They had arrived in Kumo two days before the exams, and Akane-sensei was feeling generous. She had let them go off on their own today, as long as they all check out the terrain tomorrow.
Currently, Hitomi was wandering around the market place until she heard some weird rhymes. Deciding to check it out, she was pleasantly surprised to see Killer Bee.
He noticed her staring at him, and called her out on it. "You looking at Bee, Konoha Lady?" He said sharply.
Hitomi blinked before breaking out into a grin. "Hell ya. You seem cool." She said to him. "I'm Hitomi by the way." She added with a smile.
The 29 didn't know hoe to respond. Here was this 12 year old girl from Konoha who was staring at him and calling him cool. Being a jinchuuriki, his senses was improved, so he could smell no lie from her. "I'm Bee, Hitomi."
Her grin got bigger. "Nice to meet you, Bee-san. Do you know any good places to eat? My team and I just got here and my Oni-sensei wouldn't let us stop in towns for proper food." The girl sulked a bit.
Bee was very confused. Usually only those in Kumo were nice/respectful to him. Not to mention, it looked wierd for the Kumo 29 year old to even be talking to a 12 year old Konoha girl. "Bee ain't picky about his food, but isn't Hitomi being a little rude?"
"Oh, I'm probably bothering you." She looked down with shame. "I'm sorry, Bee-san, I'll leave you alone now." She said as she turned to walk away.
Now Bee felt bad. The girl was just trying to be friendly and maybe learn about a good place to eat. "Hey, Hitomi, nevermind me, let's get something to eat, shall we?"
Hitomi's eyes lit up as she turned around. "That would be awesome! Thanks, Bee-san." The girl gave him another happy smile
Be smiled too, and led her to an inarizushi stand. "Now, I'll pay, Bee-san. Consider it thanks for showing me the place." Hitomi gave the vendor the money.
"Hitomi, you're too sweet. Hanging with you is really neat."
Hitomi giggled before eating her food.
"Omi-chan!" A voice called out before Hitomi found herself being tackled by E.
"You're lucky I just finished my food, E." Hitomi told her friend.
"This kid is your friend? Man, the surprises never end." The rapping jinchuuriki said. "You look familiar, have we met before?"
E shrugged. "My mom is from Kumo, and I think the current Raikage is her cousin." E offered.
"Okay, let's go see A." Bee grinned, leading them to the leader of Kumo's office.
Hitomi and E shared a look and shrugged. "Eh, why not."
The group of three soon found themselves in the office of the stern looking Raikage. "Bee, why did you bring these Konoha brats in here? Did they do something?" He glared at them, assuming they did something.
"Calm down okay, they didn't do anything bad, A." Bee said quickly. "Boy's mom is a cousin, thought you might want to listen."
"Bee, I only have one cousin, Reiko, and she left a long time ago." A sighed.
"That's my mom!" E said excitedly.
A was taken aback. "Reiko had a kid?"
E gave a grin. "Yep. Her and dad had me not long after they relocated to Konoha." E said with a huge smile.
A sighed in relief. He has wondering how his only cousin had been doing all these years. "Will she be coming to the final stage?" The leader of Kumo said with a soft voice, something Bee hadn't seen in a long time. He remember Reiko, and always missed her since she left.
E grinned. "Yep, her and dad promised if my team and I got to that part that they'd come and watch."
This made A devious, obviously going to skew the results in their favor as much as he can discreetly. "I wish you and your team the best of luck. I'm sorry, but you need to go for now. I have a lot of paperwork." A excused himself. "And I also need to talk to Bee for a moment."
Hitomi bowed in respect. "Of course, Raikage-sama."
"Sure thing, old man." E said with a cheeky grin.
A sighed at the kid's exuberance, but was impressed with the girl. Despite being the last female Uchiha, she seemed very humble. It seemed not even Bee knows of her origin. Interesting. He'll keep an eye on her.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
The two just wandered around for the rest of the day, and soon they returned to their hotel room.
