Chapter Text
This time, Sakura actually came prepared.
She had an hour before the exams to gear up, so there was plenty of time to waste. She searched every single one of her drawers, grabbing all her weapons-- kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags-- and stuffed them into her pockets. Obviously her two tiny bags wouldn't be able to carry all of it, so the excess went into her storage scroll instead, that she tucked away on her belt.
It took quite a while to look for and fit everything, and constantly glancing at the clock on her wall didn't help with her anxiety as the hour was passing by.
Not wanting to get stabbed in the throat again, Sakura tied her forehead protector around her neck instead of the top of her head. It was a bit flimsy, but after some adjusting, it was firmly wrapped around her neck.
But then her hair was getting in her eyes now, and she thought of using the ribbon Ino got her so long ago, but no. She could just use a regular headband.
In the bathroom, looking in the mirror, Sakura assessed her appearance.
The red rim under her eyes from all that crying she did faded away after taking a shower, so her face was as good as new! No one would have to suspect a thing now, thank god.
Eugh, imagine if they thought she cried because she was scared of the exams... The mere thought of that made her cringe.
Sakura's long hair was nicely combed like it always was. Should she tie it? It was only a bit annoying when it would get in her face when she was in combat or literally doing anything, however, she could get past it. Letting her hair flow free made her feel free! She was proud of her long hair-- she'd been growing it out for 6 years now.
Even though Sasuke never noticed it, maybe he would eventually!
Her dress was smooth as always, since her and her mother put a lot of care into folding them and making sure there were NO wrinkles.
Alright, she looked good and she was prepared.
Time to go then.
Sakura exited the bathroom and came back into her room. The clock on her wall said it was 3 minutes past 8 in the morning, and the exams started at 8:15! Oh sage, she was almost late again!
She sped out her room and down the stairs.
She thought with her time loop powers-- oh right, she was... a time traveler now. It was a strange concept she was still trying to wrap her head around-- Sakura would stop making the same mistakes again and again, but it seemed that was just not the case.
Maybe next loop.
(Actually, she hoped there wouldn't be a next loop cause that would mean she would have to die yet again.)
Sakura peeked around the kitchen wall, peering at her parents sat at the table. Well, this was a little new. If breakfast was ready, wouldn't her mother have called her?
She sucked a breath in and walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, mother, father."
"Gooooood morning, sweet pea," her dad said. He glanced up from the papers he was working on and at her, scanning her briefly. "Doing something new?"
"Yup, I guess so."
Sakura sat down, plate of food already set.
"You seem quite ready for the Chunin Exams," her mother commented. "We heard you rummaging around a lot upstairs."
Was that why they didn't call her for breakfast? Well, that was nice, Sakura supposed. She had always wanted her parents to not bother her when she was busy, but never had the courage to actually ask, so that was nice.
Sakura hummed in reply, eating up her food quickly, as she only had 12 minutes to get to the Academy, yet with grace as she was in front of her parents right now.
Eating right now made Sakura realize that when it came to the Forest of Death, she didn't just need to keep herself and her teammates safe, but also keep track of food, water, and other resources.
Anko had said that there was a 5 day time limit, and getting a scroll would be no easy task, so who knew how long Team 7 was going to stay in the forest.
Sakura swallowed her food.
They had so many things to worry about. She wasn't sure if she would be able to keep a straight mind with so much weight.
But come on! Sakura had to stay focused and be strong, otherwise, how else was she going to not die!? Kakashi most likely had to deal with war when he was her age-- how hard was it to go through a forest?
It was probably a good idea to write these things down.
Sakura pushed her unfinished plate of food to her dad, knowing that he would eat it, and stood up from her chair. "I'm going in just a minute now-- thank you for breakfast, mother."
"You're welcome. And stay safe!" Her mother sighed. "I still think you're not ready though, you know. You're just a little girl. Being a shinobi is tough and dangerous. But you're already going, so no point in stopping you, I suppose."
Sakura nodded, waiting for her mother to finish, before going to her room upstairs to snag a small notebook from her drawers, along with a pen. It was one of the many notebooks she bought in preparation for studying in the Academy. Since she had bought so many, a few went unused, so this one was empty.
Even if the loops would reset her writing, it was still a good idea to take some notes to keep her thoughts in order, instead of it all just being jumbled and bottled up in her mind.
It would be like journaling!
The Chunin Exams would be very stressful, and cracking under the pressure wouldn't be helpful, so writing her thoughts down was going to be good.
Sakura left her room and went back downstairs, passing by the kitchen on her way to the front door, calling out, "Bye! I'm leaving now."
"See ya! We love you!!"
"Come home soon, Sakura. Stay safe!"
Outside, Sakura kicked the door behind her shut and pulled out her notebook as she sped through her way to the Academy.
THINGS TO KEEP TRACK OF:
Resources in the Forest of Death.
The easiest way to get food was through fishing, and from the map Anko showed, there was a big river that ran through the middle of the forest. Team 7 could easily choose to go through the gates near that area for easy and early access for food, however, a lot of other genin most certainly had the same idea. And a lot of genin would also want to make their way to the river, where Team 7 would possibly be camping at.
Maybe next loop, which there would hopefully not be one, Sakura should get geared up a lot quicker and stop by the market to get a bag full of nutrition bars.
Could she go get them right now, Sakura wondered. She had no money on her, and was almost late already, so she would have to run back to her house, get money, go to the market to buy the nutrition bars, and get back on track to the Academy-- and as much as Sakura would like to say that she could do all of that in 3-4 minutes, she knew that it would definitely take a lot longer. Which would mean she would get her and her team disqualified.
Sakura continued to write.
Look out for the grass ninja.
Sakura tapped her pen on her chin. But how would they look out for the grass ninja?
She made flipped to a new page and made a new section.
NOTES ON OTHERS:
The grass ninja: she can summon giant snakes that are incredibly difficult to avoid. She has terrifying killer intent, as she can make us see our own deaths a hundred times over and feel every bit of it (was it genjutsu or killing intent? Unsure). She has exceptional speed, strength, and sensory abilities, as she seemingly could find us again and again no matter how much distance we made with her or how good our hiding spots were. Also gets excited with blood.)
Sakura shivered as she remembered the grass ninja sneaking up on Naruto and Anko, doing that weird ass thing with her tongue.
The sand ninja: a team of 3, all very capable when it comes to stealth however, not very physically strong. They seem to go for ambushes rather than direct combat.
Okay! That was enough noting. She had to get to the Academy now, quick.
X X X
"Hmph, let's go."
After a comment by Naruto on her new placement of her forehead protector, he and Sakura followed Sasuke into the Academy building.
