It was one of those days that just about everything seemed to go wrong. Sakura woke up late, skipped breakfast and still didn't have time to blow dry her hair which meant it wasn't the normal pin-straight length but full of errant waves. 'I probably could have spared the time to dry it but the day that one of us is late is the day Kakashi-sensei shows up on time and I am not going to be subjected to some weird punishment.'
The hair and having to wait hours past the meeting time was bad enough but worst of all was that Kakashi did nominate Team 7 for the exams. Naruto and Sasuke were as enthused as she had expected and though she had until the next day to make her decision Sakura wasn't sure she really had an option. She was pretty sure cells had to compete together or not at all.
'Even if I wanted to, could I say no? What If I fall even further behind them by not showing up tomorrow?' Sakura hated the thought of that and she hated how hard it was concentrating on the book in her hands. 'I just want to read about the differences between Moonseed and Wild Grapes...' There had been an unfortunate incident on their way back from Wave in which she might have accidently poisoned Naruto and he spent the whole night vomiting. 'And I just cannot handle a repeat of that.'
The very least she could do was learn not to kill anyone when she was in charge of foraging. 'Though to be fair Naruto put those berries in his mouth before Kakashi checked them.' So intent on memorizing the shape and color of leaves she missed the sound of the chair scraping against the floor across from her. It was the aggravated sigh punctuating the air that had her glancing over the edge of her book. 'Well, this is new.'
Usually Shikamaru was slouching off somewhere with a good view of the clouds until someone dragged him into something but there he was sitting across from her with the look of someone being marched to the grave. He didn't say a word and didn't seem like he was in any hurry to either but everytime she tried to go back to reading he sighed.
"Shikamaru, I can't read minds." Sakura slapped the book down on the table after she got sick of the sound.
He heaved a sigh, slumping further in his chair. "Your soulmate is that Jōnin from Suna…"
'Its official, everyone does know about it.' Sakura thought about slapping her head into the table too. She'd been trying not to think about Sasori, the whole kicking him in the leg thing and then running off was not her best moment. In fact she hadn't seen him since it happened a few days ago and while that probably should have relieved her it didn't. There was an undeniable curiosity about him that nagged at her whenever he came to mind. 'I just don't understand why of all people...'
"...The name of the girl on his team?"
She missed everything preceding that but had a good idea of what he was asking. "Why do you want to know that?"
Shikamaru mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like troublesome. "Lets just say you and I now have something in common." Besides being smart, not that Sakura knew it considering he purposely tanked his grades in the academy making a point to fly beneath the notice of his peers. 'If only that had worked with Asuma-Sensei…'
"Something in com-Oh. Oh!" It only took her a few seconds because Sakura wasn't stupid even when she was distracted. "Why didn't you ask when you met her?"
Shikamaru grimaced, one hand rubbing against the back of his shoulder in memory. "Well after the pain wore off," because no one ever told him just how much it actually hurt, or the suddenness that it set upon a person and he'd been a little out of it. "I might have you know, said she was troublesome and that the whole thing was a hassle and then she got all pissy and stomped off before I could ask." If that was any indication of how things were going to be he'd been perfectly correct in his first assessment.
"I'm beginning to think it's normal for first meetings to go completely sideways." Sakura fought the urge to slap a hand over her face in second-hand mortification. She was pretty sure he'd done worse than she had. 'And that's saying something, I mean at least I know his name.'
"Before you have yourself a giggle at my expense let's just remember how things went down for you, what with calling him old and all-now do you know her name or not? My mom is chewing my ear off about this."
Apparently Ino had been shooting her mouth off about the details. 'Traitor.' She thought towards the blonde. "If you wanted to know the names of the other two I could have helped, Naruto and Sasuke won't shut up about them...but I don't know a thing about the girl.' Other than the fact that she'd been okay with letting Kankurō or whatever terrorize a little kid. 'You know, now that I think about it maybe being a jerk really is a Suna thing.'
"What a drag." Shikamaru sighed, folded his arms beneath his head and promptly closed his eyes without so much as a thank you or a sorry for the interruption.
