AN: Hi. Alright, to Thomas Drovin- Thanks so much for the reviews. I was really happy to hear… I should say read them. You crack me up. But yes, Gaara having a dragon in Suna should be interesting… although, I find Gaara having Cordi in Suna more interesting, you'll find out why later. ^.^
Also, thanks to Thomas Drovin and Yami no Musume for adding this story to your faves. Also to everyone reading, it's a great feat that I already have 270 views in one week! Readers, keep it up! You guys are all awesome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc.
Chapter Seven: Ninja Tests
Roxanne woke up with the sun shining in her face. She tried to roll over and ignore it, but it was blinding. Grudgingly, she got up and stretched. She then looked at the clock next to her bed and noticed the time said "11:30." She sat and thought. She could remember that there was something she had to do today, but she couldn't remember what.
Then, like an oncoming train, it hit her. Today was the day Tsunade was testing her and her friends, along with their dragons. She looked at the clock and she realized she was thirty minutes late to said test.
"SHIT!" she yelled as she jumped off her bed and ran to her closet. She quickly grabbed a tank-top, exercise shorts, socks and tennis shoes.
"Where the Hell are you?" she heard Gryffin asked through their mind bond. "I tried to contact you earlier, but all I got was you and a gruff looking man named Gerry Butler stuck on a huge boat."
Roxanne stopped dressing to laugh and thought, "That was a good dream. Thanks for reminding me."
"Not the point!" Gryffin yelled. "Why aren't you here yet?! The Nara guy looks pissed!"
"Shikamaru's there?" Rox gasped, stopping again.
"Yes, why?" Gryffin asked like the answer didn't really matter.
"Damn, and I don't look good! I have to pick out something else!" she thought as she raced back to her closet, looking for new outfits.
"You've got to be kidding me! You are not getting changed! If you do, I will tell the Nara that you're late because you want to look good for him!" Gryffin blackmailed.
"You wouldn't!" Roxanne gasped.
"Oh, I would," Gryffin replied darkly.
"You're an ass, you know that?" Rox asked.
"Yes, but I'm a loveable one," Gryffin replied. She could practically hear the smirk in his tone. "Now, speaking of asses, get yours down here, pronto!"
"Alright," Roxanne muttered, putting her last shoe on. She grabbed her inhaler for her Physical Activity induced Asthma and took a quick drag, dropping it back on the counter."I'm coming, I'm coming." With that she ran out the door, locking it on the way.
Shikamaru stood in the middle of the field waiting for the last of the eight to arrive. Tsunade asked him, Neji, Sakura, and Lee to help test the girls on their powers. Tsunade had already stated that Shikamaru would face Roxanne, Neji would face Ronni, Sakura would face Fred, and Lee would face Lynne. He was also none too pleased when Tsunade said that since Roxanne was the last to arrive to the test, she and Shikamaru were going first. He knew he was lazy, and it may seem a little hypocritical, but he didn't like it when others wasted his time with their laziness. He did have better things to do, like look at the clouds and guess shapes. Gryffin seemed on edge for a little while waiting for Rox. Then she made her grand entrance, and he was fine.
She came running into the field as fast as her feet could carry her. "Sorry I'm la-AH-OOF!" she apologized as she tripped oh so gracefully over a rock in her path, falling face flat in the dirt. Gryffin proceeded to fall on the ground in laughter, his talons clutching his abs, and pointing a feathered wing at her.
Shikamaru, being the gentleman that he was, walked over to her and helped her up. She quickly brushed herself off, as he asked her, "You okay?" Gryffin was still shrieking with laughter in the background, with a few, "Oh my God, you should have seen your FACE!!"
"Yeah, thanks," she smiled at Shikamaru.
"Yeah, just making sure that you aren't already injured before our match," he replied in a bored tone.
"You mean, you and I are fighting?" she asked, a little worried. Shikamaru nodded, slightly frowning. He still looked agitated about something. "Ok…. So you and I will be sparring, is there anything else I should know?"
"Are you two ready?" Tsunade called. She was standing with her arms crossed over her double e sized chest. The rest of the group was standing there as well. Rox was surprised to see so many people out at the field, and all staring at her and Shikamaru with waiting eyes.
