Sakura stood in the middle of the stadium, staring at her opponent.

Ino looked slightly upset about who she was up against. Sakura sighed. How would she get Ino to fight her seriously, without holding back?

Hayate coughed lightly, "You know the rules. If you don't want die I suggest you forfeit the moment you feel you're in trouble."

Sakura nodded, barely listening.

Ino's blue eyes were watery, she was trembling slightly. She really didn't want to hurt Sakura.

"Begin." Hayate said, and teleported away.

Ino charged towards Sakura, her speed slow and faltering, her punch weak. Sakura allowed her to strike the first blow, and then kicked out at her chest to show the difference between them.

Ino went flying and landed hard onto the ground.

"Ino!" Shikamaru shouted.

I'm being harsh, Sakura thought to herself. But what else could she do? Ino would never fight with her full strength if she wasn't pushed to do so, it would be unfair to allow her to continue to pull her punches.

Her stomach wound ached, but Sakura ignored it. That Hyuuga Hinata girl had been kind enough to give Naruto some healing paste, and he had lent it to Sakura to use on her stab wound. It still hurt, but she was no longer afraid of ripping it open in the middle of battle.

She needed to show Ino that if she didn't fight properly, she'd get hurt.

Before Ino could get up, Sakura formed a few hand seals and created an illusionary mist, filling the stadium. It was designed to block the vision of anyone in the vicinity whose chakra signature did not match the caster. Sakura could see the red-headed nin from Suna creating an eye out of sand that looked down at them. Hyuuga Neji was probably looking straight through her mist with ease with his Byakugan, same with Kakashi.

Ino, however, did not have the benefit of kekkei genkai that allowed her to see through genjutsu, and Sakura could see her freeze, looking around carefully.

Sakura knew that the moment she moved, Ino would be able to pinpoint her location just by using her ears. Sakura's chakra had been fully replenished, but she still refused to use her favourite technique, the Dusk Crow Genjutsu. One, her sensei had advised her to only use it in life or death situations and two, Ino used to be her friend. You didn't use dark, painful techniques on old friends.

Sakura went to grab a few shuriken and suddenly felt reluctant. This must be how Ino was feeling. To use weapons on someone she used to look up to, to depend on, admire, her oldest friend… She couldn't do it.

She would end this fight with nothing but her bare hands.

She flew at Ino, pumping chakra to her feet and exploding off the ground. Ino's head snapped round when she heard the loud footsteps. She drew a few kunai, looking nervous.

That's right. Come and get me.

Ino's fist went straight through the illusionary Sakura's stomach. The real Sakura swept her feet from under her and held a kunai to her throat. Ino felt the metal scratch her skin and panicked, scrambling backwards, too frightened to think straight.

That was what the mist was designed for. Quick, assassin-style kills, and to unnerve the opponent. Sakura had allowed the clone's footsteps to be heard to frighten Ino, and to cover the sound of her real self sneaking up behind her.

"Get up, Ino. I'm taking this fight seriously, even if you aren't." The illusionary Sakura taunted Ino, running around here and there, her fake footsteps echoing.

Sakura wasn't quite good enough at Kage Bunshin to make fully solid, flesh and blood copies of herself, but she could add voice and weight to her clones, and took full advantage of this.

She chose her hiding place well, out of Ino's striking range but close enough for her to keep up the clone without exerting unnecessary chakra.

The mist was eating up her chakra on its own, though, so Sakura wanted to wrap this up quickly.

Ino wasn't stupid. She was listening carefully, having figured out that the light footsteps were real and the heavy ones were fake.

"You never could fight fair, Sakura." Ino spat, "You always rely on some freaky illusion, you can't fight for yourself."

Sakura made her clone laugh eerily in the mist.

"Trying to distract me, Ino-pig? Your insults won't make me drop my mist. You're the one not fighting fair. Stop standing there and attack me!" Her clone said mockingly.

Ino gritted her teeth.

Sakura could see the red-headed nin withdrawing his sand eye technique, clearly bored of all the talking.

Maybe it was time to finish the fight.

