Sakura,

I'm taking Sasuke for a month of training outside the Village; he'll need it if he wants to face Gaara. I've organized a sensei for Naruto who'll go over the fundamentals with him and teach him chakra control so he won't waste as much. I want you to relax, go over your basics, take it easy – you've had a difficult time in the Forest and you have to let yourself recuperate.

See you in a month,

-Your darling sensei

"What."

The word was flat, blunt, and Sakura didn't know which would be the victor from the emotions warring within her; anger or desperation.

A moment later, anger won.

"What?!"

She knew Kakashi-sensei would take Sasuke-kun under his wing; that much was obvious to anyone who'd spent even five minutes in his presence or saw how he looked at the Uchiha. But for him to provide a teacher for Naruto but not for her when both of them advanced to the final round? That was not right. Sakura's fingers clenched in an attempt to quell her anger, effectively crumpling the note still held in her hand. " 'Recuperate' my ass!" she hissed, and all of a sudden the anger morphed into something cooler, more stable; "I'll show you, sensei." She promised the crumpled ball of paper in her grasp. "I'll show you the extent of my 'basics'." The anger had stabilized, cooled, and instead of a raging inferno, she felt the familiar flame of determination light up within her once again. She shoved the note into her pocket, grabbed her wallet and snuck out of the window.

After the match-ups for the next round had been announced, they were safely led out of the Forest of Death and dismissed after being given the time and location they were expected to turn up at for the finals.

That was three days ago.

On the first day, Sakura stayed home, took a long bath to thoroughly de-Forest herself and went downstairs to cook dinner for her parents. To say the atmosphere was tense during the meal would be like saying Kakashi-sensei had time-management issues: in other words, a complete understatement. Sakura's parents were civilian to a fault – her father was a retired policeman who now worked as a bureaucrat while her mother was a performer; an actress, a singer, a model – beautiful and feminine and jaded to the core the second she found out her daughter wanted to be a paid assassin.

Needless to say, neither were thoroughly accepting of her chosen career path.

Most of the time, Sakura managed to avoid them enough to dodge a direct confrontation, but sometimes, her mother's frustration that she could not make her only child follow in her footsteps won out and jabs and accusations were sharper than the edge of a knife would be thrown her way.

And Haruno Mebuki knew how to make them hurt.

At dinner, when she couldn't stand the silence anymore, Sakura carefully broached the subject of the upcoming Exams. "I... I might be up for advancement in the ranks soon, hahaue, chichiue." She announced meekly, eyes not meeting either of her parents' gazes.

"And what, pray to tell, does an advancement mean for your kind?" her mother demanded, and Sakura flinched. Her kind meant shinobi, and it had been that way since she'd graduated from the Academy – it seemed that up until she was handed her headband, Mebuki had still believed that her daughter would see things her way and fade back into civilian ranks. "I doubt it means a pay rise."

She chanced a glance at her father but he was entirely focused on the sukiyaki she'd prepared, and Sakura would've nearly believed he wasn't listening if his gaze hadn't sharpened the moment he heard 'pay rise'. She stifled a sigh.

"A-actually, hahaue, it does mean a pay-rise. Chunin – which is the next rank from the one I'm at right now – they go on more dangerous missions so they get paid more. Like that time I got back from the Land of Waves!" she brightened at the example, remembering how surprised and pleased her parents had been when she showed them the money she got for her month of absence. "It would've normally gone to somebody much higher in the ranks, but because we didn't know till after we set off how dangerous it would be and we completed it nonetheless, we got the appropriate pay." She hastened to explain.

Her mother looked contemplative. "So the more often you put your neck on the line, the more money you get?" she asked in disbelief and Sakura almost thought she heard the concern in her voice.

"Essentially, yes." She admitted, then winced and decided to expand slightly. "But it's not like they force you to go on those missions when you're unprepared – this is why I was absent last week. I was at the Chunin Exams, which are meant to test if you're skilled enough to undertake the more dangerous mission and still come back relatively safely." She clarified, at which her mother frowned thoughtfully.