Within the hallways, a crowd had formed and Team 7 confidently walked through it. Or at least Sakura and Sasuke did. Naruto seemed confused, falling behind a little.
"This is a genjutsu," Sasuke declared, referring to the two genin blocking the doorway and the floor number sign hanging above them. "We're on the first floor. This door is supposed to lead to the second, not the third. I'm sure you noticed, right Sakura?"
"That's right."
Something Sakura was realizing was that she needed to find ways to cut conversations like these short. Otherwise, the majority of her time would be spent on listening in on interactions she already had been through 3 times already.
Maybe with this interaction, she would confront the two "genin" blocking the doorway herself. They obviously weren't playing nice, so asking politely wouldn't make them budge. She wondered that if they attempted to kick her like they always did with Sasuke, would Lee step in and save her the trouble, especially considering he would have a crush on her first sight?
As the scene went on like it usually did, Sakura wrote these thoughts down.
CUTTING INTERACTIONS SHORT:
Approach the two ninja at the door, let Rock Lee handle their aggression.
It would still be a bit scary doing something like that, though-- even if she knew what would happen, her flight or fight senses would certainly kick in the moment they'd try attacking her.
After she finished, she put her notebook away. "Let's hurry up, guys."
"Sakura, what did you write down?" Naruto asked as Team 7 was about to go through the now unblocked doorway.
Her eyebrow twitched. Nosy as always, Naruto. "Well--"
"Pardon me."
Sigh...
Rock Lee slid in front of her. "Your name is Sakura, correct?"
"Sorry, not interested."
"But you haven't even--"
"OI!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping in. "No means no, bushy brows!"
Sakura sweatdropped. Not that he would know, considering he continuously asked her out even after she told him no for the millionth time.
"Let's go," Sasuke told, pushing past Lee.
"Hold on," a boy's voice, Neji, called out. "You, the black haired one, what's your name?"
Naruto complained about the fact that everyone always asked Sasuke for his name but never him, as the Uchiha and Hyuuga exchanged names.
Sakura stared at the Neji guy for a moment before his team and Team 7 parted ways.
The fact that Lee, who was on Neji's team, beat up Sasuke, really just came to show how extremely out of league Team 7-- and the entirety of rookie 9, if she was being honest-- were compared to everyone else.
If her theory about the three exams being intel, survival, and combat were true, then the idea that all the mediocre and bad ninja would be wiped out in the Written Test and Forest of Death, leaving just all the more capable ones, was extremely concerning to her.
"So what were you writing, Sakura?!"
"Plans."
"Really? What kind!? Can we use them!?"
She shook her head, pulling out her notebook. "I'll tell you later."
The other plans, she would tell him. Not these ones.
She flipped to a new page, writing down another section.
CONCERNS:
If my three exams theory ends up being true, then fighting only the strong ninja in the combat test is BAD.
She underlined the word "bad" heavily.
"Stop right there!" Lee from above called out.
Sakura's head snapped up to him. "We don't have the time, Lee."
"Ah, I understand, Sakura, but it is not you who I got my eyes on, currently." He pointed at Sasuke. "Uchiha, I would like to challenge you."
Sakura turned to her teammate. "Sasuke--"
X X X
Time passed as she had failed to get her teammates to not waste time on this again. Naruto got beat up again. Sasuke got beat up again. The turtle appeared again. But once Sakura got both Sasuke and Naruto back on their feet, she dragged them away.
Not going through another 5 minutes of conversation with Gai.
"Hi, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura greeted, when they entered the hall.
"Eh?" Naruto made a face. "Sensei? What are you doing here?"
"Hello, you three," Kakashi told. "I see you came too, Sakura."
Sakura was about to open her mouth, to tell him that of course she did and that they should all get going, she paused.
What was that supposed to mean?
Well, yes, Kakashi explained it twice already, about how he'd lied to them when he said the chunin exams was an individual choice and that if Naruto and Sasuke knew about the truth, they would have pressured Sakura even if she didn't want to.
But why did he have to single out her? Why was it that she was the one who hypothetically wouldn't want to enter the exams?
Sakura frowned. She didn't catch the... weird implications last time.
Well... she supposed she wasn't the strongest out of the four. Far from it.
Still left a bad taste in her mouth.
WELL. It just meant she needed to do better!
Once Kakashi finished with his explanation, he side-stepped, letting them through and wished them luck.
Naruto was about to barrel through the doors again, yelling, but Sakura held him back by the scruff. "We have no idea what's behind there, Naruto!" she told, letting go and walking past the disgruntled blonde.
She smiled at Kakashi, which he returned, and the three genin entered.
"Oh man, good thing you held me back, Sakura..." Naruto whispered, looking at the massive crowd of ninja with huge eyes.
Sakura nodded, feeling a little smug. "I know." She turned to them. "Alright, so um... team meeting guys?"
"About what?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, well um..." She fidgeted with the hem of her dress, face starting to heat up. She was still so unused to this! "Let's go... over there, so we have some privacy!"
They walked to the corner she'd pointed at and they all crouched, forming a circle (more like triangle, but yeah).
"I read up on these exams, through a classified scroll from a chunin, so the source I got this from is very reliable, alright?" Sakura made sure. Naruto nodded vigorously, yet Sasuke still looked slightly unconvinced. She wondered why. "Basically, this exam has two parts, although, I think there's a third, but that's a theory-- there's one that tests our intel and then our survival. The first is a written test--"
"Oh man a written test--!?"
"--but don't worry, cause it's a fakeout. Basically, you're supposed to test your stealth skills and how well you can cheat since the questions are so hard, it's needed." Sakura scratched her chin. "Although, I think it's also a pressure test, because they put a lot of stressful rules down like, if you fail you never get to compete in the exams again--"
"WH--"
"Again, it's a fakeout!" Sakura placated Naruto before he exploded. "You don't even have to answer the questions to pass, so..."
"What about the second one?" Sasuke asked.
"Okay, um, so there's this place called the Forest of Death--"
Naruto snorted. "What kind of name is that?"
Sakura shrugged. "It's a really dangerous place, as well as big and all the remaining genin from the first test will get one of two scrolls-- heaven and earth. There's a tower in the middle, and the goal is to get there, through the forest, with both scrolls and all your teammates alive and in-capitated. Which means... we'll have to make a strategy if we want to get out of the forest as soon as possible which... we definitely do."
"Wow... that... sounds like a lot of work," Naruto said.
"Well, if you're not up for it, why are you taking the exam in the first place?" Sasuke scoffed.
"Never said I wasn't up for it-- and its the next step in becoming Hokage!"
"Which is why we need a plan," Sakura butted in. "What do all of you have on you?"
