Welcome to the next chapter!
nirmtheworm14; Thanks for the vote. And thank you very much!
Drury94; Thanks for the votes.
Dark King Marcel; Thanks very much! Thanks for the votes.
Koga939; Thanks for the votes.
TheChamp123; Thanks, I'm glad that you liked it! Yeah, we'll see stuff like that~ And thank you!
danielsnow; Hehe, no worries, thanks for the votes! I thought now would be a good chance as they're showing many sides during the fights. Neji and Ryouta's fight is going to be quite fun to do. Thanks very much!
Morregen; I can't spoil anything but we'll see how the fights go down pretty soon, some will be like canon, some will be quite different from canon. Ryouta could copy that with his Sharingan, he'd be able to perform it since it isn't a Kekkei Genkai. They'd be cool fights. He very well could be there when Hiruzen is fighting. And thank you very much!
Clarent excalibur; Thanks for the votes.
Zhany; Thanks for the votes.
Ancient Sith Tulak Hord; Thank you very much!
TheGreatGodzilla; Thanks for the votes. Yes, it didn't win the poll. He wouldn't try and murder Neji, he'd stop him if he went too far like last chapter. Himawari will probably be the canon age. Yeah, some of the girls would have some oc kids that didn't have any in canon like Konan, Anko and such. Things like that wouldn't factor into anything here. We'll have to wait and see.
iJarod; Thanks for the votes.
ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks! Yeah, Ino had her moment to shine and she fought as hard as she could. Ino and Ryouta did share a small moment between them~ Shikamaru did yeah. Hinata did her best, even managing to push Neji quite hard, and injure him at numerous points during the fight. The fight between Neji and Ryouta is coming soon. Thanks for the votes.
rasheek0011; Thanks for the votes.
lord web of life of destiny; Thanks, glad you liked it. Thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 1; She did use it right at the end, but she missed Temari by a few inches.
Guest 2; That would be a pretty cool clash~ Thanks for the votes.
Silver crow; Thanks! Yeah, they did their best. Hinata did her best, and yeah, Ryouta managed to step in at the end. Hinata will do soon. Temari is a pretty powerful opponent. Ino really try her hardest against Temari, while she didn't win she did push Temari a good deal. Ino and Ryouta shared a moment between the two of them yeah. We'll see how the fight between Neji and Ryouta goes. Hinata did yeah, she tried her hardest, even managing to injure Neji a good deal. Maybe Kakashi was speaking about them. Ryouta truly was going through it last chapter with what happened with Ino and then especially Hinata. Glad you liked that scene between Neji and Ryouta. Kaguya's there yeah. Yeah, wind could blow a mask off like that. Ryouta could have a stance about that subject. Kaguya could be thinking like that. He could have a cape I guess. If he's an elf he could do. Yeah, if he has fire magic, then he'd get the spirit earlier than that. The devil speaking through him would make sense from what we've seen. Thats the Chunin Exams, they're pretty long. He'll have interactions with a good few of them yeah.
Guest 3; Thanks for voting.
Guest 4; Thank you for the votes.
Guest 5; Yeah, that would be a pretty cool combination attack with fire and ice. Yeah, it would be like that if he's half elf.
Guest 6; That does sound awesome, it would be cool to see him adapt like that.
Silverstein Ravenfang; Thank you very much, glad that you're enjoying it so far~ Thanks for the votes!
HolyKnightX; Thanks, glad you're enjoying the differences. Yeah, thankfully Neji does grow and become a very great character as the story goes on. Thanks for the votes!
Nameless; Thanks for the votes. That would be pretty interesting~
Guest 7; Ice is pretty cool, it's a very fun elemental power to play with in fictions. That would be quite awesome kind of attacks~
Guest 8; Ice is quite the power, thanks for the votes.
Zane214252; Thanks for the vote.
Hinata fan; Thank you for the votes! No problem~ Ino did yeah~
Guest 9; Ooh yeah, it really does, some are meme's like Namek exploding in 5 minutes, takes many episodes hehe~ Ino did yeah, she did her best against the opponents before her, Temari was stronger in the end, but Ino managed to hold her own. Yeah, maybe if Kin did some more stuff, she could have won. Glad you liked the Hinata vs Neji fight, Hinata did her best, injuring Neji a good deal as much as she could do. Tenten is, it would have been cool to see her go head to head with some interesting weapon usage. Thanks for the votes! Yeah, that would be a spoiler hehe~
Guest 10; Thanks for the votes. Yeah, Satsuki could awaken Mangekyou in such a way.
Guest 11; Thanks for the votes.
Guest 12; Thanks for the votes. That would be a pretty fun scene to go with~ That would be pretty cool, thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 13; That would be a pretty fun way for the Ryouta/Tobi dynamic to go about. I could see them coming together to fight against Kaguya, would give some fun fight scenes as well.
Guest 14; Them having a team up against an enemy would be a good way to see their relationship develop more, and how they could be seen later on during the series. I could see Tobi doing something like that, thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 15; Thank you for the votes. Haha, that would be funny to see~
Guest 16; Thanks for voting.
Enuma elish; Thanks for the votes. Itachi having his own kind of team would be a fun way to go about it. They could do stuff like that. Thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 17; Thanks for the votes.
guester; No, I haven't seen it unfortunately.
Guest 18; Thanks for the votes. I could see Naruko doing something like that, would be a nice moment between them. Adding fire to it like that would be cool.
Guest 19; Thanks. I could see Ryouta doing that at the end of the series. Itachi could do that, thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 20; Those would be awesome combinations for the characters to do~
Guest 21; That sounds pretty interesting! Yeah, I could see during that time characters like that having some fights, could be fun to explore dynamics like that, thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 22; Ryouta could be descendant from her, it will be explained more of their connection in the future.
Guest 23; Ryouta might have a very Madara like moment in the future~ Madara laughing about it like that would be fun.
Guest 24; Thanks for the votes. Anko and Orochimaru team up huh? That would bring some fun dynamics.
Guest 25; Yeah, Anko will do something like that with Ryouta.
Guest 26; Karin could go with them, it would make sense since she has prior knowledge of Tsunade and would be able to track her down. Ryouta and Kakashi teaming up together would be awesome. Izumi could be yeah.
War Sage; Thanks! Glad you liked the Ino vs Temari fight. Ryouta's fight is going to be next chapter. Ryouta did yeah, he wouldn't let Neji go too far. I thought it was a good match for Shikamaru~ Thanks for the suggestions!
Andrew123456; Thanks for the votes.
mvp; Sometime this week.
With those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
The preliminaries part three!
After the events of the fight between the two Hyuga's, Ryouta stood outside of the hospital room that Hinata was in, being treated for her wounds. Seeing how in pain she was, it only made him think about Neji more and more, and how the battle went down, and while he knew the dangers of the Chunin Exams held, it still was tough seeing those he cared for being injured, and brought down to a situation that they'd not be able to get out of so easily.