"Like a performance review?" her father murmured and Sakura nearly hugged the man. "Exactly!" she nodded instead, a small smile on her face.

"Tell me more about those exams." Her mother ordered and Sakura gulped.

"W-well, it's divided into four stages." She began carefully. "The first one was a theory exam, then the second stage was a survival exercise in a forest meant to simulate a real mission, and the third and fourth stages are combat. And... I'm through to the fourth stage."

"You got through combat?" Mebuki questioned with no small degree of surprise. Her eyes scanned her daughter critically, from her inherited pink hair to her frail figure. "But your Academy teacher always said you were hopeless at combat." Sakura winced. Her mother certainly didn't mince her words, but worse yet was that the rosette knew that Mebuki's surprise was not unfounded. She still was hopeless at close combat.

"I, um, I had a really good teacher." She admitted quietly, not liking it when her father's eyes sharpened and rose to meet hers.

"It wasn't that Hatake man, was it?" and although Sakura knew that if worst came to worst, her taijutsu – as appalling as it was – would still be enough to handle a civilian, having Haruno Kizashi's intense stare on her, almost daring her to disagree still sent shivers down her spine. She didn't quite know what transpired between her parents and Kakashi-sensei, but she got the distinct expression that the man had not made a very good impression on them.

"N-no," she replied, shrinking in on herself when two pairs of piercing eyes shot at her. "Shiranui Genma-san trained me for over a month. He's a jounin – I mean, one of the elite." She clarified.

"The elite?" her mother parroted, a smile growing on her face. "Why, Sakura, you had one of the elite working with you and you haven't invited him to dinner yet?"

Sakura paled. "He's a busy man!" she hastened to explain, not liking the glint in her mother's eye. "I can't possibly impose on him in such a way!"

"Nonsense!" her mother waved her off. "If he's had enough spare time to spend it with a brat like you, I'm sure he can spare a few hours to try some of my cooking." A dangerous smile crossed her face. "Or he will find some time if he knows what's good for him."

Sakura tried to argue, but she knew a lost cause when she saw one. She sighed. "Just- hahaue, please, promise me you won't try to threaten him." She begged and got a smirk for her troubles.

And then, Sakura's mother rose from the table and disappeared into the lounge. Sakura shot a pleading look at her father, but he merely replied with a small upwards quirk of his lips. "I cannot try to discourage her when I myself am curious too." And so saying, he stood up and followed her mother, and Sakura allowed her head to thump against the table.

She was screwed.

And that had been the first day.

On the second day, Sakura got a piece of paper and wrote down everything she remembered about Temari, Shikamaru and Dosu's fights. Assuming she won against the Sand kunoichi, she would then have to fight whoever won from Shikamaru and the Sound nin. She had the advantage of knowledge over Temari, as Sakura had seen her jutsu and knew that she relied on her fan to make it work while the other kunoichi knew almost nothing about her. That was a good starting point, but it wouldn't give her the edge over the other two; moreover, she had no idea how good Temari was at disrupting genjutsu.

So she had a month to find something new for long-range combat as well as something which would aid her in close-combat fights. She was reluctant to try to learn an entire taijutsu style in a month or the conditioning which would be necessary for her frame to be able to handle the exertion, but something would need to be done.

But first things first, she needed to restock her weapons kit. Genma-san's words had stuck with her and she saw the truth in them during the Exam, especially in the Forest of Death. With that in mind, she set off to the same weapons store, wallet in hand and in marginally higher spirits than the day before.

Once she had what she wanted and was about to pay, something else caught her eye. Chakra paper? Puzzled, she asked the shopkeeper and he was kind enough to explain the paper's function; "It allows you to see what elemental affinity you have. Just channel some chakra into it like this-" he held up a piece of paper, visibly concentrated, and a moment later the paper ignited and turned to ash. "-and you'll know. The fact that it burnt just means my element is fire. Here, try it yourself." He handed her a small square and Sakura paused.

"How much is it?" she asked, to which he waved her off.

