Sakura's face was smoothed out into a calm expression as she followed the Fourth Hokage outside towards the training grounds. Around her, she could feel the nervous energy pouring off her peers as they moved closer to large crowd of spectators. She had arrived two hours early for the test, so she had watched almost every major clan's head arrive with one of the other genin, giving them words of encouragement. But now, their sensei and a few other shinobi had joined them in the hastily erected stands around the small training grounds.
She spotted several jonin and chunin hanging, but her eyes caught purple hair breaking off from the crowd to approach Orochimaru. Recognizing the Chunin Exams' proctor, Sakura let her eyes examine the woman and wonder how she had gotten her apprenticeship with the Sannin. Anko had a near feral smile on her face—Sakura swore she saw sharp fangs—as she slung an arm around Orochimaru, who didn't seem to mind in the least. Two white haired shinobi joined them as they talked, and the three younger shinobi glanced from Orochimaru towards the group of genin. Sakura carefully adverted her eyes, just in case.
Stop freaking out, Inner whispered in her ear.
'I'm not.'
Says the person whose heart is beating out of their chest.
Inner was right. While Sakura might look calm on the outside, she was an absolute mess on the inside.
When she had been given the written test, her hand had been so horribly, she feared her normally immaculate handwriting would turn out illegible. When she had finished, she had forced herself only to check her answers over once before physically keeping herself still so not to fidget nervously. She needed to show she was a strong shinobi and not a scared child.
The other two little tests had been quite informative for her. She had only read about chakra nature and the elements. If she had known that all it would take to discover her affinity, she would have tried to that slip of paper a long time ago. Maybe then she could have started finding justu to study on her own. However, it was the other test that had left her a bit baffled. Why had she lit up most of the board, while everyone else struggled to do less than half? All they had to do was channel chakra into it, it shouldn't have been too complicated for them.
But, none of that mattered now.
Now, they were onto the practical tests.
It's going to be the Chunin Exams all over again.
'Let's just hope I actually get to fight Ino,' Sakura groused. At least then she would have a chance at winning a fight. Glancing around, she could tell everyone else was getting ready by the excited or dreading looks on their faces. Poor Hinata looked particularly on edge as she kept glancing at her cousin. However, the crowd seemed to be even more enraptured by the sight as many of the shinobi gathered were frantically talking to each other.
As soon as the Hokage stepped forward, silence swept through them, and Sakura could only hope she would have the same affect some day. In your dreams…
"I will be announcing the fights one at a time. Genin, you are allowed to use any tactic you wish to win your fight. The winner will be decided when your opponent has been incapacitated. The goal of this test is not to kill. If we deem a match as gone too far, we will stop it and decide the winner from there." The Hokage spoke, staring at the genin who stood in a line in front of the training grounds.
A small rock wall was formed in the middle to indicate the arena. Mentally mapping it out, she guessed it had a five-meter radius with almost no terrain other than hard, compact dirt. At least if she did go up against Shikamaru, he wouldn't be able to pull shadows from other sources. But, it also meant there was no cover or any items to substitute herself with for a speedy getaway. This was meant to be an all-out brawl between contestants. "First, Yamanka Ino versus Hyuuga Hinata."
The two girls entered the ring, and even though Sakura was analyzing the match to use catalogue their strengths, weaknesses, injuries, and how tired they became, she was still internally having a panic attack.
Since Ino already fought, did this mean they wouldn't be matched up? Did everyone simply fight once and that was it, or was it done in rounds just like the Chunin Exams? So far, the tests had a similar flare to the exams, so it didn't seem farfetched to base her thoughts on them. Assuming this was a tournament style, then that meant the victor of all their matches would be the one chosen. Simple enough, but that also meant that if Sakura did manage to get to the next round, then her next opponent would only be more difficult to defeat.
If she actually won her first match, that is.
"Winner: Yamanaka Ino." The Hokage announced before conversing with Orochimaru for the next fight. "Next, Aburame Shino versus Rock Lee."
Sakura was a bit amused to watch Shino fumble a bit as Lee completely disregarded the implication of his chakra being drained. If he didn't use it and was quick enough, then Shino's normal tactics would fail. Soon enough, as she predicted, Lee's superior taijustu won out and he had pinned Shino.
"Uchiha Sasuke versus Inuzuka Kiba."
