Sakura was going to throw up.
Wait no, she was going to faint.
Nope, she was going to die.
Three days?! Three days to meet the expectations of a legend?! Inner raged inside of her, screaming insults at her teammates and sensei as Sakura let a fake smile take over her face once more. No need to worry them with her thoughts. It wasn't as if she was going to be picked.
Why not!
'Because I'm nothing like the boys,' Sakura internally sighed as she half listened to Kakashi-sensei's explanation of the test, which ultimately meant he didn't know anything.
Bullshit! We're smarter than both of them combined.
'But in a real fight, they'd wipe the floor with me.'
If we trained—
Sakura cut that thought off immediately. She and Inner had already gone through the exact same conversation countless times before and now wasn't going to shed anymore light on the situation. The fact was, Sakura was still a very fresh genin who didn't have a chance against the other Rookies. If anything, someone from Lee's team would get the apprenticeship. Neji might lost to Naruto, but he was ruthless when it came to fighting.
Oh, who was she kidding? It was Sasuke who was going to get this apprenticeship. There was no way he wouldn't. He was the second son of the clan head, his brother was one of the most intelligent shinobi of their generation, and Sasuke had almost won his fight against Gaara, who was truly scary.
The logical choice would be Sasuke.
That doesn't mean we can't at least try…
'That's true...' Sakura frowned to herself. Her mind was going a million miles per second but none of her teammates seemed to notice as Kakashi-sensei led them towards the missions desk to receive a D rank for the day. Why they weren't training seemed odd to her. They were going to have their skill showcased in front of someone who could have been Hokage, why weren't they taking this more seriously?
Shaking those thoughts away, Sakura focused on the more immediate problem: if she was going to try for this apprenticeship, then she needed every advantage she could get.
What did she know about Orochimaru?
Only textbook information: he was insanely powerful, had been a student of the Third Hokage, was so intelligent that he had even created his own justu like the Second Hokage, and he frequently left the village. He was a legend in his own right, while his team had been a force to be reckoned with during the Shinobi Wars. They had been feared by anyone who stepped up to face them, and even when they couldn't defeat Hanzo the Salamander, he had gifted them the name of the Legendary Sannin.
In short, Sakura was terrified to have to step in front of Orochimaru and reveal her pitiful skills. She'd be lucky if he didn't out right laugh at her feeble attempts.
Shoulders slumped, Sakura barely noticed their D rank mission flying by as she manually picked up garbage. She was sure Naruto and Sasuke were arguing but she couldn't care in the least, not when she was calculating her chancing of passing the upcoming test.
She had her mind on her side, and after her experience during the Chunin Exams, she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to hold back. If she wanted to stand any chance against the rest of her peers—who she very much knew were clan heirs—then she would need to use every bit of knowledge she had acquired over the years. Luckily, with her eidetic memory and having grown up with the other Rookies, she would be able to counter their strategies. It was true that clans kept their kekkai genkai secret, along with their own fighting techniques, but kids would always be kids. Which meant they loved to show off.
The Hyuuga cousins would be the most difficult to defend against if they got close to her. The only other thing she had going for her was her good chakra control—if they cut that off then she was completely screwed. However, as long as she used her kunai and shuriken to keep them at a distance, she might possibly have a chance.
As for the rest, Sakura was confident she could take Ino on. When they had fought during the Chunin Exams, Sakura had been exhausted, barely any chakra left, but she had still been able to break Ino's clan justu. Surely, in a better condition she could replicate that and then all she would need to do was take Ino down. It was sad to think that about her newly restore friend, but Sakura needed any kind of hope she could drudge up.
As for Lee, Tenten, Kiba, and Chouji, she knew she wouldn't be able to match their taijustu. There was no way she could meet them head on, and with her lack of knowledge of ninjutsu and genjustu. She was sure that if she even knew a D rank genjustu, she could possibly have a chance against them. But, as it stood, she didn't have those tools at her disposal. The only thing she could hope for was any of them being overly confident and underestimating her, but the only one she could feasibly predict doing that is Kiba.
Shikamaru would no doubt drop out as soon as the fight began, and even if he was forced to continue, she was confident that she could outsmart him long enough to come up with a strategy. With him, she would need to out run his shadows and patience, but the terrain was an unknown and who knew if he would have the upper hand or not.
Which left Shino, Sasuke, and Naruto. It was actually a little disheartening to think about having to fight Shino and possibly harm any of his insects. Even though they had rarely talked in the Academy, she had always respected his love for his insects and was always careful not to slap any when she knew he was nearby, in case any where his. But, even saying, she had no way to counter his insects. Maybe if she had poison or paralyzers, then she would have a chance, but having none of those, she had no other way of fighting him.
