martyr
-lilacwrath-
5/3/2017
Shanghai
Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
A/N: It seems another problem has popped up on FanFiction, as several readers have reported that they did not receive notifications about new chapters for this fic. I myself did not get one either, and some of the stories I've been following are having the same problem, too. I think they've gotten it fixed now, but it also wouldn't hurt to check periodically on the stories you follow, just in case.
And I've gone back to revise all the previous chapters after detecting many grammar errors or wanting to add more things—especially information concerning Sakura's past. Most of the additions are minuscule and really not that important. However, you may want to check chapter three, Sakura's first day at the Academy. Yep, sorry for creating all that mess when I really should've been working on this chapter instead!
Thank you all for all the wonderful feedback on the previous chapter!
See you at the bottom :)
-chapter ix.-
chūnin exams (part i.)
"What defines us is how well we rise after falling." –Anonymous
The air is still stifling and damp from last evening's rain, causing her wide-collared shirt to flatten uncomfortably against her skin as Shikaku leads his three students into the arena, double-doors swinging shut behind them.
Sakura sighs faintly through her nose as she peers around; the place is as exactly as she remembers it to be. Well, before it had crumbled down to mere ruins when Konohagakure had been razed to the ground, that is.
"This is kinda disappointing," Kaito says as he looks around with a confused frown. Ryū raises his snout and sniffs the air suspiciously, pawing at the stone ground. "Where is everyone? Where are the flashing lights? Where is the thundering applause to signify our awesome entrance?"
For Sakura, it's strange how empty the arena is without other shinobi from different villages to participate. Before the end of the Third Shinobi War, villages originally held their own individual exams. Only after the war did exams open to all villages start being held bi-annually, with villages taking turns for hosting responsibilities.
"Getting a bit ahead of yourself, don't you think? This is only the first stage," Sakura remarks, before murmuring from the corner of her mouth, "Three o'clock. The team with two girls. Two brunettes and a blonde."
Said team is currently eyeing them—or, more specifically, Sakura. She detects a mixture of curiosity and wariness directed at her, but does not turn her head to face them, choosing instead to observe them from the corner of an eye.
"They don't smell particularly interesting except for one female," Kaito says lowly, not even shifting to try stealing a glance at them. "She has a charred smell about her. Something like burnt wood, like cinders and ashes—yes, that's it. She's probably fire-natured or lightning-natured or both. Let's hope you're the one who gets to face her, Sakura."
"I've seen them around," Mika whispers, inclining her head to one side so a sheet of pale hair shields her moving lips. "They graduated one year before us. The girl in the middle with brown hair tied up in a ponytail—the one Kaito mentioned—is quite talented, so I've heard. Her specialty is ninjutsu."
"As to be expected of a Yamanaka," Shikaku says approvingly. "You've shown a great deal of promise in intel-gathering, Mika. This skill will be useful when we embark on jutsu-theft missions."
The girl's blush darkens even further when Kaito pulls her in for a fist-bump.
"You two are doing just as well," Shikaku says to his other students. "Tsume was right; your nose is among the best in your clan, Kaito. Sakura, your eyes are as keen as ever even without the Sharingan activated. Keep it up."
More participants start to trickle into the arena as the designated time approaches. When the last team arrives, a chūnin moves over to the closed double-doors to stand guard. The Hokage hasn't come to watch, probably buried up to his nose in paperwork as he attends to the troubling matters of war in the closure of his office.
'Six teams. Eighteen genin,' Sakura notes silently as they make their way up to the balcony.
"Any useful tips?" Kaito nudges Shikaku. "Can you tell us anything about this exam?"
"As I've told you, this exam will be quite different from the ones we used to hold," Shikaku says. "In fact, there will only be two stages. Neither one are very creative, if I do say so myself."
"Only two?" Mika asks. "Why?"
"The war is closing in on us," Shikaku sighs. "That's all I can tell you. Don't question me further; I've already disclosed enough information as it is. Besides, it looks like the first stage of the exams is about to start."
