Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so don't sue me if you hate this story.

Author's Note: Erm, I'm not so sure about the pairings so I'll let u guys decide. Who do you want Sakura with?

Chapter Four

Sakura was in a forest, crystalline drops of waterpouring from her eyes. As her tears fell to the cold, hard ground, they slowly transformed into crimson droplets. Her tears were turning into blood. Those strawberry locks were disheveled and mixed with trace amounts of dirt, her clothing wrinkled and torn. She stared at a person in front of her, his back turned apathetically away.

"I-If I left," she was whispering, "You wouldn't care, would you?"

He stole a glance at her from over his shoulder, unaffected by her helpless state. Not a single muscle flinched in protest; he might have even scowled at her. "No."

Somehow she felt her whole world begin to crack, like a massive hurricane had swept through and began to lift the barriers that she had worked so hard to build, exposing the tender girl inside.

Then, several more figures appeared next to the boy, all scowling at her pathetic little form. It looked as if some even intended to harm her, a few hands dangerously close to their kunai holsters. Viridian eyes widened. One of the figures had short cropped, violet hair- just like someone she knew.

"H-Hinata?" Sakura choked out. Oh please don't let her be part of that group. The girl that Sakura referred to hid behind another, not even bothering to answer her question. Though the girl gave no reply, young Sakura knew that the girl really was her ex-best friend. The remainder of the people must have been people she knew- and they were now turning their backs on her. But why?

"Nobody," the boy from earlier began to speak again, "Nobody wants you here anymore. You lied to us, deceived us, what did you take us for? Fools?" He said nothing more. He knew that she knew what they were talking about.

At that moment, a sharp pain ricocheted through the poor girl as she screamed in anguish, pounding her fists on the ground. How could they be so harsh? What did she ever do to them! No words could describe how violently her mood sunk; it was like having everything ripped from you. The people ignored her and began heading in the opposite direction, disregarding her. She was left to cry alone, unloved, and forgotten.

Sakura screamed and bolted upright in her bed so swiftly that she fell off of it. She didn't bother picking herself up, preferring to lie rigid on the icy, wooden floor. Her breath was ragged and uneven, and eyes as wide as saucers. W-What exactly did she just dream? It felt so…so…real. She shivered, clutching herself while she curled up in a little ball. That was one freaky dream, but why did she have it?

Naiteki yawned and stretched her arms as she too got up from her mini bed. 'Saku-chan, what's wrong? Why are you up so early?'

'N-Nothing… I just had a bad dream.'

'Oh. Whatever…" Naiteki yawned and flopped back down on her mini bed.

Sakura was still shivering slightly and fought to control herself. She really didn't feel like going back to sleep, just in case she had that dream again. Well, now that she was already up she might as well go out for an early walk. She still had a good two hours before she was needed at the training area.

The girl proceeded to perform her morning necessities, Naiteki protesting profusely at the time. 'Excuse me but, what the heck! Come on, I need at least five more hours! GO BACK TO BED!'

Sakura pulled up a pair of black socks and strapped on her regulation ninja sandals. The girl pulled herself up and stared at the reflection. Staring back at her was an antisocial, trainaholic demon. Sakura sighed. She zipped up her hood and covered her face with it, replacing her mask of shadow.

The Haruno girl shook her head and headed towards the door of her apartment, locking it on the way out. As soon as she entered the still dark streets of Konoha, the scent of cool, fresh air invaded her lungs. Sakura inhaled deeply and laughed. She twirled lightly in the crisp, pre-dawn atmosphere, sliding with a grace that could rival a ballerina's. Nobody else was present in the area; or so she thought.

Sai made a reconnaissance of the area from an abandoned warehouse, staring out of a grimy window. He was drawing a quick map of what he saw but halted his doodling when he caught sight of his female teammate. As the elegant girl danced her merry little dance, a warm feeling took root in his stomach. His fake smiled wasn't on, but he did have a light feeling on contentment tug at his lips.

