Her Experience

by Tiny.Dncer

Sakura has been taking care of her sick civilian mother alone since she was 8. But now a full fledged ninja placed on team 7, she must learn how to stop holding herself back and let her team in, although, that proves challenging when her teammates are the wild and childish Naruto Uzumaki and her cold closed off long time crush, Sasuke Uchiha. (Better explanation inside.)

6. Chunin Exams Preamble

Happy Almost New Year! Here's a chapter!

"Sakura's thoughts"

"Inner Sakura"

Memory

"talking"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

---

They'd been doing the D rank missions for the two weeks since they'd gotten back from the Land of Waves, and somehow Naruto and Sasuke's teamwork had gotten worse than it was when they first started doing missions. To make matters worse, it appeared her words had no effect on them this time around. They were both too antsy—fed up with D-ranks, now that they'd had a taste of a real challenging mission. They'd grown so competitive that not even her logic could reign in their rivalry.

Sakura on the other hand, was growing more and more annoyed because their lack of teamwork was slowing them down again. The Land of Waves mission had only paid them as a C-rank, which wasn't much. She hadn't made any money during the two weeks they were away. They weren't completing many missions a day, and she was feeling the financial pressure.

At least her mother was alright. She hadn't gotten significantly worse while Sakura was away. She'd been so happy to see her—she hadn't realized just how much she'd missed her mom those past two weeks. It had been kind of fun when she got back, staying up with her mother to recount everything about the mission. Her mother had laughed at Naruto's antics, smiled as she told about Ageha, frowned in concern about her encounters with Zabuza, and mercilessly teased her over Sasuke. It felt so good to be there with her mother. She felt listened too, cared for, and loved. It reminded her why she had to work so hard to try and cure her mother. She couldn't lose her.

Sakura was running late, as per usual. She'd just finished selling her hair rinse to a beauty shop. She'd had to bargain a lot since it was a new product for them and they didn't trust her yet, and she'd made far less than she hoped. She just prayed that her team actually managed to get through more than one D rank today.

She ran, rounding a corner to get to the street their sensei told them to meet at for today's mission. Naruto and Sasuke were already there, glaring at each other. When Naruto caught sight of her, he turned away from the raven haired boy, waving at her excitedly.

"Good morning Sakura-chaaaaaan!" He called excitedly, blushing as she drew nearer. Sasuke's eye twitched at the moron's reddening cheeks.

"Morning! Sorry I'm late I was…" She trailed off when she noted that neither one was listening. Their glaring match had renewed with new intensity.

"This again?"

"Seriously, what's with them?"

"I hope sensei shows up soon. I don't know how much more of this I can take…"

He didn't…it took another three hours for him to show up.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm afraid I got lost on the road of life…"

"Liar!"

"You always lay it on too thick sensei…"

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! Any hot new missions for squad 7? We've had nothing but lame D ranks! Borrrrrrrring!" Naruto yelled, practically burning with energy. "We want action! A challenge! Something where I could use my skill—like this…and this…and—and—"

"Oh really?…yeah I think I see where you're going with this." Kakashi sighed exasperatedly. This kid was seriously impatient. They'd only gotten back from the land of waves two weeks ago, and he already wanted to take on another mission that could easily get him killed. He could tell Sasuke wanted one too. The hunger for challenge shined in both their eyes. The only team member it seemed absent from was Sakura. The day after they got back, she'd fallen into the same preoccupied, semi-present, repressed vibe she'd given off before. He'd hoped the Land of Waves mission had broken that, but it seemed he was wrong. She didn't seem to care what the missions they were given were—she just grew increasingly frustrated by their slow rate of success, courtesy of Naruto and Sasuke's ever growing rivalry. She still offered ideas and analysis, but the two seemed less willing to listen, more caught up in beating the other than accomplishing the group goal. He saw her growing annoyance, she even tried voicing it a few times, but it made no difference, and when she saw that, she'd started repressing it again. How'd his team manage to backslide this much?

"Well, for today, you're just going to have to use those skills on gardening." He replied smoothly.

"Aw man!" Naruto whined, before casting a glare towards Sasuke. Every time they went on a mission Sasuke somehow ended up showing him up and saving him. But not today, he determined. Today was gonna be the day he'd save Sasuke and make him look bad for a change.

Naruto was so caught up in this fantasy, he didn't notice his team had started walking away.

"Hey, Naruto! Hurry up! We're heading out on our mission!"

"Yessir!" Naruto called with annoyance-tinged enthusiasm.

"That is so not the energy to have going into a gardening mission…"

"Would you just chill?!" Sakura demanded in a cursory attempt to stop him from going overboard on this mission—which she knew he would anyways, and likely end up screwing everything up.

---

They each divided up responsibilities. Sasuke would build the fence, Naruto immediately volunteered for tree trimming (a recipe for disaster in Sakura's opinion), which left her with de-weeding and planting.

Trouble started about an hour and a half into the work. Sakura was pulling up dandelions, most of which she saved for their many medicinal properties, when she heard a loud crash. Naruto, who'd been employing his chakra control to climb and prune the tree, had stupidly cut a branch while he'd been positioned on the severed side. Surprised by the fact that he was suddenly falling, he failed to catch himself or control his drop, crashing into and breaking the portion of fence Sasuke had just built.

"Nice going idiot!" Sasuke yelled, "Now I have to all over again!"

Sakura jumped up and hurried over to check on Naruto. She pulled a few splinters out of his arm and back, missing the way Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her actions. She pulled out her trusted ointment and began applying it to Naruto's cuts and bruises. She was running low, and Naruto had already used up his own jar…she added making another batch to her ever growing mental checklist of shit she needed to do.

"Pay attention to what you're doing next time, damn it!" She growled frustration seeping into her tone. She took a deep breath staring down at the ruined wood of the fence. When she turned to Sasuke, her tone was notably softer, though there were still hints of frustration in it. "Maybe start on the other side, away from where he's working." She suggested. His magnetic eyes pulled away from her, back to glaring at Naruto.

"I'll work where I want. The dead last should just do better."

"What did you say bastard?!" Naruto yelled, stepping closer, fully ready to punch his raven haired teammate.

"Enough." Sakura said stepping between them with an aggravated sigh. "Do either of you want to switch jobs?"

"No." They both answered simultaneously, glaring around her at each other.

"Then let's just get back to work." She didn't move until they each turned back to their respective jobs. Once they both were working again, she went back to her own task.

Disaster number two struck when Naruto carelessly knocked into a hornets nest, which shattered and swarmed him. In his attempt to get away from them, he inadvertently lead them to Sasuke, who barely jumped away in time, before he began firing shuriken at them.

Sakura watched in astonishment from afar. "Are you shitting me?! Why does that doofus always have to complicate things…"

She was about to go try to help, when she felt Kakashi's hand on her shoulder. "Can I have a word?"

"Um, sure…but shouldn't I…" She looked back towards her team. Naruto, for some unknown reason, had thought shadow clones might help in this situation, though all they did was add to the chaos.

"Let them handle it. They said they were bored anyways."

"…Alright…what is it sensei?" She followed him out of the boy's view, not that it mattered, since they were distracted by the hornet problem.

"Here." He said handing her an envelope.

"What's this?"

"You're payment."

"Payment?"

"For the Land of Waves mission."

Sakura blinked in confusion. "But sensei, we already got paid for that."

"You got paid for a C rank, but it was more of an A rank. That's the rest you're owed."

Sakura's eyes widened as she counted the cash in the envelope.

"This…I've never held this much money before…"

"But…How? Konoha only filed the mission as C rank…"

"Where'd all this come from?" She stared uncomprehendingly at the money in her hands.

"Well," Kakashi said, scratching the side of his head embarrassedly, "I've been a Konoha Jonin for some time now, and have gone on more than a few A rank missions…"

"Wait, this is your? Sensei—I can't take this!"

"Relax. Like I said. I've gone on more than a few A ranks. This is nothing."

"But—"

"You completed a mission and weren't paid just compensation for your work. I'm just righting that mistake."

"My work? I didn't even do anything…Sasuke-kun and Naruto did all the real work…"

"…I don't think I deserve this sensei…I didn't really do anything…"

Kakashi studied her downcast eyes. It was the same look she'd had when she had to take a break during their tree climbing training while Sasuke and Naruto kept going.

"More than any of us, you carried out the mission to guard the bridge builder. You were guarding him long before any of us joined you, and you kept close and guarded him while we were distracted with our own battles. Of course you deserve it."

"Are you paying Sasuke-kun and Naruto too?"

Kakashi considered lying to her, but figured it wouldn't do any good. She was too smart. She'd either put it together then and there, or figure it out later. Either way, she'd feel worse about than she did now.

"No…"

"Why not?"

"Because, it doesn't matter to them. They don't need or depend on it. For them, missions are solely about experience and growth. They've already gotten everything they wanted from that mission."

Sakura pursed her lips as she looked down at the money again. She knew what this was. This was charity…but he'd found the perfect plausible reason for her to latch on to and accept. And as much as she hated it, she really did need it. "This is enough to get mom treated by a real doctor!" Hope ignited in her core, despite being unable to shake the slightly guilty feeling that she didn't deserve this money.

"Who cares! We can take care of mom now!"

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!" She said, with a brilliant smile and deep bow. She returned to her work feeling lighter than she had since first arriving home.

---

She walked through the streets supporting a very stung and bruised Naruto. Sasuke walked cooly a little behind them, glaring at the blond's arm slung around her shoulder. Kakashi brought up the rear.

"You'd have been fine if you hadn't overdone it, you know?" She chided lightly. All her earlier frustration had been forgotten in light of the money now tucked in her pouch.

Naruto just sighed in response.

"You're such a nuisance."

"That does it! Bastard—"

"Oh would you please give it a rest already?!" Sakura growled, her repressed anger rearing its head.

Kakashi just looked between the two in exasperation. "Hmm…Lately, your teamwork has been almost non-existent."

"You tell him! You're always messing up our teamwork, bastard!"

"He was talking to you, loser. If you're so sick of being in my debt…why don't you…get better than me?" He challenged with a cold glare.

"I don't know how they managed it, but they're on even worse terms now then they were before…"

Sasuke bit at his nail in frustration. He hated this…there were guys out there who could challenge him, but he was stuck on these nothing assignments with this twerp.

Kakashi studied Sasuke from behind his book. The boy was so similar to how he used to be, it was a little frightening. His drive for challenge and being the best, while admirable, was making him stir crazy and short tempered with all the D ranks. He and Naruto's growing animosity towards each other, and their lack of teamwork, was concerning. Though, Kakashi had a feeling that if presented with true challenge, the two would be able to pull off the same level of incredible teamwork they had while facing Zabuza and Haku.

