It was finally the big day known as academy graduation exams and when Sakura woke up early she knew something bad was going to happen because her stomach was already twisting itself into knots and she felt like she was going to hurl.
"Bit early even for you Sakura" Darui commented when she came trailing out of her room already dressed for the day at only 5:55, Sakura flashed him a smile that turned into a grimace at the last second, his brows raised.
Then he didn't have to wonder anymore as she fitted herself to his side "I think something's going to happen to Naruto today" Sakura admitted quietly concern for her goofy knucklehead friend shining through in spades.
Darui bit back his chuckle and squished her against his side even more "He'll do fine Sakura and he'll become a genin just like you so have faith in him" the white haired male said lightly knowing that she would worry until the end despite his words.
Sakura let a smile form on her lips "Faith is something I have in abundance but we don't actually know how the real physical part of the exam is going to go and despite preparing him for the last year or so, he's still horrible at breaking out of genjutsu's and doing the clone jutsu" the pinkette breathed in the next moment.
And so now Darui knew where her worry stemmed from to a point "Then believe he'll find a way to join you as a genin Sakura, his dream is to be the Hokage right, if he really wants it, he'll do it" Darui rubbed her arm a half smile on his lips.
"Thanks Darui-kun I always feel better after talking to you" Sakura hummed softly just sitting there on the against leaned fully into his side and feeling more relaxed than she had in a while, she was glad he was there.
Glad that he was able to assure her just a little bit, he leaned back pulling her with him and they sat there in silence for the better part of thirty minutes "Good heavens how long have you two been up exactly" Mebuki appeared to make breakfast at exactly 6:30 in the morning.
Both Darui and Sakura blinked at her before grinning "For awhile Mrs. Haruno, I've been up since 5:30 and she's been up since 5:55" Darui admitted with a light chuckle his first of the morning and Mebuki shook her head with a quiet snort.
"Mebuki-oba-chan may I help you make breakfast this morning" Sakura popped up in the next moment curious for the first time about cooking, even if she'd only be able to do limited things at least it was a start.
Emerald orbs flashed her way "Of course you can Sakura follow me and I'll give you, your very first lesson on cooking" Mebuki let a brilliant smile take over her face as she led the way into the kitchen, her niece on her heels.
By the time everyone else in the house was awake breakfast was done "G..Good Morning Mebuki-chan, Sakura-chan, Koeda-chan, Eda-kun, Darui, Kyogo, Koron" Kizashi yawned padding into the dining room as he was the last one to awaken that morning.
"Right today's your graduation exam isn't it" Kizashi suddenly remembered after he'd taken a few big gulps of his coffee and bit into the fluffy omelets that had been made for breakfast that morning which tasted five times better that morning.
Sakura grinned and nodded cutting into her own breakfast "Well I'm gonna wish you luck Sakura-chan and I hope you become a genin" Koeda piped in, in the next moment barely remembering to swallow her food before talking.
Which earned her an exasperated glance "Either way we have faith in you Hime-sama and we know you'll become a genin like you've wanted from the very beginning" Koron said lightly staring at her charge, things would be different from that day on.
"This is going to be strange, what do you suppose Juhi-sama and Sayuri-sama will have us do" Kyogo was rather concerned about what would happen to them, since essentially their Princess could protect herself, well not quite yet but she was nearly a full fledged kunoichi.
In response to this Koron shrugged "No idea but I'm sure they'll probably have us stay here and keep an eye on things around the village" the green haired pink eyed woman admitted sure that Juhi nor Sayuri would order their return to the Capital.
"If your sure Koron" the green haired pink eyed male grimaced, then focused on eating his breakfast until the dishes were being cleared away and Sakura was making her way to the door for what would hopefully be her last day as an academy student.
Koeda blew out a breath "Best of luck to you Sakura-chan and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something cause you can you'll find a way I'm sure of it" Koeda hugged her younger by two years cousin one last time.
Before stepping back "Yeah, yeah cause your awesome Sakura-chan and if you ever get sent on any mission outside the village make sure you bring back some cool souvenirs" Eda launched himself at his much older cousin.
"And try not to forget me now that your going to be a full fledged ninja now" Eda pouted in the next moment finally releasing Sakura so she could strap her sandals onto her feet then face them with a confident smile.
"Guess I'm going now and when I come back I'll have my headband" Sakura waved then pulled open the door, vanishing from sight of her extended family and Darui as she shut the door behind her and started down the streets of the Leaf Village.
Partway there she noticed someone pacing alongside her "Morning brat I take it your off to the academy" it was Tonbo, he'd been a lot different since the day he'd found out she was actually the Feudal Lords Daughter, which meant no more threats or anything really.
She would be lying if she said she didn't kind of miss it "Exactly Tonbo-san today I'll become a genin and one step away from your level instead of being stuck as an academy student" the pinkette quipped and ducked under the whack.
