Life is rarely fair, and while that was not so much a lesson to be learned as it was an undeniable fact, children still harbor the well-meaning lessons that their parents have taught them. Such as; 'if you do good things, good things will happen' or 'hard work will always result in at least a reward, even if it's simply a pat on the back for trying'.

And once children are released into the world to mingle amongst other children, eventually they learn this fact. However, some children learn it a little later in life, usually the ones who have taken the innocent lectures of their doting parents too literally- such is the case for Sakura Haruno.

The girls at the academy bullied her mercilessly for the mere physical flaw of her forehead being just a little too large, so she tried to her best abilities to befriend these girls. She invited Ame to sleepovers to her house and didn't complain when the older girl broke her dolls or cut some of her hair off. She took Ryu out with her family to a nice dinner, and when the girl continued to mock her behind her back at school Sakura tried even harder to appease her, letting her 'borrow' some of her nicer clothing only for it never to be returned- or partially destroyed when it was. She took the blame when Ako threw an eraser at a girl a grade beneath them, taking the detention in her stead. Sakura truly believed that if she worked hard, and showed the girls that she was a kind and caring person that her constant ridicule would stop.

When Ino Yamanaka came along, she figured that her hard work had actually payed off, Sakura Haruno finally had a friend who really seemed to care about her and her feelings. They played together constantly, Ino showed her how to properly do her hair and let her borrow articles of clothing her own parents could never afford, she went to see plays with her parents and even showed her new friend where she'd gathered many pretty bottles and flowers and stashed them away inside of a hollowed out old tree- she'd shared her secret sanctuary with the girl in hopes of deepening their friendship.

Things however, proceeded the way they do, once puberty popped up amongst the school children and she and her only and best friend developed a crush on the same heart throb, Sasuke Uchiha, their friendship quickly fell apart.

Sakura, however, still believed in the promise of hard work equating to good luck and reward, and worked even harder to win Sasuke's attention. She grew out her hair and started dieting, hoping a slimmer waist would make up for her lack of feminine curves, she borrowed her mother's makeup when the first signs of acne popped up and dark circles appeared beneath her eyes, hard work would grab his attention, she was sure of it.

She studied every single night and passed every exam presented to her without a single error, she was certain that if she was going to be placed on a team with someone as skilled as Sasuke she needed to be first in class. So she worked tirelessly, seemingly spending more time at the library than her own home. Forgetting to actually eat most nights because she prefered to keep her nose in her books, so certain they would be the key to success that would turn her life around- people would want to be her friend, Sasuke would actually see her, and she'd be a successful shinobi.

When the time for graduation came her parents were waiting for her outside of school, so ready to congratulate her on becoming a real shinobi, a genin with the whole world ahead of her. All of the students poured out of the academy doors to their parents who were waiting with open arms, she saw clansmen of her village standing with their heirs, and felt small in their presence.

She saw one boy standing alone in the crowd- Naruto Uzumaki, she knew him from class, but he was such a loudmouth she'd never considered approaching him. She doubted they would get along at all, he was in trouble for some silly prank/ act of vandalism he'd committed most of the time anyway- but it wasn't until today that she noticed he was entirely alone out there, amongst a sea of parents doting on their children. Where were his?

It wasn't until the day after that she spoke to him- when they'd been assigned the same team. She was absolutely thrilled to have been placed with Sasuke, but not so much Naruto. His poor behavior was likely to get her into trouble and she didn't want that. It wasn't hard to imagine 'guilty by association' was what made the other children so wary of the blonde- yet, while she'd assumed his obnoxious and over the top behavior was what kept so many of his peers away- the way the parents of said children looked at the blonde with such venomous contempt, she wasn't so sure it was simply because the boy pulled a few annoying pranks, it had to be something else.

That day she was also introduced to her jounin sensei, whom she assumed would be a proper and eager mentor who would help them find their footing in their career goals- she was wrong. Kakashi-Sensei was anything other than proper- and eager was the very last thing anyone would call him. He was uninterested, insulting and improper- going as far as to read pornography openly in front of his students, but Sakura tried to sound enthusiastic and jovial, to no avail- as her reward was simply an annoyed, tired sigh and backhanded compliment to her intelligence.

