A day later found Team Nine from Leaf and Team 32 from Mist having a personal mission day "What's that" Suigetsu asked when the Jonin that was in charge of his friend had told them that they were going to take a breather from normal missions.
Didn't mean that they hadn't went through the hell of evasion training though or that they were allowed to skip their elemental jutsu training "Personal mission days as I call them is where you pick one thing something you want to improve on and work on it that day only" Asuma said.
"Yeah we've done lots of things, we didn't get any last time cause you guys needed to get use to undertaking missions here in Leaf, so what's the personal mission today Asuma-sensei" Mamori bounced looking excited.
It had been awhile after all "For you girls you'll have a couple of hours to work on your Fuinjutsu" the raven haired Jonin chuckled when they let out squeals and headed for a rock to huddle around it spreading out their fuinjutsu books and scrolls.
"Boys you'll be working on your chakra control today, on your hands on water" Mangetsu decided that now was as good as ever to get his students walking on the water on their hands like the kunoichi of Team Nine already knew how to.
Even while dodging attacks they could split their concentration between two tasks and he wanted the boys to be able to do that to "Crazy and let me guess your going to be throwing weapons at us as well" Haku grimaced as they all trudged over to the lake on the training grounds.
Mangetsu smirked and fiddled with some kunai "Oh and if you fall in you have to start from the beginning again" the older Hozuki chuckled getting a glare from his baby brother who performed a wobbly hand stand and promptly fell into the lake.
"Gah this is so unfair" the blue haired boy grumbled unhappily already soaked and the personal training had barely just gotten started but he tried again, managing to make it out onto the lake this time on his hands without falling in.
Thinking he was safe he began to smile only to get nailed right in the gut "Not cool" Kimimaro grit his teeth and twisted his body to the side kicking a kunai with his foot trying to keep himself afloat until three consecutive splashes filled the air.
"Your mean Mangetsu-sensei, can't you just allow us to get use to water walking on our hands first before throwing the kunai" the doe eyed teen sighed as they had to swim back to land and start all over again.
Kimimaro nodded in agreement with his teammates at that but their sensei simply whistled and threw weapons at them "Ack" the white haired teen spluttered as he fell in first the second time around and so began the longest two hours of their lives.
Meanwhile over by the rock "So how should we do this Sakura-chan, we haven't brought any supplies cause we didn't know that Asuma-sensei was going to give us a personal mission day to work on our Fuinjutsu of all things" Mimori chewed on her lip.
Looking to her teammate for answers who merely unsealed a melon and began drawing a seal "This one should be compatible with anyone's chakra" Sakura explained twisting her hand just right to get the formula right.
Until the melon was covered in ink a huge gash in it's rind "We just place our hands down on this part of the seal right Sakura-chan" the older Senju twin questioned curiously and together they placed their hands down on the rock.
Where the seal connected to the melon "And what just flood it with our medical ninjutsu and hope it transfers to the melon" the younger twin worried her lip some more remembering a couple days ago how they'd been working on a different seal and worried that the melon was gonna explode again.
"Mhm basically it should require less effort in healing patients" the rosette nodded and together their hands lit up green, flowing through the seal to surround the melon and just when they thought it was to much the glow faded leaving behind a healed melon.
Awed that nothing had exploded and the seal didn't react negatively to all their chakra the girls let out a quiet cheer so they didn't disturb the boys "Is that what you were working on the other day" Asuma questioned intrigued by the unique yet complicated formula.
They all shook their heads "Nope this one is different, that was a healing scroll, this is a formula that allows us to combine our efforts in healing patients without struggling, basically we flood the formula with our medical chakra and it flows through and onto the patient" Mimori grinned.
"I'm sure there's a few kinks we'll have to work out but otherwise our first experiment was a success and we have tons of other idea's to work on thanks to Sakura-chan" Mamori announced eager to get started on other things.
But first they had to complete their experiment with this seal "Here's to hoping the next step goes well with no explosions" Sakura returned with a freshly captured fish, nearly gutted to be precise and it was placed down where the seal was draw on it.
Asuma watching curiously as the seal was flooded with bright green chakra only to cringe and body flicker away as the fish did in fact explode on them, showering the girls with blood and fish guts to their utter disgust.
