Chapter 35:

I slowly crack open my eyes and abruptly close them with a groan. I can hear my alarm going off but the last thing that I want to do is get up. I roll onto my side and try again. Good, there isn't any light.

Instead of sitting up and then standing I make the decision of rolling off of my bed, taking all of my blankets and sheets with me. I then reach up and feel around the top of my nightstand before slamming my finger several times on my alarm clock to make it stop.

Now I sit up and rub at my face. Once I'm done I glance up at my bed to find out what was shining in my eyes. Oh, it's the window that's right beside my bed and the stupid sunshine.

I finally get up and get changed. I have to get myself ready for training with Gai. Even though I don't want to anymore… I'd rather just stay home all day.

I step into the main area of my apartment and ignore my fridge as I pass by. I'm not hungry right now. Before I left I was offered breakfast which I took, but I didn't eat very much.

As I head for the door I pause to seal the wooden dummy.

I slip on my old ninja sandals instead of my boots. Before leaving I tie my headband loosely around my neck.

~0~

I quietly walk through the village, I have about an hour and a half before I have to meet Gai. I could go to the training grounds right now and get a head start. But the thought makes me even more tired than I already am.

Ok, I'll basically just hang around the village for a while and most likely be late to meet Gai. I'll come up with an excuse.

"Oi! Your Erin-san, right?" I jump slightly and realize that I've made my way to Ichiraku's Ramen without thinking.

"Yes." I answer simply, I'm not in the mood for long conversations right now.

The old man smiles at me and leans over the counter. "Have you seen Naruto lately? He hasn't been around for a couple of months or so-"

"He's on a mission." I interrupt monotonously.

"Oh! Thank goodness, I was worried that I lost one of my favourite regulars! Do you know when he'll be getting back?" He asks quickly.

I shrug, "well, I think that it should be anytime now. I don't know what's holding them up." I add the smallest amount of frustration into my voice. I honestly think that they should have been back a few weeks ago. I would be so happy if they came today… Then I wouldn't have to go back to the academy and work with Iruka.

"Well… Thank you anyways! I don't suppose that you're here to eat anything?"

I immediately shake my head. "No thank you. I'm not hungry."

I give the man a small wave before moving on.

As I move on I absentmindedly look at the stores that I pass by. I don't even know what I'm doing here, I'd rather just be home. In fact, I'd rather just not show up to training. Both during the day and at night.

Oh, I don't want to go back to that place…

I shake my head and continue on. That training will make me stronger. I need it.

'Do I need it or do I want it?'

Of course I want it. I don't necessarily need this training. But…if I continue I'll be trained in basically everything. And I'll move through ranks faster. It could only take me a year or two to reach jonin class, while on average it would take me about five to ten years.

Yes. This training will help me. An example is how that woman made me hit the boy. I have a habit of going easy on people, no matter who they are. Now, at least for that training, I won't have a problem with hitting people. Well…as long as they're capable of defending themselves. I never want to hit a defenceless person again.

I glance around and decide to mentally move on. I'm done with thinking about the subject.

Now I'm paying full attention to the shops that I pass by. A lot of clothing stores, there's a book store, a flower shop-

Oh shit, there's Ino! I immediately try to speed past but she's already seen me.

"Well, if it isn't Haughty Spotty! I was wondering if I would ever see you again!" Her voice seems to be just teasing but it makes me wonder what she wants. "Finally back from that big mission?"

"How did you know-"

"Oh, just an educated guess, since I haven't seen you, that idiot Naruto, billboard brow, or… Sasuke-kun." She finishes with a dreamy look in her eyes. I narrow my own eyes. I don't like her making fun of Naruto, and oddly Sakura. "Why don't you come in while we chat!?"

'I'd rather DIE.'

I stiffly shrug, "sure."

I walk in and I'm immediately overwhelmed with scents. So many flowers in one place… It's overwhelming.