As it turned out, being a jerk was not decided by geography. Reading was impossible because as soon as Shikamaru was well and truly asleep-something that he fell into with astounding speed considering he typically moved with the haste of a snail, he'd started to snore. While Sakura had come to consider herself pretty good at filtering out background noise after months of having to bunk near someone who sleep-talked-loudly, she was already on edge and the sound was more grating than ever.
She packed up her books and went to treat herself to a snack at one of the local tea shops. Apparently the old adage that concerned talking about people and then them showing up was true because as soon as she flipped up the curtain and got a look inside Sakura was faced with the very people she'd just been talking about. 'Of all the tea houses in Konoha, why the one I like best?'
Being as close to the library as it was she'd become so much of a frequent visitor that the owner and her husband knew her by name and they were so comfortable with her that they had stopped asking for her order and simply brought her whatever they thought she would like.
'Not that I can complain…' Sakura was pretty sure that it was because Himari—the wife, thought she was adorable. Although it didn't sound like a very good business model to give away products based on an arbitrary cute-factor and she was aware that being viewed as adorable seemed counterproductive to being a ninja but it was free.
Sasori and his team were the only people inside besides Himari and Yuu who were probably hiding in the kitchen area far from the stifling aura their customers gave off. They all sat with wide gaps between them and Sakura would have quietly edged herself right back out the building except for the fact that she'd already been noticed by two out of the four.
It was really just natural reflex that she tried using the book as a shield against the weight of being stared at. Sasori had not turned his head to look in her direction but glanced at her from the peripheries, expression unchanged and completely unperturbed. The other one, Gaara if memory served was like an odd copy of his teacher.
"What are you tw-" The girl Shikamaru had been asking about was the third to pick up on her presence, teacup pausing halfway to her mouth. "Oh." Surprise worse off her face quickly, a slyness that seemed vaguely familiar replaced it. She was across the room in a flash. "You look like you're about to run off, you should stay and have some tea."
Every cell in her body seemed to scream at her about how awkward the situation was but running away ceased being an option when she was pressed into the seat across from Kankurō.
Sasori and Gaara sat the furthest away, at opposite ends of the room at their own empty tables. Kankurō and the girl shared the same table and Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that she was being dragged into an animal den and whether or not she came out in one piece depended solely on how she carried herself from there on out.
"Temari!" The boy in black hissed, hands thrown up in protestation.
'Ah, so that's her name.' Sakura couldn't help but feel some spiteful smugness at the fact that she now had something to hold over Shikamaru's head, considering her current situation was his entire fault. "Uh…" she began, only to find her voice lost as the two continued talking over her.
"What? Isn't it right and proper that we meet our cousin's soulmate?" Temari was not very good at looking innocent, she was far too sharp for it.
"Cousin?" Sakura gasped.
"His father and ours were brothers." Temari explained without looking at her, keen eyes looking for any imperfections in Sasori's countenance. Part of what she was doing was out of spite-a family trait she had inherited and the other part of it was simply for the attention, not that she would ever admit it.
In a somewhat impressive feat the paint that Kankurō had slathered all over his face didn't smudge when he ran his hands over it in frustration. "You really should know better than to kick a scorpion nest by now Temari." It was like asking to get stung and he certainly didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
For the most part Sasori kept his Genin well in line but every now and then one or two of them decided they were feeling particularly plucky for some reason or another and wanted to see what they could get away with which was usually his cue to crush their little hopes and dreams, an activity that he may have occasionally delighted in. Apparently it was one of those days. "If that's the case I suppose we should go track down yours but ah, that's right; You don't even know his name."
There was a faint cringe to be seen around the corner of her dark teal eyes, revealing the barbed commentary had struck. "That was not my fault." Temari scowled and reclaimed her seat as soon as she was sure their new companion was not going to sprint for the exit. 'Not that I would blame her.' her family was by no means conventional and certainly not nice.
Normally Sakura was what one would call a know-it-all and she did at that point know more about Temari and Shikamaru than anyone else in the room knew but her brain was still currently stuck on the whole they were related issue.
Now that she knew it, Sakura's eyes immediately sought out the similarities between them all. Gaara and Sasori could clearly be viewed as related given their hair color and mannerisms, though the younger of them was even less engaged than Sasori, having gone back to staring into the depths of his cup like the secrets of the universe could be found there within. The vacant expression on his face reminded her of something she couldn't quite place at that moment.
