Chapter-28

Team 7 finally reached the tower after travelling for 3 hours from their rest spot. They entered the gate and saw nobody in the room. Huh… that's weird. How come we are the only ones here? Sasuke kept looking for people but nobody came. Then he turned around and saw a puzzle on the wall above the door.

"Naruto, Sakura look over there."

They all turned and read the puzzle. There was a blank in the middle of it. So just like last time. Well I know the answer but its best to stay quiet.

" hey hey! Should we open the scrolls? I mean we are in the tower right?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Now that I think about it, we were told not to open the scrolls until we're inside the tower."

"Hm. Okay. Lets open them."

Sakura took one scroll from Sasuke and Sasuke went with the other one. They opened them and layed them out on the floor, overlapping each other. Suddenly, a person appeared.

"Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?" asked Naruto

"Well, its just a coincidence I was assigned to your team. I came here to tell you that you have passed the second test with excellence. Congratulations."

Naruto started screaming 'We did it! I'm the best' while Sasuke just smirked. Sakura bent down and sat on the floor to catch her breathe. Damn this was tiring. Sasuke kept looking at her to check if she was okay. She held her arm up to cover her curse mark.

"Wait, Naruto. I still have another duty. Did you read that text over the wall?" asked Iruka.

"Yeah we did. But we don't get it."

"That's why im here to tell you its meaning. The heaven refers to the Hokage and the earth represents chuunin. You must have a balance in both of these abilities if you want to become a formidable chuunin."

"But what's that blank space?" asked Sakura boringly

"Oh that. The character of 'Person' goes there which was inside the scroll. Well that's all I had to say. Good luck for the following test. Bye."

"Bye bye Iruka-sensei!"

Team 7 walked up the stairs and they saw some of the people who had made it till here. Gaara was standing in the corner. Lee and Neji were just casually talking. And they saw many familiar faces. They found Anko who looked troubled when she saw them. Specially Sakura. she had found Orochimaru in the forest and and he told her that he had made the pink haired girl his next vessel.

"Hello sensei. We have finished the test."

"Oh good job. You can rest in one of the rooms here. They'll get you food as well."

"Yay food! Is it ramen?!" Naruto asked beamingly

"No idiot" replied Anko

Naruto scowled and Sakura held her laughter at his expression. Sasuke also had a smirk.

A guard led them to the room where there were 3 beds with food on the table. Sakura sat down on the bed and just laid there. Orochimaru will definitely come after me. I think I should tell Kakashi-sensei the truth. I'll tell him when the time feels right. Sasuke was just standing by Sakura's bed and glanced at her troubled expression. She must be worried about the curse mark. And of course Naruto was eating like a hungry carnivore who had not eaten in years.

"Sakura-chan! Come on and eat something. You must be hungry."

That snapped her out of her mind and she got up and smiled at Naruto.

"Yeah I am. Come on Sasuke, let's eat."

Sasuke just watched her. I wonder how many times she has smiled fakely just so that nobody asks what is bothering her. She's really private. Sasuke went and sat at the table. Team 7 enjoyed their meal and soon it was night. They all got in their beds and said good night. Sakura peaked to see if both of them were sleeping or not. When she saw nobody was up, she got out of bed and went to sit beside the window. She knew that if she slept, she would have nightmares and that will just aggravate her curse mark. She sighed and looked out the window. Little did she know, Sasuke was up and he was watching her. He decided not to bother her and just went to sleep.

In the end Sakura, Sakura drifted off on the chair. When Sasuke woke up in the middle of the night, he saw her sleeping with her body hanging loosely on the chair. Tch. At least sleep properly. He got up and went to her and shook her shoulder. She jumped up in alarm but when she saw Sasuke was the one who woke her up, she relaxed a little.

"Why are you up? It's like 4 am."

"Well what are you doing sleeping in a chair. Most people sleep in bed you know."

"ah… sorry. I was just looking out the window and I accidentally fell asleep. But now I don't think I'll be able to sleep."

"Why are you trying not to sleep?"

Sakura had no reply so she just smiled and continued staring out the window.

"Can you actually not do anything but smile? It pisses me off."

" Why? Do I look horrible when I smile?"

"No-no I didn't mean that." He tried to cover up by waving his hands in the air to get his point across but then she started laughing.

"why are you laughing?" asked Sasuke trying to hide his blush.

"You panicked for no reason you know. I was just teasing you."

