"His name is Usui Masaru," the T&I assistant informs them, looking down at his notes rather than meeting the gazes of anyone else in the room. "Formally a Kiri Academy drop-out and defector, though generally acknowledged to be of genin or even chunin level skill."
It is the morning after the first stage of the chunin exams and Kakashi has shown up at an ungodly early hour - on time! - for a meeting with Morino Ibiki of all people, after spending his fifth night in a row standing guard over Sakura as she sleeps. They're in one of T&I's underground morgues, which is chilly and depressing and only further adds to Kakashi's already bad mood.
The dead body of the pretend-merchant is on full display on the autopsy table, his body flayed open and certain body parts missing - stored instead in various jars around the room. He has - had - no valuable kekkei genkai for Konoha to study, but his body is full of information regardless; conditions during his formative years, where he's been ever since leaving Kiri, what kind of life he's led and so on. T&I's medical examiner will find out everything there is to learn from his body before it is disposed of.
"Go on," Morino urges.
To Kakashi's sensitive nose the sour odour of four days of decomposition hangs heavily between them. They do what they can to keep the body fresh - storing it cold and using seals meant to preserve the flesh - but there is no preventing the inevitable. The stench clogs his nose and clings to his clothes - he'll have to change clothes when they're done here, unless he wants to keep the scent in his nose all day - and he's convinced Morino purposely made them meet here just to spite Kakashi.
"He's part of a band of mercenary ninja led by Tsushima Kazemi, a Kiri jounin and Academy sensei turned missing nin after she defected the Bloody Mist with 15 of her students - one of which were Usui Masaru - about 20 years ago," the assistant continues. "Since then they have been doing mercenary work-"
Beneath the mask Kakashi grimaces. Tsushima Kazemi is Kiri's best attempt at their own Lady Tsunade - which thankfully doesn't make her anywhere near as good, but plenty good enough that she's been next to impossible to kill the few times Kakashi has come across her. And on top of her healing skill she - like most Kiri ninja - have a terrifying affinity for water jutsu.
Absentmindedly he rubs at his right leg, which still sports a scar where she'd almost ripped it off with one of her more creative water jutsu last time they met. Kakashi left her with half of her face destroyed by his chidori, which still hadn't been enough to kill her.
"We can't be sure whether Masaru worked alone on this or not," the assistant continues, flipping a page in his notes. "Masaru here has been working as a travelling merchant for the last few years, though the group has also started taking on more and more missions, so it's not impossible that he was doing both."
"Which begs the question, what does a group of Kiri defectors want with your student, Hatake?"
Morino levels Kakashi with an icy glare, and because Kakashi is a petty jerk he returns it with an empty look.
"I'm sorry, what?" he mocks.
Considering that he works with T&I Morino really should have more of a poker face, Kakashi muses. As it is Morino works his jaws angrily until Kakashi finally relents and answers the question - which he does not for the sake of Morino, but out of concern for Sakura.
"Sakura has no cause to have enemies among Kiri shinobi or defectors," he tells them plainly. "As far as I'm aware, she hasn't even been outside the village for real."
"Who are her enemies then?"
It says something about Morino that he doesn't ask if a twelve year old girl has enemies at all, but rather who said enemies are. And he's not wrong, Kakashi acknowledges.
"The Haruno clan," he states, allowing the chilly anger he feels to colour his voice.
Briefly he explains about their attempt to forge Sakura's resignation and how they'd almost starved her to death to force her into a marriage convenient for the clan.
"Those are serious accusations, Hatake," Morino states. "Why haven't I heard about this before?"
"At this point it's just speculation, though the Genin Commander is investigating the matter on his own. And I'm confident that it's true, regardless of whether there is proof or not."
Kakashi meets Morino's eyes steadily, challenging him to question it. Speculations and unofficial investigations are a bad foundation for accusations of potential treason, not to mention that Kakashi's own conviction does not stand in high regard with Morino.
Surprisingly Morino does not question him, but rather nods seriously.
"You think they've decided to hire foreign muscle to force her to submit to them after all?"
"Either that, or her intended groom has," Kakashi shrugs.
Both options make sense, and they are the only options that he has been able to come up with that does make sense. The suspicion has been weighing heavily on his mind for the past few days, leaving him feeling restless and itching for a decent fight. Whether it's the clan or the groom matters less to Kakashi, because he will make them pay regardless.
Nobody gets away with sending Kiri defectors after his students.
"Or she has become a target by association with you," Morino states.
Kakashi nods, acknowledging the point. "It's unlikely, but not impossible. I did have a run in with two other Kiri defectors about two months ago in Wave."
Though Zabuza and his apprentice had, to all appearances, been working on the orders of Gato rather than Tsushima Kazemi and her gang. Even so, other Kiri defectors might have heard about their fight and decide to avenge their fellow Kiri defectors. Tsushima is known for taking the death of her comrades seriously, after all. A trait Kakashi reluctantly admires.
"I see. I'll talk to the Hokage about launching a formal investigation into the clan," Morino says, looking down at the body at the autopsy table. "At this point it seems more likely that this guy saw a pretty little girl and decided to act out on his perversions-"
"Though neither Usui Masaru nor Tsushima Kazemi are known to target children," the assistant interjects. "Quite the opposite, actually."
