key:
"talking"
'jutsu'
thinking
"flashback"
nonhuman
Saving Lee
"I-I've been studying. I want to be a great medical ninja after all, like Tsunade, one of the three legendary Sannin." Sakura hoped the truth in her answer would be enough to hide the lie she was living.
"Hm, so you're a fan of Lady Tsunade?" Sarutobi asked from his seat in the rafters, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Y-yes, I am." Sakura stuttered feeling nervous talking to the Hokage. Even though she had spent many years being a certain Hokage's apprentice, it felt way different talking to Sarutobi Hiruzen. He stared at the young girl for a long moment before giving her a very grandfather-like smile.
"You have an admirable goal, Haruno-san." The Hokage chuckled and winked at the girl who could do nothing but nod. "Well now, shall we continue with the Preliminary Round?" With that everyone returned to their spots on the second-floor platform, clearing the arena for the next fight.
That was a close one⦠Sakura could feel her heart racing, she took deep breaths to calm herself. And she had actually almost succeeded in relaxing when Gaara and Lee's names appeared on the screen. Crap. She had forgotten about this fight. Should she intervene here? Sakura bit her lip. She knew Lee's injuries would be treated successfully, but could she bare to watch him go through all of that again?
She snapped out of her own thoughts when the match started. It wasn't long before Gaara revealed his natural control over sand. The match looked pretty even once Lee removed the weight bands on legs, especially once Lee was able to land on hit on the well-protected future kazikage.
"GO LEE!" Naruto shouted and cheered at the top of his lungs.
However the match eventually reached it conclusion. Lee was nearly unconscious when, just like last time, Gaara motioned his sand to encase Lee's arm and leg in his 'Sand Coffin'. Only this time something caught Gaara's attention, something with pink hair.
"Gaara, Stop!" Sakura called out to red head just before he could close his fist and finish the jutsu. The sand ninja turned towards the girl with shock in his eyes.
"Gaara is the winner!" The proctor called out the results, but Gaara's eyes were on Sakura. He watched as her expression changed from terror to relief to joy? He couldn't believe it, was this girl actually happy that he had won? Then he felt something odd tugged at the corners of his mouth, he felt like smiling? He frowned, quickly stopping himself from doing such a thing and went back to stand on the sidelines with his siblings.
The medics took Lee away, but he was perfectly fine, only suffering from minor physical damage and exhaustion. Sakura sighed, she had saved him, she had changed a key part of the past now and honestly, she didn't know whether to be happy or scared. I guess it's all up to fate now. She smiled to herself, but once again she was distracted by the feeling of eyes on her. She looked up to see Gaara, once again staring at her. She could see curiosity in his eyes and she couldn't help but smile at him which cause him to look away immediately.
How cute. Sakura thought but quickly caught herself. What? Cute? No! Now is not the time to think that boys are "cute"! She internally slapped herself and forced herself to concentrate on the final match with was over nearly as fast as her own fight. After his victory, Dosu looked up at the pink haired ninja that made him curious and smirked at her. So cocky. Sakura frowned, misinterpreting the boy's grin.
"WOOOOOO! We did it, Sakura!" Naruto hugged his teammate who just laughed along with his excitement.
"My whole team is advancing, I'm must be a great sensei." Kakashi joked, causing his team to chuckle.
"No way, great senses' are on time!" His pink haired student countered and he just shrugged with defeat.
"I'm going to check on Sasuke. You're in charge of babysitting Naruto." The Copy ninja smiled at the young girl before disappearing with a "poof".
"I'm not a baby!" Naruto whined in a childish manner.
"Congratulations, all who passed." The Hokage spoke up. "I will now explain the main test."
"I'm so excited! I'm going to find Kakashi sensei right now to start training!" Naruto was bouncing up and down happily. "You should come train with us too, Sakura!"
"You can go ask him, but I don't think he can help all three of us train." Sakura sighed and shrugged, before giving Naruto the best advice he might ever get. "Anyway, if he says he can't train you and you ever meet a perverted Sannin with white hair you have to get him to be your sensei no matter what, okay?"
Naruto nodded without hesitation, but after a moment he gave her a completely bewildered look, "EH?"
Sakura smiled before turning around and walking away. "Tell Jiraiya-sensei I say hi!" She shouted and waved, with her back still turned as she headed home after a very long day.
Author's Note:
Is it bad that I kind of want to just skip the rest of the Chuunin Exams and go straight to some Akatsuki action?
Don't worry, I won't. I'm still, however, unsure about who should be Sakura's opponent, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. I take so long between chapters, maybe I'll finish before I turn sixty? Well, as always, let me know what you think! ^^
P.S. Beware the typos and grammar errors~
-Sincerely,
The person who writes this junk
