The two Genin stood across the field from each other, around 10 meters apart. The arena was designed in such a way that it was filled with dirt and rocky ground in the middle. Along the sides however, some grass and greenery began to grow, leading up to some sparsely placed trees. The battlefield was open, much more than Sakura was used to.
She glanced at Hinata's face with her emerald green eyes. Calculating. The former Hyuuga was angry, yes. But she had not lost control. For this to have any point Sakura needed her to lose control. An angry mind would be easier to predict, and Sakura had done her research on Hinata, the Byakugan. Even if she got a rise out of Hinata, she might only have one chance to win.
"You know, Saul-kun has been training me for the past month. He's a really capable guy, you know?"
"I know." Hinata's voice was flat. Was this not the angle?
Sakura smiled.
"I'm glad to finally be able to talk with you like this. You're just his friend, right?"
"Friend?"
"That's right." Sakura blushed, glancing up at the area where Saul had left. "That's what he said you two were. Just friends."
The pink haired woman's smile began to grow as she started to see Hinata grow more and more agitated. Yes...
"Saul-kun has been teaching me all about how to seduce a man. Batting my eyelashes, hugging their arms, even the clothing is important!"
Hinata was closing her eyes at this point, trying her best to ignore her provocations.
"Does he not tell you what kind of dresses he likes?"
Hinata's eyes flipped back open. Sakura was looking at her with an air of concern, but Hinata could feel the disdain behind it.
"Or maybe he just thinks you're too fat to pull off anything good!"
"...What?"
Sakura covered her mouth with one hand, 'trying' to hide her laughter.
"You didn't know? Saul-kun prefers girls with slender frames and beautiful tits that he can hold in one hand. Have you taken a look in the mirror recently, you cow?"
"Stop." Hinata glared.
"Stop what?"
"Stop calling him 'Saul-kun'. Y-you're not that close."
Sakura smiled. No one in the stands could hear them talking from so far away. She could embellish their relationship as much as she liked.
"But Saul-kun seems to love it when I talk to him like that. Especially after we kiss."
"You...!"
Suddenly, Hiruzen's voice rang out from the stands. "The first match between two Konoha Genin, Haruno Sakura vs Hinata, is about to begin! Before we start however, I'd like to reiterate the rules for those unaware. The winner will be decided either by forfeit or when the supervising ninja are forced to intervene. Aside from this, there are no other rules! Each Ninja may use any and everything at their disposal to defeat their opponent!"
He raised his hand high, "Now... Let the first match-"
Hinata drew her bow and readied an arrow. Sakura brandished her kunai. And the third Hokage swung his hand back down.
"BEGIN!!!"
The arrow was unleashed, whistling through the air. Sakura was barely able to roll out of the way. Hinata giggled.
"Saul-kun wasn't kidding. You really are absurdly weak! How did you even make it to the tournament?"
Sakura gritted her teeth and made a couple of hand seals.
"Clone Jutsu!"
Hinata made a single seal.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Sakura made 3 clones, whereas Hinata made 9. How was she supposed to tell which one was the real Hinata...
"Take this!" One of the Sakura's lunged at a nearby Hinata. The black haired girl remained grinning; she didn't react to the strike at all. Instead without even looking, she blocked a kunai heading towards her that was obscured by the clone.
"Is that all? Saul-kun doesn't like weak women." Hinata giggled again.
Cha! Did this stupid big titty cow really think she was pining after her boyfriend? Still, something about the way she called her weak rubbed her the wrong way. Didn't Sasuke say something similar?
Sakura's thoughts were cut short by another arrow fired from behind her, piercing into her back. She shrieked in pain. How the hell did she know which was the real one?
Looking around, all of Hinata's clones were laser focused on her, ignoring the clones. One of them drew their bow.
"Still not surrendering?"
Shit... You can't be serious. She really was using the Shadow clone Jutsu, just like Naruto. That blonde idiot refused to teach her the Ninjutsu, yet even some unrelated girl knew it too!?
Sakura pushed Chakra into her legs and jumped opposite to the one drawing their bow in the encirclement. Suddenly her eyes narrowed, and she slashed with her Kunai in midair. The black metal came in contact with a whistling arrow that was just a few feet away from piercing into her shoulder. She tried to force it back but-
*Clang*
What kind of crazy strength was behind that arrow! Its flight path was barely altered, while Sakura was sent hurtling into the ground. She landed on her arms and knees, using the chakra adhesion she had learned to try and stick to the ground. Still she slid backward until she reached the edge of the stadium. Sakura winced in pain from the wound in her back.
No, she couldn't go on like this. Sakura had to do something to even the odds! Sakura began stringing ninja wire from tree to tree on the outskirts of the arena, dodging every arrow that flew her way in the process.
A woman above in the stadium, with two buns in her hair, spoke to the long haired man that sat beside her. "Neji, do you think she has a chance? That pink haired girl?"
"You're playing games."
All the clones of Hinata spoke at once, drawing their bows and aiming directly at Sakura. The pink haired woman could do nothing but gulp, cold sweat sliding down her brow.
"Saul said to go easy on me, right? This isn't fair!!!"
Hinata smiled, and all the clones dispersed in response. "That's true but... Haven't I already been going easy enough?" Her voice darkened, "This is your last chance... Sa-ku-ra-chan!"
It's your funeral... Hinata.
Sakura pulled the ninja wire as tight as she could with her chakra enhanced strength, then slashed at the strands of wire one by one with her final Kunai. One by one from all directions, metal projectiles were sent whistling through the air towards Hinata. Kunai, Shuriken, Senbon.
Hinata merely walked towards Sakura, making small adjustments that had the deadly projectiles collide with each other or whiz right past her. Some even missed her by only millimeters to spare.
The black haired woman tilted her head questioningly at Sakura as one Kunai soared directly where the back of her neck was supposed to be, dodging it by only a fraction of an inch. It continued on its path directly towards Sakura, who barely was able to deflect it with a swing of her Kunai.
Her emerald green eyes were wide with disbelief. "How!? How did you see that! That Kunai was aimed directly at the Byakugan's blind spot!!!"
The Byakugan, known to many as the all seeing eye, did not actually cover a full 360 degrees in all directions. There was a blind area which even the Byakugan could not see that extended backwards from the nape of the Hyuuga's neck. A small, tiny cone of space where the user of the Byakugan was no different than an ordinary man.
Sakura had taken advantage of Hinata's arrogance to position a single Kunai, in the perfect spot, aimed directly at Hinata's apparent weakness. When she released it at the opportune moment, Sakura had felt her victory was all but assured. Yet...
"You must be mistaken. Blind spot?" Hinata giggled, "That was only ever the case for branch members of the Hyuuga. The main bloodline never had such a weakness."
"Damn it!"
Sakura swung her arms to her chest, pulling her last two final kunai wrapped in some sort of paper, directly towards Hinata from either side. The friction from the launch ignited the paper, and just as they were right next to the walking Hinata, they exploded!
*BOOM*
Orange and red flames burst out from the site of impact, sending a wave of heat and wind that sent Sakura's hair buffeting back.
"Did I... win?"
A voice sounded from behind her.
"Of course not."
Sakura felt the light brush of a hand at the back of her neck, caressing it lightly. Chakra injected into the back of her neck exploded, causing her eyes to roll up into the back of her head. She fell to the ground unconscious as the crowd roared with excitement!
Author's Note: Power stones and comments please! For the tournament arc, we're doing 2 chapters a day to cover all the action! I hope everyone's excited and enjoying it as we progress!
If you wish to chat / provide feedback, the link to the discord is here: discord gg YwperMGsBq ("." before gg and "/" after gg, no spaces)
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