"- or that she was targeted because she was deemed a weakness -"
Morino gives Kakashi a very pointed glare, which reminds Kakashi of their conversation when he collected his students' written exams.
"- but if there is even a small chance that a Konoha citizen is hiring foreign mercenaries to target our own shinobi it's worth looking into."
Kakashi is reluctantly grateful.
When the meeting is finally over Kakashi makes his way out into the mid-morning sun and Konoha's busy streets. He pauses, breathing deeply to try and clear his nostrils of the scent of death.
Squinting up at the sun he judges the time. It's a good hour since he was supposed to meet with his students already, and they're likely to be particularly on edge today given yesterday's events. He probably shouldn't leave them alone for too long, or they'll find a way to get themselves thrown into some sort of trouble.
But first, he has other business he has to take care of, as well as that change of clothes.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes he steers his steps towards a building he has never before had the need to enter. A bell chimes as he enters, and a thin, grey-haired woman looks up at him with an unwelcoming scowl.
"I'm here to apply for funds for one of my students," Kakashi says, not about to be turned away.
He hands over an application, filled out by him with Sakura's information. The woman, who he presumes to be some sort of administrator for the Orphan's Fund, accepts the form and quickly scans it over, her scowl shifting into a disapproving frown.
"It's not signed."
"I'm her sensei," Kakashi explains. "It is within my jurisdiction to apply for aid for her."
She hums, reluctantly acknowledging the fact.
"Identification?"
Kakashi resists the urge to roll his eyes and dutifully hands over his ID, grateful that he has never had to deal with this woman before. Perks of becoming a chunin at age six, he supposes.
"It's advisable for both student and sensei to sign the forms," she mutters before handing the ID back to him. "Makes the information provided more reliable."
"Like I said, I'm her sensei. I have access to her file, so it's correct. Now, I'm not sure if she has attempted to submit an application before or if she just hasn't thought of it-"
"She has," the woman interrupts, reaching for a stamp. "Pink-haired little thing, right?"
"Yes," Kakashi says, feeling a little bit stupid. Maybe he should have talked to Sakura before coming here. "Well, she's struggling financially so whatever sum she's been granted clearly isn't enough, so-"
"Denied."
And with that one word she places a large, red stamp spelling out DENIED in capital letters across the application before handing it back to Kakashi. Kakashi accepts it automatically.
"What do you mean, 'denied'?" he asks, stumped.
"It's a verb," the woman explains, her voice as dry as the deserts of Suna, "meaning to refuse or not allow someone to have or do something. In this context, your student has already been denied funds, for reasons which have already been explained to her."
"Which are?"
Kakashi glares at the woman, the same kind of demanding glare which has had ANBU-recruits trembling in fear, but she just calmly meets his gaze.
"Haruno Sakura, of the Haruno-merchant-clan, who's father died when she was three and her mother in April this year. A week after her mother's death she came in here to apply and admitted to having rejected her clan, which is grounds for denying funds from the Orphan's Fund."
Really, Kakashi has heard ROOT-agents speak with more intonation than this woman. It's almost impressive, some small part of his mind notes. The larger part focuses on the fact that Sakura was apparently here a mere week after her mother's death. It must have been just after Kichiro had gotten her out of that place, he realises. She'd been all alone, homeless and clanless and reaching out for help, and she'd been denied.
And Kakashi hadn't even been in the country, much less there to help her. Not to mention everything that had gone wrong once he did return.
"So she's not eligible for a stipend?" Kakashi clarifies, pushing his own guilt aside for the moment.
"No. She's been denied. Twice."
She gives a pointed look at the application still in Kakashi's hand.
"But she's an orphan."
"But not clanless."
"She is clanless."
"Only because she herself rejected her clan, not the other way around."
"There were reasons why she did what she did. Good reasons."
"So she said."
"There has to be some room for special circumstances-"
"There is not."
Kakashi has to consciously resist the urge to scrunch the application into a ball and throw it at the administrator. It's childish and pointless but it would be so worth it just to see her expression, he thinks. If only it wouldn't ruin any and all chances he has of fixing this, however slim they seem at the moment.
"Then who is eligible for a stipend?" he asks instead.
"Orphans."
This time Kakashi groans quietly.
"But she is an orphan."
"An orphan that would have been cared for by her clan, had she not rejected them."
"'Cared for' is a very relative term in this case," Kakashi points out, his voice sharp at the thought of what they did to his student.
"It's the rules. I don't make them, I just make sure they are followed."
"Then I'll go to the Hokage and ask that he change the rules."
"The Hokage doesn't make the rules."
"Then who makes the rules?" Kakashi exclaims. "Surely there must be some sort of exception?"
"The rules were made by the Council of Clans."
This time Kakashi's groan is louder. Of course it's the bloody Council that's behind the convoluted kind of rules that would deny an orphan funds from the Orphan's Fund. Probably an initiative spearheaded by the Hyuga, though they aren't the only clan known for being strict with their branch house and probably unwilling to give them a way out of their control, however small.
It makes sense.
Except for one thing.
"She's not from one of the shinobi clans," Kakashi points out. "Her clan is a civilian one."
"The rules don't specify civilian or shinobi."
"Because the rules were made by shinobi, with shinobi in mind!"
"Rules are rules."