"Hinata-san...you really did do so well. Neji...to go so far..."
Ryouta did wonder what was going on with Neji.
Though the fact that he attacked someone as sweet as Hinata with rage as he was...
He knew that he could have his match soon, so he proceeded towards the arena once more, leaving Hinata in the capable hands of the medical staff.
But he was surprised to find on his way, to find that Pakura was looking in his direction.
Remembering her as the Suna's Sensei, he watched as she began walking towards him.
"These exams seem to be tougher than usual."
Pakura began, Ryouta nodded slowly.
"You're not kidding, it does seem to be like that. Though this is my first Chunin Exams, so I don't have a point of reference."
"I've seen some Chunin Exams in my time, some have been less intense than this. Seeing the fights going on, I have to admit that there's some talented Ninja this year. Though I can't help but wonder about who Gaara is going to fight."
Ryouta wondered why Pakura was bringing up Gaara all of a sudden.
Did she wish to say something about her?
Ryouta wasn't sure, so he did what he could do and spoke up.
"I'm sure that whoever she fights, it is going to be a difficult challenge against her, she is very strong from what I've seen."
"Indeed, she's our most promising Genin. Though I have also heard things about you, young Uchiha. Though I can't say if it is true, I do remember hearing about fighting a certain woman from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and even killing another member named Kushimaru."
Ryouta recalled about Ameyuri, wondering what she was doing and where she was currently.
Shaking his head, he gave a single inclination of his neck.
"It didn't go down exactly how she's said it from what I've heard, but it is true that I did fight Kushimaru."
"I see, that's quite the achievement of a Genin your age. Though from the Uchiha clan, I've heard that many people are rather strong. Or rather, they used to be." Ryouta looked on with slightly furrowed brows, as Pakura adopted a small smile on her face. "I didn't mean to offend."
"No offence taken, it is true that there are less of us than before."
"But that doesn't diminish the efforts of those that still live. I personally believe that as long as you're alive, you can make a difference, even honouring those wishes of the dead if they're noble."
How she spoke, Ryouta was curious about something.
"Do you...have someone you're honouring? That isn't alive anymore?"
"I've seen many people die before, my comrades. In a way, I keep honouring them yes. Though it isn't like I am going to be hating those that do take down my comrades, if it is a war, you can't help but fight for your own lands. I've killed people from other lands during wars, or skirmishes of sorts."
Ryouta thought that was rather honest of how she spoke, and what made sense as being Ninja's.
They were tools for the land they lived in to carry out their missions.
"Yes, that makes sense Pakura-san. Though can I ask something about Gaara-san?"
Pakura nodded a single time.
"Yes, what is it?"
Ryouta thought for a few moments on how to word it.
Then came to a conclusion with a nod of his head.
"She seems...fixated on me, and I'm not sure why. She said something about the way I look at her...is she not used to being looked at as if people aren't afraid of her?"
Pakura didn't respond right away.
She waited over ten seconds, that told Ryouta she was carefully considering how she was going to respond.
"Gaara...is a special case, she's the daughter of the current Kazekage."
"I...I see, I presume she has a lot to live up to."
"You could say that yes."
Ryouta felt like there was more that she wasn't revealing to him.
He had some suspicions on what some of the things were based on how Gaara acted, and spoke to him.
Also in Pakura's eyes, when speaking about Gaara, while he didn't see any fear in her eyes, he did see something else, it almost looked like regret when speaking about Gaara, and he wasn't entirely sure why that was.
"If you'll excuse me, two members of my team haven't fought yet, and I'd like to see how they get on. Temari did very well in her battle, how is her opponent?"
"Ino-chan's just recovering still, she should be fine pretty soon."
Ryouta replied as Pakura bowed her head.
"Then if you'll excuse me."
Pakura walked away elegantly, while Ryouta focused his eyes on the woman.
Something about her...felt like it was contradictory.
But he didn't know exactly what it was just yet.
He didn't know her that well, but he did get the feeling that unlike how Temari and Kankuro acted around Gaara, it seemed that Pakura herself didn't show any fear, he presumed that's why she was the Sensei of the group since she could make Gaara stop her murderous rampage, something that he remembered seeing before the exams begun.
But more than there, there was something about Gaara that was intriguing him more and more.
Whatever it was, Ryouta knew he'd not get any answers by just standing there, and he also had to get back, so that's what he did, walking back to the arena, and wondering who he was going to be fighting against next.
Arriving back at the arena, he stood close by to the others as he looked at the screen above the arena. Flashing through names more and more, the people that could have a fight were being dwindled down as time went on.
"Ooh! Seeing how Hinata was so brave and strong makes me wanna fight someone too!"
Ryouta could see that behind her facade of excitement, Naruko was truly worried for her friend, who was currently in a bad way. He also had similar thoughts, but he pushed them down and continued waiting for the next part of the exam to take place, whoever he was going to be fighting against next.
Then he saw that two names had been brought up.
Haku vs Kankuro.
Haku looked at the screen, before nodding to herself, and made her way towards the arena.
"Go on Haku-chan, you've got this!"
Ryouta cheered for her, Haku nodded strongly.
"Yes, leave it to me. I shall attain victory."
Moving forward, she went towards the arena, and met up with her opponent Kankuro.
Kankuro looked at Haku, and showed a strong expression to not back down from her.
"I heard that you're the Ice Release user, is that right?"
"That's right, and you're the sibling of Gaara-san, who tried to kill Ryou-kun."
Haku wasn't going to back down from Kankuro either.
Staring him directly in the eyes, she knew that she'd have to take him down.
Kankuro on the other hand didn't look pleased as Haku stared back at him.
"That wasn't something I couldn't do anything about. But here and now, I can fight you, and I'll be able to beat you. You wont see what is about to happen to you, understand?"
His cocky attitude didn't sit well with Haku who wasn't pleased in the slightest.
She watched as the proctor raised his hand and then swung it down.
"Match, begin."
As those words left his lips, Haku took several paces back, and took aim for the man before her.
Kankuro stayed stationary, and waited for Haku to make a move.
So she did immediately.
"Certain Kill Ice Spears!"
Using only a single hand, something that she was uniquely able to do amongst the rookies, Kankuro was surprised to see Haku's ice shooting up from the ground towards him, going so fast that he didn't have the time to dodge out of the way, and the ice spears surrounded Kankuro's form and pierced him across different places in his body.
Naruko widened her eyes.
"G-Geez! Haku isn't holding back!"
Ryouta looked on, and knew what Haku was doing.
"No, she is simply making Kankuro reveal himself."
"Eh? What do you mean Ryou? He's right there, isn't he?"
Naruko looked perplexed as Satsuki folded her arms.
