Two weeks later one of Sakura's training sessions was interrupted by a familiar voice.
HINATA: Hey there, you wouldn't mind going for a few rounds?
SAKURA: I'd love to.
Hinata heard about Tsunade's challenge but also heard about Sakura's one-sided defeat. Before challenging Tsunade she wanted to see if Sakura's just a wimp or if Tsunade really is that talented.
SAKURA: So, you know the rules?
HINATA: 10 rounds, 3 minutes each, fists only, no Jutsu, right?
SAKURA: You got it.
After a brief chit chat, they got in the ring. Sakura was wearing the same attire she wore in her match against Tsunade; a pink sports bra and purple shorts with pink gloves. Hinata wore a black sports bra and shorts with matching gloves. They touched gloves and got started.
Start of Round 1:
Cautious, the girls circled the ring for a good while before striking, and when they did it was usually a jab or two. Entering the second minute the fight started picking up the pace as Sakura broke the silence with an uppercut missing Hinata's chin by an inch but the follow-up hook left a mark on her cheek. A wake-up call for Hinata, she stepped out of her comfort zone and rushed Sakura with a flurry of jabs all over the place, overwhelming as Sakura failed to dodge most of them.
HINATA: Not too bad, huh?
SAKURA: You wish, I'm only getting started.
Two more hooks land on Hinata's cheeks, she responds with an uppercut to Sakura's belly making her lower her arms and take another one on the chin. Forced to take a few steps back, Sakura found herself dangerously close to the ropes but managed to do a 180 on Hinata with a clinch, securing her place ropeside with a couple of jabs. She continued pressuring her, throwing punch combinations trying to slip past her guard but Hinata defended well and eventually found her way out of the ropes leading the fight back to mid-ring and engaging Sakura in a punch exchange. Both ladies landed a great number of punches, resulting in bruises on both sides but Hinata got a slight advantage due to punch count winning the round by a slim margin.
HINATA: Now I see why Tsunade had such an easy time.
SAKURA: You're gonna eat those words. I haven't even warmed up yet.
Start of Round 2:
Both eager to win, the girls lunge at one another from the get-go as fists fly in either direction. Hinata sticks to her rapid-fire blows, making the fight about the punch count while Sakura picks her punches methodically, aiming for Hinata's chin and temple. A minute into the round we can already see the damage being done; Sakura midsection is starting to turn red-ish no doubt thanks to Hinata's handiwork. On the other hand, an uppercut on Hinata's nose makes it bleed, sending her down for the count in the process.
HINATA: Ugh, you bitch! I can't believe you did that.
SAKURA: Oh, get up already, there's a lot more where that came from.
She's up at six, ignores Sakura's taunts, heading straight for her face only to the fake punch when she raises her gloves as Hinata delivers a heavy uppercut to her belly and another one to her chin. Before Sakura can reassert herself, she takes two more hooks, landing on each side of her ribcage. Eventually, she sets her eyes back on Hinata and manages to deliver a cross straight to her nose, stopping her dead in her tracks. Sakura follows up with a few jabs, testing Hinata out before she sticks a haymaker to her cheek nearly resulting in a second knockdown but Hinata's sturdy legs deny it. She retaliates, scuffing up Sakura's mouth with a couple of one-twos but that haymaker certainly took something out of her resulting in Sakura getting the ten points and evening out the score.
SAKURA: Are you feeling tired yet? Feel free to throw in the towel, I won't make fun of you (much).
HINATA: You'll need more than a couple of lucky shots if you plan on winning.
Start of Round 3:
No more feeling out, both fighters know what the other is capable of as they meet in the middle and punch away. Due to Sakura's slow and methodical punching methods, Hinata can anticipate her and counterattack; first with a hook to the ribs followed by a series of uppercuts to the gut making Sakura bend forward and finally a hook to the temple sends Sakura down to all fours.
HINATA: How's it feel to get a taste of your own medicine?
*Sakura wiped the blood from her lip and got up without a response*
Still dazed from the knockdown Sakura absorbs a series of jabs to the breasts before being thrown to ropes via uppercut on the chin. From there Hinata continues working on her body, showing no mercy as she pumps her gut with hooks at will. After a while, she went upstairs jabbing Sakura's face, punching with a satisfactory grin. Small bloodstains appeared on Hinata's gloves as she continued hammering away at Sakura's slightly swelling face. Eventually, after taking a beating for a solid ninety seconds, Sakuta managed to sneak a shot at the liver as Hinata groaned in pain holding onto the ropes. Instead of capitalizing, Sakura took a step to take a breather for the remainder of the round. Despite her late effort, Hinata still won the round wide.
Start of Round 4:
That liver punch is giving Hinata trouble, she's rising slowly off her stool and no longer willingly rushing her opponent. On the other hand, Sakura, despite being battered for the majority of the round, is looking a lot better. Sakura keeps pressure on her opponent from the start as Hinata does her best to fend her off but ends up tiring out quickly. With punches piercing her guard, Hinata doesn't know where to defend as Sakura ups the pace, hits her flanks and moves upstairs confusing Hinata in the process. Two jabs and an uppercut, which she doesn't even notice before it's too late, send Hinata down to her knees.
*Hinata just barely beat the count, rising at 9. Mouth-breathing and tired, it looks like she might be on her last legs*
When she got back to her feet, Hinata struggled to keep her arms up and her legs working but that didn't stop Sakura from attacking. Two swift jabs were enough to send Hinata back to her corner as Sakura started beating her without mercy. Hinata does what she can to defend herself, but it's not much as Sakura easily penetrates through her feeble defences, hitting her all over the place and it isn't long after that Hinata plummets to the canvas, not even thinking about getting back up.
Sakura wins via KO in Round 4.
SAKURA: Bit off more than you can chew didn't you?
HINATA: Don't rub it in. You won fair and square.
SAKURA: Of course I did and I'll do the same to Tsunade in our rematch.
HINATA: Just promise me, you'll kick her ass, otherwise it makes me look bad.
SAKURA: You can count on it, and you better hit the gym if you want to improve.
Sakura felt proud of her victory but she knew she still had a long way to go. Beating a former Hokage is no small feat, after a short rest she was back to her usual workouts, often sparring with Hinata as they developed new skills.
END OF PART 2