It was an abnormally hot day outside and his porcelain mask was making his face more sweaty than he would have liked. He was standing at attention with the fifteen other ANBU members and ran his eyes over the participants. His eyes were locked with Sakura's, and she smiled at him.

"First fight: Weasel vs. Sakura Haruno!"

Weasel withheld a twitch.

The crowed cheered as Weasel and Sakura prepared themselves for the fight. Weasel lifted his head to scan the crowd. He spotted Naruto and Sasuke easily as Naruto was holding up a poster that had had 'BEAT HIS ASS SAKURA-CHAN' in neon orange marker. He was happy to note that Sasuke looked nothing short of embarrassed.

On the east side, he saw Hidan. He was unusually engrossed in the event and his normal arrogant smirk was wiped off his face. Suddenly, Hidan turned his head and exchanged a few words with the blue shinobi beside him.

"Weasel! Haruno! Take your places!"

Weasel stepped towards the southern side of the arena, Sakura towards the northern. His sharingan spun to life behind his mask and his hand was poised to make a grab for the tanto strapped to his lower back.

"Begin!"

His eyes widened as Sakura's form disappeared and a gray first reappeared just centimeters from his mask.

 'She's fast!'

BOOM!

~

The southern wall crumbled on impact and fissures appeared all around the rest of the wall as well as the ground. Weasel dodged it, barely, and flipped behind her. From his spot, he could finally see just who he was up against. Sakura's body had turned dark gray. She turned to face him with the whites of her eyes turned black and her hands glowing a fiery blue.

 Chakra scalpel.

She readied herself.

"Let's dance, Itachi-san!"

The crowd was cheering. This jounin-to-be, Sakura Haruno, was absolutely amazing! They never expected for a participant to be so strong! The fight was exciting and a fantastic way to start the exams. But Naruto and Sasuke were stunned to silence.

"Has... Has Sakura-chan always been that strong?" murmured Naruto. He watched as Sakura's heel slammed into the ground, destroying the arena floor even more. Weasel breathed an enormous fireball as he leapt in the air to avoid the man-made earthquake.

"I don't—"

"She has." Kakashi replied, cutting Sasuke off. His lone eye slid towards his two students. "She always has."

On the opposite side of the arena, Hidan whistled and sat back into his seat. Sakura had improved tremendously since the last time he saw her. She was giving her boyfriend a hell of a time.

Sakura created a shadow clone and they both drew their katanas. They bolted towards Weasel from the sides and dealt three devastating blows, further demolishing the arena. Weasel's arm was caught in one of the blows and he sustained a cut from his shoulder to his elbow that was deep enough to see bone.

"The fight's fuckin' flashy."

"At least it's entertaining." Kisame said. He observed the way she handled her sword like it was an extension of herself, and that she moved gracefully with every step. He nodded to himself in approval.

"And that she put the sword to good use." he murmured to himself as an afterthought.

Seated a few rows above them, Zetsu was conversing quietly with himself.

"She looks like she's having too much fun. She's not necessarily having fun... She's smiling. What else can you say about that?"

Weasel unleashed another fire jutsu, sending a volley of numerous small fireballs in Sakura's direction. Zetsu saw her smile grow a little wider as she re-sheathed her katana and slammed her heel into the ground. Water rose from the earth as a slicing jet and made it's way towards Weasel. With some of the extra water, she created a sword and cut through every fireball that bombarded her. At this point, she let her gray skin fade back to it's normal color.

"Well... her being happy is better than her getting angry, no? True."

Tsunade was in the front row beside Shizune and was watching the fight with a smirk on her face. After a year of not seeing Sakura battle, she could honestly say that the girl had improved more than she expected.

With the release of Sakura's armor like skin, Weasel saw his opportunity. He lit twenty shuriken on fire and strategically shot them to try and render her legs useless. He thought he succeeded when he saw that her legs were mostly burnt and bloodied. Weasel winced at the thought of injuring her to that extent. But Sakura was unfazed.

She pooled chakra into her legs, making them glow a light green before it faded and leaving her with newly stitched skin and mostly faded burn marks. Weasel's jaw dropped the slightest amount.

"Tsunade-sama, she's incredible!"

Fugaku and Mikoto had similar reactions. Mikoto mostly. Her hands were clasped together as she watched the fight fully immersed. She cheered the both of them on finding it impossible to only cheer for either her eldest son or Sakura. Sakura was strong, she imagined, but this strength was on a whole other level.

Fugaku was silent and blank faced most of the time. If he were to answer honestly, he would say that his son had a definite disadvantage in this battle. He glanced upwards at the Hokage and his council and saw the impressed looks on their faces. If Danzo were still alive, Fugaku believed the insufferable man would bring something up along the lines of 'She's too dangerous. She should be cast out immediately.' Like he had said about Tsunade.

He turned his attention back onto the battle field and noted that both Sakura's and Weasel's chakra were low. The fight had to end sometime soon.

Sakura created multiple bunshins and dashed towards Weasel at an amazing speed. The first bunshin had a cluster of senbon in her hand. Weasel dodged each one and slammed his fist into her gut, making her disappear into smoke. The second bunshin had her katana out. She made a few slashes, each blocked by Weasel's kunai, and he roundhouse kicked her into nothingness.

A third bunshin, he presumed, appeared above him. She had various openings and her fist drawn back. He sent a flurry of shuriken her direction and expected her to disappear into smoke upon impact.

She didn't.

 'She was the real one—?!'

"SHANNARO!!!"

The entire arena shook.

~

Itachi was in the infirmary with nearly all his ribs fractured, his right broken, and cuts littering his body. Sakura was in the cot beside him, certainly in much better shape, as she had healed herself beforehand. Itachi looked towards his left.

"Your skills are exceptional, Sakura." he said. She scratched her cheek sheepishly and swung her legs over the side of her cot.

"I just trained a lot over the years." she smiled, "And I'm really sorry for all of your injuries. I kinda got carried away. I'm sorry."

He held up his hand.

"Don't apologize. This was your examination, and I'm positive you will pass for your extraordinary performance."

There were two knocks on the door before a medic walked in with his clipboard. He smiled at the two.

"We ran a few tests on you, Uchiha-san, and you should be able to continue your duties after resting for a week. Another medic will stop by to start healing your ribs. And you, Haruno-san... well, you've taken care pretty much all your injuries, but we've noticed that the medicine for your condition has been running low. Would you like us to refill it for you?"

Itachi sent a sharp glance Sakura's way. She paid to mind to it and quickly shook her head.

"I would like to refill it myself, if you don't mind." she said. The medic nodded.

"Of course, Haruno-san. You may leave now if you wish. Uchiha-san, I'll get that medic for you right away."

He left the room. Itachi quickly sat up, holding a hand to his chest and pinning Sakura down with a hard stare.

"Condition? Sakura, are you sick?"

She said nothing and slid off the cot, avoiding his eyes. She walked towards the door.

"Sakura!"

Sakura looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Lay back down, Itachi-san. You shouldn't strain your body. I'll be sure to visit you and bring some dango with me, okay?"

"Sak—"

She stepped out of the infirmary and closed the door behind her.