

"You can try it. Just don't rotate too violently, or you'll leave a huge opening."

"Okay." Sakura replied, her fingers unconsciously pinching a strand of hair hanging by her ear, twirling it twice before letting go.

Then she spoke again.

"Sasuke-kun, are you thirsty? I brought a water bottle—"

"Not thirsty."

Naruto's loud voice came from up ahead.

"Hey Sakura! You've asked that eight hundred times already! Can't you ask something useful!"

Sakura's face burned instantly, turning red from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears.

She clenched her fists, her knuckles cracking audibly.

"Naruto, shut your mouth! When did I ask eight hundred times!"

"Just now! Are you thirsty, do you want to eat, are you tired, do you want hot spring buns, you—"

"Bang!"

Sakura punched a tree by the side of the road, leaving a new, bowl-sized crater in the trunk.

Wood chips splattered onto Naruto's hair. Naruto looked at the trunk, then at Sakura, and silently quickened his pace to walk beside Jiraiya.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura.

Sakura pulled back her fist, tucked the stray hair behind her ear, and pressed her lips into a thin line, continuing to walk with footsteps noticeably heavier than before.

Sasuke said nothing and shifted his gaze back to the road ahead.

By evening, the four of them arrived at a modest little town near Tanzaku Street.

The town didn't look very large, but it was certainly bustling with activity.

People were constantly coming and going through the curtains of the izakayas, and the lines at the skewer stalls were endless.

Two large red lanterns hung at the entrance of the Gambling den, from which the rattling of dice and the shouts of gamblers could be heard.

Jiraiya pointed to an inn at the corner of the street with a Pine Leaf sign: "Let's stay here tonight."

"I'm going to gather some intelligence; you all can go play as you like."

Naruto stood at the inn entrance, arms crossed, and snorted in the direction Jiraiya had disappeared.

"That old man just left like that? Is he really going to gather intelligence?"

Sasuke set his backpack down: "I'm going to walk around the street."

Sakura immediately followed: "I'm going too!"

Naruto raised his hand, about to speak, when Black Dog emerged from beside his feet: "You stay here and practice your clones."

"Why!"

"Because that clone of yours yesterday didn't even have a face." White Dog sat by the inn's doorframe, licking his front paw, "Even I felt sorry for it when I saw it."

Naruto's mouth turned down into an exaggerated arc.

"I want to go—"

"Naruto, good luck." Sakura pressed her palms together and smiled at Naruto, then turned to follow Sasuke.

Naruto stood where he was, watching Sasuke and Sakura's backs disappear around the street corner.

Black Dog slapped his calf with its tail again: "Form the hand seals."

"I know, I know! Clone Technique!"

The evening street was dyed a warm orange by lanterns and signs; the curtains of an izakaya swayed in the breeze, and white smoke sizzled off the iron plate of a grilled dango stall.

Sasuke walked slowly with his hands in his pockets, Sakura by his side.

He had no interest in window shopping, but a new location meant new intelligence and new resources; at the very least, he should map out the terrain.

Escaping Rabbit slipped out of the shadows at some point, hopped onto an empty wooden crate by the roadside, and crouched down. Its long ears swiveled, and its red eyes stared at two drunks arguing in front of a casino across the way.

"...They've been at it for a long time." Escaping Rabbit commented in a soft, milky voice.

Sakura walked to Sasuke's right. She had been quite happy at first, but after walking half the street, she suddenly noticed several young women secretly glancing at Sasuke.

A shopkeeper carrying a vegetable basket smiled at Sasuke, and the girl selling desserts nearby pretended to wipe her table while her eyes kept darting in their direction.

There were also two girls walking side-by-side, a few years older than Sakura; one of them leaned over to whisper something in the other's ear, and both of them covered their mouths and giggled.

Sakura's fists clenched tight.

Hey! How old is Sasuke anyway! You old cows, what kind of tender grass are you trying to graze on!

She quickened her pace, just as a girl walked toward them.

The girl was cradling a long-haired white cat in her arms, and the kitten was incredibly cute.

Sakura had originally been drawn to the kitten, but after looking up, she realized the girl was staring blankly at Sasuke with her mouth slightly agape.

This girl! I really want to punch her!

No, I can't do that.

She was now a comrade whose strength was recognized by Sasuke; she wasn't the same as she was a year ago!

Sakura raised her hands and slapped her cheeks hard, the palms colliding with her face with a crisp sound.

Escaping Rabbit looked at her curiously: "Sakura? Why did you hit yourself?"

"Hitting a mosquito."

"A mosquito? I didn't see one?"

Just then, the casino curtain by the roadside was flung open from the inside.

A tall woman with long blonde hair stepped out.

She wore a grey-green short jacket over a robe with the character for Gambling on the back. A diamond-shaped purple mark sat on her forehead, and she wore high-heeled sandals that clicked rhythmically against the stone pavement as she walked.

Her face was slightly flushed, and the smell of alcohol on her breath could be detected from several paces away, yet her gait lacked the staggering sway of a drunkard; it was merely a bit loose.

The woman raised her arms and stretched, the hem of her jacket lifting to reveal the firm muscles of her abdomen.

Then she stopped, squinted, glanced at the sign above the door, and looked down at her empty coin purse.

"Shizune, how much money do we have left?"

The girl following behind her, carrying luggage and cradling a pink Piggy, looked down and counted the coins in the wallet.

"Lady Tsunade, there are only three hundred ryo left. If we gamble again, we won't be able to afford the inn."

"Ah—! Lost again! That bastard dealer is definitely cheating!" Tsunade grabbed a handful of her blonde hair and whipped the strands falling over her shoulders back with a fierce motion.

"Twelve bets in a row and they were all small! Twelve times! What kind of hellish luck is this!"

Shizune, trailing behind her, hunched her shoulders and whispered comfortingly: "Lady Tsunade, um, let's just head back to the inn. Today's budget is already..."

"Shut up! Shizune! Can't I win it back!"

"If we can't stay at an inn, we'll just make do under a bridge for the night."

Tsunade shoved the coin purse into her clothes and yawned.

She turned around to step away, but her peripheral vision caught the group standing by the roadside.

A little boy with black hair, two dogs, a rabbit, and a pink-haired girl.

Tsunade's footsteps faltered.

Her gaze landed on the fan crest on the back of Sasuke's shirt.

"A brat from the Uchiha clan?"