When the three standing in front of her don't fall silent after a few minutes of still talking excitedly to one another Anko feels her temper rising and before they could get out of range she whacks them over the head "Be quiet you brats" Anko seethes her aura suffocating them as they finally fall silent "Good now it's a few months before the actual nominations and I've been alerted by a scarecrow that I need to work with one of you" she glares hard down at Sasuke while Sakura holds back a laugh.
"And as for you two" Anko turns her stare onto Naruto and Sakura her eyes softening "You'll be helping out around the village" Anko grins and Naruto almost groans but stops himself at the last minute when he see's Sakura shaking her head for him not to complain "Right now report in to Lord Hokage and give him this scroll and he'll tell you what you need to do and No slacking off" Anko barks out dismissing them with a wave of her hand after handing the scroll to Sakura and not to Naruto knowing he would somehow lose it.
"Come on Naruto" Sakura huffs pulling him along by the hand as worrying sounds come from behind them soon arriving at the Hokage Tower the two are ushered directly into the Hokage's office where he had been apparently waiting for them "Well Naruto, Sakura it looks like you'll be helping shinobi traveling in from different countries around the village and showing them where they'll be staying consider this a C-ranked mission it's very important" Hiruzen smiles at the two genin that were showing a lot of promise.
"Ah here Lord Hokage" Sakura hands over the scroll their sensei had given her and he opens it scanning it's contents before sighing 'I am definitely getting to old too be doing this' Hiruzen thinks before stamping the scroll and handing it back over to Sakura who stares at it in confusion "It's a report scroll everyday I'm supposed to stamp it" he explains to the confused girl who changed her expression into one of understanding "Head to the village gates Kotetsu and Izumo with brief you" Hiruzen dismisses them puffing on his pipe.
Trudging out of the Hokage's office Sakura and Naruto book it to the Village Gates where Izumo and Kotetsu were already waiting for them "Alright now we'll handle the easy part here's a map to each teams hotel and their room" Kotetsu speaks up handing the items to Sakura "Once they have signed in you'll escort the teams from different villages to the Hotel or around the village if they so choose and at the end of the day you'll report back here and remember if anything happens to them it will cause a international problem between villages" Izumo warns this time.
"Yes sir" Sakura bows her head pulling Naruto off to the side as a group of Rain Ninja come through the village gates after they are signed in Izumo gestures them over to Naruto and Sakura and so the long day began "We'd like to go to our hotel" the Rain Jonin snaps and Sakura jumps to her feet bowing low while dragging Naruto with her "Of course right this way" she smiles sweetly glancing briefly at the map and heading in the direction of the hotel the Ame Ninja had been assigned to.
They repeated the process of escorting Ninja from all over to their hotels several times that day after Ame was Grass then Stone, Mist, Sound, Lightning and so on until the only Village left was Sand the sun was swiftly going down as the minutes ticked by and still there was no sign of the Sand Ninja finally several meters ahead a group of four appeared and Sakura could almost cheer because that meant they were almost done with their mission because it was the Sand Ninja they had been waiting for, for hours.
"Please sign in" Kotetsu gestured to the clipboard repressing a shiver as the red-head in the group stared at him before throwing a hand out and pointing in Sakura and Naruto's direction wiping some sweat of his forehead when the group moves in that direction "Come on Naruto" Sakura pulls him up by his arm again bowing low for what felt like the millionth time that day "I assume you are our escorts if so take us to our hotel room please" Baki frowned they were just children but looks were deceiving he thought glancing at Gaara.
"I'm sure it's been a long day and if you would please follow us we will get you right to your hotel Sir" Sakura smiles nicely feeling as if her face would fall of with how much she had smiled that day before taking off in the direction of their hotel no longer needing the map as she had long ago memorized the directions earlier that day after a few minutes of travelling through the village they arrive at a hotel and Sakura leads them through the door Naruto and the Sand team following her through.
Getting the keys from the Inn-keeper she turns and smiles one last time before handing a key to each person pausing when the red-head stares at her blankly before wishing them a goodnight and dragging Naruto out the door back to Izumo and Kotetsu "Alright our job is done for the day right" Sakura asks panting in exhaustion "Yeah your free to go just don't forget to report into Lord Hokage in the morning" Kotetsu waves them off without looking up from the clipboard he was studying so intently.
