[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: No
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: Prove it
[Self] System: SakuraBlossom has challenged Sm1rkMeister to a PVP Match!
[Self] System: Sm1rkMeister has accepted. Combatants, you have 30 seconds to prepare before the fight starts
Sakura grinned, getting excited. She'd never had the chance to fight him before - this was going to be good. Thinking quickly, she decided on her strategy. She was a Taijutsu user and he was an all-rounder and a good one at that. So…
The game beeped at her, waving the proverbial start flag in her face, so Sakura instantly punched the ground between them, splintering it into many pieces. This created an uneven ground that would catch the other player off guard, giving her the couple of seconds she needed to catch the other player in a combo and beat the living daylights out of them. Unfortunately for her, Sasuke was already in the air at that point.
As expected of the server's number one.
She flipped out of his way in the nick of time, aiming a kick as his chin. He dodged and aimed a lightning slash at her torso that she managed to narrowly avoid by swinging her legs out in a split, clipping his outstretched arm sword as he dodged back. She took the chance to get on her feet again, only to immediately charge at him with a chakra reinforced fist.
He dodged. Fuck, he's fast!
They clashed again, fist to block, palm to hand, foot to shin. Sakura took a hit to her left upper arm from his vicious scissor kick but managed to plow a fist into his stomach. Since she'd barely had a chance to charge it with chakra, though, he didn't get knocked back. Instead, he immediately retaliated, bringing his elbows down onto her head.
She made the first mistake when she used a replacement jutsu to dodge out of the way, only to find he was already there. Shannaro! I forgot about the Sharingan! Since the replacement jutsu had a short cast time, he'd been able to anticipate where she'd appear when she cast it.
He slammed a Chidori into her torso.
Sakura gritted her teeth as she watched her avatar bounce away like a rag doll. Fuck, fuck, fuck that hurt! Her health bar was down by a huge chunk, while his was only slightly depleted.
Stay calm, Sakura. You can still do this. As he charged another jutsu, she took a deep breath and started to cast two jutsus at once. She knew he'd see them, but he just had to ignore the first one. With a deep breath, she released the second jutsu she'd cast, six fiery shurikens aimed for his major Chakra points.
Even if he dodged easily, she had anticipated the direction he'd go and got there first.
Gotcha. Scissor kick to catch him off guard, left hook to the arm, and a right partially-charged haymaker to the head.
Meister flew across their tiny arena in the sakura trees, but he wasn't down for long. He charged back at her, chakra glowing, but she knew she couldn't give him time to really properly prepare anything so she faced him directly and charged back, only to realize he'd precast a unique Sharingan technique. Oh shit...
Her screen filled with spinning red tomoe, totally obscuring her field of vision. Frantically, she started to charge and make hand signs herself, trying to get the ridiculously long sequence to dispel the illusion so she could see again. Shannaro! This freaking bloodline limit is too OP! That dispelling jutsu is twice as long as most genjutsu casts are!
She gritted her teeth, watching her health fall rapidly as he landed hits on her. She could only tell where they landed because of the Tenketsu diagram that normally showed her own open 360 chakra points now showed a couple of closed points on her left. She guessed then…
When she finally got rid of Meister's genjustu, she was face to face with a complete Chidori flying right towards her face from above. She had no chance to dodge.
I hope this works.
She released that first jutsu she'd cast just as it connected, slamming her character into a giant crater on the ground. Her health bar went almost entirely grey.
Almost.
Sm1rkMeister, who must've thought he'd won, stood over her avatar. She only needed that tiniest sliver of a second...
Hah!
She popped up in that sliver of time using the very last of her energy, slamming her fully charged upper-cut into his chin. This time, he flew high, high into the sky, and when his avatar landed at her feet, she knew it was really over now."
[Self] System: SakuraBlossom has won against Sm1rkMeister in the PVP Match! Fighting against each other is a way to find our own ways as Ninja. Well-fought, both combatants.Sakura cheered, raising her arms above her head in victory. She hadn't had that much fun in a PVP match in a while. Tenten looked over at her, but only rolled her eyes when she saw the goofy grin on her roommates face.
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: GG[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: How did you survive the last Chidori?
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: GG
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: I'm a medic-nin
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: So I sealed off a few of your chakra points and fortified my body with Chakra while I was dispelling whatever you did with your Sharingan
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: Plus I cast a split second heal as you struck
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: Not bad
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: I didn't know you were also a healing nin
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: Probably should've guessed that you'd closed twelve of my tenketsu though.
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: Aww, I only got twelve? Boo
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: You don't use the byakugan. Don't overestimate yourself
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: lol
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: You're not half bad yourself
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: Believe I haven't been hacked?
