There is a reason
Chapter 34: the first test
Koomahana
Fubuki was 10 when she met Sakura & 11 when she was taken to the leaf village
Tayuya was 8 when she met Sakura & 9 when she was taken to the leaf village
Sakura was 3 when she was taken and returned to the leaf village
Yagura was 20 when he first met Sakura and 21 when he returned to his body.
Yagura is 17 years older then Sakura
Fubuki is 7 years older than Sakura and 2 years older then Tayuya
Tayuya is 5 years older than Sakura
Fubuki was a genin at 12, Chunin at 14 and Jonin at 16
Tayuya was a genin at 12, Chunin at 13 ½ and Jonin at 16
They are now:
Fubuki is now 19 years old—Jonin for three years (Same age as Shisui—Anbu—and Shikan—Jonin)
Tayuya is now 17 years old—Jonin for one year (Same age as Itachi—Anbu—and Hana—Jonin)
Sakura is now 12 years old—Genin (Same age as Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, Suigetsu and Haku)
Okay so I thought that if you could paint seals why couldn't you sew them?
Wouldn't they last longer as stitches in cloth then on paper that can be destroyed rather easily?
Hopefully I haven't confused you too much...
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site
Thoughts
Paragraphs are memories
…
…
Sakura had finished pulling her hair back into a high ponytail, lined her bangs in white strips of cloth tipped with blue and green beads when she stopped to examine her accessories carefully, not sure if she should replace them with something else. Just to take page out of Fubuki's book, she had chosen wore teardrop teal earrings, a matching emerald pendent and a silver chain bracelet that held several dangling attachments. There were the original attachments from when she got the bracelet when she was eight (the crimson teardrop, silver flower, snowflake, red cat eye, crescent moon and a yellow sun) each attachment was interspaced with green and blue hollow glass beads. These blue and green beads each held a several different gases; the blue ones were highly explosive and the green ones were numbing agents that worked really fast. Tayuya came up with the idea years ago but had some trouble storing the gases so that they wouldn't leak. As it turned out the glass beads coupled with a liquid seal put the gasses in a liquid state that returned to their gaseous form when introduced with air, plus they didn't leak so the wearer didn't have to worry about suddenly exploding into a living fire ball or becoming paralyzed.
At least they each have a double purpose, Sakura thought adjusting her pendent to hide the liquid inside and the seal on the back. A few years ago, some time after her mother's accident, Fubuki, Tayuya and Mebuki opened up the 'Spring Shinobi' store that became so popular there was at least one in every elemental nation that Sakura knew of. The store had two main parts in it: badass clothes and unique weapons. Her family may have been famed for their kunochi clothes with the hidden seals stitched in, their unique weapons and trap kits but not all of their famous designs could be sold to the masses.
Their long line of jewelry was apart of that particular 'special order' and 'approved only by the Hokage' kind of line. Tayuya came up with the hidden blades, bombs, poisons and any other gaseous weapon and allied them with a certain kind of bead. Fubuki would seal the gaseous agents into the hollow bead turning it into a liquid state until it was exposed to the air were it returned to its gaseous state. Then they'd put the deadly beads into a necklace, bracelet, earrings, anything a woman could access discreetly without getting caught and then proceed to kick some ass. The only other people who wore the Haruno jewelry line were those in the Anbu division and those specializing in seduction. There were also a few clan heirs—cough, cough-their friends-cough, cough—who could also get their hands on the jewelry but it had to be done in person, with approval from their parents (if they were underage) and a notification sent to the Hokage.
"Sakura-chan are you ready?" Sakura jumped at the sound of her sister's voice, she turned and smiled when Fubuki stepped into her room, her smile brightening at the sight of Sakura's newest out fit.
"Yes Fu-Nee," Sakura smiled, turning to show off the outfit. The a dark crimson skirt that brushed at her knees were stitched with red silk thread in a complicated pattern that formed small hidden storage seals; to keep herself from blushing when ever the wind blew Sakura was also wearing a pair of black spandex shorts that were hidden from view by the long skirt. Her black vest, that was almost identical to a Chunin's vest, also had a hood and had a large white circle on her back. Her shirt beneath the dark vest was a deep maroon with bell shaped sleeves that ended just shy of her fingertips and a high collar; it was also out lined in the same pattern as the darker skirt.
"My finest work yet" Fubuki snickered, smirk growing as Sakura gave a twirl for her extra bit of enjoyment. Fubuki knew Uchiha's liked their fire style jutsu's so she made sure that the entire outfit was fireproof and laced it with her own chakra to feel lighter and resistant to most water jutsu. Fubuki had even laced the front of Sakura's skirt with several small basic medicine pouches while the back half was storing extra kunai and Shiriken, if her hands were tied behind her she'd have better access to the sharp blades. Sakura's sleeves even contained a few weapons, while the pockets of her vest were lined with food and water storage seals. Fubuki knew that Sakura was just going to the chunin exam, in her own village, but she also knew that Anko was in charge of the second portion. That meant that the kids who made it that far would have to travel through 'the forest of death' and Fubuki wasn't entirely sure if Sakura and her teammates could go through that unscathed.
