Chapter Notes:<\/b><\/p>\n
For a chapter called \u201cWe Move as One,\u201d it has an underlying theme of secrets. They become more united as a team, but the reality is they each still have a lot of secrets that can come between them. And for Sakura, life-changing moments have happened when she\u2019s separated from her team\u2026. So her time with Chiyo will have a lasting impact on her. As for Chiyo and the Sand experience, like everything else it will not be written the same as the original. Different orders of events, different motivations, different outcomes. Just keep that in mind. Favorite bits about this chapter: Kakashi being crazy. Sai being slowly pushed over the edge, first by Kakashi, and then with Sakura making him reveal his weaknesses in drawing birds. Sakura one-upping Sasuke. Sasuke and Sai becoming emotionally attached in their own small ways. The bittersweet parting of Sasuke and Sakura at the end. This sets the stage for growth for Sakura and the big changes to come.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>\u2022 They both knew what Sakura and Sai and the rest of their classmates did not: Sasuke was under observation by the council.<\/i> \u2014 Continuation in the backstory about Sasuke. His is the opposite of Naruto\u2019s upbringing. Where Naruto was forgotten, Sasuke, as the last remaining child of a powerful clan, was monitored so that he would grow up to be a loyal Konoha citizen. They don\u2019t want him to turn out like Itachi. And he also is the sole inheritor of a large chunk of Konoha\u2019s land. So, they are keeping him on a short leash, basically. It gives Sasuke a good reason to fight back against the village instead of becoming more loyal to it.<\/p>\n \u2022 Kakashi did not greet them. Instead he pulled a large roll of red ribbon from his pocket and began to unwind it.<\/i> \u2014 Play on \u2018the red thread of fate.\u2019 And also ties to Sakura\u2019s braiding the grass and tying them with sacred red thread. Kakashi is reminding them they are connected by their lives. Like blood moving between them, the rope is the literal version of \u2018we move as one.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2022 At the roads, Sasuke nodded but never looked back. Sai did the same. They split off, leaving Sakura standing in the middle. She gulped. Something was wrong. She couldn\u2019t let them leave\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0Sakura is the one thinking of teamwork in the early days of Team 7. But at the end of the chapter, it is Sasuke who tries to stop them from separating in the desert, showing just how much he\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n \u2022 He looked up at her completely confused. But she smiled as she wrote, \u201cI\u2019ve got a plan!\u201d<\/i> \u2014 This is Sakura\u2019s whole power, right here. She sees the bigger picture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 There, creeping through the canopy, was Sakura. She was moving slowly, arms out, swaying a little, as gently as tree limbs. On her outstretched arms were three remaining birds.<\/i> \u2014 Love this mental image of her. This feels like something that would happen in the manga in the early days of Team 7.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cAre you saying I made a mistake in choosing my team,\u201d he roared, leaning into Sasuke\u2019s face, daring him to keeping going.<\/i> \u2014 Even though Kakashi is eccentric, he\u2019s totally a scary bad-ass when he wants to be. Just don\u2019t make him mad.<\/p>\n \u2022 Even in the hot sun, the sight gave Sakura a chill. \u201cK-Kakashi-sensei,\u201d Sakura whispered. \u201cAm I seeing things? I-Is that\u2026a ghost?\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Another little twist on Kakashi\u2019s ghostly tricks, with Team 7 and Chiyo both thinking they\u2019re seeing ghosts, and Kakashi the only one who\u2019s got it all figured out.<\/p>\n \u2022 Kakashi interjected, misinterpreting her stumbling words as modesty. \u201cSakura passed the field medic exam her first year out of academy,\u201d he beamed. \u201cTsunade chose her specifically\u2014\u201c<\/i> \u2014 Kakashi is using his prior knowledge of Chiyo\u2019s medical background to push Sakura in front of her. His praise is honest, but more than that he trusts Sakura, and he doesn\u2019t trust Chiyo. So if she finds kinship in another medic, Sakura, then that\u2019s one more person to be keeping an eye on her from their group.<\/p>\n \u2022 He knew that look. The sharp focus of her green eyes. It used to frustrate him so much when they were younger, especially when she\u2019d figured out a course of action and wouldn\u2019t let it go until they saw it her way. Now, he relied on her instincts like his life depended on it. <\/i>\u2014 If Katsuro is anywhere in this chapter, it\u2019s here. Sasuke has evolved so far that he can recognize finally that \u201cNever give up\u201d quality in Sakura that Katsuro saw so long ago.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cNo!!\u201d Sasuke\u2019s voice stopped them, desperate to keep them from separating. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t just split up when we come across\u2014\u201c he dropped his voice to a harsh whisper, \u201csome crazy woman in the desert! Sakura shouldn\u2019t go with her, alone\u2014\u201c <\/i>\u2014 Now Sasuke is the one to pull them all back together. This is the counterpart to the flashback scene where Sakura pulls them back together to plan for their day off. But now, Sasuke is the one who is desperate to keep the team together, again showing how much he\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n \u2022 But the biggest change was in Sasuke and Sakura. Nothing came between them now. <\/i>\u2014 Bittersweet foreshadowing. It hints that after this, there will be more and more that stands between them, and more and more that they keep from each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Sasuke looked at her whole face for one long moment before nodding slowly once, as if accepting her words. Sakura heard his voice in her head. \u201cWe move as one.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i> \u2014 This is a good snapshot of their relationship, of being in a kind of sync. It works, and it\u2019s not bad. But it\u2019s not the only kind of relationship she can have. So this little non-verbal communication\/in-sync kind of thing will be contrasted with future relationships when a *cough, cough* person from her past returns. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n \u2022 Then, they broke apart.<\/i> \u2014 In a chapter called \u2018We Move as One,\u2019 this sentence marks a turning point. It suggests that though they may still be a team in the future, perhaps that won\u2019t always be as united as they are in this moment. It hints at an ending.<\/p>\n \u2022 Only their blue shadows lingered, the watery edges touching a moment longer, before they too split and drifted steadily away in opposite directions off the dune.<\/i> \u2014 This is a nod to their first kiss, standing in the stream. It\u2019s only the watery shadow that touches, and then it breaks apart, like being carried away by water. It feels like they are being pulled away by forces they cannot control, moving toward two very different fates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u201cYou name was Hana, Hama\u2014\u201c<\/i> \u2014 total foreshadowing here, using the name of a character from another series, Hama, the blood bender, from Avatar the Last Airbender. Points to you if you caught it! Perhaps Chiyo isn\u2019t as nice and grandmotherly as she seems\u2026.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Sakura\u2019s cupped hand spilled over with emerald light, as if it was water carried from a desert oasis. Luminous green reflected up onto the cliff wall and lined Chiyo\u2019s face, making her wrinkles look even deeper. It swirled and moved, disappearing at the edges and bubbling up again from the center of her hand.<\/i> \u2014 Sakura\u2019s chakra is like water. Literally. There will be more about how unique it is, but in this moment, she and her regenerative powers are the oasis in the desert.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re carrying quite a secret around with you,\u201d Chiyo said. Her pleasant, grandmother voice was long gone. Now it was as hard as the desert ground beneath their feet. \u201cYou are much better than you let on.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 It\u2019s been hinted at, but here it\u2019s apparent that her grandmotherly routine is just that \u2014 an act.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cYou\u2019re running out of time,\u201d Kakashi yelled at Sasuke\u2019s back. \u201cI know what Itachi\u2019s after! I know about the prophecy, and\u2014\u00a0 <\/span>I know about the curse!\u201c \u2014 <\/i>Sasuke of course, is from the cursed clan. There will be more on this to come, and about the two halves of old prophecies that Naruto and Sasuke both live under: that of which is the chosen one and which is the cursed one.<\/p>\n \u2022 That boy wasn\u2019t the one he was looking for.<\/i> \u2014 Kakashi\u2019s secret: He\u2019s looking for Naruto. He\u2019s not looking for Gaara. He has a double need to find Itachi now: for Sasuke, as he\u2019s already stated, but also for Naruto. He took the best team he knew to find the person that was the most important to him. And he took the best tracker to find an Uchiha: another Uchiha. For Kakashi, this whole search is not about Gaara, and it\u2019s only indirectly about Itachi. It\u2019s about Naruto.<\/p>\n \u2022 Sasuke knew Kakashi was right. He had to trust Sakura. If anyone could pull through something like that, it was her. <\/i>\u2014 A lovely final thought from Sasuke, where he recognizes her strength and ability. He\u2019s come full circle as a teammate. But Sakura is just beginning a different journey, and what she needed in the past from a teammate might not be what she needs in the future.<\/p>\n Spoiler Notes:<\/b><\/p>\n \u2022 Kakashi was no longer in the mood to keep that secret.<\/i> \u2014 Even though it\u2019s named \u2018We move as One,\u2019 this chapter is all about secrets. They all have hidden parts that they don\u2019t share.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Kakashi looked at the three before him. It wasn\u2019t lost on him that any time they stood together, Sakura and Sasuke always put Sai in between them. That was a problem for another time. \u2014<\/i> Foreshadowing their closeness at the end.<\/p>\n \u2022 Not wanting to be alone together, Sakura and Sasuke both left immediately, going fast in opposite directions. <\/i>\u2014 A few nights later in the flashback, they don\u2019t want to be left alone together.