The next day Sakura and Naruto arrive in the Hokage's office again and watch as he stamps the scroll before handing it back over "Today you two will be helping the Sand Team they've requested you to escort them around the village for the day" Hiruzen peers at Naruto and Sakura briefly before dismissing them "Ok Naruto remember no insulting them and if you even think about opening your mouth" he saw Sakura raise her fist and shake it at Naruto threateningly before the door closed cutting off the rest of the conversation Hiruzen chuckled.
Opening the door to the hotel Sakura looks around and spots three of the four sitting at a table in the back and she walks up to them confidently "Ah it's pinky and blondie" the one wearing the cat hoodie jokes and Sakura's eye twitches before deciding that it wasn't the worst thing she had been called before looking at Naruto who remains silent 'Phew' Inner sighs in relief before fading into the recesses of Sakura's mind "Ah so you're here then" the Sand Jonin appears behind them causing Naruto to flinch at the sudden appearance.
"Right we'd like to see the sights" Baki explains to Sakura who nods "Of course" she smiles sweetly at him as his team rises from the table "This way please" Sakura gestures before leading them outside "Is there anything specific you'd like to see" she asks enquiringly "The Stone-faces" Baki says before falling silent "Alright just follow me" Sakura sighs in relief that it was something simple at first before leading them to the base of the mountain and up the long flight of stairs Naruto dragging behind them.
After 273 steps they finally reach the top becoming level with the Hokage Stone Faces and Baki appreciates them silently while Gaara, Kankurou and Temari wander around "Hey pinky what's your name" Temari calls out to the other female causing everyone to pause "Ah it's Sakura and this is Naruto" Sakura gestures to Naruto who was staring off into distance "Well I'm Temari the eldest sibling next is Kankurou" she points to the boy wearing the cat-hoodie "And then there's Gaara" Temari gestures at the red-head standing on the other side of Baki.
"Well it's nice to finally get your names" Sakura smiles again moving forward when Baki gestures for her to come closer "Sakura-san do you know all the histories of each of your Hokage's" he asks when she's in range and Sakura nods Naruto perking up in interest and inching closer while the others crowd around gesturing for them to sit Sakura gracefully folds her legs underneath her "Which Hokage would you like to know about" she asks politely "All of them if you will" Baki answers in interest.
"Well there's the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju he was known as the god of Shinobi extremely talented at a young age and the only known user of Wood Style along with being the first Medical Ninja" Sakura ticks off "He had three brothers two of which were killed, it is known that he befriended Madara Uchiha at a young age and created the Hidden Leaf Village and became the first Hokage causing other villages to rise and the fighting to settle down" she recites the information she had read before taking a deep breath.
"Ah also the Uchiha and Senju clans were mortal enemies until the Leaf Village was formed but Madara left for unknown reasons, he married Mito Uzumaki who later became the first tailed beast host for the nine tailed fox not much else is known and few Senju remain such as Tsunade Senju his granddaughter who is one of the Legendary Sannin" Sakura finishes looking around seeing Naruto staring at her in awe and the others were just blinking except for Gaara who was still staring at her blankly like yesterday.
"Any questions" she asks patiently "How did he die" Gaara asks in a deep voice "Not much is known some say he died naturally and some others say he was poisoned by an assasin" Sakura explains easily having also had the same question but had never found a true answer and she was as much in the dark as anyone else was "Anyways would you like to hear the history of the other Hokages now" She grins at the group gathered around her and it was clear to anyone that she was obviously in her element.
Baki nods "Alright the Second Hokage was Tobirama Senju the only brother of Hashirama Senju to have survived the war between the Uchiha and Senju he was the one who gave the Uchiha the position of policing the Leaf Village he also created the Impure World: Reanimation Jutsu along with developing the teleportation jutsu he taught the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi along with his teammates Kagami Uchiha and Danzou Shimura he was known for being extremely skilled at Water Jutsu" Sakura paused here taking a deep breath before continuing.
