Hi! I'd like to deeply apologize for the long delay! But I finally got it out! Hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 21: Chunin Exams

The week following their date had gone by in the blink of an eye, both Sakura and Itachi busy with their respective lives and as such unable to perhaps plan a subsequent date between the two of them. The only real, semi-romantic interaction between them had been on the very next morning following their date.

Despite their late night out, both of them were up bright and early the next morning, Itachi having a clan meeting and Sakura having chores to do, among other things. It had been... weird, to say the least, greeting Itachi and then promptly re-calling the events of the night prior.

She had gone on a date with Itachi!

A marvelous, amazing date that had allowed her to see a side of Itachi she hadn't honestly expected to see!

But it had been great nonetheless...!

Unsurprisingly, Sakura could barely keep at bay the blush that threatened to appear on her cheeks the moment she laid eyes on him, even as Itachi remained completely calm and collected, as if they had never gone on a date to begin with. In fact, the only indication of this was Itachi's statement of "You seem tired. Had I kept you up too late last night, Sakura?"

"It's no more your fault than it is mine, if it's not primarily my own." Sakura had brushed his comment aside. Technically speaking, she was, after all, the reason as to why they stayed out longer than either of them had anticipated.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I was not glad we stayed out late." Even if there was nothing remotely mushy about his comment, it had been nice to hear, although neither of them had been able to linger on it much longer, seeing as they both had duties to attend to.

The only real interactions between the two of them had been during their team training twice a week, and then dinner between their activities, which was a sore disappointment to Sakura seeing their development, but she bit her tongue.

And that was how, within the blink of an eye, Sakura was being called into Tsunade's office alongside Itachi, a reason which she knew could only be Jiraiya's arrival. If Sakura was nervous, she didn't show it, especially not in front of her mentor and Itachi, as they patiently (and in Tsunade's case, not so patiently) waited for the arrival of the Toad Sage.

"I don't understand why he is taking so long." Tsunade made an irritated sound at the back of her throat. He had come into town the night prior, after all, as was specifically instructed by Tsunade, and she knew he could not say that he had gotten caught up with some other important engagement -because if it were true, then this important arrangement meant one of two things. Either he had forgotten the time while he was peeping in the bath houses, or he had gotten too drunk the night prior while researching for new material for his stupid pornographic novels.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Shizune tried to calm down her companion, lest she began to break things.

True to Shizune's words, it only took Jiraiya an additional five minutes to arrive, a remarkable time all things considered. After Tsunade had finished reprimanding him and Jiraiya had concluded the sexual innuendos he would drop at Tsunade as was typical of him, his face finally settled for a small, relaxed smile as he looked at the remaining occupants in the room. "So what does this seem to be about, Tsunade-hime?" It was a rather strange crowd, after all. Although he had nothing against them, the Uchihas' hardly ever openly sought out Jiraiya, although this had more to do with the fact that they didn't need Jiraiya's expertise in sealing techniques or porn. And the girl -the one with strangely colored hair... He had... met her before, but he couldn't quite pin-point from where.

"Do you remember this kunoichi?" she merely stated, inclining her head towards Sakura expectantly.

Jiraiya frowned slightly, as he actually turned to look at her fully, examining her from head to toe. "Hmmm... well..." he contemplated this. "Her bust size is nothing extraordinary, so I don't think I used her as a research subject, although the exotic hair could perhaps be-" he was silenced abruptly, particularly because Tsunade had chucked a stapler right at his face. "I kid Tsunade-hime, I kid." he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "But now that you mention it, she looks a lot like that little girl you looked after during the War." he muttered. "It's not like there's many people with such an exotic hair color." he sighed.

"Hai." Tsunade sighed, glad to find that Jiraiya was done with his joking. "She recently came across the village. And even more recently, she discovered to have Orochimaru's Cursed Seal."

The mention of Orochimaru's name made his shoulders tense slightly, they could all see it, but his face expression changed not in the slightest. "So what does this have to do with me?" he asked.

"The Cursed Seal isn't the reason for your being here, Jiraiya." Tsunade merely stated. "We decided to do some investigating to try and figure out why Orochimaru even placed the mark on her -clearly he must have seen something in her that we perhaps had missed." Tsunade paused, if only to make sure that Jiraiya was following what she was saying, before she continued once more. "What we did discover is that Sakura is an Uzumaki. Perhaps the last of her kind alongside Naruto."

There was silence as Jiraiya thought this through. "And you brought me here... to teach her sealing techniques...?"

"Why else would I call for you?" Tsunade stated bluntly.

Jiraiya sighed, adverting his gaze from Tsunade to that of Sakura, who had been standing still and quiet the entire time. "I didn't think I'd come across another Uzumaki in my life time... to think that there had been one right under our noses way back then..." although he stared at her, his statement was perhaps directed towards Tsunade. "Very well. I assume you're ready to start today, right, Sakura-chan?"

