"No," Kira whispered shakily, covering her mouth.
"This is unfair," a Neko girl crossed her arms, "Nobody should have to fight Kira; she's too good. It's not fair."
"They shouldn't put a poor girl like Akemi against Kira," another one whispered in the sea of whispers and hushed voices that had erupted, "They shouldn't even have let Kira enter the Chunin exams."
"She's not even human."
"She's a monster."
"A freak."
Kira felt the last word ring painfully in her ears. She clutched her black tinted ears, bringing them down to meet the sides of her head, her eyes closed tight. Her body began to quake as she fought back the tears that were threatening to break through her eyes at any moment.
Monster. Freak.
"Tag! You're it!"
"Wait for me!"
"I'm gonna get you!"
"Eeek! Stay away!"
The young boy raced after, his finger outstretched as he tried to touch her shoulder. The girl quickly darted to left, skidding across the dirt ground. She ducked under a bench as another friend tried to grab her sleeve and resumed running, laughing wildly as she ran circles across the playground.
"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!"
After what seemed like a long time of running around, the four children fell to the ground with a clash; exhausted and panting.
"I'm tired of this game," one boy moaned weakly.
"She's too fast," a girl whined, "How'd she get that fast anyway?"
Suddenly, a shadow crept up over them in the sunlight. They four children looked up to see their friend, who had not even worked up a pant. She peered down at them with her glinting red eyes, her large hat she wore shading them from the sun. She grinned down at them.
"Let's play again!" she laughed, turning circles around her exhausted friends, "Let's make it harder this time!"
"You're too fast for us, Kira," one of the boys complained, sitting up as Kira grabbed his hand and hoisted him up, "How'd you get like that?"
"Do you have a trainer who teaches you that stuff?" a girl eagerly asked as they suddenly surrounded her. They had been playing with Kira for a long time now, and ever since they had met her, she always seemed to be faster then them at everything. They were tired or losing tag games to her; they wanted to know her secret.
"I dunno," Kira shrugged happily, adjusting the cap on her head, "I guess I'm just fast like that. Who wants to play another game?" The friends looked at each other.
"Not just yet," another boy said, stepping forward, "You have to tell us what your secret is." Kira was mildly up fronted.
"I don't have any secrets," she said, confused by her friends tone, "I guess I'm just fast."
"No, you've been hiding something from us," a girl pointed a finger towards her head, "Like, why do you always wear that cap over your head?" Kira put two hands on her cap; she feared losing it.
"My mommy says I have to wear it," Kyra lied, trying to change the subject; her mother told her to never take it off outside. "Let's play the leaf game! Please?" Her friends stared suspiciously at her, but soon resumed their playful attitude.
"Yeah! Let's gather up a bunch of leaves!" they cheered.
Her friends ran around, gathering up as many leaves as they could and throwing them into a big pile in the middle of the playground. Once they gathered as many stray leaves as they could, Kira put her hands over the leaves.
"Are you ready?" she grinned at them.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Her friends cheered, eager to play the familiar game. Focusing her chakra as much as she could in her hands, Kira suddenly threw her hands up towards the sky, sending the leaves flying up into the air and scattering everywhere. They laughed and ran, jumping up to catch the leaves that delicately floated down. The air was filled with the calm whisper of the wind and their laughing.
"Wow, Kira, you're good!" A boy laughed in amazement, "Make them go higher!"
"Higher!" Kira laughed as she threw her hands up again, making the leaves soar higher and higher. Soon her friends had gathered around, amazed by her steady control over the wind. Kira grinned at her own work; it was her to master the wind.
Suddenly, Kira felt the wind roar of a powerful wind gust rise up around, sending the leaves scattering around her like spiders. Her friends watched as Kira put her hands down, amazed by her own powers, when she suddenly felt the cap on her head fly off, soaring above her.
Her heart stopped.
She grabbed her head, hoping to hide anything that was showing.
"Oh no," she said quietly, her eyes scanning in every direction for the hat. Where was it? Was it too late?
A harsh silence had fallen among the friends. They gasped in fear, staring at their friend. Kira looked back at them, her eyes glazed with fear. They stared back, equally frightened.
"…W-what are you!?" One of her friends suddenly screamed, taking a step back.
"I…I…," Kira tried to find her words, but her friends' frightened faces were making it impossible.
"Her ears!" her other friend screamed in fear, "They-they're like cat ears!"
"What the heck are you!? A monster!?" Another screamed as they began to step back in fear. Kira felt tears start to pour from her eyes, the wind chilling them against her face. She didn't want it to happen. Not like this.
She tried to take a step forward, to let them know that there was nothing to be afraid of, that this was just silly, but her friends suddenly screamed, running away from her.
"No! Please!" Kira yelled out, tears now streaming down her face.
"She's a monster!" they screamed, "A freak! Get away! Don't touch us, freak! Stay away, monster! Help! Help! There's a monster attacking us!"
Kira watched as her friends ran out of right, never to return. The wind began to clam around her. It scattered leaves, sending them skidding around Kira as she wiped her eyes, holding back sobs. She gently bent down to retrieve her hat that had skidded next to her feet. She looked at it in her trembling hands, and suddenly gripped it furiously, sobbing into it as she stood on the empty play ground alone.
Kakashi looked at Kira. She was still, her eyes closed tight as she tried to block out the whispers around her. Akemi was standing next to her, saying nothing. Was this how it was supposed to end? Would they end up betraying each other's trust in battle?
Kakashi walked over her to slowly. Kira looked up at him, her eyes glazed over.
"Kira, despite what you may think of the Sound ninja and of Masaru," Kakashi suddenly said softly, "This will be one of your greatest challenges yet."
Kira shook her head, closing her eyes tight.
"I don't want to fight Akemi," Kira said sadly, "I don't want to fight any of these people," she suddenly looked up at him with glistening eyes, "Kakashi sensei, these are my friends!"
Kakashi knew that the battle would start any moment, by right now, her shaky words were still echoing in his head.
He kneeled down to eye level with her water eyes and put a reassuring hand on her head.
"You're whole life you've never had a friend to call your own," Kakashi nodded sadly, "I know that these people are your own kind, and that you trust them, but in life, you will be put in situations like this where you have to go up against your one and only friend. You will make other friends, and lose other friends in your life, but you have to remember to look out for yourself to. I'm not asking you to win or lose; I just want you to prove yourself to all the people who didn't see what Akemi saw in you. Don't do this for Akemi; do it for yourself."
"Will the two participants please step down?" Atari's voice suddenly rang through the silent air.
Kira was silent, her eyes now calm. She nodded slowly, suddenly digging into her pocket and pulling something out.
"I was saving this for a time like this," she whispered
Kakashi watched in amazement as Kira took a metal headband from her pocket; something Nekos did not posses. Everyone's eyes were now locked on the small Neko girl as she tied the headband around her neck slowly and firmly, looking at in from beneath her. Kakashi looked at it in amazement: it was a Suna headband.
"This was my dad's," Kira said quietly, gripping the metal on the scratched and worn headband, "He gave it to me before he died." She looked up at Kakashi. The determined glint was back in her fierce red eyes.
"I wanna prove to him that I'm as strong as everybody thinks I am!" she grinned, "Because that's what he always told me."
Kakashi smiled at her.
"Go get 'em," he said.