"It's clear, he's not a close range fighter, so she knew he'd not go into battle without making some kind of plan for a close range fighter like Haku is. So she went with a move which would disable, and could also cause him to be revealed from his hiding place."
As she spoke, the Kankuro before them disappeared, and was replaced with what seemed to be something else entirely.
A puppet.
It resembles a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid with jagged teeth and a spiky brown hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides.
The puppets body also had been split apart.
The areas where Haku's ice would have pierced him, the puppets body had become different and uniquely floating in the air sections, Ryouta could see that chakra threads were being used to move them around so it appeared as if they were floating.
"So, he replaced himself with his puppet. That isn't a bad tactic. But it also tells me that he isn't able to fight at close range, and has to have his puppet do all of the fighting for him. If he can pull it off, then it is good...but, it also gives me a good opportunity to fight this opponent."
Haku thought about it, and kept wondering what would be the best way for her to get through this situation.
As she did, the others watched on, some were stunned that Haku's Jutsu didn't land, some also were surprised that Kankuro was able to control the puppet so well despite being so young.
"Crafty."
Kakashi murmured, Anko agreeing.
"Not bad, Haku is one of the fastest Genin I've seen, and he managed to even evade her ice attacks that precisely. Perhaps the kid isn't as weak as I thought he could have been. Haku might have a challenge on her hands now."
Ryouta looked on, and saw the puppet moving itself away from the ice, and appeared on the left hand side of it.
"Ooh! She almost got him! It is the power of youth!"
Lee announced cheerfully, Shikamaru let out a small breath.
"It seems that this battle could be difficult if he keeps using his puppet at long range. What a drag, he probably has a number of weapons to assist him."
Ryouta thought similar to how Shikamaru was.
Though if Haku used her speed, he was sure that she'd be able to win the battle, as Kankuro hadn't shown any close range capabilities, and he remembered that puppet users tend to not be well versed in Taijutsu though of course there were always exceptions to this, he didn't know if Kankuro wasn't an exception or not.
Naruko furrowed her brows.
"Wait, if that's just a puppet, where is he? I can't see him anywhere."
Sakura looked around and couldn't see him either.
"Yeah, I don't know where he is. He has to be close, from what I know of the Puppet Master Jutsu, it utilizes chakra threads, so they'd have to be close by. I also know that the user can hide the threads well to the human eye." Sakura's eyes went towards Ryouta. "But Ryou-kun, you'd be able to see it with your Sharingan, right?"
"Yes, I can see where the chakra threads are going."
He replied, with Satsuki inclining her neck.
"If this was a fight against an Uchiha or Hyuga, then they'd not be able to hide. Even a fight against Karin, this guy wouldn't be able to hide. But because Haku doesn't have eyes or a chakra sensing power like that, she'd have to find him on her own."
Kakashi was surprised to see that Satsuki was being so social as she was.
But it was also welcomed as well.
Haku watched as the puppets mouth opened, and fired off several needles towards her.
Bringing out a kunai, she dashed forward as she sliced several times before her. Using her precise skills, and her keen intellect, she was able to predict and move accordingly to how the needles would be fired, how they'd come for her, and how she'd respond to them as well.
"Kankuro...this girl is quite skilled. Avoiding all of those kind of attacks, and is able to keep pressing forward as well? It seems that she isn't an ordinary Genin, Kankuro might have to bust out the poison to take her down."
Temari was surprised that she was able to avoid then all as she had seen Kankuro defeat several Genin beforehand with such a Jutsu.
Gaara quietly growled as Haku managed to stop all of the needles fired at her, and managed to get in close.
The puppet responded by extending its arm, and revealed a hidden blade that went towards her.
Responding to it, she flipped backwards, the blade went below her, as she saw from the puppet, that had opened its chest, and revealed countless senbons that were being released towards her, and because they were so close in range, she knew she'd not be able to dodge out of the way of all of them.
Flying through a few hand signs, she took in a deep breath, aiming her mouth towards the puppet.
"Wind Release, Breakthrough!"
Breathing out a strong burst of wind, the senbons that released were all swept away in a single blast of wind. Breaking through the attack, the wind also went towards the puppet, and slammed against him.
Due to the sheer speed of the attack, the puppet couldn't get out of the way in time, Haku also used her wind attack to blast through the bandages that were on the back of the puppet, revealing Kankuro to come flying out.
"Good Haku-chan. Now his hiding place has been discovered, you'll be able to see the movements he's going to make and predict his next attack. Haku-chan's always been good at noticing details that others might miss. And she's been able to devise ways of being able to deal with the enemy as well."
Ryouta smiled at his thoughts, knowing now the fight had turned in Haku's favour, and she could definitely win this kind of battle.
Kankuro's body continued going back with the blast of wind, before smashing into a wall.
"Aaaah!"
Kankuro let out a cry as he fell down from the wall, hitting the ground hard.
He bled from his head, and saw that some of the puppets body, one of its arms, and a portion of the right leg, had been completely destroyed by Haku's attack, while the remaining parts of the body also had suffered through some damage.
"Yeah! Alright Haku!"
"Now it's time to counter attack, and put him down!"
Naruko cheered while Karin gave strong words.
Satsuki let out a small "Hmm." as she watched on, Sakura was relieved that Haku was continuing to win the fight.
Grimacing, Kankuro pulled himself up, while Haku came running at him.
"You saw through my technique and even managed to estimate the best way to get me out of hiding...not bad."
Haku paused as she saw him wave his hand, causing the puppet to unleash several caltrops that scattered before him. Haku also noticed that they seem to be more pointy than the average ones and standing on even a single would pierce through flesh, so knew to avoid them the best that she could do.
"That's right, I knew you had to be close by, and there wouldn't be away for you to get such fast reactions without being able to see me clearly. I checked up above and below, but couldn't see you and I found it odd that you also had the bandages on the back of the puppet. So logically you had to be hiding there."
Kankuro nodded.
But then showed a serious face, and got his fingers moving, so did the puppet.
"But even with that information, I wont lose to you, so watch this."
Kankuro moved his hands, and caused the puppet to be launched towards Haku.
She waited to see what other kind of tricks the puppet was going to have.
As she did keenly watch what was going to happen next, she then saw it open up its arms, and senbons came firing out.
However, unlike the normal ones, she could see something was coating them.
It was difficult to see at first, but as she batted away the first set of senbons, she noticed that they had a liquid on them.
"It has to be poison. I do remember hearing about puppet users having poisons in their arsenal. So he's breaking it out now, he must be desperate and believe that he'd not be able to win if he didn't use it."
Haku surmised while flipping backwards several times, dodging the strikes again and again.
However, while doing that, the puppet opened its mouth and from the mouth, released several smoke bombs.
As they detonated, she saw that it wasn't an ordinary colour and that it had a purple like colour, she believed it also had been laced with poison so she covered her mouth and nose so she didn't inhale any while she retreated backwards.
