Sakuya's P. O. V:
I meet Gaara's and Kankuro's gazes from across the arena. While Kankuro blushes at me for some weird reason, Gaara's face remains cold.
I just send the two a small smile, causing Kankuro to blush further, before I return my attention to the match. Hayate calls, "Begin!"
When Temari tilts her head at Tenten, she jumps back to give them room.
Lee cheers, "Alright, Tenten! Keep her guessing!"
Guy adds, "Go for it!! You've got the power of youth!"
"Come on, Tenten! Send that girl back to her village on a stretcher! We are right behind you all the way, Tenten!"
Guy throws up his arm as he cheers, "Let's hear it! 10, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?!"
Lee cheers. "Whoooo!!"
"Tenten! Tenten! Tenten!"
I cover my ears as I heave a groan of exaggeration and both my eyes twitch violently. Ren does the same while Kyo just sighs in annoyance and closes his eyes. Naruto groans, covering his own ears as well, "How'd I get stuck with the cheering section?!"
"Weren't you doing the exact same thing as before, Naruto-kun?" I remind him, causing him to give me a deadpan expression.
Hayate grumbles, "What are you waiting for? I did say to begin."
"Huh! Guess she's waiting for me to make a move," Says Temari. "Big mistake, because the first move I make will be the last one you see!" When Temari seps forwards, Tenten steps backwards. "Come on! I don't want this match to be over too quickly! So why don't you go first?" She points her thumb at herself, still grinning. "Come on, girl! Show me what you got!"
Tenten responds, "Well, ok, if you insist! Remember! You asked for it!" Tenten leaps into Uther air and throws a bunch of shuriken at the blue eyed girl. However, they seem to hit an invisible wall as they embed themselves on the ground at Temari's feet. Tenten lands in a crouch and raises her head to Temari, disbelief in her features. "I missed her?! There's just no way!"
"What was that?! A warm up exercise?! Or maybe you're a little nervous and it's effecting your aim, is that it?" Temari mocks, making Tenten scowl. "Dratz! I was hoping I'd at least work up a sweat! But forget that idea if this is the best you've got."
Lee cries, "What is going on?! How could she have missed?! It is incredible!"
Guy says, "It's impossible! Tenten's aim is perfect. She always hits her mark."
Neji inputs, "Not this time, she didn't."
Guy says again, "She never misses. There must've been something that made her miss." This startles Lee.
"Huh?!"
Kankuro states, sounding amused, "You know you can always count on Temari to put on a good show."
Gaara mutters uninterestingly, "Awe, big deal."
Shikamaru grumbles, leaning on the railing, "Awe, this is embarrassing." Naruto and I glance at him questioningly. "The Sand Village wins again."
I demand to know, glaring as I lean against Kakashi with my arms folded, "What are you talking about?! The match just started! There's no reason for you to count out Tenten-chan just yet, Pineapple Head!"
Shikamaru states pointedly, looking back at us, "It's over!"
Naruto complains, "Give me a break! What makes you so smart?! You explain it to me so I can understand!"
"Ah, skip it! If you can't see it, then I'm not gonna waste my breath." Shikamaru looks back at the two kunoichi below.
Choji mutters, "It's obvious, like he said. This one's over!"
Naruto mumbles, "Nah, I don't get it. I really don't understand these guys at all."
Tenten seems to evaluate her distance as Temari grips the giant fan strapped to her back. Tenten then starts running around her before coming to a stop on the blonde's left. She pulls out a fuschia coloured scroll before leaping high into the air.
"Alright!! Try this on for size!!" Tenten then starts flipping around while unraveling her scroll. She then twirls it around her while spinning around in the air.
As she blurs into the scroll, Tenten throws out countless kunai and various other weapons such as scythes, shuriken, senbon needles, and swords, at Temari. Once more, they seem to bounce off an invisible wall around Temari and clatter on the floor.
Temari holds her fan open beside her as Tenten lands, disbelief on her features. "No way!! She stopped everything I threw! What has she got in that fan of hers?!" The fan is now showing one large purple circle.
Temari chuckles, a hand on her hi. "Take a look! This is the first moon. There are two more. When you see all three moons, you'll know you've lost the match!"
Lee calls down to his teammate, "TENTEN! DO NOT PLAY YOUR OPPONENTS' GAME! FOCUS! MAINTAIN FOCUS!"
