key:
"talking"
'jutsu"
thinking
"flashback"
nonhuman
Enter Rock Lee
On a small bridge in Konohagakure, Sakura and Sasuke waited for their other teammates to arrive for the meeting that Kakashi, himself, had called.
"Hm…" Sakura leaned over the railing of the bridge and stared intently at waves below.
"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke wondered out loud without looking at the girl.
"Nothing, just daydreaming." Sakura replied emotionlessly, but was instantly surprised when two hands grabbed the bridge's railing on either side of her, trapping her.
"Look at me." She could feel his breath on her neck, and despite wanting to run away, she turned and faced him.
Their faces were barely a foot apart. The Uchiha's dark onyx eyes held her own viridian green eyes, and she held her breath. What is he doing? She panicked inwardly but kept her face void of emotion.
"I'm your teammate, don't hide things from me." Sasuke's voice had a hint of anger in it, but he kept his stoic mask in place. The pink haired kunoichi felt like his eyes could see into her very soul.
"I'm not hiding anything." She lied, and forced her voice to sound as truthful as possible, but was unsuccessful. The Uchiha glared at her and opened his mouth to speak again, but was swiftly cut off by a certain overexcited blonde.
"Sasuke! What do you think you're doing?" Naruto roared and punched the boy, who looked like he was about to steal Sakura's lips. Sasuke was caught completely by surprise and he was unable to avoid the punch that connected with his left cheek and sent him flying five feet.
"Grr… Naruto!" Sasuke shouted at the boy dangerously as he pick himself off of the ground. He was about to attack the blonde but stopped dead in his tracks when his sensed their sensei's arrival.
"Morning people!" Kakashi had arrived just in time, two hours late. "Sorry, I got lost of the road of life. But never mind that, what's going on here?" He raised his brow at his three students.
"Sasuke teme, was about to kiss my Sakura. So, I gave him what was coming to him!" Naruto raised his right fist in the air for emphasis.
"Your Sakura?" Kakashi frowned and then his eyes widened in realization, "Wait... kiss?"
"Like I would ever kiss her! Not if she was the last girl on the planet!" Sasuke automatically defended himself and then mentally face palmed himself for his poor choice of words.
The more her teammates spoke, the more pissed off Sakura became.
"Naruto!" She quickly got the blonde boy's attention. "Sasuke didn't try to kiss me so stop overexaggerating!" She sent the gulping blonde a stern glare and Sasuke smirked at the boy who was just reprimanded. Feeling the Uchiha's smile she turned her anger toward him, "And Sasuke if you are really so repulsed by me, maybe you should keep your distance!" Naruto giggled at this and Sasuke felt instantly embarrassed and little disappointed. Kakashi just smiled quietly at his pink haired student and the scene that was playing out before him.
"Well anyway…" the silver haired jounin gathered his team's attention.
"This may be sudden, but I've nominated you guys for the Chunin exams." Kakashi stated matter-of-factly. "Here are your applications." He held out the papers for them to take.
"Kakashi sensei! I love you!" Naruto pounced on the man and hugged his neck.
"Hey stop, let go of me…" Kakashi shook the excited boy off.
"Remember, this is just a nomination. Whether you take the exam or not is up to you." Kakashi explained, "Those who wish to sign up, should take those papers to room 301in the academy building by 4 pm tomorrow."
"That's all…" The jounin paused, "Oh, and I suggest you guys stay on Sakura's good side." He grinned slyly then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The next morning, the three meet up in front of the academy and no one spoke of the incident on the bridge from the day before. They climbed the stairs of the building and could hear a commotion going down on the 3rd floor, well more like the 2nd floor.
"Hah! You plan on taking the chunin exams like that?", "You should quit now!" Sakura recognized the two voices instantly as they made their way to the crowd that had now gather in front of the door labeled 301.
"Please let us through…" A female brunette wearing her hair in two buns pleaded and walked up to the two boys blocking the door.
The boy with three bandages on his face moved to slap the girl with the back of his hand, but his hand was stopped before it made contact with her cheek. He was surprised by the pink haired girl who had grabbed his wrist.
"It's rude to hit a girl you know?" Sakura glared at the boy who had now wrenched his wrist back from her grip.
"Then how about I hit you instead, bitch!" He swung his leg around to kick Sakura in the side of the head, but his kick was surprisingly stopped by the boy wearing green spandex, that he had knocked down earlier.
"I think you guys should hurry up and release the genjutsu around this place. I'm heading to the 3rd floor," Sasuke spoke cooly, but was extremely annoyed that he was unable to reach his female teammate before the guy with large eyebrows, to block the kick.
