Chapter 47
Naruto after having leaped off of the railing from where the challengers are meant to be waiting. He runs over towards Shikamaru who is stretching seemingly without a care in the world. Naruto comes to an abrupt halt just before he reaches Shikamaru and points his finger at him before yelling at him. "Hey, I wanna talk to you ya, idiot!"
Shikamaru grunts as he leans back with his hands near his hips stretching as far back as he can. "Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?"
"Why'd you give up, you really that lazy, or are you just a big chicken?!" Naruto continues to shout as he balls his hands into fists stepping forward onto his right foot while glaring at Shikamaru. Barely being able to keep himself from attacking the boy in front of him.
"Hey it's over, let's just forget it okay." Shikamaru finally stands straight as he exhales a breath now looking up at the sky with a smile showing.
"Are you kidding?! No! It's not okay!" Shikamaru looks towards Naruto from the corner of his eye as the little punk was starting to annoy him. "You would have had that match won and then you just gave up!"
"Would you skip it?" Shikamaru speaks up over Naruto's rant. "Are you forgetting, there's another match."
"I mean to quit right when.." Naruto pauses as Shikamaru's words finally sink in. Standing up straight he lets the words mull through his mind a moment. "Huh? Another match?" Shikamaru's fake smile he was using to cover up his annoyance, turns into a smirk as he realizes he finally diverted Naruto's attention. Naruto intakes a breath of realization. The thought of Sasuke coming to his mind before he smirks as well. "Yeah, that's right!"
Anxiously waiting, the crowd becomes restless and begins to shout at those running the exams, wanting almost desperately to see the next match. Naruto and Shikamaru are still down on the field as Shikamaru looks up towards the stands. Naruto, impatient as always is moving around the field nearest the proctor and Shikamaru fuming about the lack of his teammate. As a chunin appears behind the proctor, Shikamaru looks in their direction from the corner of his eye. "Lord Hokage wishes to wait another ten minutes before canceling the match." Another delay huh, Shikamaru thinks before looking back up towards the stands when the chunin disappears just as quickly as he had appeared. "Man I swear if he doesn't show! I'll kill him, I swear I'll kill him!" Naruto shouts as his anger boils over. The crowd as if following Naruto's lead just yells louder, hollering words of their disapproval.
"Relax Naruto." Shikamaru comments, causing Naruto to look up towards the crowd as well. It was beginning to look like a full-on riot was about to begin.
"Man this crowd is going to tear him apart if he doesn't show!" Naruto speaks as if he had just realized the angry shouts coming from above them. "If they don't I will!"
As the proctor looks back down at his watch Shikamaru glances in his direction. Already figuring that meant time was almost up before Sasuke is disqualified. He looks back up to the crowd nearly grimacing at how angry the crowd has become. Meanwhile, Naruto begins pacing back and forth again. "What's he thinking?! I bet he's planning some kind of big entrance or something! Well, I'm not going to be impressed! Believe it!"
"Alright, the time limit has expired." The proctor suddenly speaks up so he could be heard above all of the yelling causing Naruto to halt his pacing. "So I'm officially calling this match…" Suddenly the proctor pauses as a stray leaf begins to float over the arena. The subtle chakra is easy to miss by the inexperienced. He then looks towards his right as more leaves move into the arena. Naruto looks up towards all of the leaves his eyes widened from how they had suddenly just appeared. It was then in that moment a whirlwind picks up much like a mini-tornado drawing all of the leaves towards it as it gathers up the loose dirt from the ground.
Naruto's jaw drops when the wind dies down revealing three figures standing where the vortex had once been mere seconds before. Standing with his hands in his pockets Kakashi was looking towards the wall of the arena with two black-haired figures standing behind him. The one more towards Kakashi's right with one hand on her hip, her long black hair blowing out away from the three of them in a single thick clump caused by her hair being held up by her scrunchy. The green vest over her whipping around wildly from having been left unzipped. Her eyes were closed with a lingering smirk showing on her features. The other figure standing more towards Kakashi's left with a hand in his pocket, no longer wearing his usual blue and white outfit but rather a completely black one. Causing the white wrappings on his kunai holster and on his arms to stand out like sore thumbs. His bangs having grown since the preliminary rounds, blow around wildly. As the wind completely dies his hair falls back over his face a smirk evident as well on his features, as his eyes were too closed and his brows furrowed making him look angry at nothing in particular.
