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Truths and Misconceptions
Hinata set off into Konoha unsure of where to go exactly. She was a loner and she had eclectic tastes as to where to go when she was alone, meaning she went to different places on a whim, and depending on her mood. Which for the most part it meant going into the woods alone or to the waterfalls to think as she was always by herself.
But by Serjio's friendly, albeit pushy, encouragement she was being forced to choose where she could spend a day having fun and relaxing rather than training for the Chuunin exams.
At first she felt a little self conscious about having him follow her as this drew looks from all the villagers. Although she acknowledged it could be much weirder. Serjio was sporting his tunic, tabard, and sword, no armor this time. The look of her being followed by a fully armored knight would have turned heads.
She decided to give him a more detailed tour of the village to pass the time. He only asked the occasional question of the things she showed him. But none where of the present but of her village's past. All, very specific and very good questions, about lifestyle, Shinobi, the Nine-Tail Fox Demon and about the other villages. She enjoyed teaching him these little things, but in truth she was trying to buy time for herself to think of something to do.
She shrugged mentally when she came across Sakura and Ino arguing again and Tenten trying to calm them down, the grip of being an outsider came crawling back into her mind, but by a mental slip she lost track of Serjio for an instant and when she looked forward again, he was chatting with Sakura and Ino.
"Erato Ino!" said Serjio knowing Ino's name but also gesturing to Sakura, she, having given him directions the day before.
"Oh yeah, hi Serjio" she answered remembering the lucky timing he had caught her with at the sushi bar.
"So, Serjio, are you here all by your lonesome?" asked Sakura committing his name to memory.
"Nay, I am with Hinata" he said gesturing to Hinata who was a halfway between keeping her distance and standing next to him.
"Oh, really? Hinata, sweetie come here" said Ino walking over and snatching Hinata by the hand and bringing her to the group.
"What do you mean you are with Hinata, made a new friend?" asked Tenten with a devious tone, but restraining her rambunctious impulse, knowing Hinata's shyness and having a care for her.
"Um, he is living at my house for the moment, his teammates left a day ago and I'm giving him a tour of the village" said Hinata trying to force the words out of her mouth.
"Ah ha, I see. Well, the girls and I were going to go hang out for the rest of the day before the exam to try and unwind, you want to come with us?" asked Ino.
Hinata sighed in relief mentally and nodded, she followed the trio and looked back to see if Serjio was following.
He was standing as if there was an invisible line separating him from them, or as if he at the lip of a chasm and couldn't join them.
"Serj you're invited too" added Tenten with a friendly wink.
Serjio smiled earnestly and stepped up to follow them.
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Marcus was smiling deviously, they had only been gone a day and they were on the track to finding their quarry. A man who was identified as "Orochimaru", he was supposed to be one of the legendary assassins known as Saanin.
He was looking forward to killing this man and his master, the great serpent. He could feel ripples in the land, there was a taint and they were going to seek it out. He salivated at the chance to fight the snake, the man however was of no consequence he was sure.
There were few daemons he ever placed enough esteem in for he to want to fight them especially. All daemons were the same to him; imps, harpies, tempests, spirit, homunculi. All the same, their blood was all the same to him, he cared not from where their blood came so long as it came.
He had however a black list of daemons he wanted to kill himself. And among them was a particularly insidious and crafty one, named The Deceiver. A bestial creature, half man and half wolf, named The Hound.
And one, that although not so powerful as the others, he had marked the order in a way no other could, he had smeared the taint of impurity on the Templar banner. And now he had to deal with it. Him, HIM, Marcus Black Rose had to bear the weight of the taint, Marcus Black Rose, one of the most powerful and faithful of the Order had to bear the torture of watching the taint grow before his eyes, and what more, to see it assimilate everything the order stood for in some sort of sick, twisted parody of what a Templar should be.
If it were up to him and not the Saint, bless her mind, he would have severed the taint at its first sign. Why did the Saint allow the taint to grow, he would never understand.
He was however optimistic that nature would take its course, that things would be what they are, daemons, daemons and men, men. He knew that the taint would one day be severed, purged and destroyed. And that day, he knew it was not too much to hope; would be soon.
