Cherry Blossoms and Chakra Strings: A Short Reprieve

A Short Reprieve

Team 3 made good time through the forest, heading straight towards their objective quickly yet carefully to ensure they weren’t followed. Even so, by the time they arrived to the center of the forest, dawn had begun to break on the second day of the exam.

Team 3 gathered in front of the massive tower. It rose from the forest floor and crested the tops of the gargantuan trees, a column of moss-covered wood and stone that stood in defiance against the endless green that surrounded them. Vines crawled up the side as nature did its best to reclaim its lost space, but the tower was unmoved and unbowed, despite showing clear signs of age.

“That’s pretty damn big,” Tsu said, craning her neck to look up at the structure. “What do you think they use it for when there isn’t an exam? There’s no way they just let it sit here and rot, right?”

“Training, most likely,” Hikari replied, glancing around at the surrounding forest with bulging eyes. “I can imagine that our elite shinobi would find some use out of an environment as hostile as this one. The tower is probably used by the Anbu or research teams.”

“Makes sense,” Sakura nodded, imagining the masked figures swooping through the forest on some training exercise or another. She glanced at Hikari. “Have you found anyone?”

“There’s a team following behind us, though not on our exact path. It’s likely they’re simply finishing the test like us. Another team is set up to intercept them – the one I warned about.” Hikari paused, their brow furrowing. “There is also a large group already inside. ten... no, twelve chakra signatures.”

“Then we’re not the first,” Sakura said, somewhat relieved. Tsu, on the other hand, let out a groan, unhappy that they hadn’t been the first ones to reach the tower.

They approached the main entrance, a set of massive double doors that stood open, revealing a dimly lit corridor beyond. The interior was just as spartan as the exterior—bare stone walls, a simple floor, and nothing that resembled decoration of any kind.

At the end of the corridor, a large set of doors stood closed. Before them, mounted on a pedestal, was a plaque bearing an inscription.

“‘If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and prepare,” Sakura read aloud. “If you do not possess Earth, work hard and chase your dreams. If you possess both, the path shall appear and guide you to your future.’”

“Poetic,” Hikari noted. “But what does it mean?”

“It means we need both scrolls,” Sakura said. “Heaven represents the mind or ‘knowledge’, while Earth represents the body – the ‘hard work’. To advance, a chunin must possess both.”

“Guess we open them here, then?” Tsu said, and Sakura pulled both scrolls from her pouch, staring at them for a long moment.

If we’re wrong, she thought, her hand tightening over the scrolls. We fail. But if we’re right…

She exchanged a glance with her teammates, steeled herself, then unrolled both simultaneously.

Her eyes immediately picked up the inky scrawl of seals on the inside of the parchment, and she felt a moment of panic as they began to smoke with the acrid scent of activated chakra. She tossed them away just as they erupted into a billowing curtain of smoke that obscured all sight. Team 3 stepped back, getting ready as a figure shadowed the smoke, stepping through.

It was a man. A familiar man, staring at them with a familiar expression of pride. Sakura blinked as her eyes alighted on the scarred face of Iruka Umino.

“Team 3,” he said, his voice sounding just how she remembered. “You… pass!”

His stoic expression broke into a wide smile as he announced their accomplishment, and all three of the genin relaxed as they realized what was happening. Sakura stared at her Academy instructor, her face openly surprised.

“Iruka-sensei?” Sakura blinked, surprised to see her old Academy instructor. “They assigned you as a proctor?”

“I volunteered. I wanted to see which of my former students would make it this far.” Iruka’s expression softened slightly and his eyes moved across the three of them, taking in their injuries and haggard expressions. “It’s good to see you again, Sakura. You’ve been through quite a bit, haven’t you?”

“You could say that,” Tsu muttered.

“I’m glad you all made it through. You may not have been my students, but I’m proud regardless.” Iruka stepped aside, gesturing toward the doors behind him. “You’ve passed the second exam. Head inside, find a room, and rest up until the test ends. You’ve earned it.”

