Maybe

Sakura vs Temari

Clenching her hand around her senbon pouch (something she had acquired after hours of scolding and nagging from her shishous), Sakura jumped down into the arena.
She kept her head high, her body steady, and resisted the urge to flee.

This was her fight. Her moment. Her time to prove herself. To show the world she wasn't just a nameless civilian, but a full grown shinobi.

I feel like this is going to backfire horribly. She thought, I'm going to make such a fool of myself I'll appear on the bingo book as
« the weakest ninja in history, laugh at on sight. »

But she didn't back out, she didn't run away, tail between her legs. The first and foremost reason being she had no tail.

But also because, deep down, she wanted to know how far she had got. To know that she had grown, and that, if she ever, ever, got herself in a similar position, she'd be able to save him.
Kaito was dead because of her, and she knew it. Just as she knew it was her kunai that had killed the yellow-eyed man. But she hoped, deep down, she hoped that he would forgive her. Forgive her for letting him go, for leaving him alone in a dark grave. For not being strong enough.

She hoped she was strong enough.

(she knew she wasn't)

::::::::::::

Sakura straightened the moment Hayate-san announced the beginning of the match. She wanted to ask him if he had had any second effects or problems from the impromptu healing session on the roof, but she knew now wasn't the right time.

Not once letting Temari out of her sight, she bent her knees into a crouch, and jumped a few meters away.

"I can't understand why your sensei even allowed you to participate in these exams!" The wind user taunted. "But I guess I should give you more credit... after all, you did get here on your own... oh wait! You didn't."

Sakura flinched back, both from the attack and the accusation. She then ran back several meters and hid behind a tree while Temari sent an onslaughtof wind jutsu after her.

Breathing hard, the genin slouched against the bark and rubbed her temples.
She had to remember the plan.
Sakura focused on her chakra, carefully managing it's flow and speed. She spread it slowly throughout her body, grinning as she felt the warm feeling wrapping around her and the small buzz of chakra in her ears.
She stood up, went out from behind the tree and faced Temari. The girl from Suna momentarily stopped her attacks and glared warily at Sakura. She probably shouldn't have done so as the pink haired girl used that instant to weave handsigns and disappear in a small puff of smoke.

She appeared a few second later behind Temari, and threw a flurry of senbons at her, before casting the handsigns again and teleporting away.

She shunshined and threw.
"Shunshin, throw, shunshin, throw..." she repeated under her breath like a mantra.

This was a strategy she had come up with while practicing the body-flicker technique. She had heard of the famous Konohan shinobi, shunshin no Shisui, and his use of the jutsu to destabilize his opponent and then strike. This, combined with Haku's senbon and speed strategy had been the inspiration necessary to build this technique.

"The shunshin and poisoned senbon combo"
(Yes, the name was kinda lame, but whatever..)

She continued for a while, always careful not to waste the precious energy. But it was not enough: she could feel her chakra ebbing away, and knew that soon enough she'd have no more.

Temari wasn't in great shape either. She had used her wind to protect herself, sending the senbon that were thrown at her back, and piles of needles clattered everywhere on the ground. But it had taken it's toll on the strong ninja : she was sweating profusely and her arms wavered a bit more each time she swung her enormous fan.

Not wanting to faint out of chakra exhaustion, Sakura shunshined one last time. She appeared a few inches away from Temari, catching her completely off guard. Using the element of surprise, Sakura kicked the fan out of Temari's hands and slashed wildly with her kunai. All her weapons were poisoned, and if she managed to just scrape the older girl in order to win.

But the fight had stretched for a long time, and Sakura had underestimated her opponent.

A kick hit her solar plexus, followed by a punch to the jaw, and soon, Sakura couldn't find the time to retaliate.
She stood there, trying to dodge everything and failing. Blood filled her mouth and her vision blurred slightly. Suddenly, she fell to the ground, her legs no longer supporting her weight. She coughed, and gasped for air. The ground felt unnaturally firm, the only thing that felt real. Her head was light, and as she tried to get up just to come crashing back down on the ground, she realized something.

She had lost.

Lost...

"I... I give up.." She rasped, and Temari halted her movement, smirking.

"Ha!" The older girl huffed "Like you ever had a chance to win!" And with a proud smirk on her face, she spinned on her heels and trudged out of the arena.

But the Suna genin, though she'd never confess it, was tired. This fight had been harder than she'd thought, and the toll it had had on her was non negligible.

Maybe if I faint it means I won't have to participate in the invasion... She thought longingly, knowing full well it wouldn't be true.

Temari was the eldest of three siblings, it was her responsibility to look after and support her brothers. And, although Gaara was... the way he was, she still cared for him. She knew that unleashing the Ichibi wouldn't do him any good ; he was already mentally unstable, and she was afraid of the potential backlash.

Kankuro too... The boy was still growing and, if she was honest, their father wasn't the best exemple... With Suna's political predicament, the loss of his wife and the sealing of a biju in his youngest son had changed the man.

No longer did he come to ask about their days, he distanced himself, choosing his duties as Kazekage over his family and was never home anymore.

Could she even call it home anymore?

Gaara stayed in his room, Kankuro rarely joined her for meals and spent most of his free time on his puppets. And she... she was trying her best to pull this family together and failing terribly.

Sighing softly Temari dropped her head in her hands. Why was she thinking about that now? After a few moments, she straightened up again and headed back to the arena after a quick check up with the medics.

She had another fight to win after all.