Okay so not much had changed it seemed, he wasn't afraid to try and hit her "Still a brat though" Tonbo snorted shoving his hands deep in his pockets on the look out for any trouble, he wouldn't chance anything happening that day, nor would he appreciate it.
"Maybe and I probably always will be a brat I guess, well here's my stop so have a good day Tonbo-san" Sakura waved as they arrived at the academy gates, Tonbo paused and wanted to slam his head into a wall as he realized he'd followed her all the way there like an idiot.
He could have just tailed her instead of leisurely chatting "Whatever brat get on in there and don't dare come back to the training grounds without a damn headband you hear" Tonbo snapped then stalked off.
Leaving behind a giggling preteen girl before she turned on her heel and headed into the academy "Early this morning are you Sakura-chan" Iruka greeted one of his best students, she was one of the few ones there early which should have surprised him so much but it did.
At his greeting she flashed him a bright smile "Woke up early to, hey Hinata, Sasuke, guess Naruto and Ino are going to be a bit late huh" Sakura slid into her usual spot next to Hinata, in the middle of the row like it was second nature.
Might as well have been since Naruto and Sasuke couldn't share desk space without fighting like cats and dogs over more room so they had been separated "Dope's probably going to be the last one here" Sasuke snorted arms crossed over his chest.
A glare in his ebony orbs, he must have felt as if something was going to happen that day to, because he kept shifting every few seconds "H..He's j..just wo..worried th..that some adults m..might try to s..stop Naruto f..from making it to the a..academy for the exams" Hinata explained.
Sasuke grew rigid in response and even Sakura pressed her lips together, just then they were joined by another of their friends "I'm early aren't I, guess that's not such a bad thing" Ino panted as she dropped into her seat in the row above them.
Time ticked by slowly until it was nearly eight and most if not all of their classmates had arrived for the exams, like Sasuke predicted their goofy blonde knucklehead friend was the last one to arrive at the very last second "NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS ARRIVED BELIEVE IT" Naruto burst in.
Blurting his name at the top of his lungs like usual earning several stares until he lost his nerve and scampered towards the row his friends sat in "Your such a Dope" Sasuke shook his head glad that even though Naruto was almost late, he'd still made it to the academy for the exams.
He wasn't the only one relieved Sakura exhaled a breath of relief herself, "Everything okay you two seem on edge" Naruto looked between the duo in confusion, he'd never seen them so tense if he was being honest.
"Th..They th..thought someone m..might try something to pre..prevent you from t..taking the exams" Hinata was the only one to answer his question and Naruto gulped, he hadn't thought like that at all but he was glad he had friends who did.
Behind them "But we're glad nobody did or I would have gone straight to my Dad and had the graduation exams put on hold" Ino muttered under her breath not wanting to admit the idiot had grown on her.
Naruto beamed in response before they all faced forward as Iruka cleared his throat "I'd like to say how proud I am of all of you for making it through these last several years in my classroom" Iruka began with his prepared speech.
"And though some of you had a tough time of it at first or struggled before finding friends that were there to help you I'm glad that you've all made it to this point in your life" the brunet looked each of his students over noting how much they'd grown while he hadn't been paying attention.
It seemed to them their sensei was about to start crying before he pulled himself together "Now if you'd please we'll start with the written part of the graduation exams before moving on to the physical" Iruka cleared his throat passing out the test to each row.
Moments later the only thing that could be heard was the sound of pencils scratching on paper for several minutes until nearly an hour had passed, Iruka watched closely for any funny business before noting that everyone was done and called time to collect the tests and grade them.
"Okay we'll now have you come into the prepared room to commence with the physical" Mizuki his friend/dual sensei announced rattling off a name and having that student follow him into a room, where they returned twenty minutes later with a headband on their person.
While Iruka graded their written exams to put in afterwards so that their teams could be formed based on those grades, Sakura bit her lip harshly as the minutes started ticking by very, very slowly until that one name was called.
"Naruto Uzumaki we're ready for you in the exam room" their blue haired sensei called as the latest preteen exited the room a headband tied to their forehead, Naruto was a mess of nerves as he headed down the steps to take the physical portion of their graduation exams.
The door shut behind him and Sakura clenched her hands tightly together and waited, and waited, and waited, when thirty minutes had passed she shot a look at Sasuke, who coincidentally glanced in her direction at the same as the door swung open.
Only Mizuki appeared, her heart dropped into her stomach but she had much bigger things to worry about since it was her turn in the prepared exam room, she passed of course and just as she was being handed her headband asked what had happened.
"Did Naruto go somewhere I noticed he didn't come out of the room with you Mizuki-sensei" Sakura took her headband not able to savor it just yet that yes she'd passed and was now a genin, her stomach was to knotted.
Mizuki looked up "He failed the exam Haruno-san, he couldn't face seeing your disappointment I guess and left through the window" he pointed at the open window then nudged her from the room, Sakura felt sadness fill her.
