Walking into the building with her teammates Sakura could immediately tell that there was something wrong shrugging she remembered that they had to go to the third floor and pulls Naruto and Sasuke along behind her up the steps reaching the second floor she figured out what felt so wrong earlier the entire floor was encased in a gengutsu and two chakra signatures she and Naruto had gotten familiar with were standing in front of a door marked 302 which was wrong because it was the second floor.
"Hey Izumo, Kotetsu drop the gengutsu this is the second floor you baka's" Sakura called out shocking the two into dropping their henge and the gengutsu they were using to cloak the floor revealing that she was current "Sakura-chan spoil our fun" Kotetsu pouts while Izumo snickers at him "Well we are all kinda in a hurry and we don't have time to play around" Sakura responds seriously walking passed the two and the rest of the genins that had crowded around on the second floor.
"Hey you with the pink-hair halt" a lavender eyed boy steps in front of her glaring at them 'Hyuga' Inner supplies before fading just as quickly as she had appeared "Excuse me but we are in a hurry" Sakura tried to side step the boy but he was quick on his feet and again he was standing in her way "Alright what do you want Hyuga-san" she asks crossing her arms over her chest in irritation shock briefly shows in his eyes before becoming stoic "How did you know that it was a gengutsu" he asks struggling for words.
Sighing "I have an affinity for gengutsu" Sakura says simply shouldering passed him when he doesn't say anything else still pulling Naruto and Sasuke along behind her a green and black blur speed past her and again Sakura finds her path blocked by another boy "Yes" she snaps growing angrier by the minute clearly the boy wasn't expecting such hostility from her and steps back without saying anything and allows them to continue on their way undisturbed this time before they finally reach the third floor where Anko was waiting for them.
"I'm glad you guys decided to show up now get in there" Anko shoves them through the door and only by Sakura's grace do they not fall flat on their faces turning Sakura silently glared at the shut door before sighing again 'The day has barely begun and I'm already exhausted' Sakura thought noticing a silver-haired boy wearing glasses approach and she instantly felt uneasy about him so grabbing Naruto and Sasuke's hands she pulls them in the opposite direction feeling in her gut that she had to avoid that boy at all costs.
Growling in annoyance Kabuto retreats back to his teammates side eyeing the group of genin as they move closer to the sand team "Oh hey Gaara-san, Temari-san, Kankurou-san" Sakura greets after finding herself standing in front of the three of them "Hey Sakura" Temari grins throwing an arm over Sakura's shoulders and pulling her to sit in between her and Gaara who scooted over to give Sakura room to sit "Wasn't sure you would make it but here you are" Temari smiles gesturing for Naruto and Sasuke to sit as well but on the other side of Kankurou.
"Well gotta show everyone what we are made of" Sakura snickers feeling Gaara shift restlessly next to her and she turns her head to look at him in question but he wasn't looking at her he was looking at the boy she had avoided "Gaara-san are you alright" Sakura asks quietly in concern snapping out of his staring Gaara nods at her but doesn't say anything and the room falls into silence until the rest of the graduated genin from her class came barreling through the door Ino in the lead screeching at the top of her lungs.
'Sheesh that's something I'd expect from Naruto' Sakura sighs but otherwise remains quiet until she felt it Ibiki's oppressive chakra baring down on everyone as he poofs into existence in the room "Alright you maggots, Pipe down and listen up" he shouted looking around the room and spotting Anko's brats before settling his face into a glare that would make lesser shinobi wet themselves in fear especially the brats that littered the room fear filled the air and Ibiki smirks before ordering them to line up in front of him.
When Sakura is before him he hands her the slip of paper that would tell her which seat she was in before shooing her away causing everyone stare at him in shock glaring at the group they settle down again until everyone was seated quietly "The rules are very simple you have one hour to complete this test and when there is fifteen minutes left I'll give you the final question and no cheating if your caught cheating three times your out, Begin" Ibiki explains very simply before sitting down in the desk behind him to watch over the time.
Sakura found herself sitting next to Gaara who was staring blankly around the room as they as a whole turned over the sheets on the desk causing Sakura to hold back a snarl 'What the hell this test practically tells us to cheat' she looked over the test paper that held nine question, nine freaking questions that genin weren't supposed to understand 'Well there is one person our Shika-kun' Inner appears and Sakura peers out of the corner of her eye to stare at the lazy pineapple headed ninja she had a massive crush on.
