Ch. 7

The next day Sakura was happy to note that it was not a dream as she meets up with Shikamaru for lunch so they could make plans timing it with each other. It wasn't the only positive thing she had woken up to, she had received her training plan for the week and she found out that she was going a bit up from the basic, a lot more team training and of course a long list of books she needed to read. She giggled to herself as she was walking to the place where she was meeting Shikamaru.

Her eyes almost glittered with excitement as she started to imagine herself as a strong independent ninja, maybe she even could become as strong as Tsunade Senju, the sanin, one could at least dream. A hand in front of her face woke her up from the daydream "Sakura, you there?" a voice she recognized as Shikamaru. Blinking a few times, she nodded slowly "Yeah, just thinking" she could feel her chin heats a tiny bit from embarrassment wondering how long he had been there. "Whatever let's get this done, I have team training in two hours, and I was hoping for a nap before that" He sounded like he just had woken up, but Sakura decided to ignore that.

"Ah yeah, we just need to check when both of us are free from training, I am free tomorrow at the evening, Wednesday morning, and Thursday after around 16.00 clock" He nods slowly and concludes that they could meet on Wednesday and Thursday before looking at the clock. "I have to go now, but see you around Sakura" She could feel herself smile and nod before walking towards the library, she had already done her routine training in the morning and this was her study day and a relaxing day before it all went to hell. She felt a new smile bloom, the next days would be hell and the old her would probably give up or even cry, but here she was. She finally felt like she wasn't just a shell following others, she was herself.

When she sees the library she skips inside to start her study, first she starts to read up on chakra control and a few jutsu she had access to as a genin. At the end of the day she had read all the books which she was assigned to read and some more. Looking at the clock she realized that she still needed to train some more before the day ended and she was going to start with all the basic jutsu she knew. Thanks to her perfect memory she got every single one of them on her first try. Then she moved on to what she had learned from Aboa-san, carefully calculating all the jutsu so she could get the most out of everything even against people with flashy jutsus. She even starts to learn one she read in a book, I may just have been mention and was kind of not for genin, but she needed at least one thing that she was pretty sure no one else had or at least not the way she would use it.

The technique was pretty simple, the body flicker jutsu, she had read about one ninja who utilized it as his main technique, and she thought that was quite smart. In fact, she was trying to do the same, and since she had trained speed the most and chakra control how hard could it be? Well, it turned out to be quite the challenge, but it was all about control and Sakura knew she had the most control in her team, heck, she probably had the most control out of her whole class if what her new sensei had said was true. It didn't help her mood though, because she just couldn't figure out the key to the jutsu. And after another failure in the river she gave up for the day, she had pondered on the body flicker for quite some time already and she knew which signs to use, but she never seems to get the distance right, nor how to stop it.

Shivering slightly the girl dragged herself home fuming over her failures, she was maybe a bit too used to get one too many jutsus right straight away, but that didn't help her now. Sakura wasn't used to this meeting with a wall she couldn't climb nor destroy as fast as she liked and she wasn't up for asking for help, not yet she told herself. Maybe a hot and nice shower, a good meal and a great night of sleep would help her with this little challenge. This is exactly what little Sakura did when she got home and before she knew it the week was over, and she was standing outside the academy ready to take the written examination.

Thinking back she couldn't believe she survived the week. It had been a literal hell, she had gotten her ass beaten by Sasuke and Naruto one too many times and just a few victories against Naruto and a half victory against Sasuke. She had improved so greatly and had studied so hard that for once in her life she felt good with herself as she walks towards her team. Yes, it was her team and despite all her flaws and theirs, they were a team. Smiling brightly she closed the distance between them "ready to ace this test?" she questioned and looked over them. Naruto gave her a thumbs up and Sasuke gave a short nod. Naruto had changed a bit too, he still had a lot of orange in his outfit, but not as much, now he had black colors blending in. One other thing was that Naruto wasn't as loud, he still had his monstrous stamina and energy, but he was calmer as he knew that his team acknowledged him. Now Naruto knew that it wasn't always smart to yell at everyone and gaining their attention. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked just the same, but he seemed happier and more accepting of having a team. Slowly. But surely the stick that was stuck in his ass was going away around his team. Sakura couldn't help. But to give them a crushing hug before turning serious. "Remember, we lay low, no fighting or yelling, we are a 'weak' team" she looked a tiny bit longer at Naruto who nodded eagerly repeating her words. Satisfied she walked towards the door swallowing and drawing a deep breath, even if she was confident in her abilities, she knew that most genin took this at least one year after they graduated. Shaking her head she opened the door.

Inside was no one and she knew they all supposed to go to the 3rd floor. Walking up the stairs she could hear commotions coming from the next floor frowning slightly she felt the shift in her chakra and knew a small genjutsu was placed on the 2nd floor. Looking at Sasuke she saw that he had noticed too, but as she looked over Naruto she saw that he was oblivious to this. Looking at the blond she leaned over at whispered one-word "Illusion" his eyes widen before he dispelled it and nodded. Looking over at the group of people she saw a team of older genin being pushed and denied access, frowning slightly she saw that the team on the ground was from Konoha. She ignored it and started to walk towards the next stair trying to avoid being seen and luckily for her and her team, it worked perfectly with all the commotion. Looking back she saw that the team that was being pushed looked at her team and she felt chills run up her back before she turned and hurried up the stairs.

Before they could walk in the door Kakashi-sensei arrived in a puff of smoke before them. He was holding his book, but for once in his life, he wasn't reading it. "Ah, great, you all came" he gave them his usual smile. "So, I don't have much to say other than, good luck and try to make it all the way" all the could do was nod before he disappeared again leaving them to giggle at his awkwardness. "Ne, let's get inside!" Naruto was the first to break the silence dragging both insides, a bit too much excited.

What met them inside was a very heavy atmosphere and glares, she started to drag her team away from the spotlight, but the kami was not in a good mood. So instead of just melting into the shadow's unseen came a shrieking Ino. "Sasuke-kun! I was wondering when I got to see you again, I missed you so much!" the blond girl was clinging to Sasuke a bit too much and drawing all eyes on them. Sakura sigh "Ino-pig I would prefer if you didn't cling on Sasuke and be a bit more quite you are drawing unwanted attention" she frowned at the girl before she started to walk, intending of finding somewhere to sit. "Ah, billboard brow, jealous of my beauty? Scared that Sasuke-kun will fall for me?" the blond's voice was all too sweet. Sakura just shook her head "Nah, you can have him.." Sakura saw the small glint of horror in Sasukes eyes "But he is my teammate and you're making him uncomfortable." She was looking straight at her ex-friend with a stern look telling her to back off. "Mph you just want him for yourself" she concluded still clinging to Sasuke. "Troublesome" came a voice from behind Sakura and with a smile, she turned towards the lazy genius "Shikamaru-san!" Sakura smiled brightly at the boy and he yawned in return and nodded to her in return. She looked at him "let me guess, you had to wake up about 15 minutes earlier from what you wanted and you have to deal with her" she pointed at Ino ignoring the surprised look from everyone in the group expect of Shikamaru of course. The boy on the other hand just nodded "Had to help mother with something". Before anyone could say anything more one other team came over, team 8. Kiba was loud as ever trying to rill up Naruto, who was by some miracle keeping is calm. Hinata was shyly looking at Naruto, somewhat creepy, but Sakura remembered that Hinata was just extremely shy. Shion on the other hand just stood there doing nothing but observing the people.

Shaking her head, she looked back at Shikamaru "All this noise is going to get us killed" she could feel all eyes on her group, and it was nothing, but glares. The boy nodded before tensing slightly, just enough for Sakura to catch a glimpse of it. As she was about to ask a boy with silver hair in a short ponytail and glasses came over, he seemed nice and he even smiled. Sakura frowned, and only by looking at Shikamaru she knew that her frown was somewhat right. "Hey, I just wanted to give you a heads up that you should quite down..." he sounded somewhat timid and careful, but at the same time not. If it hadn't been for Shikamaru she would believe him, but there was something about his all to nice demur that seemed false. "Most people here are experienced genin and everything is quite tens, and I am guessing that you all are the fresh out of the academy, the rookie nine?" everyone in the group nodded slowly. "Who are you?" Kiba asked quite loudly pointing at him accusingly. "Oh, I am Kabuto, nice to meet you all!" he said with a smile setting most of the genin at ease, after all he seemed nice and was from leaf. "You sound like you have experience from the exam, is it your second time?" Shikamaru inquired with is usual lazy look trying to play along with the rest. What came next shocked everyone "No, this is my 5th time taking it" the boy said scratching his head before adding on "I always fail the last part, but luckily I have this info cards to help me and my team" He then proceeds to show them a bunch of blank cards looking rather plain and without any type of information. Sakura blinked and wondered if he perhaps just was a bit screwed in the head and that was the reason for her suspicion, but before she could ask about anything he started to explain. "The cards are blank so that the enemy can't use them against me nor leaf, they can only be activated when I pour chakra into them…" He took one card and put it down on the ground pouring some chakra into it. "like this" Suddenly the card was a map with numbers from different villages. "This is how many people we are in the exam from the different countries" he looked at them slowly as if he tried to read them and Sakura smiled trying her best to play dumb "Do you have info on the ninja's too?" she had big eyes and tried to hide a smirk when it looked like he took the bait. "Well, of course, I have some info on every ninja in the room, someone you would like to know about" Her green eyes swept over the room before she looked back to Kabuto scratching her cheek "Ano, do you have cards on my team, I would like to know how much people know about us.." the sentence got lower in voice before she added on "After all we are fresh out of the academy and already have a disadvantage in experience and yeah" He looked a bit shocked at her request before nodding and drawing the cards from his deck with a dramatic flair.

"Here!" "Sasuke Uchiha, team 7 with Kakashi Hatake as the team leader and Naruto Uzumaki with Sakura Haruno as teammates. He has completed 14 D-ranks, 1 C-rank, 1 A-rank mission. He is proficient in ninjutsu and taijutsu as well as some genjutsu. His ninjutsu is his best skill, but his taijutsu is above average as well. Sasuke also has unlocked the sharingan."

"Naruto Uzumaki, same team and the same amount of missions. He has improved in taijutsu and his ninjutsu, but his genjutsu is below average. Known ninjutsu used is the shadow clone jutsu."

Lastly was Sakura and she held her breath because she wondered if he knew anything about her skills really "And lastly, it's you Sakura Haruno, team 7 and the same amount of missions as the two others. A genjutsu type, below average in taijutsu and average ninjutsu. She is known to be a paper ninja" he ended, and Sakura was unsure on how to react. Luckily for the girl, their protector came with a bunch of Chunins Sakura guessed.

The exam was starting, and she could feel that she was a bit nervous, but she swallowed it and concentrated on the test. A written exam was simple for her, but she knew that Naruto was going to have a harder time even with everything they had gone through. Sasuke would be fine with this exam too, he was after all top student. Looking at the man, their protector of the exam named Ibiki. He was a big man with quite an intimidating look, his eyes where sharp piercing through every single one of them. Even his face was scarred and gave off a creepy vibe. Slowly everyone got a number and a place with the same number. The rules where unannounced with some outburst from the rookie nine except team seven. She could see that Naruto was holding himself back from bursting out with something stupid, but he made it.

Sakura looked down at the paper and a big frown were on her face just seconds into reading this. Thinking over the problems she concluded that she was probably one of few that could answer this. Thinking for a few minutes she concluded that it almost felt like they were invited to cheat. Drawing a breath her eyes looked over carefully over the people around her, she spotted Ino not far from her and saw the smirk on the blond's face. Knowing that Ino was nowhere near her bookworm and pretty much perfect memory Sakura concluded that her ex-friend would cheat using herself or someone else. Sighing slightly she started to write down every answer wrong and once she was done she put down her pencil and relaxed in her seat. "Cha, if Ino-pig thinks she can fool us, well she is wrong!" Sakura almost jumped out of her seat as her inner yelled inside her head "And here I thought you were gone..." she thought to herself and the answer she got almost made her laugh. "Nah, you just did such a great job yourself in becoming a bad-ass ninja yourself, but you do know I get kick Ino-pig out of our head? After all, I am awesome!"One might think Sakura was crazy if they heard about this, but to Sakura, this was something normal and she had slowly started to like talking with her inner. It helped with everything she had gone through, she could more or less shove the worst things onto inner and cope that way.

Feeling a familiar presence entering her mind and she smirked for herself relaxing back in her mind seen everything and snickering at the very simple trick. As soon as she felt Ino leave and she had control of her own body again she discreetly wrote all the right answerers a bit to sure of herself when it came to this. Soon it was all over, and the last question came, she looked at Naruto av Sasuke who both nodded and once again they remained silent. Team 7 was determined and ready for it she was sure Naruto could handle himself and if not, she and Sasuke would pull him up. Many teams didn't feel the same she could tell and one by one they left, and she felt herself biting her bottom lip feeling more and more nervous. And long before they were left with maybe half of what they started with, but now no one bugged everyone started at Ibiki. He looked sharply at everyone and two more teams walked away, letting another five minutes past he cleared his throat. "Anyone else wants to leave?" when everyone shook their head the man smiled "Mah, you guys passed then..." and he went on about how it was a risk being a ninja and more about being a chunin.

Bamh! Someone broke through the windows staring at them with a big hungry smile and sinister eyes scolding Ibiki for letting too many passes but reassured that they would be cut to half at least when she was done with them. Calling her self Anko Sakura wondered if every jonin developed some crazy personality quirk. "Oi, listen up kids, we start tomorrow, you get place and time from your squad leader. Don't be late and have some fun while you still can!" and in a puff of smoke, she disappeared dramatically leaving a heavy silence behind. Sakura was the first to stand up and went over to Naruto and dragging both him and Sasuke out before someone could stop them. She wanted to get over with getting the info from Kakashi-sensei so she could find Aoba-san and tell him the good news. It didn't take long to find Kakashi and Sakura was quite happy for that because Naruto kept talking and talking about how awesome they were for passing and how he knew they would ace through the next test. To make it short he didn't stop talking and it was getting on Sakura's nerves, to put it mildly.

"Kakashi-sensei! We passed, can we get the information?" she ran ahead of her team towards the silver head, he nodded "congratulations are in place then, great job, but why in such a hurry?" he questioned the rosette giving them the usual lazy smile. "mmh, nothing, just want to prepare" the lie cam easily from her mouth, and it was mostly true anyway. "It's at training ground 44 and the time is 10 am in the morning" he was about to say something else but the pinked disappeared in a flash running towards the town again. Kakashi scratched his chin before looking at the boys "Want to eat, my treat?" he questioned somewhat awkward.

Sakura, on the other hand, was running to the place she almost felt like her second home, the library. There she saw him waiting with a gin on his face and she felt her grin grow herself "Aoba-san! I passed the first part!" she yelled before stopping right in front of the older man who in return patted her head "Ah, knew you could do it Sakura-chan" he looked at her before hinting that they should go somewhere to sit. She nodded and they left for a café where she told him everything and he nodded "Well I am guessing it's going to be survival next then, I prepared a little gift for you" He dragged out something that looked like a medic set and a book on plants for her to bring with her. "Oh, and here are some easy paralyze poison to use as last resort, one is in gas form…" he showed her a tiny ball "it's enough to make most fall asleep in 5 minutes, alas the small gasmask here…" he pointed at the masks who looked something like what Kakashi would use in the dark blue color "This three vials are a bit more dangerous, got them from a friend of mine, they attack the nerves and render anyone without poison resistance helpless in 40 seconds, I also have the antidote for you. The poison lasts for about 1 hour and you can dip the senbon in. I added a belt so you can use the poison on the run" he finished speaking and scratched his chin looking at Sakura who was just staring at the man. "You… You did this for me?" she couldn't help but to hug the man and respiting "thank you" repeatedly. "I promise you that I will make it all the way, just you wait and see!" She declared once she was back in her seat. The rest of the evening was spent packing, chatting and preparing. Little did she know that she was in for something horrible and even worse that her 'hell training week', Sakura would always look back and curse herself for how little she was prepared, curses herself for neglecting her training until after the wave-mission, all in all, cursing her good belief in the world.