"You filled up these seals like I'm going to war," Sakura chuckled, knowing that the overall design of the outfit wasn't all that different from what she wore to wave, the only difference being in the number of seals hidden in the outfit. "I might as well leave the bag here; I doubt I'll need it with everything you've sealed into my clothes."
"Don't be stupid Imoto," Fubuki frowned at Sakura, half-heartedly pouting at her. "There's no such thing as being too careful..."
"Alright," Sakura chuckled, lifting said crimson bag over her shoulder;it had several pockets with little white buttons and looked to be nearly empty despite the fact that Sakura knew better. Every inch of it was lined with small storage seals, essentially Sakura's bag could both protect and feed an entire army for a day or two without any problems.
"Are you both going to be walking us to the academy?" Sakura questioned walking towards her sister with a smile. Knowing that Karin was being fitted in her new outfit down stairs and didn't know the way to the academy.
"No not today," Fubuki chuckled. "Tayuya and I have to keep an eye on a few foreign Jonin's, it doesn't look good if one or two of them try to break into our information and intelligence department."
"Boy wouldn't that be embarrassing," Sakura chuckled, "I'm sure you'll get to hear all kinds of interesting excuses!"
"Or see some unorthodox fighting styles," Fubuki chuckled.
When they arrived down stairs, they smiled brightly at a blushing Karin who stood in the kitchen with both Tayuya and Mebuki fussing over her outfit. Tayuya was a master at hairstyling and decided to focus on Karin's long crimson locks, pulling them into a high ponytail with little green and blue beads wrapping around several locks in elegant braids while her bags where pulled aside and white cloth tipped with matching blue and green beads; basically she had unconsciously copied Sakura's hair style. Karin's navy blue skirt was edged in gold swirling leaves and split up either side of her thighs revealing her black spandex shorts and kunai pouch; she wore knee high tan stockings and a pair of black healed boots. Her dark green shirt was similar to Sakura's but the belled sleeves didn't quite reach her fingers, instead they stopped just shy of her wrists. The soft golden leafs that twirled around the shirt's edges were similar seals to Sakura's own, but couldn't hold nearly as much because it was made for her when she was still in the academy, where she didn't need so many seals stitched into her clothes.
"Come on you guys," Sakura giggled, grabbing the ready-to-go lunch boxes for both Karin's team and her own, "We're going to be late if you don't let us go already."
"Oh alright," Mebuki sighed stepping away and glaring fussily at Karin's black belt, knowing that it was purposefully not sitting where she wanted it to just to annoy her. "Oh wait a moment!" Mebuki snapped her fingers as an idea came to her, she turned and quickly scurried through the various items of clothing laid out on the table behind her, she gave out a victorious shout when she found the same navy blue gloves she made and later gave to Karin the previous day.
"Wear these dear-heart," Mebuki ordered, pressing the cloth into the red head's hands "Fubuki already filled them up with kunai and shiriken, so just apply a small amount of chakra to open them up."
"Two should come out automatically," Fubuki chuckled, wrapping an arm around the flabbergasted red head and gently pulled her towards the door. "Quickly you two, before they get their senses straight!"
"Hay!"
Karin and Sakura laughed as they tore out of the house together
…
…
Sakura waved Karin good-bye and gave her the large crimson lunch box, reassuring her that it was for her and her teammates, before Sakura approached her own teammates at the gates of the academy, glad that they changed their outfits as well. Sasuke was dressed in a black turtleneck with a dark blue vest with his clan crest displayed proudly on his back, black shinobi pants with his kunai pouch displayed on his right leg and his headband was resting on his forehead proudly, his Navy blue bag was resting at his feet looking like a carcass was stuffed was dressed in black shinobi pants and a black long sleeved shirt with a bright orange vest, similar to Sakura's, and a bright orange and black coat that looked a lot like his original sweat suit jacket. Naruto's headband was on his forehead and his kunai pouch was on his right leg as well, his black backpack was outlined in orange with a bright red swirl on the front of it, looking just as stuffed as Sasuke's.
"Hay guys!" Sakura laughed as she ran towards them, smiling brightly, "Looks like mom's out fits fit you perfectly!"
"Yeah no kidding Sakura-chan!" Naruto chuckled wrapping an arm around Sasuke's shoulders "we look bad ass!"
"Naruto language!" Sakura laughed, not really scolding him as much as she was agreeing with him. "Did Nee-chan give you any presents too?" Sakura asked, holding out her hands expectantly, purposefully showing off the seals sewn into her sleeves while simultaneously giving them their lunches.
"Yeah and they Rock!" Naruto agreed, smiling brightly as he gave her his left wrist, showing Sakura the beautiful Orange thread out lining the cuff in thick, beautiful swirls and lines. Sakura giggled as she ran her fingers tips over the two seals, one on back and one on front, both separated with expertly woven leaves to hide the seals sewn there.
"Are you sure Fubuki isn't a seal master?" Sasuke smirked, placing his left wrist into her right palm, smirk widening as she took in the elegant sapphire blue thread that twirled up his arms to show four seals on each arm, two on front and two on back, with similar leaves and branches enter locking between the seals and hiding them from view as well.
"She makes me wonder," Sakura giggled, knowing that over the years Fubuki really had mastered stitching the storage seal into clothing.
