Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Rating: M
(This story is rated mature for a reason.)
Special thanks to reviewers
Apologies for the lateness but my computer is broken and won't be fixed until the end of April so the chapters are going to be harder to update sooner. I will try to put up two. Once again sorry for the lateness.
Chapter 9
"Konoha"
When they finally made it to the main road that laid in front of the village gate, Hinata ever so slightly lifted her hood up to take in the village.
"Wow", she whispered as she took in the village in front of them, causing both Temari and Kankuro to look at her, "What is the name of the village?"
"Konoha, village of the hidden leaf." said Kankuro, naming the villages' full title as he and his sister turned to look at the gate.
"Yep, the place of great healers, entertainment, and best tasting apples." Temari said.
"Apples!" Hinata said as she gave a small jumped.
Yelp
With in seconds all eyes were turned on her as everyone froze.
"Hinata . . . what's that moving in you cloak?"
KonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonoha
"Hinata?" asked Kankuro as Hinata stood like a statue as both he and Temari moved in towards her.
"What are you hiding Hinata?" asked Temari, as if she was talking to a child who got their hand caught in the cookie jar.
"Un-ui-Un." grunted Hinata as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Hinata let us see it." said Kankuro in a parenting tone of voice. After a moment of Hinata refusing to move Kankuro walked up to her, sticking his arm down the front of the cloak towards the movement before jerking his arm back with a shout.
"It fucking bit me! Why is everyone biting me!" shouted Kankuro shaking his hand before Temari grabbed it.
"It looks fine, no blood." She said inspecting his fingers before letting go of it.
"Hinata, what are you hiding?" said Temari, placing her hands on her hips. "Show us, right now."
Hinata wore a strong look of reluctant as she looked back and forth between the two siblings, before looking at where her feet would have been if not covered in the cloak.
"Hinata." said Gaara's emotionless voice, as he glared at her with his arms crossed over his chest. Hinata looked at Gaara for a moment or too, biting her lip, before reaching her arm through the sleeve of the cloak, grabbing the moving bundle, and gentle moved it back through her sleeve. She them gentle held it a bit in front of her, with both hands, as she hung her head low, looking at the group.
"That's a . . ."
"That's a wolves' pup." Temari said as her eyes widen as she saw Hinata turned her head in a confused manner to the word 'wolf' before looking at the pup in her hands. "Hinata where did you find it? You have to put it back, quickly!"
"I found him by his mom." Hinata said as she began to scratch his head as he lick her wrist.
"You took it away from its mother!" shouted Kankuro. "Hinata, why would you do such a thing?"
"Mom wasn't moving." Hinata said with a blank face. Both Temari and Kankuro stiffen before look at each other, as a silence came across the group. "Can he stay with me?"
"Yes-"
"No-"
"What do you mean yes, that's a wild animal, she can't keep him." shouted Kankuro to his sister.
"What the hell is wrong with you, we can't just abandon him out in the woods, he'll die!" she shouted right back.
"Wild animals stay in the wild, you can't just pick it up and bring it home as a pet!" he shouted back.
"Pet?" asked Hinata.
"A domesticated animal kept and taken care of by a person and or family." said Kankuro.
"Then I'm a pet right?" asked Hinata, looking a bit confused.
"What?" asked Temari, stiffing a bit.
"I don't know what the word di-mest-ro-cated means but I'm kept and taken care of by a family." Hinata said with an innocent smile.
"No Hinata, your not a pet, you're a human being, part of the family." Temari said gently. "He," she said pointing toward the pup, "is a pet."
"No he is not cause she not keeping him." Kankuro said firmly.
"Yes she is!"
"No she isn't!"
Hinata stood there looking back and forth between the two of them again, a worried look on her face, before turning to Gaara. He stood there staring at Hinata (what's new) as she cradled the pup in her arms.
"Gaara?" asked Hinata, causing the auguring siblings to silence. He stood there looking a the happy looking pup as it continued to lick Hinata's hand, before letting his eyes move to each persons face. He then turned his back to them all and began to walk away.
This caused a large smile to fall onto Hinata's lips before she ran up behind him, pulling the hood all the way down and followed him to the front gate.
"Was that a yes or no?" asked Kankuro.
