A trick up his sleeve

Chapter 2: first round

Koomahana

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site

Thoughts

Paragraphs are memories


When Sakura awoke at six-thirty, she found her room to be warmer then it should have been, especially since her window was still ajar. Sighing softly, Sakura moved and flinched at the pain that racked up her entire body taking her breath and bringing tears to her eyes. Gasping softly, Sakura tired to make her room stop spinning, lifting her blankets Sakura glared down at her bloody legs.

Figures, Sakura sighed, gently pulling her soiled blankets up with her as she stood shakily. Now I have to take a shower, She knew she should have worn a pad last night, now she had bloody blankets to deal with. She gently pulled her fluffy robe over her shoulders and tied it in place; she then gathered up her bloody sheets and put them in her hamper.

It hurt, a whole lot more then she was expecting it to

What a strange dream, she thought flinching as she straightened and rubbed at her belly absent mindedly as she searched for her bathrooms supplies. Giving up Sakura gathered her baskets and hurried out of her room, closing her door as she hurried to the laundry room.

"Harder" she murmured, "harder."

Sakura sighed at the memory of her dream, it wasn't the first time she's had such dreams but it was the first time that she dreamed of being all grown up with a grown man over her instead of being in her child-body and having a make-out session with Sasuke. She stuffed her blankets into the washer and set it on high, putting extra soap in and letting it run, she then quickly hurried up the stairs in search of anything that shouldn't be one the floor.

"I'm ready," she murmured, laying her head back and curling her fingers into his short red locks, "again..."

Sighing Sakura hurried into her room, quickly gathering her bathroom supplies that escaped her earlier and hurried back out into the hall and into the bathroom; even closing the door on her mother's sleepy and bewildered face.

"Ha~, ha~, d-don't st-stop..."

Sakura locked the door and stripped, trying to ignore the aches and pains in her body as she walked for the shower and turned it on, as hot as it would go.

"Loosen up" he ordered, "I'll punish you if you don't."

She shifted uncomfortably before the shower, her fingers twitching and dancing against her thigh, a sudden pain arched through her body, making her grip at the wall and ride out the wave desperately.

"I warned you," he murmured

She stepped into the shower, flinching at the hot temperature but let it run over her body anyways, she lost herself in the flash backs of her dream, not paying attention where she scrubbed

"Finish" she begged, rubbing against him meaningfully, "finish... please..."

Sakura flinched as her fingers ran across the tender skin between her legs; she looked down and sighed at the new wave of blood that spiraled down the drain. The last thing she needed was to take the chunin examine while on her period, she'd have to take extra care not to let it show.

"That's not how the game works," he whispered into her ear, "I run the show,"

Another bust of pain erupted over her body, making her gasp and lean against the wall of the shower, surprised that this wave didn't come from below her belly like the others. Her world fogged over and she could almost see the man in her dream, his eyes dark as he worked behind her, pushing and pulling against her straining body until she gave up and gave him total control, gasping at the lightheaded feeling of him moving freely inside of her.

"Until next time," he whispered against her lips

She felt it then that hard push gave to her from behind, she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She didn't think that most couples went for that kind of... kind of style? Her world was still hazy, she could still feel his fingers running over her skin, teasing her entrance and brushing against her small bust.

It was such a strange dream but not an unfamiliar dream, it wasn't new but at the same time it was. She's never had one that felt so real or left her feeling so tiered after words, lifting her hand Sakura stiffened slightly at the finger like bruises that rested on her upper arms. Some of her more normal dreams left some bruises here and there, as her family was prone to 'dream bruises', but she's never had any that were that shade of yellow. She turned so that the still hot water beat down on her back and bent slightly, examining her legs carefully. Slowly her fingers danced over the faint bruises on her hips, noting how they were slightly larger then her own fingers, so long as she didn't have any more bruises then she was deeming the dream as nothing more then a dream.

"Sakura?" her mother called through the bathroom door, startling Sakura into realizing that her water was now cold like ice, how long has she been examining her bruises? "Sweet-heart, are you awake in there?"

"Give me a moment" Sakura answered her, coughing Sakura realized that her voice was weak so she tried again. "I'm almost done!"

"...Alright" Sakura sighed as her mother left, turning slightly Sakura quickly lathered up her hair, then scrubbed at her body until it was red, then shaved and then finally washed the shampoo from her hair. Stepping out of the icy shower Sakura quickly wrapped her hair and dried her body, she then lined her underwear and wrapped her rob around herself tightly.

"Play with me" She whispered, turning her face enough to press a kiss to his crimson temple, "Play with me..." she gasped as she felt his hand dip between her thighs, his other tightened around her mid section, pinning her arms in place and keeping her standing as he abided her request.

She gasped as a thrust of pain surprised her, making her double over and lean against the door gasping for breath with wide eyes. According to the dream she asked, begged, for the man's attention and affection... he merely complied with her wishes. It was a strange dream, not like the others she's had in the past but not unfamiliar either. Straightening Sakura left the bathroom and hurried back into her room, searching for her normal attire. Sakura opened her closet, screamed, slammed the doors shut, grabbed her nearest kunai set, reopened her closet and started throwing her kunai knifes at anything that so much as twitched in her closet.

"S-Sakura?" she turned with a furious look towards her open door, staring irate at her mother who stood there with wide eyes. "Wha-what happened? Why'd you scream?"

"That" Sakura hissed, pointing at the now dead nest of what appeared to be a small family of mice, "They decided to move in here."

"... Our neighbor's mess?" she asked with a slight flinch, now knowing that she wasn't hearing things in her walls.

"Please do something about him," Sakura asked, slamming her closet doors closed with gritted teeth. "His damned pets just ate ninety percent of my clothes!"

