She was eleven now, how the time had passed so quickly she didn't know but she was glad because now there was only one year left that separated her, Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata from becoming full fledged genin.
"As you well know, next year you'll be able to take the academy graduation exams to become genin, this entire year we'll be focusing on preparing you for the exam, both physical and written" Iruka explained from the podium.
Drawing his students in to his lecture "What exactly will we have to do to be able to pass Iruka-sensei" Ino called from the back, sitting between Shikamaru and Choji since her and Ami were no longer on speaking terms with one another.
Iruka sighed "Please remember to raise your hands first before asking a question, oh well, in order to pass you must remember seventy five percent of what you've learned in the last seven years for the written" the brunette announced.
Naruto sat up at that baby blue eyes wide in horror before raising his hand waiting to be called on "W..What about the phys..physical" Naruto shuddered his way through the question feeling as if he was about to really dislike whatever his sensei was about to say.
His gut feeling turned out to be right "Clone Jutsu, genjutsu, your taijutsu form, throwing skills and escape jutsu" the Chunin read off knowing that Naruto was terrible at most of those things and as if to prove him right, Naruto sat back in his seat with a groan.
"Totally doomed, I'm never going to pass because I don't even remember half the stuff from last year let alone the other years, I'm a terrible shot, my taijutsu is barely passable, I can't break out of genjutsu's, and I can't even do the clone jutsu" the blonde whined.
Looking horribly lost "You have us Dope, have faith in us that we can get you up to speed before the academy graduation exams come next year" Sasuke snorted from Sakura's other side, who was staring wide eyed in shock at all the things they would have to do pass and become genin.
The words did little to relieve him "Relax Naruto, we're here, we'll make sure you pass with us no matter what" Sakura snapped out of her shock in the next moment turning her emerald orbs onto him and he knew it was the truth now.
"E..Even i..if I'm not ph..physically there I..I'll be r..rooting you on a..as well Naruto-kun" Hinata stuttered shyly from right next to him, since both girls were squished in the middle and shared their space since the two boys couldn't do it without fighting for more room.
Now just a tiny bit more glad he had three awesome friends he took a deep breath and relaxed "Besides with both Sakura and myself we'll be sure to have you ready for the exams in a years time" the little raven sniggered.
"Yeah Naruto, you know besides Shikamaru I'm the second smartest person in class" the pinkette giggled softly before focusing her attention forward as Iruka started their mathematics lesson, she was just glad she didn't have to do that lesson at home anymore with Kyogo or Koron.
Hinata glanced at her crush "B..Believe in yourself a..as they an..and I do a..and yo..you'll never fail" the blunette said one last thing to boost his confidence and then turned forward to work on the equations they were given.
Until Iruka switched the lesson from math to history and finally theory of jutsu's before they were let out for lunch "Hold it Forehead, I…I mean Sakura" Ino stopped them from vanishing to wherever they vanished to during lunch.
"Go on ahead Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata-chan, yes Ino" Sakura waved her three friends off to the roof before focusing her full attention on the girl who'd tried her best to bully her alongside Ami until they'd had a falling out over Sasuke if she recalled correctly.
Ino gulped when those intense emerald eyes were focused on her for the second time in all the time they'd been in the academy together and chanced a glance at Choji and Shikamaru, who nodded in encouragement "Would you like to be my friend" the blonde got out in one go.
Sakura's eyes widened then narrowed "Why is it because you realize that besides Choji-san and Shikamaru-san you have no real friends that want to hang out with you or is it because I'm friends with Sasuke and you want to bother him" the pinkette questioned.
Not liking the sudden change in the other girl "I..I uh no I mean yes about the first thing and no I don't want to bother Sasuke, I just thought it would be great if we c..could be friends" the Yamanaka Heiress stuttered her way through her answer.
Those peridot irises stared hard at her assessing her in order to find any ulterior motives "Very well but one Sasuke-kun out of you and no second chances is that understood" the fuscia haired girl warned mocking a high pitched squeal of her friends name.
"R..Right let's go then, so where do you all hide anyway" Ino swallowed back her nervousness as they crept from the classroom and down hallways, then up to the roof, where Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata were waiting for the rose haired girl.
At the appearance of Ino though, the two boys let out matching groans of annoyance "That's enough out of you two, Ino made a valid request and so long as she didn't bother you Sasuke" Sakura gave the boys a quick but firm tongue lashing.
