Soul Searching

Chapter 93

Cho-Cho was the daughter of my former classmate Choji Akamichi and, more importantly, Sarada's best friend.

I didn't care to keep track of the names of the children that filtered in and out our home. More times than not I could tell which parent they belonged to based of their looks alone.

Cho-Cho, on the other hand, was the only one that I remembered. She was in and out of our home more often than the others. Not to mention I've caught her rummaging through our fridge in the middle of the night a few times. Midnight conversations with a tired but hungry child got interesting at times.

She was the one I least expected, or wanted, to get matched against Sarada. I didn't want her to hold back because it was a friend. I leaned back against a nearby pillar and silently scolded myself for allowing those intrusive thoughts in.

'Sarada wants to win and she knows what it takes to get there. If she doesn't give this her all, she's only beating herself.'

The arena cleared with the exception of the two girls, the air thick with tension and uncertainty. I could see Sarada drop into a fighting stance but her hands showed how nervous she was. She was quickly balling them into fists before shaking her fingers out just to repeat the process.

"Go!" the official shouted out.

The two girls hesitated for only a moment before rushing towards each other to fight hand to hand. Had I not trained her myself, I wouldn't have noticed that she was moving slower than usual and that she was being more defensive when she was an offensive fighter.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from shouting out at her. This was something she needed to figure out on her own. As if my wife could read my mind, I hear her shouting from across the arena. She didn't have the restraint that I did. Yelling was more her style.

"Give it your all Sarada! Don't hold back!" She was standing in her seat, her fist raised in the air.

As soon as the words hit her ears, Sarada began to take the offensive and activated her Sharingan. Now she was ready to finish this. She jumped back, crouched, and weaved the hands signs. Her right hand crackled, shining bright with the Chidori.

Across the arena Cho-Cho activated her clan's Kekkegenkai with a battle cry. Bright wings sprung from her back, temporarily lifting her from the ground. As soon as her toes touched the earth again she kicked off and soared at Sarada at deadly quick speed.

Sarada moved too, her speed increased by the Chidori. The ground cracked beneath her hand as she ran low to the ground, the tips of her fingers nearly scraping as she zigzagged her way across the arena towards her opponent.

They propelled into the sky before clashing. From the connection of their jutsus, was a small explosion. Dust filled the arena, shielding everyone from being able to see anything.

I activated my Sharingan and looked in. The girls were both lying on the ground, neither moving. I held my breath as I watched. I was waiting for either of them to move. It was like I was watching the battle between Ino and Sakura in the Chunin Exams; simultaneous knock out.

Sarada slowly began to move, willing her arms to fold beneath her before pushing herself onto her hands and knees. She was shaky, but eventually made it up to her feet as the dust cleared.

"Winner! Sarada Uchiha!"

The arena roared with excitement. Once Sarada noticed, she ran over to Cho-Cho who was still coming to. She dropped to her knees next to her friend, pulling her into an embrace.

I took this time I make my way down to the one arena's entrances, standing off in the shadows as I waited for her to make her way over. Everyone had already congratulated her and left but she waited until Cho-Cho's teammates came to collect her and help her out of the arena on the opposite side.

I felt a familiar hand on my back. Sakura appeared beside me, grinning ear to ear. "I guess I didn't have anything to worry about" she said happily. I gave her a small smirk and looked out into the arena again.

Sarada's back was to us, the Uchiha crest displayed large and proud between her shoulder blades. Her raven black hair hung just above it. When she finally turned she saw us, her face lit up with the biggest smile. She looked just like her mother.

"Did you see me?!" she asked as she ran over.

"I did" I told her as she crashed into us. Her arms wrapped around each of our waists while we hugged her back.

"We are so proud of you!" Sakura told her. "We saw every second!"

She pulled back and looked up at us. Her smile was fading as her eyes began to fill with tears. Her emotions were finally getting the best of her. She had been able to keep them bottled up until she was in the safety of our arms.

"Why are you crying?" I asked her softly. I knelt down on one knee as I wiped the tears from her cheeks with my thumb.

"I'm happy that I won. It's what I've trained so hard for after all but I didn't want it to be against Cho-Cho."

Sakura stood beside Sarada, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her tight against her side. "I'm proud of you for fighting your hardest in circumstances that weren't ideal."

I gently grabbed her chin and made her look me in the eyes, "Sarada, no one but you can achieve your dreams. You are going to learn that you're going to have to do a lot of things that are difficult to make them happen. But while it might seem hard now, you'll look back and learn from all this, and see your hard work paid off."

She nodded her head and gave me a faint smile before hugging me, burying her face in the crook of my neck. "Thank you Papa."