Chapter 1: The Dragon Strikes
The moon is full and Hinata and the other students from the Ninja Academy lay on the grass hill looking up at the stars. The smell of steak up from the barbeque at the bottom. The wind is cold enough to make it chilly, but not strong enough to blow anything but a piece of paper away. The calm river is going just fast enough to hear here it, but not so fast that it gets in the way.
I hope he shows up, Hinata thinks to herself. If he's not here soon he'll miss everything.
"Everything okay, Hinata," Maiku asked her. It was freezing to Hinata, but Maiku was still in a black tank top that showed his abs. He also had on some thin sweatpants and running shoes. The moonlight provided enough light for her to still see his piercing purple eyes. His black hair almost blended into the sky. "You seem worried."
"Oh," she avoided eye contact out of shyness. She avoided it with everyone, but even so she could tell Maiku was a little offended. "I just don't know if Nikku is coming."
"Oh," Maiku knew that Hinata had liked Nikku for a while, but he hadn't even acknowledged her. Nikku was all about training and didn't really hang out with anyone outside of the classroom.
"Burgers are done," Sutan yelled. Despite his shadowy jutsus, he had a surprisingly upbeat attitude. Sutan had always been a master cook, but no matter how much he ate, he was still skinny. He had light blue eyes and brown hair. He always wore brown baggy pants and a short sleeve green shirt that was one size too big.
"Everyone duck," Nikku screamed as he came out of the water in a pair of shorts. His long black hair stuck to his body and his brown eyes shined in the moonlight. He threw a kunai at a passing bird and exploded a paper bomb. "Is everyone okay?"
"How'd you know that was coming?" Sutan asked.
"One bird, in the middle of the night, during migrating season? Whoever set this up wasn't very good at it."
"Yeah?" Aivan came over and picked up Nikku by his neck. Aivan was a muscular kid that no one ever dared to cross. His red eyes made everyone fear him and he used that as a way to control people. He wore a black t-shirt that was tight on his abs and a pair of jeans. "So thanks and all, but now you can just get out of here." He threw Nikku back into the river and a few other kids gathered around for support.
"It's okay, guys," Hinata tried to calm them down. "I invited him here."
"No I get it." Nikku got out on the other side of the river. "He's scared of me just because I'm not from this land. Most people are, I've gotten used to it."
"I'm not scared of you!" Aivan jumped across the river. "I could take you anytime, anywhere!"
"How about now?"
"Let's go!"
They went down the river where they would have no one would have an environmental advantage and they wouldn't ruin the barbeque.
Nikku stepped on the river and used his technique to walk to the middle.
"Let the battle begin!" One of Aivan's goons yelled.
Nikku immediately started chanting, "Ushi sato u nae ee tori! ushi uma tori nae inu tori nee ushi isuji nae jee nee sori! ishu ushi tori su jee nae ushu tori ee nae ee." And when he was done he kept making hand gestures so fast that no one could make them out.
"I don't know what you're doing," Aivan said. "But you won't finish it!" He threw a small shuriken that slashed Nikku's arm, but he kept going. He threw a kunai that stuck in Nikku's leg, but that didn't even faze him.
"What's going—" Aivan started.
"Tori!" Nikku cut him off. His fingers formed a triangle. "Water-Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Behind Nikku a waterspout with a Chinese dragonhead formed and curved and stopped above him. It plowed into Aivan and he was down in one hit.
"Nikku is the winner," said a disappointed goon.
"Nikku!" Hinata hugged Nikku when he stepped off the river.
"Hey," he said, weakly. "Thanks for inviting me."
"I had no idea you could perform that strong a jutsu," Maiku came over.
"I've been working on it for years. That's why I could never hang out with you guys. I thought if I could learn a strong jutsu people would look up to me, not fear me."
"That was awesome," Sutan cheered.
"You just got lucky," Aivan struggled. "Next time I'll kill you!"
"Okay," Nikku said sarcastically. "Sure you will."
"I will!" He got up and threw a large shuriken at Nikku.
Nikku didn't have the strength left to dodge it, so he just pushed everyone away. He let himself collapse and it just missed his head.
"Give it up," Nikku demanded, getting back to his feat. "You already lost!"
"It isn't over until one of us dies!"
Nikku quickly perfomed some more hand signals and ended with a clap. "Water-Style: Water Prison Jutsu!"
Aivan was trapped in a sphere of water.
"Do you get it?" Nikku asked. "You can't beat me!" He released Aivan.
"How are you so strong?"
"I have a reason to fight." He glanced at Hinata.
Aivan left to go home and Nikku stayed around to have fun. While he was at the party he realized what he had missed out on. He didn't have many friends, so he just hung out with Hinata for most of the party.
After everything was done Nikku walked Hinata home.
"Thank you," she said.
"Don't mention it," Nikku replied. "Oh, and I just wanted to say, I hope we get put on the same team tomorrow." He kissed her on the forehead and started heading to his own house.
Hinata just stood there in shock until her cousin Neji came out and asked if she was alright.
"I'm fine," she assured him. "And I really do to."