Chapter 11: Bleed Like Me

Sakura's half raised hand, as she had halted the motion moments earlier, reconsidering her decision, fell to her side as her eyes opened wide and she turned to the man next to her. The crowd gasped loudly and then fell silent, as Genma struggled to catch his senbon that he had almost dropped when his jaw nearly fell at hearing who had resigned. In fact, nobody seemed to believe what was happening. Ino was just as dumbfounded as Sakura was, her stare switching between Iketetsomaru and Shikamaru, looking for an answer.

"Why… why did you surrender?" Ike blinked at Sakura's question, and then closed his eyes as his face scrunched up into something similar to a wince. The power emanating from him slowly vanished, as the blue aura surrounding him disappeared, leaving an 'after-chaos' kind of atmosphere on the arena. He reopened his eyes and decided to ignore Sakura's question, simply turning to Genma and repeating, in a voice that sounded a lot more human. "I give up, Haruno's won."

Despite his surprise, Genma shook his head and agreed to announce the winner, as Sakura's knees nearly gave under her weight now that the adrenaline rush was going down. The fight had been harder than it had seemed. She felt literally drained, and her brain decided to associate the exhaustion to Iketetsomaru's outburst of power.

Ino was the first in the crowd to cheer for victory, even if the conditions were weird and that everyone doubted that the issue was exactly fair. Soon though, everyone was applauding the show they had witnessed, and yelling Sakura's name loud and clear. The pink haired girl waved at everyone, and smiled when her eyes met Ino's, although the distance made it nearly impossible to tell. Then she remembered that, having won, she'd have at least another fight to go through, against Kiba, and she headed for the medical center inside the stadium, wanting those ribs replaced correctly, and that concussion taken care of. And she wanted to rest a little bit, just so her energy wasn't as low anymore when the next two fights would be over. Or at least Hinata and Shino's battle. She would want to watch Ino's fight if she could.

Genma was about to announce the next match, but Ino could've cared less about it. She wanted to go check on her friend and make sure she was okay, but just as she turned around to go, Shikamaru caught her arm and stopped her. "Let me go, baka!" She said, trying to snatch her arm away. But Shikamaru's hold was too strong. "If you go now, you risk missing your own match, Ino. I know you're worried about Sakura, but I'm sure she doesn't want you to miss your chance of becoming a chuunin because of her." Ino protested. "But, I've been mean to her and…" The Nara boy shook his head slightly, muttering something along the lines of 'troublesome' under his breath, causing Ino to stop talking. She was watching him intently, half a glare stacked on her face, her expression also reading anxiousness. "Besides, don't you want to know why I'm here, anyway?" He added when he was sure he had her attention. The blonde blinked and then nodded.

"I'm on guard duty." He simply said before turning his attention to what was going down in the arena where a determined Hinata was struggling to keep Shino's bugs out of her personal space. It sure was weird to see the two teammates fight, while knowing they were not sparring. "Guard duty for what?" Ino pressed on as she took a look down as well, somehow relieved to see that the fight was just beginning. "Keep your voice down." Her teammate whispered, casting a sideway glance to Hanmaru, who looked like he was bored out of hell. Iketetsomaru still hadn't come back to his place.

"What's going on?" Ino asked again, growing more worried by the second. Shikamaru sighed and shrugged, letting go of his friend's arm in the process. "Let's say that after last time, everyone's paranoid. I was sent here to make sure none of the participants had a suspicious behavior." Ino raised an eyebrow at that, not sure why Shikamaru was telling her this. "Seeing that the Ematai is not back…" he continued, ignoring her facial expression. "I have to go after him. I just want you to keep an eye on Hanmaru until your fight."

The blonde kunoichi narrowed her eyes at her teammate, she couldn't go see Sakura only because her friend could not split into two. Well that wasn't a cool reason in her book. "You're the only other person I trust with this information. The others would just freak out, I guess." Shikamaru tried to justify his action, earning a glare in return. "I don't have to do this for you, lazy bum. Just make a clone and leave him here." The chuunin shook his head softly and sighed. "It's an order, Ino."

