Chapter 3: Meet the Team
Kiyoko was awake the moment the sun peeked over the Hokage monument. She quickly put on her new outfit, brushed through her hair, and tiptoed past Naruto's room into the kitchen. She fixed herself some toast and ate in a hurry. She left some breakfast on a plate for her friend along with a note explaining that she was going to go train for a few hours before meeting her new team. As she stepped outside, she took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air before gathering the chakra to her feet and leaping from rooftop to rooftop toward the training ground. Kiyoko laughed to herself when she saw that the area she'd destroyed had been cleaned up considerably. She was relieved to be alone. It gave her room to think.
"Doton: Iwa Enbannage!" ('Earth Element: Rock Discus Throw')
Kiyoko made rapid frisbee-throwing motions with her arms, and as each arm lashed out a discus shaped, compacted plate of earth sprung up from the ground and hurled itself where she wanted it to go. Deciding not to obliterate anymore targets, Kiyoko instead made the rocks crash into each other. This is pretty damn fun, she decided with a delighted grin as she concentrated on timing each throw so that it would hit one of the other rock-discs. She completely lost her concentration, however, when a small figure leapt out of nowhere and snatched one right out of the air. The airborne discs fell to earth with a thump. She caught a glimpse of the thing just before it darted out of sight. It was a... dog?
"Good catch, Akamaru!" called a voice to her left. Kiyoko whirled to see the small, white puppy run up to a boy with shaggy, brown hair and two red fang tattoos below each eye and drop the prize at his feet.
"Sorry if I surprised you," the boy apologized. "He thought it would be fun to catch one of those rock thingies. I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is Akamaru."
"That's okay, it's my fault for not sensing you guys. I'm Kiyoko."
"Nice to meet you, Kiyoko-chan. Do you mind if we practice with you?" asked Kiba. Kiyoko told him that that would be great. "It's kind of boring practicing alone."
She continued to fling out rock-discs, but not as many at once, so Kiba and Akamaru could leap up and destroy each one before it hit the ground. After awhile, they all took a break so that they could all catch their breaths and give their chakra a chance to replentish itself.
"You and Akamaru make quite a team," Kiyoko remarked. She'd been impressed at the way they knew exactly what the other was thinking and were able to plan their next move accordingly.
"Thanks. You were pretty good, too. Where'd you learn how to do that?" Kiba inquired.
"No clue. Your guess is as good as mine," she answered. Kiba tilted his head in question, mirroring Akamaru. Kiyoko was getting a bit tired of explaining it, but she told Kiba the whole amnesia story.
"Well that's... interesting. So you have no idea who tried to kill you?"
"Nope, nothin' in my noggin," she replied, rapping her knuckles on her head. Akamaru let out a series of barks, and Kiba laughed and scratched the back of the puppy's ear.
"He says that sometimes it's better not to remember, for knowing the past can sometimes be more painful that living in blissful ignorance. He also says that if you did have your memories, then we wouldn't have met and had such a fun time playing 'Kill the Frisbee'."
"My, what an insightful puppy," Kiyoko laughed. "Well I'm glad he had fun. I had fun, too."
Akamaru let out a happy arf and ran off across the grounds, barking at something. Kiba sniffed the air once. "The Fifth is here. She's probably looking for you. Oh, and she has some nasty smelling medicine with her, too," he informed her. Wow, all that from one sniff? He's like a friggin dog with opposable thumbs. Sure enough, Tsunade appeared a moment later with a paper bag.
"Hi, Kiyoko. Naruto said you'd be here. I have a few things for you."
She pulled out a bottle of dark amber liquid and handed it to her. "I forgot to give this to you. I want you to take two teaspoons of it every day. It'll help with the soreness."
She then took out a headband with the Konohagakure leaf symbol on the metal plate. Beaming with happiness, Kiyoko tied it around her head and thanked Tsunade for her kindness. She looked hopefully and the blonde senin and asked, "Have you found me a team yet?"
