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Hi guys, I had this idea around 12 o'clock midnight and wrote a very rough, rough as soon as I had the idea. I have the preliminaries planned out too, just a matter on typing it.

Summary: What would have happened in the Exams if Orochimaru were never there? Everything would have gone smoothly on most parts. But would everything be the same or would it have changed? We know Sasuke wouldn’t have gotten the Curse Mark but would Sakura have realized how weak she was? Would she have become Stronger?

Pairings: Slight Sasusaku and a tiny bit of Shikaino if you squint.
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Our three favorite ninjas passed though the gates with Naruto screaming a “Yeah! Believe it! Were going to ace this exam!”

“Naruto! Shut up! You don’t want some other team to hear! They’ll come right at us!”

“Don’t’ worry Sakura-chan! I can beat them, no sweat!”

“Tch, dobe.”

“Why you--” Bonk!

“Itai! Sakura-chan!”

“Shut up!” Sakura whispered.

“O-okay Sakura-chan”

After a few minutes of walking around, Naruto said that he need to go to the bathroom and decided it was okay to just go in front of everybody. Sakura had other ideas and hit him in the head and told him to go behind a bush. After a few minutes, Naruto still hadn’t come back and Sakura had started becoming impatient.

“Ugh, where is he?”

“He’s probably lying out there dead.”

“Are you serious Sasuke-kun?”

“Hn”

Suddenly a kunai with an explosive tag flew out of the trees aiming right towards them.

“SAKURA!”

Sasuke quickly tackled her to the ground and covered her from the explosion.

“Well look at that, they didn’t explode like we thought they would.” a rain ninja said that was holding an umbrella and was standing on a tree branch with two others that also had umbrellas. Then three rain ninjas appeared out of the ground in a triangle formation around Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke quickly noticed and threw two kunais at one of the rain ninja but the ninja just caught one in his hand and dodged the other.

“That’s not going to stop me, little kid,” the rain ninja said. Then all three of the surrounding rain ninjas each threw a kunai at Sakura and another kunai at Sasuke. Sasuke ran forward toward one of the kunais and had his own kunai deflect one so he was out of harms way. Sakura didn’t have time to do what Sasuke did so she settled for jumping above the kunais so she didn’t get hit. But while she was in the air, three shuriken came at her from the rain ninjas on the tree branch above. Sasuke was able to deflect two of the shuriken with his own but missed the last one. Sakura couldn’t do anything in the air to dodge the attack. Suddenly, a kunai came from above and hit the shuriken right in the center nailing it onto the ground.

“Hey, how come nobody invited me to this party huh?” Naruto said with a grin on his face. He was on a tree branch on the opposite side of the rain ninja.

“Oh look, another runt to beat up.” Said a rain ninja.

“Wait a sec! Why are all six of you guys attacking us?” Sakura asked with a worried face.

“We’ve decided to team up and fight to make it easier since we both have the same scroll.” Said a rain ninja.

“But how are you guys going to share the scrolls? Who’ll get it first? And who says that the team who does get the scroll, doesn’t run off later?” Sakura said. She was going to try and pit them against each other and distract them long enough to get away.

“Heh, we already got that figured out so no need to worry your pretty little head.” Said another rain ninja. Then the rain ninjas on the tree branch jumped off it to go and help fight Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto jumped down to help them fight but the rain ninja had different ideas and threw kunais at him. Then Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“It was a bushin! Find the real one now!” said a rain ninja. Then a bunch of orange clad ninjas came out of every direction.

“Get ready cause here we come!” all the bushins shouted. Sasuke turned on his Sharingan and said, “ Stay here Sakura.” Then jumped into the brawl. Sasuke took on two ninjas at once while Naruto and his bushins took the rest. Suddenly two umbrellas shot into the air and started spitting out senbons that went in every direction. Sasuke and Sakura jumped behind a tree to take cover from the senbons and found the real Naruto behind a tree too. Soon the sound of Naruto’s bushins disappearing could be heard and the color orange was lessening from the battlefield.

“Come out you little brats!”

“We should run away!” Sakura said.

“No way Sakura-chan! This is a great chance to get the scrolls! Who knows when we’ll encounter a team again! I’m going in!” Naruto said before he jumped back into the open with the rain ninjas.

“The idiot! Were going to have to go help him. Lets go.” Sasuke said before he, too, jumped into the battle. Sakura hesitantly decided to jump in too.

