REQUESTS FOR THE SUMMONS HAVE ENDED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. WE HAVE ENOUGH TO GIVE EACH CHARACTER FIVE SUMMONS ;P. OKAY, MAYBE NOT, BUT YOU GET THE POINT.
Chapter FOURTEEN
The Yamanakas and the Akimichis soon arrived at the Nara compound. They called out greetings and the three clan heads gathered around a table while their wives went to prepare dinner. The children, including Choji and Ino, ran off to do whatever they usually did.
"Where's Shikamaru-kun?" Inoichi asked.
Shikaku sighed. "His friend came over earlier, and they've been stuck in a game of shogi ever since. They should come down soon."
"Friend?" Choza asked.
"Haruno Sakura. She's the new transfer student." Shikaku said.
"Sakura? The daughter of the ANBU that was killed by Orochimaru?" Inoichi asked, then lowered his voice. "The one from Kiri?"
Shikaku nodded. "Only a limited number of people know that part."
"Choji told me that she beat Sasuke in a spar." Choza said.
Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "Really? Sasuke's pretty good for his age."
"What do you think. His brother is a prodigy, a Chunin aiming for ANBU. I heard that he took the ANBU exams recently, and is waiting for the results." Choza said.
"Must be why Ino doesn't seem to like her." Inoichi chuckled.
The food was served, and Shikamaru and Sakura still didn't come down.
"Shikaku-ojisan, where's Shikamaru?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru sighed again. "He's in his room, playing shogi."
Choji approached them as well. "Really? With who?"
Shikaku glanced at Ino. "Haruno Sakura."
Ino's face twisted. "Oh, her."
"Haruno Sakura, the new girl?" Choji asked.
Ino nodded. "She hurt Sasuke-kun!" She stormed off and Choji followed her.
Yoshino came over. "Are they still up stairs?" She asked. Shikaku nodded. "I'll go get them." Yoshino said, and left.
"She's very polite, and not as troublesome as I thought." Shikaku told the other two clan head.
"Well, that's expected. Shikamaru-kun doesn't like to hang out with troublesome people." Choza chuckled
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Sakura followed Shikamaru the stairs. She had lost their first game, but had won their second. They had been in the middle of their third when Yoshino had called them down. Apparently, dinner had started.
"I'll introduce you to the other clan heads." Shikamaru said. "And after dinner, if we have time, we can finish our game."
Sakura nodded.
Many eyes turned to them when they appeared at the door way.
Shikamaru sauntered over to a table, where his father sat with two other people.
"Hello, father, Inoichi-san, Choza-san." Shikamaru greeted, trying to suppress a yawn. "This is Sakura-san." He continued.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, the way she did when she was trying to remember something, or if she was thinking. "Nice to meet you, Yamanaka-sama, Akimichi-sama." She bowed.
Inoichi chucked. "Likewise, Sakura-san."
Choza nodded. "Enjoy the food, it's delicious."
Sakura nodded, and Shikamaru tugged to towards a empty patch of grass. He lay down and Sakura followed suit.
"They seem to be getting along pretty well." Choza commented. Shikaku nodded.
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"It's a fox."
"No, it's a cat."
"It's a fox."
"Cat."
"Fox."
"Cat."
Shikamaru sigh. "How does that look like a cat?" He eyed the cloud they were currently arguing about.
Sakura pointed at said cloud. "That's the head, and that's the tail..."
"That could go for the fox." Shikamaru said.
"It's a cat." Sakura insisted. She crossed her arms.
"Fine." Shikamaru said. 'It's not.' His mind told him, but he pushed it away. This was getting troublesome.
Sakura offered him a small grin, and Shikamaru decided that he liked that expression more than her usual I'm-watching-you-and-the-moment-I-decide-that-I-don't-trust-you,-I-will-kill-you look.
"Tomorrow, we have to work in pairs, right?" Shikamaru asked.
Sakura nodded.
"If we can, do you want to...pair up?" He bit his tongue. Why had he asked that?