In doing that, the puppet cut through the smoke from behind her, and launched a projectile towards her.
She dodged out of the way, and saw that it had a paper bomb attached to it, as it sailed by her.
Widening her gaze, she flew through a few hand signs as the paper bomb exploded…
Or it would have if Haku hadn't finished in time, causing the paper bomb and kunai it was attached to, to be frozen in mid air.
Kankuro grit his teeth, as he murmured "Tricky girl." and continued doing his best.
Because the fog was thick, Haku couldn't see what was going on.
She had to rely on her sense of sound.
Fortunately for her, thanks to Zabuza using his favourite Hiding in Mist Jutsu, she was accustomed to fighting without the use of her sight, and could listen to her opponents, but she also knew that Kankuro would try some kind of trap with her to get her off guard.
"This kind of attack is something that a puppet user would use to their advantage. More than likely, he'd have some kind of way of knowing my location or approximately where I am. So he has the advantage...but, I'm not out of tricks yet."
Haku closed her eyes, and relied on her ears.
Kankuro unleashed several attacks for her with the puppet.
Coming in at different angles.
However, because of Haku's ability to adapt, and because she had already done this before, she avoided each and every weapon that was thrown at her.
But because of the poison, Haku knew she'd not be able to hold her breath for long, and would have to get out of the situation quickly.
Kankuro began moving around as quietly as he could so he could get to a different location in case Haku tried to attack.
However, in movement, Haku heard where he was going, so she tossed a kunai for him.
Kankuro was shocked to see the kunai coming through the smoke, and went by his face, he narrowly avoided it, but it gave Haku's location to Kankuro, who launched the puppet into the smoke, and he grabbed something with the puppets hands, launching it into the chest, and sealed it tight.
He smirked as some felt the temperature drop immensely.
"Hah! Finally, got you!"
Kankuro pulled his puppet back to his body and caused the limbs of the puppet to be released. Each showing a hidden blade, Naruko looked on shocked.
"No! You'll kill her!"
Kankuro laughed.
"Not looking to kill her, just disable her, and knock her out."
Kankuro moved his fingers, and the blades of the puppet came down into the main body, piercing all over it. From the legs and arms areas, and even the head area, Naruko thought for sure that she'd be killed.
Ryouta however believed differently and watched on as Kankuro smirked.
He allowed the puppets chest to open...and saw that it was a simple block of ice.
"W-What?! Ice!?"
Kankuro was shocked.
He then saw several mirrors of ice forming around him.
He saw Haku's reflection in each of them.
"W-What the hell is this?!"
"This is my Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors. Using that ice as a replacement for myself, I prepared myself while clinging to the ceiling. You were distracted by my apparent capture that you didn't notice the temperature of the room dropping. Because of that, you shall be defeated."
Haku replied.
She didn't boast, nor did she be condescending either.
It was a fact from Haku and it was something that Kankuro didn't and couldn't refute either.
But Kankuro didn't know which one was the real Haku, so he tried to recall his puppet…
However, saw that the puppet was frozen to the ground completely.
Unable to move the puppet, Kankuro's eyes fell into despair as Haku held senbon's between her fingers, and used the mirrors to propel herself through. Slicing Kankuro's body up, he wasn't able to defend himself since he wasn't that good at Taijutsu and he wasn't near fast enough to attempt to dodge her attacks.
In the end, she managed to cut him down until he fell unconscious, allowing Haku to win the battle.
"By a knockout, the winner is Haku."
Hayate said while letting out a small cough.
Bowing her head, she looked at Kankuro.
"You were a worthy opponent, thank you."
Haku left the arena and then went back to the others.
Kankuro was taken away on by the medical staff.
With that, the arena once more was going to be fixed.
It seemed that most battles had the area suffering a good deal of damage from the wide scale attacks, or the precise attacks that caused a good deal of damage to the arena, though in the eyes of most, it simply made it all the more exciting.
As the events of the Preliminaries were going down, Mikoto and her group continued searching the forest.
Because of its vast nature, it did take sometime.
But unfortunately, Orochimaru wasn't anywhere to be found.
He couldn't be found at all, which was something that made her feel regret, as she wished to bring him down. But now she'd have to go back and tell Hiruzen that he managed to get away, something that she couldn't help but feel as if she wished to be able to prevent more circumstances.
As she rushed through the forest, she came to see Garaga making his way through the forest.
"Garaga-san."
Mikoto began, only for the giant red snake to turn towards her.
"Human Uchiha. Your daughter was here, wasn't she?"
"She was yes."
"I thought so, I smelled something similar between you. So, have you found Orochimaru?"
"How did..."
Before she could finish, Garaga let out a small laugh.
"Do you think I wasn't able to tell that's the only reason you're in this forest?"
Mikoto hung her head down slightly.
"Yes...Orochimaru has resurfaced. I have also heard you have been searching for him, and by the way you spoke to me, you didn't get to find him?"
Garaga let out a small growling sound.
It was clear that he wasn't going to be happy about losing the chance to kill Orochimaru.
"Tch, damn snake human bastard. He got away from me. He had help, you know?"
"Kusa, we already know about that."
Garaga smirked.
"Not just them."
Mikoto's eyes went towards the giant red snake, lifting her head to meet with his own.
"What do you mean?"
"There was another, someone that I've smelled around this village beforehand."
Mikoto's eyebrows sharpened.
"You're saying someone native to the village helped him out?"
"Native to the village, been in the village multiple times. I remember smelling that particular scent before. I'm not like that damn Kakashi's Ninja dogs, but I do know certain smells when I smell them."
Mikoto folded her arms.
"If that's the case, then that could change a lot of things..."
"He saved that bastard Orochimaru when he was fighting that girl, Anko. And I believe he did the same thing when that Ryouta kid was fighting him as well."
Mikoto's face turned downwards.
Not only Orochimaru, but someone else they had to be worried about now as well.
"They'd have to be at least Jonin level, but who could it..."
She thought long and hard about it.
But she couldn't think of who it could be.
Besides one person.
That person being Danzo.
"Though he should be under lock and key, I wouldn't put it past Danzo...I'll go and check on him personally. If he's behind anything, then it would be best to make sure that he is stopped right away. I do recall that Danzo and Orochimaru did have some kind of relationship in the past...I'll also have to warn Hokage-sama just in case. Though if it was Danzo...him and Orochimaru teaming up for the Uchiha, when he...yes, it would make sense..."
As she thought about it, Garaga became a little impatient.
"Are you simply just going to stand there, and do nothing as Orochimaru gets away?!"
Mikoto looked up towards the giant red snake who glared down towards her.
"No, I'm sorry. I was just thinking of potential people that could be assisting Orochimaru. Garaga-san, I don't have a right to ask this, but could you deliver a message to Hokage-sama for me?"
"Me!? Do that for a human like you?!"