Sasuke glared at her hard before he scowled at her and went to his bed. He muttered 'annoying' to himself but Sakura heard it and she just gave a small smile and went back to gazing out the window. Meanwhile Sasuke looked at her. How the moonlight gleamed on her face and hair. How her emerald eyes were gazing at a distance. How fragile she looked. Tch. You're not horrible to look at, idiot. And then he went back to sleep.

Naruto and Sasuke got up and they looked around for Sakura but she wasn't in the room. Where did she go? Thought Sasuke. They both freshened up and went out the room. They still couldn't find Sakura. little did they know that she went out to train to check her abilities and what the curse back opposed to.

After training for like 3 hours, she came to the conclusion that she could still destroy stuff but healing somebody aggravated the curse mark. She went inside in thought that she didn't even notice Sasuke standing in front of her looking at her clearly annoyed.

"Ahem."

At that, Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke impatiently tapping his foot.

"Hey Sasuke, good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked with a smile

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he saw her fake smile.

"Where were you?"

"Oh I was outside. Training. Nothing special."

"Hn"

"Come on. Let's go inside."

Today was the 5th day. The teams had time till noon to pass the test. It was 11:30am.

"Man I cant wait! I wonder what kind of test is the next one. Maybe a team test again or individual."

"I don't know Naruto." She lied as she shrugged. She already knew it was going to be an elimination round.

It was time for them to go to the training room. They went in and saw Kakashi waiting for them.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! We passed!" exclaimed Naruto

"I can see that Naruto. So how was your experience? Had fun?" and then took a quick glance at Sakura who was hiding her curse mark. So it is true. He thought sadly.

"Oh yeah it was great. But I passed out for like more than a day! And these two got to fight some sound ninjas!" Naruto finished with a huff.

"Oh. Well no worries. You'll find today very interesting." He said with his eyes crinkling as he smiled and then he went off.

"What did he mean by that?" Asked Sasuke

" Who knows what goes in his pervy brain." Said Naruto.

They went in and stood in line. The Hokage came and gave a speech. He congratulated them on coming this far.

"As you know, Chuunin exams are very different from other exams, so we did not expect so many of you will pass this test. This is a lot more people so we can't go for the final test right away. Thus we will be holding an elimination round. Two people will be chosen at random and the one who wins the fight goes in the final round. If anyone wants to back out now, they may do so now by raising their hand."

Sakura couldn't pay attention because her curse mark was throbbing endlessly. She was digging her nails in her skin of the neck. Sasuke saw that. She won't be able to fight. She'll get injured. Maybe I should tell Kakashi about the curse mark so he can make sure she doesn't participate. He slowly started raising his hand but was stopped mid way by a fierce grip. He saw that Sakura was looking at him angrily and shook her head.

"Damn it, Sakura! You won't be able to fight. You're in pain. I can see that. So just back out. Now."

"I am not going to back out. I can handle it. Mind your own business." She spat angrily and turned away from him.

Sakura felt bad for yelling at Sasuke but she knew that if she didn't, he wont take it seriously. Sasuke on the other hand was pissed. Fine. Do whatever you want. I don't care. Hn.

Suddenly a hand rose up from the back. It was Kabuto.

"I'm sorry but I'm worn out so I cant compete anymore. I would like to back out."

Everybody was staring at him except Sakura who didn't even want to see his face. Kabuto walked out smilingly and gave a glance at Sakura that she caught. Sasuke also noticed the exchange. What has that guy done to make Sakura detest him so much?

"All right. The elimination round will begin now. the judge will be Hayate, a Konoha Jonin. Everybody may go to the second floor and watch the matches from there."

And at this everybody, started going up the stairs. They were allowed to stand with their Jonin instructors so Kakashi was there with them.

"So, you guys ready?"

The three of them nodded. Kakashi looked at Sakura and gave her a smile. She smiled back.

The screen lit up to show to name of the first two opponents.

The screen read, 'Haruno Sakura vs Yamanaka Ino'

Hm. I'm first. Well that's obvious because they want me to go and get this thing sealed.

"Good luck, Sakura." Said Kakashi with a smile

"Do your best and kick her butt, Sakura-chan!"

"I'll try Naruto. Well see you later." She started walking when Sasuke came up to her and touched her shoulder. She turned around and saw him looking down.

"Sasuke? What is it?"

He slowly looked up trying to maintain a stoic expression but his eyes failed him as she could see concern in them.

"Be careful." And then he left.

Sakura looked at him in shock but then she felt giddy. He cares.

She went down and Ino also came down.

"Well, Sakura. the day has come when I beat you. You are my rival after all" said Ino with a smirk.

Sakura smirked back." We'll see."

Hayate looked at both of them and when he thought they were ready he shouted "BEGIN".