Enchantress

Chapter 2 – A Test of Worthiness

A/N: Holy crap! 16 reviews in not even 24 hours? That's like a world record compared to my other stories! I'm soooo loved! You all deserve this second chapter!

——†——

The silence between the two was unnerving.

Come on you bastard say something! Anything! The silence is making me believe that you've already figured me out! MOVE! DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN BREATHING!

"Minako…" Sasuke answered in a very dark tone.

Eep…

"Before we begin this mission I'd like to test out your abilities on my own. Since you ARE Naruto's replacement, you will have to be up to par with him before you can even think about teaming up with me. I don't care if you're a girl or the Hokage's newest student. You will have to prove yourself worthy of being my team-mate regardless from the Hokage's orders or not."

Still an ass, even to strangers huh? Guess it can't be helped.

"So…unwilling to work with others unless they're up to your standards? I never knew you valued your old team-mate so highly. You must be the picky type aren't ya?" Minako made a sly smile as Sasuke's right eye twitched.

"But in response to your request, I NEVER refuse a challenge. You maybe an Uchiha AND an ANBU, but even the mightiest of warriors can still fall from grace. I hardly believe that someone such as yourself would ever hold back under no circumstances am I right? You'd better get that stick out of your ass oh 'one-ness' because this is one person you're gonna wish you wanted to play nice with!"

She's cocky… "Over there" Sasuke pointed to a field in the distance still inside the village's borders. "There's plenty of room for us to move around and we won't cause damage to anyone or the buildings."

"Darn…and I wanted others to witness your defeat at my hands" Minako vanished before Sasuke had the chance to respond.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that last remark but sped off towards their 'training ground'.

——†——

When both ninjas got there, they stood a few meters apart from one another staring at their opponent. The summer breeze blew by further increasing the tension between the two warriors.

"As requested, I will give it my all…therefore it's a free-for-all. Obviously nothing fatal. Just enough to wear the other person out."

"Enough talk!" both fighters took their battle stances.

Out of no where, Sasuke completely disappeared from sight. Minako closed her eyes to become in tune with only her sense of hearing. THERE! Minako raised a knee up and blocked Sasuke's kick. Sasuke was of course surprised. It was Minako's turn to vanish as she immediately appeared behind Sasuke and wrapped her arms around his waist performing a suplex on him. When Sasuke's neck hit the ground, he turned into a log.

Typical… Minako flipped her legs up and pushed herself away to avoid the three shuriken aimed at her torso. Naruto was surprised at how light and flexible his new body had become. Normally he wouldn't be able to move around with such ease because of his slightly bulkier mass as a boy. He smirked. With a body such as this…this is a guaranteed win! Get ready to eat dirt you smug-faced jackass...

Sasuke appeared behind her and aimed a punch for her head. Minako moved her head out of the way just in time and grabbed Sasuke's arm, throwing him over her shoulder. HA! Sasuke easily flipped and landed safely.

Sasuke tossed three more shuriken at Minako but somehow it seemed like Minako read his mind and threw three kunai daggers at him. Two pairs negated each other but the middle ones went passed each other. Sasuke jumped back to avoid the kunai where as Minako got hit in the shoulder. Minako of course turned into a log.

Not bad for sparring… Sasuke almost didn't notice the exploding tag on Minako's shuriken. Shimatta! Sasuke leaped high into the air as the weapon beneath him exploded.

"NINPOU: KUSARIKIN NO JUTSU!" (1)

Sasuke turned his head towards the sound of Minako's voice only to have a golden chain made of chakra wrap around his ankle. What the…? Minako smirked from her place on the ground and yanked down on the chain as hard as she could.

"AHH!"

Sasuke was heading for the ground, back first. "KATON: RYUUKA NO JUTSU!" (2) Not only had his jutsu propelled him backwards to change the direction of his fall but he was able to use Minako's chakra chain as a pathway for the inferno.

SHOOT! Minako dispelled the chain around her wrist and dive rolled away leaving the incoming fire to blast the ground where she stood. She took her battle stance as Sasuke flipped to safety and took his stance as well. He smirked.

"Not bad at all…you have potential…but let's see how you fare when the difficulty has been raised!"

Minako was panting but a smirk appeared on her face as well. "Just as I said, give it your all. Anything you throw at me, I'll counter it right back!"

Both fighters rushed towards each other with closed fists. The battle was intense.