When Sakura was brought over to Sound, he wouldn't let that demon Orochimaru take control of the little flower and use her for his own sick purposes. No, Sai would protect this one. The feeling was unexplainable but he just felt an "obligation" to her.

He sighed and continued watching the little blossom as she casually strode towards their training area. Sai left too, it was also time for him to meet up with somebody.

"Sai!" a silver haired boy called out to him. The artist nin looked up from his spot at a tree. There was Kabuto.

"Kabuto," Sai nodded in regards to him.

"How's the mission going? Do we have Haruno's and Uchiha's trusts yet?"

Sai closed his eyes and turned away. He grunted. "I said I was working on it."

"Still? My, my, aren't we getting a bit rusty." Kabuto mused silently.

"Shut up." Sai threw a kunai at the teen. "Uchiha is a major pain in the ass. He says he'd rather be drowned in a pool of donkey piss than work with us anymore."

"Graphic." Kabuto cut in. "I don't know what you did but you're going to have to fix that. Orochimaru-sama wouldn't be too happy if he found out. What about the girl?"

"Sakura will be an easier target. We just have to break down that wall of hers and we're home free."

His partner adjusted his glasses, slightly suspicious that Sai actually referred to her by her name. "Hmph. I hope you can do at least that. You got the good team: Naiteki, Kyuubi, and Sharingan."

"Aa." Kabuto took that as an "I understand". "Though they might be the most powerful nins, they are also the most incompetent brats I have ever met."

Kabuto began laughing, his glasses slowly sliding off his nose. "You should meet my team. I've got a boy who's obsessed with bugs, another that's a puppy lover, and a girl too shy to even breathe. It's like pure hell trying to train with them."

Sai smirked.

"Here, Orochimaru-sama sent us some new orders." Kabuto handed a scroll to the obsidian haired boy. "I haven't read them yet but they seem pretty important. Later." He performed a few hand seals and teleported to where his team was expecting him. The remainder opened his letter.

Sai,

I am very pleased with your progress and reports; however I am deciding to take a more direct measure. I want you to gain the trusts of Naiteki, Kyuubi, and both of the Uchiha brothers. Kabuto will be busy also trying to gain the Hyuugas' approval. Also, I have received word of a chuunin exam approaching in a few months, and I believe it will be of great advantage to us…

Sai held his letter with great anticipation as he let his eyes scan it with a bit of mirth. That old sannin truly was a disgusting, insane creature, and that's what Sai liked best about him. He was cold and unfeeling, striving only to please himself. The boy slipped the piece of parchment into a holster on his belt and teleported to Area 6.

Sakura had her hands in her pockets, nonchalantly kicking a pebble along as she went. The genin was busy reflecting on the previous night's events, a coy smile drifting onto those cherry lips. She remembered the clearly bewildered emotion on Itachi's face as she showed up at the Uchiha mansion, dragging Sasuke along by his collar. She laughed genuinely to herself.

Flashback

Itachi sat on one of the plush, maroon couches in the Uchiha mansion as he read a particularly large book on advanced jutsus. Of course this was merely review for the prodigal male. A sudden knocking came rapping at his door, causing him to look up from his tome.

'Dear god, please don't tell me it's any more of our fan girls.' Itachi grimaced. He already had his hands full just fending off his share of the female population, and he didn't want to deal with Sasuke's share either. He peeked through the door's peephole and saw the face, or chin and lips, of a girl. Itachi sighed. Another one.

"Look," he began as he opened the door, "Sasuke isn't home…yet…" he blinked. The girl in front of him had the collars of his scowling little brother and another boy in her hands, a little blonde kid whining after her

"Does this belong to you?" she pointed to Sasuke.

Itachi blinked, trying to comprehend the situation. "What happened here?"

"Sasuke and this guy got into a fight." She pulled them up for Itachi to see

"Yeah! And it was like BAM! WHACK! BOOM!" Naruto used hand movements to emphasize his point.