"To much chakra" the pinkette shuddered feeling something sliding down her neck, Mamori and Mimori thankfully agreed that they'd added to much chakra to the seal formula and set out to test the experiment again, their second attempt at healing a fish went much smoother.
Now it was onto the final step as the formula was stabilized from the newly acquired fuinjutsu books and sealed into a unique storage scroll "Should wrap around the patient and whatever surface their on without leaving ink stains behind" the younger twin commented.
When like usual Sakura offered herself up on the chopping block, taking a kunai to scratch up her arms and having a water clone take her place as she sat down on the scroll situated upon the rock "Okay unseal healing formula and we'll begin the healing" the older Senju twin grimaced.
Hoping they didn't accidentally cause their teammate to explode as the two of them plus the clone unsealed the formula which crawled across the real Sakura's skin like an interesting tattoo and across the ground to where the girls and clone sat.
Before they all placed their hands down and flooded the seal with the medical chakra Sakura clenched her eyes shut as a tingle of chakra washed over her, warm, overly warm so they'd have to temper their chakra down and then it was over and the self inflicted injuries were gone.
And her teammates were staring at her imploringly "Overly warm, we'll have to figure out a way to temper our chakra down so it doesn't burn someone during healing" the pinkette offered the crucial details they wanted.
So they plopped down in a circle working out the unexpected kink in their formula because they hadn't thought that the unexpected problem would be an actual problem during their initial theory of how to make the formula work.
Eight minutes later after tweaking the old formula a bit Sakura found herself on the chopping block again, thankfully the heat of the medical chakra didn't almost burn her and the girls cheered and hugged pleased with their progress.
"Nice work girls I'm proud of you and I'm sure Hokage-sama will be glad that those books are being used to help the village" the raven haired Jonin chuckled as they looked up at him and nodded their heads eagerly.
Until they were hard at work again and then at noon they were free to do whatever they wished for the rest of the day, almost immediately after Mamori and Mimori had disappeared to the Hokage Estate did someone ram into Sakura.
"Oh hey Sakura I was wondering if you'd um hang out with me" it was Ino Yamanaka, the blonde girl was nervous Sakura could tell that much and bright red in embarrassment for running into her no doubt, it was a hard decision.
Especially after all the trouble this girl had caused her "Ino-san do you have a specific reason for asking me" Sakura narrowed her eyes on one of the few clan heiresses in the village, Hinata being the other that she knew but hadn't talked to even once during those two weeks in the academy.
Ino wrung her hands nervously "Um yes be..because I um well you see promised my dad I would" the blonde outright lied "No that's not right it'..it's because I have no other female friends okay" Ino admitted after a couple of minutes.
Pleased that she was finally realizing that driving other girls away meant no other female friends to hang out with Sakura nodded "Then sure, but after lunch okay" the rosette smiled brightly memorizing the blonde's unique chakra signature.
And traipsing off home alone Ino gaping after her "Can't believe it was that easy just to ask her to hang out" the blonde heiress huffed in confusion heading back to her family shop to eat lunch and hope she wasn't stood up.
Thankfully forty-five minutes later the girl ducked into the Flower Shop "Aren't you adorable I don't think I've ever seen such a cute girl before" her mom shuffled forward liking Sakura almost instantly just on her appearance alone.
"Sakura Haruno Ma'am and thank you, ah there you are Ino-san ready to hang out" the pinkette smiled brightly at her mom then turned the blinding smile onto her next leaving the other kunoichi floundering in the face of it.
As Ino stood knocking her chair over "Err oops just been clumsy lately hehehe" Ino laughed nervously still unsure what she was hoping to accomplish by asking this girl to hang out, one insult would be all it would take to set Sakura off after all.
From the repeated harassment that Ami gave this girl, she knew all to well the temper and sharp tongue Sakura had "You didn't tell me that you were having a friend over young lady, pardon my daughters rudeness Sakura-chan I am Aiko Yamanaka this useless girls mother" Aiko huffed.
Put out with her child "If it isn't Sakura-san, hows training and such going" Inoichi poked his head out into the shop to find out what was going on as it was closed for the rest of the afternoon and the three girls headed his way.
