"There's more than one way to shed a skin."
– Orochimaru, the Forsaken, escaping from Sunagakure after his failed assassination attempt on the Fourth Kazekage
-O-
"Nicely done," Sakura said to Sasuke. They were in a quieter part of the competitors' box.
He grunted. "It wasn't too hard. Neji's arrogant and I had a lot of time to prepare. Lee was almost as tough and I handled him when I knew fewer techniques."
Sakura let the arrogance slide. The way she figured it, Sasuke had earned the chance to boast.
"How did you move so fast? I couldn't tell from up here."
"I learned the beginning steps of elemental wind chakra training. It's used to sharpen and accelerate throwing weapons. I found out that the same principle works on the human body," Sasuke explained.
"Clever," Sakura said, for lack of anything better to offer.
They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
"So you and Ino–" Sakura began, then stopped again. She wasn't sure what to say.
After an awkward pause, Sasuke sighed. "Shikamaru put you up to this, didn't he?"
"Yes," Sakura said, relieved. She decided to be as neutral in her phrasing as possible. It was far from an easy topic; Sakura still wanted Sasuke, and he still wasn't interested. "Shikamaru mentioned Ino might be involved in some plot, or group, or something, that's dangerous to her. And he thought that you could be getting dragged in as well."
Sasuke considered that for a moment. "Shikamaru's a smart guy," he conceded. "I'm not involved in whatever Ino's up to. For the moment, anyway. I can't give you more details, but I'm not about to be reckless, and neither is she."
"That's not exactly reassuring," Sakura said, stung at the implication that Sasuke didn't trust her with his secrets.
Sasuke shrugged. "If you want to know more, speak to Ino yourself. Although you'll have to wait until she's finished her fight."
If they were Ino's secrets, and Sasuke planned to protect them, there was no point in asking further. Sakura settled down to watch what her rival had learned. Ino looked a little nervous, which wasn't like her at all. Neither Ino nor Tenten were carrying any extra weapons as far as Sakura could tell.
Perhaps she'd be able to pick up some useful detail that would help Sasuke in the next round. She hoped to meet him in the finals.
The proctor started the match and Tenten backed away, unfurling a scroll. Ino rushed forward, pumping chakra to her legs, but she couldn't get close enough to interrupt Tenten. With a swipe of her hand she summoned what looked like a whole army's worth of weapons and started flinging them at Ino. Sakura noticed that the blades and spikes were blunted.
Ino skidded to a stop and sprinted back the other way, ducking and dodging and rolling. A few kunai and shuriken bounced off her back. They didn't pierce her outfit, and Sakura remembered Kakashi's lecture about not killing fellow Leaf ninja. Tenten must be following the same rules, otherwise the fight would be a bloodbath.
The handle of a scythe clipped Ino's legs and she almost fell, but she turned it into a stumble and a leap that put her next to the sparse trees at the arena edge.
A minute had passed and Sakura could already see that Ino was out of breath and rubbing her cramped calves, back against a tree trunk to protect against more weapons. Meanwhile, Tenten gathered up the weapons she'd hurled and stored them back in her scroll. Sakura couldn't tell from the arena stands but she might have been humming.
Sasuke grunted. "Tenten already thinks she's won."
"Ino won't give up."
"Ino's worked hard. She's brave and tenacious, and she'll fight to the last," Sasuke said. "But I saw some of her training over the last month. Look at what's happening down there. Tenten is older, stronger, faster, and more skilled. It would take a miracle for Ino to win."
That wasn't what Sakura had hoped to hear. "I guess we'll see whether she can rustle up that miracle, then."
Once Tenten had collected all her weapons and sealed them away, she called forth an oversized club. It was a single piece of solid oak, polished and shining in the rain. She rested it on her shoulder as she strolled over to the trees.
Ino stood her ground, kunai in hand. She darted at Tenten then disappeared in a puff of smoke, replacing herself with a log. Sakura squinted, trying to make out where Ino had gone. She reappeared in some bushes and came at Tenten from the side, but had to throw herself flat on the ground to avoid a lazy swing of Tenten's club. A heartbeat later, another log lay there and Ino came hurtling down from the canopy, fist cocked back. Tenten stepped aside and the blow missed, then the backswing of her club sent Ino flying into a tree trunk. Tenten created a clone as Ino clambered back to her feet, facing away.
