All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

It was finally the day of the Chūnin Exams.

Her team had broken off in their separate directions and went home at around ten at night because they were entranced by the beauty of the stars. Sasuke interrupted and said that they should get some sleep since the next day was going to be hectic for all of them. Despite this, when Sakura got home, she barely slept a wink, switching between pacing up and down her room and curling up into a little ball on her bed and rocking herself back and forth. Her anxiety was literally eating her alive.

Come morning, Sakura's eyes felt red and puffy, and they produced tears that were more from just the dryness of her eyes instead of actual sadness. She did her best to straighten out her hair and look as presentable as possible before she left, but this only helped marginally.

The instructions told her to meet at the examination hall at nine. Looking over at the time, she saw that it was only six forty-five. Plenty of time to go out for a run. She thought to herself. Strapping her weapons pouch around her waist and securing the hitai-ate on her head, she made her way down the stairs for breakfast. She greeted her parents, who looked like they were delved deep into some merchant papers they had to complete. They greeted her back fondly, but without looking at her, telling her that breakfast was on the stove.

She knew that they were upset about her decision to become a ninja, and even more so about her taking the Exams. However, it was her choice to make, and she did not want to live the life of a merchant. She knew that her family would still love her no matter how angry they were with her.

She quickly ate her breakfast and went outside to do a few warm-up stretches before she set out on her run. She found that she actually very much enjoyed her runs, and that they gave her a time to not only improve her physical state, but her mental state. She didn't have to think about how hard running was or how much she wanted to give up, because those worries just washed over her as she worked up the endorphins. In effect, it boosted the self-confidence that she had been deprived of for twelve long years.

Sakura made her way to the main gates of the village, turning corners with great speed since most people did not seem to be up at that time. Or so she thought until she came face-first into another person's chest, sending them both flying in opposite directions by a couple feet. Sakura slid back, but bent her knees to steady herself. She clutched her nose in pain. Whatever or whoever she made contact with must have been made out of bricks or something.

She looked up to see Sasuke rubbing his shoulder and wincing slightly. Oh, so it was his shoulder blade. She thought with a grimace. She massaged her nose a little bit more.

Sasuke looked up at her and glared slightly, more out of annoyance than actual hate. "Watch where you're going, Sakura." He scolded lightly.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I didn't know anyone was up at this time." Sakura said sheepishly as her hand left her nose to rub the back of her head.

Sasuke grunted. "Are you going for a run?" He asked. Sakura tilted her head to the side, as if she was inquiring whether he actually said that or not. He usually never questioned her on her life or what she did, so it was definitely something new. "Sakura?" He asked again, annoyed that he did not get an answer the first time.

"Huh?" She said as she snapped out of her daze. "Oh…oh yeah! I am. What about you?" She asked.

Sasuke curtly nodded. "Likewise." He said monotonously.

"Um, well, that's nice." Sakura said as she started rocking on her toes and heels. "I'll see you later today?" She asked.

"Hn." He grunted in agreement, not directly looking at her.

Okay, I think that's my cue to leave. Sakura thought, trying desperately to find a way out of the awkward situation. She then started to run passed Sasuke and towards her designated route, feeling the wind on her face once more.

It was not long before she noticed that someone had joined her. She quickly glanced at the splurge of black beside of her and almost gaped when she saw Sasuke running beside her, a stoic look on his face.

"S-Sasuke, what are you doing?" She asked, still running.

"I was going this way as well." He said simply, not skipping a beat despite his pace.

Wait, but then why did we…? You know what, never mind. Sakura thought, giving up on the idea of ever truly understanding the brooding boy. "So you decided to run with me?" She asked, a slight grin appearing on her face. She couldn't help but feel herself warm up, but she immediately cursed herself mentally for the infatuation that started to resurface.

Sasuke didn't answer. He looked quite fed up with her asking so many questions when he was trying to get a workout. However, he kept in step with her. "Just try to keep up." He ordered gruffly. Sakura had to keep herself from snorting.

She did just as he told her to do with a little difficulty. After all, Sasuke was still a great deal faster than her, but she didn't have to tell him to slow his pace even once, even though she burned her lungs to keep up with him. She could tell that he was surprised, if not faintly impressed, by her slight development. That revelation made her heart swell, since she would probably never evoke more of a reaction than that from him.

