Chapter 25 – Fireflies
"The fifth match of the preliminaries…Tenten against Temari. Please step forward." The two said girls stepped on either side of Hayate, facing towards each other with even stares. Looking between the two girls, Miyuki noticed that the one known as Tenten was in much rougher shape than Temari. Of course, I'm not surprised about that. After all Temari's team got here the same day we did…
From beside Naruto, Lee threw his arms up in the air, cheering Tenten on. "Yeah, Tenten! Go!"
Hayate ignored the commotion Lee was making from the balcony, and announced, "Begin." Miyuki at first watched the fight with mild interest, but after a couple of short minutes of watching the fight, she quickly grew bored. It became pretty obvious to Miyuki that Temari was going to win this match. Instead, she turned her attention to the two previously unconscious girls who were now having a short conversion. She waited to join them for a moment, letting the two have their space until she saw that they were starting to argue with one another.
As she approached she heard Sakura shout, "Oh, really? Well…Same here, Ino! Right back at you!" The two girls huffed and turned their heads away from each other.
Miyuki let out a short laugh, drawing the two's attention towards herself. "And here I thought you two might actually be able to get along!"
Ino snorted, "Yeah right! Like that's ever going to happen!"
"Don't get your hopes up, Miyuki-chan," Sakura stated towards the snow-haired girl.
Miyuki let out another laugh as she grinned at her fellow kuniochies, "Just you two wait! One day! I'll make sure of it!" Miyuki then turned around and walked back up to the railing, not once looking back to see the small smile Ino and Sakura exchanged as they watched her walk away.
When Miyuki stopped by the guard rail, she saw that Tenten was unconscious lying on top of Temari's giant close fan facing upwards. As Miyuki predicted, Temari had indeed won her fight. When Hayate announced Temari as the official winner of the fifth match, she roughly threw Tenten away from her. Luckily, Lee jumped down and caught his teammate before she hit the ground. "Nice catch," Temari commented with a snarky smile.
"What's wrong with you?! That's not how you treat a worthy opponent…Especially not one you've just defeated!" Lee shouted at the Sand kunoichi.
"Oh, shut up! Get yourself and that loser out of my way," Temari ordered haughtily. Lee glared at her as a low growl escaped his lips. Without warning, Lee rushed towards Temari, spinning in the air with one leg extended to kick her. Temari, however, saw the attack coming and blocked the blow with her fan. "Just as I thought…You're not so fast, after all!"
"What…?!"
"That's enough, Lee!" Lee's sensei, Might Guy, ordered him as he joined his student in the arena.
Lee turned around to face his master. "Guy-sensei…!"
From the balcony above, Gaara spoke up. "Temari…Get back up here!" Temari looked up at the red-head in surprise. "You've already been declared the winner…How long do you intend to trifle with that homely little prince charming?"
"What…?!" Lee glared up at Gaara. His fists were clinched and his body lightly shook in anger. Though whether it was because of Gaara or Temari was unclear. Perhaps a combination of both, Miyuki thought as she watched Guy place a comforting hand on Lee's shoulder.
"My dear friends from the Sand…If you don't mind, I'd like to offer a word of advice…" Guy began. The Sand genin stared at the man in slight interest. Guy grinned, "Be prepared. You have no idea…how strong this boy really is."
Miyuki smiled and crossed her arms. "I would expect so…" Those around her – Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Akahana, Akiha, and Shinya – turned their heads to look at her.
"What do you mean?" Akahana asked the question all of them were thinking.
Miyuki shrugged nonchalantly as she answered, "Oh…just a feeling I have…"
"That's it? Because of a feeling you have?" Akahana questioned disbelievingly.
Miyuki looked at the older girl blankly. "Yes. Did you expect another answer?"
Akahana sweat-dropped, "Yeah. Kinda."
"Eh…Well, I haven't exactly seen him fight ya know. So…Feeling it is!"
From behind her, Miyuki heard Shinya whisper to Kakashi, "A bit of an odd girl, isn't she?"
Miyuki whipped around, startling the two senseis and her teammates. "I'll choose to take that as a compliment!"
Shinya chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled sheepishly. "It was! It was! You're odd in a good way!" Miyuki raised an eyebrow at the man, giving a small hum before turning back around to see who would be fighting the next match.
Everyone watch the screen intently, waiting for the next two names to appear. When it did, Miyuki gave Akahana a sympathetic pat on the shoulder for the eldest twin was about to face another of Miyuki's cousins, but this one was much smarter than Gorou whom Akiha fought.
Akahana looked at Miyuki curiously. "Why are you giving me that look?"
"Good luck," was all Miyuki replied with.
"That's it? No advice? Nothing?" Akahana stared at Miyuki incredulously.
Miyuki sighed, taking her hand away from Akahana's back. "Well… Hidetaka-san is much smarter than Gorou-san."
