Walking into the arena when she arrived was a hard thing to do as Sakura realized exactly how many people would be watching the fights of the final round, but with a deep breath and steeling her nerves she headed for the only other genin there with her head held high.
Shino turned as he felt her chakra and nodded silently in greeting "Great there goes my plan, couldn't just forfeit could you Sakura, man this is such a drag" Shikamaru groaned from her other side as she stood between the two boys.
Emerald orbs narrowed "No, cause I trained my ass off, so hush up Shikamaru, otherwise if I end up facing you I'll kick your ass next" Sakura snorted already on edge, she just had this sinking feeling that something was going to go wrong that day after all.
"Is there a reason you brought a pack, why because it's out of place here for the final round" Shino finally noticed that she was carrying a backpack on her shoulders and creased his brow in confusion at the sight of it.
Her gaze met his evenly and less than a second later he understood, five minutes later Neji, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro joined them, eerily quiet, except for Neji who scoffed under his breath "You know it's indecent to stand so close right" Neji commented.
Taking note of how close the Aburame Heir and the civilian born girl were standing, neither of them deigned to even respond to him though, merely kept their gazes forward and heads held high in the face of the judges and the spectators.
Nine minutes and Dosu came trailing into the arena, Naruto was a minute after him "Sakura-chan your here" Naruto immediately latched onto her and she sent the boy a fond smile, relieved to find him in good health after not seeing any of the boys for a solid month.
Minutes were ticking down and still no Sasuke and Sakura wondered what the hell he was thinking being late on a day like this "Quiet you lot it is now time to begin the Final Rounds of the Chunin Exams" their proctor for the round Genma Shiranui.
"Excuse me proctor but Sasuke Uchiha is not here yet" Dosu grumbled dark eyes glinting with murder at his opponent during this round, Genma raised a mahogany brow at that and glanced up into the Kage Booth.
It was then Sakura noticed who else sat up there besides the Kazekage and her own Hokage, the Raikage was also up there with Cee and Darui "His round is the last match now for rules, same rules that you had for your preliminary round now everyone off the field except Uzumaki and Hyuga" the brunet ordered.
Sending the rest of the genin scrambling from the arena field and up into the stands, one paused though and turned to Naruto "Make sure you kick Neji's ass Naruto" the pinkette stated eyes burning with fire.
The boy gulped "You got it Sakura-chan" the blonde nodded seriously watching her follow the other genin participating in the final rounds except for Sasuke who was running late and firmly turn to face his opponent Neji Hyuga, Genma looked between them and started the match.
~Up in the Stands~
"Kid is going to lose it's hopeless for him after all" Kankuro sneered seemingly having forgotten who it was that yanked him flat on his face their first day in the Hidden Leaf Village all those weeks ago, this comment also earned him a cold jade glare.
Goosebumps broke out on his flesh feeling that fury directed at him, before focusing her gaze down into the arena again, watching as the goofy blonde charged recklessly at Neji, it only took her a second to figure out what he was doing.
Scoping out his opponents skills to see if he could counteract some of those skills with some of his skills it was a nice underhanded tactic and she was glad that he was going for the art of subtlety, not showing off all he could do right away.
Down below Naruto grinned, flashing a cheeky wink at Sakura who was intently watching and probably already knew what he was plotting, then body flickered as Neji launched into his jutsu, reappearing behind the older male.
And flying through a set of hand signs "Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu" in the midst of body flickering he unsealed the storage tags to unleash a flurry of orange shuriken on Neji, and with the jutsu, brought the total of weapons to over one hundred.
Pale lavender eyes widened because he hadn't thought the idiot could pull off such a move as that, and then Neji rotated as a dome of chakra surrounded him, when the jutsu ended, Naruto was upon him and he went to take the boy down.
Only when Naruto went down it dispelled in a poof of weapons that exploded on him at point blank range, a few weapons made their mark before he rotated in that mass of chakra again knocking the rest of the weapons away.
Blue eyes glinted at him from across the arena and Neji snarled irritated that he was somehow the one getting beaten, slowly but surely and that pissed him off even more "You think you can keep me away, think again Uzumaki" the Hyuga growled.
Lunging to fast for Naruto to keep up and finally managing to get a hit in on the idiot with his gentle fist style, closing chakra points at a rapid pace until Naruto body flickered away, a few chakra points still open.
The fight had been going on for at least twelve minutes by that point 'Come on think, think' the blonde thought inwardly, he didn't want to show off all his tricks yet, but he didn't want to lose either while he kept body flickering a safe distance away every couple of seconds.
Running low on normal chakra as he finally thought of something and in a larger flurry of tags, substituted with a clone then hid underground, up in the stands Sakura's hands were tightly clenched around the railing of the stands.
