A/N: I'm back!!! and with a new chapter!! here's the next chapter of Black Rose. I looked over chapter 1 and the prologue and noticed some grammical errors so I'll repost those later. Hope you like this one!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Kira and the plot.
Chapter 2
Kira walked through the streets of Konoha. Her face remained emotionless but her mind was screaming. Where were they going? Was she in trouble for all the things that she had done? She was officially a Sound ninja, ruled under the snake man, Orochimaru. They should've locked her up instead of putting her back into her old home. The villagers were whispering and staring her way. She could hear most of the gossip. They were trying to figure out who she was and why was she so important that Tsunade herself had to come down from her office.
Kira kept her head down most of the time. When they reached the main building, Kakashi put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Kira looked up at her older cousin and he gave a warm smile. The village's gossip shocked her. They gossiped about Kira being Kakashi's girlfriend/fiancé/wife (Ewww… she thought when the voices reached her sensitive ears) or his daughter (Inner Kira took out a barf bag and threw up Where do people get this stuff? the chibi version of Kira yelled waving a fist.) They quickly dispelled the second option. The infamous copy ninja that was almost never caught without those perverted books he reads ACTUALLY settling down and having kids…fat chance.
They walked into the building and were greeted by Tsunade's assistant, Shizune. Kira bowed respectfully at the woman before following Tsunade into her office. Tsunade sat at her desk and folded her hands. "As you know Kira, you are now officially a Sound Ninja. Normally we would put you in a cell and take you into interrogations." Kira hardened at that comment. "But since you were kidnapped and we didn't find any form of communication linking you to Sound, we have decided to set aside that little fact and let you redeem yourself by becoming a Konoha kuonichi," finished Tsunade.
Kira's rage overflowed, drowning out the relief. "What are you talking about?" she yelled. "This is an outrage! You should be treating me like a prisoner! I am a Sound kuonichi! We are your enemies! How can you be so sure that I won't send some sort of communication back to Orochimaru about some secrets of the Konoha village?" said Kira.
If she said that she was glad that her punishment was so light, she'd be lying. Although it was great to see Kakashi again and being back in her home village, she should be treated like a Sound ninja, after all she was trained under the snake himself! This was just too bizarre for her.
Tsunade closed her eyes and let Kira speak out her mind. Kakashi stood to the side without saying a word either, almost like they were expecting this. When Kira stopped, Tsunade opened her eyes again and looked at Kira hard. "Kakashi warned me about this while you were recovering. I see that your loyalty is very deep even though Orochimaru kidnapped you from your home. I also see how you expected to be treated like any other Sound ninja, but you are a Konoha ninja first. Even though you didn't graduate from the academy before you were kidnapped, even though you had completed your ninja training under Orochimaru, that doesn't make you a full Sound ninja. And we treat our ninjas with respect even if they betray us," said Tsunade.
Kira nodded her head. She now knew where her true loyalty lies. Many times she had hesitated from killing someone from any village, like an innocent bystander. She would kill those that went against any village, but she couldn't kill those innocent bystanders that were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Orochimaru beat her senseless when Kira hesitated during a mission. "So…how do I redeem myself?" she asked.
Tsunade smiled at the change of heart. "Since you were a Sound ninja and we want to make sure that you aren't just acting, half of your chakra will be sealed away for 6 months. But for one year, you will be under ANBU surveillance. During that time, you will not be able to leave the village and you will live in your house with Kakashi watching over you. Because of that, you are going to have to train with Kakashi and his team." Finally Tsunade finished this huge "trial." I need a bottle of sake… the tired Hokage thought.
Kira nodded. "I understand my punishment. But may I ask this one question…how can I become a Konoha ninja?" Tsunade smiled. "With the right amount of training! Today, Kakashi will make up a task for you so you can become genin," said Tsunade.