As for her two teammates, Sakura could only hope that pity would keep them from killing her on accident. If their pride was on the line, then she knew they would fight until the bitter end until they won, or passed out. She had witnessed this many times since Team Seven had been formed. With Naruto, she could already hear him saying how unfair it was that they would be pitted against each other and how Sakura shouldn't have to fight. As for Sasuke, she didn't doubt he would straight up tell her to forfeit.
Her lip curled in disgust, and she stabbed a piece of trash a bit too harshly. She didn't notice her teammates moving away slightly, fearing they would be next.
None of these thoughts were going to help her prove herself. The truth was that Sakura was the weakest of the Rookie twelve, and she hated it.
Maybe if we put some actual effort into our training, like I've been saying—
'Shut up!' Sakura snarled at Inner. 'You know we can't! If mom and dad saw us…'
Yeah, yeah. Can't be a perfect little princess if you get a speck of dirt on that ridiculous dress, Inner sneered.
Shoulders sagging, Sakura knew Inner was right.
She might use her parents as an excuse, but the truth was that Sakura just didn't know where to start. Being raised as a civilian, there were many things she was still unlearning: she no longer had to keep a thin figure, she really should change her training outfits, and if she ever wanted to keep up with her teammates, then she needed to be willing to run around and get dirty. But, that wasn't how she had been raised.
Her parents weren't cruel. They had never said anything about her choice to become a shinobi, only giving her unconditional love and support. However, she could see in their eyes that they wished she had decided to become a merchant like them. So, she had decided to act like a civilian just a bit longer, for them.
It wasn't smart, but love never meant doing the smart thing. Although, like Inner loved to state, it was down right stupid to keep acting like a civilian when she was training to be a shinobi. How was she ever going to be able to go on missions and fight those strong than her if she could barely run more than a mile? How would she be able to protect her precious people if she froze at even a hint of danger?
When she had been put on her genin team, she had planned on changing. To real start her training and be guided by her own jonin sensie.
And then she had met her team and sensei.
Sasuke had been a plus, but when he focused more on arguing with Naruto, he soon lost his shine. The only reason she kept up the façade was because she knew her mother wanted her to marry a strong shinobi. If she kept up the act of liking Sasuke, then nobody else would approach her and she doubted Sasuke would return those feelings, so it was a win-win. He would never like her back, so she could be disappointed and not think about love until she was much, much older. It had been the perfect plan.
However, everything had gone down hill when they had met Kakashi-sensei.
"My first impression of you three is… I hate you."
Those had been the very first words from their sensei and it had left Sakura on edge for the rest of the day. If someone could hate the Hokage's son that quickly, then there was no way she would be able to change his mind. But, even though she knew he hated them, she had plastered her best smile and tried to be as friendly as she could be, just like she was when someone was trying to swindle her at the market.
She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled genuinely around her team.
The masks she wore weren't like the one Kakashi-sensei wore. No, hers were well crafted, never once hinting at her true feelings of loneliness and despair at being overlooked each and every time by her sensei.
When they had begun sparring, it was obvious she wouldn't be able to take Naruto or Sasuke on, but she had wanted to try. Soon enough, Kakashi-sensei had started to tell her to sit on the sidelines as the boys sparred, and each time she asked if she could join, he would smile that annoying eye smile and promise her next time she could.
That time never came, so she stopped asking.
The same went for learning anything else. She had witnessed the way Kakashi-sensei would roll his eyes and shrug Naruto and Sasuke away when they asked to learn new justu. The blatant rejection had deterred her from asking for herself. Why ask if she already knew the answer?
Ears perking up, Sakura's shoulders dropped in relief when Kakashi-sensei called their mission to its end. Soon enough, they were all sent on their way; Sasuke towards the Uchiha district, Naruto sprinting towards the Hokage Tower, while leaving Sakura to her own devices.
'How am I going to convince Orochimaru-sama that I should be his apprentice?' She asked herself.
Butter him up?
Inner might have a point. People were more inclined to gravitate towards those like them, so maybe if she showed traits that Orochimaru had, she would have a better chance?
Only problem was, she didn't know what would impress him.
She wasn't insanely smart and able to create her own justu, nor was she proficient in anything. Was there anything else she could hone in only three days?
She needed more information.
The library was tempting, but there wouldn't be anything recent on Orochimaru. No, her best bet would be gathering information, but that was harder to do when that involved possibly eavesdropping on high-ranking shinobi.
So lost in thought, she didn't hear her name being called until a fist collided with her shoulder. Yelping, she whirled around to verbally tear her assailant apart when she saw a shining smile.