A hawk circling the sky above him caught his attention. He knew that meant the Hokage was summoning him…and he had a good idea of what it was about. His eyes fell on his students. Were they ready? Naruto and Sasuke were. Definitely. But what about Sakura…Well. They had to go in teams for a reason. What Sakura lacked in strength and skill, she made up for in intelligence, analysis, and spirit. If they could get their teamwork back in working order, they'd be able to handle it.

"Okay. That's it. We'll call it a day right now. I've got to go hand in my report on today's mission."

"Oh! Bye then, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said with a bow and bright smile.

Kakashi gave a lazy wave before poofing away.

"Time to go get mom treated!"

"Eeeek! Hell yeah! We're finally gonna fix mom and everything'll be ok!"

She turned in excitement, ready to rush home, but Naruto's voice stopped her.

"Hey Sakura-chan! I was wondering if you wanted to work on our teamwork and train together just the two of us?" His cheeks tinting red and a stupid smile painted across his face.

Sasuke froze.

"Sorry Naruto, I can't. There's something I have to take care of."

Sasuke stiffened. He felt overwhelmingly annoyed for so many contradicting reasons it was dizzying. He was pissed at the blond for trying to use training as an excuse for a date with Sakura. And he'd asked her out in front of him. Was he stupid? That kind of thing should be kept private. Besides, they shouldn't date at all—they were teammates who saw each other daily and had to work together. If things soured, like they obviously would because Naruto was clearly not a good match for Sakura, it would make working as a team more difficult and uncomfortable. Thank god she turned him down…

…but that for some reason pissed him off also. She was in no position to be turning down training. She needed it. Badly. She was smart—no one would argue that. But she was useless in a physical fight. When he'd been fighting Haku, and heard her scream—he'd felt nothing less than panic. He knew she couldn't hold her own against the likes of either of their opponents. Hell, she probably couldn't even hold her own against Naruto. She needed to get stronger. It would be distracting if he always had to worry about her safety while battling. Yet she never made time to train…even now, when they'd been released fairly early from their missions, she still had something else to do. Who knew when they were next sent on a mission with a powerful enemy? At any moment they might be faced with strong opponents, and as she was now, an enemy wouldn't even have to be particularly strong to kill Sakura. Screw whether Naruto was asking her on a date or not, she needed a training session…

"You're as bad as Naruto."

Both his teammate's eyes shot to him.

"Huh?"

"Why are you wasting your time when you should be practicing?"

"Wasting my time?! Shaannaro! What does he know?!"

"…Nothing…cause I haven't told him anything…"

"Even his skills are better than yours!"

Her previously good mood suddenly evaporated. Every word he spoke felt like a kunai to the chest, cause he wasn't wrong. She knew it too. He was speaking her insecurities into the light of day for all to clearly see.

"I told you before that you needed to make time to train, but you haven't. Your analysis isn't enough anymore. As you are now, you're just dead weight getting in our way." His tone was a sharpened knife's edge. He knew he was being unnecessarily harsh, but he was so annoyed and frustrated that he hadn't been able to censor his words.

Sakura felt cracks running up her entire being. She was about to shatter. "…Dead weight…useless…I'm just in the way…I'm—I'm just in his way…" She felt like she couldn't breathe. Her throat was tightening.

"What the hell Bastard?!" Naruto shouted, glaring heatedly at Sasuke, whose gaze didn't leave Sakura.

"I…"

Naruto looked back at the sound of her small voice in concern.

"I—"

"Oh my god! Sasuke-kun!" Came a familiar shrill voice that made both her male teammates look towards the newcomer.

"Oh you've got to be shitting me…Why that bitch?!"

Watanabe Ami launched herself at Sasuke, wrapping her arms around his neck. The second she heard the voice of her biggest bully, Sakura's face fell into her well practiced mask of stoney indifference. There was no way in hell she was going to let Ami see her fall apart in front of her teammates.

Ami ignored Sasuke's attempts to push her off of him, her eyes sliding across Naruto and narrowing on Sakura.

"So the walking jinx is here. I can't believe they let someone as incompetent as you become a ninja."

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes both shot to Sakura in concern, though it was masked on Sasuke's part.

"Hm. Remind me again, Ami. What team are you on? Squad 2, right? How's it going? I haven't heard anything about you guys since graduation." Sakura asked in a polite but detached voice. She hadn't used it since graduating the academy.

Ami's eyes narrowed into a glare, as she released Sasuke and turned to face Sakura fully. Squad 2 hadn't passed the post graduation survival exam and had been sent back.

"We were sent back to the academy—another sign of their clearly flawed judgement. I'd be far more useful on this team than you. Even your ninja tools are barely usable. I'd rather be on a team with that lazy ass Shikamaru, or even Naruto, then be stuck with someone as pathetic as you."

Both Sasuke and Naruto glared at Ami, who didn't take any notice. Sasuke was barely resisting the urge to pound the girl next to him into the ground. Sure, Sasuke had just told his teammate that she was weak, but she wasn't completely useless. And he was her teammate. He'd been working closely with her for months now. He had the right to make those kinds of observations. But this…this bitch didn't know anything about her. She had no right to say those things and degrade her. It wasn't even like they were on the same level—she was still in the academy while Sakura was a full fledged ninja who survived what should have been an A rank mission…who was this bitch to say anything about his teammate? He wasn't going to say anything though, this was Sakura's fight. Getting involved might make her feel truly weak. This wasn't the kind of battle she needed protecting from. She was far stronger than this girl, mentally and emotionally, at least.

"This is nothing new…this is the same crap she's always said to me…" But it hurt more than usual. She was already raw from what Sasuke had said, and Ami was pouring salt on the wound.

"Shaaannarooo! I don't care how much it hurts! There's no way I'm giving that bitch the satisfaction!" Sakura was a master of repressing her own pain, after all.

Naruto didn't have the same thought process as Sasuke. No one was allowed to shit talk any of his teammates. Especially not Sakura-chan, who cared and looked out for him in a way very few did.

"Hey—"

"How lucky for you then, that you're not stuck on a team with me. In fact, you'll probably never have to worry about that, given that you already failed to become a full fledged shinobi once." Sakura said, her face betraying none of her emotions, her tone still polite detachment.

Ami looked livid. "At least I'll never be responsible for my teammate's deaths on the field!" The violet haired girl spat furiously. Ami's uncle had been one of Sakura's father's teammates. Ami never met her uncle—if she had, she didn't remember. But she heard the stories from her family. She knew who was ultimately responsible for his death.

Sakura swallowed hard, thankfully unnoticed by anyone. "Why does everyone say that? It's not like he was a traitor—he died too! And I'm not him…" It was hard but she still kept her mask of indifference. For the most part. Unnoticed by anyone but Sasuke, Sakura's pale knuckles were growing whiter, as her fists tightened at her sides.

She was about to respond, when a new voice stopped her short.

"Well if it isn't Naruto…" Came a lazy drawl from behind Ami and Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh no…my luck can't be that bad, can it?!"

Team 10 made their way towards the group. Long pale blond hair trailed beautifully behind her as Ino latched herself on to Sasuke, who immediately growled at her to let go. She did when her eyes fell on Sakura.

"Oh…You're here too…" She said stiffly, glaring cooly at Sakura, who felt her grip on her composure almost slip. If there was one person who had any right to hate her, it was Ino.

"What is this?! Shit pile on Sakura day?!"

"Ino…" She greeted, her detached tone carrying detectable strain.

"Ino-chan! It's been so long!" Ami greeted with shrill sweetness, throwing her arms around the blond girl.

"Oh, uh, hi…Ami." Ino returned uncomfortably, casting a quick glance at Sakura who was watching blankly. She knew better though. She'd been Sakura's best friend for five years, she knew when something was bothering her.

"We have to go shopping! I saw the cutest top at the store, it would look so good on you! It's a little expensive, but that shouldn't be a problem!" Ami continued loudly.

"That bitch is doing this on purpose!"

"…Are you surprised?"

Ino cast another quick, uncomfortable, glance at Sakura before Ami was drawling her into conversation, demanding her attention.

Shikamaru and Chouji, bored with the females talk of clothes, started conversing with Naruto, who despite his anger at Ami, was very easily distracted and drawn into catching the two boys up on their missions. Sasuke, who was in close proximity, was pulled into the conversation as well, though unwillingly—still very much pissed at the purple haired girl, and not sufficiently distracted by the talk.

Sakura watched the groups, a distance away and un-included. On Ino and Ami's part it was purposeful, and on Shikamaru and Chouji's part, it just hadn't crossed their mind that Sakura might want to be included in mission talk over clothing and gossip. Naruto got too enwrapped in conversation to notice, and Sasuke wasn't the type to bring others into a group or be in a group himself…he'd been dragged in unwillingly after all.

There was a sense of numbness to it for Sakura. It was familiar. This was what school had been like for her, once she'd pushed Ino away…It was a good time to walk away, now that everyone's attention was off her.

"None of that matters anyways. I have enough money for mom's treatment now. That's the only thing that's important…" She kept repeating in her head, hoping that would make it feel true.

She turned her back on her teammates and former classmates, and walked away. Unaware of Ino's and Sasuke's concerned gazes following her as she rounded the corner.

---

"I'm home, mom!" Sakura greeted, managing to rekindle some of her earlier deflated excitement.

"Welcome home, Sakura-chan!" Mebuki greeted with a smile, studying her daughter closely.

The day she'd gotten home from her mission had been a great one. They'd stayed up all night talking about her mission in detail. Sakura had seemed lighter than she had since she was eight. There'd been so much excitement in her voice as she recounted how she'd been the best at her tree climbing training. So much frustrated humor as she recounted Naruto's antics. She was so flustered as she described all of her interactions with Sasuke…She'd sounded her age, unburdened by things she should have never had to carry to begin with.

It hadn't lasted long. The next day, Sakura's worries were back in place, aging her words and overloading her time. Mebuki hated it. She hated how much she'd forced Sakura to carry because of her illness. Her beautiful, brilliant, strong daughter had taken everything in stride, but she knew it all took a toll on Sakura. The only thing Mebuki could do was try and be there for her daughter, and so she'd become an expert at reading all the things Sakura tried to keep hidden. And right now, something was wrong. There was an excited glint in her eye and a smile on her lips, but her muscles were too tense.

"Mom!" Sakura said, her voice excited and she gracefully dropped down in front of her. "Look at this!" She pulled out an envelope from the pouch at her side and handed it to her mother.

