"Sasuke-kun! You can do it!" Sakura cried.
"Beat that class clown, Sasuke-kun!" Ino also shouted.
"You're awesome!"
"Yes! You're the best!"
"Don't let that idiot mess with you! He's pathetic!"
"You can knock that slacker's butt to the ground easy! Come on, Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke bit his bottom lip when he tried for another jab, only for Naruto to sway with it, keeping his nose millimeters in front of the knuckles the entire motion before following it back when the Uchiha withdrew it. Naruto kept doing that for the following attacks, resulting in a tick mark forming on the genius's forehead.
The shouting from the fan club wasn't helping him.
"You think this is easy?" Sasuke thought furiously while glaring after his opponent who danced around him with his roguish grin. "I've dealt with speed before, but this is completely different to anything I've ever seen this idiot do in the past. His evasive tendencies are just whack and his stance is so unrefined." Seeing the blonde skipping ahead of him with his hands dropped at his sides and wearing that crafty smile on his face had the raven haired boy's gaze tighten. "I guess it suits him, being the class clown and all…"
Mizuki chuckled as he watched Sasuke rush in to reengage. With the village-famed genius initiating the second round, the white haired man glanced over at the main homeroom teacher for council, "Sasuke seems to be having his hands full with Naruto today. Quite the surprise, huh?"
The scarred man groaned and rubbed the aforementioned mark across his nose, "Yes, but this is completely ridiculous. Naruto's making a mockery of his match and isn't even trying to hit back. What is he thinking?"
"Who knows what goes through that kid's brain most of the time," the other Chunin shrugged before looking back to see Naruto once again dancing around his opponent with ease. "But still, I gotta give him points for dodging."
"And I'm taking away those points for a lack of common sense and security for his own safety," Iruka frowned while tapping his clipboard impatiently. "Those moves do not fall under standard taijutsu guidelines or practices; not the ones I taught him." It seemed a little harsh, but what Naruto was doing was completely unorthodox.
Seriously, what could he accomplish from this tactic? He wasn't even fighting back.
Sasuke dashed straight at Naruto again, the crowd swooning when the genius dove in with a beautifully corked up left straight. He was clearly intent on bringing this battle to close-range, to trap his opponent on the edge, to cut off his escape and to bring him to heel with a quick take-down. However, just as he was getting within striking distance, the jinchuriki hovering outside of range of his punch suddenly dove in to meet him halfway.
In the blink of an eye Naruto's face was stopped just inches from his target. The speed the jinchuriki used shocked the Uchiha and, just as Sasuke was thrusting out with his punch, he felt the unmistakable tap of his opponent's knuckles against his. A split second later the blonde in front of him spun around and allowed him to dive right passed him, resulting in the raven haired boy's fist striking nothing but air again.
Baffled, the Uchiha spun around and watched his target pull away for the hundredth time, earning a blink of amazement. "He just tapped my fist in mid-motion! D-Did he do that on purpose?" A bead of sweat ran down Sasuke's face as he watched his opponent stop and stare back at him with those cool blue orbs of his. "Is he… telling me that he can see my moves? That he can hit me anytime he wants to?"
The grin that appeared on Naruto's face had Sasuke grit his own teeth and glare back furiously.
"Bullshit!" Sasuke turned and charged, attacking his opponent with a barrage of sharp punches and kicks. No longer fighting with the grace and form he held before, the Uchiha began striking at his foe with even more ferocity. His style began losing all refinement and tact, all of it being replaced by anger and desperation. "This slacker-clown is just toying with me. That's it. He's just fooling around and trying to psyche me out. There's no way in hell he'll be able to hit me if I keep attacking him at this speed. No way!" But try as he did, with all his attacks raining down on his target no matter what he attempted the Uchiha just could not catch the orange blur darting in and out of his view. The effort was becoming more and more frustrating. "Damn it!"
Sasuke swung with a right hook, but the jinchuriki swayed and dropped out of sight once more. The Uchiha, losing his target for a third time, tried to search him out across the ring to give pursuit. He glanced left and right repeatedly, trying to locate and tail any trace of his ridiculously elusive prey.
Unbeknownst to him however Naruto had relocated again, having placed himself directly behind his opponent. Back to back, he followed Sasuke's motions of his body and stayed out of his line of sight. When he looked left, he did too. When he looked right, he mimicked.
Grinning mischievously, Naruto figured he'd messed with his rival enough and stuck his backside out so that it slammed into Sasuke's, knocking the boy stumbling forwards and startling him. Unable to regain control of his motion the Uchiha lost his footing and went crashing hard into the ground, rolling a couple of times before managing to stop himself. On all fours, the genius glared up toward his opponent who had stopped moving and bouncing around, but was still smiling at him with his bullshit lowered guard.