Both shrunk back in the face of their friends temper and she definitely had one it was short and mean sometimes "Y..You've go..got them sc..scared of yo..you Sakura-chan" Hinata giggled in amusement as the boys sulked.
Now outnumbered three to two "Of course we're scared of her, Sakura-chan hits hard" Naruto sulked as he remembered the last sparring session they'd had that weekend to be precise and the bruises she'd given him.
On his left the only other boy nodded "Exactly and we learned early on not to argue with her anyway" Sasuke winced, of course he would never dare argue with the Princess of Fire Country because he certainly didn't want to be punished.
Ino blinked at how quickly the two boys had been reigned in at her appearance "Wait a minute what do you mean she hits hard" the Yamanaka Heiress asked in complete and utter confusion because she didn't understand anything.
"Th..They spar o..on the weekends and du..during the week th..they study for t..two hours in the library" the Hyuga Clan Heiress commented eyeing her three friends, who were brutal on each other to a fault, but protective at the same time if that made sense.
To them she supposed it did make sense, but to her it was difficult to really understand "Yep, because we already have our nindo's in mind and we have to work hard in order to be able to complete our dreams and goals" the pinkette quipped lightly.
"We're gonna be the best genin this generation has ever seen Believe it" the blonde punched the air enthusiastically, even if he had a lot of studying and training to do in order to catch up with his two powerhouse friends.
Sasuke smirked "For once I agree with you Dope and chances are, we'll all be put on a team together so we'll already have teamwork down, I won't be the kind of person who abandons a teammate after all, even if I have to break the rules" the raven haired Uchiha snorted.
Glaring harshly at the ground still frustrated over the fact he had yet to awaken his sharingan "So studying in the library huh, do you think I can join you" Ino asked suddenly, because she wanted to be prepared for the academy graduation exams to.
All eyes turned to her then "I wi..wish I could j..join to bu..but I have cl..clan training again" Hinata slumped her shoulders, it just wasn't fair that her Father wouldn't even hear of her going to out to study with her friends.
"It's okay Hinata-chan, so he won't be able to dictate your life completely since we'll be genin and sure you can join us be remember we'll actually be studying and not goofing off" Sakura said in a stern tone.
Peering at the younger blonde on the roof until he eeped in fear and hid behind Sasuke "Y..You got it Sakura-chan plus I don't want to be failed" Naruto flashed her a thumbs up not daring to come out until he felt the coast was clear.
"Ridiculous but we understand Sakura, we have to pass those exams no matter what to make our marks in the shinobi world and carve a path that others strive to walk on with us" Sasuke announced and with that they settled down to eat lunch.
Before the bell rang and it was time for more lessons, then they were let out of the academy, "G..Guess I'll s..see you to..tomorrow" the bluenette waved trudging off to the Hyuga Compound for training like it had been since she was six.
And for the rest of them it was to the library "Why are you guys so serious about studying anyway and holy what kind of book is that Sakura" the slightly older blonde in the group whisper shrieked at the extremely advanced book on the central nervous system.
Since she already knew the mystical palm and could heal scratches, bruises, headaches and light sprains "Because knowledge is everything and keep it down Ino, the librarian hates loud noises" the raven haired boy was quick to warn.
Making the girl slap her hands over her mouth and look around warily for said librarian "Calm down Yamanaka, the lady wouldn't throw you out after the first offense anyway" the younger blonde sniggered nudging the Uchiha in the side.
"Enough out of you two and I'm studying how to be a medic-nin, my next task is to learn how to heal the nervous system, bone fractures and breaks as well as internal injuries" Sakura reigned in the two boys yet again and answered the Yamanaka Heiress's question.
Then she suddenly remembered and pulled out a scroll and unsealed it to reveal a stack of papers all of which she pushed at Naruto and gave him a firm stare until he gulped and got to reading, and he realized they were all notes she'd taken throughout the last several years.
He felt doubly grateful for that and immersed himself in trying to relearn what he needed before next year "Geez do you think you took enough notes Sakura" Sasuke gaped at the amount, never mind the fact she still had all of that stuff.
A slender pink brow rose in response "Well I'm not complaining so stuff it Teme" Naruto grumbled trying to concentrate to the two girl's amusement, his baby blue eyes were glued to the multitude of pages full of notes and his brow was creased in concentration.
Sasuke snorted but didn't say anything else that would interrupt Naruto from his studying "Do you think I could join your training session this weekend" Ino piped in suddenly feeling the need to improve herself as well and be an exceptional shinobi.
Viridian orbs shot her way full of contemplation "Sure you can spar with Naruto cause he hits like a girl" Sakura snickered and got a sulky ~hey~ shot her way from Naruto in response to the ribbing but he didn't move his eyes away from the various notes she'd taken.
With that she immersed herself in studying about the nervous system, a few chapters in she switched to the functions of a brain so that she could begin work on her own genjutsu, only problem is she had no one to test out all of her theories on yet.
That was the key word for the moment as they concluded their studying and went home "Learn anything new Sakura-chan" Koeda was home for once, still a genin but off from missions for the day and reading on the couch.
"Lots of things Koeda-chan, we learned what to expect on the graduation exams both physical and written, then I learned several things about the nervous system and various functions of the brain for the genjutsu I'm working on" Sakura chattered softly.
Clambering onto the couch with her now thirteen year old cousin who blinked then smile "That's you through and through Sakura-chan, and if your wondering Mother and Father found a job that suited them as traveling merchants, they started today" Koeda wrinkled up her nose in dislike.
"Wait what you mean like their gone, gone from the village gone or just wandering around in the village gone and they'll be back" Sakura was extremely confused by the news, thankfully Koeda didn't have to answer.
Because the two samurai guards appeared "Traveling around from village to village selling wares Hime-sama so we'll be your guardians for the next couple of weeks" Koron explained bringing with her the smell of dinner.
"Indeed so we expect you to be on your very best behavior, this also means a short break from your politics and poise lessons and don't worry Juhi-sama and Sayuri-sama sent some samurai guards to escort them around" Kyogo took over.
Sensing the worry in the little princess "Kind of wish I could have gone with them" Eda sulked as he came from the kitchen, he'd become less and less interested in the shinobi arts over the last year alone and was focusing more on taking lessons from Kyogo when he could.
He was on the verge of dropping out his grades had already suffered from the multiple absences "Perhaps you can ask next time Eda-kun" Kyogo patted the eight year old on the back, knowing that he wasn't nearly as confident as his older cousins and sister.
Eda had always kind of been really shy, no one's really sure where his personality had come from if they were being honest "Maybe and then I can take over the family business since I don't want to be a ninja anymore when I grow up" Eda piped in a spark of excitement filling his blue eyes.
"There you go and now you have your decision ready when you tell them the truth young man" Koron clapped her hands and led the two children and one teenager into the kitchen to eat supper before it was bath time, a little downtime after that and finally bed time.
Before the kids all knew it, it was the weekend again "Finally free from studying at the academy all day whoopee" Naruto cheered with false enthusiasm, knowing that his brain was still gonna hurt either way and so was his body cause of all the bruises and scratches he was going to good.
Today though was different they had a newbie with them "Do you guys do anything else besides train on the weekends, what about having fun" Ino gaped as she realized the trio planned to stay on the training grounds for several hours.
"Nope, it's all work and no play for us, we have to take this profession seriously or we end up dying way to young and that would be a bad thing for her" Sasuke pointed at Sakura, because he knew how important she was to this Country.
He was the only one besides Hinata and his murderous older brother "Okay, okay you two, now time to put your weights on and get to sparring and Sasuke try to take it easy on Ino to, I'll join you once I've finished my individual practice" Sakura clapped her hands reigning the duo in.
Both fell quiet and Ino sat down to put weights on, one pound weights unlike her three friends who all were eight pound weights thirty pounds extra in total on their body and she had no idea they did it.
And then she was ducking under a swing as Sakura trudged towards the river and expertly caught a fish with a shuriken and ninja wire reeling it in muck like one would with a fishing rod, before slapping the fish on a rock and practically gutting the poor thing.
"Get a load of this Genma four bratty academy students on our the training grounds" and then suddenly there were about five adults on the field and Sakura's spine had gone absolutely rigid in response as she abandoned her task of improving on her mystical palm.
Instead facing the adults head on with a glare in her eyes "Ooh that one's spunky let's rough her up a bit" another whistled with a smirk growing on his lips not realizing that she wasn't glaring at him but at Genma.
"Did Genma offend you or something little miss" the kindest looking one out of the lot of adults that had wandered onto the training grounds interrupting their training session noticed which was odd usually girls, no matter old or young liked his friend.
Poor Genma looked as if he was about to scuff them over the back of the heads "Yeah did he cause I've never seen a girl get so mad at him so quickly before and he hasn't even opened his mouth yet" the raven pointed out.