"Did Ino prepare a trump card for this fight?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "She worked on her speed and hand-to-hand combat mostly. I'm not surprised she can't keep up with Tenten, though. I've heard about how Guy trains his team and it's not for the faint of heart."
As both copies of Tenten flicked their clubs back and forth, the lengths of wood weightless in their hands, Sakura doubted that there was anything Ino could do.
They faced off again at the edge of the trees. Ino charged and threw herself into a flying kick, replacing herself with a log in mid-air. Through skill or luck she'd picked the real Tenten rather than the clone. She reappeared behind her foe, fist pulled back and ready to strike.
Tenten batted the log aside and, without looking, caught Ino's followup punch in her hand. She spun around and brought her club down across Ino's legs, sending her sprawling. After that it was all but over. Ino tried to wriggle away but she was much too slow.
Tenten placed a foot on the small of Ino's back and tapped her on the back of the head, shouting something to the proctor. Her clone disappeared in a puff of chakra smoke as the proctor called back, confirming her win.
"Ino's going to be disappointed," Sakura said, feeling for her friend. Behind her she heard Guy and Kakashi joke about their bet – Guy had just gained a point, apparently.
By the time Tenten and Ino returned to the stands, Ino was looking marginally more cheerful. She clapped Sakura on the shoulder as she walked to her seat. "Good luck out there. Show Temari what us Leaf ninja are made of."
"Of course," Sakura said, grinning. "I'm in this to win."
-O-
The walk to the arena floor was shorter than Sakura expected. She didn't feel nervous, and she wasn't sure what to think of that. Kakashi had hammered home that Temari might try to kill her, but looking at the Sand ninja Sakura didn't feel threatened.
Temari was a full head taller than Sakura and carried an oversized wooden fan in her right hand. Under her clothes there was a layer of chainmail, and she wore a standard issue weapons pouch on her belt. Her eyes were cold, but Sakura remembered another Sand ninja she'd crossed paths with, months ago.
Kiho had been even bigger than Temari, and a seasoned chunin to boot. Sakura had run her through and never lost a night's sleep over it.
"Let's make this a good match," Sakura said, the picture of a polite young girl. She smiled and clasped her hands behind her back.
Temari grinned at her. "If you want to skip the hard and painful part, you should surrender now."
"Why so eager to avoid this fight? We should model the relationship between Sand and Leaf," Sakura countered. "Our bond is built on mutual respect, after all." And a fear of the betrayal that could come at any time, of course. These were ninja villages.
"Respect?" Temari said, frowning. "Your team carried you here, and you missed out on a preliminary round. You're filling an empty space in the bracket, that's all. What respect could there be between us?"
Sakura laughed, and it wasn't even forced. She wondered just how much Kakashi had rubbed off on her. "You should have more faith in yourself. Maybe if you work hard, and follow your dreams, and never give up, you could earn my respect one day."
"When I thrash you, I'm not going to be gentle," Temari warned.
The proctor cleared his throat. "Alright, enough posturing. The fight begins when I say so, and it ends when I say so. Understood?"
Sakura and Temari both nodded.
"In that case, let's start."
The words left the proctor's mouth and both ninja leapt backwards, opening some space. Temari was a mid- to long-range fighter. Sakura had considered getting up close at the start of the fight, but it would be risky before she knew more about Temari's techniques. She had a few ideas for closing the distance later, once she decided it was safe.
As soon as Temari's feet touched the ground, she spread her fan open. She sent a scythe of wind at Sakura. It was a smooth, well-practiced move, and didn't use any hand seals. Even as Sakura dove into the dirt she wondered at that. Perhaps there were seals placed on the fan that handled the elemental conversion, if such a thing was even possible.
Mud splashed up around Sakura's face, just missing her hair. She felt cold water seep through her dress and onto her stomach, along with a gritty residue, and fat raindrops landed on her back. She pressed herself further into the soil. For a terrifying instant it seemed Temari's strike would land, but then the razor-sharp gust passed just over Sakura's head. The arena floor wasn't perfectly flat and Temari couldn't send the cutting edge of her attack into every dip and hollow, so Sakura was merely buffeted by the wind.