Watching the sneer that formed on Sasuke's face, she was tempted to cheer Kiba on. It was very satisfying to see Akumaru bit Sasuke's shins, leaving the boy limping slightly after he was declared the winner.
"Uzumaki Naruto versus Haruno Sakura."
Eyes widening in horror, Sakura's heart stopped.
You're fucked, Inner laughed maniacally.
'Either shut up or help me!' Sakura hissed internally as she stepped into the ring and met Naruto's uncertain gaze. She could already see that he was ready to object and argue with his father, the very Hokage, about the match up. The very thought of him doing so made Sakura's face twist into an ugly snarl and she fell into a fighting stance. She didn't care about his white knight complex or whatever—he wasn't going to take this from her!
"Sakura…" Naruto blinked at her before a smile broke over his face and he too fell into a fighting stance. Relieved, Sakura nodded at him appreciatively. At least he understood her feelings about wanting to prove herself. They had talked a few times about how much he wanted to escape his father's legacy and form his own path, not only being known as the Hokage's son, but as Uzumaki Naruto.
"Begin!"
"Kage bunshin no justu!"
Immediately, there were ten more Narutos in the small arena, all of them holding a kunai. In a blink of an eye, all eleven rushed towards her and allowed the original Naruto to hide amongst his clones. Grabbing two kunai from her pouch, Sakura tried to dodge and weave between the clones, but they were coming too fast for her to avoid all of their attacks. In less than a minute, she was covered in little knicks and cuts, only having dispelled five of the clones.
As Sakura had predicted, another ten Naruto flooded the arena, almost taking it up with their mass. She didn't know how Naruto had so much chakra, but she knew from past experiences that he could keep this up for a long time, while her stamina wouldn't last for a few more minutes. She was already breathing hard, and sweat was dripping down her face.
Ducking under a half-hazard punch, Sakura grabbed a paper bomb and slapped it against the clone's chest. The smoke from the clone and bomb gave her just enough time to cast her henge.
"Huh?! Where'd she go?!"
"How'd you lose her, baka?!"
"Watch who you're saying that too!"
"I'm you!"
Seventeen different Narutos stared in confusion at each other, some of them scratching their heads, while others scanned the area for their pink teammate. However, the original Naruto didn't notice one of his clones moving closer and closer to him until it was too late.
"Shannaro!"
Bone hitting bone echoed around them as Sakura's fist connected with Naruto's face and sent him flying backwards into three clones, destroying them. Sakura smiled proudly at the look of shock on all of Naruto's faces. She did it! She actually landed a hit!
"Not bad, Sakura-chan," Naruto flashed her a smile. "But that's not going to work a second time! Kage bunshin no justu!"
How the fuck is he able to make that many clones?! Inner screeched as Sakura's eyes widened as at least thirty Narutos now stood facing her. 'Oh shit…'
Screaming incoherently, every single Naruto rushed at her and with nowhere to go, Sakura's world was darkened by orange jumpsuits as more and more bodies landed on top of her.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
Groaning, Sakura laid on the ground as the smoke from dispelled clones covered her. Why did her whole body feel like one big bruise?
"Nee, Sakura-chan, we gotta get out to let the next match start."
Opening a single eye, Sakura was met by Naruto's beaming face and a hand. Taking the peace offering, Sakura wasn't surprised when her teammate easily jerked her up onto her feet. If only she had been stronger, then maybe she could have gotten rid of all those clones and been able to keep fighting. She could already feel her cheeks burning in shame at the idea she had literally crushed into a humiliating defeat.
She had been right; she wouldn't make it past the first round.
Walking back to the genin line-up, Sakura gave Naruto a reassuring smile as he unsubtly tried to send her looks of concern. While her body felt bruised and used, she wasn't majorly hurt and would survive after a nice relaxing bath later.
"Akimichi Choji versus Tenten!"
Regulating her still harsh breathing, Sakura let her mind wander. Since she had lost her match, then there wouldn't be much need to watch all the matches to evaluate everyone's skills and fighting conditions. Now, she was free to simply watch and wait to see who would become Orochimaru's apprentice.
Looking over at the Sannin, Sakura was shocked to see him talking with Gai-sensei, who looked sheepish from whatever Orochimaru had said. Thinking about it, weren't the Sannin at least fifty? It wasn't surprising Orochimaru would know all their sensei, perhaps even saw them when they were low ranking shinobi themselves. But, if the Sannin were that old, how did Orochimaru look to be the same age as Kakashi? Was it something to do with his clan?
