The next couple of years went by fast with Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke learning a myriad of things under Sasori, individually or all together as he did one on one sessions to appease the jealous boys, though neither would admit it.
Among these things learned for Sakura, was medical ninjutsu, Sasori figured he'd get her started early, even filling out a form once she passed the graduation exam and became a genin that was only three days from then to take to the hospital to request additional medical ninjutsu training.
Dancing was another skill he'd helped her hone tirelessly with Mikoto's help surprisingly earning Sakura another weapon to use during a fight, a metal fan that was both ornamental and dangerous since she could seal jutsu's and even weapons into it, this she tucked into her yukata sash.
While the ear dagger was kept strapped to her inner left thigh, poison and antidote crafting, though Sasori had already known Sakura would be good at it, there was even times when they practiced solely during the dead of night to train with her summons which were vicious little creatures.
Hairy legged vampire bats all of whom seemed to adore her, not just Aimai when Sakura managed to summon others and they weren't afraid to attack something on Sakura's command, tear skin off with their teeth as well it was horrifying to watch.
Sasori also learned that Sakura's genjutsu's were very potent when Shisui accidentally insulted her once and he got trapped in the illusion as well, Hell Viewing to be precise and it brought out every horrible nightmare he'd ever had in his entire life.
Chakra control and taijutsu now those were two skills that he knew would be way above average so he wasn't surprised about it, Naruto however learned the shadow clone and clone jutsu in full, honing his own chakra control tirelessly over the years.
Fuinjutsu, he could slightly improve seals now since he'd got a late start on learning, and Naruto could make his own chakra ink, with Sakura supervising just in case, his taijutsu had also improved and the meditation kept him calm and slightly less exuberant.
Mature even sometimes when the situation really called for it, he could use elemental jutsu's in abundance without tiring as quickly as Sakura or Sasuke, both of whom didn't have a tailed beast sealed inside of them like Naruto did.
And his shuriken jutsu had gotten better, Sasuke who'd had less time had done his best to hone his taijutsu and elemental natures, going so far as to request training with a sword and learn how to summon hawks, to his disappointment though he hadn't been swept away to train for two weeks.
Before they knew it those three days before graduation exams had passed and the day to become genin was upon them "I swear I won't let you down Sasori-ni" Sakura drew him from his thoughts, vowing to do her absolute best during the exams whatever they might entail.
His gaze softened "Of course you won't Sakura, I trained you after all" Sasori scoffed, dreading this day more and more, he'd already received the summons to return after all and he was sure this would break Sakura even more after she'd pulled out of her depression of loosing her parents.
Though he was still investigating he'd found nothing yet "See you later then Sasori-ni" the pinkette snuck in a quick side hug then sprinted away from the whack out her apartment door, giggling all the while as she hurried down the streets to the academy.
Sasori rubbed his face and then sat at Sakura's desk that she'd bought with her weekly stipend pulling out a letter scroll as he did and a pen before writing a long drawn out letter, detailing the first and last lie he would ever tell Sakura hopefully.
When he was done he tied it with a dark pink ribbon, left another scroll at it's side and body flickered to his apartment of the last seven years, then headed for the Hokage Tower "Your really leaving then, you know this is going to hurt her" Hiruzen commented.
"I have no choice old man, Pein sent the summons to return already and if I refuse then he'll know everything I've told him was a lie, Uchiha could be in danger if I don't" the redhead scowled furiously, knowing that it was the truth.
Sakura was going to be unbelievably hurt "How are you telling her Sasori" the Third questioned, seeing the pack hung from Sasori's shoulder, then it hit him as Sasori curled his lips into a disgusted sneer, probably at himself.
"Detailed letter, wrote it after she left, now if you'll excuse me" Sasori stated, having a few loose ends to tie up still, such as his apartment, dropping off the key once he was sure it was empty, paying any lasting bills, then it was off to the gates to sign out and head for Hidden Rain.
~Meanwhile~
His little student had reached the academy "Thought you weren't going to come Sakura-chan" Naruto sulked a little as his best friend slid into her seat next to him, she flashed him a confused look before he cracked a small smile.
"Knucklehead of course I'd come, have to show everyone up after all" Sakura grinned widely, she knew it was going to be a long day however so settled back with a book on puppetry, that Sasori had lent to her a few days ago, he said he was going to teach her so she wanted to learn.
Naruto rolled his eyes lightly at her antics "Sakura, Naruto" Sasuke greeted as he snagged the seat on the end of their row, which wasn't occupied by Shikamaru that morning fortunately, it was a rare chance that he got to sit with them so he was going to take it.
Shikamaru gave him an irritated look when the Nara Heir did enter the classroom though but that was the least of his worries "You think Sasori-sensei will actually be our jonin sensei" the blonde Uzumaki on the other end of the row whispered suddenly, curious.
It was a definite possibly "Perhaps but we won't know until whenever they decide to tell us Naruto" the pinkette scuffed the blonde over the head lightly then cracked open her book again hardly able to sit still, she was fidgeting every few seconds.
And unable to concentrate on her book "Sheesh Sakura you'll put Naruto to shame if you keep that up" the ebony haired twelve year old sitting in the row with them snorted, ducking where Naruto forgot as a hand shot out to whack him as well.
Only to miss as he leaned away at just the right time "Quiet can't concentrate" Sakura huffed under her breath, forcing herself to stop fidgeting, which allowed her to finally focus on her puppetry book, reading about all the interesting ways to use a puppet.
