Helloooo, minna! I have decided a couple more things to do with this story... for one, change the second genre to "angst"... because I just realized it is pretty angsty. Yay! Angst is fun. And, secondly, I'm going to leave messages for my reviewers, something I wish I had done in my other stories but only thought of it when it was kinda too late. Anywhom, they'll be at the end of each chapter. And now I won't feel like I'm neglecting my readers, as I usually do.
Well, enjoy... this should be the last boring chapter; chapter 4 the action starts!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Do I have to keep writing this?
CHAPTER 3
"Nee, nee, Kyo-chan!" (A/N: Remember the translations thingy at the end of the chapter, for your convenience.)
Kyo looked around to locate the sound, and her eyes fell onto Sakura, standing a ways away with a hand up in the air to indicate it was she who had spoken. Beside her a girl with light blonde hair tide in a bun waved madly, grinning contagiously. Next to them were also a girl in a pink Chinese shirt, who nodded in greeting, and a girl with silvery-white eyes and blue-black hair, who waved tentatively. Kyo trotted over.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"I'm Ino!" the blonde girl announced out of the blue, right as Sakura opened her mouth to speak. "Konoha's number one beautiful kunoichi!" She struck a pose.
Sakura scoffed. The girl in pink grinned and clonked Ino over the head with her fist. "You wish. Ino! That would be me, Tenten."
The black-haired girl coughed innocently.
"Do you have something to say, Hinata?" Tenten demanded dangerously, giving her an evil look.
"N-no!" Hinata said quickly, shrinking.
Tenten laughed and slung an arm over Hinata's shoulder. "Oh, don't be such a mouse; I was kidding! Of course you can call Ino ugly, too," she offered confidentially.
"Oh, really?" Ino's voice was deadly. Her eyes blazed.
"Both of you, shut up," Sakura said. "Kyo, I heard you plan on staying in Konoha?"
Apparently they had talked with Kakashi again. Kyo nodded.
"Well, I guess you don't have anywhere to stay yet, do you? So I thought, for the first night at least, you could pass it with us at a sleepover at my house! We could all, you know, show you the ropes and give you advice. We women ninjas gotta stick together, y'know."
Kyo looked at her dubiously. "What happened to you not trusting me?"
"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean we necessarily mistrust you. Anyways..." she smiled slightly, indicating her 3 companions, "four of us are quite enough to take you, I think."
Kyo didn't think any of them looked too competent, except maybe Tenten, but her better judgment knew not to let appearances fool her. Ino seemed to read her mind.
"Yeah, Sakura may look like a wimp, but she's actually pretty tough," she said brightly. Sakura's eyebrow twitched.
"I look wimpy!"
"You heard me!" Ino stuck her tongue out.
"Oh don't start, you two," Tenten said loudly.
"Right. Let's just go." Ino and Sakura moved off to one side. "Kyo, get in here," Ino said, linking arms with Sakura and indicating that Kyo should take her other arm. Tenten linked her arm with a reluctant Hinata's.
Kyo stared. "What?"
"In the middle. Come one." Ino gestured impatiently. "First is a tour of the village, but we aren't going anywhere if you don't join in."
Kyo continued to stare. The others were starting to feel a bit foolish.
"You guys, I don't th…think, linking arms is really n-necessary…" Hinata spoke up quietly, but Kyo surprised them by suddenly shrugging and saying "whatever". She hooked one of her arms through Ino's and the other with Tenten's. It felt weirder than weird to go straight from one life as a ninja treated as nothing more than a weapon to one as a girl named Kyo that was linking arms with a posse of slight airheads.
They trooped through the whole village, the four other girls pointing out important buildings and shops (Ino made a big deal of the Yamanaka Hanaya), monuments and houses. Whenever they encountered someone any of they girls knew, they would stop them and introduce Kyo to them. Kyo felt their eyes rest on her headband, every time. Already she had had to explain to the other four as they walked that no, she was not a missing nin, and yes, she had come from the Sand but no, she had nothing to do with the attack. She had been lost in the desert the time of the attack anyways, dying of heat and thirst. Why do you think I was almost dead when I finally reached the forest, she reminded them.
