Pulling My Weight

Chapter 3 || Stepping Up

Sakura found Genma-san on the second day after Kakashi-sensei had dropped the 'Chunin Exam Bombshell' on Team 7. He was sitting at the dango stand and chatting with the owner, a plate of what Sakura identified to be mitarashi dango before him, but he looked tired, and Sakura briefly considered pretending she hadn't seen him and finding him in a few days' time instead, now that she knew he was back in the Village. But then her fear of what the 'next few days' would bring with them won out, and she stepped into the shop and slid onto the stool beside Genma-san, flashing a smile at the owner as she requested her own plate of bocchan dango, trying not to squirm from the feeling of the jounin's eyes on her.

"Glad you got back safely." She offered quietly, drawing a snort from the brunet.

"Thanks, kid." He acknowledged before a teasing lilt entered his voice. "Though I didn't know that eye bags became the new trend while I was gone." Then his voice turned serious. "You look like you haven't slept in two days."

Sakura considered feigning annoyance and pretending to be offended by the words, but in all honesty, he wasn't at all far from the truth. "That's because I haven't." she admitted, letting the words out on a sigh. At his curious gaze, she grudgingly elaborated. "Kakashi-sensei signed us up for the Chuunin Exams."

She didn't miss how Genma-san stiffened beside her, but she was surprised by the muttered string of expletives that left his mouth, among which she could've sworn she heard 'fucking cocky bastard' and 'overpowered asshole my ass', at which she had to supress the snort of laughter that threatened to escape her. But Genma-san sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly before he turned to her and asked; "I take it he explained the process?"

And at that, Sakura blinked. "Uh, no?" she offered, because, now that she thought about it, Kakashi-sensei had only given them the forms to fill and told them to show up at the Academy in a week's time. Apparently, that had been the wrong answer, because Genma-san stabbed an empty stick into one of his dumplings with such force she thought the plate would crack.

"No, of course not, what was I expecting." He grumbled, stuffing the dumpling into his mouth, and, if chewing could ever be done angrily, Sakura was sure that he would doing exactly that.

"I mean, I know the basics that we learnt at the Academy..." she volunteered hesitantly, more out of fear for the fate of the plate than a need to defend her sensei. "Iruka-sensei told us that the Chuunin Exams would test various skill areas to determine whether we would be fit for the rank of chuunin, since the requirements are greater than those for genin."

Surprisingly, that made Genma-san snort. "Trust Iruka to be thorough." He laughed but elaborated nonetheless. "The format of the Exams changes every year, and Iruka was not wrong in telling you that they test your aptitude for chunin. For that reason, the stages are usually quite similar, so there are some skills which will always be useful to you, regardless of where you find yourself." he met her gaze, rolling the senbon which he'd placed back in his mouth from the side to side. "During my Exam, there were three stages: theory, survival, and a combat stage. Normally, only about 10% of the genin who took the theory exam advance to the combat stage." At Sakura's stunned gaze, his smirk turned wry. "You were right to worry since I'm assuming that that's what you lost sleepover. The Exams are not easy, particularly not for those who did little more than plough fields and chase cats since leaving the Academy."

Sakura paled at his summary, but nodded, glad that he acknowledged in that direct of his that her worries were not unfounded.

"But," he began, sending her a considering glance. "I doubt that you came here just for me to tell you what I'm guessing you already suspected." And Sakura couldn't help but wince at the truth in that statement, but nodded nonetheless – she was hoping he would teach her something, anything, that could help her with the Exams.