"As you can see, we're first up because you were late," Shikamaru remarked, stuck his hands in his pockets and walked over to the group. Rox now understood why he was so annoyed. Firstly, Shikamaru hated having to fight like this and secondly, he hated going first at anything. She realized that little fact was similar between them. She followed him over to the group, her own hand subconsciously slipping into her pockets. "Yes, we're ready," Shikamaru said in a very bored tone.
Tsunade nodded, "Alright then, on with the rules. First, only use the weapons you are used to using, like kunai knives and such. Secondly, do not kill your opponent. Lastly, to win, you have to be able to kill your opponent."
"But… you said that we couldn't kill our opponents…." Ronni piped up, perplexed.
"Yes, you have to be able to deal a death blow. Mainly, when you go into that kind of move, you have your opponent subdued. Once that moment occurs, you are the victor. Just remember that these matches are for observation, so do your best. Any more questions?" The group remained quiet, so Tsunade nodded to Shikamaru and Rox, who walked to center of the large field.
Rox and Shikamaru stood there staring at each other for a few minutes. "How do we start?" Rox asked after another few minutes. Then she looked down and saw his extended shadow and panicked, becoming the wind and flying around him in the air. She appeared again at his nine o'clock. "Well, that was close."
Shikamaru turned to face Rox. She was quick, so that would make it hard to catch her. Just to see where she would go, Shikamaru sent another shadow after her. A gust of wind surrounded her, obscuring her, then it whirled around him in a wide circumference like before and she appeared in front him again, the same place as when they started. Making sure her appearance was random, Shikamaru sent the shadow back at her, and again the wind whipped around her, then around him again. This time, she appeared behind him.
Rox stood, slightly breathless, at Shikamaru's six o'clock. She thought he was going to send another shadow after her and was about to move again, but he didn't. He turned towards her with a small smirk on his face, then back flipped away from her, landing in a kneeling position, eyes clothes and hands in a triangle. 'Oh jeez, he's thinking….' Rox thought, taking a deep breath and jumping back as well. From her research, aka reading comics and watching TV, Shikamaru had a distance issue with his shadows. If she stayed far enough away, he wouldn't be able to catch her using shadow possession. If she got caught, she was stuck and at his mercy. She clenched her teeth. She knew she had to do something, but she didn't know what! Frustrated, she took another deep breath and shut her eyes, thinking. First though, she had to catch her breath before she had an asthma attack, which would not be pretty.
"What are they doing?" Nessie asked.
"Thinking," Neji and Gryffin said simultaneously.
"About what? Shouldn't they be fighting?" Ronni asked, still lost. Fred rolled her eyes and sighed at her younger sister.
"They're thinking about how to beat each other," Fred said, shooting her sister a look that said 'start using your brain.' Then she laughed. "God, Ronni you're not going to win this fight." Ronni glared at her sister before returning her gaze to the fight. "Besides, Rox is trying to calm down so her breathing doesn't get out of control." The statement caused a few heads to turn but Fred shook her head, not going to explain at that moment.
Rox had opened her eyes, her breath calm and her mind ready. Now was the time, she couldn't let him think of a way to beat her any longer. Sprinting towards the crouched ninja, she readied her wind for an attack. Suddenly, she froze in place, her muscles stuck in the same position. "Crap!" She hissed to herself, as the crouching ninja disappeared and she felt her body turn around to face the real Shikamaru who was standing with his hands in his pockets.
"Check mate," Shikamaru stated, then released his hold on his opponent and walked back towards the group. Rox's heart fell. Did this mean that she wouldn't pass? She trudged back to the group, trying her hardest to hide her immense disappointment. She stood, slightly breathless with the slight tingle of exercise, but she was able to shake it off and catch her breath.
"That was a great fight, Rox." Lynne said, patting her on the back, then she moved closer to whisper, "remember, he's a genius and a Jounin. You lasted more than ten minutes against him!" When she pulled away, Rox smiled at her for the encouragement.
"Alright, Neji, Ronni, you're up." Tsunade said after making a few notes on the scroll she brought with her.
