Hey, guys! Glad to see that you guys are enjoying the first few chapters of wonder! On another note, I graduate on the 24th! I'm so excited, but I have exams before that so don't count on another update this month. I may squeeze one out so thank you for holding on! This one's slightly longer than the others! Enjoy!

Sakura couldn't say that she was nervous exactly. In fact, she was fairly confident in her ability to write exams. She was good at that. Knowledge, logic, trivia, that was something she had confidence in. Nevertheless, she experienced some discomfort at the thought of writing the exam that would determine if she could continue on to the physical aspect of the ANBU exams. She knew that she shouldn't worry, that she was likely to get among the top scores in the group, but she was still wary. They were not told what constituted a pass or fail and she had memories of the chunin exam she'd taken with Sasuke and Naruto the first time around which had mindfucked everyone.

Taking a deep breath, she reoriented herself. Stealing a peek at her boys, she saw that Sasuke had his eyes closed and appeared to be napping against the wall whereas Sai was doodling on said wall. Naruto was furiously studying, his nose buried in a notebook thicker than his fist. Smiling softly, she wondered if he'd pass. She believed that he could even if he'd previously not tested very well. Naruto had grown up a lot and had realized that being the Hokage was about more than just being powerful.

"Alright, you little shits, get in the room," a man in a bear mask said, ushering them in with a lazy drawl.

Sitting at seats reminiscent of their days in the academy, they turned their attention to the man leaning against the chalkboard at the head of the room. With a head of wild, silver hair and a devilish wolf mask, it wasn't hard to figure out who it was. Sakura resisted the urge to greet him in her regular, friendly manner.

Kakashi shifted from one foot to the other before beginning to speak. "Well, there's a booklet of questions in front of you. You have three hours to complete it so, uh, get at it."

At this, everyone furiously flipped the white booklets over and began to digest each question. Eyes whipped back and forth in a blur as they tried to read it as fast as possible.

Sakura triumphantly grinned as she finished reading the first question.

Rock and Fire have had strenuous and violent relations since what event? Explain the repercussions.

Sakura snatched the pencil up from the desk and began to form her thoughts into words on the page. She was confident in this answer and was happy that the first question had been very easy. The next few were logic-based situational questions which she was able to puzzle her way through to a fairly well thought-out answer. There were quite a few internal knowledge questions that stood to out those that didn't know much about their own country and village.

Sakura was intelligent and she was able to answer the questions without much difficulty. She knew that the written portion of the exam was really just a way of wheedling out the mentally weak and that the physical aspect was more important. If Shikamaru made it through both then she could too.

Kakashi hated that he'd been chosen to proctor the exam. He was, of course, the newest member of team Uchiha and as such had been forced to volunteer himself for the exam. It was tedious and annoying and he just generally did not want to do it. He'd been trying to decide whether to continue reading his newest Icha Icha book but had ultimately kept it stowed away in his room, untouched. This gave him some opportunity to get away from the temptation.

Pulling out his well-worn copy of Icha Icha Tactics, he leafed through it to the spot he'd previously left it at and began to read. Well aware of the occupants of the room, he scanned the pages half-heartedly, not quite as into it as he should have been.

It was worry, really. Kakashi loved his students and wanted them to pass. He was sure that Sai, Sasuke, and Sakura would pass. But Naruto was a bit iffy. It would break his heart if he didn't make it past the written test. Glancing at the boy, Kakashi almost laughed at the intense look of concentration obscuring his telltale goofy face. Naruto was clearly trying his hardest and, judging by his paper, he was at least answering the questions. This gave him a fighting chance. As long as he had an answer that meant that he either knew the stuff or was successfully cheating.

Kakashi didn't care as long as he passed. Looking over at the others, he saw that Sakura had the smallest furrow to her brow as prodded her cheek with her pencil. Staring at the page, she suddenly jerked, a smile dusting her features. Pencil now dancing across paper, she focused her attention on the page, a confident gleam in her eyes.

Clearly she'd been studying.

Sai gave nothing away as he calmly scrawled out his answers in his methodical, loopy script. He had taken the ROOT exams after all, and they were notoriously difficult.