On those words he was out, leaving Ino to rubbing her forehead in annoyance. She then turned her attention back to the fight, to see a swarm of bugs being warded off by the Hyuuga's heavenly spin technique, that Hinata seemed to master almost perfectly now. Then the next thing she knew, Shino had jumped up over Hinata, kunai in hand, effectively disappearing from the girl's field of view when she stopped spinning, as he was holding himself exactly in her blind spot. Surely training together, they knew each other's tricks perfectly, which would in return promise an interesting fight, given Hinata saw this one coming.

The girl spun around quickly and dodged the blow skilfully, at the same time placing an open palm on Shino's left arm, effectively making him drop the kunai in pain. She then reassumed a fighting position, looking as determined as ever. Shino had placed his hands back in his pockets and stood there in front of her. "Hinata's going to play the waiting game. I'm not sure which one of these two has the most patience." Sakura's voice rang from somewhere behind her, causing Ino to turn around and forget about the fight once more. "Sakura!" She nearly yelled, fighting back the urge to run up to her friend and hug her. Kiba, who had been sitting on the ramp and intently watching the fight down there shushed her before turning his attention back to the arena. Sakura giggled at his attitude and smiled. "I can't believe I won…" she let out, her smile quickly fading. "Are you alright?" Ino asked, this time crossing the few steps between them and eyeing Sakura in a concerned manner. "I'm fine." The pink haired girl deadpanned. What was it with people always asking her that question? Ino frowned, and then put one hand on her friend's shoulder, her lips curling into a proud smile. "You won big time, forehead." She simply stated, causing Sakura to look up to her and straight into her eyes. "Now I'll have to put on one heck of a show if I don't want to fall behind." They were now both smiling, and it felt good.

"Ino, I…" Sakura started, before being interrupted by loud cheers coming from the crowd. Kiba was up and had his fist in the air, a huge grin on his face. "Yeah! Go Hinata!" He screamed loudly, Akamaru barking in approval by his side. Apparently the fight was now over, and as soon as Ino realized that her eyes grew wide and her stance visibly shrunk. It was her turn, already. Sakura noticed her nervousness and simply put her hand on Ino's shoulder, returning the comforting gesture. "You'll do fine pig." I can wait until this is over to talk, I guess…

Genma was trying to call the last two fighters, struggling to make his voice louder than the crowd who was raging for more action. "And now the last match of the first round, but not the least: The beautiful and deadly Ino Yamanaka, " Ino blushed at the description. "… and the loud and surprising Hanmaru Dasane! Let the fight begin!" A tremendous roar came from the assistance as Hanmaru back flipped from the ramp into the stadium at the mention of his name. These Hawk nins were decidedly show offs. Ino looked one last time into Sakura's eyes for reassurance, and decided she'd go and match the spectacular entrance instead of making her way down slowly and making the audience wait. In a gracious sideway spin, she landed on her feet and ready to strike already, right beside her opponent.

At the exact same time, they both reached into their shuriken pouch and threw three deadly stars at each other, two pairs colliding midway, and the last one being dodged in a demonstration of agility that the two fighters mirrored perfectly. They were now a bit farther apart, within middle range attacks, which was not a useful distance for any of them. In a swift shuffle of their feet they both closed in and struck at each other. Ino's elbow was stopped short of the man's chin by a sure hand, Hanmaru's fist was deflected to the side by a solid arm. As if on a common accord, they hopped away from each other once more and began to stare each other down.

Sakura was watching the fight curiously, wondering what Ino had in store. And she was also left perplexed by Hanmaru's attitude. He had been over reacting most of the other times she had seen him, and now he was calm, collected, and strangely focused. The attacks he placed were calculated, and his fighting style was totally flawless. "Han is a born fighter…" Iketetsomaru's voice came from behind her, answering her question without her even asking it. She turned to him for a second, noting how Shikamaru was walking a few steps behind as if he was watching the man. "That's the only thing he's ever been good at. Well, that's what he thinks, anyway." The dark haired Ematai continued, walking the distance to Sakura and leaning against the ramp next to her. She let him near her, frowning slightly at how his presence felt now. It's as if he's sad about something… Probably resigning… Seeing that he was silent and probably didn't really feel like talking, she turned her attention back to the fight, just in time to see Hanmaru withdrawing his Hammer and swiping in Ino's direction in the same movement, the blonde jumping back to avoid the blow. Things were starting to get serious.