"Your hand is as swift as ever, however I think Sasuke's learning how to dodge to efficiently" Naruto sniggered, only to pout as he tried to do the same and failed because Sakura struck with a finger in his side when he leaned his head away.
Still really ticklish as she dug her finger into his side gently and wiggled it "It probably won't last long, she'll figure out how to get quicker when I'm not looking" Sasuke scowled, praising her in his own way, he still really wanted her to be with him after all.
Twenty minutes and a few whacks later Iruka finally showed up and they all straightened in their seats "As you know today is a very important day, graduation, where each of you have the chance to become genin, when I call your name come up and we'll get your testing done" Iruka explained.
Rattling off their classmates names in an agonizingly slow way "Sakura Haruno" the brunet announced finally, Naruto stood to let her out of their row since she was sandwiched between him and Sasuke, then Sakura walked confidently down the aisle.
Ami though tried to trip her but having heard the movement without even looking merely leaped over the obstruction in her path, Sakura also didn't have to look to see the frustration on Ami's face since it was pouring off her in waves.
Then she followed Iruka into a room "Okay so what do you want me to do Iruka-sensei" the rosette asked politely eager to show off her skills a little, and she really didn't want to let Sasori down because she'd promised she wouldn't.
Her academy sensei chuckled under his breath "Let's see you're shuriken-jutsu first Sakura-chan, then we'll do clone jutsu,, a bit of taijutsu on the dummy over there, escaping from a genjutsu, and lastly chakra control, you'll demonstrate one thing such as making chakra ink" Iruka said.
Eyes wide and full of excitement Sakura did just that as she turned and faced the target that was in the room, grasped three throwing needles and lightly tossed them without exerting any kind of force, all three struck not quite dead center but it was close enough.
With just a little more training she'd be a perfect shot, next was the clone jutsu "Ninja Art: Clone Jutsu" Sakura called after running through the hand signs, she made five clones, that were illusions of herself no effort required thank you very much.
Such was the ability of chakra control, she could do more without wasting chakra "Very good, now taijutsu, let's see what you've learned from the advanced class" the brunet nodded, not as surprised as he thought he'd be with her current level of abilities.
As she turned and nearly destroyed the taijutsu dummy "Err sorry, Sasori-sensei was helping me learn how to be a heavy hitter hehehe" the pinkette laughed sheepishly when she was done, maybe she'd gone a little overboard, oops oh well.
Iruka shook his head with another chuckle before standing, now it was time for the genjutsu, he gave her no warning and a couple minutes after he cast it, she broke free with a firm flare of her chakra, in tune with genjutsu now that was a surprise.
"Well done so far Sakura-chan, there's just one more thing, chakra control, this is to see if you've really grasped the concept that has been drilled into you by Touma, who I swear hated you sometimes" Iruka rolled his eyes lightly.
Though apparently Sakura wasn't as naive as he thought "Oh you don't have to worry Iruka-sensei I know Touma-sensei didn't like me, he tried to make me cry all the time but he couldn't cause I did everything well" Sakura snickered.
But pulled out some regular ink, needing to replenish her chakra ink supply anyway and carefully added chakra to it "Good, congratulations Sakura-chan you're a genin, here's your headband" the brunet haired Chunin announced passing her an official headband.
Emerald orbs lit up with glee and Sakura couldn't help it as she flung herself at Iruka hugging him "I promise Iruka-sensei I won't let anything happen to those two dorks if we get put on a team" the fuscia haired preteen declared in a strong voice.
Releasing him just as quick, tying her headband around her neck in the process of heading out of the room, Iruka blinked after her then shook his head again, that girl was going to be quite the force to be reckoned with in a couple years he was sure of it.
An hour and a half later Sasuke and Naruto had their headbands as well "Can't believe it we're genin now you know" Naruto whispered in awe, touching his headband in a reverent way, not wanting to put it on just yet because he felt like he was dreaming.
"Dope seriously quite saying that already would ya it's starting to aggravate me tch" Sasuke grunted already sporting his headband on his forehead like Sakura had hers around her neck, Naruto slumped his shoulders and Sakura jabbed her fingers into Sasuke's side.
Hissing as she did so "Enough Sasuke leave Naruto-kun be, if you knew what kind of hell he's been through just so he could pass this day you would understand why he's acting like that" Sakura growled removing her finger, Sasuke flinched in response but nodded quietly.
Leaving Naruto alone though the boy said nothing else as the rest of their classmates took their turn and finally they were all released "Make sure you come back tomorrow to find out who will be on your team" Iruka reminded as his former students now stood and prepared to leave.
"First one to Sakura-chan's to show Sasori-sensei has to make celebratory dinner for becoming genin" the blonde Uzumaki declared suddenly taking off at a sprint, leaving Sasuke and Sakura in the dust so to speak until his two friends quickly caught up.
Sasuke scowling "Not cool giving yourself a head start" the Uchiha grunted racing even with Naruto before managing to pull ahead for a couple of minutes then Naruto was at his side again, when he looked around for Sakura he nearly choked on his spit.
Because there she was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, several feet ahead of both of them "So long boys" the rosette saluted vanishing from sight of course she could do that because she was going to be the next chakra control expert of the century, so totally unfair.
When the both of them arrived at the apartment complex, Sakura was waiting for them in front of her door "Whatever, let's just get this over with so I can go home" Sasuke huffed and rolled his eyes, he and Naruto had tied so he had no idea who'd be making celebratory dinner now.
The lone girl between them snickered under her breath then threw open her apartment door "Sasori-sensei, we're back and we passed the graduation ex…." Sakura trailed off seeing her empty apartment, the person they were looking for missing from within.