Kira walked out of the office grumbling. Genin? She had enough skill to become a jounin or an ANBU right this minute. But she could understand that she needed to redeem herself but having to start at the bottom? "Just deal with it for now Kira-chan. I know that you have a lot of skill and this is a new thing for you, but I'll make sure that you get the right amount of training so you can get up the ninja ranks," said Kakashi. Kira smiled at her cousin. He always knew what to say and when to say it.
They walked to the bridge that Kakashi's team always met on. Kira was greeted with the sight of a obnoxiously loud blonde that kept complaining about Kakashi being late, a pink haired kuonichi that sat against the railing watching the blonde complain though she didn't say anything other than for him to quiet down, and a certain raven haired Uchiha who's presence made Kira smirk. The Uchiha sensed her presence by looked up from his trademark position (leaning against the railing with his arms crossed and his head down) and whipped his head towards their general direction.
Kira smirked when she saw the shock and realization in his eyes. He could do nothing but stare as she walked up to the team with Kakashi standing next to her. "Guys, this is my cousin Kisara. She's going to be training with us and going on missions with us," said Kakashi.
The obnoxious blonde came forward and did his "cool guy pose." "I'm Uzamaki Naruto and I'm going to become the next Hokage!" he yelled out. Some birds flew up from their perch on the trees behind Naruto.
"Naruto!" said the pink haired girl. "I thought I told you to be quiet!" When she turned to Kira, she had a sincere smile. "Hi, I'm Haruno Sakura. It's really nice to meet you," said the pink haired kuonichi. "It's nice to finally have another woman on this team," added Sakura.
Kira smirked at the comment. "It is nice. I mostly had to put up with power driven guys that didn't think I was good enough to be on their team until I beat the crap out of them during our training…isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?" Kira asked a fuming Uchiha.
Team 7 turned to their hotheaded, power-driven, arrogant avenger with surprise. The young raven-haired man turned to the smirking young woman in front of him. "What are you doing here, Black Rose??" he yelled.
Kira wagged her finger at him. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. That temper of yours could be your downfall, Sasuke-kun," teased Kira. Everybody looked at her in shock. Sasuke being teased by a girl? Naruto burst out laughing. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sasuke-teme is being made fun of by a girl!!! God this is rich!!" Naruto gasped.
Sasuke didn't listen to Naruto's rant. Sakura was still standing in shock. Some other girl in Sound had dibs on her Sasuke-kun? Not gonna happen. She felt a retort starting to bubble, but Sasuke beat her to it. "Shut up, bitch! You're just angry because Oro-teme was more interested in me than you," said Sasuke.
Kira's eyes darkened. Kakashi felt the dark aura radiating off of the young woman. Oh boy...this could end badly... "Hey...who about we have a sparring match? The winner could go against me and I can evaluate your progress," said Kakashi quickly. Kira smirked. "Sure...I'm up for it. It'll be nice to finally be able to see if Sasuke-kun is better with Orochimaru breathing over his shoulder or my perverted cousin," said Kira.
Kakashi sighed. And this used to be the sweet little girl I used to play all the time with when I was young he thought.
"Hn," said Sasuke. He led the way to the training grounds with a speechless Sakura and Naruto. Naruto was surprised that there was another ninja that wanted to beat Sasuke as much as he wanted to, but jealous at the same time. He was going to have to beat this girl to show that Naruto Uzamaki is the only person who's better than Sasuke.
Sakura was jealous because...well I think that's obvious. Another obstacle to overcome to get Sasuke to love her! But she'll show her and Sasuke! She's gotten better since he's been gone and Sakura isn't going to allow some girl who just joined their team to outshine her and win Sasuke's heart.
Once they reached the clearing that Team 7 trained on endlessly, Kakashi jumped into a tree nearby and took out his perverted book. Kira sighed, she never really could believe that her uncle, Kakashi's own father, show his own son such a disgusting book. Her mother tried her best to steal those books from her uncle so Kakashi's mind wouldn't be poisoned, but it looks like she was too late. "Okay...so here's how the matches are going to work. Naruto and Kira-chan are going to fight first. Then Sasuke and Sakura. When we find out who's the winner, then the two winners will fight and then who is victorious will fight me and I shall rate you. Weapons are not allowed. I want to see how your taijustu and ninjustu are first. So Naruto and Kira-chan, you two are up," said Kakashi not looking up from his book.
