A/N: My apologies for taking so long with this chapter, obviously things still have not gone back to normal over the last year. Many things in my life had to take priority and my hobbies were pushed far down the list, including writing this story. Rest assured, I have not given up on this and I still have plenty of ideas in place to take this very far! I know I said my word count goal for these chapters was 8k, but I made this one a bit longer as an apology for the long wait. Hope you enjoy!
"Talking."
'Thinking.'
"Jutsu."
Chapter 2: The Start of Something New
Hyūga Daichi vs. Nakagawa Haru
Haru and Daichi's faces fell as the screen settled on their names. Before the first test started, the three of them had made a promise to each other that they would all get through to the final round and become chūnin together. They did not always get along with each other, they sometimes had their disagreements and arguments, but they had always been side by side in the face of adversity. In battle, there was no one they would trust more than each other. They were Team 4 of Konoha, but now these exams were trying to force them to set aside the bonds they had built.
Ryūko turned to look at her teammates as they descended the walkway's stairs, equally as heartbroken as them. She was going to have to watch them fight each other right after having gone through such an arduous test of strength and endurance that would not have been possible without complete and utter faith in each other as a team. She also already knew what the outcome of this match would be.
Haru was mainly a taijutsu fighter which Daichi would of course dominate, and the only other alternative for Haru was the water jutsu he knew, but it required an already present body of water. Haru was not weak, that's for sure, but Daichi would almost certainly come out on top in this environment. He had all the advantages and none of the disadvantages. It was rotten luck for Haru to be matched up against an opponent like this.
"Go on, you two!" cheered Jun from Ryūko's side, trying to raise his students' spirits while also hiding his own anxiety. "Give it your best!" Haru and Daichi returned the cheer with a wave and a nod before turning to face each other in the arena with Hayate between them.
"So…" started Haru as he repeatedly tapped the tip of his shoe on the floor and fiddled with the pockets of his shorts. "I guess we have to fight each other… in front of everyone… here and now. Damn, this sucks."
The Hyūga sighed, but unlike his blonde teammate, his posture remained still. "It is unfortunate, yes. I'll admit, I do not wish to hurt you, Haru."
"I don't want you to hurt me either!" Haru laughed, but it was obvious that he was forcing the playful tone. Still, despite their reservations, the two boys moved into their fighting stances, except…
"Haru, why are you not using your weapons?" asked Daichi, his head tilted in confusion. As his teammate, he knew that Haru almost always readied himself for combat by equipping both kama in his hands, which must mean he did not intend to use them in this fight. "You're putting yourself at even more of a disadvantage without them."
"When have I ever used them against an ally, Daichi? Never, and that's not changing," replied Haru with a grin. "I'm just gonna try and wrestle you out of this match instead."
Even Daichi had to chuckle at that. In all his years of knowing him, Daichi had never seen Haru let a bad situation keep him down for long. He was always looking for that silver lining, no matter what. It was an admirable trait and one that made Daichi thankful to have someone like him in his life.
"Fighting teammates? Is it really okay for something like this be a part of the Chūnin Exams?" asked Sakura, confused. "I mean, it just seems a little hypocritical considering it was all about teamwork up until now."
"You make a good point, but you also have to remember that we can't encourage the idea that you will never have to fight your allies. There may very well come a day where you will have to face someone you once called a friend, perhaps even a teammate, in battle. You all need to understand that if you're going to become a chūnin," Kakashi explained as he lightly tussled Sakura's pink hair. "In the meantime, let's just hope a day like that never comes, hm?"
The kunoichi nodded her head in acknowledgement, her mouth drawn into a fine line. Clearly her sensei's words had given her some things to think about that she never had before. Becoming enemies with Sasuke or Naruto? Fighting them for real, without anyone holding back? Being ordered to kill them? Not a pleasant thought.
"In that case, I shall also fight with a handicap," the Hyūga deactivated his Byakugan so he could no longer use his clan's famous Jūken, the Gentle Fist technique, on the blonde. "This way is oddly reminiscent of our training sessions, no?"
"You mean the ones where I try my hardest to hit you while you seem to dance around me? Yeah, I guess you could say this will be similar."
"A respectable battle of youth!" cried out Maito Gai, Team 9's sensei, while Rock Lee seemed equally as excited beside him. "You have taught your students well, Jun!"
As Jun thanked Gai, Ryūko breathed a little easier than she was a few moments ago now that her teammates had settled on a way to proceed that would not end so bitterly. Treating this match more like one of their typical training sessions means they might be able to get a little fun out of it, and boy were they in need of something positive right now.
Hayate coughed, reminding the match's participants that they were still, funnily enough, supposed to be starting their match. After he received a nod from each of them, he called for the fight to begin and quickly jumped back out of the way, much to the relief for those who had been waiting eagerly for some fists to fly.
After a moment's pause, the two boys launched themselves towards each other. Haru began the fight by throwing a punch towards Daichi's face. Predictable, and so in one smooth motion, Daichi ducked under the outstretched arm and landed a palm strike against the back of Haru's leg which buckled under the attack, forcing the boy onto one knee. Haru recovered quickly though, turning his upper body to face Daichi just as he aimed another strike at Haru's head. The blonde managed to grab the Hyūga's wrist before it hit him and with his other hand, grabbed the black sash that was around Daichi's waist. With a yell, Haru lifted Daichi up and over his head before swiftly slamming the boy's back onto the floor. Daichi grunted at the impact, but he did not let himself stay down for long, rolling out of the way of Haru's elbow which was on its way to planting itself firmly against his chest.
The Hyūga was the first to get on his feet again, soon followed by Haru, and the two took a quick breather to create a bit of space between them, circling that spot while looking for an opening. The two boys had very different taijutsu styles: one moved quickly and gracefully, favouring fast jabs, and darting in and out of his enemy's range, while the other preferred a slower, stronger stance whose strength lay in being able to grapple with his enemy and outlast them in a battle of endurance.
Eventually they engaged in close combat again, however this time it was clear who had finally found their rhythm and taken the lead in the match. Daichi had managed to land a few direct hits against Haru, targeting the blonde's weakest areas to try and wear down his stamina, while Haru himself had barely managed to graze the Hyūga.
While some ninja in the room scoffed, believing this entire "match" to be a waste of time, and others were simply amused at the bizarre attitude the boys had, Ryūko and Jun could not be happier. By Haru choosing not to use his most lethal skillset and Daichi willingly handicapping himself in order to stand on equal ground with Haru, they exemplified a great passion for teamwork and loyalty that most of the Chūnin Exams encouraged in its participants.
As time went on, Haru was starting to show more signs of fatigue. Any moment now, just one more strike would likely take him out, but that was not going to stop him from giving it his all. "Hey, Dork!" he called with a shaky voice, his breathing sounding a lot harsher than normal. Haru was also sporting a black eye and a bloody nose, as well as multiple other minor injuries underneath his clothes, whereas his opponent's worst injury was some light bruising on his limbs from blocking heavy attacks. "Prepare yourself! This is my final blow!"
With a battle cry, Haru sprinted towards the Hyūga with his fist raised. Daichi, knowing that the match was about to over, smiled. Not because of his assured victory (that was known from the start), but because he was proud of his teammate for making him work for this victory. Perhaps another shinobi with a weaker spirit would have simply forfeited the match if they knew there was no possible way to win, but not Haru. Haru looked at the odds stacked against him and elected to ignore them, and Daichi greatly admired that about him.
Daichi was going to end it quickly now, so when the blonde was within range, he dodged the fist and slammed his palm against Haru's sternum, causing the other boy to become winded and forcing him to lean on the Hyūga for support to prevent him from falling to the ground.
"You did well, Haru. Your taijutsu is always improving with every fight we have," commented the Hyūga.
Haru laughed weakly, still getting his breath back after that strike. "Yeah… I suppose it is. Sometimes you just have… to take risks like this… you know?"
Before Daichi could ask what he meant by that, he felt Haru's arms go over his right shoulder and wrap around his torso in a vice-like grip. The boy could just barely let out an "oh no" before he was unceremoniously lifted backwards into the air with his legs dangling over Haru's own shoulder, and then immediately slammed back against the ground for the second time that day.
As the Hyūga lay there, staring up at the ceiling and still trying to process how he could have let his teammate get away with something so obvious, he could feel a wicked set of bruises begin to form up his spine. If he wasn't a medical ninja, he probably would've been left with a stiff back for the next week or so.
Giggling from the ninja laying opposite him brought him out of his semi-trance, and when Daichi lifted his head up to look past his feet, he saw Haru laying in a similar position, his chest shaking with his barely contained laughter. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Daichi. I just… I had to take the chance, you know? Couldn't let you win so easily. Hope you understand."
Daichi sighed, moving to stand up so that the proctor would not mistakenly assume the fight was a draw. Of course, he understood perfectly. There was a playful competitive edge between them, that's for sure. While Haru was determined to one day surpass Daichi, he also knew that he was nowhere near that goal yet, so he never took his losses personally. At the same time, however, he made sure to show Daichi that he was getting closer and closer every day, hence the last-ditch attempt to come out on top. Although, that was not all there was to it…
As Hayate finally called the match in favour of Daichi, the boy in question looked up towards the walkway where the other two members of his team were. First, he locked eyes with his sensei who gave him a grin and a nod in congratulations, then his eyes shifted over to his female teammate who was still watching Haru with both concern and pride in her gaze. Yes, Daichi understood perfectly. Haru would always try to work at his best, but with her watching, he always seemed to put forth that little bit more into his performance, just to see her smile for him.
The Hyūga looked back at his defeated teammate and moved to offer him a hand, which the blonde gratefully accepted, and pulled him up onto his feet. Most people, if they knew about the feelings Haru harboured for the Uchiha, would feel pity for the boy. Ryūko didn't return those feelings (couldn't return those feelings, as she "played for the other team", so to speak) and only saw Haru as a very close and dear friend, but Daichi knew better than to pity him. Haru knew well that Ryūko would never be with him the way he desired, he's known that for a long, long time, but he never felt put down by that. Perhaps some would have resented the girl for it, believed that their friendship was enough to ignite a romance between them and so would feel betrayed by the one-sided relationship, but not Haru.
First and foremost, Ryūko was his best friend and the most important person in his life, so it was quite impossible for him to ever resent her, especially for something so petty. All he ever wants for her is happiness, even if it is with someone else. He wants to be by her side for everything in whatever capacity she needs, and he has never felt burdened by that, because he knows that she feels the same in that regard. That is why Daichi would never pity him, because to do so would be insulting and belittle the blonde's feelings, and during their time as Team 4, Daichi had grown to have too much respect for him to ever do that.
Just like when Ryūko won her fight, Daichi was met with congratulations from his sensei as well as a respectable nod from Ryūko. Their sensei also praised Haru for putting up a good fight and agreed with Daichi's earlier comment about his constant improvement, which seemed to put a smile on his face.
While the black screen began to cycle through names again, the Hyūga turned his attention to his teammate's face and used his medical jutsu to heal most of the damage. Haru was of course thankful for this, as always, and Ryūko was too even if she did not show it well. Finally, after Daichi had finished healing all the damage he could, the screen seemed to settle on the names of the next matchup.
Aburame Shino vs. Abumi Zaku
Abumi Zaku, one of the Sound village ninja that had tried to kill the two Konoha teams before Team 4 had intervened, and Aburame Shino, another Konoha ninja that Ryūko assumed was also in the same academy class as Sasuke but had not encountered before. An interesting matchup, that's for sure. Ryūko wondered how Zaku's technique would fare against the insects of the Aburame clan.
"The Aburame clan heir, hm? I look forward to seeing what he's capable of," said Daichi, crossing his arms in front of his chest. As a member of the main house of the Hyūga clan, it was expected of Daichi to be knowledgeable of the other clans in Konoha, but especially of the four noble clans. Those clans were the Aburame, Akimichi, Hyūga and Uchiha. It was because of his knowledge that Daichi did not have to use his Byakugan to know that Shino's body was a host to all sorts of insects that could be used in battle in return for feeding on small amounts of his chakra. At first, the idea of such a technique disgusted the boy, but as he learned more, he came to respect the symbiotic relationship members of the clan had with these insects. They were certainly renowned for being incredible assets on the battlefield, and as the match went on, Daichi was able to verify that fact with his own eyes.
From the very start of the fight, Shino had the upper hand. He had the foresight to completely cut off Zaku's only means of attack by clogging his air tubes with hundreds of insects without him realising, which meant when he attempted to use his jutsu, the tubes burst inside his arms and rendered them useless. This was only after Shino had threatened him a swarm of insects from both sides of the room and told him that either way, he was never going to win.
The match was over in less than a minute with a flawless victory for Shino.
Haru smiled and pumped his fist in the air. Another win for Konoha.
Speaking of, this year's participants from Konoha seemed to be pretty strong. Haru looked over at the other ninja on either side of Team 4, noting that every team had at least one person from a legendary clan, something that does not happen very often. In addition, while it might have had something to do with the homefield advantage, all but two of the teams that had passed the second exam were from Konoha.
"Satisfied with that?" asked Haru, turning to look at Daichi. The Hyūga gave a small smirk as a reply.
"All right, we're now going to take a 15-minute break," called the proctor from in front of the stone statue depicting the ram seal, then he body flickered up to the walkway to stand with the Hokage. They were discussing something of importance, judging by the looks on their faces, but whatever it was they were disguising their lip movements so no one could tell what they were saying. Standard ninja practice.
Ryūko tapped both of her teammates on the shoulder to let them know she was going to take this quick break outside the combat hall, and when they both gave her a thumbs up in acknowledgement, she made her way down the steps of the walkway and out the large double doors which had already been opened by two of the chūnin from the first exam.
The Uchiha jogged down a few of the many corridors of the tall tower, passing the toilets and unmarked red doors that briefly piqued her curiosity, her shoes making light tapping sounds against the stone floor. After turning onto the fourth corridor, she finally discovered a square window that was approximately one metre wide and tall, but most importantly, it looked like she was able to slide it open. Exactly what she was looking for.
