Welcome to True Ninja! Hope you enjoy, and please give me some constructive helps me feel nice about myself.
Text formatting shouldn't be too absurd, I will only be using quotation marks and italics. Figure that shit out yourself, or google it. Grammar shouldn't be too big of an issue, and spelling is my game. Except when it's not, so point out anything you can see. Rated M because I really don't want to have to change it later, and the difference between T and M is very minor.
The fic is Sakura-centric because I feel that there aren't enough good ones that fit into that category, as well as I felt that there was zero Shika/Saku out there. Not even my OTP, so I don't know why this fic is going to have it, but sure. Muse rules all. Not like I give a shit.
Obligatory I don't own this shit. I will not be posting this again, this is a fanfiction, it uses characters I do not own unless otherwise specified. Naruto is the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto, and really that should not need to be repeated.
Konohagakure ~~Day of Genin Exams
Sakura was feeling sick. She felt sick since she woke up, and there were several reasons why. She knew that her general anxiety about the test was causing her sickness, but knowing that left little towards finding a cure. Her mother, when notified, simply told her that "You will be fine, dear. Eat your breakfast."
Not long after that, Sakura found herself at the base of the Homage tower, waiting with her class for the exams, and seemingly feeling worse than when she woke up.
Chaa! We can do this! said Inner.
"I don't think I can do this," she said aloud, although quietly. "Surely they won't allow me to pass. Only the best can pass. I'm barely at the Unranked level." Her rambling had no effect on herself, and she eventually settled enough nerves to walk into the building.
She looked around for her assigned seat, which was next to a random civilian, and the large clan kid. Sighing because she wasn't near anybody she explicitly knew, Sakura sat down. The first portion began, and it was shockingly easy. No doubt it was a small challenge for others, but cognitive tests were her forte. The real challenge was in the following specialized tests.
The results would determine which team she would be placed on, as well as her projected ninja specialty. There were many to choose from, such as the basic jutsu users, to the more advanced chakra manipulators or even fuinjutsu.
Above them all stood the true mark of a ninja, assassination. Those members were the top notch, never seen. They were true shinobi, keeping to the shadows and refraining from the power struggle of tossing jutsu around. Not many could make the cut, but her dream was to reach the top tiers of the ninja system.
"Hn. Too easy," she heard from not too far away. Sakura looked at the person who spoke dreamily. Sasuke, the boy she had a crush on. But that wouldn't stop her today. No more thoughts on Sasuke! We need to focus on showing big, yeah! Inner Sakura pumped her arms, hair and dress wavering slightly in her imagined breeze. Let's get to it!
"That wasn't so bad," Sakura said to her best friend Ino. They were waiting outside, sitting under a tree as the proctors began pulling two students at a time into the tented arena. "I got most of those questions done in time, but what if I messed up on something!" She gave her friend a look of panic, and began curling up into a ball.
"Hey, forehead. You did fine, if anything you need to be worried about the next test. We both know that we are nowhere near as strong as most the boys in the class. What if we were to go up against Sasuke!"
The two girls both looked at each other, and shivered. Everyone in their grade knew that Sasuke was rookie of the year, he would stop at nothing to become a ninja. Being a fellow leaf member, he would never seriously hurt someone, but in a spar he would attack with an intensity that many others lacked.
Sakura sighed, and stretched out onto the grass. "I just want to be put into a team that's good for me. What were you saying the other day about how they build the genin teams?"
"I told you already. Did you forget?" Seeing a pleading look on the pink haired girl, Ino deadpanned. "Fine," she sighed. "They balance teams. Papa told me that unless there is a request from a jōnin, they put you into teams based on what Ninja Path you will take. It's mostly guesswork, I suppose."
"Yeah, but how do they know? I have dreams, and I've never told them to anyone! How do they know? What if I get put with that creepy guy, or someone like Kiba! I think I would die." Sakura hung her head, tears building up in her eyes.
Ino looped an arm around her shoulders, and simply sat there. They remained sitting under the tree until their sensei called Sakura over, as well as a random boy from a different class. She analyzed her sparring partner, watching from the corner of her eye as her walked into the far side of the arena.
Giving off a tight lipped smile to her sensei, she walked into the arena, intending to win her spar. She gave her opponent the appropriate hand sign for a spar, as Inner sat meditating inside her head, ready to do the quick thinking. She had the advantage, one she had since she was young. This wouldn't be a long match.
"Begin!" the proctor for the spar called. He was a jōnin, one who had never interacted with either student before. Actually, Sakura doubted that many jōnin had ever seen her spar, let alone watched her like this one did. It was intense, to say the least.
Your focus is slipping.
Right. The match. Duh. Her opponent had backpedaled to the far wall. He was small, and his arms seemed too skinny. Maybe he was some clan kid, after all? Throwing some shuriken, she intentionally missed with two of them. He dodged, which told her he was over cautious. She ran to her right and threw three more shuriken. When they were close to his right side, she whipped a kunai towards his left foot, forcing him to jump forwards or be hit by something.
He's done for.
Sakura hummed, she was right next to her target. She brought her arm forwards, in perfect form. Her target was caught flat-footed, having just landed from his jump. Her fist swung, and instead of smacking into the target's face, it instead hit a large, solid object.
Substitution. Damn.
Her target had escaped, but his jutsu left a cloud of smoke, masking her from sight. Perfect.
She dropped a smoke tag, recently purchased for this exact purpose. The tag began dumping it's own smoke, which quickly filled the small tented area. It was pink, an odd choice, but it was meant to completely mask her most identifiable feature, her hair.
Taking a moment to breathe, Sakura reached into her pouch. She pulled her favourite tool from her pouch, a kunai her merchant father had found in a small, second hand shop. It had a stylized handle, with a small spike replacing the circular end piece. The main weapon was just slightly curved, and included a small groove so that it wouldn't ever get stuck.
Stuck in what, Sakura refused to guess. It was no stretch of the imagination that the blade was meant for killing, and it was the most important thing in her young life, and career.
"There!" she heard her opponent cry, before feeling a soft breeze as his thrown kunai just barely missed her. Staying silent, she quickly calculated where he would be after having thrown the weapon, and tiptoed her way through the pink smoke.
"I know you're here somewhere! Come out so I can fight you!" said the smaller boy.
"I'm right here," she whispered into his ear while grabbing his right arm in her left, as her own other hand snaked around his head to point her kunai towards his eye."Proctor, call the match, please," she called a little louder. The jōnin materialised in front of her target, and gently pulled her arm back. Her target ran forward, breathing heavily. Shock, and panic. He's going to faint."Proctor, I think he might... oh. Nevermind," Sakura had reached her arm out, just as the boy turned back to look at her. Having seen her pointing a weapon at her, the boy squeaked and promptly collapsed. The jōnin made a sound, suspiciously like a small snort. He checkmarked a few somethings in his book, before facing her.
"Winner, Sakura Haruno"