Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Gomen, gomen, I know I haven't been updating as much as I used to but no internet and moving are not a good combination for my updates, lol. I seriously have like a million ideas and I absolutely love writing this story. I just re-read the first few chapters and… I think I'll rewrite it cuz it kinda suck. *sigh* was I really that bad? Am I still that bad? Ugh, I have a long way to go.
Oh, and I'm sorry but I'm not well versed in the occurrences during the Chunin exams so I'm going to start them out on the written part.
Shout out to Topaz Maia!! Lubs you!!!
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"You sure you're ready for the exams, un?" Deidara asked his younger female companion as they left the Akatsuki cave. It had been two years since she had come to live with them now and she had turned into a lovely young woman but other than getting a little taller most of her features hadn't changed. Her fighting skills had improved drastically but she was still no match for her captors and brothers. And as much as Deidara hated to admit it, she was growing up.
"Yeah, Nee-chan, I'm ready." Hotaru answered rolling the white sleeves of her new trench coat up to her elbows. She had recently customized the coat and shirt with the Velcro slits and her clothes were all a similar style now instead of the random clothes that Itachi and Deidara had "bought" for her. Her outfit for the time being was a white trench coat with black along most of the seems and her shorts were the same. Her shirt was a black tank top with a small white feather on the bottom right corner and matching black feathers on the cuffs of the sleeves on her trench coat. Itachi had been opposed to the feathers and similarity to her old look but she refused to change it and threatened to stop cooking meals for everyone if he made her and that got all the other members to vouch for her outfit. She highly doubted they could survive without her cooking anymore.
"Alright, guys time to go." Hotaru said clearing her thoughts and jumping over the edge of the cliff, spreading her large black wings to slow the fall. Deidara followed after her transforming himself into a tall short-haired brunette man dressed in standard Jounin vest and black pants with his headband tied around his forehead. Followed by Kisame who disguised himself as a scrawny medium height boy with shaggy dirty blonde hair wearing casual baggy shorts and a t-shirt. And Finally Itachi turned into an exact replica of Hotaru but the colors of his clothes were opposite to hers, they were white where hers were black and black where hers were white.
When they finally reached the bottom, Hotaru landing smoothly while every one else slid down the side of the cliff and landed with a flair of their ninja talent and a malicious smile. Hotaru turned around and surveyed her new team.
"Let me guess, Itachi's the chick?" Hotaru asked putting a hand on her tip. Her own reflection stared back at her emotionlessly while unrolling her sleeves and dusting off the bottom of her trench coat, "Itachi, that's so not cool. What are you supposed to be, My twin?"
Itachi nodded at Hotaru who pouted back at him. This was definitely not good, especially if Gaara saw Itachi and lost his temper, thinking it was Hotaru, and tried to take him with him.
"Looks nice, hm." Deidara said attempting to conceal his trademark "un."
"Let's get going, we don't have time to discuss Itachi's feminine side." Hotaru pouted, she was anxious to get to the exams but she definitely didn't want it to show.
"Remember, Hotaru-san, Avoid contact with Sabaku No Gaara for as long as you can," Itachi reviewed re-briefing her on the mission, "only speak to him if forced to, do NOT seek him out. Avoid physical contact with him at all costs and if you must make physical contact with him then make it as brief as possible. You are to stay close to one of the members of the group at all times. Now we can go, Hotaru-san hold onto me."
Hotaru raised an eyebrow at him but none the less hugged Itachi's female body. In a puff of Chakra induced smoke Hotaru and Itachi arrived in the forest surrounding Konohagakure.
'I can sense his Chakra.' Hotaru whispered in her mind while she pushed away from Itachi and took a step towards the village. She felt like every molecule in her body was being pulled towards Gaara's chakra signal.
"Stay close to me." Itachi growled grabbing her hand roughly, "We're twins, remember?"
"Yes, Aiko-chan." Hotaru answered detachedly, Itachi had mentioned the names earlier and it hadn't occurred to her until later that Aiko was a girls name.