She could have technically finished it when her kunai lay across Ino's throat, one quick slice and she'd have been done. But how could she have hurt Ino like that?

The mist, the mocking words, the frightening close-call with the kunai – they were all designed to make Ino forget who she was fighting and force her to fight seriously. But it looked as though Ino was determined to cling to the past.

Sakura reined in a sigh. She definitely had to speak to Ino after the fight.

"Just come over here and fight me!" Ino shouted. Sakura just barely heard Shikamaru groan from behind her.

Fine.

Let Ino see her for the ninja she was, not the frightened, timid little girl she used to be.

Watch me, Ino, Sakura thought.

She closed her eyes, concentrating fiercely.

"Yeah! Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled out happily. Sakura's eyebrow twitched, her concentration slipping slightly. Kakashi was probably updating Naruto on what was going on.

The mist dropped in an instant.

Ino blinked.

The stadium was suddenly filled with identical Sakuras.

Ino looked around her, aghast.

Sakura nearly laughed.

"Come find me!" The clones chorused together.

Ino slashed at one with her kunai. It sliced through the illusionary flesh.

It was essentially a maze of Sakura clones. Ino would have to attack every single one, all the while fending off Sakura's attacks.

The clones weren't solid, unlike Naruto's favourite technique, meaning that when Sakura attacked, it would be obvious which one she was.

She had a plan.

The clones all charged at Ino.

One of them held a very solid-looking kunai. She was hiding behind the others subtly as they ran, hanging back.

Ino's eyes focused on that one, and didn't notice the very solid Sakura charging towards her, mimicking the body language of the other clones.

Sakura watched Ino attack the clone with the kunai and she leapt behind her.

Ino fell as Sakura's hand struck a pressure point, knocking her out instantly.

Sakura closed her eyes.

Release.

The multiple Sakuras vanished within one second.

There was silence for a moment as the onlookers digested what had happened.

"YEAH! SAKURA-CHAN! WELL DONE!" Naruto yelled happily, waving excitedly.

Sakura looked around at the ninja watching. Kurenai gave her an approving nod. Shikamaru and Chouji looked disappointed. Hyuuga Neji's Byakugan was still activated.

If only Sasuke had been there to see her triumph.

Asuma dropped down next to Ino, picking her up gently. He examined her neck and winced, "That'll bruise."

"I could have done worse." Sakura said grimly. And it was true. She had the materials in her bag to tear Ino to ribbons in that mist, and yet she'd knocked her out just by using pressure points, like a Hyuuga.

Her sensei had impressed upon her the value of life, and not to take pleasure in hurting others. Not only that, but Ino was someone Sakura could never fight seriously, with weapons and serious chance of death. She still cared.

Asuma nodded, acknowledging Sakura's respect. She'd held back and tried to force Ino to fight seriously. She couldn't do more than that.

A medic team came over to check on Ino. Sakura made her way back up the stairs, aware that she was being stared at by quite a few other ninja.

Kakashi and Naruto were there to congratulate her when she got up the steps.

"Well done, Sakura. Though you could have finished that fight a lot quicker." Kakashi said, his dark eye curious.

Sakura smiled at them both and leant on the railings, "How could I have? I could never attack Ino, not properly."

"Sakura-san!" Lee said suddenly, bounding up to her, "Well done! I could see the flames of your youth burning even through that mist! It was amazing!"

"Thank you, Lee-san." Sakura accepted the praise with a slight, embarrassed blush.

"You have good control over genjutsu," Hyuuga Neji suddenly appeared next to Lee, "But you waste opportunities to strike in favour of attacking softly later on. You should not hold back."

"A good ninja differentiates between practise fights and real battles. Being vicious and brutal with your opponents doesn't make you a better ninja." Sakura shrugged.

"Holding back shows good restraint," Kakashi clapped Sakura on the shoulder, "But you should be a little more vicious with an enemy ninja."

Sakura glared at him and rubbed her shoulder, which stung from the friendly blow.

Her sensei hadn't taught her to crave battle. He'd taught her to avoid it. Sakura looked at the window longingly. She wished she could see her sensei and explain how the fight had gone. There was only one person she wanted to impress with her skills, and he wasn't here.