"Is that a letter scroll over there on your desk Sakura-chan" Naruto spied the scroll sitting in the desk Sakura had been more than willing to spend half a stipend on because her other one had gotten demolished accidentally, Sakura lunged and snapped up the scroll unrolling it, they all crowed around to read.
~Brats, i.e Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura
Let's see where to begin ah yes, congratulations on becoming genin one of my few regrets is not being able to greet you, as you've realized by now or probably not I am no longer in the Leaf Village, as I was assigned a long term mission that I won't be back from most likely.
Another regret is not telling you this news in person but there was no time and you were busy preparing for your exam or training under my instruction, if I had any choice I wouldn't have undertaken the mission at all and would still be with you three.
Just because I'm not there though doesn't mean you can quit, your genin now, responsibilities are being placed on your shoulders, and I fully expect you to keep training to improve, such as you Naruto, while you've managed, you still have a long ways to go on chakra control.
In the second scroll I've left you some fuinjutsu books along with a list of chakra control exercises you can do to, keep up the good work, use your brain more that's all I'll say, don't just rely on brute force all the time, it won't work eventually and the enemy will wise up to your actions.
With a kit for your fuinjutsu supplies, as well as a new yukata that signifies your status as a genin, for you Sasuke, I've left a couple books on some advanced fire style and lightning style jutsu's, a book on advanced kenjutsu, Samurai style, a new sword and a new yukata.
Keep up the good work as well and your sharingan will eventually awaken, believe that it will and it will Sasuke, don't give up like I told Sakura all the time, her parents are out there alive waiting, just don't lose hope and good things will come your way.
Lastly Sakura, I can't express my apology enough to you for leaving you like this, I'm well aware of your emotional state and that this will hurt you, my last and final regret to be honest as I fear I didn't train you enough even though we had seven years together.
Don't stop looking for your parents, I won't either if I can I'll even send you a message if I find something about them, also I know you wanted to learn so I left you some supplies to learn puppetry unfortunately I won't be there to teach you like you wanted.
Everything is in the scroll for you three, use it wisely and good luck, may you carve your paths as official shinobi of the Leaf now that your genin and maybe someday we'll meet again, when your older and wiser, Chunin perhaps.
Sasori Akasuna~
After reading the scroll a couple more times to make sure they weren't dreaming Sakura dropped it like it was on fire and vanished into her bathroom, the door slammed shut followed by loud sobs because yet another person had left her, someone who was very important to her heart.
Sasori was the first person to believe in her after all so this was definitely a blow, Naruto and Sasuke shared a look with each other before hesitantly going forward and trying the bathroom door, twisting the knob unsuccessfully indicating that Sakura had locked it behind her.
"Come on Sakura, you heard Akasuna-sensei, if he'd had another choice he wouldn't have taken on this mission, Lord Hokage probably had to beg him" the Uchiha called over the loud crying, oh how he hated the sound of that, her heart was already fragile now it was broken again.
It was totally unfair "Yeah, yeah Sakura-chan, I bet Sasori-ni fought against the idea of leaving us, tooth and nail believe it" the blonde Uzumaki nodded his head eagerly though Sakura couldn't see it, yet she continued crying for a long time.
So long that Shisui body flickered into the apartment to find out what was taking Sasuke so long to come home "I take it she knows" Shisui flinched, this was only the second time Sakura had ever cried that he knew of and both times she'd lost someone close to her.
"Damn if only Hokage-sama had convinced Akasuna to stay, she wouldn't be like this" the older Uchiha hissed under his breath, to low for Sasuke to hear thankfully as he body flickered back to the Compound to inform the Clan Heads what was going on.
Eventually Sakura did stumble out of the bathroom, cheeks stained with tears, eyes blood shot and puffy "I want to be alone for a while please" the rosette requested, ushering Naruto and Sasuke out of her apartment anyway and firmly shut the door behind them when they were out.
Promising inwardly once she'd calmed down to give them the gifts Sasori had left them each before going to her bedroom and flopping face first on the comforter that Sasori had helped her pick out to match her personality in a way, drifting off into a restless sleep after that.
For the next couple of hours she slept until knocking erupted on her door, it was mellow though even hesitant so Sakura forced herself up from her bed, regretting not fully climbing up on her bed and went to answer her door "Sakura Haruno correct" someone she didn't know inquired.
She blinked her eyes a couple of times before slowly nodding "Yes that's me, is there something you want from me" Sakura narrowed her eyes in suspicion already plotting out an escape route just in case this ended up going south on her.
"Yes good, Ibiki Morino sent me to see if you were interested in becoming a part-time member of T&I, he's had a spot reserved for you if I recall, the names Tonbo brat, come when you feel up to it or if your interested" Tonbo thrust a some documents at her then body flickered.
With wide eyes Sakura sat and filled out the paperwork to become a part-time member of the Torture and Interrogation unit, then took a deep breath and reached for the second scroll Sasori had left behind which had their rewards in them as he liked to call them.
He'd been sure to make sure they knew how to differentiate between gifts and rewards, but soon several were scattered across her desk, three individual scrolls, each with their names on it, books, weapons and supplies among the pile with a few unexpected things.
Such as a headband that she recognized as Sasori's, why would he leave that if he was going on a mission 'Unless it was to go undercover and no one could know that he was a Leaf Shinobi' the thought hit her like a tidal wave, that's why he said he would most likely not be back.
