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Chapter 6: A pleasant chat, a talk with a blade and the start of an exam
He stood in front of his apartment door, Kaijii behind him; her arms crossed and was tapping her foot in irritation. He slowly reached his hand up towards the door, only to have it fall back to his side.
For the umpteenth time.
Kaijii didn't know how much longer her patience could hold out. She knew that she'd need as much as she could get for when they got inside, if they ever did, that is. She rolled her eyes as he once again dropped his hand back to his side. She noticed that she was slowly developing a twitch above her left eye.
He dropped his hand again.
She began to tap her foot harder on the ground.
Cue hand going to his side! Again!
Her left foot went back slightly.
His hand once again slowly began to descend to his side, almost as if in slow motion, when a foot shot past his head, and slammed into the door sending it into the wall. He slowly turned his head to see his sensei standing there, her foot extended in a perfect roundhouse push. She smiled at his shocked expression. "Knock, knock!" She said, her voice taking on a playful sing-song tone.
Matao sighed as he nodded before he slowly walked into the apartment, grumbling about having to fix the door later. He followed Kaijii into the den area, where Umi and Ryu were sitting on the couch, cowering in fear, both from Kaijii's enterance and sadistic look on her face, and the way Matao just stared at them with a blank, dead stare.
Kaijii sighed as she noticed him just stand there, knowing that he wouldn't say a word unless she got things started. She opened her mouth to start giving the two idiots the bitch out of their lives, when Matao held his hand up, stopping her from beginning her tirade.
He glanced at her, a sad smile on his face. "I'll handle this, sensei." He muttered as he took a few steps forward. "Umi. I want you to leave my apartment and never come back. I'll send you your stuff, but after that I want absolutely nothing to do with you. As far as I'm concerned, you are dead to me." He finished as he cooly leaned against the door frame. Kaijii smiled slightly as she saw Umi begin to tear up. 'Oh this is going to be great! I hope she does cry.' She thought savagely.
Umi slowly got up and walked over to Matao, tears streaming down her face. "Are you really breaking up with me?" She asked quietly, looking at the ground slightly. "It was a moment of weakness, I'm really sorry." She ended as she quickly looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears.
Matao growled as he saw her do this. He quickly bit back the urge to rip her limb from limb. He HAD promised that he'd do this peacefully. "Tough shit bitch." He hissed out, his hands clenching as he claws extended, piercing into his palms and drawing blood. "You fucked me over; you fucked someone other than me on my expensive, hand made Italian black leather couch! I want you out of my sight, and my life, or I will remove you and soon-to-be-dickless-if-he-don't-put-on-pants-now from my apartment and just maybe from this life!" He growled, yelling the last part.
She slowly looked down, slightly regretting her decision to cheat on him as she nodded and went and grabbed a bag before she left the apartment, Ryu following closely behind her.
As soon as they were gone, Kaijii walked over and positioned the door in a closed position. She went over and sat down on the defiled couch as she saw Matao slump against the door frame, burying his head between his knees, a sob escaping his mouth. Kaijii sent him a sad smile as she saw how much pain he was in. She got off the couch and sat won next to him, leaning against the door frame as well. "Pain is a relative term in regards to physical and mental regards." She said as Matao looked at her confused, a small stream of tears going down his face. "pain to the body, whether or not it is felt, can be fatal, while pain to the heart, no matter how much it hurts, may never kill us, but it will always leave it's mark, never seen, though still there" she finished, chuckling at his confused expression.
He wiped the tears off his face, noting that his cloak was still at Kaijii's. He quickly looked at her, sniffing slightly. "What's that mean?" He asked curiously.
She looked at his ceiling, contemplating for a second. "It means that injuries to the body will heal, but in matters of the heart, injuries will never heal completely, some wounds in that regard may never heal." She whispered, her bottom lip trembling. "My father, back when we were on speaking terms, told me about that. My brothers told me that he's a real philosophical person."
Matao scooted over, putting his arm around her shoulders, trying to give her some semblance of comfort, earning a small smile from her. The two then sat there for a while, enjoying the comfort one gave the other.
/
Matao slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was standing on the side of a building. Around him were buildings that looked exactly the same as the one on which he stood. He slowly looked around for a second, before noticing the spirit of the blade standing only a few feet away from him. "Hey old man. Where the hell are we?" He asked as he looked around curiously.
He slowly moved towards Matao, before stopping only a foot away from him. "We are inside your mind, your subconscious. This is the area where all of your demonic power comes from for the Tetseijin. There are currently four techniques that I will teach you for this blade. The first one is called the Divine Dragon Blast." He intoned, tossing the Tetseijin at Matao's feet. He slowly walked away, before a blade appeared in his hand. The blade that rested in the spirit's hand was jet black with a small chain hanging from the end of the hilt, with a wolf's head for the guard, the blade protruding from its mouth.
