I would like to dedicate this chapter to the YukiTenVianey Team! Thank you so much for the cover photo, and the support! You guys are beyond amazing! ALSO DISCLAIMER. CHANGE OF PLOT/SETTING. AKATSUKI ARE NOW ADDED BUT AS NORMAL CHARACTERS. THE STORY IS MY VERSION AND THOUGHTS OF NARUTO. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

There are always two types of people. Ones that want to see you happy and the ones that find happiness in your suffering. A person will never want you to suffer and be happy, these traits will never overlap.

Sai was not in love with me, he was in love with the reactions, the sense of power he had over me. And once seeing how I was slowly starting to react to someone else made his mind go grey. He acted fast, he wanted to know the best way to keep his favorite pass time within reach. When people say they love you, you''ll listen, no matter the person.

I listened to him, yes. Did I pay attention, no.

After his 'confession' I quietly exited the room, this time I did not turn around after I heard him calling.

Now lets fast forward to the present day.

Skipping was not my style. The stereotype applies here, the one in glasses is in fact well educated. So seeing as I had made sure not attend school for two days did make me anxious. But the thought of entering a room that was only filled with people I did not want to approach was making me feel another type uneasy.

Many things made me uneasy, and the list was increasing as I pretended to sleep.
The one at the top of the list was in fact Sasuke, however Sai was coming in at a close second. But uneasy can be defined in multiple ways right? The type of uneasy that is given off of Sasuke is different. It isn't horrible, however it isn't unpleasant. The type that comes with Sai is one that makes me feel guilty and cautious; scared even.

Uneasy was a funny word, with multiple reasons.

But what made me more uneasy then both of the dark haired males was the fact that I would be spending this weekend with them.

Like any other schooling system it came with "benefits", there words not mine.

A yearly trip for all of the neighboring villages in order to increase the nest generations bonds was taking place today. The Leaf, Sand, Waves, Stone, you name it was all invited to this yearly event. The worst part was how the higher ups designed it like a game; a survival game. Being put on a small island by ship from here is where this takes place. You are to be put in a group of six by random; named by color, with people you have never met before. Each group consists of pairs; one boy and girl from the same village. Last year it had been me and Naruto on the orange team, our team mates were from the Sand Village. A girl I took a liking to because of her strong will, who I believed was called Temari, her brother was also on our team. A quite red head, Gaara was his name. The rest of our team was made up of people from the land of waves; again a brother and sister. They didn't stand out much and kept quite for most of the games, I envied them.

I prefer doing tasks alone, but the groups were surprisingly not the worst part of the trip.
The goal of the trip was too see how many color tags you could steal from the other teams. How the tags are split up is what gets to me.

Each team mate is given a single strip of the color they are assigned and is to wear it like a headband. And using any means necessary you are suppose to retrieve the tags from the remaining players.

Once your tag is taken, you would think you are out of the game; if only.

At all times you must have a tag visibly tied around your head if you have one in your possession, the rest are more than welcome to be hidden.

The games goes on for two days, camping is included in this event, but seeing as to most of the color tags are taken at night, no sleep is really taking place.

And within those two days whether you have a tag or not you can still try to capture some.

Capture the flag is how this game plays out, its just everyone has a flag.

Why everyone plays so extreme is because of the price that is to be given to the top team.

People on the winning team are all given scholarships after leaving high school. However the same offer is given to the player with the most tags collected by the end of the hunt, regardless of the team placement.

And let me just say this, people will and have played dirty.

I rolled over and sat on my bed with my legs hanging over the side. I placed my face in my hands and tried to think of a way to get out of this trip. Two days seemed endless once you were constantly hiding and checking your surroundings.

I could hear a knock at my door.

I lifted my head , putting on a fake smile.

"Come in"

It was my mother, wearing a simple white dress that made her sun kissed hair appear brighter. She poked her head in and let out a laugh before entering.

"Sakura, did I wake you?" She asked.

"No I was just going to wash up" I replied.

"Well breakfast is on the table, come on the ship leaves in an hour." She smiled

"Well you see, I'm feeling a little sic-"

She closed the door before I could finish.

I let out a long sigh and pushed myself off the bed, dragging my way to the bathroom.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, people say I have my mothers eyes, surprisingly enough it was my fathers hair that was passed down to me. I had a habit of smiling at my reflection, practicing to see if my smile was believable when I needed to use it. I turned the tap on and started to wash my face, the cooling sensation made me forget about my surroundings, only for a moment.

This wont be too bad? Last year was less miserable, as much as I refuse to admit it, the cause for that was Naruto.