Although Sakura wasn't all too fond of the endearment (of course, knowing how Jiraiya could be, for he hadn't changed even the slightest since the last time she had seen him nearly ten years ago), she nodded. "Hai." Truth be told, she didn't know much about this man other than how perversely he had acted around Tsunade all those years ago. And, given the way that Tsunade had addressed him or the way that he had openly oggled her breasts, she had a feeling that not much had changed.

"Very well. If you could be so kind and just meet me outside. I'll be with you momentarily."

Although wondering what it was that he wanted to discuss with Tsunade and Itachi respectively (because obviously, there had to be a reason that Itachi was also called upon), she didn't bother questioning it. With a slight bow, she exited the office and left the four remaining shinobi in the room to discuss in private.

"I take it you bring word from Orochimaru?" Itachi began, a curt nod towards Jiraiya being the only form of greeting needed.

"As you can confirm, it seemed that he had made a temporary base in Yuki no Kuni." Jiraiya gave a slight nod. "My contacts have heard of him traveling to Amegakure, although this could just be part of his affiliation with Akatsuki. But, I presume if she is as important to him as you believe him to be, he will stick around to keep an eye on her and see how she develops her skills. I'm sure by now he knows that we know of her lineage."

"More than likely. Him blatantly attacking her would be cause for suspicion alone." Tsunade gave a nod.

"Hai." Jiraiya confirmed with a nod. "I've told my contact to keep tabs on any movements remotely affiliated with Orochimaru. If they get a hit, we'll know about it. Until then, there's not much else to do but sit and wait."

"Understandable; which is why this is the perfect time for you to train her instead." Tsunade stated.

"And I suppose this is to be kept secret, correct?" As he stated this, the pipe in his mouth shifted as he turned to look out to the village. Truth be told, it was a beautiful village, but one with skeletons in the closet. The politics alone was enough for him to turn down the Hokage-ship that had at first been offered to him -then again, he supposed his teammate was hardly any better than him at dealing with the elders.

"Of course, although knowing Danzo, he'll be quick to investigate what you're doing in the village again."

"Well, this wouldn't look too suspicious if you stopped denying your feelings for me." he winked at Tsunade.

"Leave before I throw something else at you Jiraiya." she scowled.

"Perhaps your shirt would suffice-" but he had to abruptly duck as a shuriken was thrown his way. But it didn't stop there, and so he attempted his best to hide behind Itachi's smaller figure, going as far as putting his hands on Itachi's shoulders, so as to prevent him from moving away.

Itachi glanced at the idiotic sannin, but said nothing. "Am I free to excuse myself, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade sighed. "Hai, don't mind that idiot. You have a job to do, Jiraiya. Get to it."

"Hai, Tsunade-hime." he teased, but abruptly left before she could chuck anything else at him, with or without Itachi standing in front of him.

Although having run out of her office, he had waited patiently for Itachi to exit the room as well, before they both settled for walking outside of the building together. "So," Jiraiya began casually. "Sakura." Itachi glanced at him, partially out of curiosity and partially because Jiraiya had that glint in his eyes, one which could only mean perverse thoughts. "She's pretty attractive, nee? Quite a stunner to look at, what with those eyes and her pink hair."

Itachi chose to ignore him, siding with the better part of his judgement.

"But let's get down to the good stuff, nee? Does she travel to the hotsprings often? Perhaps with Lady Tsunade? Maybe we can arrange a trip together, Itachi. You know you'd like to see-"

"Jiraiya, your grotesque claims are not appropriate."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Well that was a very polite way of putting it, all things considered." But yes, of course, even Jiraiya had heard the rumors (and by rumors he meant Tsunade had told him, who had found out from Sakura herself during one of their training sessions) of the Uchiha going on a date with his maid, an exotic kunoichi previously from a different village. It was his business to be well-informed, so it was no surprise that even he had heard this tid bit. He was just teasing the lad all in good fun, he swore.

Before long, they had reached the outside of the building, where they could clearly see Sakura sitting down at a nearby bench. She sensed them approaching but waited patiently until they were before her.

"Sakura, I shall be returning home to aid Otou-san with some work related arrangements." he stated curtly. "I shall come to pick you up after your training session with Jiraiya, if you'd like."

If she'd like?

But of course she would.

"T-That sounds good." Sakura gave a small smile.

"We should be done within an hours time." Jiraiya stated, turning a blind eye at their little romance-infused conversation. Ahh, how sweet was young love? "You can locate us atop the hospital rooftop."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why there of all places?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Privacy, of course." Truth be told, they needed to be in a location where Danzo wouldn't think to look. As such, training grounds were a no, at least for now. Besides, an introduction wouldn't call for some sort of training field. "We'll see you later, Itachi."

And with that, Sakura and Itachi bid their goodbyes and parted ways.

"Sealing Techniques. As the name implies, its notable strength is in its ability to restrain something." Although Sakura probably already knew this, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to start from the basics and work their way up. Sakura knew this, and acknowledged his thought process with ease, because although she knew its workings in a nutshell, Jiraiya probably knew more about its complexity than she could even imagine.