"Uh..." Naruto dug around in his pockets and pouches. "I got like.... explosive tags. A bunch of them. And kunai, and shuriken."
"I have the same and ninja wire," Sasuke stated. "I sharpened my kunai and shuriken this morning."
Shoot. Sakura should do that later!
"SASUKE! YOU MADE IT!"
Sakura winced at the volume.
Not only that, but it looked like their time was up. They were found.
Team 7 stood up, and Sasuke shuffled backwards, at the sight of Team 10 arriving. More specifically Ino.
Sakura stepped in front of him, crossing her arms, "Rude to be interrupting a team meeting, you know, Ino-pig."
The blonde mirrored her pose. "Really? Trying to use that billboard-brow of yours, huh?" She flipped her hair. Ugh, of course, Ino always had longer hair than her. "No matter. It's not like head size determines brain size, or whatever you said back at the academy."
Sakura eyerolled. "Well, unlike you and your team lazing around and gaining weight by eating barbeque, my team and I were actually strategizing--"
"EXCUS--"
"Well well, the whole gangs here!" Kiba jumped in, interrupting Choji.
Sakura looked over to the crowd of shinobi. A few heads were turned to them. "Hey guys, keep it down. You'll attract a lot of attention."
Shikamaru looked too. "Ah, geez, I guess so." But he raised an annoyed eyebrow at her. "You were the one butting heads with Ino though."
Sakura huffed. "I think I was keeping myself moderately quiet. Plus, Choji's the one that was about to scream--"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Naruto shouted at Kiba.
Sakura slapped his head. "Naruto! What did I just say?"
"But he said--"
"What did I just say?"
"Uh...."
Okay, so he hadn't even heard her.
"We're in a room full of strange shinobi," she whispered. "We're not gonna make it if all of them are on our tails for yelling."
"Also, we still need to continue that team meeting," Sasuke joined in.
Kiba psh'ed. "Really? You'd rather talk plans than catch up with your old friends?"
"Yeah, I would rather that than talk with you losers."
"Losers--!? Well I--"
"Don't care," Sasuke said, coolly as always, walking away.
Team 7 huddled into the corner opposite from the other rookies.
"Uhh.... so what were we talking about again?" Naruto asked.
"Strategy, dimwit."
"Oh yeah... I'm not uh, very good at that stuff."
Sasuke sighed, turning to Sakura expectantly.
She fidgeted. "Well, um... I'm not sure how ready any of us are for fighting head on-- not one that we don't know the abilities of, at least. We'll probably be needing to set a trap. Since we all have explosive tags and Sasuke has ninja wire, we could set up a trap like that?"
This was what they were going to do last time, but were attacked before they could even begin setting the trap up.
"That's true, but a trap is something we'd need to set up in a deeper part of the forest," Sasuke told.
"Hey, I have an idea!" Naruto jumped in.
It was never exactly good when Naruto had an idea.
Both Sakura and Sasuke shared the same expression.
"What if we attack one of those guys?" Naruto whispered, pointing across the room, where Team 10 and Team 8 were huddled, talking with Kabuto. "We know the abilities they have. Plus they're like super--"
"I'm not so sure about that, Naruto," Sakura told. "They're all clan kids-- you know, Hinata has the Byakugan, Shino has his bugs, Ino-pig has her mind transfer jutsu--"
"Like we don't," Sasuke jumped in. "I'm an Uchiha. I have the Sharingan."
Yes, we know.
Naruto deadpanned. "Uhh, yeah, well, we don't."
"Actually, you do," Sakura said, pointing at him. "You're an Uzumaki. Uzumakis are known for their big chakra pools."
"Wait wait wait... you're saying I have a clan--?"
Sakura pursed her lips, barely hiding a scowl. Yes, you do, idiot.
"ALRIGHT YOU BRATS!!!" Ibiki yelled, making Sakura jump, as he and a dozen other ninja came into the room with a large, dramatic puff of smoke. "SETTLE DOWN! THE FIRST TEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"
Alright, later then.
Sakura's head snapped back to Naruto. "Remember, it's a fake out. Just stay calm and don't. Say. Anything."
"You got it, Sakura!" Naruto told.
Everyone got into their seats and Ibiki began explaining the rules. She tuned him out, instead pulling out her notebook.
TO-DO LIST:
Sharpen weapons (although, with the limited 1 hour I have before the exams, it may not be possible unless you do it in the Forest of Death).
Make up new backup strategies.
Ask Naruto about using the bathroom.
Sakura flipped back a few pages.
CUTTING INTERACTIONS SHORT:
(Fighting with Lee) Firmly turn down his offer and put foot down when Sasuke and Naruto don't budge. Use force if needed.
(Kakashi's talk) Tell him we're running late. (Remember to say hi though!) - if on time, put on a good smile and say that we should be getting to the exams as soon as possible.
A chunin passed by, placing the test down on her desk. Sakura gave a nod of thanks and went back to writing.
(Rookie 9) FIRMLY state we're having a team meeting and leave no room for argument.
"Hey, you with the pink hair!" Ibiki called. Sakura shot up. "Stop writing down nonsense and start working on the test."
Sakura flushed, embarrassed at the callout as people looked at her. "Right, sorry sir!"
When he looked away, Sakura stuck out her tongue before pulling it back.
The deathly glare he sent her way told her that he very much saw it.
She looked down at her test, disturbed.
X X X
"Hey Naruto, do you need to use the bathroom before we go?" Sakura asked. Anko finished up explaining the Forest of Death and Team 7 was mentally preparing for the storm up ahead.
"Huh? Oh... well now that you mention it, yeah kinda." Naruto nodded. "I'll be right back! Then we can go in and kick some ass, believe it!"
Okay, that was done now.
After Naruto dashed off to the restrooms (having to ask a proctor about where they were), Sakura, no matter how much she fought it, briefly glanced at Sasuke.
He still stared at her suspiciously.
But why?
Sakura turned back around, walking away from him and instead began ambling around the area, pulling out her notebook.
She flipped to a brand new page.
THOUGHTS:
Sasuke is very perceptive, so he would be able to notice when I act differently. Not to say that I'm even being subtle-- because I'm not. I have never taken very much initiative before, unless it was a basic D-rank mission when he and Naruto were butting heads. So, suddenly, I'm taking the lead, I have all this information on these exams, that ends up being true, and suggesting strategies on surviving in the forest.
Maybe he's less suspicious and more curious?
Sakura chuckled with mirth. Sasuke being curious about her? That thought filled her with a funny feeling.
Well, this is a good thing, anyway. It means I'm making a difference, right?
Sakura pocketed her notebook.
