…Woot. Time jump yay.
***
(Tsuizui POV)
Gotta say, I don't know why Kouichi-kun is making such a fuss about attending this 'chunin exam' thing. I mean, he says he's being 'supportive', but it's just Sasuke. And he's not worth the trouble, if you ask me. I suppose that going to see how the system works would kinda give him a leg up when he gets his turn…but seriously, that won't be for a while yet. Because if I have this whole shinobi system right, you have to go through a low rank before you get to the middle rank…and to get to the low rank, you kinda have to GRADUATE FROM SCHOOL.
Yeesh, this place is really crowded. Not sure I like it. You never know who's hiding in a crowd…
Although, I could learn to like these chu-whatchamacallits. I mean, they did indirectly cause Sasuke's absence for, like, a month…and this pleases me.
The other perk to having so many people in town is that a certain reikon-yajuu can't come around for risk of being seen. I haven't caught a whiff of Urufu since the thingamajiggers started. Which is fine by me.
(Third Person)
"Well, duh. I mean, no offense, but of course you're rooting for Sasuke. You're a girl, and girls just can't get enough of him," Chouji cut in between mouthfuls.
"Nuh-uh! Not true!" A voice suddenly piped into the conversation from the row behind.
"Wha-oh, Kouichi-kun! I didn't see you back there," Sakura stated calmly.
"Sakura, you know this kid?"
"Not very well," she replied to her blonde rival, "We haven't really spoken, but we were introduced, if somewhat informally…He lives with Sasuke. They're more or less roommates."
"Yup! Which is why I can promise that I know what I'm saying when I tell you that not all girls like Sasuke."
"Oh yeah?" Chouji said around several potato chips.
"Uh huh. Matter of fact, Tsuizui's the exact opposite of that description."
"…Tsuizui?" came the group reply.
"Yeah, Tsuizui – woah, where did…" The boy looked round, then rubbed his head sheepishly before diving to the ground on all fours, muttering, "…on my shoulder not ten seconds ago…How…There you are!" The ten-year-old sprang back up, the black-and-white furball in his arms with back legs dangling down. "Sorry 'bout that, eheh… But, look, see?" He swung Tsuizui around so that her belly faced the others. "Female. And she hates Sasuke!"
"Really?"
(Tsuizui POV).
With the white-hot intensity of a hundred thousand raging suns.
(Third Person)
Tsuizui blinked, and began licking daintily at one of her white forelegs, apparently completely unconcerned with her surroundings. Kouichi set her down on the armrest of his seat before turning back to the teens in front of him.
"She sure does. Starts hissing like a cobra whenever she sees him. It's actually quite funny," the ten-year-old grinned.
Ino eyed Kouichi's companion warily, "Does she have issues with everyone, or…"
"Nah, she only dislikes someone if they give her a reason. Sasuke wouldn't let her in the house when she first attached herself to me, and, well, it took a snowstorm to convince him that she wasn't leaving," Kouichi answered. "She hasn't forgiven him that one. Well, that, and he constantly steps on her tail."
(Tsuizui POV)
I swear, the darn thing's gonna be crooked by this time next year if Sasuke doesn't start watching where he's going. The baka.
(Third Person)
"Aw, you poor baby…" Ino cooed at Tsuizui. She acknowledged the former's comment with a flick of her pupils without missing a stroke. "Say, Kouichi," the blonde continued, "what happened to her ear?"
"Dunno," answered the pre-teen, looking at his companion, "that nick as there before I met her. Probably got it in a fight when she was little. I mean, she was a stray before she moved in, so I wouldn't be surprised."
"A stray? Really? Then why did you adopt her?"
"Well…" Kouichi shoved his hands into his pockets, a bit sheepish. "It…wasn't so much that I picked her as she picked me. She started following me everywhere one day, and kept at it for months. She was just a baby then, so I wasn't too worried about her being dangerous."
The fight below picked up, and a massive gust of wind hit the other side of the stadium as all eyes hit the field.
"Idiot!" Ino muttered angrily, "What is he thinking? There's no way he'll get close with that!"
"Question," Kouichi chimed in. "What's with the shadows? I mean, what happens if their shadows touch?"
"If he catches her shadow, he can control her movements, basically."
"Dude, that's awesome!!! I never realized that there were jutsu like that." Someone behind Kouichi angrily shushed at him. "Oops, sorry."
(Tsuizui POV)
Baka! Don't apologize, the S.O.B. ain't worth it. You dare 'sshhhh' at MY Kouichi-kun! He's a kid, let him have his fun. Oh, hey, the match is over. That was fast. And…that means…if Sasuke doesn't show up soon, he's out? …Common, you big bastard, make my day! Really too bad that that one kid gave up, though. I like him. He thinks like a cat.
…On that note, he did the right thing. The fact is, while hard work pays off in the future, procrastination and laziness pay off now. Why do now what can be put off till after a nap, ne?
"AARGH! What a waste! That was his chance to become a chunin!!"…You're a waste of hot air. Stop trying to break the sound barrier.
"Well, that's just who he is." And this one. He's got food out the wazoo, why not share a bite? I don't even wanna KNOW what's in the cheap stuff I get fed. That's what I get for picking a minimum wage household.
"IS HE AN IDIOT?!" OY. YOU IN THE ORANGE, TRYING TO CLIMB OVER THE WALL. SHUT IT. I'm allergic to obnoxious bratty loudmouths. You're gonna make me hack a hairball.
…The hey…? What is wrong with these people? They're actually CALLING for Sasuke? Ew. That is ju-HOLYCRAPBIGSWIRLYVORTEX! AH! Kouichi-kun, save me!
(Third Person)
"RAAYAAOWRR!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Woah-hey! Tsuizui, you crazy…" Fully fluffed and screeching bloody murder, Tsuizui dove at Kouichi, scrambling underneath his shirt with all but her twitching tail tip hidden. "Ow, Tsuizui! Claws! Watch the claws, please! It's not a bad thing!"
(Tsuizui POV)
"It's not a bad thing! Honest! Owowow! Tsuizui relax! It's-ah! It's Sasuke, Tsuizui! Sasuke's here, look!" …Didn't you just say that it wasn't a bad thing? Better take a look…Unfortunately, the view from, well, the neck of Kouichi-kun's shirt only reveals what I don't wanna know. The baka is back. Dammit. I suppose the guy with the silver hair is Kakashi-san, then. Sasuke's sensei.
…what the hell is Sasuke wearing? I mean, I know I'm not much of a fashion knowitall, I mean I go in the nude 24/7 after all, but what the frick? Blech. Hairball warning.
…False alarm, I'm cool.
"SASUKE-KUUUUN!!!" OW! DAMMIT, BITCH! Sensitive hearing, over here! Ow. Frick. My ears are ringing now. Can't. Hear. Son. Of. A. Bitch.
***
"Chidori. Also known as the Raikiri."
"Raikiri?" Whowhatwhere. I missed something, I know I did.
…Giant ball of sand. Sasuke's stuck up to elbow in a giant, spiky ball of frikkin' SAND. Oh, yeah. I definitely missed something.
"The Raikiri is…a nickname earned when Kakashi cut a bolt of lightning using that technique."
Who said that? …Just how long was I out? Stupid scream scrambled my brain. Humans still talking. Cat brain refusing to focus. Oh look, a butterfly.
Hm, I wonder how big the time jump was that just occurred was? I mean, I couldn't have been out for that long, however loud that girl screamed. (A/N: and totally having nothing to do with the author being lazy. Like, seriously. Absolutely nothing whatsoever.) I suppose it might just have been that I got - WOAH, back up there, hold everything! Bad scent bad scent, bad scent!!
Why the hell does that butterfly carry yajuu scent?!! And my least favorite beastie's scent, too.
What the hell is Urufu doing here now!?!!
(Third Person)
Tsuizui stiffened, and then slipped quietly out from Kouichi's shirt. The preteen scarcely registered the movement – his companion was in the habit of constantly forcing herself in and out of his clothing. It didn't cause him any discomfort anymore unless she used her claws. It wasn't until she had made it about halfway up the stairs leading to the nearest exit that her human noticed her disappearance.
"What the – Tsuizui, where are you off to?"
She simply turned her head around to face him, meowed once, and waited. Kouichi stood up, bemused. "Come back here, the match isn't – hey!" His indignant cry as Tsuizui turned and resumed walking was met by more angry "SHHH!"-ing. Kouichi yelped an apology and fled after his retreating companion. Tsuizui continued straight for the exit, stopping now and again to make sure her human wasn't lost.