Kira walked up to the open area while Sasuke and Sakura sat against the tree Kakashi was in. Naruto stood under the tree for a few moments. He was trying to digest all the information. There were too many things about winners and he couldn't figure out what the heck Kakashi was talking about. So he went through what Kakashi said, word for word, taking apart each sentence. "OHHH! I get it now!!" he yelled. Everybody rolled their eyes. Kira concluded that Naruto was the class idiot and probably the weakest of Team 7. Great, I get to fight against the stupidest ninja of all time she thought.
Naruto finally walked to the open area and stood a few feet away from Kira. He pointed at her. "I'm Naruto Uzamaki and you'd better remember my name cause it's the person who kicked your ass! The only person who's better than Sasuke-teme. He only went to Orochimaru cause he was scared of my awesome powerful skills!!" From the sidelines, veins were beginning to appear on Sasuke's head. They got bigger with each word Naruto said. Sakura scooted a few feet away from the hotheaded teen. She knew better than to talk to Sasuke when he was angry. "He was just being such a wus going to Orochimaru for power when he could come to me. I mean I've beat up his ass more than enough times to show that I'm so much stronger and could teach him many things. And another thing-" Naruto was cut off when a strong punch landed on his stomach and flew him back into the woods and knocked down 3 trees.
Kira stood where Naruto was. Sasuke and Sakura gasped. They didn't even see her move until Naruto was thrown into the forest. She cracked her knuckles and watched Naruto's body cut through the trees with narrowed eyes. "Don't talk so tough like that. Those who do are the weakest and have no idea how to fight," she said coldly.
Kakashi looked up from his book. There was no way he could concentrate on it now. Who was this girl that replaced the Kira-chan he knew? "Kisara...what have they done to you?" Kakashi asked himself. Kira's long black hair swayed in the wind. And her fierce dark blue eyes didn't waver from their glare. The wind melded her clothes to her skin. "Please make this worth my time," said Kira.
Sakura shot up when Naruto didn't move. "Naruto..." she whispered. Sakura was really worried although it seemed like she disliked Naruto. He was her teammate and he helped her while Sasuke was gone. Although the punch was strong, she knew that Naruto could get through this and show that girl that he isn't someone to be messed with. "Please get up, Naruto..." she mumbled.
Sasuke heard Sakura's mumbling and scoffed. After all those times she rejected him and punched the crap out of him, she would be worried over him now? But...he felt a small jab through his heart at her words. How could she be so worried about him? She should be more worried about him... Wait where did that thought come from? I shouldn't care about whom Sakura cares about. I know that she worries about Naruto and me and that she cares about both of us. A shinobi with my power shouldn't lower him to such stupid thoughts thought Sasuke. Still...he couldn't erase the twinge to his heart. And how the twinge turned into a stab when he saw Sakura's happy smile as Naruto stood up with cuts all over his body.
"Argh...I guess I was stupid to underestimate you," said Naruto. Kira smirked inwardly at the comment. On the outside, she shook her head and got into a defensive position. "Just fight me," she said. Naruto grinned and used his infamous jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" About 50 Narutos appeared around Kira. She turned to all of the clones, surprised. She heard from the other Sound nins about Naruto's infamous jutsu. She smirked. Finally Kira will be able to fight against the Kyuubi vessel. Too bad that this is only training. But she had a feeling that someday Naruto will fight her with a killing intent. "Is that the best you got? I can't believe that you defeated every ninja you fought against with this dumb jutsu," said Kira just to get on Naruto's nerves.
