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Note: I do not own Naruto!
Here we go! -Puts on helment and typing gloves- and we begin!
Chapter seven: Let the exams begin!
Over the next few days, Kakashi trained all three of what he called, 'his failures'. That had been what Kakashi had been calling them since day one and he swore he would call them that until the end of their training.
Sakura was not enjoying this 'training' Kakashi put them through. His version of making a fire was going out into the woods and gathering a pile of wood in thirty seconds. Then, five seconds to make a fire. So far Sakura had broken five nails, was littered in bruises and scratches, and her feet hurt horribly. (She's such a winer!XD) This was only the beginning! Next week they had to make tents!!
"This is ridiculous; he can't really expect us to do this!" Sakura was talking to herself, because both boys were running like squirrels in a nut-gathering contest. This little competition had started the day after Sasuke had punched Sakura in the face. This was not long forgotten, though Sakura didn't bug Sasuke about it, Sasuke seemed to have something on his mind for the last few days. He and Naruto had been at the back of the cabin practicing the clone thing and Sasuke had been practicing something Kakashi called 'taijutsu'.
So far, he had given Sakura small exercises, like putting her fingers up in different positions and trying to focus something called 'chakra'. Sakura didn't get it at all, so far, she hadn't gotten anything from it. It was boring and unethical, not to mention crazy. There was no such thing as chakra! At least Sakura didn't think so, but judging by what Naruto could do, maybe it did exist.
Right now, it didn't matter, because at the moment they were supposed to be focusing on gathering wood for the fire tonight. If she didn't…lets just say that Kakashi's punishments were not in the least humane.
"Hurry up Sakura! We're gonna be late!" yelled Naruto running around picking up random twigs and logs he found on the ground. Sasuke said nothing, he ran around just as fast as Naruto did gathering logs and twigs.
"I'm coming Naruto! Chill out would you?!" Sakura sighed and gathered a few more pieces of wood then followed after the two squirrels.
When they reached the edge of the woods, Sakura saw Kakashi standing there with a pocket watch.
"5…4…3…2…" Sasuke and Naruto dropped their logs at Kakashi's feet and fell over on their butts breathing heavily from exhaustion,
"1." Kakashi looked up from his watch just in time to see Sakura drop her logs at his feet and fall over,
"Well, at least the two of you made it…Sakura…" His tone sounded malicious.
Sakura groaned, not again! This had been the fourth time Sakura had been late on getting the logs back to Kakashi for the fire. Now…It was time for her punishment,
"Sakura, I want you to run twenty laps around the entire camp, wearing…" This caught Sakura's attention.
"This jumpsuit I got from councilor Guy!" And there, Kakashi held the most horrible piece of clothing to ever hit the fashion line…
There, Kakashi held a dark green jumpsuit.
"No, please Kakashi-sensei! Not that, please anything but that!!"
"Sorry Sakura, this is your punishment. Now, off you go!" He seemed all too cheerful about her being in that jumpsuit.
Psycho perverted evil, grey-haired, idiot councilor!Sakura could think of more colorful words to say about Kakashi but she held her tongue and inner Sakura at bay. Well, for a moment that is,
"CHA HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME RUN AROUND THIS STUPID GREEN MONSTER!!"Sakura had kept this comment in her mind, while she grudgingly dragged her feet toward the cabin to put on the green jumpsuit. She didn't dare question his judgment, thus Kakashi make up a more humiliating punishment.
When Sakura entered the cabin, she quickly changed into the green jumpsuit. Her face was turning redder and redder as she neared the cabin door.
Alright Sakura, do this and get it over with. Sakura took a deep breath and burst out the door of the cabin and took off in a full sprint. As she took off she could hear Naruto's burst of laughter, which made it all worse.
"NARUTO, I'LL GET YOU WHEN I COME BACK YOU'D BETTER BE PREPARED FOR THE MOST PAINFUL BEATING OF YOUR LIFE!! CHA!!" This time, her inner Sakura took over her speech and decided to dictate terms.
