To the Past (abandoned)

The Exam

A week has passed and Itachi was home. He was going to be one of the anbu guarding the hokage while I took the exam. They expected me and Sasuke to be passing it with ease. I met up with everyone after telling them what was to happen.
Flashback
"You're telling me the test doesn't even matter so long as we don't give up?" I nodded to Sasuke who was dumbfounded. Naruto was practically glowing knowing that he wouldn't need to do so. Even if we helped him study the test was for higher thinkers and child geniuses.
"What happens if we do not get the same test?" I glanced to Sasuke.
"Then there's going to be a trick of some kind. And immediately after I will sign in y'all but we shall enter the forest and I will seal y'all, getting the scrolls myself." He nodded,
"Good plan, they wouldn't suspect a smaller girl to be able to fight." I glared at him and huffed.
It was time though now to initiate the plan. We went inside and waited for Ibiki, we had dodged the stair incident. They waited in the room not speaking until Ibiki showed up, Kabuto didn't even arrive this time. We drew our numbers and suprisngly I was seated next to Gaara and some other kid. The test was the same since Ibiki didn't really like changing it up, only terrifying the kids. However, Gaara kept sending me odd looks throughout the test. Finally the moment came and Ibiki let us pass, much to my boys mild fascination. Then Anko came through the window except her banner was snazzier than before. These subtle difference weren't being unnoticed by me, more like they were catching my attention with a red flag. We hurried over to the arena area and let Anko speak.
"Today you shall be facing your worst nightmares!" I raised my eyebrow. Naruto and Sasuke didn't seem fazed this time.
"The Forest of Death!" Cue Naruto,
"This isn't so scary old lady!" Then the kunai from before came whizzing by his face except Anko caught it. The grass nin that Orochimaru seemed actually scared of us. There were a lot more genin this year in particular though, a lot more than last year passed. What was going on? Most of the new ones were from Iwa and Rock. She announced the rules and let us sign in. We got the  earth scroll from last time and waited for Anko to say go before swiftly heading out of the way. My boys were a bit apprehensive but willing to do this for me, they didn't realize I was doing this for them. I sealed them with a few handsigns and dashed towards a chakra signature. I saw a group of Iwa nin with a heaven scroll so I made my doton: whip grab it from their hands before punching the ground so they couldn't follow. I managed to get to the tower before Gaara did and unsealed my teammates. We unrolled the scroll and Kakashi showed up reading his book like always.
"Yo, my cute little genin earned first place." I grinned to the boys who were cheering, well Naruto was and Sasuke was smiling.
"Thanks Sakura-Chan!" I giggled,
"No problem!"  We tested up for the week and trained a bit in the arena. I taught the boys a cute little trick that they could use should they ever be in a bind during the match. We mostly are small meals they provided for us or the occasional meal Itachi brought for us secretly. I always gave him a kiss on the cheek for it much to his amusement. The cheeky bastard started bringing food more often too. Then the days went by as more and more showed up at the tower. We weren't allowed to train anymore since too many fights were breaking out, but I still did in secret. Finally the day came and the prelims were happening. The hokage appeared to which Naruto cheered at nearly every word. His dad simply grinned down and spoke his speech in a calm manner. Then Hayate who had been healed by yours truly, appeared to be the announcer. Speaking of which, for the exams I had been given special time off so I could pull it off but I had confidence in my abilities. I still needed to prepare for the invasion though, which left me plenty of time for planning. I was starting to wonder about it actually, would it even come? So far I haven't seen Kabuto or Orochimaru, and there's more genin than there were last time. Perhaps since the yondaime was alive they decided it wasn't worth the effort.
"Sakura-Chan look!" I was broken out of my thoughts when Naruto pointed up to a screen, displaying two names I wasn't expecting.

"Haku is here and he's fighting that red haired kid you were so scared of!"

I paled at the thought, Haku might be good but it took multiple genin and Naruto with the toads to beat Gaara. I clenched my fist on the guard rail, which the audible bending and snapping was getting the attention of spectators. My mind was filled with images of his last death, making it hard to breathe. I will NOT find a way for him to live only for him to die again. Kakashi seemed to notice my distress as he placed his hand on my shoulder and backed me away from the rail. I didn't care, all that was in my mind was saving those I had to save for the better of the world, for the better of me.

A/N- sorry it's been taking a while to update, I've been so busy that I had to get ahead three weeks in math! Hope this satisfied your fanficiton for this week or maybe few days depending on my schedule. Thanks for reading!