AN: Ah, so we've reached Chapter 10. Cool! :D
Alpinewolf: well, best friend on fanfiction anyway? Lol, I'm just REALLY thankful for the reviews :) Thanks again!
Please review guys! I'd LOVE to get some more!
Chapter 10:
Darkness Runs in the Family
"Koinu, get up! It's time to train!" Not even a minute later it seemed Watiko was yelling in to my room. I yelped and dived off of my bed. Watiko closed my door, and I heard his retreating footsteps. I growled and looked out the window over my bed. DUDE! The sun wasn't even DOWN yet! I mean, it was setting, but it wasn't down yet! Plus, he knew about Garou! Why did he want me training when the moon was up? I groaned and brushed my hair and put deodorant on, before climbing down the stairs. Sintaki smiled at me in the hallway, before pointing to a door that was slid open.
I walked in to the room, and there was a door at the far end also slid open. I walked out in to the setting sun, looking around. There was a trail that led deeper in to the forest. I didn't see Watiko, so I figured he was either down there, or he could find me down there. I yawned and stretched, before walking down the path. As I walked, I watched as the sun sank lower beyond the horizon. I gulped when there was only a sliver left, and then sprinted down the rest of the trail.
By the time I reached the end, the sun had sank below the horizon and I was slinking in the shadows. I reached the outskirts of the clearing at the end. The clearing, was big enough to have another house, if it weren't for the lake. The lake took up most of the clearing. In the middle of the lake there was a decent patch of land, enough to spar with two people. In the middle of that patch of land, Watiko sat in a meditive position. His eyes shot open and he glanced over at me.
"You know how to walk on water, right Koinu?" He asked.
"Yeah." I replied.
"Then come out to me." He called, and I snarled. I would NOT go out there.
"The moonlight is between here and there." I growled, my hand snatching up and clenching my necklace. Motaroku. Watiko sighed.
"I might as well warn you, using my chakra and spreading it throughout the area around me, when it latches on to your chakra I feel your emotiones, so I know what you feel." I flinched slightly in embarasment. "And you will come out here, don't worry about the wolf inside you. When it tries to claw out force it back. You aren't a wolf, Koinu. Control it." I sighed and looked at the spot in front of me where the darkness gave way to moonlight.
I gulped and took a step forward. Instantly I was swallowed in moonlight and groaned as Garou clawed inside of me, clawing his way to get part of himself out of me. I collapsed to my knees and gripped at my stomach. I gritted my teeth and growled in pain and fury. Trying to push Garou back inside of me in moonlight. In his element, was like fighting fire with oil.
I yelled in pain. His claws scraped at my stomach and bones, trying to claw through my skin. I could feel my nails and teeth grow sharper.
"Stop resisting, Koinu!" Garou snarled at me, and I snarled back, standing straight in the moonlight in our little meeting clearing.
"Leave me alone, Garou! If I want you're power I'll ask you for it!"
"But it's moonlight! I survive and thrive in moonlight!"
"I don't care! Stay back!"
Garou snarled and barked as he leaped forward at me. I ducked and rolled underneath him, creating handsigns as I landed in a crouched position, facing him. He turned and sprinted at me. I finished my handsign and glared at Garou with my eyes.
"Fire style: Fire Stream Jutsu!" I snarled. I threw my hands in front of me, and opened my mouth. Fire flared from all three spots at Garou. Garou trieed sliding to a halt, but tripped up and was hit.
Garou stopped fighting to try and get out. I gasped and my eyes shot open. There was no pain. Only a slight itching that indicated Garou was more than willing to make himself known. My head shot open to look at Watiko.
"How did you know?" I gasped, getting to my feet.
"I've dealt with demons before. He no longer should fight as hard as he has in the past to get out of your body. However, you'll change if your emotions get the best of you." Watiko smiled. I took a deep breath and channeled chakra in to my feet, and stepped out on to the lake. I channeled and circulated my chakra to be able to walk on the water. I continued walking along the lake, until I stepped on the island in the middle of said lake.
"If you do change, and wish to turn back in to a human, just imagine sunlight touching you if it's night. If it's during the day, you'll have to fight Garou back inside of you." I nodded, before sitting down in front of Watiko.
