It was now the start of the Chunin Exams and where was she, in her room awake at six o'clock in the morning fiddling with her ever growing locks "What's the matter Sakura-chan" Mebuki asked spying her daughters bedroom door wide open as she padded by to get breakfast ready.
"Thinking about maybe cutting my hair or finding a way to prevent it from being pulled" Sakura frowned staring hard into her mirror, curling a lock around her finger and eyeing the length, a couple inches from waist length since Mei had never let her cut it not even once in Mist.
Mebuki giggled softly "Here sweetie let Momma" the blonde offered entering her daughters bedroom and having the girl sit before her on a stool eager to get her hands on the girls hair for the first time since she'd come home.
She was honestly surprised Sakura hadn't complained, it was heavy and thick and so, so silky it was unbelievable, Sakura was quiet as she messed with the pink locks, pulling and twisting and practically abusing the girls poor skull.
Until it rested in a braided bun held together by her favorite hair ornament "Guess I'm going to have to practice that" the rosette smiled tilting her head this way and that to spy her now done up hairdo, save for a few wisps that hung around her face in gentle curls.
Relieved that her daughter seemed to like it Mebuki smiled and padded off leaving Sakura to her own devices and get started on breakfast herself, when it was done, only Asagao was sitting at the table "I thought Sakura would be awake" Asagao yawned.
Looking like he'd only just rolled out of bed "Oh I am awake was deciding on what to wear" Sakura glided gracefully into the room, wearing a dark red sleeveless dress their family symbol on it and pitch black shorts that cut off at mid thigh.
Asagao choked on his watermelon juice at that "Sakura can't you be normal for once, kami I don't want guys to get it in their head that they can go after you" the younger twin groaned, head in his hands, utterly mortified, why couldn't she wear less revealing clothes.
Sakura simply raised a brow at him elegantly then cackled at him in amusement sitting down at the table "Whats this did you change your usual hairstyle Sakura-chan" Kizashi was the last to join them being enticed by the delicious smell of food.
"I helped with that Kizashi dear doesn't Sakura look lovely with her hair up like that" Mebuki grinned enjoying the morning antics before her children left to participate in the Chunin Exams, dreadful things that they were.
Kizashi nodded "Your going to have guys asking for your hand left and right" the dark pink haired male chuckled and a delicate blush spread across the bridge of Sakura's nose, while eating with proper manners that had been drilled into her over the past twelve years.
Her brother ruined the moment though "I won't allow it, Sakura is not allowed to date any boys" Asagao slapped his hand down on the table staring at his sister determinedly, never mind that she was older than him by a few hours, and could beat him hands down, he wouldn't allow it.
Thinking the argument was won when she didn't say anything Asagao smirked in triumph missing the mischievous gleam in her viridian orbs until he found himself tipped out of his chair "Don't think you can tell me what to do" the rosette stood over him with an innocent smile.
Asagao spluttered "Now, now you were asking for that Asagao-kun you should know the Terumi temper is not one to mess with" the blonde that was his mother giggled behind her hand, completely amused by the antics of her children.
"Fine, fine but at least wait until your eighteen to date please" the younger pink haired male at the table sighed righting his chair and sitting in it all proper like again to finish eating breakfast before getting cleaned up for the Chunin Exams.
Sakura nodded and breakfast resumed peaceful at last as they all got absorbed fully into eating until every last bite was devoured, only then did Asagao speed to his personal bathroom take a quick shower, dress in his usual gear and hurry back to his sister.
With that they bid farewell to their parents and headed out the door "What do you suppose the first round will be like" Asagao asked rubbing his arms in the chill of the morning air, the entire village was tense and it was foreboding.
Unfortunately for him, his sister had no idea "Suppose we'll just have to find out when it starts now won't we Asagao" Sakura said, looking around warily, alert and completely on edge as they reached the academy where the rest of their friends and teammates were.
"Thought you two were going to chicken out at the last moment" Sasuke snorted once the Haruno twins were near only to get smacked over the head by one of their other female friends, who was in quite the mood that morning.
Vicious to alongside her own twin sister "Enough Sasuke now is not the time to crack jokes like that" Mamori huffed irritated and the day had barely started, like Sakura, her hair was pinned up tightly in a bun and was wearing darker clothes than was normal.
In a deep green for blending in better, it was a yukata style outfit and her hazel eyes were bright and alert, Sasuke rubbed his head and stepped away from Mamori "Yeah plus you know that Asagao and Sakura-chan wouldn't chicken out as you put it" Mimori reminded.
