Okay, so here's the story. My art is the bomb—literally. And I don't think anything can outshine it. Roku was right; I do take after my Father. And damn right I am proud. Today I'm going to outshine them all…nobody will defeat me—or my art.
--Dai
"Heh, I traveled all the way to the sand and I get this, hmm?" An annoyed feminine voice complained, hands placed on her hips, foot tapping. She stood in the center of the arena, the words slipping out of the corner of her mouth to her partner Tina, as well as a few other of her comrades. While she spoke, she ignored the stares from all the pervert-boy contestants that examined her girlish figure. She was skinny, tall and blonde, with dazzling blue eyes and a crooked smile that had enough power in it to knock a boy over. She held the trump card when it came to good looks.
"Look at all the colors!" Tina squealed, clapping her hands in delight. She twirled here and there, dancing around the other contestants, giving them high fives, patting them on the back and doing pirouettes all at the same time. She seemed bothered by the anxiety to stop talking and run around some more, but her admiration for her partner overpowered her desire to jump around.
"That's not the point, Tina, hmm." The blonde groaned, turning on her heels while some chuunin announced the rules. "There isn't much class. This is just another boring old stadium with people who just want to watch us like we're damn animals, hmm!" her thin, blonde eyebrows drew together in frustration.
"OOH! LOOK!" her team-member seemed to be oblivious to her complains, waving frantically at something Dai could not see.
"What is it, hmm?" she said, uninterested, gaze drifting away to stare at the instructor chuunin.
"It's…it's…the SKY, it's so blue!" The masked girl cried, raising a hand to wave at the canvas of blue stretching never-ending above their heads. She adjusted the orange mask once more, before turning to face Dai, who wasn't looking at her. Instead, the blonde was talking to a red-headed boy in a passive sort of way.
"…Just don't get it. Art isn't just…physical art, it's different. Art is beauty, it takes time…not just spit out in seconds…it takes creativity!" The red-haired boy insisted, pale hands balling into fists.
"No! Art is way different than that, hmm!" Dai fought, leaning forward and frowning, having to angle her head slightly down so she could meet his furious gaze. "My art is much more interesting than parading a bunch of wooden items around, hmm!" she insisted. "And it does have creativity, you're just jealous because you don't have my ability." She huffed.
The boy seemed momentarily dazed, staring into her deep, blue eyes. He leaned forward, standing up on his toes so he was right in her face. She gave him a suspicious look, the corners of her mouth turned down in a warning frown.
"Fine," he hissed, and that was the end of their little quarrel. He looked away, two small patches of pink appearing on his pale face. Dai looked away as well, focusing on the Kazekage, a taller boy with red hair and a grim look on his face.
Just like that kid who got his ass kicked by Dad, she thought with a smirk. She remembered her Dad telling the story of how he had caught his first jinchuuriki. He had successfully infiltrated the Sand without getting caught, and when he had taken out the guard, Gaara—the Shukaku-possessed kid, had appeared. The battle had been tough, but of course her Dad's art prevailed. Art always wins, she thought.
But usually when her Dad's group captured a jinchuuriki to extract the Bijuu, the human would die. As Deidara had explained,
"Gaara of the sand only escaped alive by a small chance. I would have gone off to kill him simply because he was alive, but Leader wouldn't let me, hmm."
Maybe she would pick a fight with the kid after this. He was around seventeen, eighteen maybe, and she was only fourteen, but that didn't matter.
Breaking his nose would be a wonderful story to share with Dad, she thought mischievously. Although, that could prevent her from becoming a chuunin and that was even more important to her than following tradition.
"Alright, alright…move forward, come on, out of the stadium you guys," The instructor said, pushing them on the backs to get them moving. When he pushed Dai, the moment felt longer than usual, and she slapped his arm away.
"Keep your hands off me, you pervert, or I'll blow off your head, hmm," she hissed, walking with pride, and exiting the stadium. She didn't even look back, but she was sure the instructor was probably gaping at her for a few moments. Her mouth turned up on one side in her standard crooked smile.
The unusually large group of genin ascended the stairs quickly, anxiety in their step. Everybody seemed ready to watch the matches from where they would be standing, by the railing above all of the bleachers full of people from all over the place who came to watch.
"I have to face that one kid with pink hair," The red-headed boy mumbled to Tina, the only person he was able to talk to at the moment. Arms crossed, he walked over to the railing and scanned the arena.
"Mmm…an orange sounds nice right about now," Was Tina's reply, which caused an immediate groan from the red-head.
"Oh, get over it Souji, as if you aren't used to Tina's behavior, hmm," Dai joked, looking at the strange orange-masked girl, and back at the boy. "Nervous?" she teased, smiling and twirling a loose lock of golden hair with one finger.
