Did this take too long? I'm sorry, I'm preparing for a camp and have been really stressed out. As usual I don't own Naruto (much to my disappointment) and this is a non-massacre fic so yeah. Enjoy!
It was currently night time, the group moving swiftly through the trees in the night, Naruto long healed from his battle and moving along side Sakura. Sasuke as the arrowhead of the team, his Sharingan activated to spy for any enemies nearby. Sakura looked at his shoulder where he was bitten. She was worried about her teammate and wanted to know if he was all right, but she knows that his Uchiha pride would not allow her to find out by just asking him, she was going to have to tell Kakashi.
"How much longer?" Naruto asked quietly, he was getting smarter every day in her eyes, Sakura looked his way for a small second before answering.
"If all goes well we should be there before dawn," she said as she landed and pushed off from another branch. She looked ahead, the night not affecting her vision at all.
"Sakura, activate your Kurisutarubyū in case someone is hiding in the trees again" Sasuke ordered and she obliged, activating her kekkei genkai she scanned the trees, waiting for anything that may prove to be a threat.
"Guys we've traveling for hours" Naruto whined, Sakura was about to tell him to shut but she suddenly stopped, both boys followed her actions. "Sakura?" Sasuke warily.
"Naruto's right, we have been traveling for hours yet we haven't as so much as passed a clearing" Sakura said in a hushed tone, Naruto looked a little confused but it dawned on Sasuke pretty quickly.
"Genjustu" he muttered under his breath but both of his comrades heard clearly. They nodded to each other and Sakura undid the genjustu, the trees changed and the sky turned a lighter shade of blue, the building was visible as well. They nodded and moved to continue their journey when an enemy team blocked their path; they commanded that they give them the scrolls. Sakura just sighed; they were running out of time.
"Naruto, Kage Bunshin?" she asked when she turned to him, he grinned and nodded before utilizing the shadow clone technique. As the group fought off the hyper active blonde Sakura addressed Sasuke.
"Sasuke, can you use a fire technique to finish them off when Naruto's done?" she asked and he nodded in satisfaction, probably happy he wasn't being left out, and the two watched the free show. When the clones vanished Sakura called out.
"Naruto, move!" and move he did, Sasuke finished the group quickly and Naruto had just gotten out of range.
"Could you wait for me to get a safe distance before you fry the place?" he complained when he was close enough, Sasuke scoffed.
"Then they would've got away, dobe" he retorted and Sakura stepped in to play peacemaker once again.
"Ok, were done, now lets go, I'll lead" she said as she jumped a branch higher and continued moving, the boys gave each other one quick glare before following their female member. They reached the checkpoint just before the sun began to rise over the horizon.
"So what now?" Naruto asked in his usual fashion. His to companions shrugged, Sakura read the inscription on the wall in front of them.
"Looks like we need to open the scrolls at the same time" Sakura took out her heaven scroll and Naruto took out his earth scroll, both giving said scrolls to Sasuke he unraveled them. The was a loud 'boom' and a cloud of smoke appeared in front of them, they stared in amazement as they gazed at a familiar face.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out in excitement. Sakura smiled in relief as she relaxed, she thought it was another enemy, being in that forest has made her a bit jumpy.
"Well done you three, you can go inside now, there's food, water and medical equipment, and some beds as well" he smiled and they all nodded, when their old teacher disappeared Sakura and Naruto cheered and Sasuke actually smiled.
"Come on, I'll check out your wounds and we'll get some rest," Sakura said happily as they came into the infirmary, truth was that they were going to get rest but Sakura wouldn't. She would no doubt go into another coma-like state and miss whatever was left; she gave her boys some disinfectant and wrapped the wounds that needed bandaging. And she let them just sleep on the hospital beds while she had a decent meal, she heard the door slide open and immediately recognized the smell of sand.
"How did you go?" she asked quietly before taking another bite, she saw the redheads shadow before he came into view. He seemed to be inspecting her for injuries but those were long healed, she sighed and put her chopsticks down.
"I'm fine Gaara," she said smiling at him, but the face he pulled told her he didn't believe a word she said. He bent down to her level, touching foreheads he looked into her eyes for a long time.
"You need rest," he said and Sakura sighed again, closing her eyes she explained to him why she wasn't sleeping.
"If I sleep now I won't wake up for a few days, it's the price for using the crystal technique, with or without using the Kurisutarubyū" she explained, he frowned at her. She was pushing herself to far, she could collapse at any moment for all he knew, and she seemed to sense his discontent and laughed slightly.
