The Turning Point
"I never thought I'd miss my house so much" Sakura thought as she rifled through her mission pack, searching for her keys.
After much digging around Sakura reached for the doorknob but found the door already unlocked, pushing it open she took a tentative step into the house. It wasn't like her mother, or father to leave the house unlocked and unattended. They were ex elite ninja after all. Drawing her kunai from its holster she took a few more steps.
"Okaasan? Otousan?" Sakura called out quietly gripping her kunai tightly.
"In here Sakura" a voice uttered from the living room.
Recognising her mother's voice, Sakura loosened the grip on her weapon, but it remained by her side as she walked cautiously through to the living room. Her mother sat on one of the couches opposite two ANBU officers, after being waved over Sakura took a seat beside her mother.
"This is my daughter Sakura, Sakura these gentlemen are part of the ANBU unit" Keiko said, gesturing towards the two men whose faces were concealed with animal masks.
Sakura gave a small nod and swallowed hard, there was only one reason the ANBU could be here.
"Has something happened to my father?" the teen stammered, looking anxiously at her mother.
"Takao Haruno and his team were due to arrive back at 4pm, two days ago" one of the officers with a cat mask said.
"We were instructed to notify family and friends that they had not returned. At this stage nothing is official but if they are still not back in three days we have no choice but to classify them as missing ninja" the other officer finished.
"W-what? Surely something can be done? A search party, something? Please, my father is older now! He is not as strong as he used to be! We have to help him!" Sakura cried
"Sakura honey, don't get so upset. It is perfectly normal for a team to take longer than expected on a mission. Especially when the ranking is so high" Keiko reassured, giving her daughter a hug.
"You must be tired after your mission, go upstairs and unpack. I will make us something to eat and you can tell me all about it!" Keiko smiled.
Sakura nodded at her mother and the two ANBU officers before proceeding upstairs to unpack. As soon as her daughter was out of earshot, Keiko's face turned grave.
"I'm sorry, but I must not allow my daughter to become distraught over this" Mrs Haruno said quietly.
"We understand, however the dangerous nature of the mission and the fact that your husband is retired means that the outcome looks grim should he not return home in three days. We are sorry to have given you such news" the cat mask officer said before both men disappeared.
Keiko sank onto the couch with her head in her hands. "Takao, please come home soon. I cannot do this alone" she thought to herself as she tried to blink back the tears threatening to fall.
"Okaasan! I can't find anymore clothing hangers!" Sakura yelled from upstairs. Keiko quickly stood up and forced a smile before climbing the staircase to her daughter.
"I will try to shield you from this Sakura, I promise"
Sakura was up bright and early the next morning… although not by choice. Kakashi had instructed they start their next mission as soon as possible. Team 7 was told to meet at the bridge by seven, Sakura had set her alarm for six but by the time she finally woke up it was six thirty
Frantically she threw on her ninja clothes and rushed around the room looking for her kunai knife and forehead protector. Running full speed into the kitchen she quickly poured cereal and began shovelling it into her mouth.
"Late huh Sakura?" Mrs Haruno smirked, stirring her coffee. Sakura rolled her eyes at her mother and attempted to speak with her mouth full of cereal but only succeeded in dribbling milk everywhere.
At a quarter to seven, the pink haired ninja barreled out of her front door and ran quickly to the bridge Kakashi had nominated.
"Why the hell are we rushing anyway? You know that old pervert is going to be late!" Inner Sakura demanded. Although her Inner had a point, Sakura didn't stop her haste to the bridge. That was until she saw a familiar crop of spiky black hair.
With all the current worry about her father, Sakura had almost forgotten about the awkwardness between herself and the Uchiha prodigy. Although he did apologise for what had occurred between them during the Land of Waves mission, Sakura was still unsure where exactly she stood with Sasuke.
"Don't stop running now girl! Look who's brooding at the bridge, sporting some freshly styled hair and looking fine!"
Apparently perverted Inner Sakura knew where they stood, or rather where she wanted them to stand. Standing still, the pink haired ninja debated what exactly she was supposed to do. His apology had been genuine and she had forgiven him, but the whole journey back to the village they'd barely spoken to each other.
