Please Enjoy and I only own Ami and her unique Justus. The chapters of the story will occasionally combined some episodes in to one
Chapter 10: - Kunoichi Rumble
The two ninjas squared off against each other, silence hanging in the air as we waited for the match to start. I was interested in seeing how Shino thought, his surname did ring a bell but I couldn't pinpoint it.
"If you fight me, you won't be able to recover. Forfeit and with draw," Shino told Zaku. This caused the Sound ninja to grit his teeth as he glared at Shino, but he then smirked.
"Well what do you know? I've got a little movement in one of them," Zaku stated. He managed to remove his left arm out of the sling he wore. "One good arm's more than enough to beat you" Zaku declared. He then charged at Shino and he attempted to punch Shino but he was able to block the attack.
"You couldn't beat me using both your arms," Shino responded.
"Yeah well I've got news for you," Zaku retorted. Then his wind tunnel blasted sound waves out at the ninja, causing a large cloud of dust to be kicked up and Shino to be thrown to the floor. We all waited for something to happen as Shino remained still on the floor his body smoking.
"Alright foo, you had enough?" Zaku questioned. Then Shino began to stand up, to everyone's surprise. "He's- There's no way," Zaku stated, not believing his eyes then a strange sound began to echo, it sounded like a sort of grinding sound.
Everyone began to look around searching for the source of the sound, then as I looked down I saw that a swarm of bugs were crawling across Shino's body. I wondered when they had come from, as I couldn't see.
"Great now that you've creped us all out, what happens next?" Zaku asked. Then behind him a horde of bugs had gathered.
"They're a rare species of parasitic beetle, that attack their prey in a swarm eating its' chakra. An army of this size will suck you dry in less than a minute, your only intelligent option is to forfeit the match. You can't fight two opponents at once, if you use your good arm against me, my friends will swarm you from behind, conversely if you use your good arm to keep them at bay then you'll have me on your blind side. Either way your defeat will be certain and unpleasant, it's wise to always have an ace in the hole," Shino told the Sound ninja.
A blazing look of rage appeared in Zaku's eyes as he seemed to struggle with the decision, then I saw that his other arm was beginning to twitch and he pointed his moveable arm at Shino, who seemed surprised by this turn of events.
"Now you've done it, now you've made me mad!" Zaku yelled. He then managed to move his damaged arm and pointed it at the beetles. "Like you said yourself, always have an ace in the hole right," Zaku taunted.
"What the- I thought his right arm was shot," Kiba spoke aloud. It seemed that Zaku had recovered both of this arm's mobility and that he had pretended only one of his arms worked so as to trick his opponent.
"I'll blow you away!" Zaku yelled. He went to attack but instead the chakra burst out of his arms, everyone was shocked by this. It turned out that Shino had planted bugs in the tubes and since the pressurized chakra couldn't escape through the tubes, it forced its' way out through Zaku's arms which rendered him incapable of fighting.
Shino was declared the winner, I had finally pegged his name, his clan were bug users, a rather fearsome group of fighters to be sure, the dangers of their beetles were well known. Kakashi-sensei then appeared behind us and told us that Sasuke was fine, however he looked at me and suspicious and confused gleam in his visible eye.
The match was chosen and it was between Kankurō and Misumi Tsurugi, who was another member of Kabuto's team. His appearance was greatly concealed by the mask he wore around his mouth that hung to around his neck and forehead protector which he wore like a bandanna. He also wore what appears to be the standard attire of his team consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless, navy-blue shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around his waist, pants, sandals and fingerless gloves, along with a pair of round framed glasses.
"I'm not like Yoroi, I don't get careless not even again kids," Misumi told Kankurō. I wondered if he had any unique Justus like his teammate. "A piece of advice, once I go into my jutsu, give up, quickly. If you do I promise to make it short and painless," Misumi added on. Kankuro then removed the large wrapped object form his back.
"Funny I was about to say the same thing. Though I can't promise it'll be painless," Kankurō retorted. Then the match was started. "Let me do you a favour and end this battle quickly," Kankurō suggested to his opponent
"You can't end it if I end it first," Misumi retorted and then he charged. He swung a punch at Kankurō but he was able to block it, however that's when things got strange, as Misumi's body suddenly became flexible and he was able to wrap his body around Kankurō, trapping him and causing him to drop the object.
