A/N: A shorter filler chapter, just because I haven't added one in a while. Next chapter, the chunin exams will be starting, which I'm really excited to write. I have a lot of things planned for them (including Sakura's Mokuton developing!). I hope that the tone didn't seem to change too much in this chapter. I wrote it in three different parts, each a few weeks apart, because I was struggling a bit with motivation. Due to that I don't think it flows very well :( oops! I've got a bit of the next one written already so hopefully it will be out soon! Anyways, hope you're all doing ok and stay healthy!

[Chapter 11]

"You're back!" a high pitched voice shrieked as soon as Sakura stepped back through the gates of Konoha. A blonde figure launched herself towards her, almost causing her to topple over.

"How was the mission? I want to hear about it!" Ino gushed, clutching onto her like a koala on a tree. "Oh my god, I've been so jealous! To think that you guys got to go on a C-rank, and so soon! Asuma-sensei hasn't been listening to my begging at all. We're totally ready though."

"Ino," Sakura gasped out. "Let go. Can't breath."

The blonde's grip on her loosened and she frowned. "Back after all that time and no greeting for your best friend?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Hey Ino-pig. It's good to be back."

A smile was instantly back on her friend's face. "Right, well let's go get some lunch and you can tell me all about it!"

"Alright, that sounds nice," she agreed. Ino moved forward ahead of her, turning back with a smile.

"Your treat, by the way. It can come out of your mission pay," the blonde added on mischievously. Sakura rolled her eyes but lightly jogged to catch up to her. The two strolled side by side, falling into a comfortable routine of chatter about the latest gossip in the village and what their teammates had been up to.

Lunch with Ino was refreshing. It was nice not to have to listen to Sasuke and Naruto bicker all the time. Despite what some might have assumed, Ino was a really good listener too, and she listened engagedly to Sakura's tales of their travels, only occasionally nodding along or asking her to expand on something.

"So wait, the Kiri-nin who attacked you guys was super hot?" She asked, leaning forward in her seat.

Sakura sighed. Her friend was so boy-crazy.

"Ino, he's dead…" she trailed off.

Ino just raised her eyebrows. "But…" she prompted.

"Yeah, he was gorgeous," Sakura admitted with a grin.

The two finished up their food soon enough and Sakura paid. The cost didn't end up being too bad, as she hadn't ordered much and Ino had just chosen a salad.

"You need to eat more," she'd told the blonde disapprovingly. "Gain some muscles."

Ino had laughed. "What are you? My mother? And don't worry, I like my figure as it is."

"Although," she'd continued, giving a non-discreet glance up and down Sakura's body. "You've put on a bit of weight, haven't you?"

Sakura had actually gained muscle since graduating the academy. Training under Kakashi and with competitive teammates like Sasuke and Naruto couldn't have resulted in anything else. And it wasn't like she'd grown bulky and man-ish like she'd feared. Her form was all lithe and strong now, nothing like the stick arms and legs she'd had before. She liked her body, for the first time in years.

Now the pair strolled down the main street of Konoha, a few blocks down from the restaurant they'd had lunch at.

"You know," Ino said offhandedly. "Asuma-sensei nominated our team for this year's Chunin exams. He told us that even though it's our rookie year he thinks we're ready."

Sakura looked at her in surprise.

"The chunin exams, huh?"

"Yeah, that's right. And," Ino said, leaning conspiratorially towards Sakura, "I heard that all the Rookie 9 teams got nominated! That means we'll be competing against each other!"

It was weird, she'd never really thought about the chunin exams. She knew that the next logical step after making genin would be to take the chunin exams to try and move up the ranks, but after having been placed on Team 7, she'd never even gave it a second thought. With Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi there was an odd feeling that they were the only team she would ever have, that it would be that way forever.

It was a bit disconcerting to realize that their time together would come to an end. That they'd be separated and placed on new teams if they passed. Konoha encouraged teamwork as genin, of course, but being a chunin required just as much teamwork, although with a different focus. It was as chunin that shinobi were required to learn how to work together with anyone, not just people they'd gotten used to or were close to.

"Oh, come on," Ino interrupted her thoughts laughingly, as though she knew exactly what Sakura was thinking. "It's not like you'll pass anyways," she added teasingly.

Sakura rolled her eyes but had to let out a small chuckle. "Well if I'm not going to pass, you have no chance, Ino-pig," she said, turning her nose haughtily in the air. "Your skills are leagues behind mine. And you haven't even gone on a real mission yet!"

Ino cried in mock anger and the two soon fell into giggles.

The blond looked up. "Sakura," she said, reaching out for her arm.

Instinctively, Sakura turned back towards Ino, crashing into a taller figure.

"Oh, sorry!" she squeaked, jumping back a bit.

Two foreign-nin stood in front of her, one with his arms still out as if to catch her. He wore various black drapings over his body and body paint on his visible skin. The girl beside him had curly blond hair in four ponytails and a large fan on her back. From the insignia on their headbands, both were from Sand.

"Watch where you're going," the boy grunted.

The girl just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. They're just kids, Kankuro."

"Hey!" Ino exclaimed back. "You don't look any older than us!"

