[That night...]
Third Person's P.O.V
It was around 7 p.m. and there was only silence that accompanied Sasuke and Ayuda in their room. The unpleasant atmosphere which surrounded the two kids had successfully made them rattled all the time. But there was one particular thing that had been bothering the young Uchiha's mind at that moment.
"Why did your arrow flew past through the fireball as if it's nothing?"
"Huh?" Ayuda took at look at the boy who lied down on another bed next to hers.
Sasuke was staring at the space above him with a blank look. His left shoulder was bandaged neatly. He added, "Your arrow should be burned to ashes by the fireball. As far as I know, all arrows are made of wood. So why did it passed through it?"
"Hm," Ayuda averted her gaze and elucidated, "I love using bow and arrows as my weapon but my parents were against it. They said that using it will give me many disadvantages because they thought archery was too weak. But I insisted on using it. So, my father asked a craftsman to create a set of special bow and arrows for me to increase my advantages. The craftsman used pure metal to create my arrows. That's why they didn't burn in your fireball."
"Hn."
"By the way," Ayuda blurted out, "your skill in using Fireball Jutsu is amazing."
His face remained impassive, but he was slightly surprised to hear the compliment coming out of his rival's mouth. It's as if she had finally acknowledged that his skills had impressed her. He asked as he looked at her blankly, "Do you expect a compliment back from me?"
Ayuda instantly glared at Sasuke with faint blushes on her cheeks. She was embarrassed to compliment her rival, and she's even more embarrassed when Sasuke asked her that. It's as if she wanted his attention and his compliment, when in fact, she's not. She's just telling her opinion.
She sighed in frustration and turned her back to him saying, "As if I want a compliment from someone like you! I was just stating my opinion! Hmph! I'll take back what I said! Just forget it!"
Sasuke remained silent as he stared at her hair, her black locks spread all over her pillow as she lied down on her side.
Then, in a low voice, he spoke, "Your skill in archery is amazing too."
Ayuda's tensed body became slightly relaxed as she heard that. She knew from that moment that Sasuke also acknowledged her skills. She involuntarily smiled.
"I'm sorry for shooting an arrow at you and stabbed your shoulder with it," said the girl, her face flushing in embarrassment. She decided to take this opportunity to apologize. She knew she couldn't sleep well if she hadn't apologize to the person she nearly killed, even though if it's her rival. But what she did not know was that apologizing to a rival can be very embarrassing.
"Hn... Sorry for burning your arms," it took a moment of silence, but the boy hesitantly apologized as well.
The two of them was aware that the awkward ambience in the room had lessened a bit. At least they acknowledged and apologized to each other, right?
They stayed like that in pure silence afterwards.
And the silence was soon interrupted when someone slammed open the door violently and came in Naruto shouting, "Sasuke!"
Sasuke, judging from his expression, was obviously annoyed to hear his thunderous voice that echoed all over the room. He frowned in irritation as Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi rushed to his side. Sakura asked worriedly, "Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?! Did she give you serious damage or something?! I can hit her if you want me to!"
Ayuda glanced at Sakura with annoyed look and thought in her mind, 'What an annoying fangirl... She may be smarter than me, but she is so weak that she can't even hit me if she wants to.'
"I'm fine," Sasuke replied while taking a sideway glance at Ayuda, "don't worry about me."
Naruto chuckled mischievously, "Sasuke, I have never expected that you will be stabbed by Ayuda's arrow one day. It seems like you can be pretty stupid sometimes, huh?"
"Don't say things like that, Naruto!" Sakura yelled angrily before she bonked his head, earning a pained groan from him, "He's hurt and you're still trying to pick a fight on him?!"
"Ayuda!" a matured female voice echoed loudly across the hallway.
An older female was sprinting towards the room with heavy yet hurried footsteps. Ayuda and the others shifted their gazes to the closed door. The urgent footsteps could be heard clear as a day and were getting closer in each passing seconds.
The door was slammed open once again and this time, it's an older woman with black hair and brown eyes. She almost had a striking resemblance as Ayuda.