"Now, answer me something. What chakra nature do you use?"
"Fire and lightning." I answered.
"Mmmm. Tell me, have you ever heard of shadow chakra?" I blinked. Chakra? No. Jutsu? Yeah. Easily. I cocked my head to the side.
"Are you sure you aren't talking about jutsu?" I asked.
"No, shadow chakra."
"Then no, I've never heard of shadow chakra."
"Well, maybe I should first explain something. I knew both your mother and father. How they died and sealed the wolf demon in you is a complete mystery to me. You're mother, however, came from a clan that utulized darkness and shadows, eventually making it to where it was actual chakra. It passed through the family, and I'm sure you have it. I lived with their clan for about ten years, just practicing and trying to utulize it, and eventually I did."
"So, how do I go about doing that?"
"It should be easier for you, seeing as how you have the demon wolf and all, but what you have to do is focus on channeling your chakra throughout your body, and also on all your anger and fury. Everything that's ever pissed you off." I nodded, and stood up.
I stood up straight, and made the generic tiger handsign, focusing on my chakra. Then, I focused on all of my hurt, pain, and anger. My parents dying. Garou being sealed in me. Everyone in the village hating me, when they didn't even know me! Motaroku dying. My sentimental brothers and father being killed in front of me. Orochimaru burdening me with his curse mark. Kakashi looking at me as a burden. Sasuke being burdened with that stupid curse. Having everyone I ever cared about stripped out of my life.
I felt the darkness surging through me. I don't know how I did know, seeing as how I'd never felt it before. But I just knew.
And then all I could picture was Motaroku's emerald eyes. They were so lifelike, I thought maybe his death had been a dream. Then i thought about all of our good memories. Getting in to trouble, starting a food fight in the cafeteria at the academy, throwing a stink bomb in the classroom at the academy. All those good memories.
I yelped as there was a pop and my skin lighted on what felt like fire. I flew back, splashing in to the lake. I growled and swam to the surface, gasping for air as my head broke over. Watiko sighed and looked at me sharply.
"To be able to use it, there must be nohappy memories mixing in to the unhappy ones. You have to learn to dwell in the darkness when wanting to use this chakra, and be happy outside of it." I nodded and pulled myself up again. I concentrated on my chakra again, and forced myself to only think negatively. Once I could feel the chakra again, I channeled it in to my hands, and opened up my eyes. There were covered in chakra, but the chakra was a deep black, but you could still see my hands. My face split in to a grin, and I looked at Watiko, who nodded back.
"Now we will begin training you on being able to shoot it at enemies and how to enshroud yourself using the shield. After that, you may experiment with it what you will.
So we trained like that. Everyday. During the afternoon after about one (he let me sleep in until then because we trained until about five or six in the morning when the sun rose) we worked on the darkness techniques. We sparred using them, and even a few times he let me experiment with trying to merge them with other jutsu. We trained and trained and trained those weeks. I got to know Watiko and Sintaki. They were like an aunt and uncle to me.
We went in to town a few times, and when we did Watiko let me roam on my own. I was out and about, eating a popsicle I had bout once, not paying attention to where I was going. Suddenly I slammed in to a boy who was about a foot taller than me. I yelped and fell back, landing on my butt. I growled and looked up, and gasped in shock. He had a mop of brown hair and piercing emerald eyes. All I could think was: Motaroku. The boy was maybe a year or two older than me and he smiled. I then noticed the leaf headband tied to his bicep.
"Sorry bout that." He apologized, helping me to my feet. I blinked and shook my head. No, there was a definite difference between Motaroku and him.
"No, it's my fault. I'm sorry." I muttered, dropping my gaze.
"Forget about it." He laughed, and I looked up and he was smiling in a comforting way. "I'm Raijeku. The Leaf Village sent me here to protect the village, watch out for intruders ya know? This village is a major stopping center for traveling lords and what not." He explained, and I nodded.
"I'm Koinu. I'm training under Watiko until the third Chunin exam test." I don't know how to explain it, but when I looked at Raijeku, my heart leaped. He smiled, and that began our friendship. Everytime I came to the village I'd talk and hang out with him until we left. Sometimes I even snuck out when I was supposed to sleep to see him, though I suspected that Watiko knew about that.
