Shortly after promising Lady Tsunade the I would find her after the exams were over, The Hokage called everyone's attention.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming to this years chunin exams that Konoha is proud to be hosting. And a special thanks to the Kazekage, for graciously taking time out of his schedule to make it here today as well." Minato began as he gestured next to him to the other Kage, causing the crowd to cheer for them both..

Up in the stands was a specific viewing box where he stood, along with the current Kazekage, the leader or Suna. Behind him in the area for special guests stood his wife, Kushina. Along with Mikoto, and Fugaku Uchiha.

I would have expected to have seen Itachi and maybe Shisui as well, but they were nowhere to be seen.

If I had to make any assumptions, it would be that they were doing some last minute training with Sasuke.

But if both of Naruto's parents were here, and they were the one's suppose to be training him, then where was he?

I think I know, incoming.

Huh?

Just as Naruto's father was about to continue his speech, a large boom echoed throughout the arena's entrance as the main doors had swung open with a crash.

And there he stood, in his typical bright orange jumpsuit. His blond hair shining as bright the sun, and his eyes as blue as the sky. His trademark whiskers on his cheeks were being pulled on either side as his usual blinding grin was in place.

Man, was he an eyesore.

"Sorry I'm late! The line to Ichiraku's was longer than I had anticipated, it slowed me down in eating my lunch!" Naruto yelled as he rubbed his belly that was extended with the amount of ramen he had probably eaten.

While the crowd around him had laughed and cheered at the Hokage's son who had made a late appearance, I was rather annoyed.

Couldn't he have come in quietly, like a real ninja would have?

But then again, with him showing up, that means the Hokage would have to wait for only one more person, Sasuke. If both of them were late, he could have easily rearranged the matches to put me against Gaara, and have Naruto and Sasuke fight each other later after they finally decided to show up. But now that Naruto is here, and he and I can fight, maybe they'll just postpone Gaara and Sasuke's fight until Sasuke gets here.

"Naruto, nice of you to finally show up." Minato said as he gave his son a hard stare, making him gulp from the entrance.

"Sorry pops." Naruto said as he laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head and quietly made his way over to stand next to me.

I could feet his stare on the side of my head, but chose kept my eyes trained forward.

The Hokage cleared his throat before he began to speak again.

"I'm aware that most of you have noticed that there is a missing contender," Naruto made a confused noise in the back of his throat before he looked from side to side, only to realize who was missing. "Uchiha Sasuke has not yet entered the arena, however, it has come to an agreement for us wait until the final match before anything is decided. In the mean time, the rest of the battles may begin." The end of the Hokage's speech ended with him telling all the contestants good luck before giving the floor over to the proctor for the exam.

And let me say, it took everything in my power not to out right laugh at this guy.

It was him, the one who's garden I accidentally flash stepped into while they wee gardening. He looked different without the apron, gardening tools and the petunias.

"Good afternoon, one and all. My name is Shiranui Genma, and I will be the proctor for the final part of your exams." He glanced over each and every one of the participants before his gaze caught mine. I grinned evilly at him, causing him to narrow his eyes at me threateningly. His cheeks became dusted in a light pink color before he fake coughed to clear his throat and willed his blush to go away.

"These matches are going to be exactly like the preliminary rounds you all went through after making it to the tower in the forest of death. After said preliminary rounds you all drew a number and your matches were set up according to the numbers you picked. So far the matches have all stayed the same. However, If Uchiha Sasuke doesn't make it to his match in the fourth round, the fifth round will move up to take his place until her does show up, and if he still isn't here, he will most likely be disqualified." I frowned at this bit of information.

Granted, Sasuke wasn't exactly the most innocent in the way things have been going between my teammates and I so far, but he was by far the only one who has tried to fix things and actually meant it. He apologized after we made it out of the forest and tried to keep things calm, he even tried to stop Naruto from opening his mouth. Hearing the he might be disqualified in these exams actually makes me a little upset.

He's also been training really hard, that was why he wasn't even here right now, I'm sure of it.

"But that time has not yet come. In the meantime, the rest of the matches will now begin. The first match, is between Hyuuga Neji, and Dosu. You two may remain in the arena, the rest of you, please make your way over to the waiting are up above and wait for your turn." Everyone made their way over to where we were told to wait, while the two who were supposed to be fighting stayed behind.

As I stood in the stands watching the match between Neji and Dosu start, I stayed as far away from Naruto as I could. Opting to stay on the complete opposite side to the waiting area.

Instead I focused on the match before me. Neji was exactly like I had expected a Hyuuga to be.

Proud, arrogant, and a little bit of a jerk sprinkled right on top.

But I will say this, his mind was distracted. By what though, I had no idea. After all, something that bothered a Hyuuga enough had to be mind boggling.

Despite how preoccupied his mind seemed, he fought incredibly well. It was to be expected though, of course, even though he was a branch member, he showed incredible strength in the preliminaries. And although I had missed the entire fight, I heard of the things he had been able to do.

The end results of this match had ended in an obvious victory in Neji's favor.

