"Every street in this city is the same to me
Everyone's got a place to be but there's no room for me
Am I to blame when the guilt and the shame
Hang over me like a dark cloud that
Chases you down in the pouring rain"
Chapter 9: Someone Who Cares (Three Days Grace)
He tasted exactly liked I dreamed of, hot sand and cinnamon. His body was tense, and I flicked my eyes open, and looked directly into his surprised sea foam eyes. I wrapped both my arms around his neck, tangling one hand in his hair. I pulled him flush against my body, taking what I wanted for once. I moved my lips over his, enjoying his sweet taste.
I wasn't allowed to assault him like this for long though, as he soon pushes me away, the shock in the depths of his eyes apparent. I stare at him longingly, and hold my hand out to him, silently urging him to take it. He looks at it, his face unreadable, and then his sand rises up around him, and he's gone.
The demon inside of me was going crazy over her taste, warm vanilla, lavender and a hint of summer rain. I wondered what had possessed her to kiss me. She had looked happy, her eyes closed, savoring my taste. I wanted to kill her, wanted to fuck her, wanted to believe what she had told me; that she was going to save me from myself.
"What's up with you?" Kankuro asks, giving me a look.
"Nothing." I growl, aiming a glare his way.
The day of the final part of the exams dawned sunny and warm, a slight breeze fanning my blonde hair out around me. I gazed around at the arena in amazement, Takai next to me, her face unreadable. I adjusted the thin black strap keeping my water skin on my back out of nervousness, my chainmail armor tinkling with my slight movement. I gazed out over the stands, the spectators all looking on and talking with excitement. I searched out and found Kakkaku, smiling down at Takai and I.
The wind carries the scent of hot desert across my nose and I turn to watch as the sand siblings stalk in, completely ignoring the competition. I follow Gaara with my eyes, that familiar excitement building up again, the thrill of seeing him making me much happier than I had been a moment ago. His eyes meet mine, and he looks at me expressionlessly. I can feel a blush spreading across my cheeks as I quickly turn away.
"What's up with her?" I hear Kankuro ask faintly, the words carrying over to me on the breeze.
"Kankuro!" Temari scolds, and I force myself not to look and see what's going on.
Gaara doesn't reply himself, so I assume he must have glared at his elder brother.
Soon, we're all gathered, with Naruto coming in late. I grin at him like an idiot as he moves to stand by me.
"Where's Sasuke?" He asks, looking around at everyone who has gathered.
"He hasn't shown up." I say, shrugging my shoulders. "He's a prick anyways, who cares?" I mutter under my breath, crossing my arms and scowling at the ground.
"That guy Dosu hasn't shown up either." Shikamaru points out.
"Well, then that's two less people to fight." I say, now glaring at the two.
"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asks, looking at me in confusion.
"I hate Sasuke, he's such an ass." I say, as I shuffle around to stand more comfortably.
"Hey, quit talking and face the spectators." The proctor says, eyeing us. "You're the stars of the final round."
I choose to glare at him instead before looking up at all the people who have placed bets on who will win. I don't care who had bet against me, I was going to beat the shit out of Gaara's brother, maybe then he would stop looking at me like a piece of meat.
I chance a glance at Gaara, who is glaringly angrily at the Kazekage as he takes a seat next to the Hokage. His father… I think to myself, scowling in that direction too. The one who ordered Gaara killed for something the Kazekage himself did. I continued glaring even when the Hokage stood up to make an announcement, which I ignored.
"Now before we begin take a good look. The order has been changed slightly." The proctor says, pulling out a white piece of paper. I glance over the names. My match was still the same, but now Shikamaru was facing Temari, and Takai was going to face Shino.
I wonder what happened to Dosu… I say to myself as the proctor folds the paper back up and stuffs it into his vest. I glance at Gaara and see his hand twitch. Did he…? I think he killed him! Gaara's eyes meet my own astonished ones, and he smirks sinisterly at me. I just offer him a smile, which wipes the smirk off his face, and is replaced with a glare.
"Sasuke's not here yet." Naruto says, looking about worriedly.
"If a competitor does not arrive by the start of their match, they will be disqualified." The proctor says, flicking his toothpick around.