Anyway, one night, Watiko and me decided to spar.
Watiko came sprinting at me, fists enshrouded in the dark chakra. I ducked and dodged them as best as I could. Once, he left himself slightly open. I stuck my hand out, and concentrated. It took me a second, but the dark chakra shot out of my hand like a beam. It would've hit him straight on had he not used the darkness as a shield. I groaned as he shot a beam out at me, and focused on the shield. I was able to make an ok one, but it took a while. So in spur of the moments right now, until I trained and mastered it better, it'd be a shield where I needed it. Watiko told me it was incredible that I could do certain spots anyway.
So I focused in front of my chest, where the beam was aimed. A block of darkness swelled in front of me and absorbed the beam. I then snarled and lunged forward, connecting my fist with his shoulder. He smirked and we began trading punches and kicks, no longer using chakra. Only when his hand wrapped around my wrist and he threw me in to the lake was it over. Oh, so many nights ended that way when we sparred. I don't think I've beaten him once yet. I coughed as I dragged myelf on land again, moping, but Watiko smiled.
"This was your last night of training, Koinu. Tomorrow you may go back to Konoha to rest until the test in two days." I blinked.
"Will you come?" Was all I could ask, and when Watiko nodded I broke in to a smile. Suddenly I appeared behind Watiko, and hugged him tightly.
"Thanks, Watiko-sensei." I murmered, before running to my room. I packed my bag and fell asleep quickly. That morning Sintaki made ramen, and after I ate I said goodbye to both of them, before leaving. But instead of going to the path that led to Konoha, I went to the nearby village. When I walked in I instantly spotted out Raijeku.
"Hey, Rai!" Rai was my nickname for him. Rai spun around and smiled warmly at me.
"Hey, Koinu!" He replied as he walked over to meet me. "Why are you here so early?"
"I'm going back to Konoha. Tomorrow's the test." I replied, looking away from his startling green eyes.
"Oh, that's... too bad..." I looked back up as the question I itched to ask finally bubbled out.
"Will you come?" I asked. Rai thought about it for what seemed like ages, before nodding.
"Sure. But only 'cuz I know that anyone trained by my Uncle Watiko will win!" I blinked.
"Watiko's your uncle?" I asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, my mother's brother, though my mom's dead. But yeah, I am." He laughed. I blinked and smiled.
"Well, I gotta hit the road, but I can't wait to see you there, Rai!" I gave him my address quickly, so he could stay there if he needed, or just to drop by if he could before the exam. "You'll probably have to leave tonight... the exam starts at 8 in the morning." Rai sighed.
"That means an early day here then." He laughed, before waving me off.
I walked down the path to Konoha, a new spring in my step. No longer did I fear night, I could be the night creature I was, and not fear it! It took awhile, but finally I arrived back at the village, the sun deep in the sky, but not yet setting. As I walked down the familiar roads, I was surprised to hear that stupid voice scream my name.
"Koinu!" Naruto shouted, a few meters down the road in front of me. He laughed and waved, before running up to meet me. "Hey, where'd ya go!"
"I was training, idiot." I laughed, Naruto smiled.
"Yeah? Well me too! Yeah, believe it! There's this pervy sage who taught me alot!" He laughed, and I was surprised as I joined in.
"Well, Naruto, I'm gonna hit the hay. Sorry, but I just walked 12 hours to get here, and I wanna be ready to go by tomorrow!" Naruto nodded in understanding, and when I came home I unpacked. I set aside a fresh new pair of my clothes for tomorrow. I looked at my necklace, and decided to keep it on. Afterall, I'd worn it the whole time I was out training. Seems like it'd be bad luck to take it off. I restocked my kunai pack and my ninja pouch, setting them on top of my clothes and sitting my Konoha headband on top of that. I straightened up the mess I'd made before leaving, and then flopped down on my bed. I was exhausted, to say the least, and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I groaned and rolled over, slamming down on my alarm clock and turning it off. I growled and got up. I lazily threw my clothes on, and stopped to stare at my necklace and headband, thought of Motaroku washing over me again. I sighed and slid on my necklace, and then tied my headband on. I finished getting ready, before walking out of my house. As I walked down the streets, I found that they were desertes. When I finally reached the stadium, Naruto was there. He spotted me, smiled, and waved.
