HimekoUchia: Well, apologies for this insanely long delay. I finally finished school (exams, urg) and I had to update my other Naruto story, finish my Hetalia one (I also suggest looking at PaperDream's story if one of you guys like this manga) and binge read Death Note. Awesome sauce (MelloMatt and the rest of the L team are awesome. I hate Light but still rooted for him).
Ryo: To apologies for the insanely long delay, HimekoUchia has brought to you... Drum-roll please... Yuuki: Dun dun! And insanely long chapter! The longest one yet!
HimekoUchia: I was gonna cut it in half but then I though, nah, screw dat, I'll just give them the whole thing. Hopefully if makes you guys forgive me to some extent. Hope you like it! I don't own Naruto *sadface*. Thanks for the betaing PaperDream! Excuse any mistakes, this is a long chapter and I proofread it, but then the word editor messed up. Three. Times. Enjoooy!
Last Chapter:
Hyuga Hinata vs Hyuga Neji
Hinata's eyes widen in terror and she glances at her cousin, who glares blankly at her. However, I can almost hear the evil laugh in his head and he calmly starts walking down the stairs, into the arena. I bite my lip. Neji looks as if he is going to rip her to shreds! If Tenten was here, she would give her boyfriend a long lesson on how to treat a girl, especially a cousin, but since the Weapon Mistress is currently in the emergency ward of Konoha hospital...
"Aw... Hinata-chan is going to end up Neji-san's main course." sighs Ryo, voicing my thoughts exactly.
Hinata slowly walks away from Kiba and to the center of the arena, whilst Neji smoothly strolls in with a smug smirk pulling at his lips.
"I never dreamed we'd find ourselves fighting each other... Lady Hinata." huffs the male Hyuga, eyes focused on his cousin's reactions.
"Neji-san... big brother..." stammers Hinata.
There are a few gasps around the room.
"She's his sister?" shouts Naruto.
Kakashi and Lee somehow have the time to go on a detailed explanation on Neji and Hinata's relationship, their clan's problems and the how guy basically wants to kick the crap out of his little cousin.
"Let the match *cough* begin!" hacks Hayate.
Oh jeez, can this guy just drink honey lemon bubble tea or something?
"Before we begin..." Neji ignores Ryo's and my loud groans. Monologues should totally be kept out of the battle field. "I have to point out... You're not cut out to be a shinobi. Withdraw from the match!"
I used to think that Neji was this hot, cool guy but now, with every stupid word that comes out of his mouth, I start to realize that he's just a sour nincompoop. I'm amazed as to how Tenten can stand this kind of attitude.
"You're all sweetness and light... a peacemaker, not a trouble maker... you're easily led, not a leader." My mind's bullshit/useless criticism censorship kicks in. "Blah blah blah... world class inferiority complex... blah blah... stay a genin... blah blah... compete as a trio and you couldn't bear to let your teammates down. The truth is, your participation has reluctant from the start... hasn't it?"
"N-No, you're wrong. I- I really wanted to change that about myself. So, of my own volition I-..." Hinata is rudely cut off by a long-haired bitch.
"Lady Hinata, you're the sheltered little baby of the main branch, aren't you?"
"W-What?" Hinata looks a little dumbfounded at his claim.
"Here comes the angst destiny rant..." I huff and Ryo rolls his eyes and nods in agreement.
"If only I could get a dollar for every time he makes one of these poetic speeches..." he sighs.
"A leopard doesn't change its sports. A failure always fails. And a weak personality won't become strong. It's precisely because of the unchanging nature of humankind that differences between people are born..."
"This is so stupid... people can always change themselves." mumbles Ryo, his eyes hardening to a glare.
I know why he's frustrated. I can feel it too.
"If it is impossible for people to change... them what would we be doing here?" I look at him, we both smirk and lightly pound fists.
We have already changed. We adapted ourselves to live in this world. We are slowly becoming shinobi with every passing second. And even before that... We went through horrible pain. I remember when all three of us were complete wrecks. Somehow, with a lot of help, we all made it out in one piece. We all still have mental scars though.
Mhm. Somehow, you never managed to get rid of me, didn't ya?
As long as you limit your input to convenient moments, I don't mind still having a voice in my noggin. I hate it when you scare the crap out of me before I fall asleep though.
Hah. But it works every time, doesn't it?
Yuuki, Ryo, Gaara and I are prime examples of change within a human being. If Gaara couldn't change the world would be screwed because an angry red-haired raccoon boy would be on the loose for the rest of his life.
Damn, even Kakashi, Hinata, Lee or anyone else could prove that people change! Why is Neji so obsessed with this idea anyway? He should have learned by now that it's not fate that brings you marvelous things in life (like a girlfriend, for example). It's kindness and effort.
I watch the Hyuga as he activates his byakugan and continues talking.
"... you can never change yourself!"
I suddenly focus when Naruto's loud, annoying yet oddly comforting voice cuts through the tense atmosphere.