“Lets make it easier for them since they’re so weak. Only half of us will fight okay? That way it’ll be fair for you guys,” a rain ninja with a smirk. Then three rain ninja stepped forward, one female and two male, and said, “We’ll fight you weaklings.” The rest of the rain ninjas jumped back into the trees and watched.

“Come at me! I dare you!” Naruto said as he created four kage bushins. “Kage Bushin no Justu!”

Sasuke just rushed forward and jumped into the air then flipped into an axle kick aimed toward rain ninja number one who tried to block it but still got nailed in the head and fell to the ground, knocked out from the force of the kick to the head. Naruto was attacking rain ninja’s number two and three with brute force. Rain ninja number two was about to do the raining senbon trick again had not Sasuke knocked the umbrella down with his shurikens. Then Sasuke ran to rain ninja number two and tried to punch him but missed and had to roll to the left because of an upcoming punch that he saw with his Sharingan. Then while he was getting up he stuck his foot out and used the momentum he got from rolling to spin in a circle and knock rain ninja number two off his feet. The ninja rehabilitated from this attack by pushing chakra into his hands and connecting them to the ground. Then moved his feet so he could do a back flip to get his feet on the ground. But as soon as his feet touched the ground Naruto came in a kicked him into a tree, which knocked him unconscious.

“Dobe, I could’ve done that.”

“You’re just jealous that I got the spotlight, teme.”

“Ooh, boys, you forgot about my other friends.” Said rain ninja number three. Sasuke and Naruto quickly turned around to face her and saw that Naruto’s bushins were gone and the rain ninja on the tree branch had disappeared. Before they could react, they were hit on the base of their neck, knocking them out.

“Sasuke-kun! Naruto!” a terrified Sakura yelled. She quickly forced he rain ninjas number four and five away from the unconscious bodies of Sasuke and Naruto by throwing shuriken between them. Then she threw more to create a gap between them and quickly ran between them.

“Humph, what are you going to do little girl? Cower in fear? Don’t worry guys, I can handle this little girl.” Rain ninja number three was with a smirk.

“Whatever, just hurry up and get rid of her so we can search them for the scroll.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” She said while taking out two kunais. Sakura also took out two kunais. They started for a few seconds before the female rain ninja ran towards her. Sakura got into a defensive position took out two more kunais and threw them all. The rain ninja suddenly disappeared and reappeared to the right of Sakura and punch Sakura on the cheek. Then kicked Sakura in the stomach, which cause her to fly a few feet away.

“Your so weak. Can’t you do anything? You probably care more about your hair then you skills. You shouldn’t even be a ninja. You know what? I’m gonna ruin your hair.” Rain ninja number three said before she disappeared and reappeared behind Sakura. Sakura tried quickly move out of the kunoichis reach but was to slow. The rain ninja grabbed Sakura hair and pulled on it.

“If kunoichis want to have long hair, they have to be quick or it’s a major downfall. Enemies could easily grab your hair and make you surrender. Like what I’m doing now.” The female rain ninja said was a smug smirk. “You poor thing. Your not fit be a ninja. You’re so weak and worthless. You can’t even help you teammates from getting killed. Oh, are you crying? Ha, your such a little baby.” She said.

Sakura was crying, she was crying because the things rain kunoichi said were true and because of the pain. I can’t do anything. I really am worthless. I just hide behind Sasuke-kun and Naruto. Even when I was young, that was all I could do. I hid behind Ino and had her protect me. But not anymore! I’ll change! For the sake of Naruto and Sasuke-kun. I’ll become strong. Sakura then pulled out a kunai and held it in her hands.

“What are you gonna do with that? You can’t hurt me while your stuck in my grasp.” She kunoichi said with a mocking face.

“You were right. I was weak and worthless. I hid behind my teammates and friends and had them protect me. But now you’re wrong. I’ll change and become strong. Starting NOW!” Sakura then sliced the kunai through her hair and her headband slid down her face. Once the headband was on her neck her face had changed from terrified and scared to determined and confident. The rain kunoichi stumbled a bit when her grip on Sakura’s hair disappeared but regained her footing, only to double over from a punch to her gut. And before Sakura could attack again the female rain ninja jumped away.

