Sakana nodded to Sasuke and his team, saying "Excuse me, I need to return to my teammates now."

Sakana eyed their first examiner and the ninja that stood lined up behind him carefully, when suddenly she noticed a familiar face. It was Emiko Nagataki, the bookshop owner she'd met the other day. So, she was a ninja, too? All of the other examiners looked serious, but Emiko was subtly, yet happily waving at Naruto, giving him a thumb's up sign. Almost as if she sensed someone watching, the woman glanced in Sakana's direction and their eyes met. Recognition in her eyes, Emiko waved to Sakana, too, and mouthed the words "good luck", but before Sakana could respond, Ibiki cleared his throat and glared meaningfully at Emiko. Sakana suppressed a laugh as the older woman immediately stopped waving and took on a chastened look, but then winked at her as soon as Ibiki's head was turned. Sakana cautiously winked back and then focused her attention on their examiner as he began explaining the first exam.

They quickly learned that it was a written test of 9 questions which they'd be given an hour to complete. Ibiki would then ask the tenth and final question during the last ten minutes. The other ninja who stood behind him were there to make sure no one cheated. Sakana was slightly worried. The written exams she'd taken in Kiri had been very difficult, and if Konoha's test was similar even she might have some trouble.

As she and her team got into line for their numbers, Sakana scanned the crowd. To her dismay there was no swish of the high blonde ponytail worn by her old friend Sen or the coppery hair of Sen's brother, Ryu. In fact, she didn't see any mist ninja at all. Receiving the number 25, Sakana took her seat and looked around, trying to locate her teammates. Gaara was across from her in the center row, Kankuro was two rows behind him and Temari was on the far side of the room.

Suddenly someone blocked her view and took the seat next to her on the left. She blinked, realizing it was Sasuke. He nodded to her before turning to focus on Ibiki, who called out one final reminder, "Do NOT get caught cheating. Begin!"

Sakana grabbed her pencil and looked down at the test. A smile spread across her face when she read the questions. They were easy; the tests in Kiri had been much harder. Finishing in about ten minutes, Sakana subtly glanced around, not wanting to be mistaken for cheating, and noticed that Gaara was beginning to perform his third eye jutsu. Next to her Sasuke mumbled something that sounded like "sharingan". She watched his eyes shift from onyx to red as he stared intensely at a boy in front of him. Sharingan…that sounded so familiar to her… Why where there so many things about Konoha that gave her déjà vu, and why did they all seem to revolve around Uchiha Sasuke. Sakana's heart beat a little faster as she heard a number called, sighing in relief when she realized that it wasn't one of her teammates who'd been eliminated.

Leaning back she closed her eyes and thought back to her days in Kiri. She recalled her friends, Sen and Ryu Rakurai; Sakana often wondered how they were doing. Sen and her younger brother, who was Sakana's age, had been her best friends; she had even had a crush on Ryu for a while. A smile danced across her lips as a funny memory played out in her mind.

*flashback*

Sakana trudged along the road to the academy on a cool, misty morning. She was wearing one of her heavier cloaks because it looked like it might rain. Next to her walked Sen, who was using a genjutsu that gave her a short-haired appearance, and next to Sen was Ryu. It was the day of the Genin exams, and when they reached the academy Sen spontaneously said, "Hugs for good luck on the exam today!" She hugged both Sakana and Ryu then turned, expecting them to hug – no doubt one of her many attempts at getting the two of them together.

"I'm going to kill you the first chance I get, Sen!" Sakana thought.

When neither of them made a move, Sen deftly shoved Sakana into Ryu, forcing them to hug to keep from toppling over. Sakana blushed furiously, but enjoyed it all the same.

*end flashback*

Sen had been the oldest in their group, having failed her previous attempt at becoming a Genin, but she managed to pass at the same time as Sakana and Ryu. Surprisingly, they were all assigned to the same team. She would actually still have been with them had it not been for the sudden, surprising order from the Mizukage.

*flashback*

Sakana ran home as fast as she could, her new headband tied proudly to her forehead. When she got there she discovered her parents, Koji and Tsukino, in the living room reading a scroll with grim expressions. They looked up when she entered and her mother started to cry. She ran over to Sakana and hugged her, still crying.

"Okaa-san what's wrong?" Sakana asked.

Her mother looked down at Sakana, her hazel eyes filled with tears.

"We just got a letter from the Mizukage…" her father said, coming up next to her. "We have been ordered to send you to Sunagakure."

"What?!" Sakana said her eyes widening in disbelief.

"You have to leave in two days," her father said, hugging her tightly.

She too started to cry. She couldn't leave now! She'd just turned ten; just become a Genin; just hugged Ryu for the first time! Why did she have to go?!

*end flashback*

Sakana's departure had been tearful, to say the least, but Sen and Ryu had both come to see her off. They hugged her tightly and each gave her something to remember them by. Sen had given her a crescent moon necklace and Ryu had given her a portrait of the three of them together. She still had the portrait, but Kankuro had broken the necklace out of spite when she beat him in their first sparring match.

Sakana and her mother had rode horses to Suna, where they were met by the Kazekage, Baki and the people who would become her new teammates. Her mother helped tie on her new sand headband, but when she tried to hand her daughter the old one, Sakana gently pushed it back into the woman's hands. "Please don't forget me, okaa-san."

"We won't, Sakana musume-chan," she had said, holding her in her arms one last time before re-mounting her horse and riding off into the desert.

She was jerked from her memories by Ibiki shouting "Time's up! I will now deliver the final question. The final question is optional. Those who don't want to take it should simply raise their hands. They will be disqualified. But those who do decide to take it be warned, if you get it wrong you will be banned from ever taking this exam again and will remain a Genin for the rest of your life."

Sakana decided to stay; after all, the questions on the test had been easy enough for her, so how much harder could this one be? Many others raised their hands and were disqualified. Suddenly, Sasuke tensed up. She noticed Naruto beginning to raise his hand, but then he quickly slammed it down on the desk and shouted, "No way am I giving up now, dattebayo!"

Next to her Sasuke shook his head, an amused yet annoyed look on his face. Evidently this was Naruto's normal behavior.

"Well then if no on else wants to leave then…," Ibiki paused. "Congratulations! All of you have passed the written portion of the exam!"

The whole room was filled with shocked faces as Ibiki went on to explain that the real test was to examintest their information gathering skills. Also he explained that there was no real tenth question and that it was just a trick to weed out those not willing to take risks. Sakana has basically made sense of it when someone suddenly burst though the row of windows. It was a woman with purple hair and a crazy smile, who introduced herself as Mitarashi Anko, the second examiner. She briefly told the remaining Genin that the next day they'd all take part in the second portion of the exam, the Forest of Death, and then they were dismissed for the day.