“Thank you, sensei,” Sakura said, feeling her cheeks warm at the man’s praise. Though he may not have been her teacher anymore, she still held a great deal of respect for the man for guiding her through the Academy.

And for juggling all the personalities in her graduating class.

Team 3 moved into the tower’s interior, finding themselves in a stairwell that wound upward into the depths of the building. Sakura let out a groan as she realized they had even more walking to do, and Tsu gave her a commiserating pat on the back as she passed her by.

By the time they reached the upper levels, the exhaustion that had been held at bay by adrenaline and desperation began to settle into the team’s bones. The stairs let out into a large, open hall with high ceilings and sparse furnishings composed of a few benches along the walls, some tables in the corners, and little else. Natural light filtered in through narrow windows set high on the walls, casting long shadows across the floor.

And, just as Hikari had noted, they weren’t the only ones there. As they entered, over a dozen pairs of eyes turned their way, taking in the latest team to arrive even as Team 3 did the same in return.

Sakura recognized a few of the faces. The boy from Suna with the gourd—Gaara—was lounging against the wall, his eyes closed and arms folded as he rested. Temari was leaning beside him, eying the room with her hands on her hips, while Kankuro sat on the ground, his puppet wrapped up beside him, leaning next to his teammate.

Another team from Kusa was gathered nearby, keeping a healthy distance between themselves and the Suna team, while at least two other teams from Ame were lingering at the edges of the room. There were also two teams from Konoha, though nobody that Sakura recognized.

I guess the others haven’t shown up yet. Or they’re already resting in their room.

Sakura was of half a mind to join them, but there was something she needed to do first.

While her teammates began to unwind, Sakura’s eyes once again found the Suna trio. They were looking at her now, or at least Temari and Kankuro were; Gaara was still leaning against the wall with eyes closed. He was the one she had eyes for.

Squaring her shoulders, Sakura left her teammates behind and approached the group. Her movements seemed to catch the attention of everyone in the hall, and Gaara’s eyes finally slipped open as the room went quiet.

Emerald locked with jade as Sakura stopped right in front of the lounging redhead, gazing at him with a serious expression. Around them, the entire world seemed to have gone silent, as if it was holding its breath to catch every moment of what was happening.

Gaara stared at Sakura with dull eyes. Slowly, hid head tilted to the side, his bored expression becoming a bit curious, as if he was studying a curious insect. “What do you want?” he asked, his voice like gravel on sandstone.

“Amane,” Sakura said, and the word caused Gaara’s teammates to freeze. The boy himself however, just gazed at her with a bit more intensity, giving her his full attention. “We fought her in the forest.”

Gaara’s eyes widened minutely, a miniscule motion that was gone in a split second, making Sakura wonder if she had even seen it at all. His gaze moved up and down her body, taking in her torn, grass-stained clothing, and the cuts she had sustained moving through the underbrush.

“You’re still alive,” he noted, and Sakura wondered if she heard a bit of respect in that blank tone.

Sakura’s jaw tightened. “Barely. We’ve fought her before. Does she always have a habit of treating fights to the death like games?”

Gaara studied her for a long moment, his pale green eyes unblinking. There was something in that gaze that made Sakura’s skin prickle, but beneath the menace, she caught a flicker of something else. Recognition, perhaps. Or acknowledgment.

“She does,” Gaara admitted. “She is… like me.”

Sakura frowned, but her suspicions were confirmed. Gaara knew Amane beyond just her name. “Like you how?”

The thing that Sakura had spotted in Gaara’s gaze returned, this time much more powerful. It lurked behind his blank expression—a monster held at bay only making itself known in the subtle twitches of his dark eyelids and the downturn of his lips.

When he spoke, his voice carried something besides the hollow tinge of withheld emotions. Sakura would dare to call it hungry, but she felt like that wouldn’t be doing it justice.