"Knowing your element could save your life. Besides," he eyed the ample supply of kunai and explosive tags she laid out on the counter. "consider it a bonus for everything else you're going to pay me for."

Flashing the man a small but grateful smile, Sakura held the paper between thumb and forefinger like she'd seen him do. "So... I just channel some chakra into it?" she confirmed and at his nod, did as asked.

She jumped when the paper first turned to dirt and then, as it began to crumble into her palm, some of it became wet and slid down her wrist like mud. Slightly disgusted, she quickly wiped it off before meeting the surprised eyes of the shopkeeper. "Is everything alright?" she asked worriedly, eyes falling to the small spot of mud on the floor. "I'll clean up, I promise."

But the man waved her off. "Don't worry about that," he scoffed before his eyes turned to her, the curiosity within them evident. "Are your parents shinobi?" he asked.

"No, sir, both are civilian." Sakura denied, confused. "What does that have to do with anything, if you don't mind me asking?"

He smiled. "It's just that you seem to have an affinity for Earth and Water. Though Earth is definitely your main one and will come to you a lot more easily, having two is still not exactly common for children who hailed from civilian families." He grinned at her confusion. "It should even out if you ever reach jounin though – most jounin learn to have equal mastery of two or more elements at some point in their careers. Though it's true that, initially, most ninja from civilian families have only one." He explained.

Sakura's brow furrowed in a frown. "Is it bad that I have two?"

"No, not at all!" he hastened to reassure. "If anything, it's gonna make life easier for you." He grinned. "Although it's curious that you have two opposing natures as your affinity." And then he proceeded to explain that every element had another element which it was strong against, such as Fire against Wind, and another which it was weak against, like Water against Earth.

Sakura's mind was working in overdrive. "Is it... is it possible to combine the elements?" she asked slowly, at which the shopkeeper grinned.

"You're a sharp one, ain'tcha?" he teased. "There are combinations of two or more elemental affinities used to create another element entirely, but they mostly depend on a kekkei genkai or a passed-down technique. I think the most famous one in Konoha was the Shodai Hokage and his Wood Release." Seeing her alarmed expression, he laughed. "No one is saying that everybody who can use Earth and Water Release should be able to use Wood Release. That'd be crazy; there's a reason they call Hashirama Senju the God of Shinobi – no one's been able to naturally recreate his technique since."

The rosette absorbed this information and safely filed it in the back of her mind. "Thank you." She murmured before her eyes fell on her weapons. "How much is it for all this?"

Afterwards, she made a quick detour to the library, but this time, instead of jutsu scrolls, she borrowed a scroll on elemental chakra and a history book on Konoha that looked as if it were to crumble to dust in her hands. When she got home and safely put away her weapons, she carefully leafed through the pages till she found a profile on the Shodai Hokage.

It was as Morino-san said, after all: all information was valuable information.

On the morning of the third day, Sakura found The Note taped to her window. After she calmed down, she grabbed her wallet, the library scroll as well as the one she took off the Iwagakure kunoichi in the Forest of Death and promptly snuck out.

Her feet took her to her favourite dango stand and she purposely didn't think about what her mother would say if she heard she was having sweets for breakfast. She could treat herself once in a while, damn it!

When her dessert arrived, Sakura almost inhaled the first stick before she slowed down enough to spread the scroll from the Iwa-nin on the table. She had high hopes for this one – Iwagakure, after all, was famed for their mastery of Earth Release techniques, just as Kirigakure was for their Water Release.

When she unravelled it, a grin stole over her face. Bingo!

"Y'know, kid, if you keep eating junk-food instead of something more nutritious you're gonna remain a twerp forever." a very familiar voice in her ear made her jump and she shot a glare at Genma-san who looked obviously amused and not in the slightest apologetic.

"I have a month off from a life-or-death exam, Genma-san." She grouched, stuffing another dumpling in her mouth for good measure and chewing obnoxiously. "Let me live."

