The wait for Tsunade's return had made Sakura anxious to say the least and her own preparation for the Chunin exams was less than… satisfactory.

Bluntly speaking, the training was inane.

Sakura went over the stamina exercises she had been given by Tsunade, practiced the very basic healing techniques she had been taught and worked on her martial arts skills.

But over the two days since the announcement of the exams, she had begun to question her abilities and if they were really enough to keep up with her own team. Not to mention beating the other genin competing.

Letting out a loud groan, Sakura felt her body give way beneath her and she fell to the ground in an awkward upright position breathing heavily.

"Ugh. I'm getting nowhere and I only have three days left!" the pink haired ninja exclaimed loudly, throwing her kunai knife on the ground.

She hadn't seen or heard anything of Sasuke or Naruto since the examination announcement. Suddenly it dawned on her.

"Two days… Practicing for two days… Someone was… TSUANDE-SAMA SHOULD BE BACK!" Sakura yelled loudly, dusting herself off she lept into the air and sped towards the hospital.

Tsunade felt as though she was a collected person, generally. Sure some may say that her temper wasn't the sweetest, that her patience did not have the longest fuse and it was entirely plausible that she overreacted sometimes.

But actions deserved explanations and Tsunade assumed that when she walked in the hospital doors and found one of the nurses attempting to inject a needle filled with pain medication into the jugular of a patient, the rightful action was to pick the nurse up and hurl her across the room with a violent roar which reduced the rest of the staff to cowering messes.

Breathing heavily Tsunade surveyed the damage; if it was even possible the hospital looked worse than when she left.

"WELL, DON'T JUST STAND THERE COWERING! CLEAN THIS PLACE UP!" the medical ninja bellowed at the staff who began stacking files and allocating patients to rooms as though their lives depended on it, which if Tsunade had her way it would.

"U-umm L-Lady T-Tsunade?" The head nurse called out in a high pitch squeaky voice.

"What? What do you want!?" Tsunade answered menacingly.

"W-what about C-Chou?" she asked pointing towards the nurse Tsunade had thrown across the room who sat up dizzily.

"Well let's see, oh wait I know you should take her to a hospital. You know one with staff who do their jobs correctly and doctors who actually understand medical procedures SO CLEARLY NOT THIS DAMN HOSPITAL!" Tsunade screeched loudly and stomped towards Chou.

"Walk it off sheesh I could have thrown you much harder and further if I wanted to" Chou stumbled to her feet unsteadily and quickly rushed straight passed Tsunade and out the hospital doors almost flattening Sakura in the process.

"Shishou! You're back!" Sakura called out to Tsunade between breaths.

Tsunade turned to look at her genin student and gave her a small wave. Sakura surveyed the damaged hospital and swallowed a little fearfully, surely Tsunade-sama couldn't have done all this… Right?

"Hello Sakura. I'm glad to see you returned from you mission safely" Tsunade said in an eerily calm voice.

"Thank you Shishou, I uh should have known you would be busy with the hospital. Perhaps I will come back tomorrow?" Sakura said quietly, motioning towards the door.

"Nonsense, I want to hear all about you mission and obviously you came down here for a reason. No doubt to speak to me about the Chunin exams that you've been given a choice to participate in" Tsunade replied, absently glaring at the nurses.

Sakura stared at her sensei, how was it that Tsunade-sama was always one step ahead? At least if she had heard about the Chunin exams then perhaps she had prepared new techniques and training exercises.

Taking her silence as affirmation Tsunade straightened up and addressed the staff.

"Attention staff. I am going out to train with Sakura here. If I get back and this place is not in perfect working order I will personally decapitate every single one of you" Tsunade called out in a sickly sweet voice and headed for the door.

"Shishou, who was that I saw running out of the hospital on my way in? She looked upset." Sakura asked.

"Oh just someone I had to let go for laying down on the job if you know what I mean. Now how about a drink before training?"

Sakura couldn't feel anything; she had done so many push-ups she didn't know how her arms were still attached to her body. Her knuckles were dirty, bruised and bleeding; her legs ached and were covered in scratches. Almost completely chakra depleted, Sakura wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep for a year.