“Looks like I’ll finally be entertained now.” The rain kunoichi said while wiping some blood off her lip. Sakura created the hand signs for Bushin no Justu and two clones appeared. Then they all ran towards the rain kunoichi while putting chakra into their feet making them faster. Before the rain kunoichi knew it, the Sakuras where right in front of her. Then, the two clones disappeared right before they were going to attack, which caught her off guard and the real Sakura punched her fight in the face. The rain kunoichi flew back a few feet but still got up. Though, she was staggering a bit. Sakura ran back to where Sasuke and Naruto were to make sure the other ninjas wouldn’t hurt them.

“You little brat! How dare you.” The rain kunoichi angrily shouted, hand reaching down to her kunai pouch. She pulled two out raced toward Sakura with a kunai in reach hand. Sakura quickly started making hand signs while the rain kunoichi was still running toward her. Once the rain kunoichi reach Sakura she stabbed Sakura’s arm and moved her hands away from blocking position and stabbed her in the chest. The rain kunoichi started to smirk quickly stopped when ‘Sakura’ turned into a log. Substitution Justu! Suddenly, her would started to black out because Sakura had appeared behind her and hit her in the head with a roundhouse kick. The rain kunoichi flew away a good 15 feet before rolling to a stop.

“I did it. I was able to fight and win.” Sakura whispered to herself. I’m not worthless and weak anymore.
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Behind a bush.

“Sakura,” Ino whispered to herself. “You’ve finally bloomed.”

“What a drag. See? She was able to fight for herself. Can we go now?” Asked a bored Shikamaru.

“Yeah, Ino.-munch- She doesn’t-munch- seem as weak-munch- as you say.-munch-” Chouji said while eating chips.

“No! I want to watch a bit more.”

“Troublesome.”

“Shut up!”
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Back on the battlefield.

“Looks like we underestimated her, but not anymore. Were gonna finish you right now!” said rain ninja four right before he dashed toward Sakura and kneed her in the stomach and while she doubled over, punched her in the face making her fly backwards and land with a thud.
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Behind a bush.

“Sakura! We have to go help her!” Ino said frantically.

“What? Why? Ugh, so troublesome.” Shikamaru said.

“Cause I said so!” Ino said before she grabbed chouji’s scarf and Shikamaru’s arm and dragged them onto the battlefield and stood in front of Sakura.

“Oh look, more brats.” Rain ninja number six said.

“Maybe they have the scroll we want.” Said rain ninja number five.

Sakura slowly looked up and said, “Ino? What are-”

“I can’t let you have all the stoplight, now can I?” Ino said with a smile.

“T-thank you, Ino” Sakura whispered with a smile.

“Come on guys! Formation Ino-Shika-Chou!” Ino shouted and they all got into formation. Shikamaru muttered a “Troublesome” while getting into formation while Chouji put his chips away.

“Ha. That’s not going to scare us. Lets get them!” rain ninja number six said.

“Ye- Wha? I can’t move! What going on!?” shouted rain ninja number four.

“You’re trapped in my Shadow Possession Justu. I caught you shadow with mine and now you can’t do anything. Hurry up Ino.” Shikamaru said with a slight smirk but you could still clearly see he was bored.

“I on it. Mind Transfer Justu!” Then Ino’s form slacked and fell into Shikamaru’s waiting arms.

“What are you guys up to?!” shouted rain ninja number six before he fell to the ground, knocked out.

“That was easy.” Said rain ninja number five who was actually Ino.

“What are you doing? Why did you just knock him out?” ninja number four asked ninja number five.

“Oh sorry. I’m not your little friend. I’m Ino, I just locked her mind up and transferred my mind to her body.” ‘Ino’ said. Suddenly Sasuke got up.

“Sakura, who did that to you?” Sasuke asked with his Sharingan on.

“Huh? Oh Sasuke, I’m fine don’t worry about me. I-”

“Who did that to you?” Sasuke asked again but he sound angry.

“Ino! Get back into your body! Now!” Shikamaru commanded.

“Huh? Oh, uh, okay. Release!” ‘Ino’ said before she fell limp and Ino’s real body started moving and getting up. Shikamaru released his Shadow Possession Justu and dragged both Chouji and Ino back behind the bush.

“I’ll ask you again, Sakura, who did th-”

“Our teammate did, though that little girl knocked her out.” Ninja number four said with a smirk. Then suddenly, Sasuke appeared in front of him and gave him an uppercut. The rain ninja landed with a thud and before he could get up, Sasuke had his foot on the rain ninja’s neck, chocking him.