"Well let's go!" Naruto shouted wrapping his arms around his teammates and dragging them into their old school, laughing as they hobbled and bobbled through the halls and up the stairs.
"Naruto let go!" Sakura laughed, finally freeing herself from the blonde. She turned to go up the third flight of stairs but stopped instead, seeing that her teammates were going down a different crowded hall. "Where are you two going? The third floor is this way..."
"Come on Sakura let's check it out," Sasuke replied instead, "I'm curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Sakura warned as she followed him, shaking her head in amusement
"But satisfactory brought it back," Sasuke replied rolling his eyes
"Coming, coming," Sakura giggled, hurrying after a smirking Sasuke and a laughing Naruto, "What's going on anyways?"
"It looks like they got caught in a genjutsu," Naruto snickered, accidentally drawing a few curious stares. He might not have any skill in detecting genjutsu but he wasn't an idiot, there was no way that so many older kids with a hole lot more experience then them could have gotten so confused as to mix up their third and second floors.
"Man we have previous graduates in this hall and everything," Sakura giggled, spotting a few older leaf shinobi, "I'm surprised they haven't noticed the problem, I mean they are older then us."
THWACK
"Lee!" a feminine voice cut off Sasuke from replying and drew both Sakura's and Naruto's attention to the commotion ahead of them. "Please we just want to get through—"thwack "—kyaa!"
"Ouch," Sakura hissed in sympathy for the brunet who just got knocked back next to her teammate, "That'll leave a mark."
"Dude what's your problem?" Naruto shouted out, stepping forward to glare at the two boys dressed in matching gray uniforms before two doors.
"We're just thinning out the herd," the brunet answered with a chuckle, "the Chunin exams aren't games ya know—"
"We know, we know," Sakura piped up, stepping between her teammates and rolling her eyes at the two men disguised as boys. "The Chunin exams kill more people then they pass,"
"It's a matter of life and death," Naruto rolled his eyes, nearly snickering as he remembered the lecture Fubuki and Tayuya sat the three of them through the previous day.
"Only the strongest become chunin," Sasuke replied dully, like he was calling Naruto an idiot
"You three been through this test before?" The black haired one asked with what appeared to be a 'vicious' smirk, really he looked like he was keeping himself from sneezing.
"Nope," Sasuke smirked
"Our siblings are just really over protective," Sakura snickered, confusing the two boys. "Fubuki-nee and Tayuya-nee used to tell us their experiences taking the Chunin exams as bed time stories."
"The only thing I learned from them is that I don't want to go to Kumo or Mizu for the exams," Naruto shivered as if he had been there with them for their exams, "they're meaner then Suna's giant man eating bugs!" Sasuke smirked as a few shinobi stepped slightly further away from the few Mizu and Kumo Nin in the hall.
"You're the younger Haruno girl?" the brunet asked, looking pointedly at Sakura, "Your sisters are nuts."
"I know!" Sakura laughed, surprising the boy as he was trying to get her angry, "Isn't it great?"
"Enough of memory lane," Sasuke grumbled, stepping up beside Sakura in boredom. "We have to submit our papers, either we can do it here or we can go up stairs to the real 301 examine room."
"Oh! Oh! Let's do it here!" Sakura said, clapping her hands and smiling brightly, "I wanna see why the gate guards are pretending to be genin!" team seven never saw the disgruntled look the guards shot them or the glares shot at the guards
"There is something seriously wrong with you," someone in the crowd around them murmured
"Obviously, have you seen how big her forehead is?" both Naruto and Sasuke stiffened, eyes locking in on Sakura immanently, "I bet people go blind by just look—!" Sakura was snapped around and curving through the crowd until she had clasped one hand around the older girl's neck faster then the girl could finish her sentence.
"You," Sakura growled lowly, mimicking Tayuya's 'I'll-enjoy-killing-you' face the best she could, "are a very disrespectful little girl." the brunette scratched at Sakura's wrists, tears pricked her eyes as Sakura's grip simply tightened.
"F-freak" the girl gasped, Naruto slapped a hand to his face and Sasuke sighed, slumping his shoulders.
"Why can't people just apologize when they jump off the deep end?" Naruto asked Sasuke softly
"Disrespectful little girls," Sakura murmured sweeping a foot forward and swinging the girl into the air before throwing her to the other end of the hallway and threw a wall, "Don't belong in these exams. If you're going to be rude make sure you're strong enough to back up your own taunts." Sakura straightened and marched back to her teammates with her head held high and her back straight, like she didn't just throw a girl nearly twice her height through the far wall at the end of the hall.
"If its one thing Sakura-chan hates," Naruto mumbled, smirking when Sakura stepped between him and Sasuke, barely even glancing back at the two guards in front of the door, "its disrespect."
"Let's go you guys," Sakura said moving past her teammates to return to the stairs. "I've decided that we're just wasting our time here, we have fifteen minutes to get to 301. If the people here can't figure out the problem then they won't last in the Chunin exam—just leave them behind."
"Geez Sakura-chan that girl really got to you!" Naruto laughed as he spun on his heel and took off after Sakura, "I haven't seen you that mad since Konohamaru called you—humph!"
