A/N: Wow. Procrastinating packing has really upped my writing speed...well, I did say I was trying to write as much as I could before I started work, and I don't start until the 15th, so...oh well, here's the next chapter. Happy belated SasuSaku canon day!
"Inner Sakura..."
"Sakura's thoughts..." (Unless otherwise specified.)
Memory...
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Sakura met up with Ino and Choji just outside of the academy where they were holding the first round of the exams, just like last year. Her stomach turned anxiously, but she was determined to do this. Besides, the first round would likely be a written test, just like last time, there was nothing for her to be nervous about yet. She could do this.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Looking forward to working with you!" Sakura smiled at her two new teammates.
Ino beamed back. "Let's kick some butt!"
"Yeah!" Choji agreed amicably, as they made their way in, applications in hand.
Kotetsu and Izumo were sitting behind the check in table. Sakura had grown very familiar with them both, as they were often stationed outside the Hokage's office as guards. She spent more time in that office than she did anywhere else, with the exception of the hospital.
They placed their applications down on the table.
"All right, so you three have teamed up for the exams, correct? You've been signed up." Izumo stated politely.
"Oh, it's weird when you guys are all formal…no trick like preventing us from submitting our applications this time?" Sakura asked lightly, mildly teasing. That incident back then had helped her make an impression on Kotetsu after all.
Kotetsu smiled, following her train of thought. "That stuffs all up to the proctor in charge of the exam." He picked up a box with three sticks protruding out and held it out to them. "Okay, pull lots." They all complied, staring down at the numbers they pulled.
"Three." Sakura muttered.
"Two?" Ino stared down at her own number, wondering what this was about.
"One?" Choji held up his, to show the girl's more clearly.
"Return the lots and please proceed to the classroom you picked." Kotetsu explained politely.
"They're so polite, it's almost creepy…" Choji muttered, as the three placed the lots back into the box.
"Did Shikamaru plan this? What's he thinking?" Ino whined.
Sakura's brain was already working furiously, as they headed towards their separate classrooms.
"They split us up from our team last time as well, but that was just separating us within the same room, not isolating us completely…despite that, the scenario of the test had our individual actions effecting the team, even if we couldn't obviously work together. If they're separating us so completely, there's probably going to be an even bigger emphasis placed on the team at large."
Sakura made her way upstairs to room three, noting that it was on the opposite end of the hall and around the corner from room two. One had been on the downstairs floor.
Sakura entered her classroom and took a seat, noting the stack of papers on the desk at the front, the screen to the left of the chalk board, and the lack of proctor. There were no instruction on the board other than the rule that fighting was prohibited.
Sakura stared at the stack of papers in thought, her eyes narrowing.
"Shikamaru made this test, and I've never once beaten him at shogi…but I have picked up on his strategies before, so what's his game here…?"
She startled a little when she felt something cold and wet nuzzling against her leg. She looked down to see a large fluffy white dog looking up at her, tail wagging excitedly.
"Long time no see, Sakura!" Kiba greeted, taking the seat in the row behind Sakura, one to her left. It had been a long time since she'd been training with him and Akamaru, and hadn't really seen them over the last year and some months.
"Whoa! You got big Akamaru! What have you been feeding him?" She asked, turning to Kiba as she pet the dog's head.
"I blame your special dog treats. He loves them." Kiba grinned.
"Hey Sakura! That seat next to you free?" TenTen greeted, walking into the room.
"All yours!" Sakura smiled back, happy for the friendly faces. They helped to relax her.
"Any idea what this is all about?" TenTen asked as she sat down, her voice dropping conspiratorially, making Kiba lean in.
"Working on it…" Sakura answered in the same low tone.
Not three minutes later, the door slammed shut behind the last applicant.
"Guess we're starting soon." TenTen observed.
"Heh! Bring it on!" Kiba smirked, leaning back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head.
"Uh…Ehem!" Shikamaru's voice sounded over some sort of speaker system. The screen next to the chalk board turned on, revealing Shikamaru's bored looking face. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, the proctor of the first round of the Chunin exams. Participants, take one sheet from the stack of papers on the teacher's desk, then take any seat."
"There's no in-room proctor and we're free to sit wherever we like. We're separated from our teammates, but most villages have sent more than one team, so there are still comrades and maybe even friends to group with. He hasn't placed any restrictions on that, which means we're free to share our answers…which also means that the answers themselves aren't important." Sakura thought, as she rose and joined the cue with the rest of the room to pick up her test sheet.
She and TenTen settled back into their seats, test sheets in hand. Kiba sliding into his a second later.
"Is everyone seated?" Shikamaru asked after a little while. "This is a drag so let's get right to it…" The screen showed him leaned back in his chair, his arms folded behind his head, similar to Kiba's position earlier. Sakura knew she'd also seen Naruto assume that posture too…maybe it was a guy thing. There was a slight pause and then Shikamaru smirked. "Before you go complaining too much, you guys are lucky I'm in charge this year."
Sakura cocked her head. "It sounds like he's responding to something directly, so that means he's broadcasting into the rest of the rooms as well, and that he can hear and see what's going on in each room…someone from another room must have commented on his lazy attitude…"
"Round one is a written test." He continued carelessly. "Read the questions carefully."
Sakura had already read them when she'd picked up her test sheet. There were three questions, all relatively easy to answer. Nothing like the ones from last year. The difficulty level of each question grew slightly, but even the last question couldn't really be considered hard. It had affirmed her suspicion that the answers didn't actually matter too much.
"The three questions are worth, from the top: 30 points, 40 points, and 50 points."
"That totals 120. A perfect score is usually 100…three's been a big number here…three classrooms, three questions…one for each?"
"Each of you will answer just one of the three questions. Your team's total points will determine pass-fail. If your team's total exceeds 100, the team is disqualified."
"Bingo. So a perfect score is still 100, and we have to figure out how not to exceed it."
Mutters broke across the classroom as the genin began to protest. How the hell were they supposed to do that if they weren't with their team?
There was a slight pause as Shikamaru yawned, and then he continued his explanation despite the quiet discussion. "Then we'll take the average of the teams who remain, and teams who score below the average will be disqualified." He continued sounding as bored as he looked, his head leaning on his hand while he lazily flipped through some papers in front of him. "Those over the average will pass. The exam starts now."
A buzzer rang, a digital clock displaying a thirty minute countdown.
Sakura sighed, staring down at the paper. "The question isn't just about solving the questions…" She said.
TenTen gulped, flustered. What the hell was that supposed to mean?!
"Please don't say things that'll confuse me even more!"
Sakura looked up, her eyes fixing on the screen, which had gone dark at the end of Shikamaru's announcement.
"Shikamaru's a shogi player, which means this test has several layers to it…He's also a chunin already, which means he's a squad leader, and more than that…he's part of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. His background is in teamwork, and intimate knowledge of your team members. So…so that's what this test is really about!"
Temari sat next to Shikamaru in the observation and broadcasting room, her arms folded across her chest—the same position he was in—as she stared at the monitors. "So what exactly is the point of this test?"
"The point of it is to think about how your other two team members will score. Or rather, how to make your team members get a certain score."
"That gives an advantage to teams who know jutsu to contact each other." Temari pointed out.
"That's fine." Shikamaru answered, folding his arms behind his head again. "All that means is that those teams with those skills will get 100 points."
Temari closed her eyes, smirking. "And the rest have to suck it up and figure something out, right?" He really was a lazy ass, not trying to level the playing field at all. "The first round test of the last chunin exams was a little like this."
Shikamaru leaned forward, his hands folding together in front of his face. "The point count isn't what's important." He agreed. In that sense it was similar to the last chunin exams. "The point of the Chunin Exams is to shine light on who is captain material. If the point was to test strength, I wouldn't be a chunin."
"I guess so." He had a point, and she'd never say it point blank, but he was well worthy of being a chunin.
"What? No snide comment?" Shikamaru asked, his head cocking in surprise.
"Why? Miss them?" Temari smirked teasingly.
"…Hardly…" He muttered, regretting having commented in the first place. He refocused, learning closer to the screens. He needed to keep an eye out for applicants from other nations as well, but he was interested in three Konoha candidates in particular: Neji, Sakura, and Shino.