Ino joined her hands and began forming hand signs quickly while she evaded the hammer blows the Hawk nin was barraging her with, as he controlled his weapon like it was a simple staff – and not much heavier than a pencil. Jumping over a particularly low strike, Ino completed her jutsu, the last hand sign performed with a tube between both hands that no sooner turned into a sword handle with a fire blade that she spun backwards before firmly grasping in her right hand. She was more than ready for the next strike, expertly deflecting the shaft of the hammer with her blade and stepping into close range of her opponent, with the freedom to strike any body part she wanted to. Her choice fell on his thigh, the cut was made clean, and the heat emanating from the blade sealed it by a burn, preventing the wound from bleeding too much – that was a big part of her strategy. Now with a kunai in her left hand as well, she was ready for another attack. Hanmaru barely grunted at the pain before he charged her again, this time making sure he wouldn't leave such an obvious opening in his attacking pattern. Ino was left blocking and dodging for quite a while, until she finally managed to put herself close to the boy once again, and struck at his right arm with the kunai first, getting away from him by finishing the blow with her fire sword in a gracious back flip.

Sakura was admiring the speed and flexibility of her friend from her perch, her fingers tightly clasped over the ramp and her mouth slightly agape. She simply couldn't believe the skill level that her friend had accomplished over the past month. Sure, she had gotten better herself, but she now knew that she could never be what Ino was. She was, indeed, beautiful and deadly. But the blonde was something more…

"Is she using poison?" The question came from her left, where Iketetsomaru was still standing, almost uncomfortably close to her, and she wondered how she had managed to forget his presence up to now. The look on his face almost answered the question for her though. His usually calm expression was replaced by one of concern, although what he was worried about, Sakura couldn't tell. She only knew that if he had meant any harm, she would have noticed. However, his presence was more comforting than anything else. He was now looking at her strangely, and she finally realized he had asked a question. "Um I don't know." She answered, trying to remember if Ino had ever mentioned anything about a technique in her family where she'd used poison. "Oh, I know her family is renowned for making this numbing elixir. Used in the right dosage, it can paralyze limbs and such for a moment."

The Ematai simply nodded knowingly, casting a sideway glance at the action below, but keeping his eyes on Sakura. The pink haired girl blushed slightly under his stare, not knowing what else she could say. And the boy must have noticed her uneasiness because he immediately turned his head back to the fight, a blush of his own forming over the bridge of his nose, which he tried to hide by scratching his cheek. Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his attitude, which strangely reminded her of a boy with a crush. Her eyes suddenly grew wide and although it seemed like things were getting exciting down in the arena, she couldn't help but cast a glance at him again. His blush was gone, and his face was back to normal. Maybe she had just been dreaming.

The fight was still raging on between Ino and Hanmaru. They were relentlessly trading blows, although the Hawk nin's speed was rapidly decreasing with each strike that Ino placed, but it was also obvious that simply maintaining the flame blade was using up a lot of the blonde's energy. Finally, after a particularly violent blow that she had barely deflected away from her head, the fire went out, leaving Ino panting and defenceless. Hanmaru was looking at her with an amused look, holding his hammer on his shoulder carelessly. The blonde was annoyed at herself, and felt the urge to mindlessly charge at the man in front of her, but a part of her mind stayed alert and recognized the taunt for what it was. It would be stupid to go head first. Incredibly stupid.

The crowd started booing the standstill, and Hanmaru grinned. "See how impatient they are? They'd be da worse ninjas ever!" He said in a happy-go-lucky voice, his eyes on the blonde girl in front of him. Ino couldn't help but smile. "Let's show them how strong we are?" She asked, adjusting her fighting stance now that her only weapon was a kunai. He nodded and grabbed the shaft of his hammer again, ready to go back to the fight. "Ya, let's show 'em!"

In a flash, both ninjas were back in action, dashing at each other in the hope of making the first hit again. Ino was getting anxious at how little her paralyzing technique was working on the Hawk nin. A normal person would have already decided to stop moving until they could understand the movement of their limbs again, but Hanmaru was simply managing through the pain and weirdness as if it was almost nothing. She had the slightest moment of hesitation when she came within reach of his hammer, receiving the heavy weapon at chest's height, barely able to place her arm in front to avoid how deadly the blow would've been if it had been a clean hit. She had the presence of mind to throw her kunai at her opponent as she flew backwards, hitting the ground shortly after with the knowledge that her left arm was broken.