Watching with rapt attention as what she knew to be a clone gave Neji the run around for a couple minutes longer, while the real Naruto waited for his chance, the clone went down and wham Naruto burst out of the ground.
Slamming Neji in the chin, while the clone vanished in a plume of smoke and knocked the brunet out after a twenty minute long fight "Whoohoo Go NARUTO-KUN" Kizashi's loud voice was heard of the cheers that erupted as they realized that Naruto Uzumaki had just beat Neji Hyuga.
Naruto flushed in embarrassment as Genma eyed the downed Hyuga "Winner of the First Match, Naruto Uzumaki" the hazel eyed brunet called it, more cheers erupted from the crowds of spectators and Naruto gave a proper bow.
Vanishing to the stands "Very well done Naruto, why because only you could do it after all" Shino commented giving the boy some much needed praise on a match well fought, Naruto was capable of pulling of impossible feats just like usual it seemed.
Down below Genma cleared his throat "Shino Aburame and Kankuro from Hidden Sand your up next" Genma announced the duo for the next match, Shino had just started turning to head down the stairs when his opponent piped in.
"Uh I forfeit is that alright, hehehe" Kankuro laughed sheepishly, everyone was stunned because they'd wanted to see what the Aburame Heir could do after a month long training period and they weren't the only ones disappointed.
As Shino was called the winner of his fight by default "I'm sure you'll have a chance Shino-kun, have patience alright, also Naruto that was very underhanded during your fight back there nice job little bro" Sakura soothed squeezing his hand gently, then turned to Naruto and gave him a noogie.
Naruto's face flushed a spectacular shade of red at the term of endearment "Aww come on Sakura-chan your embarrassing me" the blonde fidgeted trying to act like he didn't like it when his eyes sparkled with happiness.
While the third match was called upon to get started, Temari immediately leaped over the railing and Shikamaru let out a groan and started making his way slowly down the steps "Good luck Shikamaru, why because I'm counting on you to win your match" Shino said as he passed by.
Shikamaru grimaced, yet nodded before disappearing from view for a couple of minutes "You called him little brother, why when you bare no characteristics that indicates your siblings" Gaara's voice rumbled in that gravely tone they'd associated with him suddenly.
Speaking up for the first time since they'd all arrived, Sakura narrowed her eyes "That's physical only, in heart and mind Naruto is my brother in all but blood, anyway that's not quite true, my Mom has blonde hair and my Dad has blue eyes" the pinkette pointed out bluntly.
Baby blue eyes widened then filled with tears, because until just then he hadn't even truly realized, however that didn't mean he didn't know the Haruno's weren't his biological parents and was content to have a set of adoptive parents that cared for him along with having adoptive siblings.
He swiped harshly at his eyes drying the tears and sniffled once before focusing his attention down in the arena "What do you think Shikamaru's actually planning Sakura-chan" Naruto asked curiously watching as Shikamaru hid from Temari's wind jutsu.
It was powerful enough they could feel it all the way up in the stands, Sakura leaned over the railing dangerously to spy the Nara Heir from their vantage point "Eh he'll probably call this whole thing a drag and then forfeit at the last second" Sakura rolled her eyes.
Knowing her shogi partner quite well to figure out at least a few of his moves "It sounds like him alright, why because he lacks motivation for things like this" the Aburame Heir said smoothly, standing indecently close to his teammate again.
The other still missing from the arena while a fight raged on below "Listen girl if I were you, I wouldn't let that bug freak stand so close to you" Kankuro spoke up for only the third time since the start of the final rounds.
What he didn't expect was for the girl to whip around "Shino can do as he damn well pleases as it is I don't mind having him close so keep your comments to yourself Kankuro-san" the rosette glared daggers at the older genin from Hidden Sand.
Before turning firmly away from him, huffing and puffing because Shino had been insulted until he gently took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly in reassurance, pale green eyes honed in on that but the boy the eyes belonged to said nothing.
As the fight below came to a jarring halt, like Sakura had predicted Shikamaru forfeited at the last minute calling this whole thing a drag "Totally called it" Sakura grinned more than a little amused at her friends antics.
Only to become serious in the next moment as Genma's hazel eyes seemed to pierce right through "Contestants of the fourth match Sakura Haruno and Dosu Kinuta please come down here" Genma called hoping that the girl wouldn't forfeit and that this match would be very interesting.
"Finally now I can take my revenge" Dosu grumbled heading for the steps, Sakura nodded at the boys on either side of her, backed up a few steps, then took a running leap, pushing up off the railing when her foot hit it with a boost of chakra.
Doing a roll as she sailed through the air to land neatly on her feet before the rounds proctor "MAKE MOMMA AND DADDY PROUD OF YOU SAKURA-CHAN AND KICK ASS" her parents screamed from the crowds as she flashed a cheeky smile at Genma.
