[GUtW]—❈—61:: Round of Eight [II]

I am going to finish this story. And I will do it without another hiatus. I swear it.

—❈—

Sakura laughs again. “And that’s why you’re funny, Kurotsuchi,” she says. “You think you’re special.”

Sakura holds out a hand, and with a sound like the jet turbines of Caleb’s world turning on, a ball of controlled chaos bigger than her head forms over it.

“You’re not.”

—❈—

Hiruzen Sarutobi

If Hiruzen Sarutobi could go back in time, to before he was Hokage, and stop himself from ever taking the position, he wouldn’t. But he would be awfully tempted to.

He wouldn’t be tempted because he hated being Hokage; I mean, he did, certainly (especially due to the circumstances that gave him the position both times), but he also had a lot of respect for the hat on his head, and he understood the importance of doing the job well, and was also realistic enough to admit that he was—currently—the best fit for the job.

So, no, the reason why Hiruzen would be tempted by the opportunity to never have been Hokage, was less because of his dislike for the job, and more because of certain moments he had to be participant to while on the job; moments such as the one he was currently experiencing.

“I guess the Leaf girl is not as toothless as you thought she would be, eh, Ōnoki,” Rasa, The Fourth Kazekage of The Hidden Sand said to his fellow Kage.

Ōnoki, Tsuchikage of Stone, and shortest by far of the three Kage who’d made it for the exam, scoffed. “A rabbit with a tiger’s fangs is still just a rabbit.”

“Rabbit?” It was The Kazekage’s turn to scoff. “That girl has proven herself more a tiger than your rabid dog of a granddaughter.”

Ōnoki quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? Then I guess we can only hope that my ‘rabid dog of a granddaughter’ meets one of your children on the arena; you wouldn’t want them to miss out on the opportunity to put down a rabid dog, after all.”

Rasa scowled at the clear challenge, and a meaningful look passed between the two Kage.

Hiruzen resisted the urge to sigh. Bright children risking their lives and careers for the sake of peace, and here were the men whose jobs it was to protect them, practically taking bets.

By The Sage, he needed to retire.

That said though, as an enormous explosion on the arena damn near shook the very mountain it was built on, Hiruzen said; “I don’t think your children will be getting that opportunity, Rasa. Sakura seems to have the matter well in hand.”

He might hate his job, but Hiruzen had never been one to not perform a task to the best of his ability.

—❈—

Sakura Haruno

There are three methods to using the rasengan, Kakashi had taught her during the two weeks of hell she had with him.

One is the sledgehammer; powerful, effective, but lacking in finesse and, for one such as her, wasteful.

Two, is the shredder; Kakashi’s preferred method and, Sakura had to admit, the best option for them both.

Method three though, was the bomb. Or, as Kakashi called it, the ‘fuck you’ method. And though Sakura had never admitted it out loud, both she and Kakashi knew that, if she could afford it, it would certainly be an option she considered more as an applicable use of the rasengan.

Unfortunately for Sakura, few things warranted someone with her pitiful reserves quite literally throwing away that much chakra.

On the other hand, unfortunately for Kurotsuchi, a walking volcano who had shown herself to be more than willing to use lethal force, was reason enough in Sakura’s book.

The look on the Stone-nin’s face when Sakura threw a spinning ball of layered chakra at her was priceless.

After all, everyone ‘knew’ that the rasengan was a close range technique, seeing as, unlike her sensei, its creator and known user didn’t seem to have been insane enough to consider using it as a bomb.

Kurotsuchi’s surprise lasted scant milliseconds, but it was enough time for the rasengan to make a bit of headway towards her, and for Sakura to begin to hightail it out of the blast radius.

Kurotsuchi’s moment of surprise cost her, but the Stone-nin was not the Tsuchikage’s granddaughter for nothing apparently, because her reaction as soon as it wore off was immediate and rather brilliant.

Instead of trying to make some (likely doomed) attempt to hide, or cast a jutsu to protect herself, Kurotsuchi threw the ball of lava in her hand right at the rasengan with all her might. Then, like Sakura, she hightailed it out of range.

Neither of them got far enough.

The resulting explosion was as magnificent as Sakura was expecting, which was why she was completely unsurprised when the edge of the blast slammed into her, blowing away her concentration and sending her tumbling gracelessly to the ground.

She rose, taking stock of what few injuries she’d acquired even as she tried to keep an eye out for her enemy through the dust raised by the blast.

The temperature of the arena shooting up by two dozen degrees was all the warning that Sakura got.

An eruption of lava blasted out from the opposite end of the field, eclipsing anything that Kurotsuchi had shown herself to be capable of so far, and, for one moment, Sakura grumbled at the unfairness of there being people her age who had this much chakra to throw around, meanwhile a single rasengan had eaten just under a quarter of her reserves.

With the wave of lava coming at her, Sakura had two options, over, or through.

She chose over.

Less chakra needed.

A few powerful kicks had her three dozen feet up in the air, putting her out of range of the molten earth bathing the field, and giving her a clear sight of her opponent.

The Stone-nin was bruised, bloody, and bloody furious.

Gotcha, Sakura thought, and reorienting herself mid-air, launched herself down at the other girl.

A rasengan spun to life over Sakura’s hand once again, a spinning ball of death poised to take the other girl’s head off, and Kurotsuchi, being the kind of person that she was, met the challenge head-on.

She swung a fist in retaliation, a colossal replica of lava sprouting from the ground and mirroring the motion.

The rasengan in Sakura’s hand expanded, as far as she could make it without risking it unravelling and exploding.

They clashed.

Spinning chakra ball of death vs giant fist of lava: spinning chakra ball of death wins. Hands down.

The rasengan tore through the lava fist like it was made of smoke, and Sakura followed it all the way down to her wide-eyed opponent.

She’d actually expected to win that clash, Sakura realized. What an idiot.

Shocked as she was, Kurotsuchi wasn’t done; she dodged.

Sakura had expected that though, and, kicking off the air to make the manoeuvre easier, she spun kicked Kurotsuchi in the head.

The girl was unconscious before she hit the ground.