A shadow came down on her shortly after and she rolled to the side realizing she was still fighting Hanmaru, and that he wasn't going to take a break until she healed her arm, even with a kunai planted in his forearm. She had to do with what she had to finish the fight, and she was okay with that idea as she rolled back onto her feet, trying to form a few hand seals as the ground rippled at the strength of the last hammer blow. The excruciating pain she felt in her hand nearly discouraged her to go any further, but she knew she couldn't win without using any kind of jutsu with an arm out. Not against a melee fighter like Dasane Hanmaru.

Sakura tensed up at how Hanmaru had gotten the upper hand in the fight. She hoped Ino was going to be alright, but as she saw how hard it was for her friend to do hand signs, she knew Ino's arm was broken, and that nearly sank her hopes of her friend winning the battle. They sank a little deeper when she saw that all of her efforts had only served to produce four clones.

Ino braced herself for the hit that came next, knowing that she had just a split second to do what she intended to do if she didn't want to die. But if she succeeded, she would get a chance to get a clean strike at her opponent's back, and that could mean victory to her. She spread her clones around, ignoring the huff that came from Hanmaru as he saw them and dismissed them just in the same vain. Shadow clones would've been dangerous, but those weren't. He was chasing after Ino, who leapt to one side and the other desperately avoiding her opponent's weapon as she struggled to form the hand signs for her mind control jutsu. The people in the crowd that knew her gasped, wondering if she was downright suicidal. Including Sakura. Excluding Shizune.

Ino had to bend backward to dodge, and she knew her head would hit the ground in a split second, so she decided it was now or never and formed the last symbol with her hands, projecting her mind to one of her clone. The following Hammer blow dispelled the first clone that had taken Ino's place, and before the man could turn around, he had a Kunai on his throat and a knee at the small of his back. Ino was literally reeling for air in his back, the technique having probably drained her of what was left of her energy, but she was solid and stable, her grasp unwavering, and the hawk nin decided it was no use trying to push this fight further. Genma gave him an inquiring look, his eyebrow raised curiously, and sighing audibly, Hanmaru resigned wordlessly. "The winner of this match is Yamanaka Ino!" The man announced, earning the blonde girl loud cheers from the crowd.

Tsunade, up in her chair, gave an appreciative nod to her assistant. "You taught her well." She stated, impressed at Ino's display of skills. "But the clone shuffle technique is not a forbidden technique for nothing." She then added, now glaring softly at the dark haired girl by her side. "I-I didn't show her that." Shizune simply answered, her eyes cast down at her own apprentice. "That was her father's idea, and you got to admit that it saved her life this time around." Tsunade shook her head and sighed. "Who knows at what price though. Go check on her." It was not an order, not the way it had been said, but Shizune complied anyway. The second round was about to begin, and she needed to fix her apprentice to be ready to fight against Hinata.

"Hey, Haruno. It's your turn." Ike's voice shook Sakura out of her absent state. Kiba was now right next to Sakura as well, his grin still in place, his arm extended towards her. "Let's have a good fight, Sakura." He said seriously. She blinked and shook his hand, giving a soft "Hai!" in return. The grin on Kiba's face widened as he let go of her hand and decided he was doing one of those formidable entrance by jumping down from his spot and yelling "Kawaaabuungaaa!" accompanied by Akamaru's barking. Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at the scene, but with her recent injuries, she couldn't afford to try such an entrance, so she instead walked down the wall smiling softly. The crowd was ecstatic.

"Well ladies and gentleman, it was planned that we'd have an interlude after the first round, but if our two fighters are ready, and everyone wants more…" Genma shouted, his usual calm attitude riddled with excitement. The cheers were contagious. "The first match of the semi finals will oppose Inuzuka Kiba and Haruno Sakura! Dog versus Flower. Let the match begin!" The roar coming from the audience was deafening, almost as bad as when it had been Sasuke and Gaara going at it, quite a couple of months earlier. And it was just two genin that believed they were not all that much above ordinary that were going at it. Both fighters giggled before taking on a fighting stance. Akamaru gave the start signal by barking and the fight was on.