The oversized war fan, coupled with a cursory look at Sunagakure's history, had been a giveaway that Temari used wind attacks. The range and power was impressive, though. Sakura adjusted her estimation of the Sand ninja upwards a little. If she wanted to win, she would have to work for it.
Sakura rose into a crouch, unsurprised to see Temari staying at a distance. This would be a fight about strategy and space. The heavy wax paper of Temari's fan wasn't harmed by the rain that was falling. That would have been too much to hope for. All that the weather had managed was softening up the dirt; Sakura would have preferred the ground to be dry when she rolled around on it. She was wet and miserable and quite filthy.
Still, Temari's fan was big and heavy, and it must take a lot of chakra to throw those huge gusts of wind around. Time was on Sakura's side, to an extent, but the faster she ended the fight, the more strength she would have left for her next opponent.
No chunin candidate would have such a powerful long-range technique and be equally skilled at hand-to-hand combat. Getting in close would take away Temari's best weapon, although she was still dangerous. Sakura frowned. There was a lot of open space between them.
"Not so big-mouthed now, are you?" Temari jeered.
Sakura decided not to waste her breath on the obvious bait. Instead, she estimated how much ground she'd need to cover to get into hand-to-hand combat range. At a flat-out sprint it was fifteen seconds, and that was if Temari stood her ground. Add another ten seconds until Temari's back was against the arena wall.
That gave Temari time for at least four attacks that Sakura would need to dodge or avoid. The closer she got, the harder it would become. Before attacking, Sakura really needed to learn more about her opponent's weapon, and its limitations.
She didn't have any long-range ninjutsu. Kakashi hadn't thought she needed any, most likely – the topic had never even been discussed. Sakura was happy with her training, but an extra month or two to prepare would have helped a great deal.
In close combat, Temari would still have the upper hand, but Sakura was confident she could seize victory. She patted her weapons pouch, which she'd checked and rechecked before the match. Six kunai, twenty shuriken, two smoke bombs and forty feet of ninja wire. The wire she hadn't practiced with much, so she wouldn't be pulling any of Sasuke's tricks. Perhaps it would come in useful anyway.
Temari might be an ass but Sakura wasn't about to try her half-finished Chidori against the girl. That meant her assets were genjutsu, the basic Academy jutsu, undirected lightning chakra and her weapons pouch. Taijutsu might be an acceptable fall-back option, but only if necessary.
The rain was a solid curtain now. Sakura grinned as drops landed on her face, washing away the fine silt she'd picked up off the floor.
She stalked across the grass and mud, circling Temari. The terrain was consistent across the arena, but Sakura needed to pick a path that had plenty of gentle slopes, for cover from Temari's wind. Sakura had other plans for the very last part of the approach, though. She would be getting up close and personal one way or another.
There! Sakura found a straight run at Temari that had enough cover for her to shelter from any mid-range attacks. The depressions in the ground would break line of sight if she lay down flat. It was too bad the rain was filling them with water, but Sakura could handle a little discomfort.
She looked down at herself and decided she couldn't get much dirtier anyway. Grime and mud clung to her, all down her front, and a good bit had splashed up her back and legs as well. The sooner she won, the sooner she could clean up and change clothes. With that in mind she started walking straight at Temari, slow and deliberate. Temari kept her fan ready and waited for Sakura to close the gap a little more. As soon as Sakura saw Temari's shoulders move, she was already crouching.
Temari faked her first swing. Sakura kept a close watch, ready to spring into action. With the reverse of the fan, Temari hurled a storm of cutting wind forwards. It was a stronger blow than last time, since Temari had longer to prepare the technique. Sakura rolled off to the side, out of the worst of the winds, and sprawled flat in the dirt again. She felt feather-light blades scratch her back through her dress. It stung, but the tiny beads of blood on her skin were too few to matter.
There were two key weaknesses that Sakura noticed. The fan was cumbersome and so Temari couldn't keep up a constant stream of wind. The chakra cost was also significant; she wouldn't have bothered with fake attacks if she could have used the technique twice. The fan itself was made of lacquered wood with metal reinforcements, and Sakura made a mental note to avoid getting clubbed with it.
