Starlight

Don't own Naruto

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'Thoughts'

"Talking"

'Someone Else Talking in a person's mind'

(----) Different point of view

-+-+ Scene change

-/-/-/ Flashback

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Chapter 16

(---Yue---)

He just continues to pound on the training log with his fists. He started this morning just after he awoke. He feels so ashamed at how he won the match between Ganmaru and himself. He should have mimicked Koichi and just forfeited. He almost couldn't help himself, he had so much energy and he just wanted to break free. He could have done some real damage on Ganmaru.

His left fist connect with the post and he stops for a moment and then turns around. He blinks in surprise that his twin is standing there. Ruby walks over to him and then when she is a good foot away she begins. "I had a feeling you'd be here. You think too much, you know?" He just sighs and answers, "Sometimes you don't think at all." Ruby makes a face and counters, "Thinking is so over rated. So, other then the fact that you won the whole exam, you don't look too happy." He sighs and then lends on the post, his arms crossed in front of him. "I could have really hurt someone, you know. I should have asked for a few minutes to calm down, to give myself some time to recover, but I didn't. I'm so stupid!"

He just looks at the ground and silences between them begin. After a good three minutes, Ruby then says softly, "If what you say is true, then you would have killed him, not just toss Ganmaru around like a rag doll. You have to focus on the fact that you didn't hurt him too much. Ganmaru did surrender, so he had a good idea at you mental state of health." He looks up and into his twin's eyes. He then says, "For someone who claims to hate thinking, you're really good at it." Ruby sends him a death glare and says, "And if you tell anyone, dear brother, I'll have you skinned and stuffed! Now, lets get out of here. I think you might want to hang with Koichi and Terish. I know I have a guy to flirt with." Ruby turns and leads the way.

He grins a bit at his sister's back and then begins to walk. They might be different as night and day, but that didn't stop them from having their moments. He couldn't wait to be with his best friends and teammates. He knew that his problem will never be a huge as Koichi, but they were the same in the fact that they both could do some serious damage if they just lose control. Koichi more so then him, for the simple fact about having a being living in him. He wonders if he could also speak to Ganmaru about what happened.

(------------------------------------Sasuke------------------------------------------)

He looks around the table and wonders just how Sellen talked him into having lunch with her family. Around the table are Sellen's older brother, nicknamed Cross, Sellen's mother and father, plus her grandparents from both sides of her family. He wonders if Sellen's other relatives are planning on popping in just to have a look at him.

To say that he is nervous was like saying that a rabbit was just nervous when cornered by a hungry fox. He was scared out of his mind! He didn't know just what to do, for he never had to worry about something like this before. He had always just focused on getting stronger as to kill his older brother. Now things have changed, they started to change back during that mission to Wave country. He has made friends and now it looks like he also was beginning to get interested in girls. He no longer just focuses on killing his brother, but on other things now. He also was much happier.

Cross passes him a bowl of fruit. He thanks Cross and takes some of them and then passes them to Sellen. He then waits for some of the other bowls with food in them. Soon they finish passing the food bowls around and then begin to eat. He starts with the meat that was being served. He finds it to be really good; it wasn't dry or overly spicy.

Soon they finish off the first helpings and once again pass the food dishes around the table. About this time Cross asks, "So, from what I hear, you're an orphan." He blinks and answers, "Yes, my whole clan was killed a few years back." Sellen's father comments, "It must have been hard, even now not to have someone to talk to or to train you in your families techniques." He nods and answers, "My family had a hidden library of scrolls. I find it hard to decode them and then to figure out just how to do the techniques on them. Few outside my family knows about this library or about them being coded."

They finish passing around the dishes of food. Then they again eat their meal. He finds it odd about how this whole lunch was going. The whole passing of the food dishes and then about having more then one helping is so different the what happens back home. They also didn't use chopsticks all the time either. He finds that they have forks, spoons, and knives. He had to admit that it was much easier to cut his food by using a fork to hold it and then using his knife to cut it.

Soon they again finish what is on their plates and the Sellen's mother's mother says, "I think I've had enough, Yolei." The other grandparents also nod their agreement at that statement. Then Cross begins to reach around the table to get more food. He watches as Sellen's father and then Sellen herself also do this.

He then decides that it is now acceptable to reach for more. He reaches about for more food. Soon everyone begins to talk as they take more food. The conversation doesn't head in his direction and he feels very relieved about that. He also wonders if they had any of that dessert from last night.

(-----------------------------------Ravis--------------------------------------------)

He sighs as he watches as his daughter races pass him to get to Koichi. Jeri talked him into taking her fishing outside of the village and they now return just in time to start supper. They catch a grand total of seven fish, only three were over a foot long.