"Don't worry, my crystal reserve will last me a lot longer" she said but he still gave her that look "And I'll go strait to bed once the second exam is finished, okay dad?" she joked, he pulled a face and she laughed. Taking another bite of her food she listened to her comrades breathing.
"So when did you get out of the forest of death?" she asked casually, he was about to answer when his siblings walked in.
"The same day it started" Kankuro replied and Sakura looked at him with wide eyes.
"Really?" she asked, turning to Gaara for confirmation; he nodded and the gleam in her eyes made him very happy at impressing her. Temari noticed the elevation in her youngest brothers mood and smirked, she knew just what to do.
"Well, me Kankuro have got to go, we'll get you when everyone is called" she said as she dragged a whining Kankuro, Sakura was somewhat worried he would wake her teammates but they didn't, luckily. Gaara saw what his sister was planning and reminded himself to thank her later on. Sakura yawned slightly as she stood from her seat and sat on one of her teammates beds, her body still ached slightly from the sound ninja's attacks but she ignored that in favor of watching over her teammates.
'I didn't even get to use one of my three scrolls, damn' Sakura thought but brushed it aside, she felt her back heat up and turned to see Gaara staring at her. She tilted her head slightly but otherwise did not question it, looking back at her comrades as they stirred and, eventually, woke.
"Morning Sakura-Chan" Naruto mumbled as he sat up, Sasuke doing the same thing just without the title. She smiled at them and stood, she went back over to the table and grabbed them some food, turning around she gave them their meal and they thanked her.
"Sakura, why is Gaara here?" Sasuke asked before swallowing a spoonful of tomato soup, Naruto chowing down his ramen in the background but even he was listening.
"Oh, he heard that we had finished and came to visit" she said and he glanced at her with skeptical eyes.
"But he doesn't know any of-" he paused as his eyes widened; he saw how the redhead looked at his surrogated sister. No way, no way in hell! That bastard was staring at Sakura like he bloody owned her!
"Do you two know each other?" Naruto asked lightly, he picked it up as well but wanted to make sure before he jumped to conclusions, when it came to his sister he was surprisingly smart.
"Yes actually, we get along really well- Sasuke why are you glaring?" she asked and his gaze shifted to her, softening as he did so.
"Nothing, can Naruto and me have a talk with Gaara?" he asked and he knew that Sakura got the meaning. She nodded and walked outside the room and went to talk with one of the girls.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Naruto growled out, Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow. Sasuke clenched his fists.
"Don't even think about trying anything with Sakura," he warned but Gaara just smirked, the glint in his eyes told them they weren't going to like the words he was about to speak.
"I already have," he stated remembering the stolen kiss. He closed his eyes as he remembered the moment; the two boys were trying so very hard not to kill the sand master.
"What did you do?" Sasuke growled.
"Nothing she didn't deny" he said and it wasn't a total lie, she just wasn't awake to deny anything. Naruto looked ready to explode when Sakura came in, smiling as she looked at the three.
"It's time," she stated and everyone nodded, Sakura walked in front while the boys walked behind. They reached a small arena like room and joined the others; lined up in rows in front of the third Hokage as he addressed them.
"Congratulations on making it this far" he said and began rambling on about the Chunin exams and the role of a ninja and the nations that had ninja and blah, blah, blah. When he finished his ranting he looked at everyone.
"Due to there being so many of you we will be hosting preliminary rounds, the screen above us will determine who you will be facing, there will be supervisor to decide who wins the match, you can surrender if you so choose. Now, whoever feels that they cannot fight say so now and you may leave" he finished and Sakura felt three pairs of eyes digging into her, she resisted the erg to sigh. Sure, their concern was endearing but now it was beginning to get annoying.
A few people left but otherwise most remained, that slimy bastard Kabuto left so that was a plus. Everyone watched the screen as it flicked through names randomly, after a short time it finally landed on two names.
Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke
Sakura had no idea who he was but at the moment she didn't care, walking up onto the balcony where the match could be viewed, she watched the two men get into battle positions.
She felt a familiar presence and immediately nodded at her teacher as he walked to her side, as the battle proceeded she told her sensei about the mark on Sasuke's neck. She paused when Sasuke yelled as the man gripped her teammates face, blue chakra glowing on the opponents' hand.
"Your chakra is mine now!" he yelled but Sasuke managed to get out of his hold, seeing Sasuke able to fight freely she turned back to Kakashi. He asked questions and she answered them, as best she could.
"The victor, Uchiha Sasuke!" Genma called out, Sasuke panted and gripped his shoulder where the curse mark resided. Kakashi jumped down and led Sasuke away, the next few names were called and the victors were announced:
Kin vs. Shikamaru, victor: Shikamaru.
