It was painful, to say the least.
Her days only grew harder and harder as they passed by, and Sakura did not realise when it happened, but she grew used to it.
Seven weeks later, by the side of a lake, close to the Land of Hot Water, she watched as Enma stripped and dived into the water, and despite having already seen his torso bare a lot of times in the last month, she could not help but blush.
His long red hair was still unruly even after the dive, and she tried her best to look away, but her eyes never left his body.
He was a year older than the rest of them, but he looked like he was a couple of years older. His body was broad and wiry, without any unnecessary muscles, and fair and flawless, without any scars.
She did not even notice that he was carrying a couple of fish in his hands as he walked over to her, and only after he asked her to prepare their breakfast did she look at them.
Sakura quickly stood up and grabbed the fish from his hand to gut and clean them, and had a fight with her Inner Sakura again over being too clumsy and being treated as a maid.
She stole some glances at him again when she served him the prepared fish and watched him silently eat it.
"Is it..."
"It's nice. You have improved a lot," he smiled and nodded his head, and Sakura felt a wave of happiness wash over her.
"Thank you."
She happily skipped by his side when they resumed their journey, but sighed when he told her to increase the weight in her ankle and wrist cuffs.
Yes, she was wearing a pair on her wrists too now.
Sakura was just sad because more weight meant more discomfort and body aches, but she had already seen the benefits of it over the last seven weeks since they started their journey.
A cold shiver ran up her spine when she remembered the day they were attacked by bandits. Since they were visiting a village, they had used Transformation Jutsu to hide themselves and their Forehead Protectors, so those people mistook them for a pair of travellers.
Enma had not helped her, and she had dealt with all of them on her own. It was easy, but then he ordered her to do something that still sent chills up her spine.
He told her to stab the kunai in the throat of the bandit leader, and it was the first time she had taken someone's life.
For the rest of the day, she had remained quiet, haunted by the warmth of the blood that had landed on her hand and the eyes that were losing their light.
However, the very next day, she no longer felt guilty about it.
Now, if he asked her to kill some scum, she would gladly do it, and it was because she had witnessed the cruel reality of the world.
Enma was extremely blunt with his words and reminded her of the lessons of the Kunoichi Classes by Suzume-sensei.
A weak Kunoichi was a dead Kunoichi or a raped Kunoichi. If she could not protect herself, she was nothing but a burden on her team, and in that sense, she was better off dead than alive.
At one point, given how dark his lessons were, she even feared he would ask her to gather information by flirting with people. Make her do things that other poor Kunoichis would do to stay in the Shinobi Force, and in her exhausted state, she subconsciously expressed her worries to him, and even the memory of it still warmed up her cheeks in shame.
He had laughed at the notion, and just patted her head, telling her not to think of stupid things.
If she was being honest with herself, she could now see why Ino was so helplessly in love with him and did not ever spare Sasuke a glance.
He was just as handsome, if not more, even with his blindfold on, and he was taller, stronger, wilder, and yet so respectful and well-mannered.
He was charming, deadly charming, despite not actively trying to be one.
"Enma."
"Yes?"
"Is it true that Sasuke is engaged to Akane?" She looked at the beautiful blue sky through the crowns of the trees as she asked her question.
"Yes. Aunt Mikoto and Aunt Hazuki had decided on the match when they were only five years old. They have always been very close. Izumi was also engaged to Itachi..."
At those words, she froze and then lowered her head.
"How's... she faring?"
"She's fine. All she wants to do now is protect her family. Nothing else matters to her."
"I see..." Sakura felt very unwell in her heart as she was reminded again of her naivety, and was also disappointed at her having no real purpose in her life.
After a while, her mind returned to Akane and Sasuke again, and she furrowed her brows.
"He likes her?"
"He loves her," Enma truthfully said to her and then smiled. "Now, tell me why do you like him?"
She lowered her head and blankly stared at the ground as they continued walking.
"I am not from a clan, unlike the rest of you, who were all my friends..." she trailed off. "Remember the first day we met each other?"
"Yes."
"I felt ashamed that I was the only one who did not belong to any clan. It was not until I learned that in our group, Shizuka too did not come from a clan. But then her family turned out to be a generational Shinobi family, and her parents were war heroes... my parents..."
"Are you ashamed of them?"
"No, no..." she shook her head. "I love them. I just... did not feel like I belonged with you all, and at the same time, I did not want to be close to the civilian students in our class. Then I started thinking more and more about it. Seeing you, Sasuke, and Karin, I dreamed of having a family where my children would be just as talented as you all, and with a family name that everyone would respect, revere, envy, and even fear."
"So, you decided on either me or Sasuke."
She blushed hard at his words and nodded her head, being honest.
"But Ino called dibs on you first, so..."
Enma laughed at her words and shook his head.
"You are silly."
"Yeah..." she shamefully lowered her head.
They silently walked through the forest as they approached the border of the Land of Hot Water.
"Enma."
"Yes?"
"Are you engaged too?" she asked and was surprised when he nodded his head. "To whom?"