Everyone else got to have their sensei with them. Sakura glanced at Kakashi sourly. He stared back at her blankly.

Sakura rested her chin on her arms, still leaning on the railings, peering over the edge.

Maybe one day her sensei could walk around the village with her, after he explained to her why he couldn't even tell her his name. Maybe it was something simple and innocent?

Maybe it wasn't.

At least she wasn't betraying her village. That had been her worst fear, and it had been a weight off her shoulders when he confirmed she wasn't a traitor. She could see in guileless black eyes that he was sincere.

xxxxxxxx

Sakura slipped away once the fighting ended, inwardly bursting with pride after all of her team passed. She headed to the medical room, hoping to see Ino.

It was a dark room, filled with hastily assembled beds and medical equipment. There was a strong smell of disinfectant.

Hinata lay in a makeshift hospital bed, bruises and red marks adorning her skin. She was still unconscious. Sakura paused at her bedside and winced, recalling her conversation with Neji about being brutal with your opponents. He had beaten Hinata severely, not seeming to care that he outmatched her by several levels.

Naruto had been so angry.

Ino was sitting up in a bed, one hand clasped over her neck and the other absently trailing over the blanket.

"Ino," Sakura said quietly. Ino jumped and stared at her, her expression cool and unfriendly, "Hi."

"Hi." Ino replied, her voice distinctly frosty.

"I'm sorry, Ino." Sakura said, coming to stand by Ino's bedside.

"Why would you be? We aren't friends, remember?" Ino scowled at the wall.

"Well, I just thought –"

"Why are you here? Why are you even talking to me?" Ino turned her glare on her instead, her platinum blonde hair released from its usual ponytail, cascading down her back in pale waves. Her face was angry and hurt, "You just humiliated me!"

"What? No I didn't!"

"You spent the whole fight hiding behind that mist and then you ended the fight with one blow. Everyone thinks I'm a total weakling, thanks to you." Ino gritted her teeth and stared down at her lap.

Sakura rubbed the back of her head, "So… you're angry because I beat you?"

"I'm angry because you stopped being friends with me for a guy!" Ino suddenly snapped, her eyes filling with angry tears.

"But, Ino, that was years ago…"

"So what? You… you piss me off, Sakura!" Ino said fiercely and turned away to hide her tears.

Sakura frowned at the back of Ino's head. She sighed and sat down next to Ino on her bed. She wiped her eyes angrily and sniffed, but didn't try to stop Sakura from sitting next to her.

"I didn't want to hurt you, Ino." Sakura said quietly. She cut off Ino's incredulous snort with a hand, "But I guess I did. I'm sorry for choosing Sasuke over you."

Ino's shoulders shook.

Sakura took a risk and grabbed Ino's hand. She didn't fight her off, but collapsed into tears, her free hand covering her face.

They sat in the medical room quietly holding hands, the only sounds were Ino's sobs and Hinata's laboured breathing.

I was a selfish idiot, Sakura thought, her eyes shadowed with guilt. And too proud to say sorry earlier. I thought I was being noble and merciful, not hurting Ino, but I was just showing off how much I'd grown. Look at me! Look at how much better I am than you now!

She hated admitted her faults, but she had to admit to herself she had been massively in the wrong here.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

Ino swallowed back her tears and nodded.

xxxxxxxx

Sakura stumbled home, grinning like an idiot despite the growing pain in her stomach. As she hobbled down the street, a crow flew past her face, the breeze from its wings messing up her hair.

"Raban-san!" She gasped.

The crow settled on the ground in front of her and stared at her, eyes curious.

"Sakura-san," Raban said, his head tilting, "Your hair is shorter than before, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, I just had it cut." Sakura patted her hair back into place neatly, a disarming grin on her face.

The bird bobbed its head in an awkward imitation of a nod. The human gesture was oddly endearing on the bird, so Sakura bent down and patted it on the head.

The crow allowed her to stroke his feathers before flapping his wings, hovering just above the ground.

"I will go alert your sensei. He is in the usual place." Raban said dutifully.

"No wait, I can surprise him." Sakura grinned playfully.

