One team tries to ambush them as they reach the tower. Sakura never saw their hi-ate. Sai killed them and even Inner didn't care.
("Orochi-fucking-maru. Who the fuck has such a stupid fucking name!") Perhaps it's more that Inner is worried about other things.
Upon entering the tower there was a wall, and a message and honestly Sakura had nothing left to give. It clearly was some sort of riddle and usually she loved those but right now her hand hurt and her brain hurt and she was scared.
If qualities of heaven are your desire,
acquire wisdom to take your mind higher.
If earthly qualities are what you lack,
train your body and prepare to attack.
When heaven and earth are opened together,
the perilous path will become righteous forever.
This _ is the secret way that guides us from this place today.
"That looks really old," Naruto says looking up at the worn scroll on the wall. ("Soooo helpful there Naruto," Inner snarks as Sakura realises that how she feels on the matter is unimportant. Unless Sai knows the answer, she'll probably have to figure it out. Naruto clearly isn't going to.)
"Poetry is not an area I have proficiency," Sai says. He looks at her, and although he has no facial expression or vocal deviations Sakura can feel the silent weight of his expectations.
"Desire and lacking - you only desire something you lack, similar meanings but different connotations." Sakura says, brainstorming aloud, "Heaven and earth - opposites. Mind and body - opposites that work together." It's not a bone deep exhaustion so much as bone deep exhaustion/exasperation/fear/excitement/horror…. Maybe it's not the bone deep need for sleep and quiet so much as confusion over the emotion whiplash of the past week. Who could say. "The missing kanji…." It's an noun, obviously. This person?
("This Naruto is the secret way that guides us from this place today," Inner says, testing the way it sounds. "Nope. Not a person.")
A place?
("This Konoha is the secret that guides us from this place today? Unlikely.")
A thing, then.
("This scroll is the secret that guides us from this place today?" Inner pauses for a moment and Sakura twitches slightly when both Naruto and Sai look sharply at her.)
A thing. What do they have that could be worthy of passing. It's singular. So it's probably not the scrolls, even if that would make sense given that they are the 'heaven' and 'earth' scrolls…. When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. A strange choice of words - righteous. Could it be the scrolls? Sai makes animals with his scrolls - this animal is the secret way that guides us from this place today. That would make sense.
Righteous. Body. Mind. Righteous is kind of like the spirit - chakra! Mental and physical energy combine to make chakra! This chakra is the secret way that guides us from this places today.
Sakura sighs. The possibilities are endless. The chakra of who, and where? Physical and mental energies were always together so why would it talk about putting them together?
"Sakura," Naruto says, somewhat sharply. Sakura look up, out of her despair to see Naruto holding out a ration bar. She takes it but glares at Naruto as she eats it - if he had this then why did they have to eat bugs earlier? Sai is on the ground, transcribing the riddle onto this own scroll.
When her bar is finished and she looks back up, determination and utter exhaustion mean that she is going to get the answer, and she's going to get it fast. She was the one who could answer all of the questions in the chunin exam! She is smart enough to be a chunin!
If qualities of heaven are your desire,
acquire wisdom to take your mind higher.
Alright. So if you want heaven, be smarter. Heaven is good, bright, safe. They have a heaven scroll.
If earthly qualities are what you lack,
train your body and prepare to attack.
Now instead of desire it's talking about lack. Like maybe you don't want it, but you need it anyway? Earth is steady, strong, consistent. They have an earth scroll. Prepare to attack? It might be dangerous?
When heaven and earth are opened together,
the perilous path will become righteous forever.
They need to open the scrolls. The perilous path - maybe there's another way to do it? The path is safe if you open or have both scrolls? So those who try to pass without both scrolls are in danger.
This -something- is the secret way that guides us from this place today.
The secret way? There's a less dangerous path? Maybe if you only have one you have to find a route up in the air - take your mind higher - and it's a lot more dangerous - prepare to attack? But if you have both scrolls, and open them, then you can find a safe, secret path?
"I think," Sakura starts slowly, "we need to open the scrolls."
"We were told not to open them," Sai says. The emptiness of his expression making Sakura pause for a moment. His tone is absolutely flat and his face is empty and Sakura still gets the feeling that there's emotion behind it. Like a plain white mask shattered in the centre. Sakura knows there is something deeply broken in Sai. She hopes it won't kill her.
"I think they told us not to open them before because without them we won't be able to pass to the next stage." Sakura says, the pieces still don't fit together perfectly, but it feels like the right path.
"It's not as if Konoha never gives misleading instructions," Naruto says, glaring at the riddle, "underneath the underneath and all that."
"As you say," Sai agrees without actually agreeing. He pulls a scroll from his bag. Sakura and Naruto both look at him. Naruto reaches into his pouch and pulls out a scroll that is distinctly not the heaven or earth scroll. They both look back to Sai who pulls a second scroll out of his bag.
"Sai…" Sakura starts, before deciding that that would be far too much work right now. She wants a nap, and she wants it now. She does not want to deal with Sai's… mistrust? Or whatever his motivation is. Sai hands her the scrolls, which she opens.
