Yosh! Two in one day! I'm on a ROLL!
Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, or else Kakashi and Iruka would've been together. I own my characters and the plot, nothing else (unfortunately). :D ENJOY!
Chuunin Exam, Preliminaries
For the next four days, we didn't really do anything. Sometimes I would send Jun out to tell us if anyone had arrived yet. It was difficult to sit still at times, but Kaito always had a deck of cards on him, so it wasn't so bad, until Kaito himself decided he wanted to practice running up the wall. Roka and I had already completed the training, but Kai was having trouble.
"Get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" I yelled up at Kaito, who was smirking. But right when he stopped running, he slipped and fell. Guess what, or rather who, he landed on? You are correct!
"Get off of me!" I groaned. I scrambled away when I realized my head had been in his arm pit.
"Gross! You smell like dead pigeon!" I whined, as I scrubbed at my face with the back of my hand. He grimaced.
"And you smell like fruit that's way too ripe." He retorted. Roka rolled his eyes and played solitaire while Kaito and I wrestled.
We had read the little tapestry over and over, but each time we decided the missing piece would have to be in the scrolls. When we flew apart from each other, I stared at the poster.
If Heaven does not exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for the chance. If Earth does not exist, run the fields in search of an advantage. Open the series of Heaven and Earth, and the perilous way shall be redressed. This is namely the secret of the "one that guides".
I shook my head. One more day. As I stood up, I turned to Roka. "I think it's safe to open the scrolls now that we're inside the tower. We should give it a try." I said, and he looked up from the cards. He shrugged.
"I guess." I tossed him the Earth scroll, and I held the Heaven one, while Kaito leaned against the wall and watched.
"On the count of three. One." I grasped the start of the scroll and took a deep breath.
"Two." Kaito threw in. I smiled, and glanced at Roka. He looked terrified.
"Three!" Roka yelled, and we tore open the scrolls, only to be engulfed in smoke. I coughed, and dropped the scroll. I leaped back, not knowing if we were gonna get hurt.
"Yo." Standing on top of the scrolls was a woman with long black hair and matching eyes.
She proceeded to explain everything to us, and told us we could go wait with the other teams if we wanted to.
"You mean we could've been talking to people all this time, and yet we've been stuck here?" Kaito hissed. The woman shrugged.
"Anko never specified that we could open it once we got to the tower…" I grumbled, as the woman led us to the large arena room, which had two giant hands at the back. I saw a decent number of teams had survived; even Hinata's team. I was happy for her, but not about Kiba.
Everyone was just lounging about, and they all seemed bored. Their eyes flickered to us for a moment, before they went back to what they were doing. Several teams looked really roughed up, while others (like ours) barely had a scratch. I headed straight for Hinata.
"Hey! You did it!" I exclaimed as I sat next to her. She looked surprised.
"Oh! Kiko-chan, I was worried!" She told me softly. I grinned at her.
"We decided to not open the scrolls when we got here. We thought we had to wait until the last day. But Kai and I got so bored we had to open them." I admitted.
"When did you get here?" She asked.
"Just after midnight the first day." I told her.
"Haha! We beat you here then!" Kiba exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. I rolled my eyes and slapped it away.
"Yeah, but who was good enough to get an extra scroll? Not you." I retorted. He scowled. I heard a soft scree to my right, and looked over. What I saw baffled me to no end.
Akamaru was chasing after Jun. The little owl was flying just over the dog's head. Akamaru would yip and jump, as if to bite Jun, but the little bird would go up a bit higher to taunt the white dog. I giggled.
"Are they, playing?" I asked, glancing at Kiba. He looked stunned.
"I think so." He muttered, and stared at his dog. I giggled when Jun swooped down, and gently pulled at a tuft of Akamaru's fur. I sat down, and Kiba followed suit.
I glanced around, wondering where Roka and Kaito were, and saw Hinata and Roka chatting, while Kaito was trying to convince Shino to play cards with him. I looked around, and grinned when I saw Chouji and his team. Forgetting who exactly I was sitting next to, I turned to Kiba.
"Could you watch Jun for a minute?" I asked. He looked at me incredulously.
I sighed. "Please?" I winced. Never had it been so hard to be nice. He rolled his eyes and shrugged, and I grinned as I pelted towards Chouji. I attacked him with a hug, and could tell he was surprised.
"I'm so glad you guys made it!" I exclaimed, and pulled away. Chouji smiled at me.
"Glad you made it too!" He said, and pulled out some chips to celebrate. I was so excited, I even hugged Shikamaru. He patted my back awkwardly and muttered something about hugging being so troublesome. I pulled away and gave Ino a smile.
"I'm happy you made it too, Ino-san." I told her, and she looked surprised. She nodded with a smile of her own though.
We spent the rest of the day talking, playing cards, and watching the two little animals create games of their own to play. Finally, the worn out little guys crawled into our laps for a good nap. I stroked Jun's feathers as his chest rose and fell slowly, showing he was asleep.
