Sakura was walking home, thinking about the fact that he had absorbed natural energy, wondering why, how.
He was walking on a path along a river in the village. He also looked at it while walking; it helped him think and gave him a nice feeling, even more so now that he was able to sense natural energy fully.
Now he also noticed that the river, like the forest, had a higher concentration of natural energy.
"Old friend, look, is this the monster you wanted to catch?!"
Sakura stopped and noticed two old men, one a bit short, holding a really big fish. They were on the other side of the river and a bit far apart.
The old guy got up from his fishing chair and shouted, "Damn you, monkey! Stealing the fish I had my eyes on again!"
He looked really angry, but then he noticed his fishing rod was shaking big time. This one had to be a real monster. If he caught it, he would show this old monkey.
Picking up his fishing rod fast, he gripped it hard, but he did not expect that the fish was so big that just a bit of movement made the fishing rod move so much. When it felt something pulling on its mouth, the fish rushed to another part of the river.
In that moment, the fishing rod, together with the old man who was not expecting this, was shoved into the river. The old man gave up his grip on the fishing rod after some meters of being pulled by the fish and was saved.
The other short man laughed, and Sakura himself laughed. If he had a phone and filmed this, he could make some good views on a short video platform back in his previous world.
The drenched man got up, not on the ground, but started floating on the river and then getting up like from a solid mass and then walking to the shore.
He noticed the short man laughing but also a kid on the other side laughing. "What are you laughing at, kid!"
Sakura, who noticed these old men were ninjas, left fast.
After Sakura left, the short man did come to the side of the drenched man, who was using a wind jutsu to dry off, and said, "Danzo, don't scare kids."
"Shut up, Hiruzen! Don't think I didn't notice you laughing."
After arriving home, Sakura was sitting at the table with both his parents.
Sakura was wolfing down food; he felt a bit hungrier than usual. It must be from the natural energy. As he was going home, he thought that his physical energy had increased because of the natural energy, as the energy made the foundation of physical energy, the body, somehow stronger. This was harder to feel than physical energy.
But it also could not do it just out of thin air; it must have used nutrients that were saved in the body to do some of these things. After all, it was natural energy; it could not become proteins, lipids, or carbohydrates.
Now his body was more hungry.
After finishing his portions, he put another one on his plate.
"Are you okay, Sakura?" asked his mom, Mebuki. Sakura always ate a bit extra but not another portion.
"You're eating a lot. What if you become bigger than me?" said his father, thinking it was funny. But both his son and his wife looked at him with cold eyes.
"I just feel more hungry today, maybe because I ran around more today," said Sakura.
Mebuki nodded before asking, "Still going to the forest? How about making some friends?"
Sakura thought. He did not need to go to the forest almost all day to try to sense natural energy, so he could also look around to see if he could find some kids from the Konoha Eleven to befriend and to see if their gender was also changed.
"I am going to try to find some friends tomorrow."
At this young age, it is the easiest to befriend people, so he should try. And the Konoha Eleven are all people who, in the future, would be influential in Konoha, so it does not hurt to befriend them. It's even recommended to get friends in high places, especially with him being a civilian.
"Very good."
After eating, he took a bath and then lay in bed. He tried to sense natural energy again before going to bed. It was very thin compared to the forest and river, but even thinner than outside. He did not try to absorb it right now; he did not want to be hungry again and just went to sleep.
The next day, after eating breakfast, he left the house after getting some pocket money from his dad.
He just walked around and even stopped at a shop to buy some chips. From what he remembered, Choji, the heir to the Akimichi clan patriarch, a clan full of foodies that need to eat to have enough saved chakra to use their Yang Release technique to become bigger and part of the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance with the Nara and Yamanaka clans, liked some egg-flavored chips.
As he was walking around, he heard some kids arguing. Turning around a corner, he saw some kids. One of them had a pineapple head of black hair and was arguing for another kid who was a bit chubby with spiky brown hair and some swirl patterns on his cheeks.
Jackpot!
"If Choji isn't playing, the teams would be uneven."
"Shikamaru, why are you trying to protect Choji? We all know that all the teams he is playing on always lose. It would be better to have fewer people than him."
"Yeah, we are not playing with him."
Choji, who heard this, left crying, going right by Sakura, who was leaning against a wall. Shikamaru, seeing this, also followed the chubby kid.
Sakura looked at the kids and just spat out, "Brats who don't know the world."
What can you expect from brats at such a young age, not knowing heaven and earth and offending the next patriarch of the Akimichi clan? It's good that Choji is a kind soul and not some vengeful Uchiha kid.
Inside his mind, Inner Sakura said while rubbing his imaginary beard, "These young juniors are really courting death these days."
Sakura just shook his head and followed after Shikamaru.
Arriving at the scene, he noticed Shikamaru and Choji introducing themselves. From what he remembers, this must be the scene where they become friends.