It put things in a new light, the four of them were not just master and subordinates but family, yet there was a distance that could be felt just from being in the same room as them. They didn't feel anything like her own family, though there was only her parents and herself to account for. 'And it's nothing like Team 7…' with everyday that passed since they had been thrown together; from chasing that poor, fat cat named Tora through the dangers of Wave the three had become less like people she served with and more like family.
Sakura hadn't considered the slow evolution that had taken place-how important the whole of her team had become until she was faced with the opposite reflection before her. 'These are people who have fought besides one another, who share blood and have shed blood together but it feels like there is this giant chasm between them.' She'd go as far as to say it felt like they were almost continents apart with the exception of Kankurō and Temari who shared the same space.
There was a quiet swoosh as Himari exited the back, looking utterly relieved to see a face she was familiar with and didn't make the room feel as though it was several degrees colder than it actually was as she balanced a small tray. "Sakura-chan, I thought I heard your voice." An extra cup was placed and poured with something that was distinctly not green tea, the faint scent of something floral lingered after it was poured.
If Sakura were to guess and it had become a bit of a game lately to figure out the contents of what mystery tea Himari served her she'd put money on it being jasmine.
'Of all the places, it had to be the one she apparently frequents.' Sasori had only chosen it because it was quiet and more or less empty. He'd had been thinking over the last few days and had come to the very logical conclusion that there was no point in being angry at Sakura about the whole soulmate fiasco, in the end she had as little choice in it as he did. Accepting it and liking it were not the same.
"You know her by name?" It was the most Kankurō had heard from the waitress beyond asking for their orders-which was to be expected since he was well aware of the aura they gave off together much less individually. For the most part it was a point of pride that they were intimidating. ' and I don't see the point if getting close to anyone since we're slated to smash this place in the next two weeks.' So far, despite the two obvious snares that had been thrown into the mix Sasori hadn't notified them of a change in plans and he was left to assume things would proceed.
There was however an unspoken agreement that they were to avoid any undue harm to Sakura and whoever the hell Temari's soulmate was. 'Although I'm not sure how we're supposed to manage that when the only descriptive words she used were; rude, slouchy and spikey. I mean hell, that could be a variety of people.'
Himari, less fearful now that Sakura had more or less broken the ice with her presence nodded. "Oh yes, she's here quite often. This one is almost always reading, sometimes she comes in with one book and leaves straight back to the library for a new one."
How quickly Sakura read was dependent on the day and the subject, but she said nothing as she pressed one of the almond biscuits to her mouth.
Kankurō and Temari's eyes seemed to move in unison to the books Sakura had set on the table. The two of them had been arguing amongst themselves the last two days- out of earshot of course, on just why Sasori had a soulmate that was some twiggy, pink haired girl. The book at the top of the stack was labeled as an advanced guide to poisonous plants.
"Huh. I guess maybe the two of you do have something in common." Temari snickered and tossed the book in Sasori's direction.
"Hey!" Sakura could handle being made uncomfortable but she didn't see why the books had to suffer along with her.
Sasori caught it if only to avoid being pelted in the face. Temari had excellent aim, as if he would tolerate anything less.
"You know speaking of poisons, the exams start tomorrow and today would be a great time t-"
Gaara visibly twitched, his eyes moving a fraction if an inch away from the cup. "If I have to hear this again I will kill you." Whatever levity Temari and Kankurō may have been experiencing plummeted, the second visibly recoiling as if Gaara had raised a fist.
"I think Yuu said something about goma-dango." Himari said with a faint shudder, sliding her way backwards. "I'll just go check on those." And then she was gone out of sight again. [1]
Sakura frowned and slid the bowl of sweets to the center of the table. "Help yourselves." Naruto and Sasuke certainly bickered, threatening and sometimes even coming to blows but it was always in the good natured rough housing that boys seemed to relish in. 'But that is not what I just saw.' Even a novice like her could tell the difference yet Sasori didn't seem bothered by it having occupied himself with flipping through her book.
"Well, at least it can be said that you're polite." Temari remarked, eyeing the confectionaries for a moment before snagging one. "Although politeness never got a Kunoichi very far." It was meant to be a jab, especially when said with the sneer that was reminiscent of her cousin's.