Naruto puts a hand to his chin, thinking, and I chance another look at Gaara. He's looking straight ahead, his face emotionless, but I knew he wanted to face Sasuke, so he had to be thinking about something. A creepy smile starts playing across his lips, and I stare at him questioningly, but he is ignoring me now.
"Listen up guys, the rules are, there are no rules. You will battle until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. If I deem a battle is over, then the battle is over. There will be no arguments." The proctor seems to look pointedly at Naruto this time. "The first battle is Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji. You two will stay down here, the rest of you will go up to the waiting area."
"Good luck Naruto!" I say happily, punching him lightly in the shoulder before turning and following Takai towards the stairs leading to the waiting area. I scurry up the stairs hurriedly, before running to the railing along the balcony. I grip it tightly as I watch Neji and Naruto face off.
"You seem like you want to say something." I hear Neji's condescending voice say. I pump a little chakra around my ears to hear better.
Naruto puts his fist out in front of him, pointing it at Neji. "I promise, I will win." Naruto says, his face determined.
Neji activates his Byakugan, then slides into his fighting stance. "That makes it more worthwhile for me. I look forward to your look of disappointment when you know the true reality."
"Stop whining." Naruto says, and I sigh and roll my eyes at his predictability. A strong gust of wind swirls about the arena, whipping my blonde hair about crazily. "Let's get started!" Naruto says, nothing but determination in his voice.
"First match, begin!" The proctor says, as cheers erupt around the stadium.
The two stare each other down, Neji shifting his fighting pose every now and then. "Come on Naruto!" I shout. "Kick his ass!"
Finally Naruto moves, throwing kunai before running straight in for a punch, which Neji blocks easily. "You would think he would know better after watching Neji's fight with Hinata." Takai says, sweat dropping.
"You know that's not Naruto's style." I say, smiling at Takai.
"He's going to get his ass handed to him." Takai says, crossing her arms and scowling at the two figures down in the arena.
"He'll win." I say confidently, before looking over to Gaara, who is watching with barely disguised interest.
Naruto keeps going at Neji with his taijutsu, before Neji finds an opening to exploit, hitting Naruto with a chakra encased hand right in the chest. I watch worriedly as Naruto chokes, his breath knocked out of him. Neji pushes down on Naruto's right shoulder with two fingers, and Naruto tumbles away, laying on the ground and holding his arm. The two start talking to each other.
"Fight Naruto! WIN!" I yell as Naruto stands up and creates four shadow clones.
They all rush in, but Neji easily avoids all the attacks, before destroying Naruto's clones. Neji looks at Naruto haughtily before prattling on about his destiny bullshit.
"Aw, shut up Neji! No one wants to hear it!" I holler, which earns me a fleeting glare from said shinobi.
Naruto prepares more shadow clones, around fifty to a hundred if I had to hazard a guess. Naruto's clones all charge, and Neji deflects them easily, before pinpointing the real Naruto and hitting him with a good jab. Naruto coughs up blood, his eyes surprised at being found out.
"Don't take any of his shit Naruto!" I yell, as the clones that were left all start to poof away.
"Don't assume anything." The Naruto clone says, before poofing away.
"Go Naruto!" I shout, cheering like a rabid fan-girl and jumping up and down excitedly.
"Honestly Kira…" Takai says, rolling her eyes at me.
"Zip it kitty face." I growl, glaring at Takai.
"You zip it, dog breath." Takai says, punching me in the head.
"Don't make me—"
"Will the both of you just shut up!?" Kankuro yells at us, glaring.
Takai and I glance at each other before glaring at Kankuro, both of us aiming killing intent his way. I direct my attention back down to the arena and see Naruto flying through the air, blue chakra spinning around Neji's body before slowly dissipating.
Naruto makes more clones and circles Neji, and this time it's my turn to sweat drop. "Naruto, don't you know any jutsu other than kage bunshin!?" I yell down to him. Naruto's clones are all destroyed as Neji spins around, blue chakra whirling again. It's a one hit KO for all the clones.
Naruto gets up just as Neji flies through the air, landing in front of him. His fingers glow with blue chakra as he strikes them relentlessly against Naruto's body. Naruto flies through the air, his body limp, before crashing down with a thud.
My jaw is on the floor, looking from Neji to Naruto and back again. "Did… Did you see that?" I whisper, and Takai nods her head.