The jōnin who steps up to the center of the arena declares himself as their proctor.
"Please come down when I call your name," he tells them. "You will then engage in an one-on-one match, and the victors will proceed to the next and final stage."
[martyr]
The first match is nothing special.
At the beginning, the girl and boy appears to be evenly matched, for the both of them are heavy-hitters with unimpressive speed—until the girl missteps and takes a brutal punch to her temple that knocks her out. The remaining genin watches with rising apprehension for their own impending matches as medics rush forward to carry the girl away in a stretcher.
"That was a little boring," Kaito mutters to his teammates. "Make sure to put up a good show when it's our turn, yeah? We gotta remind them that Team Nara ain't something they can mess with!"
"Second match: Hyūga Natsu," the proctor announces from below, "and Yamanaka Mika."
"Yeah! Go get her, Mika!" Kaito envelops her in a hug, but Mika appears too worried and stricken to even blush.
"A H-Hyūga?" she stutters out, barely registering Shikaku's encouraging words or Ryū head-bump.
"Use the water-natured techniques that Shikaku-sensei taught you," Sakura says to her. "Try to avoid an open taijutsu match unless you have something special planned. Play to your strengths, Mika. Don't hold back."
"Hai," Mika replies, gathering herself together, and then gives her team a nervous smile before walking down the stairs to the center of the arena where her opponent is already waiting at.
"You've always been a gentle soul, Yamanaka-san. I have no desire to rough you up too bad," Natsu says, by way of greeting. "You will not last long in this war. You are not like Uchiha-san who was born to do this. The shinobi lifestyle does not suit you. The real world out there will devour you alive. Forfeit now, and you will be doing yourself a favor."
'Born to do this? Me?' Sakura almost laughs aloud. If only Natsu knew that only decades and decades of blood, sweat, and tears had shaped her to become who she is today. Now, it is her heritage and covert duty to the world that demands it of her.
And, most importantly, if only Natsu knew the true extent of Mika's prowess.
"Do…D-Do you know what I think?" Mika asks, before lifting her chin, blue eyes narrowed and alight with pale fire. "I think you're afraid to face me! I think you want me to quit beforehand only because you know that I will win! I-I think…I'm correct, aren't I, Hyūga-san?"
Natsu appears taken aback at the other girl's words. She clearly does not remember Mika being so outspoken and bold back in their Academy days.
"If that is what you believe, very well," Natsu finally replies. "I will not hold back. Do not say I did not warn you."
On Sakura's right, Kaito parodies the Hyūga's words in falsetto, voice low enough to not be heard by the other teams, yet loud enough to draw forth identical smirks from both Sakura and Shikaku.
When Natsu rushes forward, palms raised, Mika swiftly backflips towards the end of the arena until she reaches the wall, and in a show of speed, kicks off against the concrete surface. Natsu's eyes widen as Mika shoots towards her at an alarming speed, before she, too, quickens her pace to meet the other girl head-on.
At the last second, Mika's hands flash through seals, releasing a violent torrent of water that propels herself higher into the air. Once again caught by surprise at Mika's drastic improvement from her Academy days, Natsu barely manages to dance away from the jutsu, skidding to a halt and pivoting on her heel.
The Hyūga stares thoughtfully as Mika lands back down to the ground.
"You've improved," Natsu says. "But so have I."
Even from the balcony, the spectators can see the sudden bulge of veins around Natsu's eyes.
'She activated her Byakugan without any hand seals,' Sakura thinks to herself, faintly impressed. 'Not sure about Neji, but Hinata certainly couldn't have done that at her age.'
Mika's teammates watch tensely as she creates a small army of clones that rush towards the Hyūga.
"This amateur technique is useless against me," Natsu calls as she effortlessly ducks away from illusionary strikes, not even bothering to raise a single hand. "My Byakugan sees through everything."
Natsu has just dispelled the clones with a sharp pulse of her own chakra when an open-toed shinobi shoe flies at her from out of nowhere. She snags it with one hand, her expression baffled as she asks, "What is the meaning of this, Yamanaka-san?"