Sasuke and Kira slowly open their eyes when the wind was no longer blowing dirt around them. Sasuke looking more towards the ground as Kira raises her gaze towards the stands. "Sorry we're late, you wouldn't believe the traffic." Kakashi smiles beneath his mask as he closes his visible eye. Causing Naruto's expression of surprise to change into more of a grin. The Proctor raises his head with his overly large toothpick hanging out the right side of his mouth as he smirks down at the one closest to him.
"And you are?" He needlessly questions causing Sasuke to glance up towards the proctor keeping his overly 'cool' expression.
"I'm Sasuke… Uchiha"
The crowd begins cheering as Shikamaru looks towards the three his brows furrowed in distaste. -Man what a showoff, making us wait around like he was emperor of the universe.- "Ha! So you decided to show up after all. I was betting you wouldn't come because sooner or later you'd have to face me!" -Naruto was just saying he was sure Sasuke would come.- Shikamaru glances away from the scene in an attempt to keep his eyes from rolling.
Sasuke and Kira move to the side of Kakashi so Sasuke was now standing in between them. Smirking towards Naruto as he speaks. "So what about you? Did you win?"
"You know it!" Naruto proclaims with a poorly masked chuckle.
"Ha! Well, don't get too full of yourself. You're still a loser."
"Sorry we kept you waiting but um... How late are we?" Kakashi questions rubbing the back of his head as Shikamaru looks back towards the three now noting Kira who's hand was still on her hip. Her long black ponytail pulled over her left shoulder resting on top of her green vest. The realization had Shikamaru's eyes widening as he intakes a gasp of surprise. –And here I heard she wasn't in the exams because she was in the hospital! But that green vest… she's been made chunin!- "I mean... It's not like Sasuke's disqualified or anything…. Right?" Now all four pairs of twelve-year-old eyes were upon the proctor as he smirks and bows his head closing his eyes.
"Like master like pupil. Even down to your lousy sense of time. "
"Well… what about it?" Kakashi questions as his hand stops rubbing the back of his head and just rests upon his neck watching the proctor dreading what the proctor was about to tell him.
The proctor looks up with a grin meeting Kakashi's gaze. "You know you were so late we extended the deadline for you, twice in fact. And it's lucky for you because you just made it. No, he's not disqualified."
" . Heh." Kakashi chuckles as a bead of sweat rolls down the side of his face showing how nervous he had been that he had in fact gotten Sasuke disqualified. "That's a relief, you had me worried there for a minute. So we're okay." He speaks as he glances down to Sasuke now noticing Sasuke had turned towards the challenger's waiting area and was now looking up at Gaara who was peering down at him. "Hmm?" Kakashi gives a sudden sound of question as Kira finally turns towards Kakashi and crosses her arms.
"I still can't believe I had to find you guys just to get you here this late. You really should work on your priorities Sensei. Being this late looks unprofessional."
"Ohh, Kira.." Kakashi chuckles smiling down at Kira though he wasn't exactly happy about getting lectured by one of his own students. He was more embarrassed than anything. This was to be expected either way yet he had thought he was going to hear it from Naruto or Sakura like usual.
"You know what?" She raises her hands in front of her for a moment before dropping them to her sides. "No more excuses. Just… better yourself, if not for your sake then for ours. Your timing reflects poorly on us as well." It was then Kakashi had an epiphany. Kira even with all of her weird properties like not being human, reminded him of himself when he was around her age. The words she just spoke were similar to the ones he used to say to his own teammates.
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly shouts causing a sigh of relief from Kakashi as this draws Kira's attention. "Don't lose, because I want to fight you myself." Naruto's proclamation to Sasuke had Kira almost rolling her eyes. –Typical boys-
"Got it."
Meanwhile in the stands above the arena, melded in with the other onlookers a shrill voice speaks up. "Sakura, what's it like to be on such an amazing team?!" Ino squeals causing Sakura to look away from her teammates down in the arena.
"What do you mean?" Sakura questions confused by Ino's sudden words that were for once not condescending or downright rude.