"So... wear something else," her mother suggested with a smile, "You are a kunochi now, perhaps it's time—"

"I'm not wearing those shirts," Sakura snapped out with a glare at her mother, surprisingly they were the only clothing the mice didn't tear into or at least didn't have enough time to do so.

"Language young lady" her mother glared right back, her body stiff and her eyes narrowed "and just so you know I wore those shirts when I was your age."

"That's my point"

THWACK

"Wear the bloody clothes or go to the examine butt-ass naked," her mother ordered, turning and walking out of Sakura's room and slamming her door closed while she was at it.

"Sure you can curse but heaven forbid that I do," Sakura grumbled, glaring irritated at the closed door. Sighing Sakura turned to see if she had anything lying around her room; to her surprise, she found a small stack of clothes, her gear and a pair of boots on her desk. She saw that it wasn't her normal outfit and immanently dismissed it, turning instead to her dirty laundry basket and the clock that sat right above it.

Great, Sakura thought with a glare at her clock that now read seven O' clock; she had twenty minutes to get to the academy or risk being late and possibly being disqualified as a result. She glanced at the laid out outfit and glared hatefully at it, she marched over and set out the articles carefully. Okay so the shirt wasn't half-bad, it was a simple crimson kimono top with long bell sleeves and a black belt with a crimson cord. She'd still have to wear her spandex shorts but that wasn't really the problem, the problem was the long shinobi pants that were as old as her mother... well they were hammy-downs, guess she should have expected that one.

If I'm wearing that shirt, I'm wearing the damned skirt, Sakura thought with a sigh, turning and marching out of her room. "Mom! I need to barrow your old skirt!"

"Which one honey?"

"The one Daddy made!"


He was getting irritated waiting for her, she should have arrived by now...

If she didn't show up soon she'd be disqualified and he wanted to know if she would wear the clothes he picked out for her.

Was it a good thing that he found those mice and put them in her closet?

What if they got into the other clothes instead of the ones he already shredded?


"Whoa~ Sakura-chan what happened?" Naruto asked when he caught sight of Sakura, her face twisted into a glare and she forced a bag into his hands.

"My neighbor's pets" she said the word as if it was an ugly curse "Decided to pay my closet a visit. I had to borrow a few of my mom's old clothes, which is the reason behind your bags" Sakura held Sasuke's bag out to him expectantly. "If I have to change my wardrobe then so do you two. These clothes may be old but they're useful, my grandmother hand stitched the seals in them and mom and I already filled them with kunai and shiriken."

"Why do we have to change—"

"Because if you two don't get into the nearest bathroom and change," Sakura held up a picture of Naruto and Sasuke, both pale and horrified as they stared at each other "I'm selling that picture I have of you two kissing—" Sasuke snatched the picture and promptly tore it apart and lit on fire, "I have copies" Sakura grinned at Sasuke

"We're going Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted out, looking incredibly pale "We'll change, promise! Just don't sell them!"

"Good" Sakura nodded her head expectantly "I tried to make sure your clothes were in the proper colors that you like but I don't think all of them will fit you, so don't feel too bad if they don't. Just pick out the pants and one of the shirts, you should do fine"

"Umm Sakura you forgot something" Sasuke said, looking at his own outfit with a twitching eyebrow

"Oh yeah, sorry Sasuke but we didn't have anything with the Uchiha crest and there was no way I could hand stitched it on your shirt, there wasn't enough time." Sakura dug in her back pocket and held her fist out to him, "I got this from an old friend, sorry but I'll have to do. Besides it'd be a great advantage if people didn't know you where the last Uchiha, they'll underestimate you and end up giving you the upper hand instead of throwing everything they've got at you."

Sasuke's brow twitched a few times but he followed Naruto into the academy and to the nearest bathroom they could find. Five minutes later, they both stepped out, new clothes on and surprisingly enough, they were both feeling... what was it called?

"I feel bad ass!" Naruto shouted out with a grin and bouncing in front of Sakura where she leaned against the wall beside the bathrooms.

"You both look good," Sakura agreed with a smile, "Naruto... for once you actually look cute." Naruto's face went about twenty shades of red, "and Sasuke... you look grown up... almost like a man."

"Almost" Naruto snickered out, his grin not falling even after Sasuke's hand collided with the back of his head. "But you know Teme, you don't look like an Uchiha without that crest... Sakura-chan might be right, that crest would make everyone on edge around you."

"That's right, every little bit of doubt is a plus for us," Sakura smiled and lifted off the wall, letting one hand sit on her hip, "Now come on you guys, we'll be late if we don't hurry."

"But what about our old clothes?" Naruto asked as he hurried after Sakura with his bag of clothes in hand,

"We'll give them to the receptionist," Sakura said, stopping at the front desk of the academy, "Hay Aunty could you do me a favor?" Sakura asked, smiling at the blonde woman who turned around in the chair to face her

"Sakura-chan!" The woman shouted, leaping from her chair and leaning over the desk to wrap her arms around Sakura's neck laughing loudly, "Oh~ child you've grown!"

"Aunty it's been five months!" Sakura chuckled,

"But your out fit makes you look so grown up" the woman sighed, releasing Sakura and looking her up and down with a proud smile. "That's your mother's old outfit, they fit you a whole lot better then they ever did her. I think she wore them like once and... And you boys are so Cu~te!" Sasuke stepped back just in time to avoid the strange woman's lunge, Naruto wasn't so lucky. Sasuke smirked as the blonde boy was smothered in the older blonde's chest, her tight hold on his neck doing more damage then her smothering

"Aunty these are my teammates," Sakura chuckled, grinning at Naruto's redder then normal face as he struggled to breathe in her Aunts tight hug. "I just gave them a new outfit and now we don't have a place to set their clothes until after the examine."

"Oh~ is my cute little niece in this year's chunin examine?" the woman asked, loosening her hold on Naruto so he could breathe, "If that's the case I have a gift for you!" Naruto gasped for breath as the woman let go of him and dived under her desk giggling like a mad woman

"Aunty please—" Sakura started, her hands raised peacefully

"Here you go sweetie~!" Sakura stared at the bright crimson box thrust into her hands, "Don't open it until you're in the second stage and in need of a little bit extra help, okay?"

"I'll take this on the condition that you take the bags to mom?" Sakura bargained, eyes looking shyly up at the older woman

"Done~" the woman purred and snatched the two bags from Sasuke and Naruto, "I haven't seen Mebu-chan in years~"

"That's mostly your fault" Sakura chuckled, stepping away and leading her teammates away.

"Bye-bye~ be safe sweetie~" the woman waved at them cheerfully

"Huh, Nana who are you talking to?" Sakura's aunt turned to look up at the strange man who just stepped out of the principles office, noting how the room was empty and the blonde was standing and waving at the door like a cheerful child.

"Oh~ it's Ibiki-Ku~n!"

"...Please don't say my name like that," Ibiki sighed stepping closer to the receptionist desk "it'll create misunderstandings again."

"Hmm... Ibiki-ku~n" something in Nana's tone of voice made the man stop and glance at her wirily "Are you the proctor for this year's first round?" her voice may have been soft and curious but her jade eyes were flat out predatory, if he didn't answer correctly he'd get a senbon in a very sensitive place but if he lied... Nana hates liars.

"Yes," Ibiki answered, looking as if he was completely unaffected by the blonde's indescribable expression

"If you hurt my sweet little Sakura-cha~n" oh no he answered wrongly "We~ll I'm sure I don't have to finish that sentence."

Defiantly the wrong answer, Ibiki sighed and walked away, "Why aren't you in T&I again?"

"I like kiddies~!" was the sweet reply making Ibiki chuckle and roll his eyes; he had forgotten that Nana Haruno liked kids more then she liked bloodshed and destruction. As such, she worked at the academy as the receptionist. The delinquents learned quickly not to piss her off and everyone else believed her to be as sweet and innocent as her crimson loll-pops that she never put down.


Sakura marched up the stairs with Sasuke and Naruto behind her, she wanted to get this first round done and over with as fast as possible. She turned to go up the third flight but quickly found that Sasuke and Naruto were heading down a nearby hall, growling lowly Sakura followed them. She quickly found that the whole hall was crawling with other participants; she caught up to her teammates and thumped Naruto on the head.

"Sakura relax we're just curious," Sasuke ordered coldly, barely glancing back at her as he approached the center of the hall.

"Curious?" She hissed loudly, brow ticking and hands on her hips "We have ten minutes to get to 301 and you want to waist it on the wrong damn floor?!"

"We'll leave soon," Sasuke replied with a sigh, ignoring the whispers that filled the hall because Sakura couldn't keep her temper in check. He had seen her hiss and glare and spit fire at Naruto and Ino before but he had never had the misfortune to have it aimed at himself.

"If we get disqualified for your 'curiosity' then I'm gonna punch you both—"

"What?! But I didn't do anything!" Naruto whined

"That's the problem!" Sakura snapped, punching Naruto in the head again

"Hay drop the genjutsu," Sasuke ordered, ignoring his teammate's innovator of ordering the two guards in front of the doors, "and let us through."

"Heh, so you saw through it, huh?" the brunet asked, releasing the genjutsu on the sign

"It wasn't that hard," Sasuke smirked, "Sakura has the keenest eyes and Naruto—"

"You damned idiot!" Sakura hissed, round housing Naruto into the floor. Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying his best to ignore the ruckus behind him.

"I don't think either one saw it," the black haired boy chuckled, watching the pinkette shake the blonde in amusement.

"Sakura" Sasuke called, finally turning around to address his two embarrassing teammates, "Didn't you see the genjutsu?"

"Huh? Genjutsu?" Sakura questioned, freezing mid shake to look at Sasuke as if he was an idiot, not seeing the amused smirks of the two guards behind him. "How many times do I have to tell you that Genjutsu's don't work on me?" That whipped off their smirks "Besides anyone who falls for that tacky ass genjutsu doesn't belong in the chunin examine and the previous graduates from this school, should know better then to stop on this floor anyways." Sasuke smirked, glade that Sakura actually caught on so quickly, now he just had to make sure Naruto either says something intelligent or doesn't speak at all.

"Well aren't you a smarty-pants" the brunet chuckled, drawing Sasuke's attention and making Sakura drop Naruto in favor of marching to stand beside Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "Let's see you—"

"Drop dead!" Sakura snapped, slamming a fist against the wall and cracking it heavily, "either get out of our way or... you know what, there isn't an 'or' for you. I'm having a very crappy day and if you don't get out of my way—hell will rain on you heads." It was her favorite line her Aunt once said to a bully, said boy never crossed paths with Sakura ever again.

"...You wouldn't happen to be related to a certain receptionist down stairs would you?" the brunet boy asked as he stepped away from team seven quickly; eyes locked onto the spider-web crack that was crawling across the wall.

"What about her?" Sakura asked, straightening and crossing her arms

"...never mind" the burnet sighed, She's defiantly related to Nana

"Sasuke, Naruto let's go!" Sakura snapped around intending to march back and up the stairs

"Ah! I figured it out!" Naruto shouted suddenly, drawing attention to himself, "Sakura-chan's on her period!" every one was silent for a moment as they stared at the proud looking boy, "Sakura-chan always gets like ninety percent more violent when she's on her—"

"DIE! Sakura screamed, ax kicking Naruto into the floor

"KYAA!"