"I dislocate everyone of me joints, softening my body. Then with my chakra I can control it perfectly," Misumi explained. Honestly it sounded disturbing to me and rather strange as well.
"The more you struggle, the tighter I'll squeeze. I don't know what you're carrying in there but as long as I'm have a hold of you, it makes no difference. I could break you neck right now if I wanted to… and I will unless you give up," Misumi declared.
"You want to bet?" Kankurō asked, a cocky tone to his voice.
"You want to die?" Misumi asked as he squeezed tighter.
"You fool, you're the one who's going to die here," Kankurō stated. Then Misumi snapped Kankurō's neck, killing him… or so we thought, until Kankurō's head turn and Misumi was trapped by his many wooden arms, revealing that Kankurō was actually a puppet and the real Kankuro had been hidden inside of the large wrapping, controlling the puppet this whole time.
"He controls it with chakra from his hand," Sakura stated, as she observed the technique that Kankurō was using. Misumi was then crushed by the puppet, allowing Kankuro to win the match easily.
"Two against one is hitting below the belt, it's it. I mean is that thing even fair Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto protested.
"It's not really two against one, that thing is a puppet, not another ninja," Kakashi-sensei explained.
"Yeah it's just the Puppet Master Jutsu. He's controlling the puppet with chakra, it's a ninja tool like a shuriken," Sakura chimed in.
"Compare it to a clone jutsu. Now those aren't technically two on one even though the clone has free movement whilst the puppet is controlled by the ninja using it," I explained to Naruto. I couldn't tell if he understood what I meant but I think he did.
Looking at Sakura I saw that she was nervous about her match, she went off to the rest room. I thought about her match myself, and I honestly hoped that she wouldn't have to go up against one of the Sand ninja, the Sound ninja or heaven's forbid… me.
"Now let's continue it's time to begin the four battle," Hayate announced. The panel began to shuffle again, I was anxious about who I would fight
"Well no matter who's picked it'll be to weirdoes this contest is chocked full of them," Naruto stated. I looked at him and smiled thinking that he was one of the weirdest ones here.
"Well you're one to talk," Kakashi-sensei stated. Sakura chimed in as well, she seemed better, in fact a small fire burned in her eyes. I heard the panel stop and I looked up, my body froze as I saw that Ino and Sakura had been match up.
"This isn't a time for laughter," Kakshi-sensei told Sakura as he gestured to the panel. She looked and her eyes widened so much I think her eyes might have fallen out. The two went down to square off against each other, but the air was thick with tension
"I'd never thought I'd fight you… or at least I didn't think it would happen this soon. Don't expect me to go easy on you," Ino stated. Sakura remained quiet a contemplative look on her face.
"Of all the people for Ino to go up against, it would have to be Sakura. What a mess," Shikamaru stated, worry in his tone.
"I know, I hope Ino will be ok," Chōji added in. I wondered about the relationship between these Kunoichi, it was obviously something more than a romantic rivalry.
"Go Sakura, you can do it! Don't lose!" Naruto called out to the pinkette. The match began and both of them charged at each other, Sakura sent out a roundhouse kick but Ino managed to dodge it.
Ino retaliated with a punch, Sakura managed to block the attack and she then sent out a sweep kick but Ino jumped into the air, dodging it. Sakura threw kunai at Ino who, dodge one, grabbed another and used that to block the third, they then began to charge at each other.
"Oh no I just knew it," Chōji wined. I glanced at the boy before returning my gaze to the fight, it was obvious to me and they were holding back and I guess that Ino's team had seen this as well.
"Sakura's totally blowing Ino out of the water in this battle," Naruto stated. Shikamaru insulted Naruto but as he went to retaliate, another voice entered into the argument.
"That it. That's as good as Kunoichi can get at hand-to-hand combat," Neji stated. I whipped around to the Hyūga boy, annoyance coursing through me as that was also an insult towards me.
"What?!" Naruto cried out as he also turned towards the Hyūga.
"It's not because they're girls you know Neji. It's just that those two are using kid gloves. It doesn't matter if you're a man or woman in battle," Tenten argued. I smiled glad that the girl had defend our fighting abilities… she must have had to deal with this a lot.
"Using kid gloves?" Naruto asked the confusion was quite clear in his voice. I tapped him on the shoulder and he looked at me confusion clearly evident on his face.
"Watch the fight closely and you'll understand," I told the blonde. He nodded and he turned back to watch the battle, I did the same.
Sakura jumped back in to continue the fight, this continued on for a short while until Ino managed to land a punch to Sakura's stomach, Ino then went in to follow up the attack but instead of a punch, something caused Ino to strike Sakura with a slap instead.
"Hey you two," I called out to Ino's teammates they looked at me confusion on their faces. "You obviously know something, I wasn't in the academy so care to explain their relationship?" I asked. Shikamaru sighed and looked away, whilst Chōji looked unsure.
"It'd be too much of a drag to explain it to you," Shikamaru stated. I glared at the boy but he just ignored me.
"They use to be friends," A soft, gentle voice said. I looked over to see that it was actually Hinata who had spoken.
"They did? What happened to them?" I asked the girl. She looked down a nervous expression on her face, before she raised her head to look at me.
"They found out that they both liked Sasuke and that caused them to be rivals," Hinata answered. I scowled at this fact and turned back to the battle, they fighters had remained standing still as if they couldn't decide what to do.
"How stupid," I hissed out. This grabbed everyone's attention as I gripped the railing in front of me with a white knuckle grip. "I'd sooner choice a friend over a boy," I continued on, my eyes stayed focused on the duo.
"Alright listen up Ino, I'm not going to fight with you over Sasuke," Sakura called out to the blonde girl. I wondered with these two would finally get it in gear.
"What did you say?" Ino demanded. Anger radiated off of the girl at that statement.
"I'm not the weak, needy, girl I use to be. You're not even on my radar and you're not Sasuke's type. Ino-pig," Sakura continued on. I raised an eyebrow at the insult that the pinkette hurled at her opponent.
"Sakura, you better watch your step. Do you have any idea who you're mouthing off to? Don't press your luck with me, little Billboard Brow," Ino retaliated. Naruto was confused by why Sakura had insulted Ino, Kakashi-sensei explained that Sakura didn't want Ino to fight against her weakly.
"So I'm a bud that hasn't flowered, huh?" Sakura questioned. I could only assume it was connected to her past relationship with Ino.
A fire gleamed in Sakura's eyes that showed her determination, she then reached back and undid the forehead protector from around her head. Sakura then tied the protector in the traditional fashion, Ino, as if understand the motion, repeated the same action.
During this Naruto wondered why the girls were getting so worked up just by looking at each other. I held a smile on my face, realising that as normal the boy was oblivious to almost everything, including the fact that he acted the exact same way with Sasuke.
They charged at each other both launch a punch which connected with the other, the force of the punches forced the Kunoichi backwards. I smirked realising that the two of them were at last taking this battle seriously.
They then charged again and Sakura created two clones of herself, this annoyed Ino who cried out, she then stopped and watched the clones, hoping to identify the real Sakura. However Sakura had sent Chakra to her feet allowing her to move faster, this movement prevented Ino from identifying the fakes as Sakura was able to land a punch as the fakes disappeared.
"I'm not some cry-baby anymore, you play with fire you're going to get burned," Sakura told the blonde. Ino had been sent flying back due to the punch. "Let's see your best Ino," Sakura challenged. Ino knelt up and rubbed her jaw area.
"It's not like I needed your invitation, you know," Ino responded. She then stood to her feet as she stared down at Sakura. "I'll give you my best, but you're not going to like it," Ino added on. Naruto cheered Sakura on, Kakashi noted her chakra skills, which even to my eyes were impressive especially for someone of her skill level.
The two then charged at each other and both threw a punch but the other blocked it perfectly. I bit my lip as I examined them. They forced each other back and whilst they were sailing they both threw a shriken which cancelled each other out
'Equally matched in strength and speed. Sakura has better Chakra control whilst Ino has her clan's speciality. This match will go on for ages and it could go either way… even a tie.' I thought. My analysis was confirmed when the fight continued for another 10 minutes, without either fighter dealing any major damage to the other.
