The ground shattered into pieces, and even the students who had evacuated to a safer distance exclaimed in surprise when the crater pulsed throughout the whole arena. As fissures slit the earth and debris hurled out from the ground, Sakura herself had trouble keeping her balance.
The remaining henchmen regrouped before all charging at Sakura as a united front, determined to keep her away from their boss. Out of the corner of her eye, the said pinkette spotted the approaching figure of Naruto.
" Get Gang Orca, I can handle the rest of them." Sakura's mask translated her thoughts within a heartbeat, earning a firm nod from Naruto.
As the pinkette saw a sharp jab aimed at her, she held up her forearm in reflex. The energy that was now at her disposal came rushing outside, and after a bit of electric buzzing, a small force field the size of a frisbee appeared without much effort.
Seeing the small barrier, the pinkette pulled a fist back and slammed it against the shield, forcing it to shoot outward and into the henchman. The shield made of Chakra dispersed once the minor villain had tumbled into those behind him.
" Alright, I can work with this." Sakura mused through the speaker as she blew a stray strand of hair away fro her face. " I can work with this just fine."
The girl ran at one of the nearest supposed villain, one hand pulled back while the other was held in front of her to determine where she should hit the man. Once her fist collided against the villain's abdomen, the pinkette drove her hand further in so his back arched outward.
She followed through afterward, sending the said villain skidding backward and into the dirt. Ripple of air scattered throughout the area, forcing some to dig their heels into the ground for a firm stance.
Sakura straightened back up and stared at her hands before tightening them into fists. She could feel the change in her, as if she could take on thousands of armies and still come out victorious.
" Don't hold back, fellow villains, even if she's still just a child." A man spoke up in character. " We can't afford to lose to her. Attack!"
The pinkette bent down into a crouch as she saw an arm flying toward her jaw, and before the arm would retrace, she grabbed the limb and stood up. The girl secured her hold on the arm before spinning around, swinging the body of the villain along with her during the process.
The legs of the man crashed into nearby villains before Sakura finally decided she had built up enough momentum to let go. With one last good spin, she loosened her grasp and flung the man into the air.
The speakers of the of mask was once more filled with words. " Come at me."
From there on, the pinkette focussed on her combat moves, weaving a bit of acrobatics into her movements so she could slip out of tight situation with ease. As she back flipped into a safer distance and onto a pile of debris, the pinkette stared down on the mass of villains below her.
There was still many despite some being taken out by her large scale attack from before, and others were off fighting to get nearer to the new safe zone. Her attention then swept passed the henchmen and over to the right.
Todoroki and the Shiketsu student that had introduced himself as Yaorashi were both dealing with Gang Orca the way they wanted to without care. And then there was Naruto who was trying to make it a team effort.
Sakura reached for the side of her mask to turned up the volume, and after a few seconds she sent her thoughts out. " Shouto, where's Deku!?"
" He went to protect the safe zone!" Todoroki replied as he created a wall of ice to cage the boss villain in before a blast of fire was shot forward. But then a sudden gust of wind sent it the other way, fanning it out. " Aim your air somewhere else!"
Sakura suddenly felt some pressure on her feet and when she looked down, she saw hardening cement glueing her in place. She looked up back to the group of sidekicks in front of her to see the cement guns all pointed at her.
" Damnit." The mask's volume went back to its original settings as Sakura worked on freeing herself.
She intertwined her fingers together to form a single fist, but before she could bring it crashing down to the cement below her, her arm was covered in yet another jet of cement that quickly dried off.
" Finally, a clear shot." A henchmen cheered, causing the pinkette to scan the area for anyone nearby.
" Sakura!" Ashido ran over to help melt the material out but was quickly stopped by a line of henchmen that forced her to take a stand right there.
Seeing no one else with the fitted Quirk for the situation, Sakura had to work this one out by herself. She stared at her hands and tried to improvise on a way to break out of the substance, and after awhile, an idea struck her.
She closed her eyes, trying to put her plan into motion. She could feel it, the thin layer of Chakra encasing her fist from within the cement. As she concentrated on the small form of a force field on her skin, a single bead of sweat dripped down her cheek.
" Pliant Armor: Expel." Sakura took in a shaky breath as she felt the force field that had shaped itself around her hands bursted outward, breaking the cement off.
It had taken awhile for the force field to push the cement out since the pinkette had never practiced anything like it. Sakura then continued on with what she had tried to do a couple minutes ago, and when her fist smashed against the cement glueing her feet, she broke free.
Sakura flexed her fingers before swinging her legs back and fourth a couple of times to stretched out her muscles. Her mind wandered back to what she had just done, which took even her by surprise.
" Odd what desperation can do to you." The mask mumbled out.
" Sakura-chan, a little help?" Naruto's voice could be heard off in the distance, and when the pinkette turned to look, she could see that the blonde was trying to think up of a new approach to the boss man.