As soon as the air was clear, Sakura was on the move again, scurrying forward. Temari had resigned herself to waiting until Sakura was closer, which suited Sakura just fine. She had plans for what to do when she reached her target. Hand hidden in her weapons pouch, she prepared loops of ninja wire, ready to snare the fan.
From the contestants' box the arena had looked flat as a board. Perhaps Temari was unfamiliar with the local terrain? It was definitely nothing like what Sakura had heard about Sunagakure's dunes. Either way, Sakura was fast approaching the point where Temari's strikes could reach her even on the floor.
That meant it was time for something more advanced.
Sakura palmed a kunai and then hurled it straight at Temari's face. Over such a long distance it would never hit, but Sakura wasn't aiming to injure. Temari batted the weapon aside with her fan, and Sakura grinned.
There had been a brief second where the fan covered Temari's eyes. It was a weakness she could exploit.
A second kunai followed the first. This time, as soon as Sakura was unobserved, she created a trio of clones. One lay down on the ground, tucked into a dip where the grass was longer, and stayed out of sight. The other two flanked her as she broke into a slow run. The clones spread out far enough that Sakura judged they couldn't be attacked at the same time. Temari would have to split her focus, and her chakra, if she wanted to handle all three threats she could see.
A minor illusion placed an image of Sakura's sandals slightly higher on her legs. From Temari's perspective, it would appear as if Sakura was floating just above the grass – a telltale sign of a poorly-made clone. Sakura's left-hand clone floated a little as well, but the clone on her right was perfect. They spread out to the sides and approached Temari's position while Sakura closed in as well, keeping her limbs a touch too stiff to look natural.
Temari eyed all three Sakuras in front of her and, after a moment's thought, hurled a gust of wind at the realistic clone, then ran for the gap she'd created. Sakura buried the grin on her face and instead made the second clone smile. She fixed the small details that revealed it as a clone, mostly around the hair and face. Her real body kept the illusory flaws she'd added earlier.
With one clone down, Temari turned her attention to Sakura and the other clone she could see. The last duplicate was still out of view, hidden in the grass thirty paces behind Sakura.
Sakura sent her partner to herd Temari towards the wall. The next wind attack was once again aimed at a clone, but this time Sakura decided to up the pressure.
Every instinct told her to run or hide as the wave of razor-sharp air poured out at her copy, but Sakura stood stock still, like an illusion left without any commands. Her copy crouched on the ground and when the wind passed she stood up rather than disperse. A fake gash on her arm gushed with fake blood. Temari watched on, eyes hard as she raised her fan again. "You can surrender now and save yourself more pain," she offered.
'Sakura' spat on the ground and drew a kunai with her good hand. The real Sakura drifted forward, moving closer moment by moment, still ignored for now. Temari shrugged and sent out another wind blade, and this time 'Sakura' stayed flat on the floor afterwards, splashed with red.
The proctor's gaze flicked across the battlefield, but he said nothing. Sakura bit back a scowl. In a real fight this would be the perfect way to bait a foe closer and then ambush them from the side. Instead, she'd need to use a different approach. She dismissed the collapsed clone so she could concentrate on her next steps.
As the bloodied body disappeared in a puff of smoke, Temari spun around and raised her fan at the real Sakura, now in the open and vulnerable. Shock was etched on Temari's face.
Sakura took that as her cue to spring the next surprise.
Her hidden clone, prepared earlier and kept in reserve, burst out and raced straight for Temari. Sweat beaded on Sakura's brow as she juggled all the little details needed for Temari to believe the lie. Her frontal assault needed to be fast enough to threaten, but not inhumanly quick. The fake Sakura had to look real, and the real Sakura had to look fake. She felt the beginnings of a headache.
As the clone approached, Temari's gaze flicked between both Sakuras. She'd had enough of the mind games. Sakura knew that she was going to be on the receiving end of an attack soon enough, once Temari dealt with the more immediate threat.
The clone barrelled straight through a wave of kunai, twisting and contorting to dodge the weapons. Sakura felt beads of sweat break out on her forehead.
