There is a reason
Chapter 25: the final examine
Koomahana
Okay just to clear up some future confusion, if any of you have a younger sister who was, at some point, obsessive with dolls, then you know the feeling of trying to make said dolls fly. Either through your siblings entertainment or not is beside the point, I'm sure there are some crazy stories of some evil older sibling torturing their younger sibling and destroying their favorite toy.
Now imagine what you could do if you could make water do virtually anything you wanted it to?
Some crazy, evil ideas become a possibility right? Okay then! With luck, I've cleared up some future confusion!
And yes, this idea came to me because I'm a younger sibling, the youngest actually, and both of my older siblings are the definition of evil incarnates
My brother was a pyromaniac and is forbidden from anything that might catch fire and my sister... well she's my sister, what more of an explanation do you need? She's nine years older then me and lived (lives? Haven't seen her in over a decade...) to fight, raising her voice until glass broke
Anyways! On with the story!
Oh yeah! This chapter is also really long, I think it's becoming a trend
Updated Chapters
3, 4, 5, 18, 20, 22, 23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,39,40,41,42,43
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site
Thoughts
Paragraphs are memories
…
…
It had taken three and half days for Itachi to reach Konohagakure, taking the most direct root and not stopping for anything; He didn't rest, he didn't eat and he didn't stop. When he got to the guards of the east gates, closest to Mizu, he gasped out at the two guards: 'Tayuya wounded-Orochimaru-curse mark-get lord Hokage' before he passed out right in front of them. The men quickly stumbled to their feet and grabbed up both teens before they ran for everything they were worth towards the hospital, ordering a nearby chunin to summon Lord Hokage to the hospital while they ran.
Hiruzen went straight to the hospital, taking his time but wasn't dilly-dallying either. When he arrived at the hospital, the still panicking guards told him that Itachi ran straight there (without rest) to get Tayuya to him. The only thing they understood was something about Orochimaru and a mark, they had taken the two to the hospital because they didn't know how wounded the two teens were.
Forcing himself to take deep calming breathes; Hiruzen ordered one of them to send a message to Jiraya, ordering him to come back quickly. He then went into Tayuya's room and shooed the medics away, telling them that this was beyond their knowledge and expertise. When they were gone, with only the head medic staying behind stubbornly, Hiruzen studied the mark Orochimaru had given Tayuya, noting how it was different from Anko's own mark.
I better summon Anko, Hiruzen thought brushing his hands over the mark and was pleasantly surprised to feel Fubuki's chakra clinging to what little of the water was still left. It didn't take a genius to understand that Fubuki must have made some ice to cool the heated flesh around the mark.
Yes, Fubuki was smart; she just might have saved her sister's life with that trick
"You poor girl," Hiruzen sighed, brushing Tayuya's pink hair away from her face sadly. They knew that the curse mark changed the personality of the bearer, if only slightly. Anko was a sweet girl who couldn't curse to save her life; she was a lot like Naruto when she was younger. After she received the mark, Anko was still kind (it was harder to tell) but she had no qualms with cursing, sadism and blatantly harming others. She went from a girl who had a mild curiosity about snakes and a desire to become the best medic-nin, to a woman with an obsession with poisonous reptiles and a master interrogator, second only to Ibiki Marino.
Hiruzen wasn't sure if he should let Tayuya and Anko converse, afraid that Anko might shed some of her personality onto Tayuya, but he knew that both girls would need to stand together. They would need to meet, to talk and to understand each other; after all, they were sisters now.
Sighing heavily, Hiruzen gently pulled Tayuya from the bed and gently laid her on the floor face first. Carefully drawing blood from his thumb, Hiruzen started drawing the characters he remembered using on Anko years ago. Drawing a circle in his blood around Tayuya, formed from ancient words long forgotten, and five strong lines sprouting out from the center connected to each of Tayuya's limbs.
Stepping back and double-checking his work, Hiruzen made sure that Tayuya was asleep before he formed a few hand signs and slammed his chakra coated hands against the bloody seal. He flinched when Tayuya let out a scream, her eyes widening impossibly large, as the crimson words drew up her arms and legs and slid across her face; spinning around the three-pronged seal on the back of her neck until it was condensed enough to settle in place. Three circles surrounding the three prongs with five wobbly lines sweeping out form it—Tayuya was going to be pissed when she saw that the two seals together looked like a rose. Her last name meant 'spring' for crying out loud; she hated it when people made flowery things to symbolize her in their minds.
"Shhh, child, Shhh," Hiruzen murmured when it was done and Tayuya was left sobbing on the floor. "It's a seal to protect you," Hiruzen told Tayuya picking her up and sliding her hair out of her face carefully. "It's only as strong as your will is, so stay strong Tayuya, stay strong." Tears dripped down her cheeks as she listened, biting her lip to keep from screaming out. She passed out in Hiruzen's arms, head lolling to the side and eyes closed. Hiruzen gently picked her up and laid her back down on the gurney, letting the medic hurry over to check the pinkette's vitals.
With luck the extra seal will preserve her life, letting her live through it's agony
…
…
During the month before the final exam, Fubuki spent her time training with her water element, going to the Mizu library and reading everything she could do with the element, writing down notes and then practicing later that evening near a lake. After a week of nearly draining herself, someone decided that they'd join her—it was not a very happy interruption.