"So you noticed…" The other kid wearing black cloth over his chin spoke and released the genjutsu. "Let's go…" He and his partner moved to leave the hall but were stopped by Sakura's words.
"I'll see you in the exam room, Kotetsu and Izumo." She grinned at the two jounin examiners who stared at her, dumbfounded.
"You know these brats, Sakura?" Naruto questioned her earnestly.
"Oh, I wouldn't call them brats… but yes I have seen the around." She grinned at them and the two disguised jounin ran away with their tails in between their legs.
"Hi," The boy with the short black bob and green spandex reclaimed her attention. "My name is Rock Lee. So you are Sakura…" He introduced himself.
"Please so out with me! I'll protect you till I die!" He winked and flashed her his sparkling white teeth while giving her a thumbs up.
She stared at him for a moment and then smiled, "Alright, one date, but after the exams, okay?" Her answer shocked everyone, her team, his team, and even him. To be honest she always wondered what it would have been like if she had said yes to his proposal, now was her chance to find out. Besides what's one date?
"Wha… really?" Lee questioned her with hopeful, sparkling eyes. He was use to rejection, but for a girl to accept his offer...
"You're not serious, right Sakura?" Naruto hoped she was joking.
"…" Sasuke was stunned and was wondering if the girl had lowered her standards because of what he had said on the bridge.
"Yes, really." She replied to Lee, ignoring Naruto's question and Sasuke's guilty expression.
Rock Lee was overjoyed, "Thank you! You will not regret your decision!" Then he suddenly lifted the pink haired girl up and twirled her around. She laughed nervously, she knew he'd be happy but not this happy. After about minute of spinning, he set her down lightly.
"What? Why, Sakura?" Naruto questioned her sanity, a little heartbroken.
"Lee is strong and kind, why wouldn't I say yes to a date?" Sakura answered, and Lee blushed at her compliment.
"You said I was strong and determined before!" Naruto complained.
"Yeah, but you never asked me out, Naruto." She raised her brow at him.
"So, you'll go out with me?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"No, I already said yes to Lee." Sakura said nonchalantly and Naruto hung his head in disappointment.
"Hey you… what's your name?" Lee's other male teammate questioned the Uchiha, dragging Sasuke out of his inner thoughts.
The Uchiha quickly regained his composure and turned towards the boy long brown hair and pale eyes, "When you want to know someone's name you should give your's first."
"You're a rookie right? How old are you?" Neji continued his questioning without giving his name.
"I don't have to answer you." Sasuke replied, a little annoyed. With that, the two male genin turned their backs on one another in aggravation.
"Well, let's go Naruto, Sasuke." She grabbed the boy's hands and began to lead them away when she paused. "See ya later, Lee!" She turned and winked at him then continued in the opposite direction.
Lee stared after her retreating figure for a moment then suddenly passed out, he's face was beet red.
"Oh, Lee…" Tenten sighed and crouched down next to her collapsed teammate who looked like he had just suffered heatstroke.
Sakura was half wondering if Lee would still challenge Sasuke to a match before the first exam as she and her team walked across the familiar, large training room.
"Hey, guy with the dark eyes!" A familiar voice boomed from the platform above, and Team seven looked up to see the boy with the bad haircut in green spandex, Rock Lee, looking down at them.
I'll take that as a yes, Sakura thought to herself.
"What is it?" Sasuke glared up at the unfashionable boy, annoyed.
"Will you fight me here?" Lee challenged the Uchiha confidently.
"Fight, right now?" Sasuke questioned Lee half surprised by the challenge, half amused at the thought of wiping the floor with him.
Lee jumped down from the platform so he and his new rival were on equal grounds.
"When you want to learn a person's name you introduce yourself right? I'm Rock Lee!" The boy with the bowl cut pointed to himself with a determined look on his face.
"Uchiha Sasuke…" The dark haired genin in blue spoke emotionlessly.
"I wish to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan. Plus…" Lee started and then glanced a Sakura with reddening cheeks.
"I have to look good in front of my angel!" He finished and blew Sakura a kiss.
The flying heart zoomed toward a mildly surprised Sakura Haruno. I can't just dodge it… It would be rude, I said yes to a date after all… The pink haired kunoichi squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact, but nothing hit her. She opened her eyes to see that the heart was intervened by none other than Sasuke Uchiha, himself.
"Challenging me knowing the Uchiha name. You're a fool." Sasuke promptly popped the small heart in his right fist, with an annoyed look of disgust.
Lee frowned deeply at the Uchiha's interference.