If someone is ever stupid enough to throw the Hokage hat in Kakashi's direction, this will be the first thing he changes, he decides. He'll change the rules and then he'll fire this fossil of a woman for good measure.
"Is there anything she or I can do for her to be eligible for a stipend?" he sighs at last.
"No. She made her choice, and choices have consequences."
Scrunching the application up into a ball, Kakashi tosses it in the bin behind the woman, making sure that the paper-ball passes close to her head. She doesn't so much as blink.
Dejected, he leaves the office, wondering what he'll do now that his first - and probably best - solution to Sakura's homelessness has fallen through.
The tension is palpable as team 7 assembles that morning at their usual meeting point. Sasuke-kun is stiff and his glare sharp enough that Sakura quickly diverts her gaze as soon as their eyes meet. He doesn't say anything but positively radiates disapproval so pungently it's difficult to even look at him, knowing that she is the cause of his anger. Sakura finds herself looking to Naruto instead in hopes of some sort of comfort or support, but he avoids her gaze and pointedly settles down next to Sasuke-kun.
They wait in silence for Kakashi-sensei to emerge from whatever he does in the mornings. Probably sleeping in or something.
The tension grows more and more oppressive, weighing heavily on Sakura's shoulders and making her feel physically ill. Occasionally she glances over at the boys, hoping that maybe their anger will lessen, but their usual differences seem gone in the face of their unified anger with her. It's a stark contrast to their usual squabbling; a change she would probably celebrate if it wasn't turned against her.
To distract herself she pulls out her sealing scroll, studying it intently. Hers, but not really. The function is the same - if not better - but it's most definitely not the same one she bought by that creepy merchant. The creepy, red blood splatter is gone, for one, and the seals are different. Sakura doesn't know much at all about seals or how to make a sealing scroll, but even she can tell that these seals are different.
It makes her uneasy to know that someone has replaced her things in secret. She has a suspicion as to who it is - it happened the very night after she lost her temper at Kakashi-sensei, so it's not difficult to assume that the two are somehow connected. And part of her wants to feel warm and happy, to think that he's looking out for her after all. But then, he'd already bought her so many other things for her. If he wanted to replace her sealing scroll, why wouldn't he be upfront about that as well?
Why would he choose to do it in the middle of the night, when she was asleep?
Or did he think she wouldn't notice?
Or - and this is the really terrifying thought - was it someone other than Kakashi-sensei who snuck past her traps and replaced her scroll? But who would do that? And why? And what else did they see or do, while she was asleep?
She'll ask Kakashi-sensei about it, she decides, putting the scroll away again. Whenever he deigns to appear, she'll find a way to ask him. After all, he hasn't been terrible to her lately and yesterday he was even nice, even though she had just made them fail out of the chunin exams. So it can't really hurt to ask, can it?
Feeling a little better with that decision made, she looks up, only to meet the furious glares of Sasuke-kun and Naruto. It knocks the confidence right out of her and she quickly averts her gaze again.
And so the morning drags on, excruciatingly slowly as the sun rises in the sky.
Kakashi-sensei said she made the right call, she reminds herself. That the risk to her teammates wasn't worth it. It is comforting, in a way, but in the face of her teammates' unforgiving disapproval and his obvious absence it isn't enough.
It's not nearly enough.
"I'm sorry," she says sometime mid-morning when the tension has grown thick enough that she feels as if she's going to throw up from it.
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Sasuke-kun snarls immediately, his voice sharp as a kunai. "You cost us the exam!"
"Yeah, we totally would've made it!" Naruto agrees vehemently.
She's leaned against a nearby tree so there is no way for her to back away, but if there had been she would have taken a step back at the forcefulness of their words. As it is she feels the rough bark dig into her skin through the fabric of her dress as she flinches.
Her first instinct is to apologise again but she bites her tongue on it. Clearly it isn't enough. She glances at them again but Sasuke-kun's glare quickly has her looking down again. She digs her fingers into the bark of the tree.
If prostrating herself before them would fix anything she'd do it.
If she could go back in time and do the exam all over again she'd choose differently. Maybe. It's horrible, to have the both of them being angry with her like this. It's almost as bad as having Kakashi-sensei being angry with her.
Except Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem angry with her anymore.
In fact, Kakashi-sensei said that she made the right choice when opting out of the exam.
Taking courage from that thought she takes a deep breath, mentally steeling herself before she speaks:
"You don't know that." Her voice is quiet enough that she's almost afraid that they won't hear her, but she can't make herself speak louder. "We could have failed, and then wha-"
"It wasn't your choice to make!" Sasuke-kun's voice is sharp and uncharacteristically loud. "Just because you're too weak doesn't mean you can drag everyone else down with you!"
"It wasn't your choice to make," Naruto says grimly, then turns to Sasuke-kun and adds; "and don't talk like that to Sakura-chan! She's still our teammate!"
"For now," Sasuke-kun shoots back before turning to Sakura. "And the idiot's right. You can't make that kind of decision without consulting us."
"What do you mean 'for now'?" Naruto shouts, mirroring Sakura's thoughts and glaring at Sasuke-kun.
Sasuke-kun doesn't answer but Sakura can feel his piercing gaze on her as surely as if he'd held a kunai to her throat. Gasping for breath she tries to focus her mind, absentmindedly noticing that her hands are shaking.
