Chapter 13 - The Chuunin exams

The next day, Sakura and Hana are still mad at each other when Kakashi tells them and the rest of the team that he has recommended them all for the Chuunin exams. After having been given the time and place where they are expected tomorrow, the three genins go their separate ways, but this time, Sasuke nods to Sakura before leaving.

On the exam day, Sakura meets her two teammates at the entrance of the academy at noon.

"Sasuke, Naruto, sorry for being late! Iruka-sensei tried to convince me, using a genjutsu, not to take part in the exams."

"Yeah, he tried to stop us too, defying both of us separately, but we were stronger! Ah, our team is really the best, believe it!" Naruto exclaims with a radiant smile.

"Mm. So, your former teacher was soft on you. You didn't even have to fight him. It says a lot about what everyone thinks of you…" At Hana's thought, Sakura frowns.

"Sakura-chan, you're coming?

Noticing her teammates are already making their way inside the building, Sakura hurries to catch up with them.

"Hm. She seems down today... Tch. Why am I worried, really? I'm not supposed to care. I don't care", the black-haired boy thinks, eyeing his female teammate then turning around.

Inside, Sasuke notices that a genjutsu is hiding the real number of floors of the school, but gives Sakura the chance to show her skills by mentioning it herself to the shinobis in front of them. "Why am I nice, already?" Next, he witnesses a really uncomfortable thing when a guy with bushy brows declares his love to Sakura and asks her out on a date. "Really, what is he thinking? This is so not the place and, anyway, she will never say yes to him. Right? …Yeah, that's what I thought. Not that I care, really. Just... She doesn't even know him."

"You, what's your name?", a guy with white eyes and long brown hair asks him, interrupting his train of thoughts.

"You have to tell me your name first, if you want to know mine."

"Tch."

"Hey, you want to know my name?", Naruto interrupts, jumping between the two teens.

"No one wants to know your name Naruto! Stop it and move already, we're going to be late", Sakura tells him, pushing his back.

"No one wants to know yours either, Sakura."

"Hey, Sakura, you're okay?"

Sakura turns around and sees a brunette, her hair tie in two buns, walking towards her with concern.

"Hey Tenten!"

"Girl, you don't look so well…"

"I'm okay, really. Nice seeing you here though!"

"Yeah, you too… It probably means you've become stronger. I'm eager to see your progress… And I apologize for my teammates…", she says, pointing at the weird guy with big brows, that she now knows as Lee, and the other boy who provoked Sasuke.

"Aa. It's okay, mine aren't really better", she jokes and smiles.

"Now, you look less depressed like that! Keep that smile, pinky!" she tells, waving at her.

"Thanks, see you around!"

"Why do you let people call you pinky?", Hana wonders.

"Mmm... I don't mind. I'm proud of my hair, actually."

"Hm. It may be pretty, but it's a liability. Everyone looks at you because of it. You don't blend in."

"Hana, relax, life is not always supposed to be so serious. I am not bothered by the fact that I draw attention. Not now at least. I learned to accept my hair as a part of who I am. You should do the same. Now, can you be more cheerful please, your mood influences mine…"

Shortly after Tenten leaves, Sakura and her team are stopped by Lee again, but this time he wants to challenge Sasuke in a fight. At first, she believes that bushy brows will lose. Sasuke being Sasuke, he must certainly be the strongest. But it turns out that Lee is actually stronger and faster. What strikes Sakura the most is the reason behind the challenge. Lee let them know that he wanted to prove that a person doesn't have to be a genius to be strong. "This conclusion really speaks to me. Lee is truly impressive. I think I want to be more like him in a way…" Sakura always believed that Sasuke's or even Ino's strength was unattainable because they both come from a very powerful clan, while she is the first shinobi in her family. But maybe her genes have nothing to do with all that. Maybe she can be strong even with civilian parents and no shinobi background.

"Finally, you understand! Took you long enough! You are not defined by your family, Sakura. Look at me and Naruto, we don't have any. We define ourselves, alone. You can do it too. If you want to become stronger, nothing prevents you."

"Aa. Thanks, Hana. Although you may be right, I must admit that you have already helped me a lot to define myself. I must thank you for that. And, by the way, I apologize for the other day. I guess I understand what you meant… I'm still weaker than Naruto or Sasuke... or Lee. But I can work on it!"

"Of course! And stop apologizing, I wasn't thinking about that day anyway…"

"Yeah, yeah, if you say so", Sakura jokes.

"Sakura!"

The girl's head snaps to the left, where Sasuke is eyeing her, annoyed.

"You were out again." He says, before pointing at the door in front of them where Kakashi stands, watching her curiously.

"Thanks, Sasuke. As I was saying, I didn't tell you that you had to be together to take the exams because I wanted Sakura to make her own decision. We all know that she would have participated even if she didn't want to, just for your sake. But I'm glad you came, Sakura. I'm sure you're strong enough to do it!"

"Hai! Thanks, sensei! Me too, actually", she answers, a big smile on her face.

But that confidence soon vanishes when they enter the class filled with shinobis who all seem older and look strong and determined. The three of them stop in their track, taking aback by this sight.

"So many people… And they really look impressive…", Sakura thinks, cold sweat dripping down her forehead.

"Hm. But we are strong too! And Naruto said it, we are the strongest team. Don't worry, Sakura!"

"Sasuke-kun!", Ino, appearing from behind, jumps at Sasuke's neck.

"Ino-pig, stop strangling my teammate. You've never heard of personal space?", Sakura says, annoyed.

"Oh? Forehead? I can see you're still ugly, nothing has change really… What, jealous of the closeness that Sasuke-kun and I share?"