Mika is currently hanging from the ceiling with the bottom of her feet charged with chakra. One would have to crane their head up to keep an eye on the girl, but with her Byakugan, Natsu does not even need to twitch a muscle to get a good look at her opponent.
For her own part, Sakura stifles a snort of laughter; she knows what is going to happen and she can't wait to see Natsu bear the brunt of it. Nothing personal, really.
Not a moment later, the shoe disappears in a poof of smoke—a result of one of the most finely executed kawarimi Sakura has ever seen from a genin—only to be replaced by a girl with pale hair, held at the collar of her shirt by her opponent. Mika's fist flies out, catching a startled Natsu in the jaw, and the Hyūga is sent sprawling away with a grunt.
"Nice trick, Mika!" Kaito hollers.
"Creative," Natsu spits a glob of blood-laced spittle to the ground, rising to her feet, "if not a little ineffective."
Mika frowns; she'd hoped that the kick would've been forceful enough to knock her opponent out. She blanches as Natsu rushes towards her again, hands raised in the style of Jūken. She's not ready to engage in a taijutsu fight with a Hyūga just yet, so hopefully ninjutsu will keep her busy—for now, anyway.
The tendrils of water that she send towards Natsu are a water-style variation of one of the Nara's shadow-manipulation techniques. As swift-footed as Natsu has proven to be, even she cannot escape unscathed. Though it may not look like much, every streak of the water is as sharp as any blade.
'Her chakra reserves aren't as plentiful as mine or Kaito's,' Sakura thinks, becoming slightly worried when several tendrils of water waver in the air, slowing their assault. 'Whatever she's planning, she better carry it out before her ninjutsu usage exhausts her.'
Almost as if Mika has heard her thoughts, she releases her jutsu and snatches a kunai from her pouch, lunging forward to exchange quick blows with her opponent. Although she manages to cut Natsu in a few places, the true superior between the two girls becomes clear to the spectators as the taijutsu fight progresses. Mika lets out a hoarse cry when she doesn't twist out of the way fast enough, and her mistake costs her the loss of a right arm when Natsu slams her palm against the limb with what must be enough force to shut down multiple tenketsu. The Hyūga smoothly follows up with another slam of her palm directly against Mika's chest, and her opponent drops to the floor.
"You're finished, Mika-san," Natsu says between panting breaths, and kicks Mika's kunai out of her hand. "I underestimated you, I admit. I did not know you could fare so well in taijutsu even as a member of the Yamanaka."
"P-Put in a team with an Inuzuka and Uchiha, it was a gi-given fact that I had to improve my taijutsu in order to support my teammates with the best of my abilities—" Mika breaks off with a hacking cough.
"You may have improved," Natsu replies, the hand she's placed on the other girl's shoulder tightening its grip as she prepares for the final blow. "But you made the wrong decision when you decided to get into a taijutsu match with a Hyūga."
"N-No, it was the correct one," Mika wheezes. "Because…it allowed me to do this!"
Using the proximity that the Hyūga has unknowingly benefitted her with, Mika's uninjured hand flies up to close around Natsu's wrist, and then both girls abruptly slumps to the ground with twin gasps.
It is a long, terse moment before Natsu's still form twitches. Pushing herself up onto one knee, she raises a shaking arm into the air.
"I, Hyūga Natsu, forfeit this match!"
"Is your decision final, Hyūga Natsu?" the jōnin asks.
"Yes," Natsu—Mika—answers.
"Winner: Yamanaka Mika!" the jōnin announces, and the girl collapses to the ground again barely a moment later.
While Kaito leans over the railing in alarm, Sakura is torn between pride and a wave of nostalgia of what-could've-beens so strong it almost sweeps her off her feet. Shikaku leaps down to retrieve Mika, dismissing the medics with his presence and bringing his student back up to the balcony.