“You’ll pay for attacking us and hurting Sakura.” Sasuke had blood lust in his eyes and was grinning in a malicious way.

“Sasuke…What’s happening to you?” whispered Sakura. The rain ninja was trying to get Sasuke’s foot off his neck without success. You could clearly see he was running out of oxygen. If he didn’t breath soon, he would die of lack of oxygen. The key would in Sakura head was “die”. He would die, die at Sasuke hands (well actually his foot…) Sakura couldn’t figure out why Sasuke would do that, the Sasuke she knew wouldn’t do that, would he? Sakura knew one thing though, she had to stop Sasuke from killing the rain ninja. Suddenly, Sakura found herself running towards Sasuke. Then she tackle Sasuke to the ground with Sakura on top, crying. “Sasuke. . . . . . . . . . . . .What happened to you? Please, don’t kill him. They already got what they deserved. Please, just don’t kill them, okay?”

“But he deserves to die! Look what he did to you!”

“I don’t care! He didn’t do this to me! His teammate did and I knocked her out! Just stop! Everything’s going to be okay. Just don’t kill anybody! Please. . . .please, Sasuke, for me okay? Don’t kill anybody, okay?”

Sasuke’s look of blood lost disappeared from his face and his eyes had a soft contemplative look in them. “Okay, for you.” Sakura hugged Sasuke around the neck and whispered, “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.”

“OH MY GOD! What the hell happened!? Why are the rain ninja all on the ground?! I wanted to fight them!!”

“Ugh, the dobe.” Sakura got off Sasuke and helped him up.

“Sakura-chan! What happened to your hair?” Naruto screamed as he ran over to them.

“Huh? Oh, my hair. I just wanted to try something new. Plus, ninjas don’t have time of appearance.” Sakura said while smiling lightly.

“Oh, yeah, yeah! That’s true! I haven’t had a bath for weeks!” Naruto said while nodding.

“Um, Naruto, that’s uh, kinda disgusting.” Sakura said moving away.

“Stay away from me, dobe.” Sasuke said also moving away.

“What? What’d I do?”

“Sakura!”

“Huh? Oh, Ino, your still here.”

“Come here so I can fix your hair. It looks horrible.” Ino said while waving.

“Oh, okay.” Sakura said while walking toward her, “Why don’t you guys go search for the scrolls, there should be two.”

“But Sakura-chan! What are THEY doing here.” Naruto shouted pointing at Shikamaru and Chouji.

“Naruto! Don’t be so rude. They were helping us so be nice.”

“Just come on dobe, help me find the scrolls.” Sasuke said walking toward the rain ninja.

“Yeah, yeah, teme.” Naruto said looking through their belongings. “Hey, Shikamaru! Chouji! Make yourselves useful and help us look.”

“Whatever, come on Chouji.”

“Okay.-munch-”

“So Ino, why’d you help me?”

“I already told you, I can’t let you have all spotlight now can?”

“No, really, why did you help me?”

“Well, because, you . . . . . . . . . I don’t know how to put this. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .because I wanted to be there when you bloomed. Sakura, I want to be your friend again. You can have Sasuke if you want. I shouldn’t have let boys ruin our friendship. What do you say?”

“Your right Ino, I was so stupid. I shouldn’t have even started the whole thing. I want to be your friend again too.” Then they both smiled and hugged.

“Now stop moving, forehead! Your making me mess up on your hair!”

“Yeah, yeah pig.”

“Hey Sakura-chan!! We found the scrolls! And they’re both Earth Scrolls! Exactly what we need!” Naruto shouted as he ran toward Sakura and Ino.

“Hey pig, what scroll do you need?” Sakura asked.

“Hold on a sec. I’m almost done. Okay! Done! Now what were you saying?” Ino said as she put her kunai away.

“What scroll do you need?”

“Well, we have an Heaven Scroll so we need an Earth Scroll.” Ino said with a thinking face on.

“Don’t hurt your brain thinking Ino. Well, anyway, you can have the other Earth Scroll we got since you helped us beat the rain ninja.”

“Aw, really? That’s awesome Sakura!”

“Yeah, come on, let’s hurry up and get to the tower.”

Everything went smoothly there to the tower.
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I haven't typed the Chunin Exams Part 3 but I'm working on it. Probably in a few weeks or months. I'm serious. I procrastinate like crazy. This is probably my best work yet.

--Saruhno.