Both of them reeled their fist back and charged at each other, somehow completely forgetting to block, and taking the hits head on, literally. They both recoiled heavily, surprisingly not loosing their footing however. But when they fully regained their balance one could tell that the impact had been great. Sakura had a claw wound on her cheek which was bleeding and burning, causing her to wince in pain. Kiba had a red print on the side of his face, which would undoubtedly turn into a huge bruise later on. He also had his hands together forming hand signs before Sakura could fight the dizziness that accompanied the violence of the strike. Her concussion would get in the way, so she had to end this as quickly as possible. She wondered if Ino was watching right now, because she sure as hell wouldn't want to be losing in front of her.

With a quick evaluation, Sakura determined that she couldn't perform her earlier technique again with the low level of chakra she had left. She knew Kiba had the upper hand already, his previous match against Chouji hadn't taken as much energy as hers against Iketetsomaru. Unless the part with the smoke bomb had been rough, but that, she was unable to tell, even if she had witnessed it before. Maybe I should give up. I can't take many more hits to the head in my condition, and he knows it.

Ino was standing near the entrance of the arena, not bothering going back to the participant's waiting quarter, and enjoying the show even more form her spot. Shizune was next to her, finishing bandaging her broken and almost healed arm. "It'd be funny if we both made it to the finals…" She voiced out, giving a light chuckle at the end of her sentence, earning a smile from Shizune. "You two have a score to settle, right?" Ino was thoughtful for a moment, observing as Kiba and Akamaru fused together into that big wolf-like creature and started stomping at Sakura, who expertly dodged up until she was against a wall. "Yes and no." She finally replied, grinning at how the pink Haired girl had flipped over the wolf while throwing a handful of kunais with explosive tags attached to them to dog boy. The burst made him change back to normal, throwing both him and Akamaru a few feet back, right into the dirt. "It's not about being stronger than each other anymore." Ino added, feeling the questioning stare she was getting from her sensei even though she never glanced her way. "Oh?" Shizune asked, while she surveyed Ino's body, making sure everything was in place. "It's about being stronger, period." Ino smirked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the frame of the door as she watched Sakura's brute strength crack the ground where Kiba had been just a second ago. Shizune couldn't help but giggle, before she turned serious again. "Don't use the clone shuffle technique again, you know how dangerous it is. You're lucky to be in one piece already." To that comment, Ino simply nodded, knowing what Shizune meant. If the jutsu had failed just a little, if she had been distracted only a split second, her body could've been deformed by the jutsu, forever. And that was the best case scenario.

Kiba managed to get out of harm's way and threw a few smoke bombs around the battle field, visibly intent on ending this quick and simple. Sakura tensed up where she was standing waiting for what she knew she couldn't see. She remembered the first time she had witnessed that attack – and it wasn't today.

::Sakura was walking past the training grounds, her eyes puffy from all the crying she had done, quite intent on simply going home. Hinata had heard the rustle of her feet and come running to her, effectively stopping Kiba from attacking again. The young Hyuuga had immediately noticed the dark mood she was in and inquired about it shyly. Sakura hadn't explained anything, just that she wasn't doing so well. Kiba had come a-running, his usual grin faltering at the sight of the pink haired girl.

"Hey, Haruno…" He had said, apparently thoughtful. She had expected the usual "Are you alright?" from him. Like everyone else had asked, like Hinata. "Wanna spar with me? Hinata's getting tired, and Shino's somewhere looking at butterflies or something." He had said that with a conviction she couldn't quite go against. He really meant it – fighting was his offer for comfort, and somehow Sakura had agreed.

He had been so eager about this new technique of his' that Sakura had agreed to help him test it. She felt numb and useless, and so pain wouldn't bother her, and she could at least be useful, if only for a minute. Hinata was visibly too scared to let him try it out on her. It had started the same way: smoke bombs around the perimeter, leaving her to simply looking around, afraid to move. When the first glimpse of fangs appeared in front of her, she had been so surprised she had fallen backwards, sharp claws finding their way deep into the skin of her arm. She had somehow managed to get back on her feet, and decided that she'd try not to react as much to the next attacks. The blows had turned softer, as if Kiba had understood that if he'd gone all out, he'd end up hurting his sparring partner. Sakura blocked rather easily, deflecting fangs with a kunai at the very last moment, letting claws flash by her head, but not quite touching her. And she thought she had figured the attack pattern out, and that by not moving, she could evade it all. Mistake number two.