He had a natural protecting aura around him and he made sure to keep me within view and never failed to get the others and I to laugh. He was different those two days, he took responsibility for every injury on the team and swore to protect us. Kindness and bravery was what I had learnt in those 2 days.

We came in second place last year, thanks to him. He practically tied ever tag he got around his limps, his entire arms and left leg had been painted with multiple colors.

I closed the running water and practiced one last smile before leaving the room.

Everyone was to be dressed in the same outfit for the game, it made things more 'interesting this way' although not knowing who was who in a forest bigger than our entire village didn't sound interesting to me.

A simple all black outfit was the only requirement to participate in this game, so as I shoved my left arm in my black long sleeve it did in fact feel like I was about to attend my own funeral.

Letting out one last sigh, I exited the room. As I walked down the hall I heard my mom calling again.

"Sakura! Come eat quickly before you leave!"

"But I'm not going anywhere"

She started to laugh, "Oi come on, I loved going to this trip when I was your age."

She walked over to me and cupped my hands in her face and whispered, " Make me proud."

Looking at her jade eyes I started to pout, this was my last chance to get out of it, but my frowning only caused her to mimic my childish attempts, which in turn made me puff of my cheeks in defeat.

Pinching them she said, "That's my girl. Now eat up."

I did as told and as my eyes roamed around the small kitchen they fell on the single bottle of water laid out in front of my half eaten plate.

Another reason I dis liked these games was because there was water, lots and lots of it. We were responsible for finding our own food and shelter so water was a must, but the fact that I was not entirely a swimmer was a weak point.

Its how Ino yanked my tag from me last year.

My thoughts were broken from my mom grabbing my arm and lifting me up, "You have to leave now, be careful, have fun!" She kissed me on the forehead before I headed out.

It felt lighter walking to school without any belonging, the streets were decorated in other bodies also dressed in black walking in the same direction as I was.

A particular yellow stood out more than usually further ahead, and the way he threw his arms at the back of his head gave him away even more.

He was walking alone which made me pick up my pace until I was next to him.

"Ah Sakura-chan!"

"Morning Naurto." I placed my hands behind my back as we walked along.

He grinned at me. Although Naruto was friends with others I don't call allies, he was still unmistakably pure.

He was a natural friend.

"I hope were partners again! Last year we were so close to winning, just 2 tags short!" How he held up his hands and grabbed his blond locks out of frustration made me laugh through the quite morning streets.

"I hope so too." I smiled.

The rest of the walk was him explaining where people usually like to hide during the games. How you should always stay away from water areas at night if you valued your safety was also something he mentioned.

The school gates came into view and so did the busses that would take us to the dock.

We would divided up in partners now and find out our remaining group members when we got to the island.

Making my way to homeroom took longer than expected, however trying to take the less crowded way for less encounters might have been the cause.

So when I was greeted by Ino at the end of the hall I was taken by surprise.

Ino, wait.

How could Sai confess even though he is openly in a relationship with another person. But then this is just another reason to believe that he was in fact lying to me.

I slowed my pace down so she would enter the class room before me, waiting a minute I followed suit. As I am usually the first one in class, being the last one for the first time didn't feel very inviting. The room fell silent for a second, peeking the interest as to who was entering, but the chatter was quickly resumed after realizing it wasn't an important person. I kept my eyes on the floor as I made my way to my desk and only lifted my head up once I heard Kakashi voice.

Finally looking at my surroundings I noticed Sasuke was in his usual spot in front of me, but the fact how Sai had now been sitting in the desk next me to made me duck my head down once again.

What was this guy trying to do exactly?

"Now before we bored the busses we need to split into pairs as you all know. Now remember for the next 2 days your partner is your closets ally. Trust them, help each other, and do not turn your back on your friends. Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

I slowly lifted my head up again trying to only focus on Kakashi as he started to call the first names.

"In the Orange team; Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga"

"ALL RIGHT" Naruto yelled as he held up his hands, only causing Hinata to turn crimson and play with her fingers.

"Naurto settle down." Kakashi warned.

Kakashi then named out the Red, Green, and Yellow pairings. I started to play with my hands realizing that both my name and Sasuke's were yet to be called out. I mean if I had to be partnered up with anyone, I would like to pic-

My thoughts were cut off by Kakashi, " On the Pink team are Sakura Haruno, and Sai."

I let my head fall onto the desk telling myself that I had heard him wrong, there was no way-

"On the Black team are Sasuke Uchiha and Ino Yamanaka."

Sasuke had never stopped looking out the window ignoring the mention of his name,
Ino however seemed to be ecstatic, quickly turning to the girl beside her beaming with a smile.

"What about Sai?" Murmurs were heard.

The smile quickly slipped away, "What about him?"