Sakura nearly choked when she remembered why they'd been fighting in the first place. Even though he'd lost to her, it was only because he'd underestimated her. He also could've easily finished her off if he'd realized she could heal herself, as the fortifying and healing in the second before death was a common trick for medical-nin. He used the Sharingan and its various abilities so beautifully, she didn't have any doubts. Hurriedly, she typed back.
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: Yeah[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: But then why do you want to get married?
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: To me?
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: There's a cross-server Couples PVP tournament coming up in a couple of months
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: You're the top-ranked female player in the server
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: We complement each other
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: I want to win
Sakura raised an eyebrow. It was true, together the two of them would easily win their server. They probably also had a fifty-fifty shot at winning the all-server competition as well. Still… her first game marriage had been for quests. Would her second one really just be for PVP matches? Just as she was about to refuse, though, another whisper popped up on her screen.
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: Before you decide anything, check the rewards for the all-server competition.Why can't he just tell me? Despite her annoyance, she obediently went to click through to the forum post announcing the Celestial Lovers Cross-Server PVP tournament that had just been put up a few days ago. When she clicked in and then started scrolling through the rewards list…
And scrolling…
And scrolling…
"Sakura-chan, you look like you're about to drool on your brand new laptop," Tenten warned her.
Sakura shot her a sheepish smile and flipped back to her game to quickly respond to Sm1rkMeister.
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: I'm in. Let's go get married.[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: Not now
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: In three days
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: Why three days?
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: It's an auspicious day in three days
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: I need time to prepare.
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeist0er] SakuraBlossom: Prepare what? We can just do the quest chain now and keep it simple
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: It's my wedding.
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: My wedding can't be simple.
[Whisper] Sm1rkMeister: I may be a bit later than now, though. Is that OK for you?
[Whisper to Sm1rkMeister] SakuraBlossom: Sure…
[Self] System: Sm1rkMeister wants to add SakuraBlossom as a friend. Type Y to accept or N to decline
[Self] System: SakuraBlossom has accepted! You are now friends
[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] Sm1rkMeister: bye
[Whisper] SakuraBlossom: Bye?
(￣_￣)・・・
Sasuke logged out with a tiny smirk on his face. He'd made the right choice. She was interesting. Not many people, when faced with his so-called server best reputation, would have challenged him to a fight. Even fewer would have won.
"Hey, Asshole, do you know where Big Bro went?" Naruto called to him from where he was lounging on the upper bunk of the bed he nominally shared with Sasuke.
"Who?" Sasuke didn't even bother to look up from his laptop.
"Chouji! Geez Sasuke, get it right! We've been roommates for so long, you could remember our birthdays!" Naruto complained,
"You better not let him hear you call him that, Naruto," One of their other roommates, Kiba, warned him. He was sitting at the large table in the middle of their room on his laptop.
"It's a mark of honor!" Naruto retorted, "He's the oldest, so he's big bro, then you're second bro, and that Asshole is third bro, leaving me fourth. It's not that hard!"
"I'm surprised you remembered it. " Sasuke said acidly.
"Oh c'mon Sasuke, we're brothers! After these four years!" Naruto complained, starting an old argument that Sasuke could not be bothered with.
"You need to stop wasting the few brain cells you have on kungfu movies and their naming conventions. Use them so you and Kiba can finish up the gaming engine before we graduate," Sasuke still didn't turn around. Naruto scowled at the back of his head, suddenly winging a clementine at him. But before it'd gone very far, Kiba leapt up and caught it in his mouth.
"Don't get your panties in a twist, Sasuke. We'll get it done before we graduate. When have I ever let you down?" Kiba said casually as he peeled the clementine and began to eat it, "Speaking of graduating, how'd it go with Kakashi today?"
"The bastard gave us both copies of Icha Icha Innocence! What the hell does he think we need those for?" Naruto scowled at the brightly coloured books on Sasuke's desk.
"Who cares about the books, did you get the lease signed for the price we wanted?" Kiba demanded impatiently.
"Of course we got the lease signed. Who do you take me for? Plus I had that asshole there," Naruto grinned, pointing his chin at Sasuke. Sasuke didn't rise to the bait, though, as he started writing an email. "I just don't see why Kakashi gave us that crap to read dattebayo!"
"Hey, since you're single, take all the advice you can get," Kiba grinned back, the dark triangles on his face wrinkling, "In fact, give me it if you're not gonna read it. I need to get a cute co-ed girlfriend this term. It's my last chance to experience the springtime of youth at University!"
"You sound like Professor Gai, Kiba," Naruto snorted.
"Hey, the man might have a point!"
Before Naruto could respond, the door swung open and their last roommate trudged in, carrying a giant bag full of chips and an already opened bag. "Chouji!" Naruto called, putting down his phone, "I was just wondering where you were. That's a lot of chips."
"Yeah, uh… I caught a good sale at the campus market, so I stocked up," Chouji said a tad nervously.
"Hey, give me a bag," Kiba grinned, reaching for the bag.
