It had been two months since they returned from their first mission away from home. They seldom went on any missions anymore, for Kakashi deemed it unnecessary to build their skills any longer. Now, it was about improving. So everyday at the same time, at the same bridge they would meet up and train. And yet everyday, Kakashi would be late.
She stood, sitting on the rail swinging her legs waiting for Naruto and Kakashi to arrive. Usually Sasuke arrived before her, but there were some times that she would arrive first herself. Then Naruto with some endless bound of energy would arrive, cheerful as always. And then maybe half an hour later Kakashi would arrive with a lame excuse.
Right as scheduled Naruto landed beside her, obviously taking the roof tops instead of the streets.
"Good morning Sakura-chan!"
"Morning Naruto."
"Teme."
"Dobe."
Their glare created unnecessary tension, causing her to bow her head and sigh.
Every freaking day with these two!
Shannaro!
Despite their lack of missions these past few months, this week had been filled with pointless mission after the other, sometimes two in a day.
"Yo!"
"YOU'RE LATE!"
Half an hour, right on schedule.
By the end of the day, they weeded a couple of yards, picked up trash in the river, and walked a few dogs.
It would've been totally boring without Naruto's personal mischief making it more entertaining. Sakura smiled to herself as she remembered her ribs hurting at one point for laughing so hard when Naruto almost fell off a cliff, having to be rescued by Sasuke.
The three off them were walking back, for Kakashi said he had a squad leader mission. Suddenly, they stopped for a woman was calling out to Sasuke.
"Sasuke-chan!"
Sasuke grew tense and suddenly pink rushed to his face as a woman approached them. That's when Sakura realized.
That's Sasuke's mom.
"Hn."
"Are these your team mates?"
Naruto pushed past Sasuke with a grin.
"I'm Uzamaki Naruto!"
Sakura elbowed him before bowing politely.
"And I'm Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet you Uchiha-san!"
"Oh this is perfect, Itachi just got home! Why don't you two join us for dinner, I'm sure Sasuke would be delighted to have you as well!"
Oh, Sasuke looked like he wanted anything but, but he nodded despite himself, and they followed the Uchiha matriarch back inside the compound. Sakura and Naruto hung back a little, taking in the sights of the small village of it's own, and in the back was apparently Sasuke's house, as was custom for the head of the clan to be in the back. The house itself was large in length, but only one story.
They took off their shoes at the door and walked inside, Sakura and Naruto were ushered into a family room and Sasuke immediately took off down another hallway.
"Would you two care for a drink?"
Sakura politely shook her head 'no', not really knowing how to react to a stranger welcoming her into their home.
Naruto shook his head 'no' as well, but he instead asked her about Sasuke, and if he had any weaknesses.
"N-Naruto!"
"What?"
"Tomatoes!"
They both looked at the woman like she had grown another head.
"Tomatoes?"
"Sasuke-chan likes tomatoes."
Another voice, much deeper entered the room with a smile, but Sakura could tell the smile was almost bitter.
"Ah, Ita-chan, you're back!"
"Yes, I had a long report to fill out. Are these Sasuke's team mates?"
"Yes they are. Sakura, Naruto, this is Sasuke's older brother Itachi. He's an ANBU ninja."
He nodded his head at them before moving on.
"I would like a shower before dinner. I will not take long."
"Okay! I'll be making dinner you two, I'm sure Sasuke will be back soon."
Naruto immediately grabbed the remote and started to flicker through the television channels. His posture was relaxed, like he lived there himself. Sakura had her fists on her knees, body tense as she looked around the nicely decorated room.
There were pictures of the family in various stages. She could see Mikoto-san loved her children very much. The one room alone had a lot of pictures of Sasuke and Itachi.
"Welcome home!"
A man stepped in, looking like Itachi and less like Sasuke, but they had the same eye shape.
"What's for dinner?"
Mikoto stepped back into view, first giving her husband a kiss before smiling wider.
"Itachi's favorite! I figured it would be a nice welcome home. Sasuke's team mates are here as well."
At that queue, Sasuke arrived, hand in his pockets.
"Father, this is Uzamaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura."
Sakura blushed when Sasuke spoke her name, and even harder when the man stared at her. Naruto jumped up and grinned, hooking his arm around Sasuke's shoulder.
"Yup, I'm Naruto! And I saved your son's butt a few months ago!"
Sakura's eyes widened in horror as Naruto told the story of their fight with Haku. To her surprise, Fugaku listened attentively. Apparently Sasuke didn't share too many details of their mission. Getting up herself, Sakura walked into the kitchen to offer her help.
"Uchiha-san, would you like some help?"
The woman smiled at her, and Sakura wondered if Sasuke had that smile.
"That would be lovely. Here."
And so Sakura helped prepare the meal, and set the table. Instead of the traditional Japanese style table, Mikoto pointed to another room, with a Western style table and chairs, fit for more people, in this care her and Naruto.
In time Sakura and Mikoto had placed the food on the table, and everyone was called to eat. They took their turns serving, and soon light conversation filled the air. When it was time for them to leave, Sakura politely bowed again and waved goodbye while Naruto blatnly hugged both Mikoto and Fugaku, leaving them flustered.
