The Red Thread of Fate

Chapter 3: Kunoichi

Sakura's eyes widened with shock. This didn't happen in the other timeline. Sasuke went against Naruto and she went against Ino.

"Sakura and Sasuke please come into the circle."

The said boy walked with his hands in his pockets, aloof expression on his face. The breeze blowed against his raven hair, making him look handsomer than usual.

"Kyaaa! Sasuke-kun is so cool!"

"Yeah! Sasuke-kun go and beat that pink haired freak!"

Very soon the court had been drowned out by the sounds of squealing and fangirling. Sakura groaned, ashamed of her behaviour when she was a fangirl.

"You should just give up, you are too weak."

Weak.

Sakura's fist tightened at his words. She took a deep breath.

"You should just worry about yourself." She grinned.

Everyone was gaped at her reply.

"Tch. Annoying."

They walked into the circle, got in their fighting stances and stared- (Sasuke glared) at each other for a good few minutes. Sakura was one who broke the eye contact by sprinting towards him, raised her leg and delivering a waist height kick towards him. If Sasuke wasn't an Uchiha he would have gaped dumbly at her speed.

'Heh my speed rivals yours in the future." Sakura snickered to herself. Training with Lee had definitely paid off, she was so used to the heavy weights strapped around her limbs that she felt so light and agile when they were taken off.

But Sasuke wasn't called a prodigy and the rookie of the year for nothing, he grabbed her foot by the ankle firmly and Sakura twisted her body, swinging her fist down towards his face. Sasuke swiftly grabbed her by her arm and tugged her towards him. Surprised, Sakura blinked a few times and blush a slight pink at the closeness of their face. Sasuke smirked at her reaction and took this chance to bring her fist down towards the ground.

A huge explosion of dirt and dust was caused by the impact of Sakura's chakra filled fist, the crowd had to cover their eyes because of the debris floating in the air. A massive crater was in the middle of the court, and the silhouette of the pink haired girl was standing in the middle.

"Ow, that hurts you know." Her hand glowed a mint green, healing the damage on her knuckles.

No one spoke a thing.

"WOW THAT WAS AMAZING SAKURA-CHAN DATTEBAYO!" The hyper blonde was eager to show his admiration towards the flower haired girl.

Iruka squinted his eyes in suspicion, he didn't expect Sakura to excel at Taijutsu. She had always just been a girl with skinny build, very good chakra control and great intelligence. Now her tactics and reflexes and strength rivalled a Jounin's, even ANBU. Her changed attitude surprised him, and the purple diamond on her forehead just added more to his suspicion. The monstrous strength, healing Ninjutsu, everything about her screamed prodigy material, and somewhat reminded him of the slug sannin.

He will need to have a talk with her after this.

Sasuke had a slight surprised expression on his features, but quickly got over the shock and went into his stance again. Sakura flash stepped behind him, ready to deliver a hand chop on his neck. Sasuke was caught off guard but managed to grasp her by the wrist and aimed his foot at her stomach. Sakura already gathered her chakra around her waist, waiting to heal the damage. She was kicked up but regained her balance in mid-air after a few rotations and landed on a handstand. She quickly reclaimed her posture and aimed for the boy again, this time they charged at each other. Sasuke caught Sakura's fist with his right hand, while Sakura grabbed his left. They glared at each other, gathering chakra to their feet in order to get more grip on the ground.

"Why don't you just give up." Sasuke hissed.

He was more than pissed now, a girl, a fangirl was standing on equal grounds with him. To think he can't even beat a girl, how was he supposed to get stronger to kill Itachi. His hatred was boiling inside him right now at the mention of his brother, to the degree that he had to suppress his killing intent. He brought his leg around, aiming to do a sweep kick. Instead he felt pain in his hip area. Sakura managed to do a sneak attack and kneed him in the groin. Sasuke took a few steps back while clutching his hip, clenching his teeth.

"Winner, Haruno Sakura."

Sasuke's eyes widened visibly, he quickly looked down and saw the heel of his ninja sandal was just over the boundary. There was only silence in the courtyard.

"YOU ARE SO COOL! YOU BEAT TEME SAKURA-CHAN DATTEBAYO!" Naruto, who was watching closely from the sidelines witnessed the defeat of his rival by the hands of his crush. A few rows behind him, the expression of a dark blue haired girl saddened.

'How did you get that strong Forehead?' Ino thought while looking at her former friend.

Sakura made her way towards the Uchiha and offered a hand to him.

"I can heal it if you want, that would leave a bruise."

Sasuke slapped her hand away, and shot her an icy glare.

"I don't need your help."

He expected her to break down and start crying, but her face held a neutral look of her face. Her emerald eyes were darkened and shadowed, the light in them gone. For a moment, Sasuke saw his 8- year-old self in her, who had just experienced the betrayal of his brother. Her eyes reflected agony and suffering; lips thinned. 

She turned around and wordlessly walked away, her pastel pink hair swaying. Sasuke soon was surrounded by his fangirls, squealing, praising him and offering to patch up his injury. But his eyes only followed the pink kunoichi. Through a gap between the crowd, he saw Sakura stopped and turned her head slightly around. But he couldn't gauge the expression on her face, but he swore he saw sadness, guilt, regret and a hint of one emotion that he was so familiar with-

Pain. 

Hehe the outcome of Sasuke vs Sakura!

I will put more SasuSaku moments in the next few chapters ;)

Peace out