Sakura looked at his thoughtfully. "Sure." She said. "Depending on how things go, I think we'll be a pretty good pair."
Shikamaru smirked, and closed his eyes. "I just hope the two idiots wont kill me."
"Sasuke-san and Naruto-san?" Sakura asked.
Shikamaru nodded.
"You'll be fine." Sakura said.
Shikamaru wondered how this was going to work out. The laziest student in the Academy teamed up with the new seeming genius.
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Iruka glanced over the students. He called out the register, noting that Sakura and Shikamaru weren't there. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other. The blonde opened his mouth, but the sound of the door opening beat him to it.
"Then theoretically, it should be possible that transferring ones chakra into another would allow them to use the affinity that is transferred, right?" Sakura asked.
Shikamaru nodded. "That's theoretically, though. I think it would depend on the receiver's chakra control, as well as their original affinity, as some affinities are opposites and don't blend very well."
"Then what if..."
Sakura and Shikamaru walked up to their desks, and sat down. Shikamaru turned around in his seat to face Sakura, who sat behind him, and they continued talking as if no one else existed.
Iruka, though fascinated, attempted to get them to pay attention a few times, and finally gave up. He turned to the rest of the class and began talking about the importance of hand sighs.
"After break, we will start with the coordination stuff." He said. "So please come to the gym." He glanced at Sakura and Shikamaru, who were still locked deep in their conversation.
"...because, even though good Genjutsu users could defend themselves while keeping control over their Genjutsu, it will save stamina and chakra if there were teammates to support the caster." Sakura was saying.
"It also depends on the type of Genjutsu." Shikamaru said. "Some Genjutsu can be cast through touch and other can be simply cast though eye contact while..." He trailed off, looking thoughtful. "Is it possible to implant latent Genjutsus that are activated when something specific happens?" He asked.
"Like a trap of sorts?" Sakura asked. Without looking up, both of them stood as the rest of the class did. Shooting the two weird looks, their classmates began heading off to break.
Sasuke and Naruto hovered over the two, unsure of what to do. If Iruka were in their position, he would be too. After all, it wasn't everyday two Academy students talked about 'Chakra transfer and how the affinity might affect it' or 'If it were possible to cast latent Genjutsu'. When he was their age, he probably didn't know what 'latent' meant.
Feeling slightly sorry, though he didn't know the feeling was directed to, he stepped up to Sasuke and Naruto. "Well, why don't you to go ahead, and when they're done, I'm sure they'll catch up." He said.
Naruto's eyes lit up, and before the Uchiha could complain, the blonde dragged him off.
Sakura and Shikamaru didn't even seem to notice. Iruka sigh, and left them to their...conversation.
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After break, the students gathered in the gym. Sakura and Shikamaru stood in the corner, whispering at each other.
Iruka cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. "Now, we're going to start off with simple two on two spars." He said. "Then we will talk about the things you noticed, and how you can improve. Then we'll go back to the spars. The ones who had won their match will move up"-He pointed towards the back of the gym-"And the ones who lose will move down."
"As for the pairs-"
At once, girls swarmed Sasuke.
Iruka quickly cleared his throat. "I will put you into them." He said.
The girls groaned, but Iruka ignored them. He randomly paired people together. He hesitated next to Sasuke and Naruto, but ended up pairing them together. It could be a good experience for them.
He stopped in front of the talking pair, who were now arguing about a Fuinnjutsu. He patiently waited as they stopped and looked up. "You two are together." He said. He turned and left.
Sakura and Shikamaru blinked at each other. "Together for what?" Shikamaru asked.
"The two on two spar." Sakura said.
"You were listening to him?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura nodded. "This is so troublesome."
"At least we did get paired together." Sakura said. "I think I'll find this interesting."
"And there it goes. Haruno Sakura's 'interesting'. How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.
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"In this spar, you are allowed to use all the skills you know, but if anything gets out of hand, I will stop you. Nothing that will fatally hurt your opponents. Nothing that will kill your opponents either. Don't forget, this is to see how well you can work with others." Iruka said.