The tokujo snorted and slid into the seat opposite her, snagging a dango stick from her plate with a daring grin. "Ah, about that Exam," he raised an eyebrow. "when I told you to 'finish a match as quickly as you could', I didn't think you'd take it so seriously as to finish in less than a minute." He announced and Sakura frowned.

"Is it wrong, what I did?" she asked in puzzlement, relieved when Genma-san waved her off.

"It's not the question of 'wrong' or 'right' exactly," he explained. "you did what you felt you had to do to win." Then, he smirked. "It's just that jounin are horrible gossips and there're now various bets being placed on who'll win the matches next month and no-one quite knows what to do with you."

Sakura paled. "Me?!" she questioned incredulously at which the brunet shot her a crooked grin.

"See it from their point of view for a moment," he instructed. "The Hyuuga is easy, as is the Uchiha, the Aburame will probably suck all the chakra from the puppet before its owner realises what's going on, and all those worth their salt know not to mess with a Nara. But you?" he met her wide eyes with his own which were brimming with barely hidden amusement and a hint of pride. "A no-name kunoichi from a civilian family defeated a Yamanaka heir in less than a minute with a jounin level technique and a supplementary genjutsu. You can see how you've unwittingly made yourself into something interesting."

"I never meant to-! You said to finish quickly if I could, advised me to use genjutsu and then disarm! That's all I did!" she defended herself, only pausing when the tokujo shook his head.

"And I'm not condemning you for it." He reassured. "I'm just saying that there's a big question mark over your fight and some people are expecting a show." Then, he smiled and his eyes glinted teasingly. "But that's neither here nor there. More importantly, why d'you look like you're reading an obviously stolen scroll when I came in?"

"Who's to say it's stolen?" she grumbled, though she was slightly thrown that he'd noticed. "I could've just borrowed it from the library."

Genma-san raised an eyebrow and brought up three fingers. "Reason one why it's stolen: nobody in their right mind manning the library desk would let a genin take out scrolls elemental manipulation." He grinned when she scowled and lowered one finger. "Reason number two is that while I'm fairly certain you might've found Hiding Like a Mole technique in the library if you were chuunin or jounin," he leaned over to read over her shoulder, "I'm pretty damn sure that Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld is at least a B-Rank. And reason number three is that Konoha is not a Village renowned for their Earth Release techniques, ergo, this scroll is not from Konoha."

When she neither confirmed nor denied his conclusion, he crossed his arms and sat back against the seat, a self-satisfied grin on his face as he flicked the senbon from side to side. "So," he began, the word so smug that Sakura smothered the urge to shove that needle down his throat "did you loot a corpse?"

She promptly choked on her dango.

The rosette turned horrified eyes to the tokujo, who merely looked amused, and when she regained her ability to speak –

"No!" she shrieked, then promptly lowered her voice when at least two heads turned her way. "No." she reaffirmed, and glared. "She was unconscious but alive when I took it."

At the smirk that appeared on his face, Sakura realised that it would've been better to stay silent. "So you agree that you stole it?" and when she realised that his tone wasn't accusatory or disgusted, just the usual infuriatingly amused, Sakura had to admire how easily he manipulated her into admitting the truth.

"Fine." She sighed and sagged in her seat. "Fine. Yes, I stole it. Happy?" she snarked, but his grin didn't fade.

"Very." Genma-san admitted and promptly stole another one of her dango sticks. Before she could dig into him, he asked; "What warrants the interest in Earth Release though? I thought you would've been researching more genjutsu." And Sakura frowned, then carefully relayed what she discovered in the weapons shop the day before as well as what she'd thought she could do to prepare for her battle with Temari.

She was relieved when Genma-san made a point of nodding throughout, and when she finished, a contemplative look appeared on his face. "So you want something close range as well as another way of attacking long-range, yeah?" when she nodded, he grinned. "Well, I'm glad you seem to have sussed out the real reason behind the combat section of the Exams."

Sakura stared. The real reason?

At her blank look, Genma-san sighed, "Or maybe not." He stole another dango stick for good measure before he explained. "The theory exam is to see if you've got the brains or the resourcefulness. The Forest of Death is mainly to see if you can follow