Chapter Five: Chunin Exams (Part Three)
Edited
"Whoa, let me get this straight; you not only attacked three opponents, but you also threatened them? And you did this in front of the Hokage's grandson?" Anko asked, listing everything she found hilarious. When her little student nodded, she roared in laughter. Who knew that two weeks could change this girl from a little wallflower into a killer badass. Anko wanted to pat herself on the back for a job well done. Hell, she should probably get Kakashi to do it, seeing as how she was his student.
Somewhere in a deserted training field, Kakashi sneezed.
"Naruto was trying to be diplomatic about it, but seeing as how the male, Kankuro I believe, didn't feel like listening, I took matters into my own hands." Sakura added, taking a small, polite sip of her tea. Anko snorted; Naruto being diplomatic? Yeah right! That was like saying Sasuke wasn't dead set on revenge!
Naruto and Sasuke both sneezed, before continuing on with their sparring session.
"Bullshit." Anko said, getting serious. She leaned forward, giving Sakura a toothy grin. Her student gave her own matching grin. "He dismissed you as an opponent, didn't he?" Sakura nodded. Anko rolled her eyes. "How much damage did you cause?"
"Minimal. Three needles into his right hand. One in between a first knuckle, another in the webbing by his thumb, last one under his finger nail." Sakura stated calmly, like she was talking about the weather. Unbeknownst to her, her mindset was slowly slipping down a dangerous slope. Anko could see it, and wondered if she should stop it, or give it the push it so desperately needed. "The last one was unplanned, but worked to my advantage." She added, taking another sip of her tea.
"Unplanned? Or calculated?" Anko asked, chuckling darkly when Sakura refused to answer. She reached across the table and ruffled her student's hair. Sakura grumbled about how long it took to get her hair that way. She noticed that her brat had pulled her hair back and braided it, and then tucked the braid back under so it would stay out of the way. She liked it, made it harder to grab in a spar.
Her student was catching on quickly.
Anko knew that Sakura should've been with her team, but had snagged the girl for an early brunch in order to give advice. She didn't want to admit it, but the girl was growing on her, and she knew Ibiki was starting to like the girl as well. The more she thought about it, the more she found that they were slowly becoming a family.
A sick and twisted family, but a family nonetheless.
Sakura was starting to think the same thing, as she hadn't seen her real family in over two months. Her parents had left on a business trip, which wasn't unusual, but normally they would try to stay in touch.
She said try because her parents were at odds with her about her new lifestyle.
"Alright, brat, gossip time is over." Anko stated, her features smoothing out into a serious look. Sakura knew that look all too well. It meant she was about to be given training. "I've been thinking about your training lately; I've decided that once you pass the Exams, and I know you will, that I'm going to request to be your sensei."
"I thought you were already my sensei." Sakura stated, getting smacked in the back of her head.
"Cheeky brat. I mean as your actual sensei. I won't be having your time split between Kakashi and myself. I'm selfish and I hate sharing. Especially with Kakashi." Anko said, her tone making it clear that Sakura wasn't allowed to argue.
And she didn't want to. Anko-sensei was the perfect teacher. She showed up on time, she actually cared about her training, she took her seriously, and she was devoted to her when they were training.
Sakura couldn't stop herself from launching herself across the table to strangle her teacher in a hug. Anko shouted in surprise at the sudden display of affection, and wanted to pull the girl off of her, but resisted. She knew firsthand what it was like to be overlooked. So, she understood why Sakura was so grateful.
"Alright, alright, get the hell off me, brat." Anko yelled, though her voice was void of any anger. Sakura laughed and got off, putting some money down and disappearing in a blur of colors.
Anko simply laughed, shaking her head as she ordered another plate of dango.
Sakura landed in front of the Academy, frowning at the small amount of dust she had kicked up. She was getting better with her landings, but not good enough in her opinion. She had studied up on more Hunter nin techniques and found that they didn't leave a single trail; they were practically ghosts. You couldn't track them, couldn't put a tail on them. It was like they didn't even exist, even if one was standing right in front of you.
You would never know; your death would be so swift you wouldn't even realize you were dead.
Just the thought of becoming that great one day made her stomach do flips. She couldn't wait to start training again with Anko-sensei.
She double checked her outfit, a nervous habit of hers. She never could kick it. She was wearing black nin pants, a mesh tank top, and an off-the-shoulder crop top; black of course. She also had her heeled sandals, as they just looked and felt better. Not to mention, they made her feel better.
Now, if she could just find her teammates, she could get this show on the road.
Sorry for the short chapter, had a time crunch. Voting is still on going.
These are the votes for who Sakura gets paired up with.
Gaara: 54
Itachi: 52
Shikamaru: 18
Neji: 15
Sasori: 5
Kiba: 4
Harem: 4
Deidara: 3
Ino: 2
Kankuro: 2
Hidan: 1
Zetsu: 1
Madara: 1
Temari x Naruto: 5
Hinata x Naruto: 8
Ino x Sai: 1
Temari x Shikamaru: 1
Sasuke x Hinata: 1