Chapter Four: Chunin Exams (Part Two)
Edited
"I've nominated you three for the Chunin Exams, which our village will be hosting this year. Now, it's optional to take, but it's usually preferred that the entire team enter." Kakashi explained, lying with a straight face. He knew that if they didn't sign up as a team, they wouldn't be allowed to compete as a team, and if they didn't compete, then they couldn't move up in rank until the next year.
Sakura, however, knew better. She had been told by Anko-sensei that if a team didn't enter together, well, they weren't cut out to be shinobi. Anko-sensei had a weird thing when it came to teams.
"You're lying," she said offhandedly. When she felt eyes on her, she shrugged and leaned against the railing and stared up at the sky. She gave a devilish grin when they waited for her to continue. "Isn't it obvious? The whole point of the Chunin Exams is to compete as a team, hence why you can only be nominated to enter as a team!" She gave a dark chuckle, "We either go in as a team, or we fail as a team." She finished nonchalantly.
"Wait, what? Are you serious, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, to which Sakura nodded. She looked at the papers in Kakashi's hand and pushed herself off the railing. She casually walked up and grabbed two of them firmly while letting the third one get loose and fall to the ground. She turned on her heel and walked back to Naruto, handing him the second sheet.
"It's really simple, Naruto. If we pass, we move up in rank and the missions we take move up in rank as well." She said, knowing that the simplified explanation would be easier for the blond ninja to understand. After all, too many words would only confuse the poor boy.
"That's awesome! Hey, Sakura-chan, want to get some ramen with me? We can fill out these papers together!" He added, already prepping for the usual rejection. He hoped that this new Sakura would say yes, but he knew better than to hope.
"Sure, but only if we can get some dango."
There was not a single person in that area who hadn't heard Naruto's happy yell.
The three members of team 7 calmly walked through the back streets, joking and laughing as they went to get a simple lunch.
Only, there was only two of them.
And nothing was ever simple with team 7.
Especially since they were being followed by a large box. That talked.
"Naruto~" Sakura sang out, happily waving her fifth stick of dango around. Dango was to Sakura what ramen was to Naruto. When he looked at her, eyebrow raised, she giggled innocently. Her giggle sent a chill down his spine. Naruto didn't like it, not one little bit. "We're being followed by a box." She said, causing him to look over his shoulder to check. Sure enough, there was a box scooting towards them.
"How did you know, Sakura-chan?" He asked, scratching his head. Sakura giggled again, which prompted Naruto to kick the box. Sakura raised an eyebrow and smiled. So, Ibiki-sensei had been right. Killing intent could be channeled into anything, even something as simple as a laugh. She decided that she would try to channel it into something else, if only to see it work again.
After all, Anko-sensei used it all the time with that evil glint in her eyes.
Suddenly, three plumes of smoke popped up, each a different and bright color. They were quickly replaced by three Academy students. She recognized one as the Hokage's grandson, since Hiro-sensei couldn't stop singing praises about the Hokage and his great family.
She ignored the introductions and decided that her dango was a thousand times more interesting. It brought her joy and happiness, whereas those three kids brought nothing but annoyance.
Shit, Anko-sensei was seriously starting to rub off on her if she found kids annoying.
"Hey boss, who's the lady?" Konohamaru asked, looking up at her like she was someone odd. Sakura decided that this was not the best situation to practice in.
"This is Sakura-chan," Naruto said, grinning like an idiot. Konohamaru got a sly grin and shared it with his teammates.
"You must be the boss' girlfriend!" He shouted, pointing at her like she should be proud. Sakura chuckled dryly and ruffled the kid's hair. Ah, what the hell, he was adorable.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm his teammate." She said, diffusing the situation before she lost her temper. The only girl immediately swarmed her, asking her a thousand questions a minute while the other three decided to see who was the faster ninja.
She and the girl watched as the boys took off, Konohamaru in the lead cause Naruto was letting the kid win. They turned a corner and all that was left was their dust trails.
"Maybe we should go check on them. It's too quiet." Sakura said, grabbing the girl and throwing her arm over her shoulder. They walked slowly and casually, chatting about kunoichi topics and how to get boys attention. Sakura didn't know that much in that topic, seeing as how she had never attracted a guy's attention before. But she did tell her how to get ahead in her training.
As they rounded the corner, their light laughter and chatter stopped when they took in the sight before them.
Naruto was yelling at two strangers, more importantly, yelling at the male who had Konohamaru in a death grip, using his scarf as leverage. He was struggling in his hold, trying to kick the male who looked like a cat with its face painted. He was wearing all black, much like her, but had something on his back that was wrapped in bandages. The girl, most likely his teammate, had her sandy blonde hair separated into four spiky ponytails. On her back was a large fan.