They both struck a blow to each other's face and this attack sent both Kunoichi flying backwards. Both of them were breathing heavily, the battle having taken a lot of their stamina.
"This isn't how this was supposed to go. How can you be evenly matched with me?" Ino asked, surprised clear in her voice. It was obvious she thought that this would be an easy match.
"I guess your right Ino, your obsession with your looks and your hair can't be surpassed, I've been training too hard to worry about that stuff," Sakura retorted. I rolled my eyes at her offhand comment, considering it was what Kin had berated her about.
"You're going to pay for that," Ino stated. The anger rolling off of her in waves was palpable, Ino removed a kunai from her pouch as she glared at Sakura. "I've had enough of you making fun of me," Ino added on. However I knew that Ino had fallen into Sakura's trap by rising to the bait, Ino raised her kunai to her hair and she cut off the strands that were tied in the ponytail.
"You think that will help?" Sakura taunted. I stared at the two wondering what would happen next, as the tension had thicken to being a thousand times worse than what it was before, it practically suffocated the room.
"That's it! See I don't need this!" Ino yelled, as she threw her hair at Sakura. It landed between them. "Alright I'll put an end to this right now. Get ready to tell everyone you lost to me Billboard Brow," Ino declared.
"Wait don't tell me she's going to," Shikamaru called out. The rest of her team and her sensei looked equally worried, I could only assume that she was probably going to use her clan speciality, the Mind Transfer Jutsu… however there was a high amount of risks involved with this jutsu.
The though was confirmed then Ino formed the unique hand sign for the jutsu, Sakura continued to taunt Ino, as if she didn't realise the risk she was putting on herself… and least until she displayed her knowledge of the jutsu's effects and risks.
'Ino must know these risks. So why would she take it, she's not that stupid… I think.' I wondered in my mind. Sakura began to move and then Ino used the jutsu, both girls froze in place and then Ino fell to her knees unable to move, Sakura moved but it was revealed that the jutsu hadn't worked.
Sakura began to approach her opponent but that was when her legs were ensnared with chakra that was rushing through Ino's hair. Ino revealed she actually hadn't discharged her spirt and had used her hair as a trap for Sakura, with Sakura now unable to move Ino was free to use her Mind Transfer Jutsu and was able to possess Sakura.
"Now I, Sakura Haruno, would like to say that I with-," Ino began to force Sakura to quit until Naruto cried out.
"NO!" Naruto screamed out. I think me and Lee who were right next to him would suffer light deafness later. "Sakura don't! You worked so hard to get here Sakura, don't disgrace yourself now by losing to that lame Ino girl," Naruto continued on. I looked at Sakura and knew I had to help.
"Naruto's right Sakura. Your spirit is stronger than Ino's so kick her out already or are you really so weak that you'll let her win this battle," I taunted. Everyone stared at me in shock at what I had said.
"You are so screwed later," Shikamaru hissed. I looked at him a smirk on my face as I shrugged, I knew Sakura might not be so happy about what I said, but it might to the trick to arose Sakura's soul.
Something seemed to happen to Io's control over Sakura as she cried out in pain as Sakura's hands rose to her head, clutching it in pain. Then Sakura managed to break through and refused to withdraw, Naruto cheered and I smiled, glad to see that the girl had forced her rival out when Sakura made the same sign Kin had when the jutsu was released.
Sakura collapsed to the ground, exhaustion clear in her body as she sucked in deep breaths. Both Kunoichi rose to their feet, each as exhausted as the other, they began to charge at each other, both had a punch prepared as they neared they brought the punch forward and smashed it into each other.
The force of the punch sent both Kunoichi flying back, dislodging their forehead protectors and effectively knocking them out and ending the match in a tie, meaning that neither one of them would move on to the third exam.
Their sensei retrieved them and brought them up to the balconies, I looked at both girls and shook my head at them. Both were strong and they would grow even stronger in the future… however for the time being these exhausted girls needed their rest, a smile was plastered on their faces.
The fifth battle was then decided and it matched up Tenten against Temari, which was the blonde Sand Kunoichi.