"Your Jutsu is indeed fast." Dosu chuckled under his breath. "But our Jutsu exceeds that and is the speed of sound!"

Lee staggered back and fell to his knees, gasping for air as the area around him spun.

Sakura balled her hands and pressed her lips together, keeping her eyes on Lee. Kin chuckled and narrowed her eyes at the girl, and Dosu chuckled again.

"I'll show you there are walls which effort alone can never break through."

"W-What?" Lee's vision distorted again as his ears rang and Dosu smirked. Lee slumped forward, retching violently as he trembled.

"Lee!" Sakura's eyes widened as Lee's body froze and blood slowly poured from his ear.

Lee sat up slowly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and then covered his left ear. "My ear..."

"There's a little trick I have." Dosu raised his right arm and slid down his sleeve to show them his gauntlet. "Evading doesn't work... for my attacks."

"What's he going to do?!" Sakura gritted her teeth and furrowed her brows at Dosu, who laughed low.

"That's because... my attacks are sound." He paused and Sakura's eyes widened.

"Sound?" Lee furrowed his brows and blinked.

"Even though you evaded my fist, you were assaulted by sound." Dosu lowered his arm and clenched his fist. "Do you know what sound is all about in the first place?"

"Vibrations...?" Sakura answered under her breath, turning her attention from Lee to Dosu.

"Correct." Dosu narrowed his eyes and touched his ear. "In other words, hearing sounds means that the eardrum is catching vibrating air. And the human eardrum breaks with sounds over one-hundred-and-fifty Megahertz. Also, by assaulting the semicircular canal which is located even deeper, I can make you completely lose balance."

He chuckled again and Lee winced as his ear throbbed, still bleeding, and his head pounded.

"You won't be able to move your body freely for some time." Dosu rested his arm at his side and Zaku smirked.

"Something as old and tired like Taijutsu won't work on us." Zaku laughed as Lee glared at him. "Well, you were doing well up to a certain point, until I brought out my Jutsu. It just won't work anymore." He pulled his hands from the dirt and crossed his hands in front of him. "I can freely manipulate ultrasonic waves and air pressure, and have the power to obliterate even boulders! I can send air into the ground to change the dirt into a cushion as I please. It's completely different from your silly Jutsu." He opened his hands, revealing holes in his palms that shot out blast of sound and laughed.

"Darn it!" Lee clenched his jaw and moved his hand from hear ear. "Darn it!"

"Alright, then." Dosu raised his arm, drawing it back to prepare a strike as he ran at Sakura. "Next is... you!"

"Darn it!" Lee's eyes widened and he turned to look at her. "Sakura!"

"He's coming!" Sakura gritted her teeth and grabbed a Kunai, holding it up defensively.

Lee forced him to stand and block his path, and Dosu's eyes widened.

"No way!"

"Lee!" Sakura gasped quietly and lowered her Kunai slightly in surprise.

"Leaf... Hurricane!" Lee aimed a kick at Dosu, only to stagger slightly. Dosu chuckled and swatted his foot away.

"It looks like you're still under the effects of my last attack! I'm somewhat surprised... but there's not even a trace of that flash of a combo Taijutsu you showed!" His eyes narrowed and her threw a punch at Lee's face, who raised his arm to block. Inaudible sound erupted from the gauntlet and Lee winced, his ears ringing again.

"This arm amplifies sounds from within to its maximum. It's a sort of speaker! And, the assaulting sound isn't limited by the direction of my arm..." Dosu manipulated the sound in an arc to directly strike Lee's ear. "It always converges on my target by my Chakra!"

"Lee!" Sakura covered her mouth with a shaking hand as Lee collapsed to the ground again, screaming in pain until he fell unconscious.

"Now, then..." Dosu raised his arm once again and narrowed his eyes at Lee. "The final blow."

"I won't let you!" Sakura threw a volley of Kunai at him, and he knocked them away with his gauntlet.

Dosu let out a small sigh and turned his eyes on her. "Oh, well."

"Hey, let's get out of here!" Choji gulped and whispered to Ino as they hid behind a bush and watched Sakura's failed attack. "Those guys are super dangerous!"

"It looks like Naruto and Sasuke are only unconscious, but... even that guy Lee's been messed up pretty badly and Sakura's alone." Shikamaru furrowed his brows and Ino paled as Sakura faced off against Dosu. He turned to Ino and crossed his arms. "What're you going to do, Ino?"

"W-What...do you mean?"

"Well, Sakura's in big trouble! Are you all right with that?"

"Huh?" Ino blinked and looked at him.

"You two used to be best friends, weren't you?"

Ino's eyes widened and she looked back at Sakura.

Ino and Sakura sat on a bench together and watched the flowers of the meadow dance in the breeze.

"By the way..." Sakura mumbled, and then clutched her hand in her lap and looked down.

"What, Sakura? Don't be so stiff!" Ino smiled and tilted her head to look at her face.

"Well..." Sakura sighed softly. "Ino, I heard that you also..."

