Disclaimer: I own no part of the Naruto franchise, though the plot and OCs are mine.

A/N: Finally, finally another installment. Short, but dedicated to Evionth, known here on FF as Andelevion, who did the fanart which is now the cover. This is part I of the chunin exam arc. (Edit: Thanks, everyone, for catching the misspelling of Jun's name).

The First Flower of Spring

-Chapter 7-

Jingle, Jangle

Sakura kept glancing up at him, but not once did she ask why he was following her. Not even as she led him around the back of the bakery again, sliding the door open quietly. "Ran-oba-san, Kakashi-sensei has come to visit," she called out as they entered.

The white-haired woman appeared from the direction of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Her stern face did not soften at the sight of her ward, which made Kakashi frown internally. Instead, she simply said, "Welcome back," in a perfunctory manner. Then she glanced at him, jade eyes hard and tired. "There is someone who would like to meet him. He is waiting in the other room."

Sakura usually had very good posture, but she drew herself up even more correctly at that announcement. "This way," she said softly, deftly shedding her sandals as she stepped inside. Kakashi followed her example out of politeness, though Haruno Ran had already disappeared.

Was that all the welcome she received when she returned home from her first mission? There was something very strange with the household, something even stranger than the little pink-haired girl who'd been placed in his care.

And when the stranger in the next room looked up to meet his eyes, Kakashi thought to himself that he had found the reason. He had never felt such a malevolent aura when his opponent was doing nothing more than drinking tea. Kakashi didn't even know if the stranger was doing it intentionally. It almost seemed as if he was the tea bowl and someone had overfilled it, the urge to kill seeping over the delicate ceramic edges.

His age was rather indeterminate, but Kakashi thought he might be older than he was. Shorter hair so deep a red that it was burgundy, slighter build, but obviously a relative to both Haruno Jun and Haruno Sakura.

Kakashi took a subtle breath, hoping it would ease the oppressive aura in the room, which seemed to affect Sakura not at all. Rather, the moment she'd entered the room she'd humbled herself, pressing herself lower to the floor than anyone he'd ever seen in modern times, rising only after a significant period had passed. "And which Haruno do I have the pleasure of addressing this time?" he asked with forced humor.

"I am Haruno Shiki," the man replied. "And you are Hatake Kakashi. I have been told you have taken my Sakura into your care, so I thought this meeting necessary. I hope you will understand that what is said here cannot leave this room."

"Ah-ha," Kakashi laughed, scratching his scarecrow hair, "that's a promise I might not be able to keep, until I know what it is you want to tell me."

The man did not laugh. But he did smile and it was the eeriest sight Kakashi had seen in a long time. It almost felt like he'd drawn a knife instead. "I have already taken care of it. You will forgive the presumption." As his cup was set gently down on the table, complex black symbols appeared on the white walls of the room.

Kakashi felt the jutsu take root in his body before he could do anything to circumvent it. There weren't even any hand signs! "What is this?" he demanded. Glancing to the side, he found his student was not looking at him, but was still looking with patience toward Shiki.

"You should not worry. You will not be betraying your village. I am simply preventing you from betraying your student, however unintentional that betrayal might be. Our words will not leave this room. All that I disclose to you will be for your knowledge only. It will be up to you how you use it." His smile relaxed until his face was near-emotionless again. "You have met Jun?"

"I was going to ask what kind of man would let a monster like that near a child, but I guess this is my answer," Kakashi said, making no move to sit and Shiki offered no invitation.

"Jun is Sakura's retainer. If she is not powerful enough to make him obey her, the fault lies with Sakura. He will be at her side as often as she desires it. I do not think your other students will be talented enough yet to discover his presence."

No, not a beast like that. But having a demon hidden beneath a straw raincoat did not mean it was not there and he would prefer that Jun be put down like the dog he'd taken his nickname from. "I didn't realize there was such a thing as a Haruno clan."

"It is as it should be. This has what has allowed us to survive the bloodline purges and remain unaffiliated in the Shinobi Wars. No country would have us and it is dangerous to gather the clan. Within Sakura's lifetime, the clan has met only once. It was there it was decided she was to be the heir. This is why she is receiving special attention, because she has won a grand star of destiny to follow. As her teacher, nourish her skills, but also be certain that your other students do not hinder her progress."

From his peripheral vision, Kakashi could see Sakura still sitting as if this dangerous interview was something commonplace. "She is quite advanced, though no one seems to have taught her moderation. I guess it might be too much to ask if you would have a word with her about seriously harming her teammates?"