Fubuki let out a shriek as she ducked back words, letting the massive blade side inches above her face, before she spun out on to the water, letting the energy she gained from the escape to draw up a large whip of water, blocking the next strike that properly would have cleaved her in half.
"You!" Fubuki shouted in aggravation at the man who just smiled back at her from behind his massive sword, pushing against the strip of water she held up protectively in front of her. "You were the proctor of the second round! What're you doing here?!"
"It's called a training ground for a reason brat," Zabuza answered, pushing against the whip until it broke, forcing Fubuki to jumped to safe distance away from him. "Those were some pretty impressive moves you did brat. What do you call them?"
"What moves?" Fubuki asked rising an eyebrow, "I was just moving the water into various shapes I could use; Imoto loves the different shapes so I was trying to come up with something I could use to entertain her when I get back home."
"That's a loud of bull if I've heard it," Zabuza replied, swinging his sword over his shoulder, "My kid could learn a thing or two from you. You willing to teach him some of those water whips?"
"You were actually able to reproduce?" Fubuki asked horrified, looking at Zabuza like he had three heads, "Was she drugged or mentally unstable?"
"He's adopted," Zabuza growled out, itching to beat the crud out of the smart mouthed girl, "He has a bloodline but not much of a family, his mother died a few years ago. I can't seem to find anyone else with the same ability as him—you're the first."
"I highly doubt that I can do the same thing," Fubuki replied crossing her arms, "I just used to entertain my little sister with the shapes of water I used to make. Now I'm just trying to make those shapes a little more deadly for the exam."
"Ah, now that makes more sense," Zabuza chuckled, making Fubuki roll her eyes.
"He can figure out most of the shapes on his own," Fubuki said stepping back towards shore, "Just put him in a room of fussy children with a bowl or pool of water, tell him to make shapes out of the water and he'll figure the rest out on his own. The children will quiet eventually and he'll learn how to control the water a little better."
"I take it that's what you did?" Zabuza asked, watching how Fubuki flicked her wrist and turned the surrounding mist into a glob of water in her hands.
"My sister used to get bullied," Fubuki said turning to look up at the Jonin calmly, not even watching the glob of water turn into various shapes in her hand, "She'd run to me and I'd turn her tears into a shape, making her laugh in the process. Eventually I just got really good at controlling water, not so much ice but defiantly water. It's second nature to me now."
"...You defiantly have talent kid," Zabuza chuckled, watching how Fubuki made the globs of water turn into icy, perfectly sharp, kunai and some wobbly looking senbon. "How'd you figure out to pull water from the air? Not even Haku can do that..." Fubuki looked at him like he was an idiot, one eyebrow raised and a not quite believing expression on her face.
"The academy," Fubuki answered as if it was simple, "Doesn't your academy teach you about the molecules that form air or even about atoms and cells?" Zabuza's blank but irritated look didn't seem to reassure Fubuki other wise. "...You're an idiot"
Up side is that she learned to avoid Zabuza, down side is that she got her butt kicked by Zabuza
"You better be here at the same time tomorrow brat," Zabuza snarled at Fubuki as he walked away two hours later, "Your training isn't over yet."
"That was training?" Fubuki coughed, stiffly rising her head to glare incredulously at Zabuza's back, "I thought you were trying to kill me!"
"That was the point," Zabuza grinned over his shoulder at her before disappearing from sight, "Don't be late!" Fubuki groaned and slumped back in the muddy ground, eyes closing and chest burning.
He's going to kill me, Fubuki thought after a while of laying in the mud, before remembering that Kaname and Hana were beating the stuffing out Shikan and Ao was doing the same to Shisui, leaving her alone to study at the library and practice her water style attacks—that wasn't any of them were interested in getting involved with (they weren't interested in getting hypothermia). At least I have someone to teach me now...
…
…
Day of the final exam
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…
The day of the finals, Hana was pouting in the front row with her three nin-ken sitting in a row beside her (which angered a few people, when they asked Hana to move them she told them to make her pups move, no one bothered to do so) her foot was still in a cast and her pride was still bruised but Fubuki, Shisui and Shikan were ready for this final round and that was all that mattered to Hana (at the moment).
There were ten candidates in total, counting Fubuki's team, and set up in a one on one system, the winner moving on to the next round until there's only one person standing. Hana understood why there was a month to prepare for this one round, so that the participants could develop new skills that would help them win the match and possibly become Chunin, she just didn't understand why everyone cheered so loudly about one kid all but murdering another.
The Chunin exams are truly all about 'survival of the fittest' Hana thought boredly as she watched the medics remove another contestant from the arena. Shikan had been first and he had purposefully won the round in typical Nara style—waited for the sun to lower to give him more shadow to work with while simultaneously pissing off his opponent, a young kunochi from sand. Shisui wasn't much better, he just flash stepped around his opponent until the boy was seeing double and got slow, then Shisui pulled a Fubuki and kicked him in the chin, knocking the boy half way across the arena and denting the wall when he landed. That's not to say that Shikan's and Shisui's opponents couldn't be chunin, they had the skill, they were just paired up against the wrong person. Shikan liked to see all the cards his opponent had and Shisui was a show off, it was Fubuki that Hana was worried about.