"CHA, I'LL GET THATSTUPID NARUTO IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"Sakura was not happy, and regular Sakura had decided to hide in a corner somewhere. She had had enough of this stupid, confusing, and painful stay in camp. She wanted to leave, she wanted to go home! Sakura kept running, using her inner Sakura for an energy box,
"Sakura!" Sakura turned around to see Rock Lee running behind her; he came up beside her,
"Sakura how lovely to see your youthful face, I love your jumpsuit what a vibrant green!" He suddenly stopped talking and gave a concerned expression,
"Sakura, what is wrong, why are you crying?" Inner Sakura finally backed down and let the actual Sakura back in front. Tears were running down her face,
"I'm fine just go away!" Sakura tried to run faster but Lee was much faster and more trained in his art,
"Sakura, you are not well, please stop and talk with me!" Sakura finally had to stop, the pain her legs and joints finally getting to her,
"I wanna go home!" Sakura yelled collapsing on a nearby bench, it was made of stone and having her butt hit it rather hard made everything worse,
"Are you homesick? Is that it?" asked Lee sitting down beside her,
"It's not only that Lee it's everything! The training, the punishments, and!" Sakura stopped short, she would not go there. Sakura knew what her problem was; she just didn't want to admit it to herself. The things that were happening, the flashes of images, those darned blue shoes!
"Calm down Sakura, I'm sure it will all be alright." He put a hand on her shoulder, and she stood up pulling her shoulder away,
"What do you know?! You're just a bowl-haired freak!" Sakura ran off leaving poor Lee speechless.
Sakura kept running and crying until she had probably ran more than thirty laps around the camp grounds, and she was still going. Sakura could barely even feel her feet or legs anymore; her vision was starting to fade,
"Sakura, you've got to stop."
Who is that…I don't recognize…
"Sakura…Sakura you have to stop!"
"Who…?" Sakura could barely even hear her own voice, but the voice was starting to bring her out of the fog.
"Sakura come on, it's time to go, you've ran around the camp thirty-five times now."
Sakura couldn't hear the persons voice, her vision was starting to fade even more. Her skin felt very cold…
"That's it, this has to end!" Suddenly, she felt something wrap its arm around her waist. Sakura tried to struggle against it, but the arm was too strong. She felt herself being pulled onto someone's back; it felt warm against her cold skin,
"You're such an idiot; I can't believe I'm even carrying you back." Sasuke muttered as he walked back to the cabin. Then something occurred to him,
"Sakura, I need you to walk. Can you move?"
"No…"
"You've got to move to slow down your heart." Sasuke slid Sakura off of his back and put her on her feet. She stumbled for a few seconds, then leaned completely on him,
"Come on Sakura, you have to walk."
"Can't…feel…my legs…"
Sasuke sighed,
"Here, lean on me and try to walk." Sasuke pulled Sakura's arm over his shoulder and started to walk forward.
It's the least I can do… Sasuke continued to walk forward, his dreams had become more complicated, no, not dreams, nightmares. Black, white, and red dreams that portrayed blood and violence, it had started after Sakura had been attacked,
In these dreams, I do nothing but hurt her and Naruto…I don't understand any of this, but I'm going to figure it out, one way or another.
When they reached the cabin, Sasuke kicked the door until Naruto opened it,
"What happened to Sakura? Sasuke if you hurt her I sw-"
"I didn't hurt her you idiot, help me get her inside." Sasuke walked in with Sakura, her arm still over his shoulder. He walked her over to his bunk then sat her down,
"Sasuke, what happened to her?" Naruto was looking mostly at the lines of stress under her eyes and her pale skin,
"I found her jogging around the camp, she looked half dead." Sasuke put an arm behind her back and laid her down flat on the bunk. Naruto lifted her legs on the bed and took off her shoes,
"She's a mess; I've never seen her like this." Naruto said quietly.
"She's an idiot for running that far, I had to walk her back." Naruto turned to face Sasuke,
"Could you for just two seconds stop acting like a stuck up brat!?"
"Oh, I'm a stuck up brat!? What about you with your constant ADD attitude?! You act like you love Sakura but you just like her because you can't have her! So why don't you stop acting like a lovesick idiot and actually think for a change?!"
Naruto stopped, and then he gained his voice again,
"You're only saying that because you don't have anyone! You don't even have a family!!" Naruto stopped, he gone way too far. The look on Sasuke's face could have made a baby cry, his eyes were just empty, and the air in the room had gone way too thin for comfort,
"Look…Sasuke I…"
"No Naruto…" Sasuke looked at Sakura then back to him, "I…don't have a family…they…they were all killed."
"Sasuke…I'm…I'm sorry I…"
"You know…I always looked at you and Sakura…you both had someone to care about you. Sakura with her mom and you with Iruka-sensei…" Naruto felt awful, as Sasuke sat on the bottom bunk of Naruto's bunk bed, Naruto sat beside him,
"Look Sasuke, I don't know how you feel because…I've never had a family." Sasuke looked at him for a moment; his eyes still a little empty,
"Yeah…" Naruto looked at the floor, the light leaving his blue eyes for a moment. Then it came back,
"I was dropped on Iruka-sensei's door step one day as a baby. No one wanted me, nobody really cared but him. He's like a dad to me…" Sasuke now looked at Naruto in a different light, Sasuke had lost his family, and Naruto never had one. So why were they fighting? Sasuke started to look at things logically; they were only fighting because they were both hurting…both lonely…
"Dear Lord I've become Doctor Phil." Sighed Sasuke, if you really looked, you could see a small smile on Sasuke's face,
"What are you talking about Sasuke?"
