Chapter 14:

~Tsuki's POV

The fight between Shino and Zaku wasn't particularly long. Shino won with hardly any difficulty. Shino had a swarm of parasites ready to attack Zaku from behind. And with just one working arm, Zaku was in a no-win situation.

So Zaku forced his other arm to work. But just as he was about to attack Shino and the swarm, his arms literally blew up from the inside. Turns out Shino had plugged up the air holes in Zaku's hands. That was a brilliant, yet scary, move. But of course, I've seen scarier.

Lee and Neji were bewildered, so Neji used his Byakugan to look at Shino's chakra. He discovered that Shino hadn't used a summoning jutsu, but rather the insects lived inside of him.

Gai-sensei and Neji then explained how Shino's clan make a pact with the insects. They allow the insects to live in their body and feed off their chakra, and the bugs do whatever the master says. Interesting.

"Man, that Shino is good!" Naruto said. "With him being so quiet? I can't wait to get my shot at him!"

"Whoa," Sakura sighed. "I thought Shino was weird before, but now…"

"Zaku deserved it, if you ask me," Taiyou huffed, folding her arms.

"You're just saying that because he made Sasuke go completely berserk in the Forest of Death," I said, watching the medics take Zaku away on a stretcher.

Taiyou glared at me. "Do you always have to make fun of me?"

"It's my job," I shrugged innocently.

Tenten, Sakura, and Naruto laughed a little bit. Taiyou kept glaring at me until we heard Hayate start to speak.

"Uh, alright, everyone," he said. "Moving right on to the third match."

Kakashi-sensei appeared behind Sakura and Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hi," he greeted.

"What do you mean, 'hi'?" Sakura nearly shouted. "Is that all you can say? What about-What about Sasuke? How is he?"

"Oh, he's fine," Kakashi-sensei told her. "Sleeping soundly in the infirmary."

Sakura sighed in relief. Taiyou and I stared at Kakashi-sensei, wondering what really happened.

Our questioning thoughts were answered when he gave us a wary glance. We understood perfectly. Orochimaru tried to go after Sasuke with no time to waste. And judging by the Jounin's expression, Sasuke was being heavily guarded.

The next match was Kankuro vs. Misumi Tsurugu, Kabuto's last teammate. This match wasn't too long either. Misumi had the upper hand in the beginning, being able to dislocate his bones and control his flexibility with his chakra. It was kinda freaky how he used his newly stretched body to restrain Kankuro.

Misumi, and everyone else, thought he broke Kankuro's neck. But the Kankuro he had a hold of turned out to be a puppet. The real Kankuro was in the wraps he always carried on his back. He was really controlling the puppet with chakra threads. Let's just say Misumi forfeited after his bones started to be crushed by Kankuro's puppet.

"He controlled that puppet with his chakra from a distance," Tenten said.

"You did the same thing with your arrow during our first training together, right, Tsuki?" Lee asked.

I nodded. "It's a useful technique when using ninja tools. Your chakra usually has to be controlled at least near perfect and in tune with your weapon."

"Two against one is hitting below the belt, isn't it?" Naruto asked. "I mean, is that even fair? Kakashi-sensei?"

"It's not really two against one," the silver-haired Jounin responded. "It's a puppet, not another ninja."

"Yeah, it's just a puppet master jutsu," Sakura said.

Taiyou spoke up. "He's controlling the puppet with chakra. Like Tsuki said before, you can control the movements of ninja tools from a distance by connecting your chakra to them. The puppet is a ninja tool, like a shuriken."

We all watched as they took Misumi away on a stretcher.

Sakura excused herself and left. I saw Ino follow her after a moment.

"I wonder who's going to fight next," Taiyou sighed.

I turned and got off the rail, setting myself on my feet. "You only say that because you don't have to worry about fighting yourself." I looked at her and leaned back on the rail, holding onto it.

"Hey, now, I just came out of captivity and fought unnecessarily for my life and others in the Forest of Death," she countered. "I deserve to relax right now."

I glanced at my team and Hinata on the far side of the balcony. 'Yes, but these fights are getting dangerous,' I thought silently.

Sakura and Ino came back. That was Hayate's cue.

"Now let's continue. It's time to begin the fourth battle."

The panel began randomizing the names.

"Well, no matter who's picked, it'll be two weirdos," Naruto scoffed. "This contest is chalk full of 'em."

"Well you're one to talk," Kakashi-sensei joked.

"Yeah, good point," Sakura agreed.

"Hey, give me a break!"

