Chapter Seven
"This is getting ridiculous." Akari complained, her words making my back vibrate. The three of us were meditating, back to back, in a triangle. Well, Rafu and I were meditating - Akari was more complaining than anything else.
"It's only until after the third exam." I responded calmly, my eyes closed and my breathing controlled.
"He was actually thinking about making it permanent, just more infrequent to catch us off guard." Rafu commented dryly
I sighed, I had heard him say that as well but I was hoping to get Akari to not complain so much for now. Takeshi had decided to improve our training regime - which turned it into a twenty four hour schedule. For example, I was sleeping a few nights ago and Takeshi broke into my apartment, knocked me over the head to make sure I wouldn't wake up, and then tied me to a chair in some weird, abandoned house. I still had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing but Takeshi-sensei said it might save our lives one day.
I opened my eyes groggily, wondering why the hell my head hurt so bad, and when they focused I realised I wasn't in my apartment anymore. I was in a dusty room, it looked like it had been awhile since someone had used it, and when I tried to wiggle my arms and legs I found them tied down.
'Okay, don't freak out.' I thought to myself, looking around to see if their was anything useful laying around. First thing was first, I needed to get at least my arms free if I was going to have any chance of getting out of here alive. Obviously, someone had kidnapped me - I wasn't sure why, but it might've been another person who was in the tournament. I was up against Kankuro from the sand village so it might've been him, although I'm not sure what he would have to gain from it. I activated my dojutsu, checking the future to see if anyone would be coming soon, and bit down on my lip to stifle the groan of pain I let out. Alright, don't do that again. It must be some kind of chakra suppression - maybe a poison or a seal on the room maybe.
"Ah, so you're finally awake." a disembodied voice I didn't recognize filled the room, making me tense automatically before I relaxed. I was being monitored.
"Yeah, do you have any water?" I asked dryly, trying to scan the room for the camera and keep the guy talking to find out as much as I could. "I'm a little parched."
"So brave." The voice almost cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice, before it turned malicious. "I wonder if your friends are as brave as you are."
"If you knew them, you'd know they are." I responded, and my eyes narrowed at a crate sitting in the corner. There was a cloth positioned slightly oddly on top, I couldn't see inside the gap because of the shadow the cloth was casting, but I'd be willing to bet that was where the camera was.
"Well, why don't we see?" The smug voice said, and my head jerked as a panel moved in the room to reveal two monitors - both of them were viewing rooms just like this one, but one had Akari in it and the other had Rafu, both tied up in a chair like me. Rafu's had someone inside of it, and I could tell they had been torturing him; he was bleeding in a couple of places, it looked like his nose had been broken, and one of his eyes were swollen shut.
'Don't let him know he's getting to you. Shinobi show no emotion.' I thought to myself, steeling my resolve.
"What do you want?" I asked, looking directly at the camera as I spoke with as much steel in my voice as I could muster.
"Why, I want those eyes of yours." The voice replied triumphantly
"Oh yeah?" I asked, more bravado in my voice than I actually felt. "Then come in here and get them."
"Oh, I will in time." The voice said "but first.. I want you to know how serious I am. So I think I'll kill the boy."
"If you kill him, I'll kill you." I replied heatedly, and I winced when my voice shook. The voice didn't say anything and I focused on the screen in front of me, watching as the guy in the room with Rafu looked at the camera and waved - I could see he was saying something, but there was no audio. The guy drew a small sword and went around behind Rafu, positioning the blade at his throat and I started struggling against the bindings, thinking fast of how I could get out of this fucking room.
"Please!" I called out, desperate to buy time or stop him from killing Rafu. "Please, you want me - you can let them go, I'll cooperate. I'll give you the eyes, whatever you want - let them go."
"I don't believe you." The voice replied menacingly, and I watched in horror as the man cut Rafu's throat without any hesitation. I bit back my tears, refusing to let them fall as I saw the blood spill from his throat. "Now, I think I'll introduce myself the the little girl next - Akari, was it?"
"Don't you touch her." I snarled. I needed to get out of here and get to Akari, I'd have to worry about Rafu first. Oh, god, Rafu..
I struggled against the ropes again. They barely moved, I was tied too tight - the wooden chair moved more than the ropes did whenever I tried to wiggle my body and loosen the ropes. Wait, wooden chair?
I rocked myself forward, and then backwards, over and over until I could feel the chair start to teeter on it's hind legs. I pushed back with everything I had and finally felt the chair, and me with it, begin to fall backwards. The chair broke on impact from the force and I lifted my arms up - the ropes had been tied to the chair, instead of me, so when the chair broke the ropes were not tight anymore. I slid them right off and glanced around the room, picked up a piece of wood with a rusty nail sticking out of it, and bashed the camera in the room quickly. I looked at the monitor one more time, seeing that Akari hadn't moved, and then went to the door and cautiously opened it. The hallway seemed clear, mine was the only door, so I cautiously crept along the hall until I came to a corner. I peeked around it, saw a man standing with his back to me, and I snuck towards him - hoping for the element of surprise. When I was about ten feet away, his head started to turn, so I closed the gap between us in one leap and swung the board in my hands down onto the base of his skull with everything I had.