"Get it together Haruno" she muttered as she walked onto the bridge.
Sasuke raised his head and nodded at Sakura who in turn gave a small wave. Leaning against the railing the two teens fell into an awkward silence.
"Um, nice weather today huh?" Sakura began.
"Hn. Yeah it's okay" Sasuke replied.
"How late do you think Kakashi will be?" Sakura asked.
"I don't know, maybe an hour" Sasuke mused.
"Well that'll be two hours in Kakashi time" Sakura joked.
"Hn. Yeah, or maybe he'll read his pervert book and make it even longer" Sasuke smirked.
Sakura chuckled quietly and Sasuke's smirk grew bigger, if they couldn't deal with the awkwardness head on, at least they could make fun of Kakashi.
"GOOD MORNING SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled, racing up to his teammates. A huge grin plastered on his face, Sakura wondered if the blonde boy ever felt tired.
Naruto's mood soon soured as he laid eyes on Sasuke, both boys glared at each other enviously. Sasuke turned his attention back to the water below and Naruto stood with his back to the Uchiha boy.
Oh right, of course. The rivalry, ever since the Land of Waves it's like being stuck with a couple of children, Sakura sighed.
"Hurry up Kakashi-sensei or you've had it!" Inner Sakura roared.
2 Hours Later
"Hey guys, good morning. Sorry I was late but I got lost on the path of life" Kakashi spoke, appearing calmly out of nowhere.
"WHAT?" Sakura and Naruto yelled together as Sasuke rolled his eyes. Ignoring them, the silver haired ninja jumped down from the archway.
"I'm ready for the next ninja mission sensei, and hey no more of this dumb beginner stuff okay? I want a chance to prove myself; I'm talking a real mission! I GOTTA BREAK OUT AND BURN IT UP!" Naruto urged, invading Kakashi's personal space to get his point across.
"Uh, right. I get it. That's great Naruto… now take it easy would you?" The Jounin replied.
Looking very put out, Naruto glared viciously at Sasuke who completely ignored him. Sakura couldn't wait for the day to be over.
"Right now, today we're going to be taking things a little easy, doing a few chores around the village, first up pulling weeds!" Kakashi said cheerily.
Pulling out his orange book, he began to lead the way. Team 7 exchanged apprehensive looks before following their sensei.
Sakura tugged at the stubborn weeds, slowly but surely she was clearing her assigned patch of garden. Sasuke sat a little away from her, expertly pulling them out. Kakashi was inside, no doubt flirting with the pretty young lady who had greeted them. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto had been sent straight outside by a grumpy looking older woman who demanded they get every single last weed.
"Stupid old hag! That lazy woman should be doing this herself! It's her garden anyway! Who gets a ninja to pull out weeds?" Inner Sakura huffed in annoyance.
"Hn. Sakura, what's the dobe doing?" Sasuke asked, pulling Sakura out of her thoughts.
Naruto was standing proudly next to a huge pile of weeds. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Hah! Take that Sasuke-teme! I pulled out all the weeds before you!" Naruto exclaimed proudly.
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing!" the old woman yelled.
"Oh hey lady, I pulled out all your weeds!" the blonde boy said, smirking triumphantly at Sasuke.
"You pulled out the weeds, but you also pulled out my plants! Those were special herbs I was growing AND YOU DESTROYED THEM!" she screamed and began hitting Naruto.
Next up was the task of fishing litter out of the river, Kakashi sat on the bank relaxing as the genin threw rubbish into baskets on their back. The event almost resulted in Naruto's death had it not been for Sasuke who grabbed the blonde ninja before he could go over the giant waterfall.
Last but certainly not least was the dog walking exercise, in which Naruto was dragged through a mine field because he chose the biggest dog to walk. All in all, a terrible day for the blonde boy and a tedious day for Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi seemed to be the only one who enjoyed it.
Supporting Naruto's weight between them, Sasuke and Sakura helped their teammate into the village centre. Kakashi trailed behind, still reading from his orange book.