He also intruded. Shikamaru noticed him; his bright pink hair was iconic and eye-catching, and said, "You are the guy who was watching, right?"
"Yeah, I was looking around for some quality friends and just noticed what was happening. Sakura Haruno is my name."
"Shikamaru Nara."
"Choji Akimichi."
Both Choji and Shikamaru introduced themselves back. Shikamaru was especially interested; this kid looked and behaved mature, like him.
Taking out the bag of chips, Sakura handed it to Choji. "Here, big guy, food is medicine for the soul."
Sakura was not sure if this was true for all people, but for Akimichi, it surely helped.
Choji said, surprised, "Scrambled egg flavor? These are my favorites. How about we eat it all three together? I also have some snacks."
Sakura nodded and said while taking a look at Shikamaru, "Okay, let's eat and watch clouds."
Shikamaru, hearing about watching clouds, thought he had found his lost twin brother but recovered. "Sounds good," he added.
Choji was happy, he had made two friends and even got some extra snacks, and his new friends wanted to eat together with him.
"Choji, you're sitting in my usual spot. Can you move a little?" asked Shikamaru.
"Oh, sorry."
After Choji moved, Shikamaru and Sakura sat next to him.
"Eating chips and watching clouds is the best," said Shikamaru as he looked at the clouds.
Sakura and Choji agreed.
Where they were sitting was a good spot right next to the river, so Sakura, while sitting, started to sense the natural energy and sometimes tried to get a chip.
This kind of disturbed the sensing, but maybe this could be training to sense natural energy while also moving.
Several hours went by. Shikamaru and Choji were not doing much talking; Shikamaru was really watching the clouds, and Choji mostly ate. So Sakura was able to focus and even had a bit of success in keeping the sensing going.
But after some time, he stopped eating and fully concentrated, trying to absorb some natural energy, still in small amounts. And the same thing that happened the previous time happened again.
He did not try too absorb more in one sitting after that and still kept absorbing in small quantities but not continuously, only after the one inside got fully absorbed then he would absorb again nature energy, he fully stopped when he felt really hungry. If he kept going, he might die of hunger because of it.
Besides absorbing natural energy, he also realized that when natural energy enters his body, some of it gets absorbed first, and then the part not absorbed moves in the chakra meridians and gets absorbed in parts of almost the same quantity as it was at first when it entered the body, but it increased little by little as he did it.
Also, he came up with a theory that the natural energy strengthened the vitality of the cells or something. He did not feel anything happening with his muscles, bones, or organs, and he had a pretty good sense of the inside of his body, developed from all this meditation.
But he felt a little more energetic. So it looks like the body still needs to be trained to have strong bones and muscles and they don't get stronger automatically with the increase in cell vitality. Maybe they strengthen a little, but that little must be astronomically small and still necessitate physical training.
Still, he didn't know why he was able to do this. Is it because of his massive difference in spiritual and physical energy that boost his control to be able to absorb natural energy in really small quantities so it would not go out of control in his body?
He did not know, but hey, if good things happen to you, there is no need to look too much into it now. Just profit and experiment.
The one who got up first was Shikamaru. "I need to go home, guys. My mom would nag if I was late for lunch."
Choji, who heard the word "lunch," also got up. "Lunch! I was about to forget about it, even though I am so hungry."
You ate all the time and most of the snacks, and you're still hungry. This was the thought of both Sakura and Shikamaru.
"How about meeting again after we've had lunch?" said Sakura.
Shikamaru nodded, and Choji did the same. Shikamaru agreed because both Sakura and Choji were not bad company, or he would not have hung with them till now to watch clouds. They are also very quiet compared to other brats. And Choji just because he wanted hang out more with his new friends.
After that, all of them dispersed, Shikamaru and Choji towards their clan compounds and Sakura home.
Entering the house, he noticed he had just arrived in time, well, a bit late, but not too much. His mom and dad were waiting for him at the table. Absorbing natural energy and observing it made the time fly without him realizing.
Mebuki looked a bit pissed off but did not try to say anything. Sakura got on his seat a bit cautiously, and just as he thought nothing would happen, a fist fell on his head.
"Ouch!"
"Mom, why?" asked Sakura. Moms in the Naruto world are really terrifying creatures.
"You're late and made us wait some minutes for you," said Mebuki. "Anyway, why did you come late?"
Sakura rubbed his head and answered, "I made some friends and didn't realize how fast time went by."
Mebuki, who heard this, hugged him and said, "Finally, my son started socializing with his peers."
Kizashi was just curious and asked, "Who are they?"
"A chubby but kind guy, Choji Akimichi, and one lazy fish with a pineapple head called Shikamaru Nara."
After some hard thinking to remember, he said, "Wait, those are the next Ino-Shika-Cho. The next heirs to their clans."
