CHAPTER 66: Sakura's Challenge

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After coming back to hand each student a map that gave a rough indication of where to find the dummies they needed to retrieve, Gang Orca made his way up to the stands where Toshinori and Shouta were able to view the students.

Toshinori greeted him warmly, "Good work out there."

"You never fail to keep those kids sweating," Shouta said in a way that almost seemed flattering if it wasn't drawled out. "Even our troublemakers."

"Those kids aren't as bad as you make them out to be," Toshinori protested weakly, but Shouta silenced him with a pointed look. As if to disclaim that if this was where he still stood with the students after everything that had happened involving them, then he was truly still lacking as an educator. While a great hero still, that was one of his major faults.

Gang Orca glanced back at the students who were gathering together, his expression unreadable. "They all have the potential to become pro heroes someday," he remarked, his voice carrying a note of frustration. "But they need to learn that skill alone isn't enough. They need discipline, respect, and humility. If they don't learn these things sooner, it can cost them once they go out into the world."

He turned his attention to Sakura, a troubled expression clouding his features. "Especially her."

And for that, none of her teachers denied the comment.

Shouta nodded in agreement folding his arms across his chest in a huff. "She's one of the most challenging students I've ever had to deal with. But I believe she may have been through more than anyone else in her class," he admitted, a hint of admiration in his voice. "But don't go easy on her. She is extremely hard-headed and twice as tough as anyone ."

Gang Orca considered Shouta's words, recalling Sakura's remarkable feat during the fight in Kamino. "She was magnificent," he conceded, a grudging respect evident in his tone. "For someone her age to defeat a villain like that... she could very well become the next Symbol of Peace."

Toshinori remained lax, though his face controted ever so slightly before he willed it back not wanting to give a hint of expression that would show any concern for the topic that had just come up, and hoped to brief through.

Shouta remained skeptical. "I'm not sure she has the drive for that," he mused, his gaze fixed on Sakura as she consulted her map with determination. "If she had half of the other student's determination or interest…."

"She's been improving," Toshinori argued. Ever since Sakura returned she had been giving more of a focus to her lessons, at least that was according to what the teachers observed from her.

They turned their attention back to the students below.

There were four dummies scattered amongst the ruins of the makeshift city, and the students had split apart in even numbers without putting up a fuss against one another. They scouted through the ruined city that was their paying field, resembling a city hit with the unnatural course of disaster. 

Students who were from the same schools had tagged together, while the other odds joined to make teams of three perhaps to maintain a more equitable distribution of resources and increase their chances of success.

It was effective in practice but not something Gang Orca had honestly planned for when he set this test in motion.

"This test is meant to incite conflict," Shouta remarked, his gaze fixed on the students below. "It's only a matter of time before they find their dummies."

Gang Orca nodded "It's important for them to understand that heroism isn't just about skill and strength," he added. "It's about cooperation, strategy, and above all, integrity. I'm surprised with how well this is starting off, but we'll see if it can last once they find their target."

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As the students continued their search, the tension in the air was palpable. Each group moved with purpose, their senses heightened as they scoured the wreckage for any sign of their target.

Sakura, Shouto, and Katsuki trudged along in one of the other directions. Sakura's eyes were fixated on the map in hand. She scanned the surroundings, "It's this way let's go."

"Don't give me orders," Katsuki grumbled, though he followed her lead nonetheless.

Sakura shot him a pointed look. "Maybe you should learn to work better with others," she retorted. "One person can't do it all alone."

Katsuki scoffed. "I can handle myself just fine," he insisted, brushing off her suggestion.

"Talk big when you can back it up," Sakura replied, her tone laced with challenge. As of late her temperment had been holding strong but of course that was merely a facade as Sakura's was as gracious as Tsunade's.

Before their banter could escalate any further, Shouto interjected, his calm voice breaking through the tension. "Focus. We need to find the dummy."

"I know! Stop walking in front of me!"

"Then come out in front!" Sakura argued back. "Honestly Katuski what is your problem?"

"Huh? My problem!?"