"M-maybe…" Souji replied in a quiet voice, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "I hope Dad's not upset…I wasn't the best at making puppets…so my technique is a bit different, you know…" he murmured, chocolate eyes staring into nothing-ness.
"Oh quit screwing around with us, we know your jutsus are really good! Stop trying to get our sympathy, dammit—hmm." Dai said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. Although she was in a playful mood, Souji didn't seem too happy with her reply.
"And the first match…Uchiha Ketsu versus Uzumaki Shinkou!" The instructor called, watching a girl with short blonde hair appear in a whirlwind of leaves, in the arena. She had very large eyes, but not all expressive due to their unusual color—white. But that wasn't the only unusual thing about her. She had unusual whisker-like marks on her cheeks, and wore an orange jacket with black pants and a tight-fitting black shirt. She cocked her head to the side when she noticed she had no opponent before her.
"Awh, man! Dad told me how much it meant to him that I win this match!" she complained, looking down at her feet, obviously very upset.
The seconds ticked by, which turned to minutes, and the whole stadium seemed very, very quiet. Even the instructor was hushed, waiting for the opponent's appearance. The others who would participate in the battle watched the arena through slit eyes. Even Tina was hushed, ever waiting.
"Damn…Ketsu makes us all look bad!" Dai hissed, fists balled up, turning even whiter than they were before. "Couldn't he move his ass a little faster?" This time she relaxed her fist, and instead, suited herself with gripping the railing tightly. "I'll stick a bomb up his silly little white—"
"I don't like waiting, either, but if you'd shut up I could hear better…" Souji intervened, frowning at Dai. It seemed as if he was in a better mood, and so Dai saved her anger for later.
"Well, it's obvious your opponent isn't here, so…" The instructor began, clearing his throat. "The winner of this match is—"
"WAIT!" Shouted a voice from atop the wall of the stadium. Black bangs concealed his eyes, but a huge smile was plastered across his face. Lanky, white arms folded across his chest, he stared down at the arena, cocky as ever.
"People fear my name! Cower!" he shouted darkly, smile still in place. Ninjas in the bleachers looked at him with a confused expression on most of their faces. He definitely was quite the odd ball, even compared to his opponent, he looked…strange. His clothes, a black fishnet shirt and navy pants, accompanied with tall and baggy white socks and black shoes, were just as ordinary as anybody else's, but it was his stance that threw most people off. His legs were far apart from each other, and dangling from his shoulders
Was
A
Cape.
"FEAR IS MY MIDDLE NAME! FOR I AM, WRINKLEMAN!!" he shouted with a final "whoop" of triumph, jumping from the wall and plummeting downwards. Of course, in his original plan, the tree wasn't supposed to be there. The boy landed in a mass of branches, until they cracked and he fell to the ground.
"Wrinkleman here," he said casually, picking twigs out of his smooth hair. He seemed rather smug about his name, as if he was very used to it.
The instructor looked at him strangely, and then shrugged, indifferent. "Begin," he said, and leaped back to watch the two battle.
"And people think I'm out of the ordinary!" The bright-haired girl scoffed, grinning and folding her arms to examine the boy. "But enough of this, why talk—Dad always hated it when people spent a good half of the match talking—when we can fight!" suddenly she began to form so many hand symbols it was all a blur.
"O….kay." The boy blinked and looked at her, waiting.
"Byakugan!" she hissed, using the bloodline that had been passed down to her from her mother. She skidded back a bit, to get her distance, and then attacked. A bright blue ball appeared in her hand, although it was more than what it seemed. It was not her dad's attack. It was more.
"Senpu Senren!"She hollered, rushing towards the Uchiha kid with a glow in her blue eyes. "Take this—HYAHHH!" she thrust the tiny ball at him.
A huge explosion surrounded the two, and at first all anybody could see was Uchiha's cape thrashing around, but even that was covered by the sand and dust that flew around them. Everybody gaped at the explosion, waiting to see the results. Dai and Souji gripped the railing very tightly, arms brushing against each others. They instantly stepped about half a foot from each other, smiling sheepishly, and then turning back to the battle.
The dust slowly cleared away, revealing two shapes, one crumpled to the ground, thrashing about, and the other crouched down by the body. Who was who, nobody could tell. The whole stadium was quiet, waiting to find out what was going on.
And, surprisingly enough, it was not the black-haired boy in the cape who was on the ground, it was the girl. She had been countered, and now she was under full power of the boy's eyes. Indeed, it was the Mangekyo Sharigan, the move feared by many.
"And I prevail!" The boy cried, thrusting his head towards the heavens and laughing mightily. "I'm the best of the best! Mwuha!" he clucked.
"Think fast!" the blonde one hissed, and suddenly she was crouched and spinning, one leg thrust out, chakra sizzling at its edges. As soon as it impacted with Ketsu's legs, there was a sickening crack, and a whirlwind of feet. Now the scene had changed dramatically: Ketsu was on the ground and Shinkou was on top.