"What?" Ino laughed and Sakura blushed slightly as she met her eyes. "What is it?"

"You like Sasuke, too."

Ino blushed lightly and blinked.

"Then, from now on..." Sakura stood and bit her lip as she walked away. "You and I are rivals."

"Why am I remembering stuff from that long ago?" She bit her lip and furrowed her brows.

"Hey, Ino!"

She blinked and looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What're you going to do?!"

"I know!" She clenched her fist. "But there's nothing I can do! I can't just carelessly rush out there, can I?!"

Shikamaru frowned slightly and Ino looked back at Sakura, her legs shaking. "Even if I went out now... I'd be taken down without a doubt."

"I also...!" Sakura threw several Shuriken at Dosu. Zaku appeared in front of him, holding out his palms to blast them back toward her.

"Air pressure! They got bounced back!" She held her arms up to block the wind, the Shurikens grazing her arms as they went by. She took a step back, only for Kin to grab her by the hair and shove her, forcing her to the ground with a grunt.

"Your hair's shinier than mine is." Kin smirked down at her. "Hey... if you have time to worry about your hair, you should train!" She gripped her hair tighter and knocked Sakura's head around. "Getting yourself all dolled up like a woman..." She chuckled and looked at her teammates. "Why don't you kill that Sasuke guy right in front of this adorable bug, Zaku?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." Zaku cracked his knuckles.

"Hey, hey..." Dosu looked at Zaku from the corner of his eye.

"I won't let you do any such thing!" Sakura glared at them and tried to pull away from Kin's grip.

"Don't move!" Kin snapped and tugged on her hair again.

Lee's eyes cracked open and he turned to look at Sakura. "Sa...kura..."

Sakura gritted her teeth and dug her fingers into the ground. "My body... has no strength." Her lip quivered and tears streamed down her face. "I... once again, I'm just dragging everyone down. I'm always being protected. It's so frustrating! This time for sure... I thought! This time for sure... I must protect the people precious to me... so I thought."

"So..." Zaku smirked and walked toward where Sasuke lay, still unconscious.

Faint purple chakra leaked from Sasuke's mark, and Ino and Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"H-Hey! Sasuke and Naruto are going to get it, too!" Shikamaru clenched his jaw.

"What should I do?!" Ino paled and her hear pounded in her ears.

Sakura shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth as she retrieved a Kunai and tugged away from Kin, only to be pulled back.

"I told you, it's pointless!" Kin scowled at her. "That won't work on me!"

Sakura smirked and held up her Kunai, meeting Kin's eyes. "What are you saying?"

"Huh?" Kin blinked. "What?!"

Sakura's smirk widened and she lifted the Kunai to cut her hair and free herself from Kin's grasp. Her hair was blown away in a light breeze and her headband slipped off to land in the dirt.

"I always... act like I'm a full-fledged Ninja. I always say that I like Sasuke. I always act like I know everything and lecture Naruto. I always just... watch them from behind. And yet... those two always covered my back and fought for me." She stood and balled her hands into fists and looked at Lee. "Lee, you always say that you like me... with me at your back. You risked your life and fought for me. I have a feeling that you taught me... I want to be like all of you! This time... I want all of you... to watch me... from behind!"

Ino's eyes widened and she stared at Sakura. "Sakura...?"

Zaku gritted his teeth and focused his attention to Sakura. "Kin! Kill her now!"

Kin drew Senbon with both hands as Sakura quickly formed a series of hand signs.

"Heh. That last sign..." Zaku formed a hand sign and smirked as he watched Sakura. Kin plunged the Senbon into Sakura's back. Her eyes widened as Sakura vanished in a puff of smoke and only a small section of log remained in her place.

"A substitution!" Kin looked around and Zaku held out his palms as he scanned the area.

"On the right, huh? You think I'm a fool? With such a simple and basic Ninjutsu... you think you can get the better of me?!" He narrowed his eyes as Sakura ran at him with Kunai draw and prepared for a strike. "Kin! Get out of the way!"

Kin leapt up and Sakura threw a volley of Kunai at Zaku, who aimed his palms toward her.

"Useless!" Zaku narrowed his eyes and channeled his Chakra. "Air pressure one-hundred percent, ultrasonic waves zero-percent output... is that all you can do?" He smirked "Slicing Sound Wave!"

Sakura stopped running and formed more signs as her Kunai drew closer to him when a large blast of air knocked the Kunai from the air, turning them to impale Sakura. He smirked wider until her body vanished in another cloud of smoke, leaving behind a log riddled with Kunai. He lowered his arms and frowned slightly. "You're easy to spot... You're above!"

Sakura formed another series of seals and Zaku chuckled.

"I've already said it two or three times! It won't work!" He reached into his back pouch to grab a handful of Kunai. "This is enough... for you!"

Sakura raised her arms to protect her head as the Kunai struck her. Zaku smirked and looked around. "Alright, where next?"

Blood dripped onto his face and his eyes widened and he looked up as Sakura pulled a Kunai from her wounds and plunged the knife into him.