When they were brought into the training grounds the next day for what she assumed would be an introduction to their studies, she was surprised to hear her sensei had brought them there to test their abilities, but it was nothing like the examinations she'd had at the academy. He expected three genin to take on an experienced jonin and demanded that if one failed to retrieve the bells tied to his waist that they would be sent back to the academy.

Unsurprisingly, they'd all failed. Sasuke had been thwarted at every turn because he simply refused to act offensively, Sakura could say the same happened to Naruto but his failures seemed to be a direct result of his own constant impulsivity- and she didn't even have the slightest opportunity to attempt to get a bell, she'd simply been trapped in a genjutsu and left to roam the vast surrounding forest. As much as she wanted to taunt her teammates- Sasuke included, as he'd been particularly rude to her today- she was probably the last person that had the right to.

Luckily, the not-so-secret key to passing the exam, was teamwork. And Sasuke's blatant offering of food to Naruto was taken as a passing grade. Sakura, who was too fearful to go against Kakashi-Sensei's warning, soon realized that breaking the rules shouldn't constitute a reward- it's what had kept her safe for so many years-, but sometimes it did . She went home that day feeling a particularly heavy lump in her throat, and when her parents excitedly asked her how her first training session had gone, she locked herself in her bedroom and stayed there until they'd gone to sleep.

She still intently believed in hard work garnering a reward, so when they were given D-Rank missions around the village she never complained and completed their job to the best of her abilities- though her teammates made it incredibly difficult. While weeding Mr. Taguchi's garden Naruto became enraged at Sasuke's teasing and began throwing clumps of dirt at him- pulling up some of the potato plants in the process. Though her section of the garden was perfectly weeded and the chaos only seemed to be reigning on the boy's side, she too was punished for their behavior.

When they were sent to retrieve a lost cat, Naruto continually attempted to snatch the scared feline right from it's resting place and sending it scurrying off into the wilderness, it took nearly a week to finally return the cat to it's owner and none of them were paid for their efforts. She became increasingly annoyed at her male companions, and though she still found herself fawning over the Uchiha's mysterious and dark features she soon realized that while he excelled at the physical requirements to become a shinobi, he was just as incompetent as Naruto at times.

Kakashi-Sensei rarely trained them on anything interesting, if anything they did basic physical training such as running laps- which she sincerely believed was simply to spare him some time on days he wasn't interested in teaching them. Why give the two top students to someone who refused to help them refine their skills?

It was clear to her however- that while she excelled over her comrades in book smarts and etiquette, she fell flat in physical tasks the boys seemed to exceed at with little effort or care. She'd never thought that running a lap around the village would leave her choking for air while her two teammates ran straight past without even a look of fatigue.

Winter was approaching and while she'd been making her own money during her tasks around the village- when Naruto didn't ruin them- she found herself feeling less like a shinobi than ever before. She hadn't learned a single jutsu since the academy and while the muscles in her legs were becoming more toned and defined with the strenuous physical activities and training, her teammates seemed to beat her at every turn. She chalked it up to her failing to train her body as much as she'd trained her mind during her time in the academy.

She would work harder, good things would surely come. If anything, she could put herself on equal grounds with her teammates.

The following spring, after the cold season had bled away and was quickly replaced with Konoha's hot sun and the fresh green of surrounding trees had returned, they'd been assigned their first "real" mission. A C-Rank escort mission to a little village in the land of waves. To say she was excited was an understatement- she was thrilled to be one of the first genin to get an out of village mission. She'd never left Konoha's gates and her parents couldn't have been prouder.

The excitement bled away within their first three days of travel, they had been attacked not once, but twice. They'd only managed to survive because Kakashi-Sensei and Sasuke had taken the reigns at every sign of danger. She wasn't sure what had happened to the first pair of assassins that they'd come across, though her stomach churned when she realized they were more than likely dead. The second- well, the second pair were probably the most frightening she'd ever witnessed, and they'd barely escaped with their lives. Kakashi-Sensei was incapacitated for nearly an entire day, and everyone was on edge. For she knew that if the pair of shinobi that had attacked them returned in the night, Kakashi-Sensei would not be there to help them.