Her smile was blinding "Very well, Asuma-sensei is great, all the time coming up with new ways to help us improve Inoichi-sama" Sakura explained, her team was the best and her sensei was even better even if he tried to kill them half the time.
Aiko was very put out with her husband and daughter "Guess I forgot to mention I met her at the Akimichi Compound, she has a very sharp tongue" the older blonde chuckled realizing he'd never told his wife about that incident.
That had left Ino off kilter for awhile as Choji had actually stood up to her after Sakura had "Hope I'm not intruding but Ino wanted to hang out so I thought I'd indulge her" the rosette admitted standing awkward off to the side.
"Right the shop is closed for the rest of the day so go on and have fun with your friend Ino" the brunette woman nodded in acceptance because heaven knows her daughter needed female friends that didn't back down against her.
Glad that she was being let off the hook with no doubt an interrogation later Ino grabbed Sakura by the hand "Shopping you like it right" the blonde heiress announced what they'd be doing and drug the slightly taller girl off to the market.
"Only thing Ino is we have to stop by my house again to get my wallet and yes of course I like shopping" Sakura snorted never mind that her views on shopping were probably different to that of other girls since she liked shopping for recipe ingredients that she was cooking up.
But that wasn't to say she didn't like clothes shopping or weapon gear shopping, she just did that in moderation "Probably should have told you to bring it, hehehe sorry" Ino ducked her head apologetically not wanting to get yelled at.
Sakura shook her head in amusement leading the way back to her house and popping in to grab her wallet from her room and then back outside "So why the change of heart" the pinkette wasn't going to let Ino get away with not explaining after all.
And it better not just be because she was lonely "I realized that I couldn't keep shoving people away, I know you don't like Sasuke and are just friends with him and I want friends that I don't have to fight with over everything little thing or be copied on" the blonde said sheepishly.
To an answer like that she couldn't very well refuse the girl "Then shopping it is, you know Mamori and Mimori like shopping to, you should ask them sometime, their very understanding when you apologize properly" Sakura lifted a brow.
"I know that, just not ready for those two yet, their scarier somehow while we don't really know you very well due to having only two weeks of you in class, now what's your favorite color and we can get a couple dresses" Ino admitted quietly.
Her grin was wide "Red of course and I like all variations of the color dark, light, neon, blood you name it" the rosette chattered, this was just a small price to pay to make a new friend and she wasn't going to drag her feet over it.
Excited her self "Mine's purple ooh what about in here" the blonde heiress pointed to a store that sold dresses and in they went, searching around for awhile and only finding a couple things that interested them though were well out of their price range.
So they went around the market looking into stores, window shopping and buying very little "Feel like my arms are about to fall off" Sakura laughed, the couple of bags she held weren't all that heavy and she was just joking about.
The clan heiress seemed to understand this and burst out laughing "Drama queen it's just a couple of bags" Ino teased back feeling safe in doing so, she had to admit that she'd really been wrong about the girl, Sakura was the kindest person she'd ever met and it made her feel terrible.
Sakura laughed all the harder at that until she felt an unknown chakra flare in her senses and straightened "Ino follow me and act normal alright, we're being followed and not by someone I know or recognize" the rosette said completely serious now.
Heart dropping in her stomach and realizing they were still quite a ways from her family shop Ino took a shaky breath and nodded "Right okay, so did you have a boyfriend back in Mist" the blonde heiress forced herself to continue on as she had been.
Even if her smile had faded some she hoped that whoever was following them didn't catch on that he'd been outed, their pace was slightly faster though "Go we've been outed" Sakura ordered seeing the Flower Shop in sight, shoved her bags at the other girl and spun in the opposite direction.
On a collision course with the trespasser "DAD, DAD Sakura's in trouble, she said that we were being followed by someone she didn't know" Ino burst into her home with a yell and a blur shot by her a second later.
"Don't come out no matter what you do okay" Inoichi shot back locating the girls chakra and the one who'd snuck into their village, when he caught up he saw a miraculous sight of Sakura punching the trespasser.
