Arc One: Seed

So hold your head high
fingers to the sky
Now they don't believe ya
but they gonna need ya 

"Weapons pouch, check... medical scrolls, check... combat gloves, check..." Sakura muttered to herself. Her eyes were distant as she was making her way down the civilian streets towards the main training arena. Her body moved automatically towards the location of the previous Chunin exam battles as she listed off her necessary items for what had to be the fourth time this morning.

Sakura nodded and counted on her fingers her items. It was almost 8:00 in the morning and the Genin had been instructed to be at the arena at 8:30. So naturally Sakura had awoken at 5:00. Restless and anxious, she went through her morning exercises and went over her items repeatedly.
However she had run into a snag, the previous night she received a letter from Naruto. He was improving well, the two were stopped in a small quaint village where he was being taught a lot about mid air combat using his clones to keep him air-bound. He was happy to hear Sakura was training under the other sensei's and he was a little worried about her being too busy. She wanted to write to him not to worry, that she could handle it, and that she was a little nervous about the exam retake and she appreciated him wishing her luck.

But Sakura found herself stuttering over every word, feeling guilty to ask more of him, she hadn't been able to write more than a couple sentences before her parents nonchalantly knocked on her door and asked if she should be leaving yet.
 
Upon leaving, her parents bid her a casual "good luck and have fun!" They were good natured civilians so Sakura felt they didn't really grasp the trial she was about to take. Their ignorance to her shinobi life was not malicious and they genuinely wished her well, but Sakura wasn't about to sit them down and go over the many bruises she would come home with.
 
Unknowingly; Sakura came under a large shadow, she looked up to the intimidatingly large earth wall of the Forest of Deception. She blinked. 'Why did I come here?' she mused to herself. The memories of the days prior began to surface. Yes she had survived, yes she had passed, yes after a long warm shower in the comfort of her home she could look back on the test as a success.
She thought of the giant snake.
She thought of Kiba getting hurt under her care.
She thought of her letting the group split up.
 
Sakura fisted her shirt above her heart and slowly became lost in her thoughts. What if Lee hadn't turned up and helped her escape the snake? She hadn't even noticed Kiba was injured until he was the last one in pain. She took position as the group's medic so any and all injuries were her responsibility. If that snake had killed her then the group would have been without a medic. If that snake had-
"-whatcha doin' kiddo?"
 
Sakura's body tensed and she threw her head up to the figure now atop the earth barrier. The woman chewed a dango stick in her mouth and Sakura eased herself, feeling embarrassed.  "N-Nothing Anko-sensei." The older woman narrowed her eyes, after a second's silence Sakura corrected herself, "sorry, nothing Anko." Said woman nodded.
"Get up here." She stuffed her hands in her trench coat pockets and gestured with her head.
"Wh-Are we allowed?" The pinkette voiced.
"I won't snitch if you don't." Sakura hesitated for a moment before she focused her chakra into her feet and walked up the wall to meet the kunoichi. Sakura looked out over the vast treetops of the Forest of Deception.
 
"Calm down," Anko bumped her fist against the side of Sakura's head. "No need to overthink anything, sit down."
With that, Anko bent her knee and plopped down, a leg dangled off the edge and her arm dangled off her other bent knee. Sakura rubbed her head before seating herself next to the woman, both her feet dangled on the wall and she absentmindedly swayed them on the stone. Anko gazed at the pinkette out the corner of her eye, she shifted the dango stick in her mouth.

"Got some shit on your mind?" Sakura nodded slowly. "Lemme guess. Your first big proper assignment since going solo, you feel like some things you should've handled better, some things you should've reacted faster to, you feel like even though it was a 'success' it doesn't really feel like one to you." With every word Sakura slowly raised her head and met the woman's eyes.
 
"Yeah... yeah that's... you really summed it up." She slumped over and crossed her arms across her stomach. "..how did you…" Her sentence trailed off.
Anko smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sure you're thinkin' I'm gonna say something poetic like 'it's okay, we all go through it, it's normal for a shinobi' nah we had cameras on you guys."
 
Sakura was frozen for a second before she shook it off, honestly what else had she expected from such a seemingly unhinged Sensei. "Yeah we had Kurenai's summons hop around all stealth-like with cameras so we could keep an eye on you all."
"Oh," Sakura hung her head, "you saw everything..."
"Yeah pretty much," She slumped back lazily and dropped her other leg. Sakura felt the kunoichi's eyes on her. "Here, lemme show you something. You had a problem with that big snake right?" Sakura nodded. Anko sat up, bit her thumb, placed it on the wall and poof. Sakura immediately tensed upon seeing a small light brown snake wrapping around the woman's wrist. "You-!?"
"Yeah, I've got a contract with the snake summons." She brought her hand up slowly and the snake flicks its tongue out. Sakura's frozen stare was fixed firmly on the snake, she forced herself to take a breath out and eased her posture. The snake was tiny, it couldn't hurt her.
 
"Don't worry, this is Mimi, she's a peach." Anko shrugged nonchalantly. Sakura flickered her eyes from the snake to Anko and back to the snake. She exhaled shakily.
"Sorry... I've just had some pretty bad experiences with snakes. You're not going to let her bite me or anything."
"No, no, of course not." Anko shook her head and Sakura eased her shoulders, "Mimi isn't a biter, she doesn't have any venom, she's a strangler." Sakura stiffened again. Anko took notice and hissed a breath to herself. "Shit. Look. I'm not trying to scare you or anything. I know your teammate had an encounter with Orochimaru and it left you pretty terrified of snakes. But I also heard that you're an analytical mind so I figured learning about them might help you out."
 
Anko scratched the back of her neck with her free arm, clearly uncomfortable to be in a position that required giving someone comfort. Sakura had never studied under the kunoichi as her year group was taught primarily by Iruka. From what Sakura could gather through her experiences with the woman; Anko Mitarashi was a kunoichi of incredible skill, she seemed a little intimidating due to her intense and headstrong nature, and her student life was little more than a mystery to the Genin. Though they had only really conversed when Sakura was buying her new uniform, Sakura felt a warmth that this woman who hardly knew her and was clearly uncomfortable with emotional vulnerability, was making a genuine attempt to help her.
Sakura took in a slow breath, she let it rest in her chest for a moment before slowly exhaling and easing her muscles along with it.
 
"How can you tell?" Sakura asked, Anko tilted her head so Sakura gestured with a nod to Mimi. "How can you tell if a snake is venomous?" Anko's posture relaxed and she began to smile.
"Well there's a couple ways to tell. First off if a snake is colourful then it's pretty dangerous. But the best way to tell is the head shape -check this out." Sakura hesitantly shifted closer as Mimi was held up. "Snakes either have a triangular head or a more round head; triangular means its got space for its fangs and therefore being venomous, Mimi here has a rounder head." Anko gave the snake a little pat on the head and the snake opened its mouth to reveal no fangs. Sakura let out a fascinated "Oh..."

"Non-venomous snakes constrict around their prey since they don't have any venom. But this ain't the only way to tell. Their pupils are another good tell. Venomous snakes have more slitted pupils, like cats, surrounded by a yellow-y green eyeball, but non-venomous snakes have nice non-intimidating round pupils." Mimi closed her mouth and her little black beady eyes looked up at Sakura.
 
"Wow... That seems like a pretty dangerous way to tell though." She chuckled to herself. Anko snickered. "Yeah that's when you're up close and personal but by that point your reflexes will be enough to save you." Sakura looked down at the little snake. She hesitated before asking, "...may I?" and raising a hand.
"'course. Nice and gentle, she's a tender one." Sakura hesitantly brought a finger to Mimi's head, she carefully stroked the head feeling the smooth scales. "So smooth..." Sakura muttered to herself as she stroked the snake's head again, her two fingers the size of Mimi's head. "And... you said you have a contract to the snake summons..." She slowly looked up to meet the woman's eyes.

"Yeah... I do. Orochimaru is the holder of the scroll and I'll be honest, I'm amazed he hasn't scratched my name off that scroll." Sakura's attention was focused, her expression amazed. "Look kid, Orochimaru taught me like how the Hokage is teaching you. But... But I guess I couldn't meet his expectations, so he ditched me." Anko's vision was distant before steeling into a quiet fury. "He's an evil, deceitful fucker that does everything for his own enjoyment and means. He went through the trouble of seeking your teammate out so he's not gonna just kill him or anything." Sakura stiffened.
 
Anko saw this and fixed her expression into one of confidence meant to comfort her, "what I mean is that you're going to see your teammate again, and if he's as good a person as you think he is, then you'll be able to save him." Sakura settled down and fisted her hand in her lap. She nodded once to herself before meeting Anko's eyes and nodding more confidently. Anko's response was a smirk.
"Besides... you know the Sannin cycle." She winked, "Slug beats snake. You just gotta work hard and you'll get there."
Sakura slowly smiled in response, "thank you, Anko... I really appreciate you helping me like this."
Anko stuck her tongue out and gagged, "gross. Don't tell anybody, I've got a crazy reputation to uphold as an academy teacher and assigned guard to Konoha's internal forests." Sakura giggled to herself as she chose to ignore the pink tinting of Kunoichi's ears. "Wouldn't dream of it."
 
"Anyway, don't you have an exam to get to?" Sakura jolted in place. Crap! How long had she spent here!? "I have to go! Thank you, Anko, wish me luck!" Sakura jumped to her feet, bowed, and leapt away. She heard a distant "knock 'em dead kid!" behind her as she sped through the streets as fast as she could towards the combat training arena.

Sakura gasped for breath as she pushed the door to the main waiting area open and stumbled in. "There you are!" Ino scolded as Sakura regained her breath, after speeding down streets, over rooftops and down halls, Sakura was just happy to make it with a minute to spare. The room held all Genin teams and a duo of Anbu at the main door Sakura entered through.
"Hah.... I made it... at least-"
"-Pah!" Tenten sped into the room not three seconds after her, skidding to a stop at the table that sat her teammates. "I'm not late am I?" Neji shook his head and Tenten heaved a sigh of relief. Sakura and Ino looked to each-other and giggled.
 
Sakura straightened her back and righted herself just as a man in his shinobi uniform knocked on the door frame.
"It's time. Follow." The students jumped to their feet, they followed the shinobi out the room and down a hallway. Sakura ended up walking side by side with Hinata and Ino, the Hyuuga fiddling with her fingers and the Yamanaka combing her fringe with her fingers out of her eyes.
 
Sakura gulped as the steps of the group echoed down the stone hallway, dim lights and torches along the walls doing little to light their path, she steeled her shoulders and set her spine straight as they came to see a light at the end.
 
They emerged to the open arena from the previous exam, earth beneath their feet, trees circling the grounds, on one side stood three stone platforms getting smaller in size atop, and circling the arena were the audience seats. However the number of onlookers was much less than the previous exam, Tsunade stood in the Hokage's viewing booth with Shizune and a couple Anbu standing guard. Dispersed in small groups separated by empty seats sat people; some obvious clan heads but most seemed to be of an older age and all dressed in obviously expensive attire, Sakura had never seen so much jewellery before. Once the students had begun walking to the centre the masses of scrutinizing gazes and murmured chatter were all focused on them.
They must be from the Peak.
 
For any village to become a village, they needed a peak; an assortment of wealthy high-born people. These families grew their fortune and influence through trades, lands, industries they invested in, it's near impossible to become one nowadays. You were either born to a Peak Family or to a common family like the rest of the world. Elite shinobi and village elders were the closest any common person could ever get to these people. Sakura and other lower children had never even seen Peak children.

When a village had been successfully founded by Peak families contracting with powerful shinobi clans, they invested money into the founding of said village, they would be established first usually on a slab of earth raised by the shinobi and the clans would circle that Peak like a protective force.
The five main Villages Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure homed their own Peaks, colony villages were owned by the main villages and typically held a small amount of shinobi and maybe a few wealthy families, while poor branch villages homed little to no shinobi.
 