"Its just well you know, during the event you spend so much time with your designated partner, will he uh-um be okay with you and Sasuke paired up?" The girl ducked her head down after finishing speaking.

"Sai and I are just friends now" she turned around, "Isn't that right Sai?"

Finally looking at the boy sitting next to me only to realize how exhausted he looked. Visible dark bags were found underneath his once un-deaftable black eyes. The usual fake smile he always had painted on was no where to be seen. His outfit off all black was not helping him look any less pitiful.

"Huh?" He turned his head over.

Zoning back into reality he nodded, "Oh yah, just friends."

There it was that smile. Who was he trying to fool, the smile seemed less realistic than his feelings for me. The class was left with an awkward silence, and I was left with thinking how I strangely felt connected to the matter.

Breaking the silence Kakashi cleared his throat, "Alright, make sure to bored the buses with your partner will be at the docking stations soon."

I quickly rose to my feet and walked out of the door. I increased my pace in order to be the first one to board the bus, I had no intention of sitting beside my team mate.
Picking the very front seat I sat down patiently waiting for the other students. One by one unfamiliar faces filled the silence and the seats on the bus. I leaned my temple against the window and closed my eyes

Two days.

Its only going to be two days.

I can do this.

As I felt myself slowly drift off I allowed it, it was the only sleep I would be getting for now.

Dreams were something I didn't believe in. I preferred to not dream at all, I did not like watching different versions of me go through scenarios I knew I would never take while awake in reality. Dreams gave you hope, a chance to let you believe that things that are unreachable were already in your grasp. If its one thing I don't need in life, its hope. Hope is a paralyzer, creating an imaginary source that will magically make things all better. Its hope that keeps us holding on, making us never let go and keeping us from moving forward.

The dream that was running through my thoughts at the moment was a strange one, like the rest.

I was looking at myself sitting in the class room watching the cheery blossoms fall, it was how my hair had been let down and blowing in the breeze that made me think someone else possessed pink hair.

This girl wasn't me, she looked at peace, she looked happy.

The classroom door had opened and the me in my dream had smiled, it did not look like the smiles I practiced every morning in front of the mirror. This one was not forced.

"Sakura."

The person that had entered the room said my name.

"Sakura."

It was a males voice.

"Sakura."

It was getting father away.

"Sakura."

The room disappeared and so did the voice, my eyes flickered open only to realize how my head had not been leaning on the window anymore but on Sai's shoulder.

"Sakura."

The same voice from the dream.

"Its time to wake up now, will be there soon."

I jumped back and created as much distance as I could between us, how was I so oblivious of my surroundings.

He scratched the back of his head, "Uh sorry you looked tried I didn't want to disturb you."

"I think it was me who disturbed you, sorry about that."

I was trying to avoid him, but how he kept showing up was making this overly difficult.

This time when he smiled it was soft, kind, some what believable, "Never a disturbance."

The bus had stopped and I turned my attention to the window where the dock was now in sight.

Although I could never swim, I was still found of the water. It was simply beautiful. How the blue was so bold and reflected off the sky made me wonder if beauty in others can be transferred into you.

Kakashi's voice broke the excitement, "Okay the ship ride is not long, once we arrive the other school will be there. Be sure to be kind to your other team mates. This effects how our villages will be connected."

The ship was large enough to be alone for a while, so doing what I did best, I vanished from the crowd. Majority of the students remained inside of the boat seeing as how food and entertainment was provided before reaching the island, so the outside area of the ship was a more than welcoming place to escape too. Walking to the railings at the end of the ship use to be frightening during the pervious trips, but now I found myself drawn to that certain area. I could see the island from here, like Kaskashi said it wasn't too far, but the fact it was also impressively big was another factor. The island consisted of mostly forest area so majority of the injuries from last year was due to how people who couldn't climb trees, thought they could.

"Hn."

Only one person would make his presence known by a simple grunt. So turning around and finding an all black Sasuke standing behind me was not surprising.

"If you lean any father you'll fall off."

"You think that will get me out of this game then."

He moved to the empty spot beside me and leaned his forearms on the railing.

"If you don't want to be here, then you shouldn't."

I learned to accept the fact that what ever Sasuke would say just naturally sounded cold and distant.

I turned my face towards him, "Its not that easy getting out of this event."

"Its never easy."

I felt like he was no longer talking about the game.

He kept his gaze focused on the sea ahead, and for a moment he looked more stunning than the water.

"Be careful."

My eyes widened, I was too surprised to understand what he had just said.

"Sure the game is difficult but I'll be okay." I smiled

"Not of the game."

"I'm sorry." I choked out.

"Be careful of your surroundings." He said.