"YES SHE CAN!" shouts the blond, slamming his hands down on the handrails so hard that I can feel the vibration through my palms. "You can't just decided these things about other people, you fool! Show him, Hinata-chan! Beat up this idiot!"
Hinata looks up at the boy in awe and I can see the look in her eyes slowly change.
"Come on! At least talk back to him! Just hearing him made me mad and it's you who has to fight him!"
The lavender eyed girl manages to keep her gaze strong and unwavering for a few seconds, so her cousin presumes she probably won't be quitting like he had foretold.
"So you're not going to withdraw? Then I won't be responsible for what happens here." he huffs. I see the lines form around her eyes as Hinata activates her byakugan and she takes a taijutsu stance.
"I don't want to run anymore! Big brother... Let's fight!" she declares. I squeal in fangirl excitement at how awesome this chick is. I need to design 'I heart Hinata' fanclub T-Shirts. Maybe a few 'Neji is a sour jerk' fanclub shirts too.
Neji gets into the Hyuga fighting stance as well and the match begins.
Ryo and I watch, completely fascinated, as Neji and Hinata start slapping each other. They do it incredibly fast so it looks as if they are dancing, but the occasional grunt of pain proves otherwise.
"Did she get him?" asked Sakura, obviously part of the 'Neji is a sour jerk' fanclub.
"No! It's just a scratch!" hollers Naruto. Lee and Gai-sensei go into a long and detailed explanation about the Hyuga's gentle fist technique, about how it attacks the chakra flow and internal organs. Then, they have to explain what the chakra system is to Naruto (how did he even manage to graduate from the academy?) and how the byakugan can see it and attack it.
At the beginning of the match, it seemed as if Hinata was landing the most hits.
Suddenly, both Hyugas slams the other hard in the chest, letting out a loud thumping sound that makes everyone focus. Hinata then coughs up a fountain of blood that makes a shiver go through my body and makes Ryo frown. Neji then starts poking his cousin's arms. The girl freezes in shock when she realizes what he is doing, especially when he pulls back her sleeves and there are dots on her arms. They look similar to bad mosquito bites that one has scratched way too many times.
"I-It can't be! You mean... from the very beginning...?" gasps Hinata, an expression of horror dawning on her face. "Precisely... my eyes can detect your chakra points!" replied Neji.
"What's he saying?" wonders Naruto, and I see Kakashi look about ready to murder him.
'How many lessons do we have to give this knucklehead in one match?' he seems to mentally scream. Man, Naruto is really quite the airhead, isn't he? The sensei then has to explain how, along the chakra system, there are 361 chakra points in the body no larger than the prick of a pin. Right as he says how talented Neji must be to be able to hit them accurately, said Hyuga whacks his cousin so hard in the boobs that she flies back and hits the ground.
"Lady Hinata..." Oh, no, not again. "This is the unalterable difference in strength... The distinction that separates the elite from the failure. This is the unchangeable reality. From the moment you said you wouldn't run, your defeat was inevitable. The only possible outcome was your present despair."
Hinata struggles to stand and this really pisses Neji off.
"Withdraw!" he hisses, trying to kill Hinata with his eyes as she slowly gets up.
"I... n-never go back o-on my word!" she coughs, then faces Neji with a soft, but determined, Hyuga smirk. "Because that's my ninja way too!"
"Whoa, Hinata-chan! Man... she's got guts!" mused Naruto.
"She's a lot like you." smiles Lee.
"Yeah... I've noticed that she's always watching you, Naruto-kun." points out Sakura, a look of hopelessness appearing on her face when she sees a dumb look on Naruto's face.
"Hunh?"
"Come here." says Neji icily, waiting for Hinata to charge at him. Before she can take another step, however, she coughs up another mouthful of blood. I can tell that she won't last much longer.
"Neji-san's strikes have halted the flow of Hinata-san's chakra. She's lost the capacity to perform the gentle fist attack. This fight is as good as done." announced Kakashi solemnly. The only thing that Hinata could do now to win is to launch a well-aimed kick at her cousin's cadet-branch-family jewels.
Even as a member of 'Neji is a sour jerk' club, I can admit that he is super freakin' impressively strong. To be honest, he scares the living crap out of me now. He's so different from the nice guy that played stupid teenager games with his cousin or shoved his tongue down Tenten's throat.
I think it's time that I accept that all ninjas a two-faced people. They're not the strangely violent ones, I'm just the sadly naive one.
I glance sideways and notice Gaara's squirming. Wow, the Hyuga must be reeeaaaallly powerful. Note to self, never, ever tell Neji that he looks like drag queen. I will probably die.
Many people start shouting at the same time about how unfair the match is, how creepy the byakugan is or, in Naruto's case, cheering Hinata on.
The girl suddenly looks energized and she charges at her cousin, who is only taken aback for a second before they start fighting again.