<\/p>\n \u2022 She might have mentioned it if either of them had been closer. But Sai kept making more animals and Sasuke kept shooting out flame blasts. From where she stood, she could see what they did not: Their skills were on a collision course\u2014<\/i> \u2014 Sakura seeing the bigger picture here, illustrating that this is her more subtle but still equally powerful skill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Their devised plan worked, and worked well. And Sakura, the self-proclaimed \u2018normal one\u2019 in the group without the strange and terrifying powers, was left to just wait for them.<\/i> \u2014 In the flashback, Sakura doesn\u2019t see her ability to \u201csee the bigger picture\u201d as a powerful skill. But as foreshadowing, Sakura\u2019s true powers have not yet been revealed, even to her. She thinks she is \u2018the normal one,\u2019 but that is far from the truth. So in her Team 7 days, her idea of herself is firmly established as the one without<\/i> the crazy powers. But, by the end of the chapter, Chiyo is clearly seeing something else in her, something powerful, and comments that she must be hiding her skill. So Sakura\u2019s story in this chapter is her growth from normal one to being on the threshold of to-be-revealed powers. And the foreshadowing points to this all the way.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cWell done, Sakura. Your medic training has taught you to see the big picture, then zoom in on the finest details. You are learning to pick out what matters and what doesn\u2019t. You two could learn something from this,\u201d he said, looking at the two boys. \u201cIt will make you better shinobi.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Kakashi needed to give Sakura more direct validation and encouragement in the original. I think it might have gone something like this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter when he took his exam,\u201d Kakashi said quietly. \u201cYou are not falling behind. You need your teammates. Both of them.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 With the amount of ptsd Sasuke has, he would have been constantly obsessing about measuring up to where Itachi was at the same point in his life. Not just a surly kid who needed a friend, but a troubled young man who saw everyone around him \u2014 even those who wanted to help him \u2014 as an obstacle to his revenge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Less than two weeks after that, during a mandatory \u201cteam-building\u201d mission on foreign soil, Sakura was abducted. Though her team was with her, it did not help her. In those life-changing minutes when she left to collect herbs, Sakura was alone.<\/i> \u2014 Full circle, back to the beginning of chapter one for them.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Kakashi and Chiyo\u2019s exchange in the Sand<\/i> \u2014 There\u2019s so much strange about this interaction in the manga. Kakashi acts like it\u2019s normal for a foreign nin with three kids to assist in the hunt for that country\u2019s abducted leader. No other Sand nins except his two young siblings have managed to find the Kazekage. And Chiyo is friendly to them, and even helpful to Sakura. All of this is at odds with nations that have often been at war with each other, and shinobi who are trained to be skeptical of everything. So Kakashi and Chiyo\u2019s interactions reflect this innate distrustfulness that should have been present, even between two eccentric, albeit powerful, characters.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cIt is, of course, the safest place to hide such a,\u201d his voice dropped a notch, \u201cprecious vessel.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Kakashi dropping hints about knowing it\u2019s Gaara, their jinchuriki, that\u2019s been abducted.<\/p>\n \u2022 Chiyo had given Sakura the same disinterested nod as Sai and was moving on when Kakashi added, \u201cSakura is a shinobi and a medic. She is also apprentice to Tsunade, our Kage, whom I think you know\u2014\u201c Sakura looked at him in surprise, just as Chiyo turned to her in surprise.\u00a0<\/span><\/i> \u2014 Foreshadowing here. One of the tenets of secrecy in the shinobi world is to never reveal your true power, or at least the full extent of it. So here, it\u2019s Kakashi who reveals that Sakura has medical training, something she probably wouldn\u2019t have done herself in this story. And Kakashi would most certainly have never revealed his student\u2019s skill. So it\u2019s a measure of his distrust of Chiyo that he is basically pushing Sakura into making a connection with her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Sakura put on a smile. If acting the role of medic got the mission done, then she\u2019d do it. \u201cI\u2019m happy to assist in any way I can.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 This sounds like Sakura from the manga.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0The spires were still off in the distance, but Sakura decided these must be the ones in Sai\u2019s drawing. She was just wondering how he knew about it, perhaps it was from some secret intelligence from anbu\u2014<\/i> \u2014 So Sakura is on the right track. Sai is communicating through his drawings when he sometimes can\u2019t speak the classified intel out loud. More on this to come.