Space to Breathe - [ Sakura Haruno ]

CHAPTER 07

The bedrooms assigned to her team were serviceable, if not a bit bland for her taste. They reminded Sakura of Ibiki's office, with grey walls, but at least the floors were wooden and didn't feel frozen under her feet.

It was as she was checking over her pack, of which she'd only ended up needing her water and food, when a knock sounded at the door. She wasn't sure who it would be, but went to answer it anyway.

Opening the door, she practically jumped at the man behind it. Stood there with a small grin, one of his nice ones, was Ibiki.

"You did well," he said, "conserving your energy for the next round is important."

Sakura nodded at that, "will the next round begin as soon as the five day timer is up?"

"It depends," Ibiki says, walking into the bedroom and examining it closely, glad to see a few basic traps had been set up by his student. "If there are too many people who made it through, then there's a chance we'll need to do a preliminary round."

Sakura thinks then, "will it be one on one battles?"

Sakura broke out in a wide smile when Ibiki nodded, glad she'd deduced the next round correctly.

"The prelims and the main event will both be," he states, "so you should make sure not to slack off, just in case you need to fight in a few days."

Sakura agrees, and goes on the explain her trip in the forest to her sensei.

The wait was passed by the teams who made it with basic training, nothing strenuous but enough to not fall behind. Nobody wanted an enemy to see their tricks before the final round after all.

And then the day had arrived, they were all gathered in a large hall with stone walls, floors, ceilings and viewing areas. It seemed suited for battle, which meant the preliminary round was going to happen.

The Hokage appeared briefly to explain the situation, and give anybody who wanted it the chance to drop out. Only Kabuto, Sakura's replacement, and an armless Oto nin, she'd had no idea how he survived, chose to not continue, instead heading out and not even watching the following matches. Apparently Kabuto sustained an injury before the exams even begun, and Sasuke was getting glares from the silent Oto nin.

Then, the matches began to be announced.

                                       
______________

"The first match shall be between Uchiha Sasuke and Funai Nanako." The coughing man, who seemed to be the proctor for the third round, stated calmly.

Nanako doesn't blink, simply hopping down from the spectator stands, where she had been stood beside Sakura and Ibiki whilst Masato was off annoying some other Konoha genin.

Uchiha Sasuke did not look in good condition. His eyes were dark, and he held a hand the the back of his shoulder as if nursing an injury. He wouldn't be at full strength whilst Nanako was.

"Begin!"

Immediately Nanako reached down to he equipment holster and pulled out a spool of ninja wire. The Uchiha seemed put off by her unconventional choice of weapon for a moment before retrieving two shuriken from his own holster.

Throwing them experimentally, to see how Nanako would react, they flew towards her quickly, but she didn't move. They both flew over her shoulders, missing entirely despite seemingly being on target.

The Uchiha scowled, glaring at the girl. He was low on chakra, Nanako guessed, otherwise he'd be throwing a fireball at her.

Instead though, he charged forwards, prepared to combat her in Taijutsu, as if forgetting she was holding a weapon that whilst unconventional, still razor sharp and deadly.