Many thanks to everyone who's supporting this story!
Almost everyone caught the Lion King reference last time. How about a bigger challenge. This time there's a very subtle (tooting my own horn here) reference to Itachi Shindin: Book of Bright Light. Don't worry, it's by no means a spoiler. You'll get a big shout out in the next chapter if you catch it ;)
"One, two… one, two… one, two… wrong!... one, two… one, two… oh for Kami's sakes, Kitten…
"No.. no…no… what is wrong with you?!"
"No!" Sakura lurched out of bed with a start, "oh it was just a dream," she attempted to soothe herself after the dreadful dream about her previous lesson with Shisui and Anko. "Oh, Kami-sama…" the girl whispered exhaustedly putting a hand to her heart before heading to the dresser.
*I can't believe I actually woke up this early, I had at least 45 more minutes to sleep,* she pondered grouchily as she fished out her Anbu-training gear. *Today is the last day of the strength and endurance round. I need to be well rested.*
*Who knew that dance classes would be more nightmare inducing than combat training,* inner said with a low whistle, *that Anko person is a monster.*
*And that's saying something, coming from you,* Sakura remarked.
*Hey!*
*I can honestly say that Eri's lesson was the more comfortable one.*
*She has been acting nicer lately for some reason,* inner reasoned, *now when you talk she sometimes looks at you. That is a definite improvement. Whereas Anko's a demon.*
*Honestly though, if I hear her say 'no' one more time, I am going to have to stab her…*
Sakura's murderous train of thought was interrupted when she heard muffled noises outside her door.
Now fully dressed and with almost an hour to kill, she decided to investigate.
She silently slid her door open and walked down the stairs where she saw a few maids heading towards the backdoor that led into the garden, trays of food in hand.
Now Sakura had never woken up at such a time, so this was an entirely new scene for her.
She followed the women out the door and into Itachi's huge back garden.
Walking slowly so as to admire the trees, the girl followed the maids in the direction of the gazebo.
However, before she got there, she caught sight of the two people sitting at the breakfast table and instinctively dove behind a tree.
"Ouch," the tree said… or so she thought.
"Shisui, what are you doing here?" The girl whispered, thanking her lucky stars that she had not descended so far into madness that she thought trees were talking to her.
"I am skulking," Itachi's cousin said with ease, his back pressed to the giant tree trunk. "My little cousin does not like it when I just appear suddenly at his house. So I am making it a point to skulk for a while."
"How does that even make sense?"
"It doesn't, I just like annoying him. And also spying is a very good pastime."
"Sure," the girl concurred with a sagely nod. Annoying people and spying were things that she held in very high regards herself. "So what exactly are we spying on?"
"It appears that your loving husband is having breakfast with a stunning tall brunette," Shisui said with a pointed look.
"Does he normally have breakfast with Eri-san?" the girl questioned, frowning as she strained to see the couple who were sitting at a distance. Her and Shisui were hidden at an angle where they could barely see them past all the trees.
"Nope, they don't make a habit of it. Eri-chan just popped in on his breakfast and said she wanted to talk to him."
"Oh, I wonder what that's about…"
"Why don't you go over there and find out," Shisui suggested.
"What? No."
"Why not, you're his wife you know. You two should be having breakfast together. It's understandable that you don't do it since he tends to wake up very early and leave before you wake up, but today you're up… So just march yourself over there kitten and sit right on his lap,"
Sakura eyed him like he was a madman: a highly enthusiastic, incredibly lecherous, madman.
"I can't do that. Anyway, he's free to have breakfast with whoever he chooses," the medic said, turning around in preparation to walk away.
"Yare, yare, kitten, what am I gonna do with you. I am your instructor, you should listen to me," Shisui said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder and effectively stopping her in place.
"You train me in etiquette and dancing and stuff, that's all,"
"Well you suck at etiquette and I think you might just be the worst dancer to ever exist.
"Hey!"