Sakura got up from her seat and made her way to the chalk board. She could feel the eyes of everyone in the room following her, but she didn't care. Her mind was in problem solving mode, and anxiety, nerves, and self doubt couldn't touch her when she was like this.
She grabbed a piece of pink chalk and began writing out all possible score combinations.
"50+50+50=150. 50+50+40=140. 50+50+30=130. 50+40+40=130. 50+40+30=120. 50+30+30=110. All of these scores are grounds for immediate disqualification." She shifted over and began writing more score combinations, as most of the room gathered around her to hear what she'd worked out.
"50+40+0=90. 30+30+30=90. These scores seem safe. Disqualification isn't a given if your total score is lower than 100. But that's where the average comes in." Sakura explained, pacing in front of the board, flipping her piece of chalk in her hand. "If the point value is too low, there's a good possibility of being dropped for a low average."
"If all of us solve the 30-point question, and get 90 points, we'll lose to the team that gets 100." Kiba said, scratching at his head with one hand. He wasn't feeling as confident as he'd been before.
"If more than two teams score 100 points, the average goes up, and teams with 90 points will be disqualified." Sakura agreed.
TenTen leapt up to the ceiling, knocking lightly on one of the tiles. She check over the others too, but it didn't take her long to conclude the room was completely sealed.
She dropped down into the small crowed, walking up to Sakura with a sigh. "I guess finding loopholes seems impossible."
"The only point combinations that work are 50+50+0, and 40+30+30. The main goal of this test is to either correctly predict your teammate's answers, or somehow instruct your teammates as to which question they should answer." Sakura explained.
"But how are we supposed to do that?" An ame ninja asked. If Sakura hadn't been so enwrapped in the problem at hand, she would have noted that almost everyone in the room was looking to her for the answer…somehow despite coming from various nations and teams, they'd all identified her as the smartest in the room and defaulted to having her lead them.
Sakura turned back to the board, studying the various equations. This would have been a breeze if she was with team 7.
"I hate to say it, but if Naruto was here, this would be easy."
"Huh? Why?" TenTen asked.
"I mean, he'd score 0 for sure. He wouldn't be able to answer a single question."
"And Sasuke-kun and I would know that, so we'd both take the 50 pointers."
"I think even Naruto could solve the 30 point question…" Kiba said, trying to give his old classmate the benefit of the doubt…though he didn't really believe it.
"Definitely not…" Sakura grumbled fondly, glancing down at the 30 point question.
"Leave it to Naruto…" Kiba muttered flatly. He hadn't been the class dunce for nothing…
"It would be much simpler Lee was as obviously dumb." TenTen sighed.
"Shikamaru must really want team 10 to pass. This test is skewed in their favor. The Yamanaka clan has jutsu that would allow them to communicate despite this situation. If Pig has been working on her clan-jutsu, then she might be able to communicate with Choji and I…but if she hasn't…I'm the one who replaced their team captain, meaning that role's now mine. So how do I make sure they answer the way we need to…Or hypothetically, if Naruto wasn't a total failure at academics, how would we figure out how to divide and answer the problems…?"
"Umm…Excuse me." A pretty girl with long shiny dark hair approached her, her bangs covered her headband so it was hard to tell what village she was from.
"Yes?" Sakura asked, turning to her.
"Can you tell me what we're supposed to do for the first round exam?"
Sakura's brows drew together in mild exasperation. "Has she not been paying attention at all?!"
"That's what we're trying to figure out!"
"You too, huh?" The girl cheered in relief, breaking into a big smile. "These questions are really hard, aren't they?!" She was just glad she wasn't the only one who didn't know how to answer them! That would have been embarrassing!
Sakura deflated a little, smiling weakly. "Well…yeah…"
"That's at least one team who'll score 100…the Naruto phenomena exists in other villages too, I guess…"
Sakura glanced at the time. Ten minutes had already elapsed.
"He really did like three's for this…thirty minutes, three rooms, three questions…wait—"
She stared at the equations she'd written on the board. "30+30+40 or 50+50+0. One leader, two subordinates. The way the numbers divide, only one person takes a different point value. If you can signal to your team that you're answering the forty point question, assuming your team is of standard intelligence, they'll both know to answer the thirty point question. If you signal the fifty point question, then they'll know to answer the fifty point and you take the zero…in other words, whoever signals takes the outlier number…"
"Hey, what're you up to?"
Sakura turned at the sound of TenTen's voice to see her facing a girl with red brown hair, light brown eyes, and an ame head band. Her arm was raised, her hand high in the air holding up four fingers.
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Yup. That's a signal. She's gonna do the forty pointer. Her teammates must have some sort of sensory jutsu that will allow them to see what she's doing right now…which makes her the prime candidate to call the shots, because any information she sends, they can receive, but not the other way around…"
"…Forehead!" Ino's voice rang in her mind. She had learned some more of her clan's sensory jutsu after her training with Tsunade.
"Pig…"
"You answer the forty point question, Choji and I will do the thirty point—I already contacted him."
"Got it!"
Ino's voice left her mind, as she let out a relieved sigh. That saved her from figuring out an alternative signaling method…but what about the rest of the room? She noticed for the first time that everyone was gathered around her, looking to her for an answer…she had no responsibility to do so. Many of them were her opponents. But…the fact that they all looked to her made her want to help them. They'd placed their trust in her for an answer, so she wanted to give them one, plus she hated leaving problems unanswered. The issue was, there were risks involved with the route her mind was taking.
She glanced at the clock again to see another ten minutes had elapsed. Two thirds of their time was used up.
Kiba felt Akamaru nudge his hand, whining, and looked up. "I can hear something."
"Someone's yelling." TenTen observed.
"A lot of people are yelling." Sakura agreed.
"Oh! I see!" Some of the crowed ran to the windows and began shouting, trying to make themselves heard to their teammates.
"That won't work…no one will hear anything…But it does mean these rooms aren't sound proof…a loud enough bang will be able to be heard by everyone…but to send a signal out that way might make things worse…"
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Temari asked, arms still crossed over her chest, watching as each of the rooms had devolved into frantically shouting messes.
"If I stop them, this exam would be meaningless." Shikamaru answered, once again leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head. He leaned forward, his hands folded together in front of his face, watching keenly. This was where it got interesting. "Now then, who's going to do what?"
So far, Sakura and Neji were impressing him the most. Sakura, with barely any effort on her part, had gotten most of a room to listen to her and default to her leadership—simply by walking up to the board. Her aura really had changed so much. To think she used to be a girl with practically no presence, so easily overlooked…now she was surrounded by an air of surety that made people unquestioningly look to her for answers. Neji had also taken command of his room, though he had a few more candidates who were giving him push back. But that was more their problem than his, and Neji hadn't let it shake him in the slightest.
But what would they do next, now that everyone else had lost their cool?
"The problem with sending a loud auditory signal like that, is that everyone in the room has to agree, and they all have to agree to the point value of the question the room is choosing to answer. If someone just starts firing off a signal randomly, someone else in the room could interfere and mess it up."
Now that the attention was off of her, she moved back to her seat and answered the forty point question with ease. That was part of the problem with sending a signal out as a room. It might confuse or mess up those who'd already found their answer. It would also mean everyone passed, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would make things harder for her team in the long run…
She glanced up at the clock and then at the group screaming and shouting their heads off by the window.
"To say or not to say…my team passes no matter what. This whole set up gave Shikamaru's team an advantage since they have communication ninjutsu. But Kiba and TenTen…"
"There is a way." She spoke softly, grabbing the attention of those nearest her…her friends.
"What do you mean there's a way?" Kiba shouted, drawing the attention of many of the yelling applicants.
"How?" TenTen prompted, leaning in.
The room had now quieted, listening intently. Sakura's eyes scanned the listening crowd. She felt her nerves returning now that everyone's attention was back on her, and she no longer had to actively problem solve to ensure she and her team passed. She almost gulped.
"It's just explaining theory! I can do this, shannaro! Just pretend like it's only Sasuke-kun, Naruto, TenTen, and Kiba."
"Okay, just promise to hear me out before you do anything…" She got no verbal answer, though there were a few nods. "These rooms aren't soundproof. We can hear the noise from other rooms, just not clearly enough for anything to be communicated in words. But if you send a signal, one without words, the other rooms would be able to hear it. The signal you send needs to communicate either the point number you intend to answer for, or the point value you need them to answer."
"The point value we intend to answer or the point value we want our team to answer?" One of the listening crowd asked.
Sakura nodded to the two circled equations on the board. 30+30+40 and 50+50+0. She didn't explain further, continuing on while some looked between her and the circled equations, confused.
"There's a problem though. Your teammates have no way of knowing who the signal is from. So if you all try sending one, at best it'll confuse everyone, and at worst, the same thing that happened when you tried yelling will happen again—only an indistinct number of bangs. That means you all have to agree on what signal you send, prior to sending it. Furthermore, if any of you already have communicated with your team and figured out your answer, this signal might confuse them and cause them to change the answer they've already decided. On top of all that, just because you send the signal, doesn't mean your teammates correctly interpret it or trust it, since they can't tell who it's from. There's also a logistical issue of how you send the signal…you need something loud enough that doesn't break anything or harm any applicants."
"You aren't including yourself in this." One of the group accused.
"My team has jutsu that allow us to communicate. We've already decided on our answers."
"Then how do we know you're not trying to screw us over?!" Another accusation flared from the crowd.
"Hey! I didn't hear you complaining when you were flocking to her for answers earlier!" TenTen snapped back at the rude person.
Sakura felt her confidence pick up slightly, at TenTen's defense. The crowd may be against her, but her friends weren't. Besides, she knew how to handle bullies and assholes. She'd had plenty of practice.
No one would have ever guessed she felt insecure with how calmly and nonchalantly she shrugged. "You don't have to believe me or take my suggestion. Like I said, I've already got my answer. The way I see it, I don't gain much by screwing you over. There'll probably be an additional question or rule added after this that will change everything anyways. And even if there isn't, there are probably fail safes built in to make sure only a certain number of applicants move onto the second round. So you passing this aspect of the exam makes no difference to me."
"Then why tell us? Why not just keep it to yourself?" Someone else accused suspiciously.
"I was saying it to let my friends know, should they want to go for it." She said honestly, glancing at Kiba and TenTen, who were glaring at those who were questioning her. Once again she felt her confidence tick up a notch at her friend's support.
"And you were all looking to me for an answer earlier, so I figured I owed it to you to share what I thought up."
"So that's his plan!" Shikamaru leaned back in his chair excitedly, reaching for his clipboard. He'd been eyeing the right candidates. Neji and Sakura had more or less reached the same conclusion, the only difference being that Neji needed to utilize it while Sakura didn't. She was sharing out of generosity, removing herself from any final decision making, as she had no need for this method of signaling, while Neji was more actively persuading everyone in his room to agree. Sakura was also highlighting more of the risks and problems with this method, while Neji either had chosen not to share them, or never considered them in the first place. Which again made sense, and was in character. Sakura had her answer already, so she didn't need to persuade others to do this, meaning she was more at liberty to share the potential problems. Plus she was the type to overthink and factor in all possible risks. Neji, on the other hand, had figured out exactly how to best send the signal, and needed others to agree, so sharing the what ifs and risks would be counter productive.
"So everyone passes…he really got you there, Mr. Proctor. Sakura too, if she put a little more effort into convincing them…" Temari grumbled. It would be a headache for her if too many teams passed.
"Well, I've gotten a good look at his leadership skills." Shikamaru answered brightly—or as bright as he could get—making notes on his clipboard. He'd gotten a good look at Sakura's too…a bit more passive, but people had defaulted to listening to her none the less. Besides, he felt a bit amused that Sakura had already deduced the next two phases of the test. Not particularly surprised, but amused, and maybe a bit proud. Their shogi sessions really had seemed to pay off. That or she just knew him really well. Neji had reached the answer a little faster then she had, but he also had the pressure of needing the answer when she didn't.
Temari studied Shikamaru from the corner of her eye for a long while, before bringing her attention forward again, a small frown on her face. The begrudging respect for him that she'd developed during their chunin exam match had only grown, and she couldn't help but feel he'd make a great Jonin. She was one already, and it felt like a waste for someone so brilliant to be content sitting at Chunin level.
Before the debate could continue, a loud bang and a rumbling was felt through the room, followed by four more, a brief pause between each. Five total.
"Looks like someone else decided to go for it…must have gotten the whole room on board too."
Everyone's eyes were on her. "Well, now you don't have to. Someone else decided to send the signal instead."
"It's definitely more efficient than yelling something out." Kiba agreed.
"But why five times?" TenTen asked Sakura. She had understood Sakura's plan about the signaling and all, but the detail of what the signal entailed was still kinda lost on her.
"Five times must mean the fifty point question." Kiba answered confidently, holding up his hand and waving his fingers.
"Right, but what does that mean for us?" TenTen pressed. She always deferred to Neji when it came to thinking up plans or figuring stuff out. She preferred to do things, not plan or interpret them.
"To get 100 points using the 50 point question, two members need to solve the 50 point problem and one member needs a zero." Sakura explained patiently, everyone in the room once again listening without argument. "Whoever signaled, won't solve the fifty pointer. That's what the signal means."
"What makes you say that?" Kiba asked, not doubting her, but not fully understanding how she could be so sure either.
"Because otherwise, the remaining two would need to select the 50 point or 0 point question, with no way of knowing what to choose. So they're signaling both teammates to both solve the 50 point question." She explained.
"So whoever signaled will get zero points?" TenTen confirmed.
"Exactly, hoping that each teammate will think about the other and figure it out."
"I wonder who sent the message." Kiba sighed. Whoever it was had removed the burden from their room to do it.
"We'll have no way of knowing until after this test, but whoever it was got the whole classroom to agree." Sakura answered, with a pointed look at the rest of the room. Several had the courtesy to look embarrassed, or shift awkwardly, but most just looked away, dropping eye contact. A small part of her felt vindicated.
"That's what you get, for doubting us! Shannaro!"
TenTen smiled, glancing down at the floor. "I bet it was Neji." She said confidently.
"Oh I'm sure you do." Sakura teased, smiling.
TenTen flushed a little, turning to her test with a huff. This wasn't about her personal feelings! She had a full, well and good reason to believe it was Neji—he was smart enough to figure all this out and come up with a plan of action, bold enough to do it, and confident and intimidating enough to get everyone else to go along with it. She had no doubt that it was Neji behind the signal…it sure wasn't Lee…
Another two rounds of five bangs and vibrations sounded through the room.
"…Forehead?" Ino's voice sounded in her mind.
"Pig. I've already answered the forty pointer, are you in the room sending the vibrations?"
"No. Choji is. We've both answered the thirty point questions already, let's just leave it the way we have."
"Glad we're on the same page! That was my plan if you didn't get in contact and tell me otherwise. Does Choji know?"
"I talked to him before you. We're all set then!…Hey Forehead, you came up with some way to beat this test even without my jutsu, didn't you?"
"More or less. It was the same as what Choji's room decided. I was explaining it to my room before they went for it."
"Of course. It's amazing your body can support all that brain mass." She teased, before the jutsu ended and Sakura no longer heard Ino's voice in her head.
The speaker suddenly turned on. "I made it clear round one is a written exam. Fighting is prohibited! Stop that racket and answer the question before time's up!" Shikamaru's voice rang through the room.
Sakura leaned back. "Someone in one of the other rooms caused drama."
Shikamaru let out an amused huff. "That Neji…he just forced a hint out of me with that."
"The warning you just issued?"
"Until now, there was a possibility the others would think I was the one who pounded five times. I warned them to keep quiet just now, thus raising the possibility that it was someone in the classrooms who made those sounds. Which it was."
"Sakura and Shino never seemed to have any doubts." Temari noted, as they were the two who'd taken on the responsibility of explaining the signal to everyone. Sakura definitely hadn't had any doubts, since she'd been pitching the same idea when it happened, which also meant that Sakura's classroom was more likely to believe the pounding was from another classroom as well…damn. That meant…
"So every team will score 100 points?" She asked dryly. Shikamaru really liked making her life difficult.
"No, not necessarily. Not all of them will trust it. If they rationalize it calmly, they'd agree with Neji. But just how calm can they remain? They'll probably have doubts and won't trust him, just as Sakura's room was. Meanwhile, Sakura's classroom will probably completely trust it, since they already feel like they messed up by not trusting Sakura to begin with." Shikamaru leaned back in his chair, watching the monitors. "How much faith they have in their teammates is another problem entirely. That signal might not work for every team…so should they trust it, or trust their knowledge of their teammates?"
"What's the answer you've prepared?" Temari asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes. If it had been her and her brothers, Gaara would have instructed them how to answer using his sand manipulation.
"You're asking me?" Shikamaru faltered. Why did she want to know that? It wasn't important since it would never have to happen. Why was she engaging him in a conversation that had no point? It was a drag.
"If you were one of the test takers over there?" She pressed. She wanted to know if his answer was something lazy of something brilliant.
Shikamaru mulled it over for a second. "If I was taking this test, I'd be with my team, so I'd just rely on Ino's mind connection and tell her and Choji to take the 50 point question. Although I suppose if she couldn't do that for some reason, there are enough shadows that I could use my shadow possession jutsu to somehow connect to them and make the write the answers we need…that would be more of a drag though."
"Lazy ass…of course you'd take 0 points." She snorted, though she supposed it was a good enough method.
Shikamaru smirked, letting out a huff of amusement. "It doesn't matter anyways, since this question wouldn't exist if I wasn't the proctor. That's why there's no real point in me answering that question."
It was Temari's turn to smirk. "Yet you answered anyways."
Shikamaru's smirk dropped as he blinked. She was right. He had answered anyway…why'd he do that? He'd even expressly thought about how pointless this question was! So why'd he end up answering when she continued to press for an answer?! Troublesome woman…making him give answers to pointless things…
He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Anyways, it all comes down to thinking clearly about your teammates and the situation."
"Still, there's bound to be way too many who pass, and that'll make the second round a drag." Temari said, deciding to borrow the phrase from Shikamaru.
Shikamaru had to stop himself from physically looking over at her when he heard her use his favored phrase. He had no rational explanation for why, but it made his stomach flip weirdly. Once again, he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I won't make trouble for Suna. There's another part to this exam." Just as Sakura had predicted.
"Time's up!" Shikamaru's voice rang throughout the class rooms. "Everyone flip your sheets over."
Sakura turned her paper over and readied her pencil.
"Here comes the trick question."
"Continuing on to the second part of the exam."
There was an outcry of exclamations at the exam apparently not being over, as well as a few glances in her direction…she'd predicted this after all.
"Question: Your team is on a mission and the enemy spots you. In order to shake off their pursuit, one teammate must stay behind as a decoy. Who will you choose knowing the decoy faces certain death?"
Another round of gasps and exclamations issued from around the room.
"Write down your answer on the reverse side of your sheet. In order to pass, all three members must have the same answer, and the member named as decoy will be considered killed and eliminated from the exams. You have three minutes for this. Begin!"
Sakura bit her lip, staring down at her blank sheet. "Is this payback for when he had to stay behind as decoy durning the sound attack last chunin exams?…but technically, we didn't pick him. He volunteered and we both fought him on it…Still…what would I do if it were my team?"
In her mind's eye, she saw their first chunin exams, when Orochimaru attacked, the first time she'd ever had a chakra reaction.
…You two run. Leave me…I'm too easy…to track right now…your chances…of…getting away will go up…without me.
Orochimaru chuckled evilly. "The little girl is right about that. Your best bet is to flee and let me kill her now. She's doomed anyway, destined to die screaming."
Sasuke didn't answer, but stepped decisively closer to her…
"Shut the hell up! I'll never leave Sakura-chan behind!" Naruto growled…
Sakura stared down at the paper blankly. "We each kept refusing to let the other act as decoy back then…Even in almost this exact situation…"
Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum…
Your father always said that his team was a part of his family…
Sakura felt her mother's necklace, warm against her chest. With the onslaught of memories, the answer to this question seemed so obvious, it was embarrassing that she'd even had to think it through.
Whether her team was Sasuke and Naruto, or Ino and Choji, she could never knowingly send one of her teammates out to die.
"Forehead!" Ino's voice resounded through her mind. "What do we do?! I can't choose either of you! What is Shikamaru thinking?!" Her voice sounded a little frantic.
"Don't worry Pig, it'll be alright. Please relay this to Choji too. The answer is not to answer."
"What?"
"The question is who do we choose to act as decoy under conditions of certain death. We all have to have the same answer. Our answer is no one. We leave it blank. Under conditions of certain death, we'd never leave a team member behind. It's a test to see how much we value our teammates."
"Huh?! But that's—! Shikamaru! That sneaky son of a—wow Forehead, I can't believe you saw through him like that. I'll relay it to Choji now!"
Her mind became quiet again, as she set her pencil down next to her blank paper, watching the clock run down.
It wasn't a long wait. The buzzer sounded. The door opened and Kotetsu walked in.
"I'll be collecting your papers. Wait in your classrooms while the papers are graded. Those who passed will be called out to the schoolyard." He gave Sakura a slight encouraging smile as he passed by. He wasn't entirely sure why she hadn't been promoted the last time, but he had no doubt she would be this time around.
Sakura smiled back, passing him her test, and got ready for the wait.
The schoolyard was more full than she would have expected. A lot of people had passed. Temari and Shikamaru stood on a riser, everyone else gathering around.
"Those of you here have passed the passed the first round. congratulations." Shikamaru said, smiling.
"Neji, you sent that signal, right?" Lee asked.
"Sakura was suggesting it when you actually did it! Thanks to you, we made it!" TenTen said happily, her heart beating a bit faster…she knew it had been him who sent the signal.
Neji felt a warm, pleased feeling creep through him, at TenTen's gratitude, and felt it best to defer the praise elsewhere before he reacted too obviously.
"Truth be told, that guy from Suna did it." He said glancing at the argumentative young man with long light brown hair. Sure it had been his idea, but it was that Suna-nin who'd physically sent the signal.
The long haired Suna nin looked back at them confused. "How come all three of you made it?" He demanded.
"Wasn't the decoy disqualified?" His teammate asked.
"The rule said all three had to have the same answer. We didn't choose anyone." Neji explained.
"What?!"
"We all turned in a blank sheet!" Lee said, burning with his ever present enthusiasm.
"Blank? All three of you?!"
"There's no way we'd sacrifice a comrade." For a good minute and a half, it had been a choice TenTen was unsure of and stressed about, but when she saw Sakura firmly set her pencil down without writing anything, she knew her choice was right.
It wasn't just them. Several of the other teams had passed as well. Of course Sakura, Ino, and Choji made it, along with Shino, Hinata, and Kiba, but teams from several other villages had also cleared. The pretty girl with the shiny dark hair and Naruto level of intelligence had passed along with her whole team—turned out they were from Suna. The girl from Ame, with red brown hair and light brown eyes's team had passed as well.
Sakura studied the large crowd, a little ways away from Team Gai, having met up with Ino and Choji.
"More passed than I would have thought." Choji muttered, looking around.
"They're probably going to hold some type of preliminary even before the second exam." Sakura agreed.
Ino snorted. "That lazy ass made his test too easy!"
"Maybe," Sakura giggled, "but at least his message was loud and clear."
"Message?" Choji asked.
"First and foremost, above all, a chunin must know and care about their teammates, and all of their choices have to be made with their team in mind."
"Now that you mention it," Ino murmured thoughtfully, her eyes on Shikamaru, "last year's exam was about the skill to gather information inconspicuously, and being brave enough to accept a mission with uncertain odds. The teams were a part of it—individual mistakes would effect the team—but they weren't stressed as much."
Sakura nodded. "The test and the values it emphasizes are determined by the proctor. Ibiki-san was from the interrogation unit, so his test focused on safely gathering information. Shikamaru is from Ino-Shika-Cho. You two have been his team from day one…this whole test was for you two." Sakura said, turning to them with a smile.
Ino and Choji stared at her, before their gaze moved to their teammate and brother, smiling warmly.
"Don't worry Shikamaru. We're gonna catch up with you this time!" Choji vowed.
"That's right!" Ino affirmed, turning to Sakura. "We're counting on you, Forehead! Lead us well!"
Sakura just smiled back, though she felt her stomach flip with anxiety.
"I was never worried about the first test, but from here on out, if it's anything like last year…Ugh! Enough of that! Shannaro! I can do this! And if I can't…well at least I would have pushed myself and tried!"
Temari slammed her fan down on the riser, gathering the attention of the crowd again.
"I'm Subaku Temari! I'm in charge of round two of the Exams. Too many teams passed the first round, so we're going to narrow it down some more."
There was a ripple of apprehensive murmurs. Ino nudged Sakura's side a little.
"Just like you thought there'd be, huh?"
Sakura nodded, her eyes trained on Temari.
"First off, round two is also a team battle. Any team without a third member will be disqualified!"
There was a particularly loud shout from the Suna shinobi with the long brown hair near Neji's team, but Temari plowed on as if there was no interruption.
"Furthermore, round two will be held in Suna. We will meet at the Demon Desert checkpoint. Although there is a clear route between Konoha and Suna, it will take a shinobi three days no matter how fast he or she may be."
A Suna Jonin standing next to the platform held up his arm, allowing the messenger hawk he'd been holding to take flight.
"A messenger hawk has been sent to Suna with these instructions: After the first 30 arrive, all who follow are to be disqualified."
Another round of murmurs broke out as the genin looked apprehensively between each other.
"…Oh this'll be rough…" Sakura thought of the bone deep exhaustion she felt at all times since starting her seal, but shook it off. She had to do this. If she could do this, when the time came, she'd be able to help Naruto save Sasuke, even if the seal wasn't finished yet.
"Finally, as in round one, fighting is prohibited en route. You can fight to your heart's content in round two. That's all!"
Neji and TenTen exchanged a quick glance, and then Neji turned away. "Lee…" He called, gaining his other teammate's attention before taking off. TenTen was a little surprised, but didn't hesitate to follow him, Lee catching on quickly as well.
"He really is quick to asses the situation, after all." Shikamaru smirked, his hands resting casually in his pockets.
Sakura turned to Ino and Choji. "Let's go."
"Just like that?" Choji asked, surprised.
"She started her point with finally, and ended with that's all, so we're dismissed."
"If you say so Forehead." Ino said, taking off, followed by Choji. Sakura brought up the rear.
Shikamaru smiled genuinely as he watched his team run by. Filling his spot with Sakura really had been a good call.
"What's wrong? You're dismissed!" Temari said, when no one else moved.
The second those words left her mouth, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino took off, ignoring the brief wave of confusion and realization that rippled through the other candidates. And then everyone was off and running.
"Couldn't you at least have said, 'ready, set, go'?" Shikamaru said dryly, a smirk on his face.
"This is the chunin exams, not the academy." She said seriously. She wasn't about to hold their hand through this.
"Thank god you weren't a proctor last time." Shikamaru muttered, looking up at the clouds floating by.
Temari smirked. "You may have actually failed if I was."
He didn't contest her assertion.
Sakura was doing her best to remain upright. They'd made the cut. She, Ino, and Choji were among the first thirty to arrive…and Sakura thought she might pass out. Her mind felt fuzzy with exhaustion, her chest was heaving, and her face was covered in sweat. It was hard to say whether all of that was because of the run, or her seal…she knew it was both, though to onlookers, they'd probably just chalk it up to the three day sprint to reach Suna. The heat and sun weren't helping either. The air was oppressively dry, and it felt like she was losing moisture with every breath.
"Okay…when the test actually starts, the first thing we're going to need to do, is find water…"
"Sakura-san! Everyone! You made it!" Lee cheered enthusiastically. Team Gai stood in front of the check point—one of the first teams to reach it, and they didn't even seem out of breath.
"Gotta hand it to 'em…Team Gai's…sure got stamina!" Ino huffed.
"Team Asuma, Team Kurenai…the main members from last time made it through." Neji noted, standing next to his sensei, who gave a brilliant smile.
"Yup! You all gave it your all! Your fortitude, shown through running for three days and three nights without sleep, has made me so proud!" Gai cheered, tears water falling from his eyes, his fist clenched tightly, over the top as always. "It takes me back to the time I took the Chunin exams—"
"Sensei, if you're going to tell us a long story…" Kiba cut in, way too tired to hear it.
Choji was of a similar mindset. "Please let us rest already. I'm starving."
Gai faltered a little. "Ah, right. It seems you are." He pushed open the large door he was in front of. "You can rest here for now, each team has been given a room." He said, indicating the check point behind him. A large walled in structure built around a small oasis.
Sakura's head was too fuzzy to process much more of anything. She followed Ino's long blond pony tail into the encampment, through the building, and into their team's allocated room, before plopping onto one of the beds and immediately passing out.
"Forehead?" Ino gently shook Sakura's shoulder, but to no avail. Her brow furrowed. Sakura was usually such a light sleeper, and woke up easily, but she hadn't woken up at the intercom announcement for dinner, and she was even sleeping through someone physically touching her.
"Sakura-chan?" She tried again, shaking her a little harder. Sakura groaned.
"…Five more minutes, okay mom? Then I'll…" Sakura mumbled her voice trailing off as she curled up tighter, hugging her pillow against her.
Ino withdrew her hand, her eyes saddening. She rarely talked about her mom anymore…sometimes it was easy to forget Sakura had even lost her mother…but of course her friend wouldn't have forgotten or moved on so quickly. Just because she didn't talk about it didn't mean it wasn't effecting her even still.
"Is she alright?" Choji asked in concern, standing by the door waiting for his teammates.
"Yeah, she's fine. She's looked pretty tired recently. Tsunade-sama works her really hard. Let's just let her rest. I'll bring her back some food." Ino said, stepping back away from her best friend, her eyes sad. She looked at her a second longer, before turning to Choji and nodding. Both of them left, closing the door softly behind them.
Sakura stood in the arena where the third exam had been held the year before. It was completely empty except for her. She heard a rhythmic dripping sound, like a leaky faucet but couldn't pinpoint where it might be coming from.
"So, why am I here?" She wondered out loud, pacing to the center of the arena floor.
"I'd think it's obvious." She whirled around to see her mother standing in front of her, smiling at her. "You're the big brain scientist. Why would your head bring you here?" Her mother teased lightly, a warm smile on her face.
"Mom!"
"Tsk. You always sound so surprised to see me." Mebuki huffed playfully. "Even though you know I'm always there for you."
"I already told you, I forget sometimes and need you to remind me." Sakura answered, her voice strained but happy.
"Why do you think I'm here now?" Mebuki's smile softened. "You're having a tough time, huh, Sakura-chan?" She said, walking towards her, and pulling her daughter into a warm embrace.
Sakura felt her throat tighten, her arms wrapping around her mother tightly.
"It's just some hard training. That's all. Nothing to worry about."
Mebuki pulled away just enough to give her daughter a flat look. "I'm dead Sakura, you don't need to keep trying to act strong so as not to make me worry. Go on and let it out."
"You sound like Sasuke-kun and Tsunade-sama." She muttered, burying her head in her mother's shoulder.
"There's a reason I approve and have mentally and emotionally entrusted you to both of them." Mebuki answered firmly. "Now, are you going to tell me?"
"You're so stubborn."
"You had to get it from somewhere."
Sakura gave a small huff before pulling away to look at her mother. "The seal is exhausting. And I'm the one who wanted to come here, and I'm gonna see this through to the end. I want to push myself as far as I can, and not be useless to my teammates anymore…I still feel all of that. But there's a piece of me that keeps whispering that I made a huge mistake coming here. That I'm going to fail my training and disappoint Tsunade-sama, or drop the ball and let Pig and Choji down." Sakura couldn't meet her mother's unwavering deep green gaze. "Just the run to get here wiped me out to the extent that my brain got all fuzzy…and the Akatsuki might be here, and I need to get more information on them, but if they're all Itachi level strong than…and if they're not here or they are but I miss them, that'll be such a wasted opportunity to learn more, so I can be of use to Naruto and Sasuke-kun! But none of that even matters because if the three day run was enough to do this to me, what hope do I have of actually making it through the second exam?"
Mebuki sighed, releasing her daughter, and placing firm comforting hands on her shoulders. "I can't answer that. But Sakura-chan, you're worrying about too much at once. You really are a strange one." She shook her head a little.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you always had to worry about way too much at once. Me, money, school, bullies, training, your teammates…and you would worry about all of it at once, yet somehow, despite how young you were, you seemed to inherently know that you could only deal with one thing at a time. That's downright weird for an eight year old kid. And it's even weirder that you've known and done that your whole life, but somehow managed to forget that just now." Mebuki's expression changed from serious to playful again. "You're not getting dummer with age, are you, Sakura-chan?"
"Absolutely not!" Sakura huffed indignantly, her hands going to her hips as she stared her mother down in challenge. "You should have seen me during the first exam! I beat Shikamaru's test! I figured everything out—all the layers of it! And everyone in the room was looking to me for answers!"
Mebuki laughed at her daughter's indigence. "There, that's better! Now you're sounding more like you. For someone who looks as beautiful and delicate as a flower, you're actually shockingly fiery."
"Mom!" Sakura whined, feeling flustered. Mebuki laughed again and tussled her hair.
"Relax, Sakura-chan. I won't tell you not to worry about everything at once, because that's just who you are…but don't try to solve everything at once because it'll be impossible and only make things harder on yourself. Just maintain the seal, and handle each thing as it comes. Like you always do. You're the survivor type. You'll get through it."
Sakura blinked as the advice settled into her bones.
From afar, she heard a woman's voice over an intercom, but it sounded staticky and incoherent to her.
She smiled at her mother and looked around the arena. "So, why am I here again?"
Her mother looked out at the arena as well. "This is where you won your match against Dosu, despite being firmly convinced that he was stronger than you."
Sakura remembered the disbelief when she'd been declared winner. The feeling of confidence and elation that coursed through her with the cheers of the crowd…how good it felt to prove everyone who doubted her wrong. She wanted to feel that again.
The stadium shook, and she heard Ino's voice calling her name. Her mother looked up at the sky.
"Someone's trying to wake you up."
"Five more minutes, okay mom? Then I'll go and handle it all as it comes."
Her mom smiled mischievously. "Good choice." She turned and began walking towards the exit.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"I figured you two would want some alone time." She smiled and winked before turning once more and heading off.
"Us two?" Sakura turned around to see Sasuke leaning against the tree Dosu had cornered her against. "…Sasuke-kun?"
His eyes scanned over her as she took hesitant steps closer to him.
"Hn…you managed to change a lot and not at all…" He said quietly, continuing to observe her as she drew near.
"And how have you changed Sasuke-kun? Are you still…you?"
"I'm not Orochimaru if that's what you're asking. Nor do I plan to be. He won't respect my goals once he gets my body, so I have no intention of giving it to him."
Sakura let out a breath of relief. "I know this is all in my head, but that sounds like something you'd say and feel…I really hope it's true. But even if it is, I'm still going to save you."
Sasuke scoffed and looked away. Clearly non verbally communicating that he didn't need to be saved.
She nearly laughed. "Did you astral project here or something? You feel more believable than usual." When Sasuke appeared in her genjutsu visions and dreams, it was usually believable enough, but by nature of what those visions and dreams were—him flirting with her, kissing her, touching her…well, she knew it wasn't really him. But this…this could have been her old teammate and love of her life she was really talking to.
Sasuke shrugged, not looking at her. "Maybe you just know me better than you think."
"Hmm. Maybe I do." She looked out at the stadium, a small smile playing on her lips. "After all, I am the most analytical and tactical thinker in our cell." She boasted playfully, throwing his own words back at him.
Sasuke gave a small huff of laughter. "And the closest to overtaking the Hokage." He added, making Sakura smile and blush at the memory from their chakra control training in the Land of Waves.
The two stood, leaning against the tree staring out at the silent arena. Sakura felt more at peace and relaxed than she had in a very long time. This was why her mind had conjured up Sasuke…no one brought her peace and bolstered her confidence the way he did.
She took a deep breath. "The Akatsuki might attack…that group Itachi's a part of. I've been trying to dig up information on him."
"Don't." Sasuke said curtly. His body had grown still and tense at the mention of his brother.
"Sasuke-kun—"
"It's my problem Sakura. Stay out of it."
"We've talked about this before. It's my pro—"
"Sakura, stay away from Itachi. He's dangerous."
"He hurt you and I—" She looked over at him and her voice died. Sasuke had somehow moved closer to her and was staring at her with a dizzying swirl of emotions—anger, worry, fear, sadness, loneliness, longing, warmth, care—all of which compounded into a burning intensity. In her peripheral vision she saw his hand move to her hair, slowly stroking through it, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from his eyes.
"Don't die while I'm gone, Sakura. Please." He whispered.
Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening. Something about those words…
There was a loud sound like stone exploding, followed by a crash of glass. Sakura's eyes snapped open.
She blinked into the darkness of the room. Ino and Choji didn't seem to be around. She felt better than when she passed out, but it hadn't been nearly enough sleep to counteract her exhaustion…but the dream she had, specifically the last words Sasuke said to her…that sent her mind reeling kilometers a minute.
Not able to stay in bed, despite her exhaustion, she pushed herself up and wandered out the room and through the hallways. She wended her way through them paying no direction to where she was heading, before finally stopping in one of the silent corridors, and making her way over to the window, looking up at the night sky.
"I wonder if you can see the night sky where you are…or does that snake keep you locked in some cave?…Sasuke-kun, what you said in that dream…I don't remember you ever saying that, so why…why did those feel so real? Did you actually say that? Or at the very least, think it?"
She sighed, leaning her face against her palm as she stared out the window. The sky was a deep inky blue littered with stars.
"…Sakura?"
Sakura whirled around to see Gaara. "Kazekage-sama! I'm sorry…I probably shouldn't be here." She said, realizing now that she had no clue where in the building she was.
Gaara shook his head. "You don't have to be so formal with me Sakura. At least, not if it's just me or my siblings around."
She looked around, making sure they were alone before smiling. "Sorry about that, Gaara-kun."
He was glad she started calling him that again. It felt weird hearing her address him as Kazekage.
"What are you doing here?" Gaara asked, joining her, leaning against the window next to hers and looking out.
"I overslept and missed dinner, and then got lost." It was too bad she'd missed dinner, she could really use the food to replenish the chakra she'd lost during the run.
"You didn't miss much. A food fight broke out before anyone had the chance to eat."
"A food fight?" Sakura huffed indignantly. "Are they 5? Who'd waste food like that? Idiots…"
Gaara couldn't help the smirk making its way to his face as he watched her from the corner of his eye. "I was informed Konoha ninja started it."
Sakura twitched and then let out a groan of embarrassment. "It wouldn't be surprising if Naruto was here, but to think that even without him…Well, I guess Kiba might be excitable enough to cause trouble, and Lee-san seems like the type who would make things worse while trying to help…"
"Aw man, that's such a bad look for Konoha…as the Hokage's apprentice, I should probably do some damage control…"
"You know your comrades well." Gaara noted, his smirk still in place.
"Some better than others…" Sakura turned to face him fully, bowing low. "On behalf of Konoha, I apologize for any trouble my comrades have caused." She straightened, her tone becoming less formal and her eyes growing sincere. "And I really am sorry about the wasted resources…gathering and preparing enough food for all the candidates must have been at least a little taxing, finance and labor-wise…I'm sorry all that effort and time has gone to waste."
"Hm." Gaara's smile softened as he turned back to the window. "You apologize too much."
"You sound like Sasuke-kun and Naruto." Sakura said fondly, turning to look back out the window as well.
Gaara felt pleased with both comparisons, for different reasons. Naruto was who he was striving to be like—someone who always tried to connect with others, even when they spurned and hated him. That was why he'd wanted to personally host these exams. He wanted to draw out those who opposed and feared him within Suna so he could try speaking with them face to face…so he could try to make that connection. Hearing that he sounded like Naruto felt like the highest praise he could receive. And as for the comparison to Sasuke…he still thought the Uchiha was wildly stupid. It was a sentiment that grew and fermented every time he spoke to Sakura. But for reasons he would probably never understand, beautiful, understanding, loving, kind Sakura, loved Uchiha Sasuke. So being told he sounded like the boy she loved…that felt like an ambiguous step in a direction. He wasn't sure whether it was the right direction or not, but a step was a step none the less.
At her own mention of both her missing teammates, her face saddened a little.
"I miss my team…I'm just a place holder on team Asuma, and that's fine. I don't want a new team. I want my old one…my family…"
Don't die while I'm gone, Sakura. Please.
"Did you really say that, Sasuke-kun? When? Those words feel so real…is it really all just in my head? Honestly, I don't think I ever would have imagined you saying 'please' though…So why did I dream it?"
Sakura…thank you…for everything.
"Did I really get a 'please' and a 'thank you' from you? That's…different, right? I've never heard you say those words to anyone else…"
Gaara didn't miss how her face lost some of its radiance. She looked tired—that could have been because of the sprint between villages—and a little preoccupied. Was she nervous? Maybe, but that didn't account for the sad, lonely, look on her face, which developed after she'd mentioned Naruto and Sasuke.
"You miss them." She looked up at him searchingly before turning back to the window.
"All the time. But now especially. It feels weird being here without them…big things like this, we're supposed to go through them as a team. Maybe you wouldn't have felt it last year, but if you had to take the test again this year, without your brother and sister, it'd be weird for you, right?"
"…Yes." Honestly he felt proud that he could say that. He and his siblings had grown very close very quickly. It turned out they'd always wanted to be close with him when they were all younger, but their father had kept them away and enforced distance…and then Gaara became so filled with loneliness and hatred that he couldn't blame them for wanting to keep away at that point. But they'd moved on from it. That was the past now, and his siblings truly did feel like family.
Hearing his answer, Sakura beamed up at him. "You really have changed so much, so quickly. I'm proud of you, Gaara-kun!" The desert nights were always rather cold, but in that moment, for Gaara, it felt like the mid-day sun was beating directly on his face.
He quickly returned his gaze to the night sky. "You haven't changed at all."
"Hey!" She responded, indignantly. "I'm a full fledged medic now. Cleared to handle surgeries and everything." She huffed, her arms crossing under her chest, but almost immediately the stance dropped and her tone grew serious. "That reminds me, you know about the Akatsuki right?"
Gaara's eyes widened, although he supposed that maybe he shouldn't be surprised Sakura knew about them and their potential threat. She was Naruto's teammate, and the Hokage's apprentice. She was bound to find out at some point.
"Yes."
"They're after tailed beast carriers. Please be careful, Gaara-kun. They're very dangerous, and whether they take the bait now or not, they'll come after you at some point…" Sakura's fists tightened at her sides. She had no clue what the Akatsuki wanted the tail beasts for, or what that meant for their carriers. But she doubted it was anything good. The thought of anyone hurting Naruto or Gaara for the beasts sealed into them at birth without their consent shot a hot wave of fury through her.
Gaara stared at her for a long moment, taking in the righteous indignation that sprouted in her eyes. She really hadn't changed at all. She was still so understanding, loving, and fiercely protective of those she cared about. And it warmed every particle of him that he'd somehow made it onto that list of people.
"I know. I'll be careful." He responded gently. Sakura gave him another temperature warming smile.
She turned her attention back to the window, satisfied with his answer. "You were right. There really are a lot of stars…" Movement outside caught her attention, as she dropped her gaze to the grounds below. Someone was out there, running to the building on the opposite side of the compound.
"Is that…Choji?" She leaned in closer to the window to try and see better.
Gaara followed her gaze, his brow furrowing. "He shouldn't be out there. This time of year there are giant—" He didn't get to finish his statement, before Sakura had pushed the window open with a curse and leapt up onto the sill.
"What are you doing?" Gaara asked in shock at her sudden actions.
"He's my teammate! I need to make sure he's ok!"
Gaara didn't manage a word of protest in time. Sakura had already leapt out the window.
"Choji! Where are you?" Ino called into the night, standing in the open doorway. The wind had picked up, blowing the sand around wildly and obscuring her vision.
There was a blur of pink as Sakura landed next to her, having apparently dropped down from a window somewhere above.
"Sakura-chan! You're awake?"
"Pig! What's Choji doing?! We aren't supposed to be out at night!"
"He's trying to get food from the sensei's building. He's so hungry, he can't think straight!" Ino filled her in.
"I totally get that…I could go for some food myself, but still…we're in unknown territory and according to Gaara-kun, something bad comes out this time of year! We have to stop him and bring him back!"
They both heard Choji scream, and there was no more hesitating on either front.
"Choji?!" They gave a simultaneous worried cry, before running out into the night after him.
"Choji! We're coming to save you!" Ino shouted, as they neared the direction of his voice, but out of the sand cloud, a giant claw grabbed her before she could do anything to help.
Sakura reeled back, eyeing the giant scorpion now visible through the flying sand. She charged up for a punch, but staggered, nearly passing out again.
"Shit! I haven't rested enough! I don't have enough chakra!"
Before she could figure out the next best course of action, a claw had grabbed her as well, cutting sharply into her arm.
"Waterfall Hurricane!" An energetic voice shouted, as a tan girl with blue hair dropped out of nowhere, landing a huge punch on the scorpion. The scorpion gave a cry of pain and thrashed wildly, swinging and shaking Sakura, Ino, and Choji chaotically.
"Yahoo! This is fun!" The blue haired girl cheered happily, riding on the scorpion like its thrashing didn't bother her in the slightest.
"No! Stop!" Choji grunted.
"W-What's happening?!" Ino gasped, painfully disoriented from all the swinging.
"Hey! Stop fooling around and take that thing down already!" Sakura ordered, desperately straining against the claw holding her.
"Aww, is it over already?" The blue haired girl whined, child-like.
"It's dangerous!" Sakura shouted, appalled by the girl's carefree and reckless attitude.
"Aww…guess I have no choice!" The girl sighed, pulling out a kunai and stabbing hard and deep into the scorpion's head. The beast thrashed weakly for a few more seconds before it collapsed, its claws and monstrous tails slamming into the ground.
Sakura shoved her way out of the claw's now limp grasp and studied the heavily bleeding cut on her arm. It was pretty deep. She had enough chakra to heal it, but if she did so, she wouldn't be able to heal Ino and Choji if they were injured.
She cupped her hand over the cut, pressing hard to help staunch the bleeding.
"Ino-chan, Choji! Are you hurt at all?"
"No injuries, just dizzy!" Choji called out.
"I'm fine, Forehead!" Ino answered.
She let out a sigh of relief before turning to their savior. "What about you? Are you hurt at all?"
"Nope!" The Girl replied cheerily. "That was fun, don't you think?"
Sakura was cut off before she could reply by Lee's frantic voice.
"Sakura-san! Are you alright?!" She turned to see him in the lead, followed by Neji, TenTen, and three other nin, one of whom looked vaguely familiar.
"I'm fine." She answered.
"But you're bleeding!"
"I'm okay. This is nothing to worry about." Which wasn't a lie. The claws hadn't been poisonous. It was just a deep cut. Nothing she couldn't handle, especially since she knew no one else had been hurt. Compared to training sessions with Tsunade, or her chakra reactions, the pain and damage from this were hardly even worth blinking at.
The vaguely familiar ninja went right to her, taking her arm in her hand. She was very pretty with long brown hair tied in a low pony tail, and a white collard sleeveless tunic with the Suna symbol embroidered on to the corner. A dark red sash and brow belt wrapped around her middle, accentuating her figure. Sakura remembered why she seemed familiar. She'd been in classroom three with her during the first exam, but she'd been one of the few to not group around her looking for answers, meaning she'd figured it out on her own.
"Please don't move." She ordered calmly, hovering her hand over Sakura's cut. A green glow lit up around her hand and Sakura's cut closed up.
"This girl…she's a medical ninja like me…"
"That should do it." She said, pulling away.
"Thank you." Sakura smiled, before checking her arm. There wasn't a trace of injury left. And she'd healed it so quickly too.
"She's skilled…" Her stomach dropped, her insecurity surging. It was a painful blow to her pride to be healed so expertly by an opponent, with so little effort, knowing that she would have exhausted herself completely if she'd tried to take care of it. In her mind, her skill and status as a medical ninja were all she had. There was nothing else that made her useful as a ninja.. She'd trained hard enough, became skilled enough, to be considered the third best medical ninja in the village, behind only Tsunade and Shizune…and arguably, she and Shizune were tied in skill. One of the quickest assessments of a medical ninja's skill level was in how quickly they could heal an injury. The Suna medic had healed her deep cut within seconds. Ino wouldn't have been able to heal it that quickly. And the Suna medic had healed her despite the fact that she was an opponent in this exam…If she was willing to do that for her opponents, then Sakura had just lost all her value on the field…
"That's not fair. We could easily heal it that quickly as well, and if it weren't for the hundred healings—which we know she doesn't have—it would have barely taken us any effort at all, shannaro! Besides, were we or were we not prepared to heal that girl from Taki? We are no less of a medic than she is, nor are we less skilled or valuable than her! Now snap out of it, damnit! Remember what shishou said!"
If you're not confident, then walk away…You can appear unsure of yourself, but the second you believe you can't accomplish the goal you've set for the battle, the second you doubt your abilities and think you can't pull it off, you lose all ability and skill you have.
Sakura watched the muscles of her forearm flex as her fist tightened, her jaw setting.
"That's right…someone else's skills don't invalidate my own. There are a lot of people who believe in me and are counting on me. I can do this!"
Sakura pulled her attention away from the downward spiral her confidence took, and mental pep talk she's given herself, fixing her attention on the blue haired Taki Nin, who was dancing around and cheering, still atop the now dead scorpion.
"Thank you for saving us!" She called up to her, though her mind was racing. She noted from the corner of her eye that the two other ninja who'd come running out—Taki ninja, so they must be the girl's teammates—tensed when Sakura started talking to her.
"Who the hell is she?! She came out of nowhere and took down that monster in no time!"
"Huh? No problem! Does this mean we're friends now?!" The girl asked excitedly.
"Friends?…You do know we're going to be competing against each other, right?" Sakura asked a little hesitantly, feeling bad about potentially bringing down the girl's cheery mood. In a way, she reminded her a little of Naruto with her sunshiny childishness…and Sakura hated seeing Naruto saddened or upset.
"Wh-What is this?!" A masculine voice cut in before the girl had the chance to answer.
Gai, Temari, and Gaara were walking towards them from the direction of the staff building. Gaara must have somehow alerted and joined them after Sakura had left him in the hallway.
"What's going on?!" Gai questioned again.
"Going outside at night is prohibited. The second exam begins before dawn breaks! Hurry up and return to your quarters!" Temari ordered severely.
"We're sor—"
Now that the threat of the giant scorpion had been dealt with, Choji's mind refocused on his mission—to try and get food from the senseis. He immediately went running up to Gai, bowing deeply, hunger and desperation etching his expression.
"Gai-sensei! W-We're starving!" Choji cried, his eyes big and watery.
Gai's brows rose a little in surprise before settling into a stern, disapproving face.
"You guys are…Go back now!" He ordered, marching up to Choji and placing a hand on his shoulder, while the other snuck into his vest. "Clear your mind of mundane thoughts and even a fire will go out!" He declared, subtly placing a small package of sandwiches in Choji's hands.
Choji looked up at him in surprise, while Gai straightened, his arms crossing over his chest.
"Missing one meal won't kill a person! Just think of this as part of training!" He shouted. but despite his words, he shot Choji a thumbs up.
Temari sighed, shaking her head a little. Did he really think he was being slick?
Sakura returned her attention to the blue haired girl, as most of the group started heading back to the building.
"What's your name?" She called up. The girl's eyes widened in excitement as her gaze locked on Sakura. Had she just made a friend?!
"I'm Fuu!" She said brightly.
"Thank you for rescuing us, even though we're your opponents, Fuu." Sakura said, bowing politely.
"Oh I don't care about opponents or rivals or any of that stuff! I came here to make 100 friends!" Fuu declared excitedly. "We're friends now, right?! We can play cards or backgammon! Or we could bathe together!"
Sakura met Gaara's eyes and knew they were both thinking of the same person. Naruto and Fuu seemed like they were cut from the same cloth…gods help them if those two ever ended up in a room together.
Sakura swayed a little and was brought back to her present condition. She needed more rest. Especially if she wasn't getting any food tonight. She'd let Gaara worry about Fuu and her teammates for now, she didn't have the energy. Besides, Gaara was trying to connect with others more, and Fuu was one big open connection.
"Uh, maybe some other time, Fuu. I need to get some sleep. Maybe we'll cross paths during the exam." She said, giving the excitable girl a wave goodbye. She hoped they didn't. As childish and playful as Fuu seemed, she was clearly very strong and very fast, having dropped in from nowhere and taken out the scorpion in no time. The last thing Sakura wanted, was to meet her as an actual opponent. She gave Gaara, Temari, and Gai a bow, sending a tired smile to Gaara, before walking back to the building where Ino and Choji were waiting for her.
The most important thing for her right now was to sleep and refill her smaller dam of chakra. She'd need it for the next exam.
Author's note: So this chapter and the next one are kind of hard to write cause a lot of the big events happen to and specifically involve Team Gai, and the anime places a lot of emphasis on them, especially Neji, as this is when he gets his double promotion to Jonin. While I do happen to like this filler arc, I also find it absolute bullshit that more focus isn't given to Sakura, since she's literally supposed to be a protagonist. But whatever, that's part of why I'm writing this story. So, if you haven't seen this arc of the anime, I do recommend watching it to know what's going on in the other classrooms (namely Neji's), and to know what happens with the other teams over the course of the second exam, because I'm just going to focus on Sakura, and Ino by extension during the next chapter. Sakura's whole arc in this is about really gaining solid confidence in herself, so up until that happens, her self confidence is a never ending fritzy fight (which was very much how puberty felt for me). As for changes I made, in the anime, Sakura is looked at as the one with answers in her room, but she doesn't come up with the way to beat the test-only correctly interprets the signal Neji sends for TenTen and Kiba. Ino tells her to answer the 30 point question instead of the 40 point one, but in this she makes such a big deal over Sakura being smart that it would be weird for her to not ask Sakura to do the slightly harder question, even if the question itself isn't hard at all. It's also to further delineate that Sakura is acting team captain. Since the anime specifies that Shikamaru is the brains and captain of his team, and Sakura is specifically thought of and picked to be his stand in, I really wanted to run with that, and have that add to Sakura's sense of pressure and responsibility. Sakura doesn't deep read the test and connect it to Shikamaru the way she does in this, but since she's good friends with Shikamaru in this, and very analytical, I don't see why she wouldn't. Besides, you can't convince me Shikamaru didn't make that test with his team in mind. It so clearly plays to all of Ino-Shika-Cho's strengths. I added small pieces of dialogue between Temari and Shikamaru. To me in manga and especially in the anime, they were always the two who were obviously going to get together, and I do love their pairing. I really can't see Shikamaru with anyone else. And they're going through puberty same as the rest of them, so I wrote them to be just a touch more reactive/flirty with each other. In the anime, Sakura is part of the dinner/food fight, which is ended by Fuu (the seven tails jinchuriki) crashing through the window and declaring she wants to make 100 friends. In this, Sakura sleeps through it, so both the dream and the conversation with Gaara are original material. Canonically, Gaara was never in the participants building, he was in the building across the compound with the sensei. I don't have a great justification for why he's there-let's just go with he's monitoring post food fight. I also want to note that while Sakura knows about the Akatsuki and the tailed beasts by this point in the story, she's never actually heard the term 'Jinchuriki,' so she has no idea what that is, nor does she know about tailed beast extraction and the threat it poses to the host. To her, all she knows is that the Akatsuki wants tailed beast carriers because they want the tailed beasts for something. So about the dream...Sasuke's not there, he didn't astral project, they aren't sharing the same dream or anything...but this is more supposed to play into their connected thoughts and feelings, which is canonically stated expressed in Boruto, but even in canon I think that started in the beginning of Naruto, during the first chunin exams. And in this story, they are mutually in love, and on Sasuke's front, even if he denies it, that doesn't just go away. So his minds made up that he has no intention of letting Orochimaru have his body, and somehow, Sakura picks up on that possibility, though she just writes it off as a dream. But more or less it boils down to what dream Sasuke said, she knows him better than she thinks she does, and she knows he'd never let someone else claim his body, especially if that person had no intention of honoring his wishes for revenge. She didn't hear Sasuke ask her to stay alive because she was knocked out, but it sank somewhere into her subconscious.
Thank you so much for all the nice reviews! I mean it, they really mean a lot to me. A few of you now have said that this is the best Sakura fiction you've ever read and I don't have the words to describe how honored I am to hear that...seriously, thank you so much!
Thank you so much for reading this far! :)