*Nightingale*
In this story, be prepared to have your first impression twisted to the point where you have no idea what to expect from these characters. I am not very good at fight scenes so please be patient with me. This story is based off of the song Nightingale by Demi Lovato (Check it out! I love this song!). Enjoy!
Normal POV
Neither one moved. Both were stone still staring each other down. Kiba had a wide arrogant smirk on his face as he raised his nose while Ruka stared back emotionlessly at the canine like boy.
"I hope you know I won't go easy on you!" Kiba shouted showing off his overconfidence. "I'll show you foreigners how powerful the Inuzuka clan really is!" Ruka blinked at him before turning her attention to Sakura staring down nervously at the both of them.
"Am I allowed to kill him or am I only to fatally wound him?" Ruka asked in a heavy accented voice- the only sign to her growing annoyance. Sakura gave her an exasperated look before sighing.
"Please don't kill anyone Ruka. This is supposed to be a match to show off your strength- not your ability to kill efficiently." Ruka nodded once before turning his attention back to a still smirking Kiba.
"Si le cretin meurt accidentellement de courir dans ma lance, ce n'est pas de ma faute." "If the dumbass accidentally dies from running into my lance it's not my fault." Ruka shouted loud enough for Sakura to hear. Sakura narrowed her eyes.
"What did I just say?" A smile made its way to Ruka's lips as she closed her eyes in amusement.
"Of course." With that said she slipped the lance from off of her back and held it out in front of her in a defensive stance. A blank emotionless stare covered her face as her stone cold eyes weighed the Inuzuka heir down heavily. "I have been given orders to not kill you and to avoid attacking you unless in defense. With that in mind, I leave the first move to you, Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba's confident smile wavered for a moment before a crouched down into a battle ready stance. Akamaru copied his master's example letting out a menacing growl.
Without another word, Kiba lunged forward at Ruka. A kunai flashed into his hand as it clashed with the pole of the lance eliciting a shoving match between the two. A smirk played on Ruka's lips as she twisted her lance in a figure eight knocking the knife out of Kiba's hand and smacking him with the butt of the staff in the same movement knocking him into the side of the arena with a loud bang. In another quick movement, Ruka dodged the giant white dog that lunged at her with its teeth barred. Twisting on the balls of her feet, she swung her sword like a bat slamming it right into the animal's chest immediately knocking the wind out of it and sending it flying into the wall next to his master.
Standing up straight with her lance stabbed firmly into the ground, Ruka stared down at the kneeled figure of her opponent who was currently trying to regain his breath with a frown on her face. "Is this what you meant by the power of your clan?" Kiba glared dangerously at her staggering to his feet while Akamaru did the same. "If I were a lesser Spirit Nation soldier than that attack would have surely met its mark and your beast there would have torn my body to shreds. However, I am not a lesser soldier and I will not tolerate being treated as such. Either fight me at your top level or don't fight at all." She finished with a warning glare. Kiba's eyes widened for a fraction before a smirk formed on his lips as he stood up straighter.
"Fight at my top level, eh?" He let out a mocking laugh before steadying his gaze on her form. "Fine then, but I will warn you know I may not be able to control myself from killing you on accident." A nod was the only sign Ruka gave that she understood before she moved back into a defensive stance waiting for him to make a move.
Kiba clasped his hands together and raced through a series of hand signs before he stopped and shouted, "Human Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!" A huge cloud of smoke covered both Kiba and Akamaru. As the smoke cleared, a 12 foot tall version of Akamaru with two heads was seen growling and hissing at Ruka crouched down in an attack position. In the next instant Kiba's voice shouted, "Fang Wolf Fang!" Immediately the wolf lunged at Ruka, spinning so fast it looked like a giant typhoon heading directly at an impossibly fast speed.
Everyone in the audience knew that the Ruka chick was a goner when they saw the giant wolf appeared so most of them stopped paying attention wondering if they were going to be called for the next fight. However, all attention turned back towards the arena when a burning heat engulfed the room making it feel like an inferno. All eyes widened at the sight of the giant two headed wolf lying on its back wallowing in pain as a ball of fire engulfed its body. From what everyone could tell, the fire wasn't burning the creature but suffocating it in an immense and unbearable heat. Ruka merely stood beside the beast with an expressionless mask.
Seconds later, a 'Poof' was head throughout the arena as smoke engulfed the two headed beast. As the smoke cleared, the sight of an unconscious Kiba and Akamaru in the still raging flames caused everyone's eyes to widen even further. Ruka took an extra second to examine her two opponents and, when she determined they weren't getting back up, she swung her lance in a sweeping motion extinguishing the flames leaving behind nothing that they were even there.
Hayate appeared in the arena in a puff of smoke next to Kiba's limp body. He examined him for a moment before letting out a small cough. "Kiba Inuzuka is unable to continue. Ruka Maduka is the winner." Hayate announce. A team of medic nin flashed next to Kiba's body immediately setting to heal the boy while Ruka turned on her heels and headed for the stairs to take her place next to Sakura, but the conversation amongst the medical ninja could be heard by everyone.
"Incredible! There isn't even a single burn mark on him. The only wound he has is a bruise on his side. There's no damage to his lungs from smoke or broken bones."
"I'm getting the same results from his dog."
"Amazing!" With those words, a stunned silence filled the room as everyone watched Ruka climb the stairs and stand on Sakura's left side sharing Juri's emotionless expression. Although, the pinkette standing in between the two women had a huge smile on her face as she whirled around towards Ruka.
"That was amazing Ruka!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly while the small group to her far left still stared after their friend being carried out of the arena on a stretcher. Ruka grunted in response looking bored as perusal.
