Sakura can feel the trickle of sweat down her back as she waits for the exam to start alongside her teammates.
It won't be long now.
"Ne, ne, ne, what is the plan once we are inside the forest?"
Sakura hears Naruto ask.
Sakura, however, is far too busy conspicuously glancing at the Grass-nin who can only be Orochimaru, to answer Naruto's question.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto addresses her specifically this time and Sakura turns her attention towards her friend, who is looking at her with inquiry in his eyes.
"I think it's best to avoid any kind of water source. For certain, a lot of people will be aiming to camp there, but there will also be people waiting to ambush the teams if they go anywhere near any large body of water. So we will have to travel towards the tower swiftly and steal the scrolls from the people we encounter," she says to him.
"That's a good plan, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaims enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Sasuke merely responds with a "Hn," and a nod to Sakura's statement.
If she is still her old self, Sakura would have squealed in joy upon hearing Sasuke's response, even a noncommittal one. However, Sakura is different now and mature for her age. She no longer doesn't care about Sasuke's opinion of her, except perhaps if it comes to their survival.
"What about you Sasuke? Any suggestions?" Sakura asks, her eyes narrowing on the Uchiha.
"I think it's best that you carry the scroll, Sakura. The other teams will expect the scroll to be carried by the strongest of us. They won't expect to see it with you." Sasuke tells her.
Sakura feels her hackles rising at the Uchiha's implication.
I am the weakest link, am I? She thinks angrily. I will show you who's the weakest soon enough.
"Alright Sasuke-kun. I will take the scroll," Sakura says with a false sense of sweetness.
A moment later, they hear the examiners signal for the exam to start and they are soon off into the Forest of Death.
.
.
.
Not even thirty minutes later into the Forest that Naruto goes off for a bathroom break. Sakura decides to watch Naruto's back while he does his business with Sasuke begrudgingly tagging along. Not soon after that they are attacked by the Grass-nin.
This time, however, Orochimaru shows himself sooner than Sakura expects by flooding the area with killing intent.
"Ara, ara, what do we have here?" Orochimaru says the moment he appears in front of them.
From the corners of her eyes, she can see Naruto and Sasuke frozen in fear. She can also see them sweating due to the suffocating killing intent.
Meanwhile, Sakura is not as affected by Orochimaru's overwhelming presence and decides to act instinctively.
She starts gathering chakra in her fist as she glares at the snake sannin.
When she has enough chakra gathered in her fist, she moves quickly before the snake sannin can attack them with his snake summons.
"SHANNARO!" Sakura yells and punches the ground without hesitation.
In an instant, the nearby landscape is decimated. The earth ripples outward and cracks while the trees topple over the destroyed ground. Sakura sees Orochimaru leaping away from fissuring earth while she takes this opportunity to escape.
With the Sannin taken off guard, Sakura grabs a hold of Sasuke and Naruto and shunshins away from there. Her unused muscles strain from the effort as she runs away from the sannin.
She hopes that her enhanced speed is enough to give them time to get ahead of Orochimaru. However, she knows that augmenting her leg muscles with chakra isn't enough to stop the sannin.
She continues to run with both Naruto and Sasuke propped on her shoulders.
"Sakura, put us down!"
Sakura hears Sasuke's order and she grits her teeth before she says to him.
"Not yet Sasuke. We are not far enough from Orochimaru!"
"Orochimaru? Who's that?" Naruto asks from her left shoulder.
"The person who is about to attack us earlier. He is one of the sannin," she informs Naruto.
"How did you know that was Orochimaru?" Sasuke asks in agitation while Sakura continues to leap from tree to tree.
She can hear the tree branches splintering every time she lands on the limbs due to the chakra on her legs. By this point, Sakura can feel her underdeveloped muscles working excessively from her enhanced speed. She also cycles limited chakra on her back and shoulders to support her team mate's weights.
"Because I saw his snake summons that was about to attack us." Sakura tells them.
With her emotions running high, Sakura can feel the throbbing pain just behind her eyes. She is also puzzled to feel the chakra accumulating there and in her forehead too.
"Just put us down, Sakura. I think we are far enough from the Grass woman at this point." Sasuke tells her angrily.
"I will put you down until we are safe Sasuke," Sakura responds in irritation.
At her words, Sasuke starts to struggle in her hold and Sakura curses.
"Sakura! I said to stop right now and put us down!" Sasuke demands. "I don't like to be carried like I am a damsel in distress here!"
Sakura growls in annoyance but does what Sasuke says. She dumps him unceremoniously on the ground while she sets Naruto on his feet.
"We better move quickly before Orochimaru catches up to us." She tells them at once.
"Why would he come after us? And why would he be in this exam?" Sasuke scowls at her.
"Because he's after something," Sakura responds. "We need to leave now. We also need to contact any jounin and inform them about Orochimaru."
"Now wait just a minute Sakura. Can you at least explain to us how you know all of this? And when did you learn to fight like that?"
"I can explain everything to you later Sasuke!" She snaps at him. "But for now, just trust me on this and listen to what I have to say!"
However, before either of the three can say anything else. They sense the arrival of another nin and Sakura snaps forward quickly and strikes down the shuriken aimed at her from the trees.
"That was a bit of a surprise. I didn't know that there is a mini Tsunade in Konoha," says the sibilant voice from all around them and Sakura narrows her eyes to pinpoint where the voice is exactly coming from.
She zeroes on the spot to her left just as Sasuke throws a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it in that direction.
"RUN!" Sakura shouts.
A second later, the bomb explodes as they are trying to escape.
"I don't think so!" She hears Orochimaru say as he appears to block their escape path.
AN: Thanks so much to those who reviewed, favorited and followed. I really do appreciate your support. Like I said before, this fic is going to be self-indulgent and will be written in drabble like form. I hope you understand. Thanks once again!