Chapter 19: Rivals
Previously on Soul of Fire
Misumi cleared his throat before saying, "Unlike Yoroi, I go all out against little punks like you. I'll say it now, if I put my techniques on you it's over. Give up immediately, I'm going to end this quickly."
Kankuro reached to the strap holding the wrapped bundle on his back as he said, "Then I also will end this quickly!"
(Cue song Malicious Fingers from Star Ocean 3: Til the End of Time OST 2)
Misumi leapt forward as he cried, "I won't give you the chance to do anything! Victory goes to the swiftest!" and sent a jab towards Kankuro that the Sand Genin caught and blocked.
Then something very strange happened. Looking down, Kankuro's eyes widened as Misumi's arm seemed to be made of rubber and flowed around his arm. The rest of the older Genin's body followed and Kankuro found himself in a full body hold with Misumi wrapped around him in such a way that I was beginning to think Kankuro's opponent was not into girls. Kankuro's bundle fell to the ground by his feet, out of reach.
"I can take my joints off their hinges and use my chakra to control my loosened body. So I can keep squeezing until I break your bones. If you don't give up I'll keep squeezing harder. I don't know what kind of Shinobi tools you use, but you can't do anything like this. Try anything and I won't wait for you to give up, I'll break your neck immediately. Hurry and give up," said Misumi as he tightened his grip slightly.
"Heh, no way," said Kankuro.
"Do you want to die?" asked Misumi.
"Idiot. You're the one who's going to die," replied the make-up wearing genin. Misumi's eyes narrowed in rage and the next sound everyone heard was a loud SNAP as he broke Kankuro's neck before Hayate could make a move to stop him. Sakura gasped.
"His neck is broken," Lee said softly.
"Misumi would have one the match if not for one key factor," I said.
Naruto turned to me. "What's that, Aniki?" he asked but I kept quiet.
"Damn it, you idiot," said Misumi. "I got carried away and broke it."
Kankuro's head suddenly spun around 180 degrees to face Misumi and he said, "Now it's my turn." I saw Naruto's eyes widened as cracks appeared on Kankuro's face, revealing a wooden surface beneath the make-up. Wooden arms sprouted from Kankuro's body and grabbed Misumi while the older genin was still frozen in surprise.
"A puppet?" gasped Misumi. A slight bulge appeared in the side of the wrapped bundle and Kankuro's arm reached through the bandages and soon the boy was standing in a circle of discarded bandages.
"There's the real one. Kankuro is a puppet user," I explained. "He controls the puppet with chakra strings. But a puppet user's worst enemy is a Hyuuga. For their bloodline limit, the Byakugan enables them to see the strings."
"Ohh… I see," said Naruto, who nodded in understanding.
"I give… Argh!" were the words that came from Misumi's mouth.
"If I break your bones you'll be even softer right?" asked Kankuro. Misumi screamed in pain as the puppet's grip on him tightened. "Though I'll go easy on your neck," muttered Kankuro. The only reason I heard was that I was still channelling chakra to my ears. Eventually Misumi, along with the puppet, toppled to the floor.
Hayate coughed and moved towards the combatants. "The battle cannot continue. Winner, Kankuro!" he exclaimed.
"That fight was rather boring, and isn't he a little too old to be playing with dolls?" I said rather loudly. Kankuro spun around to glare at me, while all of the Konoha gennin started laughing. Even Temari had a slight twitch on her lips from what I saw. I just grinned at him. I turned to joke with Naruto but then caught sight of Sakura's face. She looked worried and her eyes seemed distant, as if she was thinking intently. I put a hand on her shoulder which shocked her out of her thinking. "What?" she asked.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said a bit too quickly. I continued to look at her. Eventually she confessed. "It's just that everyone is remarkable at using their chakra. I thought that I was pretty good at using my chakra, but…" she trailed off. I smiled. She was unsure of herself. Quite a common thing to feel.
(Cue song Trust Me by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack)
"Don't worry Sakura," I said. She looked up at me, since I had my height jutsu on. "Remember what Naruto said? 'Pass or Fail, we will give it our all'. You've come a long way from being a silly little fan-girl." She looked a little pissed but she didn't scream or try to bash me. "See? A few months ago if I would have said that you would be foaming at the mouth. The fact of the matter is that you have gotten stronger. Both mentally and physically. Especially with the training I gave you." She looked down for a few seconds before looking back at me with determination. "You're right. I am a lot stronger." I smiled as Naruto and Sasuke came to stand beside me. "That's right Sakura-chan! Go Kick Ass! I want to see what you've been training on!" said Naruto with enthusiasm, even using the -chan suffix on her name. She smiled at that. Sasuke smirked in a friendly manner. "I agree with Naruto. I also want to see what your training has produced." At this Sakura beamed but then she saw the serious look in his eyes.