Shiki glanced over at Sakura, who bowed her head. From guilt or some other emotion, he could not tell. "Sakura is not like your other students," Shiki said. "But I will give her the command. In exchange, it should be clear to you now that her teammates should not interfere in her battles."

Kakashi blinked. "What if she needs help?"

"If the need is desperate enough, let her call upon Jun. Your students will only be hurt if they attempt to give aid."

"You make it almost sound like she'd cut them down to get to the enemy," Kakashi said as a joke.

But Shiki did not laugh. "Sakura has been raised to eliminate any obstacle that comes between her and her objective. Loyalty, friendship, love, all of these do not matter."

"You can't erase those things, no matter what kind of training you've put her through," Kakashi said, growing angry for the first time.

"It is not the training. It is the way she was born. You will discover it yourself, in time. No matter how you try to teach her, blood will prove true. Remember, this is all a courtesy on my part."

"Quite aggressive for courtesy, don't you think?" Kakashi asked grimly.

"You Konoha shinobi tend to overlook everything that does not pose a serious and immediate threat to your precious village and 'will of fire.' Your righteousness makes you blind to the true nature of things."

"And you don't have a problem with that?"

"Oh, no." That eerie smile was back. "Righteousness is something I have never been accused of."

-X-X-X-

Sakura wished that Shiki-dono hadn't cornered Kakashi-sensei like that. After her teacher had taken his leave and Shiki-dono had finished his tea and disappeared, she'd continued sitting on the floor, idly pressing her fingers against each other.

Would Kakashi-sensei tell her she couldn't be his student anymore? Would he get her kicked out of Konohagakure? Shiki-dono had sealed his tongue on the matters discussed in the room, but a person with Kakashi's reputation would have enough influence to get her exiled anyway if he approached the Hokage directly.

Her fear threatened to push her in the First Flower state, but she forced the chakra back. She rose abruptly, stumbling a little as circulation returned to her cramped legs, and ran through the house, sliding on her shoes at the door and sliding it open without a word to Ran-oba-san.

Sakura sprinted through the streets of her village, looking high and low for her sensei, even in the shops she was chased out of as soon as the clerks caught sight of her. The sun dipped lower on the horizon and she finally grew winded, balancing on one of the electric poles as she tried to sense his chakra, but as she suspected the talented jounin was well out of the range of her senses. Sweat beading on her flushed cheeks, her bangs fell over her eyes as her chin dipped down.

"Boo!"

With a startled screech, Sakura summoned Shiho-nii-san and had him in a defensive position across her body, the wide sleeves of his incorporeal body fluttering in the edge of his peripheral vision, before she registered who stood in front of her. "Kakashi-sensei?" she asked in a broken voice.

"Yo!" he greeted. "Seeing as how you've been searching for me so diligently, I thought you'd be less surprised when you found me."

Sakura couldn't stop the words that tumbled from her mouth. "You're not going to have me kicked out of Konoha, are you? Shiki-dono, well, Shiki-dono meant what he said, but he won't interfere in the village. I swear!"

One of Kakashi's silver brows rose. "And if he did decide to interfere, what would you do about it?"

"I'm the heir. I have the right to challenge him to single combat," she offered desperately.

Kakashi sighed as he rumpled her hair. Crouching on the plastic-coated wire, he spoke directly to her. "Unless you have a death wish, I wouldn't go challenging that clan head of yours anytime soon, kiddo. And while it's touching, offering to kill your family members to prove a point is weird. So in the future, don't. As a suggestion."

Sakura blinked, relieved tears making her lashes heavy. "But for five generations, no one has inherited without killing their predecessor," she explained as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, the butt of her guan-dao resting on the pole.

Kakashi sighed again. "You can't just wait for that old man to die?"

Sakura giggled, a muffled sound. "Shiki-dono is young for a main house member."

"So, that's a no." He rose easily, as if he wasn't balanced on a wire that might have been an inch and a half thick. "You mean that when you're the oyakata-sama, you'll have to wait for your heir to kill you?"

Sakura nodded, her tears finally abating. "They won't necessarily succeed, especially on the first try. They look down on oyakata who kill their heirs, but I'm Shiki-dono's second heir. He pronounced the first one he got at the fifteen-year gathering before the one I was declared heir at unsatisfactory and killed him. The rumors said he fed the remains of the body to the pregnant women of the clan, passing back the heir's strength."

Kakashi-sensei froze in his act of ruffling her hair for a moment, then as if he'd reached a decision, ruffled her hair again. "Sakura-chan, I don't know if that passes for gossip in your clan, but let's keep those kinds of stories between us, ne?"