"Aa," Itachi inspected the minor bruises and scratches that littered his otoutou's body. "Sasuke," he said expectantly. The boy looked away, not wanting to meet the gaze of his brother. Itachi sighed and pulled the younger Uchiha inside. "Thank you, um, miss?"

"Haruno, Sakura," she finished for him. "I'm on these idiots' team." Itachi nodded. She left thereafter, dragging a scowling Sai behind her and a chipper Naruto. Itachi smiled. He hadn't met a girl like that in ages.

End Flashback

She had taken her time walking, grabbing a little breakfast along the way. Even though Kakashi had said not to, she knew better than to trust the word of the old pervert. 'He's probably going to be four hours late anyways.'

'No kidding… Hey, don't you ever wonder what he does?' Naiteki was filing her nails.

'Nope.' Sakura chewed on a donut, savoring the sugary goodness. The first time she had met Kakashi was when she was a sobbing, fragile four year old, lost and in some alley. He had just returned from an anbu mission and saw her, curled up in a ball near a trash can, scrounging for food. His only visible eye softened as he bent down to ask her questions like "Where's your mom? What's your name?"

After finding out that she was abandoned, he carried her to the Hokage, who realized she was the child with Naiteki inside of her. He placed Sakura under Kakashi's care until they could set her up in an apartment. Kakashi used to visit Sakura regularly, a little reluctant to let go of his "temporary daughter".

They still spent time together, and it usually ended up with Sakura laughing hysterically in pain and Kakashi in some embarrassing circumstance. A smile crept up to her lips.

As the strawberry haired nin began wrapping up her thoughts, she became increasingly aware of another presence in the area. She looked up and saw Sasuke, leaning informally against the trunk of a pine tree.

'Ew it's him…' inner Sakura started to produce gagging noises.

'Oh shut up,' Sakura mentally placed a wad of duct tape over Naiteki's mouth, 'If we're going to be on the same team then we might as well try and get along.' Sakura greeted him. "Ohayo, Sasuke." He looked up from his tree and nodded. Naiteki ripped off the duct tape and momentarily scrunched her face up in pain. 'Ow.'

Sakura walked up to the cherry blossom tree that he was leaning on and sat down at his feet, fiddling with a twig. Sasuke suddenly felt at ease. A certain question had been bothering him all day, and he was just itching to ask it. "Sakura, how do you know Kakashi?"

She stopped twirling her stick and snapped it in half. "We go way back."

The Uchiha was discontented with her vague and meager answer, but before he could speak another word in protest two voices were heard arguing down the road. One was quite loud, and the other a calm and almost mocking sort. 'Crap it's them.'

"Why don't you shut up!"

"Why don't you grow a dick?"

"Aargh!" Naruto found it increasingly difficult to deal with this teammate of his. Every time he saw that jeering face he wanted to smash it in with a nice, chakra powered fist. Sai began to unleash another rain of insults; however a senbon flew by, causing him to draw back in order to avoid being struck. Obsidian eyes flicked over to a smiling kunoichi.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, "It's a little early in the morning don't you think?"

"It's always too early for your ugly face to show up around here."

Sakura felt a pang hammer in her head. Naiteki was throwing another tantrum. 'That's it! That fag has had it waaay too easy, it's about time I teach him a lesson or two!'

"How's she ugly? You can't even see her face." Naruto stated.

"And that's a good thing." Sai replied.

Snap. 'RRRAAAAWWWR!'

Kakashi took his sweet time as he toured the lovely Konoha Park. Several kids were giggling playfully as a few moms chattered incessantly. 'Ah, nothing like a peaceful morning to start the day… and a new issue of Come Come Paradise!' He chuckled to himself as he flipped another page of the said orange book, a slight tint of pink staining his cheeks. 'Ooh… Tomiko, you sly devil, you.'