"Nothing Naruto." Sasuke kicked off his shoes and laid down on Naruto's bottom bunk. Naruto blinked at him then shrugged, their fight completely forgotten about.
When Sakura opened her eyes, she didn't see the ceiling; she saw the boards periodically placed with bits of sheets sticking through each space…
I'm on the bottom bunk! That means I'm in…
Sakura sat up quickly and looked around, she saw Sasuke sleeping on Naruto's bottom bunk and Naruto sleeping on the top bunk. Their was light coming through the windows of the cabins windows, which probably meant it was dawn,
"I wonder who's awake right now…" Sakura started to stand, and then she felt a sharp pain go through her entire body. She squeaked and sat back down on the bed,
"Okay Sakura…you can do this…come on…" Sakura finally managed to lift herself off the bed and into the bathroom. She went into the shower with much effort, when she was finished with her shower, Sakura brushed her hair and teeth then realized something.
She didn't have her suitcase of clothes.
"No!!" Sakura cried out in absolute horror, she slid down against the wall. That would mean she would either have to wake them both up and have Naruto peep at her clothes and her. Or, she run out there really quick and grab her clothes without waking them,
But I'm in a towel!!
Sakura decided that she could run out there and quickly grab her clothes without waking them.
Sakura opened the door as quietly as she could without waking Sasuke or Naruto. She tip toed into the sleeping area of their cabin and had her hand on her bag when Sasuke rolled over. Sakura flinched, then noticed his eyes were closed, she breathed a sigh of relief and started to pick up her bag when Sasuke started to mumble something, and his eyes were starting to open,
Oh no! He's waking up!
RUN IDIOT!
Sakura picked up her bag and made a run for the bathroom as his eyes completely opened. She squealed and got her bag into the bathroom then slammed the door,
"I hope he didn't see me…" she muttered quietly, Sakura quickly dressed and started to brush her hair.
"Sasuke! Why's your nose bleeding?!" Naruto yelled, the entire cabin seemed to vibrate and Sakura went dead still.
No…
"Shut up Naruto!" She could hear punches and kicks being exchanged and two idiots wrestling in the sleeping area.
"THOSE TWO IDIOTS! DO THEY ALWAYS HAVE TO DO THIS?! I'M GOING TO KILL THEM!!"
Sakura stopped, since when did Sasuke fall into the idiot category…? Her thought was interrupted by the sound of the cabin door opening and Kakashi's sigh,
"Not again…" Sakura giggled hearing Kakashi's voice, she loved when those two made him miserable.
Seven days later, Kakashi had dubbed them ready for the camp exams. Kakashi was sitting in a chair in the cabin, talking them through on what the exams were going to be like,
"The first part of the exam is making a fire, pitching a tent, running a race through the forest, and the martial arts tournament. The making the fire and pitching the tent are just preliminaries, the race through the forest is the hard part." Kakashi laid a map out in front of the trio,
"This is a map of the forest; it is by the far the largest and the most treacherous forest in Konoha, so safety and being a team is the key to succeeding."
"But Kakashi-sensei, if it's that dangerous then why do they hold the race in the forest?" asked Sakura, Naruto was wondering the same thing.
"That forest used to be a rather safe place, but over the past two years, campers have come out of the forest with the strangest of injuries. Deep gashes, stab wounds, things like that." He sounded like it was the most normal thing on earth! What was wrong with this man?!
"Then why wouldn't they have the race somewhere else?!" yelled Sakura, her temper getting the best of her.
"Because, we now have camp councilors patrolling the forest during the race, it helps bring the injuries to a minimum. All you guys have to do is remember what I taught you, and you'll be fine."
Sakura gulped, what he had taught them was how to defend themselves against other kids their age! What if some insane man was out in that forest?! Three twelve year olds can't take on a full grown man! Or…maybe they could, when Sakura thought about it. Naruto could clone himself…
This reminded her…
"Kakashi-sensei…I was wondering…did you ever catch that man that attacked me?" Kakashi looked up from the map along with Sasuke and Naruto…well; Naruto wasn't paying that much attention to the map anyway.