Mebuki's eyes widened. "Sakura, where did you get this?!" She hadn't stolen it, had she? She knew the girl had shoplifted on a few occasions. And while she didn't approve, she also trusted her daughter never did anything bad without absolute necessity…but she'd never outright stolen money before…

"It's the rest of my payment from my Land of Waves mission!"

"The rest?"

"It was an A rank mission, but we were only paid for it as a C rank. This is the rest!" She said with an excited smile.

Her mother looked down at the money with wide eyes…it was more than they'd had in a long while.

"We can afford to take you to the hospital with this! Just wait one sec, I'll take off my weapons and then we can go!"

"Sakura-chan…" Her eyes following her daughter as she moved about the small apartment. "…let's not use this for my treatment…"

Sakura jerked to a halt, her mind slapped blank by the words.

"Huh? Wha—…why not?"

"What's mom thinking?…She, she hasn't lost it, has she?"

Mebuki took a deep breath, knowing this was going to be a long conversation.

"Sakura-chan, you've had to work so hard all this time and worry about money…let's just use this to cover our expenses for now. That way you can focus on training."

Sakura stiffened. "Not her too…my own mother thinks I'm weak…"

"Mom…" She said working hard to keep her voice measured. "…You do know why I'm working so hard, right? It's to cure you…"

"I know. But if you're given another dangerous mission…I'll be fine for now, we should use this so you can train more."

Sakura felt the cracks that formed in her earlier deepen and spread through her.

"Mom…If you're better…then I'll be able to focus more on my training so let's just…let's get you taken care of now…" It was a struggle for her to even get the words out.

"You're a ninja Sakura! You might get sent on another mission before then, you should take this time now while you have it!"

Sakura shattered. Tears she'd hidden from Mebuki for years burned her eyes and flooded over on to her cheeks.

"You may not have the time later!" Sakura yelled, which was truly startling cause she never raised her voice to her mother. "I'm not a doctor, damnit! I don't know what you have or how to fix it! We need to get you treated before it gets worse!"

"And what if the treatment isn't enough! Whatever I have won't be cured in a day! It'll be on going, and it's going to cost more than this!"

"So I'll make enough so you can keep getting treated! But we should at least get a diagnosis—"

"You'll never be a real ninja if you keep this up! Use this time to give yourself a break damnit! Do you really want to keep slaving like this?!"

"You think I want this?! You think I wanted this?! You think I wanted to be building fences at 4am and selling homemade ointment and barely eating and sleeping on the floor?! You think I want to be worried about if we have enough for rent and taxes?! You think I want to spend every second of my free time reading about cancers or bacterial vs. viral infections?!" A note of hysteria crept into her voice. "No! I don't want any of this! It's stressful and suffocating and I hate it! I hate all of it! But you can't do it and dad's dead so who the hell else will?! I don't want to spend my time like this! I'm putting myself through all this bullshit for you!"

"I get it. It's all my fault and I'm a burden. That's why I'm telling you to do something for yourself for once in your life!" Mebuki snapped. Sakura's words hurt her deeply. She'd caused her daughter so much pain, and it was distressing to see her this upset. She wasn't trying to be sarcastic, snarky, or passive aggressive when she said it was all her fault. It was. She'd always known it and always felt sorry to Sakura for it.

"And if you get worse or die?! That'll be on me! Cause I was selfish and negligent and didn't get you help when I had the means!"

"Damnit Sakura! You're twelve, not thirty! You shouldn't have 'the means' for this! That phrase isn't meant for children! And you can't be negligent of anything! You're a minor!"

"You're my responsibility and you're sick!"

"I am not your responsibility! I am your mother! You are my responsibility and I order you to use this money to give yourself time to train!"

The two females glared at each other breathing hard.

"…My own mother thinks I'm too weak…" She murmured brokenly, tears streaming down her face. The apartment felt smaller than usual, closing in on her…she needed to get out of there. She turned and fled the apartment, heading blindly for the forest, unsure where else to go.

---

Several hours later, Sakura stood on top of a pond. She was dripping wet up to her chest from previous failed attempts, but she had gotten to standing on the still pond, and now she was working on when movement was introduced to the water.

Since everyone kept bugging her about training, it was what she'd ultimately did. She needed to move anyways. Dancing always calmed her mind. And she had danced for a while, on the ground, up trees…Then she'd remembered what Kakashi said about standing on water and had decided to give it a shot.

It was meditative. It gave her something to control when everything had fallen apart. She was horrified with herself. She couldn't believe the what she'd said to her mother—the expression on her face had been…she'd been so hurt. It had always been her and her mother verses the world. But in that moment it had felt like the world and her mom verses her and she'd lost it. It nauseated her to think about.

"Focus…"

She carefully focused on letting her chakra flow out, matching the surface of the pond. She picked up a few stones and threw it into the water, creating strong ripples.

"Let your chakra match the water fluctuation…let it wave with the water…"

She felt the water shift under her feet and focused on allowing her chakra to do the same. When she successfully kept herself up on top of the rippling water, she took a tentative step forward. Still satisfied she wasn't sinking, she tentatively rose up on to her toes and lifted a bent leg back behind her. She balanced there, throwing more stones into the water, and shifting her chakra to match the ripple while maintaining her balance in the pose. It worked. She was already feeling tired—to be fair she'd been at this for a while and it required more chakra than tree climbing did—so she decided to go for broke and try dancing and changing her contact points.

She kicked her back leg around to cause herself to spin. It felt like being on ice, with little to no friction between her feet and the water, making her spin fast. Normally she focused on one point for as long as possible, whipping her head around at the last second to re-find the point. It helped her to maintain her balance and keep from getting dizzy. But this time, she was spinning too fast to do that—she'd probably snap her neck if she tried. Instead she focused inside herself to maintain her center. After several rotations, she stepped back out of the spin, kicking her right leg back high above her head. Lowering her leg, she took a small skip forward, cartwheeling over the water and landing cleanly. She was tired and her chakra was running low. Her feet sunk a little lower into the water, though she still remained mostly above the surface.

Tired and having successfully danced and switched her chakra points above the water's surface, Sakura walked to the shore of the pond and collapsed.

She was tired and cold. It was late—dark had fallen long ago, and the late March air was chilly. Sakura was soaked up to the chest from failed previous attempts at standing on the water. She was freezing and tired and knew she should go home. But she didn't want to. She was too ashamed to face her mother after everything she said. She also didn't agree with her—she still thought they should use the money to get her mother treated now.

"Mom made a good point about treatment taking a while and costing more than that…but still…"

She lay there shivering for a long time, staring up at the moon. The occasional chilly breeze ghosting over her skin. It was numbly freeing, laying there in the open, staring at the beautiful night sky, feeling the cold fresh air surround her. So different from how she normally felt. Trapped in a tiny box of an apartment, with barely any room to move or breath, being suffocated by anxieties and responsibilities.

"She is my responsibility. No matter what she says. She's family, and if she can't take care of herself, of course it's my responsibility to take care of her. No matter how young I am…"

Lying there, freezing and numb and free may have been beautiful, but it was also lonely and a little heartbreaking.

At a certain point, she could no longer ignore the small whisper telling her to go home. She pushed her cold damp body off the ground and took her time meandering home.

---

"I'm home…" She murmured quietly, still ashamed of her earlier outburst. But when she was met with no answer at all, she grew concerned. "…Mom?"

She switched on the light to see that her mom wasn't in bed, but was lying on the kitchen floor.

"Shit!" She was by her mom's side in an instant. "Mom?!"

Mebuki's face was flushed, her breathing a little labored, and her forehead sweaty. Sakura checked her pulse and was relieved to feel that while slightly fast for someone unconscious, her blood pressure was nothing too worrying. She knew she was too physically cold to get an accurate read on her mother's temperature, so she rushed to the closet and retrieved their thermometer. 38.8 degrees Celsius. That was bad.

She moved her mom back to the futon and filled a tub with lukewarm water, giving her mother a sponge bath. She then put her in lighter weight pajamas and switched her blanket for a less heavy one.

Sakura brewed her mother a cup of yarrow tea, which she cooled too barely above room temperature before helping her drink, and dug out a fever reducer she'd made a little while ago.

"Mom," She said, shaking her shoulder gently. "Mom, did you eat?"

Her mother's eyes cracked open. "Sa…ku…"

"Did you eat, mom?"

"…yes…"

"Ok. Here. Drink this. One shot."

"It's gross…"

"What are you talking about? It's Sake."

"Oh ok…" Her mother murmured, sitting up with Sakura's help and downing the medicine. Her face scrunched in disgust. "Liar."

Sakura handed her the yarrow tea, which she took two gulps of before handing the drink back to her daughter. She blinked hazily at her daughter's worried face. "I'm fine."

"Liar." The younger girl threw back, with no venom in it. Her mother flopped back onto the futon and closed her eyes.

"…I'm sorry…" Sakura murmured quietly. This was part of the reason she always choked down her frustration. She was worried she'd fight with Mebuki, say something she'd end up regretting and never get the chance to apologize. She had no doubt her mother's fever spiked because of the stress of their fight.

"'bout damn time you threw a tantrum…" Mebuki's words came out slow and slurred. "long over due for one…every other kid does but you haven't since you were three…weirdo…"

Sakura cracked a small sad smile. Even feverish and barely conscious Mebuki still kept her sense of humor. Although, if Mebuki had been more lucid, she'd have pointed out that it wasn't even a proper tantrum. Tantrums were supposed to be stupid and unimportant expressions of petty feelings. Nothing about their fight and Sakura's breakdown had been stupid, unimportant, or petty.

"…you…had a bad day…didn't you, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's eyes softened. Her mother really was the best…

"…yeah," she said swallowing hard, "yeah, mom, it was rough…"

"Wanna tell me about it?" Mebuki slurred.

"Later. You need to rest." She answered, moving some blond hair out of her mother's face. Her fingers brushed against Mebuki's fevered skin. The older woman frowned.

"You're cold. Go change. And…blanket…wear it…" she murmured fading into unconsciousness.

Sakura changed, flung a heavy blanket around her shoulders, and made herself a cup of hot tea, before settling next to her mother to monitor her the rest of the night and periodically change the cloth she laid on her forehead.

---

The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke leaned against the red bridge team 7 normally met at. Both were thinking about the strange encounter they'd had with those Sand ninja after team 10 had left them yesterday. They said they were here for the chunin exams…and that Gaara kid…he was strong…these chunin exams sounded like the perfect challenge they'd both been looking for.