"Let her rest," he tells his other two students as he props her carefully against the wall. "Don't disturb her, Kaito. Don't waste your chakra to heal her, Sakura. For now, focus on your upcoming exams. Mika will soon wake up on her own." He takes out a small container of pills and slips one between her lips. "Chakra pills made from Nara deer antlers," he explains.
"Cool! Can I have one, too?" Kaito asks.
"Nope," Shikaku answers. "That would be considered cheating since your match hasn't come up yet."
Kaito draws back with a relenting nod, fixing his eyes on the third match that is just starting.
[martyr]
True to their teacher's words, Mika comes to during the middle of the third match.
"How're you feeling?" Kaito crouches down beside her when he notices her eyes flutter open.
"D-Did…" Mika rasps, struggling to straighten up. "Did I win?"
Sakura lowers herself onto one knee on her other side, placing a soothing hand on one shoulder. "Yes, you did," she reassures her teammate. "You got her good."
She feels more than sees Mika relax underneath her palm with a tired yet pleased smile forming on her lips.
There is a commotion below as one genin sends the other crashing to the floor, rendering him unconscious, before the proctor announces her victor. The girl walks back up to the stairs to join her team, while the boy is carried away on a stretcher.
"Fourth match: Tamada Hiroki," the proctor then booms, "and Uchiha Sakura."
Sakura stands up from her crouched position, eyes sweeping over the people in the balcony. The boy announces himself by stepping up to the railing and raising an arm.
"I forfeit the match," he declares indifferently. For a moment, faint regret paints itself over his face, before he nods in self-affirmation and crosses his arms over his chest.
"Is your decision final, Tamada Hiroki?" the proctor asks him.
"Y—"
"What?" yells the boy beside him, presumably his teammate. "Are you kidding me? You've been working so hard for this!"
"I don't care." Even from the distance, Sakura can see the muscles in his jaw twitch as he speaks through gritted teeth, "I don't want to go up against her. It's not like you weren't there when sensei told us of the things she's done on missions. I'd rather stay a genin than die for an exam."
A hand lands on her shoulder, and she looks back to see Shikaku, his expression indecipherable. Absently, she realizes that she has involuntarily stiffened up at Hiroki's words.
"Hey!" Kaito barks from beside her. "Do you even know what you're saying? We're all Konoha-nin here! Sakura would never go as far as to kill her nakama."
Sakura just barely refrains from jerking violently out of Shikaku's grip, for Kaito's word has jarred something she has took care to bury deep down within her.
She still remembers Anko's agonized screaming as flame-like markings had spread across her body, how her comrade had arched violently and then slumped against her when Sakura had driven the blade into her heart, and then, finally, the graze of her lips against her ear as she'd used her last breath to thank Sakura.
"It's not your fault," Kakashi had told her again and again, gripping her shoulders and forcing her eyes to meet his. "She was no longer herself. You freed her."
But even now, Sakura has never quite forgiven herself, and for a split-second, she thinks she can feel her friend's warm blood once again dribble down her neck and pool into the dip of her collarbones, searing her skin—and then a voice pulls her back into her surroundings.
"—I'm not going to humiliate myself," Hiroki is saying.
"Oh, you're kidding me," his teammate groans, rolling his eyes.
"You may want to reconsider, Hiroki-san," Sakura speaks up, more to turn her thoughts away from her past than for his sake. "This isn't about winning. This isn't about defeating your opponent. Success does not guarantee a successful promotion, nor does failure prelude it. The purpose of all this is to prove to your superiors that you possess the necessary skills you need to rightfully earn the promotion."
"What does it all matter if I can't even pass the first round?" Hiroki scoffs.
"It matters a great deal when you apply for the exams the next time they come by. Every match is recorded and written down for the examiners to review. Even if you may lose this round, you will be attending the next Chūnin Exams when they are again hosted, no?"
At her words, the boy's expression turns pensive, before a scowl overtakes his features.
"I can't stand your know-it-all attitude anymore," Hiroki mutters under his breath, but Sakura is constantly cycling chakra to all her senses in order to build up her reserves and train her precision, so she catches his words nevertheless. She feels her lips curl slightly when he raises his voice, "Proctor, I revoke my words!"