"Hey, Koinu!" He shouted.
When I reached him, we were standing outside of the stadium with the three sand shinobi and Shino. We waited a few more minutes, waiting until Shikamaru arrived. I blinked. Where was Sasuke? The man that was with us led us inside, saying he'd have to catch up. We stood in the middle of the arena as people showed up and filed in to the seets. I sighed inwardly. Rai hadn't stopped by my house, if he came at all. Maybe he'd only lied. I lowered my eyes to the ground.
A few more minutes passed, and I shuffled my feet in the dirt, shoving my hands in my pockets. I glanced down the line of competitors and growled. Naruto looked at me in confusion, Shikamaru next to him. Naruto blinked, waiting for an answer.
"Sasuke isn't here. Neither is that sound ninja guy." I hissed, Naruto blinked and looked himself, and qrinkled his eyes brows in confusion.
"Hey, stop looking around. In this main event, you guys are the stars." Our new referee said. He wore the same outfit Kakashi wore, but his headband was a bandana and it was tied backwards. He also kept a twig in his mouth. I gulped and looked forward at the arena, and instantly spotted the Hokage, and then the Kazekage. I blinked and looked down the line at the sand ninja. So that was their leader huh? I blinked when I saw how the redhead looked at their leader. He was glaring at him, but not a normal glare. It was one full of hatred and loathing. Like he personally wanted to rip the man's throat out. I gulped and looked back ahead.
I scanned the section blocked off for the sensei of the participating students, their teammates supposed to be there too. I chewed my lip as I spotted Sakura, and began scanning for brown hair. But, that was like looking for a needle in a haystack. There were so many brown heads. I sighed and gave up. They'd obviously lied. None of them were here. I watched as the Hokage stood up, hands behind his back.
"Thanks everyone for coming to the Hidden Leaf CHunin Exam." He roared, loud enough that everyone in the stadium could hear him. "We will now start the main tournament matches. Between the nine participants whomade it through the preliminaries! Please stay and watch until the end!" He then sat down and our referee turned to face us.
"Before we begin look at this." He said as he took out and unfolded a piece of paper, holding it out for us to see. I ooked at it, and smirked. I'd be fighting Shikamaru if he beat this Temari girl, or the Temari girl if she beat Shikamaru. Either way I'd be fighting an already tired opponent. Perfect. I blinked though. Where was that sound ninja guy? Did he forfeit?
"Hey! Sasuke isn't here yet! What're you gonna do?" Naruto piped up.
"If he doesn't show up by the time of his match, he will receive an automatic loss." The referee replied like it was nothing. A growl erupted from my throat. If that Uchiha got cold feet about fighting me, I swear to god so help me when I see him.
"Alright guys, this is the final test. The arena is different, but the rules are the same as in the prelims... there are none. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. But if I determine that the fight is over, I'll step in and stop it. You got that?" We stood there in silent acknowledgment. The man nodded. "Alright, now for the first fight. Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga. Those two stay here while the rest of you go to the waiting room." As I passed Naruto, I smacked his back.
"Good luck, fox boy." I smiled. "If you lose now, and then Sasuke doesn't show up, I swear to God the next time I see both of you you're dead." Naruto smiled and nodded. The rest of us walked in to a hall in the back of the arena, climbed up a flight of stairs, and stopped at a small balcony a good ways up the arena wall. I took a seat behind the railing, and leaned my head on it. Time to watch the fun.
I watched their fight intently. The whole time Neji said something about how talent was decided at birth, and that not anyone can be chosen as Hokage through hard work. I watched as he activated the nine-tails' chakra again. But, he had complete control over it. I growled inwardly. He controlled it so easily, I was almost jealous. I could only control Garou somewhat, and even then during our training the past month, when I'd thought about the pain, sometimes I'd changed instead of producing the dark chakra.
Eventually, Naruto won. When he was decided as winner I smiled and stood up.
