Chapter 17: Hidden Power-Released

-Yoshiro

I dragged my feet as I walked to the training ground we were supposed to meet at. It'd been a horrible idea to skip breakfast, even if our new sensei had told us to. I clenched my groaning stomach. What was he expecting us to do anyway? As if a real ninja ever went without a meal…okay, maybe once in awhile. But we're Genin. You wouldn't skip breakfast on a D-rank mission. I looked up and saw my twin rivals lounging around. Should I really go out to face them? I looked back. Maybe I should just go back home… but then I thought about the lonely shack I lived in and remembered why I even wanted to become a shinobi in the first place; and I trudged on forward.

-Kiku

"I think we have a bad sensei," I said aloud, drawing a tic-tac-toe board in the dirt with a stick. "Anybody want to play?"

"Sure," Ayame told me, squatting down next to me. "You want to go first?"

"Yeah." And I drew an "x" in the center square.

Next to me, Yoshiro yawned. "Wake me up when the Jounin comes," he said and laid out across the grass, closing his eyes.

I laughed. "I'll be sure not to." And placed another "x" in a corner space.

"You three talk like I'm not even here."

Yoshiro jumped to his feet. "Where have you been sensei? You told us to be here an hour early!"

"More like you're late," I mumbled.

He only laughed and smiled halfheartedly. "Since I'm late, we might as well start our training now." He pulled two silver objects from his pocket: bells.

"What are those for?"

"Your training. Anyone who gets one of these bells will get lunch."

"But there are only two bells!" There he goes again; complaining at every turn.

"Exactly. So one of you won't get lunch. Oh, and if no one gets a bell by lunch…you all go back to the Academy."

"B-Back to the Academy?" Yoshiro asked, his knees shaking. Suddenly, his body calmed and his hand clenched into a fist. "Well I'm not going back, no matter what."

I laughed. "Yeah, we'll have to save you from that fate."

Ayame giggled next to me. "You're lucky you got stuck in our group."

"Lucky? Are you kidding?! It's the worst thing that's happened to me all year!"

They continued to argue relentlessly, all the while sensei just stood there with an expressionless face. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure him out. He has experience. "Come on guys; let's team up on Kakashi-sensei." For once, they stopped their bickering and looked at me with this strangely dumbfounded look.

They gathered themselves together because Ayame stood up straight and turned her attention to Kakashi. "Yeah, let's do it." And we charged at him without a second thought. But, before I knew it, the kunai I'd drawn was behind my head, pointed at me.

"Don't be so hasty, I haven't even said start yet." I tried to yank away but to no avail. "Now," he said, releasing me, "Start." We again charged at him but with more caution this time. "Naruto taught you the three basic ninja skills, didn't he?"

"Of course. The first is Taijutsu: hand-to-hand combat," Ayame told him, being the nerd who knew everything again, and threw a well-aimed punch at him. He dodged it, duh, but his comeback was unexpected.

He formed the tiger hand sign in his hand, even I knew how dangerous it was. I knew Ayame wouldn't be able to survive a hit like that and, inside, I started to panic. What should I do? What should I do? The thoughts started to swirl in my head so fast I couldn't think straight. Do something. Do something… and my vision began to fade in and out. I knew he was saying something but, although he was right next to me, his voice sounded distant and vague. Then, a smaller voice from inside me: Kiki-san, are you okay? Kiki-san? Kiki-san! And I clung to the only clear, certain thing I had left.

Yes, Sora, I'm here. By that time, the light was completely gone.

-Yoshiro

Even though I was back, away from their small group, I could tell something was wrong. Ayame looked green, like she was sick, staring at the two fighting on the ground. And, Kiku, she was hard to explain. A sort of cloak enveloped her, light blue, matching the sky. She didn't look sane, totally insane, like she had rabies. As I got closer, I could hear Ayame whispering things to herself: "Move", "Kiki", "Stop", "Please", "Do something". A pleading look was in her eyes, like a puppy with deep, black eyes, although hers were a light khaki. "Help her," she whispered, directed at me, her voice cracking at the end. I couldn't say anything, the lump in my throat was too large, but I did remember one thing: I never looked at Kiku the same way. In fact, I veered away from her, afraid that same, deranged monster would come back out. I knew the possibility was there, and that was why I couldn't stand her. When my friends seemed to be clueless of the danger, I would tell them what I saw, and they would stay away from her too. As we grew up, I began to see the same pain in her eyes, the one that used to be in mine, the one longing for acceptance. But it was too late, what had been done was done, and, no matter how much I wanted to take my words back, I couldn't. She was a monster; and no matter how much she didn't want to be, she couldn't change what she was: a demon.

-Kiku

"Nee-san! He's hurting me!" I heard from the other room and sighed.

"Yeah, hurting us!"

"H-U-R-T-I-N-G us!"

"No I'm not!"

"You be quiet."

"Yeah, be quiet."

"B-E quiet!"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Why had Ayame and Byakuya abandoned me to take care of these four!?