Kakashi's eye narrowed and he looked away from Sakura, then he turned right back with a smile,
"Yes, we did catch him; he's far away from this place now." Sakura let out her held breath and smiled,
"Good." Sasuke turned sharply toward Kakashi with a questioning look and Kakashi looked down at the map again. Sasuke was confused but set it aside, maybe he had heard wrong…
"Alright, get ready, and stretch out. I'll be back in an hour to get you for the competition." Kakashi walked out of the cabin and closed the door. Leaving the trio in their thoughts,
"Alright everyone, stretch out and get ready! Believe it!"
"Believe it?" asked Sakura with her eye brow raised,
"Yeah, it just came to me! It sounds great!" Sasuke walked over to Naruto, grabbed him by the collar of his jumpsuit and growled out,
"Don't. Ever. Say. That. Again!" he then released Naruto and went to stretch. (YES! Thank you Sasuke!!)
Naruto blinked, he was rather confused on why Sasuke seemed to hate his new catch phrase,
"C'mon Sasuke! I like it! You like it don't you Sakura?" Naruto turned to her to see the very annoyed look on her face,
"No, it's annoying and loud and you don't need to say it!" Sakura hit Naruto over the head,
"Ow! Sakura, that's not fair!" Naruto whimpered, he sat down and started to stretch his legs while Sakura stood with her feet together and touched her toes. Then she sat down and did a butterfly stretch. She put her feet together and made a circle with her legs, then bent over flat keeping her feet down and her knees on the ground. After doing that a few times, she grabbed one ankle and stretched out her leg completely. She brought it back and stretched the other one. After she had done that three times on each leg, she stood up and stretched her legs the same way but standing one leg and balancing completely. When she did this on the other leg and then the other four times, she took a deep breath and let the pain flow out. Then she noticed something, Naruto and Sasuke were looking at her oddly,
"What? I used to be a dancer, that's how they stretched!" she turned away from them with a blush rising on her cheeks.
"You were in ballet?" asked Naruto curiously as Sakura turned to yell at him, she stopped. He actually seemed interested, looking at her with a look of curiosity. Sasuke was also watching out of the corner of his eye,
"Well…" her blush became larger, "yes I…I was in ballet when I was little…I still practice the stretches." She crossed her arms and sighed,
"We'd better stretch." Sakura went back to her stretching and the two boys went to theirs. An hour later, Kakashi knocked on the door,
"Come in!" yelled Naruto and Kakashi walked through the door. He took a chair and sat down casually,
"Are you all ready?"
Sakura nodded,
Sasuke nodded,
Naruto nodded,
A deep look seemed to cross Kakashi's face, something between sadness and remembrance. A deep sorrow the trio didn't know anything about,
"Alright, then step outside with me." Kakashi rose out of the chair and walked to the door,
"Follow me." Kakashi opened the door and stepped out, the trio followed behind him. Kakashi walked them to the edge of the forest, and then stopped as they saw all the other teams getting ready for the events. Stretching and getting pep talks from their councilors, though, none louder than Guy-sensei. Shouting about youth and strength, what was with that man? At least one of them was excited; Lee's eyes were sparkling while the other two shrunk back.
"Alright, the fire building competition is about to begin, just line up by the white line there." Kakashi pointed to a white line at the edge of the forest, away from the forest on the other side of the line, were pits where the teams could make their fires,
"Go on now." Kakashi walked away to the other councilors, they were gathered in the background while their campers were lining up to begin. Kakashi approached Asuma, an older man like him; Asuma was in a camp uniform like him,
"Hey Asuma." Waved Kakashi as he stood beside the other man,
"Kakashi, glad you could make it. How's your team?"
"Fine, just fine, and yours?"
"Just peachy, even though they keep arguing."
"Tell me about it." Kakashi groaned, and then she spotted a woman approaching. She had long black hair; her eyes were a rare red…
"Kurenai, good to see you, you were brand new last year. How have you been holding up this year?"
"I am well Kakashi, my team is as well before you ask." She sounded sincere but Kakashi could sense the sarcasm.
"So, how has the chase for Haruno's assailant going?"
"We haven't found trace of him yet, slippery snake." Asuma and Kurenai had been put in charge of tracking him down.
"No foot prints, no nothing." Muttered Kurenai, "What did you tell Haruno?"
"That we caught him; she doesn't need to worry about anything else at the moment. We won't fail this time, this time; we're going to be careful. This time, he won't get to any of them." Kakashi narrowed his eyes in anger.
Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto lined up at the white line. They looked at each other and then faced forward. Sakura had made sure to make her hair look extra shiny today. She would shine for Sasuke; she would show him what she could do!