Which sent him flying "Fucking little brat I'm gonna kill you and cut off your head so the damn Mizukage doesn't interfere with us anymore, it would serve her right to lose her pretty perfect niece" the man sneered rising gingerly to his feet.
Peridot orbs narrowed "My Aunt would never bow to you bastard or anyone else and I'd never allow myself to be killed by the likes of you" the rosette snarled back completely on edge, she figured something like this would happen eventually but not while in the Leaf Village.
"Leave him to me okay Sakura" the Yamanaka Patriarch decided to step in as the girl gave the other man the trouncing of his life, complete with giving the enemy a concussion no doubt as he was splayed out on his back, as pale as a ghost.
Sakura's eyes widened as she realized that he'd come to help "Oh I didn't know you were there" Sakura grimaced looking guilty until she was pat on the head gently, it lightened her heart in relief that she wasn't going to get in trouble for this stunt.
"Not your fault, you should go get your things from Ino and go home okay" Inoichi soothed not wanting to see that look of guilt in her eyes anymore and nodding his head in the direction of his home where his wife and daughter were.
There was no arguing and then she was gone down the streets, once Sakura was no longer in sight Inoichi blew out a breath tying the assassin up "The hell is he" Ibiki grumbled when the Head of his Analysis Unit showed up with a rogue in his clutches.
"An assassin sent to kill a genin by the name of Sakura Haruno for being the Mizukage's niece" the blonde explained, poor girl hadn't done a thing beyond exist and now she was getting low rank assassins after her.
He had no doubt though that once word got back somehow the next assassin would be much more dangerous "Sakura Haruno huh that's the second time I've heard that bloody name" the Head of T&I scowled wanting to meet the girl.
Surprised at that Inoichi raised a brow "Just how is it you've heard her name, she's relatively new as my daughter tells me and goes undetected for the most part" Inoichi pressed for more information hoping they didn't have a leak.
"Brats brother I believe, she's the one that came up with that shiny new seal to protect our books in the intel unit library or so I was told but they probably just said that so they didn't get in anymore trouble" Ibiki snorted.
Giving the other man plenty to think about as he turned and left once the rogue was taken down to the cells under the building upon returning home he found Sakura seated on a couch looking grim until she spotted him and jumped up.
"Was the intruder taken care of dear" Aiko inquired carefully unsure if she could really ask since her husband's job often had him seeing into the minds of rogues and he couldn't really tell her anything since she wasn't part of the team.
He nodded "Yes by Sakura-san before I ever got there really your quite the force to be reckoned with" the Yamanaka Patriarch chuckled but it didn't cheer Sakura up in the least, guilt was eating away at her it seemed.
"I am sorry for putting Ino in danger like that as I didn't realize an assassin would be sent after me like that I understand if you don't want me to be around her anymore as it will most likely happen again and with someone who will be much stronger" the pinkette put her hands together and bowed.
The Yamanaka's stared "Heavens girl it wasn't your fault despite what you think and nonsense Ino needs a friend like you to keep her grounded and not afloat in the clouds like she always is" the Yamanaka Matriarch snorted.
Hugging the girl who'd had quite the evening already "Yeah and now that we've hung out we're gonna do it again, I'll just have to learn how to sense foreign chakra better" the Yamanaka Heiress huffed hands on her hips.
Sakura released the breath that she was holding and relaxed then after bowing once more grabbed her bags and headed home just in time as well because heading through the door was her parents "Didn't think you'd be out so late Sakura-chan" Mebuki commented in confusion.
Right then and there she decided not to tell them what had happened "Was hanging out with a friend we went shopping and I got ingredients for dinner" Sakura smiled feeling better at the sight of them and holding up one of her bags.
"Not another boy I hope, way to many boys in this village and not enough girls" Kizashi grumbled unlike his usual self, Sakura was concerned herself as they took off their shoes and headed into the kitchen to get started on supper.
Her brother already there "Is Dad grumbling, what are you grumbling about" Asagao frowned confused himself at the huffing and puffing of the usually laughing man and it was mildly disturbing until their mother decided to explain.
Giggling all the way "May have got many appraising stares and dear didn't like it" the emerald eyed blonde snickered unsympathetically of her husband, who knew she would never want anyone but him and still sulked.
