Chapter 36

A/N

Hey guys, I just wanna clarify something. In the previous chapters, Lhexi mentioned that she's from the Land of Waterfalls infront of almost everybody.

"So if they knew that she's from the Land of Waterfalls why wasn't she interrogated beforehand?"

You might get a little confuse so here's the explanation.

The Land of Waterfalls is a name of a country while The Village Hidden by The Waterfalls/Takigakure is a name of a hidden village where ninjas reside and this village is found in The Land of Waterfalls.

See the difference?

There was no country name indicated in the Narutopedia as to where Takigakure is located so, I just made that up.

The name of the country is not canon.

Okay on with the story!

SHANNAROOO!

Third Person's POV

In the past, Sakura didn't have an ounce of sensible reason why she wanted to become a ninja. She was born into a normal household with loving parents, one thing that most shinobis dream of, a normal family. And yet, why did she become a kunoichi when she practically had it all?

The answer? She doesn't know.

All she could remember was her crush on Sasuke that resulted to a rivaly between her and her bestfriend Ino. She tried her very best to stand out to gain his attention, she studied real hard even when she's already smart on her own and most of the time she even scored higher than the Uchiha himself.

She chased after him without knowing why.

How happy she was when she was placed in the same team as he. This just means that she would even get closer to him. Perfect. Everything was rainbows and unicorns until she saw how cruel the world can be for a ninja.

She was sure she just saw a certain boy smiling a week ago but, he came back with a white blanket over his cold body. He was gone for life. At this point she began to question the village. Was the academy just a factory that pops out kids just to send them to their deaths?

She doesn't understand.

Kenma died without a family to mourn for him. He left too soon, he was just a kid. A kid just like her who knows nothing about the world.

And soon her team was sent to witness with their own eyes, the horrors of the world. They were lucky, no one among them died unlike what happened to Team 13.

There were times she felt useless, the boys were ahead of her and so she was left behind. But, she didn't really made an effort to make up for it. She remained the same person as she was.

And so the day came where she was frustrated about herself when she was left alone to protect her comrades. She took action but, it wasn't enough to change her until her breath was stolen away from the scene infront of her.

Despite being on the losing end, Lhexi fought and never gave up. She could barely stand up yet, she remained on her feet and she won even with the odds against her.

Sakura always admired Lhexi, she was the first person after Ino to even compliment her. She was kind, mature, smart, strong, confident and beautiful, a perfect girl she dreamed of becoming. She was someone who could put her friendship with Naruto before others, that's why she was hated by her peers, she befriended a person kids don't even wanna get close.

Soon, that admiration turned to jealousy and before she knew it, she was having a one sided rivaly against someone who never knew it even existed.

And so, she asked herself. 'How could she still fight like that? Why?'

The pinkette watched every fight among genins. From Sasuke to Naruto, even Choji and Shikamaru especially Lee.

Lee that poor boy.

They fought hard, because they have ambitions for the future and the Chunin Exam was just a stepping stone for them. How about her own self? Does she have a certain ambition as well?

She was matched against Ino and if not for a sleepy Lhexi's advice, she wouldn't even win. Ino, the very first person who ever befriended her and yet they fought.

Fought because of what?

Because of some boy who never gave a damn about their little crush?

It was a silly reason for kids like them. At the end of the day, they laughed it out.

She realized, she was being a weak damsel in distress waiting for Prince Charming Sasuke-kun to come and save her in his white shining armor. That's the time she realized that she's a ninja who can be an independent woman on her own.

Its not like she's throwing away her feelings for Sasuke, its just that she realized she has to prioritize herself and her future over Sasuke.

And she's gonna find out what she really wants to become.

Now she stood in the arena infront of thousand pairs of eyes on her. If she was the past Sakura she would have passed out from the amount of nervousness bubbling in her stomach but, this time she stood confidently with a determined expression on her face.

"SAKURA-CHAN YOU CAN DO IT!!", she smiled at the voice of her knucklehead teammate which was followed with a high pitched scream from the audience.

"SAKURA! BREAK A LEG!"

Choji covered his ears from his teammate's loud screech. "Ino, don't be so loud."

Genma nimbled on the senbon in between his teeth before walking in between the two female.

"Alright. You two, try not to kill each other alright? The match will only be over if either one of you is no longer able to fight or concedes defeat. Anyway, best of luck.", he raised his hand before jumping away. "Begin!"

