Omoi dodged the puppets easily. He drew a kunai and threw it at Kankuro.

One of the puppets shifted, blocking the kunai with its body.

Omoi darted for his sword.

"You gonna help?" Kankuro called to Sakura. "Quit being useless!"

"Shut your mouth!" Sakura perked up, performing hand signs. "Crystal style!"

Omoi's eyes landed on the girl.

"Crystal darts!" Sakura generated a volley of crystal needles. They all flew towards Omoi.

Omoi clapped his hands together.

"Lightning —!"

Karasu rushed in, slashing at Omoi. Omoi cried out, stumbling. He and Karasu were pelted with needles. Omoi was thrown onto his back.

Omoi brushed shattered crystals off his body. They'd broken on impact, didn't even reach his skin.

The other puppet flew in, its chest opening up.

"Stay back!" Omoi screamed. "Lightning wave Jutsu!" Several bolts of lightning erupted from Omoi's palm, ripping through the puppet.

"No!" Kankuro screamed. The chakra strings from one of his hands vanished.

"Keep him still!" Sakura yelled. "Quit being useless!"

"Shut up!" Kankuro yelled back. He directed Karasu towards Omoi.

Omoi grabbed the remains of the broken puppet and threw it at Sakura.

Sakura dodged the puppet and started for Omoi.

Omoi dashed to the side, snatching up his sword. He smirked at Kankuro.

Sakura paused.

Karasu rushed Omoi, swinging its blades.

"I think I'm sick of this," Omoi said. Lightning raced across his blade.

"Karasu!" Kankuro pulled Karasu back.

Sakura fired another volley of crystal needles at Omoi.

Omoi deflected all of the needles with his blade. He charged for Sakura.

"Don't you have any other tricks?" Kankuro demanded.

"Those are the only jutsu I know!" Sakura shouted back.

"You've gotta be kidding!"

Omoi erupted into two clones. One of them jumped onto the other's shoulder and launched himself into the air.

The Omoi in the air performed hand signs.

Sakura engaged the Omoi on the ground. She dodged his fast sword swings, struggling to get a hit in.

"Ninja art, blinding sun jutsu!" The Omoi in the air started glowing. His light consumed the arena.

Sakura shielded her eyes.

A foot caught her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. Sakura landed on her back, gasping.

"Cloud style," Omoi's voice came from all around her.

Who was he attacking?

Sakura struggled to get up. She couldn't focus, everything was a blur.

"Crescent moon beheading!"

The light faded.

Omoi was standing in front of Kankuro. His sword held out in front of him.

Kankuro's head fell from his body. Then he collapsed into a pile of sand. The real Kankuro was crouching behind his clone. He held out his hands.

Several chakra threads shot out from Kankuro's fingertips attaching to Omoi, binding him.

"Do it now!" Kankuro yelled. "Attack him!"

"What?" Omoi struggled against Kankuro's threads. The threads extended, wrapping him up. He struggled to swing his sword at Kankuro.

"I don't know if this will work." Sakura darted across the battlefield, performing hand signs. "Crystal style! Crystal gauntlet!" A spiked crystal gauntlet formed around Sakura's hand.

The skin on her hand burned, Sakura winced and faltered. The crystal faded slightly. She caught a glimpse of Naruto and Sasuke watching in the stands. Naruto was clinging to the railing, eyes wide. Sasuke seemed to meet Sakura's eyes.

"Don't feel too pressured…" Kakashi said. " You have two months." With that, he left.

The kids were silent. Sakura whimpered.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Sasuke said, wiping his mouth. His anger had passed. Sakura avoided his sharp eyes.

"Sakura?" Naruto spoke up. "We're doing this together, right?" He took a step toward her.

"Don't bother, Naruto," Sasuke spat. He turned away from the two of them. "We don't need her."

Sakura wanted to scream at him, tell him he was wrong. They needed her. She was important. Right?

She balled her fists and stared at the ground.

Sakura balled her fist, breaking into a run. The crystal solidified around her hand. It reflected pink in the bright sunlight.

Sakura wouldn't be left behind. Naruto and Sasuke needed her. They needed her to support them. To be strong.

Omoi turned toward Sakura, struggling against Kankuro's threads.

Sakura let out a yell and lunged. She smashed the gauntlet against Omoi's head. The crystal shattered on impact, Omoi staggered to the side. His sword fell to the ground.

Sakura landed on her hands and knees beside Omoi. Kankuro's strings faded.

Omoi collapsed.

"Sakura and Kankuro win!" Asuma announced. "The fight is over!"

"Geez, you're useless," Sakura grumbled. She felt up her hand, the skin was reddened and sore. "Could hardly fight for yourself, what kind of ninja are you?"

"Oh shut up," Kankuro said. "I had to hold back, I couldn't just unleash a cloud of poison mist in a place like this."

"Looks like the fight is resolved," Raikage said. "Omoi…" He clenched his fist. Kankuro gathered up his puppets. He and Sakura left the battlefield.

Karui and Atsui retrieved Omoi. A few medical ninja removed Oboro.

"Announce the next match, Raikage," Hiruzen said.

Raikage glared at the old man. He snatched up his paper.

"The next match!" Raikage yelled.

Sakura joined Naruto and Sasuke in the stands as Raikage announced the next match. Kiba and Dosu would be fighting two rain ninja.

"What kind of jutsu was that?" Naruto asked. "Where did you learn that?"

Sakura smirked.

"My family jutsu, crystal style." She said.

"That's amazing!" Naruto yelled. The two of them shared a grin.

Sakura's grin faded slightly when she met Sasuke's eyes.

He just smirked and nodded at Raikage.

"I don't like this," Sasuke said.

"What's wrong with it?" Naruto asked. "She kicked that guy's ass."

"Not that," Sasuke waved Naruto off. "The raikage."

"Oh."

"Why isn't the hokage doing something? Why's he being so passive?"

The three of them stared at Hiruzen from their spot as the match raged on.

X

"Are you sure about this?"

Iruka and Kurenai were standing at the main entrance of the leaf village.

"I am."

Kurenai looked out at the forest, her jaw set. Her black hair floated in the light breeze.

"Jiraiya is the closest to the hokage after Asuma," Kurenai said.

Iruka nodded.

"What do you hope to accomplish?" Iruka asked. "Are you planning on usurping the hokage with lord Jiraiya?"

"Of course not," Kurenai said. She stuck her chin at the village. "I'm hoping that Jiraiya will be able to help the hokage through whatever trouble he's having."

Iruka nodded again.

"You remember, don't you?" Kurenai asked. "Ever since he killed Orochimaru, the hokage hasn't been the same." She folds her arms. "It affected Asuma too. I'm pretty sure it's why Jiraiya and Tsunade haven't returned to the village or at least a part of the reason."

Kurenai turned to leave.

"Stay safe," Iruka said. Kurenai said nothing before dashing into the woods.

Iruka turned back to the village, hearing the roaring crowd from the arena.

X

Hayate Gekko woke up on his couch. He sat up with a yawn and wiped his eyes. It took him a few minutes to notice the raging crowd coming from outside.

He meandered to his window and opened it. He could hear the roar of the nearby arena.

Hayate blinked and scratched his head. Had they started the matches already? Wasn't it supposed to be his job to proctor them?