"And what makes this technique so threatening that people would wage a war on a small village surrounded by water just to stop its influence?" Sakura questioned earnestly. Truth be told, it seemed unreal to think that an entire village had been destroyed because of the power than run in her blood. Wouldn't people with a powerful dojutsu like the Uchiha prove more of a viable threat?

"Simply because of what you can seal -or can't, as a matter of fact. Objects, chakra, living beings. The simplest example would be of sealing an object into a scroll for easier transportation, for instance." Jiraiya stated. "But with more control comes more potency. You can nullify someone's chakra completely. You can restrict movements. You can unseal objects from within something -even someone."

Sakura listened carefully, seeing Jiraiya sigh.

"Naruto's mother, Kushina, was an exceptional kunoichi, capable of using her lineage with great control. Perhaps the most notable technique in your arsenal is the Adamantine Sealing Chains, a technique that can restrain just about anyone and anything with enough mastery. It's most significant use is probably within its ability to subdue a Tailed Beast, making you the perfect person to become a vessel. As was the case for Naruto." Jiraiya sighed.

"If knowing techniques like these make me a threat, why should I be learning them?" Sakura blinked in confusion. Wouldn't that be sort of like asking for trouble? Counter productive to keeping her from being a threat?

"Well, there's a few reasons for that. First and foremost, Konoha isn't without its fair share of enemies, Sakura. You are now a kunoichi of the Leaf, and there is a duty you must uphold in doing so. Your potential power isn't something to just dismiss. With the blood in you, you can easily come to be one of the strongest kunoichi in the Land of Fire, given your extensive knowledge in the medical field and your direct connection to Tsunade's own teachings. She is the strongest kunoichi of her time, after all. Furthermore, although it may or may not be clear to you yet, Naruto runs at risk."

"Itachi and Mikoto informed me that Danzo wished to use the Nine-Tails as a potential weapon -clearly Naruto's age poses an issue. But wouldn't my identity only further spur Danzo?"

"With or without an Uzumaki, he will try to unseal Kurama from Naruto. Whether he eventually succeeds or fails, it'll be entirely up to a fuinjutsu master to prevent it." Jiraiya stated seriously. "Even with the influence of the Uchiha and Tsunade and Sarutobi on top of it, Danzo looms in the background. Perhaps the biggest threat to him now is Sarutobi -so long as he stands alongside Tsunade and Fugaku, he won't make a move unless entirely backed by the Daimyo." Jiraiya stated.

"And are you not enough as far as a fuinjutsu master?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Jiraiya sighed. "As efficient as I may be, I am nothing compared to the likes of Namikaze Minato or Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto's parents. In addition, I'm never in the village; something Danzo will take advantage of, there's not a doubt of in my mind."

Sakura sat in silence. More than anything, her existence was detrimental to Naruto's survival, both protecting him from harm and possibly putting him in perilous danger all in one. "So I am both a threat to his very existence and his lifeline, so to speak." Sakura frowned.

"Unfortunately." Jiraiya admitted. "It's a delicate balance which will lead to two very different effects -one which no one can foresee with certainty. We can only assume. The only way to protect Naruto is to be prepared for a fight -and won't it be better for us to be over prepared than under prepared?"

"What would you guys have done without me, then?" Sakura blinked, understanding Jiraiya's logic.

"Hope for the best." Jiraiya stated. "As I said, with Sarutobi still in the picture, Danzo's chances of acting are slim to none. If all goes according to plan, by the time Sarutobi passes away, hopefully happy and of old age, Naruto will already be at an age where Danzo can't manipulate him so easily; where he can stand his ground if need be. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he's been integrated into the Uchiha household. Despite being Naruto Uzumaki, he has forever been branded with the Uchiha insignia. And that holds value in the eyes of the Daimyo, considering the Uchiha are the most influential clan in all of the Land of Fire. Keeping them happy is of utmost significance to the Daimyo."

"Well that certainly helps." Sakura acknowledged. "But I suppose that doesn't matter too much to Danzo, does it?"

"As I'm sure you already know, he's tried to eliminate them once before. I wouldn't put it past him to try and do it again." Jiraiya shrugged. "But that's enough of that. Let's get back to fuinjutsu."

Sakura blinked. "Right." She had almost forgotten -truth be told, Konoha's politics was something she had never even imagined of getting involved in, but somehow she found herself in the middle of it all.

"Well, I think we'll end it here for now. No need to bombard your brain with too much information, after all." Even if he said this, this had been exactly what he had just done, Sakura couldn't help but think with a sweat-drop. But it didn't matter much; she remembered everything. "I would recommend checking out books in our library about fuinjutsu, but I don't know if Danzo has heard of my arrival in Konoha yet, or has wondered why you were integrated into ANBU so quickly. As such, maybe we shouldn't be found looking into things too much."

"I understand." Sakura nodded. And just as she said this there was suddenly a small burst of chakra appearing before them, smoke dissipating to reveal Itachi, as punctual as ever.

"Jiraiya. Sakura." He greeted them with a nod. "Have you two finished up for today?"

"Yup, right on time." Jiraiya grinned. "I'll schedule our next meeting for tomorrow, if that's alright with you."