"The Byakugan is a powerful weapon."
"Get up Naruto!" I shout, glaring at Neji.
Naruto struggles to stand as Neji spouts off about his destiny crap again. Come on Naruto. I will him to keep going in my head.
"No way. You shouldn't be able to stand!" Neji says, his face a beacon of shock.
"I told you that I'm going to win." Naruto says, panting heavily.
"Woohoo! Go Naruto!" I cheer obnoxiously, which earns me some more glares from Takai. "Hey, he's a good friend! And he's been ostracized since birth, he needs encouragement." I say stubbornly, stomping my foot.
Neji begins prattling on about the head family and branch family and about how he lost his father, and I tune him out, since obviously there was not going to be any fighting right now. I take this time to look at Gaara, who is watching with some interest on his face. I begin walking towards him, when Takai hisses behind me. "What are you doing?"
"Going to talk to the opposition." I say. "Wanna come with?"
"No." Takai says, crossing her arms and giving me a don't-be-stupid look.
"Suit yourself." I say, walking over to the sand siblings.
"What do you want?" Kankuro asks, looking me up and down.
"I just came to fraternize with the enemy." I say, glaring at him, before smiling at Gaara, who glares at me. I move to stand next to him, and smile inwardly when he doesn't leave or lean away. I place my hands on the railing, another bout of wind kicking up, my hair blowing out around me.
The wind blasts her smell of vanilla and lavender over to me, and I clench my fists, trying to control myself. Her blonde hair whips about her face, as she smiles and cheers on her friend from beside me.
"Naruto puts up a good fight, ne Gaara?" She says, smiling warmly at me.
A weird warmth gathers in my stomach, but I just scowl at her.
"Oh cut it out. If you do that for too long, your face will freeze that way." She giggles at me, her face still lit up with happiness.
I ignore her with some difficulty, and train my eyes on the arena. The Byakugan user had run over to Naruto, and smashed a chakra encased hand into Naruto's chest, sending the blonde shinobi flying. I was amazed at the kid's stamina, but that was to be expected from a fellow jinchuriki. However, he seemed to lack any jutsu, and I wondered what the hell he had been learning over the one month break.
"Get up Naruto!" Kira screeches from beside me, making me wince. I glare at her, but she is ignoring me now, her focus entirely on her friend.
I look down into the arena again, and Naruto is attempting to stand, his body shaking from all the damage he's taken. He continues to converse with his opponent, angering me because I can't hear what's being said.
"You tell him Naruto!" Kira cheers, and I look at her in surprise. She can hear what they're saying to each other?
"You can hear them?" I ask quietly, so no one overhears.
"Well yeah, I just pooled some chakra in my ears to enhance my hearing." She says, a huge smile aimed at me.
I scowl at her out of necessity, although I'd rather not try and push her away anymore. I had to keep up pretences. Think about the mission. I reminded myself, before thinking what might happen to her. An image of her dead body on the ground comes to mind, growing cold and stiff by my own hand. I shudder inwardly at the thought. The demon inside of me isn't too keen on the idea either, and I have to wonder why he's not excited at the image.
"Neji just asked how Naruto plans on winning when he's had all of his chakra points closed off." Kira says, looking at me, before going back to looking down into the arena. "And Naruto is saying that he'll win no matter what. FUCK YEAH NARUTO! YOU TELL HIM!" She screams down into the arena, making the blonde shinobi look up at her with a small smile.
Naruto closes his eyes in concentration, and brings two fingers in front of his face.
"Neji just told the proctor he's going to fight with the intent to kill now." Kira narrates, casting me a worried glance and biting her lip. The sight of her biting her bottom lip makes me feel weird, almost good in a way.
I watch as Neji smirks at Naruto, his face one of triumph. Naruto is still concentrating on something, and he grunts in his efforts. Neji activates his Byakugan, but Naruto continues concentrating. And then I see it, a flickering of orange as the small pebbles near Naruto rise into the air from the high levels of chakra leaking out of his body.
I can feel the sinister power of the chakra, so much like my own, but it still surprises me. It must show on my face, because a warm hand brushes my own, and when I look down, Kira's fingers are brushing mine. I step away from her, taking my hand with me as I glare at her.
I focus back down into the arena, where Naruto has become much faster as he rushes at Neji, the orange chakra forming around him like a cloak.
