Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Uchiha Naori had not expected to be assigned a genin team. In fact, she hadn’t expected to continue being a shinobi after she’d went blind stopping three rogue members of her supposed clan. Politics made for funny bedfellows however and in an attempt to earn back some of the Hokage’s trust, Uchiha Fugaku had her eyes replaced with those belonging to one of the rogues she had taken down. It was pure political theater, because for all Naori was talented she wasn’t S rank, sharingan or no.
Her continued career would not affect the balance of power in the village, though the display of favor to a loyal shinobi at the expense of rogue Uchiha was a clear signal that the clan had not betrayed the village. Not yet anyways, though considering the continued whispers, distrusting looks and isolation in their ghetto that would likely be changing sooner or later.
‘Worries for another time.’ Naori told herself as she looked over the three girls she’d been given to train. They were all geniuses, prodigies even and Naori refused to overlook the talents of one for the talents of the others. They were something never seen before in Konoha’s history, female prodigies intended for combat roles, because for all Tsunade was vaunted for her prodigious medical talent, her combat abilities were intentionally stifled by Hiruzen’s sexists views. She’d been taken off the battlefield as quickly as possible and relegated to support despite being able to crush mountains with her bare fists. It was a travesty, at least in Naori’s eyes.
“I’ve signed you up for the current chunin exams.” Naori’s declaration interrupted the rather peaceful training session and three pairs of eyes all locked onto her. Her bandages were off now and Naori savored the shock on the trio’s faces as they watched her with naked disbelief.
“But we’ve only been genin for four months.” Izumi’s voice was quiet and Naori could see the girl was shaken. Normally recommending such fresh genin for the exams would be cruel, but the current exams would be held in Konohagakure so they would be relatively safe.
“Yes and you’re all quite ready,” Naori stated calmly, her eyes meeting each girl’s before meeting Izumi’s. The Uchiha-Senju was perhaps the least confident in her abilities of the trio. Anko had been Orochimaru’s apprentice and it was obvious he’d experimented on her. She was too talented, too mature and far too powerful for a girl of only nine years, even considering the fact that she was a natural prodigy.
Then there was Sakura, over the last four months, Naori had seen the Isles in the rosette and something more. Sakura was a natural leader and despite being five years old, she was the emotional heart of her team. When Anko was bitter or upset about how the village treated her, Sakura cheered her up. When Izumi silently simmered over her difficulty with her sharingan, Sakura reminded her she had chosen to make her own path.
On top of that, there was something almost Uchiha about the rosette, in how she interacted with her teammates and how her chakra would occasionally burn despite not being fire natured. If Naori had been loyal to her clan she might have reported it to Fugaku and if she’d been one of the petty villagers who loathed the Uchiha she might have screamed to her Hokage. But she wasn’t so she’d told no one and instead taught Sakura to suppress her chakra during battle, to hide it away from the world so nobody would ever know. Naori was efficient like that.
Izumi was oddly enough not overshadowed by Anko’s unnatural abilities or Sakura’s resemblance to a certain young Hatake. She had a talent for kenjutsu and her chakra control was almost as ridiculous as Sakura’s. She was intensely gifted in using her sharingan. Even if she could only use them in short bursts she clearly had been taught the secret behind Shunshin no Shisui’s speed and was slowly working it into her unique nin-kenjutsu. Additionally, Izumi was a natural at radiating killing intent and had hit upon the idea of using it as a carrier signal for genjutsu, an idea inspired by Anko’s explanation of one of Orochimaru’s favorite tricks.
In short, Team 7 was a bunch of little monsters and once they made chunin they would have a greater amount of freedom to develop themselves and tackle the primary hurdles they were facing. Sakura would have the rank necessary to start working at the hospital, which would free her from the dangers of field work since she truly was too young for combat. Anko could hopefully begin working with other shinobi on the rotating chunin teams to begin earning back the trust her association with a traitor had destroyed and Izumi could start making a name for herself beyond the bounds of the Uchiha clan.
“And you’ll keep training us?” Sakura asked, her large emerald eyes appearing innocent and childish though Naori knew better. Sakura was mature for her age and Naori suspected the girl’s family had a large hand in that. Her trauma had to come from somewhere after all and the Haruno were famously conservative in their interactions with the rest of the village. They had a specific view of the world and maintained a strict adherence to social protocol, demanding even the smallest of slights be repaid in the most draconian and old fashioned manner possible.
