𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚎 • 𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚑𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

26 - Race (pt. 2)

"Come on, Haruka! Take him down!" Ino shouted loudly. Konoha's spectators followed her lead, and their cheers were louder than ever. The race was at its climax, and Hinata covered her eyes in fear of witnessing an injury. Suna, even though there weren't as many of them, had no trouble matching Konoha's volume.

"HARNESS THE POWER OF YOUR YOUTH, HARUKA-CHAN!"

Sasuke gripped the railing at the finish line in anticipation. If she wanted to make her move, it was now or never. The series of turns that she always used to gain speed was coming up, the same place where Sasuke almost always used her draft against her.

Haruka had finally taken a bit of a lead, but there was no way to prevent someone from drafting her. Her speed increased as it always did when she twisted through the maze.

"She's doing it!" Naruto said excitedly, making Hinata look up to watch again. "Let's go, Haruka!"

"No..." Sasuke muttered. It wasn't enough! Koda would overtake her on the final slope. But no sooner had the word left his mouth than Haruka turned her head to look back at Koda.

She wore an almost malicious, evil smile. Her hair blew in the wind and she looked like she had just won a war. "You can't catch it, can you?"

"What?" Kiba asked, looking in confusion at the furious expression on Koda's face. "What does that mean?"

"Oh my god, Sasuke," Naruto said in horror, observing the snarky look on Haruka's face. "What did you do to her?"

But Sasuke was too busy with his thoughts to answer. How come he hadn't seen it earlier?

Even you...he's a whole lot bigger than you, isn't he?

"Her draft." He said in amazement. "It's way too small for him to catch. She just won."

Nobody knew what he was talking about, but those from Konoha hoped he was right. Haruka emerged out of the turns a lot quicker than Koda did, and the head start she got on the last slope was enough to make up for her lack of speed. She crossed the finish line just seconds before Koda, but there was no denying that she was the winner.

Shikamaru and Choji had stayed at the finish line the whole time, because they didn't feel like walking up the whole hill just to come back down again. They were the first to greet Haruka when she passed the finish line.

"Nice job," Shikamaru said in a rather lackluster tone. Choji nodded and offered her some chips, but she was too tired to move.

"Thanks," She managed to get out. Panting heavily, she sunk to her knees out of pure exhaustion as Koda rolled to a stop beside her. She couldn't help the giddy smile on her face, and she held her face in her bandaged hands.

"Well," Koda let out a disappointed sigh, but there was still a smile on his face. "You got me."

Haruka looked up to find he had his hand extended to her. She took it and hopped up from the ground. "I got you."

Koda rolled his eyes and let go of her hand. "Dumb luck."

Haruka was tired, but she still aimed a kick where the sun didn't shine. Koda dodged it, snickering. Before she could continue her physical assault, Sakura wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. She groaned at the impact, but she still squeezed back.

"That was so cool!" Sakura gushed. "You were on fire! Oh my god...but you're sweaty. Let go!"

It was a great feeling, to know that her hard work paid off. Haruka graciously accepted the high fives and cheers from all of her friends. Most of Koda's friends were too busy picking on him for his loss or fighting with Naruto to spare her any attention, but she didn't mind. As she hugged Hinata, (who made her promise not to make any more dangerous bets, but Haruka had her fingers crossed) she caught Sasuke's eye in the distance and he gave her a wink.