My surroundings? The only people I will be with are my teammates?

"Of the people you're with Sakura."

"Okay. You be careful as well."

He turned to face me, and the sudden focus of his facial features caused me to regret how the heat rose up to my face so quickly.

"You proved to be quite unexpected" He smirked.

"Watch your back Haruno."

And with that he walked away.

I turned around to watch him walk away and only returned my attention back to shore until his body was fully out of site.

Unexpected.

Realization hit and so did the regret.

Was he referring to the sudden kiss, my face heated up at just the thought.I was starting to think that the one thing I had to be careful of the most was Sasuke and not some silly game.

Looking up again the island was much closer and only getting larger. We were almost out one last sigh I turned around and made my way towards the others.
Slowly voices started to surface and faces started to appear. Everyone was gathered into a large circle focusing their attention on who was in the center. Which was where a woman was handing out the colored tags to everyone. I felt a tap on my shoulder and was greeted with Sai holding a pink ribbon in front of my face. Looking up at him I could see he had already tied his around his forehead.

"It was getting crowded so I grabbed yours for you." He was avoiding eye contact.

"Thank you."

"Anytime." Sai mumbled.

I gently took the ribbon from his hands and wrapped it around my forehead. Having trouble with the knot I felt his hands over mine.

"May I."

I slipped my hands away and thought against it but nodded in agreement. The ship had stopped and teachers were starting to point students towards the exits, I watched as other laughed and hugged excitingly waiting for the day to begin. I felt out of place.

"It's prefect." Sai said.

"Huh?" I turned around.

"The pink, its perfect." He pointed to the ribbon but how he was smirking made me think he was referring to another pink.

"We should get going, our other team mates should be outside."

Just like all the other responses through out the day I nodded and mumbled to no one in particular. Waiting outside was a sea of black. Everyone had been gathered and was eagerly looking for others who possessed a matching head band. A familiar girl with four pig tails came into site, and seeing the pink ribbon she wore made me feel relieved, she was a strong player. However the man beside her was not the same red head from last year. This one wore a black hood, he had tied the ribbon over it.

"Well look what we have here! It's good to see you again Sakura."

I smiled, "You too Temari, lets do our best." I said

"This here is my other brother, Kankuro."

"Yo." He waved a peace sign.

His face was painted in purple, only in certain areas.

"Hello, I'm Sai." He outstretched his arm to him and wore his signature smile again.

Kankuro accepted it, "Lets win this thing!"

"Well now that were all best friends lets find the remaining two!" Yelled Temari.

"Looks like we found you brats first." A deep voice had spoken.

Turning around stood a tall man with long comb backed silver hair wearing a black V neck. Next to him was a breath taking girl with short lavender hair and hazel eyes.

Both of them wore pink ribbons.

"How ironic the girl with pink hair is on the pink team, are you sure your head band doesn't just blend into that nest." He poked my forehead.

Sai had moved in front of me, "Doesn't that shirt show to much cleavage."

"You little." He raised his arm but it was quickly caught by the girl standing behind him.

"Hidan enough."

She made her way in front of us, "Please bare with him, my name is Konan, this is Hidan, I hope you can forgive us."

I started to shake my head rapidly back and forth, "Oh no, its alright honestly! My name is Sakura." She was mature and kind, I caught myself blushing.

Hidan had let out a snort, "What a 'unique' name."

Konan had wiped her head back causing him to look away.

"My names Temari, this here is my brother Kankuro." She outstretched her hand and in return was given a smile from Konan.

"And who is this?"

Konan pointed to boy beside me who spoke up,

"Sai."

"Bitter." Hidan whispered.

"Ugly." Sai replied.

They began to glare at one another but Kakashi's voice had caught their attention.

"Everyone we are about to begin. Please line up with your team mates in front of the pathway, after GO the games begin."

"1."

I looked over at Temari and Kankuro, both in ready positions.

"2."

Konan looked calm. Hidan caught my eye and winked.

"3."

Sai grabbed my hand.

"GO."

And we ran.

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, a little boring but I needed introductions for characters and the change of setting, it picks up in the next chapter. Just to let you know this is still SASUSAKU! But I like love triangles so please bare with me. Going to make a twist by adding some violence (blood) and profanity cause Hidan... I wanted to incorporate the Chunin exams but with a twist so here is my attempt.
Also DISCLAIMER AGAIN the Akastuki will be in the story as just students from neighbouring villages and not 'bad' guys. This is my remake and completely different from the original Naruto. I really like their personalities in the anime so I wanted them to be in my story.

Thanks for reading, reviews really are inspirational and keep me writing!

Hope you liked it!

I do not own Naruto ._.