"I have not idea." said Temari as they both moved to catch up to the two.
Hinata smiled down at the pup in her arms as she continued to scratch him behind his ears, causing his tail to wag happily.
"Stay close, and let us do all the talking, alright." whispered Temari as Hinata looked up ever so slightly as they walking through the gate and towards a small desk beside it.
"Are you here to compete or watch?" asked the ninja sitting behind the desk as he and a man sitting beside his took in the four of them.
"We are to be competing." answered Temari as she watched them pull out a few forms a folder.
"Alright then, I will need your names, age, rank, and village you are from if you are to be competing." said the man on the right, pulling out a pen.
"Sabaku no Temari, 21, Jonin, Suna."
"Sabaku no Kankuro, 20, Jonin, Suna."
"Sabaku no Gaara, 18, Jonin, Suna." answered Gaara as both the men behind the desk stiffened a bit at his name, looking at each other before continuing to write down the information.
"And what of the person holding the pup." As the man on the left.
"Her name is Hinata, 18, and she is to be competing for the village Suna. She dose not have a rank." answered Temari starting to feel a bit uneasy all of a sudden as she saw the man on the right stop writing all of a sudden.
"No rank? Miss you do understand that very skill fighters will be competing in this?" he asked Hinata, a bit unsure she understood.
"We understand the dangers." Kankuro said in a serious tone of voice watching as the men behind the desk look at each other before continuing to write down the information.
"Alright. Here are some forms that you will need to fill out before you fight, and some explaining the rules of the competition and of the village. Now the competition is four levels. D, the lowest level, is made up of expert fighters that are non-ninja. C, is made up of all nin that are at the rank of Chunin and B of Jonin. Level A is made up of all of the most powerful fighters that excide Jonin level of fighting. You two," he said pointing to Kankuro and Temari "will be in level B, and you," he said turning to Gaara, "will be in level A."
"What about her?" asked Kankuro, pointing is thumb to Hinata.
"She will be in level D, which will be starting in about two hours." said the man on the right.
"What, but I herd that the competition doesn't start for another two days." shouted Temari.
"Yes but we had to move it forward because of the large amount of non-nin that have decided to compete. I am sorry for the inconvenience but I am not in charge of it." said the man with a sympathetic look on his face. "I would advise that you try to book a room at an Inn before the competition starts. You will find the locations of each fight written on the papers I have handed you and also a map if you have not been to our village before. I hope your stay at Konoha enjoyable." He said with a forced smile as the small group walked away.
KonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonohaKonoha
"Wow!" muttered Hinata as she took in the site before her. Thousands upon thousands of fighter circled around the four different arenas, shouting taunts and insults at two fighters as they fought each other bloody. "There's a lot of people here."
"Well it's a pretty big thing, there are very few fighting competitions that include non-nin fighters." said Temari as she look at all the fighters with pity, not a single one of them that a chance.
"Everyone looks like they're having so much fun." Hinata said as two men on a stretcher rush by in front of her. "When's my turn?"
"They said just to go up when your number is call." Tamari said as she began to flip through the large packet of papers in her hands. "Apparently you have to fight at lest 22 opponents, and win against every one, in order to move onto the sub level to go to next level."
"What's my number?" asked Hinata as she began to bounce slightly next Temari.
"Hold on that's what I'm looking for . . . um . . . 4444." mumbled Temari as she thought of the irony of it. Four for death, four times . . . Kami really had a since of humor.
"Is Kankuro going to be back in time to see me?" asked Hinata as she watched a fighter being thrown five feet out of one of the arenas.
"I don't know sweetie, he went to look for an Inn for us to stay in. He might not be back for a while." Temari said as she watched the destruction in front of her, feeling a bit uneasy at how excited Hinata was getting.
Hinata smile under the hood of the cloak as she turned to Temari, seeing the frown on her face, before turning to Gaara. She watched him as he stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest, his eyes closed, fooling everyone into thinking he was asleep.
"So have you decided what to call him?"
"Call who?" asked Hinata as she turned to Temari.
"The pup?" Temari said with a smile. Hinata turned her head to the side as she looked down at the pup laying happily in her arms, his tail wagging as he watched the fighters.
"I think . . . I think I'll call him . . .Bishamon." she said as she scratched his head lovingly.
"Bishamon, The god of war? " asked Temari
"Hai."
"Why would you-" Temari began.
"Fighter number 4444, please come to ring two. Fighter number 4444, please come to ring two."
"That's me." Hinata said happily as she began to run towards the ring.
"Hinata wait! You can't bring Bishamon." Temari tried to shout over the noise of crowd, but Hinata was already hopping into the arena. "Hinata WAIT!"
Hinata felt a smile flow onto her lips as she hopped into the arena with Bishamon. She felt the excitement and adrenaline pump through every inch of her as she looked at everything around her. She stood surprisingly still as she listen them announce her opponent's number.
In all her life she never thought that fighting someone in an arena could be a game. This thought caused her to think back on all the years she was used as a weapon to kill. Was that a game too? No. . . the people at the compound were not having her kill for the fun of it. . . right? They wanted them dead for a reason.
"So this is whom I am to be fighting?" asked a very deep voice as Hinata turned to watch an inhumanly tall man walk up to the arena. She slowly turned towards him as she watched the giant jump onto the arena and stand in front of her.
Temari watched wide eye as she saw the giant jump onto the arena, standing well over eight, maybe nine feet tall. She felt a frown slowly move onto her face as she took in the man's appearance. He only wore a pair of long, brown shorts, leaving everyone a perfect view of his impressively muscular chest.
"Whole crap, whose the fucking monster!"
"Kankuro? When did you get here?" asked Temari as she snapped her head around to look at her brother.
"Just now- Kami, Hinata's fighting that thing?!" he asked as he scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah."
"Is that pup up there with her too?" he asked as he leaned forwards a bit, squinting.
"Yeah."
"Kami, look at that thing, Hinata doesn't even reach past the mans hips." said Kankuro " I feel sort of sorry for the poor freak, she's going to kick his ass."
"Yeah."
"You can't be serious." Laughed the giant man, "You put me up against a child?"
Hinata frowned slightly at the man in front of her, as he continued to boast about himself and degrade her for her size, earning a laugh from the crowd around them. She them watched as he began to complain to a man beside the arena, asking for a more 'worthy' opponent, only to be denied. This earned another laugh from the crowd before they began to shout for them to fight.
"Forfeit little man, your wasting my time." shouted the angry man towards Hinata.
This caused Hinata's frown to deepen, why was he already dismissing her. They haven't even stared to fight. Doesn't he know to never underestimate your opponent? Who dose this man think he is? Hinata began to shake her head 'no' to the man as she heard people from the crowd call her a fool.
"Fine," mocked the man, "You want to fight, let's fight." said the giant as he pulled back his fist before hurtling it towards her.
A hush fell over the entire crowd as the all stared at the arena wide eyed. Hinata stood with one sleeve covered hand, blocking the mans' fist, before smacking his hand away for her. She watched as the giant stumbled backwards a bit looking at her with a look of shocked and horror his face that seemed to be mirror through out the crowd.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha, go on, show that thing what a fool he was not to forfeit when he had the chance." Hinata saw Kankuro shout from out the corner of her eye, making her smile.
"No one makes a fool out of me." shouted the giant angrily at Hinata, as she gently place Bishamon on the ground next to her. Then in a flash of movement Hinata in the air, sending a powerful side kick to the man's head, hurtling the him out of the arena and landing about twenty feet away.
Hinata stood in the center of the arena as she heard Kankuro's cheers over the mute crowd, causing her to smile again, before turning to Bishamon. She watched as he ran, stumbled really, over to her with his large paws.
" The winner, 4444. The winners next opponent 9659."
With that the crowd came alive with cheers, chanting her number, which she found a bit funny.
"Hinata!" shouted Temari, causing Hinata to turn her head towards her as she stood at the side of the arena. "You need to give me Bishamon. He's not aloud to be in the arena with you while your fighting, he could get hurt." She said as Hinata walked over to her, the pup following at her heels.
"Alright." said Hinata as she gently picked up Bishamon and placed him into Tamari's hands. This caused an inhumanly loud and monstrous snarl to erupt from the small pup making Temari jerk the pup as far away from her as her arms could reach. "Don't worry Bishamon, I'll be back in a moment." Hinata said as she gently scratched his head, causing the snarl to lower in volume ever so slightly.