"Do I have much of a choice?" Sakura scoffed.

Jiraiya grinned. "You're feisty. I like you Sakura-chan." Sakura chose to ignore him, even as he moved to stand in between Sakura and Itachi. He put an arm on each of their shoulders as he spoke. "Now you two be good, okay? Don't get into any trouble by doing anything naughty."

Sakura had to be honest -she didn't like the way he had said this, and just by the glint in his eyes and the way that Itachi had glared at him, Sakura knew that Jiraiya knew that they had gone on a date. "If you touch me one more time I will send you to Tsunade in pieces, Jiraiya." Sakura warned in a clipped tone.

"Well, that would certainly make you my teammate's student in any case." Jiraiya shrugged, as if he didn't feel threatened at all (these were typically empty threats from Tsunade unless he had three strikes, after all, and he suspected this to merely be a warning). "I will meet you here tomorrow at the same time. Until next time youngsters." And without so much as another glance their way, he went to the small bench, grabbed his backpack, and hopped off the rooftop, presumably to either go report to Tsunade or go spy on scantily clad women. One could never be so sure with Jiraiya.

"Shall we return home, Sakura?" Sakura's gaze snapped back to Itachi.

"Hai." she gave a small smile. Finally -alone time with Itachi.

"Well?"

"Well... she's quick to understand the concepts." Jiraiya admitted to Tsunade, his arms crossed across his chest. "Although I'm sure you already knew this. We'll put theory into practice tomorrow. But if she is who you say she is, then there shouldn't be a problem of her picking it up. She'll have it down in no time, if she still learns as quickly as she did back then." Jiraiya leaned back in leisure, a sake cup in one hand. "That's quite a kunoichi you've got there, Tsunade." he commented casually.

"Hai. She'll be a great asset to Konoha in the future." Tsunade acknowledged.

"Which begs the question. If you're truly trying to keep her identity a secret, should you have promoted her to ANBU without the consent of the elders?"

Tsunade sighed, leaning back on her chair. "I had made that decision before even knowing of her identity. I didn't think there was a risk in doing so."

"Well, clearly things have changed." Jiraiya surmised, gulping down his sake and then placing it on Tsunade's desk. "But I suppose that's of no concern of mine. How about we take a trip to the onsen, between teammates?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You're dismissed Jiraiya."

"Hai hai, I get it. But the offer will forever stand." he winked at her slyly.

"I know it will, and the answer will forever be no, Jiraiya." she reminded him. Because, obviously, he offered this every time he saw her.

"Never say never Tsunade-hime." He grinned. "In any case, if you need me, you'll know where to find me."

"In between the legs of a woman?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

Jiraiya, who had had his back turned to her, ready to jump out of her window, turned around briefly. "You know, I never do tire of that sense of humor of yours. Is that jealousy I hear in your voice? Because if it is-"

"Get out you old oaf." Tsunade said nothing else, simply rolling her eyes and watching her teammate go. Once he was long gone, she couldn't help but sigh and put her sake glass on her desk, alongside his. She stared at the empty cup left behind by Jiraiya for a long moment, a frown on her face.

He'd never change.

"Shishou"

Sakura blinked curiously at her mentor, standing beside Jiraiya atop the hospital roof top. Truth be told, she hadn't necessarily expected to see her shishou, but this was not to mean she was not pleasantly surprised.

"Good morning Sakura." Tsunade stated with a nod. "I'm here to assign a mission to you." she clarified her reason for being there. "Against the better part of my judgement, I'm going to listen to Jiraiya for once in my life." she didn't even bother to look at her teammate, knowing that he would be frowning at the comment, clearly feigning his hurt. "I'm sure it'll be a drag, but I'm going to ask you to participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams three weeks from today."

Sakura blinked. "Chunin... Exams?" Surely she hadn't heard right; but Tsunade simply stared back at her, as if waiting for Sakura to realize the inevitable. "But I've already taken the ANBU Exams and passed." She frowned in distaste, already picturing herself in a room with small little Genin excited about the future laying ahead.

"Off the record, you're an ANBU." Tsunade clarified. "Technically speaking, you are of ANBU caliber but have not climbed up the ladder properly. As such, you can be seen as a Genin." Tsunade stated frankly. "I didn't think this necessary before, but given the circumstances behind your lineage, Jiraiya brought up a good point to me yesterday. If Danzo snooped around, he'd find the fact that you were immediately bumped to ANBU suspicious and pay more attention to you Sakura. The least amount of eyes on you, the better." Tsunade concluded.

"This is all just a matter of following protocol, then." Sakura frowned.

"Hai." Tsunade affirmed.

"This will be by far, the lamest thing I have ever had to do in my life." Sakura frowned bitterly. She was way out of their leagues, and it would be very apparent too, if they stuck her in a room with thirteen year olds. "And what of a team? I know these Exams are taken by a three man squad. What about myself?"