What if, the Saint was testing them. See how long they would wait, how long they would be patient. He would not touch the thing with the intention to hurt it, but he could goad it into fighting.
At least that is what he had been trying to do for the past decade, the taint was patient.
But he was Marcus Black Rose The Bane of Half Breeds.
He would live up to his name if it was the last thing he did.
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The rest of the day was, enjoyable to say the least.
Serjio mixed well with the girls and hung out with them the rest of the day.
They went from Tenten's favorite teahouse where Serjio discovered the drink for the first time and tried half of the varieties on the menu and over drank giving him an upset stomach.
To Ino's house where they had lunch. Ino's mom eyed Serjio strangely sending Ino suggesting looks about the handsome young man who was with them.
Serjio remained quiet for the most part, but always smiling and attentive of them and everything they said.
Hinata connected, oddly enough, with them in a way she hadn't before. She felt like one of the group and she began to speak clearly and aloud, although still a little shyly. She had, fun, fun with friends she had never truly connected with and had a marvelous day with them.
They spoke, and laughed and she was treated like one of the group for once. Not like a loner, or like she was delicate, or like she was a noble.
Like one of the group.
She couldn't help but feel a form of naiveté on Serjio's part as to the whole day. Like he had never had friend's his age before. Everything they did, she couldn't help but find it endearing, but it was like he was doing them for the first time. Having a day of nothing but lollygagging and relaxing, playing, and simply bonding. It was as if he had never done that before.
He also had a distressed look on his life as they did certain things by themselves and not let him do them.
Things like opening doors, washing the dishes and picking up the utensils on the table when they finished eating at Ino's house.
Serjio was eager to serve in nature and behaved like an indentured servant in many ways. He was humble, lowly humble even, overly respectful and quiet when in presence of a host.
This made Hinata wonder if all Templar were like this, or if it was just him.
Hinata noticed that he possessed a strange complexion. He had refined features and somewhat pointy ears that were only a dab longer than most other ears. His lavender eyes were by far the most vivid and intense eyes she had seen anywhere.
Ino however noticed a few other things, one that she thought of as cute was his humility and the fact that he was a delicate sort of handsome, but was however completely unaware of it. Even with the few little nicks and cuts on his face he could be quite the catch.
Sakura noticed something odd about Serjio the instant she saw his reaction when Naruto came over and chatted with them for a, just a little boasting and encouragement for the exams to come.
Ino and Sakura knew Hinata well enough to know that she had a massive thing for Naruto, and that he was completely aloof to it. She didn't know if he was trying to ignore it, or if he was stupid enough to not notice.
When Hinata started to blush, Serjio looked at the reaction with a slight, almost undetectable recoil. Like he didn't like the way she had reacted.
Did Serjio like Hinata?
The young Templar was asking himself why he felt that way when Hinata started to blush. He knew exactly, there and then, that she was infatuated with Naruto. But why did he react the way that he had?
He was, for lack of a better word, scared of what he was feeling in his chest, his heart was wrenching. He was friendly and kind, sure, but he was terrified of one thing above all; getting hurt. He hated trusting others and only finding that these were false friendships and sad misconceptions. Due to his origin he was used to being alone and being the pariah in the Order. He had no friends, and trusted no one, only captain was nice to him. Only Master was sweet to him.
He blessed her name everyday and thanked the Saint as many times for giving him that small glint of light in his life.
Then again, he thanked the Saint every day for the Templar having allowed his coming into their Order, even if they were not nice to him. He was a burden and he knew it, they were bearing it, and he would be forever in their dept for doing so.
He hoped that it was nothing, that his heart was not singing to his mind about her. He prayed and hoped that this was not the case, because he knew beyond a doubt that it would be a very bad misconception.
The rest of the day, he distanced himself from her some. Hinata noticed and made a mental note to ask him if something was wrong when they were going home.
But when she did, he only answered "Speak the truth, or nothing at all", oddly eloquent of him, although it was heavy with his accent and his words were slightly mispronounced.
"I don't want to say" he added.
"Well, if you want to, you can come tell me, ok?" she replied warily, Serjio had been nothing but kind and sweet, if there was something wrong with him she wanted to help.
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The day after, was a blur, however vivid it was.