"Kushina Onee-sama, and Karin."
Sakura stopped in her tracks and looked at him in shock.
"That's your aunt! And little sister!"
"Yes."
"Isn't it weird?" She frowned when she saw him show no expressions.
"All the clans, especially those with Kekkei Genkai, marry close relatives to keep their powers strong and ensure the continuation of their bloodline limits. We have a lot of Uzumaki branches, but none of them are comparable to the main family. Guess why?"
She frowned at his words.
"They are not pureblood."
"Yes," he nodded his head. "And chakra chains only manifest in those who are pure or almost pure. This is why, other than Kushina Onee-sama, Karin, Arashi, Hiyori, and I, no one else possesses them in our clan. Not even Kaa-san."
"Himari-sama does not have chakra chains?"
"No, she does not." He shook his head.
"Why?" She frowned, but he remained silent. "Izumi and Akane are half-Uzumaki, aren't they?" She changed the subject, and watched him smile.
"Not exactly."
"Oh?"
"Kaa-san is the daughter of my uncle, Uzumaki Raito, and her mother was Uzumaki Fumiko, who was half-Uchiha. She possessed Sharingan."
His words caused Sakura to stop in her tracks.
"What?"
"Yes. Kaa-san and her brother were not born with Sharingan or Chakra Chains, but they were still more Uzumaki. Her brother was Izumi and Akane's father, so they are Karin's first cousins and my second cousins."
"Oh... so they have Uchiha ancestry on both sides of the family..."
"Yes, and they are more Uchiha than Uzumaki. Both possess the Sharingan. Some bloodlines are compatible, and one generation can be a boon if done right. However, if they would dilute their Uchiha blood even more, their legacy would not possess the Sharingan, as was the case with Kaa-san and her brother." He smiled.
"Boon? How?"
"Both of them have lots of chakra due to their Uzumaki heritage, and it makes the use of Sharingan easy for them."
"Oh... So the Uchiha marry close relatives too?" She furrowed her brows.
"Of course. Marriages usually happen between cousins, and sometimes between siblings, aunts and nephews, and uncles and nieces, as long as there is not a very large age gap. In Konoha, the Uchiha, Kurama, and Hyuga actively avoid marrying outside the clan, and due to their special circumstances, the Aburame do the same."
"I see," she nodded her head in understanding, and then curiously looked at him. "Does Ino know that you are engaged?"
"Yes."
His answer surprised her, and she became confused.
"You do know that she likes you, right?"
"Yes, and I like her." He smiled.
"You will marry her?" she frowned.
"Sure. Why not? If her clan does not object to it, I can take her as one of my wives. It's not like there is a law that forbids a man from having more than one wife. The practice has become less common after the establishment of villages, but over sixty years ago, men usually had two or more wives."
"Oh."
"Her father wants her to marry me." He told her something that surprised her, and confused her.
"Why?"
"He wants some Uzumaki blood in his clan. They all possess a very high aptitude for mind-related jutsus, but that's not a Kekkei Genkai. However, by getting Ino to marry me, he will get grandchildren with large chakra reserves and accelerated healing, even if it is not as potent as a pureblood Uzumaki." He smiled. "And since she is his heir, he would insist that the children bear the Yamanaka name."
"That's not right... is it?"
"Why not?" He smiled. "Everyone has the right to think about the betterment of their family and clan. Any smart person would work on improving their legacy, giving their legacy a better chance at life than they had."
Hearing his words, she felt immensely relieved in her heart.
He did not judge her or think badly of her...
The two travelled for hours even after entering the Land of Hot Water, and in the evening, they stopped at a hot spring resort next to a village.
Sakura was very excited when she saw that they would not be camping in the wild tonight, and she was shocked at how much money Enma paid to secure the finest suite, which came with its private hot spring pool.
When they arrived in their residence for the next five nights, she excitedly looked around and picked a room for herself.
Even their dinner was served by a waitress in their suite, and it was delicious and sumptuous.
Sakura's appetite had dramatically grown over the last seven weeks, and now, she was not even worried about gaining weight.
As long as she would train and exercise, eating more would not harm her body.
After their dinner, Enma left the resort, leaving instructions for her to meditate for the next three hours, and he also left a shadow clone behind to guard the door so that she could relax.
The cherry-blossom-haired girl sat down to meditate on a tatami mat, and quickly controlled her senses and only focused on the flow of chakra in her body.
She did not care about how much time had passed, and when she finally opened her eyes, it was way past three hours. She had ended up meditating for close to five hours now.
Sakura stretched her stiff body, yawned a little, and then picked up a bathrobe from the closet and walked out of her room towards the hot spring pool.
She, however, froze when she saw Enma sitting inside it, relaxing, and resting his head back on the support.
Even though she could not see clearly in the water and through the steam, she could tell that he was naked.
After all, who entered a hot spring pool with clothes on?
Sakura stayed in her place for a good minute, but then bit her lips and took off the bathrobe, placing it on the bench.
He could not see her anyway.
She convinced herself, and slowly entered the water, which made her moan in delight...