"No way!" Chouji shook his head as he shoveled the chips from the open bag into his mouth even faster.
"C'mon, don't be stingy," Kiba teased.
Why do I have morons for roommates? Sasuke didn't even stop typing as Kiba lunged forward and went straight for Chouji's chips. Even though he somehow managed to corner Chouji and steal a chip, Chouji turned bright red and grabbed a pillow. Naruto laughed like a hyena as Chouji chased a hollering Kiba around the room, determined to avenge the one chip Kiba had deprived him of.
They finally collapsed laughing on what should have been Sasuke's bed, one pillow destroyed between the two of them. Sasuke didn't bother to look at the destruction they'd wrought. At least it's not my mess to clean up.
"So Chouji, where did you go?" Naruto asked when he saw that Kiba had finally managed to shove another bag of chips into the other guy's hands. Chouji was now munching away happily, his previous rage totally forgotten.
"I told you, to the grocery store," Chouji replied through a full mouth, then he remembered something. "I ran into Yamanaka-san there, and-"
"Wait, Yamanaka-san? Yamanaka Ino from the business department, organizational behaviour major? Kiba interrupted him, excited "The campus beauty according to last semester's poll? "How do you know her?"
"We went to the same high school," Chouji gave him a weird look, "How do you know so much about her?"
"She's the campus beauty! C'mon, that's a thing! You went to the same high school as such a hottie?" Kiba sighed, "Man, I'm so jealous."
"Yamanaka-san's OK, but I like our department beauty better," Naruto grinned, joining the conversation by poking his head off the side of his bunk.
"That's right! I forgot that Haruno-san was part of our department! Sakura-chan, right? She came number two in the poll, right?" Kiba smacked his fist on his palm. None of them noticed that Sasuke's fingers had paused on the keyboard.
"Exactly, we gotta be loyal to our department, dattebayo," Naruto declared proudly.
"Man, I will take any hottie, our department or not," Kiba complained, then sat up and smacked Chouji on the arm in a sudden realization, "Hey, since you know her, introduce me to Yamanaka-san. C'mon Chouji, be a bro."
"Well she asked me to fix her laptop, so come with me," Chouji offered.
"Yes!" Kiba cheered, fist in the air, "Thank you, oh great one! I owe you a bag of chips for this!"
"I don't really understand why, but I'll take it," Chouji shrugged.
"Oi, are you thinking of hitting on the campus beauty?" Naruto laughed, "Fat chance you'd have with your face."
"Nu-uh, you misunderstand my genius. Our target isn't the campus beauty, that's aiming too high. I know my limits," Kiba made a serious face as he explained it,"No, our goal is … her girlfriends! Think about it, a hot girl like her is bound to have cute, overlooked girlfriends. All we gotta do is get close…" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Chouji and Naruto, who both made "what's wrong with this guy?" faces at him.
"Oh come on, it's a genius plan!" Kiba protested at their looks, "As for the campus beauty, we'll leave her for that one," He cocked a thumb over his shoulder in Sasuke's direction.
"I'll pass," Sasuke said as he sent his email and closed his laptop. He started packing his things to leave for the night.
"What!? C'mon Sasuke!" Kiba protested, "It's the campus beauty! The campus beauty dammit!"
"Go by yourselves. I'm getting married in three days in Way of the Ninja. Since I'm now a family man, it would be inappropriate for me to go fix another girl's laptop to flirt with her. "
The three of them were so flabbergasted at what Sasuke said that none of them noticed when he slipped a brightly bound book into his bag. Just when he got up to leave, however, Kiba and Naruto both recovered from their shock accost him.
"Who are you getting married to? How did you meet her? In-game?" Kiba grabbed his shoulder, "When did you start playing again anyways?"
"Yeah, why are you always such a loner? Come play with us, asshole." Naruto demanded, then grinned when he thought of something, "Bring our new sister-in-law and come do a mission with us. I want to meet this legendary girl who managed to catch your interest,"
"We're invited to the wedding, right?" Chouji asked, "You're going to throw a banquet?"
Thinking of SakuraBlossom and her reaction to his idea of a spectacle, Sasuke smirked a little, "You're invited. Bring others. I'll introduce you to … your future sister-in-law tomorrow. Bye."
With that, he left the dorm, leaving the three staring at the closed door, mouths agape.
AN: Hehehe Happy Easter to those of you who are celebrating! I hope you enjoyed this chapter - it's a bit earlier than usual. I don't usually write a whole bunch of fights and action, but this fic is turning out to have a lot more than I planned for . So that's been a challenge. Extended ANs as always on the Tumblr, especially for those of you who are trying to track how closely this'll track to the drama/webnovel. Thank you to Reglee for beta-ing the chapter, and thank you for reading it! As always, reviews, comments, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and interpretative dances always make my day. See you next week!