"Idiot!" Sasuke hissed, seeing Sakura pause to glance back at them curiously, "Don't say that word or we won't be taking the test until we're old and gray!" Naruto paled and nodded quickly, Sasuke released him and they quickly hurried on down the hall, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on the back of their heads. As they hurried up the stairs Naruto and Sasuke both noticed the fine tremble to Sakura's hands as she marched ahead of them. Smiling both boys quickly caught up to her and wrapped one arm around her shoulder's, Naruto started laughing when they made her stumble.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan," Naruto laughed as he wobbled beside the pinkette, "you followed Ta-Nee's advise to the T!"
"Yeah I know," Sakura sighed, relaxing in their arms as she wrapped her own arms around both boy's waists. "But still... I threw a girl through twenty feet of air and a wall. A wall Naruto, that's not a weak old fence or a half dead tree or even the beat up old training grounds. I threw a human being through a wall."
"Sakura-chan" Naruto said seriously, stopping in his wobble-walk to look at the pinkette dead in the eye. "We've been telling you that you have monstrous strength for years, how is it that you're just now noticing it?"
"... Did you just inadvertently call me a monster?" Sakura asked with narrowed eyes, making Naruto slightly pale
"I'd never call you such a name Sakura-chan!" Naruto reassured quickly, "it's just that you can get fre—scarily strong when you're mad!" Sakura's narrowed eyes didn't lesson until Naruto was sure that she was going to punch him anyways just for practice. Instead, she smiled like an angle at him, he couldn't tell if that was a good smile or a bad smile.
"I'll kill you later"
He was doomed
…
…
After explaining to a boy in green spandex with a bowl hair cut that she wasn't interested in dating anyone at the moment, the boy then challenged Sasuke into a spare for her affections and as such, Sasuke ended up getting his but kicked by 'Rock Lee'. The good news is that Sasuke earned another tomoe in his Sharingan; the bad news was that Sakura had to dump water up Naruto's nose to make him wake up so they could get to the class on time. As such, Kakashi found himself staring at a slightly bruised Sasuke, a wet Naruto and a disgruntled looking Sakura. He really didn't know if he should let them through and get sweets later or not and get a prank later... not that they've succeeded so far but he really didn't like excessive salt or explosives in his Ramen.
"Congratulations on making it this far, team seven," Kakashi said deciding to go with the safer root, Sakura could always sick Tayuya on him and the first time was bad enough. "Since you knew already that it was a test to see weather or not all of you were ready to take the test, I'm proud to say you all can enter together now."
"Like you'd stop us," Sakura giggled, not meaning it to sound as disrespectful as it came out; that was okay because Kakashi knew what she meant.
"Thanks Sensei," Naruto chuckled, smiling brightly at Kakashi
"You might regret that when you see who else is in these examines," Kakashi smiled as he stepped aside, letting the boys open the doors and walk into the room with Sakura right behind them.
"Nice out fit," Kakashi whispered to Sakura as she passed, "Make sure your kunai and Shiriken are accessible, your skirt is in the way..."
"They're accessible," Sakura whispered with a secretive smirk; straightening only when she stepped into the room, her head rising and back straighten. At that moment, Kakashi saw Tayuya and Fubuki reflected back at him, watching them walk away for their own Chunin exams. He couldn't help smiling as he leaned against the wall as the doors closed. He knew that, like her sisters before her, Sakura would walk through the first step blind folded.
It was the second portion that worried him, both Fubuki and Tayuya failed in the second portion of the Chunin exams. True Kumo was being biased with Fubuki and Orochimaru screwed up Tayuya's chances but what worried Kakashi the most was weather or not Sakura would come back with a new scar, just like her sisters did. They weren't related, not by a long shot, but he'd be damned if they didn't mimic each other to a T. Especially Sakura, Tayuya came out in her when she losses her temper and Fubuki came out when she was mad but restraining herself. Everyone beliefs in the doctored documents about their relation, so Kakashi is always hearing about the 'Haruno sisters' and what they had done again and again—only those who knew Mebuki and Kizashi on a personal level knew the truth.
Please be safe, Kakashi prayed silently, closing his eyes as he listened to his students on the other side of the door. Please, Kami-sama, keep them safe
…
…
"Whoa," Sakura snickered looking around the room with her hand on her hip and a smirk in place, "Defiantly what I thought, this'll be easy."
"Ya' think?" Naruto asked looking over at Sakura, "How many do you think are going to pass this portion?"
"With mercy? Barely half," Sakura answered, sweeping her eyes over the other gathered genin, keeping an eye on the group hiding in the corner to her left. Before she could say anything more, a loud bark took her attention to her right, where she saw Kiba Inuzuka approach.
"Hay you guys made it," Kiba said with a smirk, "And here I thought that only the best could get in here, right Sasuke?" clearly Kiba thought that only Sasuke was good enough in Team seven to take part the Chunin exam.
