DISCLAIMER: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. Shefalls holds no claim to it, nor does she want to.

Edited: 29/03/2021

The Leaves of the Tree

10.

Sakura woke up in a medical tent. Naruto was perched on her bed, Sasuke stood to her right. They somehow managed to create a very effective barrier around her, and she would've made some comment about it – had there not been such an air of supressed fury about them.

"Do I want to know?" she asked quietly.

Naruto fell of the bed with a yelp, drawing an unimpressed huff from Sasuke. Sakura blinked and looked over the edge to make sure he was alright. Generally speaking, when Naruto remained sprawled on the ground in a heap and didn't cuss up a storm, something was up.

"Know what?" Naruto asked, fake cheer heavy in his voice.

"Nothing to know," Sasuke said at the same time.

"You're all obviously pissed," Sakura pushed on.

"There's nothing to know," Sasuke repeated.

It was the most Sakura had heard him speak, directly to her, ever. Some other time it would've made her ecstatic, but the way Sasuke was eyeing her weapons pouch kind of soured the mood.

'Of course, he only notices us after we kill someone,' Inner Sakura said dryly. 'I'm telling you, something's broken in his head.'

Sakura suddenly remembered the screams and begging before she lost consciousness, and for the first time in her life she was inclined to agree with Inner Sakura's assessment of Sasuke. Whatever that strange mark did to him, it couldn't be good.

The Sasuke she knew wasn't big on torture.

"I'm not having it," Sakura said flatly, mimicking the tone her mother used whenever she wanted answers. The boys straightened unconsciously, and Sakura considered how effective mothering-tricks were on them. "Out with it, now."

"Teme ripped a dude apart," Naruto reported immediately, not even bothering to draw it out.

Sasuke sneered.

"Come again?" Sakura chocked.

"I woke up," Naruto said, "and I got off the tree – thanks for putting me there, by the way, Sakura-chan. You were unconscious and teme was watching you. There was girl with a snebon through her eye and a dude, but the dude's arms weren't attached. His legs weren't either."

Sakura turned her wide eyes onto Sasuke, waiting for some sort of clarification because there was no way, none at all, Sasuke had dismembered a fellow examinee for hitting Sakura. Right?

Sasuke shrugged, unapologetic.

"What the fuck, Sasuke?" Sakura heard her voice, but she didn't quite recognize that sort of blank tone on herself.

"He hurt you," Sasuke replied flatly.

"I put a senbon through his teammate's eye," Sakura argued. "Obviously, he was a bit upset!"

"Technically, you put it in her brain," Naruto clarified a little breathlessly. "She was very dead."

"I know," Skaura said, a tiny bit impatiently. "It was intentional."

Silence followed that declaration. Naruto gaped at her, as if Sakura had just said something terribly disturbing or violated some taboo. Sasuke was watching her closely, too, and Sakura could've sword he looked almost… worried.

"What?" she demanded. "Wouldn't you've done the same?"

"Well, yeah," Naruto blinked and then narrowed his eyes in thought. It was a strange expression, but Sakura was used to it – she'd seen him puzzle over texts in the library enough to know Naruto could, in fact, think quite seriously and deeply. When he wanted. "But you've never done it before," He said after awhile. "I didn't think it'll happen during an exam, dattebayo."

"Neither did I," Sakura shrugged. "I refuse to regret it. She threatened you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that.

"They entered the clearing looking for us," Sakura revealed, and her teammates tensed. "I'll bet you anything they were with that yellow-eyed creep and I'm not letting that near either of you ever again. Ever again, so don't give me that look!"

Naruto promptly closed his mouth and Sasuke's doubtful look smoothly changed into an eye roll.

"Listen to me, idiots," Sakura said, determined to get her point across. "You're mine, got it? My teammates. My friends. My boys. I'm never not going to protect you. If I have to put a needle through some crazy chick's eye to do it, sure. If I get beaten up by a weirdo as a consequence, fine. As long as you are safe, I don't care."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's eyes looked suspiciously moist as he threw himself at her. "Man, I love you too, 'ttebayo!"

"Believe it!" Sakura huffed and patted him on the back. She narrowed her eyes challengingly at Sasuke over Naruto's shoulder, and the last Uchiha met her glare for all of twenty seconds before his lips twitched and he looked away with a soft 'hn'.

She'll take it.

"Congratulations on making it this far into this year's Chunin Examinations."

The jonin's voice was as frail as his appearance and had Sakura been a little more coherent she would've wondered at it, but currently all of her barely there attention was focused on fuming.

"Due to the disqualification of six teams and the failure of an additional three, there will be no need for a preliminary round before we proceed to the final stage," The jonin stopped to cough for a full minute, until another shinobi handed him a bottle of water.

Sakura watched with unseeing eyes as the man took a deep gulp. Beside her, Naruto was visibly shaking with restrained anger. Behind her, Sasuke gave no fucks at all. On her other side she could pick up on a very slight vibe of irritation from Kakashi-sensei, which meant he was beyond fuming. Some people were murmuring condescendingly, others chuckled. Team 7 was too wrapped up in their bubble of borderline-trauma to truly notice anything but what they'd already been told.

"As we want to draw in as many investors as possible, it has been decided that the third round will be held in two months' time," The jonin concluded and then slapped on some meaningless praises and general butt-licking propaganda Sakura could've picked up on as a toddler.

How anybody was actually buying any of this shit was beyond her.

'I can't believe them.'

'Jerks.'

'I can't freaking believe them!'

'They ain't shit!'

'You're not helping!'

