Disclaimer: Shara-chan's going to say it this time, as I am unable to come up with anything good.
Shara:……Fine. Skyward does not own the loudmouth-excuse me, Naruto-or any of his friends. Owns me, though….-sighs-
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to chocolvr69; thanks for Alerting! Also to field-of-tears; thanks for Alerting and reviewing! Aaand also to Masami Miyako; thanks for Favoriting! And also (I got a lot of feedback this time…thanks a load, you guys!) to Lela Rye; thanks for reviewing!
Wanderer of the Sand
Chapter XI
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Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe……Oh, forget it. Just panic.
And boy, was I. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next-one-on-one combat. How the heck was I going to get through this?
No, I told myself firmly. I will remain calm, I will fight as hard as I can, and I will deal with whatever comes. And what was going to come, I wondered? Now that Baki-sensei had found me out, did he plan on taking me back to Suna? Or was he going to turn me in?
Unanswerable question after unanswerable question battled for dominance in my mind as I surveyed my surroundings. It looked like seven teams had made it through the Forest of Death. My stomach lurched as I wondered how many Genin had actually died.
"Listen up, Genin!" Anko yelled. "The honorable Hokage will now explain the third test!" We all snapped to attention as the Hokage-small and wrinkled and altogether not that impressive-stepped forward.
"Before I explain the third test, there is something you should know about the true reason for the Exams," the Hokage said, fixing us all with a grave stare. I blinked. True reason? Is nothing here one-layered?
"Why have all the allianced shinobi nations gathered for this event? Because it is a replacement of sorts for war." What?! "Long ago, all the allied nations were enemies. The Chunin Exams were created to prevent unnecessary fighting, keep fights in one place. That is the origin of the Exams."
"Why do we have to do all that crap?!" I didn't even turn to look; everyone knew who would be so bold. "The Exams are to promote ninja to Chunin!" the loudmouth continued.
The Hokage regarded the idiot calmly. "The Exams do exist partly to choose Chunin. But on the other hand, every ninja who enters risks their lives to protect the prestige of their country." Ah. So that was it.
But naturally, Naruto pressed on. "What do you mean, prestige?" "Watching the Exams will be leaders and influential individuals from countries that make up the clients of shinobi nations. If one nation's ninja are obviously superior, the nation's clients will increase. And if a nation's ninja are inferior, their clients will naturally go down. Powerful ninja's nations will send the message 'We are strong' to potential attackers."
"Yeah, but why do we have to risk our lives in battle?!" Not Naruto this time; the guy with the dog. "A nation is only as strong as its shinobi," was the reply. "And a shinobi's greatest strength is shown through life-risking battles. So before we begin, I would like to say one last thing: This is not merely a test. This is a life-or-death battle, with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."
"Could we cut the philosophical talk and get to the life-or-death battles?" a cold voice stated. I tried not to shiver as I realized it was Gaara. The Hokage ignored his rudeness, though, and replied, "I will now explain the third-"
"Actually-cough-" We all turned as a weak, tired voice interrupted. A tall, skinny Jonin bowed before the Hokage. "As the referee, please allow me, Gekko Hayate, to explain." The Hokage nodded, and Hayate turned to us. "Hello, everyone, I'm Hayate."
This is the referee? I thought in disbelief. He looks like he'll keel over in the middle of the test! He was pale and sweaty, and his eyes had deep bags under them. He had long black hair.
"-cough-Umm, before we begin-cough-there's something-cough-I'd like you to do." Like get a medic-nin before you collapse? "Umm, as a prelude to the-cough-preliminary of the third test, we have to decide who-cough-gets to participate in the main event." "Preliminary?! What's up with that?!" shouted the guy with the pineapple hair.
"Well-cough-it appears that the exams this year may have been too-cough-easy. We have-cough-too many people remaining. So, umm, if you-cough-aren't feeling up to the last test, please say so now." Right, I thought. Unless someone's so injured that they are actually incapable of moving, nobody who calls themselves a shinobi will quit now.