Sakura had always been curious about clans, especially since she had grown up around so many clan heirs. However, there were not many clans in Konaha who had actual clan markings other than the Inuzuka. Orochimaru's marking were very distinct and, in Sakura's opinion, increased his beauty and aura of mystery.
"Winner: Tenten!"
"Next, Nara Shikamura versus Hyuuga Neji!"
Attention split between the battle of intelligence and Orochimaru, Sakura couldn't help but stare at the other shinobi surrounding the Sannin. The two young men with white-silver hair were talking quietly with Anko, who hadn't lost the menacing glint in her eyes. Ino had said the woman was a master of her craft at T&I, so what about the other two? Were they also Orochimaru's kids? If so, then were they also experts in their chosen career path? There wasn't anything in their appearance that would hint at their abilities, but Sakura had a feeling they were just as deadly as their parent.
"Winner: Hyuuga Neji!"
She nearly rolled her eyes at the way Shikamura's hand was raised in forfeit. No doubt he knew the odds were against him in this case and had decided to quit while he was ahead. Neji seemed a little irritated at the easy win, and she would be too—it wasn't every day you got to fight someone from one of the smartest clans.
Two more matches came and went, and Sakura was slowly losing interest in them. After each match was called, she was able to predict the outcome almost perfectly. However, it wasn't until the Hokage called out again that her brain short circuited.
"Haruno Sakura verses Rock Lee!"
How? We lost our first match! Inner sounded as confused as she did. Numbly walking back into the arena, she felt the same sting of embarrassment as Lee looked ready to pull a Shikamura and forfeit.
"Don't you dare!" Sakura snarled, temper finally snapping. She wouldn't let Naruto go easy on her, and she wasn't going to let Lee either! Damn his crush, he better see her as a worth opponent or else she was going to make him regret it!
"Sakura-chan, I couldn't possibly hurt you!" Lee looked like a kicked puppy. Don't give in!
"Why?" She snapped. "Because I'm too weak?!"
"No!" He backpedaled, but Sakura was done with him.
"Begin!" The Hokage shouted and she didn't waste a second.
Shuriken pierced the ground where Lee had been standing and Sakura snarled under her breath. He was too fast!
Green was flying right towards her and she was too slow to dodge the kick coming straight at her face. She barely brought her arms up to block his leg, but it didn't do much as she found herself on her back, the rough ground scratching her shoulders badly. Grunting in pain, her eyes widened as fists came raining down.
Get out of there! Inner screeched.
'What do you think I'm doing?!'
She must have looked pathetic as Lee chased her around the arena, landing hit after hit on her. There was no way for her to dodge properly and she was lucky nothing had broken yet. Or maybe she had broken a bone and was too drunk on adrenaline to notice. Her lungs burned and sweat dripped into her eyes as she once again landed flat on her back, Lee standing above her.
"Please yield," he mumbled.
"No."
Kicking out, she smirked at the shocked look on his face as he fell into a kneeling position right in front of her. Sakura threw katas, fighting styles, and everything else about being a ninja out the window as she tackled Lee. One of her hands curled into talons to scratch at his face while the other tried to stab him with a kunai. She could feel his confusion thrumming through him as he fumbled to block her uncoordinated attacks.
Pain suddenly exploded through her face and something warm dripped down her face.
"Sakura-chan! I'm so sorry!"
Pulling back slightly, Sakura reached up and prodded at her now very broken nose. Blood was running down her face, coating her lips red. Narrowing her eyes, Sakura pinpointed the very moment Lee decided to end the match.
If it was possible, he was even faster than before as a hand clamped around her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. Yelping in pain, Sakura's already sore face was shoved into the dirt as a knee pressed into her back painfully.
"Winner: Rock Lee!"
Gasping for air, Sakura could barely hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears as she felt the pressure on her back disappear.
"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry! Let me help you—"
"Shut. Up."
Wobblily, Sakura got to her feet and refused to meet Lee's eyes.
How dare he think so little of her! She was a shinobi, damnit! A broken nose wasn't nothing compared to the injuries that could potentially occur during a mission. Keeping her head held high, Sakura stepped back into line and refused to acknowledge the pitying stares that she was no doubt receiving.
When someone nudged her arm, she nearly bit their head off until she saw a handkerchief being offered to her silently. Blinking, she sighed as Hinata refused to meet her eyes.
