Chapter 5: Cluster Luck

"You create your thoughts,

your thoughts create your intentions

and your intentions create

your reality."

-Wayne Dyer

Sakura kept her face blank as her name was called along with Sasuke and Naruto's, but internally her stomach was rolling. She was to be placed on a team with the class clown who never took anything seriously, to the class recluse, who took everything a bit too seriously. She was positive that the statistics of her survival rate had just plummeted.

"Ugh, why do I have to be on a team with the teme?" Naruto loudly whined. "Sakura-chan and I are so kick ass, being top of the class and all, that we would be fine by ourselves!"

Iruka-sensei rolled his eyes, "Naruto, contrary to your belief you are not top of the class, the position belongs to Sasuke. You in fact are dead last in the class. We needed you two on a team to balance things out."

Naruto scowled and Sakura was fairly sure that if she turned around Sasuke would be grimacing. But she did not care for their reactions, as she was too busy trying to figure out the subtext. If Naruto's underachievement and Sasuke's overachievement balanced things out, than where exactly did that leave her? She had always been one of the top students in academics, and ever since the female portion of the class decided that diets and hairstyles were more important than learning to stay alive, she had thought she was near the top in physical activities too. But Iruka-sensei hadn't mentioned her, so perhaps not…

Sakura bit her lip and tried to will herself not to be upset… This was a good thing. Impersonating someone average when really being exemplary was extremely tactical. It would only help enemies underestimate her. But was she an exemplary student?

She had worked so hard, trained so much, and she had thought her hard work had paid off… Perhaps her enemies wouldn't be underestimating her- perhaps she just wasn't a challenge? Sakura shook the silly thoughts out of her head- she didn't even have any enemies at the present.

By the time she refocused on Iruka-sensei the rest of the teams had been named. Sakura's eyes scanned the teams, trying to decipher why the Hokage would think certain people would mesh well together- what he would hope to accomplish from their teamwork? Some of them where simple to figure out- Hinata's team complied of people that were suited to tracking- future Hunter-nins in the making, while Ino's team was perhaps interrogation... She knew that Shikamaru, Choji and Ino all had blood limits, but she wasn't close enough to ask them about the details, or even if they had inherited them yet. Some of the other teams, like her own seemed to have neither rhyme or reason… at least no discernable ones.

Sakura also suppressed an unhappy frown as she noticed a large number of her female classmates, especially the ones who were very vocal in their devotion to Sasuke, scowling at her. She resisted the impulse to role her eyes at their pettiness. Its not like she chose to be on a team with him…

The door opened, and everyone straightened up. A fair skinned woman with unruly black hair and glowing red eyes glided in the classroom. Her frighteningly beautiful eyes scanned the entire classroom before they settled on Hinata. Sakura watched her only friend shake for a moment.

"I am Yuhi Kurenai. Team Eight please follow me," the woman said, her voice pleasantly husky.

Everyone watched as their three classmates left. And within the next half an hour Sakura watched as more and more of her peers left with some very colorful looking jounin-sensei's- one who was even smoking in the school. Lunch passed by and Sakura remain rooted in her spot. And the numbers crept down until at last it was only Naruto, Sasuke, and her left. After a half an hour passed with just the three of them and Iruka-sensei, Sakura slowly felt the nervous anticipation leave her system. Annoyance at her new sensei's lack of punctuality replaced it.

More time trickled away and Sakura could feel Naruto's eyes boring into her. But she was long passed impassively staring at the front of the classroom and instead was reading an advanced user guide on how to manipulate a whip with different elemental jutsus. She didn't know what Sasuke was doing, and hadn't cared enough to look up from her chapter on how to tunnel wind jutsu into a whip to make a small hurricane. But as the hours started to tick by, the pages in her book dwindled.

And when she turned the last page, Iruka-sensei coughed, gathering her attention. "I need to head to my next class. I trust you all can wait here without getting into trouble," he stressed the last bit solely to Naruto.

Naruto's cherub lipped and whiskered cheek smirk fooled no one, but Iruka-sensei left the classroom anyways.

"Maah, this is so boring!" Naruto whined, barely a moment after the door closed.

"Would you like to borrow one of my scrolls?" Sakura said, wincing at her offer (she knew Naruto was not one to take care of his things), but also knowing that he would most likely reject it. Which he promptly did.