Hinata remembered how it started, she had breakfast but couldn't eat very much from nerves. Father set her off and Serjio followed her in full outfit like a body guard. When they arrived at the test grounds he put his hand on her shoulder and said nothing. But somehow, that gesture said, all she needed to feel.
"You're going to be alright"
She smiled and gave him one of her half hidden waves.
She felt better, every time she got scared or nervous, she found herself thinking of Serjio in full armor and dress. His helmet had scars, deep and shallow, diverse and menacing looking scars. It was strange but somehow, the face of his helmet was a symbol and it gave her a sense of reassurance when she fought.
She couldn't explain it but it was like Serjio was looking after her.
He helped her any way he could during the one month of training after the scroll phase of the exam. She fought him using Gentle Palm and he countered as best he could.
Kiba and Shino came to know him better as time passed. And so did Kurenai, her sensei and guardian during the one month of rest and training she had before the final stages of the exam.
She smiled, she was glad she met him, he was a great friend. Her first true friend, how weird was it that of all the people in the village she had never fully connected with any of them, but with this stranger she felt at ease in four weeks.
But right now, those feelings had evaporated, she was about to fight Neji, this was the other most terrifying scenario she would have ever thought of.
The fight began, and she stood her ground. Naruto was watching her, Sakura was watching, so was Kurenai sensei, so was Serjio, his face hidden behind his helmet. Everyone's faces varied from encouragement, to surprise, to rage.
No amount of verbal abuse was going to make her back down, she could not, Naruto believed in her, she could not lose. No amount of anger from Neji, or any of his speeches about destiny and fate was going to make her give up. She knew she was going to lose, but she felt like she had won, she had won against herself. And she had managed to get a few good blows in and a few impossible dodges and blocks. The training with the Templar had helped her immensely. She had done better than she could have hoped.
She, Hinata Hyuga, had faced Neji and fought to the bitter end.
As the fight progressed, Kakashi noticed something strange.
The boy who was introduced as a Templar for the hunt of Orochimaru was glowing with energy.
Of course, only a trained eye could see it, or Sharingan in his case. He had an aura of energy that cackled silently about him that none of the others could see. But about his clenched fist rippled energy, lashing to be loosed upon someone, Kakashi knew right off the bat that most likely it was aimed at Neji for beating Hinata so severely. Serjio's fist was clenched most likely in anger.
He had to watch him, he was sure the others would watch Neji if he was going to overdo it. These were not fights to the death.
It was in the split second when Neji screamed in rage at Hinata and wound his arm to strike a killing blow that everyone froze. Before Kakashi could react, before anyone could react. In the instant it takes for a mind to act, a strike of white lightning lanced out at Neji from Serjio's chest, its body bent and arched in cruel angles, its sound deafening in the battleground. But its point, homed in on Neji's back surely and unmoving from the trajectory at its target.
Neji was flung to the wall opposite of Hinata like a rag doll, the girl's eyes were wide, and only vaguely registered that it was Serjio from where the arc had come, her sight was blurring, she could only tell it was him by the shape of his black cloak.
Before she fell she was in the arms of Kurenai who had reacted and dropped down to help her up.
She called for the medics.
Neji however was not as accepting that the fight was over, and turned his wrath on the Templar who had now dropped down from the railing and was running to Hinata's side.
Neji screamed and charged at him.
Serjio only slowed his run slightly holding his hand and arm out stretched and tense. His gauntlet open and slightly clenched at a cruel pose and he said loud and clear the single phrase that would cause Neji the most pain in his life;
"Agon Acerbitas"
A tidal wave of anguish and torment exploded from every nerve of Neji's body. He had no breath to scream, his body contorted and bent, his muscles spastically contorted themselves in wild bursts of agony. Tears bled out of his eyes and blood splattered lightly from his mouth, he having bitten deeply into his tongue.
Serjio continued to approach Kurenai and only held his hand fixated on Neji for an instant. All eyes were on the pair for a moment, Serjio's gesture and command, and Neji's strange contortion, the low whining moaning scream in the back of everyone's mind and ears, it resembled three high-pitched voices screaming in a symphony of suffering. By the time anyone had enough sense to regain the consciousness that they could move, the torture was over.
