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Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, he is Kishimoto's

"Dattebayo!" - normal speech

'Dobe' – Thoughts

'{Shannaro!}' - Inner Sakura

"Ningen" - Boss Summon/Tailed Beast Speech

'Brat' - Boss Summon/Tailed Beast Thoughts

"Kage Bunshin!" - Ninjutsu/Genjutsu/Taijutsu move.

Beta'd by BigCC

Chapter 50: Third Round, Match 4: Old Friends, Old Rivals

Hokage's Box

"Well, that was certainly a fine display on both their parts." Sarutobi nodded, a proud smile on his weathered features. "Shino-kun performed most adroitly in spite of the rather obvious disadvantage he was under, and Temari certainly put on an excellent display of her own skills and tactical mindset."

"Indeed, Hokage-dono. I must confess, I honestly hadn't expected the Aburame boy to fight as diligently as he did." 'Rasa' offered. "The Aburame are rather well-known for their taciturn and logical nature, not to mention how highly they value their insects, so it was quite the surprise to see one sacrifice so much of their hive for an exhibition match that he didn't seem to believe he had a solid chance of winning."

"Ah, an easy mistake to make." the Sandaime responded easily. "While the Aburame are quite protective of their symbiotic partners, their care generally tends to focus on their hives as a whole rather than the individual members of it. For the most part, they both accept and acknowledge that some loses to their hives are inevitable in any confrontation. I personally believe that Shino-kun set an upper limit of just how much of his own hives he was willing to lose, something well above what he could safely lose without risking either hive, in order to present himself in the best light to the judges and earn his promotion. After all, a shinobi that is unable to take risks or suffer injury for the sake of an objective is not a shinobi worthy of the name."

The disguised Orochimaru reluctantly nodded his head in agreement at that. "Temari's skill at wielding her Fūton ninjutsu has verifiably increased since she started her training in earnest just under a month ago. She truly has proven herself a credit to the Kazekage Clan and the Wind Dancer Corps. I personally believe that her show of skill in this match, along with her performance in the previous two portions of the exams, have well warranted her the promotion to Chūnin. What do you think, Hokage-dono?"

Hiruzen hummed absently in thought for a brief moment before nodding his head. "I must agree. Her combat skills have been patently obvious; her ability with Fūton manipulation, even taking into account her use of a Dai Tessen as a medium, is far greater that what would ever be expected of a Genin, she has displayed tactical acumen and critical thinking on par with a Chūnin, and she was capable of maintaining control throughout the majority of the match from beginning to end. I plan on recommending Shino-kun for promotion as well."

"He certainly put on a worthy-enough display." Orochimaru agreed, and that was his actual opinion. While he personally had little interest in the Aburame Clan in general, viewing their particular form of symbiotic Hiden Jutsu with their parasitic insects to be far too restrictive and inflexible to be worthy of much attention, he was more than willing to give credit where it was due. Aburame Shino would, in the years to come, definitely grow into a shinobi that could surpass his father in terms of ability, and that was saying something.

The Aburame rarely managed to take any form of spotlight, but during the last Great Ninja War, Aburame Shibi had been a teammate of Namikaze Minato, the Kiiroi Senkō, and a student of Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. While he had never earned the amount of notoriety or even the recognizability of his teammate, his expertise with the Aburame's Hiden Jutsu for scouting and reconnaissance had been invaluable for pulling off several of Minato's exploits throughout the war. Something that the annoyingly friendly blonde had always been more than happy to point out and share with everyone whenever he got the opportunity.

"Would Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura please make their way down to the arena." Gekkō Hayate called out.

"Hm…so we have a clan heiress facing off against a civilian-born kunoichi. I fear this match may be a tad lopsided." 'Rasa' observed absently.