Nose scrunched up slightly, "No thanks Sakura-chan." He slumped back in his seat again for a moment and Sakura decided to cast her attention to her other teammate.

Sasuke was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, eyes fixated on the door. She was sure he noticed her attention, but he chose not to acknowledge it. And she inwardly sighed. Though Naruto may be the world's biggest goof, she at least knew that she could get along with him… She was not sure she could say the same about her Uchiha teammate. Once upon a time, maybe, but now, with his icy persona, it was a toss up.

"I know, lets play a prank! Our sensei deserves it for being so late!" Naruto exclaimed, springing from his chair.

This time her sigh made it past her lips. Naruto was a human whirlwind, no matter what he was doing. But she had no desire to become an accessory to some poorly thought out trick.

"I don't think that's the best idea Naruto-san," Sakura said, knowing that her protest would be futile in his mind.

But as predicted, Naruto continued with his half- cocked plan. Half nervous and half disapproving, Sakura watched as Naruto scrambled over to the blackboard and found the two largest erasers. She only hoped that whoever their sensei was, he or she wouldn't think that she had any part of this.

"Dobe, our sensei is a jounin- an elite shinobi. He is never going to fall for a stupid trick like that," Sasuke said, finally breaking his silence.

Naruto blew a raspberry at him and continued his work of pushing his chair against the door, and placing the brushes precariously on the slightly ajar ledge. He chuckled to himself as he got down from the chair and moved it back behind his desk.

And Sakura couldn't help but agree with Sasuke- no shinobi worth their salt would enter a room without checking it out for traps first. And even if Naruto's trap wasn't a deadly one, it was an obvious one.

But both Sasuke and Sakura were both proven wrong as they watched the door slowly open and a tall man with shocking silver hair walk through. And as soon as the door was opened wide enough, the two erasers promptly fell atop his thick hair, surrounding his face in a cloud of chalky haze.

Naruto broke out in full- bellied obnoxious laughter, and even Sakura had to hastily bite her lip to prevent the giggles from escaping. It wouldn't do her well to make a bad first impression. She caught a peek of Sasuke's stunned look. Apparently their jounin sensei was either a bit dim, or clearly didn't anticipate them to big a big enough threat to even warrant examining his surroundings. She would bet on the latter.

Once the dust subsided, Sakura finally got a clear look at his face. Or rather she got a clear look at the outline of it, as the man was covered almost head to toe. Three quarters of his face was veiled by a navy cotton mask and one eye was similarly hidden by his forehead protector. Sakura vaguely wondered how he managed to secure it on his face without it slipping.

In a somewhat lackadaisical motion, the man's head finally turned to face them. His one dark eye lazily took each of them in, and Sakura tilted her head as it met her. She had a feeling that his carefree attitude was camouflaging a cold, hard, calculating mind.

A gloved finger absently tapped at his covered lips, "my first impression of you three is…"

She felt her stomach clench.

"…I don't like you."

Her eyes narrowed briefly. How could their new sensei not like them already? He hadn't even been in their presence for five minutes! And while Sakura figured that he very much knew who they were and where their strengths and weaknesses lied, he didn't know anything about their character… She watched as he studied their reactions to his proclamation. Naruto's outraged indignation, Sasuke's unimpressed silence, and her… her what? She straightened her spine, it didn't matter if this man liked her- he didn't need to like her, he needed to teach her.

"Lets go to the roof and introduce ourselves, shall we?" the man said, halfway out the door before his statement was finished.

Naruto hastily scrambled out of his seat and lopped after the man like an orange clad puppy, while Sasuke, as elegant as ever rose from his seat, much like a haughty house cat. Sakura trailed behind the two silently, her eyes, like the other two, fixated on the man.

Once they reached the roof, their new sensei quickly arranged himself on the ground, legs crossed. The three students followed suit facing him.

"Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourselves, hobbies- likes, dislikes, goals… that sort of thing," the man finally said, sounding as if he would much rather be somewhere else or napping than listening to them.

"Why don't you start?" Naruto said, voice accusing. "I mean for all we know you're not even our real sensei! You probably kidnapped him, that's why you're so late!"

Sakura's eyes flitted over to Naruto, torn between disbelief and shock. His theory was half ludicrous and half plausible. If someone wanted to infiltrate the village and take a hostage, the academy on a day like today would be a prime place. Her eyes flickered back to the man, sharply appraising his masked form again.

