Disclaimer: Notmine! Notmine-notmine-notmine! They're not mine! But hopefully nobody who can sue me will find out, or else there will be a lot of other things that aren't mine either, anymore...
Spoiler and Continuity notice: Er... if anything, this is an anti-spoiler section. You really need to know your Chuunin Exam canon well to immediately realize what's going on, so hold on tight!
Non-Yaoi Warning: Sorreeeee! There's nothin' to see here...
Violence Warning: There are fights in this chapter! More importantly, Anko is in the general vicinity of one of these fights; you should probably realize what that means, by now. You have been warned!
...And on that note, shall we begin? Comment and criticism is always welcome, so please review! But before you get to that, i guess i ought to give you something to read, yes? Okay, no more dawdling this time, because the previously scheduled battle is already in progress!
-Eimii
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SECOND BATTLE: BREATH, PART III
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"...Gai?"
"Hmm?"
"...What exactly did you mean, when you told Sakura to 'remember her training'?"
Absently kicking his current enemy across the gallery, the bushy browed jounin turned to look over his shoulder at his comrade. "While I must admit, your progress with Sasuke is impressive, and whomever you found to train Naruto did his job surprisingly well, you were foolish to ignore little Sakura-chan, Kakashi." Though his tone was only mildly reproachful, Gai finished his reply with a self-satisfied smile that seemed to say, 'Haha! You are truly a worthy opponent, my eternal rival, but this time, victory is mine!'
Pausing, the mightiest taijutsu master of Konoha faced forward and motioned expectantly at a wary pair of Sound nins. "You left your adorable subordinate in quite a bind, you know," he continued, countering the attacks of the two hostile ninja with almost effortless ease as he lectured the gray-haired shinobi. "They say a maiden's heart burns like a beacon for the man she loves, but a kunochi is a warrior as well as a woman. Even if your other students shine brighter, that is no excuse for letting that girl's flame go untended." Noticing that his rival was barely paying attention, but refusing to be defeated by Kakashi's hip, unconcerned attitude, Gai pressed on. "It's fortunate that she came to me for help. If it were neglected any longer, the determination in her heart might have simply burned out..."
"Hah! I think I'd be more worried about the way she keeps stickin' her hand in the fire!"
Alerted by that familiar, playfully sadistic voice, the two Hidden Leaf jounin glanced up just in time to avoid the shower of mangled body parts that signaled the arrival of Mitarashi Anko. The Sound ninja's eyes were wide with shock when his head bounced to a rest at Gai's feet, and bits of gore continued to rain around them from the ragged red smear splattered across the ceiling above. Anko herself landed lightly atop one of the seats a few rows down, leering like a maniac as she licked the blood from her fingers.
...She- she stole my metaphor! And before Kakashi could even react to it! Trembling at the indignity, though still impressed by the brunette's ironic timing, Gai was reluctantly forced to call this match with Kakashi a draw on account of interference. Still, that didn't mean that he would be denied victory. "That reminds me of a child I once knew," he mused wistfully, sizing up the younger woman. "I can remember how she used to come to school with burned fingers and lumps on her head, after trying to steal sweet chestnuts from street vendors..."
The kunoichi's expression soured for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Heh, well, if we're talkin' ancient history here, I can remember a few things too, fuzzy," Anko purred with a predatory grin. "I doubt anyone could forget the time you-"
"Ahem, did you want something, Anko?" Kakashi interjected, clearing his throat. The copy-ninja's expression of inquiry was for the examiner alone; it was as if Gai wasn't even there.
Such- such style! It was all the green-clad ninja could do to keep from crying in frustration. Kakashi's tone when he'd interrupted Anko had struck the perfect balance between disinterest and impatience to completely take command of the conversation- and now he owed Kakashi for that conveniently timed save! The battle rages on! I must not fail in my next attack! Clenching his fist in determination, then planting it firmly in an unfortunate Sand shinobi's face, Gai valiantly sallied back into the fray. "Indeed, Mitarashi! What business do you have here? Shouldn't you be attending to your emergency duties?"
"I was on my way when I saw you and broom-head here talkin' to those kids," the brunette replied testily, flicking a couple needles over her shoulder. She was forced to shout her next question over screams of pain, as a blinded ninja stumbled past them and fell through the hole Gai had punched in the wall. "Y'mind tellin' me what the hell yer doin', sendin' a clone off on some errand in the middle of a battle?"