Sakura sighed; this whole day was a waste as far as she could see. Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry was getting to the point of ridiculousness. Naruto spent the whole day trying to prove himself bigger and stronger than Sasuke; every attempt failed which resulted in Sasuke making fun of Naruto who would get louder and more aggravated.
The whole cycle then repeated itself and Sakura was close to snapping. Naruto sighed loudly next to her.
"Hn. You're just one big problem Naruto" Sasuke smirked.
"SASSSUKKKKEEE!" Naruto screamed and lunged from the Uchiha boy. Before things could escalate, Sakura threw her arm in front of Naruto to prevent him from moving.
"ENOUGH! If you keep this up I'll finish you!" Sakura growled.
"There goes what little progress we made on the whole teamwork thing" Kakashi muttered. Sakura inwardly agreed as Sasuke began to walk away.
"That's right our teamwork is all messed up and it's all because of you Sasuke! You think you're better than everyone else?" Naruto demanded, raising his fist.
"Not everyone, just you. Face it. I'm better and stronger than you are. It's a fact. Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong?" Sasuke retorted, turning around to face Naruto.
Both stood opposite one another, as though preparing for a fight. Sakura stood off to the side, growing angrier by the minute. Sasuke's arrogance and Naruto's stupidity as well as their refusal to work together was driving her to boiling point.
I don't have time to waste on Naruto and these lame missions. There are still ninja out there who can out fight me! I've got to hone my skills so I can beat them, Sasuke thought as he stared Naruto down.
"All right guys, let's call it a day. You can beat each other to a pulp some other time. Besides I've got to file my report on this mission" Kakashi sighed, growing tired of the bickering. With a puff of white smoke he disappeared.
"Whatever I'm out of here" Sasuke said, nodding a goodbye to Sakura he turned and left.
"Don't worry about Sasuke, you and I can work on our team work all day Sakura!" Naruto called out.
"Um, no thanks Naruto. Maybe some other time? I've got somewhere to be yeah?" Sakura replied quietly.
"Yeah, um I've got training to do as well" Naruto said, a little dejected.
Before either of them could move, a cardboard box disguised as a rock began creeping up towards them slowly. Naruto took a few steps but the box was persistent, he broke into a run but it continued to follow him. Sakura could only stand there with a mixture of amusement and annoyance on her face.
"That's the worse disguise of all time! There's no such thing as square rocks! It's obvious!" Naruto shouted, pointing his finger at the box.
"You saw through my disguise again! You're slick boss!" a muffled voice announced. It was followed by a loud explosion and the appearance of three…preschool children. Sakura sighed; she was much too tired to deal with any of this.
Naruto began to bicker back and forth with the young children, the Konohamaru ninja squad as they called themselves.
"Come on boss! You promised you'd play ninja with us today!" Konohamaru shouted loudly.
"A ninja playing ninja? That's twisted" Sakura taunted. Naruto immediately blushed a bright red.
Staring at Naruto, Sakura wondered to herself how they were ever going to pull together as a real team. With the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto so intense, how exactly did she fit into the picture at all? Her intense gaze made the blonde boy slightly uncomfortable and he began to laugh nervously. The children looked back and forth between their idol and this mystery girl.
"Ah! You're a smooth operator boss! I know she's your… girlfriend!" Konohamaru teased.
Sakura's eyes immediately flashed, all the frustration of today plus the fighting and bickering had left her temper frayed once again. Not to mention the fact that no matter what she did she it didn't seem like she fit in with Team 7 at all.
"Well you can tell she's really crazy about me huh?" Naruto replied smugly.
"THAT'S IT!" Sakura hollered and punch the blonde idiot in the face, sending him flying into the nearest fence.
"WHAT KIND OF GIRLFRIEND ARE YOU?" Konohamaru squeaked. His friends quickly ran to check on Naruto who was lying face down on the ground.
"YOU'RE A WITCH, AND YOU'RE UGLY TOO!" he continued, yelling.
"OH HELL NO! MAKE HIM PAY!" Inner Sakura screamed as Sakura cracked her knuckles.
WHAM! THUMP!
Sakura started to walk away, leaving Naruto and Konohamaru lying beaten up on the ground. It felt good to release that anger. Both boys got slowly to their feet and looked at the pink haired girl in disbelief.