"Hey, Uzumaki!" I shouted, leaning over the rail. Naruto stopped prancing around the arena.
"Don't forget that if you wanna fight me, you'll have to go through Sasuke first!" I shouted. Naruto smirked, before finally climbing the stairs and in to the balcony. They announced the next match as Kankuro (one of the sand ninja) vs. Shino Aburame. I glanced at the two ninja in turn. That Kankuro guy used puppets, and Shino used bugs. Oddest pairing ever, but whatever. They didn't even start moving before the sand ninja guy quit. I blinked and glared at him. Was he mocking us Leaf Shinobi? Or what?
The examiner nodded, before glancing at the schedule again, and then smirked.
"Alright then, the next match will be Shino Aburame vs. Koinu Hashitaki." I blinked and growled.
"Hey! Mine was after Temari and Shikamaru's! You can't just move me ahead!" I shouted, leaping to my feet.
"Yes, we can! The extra Genin just forfeited so now it's your turn!" I snarled, before gripping the railing tightly. My stomach was doing backflips, and I just... didn't want to start a fight without waiting for Sasuke. Plus, Rei or Watiko weren't here. Rei said he'd stop by my house before. I snarled, before leaping over the railing I released the railing as I fell, and only after my fight if I won would I realized that I'd bent the railing.
I landed on the ground and glared at the examiner. Shino landed on the groun near me as he leaped over the railing too, before we began walking in to the middle of the arena. I took my spot across frmo Shino, and glared at the bug freak.
"Don't even think you'll win this." I snarled, only loud enough that Shino and the examiner could hear me.
Shino sniggered. "What? You think a mangy mutt like you could actually beat me? You were too exhausted after the second exam to even fight someone worthy."
I growled. "You better watch your mouth, bug freak. You don't even know WHY I was that exhausted."
"Yes, I do. Because you're too weak to beat anyone worthy of fight-" I snarled and lunged forward, my fist connecting with Shino's face before he could even finish his sentence. Shino grunted before flying back, and slamming in to the ground. He groaned and glared at me, a scrape on his cheek from where I'd punched him. He stood up, and if looks could kill I'd probably be dead... though, if looks could kill nobody in this village would be living.
"Hey! I didn't say start yet!" The examiner shouted and I glared at him.
"Then start the damn match." He blinked at me in surprise, before sighing.
"The second match will be between Koinu Hashitaki and Shino Aburame! Begin!" I darted forward, and threw my fist at Shino, aiming for his chest. A small wall of bugs formed in front of my fist, catching it easily. I growled and spun around, throwing my leg out to hook around and hit Shino's head. Another wall of bugs appeared and caught my leg. I went to move my leg, but the bugs hooked over both my leg and hand.
I growled when I literally felt them begin to eat away at my chakra. I hissed before moving my hand so that my palm faced Shino. I glared at him as I began focusing. Pain. Hatred. All of the reasons for why my life sucked. I channeled chakra in to my hand, having to channel more because the bugs only became more excited as the chakra flowed more quickly. I roared as a beam of my dark chakra shot out. Shino gasped as he was hit square in the chest with my chakra. He flew back and the bugs that held my leg and hand quickly flew towards the falling Shino, before creating a sort of sheet underneath him, catching him before he hit the ground.
Shino was then pushed to his feet from the bugs. I flexed my fingers, and cracked my neck. Shino did a string of handsigns. Once he finished he held his arms out in front of him, and waves of insects flew out and flew towards me. I leaped out of the way as a cloud of insects lunged at me, before having to duck underneath another one. Soon the insect clouds formed in to thick streams, before spiraling around the area. Shino sniggered.
"Bug Style: Spindle Formation." I leaped over a branch of the insects, before being backhanded across the chest by another. I was surprised to find that it felt solid enough. I fell to the ground, unable to recover before the bugs all swarmed over me.
"Secret Technique: Insect Sphere." And then I could do nothing but lay there as the bugs began feeding on my chakra. I heard the crowd cheer for Shino, very few groaned as it seemed I would lose. I growled. I would NOT lose. I would not be considered a weakling, only getting here because I fought some lame weakling in the prelims and having made it there because of Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. No. I would win if it were the last thing I did.