I step up to the till and Ino promptly leans over. "So, if you're back does that mean that the rest of your team is?" Oh THAT'S what she wants.

"Actually no. I've been in Konoha for about a month now by myself. But they should be back anytime now." I state flatly.

Ino looks genuinely disappointed what I said has left an awkward silence. "Well… Why are you back from your mission so early?"

I hesitate because I need to go over what I'm going to say. "I got hit by a giant sword."

"WHAT!? Where!? I can't even tell!" I give a small sigh and roll up my sweaters sleeve, showing off the ruined red skin. It looks as if a large animal clawed at it. Ino makes a face, "ouch, it looks almost as if the kyuubi went at it." The second that she says it she gasps and covers her mouth.

"I wasn't supposed to say that!" She practically says it to herself. "Erin, don't tell anyone that I told you!"

I raise a brow, what's wrong with mentioning the kyuubi in front of me? Wait a second… She's talking about the nine tailed fox. Oh yeah, the thing that's sealed inside of Naruto and almost destroyed the village the day that he was born. I forgot about that…

Wait I'm not supposed to know what the kyuubi is. "What are you talking about?" I ask with fake confusion, "what's the kyuubi?"

Ino bites her lip and glances around. "It's the tailed beast of Konoha. It's a giant fox and it's super freaky! I've heard that it's taller than buildings!" She pauses, "and neither you and I are supposed to know about it! Please don't say anything!" I blink at her for a second before giving her a small nod. She lets out a sigh of relief but we're left in awkward silence again.

My mind scrambles, how can I come up with something else to talk about? Ino and I were never close, in fact, I think of us as enemies.

Something nags at the back of my head and I briefly search her face. I immediately notice darker eyelashes and bright pink lips.

"Nice makeup." I feel the energy immediately change as Ino grins and flicks her bangs out of her face.

"Oh my gosh, you noticed!? Thanks! It's a bit of a hassle but it's worth it!" She pauses and narrows her eyes slightly at me. "But you need to tell me what brand you use."

"What?"

"Don't lie to me! You use mascara and it's fantastic!"

"But I don't…"

"You don't what!?"

I stare at her blankly. "I-I don't use mascara."

She points right in my face and snaps at me. "Lier! You're not telling me that those eyelashes are natural! They're so long and dark! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!"

"But I don't use mascara…"

"PROVE IT!" Ok, now I'm starting to lose my patience.

"What do you want me to do!? Rip an eyelash out so you can freaking inspect it!?"

"MAYBE THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES!"

Both of us freeze when we hear an awkward cough behind us. "Umm… I'm glad to hear that my daughter's making new friends…"

"Tou-san!" Ino greets with a smile and I awkwardly turn around. I make eye contact with Inoichi and the man gives me a closed eye smile.

"You look well, Erin-san! Are you here to get any flowers?"

"Uh, not really…"

"Nonsense! You can have a free one on the way out!" He says cheerfully and gives his daughter a small nod. I watch as Ino briefly looks around before smiling and and grabbing a flower.

Oh wait, it's not a single flower. It's several white flowers on one stalk. Ino stops in front of me and hands it.

She smiles, "this is a gladiolus. Stands for your strength in character, take it!" But a she leans forward she speaks darkly. "We'll finish this another time." I blink in surprise. And actor of the year goes to… Ino Yamanaka…

"I'll see you around." I wave as I leave.

~0~

After that incident, I've decided that I'm just going to go to the training grounds to practice. I don't want to run into anymore people.

I kneel down to unseal my wooden dummy before stepping back into a stance. I immediately go lower into the stance that Gai taught me yesterday.

I take a deep breath, step forward, and strike.

Suddenly a memory of bone breaking beneath my fist flashes through my mind. I almost smell the blood as I abruptly step back, gripping my wrist.

I shake my head, if I'm going to let something like this hold me back I'm going to fail as a shinobi.

I attack again and ignore the urge to recoil.

Again.

Again.

Again.