"Maybe, but being polite has certainly helped me learn a lot of things." Sakura decided there was no better moment to put her foot down. She had little doubt that they thought she was being meek-a polite way of saying weak and simply going along to get along. 'Maybe I'm not particularly strong like Sasuke and maybe I lack stamina like Naruto, but what I do have is brains and I know when to seize an opportunity to do some damage.'
The moment "Like what?" exited Temari's mouth she was left with the feeling she'd stuck her foot in a trap and the way that Sakura smiled so coyly behind the second almond biscuit only drove the realization deeper.
"Troublesome, hassle-sound familiar yet? Or how about the pineapple hair...if that doesn't help how about the part-"
"Nope! it all sounds spot on." Temari cut in before Sakura could continue, having no interest in reliving the events. 'Not only that but I didn't tell them the reason I didn't get his name was because I got mad and walked away.' Kankurō would never shut up about it, Sasori would give her that look and she would be lucky if that was all she got.
From the moment she'd caught sight of Sakura at the entrance Temari's intention had been to poke and prod in an attempt to get some sort of reaction from her or Sasori. 'And she turned the tables on me.' It was vexing but...respectable. "...What's his name?" It felt like a mouthful of sand just having to ask.
Kankurō could almost hear his sister's teeth grit, or maybe that was the cookie he was chewing on with sudden relish. The sound of pages being turned had stilled signaling that Sasori too was all to aware of what Sakura had done.
"Check the library, he might still be there and you can ask him yourself." Sakura could have told her, she wasn't without sympathy for the situation but playing mediator between the two of them seemed like it would get old fast.
Temari was on her feet and pulling her weapon off the wall from where it had been propped alongside the strangely wrapped thing that belonged to Kankurō if Sakura recalled correctly. "Permission to be dismissed?"
"Just get out of my sight." Sasori rolled his eyes and anticipated what came next, Kankurō's mouth was already open and poised for a question. "That goes for all of you." If Temari wasn't around Kankurō got all antsy having to be around Gaara and vice versa. They'd already had a long discussion about laying low, if they were itching for a fight they didn't have much longer to wait.
Temari and Kankurō squabbled over the last of the almond biscuits just before they left, the most sibling like thing she'd witnessed thus far but when she turned her head, ears caching the subdued sound of something sifting Gaara was gone too. Which meant she was alone now and had no one to use as a buffer between her and Sasori. 'I should have kept my mouth shut about Shikamaru.' she realized a little too late. 'Maybe he'll just you know...ignore me.' and then she wouldn't have to apologize or stick her foot in her mouth again.
"Are you planning on poisoning someone? It's far easier to inject then to make someone ingest."
That's right, he still had her book. "Just the opposite, I'm trying to keep from poisoning people." She left again off purposely but it was too much to hope that he wouldn't seize on it. Having to turn her head to look at him was starting to strain her neck. 'And this whole separate table thing is a complete waste.' She took her tea and the rest of her books, settling in across from him.
"I take it you had an incident." It wasn't uncommon. If Konoha's academy classes were anything like Suna's they only covered a small amount of poisonous plants. They tended more towards the ideology that a person should stick to what they knew was safe. That being said accidents did happen. "Who ate what?"
"Naruto, Moonseed. I mistook them for Wild Grapes but before I could verify with Kakashi, someone put them in their mouth."
"What is he, a horse? because only a few of those berries and that boy should be dead." assuming he was around Sakura's size and had the metabolism of a normal person.
It was an oddity that Sakura had noticed when reading. The berries were lethal even in small doses but Naruto had only spent a night being violently sick and he had eaten at least a handful. "I figured Kakashi probably administered activated charcoal or something. Naruto was his usual self the next morning. It's the only explanation I can come up with." except she hadn't seen Kakashi administer anything.
"By usual self do you mean lethargic and half alive?"
"Not by a long shot. Loud and energetic." She would have added annoying to the trifecta but Sakura felt even worse about the whole situation after realizing he could have died from eating something she'd picked.
That seemed highly suspicious to him. 'That sort of rebound is almost unprecedented.' but there were a few extenuating circumstances he could conceive of. "Do you know the difference between the two now?"
