Author's Note, 7 Feb 2007: Did I ever mention that computers really don't like me? You can blame my machine's faulty hard drive and other quirks for my long absence this time around. This update is coming from a jury-rigged system that I'm crossing my fingers will hold out until the other one gets fixed... So yes, after almost a month of no available reference material and frustrating writer's block adding to abovestated issues, behold the next chapter! Enjoy...
31 Spectator Sports
The Final Exams, Now a Fight for Life? Save Konoha!
Distracted as she had been at the outset of the finals, Naeko could not help but feel a pang of worry when she heard Kotori's warning. Something nagged at the edge of her perception and she found herself glancing around the arena for anything out of the ordinary. Hmm. The feudal lord of Grass doesn't seem pleased about something – and where are his two bodyguards? Suddenly Taiki sat up straight in his seat, almost as if someone had jabbed him with a needle. "Blood!" This single hissed word caused Naeko to stare at him in alarm, noticing that his skin had gone abnormally pale and his pupils had dilated to give his eyes the appearance of almost complete darkness. "It starts now."
Shuddering, Naeko looked over at Kotori to see how she was reacting. Kotori saw her teammate's querying glance and muttered, "The sand-demon is awake and thirsty. Uchiha will only aggravate it further, so be on your guard." The redhead then lapsed into silence and settled into a posture of tensed waiting, flexed fingers resting on her knees and digging into the flesh in barely-concealed agitation. "So much latent power, like a bomb waiting to go off…"
After some wait, the final candidate from Suna appeared in the arena and moved to the center to meet his opponent. The two foes squared off and faced each other wordlessly after being given the signal to start, mutters of alarm rippling through the crowd when Gaara began to tremble and clutched at his head in agony as a cloud of sand began to pour forth from the gourd on his back. His whispered words were all but inaudible to the spectators, but a low growl from Kotori told Naeko that this too was cause for worry. Even after the Suna genin composed himself, Naeko noticed that her teammates still remained on edge. What on earth is going on with those two - did they have a nice dose of paranoia for breakfast? Or maybe they're right and something really is going to happen. She turned her attention back to the unfolding fight below, wincing as the first offensive moves from Sasuke were turned aside by a well-executed sand clone, forcing the Uchiha to fall back and consider another strategy. He then sprang into action again with a series of blink-fast strikes, dodging defending tendrils of sand with seemingly effortless grace. "Wow," Naeko murmured. "You are watching this, Tori-chan?"
A quiet, not-wholly-human chuckle. "Of course I am – it's the next best thing to actually being there." Naeko shot her teammate an offended look and began to protest, but was cut off by Kotori. "Quiet, you. I've set aside your weakness for now and am merely stating fact." The girl gave a delicious shiver and grinned, showing suddenly fang-like teeth. "I must fight that one… hell, both of them. It would be a sublime test of my skill."
"Oh-kay…" Naeko shook her head once to clear it and resumed watching the bout, frowning in puzzlement as Gaara surrounded himself in a sphere of hardened sand. His opponent struck once at it, grimacing in surprised pain as his fist was repelled by the impenetrable shell and a cluster of razor-sharp spikes bristled out in response to this assault, one grazing across his cheek and drawing blood. Any other attempts at landing a hit were met with this same reaction from the sand-sphere, its inhabitant also conjuring a third eye from the sand to observe his opponent's actions. "This just had to turn into a freak show," muttered Naeko, examining the crowd once more and trying to figure out where the sense of restlessness that gnawed on her nerves originated from.
Her attention then snapped back to the arena as Sasuke once again became a blur of motion, loosening the bindings on his left arm and dashing up one of the walls to begin his next attack. Any uneasy feelings of before were now eclipsed by the steady, colossal buildup of chakra at which Naeko could only stare in amazement, offhandedly noting that Kotori watched also with predatory glee shining in her eyes. "What's he up to now…?" The air became thick with the sound of a thousand birds singing, and Naeko realized she was not alone in her shock as she recognized the technique. "He's learned Chidori!" she hissed to Kotori, who merely nodded in acknowledgement.
"But even that won't be enough," Taiki muttered in the first words he'd spoken since the beginning of the bout. In the time that had elapsed, his skin had become pale almost to the point of translucency and stretched drum-tight across the normally handsome and smooth planes and angles of his face. "It's already too late to stop what's started." His eyes flicked up to where the Kazekage sat, narrowing slightly as he watched the visiting leader. "And no matter how you look at it, this can't possibly end well."
Arm glowing like living lightning, Sasuke tore down from his perch on the wall, ripping a deep groove in it and the ground as he sped towards his target. Once again dodging the spiky defenses put out by the sand-sphere, he plunged his hand through its surface to strike at his foe within…
Silence reigned for a single breathless moment as all present wondered what had just happened, punctuated only by a single agonized scream from within the shell of sand that made Naeko's skin prickle. With great effort and a second burst of unnatural lightning Sasuke wrenched away from the sphere, only to be chased after by a mysterious, grotesque arm emerging from Gaara's defense. After failing to catch its prey, the arm retreated, leaving the fist-size hole that had been punctured in the sand. Naeko mutedly cursed her limited view, but even from where she sat she could plainly see the mixed confusion and fear on Sasuke's face. Kotori saw it as well, and again chuckled in that inhuman manner that gave Naeko the chills. "Yes, my little mullet-boy, be afraid. You may not like what next comes out of that shell…"
Cracks began to appear in the sand-sphere, which then dissolved to reveal a pained Gaara who pressed one hand against his chest to stanch the blood that now flowed from a fresh wound. Was that arm we saw the sand-demon Tori-chan mentioned? Naeko wondered in horrified fascination. Time then began to trickle to a halt and she felt her eyes beginning to grow heavy in forced sleep. She barely had the presence of mind left to move her hands and dispel its effects from her, and briefly turned her attention to Kotori who likewise was slipping into slumber. Naeko did not need to assist her teammate, though, as the redhead lurched awake again with fel awareness glittering in her eyes. "Don't worry, Naeko. She won't let me sleep just yet," Kotori commented with a return of the fanged grin. "I'd be more worried for yourself right now."
The sudden boom of a grenade shattered the already tense atmosphere in the arena, and Naeko gasped when she saw the Kage viewing platform wreathed in smoke. "I told you that this wouldn't end well," grumbled Taiki and then disappeared from his seat beyond Naeko's senses. The girl made as if to chase after him but was halted by a hand on her elbow.
"I told you to worry more about yourself," Kotori growled and pulled both of them down to evade possible injury. Her eyes darted around to sights that Naeko could only imagine, skin rippling in visible unrest. "We're under attack, Naeko – go and protect your family. Taiki is more than capable of taking care of himself, I'd imagine… and I can handle whatever they throw at me. I was made for this kind of battle!" She then released Naeko with a slight shove and likewise vanished.
Conflict now erupted in knots and flurries throughout the arena as Konoha defenders fought off the influx of Sound- and Sand-nin, and Naeko felt panic rising in her blood as she wondered what she could possibly do in the face of this onslaught. Swallowing her fear with an audible gulp, she then forced herself to be calm as she faded into invisibility and carefully made her way out of the stadium. Once out on the street, she burst into an open dash and prayed that she would make it back to her family in time. "I've failed once," she resolved as she ran, avoiding trouble spots as best as she could and trying to think ahead to her next move. "But, on my honor as a citizen – no, as a shinobi of Konoha – I won't fail again!"