Placing both hands on the left side of the frame where there was a groove in the wood, Ryūko pulled the window to the side enough to fit her arm through with a bit of wiggle room, cringing at the squeaks of protest from rusty hinges. She then held her left arm out and cupped her mouth with her right hand, whistling a short tune that she knew would get her target's attention. Within moments, a mass of ruffled black feathers landed on her outstretched arm which she immediately pulled towards her.
"What on earth were you getting up to, Yata?" asked the Uchiha as she began to smooth down his feathers. The crow in question almost seemed to huff at her like he was annoyed, but his dark eyes were staring at her just like they did when he was happy to see her. "The forest was probably a bit too rough for you to hang around in after all. I'm sorry," she said, and to try and make up for it, she stroked him under his beak with her finger, his eyes closing in absolute bliss.
"I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time, I just wanted to check up on you while I could. Fly home and wait for me there, this part of the exam should be finished soon," Ryūko signed the last sentence to Yata before sticking her arm out the window again and letting him fly off. No sense in keeping him around for much longer when he was not needed, especially if the forest was stressing him out so much. He would be safe back at the Uchiha compound.
Ryūko quickly made her way back to the sparring hall, conscious of the time and not wanting to be penalised for being late. As she neared the final corner before the great double doors, she heard a voice coming from behind the door to the female toilets on the left side of the corridor.
"You've got the jitters, don't you, Sakura?"
'That voice… Yamanaka-san?' Ryūko deduced as she stopped just before reaching the door, silently pressing her back against the wall. Usually she would've just kept going, not really caring if she disturbed the conversation, but something was keeping her here.
The Uchiha heard a sigh, then the squeak of metal turning, and finally the sound of water rushing out of a tap and splashing onto a porcelain sink.
"Even Sasuke-kun collapsed. I mean, it feels like the battle ended the way it did because of Sasuke-kun. What'll happen when it's your turn? Maybe it's best if you just quit," continued the platinum blonde. It seemed like she was trying to get under Sakura's skin, to intimidate her into quitting with thinly veiled threats. Was she… afraid of Sakura? Or afraid of Sakura getting hurt? Ryūko didn't know nearly enough about their relationship to make any conclusions yet.
A few moments went by, and just when Ryūko thought the Yamanaka may have succeeded in her goal, the tap was turned off and Sakura gave her rebuttal. "Quit? Who, me? I can hardly wait for my match."
The Uchiha squeezed herself further against the wall as Team 7's kunoichi marched her way out of the toilets and around the corner out of sight, seemingly ignorant of Ryūko's presence. Ryūko gave a small smirk at her attitude. Ino's words appeared to have the opposite of the intended effect, however she couldn't breathe a sigh of relief just yet, because just a couple seconds later, the Yamanaka also exited the toilets.
Ino groaned as she stepped out past the doorway, taking a couple more steps to stand in front of the secured window that looked out to the rest of the forest. She had her arms folded and was playing with the ends of her white arm warmers, something she did whenever she was nervous. The entire time she'd known Sakura, she had always thought that the other girl was weak. Helpless and in need of saving whenever things got tough. Why would it be any different now? Even against those Sound ninja, while she was able to prove that she had gained some resolve of her own, she still didn't really have the combat prowess to back it up, and after seeing exactly how serious the competition was in these preliminaries, Ino knew that Sakura just didn't have what it took to see this thing through unscathed. While she would never say it out loud, she was worried about her. Back in the forest, all she could see was that little girl that needed Ino to protect her from those bullies many years ago.
Ryūko lifted her right hand up and formed the sign necessary for the body flicker, but just before she could use it…
"How long were you standing there?" asked Ino with her back still turned. Ryūko cringed and bit her bottom lip. She had been caught.
"Long enough," replied the Uchiha.
Ino almost jumped in surprise, her arms quickly unfolding as she whipped the upper half of her body around to face Ryūko, her eyes wide. "Oh! It's you!" Clearly Ino knew someone was there but wasn't quite sure who. Perhaps she was expecting someone more familiar. A teammate, maybe?
"I'm sorry for eavesdropping, Yamanaka-san. That isn't something I normally do."
"No, no, it's fine, I probably would have done the same thing," Ino turned back to face the window, finding peace in watching the leaves of the trees sway slowly in the wind.
"Are you okay?" asked the Uchiha as she moved to stand next to the Yamanaka.
Ino glanced at the older girl. She was taller, stronger-looking and, from a distance, probably also intimidating to most people, but there was something about her that made Ino feel… safe. Her mother had always told her that she had a knack for sensing other people's "aura". Standing so close to someone, she could usually tell what they were like, deep down at their core. For example, Sasuke felt like hot embers from a roaring furnace, ready to catch onto something and burn it up, whereas Ryūko felt like the campfire you would rest at during a cold Autumn night. The heat emanating from such a fire feeling pleasant and peaceful, comfortable in a way that made Ino want to stay and bask in it. There was a secondary feeling too, however. Like there was a calm, deep blue lake next the campfire, the kind that made you want to take your shoes off and stand knee-deep in the cooling water and embrace the serenity.
With the warmth of the fire at her back and the cool water around her legs, Ino felt like she could stay like this forever-
"Yamanaka-san?" asked a concerned Ryūko, placing a gentle hand on the other kunoichi's shoulder to try and bring her out of whatever trance she had placed herself in.
Ino blinked a few times and shook her head. "Oh, sorry. Got stuck inside my own thoughts for a moment. I'm all right, thanks."
'That was… strange,' thought the blonde. 'I've never gotten caught up in that before. I almost wanted to spill all my thoughts out to her, which definitely would've been super weird. I only met her a few days ago, and we haven't even had a conversation yet!'
"Well, we should probably get back to the hall, we don't have much time left," commented the Uchiha. Ino nodded in acknowledgment and so the two girls walked side by side for the remainder of the way to the hall. It seemed they were the last two to return so after they entered through the doorway, a pair of chūnin shut double doors behind them to prepare for the next match. Once they reached Team 4 who were still standing just a short distance along from Team 10, Ino briefly stopped Ryūko with a light touch on her upper arm.
"Oh, before I forget, please just call me Ino from now on. 'Yamanaka-san' is reserved for my parents," she said with a giggle.
"Ah, sure thing, Ino," replied Ryūko with a smile. Ino returned to her team's side while Ryūko took her place at the railing next to Haru once again.
"Making new a new friend?" asked her blond teammate, his mouth forming into a sly smirk. "She's cute. Careful though, you might make Himiko jealo-"
Ryūko cut him off with a light, yet firm jab to his side with her elbow.
"Right, sorry, bad joke," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
Himiko. A girl from the year above their own at the academy. Ryūko hadn't seen her since she graduated, but last thing she had heard, Himiko and her team had made chūnin the previous year. The Uchiha shivered, deciding to put any thoughts about Himiko towards the back of her mind.
Ryūko looked up at the black screen as it began to scroll through all the remaining names. Almost half of the ninja present had had their match, so the selection was getting smaller and smaller while the tension between those that remained kept growing.
