My internet is being a bully :( enough said.
Enjoy!
Chapter 21
No Rest for the Wicked
The last thing she remembered was how cold she was when she fell asleep in Lee's arms as he jumped through the trees while following Neji to the checkpoint. Everything else was either a giant blur or a realistic dream. Either way, the environment felt... calm, tranquil, no harm to fear of or from.
Am I dead? Grr... I hate this.
Her eyes slowly opened to a room filled with blinding white light. She looked around to see familiar figured and smiled.
"Hey Lee... Neji... where am I?"
"We're at the checkpoint's infirmary. It's been a day since we got here." Neji answered. "The medical nin said you probably wouldn't wake up in time for the exam, they were proven wrong. You have two full days for you to heal and fight again, I suggest you rest." Neji gave her a cold stare, knowing her, she probably would be moving around.
"Fine, I will." She attempted to shift in her bed but cringed in pain and held her stomach.
"Don't move! You'll reopen the wound." Lee gently pushed her shoulders back down to the bed.
She sighed and just laid there. "Wait! Where's Hatsuharu?! The scrolls?!"
"Calm down Asuka, we were waiting for you to wake up before opening them." Neji told her as he held both of the scrolls in his hand.
"And Hatsuharu is with Kiba." Lee finished.
Neji nodded and tossed the earth scroll to Lee. He caught it and nodded in return. They both got low to the ground and opened the scrolls at the same time. Half of the room was then filled with smoke and a familiar figure and pose in all the thick smoke.
"Good work team Guy!"
"Guy Sensei!" Lee exclaimed.
"That's right Lee! I'm proud of you to have passed... what happened to Asuka?" Guy asked.
Lee lowered his head and let his eyes be covered by shadows. "It was my fault Guy sensei, if I had paid more attention, she wouldn't have been injured."
Guy placed a hand on his shoulder and slightly squeezed. "Lee, mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit to them."
Lee looked up at him with wide eyes. "You are right!" the spark that ignited his fire before was lit again. "I will admit to mistake," He went over to Asuka and stared deeply into her eyes. "If you are able to forgive me."
Asuka gave him a warm smile as she struggled to sit up. She then pulled him into a hug. "Lee, I will always forgive you for your mistakes if you are willing to admit to them, never forget that." She gave him a gentle squeeze and shared their warmth.
Lee accepted the hug happily. "Thank you."
How cute! Guy thought to himself. Young love just waiting to blossom into full bloom. Guy's eyes filled with flames... or hearts, it was hard to tell right now.
Neji's eyes narrowed as he started to massage his temples. There's too much... 'mushy' stuff going on. He calmly walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
"Oh, hey... yah, you can go in." Neji told him as he walked past and to a chair.
He walked in and raised his deep voice to the three people.
"Hatsuharu!" Asuka cried out and extended her arms to him.
Hatsuharu accepted them with joy and licked her face thoroughly while wagging his tail vigorously; knocking off some of the stuff off the bedside table.
"I missed you too boy!" She scratched the back of his ears and kissed his cold, wet nose as happy tears slid down her rosy red cheeks. "Guh... cough!" She started to cough up blood again and got some on her companion.
"Asuka!" Both Guy and Lee exclaimed in unison.
Hatsuharu got off and let Asuka ease herself back into her bed.
"Lee, get Neji back in here, I'll then tell you why I was summoned." Guy told his young pupil.
"Yes sensei!" Lee saluted and opened the door and called Neji in.
Neji came in and closed the door. "What is it?"
"Originally I was summoned here to give you some last minute advice before leaving." He cleared his throat and got serious. "Do you know why these scrolls were called 'heaven' and 'earth'?" They all shook their heads and let him continue. "Think about it, what makes chakra control easier? It's something you should have learned in the academy."
"A perfect mind and body, right?" Asuka answered.
"Correct Asuka, think of heaven as the mind, and earth as the body. You need both to be equal to be a great ninja!" He happily explained as he gave them a good guy pose. "Now, the advice I will now give you will help you if you face anybody from out of the village."