For the passed month Fubuki was gone first thing at sunrise and she came back a few hours after sunset—covered from head to toe in mud, sweet and scratches galore. At one point Kaname was so pissed with Fubuki she fallowed the girl through out the day, that night when Kaname returned with Fubuki, she was pale and looked like she'd been crying for a few hours. Kaname didn't question Fubuki after that and when the pinkette returned to their shared room, Kaname calmly helped Fubuki undress and bathe properly before tucking the pinkette into bed.
"Hay dog-breathe, mind if I sit next to you?" Hana snapped around so fast her hair acted like a whip against the chunin sitting behind her, she didn't apologize to the glaring man as she stared wide eyed at the group of people standing just behind her.
"It's you!" Hana shouted jumping to her feet with a smile
…
…
Konoha
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…
Sakura sighed as she sat in the Hyūga house, Hinata to her right, Naruto and Sasuke to her left. After the attach launched on her, the entire Hyūga clan specifically ordered the hospital to release her into their care before they decided to cut off the head doctor's chakra network. Her parents had decided to leave to see the final match, taking Sasuke's parents with them. Thus the reason the three children where now being baby sat by the Hyūga family, watching a couple of the older kids practice at beating each other.
"This is boring," Naruto whined loudly, leaning against Sakura before jerking away when she winced and rubbed at her still wore chest, right where the strange boy had stabbed her with a kunai giving her a long thin scare for the rest of her life. "I bet that the girl kicks his $$!" Naruto shouted, eager to distract his friends from his mistake
"Naruto language," Sakura replied calmly, glancing up from the book in her hand, "...it's going to be a tie."
"I think the boy is going to win," Sasuke challenged, making Hinata giggle at his 'superior' look shot at the them.
"I'm goanna agree with Sakura-chan on this one," Hinata said softly, knowing that the two in question could hear them just fine. Naruto's loud voice properly startled the boy when he slipped, now the two teens were eager to win the spar, to prove either Naruto or Sasuke right Hinata wasn't sure, but she knew that the two had been at it for sometime, it wouldn't be long until they were both too tiered to continue.
Hearing the dojo door open softly, Hinata glanced up and locked eyes with pale moonlight, she blinked in confusion and found the door slammed shut.
"Who was that?" Sakura asked glancing at the door curiously; Naruto and Sasuke were too focused on the spar to care.
"I don't know," Hinata answered softly, a frown pinching her lips and tilting her brows down, "I didn't get a good look at them."
On the other side of the door, Neji took a deep steadying breath and turned away from the main dojo. He could practice somewhere else... somewhere where there weren't younger kids watching him like a hawk. Come to think about it, he still hadn't given Sakura that present from his mother...
…
…
Mizu
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…
Fubuki sighed as she watched the participants go at each other, so far there had only been one death. A boy from Kumo versed the black haired boy from Mizu; the boy from Kumo was good, good enough that Fubuki wasn't sure if she could win against him, but then the black haired boy suddenly pulled out a small sword, his chakra lighting it up like sunlight on ice, and-and just swung. The Kumo boy didn't stand a chance, the air rippled and he couldn't block such a strike—his head went flying.
And I'm next, Fubuki thought with a sigh as she went against the only Mist nin who hadn't gone yet. So far, his teammates had passed their rounds, even the shy and stuttering one, and this tall boy was so confident in his victory that Fubuki could almost taste it in the air. His sharp teeth and cold dark eyes almost reminded her of Zabuza but Zabuza was kind to children, even though it didn't seem like it, Zabuza did go softer against children. This boy enjoyed killing, she had seen him kill another team of Mist genin in the previous round; the same team they had come across when they first came to Mizu. He didn't bother to even ask them any questions; he just saw the cut on Mizune's leg and removed her head. The cut wasn't even that deep, it wouldn't even have scared; Mizune would have healed with no issues.
"Come on Pinky!" The boy laughed as he jumped over the edge of the wall where the participants of the chunin exam waited, "What's the matter girly, you scared?" The boy laughed a he walked to the proctor, cocky strutting and victorious smirk and all.
He was so sure of himself—it made her sick
"Hay Fubuki-chan," Shisui said patting her shoulder to get her attention. "One: don't be a shamed if you want to give up" Shisui grinned widely at her, trying to make her feel better, "Two: please win and take him out! I don't want to go against him!"
"One more thing Fubuki," Shikan called from his place against the wall, stopping Fubuki from her violent reply to Shisui wrapping himself around her in his display of 'begging'. "Don't hold back on him, go all out—don't give him a chance to stand."
"Hai," Fubuki smirked at her teammates and jumped over the rail to slide down the wall to the ground, not leaving a mark behind.
"You two actually think she'll have a chance?" The only mist kunochi asked softly, concern marring her voice and clouding her hazy blue eyes. "I've never seen him lose..."
"She'll win," Shikan replied, closing one eye against the bright sunlight that pierced the gloom of the over cast sky. "She's been Chunin level since she graduated the academy and she's only gotten stronger. She's always pulling her punches and hiding her best cards. She thinks like a Jonin and doesn't act much differently—she's imposable to predict."
"Ha, ha~ you mean you noticed too?" Shisui asked loudly, not to loudly that the two in the arena could hear but the other participants could; he was going to have some fun messing with their heads. "I always thought that she just didn't want to scare her sisters! Sakura and Tayuya are very impressionable ya' know."