The next day went by in a blur as they memorized the terrain.
Then there was the Exams.
"So early." Hitomi pouted in the waiting room.
Shikikun got wise and handed a peach. "Here." He said to her.
Hitomi blinked, and started eating the peach. She didn't complain again after she was done. "It's still scary how a peach can manipulate her so much." E muttered.
"If it works, it works. I'm not complaining." Shikikun shrugged.
"Ok, brats. Follow me to your first exam. I will explain on the way." A scary looking dude explained.
Team 1 followed him closely along with the other genins of the room.
"You will all be put into separate mazes according to your teams. You are to get out in the appropriate time of under 2 hours. I'd wish you luck, but I really don't care."
Hitomi and the boys shared a look. 'He's weird.' They all thought in unison.
"Team 1 of Konoha, you will go through here." The scary dude told them.
Hitomi and crew entered into the secluded room and began to go through the maze. They continued through it until they came across a sentry. "I am Seiichi. You have to answer my riddle or fight past me to get through this door and continue through the rock maze." The rather good looking guy said to them.
He was super pale, but still had some color to him with pale levender hair and coal colored eyes
He was super pale, but still had some color to him with pale levender hair and coal colored eyes. His clothes were only gray and white colors, but his sharp features made him look extremely attractive.
"What's the riddle?" Shikikun asked.
"Let we explain more. I will continue with you and each time you reach a door like this, a riddle must be answered. If you fight me here and win, a stronger opponent will replace me with the same offer." His monotone voice said to them.
"What is the riddle?" Shikikun said again, this time with an edge in his voice.
A smirk was seen on the proctor's face. "An old man wanted to leave all his money to one of his three sons, but he didn't know which one he should give it to. He gave each of them a few coins and told them to buy something that would be able to fill their living room. The first son bought straw, but there wasn't enough to fill the room. The second bought some sticks, but he also didn't have enough. The third son bought two things that filled the room, so he inherited his father's fortune. What two things did the third son buy?"
"..." Hitomi and E were brain dead.
Shikikun was thinking deeply, until a cocky look came on him face. "He bought a candle and a box of matches. The song lit the candle, and the light filled the room."
'Thank Madara's Sexiness for Naras.' (Anyone who gets this reference is awesome) Hitomi thought to herself.
"Then let's go." Seiichi said as he opened the passage for them.
"Why don't you use your Sharingan?" Shikikun asked quietly, hoping their silent shadow couldn't hear him.
"It would give to much away to soon." She whispered back. E was in between the two and nodded in agreement.
After a few booby trap Shikikun pointed out and a couple more dead ends, they cam across another passageway that required a riddle.
"We hurt without moving. And poison without touching. We bear truth and lies, but are not judged by size. What are we?" Seiichi asked once more.
"Oh! I know this one. Words!" E answered.
"Correct." They continued on.
The traps got more deadly, but they had been able to navigate them successfully until the group made it to the end.
"You must answer this last riddle or defeat me to pass." Seiichi said to them. "The riddle is more of a story for you to figure out."
"A few years ago, a boy went crazy. He stabbed his sister to death and attacked his parents. Help managed to subdue him before he could kill them, and he's been in a dark cell since. One day, his family received a letter from him, marked that it was sent yesterday. Inside the letter was a strange note.
'Tonight the wind blows colder still.
All I know is darkness, never light.
The pain will break strongest hearts.
My dreams still escape my grasp.'
The father couldn't make sense of it, so he showed his wife. As soon as she finished reading it, she dropped the note and ran out of the house screaming in terror. Why?"
'I know this one. Dark humor was and scary riddles were my thing in my past life.' Hitomi thought. Shikikun was confused, 'How rare.', and E was back to brain dead. "The note had the secret message Tonight I Will Escape. Since the letter was marked yesterday, that meant he was out and knew where they lived." Hitomi gave her answer.
Seiichi was impressed. "Then you three pass this stage." He said as he opened the door to reveal the waiting area for the next part of the exam.