Lee nodded and pulled out a notepad and a pencil.
"Lee! Don't take notes, you won't be able to look at them in the heat of battle!" Guy scolded him.
"Yes sensei!" Lee put his stuff back and made sure to listen.
"Now then, the ninja from the sand village are mostly long distance fighters. Which means that they are weak in close quarters combat." Guy told them, they all nodded and let him continue. "The ninja whom came from the newer village known as the 'village Hidden in the Sound' are good in all ranged combat, so you need to think of a good strategy while in the heat of battle."
"What of the other smaller villages? Like the grass or waterfall?" Neji asked calmly.
"I have not heard of any of them passing yet, but they are not much of a problem since they're Genin, even facing off against you shouldn't be too hard." Guy told them. "Now I must be off, I have done my part, now the rest is up to you four!" He gave them the good guy pose again. "I know you'll make me proud! Good luck!" He vanished into a puff of smoke and left them.
"Anybody else have anything to say before I go to sleep?" Asuka asked them tiredly.
"Nope." Neji answered as he left again.
"Rest well, if you have any bad dreams again, just tell me." He gave her a welcoming smile. "Alright?"
She nodded, "Yah, I will, don't worry."
He nodded in return and left her with Hatsuharu.
"Well, goodnight boy." She petted him and went to sleep soon after.
ooOoO0OoOoo
The next couple of days were easy, she mostly rested and ate while in recovery. To all of the medical nins surprise, she healed faster than expected. All that's left is internal bruising and a light scar from the blade.
The only people who visited her were her teammates, Kiba, surprisingly Kankuro and the blonde girl named "Temari", and Hinata... that's it really. Everybody else was either resting or prepping for battle. It was now the last day for people to come back from the Forest of Death. Naruto's team made it just in time too, last minute just in time.
After the Hokage told us what will be happening with the preliminary rounds and how they will work, how if you even lose you might become a Chūnin. And that Kabuto kid Asuka never met forfeited, making it even to have ten rounds. The first round was with Uchiha and Yoroi Akudo.
"Asuka," Guy spoke to her, "Go to sleep, you'll need it for your upcoming match."
Her eyes shot wide, "But, what of Lee and Neji's match? Don't I get to watch them?" She frantically asked.
"Of course! I'll just wake you when it happens." Guy reassured her.
She sighed and laid back into the welcoming fur of her companion and then drifted off to sleep with the warmth healing her new deep scar. Her dreams were filled with sounds of fighting and screaming, mixed with death. In other words, she was having another nightmare.
"Hey, wake up," Guy gently shook her shoulder, "Lee's match is about to go on."
She stretched out her tired limbs and got up from her body sized pillow named Hatsuharu to lean against the cold rail. She groggily smiled as she saw Lee in his fighting stance against Temari.
"GO LEE! YOU CAN DO THIS!" Asuka fist pumped for Lee.
He kept his focus on Temari, eyeing the giant black rectangular block on her back.
"You're about to fight the Leaf's Handsome Devil!" Lee told her.
"Humph, you're pretty confident, I'll blow you away." Temari retorted.
Within a few seconds the match started. Lee sped off to her and tried punching her, but she blocked with her rectangular object and jumped back to the wall.
"Once the three moons rise, you're finished." Temari taunted him as she revealed the giant object to be an oversized fan with a purple circle on the fan. She swung her giant fan with great power and nearly sliced Lee's arm off if it weren't for his strength and speed.
He took off again and juke a right punch and did a low sweep; knocking her off her feet and kicking her into the wall, leaving a giant crater with debris flying.
The wind was literally knocked out of her as Lee kept going with kicks and punches, making her stumble with every step as she tried her hardest to keep balance.
She finally gathered her bearings and did a substitution jutsu then tried getting him with another blow from her fan.
The wind merely grazed Lee and left his jumpsuit with a few tears and rips. He grinned and sped off again to her, faking her out and went behind her instead. He kicked her into the air and jumped with her.
Asuka laughed under her breath, "It's all over."