Eventually they finished their tour and headed to the Harunos' house. Kyo raised an eyebrow as they entered Sakura's room. It was overwhelmingly pink, from the wall paint and carpet, bedding and curtains, to the lamp shades and pencil case on her desk. Tenten didn't look too thrilled about it, either.
"You can dump your bag here, Kyo-chan," Sakura said. Kyo shucked her bag off and set it down.
"Sakura, do you still have that awesome blue nail polish?" Ino asked absently, already rooting through Sakura's jewelry and cosmetics.
"I lent that to you remember?"
"What? No, you didn't."
"I did!"
"You so did not!"
"Ino, if you lost my nail polish—!"
"I said I didn't have it, you ninny!"
"Because you lost it!"
"Good grief," Kyo muttered as the two girls bickered about whether or not Ino had lost Sakura's nail polish.
"Y-yeah," Hinata agreed. "They're a-always like this," she said quietly with a small smile.
"I'm gonna go get some munchies," Tenten announced, heading for the door. Ino and Sakura tsked as she left. When she came back with a big bowl of greasy popcorn, they looked even more disapproving.
"You really should be more aware of your weight, Tenten," Sakura said.
"Why? I'm not fat." Tenten plunked down on the floor and dug in.
"Kyo, you agree, right? You must be really conscious of your weight; you're even skinnier than me," said Sakura.
"Are you kidding?" Kyo sat down beside Tenten and scooped out a handful of popcorn. "I love popcorn."
Sakura stared.
"Maybe it's just because I exercise," Kyo said smoothly, innocence coating the little jab.
"Or because you starved for a couple days in the desert?" Ino suggested.
Kyo paused with a piece of popcorn halfway to her mouth, and cracked a small smile. "Ok, that too," she consented.
"I want some," Hinata said shyly. Tenten passed the bowl over to her. Ino and Sakura sweat-dropped, clearly outvoted.
"So…" Sakura sat down with them, and Ino joined in. They all shuffled around a bit to form a circle. "We need something to talk about."
"I think Kyo should tell us her story," Tenten said immediately. Everyone's heads whipped around to stare at Kyo attentively, hoping for her consent.
She calmly took another piece of popcorn. "No."
The others deflated. "But why not?" Ino whined. "You told the committee advisor, didn't you?"
"It's the committee advisor's business to know. Not yours." And anyways, it's not like I told the truth, she added to herself.
"Hmph." Ino tossed her head.
"Look, I'll tell you all you need to know, all right? I left my village because I hated it. I tried to cross the desert to Konoha. I got lost and my water and food ran out. I nearly died, then I finally saw trees; I managed to get into their cover for a little while, and then passed out and woke up in the hospital. There." Kyo realized she'd been crushing a piece of popcorn between her fingers as she talked, and brushed the crumbs off on her shorts.
"And it was Sasuke-kun that found you, wasn't it?" Ino exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly.
"Uh… yeah."
She and Sakura both sighed heavily. "You're so lucky!" Ino said dreamily. "Being rescued by Sasuke-kun."
"But it wasn't like he carried her," Sakura told Ino reassuringly.
"Oh, really?" Ino perked up. "Oh, well you're not so lucky, then."
"What's so great about Sasuke?" Kyo asked, frowning slightly.
Ino and Sakura exchanged a look that clearly said, silly little newcomer. Tenten spoke for them. "Well, he's only the single hottest, coolest, and probably most advanced rookie in Konoha. Though… I dunno. Neji and Naruto are both very powerful too, aren't they?" she asked the other two.
They didn't hear her. They were both off in Dreamland thinking about Sasuke.
