Akari Uchiha

Ch. 46 The Floor is Lava!

A clang of metal blades rang across the water-stadium as the oblivious crowd cheered.

Akari's heart was thumping wildly inside her chest as she held her sword against the larger one being wielded by the person she knew as a rogue shinobi, her Sharingan instinctively coming to life.

If it hadn't been for the Sharingan, she wouldn't have been able to see that attack coming.

She saw the next blow come, however her body suddenly felt too frustratingly slow to dodge it properly.

She could see everything, but she couldn't move as quickly as her Sharingan processed things.

"The Sharingan, huh? Now I see why Orochimaru wanted me to compete this round," her opponent muttered as she jumped back.

She blinked, and within a second, he was gone from view. She spun around in blind panic, but before she could react, she was sent flying into the wall of the stadium with a kick.

The walls cracked under the force, as Akari spat out blood at the contact before falling down on the water, trying to keep her balance.

"Pathetic, this still is a waste of time after all," her opponent scowled. Akari scowled back despite the fear, wiping the blood off her mouth.

"Sasuke... Uchiha," she muttered. The emotionless gaze she received in response confirmed that it indeed was the infamous rogue Uchiha from her village standing in front of her.

How was he here?

Did the ronin playoffs allow rogues to register?

Was this all planned?

Was seeing Itachi and him in the same week connected?

If Kakashi hadn't taught her the importance of analyzing a situation, and how to do that in the middle of a crisis, she still would've probably been trying to wrap her head around Sasuke being present in front of her. He started teaching her how and why analyzing fights were important two weeks before she set out on her first C-Rank.

He once said if something unexpected pops up in the middle of a life-or-death battle and is backed up by facts, no matter how impossible it seems to you, accept it and adapt to it as quickly as you can. Worrying over it or refusing to believe it and searching for a 'real' explanation would only waste precious seconds that can cost you your life.

Akari blinked. Alright. For now she needed to fight Sasuke Uchiha, who was obviously stronger than her. No one else had probably realized it yet, so the match won't be stopped soon enough. She needed to escape, but she couldn't do that with Sasuke's Sharingan eyes boring into her.

She took a huge breath, before readying her sword in front of her. "Fire release!" she muttered, keeping her eyes on the alert, trying to remember what else her sensei had told her about life-or-death battles.

In a battle you constantly need to analyze and adapt. Your brain must be alert ALL the time. Whether you are having a stare off with the enemy, exchanging blows with the enemy, or getting hit by him. Analyze his moments, and adapt your fighting style to get yourself an advantage. 

Sasuke moved, Akari's eyes followed. She could hear his footsteps over the water too. She jumped up the wall, deflecting the trail of kunais that came before Sasuke, and dodging even after the kunais came back, changing their trajectory.

Itachi already got her with that once, there was no way she was getting hit by it again.

She needed to give everything she had. Every jutsu or technique she knew, every bit of information she had, every bit of help she could get. The other times she had gotten into life-or-death situations, one or the other sensei had shown up to protect her.