Taiyou and Sakura giggled. I would have laughed, if I wasn't shocked by the pairing that appeared on the panel.

Kakashi-sensei put a hand on Sakura's shoulder and cleared his throat. "This isn't the time for laughter."

SAKURA HARUNO

VS.

INO YAMANAKA

Sakura gasped and whirled around to face Ino, who became just as surprised. The girls faltered for a second, but shrugged off their surprise and put on their game faces. They went down to the battle zone.

"I never thought I'd fight you," Ino said. "Or at least I didn't think it would happen this soon. But don't expect me to go easy on you."

Sakura didn't respond.

I remember how Hinata told me Sakura and Ino were the best of friends as kids. But when they got into the academy, they buried their friendship after fighting about who would date Sasuke. It's a shame, really, seeing how Sasuke's been engaged since he was three and they lost their friendship between each other for nothing.

But now the two lost friends were fighting each other. One was ready, the other was hesitant.

"I hope Sakura doesn't choke," Taiyou muttered.

"Go Sakura! You can do it! Don't lose!"

I grinned awkwardly. "With Naruto as her pep squad, I don't know if she'll be able to choke."

"Begin," Hayate signaled.

Almost immediately, the girls ran at each other. Sakura kicked at Ino's head. Ino ducked, then she threw a punch. Sakura blocked it and crouched, kicking at Ino from below, twice. Ino back away. Sakura threw three shuriken at Ino. Ino dodged one, caught another and threw it back to counter the last.

"Oh, no," Chouji groaned. "I just knew it."

"Sakura's totally blowing Ino out of the water in this battle," Naruto cheered.

"What a fool," Shikamaru scoffed.

"What did you say to me?"

"You wanna make something of it? Go ahead, 'cause you'll lose."

"Who do you think you are?"

"That's it?" Neji said. "That's as good as kunouchi can get at hand-to-hand combat?"

"What?" Naruto rounded.

"It's not because they're girls, you know, Neji," Tenten scolded.

"It's just because those two are using kick-gloves," I clarified. "It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman in battle."

Naruto was confused, as always, but no one bothered to explain.

The girls kept going at each other. But then Sakura left herself open for Ino to punch her in the stomach. She recoiled. Ino went to punch Sakura in the face before the pink-haired kunouchi could recover. But Ino slapped her at the last second.

All of us were amazed. Sakura looked at Ino, and Ino looked at her hand. They just…stood there.

Sakura balled her fists. "Alright, listen up, Ino. I'm not going to fight with you over Sasuke."

"What did you say?" Ino yelled.

"I'm not the weak, needy girl I used to be! You're not even on my radar, and you're not Sasuke's type! Ino pig!"

"I cannot believe they're arguing about this," I sighed.

"I can't believe Sasuke didn't mention anything," Taiyou said. "I mean, just because our clan was raided and we disappeared, you'd think he'd use the excuse to keep the girls away."

"Huh? Mention what? What excuse?" Naruto asked, catching our conversation.

Taiyou jumped. "Uh…Nothing! Just an inside joke between me and Sasuke is all," she said nervously.

"Taiyou and Sasuke were best friends before our clan was raided six years ago," I explained. "Don't think anything of it, Naruto."

"Thanks," Taiyou muttered.

"Sakura!" Ino screamed. "You'd better watch your step! You have any idea who you're mouthing off to? Gah! Don't press your luck with me, you little billboard-brow!"

"Did you…hear that stuff?" Naruto asked. "Sakura was so mean. That's out of line, isn't it? She sure made Ino mad. I've never seen her look so scary."

"Hmm, yes. But there's more to it than that," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Huh?"

"Sakura isn't the type of person to do things like needlessly flaunt her own power and carelessly hurt people. But she also doesn't like Ino having to take pity on her and pull her punches."

"So I'm a bud that hasn't flowered, huh?" Sakura said.

Sakura untied her headband and pulled it off. Whatever the significance was to that, Ino seemed to understand.

"What…What in the world is going on?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi-sensei replied.

"Why are those two getting so worked up just looking at each other?"

"…Well, Naruto, rivalry is a tricky business. Not that I would know."

Gai-sensei looked at Kakashi-sensei, who waved and laughed, "Oh, hi there."

I couldn't help but laugh behind my hand at the look on Gai-sensei's disgusted face.

Focusing back on the fight below us. Ino untied her headband from around her waist.

"I understand, Sakura," she said.

Both girls tied their headbands to their foreheads.

They ran at each other, both ready to throw a punch. But the amazing thing about these blows is that they hit each other, fist to fist. You could almost feel the force of the countered blows coming off. We were all sort of impressed by that. And we knew this fight was about to really start.