Who chuckled under his breath at the young girl's antics, who stood there waiting patiently for Dosu, until he emerged looking irritated that she'd launched herself over the railing instead of taking the stairs like a normal person.
It didn't matter though he'd still have his revenge for what the little bitch had done "Right, let the fourth match of the final round between Sakura Haruno and Dosu Kinuta begin" the brunet brought his arm down staring the match.
Almost instantly Dosu fired off a large scale sound based jutsu "Doton: Mud wall Jutsu" the rosette flew through a set of hand signs, raising a sturdy wall of earth that only got mildly cracked while Dosu growled in frustration.
Her lips curved upwards into a smirk as she took off up the wall, breaching the top she found her opponent glancing warily from side to side only looking up when he saw a shadow and by then it was to late.
The sole of her foot connected with his head and using it as a spring she launched herself into a roll, doing a little spin to sweep Dosu's legs out from underneath him "Damn little bitch I'm gonna kill you" the mummy wrapped genin snarled jumping to his feet.
Clearly furious "Tsk, tsk Dosu-san, you don't want to fall into the same trap your teammate fell in do you" Sakura wagged her finger with a giggle, ducking under the barrage of kunai, setting off a mild water jutsu in tandem of that.
Before dodging the second sound jutsu that was sent at her "Quit screwing around with me" Dosu snapped, struggling to keep up, it was like the freaking brat had exclusively trained to increase her stamina just to outrun him consistently.
Putting that in simple terms it was very annoying, Sakura's green gaze met his dark gaze "End of the road Dosu" then the pinkette once he did get his hands on her disintegrated into a large flurry of cherry blossoms that emanated a very sweet smell.
~Inside the Genjutsu~
Very pissed off that she'd somehow gotten away from him Dosu didn't realize he was neck deep in a genjutsu as he kept being attacked until the little brat showed herself to him, but he had no chance to attack.
When tendrils of pink locks wrapped around him, strangling him in a vice grip hold as he struggled to get loose, what happened next was something he didn't expect in the least as he was dunked in flesh eating acid, only then did he start screaming.
~Outside the Genjutsu~
Sakura reappeared half a second later watching and waiting for whatever, nobody knew what she'd done until Dosu started screaming, up in the stands Darui grimaced "Do you know what the brat did Darui" Ay asked brow raised in confusion.
"Yeah boss, it's a nightmare based genjutsu that she concocted, first it starts off slow, then progresses if I'm not mistaken right about now he's being eaten alive by acid in the illusion" Darui cringed just glad that he wasn't subjected to that horror anymore.
Two minutes later Dosu broke free of the genjutsu as it had run it's course a little faster than usual, bandages soaked with sweat as he gasped for air "I'm done playing with you wench time to die" the mummy wrapped genin spat.
Extremely angry that she'd caught him in a genjutsu and that it had showed him Orochimaru experimenting on him "Funny I was about to say the same thing" Sakura pulled out some of her carefully prepared throwing needles.
One of her summons this whole time had been sitting in her throwing needle pouch, slicking her venom all over the needles "Die" Dosu yelled setting off one of his largest sound based jutsu's in hopes that it would be all he needed to take the brat out.
No such luck when the attack hit and Sakura merely smirked at him figuring she'd wasted enough time for Sasuke to show up, threw down a smoke bomb and body flickered "And with that this fight is over" the rosette said.
Appearing behind Dosu, who was staring intensely at the area she'd just been standing and threw her venom laced senbon needles, all five struck and the genin from Sound went down with a scream of agony, vomiting all over the ground as the venom took affect immediately.
"H..How I didn't see you adding poison and…ugh just kill me now" the sound genin panted trying to fight off the venom coursing through his veins, it burned and he wanted to yell and scream and shout from the pain of it all.
Sakura shook her head and with a quick chop to the back of Dosu's neck, the genin slumped over unconscious "Winner of the Fourth Match Sakura Haruno" Genma called it and the crowds went wild as the arena dissolved in a cacophony of excited screams and claps.
With a polite proper respectful bow Sakura started making her way off the field when a flurry of black crow feathers and leaves appeared in her peripheral, Sasuke was right on time "Dumbbell do you enjoy giving people heart attacks" Sakura scowled at the boy.
Who went pale at the sight of her angry face "Not my fault Kakashi wanted to do one final training session, otherwise I would have been here from the start" Sasuke sulked, glaring at the older male that had arrived with him.
"Okay Sakura-chan let's go to the stands alright, good luck Sasuke-kun" Kakashi ushered the fuscia haired girl from the arena field while Sasuke faced his opponent who appeared in a swirl of sand, ready for his match.