The talk turned to comparing the Konoha genins—and Shikamaru, the chuunin. But mostly Ino and Sakura dithered over Sasuke, and Tenten giggled along with them. Hinata and Kyo munched on popcorn and mulled over their own thoughts. The more Kyo listened to the other three, the more she began to think that with these girls, perhaps they could be judged quite accurately by their appearances. They didn't seem very formidable in any way. A small feeling of scorn rose in her. Hinata she wasn't sure about, though. She was very quiet; Kyo decided she liked her more than the others.
"Anou, S-Sakura-san, is this the n-nail polish… you were looking for…?" Hinata held up a small bottle of glittery metallic blue nail polish. "I saw it under your bed…"
"Aha! I TOLD you, forehead girl!" Ino crowed triumphantly, snatching the bottle.
"Shut up and paint my toenails." Sakura held a foot out imperiously.
"Paint your own smelly feet!" Ino shoved Sakura's foot away. Hinata giggled; Tenten rolled her eyes.
"Nee, Kyo-chan! I bet this colour would look nice on you!" Ino said, scrutinizing Kyo. "But wait… oh; I think green would suit you really well. You know, you should wear a green shirt and black shorts, instead of vice-versa. Yeah! And maybe a green ribbon in your hair or some jewelry—ooh, ooh, and—"
"Settle down, Ino, geez!" Tenten laughed.
"I'm just thinking of how Kyo-chan could play up her looks! You agree, right Hinata?"
Hinata looked terrified. "Oh…um…I d-don't know… I think the g-green shorts and black shirt look n-nice, though," she added shyly.
"Hm, well, maybe."
Sakura joined in. "But Ino's right, Kyo, you could be really pretty if you, I dunno, did something with your appearance. You know a touch up here and there." She twisted her head around to look at Kyo's ears. "Like, you should get your ears pierced!"
"And you have such lovely hair; you should add some ornaments or tie it up fancy or something," Tenten chipped in.
Ino clapped her hands together. "I know! How about we give you a makeover! We'll completely doll you up and then we'll go outside and see how many boys whistle at you!"
"How about if you so much as touch me, I break your fingers one by one," Kyo hissed.
The others fell silent. It wasn't until now that they noticed the murderous expression on Kyo's face. Sakura laughed nervously. Kyo did not smile.
"We just think you should accentuate your features more; make them more noticeable," she said hesitantly, attempting to bring the atmosphere back to friendly.
Kyo shot to her feet. "Noticeable is not exactly my life's goal." She looked over Ino, Sakura, and Tenten with a witering glare. "You're stupid. Ninjas." She snorted derisively. "All you care about are your looks and boys."
She turned to leave and 3 kunai thudded into the door, one on either side of her head and one above it. She turned slowly.
"Is that so?" snapped Tenten.
"Is that why Sakura sliced her long, beautiful hair off to save herself and her teammates? And why I cut mine off to prove it meant nothing!" Ino yelled.
"Y-you guys…" Hinata squeaked. They ignored her.
"Oh, good for you," Kyo shot back. "And yet you still make a big fuss to do it up, I see. You both are wearing makeup."
"It doesn't mean we think about nothing else," Sakura spat. "It means that we have other lives aside from our ninja ones, too. We still like to have a bit of fun. To loosen up."
Kyo stood riveted to the spot. It was these words that hit her. "We have other lives aside from our ninja ones, too." It was that simple fact that caused the misunderstanding; she never had. But she regretted her outburst; she had been wrong to judge them simply because she was not familiar with a life like theirs'.
She yanked the kunai out of the door one by one, and tossed them to their owners. "Okay, sorry," she muttered.
"You should be," Ino said.
Kyo glared. "Excuse me for this being a bit difficult to grasp. I was raised thinking lives like yours were impossible."
She noticed they were all staring at her attentively again, now that she'd revealed a bit more about her past. She raised her eyebrows. "And if you think I'm going to now blurt out some sob story of a tragic life and start crying, you're sadly mistaken."
They all pretended to not know what she was talking about.