A loud cheer erupted from the stadium.

Sakura scrutinized her eyes at her opponent who was twisting and turning her kunai on her palm. "Pinkette, you better admit defeat now. You remember what happened to that Hyuga right?"

The said girl calmly pulled out her own set kunai knives before replying. "I can tell, you lived in a horrible condition of life to be able to do that, Kaori-san."

She remembered how the girl infront of her brutally skinned Yuri's face into an unrecognizable person in the blink of an eye.

'She's a weponry master who specializes in knives...I have to be careful.'

Kaori tilted her head to the side with a mocking face. "Ehhh? Really? If that's what you think then you've barely seen what I can do." The girl threw the knife high up in the air but, Sakura's attention never left her.

The girl only smirked inwardly at Sakura's poker face as she lick her lips. "Since I couldn't get that woman's eyes, I'll probably just make a mat out of your beautiful luscious hair."

Kaori's gaze lowered a little as she bent her body closer to the ground before she disappeared into thin air, leaving cracked dents on the dirt. Sakura held her defensive stance pushing the kunai infront before her opponent appeared right infront of her eyes.

Quickly as she can, she blocked the incoming attack their weapons clashing against each other. The eyes of the enemy widened as she put more pressure to it. "You...you managed to block that?"

Something glinted on the corner of Sakura's eyes and she immediately flipped away before the kunai Kaori threw earlier hit her, landing on the ground where she stood up barely moments ago.

The enemy smirked to herself as she place her hand on her waist, pointing a kunai to Sakura with the other. "You're interesting. I would have fun gutting your flesh."

"Water Style: Water Bullets!"

A quite number of water spheres appeared around Sakura, charging towards its designated target. The pink haired girl stared down at her ash-blonde enemy who's lips curl up in a ridiculed way as she easily slice through the water bullets with her long knife.

Water splashed on the ground each time Kaori knock down a ball of water. Sakura threw kunai after kunai towards the female who saw paper bombs attached to them, she kicked them away from reaching her before they exploded in the air.

Sakura skid her leg back a little.

"What? Already ran out of tricks?", Kaori's tone was full of mockery and cockiness but, she knows what she's doing.

Running towards the pink haired girl who dropped two scrolls on the ground opening before intersecting with each other, she slowed down for a moment as she crease her eyebrows.

'What's she's planning to do?'

Sakura stepped on the seals on the ground as she weave handsigns. A second later before Kaori could even whip her tanto on the leaf genin, a wave of water bursted out of nowhere sending her flying backwards as the entire arena was filled with water with a depth of two meters.

The crowd raored in applause and cheers.

"Way to go! Sakura!", Ino threw a fist in the air.

The sand siblings were baffled.

"That girl was that same petty kunoichi a month ago?", Temari crossed her arms.

"Sakura-chan is so strong right? Right?!", Naruto's clothes were all tattered from the previous match with Neji but, his wounds were fully healed now thanks to the Kyuubi's chakra.

Jiraiya watched in the sidelines with amusement plastered on his face.

'She didn't even used that much chakra, and yet she was able to summon this great amount. Precise timing and accurate chakra control, looks like Naruto has one hell of a teammate.', he chuckled to himself.

Sakura stood on top of the water looking at Kaori who was drenched from hair to toe.

"Kaori-san, I watched your fight with Hyuga Yuri and I noticed something.", Kaori raised an eyebrow as she fiddle with her kunai behind her back. "You can't use ninjutsu am I right?"

"Ehhh... I'm surprised you figured me out from just one observation."

The ash-blonde girl straightened her back from her slouch posture, lowering her lifted chin a little she faced Sakura with a direct intent regarding her as an equal.

"Looks like, I have to take you seriously.", she leaked out killing intent and threw the kunai towards Sakura like a shot.

The pinkette easily dodged the kunai by tilting her body to the side to see her enemy appearing before her.

'Fast!'

She crossed her arms bracing for the impact that was about to collide with her face only to feel a heavy and solid punch on her stomach.

Gagging saliva, Sakura felt a sharp kick on her chin sending her flying in the air. She used this chance to perform handsigns as fast as she could.

Suffering from breathless gasps, she transferred chakra all over her body before muttering something in a small, squeaky voice.

"Ninja Art: B-binding Prison..."

Kaori did multiple backflips on the water, swiftly dodging a whip of water that attempted to strangle her body. Soon she was being chased by water slashes that kept on pushing her away from the walls.

