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"You're thrashing your legs like an upturned pig!" Sakura teased.
Ino scowled at the taunt. "Better that having a forehead that can reflect the sun!"
'Ow. They're going after each other's weaknesses.' Naruto winced. Girls could be vicious when they wanted to be.
Sakura caught Ino's leg and tried to flip her over, but was once more unsuccessful as the Yamanaka Heiress regained control of herself in mid-air once again and landed somewhat ungainly on one knee.
"Nice try, Forehead, but you aren't beating me that way." Ino said with pride, "I'm too good at recovering myself in mid-air."
"If sending you flying won't work, I'll just beat you down here on the ground!" Sakura growled and charged again. The two kunoichi aspirants continued exchanging blows but the three onlookers could see that Ino was tiring already, while Sakura was relatively fresh. The lack of dieting and the exercise had done wonders for her stamina and endurance.
Ino grunted in pain as a well-placed blow sent her staggering back, panting. She was actually losing! It was unbelievable!
'Could not dieting make this much difference?' she wondered before dismissing the concern. Now wasn't the time for thinking; it was time to take down her old friend!
Drawing deep on her small reserves of stamina, she launched herself back at Sakura, leaping into the air and raising one leg, bringing it down in a strong axe-drop kick that drove Sakura to her knees when she made the mistake of blocking it. Her blond rival didn't waste the opportunity as she used Sakura as a springboard, leaping over her before kicking her in the back, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"Round goes to Ino!" Naruto declared.
It hadn't been without its cost to Ino's stamina reserves though. He could see that she was tired, although she wasn't tapped out quite yet. She wasn't used to this level of exertion and her dieting had deprived her of the energy she needed to get through it properly. Right now, most of what was keeping her on her feet was sheer pig-headedness, no pun intended.
Sakura, meanwhile had staggered to her feet, wincing slightly at the slight pain in her back and grateful that the training room they were in had a padded floor to absorb impacts otherwise she would be more sore than she currently was.
'I have to win!' she thought as she stretched and turned to face her panting, tired frenemy, 'I am not inferior to Ino! I am the Top Kunoichi, dammit! I didn't spend these last two months training my ass off for nothing!'
Off to the side, Inoichi silently watched the match unfold. He was, needless to say, slightly disappointed in Ino's performance. She was on her figurative last legs and had been sloppy in quite a few places. That she had won a round was down to Sakura's inexperience when dealing with kicks. The Hakage style didn't have many of them in the Beginner and Intermediate levels, which was likely all Sakura had trained in, whereas Ino had studied some of the Advanced level even if only slightly.
Sakura, on the other hand, had improved by leaps and bounds. Her taijutsu had been weak before and it had come so far after only a couple of months. Add in the lack of dieting and he was certain that as long as she didn't get overconfident, Sakura would likely win this match.
Saori was also watching her daughter's eyes, which were full of disbelief and shock. Ino still couldn't understand how Sakura had managed to improve her taijutsu so much, so quickly. The fact that she was still reeling from discovering how much stronger her rival had become was a psychological advantage for Sakura. As long as Ino was kept off balance, Sakura had a high chance of winning when combined with the physical advantages she enjoyed.
This time it was Sakura who assumed a defensive stance and waited for Ino to come to her. The two circled each other carefully, neither willing to commit to an attack yet. The tension between them was taut and ready to snap at the slightest provocation.
Which Sakura did by sticking her tongue out at Ino and saying, "Come get it, Pig."
"Why you little-!" the blond girl snarled and leapt to the attack, a roundhouse kick snapped out at her rival, who ducked under it and countered with a punch-kick combo that Ino managed to block with some difficulty. The momentary respite had restored some of Ino's stamina, but not terribly much of it.
The two traded blows for another couple of minutes, but Ino was flagging fast and even she recognised that. In desperation, she tried another axe-dropkick but Sakura wasn't stupid. She dodged to one side and drove an elbow into Ino's side, making the Yamanaka Heiress gasp in pain, before slipping around behind her and putting Ino into a chokehold. Ino scrabbled at the thin but strong arm wrapped around her neck, but it was no use.
"I…give!" Ino rasped out.
Sakura immediately let her go, allowing the beaten Heiress to collapse onto her butt, gasping for air. Naruto smirked for a moment before declaring, "Winner by forfeit, Sakura-chan."
Inoichi and Saori walked over and knelt beside their daughter, who was silently crying in frustration.
"Daddy?" Ino looked up when Inoichi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You did your best, Princess. That's all anyone can ask." Inoichi said gently, "What matters now is what you're going to do going forward."
The blond girl's back straightened and she turned and glared at Naruto, who was smirking unrepentantly at her. "You knew I would lose."
"No, I had an extremely good hunch that you would lose." Naruto corrected her, "So? Are you willing to pay the piper?"
Ino growled. "Fine. I won't call…Sakura-chan…that name anymore. Happy?"
"Ecstatic." The blond boy smirked before pulling a scroll out and tossing it to Sakura, who caught it with a stunned look on her face. "Here. A reward for winning."
"I…this… Suiton: Suijōki Bunshin no Jutsu?" Sakura stammered, "I can't…I mean…why?"
"One, hard work earns rewards. Two, I have no chakra control worth mentioning, so I can't use it." Naruto rattled off, "Three, you're a civilian kunoichi candidate and will know nothing but the Academy Three when you graduate, so this will at least give you a better version of one of them."
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If you want to read ahead by 10 chapters from her you can visit my Patre-on.
{P} {A} {T} {R} {E} {O}
https://patreon.com/AnshuFanfic