Chastened Sasuke nodded "On a brighter note at least we're all here" Naruto piped in still wearing his usual bright orange clothes to Sakura's utter horror, but there was little she could do and hoped that nothing happened during the first round.
The six of them waited in silence keeping to themselves for the most part until at exactly 8 the doors to the academy were opened "Uh oh I forgot my kunai pouch" the younger pink haired teen hissed in horror.
"Go on we'll wait for you, see you in there Sakura, Mamori, Mimori" the second Uchiha heir waved his teammate off, it's not like they didn't have plenty of time after all and having weapons on their person was important.
Relieved that he wasn't being chewed out Asagao dashed off "Come on Sakura, lets get in there" the younger Senju twin sighed, also with her hair in a tight bun instead of her usual pigtails and wearing a dark blue outfit opposite her sister.
Sakura nodded "Yeah see you in there Naruto, Sasuke" the rosette waved to the two remaining boys of Team Seven, her brother already vanished down the streets to their house to collect his missing kunai pouch.
Naruto swallowed thickly eyeing the building in trepidation "Do you really think we'll be alright Teme" the blue eyed blonde asked quietly unsure of how that day was going to play out for them, Sasuke shrugged and his shoulders slumped.
~Meanwhile~
In the building Mamori, Sakura and Mimori froze as a very familiar feeling washed over them "It's genjutsu, so right off the bat their trying to trick us" the older Senju twin glared as they trekked up the steps of the academy.
Reaching the second floor landing, Sakura shook her head as she realized what the genjutsu was for and turned heading down the hall teammates on her heels "Where do you think your going" Neji Hyuga called out from behind them, just as arrogant as the last time they'd seen him.
Peridot orbs burned into his "If you can't figure that out on your own then shame and here I thought you were smart Hyuga-san" Sakura snickered quietly before turning away from him and disappearing down the hall.
Leaving behind confused genin and two surprised henged Chunin "Did you really have to taunt him Sakura" Mimori sighed use to her friends antics by that point, though she didn't agree with antagonizing Neji Hyuga that day it seemed.
Any other day was just fine but that day just no "He deserved it for acting arrogant all the time and like we have to bow down to him just because he's a Hyuga and apparently better than us" Mamori snorted, after that silence blanketed them.
As they finally reached the stairs to head up to the third floor and down the hall to the room designated for the first round "Girls good of you to make it" Asuma was a welcome surprise after not seeing him for three days straight.
"Of course Asuma-sensei, like we'd miss our chance to be promoted" the older Senju twin grinned though she wasn't as boisterous as usual nor were her teammates, it was a little eerie how serious they were taking just the first round actually.
He blew out a stream of smoke "Just be careful alright these exams are like nothing you've ever faced before, good luck in there and may you come out on top" the raven haired Jonin finally said patting each of his students on the head and opening the door for them.
It closed behind them with a quiet bang, Mimori straightened feeling all the eyes on her, "Let's go over there" the pinkette on the team murmured softly for their ears only and led the way to a vacant seat for them to sit down.
The eyes finally left them alone and Mimori breathed a little lighter "And I thought having Zabuza's eyes on us was scary" the younger Senju twin frowned quietly, the three of them staring warily around the room, scoping out the competition so to speak.
For awhile everything was quiet until the doors burst open with a loud racket and Sakura wanted to groan as she realized that only one person among them would make that much noise, and like she thought the three boys of Team Seven appeared through the door.
Naruto of course was completely oblivious to the glares while Asagao shrunk back and Sasuke was more broody than ever, though his ebony gaze caught hers across the room, they nodded silently to one another before Sasuke herded his teammates to another part of the room.
She breathed a little easier at that as the tension eased a little and she cricked her neck from the uncomfortable feeling, next to appear was Team Ten, Ino looked around when the blonde didn't spot her and Sasuke subtly nodded at her.
Ino finally noticed where her friend was sitting and went to head over to her when Sasuke put his hand on the girl's shoulder and Sakura shook her head indicating that it was better this way, Ino looked upset but nodded in acceptance.
Last to arrive was Team Eight, their entrance was similar to Team Nine but nothing could be simple with Kiba Inuzuka who was just as loud and obnoxious as Naruto sometimes, he caught her scent though and quieted down, directing his teammates over to the others.
All that was left was to wait for the proctor to get there "So how come those three are being creepers in the corner over there" Shikamaru questioned eyeing the all kunoichi team, who looked like they belonged there in the exam room being just as intimidating as the other foreign teams.
"We don't have a bloody idea why either and Sakura won't let us go over to them either" Sasuke curled his lip not liking this atmosphere in the least, and wishing at least one of the girls of Team Nine was over here with them.