"Oh you know, first Naruto surprises everyone by beating Neji Hyuga, and according to my dad, Kira is a chunin now. Oh and you've got Sasuke who is like this superstar, everyone wants to see his match. You're like the all-star team!" Lee looks away from the two girls moving his gaze back down to the arena. –Sasuke is fighting Gaara who I was powerless against, Naruto beat Neji who I had always wanted to defeat. Kira was the first one to make chunin this year and she is even a year younger than I am.- Lee grips hold of his crutch. Curling his fingers around it so tight blood begins to soak through his bandages. –And all I get to do… is stand here and watch while they keep moving forward.- Lee begins to shake where he stands as he silently pens up his emotions. -It is so frustrating!-
"Kira, we should be getting up to the stands." Kakashi speaks pulling Kira's eyes away from her teammates.
"I understand." She sighs before smirking at Naruto and Sasuke. "Come out on top you two." With her words, they smirk at her in return. After the three of them nod to each other Kira shoves chakra into her feet and leaps away from the scene with Kakashi.
"Alright, Gaara come down here!" The proctor hollers up towards the blood-thirsty redhead already being driven mad with his excitement to soaking his sand in Sasuke's blood.
As Kakashi and Kira walk up towards the stands Kakashi slips his hands into his pockets. "Kira." He speaks quietly as he glances down at his student from the corner of his eye. She gives him a sound of confirmation that she had heard him but, not once does she look up to him. Almost like all of her playful bantering in the arena had left her when they had departed away from the others. "What is it you are expecting me to do after the exams are over?" He couldn't help asking. Since she had mentioned it the thought has been weighing heavily on his mind.
"My necklace." She almost whispers as her right hand reaches up towards her chest where the pendent should be resting. "The necklace you've seen me wear, first when you sealed my curse mark and second when I was promoted to a chunin." She elaborates in case Kakashi didn't understand.
"What about it?" Kakashi questions almost hesitantly. Sure he knew what she was talking about the second she mentioned it, her elaborating was unnecessary.
"I want you to get it back for me."
"Get it back?" Kakashi tilts his head as his steps falter causing both of them to pause in their walking. "Someone took it?"
Kira nods before finally looking up towards him, moving her right hand from her chest she holds up three fingers. "One of three people has it."
"I. if you know who has it then why don't you get it back yourself?" Kakashi questions unsure where this conversation is going. She drops her hand and shakes her head looking down.
"If I thought I could don't you think I would be doing just that rather than getting someone else to do it for me?" She questions as Kakashi watches her visibly ball up her hands into fists. Her arms shaking from her hidden anger.
"Well then, I'll see what I can do." He speaks if only to calm her down a fraction. Kira visibly takes in a steadying breath as she tries to control her internal anger. "Who has it?"
Kira turns away from him and pokes the next step with the toe of her sandal. "Either the Hokage, Inoichi Yamanaka.." She pauses causing Kakashi's eye to widen. He could already guess who the next name is going to be before she even said it. The mere thought filling him with dread. "Or Ibiki Morino."
"But that would mean…" Kakashi whispers to himself not wishing to believe his ears as he watches her start to slightly shake as if the memory alone was causing her body to react.
"I was interrogated." She whispers before looking back up to Kakashi. –There are only a few people in this village I care about. And nearly all of them happen to be on my team. The man next to me right now is definitely one of them.- Kira thought to herself giving him a slight smile. "They wanted to know my secrets and didn't believe me when I had told them the gist of what I've been hiding." As she finishes speaking she continues walking up to the stands so they may watch Sasuke's match. Kakashi remained standing in place for a few moments as her words sunk in before following her in silence. Watching the dark-haired girl in front of him with a softened gaze.
-Who knows what all she had to endure and to still be able to move on from it as if it had never happened. No what am I thinking? It's not like it never happened. The very girl had come out of her shell around her team and nearly reminding him of the child she is supposed to be at times was gone. Her words were emotionless once again as if she rebuilt the very walls that had fallen over time with her team. She is simply blocking out all of the damage that had been done to her. As if once she gets her necklace back she will attempt to erase what happened from her very mind so that she can continue moving forward.- Though there was a piece of Kakashi that was arguing that whole thought.