He carries his catch and Jeri's into the kitchen. He smiles a bit as he finds his son, Terish, Yue, and three other teens in the living room as he passes it on his way to the kitchen. He then listens as Koichi introduces the other teens as he then begins to clean the fish.

After gutting all seven fish, he decides to keep two of the foot longs out and freezes the other five fish. Soon he begins to supper as he begins to put spices onto the two fish. Then finishing, he puts them onto a wooden plank and sticks them into the oven to cook.

He then heads up to have a shower before continuing to make supper. He knows that his wife has a mission and will be back later tonight. He smiles as Koichi then points out to Jeri about how badly she smells. He sighs as he walks up the stairs. It's good to have his son home.

(---------------------------------------Depth----------------------------------------)

He sighs as he walks back to the house he shares with the hinds. The day was a long one, full of meetings and little details. He also got to know Hor'Ja more too. He knew that many wanted to go north, if only to find out what it was like, but he didn't recon the shear number of them. It seems that the group will number somewhere under two hundred if this continues.

He also know that the Hokage and some of the hidden Leaf's clan heads were leaving today to head back to begin work on houses designed for them. Light village has long since had a whole section of their village designed with members of the ten races they were on friendly terms with. He wonders if any of the other races other then the ones that came to watch the exams will be sending members north with this group. His thoughts drift along those lines as he finds his bed and lowers himself on it. Soon he has fallen asleep and dreams of storms and of light.

(---------------------------------------Hinata---------------------------------------)

She didn't know just how they got to Koichi's house, but they were now here and now having supper with Koichi's father, Jeri, Terish, Yue, and Koichi. She hears that Ganmaru and Lee have passed the exam as had Terish. Koichi and Yue didn't seem to mind that they didn't pass into chuunin level.

But then, she remembers what Ko'Sil had said about the ranking of Light village and could see why they weren't broken up about it. They didn't need a vest to show how good they were, everyone knows that they were powerful and effective.

Soon supper is ready and she looks around for Koichi's mom. She then asks, "Where's your mother?" Koichi looks over at Hinata and then answers, "Mission. Mom's rank is over dad's, so she gets more missions." She looks surprise and Jeri then adds, "Dad's a Dor'Sharp and in time, mom will become an elder just like great granddad." She blinks and Kiba then asks, "So what's your mother's rank?" Koichi's father answers, "We don't have a name for it but I think Hokage compared it with Sannin." She looks stunned, for that meant that Koichi's mom was Kage level, or that's what Sannin were, ninja's with that could be concerned Kage level.

They all sit around the table and soon Jeri begins to ask for dishes of a certain kind. Terish or those that knew just what Jeri was talking about would then pass the dish that Jeri asked for.

Soon Kiba asks about what was good hunting around here and Koichi's father and Terish begin to talk about hunting. She listens to the different kinds of water birds and of wild deer and pigs. It seems that there are a good three types of deer in the surrounding forests of where humans have settled. One type is a swap deer; also know as Whirl deer, due to the pattern of spots that look to be in a spiral pattern on the hind legs and one type called Grey deer. The most common the kind was called Sun deer. For the simple fact that the deer tend to have a really golden coat without any spots too.

She smiles as she listens to this. She gets a warm feeling just being here. The feel of around the table was of good humour and friendliness. She'll miss this, for her family doesn't really talk during meals or if it was, it was usually to criticize someone. A part of her just wishes never to go back home.

Then she remembers what happened the night before the fights began just after the second exam took place. She remembers what the elder had said and now remembers that same elder was the one that spoke before Hokage had during the feast. It's her team that's staying here at Light village. She also didn't know the elder's name.

Soon they finish off the meal and Koichi helps his father clean up. They move back to the living room and she then begins to talk with Yue about the council of elders. Shino looks interested and when Koichi joins them, he then began to talk about his great grandfather Shinya who is also on the council. She soon learns about some of what the elders do, for they keep an eye on future events. For they were always on guard for Oni trying to push out of the mountains into the surrounding jungles and forests. She also learns just how bad that was, for it seems that Oni breed quickly and they couldn't be allowed to live outside of the mountains. The conversation turns to the dangers of crossing the mountain range. She wonders if she could see pass the genjutsus that cave drakes use. She finds that this place might seem like heaven doesn't mean it's without its dangers too. And the simple fact was, Light village needs all the ninja they could get for they were always under attack. It also means that they need all the training they could get before ever starting missions. She wonders if her team will be split up for extra training, and as it gets late, she knows that they'll be getting more training before ever going on missions. That thought didn't seem so bad, for they seem to know more about the workings of the creatures they fight as a dog breeder knows about his animals.