The Templar knew how much was enough, and the look Neji had on his face after ten seconds was sign for the end of the agony.
When Serjio dropped his hand, so eased Neji's movements. He lay, immobile on his back, a deep breath coughed through the silence of the arena. Then a long cry, the most anguished note anyone had ever heard anywhere.
A cry of utter, annihilation, of utter, inconsolable agony.
Then silence…
Neji passed out. Guy rushed to check on him and so did Kakashi, both found the strangest thing, Neji's body was unharmed, save for the bite on his tongue.
They both gave each other the same confused look and then looked back at Serjio who helping place Hinata on the stretcher.
Kurenai, Kakashi and Guy all looked at each other wondering the same thing.
What just happened?
As Serjio tried to follow the medics who were carrying Hinata whom attempted to shoo him away as best they could seeing what he had just done. Naruto stopped him, Kakashi came to him and stepped up to the pair.
"Serjio was it? We need to have a little chat"
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Serjio was taken aside by Kakashi who was grateful for Hinata's prompt, albeit completely unnecessary rescue. They could have handled it perfectly. Still, Serjio's head was in the right place.
However what he had done to Neji raised alarm in everyone. They could have all bet their lives that he was burning Neji from the inside out, but upon further examination of the body, the body was completely unharmed.
Overall, there was not much to say, he hadn't hurt Neji anymore than the next competitor, however the jutsu, spell, or whatever he had done was brutal in the extreme.
"Serjio, what jutsu was that?"
"Nay justsu, a forbidden curse"
"And what did you just do to him?"
"In old tongue, Agon Acerbitas means, agony and anguish. I made him stop fighting"
"And that…curse….it won't hurt him will it?"
"Nay, it is torture, but it does not harm the body or the mind"
"I'm going to ask you only once, to stay out of the fights and not to use that curse again"
"But he was-"
"I know he was going to hurt Hinata, but we would not have allowed it, we were just about to stop him when you reacted"
Serjio looked at Kakashi questioningly then bowed his head in acquiescence.
And with that, Kakashi left him be, he needed to check up on Sasuke, speaking of curses, he wanted to know how the boy was doing since Orochimaru marked him in the forest.
Serjio was left alone by the rest of the group who were now a little wary of him. He felt ashamed, he was not supposed to have used that, it was forbidden, but, it felt so justified when he used it on that boy who looked like Hinata. He was about to kill her, he reacted on instinct, he couldn't just allow him to do her harm like that, she was his friend.
Also, on a personal level, he was just as enraged as Naruto at Neji. He knew he could change, he knew he was not a monster, even though his people thought of him like one.
He believed in the power of redemption and change, people could change.
He knew they could, he was a breathing example of that.
He made up his mind to leave Hinata be to the physicians. He walked away quietly to collect his thoughts, he needed his wits for what was to come later that day.
Everything was happening so fast, he was well aware he had crossed a line in hurting Neji from which he could not recant. But he would not regret having done so, he would apologize to no one for having stood for his friend.
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Time passed, the second tier matches were played out in the shadows of the Arena of Konoha. All of the matches were breathtaking and special.
Naruto as underdog surprised everyone by beating Neji. The Hyuga boy was crushed and shocked by the defeat. Was he wrong? Could people change by simply doing hard work and courage?
Shikamaru also gave up when fighting the sand ninja Temari, to everyone's surprise. He was simply tired and fresh out of his scarce enthusiasm for anything.
At the end of the match ups, something happened that no one was expecting.
After the final match, the Hokage spoke out.
"People of Konoha, Combatants of the Chuunin Exam, allies, visitors all!" he said, clear and loud into the arena.
"By our visitors, the Templar Daemon Hunters of Varajo, we have arranged for a final exhibition match to mark the end of the Chuunin exams".
"I am proud to give you Templar Nicolai Argent, and Mancipium Everto Serjio Alexandros!"
The crowd cheered and clapped.
Everyone who knew Serjio, felt a sense of dread, the same sense of dread they felt for their friends as they fought in the Arena. They wished for the best for their friend.
A tall man, sporting a fierce, malicious looking hammer walked into the area waving at the crowd with pride, and with an insidious smile that suggested he was remembering some private joke.
