Chapter 2

::The Day of the Exam::

Ring…..Ring……RING!!!

SMASH! BANG! A tired Sakura woke up and stared at her now broken alarm clock.

sigh There goes another alarm clock…

Che. If you weren't such a grouch in the morning, then we wouldn't have to keep buying new alarm clocks! Inner Sakura shouted.

Ignoring her inner self, she went to her closet and got out her clothes and headed for the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got out of her room. Sakura grabbed her weapons and supplies and headed for Sakuno's room.

Knock. Knock.

"Sakuno, are you up yet?" She yelled.

She heard a muffled reply and some shuffling. Sakuno opened the door with a half-awake look, holding a change of clothes. Still half asleep, Sakuno headed for the bathroom for her shower. Smiling, Sakura went downstairs to the kitchen to grab a bite. After 15 minutes, Sakuno came down the stairs in her usual attire and her weapons. She went towards the fridge and grabbed a banana and some yogurt. She then pulled out a chair opposite of Sakura and ate her yogurt as Sakura ate her cereal.

"Ne, Sakuno. We have a meeting with Kakashi-sensei today. He wants to talk to us before the exam." Sakura said.

"Ah." She replied.

"Hmmm. Are you ready for the exam….Neji?" Asked a girl with her hair in buns.

"Hn." Replied a brown haired boy, now known as Neji.

"Neji! I, the beautiful Green Beast challenge you to a duel!" shouted a boy clad in a green spandex.

"HAHAHAHA! Such youthfullness! Yosh! Let's bring our youthful selves to the exams area!" Shouted an older version of the boy in spandex.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura waved at the stoic Uchiha.

"Hn."

"Ohayo Sakura-chan! Sakuno-chan!" Shouted the energetic Naruto.

"Eh? Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakuno asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that Sakuno-chan. He's always late!" Naruto whined.

"Ohayo minna!" Said Kakashi as he appeared in smoke.

Everyone looked at him in shock as he sweat-dropped. Was it something I said…? Kakashi thought.

"Che. This must be an intruder. Kakashi's never on time…" Sasuke said.

"Maa…today is the exam so I thought I should be early today…" Kakashi said. "Anyways, you four must sign this form. This test is taken in groups of three, but since we have four people in our team, the Hokage made an exception."

With that, Kakashi distributed the forms and watched as they each signed it. They handed them back to Kakashi and he dismissed them until the exams started. Naruto, seeing as he skipped breakfast, went to get some ramen. Sasuke went to train and Sakura went along with him to train herself. Sakuno decided to wander around and find someplace secluded to meditate and train.

::With Naruto::

Ramen! Ramen! RAMEN! sang Naruto in his empty head.

All of a sudden he noticed a square box that was attempting to look like a "rock". He noticed two holes drilled into it and knew right away who it was. The box exploded with smoke and out came three kids.

"Naruto-niichan! I challenge you right here, right now!" shouted a boy with spiky brown hair.

"Ne, Konohamaru, I don't have time for you right now!" Naruto shouted as he tried to make his way to Ichiraku Ramen.

All of a sudden he heard his name being called and saw Sakura coming towards him.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? Didn't you go train with Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked.

"Well…"

Flashback

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, do you want to train together?" Sakura asked.

"No, your annoying." He replied coldly.

Unable to take it anymore, Sakura finally snapped. She punched a tree and it snapped in half, falling with a resounded boom throughout the forest. Sasuke stared in both awe and fear of what his female teammate was going to do.

"I've had it with you, Uchiha Sasuke! What is your problem?! Here I am trying to befriend you and only wanted to train with and you insult me??!!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs, face red with anger.

Shannaro! You tell him Sakura! shouted her inner self. We should teach that 'teme' a lesson next time!

With that she stormed off.

"Sakura…" Sasuke whispered, feeling guilty for what he had done.

"She's right…I'm such a jerk." Sasuke thought.

End Flashback

Sakura-chan can be scary… Naruto thought.

"Dare, Naruto-niichan?" Konohamaru asked.

"Masaka! Is she your…?" he asked, suggestively.

Naruto laughed nervously with a blush. Sakura's eyebrows twitched as a vein popped.

"NA-RU-TOOOO!" Sakura shouted and punched both Naruto and Konohamaru with all her strength.

::With Sakuno::

As she wandered the streets of Konoha, Sakuno headed towards the training grounds. She finally found a place. It was a secluded area with a clear field and plenty of trees. Finding a nice spot in the shade under a tree, she sat down and closed her eyes and started to meditate. Unfortunately for her, her attempt to do so was interrupted by another presence. She opened her eyes and looked up, only to stare into pools of creamy silver pupil-less eyes.

"May I help you…?" she asked as she continued to stare in his eyes.

"Stop staring at me and you're in my spot." He replied coldly.

She blushed and looked away. Hmph. He's so rude. she thought.

"Well for your information, one, I was not staring. Two, this place is not yours. I do not see your name written on it." Sakuno retorted.

