Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
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eeeeeee THUMP
eeeeeee THUMP
eeeeeee THUMP
"That was really good!" Tenten cheerfully exclaimed as she pulled out the remaining kunai from the center of the bull's-eyes.
"Thanks." Soraoi smiled.
"Coming from Tenten, that's a huge compliment." Temari remarked.
"Well it's clear you're very skilled." Tenten handed Soraoi her prize, a stuffed raccoon.
"Thank you." Soraoi smiled.
"Oi, Soraoi, Temari." Shikamaru and Gaara walked over to the marksmanship booth that Neji and Tenten were manning, having come back from getting the girls something to eat from Naruto and Choji's booth.
"What's up?" Temari called back.
"We've got to get going, Gaara here has to get to the tournament" Shikamaru motioned for the girls to follow. They briefly said their goodbyes to Neji and Tenten, and began making their way over to the stadium.
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As part of the peace festival, the Hokage had organized a tournament. All five Kage's were to attend, and shinobi from each nation would compete for the grand prize. The tournament had been patterned after the final rounds of the Chunin exams; however anyone could participate in it regardless of rank. Because of the lack of missions and the resulting boredom of shinobi throughout the nations, many had wanted to participate. However because of the political nature of the event, they had narrowed down the candidate for the tournament to three per shinobi nation, for a grand total of thirty-six participants, ranging from Chunin, to jonin to ANBU. Each battle was to be a one on one fight, amounting to a total of 35 matches, to be completed within the seven days of the festival.
With the opening ceremonies all well and over with, the day had been progressing nicely. It seemed, to most, that perhaps the dream of peace, that had alluded so many generations before, had finally been attained.
"Ladies and gentleman, once more I would like to take the time to thank you all for coming to what we hope to be the first annual Peace Festival. I would also like to thank The Kazekage, Mizukage, Tsuchikage, and Raikage for attending, as well as all the representatives of the shinobi villages. We will now begin today's matches. Please enjoy the tournament and the remainder of the festival."
A loud cheer ran through the stadium as the first match began; a Sand shinobi against a Rain kunoichi, both jonin; both evenly matched. It was an exciting battle, but in the end the sand shinobi won. After a short break, the second batter began; this time it was a fire Chunin against a snow jonin. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the festivities.
CRASH! BOOM!
Out of nowhere a sudden explosion shook the ground with a powerful jolt. Panic immediately erupted as all those gathered in the stadium began running through the stands in panic; outside, villagers and visitors alike ran though the streets in terror. The villagers had not forgotten the devastating effects of the sound and sand invasion years earlier, and this explosion was eerily reminiscent of that dreadful moment in the village's recent history. And though the five great nations and the other shinobi nations now shared a peaceful co-existence, suspicion and fear are a natural shadow in every man's heart. In mere moment's shinobi from every country were at each other, preparing for an all out war.
"Shinobi! Control yourselves!" Tsunade yelled out from up in the Kage's seats.
The loud and booming voice of the hokage, along with the supporting commands of the other Kage's momentarily put an end to the outburst. Every man, woman, and child stood still, awaiting further instructions.
"Everyone, please remain calm." Tsunade began, "Give us a moment, and we will get to the bottom of this."
Just as the hokage was instructing those gathered in the stadium to remain calm, a loud laugh was heard from high in the stands.
"No need to investigate, hokage-sama" a masked shinobi mockingly laughed.
"Who are you?" Tsunade demanded, remaining perfectly calm so as not to make the people in the stands nervous. Meanwhile the leaf shinobi began discreetly executing an evacuation of all civilians to minimize casualties.
"HOTARU!" a scream exploded from the stands. Everyone turned to see a fuming Soraoi, trembling in rage. She had flames bursting from her eyes as a dozen shuriken went soaring through the air straight for the taunting man. (A/N: Hotaru means firefly).
The weapon's moved quickly, too quickly for Hotaru to move out of the way. All twelve shuriken hit their mark, each in a vital part of the human body. But just as the weapons pierced the skin, a log took Hotaru's place.
"HA. Did you really belie-" Hotaru did not get the chance to finish his statement, no sooner had he reveled the replacement jutsu, had Soraoi appeared behind him in a split second, and pierced his flesh with a kunai.
"You were saying?" Soraoi hissed in his ear as Hotaru fell to his knees. The fury that Soraoi felt in her heart could only mask the terror she still felt within herself. She had killed him.
The body of the man who had tormented her every night, since the moment of the ambush up until the previous night in her nightmares, lay dead before her. Blood pored out of his back, as his body lay numbly on the ground; the color draining from his dark features. In her nightmares he had appeared larger than life; his six-foot frame towering over her five-feet had been a constant source of terror, but now he appeared so small to her, as she looked upon him, positioned in a defeated pose.
"Y-You BITCH!" a man from behind her lunged to attack Soraoi, but she quickly dodged him, and moved down to the arena, where the fire Chunin and snow Jonin, who had been in the middle of their match, still stood. Shikamaru and Temari quickly dashed down to join her, followed shortly after by Tsunade, Shizune, and Gaara.
"What's going on?" Temari asked Soraoi.
"Who are they?" Tsunade demanded from the girl, furious at her lack of control. It had been a risky move to make, especially when nothing had been established. There was plenty to indicate that the thirty or so ninja's with Hotaru were enemy ninja's, but until it was certain, any move would have been discouraged. Tsunade was furious, even if Soraoi knew who the man was; her mistake could have cost the village a lot.
"They're the rouge ninja's who attacked Tomoe-sensei and I." Soraoi explained. A silent acknowledgement passed through those around her. They now understood why Soraoi had acted as she had.
"So this is where you ended up, girly" a man squatting beside Hotaru's body smirked at Soraoi.
"You're next Tatsuo!" Soraoi spat out.
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A/N: Sorry if it's a little on the short side, but I had to cut it short, I'm getting up early tomorrow to take my baby bro's to see Harry Potter so I have to make it an early night…
This chapter has, without a doubt, been the hardest one I've written simply because I'm not much a fight scene writer…
Oh, I wanted to make a note. I'm not sure if anyone's noticed this before, but if you haven't, you should note that Soraoi is beyond respectful, she always uses honorifics and is all about manners and politeness. (if you don't believe me, check through the previous chapter's and you'll see). Anyway, I just wanted to make a point that I did NOT forget to do that this time; I purposely left out the honorifics for these bad guys.
One more thing… wow, I never realized what a challenge it is to write sounds. (I almost put in a KABOOM… lol)
THANKS: thanks again to everyone who's read and reviewed this story, I really do appreciate it.
Boredwithlifeandlove, I had a great birthday :D, thank you.
ShikaTem.rox.like.hell, I like Kankuro with Hana, they fit to me for some reason. Maybe it's the face paint… lol… Kakashi… um… he's just so cool… I actually have a new story I'm starting with Kakashi and an OC. But I'm not as focused on it as this one, I want to finish this one before I really get focused on the other one.
Babygurl1012… Shika is awesome, but I just love Kakashi better…
And finally, thank you very much ThisIsntClaire, you were my first reviewer to this story, so I'm glad you're still with me one this one. :D
NEXT UP: more of this same… I think… we'll see… any suggestions?... oh I do have one surprise coming up…