And what a match it would be, as the fight started off normally enough sure, Gaara sending waves of sand after Sasuke who narrowly avoided being trapped in the ground up earth granules, it was noticeable that he'd improved his speed to Sakura who was yet again watching intently.
Then, then things took a turn for the worst before it was all out chaos in the arena, as suddenly Leaf and Sand and Sound were fighting each other and she had to shove Naruto out of the way of a pincer attack from some of those masked guys that kept coming after him.
"Knucklehead don't just stand there" she shouted kicking someone in the chest, a loud snap echoing in their ears "Shino where's Sasuke" the rosette turned to Shino, who pointed at the hole in the arena wall.
She grit her teeth "Well this is just perfect, to troublesome" Shikamaru groaned wishing he was anywhere but there probably while she knocked a few weapons away from him before helping Naruto onto his feet again.
"He went after Gaara, who was taken away by Temari and Kankuro, why because something is clearly wrong with him" the brunet elaborated in the midst of chaos, the four of them defending each other from random or full on frontal attacks.
Until they managed to get to safety for a few minutes "Do you got a plan Sakura-chan" Naruto questioned wincing at the loud explosions going off all around them, it seemed their village was under attack but he didn't understand why.
"Maybe, that Gaara kid is in the thick of it all I'm sure, there's Sasuke to worry about to, I think we should go after Sasuke first and come up with a better plan afterwards, keep your wits about you guys" Sakura clutched the straps of her pack tight.
Just glad she'd thought of bringing it that morning in case anything went wrong, her instincts had been on the mark again it seemed as the five of them took off, Kakashi and Shibi the only ones noticing their exit of the arena for now.
Then they were jumping through tree's at a break-neck pace "Can you tell how far away Sasuke is currently" Shino inquired knowing that her sensory skills were above average thanks to the special lessons that his father had given her in sensing chakra from insects.
For a moment she was quiet concentrating on spreading out her senses "About a mile ahead of us, however Kankuro-san has stopped, I'll throw Shiruki-chan on him, Ashi is on you Shino, Hitomi on Shikamaru, Rera on Naruto" the rosette sped through a set of hand signs.
Summoning five little spiders "Here we go then" the Nara heir blew out a breath as they crash-coursed Kankuro, who clearly hadn't expected them to catch up so quickly since the invasion had literally just started.
"Out of our way or face the consequences" the blonde knucklehead glowered upset that these people thought they could come into his village and try to destroy for some stupid vendetta he didn't know about.
Kankuro crossed his arms "You were warned, why because now it's over" the Aburame Heir distracted the older genin from Sakura launching a kunai at him, attached to the tip was Shiruki, the brunet dodged the weapon.
But not the spider, who immediately bit down "By the way Sakura since when did you have spider summons" Shikamaru saw fit to question his friend, though it did make sense now how she kept taking down people so easily.
The spiders were venomous "A couple days before we became genin Shikamaru, hey Naruto how good is your calligraphy while running, we'll need five chakra suppression seals to incorporate into Shino-kun's sealing barrier" Sakura turned her head to spy Naruto.
Who was keeping up with them surprisingly well "Four why because there are some enemy on our heels that needs to be taken care of" Shino piped in before Naruto could respond sensing the chakra tailing them.
Immediately Shikamaru offered to be the bait "Don't worry I got this Sakura-chan" Naruto waved his adoptive sister off, while pulling out a brush, popped open the lid to his ink pot and started drawing the chakra suppression seal on some tags Sakura handed him.
Eight minutes later they passed a downed Temari, who tried to come after them, but she was to low on chakra and severely injured to do so, then another five passed before they finally, finally caught up with Sasuke.
Who Sakura whacked over the head "Ow what did I do, what was that for Sakura" Sasuke complained, raising a glowing green hand to his head, healing the bruise that had been left on his flesh from the slightly older girl.
This was met with an unimpressed glare "Next time pay attention to your surroundings Sasuke, that's a bad habit of yours, we're under attack and you ran off recklessly after Gaara" the pinkette snapped, sensing the redhead half a mile ahead of them.
He'd stopped she noted warily "Glad I made it back in time, Asuma-sensei took care of those guys tailing us so I thought my skills would be more handy here" the Nara Heir returned in the nick of time when they were stood around.
Under the cover of an illusion tag and Naruto quickly got to work on drawing another chakra suppression seal to give to Shikamaru "Right so what exactly is your plan Sakura" the second to last Uchiha pressed for an answer.
While Sakura scoped out the situation a little more by use of her summons "We're going to use my sealing barrier to stop him in his tracks right" the Aburame Heir grimaced thinking this was the worst idea in history.
"Okay done, here's the chakra suppression seals guys" the blonde Uzumaki handed out the five tags, while Shino sat down and thought up a new barrier for the five of them to use for that day only probably.
