It Tells a Tale
Dedicated to Yuun-Chan and Sabaku no Sarah-Hime
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I've been looking in the mirror for so long.
That I've come to believe my soul is on the other side.
All the little pieces falling shatter.
Shards of me
too sharp to put back together.
Too small to matter,
but big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.
If I try to touch her,
And I bleed,
I bleed,
And I breathe,
I breathe no more.
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Looking at the village, I smiled. A smile almost hysterical, it's the intersection between the two poles of emotion. I've forgotten how to cry. Home was so close, yet far out of my reach. A burning sensation streaked down my pale cheek, I thought I've lost all of my tears.
Shinko tucked at her shirt, trying to fix the collar. The katana dangling by her side waved swung back and forth. No comment came from her, maybe it is for the best. Shinko cleverly hid her emotion behind the mask of apathy, sealing herself away from the truth and carefully protecting what little hope she still kept.
She stared at me with her scarlet eyes, the only part of her she didn't bother to conceal; an expression that held so little, but yet, meant so much. A hint of sorrow, a touch of fear, a strand of wonder, and for a brief moment, the prelude of a tear... maybe it's just my imagination.
I looked up at the sky, it wasn't blue, it was the color of loneliness and longing. I've forgotten what that color is.
Shinko and I stepped into the grand hall, where the registration will soon hold place. The colossus room is dim without the usual sunlight shining through its numerous windows; the milky marble floor seemed to have taken up the color of a gloomy grey. The rain continued pounding, drumming a steady beat on the misty windowpanes. The fainting candlesticks placed upon a long wooden table seemed to be the only light source.
A few has already arrived. Shinko and I paced amidst them, two or three who I recognized. The Uchiha child prodigy, the Kyuubi container, and a pink-haired kunoichi; led by Hakate Kakashi, who was reading his infamous perverted book while leaning against a gigantic crimson column; plus a group of Cloud Ninja.
"Yuun,"
I turned around, only to find a soaking wet Jin standing at the entrance. "You could have at least waited for me!" he exploded on us.
"And you could've at least brought an umbrella, idiot," I sneered at his dripping form.
"No matter that; you two should shut up. You are attracting more attention than you need to," Shinko glared at us; Jin immediately went quiet. I snickered; Jin's afraid of Shinko more than he feared Itachi.
"Sasuke-kun!" a blond-haired girl shrieked and threw her arms around that Uchiha kid.
"Oh, how troublesome..." came from the guy who followed her into the room.
"I see the fast ones are already here," a blond haired woman appeared from behind the wooden gates, followed by a lady with black hair and one with plum coloured hair.
Shinko winced slightly. This blond woman is her target of this mission.
"Yes Tsunade-Sama, we should get them to sign up, instead of waiting until there's a lot of people in the room," said the black-headed lady dressed in a black casual kimono.
"Yeah, might as well. Anko-San please bring forth the form and tell the chuunin to sign up," Tsunade nodded in approval.
"Yes Hokage-Sama," Anko bowed in respect. She dragged out a rather large scroll and yelled at us, "You unworthy little brats, quiet down!" I raised my eyebrow at her attire, basically just a fishnet suit with an underskirt and a beige trench coat.
The room dawned in an uncomfortable silence. "Right, as I was saying, those of you who are entering the KonohaJounin Exam, you better line up in an orderly form and sign your name on this scroll!" she shouted, loudly.
She tossed the scroll into the air, it landed perfectly on the desk before the stage.
"Hey, hope that we didn't miss something important!" Kiba said, stepping in the door with his team mates, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, and his trusty dog, Akamaru.
"No, no, you are just in time," Shizune smiled at the wolfish boy.
"Oh good, I was afraid that we were going to miss the exam...again," Tenten said, glaring at Lee.
"It was not my fault!" Lee protested, "I couldn't find my jumpsuit!"
Tenten rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"So anyways, we were saying, if no one objects, let's get the entrance thing over with so we could get you into a team," Tsunade-Sama said nervously.
"Starting without us, eh?" a storm of sand appeared. I shielded my eyes my forearm, Shinko created an invisible shield of water vapour.
The sand siblings have arrived. Temari and Kankurou appeared without Gaara. No worries, Deidera-San will get to him eventually.
"Right, so if we could just get this thing started..." Shizune said quietly.
"Yea just put your full name on the scroll," Anko pointed at the wooden desk, "and your hidden village too!" she yelled.
We waited; carefully examine each person in the room. Jin seemed quite ignorant as he ran to sign up. I saw Shinko's eyes shifted at the direction of the blond woman, Tsunade; if she's the Hokage, she must be powerful, and Shinko must be very careful.
We waited until everyone in the room has signed up, we appeared before the scroll table.
Amegakure no Shinko, I guess I'll do the same, I thought as I put my name down as Amegakure no Yuun. I scanned the list; Jin has put his name down as an Iwagakure, how stupid. Doesn't he know that Iwa and Konoha are not allies?
I erased his name and carefully forged Amegakure no Jin in its place. We returned to our usual spot against the far-side wall.
"Yes, so I'll just send this to the committee and they will organize the teams," Tsunade said as she pointed at the rather big piece of scroll. It disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"As the committee is doing that, I will guide you through the rules of the Jounin Exam. You will listen very carefully because I'm not going to explain it again!" Anko shouted.
"The Jounin Exam consists of three parts, like the Chuunin Exam. The first part will be a mission, which could range from information deliverance to protection. You will have a current Konoha Jounin to look after you and mark you on your jutsu, stamina and intelligence.
"The second part is a combat mission. You will fight anyone that we choose, ranging from Chuunin to elite Jounin. The fight will be considered over when one of the two is injured severely and cannot finish the fight, when one of the two admits defeat, or when one of the two dies.
"The third part is not to be discussed until all teams have finished the first two parts. Remember, when you signed the scroll, it also signed your death warrant. That means, if you die during any part of this exam, we are not held responsible!"
"A to-the-death exam," I whispered to Shinko, "this will be fun."
A loud beep rang from the back of the room.
"Looks like they're ready," said Shizune. "Anko will call your name and you shall come to the front of the room."
"Ok, first, Kakashi's team C#1. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, and Jin, those of you will leave with you sensei immediately," Anko called. The foursome left with a Jounin wearing a mask.
Copy Ninja Kakashi.
"Kurenai's C#2, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, and Aburame Shino," the team left with a dark haired lady dressed in a white dress.
"Gai's C#3, Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, Kumogakure no Kuna and Kumogakure no Ana," I tried my best to swallow my laughter as Lee and Gai Sensei hugged each other.
This is highly abnormal to anyone of the human race. But then again, I'm not so sure if they are even human. I snickered.
"Gai, if you don't mind, could you maybe take this outside, please?" Tsunade smiled.
"Right, so this is Asuma's C#4, Akimichi Chouji, Kumogakure no Dona, Temari and Kankurou of the Sand," Anko read from the scroll.
"Finally, Genma's C#5 Unit, Yuun, Uchiha Sasuke, Shinko, and Nara Shikamaru," she called.
"Right so, that's everyone," Shizune muttered.
"You guys come with me, we'll do an introductory session first," Genma Sensei said, signalling us to follow.
He led us to a large marble balcony overlooking a small garden. "I guess I'll go first, my name is Shiranui Genma, and well, I really don't have any hobbies. Who wants to go next?"
Seeing that no one volunteered, he decided to pick. "You, one with the attitude, you go next," he pointed at Shikamaru.
"Well, my name's Shikamaru, but I guess you've already know that, I basically have no hobby in life except for watching clouds," he yawned.
Great, why are we stuck with the lazy bum?
"You, one dressed in red t-shirt, go," Genma commanded.
"Yuun and I don't like the color yellow," I said quickly, to get this over with.
"Ok, fine. You next," he pointed at Shinko.
"I'm Shinko, and I am not obliged to answer the rest of your questions," she narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
"Well, fine with me then," Genma said with a nervous smile.
"Lastly, you," he pointed to the Uchiha boy.
He does have some similarity to Itachi-Sama, though not much.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and my goal in life is to kill my brother."
Yea, yea, we've all heard that before from someone, though of course he died pretty soon after.
"Ok, so now we all know each other, we'll just sit here 'til Hokage Sama sends the first test," Genma said as he leaned against the cold marble wall.
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A/N: sorry I hadn't been updating lately. But it's because I was plagued with a cold and I have so many tests since it is midterm. And of course, I have piano lessons and theory, which might I add, is killing off my brain cells.
And by the way, I am changing the story to a monthly update. So I can make each chapter longer and better
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