They ran at each other again, Sakura performing the Clone Jutsu and easily making two clones of herself.

"This isn't just the plain old academy exam," Ino mocked. "Do you really think you can beat me with just a basic ninja art like that?"

Ino stopped and tried to find out which Sakura was the real one. But Sakura was clever and took Ino by surprise. Her two clones disappeared in puffs of smoke while she landed a punch and sent Ino on her back a few yeards away.

"I'm not some crybaby anymore," Sakura said. "You play with fire, and you're gonna get burned! Let's see your best, Ino."

Ino got to one knee and wiped her mouth. "It's not like I needed your invitation you know. I'll give you my best, but you're not gonna like it!" She stood up.

"You're doing awesome, Sakura!" Naruto cheered. "Awesome! Believe it!""Powerful strikes while using chakra," Kakashi-sensei mused. "Top-notch considering she's a rookie."

"Huh?"

"I've never seen Sakura this good."

"Hold on," Naruto said, "you're not saying she's better than me."

"No, you're the greatest." Kakashi-sensei made his sarcasm obvious enough for Naruto to groan at it.

Sakura ran at Ino quickly.

"Yeah!" Lee almost shouted. I almost forgot he thought Sakura was the girl of his dreams.

Ino and Sakura threw punches again, but they each caught the other's fist. They pushed each other away. They both threw a shuriken, and the tools bounced off each other.

The match was going to last for some time. The girls were evenly matched. Especially when they both punched each other in the face at the same time with the same force sending both of them away from the other at an equal distance. It's been the longest battle so far: 10 minutes. And I had a feeling it wasn't near over.

They both sat where they were, catching their breath.

"This isn't how it was supposed to go!" Ino shouted. "How can you be evenly matched with me?"

Sakura smirked. "I guess you're right, Ino. Your obsession with your looks and your hair can't be surpassed. I've been training too hard to worry about that stuff."

Ino growled and took out a kunai. "You're gonna pay for that. I've had enough of you making fun of me."

Then Ino did the strangest thing. She cut her own hair short. To say the least, it amazed her team, Lee, Naruto, and even Kakashi-sensei.

"Hn," Sakura huffed. "You think that'll help?"

"That's it!" Ino screamed. She threw her cut hair at Sakura. "See? I don't need this!"

"And I thought she looked scary before," Naruto muttered.

Ino formed a hand sign. "Alright, I'm gonna put an end to this right now. Get ready to tell everyone you lost to me, billboard brow!"

"Wait, don't tell me…" Shikamaru trailed off.

"Could it be?" Chouji asked.

Ino changed her sign, her thumbs and two first fingers together.

"I knew I recognized it," Shikamaru scoffed. "It's the Mind Transfer Jutsu sign."

Asuma-sensei rubbed his head. "Aw, man. That fool."

'Interesting,' I thought. 'She's really going to use it against Sakura.'

"Look, I know you're frustrated," Sakura goaded, "but that's pointless."

"Oh yeah?" Ino challenged. "Well we'll just see about that."

"Ninja Art, Mind Transfer Jutsu. It's a jutsu that allows the user to take over their opponent's spirit and grasp control of their body away from them for a few minutes by discharging all of their own spiritual energy and striking their enemy with it. But despite its power, there are major flaws to this formidable jutsu that makes it extremely dangerous. First, the user's discharged energy can only fly straight, and it moves at a very slow speed. Second, even if the spiritual energy misses the enemy, it can't return to the user's own body for several minutes, and this in battles that measure only in seconds. I should add that while the spiritual energy is gone, the user's body, your body, Ino, can't move at all. It'll be little more than a doll."

"So what? I don't care! I won't know unless I try!"

Sakura got ready to run. "If you miss, it's all over. You do know that, right?"

Shikamaru gripped the rail. Him and the rest of his team were nervous.

Sakura took off.

"Don't do it!" Shikamaru called in a weak voice.

"Ninja Art, Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Ino's body went still. And so did Sakura's. Ino's dropped to its knees.

"Did it work?" Shikamaru wondered.

Sakura laughed. "What an unfortunate choice, Ino."

"So it's all over, right?"

"I can't believe she did it," Chouji said.

"Wait a minute," I said, looking closely.

"It's all over, Ino." Sakura tried to step forward, but her feet were restrained and pinned where she stood. "No way!"

"You fell for it, Sakura!" Ino said. "Ha! I finally caught you."

"It can't be!"