Then Neji smacks Hinata in the throat. My jaw drops at how terribly painful that looks. I'm starting to get major cold feet for my match. Watching poor Hinata getting torn to shreds from the inside...
All I can do is watch and admire her courage as she stumbles and regains her footing. She is amazing...
She then throws herself at her cousin again and, this time, the sound of Neji's palm connecting with her chest echoes around the arena. She slowly slips and falls onto the floor. The pool of blood around her grows. I involuntarily shiver.
"Don't you know when to quit?" sighs Neji, looking down at the girl at his feet. "From the start, your attacks have been completely ineffective!"
The proctor steps forward and immediately realizes that Hinata is beaten.
"Seeing as the match can not go on...-"
"DON'T STOP IT!" hollers Naruto.
"What are you talking about, you idiot? She's got nothing left! She's already collapsed!" snaps Sakura right back and I agree with her.
"Sh-She lost so much blood... Oh god..." I clench my hands tight to my chest, willing the terror to go away. I've never seen such a disgusting sight. My friend lying in a red pool because of her own cousin. "Just looking at this makes me wanna throw up and I'm not even haemophobic..."
I feel one of Ryo's hands on my shoulder.
"In the moment, the shock and adrenaline block out the pain... Hopefully she'll faint soon, so she doesn't have to go through this consciously." he says.
Suddenly, Hinata stirs. Under everyone's awed eyes and Neji's dumbfounded ones, she stands up.
"Why are you getting up? If you push too far, you really will die!" asks the boy, looking truly confused. The girl lifts her face and smiles at him. This pisses Mr. Bitchy Hyuga off.
"Th-This isn't over yet!" she coughs, trembling.
"You're not fooling anyone. I can see with these eyes. It's taking all your strength just to stand! You were burdened from the birth with the destiny of the Hyuga clan's main branch. You've hated and punished yourself for your own weakness and fragility. But you can't fight your nature or change your fate. You don't have to suffer anymore. Be at peace!"
Wow. 'Eyes', 'destiny' and 'fate' all in the same speech. Neji is truly a professional debater.
"But you're wrong, cousin... I can see it now. That, even more than me, it's you who are torn and suffering..." Hinata says angrily. Neji visibly flinches as she hits a nerve. "... Caught between the destinies of the main and cadet branch of our clan!"
Neji suddenly lunges for Hinata. "NEJI! The match is over!"
The boy has an animalistic rage in his eyes, however, so it takes all the Konoha jonin (minus Asuma-sensei) to restrain him.
Wow... If only Tenten were here to chain up her rottweiler.
I shake my head. If Tenten were here, she would be horrified at the way her boyfriend just treated his cousin. Then again, I shouldn't be judging his self-control right now, since I myself am slightly (extremely) disturbed by what I have just witnessed.
"Enough Neji-kun! Before this began, you swore you wouldn't drag the issues you have with your family's main branch into this." says Gai firmly.
"Well... Why is it that the other jonin are getting involved? Special protection for the main branch, eh...?"
This whole main branch, cadet branch story is so messed up, especially if it can make this boy, whom I know is a good person inside, willing to kill his cousin.
For some reason, I suddenly feel a lot of sympathy for Neji Hyuga. He's so powerful and strong. Minus the attitude, he doesn't deserved to be treated like second-class citizen in his own family. Family is supposed to support you, not tear you down. He's a truly talented ninja and a sweet guy (if he tries), so I don't understand how it could ever come to this. Seeing the two Hyugas right now... both of them are in so much mental (and physical, in Hinata's case) pain. Their clan is too cruel...
"GACK!"
I dart my eyes over to Hinata, who has just vomited another fountain of blood and collapsed on the floor.
Sakura, Naruto, Lee, Ryo and I instinctively jump off the balcony and land next to our friend.
"Hinata-chan?"
"HINATA-CHAN! Hey, are you OK?"
"Hinata! Oh no..."
"Crap, is she going to be ok?"
"This is bad, her face is losing color!"
The girl looks blankly up at us with a soft smile, before closing her eyes and passing out.
I gulp once I hear Neji's voice again. I think that I have just started to realize what my 'friends' are really capable of doing to each other.
"Hey... Loser, over here." I turn and face him but then notice that he is addressing Naruto. "I'd like to tell you two things. If you're a shinobi then cut out the pathetic cheering of others... And one more... In the end, a loser is a loser. They cannot change!"
The two genin have a stare-down for a moment.
"You wanna test me?" finally taunts Naruto through gritted teeth.
"Heh..." Neji plasters a smug smirk onto his face.
The blond knucklehead snaps and runs at him, but is stopped by Rock Lee.
"Naruto-kun! I understand you so much that it hurts, but the fighting should occur in the matches. Whether a loser can defeat an elite through the power of hard work. That's something to look forward to in the main test... Though his opponent might be me." He turns to face the blond. "But even if it's you, Naruto-kun, there will be no hard feelings."
"Alright..." sighs Naruto, giving Neji a dirty look.