"We will unfortunately have to group you up with some miscellaneous Genin entering for Konoha." Tsunade informed. "You'll just have to get through the first two rounds, and by then it won't even matter, for it turns into an evaluation of each person's individual skill."

Sakura frowned -she would be the laughing stock among her peers, not that she knew too many people to begin with, outside of her current ANBU team and the likes of Iruka. "And when do I meet my... teammates?" she accepted begrudgingly.

"That's yet to be determined." Tsunade said. "The Genin team captains are determining who among their squad is competent enough to be entered. From there onwards, you'll be put into the team with the odd man out."

"And when will this decision be made?"

"Next week."

"So I'll have two weeks to... coordinate with them, then?" Sakura stated.

"Well... no." Tsunade sighed. "You still have your training with Jiraiya and Itachi's squad to worry about. You'll meet with them three days before the exam."

Normally Sakura would have been irritated, but in all honesty, she could go without meeting her team and they'd do just fine, so long as they didn't pester Sakura or get in her way. Besides, she had more important things to do, she supposed, and truth be told, she didn't care to be acquainted to thirteen year-olds.

"So I hear Sakura here is entering the Chunin Exams along with the Genin."

Sakura groaned. They couldn't just have a nice, relaxing practice, could they? "How did you even find out about that? I barely signed up last week." Sakura grimaced, frowning at Genma for even bringing this up in front of Itachi and Shisui. Of course, Itachi already knew (Kami it seemed like she told him everything in recent weeks), but that didn't mean that she liked it being brought up; even Itachi seemed to think it amusing.

"Wait -you weren't joking Genma?" Shisui attempted his best to not erupt in a fit of giggles. "You're actually taking the Chunin Exams?" he stared at Sakura, who was now more or less laying down on the grass, a towel she had been using to wipe her sweat now over her face to hide her embarrassment.

"Shut up Shisui." She muttered under her breath. "But seriously -how did you know?"

"I'm a proctor for the Chunin Exams almost every year. I get exclusive access to the names of the Genin entering from Konoha." Genma stated casually, even though amusement flickered through his orbs. "There's no need to be ashamed Sakura -we've all gone through them."

"Yeah like ten years ago." Shisui scoffed.

"I was eight years old ten years ago." Sakura took the towel off of her face simply to glare at Shisui.

"Itachi here was ANBU by the time he was eleven." Shisui shrugged.

"Okay but that's Itachi!" Sakura scowled. "How about you use your own accomplishments to gloat? Last I recall, I beat you in battle. Does that mean you lost to a Genin?" Sakura countered.

Shisui opened his mouth to speak, but found he had nothing to say. Defeated, he pouted childishly. "Look, I was going easy on you, okay?"

Itachi could have rolled his eyes -and this was the elder cousin that he looked up to? Please. "Break is over." And with this, he turned around and walked out off the shade. "We'll do duel sparring sessions until the end of practice. Sakura, with me. We'll start in five minutes."

"Why can't I ever be on Sakura's team?" Shisui frowned.

"Because you get distracted too easily, dobe. Come on." Genma didn't even bother with formalities, dragging Shisui away by the collar. Sakura rolled her eyes, but said nothing more as she followed Itachi into the forest.

"How is training with Jiraiya coming along?" Itachi asked casually.

"Good enough, I suppose." Sakura shrugged. Truth be told, it wasn't exactly taxing work, especially because they were starting out small in terms of jutsus, and they spent most of their time having Sakura create her own seals. And because it wasn't too taxing on her body for now, she was able to continue her training sessions with her ANBU squad. "Is it true that not very many fuinjutsu masters exist?" If it was as strong as Jiraiya made it out to be, why was he the only one she knew of?

"Hn. Although strong, the techniques are not versatile. Plus, they're not spontaneous like other forms of battle. It takes time and preparation, unless you can memorize the seal in its entirety."

"So it's not practical." Sakura nodded, understanding.

"Certain techniques, yes." Itachi nodded.

Sakura understood, and as such shifted the topic elsewhere. "Why am I never paired with Shisui?"

"Because he does not take practice seriously when around you, Sakura." he didn't even bother looking at Sakura, which only led her to believe his reasoning for this decision were not professional, but rather personal.

He was jealous.

But of course, because news of their outing wasn't exactly public, and rumors always tended to misconstrue reality nonetheless. So if Shisui had heard the rumors, he was perhaps brushing it aside; it didn't hurt that as of late Akiko was his supposed potential, so why would Sakura even fit the bill? Well, she didn't. And truth be told, Itachi was far too reserved when it came to such matters, so telling his elder cousin (who he so dearly loved and respected) to lay off Sakura because she was inherently his was not exactly part of his agenda as of late.

Sakura snickered, but let the matter drop.

"Nice work today, Sakura." Jiraiya commented promptly after the end of her training session.

"Arigatou, Jiraiya." she bowed in respect -despite his perverse nature, Sakura had to admit it: he was a superb teacher. No wonder he had taught the student who eventually came to be the Fourth Hokage, as Sakura had learned.

"Before you leave to meet your Genin team, Tsunade wanted to speak to you about a mission."