The feeling slowly numbs and I pause with a sigh. I hope that tonight won't be like last night…

I continue to train until Gai finally shows up.

"Why hello Erin! I assume that you've been training nonstop since I've last seen you?" You have no idea. Suddenly Gai blinks in surprise and he glances behind me. "Oh so you haven't been training. How was your date?" I freeze and turn around. I left my gladiolus flowers on the grass.

"No, I don't think that you understand! I don't have any love interests!" I cry almost desperately.

"Don't be ashamed, Erin! Love life is an important part of youth!"

Gai, I swear to god.

~0~

Training wasn't that special, Gai showed me several moves and I practiced them. Now I don't know what to do. It's about 4:00pm and I don't want to exhaust myself anymore. But now I don't know what to do. I suppose that I could go home and make some seals, or nap… Napping would be nice.

I pause when I sense something. A familiar chakra signature but I can't put a name on it. It's with three others. The total of the group is three people in about their preteens and one adult. All male.

I feel a flare of disappointment when I realize that it isn't my team. Too bad I got my hopes up, but I should have known that the signature that I sensed was completely different from anybody in my team's.

I turn the corner into an alleyway that will lead to the road that the team's on. Come on, where have I sensed that chakra before…?

I don't recognize the others, it's just that one person…

I turn into the main road and due to my short size I only see the adult completely. He's a shinobi, that's for sure.

I walk faster and once people start to notice me they step aside. Soon I'm within the circle that other people have made around the group as they walk.

I gasp in surprise when I see shoulder length white hair. "Suigetsu?" I call cautiously and the adult promptly turns to look at me.

I freeze.

No way…

"Erin!?" Suigetsu distracts me as he takes a step forward. "Are you seriously Erin!?"

Ok, I need to calm down. Act cool. "Yes Suigetsu. That is indeed my name, wow, somebody has a name what a wild concept." The boy smirks and steps back.

"Now I know that it's you for sure. You haven't changed at all." Then he pauses, "except when you became a shinobi." I glance down at my forehead protector.

I find myself laughing uncomfortably. Literally right before I left him in Suna he asked me if I wanted to become a Kiri-nin. Wow, I'm a huge jerk.

"Haha…" I trail off awkwardly, "umm, sorry about that. But remember how I owe this village."

The boy waves it off, "mah, no problem. I-"

"So this is Erin-san?" I jump when somebody cuts in and steps into our conversation, practically dragging a boy that I don't recognize with him. "Hi," he smiles kindly at me. And I immediately notice sharpened teeth. "I'm Haku."

I raise a brow and look him over. But I'm mentally freaking out. I can't believe it. It really is Haku, and the adult is Zabuza.

Damn, Haku really does look like a girl. If I didn't already know and I wasn't a sensory type I'd think that he was one.

"Latté Erin." I say and immediately mentally curse. He already knows my name, and I'm guessing that everyone here does too.

"Quite hiding Chojuro!" The boy who Haku dragged over practically hid behind him. Suigetsu lets out a sigh and waves it off. "Whatever, that's Chojuro. And Erin, guess who our sensei is." He smirks as if I'm going to have absolutely no idea who this person is.

Oh man, I can't ignore him anymore… I look up at the towering man. We make direct eye contact and his narrow slightly in a challenge. I don't look away because I want him to know that I'm not scared of him.

"Momochi Zabuza." I say and keep my voice monotonous.

"WHAT!? How did you know!?" Suigetsu practically shouts at me. Now that simple challenging look has now become suspicious.

"Bingo books."

"How did you see the bingo books? Only chunin, jonin, and ANBU can see them. At least in our village." Zabuza finally speaks, his voice sounds deep and kind of rough.

I force a smirk onto my face, everything's fine, he can't touch me while in the middle of Konoha. He's nothing to worry about. "Who said that I was a genin?" Suigetsu looks like he's about to freak the hell out but Zabuza beats him to it.

"You're good at lying, at least for a genin." Oh.

