Are you thirsty for blood?
Leaving Home
It was August 10th, the day of my Tae Kwon Do competition. I have already received my black belt one year ago. It only took me about four years to reach my goal.
I sighed, staring at the empty Dr Pepper can in my right hand. It would be another competition without my mother. This time she had to work. At least my grandma came. She always managed to show up.
It was a local competition. I never bothered signing up for the state tournament. My mom didn't have the money for such a thing, being a single parent and all.
I looked up at the clock. It was 5:30pm. That meant my match was coming up. I grabbed my sparring bag and made my way to the door. There was cheering in the background. The match before mine was finally over. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I bit my bottom lip. This was the final match tonight, or at least for the younger ones of us.
At last I opened the door to the back stage. I found a corner and opened my sparring bag. I was already wearing my white uniform. I put on my chest protector, as well as my feet and hand protectors. I was about to place my head gear on when I heard a chuckle from behind me.
I turned around to see a guy standing there. "I have to fight a girl? Hell, you're just a kid." He mocked. I studied him closely. He was almost six feet tall and he seemed to be in his mid-teens. He was underestimating my abilities. I stood up and smiled at him.
"May the Lord be with us both." I said, still smiling and reaching my hand out to him so we may shake on a good match. He scoffed and spit on my hand.
"I'm an atheist." He ridiculed and walked away. I looked down at my hand.
I wasn't angry with him. I've learned to control my temper. And besides, I could get my revenge in the upcoming match. I wiped my hand on my pants and put on my head gear and mouth piece. After making a short prayer, I made my way to the main ring. After the way he treated me, I was dying to show him what I was truly capable of.
I walked into the ring, staring at my overconfident opponent. The examiner looked down at me. He too was most likely doubting me. I looked in the stands that surrounded me, hoping my mother found a way around work and decided to make an appearance. Unfortunately, she did not. I looked down at my feet, my eyes watering. My opponent smirked at this. "What's the matter? You're not gonna cry, are you?" He mocked with a laugh. I glared at him. "Hurry up and start the match already. I want to get this over with." My opponent ordered the examiner.
"Very well." The examiner answered, a little angry at the disrespect he was receiving. The examiner gave us the signal to walk up to one another, shake hands, and bow to each other. We did as he wanted. "Begin!" The examiner announced, making the crowd cheer in the process.
I stepped back, waiting for him to make his move. He may be big, but I had the advantage of speed. I was the fastest out of my whole group of friends. He charged at me head on, aiming a punch to my chest. I easily dodged and ran behind him. He glared at me with his icy blue eyes. "You just gonna run away?" He asked me.
I remained silent, waiting for his next move. He charged at me once again, trying to punch me with his left fist. He must have been left handed.
I jumped above his punch and sent a front kick to his face. He flew backward, landing on his back. He quickly got up with the look of death in his eyes. "You'll pay for that." He promised, wiping off a drop of blood from his nose.
We had a quick staring contest until he got sick of waiting and tried to throw a kick at me. I blocked it with my left arm and tried to use a crescent kick on his face, only this time he caught it. My eyes widened when he punched me in the right eye. The examiner blew his whistle.
"Punches to the face are illegal moves. Kaitlyn receives another point." He announced.
"You've got to be kidding me?!" The man roared with anger. I got back up and touched my newly received black eye.
He was now blind by anger. He charged at me again, throwing another punch after the other. I jumped four feet in the air, spun in a perfect 360 circle, and sent a round kick to his face. He finally fell to the ground and out of the ring. I always relied on my kicks. Not only did they win you more points, but my kicks were my strongest point.
The whistle was blown. "Robert is unable to continue." The examiner announced. He grabbed my right arm and raised it high. "Kaitlyn Snyder is the victor!" He yelled. The crowd was going insane. I looked down at my feet, my face was turning red. I managed to win, leaving with only a black eye.
I knew my mom would be happy for me. She used to be in Tae Kwon Do when she was in High School. I looked up to the ceiling. "Thank you, Lord." I whispered happily.
I met up with my grandmother at the door. "Congratulations, Kaitlyn! You did so well! You're mother will be so proud!" He said before she had a chance to stop herself.
I looked down at the ground. This was the sixth competition she's missed. My grandma attended all of them. I knew she had her reasons, but it still hurt. I'm only twelve. It would be nice to get to spend more time with her.
"Kaitlyn, Sweetie, I'm sorry." My grandmother apologized.
"It's not your fault." I mumbled.
We walked to the car in silence. Since my hands were occupied with my new trophy, Grandma opened the door for me. She tried to start a conversation to get rid of the awkwardness, but failed and just turned on the radio in the end.
Grandma dropped me off at my house. I had my key with me. I waved at her from the porch, putting a fake smile on. All I really wanted to do was cry. I was a sensitive girl.
I walked in and down the hall to my bedroom. I had a lot of posters up to hide drawings I made with a Sharpie back when I was little; most included Dora the Explorer to my embarrassment. My room was small, so I had a twin-sized bed. I stood in front of the long mirror on my wall to observe my black eye. I got distracted with making strange faces at myself though. I laughed to myself.
I grabbed a brush and brushed my light brown hair, pulling it up in a ponytail. I noticed that my banes needed to be trimmed soon. I'd tell mom when she got home. I put some make-up on to help hide my black eye. It wasn't very pleasant to look at. I then applied some black-eyeliner around my hazel eyes just for the heck of it. I looked at what I was wearing. I still haven't changed out of my Tae Kwon Do uniform, so I walked over to my closet. Since it was almost ninety degrees outside, I pulled out a white shirt stained with paint and jean shorts.
I walked over to my TV and picked up the case to the first season of Naruto. My grandpa had bought me every Naruto DVD in hopes on getting me addicted to anime. My aunt helped him. My grandparents weren't together. They divorced way before I was even born. It seemed like relationships always ended horribly in my family. I hoped that it would be different for me.
I put in the first DVD in and sat on my bed, cuddling with my pillow. Maybe this would distract me from my thoughts. I watched it through and sighed, turning it off. It was getting late. I turned around to get back in bed and lie down, but I heard static. I faced the television. It turned itself back on. I tried turning it off again, but the static just grew louder. I studied it closely. I gasped, falling on my butt. I could have sworn I just saw a face in the TV. Then the TV seemed to be coming closer to me. No, wait. I was moving closer to the television!
I couldn't move. The TV was sucking me in and I was too afraid to do anything about it. An arm reached out of the television and grabbed me by the leg. I screamed as loud as my lungs would let me. "Mom!" I called, begging for help. It didn't do any good. She wouldn't be home till 11:00pm. Half of my body was already in the TV. I closed my eyes, paralyzed with fear. I don't remember anything after that.
I awoke, hearing a voice in the distance. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked a couple times before I could see. I was finally able to make out the voice. "Hey, lady!" The strange figure screamed in my ear. The event that happened with the TV replayed through my mind. I sat up, looking around with fear in my eyes. "Umm… lady? Are you okay?" The boy asked me. I turned my head in his direction. I was unable to move or speak again. A small breeze passed us by. The boy I was staring at was no other than Naruto Uzumaki himself.
He began to blush. "Lady, why are you looking at me like that?" He asked. Naruto gasped before I managed to say anything. "Lady, what happened to your eye?" He practically screamed in my ear.
"Umm…" I looked down, blushing. 'Say something.' I told myself. "It's nothing." I answered. "I was just in another fight." I said, smiling.
"Another?" He repeated with his eyes closed. "Wait! Does that mean you're a ninja?" He yelled loud enough for the world to hear. I wondered why he was so shocked. I studied him closely and realized he was still wearing his goggles. 'So he's not a ninja yet.' I thought to myself.
"No. I'm not a ninja." I told him. "I'm in Tae Kwon Do. It's a type of martial arts." I explained.
"So you know Tai Jutsu?" He questioned.
"I guess you could say that." I smiled, scratching my cheek.
"Oh! I almost forgot! My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. And I'm gonna be," he pointed the sky dramatically, "the next Hokage!" I couldn't help but giggle at this. "Hey! What's so funny?" Naruto asked with his hands on his hips.
"Oh, nothing. I think you'll make a wonderful Hokage, Naruto-kun." I said, standing up. He blushed. "Y-You really think so?" He asked. I nodded and looked around us. "Hey." He said, earning my attention.
"Hmm?" I questioned.
"You never told me your name." He said curiously.
"Oh! I'm sorry. My name is Kaitlyn Snyder. I'm new here… apparently." I said, my mind trailing off to our surroundings.
'She's kinda weird.' he thought to himself. "So, Kaitlyn. If you're not from around here, then where are you from?" Naruto asked me. I looked at him.
"I'm from America." I smiled.
"America? I never heard of it. Some kind of town or something?" Naruto questioned.
"Umm… Well… No, it's a country." I said, trying to explain. "It's just far away."
"Hmph," was his only reply. His stomach suddenly growled. "Hehe. It's chow time!" He cheered. Naruto blushed. "You wanna get some ramen with me?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'd like that." I answered.
"Really? I mean, that's awesome! Believe it!" he yelled. He grabbed me by the hand and ran in the ramen shops direction.