"An assumption that might prove itself most mistaken." the Sandaime offered with a smirk. Orochimaru's resentment towards Jiraiya tended to show itself in various ways that the Snake Sannin likely refused to even acknowledge himself, his causal dismissal of any shinobi born to civilian families was simply the most obvious. "Haruno Sakura is actually a second-generation kunoichi, her father was a lifetime Genin who retired just prior to his promotion to Chūnin, while her mother Mebuki had her chakra awakened but never joined the ninja forces herself. Sakura herself was the Top Kunoichi of her graduating class and easily one of the more knowledgeable and intelligent young shinobi to have joined our ranks in the last decade. She had a few stumbling blocks at the start of her own career, that much is admittedly true. But as the saying goes 'falling down seven times is meaningless if you get up eight times.' She has improved by leaps and bounds over her time as a Genin prior to the Chūnin Exams and I am eager to see just how far she has managed to advance since the Third Round Preliminaries."

"Hoh, quite the interesting statement coming from 'The Professor.'" Orochimaru mused absently. "And the Yamanaka girl?"

"Young Ino was also a young kunoichi that started her road on rather shaky ground, but she has blossomed magnificently under the exceptional tutelage of our own Mitarashi Anko." Sarutobi offered with a smirk, noting the signs of a repressed twitch on his former student's face that told him his dig had struck true. "Plus, she has begun training under her mother in the Ninja Arts originating in Na no Kuni. All in all, she has begun to develop quite a bit away from what one might consider the 'standard' Yamanaka skill-set, so this should be quite the interesting match-up."

"Indeed? Well then, I certainly hope that this match proves to be as entertaining as you believe…" the disguised Sannin answered, regarding the two girls as they faced each other across the arena's battlefield. 'According to Kabuto's reports, these two were apparently friends growing up, and now they're being forced to fight for the sake of advancing their careers. If nothing else, the irony of this match is certainly…delicious.'

The dog-eat-dog nature of the shinobi world had always been one of the few things that truly amused Orochimaru, and, if nothing else, this match would prove entertaining for that reason alone. He didn't know if the matches had truly been a random draw or if they'd been weighed with some particular purpose in mind (he wouldn't put either option past his old teacher), but he had to admit that he approved of the results at least.

With Sakura

Absently flexing and clenching her hands in her new Battle Gauntlets, Sakura locked eyes with her frenemy and didn't look away. After all these years, it had finally come to this. Sparring in the Academy and during their training was one thing, but she and Ino had never truly fought each other with anything of real value on the line. They'd fought side-by-side, especially during the Nami no Kuni mission, but this would be the first time that they had truly needed to fight against each other.

"I think it's time, don't you agree?" she asked aloud.

"Yeah." Ino nodded. In unison, the two kunoichi untied their hitai-ate from their waistband and hairband position and retied them over their foreheads, repositioning them into the standard manner that shinobi and kunoichi typically wore them.

Up in the Competitor's Box, Temari was slightly confused by the two younger kunoichi suddenly deciding to rearrange their hitai-ate right before their match started.

"What is that about?" she wondered aloud.

"It's a promise that they made to each other." Naruko answered, her eyes not leaving the forms of two of her oldest friends. "They promised they wouldn't wear their hitai-ate like that until they were ready to face each other as full kunoichi rather than simply training or sparring. It's their way of saying to each other that they both intend to fight all out."

Were it not for the slight tightening of her grip around Hinata, you wouldn't think that the redhead was nervous. Hinata responded by hugging her girlfriend a bit tighter. She knew that Naruko had been worried about this match and she wanted to offer what comfort that she could.

"Well, this should be interesting…" Sasuke offered, black eyes looking down at the two kunoichi that had once been his most ardent (and annoying) fangirls. They had both changed and grown tremendously since graduation, so much so that, at times, he still had trouble reconciling the two useless fangirls they had been with the two battle-hardened kunoichi that they had become. Exactly what they could do now, after a month of focused training with no missions to distract them, was something he was honestly curious about.

Standing off in his own corner, Gaara merely looked down at the two girls in disinterest, having already dismissed the two of them as too weak to be worth much attention. Killing them would not prove his existence.

Back down in the arena, Ino drew her Ninjatō, the blade glinting slightly in the sun. The blade, originally taken from a guard of the Inaba Clan during the final battle in Morimura, had gone through a few subtle changes, and now was even finer than the day it had been forged. She'd paid to have Higurashi Tōya give it a full inspection and servicing after she'd returned to Konoha, and the blade itself was now engraved with several minor Fūinjutsu to make it rustproof, resistant to chipping or nicking, and overall far more durable than before. She had also managed to add a few other surprises to it herself, courtesy of her collaboration with her mother and cousin Sen.

Opposite her, Sakura absently knocked her fists together, her Shinobi Battle Gauntlets clashing with a dull thud. Ino recognized those ones; they were a standard, but high-quality, set sold at the Higurashi's Ninja Weapons and Apparel, perfect for High-Genin/Low-Chūnin missions and more than capable of blocking and parrying a normal blade like Ino's Ninjatō.

Hayate, perhaps recognizing that the two kunoichi were readying themselves to start regardless of his orders, decided to get the ball rolling.

"Both competitors understand the rules?" he asked.

"Hai!" both kunoichi replied in unison.

"Very well…. Hajime!" he ordered, leaping back and away from his position between the two girls. A good thing he did as well, as in the next moment, the two frenemies had leapt into the fray towards each other.

Ino brought her ninjatō down in a standard men-giri, but Sakura batted it to one side with a backhand swipe of her left gauntlet before trying to drive a powerful punch directly into Ino's midsection with er right, only for the Yamanaka Heiress to leap backwards in order to dodge.

Up in the box where the two loyal Sannin were watching, Tsunade's eyebrow rose slightly in interest. "Hoh? Well, the pink-haired one has good form at least. That punch was textbook perfect, getting the most power from her muscles from start to finish."

"Naruko did mention that she earned her spot as Top Kunoichi primarily thanks to her knowledge and intelligence." Jiraiya recalled. "From the looks of it, her ability to memorize and incorporate information extends to more than just bookwork."

"Hmm…" the Slug Princess hummed agreeably, mentally adding Haruno Sakura to her future class of prospective Med-nin trainees.

"You're as good at dancing out of the way as ever!" Sakura grinned savagely as she fired off a rain of successive punches toward Ino, who weaved and dodge through them all.

"And you're still just as violent as ever!" the blonde-haired girl shot back with a grin, quickly sheathing her blade before forming her hands together into the Tiger Handsign. "Katon: Endan!"

Even as she spat the fireball out at Sakura, the pinkette had already formed her own hands into the Tiger Handsign as well. "Suiton: Teppōdama!"

A burst of three large water bullets burst out of Sakura's mouth and intercepted the incoming fireball, the two jutsu colliding and cancelling each other out in a brief explosion of steam. Even as it cleared, the Haruno Heiress was already flashing through a new series of handsigns.

"Suiton: Mizu Arare no Jutsu!" she called out, cupping her hands together before thrusting them forwards towards Ino. Water rapidly gathered between her hands, drawn straight from the air around her and forming into five ping pong sized bullets of water that rapidly shot towards Ino, who quickly threw herself out of the way in a hurried, if elegant, display of acrobatics. In the same movement, the Yamanaka Heiress reached into her belt pouch and drew something out before quickly throwing it into the air, revealing a number of…

"…are those flowers?" Tenten blinked in confusion from her own seat.

"Hana Ninpō: Hana Shuriken! (Flower Ninja Art: Flower Shuriken!)" Ino shouted as her hand ghosted through several handsigns. Immediately, the flowers started whirling around in mid-air as her chakra infused them, their petals extending outwards like actual shuriken as they sped towards Sakura.

"That's the way, dear." Yamanaka Kanae murmured proudly to her daughter. Out of all of the Hana Ninpō that she had been able to pass down to Ino over the past month, this was the most basic technique. It was also the foundation for many of the other ninjutsu that composed Hana Ninpō, possessing a fairly small upper limit to the number of flowers that it could affect at once. The advanced version of this technique, Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō (Flower Shuriken: Falling Blossoms and Scattering Leaves), was capable of turning an entire field of flowers into a swarm of flying shuriken that could attack from a multitude of angles at once, and its strengthening effect was also far stronger as well.

Sakura quickly drew and threw a handful of shuriken of her own, intercepting the flowers in mid-air. As both forged steel and foliage fell to the ground, the pinkette narrowed her eyes at her old rival.

"You've certainly picked up some new tricks, Pig." she offered.

"Look who's talking. I've never heard of that Suiton jutsu before." Ino retorted as she tapped a seal on her kote, releasing a bouquet of moon flowers into her hands. "Something that your dad came up with during his times in the forces?"

"Something like that." Sakura replied with a grin. "What about that Ninja Art, it certainly wasn't a Yamanaka technique. Something that came from Kanae-san's side of the family?"

"Something like that." Ino mirrored Sakura's previous answer with a smirk. "And here's something else she taught me."

With a flourish, she spun the moon flowers, charged with her chakra, about with a flourish, causing their petals, now glowing a soft lavender, to break away and forming a ring of petals.

"Hana Ninpō: Shingetsu Ichirin!" the Yamanaka Heiress declared as she gripped the ring with one hand, before hissing. "Now here's some solid advice, Forehead. Dodge this!"

With that the she hurled the glowing ring as Sakura like a Fūma Shuriken. In response, Sakura rapidly threw herself flat against the ground, allowing the flower ring to sail over her head. Then she kicked off of the ground and took to the air, drawing a trio of kunai from the pouch at the small of her back as opposed to the kunai holster secured to her leg.

"And you should dodge these!" she shouted, flinging the weapons at Ino before her hands flipped through three handsigns, making the kunai vanish from sight.

"Huh, remote application of the Tōton no Jutsu?" Kotetsu blinked in surprise, before shaking his head. "No, that's a genjutsu isn't it? And an advanced application of it to boot."

"Managing to quickly cast a genjutsu on three separate moving targets at once, that takes more than a bit of talent." Izumo agreed with a nod. "Pretty sure that kind of thing is completely beyond me."

"Yeah, but you have always sucked at genjutsu." his partner pointed out with a smirk.

"Oi!"

Ino narrowed her eyes as she heard the sounds of the kunai striking the ground somewhere around her, but she couldn't tell exactly where. Sakura landed a few meters away, already going through a new series of handsigns as she rushed towards Ino, who quickly redrew her blade.

"Nice try!" Ino shouted, cutting at Sakura…and seemingly bisecting the charging girl much to the blond girl's shocked horror. Then the two halves of Sakura's body exploded into a flurry of cherry blossom petals.

"W-what the…!?" Ino goggled. She wasn't alone, with several of the onlookers in the stands openly gawking at the display.

"Hope you like my own original jutsu, Ino-pig…" Sakura's voice came from around her as more and more cherry blossoms filled the air, seemingly overtaking the entire arena. "Magen: Ōka Mugen Kairō! (Demonic Illusion: Infinite Corridor of Cherry Blossoms!)"

Asuma hitched an eyebrow at Kurenai, who was looking quite proud at the genjutsu. "Something that you helped her with, I take it?"

"It was entirely her own brainchild; I merely supplied some technical advice and knowledge." the Genjutsu Mistress answered with a smirk. "Sakura really is quite astute when it comes to genjutsu, I only needed to offer a few minor corrections once she had the idea started. I'm going to have to see if Kakashi's open to the idea of allowing me to continue her tuition, it would be a shame to let such a talent go to waste."

Ino, meanwhile, was looking around as more and more cherry blossom petals filled the air around her. It wasn't just a visual genjutsu either, she could hear the sound of countless petals moving through the air and rustling against each other, as well as having the subtle but currently overwhelming aroma of cherry blossoms assaulting her nose. She was locked at the centre of a veritable storm of petals and she couldn't see a way out.

'Damn, Forehead really outdid herself if she came up with this. I've never seen a genin capable of using genjutsu on this level before.' the Yamanaka Heiress thought. 'B-rank? Maybe even a low A-Rank? Damnit, how the hell is she even pulling this off? Sure, her chakra reserves have grown since we stopped that stupid dieting, but they can't have grown enough to let her pull off something like this!'

Genjutsu was not a chakra intensive art, at least when compared to most ninjutsu of an equivalent rank. Instead, it was an art that required intelligence to help form the complex illusions it used, control to finely shape and manipulate the chakra used to form the illusion, and the subtlety with which it needed to be cast. Ino could admit that Sakura had the first two in spades at least, as much as it galled her to say it. Still there were limits and this kind of complex genjutsu that affected at least three senses, maybe even four as Ino had felt her blade biting into something just a moment ago, meant that this should ordinarily be a jutsu that required the chakra reserves of a Tokujō to cast in combat, at minimum.

So how the hell was Sakura, a genin known for her smaller-than-average reserves, able to cast it?

Ino stilled, remembering back to the tunnels that lead to the last castle in Morimura, when they had come across a genjutsu with seemingly no caster…one that Naruko claimed that her ancestors been responsible for making using Fūinjutsu.

'Oh, that sneaky little bitch! She somehow managed to learn a seal that can act as an anchor for her genjutsu, then she linked it directly to a set of chakra storage seals and had them engraved onto those kunai.' she realized in disbelief, impressed with her old friend despite herself. 'Then all she had to do was activate them after she threw and hid them under another genjutsu! How the hell did she manage to learn that kind of thing in just a month!? Even Naruko hasn't managed to learn genjutsu seals yet.'

'That's right Ino, keep focusing on the big illusion.' Sakura thought as she stealthily made three more handsigns, opening the little bags that had been attached to the ends of her kunai, hidden under yet another genjutsu, and causing them to release dozens of small tags covers in fūinshiki. 'That'll leave you wide open when I pull out the final card.'

Still trapped within the illusion, Ino suddenly had to deal with dozens of clones of Sakura suddenly manifesting from within the storm, each forming out of the cherry blossoms petals like literal Sakura Bunshin (Cherry Blossom Clones) before charging towards Ino with a shared shout. At the same time, the real Sakura formed a single Bird Handsign.

"Fūton: Chirisenpū no Jutsu! (Wind Style: Dust Whirl Jutsu!)" she hissed out, her voice covered by the shouting of her clones within the illusion. Wind was not one of her elements, but a D-Rank jutsu was still well within her capabilities, and Naruko herself had shown that having at least one or two jutsu that didn't fit your elemental affinities made for an excellent trump card if you used them right.

Around Ino, who was forced to fight off the clones as a real threat since she had no clue where the real Sakura could be lurking, the numerous tags that had spilled out of the bags were caught in the sudden wind that her jutsu kicked up around her, sending them flying out into the air before filling the air as Sakura released her hold over the jutsu only a few seconds after activating it.

"Let's see you take on my real trump card, Ino-pig!" Sakura muttered before pulling another kunai out of her back pouch, this one carrying a single large explosive tag tied to the hoop at the rear. "Ninpō: Ōran! (Ninja Art: Cherry Blossom Storm!)"

With an easy and well-practised flick of her wrist, the pinkette sent the kunai to land directly at Ino's feet, a spark of chakra released as she threw it igniting the tag. Even with the sound of the whirling petals filling the air, the loud, sharp crackling sound of the ignited tag was still easy for Ino to discern, and she reacted on pure instinct, leaping away from the noise on pure instinct.

KABOOM!

"Holy Shit!" Temari shouted, eyes bugging out slightly as the genjutsu was shredded with a loud explosion, which was actually the result of a multitude of smaller explosions occurring near-simultaneously. "What the hell just happened!?"

Hinata flinched, the sudden flare of light from the explosion hurting her eyes for a moment. "Th-that was…that was an extraordinary trap." she offered, bringing up one hand to massage at her eyes.

"Yeah…setting up with those kunai to draw Ino in at the start, then distracting and forcing all of her attention onto a large-scale genjutsu, just so she could release, set-up, and detonate all of those mini-explosive tags at once. That kind of high-level thinking and detailed planning is something I could see coming from Sakura-chan, but damned if I expected her to be that ruthless pulling it off." Naruko offered, eyes narrowing slightly before she relaxed a fraction. "But it looks like Ino-chan managed to avoid the worst of it…"

That immediately drew the attention of the watching Genin back down to the arena, where the cloud of dust kicked up by the explosion was slowly dispersing.

"Haa…haaa…haa…" Ino panted harshly as she struggled back to her feet, having been thrown to the outer edge of what had once been the small forested area of the arena by the force of the explosion. She clearly hadn't managed to completely avoid the blast, her hair was a mess, her mesh armour was torn and damaged in several spots, and her arms and legs were covered in an array of cuts running the gamut of severity. She was also obviously rattled by the near miss with the massive explosion, having never expected her frenemy to pull off that kind of tactic.