"Good luck, Ronni," the other three girls gave Ronni their thumbs up with hopeful smiles.
Roxanne leaned towards the other two, and asked, "You think she'll win?"
"No," Lynne and Fred answered simultaneously, both shaking their heads.
Roxanne laughed at their answer. "Me neither."
Ronni stepped into the ring, directly in front of Neji, who scowled at her. He got into his fighting position, while Ronni just stood there staring at him, like a deer caught in head-lights. Neji could tell she was completely out of her element. He smirked and yelled, "Byakugan! Eight trigrams! Two palms!" then dove in for his attack. His hands were poised with chakra and aimed for the kill strike. He wanted this to end quickly.
His hand landed in between her breasts, a kill hit … if it had made contact. The area that Neji's hand had occupied currently consisted of water, so his attack was worthless.
Ronni frowned at Neji and slapped him. "How dare you touch my boobs!" Ronni scolded. Neji frowned again and tried with the same hand, this time in the shoulder. "You know, the definition of 'Insanity' is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results," Ronni smiled. Neji's eyes were wide at her impeccable defense. He back flipped away from her, and accepted a new attack pose.
"Four Palms!" he yelled, and it had a similar outcome. "Eight Palms … Sixteen Palms … Thirty-two Palms!" By now, his hands were moving so fast, Ronni had no way to block him except to become water. Neji couldn't believe his eyes. Ronni's entire being became water and she splooshed into a puddle. The puddle moved as if the water were spreading. And suddenly she rose as the puddle disappeared and it built her being again. She was far enough away that he couldn't launch an attack before she was able to block.
The only movement she made was she rose her hand and water flew up from the water ways underground, surrounding Neji in a bubble of raging water. Neji struggled, trying to escape. Everyone on the sidelines was gaping in disbelief.
"I think I won," Ronni stated, smiling, and looking at everyone else. Then she dropped Neji on the ground, wet and spluttering for air.
"Ronni," Lynne started, her mouth still agape, like the rest of the group.
"How in the world did you beat him?" Fred asked her little sister, her eyebrows furrowed in a surprisingly confused facial expression.
"Are you actually smart and feigning stupidity?" Rox asked, her face also contorted into confusion.
"You guys know what I always say. 'You guys don't understand that the stupid things I do are really smart,'" Ronni smiled, turning away from the group.
Tsunade blinked in her confusion. Ronni always acted stupidly, but she just beat one of Konoha's best geniuses of battle IN battle. Deciding to think on it further later, she announced the next fight, between Sakura and Fred.
They stood in battle positions, eyeing each other slowly. "Good luck, Sakura-san!" they heard Lee yell. Rox, being the competitive girl that she was, yelled to her best friend, "You beat that pink-haired punk with a switch!"
"You know," Fred said, smirking evilly at Sakura. Fred pointed her hand down, and a flimsy twig grew from the ground, and shot into Fred's expectant hand. "That sound like a plan. You ready?"
Sakura lunged at her opponent, arm full of chakra, ready to splinter Fred's body. Fred dodged and spun, hitting Sakura's back with the switch. Sakura swung her elbow around, catching Fred in the jaw. Fred jumped back, holding her jaw, which was throbbing with pain. She shook it off and yelled to Sakura, "Is that all you got?" as she grew another switch and caught it in her other hand. Sakura sneered at the comment. "Well then come on!" Sakura lunged with a punch, which Fred blocked with one switch, and she beat Sakura five times in rapid motion with the other switch. Sakura punched Fred in the stomach with her weaker arm, just to get away from the beatings. They both stepped away, wheezing and holding their stomachs, where each had caused the other pain. "Can you continue?" Fred wheezed.
Sakura shook her head. She could barely move due to the welts the switches caused forming on her body.
"Me neither," Fred said in a laughing wheeze. So the match ended in a tie. Fred made her way back to the sidelines, dropping to sit once she got there.
Then Tsunade called out the last match. "Lee vs. Lynne." Lee jumped into the center of the ring, as Lynne walked. They stood on opposite centers of the ring, Lee in his usual fighting stance and Lynne in a relaxed pose. Saryu gracefully opened her mind enough to hear Lee's thoughts.
