A.N: Here we go, they finally get put into teams! Thankfully, right? I think I know how - well - when I'm going to end the story. I'm still not sure who she is going to end up with - if she is even going to end up with someone - so I apologize for that. I seem to have a problem with apologizing to my readers though.. when I haven't done anything wrong. Meh, I guess that can't be helped though. I'm actually excited about this chapter since you get to see who her friends are, and who her foes are! I hope you like this chapter and please remember to review! Oh another note, I have to admit that I am obsessing over a new anime, Bleach. I wrote a one-shot for it, but it wasn't anything too big since I just started the anime a few days ago and don't know all the characters well enough to do a decent story. Besides that I think I should let you start to read the chapter, like you wanted too!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
Tough
Chapter Seven
X X X
"Sakura, what's with all the bandages wrapped around your arms for?" Naruto asks his her gently while heading towards the Ninja Academy. After Kenji woke her up last night, they found multiple cuts all over her skin; some deeper than others. She told him all about the dream, and they couldn't find out what happened to her, at all.
"Oh you know..." Sakura replies nervously, scratching the back of her head, "Since we are about to become genin, I thought a new look was required!"
"Bandages wrapped all over you like a mummy isn't a fashion sense, Sakura." Sasuke interrupts from the side and rolls his eyes, "You remind me of Ino." Sakura glares at Sasuke in annoyance.
"Nothing is wrong with what I am wearing, jerk!" She huffs out in anger and speeds ahead of them, entering the Academy. She storms passed Sasuke's fan girls and sits down in her normal seat with her cheeks puffing out. Her new outfit isn't bad, at least in her own opinion. It's short black mid-thigh shorts, a black belly shirt with the Haruno symbol in between her shoulder blades, bandages wrapped around her stomach and arms, and she has on her black high heel kunoichi shoes.
"She may have somewhat of the same style as her, Sasuke, but she looks one hundred percent better." Naruto mumbles sliding into the seat next to her.
"I am not sitting on the outside." Sasuke growls, his right eye twitching, "Move it over, Naruto."
"Oh yeah? How about you make me, Teme!" Naruto growls back. Sasuke narrows his eyes, getting into a silent argument with him.
"Oh, you boys are too competitive sometimes!" Sakura complains, leaning back on the chair and closing her eyes.
"Oh, Saku, new look I see." Kiba Inuzaka says throwing her his famous toothy grin, "You look hot, and I have to say, the color black matches you perfectly." Sakura opens her eyes and stares into Kiba's own soft brown eyes before laughing.
"Oh, Kiba-kun!" She greets sending him a small smile, "It's nice to see you again. How's Akamaru? And thanks, I'm glad someone likes my new look. The two idiots are being mean and cruel to me. Can you believe that?" She pouts, staring at the seat next to him, "Hey, Kiba-kun... Can I sit next to you?" Kiba nods, letting his shaggy brown hair cover his eyes.
"You're always allowed to sit next to me, cupcake! Akamaru is great, he misses you. I would let you see him today, but he's having a check up with my older sister, Hana." Kiba informs her watching Sakura climb over the table and sitting right next to him. "Any plans today?"
"Well, after the graduation exams, I'm planning to invite all of you guys out to eat to celebrate. Of course, it'll only be for lunch since your parents might want to do something else with you later on." Sakura tells him sending him a sweet smile, "I'm hoping you are willing to join. We already took our written exam earlier today, so the only thing left is the jutsu they are going to make us do."
"Who are you going to invite?" Kiba asks, resting his head on his palm.
"Oh," Sakura mumbles, "Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Chouji, Hinata, and you!" Kiba nods.
"Alright class! It's time for your final exam. When I call your name, I want you to come into the next room and do the required jutsu. If you can not perform it, I'm sorry to say this but you fail. Even if you did great on the writing portion. If you did bad on the writing portion but great on the jutsu, you have a small chance of passing. So I hope you all studied like I told you too! Good luck. Shino, you are up first." Iruka announces to the class. Shino, the student who was called, stands up and follows Iruka into the other classroom.
X X X
"Shino?" Sakura calls, walking over to him, "I know you we don't know each other much, but I was wondering if you would like to join me and a few of our classmates to the dango shop for a congratulations lunch party?" Shino glances down at the female in front of him, and raises his eyebrow.
"I suppose it won't hurt, Sakura." Shino admits, "Are we leaving now?"
"Yes we are! Thank you so much for accepting my offer, Shino." She says smiling happily. "We are meeting the rest of the group outside. Would you like to come with me?" Shino nods and walks side by side with her, heading towards the court-yard of the Academy.
X X X
Sakura enters the dango shop with her friends and sits down at a table with Sasuke on her right and Naruto to her left. She glances around the table and smiles, happy to see the rest of her friends.
"I want to thank you all for joining me. I know your parents wanted to go with your parents, but you were nice enough to eat lunch with with me. I want to congratulate all of you for passing, especially you, Naruto-kun!" Sakura says giggling at the last part, "I know a speech isn't necessary, but we are all about to be full fledge ninja's, so we won't have a lot of time together. I was hoping that we can decide on a date to meet and train together? At least once a week?" She asks hopefully, tilting her head to the side.
