~Scroll 33~

Hayate looked at the two girls, standing against each other, and he could not help but wonder if this match would end up being a cat-fight rather than a battle between Kunoichi.

"So, Sakura…" The pale blonde teen coolly called out, "It's you and me… going head to head. I never saw it coming."

Ino's last words drifted into a whisper.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura reached for her hitai-ate and slipped it off.

Ino's pale eyes blinked in confusion at the pinkette's actions. She had no delusions about her own skill level. She might be fierce, but among her Kunoichi peers, Ino knew she was far from the top of the pack… and after witnessing Sakura's resolve, it made her wonder if she could be a challenge for her former best-friend…

"… A Kunoichi needs to master not only the ninjutsu that every male ninja learns…" Remarked the young Academy students' Kunoichi sensei, "but the feminine arts and womanly wiles as well.

"When you're within the borders of a hostile land, you'll depend on your ability to pass yourself off as normal women, without that skill even the simplest of spy tasks become an unmanageable chore.

"Today, we'll be learning the art of Ikebana – Flower Arranging!"

Little Sakura felt herself tense at today's lesson.

"To begin, everyone must go out and gather whatever flowers you please."

"YES, MA'AM!" The class chorused and immediately rushed off to various flower patches in the field.

Instinctively the little pinkette chased after her friend.

"Hey, Ino!" Sakura cried out, "Wait for me!"

Suddenly she tripped, causing little Ino to sigh in fondness at her clumsy friend.

The two girls found a nice little flower patch and sat down. Nervously, the young pinkette looked at her friend, who appeared to be looking intently for the right flower. Sakura tried to follow the pale blonde's example, but she could see nothing beyond the very common and very ordinary purple trousers flowers. Plucking one, she sighed as a sense of dread filled her.

"I'm no good at this stuff…" The pinkette murmured then looked at Ino, who was looking at Sakura curiously, "What about you, Ino?"

"Oh, come on Sakura, that's pathetic!" Ino teased, "How can you be bad with flowers when our name means 'cherry blossom'? This stuff's a breeze, once you get the hang of it." Ino assured her shy friend.

"Really?"

The little blonde nodded and continued.

"The trick is to select one flower that will be the focus of the arrangement… and then build around it, adding other flowers as accessories to the first." Ino explained.

"Oh…"

"The blossoms shouldn't be in competition. For example…" The young blonde then pointed to the pretty flower in front of the pinkette, "If you start with a cosmos as your main attraction, then pick something that will accent it well…

"Like this Fukibakama – the purple trousers flower.

"Now, you know a cherry blossom is a sakura… and the cosmos is an akizakura or autumn cherry… the prettiest flower of the fall. The real meaning of the word cosmos is harmony… and it does harmonize with almost everything."

Sakura stared in amazement at how smart her best friend was.

"But I think I'm even prettier than the cosmos. Aren't I?!"

"Uhh…" The pinkette realized that Ino had asked her a question, "Yeah!"

"Hey… why did you hesitated?!"

Sakura just giggled at her friend's pout.

"Having fun…" Sneered a horribly nasal-toned voice, "little Miss Billboard-Brow?!"

Sakura tensed while Ino glared at her friend's chief tormentor, Ami.

"You're doing a lot of primping lately, aren't you?" Ami sneered as she crowded the little pinkette, "What makes you think you're worth it?"

Ami opened her mouth to let more hateful words for the first generation Kunoichi to spew out when suddenly she found herself gagging on the stems of five flowers.

"My bad." Ino cooed, "You have such a straight, un-curved shaped from shoulder to knees... I thought you were a bud vase!"

Ami glowered at the little blonde girl.

"It's kind of Shinobi flower…" Ino casually stated as she examined the same flower in her hand, "A hybrid of wolf's bane. Lucky for you, it's not as toxic as the pure form. But a poison is still a poison. If I were you, I'd be rinsing my mouth out."

Ami paled as she quickly spat out the flowers and ran toward their teacher, screaming.

The young blonde just giggled.

"The part that's poisonous is actually the root…"

Sakura just looked at her friend in surprise. She could not understand how anyone as cool as Ino would be friends with the likes of her. Compared to the pinkette, the little blonde was cute, smart, a classy dresser and could use flowers as if they were throwing stars… how could someone from one of the Clans, a well-known and powerful Clan, be friends with a-nobody like her, who was without a Clan and would be the first in her family to join the ranks of Konoha Shinobi…

"If you're a cosmos, Ino…" Sakura whispered as she stared at the flower in her hand, "then I guess I'm like the purple trousers."

"What are you talking about?!" The little blonde demanded, "I don't think you're a full-fledge flower yet… you're till a bud!"

The pinkette looked at her friend in surprise then nervously laughed at the comment.

"I guess so!" Then she became quiet once more, "Ino…?"

"Yeah?"

"Wh-why did… you… give me this ribbon?"

Ino smiled.

"Because…" She began, "I thought it was a shame… to see a bud like you dying on the vine.

"What's the point of being a flower if you're never going to bloom? You might end up…" Ino trailed off while Sakura watched her friend in confusion, "Anyway… let's finish gathering the flowers!"

"Okay!" The pinkette cheered.

"Huh?" Ino looked up when she heard the watery tone in the other girl's voice, "Sakura, are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I… I got sand in my eyes when I fell." The pinkette lied.

Sakura just stared at her opponent. She remembered that day in the flower patch was the day her dear friend helped the pinkette to believe in herself. She had held onto that memory ever since, thinking how cool it would have been if all the nice things Ino had said were true. Sakura had wanted to be just like the blonde. She had worked hard toward that goal. It was what made the pinkette good enough to be standing there in the arena.

Sakura was going to give everything that she had. She was going to show the blonde that she had grown to be Ino's equal, and perhaps the pinkette would also show her former friend that she had surpassed the other girl… and perhaps…

The pinkette could ask for her ribbon back. The one she had foolishly returned.

Ino smirked as she too remembered that fateful day when Sakura returned her ribbon and had made her a promise.

The promise that the pinkette would not wear her Leaf hitai-ate across her forehead until the day Sakura could stand up to the blonde as a full-fledge Shinobi.

And today was that day.

As one, Sakura and Ino secured their hitai-ate across the foreheads.

Let's do this… Sakura readied herself

Fair and square! Ino promised herself.

As one, the girls charged.