"A mission?" Sakura raised a delicate eyebrow.

"Hai. We'll explain more once Tsunade explains runs it by you."

Other than the fact that 'we' was included, Sakura couldn't exactly determine why Jiraiya was necessary for the mission description, or even why she was getting one with the Chunin Exams just a few days away. Had an emergency come up and she, Itachi, and the remainder of her squad had to head out immediately?

Sakura didn't question him, knowing she would get her answers soon, so she simply walked alongside Jiraiya to the Hokage's tower not far from their current location, and waited patiently until Tsunade was ready to meet with them.

She greeted her shishou and waited patiently for Jiraiya to stop flirting with her mentor so they could get down to the real reason of her being here.

"So as to not keep her here any longer, how about you tell her what we've gathered?" Tsunade cut Jiraiya off, before he could get on to another tangent about big breasts.

"Ahh, yes." Jiraiya grinned, but within the next few seconds his expression had grown more serious. "I've received intel that three Takigakure shinobi, who were supposed to be coming in for the Chunin Exams, were found dead, their bodies naked and their faces gone."

Despite the gruesome murder, Sakura knew that there had to be a purpose for this. "Someone's snuck into the Chunin Exams?" she questioned. The only reason this seemed even slightly alarming was the way in which the nin were murdered; clearly, whoever did this was not afraid of killing, and to top it all off, they had to have at least some knowledge and skill-set in medical ninjutsu to have removed the facial skin so expertly.

"Potentially." Tsunade nodded. "There is a chance that whoever did this didn't know they were going to part take in the Chunin Exams, but their belongings had also been taken, and alone with that is the diplomatic acceptance into Konoha, as well as the papers confirming their entrance." Tsunade stated. "We should prepare for the worst. Enemy countries and rogue always use these diplomatic events to wage some sort of war and further their own agenda at the cost of another's life. I wouldn't be surprised if now was any different." Tsunade stated.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Sakura questioned.

"It's too late to add any more applicants to the Chunin Exams to try and eliminate any possible threats without looking suspicious. You are the only person I have in there not of Genin caliber who I can trust. We need to find out who and how many have infiltrated the exam, if there are any at all, and make sure they are either exposed or eliminated before the finals, where everyone will be watching. Clearly, she'd have only one opportunity in doing so in the Forest of Death, where cameras caught very little and death was most likely here than in any other part of the exam, and she knew that Sakura knew this too. "This will be your first official solo mission."

"And if I find anything, who shall I report to during the exams?" Sakura questioned.

"Genma will be a proctor, as you already know, but I will also have Itachi as one of the proctors during the Forest of Death exam. You guys can come up with your own means of communicating." Tsunade explained.

Sakura simply nodded, knowing this would be easy enough. "And Itachi and Genma already know about this?"

"Hai, I informed them while you were training with Jiraiya. They're up to date on everything." Tsunade nodded in confirmation.

"Okay, if that is all, then I have to go meet my Genin team. I think I'm late already." Sakura tried her best not to sound irritable -and she was nearly successful too, until Jiraiya cracked a grin.

"Ignore that pervert and go. I'll keep you updated."

And so it had been, and Sakura left to the designated meeting spot to meet with her team. She had heard them before she actually saw them, although two orange pigtails stood out amongst the crowd, and having heard the name of their Team Captain being uttered by one of them, she knew she had the right assumption. She approached them casually until she was face to face with the captain, and with an awkward smile began to speak. "Hi Ebisu-san. Tsunade sent me here as a replacement to one of the members of your three-man squad?"

Ebisu seemed taken aback, perhaps not expecting such a beauty, and although he tried his best not to oggle at her, it was obvious that he had, especially after one of his students made fun of him for it.

"Konohamaru! Pipe down and show some respect." Ebisu turned around angrily, if only to hide his shameful blush from the kunoichi.

But this Konohamaru kid seemed both unimpressed and uncaring of the repercussions of his words, shoving his hands in his pocket. "Why should I? She's a Genin just like us, ain't she?"

Sakura blinked. "Well, technically yes, but-"

"But-!" Ebisu cut her off. "She's placed into Uchiha Itachi's ANBU squad!"

The other two Genin seemed impressed, especially in hearing the Uchiha heir's name, but Konohamaru simply 'hmmph'd in indifference. "She could have placed in Jiji's team and I wouldn't care." he turned away with his arms across his chest. "I already told you, we don't need a replacement for Udon! Send her back"

"But Konohamaru, you're being unreasonable..."

"No but's Moegi! How can you just abandon Udon like this?" Konohamaru proclaimed indignantly.

"Konohamaru, you broke my arm..." Udon sighed. "How am I suppose to enter if I can't even perform a jutsu?"

"You won't need to perform a jutsu when you have me!"

Sakura almost laughed -typical haughty Genin. "Are you sure this isn't you justifying the fact that you accidentally broke his arm, which means its your fault that he doesn't have a chance to rank up?"