"Hey Aiko-san, Hotaru-chan." Kisame said rubbing his now pail forearms, this brought Hotaru back to her present position.
"Hello Kazuhiko-kun, Yuichi-sensei." Itachi said calmly not even turning when Hotaru did. Hotaru started her act.
"Yuichi-sensei, me and my sister are very close, wouldn't you agree?" Hotaru said smiling happily, she was a magnificent actress.
"Yeah, hmm." Deidara drew out the hmm nostalgically like he was remembering some make-believe little brother that was very dear to him. They all understood there were ANBU black-ops and guards all over the woods here and needed to be extra careful.
"Let's go, I'm excited." Itachi said unenthusiastically pulling Hotaru towards Konoha by the hand.
"Me too." Hotaru grinned catching up with her "sister."
TIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIMEtimeTIME
Hotaru fidgeted in her exam seat, Gaara had to have noticed her by now, she was pretty hard to miss. Her black and white outfit had drawn the attention of many of the sensei's and some of the other genin already, mainly with their criticism of her bright colors being easily spotted by enemies. So how hard could it be for Gaara to spot her when she wasn't trying to hide? And if her colors weren't enough, the chakra radiating off her was a dead give away that she was there.
Hotaru was pulled out of her thoughts by a slip of paper being pressed into her hand. Curiosity got the better of her and she subtly read the note under her desk.
"CHEAT. It's the whole point of the exam.
Answers:
1. A
3. B
4. B
5. D
7. C
8. A
10. C
11. B
12. D
14. True
15. False
16. False
17. False
18. True
19. True
22. Kazekage
23. Rekage
26. Emotions
28. Jinchuriki (ironic)
Idk the rest. Good luck little sis.
Ps wtf is the name of the village with a star symbol on the Hetai ate? Never heard of it."
Hotaru rolled her eyes, she knew Itachi knew all the other answers, especially the village with the star symbol, they were the easiest answers and he'd given her all the ones she didn't already have. She incinerated the paper in her fist after she filled in the answers and sent Itachi a sheet of paper inside of a glass shard. She subtly sent the shard flying at Itachi's desk and it shattered on contact with the side of the desk landing right in his… erm, her… lap. The only proof of the shard was a fine, dust-like powder that fell on the floor and scattered leaving virtually no evidence.
Hotaru flipped her test over and sent a message in a shard to Kisame containing all the answers. After about two minutes she was fidgeting again.
Gaara's POV
Why is she here? She's supposed to be kidnapped! I don't want to deal with this right now. Hotaru will be upset when we start killing people, won't she mom?
"Yes but she'll forgive you." "Mom" whispered in my ear reassuringly, I could almost believe her.
I watched through my third eye as Hotaru started to fidget again. She's bored, and I know she's probably wondering why I haven't saved her yet. But I will, because I'm going to kill them all. Right mom?
"Yes, do it for your mother, I want their blood." Shukaku cooed. I shuddered in the part of my mind that it couldn't get to. I know it likes Hotaru, I know it trusts her to not kill me… kill us, but I also know it wants her out of the way so there's nothing keeping me anchored down. I know that it's lying to me, I know it's not my mom but pretending to go along with it is easier than trying to face all of reality.
HOTARUhotaruHOTARUhotaruHOTARUhotaruHOTARUhotaruHOTARUhotaruHOTARU
With Hotaru
"Time." The instructor said signaling the end of the written portion of the exams. Hotaru got up and made to run.
"Where are you going?" The instructor demanded.
"Gotta puke, I'll get the info from my sister afterwards!" Hotaru yelled as she ran out the door.
The truth simply was that she couldn't stand being in the same room as Gaara and not being able to reach for him for much longer. At the first sign of her going against the conditions of her going to the exams her escorts would seal her and attack Gaara all at once. Hotaru wouldn't that happen, she couldn't let them hurt him anymore.