She cast a suspicious glance at their headbands. "What are you even doing in Konoha anyways?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she lightly smacked Ino's arm to get her attention. "I bet they're here for the chunin-exams," she whispered loudly.

The boy with the body paint heard her and laughed, smirking. "That's right, we're here to become chunin. Am I to take it you're our competitors?"

Ino crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "That's right we are."

He snorted. "Guess it'll be an easy exam this year then. Although I should've expected it, them taking place in Konoha…"

"Just watch!" Ino shouted in outrage. "We'll beat your asses. Right, Sakura?"

Sakura didn't respond. There was a niggling sensation that was screwing with her mind. There was a strange urge to stifle something, the sort of feeling of wanting to flick away a pest.

"Uh, yeah," she agreed non-committedly, not really hearing what her friend had asked.

"Ha," The girl next to Kankuro exclaimed. "Your friend doesn't sound very sure. Sure you're not getting overconfident here, little girl?"

The feeling grew stronger. No longer was it a slight tickling feeling at the back of her mind, now she could feel something. A roiling mass of energy was coming from the tree behind the Sand-nin duo.

A shadow of a person appeared on the road, elongated by the angle of the afternoon sun.

"Temari, Kankuro," a red-headed boy said softly, standing horizontally on the tree trunk. He slowly walked down, each step more menacing than the last.

The energy felt like a barely contained monster struggling against its constraints, and it scared her. At the same time she felt the need to squash it like a fly.

"Gaara," the girl - Temari - whimpered softly. "We're sorry-"

"Stop wasting time with these fools," he ordered coldly. "Let's go back to the hotel."

Briefly, his eyes met Sakura's. First there was nothing. Then, quick enough for her to have imagined it, a flash of discomfort crossed his face.

She frowned, confused, but he turned away suddenly, marching away. Kankuro and Temari scurried after him, with Temari giving them a last glare.

"Brr," Ino shivered once they were out of sight. "That red-head really gave me the creeps. Not gonna lie, I tried to be tough in front of them, but I do not want to face them in the exams."

"Yeah," Sakura replied distractedly. "Me too."

The two strolled down the street in relative silence for a while longer before parting ways, both a bit disoriented after the run in with the sand team.

"I have a team meeting soon but I'll see you around, Pig," Sakura said with a last hug to Ino as they reached an intersection. One road led to Team 7's training grounds, on the outskirts of the village, another to the market district, where Ino's family owned a flower shop.

She stood at the edge of the road for a few seconds, watching the blond stroll along the road, before turning and setting off towards their training ground. Alone now, she couldn't get the look of discomfort that had crossed the red-head's face out of her mind. His own teammates had seemed scared of him, so what could she possibly have done to discomfort him?

She must have imagined it, Sakura decided, pushing the thought out of her mind.

Naruto was already there when she showed up at the predetermined time, although Kakashi and Sasuke were nowhere in sight.

"Good afternoon," she greeted the blond, sitting down at the base of a nearby tree.. He smiled and bounded over to sit next to her.

"Hey, Sakura," he said. "Do you know what Kakashi called this meeting for? He sure got out of the hospital fast too, I went there this morning to visit but he was gone."

She shrugged. "I think he just had chakra exhaustion, so there's not much the hospital can do for him besides rest."

Looking over at Naruto she gave a little, secretive smile. "And yeah, I think I might know what the meeting's for."

"Tell me!" Naruto demanded.

She just grinned and pretended to zip her mouth shut. "You'll find out when Sasuke and Kakashi get here. Don't worry though, it's a good thing."

The blonde rolled his eyes. He didn't keep pestering her though, which was surprising. Just weeks ago he surely would have. The mission to Uzushio had really changed them all.

They made small talk for a bit, Naruto talking about how good the ramen he'd had for lunch was and Sakura telling him about her lunch with Ino. She left out the run-in with the Sand team though. There was something off about it that she didn't want to share. Besides, it would give away what she presumed was the purpose of the meeting.

Sasuke showed up a little while later, while Kakashi finally arrived around half an hour after the meetup time, which honestly wasn't that bad in comparison to how late he normally came.

"Good morning, my cute little students," the silver-haired jounin greeted cheerfully.

Sakura sighed. "It's afternoon, sensei."

Kakashi looked distractedly up at the sky. "Oh, is it? I could have sworn when I left my house the sun…"

The three of them just rolled their eyes.

A scroll was suddenly thrust under her face. She grabbed it from Kakashi and he handed out two identical looking ones to Sasuke and Naruto.

"What's this?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi smiled mysteriously. "Read it and find out."

Sakura unrolled her scroll.

"Annual inter-village chunin exams," Sasuke read out slowly. "Host village: Konohagakure."

A wide grin broke out on Naruto's face as he turned to her. "You knew, didn't you, Sakura?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in her direction.

She shrugged sheepishly. "I had lunch with Ino and she told me Asuma signed their team up."

"We're going to win, believe it!" Naruto crowed.

The silver-haired jounin allowed Naruto to bound around in excitement for a few moments, before quieting him with a hand.

"This is a serious choice you have to make though," he said. "If you keep reading, you'll find forms to sign that release the village from liability in the case of injury or death."