Shikamaru sigh.
"How do you win?" Ino asked.
"You win if your opponent gives up." Iruka said.
Sakura elbowed Shikamaru, and he winced. Sakura repeated her actions, and Shikamaru jumped away from her. "Calm down, troublesome woman." He muttered. "Iruka-sensei, do both opponents have to give up?" He asked.
Iruka nodded. "Once one person gives up, they can't re-enter the fight." He walked around the class, putting pairs with others.
"Okay, Shikamaru, Sakura with Ami and Kasumi." Iruka said. "Kiba and Hinata with..."
Ami and Kasumi stomped up to the two. "We're so going to beat you." Ami boasted. "I'll punch you so hard you'll go crying."
Kashumi nodded. "You'll pay for what you did to Sasuke-kun."
"Revealing information is the most simplest mistake anyone can make during battle." Sakura muttered.
Ami raised her hand. "Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei! Do we get a prize if we win?"
Iruka turned to her. "A prize? How about some sweets?" He asked.
Sakura blinked, and turned to Shikamaru. "Isn't that called bribing?" She asked. Shikamaru shrug.
"Is that allowed?"
Shikamaru shrug again. "I guess."
"If we manage to win, I'll go cloud watching with you anytime, as long as I'm free." Sakura murmured.
Shikamaru turned to her. "Really?" Sakura nodded. "Deal."
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Iruka positioned himself so that he could watch Sakura and Shikamaru's match. Shikamaru looked far less bored than usual, and Sakura's eyes were glinting as they discussed something.
"Ready, set, Go!"
Most of the pairs stood where they were.
Sakura flew forward, smashing her elbow against Kasumi's face. Kasumi cried out, and crumbled onto the floor, holding her cheek, which was rapidly turning purple. Sakura kicked her to the side.
Ami yelped, and quickly took a few steps backwards. "W-What are you doing?" She gasped.
"I'm fighting." Sakura said. "I though you were going to punch my face so hard that I was going to cry?" She asked.
She seemed to disappear, and Ami looked around frantically. Sakura appeared behind her, a familiar looking black chain in her hands. Shikamaru recognized it to be from her tonfas. Sakura gripped each end with her hands and wrapped the chain around Ami's neck. "Give up." She murmured.
Ami coughed, trying to breath.
"Give up." Sakura repeated, she tightened the grip on her chains, so hard that her hands were shaking.
Iruka stepped forward in panic, but Shikamaru stopped him. "She isn't choking her that hard." He said. "It's just an act."
Iruka stopped, and noted that Shikamaru was correct.
"It's for our next opponents." Shikamaru added, yawning. "If they're scared of us, they might give up more quickly."
"I-I give up." Ami choked out.
Sakura smirked. "Good girl." She said mockingly, letting go. "You didn't do anything. You finish it." She muttered.
Shikamaru sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. He walked up to Kasumi and nudged her with his foot. "Are you still going to fight?" He asked.
Kasumi rapidly shook her head. "I give up."
"Woohoo, we win!" Shikamaru said sarcastically.
Sakura rubbed her elbow. "How hard is her face?" She grumbled.
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"This is supposed to be a two on two fight." Sakura said. "You just stood there."
"Hey! You can't blame me if I wanted to avoid being knocked in the face. You fight like a banshee."
"Banshees scream." Sakura retorted. "Plus, that battle was boring. I wanna fight someone more...interesting."
Shikamaru snorted. They moved across one field, and came face to face with some people Sakura didn't know. Well, it didn't matter much anyways.
"So, who likes purple makeup?" She asked.
Okay. These are a bunch of fillers. We wanted to build up Sakura's reputation and get her (sort of) bipolar personality known. (Like, half-cold Sakura, other half-Ringo, Inner like Sakura.)
We think we'll skip a year or two in one of the next few chapters.
We're very excited about the mission to Wave, cause in a way, Sakura and Haku are similar.
Anyways, read and review!