I awkwardly scratch the back of my head, "well, I-umm-heard that you were a skilled shinobi so I wanted to test it."

"Ha! You almost fooled me there, Erin. But there's no way that you could go up ranks so quickly! I knew from the start!" I narrow my eyes at him slightly, lier.

I glance around briefly and notice a lot of people trying their best to not let us know that they're staring.

"So, what are you guys even here for?" I ask and slowly begin walking, without thinking Suigetsu follows and soon the others.

"Chunin exams." Haku answers and I blink in surprise.

"Wait, when are those?" I ask worriedly, oh no, chunin exams means drama, stress, attack on the village, and the worst of it all...Orochimaru.

"In two weeks. Is your team going to compete as well?" My mind races, I don't know if I even want anything to do with theses exams. But, there is a small chance that I could be promoted. But OROCHIMARU. But my team will need my help with dealing with him. Who knows? Maybe I can get them to avoid him altogether. No, it won't be that easy. In the anime, Orochimaru sought out team seven.

Orochimaru's a legendary sannin with years of experience while we're a group of genin fresh from the academy. Even with me to add to it we won't stand a chance. And now Orochimaru's after me…

He'll come after team seven weather or not we take part in the chunin exams so why not? I'll do my best to make it so that Sasuke doesn't get a curse mark.

I realize that the others are staring at me. "I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?" Haku laughs lightly.

"I was asking if your team is going to participate in the chunin exams."

"Oh right, I hope so. But I have a feeling that I won't know anytime soon." Everyone sends me a questioning look, well, except for that guy with the blue hair whose name I forgot. He's just looking at the ground as he walks.

"Why is that? Can't you just ask your sensei?" Asks Suigetsu skeptically.

"The rest of my team's on a mission. I came back early because of injuries." Haku grimaces slightly, Suigetsu seems surprised, Zabuza seems mildly interested.

"Did somebody else injure you?" Oh no, should I tell them or should I not? What to do…

Suigetsu wants to rebuild the Seven Ninja Swordsman. This information might help…or it might not. I don't even know where Kisame was headed. I don't even know if he's still alive in fact. Kakashi could have killed him like he was supposed to kill Zabuza.

I glance around to make sure that there isn't anyone particularly close and lean in slightly. "Yes, it was somebody else." I say quietly and the guy who I can't remember to name of looks up while the other twelve year olds lean in slightly, Zabuza doesn't really react at all. "But I can't say…" If I can't tell my fellow genin who I fought, I highly doubt that I can tell people from other villages. And if somebody just so happens to be listening...

"Goddamnit Erin! You have us all in suspense and now you can't tell us!?" I give a small shrug.

"Can you show us the scar?" Asks Haku, oh that's a good idea. I'd bet that any ninja swordsman could recognize Samehada's marks.

I give a small nod before rolling up my sleeve. There is an immediate reaction, all of them recognize the scars.

"H-How do you get away…?" The kid with the blue hair finally speaks, I open my mouth to answer but Zabuza cuts me off.

"She didn't. He was going easy on her." I narrow my eyes slightly, he is very greatly underestimating me. Of course Kisame was going easy on me but I like to think that I was stronger than he was expecting before the fight. After all, I definitely surprised myself.

"And I had my teammates to help me. Without them I would have died from blood loss."

"Blood loss? You should have died from lack of chakra." Is Zabuza trying to get into an argument with me? Because I am absolutely not in the mood.

"Actually Zabuza-sama, Erin can't die from lack of chakra. It's her kekkei genkai." KEKKEI GENKAI WHAT?

"I see. I've never heard of that kind of a kekkei genkai before." Haku cuts into the conversation. "What clan are you from?"

KEKKEI FREAKING GENKAI.

"Erin-san?"

I HAVE A KEKKEI GENKAI.

"Erin!" Suigetsu snaps me out of it.

"O-Oh sorry. What was the question?" Suigetsu lets out a loud sigh.