---------------
Kyo slept like a cat, so at the first disturbance of the quiet she woke up. The other four were all changing back into their day clothes and buckling on kunai and shuriken pouches. The alarm clock on Sakura's desk blinked 5:34 in scarlet digital letters.
"Oh, 'morning, Kyo," said Tenten groggily, seeing her awake first. Kyo rubed her eyes and sat up on her mattress.
"Are you all going training?" she asked, and added quickly, "Good morning." This politeness thing still threw her off.
"Um-hm," Sakura nodded sleepily. She didn't look too thrilled with the world in general at the moment. "And Kakashi-sensei won't even be there for another 2 or 3 hours, I just know it," she grumbled.
"I guess I'll get up too." Kyo pushed her blankets off. She was wearing a white nightgown of Sakura's.
"Why? What on earth is wrong with you?" Ino exclaimed incredulously, peering at Kyo from the mirror as she tied her hair up into a bun.
"Yeah, I m-much rather just go… back to sl-sleep," Hinata said quietly, and gave a huge yawn.
Kyo shrugged. By nature she wasn't a person who slept much. Sakura tossed her her clothes and Kyo changed quickly, then strapped on her weapons pouches.
They all took different paths when they stepped out of Sakura's house. Kyo was heading for the Konoha Hall to see whoever was temporarily in charge. It promised to be a scorcher today; the sky was electrically pink by the horizon and even through the morning haze the sun shone strongly already. Kyo did some stretches as she walked; she hadn't exercised much for the past few days and didn't want to get out of shape.
The past few days. Man, but yesterday had been weird. She was already known as a moody girl named Kyo who was being sucked into a group of hyperactive (with the exception of Hinata) kunoichi. An identity already. Though she knew when she had made up her mind to leave for Konoha that this would be a turning point in her life, and that she would have to adapt to life as a new person, having a name and personality made her edgy. Once she had longed for such luxury, to be known and recognized as a normal person, but now she yearned to discard it again to fade back into the mists of those unknown and, as far as anyone was concerned, non-existing. She was safe then. Untouchable.
But was this really how she felt? Did she truly want to pass her whole life being nobody? Without an identity, you're invincible. If you can be identified, you're dead. In this job, you must be nothing. But it's not my job anymore. Is that so? Why can I not understand my own longings? It should be easy to know if I want this new life or not! You don't have your own longings. You're nobody! Remember?
Kyo realized she had stopped walking. Her heart was pounding s she snapped out of her inward battle. She wanted this new life, but she felt it would kill her. Just the burden of a name was weighing her down. I would surely soon crush her. She wanted to want it. She wanted to want to want it. The confusion of the whole topic as it twined with her apprehension spiraled out around her in a web that blocked out everything, trailing into infinity.
What had Sakura said? "We have other lives aside from our ninja ones, too." The irony in this was unbelievable. One of Kyo's first, and most frequent rules completely contradicted Sakura's logic.
"Mom?"
The word was barely out of the girl's mouth when she was dealt such a stunning backhand that she spun across the room and found herself sprawled on the floor before she understood fully what had happened. She stared at the floor beneath her, her 4-year-old mind not understanding what she had done wrong.
Footsteps. And then She had knelt in front of the little girl, and took her chin in a gloved hand, raising her face to look at her. She cocked her head, and spoke. "What did you call me?
The girl blinked hesitantly. "M-m…mom?" she tried again.
SLAP.
She must have blacked out momentarily, for she didn't remember hitting the floor again this time, but then Her hand was back on her chin. When She spoke up Her voice was friendly, as if She had done nothing to harm the girl. "I'm not your mother. You don't have a mother. You are not a daughter, you are not even a child. Right? Do you disagree?"
The girl met Her eyes, the blank, neutral brown eyes that never showed emotion. "No," she said.
"Good." She released the girl's chin. "Now what did you want?"
"Um…"
"Stand up when you address me," She said sharply.
The child stood obediently, as did She. The girl wished she hadn't started talking in the first place; she never seemed to be able to please Her, and she almost always ended up being slapped. Despite this she always tried to initiate conversation anyways. Deep in her infant mind she wanted, oh how she wanted so badly, to break through the ice that coated Her, to have Her praise her and hug her and tell her she was wonderful. All the other children's mothers did. Why did she have to be so different? Why?
"Well? You're wasting my time. Hurry and speak."
The girl bit her lip and shuffled her feet. "Jirou from the village said it was his birthday today." She glanced up to see how She would react.
Her eyes were unreadable, as always. "And?"
"What's a birthday? He said everyone has one, but I don't. Or where is it?"
She shook her head slowly. "Don't worry about birthdays. They don't apply to you."
"What are they?" The girl pressed.
"I said never mind." Her voice was sharp now as She turned away. The girl stood, her jaw still aching, her head spinning. Experience told her to never, ever press the subject when She dropped it, but this time something inside her snapped.
"Why?"
"What?" She turned slowly. "Why what?"
"Why… why do so many things not apply to me? Why? Names, parents, birthdays! Why?"
"Don't ask questions."
"WHY?" The girl screamed. This time she was expecting the blow to her face, but not for it to be so violent. She crashed to the floor once again, feeling blood fill her mouth. A bloody sob escaped from her throat.
"Are you crying?" The dreaded hand was back under her chin. "Little crybaby. Weakling. Pathetic."
"No!" The girl choked, trying to fend off the barbs with her own weak shield of a denying word. But they sliced through her defenses all the same and stabbed at her heart.
"Do you want to know why these things don't apply to you?"
The girl nodded vehemently, tears still dripping down off her chin.
"Because you are a ninja."
"But Jirou and the students of the academy are becoming ninjas! Kazekage-sama is a ninja! And they all have names! Even… even Gaara-sama has a name."
"You're a special type of ninja. One that will excel the abilities of the brats at the academy. I am raising you the proper way, the only way, for you to become this glorious ninja."
"But Gaara-sama…"
"Gaara is not a ninja," She snapped. "He is a special exception. Do not compare yourself to Gaara; you will never be as strong as him. But you are a different type of ninja that will come close to being as deadly even as Gaara."
"But why can't I have a name?" The girl persisted.
She sighed at her density. "Selfish brat. You want the life of someone likfe everyone else, as well as a ninja? Ungrateful! Little! Wretch!" She hissed the last three words and shook the girl by her thin shoulders to emphasize them. "You can never be anyone but a ninja! You can never be like them! This is what separates you from being silly excuses for ninjas like they are. You will show the world what power really is, without paltry possessions like 'birthdays'. Now quit sniveling like a baby. Ninjas don't cry."
The girl stopped.
It was eight years before she ever cried again.
"Yo! Kyo!"
Kyo looked up, startled out of her daze. Shikamaru was approaching her from her left, scratching his head. "What?" she asked.
"You going to go see the committee advisors?"
"None of your business, is it?"
"Oh geez, crabby woman this morning. Too bright and early for you, Sunshine?"
"For your information, I get up around this hour regularly, "Kyo replied, keeping her eyes ahead of her as Shikamaru fell in step with her.
"You don't say. And yet you still don't find time to comb your hair?"
"Why don't you piss off, wise-ass?"
"Such a lovely, delicate flower of a girl," he remarked. Kyo gritted her teeth.
"If you want to remain one piece with your jaw—"
"Okay, okay, geez, just trying to joke a bit. Whatever, you're too troublesome. Anyways, I'm supposed to tell you the Konoha Hall requests your presence as soon as possible."
Though Kyo had been headed over there anyway, she didn't see why they would send for her. "Why?" she asked, frowning.
Shikamaru sighed vaguely and looked up innocently, twiddling his thumbs. "Gee, I just might know something about it, now that you mention it, mightn't I? But you see, I was just addressed rather rudely and it has upset me so much that I can't seem to remember."
Kyo stopped in her tracks. "Oh, come on," she said irritably. "Don't be stupid."