As the hours ticked by, a new thought occurred to Sasuke. Where was Sakura? She was almost always late, but not usually this late…Was she still upset about yesterday? That couldn't be it. Sakura was always good at compartmentalizing. Even if she was still upset, it wouldn't stop her from her duty…right? Things had spun out of control yesterday. While knowing that his words were maybe a little too harsh, he stood by them. But then that bitch had shown up. She had been the one to bully Sakura the most at school, though he never paid attention at that time to what the subject of the bullying had been. What was all this walking jinx stuff even about? And she'd said something similar to that lady Naruto bumped into months before. Something about causing her teammates to die…What was that? Months ago, when he'd forced Sakura into exploding, she'd said her "passivity" was a defense. He hadn't understood until he saw her in action yesterday. Ami had been the one to get riled up. Ami had been the one reduced to shrieking, while Sakura, on the other hand, looked completely cool and unbothered. A lie he knew, but Ami didn't. And her perceived inability to upset Sakura ultimately made her look far weaker than his teammate. At first it seemed like Sakura had won the battle…but then the Yamanaka girl showed up and everything changed. Sakura's composure cracked. There was some sort of tension between them, and Ami seemed to know about it. She'd latched onto Ino, and Sakura was clearly hurt by it. When he'd watched her walk silently away, unnoticed by most, it was the first time it occurred to him that Sakura might be more alone than he realized…But still…where was she?

As more time passed, Naruto grew agitated as well.

"Hey bastard, where's Sakura?"

"How should I know, loser?" Why did it annoy him that he didn't have an answer to the question?

"If she's crying somewhere cause of that bullshit you said yesterday, I swear I'll pound your ass into the dust!" Naruto growled fiercely.

"Hn…" The thought of her crying because of him was…upsetting.

When Kakashi showed up and there was still no sign of Sakura, the boys grew alarmed.

"Morning guys!" Kakashi greeted before looking down at the bridge. "Hm? Why are there only two of you?"

"Sensei! You don't know where Sakura is either?" Naruto was now truly panicking. It wasn't like her to not show up.

"Maybe she's sick…" Sasuke muttered. The idea making him feel uncomfortable, for some reason.

"Then we should check on her!"

"Why? She's probably fine…" Sasuke muttered, though a part of him actually agreed with Naruto.

"Because she's our teammate you asshole!" Naruto countered angrily.

Kakashi watched the two of them argue while he debated. He needed to give all three of them the application forms for the chunin exams. And he'd rather talk to them about it as a team…but Sakura had kept her financial situation on the down low, and checking on her meant revealing that…well, she'd have to tell them at some point, might as well be now…it may even help their teamwork.

"Alright enough. Both of you, follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To Sakura's."

Satisfied that he'd gotten his way and they were going to check on her, Naruto asked the other question he had.

"Hey sensei, what are these chunin exam things?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you three about. I've recommended you all. I'll give you all the details when we check in on Sakura."

It occurred to Sasuke that he'd never been to Sakura's house. He'd never been to Naruto's or Kakashi's either, but he'd walked by Naruto's on several occasions. The blond always pointed it out when they'd go their separate ways at the end of the day. He didn't know where Kakashi's apartment was, but that was a little different. He was their captain, not Sasuke's peer. But he didn't even know the general direction of where Sakura's home was, and that was oddly troubling to him.

They followed their sensei further and further from the center of Konoha until they reached a rundown apartment complex on the outskirts of the village. Naruto and Sasuke stared at it blankly. This was where Sakura lived? This couldn't be right. Did he have the wrong place?

Kakashi lead them to an apartment door on the third floor and knocked a few times. There was a shuffling sound and then the door swung open to reveal Sakura. Her eyes widened at the sight of the three of them, before the door slammed shut in their faces. Sasuke's perceptive eyes had picked up a woman lying on a futon before his vision had been blocked.

Inside the apartment, Sakura stood at the door wide eyed and face flaming.

"Shit! What are they doing here?!"

"We were supposed to meet up this morning!"

Her mom's fever, while lower, hadn't broken and Sakura hadn't felt comfortable leaving her…with everything that happened the day before, she'd completely forgot to meet her team.

"They must have come to check on me…"

"Seriously, why is our luck so bad?"

Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door again, revealing the three confused males who hadn't moved at all.

"Uh, Hi…it's not really a good time right now—"

"Sakura-chan?" A feminine voice came from behind her. Sakura whipped her head around to see her mother sitting up. "Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?"

The woman was about to respond when she noticed the three males standing at the open door. Much to Sakura's horror, the woman seemed to bounce with excitement.

"Oh my god! You must be Sakura-chan's team! Come in!"

"At…at least she seems to be feeling better…"

"WHY IS OUR LUCK ABSOLUTELY SHITTY?!"

Sakura stepped awkwardly aside, not looking at any of her teammates as she retreated to the kitchen.

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi shuffled into the small space, removing their shoes and placing them next to the door along side Sakura's. Hers was the only pair there.

"Come! Sit! Make yourselves comfortable!" The woman on the futon said with a warm smile. Naruto and Sasuke knelt next to the futon, while Kakashi remained standing, leaning against the wall near what looked to be a curtained off closet. Sasuke's eyes scanned the space briefly though there wasn't much to take in. The only other room seemed to be the kitchen Sakura was tinkering around in. He assumed there was a bathroom somewhere, but he didn't see any additional doors or rooms…where did Sakura sleep?

"I'm Haruno Mebuki. Sakura's mother." Mebuki greeted happily. "Sakura-chan's told me so much about you all! I've been dying to meet you."

In the kitchen, Sakura cringed at her mother's word choice. For someone in Sakura's situation, dying wasn't a word she could hear from her mother lightly. She focused on making everyone tea, finding avoiding this for as long as possible far more preferable too engaging in it.

"Nice to meetcha! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Believe it!" Naruto said with a valiant smile, despite his confusion.

"I'm Sakura's sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said with a polite bow.

"That's all you're gonna say? Wow you're boring."

"Shut up dead last!" Sasuke growled, glaring back at Naruto.

Both boys were startled out of it by Mebuki's laughter.

"Sakura-chan said you two were always fighting!" The woman giggled.

"What else did Sakura-chan say about us?" Naruto asked, deciding he liked Mebuki quite a lot.

"Well she said you, Naruto-kun, were unpredictable and spazzy, and that you shout about becoming the Hokage so much you just might make it happen." Naruto beamed, ignoring the light insults—that was just how Sakura was anyways.

"And you Kakashi-san—"

"Just Kakashi's fine." He'd always been uncomfortable with honorifics.

"And you Kakashi, she said you're the most powerful ninja she's ever seen. Although she said your taste in literature is atrocious and that you should find something else to read while in public…" Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh dear lord…"

"And Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan talks about you the most. She says you're very strong, and caring, and very ha—"

"Have some tea!" Sakura all but growled, placing a tray of mugs on the floor between them and her mother, before retreating to lean against the wall separating the kitchen from the main room.

Mebuki chuckled at Sakura's flustered state, but switched gears easily enough.

"I'm sorry we don't have more to offer you." Mebuki said, as Sasuke and Naruto both politely took a mug.

"It's no problem. We dropped in rather unexpectedly." Kakashi returned.

"Yes, as happy as I am to finally meet you all, why have you dropped by?"

"Well, we were worried when Sakura never showed up for our meeting."

Mebuki twisted over her shoulder to look at Sakura. "You had a meeting today? You should have gone!"

"You weren't up yet…" Mebuki's stern gazed soften as she looked at her daughter. She turned back to the boys filling up the apartment.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid that's my fault. I came down with a bit of a fever and Sakura-chan had to look after me all night. I only just woke up when you got here."

"A bit? It was a bit more than a bit!"

Sasuke hadn't noticed it before, but he now saw that Mebuki was clutching a damp rag in her hand. So it hadn't been Sakura who was sick, but her mother…Sasuke had the distinct feeling that there was more to it than that…something Sakura had yelled at them while angry…She'd said that this team wasn't the only thing in her life and that she had other responsibilities…

"Oh no! Are you ok Mebuki-obachan?"

"Don't just call someone that without permission, Naruto!" Sakura snapped.

Mebuki chuckled. "It's fine Sakura-chan! I kinda like it. God knows, we could use more family." Sakura looked away uncomfortably. Sasuke noticed that there was only one family picture set up on a step stool in the corner. Sakura looked to be three or four at most. She was smiling brightly in the arms of a man with dusty pink hair—a more purplish grey than Sakura's soft petal pink coloring. He had Sakura held in one arm and the other wrapped around Mebuki, who was looking at her daughter with a gentle smile. There was a mug and a single stick of incense in front of it. He knew what that was. It was a memorial table.

"I'm completely fine, Naruto-kun. All better."

"Liar…"

"Well, now that that's settled. I just wanted to tell you that I've recommended all three of you for the chunin selection exam. You have to fill out applications." He said, passing a sheet of paper to each of his students.

"Kakashi-sensei! I love you!" Naruto cheered, launching himself at his sensei in a violent hug.

"Get off…you're embarrassing me!"

"Knock it off, Naruto! There isn't enough room for that here!" As soon as the words left her mouth, her face flushed in embarrassment and she looked away.

"R-right! Sorry Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered, dropping back onto the floor next to Mebuki's futon.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary. The choice is yours. You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the school by 4pm tomorrow afternoon. That's all I wanted to say."

"Well if that's all taken care of, Sakura-chan, why don't you and your friends go pick up some groceries. There's something I need to speak with Kakashi about."

"Huh? But mom I haven't checked—"

"I'm fine Sakura! Go on. You've been stuck in here for enough of the day as is. And I know this was on your to do list anyways."

"…Alright." Sakura disappeared into the kitchen to retrieve some money.

The boys knew that they were supposed to vacate as well, and maneuvered around the tight space clumsily to get on their shoes. As Sasuke passed the curtained off closet, he caught a glimpse of a small, full, box of paper cranes.

The two boys tugged on their shoes.

"Bye Mebuki-obachan! It was nice meeting you!"

"It was nice meeting you too, Naruto. Come back whenever you want."

Naruto gave the woman one last smile before walking out.

"Goodbye…" Sasuke hesitated. He'd never called anyone outside of his family, and familial title. But Mebuki's words kept ringing in his head. God knows, we could use more family. "…O…Obasan. Thank you for the tea." He said with a bow.

Mebuki beamed. "I've wanted to meet you for so long Sasuke-kun. You come back any time you want. You're always welcome here."

Sasuke nodded, feeling both grateful and a little uncomfortable by the warm open invitation. He walked out as well, Sakura following shortly after.

The three just stood there for a second after the door swung shut, Sakura's back to them.

"…uh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked unsurely.

She let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah. Go ahead. I'll answer whatever you wanna ask."

---

The three walked along the road slowly. Not many people lived this far from the village center. They'd only passed two other people so far.