"That's part of it," Shikan agreed, watching how Fubuki calmly listened to the boy's rant before the fight even began, "Another part is that she didn't want to be separated like Itachi was, she wants Sakura and Tayuya to catch up to her—she wants them to stand beside her. She's intentionally lowering the bar for them, keeping them working for the goal without discouraging them."
"In other words, she should have been born a Nara!" Shisui cackled out, laughing at his own joke and Shikan's horrified look
"Can you imagine the destruction that woman could make if she was born into any kekkei genkai clans that weren't the Haruno?" Shikan asked staring at the still grinning Shisui like he was an idiot, "She'd destroy the world!"
"Or take it over!" Shisui laughed, unfazed by the thought
"You guys are nuts," the other Mist Nin commented blandly, watching how both participants settled into a ready stance, "She won't win, no matter her skill."
"What makes you say that?" Shisui asked curiously, tilting his head to look at the boy
"She doesn't have the blood lust," he answered simply sighing and rolling one shoulder, "Kanshaka has lots of it; he won't hold back on her—he won't stop until she's dead."
"I guess that's what separates them then," Shikan smirked at the two, one eye still closed against the sunlight. "Fubuki doesn't need to kill to win the match, she never has."
"This match won't last long," the girl murmured, biting her lip nervously, "Kanshaka won't let it."
"Neither will she," Shikan and Shisui agreed, smiling at the two surprised mist genin
…
…
He watched in boredom as the contestants stepped out to start the rings. The first was the Nara boy against a Suna kunochi, it was not a promising match of what the other contestants could do. The next match was the Uchiha boy who was still in the village for the final round, his fight was unimpressive and he wasn't sure if he should pass the boy or not, he had skill but he wasn't sure if he had brains. The next round had his only Mist Kunochi in the final round had went and poisoned a boy from Kumo, the next round was her teammate who had beheaded her opponent's teammate after five minutes and finally losing his temper.
Now it was the last fight before the next round, he watched on the verge of falling asleep as his student's student walked out into the arena, taking her sweet time in reaching the proctor and her opponent. He remembered that she spent her mornings with Mei, going over Medic's Taijutsu forms and a few special herbs that grew only in Mizu and then of course Zabuza had informed him that he and his apprentice were spending their afternoons beating said girl into submission. He wondered just how good the girl has become over the past month, guess he should watch and see.
…
…
"Begin!" Fubuki jumped back words automatically; glad she did when her opponent slashed out with a long sword. She gritted her teeth when she saw that if she hadn't dodged she would have been missing her head.
"Come on girly," Kanshaka mocked, his dark eyes widening and his face twisting into a blood lusting smirk. He lunged forward again swinging his sword to cut Fubuki in half, she dodge easily, bending at her knees and letting her arms fly out to her sides to keep her balanced. The second the sword was out of sight she was spinning out of range, all of her weight on the balls of her feet, her back straight and hands loosely hooked together in front of her. When she slowed, she swept one foot out, ducking under another swing but not seeing the foot that snapped out at her. Fubuki clenched her eyes and teeth as she felt Kanshaka's foot impact on her chin, forcing her away from him.
Zabuza used the same trick only once on her, right after the first time she insulted his intelligence
"Come on pinky!" Kanshaka mocked when she landed over ten feet away from him, sliding to a halt inches shy of the wall, "I thought you were better then just running away! What's the matter with you? Why aren't you fighting back?"
I tried, Fubuki thought staring at the clouds over head, trying to ignore the burning in her jaw. She had meant to punch Kanshaka in the stomach while she was in that low stance but his foot caught her instead.
"Get up!" a voice screamed out, louder then the roaring of the crowds and nearly silencing them and making Fubuki's eyes widen when she caught sight of the girl leaning dangerously over the edge of the rail high above her. "Nee-chan get up! Don't let him win! Kick his a**!" tears sprung into Fubuki's eyes as she stared up at Tayuya, joyful beyond words that her sister was still alive.
"Shut up," Kanshaka growled throwing a few kunai at Tayuya, Fubuki's eyes widened when she caught sight of them and she moved without thinking. She flashed stepped in front of Tayuya, blocking the blades with her body and enveloping Tayuya in a tight hug, tears threatening her sight.
"What the hell?!" Kanshaka shouted, glancing down at where Fubuki had been laying seconds before, the dust hadn't even finished settling. How did she do that? Why hasn't she done that before?
"You're alive," Fubuki whispered letting her tears drip from her eyes as she tightened her hold on Tayuya.
"Of course I am," Tayuya smirked, returning the hug and burying her face in Fubuki's shoulder. "I'm not so sure about you though," Tayuya grumbled glancing at the kunai stuck in Fubuki's upper shoulder, "Those Kunai are pretty deep..."
"Hmm? Oh them..." Fubuki chuckled her chakra healing the damage and pushing the foreign objects out of her body, "I didn't notice them." Tayuya smiled when the Kunai fell from Fubuki's back, the wounds left behind smoking slightly as they healed in seconds.
"Show off," Tayuya grumbled whipping a tear from Fubuki's cheek, she glanced down at the ring, hearing Kanshaka curse wildly at them. "You gonna let him talk to you like that?" Tayuya asked giving Fubuki a wobbly smile, "He's insulting our family, all of us are pink haired... except mom..."