Turning her attention back on the test she wonders briefly how Naruto and Sasuke were doing before picking up her pencil and begin answering the questions with ease next to her Gaara was still peering around the room with his third eye before jotting down answers he picked up from the other genin unknowingly avoiding Sakura after a few minutes he turns his test over at the same time Sakura does when she stiffens and flips her test back over before slumping over in her seat.
'Damn Ino-pig' Sakura resists turning around in her seat to glare at the blonde that had invaded her head to steal her answers only to be nudged out of her anger filled thoughts by Gaara and suddenly she had a thought "Hey Gaara" she whispered so softly he had trouble hearing her nodding his head he waits for what she would say next "Do you think you could somehow get this to Naruto" Sakura asks biting her lip and holding up a sheet of paper that had the answers on it.
Nodding he folds it in his sand and places the paper on the blondes lap before dismissing his sand and turning his attention on Sakura "It's done" he whispers back before falling silent and Sakura watches Naruto very carefully sighing in relief when he doesn't freak out about suddenly having a piece of paper with all the answers on it in his lap she waits a few more minutes before turning her gaze on Sasuke who seemed to be doing well enough on his own before laying head down and closing her eyes after turning her test paper over.
Time ticked by slowly as the scratching of pencils on paper picked up in earnest nearly lulling Sakura to sleep with the rhythmic tapping when a quick nudge to her side jerks her upright in her seat and she turns to stare at Gaara who had that damn sand out again and a smirk on his lips the first sign of emotion she had witnessed from the boy since she had met him glancing at the clock she realized how close she had come to missing the 45 minute mark of their one hour and she nods at Gaara gratefully who grunts softly in acquiesce before closing his eyes.
Finally at exactly 45 minutes Ibiki stands up again staring around the room at the left over genin before speaking "Its time for the tenth question you can choose to answer it and fail if it answered incorrectly or you can leave this room and try again in 6 months" he explains filling the room with his killing intent weeding out a few more genin three people were unfazed by this none more so than Sakura as she stared at Ibiki ignoring Gaara who was staring at her curiously before nodding a slight smile on her lips as she sat back unconcerned.
Seeing that Sakura was unconcerned Gaara also sat back to watch closely something was about to happen he could feel it all of a sudden Naruto raised his hand ever so slowly before slamming it down on his desk spooking the girl next to him as he shouted in his loudest voice yet "I don't quit and I don't run I'll still be Hokage someday even if I'm stuck as a genin for the rest of my life" Naruto shouts plopping back down in his seat after his announcement that seemed to have given the rest of the participants courage as they remained seated as well.
Staring around the room and seeing that no one else was gonna budge Ibiki speaks up "Congratulations you all pass to the second rounds" he says simply chuckling when some of the little genin grumble under their breath "Hey what about the tenth question" Temari pipes up Ibiki was about to answer when Sakura spoke up bravely "There wasn't a tenth question was there Ibiki-san it was a trick to see how many of us you could intimidate into leaving the exam room am I right" she asks smiling at him innocently.
"Anko has rubbed on you to much brat" Ibiki sighed rubbing a hand down his face not for one minute believing the innocent act as the woman her self comes flying into the room "Hey brats my name is Mitarashi Anko and I'll be your proctor for the next exam" she shouts eating a dango as sails into the room landing in a crouch to gaze around the room before turning around and pinning Ibiki with a glare "Hey what's the big idea Ibiki you let to many pass" Anko shouts before sighing in exasperation.
"Listen up brats tomorrow meet me at the entrance of the Forest of Death at exactly 5:00am if you don't show up your disqualified" Anko shrugs unconcerned when cries of outrage reach her ears at her announcement before allowing her eyes to scan the room until they rest on all three of her students nodding proudly she poofs away as the left over test takers file out of the room to head home and rest their heads Sakura hurrying after Shikamaru to talk with him about the test.
"Hey Shikamaru wait up" she called halting the boy in his tracks just outside the building "Yeah Sakura" Shikamaru turns to stare at her in question "What did you think about that test" Sakura asks as they walk side by side after she had caught up with him "It was troublesome" Shikamaru sighs out his favorite word "It was easy admit it Shikamaru" Sakura nudges him in the side with her elbow "What a drag fine it was easy you women are so troublesome" he rolls his eyes before falling silent as they walk together a bit longer before heading home and resting.
The next morning brought storms as Sakura padded her way down to the dining hall Shibi explains that the second part of the exams would continue when it was no longer raining and that the both of them should begin packing a bag for their 2 week stay in the forest of death not very good at packing Shino eyes his sister "Will you help me pack" he says simply and Sakura nods in acquiesce "Of course Shino" Sakura responds as she follows Shino up the stairs and into Shino's room.