"If I were here to kill you, I would have done so by now. And if I were to kidnap you, I also would be at least at the border by this time," the man replied, but Sakura was sure she detected amusement in his voice. She forced her tense muscles to relax.

"I'll answer anyways. My name is Hatake Kakashi and I am a jounin of Konoha." He tapped the leaf symbol on his forehead protector and Sakura felt like an idiot for believing Naruto's wild theory for a minute. "There are things that I like, and things that I'm not particularly fond of… As for dreams…" he made a non-committal sound and Sakura had to repress the urge to roll her eyes indecently.

He had effectively told them nothing about himself, which in a way was also very telling. That coupled with the mask screamed 'boundary issues.' He tilted his head towards a squawking Naruto, "you next!"

Naruto grumbled for a moment before perking up. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like, no I love ramen- all kinds of ramen. Iruka-sensei bought me ramen at Ichiraku and it was my favorite."

Sakura's brow lifted- she always had the impression that Iruka-sensei wasn't fond of Naruto… and that was putting it lightly.

"As for dislikes…" his blues eyes darted over to Sasuke, "I dislike when people disrespect me! And my dream is to be the next Hokage and for everyone to acknowledge me! Believe it!"

Their new sensei didn't seem particularly surprised by Naruto's enthusiasm, but then again, his mischievous nature was well known to Konoha law enforcement. He lazily turned toward Sakura who was seated directly in front of him. "And how about our lone female?"

Sakura pondered on the questions for a moment.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I enjoy meditating and reading. I dislike shallow people. My dream is…" she furrowed her brows- how did she describe her dream? She wanted to be a powerful shinobi. Not for the fame or for her family to acknowledge her, but so she could do great things. "-to protect my village as valiantly as those in the past did, I suppose."

She figured that was a safe enough answer. Nothing that would draw too much attention to herself. A simple answer for a simple girl. For she hadn't quite worked out whether or not standing out would be worth the potential negative attention. Than again, did she want to be one of the shinobi slinking about in the shadows or a front line powerhouse? She thought she knew the answer to that question well enough.

When she refocused on her sensei, he was staring at her and the intensity of his lone dark eye betrayed his lazy posture.

"You're Tsukino Mebuki's daughter, correct?" he finally said, after a tense moment.

Sakura wasn't sure why exactly he was asking. Surely the name of her parents was listed in a file that he no doubt had about her… But she was also reigning in her surprise- she had never heard her mother's maiden name before. She nodded her head.

"Your mother was one of the top infiltration specialists in Konoha. The Hokage was sad to see her retire," Kakashi- sensei said.

Sakura kept silent. She didn't know what the appropriate reaction should be. Normal shinobi parents probably told their children what position they held within the village, at least she would assume they did. But Sakura's mother hadn't wanted this life for her and therefore kept all of her past regarding being kunoichi hidden. And also her mother had retired to give birth to her. She settled making a noncommittal noise.

Kakashi-sensei eyed her for another moment before moving onto Sasuke. "And yourself?"

Sasuke seemed to draw himself up, as if he were ready to address a grand speech. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything." His dark eyes became glazed as he continued, "I have no dream, but I do have an ambition- to restore my clan and kill…a certain man."

Sakura resisted the urge to fidget. Sasuke had just turned this whole icebreaker exercise from seventy-five percent uncomfortable to one hundred and ten percent uncomfortable. And for a boy that had just spent the last four years isolating himself from others, he had just allowed the three a startling insight into his psyche. She tore her gaze away from her now stony eyed teammate and back to her new sensei.

"So sensei, what will our first mission be? Will we be guarding a princess? Rescuing people from evil missing nin?" Naruto asked, practically bouncing in his seat.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, in a seemingly bashful manner. "Well technically you are not allowed to go on missions yet…"

Sakura's eyes narrowed again, and she could feel Sasuke straighten up beside her.

"WHAT? Why not?" Naruto yelped.

"Did the academy instructors fail to mention that the exams only pass potential genin candidates? Over forty of you graduated, only nine of you will become genin," Kakashi explained, glad that his mask covered his grin.

Sakura felt her breath catch in her chest- not be shinobi? That was simply not an option- she had worked too hard.

Naruto's face was the perfect picture of horror, "But that's like a-"

"-sixty- six percent fail rate, yes it is Naruto," Kakashi airily finished. "So tomorrow we will begin survival training at six a.m. on training ground three. If you manage to pass by the end of the day than you become true genin." He stretched as he got to his feet. "Oh and don't eat any breakfast- I wouldn't want you to puke." And with that final word he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Sakura was rooted to the spot, staring at the now vacated air. It felt like a million thoughts were running through her head, competing for attention. The possibility that she would fail- statistically speaking was high, but NO, she wouldn't, couldn't… Growling under her breath at the vagueness of 'survival training' she rose to her feet. Sasuke and Naruto looked up at her.

"Where are you going Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, hoping to his feet too.

Dusting off her backside, she looked at her two teammates- or where they competitors? Did they fail or pass as individuals or as a team… frustration welled within her. "I'm going home to prepare."

Sasuke nodded his head as if he agreed.

"Prepare, how?" Naruto asked, attentive blue eyes boring into her.

"I'm sure I'll figure that out by the time I get there," Sakura answered. And if she had bothered looking back as she left she would have noticed the slightly stunned looks on the two boys faces.

Running home Sakura tried to figure out what a good plan of action would be… She definitely knew that she wanted to mediate and train… but once again she didn't want to overdo it and be wrecked for tomorrow. Survival training- what exactly did that entail? Training implied that he was going to help them, but this was clearly a test… she pondered what scrolls she might have lying about her room that could be of use as she ran home.

Slightly out of breath, Sakura opened the door and was greeted by the sight of an vaguely familiar figure.

"Why look at you Sakura-chan, you have done so much growing since I last saw you!" the man said, showcasing a friendly smile.

He was an older man, but had clearly aged well. His salt and pepper hair and laugh lines suited his olive skin, and dark eyes. His expensive clothes hinted at wealth, but the rich scarlet silk declared him a Haruno. And normally that in alone meant trouble for her, but this man was going out of his way to look nonthreatening… which made Sakura feel even more on edge.

Still manners, were manners, so while her eyes searched for the familiar form of her mother, she pasted on a petite smile and bowed politely. Thankfully her mother seemed to have heard her silent plea, as she entered the room.

"Sakura you remember your Great Uncle Itsuki, don't you? Grandmother Satomi's younger brother?" Mebuki stated in a cajoling voice.

Truthfully, no she had not, but Sakura dutifully nodded her pastel head anyway.

"He and his business partners are having a dinner party with some potential clients here tonight, so if you could have dinner in your room that would be helpful."

Delicate false smile firmly in place Sakura nodded once again. "I hope you enjoy your evening Itsuki-sama."

The older man chuckled, and she could feel his eyes follow her figure up the stairs. Once she was at the top, Sakura let her smile fall. The stupid dinner party would put a wrench in her plans… On one hand she knew she needed to be trained and prepared for whatever her nonsensical sensei was going to throw at her… on the other hand if she was caught lifting even a senbon, let alone completing training exercises she would be in excruciating trouble with her father…

Scowling, she lightly trudged over to her desk, and attempted to quietly rummage through the pile scrolls and scattered notebooks. The scrolls were on lend from the academy and notebooks were a compilation of all the notes she made. And for such an organized individual- or at least Sakura liked to think she was, her room and desk in particular was a complete disaster… Just another thing Grandmother Satomi would scoff at if she knew.

It took the young girl the better part of an hour just to sort through scrolls on genjutsu. Another hour passed and her mother delivered her some ongiri. Time ticked away and her eyes dutifully went over old notes, trying to squeeze out any information that could help her. Even if she did have an eidetic memory, she never knew when something she had written would have its new uses. And as each hour flew by, the raucous laughter from downstairs grew louder and louder.

Eventually Sakura's eyes grew itchy and tired. She closed her final notebook, feeling as though she had accomplished something. Not nearly as much as she wanted to, but if she wound up having to treat an infected wound, find proper shelter, or mask her chakra she was confident she would be able to do so, amongst other things…

But even though her eyes were tired, her body was not ready for rest yet. Sakura had grown accustomed to always completing some form of taijutsu training or practice with her whip before falling into an exhausted sleep. But with the party well in swing downstairs, not to mention the hazardous results of practicing indoors, Sakura figured she would have to forgo it tonight. Tonight of all nights… she sighed.

Changing into her a simple white nightgown, the girl decided to meditate before bed, and maybe practice masking her chakra a little… her sensei seemed fond of masks in any case. So she folded her legs up underneath her on top of her bed and retreated within herself. Breath steady, she examined all of the cords of her bright thrumming chakra. Watching in fascination as everything moved in harmony, her inner eye documenting what areas of her body had more concentrated clumps of energy. Her spiritual core, being the most concentrated area.