Konohamaru finally turned to flare at the kunoichi, particularly because she had been entirely right, and he hated it. "Listen here, Saku-rat, you're not-"

He had been silenced, particularly because Sakura who picked him right up by the collar and tossed him over the bridge and into the water. Ebisu seemed to shriek at this. "H-Honorable Grandson...!"

Sakura didn't know what this "Honorable Grandson" crap was about, but she didn't particularly care, then again. "I don't take too kindly to insults, brat." Sakura scoffed, but turned her attention to the other two Genin before Konohamaru could even emerge from the water. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm sorry that you won't be able to do the exams as your typical three man squad, Udon. It seems to be a bad break."

Udon looked up at the kunoichi, before nodding slightly. "I don't mind. In fact, they have a better chance of moving on with you there, right?"

"Well... yes... up until the third portion of the exam, I suppose." Sakura scratched the back of her head as she chuckled hesitantly. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try your best, right? I hear you don't necessarily have to win in order to be promoted."

Moegi gave this some thought, and then nodded with acceptance. "Sorry about Konohamaru. Don't take it personally, he's like this to everyone." As she said this, Konohamaru finally emerged from the water and climbed himself back up the bridge, and even though he glared fiercely at Sakura, he dare not make another comment, realizing that she was probably a student of Tsunade's.

"I'm not opposed to sparring or training with you guys for the sake of synchronizing our team work during the exam for the next couple of days, if you'd like." Sakura offered.

"Hmmph. Just stay out of my way and we won't have a problem. I'll see you the day of the exam." and so Konohamaru stormed off, Udon and Moegi staring after him nervously.

"Matte, Konohamaru!" She looked hesitantly between Sakura and Konohamaru, before abruptly bowing to Sakura. "Gomenasai, Sakura-san. It seems Konohamaru won't be as accepting of this arrangement. I'll try my best to make him see reason." And with that she stormed off after him, shouting his name all the while. Udon couldn't help but sigh and with a bow to Sakura and a goodbye to his sensei, he was also off chasing after Konohamaru.

"I am deeply sorry about this, Sakura-san.

Sakura blinked. "Don't worry about it. Kids will be kids, I suppose." Sakura shrugged it off. She supposed this meant a lot to Konohamaru, to move up the ladder with his team, but that didn't mean that he had to take it out on her. "In any case, I must return to the Uchiha Compound. It was a pleasure meeting you and your team, Ebisu-san."

"Likewise. I'll speak to Konohamaru and Moegi about a designated meeting spot for the morning of the first portion of the Chunin Exams. It should be fine for me to send it to the Uchiha household, right?"

"Of course." Sakura nodded briefly. They said their goodbyes and then went their separate ways, Sakura barely remembering to ask about the "Honorable Grandson" nickname that Ebisu had used to address Konohamaru after it was far too late. 'Perhaps Itachi will know.' she thought, knowing that Itachi pretty much knew everything there was to know.

The walk to the Uchiha Compound had been casual and relaxing, but Sakura had the displeasure of finding out that Itachi would not be returning home for quite some time -work with his Otou-san would take up a majority of the day, it seemed. Nevertheless, Sakura had much to do to keep her busy, among this cleaning around the house and reading up on books pertaining to fuinjutsu, which Itachi had taken from the library for her to read up on.

Sakura's pencil tapped impatiently against the desk, a tapping that brought Ibiki's attention to her, although it was clear as day that she was doing nothing wrong. "This test requires silence, kunoichi." his monotone voice bombarded all corners of the room.

"Hai. Gomenasai." she apologized in a half-assed fashion. She looked around the room discreetly, noticing that every single Genin was still working on their test -a test she had completed in under ten minutes and was now face down in front of her, but that was to be expected. She had noticed that, although it seemed that Moegi was calm, which gave her reassurance that she would at least answer one question right out of the ten, it seemed that Konohamaru was inwardly freaking out, to the point where he was nearly hyperventilating in his seat. He needed help, and as such Sakura did her best to distract the proctors, first with sneezing, then with coughing, then needing to go to the bathroom, and then dropping her pencil on the floor and having to struggle to reach it, and even going as far as bumping her head at the bottom of the desk on her way up, and releasing a few of her profanities into the room -and now the impatient pencil tapping, which had earned her stares from all across the room.

Sure, it had been embarrassing and a few of the more mature Genin had looked at her as if she were a nuisance (clearly she was un-skilled, given her age and still being a Genin, and come on, what was up with her hair?), but eventually Moegi had caught on to Sakura's plan, and had somehow been able to get Konohamaru to understand what Sakura was trying to do for him. By the end, Sakura wasn't surprised that they had passed, between her flawless test, Moegi's impressive knowledge, and Konohamaru's cheating -of which Moegi was quick to make him thank her for. No one else had had the balls to blatantly stare down Ibiki and subsequently interrupt the test over and over again, after all.

"And what would you have done without me?" Sakura teased, if only because she liked to put Konohamaru in his place.

"I would have done just fine." Konohamaru glowered.

"Keep telling yourself that." Sakura chuckled, but said nothing more.

"Oh, you're the kunoichi who kept interrupting the test, aren't you?"