There was so much stuff she had to do next time-- and again, she hoped there wouldn't have to be a next time. It was somewhat unlikely that they would get through the Forest of Death successfully this loop and whatever next test there would be, however, Sakura didn't anticipate going through the experience of dying again.
Sakura stopped near the fence of the Forest of Death, putting her back against it as she sat down. She turned her head, looking over her shoulder, and into the forest.
Was she really ready for this?
Well, probably not.
Realistically, if she died last time, and Sakura wasn't any stronger than she had been before, what was stopping her from dying this time?
She was only a bit more prepared, with a lot more gear and all, but would that gear really be able to protect her and her team from that grass ninja? Or hell, any other ninja? How would she even be able to get stronger in such a short, yet packed period of time such as this?
Sakura fiddled with her pen.
Well, she supposed there were at least a few ways:
1: improve her reaction time. Sakura supposed she wouldn't be able to get any physically stronger, as the loops would reset everything, which included her body, so any training was basically useless if she were to loop back. Reaction time, however, was mental. Her mind would stay the same throughout the loops, as she still held her memory, so, if she trained her reaction time, she would no longer be so slow as to have a kunai pierce her throat again.
But there was a problem, no? Trauma had an impact on the physical brain itself. Even if Sakura would still remember what happened, her brain wouldn't be catching up, therefore, improvement for her reaction time could really only work on paper.
Or maybe the trauma would still carry over?
Sakura didn't know. No one ever studied if effects on the brain would carry over through time travel.
2: improve on her speed. This was more of a theory, but was it possible to trick her body into retaining speed she trained for in a previous loop? This would apply to her reaction time as well, and maybe physical strength, but that was a big maybe.
Her body and mind were two different things, but still connected. If she ran every single day, then her body would get used to it, adapting to the routine, leading to a gradual increase in stamina and speed, as would her mind. Her physical body wasn't able to carry over through loops, but her mind would be able to-- if her mind, where it would have adapted to exercise, could carry over, was it possible that it could have the body retain the speed and stamina?
Sakura would just have to see.
3: her aim. Sakura's aim was great-- it would only take her a little less then a second to calculate the distance and what angle she would need to aim in order to hit the target, especially if it was moving.
But even if it was good, it could be better. She'd only gotten 2nd place of all time in target practice, after all, being right behind Shikamaru. Which pissed her off greatly considering that he always looked like he wasn't even trying. She could beat that lazy bum of a ninja!
Luckily, unlike the other two, Sakura knew for sure she had to train for her aim and it would still carry over in the loops.
TRAINING:
Speed
Reaction time
Aim
Team 7 regrouped and looked into the forest ahead.
So, how would they avoid getting into a fight this time? Those ninja that attacked them last time seemed to favor amushing, so they needed to keep an eye out. Nobody on Team 7 was a senser, unfortunately. Not a good one, anyway. Well... except for Sasuke, maybe, considering he was the most skilled of the three.
Well... why not just ask him?
Sakura turned to her teammate, "Hey, um..." she spoke, "Sasuke, how good are your sensing abilities?"
"They're alright." Sasuke scratched his cheek. "Someone would have be close for me to even catch onto their chakra signature."
"Hey, you should ask about my sensing abilities!" Naruto exclaimed.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "No, I already know what they are."
Bad, was what they were.
"Well, it's a very possible chance that we'll be getting ambushed," Sakura said. "Just keep a keen eye out, okay?"
She suppressed a shiver, thinking about Zabuza's blade coming to them through the air, nearly decapitating them all.
Hopefully they wouldn't run into someone like him.
Or... maybe they already had. The grass ninja was utterly terrifying. Would she be as strong as someone like Zabuza? They had no Kakashi to protect them now.
Sakura stiffened.
They had no Kakashi now.
They were going into absolute danger alone with no Kakashi. Without Kakashi, without him jumping to save them from those ninja from the puddle, without his warning to duck when Zabuza's blade was coming at them, without him, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto would be dead. She thought back to when Zabuza was coming at her, blade in full swing-- she had screamed, thinking she was gonna die, and she would have, had Kakashi not jumped in and took the slash for her.
And now, there was no Kakashi. He had always been there to guide and help all of them in stressful stiuations, and now he wouldn't be here. It was just the three of them against danger like the grass ninja and no Kakashi.
Oh god.
They weren't ready at all! Not her, anyway. She wasn't ready. Hardly. She already died twice now.
How were they going to stay in this forest for 5 days straight? With a bunch of unknown ninja?
She had infinite repeats, so how many times would she have to repeat?
"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto said, catching her attention. "How much more do you know about these exams? Cause everything you said before was right."
"Oh, uh... not much other than these two tests. If there's a third, I'm assuming it'll be combat focused, because the Chunin Exams are supposed to test our skills as ninja, which are intel, survival, and combat."
"If that's true, then we should play it safe," Sasuke said. "It wouldn't be very good to come into a fight injured, would it?"
Sakura involuntarily paused, before shaking it off.
She thought she was going to be interrupted by Naruto yelling about the incoming attack.
"Yeah, so, we should stay as low as possible."
"But if we're too slow, everyone's gonna get to the tower before us!" Naruto interjected.
Huh... he had a good point.
"Well... sorry, I dunno!" Sakura lowered her head, shamefully looking at the ground. "Let's just analyze first?"
Sasuke hmphed. "Probably. But let's not be too slow, or someone may attack us while we're distracted."
"R-right."
Sage, she was already messing up.
"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS!" Anko's voice boomed, via her megaphone. "THE SECOND TEST BEGINS IN 3.... 2... 1!"
The gates opened and Team 7 entered the Forest of Death.
It was just as dark and murky as it had been the last two times. The sunlight barely reached through.
Sasuke led them through the place, stepping over vines, bushes, and carefully navigating the general forestry.
So, taking a detour last time didn't help. It seemed those Sand ninja were purposefully searching out for them, for whatever reason. Maybe the three of them just looked like good targets. Or maybe it was just the fact that they were the closest? Sakura hadn't checked if the Sand nin were at the gate beside them.
Sakura darted her eyes everywhere. The enemies wouldn't attack until 15 minutes into the forest. So it was best to stay alert.
Naruto didn't ask about any further knowledge she held about the exams thankfully, as he already asked earlier, so he was as silent as a mouse now. Well, almost. His footsteps weren't particularly muted.
Sakura took her time to analyze the place as they walked. The forest was very closed in and bundled together, making a lot of hiding spots, which was a good and bad thing, as they would be easy able to hide, but enemies would be able to as well. And if she remembered correctly-- which she did because she always remembered correctly-- deeper in the forest, the trees would get a lot bigger but separate from one another, making more room.