"Again Sakura, that move didn't have half the strength it should have" Tsunade called out loudly from the opposite end of the training ground.

"This is what I get for wishing Tsunade-sama back so quickly, I forgot how much these training sessions hurt" Sakura grumbled to herself and stood upright before charging at Tsunade only to get knocked down again.

"Better but your chakra levels are still quite low, the Land of Waves mission was just a taste of the fighting you'll have to do on your own eventually. You had a team to back you up but you need to hold out longer on your own. Give me another fifty push ups and we'll call it a day" Tsunade said as Sakura began to grind out the push-ups slowly.

She had told Tsunade everything that had happened during the Land of Waves mission, apart from her fight with Sasuke and her sensei was extremely pleased that she had been able to implement the training successfully.

"What it comes down to is basics, your stamina which increases your chakra levels and with greater chakra in your system you can utilise this in a fight. You won't tire as quickly and in terms of our training we can work for longer on your chakra control" Tsunade had said.

Sakura was a little let down, she had been hoping for some new techniques or jutsu but Tsunade had re-assured her that it would come in time. After all she had barely begun her training and her new sensei had no trouble in reminding her that they had a long way to go.

Finishing the last push-up Sakura fell to the ground exhausted, Tsunade patted her on the back before taking a swig out of the bottle of sake she had bought with her.

"You've made good progress so far Sakura, the extra training you're putting in helps. Over the next three days I'm expecting you to meet me here every afternoon for training and to also train yourself in the mornings" Tsunade said as Sakura pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Hai Shishou. Is there much you can tell me about the Chunin exams?" Sakura asked as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

"It is at the core, a survival exam. You have to approach it with the right attitude. It's not about showy techniques or a contest of who's the toughest. Sure strength helps but it's also about using your head and surviving" Tsunade said peering carefully at her student.

Sakura nodded, it wasn't much information but Tsunade had mentioned she was not at liberty to say a lot about the exams.

Still it was something, a survival exam using both brains and brawn. How would Team 7 do? Would they be together or separate? Was this what Tsunade-sama meant by fighting on your own? Would she be left to face the exam alone? Tsunade saw the confusion and fear on Sakura's face and gave her student a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Sakura; you'll be alright if you remember everything I've taught you and what you've learnt with Team 7. Kakashi wouldn't have put your names forward if he didn't believe you could do it. More to the point I believe you can do it and so should you" Tsunade said and grimaced as she peered into her now empty bottle of sake.

Sakura smiled a little, it would still be a daunting task but at least Tsunade-sama believed she could do it. Sakura pulled herself to her feet and Tsunade followed suit muttering to herself about the hospital.

"Well Sakura I have to go and attend to the lousy staff at the hospital. I will see you the same time here tomorrow" Tsunade said and began to make her way, a little off balanced mind you, to the village centre.

A sudden wave of emotion came over Sakura and she felt the urge to tell Tsunade about her missing father and beg for her help in finding him. It was plausible enough; Tsunade was a famous medical ninja and had the respect of the Hokage so perhaps more would be done for her father. Sakura didn't want to say it out loud but she felt as though the ANBU officers had just brushed the issue aside, as though it was nothing and her father was just another missing ninja.

But as quickly as the idea had surfaced, something unknown within Sakura repressed it and she held her tongue as she watched her sensei leave. Sakura then turned and left the training ground heading for her own house, not knowing exactly what made her not speak up and completely unaware of the plan her own subconscious had already begun forming.

For the next three days leading up to the Chunin exams Sakura ate, slept and breathed training. She did exactly as Tsunade requested, rising early every morning to train herself and then met with her sensei for an afternoon of training. So on the morning of Chunin exams Sakura couldn't believe the time had gone so quickly… she didn't know how she was going to keep her breakfast down.

At two in the afternoon, Sakura hugged her mother goodbye with the promise of returning safely and left the house for the academy. There had been no new word on her father but her mother remained optimistic and urged Sakura to do the same. It wasn't very effective.