Kai offered me some chips, but I shook my head, and started peeling an orange instead. Ino grinned at me.
"Kiko! Have you finally decided to go on a diet? I know some great ones I could tell you about!" She exclaimed, and proceeded to list what sounded like torture tactics. I squirmed uncomfortably, and glanced down. I wasn't that fat, was I?
Sure I'm not the skinniest, nor the biggest, but I guess I could bear to lose a few pounds. My hips were a bit big, and I wouldn't mind losing some baby fat from my cheeks. I hope it wouldn't make my chest get smaller. I was quite proud of that area.
I exercised and trained just as much as my teammates, if not more. I never ate more than what I needed, but I never seemed to lose much weight. Perhaps I would try dieting when I got home. But would that mean no more barbeque? Oh god, I don't think I could live in a world without barbeque.
"Oh! And there's this one where all you eat are two apple slices a day. That one works wonders, but you're more prone to passing out. I would say the cheese one would work best for you, but-" Ino was suddenly cut off.
"I think she looks just fine." Kiba said, staring at the ceiling. I looked at him, wide eyed. What the hell? Everyone stared at him, shocked. He looked down, and saw us all staring at him. He fidgeted, and adjusted the sleeping pup in his lap.
"What?" He asked, annoyed.
"That, coming from the one who has picked on me since we started at the academy?" I asked pointedly. He shrugged.
"People change. You've lost your baby fat. We all have. So there's no need to call you fatso anymore." He admitted.
"Then why do you still do it?" I asked blandly. He rolled his eyes.
"'Cause it bugs you." He laughed at my expression.
We all became silent, and one by one, we drifted off to sleep. I giggled as Roka's head fell onto my shoulder. Kai used Roka's legs as a pillow, and I laid my head on top of Roka's. Fortunately, sleep came easily, and before I knew it, I was being shaken awake.
"Wha-?" I mumbled sleepily. I rubbed my eyes and looked up with a yawn to see Kai crouching next to me.
"Get up, they're addressing everyone." He told me, and I stood up, and glanced around. The teams were filing into formation, and the only other team that had joined since last night was Naruto's. I shuffled over to stand next to Roka, with Kaito on the other side of him.
"First off, congratulations on finishing the second test." The Hokage congratulated. I tuned the rest out, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Suddenly, I caught sight of Hiroshi, and grinned. He smiled back, and he looked very proud.
Hayate explained everything, and we met up with Hiroshi at the top. "I'm so proud of you three!" He swept us up in a bone crushing hug, and when he let us go, we all gasped for breath.
"It's good to see you too sensei." I wheezed happily. I then turned to the boys and stared at them.
"Don't hold back." I ordered. They looked at me, surprised. Roka smiled.
"You too." We nodded, and turned to watch as the electric panel started turning up names. It was Sasuke first. We all sat down against the wall and had a snack while we watched, and Hiroshi chatted on and on. No surprise, Sasuke won.
The second match was Shino's, which he won. I couldn't help but shudder, his bugs really freak me out sometimes. The next match was between a sand nin and some other ninja, the sand nin won. The next match was Sakura and Ino. I gasped as Ino cut her hair off, and ran a hand through my own hair.
"Am I the only girl with long hair left?" I asked the guys, wide eyed. They chuckled.
"Don't worry, long hair looks better on you." Hiroshi told me, ruffling said hair. I pouted at him, and flattened my hair.
When the sixth rolled up, I paid close attention. It was Shikamaru's after all. He had to walk past me to get to the stairs, so I gave him a smile.
"Good luck." I told him, and he rolled his eyes, and muttered his customary 'How troublesome.' But I leaned against the rail and watched. It didn't surprise me when he won.
I stared at the panel, and felt anxiety clawing at my stomach. Then, the names stopped flickering and finally settled on two.
Kimura Tsukiko and Kouda Dai, was what the panel read. I felt the blood drain out of my face, but I took a deep breath and cleared my head.
"Good luck." My team whispered to me, and I smirked.
"I don't need luck." I lied, and walked towards the stairs. I could feel all of my comrades eyes on me, but I didn't look at them. I could do this, I kept telling myself, but my body betrayed me, and made me shake. I reached back and grabbed a ribbon out of my pouch, and put my hair up. I stood across the floor from my opponent.
He was very big. Easily three times bigger than me. He was probably very strong. But I could use my speed against him. How would I bring him down? I could trick him, or maybe I should just test him first. I nodded mentally, and turned back to the judge.
"Begin." Was all he said. I snatched two kunai out of my pouch, and threw them as hard as I could. He deflected easily. I ran two complete circles around him, and then signaled Jun. He screeched and I flung down a smoke ball, and we were engulfed in seconds. I threw several shuriken into the cloud, and he gasped when two hit him. I dove in, and quickly punched and kicked him while running around trying to confuse him. I then delivered a very strong punch to his chest, but he just skidded back.