By the time they both stopped running, the sun had fully risen over Hokage Rock, indicating that it was almost time for them to head back to get ready for their Exams. Sakura struggled to keep her breathing steady. Although she had done many endurance runs with Lee before, the run she had just done was nerve racking. She felt an overwhelming need to prove herself to Sasuke; to prove that she had not been wasting her training time. Sasuke's face remained mostly indifferent, but she could tell that he looked at her with trace curiosity.

In addition to that, he looked like something was agitating him and he was having an internal battle to figure out what to do about it.

Sakura took in a large gulp of air and straightened her back, rolling her shoulders a little. "We should head back. The Exams are about to start." She said, making her way back to her house. "I'll see you…"

"Why are you so different now?" He interrupted her, making her turn around to face him in shock. She had not expected him to ask her so forthright. Her eyebrows furrowed a little bit, unsure of how to phrase her explanation of her drastic change.

She decided to push a little further to find out what kind of answer he wanted. "What do you mean, Sasuke?" She asked, not feigning innocence, but asking him in genuine inquiry.

"Hn. You've actually started to take your life as a ninja seriously, something you've never done before. The shinobi world has always been a grand place for you, and you felt that you didn't need to try hard on anything besides your looks." He replied. "What caused this change?" Sakura briefly thought about how she had never heard him say so much, especially to her. She shook her head a little to rid her of the tangent thought.

She looked down on the dirt path, unable to meet the eyes of the boy in front of her. "I decided that there are some things that are more important than looks." She started to kick the dirt beneath her feet a little bit, even though she felt Sasuke's irritation rise from her mumbling. "I almost lost you during the mission in the Wave, and from what I've heard, I almost lost Naruto too. I can't bear to imagine what would have happened if you two died, while I just stood by. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." She finished. "I want to become strong to protect the people around me, and I want to be able to make them proud of me. I want to become a true shinobi instead of the coward I am right now."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she waiting in apprehension for Sasuke's reply. She started to twiddle her thumbs behind her back as the tension in the air rose. She wondered what his reaction would be. Would he reject her and demean her efforts, much like Neji did, or would he be accepting of her realization of her flaws?

"Stop doing that. It's annoying." He said. She immediately froze, not knowing what exactly it was that she was doing. In that case, she just stopped doing everything all together, even breathing. "If someone is talking to you, you look them in the eyes. And I'm not going to strain my ears to hear you." Sasuke said with a bitter tone.

At this, Sakura finally took in a breath after many moments and slowly rose her head, finding the strength to look at him even though his gaze bore down on her. He was not too close, a couple meters off, so she still felt her bubble of personal space intact.

Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes at the slight fear in her bright emerald eyes. Even after every change she had been through in such a short amount of time, she was still afraid about what he though. How annoying.

"You speak as if you have already experienced true suffering, but let me tell you, you haven't." He said darkly. Sakura's eyes widened.

"W-what?" She said quietly.

"You haven't experienced the things that a normal ninja has to deal with every day: suffering, death, and killing. Just looking upon a scene and pitying yourself does you no good. You have to have the conviction from experience to fuel your drive to become strong. Only then, you will achieve true power." He said.

Sakura was a little confused about what he was trying to say, not exactly taking his advice to heart. She was quite aware about her inexperience with matters concerning the ninja lifestyle; however, she was still just a Genin. If given time, she was sure that she could learn. Even though she never wanted to experience the horror and solitude Sasuke and Naruto had gone through, it did not mean that she could not become strong.

Sasuke could see that she was mulling over what he had just said, and decided that it was not worth his time to wait for her to come to the realization that she would not be able to gain the strength she wanted without some sort of driving reason. He acknowledged her desire to get stronger, and a part of him even slightly commended her for it (since it would reduce her unsettling ignorance), but he knew that she would not rise to the occasion without something to propel her further. That was something he had to learn the hard way.

Sasuke wordlessly turned his back to her to go back to the Uchiha compound to get ready for the events of that day. However, before he could get too far, the girl he had left behind called out to him with the words that sounded so foreign to him coming from her.

"Y-you're wrong, Sasuke." She said, choking on her words slightly. There were times that she did not agree with what he thought, but she had never out rightly said it. In a way, it felt like a huge burden had been lifted off of her shoulders to call him out, and she felt a wave of euphoria from those three simple words. "You're wrong." She repeated again, a little stronger.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around to face her. He glanced at her slightly from his peripheral vision to show that he was attentive to what she was about to say, but still conveyed that he could still brush off whatever it was.