The jaw of a wolf-form Kiba had gripped her leg tightly, and by pure reflex, Sakura had tried to get out of it's grasp, only tearing out more skin in the process. At her pained cry however, it had released it's hold, and turned back into Kiba and Akamaru, just as the smoke started dissipating. The boy looked incredibly sorry, and his dog had the sad puppy eyes as if he knew he had done something wrong. The pain still hadn't completely taken over though, it took a "Are you alright?" coming from Hinata to make her realize that in fact, she really wasn't doing good. She had ran off right then, ignoring the throbbing pain in her leg, and had gone to bed right away, forgetting that the wounds needed care. She had gotten up so late the next morning all she had managed to do was bandaging said wounds.::

The memory of how Kiba had treated her as an equal all along was stronger than the pain she felt, and had felt back then. As she saw the fangs flashing in front of herself, once again, and the whole scene replayed in her mind, she decided that she was going to stay calm, and win this fight. I made a promise to Ino. I told her I'd be strong. This is what I'm going to do. With resolve now written all over her face, despite the stinginess in her eyes caused by the smoke, Sakura focused on the movements of the wolf. She ended up closing her eyes and listening carefully, shurikens ready between her fingers. Fangs too close, a shuriken flying straight into the mouth that was about to bite her, the whimpers of the wolf who was still attacking. She could feel it all in each and every part of her body.

Then the attack pattern suddenly changed, the pace increased, and she lost track of where she was, and which part of her body she should be using to block the next hit. Kiba had improved his technique, by a lot. It had not been foolish of him to show off before the fight, he had actually managed to make it better by trying it out on her about a month earlier. She started panicking and opened her eyes, throwing her shurikens haphazardly as she was being tossed around between fangs and claws, none really piercing through her skin however, just leaving scratches and bruises. Then she was head banged out of the cloud of vanishing smoke and landed hard on her back, her head spinning, and her ribs hurting once more. She lifted her head slightly, trying to find that mischievous grin in the remains of the smoke. But as she realized Kiba wasn't there, she started worrying. Maybe in a fit of luck the shurikens had touched a vital point. Worse, maybe she had killed him. Wanting to find out more, she sat up slowly, pain shooting through her as she did so, as her eyes surveyed the area. Kiba was about in the same position as she was, his face distorted in pain as he eyed the three shurikens planted in his chest. Hopefully, none looked like they had hit a vital spot, but the boy seriously looked like he had trouble breathing, and that in itself was pretty bad. Sakura struggled to get to her feet, and when she did, Kiba smiled at her warmly and gave her a thumbs up. Then he passed out.

As soon as Sakura was declared winner, Ino couldn't help but rush forward into the arena up to her friend. "Oh my god, Sakura. That was awesome." She said, sincerely, placing a hand on her less battered shoulder and trying to find her gaze. The pink haired girl smiled softly and then collapsed into the blonde's arm, unconscious. The medic team was soon on the spot and ready to take care of the two fighters as Hinata made her way to the stadium and stood next to Ino for a little bit, but the blonde was too busy thinking to notice it. Wow, she really gave it her all. She's changed, a lot. I just… I hope she knows that I still love her. Whether its friendship or love… I just don't want her to think I hate her.

"Hmm, Ino?" The lavender eyed girl said hesitantly, trying to get her opponent's attention. She didn't want to be doing this, but she wasn't going to simply knock her opponent out without her even noticing the fight had started. "Uh what?" Ino answered, startled. Hinata giggled shyly before showing that she had a kunai in hand. "We have to fight." She said gravely. Ino's face fell. Of course she had to fight, event though she wanted to run up to Sakura's side. Well, the faster this is over with, the quicker I can go and see her!

Hinata was drained from her fight against Shino. That much was obvious as the girl was shaky on her legs, yet something in her face simply read Naruto. She wasn't going to give up. Ino twisted her fingers a little, testing her broken arm. It was painful, but bearable. She'd just have to be careful. And against an opponent like Hinata, that meant middle to long range combat, something she was not all that proficient in. She thanked the forces for being right handed and still having that arm in useable condition as she withdrew a handful of shurikens and threw them at Hinata swiftly, immediately stepping to the side to evade the kunai that the Hyuuga heir had thrown her way.