He was making his way towards Area 6, in a secluded area near the Forest of Death. This Area was significant to him since it was near the Konoha Memorial Statue, where the names of his most intimate friends were engraved. 'Obito… Rin…'

As he approached the area, some four hours late, his one visible eye witnessed a huge brawl up ahead. An eyebrow quirked questioningly as he placed his beloved book back in its holster. In the blink of an eye, he was sitting casually on the branch of a Sakura tree, silently observing the scene below him.

"Sakura-chan!" a somewhat scratchy voice whined, "Stop! H-He didn't mean it!" All he received in reply was a roar. "Eh, that didn't work."

The Haruno girl was busy thrashing under Sasuke's grip, trying to free herself madly. Sasuke Uchiha had his arms clamped around the strawberry haired genin's waist, grunting every time she flailed. Though her eyes were not visible, Kakashi could tell they were burning in fury. Naruto was desperately trying to calm her down, but to no avail. Sai was on the other side of the clearing, clutching his face which sported a huge bruise on the side of it. He was glaring at the rage induced kunoichi.

"Bitch," he mumbled, "Just because you're ugly doesn't mean you have to mangle my face too."

'He's just asking for more isn't he?'

"Let go, Sasuke!" Sakura yelled. Naruto and the others drew back slightly; her voice seemed to be shadowed over by another vile tone. It was barely audible, but they heard it nonetheless. "I've had enough of your insults! Damn it, Sasuke, let me at him! I'll rip him to shreds!" She clawed at his arms, causing him to hiss in pain.

'Naiteki.' Sai smiled. In reality he was feeling quite exhilarated at her anger. It was quite a wonder how her hood stayed on through all this.

Kakashi sweat dropped. 'Oh dear, he got Sakura mad. Not good, not good. Well, I'd better get in there before Sakura kills them all.' He hopped down from his tree and casually strode towards them. "Ohayo!"

Sakura froze and blinked. A smile found its way up to her lips as she recognized the voice. "Kakashi-kun!" She relaxed and stopped her writhing. Sasuke kept his arms around her waist just to make sure she didn't throw another tantrum when he let go.

"Erm," the 22 (A/N: Yes, 22) year old scanned his ruffled students, "I'm not even going to ask. Now, everyone gather around, I'll tell you about your test."

"Uh, test?" Naruto scratched his head.

"Yes, test." Kakashi's eye crinkled in happiness. Oh how he loved to tell them about the test! "To become full-fledged genin, you must first pass a test given by your teacher. Out of the 28 who graduated, only 16 will pass."

"Wait, what was the point of the graduation test then?" Sasuke questioned. His chin was resting on Sakura's shoulder. Both had forgotten that they were still holding onto each other. Sai glared at Sasuke. Whether it was out of jealousy or hatred, the world may never know.

"That," Kakashi chuckled, "was the first major weeding process. This one is the second one. Okay, enough talk, I'll inform you about your test. Now, do you see these three bells?" he pulled them out, "Your mission is to take these from me. You will have two hours, and I expect full effort from all of you. If, by the two hour mark, you have not retrieved a bell, then you will fail. Your time starts… Now!"

Sai and Sasuke were concealed under a thick patch of undergrowth, not a single black hair was out of place. Both were hidden straight across from each other, but both were hidden so well that neither could spot each other. Sakura was standing atop a tree, scanning for Naruto. If anything he'd be the easiest to find, and then she could tell him her plan.

Kakashi poofed into the area and looked around expectantly. 'I see they have concealed themselves well… that's good.'

"Hey, sensei!" A jumpsuit-clad youth stomped into the area and pointed a confident finger at the ex-anbu. "You'd better watch out, Konoha's future Hokage is after you!"

'Oh dear. He's basically screwed over.' Naiteki fingered her hair.

'Yup.' Sakura sweat dropped.

"Kyah!" Naruto rushed forward, a handful of shuriken ready to be thrown. Kakashi merely sighed and watched as the blonde got lured into his trap. "Eep!" Naruto squeaked as he was strung upside down from a tree, his forehead protector covering his eyes. "Hey, what happened? Who turned off the lights?"