Behind me, I hear a agonized gasp. Hinata is hacking up blood again All I can do is watch as Kurenai frantically calls for a medical team who start working on Hinata immediately.
"At this rate, she won't last 10 minutes!"
"Take her to the emergency room! Hurry!"
I squeeze my eyes shut and cover my mouth with my hands. I don't know if I can stand this. I know that she'll survive, but my heart beats erratically and all I can feel is horror and disgust. Hinata...
"Himeko-chan... Look..." whispers Ryo, putting his good arm around my shoulders. I look.
Naruto is holding a fist dripping with Hinata's blood towards Neji.
"I vow to win!" announces the blond and I can't help smiling at this. With all these violent matches passing so quickly, it's nice to see the familiar sight of Naruto being himself.
When I hear Kankuro's voice, I look up at the Sand Sibs and their sensei up on the balcony.
The puppet-nin lifts an eyebrow at me, probably wondering why my shaking hand is around Ryo's arm.
I need the support. I'm not as indifferent to this as they are.
I notice the uncomfortable look in Gaara's eyes and I immediately remember the game of 'Are You Nervous Yet?'. He was wacking out again. Should I go up there and slap him?
No. I shake my head. Remembering all the fun times won't help me survive here. I've got to accept the dirty reality sooner or later. I was just hoping it would be later.
Ryo drags me back onto the balcony, smiling understandingly.
"You OK?"
"Uh... I'm fine. I presume that once I survive a fight, I'll be more emotionally tough." I sigh.
"Don't worry." he pats me on the back. "You'll feel better once it's all over."
Kankuro walks up to us.
"Don't pass out now, Himeko-chan!" he chuckles. "It might be your turn next!"
"Oh god, no! Please don't jinx me!" I shiver as the big screen beeps.
"Himeko-chan..."
"Nah, seriously Ryo, I need to clear my mind here..." I put my hand up and start taking deep breaths.
"Himeko-chan..." This time, it's Kankuro interrupting my meditation.
"Dude, I'm gonna pass out if I don't chill now." I frown and cross my arms. "Let me think..."
"Himeko!" snaps Ryo, poking me in the face.
I groan and open my eyes. I feel a little better.
"What?"
Kankuro turns me around so that I face the big screen.
Tanaka Himeko vs Haruko
Shit.
"OK, that was obviously gonna happen... I should have touched wood or something." I gulp, my heart dropping to the bottom of my stomach. I suddenly feel like puking.
Hey, Ryo, Yuuki, let's go to the ninja world and participate in the chuunin exams!
This is by far the dumbest idea I've ever had in my pathetically short life... that might be ending in about... two minutes.
"It's normal that I'm starting to freak out, right?" I mutter, feeling tears prickle in my eyes.
Thankfully, Ryo's calm voice breaks through my haze.
"Himeko-chan... Look at me..."
"Mhm?" I smile, facing him.
He slaps me across the face. Everyone turns to look at me.
"Urg! Ryo! What was that for, you jackass?" I hiss.
"Payback." smirks my teammate. "Now, time for the promised pep talk..." I lean in, waiting, holding my breath. "... You're totally gonna die."
"Ryo." I growl, giving him the finger. He laughs and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm kidding! You'll be fine. You are capable of doing this. I believe in you! You are going to win this fight. It will be just a warm up for the official matches, right? Just remember, fight with you're brain, not your heart, not matter how difficult this sounds." I nod sadly. "Besides, if I can win, so can you! And do you wanna know why?" he smiles.
I pull him into a hug.
"... 'cause I'm the smart one."
He hugs me back.
"Yes... That's... HEY!" he pulls away, glaring.
"Sorry, couldn't resist."
He pats my back.
"Break a leg, Himeko-chan."
"Thanks." I walk away, then turn around. "Wait... Why will I win?"
"Because..." he gives me a thumbs up. "... I dunno."
"Ryo."
"Because you're you! And the you I know always finds a way out of any situation, no matter how dangerous or impossible it seems."
"Right." I mutter, waving one last time at my teammate, as well as Naruto, Kankuro, Temari, Sakura, Ino and the jonins, who smile, grin or give me a thumbs up. Shino just gives me a blank look behind his glasses. Neji snorts and gives me a farewell wave, mouthing something like 'You cannot win. It has been decided by fate'. Jerk. Gaara is staring at Hinata's blood.
"Come on, princess, I'm waiting." sneers Haruko, already in the arena. "Don't tell me you're gonna hack off your hair and throw it at me like your friends?"
"No thanks." I smile, tying my hair into a ponytail. Now, I mean business. "I like it the way it is."
"Oh, really? I get it. Long, pretty red hair likes yours sure is a guy magnet, huh?" she asks, clearly mocking me.
I play along, not really knowing what else to do. I'm gonna puke.
"Well, thank you."
"So, you do like a boy? Let me guess, he's in this room?" she chuckles and I notice that she's missing a tooth. Intimidating.