Tenten clenches her teeth in frustration.
She pulls out two more fuschia scrolls.
Lee appears surprised as Gai asks, "She's... using that already?"
Naruto asks, "What's with the two scrolls? What is she planning on doing with them?"
Tenten crouches as she sets the two scrolls standing on the floor on either side of her.
Temari scoffs, "Huh. It won't work, whatever it is."
Tenten performs hand signs before crossing her arms in an x. She calls, "Rising Twin Dragons!"
Smoke blows forth as dragons made of smoke rise up into the air, roaring and twisting around each other. They form into the scrolls as Tenten leaps up after them. Like before she summons various, countless weapons and throws them at the female Sand ninja.
"Huh. It doesn't matter how many you throw at me; it's all the same!" She yanks up her fan. "Moon Number 2!" Temari gives a massive swing of her fan, and my blue eyes widen in shock as a torrent of wind blasts towards the weapons. The wind knocks them right out of the air and they clatter on the floor as Temari crouches.
The scrolls drop on her floor as Tenten lands in a crouch, teeth clenched in frustration.
"I'm not done!!" Tenten growls before leaping back into the air and flipping around until she's upside down. Tenten holds out her hands and wires appear on her fingers, attached to the weapons. With a twitch of her fingers, Tenten lifts up the weapons, like a puppet master and her puppet.
They hover above the unfazed Sand ninja before Tenten thrusts gets arms forward with a grunt of exertion. The weapons fly straight for Temari who looks slightly surprised as Tenten smirks.
But then Temari chuckles and grips her fan. She swings it forwards and blows back the weapons, as we as the weapons master. Tenten hits the floor and skids backwards before finally stopping.
Now three of those purple moons are showing as Temari holds her fan open behind her back.
Tenten sits up with a glare.
Temari states, "Moon Number 3!" With a sweep of her fan, the blonde kunoichi suddenly vanishes, startling Tenten. "Over here!" We all look to see Temari flying on her fan. She flies over a stunned Tenten before jumping off and landing in a crouch. Temari straightens while catching the closed fan. "Now it's my turn! Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
With a wave of her fan, Temari sends wind blasting towards Tenten. Tenten cries out as the wind begins slicing her flesh.
"Tenten!" Lee and I exclaim worriedly.
The wind then forms a tornado that lifts the brunette into the air.
Neji states, "Temari's chakra is controlling the vortex." Lee turns to him in surprise. "She fought well, but she'll never escape from that whirlwind. It's over."
Concern glints in my eyes as the tornado disappears and an unconscious Tenten descends towards the ground. I flinch when Temari holds out her closed fan and Tenten lands right on top of it, coughing up blood.
I say in awe, "Whoa! That girl's really ruthless!"
"Oh, Tenten!" Lee says worriedly.
Temari says, sounding disappointed, "Wasn't much of a match. Kind of boring."
Guy says in shock, "To be able to stop every one of Tenten's attacks like that..."
Lee says, just as shocked, "I still cannot believe it!"
Naruto says, eyes wide, "It was impressive alright. Scary."
I say with my eyes shining in awe, "Temari's wind chakra is amazing! I don't think I've ever met another Wind Style user before." Apart from my clan members.
Choji utters, "Yup, that's another win for the Sand Village. Just like you said it would be."
Shikamaru counters, "Well; of course. That's why I said it."
Kankuro muses, "Well, it looks like we're guaranteed a clean sweep in this round."
Gaara doesn't say anything.
Hayate announces as he steps over to the contestants, "The winner of the seventh match, Temari."
The blonde's lips curl into a cruel smile.
"Wait a second!" Says Lee, surprising Hayate as he leaps into the arena. To my shock, Temari throws Tenten away and she flies across the arena. However, Lee was able to catch Tenten in time, skidding back and crouching slightly.
Temari sneers as Lee gently sets his teammate on the floor, one eye squeezed shut, "Hey, nice catch!"
Lee shouts indignantly, "What is wrong with you?! She may have lost but that is no way to treat an opponent who has done her best!"
Temari says with a heavy, metallic thump of her fan, "Oh, beat it!! And take that sack of garbage with you!"
Lee growls at this, anger flashing across his features.
Neji calls to him, "No, Lee! Lee!"