The screen eventually stopped on two names that almost made Ryūko laugh at how incredible the coincidence was.
Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino
'After that confrontation earlier, I wonder how they're both feeling about this,' Ryūko wondered, looking between both Sakura and Ino. At first, they both had a look of shock and confusion, but then Ino's face quickly hardened and Sakura's looked… hesitant? Maybe she's not looking forward to her match anymore, however once they were both standing opposite each other in the middle of the hall, Sakura showed more determination. 'They clearly have some kind of history. I'm curious to see what kind of history that is and how that will play out here.'
Almost like he could read her mind, Shikamaru decided to comment on the situation. "They've been rivals at each other's throats for years, ever since Sasuke came into the picture. Always trying to get one up over the other in an effort to stand out for him. Shame, they used to be really good friends."
'Becoming rivals because of a mutual crush on Sasuke?' Ryūko's brow furrowed. 'Well, I'll admit, that's not something I pictured.'
"Sakura… I never thought I'd be fighting you, and so soon," said Ino, her voice almost turning into a whisper at the end.
"Yeah…" replied Sakura, her fists clenched at her sides.
'Ino was definitely a standout among the rookie kunoichi,' Asuma, Team 10's jōnin sensei, stated to himself. 'The only question is, with Sakura as her opponent, will Ino be able to bring herself to approach this match with serious intent?'
"Sakura-chan! Do your best! Don't lose!" shouted Naruto who was leaning over the railing with his hands cupping his mouth. The boy obviously had no problem being loud about his enthusiasm for his teammates.
"Begin!" Hayate dropped his hand, indicating the beginning of the match, and jumped back to allow the combatants more room to battle. Immediately the two girls ran towards each other and once they were within range, Sakura started it off by attempting a high kick towards Ino's head, which she dodged by leaning backwards. Ino then tried to throw a punch towards Sakura's chest but the girl quickly sidestepped and threw up her arm to block the attack before then ducking down and sweeping her leg towards Ino to trip her up. Ino jumped to avoid the strike, landing low on her hands to also dodge the higher follow-up kick.
The Yamanaka decided she needed to create some space between her and Sakura, so she jumped back a few metres. Sakura wasn't about to let her have any time to think, however, so she pulled out three kunai from her pouch, jumped into the air and threw them towards the blonde. Ino stepped out of the way of the first one, caught the second and threw it at the third to knock it out of the air.
"Ah, I knew it," said Shikamaru with a sigh. Naruto either didn't hear him or misinterpreted what the Nara said, because he then happily exclaimed that Sakura was "totally blowing Ino away". Shikamaru groaned. "Idiot."
"What did you just say?!" Naruto angrily shouted at Shikamaru.
"If you're not an idiot, you must be sleeping and since you're not sleeping, I guess you're just an idiot," replied the lazy genius.
"Sure enough, they are kunoichi," before Naruto could reject Shikamaru's claim, another voice interrupted them. "This is the extent of their hand-to-hand combat." It was Hyūga Neji of Team 9.
"It's not because they're kunoichi," said Tenten, one of Neji's teammates. "It's just that those two have put their kid gloves on and are pulling their punches. There's no man or woman in battle, just ninja."
"'Kid gloves…'?" the Uzumaki looked at Tenten in confusion before turning his attention back to the fight below. Until now, he hadn't realised that the two weren't actually performing at their strongest against each other.
Meanwhile, over at Team 4, Haru was intensely glaring at Neji. While neither Daichi nor Ryūko appeared to pay any mind to their former classmate's comment, Haru seemed to find it particularly offensive. 'What an asshole, and not just an asshole but a stupid asshole too! He really has the balls to say something like that when both Ryū-chan and Tenten are standing right here. Even back in the academy Tenten outshined most of our classmates and as her teammate, he should know how talented she still is. And Ryū-chan…' Haru's frown turned into a cool smirk. 'She could kick his fucking ass if she wanted to.'
Sakura and Ino continued to trade minor blows for the next few seconds until Ino finally managed to land a solid punch to Sakura's stomach, knocking the air out of the girl's lungs and temporarily stunning her. 'This is my chance!' the blonde declared, raising her fist to strike her opponent's face.
Six-year-old Sakura. Smiling. Wearing the ribbon Ino had given her. Best friends.
Team 10, Naruto and Ryūko stared in confusion at the sight below. At the very last moment, the Yamanaka had unclenched her fist and turned her punch into a slap, greatly reducing the damage the strike would have done to Sakura's face. They were all thinking the same thing: Ino may very well have just thrown away her only chance for a clean and easy victory, and judging by her face, she knew that too.
No matter how hard she tried to stop them, her earlier thoughts kept rising to the surface. Memories of a younger Sakura running to Ino during one of their kunoichi classes, tripping over nothing and falling onto the grass in front of everyone else, cowering behind Ino when those other girls were picking on her…
"At this point, I don't even plan on fighting over Sasuke-kun with you," Ino's trip into her memories was interrupted by Sakura's words. She had straightened her back and held her head up high, a new conviction set in her gaze. "You and Sasuke-kun don't go together and I'm certainly stronger than you!"
"What the hell are you saying?!" Ino shouted back. She was starting to get annoyed, that's for sure.
"I'm saying you're beneath me, Ino!"
"What's going on? Why's Sakura-chan being so mean all of a sudden? Ino looks pretty scary right now…" Naruto asked aloud, and to be honest, Ryūko was wondering the same (although she had her suspicions).
"Hm, that's not quite true," replied Kakashi. "Sakura's not the kind of person to needlessly flaunt her strength against people to hurt them. She doesn't want Ino to continue pitying her and pulling her punches. Sakura needs to be able to fight Ino on fair terms."
Back down in the arena, Ino could feel her temper rising. She always was pretty quick to anger, especially when it was Sakura who was provoking her. "That… that's not even important anymore! Sasuke's not important any-"
"Oh? Finally realised that you could never compare to me. Well, I'm happy for you!" Sakura clearly wasn't going to let this go. She wanted Ino to blow up. She needed her to get fiery.
"Oh, that's IT! Do you have any idea who you're getting lippy with, you cry-baby?!" Oh yeah, Ino was definitely ready to jump back into this fight.
'You once called me a bud… a bud that may end up blossoming into a most beautiful flower,' Sakura began, unknowingly thinking back to the same day Ino was some moments ago. 'For years, I believed in those words. I desperately wanted them to be true, I thought it would be so nice if I could bloom into something beautiful like you. I set my sights on you because I wanted to be just like you, and it's because of that, that I'm here now. So, Ino… fight me seriously, because there's no point if I can't beat you when you're at your best!'
Team 7's kunoichi reached up to the back of her neck, undid the knot tying her headband there, and pulled it off of her head. "I'm not the same little girl that used to cling to your side, Ino! I'm a ninja of Konohagakure!"
"All right… I understand, Sakura," suddenly the mood in the combat hall shifted as Ino also removed her headband from around her waist. Finally, it seemed the two would begin to treat each other as equals and no longer hold back. This was now a fight worth watching.
