Chapter 9

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I would draw Gaara with eyebrows. But I don't. So Gaara will continue to have a weak eyebrow game. -Yui


Why are there so many people here?

Koharu looked around the arena and sighed. It was the day of the tournament, and the school was as busy as ever. Not only was the entire school watching, but several villagers and high-ranking ninja had come as well.

Why haven't I been called yet? All of this waiting is making me anxious…

Koharu rocked back and forth on her feet before spotting Manami chatting with Gaara. She walked up to them, hearing the last part of their conversation.

"Good luck out there, Gaara! Promise me you won't get too hurt."

"I'll try, but I can't say the same about the other guy."

The two smiled at each other before Gaara walked off.

I wonder what's going on there… I'll ask Manami later.

"Hey Manami! How much longer do you think I'll have to wait? I just want to go before I get tired… Plus, I really want to see who I'm going up against."

Manami smiled at Koharu and looked down at one of the arenas. "Well, it looks like Itachi is finishing his battle up, and Gaara just started his in the other arena!"

Koharu looked over at Itachi and then toward Gaara.That'll be me soon… hopefully.

The two started walking around the arena. A few steps later, Manami stopped, turning toward Koharu.

"Wait, did you just say you don't know who you're matched up against?"

Well duh… I haven't been called, of course I don't know!

"Yes, they haven't called my name yet… Were you even listening?"

Manami's face formed a smile, and she bursted out in laughter.

"Koharu… you know there's a matchup list right?" Manami said while clutching her stomach.

The brunette's eyes widened. "W-what do you mean? They didn't tell us there was a list!"

Manami calmed herself down and took a deep breath.

"Did you not notice how many people showed up to watch? You do realize people came because they wanted to see your match, right?"

"What are you talking about? Who am I paired against?"

Manami pointed over Koharu's shoulder. "Why don't you turn around and look?"

Koharu's jaw dropped when she saw the two names on the screen. She had no idea she had been pitted against Kakashi, and now she had no time to prepare because her match was next.

"You better get going… These people didn't come to see you standing here with your mouth wide open! They came to see the fight between one of the Legendary Sannin's daughter, and Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan," Manami urged.

Koharu nodded as she scanned the crowd, finally spotting Kakashi reading his book.

Always with that damn book…

A determined look spread across Koharu's face. "Well then, I'll make sure to give them the show they came for."

The kunoichi rolled her shoulders back and focused her attention back to one of the arenas. Itachi stood in the rink dusting off his shoulders without a scratch on him. Itachi's opponent, however, was not so lucky. Koharu looked at the figure lying on the ground next to him and shook her head.

I am so glad I'm not a fourth year… I couldn't imagine going up against Itachi…

Koharu made her way down to the arena after the proctor declared Itachi the winner. When she arrived, she noticed Itachi's enemy was heavily coughing and being helped up by the school's medic ninjas.

The brunette chuckled and put her hand on Itachi's shoulder. "I don't know why I'm surprised you didn't hold back, but somehow I expected nothing less of you."

Itachi deactivated his sharingan and looked over at Koharu, dead panned. "I did hold back on him."

Koharu's eyes widened and she took her hand off of his shoulder. "Itachi, remind me never to upset you. Anyways, I suggest you go back upstairs and watch my match, it's about to get interesting."

Itachi looked up at the board and then back at Koharu. "You do realize Kakashi is one of the best ninjas in the school. Well, behind Minato and me, of course. Some people would even call him a prodigy. I'm surprised you're as relaxed as you are."

Koharu inhaled sharply and felt her heart start to pound.

Why am I just now hearing this?

Suddenly, the kunoichi felt a voice whisper into her ear.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," the copy ninja taunted.

Koharu felt chills creep up her spine, and she jumped back.

As she turned around, the announcer's voice boomed, "Kakashi Hatake vs. Koharu Hachidori!"

The crowd went silent as they heard the match they had all been waiting for announced.