Sakura's nose wrinkled before she responded "Crescent shaped seed and no tendrils as one would expect from the name Moonseed. Honestly I feel pretty dumb about it now."
"You were at least smart enough not to eat them and wise enough to make sure you learnt from your mistake." It wasn't like he'd never accidently poisoned someone before.
'Odd how that almost felt like a compliment.' Sakura mused.
There was a shuffle as Himari swept back into the room. "Oh." The tense set of her shoulders relaxed when she realized most of the former occupants were gone. She shrugged and set the fried dango between Sasori and Sakura before going about the room and collecting dishware no longer in use from the other tables. "Goodness, where did all this sand come from?" she mumbled to herself and left with full arms in search of a broom.
"I'm sorry." Sakura blurted out the words quickly enough to surprise him. "I shouldn't have kicked you.'' She used a pair of chopsticks to pick up one of the fried balls, they were still piping hot which meant the insides would be gooey. "Even if what you said was stupid." she added mostly under her breath, not wanting him to think that she suddenly agreed with his view of human life and it's worth it. 'Or rather lack thereof.'
"That's right. You did kick me." As if he had forgotten, the bruise had started turning yellow-green after a day or two. "More importantly, what I said was perfectly factual."
As much as Sakura appreciated logic and facts there were some things that could not be quantified, like when it was acceptable to mourn the loss of life or if their lives had any meaning at all. ' And of course they do.' And she was going to prove it. "Wouldn't you feel bad if one of your cousins died on some mission?"
"No. I would feel disappointed because it would reflect poorly on me and my skills as their teacher. Shinobi are like cream, the good ones rise and the rest fall."
"They are your family." Sakura blinked a few times and stared at his face for any sign that he was just pulling one over on her but she couldn't find a thing, she would have said he was perfectly blank but he seemed...amused. "and by the way pond scum rises to the top too." So there.
There was a scoff as he drank the last of his tea. "You say family as if it's supposed to mean something." Rasa was his uncle, it didn't make them close. 'And just look what that man was willing to do to his own son.' and then there was his grandmother who lied and assumed the worst. No, blood ties didn't mean a thing to him. 'Besides I have very little to worry about it when it comes to those three. They are annoying but they are anything but weak.' That feeling was back again, the same one from the other day that he'd come to recognize as anger.
Of course it made her angry, if he couldn't care about his own family she could only wonder who the hell Sasori did care about."I take it back." Sakura seethed, baring her teeth. "I'm not sorry for kicking you at all!" Honestly he deserved worse than a good kick. She whipped the admittance waiver out of her weapons pouch along with a pen and signed her name on the paper.
"You can't unapologize." Sasori scoffed at the notion, he was almost positive that wasn't a thing but his knowledge on apologies was lacking, abysmally."And why are you signing that?" He could hardly believe she had one in the first place. 'Kakashi has clearly suffered too many blows to the head.'
"Says you and I am signing it to prove a point." It was childish and completely spiteful of her.
"Is the point to prove that you can die an early death? There is a good chance you'll be right."
"No! its that if our lives don't matter than putting mine in perceived danger shouldn't matter to you at all."
"That's completely different, it's not just your life but possibly mine as well." Self preservation was a natural instinct. 'Well maybe not so natural since she's throwing it out the window.' Taking the paper wasn't an option when she could just get a replacement by tomorrow and he couldn't very well bar her entrance without causing more trouble than it might be worth.
"What's the value of your life if no life matters?" Sakura countered as she precisely refolded the paper and stuffed it back into place. "Himari, I'm going!" She called, hand cupped over her mouth as she rose from her seat. "If you want to charge me I'll just pay next time." And she was out the door without so much as a goodbye.
Sasori wondered if it was going to become a pattern, Sakura getting mad and fleeing. 'At least there was no kicking this time.' he sighed and tapped the book she'd left behind in her haste. Now that he was alone he found himself considering her words. 'The value of my life…' It was a finite thing even though he was at the top of the tier. Even the idea he'd been kicking around couldn't completely guarantee an unending existence.
"Would you like more tea?"
Somewhere along the way he'd lost track of time, the waitress-Himari as he recalled had come back. "No, I'm ready to pay… The girl's too." Not that she deserved it.