Lee ignores him as he jumps into the air and spins around to throw out a kick at Temari. "Leaf Hurricane!"
Naruto and I gasp but Temari blocks Lee's attack with her fan.
"What?!" He gasps.
"Not even close," Says Temari with a smirk. She sneers at him. "You know what? You're as dumb as you look."
"What did you say?!" Lee pulls back as Guy appears behind him.
"Lee, stop!!"
Lee turns to him as he protests, "But Guy Sensei!"
Temari barrows her blue eyes at the males. Gaara calls to her, "Temari! Forget them! The match is over, so get up here. The match is over. Why are you wasting your time with that pathetic loser and his ridiculous mentor?"
This causes Lee to scowl at him, "What...?!"
The two seem to have a stare down until Guy places his hand on Lee's shoulder. "Just calm down, Lee." Guy closes his eyes as he smiles. "A word of warning." He looks back at the red haired Sand Genin. "You Sand villagers have no idea what Lee is capable of. Remember, he still hasn't fought yet. So I'd be careful if I were you."
Gaara just narrows his sea green eyes in response.
Kiba utters wearily, "Those Sand Village guys are trouble. They're the last people I'd want to go up against."
Hinata says uncertainly, "They do look almost unbeatable..." Akamaru whimpers.
"Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure you can take them." We turn to see Sakura beside Naruto, looking determined.
"Sakura?! What? You're alright?" Naruto questions.
I add, "I never thought you'd be back so soon."
She says, "I'm fine, but never mind me! It's you who you should be worried about." This was directed at the blond.
Naruto gasps as he looks at himself, "Huh?! Me?! I don't have any injuries; I have not even fought yet!"
Sakura clarifies, "What I meant is that you don't wanna disgrace yourself after you've worked so hard to get here. Think of wha Sasuke will say."
"Oh. Oh, right!"
"Stay sharp. Oh, thanks, by the way." Sakura smiles at him. "If you hadn't called out when you did, who knows what would've happened! If it hadn't been for you, I might not still be here."
Naruto mutters, "Yeah, that's probably true."
Her eyes turning to angry animated white rectangles as she clenches her fist, Sakura growls, "Oh, you little...!"
We fall silent as we watch for the next two opponents.
The names shuffle and soon come to a stop:
Masaki Fujikami
VS
Kei Takeda
I say as I thump my fist against Masaki's arm, "You've got this, Masaki-kun!"
He grins back at me and my heart flutters a bit as he agrees, nodding, "Yeah." He goes down to meet with Hideaki's second male Genin, a boy with long red hair in a ponytail.
"Before we begin, are there any objections?" Hayate asks.
"No," Says Masaki.
"Not at all," Agrees Kei, smirking.
"Very well. Let the eighth match begin!"
🌸🌸🌸
Masaki makes the first move by doing hand signs. "Petal Release: Petal Darts Jutsu." With a flick of his wrist, Masaki sends out a few petals at the brunette. He smirks and easily evades them. "Petal Current." With a sweep of his arm, Masaki forms a wave of cherry blossom petals that heads for his opponent.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Blast," Says Kei before he shoots a beam of electricity at Masaki. The pinkette easily dodges. The redhead takes out a kunai knife and channels lightning chakra through it. "Lightning Dart." He throws it with pretty good accuracy at Masaki, however, he dodges it but Kei throws a few more.
"Petal Release: Petal Current Jutsu," Says Masaki before sweeping out his arm. A wave of petals slices through the air for his opponent. Kei tries to dodge but a few petals still manage to cut into him. Masaki performs more hand signs. "Petal Release: Dancing Petals."
Countless cherry blossom petals try to swirl around Kei but he uses the Body Flicker Technique to dodge them. Masaki grunts as Kei slugs him in the side with a knee. He throws his fist forward but Masaki holds up his left forearm to block it.
He aims a right hook for Kei's left jaw but he catches that and kicks out at Masaki.
Masaki jumps back a few paces to get some space before doing hand signs. "Fire Style: Flower Viewing Festival Jutsu." Everyone else but Kakashi and I were surprised as a cherry blossom tree of Fire forms behind him.
With a sweep of his arm, Masaki sends out flaming cherry blossom petals.
"How does he know the same Jutsu as you, Sakuya?" Asks Naruto.
I explain, "The cherry blossom designed Jutsus such as this one are clan Jutsus."