Sakura's eye twitched "Well Genma-san likes to often interrupt our training sessions and leave even when he promises to give us pointers" the little pinkette harrumphed angelically hands on her hips now and glaring Genma down.
"Okay, okay I realize the last time really was kind of rude but hey I'm a Jonin and am busy and don't have time to babysit little ack…brats" Genma snorted only to duck when a shuriken sailed in his direction, he nearly got hit by the damn thing to if he hadn't pulled out his own weapon in the nick of time.
Now she was glaring at him full force "Come on Sakura-chan ignore them if they want to use the training grounds they can go to the part we aren't using" the younger blonde hollered not wanting his friend to snap and loose her rather scary temper.
The fuscia haired girl gave Genma one last glare for good measure then stomped back over to her fish to begin practicing with her mystical palm "Shut up Kotetsu, Izumo, Tonbo, Iwashi" the brunet grumbled with a roll of his eyes.
"Man you nearly got hit by a little girl I think I like that chick already" Kotetsu barked out a laugh as they headed towards the unused part of the training grounds, while simultaneously keeping the four children still within their sights.
It was in their nature after all as chunin or jonin "She's eleven you idiot" Izumo slapped his friend/partner over the back of the head before settling into a stance ready to train much like the little kiddies were doing.
Which was extremely odd "I propose we give them a scare after this a bit of genjutsu nothing bad" Tonbo smirked facing the direction they'd left the children behind before focusing his own attention on his current sparring partner.
"Quite it would teach them not to mess with adults or do things they shouldn't be doing" Iwashi nodded in agreement, hopefully the kids would learn their lesson and never come back to the training grounds.
Genma grimaced "Not a good idea" Genma warned but the Chunin would do whatever they wanted with or without his permission, the only thing he could do would be there to comfort the kids and hope that two of them didn't tell their parents, then they'd be in a world of hurt.
Meanwhile Sakura had finally shoved her anger to the side to focus on her medical ninjutsu training, and called it quits twenty minutes in "Ready Sakura" Sasuke asked as she came to stand before him once she'd deposited the fish in the river since she was doing practicing on him.
Sakura smiled lightly and threw three of her senbon, all three which made purchase before launching herself forward "Whoa she's kind of scary in a fight, I'm glad Iruka-sensei hasn't made us spar against one another yet" Ino shuddered seeing how brutal Sakura actually was.
Pure taijutsu and brute strength really and if she wasn't mistaken the girl was using chakra in her attacks and lightly denting the ground when her kicks or punches missed their target "Yeah no kidding, that's why only Teme can match her in a fight" the blonde she was sparring against said.
"Really I never even noticed during physical fitness, got to wonder how fast you guys are when you take the weights off" the slightly older blonde glanced to her bandage wrapped arms and feet, then to Naruto's, Sasuke and Sakura's.
The Uzumaki boy shrugged apparently it was rare they took off their weights "Maybe after this we can have a race see who's fastest between us when we take off the weights" the raven called knowing that Ino would be the slowest.
So the girl opted out of the race "Gotcha and I'm going to win" the pinkette grinned ducking low, leaping high and throwing out the odd punch or kick and finally tackle, where she and Sasuke rolled across the ground and onto their feet a couple feet apart once more.
Until they felt sufficiently beat up by one another "Ouch is it just me or did your punches get even harder than usual today" Sasuke hissed as he poked a dark green bruise on his arm, never even noticing four adults creeping their way until it was to late.
"Noooo" the last thing that was heard from Ino before their whole world went black and then they woke up on the training grounds alone no one familiar around them, hearts beating a mile a minute in fear as they were unsure of what was going on.
Only one understood since she'd been studying the subject extensively and just as she was getting ready to dispel the genjutsu horror unfolded before her eyes "D..Darui-kun what are you doing here" Sakura gaped at the twenty year old white haired, dark skinned male.
She knew for a fact he was busy cause he was a jonin now and shouldn't be there in the village, she knew this yet the genjutsu continued unrestrained "Look at you, nothing special just a plain little girl with a big ugly forehead and ridiculous pink hair" the genjutsu Darui glared.
"I don't know what I was thinking by ever agreeing to marry you a spoiled little princess that's not worth my time in the least" he continued uncaring of the tears gathering in Sakura's eyes and she bit her lip harshly trying to see the genjutsu out to the end.
Even if by the kami it hurt like hell "No I've found someone ten times the woman you'll ever be and I'm calling off the marriage, goodbye Sakura Haruno, see ya wouldn't want to be you, you were drab anyway" a genjutsu woman appeared and then they were both gone.