A woman in a large tan jacket stepped up in front of the line. She had such light black hair that it seemed blue; her eyes were almost the same. She was tall with a black shirt and black pants with a tan skirt over it, and…
"WHAT IS WITH THOSE DANG SHOES!!" screamed Sakura, when she realized she had said it out loud, she squeaked and covered her mouth.
Oh no…
"You have a question Haruno?!" the woman yelled, looking straight at Sakura. Sakura felt a shiver go up her spine,
"No ma'am!" squeaked Sakura, bowing her head low in shame.
"Good! Now, let's get started, my name is Anko Mitarashi! I am your exam councilor! In a few minutes, the log gathering for your bonfires will begin momentarily. But unfortunately, I am responsible for announcing some ground rules,
Rule number one, you cannot harm any of the other campers, no fighting or you'll deal with me." Anko gave an evil look on her face to emphasize her point, Sakura gulped,
She's got to be worse than Kakashi!
"Rule number two, the forest is the limit! No going outside the forest! Our chunin ranked campers will be watching you so don't even think about it! Rule number three, you must be back in thirty minutes or you're disqualified! The winner is the one who makes their bonfire first! I will count down from ten, and then everyone will start!"
Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto's muscles tensed as well as all of the other teams,
"Ready! Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…"
Shino opened a box,
Hinata narrowed her eyes,
Akamaru's head popped out of Kiba's jacket,
"Five…four…"
Ino pushed her ponytail back,
Choji breathed out like a bull,
Shikamaru yawned,
"Three…two!"
Neji narrowed his eyes,
TenTen crouched down to take off,
Lee did the same,
"One!"
All the teams shot off into the woods, along with team seven. Sakura ran through the bushes and branches. Looking for her first target, she saw a log on the ground, when she ran for it Sakura hit a big jacket with fluff,
"Too bad pinky, try again!" Kiba ran off again and Sakura dusted herself off,
How rude, that jerk!
"COME BACK AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"
Sakura continued on and grabbed logs on the ground; she also grabbed a few small twigs. When she had an arm full, Sakura raced back to the finish line.
That was when she saw something, it was so small, just a flash. But Sakura could have sworn she saw the image of a man in grey armor jump across the tree line. Sakura stopped for a second, then kept going,
Kakashi-sensei said he caught him! Kakashi-sensei said they caught him!
Sakura didn't know who she was trying to convince, she finally made it back to the finish line, to her surprise, Sakura was there before Naruto! Sasuke was there, breathing hard and putting the logs down,
"Sasuke!" yelled Sakura; she was excited that she had improved so much,
Sasuke's eyes flickered over at her then back to the pile; Sakura ran over and started to put her logs down,
"Hey guys, I'm here!" yelled Naruto running out of the forest; he had his arms full of wood.
"Good Naruto, set it down!" yelled Sakura helping him put it in the pile. As soon as they had the wood on the ground, Sasuke took out a match and lit the logs on fire, Sakura fanned the fire to life and Naruto was jumping around with excitement,
"Come on, come on, come on! Neji's team almost has his fire started!"
Sasuke heard this and glared; suddenly his hands flew up and made signs,
"Katon Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke made a ring with his fingers and he breathed fire through them, the logs instantly caught fire,
Sakura gasped,
"How did you…?" Sakura blinked and Sasuke was looking at his hands,
How did I do that?
"Team seven wins the fire building event!" yelled Anko raising her hand to end the competition.
The other teams looked at Sasuke's fire and sighed in defeat,
"Sasuke…did you do that on purpose?" asked Naruto,
"No…It just came to me…like Naruto's did." Sakura gulped, she grabbed her hair and started twisting it,
"N-n-naruto-kun?" a timid little voice came from behind them, Naruto turned and saw Hinata holding something out to him,
"T-t-this is m-m-m-medicine…y-y-y-you…c-c-cut your e-e-elbow."
Naruto looked down at his elbow and saw a deep cut in it,
"Huh…must have done that in the forest, thanks Hinata!" Naruto gladly took the medicine from Hinata, while doing that, he accidentally touched the tip of her finger. She squeaked and ran off, back to her group. Naruto scratched his head out of confusion,
"Man she's weird, oh well, the next competition is making tent, let's get ready guys!"
Sakura sighed,
This is going to be a long day…
And that's chapter seven! Hope you like it! I will add more fluff with other characters in the next chapter! Please review for me!
Thanks to!
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Nikki Mustang
Universal Fighter
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Romance is Me
Thank you all vey much for your input! Please keep going!!