Clone? Gai had no idea what Anko was talking about. None of the genin could have been clones, since clones instantly vanished when they were knocked unconscious. Looking to the man with the plan provided no revelations, as the masked jounin had trained his face to a strategically sound, 'You don't need to know that,' expression. Cool under fire as always, Kakashi! Still, armed as he was with a wit mighty enough to ferret out even the most elusive truth, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha didn't need any support to face the wild woman's inquiry. "I think you're mistaken, Mitarashi. I'm sure none of them were clones," he declared incredulously.
Anko's reaction wasn't the whiny denial or chastened sulkiness that he'd expected from her, however. "You- you mean you didn't-" she sputtered, grinning even wider than before as she shook with some barely contained emotion. A glance at Kakashi's impassive face only seemed to strain her control further, until finally the dam burst with a torrent of mocking laughter. "NEITHER of you noticed that Sakura-chan was a clone?! HAHAHAH! That's )$#in' hilarious!"
Reeling as the banshee's cry mercilessly castrated his ego, Gai nearly missed the fractional widening of Kakashi's eyes that indicated the gray-haired ninja had also taken a mortal wound. Only now do you understand, Kakashi, the venomous bite of disdain... Feeling a new camaraderie with his life-long rival as they stumbled together into Anko's masterfully laid ambush, Gai rallied his spirits anew and faced their cackling foe.
"What would you know of it, Mitarashi?" he demanded, graciously taking point in their counterattack. When the laughing woman had spoken Sakura's name, the battle of words had unexpectedly come full circle, and his time had finally arrived. "Though I am a fair man, and know better than to drink from the poisoned spring of gossip, even my wonderful, pure-hearted Lee has had his ears sullied by the rumors circulating about you and my precious new student- and now this! It just seems too coincidental!"
Standing back to back with Kakashi to show the righteous solidarity of platonic teacher love, Gai pointed an accusing finger at the examiner. "If the girl who was here just a moment ago was truly a clone, then tell me, what have you done with my darling Sakura-chan?"
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-$%#&, we've gotta be getting close to Sasuke by now! It's now or never! Sakura tried not to fall out of the canopy as she strung together the seals to form a single, slightly unusual bunshin. It would have been a cinch if she didn't have to studiously avoid focussing on the quartet of Hidden Sound nins dashing through the forest ahead of her.
Thanks to her genjutsu, she was reasonably sure they hadn't noticed her following them yet, but the green-haired girl didn't know how well her concealment would hold if they sensed her hostile intent before she was ready. To keep her attention diverted for the moments it would take to catch up, Sakura concentrated on adjusting the weapons she had hidden in her kimono. The ones she'd be counting on the most were a tad slippery, but she didn't have time to worry about it now. Here goes nothing...
Invisibly overtaking the team of hunters as they were maneuvering around a wide break in the tree cover, Sakura jumped straight through the middle of the clearing as her clone leapt high into the sky above. When her enemies looked up in surprise, both she and her doppelganger reached into their sleeves and pulled out twin handfuls of wetly glistening needles, fanning them out in a deadly spray to either side. Two of the four chose to parry the projectiles with kunai, rather than dodge. While they had little trouble intercepting the illusory needles raining from above, they didn't even notice Sakura's 'shadow' attacks. One of them had enough time to stagger to the ground before the paralytic poison took effect, but the other simply dropped like a stone.
Landing lightly, the concealed kunoichi nearly fainted in relief when she noticed that her remaining targets were still ignoring her as they warily scanned the battlefield; her real attack had been hidden cleanly. Sakura then turned her gaze skyward to see a badly damaged bunshin falling toward her. The clone had been almost completely dismembered, and white smoke bled lazily from nearly a dozen holes in its body, but it was dissolving much more slowly than normal- exactly as she'd hoped. Moving into position, Sakura formed a series of seals and prayed. STABILIZE!
The effect was immediate. Springing back to 'life,' the clone flipped in midair to land on its newly reformed feet. Smoke streaming in to fill its wounds, the illusory swordsman grabbed his katana and rushed one of the remaining Sound nins, who didn't seem to know what to make of this startling development. Shadowing her decoy as close as she dared, Sakura drew her own sword and grabbed a few more needles out of her sleeve, moving in for the kill.
The older ninja managed to react in time to block her clone's first slash with relative ease. Simultaneously, Sakura launched her own strike to land at the exact same spot, making it feel like it was a real attack. The startled look in his eyes was encouraging; he'd reacted out of caution, and wasn't expecting the blow to be solid. Her best chance at remaining undiscovered was to keep them too confused to realize she was there.