But since she couldn't stay standing around like an idiot walked towards the row she'd sat in for her entire academy life "I..Is e..everything okay S..Sakura-chan" Hinata saw the hurt all over her friends face and knew something had happened.
How could they not know when such an integral part of their life was missing "We'll find him later Sakura" Sasuke assured when she shook her head and sat down, and then it was his turn and twenty minutes later he was back in his seat headband in his hands.
A while later after a quick break for lunch in which Sasuke and Sakura searched the entire academy grounds for their goofy knucklehead friend and didn't find him anywhere the rest of their classmates had received their headbands and had become official ninja.
"Right congratulations to most of you for passing your graduation exams and tomorrow we'll meet here one last time to assign you to your genin teams and tell you who your jonin sensei is" Iruka dismissed them at half past 2.
Sakura frowned deeply looking quite the sight "I feel bad for the idiot, he worked so hard and still failed" Ino was just as worried about the blonde that had been missing since a little before lunch but she didn't have time to waste.
Neither did Hinata "G..Guess we..we'll see you to..tomorrow S..Sakura-chan, S..Sasuke, I..Ino-chan" the bluenette waved headband clutched firmly in her hands and heading to the Hyuga Compound to give her family the news.
Ino grimaced "Like Hinata said see you tomorrow" the cerulean eyed blonde vanished down the streets to the Yamanaka Flower Shop to proudly show off her headband to her parents and tell them she was now an official genin and would be going on missions and doing all sorts of things.
Sasuke grit his teeth "You go home alert your Aunt, Uncle and cousins meet up with me later so we can look for the Dope" the Uchiha grumbled then turned on his heel and stalked off already searching high and low for the knucklehead.
With a longer suffering sigh and not feeling any excitement about passing the graduation exams because someone precious to her was hurting, she could feel it where ever he was Sakura bit her cheek and trailed home.
"My your all grown up now and a kunoichi" Darui was there waiting for her missing her depression for a second before he caught sight of the tears "What happened" he thought she'd be excited and then her fears from that morning came back to him.
Just as she told them "Naruto failed and now he's missing, I'm going to go out and look for him with Sasuke" Sakura admitted, she wouldn't rest until her friend was found and he was cheered up no matter the cost.
Darui chuckled lightly "They went out to get celebratory dinner for you, I'll tell them so go on Sakura, find that goofball alright" the white haired male nudged her forward after swiping at a tear that trailed down her cheek.
Her lips curved upwards and she couldn't resist throwing her arms around his neck "Thank you Darui-kun for being understanding" Sakura hummed softly before she was gone out the door again and eyes narrowed in determination.
Even when partway through her search for Sasuke she was joined by Iwashi and Tonbo, but that didn't deter her in the least "I haven't found him yet Sakura and I've searched all his usual hiding places" the raven appeared suddenly from out of nowhere.
Sakura blinked at him shock before groaning "Okay who are you searching for" Iwashi was utterly confused, this was supposed to be a time for celebration if he wasn't mistaken considering the Leaf headbands on the two's persons.
"Naruto, he failed the physical, Mizuki-sensei has had it out for him I just now it and he's been missing since just a little before lunch" Sakura bit out glaring harshly at the ground, all she wanted to do was find him was that to much to ask.
Iwashi grimaced trying to think if he'd seen the blonde brat in that time frame "Sorry we're no help brat" Iwashi apologized turning on his heels and stalking off on his own search for the idiot cause he got this feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Tonbo was the only one who stayed "Three heads are better than two, plus I would know that brat's chakra anywhere, it's always erratic and chaotic" Tonbo snorted as he joined the two preteens on their search for their idiot friend.
But by the time it was dinner time Naruto still hadn't been found "Go on Sakura, I'll keep searching" Sasuke sighed knowing that she couldn't waste anymore time searching for the knucklehead but he had time in abundance and could eat later when the idiot had been found.
Their was this heartbroken expression plastered all over her face "If I could I'd stay" the pinkette sighed, frustrated and feeling like she was about to cry, but she forced herself to smile as she headed back to her Aunt and Uncle's.
Her entire family was gathered in the kitchen waiting for her "Congratulations my princess for becoming an official genin" to her surprise it wasn't just her Aunt, Uncle, cousins, royal samurai guards, Darui and Cee, but her parents and brother as well, no Hiretsuna though.
"Father" Sakura cried upon seeing him unable to keep her tears in check anymore and then she was crying her heart out and Juhi wrapped his arms around her in confusion "It's Naruto, he's missing" she admitted.
Darui paled in response "You didn't find him" Cee asked point blank, just how hard could it be to find a goofy blonde in the Hidden Leaf Village, apparently extremely hard and now Sakura wasn't happy like she should be on a day such as this.