"I'll take care of him," Fubuki smiled, giving Tayuya one last tight hung before releasing her. "You get back to your team, and don't do anything stupid this time."
"Just win," Tayuya shot back with a grin, her smile widening when Fubuki took a deep breath and made a hand sign. Tayuya made eye contact with the boy threatening Fubuki, once he stopped to notice her amused but proud smirk, she mouthed the words 'you're dead' to him, delighted to see his face color as he snarled furiously at her.
"You know something Kanshaka-san?" Fubuki asked, her voice ringing down to the boy far below her, "There are a lot of things in this world that I can forgive someone for but there is only one thing, that no matter what you say or do after words, that I'll never forgive."
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Kanshaka asked, hands fisted at his sides as he watched Fubuki rise from her crouch on the rail, "Maybe I'll do it just to see you squirm!" Fubuki snapped around, her eyes blazing and face contorted into a snarl, her hands raised into the air on either side of her. Fubuki glared hatefully at him as she fisted her hands in the air, the hazy half mist above the arena thickened, taking strange wobbly forms.
"Dodge this!" Fubuki snarled drawing her fists together and forcing them down to the bar she was standing on. The mist wasn't even done forming when it slammed down into the arena, destroying it and anyone inside of it. When the dust was cleared, everyone in the arena stared wide-eyed at the huge chunks of needle like ice that hid the arena grounds in dangerous and deadly spikes.
"Kanshaka-san of the hidden mist!" Fubuki called out, resting one hand on a cocked hip, "If you some how managed to survive that you'll never be a shinobi ever again! You've lost!"
…
"If it's one thing you don't want to do in this life," Shikan chuckled staring at the spikes that were taller then the rail beside him by a few inches. "It's to harm a Haruno, those girls would stop at nothing to protect there own."
"Even just threatening them is pretty bad," Shisui agreed with a chuckle, poking the tip of a chunk of ice and frowning when it cut the pad of his finger easily, "A pissed Haruno is a deadly Haruno."
"She did it," the mist kunochi whispered, hands held to her mouth, her eyes wide and trembling, "She beat Kanshaka! She beat him with one hit! She did it! She beat him!"
"Not yet," the girl's teammate commented, his eyes wide as he stared at the mass destruction before him. "Don't forget about Kanshaka's blood line, this isn't over yet. All she did was piss him off."
"Bloodline?" Shisui questioned, watching Fubuki walk across the spikes of ice calmly, as if they weren't deadly spikes that were undoubtedly piercing the bottoms of her feet—knowing her she was properly melting them when she stepped on them and then reformed the spikes when she lifted her foot. "What are you talking about?"
…
Fubuki was half way to the mostly obscured box where the other participants were waiting calmly together when laughter echoed through the air. A cold chilling laughter that stopped Fubuki in her tracks, her eyes widening as she turned towards where she last saw Kanshaka.
"Well, well..." Kanshaka's voice chuckled from the ice, a slow liquid rising from between the impossibly small cracks in the icy spears. "Who knew you had had a bloodline too..." Fubuki gasped as the liquid started to form a familiar looking boy, white hair and dark eyes glaring mockingly at her.
…
"The ability to liquefy his body," the boy whispered, a shudder racing through his body as his female teammate clung to his arm, her hazy blue eyes wide with fear. "Now that he was forced to use it, your teammate is going to be in hell. He'll take his time killing her."
…
"You see I have a blood line too," Kanshaka grinned at Fubuki, his mostly liquefied arm forcing his sword out of the shards of ice. "I rarely have to use it though, that's why now that you made me do so, I'm going to kill you slowly."
"I'd like to see you try," Fubuki said sliding on the tips of the ice shards like she was on normal steady ground, settling into a stance similar to the famous Hyūga's Taijutsu stance, "That's not the only trick I can do."
"Then show me what you got!" Kanshaka shouted, his liquefied legs pushing him forward like a snake in grass instead of a boy in ice shards.
"Kick his a** brat!" Zabuza shouted from the stands, surprising everyone around him, "Don't let him get close! Use your damn water!"
"I am!" Fubuki shouted back making a fist and swinging her right arm across her body as if she was going to punch the boy from such a large distance; the ice to her right liquefied and reformed, slamming into Kanshaka with a hard icy tip. Before Kanshaka could react to the hit, the liquid reformed around him, surrounding him in a perfect orb of water.
"Water style: Water prison!" Fubuki shouted with a smirk, "Don't bother trying to break it, distance doesn't matter with me."
"Hay I know that trick!" Tayuya shouted at the edge of the wall, smiling at Fubuki and ignoring the stares she was receiving, "That's how Nee-chan fishes! I didn't know she could trap people in it! That's so cool!"
"I've never known anyone who could perform the water prison jutsu without touching it," Kanshaka said, observing his prison curiously.
"I've been playing with water since I was a child," Fubuki said with a grin, a light dancing in her apple green eyes. "I've gotten so good at it that a water source a mile from my position becomes a deadly tool, I can even summon water from thin air. It's not that hard to bend water to my will."
