With Jun Shimura and Okuda Tomomori's spar finished, Takegi Sensei quickly prompted the class for more volunteers. Unfortunately, the following few matches were nothing to write home about.
Two civilian boys fought first. They each finished with a black eye and a broken finger. It was a payback sort of thing. You had to have been there to get it.
The next match was between Sen Aburame and a civilian girl, but it was far from the high-calibre octane the first two matches provided. The girl that Sen opposed, she had yet to truly grasp how to properly manipulate chakra. As a result, Sen rushed her at the start and hit her hard–with a chakra reinforced punch–directly into her gut.
The girl kneeled over and vomited. Snot rushed down her lips and tears welled in her eyes. She clutched her stomach and squealed unlike anything the kids had ever heard before.
Takegi Sensei quickly scooped her up and rushed her to the Konoha Hospital.
Ten minutes later he was back. Without the girl.
"Well…" Takegi Yugatake began and then paused. Aburame was also a famous Shinobi Clan, after all; and what did Sen really do wrong? It was possible that the first two matches had convinced the boy that the quality of the students within Classroom 2A was higher than it really was. That was no fault of his own; if anything it showed just how seriously Sen had taken his first match.
Takegi Sensei looked at Sen. "Great work, Sen. Good initiation."
And that was that.
"Who's next?" Takegi scanned the class. "Mori. Pick an opponent." He instructed.
Mori Fūma's black eyes brushed over her classmates. She could not select anyone that had already participated.
"I choose Nana-san." Mori launched into a smile.
The two girls took opposite ends. They faced each other, then raised their hands to start forming the Seal of Confrontation.
"Hey." Mori Fūma suddenly stopped forming the half-tiger seal. She called out to Nana Inuzuka, instead.
"Hmm?" Nana raised her brow. "You got a problem with me too? Good. Then I won't hold back."
Mori raised her hands. "No problem." She reacted calmly.
"Just wanted to say sorry about Jun. He's clearly a raging asshole so I wouldn't take anything he says to heart." Mori said.
"Huh?"
"Huh?" x 30.
"Hey!!" Jun Shimura stood up and screamed across the training grounds. "You can't talk about me like that, you disgusting pig! You better get over here and lick the soles of my–"
"Alright! That's enough! Do not disturb your classmates while they're in the middle of sparring!" Takegi cut in. While he would not go so far as to ever actually punish a Clan kid, this presented a perfect opportunity to undermine the brat without sending any bad messages.
"But–" Jun said.
"No buts!" Takegi raised his voice. "Are you going to let an enemy Ninja rile you like this? Shameful!"
At that, Jun Shimura immediately paled. He couldn't admit it openly, but what Takegi Sensei said had made a lot of sense: If an enemy bad-mouthed his Clan, would he react? Probably.
That was unacceptable.
Jun Shimura shut-up and sat back down.
Meanwhile, Nana Inuzuka stared at the all-black girl across from her.
"Wait. Why are you apologizing on that little twerp's behalf? Do you pity me? Look down on me?" Nana growled her voice like a dog's.
"No! No! No! This is getting out of hand! I am so sorry!" Mori Fūma bowed at the waist.
All over again:
"Huh?"
"Huh" x 30.
By this point, Nana Inuzuka was completely lost. Everyone could tell, meanwhile, as the girl with red face-paint streaked across her cheeks wore her emotions on her sleeve.
Noticing the perplexed look, Mori continued.
"Sorry. I just really wanted to be friends with you and I saw Jun be really mean to you earlier so I thought it was the perfect excuse to say something but I messed it all up so I am sorry!" Mori said in one breath.
"You-" Nana's face twitched. "You wanna be my friend?"
Mori Fūma looked up. "Yes! If that's alright with you?"
A bright smile bloomed across Nana Inuzuka's face. "Yeah!!" She boomed.
"I'd love to be friends!!"
"Hgmm! Hgmm!!" Takegi Sensei interrupted. "You are sparring ladies. Perform the Seal of Confrontation and begin!"
"Yes, Sensei!" The two girls said in unison.
Mori Fūma exhaled slowly. Her eyes scanned the training grounds, taking in everything at once–the uneven ground, the exposed roots, and the tall grass near the cluster of rocks. One foot slid back behind the other as she settled into a balanced position.
Across from her, Nana Inuzuka grinned. Red paint streaked across her face like claws. She crouched low, her fingers digging into the dirt, her shoulders coiled back like springs. Even her breathing was erratic, sharp–more like a growl than a rhythm.
"Ready?" Nana Inuzuka asked, voice bright despite the ferocity in her eyes.
Mori nodded.
Nana exploded forward!
She crossed the clearing in a blur. Her feet and hands pounded against the earth. Her movements wild but purposeful.
In the next instant, Nana's arm swung wide before snapping inward for a tearing strike.
Mori stepped backward and flicked her wrist.
A kunai slid into her palm. She slashed at Nana Inuzuka, but the girl on-all-fours evaded easily. Then, she leapt closer and struck Moriagain.
Steel flashed!
The kunai in Mori's hand caught the attack sideways with sparks biting at the metal. The impact drove her a step back, and her boots slid across the dirt, but her expression never wavered.
Mori stepped backwards and disengaged. She retreated diagonally, her fingers already moving.
A thin steel wire unspooled as she ran.
Nana pursued instantly. She dropped even lower, her stance growing predatory. Then, she pounced.
Nana launched herself across the air in a spinning kick. Mori dropped flat, the kick sliced the air above her head. Then, she rolled, rose on one knee, and successfully caught the wire underneath Nana's ankle.
Mori yanked the steel wire.
In the next moment, Nana Inuzuka hit the ground hard. Dirt exploded underneath her, but instead of stopping, she slammed her palms into the earth and pushed down, flipping herself over and freeing herself from the wire that had caught her.
Then, the two girls collided at close range.
A flurry of savage strikes rained down upon Mori Fūma. She attempted to deflect most of them with her kunai, but her precision was lacking, and in the battle between raw savagery and deliberate control, the former was currently in the lead.
Nana fought like a beast unleashed. She was fast, relentless, and laughed through clenched teeth while Mori did her best to stay upright. Finally, there was an opening.
Mori slid five shuriken between the space between her fingers, then whipped them across the air in a fan-shape.
Nana didn't slow. On the contrary, she howled–then fully committed to her beast-imitation form. In an instant, she lost any remaining restraint. Nana tore straight through the shuriken, twisting just enough that the shuriken merely scraped her rather than penetrated her.
In the meantime, the pain only served to fuel her focus.
Nana hit the ground and vaulted sideways where a wire snapped shut just as she was about to land.
But Mori was too late.
Nana Inuzuka landed low and charged again. She ziggzagged, feinted, and broke rhythm over and over again–all to distract Mori. And it worked.
Mori Fūma whipped a kunai to her left–but that was a feint–and Nana cut to the right. She slid underneath the arc of the kunai, closed the short distance in a blur, then slammed her shoulder against Mori's chest.
Mori's breath left her in a gasp.
Then, Nana struck like an animal cornered. She clawed her fingers between the cloth that wrapped Mori, picked her up, and slammed her into the ground. Mori hit the dirt and skidded across it. She came to a stop on one knee, her breathing was ragged, but she still reached for another shuriken.
Then, she froze.
Nana was already upon her.
A savage kick connected with the center of Mori's temple. One second, Mori was upright. The next second, her cheek slammed against the dirt and her brain ricocheted within her skull.
Nana placed her clawed-fingers an inch away from Mori's throat–not to strike again, but to maintain dominance.
"Winner! Nana Inuzuka." Takegi Sensei announced.
"And don't forget the Seal of Reconciliation!"