Passing around scrolls with the barrier formula on it when he was done "First, Naruto will send in a bunch of clones alright to distract Gaara, then Shikamaru will catch Gaara in his shadows, before retreating after throwing this, while he's busy trying to get free, we'll spread out to raise the barrier" Sakura instructed.
Coming up with the best plan they'd ever heard "Not bad I guess, but how exactly am I going to retreat if I have him caught in my shadows" Shikamaru frowned confused yet he took the kunai she held out him that had a tag with an unknown formula on it.
"That's to keep the shadow in place even after you undo the jutsu" Naruto grinned readying a bunch of clones to sweep in and distract Gaara, knowing exactly what the formula was because he was the one who'd come up with it for Sakura to hold onto.
Just like that a sea of clones charged through the tree's "Is he really going to be alright on his own, maybe I should go help him" Sasuke frowned worried about the knucklehead, before realizing that the real Naruto was stood right next to him.
Pouting, Shikamaru made his move next, flying through the hand signs necessary for his jutsu and quickly caught Gaara in a thick black shadow thanks to all the tree's in the area, he threw the kunai and waited for half a second before undoing his jutsu.
Quickly placing down the scroll with Shino's sealing barrier formula on it, he waited for his cue from Hitomi to start the hand signs and from the other side of the clearing "Five Point Sunset Sealing Barrier Jutsu" Shino's voice rang out.
And what a spectacular barrier it was, in the colors of the sunset, then came the chakra suppression seals right as Gaara finally managed to free himself from the shadows he'd been trapped in for the last couple of minutes.
It was to late for him though as the seals worked their magic, suppressing Gaara's chakra and whatever else was inside of him, things were going very well as the manic glint in pale green eyes faded away to a quiet calm stare.
He knew they were there hiding in the forest, "It's alright you can let Gaara-kun out now Sound retreated and Sand surrendered, the fight is over" Kakashi startled the lot of them, body flickering next to Naruto who was his only student there.
The barrier was brought down at that and Gaara stood calmly to walk over to them, eerily silent "Am I going to be executed" the redhead finally rumbled in a gravely tone of voice, it made the most sense after all to be killed for what he'd almost done.
If it hadn't been for five genin, he would have gone on a murderous rampage "No Gaara-kun, neither are your brother or sister, speaking of, Sasuke, Sakura you two are in charge of healing Gaara-kun's siblings understand" the silver haired Jonin informed.
Both twelve year old's nodded just as they came upon the Kazekage's eldest child, she shifted into a defensive stance wielding her fan on willpower alone "Stand down Temari-san the fight is over, we're going to heal you" the rosette ordered.
Ready to defend just as much as she was ready to heal, teal eyes slid to the redhead who nodded solemnly "And Kankuro what about him after you poisoned him, he's probably already dead I can't feel his chakra anymore" Temari shouted.
Angry tears in her eyes as Sakura spread out her senses feeling for the Kazekage's middle child's chakra "Your wrong, Kankuro is still alive, you just can't sense him because your currently to emotional" the raven haired preteen scoffed.
Chastened at that Temari became a lot more subdued as the two medics went forward with glowing green hands to heal her injuries, adding one more to their party as they trekked through the forest back to the village.
Partway there they ran across and unconscious Kankuro "But I don't understand the poison you use it seemed really deadly, and he was so sure he'd found an antidote to it" the teal eyed blonde frowned seriously confused.
"Venom Temari-san, not poison, I have venomous spider summons, anyway I do have the anti-venom on hand so no worries" Sakura assured, reaching into her pouch for a vial, antiseptic wipes and a hypodermic needle.
Sasuke pulled up Kankuro's sleeve for her taking note of the older genin's high temperature from the venom possibly and sweat slicked brown locks as she wiped down Kankuro's arm right where a vein sat with the wipes, then injected her spiders anti-venom into the vein.
Less than a moment later Kankuro woke from his unconsciousness with a pain filled groan "Take it easy Sabaku, the fight is over so cool it" Sasuke warned when the older brunet jerked and tensed at the sight of them.
Before glancing to his sister, who nodded while helping him onto his feet "Why though this is our fault after all" Kankuro grumbled sulkily that he'd been bested by a girl and then that very same girl turned around and helped him.
Since when did things get all turned around and wonky on them, maybe it was when his Father decided it was a good idea to trust Orochimaru and join him in trying to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village that sounded right to him anyway.
Now they were a party of nine as they completed the trek back to the arena "For my sake you better have a good explanation for running off like that you idiotic little brats" Ay snarled charging at the genin brats he was familiar with.
Kankuro and Temari cringed when the Raikage of all people skidded to a halt before them and soundly whacked four of the Leaf Genin over their heads with a solid sounding crack "It's not our fault that Teme went after Gaara" the blue eyed blonde Uzumaki sulked.