The Narutos growled. "Shut up. By the time I'm through with you, you won't even be able to move!" yelled Narutos. One charged at Kira with his hand pulled back for a punch. She smirked again. When Naruto came close enough, Kira turned her body around for a roundhouse kick. The clone disappeared with a puff of smoke. "Never charge at your opponent blindly. You never know if she is faster than you," said Kira.
Sasuke smirked from the sidelines. It looks like being back in Konoha hasn't changed Kira's fighting skills thought Sasuke. It will be fun to see how she can really fight. Sasuke was positive that he and Kira would fight against each other. Naruto wouldn't survive that long if Kira went all out. He could tell that Kira was only playing with the blonde. Sakura wouldn't survive a fight with him, there was no way that Sakura would win and fight against Kira and survive. Sasuke wanted to fight against Kira and show her that he was strong even without Orochimaru.
Kira always witnessed and assisted Sasuke's training because Orochimaru claimed it was so "he can become stronger by fighting against Kira." Kira knew that this was a lie, but there was nothing she could do since Orochimaru doesn't like it when people question what he asks. So she trained with Sasuke and beat his ass almost every time. A few times it came to draws, but mostly she kicked his ass. Kira knew that she totally hurt Sasuke's Uchiha pride and his male ego, but that was the only way to make Orochimaru happy.
The clones stood a good distance from Kira, growling in anger. She once again got into a defensive stance and looked at the clones. "Now, come at me with the best you've got!" The clones obeyed her request seconds later. They charged at her from all sides, fists pulled back ready to launch forward into a punch. Kira sidesteps all of the punches and give some of her own, all of them hitting their mark. Puffs of smoke blinded her range of vision.
The clones took advantage of the smoke and tried to sneak attack Kira. But she sensed their attack and blocked all of the attacks. She destroyed all of the clones quickly and charged through the smoke, surprising the rest when she came out unscathed. Kira took this to her advantage and attacked the clones with a series of punches and kicks. Almost half of the clones have been destroyed by her attacks.
They all charged at Kira again. She jumped up into the air and started doing very complicated hand signs at inhuman speed. The rest of the team shot up when they saw the hand signs move too fast to see. What is she? thought Sakura. Finally Kira's fingers stopped at a sign that they were all familiar with, the tiger. "Spirit's Wrath!" she yelled. Once Kira landed on the ground, a huge sound wave rippled through the air. The wave overwhelmed everybody's eardrums so they covered them up.
The clones stood immobilized for a few moments until one doubled over in pain then disappeared in a puff of smoke. One by one, all the clones disappear after taking a hit from an unseen force. It continues until the real Naruto is crouched over on the ground holding his stomach. Kira walks up to him and shakes her head. "This is pathetic. I thought I would get more of a fight against the legendary Kyuubi. But instead I get this pathetic ninja…" Kira mumbles. She closes her eyes and cross her arms. Naruto coughed up blood and looked up at Kira with a pained expression.
"Naruto…" Sakura says in a hushed voice. She had her hands clutched to her chest and her jade eyes widened at the pain Naruto was going through. How could someone like that just stand there and act like they don't have a care in the world. This must the brutality of the Sound nins.
Sasuke glanced at Sakura's worried expression for a moment before looking away, scoffing. Naruto is hurt that badly…and she's seen worse injuries on me! Naruto's always getting beaten up like this, but she doesn't care all that much since half the time its from her. But now she's acting like Naruto's on his deathbed! Why does she care so much about him? Why do I care if she is worrying a lot about Naruto? Why am I screaming questions in my head?? Sasuke shook his head. He needs to keep his thoughts straight since he and Sakura are probably going to fight soon…
"Never underestimate the power of Naruto Uzamaki!" said Naruto. Kira just took one step back as an orange blur flew past her. The Genjutsu disappeared and Naruto appeared a few feet away from Kira. "Damn it…how were you able to see through my Genjutsu?" Naruto said through clenched teeth.
Kira smirked. "Nothing much really…Genjutsu is just a trick of light anyways," said Kira.