Arriving outside the academy, Sakura could already see Naruto and Sasuke waiting for her.

"SAKURA-CHAN! SAKURA-CHAN! Over here!" Naruto yelled, waving his hands frantically. Waving back Sakura approached the two boys.

"Hi Sasuke, Naruto" Sakura spoke, Sasuke nodded towards her before motioning to the door of the academy.

"Seems they're letting people in. Let's go" he instructed shoving his hands into his pockets and walking towards the door. Naruto made a face behind his back and Sakura rolled her eyes.

Upon entering the academy, Team 7 went up three flights of stairs to the third floor where a huge crowd of people were gathered around the entrance. Pushing their way to the front, Sakura could see a boy with a bowl haircut dressed in green spandex attempting to get through, he was promptly hit back hard by two older looking ninja.

"Psh, you're taking the Chunin exams and you can't even get passed us?" One of them boys with spiky hair said.

"Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt, I think I hear you mummy calling you" The other spoke in a jeering voice.

"Please let us through we're supposed to go in there" A girl with her hair in two buns who was kneeling beside the boy in green spoke and walked forward towards the door marked 301.

Looking at the door and the rest of the floor Sakura knew what was going on immediately. This wasn't the third floor at all, it was an illusion. A pretty decent one since no one else seemed to notice. Sakura looked back up in time to see the girl get hit back hard and fall next to the boy in green.

The crowd began to mutter to themselves in displeasure at the action. One person spoke loudly about the harshness of it.

"Did you say harsh? Don't kid yourself we're being nice by comparison. Some of you won't survive the exams; others will be wrecked for life. Chunin are qualified to lead missions, the lives of your squad members are in your hands so you better be tough enough to take the heat" The spiky haired ninja blocking the door jeered.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke; they were wasting precious time and needed to be on the third floor. These guys were clearly hired to scare people off but they needed to get passed them and call them out on the illusion. As if he could read her mind, Sasuke stepped forward.

"Real nice speech, now step aside and let me through" The Uchiha prodigy spoke in a monotone voice.

"Yeah and while you're at it reverse the genjutsu, we can see through your illusion easily. We need the third floor" Sakura spoke in a loud clear voice turning all the attention to her.

"What does she mean the third floor? We're on the third floor?" The crowd chattered to themselves but Sasuke smirked, so she had noticed the illusion.

"Yeah this is only the second floor, believe it!" Naruto called out and the genjutsu was lifted turning the sign from 301 to 201.

"Well aren't we the smart ones, so you noticed an illusion. Now let's see you deal with this!" The spiky haired boy yelled and flipped into the air aiming a kick straight for Sakura.

Before she could even react, Sasuke had jumped in front of Sakura with a well-aimed kick headed straight for the offending ninja. Suddenly a blur of green rushed through the air and came to a stop between Sasuke and the spiky haired ninja. It was the green spandex boy from before who had separated both boys by holding one ankle each in his hands.

How'd he do that? I thought he was some weakling getting knocked around like that but he's as fast as Sasuke, Sakura thought as she stared at the boy in the green outfit. Upon closer look he had a bowl haircut and the bushiest eyebrows she'd ever seen.

The bushy eyebrows boy dropped both of their ankles and Sasuke straightened himself immediately.

He stopped my kick, that's some chakra he's got in his arm the Uchiha boy thought as the girl with the two buns on her head and a boy with long hair tied up at the end approached them.

"Hey what happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and not let anyone see our skill level?" The long haired boy chastised the green clad ninja.

"I know but..." The green boy trailed off and stared at Sakura with pink tinted cheeks. Sakura shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Never mind, it's over, forget it" The girl with the buns shook her head in displeasure.

What happened to those bruises he had before? They just disappeared, were they fakes?, Sasuke wondered as he watched the boy walk straight past him towards Sakura.

Immediately Sasuke felt his whole body tense and he felt the same feeling he felt when Sakura and Naruto were together during the Land of Waves mission. Clenching his fists to his sides Sasuke mentally reprimanded himself; it was stupid to feel this way over his teammate.