And probably another reason why he hadn't told them he was leaving in person the questions would have been agonizing since he wouldn't be able to tell them where he was going and such, there was also a fourth scroll that when unsealed revealed unique looking puppets.
Unique as in they looked just like her, Naruto and Sasuke, they were pretty creepy actually and she quickly sealed them away again, picking through the rest and putting them in separate piles so she could hand the rewards to the correct persons.
There was an individual note as well, with an address from Hidden Sand on it, in Sasori's neat scrawl it explained that it was so she could order more supplies for her puppets, also the address to the weapons shop he had their weapons custom made at all the time and clothing shop address.
Last there was some paperwork with his scrawl on it, a note on top that told her to turn it all in at the hospital to receive additional medical ninjutsu training if she wanted it, finished with that she grabbed the other scroll with her name on it and unsealed it.
Revealing six yukata in the same style's she'd grown use to and comfortable with, two sets of reinforced mesh clothes, three pairs of shorts, two new pairs of sandals, metal plated gloves, and hair ties for her long hair that she'd refused to cut over the years.
It was down to waist length the last time she'd checked which had been a few days ago, there were some more arrows for her bow, books on puppetry, chakra strings, advanced taijutsu, elemental ninjutsu, and how to make her own puppet, a pouch full of medical supplies, among other things.
Such as portable burner with nonmetallic pot, flasks, vials, filter paper, hypodermic needles, microscope, herbs, both medical and poisonous, a second fan that matched the one she already had, puppetry supplies and last was a fifth scroll in the midst of everything else.
That when unsealed she nearly choked on her spit as it was a large wallet filled with money that Sasori had left her most likely a quick check proved that it wasn't just her, but Naruto and Sasuke as well who'd received some money from their erstwhile sensei.
Finished, everything was sealed away again and Sakura stood determinedly, grabbing up the things meant for Naruto marched to her door and across the hall before knocking carefully since it was getting close to nighttime indicating how long she'd been out of it.
"Oh Sakura-chan what are you doing here" Naruto answered the door warily only to brighten for a second until he got a good look at his friend, who looked like she'd been through hell, her hair was in complete disarray and her eyes were red from her bout of crying.
Sakura smiled calmly though "Here it's what he left you Naruto-kun, I'm going to make dinner if you haven't already eaten and I'm going to invite Sasuke as well, considering I probably worried you both I'll cook the celebratory meal for us becoming genin" the rosette announced.
Presenting a scroll with his name on it "Thanks Sakura-chan and Sasuke's here actually, he told his parents that we lost a bet against you so they allowed him to stay, want me to get him so we can all cook together instead" the blonde answered.
Taking the scroll with careful hands "What about me" Sasuke so coincidentally appeared before Naruto could turn and call out to him "And just so you know I suck at cooking" the Uchiha informed not wanting to be pressured into cooking because he partially lost the bet.
Emerald orbs rolled upwards "Course you do Sasuke, anyway I'll cook so hush up, here's the stuff he left you Sasuke" Sakura scoffed glad for the normal interactions between the three of them and thrust the third and final scroll out at Sasuke who took it like Naruto had.
"Just go ahead and get started then Sakura-chan, I'm gonna change into one of my new outfits" Naruto waved her off, Sakura turned on her heel and marched back to her own apartment vanishing within and leaving the door unlocked as she headed for the bathroom first.
Having had the same idea as Naruto, "Looks like we're in sync, if we're put on a team we won't have to do much teamwork training" Sasuke snorted plopping down in a chair at the small kitchen table that Sakura had in her apartment courtesy of Sasori.
Though both boys had the feeling that Sasori's name was going to be taboo for awhile, Sakura flashed him a small smile then focused on pulling out ingredients for their celebratory dinner "Oi what's this Sakura-chan" the blonde Uzumaki called out from the small living room.
By her desk, he'd found the paperwork to become a part-time member of the T&I Squad "For T&I apparently Ibiki-sensei was serious about reserving me a spot, I'm interested so filled it out to hand in tomorrow, the other is to receive additional medical ninjutsu training at the hospital" the pinkette admitted quietly.
Sasuke shot her a wide-eyed look "Kami your going to be in for it now Sakura, T&I isn't for the soft you know" the ebony haired preteen warned only to flinch at the silence that followed, however Sakura merely continued making dinner for the three of them.
"Nice going Teme after she seemed to be doing so well you go and say something like that, you know Sakura-chan has issues with her confidence not to mention she absolutely hates people telling her she can't do something" Naruto hissed in his hear suddenly.
Making the other preteen boy jump and almost fall out of his chair in response "Right…I was going to apologize, I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't do it Sakura, just that it will be hard and challenging" Sasuke grimaced hating how easy it was to upset her sometimes.
Peridot orbs clashed with obsidian, anger in their depths, followed by acceptance "Fine apology accepted next time I'll punch you out the window, also I know it'll be hard and challenging that's what will make it so rewarding down the road" Sakura huffed.
Unable to truly be angry with Sasuke and anytime he did say something insulting he always apologized so there was little point, soon enough a delicious spread as before them and they all dug in celebrating their promotion to genin, even if an integral part of their group was gone.
Eventually the boys traipsed off back to Naruto's apartment after nearly demolishing all the food she made, alone again Sakura sat and pulled out the headband Sasori had left her, the cloth was dyed a light green for some reason, the metal of the headband tempered dark pink.
A split second decision had her replacing the headband she'd received for graduating with Sasori's, tying it around her neck as she did so, and cleaning up afterwards from their celebratory dinner, padding off to her bathroom to take a shower once she was done, then headed to bed.