"Sakura!" Ino scolded playfully. "I've been calling your name!"
"Oh, sorry, Ino…"
"Don't apologize!" The blonde huffed. "What's got you so spacey? I can practically see the gears turning in your head."
"Did your sensei tell you about the apprenticeship?"
"Yeah, Asuma-sensei pushed us so much harder in training today. I mean, I get it, but it's in three days! We're not going to become masters in three days."
"You're right about that," Sakura giggled, and her smile grew when she saw Ino's fond eye roll.
"Come on, you wanna get some tea and dango?" While it was phrased as a question, Ino had already grabbed Sakura's hand and led her towards the closest tea shop. Still smiling, Sakura didn't mind in the least. Ino had always taken lead in their friendship, and honestly Sakura appreciated it since Ino taking charge allowed her to get lost in her thoughts again.
So, the other team were actually taking this short time to train. Why wasn't Kakashi-sensei having them train then?
Sitting down across from Ino, a thought occurred to Sakura. Ino was the heiress of one of the leading clans in Konaha. If there was anyone that loved gossip, then it'd be her.
"Ino?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you know about Orochimaru-sama?"
The blonde's face screwed up in thought. "Not much. He's worked with my dad at T&I, but it's his old apprentice that's actually a member of the department."
"His old apprentice?"
"Yep. Do you remember the woman in charge of the second exam during the Chunin exams? That's Mitarashi Anko. My dad says I should never talk to her, or do anything she says if I do."
"Why?" Sakura's brows furrowed. She had heard rumors about people in T&I, but Ino's dad was nice, so they couldn't be that bad, right? Ino leaned in, one hand cupping her mouth as she continued.
"My dad she's absolutely insane."
"Then why would Orochimaru-sama have taken her as his apprentice?"
"She might be insane, but she's also good at what she does. Whenever my dad needs poison on short notice, he always goes to her."
It made sense. Orochimaru was known for his snake summons, so assuming he and his past apprentice were poison masters wasn't a big leap in logic.
"Of course, people say Anko's the worst of his kids."
Sakura blinked. "Kids?"
"You haven't heard?" Ino raised an eyebrow.
"Civilian born," Sakura told her flatly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way," Ino's face blushed in embarrassment. "Anyway, what I mean is, Orochimaru-sama is known for adopting a lot of kids. They say the Third Hokage had to force him to stop before he made his own army!"
"What are his other kids like?" Sakura couldn't help but lean forward, thoroughly entranced. She already knew there was much about the Sannin she didn't know, but the thought of meeting anyone trained by him was more than she could imagine.
"I don't really know," Ino admitted sheepishly. "But, I heard that some of them came from outside of the village."
Outside of the village? Was that even allowed? Sakura knew of a lot of refugees from all over the Shinobi countries, but they were civilians. Non-threats. It was surprising Konaha would allow foreign shinobi to be raised and trained inside it's walls. The more she thought about it, Sakura had to assume, just like Naruto being the Fourth Hokage's son, then Orochimaru must have gotten special perks for being the Third Hokage's student.
Once again lost in thought, Sakura jerked back to reality when Ino gently poked her with a dango stick before both girls burst out laughing. Sakura had missed their friendship and couldn't be happier they had reconciled.
Their conversation turned away from the topic of the apprenticeship as Ino began to regal her with her team's most recent missions. After several cups of tea and sticks of dango, Ino had to leave for her clan duties, once again leaving Sakura to her own devices.
Glancing at the setting sun, Sakrua sighed as she turned towards the civilian district and back to an empty house. Her parents left for a merchant trip a week before the Chunin Exams and had yet to return. She doubted they would be back in time to encourage her to try her best for the opportunity for an apprenticeship. Even though she was reluctant to return to a dark and lonely house, she knew the librarian wouldn't allow her to stay past closing. She was already on probation after sneaking into the chunin section.
Strolling down the streets, she almost didn't hear the small hiss. Looking down, she saw a small, brown snake trying to get out of the benjo ditch on the side of the road. Crouching down, Sakura gently held her had out to the small snake.
"It's ok," she spoke softly and stayed perfectly still. "You need to be careful. The rainy season is coming and the benjo ditches will carry you away."
The snake licked the air and stared up at her for a few moments before it slowly slithered onto her open palm. Carefully cupping her other hand around it, Sakura spotted an underbrush close by. Setting the snake down, she giggled as it tried to wrap itself around her fingers.
"Sorry, but you can't come home with me. You'll like it a lot better out here."
Standing up, she brushed off her dress before turning away and heading towards her house again. She didn't notice the little snake following her.