"We're here," Shouto said interjecting once again. He quickly realized that Sakura and Katsuki, despite their skill didn't make for the best companions. It was like throwing water and oil in a hot pan. "Let's start searching."

They immediately decided to split up to cover more of the grounds while they headed in different directions, they were still within earshot of each other. Sakura navigated the torn-up streets with ease, her senses sharp as she searched for any sign of the dummy's location.

As she reached a particularly devastated section of the road, Sakura paused, her gaze falling on a pile of rubble that had once been a building. She placed her hand on the crumbling debris, her chakra surging forth as she reached out with her senses.

After a moment of intense concentration, Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "I found it," she called out. "Katsuki! Shouto! The dummy is trapped in the rubble. We need to get it out, but the area is extremely unstable."

Katsuki grinned confidently, crackling with energy as he cracked his knuckles. "No problem for me."

With a swift motion, he unleashed his AP Shot, narrowing his explosions to pinpoint precision as he blasted away the rubble covering the dummy. It was one of his special moves he had perfected in preparation for the licensing exams.

Shouto with a wave of his hand, created a bridge of ice, lifting himself gracefully into the air to avoid touching the damaged structure. With careful precision, he reached down and retrieved the dummy from beneath the rubble, cradling it gently in his arms.

Sakura put her hands on her hips, "Mission accomplished."

…

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As the students gathered, each group having found and saved their dummies from the rubble waited with a sense of satisfaction surrounding them. It hadn't taken nearly as long to find their targets, not when they were working in groups. It also made extraction that much easier.

Gang Orca approached the group, "Well done, didn't take you maggots nearly as long as I thought it would to find those dummies. Perhaps there's hope for you after all." Though there was quite a bit of criticism, the compliments did not go unnoticed and hit the students with a sense of accomplishment. After enduring the hellish training their weekends, everyone was desperate for a win in some form. Gang Orca's tone then shifted and he posed a question that hung heavy in the air.

"So, which of you are going to continue?" Gang Orca inquired, his gaze sweeping over the assembled students.

Sakura answered with a rather obnoxious smile. The same smile she gave her enemies, playing the sweet girl with her hands behind her back to hide the knife beneath. "What do you mean sir? The answer is all of us, of course,"

If he had eyebrows they would be raised. "There are only four dummies to protect. Have you forgotten what I said?"

Sakura put a finger to her chin, "Of course not but that's the point. When you explained the rules, you hadn't specified that only four of us would be able to participate in the next part of this training. In fact, you worded your explanation to cause conflict among us. Which I take was also part of your test. You wanted to see if we would put our own interests above the safety of others."

Gang Orca was surprised that Sakura had accused him of intentionally sowing doubt and discord among them, turning their attention away from the true purpose of the exercise. But he didn't reprimand her, as what she said was completely correct.

A wry smile tugged at Gang Orca's lips. "Impressive. It seems you have great intuition, that will take you far. While as heroes you're going to be competing against each other for fame, it's important to put aside any vanity for the sake of those you need to protect. Even if it means teaming up with rivals. While this is just a test, this is a real-world scenario. Though it's disappointing that only one of you realized the truth of this test but there's still time to whip you into shape."

With a snap of his fingers, his sidekicks appeared on command, people in black body suits covered from head to toe, sporting some kind of device on their arms. Other students already knew what they were capable of.

"Now, let's see if you can handle the second part of your training," Gang Orca declared, his voice carrying a challenge that echoed across the makeshift cityscape.

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"Whoah, seriously you took a direct hit from Gang Orca's supersonic wave!?" Izuku exclaimed, "And you weren't paralyzed?"

"I took some wet cotton and stuffed it in my ears to minimize the effects," Sakura said tapping her head. "He saw me coming in for a punch and tried to blast me back."

"That's amazing, Gang Orca is ranked at 10 amongst heroes."

Sakura pulled a face, pushing her cheek further into a hand with a heavy pout. "That guy kept coming at me though. Like he didn't have a room full of other targets. And Katsuki was the one taunting him, saying I'll turn you into fried sushi!"