BOOM

"...Idiots" Sasuke sighed, watching Sakura mach off to the stairs, dragging a knocked-out Naruto by the back of his new orange coat

"I almost pity him," one of the guards snickered as the hall emptied, his eyes on team seven as they disappeared down the hall.

"Yeah but you can't say he didn't have it coming" his partner snickered


"Hay wait up!" team seven turned at the voice, stopping amongst the stairs to look back down at the team gathered below them.

"What the—"

"My name is Rock Lee!" the boy in green spandex suit and bowl hair cut shouted proudly, giving Sakura a blinding smile and a thumbs up, "Please by my girlfriend! I'll always protect you!"

"No" Sakura answered automatically

She panted as he moved, lips biting down her shoulder to keep himself from making any noise. Her hands ran through his crimson hair, tugging at the roots as he moved, trying her best to be quiet even as stars danced in her vision and her breath was stolen from her.

"Huh? Why not?" Lee asked in surprise

"You're not my type," Sakura answered turning and walking away, grabbing Naruto's ear when he started to chuckle at the older boy "and in this examine we'll be enemies, so there's no point in accepting your offer."

"Wait! What's your name?" Sakura paused again, glancing down to see Sasuke smirk down at the white eyed boy just behind his black haired teammate.

"It's polite to introduce your self before you ask for someone else's name" Sasuke replied, turning to follow Sakura and Naruto.

"My name is Neji Hyūga," the white eyed boy growled, not liking being dismissed so easily. "Now will you tell me your names?" Team 7 shared a look, mostly looking at Sakura for approval, who simply shrugged carelessly and continued forward regardless.

"...Sasuke" Sasuke said, nodding in greeting to the team, "He's Naruto and she's—"

"None of your concern," Sakura interrupted, eyes narrowed at the white eyed boy. "What part of 'we're going to be late' did you not understand?"

"R-right Sakura-chan, we're coming" Naruto grumbled, rubbing at his sore ear as he quickly followed her

Idiot, Sasuke sighed, catching and sharing Sakura's disappointed look at Naruto's blunder. Sasuke tried hard to ignore the footsteps following them but there really wasn't much he could do about it, the possibility that they were going to the same room as him was too high. It was when they were about to enter the final hall to room 301 that Sasuke regretted not doing something about the follower.

"Please wait!"

Sakura growled lowly and turned swiftly, throwing a rigged kunai at the familiar voice while she was at it. Lee quickly dodged the rigged kunai and stared teary eyed at Sakura, as if she just betrayed him; he blinked dumbly when the explosive tag didn't go off.

"We don't have time for twenty questions" Sakura snapped out, placing a hand on her hip, and tugging on the wire attached to the end of her kunai, pulling it back to her out stretched hand "Quite annoying me or so help me—"

"Sakura-chan we've got five minutes," Naruto piped up, "Surly we could hear him out..."

"No fighting," Sakura growled, crossing her arms and walking away, "Hurry the hell up."

"Defiantly her period," Naruto murmured when she was out of hearing rang

"Do you want her to hit you again?" Sasuke asked as they moved just a little closer to Lee, "What do you want?"

"Well I was going to ask for a quick spar... but..." Lee tilted his head to look around the boys and at Sakura who was leaning against a pillar and glaring at the clock hatefully.

"Yeah she get's like that sometimes" Naruto chuckled, "Although she seems to be worse then normal this time, I wonder if something happened?"

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura called out, rising from the pillar and glaring at them, "Hurry up we got two minutes!"

"Coming!" Naruto shouted as he turned and hurried towards Sakura quickly, Sasuke sighed and quickly followed after her, not believing that they seriously just wasted three minutes on the boy with hardly any words exchanged. Sakura lifted off the wall and turned down the hall, not waiting for them to catch up. Lee waved dejectedly at their backs before hurrying away towards his own teammates, knowing that he'd see team seven soon enough. At the end of the hall to room 301, team seven stopped and stared dully at Kakashi, who smiled cheerfully at them.

"Well you three look different," Kakashi chuckled, watching how the two boys looked pointedly at Sakura

"My Neighbors pet mice found my closet," Sakura grumbled with a blush, folding her hands behind herself. "I thought the boys might like some new clothes..."

"What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked curiously,

"Ah, yes that's right" Kakashi chuckled, grinning at the three curious genin "as you might have guessed already, this examine isn't optional, you have to enter as a team and stay through the first two rounds as a team." Kakashi turned to look at Sakura, who was frowning in irritation at him, "Sakura, if you hadn't come I wouldn't have let the boy's come through."

"...You were expecting me not to show up?" Sakura asked with narrowed eyes

"Heh, sorry" Kakashi answered, knowing that he properly struck a nerve for her. "The good news is that you did show up and all three of you can now go through the doors..." Sakura's crossed arms and peeved expression said that he wasn't forgiven and that he properly wouldn't be forgiven for a while yet. He stepped aside with a sigh as Sakura and Sasuke stepped forward, Naruto following behind like a lost puppy as they opened the doors to the first round of the chunin examine.