Padding around her brothers room Sakura grabs a backpack from underneath Shino's bed and sits it on top of the covers before putting her hands on her hips "Is there anything specific you'd like to take" Sakura turns and looks at Shino who shrugs helplessly rolling her eyes she runs into her room which was next to Shino's and grabs a few of her sealing scrolls before heading back into Shino's to explain the scrolls and how to access them since he had skipped out on the explanation in favor of bug hunting that day so long ago.
"Alright Shino this is a sealing scroll" Sakura held up the unassuming scroll briefly before explaining further "They can store several objects inside and they are easy to access all you need to do is apply a little chakra and create a handsign and poof the items are out for you use and to reseal them use the same concept" she explains handing him a few empty scrolls for him to try out to which he does so immediately easily getting the concept of sealing and unsealing objects within the scroll.
"Ok Shino since you obviously don't have enough supplies for you and your teammates you can have some of my supplies" Sakura offers generously handing over 9 storage scrolls which were filled to the brim with food, pills, medical supplies, extra clothes if they needed not to mention anything else they may need in the forest "Sakura I can't take your supplies" Shino immediately turns down the offer "It's ok Shino your my brother besides I have plenty extra stored somewhere" Sakura admits sheepishly at Shino's questioning look.
"Nevermind that Shino siblings are supposed to help each other out right" Sakura huffs out staring at Shino until he nodded "Then take them" she thrusts the scrolls into Shino's hands and disappears out of his room and back down the stairs at a quick pace "Strange girl" Shino sighs softly before stuffing the scrolls in the pack that was stuffed fulled with even more items that he didn't think he would need but there was no chance in hell he was telling Sakura that after her little outburst.
Locating her dad Sakura slid into his office gracefully "Hey dad mind if I head out for a bit I have to go see Naruto real quick" she panted out in explanation realizing Sakura wouldn't stay away from Naruto no matter how much he warned her away from him Shibi nods his head "Alright Sakura but take an umbrella and don't stay out to long" he responds immediately after Sakura races out of his office calling a quick see you later over her shoulder before grabbing an umbrella and heading out of the Aburame Compound.
Speeding through the rain Sakura arrives at Naruto's apartment complex and takes the stairs two at a time until she was knocking loudly on his door a few minutes later the door cracks open before opening wider to show Naruto staring at her shock "Sakura-chan what are you doing here" Naruto pulls her into his apartment shutting the door quickly "I needed to grab a few more storage scrolls I gave mine to Shino" she explained huffing slightly before straightening and heading right for Naruto's little closet.
"Oh and I'm going to pack three scrolls in a bag for you and you better not forget it Naruto" Sakura warned after grabbing six scrolls 3 for her and 3 for Sasuke "I won't Sakura-chan" Naruto grinned at her before turning serious "I won't let you down" he swore to her and Sakura nodded "Ok Naruto anyways the bag is here by the front door I have to get back so see you tomorrow Naruto" Sakura waved heading back out into the rain speeding back towards the compound without stopping once and still getting soaked.
The maids welcomed her back even though she had been gone for at best 15 minutes and ran up the stairs to shower before hours later heading back down the stairs for dinner which afterwards when Sakura was in her room she put her backpack with all of her supplies in it by her door and laid down in her bed slowly drifting off to sleep her alarm clock woke her up the next morning at 4 and she jumped out of bed grabbing her pack and shoes and was out the door figuring she could eat later.
Along the way she met up with Sasuke and Naruto who were barely awake but still headed in the direction of the forest of death laughing Sakura takes their hands and pulls them along behind her again until they reached the area they were supposed to meet Anko-sensei in of course only a handful of people were there among those people were Gaara, Kankurou and Temari who upon seeing the three approached them Sakura could barely suppress her sigh when she realized that Ino was also there along with Shino who followed her quietly.
Running a hand through her hair Sakura was determined to ignore Ino when her wrist is caught and she looks up to find herself nearly nose to nose with Gaara "Oh hello Gaara-san" she greeted politely feeling sand enclose around her wrist not restricting but just there when Gaara let go of her wrist and walked away she was able to see a bracelet of sand around her wrist where he had been holding her and she smiles "Thank you Gaara-san" she calls out before turning to her shocked teammates.
Ignoring their gazes Sakura looks at the sky watching the clouds float by until she felt their sensei appear in the clearing "Alright listen up the rules are simple survive 2 weeks in the forest of death get a heaven and an earth scroll and make it to the tower in the center of the forest without dying you'll sign these sheets stating that you know that you could die and that responsibility won't fall on me then you'll get a scroll and get assigned to a gate until your let in" Anko states clearly in a foul mood.