Her alarm woke her early the following morning and she was quick to dress then make breakfast and eat before heading out her apartment door "Morning Sakura-chan" the blonde haired Uzumaki yawned in greeting having set an alarm as well probably.
"Yeah morning whatever" the Uchiha grumbled looking exhausted, seemed sleeping over at Naruto's had adverse effects, Sakura snickered under her breath but looped her arms through theirs and drug them down the steps of the apartment complex.
Leading the way to the academy "Can't wait to hear who's on my team and who our sensei will be" the pinkette exclaimed, forcing herself to not think about the important people missing from her life, they wouldn't want her moping after all so she wasn't going to.
Both boys on either side of her nodded in agreement and were about to comment when Naruto spotted what headband she was wearing "Isn't that his headband, how did you get it Sakura-chan" Naruto frowned in confusion, slightly jealous because his was boring blue.
While her's was colored "Yeah it is, though why it's like this I don't know and because I think the mission he had to go on required him to make sure no one knew he was a Leaf Shinobi" Sakura shrugged not entirely sure but it was the best she'd been able to come up with.
Naruto slumped his shoulders guess Sasori's name really was going to be taboo for awhile "Don't worry Dope, we can go get ours done the same way later" Sasuke snorted, allowing himself to be dragged forward at Sakura's pace until they reached the academy.
And crowded into a different row than they were use to, her in the middle like usual, they settled down to wait and even pulled out books to read "Who let the pink haired freak and demon become genin" Ami marched up to them moments later interrupting their reading.
"Of course I don't mean you Sasuke-kun, your the best after all" the purple haired preteen giggled in an annoying way that had Sasuke cringing out of all his fan-girls he hated this one the most, it would probably be Ino if she hadn't given up on him already.
Sakura rolled her eyes "Shut up Ami is that anyway to talk to potential teammates, kami I really dislike you and for the last time stop calling Naruto that name, he's not a demon so you know what get over it or else" the rosette snapped hotly, temper flaring already.
The other girl took three steps back "You know Sakura if you end up being on a team with her, she'll probably drive you insane" the Uchiha commented suddenly leaning his head on his hand and just staring ahead of him blankly, doing his best to ignore most things going on around him.
"Gotta agree with Sasuke for once and I really hope that doesn't happen" the blonde shuddered then dived head first into his newest fuinjutsu book, he wanted to keep getting better so that in the case Sasori ever got to come back which was a big if he could show him how he'd improved.
Ami scowled furiously and stalked off in anger as she realized that she couldn't get under Sakura's skin anymore, hadn't been able to for a long time actually and sat down with her two friends who'd also managed to graduate and become genin with her.
Left alone now Sasuke and Sakura went back to reading like Naruto was still doing, they read uninterrupted for the next twenty minutes until Ino plopped down in the row below them "Morning are you excited" Ino greeted distracting them.
Nods were her only answer "Yeesh talk about weird" the blonde heiress huffed but turned forward as the rest of her classmates now fellow genin gathered in their classroom of the last seven years, that's when Iruka finally made an appearance.
"Congratulations to all of you for becoming genin, I can't express how proud of you all I am and I hope you set an example for the shinobi world by carving your own paths to complete your dreams, with that I shall now announce your teams" Iruka stated in a proud tone.
Slightly limping as he walked across the classroom to the teachers podium, Sakura immediately picked up on that as she wondered what had happened but was distracted as Iruka began rattling off names and team number, making a point to not say who would be their sensei strangely.
Until he got to her name "Team Seven, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha that is all" the brunet haired Chunin informed, again leaving out who would be their jonin sensei, but she was relieved to have Naruto and Sasuke as her teammates.
It got her glares from Sasuke's fan-girls though but she ignored them, instead settled back in her seat as Iruka finished off the rest of her classmates turned fellow genin "Your sensei's will meet you here within the hour" Iruka told them.
And not waiting for any complaints about teammates and such vanished out the classroom door, "Well at least we're together as a team" Sasuke commented finally putting down his book on advanced kenjutsu, how the samurai do it to be precise.
Which made him wonder how Sasori had gotten a hold of such a book, though there was no chance to ask because the man was gone "Weird don't you think that he didn't tell us our sensei's name, only told us that our sensei was just going to meet us here" Sakura added.
"Yeah, yeah Sakura-chan, also did you notice, Iruka-sensei was limping I wonder what was up with that" Naruto piped in also having noticed the limp his second favorite sensei had been sporting that morning for their last day meeting in the academy.
Neither of his teammates knew the answer to his question so they settled back and watched as the classroom emptied of their fellow genin until they were the last ones and it was past the stated time their sensei was supposed to meet them.
Her eye twitched and she tapped a nail on the desk before her "Freaking jerk making us wait, who does this person think they are being late on an important day like this" the pinkette scowled angrily not to impressed with their sensei whoever it might be.
Sasuke inched away from her as subtly as possible "How about setting up a prank for him, it'll serve our sensei right" the raven of the team suggested wanting to see the two pranksters in action, Sakura's plans were outright diabolical sometimes.
Viridian orbs sparked with mischief "Let's do it Sakura-chan" the blonde nodded when she turned to him and they began whispering heatedly back and forth, then went about setting up their prank, first course of action was casting an illusion that would deceive anyone watching.
Then Sakura heaved Naruto up to wedge an eraser between the door and wall from the chalkboard, followed by trip wire, Sasuke even got in on it by adding a mild lightning jutsu to the next step of the prank which was a jutsu tag placed under a camouflage genjutsu.