"I'm not sure if I should be impressed or insulted," Kanshaka said starring dully at Fubuki, confusing her. "Have you forgotten that I can liquefy my body?" Kanshaka smirked at Fubuki, his body already liquefying within the orb of water, "You can only control the water you summon but you can't control me!"
"Shut up you over confident baboon!" Fubuki snapped, her second hand rising to settle straight across from the other, "Don't tell me what I can and can't do! I'll prove you wrong!" Her arms shook as she took hold of the orb from such a distance, focusing solely on that one orb, Fubuki struggled to connect her finger tips, taking in a deep breath Fubuki let it out calmly, watching how the outside started to freeze, keeping Kanshaka inside.
"Ice style: forever imprisonment!" Fubuki shouted, pushing her elbows out and pressing her hands together, breathing out over them and watching how the ice thickened around the mist Nin.
"You can't keep me in here forever," Kanshaka growled out from within the icy orb, "You'll run out of chakra eventually!"
"It's funny that you think this takes up a lot of chakra!" Fubuki shouted in return, sweeping a foot forward and tightening her hold on the icy orb, "My chakra control may not be as good as Imoto's but it's still better then yours!" Fubuki ignored Tayuya's shout of 'not me', choosing instead to steadily walk closer to the ice orb, her power over it strengthening, "I don't waist chakra trying to get something done!"
Kanshaka grunted as he realized that she didn't just freeze the outside of the orb, she was creating spikes on the inside of the orb. Cursing loudly, Kanshaka solidified his body, watching how the ice orb shrunk around him, freezing whatever touched him. Suddenly a section between him and Fubuki melted slightly, keeping a clear but thick piece of ice between them, letting Fubuki see his face. She was a lot closer now then she was before, now only one hand held out to the orb in a half fist, fingers trembling with the struggle to close.
"I suggest you give up now," Fubuki said, her voice as cold as ice and her eyes hard, "I'm sucking out all the warmth in that ball, the longer you're in there the colder it'll get. If you wait too long your solid body will become frozen and you'll die. If you try to liquefy yourself you'll only freeze and become apart of my ice dome and you'll die anyway. If you want to live—give up, it's your only chance of survival."
"I'll take my chances," Kanshaka growled out, glaring up at the passive face just inches away from his own. Fubuki's fingers twitched and the spikes grew, slashing through cloth and skin as it surrounded Kanshaka in imposable ankles, keeping his hands from coming together and forming seals.
"...You're words no longer matter," Fubuki sighed turning to look up at the wall just behind Kanshaka, where the Proctor sat lazily watching them. "You are out matched; so long as you're trapped in this ice, you have no hope of beating me."
"Don't you dare!" Kanshaka growled out, I have to do something! What tools do I have? How can I get her away from the orb?
"Proctor!" Fubuki called out, ignoring the boy still trapped in her ice, "Call the match!"
"Don't you dare!" Kanshaka screamed, trying to twist in his place to glare warningly up at the proctor, only to find that he could only twist so much before he touched a spike and end up cutting himself. He felt the proctor's chakra fluctuate; beginning to shift so that he could project his voice to everyone.
"I declare this match—"
"Kaienkako come to me!" Kanshaka screamed, cutting the proctor off. Fubuki twitched as she heard a loud scream from far below her ice, where the ground was. Hearing something shatter, Fubuki turned, her eyes widening as she saw that something was breaking through her giant ice shards and was coming straight to her. Growling Fubuki jumped melting the broken shards with one hand while the other kept a tight hold on Kanshaka. The melted shards swarmed towards her creating a platform for her to land on, a weal on the bottom spun lazily, keeping the floating ice from lowering to the ground where there was a new threat.
"What the hell?" Fubuki asked turning in her crouch to stare at the large sword that cut deeply into her ice, just enough to reach Kanshaka.
"Damn him," Fubuki growled lowering her hand. The orb was too dense now to break with a simple swing of a sword, he would have to melt and crawl against that sword to get out of that ice prison. Kanshaka had done just that, he formed his head first taking a deep breath of air, then his arms formed and slowly he dragged his body out of the orb, forming one leg to stand between the sharp points of the ice shards that the Orb sat on, his other soon forming and joining the other.
"Damn girl," Kanshaka grinned tiredly up at Fubuki, his eyes dancing, "You sure did make me work at this, can't say I'll forget about you, that's for sure." I'll have to thank uncle for giving me this sword, it really dose respond to my chakra...
"You're like a F~ing cockroach," Fubuki informed Kanshaka irritably, making Tayuya cheer loudly; after all, Fubuki considered cursing to be below her. "Ugly as hell and difficult to kill—but not impossible!" Lowering her ice plat form, Fubuki pulled one hand up to sit in her lap, out of Kanshaka's sight. The last thing she needed was for him to know how much of an effort it took to make the platform, she never tried to float before, she thought about it but never actually put it into action.
At least now, I know it's possible, Fubuki thought, fighting to keep her trembling and panting in check. She cursed when she felt a chunk of ice from behind and below her fall and crash to the ice spikes still in the ground.
"Doesn't look like you've got a good handle on that jutsu of yours," Kanshaka grinned, delighted that she couldn't float for long.
"True, I haven't tried this trick on a human before," Fubuki agreed nodding her head, "Toy dolls are another matter, Imoto loved it when I made them fly."