Hiroki makes his way back to the center of the arena, and she uses the time to study him. Her opponent seems to be at least skilled in kenjutsu, if the naginata strapped to his hip is of any indication. But if she has it her way, he will not even get the chance to use it.
As soon as the proctor signals the start of the match with a slash of his hand, she instantly shunshins forward. She intends to end this as soon as possible.
'Chakra scalpels. Be careful not to cause permanent harm.'
She does not even give him enough time pinpoint her position before her fist smashes into the center of his face. His vision washes white with blinding pain, and he stumbles backwards, right hand flashing to the hilt of his naginata. Not a moment later, as if a string has been snipped, his fingers involuntarily slackens and his arm falls back down to his side.
"What—"
Something snakes around his ankle, and his whole world swirls before his eyes as his back painfully collides against the ground, a whoosh of air expelling from his lungs.
'She's too fast!'
Bracing a hand against the cold stone floor, he prepares to push himself back onto his feet, before completely freezing in his spot when something cold and sharp slides under his chin and fits snugly against his throat.
"Yield," a voice whispers into his ear.
He tries sneaking his left hand down to his other naginata, but discovers to his chagrin that they won't obey him no matter how hard and desperately he strains. He then tries to kick out, but his legs only flop lifelessly below him, knees clanging uselessly against the ground.
"What have you done?" In his horror, he jerks around to look at her, only to flinch when his attempt drives the kunai deeper against his skin.
"Yield," she repeats, holding him in place. The kunai presses with increasing insistency against his throat until he feels his skin split under the piercing edge. "I have effectively severed your muscle tissues and tendons. You are no longer able to initiate an attack or move to defend yourself. An immobile shinobi is a dead shinobi."
After another few seconds of useless struggling, he finally slumps in defeat.
"Fine," he grits out, "I yield."
"Is your decision final, Tamada Hiroki?" the jōnin asks.
"Does it look like I have any other options?" Hiroki snaps, face flushed with shame and mortification at being defeated so easily in the span of barely ten seconds at the hands of a little girl less than three times his age and more than half of his size—and then promptly remembers that said girl is no normal girl.
Sakura finally relents her grip on him and presses glowing hands to the muscle tissues she had severed, mending the invisible injuries she'd inflicted.
"I told you I wouldn't win," Hiroki says surly, but nevertheless accepts her proffered hand that pulls him back to his feet.
"You're still alive, aren't you?" Sakura replies.
At that, he cannot hold in a snort of laughter despite himself.
[martyr]
"That was very…quick and rather anticlimactic," Mika remarks, stunned, watching Sakura ascend the stairs to join them. "I think my match must have taken thrice as long." She then smiles widely and steps forward to squeeze the younger girl in a congratulatory hug. "You were amazing, Sakura-chan."
"You were so fast I lost sight of you for a few moments," Kaito grins at her, holding up a fist to which she bumps against with her own. "But I was kinda hoping that you would've used the chance to show off your Sharingan. It would've been so cool to watch."
"There was no reason to," Sakura replies, shrugging. "It would've been overkill."
"Now that I think about it," Kaito says. "You don't use your Sharingan often."
"Many of the Uchiha overly depend on their Sharingan. I'm determined not to allow myself such a weakness. An elite shinobi is one who is well-rounded in every aspect," Sakura says. "Besides, the weekly training sessions with my father are more than enough to develop and improve my Sharingan abilities, I assure you."
It's true. Fugaku rarely has free time on his hands, but when he does, he chooses to spend a large portion of it taking Sakura's shinobi training into his own hands. He teaches her many things, though most are facts she is already aware of, or techniques she has already mastered long ago: The history of the Uchiha clan, the many different methods of casting a layered genjutsu with the Sharingan, the best way to ignite the largest fireball, and so on.
"In the first B-rank mission we had," Kaito suddenly says, eyes carefully fixed on the fights taking place below the balcony. "I saw you kill that boy."
His words immediately slice apart the pleasant lightheartedness of her easy victory.