Hn. She's got guts to be able to talk to me like that…who is she? Neji thought.

"Who are you…?" Neji asked.

"Sakuno. Hikari Sakuno."

"Hm. Fight me."

"Eh?" Sakuno was expecting something, but not this. She stared wide eyed at Neji, speechless.

"Are you serious?"

"Heh. What, are you scared?" Neji smirked.

"Grrr…You got yourself a match!" Sakuno declared.

They both went to the field and got into position. They stood there, just staring at each other. Sakuno decided to make the first move. She took our four senbons and threw at Neji at an incredible speed. She followed right after. Neji dodged the senbons and blocked her punch. Surprisingly, he was pushed back a little by the mere strength of her blow.

Nani?! Such raw strength! Neji thought, eyes widening only by a bit.

She jumped away as Neji aimed a kick at her head. She backflipped a few feet away. Deciding not to give her any time, Neji rushed at her with his Byakuugan activated. He aimed a palm strike at her abdomen. Knowing of his abilities as a Hyuuga, she barely managed to dodge it and threw a few kunais and shuriken at him.

"Hah. I know of you bloodline, Hyuuga Neji. You will not be able to catch my with your techniques." Sakuno laughed.

"Hn. That's what you think." Neji replied.

Sakuno took out a wind shuriken and threw it at Neji with incredible speed. He saw it coming and started to spin.

"KAITEN!" the wind shuriken was blown away as it encountered the wall of spinning chakra. When Neji slowed down, he found Sakuno right in front of him. She delivered one hell of a punch and he flew through a few trees.

"Yatta! Hah! Take that, you arrogant jerk!" Shouted Sakuno as she jumped with joy.

All of a sudden, she was kicked back and hit a tree.

"Ugh!"

"Hn. You shouldn't get ahead of yourself, kunoichi." Neji said as he stood there, supporting bruises, cuts, and blood running down his chin, from his mouth.

Sakuno got up, also supporting similar injuries. Both being tired, decided to stop there.

"Heh. Good fight, Hyuuga."

"Same to you, Hikari."

With that, Sakuno left the field, looking for her fellow team mates. Neji stared after her, thinking he just found a nice sparring partner. Hikari Sakuno…

::Back with Naruto and Sakura::

"Ahhh! Naruto-niichan how can you like an old baabaa like her??!!" Konohamaru shouted.

He regretted it later on. Sakura chased them screaming things unfit for a lady to scream. Konohamaru then ran into something soft.

"Oof!" he uttered as he fell back.

"Eh. That hurt you little brat."

Konohamaru looked up and was picked up by his collar. Konohamaru looked up and saw a guy in black from head to toe. He had some sort of purple paint on his face. Next to him stood a female wearing a lavender fighting kimono with a gigantic fan strapped to her back. She had blond hair tied up in four ponytails.

"Konohamaru!" Shouted Naruto, with Sakura right behind him.

"Che. You're gonna pay for that, brat." the boy said.

"Wait! Who are you? Judging from your headbands, you're from the Hidden Village of Sand. According to the peace treaty, your people are not allowed in Konoha." Stated Sakura as she looked at them with suspicion.

"Hn. We are her on business. Here are our passports. We're here to take the Chuunin Exams." Said the blonde, showing her passport.

Just as the boy in black was about to deal a blow to Konohamaru's face, a stone hit his hand, making him let go of Konohamaru.

"Who did that?!" he shouted.

"I did." he looked up and there was Sasuke, sitting in the tree, with no emotions on his face as usual.

"Kuso… Why you little brat…!"

"Kankuro…yamete.." said a voice out of no where.

Sasuke, taken fully by surprise, looked to his left, where a boy with red hair with a giant gourd strapped to his back stood, upside down on a tree branch.

I didn't even notice him..! Sasuke thought in surprise.

A whirlwind of sand surrounded the newcomer and he appeared on the ground. He faced the boy in black, now known as Kankuro, and gave him a glare that could kill.

"Do not cause any trouble. I will KILL you." He said in a monotone voice.

"H-hai, Ga-Gaara." He stuttered.

"Yare yare…looks like we attracted some trouble. Can't you ever stay out of trouble, Naruto?" said Sakuno as she walked up to the group.

"Eh? Who are they?" she asked.

"Suna no shinobi." Gaara said as he stared at her.

"Nice to meet you. Now why are you trying to kill anyone?" Sakuno asked.

In a blur, Gaara had Sakuno around the neck. She merely stared into his eyes, defyingly. Still in a bad mood from fighting Neji, Sakuno was able to slap his hand away and glare at him.

"Didn't you ever learn to treat a lady with respect." She said.

Gaara merely glared at her even more and walked back to his companions. He turned around as Sasuke landed next to Sakura.

"What are your names?" Gaara asked as he stared at Sakuno and Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hikari Sakuno."


Tried to make the second chapter longer hahaha. Please read and review!! Hope you liked the second chapter.

Aqua-mistress