"The gloves are coming off," whispered Haru. He was beginning to show active investment in this battle, as was the Uchiha at his side. It wasn't every day that two rivals were given the opportunity to display their superiority in front of an audience, however there was still that nagging part in the back of her mind that was concerned for the two kunoichi. If things started to get too heated, someone could end up seriously hurt, in more ways than just physical.
Sakura and Ino lifted their headbands to their foreheads and tied them there in the traditional shinobi style, a sign that they were now treating each other as equals.
Similar to how the battle first started, they charged at each other, but this time Sakura decided to throw some ninjutsu in; the basic clone jutsu from the academy.
"Ha! You can't beat me with things we learned back at the academy, Sakura!" shouted Ino with a smirk on her face. She stopped running and held up her arms instead. 'If I watch carefully, I can tell which of the three in front of me is the real one,' she realised, but Sakura wasn't about to let her have any time to figure it out. Channelling chakra to her feet, Sakura gave herself and her clones a burst of speed, the first two throwing feint attacks to confuse Ino so the real one could land a right hook to her face. The attack was successful, and Ino was sent sprawling.
"That was pretty impressive," commented Daichi. Apparently, he had also become more interested in this match.
"What did she do?" asked Haru. Unlike his teammates, he couldn't spot precise use of chakra so easily.
"She sent a finite amount of chakra to the soles of her feet and released it at just the right time to give herself a temporary speed boost. That kind of chakra control is almost never seen in your typical genin. She has, without a doubt, incredible talent in chakra control," Jun explained from behind Team 4. 'Kakashi wasn't kidding when he said we shouldn't underestimate the rookie teams this year.'
"Wait… does that mean Sakura-chan is better than me?" Naruto turned and asked his own sensei, a worried look on his face.
"No, you're just the greatest," replied the Copycat Ninja, his voice laced with obvious sarcasm. Naruto pouted in disappointment. 'Even from the start, without any help from me, she was extremely good at controlling and manipulating her chakra, so I suppose it isn't really a surprise that she's able to creatively use her chakra in unexpected ways so early in her ninja career.'
The Yamanaka groaned in frustration at letting herself be caught off guard like that, but she wasn't going to let that keep her down for long. With a cry, she ran at Sakura again and threw her fist at her, who seemed to have the same idea. They caught each other's fists and initiated a brief contest of strength, trying to push back against the other, however they appeared to be equally matched in this case. Assuming Ino was once again thinking the same as her, Sakura tried to pull back and create distance, but the Yamanaka had other ideas. Twisting her fist out of Sakura's grip, Ino latched onto the other girl's wrist and pulled both herself and Sakura back, towards the floor. Landing on her back, Ino quickly lifted her legs, planted her feet against Sakura's abdomen, and pushed her up and over her body.
Sakura winced when she hit the floor, her spine hitting the concrete and sending a small shock up and down her body. When she heard another cry, she looked up just in time to see Ino coming down towards her with a kick aimed at her chest. Sakura gasped, managing to roll out of the way just in time, much to her relief. Once she was on her feet, she leapt backwards to again try to create that distance, reaching into her shuriken pouch at the same time and throwing one towards her opponent. Predicting that move, Ino also pulled out a shuriken of her own to deflect Sakura's in mid-air.
Approximately ten minutes passed by since the beginning of the match, and neither of the participants were showing any signs of giving up. They were both as beaten and bruised as each other, so at this point, it was anybody's guess who would win.
'Ino… how far are you willing to go for this? I was looking forward to seeing how you would approach this, considering your confrontation with Haruno-san earlier… but I never expected you both to go on like this for so long,' thought Ryūko, chewing on her bottom lip in concern. She wondered – hoped – that at some point, the proctor may call this match to a finish soon.
'Since when… did she get… so strong?!' Ino pulled her fist back.
'I can… make it through this!' Sakura mimicked Ino's movement.
At the same time, the two kunoichi landed a punch on each other's faces, throwing them off their feet and sending them flying backwards a fair distance.
"Oh shit!" Haru blurted out, his hands flying to the top of his head. Maybe he was getting a little too into this.
'At this rate, it'll never end,' mused Kakashi.
Sakura and Ino slowly got their feet, their breathing laboured and their muscles growing weaker the longer the fight went on. They were becoming fatigued rather quickly, and with that, Ino's temper was growing again.
"How can you be evenly matched with me?!" she cried; her fists clenched so hard she was almost afraid she might accidentally draw blood.
"Heh, what makes you think I'm evenly matched with you?" replied Sakura, a smug look on her face. "Pretty sure I'm above someone that's only concerned with frivolous things, such as hair!"
"You… I've had enough of you mocking me!" yelled Ino, drawing her last kunai from her pouch.
"Idiot, she's taking the bait too easily. Now she'll attack without thinking clearly, which is exactly what Sakura wants," Shikamaru sighed, resigning himself to the fact that his teammate will probably make a fool of herself pretty soon.
"I don't like Ino when she's that way…" grumbled Chōji. He had mostly remained silent this whole time, mainly because he was scared Ino would somehow hear him and shout at him.
"Don't be so sure of that yet, you two," the ash from Asuma's cigarette delicately fell to the floor when he smiled, like he knew something his students didn't, which he probably did.
When Ino brought the kunai to the base of her long ponytail and sliced it off in one swift movement, it startled many in the room and even caused them to begin to question the blonde's sanity. Asuma ignored Shikamaru's sceptical look.
"I don't need this!" Ino screamed, throwing the locks of hair so they lay between her and Sakura. "I'll just put an end to this thing right now! I'll make you say that you give up!" she declared, forming her clan's signature hand seal.
"Ah, I knew it. She's completely lost it if she thinks that's gonna work!" the Nara boy's eyes were almost bulging out of his skull. "Come on Ino, don't turn this into such a drag!"
"Man, what an idiot," Asuma muttered, his hand coming up to his face in shame. It seemed Asuma had retracted his previous opinion and now agreed with Shikamaru.
'The Yamanaka clan's mind transferring jutsu? Just what are you planning, Ino?' mused Ryūko. Maybe it was because she didn't know Ino as well as the others did, but the Uchiha wasn't so quick to assume Ino had gone crazy. There was still a look of intense determination in her eyes and Ryūko was very familiar with that. She had seen it in the eyes of her the boy beside her many, many times.
"I understand you're frustrated right now, but that move is completely futile," cautioned Sakura, that smug look never having left her face. "The Mind Body Switch jutsu, a jutsu that allows the user to take over the mind and body of their opponent by discharging their chakra and striking them with it. A formidable jutsu indeed, but there's a couple fatal flaws: first, the discharged chakra can only fly straight and at a slow speed. Second, in case you miss your target, you can't return to your own body for several minutes. In other words, you're completely helpless, which would guarantee your loss in this match."
'This jutsu of the Yamanaka clan is primary used for spying, not combat. Ino ordinarily requires combining it with Shikamaru's shadows in order for it to be effectively used in battle. If this were real life or death combat, pulling a move like this would be suicide,' Asuma wished he could point this out to Ino before she continued, but as her sensei, it wasn't his place to try and influence the decisions made in this match. This was an exam to test the abilities and reasoning of the genin, and only the genin.
"So what?! I won't know unless I try!" Ino straightened her stance and prepared to strike, and in return, Sakura began to run in order to dodge the attack.
"Ninpo:…"
'Damn it, don't do it!' Shikamaru grabbed onto the walkway's railing and squeezed it hard, like that would somehow stop Ino from continuing.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" [1]
Suddenly, Sakura stopped running. Ino's arms fell to her sides and her body went limp, dropping to her knees. Most of the Konoha ninja waited anxiously for something to happen with bated breath.
'Is it… is it over? Did she miss?' Ryūko's mouth fell agape. She was completely speechless. After hearing Sakura talk about the weaknesses of the jutsu and why it was most definitely a horrible idea for Ino to even attempt it, Ryūko truly believed that Ino would switch it up at the last second, but judging by their current behaviour, it doesn't seem like that was the case.
Sakura – or was it Ino? – chuckled. Raising her head to stare at the Yamanaka's body, she said, "Well, that is very unfortunate… Ino." There it was, the confirmation that Ino had allowed Sakura to get under her skin and force her to make a huge mistake, costing her the entire match. "It's over then," Sakura went to move to Ino's side, place a kunai against her neck and force the proctor to call the match in her favour, when (much to her horror) she found that she couldn't move her legs. "What?!"
Looking down, she realised strands of blonde hair now clung to her calves in a vice-like grip, likely enhanced with chakra to make them feel so strong.
"You fell for it, Sakura!" Ino gleefully declared, lifting her head to stare her opponent straight in the eyes so she could take in her terrified expression. "My seal weaving was all just an act to fool you into thinking I was in a vulnerable state. Now you can't move, can you? I knew I would never be able to hit you with my jutsu unless you were standing still, so I poured my chakra into my hair and used it to replicate another certain jutsu!"
'So, everything… was an act? Letting herself get riled up? Making it seem like she had gone crazy and sliced her hair for no reason? It was all just to trap her opponent in order to make up for her jutsu's weakness,' the Uchiha laughed to herself, glad to feel a huge sense of relief wash over her. 'That's… amazing!'
"With this, the match will be over," Ino raised her hands to form the seal again. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"
Just like how it happened before, both bodies went limp momentarily, until Sakura raised her head. The corner of her mouth slowly rose in satisfaction. "Now that is very unfortunate… Sakura."
"Huh? What happened? Why is Sakura-chan acting weird?" once again, the Uzumaki was in a state of confusion, looking to his sensei for answers.
"Sakura was hit with the Yamanaka clan's signature jutsu. I'm afraid that's it for her," replied the Copycat ninja. "Ino's spirit is inside of Sakura's body. She's completely taken control, and now she's going to force 'Sakura' to forfeit the match."
As Kakashi finished explaining what was going on, 'Sakura' began to raise her hand which caught the proctor's attention. "I, Haruno Sakura, give-"
"No! Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed from above her. The upper half of his body was bent so far over the railing that it looked like he was about to fall. "You worked so hard to get here! Don't let her steal your place in these exams like this!"
'Tsk. That guy's so annoying,' the kunoichi hissed in her mind. 'His words are completely useless anyway. This victory is guaranteed.'
She turned to the proctor again. "So, as I was saying…" 'Sakura' was forced to stop. Literally. It was almost like she could feel her words catch in her throat before she could say them out loud. Next, came the massive headache. 'Ugh! What is going on?!' her arms flew to her head, clutching at it in a desperate attempt to get the pain to stop.
Many of the spectators watched in both concern and fascination as it seemed like something – or someone – was fighting back against the control Ino had over Sakura's body.
'Naruto… is so… annoying!' came a voice from the back of her head. Ino gasped. It shouldn't be possible, not when she was supposed to be in complete control, and yet she was hearing Sakura's own thoughts. 'But he's right… I can't lose… not to Ino…'
"What's the matter?" asked Hayate, the proctor. "Are you conceding the match?"
Sakura – Ino – whoever was in control seemed to be facing a major conflict of interest in her head, because a minute later after fighting with herself, she let out a frustrated cry. "I won't be conceding! No way!"
'Ino?!' Ryūko stared in panic at the events unfolding below. 'Somethings wrong with the jutsu. Come on Ino!'
Of course, Haru did not fail to notice the concern currently plastered across his teammate's face, even though she tried to hide it. To him, she was pretty much an open book.
'Sakura…?!' Team 7's sensei watched in awe as the student that most had underestimated was now fighting back against a jutsu that usually took special training to break. While you certainly could partially attribute that to Ino's lack of chakra and energy, it still took an extraordinary amount of willpower to wrestle control back.
Sakura used what small amount of control she had managed to take to force her arms, which were shaking from the exertion, together in order to form the seal necessary to release the jutsu on herself. After feeling Ino's chakra being ejected from her body, she collapsed to her knees from exhaustion.
"What… the hell… was that…?" asked Ino in between heavy breaths.
"It seems… I'm just… better than you!" replied Sakura, managing to put a grin on her face despite how badly the muscles in her body were hurting.
Although the match was nearing its end, the two kunoichi weren't quite finished yet. They forced themselves to stand on two legs again, and despite having little to no chakra or energy remaining in either of them, they forced their legs to move into a run towards each other for one final blow. Whoever struck first would be the winner.
Alas, fate had other ideas.
For the second time during this match, their fists collided with each other's faces simultaneously, the strength behind them sending them to the floor and their headbands flying from their foreheads. It was a mutual knockout, and neither of them looked like they would be getting up.
Hayate took a few moments to look between them before deciding to call it to an end. "As both participants are unable to continue the match, I'm declaring this a double knockout. Neither of them shall proceed to the next stage."
Once Kakashi and Asuma had collected their respective students, they returned to the walkway and immediately the rest of Team 10, Naruto and even Rock Lee ran over to check on them. The jōnin sensei told the other genin to give the girls some space and that they would wake up soon, so there was no need to worry.
Haru looked down and smiled in amusement at the sight of Ryūko's leg anxiously bouncing up and down. "You know, you can go over there and check on them if you want."
"No, no it's all right, I'm sure she- they are fine. There's plenty of people over there already," replied the Uchiha, turning her attention away from the unconscious kunoichi and towards her teammate. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"
"Me? I'm feeling pretty good! The stronger ninja won fair and square, right, Daichi?" Haru slung his arm around his Hyūga teammate's shoulders, which was then promptly removed with a quick slap on his hand.