“Amane carries a beast inside of her that demands to be sated,” he said slowly. “Most people who carry such things are slaves to their monsters. They are consumed by them, driven mad by the noise in their heads.”

“But not Amane?”

“No.” Something flickered in Gaara’s pale eyes. “She tamed hers. I caged mine.”

There’s something he’s not saying, Sakura’s brow furrowed, trying to parse his words. “Caged? What do you mean?”

Gaara’s gaze drifted toward the window, where light filtered in from the forest outside. He was quiet for a long moment, and Sakura thought she was being ignored, before he suddenly spoke.

“Before,” he said, his tone low. “the noise was deafening. It screamed without ceasing, demanded blood, demanded death. I could not sleep. I could not think. She showed me how to quiet it. How to build a cage of my own making.” His eyes returned to Sakura, and for a moment, she saw something almost peaceful in his expression. “Now it merely whispers. I can sleep and think without the unending hunger clawing at the back of my sanity.”

Behind him, Temari and Kankuro shifted uncomfortably. They exchanged a glance that Sakura couldn’t read, but it was clear this was not a topic they were comfortable discussing.

Sakura swallowed. “So she helped you? That’s why you’re friends with her?”

“We are both victims of things outside of our control. Suffering binds us and those like us. For now.” Gaara stepped off of the wall, moving closer to Sakura who fought to remain still. This close, she could see the rings around his eyes more clearly. They weren’t paint, as she had originally assumed, but darkened skin caused my lack of sleep.

Now he can sleep. He meant that literally? Sakura thought, staring at him.

“You survived her,” Gaara said, his voice flat. “That is unusual. Most do not.”

His head tilted again. “Maybe there’s a reason she’s interested in you.”

The words sent a chill down Sakura’s spine, though she couldn’t say why. The prospect of Amane being interested in anyone, much less her, was not a pretty one.

