She was the last one to arrive at the Academy.
Her red qipao dress and thin shorts were absent. In their place were black leggings, an opaque mesh shirt, with a short-sleeved hooded jacket that fell to her hips and zipped up the front in a lighter navy blue. She also wore black fingerless gloves with a metal deflector across the knuckles. The weapons pouches she had strapped to her thigh were larger and of better quality, and she had two more pouches attached to her belt as well.
Naruto eyed her hair pulled back into a neat bun at the back of her head and only the shortest of her bangs framing her forehead. Her hitae-ate was no longer holding back her hair but was instead tied around her throat.
"You look different," Naruto exclaimed when she joined them.
"I've been meaning to get proper shinobi made clothes for a while," she said. "Hadn't had the chance until now." Sasuke looked her over and sneered. He immediately started walking towards the entrance. "Guys, wait a minute," she said and they both turned to look at her impatiently. "When we go in there, don't get cocky, don't go mouthing off, let's just keep to ourselves and keep our skills quiet. We've only been genin for six months, there are other genin teams that have been together for years and they trump us on experience. We should watch and wait."
Sasuke scoffed and even Naruto had a small frown on his face.
"But Sakura how are we to know if we're better than them if we don't challenge them?" he asked petulantly.
"You'll get your chance to fight Naruto, just, just don't do it immediately. A good ninja gathers all the intel they need before they fight so as to give themselves the advantage." Naruto's face cleared and he gave her a wide smile.
"Oh, okay." He fell into step with her and they walked behind Sasuke who clearly had no intention of associating with them if he didn't have to. Sakura didn't know what his problem was. He had been fine before their mission to Wave when they were bonding as a team, when they were trying to find out what Kakashi-sensei looked like underneath his mask. But Wave changed him. He pulled away, became more caustic in his interactions with them.
He could have had an epiphany like she had, but that didn't excuse him for his cruel and demeaning arrogance he projected at anyone he thought beneath him. His problem was that he thought everyone was beneath him. He had no time for those he deemed weak and scoffed at the thought that they ever could improve enough to be on his level.
She couldn't believe that she'd once liked him and she was glad that she'd come to her senses sooner rather than later. They climbed up to the second floor in silence and walked directly into a crowd. There was a very light genjutsu layered over the area that had tricked them all into thinking that they were on the third floor instead of only the second.
Sakura grabbed Sasuke's arm and tugged them both around the edges of the crowd. "Ignore them," she hissed with a glare, and subtly broke them both out of the genjutsu when they opened their mouths to protest. Sasuke glared at her in return and ripped his arm out of her grip but he stayed silent and led them towards the stairs on the other side of the room.
"Hey where are you three going!" someone yelled out drawing attention to the three of them.
Sasuke smirked and leaned over the railing. "To the third floor. Sakura spotted the genjutsu immediately, she's the best analytical mind on our team," he boasted and she wanted to kill him for painting a target on her back after she'd specifically asked him to keep their skills quiet.
She pinched his arm hard and scowled at him when he merely brushed her touch off and smirked back at her before he climbed the rest of the stairs, leaving her and Naruto behind.
The hallway outside the correct room was clear except for Kakashi who was lounging against the far wall, a familiar orange covered book in hand.
"Well well," he said looking up as they approached him. "You've managed to pass the first test which was getting here, and you all showed up which means you can all go and formally register for the exams."
"What do you mean sensei?" Naruto asked.
"Only groups of three can apply for and take the exams. That's the way it's always been."
"But you said the decision to take the exam was up to the individual. Are you saying if Sakura had decided she wasn't ready, none of us would have been able to take the exam?" Sasuke growled.
"Well it is an individual decision but it affects all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you or Naruto to pressure her. At the same time I didn't want Sakura feeling that she had to participate because of any feelings she might have for either of you. I wanted you all to come to a decision on your own. It's a moot point because you're all here and for the right reasons. I'm proud of you. I couldn't ask for a better team. Good luck."