"Not much else is known about him other than his death during a treaty signing ceremony between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud two rogue ninja by the names of Ginkaku and Kinkaku attacked and before the Second Hokage died he passed on the title of Hokage to Hiruzen Sarutobi" she finished again leaning back on her arms waiting for the others to take in the information she had imparted on them "Go on" Temari announced eagerly and Sakura nodded before taking another deep breath.
"Ok well I've already told you about the First and Second Hokage's so there's the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi trained by the Second Hokage like I said and became Hokage when Tobirama sacrificed himself as a decoy he trained the 3 Legendary Sannin Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade Senju he made a pact with the Monkey Summons married Biwako Sarutobi and had two children one of which has a child by the name of Konohamaru" she breathed out subtly shifting uncomfortably before continuing.
"He stepped down and passed on the title of Hokage to the Fourth Hokage but when the Fourth Hokage died he stepped up and retook the title of Hokage his other son is Asuma Sarutobi currently a genin instructor" Sakura sighs again shifting when sand lifts her up and she flings her head up to stare at Gaara in shock apparently it was just as shocking to the others as they immediately started edging away from him and her Kankurou pulling a resisting Naruto along with him.
When nothing else happens the others settle down still gazing at Gaara warily "I'd like to hear about this Fourth Hokage" his deep voice speaks up again causing the others to tense but not Sakura who smiles sheepishly before launching into another long explanation "Ah well the Fourth Hokage was known as the Yellow Flash of the Hidden Leaf Village his true name is unknown and it's forbidden to try to find out but there is some information on him" Sakura starts off sighing in frustration causing the others to chuckle excluding Gaara.
"Anyways he made a pact with the Toads of Mount Myoboku and was trained by Jiraiya one of the Legendary Sannin he developed an A-ranked Jutsu known as the Rasengan people feared him on the battlefield because of his knickname he was fast and adapted the teleportation jutsu into formula and whenever he touched someone that formula was left on them and their death was swift hence the knickname Yellow Flash" she explains further dredging up all the information she had found on the Fourth Hokage.
"12 years ago he sacrificed himself to protect the Leaf Village from the Nine-tailed foxes rampage" Sakura finishes as they stand from their seated positions stretching as Gaara retracts the sand he had used to cushion Sakura's knees so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable before Sakura could ask where they would like to go next an irritating voice yells out to her "Hey Forehead I see you've been demoted to babysitting so who's the freaks" Ino yells and Sakura cringes and instantly jumps forward in defence.
"Ino that's enough don't you have anything better to do than to antagonize me and I wouldn't insult them" Sakura snaps standing in front of them defensively anger radiating from every pore "Aww is Forehead gonna cry" Ino laughs wiping tears out of her eyes in her mirth "No but you will be Ino if you don't shut up because I'll go to Lord Hokage and tell him that you insulted his guests" Sakura cocks her head to the side in contemplation while glaring hard at the blonde-haired girl that had annoyed her from the very moment they had met.
Paling at the implication Ino takes a good look at the group standing behind Sakura and notices their Forehead Protectors had a different symbol on them indicating they were from a different Village "I'm sorry" Ino stutters out taking a very large step back ignoring Sakura's warning that she was close to the edge of the cliff and takes another as Sakura takes a step forward this goes on until Ino steps right off the edge and plummets back down closing her eyes Ino feels tears fall from her eyes.
"Damnit" Sakura curses out loud jumping over the cliff side gathering chakra in the soles of her feet and running as fast as she could down the rocky mountain till she was even with Ino and reaching out grasps the other girls arm while using her other arm to come to a slow stop dangling on the side of the mountain now she hefts Ino onto her back and refocuses chakra into her feet and climbs back up the mountain irritated that she had to waste time saving Ino when it was Ino's fault she had ignored her warnings after all.
Breaching the top of the cliff Sakura hefts Ino up over the cliff side and pulls herself up well she would have if it weren't for the sand now holding her up a moment later she was set down "Thank you Gaara-san" she smiles kindly at the red-head before nudging Ino none to gently "Hey wake up" Sakura growls smacking Ino's forehead "I'm not dead" is the first thing out of Ino's mouth and she stares up at Sakura in shock "You saved me forehead" Ino asks feeling sick when Sakura nods frowning deeply.