"Hay are you—"
"Shut it Naruto," Sakura advised softly, stepping into Kiba's view, knowing that both Naruto and Sasuke had hidden her before hand. Kiba was dressed in his normal black slacks and over sized dark gray coat lined in black fur "I see you two too liked your presents," Sakura smirked, delighted when Kiba stiffened and shifted, not liking that Sakura had spotted Akamaru's special collar or his black bracelets with the little white diamond studs with seals containing food pills. "Are you expecting—"
"Sakura-chan!" Hinata shouted racing forward and enveloping Sakura in a tight hug with Shino following close behind until he was standing beside Kiba; Shino was wearing his normal three sizes too big tan coat with the high collar blocking most of his face and his own black slacks. "Where have you been? You were gone for five months!" Sakura smiled and pulled back from her friend to examine her closely. Hinata had pulled her long midnight hair into a high ponytail, revealing pearl earrings and a matching chocker pendent; Sakura knew that the pendent held a nerve agent inside while her earrings were full of bleach and habanera spray, one good squeeze and her assailant would be blind for days. Hinata's dress was a simple pale violet corset top with a wide collar revealing her chocker and a darker violet coat lined in white fur ending just past her hips, revealing her black shinobi pants and a kunai holster and back pouch. Delicate looking white flowers rimmed the edges of her coat, hiding more storage seals most likely filled with healing ointments, insanely sharp weapons and possibly some food and water emergency kits.
"You're so—"
"Sasuke-kun!" both Hinata and Sakura stiffened at Ino's loud voice, watching from the corner of their eye as the blonde tackled the dark haired boy.
"Oh sorry Hinata-chan," Sakura chuckled patting Hinata's dark head reassuringly and ignoring the blonde. "We went out on a C-rank mission to the land of waves. When we got back we were too tiered to go anywhere but the relaxing bathes at the hot springs and then straight to bed."
"I see," Hinata sighed releasing her childhood friend, ignoring Sasuke's complaints about the blonde choking him and Naruto's laughter at his misfortune. "Did you bring your violin with you? I think we still have time for a practice shot before the proctor arrives."
"Sorry no I don't," Sakura sighed, slumping her shoulders, "And I couldn't take it will me on the mission either, it's been forever since I last played it."
"That's okay," Hinata giggled, "We can play together when the examines are over."
"That's a good idea!" Sakura smiled at Hinata, "oh you've grown by the way! Your head reaches my cheek now!"
"Ch, Sakura get this girl off," Sasuke ordered, reaching up to free his neck from Ino's tight hold
"Ino Yamanaka let go of him," Sakura ordered coldly, turning to look at the blonde hanging off her teammate.
"Make me build board brow" Ino shot back, sticking her tong out at Sakura but unconsciously loosening her hold on Sasuke anyways.
"Listen little piggy, I'm not in the mood to deal with your childishness," Sakura said warningly, narrowing her eyes at the blonde, "Release my teammate before I throw you through a wall."
"She's already done it once today," Naruto chuckled, smiling when Ino took a step away but left one arm still on Sasuke's shoulder
"It's best to obey her, Ino," Sasuke advised, shrugging the blonde off, "She's really not in the mood to argue..."
"Like I care what she's in the mood for," Ino grumbled rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, her dark purple shirt ruffling as she moved, her two-piece skirt flattening against her white leggings.
"Ino back off," Shikamaru grumbled stepping behind her with Chōji, he was dressed in his normal out fit of black slacks, dark gray shirt with a dark green hoodie. Chōji was dressed in his usual black kakis, large emerald green hoodie and a blue scarf Sakura recalled his mom buying a few years ago. Team ten used to get a little articles of clothing from Tayuya and Fubuki too, like the others in their year, but it looked like Chōji's scarf was the only one that survived the time of growth sprits.
"Or do you want a repeat of what happened last time?" Shikamaru asked softly, not fazed by the glare given to him by Ino
"What happened last time?" Naruto asked curiously, watching how Ino's glare intensified on Shikamaru
"Nothing," Ino growled lowly
"Hay you guys be quiet," everyone turned to see an older leaf Nin walk towards them, his dark eyes where rimmed with fine black glasses and his gray hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. "You're putting everyone here on edge."
"And that's our fault how?" Sakura questioned, crossing her arms and staring at the older boy dully, "anyone who gets nervous before a paper test shouldn't be here to begin with."
"Seriously Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, blinking up at her
"Yeah, why'd you think the first portion is in a classroom?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow, "And don't you remember Tayuya's and Fubuki's stories from their Chunin exams? The first round is an intelligence test, the second round is a survival test and the third round is a battle royal"
"Oh yeah," Naruto chuckled, scratching his cheek, "I forgot all about that!"
"Well... I was going to say that Chunin exams were serious stuff and that it could get ugly if you guys weren't careful..." the boy said smiling and scratching the back of his neck nervously "But it doesn't sound like you care..."
"We don't" Sakura smiled
"Yeah! Besides we'll kick everyone's ass if they challenge us!" Naruto shouted earning a smack from both of his teammates
"Naruto that won't happen until the second and third round," Sakura sighed
"Don't waist your energy on small fry," Sasuke advised, crossing his arms. "Save your strength against the stronger opponents that make it to the third round, everyone else isn't worth the trouble."
"Your teammates are going to get you killed," the gray haired boy said, looking at Sakura
"Not if I kill them first," Sakura shot back with a grin, "By the way, what's you're name?"