"That's not saying much from what we saw…" Akahana mumbled.
Miyuki bit her lip as she took a quick glance at the male Akahana was about to fight. Hidetaka was a tall individual with a lean, but muscular build. He was easily one of those males that females would swoon over with his dark red hair – almost like that of the twins – and a pair of honey colored eyes. Much like Sasuke, Hidetaka usually sported a stern frown and had a rather serious personality, rarely showing a genuine smile; of course when he did smile, it was always more of a smirk. Oh and he was smart. So very smart. When he fought, he always played defense first, watching his opponent closely until he found their weakness and, naturally, used it against them. Also, much like Miyuki, Hidetaka also had a wolf partner by the name of Izo. And from what Akahana had told Miyuki about herself, the odds of her winning against Hidetaka were not ideal.
"Well, he tends to let his opponents do the attacking while he is on the defense. He'll be watching very closely for any weakness you have," Miyuki finally revealed. She sighed again. "I suggest you get down there. And like I said before…Good luck."
Akahana stared blankly at Miyuki for a few seconds before replying sarcastically, "Well…Aren't you encouraging…" She then turned on her heel and left to go down to the arena.
Sorry, Akahana-sempai, Miyuki apologized silently. She hadn't meant to upset the older girl, though Miyuki was unsure if Akahana was actually mad or not. Perhaps I'll apologize for my lack of confidence in her later, once her battle is over...
Down in the arena, Akahana observed Miyuki's older cousin whom she called Hidetaka. It took nearly all she had not to blush furiously at the sight of the male in front of her. It took even more not to let her knees buckle under his intense stare. Kami, Akahana thought, he really does watch you closely. She shifted a little as her nerves started to set in. Hidetaka must have noticed because his mouth started to tilt upward on one side. It's no wonder Miyuki was wishing me luck the way she was. This guy probably wins half his fights by mere seduction.
"The sixth match….Shimizu Akahana versus Tukiko Hidetaka," Hayate interrupted Akahana's thoughts before they could go any further. The proctor switched his gaze lazily between the two competitors. After a brief moment, Hayate finally spoke. "You may begin."
Akahana tensed up slightly, expecting her opponent to attack her, however, Hidetaka stayed perfectly relaxed where he stood. Tilting her head questioningly, she asked him, "Why are you just standing there? Aren't you going to attack?"
Hidetaka raised an eyebrow at Akahana's questions. "Aren't you? I'm simply being a gentleman. Ladies first, after all," he shot back while giving her a mock gesture to "go ahead."
Akahana scowled at him. Perhaps this is what Miyuki-chan had meant. Heh, well I'm certainly not going to make the first move… "No, thank you. I think I'll wait."
Hidetaka's smirk faded when he heard her reply. For a brief second, he flashed his cool gaze up towards Miyuki. The little hime must have told her something about my usual strategy. Looks like I'll have to mix it up a bit. Moving his eyes back to Akahana, Hidetaka ordered, "Izo. You know what to do." Izo, Hidetaka's wolf partner, was of average height and build for a male. His fur was light brown from his muzzle to the tip of his tail with a white chest and underbelly. Izo nodded his head to Hidetaka before taking off towards Akahana.
When Akahana saw that Hidetaka's partner was coming towards her, she immediately pulled out several shuriken and threw them at the oncoming wolf. Izo managed to dodge most of the shuriken except two – one hitting his should and another cutting him across his hind leg – however, Akahana's attack did nothing to stop the wolf. Izo closed the distance between him and Akahana and leapt onto her with his teeth bared, prepared to bit her. Akahana had just enough time to pull out a kunai to hold off Izo.
While Akahana was distracted with Izo, Hidetaka took advantage and wove a series of hand signs. "Lightning Style: Lightning Shot!" Hidetaka pointed his index finger towards Akahana and his thumb up in the air as a bright blue ball of crackling electricity formed at the tip. As he jerked his hand upwards, the lightning ball shot out towards Akahana.
From above on the balcony, Akiha shouted out to her sister, "Watch out!"
Akahana heard her sister's warning and from the corner of her eye saw Hidetaka fire the lightning jutsu at her. Focusing her chakra in her feet, Akahana jumped into the air just in time for the ball of electricity to pass under her and crash into the wall, leaving a hole the same size as the ball and several cracks leading away from it. Akahana landed back on the ground, making sure to be a safe distance from both Hidetaka and Izo. Okay, he is sooo not cute right now!