Sakura nodded seriously. "Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi-sensei turned, but then he spoke again. "Out of personal curiosity, what really happened to your parents?"

Sakura answered him with the kind of off-hand response you might expect when talking about the doings of people that had briefly been her neighbors and had since moved away. "Oh, Chouko-san led a rebellion against the family. She was exiled in Mizu no Kuni. And Katsuo-san is acting as Shiki-dono's page."

"I see." Kakashi replied softly. "Well, I have a surprise for the team tomorrow, Sakura-chan. Look forward to it."

-X-X-X-

"The chunin exams?" Naruto queried.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Kakashi explained the knucklehead-ninja what the exam was. He was really beginning to wonder what Naruto had actually picked up in the Academy. Then his dark eyes traveled to the teammate whose response he was more interested in as Kakashi, after handing over the paperwork, disappeared.

Sakura's intelligent jade eyes were flickering quickly over the pages as she read through the contract. Sasuke didn't intend to bother.

"So," he asked, "you're going to enter?"

Sakura blinked at him. "Of course. We can only enter as a three-man team, so I hope you also intend to enter, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke bristled at the implication. "And why wouldn't I?" he challenged.

Sakura's eyes returned to the papers clutched in her hand. "You don't like watching people die. Especially those you are familiar with. If Kakashi-sensei has nominated us, there is a good chance the other jounin-sensei have offered their followers names for promotion. With that many entrants, it's probable at least one of us will die during the exam. It will be upsetting. For you."
Sasuke opened his mouth to make some comeback, but Naruto interrupted. "What do you mean, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura flipped through her packet, holding out a particular sheet. "This one indicates that if we pass the initial phase, we'll be asked to sign a liability waver so that the village can't be held accountable for out deaths in the later portions of the exam. If I was a jounin from a foreign village, I would instruct my gennin to take out their opposition if they could."

"But why?!" Naruto asked, appalled.

"Because a village's future is in its gennin. Career ninja like the Hokage or the Sannin are rare. Most humans don't have bodies that can withstand the stress of battle past their forties. Men," she said pointedly, "reach their physical peak in their mid-twenties. Ninja reach their peak even earlier than that while they still retain the flexibility of childhood. After that, it's a physical battle against time. That's why many become teachers or retire, because despite their experience, they can't match the speed of younger opponents."

Naruto nodded slowly. "That's still awful, though."

"Awful, but smart. Pretend you're Tora. Would you rather eat fledglings in the nest or wait until they grew into birds that could fly and peck at your eyes?"

Naruto grimaced, "I'd rather it cat food, if it's all the same to you, Sakura-chan. So ninja from other villages will be competing? I haven't seen any strange ninja around."

"They probably won't open the gates to foreign ninja until today, the day before the exam begins, in order to minimize the chance of incidents."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. Surely a squad of foreign-nin wouldn't be stupid enough to attack right in the heart of the village. They had to know they couldn't escape.

Sakura treated him to the same long-suffering look she often directed at Naruto. Which felt insulting, because he was much more intelligent than that idiot.

"If a ninja dies during the exams, it's a pity. If a ninja dies outside the exams, it's an international incident. So even if a foreign ninja goads you into attacking, be careful. If he dies, it could be interpreted as a move of aggression on Konoha's part. Foreign teams arrive in what the courts will call a 'good faith arrangement'. Which means, even if they are from hostile nations, there is a cessation of aggressive acts from either side during the duration of the exam. Konoha becomes in essence a neutral zone. Any suspicious deaths are a violation of that agreement. They'll be smart enough to corner the scapegoat while he's alone, so it will be the testimony of the rest of his team against that lone ninja. The Yamanaka clan would be able to interrogate, of course, but the foreign nation will cite bias-."

Naruto cut her off. "Sakura-chan? I think you're over thinking this. Kakashi-sensei said these happen on a regular basis, right? There'd surely have been a lot more fuss if something like that had happened recently in the past."

Sakura's mouth moved like she was about to counter him, but then she closed it. "You may be right," she admitted. "I'm sorry. Competitions make me nervous."

Naruto gave her a winning smile. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! You're awesome. I bet you'll breeze right through the test!" It was enough to make Sasuke gag, but he supposed Naruto had a point. Sakura was good. Suspiciously good.

He scoffed aloud. "I'm leaving."