"My name is Rock Lee, you are Sakura right?" Rock Lee asked.

"Um right, that's me yes" Sakura replied a little taken aback.

What's that word again? Jealous. Right. No Sasuke Uchiha is not jealous Uchiha's do not get jealous

"Please be my girlfriend! I vow to protect you with my life!" Rock Lee said loudly with a huge grin and gave Sakura a thumbs up.

Nope I'm not jealous at al- WHAT, WHAT DID HE JUST ASK!

Sakura could feel her face heating up; this was the first time she had ever been asked out by someone. Rock Lee seemed nice enough, sure his hair cut was less than stylish and his eyebrows needed a trim but still nice enough. But she would have to turn him down; with everything that was going on she didn't really have time for dating

"Not unless it's that fine piece of Uchiha meat who asks us. Then we'd make all the time in the world"Inner Sakura said making her perverted appearance, apparently Inner Sakura was still making the transition from Sasuke fan-girl into independent female ninja.

Sasuke watched Sakura carefully and couldn't believe she was actually considering this bushy eyebrows weirdo. Anger and jealously bubbled within in him, could she not see that she was much too good for him and he was not even close to being good enough for her.

Before Sakura could even respond to turn Rock Lee down she felt a sharp tug on her wrist and realised she was being dragged off towards the third floor by Sasuke. Naruto watched the two with an amused grin.

"Hey let me go, I didn't even get a chance to answer Lee, it's called being polite" Sakura said hotly as she yanked her wrist free.

"The young lady is right! You didn't give her youthful heart a chance to respond to my proclamation of love!" Lee called out a few metres behind while his teammates looked disgusted and embarrassed.

"Fine you want an answer, she's not interested. So back off" Sasuke seethed and glared angrily at Rock Lee.

"Sasuke what the hell! You don't have the right to answer for me and you're being really rude as usual" Sakura spat angrily and glared at her teammate.

"What? You want to go out with him?" Sasuke asked incredulously staring at Sakura who felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

"No but I was going to let him down a little lighter than that" Sakura said quietly and Lee let out a groan of defeat.

"Sorry bushy brows, maybe another time huh?" Naruto laughed and turned to Sasuke.

"I don't think I've ever heard you say so much in one go teme" Giggling the blonde boy shot a sly wink at Sakura who promptly hit him. The tips of Sasuke's ears were a bright red.

"Hn, shut up dobe. Let's go, we're going to be late" The Uchiha boy replied in a monotone voice, the jealously within him quelled by the fact that Sakura would have turned bushy brows down.

"Hey you over there, what's your name?" A voice called out to Sasuke, it was the boy with the long ponytail.

Sakura watched as the grin fell from her blonde teammate's face and an angry fire appeared in his eyes. "AGAIN! IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT SASUKE" Naruto thought angrily.

"It's common curtsy to give your own name before asking someone else's" Sasuke replied drily

"You're a rookie aren't you, how old are you anyway?" The ponytail boy asked further, ignoring Sasuke's comment.

"I'm not obliged to answer" Sasuke said with a smirk before shoving his hands into his pockets and turning back to Sakura, ignoring the ponytail boy's protests.

Both Naruto and Rock Lee had their heads pressed against the academy wall in defeat. "Why would she not accept my offer of love?" Lee cried out dramatically. "Why does no one ask for my name?" Naruto whined.

"Sasuke, Naruto let's go. We're going to be late" Sakura said, grabbing both boys attention. Team 7 departed for the stairs leading up to the third floor. The stairs then lead to a large room with an open outside section.

"All we need to do is cross through this room and up another flight of stairs and we should make it in time for the exam check in" Sakura said, hoping they weren't going to be too late.

Naruto nodded in response and Sasuke made an unknown noise of affirmation. Sakura was still unsure of what exactly had gone on with the Uchiha boy back on the second floor but she hoped the whole debacle hadn't ruined their chances of registering.

"Hey you there, with the attitude. Hold on!"