"So maybe I would have better luck being your love instructor,"
"What?"
"Your wingman… the dashingly handsome wind beneath your wings, the guru who helps you manage your non-existent love life."
"No thanks."
"Alright then, it's settled. I'm gonna help you."
"I said no…"
"oops," Shisui said non-convincingly as he pushed Sakura past the tree, putting enough force to have her stumble her way into Itachi's view.
"You!" Sakura exclaimed, flying back at Shisui who dodged with a huge smile plastered on his face.
"Sakura," she heard Itachi's calm voice at a distance.
She straightened up and glared at Shisui who was still grinning at her, before walking towards Itachi.
Shisui followed suit.
"Good morning," Sakura said with a smile.
"Good morning, Sakura," Itachi said, "Shisui," he added, watching as Sakura turned around to glare at said Uchiha.
"Morning little cousin, Eri-chan," Shiusi greeted.
"Good morning, Eri-san," Sakura said as they walked towards the still seated female Uchiha.
"Good morning, Sakura-san, Shisui-san," Eri said evenly.
The maids rushed over to set two extra plates at the table.
"Oh, that's ok," Sakura said waving a hand, "we were just leaving," she added not wanting to intrude.
*he's your husband damn it, intrude,* inner roared.
"But we could always stay for breakfast," Shisui declared.
"No, we can't," Sakura cut in, "we have things to do."
"Things?" Itachi questioned.
"Yah," was all she managed.
"Things could wait," Shisui said.
"No, they can't," Sakura declared.
"Kitten…" he warned.
"Shisui…" she bit back.
"Fine," he said with a sigh, before grinning at the girl, "such a stubborn little kitten you are. And how can I possibly say no to someone so adorable," he added before winking at Itachi who was silently watching the exchange.
"We're off then, have a good day," Sakura said, giving Itachi an all-too-quick peck on the cheek, "Bye Eri-san, I will see you tonight for our lesson."
"Actually, Kitten, you won't have any lessons today, you seemed exhausted last night, so we deliberated and figured we'd give you today off. Also after the day you're gonne have at the qualifiers you're definitely gonna need a break."
"Wha… what kind of day am I gonna have?"
"Good day then," Shisui said turning and walking away.
Sakura waved at Itachi and quickly followed suit with every intention of drilling Shisui for information about her day at the qualifiers.
"Sakura," Itachi's voice sounded, stopping her in place.
"Yes," she said, turning to face him.
He eyed her for a second and Sakura could not tell what he was thinking.
"Itachi?" She questioned.
"Have a good day," he said evenly before turning away, leaving the girl to blink after him for a second.
"You too," she said before walking away.
.
"So about the exam…?" Sakura questioned as they emerged from the Uchiha compound.
"Now, you know I can't tell you about that, Kitten."
"But you owe me, for shoving me in front of them like that and blowing my cover," she reasoned.
"I was looking out for you kitten, and even if I do owe you I can't repay it by divulging classified information. I am a pro you know."
She sighed, "alright I get it, you can't tell me. Can you at least tell me if it's really gonna be that bad?"
"Yes it will," Shisui said with an evil smirk.
"Great," she said sarcastically.
"Tell me, kitten, why didn't you wanna stay for breakfast?" the Uchiha questioned.
Sakura pondered the question for a second, "I don't know it seemed private, I didn't want to intrude."
"But you are…"
"His wife?" she interrupted, "come on, I know nothing about him. I don't get to act like I have any wife-like rights."
"Yes you do. That's the whole point of your assignment."
"Well maybe in front of people I need to pretend like we're together, but me and him, we know the truth."
"And what would that be?" Shisui questioned.
"We're strangers," Sakura said and her voice sounded much weaker than she intended.
Shisui eyed her knowingly, "what do you think he was talking about with Eri-chan?"
Sakura shook her head, "I don't know, but watching them sitting there together, they just seemed very comfortable. Just a very natural scene."