<\/p>\n \u2022 Chiyo looked at him, setting her jaw, daring him to defy her. Laws and alliances meant he had to obey, and they both knew it. She was an elder of the Sand Village. It was a command. He could be thrown in prison for even delaying this long in answering a direct order of one so high up in a host nation.<\/i> \u2014 Shinobi should still be governed by their own codes of laws, even though they work outside the sight of civilians and government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 Sakura shook her head and explained more. \u201cTsunade has had me meeting all sorts of strange people lately. Really strange people. But if they\u2019ve known each other for that long, then she\u2019s probably safe. No matter how weird she seems.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Sakura makes the decision to trust her based on her connection to Tsunade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cAh, so you are different. I knew there was something special about you, from the moment I saw you\u2014\u201c She added softly to herself, \u201cShe must have seen it too\u2026.\u201d But Chiyo refocused. \u201cContinue, Sakura of the Leaf. Tell me more about how your chakra works.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Deep foreshadowing. Like Naruto\u2019s whiskers, Sakura also bears some outward marks of power. The very few others who know can see it. But Sakura is still completely unaware of it\u2026yet.<\/p>\n \u2022 Chiyo nodded, then leaned close, wrapping a hand around Sakura\u2019s forearm for stability. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you a secret.\u201d Sakura was so intent on listening, she was only distantly aware of how warm Chiyo\u2019s hand was where it closed around her arm. \u201cWhat you just described is exactly how the Sand\u2019s puppetry works too. Chakra thinned down farther than you even think possible.\u201d She watched Sakura\u2019s green eyes as she spoke, as if reading them.<\/i> \u2014 Another bit of foreshadowing. The granny in the woods (from Chapter 44, The Hidden Forest), also did this to Sakura. Skin-to-skin contact, in a non suspicious place like a forearm. Will be revealed later to be a medic\u2019s trick to test chakra. Sakura has never met anyone who uses chakra as their weapon, so it\u2019s simply not something she\u2019s prepared for. But more than that, she is peering into Sakura\u2019s eyes, as if reading for more hidden signs. More on these to come.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cBut surely Tsunade has taught you about this?\u201d Sakura\u2019s answer was clear on her face. \u201cThe old slug certainly needs to better educate you about the gifts of your power,\u201d Chiyo muttered.<\/i> \u2014 This has echoes of what Katsuro said to her early on. That she was sent out into the world unprepared, untrained in the skills that she might need most. It\u2019s partially true.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cTsunade and I have known each other a long time. A very long time.\u201d She paused, remembering some connection before adding, \u201cWe had the same teacher.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Why not? Tsunade and Chiyo have history, and were enemies. They have a backstory, why not tie them together through their medical background.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cIn the Sand,\u201d the old woman said quietly, resting her hand on the wall with each step, \u201ca skill like yours is refined and honed. It would never be allowed to go to waste in a hospital.\u201d Chiyo said the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.<\/i> \u2014 As Chiyo is walking, she is attaching her chakra string to the wall each time she touches them.<\/p>\n \u2022 Chiyo knelt down and flattened her hands on the silty ground. She peered ahead, as if listening to the darkness.<\/i> \u2014 Chiyo is feeling for someone\u2019s chakra by shooting her own through the ground, a skill Sakura will one day master too.<\/p>\n \u2022 In that moment, Sasuke realized he had forgotten about Itachi, about his revenge, about his promises to his dead clan, all of it\u2014 <\/i>\u2014 Sadly, in this moment, Sasuke shows just how much he\u2019s changed. He would have given up all thoughts of revenge and followed a different path, one that included saving her.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cH-How could you know? That was the clan\u2019s most guarded secret\u2014\u201c <\/i>\u2014 Sasuke has secrets. So even he, just like all the rest of Team 7, has things that he keeps from the group. When Naruto returns and he has to confront Itachi, these secrets will have to be confronted too.<\/p>\n Chapter Notes: For a chapter called \u201cWe Move as One,\u201d it has an underlying theme of secrets. They become more united as a team, but the reality is they each still have a lot of secrets that can come between them. And for Sakura, life-changing moments have happened when she\u2019s separated from her team\u2026. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-notes","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5hctF-Xx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3693,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691\/revisions\/3693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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