Shikamaru grimaced spying the girls out of the corner of his eye, who were alert and on edge, it was a little disconcerting to be honest "Either way I wish this bloody exam was over with already" Asagao scowled, peering cautiously around.
"That's something I can agree on, all these scents are making me sick" Kiba nodded and Akamaru whimpered under the hood of his jacket, clearly not liking the tension anymore than anybody else among their group did.
Naruto sulked "How come their being so different, not like themselves even Mimori's been a little mean and she hardly ever is" Naruto whined only to have a hand slapped over his mouth courtesy of his best friends.
Who stared around warily "Probably because they don't want to draw attention onto themselves, why it keeps them under the radar and out from beneath the suspicious gazes" Shino piped in with an explanation, glad that he was being listened to when everyone turned to stare at him.
"Sounds about right, Sakura's always been different, more intimidating than everyone else, Mist's curriculum was harder than ours after all" Choji commented munching on a bag of chips, impatient for the exam to start.
His teammates looked at him in surprise "Guess that's true though she didn't scare people intentionally which says a lot" Ino nodded quietly and rubbed her arms, looking around awkwardly and feeling way out of her league.
"M..My co..cousin says th..that i..if she exerci…exercised herself sh..she could probably be..beat one of his t..teammates in a s..spar ju..just barely" Hinata stuttered horribly, Asagao snorted knowing who the shy blue haired girl was talking about.
Lee was insane, but Sakura would have no trouble beating the teenager hands down probably, just barely was putting it mildly and Neji Hyuga needed to have his ass kicked for all the dirty things he'd said about his sister.
Meanwhile across the room Sakura went rigid, prompting her own teammates to do the same as they watched an unknown to them Leaf Shinobi walk over to the other genin in their generation "The hell was that about" Mimori glowered when the silver haired male walked away.
"No idea but his chakra feels wrong, to much to be a genin's that's for sure" Mamori shifted her gaze to the side to spy the much older male, she didn't know what it was, but right off the bat she didn't trust the male even though he was one of their own.
Thankfully both of her teammates were in agreement on that assessment and immediately distrusted the teenager "Oh boy here we go" Sakura felt the chakra converging on the room and in a large plume of smoke.
Several people were at the front of them "Pipe down and listen up you baby faced degenerates I'm your proctor for the first round, Ibiki Morino and I'm your worst nightmare, line up, hand over your register forms, get a number and sit down" Ibiki sneered.
KI wafting from him intently to get them moving, Sakura blew out a breath as they lined up not wanting to make this day go from bad to worse, they even spread out from each other being in differing places in the line, she and her teammates that was.
While the others kept together, it would get them in trouble doing that but she wasn't going to be the one to tell them that as she took her turn, Ibiki stared at her in surprise when he saw the name, but he handed a seat number to the brat, glad to have finally met her in person.
Then she was off towards her seat "Ah well this is quite the surprise" the younger Senju twin piped in not looking but instinctively knowing that it was Sakura who'd just sat beside her, her brows raised before she schooled her expression into a blank one.
"No one can know we're teammates, I think the point was to separate us after all" the rosette whispered under her breath and what was even more surprising was when Mamori joined them in the row, looking at them in surprise.
Until she sat down "This can't be good, all of us sitting together" the older Senju twin frowned not liking this situation in the least, but whatever, even if the point had been to split them up, she wasn't going to complain or let on that the three of them were teammates and sitting in the same row.
Everyone quieted down as Ibiki explained the rules of the first round, a written exam and then the tests were passed around before he told them to start and sat down, focusing his gaze on that pink haired brat, more than curious about the girl.
He was starting to believe that she was the one who'd created that seal as her eyes flicked around the room an intelligent gleam in the iris before focusing on her test, not cheating and scratching down answers like the girls on either side of her.
It was amusing how he didn't notice the brats at first and that they were in fact a team, he knew who the Senju twins were after all and who was in charge of them, but none of them were talking or cheating off each other to Ibiki's surprise.
Or cheating off the Chunin in front of them that had the answers to all their questions, brows creased as they thought over the next question, suddenly the pink haired brat went rigid and turned her head carefully to spy someone a couple rows above them slumped over on their desk.
'Well that's interesting, that brat was able to prevent getting captured in the Yamanaka's signature jutsu' Ibiki mused to himself, making a note to talk to Inoichi later and possibly test the pink haired brat see how fortified her mind is.
Before they knew it he was calling time and the little baby faced brats put down their pencils and focused their attention on him, there was a ruckus and suddenly he found himself passing a still full room of genin to the second round.