…
"Again, not me!" Tayuya shouted irritated when she caught a few raised eyebrows pointed her way, "There's a third Haruno damn it! She's the one with the damn dolls!"
"Give it up Tayuya," Hana chuckled from her seat, "It doesn't matter what you say, they won't believe you."
"Why me?" Tayuya asked, hanging her head.
…
Fubuki rose to her feet, watching how she quickly descended towards the ice spikes below her; Kanshaka freed his sword and started running to catch up to her approximate landing place, a manic grin stretching his face.
Damn it! Think! What were some steady designs? What worked on the dolls? Fubuki watched as her ice started to fall below her, memories from years ago flashed through her mind but none of them would work for her, she was two heavy and the wings would be too big for the state that she was in... but if she combined the different designs... putting them at different places on her body...
Smirking at Kanshaka, which confused him when he caught sight of it, Fubuki formed a hand sign, bringing both hands together and closing her eyes, concentrating on her element that surrounded her.
Fubuki heard more then she felt her chakra at work, a delighted smile spread across her face
Kanshaka skidded against the shifting Ice shards, his eyes widened when the patch just in front of him shattered into dust and swarmed around Fubuki like spiraling snow. Deeming himself close enough to Fubuki's falling form he pulled his sword back and swung with everything he had at her. Fubuki flipped mid air, sailing inches passed his blade, swinging passed him towards the far wall. Kanshaka almost let go of his blade in his shock as he snapped around to stare at Fubuki as she swung herself up, passed the audience (though barely) and high into the air above the stadium.
"Bloody show off," Kanshaka grumbled, unable to hide his own smirk as Fubuki tried to gain control of her ice. Unknown to him and everyone else in the arena, that was the first time Fubuki tried to fly with her ice. Good news is that she wasn't dead and it was getting easer to fly, bad news was that Fubuki found out that she was afraid of heights. The color drained from her face as her stomach rolled uncomfortably, it was worse then butterflies and more like her lunch suddenly wanted to revisit her mouth for seconds.
"Never again," Fubuki swore to herself, raising a hand to her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. "Never again..."
"Get down here!" Kanshaka ordered, standing atop the ice spears with his sword at his side. He watched as Fubuki seemed to-to stumble through the air, if that was possible. He had to admit she looked pretty badass up there. She had what almost looked like fairy wings on her back, what looked like wheels on her feet and what must have been stabilizers on her arms; all of which was made from small and large shards of ice, like the feathers of a bird. The Ice even carved up her legs and chest in what had to have been a protective shield. Even her head was covered in a protective shell, a thin clear visor covering her eyes protectively.
…
"Are you sure that girl is a genin?" Zabuza heard someone mumble, making him chuckle in his seat at the front row. Turns out he wasn't sitting that far from Fubuki's little sister and her team, the Inuzuka girl had saved three seats for them, not intentionally but that went unsaid.
"Yeah!" Tayuya shouted turning towards the shinobi who asked, her eyes glaring at the man in irritation. "Nee-chan is used to making dolls fly not herself!" Tayuya turned back to look up at the sky where she could barely make out her sister's form because of the roof. "She can't possibly stay up there for much longer!"
Dolls? Zabuza thought with a frown, glancing down at the eager little boy beside him, watching Fubuki as if he could do everything she could just by memorizing her actions. She did say to drop him off with little kids...
…
"Quite playing and get down here!" Kanshaka shouted, growing irritated as Fubuki tried to learn how to fly properly. Apparently, he got his wish because with a shriek Fubuki fell from the sky, aiming straight for Kanshaka, surprising him yet again.
"Don't land on me!" Kanshaka shouted turning and running away from where he thought the pinkette would most likely land.
Splash
"Huh?" Kanshaka glanced down, eyes widening when he saw that the ice under him had melted to give him a steady surface underneath his feet. It was nice not having to dodge the spikes but Kanshaka had the feeling that he just ran into a trap. With a rumble and a shake, the ice shards shattered into liquid water, quickly forming a large orb around him.
Damn it not again! Kanshaka thought drawing his hands close together as the water swirled around him and an immense pressure made him freeze in place. Damn it! What is this?
Meanwhile Fubuki stopped her crazy descent; the wind whistling passed her wings stopping instantly. Smirking, Fubuki held her hands out before herself, concentrating on the water pressing together, the molecules, cells and even the atoms condensing together; making the water gain greater weight and heavier pressure. Kanshaka would be crushed innless he liquefied himself, which Fubuki was betting that he would, it would lesson the pressure on his body but not enough to escape to breathe normally.
Fubuki guessed that when he liquefied his body he could still breathe as normally in water as he could outside of it, it would explain how he was not only able to converse normally with her but also keep a steady train of thought. As she neared and eventually landed on the destroyed and slightly wet ground of the arena, Fubuki saw that the water had turned dark and that Kanshaka was attempting to glare at her but the pain from the immense pressure was making it difficult. There was an almost perfectly solid bottom to the orb, where the minerals in the water gathered and settled because of the pressure. Fubuki was about to open her mouth and order Kanshaka to quite but she saw a shadow land to her side from the corner of her eye. Before she could even blink, she felt pressure on the back of her neck making her world turn dark with the sound of shattering glass filling her ears.
