Chapter 29: The First "Battle"
Standing in front of the short red-headed teen, she couldn't help but grimace at her own luck. Out of all the genins today, this one is probably the second most dangerous out of them all. She hasn't seen him fight or anything like that, it's just that he emits that kind of aura.
In fact, that big gourd behind him, even though quite clean, is the most unsettling thing she's ever seen.
The proctor, Hayate, then said, "Let the preliminaries begin!" And moved away from the two of them.
She prepared plans on top of plans inside of her head, trying to figure out how he's going to move or attack.
But he did the least thing that came to her mind; he smiled at her.
"I think as opponents, we should properly introduce ourselves. My name is Sabaku Gaara, son of the Kazekage of Sunagakure, child of Sabaku Karura. Now, it's your turn, miss," he gestured for him to go next.
She didn't reply but pulled out 4 exploding kunai, 2 in each hand, and threw them right at him.
It almost hit him but he was unfazed. Gaara merely stared at it as his sand suddenly came to life, blocking the incoming explosion.
BOOM!!
The blast created a smokescreen that blocked his sight but he knew something was up.
"How rude," he said, while observing what he could only see.
As the smoke cleared, he saw her standing far away from him. Her expression is a bad one, but considering their terrain, he's not really that surprised.
Flat, stone floor, and an open area where no one can hide. This is the worst kind of place for weak but smart genins to fight in, unless they have special abilities. And she has seen his sand defense at work; she knows that nothing can get by it.
But why… Why does she still have that look on her face? Why is she so motivated?
On the stands…
"Gai-sensei, that girl… she's clearly outmatched in all possible ways. Why isn't she giving up?" Neji asked the eccentric man.
The spandex-wearing man thought about it, and replied, "Well, my student, sometimes, we have things in our life that we want to protect or accomplish. Either it be dignity, wealth, family, acknowledgement, or friends. And this young and youthful genin must have something to protect, something important for her."
"I see… I find that foolish," he said, and he felt someone staring at him.
He saw the Hyuga Heiress glaring daggers at him, and he quickly shut himself up. It won't do his health any good to offend someone who can just raise their fingers and make him suffer an incredible pain.
Hinata turned her vision away from her cousin, and stared at her friend.
One of the reasons she's not giving up is because once she does, she will lose her only chance this year to become a chunin. If she becomes a chunin, her parents would no longer have any hold on her legally, and that means she can just cut ties with them whenever she wants. However, while she's still a genin, her parents are still her legal guardians.
Meaning, they can do whatever they want to her as long as it abides by the law. And arranged marriage is one of them. Since she's the youngest and doesn't want anything to do with the family business, her father and mother could set her up with a man many times older than her to increase their influence. Most likely, that man will be a noble that lives in the capital of the fire country.
And from what Sakura had said about them, they would definitely do something like that, just so they could make use of their own daughter.
It is sickening but it is the fire country's law, and they can't do anything about it.
Watching the two, Helel could see that even though Sakura is smart, she just can't beat a jinchuuriki in her current level of strength. If her opponent was someone like Ino, she would've won by now but since her opponent is Gaara, then the smartest choice to make at the moment is to just give up.
But she wouldn't do that, would she?
Even then, this favors him, and by a lot. Yesterday, he thought that Gaara looked stable but now that he sees him closer, he could see the look of craziness in his eyes. However, unlike in the anime, this Gaara is far worse. Calm yet unhinged; polite but cruel.
That means, after this fight, he can bring the pink haired genin to his side quite easily.
"C'mon, Sakura! I know you can do it!" Azumi shouted, trying to encourage her friend.
"Hmph."
Someone snorted, and she turned her head towards them. It was a girl roughly around the same age as them with sandy-colored hair and with a giant fan near her.
It was Gaara's teammate.
She turned to them, and said, "Do you really think that your friend there stands a chance against Gaara? Her chakra reserves are pathetic, and seeing her thin arms, she's not that strong either. So, tell me, why do you think she can do it?"
Azumi gritted her teeth, and said, "You don't know Sakura! She's the smartest genin I've ever known in my life; I know she'll be able to think of something!"
"You're delusional," she stated, and looked away from the blonde girl.
Sakura knew her strengths and weaknesses very well.
At the moment, her only weapons are her shuriken and kunai. Physically, she's the weakest out of all the genins present here, and in terms of chakra, she might as well be a child playing ninja. She's not one to blame others for her shortcomings but she felt envious that the others were given the training needed since they were children to become proper shinobis.
But her? What does she get? Merely a smart mind that's not even first in their class.
In short, she's useless and pathetic. A bitter thought, yet the bitter truth.
Suddenly, she heard her opponent say, "I'm still waiting for your introduction."
She has had enough time to devise many plans inside her head but she just couldn't see how they would work out in this kind of area. Her arsenal of jutsus are merely D-Ranks, and most of them are genjutsu and iryo ninjutsu.
All of a sudden she thought of a clever idea.
She brought out multiple shuriken from her pouch, and while staring straight at her opponent, making sure that she won't miss, she threw them all with all her strength.
And that's when Gaara's eyes went slightly wide.
Even though he saw her take out 8 shurikens at best, he could see hundreds of them heading straight towards him. His ultimate defense could definitely block all of them but he's confused on how she could cast a jutsu like this.
As his sand rose, and formed a shield that surrounded him, he noticed something strange. But it was too late, and everything in his sight exploded.
He couldn't brace himself fast enough, and was almost pushed back by the impact of the explosion outside of his sand.
"What…?" He muttered in shock, and before he could react, a kunai came close to his face but was stopped by his sand. It had somehow gotten through the blindside of his sand shield!
He turned his head, only to see the pink-haired girl smirking at him. He looked at the kunai, and attached to it was an explosive seal.
Her entire arm was covered in stone, and she only said one thing to him.
"Boom."
He commanded his sand to push her away but before he could, another explosion occurred but this time, inside of his shield.
KRAAABOOM!
Both of them flew away from each other due to the blast that the explosive seal created, the only thing, however, is that Sakura could feel her arm was broken but the stone protected it, enough that it can recover later after the fight.
She managed to land safely while Gaara crashed in the wall of the gym, yet his sand cushioned his landing, and soon, it covered him like a cocoon.
She winced as her ears ringed. Temporarily, she couldn't hear a thing but that's probably the same for the red head.
Even then, she couldn't help but smile.
Now she knows that she has a chance to beat him by using his pride against himself.
"Amazing…" Ino muttered, "But her arm…" She said in worry.
"It's dislocated but it should be fine after a few weeks or so," Kurenai said, her eyes growing serious.
"That's a relief. She might be able to win this, right, sensei?" Ino said, her hopes getting up.
But contrary to her expectations, the special jonin shook her head.
"Huh? Why?"
"Because, right now, she's powerless," Kurenai simply said to her student.
Hinata activated her byakugan, and noticed something strange happening. The suna genin is mouthing words to himself but she could hear them, she could only read his lips.
'She hurt me… Mother… Should I kill her… Mother?'
Her eyes widened, and immediately, she yelled, "SAKURA! GET AWAY, NOW!!"
Everyone suddenly turned their eyes on her but in less than a second, dozens of shurikens made of sand launched themselves towards her friend, and before anyone could react…
Sakura found herself on the ground, with large, gaping, bloody holes in all of her limbs. It was then she could taste the sand.
And, in the middle of her chest, was sand puncturing her.
'Ah…'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone