As the matches went on, Sakura was boiling in her seat. Naruto was concerned that Sasuke might not get to restore his clan if he keeps testing Sakura, regardless if he makes it on time or not. Karin, bless her soul, went out to get them some snacks and Naruto bore witness to Sakura biting her ice cream angrily as they watched Temari kick Shikamaru's ass. Crazy woman ended up chewing half her stick before realizing and throwing it away.
"Uh...we could prank Sasuke and Kaka-sensei for being late if you want..." And the absolute maniacal grin that Sakura got on her face was all the answer Naruto needed. The trio sneaked out of the arena and bought themselves some red paint. They returned to their assigned seats, opened the cans of red paint and made the late team members pay. Then they hid the evidence under the seats.
Watching Sakura laugh like an evil scientist after they painted the seats made Naruto think he lowkey saved Sasuke from a painful castration. Then again this is Sakura were talking about, she might castrate him regardless.
Shikamaru's match against Temari ended when the Nara quit. The blonde really did not like that, but ended up walking back to her seat in order to not cause a scene. There was a ten minute break during which Shino and Ino got to their waiting rooms. Genma was about to announce the third match when a tornado of red and yellow dry leaves appeared in the middle of the arena. The tornado revealed a black haired genin and his white haired sensei.
"Well well, look who it is, the tardy twins." said Genma unimpressed.
Kakashi opened his mouth to say some lame one liner when an enraged yell interrupted him. "THERE YOU ARE, YOU NO GOOD LATE WAKING SNAILS! IF YOU WERE EVEN 10 MORE MINUTES LATE I WOULD HAVE BEEN FORCED TO SEVERELY TRAUMATIZE YOU! GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE BEFORE I CASTRATE YOU BOTH!" yelled an enraged Sakura being held back by Naruto. Who was also being held by Karin, as the cousins tried to get the pinkette to her seat.
Genma sweatdropped. "I would scold you...but something tells me your kunoichi has it covered."
Sasuke offered the proctor for the third round a glare before exiting the arena with his sensei. Kakashi climbed the stairs as slowly as possible, trying to delay the inevitable. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his sensei as he sped up the stairs. Unlike his teacher, he was perfectly aware that slowing down will only enrage Sakura more. He was her training partner after all...
Once he reached the top, he carefully walked through the rows until he reached his team and Karin. Naruto happily walked past the girls to greet Sasuke. He happily pretend that he didn't feel Sakura's eyes bore holes into his head as he listened to Naruto talk about his fight with Neji. While he talked to Naruto, Kakashi finally arrived and Sakura took the first chance at scolding him. As the team medic was scolding their resident lazy sensei, Naruto leaned in to whisper something to Sasuke.
"You should thank me for making sure Sakura-chan consumes her anger on Kaka-sensei and doesn't decapitate you before your match."
"Hn."
"I accept payment in Ichiraku Ramen." added Naruto. The Uchiha rolled his eyes at that. Eventually Sakura got tired of kicking Kakashi's shins and redirected her attention to Sasuke. She glared at him as he stood there stoically.
Sakura smirked at him. "I would yell at you too, but I'm pretty sure the absolute beatdown you're going to receive in the arena is enough."
Sasuke huffed. "Bold of you to assume you're gonna win."
The team then returned to their seats to watch the match. Suddenly, Karin yelled. "Naruto that's the wrong seat." Both Naruto and Sasuke jolted up as they felt the wet paint through their pants.
"Dang it! Sasuke and Kaka-sensei were the ones that were supposed to have red asses, not me!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Well congratulations Naruto, now you have successfully done a baboon cosplay." said Kakashi. In response Naruto took a seat on his lap and smeared him with paint as well.
"There! Now you can be a reverse baboon, Kakashi-sensei." said Naruto as he got off his sensei.
Meanwhile Sasuke glared at a giggling Sakura. The pinkette felt a bit bad as he saw that he had a new outfit, but it was totally worth it. He was wearing a dark grey sleeveless turtleneck shirt, a black vest with the standard Uchiha high collar that had the top buttons popped open, navy shorts, white bandages that serve as fingerless gloves going all the way to his elbows and the standard ninja sandals. He also had a black leather belt that held a dagger.
"*snort* That's what you get for being late." said Sakura.
In retaliation, Sasuke scooped a bit of the paint on his chair and smeared it over Sakura's face and shirt. "Now we're even." said Sasuke as looked at her ruined shirt.
"Shut up baboon-man." said Sakura.
...
After Shino and Ino's match ended, with Ino winning by making Shino quit with the Mind Transfer Jutsu, Sakura and Sasuke made their way to their respective waiting rooms. No more words were passed between them, for now they were enemies. Once the ten minutes passed they entered the arena once Genma announced them. They both walked until they were standing in front of each other and have each other respectful nods. Genma reminded them the rules before he raised his hand "Let the first match..." before bringing it down "...Begin!" and then he shunshined away.