Unhappy that he'd gotten scolded to "We weren't exactly alone either, my sensei was keeping an eye on us" the Nara Heir pointed over his shoulder where Asuma had emerged from the forest, having been leisurely trailing after them from the moment they'd taken down Gaara.
Ay blinked and rubbed a heavy hand down his face "HARUNO, UCHIHA, We Need You At The Hospital PRONTO" Ittei yelled at them from across the arena when he spotted the two genin, Ay grumbled under his breath at that because he wasn't done scolding them.
"Cee, Amai you'll go with them and help out got it" the Raikage barked at the two medics that had accompanied him from his village, leaving the other two to get started helping the Leaf Shinobi start construction on their village to rebuild.
Sasuke shrugged and gestured Sakura ahead of him, then followed hot on her heels "That's the girl right that you stayed with and learned that she had PTSD and needed therapy sessions" Karai who'd also accompanied his Raikage on that day questioned.
Noticing that one of the kids had pink hair "Yeah that's Sakura, just don't go around making fun of her for that understand, she gets a bit touchy about it" Darui warned simply knowing because of those two weeks in her house.
Karai creased his brow while the genin from Hidden Sand frowned because they hadn't thought the girl had PTSD in the least, she seemed so normal after all "Wait since when has Sakura been having therapy sessions" Shikamaru looked seriously confused.
"For a long, long time I think, since we were all eight" Naruto admitted carefully not revealing to much information since he'd been forbidden, there was a lot of things he was forbidden to talk about actually by Old Man Hokage.
Who was loping towards them at a slow gait, Kage robes in shreds "Ah Ittei must have nicked them for the hospital" Hiruzen sighed exhausted, guess he was just going to have to wait until later a good couple of days actually so that he could rest and regain his chakra.
"Do you know what happened to them when we were eight Hokage-sama why because I think it's time for the truth to be told" Shino pushed his sunglasses back up his nose tired of waiting, he wanted to be able to help Sakura more.
Hiruzen looked visibly shocked he'd even asked before letting out an even longer, sadder sounding sigh "Sasuke-kun's clan was massacred, they caught the murderer in the act, and he put them through hell literally" the Hokage announced.
"Physical and emotional trauma, that explains it really the changes they exhibited once they came back after that week of being in the hospital" the Nara Heir nodded seeing it now and he cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.
"It's not just that though Shikamaru, Sakura-chan can't stand the smell of blood, it triggers flashbacks of that night for her to" the blonde Uzumaki elaborated further, while Darui nodded, he'd been surprised that day when she'd puked but still healed that injured Jonin.
The whole time she must have been fighting back the flashbacks in order to save a life, Hiruzen cleared his throat "Either way now that some of you know, do try not to broadcast it all over the village" Hiruzen warned heading off for home, hopefully it was still intact anyway.
With that the rest of them split up "Are you alright Naruto-kun, where's Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan" Mebuki and Kizashi met Naruto halfway to the house, Mebuki immediately honed in on the absence of two of the children.
"Hospital helping to heal the injured I think, the Head Medic guy barked at them to come help" Naruto explained looking exhausted himself now, Mebuki relaxed just grateful they'd all come out of this unscathed for the most part.
Not their village sure it would take a lot of construction to fix the damage that had been dealt to it but right now their family was still in tact "Good, good come on Naruto-kun I'm sure your hungry" Kizashi blew out a relieved breath.
Leading them the rest of the way home but home wasn't where it was supposed to be, Mebuki covered her mouth and cried into Kizashi's shoulder, who shook his head while Naruto gaped in horror that their home was demolished.
There was absolutely nothing left of it "Oh no Saidai" the younger blonde murmured spying the habitat that had housed Sakura's goliath beetle, it was crushed completely, and he kicked some rubble out of the way searching.
Only to come up empty handed either Saidai was dead or he'd escaped, he didn't know but now they had the horrible task of finding anything that was salvageable from the wreckage of the house and find somewhere to stay for the night.
Meanwhile at the hospital, screams echoed from the lobby "Haruno go find out what the bloody hell is going on" the purple haired head medic snapped irritated, there were many patients to tend to and the screams weren't helping them relax at all.
Sakura turned on her heel, lab coat snapping with a crack as she marched out the doors of the ER, Sasuke briefly thought it was creepy before he focused on his task of mending a broken rib, guess this was the only way he was going to get his experience.
With Sakura, she'd managed to make it to the lobby only to have a giant beetle fly in her face "Saidai what are you doing here" the pinkette blinked in confusion as the goliath beetle perched on her shoulder, buzzing angrily.
Of course she realized the insect couldn't answer her but she had no idea what to do with him either as the screams died down "How can you just be so calm, look at the size of that thing, kill it now Sakura-san" the receptionist shuddered rambling like a nutter at the sight of Saidai.