She itched to write this information down, but they were in dangerous territory right now. Making any unnecessary noise was a no-go.
Occasionally, she would glance above, making sure there were no kunai coming down to them. They would most definitely hear the sizzling of the explosive tag if there were one, but she couldn't help it.
What if they all died from getting exploded? That was... certainly a fate.
Sakura loathed the thought of her or her teammate's limbs being blown off. (Most) explosive tags weren't THAT powerful as for something like that to happen, but... it was possible.
Behind her, a very dry branch was crunched under someone's sandal.
Her heart jumped. She whirled around, kunai in hand.
Naruto looked from the branch under his foot and up to the extremely alert Sakura, sheepish.
"Ugh, Naruto!" Sakura scolded. She quickly covered her mouth, realizing her volume.
She turned back around, looking away, embarrassed but also, more scared than she had been.
"Sorry, Sakura..." Naruto whispered, pained.
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let's get out of here before someone decides to come to our location."
Idiot, idiot, idiot!
Sakura took her hand away from her mouth, having it join the grip on her kunai with her other. She decided she could be embarrassed about her mistake later.
They sped up, still quiet and careful of course. As they did, Sasuke pulled out a shuriken and threw it in their previous direction.
For a moment, she inwardly panicked again, thinking that there was an enemy behind them. But Sakura looked over her shoulder, and no one was there.
"Teme, what did you do that for?"
"Distraction. If someone was coming over to there, I'd want them to think that we are still over there."
Sakura smiled. "That's smart! So, you threw a shuriken to make more noise over there, taking away the attention from over here?"
Sasuke smirked, smug. "That's right--"
"LOOK OUT, GUYS!!!" Naruto exclaimed.
Sakura sharply gasped, barreling out of the way, taking her teammates with her. They landed in a big shrub of bushes, saving them from the hard dirt and with the force she had thrown all of them out of the way, probably a concussion too.
The kunai landed on their original spot, in the grass, before the explosive tag set off.
Team 7 scrambled off of the ground, and Sakura, with a lot of error, finally got a hold onto her kunai with shaky hands.
Who was it now?
She looked behind them. Last time, the Sand ninja had snuck up behind Sasuke and held him at kunai to the throat. But the three were grouped together now, so, they would most likely be safe from anything like that.
And there it was again, the sizzling of an explosive tag and the whizzing of a kunai, coming to them.
Someone-- she hoped were one of her teammates-- grabbed the back of her dress and tugged her to them. The kunai flew past them. It stabbed into a tree instead, setting off into an explosion.
It was probably those Sand ninja again. They certainly liked their explosive tags.
Alright, come on, stay focused, Sakura.
She got off the ground, where she had fell backwards onto when she was pulled back. She looked behind her, seeing Naruto there, alert.
She would thank him later.
Which there would hopefully be one in this loop.
Sakura looked over to Sasuke, who's sharingan was activated. It seemed they were all waiting for the next attack. And she saw light bounce off of something in the shadows behind him. "BEHIND YOU!"
Sasuke didn't try to turn around at her warning. He immediately jumped away, joining Naruto and Sakura.
The sand ninja that was attempting a sneak attack on him left to elsewhere.
"U--Uh... wh-what do we do?" Sakura asked.
"They seem fast, but they also seem to be cowards," Sasuke told. Ah, she did observe that they were ambushers earlier. He was right. "We'll have to fight them head on."
"I-I'm not so sure about that--"
Last time didn't go so well.
But then again... wasn't that only because she couldn't handle it? Naruto and Sasuke did quite finely. She was the one that got killed.
Come on, you have infinite retries.
Be brave.
Damnit, alright!
Sakura prepared her kunai.
She had to use it right this time.
Team 7 got into triangle formation, backs to each other, scanning the place.
Theoretically, since these sand ninja favored ambushes, the three of them must have been scattered around. The team must have been in 3 of the 4 directions on the ground, or above. Perhaps one would come out first, then as Team 7 were distracted with them, the other two would come out. It was a decent strategy, but also an obvious one, so what were the chances that that was what they were going to do?
Yet another kunai came into their direction, and they all jumped out of the way, staying huddled together. The explosion set off.
Sasuke threw shuriken, spotting the enemies moving to them before she did.
Oh shit! So they were using that strategy, but their distraction was a kunai instead.
Alright, here we go.
Naruto and Sasuke engaged a battle with the two ninja, and Sakura felt a presence coming behind her. She turned around, dodging instead of immediately clashing (because that had ended so well last time).
She thought she'd been fast, but no. The Sand nin shot a kunai at her. Her heart dropped probably into her ass, seeing the explosive tag attached to it, and jerked away. It got her by a graze.
Come on, Sakura. You geared up for this!
That she did!
The explosive tag set off behind her, making her jump.
In Sakura's moment of distraction, the Sand ninja came at her.
She was supposed to be smart. She was the smartest one. She was the intel person. She had to keep a straight mind. She had to figure out what the smartest course of action here was. So that way, she wouldn't die again.
Okay, so, they were coming right at her. With a kunai. She could duck. Or she could go to the side. The Sand ninja would expect both. She could tackle herself into them. Throw her head into their abdomen. It was unexpected, it would hurt. But it was also risky. What if it would only stun them for a moment, and then they'd regain their composure, and stab her? Wouldn't be good. Obviously.
What if she stabbed them as she tackled into them? No. They would see it coming. Right? She had a fucking kunai in her hand and running at them would obviously make them go, "oh yeah she's trying to stab me." No shit.
What if she used her kunai as a decoy to distract them and then she jumped at them? Not a bad plan. Better than the other two. Well. Still as risky as the first. But had more of a chance of succeeding.
What if she kicked them in the crotch? Sakura couldn't tell if the Sand ninja was a boy or a girl.
What if she just ran away? They were probably faster than her. Plus it was cowardly. Plus it was weak. Plus it was stupid.
What if what if what if.
Okay, but what if she ran at them with her kunai in hand, making them think, "oh yeah she's trying to stab me," then throw her kunai, catching them off guard, and then ramming her head into their abdomen?
Sounds good.
Yeah. Sounded good.
Unfortunately, Sakura hesitated a moment too long to pull off this plan and ended up clashing kunai with the Sand ninja once more when they came at her.
Holy sage. What an idiot she was. She knew what to do, what she was supposed to do, how to do it, and yet here she was again. About to die.
Sage, fuck this.
She jerked away from the fight. She ran off, performing a substitution jutsu.
She hoped her teammates didn't think she was abandoning them.
A kunai whizzed behind her, before she knew it, lodged itself into her back for a moment. And now, Sakura was in the place of the kunai she'd thrown earlier. The Sand ninja, the quick thinker they seemed, realized this when the kunai they threw at her just bounced off of another kunai after a poof, instead of her own body.