…
"Now Sakura-chan I want you to do something for me," Tayuya said as she finished laying out the hundreds of jewelry options Sakura would pick out in the morning for the exam
"Sure, what is it?" Sakura asked turning to face her sister curiously, the crimson shirt she was examining still held up in the air
"If you ever come across a boy with gray hair and black glasses..." Tayuya looked up at her, her face blank and eyes cold "get away from as fast as you can. I don't care if you have to mimic my worst trait, just don't let him get close to you."
"What's his name?" Sakura asked softly, understanding that her sister was completely serious
"Kabuto Yakushi"
…
"Oh so sorry, my name is Kabuto Yakushi," He answered with a polite nod and smile, not seeing Sakura's brow twitch or how both Naruto and Sasuke turned towards him with narrow eyes.
"How many times have you taken the examine?" Shikamaru asked curiously
"Oh umm... this is... my seventh try..." Kabuto chuckled, knowing that it was pretty bad
"The exams are that hard?" Ino asked with a gasp, her blue eyes wide
"Yeah, that's what I was trying to say," Kabuto agreed with a friendly smile. "They're held every six months; this is my seventh try so I've been at this for about four years..."
"Wow," Sakura giggled, sweeping a foot out to stand protectively in front of Hinata while Naruto and Sasuke took up her sides, nearly hiding the white eyed heiress from view. "Either you're really weak but really smart or you're purposefully failing these examines so you could get something."
"Don't be stupid Sakura," Kiba grumbled at her with a frown, "the proctors would notice and so would lord Hokage. He's properly just really weak... like you said."
"Or that's just what he wants everyone to believe," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes at Kabuto warningly.
"Okay I think we got off on the wrong foot," Kabuto said raising his hands up peacefully. "I have some information you might be interested in knowing... you see I've been here for so long that I've gathered all the participants names and abilities and stored them on these ninja-cards," Kabuto explained pulling out the cards for the group of Genin to see.
"That's highly doubtful," Sakura replied, sweeping forward and placing a kunai at Kabuto's throat threateningly. "Not everyone here was at the previous Chunin exam and besides," Sakura pressed the kunai a little closer to the shocked boy's throat, threatening to draw blood. "You'd have to break into the ninja records room to get any information on anyone here, and if you did it here in this village then you'd only get information on Leaf shinobi not the foreign participants." Sakura's eyes narrowed when Kabuto's hands raised slightly higher, trying to reassure her that he's not a threat.
"The only other way to get information on other shinobi is either by breaking through their own village's ninja records or having contact with them and gaining their unrelenting trust where they'd spill their guts to you." Sakura's eyes narrowed further, noting how Kabuto's dark eyes were slightly wider as they stared down at her, sweat trickled down the side of his temple. "Unless..."
"Unless?" Kabuto prompted, he was relieved when Sakura removed her kunai from his neck, straightening and smiling pleasantly at him as she put her kunai back into her kunai holster under her skirt and backed up a few steps. "Unless what?" Kabuto asked, rubbing at his soar neck and regarding Sakura wirily; now knowing that she was the ultimate threat out of everyone in the chunin exams
"Unless you're a spy master in which case it's your responsibility is to gather intelligences on other shinobi," Sakura continued, her words making her fellow genin relax slightly. "That must mean that you have one hell of a spy net work, especially if you can get info on other shinobi present in this room."
"Dose this means that you'll trust my advise now?" Kabuto asked with a nervous smile, trying to show that he wasn't affected by the threatening looks sent his way
"But that still doesn't explain why you're still taking the exams," Sasuke said, drawing attention to the problem with Kabuto's story. "You should've passed after your second or third try like everyone else."
"As for your question: No," Sakura answered stepping back to her place in front of Hinata and beside her teammates. "I don't trust anyone who wears masks for a living. I don't care if you are an ally, there is always the chance of spy—who are often double agents—becoming turned against their superiors. That's the reason why I won't trust you; there's no one hundred present guarantee of your loyalty."
"You're very smart Sakura-chan" Kabuto chuckled, "As expected of the youngest Haruno."
"Did you expect that my sisters would sit us down and warn us about you?" Sakura shot back, unaffected by his praise. She couldn't help the smirk at Kabuto's shocked expression, "My sisters are rarely wrong when they decide to be wiry of someone. Guess you have crappy luck with us Haruno's, not one of us trusts you."
"Huh and here I thought you'd like to hear something about your sisters," Kabuto smiled back at her, his cards still in hand. "You do know that they ar—" Kabuto gasped as a kunai whizzed past his head, cutting his cheek and breaking his glasses before it embed itself up to the hilt in the wall fifteen feet behind him and just over his teammate's heads.
"Put this in your ninja deck two-face," Sakura's voice was low as she looked up at him, her bangs falling slightly to cover one of her eyes, shadowing it while the lights above them gave her other eye take on a haunting look. Sakura's expression was the perfect mixture of Fubuki's irritated look and Tayuya's madder-then-hell face; a look Sakura had been practicing for the past three years to perfect. "Sakura Haruno, the youngest Haruno, has a photographic memory—she is unable to forget anything."