And at the mention of his name, Serjio entered the arena, wearing his normal armor, save his helmet. He wished he had it on, he was more embarrassed and ashamed than ever. Truly it must have been Nicolai's doing to give his name to the Hokage with that title ahead of it.
Captain had decided to set this small match for the village as a gift, she sent Nicolai back to the village to arrange it.
It was just like Nicolai to be that cruel when the Captain was not around.
Serjio wanted to disappear, he wanted to cry, somehow it seemed like the entire crowd was cheering for Nicolai to beat him. Like they all knew what Mancipium Everto meant.
He hated Nicolai, he hated him with all his might, but he would never act on it. He wanted to be better than that.
He was thankful however that at the very least Hinata was still recovering and not watching, he could not bear the weight of suffering a defeat that was likely to come at the hands of Nicolai, and have her witness it.
He felt a foot tall and was jittery about the fight, about being the center of attention. About fighting one of his greatest tormentors.
Both Daemon Hunters approached the middle of the arena.
Serjio knelt to scoop up some sand and rub it on his hands and face as he always did before a fight. The powdered feeling gave him a sense of calm, the smell of earth also helped.
"And so, here we are" said Nicolai.
Serjio said nothing and shouldered his halberd neutrally as he waited for Nicolai to make ready.
The man gazed at the boy's weapon with a sense of reminiscence, "That was your mother's weapon" he said.
"I've never seen a Templar with more promise, or with more folly" he added.
Serjio's gaze was downcast, he knew what was coming, it burned, it hurt. And he had no idea what to idea what to do, if he fought them, he would prove them correct. If he didn't it insulted, slandered and mocked the memory of his mother. He had no idea what to do.
"Maybe that bitch of a mother of yours would be proud since you've made it this far in your life. But mark my words, you are nothing, and the only reason you are here is because the Saint wants to test us. You are nothing, you are less than nothing, you will never be a Templar" said Nicholai.
Naruto and Sakura were on the railing at the lip of the arena and heard every word.
Not this act again.
"Serjio, kick his butt, show us what you can do!" yelled Naruto.
Serjio registered Naruto in his orange jumpsuit with his peripheral vision. Naruto was behind him, so was Sakura who rallied behind Naruto.
He had to fight, he had to try.
"How weak are you to not defend the memory of your mother!" yelled Nicolai into Serjio's face, letting all his anger flow out now that he was no longer under the Captain's gaze.
"I-I want to be patient, and I won't lash out at you Nicolai" he said, completely unaware that a month past his arrival in Konoha he was speaking a clear dialect.
"Patient? Afraid more likely"
"I am only human, I have limits, please…just stop Nicolai"
"No Serjio, don't you dare pretend yourself human. You are less than human, you are the bas-" and before he could say anything more, Serjio shoved Nicolai by the chest.
Nicolai smiled, he was going to win the bet he had with Marcus, he seized the unique opportunity to attack Serjio's vulnerability in an area where neither of them had to answer to an authority of Temple.
He was hitting Serjio where he knew it would hurt the most.
"Fight me Half-Breed!" he yelled to the top of his lungs and smacked Serjio across the face. He brought the sword along with the other hand to coax the boy to fight.
Serjio parried and held the Templar's sword in place under the fang of the axe.
"Your mother, was a whore, she laid with the Tainted and you were born. You do not even possess the honor of calling yourself a Daemon or a Templar of human kind. You are the pariah in the middle" he whispered to Serjio.
The boy, snapped.
He screamed to the top of his lungs and swung out his halberd and slipped his lance an inch away from Nicolai's face.
Nicolai won his bet and coaxed Serjio to fight, he was looking forward to looking at Marcus's expression when he gave him the news.
He lashed out a flurry of blows which Serjio countered solidly.
The two of the Daemon Hunters locked in combat fought, one of them, with the conscious intent to "accidentally" kill the other.
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Hinata watched the fight in agitation. She, as well as all of the other Chuunin hopefuls who had come to befriend Serjio could see that Serjio was not fighting in competition, he was fighting in rage.
She saw Serjio's dancelike pattern of combat she had come to know well in the one month of training she had with him.
Every parry, every swing, every step, every shift of weight or balance was all one seamless chain of attacks that she had the hunch Serjio could continue indefinitely so long as Nicolai stayed in range of the halberd.
She, as well as the other spectators could see the Templar combined normal close combat with other skills as well.
Serjio at one point, kicked out at Nicolai's chest knocking him back and striking with an inhuman speed at the Templar's chest with the cruel point of the halberd. A blur of thrusts funneled themselves at the man and the older combatant parried them as effortlessly as Serjio shot them.
Serjio swung, slashed and stabbed to no avail. He was giving it his all but Nicolai was keeping up well. He knew at least that he was forcing the man to fight seriously, Serjio was no slouch. But neither was Nicolai.
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Nicolai grunted at the blocks, Serjio was younger, and he could not keep up forever.
The half breed was strong, he had to give him that. The battle was not going to be won through force of arms, but by force of magick.
At an opening he swung out his hammer with enough force to knock Serjio into the air two dozen feet, the boy patiently spun in the air and landed readily on his feet on the ground. He shot his arm open as Serjio had done with Neji and yelled in effort as blue lightning shot out at Serjio only to be countered by the boy's green one.
The electricity and energy struggled one against the other. Both grunted and screamed in the monstrous effort of maintaining a stable current of energy.
The energy blurred and flashed against each other in a dance of mental will against the other. And it was painfully obvious, that although Serjio began with the largest bloom of energy, much of it was wasted and lacked focus.
Nicolai smiled knowing he was about to win and funneled a steady amount of energy to the front and loosed it all at the same time as it was stockpiled.
The deafening explosion knocked Serjio into the wall and onto his knees.
This was Nicolai's chance.
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Serjio's body ached from the blow of wry energy. He forced his heavy legs to stand, if he knew Nicolai he was going to try to kill him now. And as if on cue he ducked on instinct as Nicolai brought the hammer slamming against the wall where his head was only an instant ago.
Nicolai grabbed him by the collar and flung him into the middle of the arena. A murderous look in his eye, told Serjio, he had to fight for his life.
It was when Nicolai brought up his hammer to strike that Serjio closed his eyes shut and slapped his hands together as if in prayer that he gained the hope of survival.
A blinding burst of light flashed from his chest. Enough to temporarily blind anyone, he tried to get up to strike at Nicolai expecting the man to be dazed.
But when he tried to, a boot slammed into his neck crushing his wind pipe.
"Light Burst? I hope you were more cunning than that" said Nicolai, grinning sadistically as he drove Serjio's neck into the ground.
Serjio's vision was blurring, his windpipe wrenched at the pressure, he knew Nicolai was chocking him, his head was swirling and could not focus.
"Serjio get up! Get up!" yelled Naruto to the top of his lungs.
Sakura looked on speechless. Nicolai was killing Serjio, the boy's body struggling and lashing out to gain a foothold and remove the boot.
Serjio heard Naruto, he wanted to get up, he had to or else, there was a good chance Nicolai would kill him. No, it was a certainty.
But his anger had dissipated, the world was darkening and strength was leaving him.
Death was coming, he could feel it in his famished lungs.
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Hinata shot out of her chair and limped-ran to the railing next to Naruto, terrified for her friend.
"Serjio GET UP!!" she screamed to the top of her lungs.
Everyone heard her, her cousin, watched the scene with some agitation, Serjio had harmed him, but what was taking place in the Arena he wouldn't wish upon the Templar, it was not a fight it was murder.
Her father, who was surprised at his daughter's sudden burst of emotion, he knowing her to be quiet and shy, looked for her and saw her fear. He scoffed, she was too kind.
And weak, like the fool who was being strangled on the ground by his comrade.
Some of the other rookie nine rushed to the railing some of them shouting encouragements or yelling at the older referees to stop the fight.
But it looked like no one was going to move, Serjio was going to die, murdered in the sand of the Arena.
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In the darkness of failing vision he heard everyone yelling at him to get up. Shouts of encouragement and fear, the yelling of his friends, terrified of what was happening.
They wanted him to live.
He wanted to live too, to play with them and have fun like he had learned to do over the past month. To drink tea and listen to Ino and Sakura only to stop them from getting too heated up,to munch on barbeque with Choji and race with Naruto, to do all the things he had come to love about Konoha.
