Chapter 3

How to Kill a Hokage

Step One

Soulless looked up and saw Xon coming toward him. He felt a twinge in his hand and saw that the previous cuts left by the glass were gone. Squeezing his hand twice he resumed his interest in Xon. He was suddenly talking to a female woman who had seen a second earlier. Xon had a two track mind. Track one was his admiration for Area 294 and the other was women. Soulless just shook his head and continued on his way. The arena entrance was large and had the smell of polished stone. People were everywhere. Two lines formed into two separate doors one was labeled contestants and the other was named spectators. Soulless entered the one for the participants and a man grabbed him by the shoulder.

-----What are you doing here boy? Beggars aren't allowed inside.

Soulless gave into his anger and in one swift move he grabbed the security guard's arm and twisted the brown haired man around slamming him into a concrete pillar next to him. In the process his arm broke and he screamed loudly as Soulless released him. As a crowd amassed Soulless left and headed for the waiting area. The waiting room was on the second floor so Soulless found the nearest flight of stairs and headed up. On the way up he heard someone walking down, they came face to face before passing each other. Soulless stared at the person who was obviously a contestant in the exam. He had red hair and wore a large gourd on his back. This unknown fighter from Wind Country looked deeply at Soulless and saw that eyes held a dark murderous past. After a couple seconds they passed each other and went about their business. Eventually he reached his destination and found that the contestants were outside waiting for the matches to start. The waiting room had two couches, a table, a water dispenser and a vending machine. Soulless went to the table and pulled a pouch from his pocket. He dumped the pouches contents onto the table as he heard the sound of tiny footsteps approach him.

-----Wow, those are pretty.

Soulless turned and found a little girl next to him. She was a young girl about five or six with long blonde hair. As he stared at her she just smiled back at him before looking at the table again. Soulless' pouch contained different colored diamonds. Some were big and others small. Soulless reached into his pocket again and pulled out some string. With his other hand he sifted through the diamonds and found a tiny purple one. He picked it up and enclosed it in a fist. His hand filled with chakra and he opened it a few seconds later. The diamond he held now had a tiny hole in it. He fed the string through the hole then broke the string in half. The half with the diamond he tied in a knot and put his makeshift diamond necklace around the little girl's neck.

-----Wow, thank you mister.

He patted her on the head and she ran off staring at her new possession. After ward he spread out the rest of the diamonds on the table and used both hands to infuse the minerals with his chakra. The shiny rocks combined into a shaft like object and after a few minutes it took the form of a katana. His chakra then compressed the minerals even further giving the blade an even sharper edge. He pulled up his right sleeve and his arm was wrapped with a white cloth. He unraveled his arm and a white and black band was uncovered. He didn't know what the band stood for, but he had it for as long as he could remember. Soulless always kept the band covered from the eyes of other people. He removed the band also and placed it next to the diamond blade. As he began wrapping the white cloth around the handle of the blade his mind drifted back eleven years. He remembered when he first discovered his chakra. He was six years old sitting his room. It was dark, cold and he was hungry. Everyone else was in the basement playing but he was always an outsider. He stared at the gauntlet on his arm concentrating on what this thing was and what it meant. The feeling of warmth crossed over his arm and into the attachment on his body. The white and black object shrunk into a tiny band about the size of a coin. His eyes widened and he felt the same warmth wash over his other arm. He lifted his arm from the floor and beneath his hand was dust. He pushed the tiny grains aside and found an indentation in the floor. He didn't know what he did but over the years he practiced this ability and found that he could change the shape of the band on his arm and certain rocks in the ground. Soulless shook his head and stopped daydreaming. He grabbed the band and it changed shape into a black sheath. Soulless grabbed his blade and inserted it into the sheath. The sword fit perfectly into its new home when a person's loud voice echoed through the room. Grabbing the length of string, he tied one end at the bottom of the sheath and the other at the top. He headed towards the exit door carrying his new weapon. A bright light along with the sun's warmth caressed his skin as he left and found himself upon a landing overlooking the arena ring beneath him and the other fighters. The source of the disturbance was Xon standing in the ring yelling at the announcer.

----You scared of my man, I understand how it is. That's why you ain't letting him fight first. Bring out your favorite. Or it he weak too.

The announcer glanced toward the Hokage. The village leader nodded and the announcer reluctantly approved the request. He knew that the Hokage only wanted to get this loud mouthed fool out of the ring so he could get on with the tournament. But the announcer also thought it served another purpose. The contestant from Area 294 would easily get beaten by this year's favorite, Neji Hyuuga. And when that happened they had an excuse to ban Area 294 from the Chuunin Exam for good. Xon satisfied with the decision walked over to the wall and jumped onto the landing next to Soulless.

----You know if you lose. I'm never going to let you forget it.

Soulless said nothing before leaping from the landing. He walked to the center of the ring as did his opponent. The announcer then looked at them both before speaking to the crowd.

-----We have Hyuuga Neji of the Hyuuga Clan vs.

The announcer then glanced at Soulless and as he a question.

-----What's the name of your group?

Soulless was about to answer when he heard Xon's voice yelling at him again.

-----Hey, Soulless.

Xon tossed an object into to the ring at Soulless. He looked at it and it was metal sleeve. He positioned it and put his left arm through it and the sleeve locked in place and extended from his wrist to elbow. It was a clan identifier much like the ninja head bands but the image displayed looked like a gust of wind blowing leaves. The tiny leaves were the symbol of the hidden leaf.

-----He's Hood ninja.

Xon then left heading for the area he called home and the Announcer continued his previous statement.

-----Vs. Soulless of the Hood Ninja.

The spokesman took a few steps back and started the match up. The wind blew between the two fighters creating a loud whistling noise. Soulless and his opponent just stared at each other for a few seconds before taking their fighting stances.

Neji looked upon Soulless and tried to read his advisory, he knew that he was from Area 294 but that's about all he new about him. By the way he carried himself he assumed that he was a loner just like this year's number one rookie. Sasuke Uchiha. He carried a sword or staff on his back and didn't carry an equipment pouch. Judging from the rumors, this was Area 294's first appearance at the exam. Area 294 didn't have a ninja school or any kind for that matter. Almost everyone there was self taught and poor. Neji felt offended by the fact that they would match him up with someone who didn't even have proper training and skills. He decided to make this match a quick one. Neji reached into his pouch and produced three kunai. In a swift motion he threw three in the direction of Soulless. One flew from the front and the other two approached from the sides. Soulless leapt into the air dodging the three knives. The three kunai hit each other and one was redirected upward toward its intended target. As the blade headed towards him, Soulless reached for his own weapon. With no leverage to move the only option was to go through. At the pinnacle of the jump he did a flip and pulled out his sword slicing the kunai in two. The two halves parted away from him and he landed on the ground with his sword extended toward Neji.

-----Here's some advice. Don't treat me like a genin.

Neji heard his opponent's voice for the first time and he began to think that his match might not be as easy as he thought.