Here's the second part of the update Be happy, ok?
…and please review both chapters :begs: just so that I can get my numbers up there lol.
About Sakura's reaction time (as you'll see) I figured that it was something that couldn't be trained as sensually as the jutsu from a couple chapters back. I just threw this flashback in off a whim…enjoy.
And remember: READ SANITY!
Disclaimer: Princess of Thieves does not own Naruto…:sniff:
Ino flew forward, her fist pulled back to punch her target. Sakura ducked her punch and crouched on the floor. She stretched her leg out, swinging it around her, and kicked Ino's legs out from under her. Ino cried out as she landed on her butt and Sakura jumped back.
"Tch, nice move, Forehead," the blonde spat, pushing herself up. "I didn't think your reaction time was that good."
"Like I had a choice," Sakura muttered to herself.
"Not fast enough."
Sakura was pushed to the ground as sand was blasted against her arm. She'd failed to dodge Gaara's attacks again. Her arms and face were covered in cuts, and her body was probably bruised under her clothing. She pushed her beaten body up, her eyes glazed with exhaustion.
"Do it again."
Her eyes widened as Gaara smirked, and she began ducking and dodging blasts of sand once again.
Sakura ducked as Ino's fist flew toward her again. She grabbed her wrist, using the blonde's momentum to pull her forward. As planned, Ino fell; but she flipped in the process and landed crouched on her feet.
"Enough games," Sakura told her, sliding into a fighting position. "If you're going to fight, fight."
Ino's teeth clenched and she stood. Blue clashed with green as the tension exploded around them. A silent trigger was pulled, and the two flew forward toward each other. For every punch and kick thrown, there was an arm to block it. Sakura kept her arms near her face, brushing off every attempt made at her. She faked a back hand to Ino's face, and as the blonde's guard rose to her head, she thrust her fist into her stomach.
Ino gagged, coughing up blood. The rosette smirked.
Advantage Sakura.
Sakura's fists continued to fly to Ino's body. Each punch landed, shocking her body further and opening her for another shot. Gaara watched unemotionally as she struck the blond over and over. He was unimpressed. Sakura's worst area was taijutsu, but she was using it to try and beat her opponent. His eyes narrowed. There were other ways. Faster ways. There were jutsus that could leave the blonde screaming, writhing in pain. Ninjutsu that could slice her skin from her bones, blood staining the flow, red liquid flying and dripping from Sakura's face and –
Gaara shuttered, a pulse of pain shooting through his head. His sand shifted eagerly inside of his gourd at the thoughts flowing through his mind. It shifted more as he watched Sakura's leg raise and kick Ino onto the floor. The blond slid back, the blood from her mouth flying into Sakura's hair. Her back slammed into the wall, her head falling forward.
'She's unconscious,' Sakura mentally sighed, turning to Gaara. His eyes stared, unfocused in her direction. He could see a small amount of blood dripping from her pastel locks, and he shuddered again. Sakura then turned to Hayate, who nodded and raised his arm into the air. "The winner of this match is – "
"MIND BODY SWITCH JUTSU!"
Sakura's head whipped around, her eyes widening. Ino's hands forming a bird seal was the last thing she saw before the world around her turned black.
No one moved. Everyone stared as Sakura's body became motionless. Gaara tensed, glaring at the blond kunoichi's hands as they fell to her sides. 'Sneaky…' he thought to himself. He locked back at Sakura, trying to drill into her mind with his eyes. Something was wrong.
Slowly, Sakura's face lifted. Her emerald eyes opened, and she raised her arms above her head. A smirk crossed her face, and Gaara's eyes narrowed.
"I, Haruno Sakura…" she called out, causing Gaara's glare to intensify. The kunoichi had taken over her body. The blonde girl had tainted his flower. "will – "
"NO! SAKURA-CHAN!"
All heads turned to the owner of the voice. "Don't lose to that bimbo!" Naruto cried. "You're better than that!"
"Geez, you're so noisy," the kunoichi muttered. All of a sudden, the girl froze, and everyone stared at her once again. She shakily brought her hands to her head, burying her fingers into her hair. "S-Stop…" she cried, clenching her eyes shut in pain. "No! Stop it!"
"Get away from me you crazy bitch!"
Crash
Ino dove out of the way as a giant foot came down where she once stood. Ino looked up at the giant figure, who took the appearance of a humungous Sakura. She was furious at the blonde, and roared in anger as she ran away. She bent down, wrapping her oversized fingers around Ino and lifted her to her face. Ino squirmed as the pressure around her nearly crushed her bones and she cried out. "Put me down!"
She thrashed around, desperately trying to free her arms so that she could make a release seal. The giant Sakura's grasp was too tight, though. "Lemme go!"
"You're not getting off that easy," the Sakura's voice rumbled. Her hand tightened around the blond, causing Ino to gasp and cry out in pain.
"T-The hell is y-yourproblem…" Ino wheezed out.
"My problem is you,"the Sakura growled.
"Let me go…I'll get out of your…head…"
"That won't solve anything."
One blue eye cracked open, the others clenched shut, to stare in confusion at her opponent. Now that she was close, she could vaguely make out the characters etched onto the giant girl's forehead.
'Inner Sakura…'
"It's all your fault! Everything is your fault!" Inner Sakura cried, flinging Ino in the front of her. She gasped for breath, holding herself to numb away the shock of landing. "That day in the park, it started everything!" Inner Sakura screamed. Slowly, her form shrunk from its enormous size. "It's your fault I sent to Suna." She stood before Ino, normal-sized, and lowered herself on one knee. "It's your fault my parents died." She grasped Ino's golden hair, pulling her up to eye-level. "It's your fault…"
"It's your fault I met Gaara."