"Alright, alright. I'll piss off now. Sorry to bother you." Shikamaru heaved a long-suffering sigh and started to trudge away, waving over his shoulder.
"Frig," Kyo muttered, glaring at his retreating back. Well, there was only one way to find out what she was being summoned for now.
A man with a scar across his nose and a hairstyle similar to Shikamaru's was sitting in a chair off to the side of the Hokage's seat, which was empty. The Hall was mostly empty at this time of day, but behind the wide desks that stretched across the room, the employees were already getting settled down. Kyo started when she heard her name called out, and looked around to locate the source. Her heart twisted as she saw Kakashi, with a crowd of other people standing by one desk, motioning her over.
Stop it, she told her traitorous heart as it swooned. But another little part of her mind said, you can let go of your old inhibitions. You can be Kyo now. You can let yourself feel.
Fine, she agreed grudgingly, as she trotted towards Kakashi. But no blushing.
"Ohayou, Kyo-chan," Kakashi greeted her with a smile. She blushed.
Before she could even bow in response, a man with a handkerchief tied around his head and a toothpick bobbing between his teeth spoke up. "Hey, it's the wraith from the forest, isn't it?
Kyo frowned. "Wraith?"
"You were bloody light as a corpse. Put some meat on those bones yet?"
"You carried me?"
"Mhmm."
"Oh, don't tell her that, Genma, you'll creep her out," joked a lady with short black hair and light green eyes.
"What!" Genma took the toothpick out of his mouth and started trying to stab the woman with it. "Shut up, Yuki!"
"Eww, oniichan, I don't want your herpes!" the woman laughed.
The other adults seemed to find it entertaining to watch as Genma and his sister battled. Kyo wondered if they were drunk. Since they didn't seem about to clarify why they'd called her over any time soon, she let her eyes wander over the desk they were gathered by. A small orange book lay face-down on the surface. The back cover was blank, save for a red circle with a line through it, the "restricted" sign. Intrigued, she started to pick it up, when a gloved hand suddenly yanked it away. A nervous-looking Kakashi stuffed it into his pocket and shook a finger at her, though his eye looked cheerful. "Sorry, that's mine," he said.
"Ah, gomennasai," Kyo said hurriedly, bowing. "I didn't mean to intrude into Kakashi-sensei's important notes; I hope he can forgive me!" She bowed again.
"Ehe…" Kakashi looked shiftier than ever. "Yeah, um, oh, it's okay… don't worry about it."
A man with spiky hair black hair and a white bandage on his chin and each cheek snorted. "'Important notes'; don't even try passing that off, Kakashi!" He nudged Kyo, who was puzzled. "hey, it's not his notebook. It's a dirty book called Icha Icha Paradise."
Kakashi sweatdropped and sighed as the other adults laughed and Kyo's eyes widened. "N-nani?" she exclaimed.
"Look, it's just some light reading," Kakashi defended himself. "Anyways, Kyo, you're probably wondering why we called you over, right?"
Kyo was pretty sure he was conveniently changing the topic, but decided not to mention it. She nodded.
"Well, we're actually just waiting for Utatane-san right now; she wanted you to come here to test you."
"Test me?" Kyo echoed.
"Why do you think we're all here?"
"I really have no idea."
"Take a wild guess."
"To test me?"
"Touché."
Kyo was puzzled, but didn't say anything. Suddenly she remembered something. "Anou… Kakashi-sensei…"
"Hn?"
"Don't you have training with your team today?"
----Other side of town----
Sakura and Naruto paced back and forth, deadpanned expressions on their faces that were steadily growing darker. Finally Sakura exploded.
"WHERE IS HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A flock of birds took flight, alarmed, and rabbits and squirrels all through the forest dove for cover as the scream echoed through the trees.
----Back at the Konoha Hall----
"Eh," Kakashi waved a hand airily. "They won't mind. I can take another couple hours."
"Utatane-san!" someone said suddenly. Everyone turned to give the committee advisor a slight bow in greeting as she approached.