Ino laughed. "I'm afraid it can. All those hand signs earlier were just an act to fool you. To trick you into running right into the trap I've laid for you. And it worked. Now you can't move at all, can you? You're being held by a special rope made from my hair and the chakra I poured into it. Now that you're trapped, I can take over your body and make you say that you're giving up on this match." She made her hand sign. "Now there's no way that I'll ever miss with this jutsu now."

"Now I see," Kakashi-sensei said.

"You gotta get out of there, quick!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura struggled but couldn't move no matter what.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Both body's went still.

"That's really unfortunate," Sakura said.

"Ino missed!" Chouji whispered.

"No, wait," Shikamaru said.

"Sakura has been-"

"Nice one, Sakura," Naruto said, cutting Lee off.

"Not quite," said 'Sakura.'

"I knew it," Taiyou cursed. "Ino didn't miss after all."

"I don't get it," Naruto said. "What's with Ino and Sakura? Sakura's acting really strange. This is you chance!" he shouted. "Do it, Sakura! Attack!"

"The Mind Transfer Jutsu worked," Kakashi-sensei told him. "Sakura's done for."

"The Mind Transfer…Does that…Does that mean that Sakura has…?" Lee couldn't finish his question. But Kakashi-sensei understood.

"Yes," he said. "I'm afraid so. Sakura's spirit has completely been taken over by Ino."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Ino's spirit is inside Sakura now. Well, I'm guessing Ino's goal is probably…"

Ino, in Sakura's body, raised her hand. "Now I, Sakura Haruno, would like to say that I with-"

"No!" We all looked at Naruto. "Sakura, don't!"

Ino growled. "Man, that kid's just so annoying."

"You worked so hard to get here, Sakura! Don't disgrace yourself now by losing to that lame Ino girl!"

"Yell all you want. There's nothing you can do now." But Ino faltered suddenly. "What?" She held her head, as if in pain. "What's happening?" She groaned and screamed once or twice.

"Is this normal?" Taiyou asked.

"Not in the least," Shikamaru answered, staring in awe.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted. "This can't be happening!"

"What's wrong?" Hayate asked. "Are you withdrawing? Well, are you or not?"

"No I won't be withdrawing! Not today or any other day!"

"What's up with Ino? Something looks wrong," Shikamaru said.

"Sakura's fighting Ino's spirit," I said in amazement, and actually quite happy.

"Release!" And with that, Ino went back into her own body.

Sakura and Ino caught their breath.

"How can you have two spirits in you?" Ino wondered. "Just what are you anyway?"

"Someone who is just as strong as she is beautiful," Sakura replied. "I mean, a girl's gotta be tough if she's gonna survive something like this."

They ran at each other, each receiving a punch in the face. Their headbands flew off, completely loosened. They flew away from each other. Both tried to get up, but they were exhausted, and both Sakura and Ino went unconscious.

"Since neither combatant is able to continue," Hayate said, "by double-knockout, no one gets through the fourth battle of this preliminary. This match is over."

Shikamaru, Chouji, Naruto, Lee, and Tenten all gave comments of disbelief and protest.

Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-sensei went down to gather their students. They placed the girls sitting against the wall behind us. Shikamaru and Chouji called out Ino. Naruto and Lee did the same for Sakura.

"Shh," Kakashi-sensei told them.

Asuma-sensei stood up straight. "I don't think that treatment will be necessary. They'll probably just wake up after a little while. But they both certainly put up a great fight."

"Yeah. Despite her success with Naruto and Sasuke, I didn't think Sakura had what it takes to win here. But she's grown a lot. She may not have done as well as she would have liked, but still, a lot of good happened here. I feel like it was the right choice to send her to these Chuunin Exams."

"Just think, if what they're saying about Sakura and Ino usually being the back-ups," Taiyou said to me. "That was a really impressive fight, I say. Just think of what they'll learn in the future. I'd be scared, that's for sure."

"Yeah, but you're a new kunouchi here, Taiyou," I laughed. "Remember that. After these exams blow over, you'll probably be training with Kakashi-sensei everyday. Or even before then. So you'd be get ready."

We looked at the panel. And the names that appeared had me worried.

TENTEN

VS.

TEMARI

What really had me worried is that one of my best friends was about to face one of the Sand Ninja.

I'm back bitches! :D Let me tell ya, since I got that review from a person named RJ, I wrote FIVE chapters in THREE days. I was at a party last night and went to bed early so I didn't get a chance to update then. BUT I'M UPDATING NOW! :D And RJ, your question shall be answered soon, my friend. VERY soon. x3