Garaga sounded offended almost.
As if he believed it wouldn't do him any good to do anything for any human.
Mikoto winced, though she continued on with her request in the hopes that he would, which would save her a good deal of time as she knew she'd need all the people she could round up quickly, and she'd need her hawk to bring them all to her, as she made her way towards the location itself.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I just needed you to tell him what you told me, and that I'll be going to Danzo together with a small team of mine. I need my hawk to round up my group. So, could you do that for me please?"
Asking politely, Mikoto waited for a few moments.
Garaga stared at her hard.
"Hmph, that would be at the tower, right?"
"Yes...that's right."
Mikoto wasn't sure if Garaga would or not.
He was a wild card after all.
Garaga thought some more about it, and then exhaled.
"You owe me Uchiha woman."
Mikoto was relieved to hear that from the giant red snake.
"Yes, I know. Thank you."
Mikoto told Garaga the message, who huffed as he slithered away.
Despite being abrasive about it, it was clear that Garaga didn't mind all that much about it.
Mikoto then turned her head, and began moving out of the forest so she could go and confront the elder that she truly didn't like. Even if it was just for a few moments, she simply couldn't ever forgive the actions and part he had in the death of many Uchiha's.
As that went on, Haku went to go and clean herself up, and by the time she finished, she came out of the bathroom to see Ryouta walking along, so she walked up towards him, and got behind him, her arms went out and wrapped around his torso.
Though he knew she was already there, he acted surprised, and turned towards her while bending his neck down.
"Haku-chan, that was simply outstanding. Zabuza-san would be immensely proud of how you handled that kind of opponent. When you used ice in place of yourself, and then hung up from the ceiling, while causing the ground to be gradually frozen in order to execute an attack that would take him down, it was very smart of you Haku-chan."
Haku gave a humble smile.
She then leaned up towards his face, and allowed her fingers to gentle run across his face.
"Ryou-kun, I can't wait to see your match. Are you curious about who you're going to be fighting?"
"Yeah, I suppose that I am curious. But, whoever the opponent is, I'm gonna do my best."
Haku nodded.
"Yes, that's all you can do. However, if it is Gaara-san...please be careful. She's got it out for you."
Ryouta wasn't so sure about that.
While she did indeed try to kill him, he felt like it wasn't because she hated him at all.
"Yeah...something about her is something I need to figure out about. But ignoring that for the time being, Haku-chan. You're through to the next round of the Chunin Exams, together with Satsuki-chan and some other strong opponents. Nervous?"
Haku hummed as she thought about it briefly.
She then ultimately shook her head several times.
"As long as you support me, I know that I'll be able to continue on."
Ryouta thought that was rather sweet of her to say something like that.
"Then I'll keep supporting you the best way I can!"
Haku giggled.
It was small times like this that she did truly appreciate.
She then leaned up and casually allowed their lips to be connected together.
Sharing a small but sweet kiss between them, the mutually broke away as they felt a presence coming closer.
They looked down the corridor to see that Gaara was walking down.
Her eyes intensely were on Ryouta, and he saw that sand was building up around her.
Haku sharpened her eyes, as Ryouta looked on curiously.
"You can't fight in the corridor, Gaara-san. There are Jonin's here, and Hokage-sama as well. Think before you act. Whatever it is that you've got towards Ryou-kun, acting on it now wouldn't be in your best interests."
Haku warned, hoping that would deter her.
But Gaara didn't seem to be that bothered and continued going towards the young man.
Ryouta placed his hand on his sword, wondering if he'd have to use it against her.
Her face screamed killing intent.
But like he had saw in the forest, there was immense pain in her eyes.
"Gaara-san, like Haku-chan said, it wouldn't be wise to fight me now. If you wish to fight me, then lets see if it happens in the Chunin Exams. And if it doesn't, then we could meet to have a battle. But doing it here, now, wouldn't do any good for anyone."
Ryouta tried his best.
But Gaara didn't seem to have any of it.
Her sand came up and shot for Ryouta's form.
Her eyes deadly went towards his own.
Haku went to react…
When Ryouta placed a hand out towards her.
Confusion came over her, as she watched the sand getting closer and closer.
To the point that it was mere inches away…
But it suddenly stopped.
Gaara's eyes looked deeply into Ryouta's own, it seemed she hadn't even realized that her sand had stopped until she looked down at it.
"Fight me."
Gaara demanded.
But Ryouta remained adamant.
"Not here."
Gaara growled darker, allowing her sand to flow around her like a stream. Ryouta and Haku both saw the speed of the sand going so fast that the walls were beginning to have some cuts in them, appearing as sharp as blades.
"Fight me, now…!"
Ryouta still remained adamant that he wouldn't give into her demand of fighting.
"We can't fight here. Wait until it is time to fight."
Gaara scowled at him, as she walked closer and closer.
Her eyes went towards his own, as she got in his face.
Standing mere inches apart, Ryouta was ready to act at any moment.
But Gaara surprisingly just stared into his eyes.
She didn't make a sound.
It was almost as if she was trying to work something out in her head.
After a minute of tenseness, Gaara pulled back.
"Make it until we fight."
Gaara turned and began walking away.
Perplexity came towards Haku who wasn't sure what had just happened.
Ryouta believed he understood however what was going on and why Gaara had stopped.
"Ryou-kun...why did she stop?"
"I'm not completely sure...but she did for the meantime. Lets see what happens next..."
Ryouta wasn't entirely sure.
But from what he was beginning to understand about Gaara, it was clear that she definitely had a number of things that needed to spoken about, or gotten out of her like the desire to fight and kill, and the immense pain that he saw behind her eyes.
Shaking his head, Haku took his hand so Ryouta together with the ice user went back towards the arena to see what was going to happen next.
Later on, once more the others waited for the next fight to come about. Ryouta and the others could see name after name coming to the screen, each wondering who was going to be fighting next, with Naruko thrusting her hands to the sky.
"Come on! My name! Yeah! Lets do this!"
Kakashi gave bemused eyes to his hyperactive Genin.
"Being too eager isn't going to do you any good if you've got a strong opponent."
"Sensei, don't you believe I'll win?"
Kakashi looked with his lone eye, before adopting a small smile underneath his mask.
"Of course, but being cautious is also good when you're a Ninja, you know?"
"Eh...I know that, but still...Satsuki has fought, so I want to as well!"
Naruko looked quite sure, Ryouta didn't mind when he fought or who he fought either.
Though he did wish for a strong opponent as seeing the other matches, he definitely was excited to see what kind of fight he'd end up having.
"Ooh! I hope it isn't my rival I'll be fighting! As I want to fight him at the end of the tournament!"
Lee said while giving off a cool guy thumbs up to Ryouta who gave one right back.
"Yup, lets go until the end Lee-kun!"
Lee nodded, while Guy shed manly tears.