Shisui gave her a kind smile before putting an arm across her shoulder and ruffling her hair, "you're gonna exhaust yourself if you carry on like this, little kitten," he said enigmatically. "Anyway…"
Whatever Shisui was about to say next was interrupted when Sakura stopped mid step and started glaring at him, "why did you have us walk in the opposite direction to where the qualifiers are taking place, and why are we at an all-girls school?"
Shisui blinked, "Oh… I am sorry… force of habit I guess. Whenever I zone out, my legs just walk here by themselves," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Wow," she said, eyeing him like he was one of the world's greatest wonders.
"Thanks," he said with a smile.
"What do you do at this school anyway? The oldest girls here would be about, what? 16?"
"Well, the teachers here are all women. And they all wear those unfairly short little skirts and have their hair tied up just so… And they have to spend their entire day with kids, so by the end of the day they're just craving some adult company."
"Oh, thank God. I thought you were doing something creepy."
"Something creepy… me? Never!"
"Sure,"
"So, wanna go in? I could use a wing woman. We could pretend to be looking into a few schools for our kid."
"How would you get any girls if you walk in with a woman you have a kid with?"
"I'd just tell them that we're divorced and that you have a kid from a past marriage, but because I am such a gentleman I am still helping you look for a school for her cuz I am awesome and stuff."
"I'll pass, I kinda have to go to hell now, and I would rather get there on time."
"Suit yourself, Kitten, I guess I'll go look for a school for my imaginary ex-step-kid by myself," Shisui said, waving at her and heading towards the school.
"Wow," Sakura said again before walking away.
"Time to get my ass kicked."
*Wohoo!* inner sang.
.
"What's going on?" Sakura questioned.
Hinata shrugged, before blushing as Naruto came to join them.
"What's going on?" Naruto questioned.
"I don't know, Naruto-kun," she said and Sakura gave a small smile at the way the girl seemed to brighten up.
Before long, Sasuke, Ino , Tenten and Lee came to join them.
Everyone watched in awe as some of the masked instructors went about constructing what quickly became clear were fighting rings in the midst of the vast sandy spaces of the Anbu training grounds.
"They're gonna have us fight…" Naruto concluded.
"One on one?" Lee questioned.
"Seems too easy…" Tenten said.
"Not if you get disqualified just by losing one fight," Ino declared. "We could be out just like that."
Sakura shuddered as she watched the one and only commander S walk up. The recruits quickly formed single filed lines, now facing the ring he chose to stand in.
"Good morning, vermin," the gruff voiced man greeted, "today marks the last day of your strength and endurance week. I am surprised that this many of you survived. So I am going to do something to… 'thin the herd,' if you will. Today you will be fighting. Whether you stay for the rest of the qualifiers or become immediately discarded will not depend on whether you win your fight or not. Even if you don't win you will be chosen to continue if…"
And at that he stopped talking and regarded the recruits who were lending him their full attention.
He smiled, slow and feral, "you really think I'd tell you that?" he laughed, before steadying himself and fixing them with a sharp look, "no Jutsu usage is allowed and you will not be using weapons either, you can use Chakra to enhance your attacks but that is all. Now, start! Show us what you got!"
He stepped off the ring and the recruits were each handed a piece of paper with their opponent's name on it.
Sakura read the name on her paper silently; it was a person she had never heard of before, "Izumi," she mouthed.
The girl looked around her, searching for that person… A few seconds later, though, the weight of what just happened fell on her.
She and Sasuke who was standing in front of her exchanged a look of understanding, before shifting their eyes to the masked Anbu instructors who were just standing there. Not calling the matches, not telling them of the order at which they will proceed: nothing.
Slowly the recruits started drifting around and out of the single filed lines. Silently they looked at each other and slowly chatter started to break.