"You said it Asuka!" Guy acknowledged.
"What do you mean?" Naruto queered.
"That is the primary lotus, when used it hurts both the user and the opponent, but it hurts way more being the opponent, I should know." She laughed and rubbed her arm from her "joyful" memories.
"What's the primary lotus? Is that a jutsu I can learn!?" Naruto exclaimed.
"No, it's no jutsu, you solely use taijutsu, which you suck at Naruto." Asuka teased.
"Hey! I do not! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed and pointed a finger at her.
She quickly grabbed his finger and bent it back, making him fall to his knees and pleading her to stop. "It's not polite to point Naruto." She smirked and let go of his finger. She looked back at the fight and smiled, "Looks like Lee won."
Lee smiled with barely a scratch on him, while Temari had to be carried off by medical ninja. He jumped back up to his teammate's side and had the biggest grin on his face.
"YAHOO! I'M ABLE TO GO ON TO THE NEXT ROUND!" Lee jumped in the air with glee.
"Lee, calm down." Asuka told him as she timed it just right and hugged him while his feet barley made contact with the ground.
Lee smiled and petted her hair while putting his other arm around her waist. "Ok, I'm just so happy."
"I'm happy too." She smiled into his chest.
They released and Guy placed a hand on Lee's shoulder. "Lee... I'm proud of you too." He gave him the good guy pose with a little more twinkle than normal in his shiny white teeth. "Asuka, go back to sleep if it's not Neji next, ok? You need to keep your strength up for your match.
She nodded in agreement and lay back down onto Hatsuharu's warm welcoming fur. She looked at the screen and didn't see any name with "Hyuga" or "Neji" So she went to sleep and ignored the fight.
After a few more moments in dreamland, her silent mind was disrupted by a similar voice.
"Hey... Asuka, wake up." Somebody was rubbing her arm, coaxing her to wake up. "Neji's match is starting." Lee kept trying to coax her awake with a relaxed voice.
She groaned and opened her eyes with a hint of grogginess, "Really? That was fast..." She slowly got up and leaned against the rail with her arms crossed and eyes half open. Her tiredness quickly burned up and renewed into shock. "Neji is going up against his little cousin Hinata?!"
Lee nodded in response. "I don't know who to cheer on..."
"Or if Neji even needs cheering." Asuka butted in. "I would cheer for Hinata, but that would be going against my own teammate. HEY NEJI! CAN I CHEER FOR HINATA?!" She cried out to him.
All he did was give her a death glare in return.
"I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!" Asuka finished. "GO HINATA! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!"
"YAH! GO HINATA!" Naruto cheered with her.
Hinata glanced at them and back to Neji with a worried look on her face.
She was nervous.
"HINATA! YOU CAN DO IT! I KNOW YOU CAN!" Asuka cheered her on, "YOU'RE STRONGER THAN YOU IMPLY AND I KNOW IT!"
Hinata swallowed the hard lump in her throat and breathed calmly; activating her Byakugan in the process. Not soon after the match begun and it seemed like a pretty even match at first.
Hinata and Neji were trying to land gentle fists on each other with their chakra filled palms. If any of them actually make contact with one another, it would deal a great amount of damage on the inside, causing internal bleeding for who knows how long.
Neji kept trying to get her to back down by telling her that her destiny was to forever lose because of her unchangeable personality and nature.
"DONT LISTEN TO HIM HINATA!" Naruto cheered to her, "YOUR STRONGER THAN HIM!"
She nodded and gained a little confidence, then showed it by getting a little faster and landing a few gentle fists on him. She kept it up and told her older cousin that she was tired of running away and wanted to face the dangers ahead of her.
Neji then stopped her attacks and pulled back her sleeve, showing little dark brown marks.
"Uh oh..." Asuka accidentally let out.
"What do you mean?! What happened?!" Naruto practically yelled out.
"You see those little circles on her arms?" Asuka pointed out. Naruto nodded and let her continue. "Neji did that, making it impossible to beat Neji now."
