Sakura stood before her team, her scrutinizing gaze travelling from one face to the other.

She could already tell that they were the kind of teammates she needed – those who enjoy harsh training, but not to the point of exhaustion, those who like socializing, but not to the point of being a pain, those who'd like to know about her past, though not to the point of pressing for information.

Hmm… Not so bad for a first impression, though the boy sure looks like our new never ending source of headaches.

It sure seems like it.

The Jounin who was appointed as her sensei took it upon himself to break the awkward silence.

"Alright. Welcome to team 101 then. My name is Kaimei Chikara, please refer to me as Kaimei-Sensei, cool?"

Sakura nodded her head. He wasn't so bad – shoulder-length black hair, calculating sky blue eyes. Twin katanas criss-crossing on his back.

Hn. Kaimei Chikara? Interesting name. (1)

Sakura mentally nodded. He was a curious character that much was certain. She turned her head to the other girl who looked like the happy-go-lucky and overly enthusiastic type.

She raised her hand in a lazy wave. "Hello. I'm Akatsuki No Sakura. Glad to meet you."

The girl squealed. "Hi! I'm Umi Dansu, I'm from the Dansu clan, and this little idiot over here is Shiso-chan!" (1.1 and 1.2)

The boy glared half-heartedly, "I told you not to call me -chan!" He hissed.

Sakura decided to pull of the 'cute act' as she dubbed it. She tilted her head to the side and stared at Shiso innocently, "Why not? It fits."

Umi burst into giggles and Kaimei-sensei smirked.

"Now that I think about it, yes it does!" Umi cried teasingly, "You would make such a cute little girl, Shi-kun"

Sakura smiled. Yes, he would indeed. Spiky, chocolate waist-long hair and hazel brown eyes, which were currently narrowed in the girls' general direction.

"I. Don't. Look. Like. A. Girl!" He roared.

"Sure, Shi-kun, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Umi laughed.

"Ok, now since you seem to be getting along quite well, we can begin training. You know where we're heading to at noon, don't you?" Kaimei asked.

Umi jumped up. "Hell Yeah! The Chunnin Exams, here we come!"

Sakura laughed at the older girl's antics but followed her to the Training Grounds nonetheless.

~::~

The three of them sat on the grass, sweaty and panting.
Shiso was the first to break the silence.

"Bloody *pant* Hell. That was… Damn… Tiring!"

"Y-Yeah…! What's gotten into Kaimei-sensei? He was never this ruthless before!" Umi exclaimed.

Though Sakura was panting slightly as well, she was not about to complain; she knew why the man did what he did. He wanted to check if they could work as a team.

Yeah, well after pulling of this 'Sakura, kill Shiso or Umi dies' it's kinda obvious.

Yea, but you could see the surprise in his eyes when the 'Umi' he was holding turned into a log.

Don't get too cocky, he had every right to be surprised. None of the Genin who I know can pull of the Thunder God Technique and keep a Shadow Clone, while using the Substitution Jutsu.

Hmm… Yeah, you have a point. Thanks Itachi-sensei!

"Hey, uh, guys?" Sakura started quietely.

"What is it, Sakura-chan" Umi asked softly.

"Thanks… For, er, you know… Accepting me."

Before she knew it she was engulfed by two pairs of arms.

"That's OK, Sakura-chan! You're an awesome teammate, even Kaimei-sensei was impressed, and trust me when I say this, it's damn hard to earn his respect. Believe me, I've known him for 5 years and he still treats me like a brat!"

"Tch, it's because you are a brat, Umi."

"Shut up, Shi-chan! At least I'm not the gender-confused one here!"

"Of course you're not gender-confused – everyone knows that you're a male!" Umi went rigid, "I mean, seriously – flat chest, short, boyish red hair, and playing with mud as your defence! That screams 'Look at me, I'm a guy who is too weak to stand up to others so I pretend to be a girl!'"

"Oh you did not just go there!" Umi roared.

"Oh, yea? You wanna know something? I DID!"

"Why you little-!"

"Umi, Shiso, that's ENOUGH!"

Both Genin stopped mid-insult and turned to their new teammate.

"S-Sakura… chan?"

Sakura was growling quietly and looked just about ready to punch the shit out of the closest thing (or person) next to her. She turned her head to the arguing duo.

"Guys… I will say this only once. Why do you think Kaimei-sensei put us through such agonizing training, even though he knew that we're leaving Ame in 2 hours, so we should preserve as much chakra as possible?"

There was silence. The one thing Sakura cherished the most. Silence. Peace.

"Well?"

She was aware that Kaimei-sensei was watching her every move out of the corner of his eye and listening intently, though he was pretending to be sharpening his already deadly sharp kunai. Sakura sighed.

"The training we just had wasn't meant to only test our abilities. Sure, Kaimei-sensei wanted to see if our skill level is high enough to even bother with the exams, but there was an even greater purpose of this activity."

"E-Even more important than our skill?"

"Yes, Umi-chan. Even more important. Remind me, Shi-kun, which way should a ninja never attack?"

"Head-on. This will get you killed." Shiso stated, exchanging curious glances with Umi.

"That's right. And tell me, Umi-chan, how did we attack?"

"Individually, at different times."

"Correct. Now, knowing this, how do you think we should have attacked?"

There was a pregnant pause. Kaimei was looking at the little pink-haired enigma with bewilderment.

So she really is His daughter…

Twin gasps reached Sakura's ears. Two pairs of slightly surprised eyes stared into her own.

"Together."

Sakura smiled. They were much quicker in learning from their mistakes than Hidan or Deidara.

"Exactly."

"We're sorry Sakura-chan!"

"Now, now, it was my fault as well – I should've grabbed you by myself and not let you get into that position in which Kaimei-sensei could attack you at any given time. I'm not a saint either, you know." She winked, "Just so you know, sensei over there had planned this all along. If we failed to work as a team, he would send us back to the Academy, and we would have to wait for another year until we would be able to take the Chuunin Exams again. Isn't that right, sensei?"

Kaimei was stunned. Had this girl has just read his mind? Because that was exactly his idea! Don't get me wrong, Kaimei loved kids, just not arrogant, annoying brats who think they are beyond everyone else.

"Originally, yes, that was my plan. But seeing as you seem to have known about it from the very beginning, I will not send you back to the Academy. The analysing skills you showed just a minute ago are at least a Chunin level. Plus, you took the blame. All of you are good and ready for the Chunin Exams! So, are we leaving?"

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

"YAY! Thanks Kaimei-sensei!"

~::~

ALL DONE!

A big Thanks tomusic1462 and ObitoU.4evrYoung!

Thanks guys!

Kaimei Chikara – 'Kaimei' literally means 'Darkness' and 'Chikara' means 'Power' when combined like this, they basically mean 'The Power of Darkness' or just 'Power of Darkness'

Umi Dansu – 'Umi' means 'Sea' while 'Dansu' means 'Dance' or 'Dancer' so loosely translated it would be 'Sea Dancer' or 'Dancer of the Sea'.

Shiso – In Japanese Romaji it means 'Shadow of Death'. I just found it somewhat fitting…
-.-

~Ja ne

Invincible Shadow