"Which one?" Sakura asks lightly. "There were quite a few of them."
"The one who would've had killed me if you hadn't interfered at the last second," Kaito says, not before a hesitating pause. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to kill that boy just like you had done him."
"Fighting in a war and competing in an exam are two very different things," Sakura says, and her tone is sharper than she has intended it to be.
Anko's tormented face surges up behind her eyelids before she forces herself to concentrate on the warm brownness of Kaito's chocolate-colored eyes.
"You know that's not what I meant, Sakura," he replies calmly.
She dips her head slowly in a nod, eyes lowering. "I know, and I-I'm sorry. It's just…this exam is making me uptight."
"You mean," Kaito smirks, eyes teasing, "even more uptight than usual? Although technically, that should be impossible considering—" he breaks off mid-sentence, ducking away from her half-hearted swipe at his head.
"Congratulations on passing the first round, Sakura, Mika," Shikaku quips in, completely diffusing any remnants of the previous tension. "And I take it that the shinobi of Konoha will be introduced to many new foreign jutsus after we become an actual, active jutsu-theft squad, ne, Team Nara?"
"You can count on me, too, sensei!" Kaito promises him. "Ryū and I are also gonna win our match!"
"Oh, I know you guys will," Shikaku chuckles, a hand darting out to ruffle the boy's hair with rough affection, laughing louder when the boy yelps in protest. Ryū is not so in opposition of the man's treatment like his parter, pawing at Shikaku's pants until he stoops down to rub his ears.
Behind the three males, Sakura exchanges an affectionately exasperated glance with Mika, both girls simultaneously rolling their eyes before turning back to the arena to watch the fights happening below.
[martyr]
"Ninth and final match: Inuzuka Kaito and Ono Kaede."
"You forgot about Ryū!" Kaito shouts down in reply. "How could you ignore him just like that?"
"Oi," Shikaku claps the boy's shoulder. "Get down for your match already."
"Wait a moment," Kaito stares at something—someone—across the balcony, his eyes following the girl who is making her way down the stairs. "Isn't that…? Hey, that's the girl we were talking about earlier. The girl who specializes in ninjutsu."
"Yes, yes, you'll lucky to be facing against someone who appears to be a worthy opponent," Shikaku drawls. "Now, are you going to make your way down by yourself or would you prefer to bask in the honor of being pushed down by yours truly?"
"Good luck, Kaito-kun and Ryū-kun!" Mika wraps her arms around him in a light embrace, still a little worn-out from her earlier match, before squatting down to scratch behind Ryū's ears.
"Judging by her chakra fluctuations, she can be impulsive and easy to rile up if fed the correct words," Sakura tells him. "Play smart. I know you're more than capable." Ryū rears up on his hind legs, tail wagging when Sakura bends down to scratch below his chin. "You have more than enough bite to match up to your bark," she tells him. "Fight well."
"Just watch us!" Kaito promises them, grinning wildly. "Expect an epic showdown!"
With those last words, he and Ryū hops onto the railing of the balcony before somersaulting down gracefully.
"Show off," Shikaku murmurs fondly.
"Ah, an Inuzuka and his pet puppy," the girl, Kaede, says. "My, I can smell you from here."
"Oh, yeah?" Kaito sneers back. "You don't smell very pleasant either, and remember, Inuzuka noses don't lie."
"My ninjutsu against yours," she crouches in a ready stance with a haughty tilt of her chin. "Allow me to show you just whose is superior. Bring it on, filthy mutts."
"Oh, no," Kaito snarls as Ryū raises his hackles, fur rising along the arch of his back. "You did not just call us that."
The girl smirks, not seeming to notice what Sakura does: Kaito and Ryū's chakra flow remains steady and calm, a surprising contradiction from the rage contorting their faces.
'It's all a pretense,' Sakura realizes. 'Clever boys.'
"She's trying to rile them up," she murmurs to Mika. "It would've been a smart move if they were indeed the type to be lead around by their emotions. Seeing as she's oblivious to the fact that they're not…well, this will be interesting."