Sakura then had to twist out of the way as the ninja still perched in a tree at the opposite side of the clearing hurled a kunai at her bunshin's back. It passed clean through, leaving a smoldering gash in the clone's shoulder and forcing Sakura's current opponent to dodge as well. The nearer shinobi dug a cross-wise gash in the bunshin's chest with his kodachi as he spun aside, but the green-haired kenshi just kept coming. His wild swings carried the weight of Sakura's unseen sword even as he disintegrated before their disbelieving eyes.
Finally finding an opening that she was sure her more distant foe wouldn't be able to see, Sakura ducked under a slightly overextended a jab, her left hand darting out with the speed of a striking viper. The green-haired girl folded the needles she'd been clutching back into her sleeve as the ninja crumpled, two small holes hidden in the crook of his armpit; the serpent's venomous bite.
Planting her sword, Sakura performed the bunshin restoration jutsu once more. Three down, one to go! she affirmed with new confidence, even as her immortal ringer stood triumphant over their most recent victim. The young kunoichi was then forced to hurl herself to the side as a veritable cloud of shuriken passed through the space where she was standing.
()#&$! Has he seen me?! A glance at the hostile ninja found him scanning the clearing warily, even though she was still out in the open. So her genjutsu hadn't been broken... Then how? Looking back at where her bunshin still stood, Sakura nearly groaned at her own stupidity as the blade of her sword, stuck upright in the ground, glinted at her tauntingly.
After she'd kept still for several seconds the Sound nin growled in frustration and reached into his thigh holster, pulling out what appeared to be a smoke canister. Ducking back into the cover of the trees, he tossed it into the center of the clearing, where it proceeded to puff out a thick, but not completely opaque fog.
Poison gas!? With his teammates down?! It didn't seem likely, but Sakura grabbed a treated cloth out of her gear just in case. Hooking the straps of the emergency mask behind her ears, the green-haired girl pulled her scarf taut over top of it. As she was tying it behind her head, a faint whistling sound caught her ear. Sakura looked to her right just in time to see a few leaves on the ground leap into the air as if they were alive, before a glistening, half-seen ribbon of light shredded them to pieces. Wires?! Oh crap!
As the whistling sound approached again, Sakura made a desperate lunge for her sword. She grabbed it just in time to parry a pair of kunai that flashed out of the gloom, coming straight at her. He definitely saw me that time! she observed, trying not to panic as she ducked to roll under the hair-fine blade that sliced through the air at waist height a moment later. Drawing up short as another kunai thudded into the ground in front of her, Sakura's eyes widened as she noticed how the smoke swirled around it, almost tracing its path. Dammit, that's how he's tracking me! I've gotta get out of this smoke!
Her opponent didn't seem willing to cooperate, however. Between the singing coils of wire that kept her diving out of the way and the sharp bits of metal that came flying at her every time she tried to move faster than a crawl, Sakura's opponent was doing a pretty good job of boxing her in. Conversely, however, judging from the direction the attacks came from, the quick-thinking kunoichi had an excellent idea of where her enemy was. Now, if only she could think of some way to get to him in one piece.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like he was going to give her the chance. Even with her slowly repositioning herself every time she could find an opening, he was getting better at anticipating which way she would dodge. The kunai were coming out faster and more accurately each time the wire forced her to move. She'd already had a few close calls, including a few scratches and a long but shallow cut along the side of her thigh.
Aaargh, I don't have time for this! I have to catch up with Sasuke! Sensing the wire approaching again, Sakura pulled off her kimono and wrapped it around the sheath of her sword. She then had her bunshin run across the imaginary line she'd drawn between herself and her tormentor, and tossed the bundle behind the decoy, disturbing the smoke. When a handful of kunai burst from the fog to cut off the bunshin's escape, the wire approached at ankle height; he'd realized that she'd have to be touching the ground to change directions quickly.
The grim-faced kunoichi was counting on that. Jamming the sword into the earth at an angle and hopping up to balance on the hilt, she felt it vibrate as it caught the whip-like blade and wrapped it around. Then, drawing a kunai in one hand and her last two poisoned needles in the other, Sakura made a desperate dash for her last target, running as fast and as low to the ground as she could.