"Sakura, even though I can't return your feelings, would you still be willing to be my friend?" Sasuke asked nervously. Sakura nodded, a smile adorning her features. "Sure… Sasuke," she said, purposely leaving out the -kun. She started laughing softly but Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, this is no time to be laughing," he said as he pointed at the board. She looked up and her eyes widened.
Haruno Sakura VS Yamanaka Ino
(Cue song For The Reunion by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children OST)
Sakura turned to look at Ino who was staring at the board in shock as well. Ino's light blue eyes flickered to Sakura, only to harden slightly. Sakura flinched slightly and looked away for a moment. I once again placed my hand on her shoulder. "We'll be rooting for you," I said gently before pulling away. She smiled slightly before locking her determined eyes with her rival.
After a minute the two girls were facing each other. They were silent before Ino broke the silence.
"I didn't think that I would be fighting you, Sakura. And so early on," she said, slightly reserved.
I sighed and both Naruto and Sasuke looked at me, questioningly. "Sakura and Ino go way back, all the way to the early years of the academy. When Sakura first entered the Ninja Academy, she was relentlessly picked on because she had a big forehead. The result made Sakura very shy. Ino was her only friend. This battle will determine their friendship." I explained. "They only recently became rivals because they both had the same object of affections." I then wrapped my arm around Sasuke's neck in a mock headlock. "Of course if I hadn't intervened, those two would still be fighting over you. Now though, well, let's just say that it will be an interesting fight. Probably a long one too. We might as well get comfortable."
-Third POV-
'Ino exceeded the others among the rookie kunochi,' thought Team 8's Jounin teacher, Sarutobi Asuma. 'Will she fight with everything she has against Sakura? No… That is, if she can.'
"Of all the combinations, it chose those two. How troublesome," said Shikamaru in his normal tone. "Will Ino be okay?" asked Chouji to no-one in particular.
The two fighters both narrowed their eyes at each other. Hayate coughed as he said, "The fourth match will now start. Begin."
(Cue song On the Verge of the Assault (from FFVII "Those Who Fight") by Takeharu Ishimoto from Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Original Soundtrack)
Straight away the two charged each other. Sakura started the fight off with a high kick. Ino ducked before giving a short straight punch. Sakura dodged and dropped to the ground to deliver a low kick. Ino flipped backwards over the kick and dropped back to the ground, narrowly missing a second kick aimed for her head. Ino jumped away to put some distance between them. Sakura drew three kunai and flicked them toward Ino. She side-stepped the attack, grabbing one of the flying knifes and flinging it away from her to block a fourth kunai from Sakura. The pink haired kunochi then charged in for the second time.
Up in the stands Shikamaru sighed. "Just as I thought…" Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they're both holding back." Shikamaru looked sharply at Naruto for a second before returning his attention to the fight. 'Naruto noticed it?' he thought in confusion.
"They're female ninja, after all. Their physical combat skills are lower than normal," said a voice that dripped with so much superiority it was sickening. Tenten though, disagreed.
"It's not because they are female," she said in a slightly hurt voice as she glanced at her team mate.
At this point, both combatants were breathing a little heavy. Sakura charged in and executed a textbook perfect high kick but Ino ducked underneath. Sakura tried to back hand punch Ino following with a second punch but Ino just dodged the first punched and blocked the second. They both executed high kicks which collided with each other. There was a slight pause before Ino lunged in with a right hook. Sakura moved under the arm. She blocked two mid punches from Ino but the third slipped under her guard and connected with her stomach. Sakura's eyes widened as she coughed up some spit. Ino took this temporary paralysis as a chance to swing another right hook at Sakura's face. Sakura looked up, not being able to do anything. Seeing this Ino had a picture flash before her eyes. It was a picture of Sakura when she was little. She had a slight blush on her face and her mouth was bunched up sightly as she tried to hold the tears that were collecting in the corners of her eyes. Ino recoiled slightly as she tried to stop her fist from colliding.
The sound of a slap reverberated around the room as Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Chouji widened their eyes. Ino's hand was still and Sakura's head was tilted to the side from the slap. She looked surprised before looking at Ino. Ino's features softened as she looked at her hand.
(Cue song A Tiny Memory by Nobuo Uematsu from Lost Odyssey Original Soundtrack)
-Ino's Flashback-
It was a bright spring morning and all the young kunochi were having their lesson out in one of the training grounds. Their teacher was lecturing on the skills of a kunochi.
"Female ninja must obtain a wide range of knowledge and education as a woman, not just ninja techniques. If you cannot act like a woman when you are in enemy territory, you will have trouble spying," said the teacher as she adjusted her glasses. "Today's topic is flower arrangement. Now, everyone pick the flowers you want."