Sasuke had been scowling the entire time but gave a triumphant smirk as he flipped to the last page. Knowing them, Kakashi mused, they had probably placed a bet on who would finish first.

With a start, his head whipped to look at the direction of his overeager pink-haired student. She'd just whooped in happiness at having finished the test.

Knew it.

Sauntering down to where Kakashi was seated, she was about to hand him her booklet when another slammed forcefully down on the table.

"DONE!" Naruto cried out enthusiastically, sweat streaming down his face.

"That doesn't count, Naruto! I was clearly done first!"

"Mine was handed in first, Sakura-chan! HAH!" He crowed, laughing at the outrage on her face. Just as she was rolling her sleeves up to fight, Kakashi thought that it was best to intervene.

"If you are done your examinations, please exit to the left." His monotonous voice cut through their conflict and silenced the two of them.

Squinting his eyes, Naruto stuck his nose up at him "Eh, Sensei, I know it's you…"

"Shut up, Naruto."

Sakura's legs swung casually as she sat on the yellow bench outside the room, waiting for the other two members of her team to finish. Naruto sat beside her, his wide grin showing his glaringly obvious satisfaction. They would post the results as soon as the last person was done and their exam had been graded. ANBU was a top priority for Konoha so the papers were graded as soon as they were done being written.

"I'm still confused, Naruto. How did you finish so quickly? Surely you couldn't have passed at that rate."

His brow furrowing, he narrowed his eyes at her. "You calling me dumb, Sakura-chan?"

"If my question wasn't a confirmation of that then yours surely was."

"Huh?"

Chuckling, Sakura turned as the doors opened and both Sasuke and Sai stepped out of the room. They didn't seem to be happy or angry so Sakura guessed that that was a good thing. Sasuke had the barest hint of a smirk on his features so she assumed that he was confident in his answers. Sai gave them his signature grin, still as unsettling as ever.

"How did you finish so quickly, dobe?" Sasuke shot out as his eyes fell on Naruto's slouched form.

"I'm just smarter than you guys!" Naruto crowed, cackling. Pulling the skin under his eye down, he blew a raspberry at Sasuke. "Nyeh, nyeh!"

Smacking his head, Sakura told him to shut up.

This prompted an argument that ended with Sakura's foot in the middle of his back as she gripped each wrist and pulled them backwards, bending his spine.

She growled as his screams of mercy continued. Letting him drop to the floor as the door opened as the next couple shinobi shuffled wearily from the room, Sakura peered in to see who was left. Ino, Hinata, and two others were scribbling on what appeared to be the last page. A stiff-backed ANBU member shut the door quickly before she could determine anything else.

Looking around, she spotted a relieved looking Tenten. "Tenten! What did you think about it?"

Scratching the back of her head sheepishly, she admitted that she'd found it a little difficult. "What threw me off the most was Naruto…" Tenten whispered, laughing with Sakura. "When he finished in just under an hour and a half, I thought I had to be missing something. There's no way, I thought I'd gone crazy."

Laughing, Sakura nodded sagely. "Oh, I know, I was thrown off too. I did have trouble with number fifteen, what did you put?"

"I discussed the Akatsuki and its potential comeback or at least the potential of a new criminal empire as a result of lax relations between countries…" Tapping her chin, she appeared to be thinking.

Sighing in relief, Sakura nodded. "I thought that was a good way of answering it as well. I think I did well on it, overall. But, I am glad it's over. I'm exhausted."

"Ino and I were talking about heading to the bathhouse when the results are posted! You have to work a shift tonight, right? It would be a great way to rejuvenate before you have to slave away. By the way, I think I prefer travelling with Gai-sensei to working shifts at the hospital," she said, shooting a grin at Sakura.

"Sometimes I do too. I have no idea how Kakashi-sensei keeps up with such an energetic rival." Laughing, she added quickly, "But I will take you up on that bathhouse offer."

Sakura jumped as Ino proudly busted through the door, a meek Hinata following. "I do believe I just slayed the shit out of that."

"You sure sound like you didn't." Ino scowled as Sakura piped up.

"Forehead, I have no time for your negativity. I'm going to get into ANBU, get promoted before you, become your taichou, and boss you around senselessly."

Scoffing, she watched as the last two exited the room. Peeking, they saw that the proctors were steadily marking the booklets. Sighing, Sakura steeled herself to wait the fifteen or so minutes before the results would be ready.

Watching the clock tick, Sakura began to nod off, eyes fluttering shut and jolting open again as she fought the urge to sleep. Jumping, Sakura turned to see Kakashi's familiar mess of silver hair as he made his way through the crowd to the bulletin board on the far wall. There was a crowd of about twenty-six ninja waiting to hear if they'd passed.

Fighting her way to the front, Sakura shrieked in delight as she spotted her name near the top of the list. A green stamp with the word "pass" marked her excitement. Along with hers, twenty-four others also had a green stamp. The last two ninja to have finished had red stamps marking them with a "fail". Realizing that the list was done in order of highest mark to lowest, Sakura began to scrutinize it. Jaw dropping, her eyes widened as she saw Naruto's at the top. There was no way that Naruto had gotten the best score. He had to have cheated.

"I felt the same way," Kakashi murmured behind her, chuckling.

"I don't understand."

"I have a strange feeling that Naruto's newfound friendship with the fox has gifted him with a wealth of knowledge."

At this, Sakura nodded in understanding. "Ah, that makes way more sense, Sensei. He can ask the fox anything that he doesn't know. The fox has lived for a long time and has seen a lot."

At this, Naruto popped in with a grin. "He prefers Kurama, y'know."

Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Cheater."

"I did better than you, Sakura-chan! Ha-ha!" He crowed at her, laughing cheekily.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"Oh Kami, I needed this," Sakura moaned as she sank into the water of the bathhouse. The steam wafted up around the small group of women, condensing on their skin and dripping back down into the water. Sakura sighed as she relaxed into the water, sinking in until just her nose up to the tip of her head was visible.

"I am way too sore," Ino whined, shooting a sly grin. "Ren-kun was rough last night."

"Ino!" Sakura sputtered, her face turning slightly redder than it had already been.

"Calm down, virgin. We all have love-lives except you."

"Nuh-uh! Hinata-chan doesn't either, right?" Sakura shot out, confident.

Hinata's face also gained a deep blush as she steadily avoided eye-contact with the kunoichi. "Actually, Sakura-san… I-I, well, Naruto-kun and I have gone out on a few dates…"

"What?! How did I not know about this?!"

"Well, your schedule is kind of hectic… we just don't see you as often anymore," Tenten interjected. "Neji and I have gone out a few times as well. Our clans have approved the courtship, so it's gotten quite serious. It's a little fast, but it's not like we're strangers."

Ignoring the other occupants of the bathhouse as she shrieked in frustration, Sakura ducked back down into the water to hide her pout. She was entirely confused. What had been happening while she was absorbed in her busy schedule? Naruto was finally pursuing a relationship with Hinata. At this rate, shy, timid Hinata would lose her virginity before Sakura did. Tenten, boyish Tenten, was courting Neji. At this rate, it was likely that they would end up married within a year or two.

And yet Sakura had never even had a boyfriend.

This left Sakura shaken. She was now the lone wolf of her friend group. Tenten was not a virgin. Hinata likely wouldn't stay one for long now that the love of her life was returning her feelings. If she kept this up, even Sai would get some.

Blowing bubbles distractedly as she mulled this over, Sakura became sullen.

Her friends were discovering the loves of their lives while she was discovering how to best stuff entrails back into a man. She hated the fact that it mattered to her but the truth was that it really did. She wanted someone to love. It was a lonely life to lead, dealing with the balance of killing and healing. She was in a constant state of death and life. There was a part of her that knew she could live her life without another to share it with, but there was also a side of her that desired a life outside of digging around in someone's guts and spilling others. She wanted someone to come home to and someone to come home with.

Blinking away the stinging sensation of tears, she tuned back into the conversation.

"I can't believe you had the hots for Asuma-sensei!" Ino shrieked, tears escaping as she pointedly laughed at Tenten.

"I know he's the complete opposite of Neji, but I just can't resist that older, tough-guy thing!" Tenten giggled with her.

"But he was my sensei!"

"C'mon, you didn't have the hots for Gai-sensei?" Tenten grinned, choking back more laughter as Sakura burst into a round of giggles.

"What about you, Sakura?" Ino winked. "Have you seen what's under Kakashi's mask?"

Her laughter dying, Sakura shook her head and shot a glare at Ino. "Ugh, first of all, gross, and no, I haven't. We tried when we were genin, but we never did catch a glimpse of his face. We imagined ridiculous things but never actually saw anything…"

"Too bad, I heard he's incredibly handsome and good in bed. But he never sleeps with fellow shinobi." Ino shrugged. "I guess we'll never know."

"I mean, one of the new recruits will likely be put on his ANBU team." Hinata spoke up, smiling. "So, it it likely that they will see him without his mask. I heard that his team is quite close."

"You are a genius, Hinata-chan!" Tenten cheered. "We just need whoever makes it to tell us about him."

"You guys are ridiculous." Sakura simpered, ignoring her own curiosity about her teacher. She'd forgotten about the deep need she had experienced as a genin to see what he was hiding.

"We are all just dying to know what he's hiding, Sakura," Ino said, "and I'm sure you are, too."

"Pfft, whatever, Ino-pig."

Grinning, the girls settled into a comfortable silence, closing their eyes and letting the soft lapping of the water against the rocks lull them into a relaxing mood.

Sighing in pleasure, Sakura thought about Hikaru. He'd been cute and nice. Very dateable. He'd seemed to like her, or at least like talking to her. This was a change in pace, and she was reluctant to read into things. But she wasn't too serious about it either, she'd only met him the one time. She was a free agent.

Sakura had no clan to worry about or butt in. This wasn't really relevant in any case due to her lack of a love life. She missed her family a lot. Her family had never really approved of her choice to pursue a career as a shinobi. But her father had always stuck by her. When Sasuke and Naruto had gone on their two-year training journeys, Sakura had faced one of the hardest events she'd ever lived through: the death of her father. He'd been killed by shinobi on a trip to oversee a new trading outpost. The Haruno name belonged to a civilian clan known for their vast trade network.

Jaded by this, Sakura's mother, Haruno Shiori, had blamed all ninja and gotten into a huge fight with her daughter. She had forced Sakura to make a choice: her family or her career. Sakura had chosen her village over her family. After spending the night in Naruto's empty apartment, Sakura had gone to her house to try to patch things up with her mother. She found the house completely vacated and a for sale sign on the lawn. Boxes of her stuff lay on the lawn.

She was thirteen.

Sakura had never really gotten along with her mother overly well. But she missed her younger brother, Rin. She hadn't seen him since they left. He'd be about sixteen now.

Grabbing her towel from the edge of the bathhouse, she wrapping it around herself and gingerly stepped onto the rocks. "I should go, I need to get ready for my shift."

Murmuring soft, relaxed goodbyes, the others sank further into their bliss and let her go.

It was almost three in the morning when Sakura was jolted awake by her pager as she slept in the on-call room. Jumping up, Sakura slipped into her dark blue scrubs and dashed to the emergency room, eyes automatically picking up the man laid out on the gurney. A group of nurses were taking vitals as they continued to wheel him further into the hospital. He left a crimson trail behind him as blood pumped out of a vicious wound in his stomach.

"ANBU-operative Owl just arrived, heart rate at 178, BP at 80 over 40. Lacerations and stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. Wounds occurred approximately half an hour ago. He's lost a lot of blood." A medic rattled off as Sakura checked his heart rate.

"Get him into the OR!" She applied chakra into her hands and inserted them into the gaping hole in his stomach, feeling for the damage. It was extensive, but repairable. His blood loss, however, was extensive. He'd been in the field for far too long before he'd arrived.

"I need you to get some blood for him," Sakura pointed to the nearest nurse. "He's going to need it."

Bursting through the doors, Sakura attempted to begin sealing blood vessels and tissues together. Biting her lip, she cursed as she found a hole in his aorta. With his body already going into shock, her attempts to seal it were unsuccessful. Funneling more chakra into her hands, she inserted it into the artery plugging it momentarily while she sealed the hole. His skin had turned pallid and a thick sheet of sweat coated his body. Sweat beading on her own brow, Sakura wiped it on her shoulder.

He would not die tonight. She wouldn't let him. It would be a long battle, however. His organs were virtually unrecognizable. Focusing on the liver, she began to repair the damage, blood coating her as she became transfixed on the job. Stabilizing the liver, she handed the organ over to another medic, before focusing on the other organs.

It felt like no time had passed at all before the nurse snapped her out of her concentration.

"BP is dropping!" Sakura cursed as she transferred to his chest, examining the wound. It had nicked the peritoneal cavity and gotten part of the heart. He convulsed once and the monitor began to beep as his heart rate plummeted to a flatline. Using a hand to jolt his chest, Sakura repaired what she could of his heart and began compressions.

"Push one epi!" She hollered reaching one hand back to his abdomen to start repairing some of the damage as she concentrated on the chest with her other hand. The nurses shared a wondrous look with each other at her talent before obeying.

His heart rate picked up briefly before flatlining once more as Sakura fought to keep him alive.

"Don't die on me, damn it!" Sakura cursed as he flatlined again after another bout of compressions. This time, no matter what ministrations her hands performed on the man's heart, it did not beat again. After fifteen minutes of continuous and resultless effort, Sakura extracted her hands and stared at the wall.

"Time of death, 07:38."

Holding her gloved hands up, dark with blood, Sakura took a step back, allowing the nurses to wrap the man's body up. Dark circles under her eyes, Sakura continued to stare straight ahead, unseeing. Another body to add to her list of failures. Another man that would never see the light of day.

Sakura knew she should have seen it coming when he'd come in with such a low blood volume. He'd already had more than just a foot in the grave when he'd arrived. He'd had virtually nothing intact left inside him. But she was the best Konoha had to offer. She rivaled Tsunade in virtually every aspect of medicine and yet she couldn't save a man when it counted.

Clenching her jaw, she let her hands fall to her sides, beginning to shake. Quivering, she clenched and unclenched her fists. She should have been better than this. If she'd been here in the field. If she'd been there sooner, she could've prevented his death.

She was just too late.

It seemed like a trend. Too many shinobi had gone through those doors too late and never exited through them again.

It killed her inside. She was never good enough. She was never perfect.

Walking like a zombie, she exited the OR and allowed a nurse to remove her gloves and mask. Stumbling into the hall, she fell back against the wall, lost. Sliding down to the floor, she fought back tears. She'd failed. She was nothing if she couldn't save lives.

She would be there next time. They wouldn't have to get to her on time. She would be in the field. She would be on time. When ANBU selected her for its ranks, she would make sure that this did not happen again. Sakura would train harder, she would get better.

She wouldn't have to see her comrades die any more. She would protect them.

Glancing up, she saw that Kakashi was standing before her, his eye looking glum. "I'm sorry, Sakura."

"I did all I could…" she murmured. She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment before grabbing it. He pulled her to her feet and surprised her by enveloping her in a gentle embrace.

"I know, Sakura, you did a good job," he spoke softly, allowing her to finally break down and cry. She sobbed into his shoulder, glad that he'd offered her this comfort.

"It-it wasn't enough," she hiccuped, "and I wasn't good enough."

Patting her back, he softly shh'd her. "You're the best this village has to offer, Sakura. Now go home and get some rest." Pulling away, his eye crinkled in a smile.

"Th-thanks, Sensei."

He watched as she stumbled down the hall, glancing down at his now damp-with-blood clothes.

"Oh, well," he murmured, gloomy at his student's misfortune.

She would be fine, he knew, but that didn't mean that he didn't worry about her. She cared so much that he had a hard time resisting the urge to care with her.

She was a magnetic force, that was for sure.

Sooooo, I got that one out so much faster than I thought. The planning things out method seems to really work for me, hahaha. I thought this was pretty good for development. A little kakasaku friendship moment at the end. Just because I enjoy seeing Kakashi care. Not much action until chapter six, I'm afraid. Mostly just character development and stuff. Thanks, guys! Feel free to drop a review!