Out of nowhere, images poured into Ino's mind. She couldn't focus on Inner Sakura anymore. Only the flashes of light dancing across her vision. She didn't know what was going on; the images moved too fast for her to keep track. After a moment, the images began to slow, and Ino could make out some things. Violet eyes, a soccer ball, a couch –
"I will not be alone anymore!"
Ino shrieked. Eyes that could give nightmares, full of hatred and bloodlust, sent ice pouring through her body. The unexplainable ache in her wrists caused tears to stream as she thought they would break. Both, however, were only a fraction of the pain she felt in her forehead. It was as if a thousand tiny knives were carving into her face.
"WHAT THE HELL!" she screamed to the frightening Inner Sakura.
"The day we met, you cracked me, Ino," Inner Sakura cackled. "Bringing me to Suna was the solution my parents had, but you made them bring me to hell."
"You're lying."
Ino shrieked once again. Every ounce of pain Sakura had been through, Ino felt. Every glare, every bite, every grain of sand digging into her skin.
"You call me a weak bitch, Ino," Inner Sakura continued. "You say I'm useless. You think I'm the lowest of the low, but I have been through things that even now, as you endure my pain, you can never understand!"
Ino thrashed, trying to rid herself of whatever jutsu she could be under, but it did no good. Her cheek stung from a slap Sakura had received, her arms were on the edge of breaking…but oh God, her forehead! It was ten-fold the pain of the rest of her body combined!
Ino sobbed. She pleaded, begged for the pain to stop, but it continued to pelt her relentlessly. Painful images filled her mind, things she didn't think any child could stand. How had weak little forehead girl…lived?
"Love only me!"
"Stop, it hurts!"
"Their blood is my blood…"
"We are in your debt."
"You don't owe me anything!"
"If she is hurt under your watch, I'll kill you."
"Sakura, your parents are dead.
"I am all you have. You need me."
"Stone is invading!"
"Temari-san!"
"Let go of her!"
"Hold on, don't let go!"
"Give her back!"
"What are you doing here?"
"Poor kid…"
"Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."
"Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."
"I hate sand, and…monsters…"
"You are not to speak to him alone."
"Sorry, Lee-san, I…I can't…"
"I hate it."
"I love you, Gaara-kun!"
"You'll tell useverything."
"Why won't you tell me anything anymore, Sakura!"
"Fixing a mistake."
"I'll kill him!"
"You traitor!"
"Sakura…
Don't interfere."
"IIE!!"
Everyone stared as Sakura clutched her head in agony. Her body shook, her knees gave out, and her screams echoed throughout the area. She painfully pulled her hands from her scalp and crashed them together in a snake sign. "Kai!"
Sakura's body fell limp. Ino's body jolted as her soul returned. She clenched her teeth and eyes, still in agony, before her head dropped and her body fell limp as well. Neither girl moved for what seemed like an eternity, and Hayate sighed. However, just as he raised his arm to end the match, Sakura shifted. Hayate froze, staring as the rosette slowly pushed herself up, sitting on her legs, and opened her eyes. Her green orbs were clouded with confusion as she looked at Ino and back at Hayate.
He motioned toward Ino. "You remember doing that, right?"
Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together. "Of course.."
Hayate nodded, finally raising his arm. "The winner of this match…" he lowered his arm toward her, "is Haruno Sakura."
Sakura sighed in relief as she slowly pushed herself up. She saw Naruto jump over the edge and run toward her, trying to help her balance as she stood. "Sakura-chan, you alright?"
"Hmm? Yeah, I…" she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the haze set into her mind. "Ah, my head…"
From the corner of her eye, she could see Ino being lifted onto a stretcher with her sensei Asuma at her side. She jumped a little as the blonde's hand reached out, grasping Asuma's arm as she whispered something to him. He nodded, turning to Sakura and motioning for her to come. Uneasy, she nodded and walked to Ino's stretcher, wincing when she saw the damage she'd dealt.
"Su…" Ino whispered, but was interrupted as she coughed, blood splattering onto Sakura's cheek. She winced. "Sumima…sen…"
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "For what?" she softly demanded. 'What happened when I was unconscious…?'
Ino laughed softly, her eyes glazed with pain. "You know, Forehead…" she forced out, "when we were little…"
"What? You hated me for slapping you? You wanted nothing to do with me?"
"Iie…I…
"I wanted to be your friend…"
Sakura's eyes widened. Her breathing stopped. She stared in disbelief as Ino smiled up at her. Suddenly, Ino's eyes clenched shut, and she writhed in pain, crying out in agony. The medics nodded and rushed out of the arena.
Sakura began shaking. She clutched her stomach as a sudden wave of nausea hit her.
'My…friend…I…pushed her away…'
"Sakura-chan, you okay?" Naruto asked, rushing over to her. Her skin turned clammy, and she slammed a hand over her mouth in desperation to try and keep her breakfast inside of her body.
'I…ruined…the chance with her…
'If…I hadn't slapped her…I would've stayed in Konoha…
'I never would have met Gaara…
'This mark would not be on my forehead.'
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto repeated, placing a hand on her shoulder. Sakura jolted, shoving Naruto away from her and collapsing to her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor.
She heard multiple figures around her, fussing as she began to dry heave. She saw orange as she felt herself being lifted. "Iie, I'm fine, she mumbled, trying to move out of Naruto's grasp. She was a little dizzy from vomiting, and probably dehydrated from the exam. The shock of Ino's announcement must have triggered her body's reaction.
She wasn't surprised when she felt Gaara's sand lifted from Naruto's grasp. She heard the blonde's cry of protest as she was brought to Gaara's side. A cold hand placed itself on her forehead, sending a cool sensation over her face. That was all it took for her to give up her consciousness.
There, happy? Review, please!