"Kakashi! Doesn't it remind you of anything when looking at those two!?"
Kakashi's lone eye went towards the smiling Guy.
He then turned his head without saying anything, something that slightly irritated, tightening his hand with a "That was so cool!" with Satsuki sighing at the antics between Guy and Kakashi, her eyes then travelled to Ryouta and Lee, and could see how they spoke.
Shaking her head, she turned her eyes back to the screen above them, waiting for whoever it was going to be next fighting.
The screen flashed through several names, until it landed on a pair of names that Ryouta was surprised to see.
Sakura vs Dosu.
"Oh...so it's finally me."
Sakura murmured, she remembered Dosu and how strong he could be. She managed to beat Zaku, but she didn't know in this setting she'd be able to defeat Dosu. She knew he was smarter than Zaku from the fight that they had.
But she knew she'd have to try her best, remembering how Ino also did her best, and how Hinata and her other friends did as well, so she clenched her hands together, and made her way towards the arena.
"Go on Sakura-chan!"
Naruko cheered out, Satsuki looked on curiously.
"Do it, Sakura."
Satsuki added, Ryouta was happy that she did that.
Even Sakura was surprised that Satsuki was cheering her on, in a very Satsuki kind of way.
"Yeah, Sakura-chan. Do your best, remember to think and act. This Dosu guy might be tough, but you've seen how he fights, and how he acts. If you can use that to your advantage, you'll be able to win the match."
Sakura nodded.
"Yes...don't worry, I can do this."
Ryouta nodded right back towards her, choosing to believe in her capabilities.
Ryouta then saw the young girl managing to get down to the others, and stared off against the opponent that she had, Dosu was someone that was smart, so he knew Dosu would be an opponent that could cause trouble if so desired.
Hayate looked between them, before moving his hand down.
"Match, begin."
As soon as he said that, Sakura got into a defensive position. His eyes went towards Sakura, seeing her holding a kunai before her.
"I remember when you took down Zaku. You were more than what you appeared to be."
Sakura sharpened her gaze.
"Yeah, because you tried to kill my friends."
Dosu didn't deny it.
Though he kept thinking about Orochimaru and his true motives. Now that he hadn't seen Orochimaru in a good while, Dosu wasn't sure what to even think about him, what he was truly going to be doing.
"Because of that, I know that I have to be careful when fighting you. You might be able to get a win if I act recklessly."
Sakura was perplexed that he was even saying this to her.
What was going on inside of his head?
Was he trying to intimate her with the knowledge that he wouldn't be reckless?
Was it something else?
She didn't know.
"If you're telling me that, then it means you aren't going to be fighting recklessly. But why tell me that?"
"I'm just letting you know that I'm taking you as a very serious opponent and I wont be holding back on my attempts to defeat you. And once I've done that, it means that you wont be able to get away from my powers."
Sakura winced.
Dosu's words were cold, and full of the intent to cause problems for her.
But she didn't back down either.
"Fine...neither will I."
Sakura brought a kunai out towards her side, and launched it at Dosu.
He raised his gauntlet, blocking off the kunai strike with his arm gauntlet, while Sakura came running up towards him. Tightening her hand, she summoned chakra to her feet for a burst of speed, managing to get in close to Dosu.
He pulled back, and leapt several feet into the air, missing Sakura's fist that smashed into a wall. He saw that from her fist, the wall had gained large cracks, her strength was something that even surprised Kakashi who rubbed his chin in thought.
"Hmm, it seems that she is able to use chakra to boost her strength and speed. Releasing her chakra at the right moment to cause the best kind of situation for her to come out of. I'd say it is even you couldn't have done better Satsuki."
Satsuki glanced at Kakashi who looked back at her.
Satsuki shrugged.
"Sakura's always been good at using her chakra in efficient ways."
Replying like that, Kakashi could see that Satsuki's thoughts were that she could acknowledge those around her, even her teammates, it felt like a contrast to how she was at the beginning, now seeing the efforts of her teammates caused Satsuki to appreciate them more.
Dosu, while in the air, swung his arm out, and tapped his gauntlet. As he did, the speaker of the gauntlet let out a high pitched sound. Sakura felt the assault on her ears, Dosu used this to his advantage, propelling himself off the wall, and came down towards her at high speeds.
"Hah!"
Dosu swung out his arm, Sakura looked up to see he was coming, so she jumped away from him, but because she had been effected by the sound, she was sluggish in her movements, and the ground below her ended up being pulverized by his sound waves, blasting her away from Dosu, and slamming hard into the ground.
"Ugh!"
Sakura let out a pained cry, while Dosu landed on the ground.
He wasn't going to rush her instantly, knowing that it wouldn't do him any good in case she had a trick ready for him, he was the type to take things very cautiously after all, and wished to make things as easy for himself as possible.
"Sakura-chan!"
Naruko called out, Sakura lifted her head, the ringing in her ears seemed to have stopped for the moment.
Ryouta looked on, as Kakashi hummed.
"Sakura has come along way, but I don't know if it is enough to defeat a swift opponent like Dosu."
Ryouta could understand why Kakashi would think that.
But he believed in Sakura, and thought that she'd be able to get a good deal of ground on her opponent.
"Don't worry Sensei, Sakura-chan isn't out of the fight yet."
Kakashi blinked.
"Oh? Do you know something we don't?"
"I wouldn't say that, but I'm sure Sakura-chan has got something's up her sleeves. She's smart, she'll be thinking of ways for her to be able to win these matches, keep watching Sensei."
He knew she was highly determined, and was ready to move forward, but Dosu was also someone that had an unusual Jutsu, one that wouldn't easily be beaten, so he knew she'd have to think outside of the box for the fight ahead of her.
Sakura shook her head, and looked towards Dosu, who remained stationed by the place he attacked beforehand, not having moved a single muscle.
"Why isn't he attacking? Is he waiting for me to make an attack? I have avoided the worst case scenario by being a good distance away from his sound waves, so it didn't give me the full negative effects that they could have easily done."
Sakura pulled herself up, as Dosu's lone eye went towards her.
"You're already up, not bad girl."
"Thanks."
Sakura retorted as she pulled out a kunai.
She thought about the best way for her to win the fight.
Getting up close was her best bet, but with his gauntlet, if it hit her at such close range, then she'd be taken out.
"Have this!"
Thinking of a plan, Sakura took three shurikens and tossed them towards Dosu.
He was smart enough to know that this wasn't the true kind of attack from Sakura and felt it would be too easy if it was since simple shurikens wouldn't do anything to him, as he raised his arm and blocked the strikes with his gauntlet.
His eyes went towards Sakura, seeing that she was getting in close.
Showing a small strong look, he charged for her, being careful as he did so.
She weaved through some hand signs, he recognized them as the Body Replacement Jutsu, but he wondered if she was going to truly replace herself or not, as he remembered Sakura doing something similar in the first place to Zaku.