It's been a long time, Kakashi thought, glancing at Sakura's detailed skirt and sleeves, knowing that behind the beautiful flowers and leafs, the twisting and curling branches formed storage seals. A long time since I last saw something like that... the last person he saw that had similar clothing was Sakura's father, the man's personality was as bright as his daughter's hair and his intelligence was almost on par with Shikaku's. Unfortunately, the bright and sunny man had passed away a few years ago; he had separated from his teammates in order to give them enough time to return to the village. They did get back to the village in time to save one member of the team but her father was never found and his other teammates were dead from blood loss and chakra exhaustion having arrived too late to receive aid, the one surviving member was retired with a bad limp, he was the one who held onto the corpses of his teammates, believing that they were still alive.

It would seem that, regardless of what happened to her clothing, (Kakashi was betting that Mebuki put the mice in Sakura's closet) Sakura was taking her career as a kunochi seriously. She was wearing her father's clothes that he made for her when she was still a toddler, hoping that she'd grow into them, more then proud that he could finally pass on his family trade because it was more for a woman's art then it ever truly was for men.


Gaara turned to see who entered this time, his eyes locking in on the familiar pinkette and her teammates. He ignored his sibling's soft murmurs in favor of examining the girl, glad that she wore at least some of what he picked out for her. The crimson kimono top with the long bell sleeves looked good on her, giving her the illusion of curves and a bust that he knew she didn't have much of. The soft white outline curved around her gracefully, the emerald leafs and amber flowers looked like flames on her sleeves and waist. Instead of the dark shinobi pants he found in her closet, she chose to wear a double layered skirt, the first pale pink layer danced just passed her knees gracefully while the second layer of deep crimson swished flirtingly against her thighs, flashing bright amber flowers and soft twisting branches like flames on the edge of her skirt. She wasn't wearing the combat boots he set out for her, she chose a pair of short heels instead, the straps looking like vines as they curved gracefully up her milky white legs and hooked into place by little white flowers just beneath her calves.

Her teammates looked less impressive

Sasuke was wearing a long sleeved black turtleneck with three shades of blue flames arcing up his arms and his pants were simple black khaki's and a dark gray vest similar to a Leaf Chunin's vest. While Naruto was dressed in an orange T-shirt with a long sleeved black shirt beneath it and neon orange pants; all out lined in yellow and gold thread that defiantly looked like flames. Overall, they actually looked like shinobi—but Sakura still had the more impressive outfit of the group.

Then again, he just might be biased


"Sasuke-ku~n!" Sakura flinched at the high-pitched squeal, her eyes rounding onto Ino who all but barreled Sasuke over as she jumped and landed onto his back. "Where have you been you bad boy?" she asked flirtatiously, making Sakura's brow twitch sporadically

"Ino, get off," Sasuke ordered with a grunt, trying to stand his ground without falling over

"Oh you guys are here too," Shikamaru yawned as he approached tiredly, "What the hell happened to your old clothes?"

"My neighbor's pets," Sakura grumbled glaring at the floor as if it was at fault for her misfortune

"Sakura-chan decided that if she had to have a change in outfit then so did we!" Naruto chuckled earning an irated look from Sakura

"Really?" Ino asked stepping back to look Sasuke up and down which made the boy step away and put Sakura between them as if the pinkette could protect him from the blonde. "Wow Forehead girl you actually... you actually made Sasuke-kun look even hotter!" Sasuke glared at Sakura, blaming her for Ino's unwavering attention. Sakura glanced at him and smirked, knowing that she had picked out his clothes herself—she picked out Naruto's too but that was beside the point.

"Hay all nine rookies are here," Sakura groaned at the familiar voice, she looked behind Shikamaru and Chōji and saw team eight approaching together, hiding Hinata behind their big coats and tall figures.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, Kiba looked at her with a glare, his nose twitched and he blushed brightly; he backed away and put Hinata in front of him like a shield. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing" Kiba answered quickly, paling slightly. Sakura sighed and turned to look at Sasuke in irritation, as if he could translate Kiba's sudden bizarre reaction

"His nose is stronger then most" Sasuke answered her silent question carefully

"Say a word and die," Sakura growled out, glaring dangerously at Kiba.

"Is it shark week?" Ino asked, tilting her head to the side curiously

"Shark week?" Sakura asked looking at Ino with a raised eyebrow

"Yeah, Mom showed me a picture in a book she was reading and saw that it was scarily similar to the female reproductive system." Ino explained, not seeing that the boy's blush brightly, now understanding Kiba's reaction "ever since then she's been calling the monthly cycles 'Shark week'."

"That's... surprisingly accurate," Sakura murmured thoughtfully, "okay" She nodded her head at Ino, "Right, it's Shark week then."

"Oh good I'm not alone" Ino sighed, pressing a hand to her chest and smiling slightly

"You guys are weird" Naruto murmured, "one minute you're biting each other's heads off and the next you're talking like nothing happened."

"They're girl's, what'd you expect?" Shikamaru asked, staring dully at Naruto

"Hay! Hinata's nice—"

"Kiba!" Hinata shouted out, red faced and on the verge of fainting

"Oh, right, Sorry Hinata"

"I can't belief this is the first thing we're talking about," Sasuke sighed fighting the urge to rub at his temple as the others conversed not softly or even loudly but just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear them.

"Five months away from each other and suddenly old friends are strangers," Shino agreed softly

"Hay you guys quiet down," turning the rookies looked at the gray haired boy approaching them, "You're setting everyone on edge, quiet—"

"How the hell is that our fault?" Sakura asked loudly, interrupting the boy and raising an eyebrow "If they can't handle a few kids talking then they shouldn't be in the examines, considering that the examines are like a hundred times worse then just a couple of loud kids talking and minding their own busyness."

"...You know, some of participants wouldn't like that—"

"Again, how is that my problem?" Sakura asked, putting a hand on her hip "All that proves is that they're a nervous wreck and don't belong here anyways."

