Chaptah 3: Ohayo, Konohagakure

My eyelids opened to a beautiful purple sky. Was it ordinary in these parts to have purple skies? I looked around at the sky to look for the sun, but there was none. So, this purple sky must be a sunrise. I've never seen a sunrise before. It's beautiful.

I sat up and saw that the two girls are still asleep. I'm surprised that none of them fell off while they were asleep. Kurohane must have been flying really smoothly.

I crawled over to Kurohane's head to see how it was doing. It wasn't crumbling into shadow yet, which is good.

My stomach rumbled and I remembered that I didn't eat anything last night. So, I reached out to grab my bag and took out a cup of instant ramen and a bottle of water.

I put the ramen down and gripped the bottle of water. I exerted chakra into the water to heat it. The water started to viciously swirl around like a whirlpool. The bottle started shaking and I could see the chakra in my hand.

I felt the heat on my hand and I quickly moved my grip to the top of the bottle. I opened up the cup of ramen and poured the water in. I kept the almost empty bottle and put the ramen aside to let it cook.

"Hiruka-kun?"

I turned around. "Ohayo, Lea-san"

"Ohayo" She said as she rubbed her eyes. "I smell ramen."

"Yeah, I'm making some."

"Oh"

"Do you want any?"

"No, thank you"

"Suit yourself."

"How long have you been awake?"

"About 20 minutes."

"You're not sleepy at all?"

"No"

"But you slept after all of us did"

"I'm used to sleeping late and I never really need much sleep"

"Well, I'm going back to sleep"

"Alright. We're almost there, so I'll just wake you."

"Sure"

Lea lied back down and faced the other way.

I got my bag and took out a scroll I haven't finished studying. It was about a jutsu to steal other's energy. It said that the user takes away the shadow of the victim, taking his chakra and energy from him. It was used for weakening the foe. It was called the Life Drain jutsu.

I still don't know why this style is forbidden. Even though it can do massive damage to others, it deals more damage to oneself. I doubt anybody would dare to use it.

Everyday of my life is filled with regret. Why did I ever start studying this? Why do I still study this? Yet, I feel like I want and need to. I can't let this die. I'll do it for Desimo and Iyana.

The noodles finished cooking. I got a pair of chopsticks and ate while I studied. It's a good thing these two girls are asleep—or are they really?

I quickly kept the scroll and looked behind me. It seemed that Lea was moving a lot, but subtly. I observed her for a little while then, saw that she really was asleep.

I took the Life Drain scroll back out and resumed studying. Maybe I should look for something to help me in the exams— when I finish this jutsu.

Noon slowly came and I knew that the girls would wake up soon. I kept my scroll and waited until one of them woke up.

I heard Lea yawn, so I acted as if I just woke up also.

"Hiruka-kun?"

I sighed and stretched my arms. "Ohayo, Lea-san"

"Did you go back to sleep?"

I nodded.

"Are we there yet?"

I rubbed my eyes and stood up. I stared into the direction we were headed. "Almost"

"How long do you think it will take until we get there?"

"Well, we're about to enter the fire country, so I say we'll be in Konoha in an hour."

"Oh" She stood up and stood beside me. "Last night was really fun, won't you say?"

I looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I would"

"So, what was the scroll you were reading a while ago?"

My eyes widened. I can't answer that. If I either lie or tell the truth, she might still ask if she can take a look at it. "I can't tell you"

Bad move, idiot. Now she's even more curious

"Why not?"

I walked backwards and sat down. "Come here"

She sat beside me.

I put my arms around her. I'm sure this would make her forget the topic.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Let's just sit here and watch the sunrise."

"The sun has already risen."

"Er, the sky, I mean"

She laughed and leaned her head on me. "Sure"

Lea and I just talked and watched the sky. She asked questions, and I answered. She told me stories about her life. When things got personal and quite sad, I cheered her up. After a long while, Kitashi eventually woke up. It was quite better when it was just me and Lea, but at least we couldn't run out of topics.

"I think we're here" I said.

Kitashi stood up. "We're here! I can see the village gate!"

I laughed. "Well, it's about time."

Lea sighed. "Trip over" She pouted her lips.

"Don't feel down. We still have two days before the exams."

"But Hiruka-kun, you're going to spend those days training, I just know it."

Huh. I guess she's right. I will have to train, and I can't train with them. All they train are just exercises for me. I need to perfect that technique.

"We could all train together!" Kitashi said.

"You two can." I said.

"Why can't you train with us?"

"I have my own training."

She squinted at me and turned her back on me. "We're here!"

I crawled over to Kurohane's head and whispered to him that it's time to land.

Kurohane nodded and headed straight for the ground. It was going really fast, but I was used to it. Right before hitting the ground, Kurohane spread its wings and landed on its feet smoothly on the ground. It had its chin up. Kurohane is a very proud crow.

I grabbed my bag. "We're here."

Kitashi jumped off. "That bird is crazy"

Kurohane squawked loudly.

Kitashi jumped in surprise.

I laughed and helped Lea get down.

Kitashi grabbed Lea's hand and ran to the gate.

"Thanks—oh, and sorry about Kitashi-san." I whispered to Kurohane. I patted its body right before it disappeared in the smoke.

He deserves a long rest

I caught up with the two girls. They were standing in front of the gate.

"Just 2 days before the Chunin exams." Kitashi said.

"We're all going to pass this." I said.

Lea spread her arms and put them around me and Kitashi. "Ohayo, Konohagakure!"