'Using that many Kibaku Fuda, even just miniature ones, for a single jutsu is utterly ridiculous! Was she actually trying to kill me?!' the Yamanaka Heiress thought as she picked up her ninjatō from where it had landed near her. She'd dropped it when she hit the ground after being rag-dolled by the explosion, but it looked mostly unscathed from the blast. 'Well, two can play that game; no more Ms. Nice Ino!'

'Tch, she must have heard the ignition tag.' Sakura clicked her tongue in annoyance. 'If she'd been caught in the middle of the blast, she'd have been knocked out in an instant. Her hearing must be sharper than I expected, I'll have to adjust the Ōka Mugen Kairō to increase the audio part of the illusion in the future to better compensate against the enhanced senses of someone born in a ninja clan.'

"Genjutsu: Hana no Oka! (Illusion Technique: Hill of Flowers!)" Ino hissed out, drawing a violet from one of her supply pouches, infusing it with her chakra before throwing it. The flower's stem, reinforced with Ino's chakra, bit into the dirt like a kunai near Sakura's feet and the sudden scent of violets suddenly overwhelmed her sense, physically paralysing her slightly. It was basically a scent-based version of the Kanashibari no Jutsu, which made it perfect for the set-up of her next technique.

Channelling chakra into her sword, specifically into a special set of seals she'd had Higurashi Tōya place on it, the blade of her ninjatō lit up with a pale purple light as violet (as in the flower rather than simply the colour) started flowing along the length as Ino hefted it.

"Yamanaka Kengi: Gen'ei Hanazono! (Yamanaka Sword Technique: Phantom Flower Garden!)" she shouted, charging forwards and bringing her sword down in a nigh-perfect kesa-giri towards Sakura.

Clang!

A loud metallic crash echoed across the arena as Sakura managed to cross her arms in front of her, blocking the slash on her Battle Gauntlets. The thin trail of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth revealed just how the pinkette had managed to break herself free of the genjutsu that she had been under.

"Self-inflicted pain is one of the most basic means of breaking free of a genjutsu, albeit normally an ill-advised one." Kakashi remarked absently. "Then again, desperate time and all that. Sakura didn't really have a lot of other options available after all, with that violet releasing its scent right at her feet, constantly reinforcing the illusion she was under. In that kind of situation, breaking free using a more conventional method with her level of experience would have been all but impossible."

"Mmm. Scent-based genjutsu can be quite troubling to deal with unless you already know what you're going to be facing beforehand and take actions to prepare accordingly." Gai agreed with a nod. "I'm honestly surprised that Ino is relying more on genjutsu than poisons considering who she has been training under."

"Too much risk of causing actual permanent damage to friends and allies." the Copy Ninja responded with a shake of his head. "Ino is still far too young and inexperienced to use poisons casually in something as 'friendly' as the Chūnin Exams, particularly when she's facing another Konoha Genin. I think she realized that as well, and that was why she focused on training in her mother's Hana Ninpō and developing that rather interesting sword technique over the past month."

"D-Damn…you really have gotten stronger, Ino-pig." Sakura grunted as she fought to hold Ino's sword back.

"Same to you, Forehead!" Ino responded with a grunt of her own, keeping up the pressure with her sword. "But I'm…going…to…WIN!"

With a sudden burst of strength, Sakura was forced back, a cut made on her abdomen, thought it was quite shallow thanks to her mesh armour.

"Gotta say, this has honestly proven to be an unexpectedly thrilling match." Izumo remarked.

"Yeah, if you look at the files of the two of them from their graduation, you'd have expected this match to be as boring as hell, but the difference is like heaven and earth." Kotetsu agreed with a nod, flicking absently through the reports on the two kunoichi. "Still, for all of their improvements, they're both already close to reaching their limits. If I'm one to judge things, the next attack is going to decide this whole match."

Looking down at the two girls, Izumo nodded in agreement with his partner. "Yeah, they're both close to done. Unlike in the field, they're both forced to fight in the here and now without a chance to retreat or rest. As far as they've come, they both still need more training before they're ready to take the next step."