Kabuto stared at her for a moment, his dark eyes wide as he examined her glaring green eyes promising pain if he so much as uttered another word. Kabuto gave her a strained smile and quickly backed away; not turning his back on her until he was half way to his teammates where he proceeded to walk stiffly back to them and then just as quickly put his back against the wall and looked at the nine-leaf genin with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.
"You just got your ass kicked by a little pink haired girl," Yao grumbled to him, a smirk sounding in his voice
"It was expected," Kabuto replied softly, "I knew they'd say something to her... but for her to annualize me and come up with so many different possibilities so quickly... Her intelligence is higher then what the records show. She's smarter then her older sisters... and more logical then the Nara boy there..." Who's supposed to be the genius of the group
"You think she has experience?" His other teammate asked turning to look at him
"I think her sisters did some illegal training with her," Kabuto smirked, his dark eyes glinting as they narrowed in on Sakura who was busy smiling at Naruto and Hinata to notice. "I'm sure the Hokage would be very pleased with that information... the punishment for teaching underage children advanced techniques without proper written paper work is grounds for immediate de-ranking and a month in interrogation."
"When will you tell him?" Yao asked
"After the second round..." Kabuto smirked, There's always that month long training period before the final round... if I time it right I can get both of them in interrogation during the attach...
None of them noticed the red haired girl with her quieter then usual teammates sitting nearby, nor did they see the look they gave each other
…
…
"Tayuya Get me everything you can on Kabuto Yakushi," he ordered, eyes locked on the pale haired boy leaning against the wall. "Sorry but you don't get to terrorize your sister this time,"
"I understand sir," the pinkette beside him nodded her head, "I don't like him and I'm glade Imoto spook up while she analyzed him. It gave us some clues to work with"
"Yeah but she might have just made herself a target," one of the other proctors whispered as Tayuya walked passed him. "If not by him then by others in there who'll now treat her like a high level threat."
"Imoto can protect herself," Tayuya reassured softly, "She's stronger then she looks..."
I hope so, the young man thought as he stepped up beside Ibiki, otherwise you might end up burying her...
BOOM
"Alright you baby faced degenerates listen up!"
Yeah he wasn't working on that one all week
…
…
BOOM
"Alright you baby faced degenerates listen up!" Sakura and her classmates snapped around to look at the front of the room where a tall man in a navy blue trench coat stood with twelve gray-uniformed Chunin's surrounding him. "My name is Ibiki Marino and I am the proctor of this round. If you don't like it, get out!" Sakura smiled at the familiar line, glancing at her teammates she saw that they also recognized Tayuya's favorite catch faze.
"Now this portion will be a paper test!" Ibiki snapped out
"Yeah! Go Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered loudly, laughing as he wrapped Sakura up with one arm and fist-pumped with the other.
"Shut up!" Ibiki snapped, "Or do you want to get kicked out without even going through this portion of the test?"
"Ten bucks says I finish before both of you," Sakura said, ignoring Ibiki's glare that was aimed straight at her.
"Five says I beat you," Sasuke retorted
"Only Five? I betted twice as much as you, are you scared~?"
"Fifteen" Sasuke growled at her with twitching eyebrow
"I bet twenty I finish before both of you!" Naruto chuckled
"Dube/dork" Sasuke and Sakura replied at the same time "You don't have twenty dollars!"
Defiantly related to Tayuya, Ibiki sighed and chose to ignore the laughing team seven, knowing that Tayuya could get scarier then him at times. Having been on Tayuya's temper more then once, the pinkette and her friends were properly immune to his glare.
"Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki!" that got there attention, "You three will be silent or I'll get Tayuya—"
"Please don't!" Sasuke snapped out, paler then usual
"We'll be good!" Naruto cried out, looking terrified beside his teammates
"I don't want to die~" Sakura sobbed, hiding her face in her hands, trembling between her two teammates.
"Then shut up," Ibiki smirked Worked like a charm, figures that the only ones who could make the three behave were Sakura's older sisters. Ibiki ignored the three's agreeing nodes as he continued. "Each of you will come up to the front where you'll trade your admittance forms for a number, you will then proceed to your given desk number. Am I clear?" various forms of agreement given, Ibiki nodded at his nearest proctor.
After ten minutes and everyone was settled into their seats, he glared when Sakura and a red haired mist girl squealed and sat together regardless of their numbers. The boy who was supposed to sit beside the pinkette got his number switched with the red haired girls, when he protested Sakura pulled out a kunai pretended to sharpen it absent mindedly while the redhead stretched showed off her own hidden weapons that she could properly flick out without much of a thought. The boy paled and left the row, letting the two friends giggle in their seats.
Just as the last kid took their seat sullenly, Ibiki finished writing his five rules for this portion of the examine; he received a few grumbles but everyone more or less agreed to his terms. Ten minutes after the start of the exam, the first team was sent out, quickly followed by another two. After twenty minutes, there were noticeable empty places in the class; after thirty minutes half the class was empty; after forty minutes, he caught the blonde Kunochi that he knew as Inoichi's daughter use her family jutsu on Sakura. It lasted for all of a minute before the red head beside Sakura injected her chakra into Sakura, making the blonde lose control of her jutsu and forced back into her body. He looked at the proctors who caught it but they simply shook their head, she didn't have enough points stacked against her for cheating yet.