"Yes and yes. Now, let's concentrate on the fight, please? This BS talk is stressing me out."
Plus, this is no time to think about Gaara and distract myself. I glance up at him. He is staring creepily at me.
Shit, now that's distracting.
"Oh. Are you scared?"
I raise an eyebrow at her. Normally, I'm the annoying, talkative biatch, but looks like I'm handing over the trophy to miss Haruko here.
"I'm not scared. I'm positively terrified."
The girl looks taken aback by my honesty.
"Oh, you admit it? Well, I'm not scared at all. Wanna know why?"
"No, not really."
"Because." She completely ignores me and starts her typical ninja monologue. "I've been watching as your little friend defeated my teammate. It pissed me off, so I want to take it out on you. However, I also realized that he... didn't use any jutsu apart from teleportation... I presume you're the same? Well, you're up for a nasty surprise. Good luck trying to beat me, princess. Actually, scratch that. You probably won't even survive. You are too weak to even think about being a shinobi, princess."
"I am probably much weaker than you. You're probably faster, stronger and more powerful than me." I sigh, not feeling particularly cocky today. "But, guess what? That doesn't mean that I can't be a shinobi. Or that I can't win. And stop calling me 'princess', you sound like a pimp."
She laughs evilly.
"I'm sorry, princess, I thought that was your name. Perfect for someone who looks as soft, sweet and kind as you."
I hear Ryo hold back a chuckle. I shoot him a glare that would make flowers wither to tell him exactly where he can shove his opinion.
"Why does everybody think that being considerate is a handicap?" I mutter.
"Because anything other than mercilessly inflicting pain will cause you to lose." She turns to the proctor. "Start to match! I can't wait until this one is begging me for mercy..."
Well... Looks like Ikuto was a far kinder person than her.
This psycho wants to severely maim me, at least.
Greaaaaat...
"Let the tenth match begin!" calls out Hayate.
If I die, tell Ryo, Yuuki, Gaara and everyone else that I love them.
Too late to write your will.
Some people say that fear is an emotion. It's not true. It's much, much more than that. Fear is a disease that contaminates your body until you can't move or breath or think...
For a second, I am paralyzed, but then I realize... This is it.
Now's my time to show what I'm made of. Everyone's watching.
Suddenly, my bubble of stress inflates even more and I'm hyper focused. I can hear my opponent's every breath and notice her eyes darting down to her swords, then to my sword. So that's how she wants to do this. I huff and take my weapon off of my back. Somehow, if feels a thousand times heavier now that I have to actually use it in battle. I imagine it covered in the girl's blood.
"So, what's your nasty surprise?" I ask, then suddenly really regret it when she smirks evilly at me, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes as she does a couple handsigns.
She disappears.
Oh shit.
She can teleport.
I hear a poof behind me. I spin around just as she appears and tries to stab me. I block it with my sword, but my arms are too weak. I could never chuck huge shuriken like Ryo. I knew this already, but feeling my lack of strength is scary.
Don't freak out...
She grins at me and pushes onto my sword with hers. I resist as hard as I can, my arms burning, but realize that my own blade is slowly getting closer to my face.
"Pathetic!" she hisses.
I glare and teleport behind her.
She expected this, so she spins around and tries to slash me with one of her swords again.
OK. So I can teleport without handsigns and without making a sound. I just need to think about my desired location so I can move on average a second faster. That's a good thing. If I keep her hands busy she can't do signs, teleport or use jutsu.
Think like a shinobi. Think Shikamaru.
Plan. I have a plan.
I clench my teeth. It's too risky.
Damn it, I'll at least try. I'm the reckless one of the group for a reason.
She frees her left hand and grabs the sword on the other side of her body. I expect her to spin it around so that she can stab me. It would give me plenty time to teleport.
She scrunches up her face. She slams the handle of the sword into my stomach.
I gasp and jump backwards, my abdomen burning in pain.
Didn't exactly expect her to do that. She must be less agile with her left hand then.
Never mind. My plan will work even better this-...
My stomach lurches and I feel something warm and metallic in my mouth. I cough and spit something dark red onto the floor.
Blood. Oh my god, my blood.
I shiver of terror goes down my spine.
"Psh, that's all you can do?" laughs Haruko, taking a step towards me. "You're even more useless than your friend! Why did you enter the exams if you're this weak, princess? Are you suicidal? Or are you just stupid?"
I glare and wipe the blood away from my chin. My insides shouldn't be too messed up or I would be throwing up more than this.
"I'm not stupid..." I hiss, taking deep breaths to help me focus on something other than my painful stomach. I let my fear show in my eyes.
"Hah. You're pretty funny." smiles the woman, giving me a look full of pity.
She thinks that I'm scared and lost.
Good.
I teleport behind her again. Haruko chuckles.
"You teleport fast, I'll give you that. But your swordsmanship is terrible."
She spins around and throws a shuriken at me.
I teleport to the side since my movement would have otherwise been too slow.