In due time Sakura and Naruto parted ways, and Sakura was at her front door.
"I'm home.'
Slipping off her shoes, she noticed her mother and father eating take out while watching TV.
"Sakura-chan, how was training?"
"We had a lot of short missions instead, but afterwards we got to eat at Sasuke's."
Her father looked at her with a weird glance.
"Oh? And how is the family?"
"They appear well. The oldest son, Itachi, came back from a mission not too long ago."
"I see."
She shook off the glance her parents sent to each other and went up for bed.
xxXXxx
She smiled as she swung her legs, over the railing eating her popsicle as Moegi talked about her week at the academy.
"Ah, there's Konohamaru-kun!"
"With Naruto? How long have they hung out?"
"For a few years now."
Moegi was two years younger than her, barely. She looked up to Sakura with such adoration, it made her blush some times.
"Sakura-chan!"
She hugged him with the arm not holding her popsicle with a smile.
"Konohamaru-kun!"
That's when she recognized it.
Moegi, she has such a crush on Konohamaru.
Sakura smiled wider and noticed the boy standing off by Konohamaru.
"Udon-san! How are you?"
"J-just fine Sakura-san. How are you?"
"I'm doing fine!"
She smiled at him before turning back to Naruto.
"Hey, why didn't we have training today? That's unlike Kakashi-sensei."
"Who cares! We finally get a day off!"
Sakura sighed and found his arm around her shoulders and thought nothing of it at first. But when she heard Konohamaru snicker she swiftly turned around planting her fist first against Naruto's head, then Konohamaru's.
"Let's go Moegi!"
"Ah, right!"
She rounded a corner too swift and bumped into a hard body, stepping back a little.
"Sorry!"
Her eyes had to look up some, but indeed these two were her age. One was a girl, the other a boy. They dressed a little funny, but she had a suspicion they were at least friends.
Or maybe relatives.
"Maybe you should watch yourself next time girl."
Sakura glared at him before crossing her arms.
"Why don't you make me!"
Moegi tugged at the sundress Sakura was wearing.
"Hey, Sakura-san, maybe we shouldn't-"
"You speak like you're tough, but you're nothing but a fragil little thing. I could break you, easily."
"Kankuro!"
His hand shot out and grabbed onto the front of her sundress and balled his fist with her fabric inside, pulling her way too close to his face.
"Just what are you-"
A kunai slashed his hand, dropping blood on the front of her dress, but it made him step back from her. Both of them looked to where it was thrown, and she smiled in relief while he glared.
"Sasuke-kun!"
He jumped down from the tree, landing beside her.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Kankuro, we should leave now-"
"Shut up Temari!"
Naruto appeared behind Moegi, obviously hearing the commotion.
"Kankuro, stop."
A kid, their age with dark rings around his eyes walked up slowly, hands in pockets. Naruto, Sasuke, the girl named Tamari, and Kankuro tensed up around her.
"Gaara, I didn't know you were around.."
"You're an embarrassment to our village."
"How mean.."
"Shut up. I'll kill you."
That's when Sakura felt it. He was only a few feet way and she could feel the evil aura coming from this kid.
Then, he turned to her.
"I'm sorry about that."
She held up her hands and gave the sincerest smile she could muster.
"It's no problem!"
The girl threw her a real sincere look of apology with a soft smile before pushing Kankuro.
"Let's go, we didn't come here to play around."
When they rounded the corner down the street, Moegi let out a sigh of relief.
"Sakura-san, didn't you know? Foreign shinobi are here for the chunin exam!"
"I see."
"Are you okay Sakura-chan? Did that punk hurt you?"
She looked down to the drops of blood and shook her head 'no'.
xxXXxx
The next day they were on the bridge bright and early for their training. They stood in their typical outfits, but Sakura was having a bad morning, for she had forgoten to set her alarm. Thus leaving her with no blow dryer. Her hair was pulled up, and it looked kind of cute, but lately she had been having an abnormal 'off' feeling.
"Yo!"
"YOU'RE LATE!"
Same schedule.
"Yeah, yeah. I know this is a bit early, for you have only been genin for three months, but I recommended the three of you for the chunin exams."
"Really?"
"You don't have to do it though. It's in five days, so prepare. Your applications however, are due by lunch. So make your decision. Training over!"
He disappeared in time to avoid Naruto's whine.
"This is going to be SO COOL!"
Sakura read through the application and sighed.
Naruto and Sasuke have improved leaps and bounds.
And yet I've stayed where I'm at.
This probably isn't a good idea.
"Sakura-chan?"
She looked up to see the both of them starring at her.
"What?"
"I said let's meet up to turn in our applications, and then we can get lunch!"
She nodded and walked away, heading back for her house.
I really need to think about this.
When she entered her house, she immediately went to her room, pulling out a stack of books from the academy, as well as what she bought from the book store.
Her old notes and tests were in a box in her closet.
It was eight in the morning, and she had three hours to make up her mind. After a couple hours of studying she threw her hands in her hair which fell over her shoulder, pulled her knees to her chest and screamed in frustration.