Sakura worried her lip, but apparently couldn't resist the impulse. "Sasuke-san. A lot of these gennin will be older than us. Because of the danger, many jounin don't recommend their charges until they're certain they will pass. It damages the prestige of a village if they have a lot of competitors that aren't promoted. So please be careful."

Naruto was wearing that dumb look again, eyes drooped to half-mast and jaw slack. "Sakura-chan, you just killed the awesome. You talk like an old lady sometimes."

Sakura laughed, embarrassed, pink dusting her cheeks. "Sorry, sorry."

Naruto waved her off and started walking away, though it had been Sasuke himself who had announced he was leaving. He watched, rather dumbfounded as Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and Sakura followed, hands behind her back in the first civilian pose he'd ever seen her assume. "So, where'd you learn all that stuff?" Naruto asked her as they left him behind.

Sasuke didn't hear her answer. He'd never been the one left behind, except by that man. He was the one who left. Always. It was he who set the pace. Girls followed him. Naruto was always bugging him about some competition between them that was so uneven it was laughable. Until now. Until Naruto and Sakura had just...walked away.

-X-X-X-

Temari assessed their "competition." Her brothers were always, always dragging her into their trouble. Gaara was bad enough, but did Kankuro really need to pick on a kid who didn't even wasn't even half his size? Internalizing a sigh, she focused on the two who were sticking up for the squirming one. Boy and girl, had to be gennin. The boy, who had unruly blond hair, looked like he was about to leap at Kankuro's throat, but the girl was more composed.

"Nin-san, if you would release Konohamaru-kun, we would be much obliged." She smiled. "I don't think the Hokage will reflect kindly on his grandson being manhandled by-," and intelligent green eyes flickered to their headbands, "Suna-nin."

This time, the movement she internalized was slapping a palm to her forehead. Of all the kiddies in the village, Kankuro just had to pick the Hokage's grandson? Temari's eyes narrowed. A coincidence like that was pretty unlikely. The girl was probably just lying to get Kankuro to let the boy go. But she was good, she had to admit. She'd even had her going for a moment there.

But before she could say anything, a rock cracked hard against Kankuro's wrist and he dropped the sniveling kid. The blond one wheeled, following the trajectory path of the rock, his eyes landing on the figure in the tree at the same moment hers did. "Sasuke!"

Local hottie, Temeri thought to herself, taking in his cocky stance. A little young for her, but with a few years on him, a definite possibility.

But then she froze as a familiar killing intent registered. Gaara.

"Kankuro." It was just one word, but it stopped her older brother from retaliating against the gennin in the tree, who hopped down to join what she suspected were his teammates.

She fought not to shiver as Gaara's sand reformed next to them. Watched on quietly as he demanded the gennin's name, knowing he had marked him as someone to destroy. Watched as the dumb blond tried to force himself into the conversation, almost introducing himself, but his teammate's hand slapped over his mouth.

"Suna-nin," the girl said, "it was a pleasure meeting you. But I think this is a conversation best finished tomorrow, at the exam." So saying, she reached out, hooking the collar of the boy Kankuro had been bullying and disappeared with them both. The boys companions, who she'd overlooked until this moment, glanced at each other and then followed. With one last challenging glance, Uchiha Sasuke disappeared as well.

-X-X-X-

Naruto was still cackling about Sasuke's defeat as they entered the room they'd be taking the exam in. "Naruto, laughing at your teammate for his defeat at the hands of a clearly superior opponent is rude," she chided, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face either.

Even Shiho-nii-san was chuckling. Sakura had meditated with him most of yesterday so that she wouldn't have to unseal him in order to have the comfort of his company. And Shiho-nii-san, who didn't dislike much of anyone, disliked her Uchiha teammate.

When she'd asked, he'd explained. "He knows he's a superior ninja, but all he does with that is look down at anyone he considers inferior. And with his Uchiha blood and upbringing, that is most of the world. Power should be used for the good of the populace, not hoarded for personal benefit."

Sakura often wondered how someone like Shiho-nii-san could have been born a Haruno.

Sasuke was glaring at them both as they entered the room. Naruto, ever dramatic, swept the doors open, so they had a good view of the crowded playing field. Sakura hooked a finger in his collar before he marched in the door. "What is the keyword for today?"

Naruto gave her an exasperated look. Then he glanced back at Sasuke and leaned close. He whispered, "If we don't do something, none of the ninja in there will take us seriously. Like you said, we're first-year gennin, which means we don't even register on their scale of competition, except maybe Mr. Broody back there, but that's just because he's a name brand. I took a look around yesterday, after that run-in with the Suna-bakas. You were definitely right. Some of them look like they're Kakashi-sensei's age."

