I followed Hara to the edge of the ring. There Sasuke and she stood facing each other. As soon as Iruka gave the start, Hara dashed towards Sasuke. Sasuke on the other hand seemed to be surprised by the ferociousness of her.

Sasuke’s surprise lived short though. Hara threw a fist at Sasuke who caught it easily and threw her to the edge of the ring by using it, increasing the distance between them. Hara stood fast and ran at him again but this time, she fainted another fist and struck Sasuke just above the knee. Sasuke groaned but still managed to catch the next kick with his shin.

Then Sasuke went on offense. He threw fist after fist. Hara managed to defend herself skillfully but it was obvious her body was giving up more and more after every single block. Sasuke on the other hand didn’t even seem winded.

After a few dozen blocks, Hara’s body gave up on her and she took a powerful fist on her face. There was a subtle cracking voice and Hara flew out of the ring.

“Win by ring-out Sasuke Uchiha.” Iruka stated.

I made my way to the crying and a little bloody Hara. When she saw me, she took a deep breath and wiped her nose with her hand. I, on the other hand, took out a handkerchief from the storage seal Itachi gave to me and passed it to Hara. She took it gingerly. Having stopped crying, she wiped her eyes first, then her nose, then her hands. She then looked down and said, “I am sorry.”

I tilted my head. “Why are you sorry?”

Hara balled the now bloody handkerchief and answered, “You believed in me but I still lost.”

I sighed. “You don’t need to be sorry. You did well. You just need to work on strengthening your body more.”

Hara looked at me hopefully, “Really?” I nodded. Then she excitedly said, “I will work on my body and next time, I will beat Sasuke teme!”

“Naruto?” Hara looked around, probably to find Naruto around then looked at me oddly. I sighed. “Sorry, you talked like Naruto there. And before you ask, it’s not a bad thing.” Hara nodded again, seeming to fare much better than before I talked to her. I reached her with my hand and helped her stand. “Now, let’s go and clear your nose.”

Hara took a deep breath. I looked at her disbelieving face. “Will you get in the girls toilet?”

I chuckled. “You are right. Let’s find someone else.” I looked around and found Sara, Ino, Sakura trio. After depositing Hara to them, I returned to the taijutsu ring. Sasuke was sitting at the side and scowling. “Hey, Sasuke.”

He looked at me angrily. “What did you say to Hara?”

I tilted my head, “When? Before or after the fight?”

Sasuke sighed, “After. You know before she screamed ‘I will beat Sasuke.’” He then turned to me and started waiting for an answer.

“I told her she has a chance against you if she works on her body.” I said while smiling then added, “Don’t worry. I didn’t provoke her against you. I would never do that.” Sasuke nodded and moved his legs. He winced noticeably. I pointed at his knee and asked, “Can you continue fighting?”

Sasuke looked at me like I said the stupidest thing I could. “Of course I can. An Uchiha would never give up because of a wound like this.” He sighed and continued, “It is your fault by the way.” I looked at him innocently, he chuckled. “I heard what you said to her before the fight.” I moved to tell him about the bet with Iruka but he interrupted me. “I heard what you talked with Iruka-sensei too. Nearly everybody else did too, even. You weren’t exactly trying to be subtle. Or if you did…” He chuckled again.

I chuckled too and got closer to him, “You know, if you forfeit now, I will give you half of what I gained.”

“ARATA-KUN ARE YOU CHEATING ALREADY!” I jumped, much to the amusement of others. Iruka continued, “You need to work on your subtlety some more, Arata-kun.” He then turned to the other kids and said, “Next match is between Naruto and Himaru.”

I stood up quickly and went to Naruto. “Naruto, pace yourself. Don’t rush things and make a mistake. Make sure to…” I stopped talking when I saw Naruto’s apologetic face. “What did you do?” Then it dawned on me. “I don’t know how many Iruka said he would give you but I will buy you the double.”

Naruto looked at me, then Iruka with wide eyes. “How? You are an orphan too. Orphans don’t have money for ramen.”

I chuckled. “Naruto, I can make explosive fuins. I am basically set to be rich. So, what do you say, deal?” Naruto nodded and quickly moved to the taijutsu ring without giving Iruka any chance to make a second offer. I rubbed my hands looking at Iruka and gave him the best evil laugh I can. He just stood and took it, clearly amused. Then we turned to the ring.

Naruto and Himaru waited for Mizuki’s signal and as soon as he did, Naruto rushed at Himaru who was taken by surprise and only understood what happened when he reached outside the ring. I moved to smug Naruto and gave him a hug. “You were great Naruto but you know you can’t use the same tactic again right? He nodded, still smug. “So, tell me. How many bowls of ramen Iruka was supposed to treat you?”

He looked down. I turned to see Iruka looking at Naruto seriously. Naruto sighed, “Four bowls.”

I nodded. “How about this? Tomorrow I will sell some fuin and we will go eat ramen.” Naruto nodded excitedly. “But Naruto. You shouldn’t do things like this. You know why?” He nodded. “Well, then I won’t say it again. Hey look, it’s Sara versus Ino. Who do you think will win?”

Naruto didn’t answer me. Instead, he yelled, “Sara, kick her ass!”

His answer was three angry, “““Baka!”””