"We'll search for him after, so dry those tears alright Hime-sama" Koron was the one to offer, she knew the boys chakra pretty well so it couldn't be that hard to find him, Sakura raised her head from where she'd buried it in her Father's stomach.
"Yes because we know how important of a friend he is to you Ojo-sama" Kyogo nodded when her peridot irises landed on him, some of the tension in her shoulders dissipated and she dried her eyes as best she could.
Before letting a small smile form on her lips as she held up her headband "Wow it's all shiny" Eda whistled, glancing to his sister's, it was slightly dull and had scratches on the metal so slight that if one wasn't searching for them, they wouldn't see them.
Sakura grinned "Mhm and thanks Father I'm proud to be an official genin now" the pinkette hummed softly fitting herself next to Darui trying to be happy but it was difficult because Naruto was still out there thinking she was disappointed in him.
That's what irked her the most "Believe in him Sakura, he'll find a way" Darui's voice filled her ears in the next moment, soft and full of confidence and Sakura remembered their conversation from that morning and so shoved her worries to the back of her mind to focus on her family.
"I'm happy to see you finally acquire at least part of your goal Imouto-chan and no Hiretsuna-chan couldn't make it this time" Musubime chuckled lightly when he caught her gazing around warily looking for her future sister in law.
Darui's brow raised in confusion "Hiretsuna is Musubime's betrothed/girlfriend, a noble girl through and through" Mebuki saw the confusion only thanking the kami that the girl hadn't met her nieces betrothed yet or all hell would break loose.
"Ah so she's got that sort of attitude huh" Cee shook his head in amusement, this was one odd family if he was being honest but at least they'd accepted him and Darui as part of it, even if he wasn't going to be physically joining the family himself, only Darui.
The older pinkette giggled softly "Yeah and she's real bratty sometimes, poor Sakura-chan had a time of it when we had to spend a week hanging out with her" Koeda snickered thoroughly enjoying herself but feeling upset on her cousin's behalf.
Poor Naruto must be horribly upset, he'd trained and studied extremely hard and still failed "No kidding, however at least we know in later years she'll tame down and become more humble" Sayuri huffed delicately with a roll of her eyes.
If even the girl could grate on Sayuri Haruno's nerves then she must be extremely annoying, Darui bit back a smile and discreetly patted Sakura's arm "If your ready dinner is severed" Mebuki announced in the next moment bringing in multiple dishes of her nieces favorite foods.
"And again congratulations on graduating from the academy Sakura-chan and becoming an official genin kunoichi, do you know who'll be on your team or who your sensei is" Kizashi asked suddenly but his niece shook her head.
Glancing at her headband for a moment "Not yet we'll meet tomorrow one last time at the academy for that, though who I wanted on my team well that remains to be seen" Sakura murmured softly thinking of Naruto and Sasuke, they were good together.
But because of Mizuki no doubt Naruto might not get to join them "All will work itself out my sweet blossom tomorrow you'll see" Sayuri who was sat next to her youngest child assured, even if she had to physically get involved that boy would be a genin to make her daughter happy.
"Yeah, so like Darui-san said earlier have faith imouto-chan now let's eat" Musubime cheered trying his best to keep his sister's spirits lifted, even if he wanted to go out and search for her friend until he was found to relieve her worries.
Sakura smiled a little wider at that "Ne, ne Sakura-chan maybe you'll get assigned to escort us around sometime" Eda piped in with an idea several moments later and partway through the meal, none of them aware of the chaos going on in the village thanks to a goofy blonde knucklehead.
On Mizuki's suggestion Naruto had stolen the scroll of sealing and hidden himself away "Mm that does sound like quite the idea but for a later time Eda-kun" Mebuki said also thinking on the idea, even if Samurai Guards were enough of an escort/guard for them.
"Speaking of, since Sakura is an official shinobi now, Koron, Kyogo, your being reassigned as their permanent guards on their travels, taking turns of course so that at least one of you will be here with my little princess" Juhi announced in the next moment.
Glancing to the two samurai that had been teaching his daughter everything she needed to know about her country but she'd flown through all the lessons and knew all she could at that point "We understand Juhi-sama, thank you" the green haired pink eyed woman bowed her head in respect.
"Yes thank you now I can stop speculating on the subject" the green haired pink eyed male chuckled only to wince when an elbow was firmly embedded in his side courtesy of his side, which caused laughter around the table.
"At least I'm not the only ninja in the family anymore" Koeda exclaimed in the next moment extremely proud of her cousin for accomplishing part of her goal, this was just the beginning though and things would be five times more difficult from there on out.
This earned her a beaming smile "Thanks Koeda-chan and yeah, though I know where I want to put my headband now" Sakura admitted tying her headband loosely around her neck signifying her status as a rookie genin now.