"Way to go Naruto!" Kira shouts, leaning over the railing as she cheers.
Naruto throws some shuriken, which Neji stops by rotating and expelling chakra from his body. He catches two of the shuriken and takes out several more throwing them at Naruto who just speeds away and dodges them. The two run at each other again and again, and Kira continues cheering like a maniac. She stops for a second and glances at me, offering me another one of her smiles, which I don't return, even though deep down I think I want to. I scowl at myself as this thought pops up. Since when do I want to smile at anyone?
Naruto charges at Neji, his feet creating craters as they connect with the ground because of the sheer force of the orange chakra. They clash with kunai creating an explosion that has Kira covering her face with her arms. I use my sand to block my face, and seeing this, Kira sidles over to me so that she is behind my sand too.
"That sand is mighty useful." Kira whispers in my ear, giggling, before I feel warmth on my cheek. I look out of the corner of my eye, but she's gone, a trail of laughter the only thing she leaves behind.
Did she just kiss my cheek again? I wonder as the dust begins to settle in the arena. I lower my sand shield and Kira is there in front of me, leaning on the railing. She looks down into the arena with intense concentration, her eyes roaming the entire space.
I look down into the field to see two smoking holes in the ground, the slight breeze slowly clearing the smoke away. A hand rises out of the rubble of one hole like a bad horror film, and Neji slowly climbs out. I can vaguely see Naruto's unconscious form in the other. Neji staggers over to look down on Naruto. I fold my arms across my chest, having decided that Neji has one this one. I'm surprised yet again however, as Naruto comes up from the ground, a forceful uppercut connecting with Neji's jaw, sending him flying.
"Yeah Naruto!" Kira shouts, pumping her fist into the air happily.
"Winner of this match, Uzumaki Naruto." The proctor says, and Kira is immediately over the railing and hugging the boy.
I leap into the arena and hug Naruto tightly. "Way to go Naruto, I knew you could do it!" I say, beaming him a smile amid cheers from the crowd. Naruto gives me a happy smile in return before running about the ring happily. "Come on, let's get you up to the waiting area." I say, pulling on Naruto's arm and using my teleportation jutsu to get him to the waiting area.
"Thanks Kira-chan." Naruto says, smiling like an idiot, still on a major high from his win, before moving on to talk with Shikamaru.
"Since we're still waiting on one participant, we're going to skip ahead to the next match."
"Hey, then that means my match is one match closer!" Shikamaru complains loudly.
"Oh suck it up!" I say, flipping over the railing and landing gracefully on the ground.
"The next match is Chikako Kira and Kankuro." The proctor says as he looks up into the waiting area for Kankuro.
I watch Kankuro begin raising his hand, and the water flows out of my water skin as fast as lightning, encasing Kankuro and bringing him down to the field. I deposit him on the ground, and then siphon the water out of his clothes. "Don't even think about withdrawing." I say menacingly, glaring at the boy in front of me. "I trained my ass off, and you are going to battle me, or—" I lower my voice for the next part, whispering in his ear, "I'll feed you to my bijuu, Gobi." I give Kankuro a feral smile as he stares at me in shock.
"In the tower you said…" Kankuro begins and I nod at him.
"I thought you would have figured it out by now." I say flippantly, tossing my blonde hair over my shoulder before walking away several paces.
"Begin the match!' The proctor says, and I lick my lips as the water dances about my body.
Kankuro pulls his puppet off his back, and I glance at Crow, not worried since I already saw what Crow can do. I shoot my water towards the puppet, infusing it with my lightning chakra. The lightning dances merrily along the water as I form it into a whip, which I make lash out, smashing one of the legs to bits of wood. I force my water into another two whips, infusing these with lighting too. I direct one at Crow, and Kankuro expertly moves Crow around as he tries to dodge my attacks. I snake the other whip to come in from behind, and am please when my whip gets a good strike across Kankuro's cheek. Blood spurts forth, dripping from the wound as Kankuro convulses slightly from the lightning.
I watch as Kankuro gets his ass handed to him, the power behind Kira's water surprising me. Hell, I was surprised she had mastered this in less than three weeks. Her water was much like my sand, able to attack and deflect.