Temari was fast; she'd tossed the knives and followed up with a gust of wind that propelled them at their target, all before Sakura could have reacted. Luckily her clone wasn't constrained by regular physics, and slipped past the kunai in a way that Sakura couldn't.
Sakura broke into a run as well, and her clone leapt, drawing her own kunai. For a split-second Sakura knew where Temari's attention would be, and she used that to weave an illusion and layer it over Temari's perception.
Temari tore the clone to shreds in mid-air with her fan, and then her eyes flicked over to the only remaining Sakura. And flicked back, staring at the space where the clone had been.
She couldn't look away; every time she tried, her gaze – and attention – was forced back.
Grimacing, Sakura held the genjutsu as long as possible. She could feel Temari's chakra struggle against her own; it was an oddly intimate sensation. Step by step she closed the gap, lips drawn back in a snarl. Temari tried to hurl another blast of wind but it went wide.
Fist first, Sakura reached her target. Temari awkwardly forced her fan closed and used it to block the blow. The jarring pain of fist meeting wood and metal distracted Sakura for a split second, and Temari unravelled the genjutsu that Sakura had placed on her.
The fan lashed out and Sakura rolled under it, coming up with even more mud on her than before. She feinted high and Temari brought the fan up to block. Her reliance on the weapon was going to cost her.
Sakura hurled loops of wire over the end of the closed fan, and pulled as hard as she could on the other end. Rather than let go of her fan, Temari stumbled forward a few paces, and Sakura planted her foot in the older girl's ribs. Temari clutched her side, wheezing, but nothing was broken. Sakura scowled.
She wasn't looking forward to this next part.
A twist of her wrist pulled the wires closed. Sakura looked herself over – mud was slathered down her front, a dozen metal threads stretched from her to her target, and Temari herself was wet from the rain. A shining inch of chainmail peered out from under her clothes.
Everything was ready.
The wires were tangled around Temari's closed fan, but she started working her weapon free. She kept a firm grip on the coils of metal thread as she removed them, stopping Sakura from retrieving her equipment. "This was never going to hold me for long," she said, confused. "Why go to all that effort to–"
Sakura formed a Snake Seal and converted a burst of chakra into raw electricity. It tingled as some of the current flowed through her fingers and down over her chest, but by far the larger part raced across the wires and into Temari. She spasmed where she stood, then her legs gave way and her mouth clenched shut. Sakura held the lightning flow a second longer as she watched her opponent's body fail her. There was a splash as Temari landed in a large muddy puddle, and a second smaller splash from her fan arriving beside her.
Temari twitched once and then lay still, her eyes half-open and her chest slowly rising and falling. The proctor watched for a few seconds more, then raised Sakura's hand into the air.
"The winner of the third match of the first round is Sakura Haruno!"
She grinned and started packing her ninja wire away.
Unformed lightning chakra had a nasty habit of finding the fastest way to the ground, often through the user. Sakura had gambled on the mud caked all over her body, coupled with the chainmail Temari was wearing, making her a much less inviting target than the Sand ninja. It had paid off and now Sakura stood over her fallen foe.
Oh a whim, she helped Temari up. The Sand ninja waved away the medics that rushed to check on her. Sakura turned down the offer of help as well.
Temari groaned as she started walking. "Whatever you just did, I'm sore all over. Does that technique have a name?"
"Not yet," Sakura said, not wanting to admit that her 'technique' wasn't a regular ninjutsu and wouldn't be reliable in the next fight.
"Do you at least have a nickname or something?" Under the grumbling, Sakura heard the unspoken respect and basked in it. They ambled over to the stairs and slowly made their way back to the competitors' box.
"Not yet," she repeated.
Temari nodded once, as though they'd reached an agreement. "After this, Sand are gonna start a file on you. I'll make sure you go down as Sakura 'Lightning Fist' Haruno."
Sakura tucked a strand of hair back into place. "Thanks, I guess. Do you have a nickname then?"
"I get called Temari of the Sandstorm a lot, but it's just a translation of my surname. I don't think it counts." Temari chuckled. "Plus I have to share that one with my brothers."
Temari was the Kazekage's daughter, Sakura knew. Raza's golden sand was feared, sure, but not to the same extent as the Third Kazekage's signature technique had been."Then you can be Temari of the Iron Winds."