——†——

From the bushes nearby, four sets of eyes were spying on the two fighters.

"Wow! Who is that hot blonde duking it out with Sasuke. She's like beating the crap out of him!"

"Woof!"

"She does have a certain radiance about her…and it seems as though Sasuke is putting some actual effort in his fight…remind me again why we had to follow you two? You can be so troublesome."

"Because we wanted to wish Sasuke and Naruto good luck on their mission you lazy-ass bum! But since there's some random girl with him instead of Naruto, it has become my utmost duty to find out who she is!"

"Lower your voice Ino! They might hear us! Plus I can't hear what they're saying!"

"Don't blame me! Shika just can't seem to grasp simple concepts. He maybe a 'genius' but he still lacks intelligence in the common sense department!"

"Sure…let's stick with that."

"Quit squawking! Even Akamaru is quieter than you two and he's 3 times your size!"

"Shh…it's still going…"

——†——

Both fighters were panting as light patches of dirt marked their clothing. Still not wanting to give up until the other gave in.

"You're…pretty…good…for…a…cocky…bastard…"

"You're not so bad yourself…you really aren't as useless as you look."

Sasuke whipped out his Wakizashi and charged towards the girl. HAA!

Minako's eyes widened. You ass! Minako reached behind her back and whipped out the chakrams that were strapped there and dispelled the protective leather cover around the blades. Tsunade had bought them for her while they were shopping and recalled what she said about them.

"Since you're going to be changing your fighting style I thought these might come in handy."

"What are those?" Minako eyed the two large yellow rings with a crescent shaped blade at the opposite end of the handle. (3)

"These are chakrams. Despite their slightly plain appearance, they are a very versatile weapon and can be used for both offence and defence, short-range or mid-range combat. Offensively they can be utilized as an extension of your fist for hand-to-hand combat or as suitable projectiles from a distance when thrown. Defensively, unlike most weapons, their ring shape – when crossed over each other – can block physical attacks such as punches and kicks due to their larger surface area. It can also be used to trap hand-held enemy weapons such as swords and spears. It's not as useless as you think…just like you." Tsunade smirked.

"HEY!"

Despite the chakrams' fairly large blade, it wasn't really all that big nor was weighty. Before she could think anymore, she saw Sasuke thrust his sword at her gut. Acting in instinct, she crossed the two rings together and ducked, successfully trapping Sasuke's blade and avoiding contact with it. Sasuke smirked as he kicked the closed rings pushing Minako down and freeing his sword. Minako stumbled a bit on the ground but she quickly got up and back flipped away.

Sasuke didn't move from his spot as he blew some fire on to his wakizashi. He brought it around his face and made a horizontal crescent-shaped slash in front of him sending out a wide fiery crescent moon at Minako. "KENJUTSU: HIGETSUSEN!" (4)

Minako blocked with her chakrams again but the attack was too strong as it flung her backwards with a lot of force. Her back hit a nearby tree while getting a few burns and slashes on her fingers and forearms from Sasuke's attack. The chakrams that she tightly held on to flew out of her hands and down to the ground. Minako hunched herself against the tree in pain trying to stand up. She saw Sasuke slowly walking towards her.

"You put up an impressive fight. I'm surprised you were able to last so long against me."

Minako growled and chucked three kunai at Sasuke but he easily deflected them with his sword. She continued to struggle to stand up and began to perform a few hand seals. If I learned anything from spying on Kurenai-sensei while she was training with Asuma-sensei, then this is going to take Sasuke down!

"Just give up now. No matter what you try, the battle is over. You're too exhausted and injured to go on."

"I..it's not over…until I say so!"

She's so stubborn.

She performed the final hand seal "Genjutsu: Touya Fubuki!" (5) Minako disappeared into a whirl of peach blossom petals.

"Huh?"

Sasuke noticed that when the petals appeared, they remained suspended in mid-air as if someone stopped time. He sensed Minako's presence but it was moving at an impressive speed. He saw her appear near one of her chakrams as she picked it up. She disappeared and reappeared again at the other one grabbing it as well – leaving more petals upon her disappearance. She appeared one final time into the air and threw both of her chakrams at Sasuke flying towards him in an X-shaped arc.

"HA!"

Sasuke made a small chuckle he vanished and appeared behind Minako, causing the flying chakrams to imbed themselves into the ground. Sasuke kicked Minako in the back causing her to cough up blood and fall towards the ground fast. UGH! She landed heavily onto the dirt below causing a cloud of dust to appear around her. Sasuke landed right next to her body and looked down at her.