"Well, I'm outta here," someone in front said cheerfully. I raised my eyebrows. I stand corrected. The quitter was none other than Kabuto, to my surprise. "You may leave," Hayate replied. "Oh, I almost forgot-these battles will-cough-be individual, so even if you-cough-quit, your team may stay in."
"Kabuto, why are you quitting?!" yelled the loudmouth-sorry, Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto," Kabuto replied sheepishly. "But those Sound guys in the forest beat the crap out of me. I'm just not up for a life-or-death battle." He paused for a moment, then gave Naruto a friendly wave and exited the building.
Hayate broke the following silence. "So, umm-cough-no one else is leaving, right?" At these words, the pink-haired kunoichi turned frantically to the ice boy (I really needed to find out his name…) and they started whispering furiously. I heard something about pain and a mark, then decided to quit listening. It's none of my business.
After a few more quiet minutes, Hayate spoke up again. "Umm..-cough-then let's begin the prelims. They will consist of-cough-one-on-one battles, to the death if necessary. If the referees see that there is an obvious winner, we will step in and end the fight before anyone-cough-gets killed. You may also withdraw, which will-cough-end the match." I looked around quickly. There were 21 contestants remaining, including myself. So someone was down for an extra match. I wondered who.
"This electric scoreboard-cough-will determine your-cough-opponent," he continued, gesturing to a giant scoreboard on the wall. "And although it's-cough-sudden….Here are the combatants for the-cough-first preliminary match." Huh? Already? Well, no one was wasting any time.
Now we'd really get to see what everyone was made of.
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Time had passed. Everyone had been moved up to balconies above the arena, and then the matches began. The rundown in my head was:
Round one-Ice boy (um, Uchiha Sasuke-now I knew why he looked familiar; he had an infamous rogue ninja for a brother!) vs. another Leaf ninja, Yoroi. Ice-I mean, Sasuke was the winner. Round two-Zaku, the wild-haired Sound ninja, vs. the sunglasses-wearer, Shino, who turned out to fight with bugs. Shino won. Round three-another Leaf nin, Misumi, vs. Kankuro. It was a good match, and I discovered that Kankuro was a puppet-master. He fought with puppets and won, interestingly. So far, no one had been killed.
Round four. I looked up at the scoreboard.
Shara vs. Yamanaka Ino.
Oh lord. Oh lord oh lord oh-CALM DOWN!! I mentally shrieked. Remember what Baki-sensei always said-analyze your opponent. Don't make the first move. Never let emotions into a fight. Relax.
I breathed deeply. Temari smirked. "Think you can handle it?" I nodded seriously. "No problem, Temari-san." I hope.
I jumped down from the balcony to the arena and looked at my opponent. It was the blond kunoichi who had been clinging to Sasuke earlier. She was stick-thin and had long hair. What the-? Is this a joke? Can such a wimpy-looking girl actually be a shinobi?
Well...actually, yes. Behind the nonthreatening exterior, I could see determination in her eyes. I felt like she could shoot flames at me at any moment.
We stood at opposite sides of the arena. "Good luck," I told her calmly, then regretted it. What kind of shinobi told their opponent 'Good luck' before a life-or-death battle?! A stupid one, that's what. And I was fitting into the 'Stupid Shinobi' category more and more. How aggravating.
Ino smirked. "Sure." "Round four is Shara versus Yamanaka Ino. Any objections?" Hayate asked. "None," I said coolly. "Likewise," Ino replied. "Then Round four-begin!"
I put a hand to the hilt of my katana, watching and waiting. Ino zoomed forward, instantly seizing the initiative and aiming a punch at my face. Isn't she direct. I fell backward to the floor, swiping my leg underneath Ino and tripping her. She went flying at first, but landed on her feet.