"I usually don't charge her." Himari smiled behind the bill she was holding. "She's really rather cute and so terribly hard working. I mean the books Sakura-chan reads...Sometimes they're bigger than she is! It's hard to believe she's a Kunoichi sometimes."
Sasori could agree with the last part.
It took Sakura until the next morning after a night of tossing and turning to realize she'd left her book behind. Not that she had the time or interest to track it down immediately. Nope, she was too busy mentally berating herself for letting Sasori get the better of her again. The fact of the matter was that when she got angry things just happened. 'Like signing this stupid paper.' She thought, glaring down at her name.
She couldn't just not show up after making such a big deal and signing the form right in front of Sasori's face because then he would think he'd won and she certainly couldn't have that. So Sakura made extra sure her gear was in order, added some more ration bars and medical supplies after a moment of consideration. "I'm going." She said, poking her head into the kitchen to bid farewell to her parents.
They were typically overbearing and boisterous but since Sakura had given them the news last night that she would be participating they'd been rather...subdued.
"Well," Kizashi threw open his arms. "Come along then." For once since turning ten Sakura did not roll her eyes and simply allowed herself to be hugged tightly.
"Winning or losing doesn't matter." Mebuki advised. "Only surviving, don't forget that and don't be surprised if we're not there to watch you get the daylights beaten out of you either. We just don't have the stomach for it." She kissed her daughter's forehead. "You'd better go before someone starts to cry,"
Sakura made a show of leaving more confidently than she felt if only to make them feel a little better but by the time she was around the block she was just about dragging her feet to the meeting destination. She arrived first, Sasuke not long after.
"Sakura-chan!" And Naruto last with his usual excess of energy.
"Yea, good morning." she replied, offering a tepid smile.
Sakura missed the suspicious look Sasuke had spared her.
"I have a question, what were we supposed to do with this again?" Naruto questioned holding up his paper.
"Sign it, can't you read?" Sakura pointed towards the bottom. "The rest of it is just a disclaimer about how the village is not responsible for you know...possible death or catastrophic injuries." Neither he nor Sasuke flinched.
Naruto laughed "Well, I'm not worried about that." he searched around for a pen only for Sakura to offer him the one out of her own pouch-as amusing as it was to watch him dance around like he had ants crawling around his pants Sasuke was looking rather annoyed.
They traveled the rest of the way together, passing numerous groups along the way until they hit the second floor where Sasuke led them right into an ongoing altercation. There was a boy with a bruised face and a bad haircut who'd been knocked onto his bottom and another girl with buns that had recently taken a blow to the face herself.
Sakura noted the number posted above the two boys guarding the door. '2nd floor but its labeled as 301…' No, if she focused hard enough she could feel something wrong. She would have said something but she was busy listening to the people guarding the door.
"The Chūnin exam isn't easy, even we failed 3 times straight...Those that take this exam and end up quitting as Shonobi, those that die during it...we've seen it all."
It sounded as bad as Sasori had said and of course the nerves were washing over her anew. 'We haven't even gotten into the proper room yet and people are already fighting.'
"We're just thinning out those that will fail anyways, what's wrong with that?" The guard with hair more unruly than Naruto's was still speaking.
Sasuke snorted from next to her. "I agree with the sentiment but you will let me pass and you're going to remove genjutsu. The gathering crowd murmured in confusion from behind. "You probably noticed it first, right Sakura?"
"Huh?" She hadn't expected to be addressed by him out of the blue.
"You're analytical ability and Genjutsu know-how is the best of our team." Sasuke had graced her with the faintest of smiles, more of a smirk as was his nature but she realized at once that he had meant to boost her moral.
"Of course I noticed, what building labels rooms in the 300's on the second floor?" Even if he'd only said it to make her feel better, Sakura couldn't help the spark of pride that lingered in her own smile and the feeling seemed infectious because Naruto was grinning at her side as well. All the while the numbers above the door blurred until they made more sense.
She'd only looked away for a moment but from the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke shift and the incoming kick that was aimed for his head but before it could meet she blinked and the guy with the awful bowl cut had grabbed both Sasuke and the door guard's legs.
'That speed...it's impressive.' And completely different from who he'd been a moment ago considering he'd been knocked around by that same guard.