The way she spoke her words calling Lord Hokage by his title rather than her usual pet name for him told Kakashi everything he needed to know. Even if he didn't wish to believe it. With him feeling it necessary to have Ibiki torture her for answers she had already given him. She is most likely feeling resentment and even a brewing hatred for those involved in the pain she had endured. Kira was just hiding it by seeming as if she had cut ties with the very emotions they had fought so hard to get her to feel. What is running through her mind at the moment? Kakashi couldn't even begin to fathom. He was certain about one thing; the Hokage resorting to torture may have just pushed her to Orochimaru. "Just curious, why is the necklace so important to you?" Kakashi questions as the thought occurs to him that never before had she openly shown such attachment to anything.
"Light gave it to me." She whispers the words causing Kakashi to intake an unsteady breath. He knew exactly what it was like to lose those close to you and how you tend to latch onto whatever you can as if it would keep their memory more alive. Much like how Kakashi himself stands at the memorial stone every day. Kira may touch that very necklace, so that she may feel closer to the very boy she had told him about what feels like just yesterday. Now fully understanding her need to retrieve her necklace Kakashi looks ahead of them no longer needing to ask questions.
Walking up the aisle they stop behind Guy and Lee, Kira places her right hand back on her hip that smile Kakashi was beginning to think was fake now back in place upon her features. Their sudden stop causes Guy, Lee, and Sakura to glance back in their direction making sounds of question. "Hello Guy, How are you feeling Lee?" Kakashi asks as he moves his right hand to the top of his head just above his forehead protector. "Are you alright?" This question causes Kira to glance up towards Kakashi as if the fact of him being hurt or even unwell was unknown to her. Let's face it, she hadn't exactly been around her teammates very much since the preliminaries. As this topic was most likely avoided when Sakura was visiting her in the hospital and Naruto probably didn't think about telling her when she had visited with him on the roof of his apartment.
"Kakashi." Guy proclaims nearly causing Kira's eyes to roll. Well duh, it's Kakashi.
"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura exclaims drawing Ino and Choji's attention towards Kakashi.
"Oh sorry about that. You musta been worried. Sorry for not keeping in touch." Sakura's worried expression suddenly changes to more of a glare. Ino looks nervous as if Sakura was about to blow up at any second. Kira just takes a step back and holds up her hands in front of her face as if to say. Not my fault, if only just to prevent Sakura from taking her anger out towards her.
Sakura's glare changes as she looks down turning back in her seat so she was now facing forward again. "I don't mind, that's okay." Sakura's sudden words causes Ino to look towards her in shock. Sakura now looking more solemn than she had when she visited Kira causes her hands to drop to her sides as she watches the other female member of her team. –No yelling? She must have really been hurt.-
"It's not okay Sakura. This oaf should know us better than this by now. He knew you would be worried yet he didn't send word to you about Sasuke's location and well-being. He absentmindedly hurt your feelings and made you worry yourself sick." Kira shakes her head as their eyes were now on her. "You are like a mother hen on our team, constantly worrying about our safety and well-being. Fretting over little bickering fights between Sasuke and Naruto even." Kira now looks back to Sakura her eyes softening losing a small amount of their usual coldness. "I'm sorry I didn't get them back here sooner."
Silence follows Kira's words while they all look at Sakura as she turns in her seat again to face forward. "Thank you, Kira." She practically whispers.
"Whoa! Are we in a parallel universe or something?! Kira just spoke! Nicely and even apologized to Sakura?!" Ino's sudden shout causes Kira's eyes to ice back over as she shoots the annoying blond a bone-chilling glare causing Ino to visibly shiver.
"No Ino, we are still in this universe." Kakashi chuckles following his condescending words. Kira then looks towards Lee as a slight smile shows on her face.
"Are you okay? I didn't know you were hurt or I would have sent you flowers or something." She speaks gently causing Lee's eyes to widen. To Kira, he may look silly and could probably cause people nightmares, but his heart was pure gold as he had proven that day in the forest. When he tried so desperately to protect Sakura who wasn't even on his team. Proving to her that he meant his vow to protect her with his life. In a way, Kira wishes that Sakura would just woman up and accept Lee. He would be there for her and cherish her whereas her crush ignores her and makes her feel bad.