"I'm not killing him, come on Saidai" Sakura shook her head with a snort then stormed off back to the ER now that the screams had ended, stupid woman who was always glaring at Sasuke, one of these days she was going to punch her and not regret the consequences.
Both Ittei and Sasuke looked up "What the hell is Saidai doing here" the Uchiha gaped seeing the head sized beetle sitting on Sakura's shoulder just calmly, it was creepy but he supposed that would be a reason why someone would scream.
Anyone would scream at the sight of Saidai actually especially females who were afraid of insects "Dunno and don't worry Ittei-sama, he'll be no trouble I'm sure of it" the pinkette grimaced jumping head first into healing patients again.
Until they were released from their duties hours later "I think I feel their chakra in that direction" Sasuke pointed in a direction that wasn't the way home, drained of chakra and ready to collapse but the two of them set off down the streets.
To come upon a hotel "Wonder what's going on and why they set up here" Sakura frowned in confusion as they talked to the hostess who led them to a private family suite in the hotel where the older Haruno's and Naruto were waiting for them.
"Saidai…..here I thought he was dead or just gone, how did you find him Sakura-chan" Naruto jumped up spying the giant goliath beetle he'd thought had perished or either escaped from the village, sitting on Sakura's shoulder all nonchalantly.
Before she could answer "Our home was crushed, we managed to salvage a few things for you both though" Mebuki told them the reason why they were set up in a hotel and Sakura's heart dropped, Shisui's picture had been on her desk.
And she was sure Ittei was going to want her and Sasuke's help for however long it took to heal patients "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, we'll search for the rest of it tomorrow" Kizashi smiled warmly just glad that all of them were okay.
The house was just a house, family you couldn't get back once it was gone "For your question Naruto, I didn't find Saidai, he found me, in the hospital" the rosette announced plucking the goliath beetle from her shoulder and dropping him.
In the next moment he was attached to her shoulder again "Looks like you made a new friend" the older blonde that was her mother covered her mouth to keep from laughing, seems Saidai had been worried about his caretaker and was now attached.
"Hey, hey Sakura-chan you could totally use that, train him to be a messenger in case you can't use your spiders" the blue eyed blonde piped in excitedly realizing the possibilities that had now opened up for Sakura with Saidai becoming attached to her like he now was.
"Makes for an interesting idea, one we'll have to expand on later, right now we need food, please tell me that you saved us some" the ebony haired preteen groaned slumping down in a chair, after the amount of chakra he'd used that day he didn't care what he ate so long as it was something.
Kizashi chuckled "Go ahead and eat up kids, then go to bed, there's a room and bathroom for each of you in the suite, we chose carefully" the pink haired male passed plastic wrapped plates around to the two who hadn't eaten and cups of chamomile tea.
Both preteen's dug in with no preamble, barely remembering to give their thanks for the food before they were shoveling it into their mouths at a rapid pace, making sure to swallow properly sure and eat with their mouths closed while taking sips of their tea until all the food was gone.
Then Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura bid the older Haruno's goodnight and vanished to take showers or baths before dressing in what little clothing had been found and went to bed, Saidai cozying up to his caretaker as she fell asleep.
The next month was like hell on earth for them, splitting their time between helping rebuild their village or for Sakura and Sasuke, who due to all his hard work was bumped up to fully qualified medic, helped healing patients as they came in droves at the hospital.
Until it was March the 28th, a near solid month passing them by since the end of their disastrous chunin selection exams "Happy Birthday Sakura-chan" Mebuki and Kizashi cheered the moment she woke up that morning and padded down the stairs of their new house.
"Wait huh birthday, oh yeah that's right it's the 28th isn't it" Sakura bounced in excitement still surprised that she could even muster up that amount of excitement nowadays for any of her birthdays when Shisui had been around they'd been awesome.
Not that she didn't appreciate her parents efforts though, she still really missed Shisui "Yes it it Sakura-chan, your mother made your favorite, you go ahead into the kitchen while I go wake those lazy boys up" Kizashi chuckled.
Padding up the steps while she moved on into the kitchen and found a plethora of plum related food items, pickled plum rice balls, a pickled plum salad, anmitsu with plums, omelets with pickled plums, pancakes with plums and plum flavored fruit tea.
Sakura stared feeling like she was in heaven "What's all that for" Naruto pouted as he was ushered into the kitchen, only to spy the amount of food already situated on the table, it was enough to feed a small army he thought or be good for a picnic with a lot of people.
Sasuke knew however as he glanced to the calender "Happy birthday Sakura" Sasuke whispered as he took his seat around the new kitchen table that had been bought when they'd moved into their new house, which was five times better than the old house.