Matao slowly drew the blade, before he positioned the blade in front of himself. "Two questions. How do I transform the blade like I did against my brother, and what do I call you? I don't think that you like being called old man." He said, flipping the blade a few times in his hand.
He pointed the blade at Matao. "Your desire to protect is what makes the blade transform. You may call me ******." He said, Matao unable to hear what his name was.
'I couldn't hear his name.' He thought, before he noticed that his blade elongated into the zanbato that he had surprised his brother with. He nodded as he positioned the blade in front of his and waited for the spirit to make his move.
"You are unable to hear my name yet. Why must you constantly ignore it no matter how many times I cry out?" He said, before he rushed at Matao, who barely blocked the strike. Matao quickly dove to the side as he dodged the blade and lashed out at the spirit's legs with Tetseijin. The figure jumped over him and brought the blade down and next to Matao's head. "I win. You must learn how to handle this blade before you actually spar with me. I will teach you the beginning stages of the technique, but I will not teach you it completely." He told him, his black blade disappearing into a mist of black, before the mist became one with his cloak.
Matao nodded, his blade disappearing as well. He slowly closed his eyes, only to feel pressure on his chest when he awoke. He slowly blinked at the mop of red hair underneath his chin. He sighed as he noticed that his sensei was asleep. His body stiffened as he felt her wrap him in a hug, before he noticed that she had tears going down her cheeks. She slowly nuzzled into his chest, sobbing lightly. "Darling, don't leave me." He heard her mutter, sobbing more with each word.
He smiled at her sadly. He then began to stroke her hair as he rubbed her back. 'She must be dreaming about that guy she told me about, the one who disappeared.' He glanced at the clock on the wall only to do a double take as he saw that it was almost ten at night. He was surprised at that, since they had had their little discussion with his ex at around three earlier that afternoon. He carefully slipped out of her arms and lifted her up bridal style and carried her to his bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed before he pulled the covers over her and laid her glasses on the bedside table, before he took out a piece and wrote a quick note on the paper and left it by her glasses. He then picked up the Tetseijin before he left the apartment and headed off towards the nearest training ground.
He sighed as he arrived there around a half hour later. He quickly drew his blade and transformed it, positioning it in front of him, his mind drifting back to what he'd discussed with the sword spirit.
The spirit stood in front of him, blade at the ready. "You must sense your opponent's energy; find the spot where your energy and theirs collide. Once you find that, and learn how to actually use your blade, I will teach you the rest. Hopefully you will be able to hear my name by then." The spirit finished.
He quickly created a shadow clone that stood across from him. He concentrated on the flow of his chakra, along with his opponent's own flow. He carefully waited to see when they collided. Once they did, he could have sworn he saw a flash of silver. He stopped his training for that, as he suddenly felt dizzy, and barely able to stand. His clone dismissed itself, its memories instantly going to his memory banks. He slowly lay down on the cool grass, before he closed his eyes and fell to sleep.
/
It was mid-morning when Rin woke up. She smiled as she began to take her morning shower, her hand drifting lower as she thought about how she'd spend her day with Koori. She moaned slightly as she moved her fingers faster. She stopped suddenly as she heard someone knocking on her door. She sighed as she removed her fingers and turned off the shower. She dried her hair off slightly and wrapped a towel around herself before she headed over to the door, looking through the peephole to see Koori standing there, arms crossed as he waited.
She opened the door to allow him to enter, taking note that he had just the slightest blush on his face since he saw her in nothing but a towel. She giggled slightly at that, before she took him to the couch, where she told him to sit down as she went into her room to get dressed.
She giggled again as she pulled on some lacy underwear, before she pulled on a skirt and a t-shirt. She jogged into the den and plopped down on the couch next to him, and laid her head on his shoulder. "So what are we going to do today?" She asked as she sighed into his shoulder.
Koori chuckled at her actions. He knew she'd like to have near continuous physical contact, and he's glad that she hadn't ripped his pants off of him. After all, he liked this pair of pants. He glanced down at her, looking at his face, pouting slightly. He chuckled once again before he kissed her. "I was thinking we could train for a while." He told her as she cuddled against him more.
She nodded, thinking that it sounded fun. After all, she got to spend time with him, AND work on improving her ninja techniques. That was without a doubt, a perfect day in her opinion. She got up as he did, and they left her apartment to head out to a training ground.
/
Kaijii felt warm. She also felt comfortable, something that she rarely felt when resting, even in her own home. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she wasn't in her room. She looked over and saw her classes on the desk next to the bed. She saw that underneath the glasses was a note.
She sighed, as she pulled the blankets off of her, and put on her glasses and picked up the note. Her eyes widened as she saw that it had been written by Matao. She slowly began to rub her temples as she berated herself for falling asleep at her student's apartment. She read the note that said that he'd be at training ground three. She noticed that he wasn't home yet, so she was curious as to where he was.
Her search of his home didn't reveal him anywhere, but she noticed that he had taken the Tetseijin. She hurried out the door and ran towards training ground three, as she shoved three pieces of paper into her pocket.
She slowed to a stop a few minutes later; to see Matao lying in the middle of the training ground, sound asleep. She sighed as she walked over and began to nudge him with her foot. "Hey. Wake up. C'mon, you shouldn't be sleeping out here." She said, her foot nudging him harder with every word. She finally lost her patience as she slammed her foot into his thigh, screaming, "WAKE THE HELL UP ALREADY!"
His eyes shot open and he jumped up, his thigh feeling like it had been split in half. "What the hell was that for?" He yelled, tears appearing at the edges of his eyes.
Kaijii rolled her eyes before she held out a piece of paper. A magic, wonderful piece of paper, which granted him enterance to the chunin exams. His eyes widened as his jaw dropped. He suddenly regained his composure as he heard a snort behind him. He slowly turned to see Rin and Koori standing there.
Holding hands.
He blinked. He then pointed at Rin, who nodded. Then to Koori who nodded as well. He then sat down on the ground, a fine trickle of blood going from his nose. "I think I just had an aneurism." He muttered as he wiped the blood from his lips. Kaijii rolled her eyes as she handed an enterance ticket to both Koori and Rin.
She then stood up straight, looking at her team proudly. "You are all now participating in the Chunin exam. I want you all to try your best, and remember: if you're in the final tournament at the end, you better win because I will have put quite a few bets on whoever's fighting." She growled out the last part.
The three genin nodded in both shock and amazement. They were only rookies, but they were about to get a chance to advance to the next rank. Matao was thinking that this was just one step closer to his dream of being a sannin, and was drooling slightly at the possibilities. Rin was curious about what she could learn in the more advanced medical books that were only available to chunin and up. Koori was thinking about how he would be able to get more power and be able to test himself against more powerful opponents.
Kaijii smirked at how she was able to tell what her cute little students were thinking. She shook her head slightly with a hidden chuckle. She walked up to each of them and gave them a kiss on their forehead, starting with Rin. They all looked at her in confusion when she was done. "For luck. I want my team to do their best. Whether or not you succeed in becoming chunin this time doesn't matter. What does is that you use this as a learning experience. The exams start Friday at 5:00pm, so I want you all to rest until then." She finished as she began to walk away, thinking about how her team would do, and hoping that they all would make it to the finals.
She disappeared in a shunshin, only to appear in her apartment. She sat down on her bed, thinking how much her team had changed since they had first started team 3. She sighed as she had noticed that Matao had changed the most. He now actually planned things out instead of winging it. Koori had figured out, to some extent anyway, that he didn't have to do things on his own. Rin was improving her medical techniques by leaps and bounds, along with having the best chakra control out of her team, coming close to Kaijii herself, who was only third to Sakura and Tsunade.
She slowly stretched before she stripped down to nothing and went over to her dresser. She slowly opened the top drawer, and opened the false bottom and reached inside to pull out an old photograph. In the photograph was a younger Kaijii, her hair ending by her shoulders in a short ponytail. Next to her was a man with white hair that ended just past his shoulders, wearing a black cloak with grey fur around the neck, and a black long sleeved shirt, with grey arm bracers on both of his arms. He was holding her hand, a large smile on his face.
And wolf ears on the top of his head.
/Friday/
Matao stretched, wondering what the first test of the chunin exam would be. He slowly looked at what his mother had gotten him for the exams. He was currently wearing his present, and he had to say that he thought he looked damn good in it. He had on a long sleeved black shirt, black cargo pants, a pair of black steel-toe boots and a red long-sleeved cloak with black flames on the bottom. He had both sleeves rolled up to just past the elbow and the Tetseijin on his left hip. His hitai-ate in its customary place around his neck. He was also loving the black fingerless leather gloves that had a plate of metal on top. He couldn't wait to backhand someone with them.
He was spinning a kunai around his finger, a nervous habit he was starting to develop. Something he berated himself on, since he had just finished ridding himself of rubbing the hilt of his sword when nervous or annoyed. Personally he didn't mind spinning the kunai, since he thought it made him look somewhat intimidating. He looked up as he noticed someone step onto the bridge, seeing that it was Rin.