The edge of the clearing approached almost too quickly; it hadn't seemed nearly so close when she was stuck on the defensive. Surging up the tree that she'd pinpointed as the sniper's nest, Sakura was greeted by a foe with wild eyes and a ready sword. Crap! Too fast! She'd have had a first-strike advantage with her katana, but with her shorter arms and weapons he would be in range with his kodachi a moment before she was. To her surprise, however, his attack suddenly faltered mid-swing, allowing her to twist out of its path unscathed. Parrying his textbook follow-up jab, she planted a needle firmly in the side of his neck and flipped back out of reach.
Sakura waited to make sure he was truly paralyzed before liberating him of his short sword and moving to a safer position. Visually locating all of her known prey in the rapidly thinning haze, Sakura grew very still, straining her senses for any sign of hidden enemies. She was surprised when she found one almost immediately- and so close! She was practically on top of him! Dammit, I'm sure there were only four of them! Did they call for reinforcements? Shifting carefully, Sakura focussed on a patch of underbrush below, where she'd caught a hint of motion.
The subject of her scrutiny must have felt her hostile intent, for he immediately rose to his feet, revealing the familiar visage of her former classmate, Aburame Shino. "Who do you serve?" he asked without emotion or ceremony, not looking her way.
Shino? What's he doing out here? It was possible he was following Sasuke and the Sand nins as well, though it was just as likely to be a trap. A glance at her bedraggled bunshin revealed it to be in the final stages of disintegration, but it might still be salvageable. Carefully lowering herself to the ground and circling the suspect ninja, Sakura performed the restoration technique once more, holding the kodachi under her arm this time. The copy of her out in the clearing stirred without fail, slowly rising to his feet to face this new threat. "...The Fire Country," he answered cautiously, sheathing his own blade. "And you?"
"You're not very trusting," Shino observed, stepping out of the bushes.
The clone incredulously quirked an eyebrow. "Should I be?"
"Of course not."
Above! Momentarily distracted as she turned her gaze skyward, Sakura was surprised again when 'Shino' suddenly melted into a writhing mountain of bugs. Flowing across the ground in a living wave, the scuttling swarm nearly overtook her, but she managed to leap back into the trees before the radius of the attack reached her hiding spot.
"Are we done yet?" the taciturn boy queried from his perch on a nearby branch. He was looking in her direction warily, but Sakura could tell that he still wasn't sure where she was.
Breathing a tired sigh, Sakura sat down and made herself comfortable, laying her sword over her shoulder. "Alright, I'm satisfied. I've heard of the bug-using ninja clan of the Hidden Leaf," she admitted, releasing her genjutsu. A tiny thrill of satisfaction coursed through her as he flinched, ever so slightly. He'd been looking right at her without even realizing she was there.
Then the true reason for his surprise reared its ugly head. "...A girl," he observed intelligently, his gaze lowering by a fraction.
"Eh?" Glancing down, Sakura realized that her tattered gray tanktop was flayed open diagonally in front, and she wasn't wearing a bra underneath. Apparently she hadn't escaped the Sound nin's last attack completely unscathed. "Aaaaah!" Face aflame, the violet-eyed kunoichi favored her ogler with a murderous glare. "Wh-what are you looking at?! Turn around!" she screeched, punctuating the command with the point of her sword.
Surprisingly, Shino complied without argument, allowing Sakura to leap down and retrieve her kimono. "...How long have you been watching?" she asked as she smoothed it out and inspected the damage, her anger temporarily pushed aside as she remembered the odd way that Sound nin had hesitated. Going over it in her mind, Sakura realized that his body languge showed all the signs of being paralyzed in fear for an instant.
"I noticed the smoke, and arrived shortly before you defeated your last opponent," Shino answered candidly; from the sound of his voice, Sakura could tell he was still looking the other way.
So it was possible Shino had aided her. Despite herself, the green-haired girl couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "He seemed distracted when I attacked him. Was that your doing?"
"Unlikely; your final technique was quite... impressive." For a moment, Sakura almost thought the bristle-haired boy sounded a little uncomfortable. "Even had I attempted to divert his attention, I doubt I would have succeeded."
Huh? Final technique? Sakura failed to see how making a suicidal dash at a prepared opponent could be considered an impressive or even intelligent strategy. I swear, becoming ninja gives boys weird ideas. Still, the revelation that Shino hadn't helped her made her feel slightly better. She didn't need anyone to protect her.
Once she was done covering up, Sakura retrieved her katana and untied her makeshift mask. Winding the scarf around her neck a few times, she removed her poison filter and put it away. "Okay, you can look now," she declared, crossing her arms over her chest.
Stepping into the clearing, Shino favored her with a flat look of appraisal, lingering for a moment on her uncovered face. "You look familiar," he declared without inflection; it was a statement of fact, rather than an insinuation.