"As a matter of fact, I have. They should be here any minute," she answered, looking around for said ninjas. Right on cue, a woman with curly brown hair and red eyes arrived, followed by a dark haired girl and a bushy haired boy with sunglasses. Kiba laughed, "Hey, looks like you're on my team!"
Tsunade nodded. "Yep, this is your new team. I have much business to take care of, so I'll leave you guy to get to know each other."
With that, she left in a swirl of leaves and a small pop. The red-eyed woman turned to her and said, "I'm your new sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai. This is Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata. I see you've already met Kiba and Akamaru."
"Yeah, we did a bit of training this morning. I'm Kiyoko."
"Glad to have you on the team, Kiyoko. How about we get to know one another over breakfast? Then we can start training," she suggested. Kiyoko's stomach growled in agreement and Kiba jumped up eagerly. "Free food? Let's go!"
"You might want to brush your clothes off. You're both filthy," Kurenai laughed. Kiyoko looked at her and Kiba's clothes. Ah, the woes of using dirt as a weapon. She did a few seals and the dirt jumped right off their bodies.
"Cool," Kiba remarked. "Now off to get some food!""So, did Tsunade-sama tell you guys about my... ah... condition?" Kiyoko asked, feeling that was something they needed to know if they were to be a team. Kurenai nodded. "She told me about it when she asked me if I was willing to add you to my team, and I told Shino and Hinata on the way over."
That made things a lot easier. Kurenai changed the subject by asking, "Tell us a bit about your fighting style. The Fifth says that you specialize in earth element techniques, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right. I mold my chakra around the earth and rocks and use them as a weapon."
Kiyoko turned to Hinata and Shino, who seemed to not like talking, and asked, "So how about you two?"
"I use hand-to-hand taijutsu and my byakugan," said Hinata quietly. Shino pushed his glasses up and answered, "I use bugs."
"Bugs?"
Shino nodded and held up a hand. Hundreds of scurrying insects crawled over his hand. Kurenai gave him a warning look and reminded him that most resturants didn't appreciate swarms of insects crawling around. Shino nodded and the bugs immediately disappeared into his sleeve. "My clan can control insects," he explained. A waitress approached their table and took their orders. Kiyoko ordered a bowl of miso soup ((my favorite)), and the others ordered theirs. When it arrived, they all chimed in "Itadakimasu," and dug in. They talked for the remainder of the meal and got to know each other a bit better. Kiyoko learned that Hinata was incredibly shy, but opened up a bit with some encouragement. She asked her what the byakugan she mentioned was, and Hinata told her all about it. She found that Shino, while a bit creepy, was a very intelligent ninja. He was quiet, but not in a shy way like Hinata. He told her about how his insects lived inside of him and fed on his chakra, and in exchange they obeyed his commands in combat. Kiyoko found this somewhat disturbing, yet fascinating. She learned more about the Inuzuka clan as well. Kiba told her that canines were his clan's animal familiars, and that's why he could understand Akamaru and why he had such a keen sense of smell. Kiyoko was pleased with her new team, and could tell that they would work together perfectly.
"Well, let's not waste anymore time. We'll head over to the training grounds and see what you got, Kiyoko," said Kurenai.
"Hai, let's go," Kiyoko nodded.
"Okay, we'll set this up like a regular sparring match. Kiyoko, first you'll take on Shino. You'll have ten minutes, and after ten minutes we'll determine the winner. The winner will take on the next person and so on," the sensei explained. Kiyoko and Shino walked into the center and took their fighting stances. At Kurenai's signal, the match began. Shino sent a swarm of insects towards her and Kiyoko brought her hands up so that a wall of earth rose up to block the swarm. She leapt into the air.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" ('Fire Element: Phoenix Fire')
Shino expertly dodged the balls of flames coming towards him as Kiyoko attacked him from the air. She landed a few meters behind him and swore. Kuso, I need to change tactics. His reflexes are quick, so that rules out any of my projectile attacks. If I go for a direct taijutsu offense, those bugs will be all over me and I'll be finished. I need to attack him directly, but not get too close. She thought quickly. Got it!