“I gave you my word. I doubt you’ll have the time to continue being my students full time as chunin but I am going to work with the three of you to ensure our schedules match up often enough that we can continue training together.” Naori promised because the truth was she wanted to be a part of their lives and careers going forward. Anko was a little gremlin but she had a heart of gold underneath her manic and prickly persona. Izumi was a sweetheart and as a fellow kenjutsu specialist, Naori wanted to see how far the girl’s developing style could go. Sakura, well, the rosette was of the Isles, a welcome bit of home amid a sea of blunt smiles and dull eyes.
“So, when is the exam?” Anko asked and Naori gave her a sharp smile. She had been drilling them hard in preparation, putting missions on hold ever since they had hit the minimum required. Naori knew that Anko and Izumi would have stressed endlessly if the exams were on the distant horizon, so as their sensei she’d done the compassionate thing. It was a kindness, really.
“Tomorrow at the academy, 10am, don’t be late. Here are your registration forms.” Naori’s smirk was all teeth and sadism as she handed the stunned genin their forms. Anko recovered the fastest, perhaps a bit too used to such behavior from her sensei though it clearly didn’t bother her. The purple haired kunoichi flashed her teacher an unhinged grin, eyes arcing into gleeful crescents.
“I’m always on time, sensei.” Anko chirped and then snatched her form from Naori’s hand before it could be retracted, stowing it away in her hip pouch quickly. “No take backs.” Anko tilted her head forward, her smile shifting into a glare.
“I would never.” Naori replied honestly and Anko gave her another grin, though this time it was genuine. “Now I’ll see you at the academy tomorrow, you have the rest of the day off to rest.”
***
Sakura sat in her room the morning of her chunin exams and opened the chest from her future self. Her logic was simple, if she had the chance, she’d put the equipment she knew she’d need in the chest. Why her future self hadn’t left instructions or details besides her vague letter was a mystery, for now at least, but Sakura knew she would understand it eventually. After all she would write said letter herself one day and wasn’t that a mind bender?
Several rows of small scrolls sat in the chest, the same as she’d left them. On the top was one in olive drab and Sakura saw a title scrawled along its back in beautiful calligraphy. ‘Chunin exams,’ was all the scroll said and proved Sakura’s suspicion correctly. Unfurling the scroll, Sakura saw what looked like a copy of the summoning jutsu seal. It was blood activated and would transport something to her rather then store it in a pocket dimension like a conventional storage seal.
‘A clever way to make sure I don’t access something ahead of time.’ Sakura noted and bit her thumb, smearing it on the seal and pulsing her chakra. A pillar of smoke erupted from the seal and a smirking child with strawberry blond hair greeted her when it cleared. He was wearing a traditional, white kimono top with dark gray hakama and a matching dark gray haori. He looked to be about Sakura’s age, perhaps a year or two older and his eyes were a stunning blue with elongated diamond shaped pupils.
“Hey there Sakura-nee-chan, it’s nice to finally meet you.” The boy greed and reached into a pocket hidden in the creases of his pants. Sakura noticed his nails were more like claws and the chakra that flowed through the kitsune’s body was ever shifting and impossible to pin down, useless for reading his emotions. “Here you go and before I go, I’m Ichirin as in full moon.”
“Hello Ichirin I’m Haruno Sakura,” Sakura greeted back and Ichirin narrowed his eyes at her, as if carefully inspecting her. With a nod, as if he’d found what he was looking for, he handed her the scroll he had just pulled from his pocket and grinned at her.
“Well I suppose you could call yourself that, if you want. I think you’re more of an Uchiha or Kitsune but hey, that’s just me. Oh and Sakura? Summon us, we haven’t had a summoner in a very, very long time. We can help you, just think of what skills you need and we will answer your call. You’re family after all so even if you just want some company…” Ichirin shrugged and then flashed Sakura a sharp smile. His teeth were canine, perfectly predatory and his eyes were bright, jewel like and right in a way that nobodies’ was in Konoha, though Naori came close. Even the Uchiha’s onyx wasn’t quite what her instincts craved, though she loved them no less for it.