"As I thought..." muses the girl. "You don't have good enough hand-eye coordination or agility to deflect my attacks. I don't think I even need to waste my jutsus on you! I should only reveal them to my real opponent, during the next round. All I need to do to get rid of you is to beat your teleporting!"
Wow. I can't believe that she is actually telling me all of her thoughts. Thank you, ninja monologues. For once you are put to good use.
She keeps throwing shuriken at me one by one, laughing as all I do is zap from one spot to the other.
She is mocking me at this point. Of course, it's also part of her plan.
My pattern of teleporting sideways and back is very, very predictable.
She knows that all she has to do to 'beat my teleporting' is to take me by surprise. She probably has more than one move up her sleeve. I take a deep breath.
Suddenly she grins and starts running towards me, throwing a line of kunai as she goes.
Surprise number one.
I extend my shield in a line in front of me, causing her knifes to stop in midair and fall to the ground.
She looks taken aback for a moment but smirks and repeats her move. I once again stop her kunai.
I suddenly hear a little click. I look down at my feet. A smoke bomb.
Surprise number two.
I play along and widen my eyes in shock as the bomb explodes, clouding my vision with purple smoke.
She jumps through the smoke.
Surprise number three.
Now, my natural reaction would have been to take a large step back in shock. Then my back would have hit the wall. I would have been too surprised to move or teleport, since I am obviously a rookie and would be choking and blinded by the smoke bomb (or if I teleported out of the smoke, she could simply follow and take me down easily, since I would be choking). Then, while I instinctively shield my face, her right sword would have gone through my stomach, then, in my weakened state, she could have easily stabbed my heart with her other sword, just for good measure.
What a smart plan. It would definitely have worked.
I smirk.
If only I wasn't a dumbass.
I hold my breath, take a large step back and parry her first sword away.
However, since I anticipated this, I do it earlier than I should have and I push away the blade before it gets anywhere near me. Shoot. Mistake.
Crap. I need her to get closer to me for this plan to work. Crap. Crap. Crap.
I need to win. I've absolutely have got to win now! I can fix this! Improvise! The only way I can do that is if...
Don't think about it. Think about victory. That's all that matters!
While both of my hands are holding my sword to block her's, she uses the other hand to try to stab me through the stomach again.
I clear my mind and kick the sword away with my knee, the adrenaline pumping through my veins.
Her momentum cause her blade to slip and slice across my leg, but also to get her much closer to me.
Close enough. Now I'm back on track.
I teleport into midair directly behind her, angle my bent leg and launch a kick as hard as I can into the back of her head. Her closeness to the wall makes up for my lack of strength and her head smashes into the concrete.
I land on my back and quickly scan her thoughts to make sure that she's out cold.
Yes, a trauma to the front and back of the head was definitely enough to knock her out.
I start to chuckle. I can't believe she fell for the same trick as Kin when she was the one originally trying to make me fall for that. She is obviously dumber than she looks if she immediately underestimated me and actually believed that I was done for simply because I lack physical strength. I am well aware of my weak points. Still, to underestimate us even after witnessing Ryo's fight... She fell for my first trap too... I'm glad I didn't have to think up a plan B or C.
I start choking, so I roll out of the purple smoke and gasp for fresh air.
I did manage to inhale some of it though, and it doesn't help my internal bleeding.
I hack another mouth full of blood onto the floor and start coughing. This would have been quite cool if it didn't make me feel so darn miserable. I wipe a few tears out of my burning eyes and take deep breaths to calm my crazy heart beat.
My head drums like mad and I collapse onto my back, my vision starting to go black.
I clench and unclench my fingers to keep myself conscious, though my mind is completely exhausted.
I numbly register a few people calling my name, the smoke dissipating and a bunch of footsteps.
"Well, since both sides are unconscious and there is no way of telling who was knocked out first because of the smoke, I think that the fairest course of action would be to pronounce a dra-..."
"I'M AWAKE!" I shout, my eyes snapping open as I sit up in panic.
I feel a body support my back. Ryo.
"... Oh. Sorry. The winner is Tanaka Himeko." announces the proctor.
I sigh in content and lie back onto my teammate. My fear of death and adrenaline leave me and my thoughts suddenly clear.
A jolt of horror goes through my body. I dart my eyes to Haruko, who has blood leaking from her forehead.
My hands covers my mouth.
I won. I kicked her face into the wall.
I freakin' kicked her face into a freakin' wall.
And I laughed about it.
"OH MY GOD!" I gasp, making all the people who had come down to check on me, minus Ryo, take a huge step away from me. "Oh my god! I'm a horrible human being! I killed someone! I fucking-..."
Ryo rubs my arm.
"Shhhh... Calm down, she's fine. It's normal to have done everything to assure your victory. It was your survival instinct. You wouldn't have hurt her in any other scenario..."
I slowly nod and let my head fall back onto his shoulder. Hopefully it's not his injured one.