"I wouldn't necessarily call this fair. You may not be the only one here who is being forced to fight in a disadvantageous environment," Daichi crossed his arms in mild annoyance. Of course, he was happy to have a place in the final exam, but he wasn't exactly pleased with how he got it. "And what's going on with you?" he asked Ryūko.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? To start, you were practically doe-eyed at that Yamanaka's weak attempt at distraction-"
"I said that I didn't-"
"-and when you left earlier, you returned with her by your side. Now you're showing interest and concern regarding her match, the likes of which would imply you were a lot closer than you actually are. Did something happen when you were with her? Do you actually have some petty schoolyard cru-" before he could finish his question, Ryūko threw her hand up and clamped it over the boy's mouth to prevent him from speaking another word. Jun quietly took his hands from his pockets, ready to intervene should the situation between the two almost-rivals escalate and draw unwanted attention, while the blond in the team placed his hands on their shoulders to try and gently coax them apart. He could see the anger begin to build on his female friend's face and he knew that could only end badly if it was allowed to fester.
"Just like every Hyūga in the main house, you think having the Byakugan means you can see anything and everything around you, but you can't," the Uchiha quickly glanced around them to check that no one was looking at them, before continuing. "Whatever you think you saw in the forest, you were wrong. My adrenaline was high, it was a brief lapse in judgement to react that way and it will never happen again. As for what happened earlier, that's just it. Nothing happened, so stop trying to act like you know me."
Daichi grabbed Ryūko's wrist and roughly pulled it away from his mouth. "Don't you dare compare me to them. I'm only commenting on what's right in front of me. For someone who has the Sharingan, you're awfully blind to your own life, but what else should I expect from someone that lets her cowardice get in the way of her own abilities!"
Ryūko's face twisted into one of rage, her gaze hardening into a cold glare. Predicting what was about to happen, Jun quickly grabbed Daichi's shoulder to lead him away while Haru stepped in front of Ryūko.
"Whoa there, that was getting pretty heated, huh?" Haru let out an uneasy laugh, turning Ryūko's body so she was facing the centre of the sparring hall and putting his arm over his shoulders, but unlike Daichi, she didn't try to remove it. "Sorry, I should have tried harder to stop that. I know you two find it easy to butt heads often so I should have seen that coming."
The Uchiha took a few moments to breath, forcing her face back into neutrality. "No, I should be the one apologising. It shouldn't always be up to you to help Daichi and I with our problems."
"Eh, I don't really mind," he replied with a grin. "Acting as a buffer between you two is worth it if means our teamwork doesn't suffer. Besides, you guys make up for it by treating me well," Haru finished by wiggling his eyebrows.
"Fine, when this is over, I will buy you a slice of cake from that dessert place you like so much."
"Yes!" the blonde fist pumped the air in joy, causing Ryūko to smile. She enjoyed buying things for Haru, but she wasn't able to do it very often because he wasn't the kind of person to accept gifts for no reason.
Haru's family was less fortunate than most, but it wasn't always that way. When he was born, his father worked successfully as a foreman in an iron mine and his mother was a novelist, but when Haru was only two years old, there was an accident in the mine that caused a collapse in the main shaft. Four of the workers died, and one of his father's arms became trapped under rubble when he tried to go back in and save them. The medic team that treated him deemed his arm unsalvageable and to save his life, they had to amputate it. He couldn't work after that and so his mother had to quit being a novelist as it wasn't bringing in enough money to support them. The only work that she could find that paid enough for them to get by was as a secretary during the weekdays and an evening bartender at the weekend, so she took on both of them. Haru decided to join the ninja academy in order to earn enough one day so that both of his parents could live comfortably without any worries, but it was also because of his situation that he felt like receiving gifts without a clear purpose felt like pity, and that was the last thing he wanted.
His breastplate was the first time he had ever accepted a major gift from Ryūko, and it was after their fateful mission where he was injured by one of their enemies, almost critically so. Ryūko had insisted that he wear it from then on, and he had to admit, it had saved his life more than once.
The kamas he wore at his sides were a present from their sensei, sort of. Just under a year of being part of Team 4, Haru had talked to Jun about wanting to incorporate some kind of weapon into his style and needed some advice. He claimed to have been inspired by Ryūko's techniques with her sword, but he wanted something… unique, and unpredictable. Jun told Haru to leave it with him to think it over, and exactly one week later, he presented the boy with the shiny pair of kamas. Of course, one of the first things he did was promise to pay him back eventually with the money he made from missions, but Jun told him that the best kind of way to pay him back was getting to watch him grow into a splendid ninja.
Haru had almost cried when he heard that.
Meanwhile, Jun was speaking to Daichi to try to get to the root cause of the current issue. He had taken the Hyūga further down the walkway until they had reached the stairs, signalling for the genin to join him when he sat down on the top stair.
"So, care to explain why I had to separate you?" he asked, his arms resting on his knees with his fingers loosely intertwined. He almost looked like a dad trying to give a life lesson to his son.
"What more is there to say? She's being stupid and it'll affect the team."
Jun hummed at Daichi's response but stayed quiet. Some may assume that meant he was mulling it over, but Daichi knew that the jōnin thought that reason was full of shit… and it was.
"Okay fine, I may have let a negative attitude leak into my words, but only because I might have been ever so slightly worried about the future of my teammate."
"Hm."
"A little worried."
"Hm."
"Ugh, okay, I am worried that Ryūko is making the mistake of letting herself be easily made vulnerable again in the presence of someone that gives her attention and kindness because obviously she developed issues in her childhood when she wasn't-"
"Wait, hold on, there's a lot to go over here. First, what exactly do you mean by vulnerable? Is it the dangerous kind that can mean someone is being manipulated? Second, "again"? You're speaking from experience where you have witnessed Ryūko in that state before? I haven't been made aware of anything of the sort," it was Jun's turn to be anxious about current events. When he had taken on the three genin as Team 4, he had been given files on them that went over their backgrounds. Haru's file was the lightest as his life was fairly normal, aside from the tragic accident that befell his father. Daichi's was a little heavier since he had some family drama of his own that was noted down, as anything would be if it may come to affect his career later down the line. To no surprise to anyone, Ryūko's file was pretty big, easily double, maybe even triple the size of most. It first detailed the death of her father, then the suicide of her brother, and finally the horrific ordeal she went through only five years ago that left her as one of only two survivors in her entire clan.
Yes, Jun had become very familiar with Ryūko's life. In fact, in the months leading up to that year's graduating class, the jōnin sensei that had been selected to mentor the teams were briefed by the Hokage on Ryūko's condition and that anyone who felt like they would not be suited to taking on the responsibility of taking care of her should let it be known. Only himself, Gai and Kakashi had been ready to accept her as a potential student. Jun had been surprised when the Hokage had assigned another team to Kakashi, but after seeing him with Team 7 the following year, he had realised that the Hokage already had the Copycat ninja in mind for being Sasuke's sensei. The file had never talked about whatever Daichi was thinking of, however.
The Hyūga sighed, pulling at the ends of his sleeves. "There was… a girl. She was in the year above us at the academy, and even though I never really interacted with her or Ryūko, I could see what was happening from a distance. This girl, she took a… well, let's just say she took an interest in Ryūko during our penultimate year. Why? I can't accurately answer that because I simply just don't know, but if I were to give an educated guess, it was because that was the year where Ryūko started to be herself again. She wasn't as shy anymore, and she stopped scaring easily. Her class scores were climbing, and she started to show signs of being an "elite" Uchiha.
