Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind

Too Proud to Forfeit

This was... not ideal.

I could say with certainty that I'd never been in so dire a situation. I'd never seen Hinata so broken; I'd never seen Kiba so scared. Two people I'd come to know of such confidence and skill, battered down to shuddering husks trying to survive, and could I say I was much better off?

I was scared, why? I truly did believe I was going to die in those woods, and then the unthinkable happened and we have found ourselves here. Could I have said I was scared now? There was frankly no word to put to how I was feeling. Standing hurt, the slightest amount of weight on my left leg like a hot spike of agony through my being; I was drained of chakra; Kiba was bleeding out and Hinata was missing an eye, and God only knew what else she'd injured; and, as my luck would have it I was put against the master strategist of our class, but I wasn't scared now... I knew that.

My pride wouldn't let me forfeit, despite the fact I was certain I was going to lose, no matter how this fight went. They must've thought me an idiot... but despite the urge to look up into the stands, I knew it would do me no good, so I kept my eyes trained on Shikamaru.

He didn't seem all that pleased himself, actually indulging in glancing at the stands before his eyes dropped to the ground with a sigh, "I'm... sorry."

How to even respond... "I appreciate that..." It was only a matter of time now, despite the plan forming in my mind, I knew he'd have a solution.

Keeping a careful distance from him, I hoped my memory would have served as to how far his reach was, unless he'd gotten monumentally better since I'd last seen him, that was. So, what was the better plan? I suppose giving all that I had in a short burst would be the best method. Why? He wasn't particularly skilled in hand to hand, and he usually required at least a moment to formulate a plan, that was if he hadn't already which he most certainly had.

Shikamaru had opened his mouth as if to say more, and I threw my arms outward, dispersing a swarm of insects outward in both directions. Forming a duo of clones, I leapt to the opposite side of the arena in some desperate hope of confusing Shikamaru enough to catch him off guard.

Apparently I had, somehow, and with a gasp he held up his hands in his Shadow Possession jutsu as one of my clones leapt down at him with a swing. He ducked to the side, stumbling backwards as my clone continued to swing at him before he was able to roll away, which garnered him enough time to properly use his technique.

His efforts netted him confused and showered in insects, as you couldn't possess a clone, and he stood there for a moment trying to brush them off before leaping away and turning just in time to see me and my other clone approaching.

"You- you caught me off guard." He panted, smiling nervously as he raised his hands again, "What else should I have expected?"

His smile had quirked a tad more satisfied. Why? Well, I would have attributed it to him thinking he'd identified which of us was the clone. Unfortunately for him, I'd assured my other clone was limping, and I was doing my best not to despite the overwhelming pain it caused.

My clone and I took up a kunai to throw in tandem, and Shikamaru danced to the side to avoid them before sending out his shadow after us, only to shout out again as my clone burst into insects to cover him.

"Dammit-" He hissed out, swatting at them again and glaring back over to find I had once again gotten myself a safe distance away, "I thought your expression looked a bit too stressed." Once again he smiled, slowly walking back from the encroaching line of insects, "Sorry, man. I forgot you were one of the clever ones."

Was that a compliment? "Thank you?"

He let out a small laugh before his expression shifted again as I reformed my clones, "What a drag, you're not going to go easy on me."