"I don't even think she's human, did you see how wide her forehead was?" Konohamaru called out.
Sakura's head whipped around with robotic precision. A moment of deadly silence fell before she turned and charged like a freight train straight for Naruto and the children who ran for their lives.
"Ow!" Konohamaru yelled suddenly.
Sakura stopped running; she hadn't even got her hands on the obnoxious brat! In front of her, Naruto and the other children had come to a stop. Konohamaru was on the ground in front of a boy dressed in all black with what looked like a mummy on his back. His female companion had a fan strapped to her.
"Can I help you with something?" the boy asked darkly.
In a flashed, the strange boy had Konohamaru in the air, his fist pulling tightly on the scarf draped around the little boy's neck.
"So does this hurt punk?" The boy asked smugly as he tightened his hold.
"Put him down Kankuro or you know you'll pay for it later" the girl with the fan interjected.
"Look it was my fault, I apologise" Sakura said diplomatically. Exactly who the hell were they anyway?
"HEY YOU BETTER TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HIM RIGHT NOW!" Naruto screeched. Kankuro paused momentarily and spied the markings on the blond boy's forehead protector.
So these are the leaf village genin, he thought.
"We've got a few minutes before he gets here, let's mess with these punks huh" Kankuro taunted, speaking to the girl as he gripped Konohamaru harder.
"Let go of me you jerk!" Konohamaru demanded, attempting to kick the older ninja.
"You're feisty, but not for long" Kankuro said, as Konohamaru struggled to get free.
"I SAID PUT HIM DOWN!" Naruto yelled and charged towards Kankuro. But before the blonde boy could get anywhere near Kankuro he was stopped in his tracks and thrown backwards.
"W-what the? What was that?" Naruto burst out. Sakura could only stare at the mysterious ninja, how did he possess that kind of ability?
"You're only Genin too? Looks like your village is full of wimps" Kankuro drawled, clearly bored with the lack of talent.
These guys are outsiders from somewhere, but what are they doing here?, Sakura mused. Konohamaru continued to struggle against the iron grip of the older ninja.
Naruto glared angrily at Kankuro, clenching his fists tightly. "Naruto's going to do something reckless and get himself seriously beaten up" Sakura sighed.
"Listen, you've made your point. You're a big strong tough ninja, a little kid ran into you and you are practically choking him to death. Congratulations. I don't know what you're doing in our village but you need to put him down before this gets out of hand" Sakura said sarcastically, stepping in front of Naruto and the others.
"Hmph. You got a big mouth sweet heart. You're all annoying. I don't like runts or scrawny weaklings. So when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth, I just want to break him in half" Kankuro replied angrily.
"Fine, but I'm not involved in any of this okay?" the girl with the fan grumbled.
Sakura rolled her eyes, so much for diplomacy. She was tired and grumpy and the last thing she needed were a bunch of foreign ninja threatening her.
"Well Naruto, looks like we've got to teach this jerk a lesson huh?" Sakura hissed angrily, cracking her knuckles.
"Uh-huh! You said it Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied happily, adjusting his forehead protector.
"Fine. First I'll take out this wimp, and then I'll waste you two!" Kankuro declared, cocking his fist back ready to strike Konohamaru in the face.
Sakura and Naruto lept forward quickly but before anything could occur, Konohamaru fell to the ground and Kankuro stood shocked clutching his wrist. A stone skidded along the path before coming to a stop at Sakura's feet.
"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league. You really should have listened to my teammate. She tends to be right a lot of the time" Sasuke said, sitting on a tree branch tossing a second stone in his hand.
Sakura couldn't help but smirk at the Uchiha boy. The comment about her being right was a nice touch. Naruto on the other hand was less than thrilled about the appearance of his rival. Kankuro stared up at the boy with a look of pure hatred, a blush settled on the cheeks of the girl carrying the fan who glanced at the new arrival.
"Naruto!" Konohamaru yelled as he rushed over to his 'boss', glad to be free from Kankuro's grasp.
"Oh great, another wimp to tick me off" Kankuro scoffed.