"I-I," she stammers. "I mean, uhm, t-that's-"
Realising that she makes no sense she interrupts herself, her cheeks burning with shame and humiliation. If only the ground would swallow her right here and now! Swallow her whole and never let her go again, keeping her hidden from their accusing eyes forever!
"Sorry I'm late."
Kakashi-sensei's voice saves her from having to formulate some sort of answer as both Naruto and Sasuke instead turn to him, Naruto shouting at him about being late again loudly enough that whatever excuse Kakashi-sensei has today is lost to her.
"Finally," Sasuke-kun says, less loud than Naruto but his voice at least as impatient.
Kakashi-sensei tilts his head and krinkles his eye in that particular way that means that he's - probably - smiling at them behind the mask.
"Today we have an extra special-important training to do."
Naruto erupts into loud cheers and Sasuke-kun straightens, his previous demeanour of rightful anger melting into one of determination and excitement. Sakura breathes a little easier, when the boys aren't looking at her anymore.
"Follow me, and I'll explain when we get there."
And thus Kakashi-sensei begins leading them not towards the training grounds, but rather back towards the village. Naruto eagerly follows but Sasuke-kun frowns, clearly taken off guard by the direction. Sakura watches their retreating backs for a few moments before pushing away from the tree and hurrying after them, trying to even out her breathing.
She'll just stay out of their way for a bit and their anger will go over, she tells herself. Kakashi-sensei clearly has something special in mind, so if she just hangs back and lets him and the boys take the lead then it'll be fine.
She'll be fine.
They'll all be fine.
What small amount of confidence she might have been able to gather on their short walk pretty much evaporates the moment she realises where they're going. She suppresses the urge to groan, or hide, as they enter the library. Kakashi-sensei leads them to a private study room large enough for twelve people, where six smaller tables have been pushed together to form one large.
"What are we doing here?" Naruto whines as Kakashi sensei indicates for them to sit down. "Didn't you say we had some sort of extra-special super-important type training today?"
Sasuke-kun hums in agreement, clearly in agreement.
Sakura quietly sinks into a chair a couple of seats down from the boys, already very convinced that she won't like where this is going.
"Oh, but this is a special sort of training. It's an exercise in information gathering. You see, inspired by the events of yesterday-"
Yeah, Sakura really doesn't like where this is going. Both boys shoot her brief glares before returning their attention to Kakashi-sensei.
"- I have another test for you to take today." Kakashi-sensei produces three test-sheets and proceeds to hand them each one. "Now, you'll have all day to answer these questions, and the only rule is that you cannot leave the building until all of you have finished."
And he gives them that probably-a-smile-smile again, as if he's proud of his own ingenuity.
"That's just another test!" Naruto objects, too loudly for the library. "You said we were doing training today!"
"But this is training. Training in how to take a test."
"That's stupid," Sasuke-kun says, crossing his arms angrily. "Being a shinobi isn't about passing tests. Give us some training that will actually help us!"
Kakashi-sensei walks up to the blackboard at one end of the room and proceeds to draw three small circles next to each other.
"This is the three of you, right now," he explains. "Now this, this is your goal at the moment."
He writes chunin/jounin on the other side of the blackboard.
"In order for you to get there, there are a number of interim goals you have to achieve, such as passing the chunin exams. Now, the exams are divided into three stages, the first of which we now know is a written exam."
To illustrate he draws three blocks between the circles and the chunin/jounin, writing written exam in the first box before marking the other two with question marks.
"Which you guys failed yesterday."
Pointedly, Kakashi-sensei crosses out the box marked with written exam.
"Only because of her!" Sasuke-kun growls, sending another glare in Sakura's direction.
Unable to hide, Sakura can only hunch her shoulders, wishing desperately that she could be anywhere else at the moment.
"Maybe," Kakashi-sensei agrees. "Regardless of the reason, the fact still remains that you failed the written exam. And while there is no guarantee that the next exam will take the exact same format, it is still likely that there will be some sort of formal test of your knowledge."
He puts the chalk away and turns to face them again.
"In other words we can safely assume that in order for you guys to pass the next chunin exams you'll at some point have to pass a written exam. So you see, this is training that actually will help you achieve your goals."
Sasuke-kun scoffs wordlessly at that, clearly unhappy but unable to figure out a good counter-argument.
"But that's just stupid!" Naruto objects again. "Being a ninja isn't about taking tests, it's about cool jutsu and saving princesses and-and-"
"And sometimes you'll have to take a test or two, if you want the village to acknowledge your skill," Kakashi-sensei interjects. "To be able to do cool jutsu and everything else you need to have specific knowledge, and if you ever want to become Hokage you'll need a lot of knowledge. So get started on the test, and the sooner you finish the sooner we'll be able to go outside and maybe I'll teach you guys a new jutsu or two."
With a sigh Sakura flips the test open to read the questions. A few moments later she can see Sasuke-kun doing the same out of the corner of her eye, and then Naruto reluctantly follows suit under grumbling protests.
She'll just have to make the best out of it, she decides. Written exams are, after all, one of her strong sides. And at least this time they're not actually taking a test, like they were yesterday. This time it's just Kakashi-sensei administering it, which means it's just another kind of training, basically.
"Argh, this is just the same stupid thing as yesterday!" Naruto exclaims, pulling at his hair.