Kanshaka coughed horsy when the dark orb of water broke around him, releasing him from it's pressure. He let his body slide off the half-formed mineral ball that took form during the pressure Fubuki forced on the water. Reforming tiredly, and with help from his teammates, Kanshaka slowly rose to his feet leaning heavily on his teammates as he looked over to the pinkette curiously.
"Mizukage-sama!" Kanshaka shouted, his eyes widening and his knees wobbling with the desire to kneel before the man who was a few inches shorter then himself. At his feet was Fubuki, the Ice covering her body was still in place, although it looked like most of it shattered when she was suddenly forced unconscious.
"Kanshaka," Yagura greeted, nodding his head at the boy with a blank look. He looked away when the proctor and Fubuki's teacher (Ao) landed beside him, the leaf Nin stooping to exam her closely while the proctor checked for a pulse. Handling her carefully, Ao gently rolled Fubuki onto her side, her back was covered in ice so it was impossible to lay her on her back innless he wanted the ice to keep her off the ground, ignoring Shisui and Shikan's worried entrance behind him.
"She seems to be okay," Ao murmured, sweeping a glowing palm over Fubuki's ice encased chest. "Looks like chakra exhaustion... I'll have to thank you Mizukage-sama," Ao said retracting his hand and looking up at the pale haired man a few steps away. "If not for you Fubuki-chan would have continued forcing out her chakra until she passed out. The last time she did that she was out for a week."
"I see," Yagura answered blinking dully at Ao, watching how he carefully pulled Fubuki up to lean against his leg, letting Shisui help in melting the ice from her limbs carefully.
"Move aside Uchiha," Yagura turned at the familiar voice, Zabuza smirked as he stepped forward, his apprentice just behind him. "It'll take you too long to remove that ice and you're in the next round. Let Haku remove it." Shisui glared up at Zabuza but stepped away when Ao gestured for him to, Haku hurried forward and placed his hands on either side of Fubuki's held out arm. Gently pulling his hands down towards her wrist, then to her finger tips, the ice melted and fallowed Haku's silent orders. He repeated the process on Fubuki's back, but the shards were too large for him to simply melt all at once, he had to melt them where they were connected to Fubuki's clothing.
"Enough," Ao said, gently pulling Fubuki into his arms and stilling Haku, "You can finish later, when we're not in the arena." Ao rose to his feet and told Shisui and Shikan to get back to the contestant box, he glanced at Yagura for a moment before he continued towards the exit intending to go to the infirmary. Zabuza and Haku fallowed him silently as Kanshaka's team half-carried half-dragged him after them, ignoring Yagura's silent gaze together.
"Why did you interfere?" A curious voice asked, prompting Yagura to turn to Fubuki's two still present teammates. It was Shikan who had asked the question, his head tilted slightly to the side as he continued to stare curiously at Yagura.
"Why did you stop her?" Shikan asked again, "She was about to tell him to give up, she never would have killed him. Why did you knock her out like that?"
"...Kanshaka never would have given up," Yagura answered calmly, turning to return to his seat above them, "I saved my self the trouble of dealing with his clan." He disappeared before either teen could say anything, leaving the proctor to deal with them as others hurried out to fix the grounds for the next round. He might as well tell everyone that there was going to be an hour intermission for the repair job...
Curious, Yagura thought as he sat back down in his seat, placing his hat back over his head. Watching that girl... I could almost remember... it had accord to him that the girl might have been who he was seeking but the Sanbi disagreed, saying they would know if she entered the hidden mist lands.
Are you safe? Yagura thought lifting his head to look up at the cloudy sky that was slowly revealing a blue that was almost unfamiliar to him. Imoto... it's been so long, have you forgotten me?
…
…
Sakura's hands flew to her mouth as she let out three repetitive sneeze that racked through her body like convulsions. She waved one hand out to her opponent, in boredom the four of them decided to have a spare, Naruto and Sasuke barely had time to step into the ring before they went at it. Hinata stood across from her, her stance relaxing as she studied Sakura carefully, knowing that she had to be careful of her friend's chest wound.
"Are you alright?" Hinata asked worriedly, her head tilting the side curiously, long violet needle straight strands were pulled into a high ponytail.
"I think so," Sakura grumbled before she let out two more sneezes, her eyes clenching tight and one foot stomping on the ground. Hinata watched as Sakura shook her head in bewilderment, as if she didn't understand what a sneeze was, and wobbled in her place for a moment.
"Perhaps it's a cold?" the girl's referee asked as she stepped forward and kneeled in front of Sakura, placing one hand against Sakura's forehead calmly. "You are a little warm..." she murmured with a soft frown, before placing a glowing palm on Sakura's chest, hoping that it wasn't her wound acting up.
"I hope not," Sakura grumbled, sneezing again and losing balance in the process. "I've never been sick before..."
"We better get you to bed," the woman said glancing up at the two boys who were still going at it despite their own referee's words. Sighing at the boys—Naruto and Sasuke all but brawling and the young Hyūga boy beside them yelling at them to stop and fight properly—the woman quickly picked Sakura up and held her hand out expectantly to Hinata. Hinata smiled as she quickly followed the woman out of the dojo and into the Hyūga compound, ignoring the shouting going on behind her.
…
…
Thoughts are helpful
Opinions are wonderful
Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?
Please no cursing!
And don't forget to rate and review!
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