Sakura was so startled by Naruto's handling of the situation that she didn't stop him as he marched in and more or less declared war against every ninja assembled. Even Shiho-nii-san stared after him. "He's going to get them killed if he's not careful," he muttered. "You'll have to be more careful now, Sakura. If they take you seriously, it will be harder for you not to bloom. If you use your kekkei genkai in open combat like this, with judges watching, Shiki-dono will not take it lightly. You must pass this exam without using it."

Sakura swallowed. Falling into the First Flower was almost as natural as breathing during combat. Not using it was asking her to fight on a thin layer ice over a fast-moving river during the spring thaw without falling through.

Shiho-nii-san embraced her from behind, resting his head on her chin. "The good news is that they are all gennin. There might not be a single one who even challenges you."

Sakura wanted to tell him about the Suna-nin she had met yesterday. Suna no Gaara was unlike anyone she'd met before. From the Haruno clan to Zabuza, killing intent was something cold, focused, like an invisible blade. Gaara's killing intent was a sandstorm or a blazing inferno, unfocused, careless. He didn't even seem to be in control of it. Should she say she disapproved? Or should she say she was frightened of it? Her killing intent was as empty and dispassionate as a shikigami. Familiarity, allegiance, these it recognized in a cold, evaluating sort of way. But Gaara was different. His killing intent was almost invasively personal.

Sakura hated it.

Sakura was so busy ignoring Gaara, she almost missed it when Ino glomped the still surly Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke glared at Sakura, but she didn't know what he expected her to do about the girl. She was his fan, after all, so he should be the one to deal with her. She abandoned him to his fate as she noticed a silver-haired nin approaching the noisy group that had gathered by the door. Kiba, who was next to her, muttered, "Stinks like a medic."

A brow raised in response to that. Medics were typically support-type nin. Real B-type personalities. Not scouts, which was what that deck of cards painted him as. She exchanged a glance with Shiho-nii-san, who nodded. They would both watch for the silver-haired nin in the future. Because with this information, he looked less like a career failure and more like he'd been evaluating the ninja of the Hidden Villages. But for what purpose? Would a ninja of the Leaf really need to collect data on people who were on the same side? Sakura frowned as she watched him put away Rock Lee's card.

Something was rotten in the state of Konoha.

-X-X-X-

Sakura tried. Really, she did. But in order to have Shiho-nii-san manifest, she'd stayed up late into the night. And the test, while it would stretch the abilities of an Academy student, shouldn't really be a challenge to anyone who'd stayed awake through their classes. This was the one section of the test where the fresh graduates had an advantage. For the older ninjas, a lot of this would be so internalized it would be difficult to write cogently of on paper, while the fresh gennin were still accustomed to the paper tests at the Academy. Or at least they should be. Sakura caught sight of some suspicious movement from former Academy classmates, but Sasuke seemed confident of his answers.

Her head dipped lower and lower until it hit the desk with a soft thunk, her arms crossed protectively over her answers.

-X-X-X-

Naruto was looking at her sourly again. "That test was, like, impossible. And you slept through most of it," he accused after they'd been dismissed to prepare for the Forest of Death portion.

"Me?" Sakura said, "Accuse Sasuke. He was the one trying to get everyone around him caught cheating."

The nin in question smirked. "If they got caught, they didn't deserve to advance."

"Right," Sakura said dryly.

Sasuke shrugged. "It's not as if the test was designed to take up the whole time slot. You either know the material or you don't and you spend the whole time cheating. I think a few of the participants were chunin plants."

"Well," Sakura admitted, "Sasuke wins this one. I didn't even think of cheating."
Naruto growled. "I hate you both." He threw both arms dramatically into the air. "Here I was, wondering if I was dooming my team to genin-hood forever, wondering if I should take the risk, and there you both were not even bothering to help me cheat!" He pointed an accusatory finger, first at Sasuke, then at Sakura, jabbing it like it was a knife.

Sasuke scoffed. "Don't lie, dobe. You didn't give a second thought to us when you challenged Ibiki."
"Did too," Naruto defended.

"Did not," Sasuke retorted pointedly.

Naruto stuck out his tongue at his teammate and turned to Sakura to get her opinion, but their third teammate was already gone. "If I didn't know better," he said with narrowed eyes, "I'd think she didn't like hanging out with you, Sasuke."

"Me? Take a look in the mirror, you baka. Sakura obviously just can't stand stupid people who can't even cheat properly."