So happy... So many chapters up right before exams... shit. I hate exams, but the good news is that I only have two! everyone has like five or something, teehee!
The whole class was in and uproar, asking questions like 'what about the tenth question?' and 'that's it?' but Sakura just slacked in her chair and sighed happily, she had passed.
"You all chose to stay, even though it risked you losing the chance to become ninja, therefore you pass," he said and everyone paused, sat down and soaked in the fact that they had passed. After a few moments the glass of the window broke and someone burst through, a piece of fabric covering the wall.
"Listen up maggots, I'm Anko the next examiner for the next test! Rest up today and meet me at the entrance of the forest of death, see you in the morning!" she yelled and made a pose, Ibiki came out from behind the giant cloth.
"Your early" he said and Anko laughed a little, the two started chatting but Sakura just tuned them out as she waited to be let out. When they could leave she immediately regrouped with her teammates, Sakura's first question was obvious.
"Were you able to answer anything without me?" she asked and Naruto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"I answered the tenth question" he said, Sakura paused then laughed.
"True. Come on, I'll treat you to a bowl of ramen" she said and Naruto 'wooped' leaping into the air and ran after Sakura, she called for Sasuke to join them and he caught up to his surrogated sister.
"Thanks Sakura!" he yelled as he dug in, Sakura smiled as she quietly ate her bowl of miso ramen while Sasuke ate the same. Sakura paid for the first round but when she refused to pay for the second Naruto whined.
"But you said-"
"I said I would pay for a bowl of ramen, if you had been listening you would have noticed," she said as she finished off her bowl.
"Thank you for the meal" she told the owner of the small ramen stand before leaving Naruto to wallow in his sorrow… teehee that rhymed.
"So, how'd it go?" she heard a familiar voice ask, Sakura smiled, not looking at him she answered.
"I did very well, Shukaku," she said as she entered her home, Shukaku following close behind, and prepared dinner.
"What you making this time?" he asked peering over her shoulder, she shifted so he couldn't see.
"Food" she retorted cheekily, he pouted and crossed his arms.
"But what kind of food?" he asked again and Sakura giggled.
"Edible food" she said again. He started complaining and eventually Sakura cut in.
"Are you hungry Shukaku?" she laughed when he grumbled.
"Do you have any idea how little Gaara eats? He barely eats anything saying that he would only eat what was necessary," he explained and Sakura thought back to the morning to when she fed him.
"He ate plenty when I cooked breakfast" she said as she continued cooking.
"That's because he likes you're cooking, speaking of which, I have a proposition to make," he said and Sakura turned to him, her hands still cooking.
"You cook for Gaara and you can meet the rest of the tailed demons," he said and Sakura paused, thought about it, and nodded.
"They're not going to try and kill me, will they?" she asked and he laughed, saying nothing will go wrong and Sakura nodded. She finished cooking to show an array of meals, Shukaku thanked her before digging in.
"I knew demons ate a lot but you beat Naruto's appetite" she commented as she finished her rice curry, it was super hot but she had been raised on the stuff so it made no difference to her. Shukaku on the other hand…
"Ow! Dammit that's hot! Ow! How can you eat this?" he yelled as he chugged a whole carton of milk.
"My mother raised me on curry and other spices, this is reasonably mild to me" she said as she popped another spoon full of curry into her mouth, Shukaku looked at her with a look that said 'are you crazy?' but Sakura ignored it.
"So when do I get to meet the others?" she asked as she finished her 'curry of doom' and looked at Shukaku.
"Right now" he grinned as he took her hand and he closed his eyes, she followed suit and she felt her body shift. When the strange feeling stopped she opened her eyes to find that she was not holding anyone's' hand but standing right next to a huge raccoon dog.
"Where are we?" she asked as she looked up at him, he looked down at her and grinned.
"The Gathering" he said and looked forward, she followed his line of vision to see eight other demons right in front of them.
"Hello" she said shyly, moving a little closer to Shukaku, the nine tailed fox demon stepped forward.
"Don't worry, we wont hurt you," he cooed and Sakura gave him a deadpanned look.
"Says the demon that attacked Konoha," she said and everyone laughed, the fox flattened his ears and started mumbling things incoherently.
"I like this girl!" Son Gokū laughed as he stepped forward.
"I am Son Gokū, four tailed beast and master of the lava technique, but you can just call me Gokū," he said and Sakura nodded and smiled. The next demon stepped forward.
"I am Matatabi, two tailed demon, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said and bowed slightly, Sakura mimicked him before standing strait, everyone else introduced themselves in their own way and waited for Sakura to introduce herself.
"My name is Haruno Sakura, creator of the chakra crystal technique," she said and bowed, everyone nodded and kumara smiled at her.
"Sakura-hime, the others have never seen your technique before, care to show them?" he offered and Sakura nodded, she put both hands in front of her and created a rather large crystal, the demons seemed entranced by the crystal smiled. Releasing the crystal the chakra flowed into her and she sighed, glad that she could reabsorb her chakra.
"Not bad…" one of them said, she smiled before feeling a tug inside her, she looked behind her but saw nothing.
"Is anything wrong?" Isobu asked and Sakura turned back to them.
"I felt a tug," she stated and everyone nodded.
"You need to return to the real world" Isobu said and Sakura looked at Shukaku, he nodded and led her back to the real world, she closed her eyes as that same shifting sensation came over her. When she opened her eyes again she was back in her kitchen and Shukaku had gone back to the recesses of his mind and Gaara had returned.
"How did they treat you?" he asked and Sakura beamed at him.
"They were great, I would have never of guessed that demons could be so nice! No offence to Shukaku" she said as she went to her room and changed quickly, Gaara waiting in the hallway, and jumped into bed. She instantly fell a sleep and Gaara quietly made his way inside, he stared at the pinkette at a distance before finally sitting on the edge of the bed and watched her sleeping face.
