Till the end of time, a Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden Fanfiction

Chunin Exam - Here we come

"Boring!" Naruto groaned while laying under a tree, trying - in vain - to sleep. "Why does time pass so slowly if you've got nothing to do?"
Nobody answered him of course. "Why is Kakashi so laaaaate. Shouldn't ninjas be at least somewhat punctual?" Still no answer. "If the ability of a ninja would be measured by their punctuality, Kakashi-sensei would be the worst ninja on earth. By far."
He rolled from one side to another trying to find a comfortable position, but the firm ground wasn't the best place to roll around. "Ouch! Stupid stones. Stupid Baka-sensei. Stupid everything. Stupid..."
"Shut up, dobe."
"Stupid teme." He muttered, but unfortunately Sasuke heard him. Only moments after he closed his mouth a barrage of stones hit him on the head. "Hey, who..." Naruto started, but even more stones stopped him from continuing. "Teme, I hate you. Really. You'll get that back Sasuke..."
Clong
A bigger stone, neatly the size of a small boulder knocked him over and out. A small note was attached to the rock just so that Naruto could read it before falling in oblivion. 'Shut up' were the only words written on the paper.

A few dozen minutes later Kakashi finally arrived at the trainings ground. He didn't think too much of the boulder laying in the centre of the duo that was already waiting for him. He thought more over the fact that there was one teammate missing. "Beautiful morning boys. Where's Sakura?"
"GOOD MORNING? ITS ALREADY AFTER NOON. And what do you mean with where..." Naruto raged, but fell silent as soon as he comprehended what his sensei was saying. "Where's Sakura-chan?"
"That's what he asked, dobe. Don't you listen once?"
"You're one to talk. You never listen to what I say."
"I'm always listening..." Sasuke started, but Naruto interrupted him. "No you're not. You never listen when I ..."
"I listen if there's something worth listening to. Nothing you say deserves my attention, dobe, so I'll not even bother."
"Get yourself together. Both of you." Kakashi commanded. He wasn't angry though. Underneath his mask a smile caressed his face and his one visible eye sparkled in amusement. None of the boys looked at their teacher that closely though, they were completely occupied by giving each other death glares.
"Maybe she's not coming because of the chunin exams. You know that she can't participate."Sasuke reasoned. He got up from his sitting position and walked randomly across the small clearing where they had decided to meet. The training grounds had many different areas, deep woods and wide plains, rivers and rocky parts to prepare the students for as many circumstances as possible. You could even find a small desert-areal. Not all training grounds were stocked with all kinds of areas - the sheer amount of space was too unreasonable to be spent as training area - each one of the 10 fenced areas had it's speciality though. In ground 3 the students could train in a cave system, number six had a relatively deep lake. Number seven was most renowned for its wide wooden areas, densely vegetated parts took turns with clearings and small streams.
"Maybe." Kakashi agreed. He sounded doubtfully though. "But it's not like Sakura to just leave the team. I'd have expected some sort of goodbye."
"She also might be ill and unable to attend training."
"Or she forgot about something important and missed the correct time." Naruto added.
"It's already three hours over the agreed date, dobe, I doubt she's occupied with anything for so long."
"So, we agree that she's sick?"
"We agree on nothing." Kakashi finished the discussion. It was useless anyways since none if them knew the truth and could only speculate about why Sakura missed the training.
"Let's ask her tomorrow, if she doesn't miss training again."
"Good idea."Naruto said. Then he jumped up and looked at his sensei eagerly. "Now, what's the plan for today."
"Actually the plan was for some hand in hand combat exercises." His visible eye scanned his students. "As we are lacking one person I'd suggest you two spar and I'll watch how you're doing."
"Ha, that's a good plan. Ready to get stomped, teme?" The blonde shook his fists threatening in Sasuke's direction.
"As if I had to worry about that. Better make sure you can even land a hit, dobe." While Naruto seemed overly enthusiastic about the spar, already throwing fist as if fighting an invisible enemy, Sasuke leaned against a nearby tree, seeming perfectly relaxed. It was as if he knew that Naruto could never hurt him.
"Now." Kakashi said forcefully to make sure everyone listened. "Begin!"
"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Naruto rushed at his rival who awaited him, now distancing himself from the tree. He preferred to have some more movement space over a tree to hide behind.
"You're lacking the necessary skill, dobe, you've got no chance." With quick steps he crossed the already closing gap between himself and the approaching Naruto and met his fist with his own.
The fight took longer than both of them had anticipated. Neither had expected the other to be equally strong. Both were evenly matched, though, drawing the spar in it's length.
In a whirl of fists Sasuke attacked his blonde opponent. He could feel some of the hits connecting with flesh, most of them however, missed the other boy. Naruto ducked under the barrage of assaults and dodged most of the attack. What he couldn't evade he blocked with his hands and arms.
When he felt the assault coming to an end, Naruto switched from defence to attack. He whirled around, taking a hit to his back, but brought up his leg towards Sasuke. The raven haired ninja used both his arms to block the upcoming kick and deflected the attack. This however created an opening for Naruto. With both his hands occupied, Sasuke would have a problem blocking further attack. Naruto realized his advantage, as small as it might be, and immediately launched his next attack. With his right leg still in Sasuke's clutch, he focused chakra in his arms and threw a punch with supernatural speed in Sasuke's direction.
But Sasuke wouldn't have been top of his class for nothing. He pulled Naruto's leg with all his might causing the boy to stumble. Not expecting this, Naruto's fist missed his target by millimetres. He recovered quickly though and used his momentum to through himself at Sasuke.
They fell to the ground in a heap, limps entangled and raising dust. When the cloud cleared, Naruto was on top of Sasuke pinning both his hands over his head to the ground.
"Ha. I win." Naruto gasped. He was exhausted after the battle with Sasuke, but a grin found its way to his face anyways.
"Good job, both of you." Kakashi congratulated only increasing Naruto's smile. He jumped down from his observing position in a tree and approached his two students. "You really are quite matched. There are some things to improve though. Mainly it's about your defenses. If you attack, you're lacking awareness of possible counter-opportunities. You expect the opponent to be preoccupied with blocking or dodging and are not prepared for him to counter your assault. I know, folks say that attack is the best defense, but against higher ranked ninjas that tactic doesn't work." Kakashi knew well how a sloppy defense might mean defeat. Back when he had been a student, his sensei had always praised his well-executed attacks. But in the end, Kakashi still had lost because he hadn't expected his opponent to dodge and counter-attack. Of course, Kakashi was still on top of his class, best student and the real enemies still lost to him. He had never beaten his sensei though. The elderly ninja knew though, that both of his students exceeded his expectations. He never thought that the battle would stretch for so long and had expected Sasuke to overwhelm Naruto soon. That the blonde boy had won came to a real surprise.
Although I should have expected something like this. They handle each other like rivals. No, not only rivals, but nearly enemies. And this rivalry improves their determination, thus their endurance and will to win. No doubt, without their sense of competition, the battle would have ended far earlier, probably with Naruto's defeat. His determination really is remarkable though. Who would have guessed that he would win against Sasuke Uchiha being the less skilled ninja after all. I should never make the mistake to underestimate them. These two will never fail to surprise me, I guess. If you could only see them, Obito. They are just like we've been. Rivals to the bone, but friends in their hearts. I'll not abandon them. Never again will I let death come close to my team. Never again.