"Hey! Who's Zed?" Sakura heard Naruto's voice boom as he walked in her and Sasuke's direction brandishing the paper that had the name on it. "Hey, I said who's Zed? Step up dude, it's time for a showdown," the blonde added, looking around before coming to a stop at his teammates who were exchanging yet another knowing glance. "What's going on?" he questioned.
"They gave us names, not numbers," Sakura said simply.
"Huh?" Naruto questioned.
"They assigned us numbers at the start of the qualifiers and said that they will only address us using them and that while we're here we are going to only be referred to using these numbers and nothing more," Sakura elaborated.
"And now they gave us pieces of paper with names listed on them," Sasuke pitched in.
"Sooo…?" Naruto questioned, "we didn't get the chance to learn each other's names which makes it hard to find the person you're supposed to fight. But aren't they gonna call the fights anyways? So we just step up there and the person we're supposed to face will go up too… see, all settled."
Sasuke gave him a pointed look, "how did you make it past Genin?" the Uchiha questioned.
"What did you just say, teme!" Naruto roared.
"Keep it down you two!" Sakura bit with a threatening look, she knew this pattern very well, one more second of this and they'd be fighting each other. "Naruto, when we first came in, Commander S told us that our numbers are our identity. So now and as long as I am on Anbu grounds I am '11' and only '11.' If they call our match and say Sakura and Izumi and I go up there, I would have responded to my name and not the number they assigned. Which means…"
"Instant disqualification," Sasuke finished for her.
Naruto's eyes widened, "but, if we don't respond when they call our names how would we know who to fight? Should I continue asking around for that Zed person until he responds?"
"No," Sakura said bluntly, "if he has any idea what he's doing he won't respond because the instructors will know that he responded to his name and not the number, which will also lead to him being disqualified."
"So, how?" Naruto said, dumbfounded.
Sakura sighed, "I honestly don't know. I mean, if you're lucky enough to already know the name on your piece of paper that's one thing…"
"They probably made sure that we're fighting people we never crossed paths with," Sasuke intoned.
"Then what? Teme, what? What are we gonna do!" Naruto roared.
The trio fell silent for a second, no one coming up with a solution.
The recruits were eyeing each other, and the ones who knew each other were having hushed conversations no doubt like the one the ex-team 7 just had.
"Should we gather intelligence?" Sakura questioned, "you cannot identify yourself by your name, but maybe someone who knows you can do that. So if I ask other people and they point me in this Izumi's direction then maybe…"
"How do you know this won't get the informants disqualified? They might disqualify you for telling anyone about my or Naruto's names. And I don't think anyone will be willing to take this risk."
Sakura brought her hands to her forehead, rubbing her temples.
"How is this a strength and endurance test?" Naruto said, "aren't we supposed to fight? How could we fight and show them our strength if we can't even know who the person we're supposed to fight is… I mean…"
Naruto trailed off as the answer to his question seemed to dawn on everyone.
Now something shifted and instead of eyeing each other appraisingly, their gazes turned fierce.
"If we cannot identify the person we're gonna fight, then…" Sasuke started.
"We fight everyone," Naruto added.
"We're bound to eventually end up fighting the right person," Sakura finished.
And with that the trio launched themselves into the fray that was now akin to the battle royale they talked about conducting the previous day. Except the winner would not be the last person standing, it would have to be whoever is lucky enough to face the person whose name is on the paper they were handed.
Sakura hurled herself in, Izumi was a girl's name, so she saw no need to waste her time fighting guys. She immediately dismissed all the people who she has seen before and whose names she knew and instead started rushing at women she has never been introduced to.
As they fought, the instructors started nonchalantly calling names.
"Sakura and Izumi," Sakura heard while still immersed in the fight. Sakura did not respond and as expected neither did the girl she was meant to fight.
Some people did respond though, the less wise recruits who didn't really understand what was happening.
Sakura detachedly watched those people being dragged out of the training grounds.
This made it a bit easier but not a lot since most of the recruits who made it this far were rather astute and did not fall for the 'identify yourself' trick.
Sakura fought left and right. Some people launched themselves at her out of nowhere pushing her to the ground and proceeding to pummel her. The girl kicked out, thanking her lucky stars that they were allowed to use Chakra to enhance their moves in this fight.
Blow after blow she received, and blow after blow she dealt. Not really clear on who she was hitting and who was hitting her. Pain racked her body even though the battle was just beginning. She needed to keep going, to keep standing, for the more she stayed in this fight, the more likely she would be to actually fight the person she was meant to.
Sakura drew on the skills she was taught in the anbu training over the last few days: very useful hand to hand combat skills that were proving invaluable to her now that she could not use weapons or Jutsu.
The cries of pain filled her ears, and the trained medic did her best to not rush to anyone's help, and to instead continue to inflict pain, in hopes of landing a blow and taking out the right person.
The girl concluded that other people had other plans going into this battle. While she decided to randomly hit people in hopes of arriving at the right person, others went in planning on beating other recruits to the point of having them tell them about their identities.
"What's your name!" she heard numerous times as she watched people pummel each other.
*Damn it!* the girl cursed, mentally debating her approach. *Even they have a better plan than mine. I mean even if I do last until the end there is no guarantee that I will find the right person or even engage in a fight with her. All I am doing is just wearing myself out.*
*Well I guess that's why they call it strength and endurance,* inner weighed in.
*Yah but this doesn't really make much sense does it?* Sakura reflected as she dodged a blow, *how could they possibly judge us on how we perform on a fight with a person we can't identify? And isn't it ridiculous that they would give us names after they told us that our identities are our numbers? Doesn't this defeat the very point of their categorization system? I mean names don't exist here so…* Sakura trailed off, her eyes widening with the makings of an insight, *Commander S. said that we will fight, but he did not say that we had to fight a certain person,* she realized.
And with that the girl started slowly edging away from the combatting recruits. It was hard as one after another they came charging at her. Many people asking her her name in the process. But the girl stood her ground and every time someone came rushing at her she parried and flung them at another recruit and they instantaneously started fighting.
Eventually and with much effort the girl made her way to the nearest building. The building was a giant stone structure that overlooked the area where the recruits were fighting and apparently served as the Anbu barracks before the new barracks were constructed.
Hiding behind a pillar the girl took in a deep breath and sunk to the ground.
She was exhausted, having sustained many blows and survived in that all out war for over an hour.
"You finally figured it out, hah?" Sakura heard a familiar voice from behind her.
"Tenten," she said in realization.
"I just got here too. I wish I had figured it out a while ago. But hell, it was a good fight, I can't complain."
"So it is true. We weren't supposed to fight," Sakura said. "I mean he did say that even if we don't win our fight we will not be disqualified if… I think that he would have said: 'if you don't fight.'"
"Yes!" Tenten seconded. "He did not even say 'you should fight,' he said 'you will fight.' He never ordered us to fight. And the instructors just handed us papers with names and said nothing."
Sakura nodded, "it doesn't make any sense for us to be judged on fighting a person who they don't let us identify."
"So we are being judged on whether we fight and show them our technique or we figure it out and don't fight at all," Tenten concluded.
"So they are not only judging our strength and endurance they are also judging our powers of deduction," Sakura reflected, "and of course whether we will follow the orders and only define ourselves using the numbers they gave us."
Sakura and Tenten fell silent as they watched the fight rage on.
The medic realized that Sasuke and Ino were no longer in the fight.
Meanwhile, Lee, Naruto and Hinata were still doing battle.
It struck her as weird for Hinata to still be there but it quickly became apparent that the girl was there by choice.
"Naruto-Kun!" the girl said as close to Naruto as she possibly could so as not to give his name away. "I don't think we have to fight. I think we would pass if we just don't reveal our names and…"
"It's Ok Hinata-chan, I am enjoying this!" Naruto said mid kick as he sent a recruit flying towards another, which created an almost comical domino effect of recruits falling. "I'll knock them all down and be the last one standing, you know it!"
"But Naruto-Kun, you don't have to…"
The rest of Hinata's speech was cut off as someone snuck up behind her to try and hit her. Without a second thought, Naruto picked the Hyuuga's princess up around her waist and spun around, in the process punching the offending Shinobi in the face.
Setting her down, the intensity in the boy's eyes dissipated, his blue eyes filled with that pure brand of kindness that kept the poor Hyuuga helplessly in love with him. "Are you Ok, Hinata-chan?" he said worriedly.
Hinata who was blushing 50 distinct shades of crimson, shook her head and tried to remember how to breathe, "I… I am Ok Naruto-kun… tha…th… thank you."
The boy nodded excitedly, "you stay right next to me, we'll be the last two people standing, I promise you."
At that Hinata's face actually identified a 51st shade of crimson and now she was blushing at a rate no mere mortal has ever blushed at before.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she said happily, having completely forgotten what she was telling him a moment before.
Watching from a distance, Sakura smiled.
"Shouldn't you go and tell him to stop fighting?" Tenten questioned.
"Nah, he has the Chakra to beat them all down and still have enough energy in him to go pick a fight with Shishou," Sakura said, "plus, he seems to be enjoying himself too much. I don't think anyone can stop him now."
"Ah, speaking of enjoying that senseless fight, look at Lee," Tenten suggested.
Sakura followed her line of sight to find Gai's apprentice kicking up a storm.
The two girls nodded involuntarily as it dawned on them that this challenge was custom made for someone like Lee: a taijutsu master with a passion for challenges, youthfulness, and proving himself.
Him and Naruto were making quite a scene.
"Wow," the two girls chorused as Naruto flung a guy up only for the poor guy to bump into another guy that Lee had kicked up at the same time. The two unfortunate recruits slammed into each other midair before falling to the ground, effectively squishing a few unsuspecting combatants.
"Was that, Ino?" Sakura questioned as a lock of blonde hair fluttered into her view at the other end of the training grounds, past the area where everyone was fighting.
"Where?"
"There, at the base of that ring, I could swear I saw her a moment ago."
Ino however, quickly hid from view, as her sights were set somewhere else. She snuck out of the battle the second Sasuke did, but somehow she lost sight of him and had been trying to locate him ever since, which was quite an undertaking given that she also had to evade the huge number of battle thirsty recruits roaming around. Eventually, she tracked him down behind one of the fighting rings.
"Sasuke-kun," she greeted.
"Hn," he said.
"What are you doing here?" she said, feigning innocence, "I thought I would be the only one hiding around here."
He said nothing.
"Mind if I sit down?"
Again he did not reply, which Ino took as an invitation to sit next to him on the floor.
"So… kinda twisted hah? For them to build rings just to fool us into fighting," Ino said by way of starting a conversation.
"They are committed," Sasuke replied.
"Oh, well, speaking of commitment, wanna go out some time?" she said suavely.
Sasuke looked at her for a few seconds before casting his eyes forward, "how long has it been?" he questioned.
"8 weeks to the day," the girl declared with a big smile.
"I will pick you up tomorrow at 7," he stated.
"I'll wear something skimpy," she said excitedly.
"Good idea," the young Uchiha said.
On the other side of the training ground Sakura was still squinting her eyes in the ring's general direction, "I know I saw her, what's she doing there, that's very close to where they're fighting, if anyone saw her they would surely pick a fight with her, but at least she's staying low."
"Must be where Sasuke is," Tenten surmised.
Sakura nodded, "yah that's probably it," she concurred.
"Excuse me saying this but your teammate's an asshole," Tenten pointed out.
"Yah, I know. We all know. Even he knows. I think even inanimate objects know that he's an asshole," Sakura seconded.
"That whole spacing out their dates thing though. Who does that?" the weapons' master complained.
"According to him they're not even dating. He says he's only going out with her because she nagged him about it for years to the point where he just had to oblige," Sakura explained.
"Had to," Tenten parroted.
"Yup, he had the audacity to actually tell her that," Sakura said.
"Yah, she told me he said that when they first started going out. But I thought he'd get over this stupid line and just start dating her like a normal person. Instead it has been a year and they'd been going on a date every two months. What kind of relationship is that?" Tenten complained.
"Well that's what it's like to be dating an emotionally stunted Uchiha," Sakura declared.
"Aren't you married to an Uchiha?" Tenten said with a raised eyebrow.
Sakura was actually surprised at the statement; she was too focused on the exam and her friends that she kinda forgot about that minute detail. "Umm, well, yah."
"Is he emotionally stunted too?"
Sakura scratched her head thoughtfully, "I am not sure."
"Huh?"
"I mean, he has his moments, I suppose. But overall he's not as bad as Sasuke."
Tenten nodded, "no one could be that bad."
Mentally, Sakura banged her head against the wall as she pondered her beloved husband and his numerous personalities.
.
It took another hour for the fight to end.
It ended when only five people were left standing.
Amongst whom were of course Lee, Naruto and Hinata who was enjoying her time with Naruto even if it was on a dangerous battlefield.
The instructors stopped the fight and medical assistance was being provided to the recruits who were badly injured.
As a good medic should, Sakura joined in and started assisting the recruits even though she herself had a couple of dislocated ribs and numerous injuries.
When the injured recruits were back on their feet, and the few who were passed out were safely delivered to the medical center, everyone took their places in line, facing commander S who once again took his place atop one of the rings.
"23 idiots were immediately disqualified today," he started, "that brings you down from 123 to 100. But I wouldn't celebrate yet if I were you. Because more of you are about to go."
And with that the masked instructors started making their way down the lines of recruits. Sakura almost jumped when she saw the first instructor rip one of the recruits' numbers away.
"If your number is taken away you have been disqualified. Let me tell you what this is all about, vermin. The 23 idiots who were disqualified have failed to abide by the orders that we gave. We told you to discard your identities at the door. And to only answer to your numbers. They disobeyed that order by either revealing their names to others, or by answering when they were called up to the ring."
He paused, green eyes watching as more numbers were ripped away from recruits.
An instructor started moving down Sakura and Sasuke's line, and with that the girl's heart started thundering in her ear. *No… No… please… no!* she mentally pleaded.
The girl almost fell to her knees when the masked Anbu passed her by.
"Now for the rest of you the real challenge was whether you fight or not. As some of you have already realized I never told you that you should fight and I have not informed you that this is a one on one fight. You assumed that," Commander S paused, letting that sink in. "Almost all of those who chose not to fight have automatically advanced to the next stage of the qualifiers. The next stages are all about strategy and espionage. Today you have proven that your powers of observation are at least good enough to allow you to understand your orders and to notice when something does not stand to reason."
He paused and it was all Sakura could do to not start dancing right then and there.
"For the rest of you who fought, you were assessed on two things: strength and endurance. Those who were able to stand their ground till the end and to not reveal their names even while being hit, were put to the next stage even if they were not the strongest on that field. As for the ones who were left standing: those are the ones who demonstrated great strength and were put forward because of that. You might be asking yourself, why are people getting disqualified right now then?" he paused again,
"Good question, that is because some of you were neither strong nor endured. Some of you fought for a few minutes before passing out. Some of you also displayed abysmal hand to hand combat technique even after having been trained for the last week. So, 20 more of you are being disqualified, regardless of whether you chose to fight or not. If you have chosen not to fight and find yourself heading for the door it is because you did poorly during the past few days. This brings us down to 80 little maggots who will be progressing to the next level. The 80 lucky maggots will each receive a written assessment that your instructors put together. It shows your scores when it comes to strength and endurance. It is an assessment of your performance during the training as well as your performance on this test. Look it over and better yourself vermin. It will only get tougher from here."