"Anyway, this girl had bad news written all over her. I think she saw an opening in Ryūko's defences, a hole in her heart that was yearning to be filled again after the loss of her family. Haru was, and still is, her closest friend but… even I could tell that there was something still missing for her, and that's why she let herself get attached to this girl so easily," Jun nodded at Daichi's explanation. It made sense to him, after all. Ryūko had lost everyone in her life at such a young age, but unlike Sasuke, the losses happened over a longer time period, so her mind had time to build bridges instead walls. Instead of immediately shutting down and closing off all access after a sudden tragedy, it wanted those connections again. It craved those bonds that were sorely missed, and that's what may lead to the negative consequences that were troubling Daichi.
"This girl, did she take advantage of Ryūko?"
"Yes, or at least she tried to. Haru would know more than me since he's the one that was originally involved and was able to reel Ryūko back to safety."
"I see…" Jun made a mental note to talk to Haru soon. Clearly none of the academy supervisors noticed that anything was amiss, that's why no one was ever informed. "Thanks for telling me all this Daichi. Do you what happened to this girl? Who she was?"
"Himiko. Higurashi Himiko. She's a chūnin now, I believe."
'Higurashi? That name sounds familiar. Is that the name of an infamous member of the Anbu?' he contemplated. The Anbu were known for taking on covert high-risk missions, often involving assassination, surveillance, torture, and interrogation. Even if a ninja is exceptional at what they do, there's no guarantee they will be accepted into the Anbu as only those with a fitting personality would be suited to the role. 'If the Higurashi I'm thinking of is who I think she is, that means this Himiko has one hell of a role model for a mother. Unfortunately, now that whatever happened has been done with for a few years now, there's nothing I can do about it. The best thing I can do for Ryūko is make sure she never has to be near her ever again, including blocking any missions that would involve their teamwork.'
"Listen, Daichi," the Hyūga looked up at his sensei. "I understand where you're coming from, and I think that it's very kind of you to look out for Ryūko like that, despite your differences. I'm only going to ask that you just talk to her about your feelings instead of snapping at her. If you start with aggression, you're only going to get aggression in return. Please learn to trust Ryūko too, she's not the same person she was back in the academy. None of you are, really. You've all grown so much over the last couple years!"
Daichi gave a small smile at the compliment. It was true, so much had changed for all three of them that if you were to compare them now, they would be unrecognisable to their former selves. In fact, if you had told the younger Daichi that one day his chest ached whenever he thought about something awful happening to a boy who was a poor nobody and an Uchiha, he would have laughed in your face and called you a fool. He'd rather die than admit any of that to anyone, though.
"I'm glad we had this conversation!" exclaimed Jun, dropping his hand onto his student's shoulder and giving him a brief shake. Once again, the jōnin underestimated his strength as Daichi was almost sent tumbling down the stairs, the only thing stopping his descent being the vice-like grip his right hand had on the railing. "Come on, let's get back to Ryūko and Haru," Jun stood up and offered Daichi a hand which was accepted, although the genin quickly regretted it when his sensei pulled him to his feet so quickly that he almost became disorientated.
Daichi gave Ryūko a brief nod - which was returned - as he took his place at the railing next to Haru. It was better for them both to put what had just transpired behind them and forget about it, like they usually did when they had their arguments. Admittedly their attitude towards each other had greatly improved over the last couple years, but there was still a lot of work to be done. Perhaps they would never truly be friends, but as long as they were teammates, they would do their best to work together efficiently and look out for one another. On that, they were in complete agreement.
The black screen in the corner of the hall began to cycle through names again, the remaining genin watching in anticipation as their names popped up for a brief moment, only to be replaced by another over and over again. After a few seconds, it finally seemed to settle on one from Konoha, and the other from Suna.
Tenten vs. Temari
The two kunoichi stood facing each other with Hayate between them. Tenten had a smirk on her face, feeling fired up after watching all the previous matches, while Temari looked… bored. Unimpressed.
"Do your best, Tenten!" exclaimed Lee from above. Next to him, Neji commented on how interesting this matchup was.
While Haru let out his own cheer for the brunette, Ryūko stood silently but inside she certainly felt excitement similar to Lee's. When their class graduated from the academy, she and Tenten had been the top two female graduates. They both recognised the hard work and dedication the other was putting in to mastering their skills, and they even trained together a few times before being placed into their respective teams. Tenten would send a barrage of projectile weapons – blunt ones, for training purposes – towards Ryūko for her to dodge or deflect with her shuriken. It helped improve Tenten's sealing and unsealing abilities during combat and let Ryūko perfect what is now one of her strongest skillsets.
It had been a long time since the two had last spent time together, but they still greatly admired each other from afar and would check in every now and then to see what the other was up to. Maybe they should schedule a training session together soon like they used to. Sometimes Ryūko missed their academy days.
"The seventh battle… Tenten, Temari… come forward!" the proctor finished with a cough. The girls took a few steps towards each other, never breaking eye contact. When they were just a couple metres apart, they stopped.
The proctor took a moment to look at them, gauging their readiness. Satisfied, he dropped his hand between them and declared the beginning of the match.
A/N: Apologies to anyone who noticed two errors in the previous chapter.
1. I mistakenly assumed that because Kagami was the same age as Hiruzen, the timeline would have worked out for him to be Shisui's grandfather. I didn't notice that Hiruzen was 40 years old when he had Asuma, so that actually means Kagami would've been Shisui's great-grandfather instead. I have fixed that now.
2. I believed the order of preliminary fights went Sasuke vs Yoroi, Kankurō vs Misumi, Zaku vs Shino, but it's actually Sasuke vs Yoroi, Zaku vs Shino, Kankurō vs Misumi. Thankfully, this does not impact anything at all, but I just thought I should say something here in case anyone noticed it haha.
Just a few things to go over here: first, hints of Ino's sensory abilities. I want to explore them a lot earlier than canon did, and I'm trying to put my own spin on them, kind of similar to what Karin can do (i.e., sense the nature of someone's chakra like it's their "aura"). It's still very much in its early stages, and this "aura sensing" is only applicable when standing directly next to someone (who is also not actively hiding their chakra).
Haru saying "She could kick his fucking ass if she wanted to". I feel the need to elaborate on this a little before someone accuses me of creating a Mary-Sue. This is from Haru's perspective, and he greatly admires Ryūko and thinks she's the strongest person he knows. If anyone were to ask me on how I rank her strength vs Neji's, well it would take a lot more explaining than I have room for. Let's just say, at this point in the story and assuming they're both going for the kill, Neji is still the strongest genin of their generation and would likely win 70% of the time (depending on various variables such as environmental conditions).
Lastly, I just wanted to say that over the last year, I've been doing a lot more research on things and gaining some new inspiration. I actually now regret some things about how Ryūko fights and will likely make some changes during the time skip to Shippuden. For example, I wish I could focus more on her swordplay, but with the way I've set things up I'm not able to do that until the training montage I have in mind for the events during the time skip. Expect to see some samurai related things in the future :)
Yes, I've been playing Ghost of Tsushima.
[1] Ninpo: Shintenshin no Jutsu – Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu