But then you opened up a door, you opened up a door.

[sucker_punches]

Who: Naruto Uzumaki (couragetodare) and Sakura Haruno (sucker_punches). Closed.
When: Evening of January 18th.
Where: The ruins.
Format: Paragraph, present tense.
What: Naruto and Sakura spar, which leads to an interesting development or two.
Warnings: Minor violence and teenage hormones. Not enough to warrant an R rating or anything though, haha.

Comments

[couragetodare]

He waits, shifting his weight, feet planted in the dirt, firmly grounded. His grin mirrors hers, sharp, it curves like a scythe and he recognises the fierceness in her expression because it's as intrinsic to him as this is. Blows and blood and adrenaline. It's been there for a while and as much as Sakura thrives on this, Naruto thrives on that. The grin, the light in her eyes, the film of sweat on her brow, the heady knowledge of just how much power her small fists contain, the prospect of meeting that power head on, of surviving it.

Naruto likes to dance in when he can, to get as close as he dares, he likes to feel those fists just miss. (Except for when they hit and when they hit, she always wins, and he usually finds himself sprawled at the other side of the small space amidst the ruins, nursing a concussion at the least. Lucky for him, he recovers quickly. It never takes him long to come back for more.) He likes the thrill behind it because it doesn't matter how much Naruto wants peace, and these days he wants it more than

[sucker_punches]

More clones. Not a surprise, coming from Naruto; she knew half way through the chain of seals what he would do. But sheer numbers aren't enough to intimidate Sakura, who has fought Sasori and his one hundred puppets. Twice. No, shadow clones don't overwhelm her, and her smile doesn't slip upon seeing them. She has to stay sharp with them in play, though. They keep her on her toes, which is fine with her, because that's the easiest place to act from

[couragetodare]

Good thing the punch doesn't quite connect because Naruto doesn't want this to end so soon either

[sucker_punches]

That feral laugh he lets out makes her blood pump harder, her own excitement fueled by his. If she stopped she could probably feel it in her neck but there's no stopping this as she slides through her motions like she's following a set choreography. Except much more dangerous. But the danger is most of the fun.

Sakura moves but not quite quick enough. He glances the side of her knee and her balance buckles for about half the span it takes to draw a sharp breath. Not pained, exactly, because she's experienced far worse. But she knows she loses that hair of time and a voice swears in her head. Inner Sakura is largely dormant these days, but not when she fights. Sakura's stance is sure on her other foot so she doesn't fall, simply picks up the leg he'd hit after that momentary unstableness and aims it at the clone's side.

As her body twists to follow through with full force she allows her head to carry through with the motion, taking another opportunity to assess her surroundings. If she hadn't she would have missed the second clone--