(Tsuizui POV)
Believe me, if I don't watch him, he will get lost. I'd really rather not bring him along right now, considering who it is I'm tracking, but since he's decided he's going to follow, I better keep an eye on him. 'Sides, there's no way that damn yajuu will lay a paw on my Kouichi-kun while I'm around. Urufu, you'd best watch your tail while I'm on the prowl, and that goes for your master, too!
(Third Person)
Kouichi had now chased Tsuizui several blocks away from the stadium. His breath came in short gasps as he tried to catch his black-and-white friend, who easily stayed well ahead of the ten-year-old. Tsuizui finally stopped beneath a light post, and began to sent the ground and air, urgency portrayed in every quivering hair and whisker. Her tail lashed angrily. Kouichi, relieved to finally have a short break from chasing Tsuizui, leaned exhaustedly against the street light, trying to catch his breath.
Suddenly, the entire city trembled.
A massive force hit the city wall, plowing through it as though it were butter. Konoha was under attack from a massive, three-headed beast with flicking tongues and slitted eyes. The sand nin had made their move.
Out of nowhere, a quiet voice half whispered, "Ah. So he really is going for it, then." Tsuizui's head snapped up toward the roof of the building where she had stopped. Kouichi looked up more slowly, still panting at the lamp post. His eyes widened, terrified.
A cloaked figure was sitting on the roof of the building. The black hood covered him – if it was a boy, it was difficult to tell by the youthful voice – completely, obscuring any sign of his identity. His face looked to be masked, but he was staring intently at the area from which the explosive sound and monstrous roars originated, so it was hard to be sure. But it wasn't the boy in the cloak that had made Kouichi gasp – it was his snow white companion.
The creature looked to have literally stepped out of Kouichi's only nightmare.
Snow white, thick fur. Glowing eyes, not quite gold, not quite orange, not quite brown, not quite yellow. Built like a dog, but at a scale closer to a bear or a horse. A long, thick furred tail nearly the length of its body.
It was lying on the roof, half sprawled, half curled, with the cloaked figure seated against its belly, completely at ease.
"Orochimaru's getting cocky," Cloak's quiet voice said, nonchalantly, "ne, Urufu?" He looked away from Kouichi, who was frozen in terror, to face the beast. Urufu turned toward its apparent comrade, and spotted Kouichi.
Kouichi could only stutter under his breath, trembling in absolute horror, praying with every fiber of his being that he was trapped in another nightmare.
Tsuizui fluffed out every hair from nose to tail, and yowled a ferocious, challenging battlecry. The white beast dismissed her without a glance, so intently was it glaring at Kouichi. It started to bristle, black lips beginning to pull back to reveal pointed fangs…
***
Yes, that's really where I'm ending this. Mwahahahaha. I'm so very sadistic today.
Well, first off, for the few people who actually READ this story… A translation of any Japanese words I used in this and the previous chapters:
Otouto – little/younger brother
Kaa-chan – mother, very informal. Think 'mommy'.
Tou-chan – father, very informal. Think 'daddy'.
Nii-chan – brother, can be used for a very close male friend. Very informal, but affectionate – typically used when the speaker is supposed to be cute.
Tsuizui – follow. Kouichi's not very creative when it comes to names.
Raion – lion. Raion is the little wooden lion from the prologue.
Neko – cat. But I already told you that.
Gomenasai – very formal, polite way of saying 'I'm sorry'. 'Gomen' is the shortened form.
Urufu – wolf. The other word for wolf, I should mention, is Ookami. Now, where have we heard that before…
Reikon – spirit. Or soul. Whichever you prefer.
Yajuu – beast. Monster or Wild animal are alternate versions, but I'm using the first. Get it? Reikon-yajuu are spirit beasts. Not to be confused with beast spirits, which belong to Toei, not me.
Domo Arigatou – Thank you very much. Okay, so technically, it was after the chapter, but it's still Japanese.
Baka – idiot, moron, dumb***, jack***, imbecile, take your pick. If you've seen Naruto subbed, you've probably heard Sakura screaming this word at Naruto multiple times.
Sensei – teacher
Raikiri – lightning edge
Second order of business: Ookami has at LEAST two sections, both told from a different point of view. The other section that's in progress is Hikari, which is in fact posted, and stars Itachi, Kisame, and a rather odd little boy. AppleL0V3R is going to be writing a third part, but I haven't decided if I'm going to write it from my perspectives or not yet.
Thirdly, please review, I love feedback. Criticism will be used for improvements. Flames will be used for weenie roasting.