"You're about to learn what that name means, thick brows." Sasuke glared at the boy in green menacingly.
"Please…" Lee smiled and got into his fighting stance.
"Wait! I'll take care of bushy brows! Give me five minutes." Naruto shouted, tired of everyone choosing his dark haired teammate over him.
"Who I wish to fight is not you, but Uchiha!" Lee spoke hoping the blonde would back off, his words did the opposite.
"Damn it! I sick of hearing about Sasuke!" Naruto roared and raced toward Lee, determined to land a punch on the thick browed boy. He was unsuccessful and ended up beat up and bashed again the wall behind Lee.
"You can not defeat me!" Lee concluded.
"Sounds like fun, I'll fight you." Sasuke grinned knowing he would be able to see through any ninjutsu the bushy browed boy used.
"This shouldn't take long." The Uchiha sneered and raced towards the badly dressed boy ready to strike.
'Leaf Hurricane' Sasuke ducked and dodged the spinning kick only to see it come around again, but lower this time. He couldn't dodge the second kick so he blocked. His block however was unsuccessful because the kick seemed to slip past his guard and slam into his left cheek, launching the Uchiha several feet. Sasuke quickly pulled himself from the ground and grinned. Now was the perfect time to practice his Sharingan. He activated his Kekkei genkai and moved to strike Lee, who swiftly knocked the smile off of his face with a sharp kick to the chin, sending the Uchiha flying through the air. Lee took that precise moment to explain to the airborne boy that he was only using Taijutsu, and to finish off the cocky shinobi with one final move. 'Shadow of the Dancing Leaf'
However, he was unable to complete the attack because the fight was intervined by a talking turtle. "That's enough Lee!"
Both of the fighting boys promptly landed. Well, Lee landed on his feet and kneeled in front of the turtle that had caught him red handed. While, Sasuke would have injured his back hitting the floor, if Sakura had not used her own body to cushion the boy's fall.
"Lee! That technique is forbidden!" The tortoise reprimanded the guilty looking boy.
"I'm sorry, I just…" Lee started, but was shut up by the stern look in the tortoises eyes.
"Hey, that's a turtle right?" Naruto had recovered from his battle with the green devil and made his way over to his team.
"Technically, it's a tortoise." Sakura corrected the blonde with a smile.
"Can a turtle become a ninja sensei?" Naruto asked, ignoring her correction.
"Yes, actually." The pink haired kunoichi answered, and you'll be taught by toads in the future.
"Real-" Naruto was cut off by the reptile's booming voice.
"You fool! You already know what it means for a shinobi to reveal his secret techniques! Are you prepared to suffer the consequences of your actions?"
"Yes…" Lee spoke meekly, and hung his head.
"Then here comes, Gai sensei!"
With that, there was a large explosion on the tortoise's back, the smoke cleared to reveal an older, more unattractive version of Rock Lee in the same outfit, only difference being the jounin vest he wore.
Team 7 just stared as a dramatic scene unfolded before them. First, Gai sensei punched Lee in the face, and then soon enough the two were embracing with a waterfall of tears pouring down their faces. When it was all over the older man with thicker brows turned to them.
"Hey, you guys. How's Kakashi sensei doing?" He asked.
"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke blurted out in shock.
"Know him?" Gai rubbed his chin dramatically, paused, and then vanished.
Sakura smiled and turned around a second before the man reappeared behind them.
"People refer to us as eternal rivals!" Gai spoke, shocking Naruto and Sasuke, who hadn't even noticed the man move.
"50 wins, 49 loses." Gai recited the score count and then pointed to himself dramatically, "I'm stronger than Kakashi."
Team 7 stared at him for a moment, flabbergasted. "Well, you guys better get going!" The older green devil of Konoha winked at them and disappeared.
"I came here to test my abilities…" Lee started and glanced at the young Uchiha "And you are only one of my targets. So be prepared!" He spared a look for his pink haired angel and bounded off.
"These chunin exams are getting fun…" Sasuke smiled to himself, shaking with excitement and turned his teammates, "Naruto, Sakura, let's go."
"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted, filled with enthusiasm.
This is just the beginning... Sakura wasn't exactly looking forward to what laid ahead.
Authors Note:
Sorry, not my best chapter... I'm still unsure about the pairing, so I'm gonna keep the focus on just Sakura for now with some occasional light lovey dovey moments like in previous chapters. Right now, I'm currently struggling on how exactly I'm going to wrap my head around the fight with orochimaru in the forest of death. So, if you guys have any ideas I'd love to hear them. Keep reading and reviewing! I love you guys! :D