Her entire family was proud of her "Well done Sakura-chan, well done" Kizashi clapped and the others followed and then dinner finished up and the dishes were cleaned and put away before Sakura took a bath and crawled into her bed, wishing she could go out one last time and look for Naruto.
But Koron and Kyogo had already left almost immediately after polishing off their dinner to search for her friend and if anyone could find Naruto it was them, with that thought in mind she let her eyes close and she drifted off into sleep.
During the time she was asleep, Iruka had figured out Mizuki's plot to steal the scroll of sealing from Naruto and went to stop his friend/dual sensei, in the process Naruto learned what he housed within his body and produced over a hundred shadow clones passing his graduation exams to become a genin.
So when he showed up the next morning at the academy a headband tied around his forehead Sakura nearly strangled him "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN YOU MORON" the fuscia haired preteen snarled.
His skin paled immediately and Naruto hastily retreated as fast as he could but that didn't work and he soon found himself pinned to the wall of his classroom "I..I'm sorry I just co..couldn't see you be..being disappointed in me after all the work you put in to prepare me" Naruto stuttered.
Nervous like never before and he had a perfectly good excuse to be nervous because Sakura could pummel him, apparently his excuse wasn't a good enough one because her peridot irises narrowed on him fury within their depths.
"Complete and utter idiot I could have never been disappointed in you, Never you hear, Sasuke and I searched everywhere for you yesterday and it hurt that we couldn't find you to cheer you up" Sakura spat furiously.
Tears thick in her eyes and voice raw with emotion "Dope making us worry" Sasuke snorted from behind them and the tension dissipated, Naruto was just glad that he hadn't been punched into next week for the stunt he'd pulled.
Because honestly he hadn't thought they cared that much but the two had just proved him wrong "You really looked for me" Naruto asked sheepishly, Sakura glared and gave a derisive snort before stomping to their desk.
"That's a yes moron, try not to upset her anymore because I thought she was going to go ballistic on me yesterday to" Sasuke shuddered, he wasn't afraid to admit that he was afraid of Sakura, she could hit extremely hard and it wasn't fun getting beat up by a girl.
Gulping Naruto trudged after Sasuke to the row they'd sat in for the last several years "I..I'm g..glad your o..okay N..Naruto-kun" Hinata the only one who didn't seem angry with him for disappearing on them breathed when he sat next to her.
And so he flashed her a whiskered grin in response "Your still an idiot though, I really thought Sakura was going to cry yesterday" Ino scoffed from behind them, stuck in between Shikamaru and Choji, who didn't really talk much to her assorted friends.
Naruto hunched his shoulders feeling doubly guilty for putting his friends through so much heartache "D..Don't w..worry ab..about it y..your here th..that's all that matters" Hinata stuttered just glad that he got to graduate with them.
Ino shook her head "Right just try not to pull anymore stupid stunts like that again you hear" the slightly older blonde snorted before focusing her gaze forward as Iruka appeared through the sliding doors of the classroom.
Then walked calmly towards the podium a light wince to his step that keen peridot orbs picked up on and Sakura wondered exactly what had happened during the night since she hadn't given Naruto a chance to explain himself yet.
But for now she'd focus her attention on their sensei, she also subtly noted that Mizuki was missing that morning "Congratulations to you all for becoming genin, I've got to say I'm proud of most if not all of you for making it to this point in your lives" Iruka began another prepared speech.
"Today marks your first official days as genin, things will change, you'll be put into teams of three based on your exam scores and a jonin sensei will be put in charge of you, right then for teams" the brunet grabbed up a clipboard.
Rattling off three names as he went down the list, Sakura leaned forward in her seat waiting impatiently to hear who she'd be put on a team with "Team Eight, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame" Iruka called.
So Hinata was out, Naruto stood so she could join her teammates before the next team was called "Team Ten Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara" the brunet listed and Ino groaned though she shouldn't have been to surprised.
And Sakura was now five times more excited as she realized that they were the only ones left "And Team Seven Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha that is all, your Jonin Sensei's will be here to meet you soon" Iruka finished.
Just as one of his best students jumped up "Yes this is totally awesome being on a team with you two" Sakura cheered becoming the most excitable any of her classmates had ever seen since she was usually calm and collected.
When she realized everyone was staring even Iruka, though his gaze was full of amusement, Sakura blushed beet red and slumped down into her seat in embarrassment "Nearly mistook you for the Dope a minute there" and Sasuke just had to tease her.
To which she promptly dug her elbow into his side gently of course "Can't believe we're actually teammates though, thought for sure I'd be stuck on someone else's team you know" Naruto rambled just as excited that he wasn't separated from his two friends.
Behind them Ino sighed "Lucky I got stuck with food boy and lazy boy" Ino huffed not complaining just wishing that she wouldn't have to work so hard to get the two boys to do anything beyond be lazy or eat.