"I'd be a little less zealous if I were you," I commented mildly. "Oh would you," she snapped back. She slid to the side and shot forward for another direct attack. This time I just grabbed her fist.
Her other hand zipped down to her pouch to grab a kunai knife. I reached down as quickly as I could with my right hand to unsheathe my katana and bring it up. It blocked the weapon only an inch from my face. I paused, then shot my leg out and twisted to trip her up again.
But she wasn't falling for that again. She sensed what I was doing and jumped, keeping her hands in position, and kicked me in the face full force. We were pushed away from each other.
I ignored the throbbing soon-to-be-a-huge-bruise spreading over half my face. I deserved it; only an idiot used the same move twice in one fight. After a second of hesitation, I snatched several shuriken from my pouch and fired them at Ino. She jumped to avoid being hit, and I took the opportunity to shoot half my kunai supply at her airborne self. I saw surprise on her face, and she attempted to dodge them in midair. She was deeply scratched by three of them, but nothing vital had been hit.
Good, I thought wearily. I really didn't want to kill anyone. But I would never give up, either. So if it came down to one option or the other, which would I choose?
Ino landed and came straight at me, zigging and zagging back and forth to make her movements more unpredictable. I waited until I could see the sweat on her face, then sidestepped the kunoichi and grabbed her by her long hair.
I'll have to scare her into quitting, I thought, raising my katana over her.
But I forgot one very important thing. Hair came off.
Ino reached up with a kunai and cut her ponytail right off. Then she turned and aimed a punch at my gut, which I barely avoided. We both backed off to catch our breath and strategize.
I looked up to see Ino making a hand sign. "You think you're so clever?" she yelled, voice thick with the confidence of one assured of their victory. That means trouble, I thought with a twinge of worry. "I'll force you to give up!" "That will never happen, so don't waste your time," I responded, wondering what she planned to do.
"Oh really? Just watch," was the reply. Her face hardened in concentration.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu! Mind Control Technique!" she shouted. I realized that her hand sign was meant to aim the jutsu at me. What is she thinking? She won't hit, I thought, racing sideways. I paused. Ino had fallen to her knees, hands flat on the floor. It was then that I realized something that should have been obvious.
Too late.
I felt my control over my body slipping away. My soul was being forced into darkness. She's going to take over my body and make me give up, I realized in panic. There was a trail of hair on the floor from when she cut it off! She sent her chakra and the jutsu through the hair, because I was standing on it. And like an idiot, I fell for it.
I could vaguely see Ino's soul grinning at me from inside my own body. She was raising my hand. "I, Shara of Sand Village-" Oh no you don't! I forced my soul forward, exhausting as it was. I have not come this far to lose here. I will uphold the honor of my-what used to be my village. And I will make my team proud. "Yamanaka!" I shouted. She turned in shock. "No way!" she yelled. "Get-the-hell-out-of-my-body!!" I shrieked, launching forward and pinning the Ino-soul, holding my sword to her throat.
"Out," I hissed in a cold voice. "Now."
Fear glistened in her eyes. "K-kai, release!" she stammered. And my body was my own once more.
Ino stood. "This ends it," she snarled. I nodded. "Fine with me."
I was tired now, so I decided to try a fake-out. I made a move forward, to make her think I was charging. So she charged as well.
I halted midstride. I saw the kunoichi realize her mistake, but it was too late. Momentum was pushing her forward. "Still a little overzealous," I observed calmly.
I stepped to the side, lifted my katana, and brought the hilt down on the back of her head. Hard. Ino fell.
"Good fight," I murmured. Hayate hurried forward to check, and then announced, "Round four, over! Winner-Shara of Sand Village!"
I fought back a tired grin of triumph, and dragged myself back to the balcony.
To Be Continued………………
A/N: Long..chapter..fingers…exhausted!! Anyway, am I the only one who thinks that Gekko Hayate looks somewhat like L from Death Note?
Oh, and before I forget, Chapter 12 is going to be a little late. I apologize!! -SS