With her heart aching, Sakura quickly put her hands together and released the genjutsu, only to fall flat on her face shaking horribly "Kid, come on kid hang in there" there was someone yelling at her but it was all just noise in her ears.
For several long agonizing moments Genma thought the worst until the girl picked herself up off the ground shakily hair in complete disarray and tears streaking down her face "S..Sa..Sakura-chan a..are you okay" Naruto equally as shaken by what he'd been through crawled to the silent girls side.
But she remained silent staring blankly ahead of her "Th..That was cruel, how could you put us children through the hell viewing technique" and then she snapped out of it, temper heating and jumping to her feet glaring so forcefully that if looks could kill they'd probably be burned alive.
Tears still dripping down her cheeks as that image flashed before her again and again "Now, now kid don't get so huffy, if you couldn't handle that then your not cut out to be a ninja anyway brat" the one with his head wrapped in bandages and headband over his eyes scoffed.
Sakura turned her glare on him "It doesn't matter if that was the point of your stupid stunt Sir, what I'm getting at is what if I hadn't woken up and something happened to Naruto or Ino and Sasuke and kami….." Sakura slapped her hand over her mouth getting entirely to worked up.
"Calm down before you puke brat" the one with a goatee ordered seeing that she was about to, perhaps they'd acted recklessly, they could get in trouble for this after all with both the Yamanaka's and the girl's parents.
Who were scolding them up a storm "What did you see Sakura" Sasuke cut through his friend's tirade, he knew what he'd seen, his brother of course, but he was unsure of what his friend feared beyond having something happen to them, that's why she was learning how to be a medic-nin.
Not just for them but for….it clicked in his mind just then as more tears spilled down her cheeks and she clenched her hands into fists "Are you gonna tell us Sakura" Ino questioned confused but still a little shaken up by the genjutsu.
Her emerald eyes turned to them "Someone very important to me calling me everything you and Ami ever called me and calling off the one thing that means the world to me" Sakura grabbed at her chest as it hurt even more, even if she knew it was just a stupid genjutsu.
"That's it, then you are one sensitive little brat, get over it okay" the one with spiky hair snorted and she was right back to glaring at the five adults for pulling their stupid stunt and she was getting ready to lay into them even more.
When the last, the one she'd thought was kind because of his calm demeanor spoke up "Calling off the one thing that means the world to you, what did you mean by that" the brunet asked crouching in front of the young girl.
Peridot irises widened in surprise and she fidgeted "N..Nothing" and then she grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by the hands, with Ino trailing behind them, the quartet of academy students high tailed it off the training grounds forgetting all about the cruel stunt that had been pulled on them.
Leaving behind five confused adults "Okay what did she mean Shiranui, since your the one that knows her and we don't" Izumo rounded on the tokubetsu jonin wanting to get to the bottom of this but the man held up his hands.
"No idea, I see them occasionally and give them pointers but don't make much conversation since they are brats, if you want to find out you'd have to tail them and I bet right now they are extremely wary because of the stunt you just pulled" Genma shook his head, then was gone.
Izumo groaned and put his head in his hands wondering what had possessed him to let the other three idiots he associated himself with convince to use a the hell viewing technique on children of all people, he'd known it was a bad idea.
But seeing how badly the pink haired girl had reacted really had him feeling like the worlds biggest jerk "Come on let's tail those brats and find out what we want to find out" Tonbo ordered leading the way forward off the training grounds.
Following the chakra of the four children, which was slightly larger than it should be since they were in fact academy students "And when we do what then" Iwashi questioned, but no one had an answer for him.
"How much you want to be it's something stupid like a promise" Kotetsu snorted suddenly as they all wound up at the library, so they masked their chakra and snuck in finding the four children crowded around a table studying.
The pinkette looked still quite visibly upset "It's going to be okay Sakura, you know he'd never call it off right, Darui-san isn't that kind of person and you know it" Sasuke was trying to assure her that nothing was going to go wrong.
Only a minute in and they'd learned something a name, a very familiar name, a Cloud Shinobi to be exact and the four Chunin wondered how the girl even knew someone from the Hidden Cloud Village in the first place since they were still adjusting to the treaty.
"But what if he finds someone better, I like him, a lot Sasuke and I know I'm not the most perfect girl in the world or prettiest" Sakura slammed her head on the table repeatedly at that trying to erase whatever she'd seen in the genjutsu from her mind no doubt.