Like usual he disappeared in a puff of smoke and Sasuke took the opportunity to push the doors open and step into room 301. Naruto bounced in after him and froze just inside the door. Sakura stepped up behind him and raised an eyebrow at the large number of people that had all turned to stare at them.
There were teams from all over the place. Most of the genin in the room were years older than them, and they all looked experienced and mean. Most of the headbands identified them as genin of the Leaf, a few dozen were from Sand, with nearly as many from Rain, though only about half their number wore headbands from Grass and Waterfall. Against the far wall only three genin wore the headband from Sound which was a fairly new hidden village.
Sakura ignored Ino when she glomped Sasuke with a hug from behind and she looked for the siblings from Sand, and only partly paid attention when the other two rookie teams joined them.
"You might want to keep it down, you've gone and riled up most of the room."
She glanced at the person who'd approached them. He was right. She listened in intently as the newly introduced Kabuto basically instilled fear and doubt into them while attempting to sound encouraging. Even though they were from the same village, there was something about the guy that she just didn't like.
Atsuko had been teaching her that her instincts were usually correct, the gut feeling of danger, the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood up or even the way her arms flushed with goosebumps. Those instincts could be trained too but it took years, Sakura was only just starting on that path.
"Don't worry Naruto, we'll be fine," she said to her obviously shaking teammate. Naruto looked over at her with fired up determination in his eyes. She inwardly groaned knowing that he was about to do something insanely stupid.
He jumped forward with a yell and pointed at the crowd in front of him. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to beat every one of you!"
"What is that idiot trying to do? Get us killed?" Ino growled at her. Sakura glared at the knucklehead.
"One paints targets on our backs intentionally, the other does it without thinking about it," she mumbled under her breath. "It would serve them right if I pulled out and make them wait until next year." Ino blinked at the fury in Sakura's voice and stepped away.
The flurry of movement from the trio of Sound genin against Kabuto made everyone stop and stare. It looked like the silver haired Leaf genin had dodged the attacks but his glasses cracked and then he fell to his knees and threw up. Sakura narrowed her eyes trying to work out what had happened.
A large explosion of smoke from the front of the room and a loud commanding voice told them to settle down and listen up.
When the smoke cleared there were several people standing behind Ibiki Morino, all in the same dark grey T&I uniform. She saw both Iwashi and Tonbo, and a few others that she recognised but didn't know their names.
"I'm Ibiki Morino, the proctor for this exam." Sakura helped Kabuto to his feet and discretely got a feel for his chakra while everyone's attention was focussed at the front of the room. "Everyone hand in their paperwork, in exchange you'll each be given a number. Find the desk with the corresponding number and take a seat. We'll start the first stage of the exam when everyone's seated."
Ibiki ran through the rule of the written test and Sakura felt her heart sink into her stomach. It got even worse when she saw the questions they were expected to answer. Naruto wouldn't be able to answer a single one, and she doubted that there were more than a handful of people in the room that could answer the questions to the extent that they needed to pass.
After they'd made such a big deal out of not cheating, it was as if they were trying to get people to cheat. She paused. Ibiki didn't say they couldn't cheat, just that they would have points removed if they were caught cheating.
This was about whether or not they could gather intel discretely. Sakura's hopes were diminished again. Naruto wouldn't be able to do discrete if he were dead and buried.
All around them, other genin were cottoning onto the same idea. The only way to pass was to cheat. The more that came to that conclusion the more Sakura noticed that the sentinels around the room making notes on their clipboards. She caught Sasuke's eye. It was bright red and she smirked. He'd figured it out too but was clearly unable to answer the questions on his own.
A kunai sliced through the air and lodged itself into a desk.
"What was that all about!" the leaf genin asked shakily. He'd already leapt to his feet. One of the sentinels smirked and stood.
"Five strikes and you're out. You just failed the test. You and your teammates are to leave the room immediately."