"Ah, a summoning scroll," Sai says when smoke starts to seep off the paper. ("SHIT," Inner shouts.) Sakura throws the scrolls away.
"Prepare to attack," Sakura says, echoing the riddle. Naruto moves to the front and Sai to the back, prepared for whatever comes out.
"Hello Team Seven!" Iruka Umino - her academy sensei says with a smile. "Congratulations on passing the second exam!"
xXx
This chunin is the secret way that will guide you from this place today. The words echo in Sakura's head. It's not right. Sure, Iruka-sensei is a chunin and he did let them pass the second part of the exam safely… But that would be treating chunin like a thing and not a person. That's not how it works, is it?
The Hokage looks down on them and talks about war and friendship. Sakura remembers the lack of Iwa or Kiri genin in the exam. How many were there, were there any at all? What about the smaller nations? The whole talk just makes her more confused honestly.
Kabuto and his team made it, Sakura notices, looking around the room. Of the six teams to pass five of them are Konoha teams. The other is the Suna team with the red haired boy Naruto wants to fight.
"There will be a random match up for the preliminaries. The first fight is between," a sickly chunin says, pausing as the electronic board flashes through names, "Sai and Yoroi!"
The fight is honestly. Well it's a bit pitiful. As soon as they start Sai pulls out his sword and cuts his opponent open. The fight is less than a full minute long.
All of the genin are like that. Choji is slow and Kiba is obvious. Ino is trying but Sakura wonders if she has ever been in an actual fight. It makes Sakura uncomfortable to watch, or participate in. She feels no joy in her victory, only confusion and the feeling that she beat up a child.
Naruto doesn't even get to fight. The girl from Suna - Temari - immediately forfeits from their match up. Luckily Gaara passes as well so it wasn't all for nothing.
Sakura can't help but feel scornful of her fellow genin. Are these really the best available?
xXx
They are told to attend the third exam in one months time. Yamato tells them to meet him tomorrow in their usual place. Then Sakura walks home.
Konoha is one of the biggest shinobi villages, but it's not large. Sakura's been to the Capital now and in comparison Konoha is tiny. She knows the streets. She knows Mimi-oba-san from the grocery store and and Hashi-oji-san from the shinobi supply store. She waves at that woman that her mother knows but she can never remember the name of. The baker Dad likes gives her a free bunny shaped pastry.
The whole thing feels surreal. She's not one of them anymore. She feels like they are drawing overlaid on one another. They live on one layer and the shinobi world lives on another. They are close but cannot touch, cannot see, cannot know one another.
She has walked down this street thousands of times.
She walked down this street with Ino, less than a year ago, arguing over whether Sasuke was more likely to be buying food or training at the time. They had both been smiling. Ino had bought dango and Sakura had stolen one the skewers. A dog with brown and grey fur had run past them and Ino had said that cats were better than dogs. (Ino was wrong a lot.)
She had walked down this street with Ino when they were still friends, on their way to the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino bouncing around and taking advantage of everyone thinking she was an adorable little girl instead of a devious destroyer of cakes. Sakura had still been uncomfortable with how imbalanced their friendship was. She had thought Ino was so much better than her at everything. Ino's dad had given her a flower.
Sakura and her Mother had walked down this street hand in hand looking for a present to give to Dad. He had been on a mission and gotten home early and they'd had to run out the door to find something. By the time they'd reached this street they had forgotten the time pressure and were enjoying the autumn weather.
Sakura's Father had given her a piggy back ride down this street. Sakura had waved at every person she saw so they would notice how tall she was. The baker had given her a treat - she couldn't remember what anymore.
Now Sakura walks down the street alone. The quiet allowing her to remember that her hand hurts. A lot. She's tired. She's scared, scared that Orochimaru will come back and decide that his plan works better with her dead. She's worried about changing. Her teammates clearly have no regard for human life and Sakura knew that she's going the same way.
At the same time, she can't regret not being the little girl she once was. She doesn't regret the strength she has built within herself. She doesn't regret killing bandits. Maybe she should, but she doesn't.
She wonders if she'll end up like Sasuke, dead from a mission and forgotten. Would her parents mourn her? They were very practical people, perhaps they have already done so. Perhaps her parents mourned her death when she joined the academy, or when she graduated. Perhaps when she dies they will have another child. Perhaps they will name that child Sakura, and they'll pretend she never existed in the first place.
Sakura sees the people she knows and she wonders if they will remember her. Will Ino mourn her death? She is from a clan and Sakura can still remember her brushing off the death of a relative as 'something that happens'.
At least she knows Naruto will remember her.
A/N:
The preliminary match ups were as follows:
Sai, Yoroi - Sai won
Choji, Shino - Shino won
Misumi, Kankuro - Kankuro won
Sakura, Kiba - Sakura won
Rock Lee, Ino - Rock Lee won
Shikamaru, Tente - Shikamaru won
Naruto, Temari - Naruto won (Temari forfeit)
Hinata, Neji - Neji won (as in canon)
Gaara, Kabuto - Gaara won (Kabuto forfeit)
The match up for the final exam are as follows:
Rock Lee, Naruto
Neji, Kankuro
Shikamaru, Sakura
Gaara, Sai
Shino gets a free pass