"Get lost" Sasuke replied in a monotone voice, crushing the rock in his hand to dust.
"So cool!" Moegi the female in Konohamaru squad gushed loudly. Sakura snickered to herself.
Meanwhile Naruto tapped his fingers together, an exasperated expression on his face.
"Hey boss! How come you're not cool like that?" Konohamaru asked loudly, pointing his finger.
"Ah! Hey w-what do you mean? I could have taken that guy out in three seconds flat!" Naruto said frantically, trying to reassure the younger boy.
Sakura sighed, she'd bet all her money that inwardly the blonde boy was having a meltdown about how Sasuke was trying to show him up again.
"Hey punk, get down here. You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up" Kankuro said angrily, reaching for one of the bandages on the mummy.
"W-what? Are you going to use the crow for this!?" The girl asked in horror. The mummy that had previous been strapped to Kankuro's back was now standing up against him, some of the bandages floating around in mid-air.
"Kankuro. Back off"
Sasuke froze immediately; the unknown voice sounded as though it was right next to him! Sakura quickly looked up and saw a red haired boy standing upside down on a tree branch next to Sasuke.
"Man, what's with all these freaks having objects stuck to their backs?" Naruto thought as he too noticed the upside down ninja who looked as though he had a giant peanut strapped to him.
"You're an embarrassment to our village" the red haired boy said in a monotone voice. Kankuro and the fan girl immediately looked terrified.
"Uh um hey Gaara" Kankuro said quietly, losing all the bravado from before.
How did he get there? He didn't make a sound? Only Jounin at Kakashi's level are that smooth Sasuke thought as he watched Gaara out of the corner of his eye.
"Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" Gaara uttered in a voice no louder than a whisper.
"I-I know. I mean they challenged us; they started the whole thing really. See here's what happened-"
"Shut up" Gaara said, cutting Kankuro off "or I'll kill you"
"Uh right. I was totally out of line and I'm sorry Gaara" Kankuro stammered his apology.
"I'm sorry for any trouble he caused" the red haired ninja spoke, directing the apology to Sasuke.
Suddenly Gaara disappeared in a whirlwind of sand and quickly reappeared next to Kankuro and his female teammate.
"Let's go, we didn't come here to play games" Gaara instructed.
"Uh, right. Sure I get it" Kankuro said and the three outsider ninja began to depart. Sakura watched them leave and made a snap decision.
"Hold it. Your headband clearly shows the mark of the village Hidden in the Sand. The land of Fire and Wind are allies, but no shinobi is permitted to enter another's village without permission. State your business" Sakura demanded.
"Really, have you guys all been living under a rock? You really don't know what's going on do you? We have permission" The girl with the fan said in a cocky voice, holding up a permission slip with photo ID. Sakura quickly scanned the form; the fan girl's name was Temari.
"Of course you're right, we are Hidden Sand Genin. Our home is the land of Wind and we're here for the Chunin exams. Get the picture?" Temari scoffed.
"The Chunin exams? What's that? I've never heard of anything like that, believe it!" Naruto asked confused.
"Oh I believe it all right, that you're totally clueless" Temari said clearly amused.
"They're the exams every Genin has to take in order to become a fully-fledged Chunin" Sakura explained with a tone of exasperation.
"Oh right! Why didn't you say so? I'm so there!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. Sasuke jumped down expertly from the tree and landed next to Sakura.
"Hey you! Identify yourself" the Uchiha prodigy called out to the Sand genin who were walking away.
"Hmm? You me mean?" Temari turned around, blushing. Sakura's eyes narrowed.
"No. The guy with the gourd on his back" Sasuke replied, ignoring Temari.
"My name is Gaara of the desert. I'm curious about you too, who are you?" Gaara answered, turning around to face the black haired boy.
"I am Sasuke Uchiha"
Both genin stood facing each other in a long drawn out silence. Sakura felt a pair of eyes on her and looked up to see Temari staring back at her.
"You there. You're a quick thinker. I'm Temari. Who are you?" the female Sand ninja asked confidently.
"I'm Sakura Haruno" Sakura smirked.