"...You have a counter for everything that I have to say don't you?" The older boy asked looking like he wasn't sure to be irated with her or nervous for her well-being.

"Billboard brow is hopped up on Morphine!" Ino cackled out suddenly, "Right now she feels like she could take on the world!"

"Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted throwing a fist at the blonde that was caught, Ino tried to return the favor but Sakura caught her punch; leaving the two of them struggling against the other's hold with glares that through off sparks between them.

"Girls are scary," Chōji mumbled, backing away like the other boys

"I really hope she's not really on Morphine," the boy said suddenly, drawing the boy's attention, "There are better medicines then that..."

"Nothing else works" Sakura said side stepping and loosening her grip on Ino, letting the blonde stumble passed. "I figured taking Morphine every thirty minutes was better then fainting every five," Sakura said turning to face the boy directly and ignoring Ino's glare and furious stance behind her. "By the way, who are you?"

"Ah, my apologies I'm Kabuto," The gray haired boy said, chuckling and scratching the back of his neck nervously, "I'm Kabuto Yakushi."

"Yakushi?" Sakura questioned with a frown, "as in Doctor Yakushi's adoptive son?"

"You know my dad?" Kabuto asked with a bewildered look

"He was our family doctor," Sakura said, nodding in agreement "Although... I thought he said you took the examine like... what was it? Four years ago?"

"Aw... yeah about that"

"You failed didn't you?" Sakura asked with a sigh

"Yup" Kabuto chuckled, "Ah and I've been collecting data ever sense then too, so I kind of know everyone here. Just give me a name or description and I'll show you their stats," Kabuto pulled out a deck of orange cards, "On these ninja cards of course."

"Um... how the hell did you get info on people you've never met and those who are first timers here?" Sakura asked curiously "Wouldn't that involve breaking into the various village's security records?"

"No" Kabuto said nervously, glancing at the other participants who were glaring warningly at him, "no I didn't break into any village security records, that'd start another war."

"So you got someone else to do it?" Sakura asked curiously, tilting her head to the side childishly

"Do you want some of my info or not?" Kabuto asked, looking like he wanted to hide behind a big rock

"Yes/Not" Sasuke and Sakura answered at the same time, looking at each other Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," Sakura grumbled, crossing her arms and staring at Kabuto in a board manner "Do whatever you want."

"Gaara of the desert and Rock Lee of leaf" Sasuke said automatically, turning to Kabuto and ignoring Sakura's snort of amusement

"Ah~ you even know their names, that's no fun" Kabuto chuckled, lifting a card from the deck "lets see, Rock Lee is up first..."

poof

"Ugly," Ino said automatically at the sight of Lee's picture

"Doesn't mean he's not strong," Sakura retorted, "He avoided my bomb trap like it was nothing."

"Anyone with half a brain could avoid that thing" Ino shot back with a smirk

"Calm down girls," Kabuto chuckled, calmly preventing the two from going at each other's necks again "And Sakura-chan is right—"

"Haruno-san" Sakura corrected automatically, staring down at Kabuto in irritation, "We're not friends Yakushi-san, don't call me by my first name."

"Ah... right, sorry Haruno-san," Kabuto corrected himself with a nervous chuckle, mantling adding the new bit of info to her card later. "As I was saying, Rock Lee is teammates to Neji Hyūga and Tenten, his teacher is Maito Gai and he specializes in Taijutsu; it doesn't look like he has much progress in any of the other five fields."

Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu... Sakura stopped as a frown pulled at her brows and twisted her lips. Five fields? Am I missing two?

"Now on to Gaara of the desert" Kabuto said, pulling up another card and running his chakra through it. Sakura shifted uncomfortably, not liking how her stomach suddenly felt really warm, (did she need to change already?) "Huh, this is strange... I don't have much on him..." Sakura's eyes focused on Gaara's card, staring rather blankly at the very blank looking card. "His teammates are his older siblings Temari and Kankuro... his teacher is unknown as is his talents... Oh! He's taken a B-ranked mission."

"A B-rank?" Shikamaru asked doubtfully, "No Genin our age can take on a B-rank"

"No normal Genin at least" Sakura grumbled in agreement, shifting uncomfortably again, going so far as to lock her arms together behind her.

"Sa-Haruno-san is right," Kabuto said flinching as he quickly corrected himself, "There's something off with this kid. No matter what mission he takes, he always comes back unharmed—without a single scratch."

"Creepy," Kiba mumbled with soft agreements from everyone else, no one but Kabuto saw Sakura's slight blush as she stared at Gaara's card.

"...I'm surprised none of you want to know about each other," Kabuto chuckled at them

"What's there to know?" Ino asked rolling her eyes, "We all grew up together."

"Really? So you don't think they've changed since graduation?" Kabuto asked curiously

"Well..." Ino glanced curiously at Sakura, her eyes racking over her out fit more specifically, "When did you get such a cute outfit? It actually looks good on you"

"My dad made it," Sakura answered blushing as she lifted a sleeve for Ino to get a better look at. "He used manikins and mom to help him with the outfits; I pretty much have an outfit for every year of my life until I'm twenty... I just didn't wear them because... well..."

"Yeah we know," Shikamaru sighed, closing his eyes, "trust us, we know..."

"I don't" Kabuto replied, looking up at the rookies curiously "mind filling me in?"

"Yes" Sakura answered with a frown, "It's none of your damn busyness."

"Kabuto, do you know how many participants are in this year's chunin examine?" Sasuke asked, drawing attention away from Sakura and her affectionate rubbing of her sleeves

"Yup," Kabuto said with a smirk, pulling out another card and running chakra through it until another puff of smoke erupted from it showing the map of the five elemental nations, each with a bar standing in the center of the countries; at the base of the card was each hidden village's symbol and a number just beneath them.