"Dickless." Sai grumbled.

"Dobe." Sasuke muttered. Kakashi began lecturing Naruto on his stupidity and how open he was. Onyx eyes widened as he realized that this was his chance. 'He's dropped his guard, this is it!' He hurriedly threw a kunai at their sensei, and struck him precisely on target. The wounded Kakashi turned into a log.

'Kuso! A replacement jutsu!' Sasuke cursed. He suddenly felt a presence behind him. "Boo." Kakashi. The Uchiha whirled around and delivered a crane kick, causing the jounin to disappear in a cloud of smoke. 'A clone. Damn, he knows where I am. I need to get out of here, and fast!'

"Stupid Uchiha." Sai muttered under his breath. A kunai suddenly struck the ground in front of him, a hair shy of grazing his nose. "What the-?"

"You need to be quieter, Sai."

He flipped over to see his sensei looming happily over him. The artist grabbed the kunai in front of him and thrust it through the clone's heart. 'Fuck, he knows where I am too!'

Sakura hurdled through branches and leaves, trying to recover her scattered teammates. 'God, where are they?' She had cut Naruto's rope a long time ago, but he had run off into the forest afterwards, not giving Sakura time to speak to him. Because she had spent the most time with Kakashi, she knew this was a test of teamwork, and it wasn't going so good so far. Sakura had a plan that could help them get the bells, but she needed their full cooperation. 'God damn it, why can't they stay in one place!'

About twelve or so trees over, she saw Naruto strung upside down… from a tree… again. "Naruto?" she questioned. She threw a shuriken at his rope, freeing him.

"Ah! Sakura-chan," he ran over and hugged her but she thrust a hand in his face, stopping him. "You saved me!"

"What happened here? Oh, never mind," she sighed, "I think I know what happened. Listen, Naruto, I have a plan. It's..." The blonde leaned forward as she whispered into his ear. His eyes gleamed with mischief as he shook his head vigorously.

Elsewhere, Sai and Kakashi were locked in a heated struggle. Sasuke was present too, except his whole body was underground and only his head was visible. He had managed to touch a bell, but it still wasn't good enough for Kakashi. And now Sai was testing his strength against the jounin.

A tiger leapt at the jounins trying to claw at him. The silver haired man ducked and threw a kunai at its back, and performed a jutsu that lit the thing on fire. It screeched as it dissipated, leaving a scowling and bruised Sai and an unscratched Kakashi. Sai panted as he unleashed kick after punch, punch after kick, that nuisance of a sensei dodging it all. "Not good enough, Sai." A series of vines erupted form the earth and bound themselves around the boy, gagging him and chaining him to a tree. "Now, where was I? Oh yes." Kakashi pulled out his precious orange book, leaning nonchalantly on a rock. Both boys were now immobilized. Sai and Sasuke sweat dropped.

"HYAH!" a war cry echoed through the forest as an orange blur came running towards the jounin.

"Naruto. It's so obvious." The jounin sighed. As he got up to stop Naruto, a pink presence appeared at his side and pounded a kick into his back. He managed to duck in time, but that gave Naruto enough time to kick his face upward. As Kakashi fell backwards, Sakura performed a back flip and cut him off before he hit the ground; instead she punched him in his lower back, thrusting him upward again. About seven more Narutos appeared, all tackling the poor jounin to the ground. Kakashi roared and caused and explosion, throwing all the Narutos off. As the eruption blasted the clones away, a pink blur swept past Kakashi. She put a foot out to brace herself and launched a flying kick at the jounin. He caught her by the ankle and flipped her behind him, slamming her hard on the ground. She was incredibly fast for her age, making it a bit hard to dodge her. 'Maybe I shouldn't have put in all those training sessions with her...'