Naruto seeing this mocks her and she throws a kunai at him cutting his cheek 'Oh Naruto you idiot' Sakura thought as their sensei appeared behind Naruto who smiled cheekily at her unafraid until a long tongue appears in her vision and Sakura follows it to a woman from the grass village 'Creepy' Inner pipes up before fading leaving Sakura to watch in morbid fascination wondering how the woman got her tongue to be that long it couldn't be anything else other than a jutsu Sakura concluded after a moment as the excitement died down.
Soon enough the three of them were partially hidden behind a portioned off booth if Sakura recalled correctly this was the same one Naruto and her built together before signing the sheet and was given an earth scroll before heading out of the booth Naruto and Sasuke on her tail as they head in the direction of their assigned gate to wait for them to open glancing back she see's Temari and her two brother headed in the opposite direction before refocusing her gaze in front of her until coming to a full stop in front of the gate.
Almost a full hour later the gate swings open and Sakura leads the way into the forest 10 minutes later screams echo around the forest and Naruto steps a little closer but otherwise continues following her through the tree's as they rush pass a group of enemy shinobi who doesn't notice them her gut telling her that they were in danger and Sakura charged on hoping to get further into the forest before night fell more screams sound around them and the three pick up their pace to be even faster than before.
30 miles into the forest the three are met with a wall of wind and are blown away from each other separated Sakura curses and reaches out with her chakra hoping that Naruto and Sasuke weren't to far away a minute later she feels nothing but emptiness and starts walking not wanting to summon Tomo just yet and reveal her jutsu to whoever was in the forest with them at the moment a whistling sounds from behind her and she doesn't have enough time to dodge a kunai comes flying at her.
Freezing Sakura stares in shock as the kunai is deflected by the sand on her wrist it comes to life for a moment before stilling once again to rest on her wrist comfortably now and that's when she feels the malevolent chakra ahead of her along with Naruto and Sasuke's chakra trapped in a genjutsu "Hey Gaara-san if you can hear me somehow or even feel me I need a little cover to save my teammates" Sakura whispers to the sand before charging into the clearing and breaking the two out of the genjutsu standing before them protectively.
A minute later the grass nin has barely anytime to react as her prey disappears from sight in a swirl of sand 'Thank you Gaara' Sakura smirks triumphantly before hiding all three of them underneath a tree and casting a genjutsu to mask their presence their before digging through her pack to grab one of her scrolls and unsealing it she grabs a chakra restorative pill and crushes them into practically dust before shoving the contents into a bottle of water and shaking it vigorously before making Naruto and Sasuke take a bottle each and drink it down.
"Where the hell did you learn that Sakura-chan" Naruto shrieks the minute he was done swallowing the last of his water only to have said girls hand slapped over his mouth hearing her hiss softly in his ear to be quiet or else he falls silent and finally spots the sand on her wrist that he hadn't seen earlier and realizes that Gaara was helping her somehow "It's Gaara isn't" Naruto asks grimly nodding Sakura releases Naruto from her hold and sits back down on her knees to stare at Sasuke who remained quiet thus far.
Orochimaru was angry that pink-haired brat had ruined his so carefully thought out plan as he dropped the disguise of the grass shinobi he had taken on so that he could get close to Sasuke reaching into his pouch he also discovered his heaven scroll missing 'When I find that little bitch' Orochimaru seethed silently stomping through the forest unafraid because nothing in this forest could harm him as he searched for the three sound genin that he had brought with him to test out Sasuke after he had given him the curse mark to tell them the change in plans.
Finding the genin he explains that they should hold off on testing Sasuke until later before locating Kabuto hoping that he had managed to make contact with Sasuke and had some valuable information for him when Kabuto had nothing to report except about the interference of the pink-haired girl who fled at his approach Orochimaru threw a tantrum and destroyed several tree's in the clearing before sighing in aggravation once again swearing that when he got his hands on the pink-haired girl she would die a most painful death.
Meanwhile Sakura was still staring at Sasuke waiting for him to say something when he doesn't she pulls out the two scrolls to wave them in front of the two boys mentally thanking Gaara again "Sasuke look what I have" she snickers when his eyes widen in surprise before the roll in annoyance "I don't want to even know" he sighs speaking up for the first time that morning before sitting up and stretching feeling his chakra slowly restoring as the food pill does its job soon Naruto and Sasuke were back at full strength.