Sakura giggled softly just as the first of the jonin appeared a beautiful raven haired woman with lovely crimson eyes "Team Eight I am your sensei Kurenai Yuhi" the woman introduced herself to her students before Hinata, Kiba and Shino were gone.
"I..I'll try t..to catch up wi..with you soon S..Sakura-chan" Hinata waved before she was fully out of the classroom and then the door was shut behind Team Eight and Sakura bit her lip wondering who their sensei would be.
Moments later another jonin appeared "Team Ten and I'm Asuma Sarutobi" the raven haired male greeted, a cigarette perched between his lips unlit for the moment and hands shoved deep in his pockets as he introduced himself.
Ino sighed then nudged Shikamaru out of her way giving a small wave to her friends as they to left the classroom they'd studied in for the last almost seven years, an hour later all that remained was Team Seven and Sakura felt frustration well up on her.
Even Sasuke was getting irritated at how late their sensei was "Ugh do you want to go a round of Go with me" the Uchiha finally gave up on trying not to seem like he was completely and utterly bored and to Sakura's surprise pulled out a Go set.
"Okay at least it will keep us occupied until sensei comes" Sakura shrugged lightly knowing that she was probably going to win since she was slightly smarter than the average genin, though Shikamaru beat her by leagues.
Naruto pouted and slumped further in his seat as his two friends began their game that he couldn't even begin to understand in the least then a thought came to him and he was clambering out of his seat and headed towards the front of the classroom.
"Gonna play a prank on the sensei, that will teach him not to be late" Naruto sniggered grabbing a chalk board eraser and standing on a stool to wedge the eraser precariously between the sliding door and wall.
All this drew Sasuke and Sakura's attention from their game "He's not going to fall for it Dope, he's a jonin for a reason" Sasuke pointed out with a roll of his obsidian orbs, but as usual the blonde completely ignored him.
Sakura sighed "Sasuke's got a point he's not going to….." she trailed off as a hand appeared and then the door was slowly opened and with a clatter the chalkboard eraser hit the man splat on his head of gravity defying silver hair.
Naruto completely lost it "Ahaha he fell for it, he fell for it, I sure got you sensei" the blonde held his stomach as he rolled around on the floor laughing his head off at who he thought was his sensei, he was right to.
But what none of them expected was for his first words to them "My first impression of all of you….I hate you" that was it, no introduction and then he was ordering them up to the roof for introductions and Sakura's eye twitched frustrated yet again.
Sasuke hurriedly put away the game and they followed their sensei up to the roof as he'd instructed them to do and they all sat down before him on steps "Okay let's all introduce ourselves" he gave them an obvious fake smile.
"Why don't you go first sensei, give us an idea of what you want us to say" Sakura narrowed her eyes already not liking this guy in the least, first he's hours late than the rest of the Jonin sensei and then within their first five minutes of meeting each other he says he hates them.
It was off-putting to say the least "Kakashi Hatake, my dream is, my hobbies are, the things I like, don't feel like telling you, your turn" Kakashi finally revealed his name but didn't tell his students anything more.
Her eye twitched in irritation "I'll go first, Naruto Uzumaki, my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage so the whole village will stop disrespecting me, my hobbies are studying, training and pulling pranks, I hate having to wait three minutes for ramen and I love eating all kinds of ramen" Naruto burst out.
"Oh…and I hate bullies" he finished in the next moment, bullies had been his biggest problem in the academy until he'd become friends with Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata, then he wasn't picked on very much anymore because people tended to avoid his pink haired friend.
Sasuke shook his head in amusement "Sasuke Uchiha, there are very few things I like, tomatoes for one, my friends second, my hobby is to train and study to improve myself physically, mentally and spiritually and my dream is to never become the person my brother wanted me to be" the raven haired preteen announced.
Now all that was left was her "My name is Sakura Haruno, I love sweets, training, studying the like, I hate bullies and people who underestimate me and my dream to become one of the best medic-nin's in the world so that I can heal my precious people" Sakura exclaimed softly.
Kakashi just stared at them with his lone onyx eye, bewildered no doubt because they already had themselves sorted out and what they wanted in life "Well now that, that's done meet me on training grounds seven tomorrow morning for a test oh and don't eat or you'll puke" Kakashi said.
Then just like that vanished in a plume of smoke "Urgh he is so frustrating, like what kind of sensei tells their students within five minutes of meeting them that he hates them and what kind of idiot does he take me for" the pinkette jumped up in the next moment ranting and raving.
Both Sasuke and Naruto leaned away from her warily "We get it Sakura-chan he's mean but what do you suppose he meant by that last line" the blonde asked as they headed down the steps to leave the academy behind for the last time, only this time they were walking as an official team.
"Look beneath the underneath, he's probably going to put us through some test and by not eating we'll have less energy, so I would eat anyway" the raven shrugged seeing through the deception, Sakura smirked and he knew she'd seen through it as well.