Immediately the two jumped away from each other, as he was in the air, Sasuke performed a Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, and hurled a massive fireball at Sakura. She immediately dodged and created a chakra string that she tied around Sasuke's ankle and used it to slam him into the ground. Sasuke dashed from the little crater that was made from his body hitting the ground and locked Sakura into hand to hand combat. He punched her in the gut just as she kicked him on the side of his head, they jumped away from each other before Sakura came back and elbowed him in the jaw. In retaliation, Sasuke swiped her feet from under her. Just as he was about to axe kick her, she backflipped away. They continued fighting using Taijutsu until Sakura formed Chakra Scalpels and used them to attack Sasuke. She managed to cut his cheek before he swiped his dagger that he coated in lightning chakra. He used it to block Sakura's next hit. The pinkette's eyes widened when she saw it.
"Kakashi-sensei trained me to use this dagger specifically to deal with you Chakra Scalpels." said Sasuke as he and Sakura were pushing their "blades" against each other.
"Is that so?" said Sakura as she used her chakra to multiply her strength to overpower Sasuke. The Uchiha saw what she was doing and jumped away from her. Once he was far enough away, he used Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu. Sakura saw the incoming volley of fireballs and smirked as she pulled out a scroll that she had disguised as senbon in her pouch. She threw it in the air and as it opened it released a large quantity of water. The pinkette used Suiton: Suiryūben and an orb of water was formed from the water. Sharp whips of water emerged from it and dispersed all of the the incoming fireballs. Sasuke looked at the medic surprised.
"You're not the only one that prepared counters for jutsus." smirked Sakura. Sakura then opened another scroll and used Suiton: Suiryūsandan. Three water dragons were formed and flew towards Sasuke at high speeds. He dodged the first two and cut the third using his lightning coated dagger. Then he jumped into the air and used Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu, in response, Sakura used Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. The the two attacks met and countered each other. The resulting explosion made it rain all over the arena. Little did Sasuke know, that was exactly what Sakura wanted, because once he landed she used Suiton: Suikusari no Jutsu and chains made of water raised from all of the puddles created by earlier attacks. They quickly binded the raven haired male and he struggled against their hold.
"Well~ Someone seems to be in quite a bind~" said Sakura as she smirked at him.
Sasuke smirked back at her. "Not at all." And then lightning started coating his hand. Sakura widened her eyes as she realised what was happening. Chidori. He quickly used his attack to snap the chains and then charged towards Sakura. She did half of the hand signs for Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu when a mass of sand slammed between them. They quickly jumped away from the sand and then looked up. They immediately saw Gaara being restrained by two sand nin. The sand Jinchūriki impaled his restrainers before trying to attack again. Sasuke jumped next to Sakura as the medic used Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu, but rather than making the dragon attack, she used it to shield herself and Sasuke from the sand. The water serpent coiled itself around the two like a dome and protected them from the attack. Sakura grit her teeth as she concentrated to maintain the barrier.
"Are you ok Sakura?" asked Sasuke.
"Y-yes, but this jutsu is very taxing and consumes a lot of chakra, never mind that this isn't it's intended use. I won't be able to hold this barrier for long." said Sakura. "Try to coat it in lightning chakra, maybe you can electrocute him somehow."
Sasuke nodded and went to the edge of the dome where he sent lightning chakra through it. The lightning coated the dome before it traveled up the wet sand. When it reached the top the resulting explosion hit Gaara, making him stop his attack. The Jinchūriki touched his temple as he felt pain and a warm liquid flowing down. He looked at his red fingers and screamed as he realised it was blood.
Back in the arena, Sakura breathed heavily as she let down the barrier. She quickly took out one of her homemade chakra pills popped it in her mouth. She was about to address Sasuke when feathers started falling from the sky. It quickly put people to sleep before the hokage's observation point exploded. The hokage escapes to the roof where he faces the fake kazekage. He is taken hostage and entrapped inside a barrier that allow them to fight without interruption.
"What the hell is going on?" said Sasuke from next to Sakura, the medic's arm around his neck to help her stand. Suddenly Gaara and his siblings were seen climbing the arena wall.
"We should go after them." said Sakura.
"Are you sure? You don't have much chakra left... I can go alone."
"Neither do you, besides there's three of them and only one of you. It's better if we both go."
Sasuke was about to argue more when Baki jumped down the arena to stop them. Gemma interfered and told them both to go and stop the Jinchūriki. They both nodded before Sakura let go of Sasuke and they both ran up after Gaara.
(A\N: Jutsus used:
-Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu = Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
-Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu = Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique
-Suiton: Suiryūben = Water Release: Water Dragon Whip
-Suiton: Suiryūsandan = Water Release: Water Dragon Shot
-Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu = Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique
-Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu = Water Release: Water Bullet Technique
-Suiton: Suikusari no Jutsu = Water Release: Water Chain
-Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu = Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)