"Thank you," she mumbled.
Wiping at the blood, Sakura flinched slightly as she brushed her nose. Honestly, she had gotten out of the fight with minimal damage. Of course, none of the older shinobi would allow any of them to be fatally injured during this, so there was no actual danger.
That still didn't mean that her pride had been damaged beyond repair.
Not only had Naruto not taken her seriously at first, but Lee had completely disregarded her as an actual opponent. She knew he had been playing with her after she didn't stand down and forfeit. If he had actually been fighting seriously, then she would have been pinned in under ten seconds. Maybe he didn't want to hurt her, but this wasn't about harming teammates, this as about proving themselves and by doing that to her, he was only proving to everyone that she was lesser than him.
Clutching at the handkerchief harshly, Sakura squared her shoulders as she watched the rest of the matches.
There was no pattern to them, which irked her.
Why had she been in two matches if she hadn't won her first one? Was this not a tournament? If not, then would whoever had the most wins be the one chosen? Or was this all a front for something deeper?
They had been told these tests would be assessing them and their skills, and wouldn't those who won their matches showcasing their skills the best? There were too many variables and not enough certainties for Sakura to accurately predict what the outcome of this whole thing would be. How would their test scores be added up?
Look underneath the underneath, Inner mused. We didn't really find out what Orochimaru wanted out of his apprentice, but maybe he's looking for someone similar to his past one or his kids?
Even if that was the case, there was nobody amongst the Rookie Twelve that resembled his kids. None of them were cruel and ruthless like Anko, but Sakura couldn't say for the others that were with Orochimaru. And hadn't Ino said he had adopted a lot of them? Surely two didn't mean a 'small army'.
The matches continued on as Sakura's mind spiraled and folded in on itself as she desperately tried to come up with answers to all of her questions. How had a few tests become so complicated?
Long shadows started to form across the arena, allowing Shikamaru to win his match against Naruto, and showed just how long they had been out there fighting. So far, nearly everyone had fought twice, when Sakura saw the Hokage pause slightly when he asked Orochimaru for the next match. The Snake Sannin only raised an eyebrow before the Hokage nodded and turned towards them once more.
"Final match: Uchiha Sasuke versus Haruno Sakura."
I was wrong. Now, you're fucked.
'Not. Helping.' Sakura seethed as she once more made her way into the arena. If she could get away with it, she would start planning Orochimaru's assassination because he really was living up to the rumors of being a sadistic bastard. She was glad she didn't have a chance of being his apprentice because if this was what he did for fun, she didn't want to know what actual training would be like.
Facing Sasuke from across the arena, Sakura felt her nails digging into her palms—he was smirking at her in contempt. Oh, how she wanted to smack that smug look off his face. For someone who had already fought in two matches, Sasuke looked unbothered as if he had been doing his normal training regimen. Meanwhile, Sakura was covered in scratches, bruises, and had a fine layer of dirt covering her whole body. On top of that, her nose was still throbbing from when she had silently set it only a short bit ago.
"You should just give up now," Sasuke called out to her, a sneer clear as day on his face. "We both know how this is going to play out."
"Shut up, Uchiha!" Sakura growled darkly. She didn't care if she was showing her true colors of not actually being madly in love with Uchiha Sasuke. The truth was, he was a rude, little asshole who kept himself on a pedestal above all of them because he was from one of the largest and powerful clans. With everything that had happened today, Sakura was done dealing with egotistical men who saw her as a weak, pathetic little civilian girl who couldn't handle a punch. She would make them see who she really was!
"Begin!"
Almost lazily, Sasuke pulled out a few shuriken and his eyes stayed their dark coloring. He thinks we're not even worthy enough of using his Sharingan!
Gnashing her teeth, Sakura pulled a kunai out as he flicked the shuriken at her, his wrist barely moving with the action. Take us seriously, damnit!
Letting her chakra circulate through her legs, Sakura used a burst of speed to get up into Sasuke's face and let her own smirk flash across her face as she swiped at him with her kunai. Of course, he dodged with ease, but his smug look had disappeared and was replaced with barely controlled anger. Surprised we could even get close to you, you spoiled brat?