"The next person who says something is answering to me!" Finally, silence. I secured my Jounin headband and headed toward the front room. I'd walked into a stare down. There was Akio, his expression furious; they must've done something to him. And there were the Devil Triplets: Aki, Ichigo, and Mori. I could just imagine what they'd be saying to him right now:

First it would be Ichigo: "You're a loser!"

Then it would be Mori: "Yeah, a loser!"

And Aki would spell it out for them: "L-O-S-E-R!" I couldn't help but giggle at their little quirks.

"Kiki-san, are you angry with us?" Aki asked, always the observant one.

"No, not really Aki-chan. But we do have to leave, are you guys coming?"

"I'm coming!"

"Yeah, I'm coming!"

"I-apostrophe-M coming!"

I laughed. But then I noticed they weren't wearing their headbands. "Today's your orientation…where are your headbands?"

"We didn't want to get them dirty, so we put them in our pockets."

"Yeah, in our pockets."

"I don't need to know how it's spelled Aki," and her mouth snapped shut. "Well, just put them on when we get to class, even though I'm your sensei."

"Y-You're our new sensei?!" Ichigo asked, and for once the other two didn't repeat what she just said.

I only smiled. "Don't tell the others I told you."

-Yoshiro

I saw her with her three sisters. Somehow, she looked more like a mother than an older sister. A pang of pain ran through me as I thought of how lucky they were to have an older sibling, to have anyone. I gritted my teeth. I'd treated her bad, along with everyone else, and she still turned out better than I did. Here I was, the beaten Chunin, because I was too scared when that monster ran toward me and nearly tore out my windpipe. How had she won? How come she becomes the Jounin? How come she was so happy now, even after her tortured childhood? She looked up from showing her sisters the Rasengan. I quickly turned my attention away from her and continued on home.

"Wait, Yoshiro!" she called out and I heard her footsteps coming.

"What do you want?" I asked, my stare cold.

She looked hurt at my initial rejection. "I-I…"

"If you have something to say, out with it."

"Do-Do you want to join us? I just thought you looked lonely…"

"Who would want to waste their time with a monster?" and I turned to leave.

At first, she was silent, which is why I was so surprised when the sudden outburst came. "Well I was just trying to include you! But who would want to spend time with a monster like YOU!" When I'd finally turned around, tears were in her eyes, and whisker marks were on her face. She turn and ran so fast she was there one minute and gone the next, leaving her sisters in the clearing.

"You are a monster," the red-head said, walking towards me.

"Yeah, an utter monster," the brunette repeated.

"M-O-N-S-T-E-R!" the blonde shouted and I felt my feet come off the ground. What was happening? Suddenly, they surrounded me.

"We could kill you right now," the red-head started, the same cheek markings and eyes on her face as Kiku had.

"Yeah, we'll kill you," the brunette reiterated, and I noticed for the first time the streaks of green in her hair.

"K-I-L-L," the blonde spelled, more thrilled than the others. "B-I-T-E."

"No, Aki, we can't do that. You know that once we start we won't be able to stop." Her look was serious. Was this for real?

"O-N-E, P-L-E-A-S-E, I-C-H-I-G-O." Could she only spell her words? What a freak…

"Mmm," the brunette chimed in, "He at least smells good."

"Self-control, Mori-kun," the one called Ichigo warned.

"S-M-E-L-L-S G-O-O-D," Aki spelled yet again.

"Who are you freaks? Or, more correctly, what are you?" I asked, starting to fear for my life.

"Why should we tell you anything?"

"Yeah, why?" Another big whiff of my hair.

"W-H-Y?" Aki questioned, running her teeth along my calf.

A deep growl escaped the red-head's lips, and I started to panic, scared that the only sane one was about to lose it. But, instead of going insane, she closed her eyes and the markings disappeared from her face. I was astonished. What was she? Her eyes fluttered open suddenly, and she whipped her head around, sniffing the air. "Someone's coming," she stated plainly. "Drop your demon power; let's split."

"Coming," the blonde said straight for once. If you asked me, she was the freakiest.

"Me too," Mori called, turning to face me again. "Don't ever scrutinize our sister again; next time, we might skin you alive." She abruptly left, not bothering to give me a second glance. Aki let Mori pass her, touching her on the shoulder as she went by, and as she turned her attention away from me, I was dropped to the ground with a thud.

A/N: xD Yoshiro had it coming. Have the rest of the layout in sight (finally!). Hope to be wrapping this story up soon. People have told me to write a story about their school, i might do that although it would probably be a sequel to this story. Or i might skip back to when Ayame and Kiku were kids. I also have aspirations about writing a bleach story which would take up alot of my time. I'm real sorry to everyone who doesn't like this format/style of writing. I LOVE IT! So i'm keeping it. Sprind break is fast approaching and i'm hoping to wrap this story up in that time period. Thanks for bearing with me to all my followers!

-SleepyFox

P.S. Thx for support Hannah! I will have a VERY nice break! But what about that Greek/Latin roots project...Anyway, u can email/ blog on Goodreads(I'm SleepyFox again) or you can email me (please don't spam everyone else: I WILL BLOCK YOU AND BELIEVE ME I CAN): Again, Thank you!