Kei-Kei Yuki: Here is another new chapter~!

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Drabble Twenty

Sakura VS Ino

"Creepy." Sakura felt chills all over her body after watching Shino's match; Naruko, after congratulating Shino, stood beside her with her hands folded behind her head.

"Shino is a strong guy. It's not surprising that he won," stated Naruko, obtaining Sakura's attention.

"So you knew about the whole bug ordeal?"

"Of course! Shino was one who helped me plant that bug on Ami's back in the academy. Oh, and I can't forget about, Kaya, Fuji, and Flat-Chest Ino!" Hearing Naruko list out all those names, Sakura began recalling certain events, such as the time Kaya found a bug in her food, and the time Ami was chased by locusts, and the time a spider got stuck in Ino's hair.

Back then, Sakura was unaware that Naruko was the mastermind of those events, but now that she knew, Sakura felt lucky that Naruko never retaliated against her with such means. After Kakashi-sensei finally arrived, but not before telling them that Sasuke was okay and resting in the infirmary, the rest of the matches went underway.

Until finally, it happened: the fated battle between Ino and Sakura, two girls who were once friends yet, due to sharing similar feelings for a certain Uchiha, broke apart their friendship and turned into rivals. "So it finally comes to this, huh?" Naruko stared down at the two girls, aware of their past history with each other.

"Hmm, I'm sensing there is a story behind why those two became rivals," said Kakashi, smiling in amusement when he heard Naruko growl.

"Yep and it's all because of that girly teme!" angrily fumed Naruko, before cupping her hands over her mouth, voice loud and clear. "Damn it, Sakura-chan, don't you dare lose to Flat-Chest Ino!"

"Who the heck are you calling Flat-Chest, idiot!" Ino turned livid at this comment while Sakura felt thankful for having Naruko's support. Soon the battle between kunoichis commenced, and by the middle of the battle, it was Ino who took the lead.

Naruko, of course, did not like this. Naruko knew the story between Ino and Sakura; heck she was there when the two had broken off their friendship just because of both of them liking that damn teme. For a long time, the reason for their broken friendship had always annoyed Naruko.

'Just why, why would you break off such a sweet friendship because of that freaking teme!? It just doesn't make sense!' Naruko remembered venting these same words to Hinata, who later sat down and tried to explain it to her. But even after hearing Hinata's explanation, Naruko still could not wrap her head around it.

Since then things had always been tense between Sakura and Ino, only for fate to finally intervene and place them against each other. For a second, Naruko thought this was fate's way at trying to repair a once beautiful friendship. Only, Naruko did not like the sight of Sakura losing this match just because Ino did some mind trick on her.

That was not happening, not on her watch. For a long time, Naruko had always admired Sakura. Before Sakura started acting like the other kids that teased and isolated her. She was once a very shy and sweet girl that used to be teased by other kids as well. Naruko could still remember that day where she stumbled upon the sight of a crying Sakura.

For a fleeting second, the young Naruko had felt as if she met the girl somewhere before, but right before she could make up her mind to comfort the crying girl, someone had already beaten her to it. That, someone, was none other than Ino. Naruko would admit that a part of her felt a little sad at the time but was glad when she saw how happy Ino made Sakura.

She buried her own sadness and felt happy for Sakura. Even though both were bullied girls, Naruko was happy that at least Sakura had gained a friend from this ordeal. From then on, Naruko had always kept an eye on the pink-haired girl. Admiring her brains and tenacity, not to mention she was very adorable; all three qualities made Naruko want to befriend Sakura.

"Who wants to be friends with you, loser?"

By the time Naruko finally got the courage to ask Sakura to be friends with her, she had already changed into a different person. Did this ordeal break Naruko's heart? Definitely. But one thing about Naruko was that she did not like giving up. Sakura may have changed, but Naruko knew that deep down inside, Sakura was not like all those other kids who treated her differently.

That one day, the sweet Sakura, that she admired all those years ago, would surely return. A fact that had slowly started to prove itself true, so that was why Naruko knew that Sakura was stronger than she let herself believe.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Literally, everybody in the building had to wince at the volume Naruko screamed at, even Ino, who was in possession of Sakura's body.

"Don't you dare let Flat Chest Ino get the best of you!" Naruko braced herself on the rail, about ready to jump over it. Kakashi held her back, but it seemed not even that was enough.

"You always thought of yourself as inferior to Ino but that is not true!" By now, not only was Kakashi holding Naruko back, but it seemed even Shikamaru and Choji had to join as well.

"Don't forget all the stuff you had to put up with before finally reaching this point!" Naruko's jacket was halfway pulled off as even Gai and Azuma had to step in to stop the short fired up blonde. "The old Sakura would've given up at this point, but not this new you! So listen to me, don't you dare give up, Sakura-chan! If you lose to Ino now, it'll be a disgrace for both of us!"

From down below, the Ino using Sakura's body glared annoyingly up at Naruko who was being restrained by both genin and jounin. Just as she uttered the last of her words, forfeiting Sakura from the match, something unexpected happened.

"Naruko, thank you! No way am I going to allow myself to lose to you, Ino! So hear me when I say this... GET OUT OF MY HEAD! SHANNARO!"

Sakura was able to force Ino from her head, which brought forth a loud cheer from Naruko. "Yes! You did it, Sakura-chan-ah! Huh! Why are all of you guys lying on the floor?" Naruko questioned the domino line of men that fell down when she pushed her body away from the rail.

"Troublesome idiot," muttered a tired Shikamaru.

While Naruko was happy that Sakura overcame Ino's mind jutsu, the match itself ended with a draw. Something which neither girl, once they gained consciousness, was happy about. But besides the result of the match, Naruko felt that those two, once they talked some things out, would restore just a tiny bit of their once broken friendship.

"I don't like the end results, but... You have truly grown into a fine kunoichi, Sakura," admitted Ino, something which Sakura was not expecting. "You got the skills, but... that knucklehead also helps out a little." Sakura saw that Ino had her eyes pointed towards Naruko. "Ah, to think there would be a day where I admitted such a thing. But don't expect this to happen again." Ino handed Sakura back her ninja headband.

Holding the item in her hand, Sakura was reminded of a scene long ago, when Ino gave back the ribbon she had given her. Gripping the headband tight, Sakura looked straight at Ino with a confident grin.

"You're right, 'cause next time, I'll definitely win!" declared Sakura, stunning Ino just a bit, before returning Sakura's smirk. Overhearing their conversation, Naruko couldn't resist the soft smile that spread across her face. Something which Kakashi took notice of, watching how that smile soon turned into a frown once both girls started arguing over Sasuke.

"But don't think I'm going to hand Sasuke-kun over to you, Billboard-Brow!"

"I should be saying the same thing, Ino-Pig!"

"Damn, you teme! Stop ruining beautiful friendships!"

End of Drabble Twenty