Temari vs. Tenten, victor: Tenten.
Shino vs. Zaku, victor: Shino.
Kankuro vs. Misumi victor: Kankuro.
Hinata vs. Neji, victor: Neji.
Dosu vs. Chouji, victor: Dosu
When Naruto's fight came up against Kiba Sakura, like during the rest of the fights, remained silent. After all, she was friends with all of them and didn't know who to vote for, she watched as Naruto wasn't given enough time to create any jutsu and was constantly beat to the ground. But Naruto managed to win, granted it was a stroke of pure luck and definitely not something anyone would want a repeat of but it was a victory nonetheless.
The screen began shuffling through the remaining names, Sakura watched in mild interest. Her name appeared in the first space, her attention peaked as she watched the second space pass through many names. When the name was finally chosen Sakura couldn't help but stare.
Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino
Sakura stared in disbelief at the screen, she was to face off against Ino? Well, it could have been worse. A lot worse.
"Yeah, this is gonna be easy!" Ino yelled out in obvious confidence, Sakura sighed at her friends' antics. If she didn't know any better she would believe that Ino was related to Naruto, she heard Ino call out for her to get in the arena and Sakura did. Jumping down she landed gracefully in front of Ino before standing in a strait, relaxed, position she waited for the fight to begin.
"Fight!" Ino threw a handful of kunai as she jumped backwards, Sakura side stepped them and stared lazily at the blonde.
'I think Shikamaru is starting to rub off on me' Sakura thought as Ino moved to use taijutsu, which Sakura matched perfectly.
"What the hell Sakura! It's like your not even trying!" Ino yelled angrily, Sakura decided it was her turn to taunt her friend.
"I don't have to"Sakura stated, this made Ino pause, Sakura took advantage of her friends shock, she jumped back to the other side of the arena and pulled out one of her three scrolls. She opened the scroll with one hand, the scroll had many symbols neatly written on it but the one that caught everyone's eye was the inscription for 'eagle' in the center, Sakura lifted her right arm as her left held the scroll.
"Crystal summon. Classification: Eagle" Sakura said, afterwards there was a surge of chakra and a large puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared a large, green, crystal eagle settled on Sakura's raised arm. Ino and everyone else was surprised at what the pinkette just did, Ino got over her shock and smirked.
"That's it? Some stupid bird? Ha!" Ino laughed at Sakura's creation.
"Well, this 'stupid bird' is completely under my control, and is all I need to win" Sakura stated calmly as she let the bird fly, it soared before plummeting towards Ino. The blonde screamed as the bird swooped, cutting her speeds the human eye cannot see it continued this until Ino managed to hit it with a kunai and explosive tag.
"Crystal summon evolution: second stage, Griffin" Sakura muttered and the broken crystal restored itself into the eagle before growing in size and morphing into a large griffin. When it was finished it lifted its wings as it let out a screech that filled the room with an eerie silence before folding its wings, the creature took no notice as it stared at Ino for a long moment before it charged. It rammed its head into Ino's stomach, Ino was winded as well as flew into the wall; a small crater appeared around the blonde, she didn't make a sound as she fell to the earth unconscious.
"The victor, Haruno Sakura!" Genma called out and Sakura whistled to her griffin, the creature returned to her side before vanishing back into the scroll. She jumped up to the railing and shifted a little at the intense gazes she was receiving from everyone. Sakura put her arms against the rail as she rested her weight against it, she watched as they led Ino away on a stretcher, her eyes saddened at the image but when she uses her chakra crystals she really only sees three things: enemy, ally and neutral, which were usually civilians. It seems she has discovered another quirk in her technique.
"Sakura-Chan! That was spectacular! I hope we can spare sometime soon so I can test my skill against your hawk!" he exclaimed and Sakura chuckled.
"It's an eagle, Lee" Sakura corrected with an air of knowledge, Lee laughed and apologized before they heard the 'beep' of the computer. Telling everyone who would fight the next match.
Rock Lee vs. Subaku No Gaara
No one moved, no one spoke, hell no one dared to speak with the atmosphere that was quickly infesting the arena. Lee versus Gaara, Sakura was at an impasse. How could she cheer both on? She couldn't, she would just have to watch.
The battle took a while, or was very short, Sakura couldn't tell. She watched as Gaara walked away with scratches and blood that was both his and someone else's, she turned to Lee and saw his battered and broken body. She turned away, she didn't want to see a comrade in that state, but she would visit him in the hospital.
Usual, good or bad? if so tell me so I can improve, Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day (or night if your reading this late) and FREE COOKIES TO ALL!