A moment of happiness made the events of the past few days subside, even just for a little while. Kakashi-Sensei was teaching them how to climb trees using only their chakra- Sakura had managed to do it her first attempt without fail, while Naruto and Sasuke had trouble making it a few feet off the ground. It was nice to be complimented for her work- it was the only compliment her sensei had ever awarded her- but it all came crashing down when she realized he'd done it to enthuse the other boys into action. She spent the rest of her evening doing housework until Kakashi had arrived alone, not even slightly interested in talking to the young kunoichi.

The mysterious assassins returned, this time with the clear intent to kill. Never in her life had she been so frightened as she stood before Tazuna, the bridge builder, a kunai shakily gripped in her small hands, when she realized the true power gap between her and those around her. She was less threatening than a bumblebee to them- and just as easy to squash.

Another gap became very apparent to her that day, the gap between her and Sasuke as Kakashi boastingly sent him off to fight against the masked assassin, and the gap between her and Naruto and perhaps even everyone and Naruto, as she saw something unleashed from within him that brought light to all of her suspicions. She wasn't certain what that orange chakra was, or how the blue of Naruto's eyes had bled into an angry, unusual red, so similar to Sasuke's strange doujutsu, but it was very clear that the two boys she'd trained alongside were very different from other genin.

When they'd returned to the village after a tearful revolution and new revelations about what it means to be a shinobi, things were very different between the three. A strange, building tension seemed to be growing between her male teammates. She couldn't understand if Sasuke resented Naruto for his rescue, taking it as a blow to his pride, or if he resented the strange and awe-striking power Naruto seemed to possess. It was clear to her now, that their fights weren't simply the bickering of two boys but a genuine animosity, an unspoken challenge of dominance between the two. This animosity left little room for her, and she found herself awkwardly out of place among the three males of her group- feeling as though she was the deadweight she'd always thought Naruto to be.

Word had also reached the village about a group of genin returning from an A-Rank mission, and considering they had been the first team to leave the village on a mission- it wasn't hard to guess what they'd arrived from. Her parents were furious when she returned home, her father nearly pummeling her sensei as he arrived at the door with a doctor from the village hospital.

Weeks of mental and physical examinations as well as three different mission debriefings took place, each more tiring and annoying than the one before. There was nothing more humiliating than explaining your part in the mission and saying that you stood back and watched chaos ensue. Yet, for whatever reason, she kept news of Naruto's strange abilities locked away, it wasn't like her to withhold information, but it felt wrong to explain it. Like a secret that wasn't hers to tell.

They resumed their menial D-Rank missions around the village, more successes than failures this time around, but something heavy hung between the three genin, something she didn't quite understand but was irked by all the same.

Months stretched by in what felt like the blink of an eye, and as the end of summer was coming near, Kakashi made an announcement to the three of his students, that the chunin examinations were around the corner, and he was considering entering them.

Sakura could see through the charade, they weren't even nearly ready to advance in ranks, he simply wanted them out of his hair. Not that he tried to hide it, he was always very vocal about his dislike in the area of teaching- mostly though, that was affirmed by the fact that he'd failed entirely to teach them anything beside the basics they'd already learned a hundred times over in the academy.

When they'd arrived at the building for the first part of examinations- she quickly realized some older combatants had used a genjutsu in hopes of thinning out the competition, she was hopeful that it would show her teammates that she could at times be useful, but her moment of recognition was quickly overshadowed when another genin- one of her village but not her graduating class, introduced himself as an admirer of her, and then proceeded to be dragged away by his teammates, another pair of unrecognized konoha genin, though one deeply resembled a quiet girl from her class- an older brother, perhaps?

She couldn't believe her luck when she was told the first part of the exam was a written test, and by the looks of it, things she'd studied. She was fortunate to have studied beyond what was necessary, but she knew her comrades didn't particularly excel in this field so she hoped that her score would carry the three well enough- as it looked like almost none of the other genin were answering questions as quickly as she had been.

The test meant absolutely nothing, to her horror, and as they were introduced to the real exam, her hopes of contributing to her team's success was quickly diminishing. 'The Forest of Death' they called it, a name that seemed to be well fitting as she peered into the dense and dark forest. Naruto and Sasuke seemed less than bothered- even boastful, and she couldn't help but feel entirely alone in her experience- soon, she would be in the literal sense.

So many horrific events proceeded that day she wasn't sure she was even able to fully comprehend them- from the eerie snake-like man who had seemed to appear entirely for Sasuke, to kill him, to maim him? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that both of her teammates were unconscious, and very sick.