During the last exam Sakura had briefly caught a glimpse of some Peak family representatives but her attention had been focused entirely on the fights and then on the invasion. Being on the receiving end of these people's attention, to Sakura it made her feel like they lived a whole different life to her.
 
"Esteemed Ladies, Gentlemen and Honourable families of the Village hidden in the Leaves, thank you for being here today for our Chunin Selection Exam Retake." Tsunade's voice was commanding and clear as she addressed the crowd. "It is my pride as your fifth Hokage to present the students who have earned my respect and approval to receive the rank of Chunin. They will now prove themselves to you all, in matches I have designed to push them to their limits and perform at their best."
 
Tsunade stood to the edge of her booth, hands on the railing and continued. "For your protection we have Anbu assigned to you." As she said that, two Anbu appeared to each group. "Now I will present each participant before the tournament matches begin."
The shinobi with a senbon in his mouth at the head of the group instructed, "line up in team descending order," they quickly fell into line.

 
"Presenting; Team 9 being trained under Jonin rank, Maito Gai. Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten." Said team stepped forward and Gai landed soundlessly behind them. The team bowed deeply to the crowd before stepping back into line.
"Team 10 being trained under Jonin rank, Asuma Sarutobi. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Amachiki." Asuma appeared and bowed along with his students.
"Team 8 being trained under Jonin rank, Yuhi Kurenai. Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame." Kurenai appeared and the process repeated. Sakura took a deep breath.
"Lastly Team 7's student trained under Jonin rank, Kakashi Hatake and representing me, Tsunade Senju, as my disciple; Sakura Haruno." Sakura pushed herself forward, she felt a breath of wind behind her meaning Kakashi was there, she bowed deeply. Sakura felt the stares before fixing her posture and stepping back.
 
There was a pause before Tsunade continued, "Once again, I thank you all for joining us today and I hope your judgement will be fair. Genma, the set-up if you please." With that Tsunade received a polite applause and she took her seat.
"Right," Genma took a few steps forward and unfurled a scroll. "The matches are as follows."
The scroll was a simple list.
Match 1: Yuhi Kurenai vs. Team 9
Match 2: Asuma Sarutobi vs. Team 8
Match 3: Maito Gai vs. Team 10
 
"Each team will work with their medic and each Jonin will be assigned a handicap to balance the scale. The mission is a retrieval. The scenario is thus; your team is on a mission in enemy territory to retrieve a scroll, the sensei is acting as the enemy shinobi, you will have a 15 minute time limit to act as how long it will take for enemy reinforcements to arrive thus an automatic loss. The circular line inside the arena signifies the enemy territory, you may leave it to reconvene but if the enemy leaves that signifies your backup arriving and will be your automatic win. In order to win you must either disqualify your opponent or preferably retrieve the scroll."
Genma sealed the scroll. "Seeing as there's only one medic, you will have to participate in every match." Sakura hesitantly nodded. "Kakashi and I will be to the side to act as your hypothetical back-up. There will be a 10 minute break between matches to fix the arena of previous damages and for the village heads to go over the matches."
The students stood in silence. "Good luck, students. Head up the stairs to the main viewing area up to your left, in five minute the first match will be announced. "Yes, Sensei!" They bowed and made their way to the viewing box.
 

"Oh my god, Sakura, that totally sucks!" Ino sighed, "you have to be in all the matches? That's gonna be rough."
"Yeah, but I guess since you're representing the Hokage they'll want to see you a lot." Tenten patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"Yeah..." Sakura sighed, feeling her soul practically leave her body over the news.
"I'm still thinking about the match ups. I was prepping for us going up against our own Sensei's!" Kiba groaned.
"I am excited!" Lee beamed, "I have never sparred against Kurenai-sensei and I am most looking forward to it! Not to mention we get to go first!"
"I wonder what the handicaps are gonna be," Choji said, "we're really gonna need one if we're going up against Gai-sensei…" He pulled out a red chunky bag of biscuits and began munching, Shikamaru sighed and practically melted against the metal fence outlooking the arena. "Not to mention they're not telling us the handicap until the match starts, so we'll only be able to plan against them within the time limit. What a drag..."
 
Sakura stepped up to the railing beside him. She was feeling her mind running a mile a minute over the information and after their constant Shogi matches she picked up enough about Shikamaru to know he was doing the same. The boy's posture may be relaxed but his mind was anything but. The match began long before the first move was made; something Sakura had picked up very early on in their games.
Other Genin came to the railings, their eyes in the crowd, Sakura picked up quickly that they were looking for their families as all but Lee, Tenten and her were a part of a clan.
However Sakura and Shikamaru watched the field and analysed what they could in united silence.

 
A podium raised by rows of stone steps, Genma placed a red scroll no bigger than a regular palm sized scroll on a little stand in the middle of the podium which stood at the back of the field without much space away from the boundary line. Earth flooring with the odd rubble, dust and sand; not much to word with, and a couple trees spread around, a small cluster at each side but it was evident the audience wanted to watch the fights unobscured.
"What're you thinking?" Tenten came to Sakura's side.
"I can barely contain my excitement!" Lee voiced with an energetic fire in his eyes.
"I know that, Lee. But we're up first so we'll need a game plan."
"I agree," Neji spoke with a determined set to his jaw as he looked over the field, "we'll need to move as fast as possible. Kurenai-sensei is a Genjutsu master so if we can avoid a prolonged fight with overwhelming speed to the scroll, we could side-step her placing us in any illusions."
Sakura brought a hand to her bottom lip, "that'll be tough. She's pretty fast and the way she can transition you into a Genjutsu is practically seamless. We'd need someone to disrupt her from casting one on all of us."
Tenten nodded. "True, to win we need to 'retrieve' the scroll. Never said we all had to get it. So at least one of us will need to go head to head with her to let the others get the scroll."
Lee jumped in place, "Oh! Oh! I will do it!"
 
"Team 9 and Medic. Make your way onto the field." Genma had appeared soundlessly atop the railing and immediately pulled all attention to himself.
"Yes sir." The four chorused and began their descent down the stairs and out onto the field.
 
 
Kurenai smiled as the team came into view, Neji leading them. "For my handicap," Kurenai began and pulled out a black sash from a side pouch, she tied it over her eyes, "I will be completely blind." Sakura and the team gulped collectively, blindfolding her meant that they couldn't see who she would be focused on and thereby who she would be locking in a Genjutsu. Naturally it was easier to lock a specific person into a Genjutsu through eye contact, but if she was trying to trap a group of people then instead of an eye-lock to send her chakra to then she'd probably just spread it through the arena to affect the area they'd be running in. Of course there could be other methods she could be using to select a specific Genin to trap in a specific jutsu, but for the crowd to also see just what trials she had under her sleeve for the group then she would be spreading the jutsu so far as to affect the people in the stands as well. Sakura shuddered just thinking of the feats a Genjutsu master such as Kurenai was capable of.
This all certainly made their plan a little trickier but they only had 15 minutes to work with thus limiting how much time they could spend reassessing their strategy.
 
 
Kurenai's red lips curled into a smile. "Your time starts now." With not another word, the challenge began.
The team immediately sprang into action, Tenten and Sakura to one side, Neji next to them and Lee sprang out to attack Kurenai head-on.
However the second their first step touched the ground, Sakura was met with the familiar sensation of her stomach dropping as her foot met nothing and she was suddenly in a freefall. 'She must've casted a Genjutsu before the time began!' Sakura gritted her teeth as she and the rest of the team fell down individual pits that had gaped open in the earth below them and separating them.
'I don't know how many layers this Genjutsu has so I need to get to the others before releasing it.'
She took in a deep breath amid her fall and screamed out, "Guys! Don't release the jutsu!"
 
Just as she yelled, she made an impact. The surface wasn't hard, it felt oddly smooth, Sakura's eyes snapped open and her body came to attention as she felt herself melt into the floor. It wound around her body and slithered around her limbs to lock them in place. "Snakes?!" Her eyes adjusted to the dark around her to find she was locked in a pit entirely full of snakes. Her heart leapt in her throat in reaction to the slithering creatures holding her down until only her head and fists were untouched atop the cluster.

'Calm down! …come on Sakura, you have to calm down! It's just a Genjutsu…' She tried to soothe herself and think of a way out. Kurenai would have been amongst the teachers who watched them in the Forest of Deception and saw her reaction to the enormous snake that Lee saved her from. Then the others must also be in their own personal hell-pit.
 
A smaller snake slithered to her face before ducking and sliding under her left ear and around to curl at her fist. She noticed the snake's eyes weren't slitted. Sakura focused and remembered Anko had told her that dangerous venomous snakes had slitted pupils so these snakes wouldn't bite her, that was a bluff. Sure it didn't mean she'd be constricted to death because if a person was put in a Genjutsu and they were to 'die' in it, all that would happen is they would wake up believing themselves to be in incredible pain. The only ways to release a Genjutsu and be ready for a fight immediately was to make the Release hand seal and channel their chakra to dispel it.
 
Sakura struggled but found she couldn't move very far. Her chakra enhanced strength should be enough to get her out but it would be only for an instant and she needs to get the others out. "-Help!" Sakura's eyes widened. That was Tenten's voice! "I'm coming Tenten!" Thanks to that yell, Sakura was able to tell the direction she needed to go.
"Ok. Here we go." She took a deep breath and with a count to three, Sakura channeled her chakra into her feet and with the slightest push she created enough motion to free her arms. Immediately using her chakra in her hands she slammed her fingers into the stone above to create a grip and yanked her body out. Using that swing, she swung her feet to the wall and smashed the stone to create an opening to the pit next to her.
 
Sakura didn't spare the second to celebrate escaping the snake pit, "Tenten!" she yelled upon seeing below the opening she'd made Sakura saw the top of said girl's head as she was struggling to fight against the sand she was sinking into. "Tenten!" Sakura wasted no time. She immediately charged her foot, slammed it onto the sand surface and using as much strength as she could, she kicked the sand up. This temporarily evacuated the sand from Tenten down to her hips, Sakura threw a kunai with steel string attached and Tenten latched onto it for dear life. "Nrgh-!!" Sakura heaved until Tenten was close enough to the wall. "I got it!" She said as she pulled out a kunai of her own and jammed it into the wall. She used both kunai in each hand to haul herself up and climb up to the hole Sakura was in.

"Hah! ...hah... Oh my god. Thank you so much... I was too far away from the walls to get any grip..."
"Yeah... And we don't know how many layers of Genjutsu Kurenai-sensei's locked us into, and in my training experience with her, if you release the jutsu you might just end up back where you started." Sakura said.
"Well I don't want to wind up back in there, so we better get the boys. If we all get out of here then we just need to find Kurenai-sensei and disrupt her concentration so it'll be safe to break the jutsu." Sakura nodded.
 
 
"Okay, hold on." Tenten nodded and got behind her. Sakura charged up her fist and launched herself straight into the stone opposite them in Neji's direction. Tenten followed her into the opening and they looked down to where the boy was. "Neji-san!"
Said boy was further down than their pits had been, he was in his battle stance though he couldn't seem to find the walls of the pit, and disturbingly surrounding him and circling him in the dark were wide enormous eyes with their unblinking stare fixed on the Hyuuga. The boy was turning in place as though he was hearing things that the other two weren't. "Neji! Up here!" Tenten's voice seemed to grab his attention as he snapped up to see them. "Hurry! Get me out of here!" He yelled.
 
Tenten threw a kunai into the stone high opposite them with a thread between the loop, she tied two kunai to each end and sent one to stab the ground in front of the boy. She gripped the other and upon seeing him understand her plan and grip the kunai, she jumped. The momentum carried him high up enough that the cave wall came into reach and the both in unison used the thread to climb up the side of the wall. "Ok! You two get to the top and engage Kurenai-sensei, I'll get Lee-san! Once you've disrupted her concentration then yell it and we'll all release the jutsu." They agreed and once the two were a safe distance, Sakura launched herself into the wall and made an opening in Lee's pit.
"Lee-san!"
"Sakura-san!" The boy was at the bottom of his pit on his knees with a suspicious lack of danger around him. "Lee-san! What's wrong!?" She voiced, hesitant to jump down immediately lest there be a danger she couldn't see. "It's my weights! They feel much heavier than they should be, I can not even lift a foot!" At that, Sakura jumped down to meet him and try to help him up.
 