"Ok guys I say we rest here for the night and then head straight for the tower tomorrow it should take us a few hours if we push ourselves and then we can rest for the rest of the time we have left sparring a little bit to keep up with one another practicing moves on each other and generally going over information" Sakura explains and both Naruto and Sasuke nod before pulling out their sleeping rolls and laying them on the ground all three of them huddle close together as night sets in and they fall into a light sleep.
The next morning they pack up and Sakura releases the genjutsu that had protected them during the night scanning the area she waits for a minute before gesturing for Naruto and Sasuke to follow her asking the sand to wrap around them just incase they ran into anymore trouble and as before as if the sand itself was obeying her it wrapped around a wrist on each boy and they travelled at high speed through the forest reaching the tower like Sakura had thought a few hours later.
Reaching the door that said Team Seven on it Sakura pushes it open and all three of them enter cautiously in case there was a trap waiting for them but when nothing happens after a few minutes they release a sigh of relief walking over to the chalkboard that had writing on it Sakura reads it before laying both scrolls on the floor and opening them and out came their sensei "Anko-sensei" they all exclaim who was staring at them in amusement and pride and also a little bit of shock.
"Congratulations you three now you can rest easy for the rest of the week" she says simply not knowing what else to tell them as she hadn't had much time to prepare a speech since the exam had only started yesterday afternoon and yet here her brats were standing before her looking a little tired but otherwise unharmed except for a few bruises on them that would surely fade before the time limit ended and the rest of the genin appeared at the tower "I'm proud of you three" Anko murmurs before disappearing with a pop she had work to do.
"Now what Sakura-chan" Naruto asks as they head further into the building "We wait its all we can do until other teams start to arrive" Sakura smiles at him before sitting down on one of the benches that lined the wall closes her eyes and just relaxes several minutes later Naruto and Sasuke watch as her breathing evens out and she slips into a deep restful slumber deciding to the same Sasuke covers Sakura up and lays her down on the bench putting a pillow beneath her head before laying down in their sleeping rolls and falling into a restful sleep unlike last night.
Meanwhile still hours away in the forest Temari and Kankurou were debating with one another as Gaara walked far ahead of them practically leaving them in the dust "It's weird he hasn't had an outburst since we came to this village" Temari huffs quietly "I believe it's by being around Sakura she is soothing to the beast inside of him and it's bringing forth emotions that he had long ago buried with our uncles death" Kankurou says scratching his head in confusion finding no other way to explain what was happening to their little brother.
"Temari, Kankurou pick up your pace" Gaara orders suddenly and soon they are flying through the tree's at a faster pace finally reaching the tower and being greeted by Baki who congratulates them on making it through the forest before leading them out of the room and down a hall only for the four of them to stop in shock at the sight that was before them Naruto was rolled under a bench pressed into the wall while Sasuke sandwiched him in and Sakura lay on the bench all of them peacefully asleep.
"Should we wake them" Kankurou whispers stepping forward only to be stopped by a wall of sand "No let them sleep" Gaara's deep voice resonates through the almost empty building as he settles himself on the floor next to Sakura's head and closes his eyes the picture of relaxation but Temari, Kankurou and Baki knew better and if anyone dared to bother the sleeping kunoichi there would be hell to pay from Gaara because for some freaking reason he had gotten attached to the girl and he was being fiercely protective over her.
Settling down as Baki leaves them Temari and Kankurou fall asleep quickly as well the next morning dawned bright and Sakura woke early briefly wondering how she had ended up laying down until she realized the blanket and pillow and looked down seeing Naruto and Sasuke below her on the floor before stretching looking around Sakura is shocked to find Gaara and his siblings there as well and she wondered what they had missed while her and her teammates had been sleeping.
Sensing Sakura was awake and moving around lightly Gaara opened his eyes to stare at her he was about to speak when another team comes through the door and stops and stares at the 6 of them in aggravation well one did the other two were rather passive one showed concern and the other just stared curiously before shrugging and sitting down as far away as possible this caused Sakura to roll her eyes and slip off the bench hands on her hips "Is that anyway to greet your sister Shino" she looked at the boy sighing in exasperation when he doesn't say anything.
Upon hearing Sakura's voice the four that were still asleep woke and stood up stretching Naruto and Sasuke glaring at each other each blaming the other for rolling to close in their sleep and Sakura turns her emerald gaze onto her teammates effectively stopping their argument right in it's tracks before sighing again and sitting donw when the two move out of her way "What do we down now Sakura-chan" Naruto asks curiously "Now, now we wait Naruto" Sakura pats his hand tenderly it was going to be a long two weeks she thought pouting.