The brunette walked toward Kakashi and narrowed her eyes. "If you intend on winning, which isn't likely, you should give it your all. I want to see that precious sharingan of yours in action."

Koharu then stopped herself right in front of Kakashi, and leaned in.

"Kakashi the Copy Ninja," she whispered.

The grey-haired ninja flinched ever so slightly at the intensity in her voice. She smirked when she got the reaction she wanted out of him.

"Oh, and try not to pass out from chakra exhaustion," Koharu quipped.

Kakashi scoffed and leaned in as well.

"Well try not to fly away from your fear of failure, Bird of Konoha," he hissed back.

Neither party broke eye contact, letting their dislike for each other stew. Then, both Kakashi and Koharu turned on their heels and stormed to opposite sides of the arena.

The proctor looked between the two, noticing the tension between them. "I want a nice, clean match. The only rule is to not kill the other. BEGIN!" The proctor leaped back, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

The crowd went quiet again, before a cheer broke the silence.

"YOU'VE GOT THIS, KOHARU! YAY KOHARU!"

Kakashi smirked at Manami's outburst. That's optimistic, even for her.

Koharu looked over at the audience and then back at Kakashi's smug face.

Damn it Manami, out of all the times… I'll have to talk to her later.

The pair stared at each other for a few seconds, assessing the other's weaknesses.

Koharu reached for her pouch. Looks like I'm starting it then. Here we go…

The kunoichi pulled out a handful of shuriken, and sent them flying toward Kakashi with an immense force. Kakashi leaped away, taken aback by the intensity of the attack.

Damn, those were fast.

He pretended to dust himself off and looked at Koharu with big eyes. "Well that wasn't very nice of you, Koharu. Those could have hurt me."

Koharu smirked. "That's the point, isn't it?"

Not giving her another opportunity to attack, Kakashi charged toward Koharu and began to engage her in a taijutsu battle. Koharu managed to avoid Kakashi's kicks and punches, but wasn't able to throw any of her own.

I have to stop playing so defensively if I want to win!

As Kakashi threw one last punch, Koharu blocked it with her arms.

"This is getting nowhere. What about something different, Kakashi?"

They both leapt back, and the copy ninja pulled up his forehead protector.

"Well, you wanted to see my Sharingan, but let's see if you can handle it."

The green-eyed girl smiled as a thought crossed her mind. "I'm honored… Want to see if you can copy this then?"

Koharu began to move rapidly through handsigns, and Kakashi copied her movements. When Koharu finished the jutsu, several shurikens made completely of ice shot toward Kakashi, causing his eyes to widen as he realized he wouldn't be able to copy this jutsu.

Kakashi groaned. Crap, crap, crap, CRAP!

"Ice Style: Ice Shuriken!" Koharu shouted as she watched the masked ninja's reaction.

Kakashi quickly used a substitution jutsu to avoid the attack.

If I thought her speed was impressive before… There's no way I could dodge those without a substitution.

"So you're the only shinobi who can use ice in Konoha. I've heard rumors, but frankly, I'm a little surprised it's you, Koharu."

Kakashi chuckled before continuing, "Well aren't you lucky I can't copy it then."

Luck has nothing to do with this, Koharu thought as she gritted her teeth.

Without responding to him, Koharu fired another round of ice shuriken toward Kakashi. Anticipating this attack, Kakashi was able to rapidly roll out of the way, but not before one of the shuriken caught his arm.

Kakashi moaned and put his hand over the injury before looking at it.

It's not as deep as it feels… I can't imagine actually getting the full impact of one of those.

Koharu watched as Kakashi's face shifted. His eyes slightly narrowed and his face darkened before she heard him growl, "My turn."

Kakashi tossed a smoke bomb on the ground, temporarily blinding Koharu. When it finally cleared up, she noticed that Kakashi had disappeared.

Koharu's eyes widened and she began to look around.

Left… Right… Behind… Above… Where the hell is he?