Realization fell over Kakashi. He's trained her…but how could he know how to control Kira's power? Not even Otou-san knew what to do… Kakashi pondered on this more as the match drew on.
Kira began to get bored with Naruto. He kept on charging at her with a barrage of punches, but none of them met their target. When Kira saw an opening in Naruto's weak guard, she took advantage and kicked him across the field. Every time Naruto would come back with another barrage of punches, and every time Kira would eventually kick him away.
This was much too easy for Kira. She wanted to end the battle quickly. Soon she saw her opening, she grabbed his fist and used his weight against him, shifting her body around to stand behind the blond. Naruto only had time to glance over his shoulder before a powerful roundhouse kick hit his head.
Naruto was thrown unceremoniously across the field. His body skidded against the ground before slowing to a stop near the edge of the forest. Sakura shot up from her sitting position and rushed towards Naruto. She kneeled down by his body and took his head into her lap. Sakura brushed the back of her hand against Naruto's cheek. A sticky wetness seeped into her dress. Sakura touched the wet spot and pulled her fingers away to see crimson blood on her fingers…the blood of one of her best friends. "Naruto…" Sakura whispered as the blood dripped off her fingers. She pushed his head gingerly to the side in order to see the wound. Sakura concentrated her chakra onto the wound and closed it up. Sakura turned Naruto's face back and smiled as his breathing slowly went back to normal.
Sasuke's blood boiled under his skin. The blonde idiot is getting more attention from thepink-haired beauty than he is…is there something wrong with this picture? How did Naruto get more attention from Sakura than he did at any given time? Sasuke brooded on this fact but couldn't get a straight answer.
Kakashi jumped down from his perch and walked lazily towards Sakura. He gave Kira a brief glance before bending down to Sakura. "Is he going to be okay?" he asked.
Sakura flashed Kakashi a pleasant smile. "He's going to be just fine. Naruto'll probably be asleep for a few hours, but other than that, he shouldn't be hurt anymore," said Sakura, tenderly brushing her thumb across his cheek. Kakashi smiled. Ever since Sasuke left, Naruto treated Sakura more like a sister instead of trying to court her since their Uchiha prodigy left. In return, Sakura acted like the mother Naruto never had, although they did have arguments like siblings would.
Kira walked towards the small group. "I didn't mean to hit him that hard…guess that shows what a lousy ninja he is," said Kira brushing it off.
Sakura turned to glare at the raven-haired girl. Emerald met midnight blue in an intense glaring contest. "Don't talk about Naruto like that!" Sakura growled.
Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his palm. He raised his clenched fist to his face and was surprised to see blood trickling down his wrist. He was so angry that his nails were digging into his skin. But what was there to be angry about? So what if Sakura held Naruto so tenderly…so what if she was defending him…so what if it wasn't HIM that was getting all the attention Sakura was suddenly giving Naruto… Damn that woman! he cursed. How could Sakura's attention suddenly shift from him; the Uchiha prodigy and voted (although it made him cringe to admit it) as the hottest shinobi in Konoha, to the idiotic, loudmouth moron in the village?
Sasuke banned the thought from his mind. This was not something a shinobi of his rank should dwell over. But still… he thought as he watched the staring contest continue, what really happened to make her lean towards Naruto?
Sakura began to sweat profoundly as Kira's cold stare. "Do not tell me how to talk. I have seen things that would make you fall to the ground with tears streaming down your eyes," said Kira emotionlessly. Through the cold façade, Sakura could see a strange emotion flicker as Kira talked…almost like Kira was trying to call for help…but what could be going on? Sakura felt sympathy for the young woman in front of her. Even though her words were meant as an insult, Sakura overlooked her jealously and decided that she would figure out what was wrong with Kira and help her escape from her old life.
Kakashi watched the exchange with an indifferent expression. Kira always did talk bluntly like that…almost like their Uchiha prodigy, but not as coldly. There were always times where Kira's cheerfulness rivaled Sakura's. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Even though he didn't know what she had gone through these past few years…even though he probably couldn't possibly imagine what had happened during her time in Sound, Kakashi remembered one event in their childhood that scarred Kira for life.