She tucked them away in a heavily trapped cave, meekly and anxiously standing guard outside of it. She was entirely alone, and without them, she was at a complete loss. The competitors were ruthless- and while friendly nin outnumbered foreign nin, she'd seen the catastrophic tracks they'd left behind. This was no place for inexperienced genin, and she couldn't believe her mentor would thrust them into this without much of any training.

As she sat out in the cold, dark and damp forest, hiding beneath a thick patch of foliage with her eyes focused entirely on where she'd stashed her teammates away, she thought back to her childhood.

She remembered a time when her grandparents were still around, and the hot sun on her freckled shoulders as she plucked weeds from her grandmother's flower garden, she would be out there for hours without complaint, laughing and happily expressing her dreams and joys to her amused and kind grandmother, and how after every day of hard work, she'd be rewarded with lemonade and almond cookies.

She wondered how things had become so surreal, how the visceral death of other genin was supposed to even test their abilities. It seemed more like a lesson in jungle law than it did a test of their skillset. If this was only the second part of the exam, what could possibly lie ahead? And how could she proceed, did she even want to proceed?

As she heard the steady, almost lazy footsteps approaching, a scream threatened to escape her lips, but she swallowed it back with a muffled choke as every hair on her body stood on end, sending electric chills through her entire form. Why? Why now, when she was entirely alone, dirty and exhausted? Were they even aware of her presence? She couldn't leave Naruto and Sasuke. Even if she wanted to, she'd never escape without them.

Her bones rattled with fear as they leisurely walked into the clearing, there were three of them, dressed in a similar fashion, she couldn't clearly see their hiyate but she could easily assume they were another team, though they looked at least a few years older than herself and her teammates, and by their willingness to be out in the open- they were strong.

She tried to imagine herself sinking into the earth around her, disappearing into the ground, to become invisible. She could feel her heartbeat thrumming through all of her extremities as she sucked in small, choking breaths. She wanted to gulp air as a man dying of thirst would suck in water, but she had to remain silent. Should found her lungs burning with desire for more oxygen as the three genin talked just out of her reach, but she could hear the slight murmurs of a conversation, and by the confident smirk of one of the two males, she assumed whatever they were talking about wasn't in her favor.

Something was rustling behind her, but she couldn't afford to move. Her heart raced violently as she desperately tried to zero in on both the sounds behind her, and the obvious threat appearing right before her eyes.

She'd always thought that if you worked hard, and did good things, that life would extend to you the rewards of reaping what you sow. That there was some sort of cosmic balance directly tied to the cause and effect of one's actions, that gods smiled upon good and hard working children.

Today she became blatantly aware that life wasn't fair, and no one was listening to her prayers.

As the three foreign genin disappeared into the familiar smoking 'pop' of clones, she was ripped backwards, her hair ripping away in small clumps as the air seemed to evacuate her lungs, she was thrown harshly backwards, not even able to scramble to her weapons pouch before the hand still grasping clumps of her hair shoved forward, slamming her face against the ground, dirt and small rocks became embedded in her open wounds as the violent crack of the bridge of her nose rattled through her skull.

Blood quickly began streaming down the front of her face and down the back of her throat, the pain as her attacker seemingly rubbed her broken face against the ground was white-hot and sent a strangled croak falling from her bloodied lips.

"Out here and all alone?" A distinctly feminine voice cooed mockingly, Sakura couldn't muster up words, throat full of blood and lungs full of a heavy layer of dirt, she choking spat a long, oozing trail of viscera onto her lap, desperately flailing against the larger girl's hold as she slowly regained her senses.

A hard, sandled food slammed into her back and with an affirmative yank to her now burning scalp she stopped struggling, noticing the other two nin had come into view, the looks on their faces portrayed anything but sympathy.

"What do we do with her?" The girl questioned, motioning to Sakura as she placed a free hand on her hip, lips curling into a cruel smile. The two males lazily scanned over Sakura's particularly pathetic looking form, looking lax and unconcerned. She would have been insulted, had fear not already rooted her to the ground, leaving her shaking and gripping at the dirt.

"She's not our target, Orochimaru is only concerned with that Sasuke kid, just kill her." One of the boys responded, shrugging his shoulders lazily, yet the other watched her, with fascinated eyes as blood began pooling in her lap.