Sai and Sasuke watched in slight awe as their teammates fought flawlessly against their sensei. A slap was heard as Sakura skid across the ground, sliding to where the real Naruto was. Bruises and cuts decorated the two genin's bodies as they raised themselves shakily, identical smirks on each of their faces.

'What are they smiling about?' Kakashi, Sai, and Sasuke thought.

A little bubble of laughter floated in Naruto's and Sakura's throats as they fought to stifle it. Soon little giggles escaped and evolved into huge fits of alughter, causing them to double over and clutch their sides in pain. "HAHA, he actually fell for it!"

"Fell for what?" the other two boys questioned.

Uzumaki and Haruno smirked and straightened up. As they did so, a light jingling was heard. Sakura put her hands on her hips as she held up her shiny, metallic bell, letting it ring lightly in the breeze. Naruto bounced around with his, eagerly waving it in the boy's faces. "Ha! You see this? What is it, hm? Yeah, it's a bell! Woot!"

"Oh," Kakashi smiled, "Will you look at that? They really did." he stepped aside and revealed only one bell left on his belt. "I guess you pass."

"YAY!" the two clasped their hands together excitedly and danced around happily. Sakura totally disregarded the fact that she looked ridiculous and completely out of character.

Sai and Sasuke scowled. "How the hell did they get the bells?"

"That doesn't matter," Kakashi stepped forward, "What matters is that you two still haven't gotten yours. I expected more of a challenge from you." The boys looked away, guilt written all over their faces. The ex-anbu sighed. "I'll give you two more hours after lunch, but you don't get lunch. These," he pulled out two bentos, "are for Sakura and Naruto, our winners. Oh yeah, Sakura, Naruto, you two are forbidden to feed them."

"HA! Another thing you don't get!" Naruto gave them a raspberry. Sakura slapped him in the back of the head. "Ow, Sakura-chan!"

"Dobe."

Grumble.

Grumble.

GRUMBLE!

"That's it!" Sakura yelled. She turned her gaze menacingly up at Sai and Sasuke, both of whom were strapped to two identical posts. A few tints of red stained their pale cheeks. "God, if you're so hungry then eat this!" She offered her bento up to the boys. They quirked their eyebrows.

"B-But Sfakura-chan," Naruto sputtered, food dripping form his stuffed mouth, "Kakaffi-fenfei faid not to feed em'!"

"Well, he's not here, is he?" Sakura questioned.

"No..."

"Exactly." She raised a piece of rice to Sasuke who looked around before he took a bite, just to make sure. He savored the taste. She then passed a piece of meat to Sai, who eyed it suspiciously.

"Normally I don't take stuff from ugly people."

"DO YOU WANT IT OR NOT?" Sakura didn't have time for his arguing. He quickly turned silent and took a bite. "Good boy."

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind whooshed past them as a silver figure loomed over the four. His eyes glowed with a frightening gleam. "YOU FOUR!" he roared and pointed at the quartette, a surreal scene forming behind him. Clouds turned gray, lighting and thunder echoed through the area, the wind picked up, and the temperature fell a few degrees. "Pass." Abruptly, the skies cleared and birds began chirping again.

'What the fuck?' Sasuke thought.

'Huh... I never knew Kakashi-kun could change the weather.' Sakura tapped her chin. 'Neither did I.' Inner Sakura scratched her head.

"Whoa... that was weird." Naruto spun around in circles, still trying to understand what had just happened.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'pass'?" Sai's constant smile didn't even flinch.

Kakashi smiled. "The answer is simple: teamwork. Well, Sakura and Naruto already passed so I guess I should have said 'You two'. Anyway, they joined together and were able to get two bells each from me, unlike you. You guys chose to work alone, which resulted in your defeat. Now, when you and Sasuke were strapped to those posts, Sakura gave them some of her food, a sign of true loyalty. Ninja who don't follow the rules are trash, but ninja who'd rather leave their teammates behind are even lower than that."

whoa that was long. need to shorten it. merp. reviews. no flames.