Hotaru stumbled into the girls public restroom and banged the door to one of the stalls open. She wasn't lying when she'd said she had to puke. A few seconds after she started throwing up she heard the door open and softly close.
"H-Hello?" a small voice asked after Hotaru finished heaving her stomach contents into the toilet.
"Yeah?" Hotaru answered letting out a breath before flushing.
"A-are you o-ok?" the girl asked, Hotaru could hear her take a step closer to the stall.
"ugh, yeah." Hotaru answered standing up with shaky legs and opening the door. The other girl was about the same height as her and had raven colored hair cut short except for two large strands in the front.
"I-I'm glad." The girl said smiling shyly.
"heh- what's your na-name." Hotaru asked before gargling some water from the sink and spitting it back out.
"H-Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata." The girl answered quietly.
"Hinata-chan, I like that name. I'm Hotaru, Sabak-" Hotaru stopped mid-sentence, she'd been using Gaara's last name since about two years ago, "just Hotaru."
Hinata looked at the disheartened girl with concern, "Wh-What's wrong, Hotaru-ch-chan?"
"I can't tell you." Hotaru said simply. Hinata looked confused. Hotaru silently cursed the Akatsuki for putting her in this situation.
"My sister doesn't like me to give out information that involves her too." Hotaru practically choked on the word sister, Itachi was feeling less and less like family every minute she was close to Gaara and risking everything.
"O-Oh, I understand." Hinata said cheering up some more.
"Hey Hinata-chan, have you ever been in love?" Hotaru asked out of the blue.
Hinata turned beet red and Hotaru smiled.
"Me too." Hotaru smiled kindly at Hinata.
"Wh-Wh-What?" was all Hinata could come up with.
"You should tell them." Hotaru said then leaned on the sink showing she planned on talking for a little bit.
"I-I-I-" Hinata started to sway unsteadily.
"Hey now, don't faint on me." Hotaru pushed off the sink and took a step towards Hinata.
"I-I'm sorry." Hinata said sincerely
"the Nine-tails Jinchuuriki is coming closer." Nibi said indifferently, speaking out of no where for the first time in three days.
"What!?" Hotaru yelled making Hinata jump and eep.
"Hinata, have you ever heard the term Jinchuuriki?" Hotaru asked quickly trying to ignore her previous outburst.
"N-No, why? Wh-What does it m-mean?" Hinata asked timidly, "I-Is it b-bad?"
"No. I mean sometimes but not me." Hotaru tried to explain as Nibi started counting down from twenty, "They're people who contain tailed-beasts. Technically they're hero's because of their demons but people never treat them that way. People misunderstand and think that they are the demons but they're not. They're people but they end up hating people because they treat them like shit on their shoes."
"Wh-what? Y-You're not a-a Jinchuuriki or y-you're not a-a b-bad Jinchuuriki?" Hinata was really confused and as far as she could tell Hotaru was either insane or really, really ADD (please don't be offended, I'm not making fun of ADD people if I was I'd be making fun of myself as well.)
"Damn it, there's no time!" Hotaru yelled as Nibi updated her on the approaching jinchuuriki, "Hinata, hide, don't make any noise and don't come out no matter what happens!"
Nibi had told Hotaru what usually happened when two Jinchuuriki met, they would fight till the death or until one surrendered completely, and the people around them usually didn't end up to well off… or breathing.
Hinata was confused but nodded and hid in one of the stalls.
"3…2…1." Nibi counted down and Hotaru pulled a kunai out of her thigh-pouch and readied herself for an attack.
"knock knock knock. Hinata-chan? You in there." A muffled and concerned voice came from the other side of the door.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata breathed from inside the stall Hotaru's amplified hearing just barely caught the sound of her voice.
"Hinata-chan, you ok in there?" the voice yelled again knocking on the door again.
"He your friend?" Hotaru whispered leaning on Hinata's stall door and lowering her kunai.
"Y-Yes." Hinata answered quietly. Hotaru swore under her breath and put her kunai away.