Pulling Ino to her feet Sakura sighs "You should go Naruto and I still have to take them around the village" she explains and Ino runs off taking care this time as she hurried down the steps Sakura watched her go before turning around and addressing Baki "So where to next" she asks "How about the Tea Shop" Temari pipes up and Baki nods in acquiesce "It's this way" Sakura gestures before heading back down the steps leading the group of five to the center of town towards the tea shop Anko was so fond of.
Arriving they find the shop in chaos as per the usual but it abruptly stops when Sakura and Naruto enter with a group of Sand Shinobi causing Sakura to smile in amusement and turn to Naruto "Looks like Anko-sensei isn't the only one who can stop fights now huh Naruto" she laughs softly causing Naruto to chuckle as they move as a group towards a newly vacated table "It's my treat for the day" Sakura says casually repeated the words Anko had said to them many times after their training sessions.
"Alright then 12 orders of dango's and 6 green tea's" Baki says and Sakura nods waving over a waitress after telling the waitress their order Sakura sits back and scans the place cautiously before settling down deciding there was no threat for the moment or maybe there was as Anko comes flying through the curtain of the shop Sasuke in tow covered in cuts and bruises and whoever knows what else she stops upon seeing Sakura and Naruto sitting at a table with a group of four she had never seen before and smiles at them.
Seeing that smile so reminiscent of Sakura's, Naruto shifts nervously ready to bolt if things got to freaky for his tastes internally lamenting the fact they hadn't asked to go too the ramen shop instead turning around noticing the expression on both of their guides faces Baki notices the purple-haired woman and another boy following behind her as they headed for their table and sits down next to Sakura 'Ah that must be their sensei' he reasoned already guessing why they looked like that now.
"I'm Anko these brats Sensei" Anko introduces herself to the older male before turning to stare at her students curiously "We are escorting Baki-san and his students around the village at his request" Sakura speaks up fearlessly causing everyone to hold their breath only to release it when Anko laughs and pats Sakura on the back harshly wondering how the girl could withstand it but they weren't that curious to find out and they returned to their tasks or returned to eating and chatting when it appeared there wouldn't be anymore outbursts.
Soon enough Baki's order appears and the group of 6 minus Anko and Sasuke who had ordered their own food dug into the sweet dumplings and began sipping at their own tea a few minutes later all the dango had been ate and tea had been drank and Sakura was paying and they were headed out the door of the tea shop Naruto waving to Anko and Sasuke who were still eating "Where to next" Sakura asks "How about to a training field" this time Kankurou pipes up and again Baki nods and they were off to the nearest training field.
Arriving they find it empty and Sakura nods in relief before throwing her arms open wide "Here we are" she smiles widely gesturing at the field behind her "Hey Sakura spar with me" Temari grins at Sakura who nods in acquiesce leaving Naruto to stretch alone looking a little put out until Kankurou approached with the same offer and glee lit up his face before he raced ahead of Kankurou to a different spot far away from the girls who were already stretching warming up for their friendly spar.
Hours later a group of 6 filtered into the hotel they had left behind earlier that morning four of the shinobi exhausted while two were ready to lay down in a bed Sakura grins at Temari thanking her for the spar before bidding the group goodnight and heading home while Naruto went in the opposite direction to do the same the next day found Naruto and Sakura back at the Hokages office waiting for him to give them their orders after stamping their scroll for the third time.
"Today you will be helping Instructors set up for the Chunin exams report down to the Torture and Interrogation office and Ibiki Morino will give you further instructions" Hiruzen dismisses them silently wondering when the duo would begin complaining about the tasks they were being forced to undergo sighing Sakura drags Naruto along behind her and heads straight for Ibiki's office already knowing where to go because Anko-sensei had a tendency to hang out there when she was late for training and they all had to go retrieve her.
Entering the department Sakura makes a beeline straight for Ibiki's office and knocks on the door before gaining admittance "Ah Anko's brats" Ibiki looks up noticing them as Sakura closes the door "Where's the other one" he asks questioningly causing Naruto to start laughing "He's under going stamina training with Anko-sensei" Sakura snickers out from behind her hand before staring at Ibiki innocently and Ibiki not believing her innocent act for even a moment because of the mischevious gleam in her emerald green eyes.
