Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto.

Wings of the White Angel

Chapter 3: Kai, Kin and Yurei; Team Eight

Kin giggled and ran through the garden of his family's home once more, a huge smile on his face. ("This is so cool!") Bending at the knees, he pushed off and launched at least 100 feet into the air.

Tuiso sighed as he watched his four-year-old son go air-born. ("He still thinks the bloodline limit is a toy? How much fun can it be to expend all of your chakra with one jump?") Leaping into the air, he caught Kin and landed back in the garden. "You should be more careful with the energy you are using. Remember…it's dangerous."

Kin rolled his eyes. "You're no fun…" Then his eyes widened as something caught his eye over his father's shoulder.

A black form calmly stood just inches away from his father's back. Lifting up a kunai, it snapped the weapon back…

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Kin's eyes snapped open, instantly blinded by the bright sunlight pouring into his room. ("I'm home? At what point did I…")

"Are you finally awake Kin?" His mother's voice wafted into the room from the kitchen.

"Yeah…I am." Looking around, the boy frowned at the fact that nothing was different in his room. There weren't any medical supplies nearby…as if his mother didn't even know what had happened to him. ("But that shouldn't be possible…I had gotten the living crap beaten out of me…")

"You overslept dear, aren't you supposed to be at the academy right now?"

Kin's heart froze in his chest. ("It's tommorow? That can't be…I should have been out for at least two days…the White Wind Angel technique should have sucked me completely dry…") Flexing his fingers, he frowned. ("I feel fine…in fact I feel better than fine…I feel great. But how…the academy?") All of his worries were pushed aside as he realized what his mother was referring to. ("But that means…I'm late!")

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"Are you sure you don't want some breakfast?"

"I'm sure!" Slamming the front door, Kin charged down the street at full speed. ("The team assignments are already underway…and if I miss it then all of my efforts will have been for nothing!") A fleeting idea to use the White Wind Angel technique came into his head, but it was immediately swept aside. ("Burning all of my chakra wouldn't be smart. I'd rather be late and fresh than on time and dead on my feet.") Though at the speed he was running he might just be on the verge of exhausting himself already.

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At the ninja academy, in the classroom shared by the recent graduates, the reading of team assignments was already taking place.

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Kin ducked under an over-hanging beam and kept running, eyes locked ahead. ("I can make it…I can make it!") He was moving so fast that if he were to run into something solid he'd most likely injure himself, but that was fine to him. ("I will make it on time. I found my purpose, dad…and it's to protect this village. Which means that I will succeed!")

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"Next up is the assignment for team eight. We have Yurei Akurei, Kai Otogi, and…"

The door at the back of the classroom exploded open and Kin came barreling into the room. "I'm here!"

"…" The teacher went silent, as did the rest of the class. They all stared at Kin like he was insane. "…and Kin Watanabe."

Blushing brightly, Kin brushed back some of his hair. "I made it on time, good. Could you please…tell me who my teammates are again?"

Everyone in the room face-fell.

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Kin growled and looked down at the piece of paper in front of him. ("My teammates are Kai and Yurei? More importantly, my teammate is Kai?") His fist clenched tighter, nearly breaking his pencil as he scribbled across the page. ("I can't believe I'm teammates with that…that…") Snapping his gaze to his left, he glared at the subject of his ire, who was sitting just a few feet away from him.

Kai had always been the silent, cool member of the class. He'd been the guy to always succeed, and Kin hated him for it. No matter what Kai did, it was always considered excellent.

And this left Kin in no other position. ("I hate the smug bastard…")

Kai brushed back his long black hair and readjusted his forehead protector, the symbol of Konoha displayed proudly on it. "Is there something you are looking at on me?"

Kin looked back down at his paper. ("Maybe I should just get over my hatred of him…I mean, we're teammates now.") He started to lift his head up to look at Kai. "Hey…"

"Class dismissed." The teacher pointed at the door. "Your meeting times for your instructor are listed in the hall."

Kin looked back over where Kai had been…and he was gone. ("What the? When did he…how did he…")

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Kai shoved his hands into his pockets and walked across the courtyard of the school slowly. ("We meet our instructor tommorow in the morning. Good, I'd like to get this started sooner rather than later.") His brown eyes glimmered in the sunlight. "Though, it's such a shame that one of my teammates is Kin. He is such a weakling that even a small child could beat him. After all, he is the great ninja of mediocrity. He doesn't even have any special techniques…just the basic ones learned by all of us."

Kin couldn't take it anymore. "Don't talk about me when I'm not…" He paled from his spot behind a nearby tree.

Kai was standing right in front of him calmly. "I'm not a fool. I knew exactly where you were. And you just failed the first test."

"What test are you talking about?" Kin felt depressed because he knew what he had done. He had lost his cool when he had been trying to be stealthy and had wound up revealing himself.

"I wanted to see if you could at least not get riled up by insults. But apparently not," Kai turned away and walked off. "It's sad to think you'll be watching my back during missions."

"Hold it!" Kin pointed at the boy's back. "I won't let you insult me and get away with it! I challenge you to a fight!"

Kai stopped in his tracks and tilted his head behind him, smiling calmly. "A fight? Me?"

"Yeah. I'll prove to you that I'm worth more than you think." Kin removed his green vest and threw it aside, his undershirt rustling in the light wind. "Well? Do you accept?"

"Fine…if just because I want to knock the silly notion that you are worth anything out of your head." Adjusting his black shirt and shorts, Kai drew a kunai from out of his side-pack. "Ready?"

Kin drew his own kunai. "Let's see what you've…" He blinked in surprise. "Huh? Where'd you go?" His opponent had disappeared into thin air.

"I'm right behind you, fool." Kai whispered into Kin's ear, and tapped the boy's neck with the tip of his kunai. "And I believe that I have just won. In record time, no less."

Kin smiled slightly. "You haven't even gotten close to winning." He exploded in a burst of white smoke.

Kai barely reacted. ("Kawarimi no Jitsu? Or was it Bunshin no Jitsu?") He stepped back and snapped the kunai up in front of him, eyes searching around for where Kin really was.

"You're too quick to judge!" Someone leapt out of the white smoke cloud and snapped their kunai down at Kai's shoulder. He managed to catch the blade onto his own, and now they were locked in a struggle.

("He used a simple smoke effect to make me think he had used a higher level technique…how stupidly clever.") Kai's brown eyes met Kin's multi-colored ones. "Let me show you though, that you can't expect dumb luck to answer all of your problems!" Ducking and driving forward, his elbow crashed into the boy's stomach and sent him rolling away. ("Now let's see you deal with this!") Sliding the kunai back into his side-pack, he began to make the necessary seals to perform the technique he had in mind.

Kin kept rolling, his eyes closed. ("There's no way I can compete with this guy…unless…") He frowned at the line of thought he was having. ("I shouldn't…but I'm going to. Dad, forgive me for using it more than once in a week.") Kicking his legs out, he broke the roll and came up facing Kai. "Bring it on!"

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jitsu," As Kai finished the seals he snapped his hand up to his mouth and took a deep breath.

Kin blinked a couple of times at this. ("What's he…")

Exhaling, Kai literally breathed out a rolling ball of fire that enveloped the green-haired boy.

Throwing up his arms to protect his eyes, Kin tried to make himself as small of a target as possible. A few moments later the fire died out and he rolled around, trying to extinguish it as quickly as he could. "What kind of technique was that?"

"It was a fireball technique…why? Are you that surprised that I can do it?" Kai snickered. "Then you're in for more surprises than that. For example, how about I use another of my fire techniques?" He began to make a new set of seals, though honestly he planned on performing the fireball technique again. What he was hoping to do was to make Kin attack before he could finish the seals.

Kin narrowed his eyes. ("Luckily I have almost all of my chakra, so I have two minutes of time on it.") His fingers became a blur, almost leaving after-images of themselves.

Kai's eyes widened, though his hands didn't slow at all. ("Those seals…what is he doing?")

"Here we go Kai…let me show you the true power of the Watanabe family…" Kin finished the last seal. "Fuuton; Shirakaze Tenshi no Jitsu!" Wisps of white silk appeared floating around him. "Now watch closely." A slight smile crossed his face…and he disappeared.

Kai couldn't comprehend what had happened until he was already on his back. Kin was standing over him. "What in the…how did you…" Kicking his leg out, he expected to hit resistance. Instead he was launched upwards like a missile. ("This is impossible…he couldn't have a quicker reaction time than me!") Curling into a ball, he pushed out just a small amount of chakra to control his spin so that he could land on his feet. "Where are you?"

"Right behind you," Kin whispered into his opponent's ear. "Surprised?"

"I'll take you down!" Kai spun around and launched a roundhouse kick with all of his strength, but he kept spinning because Kin was already gone. ("What is this? How did he become so fast?") Pulling his leg in he landed in a crouch. ("And more importantly…")

"Yo." Kin tapped Kai on the head. "What's the matter? You look frustrated."

Trying to ignore the vein that was bulging out of his forehead, Kai punched out and hit only air. "Damn you! Stop toying with me! How are you doing this?"

("I've got a minute and thirty seconds…plenty of time.") Kin appeared in front of Kai. "I'm been hiding my real power…what do you think?"

"I think you're a fool for playing games…because I'm playing this seriously." Reaching into his shirt pocket, Kai pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. Sliding into a fighting stance, he brought a hand up and motioned for Kin to come at him. "Now mediocrity, let's see what you can do when I play seriously."

"I'll show you mediocrity…" Clenching his fist, Kin disappeared.

Kai started to slowly turn his head. ("I see…I see what you are doing. By pumping a huge amount of chakra into your running muscles, you are able to move faster than sound. However, such a technique mustn't last that long, I'd gather. So…") Snapping a hand out he caught Kin's fist and locked onto it tightly.