Poor Naruto though he was just as clueless as usual as they headed to the training grounds to get in a bit of training before it was time for them to go home, when Sakura entered her Aunt and Uncle's house she found it nearly empty.
Except for Kyogo, Cee, Darui and Koeda "Uncle Juhi, Aunt Sayuri and Musubime started back to the Capital, Mom, Dad, Eda-kun and Koron-chan decided to go on their trip selling wares early and I'll be leaving soon for a mission, by the way did you find out who's on your team" Koeda chattered.
And the lot of them were surprised when the names were announced "Naruto and Sasuke are my teammates and some guy named Kakashi is our sensei, I forgot to ask that knucklehead how exactly he managed to get a headband but I can do that tomorrow I guess" Sakura mused.
In the chaos of meeting her sensei, she'd completely forgotten about seeing Iruka limping lightly that morning "Told you he'd find a way though Sakura" Darui chuckled lightly glad to see the girl back to her usual bubbly self.
"That you did Darui-kun, though he didn't tell us how, anyway we have an early morning training session with Kakashi-sensei tomorrow so after dinner I'm going to check over my weapons and medical pouches to make sure I'm prepared for anything" the pinkette admitted.
Darui let his lips quirk up "We're being called back to Hidden Cloud, we'll see you again sometime Sakura-san" Cee was the one to inform her of their departure, Sakura only hugged Darui before waving to him and then they were gone from the house.
Moments later Koeda was gone as well leaving her with Kyogo "Time for dinner Ojo-sama" Kyogo announced leading his charge into the dining room so that they could eat and before she took her shower he gave her a quick politics lesson.
Early the next morning around five and Sakura was immensely glad she was use to going to bed early, she padded into the kitchen, grabbed about four apples and two bottles of water, scribbled a note to Kyogo, grabbed her pouches and headband and headed out the door.
And all the way across the village "Bit early don't you think to be wandering around unattended anyone could hurt you" Tonbo chuckled darkly from behind her suddenly and Sakura wiped around holding a hand over her heart.
Before her eyes narrowed "Yeah well I bet a guy would think twice about trying to pull any sort of fast one on me when they realize I don't hold back on perverts" Sakura huffed biting into her apple and resuming her walk to training grounds seven.
She just knew for some reason that her sensei would be late and so she didn't feel guilty in the least for dawdling and taking her time, Tonbo snorted "Probably so did you get things settled with that blonde brat" he inquired since he hadn't seen them at all yesterday.
"Oh yeah that's right, he showed up yesterday at the academy with a headband, still don't know how he got it by the way, but at least he graduated with us and now he's on my genin team alongside Sasuke, just as I'd known they'd be" the pinkette mumbled softly.
Tonbo shook his head and decided to indulge the girls curiosity "Mizuki put him up to stealing the scroll of sealing from the archives beneath the Hokage Tower, Umino was there when he managed to pull off the shadow clone jutsu and make over a hundred clones" Tonbo admitted.
Peridot eyes widened "Guess that explains why Mizuki-sensei was missing yesterday from class and why Iruka-sensei was limping and wincing every other step he took" Sakura sighed well at least now she didn't have to speculate or demand answers from her friend anymore.
And then they were at training grounds seven "See you around brat now that you're a genin and all" Tonbo snorted hurrying off as he realized he'd done it again and followed her all the way to wherever she went.
Sakura snickered under her breath and made her way to the monument, taking in all the names and honoring them "Hey figured you'd be here early" Sasuke appeared at her side in the next moment, munching on a tomato of all things.
Her lips quirked upwards into a smile at the sight of the fruit, Sasuke and his bloody obsession with tomatoes "You call that breakfast" she just had to pick on him and Sasuke flushed red in response and scowled at her.
"Like just apples is any better Sakura" the Uchiha grumbled biting into his tomato again uncaring of how he looked, he liked tomatoes they were his favorite thing and he wouldn't let anyone pick on him about his obsession.
The pinkette giggled softly "Well at least it's healthy unlike that knucklehead who'll probably just eat ramen or something" the fuscia haired preteen snorted softly focusing her gaze on the monument again.
Sasuke did the same, nearly an hour later they were joined by their remaining teammate "Sorry I'm late I had to go shopping for something healthy this morning, cause I didn't think eating ramen would be appropriate for our first training session with Kakashi-sensei" Naruto skidded to a halt at their side.
Completely out of breath, at his explanation both of his friends gave him a look, a question in their eyes "Ate um some curry, sweet potato and vegetable curry with one dango and green tea" the blonde relented to their silent questions.
Before he fell silent, then the three of them stood there just staring at the monument of fallen shinobi for another two hours until their sensei finally decided to join them "Yo I'm sorry I got lost on the path of life" and he even gave them a lame ass excuse as to why he was three hours late.
Sakura rolled her eyes and focused her attention on him instead, which prompted Naruto and Sasuke to do the same until they were facing him and waiting for his instructions "Right I'm going to give you a survival test that will see if your really cut out to be genin" Kakashi said.