Sakura stretched glad that the first round was over "How do you suppose we did" Mimori questioned eyeing her test paper in trepidation despite knowing that she knew the answers, they could have still gotten them wrong.
"Just fine I'm sure Mimori our intelligence levels are nothing to scoff at after all" Mamori rolled her eyes at her twin waiting to be dismissed when a crazy looking purple haired woman burst into the room, obliterating the window and throwing up a sign.
That told them congratulations "I'm Anko Mitarashi you maggots the proctor for the second round, now everyone follow me" Anko introduced herself to the brats, accusing Ibiki of passing to many for a moment before the lot of them followed her like good little genin.
As she led them across the village "This here is where you'll be conducting your second round, the survival round, show up here at eight sharp tomorrow or be disqualified" the purple haired woman warned once she was done showing them to where the next round was.
Sakura blew out a breath and immediately found her brother "Who was that guy in the glasses" she demanded to know, a frown working itself onto her lips as they started down the streets to home glad that they'd passed the first round of the Chunin Exams.
"Kabuto Yakushi, he's failed the exams a lot so thought to take them again, see if he could manage to beat them this time around" Asagao answered without thinking, Sakura frowned even deeper at that.
Not liking the information that she'd been given "I'm saying this for your safety okay, stay away from him, he's not trustworthy, can't explain, I just have that feeling is all" Sakura warned wanting to make sure her brother didn't do anything stupid.
He looked at her in confusion but nodded, not really understanding why his sister was so suspicious of their fellow Leaf Ninja, he'd probably never understand to be honest and decided to let it go as they reached their house.
"Biyoku returned with letters from your friends Sakura" Mebuki held out the scrolls, there were many this time and she wondered what the occasion was, but she took them in her arms "Now how did your exams go" she put her hands on her hips staring her children down.
Her twins shared a look "Rough, I'm guessing the exams are comprised of three rounds and this was only the beginning, tomorrow is the second round" the younger pink haired twin offered an explanation for their mother.
Mebuki grit her teeth and wished she could tell them not to go but her children were to prideful for that "We'll be fine I promise" the older between her children smiled reassuringly then vanished to their rooms.
~In Sakura's Room~
Like hell was she going into some blood forest without preparing like hell for it so after spreading out her fuinjutsu books, blank scrolls, both large and small, parchment, brush and ink pot she got started, first was healing scrolls.
Several of them actually for minor injuries, eighteen in all, some of them were for her brother and his team after all, then twelve larger for more serious injuries in case of an emergency, then two storage scrolls had them split up evenly between their two teams.
Next Sakura stood "Asagao you in there still" Sakura called through the door holding the storage scroll and then her brothers bedroom door swung open and he beckoned her into his room "Here, there's healing scrolls sealed inside" she handed over the scroll.
He looked surprised "Why so many Sis" Asagao asked in confusion, sure he was glad that she'd thought to give him some, but this was crazy, nine small and six large, it was kind of a little worrying if he was being honest.
"You never know what will happen in that creepy forest, there's three small for each of you and two large in case of emergencies" then she was gone back to her room, leaving him to stow the storage scroll in his storage pouch.
Meanwhile Sakura grabbed an empty pack upon returning to her room, stuffing several storage scrolls inside, food supply, water supply, storage scroll with healing scrolls inside, she went over to her dresser, pulling out three dark green dresses, a few extra pairs of unmentionables.
Followed by chest bindings, three extra pairs of shorts and a spare pair of sandals and gloves just in case, all of that was sealed into a storage scroll, along with her sleeping bag before being stuffed into the pack.
A scroll with a pot burner and portable fire pit, cooking and eating utensils, plates, bowls, cups, enough for her, Mamori and Mimori anyway, the matches she bought the other day, followed by the clothes scroll.
She paused trying to think of what else to add since she didn't know how long they'd be in the forest doing who knows what in there, a map with the area circled and a compass was settled into the pack, followed by her extra whetstone and new weapons all in a scroll of course.
Then the newly bought medical supplies, which filled half of her medical pouch already, her fuinjutsu books, along with blank scrolls, capped ink pot and a few extra brushes were added to the pack to as an afterthought.
Before she sat down on the floor and started writing seals on the blank tags she'd bought the other day "Whoa Sakura-chan that's crazy what are you doing" Mamori and Mimori chose that moment to pop into her room and shut the door quietly behind them.
"Packing, we don't know how long we're going to be in that forest tomorrow, also making some tags, illusion, exploding, genjutsu with my specialties of course, oooh that's what I forgot more ninja wire" Sakura huffed as she realized that she only had a little bit left for traps and whatnot.