"The next battle will now be decided. If your name appears on the screen please step down into the arena to battle." All eyes reluctantly turned towards the screen as names flashed across it before settling on two.
Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka
A surprised look flashed across Sakura's face before it was replaced with an excited smile as she turned her head from the screen to look at the pale faced blonde. A worried frown marred Sakura's features as she took a concerned step towards the blonde.
"Are you okay?" Ino's head snapped towards her with a nasty glare set in place.
"Of course I am!" She snapped harshly before pushing passed the foreigners to the stairs quickly making her way down to the center of the arena. Sakura followed her movements with her eyes for a while in confusion before a light bulb clicked in her brain before her face carefully molded into one of indifference.
'She thinks I'm a monster…'
'That's because we have the capacity to be one- because we want to be one.' Sakura's eyes immediately shut tightly at the sound of that small voice that always- always whispers the words that she knows are true deep, deep down inside of her consciousness. A soft sigh left her lips as she turned on her heels and descended the stairs to the center of the arena.
Once she reached the bottom, she found herself staring across from her at the baby blue eyes of Ino Yamanaka- another name on the list of the people who would love nothing more than to see her dead. Now that she thinks about it, that list is getting very long…
"Begin!" Hayate's voice broke her out of her thoughts. The man disappeared from the arena leaving behind the foreign princess and the Yamanaka heiress.
Immediately, Ino lunged at Sakura with a kunai knife in hand. Sakura merely side stepped and round housed kicked the girl in the back sending her flying into the wall- at least that's what was supposed to happen. Instead, a 'Poof' was heard and a log appeared in the blonde's place. Sakura's left eye twitched as she bent backwards hitting the floor with her back avoiding the high kick aimed for her head. She rolled out of the way to avoid the low kick from the blonde quickly jumping to her feet in a standing position. With the distant between the two returned, they merely stared each other down. Well, Sakura stared impassively while Ino glared hatefully at her.
"Why are you holding back?!" Ino screeched at her. "That monster up there was suffocating Kiba in a ball fire by now while you're just dodging all of my attacks. Fight me for real damn it!" Sakura blinked at the blonde's outburst before a bulb light up in her brain.
"Are you romantically involved with him? That would explain the vengeance aura you're giving off." Sakura stated matter-of-factly. Ino's eyes narrowed as she lunged once again at the pinkette with her fist covered in chakra enhancement. Sakura tilted her head to the side in curiosity as the blonde advanced at her at high speeds before moving to the side slightly so the blonde's fist missed her face. Gripping the blonde's wrist, she yanked her towards her, spun on her foot, and used the momentum to side kick the blonde straight into the side of the arena creating a body sized crater.
"Ino!" Shikamaru and Choji both shouted in worry for their female teammate. Ino shakily stood to her feet, but before she stood up straight, she doubled over puking blood falling down to her knees.
"I should have explained this to you before, Yamanaka-san." Sakura drawled slowly advancing towards Ino. "A monster is a person who creates horror by doing wicked or cruel things to others. Neither Ruka nor Juri have done such actions to anyone in their lifetimes." By now, Sakura was standing before Ino, towering over her as if she were nothing but an injured mouse at the mercy of lioness.
"They've only taken the lives of those who threatened them and they have always done that in a way that caused their opponents little to no pain. From this evidence, I would have to go against your accusation of calling either of them a monster." She spat the last word as if it were something distasteful in her mouth. In a way, it was. She hated how that word rolled off her tongue like venom poisoning the one who was receiving the horrid name.
"However," Sakura crouched down to eye level with the blonde. Reaching out a hand, Sakura roughly grabbed the blonde's collar lifting her up by it, her feet dangling off of the ground. She brought the terrified blonde closer to her- her face distorting into a cold emotionless mask. "I won't tolerate you insulting either one of them or anyone else from my country. As of such, I will show you what a monster truly looks like." Sakura lunged forwards slamming Ino's body into the side of the arena creating a large crater in the wall.
In the next second, Ino was slammed into the ground of the arena with Sakura on top of her pounding her face into the ground. With each powerful blow to the side of the blonde's face, a deeper crater formed in the ground below her head. In no time, blood covered the pinkette's fist as she continued to punch the blonde into the ground.
'We are a monster.' That tiny voice in the back of her head rang throughout her ears making her deaf to the sounds around her only making her put more power behind her punches.
'I'm not a monster!' she shouted back.
'We are a monster. Only a monster is unloved by their own mother.'
'Shut up!'
"Sakura stop!" Naruto's voice echoed through her mind silencing the voice. Her breath hitched in her throat as she threw herself off of the blonde as if burned. Her eyes widened in horror at the bloody mess she made out of the blonde's face. Shakily, she looked down at her self seeing the blood staining her body. Ino's blood. The blood of an innocent!
Hayate flashed next to the blonde placing two fingers on the girl's neck. A look of relief washed over his face as he let out a cough. "Ino Yamanaka is unable to continue. Sakura Haruno is the winner." The room was silent. No sound was made as the team of medic's quickly arrived a carried Ino's bloodied body away. Sakura stared motionlessly after the stretcher with her blonde haired opponent on it.
'A true monster can't be loved by anyone- not even by their own mother- and a true monster ruins the lives of the innocents.'
"Princess, are you alright?" Juri's worried voice sounded right beside her ear. Sakura slowly turned her head to face her.
"Juri… can you take me to my room?"
I know there's not much ItaSaku going on right now but I promise some of that in the next chapter. For now, please enjoy. As always, thank you for reading.