Closing the distance, he swung his arm out, and punched Sakura's body.
He waited for a few moments, wondering if she'd replace herself or not.
And then she did.
Dosu looked around after she replaced herself, seeing Sakura coming in from the right hand side.
Knowing what she'd be doing, he came at her, and swung his hand down, releasing soundwaves to obliterate the ground, which happened as Dosu funneled a good deal of chakra through his gauntlet, and blasted the ground up towards Sakura, the large debris chunks heading for her.
However, Sakura tightened her fists, and smashed through the pieces of ground, gaining distance towards him, surprising Dosu.
"She reacted fast, and ability to destroy objects with a punch is rather astounding. Physically, she could be stronger than me, though even if she punched me, I'd still be able to walk away from it, it would hurt a good bit. Best make sure that she can't do that."
As Sakura got in close, she used a frontal strike with her tightened fist towards him, but he dodged out of the way, so she moved in closer, and got towards his right, swinging out her leg for his upper body as fast as she could do.
Dosu retreated, and went to hit his gauntlet, when Sakura stopped him by tossing a shuriken up close.
"Clever girl, she knew I'd be using it to attack her with sound, so she's forcing me to block this attack."
Dosu thought, as he did just that, blocking with his arm, as she got in close, jumping up, and twirling around, before extending out her leg, coming down in an axe like movement.
"She's doing so well. It seems that Sakura is growing into a stronger and more competent Ninja. Even able to fight an opponent like Dosu with his weird kind of Jutsu, but how long is she going to be able to last? If his attacks assault her ears once more, she could be taken out of the battle..."
Even Kakashi had to admit that she was doing well for fighting someone with a tricky power like Dosu's was.
Dosu managed to dodge out of the way mere inches from being kicked, but the kick smashed into the ground.
The ground uproot all around her, not spreading far but it was enough to cause the ground around Dosu to become unstable, and cause him to lose his balance for a few moments.
In those few moments, Sakura tightened her hand, and thrusted it at Dosu.
"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"No!"
He gasped, and raised his gauntlet, blocking the strike. But as he did, he saw that the gauntlet he wore gained a large crack across it, as he released a sound wave towards Sakura, and due to being so close, the sound caused her to feel more and more in pain, losing her balance and seeing double.
"Aaaah!"
Sakura let out a cry, feeling all of the pain going through her ears.
Ryouta winced, he could tell by the look on Sakura's face that she was truly in pain at that moment.
Dosu himself was surprised as Sakura's punch was transmitting through his gauntlet, and travelled up his arm. Pain erupted through his arm, it almost felt like a punch from Sakura had caused his arm to suffer a good deal of blunt force damage.
"GET OUT OF HERE!"
Sakura, despite feeling dizzy and sick, pushed her power into her fist, and sent him flying away from herself.
Dosu's body flew through the air, smashing into a wall heavily.
"Gwaaaah!"
With Dosu coughing up his blood, he fell down to the ground in pain.
"Alright Sakura-chan! Yeah, that's how it's done!"
Naruko cheered.
But it was premature, as Sakura's ears began to bleed, and she felt her sense of sound being messed with. It felt like she was becoming deaf from the attack, and the pain coming to her caused Sakura to be dropped to her knees.
"The sound attack, it's affecting her more and more...if it keeps up, she might not be able to edge out a victory here..."
Ryouta murmured, Satsuki furrowed her brows.
"It can be quite the deadly attack. Going into the inner ear, she probably feels nauseous right now, and she might not be able to see straight either."
Kakashi thought that was a good deduction.
But only made him all the more curious as to what she was going to do now.
Dosu looked at his arm, and felt it shaking.
Sakura's attack was stronger than he had anticipated.
However, Sakura by now was doubled over in pain, so he began running towards her.
"Sakura-chan! Look out!"
Naruko called out.
But Sakura didn't respond at all, confusing her.
"Hey...w-why didn't she respond?"
"Her ears, she's in so much pain and how Dosu's attack works by attacking the inner ear, she probably can't hear that well."
Haku explained, Naruko tightened her hands.
"But if she doesn't do something! She is going to be taken out of the fight!"
Ryouta knew that Naruko was passionate.
But they couldn't do anything to help her.
This was Sakura's fight, and she had to think of something herself.
Inside of Sakura's being, she thought about the best way to go about this.
"My eyes...my ears...I can barely hear anything...and my vision...I'm seeing double...he's messed up those two senses...but, I still have my sense of touch...and my smell...if I could land a single blow on his gauntlet, then it would shatter...I might be able to even take him down...but, I don't know where he even is...what I wouldn't give to be an Inuzuka right now...wait, I can feel, and my eyes, I might see double...but maybe, just maybe I could pull it off..."
Sakura, while wincing at the feeling she felt, ran her hand down her legs, and reached for her holder.
Going through it, she pulled out several smoke bombs, small little spheres she held within her hands.
She then waited for Dosu to make a move, since she wasn't able to tell where he was.
Then he came in from the right hand side, slamming into her side.
"Gwaaah!"
Despite the pain she felt, she quickly turned to grab his gauntlet, and force several smoke bombs into the holes in the gauntlet that released the sound. She couldn't see, but she did have her sense of touch so she used that to feel her way around.
She was then kicked away by Dosu who didn't see what she was doing due to Sakura using her other hand to slash at him with a kunai the best she could.
Dosu then took a step back as Sakura wildly thrusted her fists out in his direction.
She panted and placed her hands on the ground.
Dosu looked at her, seeing that she was seemingly not going to be able to fight.
"One last move, and I should be able to take her down. But, to be cautious, I'll come in from a different direction..."
Dosu thought that would be the best.
So he went towards the right hand side, where Sakura was still on the ground.
He then began running towards her.
Sakura, still in pain, moved her hands together, and did a hand sign, causing the smoke bombs to activate, and they did, releasing a good deal of smoke from his gauntlet, catching Dosu off guard, who looked at the smoke.
"W-What…?"
Dosu murmured, as the smoke even obscured his vision.
Sakura did her best to keep her eyes open, looking for the smoke that was thick.
Finding it with her blurry vision, she tightened both hands.
She was shaking on her feet, and because the gauntlet was attached to his arm, Dosu couldn't get it off so easily, nor could he clear the smoke since he didn't know any Jutsu that would help him do that.
"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Sakura poured her strength into her fists.
"S-Shit!"
Dosu panicked, and attempted to get away.
But it was too late.
She then swung it out as fast as she could, smashing it against the gauntlet.
From the large crack it had in it before, Sakura's attack completely broke it but not before he released one last sound wave towards her, piercing her ears, and deeply affecting her body.
Sakura's fist went through the gauntlet and her fist smashed into his body.
"Gwaaaah!"
His body bent around the fist, and then he went flying away from her, until he smashed into the back wall.