The medics came and grabbed Dosu off of the floor, his chakra pathways had been attacked and blocked from Neji's Gentle Fist.

As the Hyuuga made his way back up to where the rest of us were waiting, Genma called the next match, causing Shikamaru to wake up from the nap he was taking and went down to the arena below where Temari was already waiting.

The entire time Shikamaru walked down to the arena he was complaining about how troublesome everything was.

Can you imagine what it would be like if you fought him instead?

Believe it or not, that thought actually sounds a bit scary to me, I may have been the smartest in the academy, but I'm fairly certain that it's only because Shikamaru was to lazy to try hard enough to get anything above a passing grade. If he were to out his mind to it, I know he'd be able to plan out an entire fight and all the possible outcome of it. I'm not saying he would absolutely kick my ass, because I know that I have good smarts too, but he would definitely give me a run for my money.

Is that so? The lazy kid is a boy genius?

Very much so, yes.

I watched as Shikamaru and Temari fought each other, both of them showing incredibly talent and intelligence.

"Who do you think is going to win?" I heard one of the people in the stands ask.

"That Nara kid for sure!"

"No way, have you seen that thing the girl from Suna is carrying? It's massive!"

I stood there and listened to the crowed that was cheering at the fight going on below me, my thoughts however were pulled away from the fight when I heard a scoff from behind me.

I turned my head slightly to come face to face with non other than Neji, who had come to stand beside me after he was cleared from the medics who gave him a check up.

"Something bothering you Hyuuga-san?" I asked him, trying not to laugh at the constipated look on his face as he turned to face me.

"Idiotic people in the crowed, talking about who was going to win like it wasn't obvious already. The fate of this match was decided before it even began." He began, the irritation clear in his voice.

"Oh, does this mean you have suspicions on who is likely to win?" I asked.

"It's obvious. Although the Suna girl is strong, and can most defintly hold her own in the fight, Shikamaru is clearly the winner. As a member of the Nara clan, Shikamaru-san has the higher ground. The jutsu his family possesses was passed down to him by his clan, those techniques alone are enough should they be used in the right way, and with a mind like his, he's sure to have figured out how to win already."

I hummed, agreeing with his idea of Shikamaru's strength, but not so much that that's all there is to this fight like he believes.

"And in the off chance that Shikamaru loses?" I asked, trying to dig deeper into the Hyuuga's mind.

"The only way the Nara would lose in a match this easy to defeat would be because he forfeited." I frowned at him.

How he came to a conclusion like that, I'd never know. And what was even more surprising, was that he was right.

At the end of the match, Shikamaru had nearly run out of chakra, causing him to admit defeat just as he had her all tied up in his shadows. He had ran out of chakra as soon as Genma announced Temari as the winner.

I looked to the Hyuuga in awe, who in turn sent me a haughty smirk.

Although no words came out of his mouth, the look on his face screamed 'I told you so', and I have never been so irritated.

"Can you say that you know the results of the rest of the matches then?"

He looked me dead in the eyes, staring at me with those pupil-less, lavender orbs of his.

"No, I don't know enough about the contenders of the next match to say, but the one after, I can tell you very easily." I felt my body begin to stiffen. The match after the next one was myself against Naruto, and I had a feeling of just what he was going to say.

And damnit, was I right.

"You, Haruno Sakura, will lose with in the first five minutes of the exam. Probably by forfeit as well. There is no chance for you to beat the son of the Hokage." I glared heatedly at him, my mind barley registering the fact that Kankuro had forfeited his match against Shino.

"That's what you think." I asked him, though it came out more like a statement.

"Your fate against this match was decided as soon as you drew your number. There is no way a civilian girl such as yourself could ever hope of defeating the Hokage's son." I stared at him unflinchingly.

"Uchiha Sasuke has not yet arrived, his match will be pushed back in hops of giving him more time! That being said, the last battle between Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura has been moved up. Will the both of you please make it down to the arena." I was pulled from my staring match against Neji as my name was called.

"Just you wait and see, I'm about to show the whole world what this civilian girl can do." I said with such determination in my voice, it surprised even me.

"Well then, I guess you should get going then."

I nodded my head slowly and looked to the middle of the arena where Naruto was already waiting for me, a concerned look on his face.

I didn't like that look.

It was almost like he was pitying me.

As a matter of fact, the whole arena had quieted down and was staring at me. And soon, the crowd was filled with murmurs of everyone in the stands.

Whispers of their thoughts.

And all of them were against me.

I couldn't hear complete sentences from the people around me, trying to listen in to everything they were trying to say about me.

Weak.

No skill.

Useless.

Civilian girl.

She should forfeit.

I was pulled away from listening in to the crowd as Genma called for my name once again.

I caught his gaze that was swimming with anger, but not at me. No, at the crowed that was whispering against me. He mouthed the words 'ignore them' to me as he too was fed up with the crowd.

Blossom?

I pushed past my rage and tuned into what Senbonzakura had to say.

Shut them up. Flash step to them.

My fury soon faded away as excitement soon took over.

Finally, I get to show everyone just exactly what I've been training on these last few weeks.

Bring it on.