He didn't even apologize for staring! Sakura noted, her eyebrow twitching in irritation. "...I have relatives in Konoha," she replied dryly. The tanned girl didn't have time to show him the error of his ways, and it was less suspicious-sounding than the complete truth.
Shino nodded in understanding; he'd probably seen her clone sitting with Ino in the stands. Once again, Sakura felt like strangling Anko for not letting her swap places with the damn thing before this entire mess started. That woman is up to something... She'd have to worry about the jounin's meddling later, though; she had a job to do first. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be going," she concluded impatiently. "I promised I'd keep an eye on someone if anything happened at the exam, and-"
"You're following Uchiha Sasuke?"
This frank observation gave team seven's kunoichi a moment of pause. "...And if I am?" she ventured warily.
The bug boy didn't answer immediately; he was probably still deliberating how far to trust her."...I overheard a conversation between the Hidden Sand genin before Nara's fight," he offered after a moment. "They have some plan that cannot proceed without Uchiha Sasuke's presence. I do not believe the judge was aware of this when he ordered Sasuke to chase Gaara and the other Sand nins. I am attempting to intercept Sasuke before he catches up to them."
"I have no objections to that." Indeed, Sakura was feeling vindicated and grateful that she wasn't the only one concerned for Sasuke's safety. "But I suggest neither of us waste any more time," she suggested urgently; this new information had only increased her worries. "I was shadowing these ninja because I believe they were tracking him. Unfortunately, they're better trackers than I am, so it's going to take some time to find the trail they were following."
"That won't be necessary; I can follow them by scent," Shino corrected in the same matter-of-fact tone that he always used.
"Eh? How?" Could bugs do that? Sakura supposed it made a certain amount of sense. Scent was the most primitive of the senses; even some of the simplest single-celled organisms could 'smell' the chemicals in their environment. She'd never heard of bugs finding people that way, though.
The sunglass-clad boy motioned for her to follow. "Come, I will explain while we move..."
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"...This scent!"
"What now?! The shampoo again?!"
"...A fight, kid," Pakkun grumbled testily. "The ninja following Sasuke got into a fight."
"Huh? A fight?" Pausing before his next leap, Naruto turned to give Kakashi's weird pet an angry, impatient look. "With Sasuke?"
The dog shook his head. "No, one of the five fought and defeated the other four, and then left with... something else that arrived afterward." The pug-faced mutt grimaced, and Naruto was proven wrong; he actually could get uglier. "Those two are still following Sasuke."
That seemed like an awful lot of information to find out with just your nose, the blonde boy thought- and what did it matter if the folks chasing Sasuke beat each other up? "How do ya know there was a fight?" he prodded incredulously, bounding to another branch to keep up with the pink-haired girl ahead of them.
Sighing, the summoned beast elaborated. "All of them smell like blood, and the four that stayed behind stink like they're sick. The one that left smells strongly of poison." He sniffed the air thoughtfully. "To be more specific, the poison is a neurotoxin made out of vines that grow only in the Forest of Death; it's commonly used by Konoha ninja."
"Konoha? That one's on our side, then, right?" Naruto pointed out, his excitement fading into irritation.
"We can't know that," Pakkun cautioned with a grave frown... or maybe that was just his regular face, but he certainly sounded serious. "They were traveling close, but it's impossible to say if they were together, of if the fifth ninja was following the others. If they were together, that one could be a traitor for either side-"
"No, the one that used the poison is definitely an ally. I'm sure of it," Sakura cut in mysteriously, not taking her eyes off of the trees ahead. The only thing readable in her voice was the absolute certainty that she was right. "What about the last one?"
Sakura-chan... Naruto was starting to worry about his teammate. She was acting normal before they left the stadium, but she'd been almost eerily unemotional since; she hadn't even stopped running when the stupid dog asked about her shampoo. Well, at least she's talkin' now... he mused uncertainly.
Pakkun's manner again grew uncomfortable. "...That one is even more worrying," he explained hesitantly. There was definitely a frown on his ugly mug this time. "It's not even human..."