Kira shrugged Kakashi's hand away and started to walk back to the shade of the tree. "Sasuke, you're next," she said to the fuming Uchiha. Sasuke shot a glare at Kira before standing up. Kakashi had gotten hold of Naruto and dragged him back to the tree. Sakura stood up and waited for Sasuke to get across the field. Sasuke stopped and faced the pink haired beauty. He expected Sakura to blush heavily and ask him on a date if she won the sparring match (not he would allow her to win), but to Sasuke's surprise, Sakura remained focused and stood in a starting position. Sasuke's shock kept his body immobile for a moment. He shook off the feeling and got into position as well. Something was not right…this wasn't the Sakura that he knew 3 years ago. Why isn't she going all over me or blushing cutely at the though of sparring with me… Sasuke's mind reeled back to the second part. Not that I think that she looks cute. She's an ugly girl with a huge forehead and-
His thoughts were cut off when a powerful punch came in contact with his right cheek. Sasuke was thrown back a few feet before he slid on the dirt and righted himself. Sasuke glanced up, preparing for another annoying unneeded concerned look from Sakura. But once again, she surprised him by running towards him at a speed that he thought wasn't possible for the girl. He quickly blocked a kick aimed for his head and tried to punch her stomach, but Sakura's reflexes were faster than he remembered. She blocked the punch in record time and Sasuke leapt back a few feet to get a bit of distance away from them.
Sakura stumbled a bit, surprised by his actions before regaining her balance and turning to the Uchiha. She thought that he was putting on an act…of course Sakura noticed that Sasuke seemed to be spacing off a bit when the sparring match first began, but she didn't believe that Sasuke's guard was completely down. She waited for Sasuke to collect his thoughts. A ninja never attacks when his opponent is not ready. That would un-honorable and besides…Sakura wanted to prove to Sasuke that she wasn't the weak girl she was 3 years ago.
The battle raged on. Kira watched in the sidelines as Sasuke and Sakura attacked each other, neither getting the upper hand nor falling behind. Kakashi watched Sakura with pride. He helped Tsunade train Sakura after Sasuke left and she had become a promising ninja. Now was the final test, was she going to be able to defeat the best ninja on Team 7? She had already defeated Naruto, but because of Sasuke's absence… You can defeat him Sakura. I know you can, I have confidence in you thought Kakashi.
Sakura and Sasuke leapt away from each other as another barrage of punches and kicks didn't take any hits. They both breathe heavily watching the other, searching for any sign of fatigue showing. Sasuke cursed under his breath for breathing so heavily during a sparring match against the girl who was the weakest girl on Team 7…looks like he can't call her that anymore.
Sakura decided it was time for the final attack. She dashed for Sasuke preparing to take him down. Sasuke read her movements and made the same choice she did. He ran to her to meet Sakura in the middle of the field to finish the match once and for all.
By this time, Naruto had woken up and was now watching Sasuke and Sakura with a bit of fear. Of course he wanted Sakura to win, but he also wanted his best friend/rival to win as well. Damn it was a hard decision. He just wished for the best. Hopefully Sakura won't be too pissed off for losing the match. She did put a good fight and it was a chance for her to see if her skills were improving or not…and they were definitely improving if she lasted this long against Sasuke.
Both of their fists were pulled back, preparing for that last punch that would decide the outcome. The punches were released and they both hit their target. Sakura and Sasuke's faces were being pulled backwards as their fists made contact with the other's cheeks. The force of the punch threw both ninjas flying backwards and landing in a pile of dust. Naruto and Kira shot up, watching as the two unmoving bodies. They both knew that Sasuke and Sakura weren't dead…they were both too stubborn. Naruto held his breath as he waited for one of his friends to stand and declare victory.
A/N: Oh...the suspense. Who will come out victorious? Sasuke or Sakura... Review please!!