"What clan are you from?"

"Clan? I don't know." Suigetsu face palms, Haku gives a small sigh, Zabuza looks annoyed and slightly more suspicious, and the blue haired kid looks shocked. "I guess that I don't have a clan."

Suddenly, Zabuza speaks slightly more sharply and I almost flinch. "It's time to go to the place where we'll be staying." Oh alright, I get the message. He wants me to go away.

"I'll see you around then." I give a small wave before taking my leave. But the second that I sense them moving away, a feeling of dread fills my stomach for tonight.

~0~

"So what am I going to do tonight?" I finally ask after a long and silent journey. It's actually amazing, I was capable of training earlier today and making it here. I might be exhausted but my body doesn't have any injuries from last night. It's actually because before I left I was taken to the infirmary to get checked over and healed. I had several pulled muscles, one torn, and a lot of bruises. But they healed everything before I left.

"Sealing." Huh, what do you know it's something that I'm somewhat decent at that I'm probably going to find out that I'm actually not decent at it but I'm below average.

I let out a small sigh and follow Boar into the hideout. Just like before we go through dark stone hallways and use sharp turns and it finally leads into a room.

I briefly glance around to see probably hundreds of scrolls that are different shapes and sizes stacked along the walls. There are a few drawers and desks. I also notice a couple of giant paint brushes.

I jump when Boar speaks, "although we have many resources for sealing, we have very few sealing artists." He proceeds to answer the question that I immediately want to ask. "This is because each and every seal must be made with intent. Those who have been raised within ROOT confuse intent with emotion, creating faulty seals or becoming overwhelmed." I blink in surprise, so what he means to say is… The people really don't feel any emotion? How is that possible?

He doesn't answer my question this time. "In my training, you will practice and perfect sealing." That was very vague.

He turns away from me before pausing to lift his mask off. Oh, I just realized that I've never seen his face before. He lifts a large scroll off of a rack before turning back towards me and setting it down. As he unrolls it I study his face, he has pale brown hair with bangs that almost fall over his sharp, dark blue eyes. He looks like he might be in his early twenties.

He takes out a couple of vials that I'm guessing have ink in them and hands me a brush.

"Show me one of your seals." Wow, that's fast. I glance down at the paper feeling slightly overwhelmed.

"How big do you want me to make it." Honestly, I'm only used to cards so I have no idea what to do here.

"Just the size that you regularly use. I picked out a large scroll so that we could fit more onto paper." I give a small nod, that makes sense.

I proceed to write out a storage seal and Boar simply gives it a calculating look. "Hmm, other than the fact that I can't understand a single word from it, it looks fairly stable. And if it's a completely different language, I suppose that it would work in your favour since an enemy most likely wouldn't be able to figure out what exactly the seal is. What is it by the way?"

"A storage seal."

"Well then, for sealing the only thing that I can teach you is how to make them, larger or smaller. And how to make them without a pen and paper but with hand seals. I'm not bothering with testing you right now with explosives since I have heard that they are well known." I try to remember everything that he's telling me. "So we'd better get to work."

Oh, I get it. Basically training sessions with Boar will be just writing out seals over and over again. Boring but better than last night.

"Boar?" I ask after about ten minutes of work.

"Hmm?"

"Would my abilities count as kekkei genkai?"

He glances up, "do you mean your ability to survive without chakra, being capable of sensing genjutsu, et cetera?"

"Yes."

"Oh, then yes."

HELL YEAH!

~0~

A/N: OH IT'S FINALLY OVER THANK GOD. I'm sorry about the late update though, I've been busy.

Hey guys, I have a question for you. If u were to make a facebook page, instagram page, or facebook group would you join? And which one? The facebook page I would have help from several admins and we would post stuff for both Naruto and Bladed Wings. The same thing with Instagram. For the facebook group it would be Naruto and Bladed Wings, anyone could post anything about either or and they could even post things about other fanfics.

Please let me know what you guys think!