"Doton: Jishin!" ('Earth Element: Earthquake')
She formed her seals and slammed her hands against the ground, concentrating as hard as she could to direct the attack at Shino. The ground shook and crumbled under Shino's feet. As he tried to jump out of the way, Kiyoko shouted, "Iwa Kinbaku!" ('Stone Binding') and two tentacles of earth snaked up his legs and enveloped him until only his head was left uncovered.
"Winner, Kiyoko," Kurenai announced and Kiyoko immediately released her hold on her teammate. Shino walked up to her and bowed slightly. "You are a very talented fighter. I look forward to facing you in the future."
"Arigato," Kiyoko smiled. As Shino walked away, he added, "Be warned, though, now I know your capabilities, and a good attack only works against the same person once."
Kiyoko took that as a compliment. The next match, she faced Hinata and came very close to losing. That quiet girl could fight like a cornered tiger in taijutsu. Kurenai complimented Kiyoko on her use of earth barriers to block the attacks and told Hinata that she was greatly improving. She lost the next match against Kiba, however. Their Man-Beast jutsu had caught her completely off-guard when the cute little Akamaru had transformed into a snarling, feral clone of his owner.
"Winner, Kiba."
Kiyoko laughed when one of the beast clones turned back into Akamaru, who let out a happy, "arf, arf!" and licked her face. "Thanks, Akamaru, I needed a bath."
After taking a quick break, they got back to work. As she worked on taijutsu with Hinata, Kiyoko took it upon herself to get to know her. She'd get the shy Hyuuga out of her shell if it killed her.
"So, maybe we can hang out at my place after this," Kiyoko suggested as she blocked Hinata's kick. "I'm sure my roommate wouldn't mind. Naruto seems to like company."
Hinata let her guard down in surprise for just a moment, allowing Kiyoko to land a soft blow to her side. She smiled lowered her voice. "You like Naruto, don't you?"
Hinata faltered again, giving Kiyoko another chance to break through her defenses.
"What makes you say that?" she stuttered. Kiyoko smiled. "Well, for one, you're blushing. For another, the only times I've seen you become distracted enough to let me hit you is when I've mentioned Naruto. You like him."
"Don't tell anyone," she whispered. Kiyoko nodded and didn't mention it further. They fell back into their regular rythem. Hit, kick, block, feign left, punch, dodge, repeat. They finally stopped when they were both sweaty and exhausted. They both fell back on the cool grass and laughed.
"I really need to work on my taijutsu," Kiyoko chuckled. Hinata nodded. "Yeah."
The next month went by in a flash. The team would train every day, then Kiyoko would head over to Yamanaka Flowers and work. When Ino's brother and father came back from their mission two weeks later, Kiyoko was sad to leave the flower shop. However, she was making money from missions now, so she didn't need the extra money. She still hung out with Ino every day after training. Kiyoko, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, and Naruto soon became regulars to Icharaiku Ramen, where they all gathered after training. They were an inseperable group of friends, and after a while, Kiyoko no longer cared if she ever regained her lost memories. She was completely content with her new life.
After a hard day of training, four months after Kiyoko first arrived in Konohakagure, Kurenai made an exciting announcement.
"This year's chuunin selection exam is coming next month. Due to the disasterous outcome of last year's final exam, the test will be in Konoha again. You guys are as kick-ass of a team as you've ever been, so I have no doubts that you'll all do fantastic," she told them. Kiyoko's heart rose with excitement. She vowed to practice twice as hard during the next month.
"Naruto-kun."
Poke, poke.
"Naruto-kun, wake up, you lazy butt."
Poke, poke, poke.
"C'mon, you promised to help me work on my new jutsu," Kiyoko reminded the sleeping blonde. When her continued poking didn't work, she threatened to not treat him to ramen afterwards. He grumbled angrily and sat up. They arrived at an empty field outside of town. Kiyoko's newest jutsu wasn't perfected yet, so it was still dangerous for any bystanders.