"Kaito-kun and Ryū-kun will win," Mika replies with a firm nod. "I'm sure of it."
"You may begin!" the proctor declares, looking equal parts amused and vexed at Kaito and Kaede's back-and-forth jesting.
"Gijū Ninpō: Shikyaku no Jutsu!"
Flipping backwards rapidly, Kaede plants her feet to the wall in a move similar to Mika's and flashes through hand seals, expelling a strong gust of thick flames that fly towards the whirling column of teeth and claws that is Kaito and Ryū. To her visible shock, her jutsu does nothing to deter her opponents' persistence, for Kaito and Ryū simply break through the blazes and head straight for her. She is forced to leap away before they can crash into her.
"I work with an Uchiha on a daily basis," Kaito barks out a laugh, perched on the wall. "And she's not just any Uchiha. She's the heiress and their prized prodigy. Don't think you can beat me with your second-rate fire-natured or lightning-natured jutsus. They are nothing compared to Sakura's!"
"Cease your noisy barking," Kaede scowls. "You have no idea how many more tricks I have up my sleeve!"
"Wow, what a coincidence," Kaito calls back. "So do I!"
'Honestly,' Sakura thinks absently to herself, 'the resemblance between him and Naruto and Kiba is so uncanny it's almost eerie.'
"Ready, Ryū?" Kaito asks his parter, and the ninken turns to him with an answering bark. "Gatenga!"
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Kaede shouts in return, and then a volley of small fireballs is zooming rapidly towards her opponents. Even though Kaito and Ryū had broken though her first jutsu with ease, she does not think that they will still be on their feet after this one. Although lacking in size, every little fireball is packed with intense power and is extremely hard to dodge.
Sure enough, the buzzsaw-like shapes that are her opponents stutter to a halt after several fireballs make painful contact. Without wasting time, Kaito and Ryū spring to their feet and charge towards her. Kaito takes a swing at her when he gets in range, but she ducks under his arm and lashes out behind her with one foot, kicking away the dog who has just attempted to get at her from her other side. She moves closer and grabs hold of Kaito's arm, twisting it into an obviously uncomfortable position. It is a harsh movement, and Sakura's chakra-cycling ears hear her teammate's shoulder creak.
"Gotcha," Kaede says, but the grin is wiped off of her face when a poof of smoke reveals that it is Ryū who is clutched in her hand, not Kaito. In an impressive display of animal flexibility, Ryū twists around the fingers Kaede has clenched over his paw and sinks his fangs into her wrist.
"When did they use the transformation technique?" Mika asks aloud, eyes wide and raptured by the sudden turn of events. "I didn't see that coming at all."
"Get your filthy hands off my ninken!" Kaito yells as he bursts in front of Kaede, henge sliding off and revealing his human form. He clocks his opponent in the cheek, sending her crashing away in a tangle of limbs. He follows right after her, driving a fist into her stomach and another one against her forehead—and then she is out like a light.
"Winner: Inuzuka Kaito!"
Breathing heavily, Kaito angles his face towards the balcony and meets the eyes of his proud teammates, raising a fist and baring his teeth in victory. And although Ryū is limping slightly, he gives them the canine-equivalent of a grin, tongue lolling out of his maw.
"So, all three of you passed," Shikaku says, slouching against the wall and crinkling his eyes at Sakura and Mika when the girls turn to look at him. "I'm not surprised, of course. But it looks like Hizashi now owes me twenty ryō."
"And now," the proctor says loudly from below, "for the second stage of the Chūnin Exams—victors, please come forward."
-to be continued-
A/N: Huh, fight scenes…one day, I'll be good at writing them. One day. Sakura's scene was disappointingly short since she was facing an opponent that was far below her skill-level, I know, but I promise she'll get more action in the second round. And if you don't remember, Hyūga Natsu was and will be the caretaker of Hanabi in canon-verse. I didn't want to create too many OCs, and so I thought she would fit in quite nicely.
Feedback is appreciated!