Sasuke visibly winced each time her head connected "Then why don't you ask him out if you like him that much and then no one can take him away from you, this Darui person you mentioned" Ino huffed not liking that Sakura was agonizing over this in the least.
All the years she and Ami had tried to bully Sakura and all it took was a genjutsu of the person she cared about the most to completely break through her tough hide "Because Darui-ni is like twenty Yamanaka, lives in the Cloud Village and is a Jonin" Naruto pointed out matter of factly.
None of them aware that four Chunin were eavesdropping on their conversation "Dope your not making this any better, only thing you can do Sakura is send him a letter and ask him to come visit if he's not to busy, that's the only way your gonna realize he's not going to call it off" the Uchiha sighed.
Realizing he was wasting his breath, Sakura slumped even further in the chair looking downright miserable "Kind of hopeless aren't you Sakura about this Darui person" the Yamanaka Heiress realized that her friend did get boy crazy, just not over the same boy she liked.
Sakura sent her a look "I've known him since I was three Ino" the pinkette rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of the tears, she still looked like she'd been through hell to be honest, but that didn't stop her from picking up her book on genjutsu to read.
Even the Chunin spying on the children were shocked at the book "Your kind of an oddball Sakura-chan, how on earth can you go through something like that and still be interested in the subject" the Uzumaki gaped.
Causing the girl to giggle "Oh Naruto you should know by now that not even something like that can stop me, once I start it's hard to stop" Sakura finally cracked the first smile since they'd stepped foot in the library and threw herself into studying.
By the time it was noon they realized they were practically starved "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" Sasuke groaned holding his stomach as they headed for Ichiraku to get lunch thanking the kami that ramen filled him up like never before.
"This is the strangest day I've ever had in my entire life" Ino commented making the two boys laugh but not in a mean way, they understood because every day was strange when you were friends with Sakura.
Who scowled at them in response "We understand Yamanaka and now your apart of our group so you have to deal with her craziness and mood swings to" Naruto sniggered ducking under the swing of her whack and nearly falling backwards off his stool.
Still not a one of them realized they'd been followed by four very obvious Chunin because they were still trying to find out what made those kids different than the average academy students, especially when they got done eating and headed back to the library to study more.
"Give me a break, just what kind of kids are these" Kotetsu groaned not getting a read on at least three of them, the little Yamanaka was easy because it looked like she had only just recently joined the group of close-knit friends.
But the Uzumaki, Uchiha and pinkette were harder to figure out "I'm pretty frustrated myself Kotetsu, but then again if we hadn't pulled that stupid stunt we wouldn't be in this predicament remember" Izumo pointed out blithely.
Making his friend/partner wince in response at the harsh scolding tone, while the other two merely snorted in response "Come off it Izumo, why are you feeling so guilty now when you were apart of the casting to" Tonbo snapped.
Just a bit to loudly and he quickly slammed his jaw shut, while the others cast wary gazes in the quartet of children's direction, they hadn't even noticed proving how immersed in their studies there were "Idiot, what will you do if you get us kicked out" Iwashi frowned deeply.
In the end they didn't find out anything else and the children went home at exactly five going in four different directions, they decided to follow little pinky until she got to the civilian section and entered a normal looking civilian house.
Right before the door shut they caught sight of an obvious eight year old boy rushing to envelope the girl in a hug before they trailed home themselves, resolved to try and bully information out of the girl the next day if they found her on the training grounds.
"I'm home Kyogo-kun, Koron-chan, Eda-kun, Koeda-chan" Sakura called feeling exhausted even when she was hugged by her youngest cousin and wanting nothing more than to be able to sit down and write a letter to Darui to assure herself that he wasn't going to call off their wedding.
At her call her two samurai guard appeared in the living room "Are you alright Hime-sama you look as if you've been crying, did something happen you didn't have a fight with those boys did you" Koron was immediately alarmed.
But Sakura shook her head resolutely "No, no fight just something stupid that's eating at me until I'm reassured completely on the matter" Sakura hummed peering blearily at the twin samurai guards and finding it hard to concentrate on them.
Then panic swelled up on her, what if she was still in the genjutsu and before she even truly thought about it did the sign to release the genjutsu only nothing happened "Are you sure your alright Ojo-sama" Kyogo asked frowning.
He'd never seen the Princess act so out of it before "Kami your burning up with a fever Sakura-chan" Koeda leaped forward pressing a hand to the younger pinkette's forehead and found it extremely hot to the touch, where she reeled back quickly with a hiss.