"Think she'll bleed to death if we just leave her like that?" He cackled, voice gruff and synonymous with a childlike glee that horrified Sakura to her core, she winced as a harsh tug ripped her head backwards and to the side as the brunette girl bent over her, smiling as she examined her handywork.

The position was awkward and sent blood rushing down Sakura's throat once again, though struggling to breathe through the thick, metallic blood running down her throat and lethargic with fear and adrenaline, she knew she couldn't simply sit and allow this to continue, they weren't simply going to get tired of her and wander away like her bullies had. This was simply a game to them and she was making it easy.

So she did the only thing she could think of, and with the hand that had buried itself deep into the earth, in her writhing moments of pain, she grabbed a handful of loose soil, and tossed it directly into the other girl's face.

As her grip was released and a pained growl left her, Sakura knew she'd managed to get her in the eyes and scrambled out from beneath the two, the other male nin who'd shown no interest in her was now proceeding to scream profanities at her.

Blood was pumping harder in her ears than in her chest as she narrowly wove through a sea of kunai, some just barely nicking the exposed flesh on her calves, but the pain went unnoticed in comparison to the burning sting of her badly broken nose.

Unfortunately, she didn't even have the option of vacating the area, as her teammates were still unconscious, and now she was horrifically aware that one of said unconscious teammates, was the target of the incredibly strong team of nin currently intent on killing her.

And he was sitting in the recesses of the cave like a sitting duck, with no means of defense even if he woke up this very instant, as the wounds he'd suffered during their brush with the strange man had left him in dire need of medical attention she wasn't properly trained to give.

She summoned some shadow clones but it did little to keep them at bay, though only one had gone arial in an attempt to actively seek her, the more malicious of the two, she couldn't leave the area and as dumb as she sincerely wanted to believe they were, they would soon catch on to the fact that she was reluctant to flee and start investigating why she was so reluctant to flee.

A large shuriken whizzed past her, roughly tagging the tail of her dress to the thick bark of a mossy tree, she yelped helplessly as she tore at the fabric, leaving hardly any of her dress left, it had ripped off the majority of the tail, leaving the flesh below her navel bare as she caught the full force of his fist against the tender area below her eye, the intensity threw her backwards and she had to glue herself in an awkward, half-standing half-hanging position with chaka.

Her vision was violently doubled, making her stomach flip violently as she found herself unable to hold her focus on her chakra, sliding down the surface of the tree, leaving her arm and stomach burning and raw. The man was nearly right on top of her, if he grabbed for her now he'd just barely snag a few strands of her hair, he quickly closed the space between them, and as he brandished a kunai at her, smile widening as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his chest, attempting to place the glistening blade at the base of her throat, she slammed her elbow into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs as she sloppily snagged his wrist, in a moment of panic and fear she forced it forward, digging the pointed edge into the smooth 'V' of muscle beneath his chin.

A noise Sakura had never heard a human being emit left his throat as he stumbled backwards dumbly, hand attempting to cover the open wound, but blood began pooling between his fingers, congealing as he continued making choked, gurgling breaths, before he collapsed into the earth, moving weakly.

The contents of her stomach splashed against the ground as she shakily backed away from the scene in front of her, taking large, gasping breaths as she scrambled to look around her, and by the silence of the forest, either his teammates had left, or she'd wandered just out of their range, she wasn't sure.

She hastily ran over to the still slowly-moving nin, noticing his eyes were blinking rapidly as he stared into the sky at nothing, his hands weakly pushing against her as she emptied his weapons pouch and what would've once been a nice item, a scroll. She took it fearfully, not really caring if they even passed the exam at this point, simply wanting an escape.

As she circled back, silently and fearfully, stopping only to throw up or to scan every sound around her, she slipped into the hidden cavern, relieved to see her teammates still there, unharmed and resting silently in the darkness.

She didn't dare light a fire, instead she simply sat, pressed against the stone wall near the camouflaged mouth of the cave, warily waiting and watching, kunai held tightly to her chest, caked in her own blood, too fearful to rest.

To her absolute horror, she heard approaching footsteps, only one set this time. As she pressed herself as comfortably possible to the cavern wall and sucked in her breath, she peered through the curtained veil of moss, not even daring to allow her breath to jostle the surface.

It was an Iwa nin, no older than her, gasping as they ran over the cavern, from some unseen force, and into the clearing just beyond.