He sent them all a look. "And trust me, people die every year. Mostly teams who should've waited longer to enter."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Of course we're ready, sensei."

"All members of the team must make the choice of whether to attend or not individually," Kakashi said. He shot her a quick look, which made Sakura frown a bit. Did he really think that she would choose not to join. She had been thinking about the possibility earlier, but could she really pass this opportunity up for her and her team?

No, if Ino's team was entering, they could too. If anything, they were more prepared, having gone on the mission to Uzushio.

"Stop worrying about us, sensei," Sakura said, with more confidence than she felt. She smiled. "I think you just don't want us to enter because you know we'll pass and then you won't be our sensei anymore."

Kakashi shot her down. "Nah, I can't wait to be rid of you three. I'm planning to retire and settle down in a small village in Grass country as a farmer."

"If you'd done that years ago, maybe we'd have gotten a better teacher," Sasuke said with a sigh.

"You're way past your expiration date as it is, sensei," Sakura added.

The jounin clutched his heart in mock-hurt. "You wound me, my cute little students."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Team dinner to celebrate?" he asked casually.

Sakura was surprised for a moment. Sasuke had never been the one to instigate any hangout between them, always just choosing to go along with whatever she or Naruto suggested.

She nodded enthusiastically though. "Of course."

Naruto beamed. "We can go to Ichiraku's!"

She hit him lightly on the head. "You just went there for lunch, idiot! You can't eat ramen every meal!"

"Watch me!"

Naruto got up and held out a hand for her. She grabbed on to it and he helped her up.

"Let's go," he said cheerfully.

From behind her, she felt someone tap her shoulder.

"You two go ahead," Kakashi said with a cheerful smile. "I just need to talk to Sakura about something for a moment."

She could feel her heartbeat jump a beat. She really did not want to talk to Kakashi alone right now. She sent a pleading glance towards Sasuke, as if begging him to save her from this

Sasuke sent her a curious look. For a second he looked a bit doubtful but finally shrugged. "Whatever. Let's go, Naruto."

"Ramen time!" Naruto cried, running off. Sakura sighed, they really had just left her here.

Kakashi gestured for her to sit on a nearby log. She sat down and he crouched down in front of her so that he was at eye-level. She felt like a child being reprimanded by their parent, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

The forest was quiet for a few minutes as the jounin simply held her gaze. She fidgeted a bit before silently reprimanding herself and holding herself still. If she was right about what he wanted to talk about…

In the distance she could hear Naruto's loud voice receding.

After a moment, Kakashi finally broke the silence. "I know you looked at the files while I was unconscious," he said with a sigh.

Right.

"I know, I'm sorry," Sakura replied, trying to muster as much sincerity as she could.

"No. That's the problem!" Kakashi said, raising his voice a little bit. "I don't think you understand the severity of what you did."

"It's against the shinobi code, I know," she said quietly, not meeting his gaze. This was the first time she'd been scared of her teacher since walking in on him murdering the innkeeper.

Kakashi relaxed his posture, as if only just realizing she'd been leaning away from him. "Sakura," he said, closing his eyes for a moment. "The Hokage ordered me to kill anyone who saw the contents of that file."

Sakura's lips parted in a silent 'O'. Her mind raced. She slowly moved her hand towards her kunai pouch. She didn't stand any real chance against Kakashi, but if he still had chakra exhaustion, she might be able to run.

"I'm not going to kill you, Sakura," the jounin said tiredly. "You need to stop thinking that. I'm on your side here."

She felt warm fingers against her jaw, moving her head so that her eyes met his exposed black one again.

She swallowed. "I only looked through the first few pages."

"That's good," Kakashi said gently. His eyes pierced hers, as if looking for a lie. "Did you understand what they were for?"

She nodded. "Deep-undercover spy mission assignments."

"And you understand why it would be disastrous for Konoha if this knowledge got out?"

She nodded again. "It might start a war."

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly."

"You haven't lived through a war, Sakura. And trust me, you don't want to," he said quietly.

"I know."

He was quiet for a moment, his eyes searching hers again, as if looking for something she didn't even know.

"I don't know what names you saw in there," Kakashi said. "But put them out of your mind. Make yourself forget about them."

"I can't make myself forget," Sakura whimpered.

"You will," Kakashi warned. "I'll get you pills to help with it, but they won't work unless you make the choice to forget."

"Ok," she agreed shakily, nodding.

"Sakura," he said seriously. "You're the only person in this village apart from the Hokage and whoever put them there that knows about these missions. You cannot tell anyone, no matter how much you think you trust them. The lives of these agents are at stake."

"I know," she said, squirming under his gaze.

"And you haven't told anyone else?"

She shook her head. "No."

Kakashi finally looked away, standing up from his crouch to loom over her. "Alright. Go catch up with Naruto and Sasuke. I'll give you the pills tomorrow."

Sakura stood up too. "Kakashi-sensei," she said softly, causing him to look over at her.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Her teacher let out a sigh and tilted his head back to look at the sky.

"Curious shinobi end up legends or dead in a ditch, Sakura," Kakashi said, his voice sounding disconnected. "Don't wind up the latter."