"Then answer him, you're fine." Hotaru said putting on a false mask of comfort and humiliation and opening the door to the stall. If this Jinchuuriki boy was Hinata's friend then Hotaru couldn't fight him, not here at least.
"J-Just a m-minute Naruto-kun." Hinata called stepping out of the stall and placing the shuriken she'd drawn back into her holster.
"OK Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled loudly. Hinata smiled to herself not going unnoticed by Hotaru.
"Sorry 'bout that," Hotaru apologized putting her acting skills to good use, "Your friends Chakra is off the charts, it startled me."
Hinata smiled, "I-It's fine, I think he'd t-take that as a c-compliment." Hinata joked knowingly.
"You're in love with him." Hotaru stated smiling happily at the shorter girl.
"Wh-What?" Hinata stuttered her eyes going as wide as a UFO and her face turning a shade of red the rivaled Gaara's hair, "H-How?"
"Because, I know what it's like." Hotaru's grin faded into a sad smile, "Tell him how you feel and don't let him go, kay?"
Hinata nodded dumbstruck. Hotaru smiled and waved at her walking to the door.
"See you around Hinata-chan." Hotaru said before slipping out the door.
"Hey, is a girl in there with short hair and--" Naruto started while using his hands to show Hinata's hair cut.
"Hinata-chan will be right out." Hotaru said smiling weakly at the hyperactive blond. Naruto stopped his antics and stared at her.
"Hey, What's the matter?" He asked scratching his cheek lazily, "Didn't Hinata-chan come in there to check on you?"
"Hinata-chan will be out in a minute." Hotaru said anger flashing through her bi-colored eyes, thin spikes of green shooting through the brown.
"Ok, but why are you so upset?" Naruto pried crossing his arms firmly.
"Keep out of our business and we'll keep out of yours, kay kitsune-chan?" Hotaru growled pushing past Naruto.
"H-Hey!" Naruto yelled smoothly regaining his balance, "What did you call me?!"
"I wasn't talking to you Naruto-kun." Hotaru answered waving at him dismissively with her back to the orange clad ninja, "we were talking to what's inside you."
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and watched in bewilderment as the girl hurried back towards the exam room. Right after Hotaru disappeared from sight Hinata emerged from the ladies room and blushed when Naruto energetically greeted her.
Back to Hotaru
Hotaru rounded the corner staring down at her feet and consequently didn't notice the person standing just a few feet down the hall. Hotaru continued walking oblivious to the impending danger of running into the person not two feet from her now, she had gotten completely lost in her thoughts about Gaara and the newest Jinchuuriki she'd met, Naruto.
Bam! She ran face first into the persons back.
"Miss! Are you alright?" A worried feminine voice asked as Hotaru shook her head to regain her senses, "Let her go! I don't know why the barrier didn't stop her but let her be!"
"Yeah lil bro! she didn't do anything against you!" A panicky baritone came in as Hotaru was resettled onto her feet by what she assumed were someone's hands and arms. After she regained her balance the hands didn't let go and she assumed it was because she was still holding her head with one hand and her eyes closed. Her unbuttoned trench coat had fallen off of her truth scarred shoulder and she quickly moved to cover the "Truth" up, hoping that no one had seen it.
"Hotaru…?" An all too familiar voice asked.
Realization hit Hotaru like a ton of bricks to the stomach and she slowly opened her eyes afraid that if she moved to quickly that the illusion she hoped and dreaded was real, would break, afraid that she'd break with it.
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Ok, this wasn't supposed to be up until tomorrow but I'm pulling an all nighter and *pause* ugh… uck I just puked a little… I was really excited because I got a limited edition Fruits Basket postcard from Tokyopop today ( XD ) for sending in a picture to Fan's Basket like a year ago almost. I apologize if I screwed up your calendar Topaz Maia (if you read/watch Death Note then go read Topaz Maia's fic RIGHT NOW it's funny as all hell!!). =3
Hanikamiya Mitsukai-chan at 2:14 AM on Monday, November 25, 2008