The man disappeared. I looked around, confused, and then I heard clapping. I looked down the hall I had come from and saw Takeshi sensei, he was the one clapping, and I looked at him confused before I started telling him what had happened.
"I know, Ren. I know." Takeshi said, sympathy in his eyes. "I'm sorry I had to do this, but there may come a day when you are in this exact kind of situation - you let the guy be in control too long. You did well, getting out of the chair and getting here, which would have been Akari's room, but if you hadn't been there watching - who knows if he would have killed Rafu."
"So, this was.." I asked, confused, emotional. "This was a test?"
"Yes, Ren. Rafu and Akari are fine, they are probably asleep right now." Takeshi explained "I'm sorry, Ren. I know it must've been a hard lesson - but sometimes, I have to teach you the hard lesson to prepare you for the life ahead of you."
"I.. I understand, sensei." I said, my voice wavering in relief at finding out Akari and Rafu were fine and exhaustion as the adrenaline left my body.
"The man is sick." Akari said, and I didn't need to open my eyes to see her rolling her own. "Although, I am getting way more vigilant - honestly, I feel like I could be attacked any second."
"It's almost sad that what you just described is a good thing among shinobi." I mused out loud as I felt the sun come out from behind a cloud and warm my face.
"Ugh, I can't do this anymore. Can we please go eat?" Akari basically whined, although it was mostly in jest - she didn't mind sitting still or quiet as long as there was a reason, but the kunoichi did not have the patience for meditation at all.
"Yeah, alright." Rafu replied, getting up and stretching his limbs out. I sighed, getting up as well, and the three of us made our way towards a restaurant in town from our spot by a big tree on a hill just on the outskirts. It was a place we had gone too for awhile, even though it was out of the way, because no one else really came here and it was peaceful with a nice view. A perfect place to scheme, relax, or study together. Shaking my head at my two best friends, I jogged a second to catch up with them and threw my arms around their shoulders - as long as I had these two, I could take on anything the world threw at me.
We walked into the restaurant and sat down, ordering some food and tea, and talking amongst ourselves as we waited for the food to arrive. Rafu and I were discussing chakra theory, more specifically about a chapter I had read in a book last night, when I heard Akari groan in exasperation under her breath. I started to turn to her but she grabbed my face and pushed, keeping it turned towards Rafu.
"Akari." I deadpanned, her hand squishing my face uncomfortably. Rafu looked at us both, shaking his head in amusement.
"Yes?" She answered cheerfully, before thinking better of it. "What were you guys talking about just now?"
"Akari. Why are you pushing my face?" I asked her, trying to turn it which only made her increase the pressure.
"Well, because you were going to look over here and I spilled something on my shirt and I'm embarrassed." Akari responded nervously, in her lying voice.
"Akari, I've seen you looking worse." I assured her, gripping her wrist and lowering her hand from my face before turning to look at her. "What are you really doing?"
"Nothing." She muttered unconvincingly, glancing to her left unconsciously slightly before correcting herself and looking at me instead. I looked in the direction she was and rolled my eyes: sitting there was Team Ten. Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and their sensei, Asuma Sarutobi.
"Is it because of them?" I asked exasperatedly, looking in their direction pointedly for only a moment before returning to my friend's face. "I told you; it was a miscommunication. Yes, that bastard should have told me that it wasn't him that had said that to me. It's in the past and I'm perfectly comfortable ignoring them."
"That's not really healthy.." Rafu said, but quieted when I glared at him. "Totally reasonable though. Very kind of you, even. Yeah."
"So can we please go back to enjoying ourselves now?" I asked the two of them, glancing between them. "Takeshi-sensei will probably run us into the ground later today during training, so let's have some fun."
"Yeah, alright." Akari agreed, smiling tentatively. The two had been walking on eggshells about the whole thing ever since it happened. I admit, I over reacted a little bit, but it had been the first time, most likely the last now, that I had put myself out there and I felt humiliated. Maybe it wasn't totally the guy's fault, maybe he wasn't actually a bastard; but I felt rejected and upset, so I vented. I'm not perfect. I'm perfectly happy pretending the entire thing didn't happen and moving on with my life, there were way more important things to worry about then some guy I thought was cute when I sat next to him in the exam.
"Uh, Ren." Rafu said, looking at me with a weird expression on his face. "Remember the meditation we just did?"
"Yeah.." I responded, raising an eyebrow at him and clearly giving him a look that said 'are-you-stupid?'
"Well, remember that calm. Before you say anything, count to ten and remember the calm, okay?" Rafu was saying, speaking more quickly as he went.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused
"They are coming over here." Akari said, murmuring the last part most likely so they couldn't hear it. I tensed automatically before I forced myself to relax. One. Two. Three.
"Hey.." a distinctly female voice said, sounding kind of nervous. The three of us turned to look at them: Ino, her hands behind her back and a hesitant expression on her face, Choji standing to her left, and Shikamaru on her right, a bored expression on his face and one hand in his pocket.