Mina covered her mouth, snorting a laugh. "That sounds like Bakugou!"

"It's fun to hear about this though. Todoroki and Kacchan don't share anything about the lessons," said Izuku.

Sakura figured that had more to do with their disposition than anything else. But they would always return from those sessions with injuries and were typically tight-lipped about how they happened.

"Well, the lessons weren't that hard," Sakura said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"For you yeah," said Kyoka. 

When they returned to school, some of their classmates were eager to hear about Sakura's first day of training. She had missed the entire provisional licensing exams, which had been one of the hardest trials class A ever had to go through. Each stage became more intense than the other, so they were curious about what lay ahead for those who had to take the classes to make up for failing it. And if it was as hard as the actual exam.

Izuku leaned forward on his hands, "So can we still practice tomorrow?"

With Sakura now attending remedial classes, taking care of Eri, and with the cultural festival coming up, he was worried that he might be burdening the girl. He couldn't offer much help with her own training that much was clear, so he felt bothered by taking up what little free time she might have.

"Yeah, why? The training too tough for you?" Sakura poked.

Izuku spluttered, whenever he did so it wasn't just his words that fell over but his entire body language that seemed to fall apart. "No, no! I mean yes! I mean I want to keep training with you!"

Izuku finally breathed, looking down at his mangled hand, "I want to get better, and your advice has been helping me a lot."

Plus, Sakura's sparing had been giving Izuku a new degree of improvement he just couldn't achieve when training solo. His moves were becoming sharper, as were his reaction time.

"Could you help me too?" Heads turned as Shouto entered. "I'd like to get some advice if you have any,"

This surprised them. Shouto might've been quiet but he was very loud in declaring his confidence in his abilities. Not that it wasn't warranted. The number two, now number one hero was his father, and he had been brutally trained from a young. And with his skill came a sense of arrogance that made him turn his head up in the past. Now he was looking to someone else for guidance.

"I'm not sure you need me Shouto."

Shouto's expression didn't shift, but there was a change in his eyes. "Are you only willing to train Midoriya?"

Sakura frowned, Shouto probably didn't realize he was coming off as a bit accusatory. "Izuku and I have a lot of similarities regarding our fighting styles and powers, so I'm able to give him a lot of pointers. I can't say it would be the same if I helped you out anyway."

"I want to become stronger, and I know that you need to do more than rely on your quirk to do that."

Sakura couldn't deny he was correct, combat awareness, stamina, sharp senses, and environment, there were so many factors when it came to fighting and winning. A shark could win a battle in the sea but would become vulnerable on land.

Scratching the back of her head, Sakura sighed. "I'm not sure about…..

"I wanna train with Sakura too!" exclaimed Mina.

"Me too!" Eijiro chided in.

"I'm in!" said Denki.

"I wanna join too!" said Toru.

In a matter of seconds, nearly all of her classmates had chided in enthusiastically about joining Sakura for a training session.

"I wanna get as strong as Sakura!" said Mina.

"Hercules isn't as strong as Sakura." Minoru waved. 

This fuss was what greeted Katsuki when he came to the room after he had just come back from the baths and washed away the grueling experience of the day. It had been a tough one, taking on Gang Orca again in battle, but he wasn't nearly as injured as the last few lessons he had with him. Katsuki hated the thought that crossed his mind then, that it had been that way because she was there now. Watching his back, taking on the brunt of the work.

Then he had to come in and listen to the rest of the class gushing over Sakura Haruno, like the star pupil they admired her to be.

Sakura noticed his arms now that he was in a tank top, and could see he had some light burns from the force of his explosions. Nothing major, but certainly enough to cause tenderness.

"Katsuki, do you want me to heal those?" She offered.

He whirled around from the bridge. "Mind your own damn business, Forehead!"

"Someone's in a mood," said Hanta.

"That's nothing unusual, kero."