"W-What?! This time... it's not a substitution!" He raised his arm in time to block the attack and the knife stuck deep within the flesh, and his blood poured from the wound. She bit down on his other arm and he grunted in pain as she forced the Kunai deeper into his arm.

"Get off me!" Zaku swung his arm, dislodging the Kunai, and then punched her head repeatedly as she bit down harder onto his arm. "Hey! Let go!"

Team Ten's eyes widened and Ino stared as Zaku continued to strike Sakura.

"Sakura..."

Sakura cried loudly and hugged her legs close, burying her face in them as she sobbed. Ino walked closer and sat in front of her with a small smile.

"You're always being called 'Billboard Bro' and being teased."

Sakura sniffed and lifted her eyes slightly to look at Ino, and wiped her face with her forearm. "Who're you?"

"My name is Ino Yamanaka. What about you?"

"I'm... Sakura."

"Huh?" Ino blinked and held a hand up to her ear. "I can't hear you. Say it louder."

"S-Sakura Haruno!"

Ino reached out to poke her forehead. "Huh. Okay."

Sakura sniffed and Ino leaned forward.

"You do have a wide forehead. So, Billboard Brow, huh?'

Sakura's eyes watered and Ino put her hand on the girl's forehead.

"That's why you hide your forehead with your bangs. Like a ghost..." She smiled again. "Sakura, was it?"

"Mhm..." Sakura nodded slowly.

"Come back here tomorrow." Ino straightened and waved as she started to walk away. "I'll give you something nice."

"Huh?" Sakura wiped her face again and looked at her.

"See! You look cuter like this, Sakura!" Ino grinned and put her hands on her hips as Sakura blinked. "I'll let you keep that ribbon."

"T-Thanks." Sakura smiled faintly and reached up to touch the small bow on top of her head. "But..."

"But what?" Ino furrowed her brows and Sakura looked down.

"My forehead..."

"You hide it, so people make more fun of you, you know!" Ino let out a breath. "You have a cute face, Sakura, so you should be more confident! You got that? More confident!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Ino..."

"Come on." Ino tugged at Sakura's hand and pulled her along to the playground.

"Hey, who's that?" One girl looked at Sakura, who hide slightly behind Ino.

"Who's she?" Another girl put her hand on her hip and looked at Ino.

"Her name's Sakura." Ino smiled and stepped aside so that Sakura was visible and turned to her. "Hey, say hello."

Sakura hid behind Ino again and lifted her hand to wave slightly. "H-Hello..."

"Listen, everyone! Listen!" Sakura ran up to Ino and the other girls and lifted her hands into the air. "There's someone that I like! Do you know who it is?"

"Hurry up and tell us!" One girl laughed and another one frowned and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't say it's Sasuke."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked. "How did you know?"

"What're you talking about" A girl laughed. "Sasuke's the most popular boy!"

"Oh, really?" Sakura blushed slightly. "Oh no! I have a lot of rivals then, right? What should I do?!"

Ino frowned slightly and the girl beside her nudged her.

"Hey, Ino. Sakura's been really upbeat lately!"

"Hmph." Ino turned away and crossed her arms. "She's just acting brave and romping around."

"Ino!" Sakura ran up and smiled at her friend. "I just heard that Sasuke likes girls with long hair."

"I've heard you like Sasuke, too, Ino. From now on... we're rivals."

"Your hair." Ino looked at Sakura and narrowed her eyes. "It's grown quite a bit."

"Ino..."

"Why?" Ino turned and glared at Sakura. "Why are you on the same team as Sasuke?!"

"I won't lose anymore to you, Ino!"

"Me, too! I won't lose to you, Sakura! No matter what!"

"Damn! Let go already!" Zaku hit Sakura again and again as he scowled and her bite remained clamped down on his arm. He hit her again and a cut opened on her forehead and blood slowly dripped down her face.

Ino trembled and watched Sakura bleed, then she swallowed at the lump in her throat. "Sakura..."

"I will... I will..." Sakura coughed blood and Zaku hit her harder and threw her to the ground, where she coughed and her blood mixed into the dirt.

"Give up already!" Zaku stood and covered the wound in his arm with his hand.

Sakura slowly got up and wiped her face with the back of her shaking hand. "I have to... protect everyone!"

"This is bad..." Choji gulped.

"Hey, Ino!" Shikamaru furrowed his brows.

"You brat!" Zaku glared at her and pointed his palms at her again. Sakura gritted her teeth and wobbled as she tried to stand, and stayed on her hands and knees as her head throbbed and she caught her breath.

"I can't... give up yet."

Ino suddenly appeared in front of Sakura, with Choji and Shikarmu on either side of her, and Zaku and Sakura's eyes widened.

"Huh?" Sakura blinked and looked up at Ino.

"Heh." Zaku chuckled. "More strange ones."

"Ino...?"

"Sakura... I promised I wouldn't lose to you..." Ino furrowed her brows and kept her eyes on Zaku. "Didn't I?"