"How can we help you?" Rafu asked, ever the polite one out of the three of us.
"Well, I just wanted to say thanks." Ino said, looking at me. I was looking at her, pointedly not looking at Shikamaru because I would probably throw something to get him to wipe that bored expression off of his face. Petulant bastard. "Y'know, for the scroll during the second exam. It was really nice of you and I wanted to thank you for it."
"You're welcome." I replied, my tone crisp. Four. Five. Six. "Like I told them, it was for the benefit of the village. I would have done it for any other leaf shinobi."
"Oh, okay." Ino replied, smiling a little. "Well, thanks anyway."
Ino started to turn away but Choji coughed a little, looking at Shikamaru, who in turn looked at Ino meaningfully. Ino turned back around and this time was looking at the floor, shifting a little in her spot. "Uh, I also wanted to say sorry."
"Okay." I replied, really hoping this was not going where I thought it was. Akari looked at me and then at Shikamaru a little disbelievingly.
"Y'know, for calling you cute during the exam. When you didn't know it was me." Ino finally finished, eyes still not looking at mine. I looked between her and Shikamaru, who was now looking at me with a satisfied expression on his face. As though he had just done me a favor. I clenched my hands under the table, forcing a smile on my face. Seven. Eight.
"I appreciate your honesty." I replied "and your apology is accepted."
"Oh, great." Ino said, like she didn't really believe me. "So you aren't angry?"
"No, not with you." I told her honestly
Akari was looking at Shikamaru pointedly, as though waiting for him to apologize, but he just stood there looking at me with narrowed eyes, as though he couldn't figure out what was going on in my head. Was it seriously asking a lot for an apology? I would honestly feel a lot better if he said it. Even if he said he just hadn't realised I was flirting or that he didn't know how to react; anything but that bored expression on his face with those half lidded eyes.
"Are you mad at me?" Shikamaru asked, voice as raspy as I remembered it. It sounded like the guy had just woken up from a nap, all the time.
"Should I be?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Was he seriously doing this in public right now? Internally, I'm seething. Was it not humiliating enough when it was just the six of us who knew what was going on? Now we were doing this in public? Nine. Ten.
"I don't know?" Shikamaru asked, a hand on his hip now as he looked at me. "Were you flirting with me?"
"What?" I asked, eyes wide. Did he seriously just ask me that? In a public restaurant, around our teammates? The waitress had literally just put down our drinks when he said it, and by the look on her face, she had heard him as well. 'Fuck this.' I thought.
"I'm suddenly not hungry. I'll meet you guys at the training field." I told my teammates, who were looking at Shikamaru gobsmacked by the idiocy of the genius. I stood up to leave and Shikamaru moved a little bit so that he was in my way. "Please move, I'd prefer not to talk now."
"Well, wait. I didn't mean anything by it." Shikamaru said, grabbing my wrist to stop me from walking away. "You don't have to leave."
"I know I don't have to leave." I replied quietly, trying not to cause a scene. "I want too. Now move."
"Can you at least answer my question?" Shikamaru asked, looking more wary as the conversation continued and he probably saw how mad I was getting.
"Fuck. You." I seethed, grabbing one of the tea cups and pouring it over his shoulder. The hot tea made him let go of my hand with a jerky motion, gasping a little as the hot liquid dripped down his arm, soaking his jacket sleeve. Stepping around him, I walked out of the building and down the street. I hate people sometimes, they were all idiots.
"All I'm saying is, you might have overreacted." Akari said as I pounded the wooden stand later that day in front of me. "I mean, I know he shouldn't have asked that in public - and with the waitress right there - but he was just curious and it was the first time he had seen you since the preliminaries."
"Akari, I don't want to talk about it." I told her for the third time, continuing to strike at the wooden stakes sticking out of the training stand. My gloves were getting a little worn on the back, it was almost time to get a new pair.
"I mean, you have to admit." Akari said with a slight giggle "It was kind of funny. You should have seen his face when you left, he looked absolutely bewildered."
"Akari." I snapped out, forcing her to stop giggling and mutter a sorry. "He could have asked to speak with me alone. Now, I seriously don't want to talk about it - the third exam is coming up and we need to get ready, not gossiping about boys like those kunoichi in the academy."
"Alright, alright." Akari said placatingly, putting up her hands. "I think you should talk to him though, it sounds like a misunderstanding. That's all I'm going to say."
"We should be so lucky." I muttered snarkily, continuing to punch the target with everything that I had.
A/N: I know, it's short - these last two have been. It's just that I need them to be like this for a little while because there really isn't that much going on. It's mostly just training for the third exam and that won't be for at least another two chapters - I need some things to happen before the invasion. So, my lovelies, enjoy the drama bits as best you can and I'll try to work in some action ;) Please keep reviewing! It's inspiring me to write more and more, hence why I am updating so quickly! Just so everyone knows, and because I'm a smug idiot, here are the stats after only NINE DAYS PEOPLE:
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~Rache