Startled, Sakura looks up then, because her test is most certainly not the same as yesterday. Similar in difficulty, yes, but definitely not the same. Sasuke-kun looks similarly confused.
"That's right," Kakashi-sensei confirms. "Because you didn't answer any of the questions of your test yesterday you'll be answering them today, so that you'll know the answers the next time. Sasuke and Sakura, however, did answer their questions yesterday and therefore have new questions today."
Briefly she glances at Sasuke-kun, who seems to momentarily have forgotten his anger with her because he looks similarly surprised. Then his gaze hardens and he glares.
"If it weren't for you we'd still be in the exam, not stuck here," he tells her.
"How am I supposed to answer this stuff?" Naruto shouts. "It's impossible!"
"Well, that's the point of training exercise," Kakashi-sensei patiently explains, already pulling out his book and settling down on a chair, kicking his feet up to rest on the table. "Like I said, the only rule here is that all of your tests must be answered correctly to my satisfaction before we leave. Other than that, you are free to use whatever resources are available to you here in the library, including books, scrolls and the librarian."
Muttering angrily about "stupid sensei" and "I'll show you" and "stupid test" Naruto grabbs his test and leaves the room. Sakura stares after him, swallowing the urge to call him back.
A moment later Sasuke-kun's chair scrapes against the floor as he too gets up, muttering that he'll be back soon, he'll just get a book, and then Kakashi-sensei had better teach him something useful later.
Sakura opens her mouth but the words get caught in her throat. She looks between the door that both Sasuke-kun and Naruto disappeared through, to Kakashi-sensei - narrowing her eyes in suspicion, even though he looks perfectly relaxed and comfortable, already lost in his book - and back to the door.
"Anything wrong, Sakura-chan?" he asks, still not looking up from his book.
"No, sensei."
Swallowing around a dry throat she glances over at Sasuke-kun's test sheet, noting that his and her questions are the same. So Naruto is working on the same questions as yesterday, and Sasuke-kun and her have the same, new questions.
With another glance at Kakashi-sensei she settles down to work on her own test.
Sasuke-kun returns a bit later with a couple of books. Sakura glances up at him again but he pointedly ignores her, pulling one of the tables and a chair aside to the wall furthest from her before he gets to work. Sakura glances at Kakashi-sensei, who still isn't looking up from his book.
With a sigh she leans back over her own test.
Outside the study room she can hear Naruto arguing with the librarian. The argument grows louder and louder, and she imagines that people must be glaring at him.
She looks to Kakashi-sensei, who still isn't moving to intervene.
"WHAT DO YO MEAN, YOU STUPID HAG!"
Her chair scrapes lightly against the floor as she gets up, glaring briefly at Kakashi-sensei before hurrying off to save Naruto from getting thrown out or even banned from the library.
Stupid, lazy sensei, she thinks to herself. As if it isn't perfectly obvious what he's doing.
With a couple of apologies and a promise that they'll be quiet from now on she manages to stop the librarian from throwing Naruto out.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto says as they watch the old lady return to her desk. "Stupid old hag wouldn't answer when I asked her about the sex-age-ogasm-thing, even though I tried to show her!"
Unable to help it, Sakura groans, careful to keep the sound as quiet as possible.
"Sexagesimally, Naruto! Like in the number sixty!"
He frowns at her then.
"Really? 'Cause I could've sworn it meant-"
"I'll show you a book that explains it," she hurriedly interrupts, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
She shows him to the section on codes and code-breaking, searching a little before she finds a book that seems simple enough that Naruto won't break his mind trying to interpret it.
"Here," she says, opening the book to the right chapter. "It's about breaking codes based on sexageimal number systems."
Naruto squints at the pages, still looking doubtful.
"Alright," he says at last, unfurling the now wrinkled up test sheet to scribble down an answer. "Thanks again, Sakura-chan!"
And just like that she's been dismissed, she realises. She opens her mouth to protest, then closes it again as she watches Naruto scribble his answer. His handwriting really is atrocious, she thinks.
"You know that's not the answer to the question, right?" she asks at last, when it seems as if Naruto isn't going to write anything else but her words.
"It isn't?" He looks up at her with large, surprised eyes. "But you said-"
"I explained what the word sexagesimally means, Naruto! The question is about decoding a message and using the information to calculate the outcome of a battle!
"Oh." Naruto frowns down at the test, re-reading the question. "I guess you're right."
She suppresses the urge to groan again.
"I know I'm right! I answered these questions yesterday, remember? And I did it right, too!"
"Yeah, yeah, so is there a book that has the answer then?"
Sakura sighs again, glancing back towards the study room where Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun still are. She thinks she knows what Kakashi-sensei wants them to do, but it goes against just about every test-taking instinct she has.
"I-I can help you, if you want," she offers quietly, still a little bit afraid that Kakashi-sensei will appear out of the shadows and bite her head off for cheating. "You know, at least explain the answers to you, and stuff?"
Naruto looks up at her again then, his eyes large with surprise.
"You'd do that, Sakura-chan?"
To her embarrassment she can feel a blush burn across her cheeks. To fend it off she shrugs, trying to make it casual and not at all nervous or embarrassed, though her voice comes out sounding half-strangled.
"Yeah, sure."
Naruto's face erupts in a wide smile, shining at her with the intensity of a miniature sun.
"You're the best, Sakura-chan!" Then his smile fades and he looks down at the test again, his expression grim. "But I need to do this on my own, or I'll never be able to catch up to Sasuke."
Which is an admirable thought, Sakura thinks. And Naruto definitely needs to mind the theoretical aspects of their profession a bit more. But right this moment it doesn't sit quite right with her.
"Sasuke-kun had to cheat yesterday, you know?" she tells him quietly. "He used his sharingan to cheat off of someone else."
"Really?" Naruto blinks up at her, surprised. Then he grins again. "Then I'll definitely do this on my own! Show him who's smarter!"
Sakura can only shake her head at the logic.
"Well, come get me if you need any help," she says as she leaves. "The offer still stands. And mind your manners, or you'll get yourself thrown out."
Naruto just makes a vaguely acknowledging noise, bent over the book and quickly scanning through the pages.
Sakura collects another couple of books from different sections and quietly deposits them on the table Naruto has taken over, hoping that he'll have enough sense to accept that help at least.
When she returns to the study room absolutely nothing has changed. Kakashi-sensei is still leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the table, and Sasuke-kun scribbling away at his test at the opposite side of the room. Quietly, Sakura takes her seat again and returns to her own test.
Sasuke-kun leaves another couple of times to find new books. Sakura leaves to double-check a reference to a highly-specific detail that is crucial to her answers, noticing that Naruto has fallen asleep over his books. Before she returns to the study room she taps him on the shoulder to wake him up again.
Shortly before lunchtime she gives her test a final check before looking up, clearing her throat lightly.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hm?" He doesn't look up from his book, but she has the sense that he's vaguely amused. Because of course he is - lazy fucking excuse of a ninja that he is!
"I'm finished."
Sasuke-kun visibly twitches at the other side of the room.
Wordlessly Kakashi-sensei holds his hand out for her to hand the test over. She readily does, resisting the urge to fidget in her seat for the next couple of minutes as he silently looks over her answers.
"Well done, Sakura-chan," he says at last. "Perfect marks."
Smiling gratefully she accepts the test back.
"Thank you, sensei."
Sasuke-kun slams his pen down at the table and stands, stomping over to shove his own test at Kakashi-sensei. She gives him an encouraging smile but he ignores her, staring stonily into the wall as his test is checked.
"Almost perfect, Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei says after a couple of minutes, handing the test back. "But you're off on the fifth and the last question. Fix it."
Grudgingly Sasuke-kun accepts the test back, heading back for his side of the room and stoically ignoring her.
Sakura glances at Kakashi-sensei, who's already back to his book.
Naruto appreciated her help, even if he didn't accept it.
Before her courage fails her she says:
"You need to account for-"
"I don't need your help," Sasuke-kun snarls, glaring briefly at her. "Go help Naruto if you can't shut up."
And he returns to angrily scribbling, ignoring her and the rest of the world. Sakura sighs and lets her gaze fall to the table, where her finished test lies. The sight of it makes something swell in her chest; a burning fire unlike anything she is used to feeling.
"Fine," she says, reaching for her test, pointedly folding it up and pocketing it. "I'll go see if Naruto needs help. Come find me if you change your mind!"
With those words she stomps out of the room to find Naruto.
She finds him over by the librarian's desk again, arguing about something. Recognizing that the old woman looks moments away from throwing Naruto out she quickly steps up to them, smiling apologetically.
"Hey Naruto, how's it going? Do you need any help?"
"He does," the librarian informs her dryly, pushing the boy in her direction.
Naruto grumbles angrily but allows Sakura to lead him back towards his table. The books she left there are sprawled all over the table, splayed open and covered in other books.
"I told you I need to do this on my own, Sakura-chan."
"Can I see your test?"
Naruto frowns at her but hands the test over. It's about half-finished; his answers are mostly passable if also containing some minor errors or unnecessary details. At least if she's interpreting his horrible handwriting correctly.
"I'm gonna prove to Sasuke and Kaka-sensei that I can do it," Naruto tells her. "Sasuke thinks he's so much better than me but I'll show him-"
"Kakashi-sensei specifically said that we are free to use whatever resources are available here in the library," Sakura interrupts, that burning within her chest spurring her on. "We are available to each other. This test isn't about finishing our tests, it's about doing it together."
She's sure of it. Kakashi-sensei issuing them a written test, the very day after they failed the written part of the chunin exams, doesn't make sense otherwise. It's not his teaching style, and certainly more effort than he usually puts into their training. Not to mention that his one rule leaves an unmentioned but blatantly ginormous loophole for teamwork - which just happens to also be one of Kakashi-sensei's main lessons.
"You think so?" Naruto asks doubtfully. "He said to use books, scrolls and the old bint over there, didn't he?"
"Distraction," she tells him. "The only rules he gave was that the tests have to be answered correctly and that we may only use what's available here in the library which, I repeat, we are. We're supposed to work together."
Naruto considers her words carefully for a few moments.
"But this is supposed to help prepare us for the next exam too, right?" he says at last. "And yesterday we were separated and couldn't have helped each other even if we wanted, right? So even if you're right, Sakura-chan, I still need to be able to do this on my own."
And he's right but he's also wrong, because Kakashi-sensei definitely wants them to work together on this test, and if they'd been able to do the same yesterday-
The thought pulls Sakura's whole thought process to an abrupt stop, as surely as if she'd suddenly been drenched in cold water.
If they'd been allowed to sit together yesterday they probably would have wound up working together somehow. She would have let Naruto cheat off of her, or Sasuke-kun would have let Naruto cheat off of him or something and they would have found a way to pass. Together. But instead they'd been separated and a small army of chunin had watched them, looking for cheaters, and other teams had been thrown out when caught cheating three times.
Not once, not twice but thrice.
Which is awfully specific, and awfully, uncharacteristically nice of someone as terrifying as Morino Ibiki, she thinks, slowly closing her eyes and taking a deep, shuddering breath.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan, but I'll do this on my own."
Numbly she allows Naruto to take his test back. Absent-mindedly she digs through the piles of books until she finds the one she knows will help him answer the question he's currently working on, putting it in front of him before she heads back to the study room.
Sasuke-kun is still working on his test, and Kakashi-sensei is still reading his book. Sakura settles down in her seat to stare emptily, a horrible realisation settling in her stomach.
They were supposed to cheat yesterday.
Cheat! On a test!
And Sasuke-kun had obviously gotten that part and managed just fine, but she had not and Naruto … Naruto had just been left to himself. Even though she'd known that he couldn't answer the questions on his own, it hadn't crossed her mind to really help him cheat yesterday.
And since they had so conveniently essentially been given a free pass to cheat twice during the exam, so long as they didn't get caught cheating a third time, she could've just … finished her own test and … walked over to Naruto and switched their tests. And even if the proctors had seen Sasuke-kun using his sharingan, as long as it only counted as cheating once, they still would have been fine. Because If Sasuke-kun cheated once with his sharingan, and if she got up once to switch her answers with Naruto, that's still only two instances of cheating.
They all could have gone into the final question with full answers, if she hadn't been so focused on passing the test the right way.
Which still wouldn't have changed much, because the odds still would've been against Naruto being able to figure out the last question but still. But Sakura probably could've, and then she could've swapped tests with Naruto and filled out as many of the answers as possible in the short amount of time left, and so long as Sasuke-kun was able to solve the question on his own they still would've been fine.
They could've passed.
If she hadn't been so focused on herself and her own performance that she missed the fucking obvious purpose of the test yesterday, they could have passed.
Kakashi-sensei said she made the right choice, putting the well-being of her teammates above the importance of the test, but if she'd only been a bit smarter she never would've had to make that choice to begin with.
She wants to cry - or run or hide or anything - to escape the horrible realisation. Instead she stares emptily at the wall until Sasuke-kun gets up to show Kakashi-sensei his test again and Kakashi-sensei tells him to try again on the last question. Then she growls - quietly and low in her throat, because she knows what he's doing wrong and he's being such a prick for refusing to accept any help from her of all people - and gets up to leave the room.
She returns a couple of moments later with a book and settles down to try to focus on a historical text rather than her idiotical teammates or her own failures yesterday.
Sasuke-kun manages to complete the last question on his own on his third attempt, but it's well into the afternoon before Naruto is finished with his test to Kakashi-sensei's approval. By then Sakura's stomach is growling loudly, because the library does not allow food to be eaten even in the study rooms and Kakashi-sensei is adamant that they cannot leave before all of them are finished.
"Passable," Kakashi-sensei says at last, about Naruto's test.
Naruto cheers loudly.
"But you all fail this exercise."
Naruto's cheering abruptly stops, and Sasuke-kun's previously relieved look triples in intensity, switching to angry and disapproving again.
"What, why? You just said I passed, didn't you?"
"We all did the tests," Sasuke-kun agrees.
"Think back to your very first test with me," Kakashi-sensei says, putting away his book and giving them all a piercing look. "What was the lesson you learned then?"
She can tell the exact moment when the boys get it and they glance at her. Naruto looks sheepish, but Sasuke-kun looks furious and clenches his jaw angrily.
"Teamwork," Sakura says quietly when neither of the boys speak up. "We pass or fail as a team."
"Exactly. And today, we all could have been out of here by lunchtime if the three of you had worked together. Sooner, even, if you'd been a little bit smart about it."
"But how-"
Naruto is still confused, but Kakashi-sensei interrupts him.
"You were unable to answer any of the questions yesterday, Naruto. Did it cross your mind to try to cheat?"
"What? No way! Those guys were super strict about cheating!"
"True. Yet you knew that the test required the three of you to manage as high of a score as possible, as a team. Did you expect Sasuke and Sakura to get full marks and thereby enable you to pass without contributing at all?"
"No, that's not it at all!"
"Or, going into the last question - knowing that it would be more difficult than any of the previous questions - did it cross your mind at all what would happen should you fail to answer that question as well?"
"Well, yeah of course! That guy said that-that-"
Naruto stumbles over the words, falling quiet.
"If you choose to take the last question and get it wrong, you will be banned from ever taking the chunin exams again," Sasuke-kun quotes, his tone short.
"Exactly. And all of you knew that you needed to pass the exam as a team. So why then, Naruto, knowing that you'd been unable to answer any of the previous questions and knowing that the tenth one was likely to be even more difficult, why would you willingly choose to proceed?"