Sakura continued to deflect shuriken away from her as she advanced on Sasuke and forced him to take her seriously. She didn't know how many weapons he kept on his person, but she mentally kept count as he threw them and knew exactly how far away each weapon landed away from him. It wasn't much, but if she could eliminate one source of danger, then the better. Finally, she saw his patience snap and he rushed towards her.
Just like with Lee, Sasuke was too fast to dodge, but unlike Lee, he didn't pull his punches. Immediately, a fist was driven into her stomach, and she doubled over in pain, unable to draw a breath.
"See? You're too weak. Give up. You're just humiliating yourself."
Snarling, Sakura willed herself to move. Jumping away from him, she threw two kunai with paper bombs tied to them. She didn't know anything about fuuinjustu, but she wished she could alter the tags to explode immediately and not a few second after their chakra activation. They might as well haven't even been there by how easily Sasuke dodged and used the smoke to come straight at her.
His eyes were still dark, not a hint of red in them.
Dodging to the left, his next hit clipped her shoulder and left her stumbling. Too late, he was using the opening to grab her and throw her to the ground. Before she had a chance to catch her breath, he was on her, pinning her arms next to her head.
"Don't you get it?!" He spat into her face. "You're just some little girl playing at ninja! Give up already!"
Tears pricked at her eyes as she saw that he truly meant that. She knew he didn't like her, especially since she had been chasing after him like the other girls in their class for so long, but this was new. There was real disgust shining in his eyes as he snarled down at her as if he was irritated to even use a single breath to bother speaking to her.
"Fuck you!"
Sasuke's eyes grew large as she screamed the words in his face. His grip loosened, and she was able to slip an arm out of his to grab a handful of dirt. With no regrets, she shoved the fist full of dirt into his eyes. A mirthlessly laugh left her as he shouted in pain and scrambled away from her.
"How's that feel, you bastard?" She called out, proud at the look of pure rage that broke over his face. Finally, his eyes turned red. So, she was worthy after all.
"I'll kill you!"
If Lee was fast, then Sasuke was moving at the speed of sound. She didn't see him coming until his fist had collided with her head, sending her flying. Her landing caused a small crater in the earth and her body rolled until it was stopped by the arena's small wall. Stomach rolling, Sakura desperately swallowed down her nausea and blinked away the double vision. But, she didn't have enough time to process the probable concussion she had before he body was being assaulted in a flurry of blows.
Crying out, she could only cover her head to try to keep any further damage at a minimum. She swore she felt something in her arm snap, but there was no time to do anything before she was once again flying across the arena, this time in the other direction.
This landing was less harsh, and she only made it to her hands and knees before her body protested. Spitting out a glob of blood, Sakura felt like sobbing when he body went cold. A strange noise was coming from where Sasuke had just thrown her. Raising her head, she saw what was making what sounded like hundreds of birds chirping.
Sasuke's expression was pure bloodlust as lightning began to form around his fist.
"Chidori!" He screamed.
Closing her eyes, Sakura accepted her death gracefully.
"Match end! Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!"
The Hokage's voice echoed around the training grounds and the sound of chirping birds faded. Slowly, Sakura opened her eyes to see Kakashi restraining Sasuke with an indiscernible emotion in his eye while the boy seethed in his hold and glared daggers at her. Sneering, Sakura spat more blood as Naruto came rushing up to her.
Frantic hands waved around her, but didn't touch as Naruto was uncertain as to what he should do. Shoving his hands away, Sakura snarled at him to leave her alone. She wasn't expecting him to flinch at her hard tone, but she couldn't care less. The only thing she could focus on was keeping the dark spots in her vision at bay. Even with her less than gentle treatment, Naruto hovered next to her as she stumbled back into the line of genin. Still holding her head high, Sakura silently challenged anyone to say anything about her condition.
So focused on staying upright, Sakura blocked out everything else around her and only kept her eyes trained on Orochimaru and the Fourth Hokage. Her and Sasuke's fight had been the last one, and now the time had come for it to be revealed that Sasuke would be the Sannin's apprentice.
He would go with Orochimaru, Naruto would go with Jiraiya, and she would end up in the Genin Corps. Just like she had known would happen.
A hush fell across the grounds as everyone waited with bated breath as Orochimaru stepped in front of the twelve Rookies and scrutinized them one last time.
"After today's events, I have decided who my apprentice shall be."
Nobody made a sound as a small smile formed on his face and his eyes locked with hers. Heart hammering in her chest, Sakura knew her fate had been sealed.
"Haruno Sakura."