As soon as Ayuda's face entered her vision, she pushed past Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura and hugged her form as tightly as possible. The woman raised her voice, "You made me and father and mother worried as heck! Don't do this again, okay?!"
"O-okay," Ayuda choked out as she tried to take a breath from the crushing hug.
"Who is she...?" queried Naruto curiously.
"Oh!" the woman finally realized that they were not alone. She released Ayuda, turned around and smiled at the rest of Team 7. She began, "My name is Reina. I am the older sister of Ayuda. Nice to meet you!"
"N-nice to meet you too," Sakura and Naruto replied in unison. They have never expected that Ayuda had a sister. Sasuke remained silent. He had seen Reina before.
Reina noticed Kakashi in the room and asked politely, "Excuse me, Kakashi-sensei. Do you know the boy who injured my little sister and burned her arms? Where can I find him?"
Ayuda began to raise her right arm in an attempt to stop her overprotective sister, "Onee-san, it's okay..."
"I just want to know," said Reina. Her voice had an edge to it.
"Well..." Kakashi reluctantly took a glance at the resting Uchiha.
"It was me," Sasuke said boldly, gaining everyone's attentions, "I casted Fireball Jutsu on her. I'm sorry and I have apologized to Ayuda just now."
Reina stared at Sasuke. She could faintly discern that his look was almost the same as someone she knew. She took a step closer to Sasuke's bed and inquired politely, "May I know your name?"
Sasuke regarded her with a poker face and answered, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha."
Reina's eyes gradually widened but then they returned to normal. Sasuke and Kakashi noticed this, but didn't say anything. She smiled at the young Uchiha, "Well, at least, you apologized to her. That's good then."
Ayuda sighed in relief. She was glad that Reina didn't pick a fight with Sasuke for hurting her. Reina was so protective of her. If someone messes with Ayuda, then it means that someone is also messing with Reina.
"Ayuda, how are you feeling?" Kazuki called as he and the rest of Team 5 came in and walked to her bed.
"I'm good, thank you," replied Ayuda with a small smile.
Team 7, Team 5, and Reina spent their times with Sasuke and Ayuda that same night. They also brought foods for their dinners. Kakashi told them that Sasuke and Ayuda's wounds will be good enough by tomorrow so they will be discharged tomorrow afternoon.
Of course, everyone was excited to hear that.
"Anyway, I've heard that there is some kind of rivalry going on in between Ayuda and Sasuke," Reina spoke up, "Does anyone care to enlighten me on this? Ayuda never told me about this."
Sakura started, "Well... these two are called the two top strongest students back in the Konoha Academy. Iruka-sensei would pair them up for a friendly duel and this happened every so often. And they would end up being a tie."
Naruto added, "Yeah, these two can be very annoying sometimes. They always challenge one another whenever they can up until now."
"There was one time when Iruka-sensei gave us one hour of practicing our basic ninja skills. Sasuke and Ayuda practiced so hard that they persistently refused to stop practicing. They continued to practice over an hour and Iruka-sensei kept telling them to stop," added Kaito, "It's because they wanted to be the last one standing."
"The last one standing?" Reina repeated the words questioningly, clearly did not know what it means.
Kazuki responded, "The last one standing means when you are training with someone else and that someone else have stop practicing first while you carry on with it. For example, Ayuda have a training session with Sasuke. If Sasuke stop practicing first because of exhaustion while Ayuda still carry on with the training, then she is the last one standing. Kids back in the academy always challenge one another like that."
Reina nodded her head with her mouth forming a small 'o', "I see."
Naruto continued, "Iruka-sensei had to take away their shuriken and kunai and they finally stopped. It's funny to see them both collapsed after that!"
Ayuda's face flushed slightly in embarrassment while Sasuke remained indifferent.
Thirty minutes later, a nurse came into the room and politely told them that visiting hours had ended. After bidding farewells to Sasuke and Ayuda, they left the room along with the nurse. The carefree ambience (which appeared when the rest of Team 5, Team 7, and Reina came into room) eventually evaporated as the two kids registered the fact that they were alone now.
As if knowing that there was nothing more to say, the two kids covered themselves in their own blankets and closed their eyes.