This prompted her children to let out peals of laughter "Oh kami dad that's just to funny" the blue eyed twin between her children grinned banging his hand on the table in moderation proving to have just as much of his father in him as he had his mother in him.
"Seriously that's probably the funniest thing I've heard all day" the rosette giggled her amusement standing nearer to her mother as Kizashi grumbled more and began pouting and kami if that wasn't even funnier prompting more laughter.
Kizashi shook his head finally cracking again "Anyway I hope everything has been fine back here in the village for you two" the dark pink haired male questioned wanting to find out how his children had been doing as dinner was cooked by Mebuki and Sakura.
Everything was fine it seemed to their relief as they sat and chattered amongst themselves while eating supper before cleaning up and going to bed after a long day of training or travelling in the case of the elder Haruno's.
The following day brought Mangetsu and the boys over after training and missions and needless to say Mebuki just adored her daughters friends from the Hidden Mist Village, making them an ultra special lunchbox for always being kind to Sakura and being her friends.
Before they knew it their week of evasion and elemental jutsu training was over, quota reached yet again "I'm going to be busy this next week preparing for something so a week off kids enjoy" Asuma told them when they asked what their next training schedule would be.
It was more time off than they'd ever gotten "Are you sure Asuma-sensei, we could show up here even if your busy and work on our kenjutsu and crafting unique genjutsu's of our own" Mamori offered not wanting to be lazy by the time it was the end of their break.
Their sensei chuckled "Do whatever but that's still on your own time alright" then he patted his students and was gone in a puff of smoke, he couldn't tell them right yet after all and he wasn't sure if he wanted to enter his students anyway.
"Wow this is rare, even if this is our last week here" Suigetsu pouted in realization not liking that soon they'd be on their way back to Mist and be stuck there until they had another chance to come to Leaf and see their friend.
Looks like it would be back to using the summons daily again Sakura blew out a breath "That reminds me, Uchiha-sama wanted to see us once we got a day off it's about the you know what" Sakura remembered suddenly.
"Ah that means we need to figure out how to tweak the seal to be compatible with anyone's chakra" Mimori crinkled her nose as she waved at the boys, who'd taken to exploring around the Leaf Village any chance they got.
Suigetsu sighed "Don't worry I'm sure Mizukage-sama will send you here on an errand again so don't pout it's unattractive" Mangetsu snorted feeling for the boy who was crushing so bad on Sakura that it was pathetic to watch him sometimes.
"Still sucks though but we understand, we have to get back to helping out our own village eventually" Kimimaro pointed out as they headed off to find new things around the village that interested them.
Just as upset "Gonna be like hell though, but I'm glad that we don't have to have another training session with them" Haku shuddered these past three weeks had been like agony, despite their improvements in certain area's, Mangetsu laughed and shook his head.
~Meanwhile~
The members of Team Nine had reached the Uchiha Compound and had headed down the streets to the Main Family House "Wondered when you girls would be coming" Shisui met them at the door and let them into the foyer.
Mamori sniffed "It's not like we've been putting this off on purpose Shisui-sensei, Asuma-sensei has kept us busy all week with training and missions" the older Senju twin reminded in exasperation as they took off their shoes.
Shisui held up his hands in surrender "Knew that already, anyway he's in his office just knock on the door" the Uchiha pointed down the hall to the foreboding door down the hallway they'd never dared venture down in all their time coming to the Main Family House.
"Okay we're kunoichi we're tough" the younger Senju twin pumped herself up to Shisui's amusement while Sakura rolled her eyes and dragged her teammates down the hallway not afraid like them of his Uncle, he actually liked the kid for being polite yet not timid.
She was also the one to knock on the door because neither of her teammates wanted to "Come in" came Fugaku Uchiha's voice from the other side and Sakura turned the handle opening the door to admit them into his home office.
Bowing her head low "Uchiha-sama we've come to talk about the healing scroll the three of us crafted with the use of Fuinjutsu" the rosette admitted so he didn't have to broach the subject or have them lose their concentration by starting on a topic that wasn't important.
He was slightly surprised "Very well, can you tweak the formula to allow anyone to use it or is that impossible for the current time, we do have a few medics in the clan that can use the scrolls" the brunet moved his paperwork to the side and clasped his hands together.
