The Battle Begins: Sakura VS. Kankuro
Chapter Six
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Kankuro smirked at Sakura as she stood a good few feet away from him. "This is going to be good." He said, his eyes narrowing as she glared at his comment. "I've been wanting to get back at you for a while now."
Sakura stood her ground, ignoring the way Naruto was shouting at her encouragingly. This wasn't some fight with Ino she could just brush through. She had no idea what Kankuro had up his sleeve and she didn't want her curse mark to activate. She looked up in the direction of where Orochimaru stood in disguise and glared up at him as he grinned evilly down at her.
"Alright," the proctor said. "if both party's are ready. Begin!"
"Hey," Kankuro said angrily, not liking the fact that he was being ignored. "I'm your opponent so you better pay attention!" With that he threw a few kunai at Sakura, expecting it to hit its target but saw that that was not the case as Sakura flashed stepped out of the way, dodging every attack he threw at her.
Sakura kept stepping back and out of the way for what seemed like forever, her thoughts drifting to when she first started her training with Tsunade. How her mentor had told her as a medic she had to dodge and dodge and dodge whatever attack was thrown at her, even if there were openings. Which in this case there weren't. Kankuro was a worthy opponent to have and she knew he was aiming to win, if he didn't, Gaara would probably have his head.
She stopped as Kankuro growled, all of his shuriken and kunai now on the ground. "What kind of ninja are you? Just dodging isn't going to help you win." He took in deep breaths as he started to charge at her, his fists at the ready.
Sakura prepared for taijutsu, knowing that if she was going to win, she had to wear out her opponent first. She didn't want to do anything that would hurt Kankuro, but she wanted to make it to the next round. She wanted to show everyone that she wasn't who they thought she was.
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Naruto grumbled in confusion as he watched Sakura continue to dodge the kicks and punches, the time drawing on as she continued to evade every attack, not throwing any of her own. "Why is she just dodging? I don't understand..."
Sasuke leaned forward as he watched Kankuro continue to sweat and gasp for breath. "She's wearing him out."
"Bingo." Kakashi said, a hidden smile behind his mask. "Sakura is actually doing pretty good, she's wearing out her opponent and saving her weapons and chakra in the process. It is quite a tactful move if I do say so myself. Though, I wonder how long Kankuro is going to stand for it; he's looking pretty mad."
Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded.
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Kankuro growled in furry as Sakura sidestepped another one of his kicks. "Argh, you're getting on my nerves little girl!"
Sakura crouched low to the ground as he aimed a kick from above. "I'm sorry, is the mean ole' sand genin losing his touch over a girl?"
Kankuro grunted and pushed himself away from Sakura, putting some distance between the two as he removed the thing from his back.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, Kankuro was now getting serious if he was bringing out his puppet. "Good, I'm glad you decided to really play." She taunted with a grin, her curse mark pulsing against her neck menacingly. She ground her teeth together and grasped her shoulder as the mark started to activate without her consent.
Sasuke gripped the railing in anxiety as he saw Sakura grab on to her neck. "Oh no." He whispered to himself.
Sakura smiled menacingly as her pupils disappeared completely.
Kankuro took a step back as he noticed the way Sakura was looking at him. He snapped out of whatever he was feeling and released his puppet. "Now I'm going to show you what I'm really made of!"
Sakura chuckled lowly and took no time in launching herself at Kankuro. "I'd love to see you try." She whispered in his ear as she appeared right behind him, so fast that no one even noticed until she had slammed her right leg into his side and sent him flying into the wall. She took no time in racing towards the groaning sand nin and raised a chakra infused fist, aiming straight for his skull.
Kankuro jumped out of the way, gaping as Sakura put a big crater through the wall, making the whole arena shake and everyone that was standing above the wall fall to their knees from the power of it all.
"Holy crap! Sakura was just about to kill him!" Naruto exclaimed in shock.
Sakura pouted at the wall and turned to face a panting Kankuro. "What a shame..." She flexed her fingers and started walking slowly towards the prone male.
He tried his best to move, but found that his body was failing him. "Wha- What's going on." He grunted, his limbs not listening to him as Sakura drew near.
Sakura smirked and stopped a few feet in front of Kankuro. "I see you're having trouble moving..." She trailed off and cocked her head to the side, her eyes still not revealing anything but amusement. "Before you dodged I had touched your leg with my hand and sent a nerve ending jolt into your system. "You are completely under my mercy, and trust me, I intend to show you none." With those words she raised her fist and slammed it right into Kankuro's jaw, making a crater appear right from under them from the force. She surmised that she had crushed every bone in the nin's body as she smiled and watched as the cloud of smoke started to dissipate.
The proctor coughed into his hand and started to step forward to end the battle. Everyone gaped as Sakura backed away, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. Sasuke was the only one that knew Sakura, in her right mind, would never had done something so cruel.
Sakura waited for the smoke to completely go away before she looked down at the crater where Kankuro was. She narrowed her eyes and clicked her teeth when she realized she had been duped. "I see you were hiding all along." She said, turning away from the demolished puppet and looking over at where Kankuro was standing. "I should have known." She twitched slightly when he smirked at her.
"Don't underestimate me." He said, charging towards her at top speed.
Sakura smiled sickeningly sweet, as soon as he made it he dodged a kick and threw one of his own, which she blocked with her forearm before she raised her other arm and slammed it down against Kankuro's head. "No," she said, as he slammed to the ground in a painful heap. "don't you underestimate me."
Kankuro gasped as she placed her foot over his windpipe and added a little pressure. He choked out a small sound as he tried to breathe and all Sakura could do was smile down at him as she continued to crush him.
Her three teammates could not believe what they were seeing. Sakura was actually trying to kill Kankuro. Sasuke looked over to Kankuro's teammates and saw the red head just standing there without a care, while the girl was grinding her teeth and clenching her fists against the railing.
When Sakura was about to deliver the last blow she stopped.
"Sakura, don't do it!" Naruto shouted in terror, fearing what would happen if Sakura actually managed to kill her opponent.
Sakura glared and turned her head to look at Naruto. His blue eyes were shining as he stared down at her.
"You won already, just let him go!" He stated, motioning towards the proctor who had his hand raised.
Sakura grunted and looked down at a choking Kankuro, having an inner argument with herself. A part of her was afraid of what she was about to do, while the other side... the side that was sending dark messages, was telling her to kill him. It wanted blood, and the urge was getting stronger and stronger by the minute. She huffed and removed her foot from the male's neck, only to come back a second later and slam her foot into his side and send him flying into the wall.
Everyone gasped in shock, unable to believe Sakura would do something like that.
Hayate, the proctor, coughed into his hand. "The winner is, Haruno Sakura."
A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the chapters before that! I've enjoyed all your reviews and I look forward to reading more. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back with all of you and I hope I'm not boring you with anything that has to do with this story. I know I need some work, but I'm trying my best. Please stick with me and don't give up. I look forward to continuing Times of Change, and keep expecting more and more chapters!
Thank you!
Chelsea D Grey