Before he started his skid though, he latched onto my arm, and slammed me into the ground. I gasped, and my vision went blurry for a moment, but when it cleared I saw the guy trying to stab me with a kunai. I rolled to the side and dodged. I scrambled away so I was a few feet from him.
He frowned at me, and started forming hand signs. He crouched down, and raised two fingers to his lips, and blew hard. I yelped when fire came out, and I barely escaped. I kept running, but he followed me with his fire. I screamed as it caught my left arm, but I got away.
The fire died down, and I groaned as I clutched my left shoulder. He had burnt it badly, and I chanced a look. It was red and the skin had torn open, and it was bleeding. I snarled at him, and formed hand signals of my own before thrusting my arm up towards Jun. Before he could see the jutsu, and while he was distracted, I threw down a smoke ball. He couldn't even see the hardened feathers flying at him, and I heard him groan as I dove into the smoke, and kicked his chest as hard as I could.
Before I could do anything else though, he had grabbed my ponytail. He turned in a semi-circle, and threw me at the wall.
I screamed as I collided with the wall, and I heard a crack. Explosions of pain shot from my left wrist to my already burnt shoulder. I staggered up, and wiped my mouth before scowling at him. I ran so fast I was a blur, and I tied wires here and there, everywhere, while I also had signaled Jun to distract him. When it was all set up, I smirked, and skidded to a stop in front of the giant hands.
"I'm over here dumbass!" I screamed, and he snarled at me. I smiled when I saw Jun had given the guy a huge cut on his cheek. He tried to barrel straight at me, but his foot caught on a wire and he slammed into the ground. The wire was wrapped around his foot, and now that it had been pulled, eight kunai were flung at him, and he yelped when they stabbed him. I ran over and kicked him, but he grabbed my foot.
"Not again." I muttered, as he flung me at the statue of the hands. My back made contact with them, and I could taste an almost metallic gooiness on my tongue. Blood. As I slid to the ground (more like flopped), I could hear the blood roaring in my ears, and my vision was filled with spots, but only for a minute. I rolled over, and coughed up blood onto the ground. I got up, and wobbled for a second, before grabbing a kunai. He ran at me with his own knife, and the metal clanged together as we fought. At some point, I felt the ribbon slip out of my hair, and onto the floor. My hair whipped out behind me, and I snarled as I tried to stab his hand. He tried to slice at my face, but I twirled away, and ran straight back at him.
I landed a stab to his shoulder, but he sliced my side in return. I couldn't tell who was bleeding more. He decided to grab my other shoulder, and toss me over him, so I crashed in the ground. My ankle felt like it was on fire now, and I got up and hobbled away.
As we skidded apart, I panted. I couldn't keep this up for much longer. Should I chance another try at the jutsu? No, he would know what I was doing. I only had two smoke bombs left. My brain was muddled with pain, so I couldn't really think straight.
In my split second hesitation, he flashed through more hand signs. I tried to run, but more fire chased after me, and with my hurt ankle, I couldn't get very far. The fire caught my entire left side, and I let out a whimper as I collapsed on the ground. I dropped the kunai I had been holding, and curled up in a ball. I felt tears pour out of my eyes, but I swiped them away, and staggered up. He was smirking at me.
I snatched the kunai I had dropped, and threw it at him. He dodged, and ran straight at me. I grabbed a few shuriken, and tossed them, but he dodged. He slammed straight into me, and I grabbed his shoulder. I pulled out my kunai, and shoved it through his stomach, before I flew back into the wall, and promptly passed out.
I watched wide eyed, as she battled the ginormous guy in front of her. I tried to lean back against the wall as if I didn't care, but I somehow had gravitated to the railing to watch. It was amazing how she kept getting thrown into the wall or the ground, but she got up again. I thought she would've given up by now, but she kept fighting. When they started flying at each other with kunai, I watched as her hair fell out of its ribbon, and would whip around behind her. She looked fierce and determined, and that made her look rather, dare I say it, cute.
But when she got burned again, I winced as she curled up in a ball in pain. She completely shocked me when she got up again, and threw her kunai at him. Unfortunately he barreled straight into her, and knocked her back into the wall. She lay on the floor, unconscious. I sighed. What a shame. Wait a second, she stabbed the guy in the middle. The guy fell over, unconscious as blood spurted out.
"Tie. No one wins." The judge declared. The medics rushed out and lifted them both away, while the board flashed more names. I smirked as I saw my own, and Naruto's. This would be easy. Akamaru yipped from my hoodie, and I patted his head and walked down.
Before the battle started though, I saw a dark blue ribbon sitting on the ground. I frowned and picked it up. I'll give it to her team so they can give it back. I decided, pocketing the silky strip of fabric.
I bet you didn't see that one coming now did ya?
Review and vote please!
-Ash