"What happened to the plan?" another boy with long hair and familiar eyes complained. "You were the one who said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves." He was obviously a Hyuuga and the girl with the buns had joined his side.
Sakura had to do a double take because the bruises she'd seen on them earlier were completely gone.
"Well, about that…" Whoever gave him that unfortunate haircut should have been ashamed but it was nothing compared to the eyebrows she was getting a good look at as he stalked in her direction with deadset determination.
"Oh no" The other girl sighed with the shake of her head.
"My name is Rock Lee and yours is Sakura…" His teeth turned out to be astoundingly bright. "Let's go out together, I'll protect you with my life!" Lee went as far as to give her a thumbs up.
Sakura sucked in a breath and the words came tumbling from her mouth without thought. "Uh, no way, you're kinda lame." She just was not into guys who wore leotards.
"And she's got a soulmate! But even if she didn't, Sakura-chan would totally be my girlfriend!" Naruto told the slumping figure in green.
'I'm not really sure if having a soulmate precludes one from seeing other people.' Frankly she wasn't sure about a lot of the intricacies but most people with bonds tended towards the romantic strain rather than the platonic but so far she wasn't feeling either when it came to Sasori. 'I mostly just feel angry with him.' and also confused.
Her attention turned towards Sasuke and the Hyuuga he was trading words with as Naruto complained about how no one was interested in fighting two of them were so unbothered and unafraid. All her anxieties seemed to fall to nothing in the face of Sasuke's confidence and Naruto's exuberance. Between the two of them it felt like anything was possible, the feeling they gave off was infectious.
Sakura took it as her cue to move things along, grabbing Naruto's hand and then Sasuke's. "Let's get going, ok?" She smiled the brightest that she had in days and dragged them in her wake. They only got as far as an open auditorium down the hall before Lee caught up with them and there was even more flirting from him-but that paled to the realization that he was so close to beating Sasuke.
She'd had to throw her body between him and the floor, Sasuke was so shocked he hadn't even moved to mitigate the impact on his own and his shoulder driving into her leg and side didn't exactly feel great. 'Though, it is a little hard to think about that when there is a giant talking turtle. This is all so surreal.' There was a burst of smoke and then there was a man standing on the turtle's back one who looked like an older but just as strange version of Lee.
If they were...eccentric apart they were even more so together. Lee got a punch to the face right in the middle of chastising Naruto's fashion critique but then the teacher and student were hugging and crying like nothing had happened. Gai spoke about Kakashi and their rivalry but Sakura had a very hard time imagining her teacher being rivals with anyone. He had no enthusiasm for it.
Sasuke seemed shaken by the realization that there were people stronger than Lee waiting but in the way of boys that she didn't quite understand Naruto's insults only seemed to spur him on, confidence restored if it had ever been shaken. It was something Sakura had admired in him since academy days, a way of carrying oneself that she simply lacked. 'Naruto has it too.' she noted, walking between them as they advanced towards their destination.
The door that they had been seeking came into sight and with it the mess that made up Kakashi's hair. "Oh you're here too Sakura?" He actually didn't seem all that surprised by it as he pushed off the wall he'd been leaning on. As it turned out he'd lied about the test being an individual option, proving her earlier instincts correct.
Sakura knew that she would have shown up purely out of obligation to Naruto and Sasuke but pride and outrage due to Sasori's misanthropic views had certainly played a factor.
"...But you're all here of your own free will and for that I'm proud of you." Kakashi smiled in a way that made her feel like they were already winners. It was silly but she couldn't help it.
The doors opened and this time Sakura didn't hesitate to walk through them.
[1] Goma-Dango, or Sesame balls. Usually filled with Anko but sometimes Lotus paste and deep fried.
If anyone is wondering about the family tree:
Chiyo and Ebizo are brother and sister, descended from the 2nd Kazekage. Ebizo was the father of the 3rd who died without issue. Orimasu (Sasori's father) and Rasa are brothers.
For some reason in the middle of this chapter I kept thinking in the previous two I had labeled Sasori as their uncle-And I was sitting there thinking to myself "Well now wait a second that doesn't make sense because it would mean Sasori and Rasa are brothers and that just does not match up." so I went back to read it and nope, it was Rasa who was referred to as his uncle...Just further proof that I can't keep things straight.