Sakura just nodded after his mother did not try to strangle him in her hug and was able to eat. Most ninjas who are from the village, who listen to the news and were a bit informed, would know who the heirs to every clan are.
"My son is so awesome, able to make friends in such high places. He follows after his father after all." Said Kizashi as he shook his head with his armed crossed, well only till he also got a fist of love from Mebuki.
The months flew by, and it was the next year, March 29, just after his birthday.
At his birthday, there were his parents, distant relatives, neighbors, and Shikamaru and Choji, whom he had invited. From Shikamaru, he got a bunch of high-quality military ration pills made by the Nara. It had slipped his mouth some time ago that he would really like military ration pills when he finished absorbing natural energy, and Shikamaru must have heard it.
Choji gave him some coupons for free meals at his favorite BBQ restaurant. That foodie must have also thought of his own self, thinking Sakura would treat him sometime when using them. Or Sakura was reading too much into it, and Choji really gave what he thought was a really good gift.
His parents got him shurikens, kunais, training equipment, and even books. Today was also the day he would start to refine chakra and start his physical training.
He did not have chances to befriend the other Konoha Eleven. He did see Naruko once when he was strolling together with Shikamaru and Choji around Konoha, but she was with Kushina doing some shopping.
He also saw Satsuki, whom he also learned is a girl. He at first thought that Sasuke couldn't be that cute, but after better observation, he realized she was a girl. She was like a padded jacket glued to Itachi when he saw her.
From what he noticed, they were pretty troublesome girls and wouldn't be as chill as the two he had already made a posse with, so he did not try intentionally to befriend them and he did not have any good chances his way.
Ino, he did not try. He knows he would get to know her by being friends with Shikamaru and Choji, but in the anime even after the Ino-Shika-Cho parents introduced Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, she did not hang out much with the two much as she was a girl with different interests from the boys.
Kiba, he did not really see him around. Maybe he did not paint his face and did not have Akamaru to make himself distinct, and he did not notice him.
There was also Shino, whom he tried to find. He would have been a good, quiet friend, but his low presence made it pretty hard to find him.
One thing he learned was the fact that Hinata was also a boy. The next morning after the kidnapping, Shikamaru asked him if he had heard something about the failed kidnapping of the Hyuga patriarch's son. It made him spit his drink. Luckily, he turned his head and did not spray Shikamaru.
After asking the name, he learned Hinata was still named Hinata like him, but Hinata is a more gender-neutral name than his own, which is very feminine. Luckily, he only made friends with Choji and Shikamaru, who did not care and did not have the personalities to say something about it.
He was attentive to see Hinata these three months since his failed kidnapping, but no luck.
He also did not hear about the Hyuga patriarch's brother killing himself to solve this. Maybe the fact that the mature jinchuriki Kushina, the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage, and Jiraiya were alive, and not as many ninjas died like in the original Nine Tails attack made Kumogakure not make ridiculous demands. They just punished the team and said it was their own initiative, signed the peace treaty which had a bit harsher terms, and left.
This also made Minato's prestige higher, which was already high in the village.
In the courtyard of the Haruno household, Kizashi was explaining, "Chakra is made of physical energy and spiritual energy. Physical energy is collected from each of the body cells, and spiritual energy from the mind's consciousness. Spiritual energy can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience, and physical energy through training, stimulants, and exercise."
Sakura knew most of these but let his father explain them so he would feel like a proud father who taught his kid.
After he finished explaining and Sakura was close to dying of boredom, he said, "Let's try to form chakra. Do you need me to insert a small amount of chakra inside you to have a feeling?"
Sakura just shook his head. "No need, Dad." Before he retook his cross-legged position.
Feeling the physical energy and spiritual energy, he tried to drag them towards his gut where chakra was molded. They were not responding at first, but after harder tugging, they gave up and went. As they met, they molded together and formed a new energy.
Feeling this energy, Sakura opened his eyes and said, "I did it."
It was not even a minute that went by, and Kizashi asked, "Already? Really?"
Sakura did not answer and just got up, went to the cherry tree in their courtyard, molded some chakra, and tried to walk on it. Feeling it was too strong and would tear the tree bark, he reduced it a bit.
With his powerful senses, he felt what would happen just from already minor things like small cracks on the bark or small slips and changed his chakra while walking until it was perfect. In no time, he was upside down on a branch.
Kizashi was petrified before he started kneeling to the sky while crying, "The six paths blessed our family; we have a one-in-hundred-years genius!"
Mebuki, who heard this, ran outside and punched Kizashi on the head. "Quiet, our neighbors would hear us making a commotion."
But as she turned around to see Sakura, she put her hand to her mouth and fell straight down on her back.
Kizashi, who rubbed his head, looked at his wife. "Mebuki?"
He shook her and realized she was unconscious. "Sakura, let's go in the house. Your mom fainted."