BSWS CH-6 Team 7

".…497 …. 498…. 499…. 500!!!" Sakura exclaimed with a gasp as she finished her push-up routine. When she first saw Rock Lee doing push-ups in the anime, she had thought Chakra would make all physical exercise easy. It was so enlightening to see how wrong she was.

It had taken over a month since that day when she began seriously training to even reach 500 push-ups. And it was not the ideal form yet because after finishing the push-ups she barely had the strength to do anything else.

Luckily, one thing she was not wrong about was that Chakra did help passively in the recovery department. Compared to a month ago her chakra amount was definitely better, so she had recovered enough stamina after half-hour of rest to visit the academy.

It was a big day today, as it was when the future's legendary Team Seven would form. Despite her lack of affection for Sasuke now, she definitely could appreciate the symmetry in their team. Naruto and Sasuke as the Damage dealers and she would hold the Controller and Supporter positions.

Moreover, Naruto and Sasuke complimented each other well, one was a Chakra Cannon while the other was capable of extreme versatility. How the original Sakura managed to not feel inferior to stay in this team was a mystery she might never be able to solve. But fortunately, she had already resolved her ways and would never have to face that situation.

Sakura finished her training on time and got ready for her final day of the academy. On her way there, she was joined by Ino, who was in turn accompanied by Shikamaru and Choji. Apparently, their parents insisted, calling it a tradition or something similar.

When they reached their class most were already present there. Surprisingly, even the usually late Naruto was present today. He and Sasuke were sitting at the opposite ends of the long bench, looking like the visual representation of ice and fire.

"Ah, There is Sasuke!!" Ino exclaimed happily and turned to Sakura, "You won't mind if I sit next to him will you?"

"Not at all, go right ahead," Sakura said with a smile. She pitied Ino because she knew that in Sasuke's head there was no room for romance. He had been polluted with the miasma of revenge and that was all he thought day in and out.

Sakura walked slowly behind Ino as she rushed forth to push Naruto out of his seat. She sat next to Sasuke and when Naruto tried to argue, Ino gave him a severe tongue lashing.

"Hey Naruto, come sit with me. Let Ino sit there today please." Sakura called out to Naruto and patted the seat next to her. Naruto was shocked at this and just dumbly nodded. Walking up to her, he sat next to her on her desk and watched her puzzled.

Sakura suddenly felt an intense glare directed at her. Surprised at it, she looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Hinata staring at her with her Byakugan activated.

'Woah, who would have thought that sweet and kind Hinata could display this kind of Battle Intent?' Sakura thought in surprise. Deciding to not create misunderstanding, she also called out to Hinata and invited her.

"Hey Hinata, I heard that you got second in the written exams and were only a few marks behind me? Would you like to come and sit with me too? I bet we have a lot to discuss." Sakura said with a smile.

Hinata was surprised at this and instantly deactivated her Byakugan. Nodding in agreement, Hinata came up to her and sat on the other side of Sakura. She would have loved to sit next to Naruto, but she knew she would probably pass out and probably miss the events of the whole day of she sat next to Naruto.

"H-hi Sakura. H-h-hi Naruto." Hinata said with a stutter.

"Oh, Hi Hinata. How are you?" Naruto greeted her with a smile. Hinata instantly blushed heavily and steam gushed out from her head.

Sakura looked at it with amusement, 'It seems like some weird stuff like this might actually happen in this world?'

Sakura acted as a go-between for Hinata and Naruto to converse. Within a few minutes, Hinata started gazing at Sakura as if she was her best friend, savior, and Goddess all at the same time. Hinata enjoyed conversing properly with Naruto for the first time and Sakura got a trusty friend in return.

Just then, Iruka entered the classroom with a sheaf of papers in his hand. He glanced at the class and did a mental count to determine that no one had missed the session today.

"As of today, you are all Ninjas. You have faced a lot of trouble so far but there is a lot more to come. You are now all Genin, but that is only the first step on the Road of a Ninja. As Genin, you will be sorted into three-man squads. These squads will be headed by a Jonin each. They will be your teacher and leader."

"Each squad was determined by an examination of your talents, achievements, and future potential to create a balanced mix. Your Squad Members and your Leading Jonin will be announced now so pay attention."

He announced the teams one by one, beginning by sorting the average Genin with weak future potential first. Honestly, Sakura was once again amazed by the plot armor which had allowed the physically worst candidate of the class, the Original Sakura, to be on the same team as a Jinchuriki and an Uchiha Prodigy.

She watched various teams be announced. Some were happy, some sad, some already arguing with their teammates. Sakura already knew that most of these teams would not actually graduate, as they will fail their Genin Secret Test. They would probably be disbanded permanently or put through special education again.

"Team 7 : Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out.

"What?!!!" Naruto, Ino, and Hinata called out, two of them in shock and one in pleasant surprise. Sakura was once again amazed that Hinata's shock allowed her to break out of her usual shyness. It was probably also because she had already been conversing with Naruto and her for all this while.

"Sakura! Can you believe it? We are in the same team!!!" Naruto turned to Sakura with a huge grin.

"Sure can." Sakura said with a teasing smile "They probably put the topper of Academic and Physical courses together with the one who scored the bottom in both."

"Oh ya … I probably did score the worst at both…." Naruto said, his excitement dimmed down.

"Hey, keep your chin up Naruto, you are not so bad." Sakura said with a pat to his shoulder "Honestly, if you could practice seriously for a bit and put all that Chakra and Stamina of yours to good use, you would probably soon grow strong enough to challenge any and all from our generation."

"You mean it?" Naruto asked with sparkling eyes.

"Of course." Sakura said "In fact, since we are now a team, I will help you train daily. Come visit me early every morning and I will take you through my training routine."

"Sure. I will be there on time." Naruto nodded like a chicken pecking at the grains.

Sakura noticed that Hinata was feeling a little down and patted her shoulder to gain her attention, "Hey Hinata, would you like to come too? I had fun talking to you today and could probably use a girl to accompany me on my training. Unless you don't want to since we are in different teams?"

Hinata was stunned and quickly shook her head in negative "No, I don't think that at all. I would love to train together."

"Great, then let's meet every day in the morning to train. Unless our Jonin sensei gives us some task of course." Sakura finalized their plans.