"Gaara, is that…?" Temari asks, her eyes wide in shock.
"Kira did say my sand was her inspiration." I say before ignoring my sister.
"I never imagined anyone could make a jutsu like yours…"
I continue watching the match. Kira's new water jutsu was pummeling Kankuro, who was a long range fighter. Kira could cover everything with that water of hers.
"You're boring me." I hear Kira say to Kankuro, but whatever my brother says is lost as the wind picks up again.
Kira uses the water to fight off Crow as she closes in on my brother, striking him with lightning infused water whips to make it harder for him to move.
"Kankuro is no match for her..." My sister whispers, and I glance up to see worry on her face.
"Suirō no Jutsu!" Kira says, when she is within a few feet of Kankuro. Water siphons out of her water skin, and more water collects in the sky and from the ground, before the water completely envelops Kankuro. I watch in amazement as Crow falls to the ground, Kankuro's chakra strings severed. Kira's hand remains in the sphere of water, and cheers erupt from the crowd.
"To think he would be beaten so easily…" Temari says quietly as the proctor announces Kira the victor. I glance up at my father, his face expressionless as he watches his eldest son get his ass handed to him.
Kira releases her water prison, all the water rushing back into her water skin. She teleports into the waiting area, where she in congratulated by all the Konoha genin. She smiles cheerily, before glancing over at me and winking.
"The next match will be Temari and Nara Shikamaru." The proctor says, looking up into the waiting area. I watch as my sister leaps down, confident in her own battle prowess.
I watch as Shikamaru looks nervously down into the battlefield. "What, scared of a girl beating you?" I ask, smiling at him.
"Come on Shikamaru, fight hard!" Naruto shouts, shoving Shikamaru over the railing and into the arena.
I sweat drop at Naruto, who continues smiling like an idiot. Poor Shikamaru lands on his back, and spectators angered by his laziness throw trash at him. "Get up you lazy bum!" I yell down to him, laughing with Naruto.
The battle really drags on, with Shikamaru biding his time by a tree as he waits for the shadows to elongate. I just know he's cloud gazing, watching as the breeze carries the clouds across the sky.
"What the hell Shikamaru!" I yell. "Just get her already!" I glance over at Gaara who is scowling at me. "What? I have to root for my village you know!"
"Just ignore that guy." Naruto says to me, looking at Gaara with something almost like dislike in his eyes.
"Hey be nice to Gaara-kun!" I say, whacking Naruto on the head. "He's a nice guy once you get to know him!" Gaara looks at me impassively and I sigh. Then walk over to him and smile. "How about I root for them equally?" I ask the red head, who glances at me out of the corner of his eye but remains silent. "Go Temari, go Shikamaru!" I shout, and Naruto turns and looks at me in disbelief.
"Why are you cheering for her?" He asks.
"Well, I like Gaara-kun, and I want him to like me back, so I'm being nice to him and his family." I say, beaming a smile at Naruto.
He gives me a look like I'm crazy, and Takai rolls her eyes at me.
Down below, Shikamaru has gone into his thinking pose, and he sits there for several minutes before his eyes flash open and the battle begins with earnest. I watch as Shikamaru fools her into thinking she's analyzing his shadow as he corals her to the hole Naruto created earlier, and is finally able to catch her. He forces her to walk forward, and he forces her to raise her hand in the air.
"Good grief, I quit." Shikamaru says lazily. The crowd watches in stunned silence for a minute, and my jaw hits the floor.
"What do you mean 'I quit'!? You're too lazy Shikamaru!" I holler down at him.
This thought is also taken up by the crowd as they begin to riot over the outcome of the battle.
"I've used too much chakra from trying to use Shadow Possession so many times in a short period. I can't hold this jutsu up for more than ten seconds." Shikamaru says, and I shake my head in disappointment.
"See, your sister won!" I say happily to Gaara, giving him a pat on the back. He gives me a small glare and sand dances around me dangerously. "You wouldn't hurt your friend would you?" I ask, giving him another discreet peck on the cheek before dancing away to join Naruto. I glance at Takai who looks at me darkly. Clearly she hadn't missed my bout of affection.
"The winner is Temari." The proctor says, and I sigh my disappointment.
AN: Two chapters in one day, I'm on a roll. Leave me a review and let me know what you think of Kira's match!