She then grabbed another two shuriken and threw them again, one of them being tied by a thin string that she held between her fingers. With the right timing, she could pull on the thread and force the dodged shuriken back on her opponent. It was an assassination technique, and she was reluctant to use it on a friend, but there was no way she could win by stretching the fight and getting inside the close perimeter of Hinata. The only thing she had forgot to take into account was the byakugan. Hinata saw the shuriken flying toward the back of her skull and dodged it by bending over, using the manoeuvre as a propulsion to get within close range of Ino. An open palm to the stomach sent the blonde kunoichi reeling for air as she struggled to get away from the gentle fist user.

They were basically playing a game of cats and mice, Ino clearly being the lonely mouse in that situation. There was no way she could win if this kept up. She tried thinking of something clever, something that Hinata wouldn't suspect, but it was hard. Clones wouldn't work as the byakugan could easily find the real one among the bunch. She didn't really have the energy to use the paralyzing fireblade technique either. She thought about how Sakura had pulled her fight out: luck. She thought about what resources she had left: luck. She grimaced at the thought of having to rely on pure luck to win this fight, but in the end, if her and Sakura were meant to go against each other in the finals, then it would work.

She took the chakra tube in her hand and jumped onto the nearby wall, using it as leverage to jump at Hinata full speed. The change of tactics surprised the other girl, and Ino knew that it was now or never. She shot chakra into the tube and hoped that it would work. Because it had never worked during training. This was why she used a fire jutsu to create a blade in the first place. The weapon was levelled with Hinata's waist line – not too much of a vital part in case it worked. There was a flash of light when she passed by her, sensing a tremor she wasn't used to feeling pass through her arm. The few hits that Hinata had managed to place had had their effect on her body. And as she rolled over upon landing, Ino knew only one thing: win or not, this was the one and only hit she could manage with this weapon.

A soft shriek came from behind her, and Ino instantly shot up to go and look over Hinata. The girl was grasping her belly with one hand, bent over on her knees, a bit of blood running down her chin from the corner of her mouth. She looked like a train had just rammed into her, searching for air that burned up her lungs with each intake. Ino took a glance at the tube she still held in her palm and blinked. That thing was deadly. She then looked back at her opponent, the match wasn't over yet. She could strike the finishing blow and knock Hinata out, now, and she knew it. But something about it just felt incredibly wrong, especially since, even if they weren't all that close, Hinata was her friend. "Hey, you going to be alright Hinata?" She asked, leaning in closer to the girl to take a better look at her face. Genma was nearing them quietly too, curious. It sounded like the whole stadium was holding it's breath.

"Huh… winner of this fight: Yamanaka Ino." Genma said out loud, after only seeing Hinata's eyes. The wound on her stomach wasn't deep, there didn't seem to be much blood escaping from it. But the injury was most probably internal, and at the way the young Hyuuga was gasping and coughing in pain, it was obvious she couldn't continue with the fight. Decidedly, this chuunin exam would leave a lot of marks on its participants. "Okay, we're taking a break, the final match will take place around four this afternoon, be there everyone, and thanks for assisting to these exciting fights!" It didn't take much more for the seats in the stadium to empty up. Everyone was eager to move around, and go grab a snack, and Ino could understand – she wanted to go see Sakura, now.

"Just wait for a minute!" Shizune yelled after her as she tried to catch up with the blonde who was nearly running toward the medical center. Ino sighed and resisted the urge to yell to the world that she didn't care about anything but Sakura at the moment. Instead, she turned back to her temporary sensei, making a point to look as annoyed as possible, which caused Shizune to giggle. Which in turn made Ino look even more annoyed. "What's up?" She finally asked, sighing loudly, understanding that she wasn't out of trouble yet. "You need to be treated for the chakra vessels that Hinata shut…" She said, coming to an halt near the girl, who shook her head in disbelief. "That can be done while I'm talking to Sakura, can't it?" Shizune smiled and shook her head no. "You two seem to need time alone. Come on, it'll take just a minute." Ino reluctantly complied, standing where she was and letting Shizune proceed with the healing. Not much more than ten seconds after the treatment started, she felt her skin literally popping, and suddenly felt a lot better. Sure, she wasn't at the top of her shape, but considering what she had been through, she was doing pretty well. She thanked Shizune promptly after she made sure everything was fine, and left running towards Sakura's room.