The pinkette casted one last look to where the henchmen were and found that they were now occupied with other students who had came to help before sprinting off to where Naruto was. She surveyed the area to find that Todoroki was crumbled on the ground and off to his left was Yaorashi in the same condition.
" What the hell happened?" Sakura's thoughts were quickly translated.
Naruto stood up from being on all fours and shrugged his shoulders. " They weren't getting along and I was kind of getting tired of their arguing. But I didn't put them out, it was Gang Orca with his waves."
" His waves?" Sakura frowned at Naruto's lack of vocabulary.
The blonde scratched his head sheepishly. " His..um..his..you know! The thing he does to make his opponents stop moving."
Sakura palmed her forehead as her mask made her thoughts known. " He's using his hypersonic waves, you idiot."
Naruto was suddenly encased in red bubbling energy once more as he turned to the pinkette with a wide grin. Before long, five tails sprung out from behind him, and just by being near him, Sakura could feel the heat of the energy.
The blonde's costume burnt a bit from the heat and when Sakura turned to look at his hands, she could see that his fingers were sleeved in virtual claws that emitted smoke from just touching the debris near them.
" Naruto, the bandages on your stomach, could they be from over use?" The girl stared expectingly at him, not a hint of playfulness in her eyes.
Naruto grinned, but it didn't hide the pained look in his eyes from using his Quirk to this extent. " Don't worry about it. This it the best I can do for now, but I'm sure it'll be enough. What do you think, Sakura-chan, I went from no tail to five since the last time I saw you."
The boy topped his comment off with a wink that Sakura could only waved off, unfazed.
The pinkette bit her thumb in thoughts afterwards as she tried to go over her options, and when she noticed Midoriya off in the distance approaching the smaller fights, she came to a single conclusion. With a nervous glanced over to Naruto, Sakura brought his attention over to her.
" What do you think about teaming up with Deku?" The pinkette pointed to where the said boy was.
" I thought you guys were friends, why the nickname?" Naruto asked, knowing full well that Deku meant someone who couldn't do anything.
Sakura's eyes softened as she watched Midoriya swoop in and save a couple of students. " That's his hero name, and I think he gave the perfect meaning to it. Where's Sasuke anyways? You'd think he'd be here by now."
" I am an Uchiha." An icy voice sliced through the air, and when Sakura turned to where it came from, there was Sasuke, a calm look on his face as he stood in front of Gang Orca, a hand on his. " And I won't be beat."
" Come on, Sakura-chan, we can't let him have all the fun." Naruto insisted as he pulled the girl out so they stood right next to Sasuke.
" What are you doing here, Dope?" The dark haired boy glared at Naruto before it eased back a little after seeing Sakura. " Fine then, we'll do it together."
Sakura's eyes widened in surprised by Sasuke's word as she turned in disbelief to Naruto who had his arms behind his head in support, his usual grin on his face as if he was eating ramen.
" Yeah, Kakashi-sensei made it clear that teamwork is almost always the best option." Naruto replied as he swished his tails behind him in a circle. " Neh, it feels like the gang is back together, right? Lets make the most out of it."
" Hn." Sasuke blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, his Quirk was activated. His left eye, however, shed a drop of blood.
Sakura jumped, alarmed by the blood. When the Uchiha noticed her worried expression he turned the other way to wipe the blood away, and when he returned back to the two students, his expression of ice was back on. Even after everything, she was still concern about him.
" It's nothing." Sasuke hissed as he resisted clutching at his eyes. " With this, I can delay Gang Orca until we get a better solution."
" What about that bruise on your eye?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, only now noticing the black eye forming.
Beside her, Naruto chuckled. " A blonde dude punched him in the face in the wait room. Teme here, didn't fight back, which only made the guy angrier."
" Is it really a good idea to chatter in front of the enemy as if you're hanging out?" Gang Orca questioned, bringing the attention back to him. The supposed villain held up a hand, ready to launch one of his hypersonic waves.
" I need to get Shouto and the other one out, they can finish it off." Sakura glanced over to the two fallen students as she got ready to charge in. She made sure Naruto and Sasuke understood what she was about to do, and when she saw their nods, she was off, leaving a trail of disrupted air while the other two escaped from Gang Orca's attack.
The pinkette made it to Yaorashi first and lifted him over her left shoulder before changing her direction so she was looking at the fallen form of Todoroki who was still emitting fire even on the ground.
" I can't stand him." Yaorashi muttered, directing the statement at Todoroki.
Sakura glanced over at him out of the corner of his eyes. " I honestly don't care, but you guys both ended up in the same position so you better put your difference aside as you guys are the only advantage we have. Gang Orca is weakened by heat, and Naruto can't do anything about it if he can't get close enough. He's stalling us time for now so we need to act quick."