“I’ll make sure to during my chunin exams then, just not the third stage. You know, where everyone would see.” Sakura explained and Ichirin’s nose crinkled in annoyance. The kitsune genuinely came off as a young boy as he huffed and crossed his arms like an upset child, the very picture of immature petulance.
“Yeah well that’s stupid. I mean, what did they expect to happen, sealing away a massively powerful living being and using at as weapon without consent? Did anyone ask the Kyubi if he wanted to be sealed and carried around by shinobi? No? Who could have ever guessed?” Ichirin’s voice was saccharine sweet and dripping with poisonous sarcasm. Sakura just stood, frozen, eyes wide as she processed her summons words. The boy just smirked at her, gave her a pat on the head while his eyes blazed with mischief. “Now don’t go repeating that anywhere, Sakura-nee-chan.”
With those parting words, Ichirin vanished and Sakura looked at the scroll he had given her, mute for several long seconds before she unfurled it. It was a storage scroll, not a normal one though it was compressed so she couldn’t actually see the seal work, likely in an attempt to prevent paradoxes. ‘Perhaps that’s what all the cloak and dagger stuff is about?’ Sakura wondered and with a pulse of chakra found herself looking at her armor, katana and a scythe appropriately sized for her age. The scythe wasn’t made of chakra conductive material, but she wouldn’t be fighting anyone in steel plate so it wouldn’t matter.
A quick inspection of the equipment showed it was exactly as Sakura remembered it from her last battle, though the leather fittings and silk straps had all clearly been replaced at some point, likely frayed from wear and tear. The Uchiha crests had been painted over, which tugged at Sakura’s heart but she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to wear them openly. The girl felt strange, looking at these pieces of history in her modern time period but quickly pushed it aside.
Putting on her armor was second nature at this point and its weight was comforting, bolstering even. She tied her katana to her belt, made sure the sheath was secure and then anchored her scythe to her back, her chakra conductive armor automatically keeping the circulation going without her needing to focus on it. Sakura then strapped her holsters to her thighs and glanced into the mirror and saw a girl out of time. It felt oddly wrong, to be dressed like this while wearing a Konohagakure hitai-ate and without the Uchiwa proudly on display. Worse, Madara wasn’t at her side and her heart ached for his absence.
‘Your teammates are waiting.’ Sakura told herself and grabbed a cloak to hide her armor then quickly left, speeding across the village towards the academy. Wind pushed her bangs away from her face while her short, feathery pink hair fluttered in the wind, becoming even more wild then normal. Dozens of chakra signatures were already visible at the academy and by the time Sakura reached the front entrance, that had increased to well over a hundred.
“What took you?” Anko asked playfully, clearly the first to arrive as usual. The girl was almost always early and often lorded that over her teammates, though it was all in good fun. Anko was far more genuine in the presence of her teammates then she was around the rest of the village. Her manic energy and crazed smiles more often then not giving way to the thoughtful and intelligent girl that hid underneath.
“Well you know some of us like to be on time.” Izumi teased back and Anko rolled her eyes. The joking hid the unease all three girls were currently feeling. They were young and Anko especially was fighting an uphill battle. She was under heavy suspicion, with many in the village clamoring for her dismissal from the ranks and even arrest. Her apartment had been so thoroughly trashed the Hokage had been forced to intervene and provide her temporary housing. Izumi of course had something to prove and Sakura was just too young for fieldwork and only the rank of chunin would allow her to work in the hospital and research fuinjutsu full time.
“What’s with the cloak?” Anko asked, looking at Sakura who just flashed her a grin and then winked. It felt right, being playful instead of serious, especially after having summoned a kitsune to her bedroom. Anko rolled her eyes fondly and ruffled Sakura’s already messy hair until it was a wild pink mess. “Whatever, we’ll find out soon enough. Now let’s go!”
“Hey!” Sakura whined, swatting away Anko’s hands and doing her best to neaten her wild, feathery pink hair. It was a lost cause really and only her bangs even remotely resembled neat once she was done combing her fingers through the mess. The moment Sakura stopped fidgeting with her hair, all three girls realized they were out of excuses and looked at the academy, nervously bracing themselves before pushing the doors open and stepping inside.
Sakura could feel chakra throughout the building. It was weak but ever present, a mild disorientation genjutsu that would make getting lost rather easy. A pulse of chakra had it out of her system instantly and she felt Anko and Izumi do the same, in fact both older girls were a bit faster on the draw. The trio exchanged glances and then made their way to the third floor where the meeting room was located. It was already starting to fill up when they arrived and Sakura scanned the crowd for familiar faces.
“Hello Sakura-chan, Izumi-chan.” Itachi greeted happily, a small smile on his lips. At his side, his teammates looked surprised, clearly unusued to seeing him in a good mood. One was an Aburame with disturbingly blank chakra and Sakura was once again reminded that the Shimura were a founding clan of Konoha. She remembered Tajima’s words, his warnings on how to spot a doll soldier and it was a struggle not to stare at the boy. “Sakura-chan,” Itachi’s voice pulled her attention to him and there was something sharp in his gaze, a warning and she nodded, acknowledging him with a nervous smile.
“I didn’t think we would be in the same chunin exam when you first started teaching me.” Sakura told the older boy who nodded in agreement. In truth, she never should have been here but she’d been forced to grow fast. She’d fought in an actual battle, briefly, but it had hardened her. Pulling wounded off the scorched streets of Southern Hi during the Kurama Clan’s Folly had further toughened her, preparing her for the life of war she was now facing.
“I knew you would be taking these exams too soon though,” Itachi replied softly and Sakura gave him a wry smile. If anyone could understand the pressure she was facing, it was the people currently at her side. Anko and Itachi had been selected as prodigies, pushed into the violent world of shinobi before they had even hit puberty and Izumi had willing thrown herself into the fray, forced by clan politics and old hatred to seek recognition before the weight of constant disapproval crushed her.
“Bah, Sakura’s more ready then your teammates by the looks Uchiha.” Anko chimed in, just a bit of edge in her tone. The girl didn’t know how to treat Itachi, because he was a clan heir, a pampered prince in the eyes of most orphans but he was also a prodigy and Anko knew what that meant and the pressure it brought. Itachi ignored the barb and instead looked at his two teammates, both of whom were totally withdrawn into themselves though the girl took a half step forward. She was fourteen, a genin though not fresh from the academy and while she was clearly intimidated by Anko she didn’t back down fully.
“Itachi-shishou is ready, I’m not ruining this for him.” The girl’s voice was shot through with nerves but it was obvious she wanted to support her teammate. That she called him shishou rather then kun or san was an open acknowledgment of the gap in skill and despite the age difference, her tone was respectful, lacking even a hint of bitterness.
“You know what? I can respect that kind of honesty. Hope we don’t have to fight before the third stage, uh…” Anko trailed off and the girl glanced to Itachi who gave her a nod. She gathered her courage and confidence seemed to suddenly come alive in her eyes. It was like watching a transformation, though the girl still looked quite mousy, the potential for a competent shinobi suddenly materialized before their eyes.
“I’m Suzukaze Himuka and it’s nice to meet you. I hope we can get along, as fellow kunoichi of Konohagakure and friends of Itachi-shishou.” Himuka offered her hand to Anko who raised an eyebrow but still accepted it. The older girl gave a small smile before turning her attention to Izumi and Sakura, brief recognition appearing in her eyes upon seeing the pink haired five year old. “You’re the civilian prodigy.”
“Yes,” Sakura answered as she sensed a trio of unusual chakra signatures moving up behind her. A glance over her shoulder showed a girl with short black hair cut into a bob and slate gray eyes. She was wearing the standard Iwa uniform, bright red with only one sleeve. She was the same age as Izumi and Itachi and she radiated confident hostility as she stood beside her teammates, smirking at the Konoha genin.
“This is the best Konoha has to offer? Might as well hold the exam in a playground.” The girl drawled and she was clearly the leader of her team as both boys snickered loyally at her words. Sakura turned to face them and met the girl’s eyes, looking directly into them and pushing her will into her chakra just as Tajima had been teaching her. It was the most basic level of ninshu, even more basic then killing intent but the effect of radiating presence was easy to master, even for someone who lacked the desire or will to kill.
“My apologies Iwa-san, I have no control over the examination’s location so I apologize for putting you at unease. I’m sure if you take your preferences for a playground to the proctors they would be more accommodating.” Anko drawled, her smile wicked and eyes gleefully cruel as she turned the girl’s insult around. The iwa kunoichi’s face turned crimson and her chakra spiked in rage as her hands balled into fists.
“I’ll-” A hand on her shoulder cut the girl off as one of her teammates, a large boy wearing a male version of the same uniform she was wearing interrupting her before it could come to blows. The girl met his eyes and gave a nod before returning her eyes to the Konoha teams. A flicker of actual killing intent radiated from her, an impressive display for a ten year old and her eyes were cold and cruel, like steel forged for battle. “You might think yourself safe on your home ground Konoha scum but we’re here to show you just how wrong you are.”
“Alright, alright, enough chest thumping.” A bored voice drawled and all eyes in the room turned to an annoyed looking man with the distinctive spiky black ponytail of the Nara clan. He was sporting a goatee with twin scars on his face and looked utterly put out to be here. Sakura recognized him instantly as Nara Shikaku, head of the Nara clan and decorated veteran of the second and third Shinobi Wars. His presence as proctor was a clear statement to the Iwa and Kumo teams in the exam and one that they clearly understood as the Iwa team backed off immediately and faded away into the crowd as fast as they could.
“Alright please follow me to the…” The man yawned and trailed off, stifling the yawn behind a hand and blinking away tears from his eyes. “Troublesome, please follow me to the exam room.” With that the Nara walked to the window and took off at a sprint. A moment later the entire exam room bolted after him, genin racing to keep up with the Nara clan leader who lead them on a merry chase across Konoha. Sakura could feel ANBU watching them every step of the way, the black ops making no effort to hide themselves, another show of force and silent warning not to try anything within the walls of Konohagakure.
Several groups began to fall behind and Sakura was breathing hard when she saw the Nara duck into a large indoor training facility. Cycling chakra through her body, she ran forward alongside her teammates as they blitzed the doors. Around them, the other examinees piled in, though several teams were left outside when the doors slammed shut. To her right, Sakura glimpsed a team from Kumogakure catching their breath and was genuinely surprised to see them. They were older then fresh academy students though not by much and looked around fourteen or so.
“Think that was the first exam?” A blond girl asked, her electric blue eyes moving around the gymnasium where two flags were set out on either side of the room. Her teammates, a dark skinned kunoichi with silver hair and gray blue eyes and a pale man with blond hair and onyx eyes almost as dark as an Uchiha’s exchanged glances before shrugging.
“I doubt it,” the silver haired kunoichi answered and her eyes darted over to Sakura with obvious curiosity. Kumo had only signed a peace treaty with Konoha two years ago and it was likely this team had graduated during the tail end of the fighting. The semi-recent fiasco around the Hyuga heiress kidnapping was still relatively fresh and the peace was tenuous at best.
The Iwa team had made it, as had Itachi’s, naturally. Team 7 wasn’t winded from the run, aside from Sakura though she was wearing chakra steel armor meant for to heavy combat not cross country sprints. If she was older it would be less of an issue as the armor would weight a smaller percentage of her body weight and her chakra reserves would be orders of magnitude larger but she was five so she’d have to manage.
“Alright, everyone ready for the first exam?” Shikaku drawled and Sakura did her best to catch her breath as she stood beside her teammates. The rest of the genin formed up, trios standing around the room with plenty of space between each other just in case a fight broke out. Chunin proctors lined the room, dozens of eyes watching for any signs of subterfuge, but none of the genin were willing to risk their lives by standing near recent foes.
“Very well, the first exam is simple, a binary question.” Shikaku explained and motioned to the left hand side of the room. “The tenth type of ground discussed in the art of war is Serious Ground,” the man then gestured to the right side of the room and grinned “Or Desperate Ground. Go to the flag you think is the answer.”
Sakura’s instincts screamed wrong and she grabbed Izumi and Anko’s hands before they could move. The older girls looked at her and Sakura quickly tapped out ‘no’ in morse code. Both of them looked around the room and watched as roughly a third of the teams took the left hand side while two thirds took the right. Anko’s eyes were narrowed as she watched, while Izumi’s glanced to the timer on the wall that was slowly counting down.
“Itachi-shishou?” Himuka asked as the boy had stopped his teammates from moving as well. By now only three teams remained in the center, Itachi’s Team Two, Sakura’s Team Seven and the Kumo team who didn’t have a clear leader between the three of them. The Nara looked over the room and then focused on the three teams.
“You’re not going to chose? You can’t pass if you don’t answer.” He drawled and the Kumo team bristled but held their ground. The man shifted his attention to Itachi who returned the look with bland indifference. Finally his gaze fell on Team 7 and Sakura knew this would be the ultimate test of her teammates’ trust in her. Both were older and she had stopped them from choosing a side. The rosette felt like her heart was in her throat as the Nara’s eyes seemed to burn into them and while Izumi shifted nervously and Anko gave a wide, unhinged smile to hide her anxiety neither girl moved.
“Alright then.” Shikaku said right as the buzzer went off and the floor underneath the two flags fell away, hurling those who had picked either side down towards deep pools of water. Shouts and screams filled the air and the three teams that hadn’t budged watched the chaos unfold. “There are only nine types of ground in the art of war.” The Nara explained and looked at the two traps with bored eyes. “And if you’re not smart enough to spot a trap and brave enough to avoid being pressured into a bad decision, you need to be fast enough to avoid it. Anyone who hit the water, you’re done.”
Shikaku didn’t wait to stick around and see the failed teams being tallied. Instead he simply walked away, leaving the rest to the chunin and tokubetsu jounin proctors who began escorting the failures out of the building. The first exam had been brutal in scything down the number of genin left in the exam, their numbers cut down from over fifty total teams to perhaps twenty.
“Well, I thought something was off about that question, good thing Sakura’s a little book worm.” Anko patted the rosette on the shoulder and then leered at the Kumo team, her expression a promise of violence. The kumo nin all had different reactions to her look, the blond kunoichi returned a bored glance, the dark skinned kunoichi frowned slightly and looked over the purple haired girl and the boy just scoffed.
The sound of traditional sandals echoed through the training ground, loud and utterly attention grabbing. A man in traditional clothes practically strutted into view, his long brown hair and pale pearlescent eyes instantly marking him as a Hyuga. His forehead was bare, making him a member of the main house and his eyes swept over the room, chilling everyone they came across.
“Follow me to the second exam,” he ordered and then they were off, scrambling once more to keep up with their proctor. This time the race across Konohagakure took them to one of the most secluded training grounds, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The trees slowly grew thicker until sunlight disappeared from the ground all together and the underbrush all but vanished, leaving moss covered dirt underfoot.
Ahead of them, a high chain link fence covered in sealing tags stretched out of sight, encircling a truly ominous forest that radiated malevolent chakra. Sakura shivered, though her cloak hid her unease. To her side, Anko almost seemed to come to life, as if the danger and violence in the air was welcoming her home while Izumi was just determined to get this over with.
“The second exam is simple,” the proctor’s voice was level and stern. The man was every inch the perfect Hyuga at a glance and even his chakra was muted and controlled. Sakura kept her distaste for the other dojutsu using clan silent. They were slavers at best and the Uchiha had only one punishment for such crimes, death. That the Hyuga somehow managed to be even worse then ordinary slavers by branding and enslaving their own children based off the order of birth and anyone descended from them was just further proving the Uchiha’s stance on slavery to Sakura’s mind.
“You will be given a scroll, heaven or earth. You must reach the tower in the center of the forest with both scrolls within five days from now or you will fail. Waivers will be passed out now that absolve Konoha of any responsibility in your deaths or injury. Fighting is of course allowed.” The Hyuga stated, his eyes startlingly bright in the gloom. It was perfectly intimidating and the lack of pupils only added to his eery glare as the foreign genin quailed under his gaze.
Team 7 got their scroll quickly enough and then headed to their assigned gate. The trio of kunoichi were nervous and Sakura could feel her heart beginning to race in her chest. The wait was terrible and with every second that past, she could feel her nerves fraying further. The malevolence in the air only continued to intensify, as if the forest knew that fresh blood was about to be offered to it. Children, sacrifices to the shinobi world’s vanity, grabbed their weapons tightly or whispered nervously to their friends as the clock ticked down. Then, with the wail of sirens, the second exam began.