Wiping the dirt off of his face on the back of his fist, Sasuke shot back up to his feet. Though he stumbled, he corrected. There was no way he was going to let his pride get destroyed by a delinquent academy student who didn't take anything seriously. It was time to put an end to this.
Before he could do anything though, Naruto started swaying his upper body from side to side; using some weird motions to try and either coax his opponent into attacking him again or was attempting to figure out a way to get around his antagonist's blows, which he had long since visualized in his head.
Either way, his swaying annoyed the class genius. "Stop messing around," Sasuke said loudly.
"Aww, come on, teme," Naruto grinned teasingly. "What good is a sparring match if you're not having any fun?"
"This isn't supposed to be fun, Naruto," Iruka suddenly spoke up, silencing the gawking crowd and drawing the jinchuriki's attention. The Chunin glared across at him. "This is supposed to be a serious test meant to determine your current level of skill and strength in your group. If you keep messing around the way you are now, I have no choice but to disqualify and fail you for your outrageous behavior."
"What?" the jinchuriki blinked, abruptly stopping his swaying movements and raising a hand meekly in protest, "B-But sensei…"
"Last chance, Naruto," Iruka interrupted, his gaze hardening the moment he shot down his response. "You can either show me something of value, anything at all you may have learnt, or you can give up. I don't like wasting my time with your antics."
"Yeah, Naruto," Kiba shouted at him while waving his fist, "Stop playing chicken and do something already!"
"You can't beat, Sasuke-kun!" Ino also yelled with a cocky smirk. "You'll never be able to beat him! You're just a loser and a slacker!"
"Yeah, dead-last!"
"Fight for real or don't fight at all!"
"Stop dancing around like a pansy and do some proper fighting!"
"Kick his ass, Sasuke-kun!"
"Beat him already, Sasuke! You can do it!"
"Knock his punk ass down!"
The combination of his teacher's glare, the seriousness of his voice, and the way everyone started rooting for Sasuke again while at the same time insulting him and dismissing his oddball performances from before, had Naruto's confused gaze slowly transform into a harsh glare. He lowered his head and allowed his eyes to become overshadowed, all aspects of his previously cheerful demeanor melting away before he turned back to face his opponent now back in an offensive stance several feet in front of him.
What was wrong with him? What would it take to impress these people? How much more did he have to do to get them to side with him, to get them to see that what he was doing was just as good as the genius's abilities? Was his presence that repugnant? Was his smile that unpleasant? Was it him that they despised, despite how carefree and friendly he was?
Well… it didn't matter now.
The jinchuriki looked up at his foe and narrowed his eyes.
"Fine…"
Naruto dug his feet into the ground and widened his stance. He froze just outside of Sasuke's reach, telling everyone he was now ready to duke it out. No more running.
The crowd continued jeering and cheering, whereas Iruka kept his eyes on his student to see how the fight would progress now. If anything interesting was going to happen, it was going to happen in this round.
Sensing an opportunity, the Uchiha frowned and shuffled forward carefully, his left held out in front of him to gauge the distance and his right at his side. With the change in the atmosphere the genius knew right then and there that he was going to be guaranteed an actual fist-fight this time, one that would be fought on his own terms and not on his opponent's.
Right now, he was more certain than ever that he'll be able to get his foe in an exchange and win.
"Come on. Let's see what you've really got," Sasuke thought, clenching his left for a straight.
The distance between them was quickly cut away and the Uchiha was ready to begin.
However, just as Sasuke's left was being drawn back for a punch, a sudden flash of light froze him, followed shortly by a sharp pain and the distinct echo of a sharp thump, like a deft bag was just hit by a jackhammer.
From the crowd's point of view, it was instantaneous.
Naruto was the one to make the first move against his opponent, but instead of pulling off some predictable wild swing or busting out one of his stupid moves from before, what he did stunned every single person on the field.
All the crowd saw from where they were standing was the blurred motion of his fist, the boy's left being drawn back from a clear hit and a cloud of sweat exploding off of Sasuke's face, the latter's head recoiling from the unexpected impact of a blazingly fast punch nobody was able to see.
The Uchiha stumbled back a few, head still cocked upwards and a shocked look slapped clean across his face.
With his left still swinging in front of him, Naruto glared straight into his opponent's astonished eyes, awaiting a response. But when none came and his attack wasn't met with any retaliation, the jinchuriki grunted, straightened up out of his stance and placed his hands behind his head.