"Of course we can come up with a date, Sakura." Kiba says laughing, sending her a wink, "We wouldn't be able to survive without seeing our cherry blossom. Especially them." Kiba mumbles the last part, tilting his head at Naruto and Sasuke.
"You are allowed to join us too, Shino!" Sakura informs smiling, "We would all be thrilled with you joining us every week." Shino nods.
After the waitress brings all of the food, they all start to eat with a little chatter every so often.
"Sasuke-kun! I'm so glad to see you here!" Ino squeals, running towards the group. She glances over at Sakura and scowls, "Oh look, the whores are surrounded by men. You are never going to be able to find someone to be your other half, girls. Sasuke-kun is mine, and he'll always be mine!" Hinata, who is sitting next to Naruto, growls softly under her breath, sending Ino a glare.
"You don't have the right to call her a whore, Ino. You are the one who throws herself at different men. I remember how you had a crush on Kiba-kun for how long? You even tried to kiss Shikamaru after a few hours of sitting with him." Hinata growls out, crossing her arms over her chest, "Now, I suggest you beat it, haven't you heard what they did to Ami? They will never forgive you if you mess with Sakura, ever."
"Oh, shut up! They don't like you Hinata! The only reason why you are even here is because of Sakura. What ever happened to the shy, stuttering Hinata anyways?" Ino asks, glaring down at the girl.
"Simple. I met Sakura, and I was sick of you treating me like I'm not important. I am important, and I deserve better than how you treat me. Just like Sakura does, and Naruto. You basically treat this group like trash if they aren't hot, and if they aren't guys. If you get stuck with them as a teammate, you are going to have one hard time. The boys here don't like girls who complain about being tired, or how hot it is. They love girls who actually train and try to improve." She smiles sweetly up at Ino, "I do want to tell you this, though. They will most likely never like you, since you are always mean to Sakura. One thing about these boys, they are very protective over Sakura. Matter of fact we all are." Hinata explains sweetly.
"Oh, Hinata-chan, you know we are protective over you too!~" Naruto adds, standing up and giving Hinata the biggest hug ever. "If you hurt either girl - in any way - you will have all of us as your enemy, Ino." Ino turns to Sasuke, sending him a sad, puppy dog look.
"Sasuke-kun, don't you love me?" Ino cries out, trying to pull him into a hug.
"Leave us alone, Ino." Sasuke orders, crossing his arms over his chest, "You're annoying." Ino runs out of the shop in tears.
"Well, princess, I'm going to go." Kiba announces, paying for his food, "Shino's going to join me." Shino nods, paying his share, too.
X X X
The next day, Sakura enters the Academy building alone, and sits down next to her friend, Shikamaru. She tilts her head to the side, noticing him sleeping.
"Oh, Shikamaru, what are we suppose to do with you?" Sakura asks, rolling her eyes. She leans back in her chair and watches as the kids start to pile in, surrounding the normal table the trio sit in.
"Not with Naruto and Sasuke today? Troublesome woman..." Shikamaru mumbles, waking up. He glances over at Sakura and smiles gently. She's in her new outfit, with her headband around her upper left arm, almost how he has it. "Stealing my fashion sense now, Saku?" He asks, sending her a boyish smirk.
"Heh, you wish, Shikamaru! If I stole your fashion sense, that means we all stole someone's fashion sense in a way." Sakura replies, winking at him. "My boys will probably be storming through the door soon when they find out I didn't wait for them. So I'll go sit in our spot. Even though it's only right in front of us." Sakura gives Shikamaru a hug before jumping over the table and sitting in the middle.
X X X
"Shikamaru, I can't believe they scolded me for twenty minutes... twenty minutes!" Sakura whines, leaning back and staring up at Shikamaru, who is looking down at her with a lazy smile, rolling his eyes.
"You did ditch them, Saku." He mumbles, closing his eyes, "I'm going to sleep until Iruka-sensei arrives here..."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Shikamaru. I'm here now." Iruka interrupts, walking passed them, grinning when he heard Shikamaru mumble 'troublesome man' under his breath. "I want to congratulate all of you for passing the exam! You all did great; you were all a good class, too! I'm going to stand here in front of you, and announce your teammates. You will be with them for a long time, so I hope you do well." Iruka announces.
"Teammates?" Some classmates whisper to each other while Iruka begins to read off the list.
"Team seven; Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno!" Iruka shouts, grinning when he saw them all sigh in relief, "Team eight; Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzaka, and Shino Aburame." There were whispers all throughout the room, mostly talking about how team seven is a set up. "Team ten, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi!" He finishes, watching Shikamaru groan, Chouji eating, and Ino crying. "Thank you, you all need to go out for lunch now, and then come back to meet your teachers! Best of luck, guys!" The classroom immediately empties when he finishes.
X X X
Well, there it is. It was longer than I thought, and I had to cut some things out of my story so I apologize for that. Ooh, here I am, apologizing again! Sigh, I'm so troublesome. I know Hinata is not... Hinata-ish, but you might see some flashbacks in the future to explain why. I hope you review! I want to thank the following people for reviewing; Dina Sana, Black n' Blue sun, and MiyatheEarthninja! Hopefully I get more reviews this time?
Kimi-the-Writer