XVI.

There was nothing a genin loved more than a school yard brawl.

It had all the perfect elements of a fight: you knew both contenders intimately, you had strong preferences on who should win and a dozen reasons why the other should lose, you could analyze the fighting styles of ninja who may become your team mates. Best of all, no one would die.

Usually.

All this flashed through Sakura's brain as she stiffly strode out to the yard behind the restaurant followed by the excited gaggle of students and teachers. Ino felt the excitement too, bouncing as she shrugged her shoulders to loosen up. Naruto's cheers echoing off the buildings and attracting a larger crowd than just the Rookie 9.

"Kick her ass, Sakura-chan!"

"Ino, you've got this!"

"Hn."

"You can do it!"

Maybe this was a bit intense of a distraction, she thought.

Nah.

Ino deserved a good punch to the face. Plus, this would prove to everyone her eternal status as best Kunoichi in their grade. Honestly, why hadn't she thought to challenge Ino to a spar earlier?

Forty five seconds later, dodging a punch and trying to take a deep breath through the stitch in her sides, she had her answer. Fighting. Was. Hard.

Oh, it started off easily enough- Sakura went for a standard punch, Ino avoided it with an Academy approved block and tried to sweep her legs, Sakura jumped over her leg and went for a round house to the head. But in the circle made of curious teams, ninja and civilians, there was nowhere to retreat- nowhere to hide and catch her breath or plan out an attack or use her weapons.

The only consolation was that Ino was soon struggling as much as Sakura. Her face was red. Her breath labored. Her kicks becoming sloppier and easier to block. But she had the glint in her eyes that promised she wouldn't give up. Not with everyone watching.

Ok- Sakura thought as she stumbled back from a kick, she needed to think. She needed-

Ugh, she needed to get her stupid hair out of her face. Every time she spun or turned her head, the pink mass swung around, throwing off her balance and smacking her in the face. Why didn't she have a stupid hair tie?

Ino's fist came out of nowhere and smacked her hard on the jaw- it would have broken her nose, but she twisted at the last moment. Falling, she lashed out and snagged the bib of Ino's top. Her momentum and a sudden pull, toppling Ino down with her.

The ground was comfortable, Sakura thought, she could just stay on the ground for a bit longer. No, she really needed to get up. Punch Ino. Ino was so close- she could just reach out and-

"And that's a tie." The figure of Asuma replaced the blue of the sky.

What? Sakura wanted to protest, a tie? Hadn't she won?

"Rematch next week?" Asuma asked and Sakura knew it wasn't really a question. There would be a rematch next week and the week after and the week after because Asuma looked all cool and laid back but he was really a sadist. A horrible, cigarette smoking sadist. And kami her face hurt.

But she couldn't say no. Because that would mean Ino won. Ino wasn't allowed to win. So she wheezed in agreement. Then Naruto blocked her field of vision.

"Sakura- Sakura- are you ok? Are you hurt?" He helped her into a sitting position. Across from her, choji was helping Ino to her feet while Shikamaru hovered in muted concern. Ino's top was torn. Scratches reddened her cheek and she was limping from the kick Sakura had landed on her thigh. She smiled and then winced as the bruise on her jaw protested any movement.

"Teme- damnit, get over here and make her better."

"Tch." Sasuke was at her side, med pack in his hands but she waved him off.

"Help-" It hurt to take a full breath, "Help me up." Naruto complied. Once she was on her feet, she shrugged off his supportive arm, stumbled towards Ino, and held out two fingers. Ino looked up- face smudged and hair in disarray- and smiled. She clasped fingers with Sakura in the symbol of harmony post fight.

"Next week you're going down." Sakura muttered.

"You wish." Ino laughed, and then winced, "Uh- meet at practice yard 12 in two days?"

Sakura thought about her schedule. "Three days. At 7?"

Ino nodded in ascent and let her team help her back to the restaurant. The crowd slowly dissipated, their taste for violence satisfied.

"Eh, Sakura-"

"I'm fine." She waved Naruto away. She would just go home and sleep. Forever. It would feel nice. Instead of listening, Naruto grabbed her shoulders and manhandled her into a sitting position on the ground.

"Nope- you're letting Sasuke look at that-" Sasuke was crouching next to her, anti-bacterial wipe in hand. He wasn't gentle as he cleaned the dirt out of the scrapes and bruises. To distract herself, she turned to Naruto.

"So how did it look?"

"You guys were really fast!" Naruto exclaimed, "It was really-"

"Pathetic." Sasuke snapped.

"Hey- Teme- don't say that about Sakura-"

"It was pathetic." Sasuke repeated with greater emphasis. "Your footwork was sloppy. Your punches were weak. You were thinking more than acting and couldn't block what were telegraphed and obvious attacks. If Ino wasn't your friend, you'd be dead."

Sakura blinked in surprise. There was real, tangible emotion in Sasuke's voice. She had grown adept at reading the Sasuke's subtle emotional tells, but his voice had always remained flat and cold. Now though, there was a ragged edge to the words. A sharpness of more than contempt.

"Teme- Sakura tried-"

Sasuke's foot lashed out and Naruto went flying across the yard, tumbling a few times in the dirt. He turned to Sakura who was staring at him with wide eyes from the ground.

"Do you see? The balance, the muscles relaxed?" Sasuke demonstrated again, pivoting on a foot and lashing out with his leg. "You're leaning too far back and your balance is off. Your mind is focused on not falling, not following through. Get up."

Sasuke hauled her up and grabbed her ankle, forcing her leg up into the normal position. "You see? Your balance is all off- Naruto get over here- kick him-"

"I don't want to kick Naruto!" Sakura protested.

"Then make a clone!" Sasuke barked. He dropped Sakura's leg and whirled on Naruto, glaring at the blond boy. Naruto, apparently suffering no ill effects from the kick, quickly doubled himself.

"Um, Sasuke, I'm kind of tired- do you think we could practice this later-"

"NO!" The hint of raggedness had grown to a raw, furious edge to his voice, "No. There is no later. There is NEVER a later. We are doing this now. You are getting it right and- and we will not wait." Sakura was reminded of Kiba's claims of Uchiha insanity. But this was Sasuke. He was intense, but he wouldn't- he was their team mate.

"Alright." Sakura said soothingly, "Alright. We'll practice. But let's go to a practice yard."

A/N: Asuma-sensei is cool. He embodies the proverb "you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." I don't think he would be big on teaching Team 10 unless they were interested in learning. But he can be quite sneaky (like how he tested Shikamaru's IQ) so I think he would see this rivalry between Ino and Sakura and decide that Sakura is the perfect way to force Ino to study. Or train.

Also, I can't figure out a way to make this explicit: but we are really close to the anniversary of the Uchiha massacre, which is why Sasuke is a little (just a little) more sensitive about everything.

Hope you are enjoying the story! Send me a review if you are enjoying this!