"I don't need to experience what you did to become strong. I have my own drive that I have to work with." She said as she clenched her fists. "A path that is solely focused on hate and revenge will only lead someone astray. I recognize your aspiration, Sasuke. If killing that certain someone is your goal, then…I will not say anything." She told him, looking at him directly with hardened eyes for the first time, even though he probably barely saw them with his back turned. "But I'll show you that someone can become strong without that hate in their heart. I'll become strong in my own way, and then I won't be in your or Naruto's shadows anymore."

After her monologue, she ran away from him, unable to talk to him any more than she had. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and her limbs still hurt from her run, but she did not slow her pace until she had reached her house.

Once she was out of sight, Sasuke finally allowed himself to turn around and stare after her. He moved his jaw from side to side as he thought about what she had just told him. At least she wasn't stupid enough to not acknowledge how his suffering made him stronger, but he felt slightly irked at her own drive. In the end, she was still naïve, but at least she tried, even he could give recognition to that change.

She would become stronger without losing anyone dear to her? Hn, He thought as a slight smirk appeared on his face. I can't wait to see it. He thought, even though he did not put as much mockery into his own thoughts as he thought he would have.

Kakashi's instructions from a couple days ago had been very clear: meet at Room 301 at nine o'clock sharp. Team Seven decided to meet at their usual bridge before making their way down to the examination hall. All of them were tense, all of them were apprehensive, but they all had different ways of dealing with it.

Naruto lightheartedly tried to release the tension by cracking some jokes and trying to poke fun at Sasuke. Despite her worry for the day, Sakura found it within herself to smile at his antics, even though her body was still shaking. Sasuke was noticeably irritated about what Naruto was saying to him, but he just walked a few paces ahead of them, trying to focus on what that day held for the future of his shinobi career.

He had not mentioned what had happened that morning. For that matter, he had not even acknowledged Sakura since that encounter. Although she felt a bit perturbed by his negligence, she found herself thinking that she did not exactly want to talk to him either for fear that he would say something that would break her confidence so good. Instead, she just focused on Naruto.

"Ne, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked from beside her. Sakura sighed and turned towards him, anticipating another joke. "Do you think Kakashi-sensei was late to his own exam?" He asked with a big grin.

Sakura could not help the slight snort that his question elicited. Naruto's grin grew bigger and the sound of her laugh, so he laughed along with her. Both of them were completely unaware of the furtive smirk that snuck onto Sasuke's face.

When they reached their destination, they immediately went to the staircase to make their way to the third floor. After climbing one flight of stairs, they made it to the next floor. However, before they could walk down the hall to reach the next staircase, they stopped when they saw a group gather around a room. Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. Was there another event going on that they did not know about? Since it was only the second floor, it could not have been the Chūnin Exams.

But as her team neared the place of interest, she saw that the room number was, indeed, 301. Sakura knew for a fact that they were only on the second floor, and she knew that the room numbers were numerically organized so that the first number corresponded with the floor they were on.

Before she had time to question this further, she saw a very familiar figure knocked back by two slightly older boys. She could immediately tell that Lee was putting not effort into the confrontation because he would not be beaten back so easily, but she still felt herself tense at the offense that was taken on him. Beside him, the brown-haired Hyuuga stood with his arms crossed, glaring at the two males before him. A girl with brown hair put up into buns knelt beside Lee, helping him up. She was someone that Sakura did not recognize, but she deduced that she was the third member of Lee's team.

"We need to get in there to take the exams. Please let us through." She pleaded in a calm tone before she was pushed back as well. Muttering erupted from the crowd around them, talking about how harsh the two guards were being.

One of the guards, the one with slightly long brown hair, scoffed. "If you think that was harsh, then none of you are ready to take the exams." He said.

"Yeah," said the other guard, one with black hair and a slightly big nose, "we're being pretty lenient compared to what the exam is going to be like. If you can't handle it, we suggest you just turn back now." The other Genin standing before the door clenched their fists and gritted their teeth, but did nothing to stop them from pushing them around. A few of them even looked like they were going to give up with how mean the people were being.