Poor bastard was too slow to turn around though, as Sakura already tackled them onto the hard dirt.
She was easily going to get overpowered in this fight. She knew that. So what could she do? Where was she supposed to go from here?
Shit I don't know, punch them!
Sakura's punches were lackluster and weak, but maybe if she channeled enough of her adrenaline, she could break the Sand ninja's nose or something.
So she did.
Right after, Sakura was kicked away, and her back crashed onto the ground with a knuckle smeared with blood.
From here, she had no idea where to go, other than call for a savior, "HELP!! SASUKE--!! NARUTO--!!"
"I GOT YOU SAKURA!!!!" Naruto announced, ramming himself into the Sand ninja.
She quickly glanced over to where he had been originally-- Sasuke had just taken down the Sand nin he'd been fighting, looking roughed up but still sped his way to his team, and the other Sand nin (that Sakura assumed Naruto had been fighting) was gone. As in... they were nowhere to be found.
Sakura got onto her feet-- no time to sit on her ass, she knew, as she whirled around, looking for wherever that Sand nin could be. Sasuke, when he arrived, briefly gave her a check over scan before helping Naruto fight.
It was 2 standing, capable and angry genin versus a single one with a broken nose. They beat the shit out of the Sand ninja.
"Guys, I--" Sakura spoke.
And far too late, she heard the whizzing of kunai coming at her, and looked up, watching it stab into her eye and felt it pierce her skull--
Sakura felt her chakra explode.
Loop 3
Jerking back, Sakura's hands shot to her eye.
The adrenaline running through her had cancelled out the pain, but she sure as hell still felt it stabbing through her head.
Absolutely revolting.
The feeling of the kunai inserting itself through her eye, slicing its way through replayed through her mind. She could remember the feeling of her eye bursting open and spilling all of it's jelly contents out, and good SAGE she needed to throw up.
No.
Sakura swallowed down the bile.
Because she was fine.
She was back in her bed, staring at her ceiling, clutching her blankets for something that didn't even matter right now because she went back in time...
She listened to the outside, where the birds chirped, the breeze blew, cicadas buzzed, and people walked and talked.
She was still in the world, and not dead.
Her eye was fine, she was fine, her teammates were fine.
Sakura... was fine.
Alive.
Not dead! Because she was, like, a time traveler now...
Alright.
Sakura still felt like throwing up.
She rubbed her eyes.
She had the Chunin Exams to get to, no? Looking over at the clock on her wall, she had already wasted 5 minutes. But gods, she didn't want to go through all of that again. Not even just having to listen to everybody, but the whole Forest of Death. She was probably gonna die again! This was her third time dying now. First, she got her head cracked open by being flung into a tree by a giant snake, then she had a kunai pierce her throat, and now... all of that happened.
The Forest of Death was scary, and the dangers they would have to face was even scarier.
Sakura half groaned and half sighed miserably.
Alright, come on, Sakura, she willed herself. Sasuke and Naruto were waiting on her.
Well, were going to.
Sakura got out of bed and did what she usually did. Shower, comb hair, gear up. This time she did not have to spend nearly a whole hour looking for weapons and fitting them into her pouches and scrolls.
It only took about 15 minutes to get ready, so there was 40 minutes left now. She had enough time to grab those nutrition bars and still make it to the Academy with 20 minutes left to spare, most likely.
Going downstairs, her dad was at the table, drinking coffee, working on those documents (and briefly, Sakura wondered what they were, but were probably just some boring work things), and her mother was preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, mother, dad."
"Good morning, Sakura."
"Gooooood morning, sweet pea," her dad said. He glanced up from the documents and at her, scanning her briefly. "Doing something new?"
"Yup." Sakura put her hands behind her back with a smile. "I think I'll need to skip breakfast and also--"
"Skip breakfast?" her mother questioned, looking over her shoulder. "But it's the Chunin Exams! I even planned something a little more high calorie for you so you can go in with a full stomach."
Sakura held in a sigh. She was annoyed, but also, felt bad if she left her mother like that. "Alright," she said, sitting down. "But I also need some money-- I have to buy some... supplies for me and my teammates for the Chunin Exams."
"Oh?" her mother questioned, having turned back to the kitchen counter already. "Why didn't you do so yesterday? Now you'll be in a hurry."
Sakura's eye twitched, getting embarrassed at the callout. "I know. But it won't take that long, anyway. I'll only be needing a twenty-three-hundred ryo."
Her mother hummed. "Alright, well, I'm making breakfast right now, so Kizashi, go get our daughter some money."
After writing one more kanji down, her dad grunted an, "Alright," as he reached for his wallet.
Sakura got the money secured into her pouch. She put her hands on the table, intertwining them and fiddling with her thumbs, glancing at the clock more than occasionally.
So, it seemed she wouldn't be having 20 minutes left to spare when she got to the Academy. Her mother would finish cooking breakfast at 7:50 or so (it was 7:27 right now), Sakura remembered, and it would take about 5 minutes to finish eating, or 3 if she really wanted to be speedy. Then, she would run off to the market, and taking her past experiences of going to there into consideration, it would take about 21 minutes of walking, and 8 minutes of running-- but the thing was, was that Sakura wasn't particularly good at running and her body was really weak-- and then it would take 3 minutes of running to get to the Academy, because luckily it was close to the market, but that would depend if she still had the energy to run, and then she would have 3 minutes left to spare.
UGHHH--
The time ticked by, and her mother finally plated the food.
Sakura ate quickly, ignoring how utterly burning hot it was.
X X X
Sakura arrived at the Academy, bag full of exactly 18 nutrition bars, head pulsing, panting her lungs dry
Before approaching Sasuke and Naruto, she let her red face return to it's pale color, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Unfortunately, she could not stop her legs from shaking and could only quiet down her heavy breathing.
"Hey, Sakura! You're here-- you okay? You look like you're--"
"I.... I'm fine..." She quietly wheezed, so so embarrassed. "Um..."
"You're late," Sasuke accused.
"I... I am--? Well, I mean, yeah, hehe, I-I was getting some stuff. For us." Sakura gestured to her bag.
Sasuke's eyes flickered between her and the back, before scanning her, raising his eyebrows, and then shrugging. "Hmph, let's go."
Sakura was far too exhausted to get flustered about him looking at her for so long.
She took one big deep breath to calm down her racing heart, watching Sasuke turn his back and enter the Academy, and her and Naruto followed.
"Oh hey, you look kinda new!" the blonde pointed out.
"Yeah, I uh... though it'd be a good idea to gear up some more, you know?"