And to spend time with Hinata, she was so sweet to him.
As he heard the voices of his friends, when he heard Hinata's voice, the emotion and fear behind it. He struggled a little further, as much as his body would allow.
Then, like clockwork, something in him clicked.
A fire engulfed his body, mind and soul. A hell storm of pure, inconsolable rage.
He screamed out to the top of his lungs and a lance of lightning arched from his chest and into Nicolai who was thrown brutally to the wall opposite.
When the dust cleared, Nicolai saw something he was not expecting. Something no one of the Order had ever seen from Serjio before.
A sage colored, oily smoke exhumed from every pore of his body was pumping out ever more energy.
Serjio was tapping into the darkness inside him. Now, whether he did this on purpose or by mistake, Nicolai didn't know, but then again he didn't care.
The taint was showing itself for what it was, and now, he had every reason in the world to kill him for it.
Serjio stood, shakily, one of his eyes was black it's pupil completely dilated, the other was normal.
Nicolai cast a barrage of lightning arcs which slammed into Serjio, who was unmoving and shrugged them off as slaps.
Nicolai blew him back with an energy blast funneled through his hammer. Serjio repeated the aerial stunt and landed on the other end of the Arena.
Suddenly, as quickly as it had come, the energy synapse had broken backwards and slammed back into Serjio's body. He felt his skin crawl in to slits across his back.
Pain and nausea assaulted his body. His knees buckled and he fell on them.
What was happening to him?
Nicolai strode to him and he did all he could do, he shot out arcs of the last reservoirs of energy he had.
It was almost pathetic, the wavering boy refused to give up, his arcs were slapped away by the approaching Templar.
The older man saw what was happening for what it was, the struggle of the suppressed half-breed's true nature against his own magick and energy.
Serjio's life was worth taking, but it almost took the pleasure out of it. The fact he was now helpless.
He shouldered his hammer and kicked Serjio across the face, breaking his lip and nose and making him fall on his back.
Serjio couldn't move, his breath was heavy, his will broken. His own body was against him as was Nicolai.
He was going to die.
Nicolai raised his hammer, the entire crowd was silent, as he brought down the blow that would have ended Serjio's life, a figure appeared in a heartbeat blocking the heavy, unforgiving weapon.
Kakashi
Both stared at each other for a moment before Nicolai backed off, remembering where he was and who these people were.
"These are not fights to the death, I'd expected you to understand that" said Kakashi.
Nicolai did not answer, he simply backed off to the booing of the crowd who were disapproving of the attempted death blow.
Nicolai bowed his head slightly at the Hokage's seating and exited the Arena without another word, he had to leave Konoha immediately and unmolested by another problem, the village Shinobi were protecting the Half-Breed, they were now enemies of the Order. He had to get the information to the Captain.
When Kakashi turned around to look at Serjio and help him up he felt a chill crawl up his spine. Drops of blood escaped his tear ducts and his stare was unblinking and blank.
He scooped up the boy and yelled at the medics to hurry. They placed him on the stretcher and hurried him off to the emergency room, expecting the worst.
What had just happened?
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Seeing Serjio's broken body carted out of the arena, the Rookie Nine were shocked and frightened.
Was Serjio dying, was he dead already?
They all coped in different ways but the one thing they all of the ones who had befriended Serjio did was go to the emergency room to wait and see if Serjio was going to be alright.
Some reassured the others that he was going to be fine, other sat silently, jumping every time a medical Shinobi came out of the operating room. And some were neurotic.
Serjio had been their friend, sure, they had only known him for a month, but that mattered not to the Chuunin hopefuls. He had bonded with each and every one of them, and he was a friend worth losing.
They all hoped with all their might that he would be ok.
Hinata sat in the corner flanked by Tenten and Sakura who were trying to calm her down.
Serjio was her best friend and she was scared for him to the point that she was going to cry. He looked so wounded, she was sure of the worst.
He had been such a great friend, he had always been so sweet and kind to her. And she could not imagine her daily life without her shadow following her. Without his encouragements, his kind gestures and his talks with her. She had trusted him with things she had never told anyone else. And he had always been kind enough to listen and to be truthful to her in all things.
Serjio had to be ok, he just had to be….