They had to wait for a few other teams to get through.
There was two other Konoha teams, four Kumo teams, two Kiri teams, three Iwa teams, a single Ame team, and three Suna teams.
A stepped forward to brief them on the next part of the trial. "You will be be separated from your teams and partnered with a random other. Each pair is given half of a map, and must hunt down the other to reach the end. A map is not necessary, however you will want one to maneuver through Kumo's Hell Canyon training grounds. This computer will assign pairs randomly."
Darui stepped forward. "As your name is listed, line up in front of the Raikage so he may discreetly hand out your peice of the map. Once you have it, you will be escorted to the waiting area by a proctor and will wait until given the signal to enter."
The screen behind him lit up, and then a roulette of names spun around until it stopped on two names.
"Hitomi Uchiha and Seinna Netero." Their names were called so they followed the instructions.
Hitomi snuck a look at her partner
Hitomi snuck a look at her partner. She looked like a rookie from Kiri. She wore black pants, a white hoodies, red fingerless gloves, and had her blue hair up in a poofy-ish short pony tail while her golden eyes surveyed the area. The girl was pale and petite. Despite being the same age, she was a good few inches shorter than Hitomi. 'With her hood up like that, she kinda looks like a little boy.' Hitomi thought privetly.
"You have part B." The Raikage said in a low tone.
The girl's nodded and followed their chosen proctor out, which was surprisingly Seiichi again.
While they were waiting, the began a small conversation. "I don't like people, except for Midori, but I'm stuck with you. Looks like a got a decent partner." Seinna said to the girl.
"Hn. You seem strong, so let's finish this quickly then help our precious people. Shiki can handle himself, but E is kinda an idiot half the time. A strong idiot, but still dense." Hitomi said with her 'Uchiha' voice.
The girl's were unaware that the second part of the exams were televised in Kumo... and that everyone could see this.
Seinna smirked. "Sounds like Midori. I'm glad we have a deal, Uchiha."
Hitomi gave her a look. "Hitomi is fine. I don't like formalities unless necessary."
"Same. Just call me Seinna." The bluenette offered.
"It seems we have an accord."
"It seems we do."
And so the duo waited in comfortable silence.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
"Didn't take long. Your Kekkei Genkai is pretty impressive." Seinna gave a rare compliment.
"Yours too. Didn't know lightning could do all that." Hitomi returned the favor.
Seinna smirked. "I may be the last of my clan, but I was the strongest."
Hitomi looked a little depressed at that comment, but didn't say anything.
Seinna noticed a felt a rare tug of guilt. "Nevermind that, let's help our silly friends." She tried to change the atmosphere.
Hitomi looked at the passed out team in front of her, then looked at Seinna. She gave a nasty smirk. "Let's."
Was all she said before ethereal two took off, using Seinna's lightning to track them down. 'I'd expect nothing less from a member of the Lightning God Clan: The Netero Clan.' Hitomi internally commented.
"Looks like we found your friend first. Him and his teammate from Iwa are battling a powerhouse from Kumo and a puppet user from Suna." Seinna announced.
Hitomi gave a cruel smirk as her darker side began to push through her. "Then we should join this lovely party."
Seinna gave her own dark smile and led the way to E.
"Lightning style: lightning pulse!" E yelled as he protected his unconscious teammate. A wave of lightning was sent to the Suna's creepy puppet.
The puppet dredged, and was going in for the kill until a huge wave of wind blew it into pieces.
The puppets owner cursed as he looked at the Uchiha girl holding the guilty War Fan.
His partner was about to attack, but was promptly knocked out by Seinna.
"Give us your map piece or die." Hitomi said as her Sharingan was blazing. She didn't dare use Mangekyo unless necessary, so she only used the 3 tome stage.
The puppet master turned white it utter terror as he shakily gave the map to her, only to be knocked out by Seinna afterwards.
