Space to Breathe - [ Sakura Haruno ]

CHAPTER 10

The sun was blazing high in the sky the day before the final exam round. People were out and about all throughout Konoha, and Sakura was taking a walk amongst them.

In part, she was trying to relax before the big day. However she was also trying to avoid her mother.

It was as she had been passing by a smaller side street that she heard a familiar voice. That of a particularly angry Uchiha Sasuke.

"I demand you fight me!" He raged, facing who Sakura could see was her new teammate, Nanako. "You can't just humiliate me and then refuse a rematch!"

Nanako sighed, but shook her head, "unlike you, Uchiha," she spat,, "I have a tournament to take part in tomorrow."

Sasuke scowled at the insult, but didn't move, "you're fighting Yamanaka Ino," he said angrily, "you could beat her in your sleep. It doesn't matter if you get hurt against me."

"Is that an observation based on you sharing a class with her at the academy?" She asked, feigning curiosity. When he nodded, she simply barked a laugh in his face. Sakura had never heard her laugh before. "As far as I could tell, Sakura made a loser out of the last guy to underestimate someone they haven't seen since graduation."

Sakura took a step forward, seeing Sasuke clench his fists and grit his teeth.

Then, the street burst into a sound of a thousand birds, lightning encasing Sasuke's hand, aiming the jutsu at Nanako and Sakura charged forwards.

By the time Sasuke realised his jutsu had been stopped, it was too late. Sakura stood behind him, holding him back with a barely restrained groan of effort. A small scorpion crawled across Sakura's skin towards his. He tried to move away but Sakura's chakra stuck him to her.

Then, Oujimaru struck, his tail lashing out and stinging the Uchiha. Second later he falls to the ground unconscious, a sedative coursing through his veins. Oujimaru was great at using various types of venom to get the desired effect.

"Have a nice nap, Sasuke," Sakura snorted, glancing back at Nanako. She was unhurt, and nodded at Sakura in response.

"I could have dealt with him," Nanako said, patting Ginmaru, her silver coloured chameleon summon, idly.

"I'm sure you could have," Sakura replied, "but he's my former teammate, so I'll take responsibility when it comes to dealing with him."

Nanako shrugged at that, "he's strong, although entirely too arrogant."

Sakura sighed deeply, agreeing wholeheartedly, "he's controlled by his emotions far too often, as well. He could have put up a fight if he wasn't so blindly mad at the sight of you, further compounded by my presence."

"I'll put in a formal complaint about him after the exam," Sakura said with a shrug, "I suggest you do, too."

Sakura didn't stop herself from smiling as she walked away. A complaint levied against his prized student would do wonders to damage Kakashi's reputation even further than her leaving his team had.

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Sakura watched carefully as Nara Shikamaru raised his hand and forfeit his match. It was an intelligent move, as far as Sakura could tell, since he was low on energy already.

He would make chunin, if it were Sakura's decision. He was more than capable of leadership with his unbelievable intelligence, and his fighting power wasn't particularly lacking either.

When Uzumaki Naruto walked up for his match against the prodigy of the Hyuga, she almost looked away. She thought she knew how it would end, but instead the blonde pulled a series of somewhat intelligent moves.