The violent sounds of an ear-piercing scream echoed through the clearing, so loud and violent she doubted there was a single soul in the forest who hadn't heard it.

From beyond the forest, a redheaded man emerged, covered in so much viscera Sakura could barely hold back her scream, he was looking directly at the mouth of the cavern, almost directly into her eyes, unmoving, and completely silent.

His comrades from before were nowhere in sight- and from the brief introduction they'd had before the exams, she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd killed them himself, just for the enjoyment of it.

An unseen wind, or perhaps some strange, ghostly force damned her. The veil of moss placed over the mouth of the cavern was pulled aside, and from the meager space between her, and the monster known as Sabaku no Gaara, she saw him smile.

Soon, the 'ghostly force' that had ripped the cover from their sanctuary was revealed to be tiny, immensely strong specks of sand, all escaping through the uncapped gourd strapped to the strange Suna nin's back, and with that same unholy force, dragging her forward, kicking and screaming by her ankle.

She pleaded, desperately and unashamedly for him to stop, she was nothing in comparison to a monster like him and couldn't even deceive herself into thinking she had the slightest chance. She was a coward, but not a fool. Not anymore.

As she was thrown before him, shaking weakly, his sea-foam green eyes narrowed, scanning around her, she was thankful for the absolute darkness of the cavern, for shielding her teammates from his vision.

"Where is Sasuke Uchiha?" He deadpanned, head cocking menacingly to the side, observing her quivering form with what she was certain was delight.

"I don't know." She hurriedly mumbled, too scared to say anything else.

"Oh you don't, do you?" He hummed, unamused and very blatantly annoyed, and as sand was violently coerced from the gourd on his back, it began swarming around them like hornets, scratching and burning and slicing at her open wounds, she whimpered weakly.

She hurriedly scrambled for the heaven scroll in her bag, intending to throw it open and surrender the exam, she didn't care if her career was over. She didn't care about damning Naruto and Sasuke to remain genin forever- what mattered more was that they remained alive.

A large glob of metallic and damp smelling sand caught her wrists, yanking her roughly side to side, and as her joints popped violently, she sucked air through her teeth to swallow the bubble of her scream.

And then it had all stopped, the pain, the horrendous noise of Gaara's malicious cackle, everything seemed to dull, and she was alone in the clearing, an earth scroll laid out before her, taunting her very existence. She knew instantly why he had left the scroll, and for what reason he didn't kill her she wasn't certain. Perhaps if she died he assumed that her team would simply drop out of the exam, or maybe her pitiful show was simply sickening to him- all she knew was that he'd left the scroll for one reason only, and perhaps a more horrifying one than before.

He wanted to fight Sasuke, and if he died in the forest he would never have that opportunity.

She grabbed both scrolls, her hideaway no longer safe and her mind unable to conceive coherent thoughts, she huddled between her two teammates, ignoring the stinging of her wounds as she drew her knees to her chest and sobbed, an ugly, painful sob. Each breath burned her nose and each movement stung her wounds. She was filthy, caked with so much blood that if she scraped her nail along her hands there would be a centimeter of filth dug away.

She wasn't sure how long she simply sat there, crying, but in that time Sasuke began rustling, and not like he had before, whatever violent fever he'd succumbed to before seemed to be dying off, but his movements now were akin to a violent seizure, he writhed and groaned and hissed, before a strange, black seal began wrapping itself down the column of his neck, reaching the fingertips of his left arm before his eyes flew open, angry and red like fire.

Sakura tried to whisper his name, but throat too sore to speak and too beaten down to fight all that came out was a half-hearted whimper. His head snapped down, and for a moment she was genuinely afraid he would strike her, before his eyes scanned her entire form, violently, predatorily, his jaw clicked as it clenched and he roughly grabbed her by the forearm, yanking her to her feet.

"Who did this to you?" He growled, low and deeply, in a tone she'd never heard him utter. She swore as she looked at him that this was not the Sasuke she'd entered the exam with. This was something- someone different.

"I…" She croaked, unable to explain what had happened to her, what she had done, and what was to come. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried desperately to turn away, to shield her broken and tear-filled face, to retain even the slightest bit of dignity she had left.

He ripped his hand away from her, growling like a rabid animal as he scanned their surroundings, her chest tightened with fear. She felt cornered, afraid and alone. She should feel safe and happy- Sasuke was alright and for the time being they were safe, but something inside her shook with such violent fear his actions were pushing her delicate psyche over a dangerous edge.

She lashed out before her mind could even recognize what she'd done, and it left the echoing sound of a slap rumbling through the density of the cavern. She stared at him, wide eyed as he slowly pulled his face from the momentarily cocked position her strie had left him in, he looked at her with wide, red eyes, black spots twirling violently as he took a menacing step forward, she pressed her back to the wall, shielding her face from a blow she was certain was coming, yet it never did.

When she looked back up, whatever markings had swallowed his body were gone and he was throwing one of Naruto's arms over his shoulder, grunting to motion her to support his other side. She hastily followed suit, burning with guilt she was unable to meet his gaze, though she was sure he was no longer looking at her.

The place he had grabbed her burned, and she did her best not to cry out when Naruto's weight pressed on her sore joints. The atmosphere was silent and unbroken for minutes before Sasuke finally spoke.

"The exam is nearly up, we're not passing. We need to get back to the entrance" He growled, voice clearly still laced with anger- and worst of all, entirely directed at her. It pierced through her to the bone, and if not for half of Naruto's weight leaning on her, she was certain she would have flinched away.

"Actually…" She whispered, eyes glued forward as she repositioned Naruto's weight, "I have both scrolls."

Sasuke's head snapped to the side, eyes now visible slits as she was faced with no appreciation- only fury. "How the hell is that possible?" He hissed, "Where did you get them?"

"One," Sakura swallowed, unable to bring the words to life, "From a group of Sound nin, the other, Gaara gave to me." She whispered. Hands now visibly shaking.

Sasuke seemed to come to the conclusion that she did not want to talk about it, and most likely fully understood why Gaara had handed over a scroll to her so eagerly, as the challenging smirk he'd worn since he'd seen the suna nin quickly returned, and as they picked up pace, with little consideration for her wounds or the pace she could physically manage, they ushered on, to the rendezvous point, Naruto regaining his senses not soon after.

Sakura hung back and Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously opened their 'gifted' scrolls and were met with their former academy teacher, Iruka. Proudly congratulating the team on their efforts and successes. Then, he caught glimpse of Sakura. Admittedly, her physical condition compared to her teammates was astonishing. They all looked like they'd been dragged through miles of broken glass, but Sakura looked immensely worse. Dress ripped more than in half, covered in blood and nose skewed unattractively to the side, one eye almost swollen entirely shut, and a knot the size of a fist in her usually long, shiny hair.

Nothing was said, but she'd never seen him look so stern as he had when he ushered them into the arena, where Kakashi met them at the gates, looking as uninterested and annoyed as he usually does.

"You made it." He said, not with surprise so much as a lackluster acknowledgement. She felt her eyes narrow against her own will, causing her bandages to bunch uncomfortably over her nose. If she thought having her nose broken was painful, having her nose reset was excruciating.

Once again she was looked over, and once again nothing was said, simply a mild look of surprise before everything was once again set into motion. They'd barely had time to dress their wounds and enter the arena before they were thrust right back into action, the preliminaries to the final part of the exam. More than half of the starting competition was already gone, and the three stood among their peers.

Looking the roughest of the group, she felt less out of place when she realized her team in general looked more rough than any of the remaining groups. As she took her place beside Naruto and Sasuke, staring blankly at the fights going on before her, both involving former classmates and new faces, she waited in anticipation, knowing her name wouldn't be far beyond.

As the screen lit up, bright neon lights drilled through her like knives. Though later in life and much harsher than most, she had to face reality, for what it was and what it would continue to be. She couldn't trust in the world outside of her parents comfortable home.

As she climbed down the winding steps into the arena and took her place beside the senbon-chewing practitioner, she watched her former only and best friend take her place beside her.

"Life is not fair." Sakura whispered, staring into the unusual, blue eyes of Ino Yamanaka.

I do not in any way, shape or form own Naruto or any affiliated characters. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I haven't written a fic in a very long time and I know now that the series is over most have lost interest. I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and follow for more updates. Please excuse my errors, I know there are probably plenty not including my horrible punctuation, I'm not the best at re-reading my work and I tend to overlook my own mistakes.