Masking chakra seemed like a simple concept, but it was much more complicated than it sounded. She needed to take every string of her chakra, every pocket, every clump and imagine them all being compressed into a tight ball- a tight invisible ball within herself. And while that ball needed to be unseen, it also needed to be accessible.

Sakura's face contorted and sweat dripped down the back of her neck. While she found it fairly easy to manipulate her chakra, it was more difficult trying to mask it once it was all compressed together.

And Sakura was so focused on her task that she didn't even notice her door slowly opening and a figure slip through. It was only when the bed dipped down beside her that she abruptly jerked out of her meditative state, eyes springing open. Her pupils dilated fully against the blackness in her bedroom.

"I am sorry to have startled you Sakura-chan," the figure beside her said, his deep voice hushed.

Straightening herself up, Sakura scooted over a bit, confusion and apprehension warring within her. "Itsuki-sama? What are you doing here?"

"Shhh," he said, placing a thick finger against lips.

Unease began to coil in Sakura's gut.

"You have always been my favorite child in the family, did you know that?" Itsuki whispered, his hand brushing aside her hair. "Such a perfect little girl. Like a little doll."

A shudder ran down her spine. She was the only little girl in the family. The rest of her cousins were boys. And most of the Harunos did not truly consider her family anyways.

His hand slipped down her spine, until it trailed over to her leg. Hot breath whispered in her ear, "but you're not really Kizashi's, so it's all right." And the hand that was on her leg began trailing upwards.

A million different scenarios warred in her mind as his large fingers worked their way up her inner leg.

She kept a few training kunai under her bed- they were blunt, but they would still work… she could dive for the door- she was younger and smaller, she would make it first… she could scream… she could duck and knock his head against the wall…

Her throat tightened and Sakura couldn't tell if it was because she was going to be sick.

"Don't," she whispered, but the word rang out oddly melodious.

That wasn't important, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that the hand that had almost made it to the apex of her thighs froze.

Sakura's bedroom door burst open. The light flooding into the room from the hallway caused her to squint and her great uncle to hastily jump away from her. Sakura could make out her mother standing in the doorway.

"Is there something you needed Itsuki-sama?" Mebuki asked, her voice unreadable.

Itsuki straightened himself out. "No I was just looking for the bathroom when I stumbled upon Sakura-chan. I figured I would see if she wanted me to tell her a bedtime story while I was here."

He smiled charmingly at Mebuki before sidestepping her and heading back out into the hall.

Sakura sat paralyzed. Her green eyes were glassy, but dry. Her throat still felt uncomfortably tight and the rest of her body felt exhausted.

The second that she could hear Itsuki's footsteps going down the stairs, Mebuki rushed forward and threw her arms around her daughter's small, motionless frame.

"Flower?" Mebuki asked, and for the first time Sakura thought she heard tears in her mother's voice.

"How did you know? How did you know he was- that I was… in trouble?" Sakura asked, her voice unsteady. She watched her own hand shake in a peculiar fashion, unable to comprehend her body's reactions- unable to really feel them.

Mebuki placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, not wanting to show her daughter her fury or despair. "Your chakra flared."

Mebuki watched as her daughter nodded, but wasn't sure exactly if Sakura was listening.

"I'm tired mom," Sakura said, hating that her voice sounded so small- hating that her mind was a mix of confusion, horror, and loathing…

"Go to sleep flower, I'll be right here beside you, all night." Mebuki said, rubbing her daughter's back.

Sakura let her eyelids droop, but she knew sleep would be an elusive creature that night. Her mind was too busy… too busy with they questions… Why did he do that? Why did he visit? What was he doing? What was he going to do? Why didn't I stop him sooner? Will he come back? What does he want? Why me, why me, why me, why me….

Survival training was the last thing on her mind.

Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. Things are getting darker, and I hope you don't think I'm making Sakura into some miserable martyr! Everything has a purpose!

Also, I am not going to follow the exact dialogue from either the manga or the anime. Yes, things I think are important will remain the same, and even certain events. But I think it would be pretty boring if I used everything word for word.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Your comments and feedback have no only helped my writing, but also keep me motivated!

Please review and let me know what you think.

-Nyx