Mamori and Mimori stared before nodding in determination "If you give us the money and a list of what we need to pack as well, we'll ask Mrs. Haruno if we can spend the night here" the older Senju twin suggested.
Sakura looked up then grabbed her wallet and handed it to her teammates before scratching down a list of things that only they had to pack "Buy two rolls of wire, big rolls" the rosette suggested before focusing on her seals again.
By the time they returned bearing their own packs she had distributed the pile evenly, five tags for each which was sadly not much "Lucky for you we got five extra packs of blank tags, so we'll each have thirty tags" the younger Senju twin grinned.
"And the big rolls of ninja wire in dark green, that was the only color they had on the bright side we did get you a new tantou since your other was broken, we paid for that ourselves and Mrs. Haruno said we could stay the night" Mimori added.
Relieved that everything was coming together as her teammates deposited their pre-made packs beside hers "Not only that but we replenished our own medical supplies as well, even got extra chakra and blood replenishing pills for you" Mamori offered handing over the pills.
Everything which was sealed in the appropriate storage scroll and labeled properly as they worked on writing out the seals and adding genjutsu to the right tags before those two were sealed away in the weapons scroll.
There was very little left to contemplate preparing now "The other day I bought a box of empty powder casings for smoke and the like, I was thinking we could make our own uncommon poison powder and antidote to put in empty pill casings" Sakura suggested.
Not that her teammates were going to refuse her as books on poisonous herbs were flipped open, they'd probably have to go out and buy the herbs as they scratched down five poisonous plants that had interesting effects to them.
In the end they decided on using elephants ear, lily of the valley, rhododendron, rhubarb and acorns, for the antidote they were careful in choosing the right herbs which consisted of butterbur leaves, chives, dandelion flowers, st johns wort, ginger, and boswellia.
And then a clone was sent out to buy all twelve herbs in abundance "Goodness you girls" Mebuki decided to make an appearance bringing snacks and tea with her for the teammates and found them crowded around on the floor pouring over books.
"Hey mom, sorry we're a little busy, we decided to make our own poison and antidote combo, just waiting on my clone to get back with the herbs" Sakura looked up smiling radiantly at her mother, who set down the tray of snacks and tea before leaving the room.
On the way back to the kitchen a clone of her daughter walked by and disappeared within the bedroom that had three very serious girls in it, they each blew out a breath and got started on grinding up the poisonous plants.
Packing it all together in powder form since the plants were dry and practically turned to dust, then with a bit of explosive powder the poison powder bombs were ready and sealed within a separate scroll all it's own.
Finally was the antidote which was easy and they found that it worked once tested before cleaning up after themselves and munching on the snacks and enjoying the tea "You done experimenting in here" Asagao trudged in a few minutes later.
Sakura raised a brow on her brother and nodded offering a couple sandwiches to him and a cup of tea which he ate gladly until it was time for dinner, where they all crowded around the table, laughing and having a good time, then after taking showers went to bed.
The next morning dread pooled in her stomach "I have a really bad feeling about today" to Sakura's surprise she wasn't the only one who felt like it wasn't going to be a good day for them as Mamori grimaced barely able to eat breakfast at six o'clock in the morning.
"Me to and you better eat or you'll be trekking through that forest on an empty stomach" Mimori scolded feeling like she was crawling out of her skin and not very hungry herself but she knew that whatever they had to do wasn't going to be easy.
Asagao plopped down at the table with them looking haggard, black bags beneath his eyes and short pink hair sticking up in every which direction, while Sakura's was in a braided bun again, held together by a senbon this time, like her teammates.
"Wish I would have slept more instead of laid awake worrying about things" Asagao groaned, head resting on the table and nearly falling back to sleep until Sakura dumped some cold water on him that had him awake in five seconds flat.
He was still in his sleep clothes unlike his friends and sister, who were all ready to go "No use complaining Asagao, now eat and then go get ready" Sakura pointed at the plate full of food, thirty minutes later they were all ready to go.
So with that and after bidding their parents farewell the four teens traipsed out the door to the destination that was designated as their second round, the survival round as Anko had called it and they each wondered would they really come out of this alright.
There was no point in complaining now, not since they were in the exams for the long haul and weren't going to be giving up anytime soon despite their feelings and reservations about that foreboding forest as they reached their destination at long last.
It was exactly seven-thirty in the morning and half of them were already gathered, each Leaf Genin team was there and Sakura blew out a breath, looking around warily until she caught the gaze of a kunoichi from grass, her yellow eyes were cold and she hastily looked away.