Survival instinct. Shinobi mindset. Right. I'm still a freakin' angel compared to people like Gaara or Neji. I wouldn't try to seriously hurt someone for anything other than self-defense. Right.
I sigh in relief.
OK, I am not turning into a murderous psychopath.
"You're right Ryo-kun... I did it. I won. I'm not even hurt that bad..." I huff.
I feel Ryo tense.
"Oh, so you can't feel your leg? Good, you're still in shock." He covers my eyes with his hand. "Don't look. Trust me, you don't want to see."
I freeze.
My leg. Haruko stabbed me through my leg. Shit.
Ryo's right, my mind was too chaotic for me to feel pain.
"Ryo-kun... I wanna be aware of my own condition!" I grunt.
"Fine, you asked for it." sighs my friend, uncovering my eyes.
I look at my leg. I yelp.
It's completely covered in blood and I can tell that the cut is very deep. 'Cause it suddenly hurts. Like hell.
"See? I warned you..." snorts my teammate.
"I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadie..." I mutter, covering my face.
"Don't worry, Tanaka-san, you'll just need stitches. Shinobi should be able to withstand pain far worse-..." starts a medic-nin before I cut him off.
"SCREW YOU! Don't tell me what to feel! The worse injury I've ever gotten was falling out of a tree and scratching my arm! All that I needed was a freakin' band aid!" I snarl, any kindness in my heart being completely replaced by pain, pain, pain.
"Caaaaaalm down, Himeko-chan..." hums Ryo. "He's just trying to help. You did great. I'm actually really impressed, though no one knows how you ended up winning because of the smoke. Do you mind?"
I shake my head and let him go through my memories.
"Nice... I knew you were going to win, anyways. You always seem to find a way out of seemingly impossible situations."
"Mhm..." I groan, letting the medics heave me onto a stretcher. "W-Wait... Ryo! I can't leave you here alone! What about-..."
"Don't worry about me." says my teammate. "You need serious help."
I let out a groan of pain when the medics move my leg. I need to get the heck out of here before I start crying.
"Y-Yeah... I'm getting seriously lightheaded..."
I turn my head and look at my friend in the eyes.
"You sure you'll be fine?" I ask, though only my friend gets the real meaning of my words.
"Yes. I know what to do about the organization of the matches for the next round. Leave it up to me." he replies mentally, then says the next part out loud, rubbing my hand and smiling.
"Sure. Once it's over, I'll find Yuuki and we'll come see you in the hospital, I promise. Nothing will keep me from it. I swear. Whether I'm sick, or healthy. Whether the situation is-..."
"We're not married Ryo! Shut up, creep." I snap.
Ryo's jaw drops for a second, before he shakes his head in disbelief.
"Well, you're feeling better already!" he snorts. "Sorry for being melodramatic. The scenario was so perfect, I couldn't pass up the chance."
I chuckle softly. I then notice Sakura, Naruto and Lee who have jumped down to make sure I was alive.
"Oh, sorry for not being able to stay longer guys. You'll fill me in about the next matches, 'kay?"
They all nod. I get carried away and I give Ryo one last look.
"Good luck." I say mentally.
"You too." he answers.
I glance up at the rest of the people on the balcony. Shikamaru, Ino and Choji are looking at me in horror. Neji is frowning at me (what's with his PMS? I don't see him bleeding to death). Shino's eyes are invisible behind his glasses. The senseis look slightly worried. Kankuro and Temari are looking extremely worried, but are both facing Gaara, who is looking at me with wide, creepy eyes.
Right. Hinata emptying herself by vomiting her guts out and my hacked open leg equals a lot of blood.
I suddenly feel totally embarrassed.
I might have won, but I look like shit.
I feel like shit.
I groan in pain and my mind suddenly blacks out again.
Time for a siesta.
Ryo's POV
Once Himeko is out of sight, I shiver a little. Damn, when she crawled out of the smoke, I thought she was going to die for a moment. Judging by her reactions, though, her wounds are nowhere near as life-threatening as Hinata's ones were.
The other genin and I return to the balconies to await the next match.
"Your weapons and that grass-nin's weapons. Himeko-chan's teleporting and the other girl's teleporting... I can see why you guys were matched up." says Lee.
"It's too bad we didn't see much of the ending of the fight, though. I wanted to see how Himeko-chan won! I mean, I knew she was gonna make it but she looked kind of terrified during her match!" grins Naruto.
I shake my head.
"No. Himeko-chan was really scared, but she wouldn't have made it so obvious. It was part of her plan since the beginning-..." I explain, but get met with the blond's 'huuuuh?' look.
Before I can elaborate, the screen beeps.
Gaara vs Lee
"YESSSS!" hollers Lee, before talking about how happy he is to be next.
Darn, Himeko must be disappointed that she can't see Gaara fight. Actually, maybe that's a good thing. It would probably terrify her to see the redhead hurt Lee, judging by how she reacted just to Neji hurting Hinata. I could always share the memory with her.