"It's Sakura-chan's thirteenth birthday Naruto-kun, the first one since you came to live with us in fact" the older blonde at the table explained what all the food was for, it didn't even come close to what she planned later than night though for dinner.
Naruto gaped "Sakura-chan's birthday and nobody told me, I don't have a present to give her or nothing" the younger blonde flopped down in his chair sulking even more now, only because he didn't have a gift to give his best friend/adoptive sister.
"Relax Naruto, I ask for nothing, the only thing that makes me happy is knowing that in a few months down the road you'll get to have your own birthday party" the pinkette smiled reassuringly at the knucklehead.
While Kizashi chuckled and Sasuke shook his head "Anyway let's dig in before all this food get's cold" the pink haired male clapped gesturing for Sakura to take the lead, this one day only and the minute she took a bite of her pancakes the rest of them dug in as well.
"You know I'm kind of glad we have a chance to enjoy the morning without being dragged off to heal or help rebuild for once" the ebony haired preteen said when he was to full to eat another bite with plenty of left-overs to snack on throughout the day until dinner.
Just like that a plume of smoke filled the air "Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno your both wanted by the Hokage immediately" a member of anbu black ops appeared in the kitchen delivering the summons to two of the genin in the household.
The duo stood and Sasuke scowled realizing he'd just cursed them in someway "Guess we'll be back in a bit" Sakura nodded to her parents and Sasuke, inwardly wondering what the Hokage wanted them for.
In the next moment Sakura and Naruto body flickered in their respective signatures, cherry blossoms and storage seal tags, all the way across the village to the Hokage Tower, where they were immediately ushered into the Hokage's office.
"Okay old man what do you want, it's Sakura-chan's birthday today, shouldn't she get the day off after all the hard work she's been doing lately around the village" Naruto huffed not happy they were being interrupted in the least.
Graying brows rose high and the Hokage chuckled "Be at ease Naruto-kun I'm not calling you in here for a mission, not yet anyway, the judges of the Chunin Exams and I convened and decided that out of all the contestants you two and one other deserved a promotion" Hiruzen explained.
And utter silence met his ears "P..Promotion Hokage-sama surely not, we didn't do much after all" the rosette spluttered in shock a second later, just as he'd expected she would, Sakura was a humble girl much like Shisui had been a humble man.
She'd flourished greatly under his influence, ah if only Shisui were still alive, he might have asked to take her on as apprentice eventually he was sure of it "Yeah old man, our fights were completely ruined by that invasion thing" the blonde frowned.
"Now, now that is not all there is to being a Chunin after all, successfully subduing a jinchuuriki in the midst of an invasion, not to mention the maturity and tact you displayed during your fights as well played a key part in the decision to promote you to Chunin" the Third informed kindly.
Waiting patiently for the genin to sort themselves out so he could continue "What about Sasuke and Shino, they helped with Gaara to you know" Naruto scowled not liking that two of his friends weren't getting the recognition they deserved.
"I've already spoken with Shino, he's been given a reward but not a promotion, he seemed to think you were most deserving of it Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-kun will also receive a reward Naruto-kun so no worries" Hiruzen assured.
Taking a puff from his pipe and blowing out a stream of smoke "You said not yet, does that mean Naruto and I will be getting a mission soon" Sakura honed in on the yet part after a couple more minutes, thinking through her decision.
His brows raised again because he hadn't thought she'd catch on so soon before he could tell them "That's right, not yet and yes soon, tomorrow to be precise, more details will be handed out then, show up at 0900 hours, now do you accept your promotion to Chunin" the wizened old man prodded.
Sakura shared a look with Naruto, who puffed up his cheeks before relenting with a nod "We accept Hokage-sama and don't worry I'll make sure we're packed appropriately, can you at least tell us the Rank so we aren't caught off guard" the rosette requested.
Accepting the chunin vest he held out to her "B Rank, I'm leaving the packing in your capable hands Sakura" the Third Hokage told them as Naruto also took his vest before they body flickered presumably back home.
"We're Chunin now believe it" the blonde shouted at the top of his lungs the moment they returned to the new house they'd chosen after their old one had gotten demolished, Sasuke dropped his book that he was reading and it was all out chaos.
It wasn't until much later after a long, long day that didn't seem much like a happy birthday anymore Sasuke finally accepted that he hadn't gotten promoted and that he wouldn't be going on the mission Naruto and Sakura had gotten assigned immediately after becoming Chunin.
Not that it was the only crazy thing that happened that day, as Mebuki and Kizashi informed their daughter that as of two months ago, she was officially betrothed to Shino, and neither of them could break off the betrothal contract.
Sakura had a lot to think about as she went to bed that night, wondering what the mission would be like, if everything would go well or if it would be just like every other mission she'd been on so far, chaotic and dangerous, while falling asleep.