After an hour, he snapped at them to put their pencils down, he then told them that those who took the tenth question and failed would never again be able to take the Chunin exam, while those who decided to drop out now would have another chance in six months; another five teams dropped on the spot. He watched passively as Naruto slowly rose his hand shakily, he hadn't known that the boy was a—
Slam!
Naruto rose to his feet and glared defiantly at Ibiki, just as he was about to speak a piercing shriek echoed through the air, cutting off the blonde from saying anything. Naruto looked over at Sakura who was standing and waving her arms around and making funny sounds, as confused Ibiki was by her display Naruto seemed to understand. The blonde groaned and slammed his head against his desk repeatedly, as if keeping himself from speaking.
"...You took that threat seriously, didn't you?" Ibiki asked staring Sakura, who nodded, a glance at her teammates told him that they were doing the same. "Will you continue?" Ibiki asked Naruto, looking down at the blonde who glared furiously up at him.
"I think he says yes," Hinata answered, smiling when Naruto nodded viciously at her. "Because... because some day he'll be Hokage" Naruto grinned brightly at her. "No matter what he'll be Hokage... even if he stay's a genin for the rest of his life." Naruto shouted and hugged Hinata tightly, not seeing her bright red face. Ibiki rolled his eyes back over the group left remaining in the room, noting how all of them were suddenly determined to proceed regardless of the consequences.
"Very well then," Ibiki murmured, watching how everyone stiffened, "You all..." they gritted their teeth and glared at him, determination marring their features. "Pass!"
They were silent in confusion...
Three... Ibiki counted slowly, two... one...
"Wait what?!"
"Ha-ha-ha, well you see," Ibiki couldn't help it, he loved screwing with people's heads; it always put a smile on his face. "Chunin's lead teams of their own and they don't always get to avoid danger; a chunin is responsible for keeping their teammates alive no matter the coast. Those who didn't pass this round don't have what it takes to be a chunin and there fore have failed. So, congrats you all—" suddenly something big and purple crashed through the window and landed before Ibiki, in a single movement the thing thrust out the ends to reveal a purple haired woman within the banner that she just strung up behind her.
"Alright maggots listen up! I'm Anko Maharishi proctor of the second round!" Everyone stared dully at the woman in the tan trench coat and dark brown mini skirt; most of the boy's were drooling and most of the girls were wondering if she was cold.
"Anko," Ibiki murmured stepping around the violet banner to look at the woman, "You're early."
"Huh? Oh, sorry," Anko grinned up at him making the scared man sigh. "Well lets see how many you left me~" Anko turned and started counting, she stopped when she caught sight of Sakura. "Oh hay you're here! I didn't know you were in the exams pinky!" Sakura smiled and waved at Anko, having had met her several times when she took Tayuya under her wing. She never did find out why Anko suddenly had an interest in Tayuya, she just knew that there was a kind of bond the two shared and that it had made both of them stronger as a result.
"You ready to play with the kiddies?" Anko asked, taking delight in Sakura's pale face, laughing when the girl slumped into her chair and buried her head in her arms, her shoulder's shaking as if she was crying. "Oh come on! They've grown since you've last met them!" Anko's cheerful declaration only made Sakura's trembling worse as she let out a sob. A long time ago, Tayuya had been forced to take care of Sakura because everyone else was out on a mission of some sort or working at the hospital. As such, she took Sakura with her to meet Anko, as nice as Anko had been to nine-year-old Sakura, she was still merciless. She took Sakura on a run through her training grounds, laughing when the pinkette shrieked at the large tigers who tried to give chase; she didn't let them get too close but that didn't seem to matter to Sakura.
How was she supposed to know that Sakura could only see the tiger's eyes in the half-light of the forest?
Or that their large shadows looking like ghosts to her?
"Alright everyone stand up! We're going on a trip to my favorite place!" Sakura let out another loud sob and curled up in her seat and stayed there until Sasuke and Naruto both pulled her to her feet and walked her out the door. A few of the older kids looked like they were starting to regret their decision of staying
"Anko did you scar that child?" Ibiki asked accusingly as team seven left, not seeing the worried looks shot their way by a few of the older genin
"Of course not," Anko answered as if she was offended by the question. "Tayuya brought her over one time and I decided to take the curious girl on a tour through the forest." Anko smirked and walked out of the room, following the last of the first round's participants and the proctors. "Get your ass's in the bus!" Ibiki smiled and shook his head at the loud declaration; the following sound of rushing feet amused him further.
…
…
The coupling votes! Sorry I kind of forgot about them
Okay it goes girl, boy, # votes, okay?
Sakura— Gaara 5 (with OPBBY—Over Protective Big Brother Yagura—3) —Haku 2—Itachi 5
Fubuki—Haku 3—Shisui 4
Tayuya—Itachi 3—Neji—Shikamaru—Kiba 2
Karin—Suigetsu 6—Gaara—Sasuke
Hinata—Naruto 5
Ino—Sai 5—Kiba—Chōji 2
Tenten—Neji—Kankuro 3—Sasuke 2
Temari—Shikamaru 5—Itachi
Mei—Zabuza
Thoughts are helpful
Opinions are wonderful
Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?
Please no cursing!
And don't forget to rate and review!
Page 20