Tsunade was there when she reached it, and for a moment she remained unnoticed in the door frame, watching as the fifth Hokage took care of her apprentice, just like a mother would with her daughter. "There, you can rest until your fight this afternoon." She said softly, getting up and turning towards the door, and Ino. She didn't even look surprised to find the blonde girl there, and didn't bother even saying hi or nodding while walking by her. Ino raised an eyebrow at that behaviour, wondering what she had done to deserve such a treatment coming from the Hokage.

"Ino?" The matter was immediately forgotten when she heard Sakura's voice calling her, and she put on a smile before walking to the bed and sitting on the chair Tsunade had used next to it. "Hey Sakura, feeling better?" The pink haired girl smiled faintly and nodded softly, wanting to sit up to be able to look her friend in the eye, but knowing that it would only cause her pain. "So, who won?" She asked Ino curiously, waiting for an answer. "You, silly." Ino replied, sticking her tongue out playfully and poking her friend's arm. Sakura giggled softly and shook her head. "I meant, between you and Hinata."

"Oh." Ino took on a stern expression, much like the one she'd think she'd have had, if she had lost. Sakura frowned slightly, her hand reaching out for the blonde's which was resting somewhere near her head. She was slightly disappointed at the answer and tried not to show it. "I won!" Ino finished, grinning broadly, much to the dismay of Sakura, who stopped an inch short of taking that hand in hers. "You almost got me!" She defended herself, earning a giggle from Ino. "Did you really think I'd lose?" Ino mocked, causing Sakura's smile to grow wider. And then they just looked at each other and the silence fell.

"I'm sorry." The blonde girl said softly after a while, her eyes cast downward as she said so. Sakura gulped and then remembered where her hand was, and let it travel the rest of the way to Ino's, squeezing it lightly. "No, I'm sorry. I was stupid, you were right…" Ino sighed softly and shook her head, before letting herself look up again and into Sakura's eyes. "I didn't really mean what I said."

"I know." Another silence. It wasn't awkward, nor heavy, but not comfortable either. Something was missing. "I love you, Ino." Sakura's voice was soft, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears – happy tears. Ino felt like these words had given her wings. She almost couldn't believe it had finally happened, and that Sakura had finally said that. It was too good to be true. "I love you so much, Sakura." She answered after a moment of erratic breathing, trying to control the flood of emotions that ran through her. The pink haired girl squeezed her hand a bit tighter, and opened her mouth to say something. But she realized nothing else had to be said.

For the first time since Sasuke left, Sakura felt like it wasn't so bad anymore. Sure, he was still her friend, and she cared about him. But now that he was gone, she had the chance to realize what she was missing by clinging to him the way she did. She had realized that she had Ino. Not only that, but she was happier than ever, with her. Oh my god, what will Naruto say when he finds out…

AN: TADA! Wee I'm happy I finished that chapter :P Been on it for 3 days straight! It was one of those chapters you start writing thinking you don't have all that much action or stuff to pack in, but as you keep writing, you keep feeling like it's not complete, it's missing something. You can pack some more stuff with it. Give you an idea? At first I wanted to just throw in the action until Ino's fight. And make Genma announce that intermission. But guess what, I was just as impatient as the crowd and the fighters! Haha. I'm pretty proud at how sweet the end of my chapter turned. Oh yeah: SURPRISE! Sakura never resigned! I'm that kind of evil person, I leave cliffys that don't look like cliffys, just to make people react :P

Special thanks to The Stupid Ninja for reminding me about the cuts part. I hadn't been able to fit the flashback in the previous chapter and I was about to forget about it, which in turn would've made it harder to justify Sakura's reaction to Kiba's attack - and a bit more of their interaction later on. Because, beside Ino and Sakura, Kiba's my fave character! So he's still got a part to play. Also big thanks to everyone who's reviewed, or been with me from the beginning. You guys are all courageous! Now stay tuned for the big final match between Ino and Sakura! As well as the answer to "Why the hell are these Hawk nins in the story to begin with?"