'Since when have I ever?!'

Sakura sneered and promptly decided to ignore Inner Sakura, lest she drive her to a murderous frenzy. Sakura was close enough to it as it were if Naruto's sudden grip on her wrist indicated anything.

She was just so angry!

Nothing was said about the deliberate attack and subsequent assault of Konoha genin by foreign hostiles during the second stage of the exams. Absolutely no bit of information was exposed. They acted as if Team 7 hadn't been hunted like animals through the trees, weren't manhandled and threatened. Like Sakura wasn't almost molested, at the very goddamn least.

Like Sasuke wasn't branded like fucking cattle by some yellow-eyed monster.

Kakashi-sensei had all but stormed into the medical tent, tossed the surprised nurse out without pause and promptly checked out each of his students on his own. He glowered at Sakura's still tender, but bruise free, skin. His nostrils flared at Naruto's dirty appearance. He actually swore, low and guttural, when he spotted the mark on Sasuke.

Sakura had never in her life seen their jonin instructor quite so pissed off before. Judging by the open shock on the boys' faces, neither did they.

Kakashi-sensei had thrown himself onto the only available seat, put a hand over his face and muttered darkly about manhunts, summoning some pervert and possible mutilation. Sakura strongly hoped none of that was planned for them, but judging by how unstable their teacher looked at the moment she abruptly decided remaining meek and quiet was in Team 7s best interests. Which is why she grabbed Naruto by the collar and smothered his head against her pillow to prevent him from making any sound. Sasuke wasted no time in planting his own foot on Naruto's bent back to assist her.

"Nothing will be done," Kakashi-sensei said suddenly, drawing their attention.

"About what?" Sakura sked carefully as she let Naruto go.

"Any of this," Kakashi-sensei hissed. "There will be no questioning of the foreigners in our village. No official investigation. They're going to bury this and try to sniff out clues while acting like nothing happened."

He sounded so far beyond tired, it was a wonder he was awake at all. Kakashi-sensei's tone was a mix of disappointment, sorrow and so much raw fury Sakura briefly wanted to engulf him in a hug. She didn't know if the gesture would be appreciated, however, so she settled on silently promising herself to get him that coffee brand he liked to cheer Kakashi-sensei up.

"The only reason they let me tell you anything is because they know you'll make a scene otherwise," Kakashi-sensei grumbled. "And I would tell you anyway."

"So… so they won't do squat?" Naruto clarified.

"Yes."

"Nothing at all?"

"No."

"Screw them!" Naruto exploded.

"Language," Kakashi-sensei demanded, but it was half-hearted at best.

"No! We were targeted from the start!" Naruto yelled, completely beside himself. "Whatever that was went after Sasuke! They wanted his eyes, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Let them come," Sasuke scoffed, "I'll take them out."

"I commend your bravado, Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei said darkly, "but if he comes for you, you won't be able to do shit, so kindly -shut up."

Sasuke stewed in anger at that, but he couldn't contradict Kakashi-sensei's words.

Sakura will never forget their helplessness, as they were kicked aside like nothing. How completely useless all their training were when facing that creature. She couldn't even stand. Sasuke couldn't do any damage. Naruto, under the kyubi's influence no less, didn't draw more than brief surprise out of that thing.

'Wait, him?'

"Him, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked quietly. "You know who did this to Sasuke?"

"Orochimaru," Kakashi-sensei answered immediately, with a dark, empty little laugh. Sakura promptly decided she hated that sound more than anything else in the world. It made their sensei seem so thoroughly broken her heart squeezed painfully at the mere thought. "One of the Sannin. It's a known jutsu of his."

"What he wants with teme?" Naruto demanded.

"You've said it yourself," Kakashi-sensei shrugged. "Orochimaru has always been fascinated with kekkei-genkai, and the Sharingan is doubtlessly at the very peak of those talents. He wants Sasuke's eyes."

"And the village isn't going to try and catch him?" Sakura demanded.

"He is a former student of the Third," Kakashi-sensei sighed, "and a protégé of one of the councilmen. It… complicates things."

Sakura understood.

Before Sakura decided to be a kunoichi at the age of seven, she was raised with the firm belief that one day, when her parents retired, Sakura will take over the business. Being a Haruno came with responsibilities and duties most civilians didn't have. Sakura's family dealt in money, large sums of money, and these transactions had to be successful. Negotiation, manipulation, blackmailing – all was fair in the eternal trade-war that was the business world, and Sakura's mother was trying to drill this fact into her only daughter's skull since she was a toddler. Even after Sakura announced she was going to be a ninja, with all the ferocity of a child, her mother kept on training her. 'Negotiation is important,' her mother would say.

'Everything in this world is a matter of negotiation: money, connections – even love.'

Her mother said it with utmost seriousness, Sakura's father nodded in the background, and Sakura believed them. She believed them so much she did her best to learn, even though she knew she'll never take over the business, despite her mother's continuing hopes that she would. Sakura was going to be a kunoichi. No civilian life for her.

But her mother's lessons paid off. Mebuki Haruno was right – correct negotiation was at the root of everything, and in it's simplest form negotiation was politics. If Orochimaru was a student of the Third and a protégé of a councilman, then he was untouchable until these powerful men decided otherwise. Seeing as Sakura never heard of him before, not in the Academy and not even in the bingo books accessible to young shinobi, it meant someone was covering for him. Or, rather, limiting access to information about him.

Which meant that even now, Orochimaru was protected. Perhaps he was an enemy of the Leaf, but Konoha will not seek him out first.

He will not pay for what he'd done.