Lee ran at her with an incredible kick, which contacted into something unseen. He tried to punch at her, but there was some sort of barrier, but when contact was made, it reverberated a purplish blue color.
"You think you can trick me with a barrier?" Lee asked. "Well think again!" He remembered his fight with Gaara, who also had a barrier, and started his run for a lotus.
He was running so fast, that it was almost impossible to see him. But Lynne didn't need to see him. His thoughts gave him away. She let him run his third lap before she blocked his path with a force-field. Hitting it, he bounced off, holding his face which had slapped hard against the clear wall. Suddenly Lynne started laughing.
"What is so funny?" Lee demanded.
"Nothing, it's just, what just happened with you running really fast in circles and then running into my force-field, that was a scene in a movie my friends and I frequently watch," Lynne laughed.
"Please do not play any games with me," Lee scolded, running back at her. He punched again, and tried running fast again then moving in for a punch, but it always turned out the same way. He came in contact with her unbreakable barrier. Lynne just laughed at his attempts.
She smiled at a confused Lee who wouldn't back down. "It's time to end this little scrimmage," she stated. Quickly, she trapped him in a barrier and held him above the ground. She shrunk the ball slowly until Tsunade could see that he was being compressed into a ball. Then she let him go, letting him fall to the ground. Lynne walked over to him and offered him a hand up.
"Thank you," he said, taking her hand.
"It's nothing. Just next time, don't think you can beat someone who can read your mind. It's impossible, because they know the next move you're going to make and how to block it," Lynne offered.
His eyes got huge. "You can read minds?" With that, Lynne walked off, leaving Lee to his fascination of her power.
The four girls lined up in front of Tsunade, who looked at them with scrutinizing eyes. "After what I've seen today from you four, I have decided to make you ninjas of Konoha. But you are already past the level of normal genin, so I'll go ahead and push you to chuunin. But, I do believe none of you used chakra in those bouts, because none of you know how. Correct?" The four girls nodded their heads. "Well then, you need to be taught how to use chakra correctly as soon as possible. Shikamaru, I'm assigning you to teach Roxanne. I will get Kakashi to teach Lynne. Sakura, I'm assigning you to teach Fred. And lastly, I'm assigning you, Neji, to teach Ronni. You are all dismissed."
Gaara stood on his room's balcony, which connected to the other rooms' balconies. He always loved looking at the night sky, and it was currently nearing midnight. He wasn't too tired now, but the previous days' travel had left him feeling drained. Today, the council had let him rest and tomorrow, he would get back to work.
"Hey," he heard a female voice behind him. Startled, he spun around to see Cordi's brown almost black eyes staring at him. She held her hands up in a calming gesture and said, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He gave her a pointed look, then turned back to look at the heavenly stars, placing his hands back on the balcony wall. "So," she sighed, "You and Matsuri, huh?"
"What? No!" Gaara replied as if she were crazy. Even though it was dark, she could see that his face contradicted his words. He was blushing and his eyes were wide. She laughed. She had never seen Gaara like this, drawn or in real life. He suddenly looked down and asked, "Am I that transparent?"
"Well, your facial expressions give you away. It's about as subtle as a train wreck," Cordi replied, laughing a little pointing to his face. Then he sighed, as if troubled. "But, then again, you have to be able to read body language to notice. And, yes, your body language was screaming it to me, but I don't think anyone else noticed," she comforted.
He sighed again with relief. "Good, because it's supposed to be a secret," he explained, looking away from Cordi.
"To tell the truth, I could never see you two together," she stated. She hopped up on the balcony wall, so she was sitting, facing him. "You wanna' talk about it?"
"Not really," he answered, not looking at her.
"Don't bottle, it's not healthy," Cordi ordered.
"Bottle?" he asked, eyes narrowed as if in question.
"Yeah. Bottling emotions, like you get pissed at someone, but you hold it down, and don't tell anyone, until you can't hold in your emotions anymore, and you blow up," she explained. His eyes widened, as if thinking he would actually explode. "Figuratively speaking, of course. I doubt you want to go nuts on an un-suspecting passer-by, right?"He nodded. "Now, the best way to get rid of the pent-up emotions is to discuss them with someone who is neutral in the matter, someone who doesn't really care about what happened, but is willing to listen, a friend.