"Ah, excellent, Kyo is here already," she said, smiling at Kyo. "How are you this morning, Kyo?"
"Fine."
"In good shape? Not sore or anything?"
"Not really," Kyo said, confused.
"Good. Let's sort some things out." The old lady tucked a strand of hair that had wisped out of its bun behind her ear. "You said you are a chuunin of 5 years?"
"I did."
"And you intend to become a citizen of Konoha?"
Kyo nodded once.
"So would I be wrong to assume you will want to be a Konoha ninja?"
"No…"
"That's what I thought. Well, I hope you're pleased to hear that the council has accepted you asa resident of Konoha, for one thing. But in order for you to officially become a ninja of our village, we need to test you and analyze what we think of your skill. I will tell you straight away that this is by our standars, so though you may have been a chuunin for five years in Sunagakure, if we don't find your skill adequate, you may be reduced to a genin by our standards. Wakatta?"
"Hai." Kyo nodded ever so slightly.
"Alright. We'll be doing this outside. We've roped off a secluded area of forest."
"Does every newcomer receive this kind of treatment?" Kyo asked Utatane as they all trooped outside. The lady smiled.
"Oh no. But when you say you've been a chuunin since you were seven, it does cause quite a curiosity among us to probe your talent." The group turned off the street and headed for a hilly, grassy area bordered with trees. "So this is how it will work," Utatane told Kyo as they walked. "First off we'll simply drill you on some basic ninja techniques in the three basic categories: tai-, nin-, and genjutsu. Most of us will be judges, though some of us will have to volunteer to be your opponents in the drills. After that, we have a harder test for you. But I'll give you the details of that later, so you don't have to worry about it for now."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Kyo said softly. She was actually getting pretty revved up. It had been at least a week since she'd fought someone; the adrenaline was seeping into her blood at the thought of battle.
They entered the border of the trees, walked not long through sparse forest, and emerged in a large clearing, where the committee advisor called a halt.
"Alright." She stepped back to look at Kyo and nodded once. "Let's get started."
What are these tests, and how will Kyo do? Next chapter, Kyo's strengths and weaknesses(or some of them), revealed!
Translations...
"Nee" --Hey(for the record, it is not pronounced "nee". It is pronounced "neh", though with the end vowel elongated.)
"Hanaya" --flower shop
"Oniichan" --older brother
"Gomennasai" --sorry, excuse me
"Nani" --what?
"Wakatta?" --Understand?
Alrighty, those done.
Ashen Rose--Hi! My first reviewer, you get... special mention! Dun dun darun dun! (Those were trumpets.) Alright, special mentions aside... most of your questions are the ones I answered... or at least mentioned (shifty eyes) at the beginning of the second chapter. You have to find them out yourself. :P But who is Oreo-coo...? (Confusion...) And thanks for the poem! It was good! n.n
Always lost123--Thanks for the reviews and cheerful faces. n.n
The Magical Whatever--I like your username, haha. Yes... "interesting" works. :P
Song OfA Fallen Angel--There we go with the "interesting"s again. Glad I didn't create an -uninteresting- character. Thanks for the review!
Scribbie--A silent fan! Weird! Makes me wonder how many of those I have. Well, I'm glad I managed to break your silence, and happy you like my character... I do too, though she has her bad spots. n.n Hopefully I can worm another review out of you, as opposed to you going back to being silent...
Wyrvvn--Haha... IIiiiii knoowww youuuu! Hi! (waves) Aww, I can't believe you told that on the internet... well, you have my sympathy; my dad is an asshole too. But keep on being cheerful; it's the best way to get over things.
Serena-Masked13--Muahaha! Glad I've piqued the interest of someone as to the pairings! Don't get too sure of yourself, though... it is very obvious that Kyo has a crush on Kakashi, but that doesn't mean anything'll happen between them. ...Or does it? Haha. As for a Sasuke pairing... again... you never know! You'll just have to wait and see. >3
Alrighty, I'm done! Ciao! Remember to review!