They were from Sand, if their hitea were anything to go off of. The female had a wind affinity, seeing as how no one would carry a giant fan around simply for looks.
Sakura assumed that they were here for the Exams.
She smirked, happy to see some of her competition before her.
She pushed Moegi behind her, giving her a look to stay there. She complied easily.
"Now, now, put the boy down." She said, flashing a sweet smile at the boy. He briefly looked up at her and made eye contact. His cocky expression disappeared for a second as he took her in, noting the way she stood protectively in front of the smaller girl, then it was back again as he shook Konohamaru harder than before.
Without really thinking it through, Sakura quickly dipped her fingers into her weapons pouch and let her body do the rest. Her fingers latched onto three needles and she quickly pulled her hand out, snapping her arm up. They were released and sent flying. She could only hope that they missed Konohamaru.
"What the fuck!" The boy shouted, dropping Konohamaru as he held his hand in front of him. One needle was lodged between the first knuckle of his middle finger and his ring finger, another was stuck in the webbing between his thumb and pointer, and the last one was wedged under the nail of his middle finger.
Ooh, she hadn't planned on that.
She really should practice her aim.
Maybe next time he won't overlook her and dismiss her.
"Let's try this again, shall we?" She said, channeling her K.I into her sugary sweet smile. "When I say 'put the boy down' you put the boy down, understand?" Sakura walked up to the guy and stood right in front of him.
She wanted her needles back.
"Fuck you, bitch." He growled out, wincing as she slowly pulled out the first two needles. One had struck a pressure point; good. The last one she grabbed and pushed it in a little deeper. He tried to smack her, only to have his hand restrained by her other one. She was being serious, he could tell just from the way her eyes shined.
"Don't you ever touch Hokage-sama's grandson again, do you understand?" She said softly, ripping the needle out with as much force as possible. She wanted him to remember her and what she could do with just a needle.
Somewhere in the village, Kakashi felt his blood run cold and knew in his heart that this was the work of Anko.
"Great, Kankuro. See what you did?" The blonde girl asked. Kankuro growled under his breath and took a step back from Sakura. He hated to back down, but something told him that this girl wasn't to be messed with. Not yet, at least.
"Shut up, Temari. How was I supposed to know? They ran into me, disrespectful brats." Kankuro said, shaking his hand a little to get some feeling back into it. He glared at Sakura, but he was impressed. She didn't look like the type to torture. He moved his hand forward to introduce himself, when a rock suddenly made contact with it. "Goddamn it!" He shouted, turning to glare at the new arrival.
Sakura sighed dramatically and sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Sasuke's dramatic posture and appearance.
"You know this guy, Pinky?" Kankuro asked, smirking when Sakura twitched at his nickname for her. She glared at him and gave a curt nod.
"Unfortunately, that's my other teammate." She said, jutting a hip out and finding her fingernails suddenly fascinating.
"Kankuro." A monotone voice called out, grabbing everyone's attention. All eyes turned to the other side of the tree, momentarily forgetting about Sasuke, who was pissed at that, and landed on the missing third Sand nin.
He had pale skin, bright red hair, and piercing jade eyes. Sakura was drawn into them. They were so empty of emotion and light, it was disconcerting to say the least. He was carrying a large gourd on his back, and she figured it had to be filled with sand or water. Why else would he carry something that cumbersome on his back?
Then again, she looked at his teammates, and decided that it had to be a team thing.
"G-Gaara..." Kankuro began, waiting for the massive killing intent to come at him. Only problem, it didn't. Gaara wasn't even looking at him, his eyes were focused on the girl who was busy dusting off Konohamaru and lecturing him about paying attention to his surroundings.
"Who are you-" Sasuke started, only to be cut off by someone's stomach growling.
Yet again, all eyes were on Sakura. She stared back, pointing at Naruto.
"Sooo, who wants some ramen?" She asked.
She didn't even wait for a reply, she just grabbed the kids and took off.
The others just stood there in shock and awe.
Kankuro decided then and there that he liked this girl, even if he didn't know her name.
They found Sakura at Ichiruka's, chatting amiably with the little brats, looking the picture of innocence.
No one was sure as to why this was creepy.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was glaring at all of them, or the fact that the little girl had done a sudden wardrobe change, looking like a mini Sakura.
Or maybe, it had to do with the fact that she could go from 0-100 real quick.
These are the votes for who Sakura gets paired up with.
Gaara: 43
Itachi: 41
Neji: 15
Shikamaru: 14
Sasori: 4
Deidara: 3
Kiba: 3
Harem: 3
Ino: 2
Kankuro: 2
Hidan: 1
Zetsu: 1
Temari x Naruto: 3
Hinata x Naruto: 1