Gaara didn’t offer anything else to sate her confusion. The boy stared at her a moment longer before he returned to his place against the wall, his eyes sliding shut once more. The conversation, it seemed, was over, and Sakura was left more confused than ever.

~~~

Over the next few days, more teams trickled in, some looking far worse for wear than others. Team 8 arrived on the evening of the second day. Kiba looked like he’d gone through a meat grinder, with bandages wrapped around his torso and Akamaru tucked inside his jacket looking unusually subdued. Hinata supported him on one side while Shino limped in on the other side. He nodded at Sakura as they passed each other in the hall, but didn’t stop to chat, focused on getting his teammate medical attention.

Team 10 showed up the following morning. Ino’s hair was a mess, her braid half-undone and leaves stuck in the strands. A bandage was tied to her right bicep, dyed crimson by the wound underneath while her skin was slick with blood, but it didn’t seem to overly bother her. Shikamaru seemed even more exhausted than Sakura had ever seen him, dark circles under his eyes, while Choji was munching on a ration bar like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Are you guys alright?” Sakura asked as they settled into the room right across from Team 3’s.

“Don’t get me started,” Ino groaned, dropping onto a bed. “We ran into a team from Ame on the first day. They had a mist that made it impossible to see anything. We spent hours trying to track them down.”

“They were trying to tire us out,” Shikamaru added, already lounging with closed eyes. “Too bad they didn’t realize we have Konoha’s most troublesome woman with us.”

“Ino tracked ‘em down and really laid into them,” Choji laughed, digging one hand into a bag of chips. “We barely got a chance to join in!”

“Better them than us,” Shikamaru sighed, while Ino’s eye twitched at her teammates’ comments.

“Thanks guys…” she gritted out before sighing and turning to Sakura. “So how did your trip go? Easier than ours, I bet.”

Sakura just laughed and took a seat beside her friend, regaling the team with her own experience.

Team 7 was the last of the Konoha teams to arrive, stumbling through the doors on the evening of the third day with Naruto loudly declaring their victory to anyone who would listen. Sasuke looked irritated, while Ami simply looked relieved. Other than that, they didn’t look too bad, and Sakura was happy that their entire group managed to make it through the second exam.

During the downtime, Sakura kept herself busy. The fight with Amane had done a number on Teashi. Her attempt to hold the girl back had clearly left its mark, and Amane’s acid foam had eaten through the sealant on her puppet’s joints, warping the wood and compromising several of the internal mechanisms. It was going to be a lot of trouble getting it back in working order in time for whatever was next, and she’d probably have to replace it completely once she had the time.

On the fourth day, the final teams arrived. By then, the hall had grown crowded with survivors, a mix of exhausted and relieved genin all waiting for whatever came next.

Amane appeared on the morning of the fifth day, strolling through the doors like she’d been on a leisurely forest walk rather than a survival exercise. Her clothes were pristine, her jacket bulging with newly acquired forehead protectors, and her expression bright and cheery. She caught Sakura’s eye across the room and waved enthusiastically.

Sakura didn’t wave back.

Finally, as the sun began to set on the fifth day, the proctors gathered everyone in the main room. It was a massive room with balconies overlooking the floor. A pair of stone hands sat against one wall, their fingers formed into a seal.

A nondescript man with a sickly expression stood in the middle of the group, his hands shoved into his pockets and looking for all the world like he would rather be anywhere else.

As the room filled up, he looked around, noting that everyone was there, and began.

“Listen up!” The man called out, his rough voice echoing through the hall. “The second exam has officially concluded. Out of the teams that entered the Forest of Death, twelve have successfully reached the tower with both scrolls.”

A murmur went through the assembled genin. Twelve teams meant thirty-six genin. That was a lot. Or at least, more than Sakura had expected given the dangers within the forest.

“However,” he continued with a small cough. “Thirty-six examiners is still too many for a standard tournament bracket. The Hokage has decided that we will be conducting preliminary matches before the finals.”

More murmuring. Another test? This was unprecedented, and a little annoying to those who had just gotten back. Would they be expected to go through another round of tests so soon after finishing this one?

“In order to cut down on time, we will not be testing you individually. These will be team-based battles,” he explained. “Three-on-three matches. The winning team advances to the finals. The losing team is eliminated and removed from the exams. Please turn your attention to the board to find your place in these matches.”

The room turned as one to a large board that had been set up over the stone hands. It lit up with a group of names situated in a seemingly random order, teams pitted against teams based on some random metric.

Sakura eyed the board, searching for her own team’s name. Her eyes stopped on familiar names, noting them and their place in the queue.

The group from Suna was set to fight against an unfamiliar team from Konoha simply dubbed, “Team Gai.” Amane was battling a group from Ame, none of whom looked ecstatic to be doing so. Ino’s team…

Sakura paused as she noted that teams 10 and 8 were pitted against each other. That meant that Ino and Shino were going to be fighting for the chance to enter the exams. That was going to be tough to watch.

Who do I cheer for? She wondered, still searching for her team’s name.

Then, near the bottom, Sakura spotted it.

MATCH 7: Team 3 of Konoha VS Team 7 of Konoha

“WHAT!?”

It seemed that Naruto had spotted it at the same time as her as he jabbed a finger towards the board in astonishment. “Hey! How come our village has to fight each other twice? That’s not fair!”

The proctor gave him a long-suffering look. “The matches were chosen randomly. There was as much of a chance as facing a team from your own village as there was facing any other.”

Naruto opened his mouth to argue but a hand on his shoulder from Sasuke and a dark look from Ami held him back.

Sakura stared at the text for a moment, then swallowed, her eyes going to the group. Sasuke met her stare head-on, a small smirk staining his features, and Sakura was suddenly reminded of the last time they fought. The one that ended up with her on the ground.

Let’s not make this a repeat performance, she thought, holding his stare.