"We can tweak the formula to be compatible with anyone's chakra, it might take like twenty minutes though" Mimori nodded at the question, but didn't want to give the man any illusions that it would be a right away jump.
They had to actually confer to their books and figure that stuff out, "Twenty minutes is more than enough, just clear off the table over there and make sure you put everything back, I have paperwork to do in the meantime" Fugaku grunted.
Pointing to the right of his office where a table was buried beneath a mountain of books and so with a couple clones the stacks of books were set neatly off to the side while the girls crowded around their fuinjutsu books spread out between them.
It really was a surprise when they figured out how to change the formula to work for everyone and not just them due to the new books on sealing jutsu in their possession "Done" Mamori smiled, putting her books away, five minutes before the state time.
Fugaku looked a little surprised at that as a scroll was placed on his desk, not an exact replica of the last one he'd gotten "How exactly are you going to patent it" Sakura questioned curiously now that this was becoming all to real.
"Easy enough once your healing scrolls are popular down at the market here in the Compound you'll receive monthly payments and once their fully in demand I'll inform the Hokage for permission to sell them in the village on your behalf and the payment will increase" the Uchiha Patriarch explained.
"Which means that only us, you and Hokage-sama will be able to sell them unless we give strict permission to someone else to do so it will be by all rights illegal to make them and sell them if it's not us" the rosette finished the rest that had went unsaid.
And the stern man nodded "Precisely now if your done I have to get back to work" Fugaku snorted, glancing to the table to find it exactly how it had been found previously, books piled on top of it and dismissed the girls from his office.
They bowed in sync then were gone "Can't believe that we're actually going to receive payment for something we created" the older Senju twin clapped excited as they left the house and headed back down the streets of the Uchiha Compound, out into the village.
Sakura grinned "Yeah anyway we're going home so see you Sakura-chan" the younger Senju twin yawned, sister in tow they disappeared down the streets in opposite directions of each other going home to eat lunch and lounge about the house.
"Ibiki Morino is curious about you Sakura" Asagao told her a couple days later on break as well as Shisui was pulled away for preparations of whatever the Jonin were doing, he remembered that the man had mentioned it during his last mission at T&I.
Putting those bloody complicated seals on every single book in the library had been an absolute nightmare, and Naruto had been terrible with writing the formula's to their absolute horror "Is it because of the seal I made" Sakura looked up from a leisure book.
Asagao shook his head "No because you apparently took down an assassin that came after you for being Aunt Mei's niece, how come you didn't tell us" he looked hurt, weren't they trustworthy and Sakura looked frantically around only to find their parents gone.
"Didn't say anything because I didn't want anyone to freak out or try and force me to quit being a ninja just be thankful it wasn't you, it's not that I don't trust you, Mom or Dad or anyone else it's just some things are better left unsaid" she snapped softly under her breath.
Blue eyes widened "Guess I can kind of understand, they only know about you and not me, but it doesn't make me feel any better" the younger of the Haruno twins sighed and Sakura sent him a fond smile.
"Yeah I'm not happy either you know but anything to protect you I'll do it" the older Haruno twin admitted and silence enveloped them again until their parents came back from their shopping for food from the market.
Then five days later it was time to get back into the swing of real training, after seeing the Mist Shinobi off that was, "After our training session there's something I want to talk to you girls about" Asuma said still debating on whether or not to do this despite nominating them for the exams to the Hokage already.
Hours later the three of them were thoroughly beaten "Ugh I really dislike your methods sometimes" Mamori groaned trying to stand but feeling numb, he'd really gone all out today against them a pure taijutsu training session.
No chakra, no weapons just fist to fist and they'd gotten their asses handed to them on a silver platter "No kidding, even if we do improve" Mimori panted out of breath and covered in bruises from head to toe.
Their other teammate however looked moderately better having had the mind to dodge most of their sensei's attacks "So what is it that you wanted to talk to us about Asuma-sensei" Sakura asked once they were sat before him all healed up thanks to their efforts.
Asuma lit up a cigarette and took a long drag from it before blowing the smoke out "The Chunin Exams I nominated you three for them, it's a tournament where you find out if your eligible to be promoted in rank" the raven haired Jonin finally admitted.
"Do you really think we're ready Asuma-sensei" the younger Senju twin worried her lip like she was fond of when she was worried about something, it was a habit that she'd never been able to kick even while travelling around with her mom.
He wasn't really sure to be honest "It's not about if your ready, your more than ready, I just hope I'm making the right choice" Asuma sighed fearing for his students, the exams were going to be like nothing they'd come up against so far.
Or they really would be okay and nothing would go wrong "Okay what do we have to do to sign up for it" the older Senju twin questioned while Sakura was quiet, she was the smartest between the three of them after all.
"Signs these and go to the academy three days from now oh and girls if all of you don't show up you won't be allowed in" he could at least give them that much information before body flickering away to let them make their own choice.
Immediately the registry forms were stared at with trepidation "We should do it, Mamori, Mimori, can't be left in the dust of those boys after all" the rosette finally snapped out of her staring, but waited for her teammates to form their own decision.
Ultimately in the end they all signed their forms and stowed them away in their pouches before splitting up, clearly there would be no more training sessions for the rest of the week and they had a lot to think about and consider for the Chunin Exams.
Going in opposite directions of each other Sakura ran across a horrifying scene "Let him go now or you'll be in a lot of trouble for trying to hurt Hokage-sama's grandson" Sakura burst out in defense of the struggling little boy.
Only just now seeing her brother, Naruto and Sasuke up in a tree "Now why didn't we think of saying that" Sasuke slapped his forehead feeling like an idiot as the mahogany haired boy was released and he scrambled towards his savior.
"Careful brat I'm in a really foul mood, you don't want me to turn my anger on you, better to just get out of my sight actually" the older brunet scowled irritated that he'd been stopped from taking his frustration on the little punk.
But Sakura was headstrong and stubborn "Then that would jeopardize your presence here wouldn't it by picking fights with native shinobi especially with a very important event coming up" she shot back standing tall and not cowering beneath his glare.
Everyone froze including the kid antagonizer as she'd dubbed him within the safety of her own thoughts "Seems not all you brats are stupid like I thought, keh whatever I'm outta here" the teenager scoffed and turned on his heel.
Another Sand Shinobi running after him "We've been trying to rescue Konohamaru for fifteen minutes" Asagao sulked unhappily of course she would have been able to resolve the issue, she was way more perceptive.
"What did you mean by very important even coming up Sakura-chan" Naruto frowned in confusion not really understanding anything that was going on and Sakura sighed but shook her head, if Shisui hadn't told them yet, then that wasn't her responsibility.
"I'm sure Shisui-sensei will tell you, didn't you say you had a meeting today with him Asagao, if I were you I'd get going" the rosette nodded her head at the sun indicating the time was running late and the three boys sped off like bats out of hell.
Konohamaru stared up at her "Thank you Sakura-nee-chan for saving me" the little boy clutched her sleeve tightly as they started towards his home, she smiled down at him kindly and dropped him off in the care of his Uncle before disappearing to home.
~A couple days later~
There was now only one day left before the Chunin Exams and like expected her brother, Sasuke and Naruto were going to participate as well for once she was on her own wandering the market trying to upgrade her gear.
Searching the shelves for useful items "Well aren't you cute" a Jonin she hadn't yet met was suddenly behind her, peering over her shoulder and ridiculously close, way to close as her face burned in embarrassment from his proximity.
Before she cleared her throat "Sakura" she gave only her first name as she'd taken to guarding her last name with a passion, viridian orbs peering into hazel but keeping a respectful distance from his face as he leaned down.
Eyebrow raised "Genma Shiranui now what could a cute little girl like you want in a weapons store" the brunet chuckled while simultaneously chewing on the throwing needle perched between his lips and switching it from side to side.
Her watching intently for a moment in fascination "Ninja gear and new weapons of course, I'm a genin" then her gaze darted back to the shelves, searching them one by one making sure not to miss a single thing in case it was usable.
She could feel his eyes on her though she was determined to find something anything that would be helpful on her fifth shelf she came away with a pack of blank tags "Hmm many possibilities" the rosette mused to herself staring hard at the bundle.
