The duo were rather good friends, Sango remembers, it was interesting to have them as opponents of each other.

“Did you understand the rules?” Iruka question was justified as they weren’t known for paying attention to the classes, it wouldn’t be strange if they didn’t pay attention when he explained the rules.

“Yes sensei.” They replied while Shikamaru yawned loudly and Choji turned his face away while secretly stuffing his mouth with snacks from his pocket, forgetting to swipe the crumbles stuck on his face away.

Iruka had back lines covering his forehead, “Seriously you guys…” he shook his head, “Get ready.” With those words as signal, they positioned themselves at the centre and faced each other.

“Begin!”

Choji didn’t waste time and charged directly at Shikamaru, opting to use his bigger mass to push him out of the circle, a rather simple tactic if it could be called so, Shikamaru looked at him calmly and didn’t move until the last second when he sidestepped Choji and put his right foot on Choji’s path, successfully sending him tumbling out of the circle.

Everyone laughed at the short exchange, both behaving as expected of them. Iruka just shock his head, expecting more from them. To be fair, it wasn’t that bad, they both used their strong points against each other, they just needed polishing.

“Next, Sango vs Hinata.” His turn came fast, and it was even with Hinata as the opponent, a pleasant surprise for him.

The shy Hinata and the smiling Sango entered the circle, facing each other.

“Let’s do our best.” Sango said, “Y-yes!” Replied Hinata, despite her shy character, she had determination showing in her behaviour.

“Begin!” Under everyone’s eyes, Iruka started the match.

Hinata took a stance, Sango recognized it as a basic stance of the Gentle Fist style, a style used by the Hyuga clan focused on inflicting internal damage and attacking chakra nodes, disrupting the chakra circulatory network, the consequences can be imagined. The style also focused on redirecting attacks rather than blocking them, reducing the strain on the practitioner and disrupting the opponent’s rhythm.

Sango was interested in this style, so he thought it was rather fortunate for him to see it in action, even if Hinata’s technique was still in its infancy.

Deciding he should probe her ability a little, he advanced towards her calmly, without taking any stance, then he stopped just outside her range. Then, without any prior warning, he was in front of Hinata, almost scarring her to death, he could have ended it anytime, but he didn’t have any intention of making her lose like that in front of all her classmates, not to forget that he also wanted to see the Gentle Fist in action.

She was still a Hyuga clan member and a rather important one, so her training wasn’t lacking, she regained herself and reacted fast, sending palm after palm towards him.

Interesting, he thought. She didn’t use any chakra as this was just a spar, her strikes were aiming to destabilize him and push him back, but her speed was too lacking in comparison to him so she couldn’t hit him at all, he gently redirected the palms away from him using his palms, sometimes striking back with just enough strength and speed for her to be able to barely react.

To everyone’s eyes, they looked rather impressive, only the Hokage that was spying with his crystal globe, and Iruka who was experienced, understood his actions, and Hinata too. She understood he was letting her gain from this exchange, she didn’t think he was so strong, she knew she wasn’t weak and yet she could do nothing to him, her being bullied had more to do with her weak character than with her strength, after all she was from the Hyuga clan where she started training at a much younger age than most of her peers.

After a while of the same, Sango chose to end it, he placed the tip of his index finger under his thumb and formed a circle then he gathered a bit of strength in his index finger, then, without Hinata being able to react, he hit her forehead with his index finger. He didn’t use enough force to hurt her, just barely enough to make her take a step back. Unknowingly, she was at the limit of the circle and that last step was made outside the circle, ending the match.

“Winner, Sango!” Everyone clapped for both of them, impressed by the spectacle.

“Thank you.” Hinata, understanding that she lost, thanked him for letting her do her best, it was a rather rare occasion, one that helped her test her limits with someone that used just the right amount of strength.

Sango caressed her head, saying “It is nothing, in the future we should train together more.” His unexpected proposal made her happy, but she couldn’t say anything as she turned red thanks to him patting her head, so she just nodded.

“That was a spending exchange, both of you.” Iruka walked to them while complimenting them.

“Thank you, Iruka-sensei.” Replied Sango, Hinata also thanked him, barely loud enough to be heard.