"Oh no please don't be sick Sakura-chan" Eda panicked and before anyone could react Sakura had fainted from her feet, when she woke next it was twenty minutes later, she was laying on her bed, an ice pack on her head and a bowl of cooling soup at her bedside.
Sakura groaned quietly as she realized she'd worried herself sick over the stupid genjutsu and she felt stupid for ever letting it get to her "Sakura-hime I need you to take this for me okay" Koron appeared a cup in one hand and one of her feverfew herb pills in the other.
She didn't even resist merely drank down the tea and crunched the pill without hesitation "Thank you Koron-chan and I'm sorry for blacking out like that, do you think you could get me a message scroll and a pen to write a letter to Darui-kun" Sakura asked hesitantly.
Koron's pink eyes softened in response, but it wasn't she who returned "Here you go Ojo-sama, do you want to talk about what happened" Kyogo prodded carefully not wanting to upset her anymore than she'd clearly already been upset.
Again the little Feudal Princess shook her head and began writing furiously on the message scroll, then when she was done she returned the pen and scroll to Kyogo, who went off to have the message delivered with Hono, while she ate.
During his absence Koeda came in to visit "You were put in a genjutsu by someone" Koeda had seen the hand movement the standard hand sign to release oneself out of a genjutsu "Did what you see have something to do with Darui" Koeda prodded.
Here her cousin finally broke her silence and collapsed in a heap of quiet sobs "The genjutsu was awful, it really felt like he was calling off our wedding" Sakura cried softly into her cousin's neck, not wanting to alarm her samurai guard anymore than she already had.
"There, there Sakura-chan you know that Darui-san would never do that, but I assume you won't rest until he assuages your fear himself right" Koeda pulled back and the younger nodded silently, which caused her to smile.
And then they were joined by the eight year old in the house "I'm sorry I couldn't stick out being in the academy like you Onee-chan, Sakura-chan" Eda crawled onto the bed, that night they cuddled together uncaring of how things looked to outsiders, they were family after all.
The next morning Sakura felt much better and after breakfast traipsed from the house and to the training grounds where Naruto, Sasuke and Ino were already waiting "Well at least you don't look worse than you did yesterday" Sasuke commented looking Sakura over.
"Oh hush Sasuke at least I got sleep unlike you who looks as if he didn't sleep a wink" Sakura snickered but not cruelly, she knew it was eating at him what he'd seen in the genjutsu as well and so she couldn't be mean not truly anyway.
Sasuke rolled his onyx eyes "Are we gonna train or what" Naruto was the one to jolt them into action and Sakura headed towards the river to catch her fish as they started on the spars to keep themselves occupied until she joined them.
"By the way just what was she so worried about yesterday anyway" Ino asked looking at Naruto, but Naruto didn't have an answer for her and Sasuke pressed his lips together, it seemed out of the two boys, only her crush had the answers and truth about their friend.
Then she was focused on dodging and trying not to get hit by any stray punch or kick Sasuke threw at her and sending her own punches and kicks at Naruto until they were joined by Sakura, where the spar got even more brutal.
And by the end of it they all slid to the ground in an exhausted heap of limbs, before their bruises and scratches were being healed by Sakura, then, then those adults came again and Sakura's spine went rigid as her eyes flashed in anger.
"What do you want here to torment us some more if that's what your after then just go away and leave us alone" the pinkette grumbled in a brusque tone glaring at the adults forcefully and willing them to just go away.
But they didn't "No can do girly, we're here to bully some information out of you got it, and your gonna tell us you understand" the one with his head wrapped in bandages stepped forward and the girl grew even tenser in response.
"Don't do it Sakura-chan, these guys are Chunin and you could get in trouble" the blonde was smart they'd give the kid that much and then they realized that the girl's fists were clenched so tightly she was practically drawing blood from her palms.
If they weren't mistaken they could also feel chakra built up in the muscles of her arms "I can always just tell my Dad, who'd tell Morino-san what you four did" the slightly older blonde commented trying to diffuse the tension.
That got their attention "Enough just tell us what we want to know Sakura-chan, that's your name right, what are you so afraid of having called off" the long haired brunet asked crouching down before the girl again and asking in a nice tone, because he didn't want to get rough with her.
Sasuke pressed his lips together and shot a look to the oblivious blondes "Or we could always go to your parents and tell them your having contact with a foreign shinobi" the spiky haired male whistled innocently.