This is all wrong. Sakura thought with skeptical eyes. I know for a fact that this is the second floor. She then looked at the number atop the door, narrowing her eyes at it. It was at that moment that she saw a slight distortion in her sight. Her eyes widened at the revelation, and she was about to speak up, but Sasuke beat her to it.

"That's a nice little speech, but why don't you release the genjutsu you cast and save all of us some trouble? We know this isn't the right room." Sasuke said aloofly with his hands in his pockets. Everyone besides Sakura, and probably Neji because his pride did not allow him, looked at Sasuke in shock.

"Teme, what are you talking about? It says up there, Room 301." Naruto said as he pointed above the door. Sakura wanted to smack her forehead at his denseness, but realized that many of the other Genin there had not realized the genjutsu either, so it was not his fault.

"No, dobe. This is all an illusion to fool us into thinking that it's the right room." Sasuke said as he sighed with boredom. He then glanced at her slightly, as if directing the attention he had accumulated over to her. "Isn't that right, Sakura?" He asked. Sakura jumped a little bit at the recognition he gave her, mostly because it was the first time he talked to her that morning.

"O-of course." Sakura said, thankful that she had the opportunity to show that she noticed the genjutsu as well. She then looked towards the staircase. "This is only the second floor, so it is impossible for the room number to have a three in front of it." She said as she brought her hands into a sign that she had learned and perfected in the academy. "Kai!" She said, releasing the genjutsu. Exclamations of awe and anger erupted as the number morphed into 201.

Sakura pursed her lips, a little proud of herself for figuring it out. However, she just left her joy at that, since just because she could release a simple genjutsu did not mean that she could handle a high-level one. She glanced at Sasuke, knowing that he was to thank for the opportunity. However, he did not reciprocate her look.

The two guards in front of the door smirked. "Well lookie here, two know-it-alls who think they have it made." The one with black spiky hair said as he looked at Sasuke, disregarding Sakura, much to her relief. "Let's see how you deal with this." He said as spun into a kick, headed directly for Sasuke. Sasuke responded immediately, throwing out his own leg to deflect the attack.

Before anyone could fathom what happened, a green flash appeared between them and held both of their legs, effectively stopping their attacks. Sasuke's eyes were wide, not anticipating anyone stopping an attack as fast as his.

"This is not the place, my youthful comrades. Let us save the fighting for the exam." He said calmly. He then looked up and met Sakura's gaze, winking at her and giving her a stunning grin, which broke the cool persona he had pulled off before. But she didn't care, and she could not help but smile at him.

Sasuke and the other male dislodged their legs from Lee's grip. The former scoffed and stuck his hands in his pockets, still trying to contemplate how the odd man in the green spandex suit was able to stop his attack. The two guards that were in front of the door then disappeared.

The girl with the buns ran up to Lee and hit him slightly on the head. "What happened to keeping a low profile?" She gritted through her teeth. Lee rubbed the back of his head and grinned.

"I cannot stand by and watch a fight that is not supposed to happen, especially because we have somewhere to be." He said.

"Hey, you." Someone yelled from behind Lee, coming up towards them. Sakura immediately registered the voice as Neji's. He looked directly at Sasuke, narrowing his gaze at him. "What's your name?" He asked gruffly.

Naruto gave an agitated twitch, irritated that people always acknowledge Sasuke above him. A vein popped on his head as he viewed their interaction, and Sakura could do nothing but shake her head and put her hand on Naruto's shoulder. Sakura was quite relieved that Neji did not confront her directly, but it hit her that almost everyone just brushed passed her instead of facing her directly. She did not know if it was because of her disarming appearance or what, but she was starting to get a little peeved at this.

She felt a slight nudge on her shoulder that took her out of her thoughts. She turned towards the person beside her to see Lee motioning his head in another direction, tacitly asking her to follow him. Sakura nodded and slowly eased her hand off of Naruto's shoulder. Fortunately, he was too preoccupied in his own jealousy to really care.

She followed Lee down the hall a little bit and turned a corner into a vacant hallway. Lee still had a smile on his face, but he looked a little troubled.

"Is something wrong, Lee?" Sakura asked nervously. She really hoped that he was not going to be a bearer of bad news because her nerves about the exam were already causing her to go crazy.