"Look…I didn't mean to press on this far. I'll request the Hokage to deal with your injuries and to postpone the mission till tomorrow. I must say…you are quite the impressive–"

Minako's body disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to reveal a wooden log and an exploding tag attached to it.

"WHAT THE!"

Sasuke back flipped away but the impact of the explosion pushed him back a little. Out of nowhere he heard something.

"HHHAAAAAAAAAA!"

Minako landed a heavy jump kick into Sasuke's stomach causing him to skid across the ground near the area to where the bulk of the petals were.

"YOU'RE MINE!"

Minako performed one final set of seals.

"NINPOU: TOUYA FUBUKI – NATSUMAI!" (6)

Sasuke struggled to stand up as he saw the all of the orange petals begin to swirl around him at a fast pace. He didn't have much time to react as the nearby petals began to cut him in numerous places across his body as if they were made of metal.

"HA!" Minako threw one more kunai dagger with an exploding tag near Sasuke's feet as the petals disappeared from sight.

"K-KUSO!" The dagger exploded causing a few nearby trees to incinerate and Sasuke's body to land on the ground with a heavy thud. Minako celebrated her victory inside her head.

"Victory…is…mine…" She collapsed to the ground exhausted from the battle. Little did she know that Sasuke approached her fallen form and knelt down beside her. He actually gave a little smile.

"Very impressive…" He looked at his clone nearby and watched it transform into a wooden log. "It seems as though I've met someone other than Naruto who can put up a worthy fight." Sasuke picked up Minako in his arms and held her up bridal-style. "You deserve a good rest…we will begin our mission tomorrow…as a team…" Sasuke vanished with the girl in his arms, heading towards the Konoha hospital.

——†——

"Sa-sa-sasuke-k-kun…was almost defeated…by a girl…?"

Kiba, Shikamaru, and Akamaru awaited the screaming…miraculously, it never arrived.

"That girl…how could she manage to fight Sasuke and still manage to last that long?"

"Not to mention she used a few jutsus that I thought only Kurenai-sensei could use. I wonder how and where or whom did she learn them from?"

"Whatever the reason is…we have born witness to a girl who can fight Uchiha head on without losing in 2 minutes." Shikamaru blushed when he thought of the girl. She looked like Ino but she somehow seemed…prettier…good thing this wasn't said out loud.

"Shikamaru…what are you thinking?" Ino asked in a very disgustingly sweet voice.

"About that girl…why do you ask?"

"Uh oh…I think you made someone jealous Shika…"

"Woof!"

Despite the other three talking away, Sakura had a few thoughts on her mind.

That girl…Sasuke acknowledged her as a strong ninja…he…actually became a bit serious while fighting her…although she lost…it seemed as though Sasuke was almost willing to admit defeat…no one has made Sasuke act that way…no one…except Naruto…could Sasuke have found a girl that's right for him?...could she be the one to actually be worthy of Sasuke's time?

Caught up in her thoughts…Sakura had almost forgotten that Naruto was away on a solo mission

TBC

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A/N: There you go chapter 2! Expect chapter 3 to appear a bit later as I will be a little bit on the busy side tomorrow. I will comment all reviews except for flames. Those people will be dealt with personally.

(1) Ninpou: Kusarikin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Chain of Gold Technique). My own made up jutsu. For those of you who didn't realize where I got my inspiration from…let me provide you with a little visual. VENUS! LOVE-ME CHAIN!

(2) Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique). Masashi Kishimoto's original Naruto jutsu for the character, Uchiha Sasuke.

(3) Still confused about what the chakram's look like? From the video game Dynasty Warriors, look up Sun Shang Xiang's weapon "Luna Chakram" from DW4. Also known as the "Sol Chakram" in DW3. They're the same weapons just different name. And imagine it to be just a little bit smaller.

(4) Kenjutsu: Higetsusen (Sword Technique: Whirling Fire Moon). My own made up jutsu.

(5) Genjutsu: Touya Fubuki (Illusion: Peach Blossom Blizzard). My own made up jutsu.

(6) Ninpou: Touya Fubuki – Natsumai (Ninja Art: Peach Blossom Blizzard – Dance of the Summer). My own made up jutsu. A follow-up technique to the previous one.