And with that the man transported himself off the ring and left the recruits to blink after him.
A second later, and much to everyone's utter surprise, he reappeared and said, "oh and the names of your opponents… all fake… those people don't exist," and with that little gem of knowledge the man disappeared yet again.
The recruits were stunned speechless.
Sakura let out her breath and so did every other recruit in the field.
.
Sakura did not want to do anything but crawl into bed. She did not even feel like she had the energy to tend to her own wounds. But she had to, for her day was far from over. After hopping in the shower and having Ino mend her busted bones, the girl excused herself, but not before congratulating all her friends on making it to the next level.
Sakura told them she had to go home quick for she had lessons that day with Shisui and Anko. But that was not true.
Making sure that she wasn't being followed, the girl concealed her presence and walked down a familiar path.
"Good evening Shizuni-senpai,"the girl greeted.
"Good evening Sakura-chan," Tsunade's trusty apprentice said with a big smile. "You seem…"
"I know," the girl concurred, she knew that her cheek was a bit swollen and the bumps on her arms and collarbone were starting to turn to bruises.
"Rough day at the qualifiers, hah?"
"You can say that again,"
"They're waiting for you," Shizuni offered, normally she would take a minute to catch up with the girl, but she could tell that Sakura was beyond exhausted.
"They?" Sakura questioned.
"Yah, a few higher-ups are attending this time. It's OK, Tsunade-sama said to deliver your report the same way you normally do,"
"Got it. Shall I...?"
"Yah, step right in."
.
"Welcome back, Lady Uchiha, shall I…"
Hana's greeting was interrupted when Sakura rushed right past her, up the stairs, and into her room without a single pause.
The girl plopped herself on the bed and sighed with relief.
"So exhausted," she muttered, thankful that she took the time to make sure she was both dust and dirt free before she left the Hokage tower. Couldn't risk getting on Itachi's neat freak side again.
*can't believe I made it when so many people were disqualified.*
*I bet the ones who were disqualified don't have awesome alter egos like me,*inner pitched in, *I mean it was my conversation with you during that battle that got you to realize that the whole thing was a trick… hey listen to me when I am ranting at you. What's that you're reading.*
*It's the assessment they gave me. You know, the one with my scores for the battle and the strength and endurance week.*
*Oh, what does it say? How did we do?* Inner questioned, *hey I asked you a… pink elephants, winged babies, talking lamps… oooh, a bat… God damn it we're falling asleep aren't we…? never mind… I… Sasuke in a blonde wig… Itachi with horns… Shisui's a belly dancer… Yikes… I suck as a subconscious…*
.
.
.
Sakura's sleep was, well, deep, filled with weird dreams and unfathomable concepts. But what was more unfathomable was the sight she woke up to. Or maybe it was entirely fathomable and she was just still groggy.
"What is this, Sakura?" Itachi questioned.
Sakura blinked, "what time is it?"
"6 am," he replied.
"Wh… why are you waking me up at 6 on a Friday… I mean…"
"Explain this…" Itachi interrupted drawing Sakura's attention to a piece of paper he had in his hand.
She blinkied owlishly, her mind now filling with worries. The man looked like he meant business.
"I… I don't know… a paper?"
He gave her a threatening look.
"Well, it's facing you, how can I know what paper it is if you don't show me… oh, yah, that's the assessment I got from anbu," she said, finally recognizing the paper.
"I know it is the assessment you got from Anbu," Itachi said and Sakura was sure he was angry. "How about this?" he questioned again, voice calm but deadly. He then proceeded to show her both sides of another paper which was, for all intents and purposes, completely blank.
"A blank paper?"
He paused for a second, "this… is unacceptable."
"What's…"
"Get up."
Ending on a cliffhanger cuz I didn't have enough time to edit the coming chapter.
See you next week.
Please Review.