"Can you explain Himeko-chan's plan? I still don't get it." mutters Naruto. Kankuro listens in.
"Well... You see, by acting overly panicked, terrified and also by showing her opponent her physical weakness, she made her severely underestimate her. By doing this, Himeko-chan could play Haruko-san straight into her trap."
"... I still don't get it."
Besides me, Shikamaru appears out of nowhere. Ninjas.
"By acting scared..." he explains. "She tricked her opponent into thinking that her backing up against the wall was a stupid act of fear and defense, whilst it was actually to lure her closer to it, correct?"
I nod.
"Both of the girls had watched your match intently, Shikamaru-kun, so they learned to stay aware of their surroundings. Haruko-san knew that Hime-chan teleported faster than her, so to be able to land hits on her, Haruko-san knew that she had to take her by surprise. Himeko knew that she knew that, especially since her opponent sort of gave it away. So she gave Haruko-san the perfect opportunity to destabilize her by pretending she didn't know the wall was behind her and acting as if she was in a tight spot, when she was actually thinking one step ahead of her. Now do you get it?" I ask.
"Yeah, sort of. But why was she wounded? Was that part of her plan?" he questions.
I try to remember what my teammate showed my through her memories.
"Probably not. Since Himeko anticipated her opponent's attacks, she must have acted too early and accidentally pushed Haruko away from the wall. Himeko must have improvised from there to correct her mistake by letting Haruko land a hit on her. It also assured that they would be close enough to the wall for Himeko to be able to teleport behind her and kick her. If she were further from the wall, Himeko wouldn't have been strong enough to end the match. Himeko let Haruko believe it that all was going according to her plan, but it really was simply Himeko pulling the strings. I can guess this happened because I know her all to well." I lie, since I don't want them to find out about my ability to read memories.
"That was a risky plan though. Incredibly reckless. She could have gotten herself killed if something went wrong." points out Shikamaru. Funny, that applies to her love life and the other psychotic redhead (not her).
"Himeko-chan is like that. She's just good at getting herself in and out of trouble, but that ability is tripled when she is under stress. That's the reason Yuu-chan and I listen to her. She can keep us alive. Thinking quickly and acting are her specialty, though I've never seen her come up with such a plan before. But believe it or not, she sucks shit at chess." I snort.
Kankuro closes an eye.
"Well, who would have known that Hime-chan was a good strategist. I thought she was definitely going to lose her match. But she's actually really smart."
I laugh.
"Oh, yeah, Hime-chan is smart! And she knows it. She isn't particularly modest about it either. That's why she gets so angry if people call her stupid. She takes it terribly because her smartness is her pride. She's normally not egocentric, but..." I shake my head. "... man, don't insult her brain. She'll slap yah."
Kankuro grunts and looks down into the arena at his brother, who is still having a stare-down with Lee.
"Well, that explains why Gaara walked around with a bruise on his face for a day. Himeko-chan's lucky to have survived that, actually. I don't know how she did it. Hm... What's with this Rock Lee guy? I don't know what type of attacks this bowl head has, but he's no match against Gaara."
"No, Lee is strong..." mutters Naruto.
The green spandex clad ninja catches Gaara's gourd's cork when it flies at him. Wow, I didn't even see it.
"No need to get so impatient!" smiles Lee.
"Alright... Let the eleventh match begin!"
Wow, long chapter! Phew!
So yeah, Himeko's obviously not as brave or as calm or as strong as Ryo (probably not as sane either), but she's smart (she not smarter than Shikamaru though, rest assured. She has to pick tips up from him after all). I hope that this chapter has helped proved that my OCs are obviously not as nice and as perfect as they initially seemed (I've gotten complaints). They do have a couple screws loose. I hope that their abilities were balanced out. The 'princess' joke Haruko makes is obviously a pun on 'Himeko' which means 'little princess'. She saying that because Himeko appears weak and dainty compared to her ruggedness.
OK, so I've read Death Note, if that explains my sudden urge to write an elaborate, complicated plan (that manga is about smart dudes and shinigami). I added Ryo's explanation in case some people didn't completely get her train of thought (I know my beta had doubts and so did Naruto, after all).
Also, please excuse my crappy fight scenes. I am no karate professional.
Hm... Seems as if the OCs have something to hide... You'll eventually find out what, of course (evil grin).
I think it's about time to let Ryo narrate a bit (yes, Yuuki will get a chance to prove herself too. One day. One day). With a KO Himeko, that's the perfect opportunity. I decided to not have her watch Gaara's match because that would take AGES to write and I'm sure that you, as much as me, want to get these exams over with. I mean, come on, I'm like, what, four years behind the manga?
Review if you want!
Enjoy your holidays (my teachers have sent my class HOLIDAY HOMEWORK. Yeah. My life sucks)!
XOXO ~~~ HimekoUchia (internet censorship in China sucks. No youtube. Though my grandma's food is sooooooo good.)