Another Chance

Chapter 12

A/N: Ey yo! I'm back for a short time again! God, I'm so thankful to all of you still being patient with this story even with the erratic updates. Also, I've had nothing to do during Quarantine so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Sakura glared at her two teammates as they both sat in front of her. She couldn't believe the nerve these two have, ignoring her match so they could squabble like children and betting who would win to boot! The only consolation she had was to see the slight widening of Sasuke's eyes when she was declared the victor. That would teach the Uchiha to underestimate her abilities!

"Well?" She demanded, her foot tapping impatiently.

Naruto, the brave soul or idiot in Sasuke's opinion, shrugged.

Sasuke watched in fascination as a veined throbbed at her temple, her fist shaking at her side.

"Why weren't you two paying attention on my match?" Sakura continued, her eye twitching now. 

Again, no one answered her and Kakashi had the gall to snicker quietly behind his book, watching as his pink-haired student continued to scold the two boys. Ah, to be young again, Kakashi thought amusedly.

"Will the next fight Temari of the Sand and Kiba Inuzuka come down now?" Hayate coughed into his hand, discreetly wiping something after he turned back.

Temari observed her opponent, the corner of her lips curling in distaste, noting the obvious overconfidence the male was flooding with. She could already tell that he was thinking it was going to be an easy win for him, seeing that she was a female. It was disgusting to see, but she couldn't wait to put him down in his place. He was underestimating her and that's fine. This way, when she would finally beat him, it would greatly hurt his pathetic ego. 

She almost smirked in glee, managing to bite the inside of her cheek to keep it from showing.

"Begin!" Hayate called, stepping back from where he stood earlier.

Temari gripped her giant iron fan, watching the mutt-like genin in front of her. Kiba seemed oblivious of her steely glare, foolishly turning towards Akamaru, the corner of his lips twitching upwards into a sharp grin showing all his fangs.

"So what do you think boy? Is this going to be an easy fight or what?" Kiba asked his nin-dog, his tone full of arrogance, thinking that the Kunoichi in front of him were like all the girls in his class back in the Academy.

A vein noticeably throbbed on Temari's temple, yet she continued to watch her opponent. She was so going to destroy this brat!

"Yeah? You think we should use that move on her?" Kiba continued to ask Akamaru, not noticing the way some of the Kunoichi were glaring daggers at the arrogant fool.

The more he ignored her and kept underestimating her skills, Temari wanted nothing more than to put this brat in place. With the last of her patience diminishing, she snappes her iron fan open, immediately sweeping a torrent of wind towards the unsuspecting Inuzuka.

"Kamaitachi no jutsu!"

The wall of wind carried Kiba and Akamaru upwards, no means of escape as the viscious winds circled around them. Various cuts were being inflicted on their skins and fur, where the winds could touch, the feeling of the winds so sharp like a polished sword. Kiba screamed in pain, his hand reaching out towards Akamaru and hugging him to his chest, shielding him as best as he can with his body.

It felt like years before the technique ended, until Kiba's body felt too heavy and then they were falling and falling, but still, he held onto Akamaru tightly. Blood pooled out of his various wounds, his limbs too sluggish that he couldn't bring himself up to his feet. He could only lay there on the floor, his body weak, bruised all over with cuts, and still holding onto Akamaru with his dear life.

Hayate moved closer towards the fallen Inuzuka, crouching down to check on the fallen boy before standing up to declare the winner.

"Temari of the Sand wins," Hayate coughed, "Kiba Inuzuka is unable to fight any longer."

Temari watched as the medics entered to cart away the Inuzuka and his dog until they were out of sight, turning away so she could return to her team where Kankuro congratulated her with the easy victory and where Gaara only looked at her briefly before turning back to the matches.

All the while, Sasuke had stayed silent during the whole match, his eyes briefly flickering into startling red, before fading back to impassive difference, aware there was an extra set of eyes watching his movements.

~X~

"Now for the next match," Hayate began, unfazed by the blood stains on the floor, "Will Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga come down?"

Sasuke shoved his hands inside his pocket, his mind wandering elsewhere. So far, everything had turned out favorably for himself. He had managed to change his ill fated fate during the Chuunin exams, and there were a lot of different but small changes happening to the events he knew of. Even now, when in his previous life he was supposed to fight Yoroi Akado, just by changing something major, everything else seemed to shift just a bit. So he was a bit unsure on how to fight the Hyuuga heiress. They were both heirs of powerful clans and she was the only one he ever respected other than the lazy Nara heir.

A hand clasped tightly on his shoulder. He turned back, barely able to restrain the hand going towards his side where his chokuto used to be. Onyx eyes met startling blue.

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto began, his tone serious unlike his usual boisterous one. "Just so you know, I'm rooting for Hinata-chan. Don't hurt her too much."

Sasuke stared at him, smirking at the blond. He turned away, dislodging the hand on his shoulder, raising an arm to wave his worries away.

"You know I can't do that. This is an exam and we're training to be ninjas, we're all bound to get hurt or killed sooner than later. Besides, she's not a weak little girl that would need protection. She's an heir of one of the most powerful clans in the village." Sasuke looked back at Naruto, gauging the whiskered boy's expression.

What he didn't expect was the wide grin Naruto sent his way. He nodded, as if approving his reasoning, before turning away to yell below at the girl already there.

"Beat his ass Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered, whooping.

As expected, Hinata's entire face bloomed into red, steam coming out of her ears.

Sasuke continued down, ignoring the loud smack that Sakura delivered behind Naruto's head, berating him for distracting and killing Hinata. Naruto squawked in protest, clueless of what he had done wrong.  

"L-Let's have a fair fight, Sasuke-san," Hinata stuttered out, her eyes void of any fear but determination shining behind her pale eyes. 

He stared at her, the way her timid posture fluidly slid into a defensive position, veins slowly bulging around her eyes to activate her Byakugan. He smirked, following suit to a defensive position, his Sharingan flaring to life.

Hayate glanced between the two heirs of the most powerful clans in the village, before stepping back and calling out a single word.

"Begin!"