"Ah, yes. I am healed enough they let me leave the hospital long enough to come here." As he speaks his gaze falls more towards the ground. Kira notes how his fist clenched around his crutch causing the wrapping around his knuckles to turn even more red than it had been before. Without a word, she steps up to him and grabs a hold of his hand gently enough to not hurt him worse. Pulling his hand from his crutch caused Guy to grab onto Lee just to keep him from falling over. "Huh?" Lee utters a sound of question as Kira reaches into her pouch and retrieves a roll of medical wraps she had pilfered from the hospital some time ago, around the time she had snatched the pills she carries in her travel bag.
"Sorry." She mutters as her bangs flow over her eyes while she looks down at his hand and begins removing the wraps. "Your bandages are bloody. I'll be done soon." She whispers even as she feels her throat tighten. It was best to remove temptation right? Even though everyone was staring at her now, probably because this isn't a characteristic she has shown before.
"Huh? Ah." Lee utters sounds of confusion and realization as Kira's soft hands move around his arm. Rewrapping the all but healed skin. It was obvious to her that this particular hand was only battered from fighting where he had hit hard enough to damage his hand. Once she was done she steps back from Lee and sends her fire nature chakra into her hand that is holding the old bandage, causing it to set on fire so the scent of blood wouldn't be so prominent. "Oh, t. t. thank you, Kira." Lee stutters as he grabs onto his crutch again so he can stand on his own.
"No problem. Just remember that resting and taking care of yourself in order to allow your injuries to heal is also part of being a ninja." By this time Kakashi and Guy were talking however the two standing next to them were oblivious to their words. Lee's gaze drops towards the ground again as he frowns.
"I see... You did not hear…" He begins nearly causing Kira's eyes to widen before she shakes her head drawing Lee's attention back towards her.
"You are not the kind to go down easily, Lee. You will fight until the bitter end in order to achieve what your heart desires most. I have no doubt that in time which would seem as short as a heartbeat, you will be back to your old self again." Kira smiles as Lee takes in a sudden gasp his eyes widening briefly. The silence was around them beyond the roaring cheers of the crowd. Guy and Kakashi's eyes back upon the two next to them. Lee suddenly smiles, leaning on his crutch with his arm on top of it, he shoots her a sudden salute.
"Right!"
"Lee, the match is starting." Guy speaks down towards his student with a smile causing Lee to glance up at him momentarily with a questioning sound escaping him. From having forgotten about the match momentarily before turning around to watch Sasuke's fight. Kakashi's hand suddenly on Kira's shoulder causes her to look up towards him silently. Kakashi smiles down at his student feeling the fears that had previously gone through his mind, was truly unlikely now that he sees her heart is reaching further out beyond their team.
"We do not know what the enemy is planning so we must be on our guard and be prepared for anything." Kakashi speaks lowly towards his student even as she shrugs his hand from her shoulder now looking ahead of her. Even though from her height she cannot see the match below them from Lee and Guy standing in front of her.
"I know. I have run through this very day over and over in my head repeatedly. I already have several outcomes set up as possibilities. Such as, it is likely his hate has led him to such extremes he may even attack the village as soon as the exams are over. As I have also already counted the Anbu in the arena and can only guess the Hokage believes these few in the arena should be sufficient along with all of the forehead protectors present. The rest of the Anbu are probably scattered throughout the village in case my initial probable outcome does in fact happen." Kakashi's eye widens down at his student as Guy glances from Kakashi towards her from the corner of his eye listening to her words.
It is only now Guy realizes exactly what Kakashi had meant during her match in the preliminary rounds. Both of the men knew for a fact Kira hadn't been paying attention to their conversation while she had been speaking with Lee. So before that one glance, she didn't know that is exactly what they had been discussing. "For someone like the enemy I wouldn't doubt he would jump in and attack at any point in time, but being an advanced ninja with experience on his side I would expect he may have prepared for this. Growing his numbers so he has more pets at his disposal just to achieve what he desires. It's only logical that he would wish to attack with as many pawns as possible when attempting to destroy such a place as the leaf village. I would venture a guess if he had done such a thing we are looking at Jonin level or higher ninja. In fact, I have no doubt that is what he would do."