"Oh."
We watch as a few petals burn Kei.
He shoots out a blast of lightning from his Jutsu but Masaki dodges before electricity forms in his hands. He thrusts them forward and both his attack and the Lightning Blast Jutsu collide, creating a loud boom, making some of us jump.
"Whoa," Breathes Sakura and Ino. We watch as the two males push against each other's Lightning Jutsus.
They're soon forced apart and Masaki does hand signs. "Water Style: Liquid Bullet Jutsu." He blows out chakra enhanced bullets of water at Kei who manages to dodge.
"Big mistake using Water Style," He says, doing hand signs. "Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder!" He thrusts his hands down and lightning races across the water towards my clan member.
I hit the rail as I shout, "Move, Masaki!" He fails to move in time and the lightning hits him, causing the pink eyed boy to scream. We gasp, but then he disappears in a puff of cherry blossom petals.
I sag in relief.
Masaki reappears and kicks Kei in the back, making him stagger forward.
Masaki smirks as Kei whirls and scowls. He holds up his hands and waves his fingers in a "come on" gesture.
Kei does a set of hand signs. "Sprite Release: Spark Blast." We watch in shock as lightning forms around him, turning red and white, covering his whole body. "You won't be able to touch me, now!"
Kei then charges for the pinkette and they engage in hand to hand combat once more. For the most part, Masaki manages to dodge his attacks, but a punch from the redhead manages to land against Masaki's right shoulder. He cries out at the electricity striking him, and staggers back, clutching his shoulder which looks a little limp.
"What is that?" He hisses.
"It's my Kekkei Genkai, Sprite Release, based off of Lightning and Yang Releases. We're able to create sprite, a large scale of electrical discharges, also known as lightning. Sprites appear as luminous reddish-orange flashes. Not only the color changed in this form but the strength and speed also improved."
Masaki doesn't appear fazed, furrowing his brows.
"This technique involves of channels a large amount of sprite chakra and scatters them around the user body. The sprite chakra layer that wraps the user body is always sparking due to its imbalance property and is visible to naked eye. The sparks produced can burn and damage anyone who touch the tips and also capable to tear off fleshes if one stayed too near with the sparks. This technique rendered anyone including their allies from approaching the user, serves as a great defense and yet a very offensive technique."
"That's crazy! I've never heard of such a Kekkei Genkai," Says Naruto.
"Will Masaki be alright?" Sakura asks in concern.
I say with a knowing smile, still leaning against Kakashi, "Of course he will be. Just watch."
"What will you do now, Masaki?" I wonder silently.
Kei unsheathes two katanas and they become enveloped in lightning. He lunges for Masaki once more and swings his swords rapidly but the Fujikami manages to evade his attacks. Masaki creates two swords out of cherry blossom petals and meets Kei's attacks with his own. This goes on for a few more moments until Masaki finally makes his next move, making the cherry blossom swords disappear.
"Wind Style: Flower Scattering Dance Jutsu," Masaki says before sending out a tornado of cherry blossoms. Kei's eyes eyes widen but he's unable to dodge the tornado of flowers that hit him head-on.
They throw him back and he cries out before his back hits the floor hard. The redish lightning soon fades from his body.
Hayat goes to check before straight and declares, turning to my clan member, "The winner of the eighth match is Masaki Fujikami!"
We cheer, with me being the loudest.
"Yeah, alright, Masaki-kun!! Way to go!" He rejoins and I go up to him. "Here, Masaki, let me heal your shoulder."
He blinks down at his burnt shoulder and says gratefully, "Thanks, Sakuya-cha." As the medics take Kei, Masaki crouches and I gather water around my hands. I hold them over his wound and the water glows as I channel my healing chakra into it.
Masaki sighs, "That's good water."
"I don't get it. How'd he beat him?" Naruto wants to know.
Kakashi explains, sounding impressed, "Masaki must've known that wind is stronger against lightning. So he used that to defeat his opponent. Smart." Masaki throws him a sheepish grin as Ayame smiles proudly.
After a few minutes, I finish healing the male Fujikami. I ask as I pull my hands back and the water fades, "How's that?"
Masaki flexes his shoulder and grins as he straightens up. "Good as new. Thank you, Sakuya."
"Uh, sure."
We turn to keep an eye on the next match.