Running through everything that they could be used for and finally placing them in a basket situated on her arm "Interesting, what are you going to do with a bunch of blank tags" Genma questioned following her as she moved down the aisle.
Digging deep into the shelves or bins for anything and everything "Write seals on them" she answered reaching up on her tip-toes to snag a box of empty smoke bomb powder casings, already knowing what they could be used for instinctively.
They were also set in the basket, followed by a pack of kunai, shuriken and throwing needles each, a whetstone and matchbook, Sakura paused going through her medical pouch "You know Fuinjutsu" he raised a brow on her again as she stood back ticking things off her fingers mentally.
"Hmm oh yeah my teammates taught me because their mother is Tsunade Senju who taught them" Sakura worried her lip in thought roving her hand over a blood red tempered tantou itching to buy it until she turned resolutely away to get medical supplies.
Bandage rolls, ointment, gauze, tape, antidotes to common poison in pill form, a book on wild herbs in the area used for numbness, tranquilizer darts and blower, syringes, needles, vials, a small survival pack which included a small pot and portable fire pits.
Again she paused and he stepped up to her "Fuinjutsu can be very dangerous, I hope you are doing that under guidance and not on your own" the brunet frowned looking straight into her eyes, to his surprise her face burned red.
'Well now that's interesting' Genma mused inwardly to himself as she jumped back and away from him, it seemed little miss cutie didn't like guys all up in her space, as much as he wanted to tease her though it was important to make her understand that she could lose her life experimenting with Fuinjutsu.
"Asuma-sensei oversees our experiments all the time and we're always very careful in fact we've had a few successful experiments turn out right" the rosette admitted looking everywhere but him, it was honestly adorable how she flushed being to close to him.
He rubbed his chin and nodded, relieved that one of the Jonin was in fact not letting genin experiment with fuinjutsu on their own "Very good, now for you Sakura-chan" Genma grinned moving fast, to fast for her to counter.
Then his arms were thrown around her small body and pulling her into his chest making the girl squeak in surprise at his sudden movement "That was the Hiraishin or flying thunder god jutsu" he chuckled at her indignant expression.
"Not very nice Shiranui-san to tease me like that or try to give me a heart-attack" her bottom lip pouted at him, his lips curled up into an amused smile, drawing close, he was inches away when a throat cleared noisily behind him.
Sakura jumped away from him like he was on fire and ducked behind the newcomer, eyeing him warily as she hid behind the new person "She's a child Shiranui" Raido Namiashi warned his fellow special Jonin, despite having helped the girl with seduction training.
The kunoichi of Team Nine were still young and underage and he wouldn't condone anyone touching them until they were old enough "Come on I was just having a little fun Raido-chan, despite what you think I wasn't going to do it" Genma huffed.
Raido let out a long suffering sigh "Even though you threaten to prank me all the time, it sure didn't take you long to hide behind me" Raido chuckled taking the mickey out of the girl who promptly scowled at him and stomped away.
"Just You Wait Namiashi-san I will prank you and you'll never even see it coming" Sakura pointed a finger at him, cheeks puffed up cutely in frustration before she vanished down another aisle away from the males who seemed determined to drive her crazy.
Genma's brows shot up in response at the little scene "I don't want to know, hey that little brat nicked my senbon" he finally seemed to realize that the throwing needle he kept in his mouth to chew on was gone.
When he stormed around the corner, she was no where in sight and he turned, blinking at his fellow Jonin and there his senbon was weaved neatly into the man's sleeve "The hell" Raido gaped when Genma lunged at him.
Knocking him out into the streets on accident until the man retrieved his stolen needle from his sleeve "When did that get there" the other brunet scowled in irritation looking around for the culprit and then he realized.
"Man you got pranked, sneaky little thing that Sakura-chan is" the hazel eyed man chuckled chewing on his weapon again, meanwhile still in the weapons store, Sakura had illusioned herself and had watched the fireworks perform beautifully.
Before she focused on upgrading her gear and buying new weapons and the like from the store until she was certain that she'd gotten enough after removing the illusion tag of course and traipsed off to home to eat dinner and get some shut eye.