"Ready, Naruto-kun?" she called out. Naruto gave her the thumbs up and created several kage bunshin for Kiyoko to use as her practice dummies. She did her hand seals, taking a steadying breath, before balling her hands into fists and punching them into the ground.
"Doton: Iwa Katana Tebukuro!" ('Earth Element: Stone-Blade Glove')
Earth and rocks swirled around her fists and continued up to her forearms. The earth around her hands lengthened and formed needle-like blades protruding out almost two feet. She concentrated on hardening the spikes until they were as solid and unbreakable as steel. Then Kiyoko leapt high into the air and launched herself at the kage bunshins. She skewered one on each spike, and they disappeared with a small pop. With an almost untrackable speed, Kiyoko quickly speared the remainder of the clones.
"More clones, Naruto-kun! Hit me with all you got!"
"You sure? Well, you asked for it!"
Naruto smirked. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Kiyoko's jaw dropped as a hundred clones appeared around her. Show off, she grinned. This would be fun. She launched her spike gloves like missiles, dispersing a couple shadow clones and freeing up her hands. Kiyoko began to spin around, creating a dust cloud to surround her. As the clones struggled to see her through the maelstrom of swirling earth, she shouted, "Doton: Iwa Fubiki!" ('Earth Element: Rock Snowstorm')
About half of the clones dispersed as hundreds of rocks shot out at all angles from the cloud like bullets. When she released the dust barrier, the remaining fifty or so bunshins rushed at her. She used a combination of her Rock Discus and Boulder Throw to get rid of the them. When the last one disappeared in a puff of smoke, Kiyoko collapsed to the ground in sheer exhaustion, panting like a dog as she relearned how to breathe.
"You okay, Kiyoko-chan?" Naruto asked, leaning over her. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm completely out of chakra though. Man, that was intense, huh?"
Naruto nodded in agreement and told her, "That's the best you've done yet. I feel sorry for anyone who ends up facing you."
Kiyoko laughed and got to her feet stiffly. "C'mon, I need food."
"Ramen time!" Naruto cheered. The two headed over to Icharaiku, laughing and joking as all best friends do. Meanwhile across town, Kurenai and Tsunade were busy discussing Kiyoko.
"She's an amazing fighter. Her control over her earth jutsus is astounding," Kurenai said to the Fifth. "Most of her techniques are at a chuunin level. Some even jounin."
"That is impressive. What are your thoughts on the exam next week?" Tsunade asked. The red-eyed jounin laughed. "She'll pass easily. No doubt about it. I have a feeling she already passed the exam back before she lost her memories."
"I agree. I've looked in on a few of her practice sessions with Naruto, and she's definately at a more advanced level that an ordinary genin," added Tsunade. She thought for a moment. "Kurenai-sama, what do you think about having her work with them if and when she passes the chuunin selection exam?"
"Hm, it's definately something to consider," she agreed.
"Itadakimasu!"
Kiyoko and Naruto devoured their ramen like ravenous beasts. Kiyoko was starving because of all the chakra she used up. Naruto just plain liked ramen.
"So, you excited for the exams?" Naruto asked. Kiyoko nodded eagerly. "That's why I've been straining myself so much. I want to be in top condition."
"I'm sure you'll pass. You're really good," Naruto assured her. Kiyoko smiled at the compliment and finished her ramen.
"See you later, Naruto. I'm going to go practice with the team," she informed him, leaving the money for the ramen on the table. As she ran out, Naruto called after her, "You're crazy! How can you want to train after this morning?"
Kiyoko, however, was long gone by then.
Woohoo! Another chapter. I love Christmas break. Hope you liked the fight scenes, they were fun to write. Thanks to LittleAngel122493 and AnimeKaiser for reviewing!
Next time: Chapter 4- The Chuunin Exam Part 1