"How often does your mother get fevers?"

"Of course…Sasuke-kun's always so perceptive."

"She's almost always running a low grade one. It spikes every so often…it's not too bad yet, but it is starting to happen more frequently."

"Almost always? How long has she been sick?"

"Since I was eight. It wasn't that bad at that point, but she got a lot worse when I was ten. She can't really go out anymore."

"If it's that bad, why isn't she in the hospital, Sakura-chan?"

"Do either of you know how the Konoha health care system works?"

Naruto answered with a prompt no and Sasuke shook his head.

"Because the nature of their job is so risky, shinobi have full access to free healthcare. The village covers all costs whether it be for injury or illness. But that's not how it is for civilians. Civilians get charged medical fees. Doctor's visits, tests, diagnosis, surgery, treatment, medicines, bed space…it all costs a lot of money."

Sasuke thought back on the introduction she gave when they first became team 7. All of her answers had been money centered. Now he knew why.

"That's why you read so many medical books." Sasuke stated.

"Yeah. Since I was ten, I've been doing my best to treat her myself."

"What's she have?"

"I don't know, Naruto." Sakura shook her head sadly. "I'm not a doctor. I don't have the skills, equipment, or knowledge to make a real diagnosis. I've just been doing my best to treat her symptoms as they pop up…For all I know, I could be making it worse." Her tone was strained.

"The cranes?" Sasuke asked. Given everything she was trying to do and how hard she was working, it didn't seem like a route she would try to take.

"There are a lot of rituals and superstitions I'm not sure I believe…I don't know what use the gods have for a thousand paper cranes, but apparently they grant you a wish if you fold that many as an offering to them…I'll try anything. Folding paper's kind of expensive though and I needed to save normal paper for studying, so they're mostly made from cleaned off food wrappers…I don't have too many folded, they're pretty low on the priority list."

They traveled in silence for a couple of minutes before Naruto asked another question.

"Uh, I'm not really sure how to put this nicely so please don't hit me Sakura-chan, but why are you so poor? I thought I was broke but I don't even have it as bad as you…"

"This is a shinobi village. It's harder for civilians to make a lot of money. My mom was working two jobs to put me through the academy—even while she was sick. She had to drop one when the illness got bad and the other when she got worse. So making money is up to me. I wasn't a ninja yet, so the only way to earn anything were side hustles and and doing different chores for people."

"The apothecary…" Sasuke realized.

Sakura nodded. "One among many side hustles. Happens to be one of my favorites though. But I could only earn so much that way. It was just barely enough to pay rent and feed us twice a day. Plus I always try and save a little for mom's medical treatment…" She still wanted to use the money Kakashi gave her to get her mother treated immediately.

"But I don't get it! Why's it so hard for you? I've never had to pay rent and I get an allowance at the start of every month. How come you don't get that?"

Sasuke had a similar financial situation.

"I don't know who your parents were Naruto, but they must have been at least chunin level shinobi. To help incentivize ninja to move up the ranks, there's a clause in the shinobi contract. Since chunin are sent on more dangerous, possibly life threatening missions, too many were choosing not to advance for fear of leaving their families unlooked after should something happen to them. So the village built into the shinobi contract that should a ninja reach chunin rank or higher, and die in the line of duty, the village would provide for their dependents if there was no one else to do so. The village pays the rent on your apartment Naruto, and sends you an allowance…your parents must have been middle or higher ranking Ninja who died in the line of duty."

Naruto's eyes widened. He never knew that. He never had even the slightest hint of his parentage.

"Sasuke-kun's in a similar situation…"

He was. Actually he was better off then that. He'd inherited his entire clan's fortunes. Even if the Uchiha clan had not been as powerful and well off as it was, inheriting everything from everyone of your clan members was a lot for one person.

"…But what about your father? He was a Ninja wasn't he?"

"Dad was only a genin. Since genin aren't usually sent on life threatening missions, that clause doesn't cover them."

"If your dad was only a genin, what happened to him?" Naruto asked, a little unsure. He'd never been very good with tact and didn't want to say the wrong thing and make Sakura upset.

"He died on a mission…I don't really know the details. It was a C rank. There was some sort of unexpected ambush on the way back. My father's whole team died. Only their squad leader survived. I was really young, so I don't remember him very well…"

The team lapsed into another short bout of silence as they drew nearer to the center of the village. There were more people along this part of the road.

Naruto's heart was bleeding for Sakura. He'd thought his situation was bad…it was certainly lonely and hard to bare, but Sakura's was…stressful. And painful. And she'd been carrying it alone for too long.

For Sasuke, a lot of things were finally beginning to fall into place. He now had context for so much of Sakura's behavior. This was why she always tried to skip team dinners or when she would go, get the cheapest thing on the menu. This was why she'd been so frustrated by their slow mission progress initially, and probably was again—it meant less pay which made her life harder. This was why Sakura often talked and acted like an adult, she'd been dealing with adult things like paying rent and supporting her family since she was ten—that maturation process probably really started when she was eight and her mother first got sick. This was why she was so efficient at D ranks, she'd been doing odd jobs like those for years. This was what she'd really been complaining about the first time he'd ever spoken to her. It hadn't been about being scolded by her parents, it had been about the responsibility-less freedom Naruto flaunted that she envied, being saddled with so much. It explained at least partially why Ami's switch in tactics to talking about clothes shopping with Ino would bother her. He'd never noticed before, but Sakura's clothes were really…worn. They were clean, but the colors were faded, and the fabric was thinning in certain places. She probably didn't have very many changes of outfits.

This was why she was always late, having to take care of her mother, or do some quick grinding for cash. His stomach plummeted when he realized that this…this was why she never trained. It wasn't laziness. Or lack of desire. She genuinely didn't have time…

"Where do you sleep Sakura-chan?" Naruto hadn't seen another futon.

"Where you were sitting. Or on the kitchen windowsill."

"Wait…you mean…you don't have a bed?"

Sakura shook her head. "I sleep on the floor next to mom. She used to do it actually, and I had the futon. Until I was nine. But when I realized her sickness was getting worse, I made her switch with me. It's fine though…I'm used to it. Besides, there's usually so much to do that I don't get a lot of sleep anyways."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sasuke demanded.

Sakura stopped walking. A frustrated hand raked through her long silky pink hair. Was this also why she took such good care of it? To give others like Ami when less thing to shoot down?

"How could I? My mom's the best. I'm so lucky to have her…Working two jobs while sick to put me through the academy just cause her kid decided she wanted to be a ninja when she was two?" Sakura felt the prickle of tears in her eyes, but was too tired and overwhelmed by that morning and yesterday to bother trying to fight them off. "She could have gotten at least a diagnosis if she'd pulled me from the academy and used that money instead, but she absolutely refused because it was my dream. She gave up her health for me. And she's always smiling and joking around like she's not sick, not slowly dying. Even though I know she's in constant pain, she never lets it show. Even if she says it, she doesn't act like it. And she does that all for me. All so I worry less, and don't hurt as much…" Sakura swallowed hard and took a deep breath before continuing.

"She's the strongest person I've ever met. She does everything for me…how could I complain about any of that to you two of all people?…even without mentioning that…having severe financial problems isn't exactly something I'm proud of…besides, it's not like you guys share everything about yourselves…"

Sasuke's eyes softened. "You overthink too much."

"Huh?"

He couldn't blame her for this one though. Not after how he'd belittled her in the very first conversation they'd ever had…Itachi had stolen his childhood the night of the massacre. He'd aged years that night. Part of why he never got closer to any of his classmates was because they all seemed so childish, unfamiliar and unable to deal with how hard the real world was. Apparently he and Sakura were the same. She'd hadn't had the luxury of being a child since she was 8, same as him…

"That's right! You should be proud, Sakura-chan!"

"Wh-what?"

"You're amazing!" Naruto beamed. "You've been doing so much! You and your mom are alive thanks to you! You're really incredible Sakura-chan! And now we know why you hide so much. It's genetic!"

Sakura blinked. She'd never thought of it that way…

"I was so scared they'd think I was pathetic…but…it seems…like they actually respect me more…"

"But we're teammates, y'know? You're the one who said it, we three are one. Believe it! So don't try to carry this alone anymore. Isn't that right, bastard?"

"Hn…" He smirked. The idiot was right on this one.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto…thank you." Sakura said with a truly relieved and grateful smile. Sasuke smirked back at her while Naruto beamed with his hands up behind his head.

"I should have known…these two…"

"Hell yeah! Our team rocks!"

"Dum-duh-duh-duh-dum! The chunin selection exams! I'll bet there'll be a lot of tough competition…Like him!" Naruto sang as they started walking again. He was thinking about the weird ninja with the black hood and the face paint he'd run into the other day.

Sasuke couldn't help the shiver of excitement at the thought that he might get to face off against that Gaara kid. He glanced over at Sakura whose smile had faded, replaced by anxiety as she chewed on her lip.

"I…I don't know if I should…Sasuke-kun said it himself. I can't keep up with Naruto…this exam might be too much for me…"

He had a feeling he knew what the problem was, after all just yesterday he was the one who told her she was dead weight…he felt a sinking feeling in his chest. She did need to train…but he was wrong. The one thing Sakura had never been was useless. He wanted to tell her as much, but Sasuke wasn't particularly good with words. Especially words of comfort. So he said nothing.

---

Sakura sat on the window sill at 5am, watching the dawn break. She held her filled out chunin exam application form in her hands. She still had no idea whether she should go or not…She'd created more ointment just in case, as well as some tonics for energy, immune boost, and stamina, but her internal debate of whether to actually follow through and go was ceaseless.

"Chunin get higher paying missions."

"That assumes I pass."

"Well it's not even an option if we don't try!"

"I've barely trained…I might fail."

"Since when have we been in the habit of failing?!"

"This is different…I don't know what this exam entails."

"We don't know what life entails either."

"But what if I do fail?"

"Then we try again damnit!"

"…I'm not strong enough for this…"

"Do we really wanna get left behind by Naruto and Sasuke-kun?"

"…No."

"Hell No! Do we really wanna be separated from Sasuke-kun?"

"O-of course not…"

"Damn straight! Are we really gonna prove Ami right?!"

"…I mean—"

"The fuck we're not! Shannaro! We'd rather set ourself on fire than let that bitch win!"

"…That's…a little much…"

---

Despite the fact that Sakura was at the school the next day by 3:20—anxiety had actually made her early for once—she couldn't shake the self doubt welling inside her. She stood next to Sasuke as they waited for Naruto, doing her best to project that she belonged here and had total confidence in her abilities.

"Act it and eventually you'll feel it…" She told herself, although she'd been trying to do that for years without much success.