"Konoha has an awful lot of participants," Shikamaru noted curiously

"That's because each host village always has a higher participant entrance then any of the other villages," Kabuto explained

"Oh, I think I get it," Shikamaru commented, straightening enough to examine the room before looking back own at the card thoughtfully, "no village wants to have all their secrets and skills known by the other villages."

"That's right," Kabuto agreed with a smile

"Huh, what's up with the music note? They only have like three teams or is that the number of people they have participating?" Ino asked curiously

"The numbers are the numbers of teams that each village puts forward" Kabuto answered "And as for the sound village, well" Kabuto shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "The hidden sound village only came up recently; it's still pretty small and weak, so that's why the numbers are so small." Sakura clasped her teammate's shoulders and pulled them back, ignoring their protesting and earning curious looks from the others.

"Huh? Oh!" Kabuto jumped back just in time to miss a kick from a tall boy, then he back flipped to avoid a kick from a kunochi, then he jumped back just in time to avoid the swing from their teammate.

"Ha" Kabuto smirked at them, then his glasses shattered and doubled over coughing and puking

"That's gross" Kiba grumbled backing away

"Serves him right" Sakura sighed, releasing her teammates and putting one hand on a cocked hip. "Seriously, did he think he could get away with insulting a hidden village with it's shinobi within hearing range? He had that coming"

"Yeah okay, but how did it even happen?" Shikamaru asked, "We all saw that punch, Kabuto dodged it by a mile."

"What part of 'hidden sound' did you not understand?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow, at the blank faces given to her, Sakura sighed and pointed at the mummy-wana-be's arm, where a large metallic object with several holes sat. "Seriously Shikamaru, his village and the contraption on his arm should be enough clues to you. Kabuto got hit with a sound wave that knocked into his body and disrupted his equilibrium, that's why there's blood coming out of his ear. Innless Kabuto is a medic Nin, he'll never hear out of that ear again."

"You're smart," the boy smirked at her, turning towards her slightly

"Top of our class," Sasuke confirmed, staring at him wirily

BOOM

"Alright you baby-faced degenerates!" Everyone snapped around to face the front of the class, their eyes wide at the plume of smoke rising there. "My name is Ibiki Marino and this is my territory, follow my rules or fail this examine!" Sakura stared at the group that was revealed when the smoke faded away, "You sound Nin, stand down. There'll be no blood shed so long as I'm proctor of this round"

"Ch, where's the fun in that?" the tall boy in the yellow shirt asked with a smirk

"Our apologies" the mummy-wanna-be murmured beside his teammates, "We just... got a little excited..."

"You can get excited else where" Ibiki replied coldly. "Now each of you will come upfront and grab two pieces of paper, one will be the paper test and the other will be your seat placement."

"A paper test?" Naruto whined, tears threatening to run down his face

"We're doomed" Sakura sighed

"Have you no faith in me Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes

"Not on a paper test" Sakura shot back straight faced, smiling when Naruto bowed his head. "Cheer up," Sakura said, ruffling Naruto's hair affectionately "Don't worry so much, Sasuke and I will help you if we need you to pass too."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked as he stepped forward, taking Naruto and Sakura with him into the line

"Kakashi-sensei said we need to pass the first two rounds together—as a team," Sakura reminded him

"So we'll be scored as a team" Sasuke hissed now understanding

"And I doubt they'll let our team pass if one of us has a zero," Sakura mumbled, studying the seats and marking off her possible placement. "We'll have to work together to figure out a way to get answers to Naruto..."

"This just got a lot harder" Sasuke sighed

"Just pray we're wrong" Sakura replied

Of course, they weren't wrong, much to their disappointment. Two points were deducted for every time they were caught cheating and once they were caught five times, they were dismissed from the examine. Sakura sighed in her seat, she was two rows back from Naruto and seven away from Sasuke, they were almost a perfect right angle from each other. She could get answers to Naruto once the boy in front of her moved or got disqualified but Sasuke didn't have away yet. The boy to her left was older by a few years and as skitter-ish as a first time thief, her right was so far free—

"Huh?" Sakura rose from her slump slightly as she watched a familiar red head sit beside her calmly, placing his gourd in the ail beside him.

She felt his too warm hands run over her ribs, his hot breath on her neck and his body rub against her's. She could barely make out his short crimson locks but she could see his jade green eyes as clear as daylight, stealing her breath away every time they made eye contact.

"Can I help you?" Gaara asked politely, bring a brightly blushing Sakura back out from her thoughts, she squeaked in embracement and slammed her forehead on the desk, wrapping her arms around her head. Sakura swore that several people were laughing at her, weather it was the proctors or the boy next to her, she didn't know and didn't particularly care. She just wanted those flash backs of her strange dream to stop, they were doing strange things to her body and she wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Begin!" Ibiki shouted, ringing a bell loudly. Sakura snapped up and flipped her paper over, her eyes roaming over the paper quickly, after a split second of thought she laid her paper down and went to work answering the questions. She twitched as she caught the boy to her left glance at her paper, she made a mark at the edge of her paper, barely half a minute later he did it again... and again a minute later.

"That's it!" Sakura hissed, spinning in her seat and slamming a fist into the boy's rib cage sending spiraling out of his seat. "Quite cheating off of me damn it! That's the third damn time! Again and you won't have to worry about the proctors hulling you out of here because I'll throw you out the damn window!" The proctors snickered to themselves, trying hard not to let it get the better of them as Sakura sat down with a huff and the boy hesitantly crawled back into his seat.