Sakura was ecstatic. She was late to the meeting, sure, but that was definitely worth the trouble. After all the disappointment she brought to the team yesterday, as she had declared that she was not allowed to participate in the Chunin-Exams, she finally had good news. Her signed registration in her hand, she sprinted towards the training grounds, eagerly awaiting the reaction of her teammates after showing them that she, Sakura Haruno, was finally enrolled in the Chunin exams.
She arrived at the trainings ground four hours late. Jumping over the fence that prevented any civilian from entering, Sakura ran towards the small forest. She knew the way to the clearing by hard - after all the meetings anyone would have memorized the way - and only a few seconds later she spotted a familiar white haired ninja.
Maybe I can sneak up to them and surprise... She thought, but just then, Kakashi turned around and stared at the girl. Who am I kidding? Sneaking up on Kakashi, the copy-ninja? What a stupid idea.
"Oi, Sakura. You're even later than I was. What happened? Was it the black cat or the old lady with her groceries?" Kakashi joked. He's in an excellent mood, Sakura figured. I wonder what has made him so happy. Her eyes fell onto her two comrades. Naruto laid on the ground, on his stomach, limbs stretched and face turned away from her. He looks a bit like a fish on dry ground minus the trashing. Equally exhausted though.
Sasuke leaned lazily against a small tree. At first look he seemed not exhausted at all, further examination showed his hard breathing, though he tried to hide it. He would have fooled anyone who didn't bother checking the lifting and lowering of his chest.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled and jumped to his feet, suddenly not looking tired any more. He had finally spotted the girl.
"Where have you been. You've missed how I kicked his arse." He pointed at Sasuke.
"Well, congrats then, Naruto."
"Hn, lucky shot." Sasuke grumbled. "Wouldn't you be so fat I'd have easily won."
"Me? Fat? My figure is perfect, do you hear me? Perfect." Naruto shouted and turned away huffing.
"I'm not fat." He mumbled to himself.
"Calm down, Naruto," Sakura said. "He's just messing with you."
Muttering silently so that only Naruto could hear her she continued. "Probably because he's annoyed that you've won."
That last sentence returned the usual grin to Naruto's face. "Ha, you just can't admit that I'm better than you."
"You? Better than me? Funny, the class-clown thinks he's better than the top student."
"Were not in the academy anymore, Sasuke." Kakashi said interfering in the growing argument. "Grades don't don't show skill, but diligence. Remember that. Good notes don't necessarily speak of knowledge, but rather of the will to learn. Marks are not everything. But they sure are a good way to judge someone you don't know beyond their appearance. Enough of this though, I'm sure Sakura would love to explain why she's four hours late." He looked expectantly towards the pink haired girl.
I bet he's trying to embarrass me, the way he emphasised the 'love'. That won't work though as I actually do have good news for once.
"Oh yes, I nearly forgot." Sakura said. That last one was a lie of course. How could she possibly forget about the small piece of paper still folded in her left hand. She decided to build up a bit suspense, now that everyone's attention was on her.
"I was right on my way to the training grounds as I passed the academy. There were lots of children of course, hopefully future ninjas. But there was also this one guy, a bit older than me, brown hair and Hitai-Ate of the hidden leaf. He's been together with his father and waved a signed registration for the Chunin-Exams. And as I felt sad about not being able to participate, I remembered the words on the registration. 'Signature of the genins and a parent'." In a swift motion Sakura unfolded the paper in her hand and presented her team her own signed registration. Surprised gasps were the result as well as cheering from Naruto.
"It clearly said 'Signature of a parent'. I'd never asked my father though whether he would sign me up for the examination. It took some time to convince him though, four hours to be exact, but it sure was worth the trouble. I can be your third partner in the exams if you want."