"Well Sakura, your boyfriend is very cute. You'll have to watch it once all the other female genin from the other lands get a look at him! I look forward to fighting you!" Temari called out rather cheerfully.
Sakura turned a light shade of red, it was pretty clear who Temari was referring to. Sneaking a quick look at Sasuke, she noticed the tips of his ears were a bright red. Before Sakura could correct the mistake, Naruto jumped in.
"Hey there! I bet you three are dying to know my name!" Naruto asked loudly.
"I couldn't care less" Gaara responded monotone before all three disappeared.
"Hey Konohamaru do I seem uncool or something?" Naruto crouched down and asked the young ninja.
"Yeah, compared to Sasuke you are pretty lame" Konohamaru responded. Naruto promptly began to freak out.
Unbeknown to Team 7, three mystery ninja had been hiding in a nearby tree listening to every word that had been said.
"What do you think Dosu?" one man asked
"The usual weaklings, nothing special. But the one from the Uchiha clan and that desert rat, we should watch them carefully" the other replied.
"WHY WHY WHY! IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME! HE SETS THE TIME AND WE HAVE TO WAIT HOURS FOR HIM! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Naruto bellowed at ear splitting volume.
Once again Team 7 were waiting at the bridge for Kakashi to make an appearance. After the confrontation with the Sand ninja yesterday, Sakura was sure she had slept for hours. But it felt like she hadn't slept in weeks.
At least with the information about the Chunin exams, Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry has taken a back seat, she thought to as she stood next to the Uchiha boy watching her blonde teammate go into meltdown.
"WHAT ABOUT MY FEELINGS? I RUSHED HERE SO FAST I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO BRUSH MY TEETH OR CHANGE MY UNDERWEAR!" Naruto screeched even louder. Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"You didn't… that's really gross Naruto" Sakura commented, crossing her arms in front of her.
"First thing in the morning and the dobe is screeching like a parrot" Sasuke thought, exasperated. "How can I do these useless tasks when there are other ninja out there to fight, like that Garra guy" stuffing his hands in his pockets Sasuke looked up sensing the arrival of Kakashi.
"Hey guys, good morning. Seems I once again took a wrong turn down the path of life" Kakashi greeted them.
"LIAR!" Naruto screamed.
"I know this seems a bit sudden, but I recommended you all for the Chunin exams. These are the application forms. It's all voluntary, up to each of you. If you don't feel ready you can wait until next year" Kakashi explained calmly, distributing the forms.
"All right! Kakashi-sensei you rock!" Naruto ran forward and hugged the silver haired man who tried to pry him off.
"Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the academy at 3pm five days from now. That's it" Kakashi declared and promptly departed leaving Team 7 to head home.
"Chunin exams! Chunin exams! Chunin exams!" Naruto repeated excitedly as he clutched his application form.
"I'll be up against a lot of really wicked ninja, like the guy with the mummy on his back! And of course, Mr Attitude" A huge grin immediately formed on the blonde ninja's face as he imagined his victories at the Chunin exams leading to him becoming Hokage.
I hope I get the chance to fight that guy, Sasuke thought, picturing Gaara's face in his mind.
Glancing at both her teammates, Sakura stopped walking completely. These exams were a daunting task and she didn't feel as confident as the others.
My training with Tsunade-sama has barely started and these exams are a major deal. Sasuke and Naruto are both as confident as ever but I'm not sure I'm ready. How far can these new skills really take me? I need to see Tsunade-sama, my training has to increase. I only have five days, Sakura thought and immediately departed for Konoha Hospital.
"Nurse I need those charts for patient in room 109 as soon as possible!"
"Where or where have those visitor forms gone!"
"Can anyone find the…uh… well, anything!"
The lobby of the hospital looked like a scene from a television drama. Nurses and doctors were screaming at each other, desks and draws were being turned inside out and upside down in an attempt to find items. It was utter chaos.
Wow this place is a total wreck, Sakura thought as she approached the receptionist desk.
The nurse manning the station was frantically rifling through a filing cabinet pulling out random folders and throwing them on the floor.
"Um excuse me? I was wondering if you could tell me where Lady Tsunade is." Sakura asked nervously as the nurse whipped around like a startled horse.
