Today was the day. After a month of gruesome training, it was finally time. The final round. The third round of the Chūnin Exam. The day that genin around the continent get to prove themselves. All of Konohagakure and important guests Sunagakure have come to watch. The day for a promotion.
And Sakura couldn't give two shiny shits about it.
Like, don't get her wrong. This is a very day important for her too. She's excited to participate, and oh so very ready to kick Sasuke's ass into the next dimension. But- This day also marked a very important moment in history. The Suna & Oto invasion on Konoha. Which is why, at 4am, instead of sleeping, our favourite little pink haired medic is strategizing in her room with Lady Katsuyu. They have been going over every possibility on how today could go. A lot of things can go different, and unfortunately Sakura is going in blind. Not only, is Sasuke not fighting Gaara anymore, but also the matches are switched. This means that people that were available last time might get injured and not be able to help. And isn't that a complete mess.
It depends a lot on how Chōji's battle against Gaara goes. If he is unable to at least somewhat injure Gaara, how will things go? Will Gaara still go into crazy rage mode? Will he be calm and collected(well...as calm and collected genin Gaara can be) and swiftly kill them all? What will happen?
"Sakura my dear...I know you are worried." said Lady Katsuyu. "But exhausting yourself will help absolutely no one! You need to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow. Please go to bed."
Sakura really wanted to argue more, but she really was tired and Katsuyu was right. She won't be able to help anyone if she faints tomorrow mid-battle.
"You're right Lady Katsuyu, I'll be completely useless tomorrow if I collapse in the middle of battle and die....Besides, I can't kick Sasuke's smug ass if I can't keep my eyes open. I'll go to sleep."
"Well...That's not exactly what I meant...But I'll take it. Sweet dreams Sakura and good luck tomorrow." And with that, she went away with a poof.
...
Sakura woke up the next day at 9, got dressed and left for the stadium. The final round starts at 12, but they were asked to be there at 10am sharp for attendance. Her parents wished her good luck and said they'll be there to see her perform. She entered the stadium and got led by a Jonin where the participants were waiting. Inside she found Ino–Shika–Chō discussing in a corner, what exactly, she has no clue. Shino, Gaara and Neji were all brooding in 3 different corners and there was no Naruto in sight. So Sakura did the only thing she could think of. She went to sit with Temari.
She smiled kindly as she took a seat next to the blonde. "Hello."
Temari looked surprised at the interaction as she answered awkwardly. "Uh...hi."
"Are you ready to kick Shikamaru's ass?"
"Um...Yes."
"Good, good. He deserves it."
Temari raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be cheering for your friend?"
"Normally yes, I would. But he kinda made a sexist comment the other week and I can't kick his ass personaly, so-" Sakura shrugged.
Temari snorted. "I like you."
"Thank you, you're not too bad yourself." And thus, a new friendship was formed. The girls ended up having a conversation about sexism across the nations, how useless kunoichi training in the academy really is, Sakura's favourite subject, poison, the best way to castrate someone and the difference of weapons between nations. By the end of it the girls really felt like they bonded.
Eventually the fun ended as the proctor for the third round, Genma Shiranui entered the room. He pulled out a clipboard and started sounding off names.
"Aburame." "...here." "Akimichi." "I'm here!" "Gaara." "Here." "Hyūga." "Here..." "Haruno." "Present." "Nara." "Here...though I wish I wasn't." "Temari." "Also present." "Uchiha." "..." "Uzumaki." "..." "Yamanaka." "I'm also here."
"All right, so the only ones that are missing are Uchiha and Uzumaki. Yo Haruno. You're in the same team as them, where are they?"
The whole room turned to look at Sakura and she felt the embarrassment creep in. "Late..."
"Where's your sensei, I need to report this."
"...also late."
Genma pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Of course he is..."
...
Eleven twenty-two, almost half an hour till the tournament begins and there is no sight of Naruto or Sasuke. The arena is full and Sakura is standing in the assigned seat with 4 empty seats around her. If those idiots don't make it in time for their matches I'm gonna kill them.
However Sakura got snapped out of her murderous thoughts by a loud voice.
"Heeey! Sakura-chan!"
And here comes Naruto in all of his orange glory. Hand raised in the air with an apologetic looking Karin behind him.
"Naruto! Where the FUCK, have you been?" yelled an enraged Sakura. She didn't let him answer as she kicked him in the shin. "Do you have any idea what time it is? You should have been heRE AN HOUR AND A HALF AGO!"
"What?! No way! I thought I was supposed to be here at 12. Oh, no! Sakura did I miss my match?! Please tell me they'll give me another chance to kick Neji's ass!"
The medic sighed. "No, you didn't miss your match, but you missed the attendance."
"I'm so sorry Sakura, if I knew this was going to happen I would have made him leave early." said Karin.
"No, don't worry about it Karin. All that matters is that he made it in time. Although we should probably tell the proctor that he's here."
They left their seats and made their way to the jonin's room. They were on the stairs when Naruto asked the worst question.
"Wait! Where are Kaka-sensei and Sasuke?"
Sakura grit her teeth. "Right now? Both late. If they don't make it in time for the match? Six feet fucking under."