"Earth Style: Head-Hunter Jutsu!"

All of a sudden, Koharu felt Kakashi's hands wrap around her ankles, causing her eyes to widen. She groaned and tore a kunai out of her pouch.

Down… she groaned. I always forget to look down.

Koharu began blindly slashing the kunai around, desperate to get loose from Kakashi's grip. Kakashi felt Koharu flailing under his grip and pushed her ankles away as he heard the sound of metal hitting his glove.

If I didn't have my gloves on she would have sliced my hand open. I need to be more careful…

Koharu fell forward and got up just in time to lift her own kunai up to block his. The sound of metal clanging together echoed throughout the arena.

He's so fast… Itachi was right, I need to focus.

The shinobi came to a stand still. Both tried to overpower the other, pushing their kunais against each other.

Koharu began to slide backwards, and she quickly realized she was going to lose in a battle of strength.

This isn't going to end well for me… Ugh, Kakashi knows it, too. I can see it on his face.

Koharu jumped back and yelled out, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu," creating a massive water dragon.

Kakashi quickly collected himself and countered, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

Damn it… both Kakashi and Koharu groaned, this has gone on far too long.

The two continued to go back and forth for a bit. Koharu bit her finger, drawing blood.

I didn't want to have to do this…

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The crowd gasped as a giant brown and white bird appeared on the arena floor.

"Alright Sora, I need you to distract Kakashi while I work up my chakra for a bit."

Kakashi's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath.

What the heck is wrong with this girl?

The copy ninja quickly summoned his ninken. "Can you guys cover me? I'm not sure what Koharu is up to but I need to get to her… now."

Koharu began to pant, her hands shaking from all the chakra that was drained.

I only have enough for one more move…

Kakashi desperately tried to get past Sora, who was using her massive wings to protect Koharu.

Is this damn bird really not going to let me by?

Koharu heard Kakashi fighting his way through her defense and knew what she had to do.

It's not ready yet… but what other choice do I have?

Koharu weaved a quick hand sign, dismissing Sora. The absence of her giant bird threw Kakashi off, causing him to stumble.

What the…?

Koharu sprinted toward Kakashi while running through hand signs, sucked in a big breath and yelled, "Wind Style: Freezing Wind," and exhaled.

A sharp, biting wind hit Kakashi, and he raised his arms to cover his eyes.

When the wind stopped, he tried to ready himself for her next attack, but found he couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried.

Why can't I move? What kind of jutsu was that?

Koharu smirked through her heavy panting, walked calmly up to Kakashi, and placed a kunai against his neck.

She looked over at the proctor before smiling. "I believe this match is over."

The proctor, eyes wide and mouth gaping, remained silent.

"Well, are you going to call it or not? If it wasn't for your one rule he would be dead by now."

The proctor shook his head and called out, "And the winner is… KOHARU HACHIDORI!"

Koharu smiled and dropped the kunai from his neck, pocketing it in her pouch. She then released the jutsu, causing Kakashi to fall to the ground.

"What the hell was that, Koharu?" Kakashi quickly pushed himself off of the ground, still completely shocked by what just happened.

Koharu opened her mouth but felt lightheaded and closed it.

What's wrong with me?

"YES, KOHARU! THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!"

Koharu heard Manami's voice ring out from the crowd, before everything started to spin. The brunette held her head and glanced up toward the crowd at her friend's outburst.

Why is it always Manami that embarrasses me?

Koharu looked over toward Kakashi, whose eyebrows were furrowed and eyes full of worry.

Why is he looking at me like that?

Footsteps began approaching her, as she closed her eyes trying to slow down the spinning.

"Koharu!" she heard a voice say, but couldn't place who it was.

Suddenly, Koharu felt a pair of arms lift her from the ground.

After that, everything around her went black.


A/N: Uh oh! Koharu blacked out ! I've blacked out before, but that's just because I'm a klutz. -Yui