Only realizing it, she found herself on the dead center of the arena waves of water creating a dome above her head.

"Oi...Oi...Oi! OI! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Sakura descended down, rolling on the ground before she crashed into the walls, stopping her movements and breaking several ligaments. Sakura had always been physically weak.

The water below her began to move towards the unbelievably huge sphere that trapped Kaori inside.

She painfully looked up, her eyes widening at the sight. She didn't knew it would worked and it was even more powerful compared to the descriptions in the scroll. Black dots covered her vision as she struggles to get up.

Kaori felt like being caught in a tornadoe as she went around in circles, water blades cutting through her skin.

At this rate...she knew she will die.

'I can't die here! Damn it!'

Tohru gazed up at the spinning water sphere in worry as it slowly turn red.

"What's happening?! Is that lumatic woman alright?!", Naruto asked to Shikamaru who was also thinking the same thing.

"This is bad...", the Nara whispered under his breath. "Sakura might end up killing her."

Naruto's eyes bulged wide in horror. "Then it's worse than bad ttebayo! We need to help her!"

Shino held Naruto by his shoulder. "Matte Naruto. Can't you see that she's an enemy?"

The blonde immediately smacked his hand away but, not too harsh to hurt him. "Who cares about that! The Chunin Exams are meant to strengthen the bond between Villages is it not?! Then if someone's life is sacrificed over this, it's completely meaningless!"

Shino was taken aback at the whiskered Naruto who was fumming with emotions.

Shikamaru sighed before he smiled. "Naruto, for once you finally said something wise." He shot a glance at Shino. "This whole exam is really a drag but, Naruto is right we have to help her."

The Aburame clan kid had a staring match with the Nara before nodding in return. "I got it. Your plan?"

The pineapple haired boy turned his body to the side to take a look at Tohru who was looking at them with uncompelling face. "Tohru...We're going to save your teammate, and we would need your help."

Tohru was about to respond when Kankuro stood on their way, dropping the Crow on the floor. "This is a match between Sakura and Kaori. You don't have the right to interupt."

The young man with the cat like hood sweated a little. 'It's taking way too long. If these three intrude, it will take more time and Gaara will...'

His thoughts were chipped in when the crowd screamed in surprise. Naruto and Shikamaru ran towards the railings to get a better glimpse.

Sakura was on the ground, and Kaori was standing still in the pool of water, her torn clothes tattered with blood.

Genma coughed and walked towards Sakura, assuming that the girl passed out due to Chakra exhaustion.

"Uhm...since Haruno Sakura from the Hidden Leaf can no longer fight, Kaori of the Hidden Waterfalls wins!"

"That was so close!", Naruto gritted his teeth. "But, it was a good fight. Right, Shikamaru?"

The said boy replied, "Well, I can't say otherwise."

"Hm. It was a good fight indeed.", Shino chimmed in.

The blonde crossed his arms. "Who are you again?"

Depression lines hovered immediately above Shino's head whispering small words. "Looks like...I'm really destined to be ignored..."

From one of the audience, a green haired girl was shouting so loud that her voice could be distinguished amongst the ground. The brunette beside the girl chuckled at her obnoxiousness.

"Fuu, you should lower your voice a little.", Eichiru called, a little embarassed at the amount of stares they were getting.

Fuur pouted her lips before nodding, sitting quietly. "I just can't wait for Lhexi-chan's fight. It's the last match right?"

The old man narrowed his eyes at the jonins centered on the corner of the stadium as Genma announce the next fight. "Looks like she's next."

Matilda covered her lips with the hem of her sleeves. "That Uchiha Sasuke surely is late."

"Well, its for the best we can watch her match earlier...", he trailed off as he caught a glimpse of a brown haired male on the farthest pillar from them. His head and his other arm were leaned against the wall, silently watching the match from afar.

The old man sweated in cold blood. 'Ryuugaime Kyuuji...the man who took my grandchild's childhood...Lhexi has to be ten times more cautious now-- eh...?'

The same girl he was thinking about appeared to have gotten close to him by how she spoke at the said man with a smile on her face. It wasn't fake, it was a smile filled with respect.

And by just looking at the black haired girl. She sure have changed a lot.

'What's the meaning of this?'

A/N

Sorry guys this came out late, I was focused on other tasks.

I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as I can.