"Huh?" Naruto looked at her up and down. "Oh yeah, that too. But I meant your forehead protector! You got it around your neck!"
Sakura nodded, her head pulsing finally going away. "Uh-huh..."
You know, it was kind of funny, how Sakura first used the forehead protector as a hairband and then switching it to guard her throat instead, rather than using it as it's intended use, that being as a forehead protector.
Well, Sakura didn't want to be getting stabbed in the throat again.
Now, they were in the crowded hallway with the genjutsu.
"So, uh, this is a genjutsu," Sakura decided to call out, eyeing Sasuke's reaction carefully.
He smirked. "That's right. We're on the first floor, this door is supposed to lead to the second, not the third."
The two genin attempted to attack Sasuke, Lee stopped them, and Sakura decided that now was the time to leave. As she pushed through the crowd, ushering her teammates to follow her, Lee slid in front of her, blocking her escape.
Fuck.
"Pardon me--"
"Sorry, not interested."
"But you haven't even--"
"OI!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping in. "No means no, bushy brows!"
"Let's go," Sasuke said, pushing past Lee, Sakura following immediately, and Naruto too a second later.
"Hold on," Neji from behind called out. "You, the black haired one, what's your name?"
Sakura sighed as the Uchiha and Hyuuga exchanged names.
"Maaaaaaannn, how come no one asks for my name?" Naruto complained. "It's always Sasuke."
She picked at her nails, waiting for the interaction to finish, but paused at Naruto's words. Sakura first had found it annoying, because it was Sasuke, who wouldn't want to know his name? Then the second time, she paid no mind because she was out of it, then the third time, she didn't care, but now... the fourth time, really thinking about it, yeah it was a bit annoying that Sasuke was the one getting all the attention.
She sweatdropped to herself. Well, that was a funny thing to think, considering she was the biggest Sasuke fangirl ever, but...
Eh, whatever. Sasuke was a Uchiha, no? The Uchiha were quite famous, plus... well, and not to even mean it in a fangirl way, Sasuke was Sasuke. He was obviously the most competent of the team, and it showed.
Yeah...
Sasuke went through the door, joining Sakura and Naruto, and continued their journey to the Chunin Exams.
"Stop right there!" Lee from above called.
Alright, it was time to channel some logic into Lee's and her teammate's heads. "Sorry, Lee, we have no time for conversation," Sakura told. "After all, the Chunin Exams starts in about 10 minutes. And if you wanna challenge one of us, you shouldn't. Instead, you need to save your energy for the actual exams, not a one off spar with some rookie genin." Sorry, Sasuke, she thought, at her last comment.
"You may be right, Sakura," Lee declared, "however, this will not take long nor much of my energy!"
She was beginning to make a strangling noise in the back of her throat but opted for a sigh instead. She turned to her teammates, "Guys--"
And now she once again had to drag a bruised Sasuke and Naruto out of the room and into the hall where Kakashi was at.
"Hi, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura greeted.
"Eh?" Naruto made a face. "Sensei? What are you doing here?"
Their teacher greeted them all back. "Hello, you three. I see you came too, Sakura."
After only a moment of hesitance, Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I did."
"Yeah, why wouldn't she, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.
Sakura waved her hand, swallowing. "I don't think it matters!" She flashed a polite smile to Kakashi. "Sensei, what time is it?"
Kakashi hummed, looking out the window, to check the sun. "Well, I'd say it's almost 30 minutes past 8."
"Yeah, don't you think we're gonna be running a little late?" Sakura asked. "We should really go in right now."
"You're right." Kakashi side-stepped, unblocking the door. "Good luck, team."
"WOO-HOO! Chunin Exams, here we co--"
Sakura grabbed him by the scruff just as Naruto began barreling to and through the doors. "We don't know what's behind there, Naruto," she told, letting go and walking past him.
She smiled at Kakashi, which he returned, and the three genin entered.
"Oh man, good thing you held me back, Sakura..." Naruto said, looking at the large crowd of ninja.
"Mhm," Sakura hummed. She was going to tell them about the future of the tests, and she could feel frustration in her beginning to build up about having to tell them over and over and over again.
Well.... it had to be done.
She also needed to talk with Kabuto, she decided. He had his ninja info cards, that had information on every single ninja participating in the exams. Obviously she was not going to look up on everyone, although, that would come in handy in the future.
Not that she would do it, probably.
Sakura looked around the room, trying to spot Kabuto's head of silver hair. Eh, he'd probably come on his own like he always did.
"Alright, guys, team meeting?" Sakura proposed, turning around to them.
"About what?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's go over there," Sakura said, pointing to a corner, "so we have some more privacy."
Once they were on the other side of the room, positioned into a crouch around each other, Sakura spoke up again:
"I got some information on these exams through a classified scroll from a Chunin, so the source I got is reliable."
Naruto nodded vigorously like he always did, but still, Sasuke looked unconvinced.
She might as well ask. "What's wrong, Sasuke?"
"Nothing. Continue."
Hm. Well, alright.
And so Sakura did, "There are two parts to this exam, probably a third-- the first tests our intel and then the second tests our survival. The intel test is a written one," and she made sure to keep speaking over Naruto's exclaim of shock and horror, "which is a fake out. The test is so difficult, cheating is needed. It's a test to your stealth and intel skills. You don't even need to answer the questions to pass, though."
"Why would it be a fake out?" Sasuke asked, still suspicious.
"I think it's a stress test as well. There are insane rules placed down, such as if you fail, you won't ever be able to compete in the Chunin Exams again. Most genin wouldn't be able to actually pass the actual questions themselves, which is why it's a fake out instead."
"What about the second one?"
"Okay, um, so there's this place called the Forest of Death--"
Naruto snorted. "What kind of name is that?"
Sakura shrugged. "All the remaining genin from the first test will get one of two scrolls, that being heaven and earth. The goal is to get to the tower in the middle of the forest, with both scrolls. Which means we'll be needing to made a strategy."
"Sounds easy!" Naruto grinned. "What are we doing?"
Huh... so, shortening her explanation made Naruto less overwhelmed. She ought to keep that in mind.
"We'll come up with it later," Sakura said, standing up. "The first test takes about an hour to get through, so just sit there and be patient, and if you can, come up with a plan too. Then we can talk afterwards."
Sasuke stood up with her, Naruto following shortly after.
Then Sakura remembered something. "Also, we don't have to worry about food too much. The time limit for the second test is 5 days, and I brought enough nutrition bars for all of us to eat!"
"How many?" Sasuke asked.
"18."
"Hm... well, we have 5 days, and if we stay in the forest for that long, we'll be eating 3 bars a day respectively. And then we'll be left with three extra bars, which you bought for emergencies, I'm assuming?" Sakura nodded with a smile. "That won't be enough food."