His eyes closed from the impact, while Sakura fell to her knees, her eyes beginning to close.
"With her opponent unconscious..." As he spoke, he saw that Sakura falling forward, becoming unconscious. "...it seems that this is a double knockout."
Upon hearing that, each had different reactions.
Some were surprised, some were happy for Sakura to achieve this much.
"Sakura...she didn't win, but she did better than I had expected, against some others in this competition, Dosu's victory would have been assured. But Sakura...she's tough, she doesn't give up...I thought she wasn't up to this challenge, but she proved me wrong, and I'm glad she did. I'm quite proud of how far she's come. You might not have won, but neither did your opponent. Well done Sakura."
Kakashi looked at his student and felt pride for her.
Ryouta himself also was very proud of how she was able to fight so hard against Dosu.
"Wait...how did Sakura-chan..."
Naruko began, confused.
"She was suffering through a lot. The fact that she mustered up enough strength to beat him this much, proves how far she's come."
Ryouta was glad Satsuki said that, showing that Sakura truly had come far to fight Dosu.
"She did very well, Naruko-chan."
"Yeah, she did amazingly well!"
Ryouta smiled at the young girl, as his eyes went towards Sakura, seeing her being taken away, the same for Dosu.
A small time later, Ryouta went to go and visit Sakura, to see if she was alright, and to see if she had recovered her senses. As he got to the door, he knocked on it, waiting for the young pink haired girl to answer.
[Come in.]
Hearing that, told Ryouta that she did indeed have some of her hearing back.
So he stepped inside, seeing that Sakura was on the bed, with some people just finishing off making sure that she was okay with her hearing.
Ryouta watched as they walked out of the door, so he went towards her bedside.
"Hey Sakura-chan, are you alright? Can you hear me properly now?"
Sakura placed hands to her ears, giving off a single nod.
"My hearings not completely back...but I can make out what you're saying. The doctors said my ears should be fully recovered by tomorrow with some Healing Jutsu that I'm going to be going through later on."
Ryouta was relieved to hear that.
"Sakura-chan, you did amazing during your fight. It was smart to use your tools like that."
Ryouta's words caused Sakura to smile.
"I didn't have any other way to win the fight, I thought that I'd be able to see the thick smoke, even if I saw double, I managed to attack both, and I...I hit him."
Ryouta thought that was really smart of her to do.
It made sense that she was able to think of it since Sakura was a smart kind of girl.
"Either way, you should be proud, fighting through such agonizing pain, you might not have won, but you took your opponent down as well Sakura-chan."
"Yeah...I'm happy, Dosu...he's strong, and his Jutsu...I went out there to prove that I could...I could do it too."
"You did Sakura-chan, everyone saw how amazing you were out there. Dosu's Jutsu is something very difficult to deal with if you're hit, but not only did you deal with it, you used your mind and managed to beat him down. It was very impressive Sakura-chan."
Sakura nodded as happy tears came to her eyes.
She looked towards the young boy, seeing the way that he was there for her.
It caused her to smile, with a small blush on her cheeks.
"By the way Ryou-kun...I heard about Ino, and even Karin..."
"You did huh? Yeah we kissed..."
Getting the confirmation, Sakura bowed her head cutely.
"Then if they did...I don't want to hold back either, Ryou-kun. So...yes, allow me to do this..."
She then moved towards Ryouta, and placed her lips against his own.
She did it rather fast, and she looked so shy when she did it, Ryouta was surprised she was looking so shy since she usually didn't.
But he didn't stop it as Sakura seemed really happy that they were finally kissing one another.
Embracing one another, the pair continued their kiss for half a minute, Sakura loved each and every second, but it was stopped when she saw a giant eye at the window, causing her to "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" scream into Ryouta's mouth through their shared connection.
Ryouta blinked, seeing Sakura sweating and looking as if she had seen a monster.
His eyes went towards the window, and blinked, seeing the giant eye.
"Oh, it's him again."
Sakura's bottom lip trembled, as she cutely hid behind him.
"W-Who is that?!"
Ryouta looked back to Sakura, seeing that she was shaking.
He thought that it was a rather cute thing for her to do.
"That's the red snake we were telling you about. Back in the forest, we fought against him."
Sakura slowly nodded.
She remembered the snake by the story the others had told.
Though, seeing it before her now, she truly was feeling a little worried.
Ryouta went towards the window, and opened it up, as the giant snake looked towards him.
"It's nice seeing you again."
"Heh, whatever kid. I've got to go and see the Hokage. If you're finished kissing pinkie there, tell me where he is."
Ryouta was bemused at Garaga's attitude, it made sense that he'd see humans kissing as something that would be trivial to him at best.
"Of course, is it to do with Orochimaru?"
"Orochimaru! That little monster that I hate so much...sort of, that woman from Uchiha, the older one asked if I could deliver a message, mildly amused I thought it wouldn't be so bad if I did. So, fought anyone yet in the exams boy?"
Ryouta shook his head.
"No, it hasn't been my turn yet."
"Heh, then take me to the Hokage."
Garaga didn't say anything about it, but he did mildly wish to see the fight that Ryouta was going to have.
As time went on, and he saw what he did, he was becoming more and more curious about him.
"Sure, I don't mind. Please follow me." Ryouta went to move out of the window, but stopped and turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, I'll be back really soon, okay?"
Sakura, after recovering from the fact that the giant snake scared her, cast her mind back to the kiss, and that caused her to have a massive blush on her cheeks, and she also felt warmth spreading inside of her, leaving her unable to truly speak.
She merely waved her hand, so Ryouta smiled.
He then jumped out of the window, and went down to the ground.
The giant snake looked down at him, as Ryouta looked up.
"By the way, I never got your name."
Ryouta began, the red snake huffed.
"Garaga, human."
"That's a nice name, Garaga-san."
Garaga gave a curious look.
Usually people were intimidated by him.
But, Ryouta didn't seem to be frightened, and was speaking to him casually.
It definitely felt...good to know that something like Ryouta was out there that didn't fear snakes such as himself, reminding Garaga of his previous partner and how kind to him she truly was, and how he did miss her terribly.
End chapter!
So this chapter focused a bit more on Haku and Sakura, who both fought some strong opponents, Haku used her skills, and managed to take down Kankuro. Sakura was pushed to quite the limit, and nearly lost, but with her sharp wit and mind, she managed to edge out a draw with Dosu, showcasing her growth to fight such an enemy.
Meanwhile, Mikoto's still searching for Orochimaru and suspecting Danzo of helping him out, while Pakura seems to have some...interesting thoughts. Garaga even appeared and interrupted a small moment, but had his own with Ryouta in their own kind of way~
Finally, for the Black Clover magic, thanks to everyone that voted! It was a big help! That story should be out sometime this week.
Well, until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui, Hanabi, Mabui,