'This is wrong, I know I shouldn't… but… I can't… stop…myself' he leaned down slowly, his demon oddly silent, as he features became more perfect as he got closer. His face centimeters from her own, he closed his eyes as his lips lightly touched hers; he pulled back after a moment before he lightly licked his top lip, she tastes like sweet strawberries, he traced the line of her lips while she slept. She sighed, her breath ghosting over his fingertips, he paused as he stared at the pinkette.
He had noticed how everyone that knew her cared for her, she was like a trap that everyone would gladly be snared into, like she has cast a spell over every living creature but they don't wish to be freed from her spell. How many people have fallen under her spell? And more importantly…
Has he fallen under it as well? Sakura grumbled as her alarm clock started beeping, she sighed as she pressed every button on the damn machine but it… wouldn't… shut UP!
She grabbed the cursed object and threw it at the wall; it smashed against the vertical surface and splattered about the floor. Great… now she has to get a new one, she got up and grabbed her gear; she waltzed out the door with three scrolls tied together on her belt.
"Sakura! You ready?" she heard her knuckle headed surrogate brother yell at the top of his lungs, she sighed as she smiled at him. Sasuke must have called him a dobe or something because before she could respond he started arguing at the raven-haired boy and they were at it again, she shook her head and made her way over to them.
"Hey, Haruno-san" Sakura stopped upon hearing her name; she turned her head to see a familiar blonde heading her way, what was her name again? Tem… Tami… Temari? Yeah! Temari!
"Yes Temari-san?" she asked politely and the blonde waved her hand.
"Don't address me with such formalities, call me 'Temari' or 'Temari-Chan' okay?" she said and Sakura nodded
"Have you seen Gaara since our meeting at all?" she asked and Sakura smiled at her.
"Yes, he has visited often, why?" She inquired curiously and Temari took on a look of shock.
"He has? Has he hurt you at all?" Temari asked hastily, Sakura figured that Temari didn't know about the 'switch' that Shukaku and Gaara have.
"No, in fact he caught me when I tripped after training" the pinkette explained, Temari looked back at Gaara.
"How… why… what?" Temari's mind was in a whirl, Sakura shifted her weight to one foot.
"Sorry, I cant tell you at the moment, maybe when everything is sorted out" the smaller of the two offered, Temari smiled and nodded.
"Sure, but I want an explanation" Temari warned playfully and Sakura laughed a bit. They chatted idly until Anko, the crazy examiner, appeared and explained everything:
this is a survival test, get the heaven and earth scrolls, every team will be given one of said scrolls, you will start at different gates, you have to fight other teams, you have five days to get both scrolls then go to the examination building in the forest, all teammates must be accounted for, you have to sign a contract before beginning in case you die. Doesn't that just inspire confidence?
"Ready… Go!" Anko yelled and the bell went off, every team sprang into the forest, Sakura and her team walked a few feet before jumping to travel by trees.
They had been traveling for a few hours now but still no sign of the enemy, of any enemy. She was honestly starting to get bored, Sasuke was leading the group with a steady pace but Naruto it seems was losing his patience as well.
"Hey guys can we stop?" Naruto asked and they immediately paused, Sasuke turned to Naruto.
"I need to use the bathroom" he chuckled and Sasuke and Sakura simultaneously face-palmed.
"Fine, just hurry up" he said and Naruto smiled.
"Go behind the tree or something!" Sakura warned before he could even move, Naruto laughed sheepishly and ducked behind a tree, he took a while but eventually returned. Sakura stiffened; something was wrong, something was very, very wrong.
"Sorry it took me so long, I was able to spell my whole name," he laughed but his laughter was cut short when Sasuke threw a kunai at him, he jumped back and Sakura was momentarily surprised but then noticed Naruto's attire. His kunai pouch was on the left side, the wrong side.
"Hey what's wrong with you? Were teammates aren't we?" he yelled as Sakura moved to go to where Naruto disappeared but the fake Naruto threw a kunai her way.
"Where are you going?" he grinned and Sakura glared, she turned to Sasuke and they both nodded. Sasuke would engage the threat while Sakura recovers their missing teammate. Sakura sprinted while Sasuke threw an array of weapons at the enemy, Sakura only had to go three feet past the tree Naruto hid behind to find him tied up on the ground, once she reached him she untied him and helped him up.
"Thanks Sakura-Chan" he said and she smiled at him, but that smile disappeared when the two of them heard an explosion. They both ran to the fight, Sasuke had just escaped an explosion of paper bombs and was now on a branch glaring at the mist nin which was currently standing a good ten meters away.
"Where's your team?" Sakura interrogated, he looked from the Uchiha to the Haruno.
"That's none of your business girly, but I will have to say goodbye, I thought you guys would be an easy kill and we would have the scrolls we need, but I guess that's not the case" he said and he began to jump away "if we meet again I'll kill you" he called out before disappearing through the thicket. They remained still for long while, before Sakura finally let out a sigh.
"Naruto, next time be on your guard" she said as she leapt to the branch Sasuke was located.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked and he showed her his arm, it was badly burnt and may leave a scar if not tended to, Sakura sighed as she asked him to move his chakra around the wound. He did and she worked slowly, carefully, as she crystallized his chakra around the wound, when she finished she sighed with her eyes closed.
"Any better?" she questioned, he let out a relieved sigh.
"Yeah, thanks" he said and she smiled, she had been waiting to try that for a while now and was glad it worked. It should stay like that for a few hours and should be mostly healed by that then, in the mean time it would act as both a painkiller and a piece of armor.
"Alright, lets get moving" Naruto said as he joined them, they all agreed and began they're trek through the forest of death.
I don't own Naruto and thank you for reading! R&R please!