"Because I don't care what that dude says!" Naruto exclaims. "I'll become Hokage anyway, I'll just show him! You just wait and see!"
"And what about Sasuke and Sakura? You don't mind putting them and their futures in danger for the sake of you getting a small chance to pass an exam today, rather than wait a couple of months and try again then?"
Uncharacteristically, Naruto has no answer to that.
However, Kakashi-sensei isn't done.
"Sasuke, how many questions were you able to answer on your own yesterday?"
"Two."
Sasuke-kun looks decidedly unhappy with the admission, glaring at both Naruto and her as if challenging them to try and make fun of him.
"Two out of nine," Kakashi-sensei states, pulling out two test sheets and holding one up for them all to see. "Yet you have provided answers for all nine of these questions. How come?"
Visibly grinding his teeth together in frustration Sasuke-kun growls out:
"I used my sharingan to copy from someone else."
"In other words, you had to resort to cheating to pass the test."
Kakashi-sensei's voice is ruthless in how it simply states the facts. Sakura braces herself for what she knows will come soon.
"What were you thinking, going into the last question knowing that you had to cheat to manage seven out of the nine previous questions?"
"I was willing to take the risk."
Sasuke-kun raises his head defiantly, glaring challengingly at Kakashi-sensei, and it really isn't fair that he looks so good doing that, Sakura thinks absentmindedly. He's so very, very angry and most of that is with her, and yet she can't help but think about how handsome he is.
"Did you think at all about your teammates? Or were you ready to sacrifice them both if it would let you achieve your goal?"
"Shinobi don't get to pick and choose their missions. Putting yourself at risk is part of being a shinobi," Sasuke-kun states, then he nods in the direction of Sakura and Naruto. "If they can't handle themselves, they aren't ready to become chunin."
"Perhaps so. Yet you must have realised that you at best only had a 22% chance of passing the last question on your own, based upon the previous questions, not to mention that for you to pass you would have needed your teammates to pass as well. So what were you thinking, Sasuke?"
Sasuke-kun fists his hands in impotent fury but does not answer. The silence is tense, ringing loudly in her ears. And then Kakashi-sensei abruptly turns to her and Sakura immediately wants to sink through the floor, her cheeks already burning at being singled out like this.
"Sakura-chan, how many times did you cheat yesterday?"
Sakura takes a deep, steadying breath before she answers, her voice quiet but clear in the otherwise silent room.
"None, sensei."
"And yet, you managed a perfect score up until the last question." He holds up the other test sheet, showing it to the room before handing it over to her. "How did you do it?"
She rolls the test sheet up and pockets it in her weapon's pouch, not meeting anyone's gaze.
"I solved it on my own."
Her answer is followed by another impossibly loud silence. She can feel Naruto's and Sasuke-kun's gazes on her, almost burning on her skin.
"The test you took yesterday was designed to be difficult," Kakashi-sensei says at last. "In fact, it was designed to be impossible for a genin to pass on their own, without cheating."
Her gaze already lowered, Sakura swallows around the lump in her throat. She was right then. They were supposed to cheat yesterday, and if she hadn't been so caught up in her own performance she would have seen it. Might even have figured out a way to help her teammates.
And yet … impossible.
The word rings in her ears, making something tense loosen somewhat in her chest. She takes a shuddering breath, raising her head a little. Even if Kakashi-sensei is exaggerating, she did good yesterday.
"In other words, looking at your individual achievements yesterday, the one most likely to pass the last question would in fact have been Sakura-chan," Kakashi-sensei states. "Sasuke, you might have been able to pass on your own or at least managed to cheat your way through it. And Naruto-"
"I would have figured it out, believe me! I would've-"
"You would've caused all three of you to fail." Kakashi-sensei's voice is hard enough to make Sakura flinch, and in her peripheral vision she can tell that Naruto and Sasuke-kun both have a very similar reaction. "As would, most likely, Sasuke."
Naruto is trembling, his teeth gritted. It must be difficult for him to have his weakness spelled out so clearly, she thinks sympathetically.
She doesn't dare to raise her head enough to look at Sasuke-kun.
"The three of you are a team, but you all have different strengths and weaknesses, and you need to learn how to utilise that. If you had worked together yesterday you might have made it through, but working independently as you were you most likely would have failed."
None of them speak into the silence that follow those words, and soon enough Kakashi-sensei continues:
"And today, when presented with a similar situation, you all committed the same mistake. If you cared at all about passing this test as quickly as possible, you would have given Naruto the answers to his test and then worked together to solve the new test. Not to mention that Sakura-chan specifically offered to help both of you, and both of you were too proud to accept, even though you knew she had already finished her test."
Naruto looks at her then and their gazes meet. She tries not to look smug but can tell she's not entirely successful. Guiltily, Naruto looks away.
"Since the two of you," Kakashi-sensei points to Naruto and Sasuke-kun, "cannot seem to wrap your heads around working together, the three of you will be seeing a lot more training in teamwork. Starting tomorrow morning, at 06.00."
Sakura swallows nervously. Kakashi-sensei sounds almost as strict as he did when he wanted to throw her off of the team.
At least his anger isn't primarily directed at her this time, she tries to comfort herself. Seeing Sasuke-kun glowering at both Naruto and her, it's not much of a comfort at all.
"For today, I don't think we're getting anything else done. You're dismissed."