"I wouldn't advise it. He never liked surprises." The bird shook his head and took off into the sky.

Sakura watched him fly off with a smile. Her sensei didn't like surprises? She had not heard that about him before. He was such a private person.

She ran to the forest as fast as she could, her muscles feeling stretched and painful from all the fighting she had done recently. She could suddenly feel every bruise and cut like they had just been inflicted, all throbbing in unison.

A cough caught her attention.

Her sensei was leaning against a fence, staring at the Hokage Monument with a pensive expression on his face. Sakura stopped abruptly, her mouth falling open in surprise.

She watched as he pushed himself off of the fence, eyes closed, turning towards her.

His dark eyes opened and fell upon her. Remembering her insecurities that had pained her whilst standing next to Kurenai, Sakura shifted awkwardly under his intense gaze.

He folded his arms, the only sign of his anger the slight narrowing of his eyes. Even so, Sakura fidgeted like a naughty child, wondering what she had done this time.

"Sakura," He said in his low, deep voice, "Why did you change your hair?"

She had lied about it so many times by now she couldn't even remember why she didn't just tell the truth.

"Ha, I was… I tried to protect Naruto and Sasuke when they… when they were unconscious and a ninja grabbed my hair and I cut it off to escape them." Sakura aimed to explain it in a light-hearted voice, to put her sensei at ease. If anything, it had the opposite effect.

Her sensei's eyes grew cold.

"This was in the chuunin exam? Where was it held?"

"The Forest of Death." Sakura couldn't repress the shudder at the memories of that dark, dark forest and the things that had lurked in its shadows.

Her sensei looked down at the ground with a sigh. Sakura thought she saw him mouth the word, 'cruel.'

"That forest… you were unlucky to get that. Why did you need to protect Naruto and Sasuke?"

"We were attacked by a really strong ninja, sensei… I think he knew who you were, I tried to use my jutsu against him and he brushed them off like they were nothing. His name was Orochimaru." Sakura said, watching her sensei carefully for his reaction.

He stiffened and gave her a sideways glance, "You fought Orochimaru?" He asked, his voice sounding odd.

"Only a for bit, he broke my wrist and he bit Sasuke."

Her sensei's eyes flickered to her wrists absently – though the broken bone had long since been healed – before his head snapped round to stare at her properly.

"He bit Sasuke? Where?"

"On his neck, sensei. He called it a curse seal."

The older man pushed his hair back with one hand, his intense gaze still fixed on her face.

"He gave Sasuke the curse seal…" He said quietly, almost to himself.

"I fought off some other ninja who wanted to kill Sasuke, but I… I fainted… I'm sorry, sensei. When I woke up, Sasuke was so angry… Orochimaru's chakra was hanging around him…" Sakura faltered, remembering that awful day, the fear of sudden ambushes, the long, lonely night, the pain of being stabbed, the rising nausea after the sound waves had assaulted her eardrums, hitting the ground and waking up to see a monster wearing Sasuke's face…

Sakura was surprised when something wet dripped down her face. She touched her cheek, confused. She was crying.

Her sensei looked up at her sharply and sighed at her tears.

He looked around quickly, then pulled her towards him gently, her forehead colliding with his chest awkwardly, his arms folding around her back.

"It's OK to cry, Sakura." He said quietly, as though lost in some far off memory.

Sakura tried to hold back the tears, but it was as though there was a residual sense of fear clinging to her left over from the forest and she gave in to the sobs and wound her arms around his stomach.

Her sensei rested his chin on top of her head and listened to her cry, anger beginning to grow inside of him like a sickness.


Sakura beat Ino :) The fight was fun to write, it really was!

Itachi and Sakura hugged :D Did you all like the bit of teacher-student affection?

One day I will draw all of the scenes I like in my fanfiction, including the hand-holding scene between Ino and Sakura.

I think this chapter's longer than usual? Not sure.

Quick poll for fun: Which is better, genius born through genes or hard work?

A) Genes, characters like Sasuke and Neji are awesome.

B) Not sure.

C) Hard work, characters like Lee and Naruto are inspiring.

D) Other! Let me know!