The Chunin Exam - 1

The following morning it was a cold, cloudless day. With it there was a hushed air of anxiety as Haruno Sakura climbed the stairs of a quiet apartment building at a quarter past nine. She walked slowly with a silent guilt. She reviewed the script that she had been practicing in her head for nearly a day.

'What if they just slam the door in my face? Do they hate me now? Gaara-kun...he was so mad... I guess I deserve it really. What kind of friend am I? Kiba-kun and Sasuke-kun just kept asking...I can't believe I caved in like that!'

Ever since the night of the Tanabata festival, Sakura had regretted every last one of her words. In her mind, she was sure she had never meant to say anything at all to her teammates, but her mouth had subconsciously run away with her one day during training and gotten her into serious trouble.

Her feet, which had traveled the walkway many times, knew where to go on their own, letting her mind wander freely.

'I can't let them put pressure on me anymore, my friends are just too important to me. I...I don't want to lose them like this...'

After a minute or so, she looked up. There ahead of her gleamed the black number 4 on a door to her right. Sakura stopped and wrung her hands together nervously. The script that she had been continuously rehearsing suddenly evaporated from her head, leaving her helpless and shivery.

'What do I do now?' She wondered, feeling something fluttering in her stomach, 'Wow...I've never been afraid to talk to them about anything before. What's wrong with me?'

She brought her hand up and let her knuckles rest soundlessly against the wood of the door, 'Why can't I do this?'

All it took was the memory of the red haired boy scowling at her as she confessed her crime, the way he seemed to get farther and farther away from her as he stood perfectly still until he was a mere dot on the horizon.

'And what do Naruto-kun and Haku-kun think?'

She could imagine their expressions quite vividly as well, and for a moment she had even considered turning on her heel and running back home as fast as her legs could carry her.

But that stubborn attitude Naruto had filled her head with after more than a thousand speeches of morality and justice and becoming the Hokage made it impossible for her to turn away.

'Sakura...you've brought this upon yourself.'

She timidly knocked. It was a small, soft sound aimed at the center of the dark green door. Sakura waited there for a few seconds, hearing no commotion from within as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.

With a shuddering sigh, she knocked three more times, louder, but more tentatively.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard the sound of a chair being pushed back against the floor as a person stood. The footsteps that followed were inaudible, and she waited, thinking feverishly for something to say, 'What if it's-?'

"Sakura-chan?" In an instant the door was wide open and she saw Haku.

She relaxed a fraction.

"H-Hi...Haku-kun." Her voice was quaking and she mentally scolded herself for being so cowardly.

He looked as if he understood, if only a little, her reasons for coming. For a half a second there was a pause and Sakura examined his facial features. He certainly looked more surprised than angry, that much was clear. He also looked as if she had broken his concentration and he seemed to be in a good mood. She was in luck.

She smirked inwardly as she looked up at him, 'He's standing about a foot above me! When did he get so darn tall?'

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," Oddly, he wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either, "Would you like to come in?"

"Yes, thanks."

She stepped inside and he closed the door. After that, the formalities began.

"Would you like something to drink? Milk? Tea?" Haku was walking ahead of her and she followed after him silently into the kitchen.

"No, I'm fine."

He nodded, eyes closed, and went to the table and cleared it of the scrolls he had been comparing. Sakura stood awkwardly in the doorway, trying to recover scraps of her evaporated script.

Haku gave her a measured look and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face, "Please sit down, Sakura-chan."

She nodded dumbly and took a seat at the table. Her throat felt tight and dusty, 'All of a sudden I feel like I'm going to cry. Why is he always so nice?'

His hair was down, she noticed. It fell just past his shoulder blades and she recalled how Naruto and Gaara would constantly dog him to cut it…and how he always refused, saying that it was a symbol of how well he maintained himself.

'His hair's prettier than mine...' Sakura reexamined the thought, 'Hmm...maybe his hair is prettier than everyone's hair...'

She then wondered why she was having trouble focusing.

"I'm sorry that I barged in on you so early, Haku-kun." Sakura said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

The ebony haired boy stood over the sink, scrubbing dirty dishes that were neglected from the night before with a little help from his Kekkei Genkai, "No, it's quite alright Sakura-chan. You are always welcome here at any time."

His kind words stung her just a little bit.

Sakura's eyes dropped down into her lap and she gave up trying to salvage her script.

"Sakura-chan, is there something you would like to talk about?" His voice was edged with worry and she could tell.

"Are...um...Naruto-kun or Gaara-kun here, by any chance?" Her nerve returned, "I need to talk to you all about something."

Haku tilted his head back in thought and then smiled genuinely, "Well, I do believe Naruto-kun left early, he said there was something important he had to do. And Gaara-kun is still sleeping, I think."

"Oh." The part when he said, 'I think' had her partially nervous. Her heart rate escalated.

"If you'd like, I could go wake him for you," Haku offered, then added, "Although, I have been trying to wake him for twenty minutes now..."

"No, that's...that's alright...let him sleep."

The dark haired boy sighed and stacked a few of the cleaned dishes, "It would do him some good. He needs to break that habit of his. He's been a bit slow lately..."

She was silent, staring anxiously at the wall across from her, on which a calendar had been hung with a picture of a dog carrying a kunai in its mouth, tail wagging wildly.

"Sakura-chan," He spoke again, his smile faded into a more serious look, "Naruto and Gaara told me what happened."

This time she made eye contact and her panicked look unnerved him. She was still unable to form words easily.

"It's alright, Sakura. I understand," His voice was warm and comforting; everything that Gaara's had not been that night, "There was nothing else you could've done. They're your teammates and I don't hold that against you."

"But I shouldn't have done it in the first place!" She answered, angry at herself, "Haku-kun, you and Naruto and Gaara; you're my friends! I can't live knowing that I'll screw up and end our friendship..."

He ceased drying the dishes and turned to face her fully, "You've already been forgiven Sakura-chan, don't punish yourself. Besides, I'm sure that Sasuke and Kiba are your friends now as well, aren't they?"

"Well I...I guess so."

"Then you must have faith that we will always be friends, no matter the obstacle," Haku went on, then smiled again, "You worry too much. What's done is done and now we must move forward. It isn't the end of the world."

"It's just..." She sighed and then stood up, a small smile finding her lips, "Well, you're right Haku-kun. This definitely isn't the end of the world..."

He chuckled good-naturedly in response, trying to lessen the tension.

"I'm just...I'm sorry for everything. I messed up and I promise it won't happen again." Sakura said, her voice stronger, "I'll come back later if that's alright. Naruto-kun and Gaara-kun deserve an apology too."

"I'll be glad to have you back." He answered and she smiled in relief.

Sakura left, feeling better walking out than she had walking in. Still, somewhere in her gut she knew things were going to change between them.

Whether for better or worse it was still unclear.