The pinkette tried to get over to Todoroki, but when she noticed Gang Orca keeping a close eye on her, she swallowed her plan A down. Sakura then turned to the boy on her shoulder before placing him up against a slab of debris.
" I need you to get him out with your wind. Can you lift him into the air?" Sakura's thoughts were translated without much effort.
" I don't want to help him." Yaorashi insisted. " With those eyes of his that thinks he's the best out there, just like his father. I won't help him."
Yaorashi stared up at Sakura to only feel a stinging feeling on his cheek. His eyes widened before he fixated his attention back on the girl, slightly flinching when he noticed the passion that burned in her eyes.
" You are trying to become a hero, right?" The girl questioned, pressing a finger up against the larger boy's chest. " You may not still like him, but he has changed. He's nothing like his father personality-wise, at least understand that much. What do you say to that?"
"...fine." Yaorashi sighed. " This isn't the type of hero I want to become anyways, so I'll help."
As Yaorashi focussed on creating a pillow of air under Todoroki, Sakura waited for the hybrid boy to be lift up in the air so she could swoop in and get him back safely. Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke waited for the signal from Sakura for them to back up.
When Sakura noticed Todoroki hovering in the sky, she took off and grabbed him and landed on the opposite of where Yaorashi was. She didn't have to explain to Todoroki that he needed to work with Yaorashi to trap Gang Orca in a cage of fire, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the two boys.
" Naruto, Sasuke, now!" Sakura turned the volume up of the speakers up, and soon after, the two boys leapt out of the way, which was soon followed by a blast of fire and air.
The air helped rose the fire up so a funnel formed around Gang Orca, causing him to stop in his tracks. When Gang Orca's henchmen tried to stop the two students, Naruto and Sasuke took care of those after Yaorashi.
As for Todorki, he created a wall of ice, which only covered some ground so the pinkette had to take care of the open gaps left. Sakura picked them off one by one, sending them flying into the air or ten feet into the earth.
Just when a jet of cement came hurling at her from behind at her blind spot, she felt a cold blanket over come here. And just like before under the affect, she took a side step just on time to avoid getting creamed.
" Shikamaru!" Sakura turned to the boy responsible once she was released from the hold of the shadow.
" Yeah?" The boy asked with lazy eyes.
The pinkette realized now what exactly they had been missing. " I need-"
" How troublesome." Shikamaru cut off the pinkette before she could continue on, he had already figured out the solution long ago, it just took him awhile to get up and running." I need the two guys to cool down first, or I won't be able to reach the villain."
Sakura nodded as she turned her attention over to Yaorashi and Todoroki. " Cool down, we've got a plan!"
As the fire and wind slowly died down, the pinkette urged Shikamaru to take action already, to which the boy only let out a muffle yawn before waving off the girl. " Yeah, yeah, I'm already ahead of you."
The girl turned back to where Gang Orca was and was shocked to see that Shikamaru was right, the villain was already in the same stance as the boy. Sakura didn't know when Shikamaru had the chance to slip his shadow in, but it was there, plain as day.
" Alright, that's enough." Mera announced out of the blue. " Everyone had been rescued long ago, and now that the villain is under a hero's Quirk, the exam had been completed. Anyone who had been injured may head over to the infirmary. And in the meantime, we'll tally up the points and announce them afterwards."
The whole area was filled with silence before an eruption of cheers could be heard from the opposite side of the arena, which snapped Sakura back to reality. The pinkette turned around, waiting to see everyone else's reaction.
" Hey, Mister, I want a one-on-one with you!" Naruto declared, walking over to Gang Orca with a grin. " What do you say?"
As Gang Orca was released from the hold of Shikamaru's Quirk, Sakura turned to look at Sasuke who was merely observing the pro hero from the back. It was clear that the Uchiha boy wanted as much as Naruto to go up against the hero as well, and he would have done so during the exam if it wasn't for what he had learned from Kakashi.
Finally, Sakura notice of Todoroki who had started to get up from where he sat, and quickly, the pinkette walked over to check up on him.
" How're you feeling?" Sakura asked as she stood in front of the boy.
Todoroki rubbed his shoulder where he had been hit by a blast of cement. " Better."
The girl noticed his eyes survey where Yaorashi was and sighed. Whatever had happened between the two in the past had obviously affect their teamwork, it was only with over coming their differences did they pull through in the end.
" Sakura-chan." Uraraka called out as she ran over with a weak smile.
As the brunette hugged the pinkette around the waist, Sakura watched as more of her class mates emerged. Some had already been at the scene, fighting off the sidekicks, including Asui and Ojiro who had helped out Midoriya. Together, with an unspoken silence hanging around them, the students of UA went to change back into their school uniform.
And after a bit of waiting, it was finally time. It was finally time for results to be announced and licenses to be handed out.