They made it up another few steps while Temari considered the name. At last she nodded. "Temari of the Iron Winds. I like that."
Once they reached the rest of the competitors, Temari was fussed over by her anxious teacher. Sakura exchanged a nod with Kakashi and left it at that; his eye was happier than usual, not that she expected anyone else to pick up on it. She sat beside Sasuke again. Ino had been pulled away by Asuma for a talk about something-or-other.
"Nicely done," Sasuke said. "Clean and professional."
The compliment was unexpected and very welcome. Sakura felt her ears turn pink. "I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself quite so much," she said.
Sasuke scratched his face where, Sakura could see from up close, the faint beginnings of a beard were evident. "Didn't the crowd bother you? Performing in front of all those people?"
"No, actually." Now that Sasuke had called attention to it, Sakura stopped filtering out the noise from the stands. She recalled some cheering when she'd won, but at the moment there was just the excited buzz of a happy crowd who'd seen excellent fights and were looking forward to more of the same.
The Hokage, the Kazekage, dozens of her future colleagues had been watching. And Sakura hadn't even considered them. The fight had been between her and Temari, and the audience didn't matter.
Sakura sank back into her seat and closed her eyes, letting the tension flow back out of her tight back and neck. Her ears pricked as she overheard a snippet of Naruto and Lee's conversation. They were whispering, but they were both loud people by nature and she could still make out most of the words.
"Do you think that Sasuke or Sakura would win in a fight?" Lee asked.
Naruto was quiet as he thought. At last, he ventured an answer. "Sasuke is stronger, there's no doubt about it. He has the edge in ninjutsu, taijutsu and perhaps even genjutsu. Although Sakura's awesome because she'll change the rules and come at you from a different angle. She's pretty scary, you know. So I think she would win the fight. It'd be cool to watch though! I hope they reach the finals and we get to find out."
Sasuke smiled from beside her. He must have been listening in as well. "I hope so too. You're a worthy foe," he murmured. "Although I want to fight Naruto as well. He's grown so much since we were in the Academy."
"I wonder how far he'll go," Sakura replied, trying not to blush at the compliment. Given Sasuke's rather lacking social skills, it was one of the nicer things he'd ever said about her.
He shrugged. "It'll be good to work as a full team again. I've missed the two of you, and even Kakashi a little bit, over the last few weeks."
Gaara and Kankuro had reached the arena floor and were waiting for the proctor to finish. Despite the worsening rain, they hadn't put on any extra layers. More clothes would hamper mobility but if a ninja was soaked for too long it could lead to hypothermia. That would mean an easy win for Sakura later.
There was a rustling as Kakashi moved to the barrier between the competitors' box and the rest of the stadium seats. Sakura appreciated the little things he did, like making unnecessary noise when he didn't want to startle his students. She wasn't sure if Sasuke and Naruto picked up on them.
"Keep a close eye on this fight," Kakashi said from behind her. "You'll be facing the victor."
Sakura nodded, leaning forward in her seat. Down below, the proctor ordered the fight to begin.
She blinked. Gaara was just standing there, but sand flowed out of the gourd on his back and reached out for his brother. He didn't need hand seals, apparently. It raced towards Kankuro, who backed away, panicking. He started a technique, then stopped midway through. Then he shouted something.
The proctor shrugged and shouted something back. Gaara's sand got closer and closer to Kankuro, and then it stopped. Gaara scowled as he pulled it back into his gourd and both competitors walked over to the stairs that led to the competitor's box.
Booing and jeering broke out in the crowd as they realised that Kankuro had surrendered.
"Did he not want to hurt his brother?" Sakura asked, turning to face her teacher.
Kakashi shook his head. "That look on Kankuro's face was naked fear. He was terrified of Gaara, and more specifically Gaara's sand."
Sakura frowned. Since Gaara had just won, he was her next opponent. Just what was she in for?
"That means it's me again," Sasuke said, standing up. Where Sakura would have been annoyed at losing a chance to rest and recover, Sasuke looked hungry.
"Good luck," Sakura said.
Sasuke smiled at her again and then shouted across the box. "Tenten, shall we?"
Tenten nodded and they marched down to the arena together.