I closed my eyes, and focused. I focused on all the pain I'd felt my life. How isolated I'd always been. I could feel the dark chakra began rising, all I'd have to do now is just focus it through my body and hope to make the shield. I grunted as I pushed chakra throughout my whole body, hoping it wouldn't be a wasted effort. I assumed it looked like nothing changed on the outside, because what I heard next thoroughly surprised me.
"GET UP, KOINU! DON'T LOSE TO THIS WEAKLING!" Rei's voice broke through the crowd. Rei. An image of Rei popped in to my mind through the bad memories, and I couldn't help it as one of Motaroku also appeared.
I screamed in pain as the dark chakra exploded from lack of concentrating. The bugs dispersed and I flew back across the arena, my back slamming in to the wall. I groaned and fell to my knees, my hand clutching my chest. I coughed, and blood splattered the grass in front of me. I looked up to glare at Shino, before snorting as a bug crawled out of my nose. Oh shit. They were inside me. Dammit I'd been breathing them in when I was encased with them.
"You're going to lose. Examiner, this fight is over. The bugs are now inside of you and will eat your chakra from the inside out." I coughed again to confirm what he said as more blood spattered the grass in front of me, and I groaned.
Dammit. Maybe I really was weak. Maybe I'd been deluding myself, and this was my destiny. My streak of failure started here. Up to now, I'd always been ridiculed because Garou dwelled in me. I'd always been treated differently then everyone else, and I'd always knwon why. I'd accepted it, though I'd hated it. The only human in the world who truely cared for me when I was a kid was Motaroku. As if confirming me the necklace Motaroku'd given me slid out from behind my shirt, and dangled in front of my face, no longer hidden. I blinked.
"Motaroku, how can you look at me and not be disgusted like everyone else?"
"Because you're not a demon like everyone says you are, Koinu! You're a human being! Plus, you're the strongest person I know!"
"But everyone sees me for the demon that's in me."
"Because they're all shallow idiots. The only ones who don't are sensei, me, and Rashin! That's why we care about you."
"But, not everyone else in the world can be shallow... Plus, I know I'm not strong. I get beaten by all the Chunin and Jounin I've challenged. Maybe I'm just deluding myself..."
"Koinu, look at me. People aren't strong just with brawns. You've gotta be smart too. And that's what you are. You analyze a situation and you're able to do that. Plus, you have enough physical strength and stamina to pull it off without a hitch!"
"But-"
"Koinu, even if you weren't it doesn't matter. Me and you, we'll be able to pull anything off as long as we work together."
"But-"
"Because we're friends!"
I roared in fury. Damn Orochimaru! Damn him for taking my greatest friend from me! I snarled as I bent forward again. No, I couldn't lose here and now. I had to keep going for Motaroku. To avenge his death along with Rashin and Sensei's. I had to live and strive towards strength and power. That was the only way I'd kill Orochimaru. I glared at Shino, who flinched from the glare.
"Garou, lend me some chakra."
"Why should I-"
"DON'T EVEN START! JUST GIVE IT TO ME!"
Garou snarled, but complied.
I felt my teeth and nails sharpen, and could feel strength coursing through me. My curse mark started to itch. I sniggered. I had another backup plan if this didn't work. I crouched down and placed my hands on the ground. Time to 'experiment'. Maybe this wasn't the perfect moment to try it out, but I still had to. I snarled and covered myself in fire. I then began sprinting at Shino as I felt the hatred and hurt that came from the 13 years of my life. Dark chakra started merging with my fire chakra, and it began swirling around me like to circling dogs ready to fight.
I growled as I ran towards Shino, being faster than I normally was. I guess he couldn't keep up with me, though I didn't feel like I was running that fast. I ducked and leaped over his bugs as they tried to block me from him, and finally reached him. I snarled and leaped forward, throwing myself at him. As I soared towards him I pulled two kunai out, one in each hand, and channeled the same half fire half dark chakra through them. As I slammed in to Shino, I stabbed one of kunai in to his shoulder, and the other in his leg.