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Author's Notes: Well, another section finished! As it stands now, "Breath" will have around five of them before i move on to a new chapter title. Now, before i go further, i'd like to state how much i despise the new 'text formatting' that fanfiction.net has implemented. It totally strips out all of my regular formatting, meaning i have to code everything in acceptable HTML by hand it order to make it look somewhat right, it removes all special characters, and makes it impossible for me to put emotes in this section. I am very annoyed. But, at any rate, this one was a bit easier to write, thankfully, and i'm only a few days behind schedule. Regarding Naruto and Pakkun's comments about shampoo, you'll need to have seen the anime version of this scene to get that one, but in canon, Sakura was very... upset. Hopefully, seeing Sakura finally get to kick some butt after all this time was a pleasant change for you folks looking for a little action. There are at least three or four more fight scenes to come in this chapter, but i'll try and keep the characterizations up; none of the fights from here on out go anything like they do in canon, except for maybe Sasuke's fight with Gaara, but i don't wanna reveal too much. Anyhow, on to the reviews!
lackey H: Er... Sorry about makin' you a liar. Still, you're years to early to challenge my 'no updates' streak for all of my other fics. I won a mock award for it once. Heh... i wonder when Sakura will get a chance to tease Anko some more; it happens so seldom...
Sailor Tiamat: I think i'd be happy if Sakura was at least present in the current storylines. All of the girls (except for Temari) have pretty much vanished. I'm glad the characterizations are entertaining; Sakura is sharp, so she's fun to write. I may have trouble with some of the boys, though...
Sorako: Well, this chapter, and the ones to follow, will contain precious little 'retelling' if i have anything to say about it. Rehashing things people aready know, and which i don't want to change, is a pain. So on to the new and weird!
Lady Light: Glad you enjoyed it.
Jewel Song: That guy will probably pop up some more; i try noy to lean on original characters for main roles, but they can be fun for bit parts, and if they're entertaining and grow enough through the story, they sometimes graduate to supporting cast status... but we shall see. Thanks for reading!
red.junko: Well, er... it's... good that you feel that way...
Dan Inverse: Well, i did something of the sort, though i skipped a lot more than just the Shikamaru vs. Temari scene; maybe even some new stuff that y'all will just have to wonder about for a little while...
oOoshortayoOo: Heh, well, with no end in sight, i don't plan on dropping it any time soon...
sirk: Anko can be fun to write... and so can Sakura, really. Anko is mischievous and potentially mean, but in a playful way, and Sakura is witty, and deep down likes to complain, laugh at rude, juvenile jokes, and generally be an ass... er, a smartass. Maybe not all of this is canon, but if it makes for an entertaining read, i will continue to do it that way...
SJ: Sakura will depend on herself as much as possible. After all, how many times can she possibly do horrible, life and/or sanity threatening things to herself? Er... don't answer that...
Vash The Humanoid Sunshower: Well, i think i've captured one possibility for her character; we don't really see a whole lot of the female characters in Naruto, which is sad, but makes it easier to give them believable personalities that people might want to read about. I'm glad this possibility entertains you...
ClassicDrogn: Thanks! I think've i've got a long... long way to go before i could possibly write something i could get published, but a little encouragement is nice. Anko is sort of a moving target for me still, but hopefully it will become easier to write her over time. Regarding the common ways people write Sakura, i don't really like two-dimentional characters, even for bit parts, so making sure she had a bit of depth was paramount. I also tried to get away from the most often used 'quick empowerment' routes, though i might have failed a bit in that respect; i didn't fully grasp it at first (and it doesn't come out in the series much), but genjutsu can be frighteningly effective, since it doesn't matter much how 'powerful' the opponent is, and it seems to be relatively uncommon (Kabuto was impressed that so many of the Konoha ninja were able to counter his sleep genjutsu). But i try to balance Sakura's advances with the fact that she is mostly self-taught, and has a rather high change of really hurting herself trying to learn and use these things. Not sure what to say about her being easy on the eyes, though. She's twelve-thirteen and, by comparisson to the other girls in her class, slightly underdeveloped (if you don't believe me, look at how Kishimoto draws Hinata), and even her creator himself said that, in the end, the entire manga staff agreed, Sakura just isn't quite the definition of 'cute' (poor Sakura). Heh... Sasuke might actually look prettier in a dress than her, though Naruto probably wouldn't. I think i may flirt with the romance angles a bit, though mostly with the confusion that Sakura and Ino feel about the hell Anko is putting them through; more of the boys will be present in later parts, though i think i'll stick to having the girls in the spotlight. The suggestions about Anko and Iruka are intriguing, though; i shall consider it...
...and there you have it! Thank you everyone for bearing with me for so long. The true test of whether i can make Sakura an interesting heroine comes soon, so hopefully i can keep you reading until then. Please tell me what you think!
-Eimii