Sakura's smile dropped.
WHAT?
Not enough food!? These bars were packed with a hell ton of calories! That was why they were called nutrition bars.
"Nutrition bars are good, but 3 a day is not a good enough of a sustainable meal for all the running and fighting we'll most likely be doing," Sasuke pointed out. "We'll have to at least get some amount of other food from whatever we can find."
Well.... she supposed that was true.
But Sakura ate probably just as much of what two of these bars had every day, and she was doing just fine.
"Good call, though," Sasuke spoke again. Sakura blinked at him. He was looking at her then he looked away. "They'll still be handy, especially if we don't find any other food."
Despite the pool of embarrassment settling in her stomach, Sakura smiled brightly.
At least she wasn't totally stupid!
Just as she was about to tell him that there was a large river in the forest, a loud voice interrupted:
"SASUKE! YOU MADE IT!"
Sakura turned around, putting her hands on her hips. "Pig, keep it down. We're in a room full of unknown shinobi."
Ino, now caught up to Team 7, mirrored her pose and opened her mouth to retort but looked at the crowd of other ninja. "Hmph. I guess so. But can you really blame me? I was excited to see Sasuke."
She gave a wink to said boy.
Well, at least Ino was being quieter.
Before Sakura could speak again, the rest of Team 10 came in.
"How about you guys just save yourself the embarrassment and flunk out of this exam," Shikamaru's voice called out as he walked forward with Choji.
"Oh wow, it's the three stooges huh," Naruto drawled.
Shikamaru deadpanned at him. "Would you not call us that..."
Team 8 arrived, and Sakura told them (them being Kiba) to keep quiet. Unfortunately, Kiba was not as smart as everyone else, less smarter than Naruto, in fact, as he just said, "Psh. Whatever."
Asshole.
"Since when were you so keen on keeping quiet, Sakura?" Ino asked.
"Well, it's smarter, obviously," Sakura told, closing her eyes and smiling. "Not that you would get it, of course."
"Hah, well I--!"
"She's right, you know. Being loud is only gonna do you worse in the long run."
Ah, finally, there Kabuto was.
She waited for Ino to ask "who the hell he was," then Kabuto would introduce himself, then his ninja info cards, and then, she stepped in.
"Do you have cards of any of us, Kabuto?" Sakura asked politely.
"That I do."
"May I see a card of my info?"
Kabuto got to work, and in a moment, he pushed the card to her.
Sakura Haruno
Age: 12
Sex: Female
Occupation: Genin
Affiliation: Konohagakure
Team: Squad 7 (Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake (sensei))
Missions completed: D - 39, C - 0, B - 0, A - 1, S - 0
Notes: Not as much of a fighter as Haruno is a strategist. Graduated with the top rank in intel and in Kunoichi class. Average test marks are 97-100/100. Uses Academy katas. Highly decent potential.
3.1/10 ninjutsu
1.8/10 taijutsu
7.6/10 genjutsu
9.4/10 intel
9.7/10 chakra control
Yup. All was right. She took quite some pride in the "highly decent potential" note.
"Oi, Sakura," Naruto spoke. "Why would you need to look at a card of yourself?"
"To see if the info was right, is all," Sakura said.
Kabuto tilted his head. "Smart. I am just a random genin after all, no?"
"I guess so." She crouched down, preparing her notebook and pen. "May you give me the cards of any team from the Sand here, please?"
And so the information was given.
Kabuto first talked about the team of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro-- those Sand genin Team 7 had run into just a few days ago-- actually, it had only been two days ago they bumped into each other, but for Sakura and her time loop thing, it was nearly a week ago-- because he probably thought they were what Sakura was actually curious about.
She had to sit through his analysis of them a second time, and while it was interesting (and added more scare factor to her "three exams" theory concern), Sakura really just wanted to see the one Sand team that kept coming after them.
And eventually, they did get to it.
The team consisted of Hanaro, Kisuke, and Renji, genin who had been out of the Academy for 3 years now.
Yikes. Team 7 had only been out for 5 months.
The Sand team really liked explosive tags, as Sakura had observed last loop, and favored ambushing a team before jumping into direct combat. Their fighting style was nothing exactly unique-- it was just the regular Sunagakure katas, which... Sakura had no knowledge of. Nevertheless, they were decent ninja.
Sakura opened up her notebook to write this information down but--
"Eh?"
Her writing from last loop remained on the page!
That didn't make any sense?
"What's up, Sakura?" Naruto asked, trying to look at her notebook.
She closed it shut. "Nothing." She shuffled away, making sure her notebook was out of sight of everyone else, and opened it again. She flipped through it, seeing that all of her writing was still there.
Well. That was weird. Uh...
Sakura shrugged to herself. Who cared? It was more useful than anything. She could write about it later.
She wrote down the information of the Sand team on her NOTES OF OTHERS section.
After she finished, just as Sakura was about to ask Kabuto for information on the grass ninja, an explosion of smoke appeared at the other side of the room, Ibiki and the other proctors dramatically making their appearance. "ALRIGHT YOU BRATS!!! SETTLE DOWN! THE FIRST TEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"
Sakura stood, flipping to her THOUGHTS section on her notebook, and looked to Kabuto. "Thanks for the information!"
"No problem. Gotta help a few rookies, you know. Good luck!"
"You too."
She turned to Naruto, whispering as Kabuto and the others of Rookie 9 departed. "It's a fakeout, remember, okay? Don't say anything and don't panic."
"You got it, Sakura!"
As they separated, making their way to desks, Sakura began writing.
It seems this notebook carries on my writing through the loops, despite everything else, such as my body, others, and the world resetting. The only two theories I can come up with is that, 1: I use this notebook, making it attached with me, and I am the one who has the looping abilities, therefore, it will loop back with me-- the flaw with this though is that other things are attached to me as well, such as my kunai, gear, and body, yet they all reset when I loop back. Or, it's 2: my mind and memories carry through the loops, and I write down my thoughts on this notebook, making it a part of my mind, which allows it to loop back with me. The flaw with this though is that it's really fucking stupid.
Part of me still feels like this is some weird fever dream.
Sakura pocketed her notebook before Ibiki could call her out.
Well, back to it, she supposed.
check out this kewl art i made. has nothing to do with the chapter (technically? the Sakura in this pic is FAR further into the future of this fic, but i mean likeeee you can view it as the Loop 2 death if you want although that was intentional because i came up with that scene AFTER i'd already finished the drawing), but i wanted to add some art and i had made some sketches but they weren't that good, so i made this on a whim and wow it turned out good ummm yeah yadda yadda blehhh.