They weren't the only ones, they were just the first. Numbers were called out as more and more genin were caught for their fifth and final strike. People protested and Sentinels had to forcibly remove several of them. Sakura felt something brush up against her mind and force itself in.
Ino's voice echoed and bounced around inside her head and she felt her limbs move on their own without her consent.
It wasn't long, and she knew what her rival was doing. Not smart enough to work out the answers on your own Pig? She thought loudly and her hand clenched on her test paper. Sakura inwardly smirked knowing that the blonde had somehow heard her. She felt the presence leave and gave her body an experimental wiggle to see that everything was back under her control.
She cast a genjutsu with one handed seals under her desk and tied it to the ticking of the clock. She focused on Naruto, narrowing the scope of the genjutsu until he was her only target before she let it settle over him.
Naruto she whispered in her genjutsu. He jerked his head up and frantically glanced from side to side. It's Sakura. I've cast a genjutsu so only you can hear me. Scratch your right shoulder with your pencil so I know it's cast properly. She inwardly grinned when he did. Now I want you to write down exactly what I tell you to. The answer for question one is...
"Now that we've weeded out most of the hopeless cases, only fifteen minutes to go," Ibiki announced and Sakura's eyes flew up to the clock, the genjutsu falling apart. She'd only just finished imparting the exam answers to Naruto. "Alright! Time for the tenth and final question but before I give the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of."
The door creaked open and the boy in black- Kankurō, who had gone to the bathroom arrived back and retook his seat.
"These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you. Rule number one. Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."
"What's the catch. What happens if we choose not to take the tenth question?" Temari called out.
"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words you fail, and that means of course both teammates of yours also fail."
Sakura leaned back in her chair exasperated by the more rules.
"If you do accept the question," Ibiki continued, "but answer it incorrectly you will not only fail but you will be barred from taking the chūnin exams ever again."
"Hey!" Kiba yelled out followed by a bark from Akamaru. "What sort of bogus rule is that? There are loads of people here that have taken the exam before!"
"I wasn't making the rules before. Guess you're just unlucky. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means skip it. You can come back and try again next year." The proctor chuckled meanly, and let his words sink in. "Now then, the tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and you'll be free to go."
Sakura glanced around the room as someone raised their hand. It surprised her when it started a cascading effect and soon more and more hands were raised resulting in a heavy exodus. She was both proud and worried that Naruto had kept his hand down. But even as she had that thought, she saw his hand creeping up until it slapped down onto the desk in front of him.
"Don't underestimate me!" he growled. "I don't quit and I don't run. You can act tough all you want. You guys aren't going to scare me off. No way. I don't care if I do get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life. I'll still be Hokage someday!" he declared emphatically. Sakura huffed out an exasperated laugh of disbelief and she could see that Sasuke was amused by their teammate's defiance as well.
"This decision is one that could change your life. If for any reason you would rather quit. Now's your last chance," the proctor announced staring Naruto in the eye.
"No way. I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja."
Ibiki glanced around the room and looked for confirmation from his sentinels. He sighed. There were still a lot of genin, he'd hoped to have culled a few more teams by this stage.
"Well then. I admire your determination if nothing else. For those of you remaining, there is only one thing left to do, and that's for me to tell you..." he left them all hanging on his words as he let a wide grin play out on his scarred face, "that you've all passed the first exam."
Sakura slumped back in her seat utterly confused until he started to explain. She almost threw up when he revealed the scars that covered his entire head telling them that information could be the most valuable weapon in battle and to be careful about disinformation but it was his talking about the qualities a chūnin needed in order to carry out their missions, when there was sometimes, no right answers and all you had to go on was sheer nerve and determination that resounded with her.
Naruto had that in spades. Sasuke not so much- he had his stupid pride instead, and she didn't have much of either. It was something that she'd have to work on now that she had the opportunity to advance.
Nearly everyone in the room flinched when a purple haired woman burst in through the window breaking the glass and announcing herself as Anko Mitarashi, the proctor for the second stage of the exams.
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