"I bottle, too, sometimes, but if I'm having an issue, I tend to rant about it to my sister or one of my friends, until the feeling passes. So, I'm giving you a chance to open that bottle, and tell me what's going on, and what's bothering you about it," Cordi offered. Then she tilted her head to the side, a grimace on her face. "Or, if you'd rather, you can keep bottling until it becomes too much for you to handle, and an innocent someone who is asking to borrow a paper-clip gets pummeled with sand." She winced a bit at the scenario. Gaara thought about his options for a little bit.
"Well," he said, then hopped up onto the balcony wall to sit next to her, "Matsuri and I have known each other for six or seven years. She was the first person in this village to accept me." He smiled a little. "She'd always drop by, even when I became Kazekage, to discuss ninja theory with me, if she wasn't getting something. Sometimes, she just came by to hang out." His smile seemed to drop as he continued. "But a couple months ago, it began to heat up. And I mean really heat up, like the kissing, and the sex. Especially the sex." His tone reminded Cordi of a hormone-crazed, sex-obsessed teenager. And it was obvious to her that he had forgotten he was sharing this information with someone other than himself. Cordi rose an eyebrow and pursed her lips, showing a small uncomfortable smile. "Sorry, too much information," Gaara blushed.
"No, please continue. It's just, uhm," She rambled a little. "Just continue."
"Well, during one of our conversations a couple months ago, we both realized we had feelings for each other, so we decided to start seeing each other. But she told me that she wanted to keep it a secret because teacher/student relationships aren't really thought well of. Also, she felt that she would be considered a gold-digger. So, I've tried my hardest to follow her request to keep it a secret, but it's harder than I thought it would be," Gaara explained. His eyes held a sorrowful gleam in them. "I mean, all the sneaking around. It's exciting, but it's a bit tedious. Sometimes, I just want to take her to the park and kiss her, or walk around town and hold her hand."
Cordi laughed and said, "I had no idea you were so romantic."
"Thanks for the encouragement," Gaara glared.
"Sorry," Cordi chuckled. "Do you want my advice?" He looked at her, a non-existent eyebrow raised. "Keep it a secret. But don't hold the relationship too close to your heart. In the experiences I have seen, the relationships you keep a secret don't normally end well. For example, your family might not agree, which could cause a rip in the relationship between both your family and your significant other. Take Romeo and Juliet for example."
"Who are they?" Gaara asked.
Cordi just blinked at him. "You don't know?" He shook his head. "Well, they are two people who had what we call Love-At-First-Sight, but they were born in two families who had been feuding against each other for centuries, probably over some book that wasn't returned, but whatever. They got married and decided to keep it a secret, and then Juliet's cousin found out."
"Well, what happened to them?" Gaara asked, curiously.
"Well, after a long and ridiculous plot twist, where Romeo is banished for killing Juliet's cousin after a duel the cousin started, Juliet tries to escape by pretending she's dead. Romeo hears of her so called 'death' in the next town over, and commits suicide. After she wakes up, she finds out Romeo committed suicide, so she decides to, as well. The End," Cordi summarized. "But that's beside the point. The fact is, they kept their relationship a secret, and it ended very badly."
"I guess you're right," Gaara grimaced and looked back at the stars.
"And if you have any more need to rant about something. Come find me and talk to me. I have a pretty good open mind," Cordi added. Gaara nodded. "Well, I'm kinda' tired. I'm gonna go ahead and go to sleep. Good night."
"Good night," Gaara replied. "Oh, and Cordi?"
She turned around to face him and asked, "Hm?"
"Thank you," Gaara answered. "And I have set our bout for Monday, 11:00. That's three days from now."
"You're welcome, and thanks," Cordi replied with a wave, then walked back to her bedroom.
AN: Haha, yeah, can someone say TMI for Gaara? Anyway, thanks for reading this! Please remember to review! And I'm warning you now, it's about to get dark!