Fourth was another trip wire, that caused a smoke bomb of itching powder to burst, all of which was placed under an illusion and last were the puppets of Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke that Sasori had left, transformed to look just like them as the real versions hid under Iruka's podium.
Squeezed together uncomfortably, using a chakra suppression tag, while the first genjutsu was undone, now it was all a matter of just waiting for whoever their sensei was supposed to be to show up so they could prank him and prank him good.
Never let it be said that when a suggestion is made they don't half-ass that suggestion, the only thing that was missing was a camera to take pictures of their prank in action "I wonder what his face will look like when he/she realizes they've been had" Sasuke smirked.
"Quiet Sasuke, we only have a chakra suppression tag made do you want to get caught" Sakura scolded in a hushed whisper, slapping a hand over her mouth as they all heard sandals squeaking on the wood flooring of the hall outside the classroom they were all in.
And the sound of the door sliding open and the eraser hitting whoever their sensei was on the head, they could all hear as the jutsu tag was set off because a man's voice filled their ears "Crap you three what the hell" it was unknown to them so that dashed their hopes of someone familiar.
But the piece to de la resistance was when a crash sounded as their sensei tripped over the hidden trip wire and had the smoke bomb burst on him "Kami you three are going to be in so much tr…ah, ah what is this what did you do" followed by the sound of furious scratching.
As the itching powder did it's job, Sakura had to slap a hand over Naruto's mouth as well when it seemed to be to difficult for him to keep from laughing any longer, finally it seemed though that their sensei had reached the row where their puppets were.
Talking to them until he realized something was amiss "That was so hilarious I wish I could have seen it" Naruto couldn't take it anymore and squeezed himself out from beneath the podium to face their unknown sensei who had silver hair in a whacky hairdo and one onyx eye.
Face covered with a mask and headband slanted sideways to cover his other eye "It's what you get for being late Sensei" the pinkette informed not happy with the man in the least as she stood and dusted off her yukata from anything that might have gotten on it while they were hiding.
"Because being on time could mean a matter between life or death" the second Uchiha heir announced having had that drilled into his head for the last four years, it hadn't been fun in the least, but that prank had been totally awesome.
Their sensei faced them, slight shock in his visible eye as he looked from the door, clear to their puppets "Up to the roof, we'll introduce ourselves" he finally said disappearing in a plume of smoke as he body flickered up to the roof.
Leaving them to clean up after themselves, then head up to the roof after their sensei "Okay how exactly do you want us to introduce ourselves" Sasuke questioned when they were sat before the man that was their sensei again up on the roof.
"Your name, things you like, things you don't like, hopes for the future stuff like that" he waved his hand dismissively not even giving them an example, it was almost like he was against being their sensei and Sakura honed in on that reluctance.
Having a sixth sense for that sort of thing it seemed "Why don't you go first then sensei" Sakura suggested wanting to get a little more information so she could look the man up later in the library, first and foremost she was a very studious person, studying was her life's passion.
Clearly he didn't even want to do that much as the man sighed "Kakashi Hatake, things I like, things I don't like, my dream not telling you" Kakashi finally said, only giving the kids his name because he was sure they wouldn't last long as his students anyway.
The lone girl's emerald orbs narrowed on him though almost as if she knew how he felt "My names Naruto Uzumaki, I love ramen and I hate the three minutes I have to wait for instant ramen to cook, my dream though is to be the greatest Hokage" Naruto blurted in the next moment.
Seemingly oblivious and completely naive to Kakashi, who hadn't kept tabs on the blonde that was his sensei's son over the years "Good, good what about you girl" the silver haired Jonin gestured to the lone girl in their midst and she immediately straightened.
"I am Sakura Haruno, I like training and studying, there's lots of things I dislike but I'm not going into any details right now, I have two things, one a dream to be just like Tsunade-sama and a goal to put an arrow straight through Orochimaru's heart for taking my parents" the pinkette stated.
Procuring a metal bow from a scroll to show it off proudly and one of her arrows which was also metal "Holy crap Sakura-chan that's scary" the blonde Uzumaki shuddered and with her skills at crafting antidotes and poisons Orochimaru was probably going to be a dead person soon.
Off to the side their last remaining teammate rolled his eyes "Sasuke Uchiha, I like very few things, I hate my brother for becoming a murderous traitor and my goal is to become the best heir of the Uchiha Clan and revive it with a certain someone" the ebony haired preteen said.
Not daring to glance in her direction because he knew she would be giving him that death glare for even mentioning his goal that involved her, their sensei raised a brow at this "Meet on training grounds seven tomorrow at 7, oh and don't eat or you'll puke" Kakashi warned.
Missing the lone girl rolling her eyes "Right whatever I bet he's just trying to trick us so we won't have much energy" Sasuke snorted seeing beneath the underneath beating Sakura to the punch essentially, who the heck did that guy take them for anyway naive idiots or something probably.
"Did you get the feeling that he didn't even want to be here" Naruto asked as they headed back towards the apartment complex, both Sasuke and Sakura nodded fortunately so at least he wasn't wrong about his unexpected perceptiveness that day twice now which was odd.
Upon returning to the apartment complex Sasuke started off in the direction of the Uchiha Compound "Set your alarm for five and come to mine, I'll have breakfast ready and waiting, make sure you pack a few things as well" Sakura called and got a wave in response.