Shino howled in pain, collapsing to the ground and grabbing at his leg. I flipped over him, and landed on the ground behind him. With my heightened senses, thanks to Garou, I smelled the blood almost instantly. My throat itched to have the liquid running down it. What the hell? I'd never felt like this before! I grabbed my throat, before coughing again thanks to those cursed bugs of Shino's, and my own blood splattered the ground, but it was more than before.
I watched as the chakra swirled and disappeared from around me. I turned around to look at Shino, who did the same. However, I stood up, shakily I might add, but he couldn't. I stumbled over to tower over Shino, though I was out of arms reach. I sighed and stared at his eyes, though I couldn't see them through his pitch black glasses. I let Garou's strength slip away, I could tell just from Shino's posture that he was done.
"I'm not weak." Was all I said.
"What are you? How did you survive my bugs?"
"I don't give up. I've had so much pain and hatred in my life, I've decided to give up. I don't care anymore about how people look at or treat me. If they hurt the ones I care about, then yes... I will kill them." Orochimaru's face flashed in my mind. He was my number one target. "But, I don't care how they treat me. I've been kicked down so many times, and I've been forced to get up that it's made me a stronger person."
"Then why were you beat up so bad at the prelims?" Shino groaned.
"If you'd met the people we did there, you'd be beat up too." Shino sighed and nodded.
"I don't know what you are, but I won't treat you differently or as a friend. You've earned my respect Koinu Hashitaki." I smiled and Shino sighed and looked at the examiner.
"I, Shino Aburame, acknowledge defeat." The examiner nodded, and then turned to face the audience.
"The winner is Koinu Hashitaki!" He shouted, and to my immense surprise there was a collective roar of applause. I blinked and looked at the crowd in confusion. I didn't care about any of them! Except for Rei- wait! Where was he?
"Way to go, Koinu!" Naruto's voice blasted over the roar.
"I knew you could do it!" I suddenly heard Rei's, and scanned the crowd for his face, before spotting him. He was in the front row on the far right row. He was waving excitedly at me, and next to him was Watiko sensei and then Sintaki. My face broke in to a wide smile.
And then I doubled over and puked up blood. I groaned and placed my hand on the ground to stable myself, my knees buckling slightly. Shino gasped and held his hand out. I looked up, and he placed his index finger on my forehead. Slowly his bugs began crawling out of my system. I smiled in thanks, helping him up and helping him limp over to the doctors.
"You fought wonderfully, Shino. Thanks for the match." I muttered, before returning up through the stairs and joining Naruto. I took my seat back, before watching as Shikamaru and Temari fought next. The sand ninja girl used a giant fan. Their fight was so entrancing, and at the end I KNEW Shikamaru would win. He had her in a stalemate! I was THOROUGHLY surprised when he gave up.
"C'MON MAN! YOU COULDA WON!" Naruto's voice shouted. I groaned, and gulped. Where was Sasuke? Suddenly there was a small whirlwind that formed in the middle of the arena when Temari joined us on the balcony again. I blinked, and narrowed my eyes, before smiling. It was Sasuke and Kakashi sensei.
"Hey, Sasuke! 'Bout time! I'd thought you'd gotten cold feet about fighting me and Koinu!" Naruto shouted, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Like I'd pass up the oppurtunity to beat the crap out of both of you." I smirked, before watching as Gaara climbed down the stairs and took up a spot in the arena across from Sasuke. Naruto groaned, before turning around and began running from the balcony. I blinked, before getting up and running after him. We ran down a loooong corridor, before breaking out and being behind the rows of seats that held the audience.
"Naruto!" I hissed as the fight began. Dammit I reaaaaally wanted to watch it! Naruto ignored me and kept running, before he spotted Kakashi, who was talking to Sakura. I growled as Naruto ran over to Kakashi.
"Kakashi sensei you have to stop the fight! That Gaara guy is a monster!" I ignored their conversation as I spotted the proctors that had blocked our path before the first exam. One of them met my gaze, and smirked.
"You sure have changed since the beginning of the exams." He reflected, and I rolled my eyes.
"Not really, I just didn't want a target to be painted on my back right off the bat. Now that we're in the finals, I don't care." I smirked, and the proctor smirked back.
"Smart choice."