She didn't notice how Sasuke was closely observing her from the corner of his eye.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto called excitedly. She was here before him for once. Apparently Sasuke was the only one who found that odd.

"Uh…Hi." Sakura answered. She looked tense—it was well hidden, but Sasuke had worked with her long enough to tell. What was up with her? Was she still thinking about two days ago?

"Is this where I sign my name?" Naruto asked his pink haired teammate, holding up the application.

"Can't you read?" She answered flatly, pointing at the correct area none the less.

The three made their way into the school building, crowded with people they'd never seen before. As they walked up the steps to the third floor, Sakura felt a very slight ripple of something wash over her. Like a barely noticeable brush of mist against her skin.

"What was that? It feels…familiar…where did I feel this before?"

They walked up the steps to the third floor…"Why does it feel like we got here too soon…?"

There was a large crowd around room 301. A boy in a green spandex body suit and a bowl cut was on the floor, a large purple bruise on his cheek.

"Is someone as talentless as you really planning to take the chunin selection exam? Why bother? Bunch of wet-behind-the-ears snotnoses!" A boy with wildly spiked hair sneered from his spot in front of the door. Sakura immediately caught the three bandages on his face, one on his chin, and one on either cheek. Weird because his nose was bruised and cut up.

"You said it!" His friend next to him had a turtle neck up to his chin.

A girl with brown hair in two buns stepped in front of the boy on the floor bravely, facing the two boys blocking the door.

"Please…We're begging you…let us in." Sakura only saw a mere flicker of movement before the girl was on the ground holding her bruised cheek.

"…That's just cruel…!" An on looker murmured.

"What did you say?" The spiky haired boy countered. "You misunderstand! We're just trying to spare you…The chunin exam is incredible difficult…and we should know. We've failed three times so far. There are people who made it, then immediately gave up being a shinobi…others who ended up crippled…some reduced to vegetables…We've seen it all!"

Murmurs went through the crowd at the intimidating proclamation.

"Besides that, chunin are cell commanders. They lead their units. The responsibilities for failed missions and dead shinobi rests firmly on their shoulders. And you little punks have the nerve to apply? We're saving a step by weeding out the obvious losers beforehand."

"That sounds good in theory…" Sasuke answered, leading team 7 boldly forward. "…but you'd better let me through. And drop the genjutsu while you're at it. I have business on the third floor."

"That's what that feeling was! It was just like what I felt during the bell test when Kakashi Sensei used genjutsu on me! I thought we got here too soon too…this should actually be the second floor…"

A murmur of surprised exclamations ran through the crowd.

"What's he talking about?"

"Who knows?"

"Isn't this the third floor?"

"What genjutsu?"

"Heh," the boy with the long turtle neck smirked, "So you figured that out, eh?"

"It was easy, right Sakura? You were probably the first to notice it." He tried to her with a smirk.

"…huh?" She stared at him wide eyed.

"You're the most analytical and the best in our cell…" Sasuke winked at her. "…at understanding the art of illusion."

Sakura felt her face heat, her cheeks tinted pink. "Sasuke-kun…thank you…"

"Heh. Of course I noticed it."

Sasuke dropped his head to hide the actual smile growing on his face. Hearing that confidence, pride, self assuredness in her voice felt…good. It added another warm layer to her musical voice.

"Obviously we're still on the second floor." She stated confidently.

Naruto didn't know what was going on, but he decided to play along with the rest of his team and smile and nod.

The illusion faded, replacing the 301 sign with a 201.

"Hey…not bad. But just seeing through it isn't…enough!" The spiky haired boy launched an incredibly fast kick at Sasuke, who instinctually responded with his own.

Suddenly both boy's legs were caught by the green clad boy who'd been on the ground earlier.

"He's so fast! He perceived the attack patterns on both sides and planted himself at the nexus of both their attacks…is that even possible?! He's a completely different person from the boy who was getting beaten up just a few minutes ago…his bruises are gone too."

Sasuke stared at the bandaged arm that just released his leg. This kid had to be good to block his kick, but there was something weird about his chakra.

"Hey…" A boy with pale lavender eyes—almost white—admonished. There was something familiar about those eyes…"That's not what we agreed! You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention to ourselves."

"…b…but…" The boy in green spandex glanced over at Sakura who blinked in confusion. The boy's face noticeably reddened.

"So that's what this is about…" The bun haired girl said, shaking her head in exasperation.

The boy clenched his fist in determination, before striding to Sakura. Sasuke tensed, ready to jump in and defend her should the boy try anything on his teammate.

"Um—Hi. My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you?" Now that he was closer, she could see his ridiculously thick eyebrows.

"Uh…yeah…?" Sakura wasn't sure where this was going.

"Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life!" Rock Lee proclaimed, giving her a thumbs up and winking. His teeth sparkling with his wide smile.

Sakura blinked, unable to process what she was hearing. Sasuke felt himself twitch. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

"The hell is this creep saying?!"

"There's like a bunch of people around too…"

"Trying to guilt us with an audience! Shannaro! We're not falling for that!"

"No…way. You are way out of hand!"

Lee deflated while Naruto chuckled. Sasuke felt his annoyance subside just a little. Of course Sakura hadn't said yes. Why would she? Besides, she didn't need this weirdo to protect her. She had her own team for that.

"He didn't really expect that to work, did he? Sasuke-kun is literally next to us! Why on earth would we agree to go out with him?!"

"This is so uncomfortable…In front of everyone too…"

"Hey you!" The pale lavender eyed boy called to Sasuke, "What's your name?"

Naruto felt his rage grow. It was always Sasuke. Always. Always. Always. Those Sand genin from the other day, this guy today, why did no one ever want to know who he was?
"It's common courtesy to give your own name first." Sasuke answered cooly.

"You're a rookie aren't you? How old?"

"I don't have to tell you a thing." He wasn't about to give any answers when he wasn't getting any. His attention was grabbed by Sakura turning to the boy who'd been blocking the door earlier.

"If you're going to take the time to bandage your face, you should do it all the way…Since you can breathe and talk just fine, I'm guessing your nose isn't broken, but you should still put some ointment and a bandage on it."

The boy looked taken aback.

"…Just a thought." She finished with a shrug.

"Heh. I'll keep that in mind."

"You should charge for your medical advice." Sasuke murmured quietly. Sakura shook her head with a small smile.

"That'd make me no better than the healthcare system. Besides, I'm not a doctor. I don't know enough to charge. Now! Sasuke-kun, Naruto, let's go!" She grabbed a grumbling Sasuke and a depressed Naruto by the wrists and lead them down the hall.

---

The three headed through the hall when a familiar voice called out to them from above.

"Hey, you with the scowl! Wait up…"

Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke looked up to see Rock Lee standing at the top of the stairs.

"Oh no! Not him again!"

"What is it?" Sasuke answered flatly. What was up with this guy?

"You and me, here and now, want to fight?"

"You want to fight me, here and now?"

"But that's…"

"A bad idea!"

"Seriously! We don't even know what this exam will entail! We shouldn't waste chakra or risk injury now!"

"Yes!"

Lee jumped down from the landing, completely ignoring the steps.

"My name is Rock Lee. Among sticklers, etiquette requires one to introduce oneself before asking for the name of another."

"…Uchiha Sasuke. Huh…so you knew who I was all along."

"I'm calling you out! I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the last surviving member of the Uchiha Clan." Lee's face suddenly colored as his gaze shifted from Sasuke to Sakura. "Besides…"

Sakura jolted at the intensity of Lee's stare. When he winked at her, her skin crawled.

"No way! The eye lashes creep me out! Not to mention the geeky hairdo. Plus the bushy brows!"

Sakura voiced none of that. But it was very near the tip of her tongue, and the force of keeping her lips sealed physically caused her to shiver a bit. Which didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.

"You're an angel!" Lee announced blowing her a kiss.

This time, Sakura couldn't contain her shriek. She gracefully pivoted as if to dodge the kiss he blew, inadvertently bringing herself closer to Sasuke.

"Whew! That was close…"

"Keep your kisses to yourself, creep! I already told you no!"

"Aw…don't be like that…" Lee deflated.

Annoyance washed over Sasuke and Naruto, though for different reasons. Naruto couldn't get over the fact that once again, someone was asking about Uchiha Sasuke. It was always Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Why did no one ever want to know about him? Why didn't anyone look at him and see someone worth challenging? How dare they overlook him like that!

Sasuke, for his part, was frustrated that this guy dared question the strength of his clan. That and also, why the hell was he still hounding Sakura? She already turned him down. Couldn't he see how uncomfortable he was making her? She had enough to worry about without some creepy stalker added to the mix.

"So you're challenging me, even knowing my lineage? In other words, you're a fool."

"Hell Yeah! You tell 'em, Sasuke-kun!"

"So, Bushy Brow…do you really want to learn…what it means to be an Uchiha?"

"Absolutely!" The boy answered, dripping with anticipation.

"Hold it!" Naruto cut in. "Let me handle Bushy Brow. He'll be toast. Just give me five minutes…"

"I have no interest in fighting you. Only Uchiha."

That was definitely not the right thing to say to Naruto at that moment.

"Story of my freakin life! It's always 'Sasuke, this!' and 'Sasuke, that!' I'm freakin sick of it!" He yelled, charging recklessly at Lee.

"Damnit Naruto! How many times have I told you not to just charge in without thinking?!"

In the most economic of movements, Lee redirected Naruto's fist, causing him to fall forward. He was quick to counter, catching himself on the ground and swinging his leg up to kick Lee, but the boy dropped into a deep lunge, sweep kicking Naruto's arm out from under him.

"Leaf whirlwind!"

Naruto went spinning into the wall.

"Unbelievable! His movements are so well controlled…They're requiring practically no mental effort on his part! That's some crazy muscle memory he's got…"

"Mark my words…none of you will beat me."

"He's pretty tough after all. Amazing!"

"I am the greatest fighter among all the genin in the Leaf Village."

Sasuke studied the strange boy in front of them with new interest. Lee had stopped his kick with his bare arm earlier. No human alive could do that. Sasuke didn't know what technique Lee was using, but he wanted to find out.

"This could be fun. I accept your challenge."

Sakura glanced at the clock.

"Don't do it Sasuke-kun! We have less than a half an hour to submit our applications!"

"Who know's how long this might take—and it'll be bad if he gets injured before the test even starts, I'll bet we're going to have to fight at some point…and this Rock Lee person…not even Sasuke-kun moves as easily as him…"
"Don't worry. This'll only take five minutes."

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Shannaro! I miss when they both listened to us!"

Lee moved impossibly fast.