Sakura and her respective make-shift team turned around to stare at the shinobi who had spoken to them. "Yeah, that was me." Sakura blinked, a sudden realization rippling through her body.

Silver hair and round glasses stared back at them all, a pleasant smile on his features. "That was a pretty interesting way of getting their attention. I'm assuming you did that for him, right?"

Konohamaru frowned. "What's it to ya?" he pouted aggressively.

"Nothing, nothing. My name's Yakushi Kabuto. I'm also a participant of the Chunin Exams. It's nice to meet you all." and as he said this he gave a small bow of respect. "I just thought that it was a very clever way of cheating, that's all." Kabuto smiled.

"Well, you do what you have to do to pass, right?" Sakura smiled.

"I guess so."

"If you will excuse me, I need to use the restroom -for real this time." Sakura bowed and then quickly excused herself, her hand going up to her head to try and soothe the throbbing headache that had just erupted in her head.

It was him, the very same person from her vision.

From her obtaining the Cursed Seal.

This was either a sheer coincidence, or this had a connection with Orochimaru.

Irregardless, she could not relay this information to anyone yet. They were still in the first part of the exam: simply a small restroom break before they were introduced to the second part, and both Itachi and Genma were proctors to the second and third portions of the exam anyway.

She had returned from the bathroom just in time to be called back into the testing room, where a different kunoichi stood alongside Ibiki.

"Alright, listen here maggots! My name is Mitarashi Anko, and I will be the proctor for the second exam." She proclaimed loudly. "If you thought this test was hard, wait til you see what's in store for you tomorrow morning." She grinned maliciously.

'Why did Tsunade pick the nut-jobs for the exam?' Sakura couldn't help but think with a sweat-drop. Nevertheless, this wasn't her concern anyhow. They were dismissed, and Sakura was allowed to once more talk with Konohamaru and Moegi. "Are you guys concerned about the exam tomorrow?"

"Pffft. Not at all. Did you see the shinobi in there? They're all chumps." Konohamaru scoffed.

"Underestimating your opponent can get you killed." Sakura warned.

"K-Kabuto shared with us information about the other Genin in the exam. He seems nice." Moegi stated with a smile, turning slightly to watch Kabuto as he conversed with his team. Sakura's eyes followed Moegi's, and almost instantaneously Kabuto turned to look at them. He smiled and waved, and so Moegi and Sakura did the same, before he turned and walked away with his team. "If we study the information he gave us, we may be better prepared for the exam tomorrow."

It wasn't a bad idea, truth be told. "If that's what you think is best then so be it." Sakura shrugged. "A word of advice though, Moegi. No matter how nice he may seem, he is still our enemy." her voice had turned serious. "The only people you can truly trust from now on will be Konohamaru and myself, at least until the exams are over."

"Sakura's right. He may be trying to coax us into being his friend so he can stab our backs later on. I don't trust his smile one bit." This could have been Konohamaru's jealousy talking, Sakura couldn't help but think, but she was at least glad to find out that she and Konohamaru agreed on something.

"I-I know that." Moegi frowned.

"Well, so long as you remain aware, then." Sakura shrugged indifferently. "Anyway, I'm calling it a night. I'll see you all tomorrow morning." After their respective goodbyes, she turned and began walking home alone. She had been walking alone for a few minutes until she was stopped by Genma, who had seemingly bumped into her on the streets.

"How was the exam?" he stated casually.

"Fine." She shrugged, but he knew he hadn't simply bumped into her by coincidence, nor was he asking out of curiosity. "I need you to look up a name for me -he's a Konoha shinobi."

"Konoha? Why is this pertinent?" Genma asked curiously.

"I don't know yet." Sakura admitted truthfully. "But I've got a bad feeling."

Although curious, Genma didn't question her. He had enough sense to realize that Sakura had good intuition. "Alright, I'll run it by our data base. What's his name?"

"Yakushi Kabuto."

"Yakushi? I know that name." Genma stated. "He's the adoptive son of Nono Yakushi, the captain of the Medic Corps. At least, was the captain." Sakura raised an eyebrow in question. "She's deceased now. KIA, or so I've been told."

Sakura frowned. "So his back story checks out?"

"I'll have to look into it some more." Genma merely stated. "I can get you his file by tonight, if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate that." Sakura nodded in confirmation.

"Alright. I'll see you later. Good luck tomorrow."

Sakura scoffed -as if she would need it.

End of Chapter

A wee bit on the shorter side, but hopefully the length of the next chapter will make up for it. It took me such a long time to update that I just wanted to throw this out there to not keep you guys waiting any longer. Sorry for any delays, I've just been putting more of an emphasis on Sakura's New Future, which will be named Sakura's New Present from now in.

So I made the decision of making Konohamaru's team a Genin and having Sakura participate as a temporary team member c: I actually liked it, but lemme know if you guys thought it was a little ooc.

Hopefully it won't take me so long to update once more, and again, I am truly sorry for the delay.

Any and all feedback is much appreciated! Next stories I will be working on will be TNO sequels c: