~4~ The Chunin Exam!
I was awakened to a pounding on my front door. Groaning, I saw it was six. Grabbing my pink robe, I opened the door to find Sasuke and Naruto standing on the porch. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon behind them, casting a bright glow over the faces carved in stone.
“What’s going on?” I moaned, shielding my eyes against the bright light. I ran my hand through my tousled hair.
“The written stage of the Chunins is today at nine,” Naruto replied as if that explained it all.
I just stared at him, “Why then do I need to be up three hours before?”
“Because Kakashi thinks we should train a little bit more before hand,” Sasuke said impatiently. “You know, to focus on team.”
I hung my head and groaned again. “Give me five minutes. Come on in and make yourselves at home.” I left the door open for them as I hurried into my room and changed. I pulled my hair up and walked into the living room. The guys were sitting on my couch, waiting.
“I’m ready to go,” I told them rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I was not a morning person. I followed silently behind the two guys.
After hours of training, we rushed to the academy where the writing exam would take place. I felt a little confident; the team had spent all morning working together trying to strengthen our weaknesses. I felt we were ready. We would get through this together.
After we checked in, we loitered out in the hallway with the rest of the Genin. Rock Lee came up to me and grabbed my hand. “My beautiful little cherry blossom. Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked.
My eyebrows shot up so far and so fast I thought they would shoot right off my face. Blood rushed to my cheeks. I didn’t want to go out with him, but I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of everyone. How could I let him down easy? I could hear Lee’s team chuckle, and I turned an even brighter shade of red.
“Uh, thanks Lee, but I’m not really in the market for a relationship at the moment. Thanks, but no thanks,” I tried to be nice about it; I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Lee was really nice, but I really wasn’t looking for a boyfriend- not when I couldn’t remember anything about my past. What if there was someone?
I could see Lee depleting. “Oh, I understand. You are still youthful. It makes sense. I understand,” he replied stepping back.
I smiled half heartedly. I grabbed Naruto and Sasuke’s hands and drug them farther down the hall where Lee couldn’t talk to me. I leaned against the wall and sighed. I ran my hand through my bangs that hung annoyingly in my face.
Sasuke wore a smirk on his face, and Naruto looked a little annoyed. I shook my head. “You guys could have helped me out there.”
“Nah, you looked like you had it handled, Cherry Blossom,” Sasuke teased, his smirk growing wider.
I punched him harder than I intended. “Don’t call me that.”
Sasuke rolled his eyes and went back to glowering in the corner. I glanced at Naruto. “So, are you ready? Nervous?” I asked.
He looked up surprised, like he had forgotten why we were really there. “Oh, ya. Tests aren’t my strong point.”
I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You can cheat, just don’t get caught.”
Sasuke and Naruto frowned. “We can cheat? How do you know that?”
I frowned. How had I known that? Was I remembering parts of my past? I shook my head. “I don’t know, I just did. I almost feel like I’ve done this already, like I’m going through this again. But, how can that be? Wouldn’t the Hokage have recognized me if I had?”
They shook their heads.
.~.
After we had received the instructions to the test and we had started, I glanced around. Naruto looked like he was sweating. I wished I could calm him down, get him to think. He could cheat as long as he didn’t get caught. Glancing down at the questions, I found I didn’t need to cheat, I knew the answers.
About half way through, I felt another presence inside me, and I realized it was Ino, cheating off of my paper with her Mind Transfer Jutsu. I pushed, but let her go. I didn’t want to be the one to expel her and her team. I was done; what did it matter if she cheated from me?
By the time the proctor revealed the tenth question, Ino was already gone, back in her own body. For the tenth question, we had to decide whether or not it was worth it. He was trying to scare us, and it worked on a lot of other teams, but I knew what the tenth question really was. But how?
Shaking my head, I saw Naruto raise his hand and gave a gallant speech on how he would never give up… blah, blah, blah. Good for him. I knew I could count on him when it mattered. I glanced over at Sasuke and saw he was as calm and cool as a cucumber.
Nodding at him, we got up and proceeded outside where we would receive instructions for the next part of the exam. We were to get scrolls from booths and hide the scroll from the rest of the groups. We gave me the scroll because we felt I was the best one to protect it.
Emerging from our booth, I glanced around to see if I could distinguish what scroll others had, but they had concealed it well. That was when I spotted a grass ninja with his team a few yards away. That face. Something about it was so familiar. I started to feel queasy.
He crept closer and closer, his snake-like tongue licking his disgusting lips. His long dark hair masking his facial expression. I felt terror well up deep inside me. I tried to pull my arms free from their restraints. I was shackled to the wall, my hands above my head.
He grabbed my chin with his ice cold hands. “What’s wrong? You look so distressed?” he asked innocently, or as innocently as he could muster.
I spit in his face and tried to kick out with my feet, but I had done that one too many times and had earned them to be shackled as well. I twisted and pulled, yanked and jerked, but I couldn’t get free. And, my hands were too far apart for me to do any hand signs to perform any jutsu.
A tear fell from my eye and he wiped it away with his thumb. I whimpered, and that only seemed to provoke him. I shook my head from side to side. I did not want this poor excuse for a human to touch me. I swung my elbow and caught him on the cheek.
He didn’t flinch, just yanked at my hair. “You will never learn, will you?” He motioned for someone to enter. The silver haired man entered, whip in hand. He handed it over to the long haired freak.
He held the whip over his head before he lashed out.
3rd POV
Team 7 had just emerged from the booth when Sakura collapsed into Naruto, falling on top of him. Naruto blushed, but laid her gently on the grass. Sasuke hunched over her from the other side.
“Sakura,” Naruto slapped her cheeks gently, trying to get her to come to. He glanced up at Sasuke. “What happened?”
Sasuke shook his head. “She was just looking around when she fell.”
Naruto called out her name again. Sakura’s eyelids fluttered before she came to. “Naruto?” Sakura was disoriented; she couldn’t think of where she was or why she was there.
“Sakura, are you okay? What happened?” Naruto asked, helping her sit up slowly.
Sakura shook her head as she tried to collect her thoughts. “I don’t remember…” She hesitated. “Oh, I remembered something from my past. That man over there. I recognized him, and then I had a flashback to this dungeon where this man who looked similar to that guy, but they aren’t the same person, tortured me.” Sakura stifled a sob that threatened to break free.
Naruto helped her to her feet. “Are you going to be able to continue?” he asked.
Sakura nodded. “Ya, I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
Naruto exchanged a look with Sasuke. They were both worried about her. They couldn’t afford to have her fainting during the next stage; it was supposed to be extremely difficult and dangerous. They would need her to advance.
Naruto watched Sakura try and catch her breath. His heart went out to her. He admired that she was even here after all she had been through. He couldn’t imagine what life would be like if he woke up one day and couldn’t remember who he was, what had happened all those years back, or why it had happened.
The fact that she could still smile and go about her day was more than what any person, who had gone through the same ordeal, could do. He was proud of her. He would protect her through the forest. He would guard her with his life.
Normal POV
I couldn’t believe I had blanked like that, and right in front of all the teams! Now, we would be a target by everyone. They would think we were the weakest link, and that I was the worst one of the team. I owed Naruto and Sasuke an apology, but they wouldn’t accept it, dismissing me saying it would be fine.
They were too good to me. I didn’t deserve their kindness or tolerance of me. I knew Naruto well enough now to know he would go out of his way to protect me. By doing so, he would be putting his life in danger, and I would not let that happen. I was not going to be held accountable for that. I would have to tell him flat out that I would not allow it.
But, I didn’t get the chance. Our new proctor, Anko, announced that the next stage: The Forest of Death, had started.
I led my team into the caged area. I was ready to face this new challenge, and I knew my team was too. We could do this; I had complete faith in them. Taking a deep breath, we headed farther and farther into the depths of the forest. Before we knew it we would be in that tower in the center of the forest with both scrolls in hand. Of that, I was sure.
