Rivals and Tribulations

A woman sat on a large pillow-like cushion with her back to a hanging wall scroll that read Konoha Festival of Arts on a wide, wooden, black-lacquered stage lit by numerous rows of candles on its two edges; a single white bandana'ed drummer positioned in the four corners of the raised bit of flooring.

Sakura thought Kurenai looked beautiful in that red and white kimono, with her long, silky, black locks swept up in an array of colorful pins and combs. Sakura found herself entranced with the way the torch light, from the two floor standing torches on either side of the woman's sitting position, flickered in the female's ruby eyes as she held a shining, silver flute tightly to her lips.

Catcalls came from the women and loud whooping came from the men and children in the crowd as four individuals walked up the back steps onto the platform of sorts before them, their final positions being at the edge of the stage in a single line.

Sakura shook her head next to her three female friends, from the old Rookie Nine, as an overly excited Ino, who had latched onto her arm and began to shake it in her excitement exclaimed, "Oh good god, Forehead! Oh my god! They all look so hot!"

Of course, Sakura was a kunoichi…and she sorely had to agree.

Each man wore nothing but black flowing pants tied at the waist with a white sash that matched the equally white material covering their feet. The shirtless males each sported a black head wrap that tied at the back, its sheer material hanging down between their sculpted shoulder blades. Their hands were wrapped in black binding that stopped at the middle of their forearms. Pale met tan on that stage as Lee, Sai, Naruto, and Neji stood side by side, each male's defined chest and torso splayed with inked Kanji that spelled out the word F-I-R-E.

Sakura sent a little wave to her two men as the four bowed to the gathered spectators, before three of them went to kneel before Kurenai, their backs straight as a board with their fists resting on their thighs facing the crowd.

The kunoichi smirked as Naruto, standing center stage, struck a fist to a palm and bowed once more, before Kurenai's single breath into her instrument started the show. With that beautiful melody came the sound of drums. The moment the four musicians' chanting began, the blonde's body began to move to the beat, his hands and feet in fluid martial art motion.

"Wow, never thought I'd say this, but, Hinata, you're one lucky lady," Ino breathed in wonder as Naruto did a serious of back flips, before taking up yet another stance with hands striking out at an invisible opponent.

"Sh," Sakura hissed as Hinata, blushing beside the pink haired woman, stuttered out a, "T-Thank you. I-I think."

As the tempo of the drums picked up its pace and the chanting became louder, she watched Sai jump to his feet and rush forward to engage the other man in staged combat.

It was pure poetry in motion as her two favorite men began to spar on stage, each hit, each kick, each sweep of the leg set to the music around them.

"Wow, Sai looks so hot." The flapping lips of the woman on Sakura's other side continued on, "I'd like to lick the sweat off his-"

The blonde was effectively shut up by a sharp hit to the back of her ponytailed head.

"What the hell, Forehead?!" Ino barked as TenTen gave an appreciative hum on the Yamanaka's other side, "Mm, lady's gotta point though."

Watching Lee spring up to join in the fray of battle, Sakura snorted with derision, "Shouldn't your eyes be on a certain Hyuuga?"

The woman with the two buns on her head merely gave a laugh, "He's not up yet, so the rest are free range at the moment."

Sakura shook her head, giving an amused, "You're terrible," just as Sai blocked both Naruto and Lee's attacks with a raised and lowered hand, before dropping and sweeping a leg out in an attempt to knock his opponents off balance.

"She's terrible?" Ino snidely asked as she reprimped the back of her hair, "You're terrible."

Hearing Tenten cheer as Neji finally took his turn to jump forward, Sakura asked, "How do you mean?"

The blonde woman on her other side gave a snort, "You're doing exactly what you did to Naruto to Sai."

Sakura finally pried her attention away from the stage to the smug woman beside her, with a quirked brow and an even more confused tone, "What the hell are you going on about now, Ino-Pig?"

Ino crossed her arms as the crowd cheered for the massive four-way theatrics going on onstage that were highlighted only by the glowing fires around them, "You know what I mean. Saying you don't want him, but still keeping him all to yourself." Challengingly leaning closer, the blonde gave an arrogant, "That's what," that was barely heard under the thunderous applause that erupted around them, after Neji's fists struck out at all three of his opponenets in a blur to the now wild beat.

Suitably provoked, never one to back down from her supposed rival's challenges, Sakura crossed her arms and leaned forward herself, "It's not my fault the bastard never looks your way. Maybe you should work on that personality of yours."

Ino, severely angry, pressed her forehead to Sakura's hard, "Oh yeah?" Grinding their brows together the kunoichi all but snarled, "Well, maybe you should find some miracle jutsu for that flat chest of yours?!"

"Hey, hey!" Sakura felt Hinata's hands on her arms as Ino felt the same from TenTen; the weapon master's weary voice breaking through the tension, "Not again. Come on. Break it up, you two!"

With both women begrudgingly pulling away, Ino huffed, while crossing her arms over her chest, agitated gaze back on the climax of their entertainment before them, "If you don't want him, then stop butting in all the time. Let someone else have a chance at him."

"I don't butt in and you don't have a chance." Sakura calmly replied as her gaze hovered over the panting man in question, who was currently bowing in the males' line of four to the crowd –their performance having come to an end.

"Oh yeah?" Ino retorted as three of the four shinobi jumped down from the raised platform. With the sweaty, shirtless males heading their way, the blonde added snidely to Sakura, behind that wide set smile sent to her pale teammate looking their way, "Maybe I would, if you weren't always around him all the time. And don't give me that, 'but he's my teammate' bull."

Sakura blew out a, "Whatever," in turn, flicking her gaze from a scowling Sai, who was pushing Naruto's damp arm from around his shoulders as they approached, to the now empty stage over his shoulder.

However, her gaze was forced back to Sai's features as he came upon her asking, with Naruto giving Hinata a sweaty hug to her other side, "Did I perform adequately?"

Ino all but pushed her out of the way as she replied, with Neji talking quietly to a beaming Tenten on her other side, "You did great, Sai! You looked so cool and your outfit is so totally hot looking too!"

The words, 'You're doing exactly what you did to Naruto to Sai,' repeated in Sakura's ears as she looked upon that mask of creased eyes and upturned lips given in turn to her smitten rival, a sudden tightness forming in her chest.

The kunoichi pushed that unwanted feeling away, while giving a pat to the male's flushed shoulder with a hand, forcing her own smile upon her face, "You did great."

Sakura didn't see the male's lips fall as she turned away, nor did she see the way his slightly concerned gaze seemed to linger on her form as she made her way through the crowd, suddenly intent to be alone. However, her ears did register Ino words and that audible pull of her teammate's arm as she prodded him along, "Come on, Sai. Forget about that party-pooper. Let's go have some fun with the others."