Breathing heavily "You okay Sakura-chan, what was that about anyway" Mimori drew her attention away from the sudden panic attack, death had been in those gold eyes and she'd felt fear for one of the few times in her life.
"I'm good though it's probably best if we avoid those genin from grass I don't like the looks of one of them" Sakura whispered quietly and her teammates had to strain their ears in order to hear what she said so softly.
But they understood the gist of it "That's two people we want to avoid at all costs" Mamori sighed, eventually the three of them got tired of standing, so sat until their proctor arrived and began explaining the rules for them.
"For five days you'll be in there, trying to collect a pair of scrolls, heaven and earth, taking scrolls from other teams is not prohibited but peeking before you reach the tower in the center of the forest is, don't look at the contents of the scrolls or you'll get a nasty surprise" Anko began.
"Less than half of you will make it to the tower in the Forest of Death and some of you may even die, that's why I'm handing out consent forms for you to sign so it's not my responsibilities to find your bodies" the purple haired woman finished.
Passing around the consent forms, with their hearts in their stomachs, Teams Seven and Nine signed the forms and handed them over when they went to get their scrolls, one to each team and no one knew who had what.
Each team was also assigned a gate, separated from their friends Sakura, Mamori and Mimori headed for their gate on the other side of the forest "What do you think, should we make decoys of our scrolls and hide the original" Mamori suggested.
Once they were sitting around waiting for the signal that told them they could enter the forest "Good idea, we could hide it in one of our extra blank tags on Sakura-chan" Mimori nodded and so with the time they had.
Blank scrolls that Sakura thought to bring along were pulled out and the explosion seal was drawn onto three of them, while a tag was given the storage scroll seal and the original scroll was sealed away and the tag was stuck to Sakura's calf, hidden underneath some bandages.
Then the scrolls that looked exactly like their earth scroll, complete with kanji for earth was stowed away in their pouches, each of them carrying one "There" Sakura blew out a breath once they were all done.
Just in time to as the gate before them creaked open eerily and a whistle sounded through the air, the three kunoichi of Team Nine shared a look and then were off, taking to the tree's of the forest, in hopes to reach the tower without incident.
Unfortunately for them hours later when it was nearing dinner time as they'd decided to forego lunch, trouble caught up with them "My, my what smart little mice we have here, trying to run from little ole me" a female voice said from ahead of them.
And when Sakura looked to see who it was she felt like fainting because it was the kunoichi from grass who had the look of death in her cold yellow eyes "Don't Mamori, Mimori, why chase after us, surely there are stronger opponents to consider" viridian orbs narrowed.
Brushing off the KI she felt with no small ease "Perhaps but you seemed so interesting, such a lovely young girl the Mizukage's niece that I never thought I'd meet" the woman singsonged in a crazy way that gave them goosebumps.
Sakura was immediately alert "If we give you our scroll will you leave her alone" Mamori offered holding out the fake earth scroll that they'd only finished that morning in hopes that it would get the crazy lady away from them.
A brow quirked on her "Very well, I can play some other time, I make good on my promises, don't expect to avoid me the rest of the time either" the woman cackled taking the fake scroll and eating it to their disgust before vanishing.
Mamori slid to her knee's and held her head "What the hell was up with that crazy ass person, and how did people from Grass Village find out that your Mizukage-sama's niece" Mimori followed her sister to the ground.
It was clear Sakura didn't really know how either "A..At least she's gone and if we encounter her again we can activate the seal on the scroll, I don't care if that's cruel, she's crazy and probably doesn't need to live anyway" Mamori breathed out.
"Even if we did lose one of our fakes right away on the first day, we still have two decoys to consider, now lets set up traps, eat dinner, find a safe place to sleep and then go to bed" Mimori pointed out wishing she'd gotten into the habit of stocking up on supplies much earlier.
Now it seemed Sakura was the only person they could rely on for food as they found a safe place, set up a ton of traps, trip wire, genjutsu tags to activate if someone tripped over the wire, exploding tags underneath a few patches of dirt around the camp, and a spring filled with weapons.
That was the best things were going to get as they made dinner all while keeping lookout, Sakura even went so far as to employ the use of her shark summons and position them around the camp strategically as they crawled into the hole of a hollowed out tree for sleep.
Upon waking up they knew they had to get moving to find a heaven scroll "That way I felt a team that seems weaker than us" Sakura pointed where she felt chakra that was nowhere near the level of their chakra level and headed in that direction teammates on her heels.
She was right to, it was ninja from the Hidden Rain Village "Should we" Mamori asked when they suppressed their chakra and hid high above the other contestants for the Chunin Exams, the Rain Ninja none the wiser of their presence.
"Yeah, go ahead Mimori, let's use another of our decoys I can make a couple more if need be but that's it I'll be out of blank scrolls to use unless you two brought a few along" Sakura nodded in acceptance, lacing one of her nightmare genjutsu's over the scroll.
To be activated once in range of three enemy chakra signatures "We brought about five each" Mimori admitted throwing her decoy scroll, they all used an illusion tag each as the Rain Ninja were immediately on the alert.
Before they found the decoy that was and one of them was an idiot who brought it to his other teammates, screams erupted from them as they were caught in the hellish illusion "Idiots" Mimori snorted as they rifled through pouches.
Coming away with their heaven scroll, "Let's get to the tower" Mamori breathed a sigh of relief as more decoys were made, for both their heaven and earth scrolls, before the original heaven scroll was safely sealed away in the tag with the original earth scroll.
With that they were on their way to the tower, it was getting to be nighttime on their second day in the forest when a blast of wind swept them off their feet, Mamori and Mimori getting sent in the opposite direction from Sakura.
Who found herself alone with that crazy kunoichi from Grass again "Our scroll not enough you have to come back for more, we already have to start from scratch and get both now" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, dread pooling in her stomach.
Making her feel sick "Now, now little mouse that's not very nice when I merely wish to talk to you" and then the woman was before her and suddenly not a woman anymore, the insane yellow eyes remained though.
As hands were pressed down on her shoulders and the man tilted his head down, inhaling her scent "So fresh, so sweet, young, I wonder will you have it your Aunt's kekkeigenkai" he whispered petting her hair.
Sakura clenched her hands into fists fighting down the shudder of revulsion she felt at this man's close proximity, it didn't make her feel very good that was for sure "Perhaps I should mark you make you mine" he gave her a disturbing grin, his hands roaming over her body.
Malice and insanity in his eyes "I can make you strong if you come with me, embrace the power I give you" and then he was leaning down again, jaw opening in a horrifying way and she felt his breath on her neck.
And the scraping of fangs "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD" Mamori shouted throwing a kunai, covered in snake slime and breathing heavily from exertion as she'd run all the way here to save her teammate.
The man jerked back and away from the rosette, who was grabbed by her second teammate "Are you okay Sakura-chan" Mimori was as equally covered in snake slime as her sister was as they ran away from the crazy person after them.
Sakura was eerily silent as they found a safe spot and ducked for cover as the man sped right passed them "I…I've never felt so afraid" Sakura let out a shuddering breath then dissolved into the first tears they'd ever seen.
Neither Mamori or Mimori knew quite what to do so they surrounded their teammate on both sides and rubbed her back whispering reassurances to the crying girl that they would never allow anything to happen to her again, they wouldn't let themselves get separated next time.
It was awhile later that Sakura managed to pull herself together so she could make dinner and then afterwards the three of them went to bed "So how far do you figure we are away from the tower at this point" Mamori asked the following morning, third day in to their survival round.
A map was pulled out "Probably not to far but we have to be wary of that crazy bastard that tried to have us eaten by snakes" Mimori shuddered in revulsion in remembrance, that had been utterly disgusting having to fight their way out of a snake's stomach.
"From my calculations approximately twenty minutes" Sakura finally said putting away the map and making breakfast for them, doing much better than the emotional wreck she'd been last night, not that they blamed her any.
Everything was packed up after that and they started in the direction of the tower, on the alert and ready for anymore encounters with that creep who thought they were easy prey, being so on edge as they were, it was exactly how they stumbled head first into a horrifying scene.
They'd found Team Seven but what made it so horrifying was the fact that the creep who'd been stalking them was entirely to close to Sasuke, Asagao lay on the forest floor in a pool of his own blood and Naruto, poor Naruto was hanging by his only lifeline a single kunai, unconscious.
When Sakura saw the baring of fangs she knew she had to do something quick "SASUKE GET OUT OF THE WAY" she screamed making the hand signs to the seal on the scroll the yellow eyed bastard had eaten.
Obsidian irises cut to hers and Sasuke obeyed the order without question "MAMORI, MIMORI GET OUT OF THE WAY" he shouted back suddenly, but was to late as the jaw of a humongous snake snapped around the girls and swallowed loudly.
"Mouse don't get in my way or I'll hmm what's this feeling" Orochimaru who'd long since lost his disguise fighting the Uchiha boy frowned, gold eyes widened but he wasn't quick enough to expel the scroll he'd swallowed.
In a blinding array of light the scroll exploded settled nicely in his stomach, the only downside was Sasuke hadn't been completely out of range of the blast and slammed face first into a tree leaving Sakura completely alone with him again.
Fortunately for her Orochimaru retreated, charred to a crisp from the unexpected exploding tag, the snake that had eaten Mamori and Mimori dispelled signaling it had been a summons but they were unconscious to.
And Sakura was completely alone "Oh Asagao I'm sorry for not getting here sooner" she dropped to her knee's beside her brother who gave her an extremely pained smile before coughing out a stream of blood.
"Do..Don't worry Sis I'm gon..gonna be fine" Asagao grimaced only to flinch in agony as he was carefully shifted onto one of the large healing scrolls and in a flare of bright green chakra his injuries were fading away.
Before a chakra and blood replenishing pill was pushed into his hand, then Sakura was up rescuing Naruto from his dangling, he was placed on healing scroll as well, with that she went around to the others as well.
Until all of their injuries were healed thanks to overthinking on Sakura's part, who went around setting up traps with furious intent, even going so far as to summon her shark summons to protect them while they rested.
It was a solemn night that night with nearly everyone unconscious minus the Haruno twins who huddled together to keep a silent vigil over their friends and teammates "Ow why were we the only ones that got eaten" Mimori was one of the first ones awake the following morning.
To find breakfast bubbling away over the fire pit "No idea, but he's gone for now" Sakura explained looking like she was a nervous emotional wreck again not that anyone really blamed her, being alone twice with a crazy person was bound to cause psychological damage to someone.
"He said his name was Orochimaru" Sasuke joined the land of consciousness twenty minutes later, looking himself over critically only to find himself completely devoid of injuries and one of his large healing scrolls missing.
Almost instantly Mimori grasped onto her sister "That bastard was Orochimaru, kami now we know why Mom always said to stay far away from him should we ever see him, he's crazy" Mamori shivered.
In that moment they all realized that if Sakura hadn't come up with the idea of healing scrolls the lot of them could be dead "Yeah but why did he attack us" Naruto was the last to wake up hearing the tail end of the conversation.
"After my Sharingan if I remember correctly, that sick bastard was trying to bite me" the lone Uchiha in their midst shuddered in disgust remembering how close the man had actually been to biting him until Sakura had done whatever she'd done.
Mamori grit her teeth "Not just you Sasuke-kun, he tried to bite Sakura-chan to" the older Senju twin admitted remembering the first night and how Sakura had cried for the first time ever in their presence, it wasn't something they cared to repeat honestly.
Sasuke's eyes widened in horror "Just because I could probably get Aunt Mei's kekkeigenkai" the rosette answered the unasked question in the ebony haired preteen's eyes looking utterly exhausted and ready to crash at any given moment.
"Hey what exactly was it that exploded on him anyway" the blue eyed twin between them inquired curiously remembering the explosion but he hadn't seen her throw any exploding tags merely make a hand sign.
The Senju twins shared a grin "On the first day we got him to let us go by giving him a decoy scroll with the explosive seal written inside, he ate it" the younger Senju twin smirked viciously, Orochimaru had deserved it after all so no guilt was felt on her part.
Eyes widening the boys shuddered together fearful of the females in their midst "Your scary Sakura-chan, Mimori-chan, Mamori-chan, though what are we going to do now, we still have another scroll to get still" the knucklehead blonde asked with a frown.
Worried about being left on their own again cause that creepy snake bastard could come back at any time "I think we should rest for now, then head to the tower and trap another team to steal their scroll" Asagao offered tired himself after staying up all night.
"Probably for the best and we'll go together, all six of us" Sasuke nodded his head in agreement, at least with them all together another life threatening situation like before wouldn't happen again, his teammates sighed in relief at that.
Especially when the girls of Team Nine nodded seriously "Yeah we're not leaving you to fend for yourselves anymore in this creepy forest" Mamori scowled furious and they were all down to only one large scroll each.
"Anyone else get the feeling despite how much preparations were made we were still under prepared for this" Mimori sighed staring sadly at the ground as they all finished up eating breakfast and set up even more traps.
Shark and bear summons being summoned to keep watch for a few hours so they could rest "I do Mimori-chan, I don't think having that kind of person running around in the forest was part of the exams though" Naruto rubbed his arms curling up in his sleeping bag.
Fearful despite having multiple eyes on the lookout Sakura kept close to her brother "Most likely not Naruto and we'll have to alert Hokage-sama when we have a chance and our sensei's about it" Sakura announced then the lot of them slipped into a fitful sleep.