Then she turned into her apartment while Naruto did the same to his and sat down at her desk, grabbing a pencil with a scroll to start strategizing and coming up with plans for them to use during whatever training their sensei was going to have them do.
Just for an hour, then made an early dinner, ate, took a shower afterwards and went to bed early after setting her alarm for four o'clock in the morning, which would give them four hours to go over some plans to beat their sensei at whatever he was plotting.
Shockingly though she woke up five minutes before her alarm was to go off which gave her five extra minutes to dress without wasting any time and make sure all her weapons and supplies were where they were supposed to be fitted to her body and such.
Before heading to her small kitchen to cook breakfast for her, Naruto and Sasuke, Naruto was the first one to show up twenty minutes later "Set my alarm a little to early" the blonde flushed red in embarrassment when she gave him an amused smile and ushered him into her apartment.
"Pretty sure Sasuke will show up in about fifteen minutes or so, so I don't think you have to much to worry about Naruto-kun" the rosette rubbed his head with her knuckles gently, plating up the food since it was done early, with plenty enough time to plot and strategize.
Like though Sasuke did show up fifteen minutes later "Guess I'm not the only one who woke up a little early" Sasuke deadpanned, Sakura laughed lightly but gestured at the table where the three of them sat and ate before crowding at the low table in Sakura's small living room.
"Okay I thought up a few things that will for sure throw Kakashi-sensei off his game, tell me what you think" Sakura pushed over her list of several plans and strategies that would put a master strategist to shame most likely with the amount of thought that had gone into each.
The boys took it and read over it together "Not bad, I especially like the one where we go in acting like we don't want anything to do with one another and then later on team up against him" Sasuke smirked finding the idea fun, complete with putting on a fake act and fake arguing.
"What about this one, we hide our true abilities until the last moment so he doesn't know what all we can exactly do" Naruto offered baby blue eyes wide and full of excitement, mischief as well as they sat around debating for several minutes amongst themselves.
Even tweaking some of the plans to be more reasonable and within their skill range, their opponent was a Jonin after all, then when it was nearing the time for them to be at the training grounds Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura grabbed a bag of apples and rationed the apples between them.
So that each of them had four, one of which they ate on their way to their team training grounds, getting rid of the evidence that they'd eaten despite Kakashi telling them not to and crowded on the training field each of them having this funny feeling that their sensei was going to be late again.
And they were right to as two hours later at nine Kakashi body flickered before them in a plume of smoke "Good your here, I'll explain what you'll be doing today" Kakashi nodded not sure how long they'd been waiting and not really caring.
As he pulled out two bells, emerald, baby blue and onyx eyes honed in on the bells immediately "The point to today's exercise is you have to get these bells from me, if you don't you'll be stuck in the academy for the rest of your life" the silver haired Jonin informed seriously.
"But there's only two bells, that means one of us will fail anyway" the pinkette of the team piped in naively, already not understanding or looking beneath the underneath and he wanted to sigh, well now for sure they were all going to fail.
"Guess the Teme's out, me and Sakura-chan have this in the bag" the blonde Uzumaki crossed his arms across his chest, starting the fake argument, Sasuke turned with a realistic scowl on his lips, probably the guy was always scowling anyway.
Then opened his mouth to argue "Your out to then Dope, Lord Hokage doesn't need a hopeless little loser like you running around mucking up things" the Uchiha spat, wincing internally because that sounded just a little to mean even to his ears.
Fortunately Naruto understood because they had to make this as believable as possible or else their plan wouldn't work "Ha don't make me laugh between the three of us I got the highest scores in class and passed the graduation exam with flying colors" Sakura pointed out bluntly.
Joining the fake argument until Kakashi intervened "Enough the point is to get a bell I don't care how you do it so long as you come at me with the intent to kill, ready go" Kakashi clapped already disheartened that another batch of genin would fail his test.
If they couldn't learn to get along then all of them would be sent back to the academy no if's and or buts about it "Like we need to be told that Kakashi" Sasuke scoffed under his breath vanishing from sight, Sakura on his heels in the opposite direction.
Splitting up "Cowards guess I'll be the first one to snag a bell" Naruto was the only one left and he charged at his sensei fists flying, reverting back to his old style of taijutsu which was underdeveloped hiding his true skill with hand to hand combat.
Meanwhile hidden in a tree Sasuke wanted to slap his forehead, though their idea was going according to plan, Naruto was still goofy and reckless, he spied Sakura off to the side in the bushes shaking her head, then she was gone moving to another place, so he did the same.
That way Kakashi couldn't pinpoint their exact location while he dealt with Naruto, who fell for his traps time and time again, until he was strung up in a tree by his ankle "Time to deal with Sakura" the silver haired Jonin snapped his book shut.
Heading after the lone girl, Sakura swung around as a swirl of leaves surrounded her "You think a genjutsu is going to work on me Kakashi-sensei" the rosette rolled her eyes, flashing through the hand signs to release her from the illusion that had been cast on her.
Fake screaming so it will lower his guard some then made her way to Sasuke, who was stuck under ground for further affect she fake fainted to give their acting some flourish "Kami do you have to go overboard for everything" the raven whispered as he dug his way out of the ground.
Sakura smirked and they tracked down Naruto who was still hung upside down "I say it's time we show Kakashi-sensei what we're truly made of" the blonde sniggered cutting himself loose and landing neatly on his feet as they disappeared into the forest on their training grounds together.
Underneath a chakra suppression tag "First things first, Kakashi-sensei will be expecting this of you not me Sasuke, so I want you to throw my hair ornament, it doesn't have to hit him just be in close range and release the genjutsu sealed inside" Sakura explained.