"Tsunade? You've seen her? Where where?" The nurse yelled, practically leaping over the desk and grabbed the pink haired ninja.
"N-no. I just wanted to know where she was!" Sakura stuttered and the nurse let go of her in disappointment.
"Oh, I thought she might be back early. As you can see we're a complete mess without her. She may have been rude, and violent and bossy but at least she was organised!" dashing back behind the desk, the nurse returned to her folder throwing.
Sakura stared at the woman quizzically, what did she mean by back early?
"I'm here in Konoha for the rest of the week on business before I leave for the Fire Country to act as their stand in head medic for a few months."
"Oh, right. She's in Fire Country for the next few months" Sakura said dejectedly, she really wanted her sensei around. Especially since there was such limited time to prepare for the Chunin exams.
"Months! Oh heavens no! This hospital wouldn't be standing if she were gone for months! They decided on somebody else to take the head medic position. But Lady Tsunade has gone to fill in for two days while the new person gets settled in. Apparently she was steaming mad she didn't get the job! But we need her, so she'll be back in two days!" The nurse trilled.
Feeling a little better, Sakura left the hospital and began making her way home. Two days was valuable practice time that she could use to her advantage, Sakura began mentally listing things she could do to prepare that she rounded the corner and crashed straight into Sasuke Uchiha.
"Um hi Sasuke, sorry about that I didn't see you" Sakura said, dusting herself off. Sasuke didn't say anything but stretched his hand out and helped her up.
"That's okay. I was looking for you anyway. Do you want to take a walk, just the two of us?" Sasuke questioned, staring at her intensely.
"Sure, I guess that's okay" Sakura replied and the two fell into step beside each other. Unsure of what to say, the pink haired teen kept her eyes to the ground but a question bubbled to the surface.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"I need to tell you to give up on the Chunin exams, there's no way you can pass them Sakura" Sasuke said in his monotone voice.
"What? You've got to be kidding me!" Sakura yelled outraged.
"Us! Pull out! No freaking way!" Inner Sakura seethed.
"These ninja are very advanced and they have no mercy, if you try to fight them you could lose your life" the Uchiha prodigy reasoned.
"Oh, wait. This means you're telling me this because you care about me!" Sakura exclaimed happily.
"Uh yeah, I guess that's true" Sasuke replied, a small smile gracing his face.
"Oh look two sweethearts! How touching!" A voice called, Sakura turned around to see a man wearing a straw hat holding a kunai knife.
"Get lost, unless you want to die" Sasuke growled angrily.
"Talk is cheap!" the mystery ninja yelled and leapt into the air.
Reaching into his pocket, the man threw three ninja stars at Sasuke who had already drawn his kunai knife and deflected them easily. The Uchiha boy then charged straight for the straw hat man who threw what looked like an umbrella. Sasuke hurled his knife straight into the umbrella which exploded into hundreds of kunai and rained down upon the black haired boy.
"SASUKE!" Sakura screamed and ran towards her teammate who was now lying face down in the dirt, kunai knives embedded throughout his body.
"That's exactly what'll happen to you if you take the Chunin exams little girl!" The straw hat man said arrogantly.
"Hmph. Yeah right. This has been really cute. A nice trip down memory lane. I'm no idiot, I saw right through your cheap genjutsu from the first moment. I'm not the same person I was in the academy, obsessing over Sasuke as if that were all that mattered!" Sakura spoke confidently.
"WHAT? Are you calling me a fool!" the straw hat man yelled angrily
"Clearly you've been sent here to try and throw me off applying for the Chunin exams but you've failed. I would challenge you right here and now but you're not really here. You're just an illusion; the real ninja ran away like a coward. You're wasting my time" Sakura retorted smugly.
"ARE YOU SURE I'M NOT AN ILLUSION!" the man yelled and threw his umbrella towards the pink haired teen, who promptly walked straight through it.
"Does that answer your question?" Sakura asked and began to walk away; when she looked back again the man was gone. Heading into the main part of the village the pink haired teen observed all the new ninja streaming in.
"Right, I have five days to pull everything I've learnt so far together. Bring on the Chunin exams!"