"Why?" Naruto queered, showing a bit more interested in learning.
"Neji has blocked her chakra, making it to ware Hinata can't do gentle fist. She possesses the Byakugan, meaning that is one of the main attacks the Hyuga clan can learn, but they can learn so many more attacks if they are advanced like Neji." Asuka told him.
"How is Neji advanced?" Naruto kept questioning her.
"Neji didn't even come close to showing his potential against her, that's why I wanted to cheer on Hinata, at least give her some confidence so then she can have a chance against him." Asuka sighed twirled her hair in her fingers.
"Hinata can still do this though!" Naruto yelled out to her.
Asuka just stood there, wide eyed at Neji and Hinata. Hinata was coughing up blood, and Neji had that look in his eye when Asuka really made him mad, or when he's just in one of those "moods". Either way, she knew the look in his eyes weren't a good sign, and that she needed to end this match, fast... Because the proctor of the tournament already said stop and he's not stopping.
"Neji!" Asuka jumped in and tackled him to the ground, pinning him to the ground with his face to the floor and her knees on his shoulders. "Stop, you'll kill her!"
"I wasn't-"
"Shut up! I saw it in your eyes! You had the intent to kill your own cousin!" She pushed his face to the ground and grabbed his dark brown hair in her fist.
"Get off of me!" Neji tried wriggling his way free but failed with the help of Asuka's weighted jacket.
"Asuka," Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "You can stop, we got him."
She sighed and got off of him, "I'm sorry Neji, but that was going to be an unnecessary death to a family member of your own, I am truly disappointed in you." She gave him a death glare filled with cold flames before she headed back up the stairs.
"Asuka, why did you do that?"
She darted her eyes to the questioner and eased up a bit. "I don't know Lee... I guess I don't want to see Neji kill her, that's not like him, I know him better than that."
"Hmmm..." Lee scratched the side of his head and got deep into thought. "Hey! Look! It's your match!" Lee declared happily.
"Really? Who is it?" She looked at the screen with content that soon turned into mortified and paralyzed. She looked down at the battle field to see her competitor just waiting for her to come down.
"Asuka? What's wrong?" Lee asked and placed a hand on her shoulder.
She swallowed hard, her breath shaky and uneven, whole body quaking in total fear.
"Don't be scared! I know you can take him on!" Lee's encouraging failed.
"I-I'm... Sssscared... L-L-Lee." Her grip tightened on the railing as she bit her lip.
Hatsuharu licked her hand, causing her to jump and look at her faithful companion. He looked up at her with sad, puppy-dog eyes.
She took a deep breath and exhaled.
I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. She death gripped her sword's handle and sighed.
"I'll do it." Was all she said before hopping off and landing a few feet in front of her competitor.
"Are both sides ready?" The proctor asked them.
Her competitor nodded only slightly and narrowed his eyes at her.
Hatsuharu came to her side and nudged her, she petted him gently grabbed a fistful of fur and nodded.
"Ready..." the proctor began.
"Good luck... Gaara." Asuka told him.
"GO!"
News! I will be only publishing one chapter per week for a while. 1. Because it's UIL week and I have tests to study for the upcoming few months left of school. 2. My time is being consumed for another project I'm not revealing yet, but it is a comic, not a story. And 3. Nobody really reviews… I love reviews telling me if I'm doing ok or not, or if they like the chapter or not. So… simple, if there aren't any reviews, then I feel like I'm typing time away from other stuff I could be doing. I'm sad to say that, but that's how I feel…
Sure I enjoy writing it, but I don't want to feel like nobody likes it. I know I have followers and Favorites on this thing, but… you guys are supporting silently… I like a little cheerleading… At least a little support would be nice. All my real life friends don't know Naruto and get confused when reading this, like, "what's chakra"… that sort of lost.
Anywho, see you guys next week!
3/25/13
*Even a Strong Will is Never Enough*
And I'm not going to bother asking for reviews, I stay silent and you guys do nothing, I ask politely and you guys turn the other cheek… so yeah. :/ not even Lee can cheer me up right now.