Sakura, along with her fellow competitors Lee, Gaara, Misumi, Tenten, Shino, Naruto and Neji, all stood proudly in the centre of the Leaf Village's colosseum, as they listened to the Third Hokage endlessly droning on and on, as was his privilege as an old man.
The vast, circular arena in which they would fight was surrounded by tall walls, on top of which the stands for the general public had been erected— out of harm's way of stray Ninjutsu. An especially fancy pagoda served as the V.I.P. area; a seating area for the nobility, the Daimyō and the Kage.
Indeed, the 6th of August had finally arrived, but to Sakura, it almost didn't feel real. She had practised relentlessly for days on end, pushing through the pain, the fatigue and her endlessly horny Shadow Clones… and this was the reception she was getting!?
The atmosphere in the Leaf Village's colosseum wasn't especially… electric, as she had expected it to be. The V.I.P.s from the Land of Fire and from all of the minor neighbouring countries had already doubtlessly seen too many Chūnin exams to count by now, so it stood to reason that they wouldn't get too excited about the first match. After all, Haruno and Rock weren't family names that the distinguished nobles in attendance could recognize. Everyone had pretty much guessed that Sakura and Lee originated from civilian backgrounds, but if the audience thought that their match would be boring, then they were dead wrong!
'Well, this is it,' Inner Sakura muttered nervously, as she listened to the Third Hokage welcoming the guests from afar. 'Don't mind me, I've just got to fight the two strongest guys in this tournament, back-to-back…'
"Stop fidgeting," said Genma crossly. "Straighten your backs and face the crowd!"
Shiranui Genma was replacing Gekkō Hayate as proctor for the third exam, because Hayate had gone and got himself killed off-screen… from Sakura's perspective.
'Says the man who's only a special Jōnin because he knows one third of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu!' Inner Sakura howled. 'You glorified Chūnin, I could beat you with one arm behind my back, shannarooo!'
"Er…" said Naruto hesitatingly, looking a bit tense. "What's gonna happen to Sasuke? He's not here yet!"
"If he doesn't arrive by the time his own match starts," Genma stated, "he'll lose by default!"
If that were to happen, then Naruto would have to face Neji directly in his first match…
Sakura's eyes flickered to the side, as she sneaked a glance at the only non-Leaf shinobi who had made it this far, Gaara… and accidentally locked eyes with Tenten, who stared curiously back at her.
'Eep!'
"All right lads, listen up," Genma began, raising his voice. "This is it; this is the final exam. The arena might be different, but just like it was with the preliminaries, the only rule is that there are no rules. You fight until one of you either loses consciousness, dies, or admits their defeat."
Just like before, if there was a clear difference in levels between the combatants, the proctor would try to step in and stop the match before anyone got killed, but it was best not to count on that…
"The first match is between Haruno Sakura and Rock Lee," Genma loudly declared. "Everyone else, proceed to the waiting room!"
Sakura quickly ran up to Naruto before he could leave and handed him her sword for safekeeping.
"Good luck, Sakura!" said Naruto, grinning and flashing her a Kakashi-style thumbs up. "Beat up Bushy Brows for me, will ya? It'll be funny watching Sasuke's reaction…"
There was not a single doubt in Naruto's mind that Sasuke would show up! And if Sakura were to beat Lee, against whom Sasuke had lost miserably, then Naruto absolutely wanted him to be there to see it!
"Thanks, Naruto," said Sakura, cracking a small smile. "I will."
As Sakura watched her competitors exit the arena, leaving her alone with Rock Lee and his eyebrows, she suddenly realized that she was now feeling a lot less nervous. If Naruto, saviour of the shinobi world, believed in her, then why couldn't she as well? She had put in the work, so all that was left for her to do was to trust in her training…
"You have abandoned your sword again," said Rock Lee, slightly accusingly. "Are you looking down on me?"
"My sword is a tool," Sakura simply answered. "If I don't think it will help me win, then I won't use it."
Rock Lee was simply too fast for Sakura to be using a full-sized samurai sword. The Manyuu blade's weight would inevitably slow her movements, and even if it could extend her attacking range, she was certain that Lee would be able to swiftly move past the danger zone and into close quarters, where range would be meaningless.
'Whatever we do,' Inner Sakura cautioned herself, 'we can't allow ourselves to get hit too hard in the head! If we fall unconscious, then the Shadow Clones we've prepared to harvest Yakumo will dissipate!'
On the third exam's eve, Sakura had created two Shadow Clones with half of her maximum chakra each (by waiting until her chakra had fully recharged before creating the second one). Their orders were simple: to use the Konoha Crush as a distraction to storm Kurama Yakumo's jail and steal the girl's breasts.
"Now then!" Genma shouted. "Let the first fight… BEGIN!!"
"Here I come, Sakura-chan!" Lee shouted, as he began running straight towards her!
To Sakura's surprise, she found that her eyes could now follow Lee's movements much better than before. Was it because she had unlocked the Tenketsu behind her eyes, or because he was going easy on her?
"Leaf Hurricane!"
Lee leapt into the air, initiating a spinning kick; the air whistling as his leg swept towards Sakura's head. Rather than dodging, Sakura met the kick head-on with a punch of her own, but due to the sheer speed behind Lee's kick, Sakura's punch barely missed the sole of Lee's foot, her fist merely brushing against his ankle…
"Chakra Enhanced Strength: 15% power!"
The chakra coating Sakura's fist suddenly exploded outwards, and the next thing Lee knew, he was flying uncontrollably backwards! He quickly recovered and righted himself, before landing on his own two feet; although, he would continue sliding backwards for a few more metres, before finally screeching to a halt.
The audience immediately exploded in heated discussions…
"That seemingly slow and weak punch, how could it possibly send that young man flying?"
"It's almost as if…"
"…that buxom young lass were the reincarnation of the Slug Princess!"
…
"Senju Tsunade is still alive, isn't she…?"