"Here you go, E." Hitomi deactivated her eyes as she gave her long time friend a soft smile.
E grinned. "Thanks, Omi-chan. I don't know what Miko-chan and I could have done if you hadn't shown up."
"No prob. Seinna and I are going to help out her one teammate, so please hurry to the final destination, alright?" Hitomi said to him.
"Sure thing. Be careful out there." E said before picking up the blonde girl from Iwa and disappearing.
"Any sign of your friend?" Hitomi asked as Seinna gazed through the lightning. There was a storm going on, so Seinna used the lightning in said storm to locate E earlier.
"Looks like she already has her piece and is moving to the destination. I can't sense anyone else around her besides her partner, but to be sure I think we should follow them." Seinna told her.
"Sure." Hitomi shrugged, not in the mood to argue with the headstrong girl.
The ran a ways behind Seinna's friend, but the girl noticed them anyway. "Sei!" She hyperactive girl tackle-hugged her partner.
"Midori, stop that." Seinna flushed.
The tan, petite girl gave a nervous laugh and got off her friend
The tan, petite girl gave a nervous laugh and got off her friend. Hitomi used this opportunity to get a good look at her. She had long brown hair that went a little past her mid back and had straight across bangs that framed her face at the sides. Her eyes were an exotic hot pink, and everything about her screamed innocent and girly. She wore a baggy blue Tshirt that was very long on her. Under her shirt was a pair of hot pink shirts barely peeking under her shirt.
Midori blinked. "Hi~ I'm Midori! Nice to meet you." She said with a grin, while her partner sneered a bit.
"Got a problem, punk?" Seinna scowled at the Suna boy.
He paled at her killing intent, and chose to be silent. "Smart." Seinna said with a condescending tone.
"Nice to meet you as well, Midori-chan. I'm Hitomi." The Uchiha bowed her head in respect.
"Awesome~ let's hurry to the end. It's been two days, and I am so looking forward to a shower." The air headed girl prance off.
The three left behind shared a look and followed quickly.
Once there, Hitomi noticed there were only 6 groups, hers being the last of them.
"Congratulations, you 8 pairs are the ones that will go on to the final portion of the exam. It will take place in one month, giving you all time to rest, heal, and train." A announced to them.
"Take a piece of paper so we can decide the lineup." Darui told them afterwards.
'12' Hitomi thought as she looked at her own paper.
"Infuse your chakra to the paper. Once you do, your name will show up on the bracket." Darui instructed.
The genins did as told, and soon the bracket was filled.
Shikikun Nara(1) vs Miko Sasobe(2)
Koro(3) vs Midori Kikue(4)
Suzumebachi Kamizuru(5) vs Dokino(6)
Eiji Aoi(7) vs Han Zyo(8)
Sho Choumei(9) vs Seinna Netero(10)
Deidara(11) vs Hitomi Uchiha(12)
"Prepare yourselves." Was the only words of encouragement given.
'Three from Konoha, three from Kumo, two from Kiri, two from Iwa, and two from Suna. All Ame are out... Why the fuck did I get Dei-chan!' Hitomi internally raved.
"Good luck, girl, un." The cocky blonde said. "You'll need it, yeah."
Hitomi's eye twitched. "If you didn't have such a nasty attitude, you'd probably be cute." Was her sharp reply as she took in the blonde's features. 'He's a year younger than me, but I'm sure he's still strong enough to take seriously.'
Deidara gave a shocked blink, then flushed. "Whatever, yeah. Just train hard to make this fight interesting, un." He said before stalking off.
"I have a feeling this month is going to suck." Hitomi commented to no one in particular.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
And the plot thickens! Did you like my twist there at the end?
Thanks to LotusUchiha, Mo-Freakin, davycrockett100, and Mari for commenting! C:
Ok, I thought I'd start up a Question of the Chapter, so here it goes!
QotC: Favorite Kekkei Genkai? I'd also like you reasoning behind it, and not just because how strong something is or who has what.
Thanks for reading! :D