Meanwhile, Kin was trying to recover from shock that someone had been able to stop a punch from him while he was in White Wind Angel. Tugging his fist a couple of times, he growled. "Let go…" He got ready to run over his opponent.

Kai calmly held up a kunai in his other hand. "You might trample me, but I'll make sure this digs into your vital organs when you do so."

("Only have a minute…") Kin couldn't believe he was going to have to do this. ("This technique…I've got no choice! It's time for the Angel Bomb Combo.") Despite the drops of sweat sliding down his cheek, he smiled coldly. "Here we go Kai." Kicking one foot out he drove the toe into the other boy's right foot.

Kai looked at him questioningly through the thick sunglasses. "What are you doing?"

"I'm about to teach you how to fly…" Kin's foot shot upwards, striking four sensitive spots across the front of Kai's body. Then it finished the blow by kicking him in the chin, sending him shooting up into the air a few feet. "…so brace yourself!" Hopping back a few feet, he grimaced. ("Forty…")

As Kai's vision came back into focus he realized that the arc of the kick had put him a position where he was upside-down. And thanks to that he saw the whirlwind that was spinning around his still air-born body. ("What is he doing? Why is just running around in a circle?")

Kin reached out with his senses and checked the strength of the whirl. ("It's good…almost enough.") The first part of the combo was to get the enemy stunned and into the air. Second was to run as quickly as he could in a circle around the enemy and create a small whirlwind. ("Now to tighten the circle…") Adjusting his running arc, he closed the whirlwind around Kai's body and propelled his opponent upwards within the wind funnel. ("And now for part three.") Letting out his chakra, he slid to a stop and leapt into the air. While his energy kept the whirlwind spinning, he was already up at the peak of it about twenty feet in the air. "This is the end Kai! Kaze Tenshi Rendan!"

Kai, even though he was locked in an insane spin in the air, saw Kin's approaching dropkick. ("If he controls this whirlwind…then that means he's using it to speed up his fall. The blow will most likely injure me badly…")

Kin's face reflected the determination he felt now. ("I have twenty seconds left…but it's over!") His falling heel slammed into Kai's side, and the whirlwind showed its purpose as it suddenly adjusted directions, pulling them both towards the ground at full speed. But Kai was locked in a position where he was going to buffer Kin's fall.

"I'm not beaten!" Kai snapped his arms out and pushed all of his chakra into his next move. And the whirlwind's direction began to reverse again.

("He is wresting control of the whirlwind from me!") Kin let out his energy to try and stop it from happening. ("Come on…I can't let him beat me…") He pushed out all of his remaining energy as well.

And the whirlwind found that it was pushing against itself…and dissipated. Both boys crashed to the ground and rolled away from each other.

Kin already felt cold all over. His White Wind Angel technique was off and he had no chakra left.

Kai felt tired, but he knew he could keep fighting if he wanted to. And he planned on it. Removing his sunglasses, which somehow did not get removed while he was trapped in the whirlwind, he folded them up and slid them back into his shirt. "Now I'm going to beat you senseless…" Standing, he expected another impossibly fast attack to come…but nothing happened.

Kin stood up slowly, feeling dizzy. ("Crap…he was right. Because I played around now I'm going to lose…")

Kai started to approach slowly…and then stopped. "It seems like the third member of our group has shown himself. I was wondering where you had gone…Yurei." He looked over at another black long-haired boy who had his back against a tree. "So, was it entertaining to just stand there and watch us fight?"

Yurei coolly looked over at Kai with his aquamarine slotted eyes. "Eh…it was mildly entertaining. But I suppose it is over…"

Kai glanced over at the barely standing Kai. "Yes…he's all out of cha…" His words froze in his mouth…because Kin was charging him full speed. ("The fool…how does he have the endurance to run like that…")

Kin cocked back his fist, eyes locked onto Kai. ("I will not lose to you!") Throwing a punch at Kai's head, he already understood it was going to get countered.

Kai, his body still tired after the earlier struggle, could only snap his head out of the way so that the punch went high. ("This can't be…I can feel more chakra coming off of him…")

Kin was about to drive forward with another punch…but stumbled back as he was struck in the stomach by a kick.

"That's enough…you two should conserve energy for tommorow." Yurei crossed his arms across his chest confidently. "Alright? I think that Kin proved his worth today, wouldn't you say Kai?"

"He proved nothing," Turning, Kai walked across the courtyard and towards his home. ("Though now I know to be more careful of that speed of yours…next time I'll be ready for it.")

Yurei turned to look at Kin and smiled slightly. "You did well…do you need help getting home?"

"No…I'm fine." Kin watched Kai's back coldly. ("But I will be ready next time. You won't counter my combo that easily.") Walking over to his vest, he slid it on and looked up at the afternoon sky. ("But what's weird…is that I have chakra left. I should be out cold after using the White Wind Angel…but I'm not…")

"I'll see you tommorow then." Yurei turned and walked off.

Kin barely heard him, his thoughts too muddled. How was it possible for him to burn out all of his chakra…and yet get it back so easily?

To be continued…