I was always the best at school.
My tests and homework were even better than Sasuke, Hinata and Shikamaru's.
But my physical skill is incredibly lacking.
Why did Kakashi recommend me anyways?
Out of pity?
Probably.
She could hear the front door open and close and she sat her head up, Suddenly her bedroom door burst open, and she could feel the air brush past her face, drying the tears she didn't know had fallen from her eyes.
"Sakura-chan!"
Behind Naruto stood Sasuke, somewhat off to the side who was immediately taking in the details of her room.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We figured we'd turn in our applications early, and catch lunch early!"
"You're hungry, aren't you?"
"Sasuke is too!"
Sakura smiled softly.
"Actually, I decided not to do the chunin exam."
"WHY?"
He sat down beside her, while Sasuke leaned in the doorway.
"Well, I don't feel like I'm ready."
"That's ridiculous! You're smart, and you're strong! This is our chance to get closer to our dreams! Our futures, we can start it early!"
"Naruto, I'm right next to you, shouting isn't necessary."
Though she said it with a smile, she still didn't feel confident enough."Sorry."
He pouted and picked up her application, seeing it was blank.
"The chunin exams exist of three parts. A written, a survival, and a tournament. I can pass the written, maybe even the survival, but I can't go through a tournament."
"Sakura-chan!"
Suddenly it was snatched out of Naruto's hands, and Sasuke grabbed a pen from her desk. She watched as he filled it out in less than a minute, and proceeded to sign her signature. Sakura stood up and snatched it back from him, only to see his copy of her signature wasn't too far off.
"Sasuke-kun…"
"Let's go."
"But-"
"You'll do fine Sakura."
xxXXxx
She wanted to believe Sasuke and Naruto, really she tried. But as she fixed readjusted her clothes and tightened her pony tail. After checking her clock she freaked out realizing she was going to be late meeting with her team.
When she walked up to the academy they were already waiting for her, minus Kakashi.
"Sakura-chan! You're late!"
"Yeah…sorry."
Shuffling her feet she missed the look Sasuke tossed her.
They walked in together, up the stairs to the third floor where a single door was open, revealing at least fifty kids their age, if not older. Sakura stayed close to her team where they found a place to stand.
A three man squad a year older than them had two team members eyeing them. One, she knew was Hinata's cousin, Hyuuga Neji was eyeing Sasuke. While the other male was looking directly at her.
Oh no.
Little did she know, he would approach her.
"My name is Lee, you're Sakura-san right? From this moment on, I will vow my life to defend yours!"
Sakura almost fell, but Lee had a hold of her hands.
"What?"
Sasuke hissed beside her and Naruto was suddenly paying attention to what was going on.
"You will not! Sakura-chan, tell him to bug off!"
"Ah, Lee-san, that's very kind of you. But I don't-"
"Sakura-chan!"
Naruto whined next to her, huffing about Lee's declaration and finally she just sighed and walked away, registering herself and receiving a number.
So that's it.
Team's can sit next to each other.
As to be expected.
Standing off to the side, hopefully hidden well enough, despite her pink hair, she saw Naruto and Sasuke finally registering too.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! What are these numbers for?"
"Their our seat numbers. We can't very well sit next to one another."
"What not?"
"Because people like you would cheat!"
"People like me?"
"Yes! Those who don't take exams very well."
"This sucks!"
"Naruto!"
She hit him on the shoulder.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura looked just in time for Sasuke to be tackled by Ino.
"I haven't seen you in what feels like forever! Did you miss me?"
"Hey Ino, why don't you get off of him before your fat ass breaks his back!"
Her arms were crossed defensively but Ino just smirked at her.
"Oh! Sakura! I didn't see you there underneath your big forehead!"
Suddenly she felt arms around her torso as she tried to launch at Ino who had long since removed herself from Sasuke.
"Shikamaru!"
So that's who's holding me back.
"This is so troublesome!"
"Hey, get off Sakura Shikamaru! She can kick Ino's ass if she wants to!"
"Naruto, don't encourage this!"
Choji could be heard eating chips behind her.
"Sakura. Calm down."
Looking to her right she glared at Sasuke before tossing another glare to Ino. She huffed and pulled Shikamaru's arms off of her stomach and stomped away. She stumbled onto a kid a few years older than her and she blushed.
Behind his nerdy glasses he was kind of cute.
"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you."
The Kunai he was swirling around his finger came to a halt and he smiled at her politely.
From her distance she could see Naruto talking to Hinata, who had a major crush on him. She smiled at the scene.
"So, how old are you?"
"Me? I'm fifteen".
"Sakura-san right? My name's Kabuto."
"It's nice to meet you."
She blushed at his smile and was suddenly pulled a little with a tug. Sasuke was glaring over her shoulder but turned to look at her for a second.
"They want us in our seats."
Sakura frowned but waved a goodbye to her new friend and sat down a row in front of Naruto. Over her shoulder she could feel Sasuke staring at her. Well, more like glaring. She sighed and leaned her chin on her hand.
This is going to be a long few hours.
I wonder if my parents are back yet.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting. My name is Morino Ibiki."
xxXXxx
End!
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