Plucking the bell hair ornament from her hair that kept her bangs pinned back and handing it to Sasuke "We'll need some distractions so I'll send out a few of my shadow clones, have them give him the runaround for a few minutes" Naruto grinned eager to put their plan in action.
"Suppose I could throw in a few fire jutsu's, that will be your signal to have your clones dispel understand Naruto, the rest will be up to Sakura, who's made a sleeping gas to knock him out" Sasuke finished settling into a position that gave him a great vantage point.
To watch their plan go down, Kakashi wouldn't know what hit him they were sure of it "Finally come out of hiding have you Naruto, here I thought you'd given up after you got stuck in that tree earlier" Kakashi chuckled amused and disappointed that they still hadn't learned yet.
He didn't even both shutting his book as the blonde came after him, then there were two Naruto's and three and he realized that the kid knew the shadow clone jutsu, which was impressive if not slightly worrisome because he didn't even know how Naruto would have learned that jutsu.
When one clone went down there was a great whoosh followed the air heating up and he had to dodge the fire jutsu that had been sent at him from the tree line, and another, from a different point, making it hard to tell exactly where Sasuke was as his clan specialized in fire jutsu's.
The rest of the Naruto clones dispelled at the sight of the fireballs speeding their way, leaving no one but Kakashi on the field and when he was thoroughly distracted, what looked like a hair ornament embedded itself in the ground before him.
And he was sucked into a genjutsu so suddenly that it shocked him so little Sasuke was the one who'd cast those illusions yesterday, but when he managed to break out of the genjutsu that had been cast on him there was smoke in the air.
His vision went swam "Da..Damn it" the silver haired jonin cursed under his breath as he realized it was sleeping gas, falling flat on his face a moment later as he passed out from the gas while his three students came from the tree line and snagged the two bells tied to his waist.
"Come on Sakura, wake him up, we've won already after all" the Uchiha of Team Seven smirked proud that they'd bested a jonin even at their pitiful rank of genin, Sakura bent and injected their sensei with a detoxifier to flush his system of the sleeping gas she'd used on him.
Before giving him a jolt with her chakra to wake him up once she was sure that he wasn't under the influence anymore "Gotcha Kakashi-sensei, we totally had you thrown for a loop" the rosette stood when his eye cracked open and he jumped to his feet like he was on fire.
Patting himself down and finding the bells missing "Over here Kakashi-sensei, we also figured out the point to your exercise, it was teamwork, we'd known all along actually because you underestimated us right from the get-go" the blonde Uzumaki whistled.
Followed by the tinkling of bells as he wiggled them "How so, wait a minute you mean that argument was staged" Kakashi was as close to gaping as he'd ever been, outsmarted by a bunch of genin oh the humiliation and he hoped the others never learned of this.
"Exactly, we knew that if acted like a team from the very beginning it would just alert you to our own plan to throw you off your guard, we didn't start up right away though because we weren't sure what kind of training exercise you would have us do" Sasuke shrugged.
Kakashi felt his eye twitch in mild frustration "Yes that whole time we were faking, by the way I purposely allowed myself to fall for your traps, I'm not as naive as you think I am" Naruto piped in, grin stretching across his face widely.
"Admit it Kakashi-sensei we have you beat and you know it" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest stood in between her teammates, Kakashi slumped his shoulders and took a deep breath before congratulating them and informing the three genin that they were official genin.
Then dismissed them until the followed day "Well I'm off to drop this paperwork off at T&I and the hospital, want to come with, then we can see about getting your headbands like my only in your preferred colors" the rosette smiled brightly.
Looping her arms through theirs anyway as they headed for T&I "Sure we'll come with you Sakura, not like your giving us any choice" the raven haired preteen snorted simply allowing himself to be dragged along and not arguing because there would be no point to it.
Naruto rolled his eyes lightly "Hey maybe we can ask to be part-timers to Sasuke that way at least we have something do when we don't have missions or training and such" the blonde gave a brilliant idea so that's what they did.
Filling out the paperwork right there at T&I while Sakura was informed what her duties would be as a part-timer, no torture sessions for her, it would be strictly interrogation for now, but she was directly under Ibiki's command, kind of like his apprentice.
They got stuck under a crazy purple haired lady named Anko Mitarashi, who bound them together with snakes when they started grating on her nerves for yacking to much, they also weren't allowed to participate in torture sessions and were strictly slated for interrogations sessions only.
Next was the hospital so Sakura could turn in the paperwork requesting additional medical ninjutsu training "Hey mind if I learn to, or do I have to have permission from a sensei" Naruto jumped in suddenly wanting to learn some medical ninjutsu.
Which prompted Sasuke to want to do the same thing "Better if all of us learn anyway so that we have a better chance in case one of us is seriously hurt, then two of us can heal them" Sasuke shrugged seemingly uncaring but his teammates knew better.
"Is that alright or do they have to have permission" Sakura worried her lip in concern that it wasn't possible to accommodate either Naruto or Sasuke's requests, thankfully though the paperwork in her hand was enough for all three of them and they were given schedules.
After that they went off to get their headbands done up their preferred way, Naruto's was completely dark orange, while Sasuke's was as black as his hair, which made it difficult to even tell he was wearing a headband as they bid each other farewell until tomorrow and headed home.
Eating a late dinner since it had taken awhile for the paperwork and being shown around, plus getting their headbands personalized, then they took showers or a bath in Sakura's case before crawling into their beds for some shut eye until the next day.