"Alright you two brats your job is to go around and make sure the forest of death is being set up properly as I am much to busy to be bothered and if anyone gives you trouble show them this" Ibiki explains before thrusting a small into Sakura's hand and pushing the both of them out of his office before slamming the door shut and sound-proofing the room so he would have no more interruptions while he tried to work outside the door Sakura was huffing in exasperation and Naruto was blinking in surprise.
Tempted to turn around and kick the door Sakura gave a long suffering sigh before pulling Naruto out of the T&I department building and straight towards the Forest of Death where there were several people setting up booths and making scrolls and sheets heading towards the nearest person Sakura showed the scroll to him before being pointed over to "Kakashi-senpai" Sakura and Naruto exclaim in surprise as they rush over to him causing several people to stop and stare at the duo at their shout.
"Naruto, Sakura what are you two doing here" Kakashi asks staring down at the two genin that had impressed him "Ah well Anko-sensei is training Sasuke and as we have plenty of stamina we've been assigned to helping out with the chunin exams" Sakura huffs out showing Kakashi the scroll Ibiki had given them "Well we need help building another booth" he says simply showing them to the a pile of lumber and giving the two instructions on how to build it not that they would have much trouble with it anyway.
Bending down Sakura tries to pick up one of the pieces of wood but try as she might she couldn't Sakura could already feel sweating pouring down the back of her neck and her hair sticking to her forehead standing up she sighed before bending down again to try again when she felt something wrap around her torso looking down Sakura saw sand wrapping around her torso and her arms and this time she easily hefted the large piece of lumber successfully carrying it over to Naruto and start building the booth.
Sakura only knew one person who used sand and as soon as they were done there she was going to find him and thank him profusely for the help he had given her not to mention treat him to whatever he wanted to eat running back over to the wood she again grabbed a piece and hefted it back to their booth nailing it into the other pieces before building a little table which was soon filled with people placing curtains around it and blocking it off looking around Sakura made sure that everyone was still working.
Satisfied Sakura and Naruto walk back over to Kakashi for more instructions to which he waves them off telling them they were done taking this chance Sakura smiles and bows before rushing back to the T&I department handing in their report to Ibiki before separating Sakura had a mission and she was going to complete it 'Hmmph he could make this a little easier on us' Inner pouts throwing another tantrum causing Sakura to shake her head and almost ram into the person she was looking for if it wasn't for the wall of sand blocking her way.
"Gaara-san" Sakura exclaims looking at the boy quizically when he stands there staring at her "Ah right thank you for the help earlier and I'll treat you to whatever you'd like to eat" she bows at the waist politely before rising into an upright position after a few minutes to find him still staring at her "Um Gaara-san" Sakura asks after a moment "That shop from yesterday" he says simply allowing Sakura to lead him back to the Tea and Dango shop to have a quiet meal before disappearing in a swirl of sand.
'That guy is strange but also very cute' Inner snickers 'But Shika-kun is still cuter' Inner sighs fanning herself dramatically causing Sakura's cheeks to heat up in embarassment and shove Inner into a mental box and lock it tightly before heading home for the night to shower and rest up before the next day to which they repeated the process again and again until finally it was time for the chunin exams to which Anko nominated all three of them for their hard work in training and helping around the village.
"Congratulations you guys you're officially entered into the chunin exams tomorrow go to this building and remember either you enter as a team or fail as a team" Anko told them extremely proud of her three little genin and she just knew that each of them would make it to chunin level in no time especially with her training before dismissing the three with a wave so they could go home and get some rest for the upcoming exams before heading to her favorite dango shop to eat some dango like usual.
The next day Sakura woke early and showering and packing some supplies she headed to the door meeting Shino and their father there it was errily reminiscent of the day they graduated and became genin before ushering them out the door with a good luck Sakura easily found Naruto and Sasuke and she ran up to them "Well Naruto, Sasuke this is it this is where it's determined whether or not we become chunin or are stuck as genin for the rest of our lives" Sakura gulped before grabbing their hands and pulling them towards the next challenge determination clear in her emerald green eyes.