Gathering up her chakra, Akahana prepared her own attack. Pulling out a flute from her kimono sleeve, Akahana placed the instrument to her lips and played a tune that sounded peaceful and yet it was sad. As she played, several small lights flickered around the arena. Looking closer at the lights, anyone would see that the lights were flames in the shape of fireflies. Suddenly Akahana's song turned from peaceful and sad to angry and vengeful. When this happened, the "fireflies" closest to Hidetaka and Izo exploded. As the two tried to move away from the flames, more of the fireflies exploded when they got too near. As the song continued the remaining fireflies closed in on Hidetaka and Izo before Akahana hit her final note and they all turned into a torrent of flames that seemed to engulf Miyuki's cousin and his partner.
From the balcony, Miyuki leaned against the railing as she observed Akahana's jutsu. She gave a brief glance over to Akiha who stood beside her. "What was that just now?"
"Ah, well, I believe she calls that particular jutsu the "Grave of the Fireflies," if I remember correctly," Akiha answered. "Akahana can perform some jutsu by using only her flute. It's pretty interesting."
"I'll agree with that," Miyuki replied. She was pleasantly surprised by the oldest twin's ability. Perhaps she has a better chance than I thought, Miyuki thought before turning her attention back to the fight.
When the flames died down, Akahana was surprised to find that Hidetaka was not there along with his wolf. She spun around trying to locate him but found no one. She then looked down at the ground, figuring he was hiding underground. Akahana swallowed nervously as she tried to figure out what she needed to do. She couldn't perform any earth techniques since not only was she not an earth style user, but her previous jutsu took up quite a bit of chakra. Perhaps I shouldn't have used that justu so soon…
Without warning, a pair of hands shot out from under Akahana and took hold of her ankles, holding her in place while just a few feet in front of her Izo burst out of the ground and coming straight towards her. Akahana had enough time to through up her arms to cover her face before she tumbled backwards while Izo torn into her flesh. A piercing scream echoed through the building as Izo continued his vicious on slot. While Akahana was preoccupied with trying to get the wolf off her, she didn't notice Hidetaka come out of hiding and walk up to her until she felt a tight grip on her hair. "Izo, halt," Hidetaka ordered his partner. Izo immediately obeyed, stopping his attack on Akahana and allowing Hidetaka to take over. Once Izo was off of the female, Hidetaka took the kunai in his hand and placed it at her throat. Akahana froze at the feeling of cold, sharp metal being pressed against her throat and a small trail of blood trickle down her neck. "It would be in your best interest to give up now, don't you think?" Hidetaka asked with a smirk.
Akahana glared up at Hidetaka, knowing that he was probably right, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it. Instead of answering him, Akahana stayed silent. Seeing that Akahana wasn't planning on forfeiting, Hidetaka looked at Izo and nodded his head towards Akahana's legs. In one quick motion, Izo snapped his jaws around Akahana's left leg. Biting back a scream, Akahana grunted in pain but still refused to call off the match. This girl is so stubborn! Why won't she give up already?! Hidetaka thought while narrowing his eyes at the girl. Suddenly a loud snap was heard along with an ear shattering scream from Akahana that caused Hidetaka and several others to cringe. The pressure from Izo's jaws had caused her bone to snap.
"Stop!" Hayate commanded. Hidetaka withdrew his kunai and ordered Izo to back away from the girl lying on the ground in pain. "I'm calling this match. Tukiko Hidetaka is the winner." While Hayate announced the winner, a team of medical nins raced towards Akahana and placed her on a stretcher. Both Shinya and Akiha jumped down to the arena, making their way to the medic nins taking care of Akahana.
"How is she? Will she be alright?" Akiha asked in concern for her sister.
One of the medic's looked at her sympathetically while answering her questions. "She'll be alright. She'll be out on leave for a while though, until her leg and arms are healed."
Akiha nodded before looking up at Shinya. "Shinya-sensei, may I go with her?"
"Yes, you may go. I'll tell you what happens later," Shinya gave a small smile to his student.
"Thank you, sensei. Please tell Miyuki-chan I'm sorry for not staying and watching her match."
"I will." With hearing Shinya's reply, Akiha quickly trotted after her injured sister and the medics. When Shinya returned to the balcony, he patted Miyuki on the head and ruffled her hair slightly. "Akiha sends her apologies for not staying to see your fight."
"It's alright. I understand," Miyuki replied. "I just hope Akahana-sempai will be alright."
"She will be," Shinya assured her.
"That's good." Miyuki, then, turned her attention to the screen were yet another pair of names would soon appear. I wonder how long it will be until it's my turn…
A/N: Well there is chapter 25 that ya'll have been waiting for since…January? Yesh, I feel horrible for making everyone wait that long and it's not even the longest chapter I've written either! Sorry about that! I TRY not to do that again but no promises. I hope ya'll like this chapter and look forward to the next one where, FOR SURE, that Miyuki's fight will be in! Once again, SORRY for taking soooo long! Oh and please tell me your thoughts about Akahana's fight and yes I know that Akahana's jutsu just so happens to also be the name of a Studio Ghibli movie, but I thought I fit.