Green eyes shot his way and pink brows raised high into her hairline "Sakura's parents live elsewhere, she's staying with her Aunt, Uncle and cousins, but she told us yesterday that her Aunt and Uncle are now traveling merchants and will be gone for a week and five days" the raven haired eleven year old said.
"Damn look kid just tell us already or do we have to put you in another genjutsu to get the truth out of you" the one with the goatee demanded and Sakura just kept her jaw jammed shut in response, apparently demanding anything out of the girl was not going to get them anywhere.
So they went with option B, to put her in another genjutsu, when all of them were distracted by a beautiful fiery bird swooping down and landing on the girl's shoulder trilling softly, a phoenix and on a harness was a single scroll.
"Hono-kun your back already, geez did you fly all the way there and back in a single night or something, you should be more careful I don't want anything happening to you after all" the pinkette scolded the phoenix.
Who trilled his song even more for those in the clearing and bowed his head in respect to his Mistress, she wasn't quite his summoner, but she'd always been kind to him and that's why he had respect for her.
Just as she was reaching for the scroll on his back it was snatched away and held precariously over the river by the one with his head wrapped in bandages "Be a good girl and tell us what's in the scroll" he demanded in a harsh tone.
Making the girl flinch back in response "Thought something like this might happen, I was practically already here when Hono found me" a voice cut over the training grounds jogging towards them hurriedly.
Peridot irises widened and she forgot all about the letter "D..Darui-kun" Sakura launched herself at the dark skinned male unable to hold back her tears any longer as she wrapped firmly around her betrothed crying horribly.
It was a sound the now twenty year old white haired male hated to hear from the girl he'd promised to marry when she came of age "Return to the scroll or I'll report you to the Hokage for putting academy students in the hell viewing technique" Darui stated.
Keeping one arm firmly wrapped around Sakura as she clung to him, oh yes she'd told him in the letter of course "Just why is she writing letters to you and why is she so afraid of you calling something off, what is this something" the longer haired brunet asked.
"Because we're set to get married in the future an arranged marriage contract was put in place by the former Raikage and her parents" the Cloud Jonin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, Sakura and her secrets.
At that exact moment she chose to smile at him sheepishly just as the only other girl on the training grounds blurted out "ARRANGED MARRIAGE THAT'S JUST AWFUL YOU HAVE TO CALL IT OFF IMMEDIATELY SAKURA" Ino shrieked bursting their eardrums.
Sakura pressed her hands over her ears in response much like the two boys did "Cool it Yamanaka and there's no way she'd ever do that" Sasuke rolled his eyes glad that her fears had been assuaged for the time being.
"Even if I don't exactly understand what's going on, even I can tell that Sakura-chan would never do that either, she's as stubborn as a mule that one and telling her to do something is like telling that mule not to kick you in the back when your back is turned" Naruto rambled.
Getting an exasperated glare "Okay this is the most ridiculous thing ever I'm done" the spiky haired Chunin threw his hands in the air and vanished, his partner/friend on his heels as they left the training grounds behind.
The other two were getting ready to leave to "Tonbo the scroll return it" the one with the goatee reminded, Sakura was given back her letter and the whole issue was completely resolved, Sakura was kind of shocked at how quickly it was over actually.
Darui chuckled "Glad I came when I did, unfortunately, I'm only here for a couple of days and then I have to return, sorry Sakura" he ruffled her hair, gave her one last hug, poked her forehead and was gone.
Leaving the kids alone and Sakura sighed at his hasty departure "Wish he could spend more time with me, but now he's a jonin" the pinkette sulked as they trudged from the training grounds and to Ichiraku for lunch.
"Why did your parents force you in an arranged marriage anyway, even if that guy seemed nice, if not a little busy" the slightly older blonde in their group questioned once they were sat on the stools in the ramen stand.
Emerald orbs flickered in her direction but it wasn't her who answered "Actually it was Sakura who asked for the arranged marriage and Darui-san was the one who agreed to it without fuss, he's been in Leaf tons of times to visit Sakura" the little raven admitted.
"Yeah, yeah and he always helps her practice her taijutsu and use her medical ninjutsu on him if he gets scratched by one of her senbon" the younger blonde at the stand nodded his head eagerly and with that they focused on eating.
Then afterwards they headed to the library to study and on Monday it was back to the academy "Y..You loo..look awful like usual" Hinata shook her head at her friends as class started and they all focused their attention on the lesson being given.