But Izuku felt that something was off about Katsuki, he had a nagging that must've been developed in the years he had known his childhood friend. Katsuki was crude and explosive but time at UA had changed him, shaped him in a way that Izuku could notice the subtle changes. It seemed like Katsuki had something else on his mind.

Sakura simply shrugged him off, "Just asking, if you wanna keep those burns then sure."

Katsuki clicked his tongue and turned away, "Fucking…."

"Hey, bro relax," Eijirou called. "She was just being nice,"

"Yeah right." Katsuki glared over at Sakura and she returned it with a stare. "So cocky, nothing ever phases you huh damn Forehead? Not even death. Like some kind of marionette machine? So freaking perfect,"

"Whoah where did that come from?" asked Hanta.

"Yeah seriously chill," said Denki.

Sakura folded her arms, "Not quite sure what you're getting at Katsuki."

Yes, she did. He wanted to shout at her, to call her out on everything, to blame her for her stupidity in letting him see her that day, in that pathetic state. The image still hadn't left his mind, no matter how he tried. Everyone thought there was a single flaw in the girl's armor, yet he had seen the cracks.

He clenched his fists. Why couldn't he just let it be? Why couldn't he wipe away the thoughts of her frail appearance like he had for Todoroki? What was so different?

Katsuki didn't like dwelling on things that didn't concern him, and this was one of those matters. And the fact that it was taking up any space in his mind infuriated him. He would've even taken one of her punches if it meant he could forget what he saw that day.

"You can act like you're all that, but I'm gonna be the one standing at the top. Just watch," Katsuki stood, shoulders square, high chin to turn his nose at Sakura. 

"Oh?" Sakura pursed her lips, "Well you've been doing a great job at that so far haven't you?"

Katsuki ground his teeth, his palms smoking, giving off a sweet scent like melting sugar. "You wanna go Fivehead?"

Tapping her chin, Sakura said, "Sure why not."

"HUH?" Their classmate's voices echoed in the room, their disbelief knocking them back. 

"Guys, guys come on!" Izuku tried to calm them down.

"You can't fight! Remember what happened last time Bakugou!" Eijiro tried to remind him. Katsuki and Izuku had already gotten into trouble for fighting after the licensing exams, and Aizawa had reprimanded them harshly, which included suspension.

"This is unacceptable!" Tenya exclaimed, chopping his hands through the air. "Haruno as a class rep you should set a better example for your peers! And Bakugou, don't forget what happened to you the last time you fought!"

Sakura sighed, "Well what if we had permission?" The class looked at her, eager for an explanation without having to ask. But she just looked directly at Katsuki, "Face it, you're not going to be able to do much against me by yourself Katsuki, you've already seen how that went."

Katsuki clenched his fists at his side, "That was then, don't go living in the past."

"Well, humor me then. Since everyone else wanted a lesson anyway," Sakura gestured around the room, and pointed "Then we can go ahead and all have a match,"

"Wait all of us?" Momo asked.

"That's right."

There were veins visible against Katsuki's neck and head, "You wanna take us all on huh? Damn, you're cocky,"

Sakura smiled, "Just evening the odds. What do you say?"

Izuku interjected, "Sakura, why would you want to…?"

This behavior didn't seem like the girl who preferred to stand back on most ends and only put in the effort required to get the task done. Now she was suddenly interested in showing off her abilities and proposing a full-on battle?

"This is stupid, I'm not getting tested by you of all people," Katsuki hissed, turning away to walk out.

"Even if it means getting stronger" He tensed, stopping in his tracks but didn't look back at her to let her know she didn't have his full attention for long.

"Talk."

She chuckled, "I'm going to give you guys a taste of a lesson I learned long ago. One I have no doubt will make all of you even stronger."

Izuku gulped like he was thirsty, thirsty for the key to unlocking the strength Sakura had and he wasn't the only one indulging in this fantasy. He could see it in his peer's eyes, they wanted to know it too, they wanted to learn to decipher a little more about what made Sakura Haruno so different from the rest of them.

Sakura slapped her hands together to wake them from their dazes, giving a mischievous grin. "That can wait till after the Cultural Festival."

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