"Ok, Lee-san, listen to me. We're stuck in a Genjutsu, the others are up there already, they just need to find and disrupt Kurenai-sensei's concertation and then it'll be safe to release the jutsu without the risk of it resetting us back in our pits." He nodded along, the furrow in his brows creasing deeper.
 
 
Meanwhile on atop the pits stood Neji and Tenten standing at high alert. "Byakugan!" Neji activated his kekkei genkai and scanned the field. Genjutsu castors had to appear in their jutsu somewhere as a kind of source for the jutsu's power so he scanned around. "There!" Neji threw himself to the cluster of trees nearby and palm struck directly to a tree causing it to sever from its base and begin flying. Tenten's eyes widened as Kurenai seemed to melt out of the tree gritting her teeth, "so quick-" she mumbled and Tenten yelled at the pit behind her. "Now!"
"Sakura-san! Grab onto me and release us!" She threw an arm around his neck and made the seal with her free hand "Release!" Just as the boy launched them into the air and out the hole. He did so in the hopes that the momentum would prevent them from falling down the holes again should the Genjutsu reset them, but seeing how Kurenai's concentration had been interrupted it meant that the group had regained consciousness in exactly the same spot at the start of the test.
"Quick! Don't let her form any hand seals!" Sakura yelled. Immediately Tenten threw a couple stun bombs at the teacher that exploded, forcing her to block with her arms. This bought the boys enough time to get in her range and begin their assault.
 
Lee led with energetic kicks followed by Neji weaving in and out with his palm strikes. Their movement was relentless, giving Kurenai no openings to form the hand signs she needed to drop them in another jutsu. Tenten and Sakura both ran around opposite sides of the fight in the centre, Tenten throwing in the occasional paper bomb when her team presented an opening and Sakura sprang for the podium.
Kurenai must've heard her rapid footsteps because the second Sakura's foot touched the first step, Kurenai had broken away from the boys and was launching herself at the pinkette. The woman came flying at frightening speed. Sakura pushed herself faster and with a desperate reach, she grabbed the scroll.
"I got it!"
Sakura heaved as she nearly ended up throwing herself across the podium. "I got the scroll!" Her cheeks hurt from her smile but she turned to see her current teammates just as happy, Neji of course much more subdued but all of them clearly happy.
 
Claps began to sound behind them and the audience cheered along. "Congratulations," Sakura spun to see Kurenai cross her arms across her chest and slowly shake her head, "you all sprung from my Pitfall Genjutsu much faster than I thought you would."
Sakura beamed in response. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei," she gave a brief bow before leaping down and meeting Tenten in a hug. "Yes! Yes! We did it!" the girl cheered. Sakura laughed as she threw her arms around her teammates' shoulders to share their happiness. Sakura looked at the scroll in her hand, it was just a plain red scroll.
 

Sakura blinked.
Where writing would be, was a series of indistinguishable squiggly lines.
Sakura threw her mind back to her classes.
Genjutsu were all about trapping a person in a moment of feeling, whether that be pain, anguish, dread. They were hard to master because they functioned like a lucid dream, the caster forcing the opponent into a dream of their creation to make them susceptible to the feeling they want to induce. But like lucid dreaming, there was a way to tell if a person was in a Genjutsu. When a person is dreaming they can't read or write anything. The same rule applies to a Genjutsu, as your mind is locked into an experience or feeling of another person's creation, thus it can't read anything.
 
Sakura felt her body jerk as though she was just pulled out of water. Her shoulders stiffened. The scroll was gone! Her teammates lay collapsed on the floor next to her. They were all at the beginning line. Kurenai was smiling in front of her.
"10 minutes have passed."
And Sakura fell back in the Genjutsu. Only now did she realise that they had never left. Kurenai had layered her jutsus; the first one an obvious illusion with pits that weren't there and a second one so subtle that it felt like the real world. Not only that but a Genjutsu master like Kurenai could manipulate the perception of time in her illusions so what felt like 5 minutes was actually 10 whole minutes that they had lost.
 
Sakura furrowed her brow angrily in her freefall. No. They only had 5 minutes left and they couldn't afford to waste them struggling in these pits again! Sakura immediately rolled in the air and in a split second of focusing her chakra into her feet then her fist, she kicked herself off the wall and slammed with incredible speed through the other three pits managing to grab the others amidst their fall.
"Shit! It was too easy!" Tenten said atop Sakura's shoulder as the girl used her adrenaline to launch them out of Lee's pit and onto the field.
"She mustn't have had much time to cast too many layers but the longer we take the more time she has to layer them! Quick! Everyone Release!" The group formed the hand seal and released it. Sakura Immediately pulled out a kunai and carved the number 7 onto her hand.
 
"We're out!" She yelled.
"She's over there!" Neji hurried with his byakugan activated to a tree and began his relentless assault.
"Lee-san! Tenten! Quickly carve something to read onto your hand to check if you're put back under!" Sakura had automatically carved her team number and it seemed the others had the same idea as they carved 9 on their hands. "Neji-san! Do the same!" The boy scoffed amidst his precise strikes. Sakura scowled, remembering that the boy would rather die than appear injured, especially when the leader of his clan was watching in the stands.
Lee and Tenten joined the fray with strikes and paper bombs. Tenten seemed annoyed by the boy's response. "Neji, write on your hand!"
"You know I wont." He grunted back. Seemingly to put the importance of the mission above her teammate, Tenten leapt to the boy, yanked him behind the tree by them and when catching him off guard, she grabbed his hand and quickly carved a 9 on it. "I'm sorry Neji but we need you." She said as she spun around and threw another paper bomb at the teacher. Neji's expression conveyed all the anger and disgust he was feeling upon being marked but he didn't have a second to complain before helping Lee tag team Kurenai.
 
Sakura took this second to think. Kurenai was blindfolded so she had to be focusing on them somehow. Eye contact had to be made in order to focus on a victim to send them into a jutsu. But Kurenai is a master so she had to be focusing on them in a different way. Thinking about it Sakura resolved that it could only be sound. That had to be how she was finding and trapping them. It was when Tenten was throwing her paper bombs that seemed to make Kurenai hesitate from forming her hand seals the most.
'That's it! If I can cause enough disruption that she can't hear our footsteps then she won't be able to trap us!' Sakura grinned to herself and was amidst readying a fist to send into the earth below when Kurenai had managed her seals and Sakura was back in a freefall.
 
"Everyone! Immediately release the jutsu! I'm going to destroy the ground and we'll use the rubble to keep her from hearing us!"
They all followed suit and released. Sakura checked her hand and saw the red 7. Just as she was about to punch the ground, a hard kick knocked the air from her stomach as Kurenai had appeared at her front and sent her reeling across the ground. Lee was quick to land in front of her and retaliate with a kick of his own, but before it could land, Kurenai had sent them falling again.
 
"Release!"
Sakura was falling again. Those seconds must've given Kurenai enough time to layer more Genjutsu!
"Release!"
Another pit this time full of blades.
"Release!"
Sakura falling into the jaws of an enormous snake.
"Release!"
Sakura staring down another kick from Kurenai, but a split second to her hand showed a fuzzy line instead of a number.
"Release!"
 
Sakura's eyes gaped wide. No.
Across from her. Far out of her reach. Sasuke and Naruto... They were flying at each other. Charged attacks in both hands. The flashes of the chidori and whirling of the rasengan.
No...
Sakura's body as taught as a bow string leapt up to her feet as her teammates collided.
No!
Sakura's breath caught in her throat. Both boys were struck. Their chest gaping open, hollow and coated in blood. Their eyes were empty shells of the boys she used to know.
NO!!!

 
Sakura felt a dark void surrounding her. A leg made of a mass void of colour and energy slammed into the ground of the Genjutsu and shattered the illusion into glass-like fragments.
Sakura had broken free, smashing the jutsu to pieces and freeing her teammates. At that point of impact she had charged her foot and slammed it into the ground below, chunks of earth flew up the field and Kurenai stumbled in place.

Lee and Neji caught on fast and leapt up amongst the flying rubble, springing from chunk to chunk managing to attack a momentarily stunned Kurenai who now couldn't hear where they were coming from. Sakura spun in place and grabbed Tenten's extended hand. The other girl too must have realised that seeing the little progress they had actually been making on the field and that given the time they wouldn’t be able to run across.
Sakura swung as hard as she could, sending the girl up into the air. Tenten sent out her kunai on a steel string and with a flick of her wrist at the height of her ascent, she looped the cable and grabbed the scroll!
 
Neji, seeing Tenten snatching the scroll and beginning her descent, had leapt to her fall and caught her before she made impact. Sakura snapped her attention up and cheered, they must have had only seconds to spare. "We have done it!" Lee cheered with a fist in the air. Sakura collapsed onto her knees on the uneven ground below her and heaved in her breaths to calm her erratic heartbeat. Cheers and claps of the crowd surrounding them were muffled to Sakura's ears.

Tenten had jumped out of Neji's hold and cheered with Lee. Sakura was wiping the moisture from her eyes when she felt a hand settle on her shoulder. She looked up to Kurenai. The woman had taken off her blindfold and was giving Sakura a kind smile. "Good job there. I'm sorry I had to show you that, I wasn't sure what else could slow you down."
Sakura shook her head, "I understand, it just means you were taking us seriously." She brought a fist above her heart and clenched the shirt fabric at the thought of seeing her boys like in the jutsu, "I'm doing this so I'll never see them like that." Kurenai nodded, "then those two act as a good trigger for whatever that defense of yours is." They rose to their feet.
 
Sakura met team 9 with a smile. Tsunade's voice drew their immediate attention. "Congratulations on completing your mission Team 9. You may retire to the viewing area while the arena is fixed for the next test. Your result will be given once all tests are finished."
"Yes Hokage-sama!" They bowed and made their way off the field. Sakura perked up upon seeing Neji looking at his hand. "Oh! Neji-san wait up." Said boy turned to meet Sakura offering a hand, "your hand, I'll heal it for you." He hmph-ed and turned away, "being injured is one thing, I refuse treatment." Sakura sighed to herself and Tenten ran past her.
"Neji, wait." He met her eyes. "I'm sorry about marking you. I know what it means in your clan to get hurt." Neji looked at her for a moment before sighing slightly, "it's... fine. I understand why you did it." That seemed to cheer Tenten up slightly, she then took notice that after catching her, his shirt had gotten dirty. "One second," Neji stiffened as she brushed his shirt free of dust. "What-! What are you doing?" She huffed under her breath "I know how important appearances are to your family, can't head up there where they can see you all dirty now can we?" She finished with a grin and he breathed out in acceptance. "Very well." He turned and continued following Lee out. Sakura and Tenten shared a smile as they followed.
 
 
"You guys did great!" Kiba grinned as the group entered the viewing platform. Sakura smiled at the other encouraging genin around her, Lee met them all with a beaming smile. "Thank you! Kurenai-sensei was a formidable opponent, I struggled to even land a single attack." Lee admitted.
"Jonin, they truly are on a different level." Shino voiced from his position at the railing near Shikamaru. Sakura came up to his side and peered over the rail. There was a large crater in the ground where Sakura had stomped and launched the debris, trees were knocked over where Lee, Neji and Kurenai had fought, and Anbu were quickly clearing the grounds. Earth style shook the ground back to a flat plane and trees were taken away. Kurenai had leapt to bow to Tsunade in her viewing area, she rose and they exchanged a few words before she was dismissed and moved to stand beside Asuma and Gai.

"How was it?" Ino leant on the railing at Sakura's other side.
"Pretty scary," Sakura chuckled slowly, "those Genjutsu were so layered that I was starting to lose faith that we'd even reach the end. Not to mention the time! It felt like seconds when minutes had passed."
"Well at least you all made it through." Ino turned to rest her back and forearms on the rail. "I have no idea how we're going to fight Gai-sensei, the man's athletic monster." Sakura giggled and nudged her with her shoulder.
"We'll figure it out."

The break was over before they knew it. Sakura had minutes to feel herself recover from that fight before Genma stood atop the railing and said, "Team 8 and Medic. Make your way onto the field." Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino nodded, "yes, sir."
Sakura turned to her new team and began to follow them back down to the grounds. She gave herself a moment to calm her breathing, that last match against Kurenai had left her mind feeling like a pillowcase full of cotton and beaten into a numb shape. That short break helped her gather her bearings, heal her aches, and catch her breath. Though that was a very intense battle, it was mostly mental exhaustion. She had offered to heal her team's wounds but was turned down, one due to his pride and clan morals and the other two refused to let her keep as much chakra to herself that she'd need.
 
Sakura looked to her side as they moved one foot after another, she saw Hinata staring wide eyed at her feet and picking at her fingertips with such mindless apprehension that the medic was worried the girl would start bleeding. Carefully, like approaching a startled deer, Sakura rested a hand on Hinata's. Said girl's posture jolted stiff and her eyes focused immediately on her friend.
Sakura gave a gentle smile trying to convey an air of comfort, Hinata took a second, her footsteps nearly stuttering before she tried to show an equal smile.  "All we can do is our best." Sakura eased her hand away, but instead of retracting it she turned her palm up and offered the girl her support. Hinata looked from her eyes to her hand and at the threat of her nerves picking the nails from her fingers, she took the open invitation and held Sakura's hand.
"...Thank you..." Hinata's head ducked down momentarily, her ears a shade pink but the smile pulling the corners of her lips was nothing but grateful.
 
Kiba who walked a couple steps ahead was looking back at the two, his eyes seemed to soften upon seeing Hinata's demeaner set at ease and instead of going to her himself, he saw the comfort Sakura gave and deemed his input as unnecessary. He was usually the one to notice when Hinata or Shino retreated into themselves as they were prone to do, albeit for different reasons, and the extrovert he was made it his duty to help pull them out. But after the handful of training sessions his team had partnered up with the pinkette for, he'd come to appreciate her influence in his team kunoichi's life. Kiba wasn't stupid, sure he was impulsive and prone to doing some stupid things, but he knew Hinata becoming close friends with another girl provided her with a form of support he'd never be able to provide.
He crossed his arms behind his head and looked forwards to the opening they were approaching, Akamaru nuzzling his chin as they moved.
Shino followed a pace behind the group, his own thoughts buzzing in his head.
 
They stepped out to the opening, walking past Kakashi and Genma to the sides of the entrance, to see the arena reset, complete with the goal scroll displayed again on its perch and Asuma in the centre of the field with a cigarette between his lips. His posture didn't change as the group lined up only three steps inside the arena line. With a final puff of smoke he pulled the cigarette from his lips and dropped it to the ground. "For my handicap," he ruffled in his side pouch before pulling out what looked like two small plugs and pushed them in his ears, "I will be completely deaf."

Sakura thought this over, naturally this meant the team could strategize all they wanted out loud, but this also meant it would be hard to overstimulate his senses like her previous match with Kurenai. No, this was going to be difficult for a different reason. Where Kurenai had the unpredictability in her Genjutsu, Asuma lacking his hearing meant he was laser focused on the group, it felt intimidating for a different reason now they were kept in this sensei's centre of focus.
It would be hard to surprise him when the four were under constant analysis.
 

"Your time starts now."
Sakura barely had the second to brace herself as she felt the air leave her lungs and an incredible impact just beneath her shoulder-blades launched her through the air and directly at the awaiting sensei. "S-Sakura!" Hinata cried. Mid flight, Sakura forced her eyes open to see Asuma in a crouched stance and his iconic trench knives poised ready. He sent a fist out. He was going to stab her!
Suddenly another force was at her feet and shoulders, forcing her down. The second her feet touched the floor she sent out a burst of chakra and leapt over the man, his attack slicing the air where her abdomen would have been. Spinning in the air, Sakura landed behind him and had a brief second to assess what she was seeing before he would spin around and continue his attack.
 
Sakura saw team 8, what appeared to be a clone of Asuma engaging in a fight against two Kiba's, he and Akamaru must have done their transformation like how they did against Naruto in the first exam, Hinata leaping back and Shino with his arms outstretched in Sakura's direction. The force that helped Sakura get her footing must have been bugs he'd sent out.
Sakura saw the smallest hint of smoke on the ground coming from the cigarette Asuma had dropped. He must have turned that earlier puff into the clone he'd then sent to attack her.
That was all the information she was able to take in before Asuma spun and began a flurry of blows so fast and precise that it took all of Sakura's concentration just to block him.
Sakura had been warned of this when she'd first began training under Tsunade.
 
"Any smart opponent will kill the medic first."
Tsunade pointed directly at Sakura, her eyes stern and gravely serious. Sakura gulped. "The reason is simple; once the medic is dead, the rest of the team will have no way to heal. They will be nothing but a well placed kunai away from death." Sakura nodded as well as she could as sweat dripped from her brow and her gaze slowly fell to the floor. She was tense as she evenly held a tree above her head, her muscles straining, her chakra a steady thrum through her veins.
"Focus!" Sakura's eyes snapped from Tsunade's feet to her eyes.
"This may sound cruel but it is a legitimate strategy employed by any shinobi. Remember as a medic that you must be untouchable. You must stay alive if not for your own sake but your team. If the medic is dead, the rest of the team may as well be. Your opponent will try to separate you from your team. Do not let this happen." Tsunade crossed her arms and the timer Shizune held beeped. "Time!"
Sakura looked to Tsunade with a pleading expression, Tsunade nodded, and Sakura heaved the tree up high before dropping it behind her with a loud THUMP!
"Repeat." Tsunade said.
"As a medic; I have to stay alive, not let myself get separated from my team, and don't die." Sakura spoke after catching her breath. Tsunade's corner lip twitched up and she nodded.

 
Sakura tilted her head to narrowly avoid the blade, a sting at her cheek told her that although she dodged the blade they must be enhanced by chakra. She took the opening to attempt to land a blow to Asuma's thigh. He dodged and that provided her the opportunity to use a chakra burst and sprint back to her current team.
The option to turn and make a mad sprint for the scroll never passed through her mind.
Kakashi may have not taught Sakura much, but if one lesson of his stuck... 'In the ninja world those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.'
Sakura steeled her expression in time to see the smoke from the cigarette turning into another smoke clone.
 
The thing with specific clones is it takes more of a person's chakra to make them from nothing. For Asuma it was remarkably easier to manipulate the smoke, granted his chakra types allowed him to control the element, to make them clones rather than making new ones. Sakura dug her foot into the ground and kicked sand to put out the cigarette. There, now it wouldn't be as easy for him-Urk!
 
Sakura felt a piercing blow at her side. She gritted her teeth and sent a chakra enhanced elbow to the new smoke clone that was at her side. He pulled away with blood dripping from his trench knife - he had stabbed her!
 
"Sakura!" Hinata yelled in alarm as the Asuma Sakura first fought with charges right at them. Kiba and Akamaru turned Kiba were in a deadlock trading blows with a clone, Shino saw Sakura's turmoil and as he raised an arm to help, the Asuma that was running closer was suddenly in his face and began launching an attack.
 
Sakura quickly assessed her damage, it was a fairly deep wound lengthened by the chakra enhancing the blades and had narrowly avoided her vital organs. With a hand she focused healing chakra on the wound and with the other she began a fight with the smoke clone. He dodged easily considering her limited movement and one arm and she braced herself upon seeing him ready a counterblow; a kick directly to her ribs that sent her flying back and soaring across the arena.
SLAM!
Sakura was indented in the wall out of bounds and surrounding the field. Rubble split around her and she fell forward amongst crumbling stones desperately trying to catch her breath as she felt a broken rib and two fractures.
 
Kakashi was at her side, upon seeing his student falling to her knees and heaving her wet breaths, blood dripping from her chin. His heart ached. He had half a mind to think Asuma had deliberately sent her his way. As if to say, 'look at your student. Every blow landed on her is one you failed to teach her to dodge. You're at fault for her pain.'
Kakashi moved to kneel to her side and offer support but was stopped by a direct cough from Genma. Kakashi looked at the man in a controlled desperation to help his student but his response was a shake of the head.
Sakura coughed wetly as she raised a green glowing hand to her bloodied side.
He was right. Asuma wasn't a malicious person. Him going this hard against Sakura was him showing respect for her and her abilities, he believed her capable of taking him on. Kakashi should feel proud. He felt pain.
Sakura picked her head up. Fire in her eyes. Her breath wet as she gritted her teeth and raised a knee. She sprang back into the fight.
 
Hinata saw Sakura running back to the group. Happy to see her up from the ground but consumed with worry. Hinata bit her lip and focused to steel herself. She was needed! There were three Asuma's on the field and her eyes would be able to find him. She brought her hands in to form the hand sign. "Byaku-Ah!" She could barely recognise the Asuma right in her face before he blew smoke directly at her. Her eyes burned! She was forced to squeeze them shut despite the enemy being too close and was only saved by a tight grip yanking her back by the arm.
"-Ack!" Sakura choked as Asuma's punch landed on her arm, the blade slicing the muscle.
The two skidded away, tightly gripping each other.
 
One Asuma was still fighting the Kiba duo yet the Sensei didn't seem to receive even a hit, easily redirecting the blows and trading them for his own slices. The two Kiba's were clearly getting tired with how hard they were fighting and small cuts decorated their clothes and cheeks. The other Asuma was separating Shino from the group, blow after blow sending the boy further and further from them with his dodges.
Sakura had that second to see Asuma's plan was indeed; Divide and conquer.

"S-Sakura!"
"Hinata. Are you okay? Can you see?" Sakura asked quickly, one hand raised ready to counter the Asuma coming back to them and the other focusing on numbing the area inside her chest where her injured ribs would affect so she could focus on the fight. She gritted her teeth as she forced the broken rib to re-align itself and begin healing the bone.
"I-He blasted smoke in my eyes. He doesn't want me to find the real Asuma." She said, trying to force her burning eyes to flutter open.
 
Sakura blocked an attack coming for them and sent a chakra infused knee to Asuma, he dodged and began a flurry of blows the pinkette narrowly dodged while pulling Hinata with her. He managed to get close enough, after a quick hand sign Sakura recognised from earlier when she ran towards Hinata. Her grip tightened and she pulled Hinata away a second too late before smoke hit them both in the eyes.

"Ah!" "Agh!" They landed and in a desperate move Sakura used chakra in her feet to launch them further away. At that moment she realised how low her chakra reserves were running; from the fight with Kurenai to all the damage to her body that needed a steady flow of chakra to and to her team that she needed to heal plus all the fighting she needed her enhanced strength for. Sakura was going to begin to run low.
 
"Hinata! We need to get to the others and find the real Asuma-sensei. I'm going to hit you with an intense burst of healing chakra that will bring your vision back. I don't know how far Asuma-sensei is away so you need to immediately scan them all and find him.
"O-Okay!" At that, Sakura grabbed Hinata with a palm over her eyes and pushed her healing chakra hard and fast. Hinata thrummed with the sudden mend as though a cool gust of wind had blown sand off of her and at the release of the medic's hand, her byakugan immediately took in everything around them.
Her eyes widened as Asuma raised his blade. Hinata parried the hit with an evaded palm strike and spun the man back a step. "None of them!" She yelled to her other teammates. "None of them are the real Asuma-sensei! They're all clones!"
 
Sakura bit her lip as she healed her own eyesight. Hinata ducked her head down from a plume of smoke the man blew at her and continued parrying his blows. "Shino! Can you find him! I can't see him anywhere!" She yelled as her scan of the trees and entire arena proved empty. He had to be here! If he was out of the arena it meant an automatic win to them so he had to be here somewhere.
"I can!" Shino responded but before he could steady himself on his feet in the centre of the arena he found himself in, Asuma had made those familiar hand signs and with a grin he blew out a large plume of smoke that completely encased the boy.
 
Kiba gritted his teeth as he and Akamaru were sent skidding back on their hands and feet across the ground again. His teammates were trying their best but now they knew these weren't even the real Asuma, they were stuck. Kiba was suddenly elbowed in the face! A blow directed right to his nose that began gushing blood. Shit! He must've realised they figured out he was hiding somewhere and now he was taking out their ways to find him. Trapping Shino and taking out his sense of smell! Knowing this, Kiba jumped and blocked the blow coming towards Akamaru. The dog in his image grunted as he was pushed.

Hinata was defending Sakura as the girl fixed herself up and soon the two were tag teaming the clone, weeks of training together paying off as they communicated effortlessly and covered where the other lacked. Kiba could feel in his gut those two would be fine together, but if they could make any progress then he needed to help get Shino out of there so the boy could send his bugs out and find the real sensei!
 
Shino coughed in the smoke. He tried to keep a level head as he felt his thoughts buzzing. The bugs under his skin and in his ears were frantic that he got out of the smoke. He needed to. Not only for the mission but his bugs were becoming panicked and frazzled the longer he was trapped. He tried making a break for it but a blow to his side knocked the air from him and forced him to take in another gulp of smoke. He hacked as it sat in his lungs. It burned. The bugs were growing louder. His senses were intensifying. The frantic crawling in his body made his skin feel ten times more sensitive to the slightest touch. His eyes burned as he tried to open them. His nose and mouth flooded with the smoke that was setting his body alight with buzzed panic.

This was bad.
He was becoming more and more overstimulated. He held his chest and tried to calm his frantic breathing. If he could just hold his breath and focus on getting out-CLAP!
"NGH!" Shino jolted. Body alight with overstimulation as Asuma gave a singular loud clap right in his left ear. Shino struggled. His nerves. His senses. His bugs. Everything was too much.
His breathing was quickening. He needed air. He needed space. He needed everything to stop!
A solid kick struck him under his chin as he sat crouched and the bugs screamed.
 
Shino landed back gripping his ears as every fibre in his body, every sense burning to the touch, and every bug in his system roared at him. GET OUT.
It felt as if he was being torn apart in all directions. That the muscles on his bones would pull and pull and tear away. The nails on his hands would push and push until they tore from his bloodied fingertips. The skin covering his body would pull tighter and tighter until it would tear off in sickly skittering slabs.
The very blood in his body would pump faster and faster until it forced itself out every orifice and gushed out his organs in mutilated chunks.

 
"Shino! I'm coming!" Kiba was surging into the smoke. Akamaru had downed a food pill and would be able to take on their Asuma clone for at least 2 minute. Shino couldn't even hear his teammate as he was suddenly heaved off the ground.
A blade slashed across Kiba's arm, he forced himself to ignore the pain as in his burst of speed he had Shino over his shoulder and upon seeing the other blade coming for the boy; Kiba's feral expression focused enough for him to grab the blade between his teeth. A grunt and he yanked the blade out of the clone's grip and stumbled with Shino to the ground outside the smoke. The second they collapsed, Kiba tensed as he positively sensed the clone's killing intent behind him and in that split second he took the blade from his mouth, spun around, and lodged it in Asuma's chest.
 
Kiba received a blade to the shoulder but upon landing a fatal blow, Asuma and the blades poofed in a gust of smoke and he was gone. Kiba heaved a breath and allowed himself the second to relax before he spun to Shino who lay crumpled on the ground behind him.
There were only two Asuma clones and roughly 7 minutes left of the test.
"I'm here, Shino," he said as calmly as he could to the shaking boy.
 
Shino still covered his ears but he was able to open his eyes and through his glasses tint was able to focus on Kiba who was raising a hand up and down to the rhythm of his own slow breathing, Shino understood and began trying to slow his breathing to match. They were out of the smoke. He was breathing in fresh air. The burning in his eyes was easing and the buzzing in his ears was calming. He was coming down.

 
Meanwhile Sakura and Hinata were slowly gaining an advantage against their Asuma clone. Sakura now numbed and healed fighting alongside the Hyuuga who struck the man at her side. In a moment of the girls' eyes meeting they united in a move. Sakura sent a powerful leg down, Asuma jumped back to dodge it, Sakura ducked down and managed to swipe a handful of the sand her impact had accumulated and in a punching motion rose to her feet and scattered the sand in his eyes.
Asuma wasn't fast enough as he that second was focused on Hinata and was forced to close his eyes. Immediately Sakura dodged to his side as Hinata in a swift motion struck him across the neck with the side of her palm and Sakura complemented her with a kick across his back.
A sudden poof and there was one less clone and 6 minutes left.
 
"Kiba! Is Shino okay?" Sakura yelled at the kneeling boys. Kiba sprang to his feet and ran to Akamaru who was beginning to go on the defensive. "He's Good! He needs some healing though!" Hinata turned and ran alongside Kiba to assist the dog. Sakura nodded and skidded on her knees to meet the boy.
"I'm fine, just a mild concussion I think. Preserve your chakra for Kiba, he needs more attention than me."
"I will if you're well enough to scout. Asuma has to be somewhere in this arena and you're the only one who can find him.” The boy nodded in response, as Sakura got up to run to the group, she pulled Kiba to the side and healed the various wounds impeding his movement, Shino steadied his breath a final time and slowly raised his arms. His bugs had calmed, he focused and sent out small tracking bugs to search the field. They crept into trees and flew overhead, they searched across the ground and Shino stiffened upon them finding multiple tiny holes concentrated in an area.
"I've found him and I have an idea! We only have one chance to take him by surprise!" He shouted as the Asuma clone was beginning to struggle against the four fighters.
 
 
Asuma was encased in darkness but it wasn't all bad. The rumbling above him told him that the team were still in combat with his clones and by his calculation he only had 4 more minutes to stay hidden then the time would run out. Unbeknownst to the team, Asuma had immediately hidden himself under the arena, still inside of it, and through tiny catacombs was he able to breathe. He would be able to tell when his clones were taken care of and when the final one was gone, he would simply summon more smoke clones and send the smoke out through the tiny holes to form on the ground. This way he would be out of danger and perfectly safe to keep making more. His clones were him so they were capable enough to keep the Genin from getting to the scroll and with the base plan to exhaust the medic and restrict the trackers he ensured his victory.
Not that he didn't want them to succeed. But they were going to have to earn it.
 
He readied himself to light another cigarette to make more easy clones but froze. The smell of smoke was already there, how? Not only could he not light his cigarette, he was rapidly running out of air. He heard mild scuttling sounds and realised Shino must have freed himself from one of his clones and had managed to find him through his tiny scouts.
Knowing his time was up and his best move would be to burst out and take his opponents by surprise before they forced him out; Asuma readied a hand sign and usedearth style to influence the earth above him to mold to his will, he speared them into sharp rocks to propel any enemy above him and he launched himself into the air.
He was blinded by the sudden light of the sun for only a split second before a  gloved fist made contact with his cheek. Shino had indeed used some winged bugs to blow some of the smoke he had previously created in the tiny air holes in the ground and even dug more. Hinata and two Kiba's poofed the last clone. They must have expected an aggressive reaction because Sakura was already in the air, a furious expression on her face and a fist fuelled with chakra struck him across his face.

The sheer impact was so strong that Asuma immediately recognised he was concussed; his vision splitting, his ears ringing, and an overwhelming sense of nausea threatened to take over him.
Asuma struck the ground with a loud Slam!
He had to regain his bearings but upon opening his eyes he was met with the rest of the smoke cloud he'd created, he swayed on his feet, his balance was incredibly impaired by Sakura's blow. Before he could even make a hand sign, a strong impact of a punch at his side suckered the air from his lungs, Asuma gasped and staggered in place. Another blow to his opposite side, he brought up his blades in an attempt to defend himself but he was then struck from behind at the chakra points in his shoulders. Suddenly he was unable to fuel chakra in his arms.

A kick struck him across his lower back and sent him straight into two identical fists that struck his gut.
Asuma's mind was racing.
He couldn't hear where the blows were coming from. His head was throbbing and his thoughts scattered. His sense of balance was failing him and now he couldn't fuel chakra to his arms so his ninjutsu as a whole was out of reach.
There had to be 2 minutes left. Asuma needed to focus. Focus. To keep the smoke cloud in place, Shino would need to be commanding a lot of bugs to circle it and flap their wings in rhythm so he must be hovering just outside the smoke. Sakura was no doubt in the smoke with him, she and Hinata we're together with the Hyuuga using her Byakugan to find him and tell the pinkette where to strike him. Kiba and Akamaru, still looking like his owner, were using their smell to find him and attack in unison.
Okay. All Asuma needed to do is predict where they would be and strike them the second they intended to attack.

A gloved fist came directly at his face, even with his impaired balance, Asuma managed to pull back enough to avoid the blow. Sakura adjusted and after a series of dodged blows brought her leg above her head and Asuma narrowly avoided it as she slammed it down onto the earth below. He grinned upon seeing the lack of cracking in the ground. She was running out of chakra. And there was only a minute left. All he had to do was stall them long enough, and it was taking all of them to pin him.

Asuma responded with a couple slashes but was forced to pull back when Hinata emerged to her friend's defense. The two worked well together as neither party were able to land a hit. Kiba however managed to sneak a punch to Asuma's lower back that once again knocked the air out of him.
That brief moment of impact was enough for the girls to get out of his sight but not enough to keep Asuma from stopping the other punch coming for his other side.
He caught the arm and swung the boy overhead. He slammed what he thought to be the dog transformed down hard onto the ground.
Poof!

Asuma stood stunned stiff at the empty place where the boy was. He allowed a smile to tug at the corners of his cheek as the realisation set in.
The smoke cloud was dissipated by Kakashi and Genma and there stood the exhausted figures of four Genin holding themselves and each other up, and Akamaru atop the podium, tail wagging with the scroll in his mouth.
Cheers from the crowd rang around and the team were on cloud nine. Akamaru came barrelling down to be scooped up by Kiba in a hug. Shino lowered his arms, dispersing his bugs and falling to a sitting position to catch his breath. Sakura pulled Hinata into a hug before remembering the girl's family was watching and she pulled back to give the red faced girl a high five. Their plan had worked!
Sakura looked back to Asuma to see the man sway until he dropped himself onto his knees and laid back on the ground. Sakura approached.

"Are you okay, Asuma-sensei?" The man was the picture of lax, an arm across his forehead and an easy smile on his face.
He hummed, "yeah, I'm alright, just getting my bearings."
Sakura furrowed her brow before kneeling by the man's head and bringing her hands to either side of his temple, she focused on what she had left and eased out a steady flow of healing chakra. "What are you doing? You've still got a fight left."
Sakura nodded, "I do, but I also gave you a concussion. I did this, so it's my responsibility to fix it." Asuma eased an eye open and met her sturdy gaze before he huffed a low chuckle and eased his eye closed again. "Thanks, kid." It was a moment later when Tsunade addressed the group.

"Congratulations Team 8, you fought well and you completed your mission." Her words may not be much but the proud smile was more than enough to make the group glow with pride. "You may retire to the viewing area while the arena is cleared. Your result will be decided after the next match." The group rose to bow and left the arena.
Sakura heaved as she forced her body to follow the team up the stairs, that fight had really taken a lot out of her. She felt for her chakra reserves and minus the pool for her future seal she was running on low, if she wanted to be able to heal anyone in the next fight then she wouldn't be able to fuel many of her attacks.
 

Once the group had joined the others, Sakura slumped against a wall, sliding to the floor and facing the ceiling. She smiled and nodded when Ino and Hinata asked if she was okay and dismissed the concern as just a post fight aching. She closed her eyes and deepened her breathing, letting a healing pulse of chakra gloss over the injuries she had healed in the fight and better stitch them together. For the stab and slice wounds, she pulled out a scroll from her back scroll strap and summoned an ointment to aid the process.
Next to her, someone else came to stand against the wall. Shikamaru slid down and sat at her side. "You're running on empty, aren't you." It wasn't a question, she didn't need to answer and the boy sighed. He dragged a hand on the back of his neck and slumped his head down.
 
Both of them had the same thought. They were about to face arguably the most physically taxing fight of the day and Sakura wouldn't be at her full strength for it. Team 10 were a team based around intelligence, interrogation and recon. They could fight, but their skillset circled around either avoiding fights or what to do with a captured enemy. That would be a terrible match up for the taijutsu master Maito Gai, no matter the handicap he would have.
Ino and Choji crouched in front of the duo.
"They're doing that thing where they go totally silent but are having a whole conversation again." Ino rested her elbow on a knee and dropped her chin in the palm, her gaze unimpressed.
Choji nodded, opening a small bag of chips, "they've been doing it a lot in their shogi matches lately."
 
"We're strategizing." Shikamaru huffed with his eyes closed.
"Really? 'Cause it looks like you're napping." Ino smirked.
"Look. Do you want to go up against Gai-sensei without a plan?" Shikamaru glared at the blonde.
Ino remained unfazed, "of course I don't, but not clueing all of us in on what your thinking isn't going to help the team. If we need a plan, then we should all be thinking together."
Sakura put her ointment back in her scroll and dropped her arms in her lap, "you're right, going in there underprepared is no good. Gai-sensei is an intense person and an even more intense fighter. We have 15 minutes to get that scroll and in the arena that feels like an eternity."
Choji groaned, "why couldn't we get a shorter fight? I don't wanna have to get beat up in front of all these people for a whole 15 minutes..."
Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes, he turned to look at Sakura who too had just then had the same idea that he had! The boy turned back to the other teammates and gestured them closer. "I've got a plan."

The time was up, the arena cleaned, and the team summoned. Ino led the group through the hall. They came out to the sun and the faces of the crowd. Kakashi and Genma to their sides before they stepped up to the line of the arena. Gai already stood strong and smiling in the centre, his arms on his hips and a fire in his eyes.
The team lined up, equal determination in their eyes and a plan at the ready.
Gai seemed to impossibly puff up more under their resolve and laughed with an air of pride before gesturing to himself with a thumb. "For my handicap!" He grinned and crossed his arms behind his back, hands gripping his elbows, "I will not be using my arms!"
 
Sakura readied her battle stance, her fists tightening and her knees bent. This handicap would be extremely helpful considering her attacks would lack their chakra infused impacts and would help her block him considering he was now restricted to his legs. However Gai was an incredible fighter, his body a deadly weapon, even with only his legs, it would not be an easy fight. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her teammates readying their stances.
The man's grin widened and shined with a glint, "and your time... starts... Now!"
 
Immediately the team sprang into action. Choji and Sakura at opposite sides ran around inside the arena towards Gai's left and right. At that same time; Ino threw out a kunai from each hand. Gai expertly dodged them, but with a flick of a wrist on the nearly invisible steel cables, she had pulled them back and Gai noticed the second they came speeding backwards and into his periphery that they had explosive tags attached. They detonated!
Gai was able to speed out of the explosion but the smoke was enough to momentarily startle him as Sakura appeared at his right with a fist at the ready.
 
Using a mixture of dodges and his legs to block, the two were engaged in a fierce back and forth of taijutsu. Gai had just managed to kick her strongly to the side in exchange for a punch to his shoulder and managed to completely escape the dissipating smoke cloud.
"Human bullet tank jutsu!"
Gai leapt into the air just in time as Choji, as large as strong as a boulder, impacted the ground and sped across to where the sensei once stood. "Impressive!" Gai cheered. His eyes scanned everywhere. Shikamaru was running through the arena in a dead set sprint for the scroll on the podium. Ino ran a few steps and threw a kunai up at him in the air. Choji impacted a group of trees, causing them to nearly collapse.

Gai dodged the kunai in mid air. Now armed with the knowledge of Ino's steel string, he directly kicked one kunai into the roof of the stadium; the impact stabbing it deep and making it impossible to recover. The other he activated the explosive seal and before it could detonate he had immediately sent it soaring directly at Ino.
Sakura's eyes widened as he, as light as a feather with quick steps, was running along the steel string directly above Shikamaru! Ino's mouth dropped in surprise.
"Ino-!" The blonde froze in place as the kunai landed right in front of her, the explosion sending her skidding on the ground and slamming against the wall outside the arena. Choji was spinning around, forcing himself in the direction of the sensei.
 
Shikamaru didn't have a second to react before Gai had dropped in front of him and landed a kick directly in the boy's sternum, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him into a tree.
The tree groups on each side of the arena were all standing on axis, the sun lower in the east lit the ground up in a bright cloudless light. Only three minutes in the arena; Ino was pulling herself from the wall, Shikamaru was braced against a tree, Sakura was running to the blonde with a healing hand ready, Choji was speeding towards the centre of the arena and speeding towards the Jonin, and they were no closer to the scroll.
 
Choji spun in place for a second, dust from the ground rising with his speed, before he launched himself at the man. "A bold decision!" Gai laughed, readying a counter move.
"Now!"
Gai blinked as the boy the size of a boulder in the blink of an eye shrank to his usual size and flattened his body to the floor. Gai realised the reason in that split second he looked through the dust to see Ino standing on the opposite side of the arena, Sakura healing an open cut on the girls forehead and said girls hands forming her families trademark jutsu. "Mind transfer jutsu!"
"No!" Shikamaru yelled from the crooked tree, clearly seeing that Gai had realised their plan just in the nick of time. Using his incredible flexibility, Gai fell backwards, his body held at an incredible angle just enough out of Ino's range. The girl slumped against the pinkette as her mind left her body and just missed the sensei.
 
"Not bad, students!" Gai voiced and he righted himself and sprinted forwards to land a kick on Choji who was just scrambling to his feet thus launching him into a tree that now had fallen over. "But a gamble it was! Now young Ino will be out of the fight for a good few minutes!" Sakura bit her lip, the man was right. Sakura gently picked up Ino's limp body and brought her to a tree and rested the girl against it.

"Don't think we're done yet!" Sakura launched herself back into the fight, meeting Gai's shin with a fist.
"That's the spirit!" Gai cheered. Amidst the trading of blows, he had somehow managed to keep a close eye on the other two boys. Choji had extracted himself from the tree and in a show of resilience came to join the pinkette as the team's muscle. Shikamaru meanwhile seemed to know if he made a move closer to the scroll then Gai would easily abandon his current fight and certainly land another devastating blow to the boy.
 
Blow after blow, hit after hit, not even a minute had passed before Gai had once again keyed himself in on the teams plan. He hadn't failed to notice the sheer amount of trees on each side of the arena had been impacted, nearly all of them at least tilted with the force that Choji had struck them with. After dodging a blow from Sakura aimed at his chest, Gai saw a taller tree among the bunch had been knocked low enough that it's shadow stretched near the other side of the arena. But the blow that struck it was too small to be from Choji. No, the point of impact was more like the size of a fist. In that second he realised the tree was deliberately hit with possibly the last portion of Sakura's chakra as a part of a bigger plan.
When he was attacking Shikamaru, she must have done that... to deliberately reach where the boy had landed.
 
Gai spared a split second to look at his feet and he saw a tiny shadow about to connect with him! "Ha!" Gai spun, he kicked, launching Sakura to the far side into a tree and launching himself into the air and out of Shikamaru's Shadow possession jutsu's range. "Very clever and very sneaky!"
Shikamaru cursed under his breath as his shadow stretched out and missed the sensei. Sakura pulled herself from where she impacted a tree and regained her breath quick enough to pull out a couple shuriken to send flying to the energetic man. Said man avoided the weapons and came to land in the centre of the arena. Sakura and Choji were running to meet him in combat again but Gai seemed to realise he needed to take out Shikamaru to put a stop to those tricky plots.

Shikamaru, seeing the sensei running in a dead sprint towards him, fumbled to his feet, pulled out a kunai from his pouch and sent it directly at Gai's head. It was all too easy to dodge as the boy's panic made his aim too far to the side. A tilt of his head and Gai avoided the weapon. But a glint in that split second was the only hint he got before another kunai, this one with an explosive tag on it, detonated right by his shoulder. "-Gah!"
 
Gai could barely react as the seal exploded and Gai skidded on his feet to the side. He just managed to stay on his feet, a ringing in his ear, he spun to see Ino's with a hand raised, clearly having recovered from her jutsu and sent out her kunai with a new seal.
She immediately reached back to her weapon pouch to withdraw another kunai, Gai's hearing also picked up Shikamaru shuffling to grab another kunai of his own. Gai was able to duck, numbly dodging both attacks flying over his head and speeding forwards to avoid Ino's explosive tag. What gave him momentary pause was the exact synchronicity of the duos kunai. A set of eye blinking would have a greater difference than the movements of these two. Gai spared the second to look at Shikamaru's feet and his conclusion sent him to a screeching halt.
 
The boy's shadow had stretched to reach Ino's feet. The girl wasn't back in her body yet! Rather Shikamaru had taken control of her prone form to give him the illusion that she was. But that would have to mean this was a part of their plan, meaning Ino's mind had another role. She should have retracted her mind by now, if she hadn't then that would naturally mean she would have latched onto another consciousness.
Gai threw his eyes to the scroll he was charged with protecting. There were no people even remotely close, but her aim when she'd sent out her jutsu was in that direction. He dodged another duo of kunai; sent much faster than the last, clearly they had realised he had caught on to their plan and were trying to take his attention away from the scroll.
 
A small bird, no bigger than Gai's own hand, fell from the sky and dove in a direct trajectory towards the scroll. Gai's eyes lit up and he launched himself towards the feathery fiend. "Aha! Once again I am impressed!" The bird seemed to startle as Gai appeared in its line of flight directly to the scroll. He wanted to apologise to the bird but to stop the genin he couldn't hold back. Gai kicked the bird, though he sent her soaring straight to the team's medic should the bird need healing, he doubted Sakura would ignore it. Said girl caught the bird. The impact on such a delicate animal's body meant Ino's actual body was hurt that much more, Shikamaru's possession meant she didn't flinch but blood leaked from her mouth and stained her shirt.

"Ino!" Sakura cried in shock, recognising the danger and convinced the girl to return. Shikamaru gritted his teeth and upon seeing Gai sending himself straight to the boy, he knew the blow of the kick that Gai was about to land on him would also impact the blonde who thanks to the bird blow was already seriously injured.
"Release!" He released the jutsu, freeing Ino's body to drop to the floor only to be intercepted by Choji preventing her head being injured and Shikamaru was forced to take the kick that pushed the air from his lungs and sent him forcefully against a far fallen tree trunk.
 
"It is with great pride that I say you are a most formidable team. We are only 8 minutes into the challenge and you have tangled me in quite a few of your plans. It is most impressive with how close you have gotten." Shikamaru extracted himself from the tree trunk and rose to his feet, clearly in pain and gripping his upper left arm which had begun bleeding. The boy's eye twitched, clearly growing frustrated.
"It appears I cannot stand back and wait for your next move. For you will now get no closer to the scroll."
"You don't know what else we could have up our sleeves." Shikamaru grunted, an irritated shine glowing his eyes. Choji rubbed Ino's back as she wiped the blood from her mouth, and Sakura let the now healed bird fly away and began healing the blonde, allowing Choji to stand and ready his stance.
 
"Indeed I don't. So I'm afraid I shall now go," Gai bent his knees and grinned, "on the offensive!" He sprang forth. Shikamaru was able to get his arms up and crossed to protect himself from the brunt force of the kick but Gai's strength sent him skidding back. Choji came right at Gai then, his fists flew back and forth, Gai evaded them before countering with a kick to the boys side and sending him staggering back before another kick drove him further and onto his back.

Gai brought a leg up to send right down in a powerful blow but was caught by Sakura throwing herself between him and the boy now scrambling to his feet. Sakura gritted her teeth as no doubt her crossed arms would bruise terribly against the blow before pushing the leg up and attempting a punch in a counter attack. Gai moved swiftly and blocked her with a shin. They danced for a moment before he managed a hit at the girls side that sent her flying back. He needed to keep the group separated, needed to push them back; if they were kept from regrouping then they wouldn't be able to strategize. They were far from stupid, if he kept them distanced he knew he could overpower them, and they would know they couldn't win. Gai did not enjoy hurting them, but his respect for their drive and passion kept him from pulling his blows.
Gai became hyper-focused on defeating this team.
 
He heard the whizzing sound before the kunai could even get in his range. Gai kicked the tip of the kunai, sending it momentarily upwards before kicking it directing back to Ino. Said girl gasped and dove out of the way, sadly not fast enough to escape the range of the explosion which sent her skidding across the ground. Sakura was suddenly in his face again. The fire in her eyes fuelled her punches as it became abundantly clear that in terms of chakra; she was out.
Gai found himself smiling. He had only begun training the pinkette a few weeks ago, yet her taijutsu had come so far and the determination she used to push her muscles to make every blow so strong and purposeful made him so incredibly proud.

Sakura landed a punch right into Gai's gut, he tensed and braced himself but the strength of the impact still made him pause and have to take the second to catch his breath. Fortunately for him, Shikamaru had sent a shuriken directly at Gai's side. Through a spinning movement, Gai had managed to switch his and Sakura's position, she bit off a sound as the shuriken struck her upper left arm. Gai didn't give her pause and a kick to her other side sent her flying directly into the wall of the arena, she slid to the ground and onto her knees in a painful bleeding heap.
 
Gai had managed to keep pushing and pushing the team until they were nearly back at the positions they started at when the time had begun. After a brief back and forth Choji was the next one sent flying, Sakura managed to catch and skid him to a stop before he hit the wall. Shikamaru, the most enraged Gai had ever seen him, was desperately sending his shuriken flying, one managed to graze Gai's shoulder before he caught up to the boy and a kick sent him across the ground and skidding to a halt.
"It is alright to admit defeat." Gai said, as far as he was concerned, this team had proven their worth tenfold. If anyone in those stands had apprehensions of any of them, Gai would jump at the chance to sing their praises.
Shikamaru staggered to his feet, spitting blood to the ground and gripping his bleeding arm.  "I don't think so, Sensei."
 
"We haven't lost yet!" Ino's scream was filled with a grit only the most desperate to win could belt out. She reeled her arm back and sent a kunai flying. Gai dodged to the side and with a kick sent it flying back towards Shikamaru. There was a brief flash of a smirk pulling at the corner of the boy's lip as he stepped ever so slightly to the side. A flash of pink and Sakura, who stood behind the Nara, caught the kunai. With a roar she and Ino yanked. Gai's eyes flew open as he was pulled forward.
The kunai was connected with a steel string attached to Ino. He was only brought forward a brief amount but it was enough to get him in Shikamaru's range. The boy had a kunai at the ready and with all the speed and strength he could muster, he drove it down aimed directly at Gai's shoulder.
 
Sadly for him, Gai was a monster of speed. A twist of his body and the kunai stabbed the ground. Shikamaru's eyes wide as he fell to his knees with the force of the swing. "I truly admire your determination." He said. Looking up he met eyes with Sakura, the first to recover from what no doubt was the team's final plan. Ino's face was grief stricken and Choji horrified. Gai couldn't allow them to regain their senses.
He flew directly to Sakura. Immediately coming to a stop and raising a leg in the air. "But this match is over!" He sent the kick down.
 
"Yes it is."
Gai's leg was caught at the ankle. His widened eyes zeroing in on the Jonin jacket, the fingerless gloved hand gripping his ankle and halting him in place, and the single eye staring him down. "Wh- Kakashi-!?"
"The match is over. This team has won."
Kakashi's eye hardened as he eased his grip allowing Gai to stand on his two feet. Sakura sighed happily, "thank you, Kakashi-sensei." The copy ninja's eye softened as he turned to the student behind him.
"Don't worry about it. You did a great job, Sakura."
Gai was still puzzled. "But the scroll." He turned to see the scroll still on the pedestal. "They haven't gotten it yet, and not to mention there's still five minutes left."
 
"True." Shikamaru voiced as Choji came to his side and helped him rise to his feet with a groan. "But our ultimate plan worked. You might want to check where you're standing, Sensei." Gai looked to the ground. He saw nothing unusual. Until he looked back to where he was. There, when he was pulled by the kunoichi, he wasn't only pulled into Shikamaru's range but also he was pulled... outside of the arena ring.
 
"It would seem their plan all along was to bombard you with several 'fake plans' to wear your expectations down, to make you think with every passing minute they were going more and more desperate, leaving you no choice but to have to take them out first. But doing this they took away your focus of the arena and where you were in it and instead entirely on them. So you wouldn't notice when they managed to force you out." Kakashi patted the smiling pinkettes hair, a fond look on the man as he sang his students praises. "They won by disqualifying you."
Gai was silent but a moment to allow the information to sink in. Once he finished running over the match in his mind to piece everything together and seeing Kakashi was right. Shikamaru's small smirk in his mind, he laughed. A deep belly laugh, Gai's head thrown back as he joyed over the feeling of being duped. These truly were some extraordinary students!
 
"Very well done! Yes! This was such an interesting match!" Gai laughed as he eased his grip and finally allowed his arms to fall to his sides. "You all performed spectacularly! Now, go and claim your prize." He gestured an arm in the direction of the scroll awaiting them.
The team came together, exhausted and beaten bodies with bright smiles. Well at least three of them were allowing how happy they truly were to show, Shikamaru outwardly cringed as Ino forced him into a group hug, Choji nearly lifting them off their feet with how he held the team. They allowed themselves that second of celebration before they walked easily across the destroyed arena. Fallen trees, explosion made craters, piles of earth aside; they reached the scroll.
When Shikamaru held it, the crowd applauded.
 
 
It was a blur by the time the team had left the arena and arrived to the cheers of the other genin. "You guys did so well! I can't believe you pulled that off!" Tenten voiced. "Inspirational! Truly incredible!" Lee cheered. "That was insane!" Kiba yelled. Sakura managed a smile as she and the team collapsed against a wall. It was only a brief exchange of words before Shizune came running into the room.

"Alright, who needs the first healing?" She came to her knees in front of the group. Choji was nominated first.
"Thank you Shizune-san, I wish I could do it myself." The woman didn't look up from the arm she was mending.
"Nonsense. You were a fantastic healer out there, if you can't keep them healthy then the next best thing is keeping them alive and everyone here is breathing. You did a great job." Sakura flushed upon receiving such praise. Sakura could feel her body fall under the weight of realising how bone tired she was. Her shoulders slumped, her legs felt made of lead and her eyes burned. For a brief moment she allowed herself the respite of closing her eyes and allowing the world to blur around her into the vague sounds of all her friends talking and laughing, and the comforting feeling of Shizune's healing chakra easing into her very bones.

Sakura wasn't sure how much time had passed when she woke up. She was lying on her side, her head resting on someone's lap, her body recognisably feeling like back to before the fights. "S-Sakura, are you feeling better?" Hinata's voice was soft, a conscious effort to not startle the tired girl lest she still be hurt. Sakura appreciated that, she smiled, nodded and eased herself up to sit. "I'm okay now. Where are we? How long was I out?"
"Ah, Shizune-san said she felt it best to influence you into a sleep while she healed you. Kakashi-sensei carried you with us to this spare room for us to wait for the higher-ups to deliberate. I think it's been only an hour." Sakura nodded along.
"Kakashi-sensei carried me?" Hinata nodded, Sakura felt her face flush and she covered it with her hands.
"Ah... How embarrassing..." Hinata brought a hand up and giggled a little behind her sleeve.
"I thought it was sweet, he looked really happy while you were asleep on his back."
Sakura moaned and shook her head but failing to keep the smile from her lips, "I wanted to prove to him after all this training how competent I've become..."
Hinata's eyes softened and her smile grew ever so slightly, "I think he knows."

 
"You okay over there?" Ino was suddenly standing in front of the duo. Sakura dropped her hands and nodded. Sakura finally took notice of the room, a study room of tables and chairs, the other genin in a group chatting amongst themselves. "Yeah, I'm okay now."
"Good! We're trying to convince Neji to join us all for food when we're allowed to go. Literally everyone else is up for it!" Neji's eyebrow twitched and his crossed arms seemed to tense, "I have told you I'm expected back at the compound at certain times-"
"Are you seriously telling me you have a six-o'clock curfew at age 15? You're the oldest one among us!" Ino threw back.
Kiba encouraged with, "come on man, we'll get the sensei's to vouch for us! It's not like we haven't earned it after today." Neji's eyes closed, trying to block out not only the other genin but his own team from trying to convince him to join them. It was as his resolve began to visibly waver when there was a knock at the door.
 
Kakashi opened the door and let himself in, "sure sounds lively in here."
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said happily, the man's eye crinkled as though he was smiling under his mask. "I've come to make sure you're all presentable, we're about to announce the results." The group perked up and sprang to their feet, some frantically asking the man if they had passed. Kakashi raised his hands to ease the genin. "Now, now, I'm not at liberty to say anything about who passed. I'm just here to take you there. Speaking of which, we wouldn't want to keep all those important people waiting.”
Nerves and excitement were abundant as the group followed the Jonin out the door and through the corridors. Sakura followed closely behind her teacher as they came closer and closer to learning the results of their examination. Whether or not they would graduate from Genin to Chunin.

 
The walk was both too long and way too short. Sakura was without a doubt nervous, Kakashi stopped them just before they could enter. Sakura shifted on her feet and snuck a peak past her Sensei and into the room. The room was very official looking; a tall ceiling, a balcony row with a railing lining the walls with doors at the sides for those people to enter. Tsunade stood straight and tall as she addressed the people around her from the centre of the balcony. Those people were the very same rich elites that had been watching their fights. On the ground floor where they were to stand, lining the walls stood their Sensei's and what Sakura was assuming to be some of their own families.

Sakura assumed that since most of her friends were clan heirs that their Clan heads had joined the Peak people atop the balcony, but there were quite a few parents lining the ground level walls. Sakura felt her stomach clench upon seeing her own civilian parents had been summoned and were standing by Ino's parents. Her parents weren't shinobi, but they were also pretty clueless about how hard shinobi work was, so to have her home-life overlapping with her shinobi-life, her parents and Tsunade in the same room, it made her guts feel like lead.
 
Sakura fisted her hands in her apron, twisting the fabric and worrying her lip between her teeth. There was a tap at her shoulder, a grounding sensation as her mind was pulled away from what Tsunade was saying to the high ranking people and their families. Kakashi looked down to her, his single eye pulling all her attention. Her nerves were clear as day and as muddled as a rainstorm.
He seemed almost unsure before he brought his hand to rest atop her head. The slight ruffle reminded her of when he did this exact gesture right after her final fight of the day. Sakura felt her nerves ease, the tenseness in her muscles relaxing and a small smile spread. 'No matter what they say out there; know that I'm proud of you.' He needn't say it as the action conveyed the sentiment and Sakura was grateful.
 
All too soon the hand was gone and Kakashi inclined his head, "it's time." He turned to the group behind her and nodded. They followed him out.
 
Immediately Sakura felt the scrutinising gazes of not only the Peak people standing atop the balcony, but also from quite a few parents along the walls. The only comforting looks she felt came from the teachers she recognised; Iruka, Anko, Ibiki, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai, from Ino's parents with whom she already knew thanks to her younger years of playing with the blonde, and her own parents both slightly raising their hands in a 'hello.'
Sakura lined up single file with the other students and stood in stiff silence as Tsunade addressed them to the crowd.
She addressed them by name in team order, her voice carried with a strength Sakura hoped she someday too would have.
 
"The Second Hokage, my great uncle, Tobirama Senju once said that 'to be a Hokage is to guide the people, and believe in them, for it is from among them that one will come who will carry on when your time is done.' He was a great leader, a great shinobi and a great man who understood the importance of how great our impact on the next generation will be. It is through him that I truly see and commend you all. The intelligence, the skill, the determination; all extraordinary traits I saw displayed here today."
She gestured an arm out, directly addressing the people around her.

"Your courage and determination, the most indomitable and unconquerable traits a Shinobi can possess. They shone through and I speak on behalf of all here when I say you all left a lasting impression."
She lowered her arms and blinked slowly. "To be a Shinobi is, to me, to be the kind of person who their village can depend on. Whether that be from a civilian to a comrade, from a child to a corpse, from a seed to a tree... from a village to a person. The strength to hold all, to defend, and to protect all."
 
Tsunade paused for a moment, she took a breath before continuing. "But that isn't all. The first Hokage, my grandfather, Hashirama Senju once told me, that 'to be a shinobi and to be a good person are two things that can coexist. For strong roots will grow to prosperous fruit. That we should strive to not only be a good shinobi that our village can be proud of, but to be a good person that you yourself can be proud of."
 
A smile pulled at the corners of the woman's mouth as she looked upon them. "I may not have been Hokage very long, but I will say on behalf of those who came before me that their roots bear the very fruit standing before me today; all processing incredible strength, good will, and potential. And I am proud to say you have all been awarded the rank of Chunin."
 
It took every ounce of self control for Sakura not to burst out in a thrilled squeal, the heat consuming her radiating from her cheeks in a splitting smile. Her hands fisted at her sides so she would focus on staying in place.
Tsunade allowed them that second to bask in their victory before continuing.
"As Chunin, this will open more doors for you as a shinobi. You will be able to take on higher rank assignments, you will be permitted to access previously restricted knowledge, and you will be presented with a scroll each." Suddenly masked Anbu had appeared in front of each of the students, Sakura once again met the painted eyes of a cat mask and accepted the offered scroll like the others did.

"This scroll contains details confidential to you and only you. By displaying your skills in these tests, you will have caught the attention of a range of professionals looking to recruit you to their divisions. Whether that be learning under the Torture and Interrogation division, the Scouting and Recon division, or even the Anbu forces. Details of these divisions will be provided in said scroll should they have invested their interest in you."
Sakura clutched her scroll. She for one already knew the only division she would seek was Medical and to remain learning under Tsunade, she hoped becoming a Chunin wouldn't mean she couldn't train with her other Sensei's anymore.
 
Tsunade congratulated them again, her hard earned praises lighting up each student, and the ceremony was over in what felt like mere moments.
"I leave you all with this. You are all Chunin of Konoha, the Land of Fire. You represent us, and your loyalty will forever be cherished. May your souls burn with the will on the fire. Prosper as the Leaf Shinobi you will become." The Chunin bowed deeply in gratitude. "You are dismissed!" Spinning in a flurry of her robe, Tsunade left and the upper people left with her. Soon all that was left were the Chunin, their teachers and their parents.

Now the official ceremony was over, Sakura ran to her parents who shared her beaming expression and they embraced in a truly enormous hug. She laughed gleefully as they spoke words of praise. "That's wonderful honey! You must have been so impressive out there!" and "A chunin at 14! Will wonders never cease!"
"I still can't believe it!" She laughed, wiping her tears as she pulled away.
 
Around her, others were talking with their families. Ino was jumping in place as she held onto her parents before pulling away. Her father was a man with a tired face but kind eyes, Inoichi worked high up in the Interrogation and torture Division with Ino's mother Akina who was a beautiful woman whom held herself with pride. Her father happily voiced his pride and her mother tucked a strand of Ino's hair backs so she could hold the blonde by her glowing cheeks. Akina was not what Sakura would call an outwardly affectionate woman so this contact conveyed just how proud she was.

Shikamaru was nodding and embarrassingly scratching the back of his neck as his mother fussed over him, clearly proud and his father teased the boy over his responses. A blush dusted Shikamaru's cheeks as he clearly was happy with the news but almost tried to remain muted for appearances sake.
Choji's family was louder than Sakura's. His father slapped the boy on the back, his pride fuelling his joy and Choji didn't seem to mind. His mother seemed to be a happy woman with rosy cheeks and joyful dispossession because she kept pulling her son into a hug before pushing him back to fuss over him and then pulling him back.
 
Sakura giggled as she saw Kiba being pulled into a headlock by who looked to be his older sister, a broad grinning woman flanked by a large brown dog with a happily beating tail. Kiba was only then freed from that hold by his mother, a high up in the Scouting and Recon division with her enormous hound, and then consequently had his head violently ruffled in a show of affection by the laughing woman. This seemed to be normal because the boy brightened up even more, his joy not easily teased away considering how hard earned it was. There was no father amongst them, Sakura recalled one training day hearing Kiba say something about receiving a letter from his father since he was still stationed on a mission somewhere. The boy was probably excited to write about his ascension to Chunin to the man.

Shino was standing with his father, a man equally as calm, they seemed to be having a muted conversation as Shino looked over the scroll in his hand. They did not seem on bad terms, Sakura just assumed that his family had a different way of showing pride and joy than her own. She did not see his mother. Shino was not a very open or chatty person, not that Sakura minded, she quite enjoyed the quiet moments they shared. But she wouldn't be nosey if the boy didn't want to talk about his family.
 
Sakura looked on and saw Lee talking animatedly with a smiling older man, Gai was next to him and both seemed to be talking animatedly and enthusiastically. Sakura may as well have been standing next to them with how loudly they were talking but she couldn't find it in her to feel anything other than proud and equally as happy.
Tenten threw her arms around what looked to be her father and jumped in place in joy. The man wore a smile and patted her on the back. Tenten proudly showed off the scroll then to whom Sakura assumed was her mother as they both had a striking resemblance, the woman's smile was a little muted compared to the mans but she still looked proud of her daughter.

Finally Sakura looked at the last group and saw Hinata and Neji. Both stiff and nodding to whatever the man, whom Sakura guessed was Hinata's father since his words seemed to be directed at them more from a Clan head than a father, was saying. At his side was a young girl, Sakura realised it was Hanabi, the younger sister Hinata had once spoken about. She was staring at her sister in what Sakura struggled to read as it was almost equal in admiration as it was frustration. Sakura furrowed her brow. There was no one else among them. Sakura recalled learning at the last exam that Neji's own father was dead, but as for his and Hinata's mothers, Sakura saw neither. The Hyuuga were historically known for keeping their clan affairs very tight to the chest. Sakura watched as the two gave a bow before the man nodded, gestured to Hanabi, and the two left.
 
"Are you looking to spend dinner with us tonight, or will you and all your little friends be celebrating out somewhere?" Sakura's mother asked, successfully pulling the girl's attention back to her. "Can I please go out? We were all really hoping to!" Sakura pleaded. Her father rubbed his chin in faux deep thought.
"Hmm... I don't know... It's getting pretty late, and I hear Chunin need an extra couple hours of sleep..." He teased her.
"Hello, I'd be happy to chaperone," Kakashi raised a hand as he practically appeared by the family, perhaps they had been so focused on each-other in that bone-crushing hug that they failed to notice him. Sakura's beaming eyes refocused back on her parents. "Please~!"
"I promise I'll have her back home and in bed at a completely reasonable time." Kakashi pocketed his hands and Sakura had to bite her tongue so as to not comment on her Sensei's dreadful sense of time. She clasped her hands together in a pleading motion before her father finally broke. "Alright then, go enjoy a dinner with your friends! But we're making dinner together tomorrow night to celebrate."
"Yay! Thank you!" Sakura cheered and enveloped her parents in another hug, pressing a kiss to their cheeks before rushing to meet Ino in a hug.
 
They teamed up with the other Chunin and together with their Sensei's, even managing to convince Neji, they all left the building to celebrate their graduation to Chunin with dinner. Choji's mother recommended a great and affordable restaurant in the main eating district and the group happily took the recommendation.
Sakura would forever remember this night as a blur of what she can only describe as warmth.

She laughed with her friends as the Sensei's had a drink at another table. They threw food into Choji's mouth from one end of the table to the other. Shikamaru briefly fell asleep so Kiba, Ino and Tenten naturally managed to pile up cups, utensils and napkins into a tower atop his head and shoulders before they fell and he awoke in a squawk to the table's laughter. Neji and Lee got into a chopstick centred fight over one remaining dumpling of which Neji emerged victorious. Sakura ate a steaming bowl of miso based ramen with extra toppings. She felt so warm she wanted to cry.
 
Eventually the night crept in, the glow of the lanterns in the restaurant and the beginning chill of the night air seeping in. The Sensei's met the bill, a final reward for their students passing, along with a training free day tomorrow, and everyone bid each other a good night.
 

When Sakura was finally in her room after dropping her bag of supplies, unbuckling her back strap holding her medical scrolls, he weapons pouches, and had one of the most rewarding showers of her life; she sat down on her bed in her sleepwear and collapsed backwards. Her arms spread, hair a mess behind her, and a smile still on her lips.
She giggled to herself. She was a Chunin now. Sakura brought a pillow to her chest, curled into a ball and rolled around for a moment to expel some of the giddy energy.
She sighed and she came to a stop on her side. She pulled her face away from the pillow and saw sitting on her desk an orange envelope. Naruto's letter from the other night.
 
Sakura slipped off of her bed, bare feet padding across the floor, she pulled out her desk chair and sat down. Sakura felt the letter in her fingers, after exchanging a letter every couple of weeks for the past few months since the boy had left, his writing was becoming more legible; Sakura smiled to herself. The handwriting looked less like chicken-scratch and more like an over enthusiastic child, still it made her happy to read, spelling mistakes and all.
She hadn't known what to tell Naruto that morning when she'd received his letter, now after such an exhausting day along with ascending to the rank of Chunin, there was so much she wanted to tell him.

 
Sakura picked up a piece of soft pink paper and grabbed her pen from the notebook Lee had gifted her.
 
Dear Naruto,
Thank you for the letter, and to answer your questions; yes, my training with the Sensei's is going well, and no I'm not working myself ragged so you don't have to worry. What's the village you're staying at like? I know you have to keep it vague for safety reasons, but what's it like? Are there any nice historical structures? Did you know Shizune-san loves to visit museums and cultural sites? She's told me of so many neat places she and Tsunade-shishou have been to, I hope someday I can see them too.
Sorry for getting off track, but I actually have some super exciting news! I passed the Chunin exam! When you come back you'll be face to face with Konoha Chunin rank Shinobi Sakura Haruno! ❤
Thanks for your encouragement, it really meant a lot to me that you believed I could do it. And hey! When you're back I'll be cheering for you too when you take it! It was a really hard exam so don't you go slacking off just because I managed to pass!
I wish you could've been there.
Anyway! I'm going to be continuing my study in the medical division under Tsunade-shishou. What division do you think you'll specialise in? And before you ask, no 'Hokage' isn't a division.
I'll end this here before I collapse from exhaustion.
Stay safe out there,
From Sakura.

She read over the letter a couple times before smiling. She folded it up, put it in an envelope and held it to her chest. Tomorrow morning she would stop by Tsunade's office to confirm the details in her scroll that yes, she would continue under the woman, and hand over her letter for Naruto. To ensure the letter's safety, Tsunade and Jiraiya would trade information by using their smallest summons to deliver the letters and scrolls. Naturally since the Sanin summons were legendarily the strongest of all summons, it ensured their letters reached each-other.
She gave the envelope a little happy kiss before placing it on her desk. Sakura fell back on her bed, a sense of pride and excitement overtook her, the energy buzzing under her skin and through her veins. She couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring for her.