Her eyes narrowed in response "You must get these two bells from me, anything goes and you must come at me with the intent to kill, oh and whoever doesn't get a bell before lunch gets tied to that post and goes without, you have until noon" the silver haired nin set a timer.
And his three genin scattered to the winds, he was honestly surprised "Wh..What do we do Sakura-chan, Teme" Naruto stuttered, he had been shocked when Sakura had grabbed him by his collar and dragged him off into the tree's.
Their remaining teammate on their heels "He's trying to pit us against each other, think about it, two bells would create tension and discord between us, we have to take him on as a team or we'll fail the point of his test" Sasuke guessed easily.
"Exactly so we have to come up with a sound plan to either prove that we have what it takes to be a team or physically get a bell, that means no acting independently of each other is that understood" Sakura looked between the two boys.
Who nodded seriously "Good now here's the plan, we'll use these camouflage tags to cover ourselves and set off jutsu's to distract him, one from each of us, Naruto you stick with Sasuke, enhance his fireball jutsu with your gale palm and I'll use my raging waves, then we'll move onto weapons and taijutsu, and if I can genjutsu" the pinkette explained.
"Nice plan Sakura and I think it might just work, so we just push chakra into the tag right to use it" the raven haired preteen was slightly confused when a tag was pushed into his hand, though at her nod he relaxed and stuffed it into his pocket for the time being.
Naruto gulped "We've got this in the bag, Kakashi-sensei won't know what hit him" the blonde pumped his arm in excitement as they disappeared from each others sight and then he was being dragged off by who he presumed was Sasuke.
Meanwhile their sensei had stood patiently waiting in the middle of the training grounds, looking around warily because he'd thought for sure that at least one of the little brats would have tried to take him head on.
What he hadn't counted on was his sole female student 'This is turning out a lot different than I imagined it would' Kakashi thought inwardly to himself and spread out his senses, but to his surprise he couldn't feel a single one of his students.
That was because of the chakra suppression/camouflage tag that they were using, he couldn't have known that though so now he was a lot more wary, especially when the wind started picking up in speed and thick dark clouds slowly rolled over the sky.
It hit him just as the landscape changed to a barren wasteland complete with the most horrifying monster he'd ever seen and ducked low just in time for a wind jutsu enhanced fireball jutsu sailed over his head.
A water jutsu coming at him from behind, followed by a barrage of weapons, and then Sasuke was there going for an obvious lunge, what he didn't count on was for four shadow clones and the original of Naruto to come after him as well.
Then once again from behind came his sole female student, he was completely overwhelmed and Sakura snagged the bells from his waist "Ha beat that sensei we totally had you thrown for a loop" the girl snickered leaping back and out of the way as fast as she could.
Settling into a defensive stance just in case it was a trick and discreetly making a hand sign and pulsing her chakra out just to make sure there wasn't any genjutsu in play "Wha….." Kakashi couldn't believe how quickly they'd managed to get the bells.
Not only that but they'd worked as a team "You underestimated us by thinking that we were regular fresh out of the academy genin sensei, we saw through your deception and figured out the true meaning behind your test" the Uchiha on the team commented.
"Yeah, yeah and that's working together as a team to take you down, I won't be the person who abandons his teammates, I'd rather be scum" the Uzumaki boy grinned widely throwing his arm around Sasuke's shoulders as they stood before him.
Kakashi blinked, then blinked again before sighing "Guess there's only one thing to do then, congratulations you pass the test" the silver haired nin announced before turning his attention on his sole female student "There was a genjutsu, was that you" Kakashi questioned.
This earned him a beaming smile "Oh yeah Kakashi-sensei that was me one hundred percent, it's a genjutsu I crafted from scratch, what did you think" Sakura was curious because she couldn't be sure how long her sensei had been in the genjutsu.
"Nice touch with the creature I suppose, though if you really want to give your genjutsu a realistic effect I would completely scrap that idea and figure out something else" the Copy Nin said then dismissed his students for the day.
Sakura's expression fell as she was completely brushed aside "Ignore him Sakura, he doesn't know how hard you worked on that genjutsu in the last almost two years" Sasuke glared at his sensei's back before he poofed away in a plume of smoke.
Even the goofy blonde on their team nodded "Yeah, yeah Sakura-chan and that creature is seriously freaky" Naruto jumped in helping to lift her spirits as they headed from the training grounds and to Ichiraku for an early lunch.
Before spending the rest of the day studying in the library, just because they were no longer academy students didn't mean they couldn't still study and broaden their knowledge in all sorts of different subjects now that they could go to the genin section of the library.
Then before they knew it, it was time to head home, eat dinner and finally got to bed for the night, where they dreamed of the future and what it would be like for each of them now that they'd started on the path of official ninja.