With that Hinata moved back into the center of the arena while Temari slowly moved back to the corner of the large building where her brothers stood. The crowd easily separated for Temari as Bishamon snarled and snapped his teeth at a few people.
"Kami, what the hell is wrong with that thing!" said Kankuro jumping back as Bishamon snapped his teeth at him.
"Hell if I know, he started the second Hinata handed him to me." Temari said as she continued to hold the pup out in front of her. "Kankuro, you hold him."
"Ha! In your fucking dreams, Hinata gave him to you, you hold him." Kankuro said moving back a step.
" . . . I should have left him up there." mumbled Temari miserable as she turned to watch Hinata's next fight.
One by one Hinata defeated her opponents whether they were male, female, strong, or old all with in two hits. This slowly caused the crowds of all four arenas to make their way to ring two as Hinata hit her opponents out into the crowd.
Temari and Kankuro watched, with the snarling Bishamon who seemed to lower the volume of his snarling once he caught sight of Hinata, as one by one her defeated opponents were carried away by a sea of hands.
Temari and Kankuro each exchanged worried looks as they saw the crowd become blood thirsty, unsure on how Hinata was going to handle this. So far she continued to end the fights quickly, without much damage to her opponent's. Also the dark smirk that had appeared on his face as he watch Hinata caused the two siblings to worry.
"The winner, 4444. The winners next and last opponent 2684."
Hinata smiled as she turned towards the three sand siblings. She watched as Kankuro gave her thumbs up with a goofy smile on his face while Temari smiled and waved at her. But what really held her attention was the look Gaara was giving her. It caused chills to crawl up and down her spin as she took in the dark smirk on his face.
"O.K. lets fight." said a voice, forcing Hinata to turn to her next opponent.
Hinata's eyes widened as she became stiff as she took in her next opponent . . . in was boy. The young boy looked to be no more that ten, eleven at the most. He was very pale, and wide eyed as he looked at Hinata from across the ring. Hinata frowned as she heard the shout and chant for her to 'destroy' and 'kill' the small boy, causing his small legs to shake.
Both Kankuro and Temari visibly paled as they saw Hinata's last opponent and the way the crowd went wild.
"She not going to hurt him . . . right?" asked Kankuro as he turned to his sister. He watched as she moved Bishamon closer towards her, like she was going to hug him, only to jerk him back out in front of her as the pup began to snarl louder again.
" . . . Yeah, of course." Temari whispered.
Hinata stood there listening to the crowd as she watched the young boy slowly trying to build up his courage to make the first move. She observed the boys hands turn into fist, closing his, as he squared his shoulders. Before snapping his eye open and running at her with his fist held high, letting out a battle cry.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Hinata watched the small boy run at her, fear reflected in his eyes as brought his fist towards her face. She slowly caught his fist, in a gentle grip, as she watched a look of pure horror cross over his face. She then lifted the boy off his feet, by is fist, until he was about eye level with her.
Time seemed to snap back to normal as Hinata walked over to the edge of the arena before gentle dropped the young boy out of the ring. She watched as she saw a look of confusion cross the boys face before turning to look up at her. She saw the boy's eye widened as he took in her face, being able to see her from standing directly under her.
"You're . . . a girl?" whispered the boy, too low for anyone to hear. At this Hinata decided to do something that Kankuro taught her to do when she wanted to act playful. She gave him a smirk and gave a quick wink.
"Winner 4444."
This caused the crowd to 'boo' and shout insults towards Hinata as she slowly walked to the opposite side to the arena, before hopping off and making her way over towards the sand siblings.
"How did I do?" asked Hinata as she walked over to Temari, as she basically throw the snarling Bishamon at her. The second the small pup was in her arms, it turned into a happy, tail wagging, cute pup again.
"You kicked their ASSES!" shouted Kankuro giving her a smack on the back, while also giving everyone who passed by a smug look.
"That was impressive Hinata," said Temari as she smiled at her. "We're going to have to celebrate your wonderful ass kicking."
This caused Hinata to giggle as the three of them followed Gaara out of the large building and out into the colorful streets of Konoha.