The first thing he noticed was that she had three large hip pouches, which he assumed were filled with medical supplies. He also noticed that she walked with more confidence and a grace was there that she didn't have before. She was wearing a tight, dark red long sleeved shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to about mid arm, and a pair of slightly tight black cargo pants, which he assumed had either medical supplies or scrolls of items inside. She also wore a pair of black ninja sandals that had the ankles covered by the pants.
Matao blinked when he saw that she had her headband on her neck, like him. "My god, are you copying my signature headband placement?" He said as he feigned shock and hurt. "I knew it was a bad idea, but I never wanted to start a trend." He finished as he cracked a smile and began laughing, Rin trying not to laugh, but joining in the contagious laughter.
She was the first one to stop laughing, as she looked Matao up and down. "You look good. New clothes?" She asked, leaning against the railing as she waited for his answer. He nodded, glancing quickly glancing at the pouches on her hips. "Did you just look at my ass?" She growled out as she saw him dart his eyes away.
He suddenly laughed at her comment. "It's a nice ass, I'll say that right now, but I was actually looking at the three pouches on your hips. I'm a little curious as to what you have hidden away in there." He said, still chuckling.
She blinked at that. That had been…unexpected. She suddenly had a sly grin cross her face as she sat down on Matao's lap, and put her face close to his. "Is that what you really want to see? What's inside the pouches? Or would you like to see some…thing…else…?" She said, punctuating the last three syllables, her breath tickling his ear, making it begin to twitch.
He laughed once again before he stood up, making her fall onto the ground. "You've been taking seduction lessons from sensei, haven't you? You're delivery is good, but you didn't quite have to sit on my lap. That was just a little too much. Seduction is subtle. It's not like smashing a brick through a window." He said as he helped her up. They both blinked as they heard a chuckle from the other end of the bridge. They looked over to see Koori standing there, before he walked over to them.
He had his hands in his pockets, a customary trait for him. He wore a long-sleeved grey t-shirt with black stripes on the sleeves, and a pair of black cargo pants. He walked over to where Matao and Rin were standing, trying to control a grin that wouldn't leave his face. "And what would you know about subtlety? You're the one who'd like to get things done with a brick through a window." He said, the grin finally turning into a smirk.
Matao rolled his eyes as he sat down on the railing, a bark of a laugh escaping his throat. He looked at Koori, an amused light in his eyes. "I may not like to be subtle, but I can when I want to be." He said as he clapped Koori on his back and held up a black bra, which made Rin squeak in surprise. "And I find that I'm pretty damn good at it." He added, his grin getting wider as he threw the bra at Rin, who snatched it out of the air. And stuffed it in her pants, a blush so red it made a twelve year old Hinata say "Daaaaaaaaaaamn!"
Koori looked at him, surprise evident on his face. He leaned against the bridge railing, in-between Rin and Matao so the young lady didn't shove the poor half-demon into the river. "How did you do that?" He asked, curious as to how the boy next to him had done it.
"The same way I got this." He said as he held up a wallet between his forefinger and middle finger. "Think of it as advanced pick pocketing. Not quite legal, but hella useful. Best part? It doesn't require a single bit of chakra." He added as he tossed the wallet back to Koori.
Koori looked from his wallet to Matao and back again. "How did you get it without me noticing you taking it?" He asked, interested in how it was done.
Matao lifted his forefinger and middle finger, making a snipping motion. "You only use these two fingers; since there's always a good chance they'll feel your thumb. If you get good enough at it you can do it and they won't even notice that they just got robbed. They won't have any idea when it happened, and therefore they can't find out who pilfered their wallet." He concluded as he twitched his ear, as Kaijii sensei appeared in front of them.
She walked up to them, a small smile on her face. "Are you all ready to begin?" She asked quietly. To which all three nodded their heads. "Great. It's at the academy. Good luck and keep each other safe." She said, before she disappeared into thin air.
Team 3 then made their way to the academy.
/
They had barely made it in time when Shikamaru Nara appeared, saying for them to take their seats. The all sat away from each other, each wondering what the test was going to be. "This exam may be troublesome, but cheating is even more. If you're caught cheating five times, you can kiss your ass goodbye and out of the exam. The tenth question will be given forty-five minutes into this exam. Turn your papers over when I say start." He said, sitting down at the desk in the front of the room, a shadow clone sitting across from him, and a shogi board in-between them.
Matao was sweating. 'FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUUUCK! Why the hell does it have to be a written test? Couldn't they just have us fight a dragon or something? Shit. If I bomb the test we're out! They're gonna kill me! I only have an hour left to live!' He thought, glaring at the offending paper in front of him.
"START!" Shikamaru yelled, as he started his match against himself.
Matao glanced around for a second, looking for his teammates. Both Rin and Koori were going on the test like there was no problem at all. He sighed as he flipped over the paper. He quickly read the first question, which was an advanced algebra problem. 'What the fuck! What the hell is the point of math that has letters!' He screamed internally. He then checked the next problem, then the next one. And the next one. As he reached the last one, he was almost in tears. 'We're going to fail, and it's my fault. I've never felt so horrible.' He thought, as he laid his head on the nice cool desk to think for a few minutes, when the worst possible thing that could have ever happened, happened.
He fell asleep.
/
Shikamaru looked up at the proctor who was standing in front of him, tapping his watch. He nodded and looked at his clone. "My turn is on hold for a second, I need to finish up the exam." His clone replied with a nod, and instantly assumed his thinking stance; making Shikamaru curse at the fact the he had given his clone a chance to formulate some strategies.
"Alright, it's time for the tenth question. There are two conditions for this question. You can choose to take it, if you choose not to, your team will lose all of their points and will fail the chunin exam. If you chose to take it, but get it wrong, you will be banned from participating in any chunin exam in the future." He said, sitting down and taking his thinking position. "You have until I'm done thinking."
Matao slowly opened his eyes, blinking at the words that were spoken. 'Time for the tenth…? Shit. I fell asleep.' He thought, his inner chibi crying. He looked around and saw that almost half the teams in the room were leaving. He sighed as he noticed that both Rin and Koori were just sitting there looking bored. He picked up his pencil and began to doodle on the back of his test, thinking of a cool tattoo design he could sell to a few of the shops in Konoha.
Shikamaru cursed slightly as he stood up, and addressed the remaining teams. "For everyone that's still here, you pass. Meet up at the forest of death tomorrow at noon for your second exam. Now get the hell out. I need to concentrate." He said as he sat back down, and continued to play against his clone, the both of them lighting a cigarette.
Sadly, this was cut short as the door to the room was kicked across the room and slammed into Shikamaru's clone, dispersing it, and making him wince at the fact he was about to lose. A woman in a black miniskirt, and black tank top walked down the aisle between the desks, her dark purple trench coat flowing behind her, as was her long blonde hair. She flicked the cigarette out of his mouth, before she kissed him. "You told them where to go, didn't you? She said in a knowing voice.
He rolled his eyes at the comment. "Yes, I did. And I should thank you for saving me from losing a game of shogi, even if it was against myself." He said, grumbling at the end.
She laughed at that. "Well, see you all tomorrow!" She said cheerfully, both her and Shikamaru disappearing in clouds of smoke, leaving everyone to file out of the room on their own time.
/
Matao, Koori, and Rin were walking to training ground 44, all of them had looked up what that training ground was, and they were surprised to find that it was a large expanse of forest, around six kilometers long. They came up with what was a good plan for packing. Rin was in charge of having all the medical supplies, Matao and Koori each had a ton of food sealed inside scrolls in their packs, along with sleeping bags, tents, and anything else that they could possibly need for an extended trip through the big-ass forest, as Matao called it.
They came up to the chain link fence that wrapped around the huge training area. As they approached, they saw the other genin there, along with the kunoichi in the purple trench coat. She turned to see them approach, and nodded in their direction. As she began to go over all of the rules of the exam. "For the next five days, you will enjoy this little tourist hotspot, aptly named the forest of death. You will be playing a fight to the death version of capture the scroll, so anything goes. The only no-no is that you are not to open the scroll. If you do, what will happen will make walking in on your parents having sex look like they were playing checkers. Before you go in, you must sign these waivers, allowing you to participate, without making us responsible if you bite the big one." She finished as she passed around a bunch of papers.
After everyone signed the papers, they made their way to the gates that they were designated to enter from. Matao and his team finally got their scroll, and looked at it before they put it in Matao's bag.
It was the scroll of heaven.
They sighed as they began to walk to gate thirteen, which was on the other side of the fence. As soon as they were halfway to their gate, Ino's voice came over the loudspeakers. "Just one last piece of advice. It's the same thing that I was told during my first chunin exam." She paused for a second. "Just don't die!"
And the second exam began.
Eleven pages! Whoohoo! Next chapter will be amazing, I'm just sayin. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy. The next chapter should be up within a week or two. Also, if you want to read any of my original work, go to .. I'm there under Matt. Check it out, and you can leave a comment there like you do there.
