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"The very first rule to spar is—"
"Don't get hit?"
An irritated blood vessel swelled on Ino's forehead. Adohira's sass and witty remarks gave the blonde newfound respect for all her teachers in the academy.
"Well, it's too late for that."
"Huh?"
Ino jabbed her stomach, holding back from her full force. It was enough to make the untrained 13-year-old crumple forward like a paper bag.
"The first rule is to relax," Ino said simply, "If you're tense, you won't be thinking clearly or be mentally equipped when your enemy comes at you."
Present-time, sixteen-year-old Temari and Ado faced each other in the training ground, a similar image of past wars. Once upon a time, the Sand and the Leaf battled without mercy, and this time, they trained together. Nervous jitters erupted in Ado's belly like a shaking earth. She laid one hand on her stomach and took a deep, calming breath through her nose.
Temari cracked a smirk. "Scared?"
Focused now, she furrowed her brows and shot Temari an icy look, molded after Miss Anri's. At this newfound confidence, Temari's smirk dissolved.
Seeing it, it was now the Sato girl's turn to smile. "Are you?"
"Hah."
"Haaaaaaaaah!" thirteen-year-old Adohira charged up, running full force with her right fist in the air. Ino ducked, blond strands of hair grazed through her fingers, and she swiftly swiped her right leg across her feet, toppling her over.
"Jeez, be more discrete with your attacks, will you?"
She groaned, face discolored in purple and pink from hitting the ground over and over. She bruised like a peach, and repeated pain wasn't something she was used to. To have to get up and fight Ino again was... and they only just started.
"Come at me already, pen-pal~! What're you waiting for, hmm?"
Similar to Ino's, Adohira calmly tied her raven locks up in a ponytail, unfazed by Temari's thinning patience and taunts.
Is this some kind of mind game? The sand kunoichi wondered. Or is she simply stalling and wasting my time...?
"Fine, then I'll come at you," Temari smirked, drawing nearer. "And just 'cause we're old pals, I'll go easy on you..."
"Keep your fists up!" Ino ordered, hitting Ado left and right as she struggled to keep her wrists there. "Keep! Them! Up! They're your only barrier from me!"
She finally did so, properly taking each blow this time. She flinched from the swelling on her hands, sending pulses of tender pain up her arms. Ino finally stopped, and Ado still had her fists above her face, frozen. Her short pigtails and heart-shaped hair clips became a messy pile. Dirt and blood lined her fingernails, her purple tracksuit sullied with mud.
