Naruto: Senju Resurrection

Chapter 24

Ino and Sakura stood opposite each other. Gekko Hayate, the proctor for the last and final test in the chunin exams, looks between the former friends. He was ready to start this match, and by the look in their eyes, so were they.

"Begin!" Hayate says. The two girls start running towards each other. They exchange a couple of blows but neither seem to hit their target. Naruto would say that they were evenly matched at this point. Ino decides to take some distance from Sakura and jumps away. Sakura pulls out three kunai and throws them towards Ino. Ino did not have any problems seeing and countering them with her own kunai. Sakura began running towards Ino again for some close courters combat.

"Sakura is doing better than I thought she would do..." Naruto says softly. "Aren't you usually more optimistic, Naruto?" Kakashi asks from behind his book. "What? Sakura hasn't been training as much as she should," Naruto says as he crosses arms and pouts. Kakashi just eye-smile at his antics. "Sure enough, they are Kunoichi. So this is their level of hand to hand combat?" Naruto hears Neji's voice say. "It has nothing to do with being a kunoichi. They are just lukewarm. There's no man or woman in battle," TenTen answers her teammate.

Sakura and Ino stood close to each other again. They exchange some more hits but neither seem to have the ability to get in a solid hit on the other. This goes on for a few seconds when Ino finally manages to make a substantial connection with Sakura's stomach. Finally, she has a chance to strike Sakura in the face. But instead of a closed fist, hard punch, she does a pretty light bitchslap. Ino seems to be the most shocked of everyone in the arena as she pauses and looks down at her hand.

Sakura clenches her fist. "At this point in time... I don't even plan to fight over Sasuke with you." She says. "What did you just say?!" Ino screams back. "You and Sasuke-kun don't go together, and I'm totally stronger than you!" Sakura continues.

Naruto was actually embarrassed. Couldn't they fight about Sasuke somewhere else? This isn't some kind of game. He thought Sakura learned that in the Land of Waves. The other villages will think lowly off Konoha's Kunoichi now. Talk about a drag. Sasuke seems to have wholly zoned out this match. No need to look for weaknesses in these two. He could probably fight them in his sleep. Not that either of them would ever raise fists against him.

"You are beneath my notice!" Sakura continues. "Sakura! Do you know who you're lipping off to?!" Ino screams back. She looks angrier than Naruto has ever seen her. "Don't press your luck, crybaby Sakura!" She screams. "I'm a bud, huh?" Sakura asks herself in a soft voice. Sakura unties her hitai-ate and ties it across her forehead instead of using it as a ribbon. "I understand... Sakura," Ino says. She unties her hitai-ate from her waist and ties it around her forehead.

They stare each other down. Then, they run in for more taijutsu. Sakura begins doing the hand signs for the Bunshin no Jutsu. Two perfect copies of Sakura appear beside her. "This isn't a Ninja Academy's graduation exam! You think you can beat me with a textbook ninja art?!" Ino screams as she runs. Ino readies herself. She knew the Bunshin couldn't hurt her, but Sakura could be any of them. The three burst forward with the help of a chakra push, and two clones dispel after Sakura connects with a real solid punch on Ino's face. Ino flies back. "If you think I'm the crybaby Sakura I was until recently; you'll get your fingers burned!" Sakura shouts. "Come at me like you mean it, Ino!" She adds.

Ino took a few seconds to get back up. "I appreciate you saying that... I'll go like I mean it, as you wish!" Ino shouts back. Sakura runs towards the now standing Ino again, and Ino starts running as well. They throw a punch each, but both catch the flying fist with their other hand. They have a bit of a tug of war in the middle of the arena until both jump back and pull out shuriken to throw. Unfortunately, the shuriken collides in the middle going off in random directions.