"Leaf Hurricane!" He jumped swinging a kick above Sasuke's head. Sasuke crouched, managing to dodge, but Lee was bracing himself and swinging another kick at Sasuke's head faster than normal eyes could process. Sasuke had no time to duck, he had to block. But somehow Lee got inside his guard and he was sent back a few meters, sliding on the smooth wood floor.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"I thought he blocked that…"

The raven haired boy was baffled. How'd this guy get under his guard? Was it martial arts, ninjutsu, or genjutsu? Fine. He'd just have to look for himself. This may be his chance to get in a little practice using it. Sasuke rose, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When his eyes opened again, they were red instead of their usual black, a thin black ring encircled the pupil with two tomoe on either side of the ring.

"Huh? Th-that looks like…the Sharingan?! But when could Sasuke-kun have…? Why Sasuke-kun? Why both eyes?"

The only time Sakura had ever seen of heard of the Sharingan was in the Land of Waves with their sensei…he only had it in one eye though…

"During that battle, sensei did mention that Sasuke-kun was from a clan with a kekkei genkai…was he referring to the Sharingan? But then…how can Kakashi-sensei have it? He said his surname was Hatake…He had a scar across his eye…It…could his have been implanted?!"

Sakura was very confused, and mildly disturbed by the thought. She wanted to ask her sensei about it the next time she saw him, but this line of question seemed like it'd be rather sensitive and personal for both Sasuke and Kakashi, and figured it was better to bite her tongue for now.

"If Sasuke-kun has the Sharingan, then he can penetrate the secrets of Bushy Brows techniques and take them apart! He's getting stronger all the time…Having a powerful clan's blood really does make you stronger…There's no way some regular genin could beat him."

No sooner had she thought it then Sasuke took a high kick to the jaw, sending him flying into the air.

"Huh?!"

"But he used the Sharingan!"

Sasuke winced. His eyes hadn't seen through his technique…which meant that the moves he was using…

"Exactly. They're neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu." Lee bushed off the ground and appeared under Sasuke, matching his position like a shadow. "Dancing leaf shadow…"

Naruto, who'd just sat up with a grunt stared in disbelief.

"S-Sasuke!" This weirdo guy was actually besting his super strong (fine, he'd admit it, but never to that bastards face!) teammate?

"That's right. No ninjutsu. No trickery. My moves are strictly physical." Lee spoke against Sasuke's neck. "Hard as you may find it to accept…if your Sharingan eye can see to the heart of every ninja art well enough to duplicate it, as it is said to, then you know what I say is true. I'm sure your Sharingan is invaluable against arts like ninjutsu and genjutsu, with their formalized rules, sign casting, and chakras…but physical taijutsu arts in their pure form are a very different story."

"But…How?!" How was this guy kicking his ass with just taijutsu?

"Even if you can perfectly perceive and understand my movements, you lack the speed and strength to counter them. You haven't had the physical training necessary to keep up with me! It doesn't matter what your eyes can see if your body's too weak to act!"

The bandages around Lee's hands and forearms began to unravel, trailing behind him in the air.

"There are two kinds of strength. The kind you're born with…and the kind you only get from back breaking work. Your Sharingan is natural born genius. I hear it runs in your family. What I have, I got through blood, sweat, and tears! In other words, your subtle arts and my physical prowess make us a complete mismatch! Let me prove it to you. This particular move of mine exceeds your genius completely!"

Sasuke clenched his jaw attempting to think of some way to counter or at the very least prepare himself for what was about to come, but he had no idea what this boy was up to. He'd never seen anyone fight like him. His ease of movement was a little like Sakura's—like these kinds of motions were as natural to him as breathing…but that made it all the harder to read what he was going to do next. When Sakura danced, her movements would be incredibly counter intuitive and unexpected, yet to her they made as much sense as blinking and connecting them was no different than walking. That was the way this guy attacked…how could Sasuke anticipate an attack when he could barely grasp how Lee moved in the first place?

Suddenly, a pinwheel sliced through the air, pegging the unraveling bandage to the wall.

"Halt!" A boisterous voice commanded. "That's enough Lee!"

Sakura blinked…that voice seemed to be coming from…a giant tortoise…

"Woah…did I finally lose it?"

Lee pulled against the bandage, redirecting his trajectory and flipping himself away. Sasuke was so shaken by the whole ass kicking that he couldn't even move to catch himself…his mind was still trying to catch up to what was going on.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gracefully slid under him, catching him and breaking his fall with her own body. "Sasuke-kun are you alright?"

"He's trembling…He can't even defend himself…"

Naruto stared on in shock. The bastard really got his butt kicked? They knock him out and he misses all the good stuff…And what was the deal with the turtle?

"You know the rules, Lee. That move is strictly forbidden!"

"P-please forgive me…I was only…"

He was getting chewed out…Naruto pounded a fist against his open palm as he figured it out. That turtle had to be Bushy Brows teacher!

"But-but I…I would never have used the reversal move…I never meant…"

"Hey! Hey!" Naruto called to Sakura as he ran over to where she and Sasuke were watching the interaction between Bushy Brows and the turtle with great confusion.

"What?" Sakura asked, turning to him. A brief scan told her he wasn't particularly injured. And she never worried too much about lesser injuries on Naruto anymore anyways. Not now that she knew how quickly he healed—she still had no idea how he did it…it must have been a kekkei genkai or something…

"That thing over there…" Naruto said, pointing to the tortoise, "That's a turtle, right?"

"Actually it's a tortoise."

"What's the difference?"

"Turtles can be aquatic, semi-aquatic, or mostly terrestrial. Tortoises live on land and aren't equipped for water."

"Right. So what's the deal here? Can turtles become Ninja?"

"Don't ask stupid questions! And I just told you, it's a tortoise!"

"You fool!" The tortoise reprimanded Lee. "Do you think I care about your feeble excuses? Consider the repercussions of a shinobi warrior—any shinobi—badly explaining his secrets!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Sasuke, who'd recovered himself, wiped at the dust on his cheek with his wrist. What a disgrace losing to that clown!

"I hope you are properly prepared?"

"Y-yes sir…" Lee answered, hanging his head dejectedly.

"Well then…He's all yours, Gai sensei!"

There was a puff of smoke that cleared to reveal what appeared to be a larger version of Rock Lee in a Jonin vest standing on the tortoise shell in a ridiculous pose.

"Ah the exuberance of youth! All of you are full of it!"

Team 7 stared at the man in abject shock.

"He's got the biggest eyebrows yet! They're almost alive!" Naruto shouted.

"…Same dorky hairdo…" Sasuke muttered.

"…They're uber brows…" Sakura whispered.

"I've never seen anything like 'em!" Naruto shouted.

Lee whipped around. "H-hey! Don't try to make fun of Gai-sensei!"

"Oh shut up! I don't even know what to make of all the freaks who keep popping in here!"

"What—!"

"Lee!"

Lee immediately turned back to his sensei.

"Oh! Uh, yes, sir…"

"Idiot!" Gai slammed his fist into Lee's face. Hard.

"Oww!"

"Huh?!"

Gai knelt next to Lee who was sprawled on the ground. "You…You…"

"Gai-sensei!"

Gai had tears streaming down his face. So did Lee.

"What's with these two?"

"Sensei…I…I…"

"That's enough Lee! Not one more word." Gai proclaimed, sweeping Lee into his arms.

"Gai-Sensei!"

Now team 7 was totally lost.

"Eww…Thank god Kakashi-sensei isn't like this…"

Sasuke twitched. He'd really lost to this touchy feely crybaby?

"I understand. It's because you're young!"

"Gai-sensei!" They continued their hug.

"Doesn't it give you a warm fuzzy feeling?" Naruto asked her, pointing at the hugging teacher and student.

"Don't be an idiot!" Sakura snapped. If anything, she made her feel second hand embarrassment.

"It's all right Lee! Mistakes and youth go hand and hand."

"Well…mom would approve of that one…"

"You are too kind sensei!"

"But I can't let your attempt to break the big rule go unpunished. Your penalty will be to sweat after the Chunin selection exam."

"I understand!" Lee said with a salute.

"Five hundred laps around the training grounds!"

"Yes sir!"

"F-five hundred?!"

"Those two are crazy!"

"What's the deal with that turtle thing, anyway?" Naruto asked her again.

Gai suddenly fixed his intense stare on them. If he wasn't mistaken, these were Kakashi's kids…

"By the way…how is Kakashi? I'm asking you!" Gai's boisterous voice barked at them.

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Do I know him? Heh heh…"

Gai suddenly vanished.

"I should say so! We're arch rivals!" All three jerked in surprise when Gai's voice came from behind him.

Sasuke blinked in shock—how had he done that…?

"Hey! How'd he…?!" Naruto had always been one to voice his thoughts immediately.

"The score stands at fifty to forty-nine." Gai continued, oblivious to the genin's shock. "I'm stronger than he is." He said with a wink and gleaming smile.

"So that's where Bushy Brow picked it up from…"

"Stronger than Kakashi-sensei?! Well, hold on…there's a lot of different types of strong…just cause he beats sensei in one way doesn't mean he does in another…"

Sasuke's mind took a more negative route. He was just so fast. His speed was much greater than Kakashi's. Was this guy even human?

"As you can see, Gai-sensei is totally amazing!" Lee said, ever the cheer leader for his master.

"I know Lee started this fight, but take pity on his old teacher. For my own self respect, please forgive him." Gai said to Sasuke. He had to save face, after all, a face like his was just too handsome.

Sasuke was rattled. Who was this guy? He claimed he was better than Kakashi, and Sasuke didn't think he was bluffing.

"You and Lee should head up to the classroom now." Gai said, flicking a kunai at the pinwheel still pegging Lee to the wall. With the bandage freed, Lee began re-wrapping his hand, drawing both Naruto and Sakura's attention to his bruised and cut up knuckles.

"Best of luck, Lee! Later!" Gai said, vanishing.

"Yes sir!"

"He's not actually just wrapping that injury as is and leaving it?! That bandage is too rough for that, he could tear at his skin more!"

"Stop!" Sakura called to him, marching over.

"Huh?" Lee immediately blushed when he saw Sakura walking towards him. Had his fiery display of youth won her over?

She snatched his hand, pulled out a wooden jar and spread some ointment over his purpling knuckles.

"Don't read into this! I'm only doing this because badly executed first aid apparently hurts my soul." She snapped, sensing he was about to make some comment that would make her want to crush his hand rather than bandage it. "You're wrapping it too tight. Bandages aren't supposed to tear at cuts more and make them bigger. If you can see marks when you take them off, you're doing it wrong. Put ointment on first or it'll irritate the skin more. And for god sakes, ice your knuckles on occasion." She secured the bandage, now correctly wrapped and immediately shoved his hand away, marching back to her teammates. "I'm assuming your other hand is just at banged up, but take care of it yourself. You're our opponent from now on."

"Thank you, Sakura-san! You truly are a most glorious angel! I will win you over with the burning passion of youth!"

"Absolutely not." She muttered, retreating to Sasuke's side, who had a look of deep ire in his onyx eyes.

"Shannaro! Dream on weirdo! We told you not to read into it, damnit!"

"God, why'd I waste time and resources on him…?"

"You said it yourself. Badly done first aid makes us twitchy."

"By the way, Sasuke…I was blowing smoke earlier. I'm really here to prove my own strength in combat. And I don't think you are the strongest Konoha genin. That title goes to a member of my own team…and I intend to take him down. That's why I'm entering. And by the way…you're on my list, too. Off to apply for the exam. Be ready for it, okay?" Lee called, hopping away.

Sasuke's fist clenched. He felt so frustrated. He hadn't been strong enough…he'd gotten his ass kicked…and by a total weirdo who was annoyingly obsessed with Sakura and a touchy feely crybaby. It was so embarrassing.

"Sasuke-kun…?" Sakura questioned softly.

"What was that crap?! Maybe your hot-snot famous Uchiha clan isn't that great after all, huh?" Naruto questioned obnoxiously, his hands behind his head.

"Naruto!" Sakura growled.

"That tactless idiot! Soo not helping!"

"…shut up…Next time, he's dead meat."

"Despite the total butt kicking you got this time, right?"

"Shut up Naruto!" Sakura seriously debated on punching the blond.

"You saw his hands…Bushy Brows probably gets some kind of super-duper extra special training, day after day! Even more than you got. You're toast, pal!"

"Super-duper extra special training, day after day…what prayer do I have? Naruto and Sasuke-kun practically live at the training grounds and they both got their butts kicked…And I…I really don't—"

"We have to see this through!" Her inner voice screamed louder than her thoughts. "We're the trial by fire type anyways! Did we know squat about medicine when mom first got sick?!"

"…No."

"Damn straight we didn't! We taught ourselves all that shit in three days!"

"Not all of it!"

"Fine, a functional amount. Not the point! Did we know anything about how to make money before mom had to stop working?"

"No."

"No! We figured it out cause we had too. Sink of swim. Did anyone train us to walk on water?"

"I mean Sensei—"

"Gave us a vague hint but we figured that shit out ourselves. Sure we haven't had time to train. So what?! We'll just use this as the time to do it and figure things out as they come up—that's what we're good at! Shannaro!"

Sasuke, too caught up in his own mental battle to notice Sakura's, unclenched and clenched his fist. It was frustrating. He trained hard, but it wasn't hard enough. He was weaker than he realized. But this was what he came here for. He needed greater challenges to push her further. He needed an accurate measure of his abilities and what better way than winning or losing against stronger opponents with different fighting styles. This was what he wanted. This was good. If he already had a tough time against one opponent, then this was exactly what he needed. This would be…interesting.

"Hn…It's starting to get interesting…the Chunin Exams! What's next?" He said with a smirk.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered.

"All right!" Sakura agreed, reaffirming her inner voice as victor in her own internal debate.

"Let's go, Naruto! Sakura!"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered again. Sakura smiled.

The three proceeded on to the classroom.

---

Kakashi stood outside classroom 301, waiting for his students. A part of him hoped Sakura wouldn't be there with them. His talk with Mebuki had been…enlightening. And concerning. He understood where the woman was coming from, but he didn't know if he agreed. He looked up when he sensed his students approach. All three of them.

"So…you decided to come after all, Sakura."

Sakura froze. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Something was weird about the way Kakashi was looking at Sakura…something like hesitance.

"That's…not an encouraging tone…"

"If you didn't think I was ready Sensei, you shouldn't have recommended me." She had enough internal doubt as it was, she didn't need her teacher reaffirming it for her.

"That's…" Really this was unfair. Mebuki should have told her…

"I can walk on water Sensei." Sakura said, determined. She'd made up her mind. She wasn't going to turn back. Not now.

The sets of eyes shot to her.

"When did you learn how to do that?" Sasuke asked, now acutely aware of the lack of time Sakura had for training.

"Two days ago. After I left you guys, my mom and I had a fight. It's probably what spiked her fever…I couldn't stay there so I went to the woods. It took awhile, but I figured it out. You said it was similar in theory to tree climbing, but the surface always changed."

Sakura's determined green eyes bore into Kakashi's sole visible one.

"It was enough of a hint. I figured it out. How to correctly modulate and release my chakra in accordance with the ripples and waves of water. I was able to dance and change my contact points between my hands and feet. It took me six hours to figure out."

Kakashi stared at her in shock. Six hours? That was all it took? She'd taught herself how to stand—how to move on water. She'd only seen him do it once. No one taught her, no one showed her…She'd figured it out herself off of a vague answer he'd given her almost a month and a half ago. Her intelligence and memory was something else…as was her chakra control. At this point, he doubted any of her peers were able to stand on water let alone dance on it. Naruto and Sasuke sure as hell couldn't—it was evident from how they were both staring at her.

And her determination…this kid was scrappy. She was a survivor. Every day was a battle for her. No matter how many ways life attempted to shoot her down, she faced the bullets head on. Mebuki was right about her daughter. She'd never backdown. And she had as much right to prove herself as Sasuke and Naruto did.

Despite the very bad feeling he had, he told himself it was just the Chunin exams. Nothing too horrible could happen…Odds were that they wouldn't even make it past the first round. And there was a chance the worst wouldn't come to pass…if it did…her chakra control was so good, maybe she'd be able to handle it.

"Of course I think you're ready, Sakura. And that proves it all the more…Just…happy birthday."

"It's your birthday Sakura-chan?! Why didn't you tell us?" Naruto demanded.

"I…I forgot. I've kinda been a bit side tracked with everything…" Honestly she hadn't really celebrated her birthday since she was nine. They couldn't afford a nice dinner, cake, or presents. Her mother always wished her a happy birthday when she'd wake up, but Sakura had left before her mother woke this morning, to practice dancing on water a bit more. There hadn't been anything different about her birthday since she was nine, so she usually forgot about it. It always felt like just another day. And she'd been too caught up with her secret unraveling and her worry over the chunin exams to pay much attention to the actual date. Her mother's birthday on the other hand, was something Sakura was acutely aware of. Every single birthday her mother had was a personal victory for Sakura. It meant one more year that she'd kept death away from her mother. One more year she'd won. But her own birthday didn't hold that same importance in her mind.

"It's March 28th…I'm thirteen today."

"Aw man! Taking an exam is a pretty lame way to celebrate—we'll celebrate after, when we've passed with flying colors! Believe it!" Naruto said, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Celebrate…" She murmured with a small smile.

Sasuke studied her closely. She seemed genuinely caught off guard by the revelation. She'd honestly forgotten…and celebrating seemed like a foreign concept to her. That made sense though, now that he knew her financial circumstances. When was the last time she celebrated her birthday? Team 7 had celebrated both his and Naruto's birthdays together. It had been the first time anyone had celebrated Sasuke's birthday since he was eight. He'd been alone since then, there hadn't been anyone to celebrate with. Fangirls wished him happy birthday, and would try and give him presents, but there hadn't been anyone truly close enough to care. Sakura had her mother, but with all the burdens she carried, he doubted that day had ever been anything special for her, which struck him as particularly…sad. To have someone who cared, but was too weak to do anything special for her…Did Sakura even remember what it felt like to be taken care of at this point? There was something else bothering him as well. Kakashi wished her a happy birthday, but why was he looking at her so concerned? He hadn't expressed this much doubt when he said he recommended them. He wasn't the type to so obviously doubt his decisions either. So what was his problem?

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well…it's a good thing you came Sakura." He worked hard to hide his hesitance, and succeeded. Mostly. "This way all of you qualify to apply for the chunin selection exam."

"What do you mean?"

"The way the test is set up, it can only be taken by three person cells."

"But Kakashi-sensei, you said it was up to each of us to decide whether to apply or not. Were you lying?"

"I said what I had to to keep your partners from pressuring you into coming along. Even if you had no interest in applying, you're too self sacrificing. One word from either Sasuke or Naruto and you'd have come along and gone through the motions, even if your heart wasn't in it."

"What would have happened if Sasuke-kun and Naruto had shown up without me?"

"I'd have stopped them right here. None of you would have gotten past this point without both of the others. But you're all here because you want to be and I'm very proud of you. Now get in there!" He was thankful his mask hid how forced his smile was. He meant every word he said…but knowing what he knew now, he'd never have recommended them in the first place. Still, he'd honor Mebuki's wish, even if he did feel like he was making a huge mistake.

"Look out everybody! Cause here we come!" Naruto cheered, pushing through the door with Sasuke.

Sakura was about to follow when Kakashi grabbed her shoulder.

"Sakura. No matter what happens throughout the course of this exam, no matter how scary, or stressful, or exciting, you have to stay calm."

"What's this about sensei?" Her intelligent eyes scanning his predominantly obscured face.

"Just…" He wanted to tell her. But he knew that might make her turn around and walk out. If she didn't on her own, he'd try to convince her to. He'd promised Mebuki he wouldn't deter her. "You're going to be their only voice of reason. So you can't lose your head. You have to stay calm. Understand?"

"Of course sensei! I'll keep them both in check." Sakura smiled.

"I mean it, Sakura. Stay calm."

The door closed behind her, leaving Kakashi alone, hoping he hadn't just gotten his team killed.

---

Author's note: The Ami/team 10 shitpile on Sakura is one of the biggest scene rewrites I've done so far. In the Anime/manga that's where Sakura and Naruto talk with Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, and run into the Sand trio, which Sasuke saves them from. Naruto and Sasuke do still come across them, and it probably went down in a very similar way, though without Sakura present.

I also changed the time line from the anime/manga. In the manga, the Land of Waves arch took place in late spring and the chunin exams start on July first. In this story, the Land of Waves arch took place in late winter and the chunin exams are starting on Sakura's birthday. There's a reason for that. It'll make sense later.

I teased some stuff, I promise you'll get answers pretty quick. What Kakashi's worried about will be revealed during the second round of the exam. His conversation with Mebuki will be revealed later before the final round.

Thank you all so much for reading, favoriting, following, and especially reviewing! This has gotten far more follows than I had anticipated...wow. I read every review, they mean a lot to me and are really great motivation, so thank you so so much and please keep it up! You guys are the best!

Thank you for reading! :)