Stamina was easily one of the most vital aspects of a ninja's physicality. The ability to fight for long periods of time was what set ninja, Tetsu no Kuni samurai, and ninsō apart from the standard samurai that made up the bulk of the armies of the various Daimyo. Chūnin were expected to have already attained a level of physical ability comparable to that, and neither Ino nor Sakura had managed to reach that level yet. While they had both showed excellent, one might say almost impossibly good, improvement in both their skills and abilities from their graduation, both still required more physical conditioning before they reached a level where they deserved a promotion.

Sakura winced as she recovered from the strike. Even with her armour blunting the strike, the physical impact had still hurt like a bitch. She was suddenly very glad that her mother had insisted on getting all of her gear upgraded before the Third Stage rather than after it, otherwise she'd have just lost and would have needed a Med-nin to seal her abdomen back up.

"What the heck? That's some tough mesh armour." Ino panted in annoyance, raising her blade to a guard position.

"Kaa-san insisted that I didn't cheap out when it came to upgrading my gear." Sakura replied, panting as well as she raised her fists. "We're both running low, so let's get this over with, Ino-pig!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Forehead!" the platinum-blonde grinned savagely and attacked. No more fancy jutsu or techniques, no more special equipment. It was now down to a straight fight between Ino and her ninjatō and Sakura and her gauntlets.

"Hoh! Sakura's not doing all that badly considering that she has recently started to train with those new toys of hers." Kakashi mused. "And Ino is showing a good basic mastery of the Konoha Ryū. Solid and straightforward with a few extra tricks added here and there. Ah, Yamanaka Sen was probably the one who trained her in the basic, those came from him."

"The Youthful Sakura seems to be utilizing a slightly customized version of the Academy's Taijutsu style." Gai put in. "You should really see to having her trained in something better, my Rival!"

"Well now that she has seen how it needs upgrading, I think she'll be amendable to that." the silver-haired jonin agreed lazily. "If she had a better style, she could have ended this by now."

Armoured fist met metal blade time and time again as the two frenemies continued to fight. Neither was willing to yield, but, in the end, it was Sakura who managed to land the first and last solid blow. Catching Ino's as she recovered from a missed swing, she managed to backhand Ino's sword hand, knocking her ninjatō flying, before following up with a powerful punch right into her old rival's stomach with her other hand.

"Gaaahk!" Ino coughed, spittle flying from her mouth as the blow shook her. She collapsed to her knees, hands instinctively going to her stomach. She had NEVER been hit that strongly in the gut before. Sure, she'd taken gut shots a couple of times back during the Academy, and Sakura had even been the one to deliver one of them, but it had never HURT this much before!

Before she could recover herself, she froze as she felt the cold touch of a sliver of sharpened metal against her throat. Sakura, panting heavily, had a kunai drawn and held lightly at Ino's neck, making it clear who would die in this situation were this live combat.

"The Fourth Match is over! Winner, Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure!" Hayate declared, calling the match. Cheers came started to roar out form the crowd as Sakura withdrew the blade of her throwing knife from her frenemy's neck before collapsing onto her butt in exhaustion next to her.

"I should have sheathed my sword after my jutsu failed." Ino let out a rueful sigh. "If I'd tried to fight using my Hanabira no Mai against you, I'd have done better. Might have even won."

"Neither of us were really thinking that well near the end, we were both running on fumes." Sakura offered with a tired laugh, before fished a Hyōrōgan out of one of her supply pouches and popped it into her mouth before crunching down on it. She tossed another towards Ino, who quickly caught it and did the same. Thanks to the nourishing and energy-revitalizing pills, both kunoichi found the energy to stand up and made their way to the exit together.

"You won this one, Sakura, but I'll take the next win." the Yamanaka Heiress stated bluntly.

"Like I'll let you, Ino." the pinkette retorted.

Up in the Competitor's Box, two strong sources of chakra started to rise as Uzumaki Naruko locked eyes with Sabaku no Gaara as the Proctor called them into the arena.

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Next Chapter: Third Round, Match 5: The Battle of the Jinchūriki

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