Salvation

Disclaimer; All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter Twelve

…..

Her mouth felt uncomfortably dry as she made her way toward the building where the first part of the exam would take place. The sky was blue and the air warm and wind strong, tossing her short locks around her face and tickling the back of her throat.

She chewed anxiously on the inside of her cheek and as she made a turn through the fenced walkways of Kohana streets, caught glimpse of a familiar orange and blue jumpsuit and tagging along behind him Konohamaru and his two small friends, who looked so blurry to her. A feeling of sadness settled in the pit of her stomach. When the great war ensued, she was nearly certain they had been a casualty.

"Hey, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto smiled when he caught glimpse of his pink haired teammate, with a bright smile as he gave her a big wave. "You on your way to the exams? Let's walk together!" He prompted enthusiastically.

"Hey boss! Is this your girlfriend?" Konohamaru asked with a cheeky grin.

Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in response, flustered by the prompt. Sakura, feeling amused, let out a small laugh and patted the top of the young boys head, "Maybe one day." She winked, poking fun at the boys.

She remembered Konohamaru in his older days. Though he had become a somber and despondent man by the time she had been acquainted with him better. She silently prayed he would never get the opportunity to become that hollow man she had known in her own time.

Something flashed through Naruto's eyes as he looked past her and Sakura felt her stomach drop as she heard Konohamaru's young friend gasp. Sakura was surprised it had happened this way, though she supposed some meetings were simply destined to happen.

Kankuro had the young friend of Konohamaru by the scruff of his neck with a sour look on his painted face as he mocked the young boy unlucky enough to have accidently bumped into the sand ninja.

"Hey, let him go!" Konohamaru tried to prompt in a brave voice that trembled despite his efforts. The female friend of the young boys cowered behind Sakura's back, unsure of what to do.

"Oh? And what's a scrawny brat like you gonna' do if I don't?" Kankuro laughed, lifting the young boy higher in the air, causing his glasses to crash to the ground.

Sakura herself stepped forward at the sight of the young boy being harassed, her instincts taking over as she prepared to intercept the altercation, but Naruto quickly volunteered himself, stepping forward with a determined look on his face.

"Just who the hell do you think you are!" Naruto growled, "Let him go, now!" He demanded, Sakura would have smiled at the bravery in his voice, the unwavering bravery she always admired, had the situation been different.

"I'm scared." The little girl behind her whispered, clutching to the back of her shirt. Sakura smiled, patting the small rosy-cheeked girl on the head, "Naruto will get him back, don't worry."

"What are you going to do if he doesn't?" Temari stepped forward from the shadows, a mischievous look on her face as she kicked up the dirt around her, slamming her fan hard on the ground beside her in a display of hostility.

"Kick his ass." Naruto growled, storming forward.

Kankuro released the boy and sneared, "You little-"

A small thud froze the puppeteer in place and everyone's eyes, excluding Sakura, directed toward a high branch where a familiar Uchiha sat, casually crooked in a large, leafy tree. Looking stony and serious as he stared down at the two foreign ninja.

Feeling slighted and embarrassed, Kankuro reached for the concealed puppet on his back. Snarling loudly in preparation to strike.

"You're really going to get Crow out?" Temari asked with a bored, yet slightly interested tone, leaning against the wooden fence lining the walkway as her eyes flickered to the young Uchiha with curiosity.

"I was getting bored anyway." Kankuro grinned mischievously.

"What are you doing?" A grainy voice questioned from the trees. Sasuke's eyes drew left and a head of bright red hair greeted him. Gaara. Sakura still had difficulty believing that this man managed to turn into a Kage, a rather kind man, awkward, but kind.

"These little punks started it-" Kankuro began, fear of his monstrous younger sibling in his eyes. He looked less like he was trying to explain than begging for his life.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." Gaara cut in, unmerciful to his brother's protests as his sand carried him to the ground. Sakura remembered this being a rather shocking sight to her at the time, but the surprise was lost on her now.

Sakura drew her eyes to him, but he was staring intensely into the eyes of Naruto, who was still in a confused daze over just what was happening. She did recall it being a rather shocking experience at that time.

"I apologize for my brother's stupidity. We're here for the chunin exams." Gaara explained smoothly. His eyes shifting to those of the young Uchiha, now standing beside Naruto, a hand casually stuffed into his pocket as he stared hard into the redhead's eyes.

"What's your name?" Sasuke demanded, Sakura wondered if he'd always sounded this pretentious, if he had, she'd overlooked it, now it simply screamed at her. She avoided eye contact the best she could. Her last encounter with the Uchiha youth had been less than friendly, but had yet to blow her cover. She silently wondered why he hadn't reported the behavior to Kakashi, but assumed it was because he didn't want to admit she had bested him.

"Sabaku no Gaara." He said casually, eyes cold and sharp as his own stony gaze tore into the Uchiha like claws, "And you are?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke stated proudly.

"I'll be seeing you, Uchiha Sasuke." Gaara stated forebodingly, turning his back to walk away, his siblings followed suit with matching puzzled expressions.

"Hey! Don't you want to know my name!" Naruto shouted, feeling looked over and frustrated with Sasuke once again showing him up. He just couldn't get why everyone was just so interested in the Uchiha.

"Guess not." Konohamaru teased from the sideline, seeming to gain back his confidence now that the intimidating ninja were out of sight. His cheeky remark was rewarded with a swift punch to the head.

"We've got to get going, we'll be late." Sakura sighed, looking at the watch face on her inner wrist.

"Yeah! We're going to do this, believe it!" Naruto said with his trademark foxy grin and thumbs-up.

Sakura smiled at his enthusiasm, but inside she felt a deep darkness sink it's hooks into her. The trials to come would be twice as hard now that she knew just what was at stake. She doubted it would get any easier.

…..