"I just wanted to tell you something, Sakura-chan." He said, placing his bandaged hands on both of her shoulders. Surprisingly, she did not feel uncomfortable in the slightest, and just focused on her teacher's circular eyes, fully attentive. "There may be a case where we have to go up against each other. In the event that this happens, I want you to come at me with whatever you have." He said determinedly.

Sakura froze a little bit. She had not thought about what the Chūnin Exams implied. Everybody was fighting against everybody for that spot, so it would not be unrealistic to say that she and Lee might have to fight each other. Sakura just nodded slowly at his words.

"Do not look so upset." Lee stated as he squeezed her shoulders soothingly, making her look up at him. "If there ever comes a time where you are in trouble, and it is not a situation where I am required to fight you, I promise to protect you with my life." He said.

Sakura's eyes widened before she shook her head. "Don't say that, Lee! I don't think anything will be that serious, but please don't put yourself in harm's way for me. You have your own future to take care of. I couldn't take that from you…" Sakura said as she trailed off, although she was very touched that Lee would make such an offer. The melancholy smile on Lee's face made her wrap her arms around him in a frantic hug. She knew that the situation was not as dire as she had made it out to be, but Lee was always her emotional support. She didn't know what she would do if she had to fight one of the only sources of courage that she had.

The hug they shared was completely platonic, and neither of them meant anything by it. However, a couple bystanders did not take it that way.

Especially a very loud blonde who seemed to be hurdling towards them.

"Someone's attacking Sakura-chan!" He screamed when he saw them at the end of the hall. He couldn't believe he just let slip under his fingers like that without noticing. When he turned the corner and saw that the guy with the bushy eyebrows and weird spandex suit had his arms around her, his mind immediately turned for the worst.

Sakura and Lee were forcefully broken out of their hug when Naruto grabbed Sakura and jumped back, landing about five meters away from Lee, where he pushed her behind him. Lee raised one of his overly-bushy eyebrows at him and Sakura just smacked her forehead in pure embarrassment.

"Naruto…" Sakura gritted in agitation, raising her fist. Of course, since his back was to her, he did not see her.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO RAPE SAKURA-CHAN RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE! I'LL TAKE YOU ON RIGHT HERE, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled as he charged at Lee. Lee just sighed and got into his own defensive stance, ready to take on his attack.

However, before Naruto could reach Lee, Sakura gathered her chakra in her feet, much like Kakashi had taught her to, and began to run forward. At the last moment, she took a large chakra leap and landed right in between Naruto and Lee with a loud thud. Lucky for her, Lee was not about to attack, otherwise she would not have been able to block his impact; however, she was fast enough to stop Naruto's punch to Lee's face.

Naruto looked at her with bewildered eyes, surprised to see that she made it in front of him so fast. Sakura was panting a little bit, and her hold on his fist was weak. She immediately let go of him to show him that she meant no harm to him.

"Please Naruto, Lee is my friend." Sakura tried to explain. Behind her, Lee visibly relaxed as tears clouded his vision at how much his "youthful blossom" had grown.

"W-wow, Sakura-chan…how did you get so fast?" He asked her.

Sakura just sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I'm not really that fast…it's more about the chakra I put into my jumps." She explained. Naruto nodded as he tried to understand the situation, but gave up after he failed miserably.

"But then…who's this guy?" He asked, pointing behind her at Lee.

Before she had a chance to respond, Lee stepped out and addressed her. "Is this one of your teammates, Sakura-chan?" Lee asked. Sakura nodded.

"Mhm. Lee, this is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, this is Rock Lee…my teacher." Sakura said, trailing off a bit on the last part.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wha!? What do you mean by teacher, Sakura-chan?" Naruto exclaimed, waving his arms around comically.

"Well, I've been training with Lee every morning for the past few weeks now, trying to hone my skills. I don't think I would have made as much progress as I did without his help." Sakura explained, giving Lee a grateful smile.

"Hn. So you're the reason Sakura's been showing up to practice exhausted." Another voice piped in. The three of them turned to find Sasuke coming towards them with Neji a few paces behind him. They had probably just ended their dispute to find out where the rest of their team had gone off to.

Naruto then turned on Lee. "Oh yeah! Sakura-chan's been showing up to practice all battered. Is that your fault?" Naruto pressed. Lee had a troubled look on his face as he opened his mouth to respond. However, Sakura interrupted him.