Amongst the listening girls was Sakura looking nervous. Next to her was Ino looking confident. They all then got up and spread out to find their flowers.
Sakura ran to try to catch up with Ino, who had gone off by herself. She spotted her a few yards away and called out, "Ino-chan, wait!" She then tripped and fell on the soft grass. She slowly looked up to see Ino "You're such a klutz," she said. Sakura just laughed nervously.
As the others were all gathering their own flowers Sakura and Ino were looking together. Sakura picked a flower that looked like a flower sized tree with white leaves. It was a Thoroughwort.
"I'm no good at these things," said Sakura sadly. She took the flower to Ino. "What about you, Ino-chan?" she asked. Ino looked at the flower and sighed.
"You maybe named after a flower, Sakura, but you're not very good. There's a trick to these things. In flower arrangement, once you pick your main flower, you add other flowers to accentuate it. Flowers shouldn't fight to be number one. Let's see…" she broke off from her explanation to try to spot a more complex flower. She found what she was looking for and pointed for Sakura to see. "Look over there. Can you see it?"
Sakura looked to see flowers with pink petals. They were Cosmos. Ino continued her little lesson. "For example, if that cosmos is the main one, then the flowers you picked, the thoroughworts, are just extras. Cosmos differs from spring flowers in that it's known as 'cherry blossom' in the fall. It's also the most beautiful flower during the fall season. It also means harmony, so it fits with any other fall flowers."
Sakura was in awe of Ino's knowledge. She then got sad again. Ino picked the white flower out of her hand and set it in her hair. "Do I look good with this? Like a cosmos? Am I cute?" she asked. It was as innocent answer but Sakura couldn't help but feel sadder. Still she answered yes. Ino noticed the pause and asked, "What was that gap?" Sakura just laughed nervously to try and get off the subject.
"You seem to be having extra fun today… Forehead girl," said a mean sounding voice behind her. Sakura recognised the voice as the girl with violet hair and brown, sneering eyes. She was backed up by two other girls. 'Not them! Anyone but them!' she cried out in her mind. She turned to them, her emerald green eyes fearful. Ino just frowned.
Mean girl no.1 walked up to Sakura and belt over slightly. "Have you been trying to look cute lately? Don't flatter yourself." She then flicked Sakura's exposed forehead hard, causing her to cry out. It was then that three violet flowers slammed into her mouth and she fell back, gagging slightly.
"Ami-chan!" said the other two mean girls in unison as they ran to check her.
"I'm sorry," said Ino in a voice that sounded the complete opposite. "She has no curves so I mistook her for a vase and put flowers in her." Ami sat back up and growled loudly with the flowers still in her mouth. "Ino!" she fumed.
Ino held up the same violet coloured flower with jaggedly shaped leaves. "Ninja flower, Aconite. It is a weak poison, but you should spit it out since it's poisonous, she explained calmly.
"AHHHH!" screamed all three girls and they ran away with Ami yelling, "SENSEI!"
Ino then erupted into laughter and explained to a confused Sakura, "Only the roots have poison in them." She winked at Sakura before she started giggling again.
Sakura smiled in awe again. 'Ino-chan is amazing. She knows a lot, is stylish, cute, and combined with that kunai throwing technique… She excels in ninja jutsus too. Compared to her, I'm…' She looked sadly at the thoroughwort in her hand.
Ino noticed her friend's down look. "Sakura?" she asked. "If you're a cosmos, Ino-chan, am I a thoroughwort?" she answered with a question. Ino frowned, thinking that the bullying had gotten Sakura into thinking sad thoughts. She sighed heavily, wondering what to say. After a few moments she smiled.
"What are you talking about?" Sakura looked at her friend. "Well… If you ask me, you're not even a flower yet, just a bud."
Sakura felt dejected but put up a front by laughing nervously again. "Yeah…" The sadness was evident in her voice as she looked at the thoroughwort.
(Cue song Sakusen by WATABE Chieru from Prince of Tennis Original Soundtrack 1)
-Back to Present-
Sakura's right hand curled unto a tight fist. "Now that it's come to this," she said, shocking Ino out of her emotions. "I have no intentions of fighting you over Sasuke." Ino reacted, saying, "What?"
"You and Sasuke just don't match! I'm also stronger than you now. You're not even a rival!" jabbed Sakura. Now Ino was pissed. Even though she had started to lose interest in Sasuke, having Sakura say that just made her angry. "Sakura! Do you know who you're talking to like that!" she growled. "You cry-baby, Sakura!"
Up in the stands Naruto stepped back a bit. "Uh… I think Sakura-chan might have said too much," he said in worry. Josh smiled. "No Otouto, She's trying to say that she wants Ino to take this fight seriously. She's saying it with verbal jabs," he explained.