At that, Sasuke gets rid of Ino's embrace and stands behind his two teammates, an exasperated look on his face. "I had forgotten how unpleasant these fangirls are. At least, Sakura has never been so intense and is now becoming normal with me… Though I wonder why…", he thinks, giving side glances at the pinkette. Following the arrival of the blonde, all the rookie nine meet together again at the front of the class and exchange jokes, unaware of the looks they receive. A silver-haired shinobi with round glasses, who introduces himself as Kabuto, approaches and warns them of the attention they get from the other contestants.

"You are like fresh meat for them. You have to be more careful. This is my seventh time, so you can trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Here, I'll share some of my knowledge, I feel generous today."

The man pulls cards out of his pocket on which appear information about the different hidden villages and some of the competitors, Sasuke asking for Lee and Gaara in particular. "Sakura, I don't trust this guy. If he has all this information, what does he know about us? What does he want from us? He may be trying to deceive us…"

"What about us?" Sakura quickly asks, defiantly.

"What do you mean?", Kabuto answers, looking innocently at her through his glasses.

"You probably have information about us too, right? Why come here and help us, specifically? You said it yourself, it's your seventh attempt. Why do you help us, shouldn't you focus on yourself?" At that, Sasuke takes a step back, realizing her teammate is probably right. "How could I be so innocent."

"Mm. I'm selfless, I admit", he tells her with a smile on his face, but eyeing her cautiously.

"I don't trust him either, Hana. I think you're right."

"Since when are you so bold, Forehead?"

Sakura is about to respond to Ino's provocation when Naruto exclaims, pointing at the crowd in front the them:

"Yes! I'm not afraid of anyone here, I know I can do it, believe it!"

"Again, with the yelling when it's clearly not the time", Sakura thinks before putting one hand on Naruto's mouth.

Appearing from nowhere at a very high speed, three shinobi suddenly attack Kabuto. First, a brown-haired guy around sixteen-years-old throws kunais to distract the target. As he withdraws, he looks to Sakura and smirks. Subsequently, another guy covered from head to toe with bandages, except for one eye, tries to hit Kabuto, but misses. The shinobi's glasses still break in thousands of pieces. Suddenly, the silver-haired man falls on his knees and throws up, at everyone's surprise.

"We represent the sound village and we'll show you how strong we are", the only girl in the group says from behind, preparing another attack. But before she can do anything, a scary, scarred man enters the room.

"Keep this for the other tests. Now, everyone takes a seat away from their teammates, the first step will begin."

Giving one last glance to Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura sits in the middle of the class, her mind replaying the scene that has just happened in front of her.

"These guys were really strong… and scary. It doesn't bother them to hurt people… In fact, they seem to enjoy it…", the pinkette thinks, biting her thumb.

"Yeah, and what was this attack? I swear it didn't even touch Kabuto and yet, his glasses broke!"

"Hm. I have my theory. I think it's somehow caused by sound's wave..."

"The first exam begins!", the scary man exclaims and the contestants start turning their sheet of paper in front them.

"Maybe we should be more careful when we talk to each other. We missed important information... I don't even know what we have to do," the girl says to Hana while looking around nervously. When she locks eyes with Sasuke, the latter nods at her in encouragement and starts to write on his own paper, his sharingan activated. "You have to answer the questions, obviously." Hana guesses. "Though I don't know why Sasuke uses his eyes…"

"His cheating." Sakura realizes. "These questions are really hard. I can answer them, but there is no way that Naruto or even Sasuke can. I hope he's not going to get caught though. I don't know what he's thinking really."

"Well, if what you say is true and even Sasuke can't answer them, then this exam probably judges how good you are at gathering information, don't you think?"

"Mm. It's a good guess. Although, I don't know how Naruto will do it…"

With that thought, Sakura starts to answer the questions. After a while, something strange happens and she loses the control of her body.

"What? Hana?"

"No, it's not me."

"Sorry, Forehead, but I knew you would be able to answer these questions with that big brain of yours." The blond girl answers, then reads the exam's sheet in front of Sakura's body.

"Yeah, well, there's not enough room for all of us, so I'll have to kick you out!" Hana tells and then pushes Ino out of their mind.

"Wow, that was impressive. Thanks, Hana!", Sakura says and turns to give a smug smile to her blond friend.

"Who was it?", Ino wonders, frowning. "It was definitely not Sakura!"

The rest of the exam goes well for Sakura. Some of the shinobis around her get caught for cheating too often and have to leave the room with their teammates. Fortunately, her team made it to the final question, which must be done after everyone has finished the first test. "I wonder how Naruto got the answers without cheating", Hana says as Sakura is eyeing him cautiously. "Mm. Hinata is next to him, she may have helped him. Everyone knows she has a huge crush on him." Sakura tells her.

In the end, it turns out that the last question is all that matters, because if they can't answer it, they will fail and never be able to retake these exams again.

"Maybe we should quit. That way, we can redo the exams in six months. Because otherwise, I don't know how Naruto will be able to answer the question and if he or Sasuke never become Chuunin, it will be harder for them to achieve their goals…" Sakura thinks, frowning and looking at all the contestants that gives up.

"Sakura. Don't do it. Don't be a coward again. You want to become stronger? Then it starts now. You have to make choices in life and then face the consequences of them. It's not your place to choose for either of them. You know you can answer it, then you stay. And you are always speaking about trusting your comrades. Well, it's time. Show Naruto that you trust he will take the best decision for all of you!"

"Who do you think you are, I will never give up, do you hear me!" Naruto yells and all the people who stayed, board with him and claims they will not give up either.

"Hm. I guess there will be no further withdrawal... In this case… I have no other choice… You all passed! This was the final question and you handled the pressure extremely well! You can all attend to the second exam, though I must say you are more than I expected..."