"Ugh…my legs," He groaned, dragging himself a few feet away with his arms. "What did you do?"
"I stopped the flow of chakra in your legs, but not just that," she bluffed, wiping the blonde hair out of her eyes. She seemed obviously proud of herself while she continued, "There was extra chakra in my blow, so I've pretty much crippled your lower half!" although the matter was very serious, she seemed pleased by how well she had explained herself.
"The match is won," she insisted to the proctor, convinced that she was the victor. But he didn't say anything, just gave Ketsu a minute in case he had a come-back.
"Darn!" The boy hissed, still crawling away slowly with his arms. The girl snorted and took one step towards him, setting her foot on his torso.
"HAHA I won!" she boasted, punching a fist in the air. "Proctor, say it now!" she insisted.
But suddenly Ketsu whipped out a note from his pocket, throwing it towards the girl. It sizzled and suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke. The blonde girl coughed and sputtered, waving around with her hand to clear it up.
"Crap, where'd he go?!" she hissed when everything cleared. Indeed, the teenager had gone missing. Still using byakugan, she looked around for the boy and found him up in a tree.
"Psh…think you can hide?!" she boasted, running towards him with a gleam of determination in her sapphire eyes. The boy shifted in the branch, waiting for her to get closer…
…and then he jumped.
The jump was so high it caught most people off guard. He soared above the walls of the stadium, did a few flips for good measure, and clung to the wall, chakra flowing at his feet and hands. He looked odd, almost like a spider, while he waited for his opponent to pursue. He definitely was out-of-the-ordinary, but his "Great Leap" was very unusual, for his father's fighting style.
Suddenly, the boy whirled around to face the oncoming and rather moronic blonde, and formed a quick hand symbol.
"Kuroi Hinote no jutsu!" he said over-dramatically, focusing on the blonde. He smiled wickedly when she understood what his jutsu was: The Black Flame Jutsu. It was an original move, branched off from his own Father's method, but skillfully twisted to be even more lethal, and easier to use.
There was no time to retreat. Shinkou screamed and threw her arms in front of her face to block what came, and the hold crowd gasped with her when she opened her eyes.
Around her were millions of dandelions, all a bright and golden yellow, accompanied with many other wildflowers, turning the entire half of the stadium into a beautiful site. The flowers were spread out everywhere; some lay on top of the girl's arms, still shielding her eyes from what she thought was supposed to be a deadly fire jutsu.
"Aw, crap!" Ketsu moaned, arms drooping, his mouth curved into a frown.
He didn't have any time to look; Shinkou's fist shot out and punched him right in the face, and he swore he heard his nose crack. The dark-haired boy flailed his arms, falling down from his position on the wall, and crumbling to a ground like a puppet that lost its strings. The fight was over, and with a simple punch, Uzumaki had defeated Uchiha—it was something that the girl would be proud of for centuries.
"The match is over," The proctor droned, looking from "Wrinkleman" to Shinkou. "The winner," he waved towards the brightly dressed girl, "Is Uzumaki Shinkou," he paused and looked over at Ketsu, who was undoubtedly unconscious. Soon the medicals arrived and picked him up, laying him carefully on a stretcher and moving away.
"YEAH YEAH I WON!!" The girl shouted, positively buoyant. She whooped and punched the air, running around and waving to people in the audience just as her Dad had done at his first Chuunin exam.
"Ha ha, of course she would win," Dai commented, prying her fingers off of the railing. She smiled and leaned her back on it casually, speaking to Souji, "The wrath of Wrinkleman isn't as powerful as it may seem," she joked, looking into his chocolate eyes.
"Yeah," he commented. "But that took freaking long," He sighed, scratching his head. "I absolutely hate waiting, and you would probably know that."
"Mhm," Dai said, slightly distracted. She was watching the Uzumaki run around like an idiot, flailing her skinny little arms all around the place like she was Kage or something. It was a very annoying site, because of the length it took for the proctor to get her out of the arena. But as soon as the kid was gone, the tension rose and everybody seemed to stare down at the proctor, waiting for the next match. She shot a glance at Souji, who seemed very anxious himself, just as she was.
"The next match is," The proctor coughed into his hand, and let his words hang in the silence.
"Damn you, announce it already!" Dai shouted, while Souji placed his hand forcefully over her mouth as a line of curses followed her statement.
Sighing, the proctor continued, "Souji versus Uchiha Sakura," Most of the ninjas in the crowd leaned forward in their seats; it would be quite the treat to watch another Uchiha battle. Although Ketsu's performance had definitely lowered the Clan's standards, many people hoped for a more interesting battle this time.
"Ah, well, no more waiting now I suppose." Ketsu said, grinning sheepishly, and then leaving to descend the stairs. He turned away after Dai gave him a enthusiastic thumbs up, his smile stretching wider.