"Josh is right." All three boys turned to listen to Kakashi.
"Sakura isn't the type who would brag about her power and hurt another without any reason. She doesn't want Ino to go easy on her."
Back with Sakura, she was remembering the same scene. "I'm still a bud, huh."
(Cue song A Tiny Memory by Nobuo Uematsu from Lost Odyssey Original Soundtrack)
-Sakura's Flashback-
"Hey, Ino-chan," said Sakura whilst looking at the thoroughwort in her hand. Ino looked at her friend. "What is it?" she asked.
"Why did you give me this ribbon?" Sakura asked, referring to the dark red ribbon in her hair with the bow on top.
Ino smiled. "Because…" she started as she looked at the sky. "I thought it would be a waste for you to wither away as a bud." Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at the ground while blushing and smiling softly. Ino saw this and smiled herself. She fiddled with a flower bud in front of her, careful not to pick it. "There's no meaning to a flower unless it blooms." A soft wind blew through the forest, rustling the girls hair. Ino turned back to her friend. "It might turn out to be…" Ino paused as two cosmos petals floated passed their locked eyes.
"A flower more beautiful than a cosmos."
The emotions were too much to handle and she started sobbing quietly. 'Thank you, Ino-chan.'
Ino stood up. "C'mon Sakura. Let's go pick some flowers." Sakura quickly wiped away her tears. "Yeah," she said simply.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" asked Ino, who noticed the quiver in her voice and the tears she was wiping away. "Something got in my eye when I tripped," covered up Sakura. Ino sighed again. "Geez, you're such a klutz."
-Back to Present-
(Cue song Run Silent, Run Deep by Toshihiko Sahashi fro Full Metal Panic OST 2)
Sakura stared at her rival. 'Ino, I've come here believing those words you said to me. Thinking that it would be nice if it was true. That it would be nice if I can bloom a nice flower. That it would be nice if the world was Cadbury. (AN: BWA HA HA HA HA! I just had to put that in. Sorry! Now back to the story!) All this time I wanted to be like you. And I've come here, with you as my goal.' Sakura smiled at Ino. 'Thanks to you, I am here now. Ino, that's why I want to fight you seriously,' she resolved. She had stopped smiling. 'There's no meaning unless I beat the serious you.'
Sakura then reached up and untied her Hitai-ate. Ino noticed this and watched intently. Leaving the headband open, she pulled it off her quickly.
"Why is Sakura-chan pulling off her Hitai-ate?" questioned Naruto.
"I guess rivalry is a mysterious thing," said Kakashi softly as he looked at Gai. He felt someone watching him so Gai turned to see Kakashi looking at him in a knowing way. Kakashi, now embarrassed that he was caught, laughed nervously while waving at Gai. "Hello," he said.
Gai frowned slightly. 'My springtime of life rival, Kakashi. That weird reaction of yours is "hip", and it makes me mad.'
Back on the fight, Sakura and Ino were remembering another past event that went back to when they graduated and found out the teams.
(Cue song Theme of CRISIS CORE "Scars of Friendship" by Takeharu Ishimoto from Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Original Soundtrack)
-Shared Flashback-
"Ino," said Sakura. The two were in one of the many parks in Konoha. "I'm on the same team as Sasuke-kun."
"Why say it again?" said Ino.
There was a long pause. Sakura finally answered. "I won't lose to you anymore, Ino."
"I won't lose to you in everything, Sakura," Ino agreed. Sakura dug into one of her pockets and held out the red ribbon. "I'll give this ribbon back to you."
Ino was slightly shocked, but that gave way to anger. She smirked. "I gave that ribbon to you. And you're supposed to put that Hitai-ate on your forehead." Sakura's Hitai-ate had now replaced the ribbon.
"I'm no longer the girl who has been chasing you. When I put this Hitai-ate on my forehead, I can't lose to you as a kunochi."
A soft wind blew through the park, ruffling their hair and blowing leaves around the two girls.
Ino smiled. "That's a good idea." She grasped Sakura's hand with the ribbon in between. "I'll do the same when that time comes."
(Cue song I'll Never Give Up! by WATABE Chieru from Prince of Tennis Original Soundtrack 1)
-Back to the Present-
Ino smirked as she undid the knot on her Hitai-ate that was around her slim waist. "I understand now, Sakura."
They then proceeded to tie their Hitai-ate's around their heads with the metal plate resting proudly on their foreheads. The Konoha symbol showing clearly.
'Now,' their thoughts mirroring each other. 'Let us use our full powers and have a fair fight!'
They both charged at each other and both punched out. Both fists met and clashed againsed each other. A small amount of energy shot out from the connected fists that made everyone look intensely. The two slid away from each other and slid into the same taijutsu stance. The basic Academy Taijutsu. They were finally serious.