"Can I get a different seat?" the boy asked the nearest proctor hopefully

"Nope" he smirked, having too much fun at the other boy's expanse. Five minutes later the boy sitting between Naruto and Sakura got called out on cheating and left; after that the teams were dropping like flies, several had to be escorted out.


Gaara sat in his seat staring a head dully, his arms crossed as he watched the clock in irritation. The girl beside him had flipped her paper over the second she was done and proceeded to lean back in her seat staring thoughtfully at her teammate. Gaara stiffened when he felt a burst of chakra gather beside him, eyes narrowing Gaara studied the stiff kunochi beside him.

He watched as something in her eyes changed and a smirk appeared on her lips, she shifted and flipped her paper over, green eyes scanning over it as if she didn't already know the answers. Curious Gaara turned to look ahead again, letting his sand move beneath the seat, twirled passed him and slithered under Sakura's longer skirt, brushing against her ankles teasingly. He had to fight a smirk as Sakura's leg jerked and kicked the barrier in front of them, drawing attention from the proctors nearby and making the boy on the other side of her flinch.


Ino flinched inside Sakura's body, her face paling as she felt something brush affectionately against Sakura's ankle. She tried to focus on her given task, but it grew difficult when she felt the soft thing brush between her legs like an affection seeking kitten. She scooted foreword and tucked her feet under her, hoping to make the slithery thing go away; sadly, it didn't take the hint. Ino felt herself stiffen further as she felt the strange thing slither between her tightly clasped ankles and traveled up Sakura's calves. Setting the paper down with a frown, Ino gripped the seat and glared at the paper, her foot moving to smack the thing way.

Bad move

Ino paled as she recognized the feel of hands on Sakura's knees, pushing them a side slightly to have more access to... Ino's face lit up and she quickly slammed her hands together in the released seal of her family's ninjutsu. When she got back into her own body she peeked up at Sakura shyly, but the floral haired girl was simply glaring in her direction, as if she had done the touching up instead of a sneaky brat somewhere in the room.


Gaara quickly let his sand turn into a pile at Sakura's feet the second he saw the girl form the release seal and felt the chakra fly passed him. Sakura slumped over slightly, her forehead nearly colliding with the desk before she caught herself. She lifted her head and looked around with a frown for a moment, confusion lighting her features; when her eyes landed on the clock she paled drastically, her eyes searching out her teammates quickly.


Oh no, Sakura thought staring at the clock with wide eyes, she had five minutes to get Naruto at least one correct answer. Turning slightly, Sakura looked passed the boy beside her and searched for Sasuke's eyes; she found them easily enough now she just need to know if he had been able to get an answer to Naruto. His confused look said enough, he still wasn't at that great of an angle to help Naruto. She rounded her eyes back up the clock, two minutes left, she didn't have enough time to prepare her idea and try it out!

One minute left; if she didn't do something then they were disqualified! Naruto glanced back at her worriedly, but she was turned glaring at Ino who was just a few rows behind her. He sighed in understanding, turning to face the front as if he was ready to walk the plank, Ino must have possessed Sakura to get the answers. Ino's memory was almost as bad as his; she must have taken up a lot of time trying to remember Sakura's answers and as such prevented Sakura getting him even one correct answer.

"Pencils down!" and now they were royally screwed

Ibiki examined the group before him curiously; there were a lot more remaining teams then he thought there would be...

"Listen up" Ibiki ordered coldly, "You all have a choice to make, if you take the tenth question and pass you'll pass on to the next round. However, if you take the tenth question and fail... then you'll be unable to take the chunin examine ever again!"

Commence shouting and rude remarks

Once everyone was more or less settled down again, Ibiki watched as a few genin gave up and walked out, taking their teams with them and thinning his room out. After five minutes and the room was tense for whoever was going to quite next, Ibiki was surprised to see a trembling hand slowly raise into the air, shocking more then his teammates, Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut.

"Number 4—"

"NO!" everyone jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice, his hand slamming onto the desk as he rose to his feet glaring determinedly at Ibiki. "I don't quite and I never give up! I'll take your tenth question! Even if I fail and end up a genin for the rest of my life, I'll still be Hokage someday!" Ibiki blinked at Naruto, surprised by his outburst, yet amused when the blonde sat back and crossed his arms childishly.

Hmm... Ibiki swept his eyes out over the group once more, searching for anyone who were still hesitant about the 'tenth' question—he found none. "Well then... you all" perhaps he shouldn't be taking so much pleasure in their worried expressions "PASS!"

Silence...

"Wait what?!" Ibiki chuckled at the remaining participants, yes messing with genin was very entertaining, but that didn't mean that he wasn't serious about the test. He started to explain why the tenth question was necessary and how it was related to the ranks of Chunin's but about half way through the speech, he was cut off by a giant violet ball that burst through the glass and opened wide in front of him.

"Alright maggots!" Ibiki sighed; he knew that voice as well as he knew his own "I'm Anko Mitarashi! Prepare for hell!"

"You're early" Ibiki drowned out, stepping around the curtain and looking passively at Anko

"Oh? Sorry!" Anko chuckled to him, scratching the back her head with a big smile, "Anyway~ how'd many you leave me?" Ibiki sighed as the woman ignored him, choosing to count the remaining genin, "Huh? 20 teams? Really Ibiki? Your test must have been too easy!"

"That or there were many exceptional children this year" Ibiki shot back, unfazed by the woman's taunt

"Whatever it doesn't matter," Anko looked out at the teams in front of her, a viscous smirk twisting her features, "By the end of my test there won't even be half as many!"


Thoughts are helpful

Opinions are wonderful

Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?

Please no cursing!

And don't forget to review!

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