Chapter 4 - Fight

I couldn't help but stare into those clear, lilac eyes. I could stare into the next forever if I wanted to. Right now I did, but I knew that I couldn't, I would probably get into trouble…again.

"Alright, so these are the teams that we're going to be traveling with to the Snow?" Fubuki asked as she walked across all the teams like she was leading an army. She was examining them. She stops in front of Kakashi.

"Hmm, you're coming to aren't you?"

"What, you have a reason that I shouldn't?" Kakashi asked cheerfully as his eye pinches into an upward curve.

She growls at him, "I have a lot of reasons..."

She glares at him while he keeps smiling at her I'm gonna kill him…

Hyoga and I both knew what she was thinking. We both looked at each other and sighed. Shimo looked at us; she knew that we knew what the other was thinking. She pouted.

"Hey! I wanna know!" she yelled, she knew when I knew something was up.

I ignored her and looked at Fubuki again. I made that as an excuse to look at Neji again because she was standing in front of the walking green bean. She was practically yelling at the man for wearing those ridiculous clothes. She kept saying that it was too thin; they would never survive in the Snow. They couldn't possibly, they meaning there was another one that looked like walking green bean Jr.

Fubuki walked back towards us mumblings words of discouragement, "Those two men I swear…"

We couldn't hear the rest as she paced back and forth between us. She finally stopped and sighed. She turned back to the rest of the teams and started yelling at them, like she was actually in the army.

"Alright listen, when we're in the Snow we have a few rules that you must abide to. If you don't," she started to explain, "You will die."

Everyone was quiet; they didn't dare interrupt her when she continued speaking.

"First rule: you must never attack another shinobi from the Snow. There aren't many, but if you do you will be severely punished. In worst case scenario, you will be killed.

"Second rule: in the sight of any important member of the Snow, before you leave the room you must bow in their presence, if you don't you will show dishonor not only to them, but to yourself. No one in the Snow expects themselves to be higher than anyone, not even our Empress.

"Third rule: do not, I repeat, do not go anywhere by yourself. You will get lost there, you won't be able to find your way back to anywhere and you will die. If shinobi attack you, you would have no choice but to fight back and in result being punished.

She crosses her arms and looks at the teams while the play what she just said back in their minds.

"Understood?" Fubuki asks; it was more of a demand to hear a respond from the rest of the people.

"Yes!" they all respond in unison.

"Alright then," she turns back to us and points at the three of us. "When you are in the presence of them, you must follow their rule, even you Jonin's. They know what they are doing, do not question them."

They all nod again.

She turns around fully and shows her back to them, "You are dismissed."

We looked as they suddenly disappeared.

I sighed out in relief, I could finally breathe naturally. I looked out at Konoha again, only a month left to stay here and then we would be leaving for our home again. The time here that I spent here wasn't enough, I wanted more. I know that it was selfish, but it just wasn't enough. It was beautiful here, a community of people that were warm to each other. Everywhere people knew the other was, and they could openly express their feelings. In Snow we couldn't do that, we had to abide by the ninja codes as laws. We could not break them.

Shimo would return to her cold self when we got back, Hyoga would remain the same; I would stay my hostile self with no emotion on my face, my language; my eyes. I would become the perfect ninja once again.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked at the person with my peripheral vision, Hyoga. He knew how to read my emotions easily. He knew something was wrong with me, at least he didn't know how to detect which emotion it was this time. I've never felt this way before. His eyes showed worry. He came next to me and looked down at Konoha with me.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered.

I kept staring down at Konoha but answered, "I'm not thinking about anything."

Lies

"Are you sure?"

No

"Yes."

"…"

We stayed in silence for a while before Shimo came bounding over towards us and wrapped her arms over each of our shoulders.

"So, what are we going to do now? Do you want to go back to the residence?" she asked her questions quickly.

We both had no choice as she dragged both of us back to where the residence was.

"Shimo, I'm sure that we're perfectly fine walking there ourselves." Hyoga says coldly, he was returning back to his…normal nature.

She let go quickly and looked away, she kept walking forward after he said this. She suddenly disappeared after she walked ahead a few steps.

"Hyoga, I'm not sure if that was the most appropriate way of handling the situation," I say as I step to where Shimo was, I couldn't tell where she went but I wanted to know.

"…" He was quiet as he stepped towards my side again, he continued to be silent as he looked around for her presence, maybe she would still be somewhere around. He hoped.

"We probably should get back to the residence, she'll go there sooner or later," he turned to me and I looked at him, "Don't you think?"

I nodded and we both disappeared.

****

Shimo scoffed as she threw a kunai at the animal that was in front of her. Sweat dripped down her forehead as the animal charged at her, it's tusks almost hit her but she dodged and then jumped on the animals back and dug her kunai into the animals back and ran, silver liquid squirted from the animals back as it slumped down and started to turn into dust. Beautiful powder swirled around her and she landed on the ground with a tap. Her head was down, when she looked up a glare was on her face. Her normally beautiful clear blue eyes were dark with anger.

****

I walked down the Hyuga compound quietly and crossed my arms; Shimo's behavior startled me earlier. I've never seen her act like this before. Was it the weather that was changing her? I doubt it; I tried to think of other ways that could have been the reason why. Should I go talk to her, I didn't know, maybe she was mad at me. Then again it could have been because of Hyoga, of what he said to her. I've never seen him act that way towards her either. Was there something on between them that I didn't know about?

I decided to ignore my feelings and I drifted off in my own thoughts and feelings.

I didn't even get to think about one because I bumped into someone. Of course that person had to be Neji.

"Kori, just the person who I was looking for," he says as he looks at me. I look down at his chest just so that I wouldn't stare at his eyes. "I need to talk to you about something."

I nod, "What is there that you need to ask?"

"Just a few questions that I've been curious about."

He walks past me and beckons me to follow him; I do so and walk next to him, feeling the warmth that was radiating off him body onto mine. I closed my eyes and took my time to enjoy it. It could one of the only times I could be able to feel this way.

****

We went back to the Hokage's faces and we both sat down. It was rather slippery because it rained a little bit earlier.

"You do not mind me asking questions do you?" he asked first.

"No," I responded quietly. I was calmer than usual.

"How did you create that beast? It turned into dust after you did a simple hand sign."

"Our technology in the Snow is more advanced than it is here in Konoha. We spend most of our time learning wisdom instead of brute force. I created it by combining a mixture of a few chemicals and mixing a few chakras. It's not that difficult when you get used to it and use it so much. We only use one drop so that it is able to create a shape out of the liquid, the liquid spreads and multiples cells so that it will become bigger. While it solidifies it creates blood and then the organs come and it becomes a beast. When I kill it or make it disappear then the blood, organs, and body secede and it become's dust."

I look over at him; his eyes were wider than normal. "It's a rather simple solution actually if you think about it.

"The technology must be advanced in the Snow, I've never heard of such a way."

"Anything is possible if you set your mind to something." I say as I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, "I've tried to learn that over the years."

He looked at me; the silence was awkward so he asked another question, "What style of fighting do you do?"

I looked over at him, his gaze capturing me instantly.

"I dance."

He looked at me questionably, "Dance? You're fighting style is dancing?" He was humorous.

I looked at him, my lip curved only on one side: a smirk. "Fight me."

He looked a little dazed, "You want me to fight you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Why not?"

His lip curved upward too, "Alright then."

****

"If you want me to stop, just ask," his voice was more of a taunt than it was concern.

"Now why would I do that?" I taunt back, "You're the one who's going to be asking."

His eyes held fire in them; he was determined to beat me as I was to him. This determination in me was something different from what I normally felt—it felt exhilarating. As I looked at him my stance changed; I twirled once and one of my hands was in front of me and the other behind me.

One…

The corners of my mouth raised a smirk.

"Alright then, let's begin this."

My speed caught him off guard. I didn't disappear from his sight, but he definitely didn't expect me to appear in front of his face in less than a few seconds. I brought one of my legs behind his and pushed him back. He lost his balance and started falling back. His free leg started to balance him but I bent down and spun in a 360 degree angle with my leg outstretched. He fell to the ground as I quickly did a few back flips away from him for distance.

He looked at me, a little surprised that I was so quick with my movements. He got up quickly and made a stance of his own, similar to mine. He put his left hand in front while his right hand was in front. He had two fingers up while the others folded down on each of them. I looked closely, his stance was superb. I have never seen such a stance before, it was flawless. It was the stance of the Crane I believe. I spun once while my hair encircled my body before and jumped towards him, my hands making a few hand signs before a reached him.

"Fuyu no Mai," I whisper. My hands begin to glow a light blue color, almost white, and then start spinning.

Snowflakes start falling and the sky blackens, the temperature drops quickly. Neji looks at me, stunned for words, I could control the weather. More importantly, he was surprised that I could even produce more than two elements: water and wind—ice.

"Dance of Winter!" I yell as I start running at him, the snowflakes around my body start swirling faster and faster until I can't be seen. Everything in front of him is a white blur. It was beautiful yes, but it was as equally deadly. He had no choice but to use it against me.

He closed his eyes and the veins around his eyes pop out. He re-opens them; his beautiful clear white lilac eyes become heavy with pressure and power.

"Byakugan!"

I stare, the pressure from his eyes were intensifying. I hadn't seen something so powerful in such a long time. My determination does not fall though as I continue to run at him. His stance changes only the slightest bit as he suddenly starts turning rapidly and he is surrounded by his chakra.

I try attacking him, but it was no use. I could not. His chakra was a barrier from me to him and I knew that I couldn't get through.

But what I didn't expect were the effects from it. My attack was thrown back against me two times harder. I was thrown back against one of the cylinders and I arched my back so that the impact wouldn't be that bad. If I didn't, I was sure that I would probably be paralyzed for a few minutes.

I leaned over on her knees and hands and coughed a few times. I hadn't experienced one of these types of fights in such a long time. My excitement raised a few notches. I slowly opened my eyes, I could see Neji running up to me; I smirked.

I rose quickly, which he wasn't expecting. My right leg pushed forward while my other leg pulled back.

Two…

I spun while my right leg dug into the snow, creating a design a circle. I stood in the middle of it after my design was done and I quickly started doing some hand signs. After I was done, I lowered my hands to my sides while my hands were perpendicular with the ground. I raised my hands and the snow that was falling began to slow, in only seconds, they started to rise.

Neji looked stunned, his eyes widened.

What kind of technique is this? What kind of power does this girl have?

I stopped when my body made a T.

Three…

I stomped my right foot on the ground and all of the snow on the ground rose and started heading for Neji. He backed up, but his eyes widened even more when he saw what the snowflakes were doing from my command.

Both of my hands clenched into fists and I watched the snow compress together in a sharp point at the end, like an arrow head. I spun again and all of the snow arrows started heading towards him. He started spinning again and his chakra came out in a circular shape again. The arrows did not blow away though—they kept digging into his chakra. And ever so slowly, his chakra began to go away. I raised the arrows with the movement of my hands and the arrows rose and then began to strike him again. He didn't have enough chakra to do his move again; he just stared as he thought that he would meet death.

But it never came for him, he fell to the ground and put his arm up—a futile attempt to guard himself from my attack. The only thing the ice arrows did was fall to the ground and begins to melt. The dark sky began to clear up again, and the temperature started to rise.

I walk over to him and kneel by his side. He doesn't get up—he only looks at me. His face looked amazed at my strength. I only smirked at him and held out my hand for him to grab. He was startled at first, my powerful self and then going to a gentle one.

He didn't question himself any further though, he placed his hand in mine and I helped him up. He didn't say anything, but he looked at our hands held together and rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. He sighed and then he started to walk away.

I was confused, did I do something wrong? I didn't think that I did anything wrong. I was about to question him, but it was too late. He had already walked around the corner and was gone.