"That was of my own accord, Naruto. Lee worked me as hard as I could handle to become stronger, and I was willing to take up the challenge. This is no one's fault." She said as she tried to reconcile everyone.

Naruto pouted as he looked at her with pitiful puppy-dog eyes. "Why didn't you come to me for training, Sakura-chan? I would have been more than happy, and I probably would have done a better job than Bushy Brows over here." He said, jutting his thumb towards Lee. Lee barely seemed to take any offense at this.

"What would you have to teach her?" Sasuke mocked him, rolling his eyes.

"I have plenty I could have taught her, such as my sexy…" Naruto was promptly cut off by a smack on the head by Sakura.

"Why the heck would I want to learn that?" She scolded him. Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly.

"If you would all stop your squabble, I want to remind you that the written exams are about to start." Neji said with a twitching eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, we better get there! Let's go team!" Naruto said as he pumped his fist in the air and ran around the corner towards the staircase moving up to the third floor.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way after him. Before he turned the corner, he looked at both Lee and Neji. "I'll fight you two some other day." Sasuke said, more like a promise than a threat.

Lee nodded with approval. "You have some youthful teammates, Sakura-chan. I can't wait to see what kinds of skills they will display in the exam." Lee said. Sakura smiled.

"They'll surprise you, I'm sure of it." She replied.

"Well, enough of that. We don't want to be late." The brown-haired girl said as she grabbed Lee's arm and started dragging him towards the stairs. "Sakura, right?" She called over her shoulder. It took Sakura a moment to realize that she was referring to her.

"Oh, yeah!" She called back.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tenten. I hope to see you later in the exams." She said as she waved a little.

Sakura got one wave in before she disappeared behind the corner, leaving Sakura and Neji there alone. Sakura decided to steel her courage and walk past him, even though she could not help but lower her head as she did.

"It seems that you didn't take my advice." He said as she stood right next to him, however facing the opposite direction. "You know you will only put yourself in danger by taking a path that is not part of your destiny." He said firmly.

Sakura scoffed as she peered at him from her peripheral vision. "I told you before and I'll tell you again, destiny has nothing to do with this. The only person who decides my destiny is me." She said as she made her way passed him.

Neji waited a few moments before continuing after her, not wanting another confrontation. He hoped that she would see the error in her ways before it was too late, since fate was impatient and did not wait for others to realize their faults. It is not that he actually cared about her, but it irked him when people did not follow a destiny that was so clearly laid out before them.

He convinced himself that it was the only reason why he was so persistent about getting her to give up.

Sakura ascended the stairs cautiously, still a little fired up after her encounter with Neji. She could not believe he thought so lowly of her that he thought she would just give up after just a day. She would show him. She would prove that the underdog would come out victorious.

When she finally reached the third floor, she saw Sasuke and Naruto talking to Kakashi, who had his arms crossed. She could not decipher the look he had on his face, since the side that was facing her had his whole body covered.

When Kakashi noticed her approach, he turned to face her and his eye crinkled with his smile. Sasuke and Naruto both looked at her too, with Naruto waving her over ecstatically and Sasuke giving her a curt nod of his head.

As Sakura approached them, the nerves that had built up over the day started to wash away. She was okay. She would be with her team, and she would look after them just as much as they would look after her. Sakura's fists clenched at her sides as she tried to relieve the tension in her arms.

Her chance had arrived. It was time for her to show what she had learned. The Chūnin Exams were about to commence.

Please Read: Hi guys! So I got a lot of mixed comments about the pairing for this story, and I'm fine with that, and I'm glad you guys shared your opinions with me. I just wanted to let you know that the pairing is only going to be on the side and will not be the main focus of the story.

Also, a lot of you guys suggested ShikaSaku for the pairing. I did not choose it for two reasons. 1. I think that NejiSaku just works better in this case, and 2. If you read Strength Within Myself by Sakucherryblossoms (Who is a genius. I really recommend her work), you will see that if I took some of your suggestions, which I truly appreciate, y story would have too many parallels to hers.

My apologies if I have upset anyone with how the story is going, but I think that it is going just the way I want it to. I completely respect everyone's opinion and if this story is not really your cup of tea, then I truly understand.

Anyways, I hope that everyone is having a fantastic day wherever they are! See you guys next time!