me: OMG ANOTHER CHAPTER! Just in time for STephy-chan to read it on the plane tomorrow...
kuroppi: yeah, yeah, get on with it!
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"Looks like we found the six-tails, un." The taller of the black-cloaked figures approached Raijuu-wannabe's unconscious body and slung it over his shoulder.
"Hey, un! You two in the corner." The figure pointed at Haku and Kiiro. "He's not going to need it, so would you like his scroll?"
Kiiro stared at the figure suspiciously. "I appreciate you making it so he doesn't kill me and Haku, but who exactly ARE you? And why did you knock him out?"
The figure stiffened. "Um... he... broke a regulation of the exams, un. We're disqualifying him, see?"
Raijuu-wannabe groaned slightly, and the figure knocked him in the head with his fist.
"That's cruel," Kiiro admonished. "What did he ever do to YOU?"
"Nothing," the figure said, seeming apologetic. "But... orders are orders right?" he spoke nervously, fidgeting slightly. "I can't control what they tell me to do, un."
"That makes sense," Kiiro said, "But... why'd you call him the Raijuu-sama? He might be, say, the jinchuuriki, but the only bijuu who can take on human form are Youko-sama, Shukaku-sama and Nekomata-sama!"
"You really do know your demons," the figure laughed. "And yes, this boy is the jinchuuriki, un. But the village always told him that he's the demon reincarnate into human form, so that's exactly what he thinks he is. A demon, un."
"Kinda like the boy who was raised by wolves?" Kiiro said. "Or in this case, lightning-weilding demon weasels." (that's fun to say xD)
"... Yeah, something like that, un," the figure said. "Or whatever, un. In any case, we've got to find that damn Houkou girl and tell her we caught one, un, in case she wants to resurrect it or whatever." the figure walked off to the other dark shape in the passageway, throwing something behind him as he walked off.
"Take it, Kiiro, you might need it un!"
It was a scroll. Kiiro picked it up and giggled. "Yes, I think I will need this, or maybe Haa-kun, will thank you."
Then, she froze. "How'd he know my name?"
"Maybe he's your brother," Haku suggested half-heartedly.
"Ah!" Kiiro said. "You think he's an old flame or something, don't you! I don't even know the guy. Yeah, he might be my brother, though. His voice seems... familiar, somehow. Sorta. Yeah." (a/n: that's a lot of 'yeah's in one sentence...)
"Weird..." Haku said. "You sure he's not an old flame?" he teased.
"Haku, I've never dated anyone before in my life," Kiiro said. "After all I'm only twelve."
"What was it you said before...?" Haku asked. "Something about you being too young too have 'those kinds of feelings'?"
He looked at Kiiro pointedly.
"Yeah, well, that was half a year ago. I'm a big girl now!" Kiiro said cheesily. "Plus I might have spoken wrongly..."
Haku shrugged. "Maybe both. Should we try and find your teammates?"
"That sounds like a good idea..."
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"Well, that was awkward, un," Deidara said to himself. "I didn't expect to run into her while collecting the jinchuuriki."
The Raijuu-wannabe groaned again, and Deidara chopped him in the neck. "Do you ever shut up, un?" he grumbled to the jinchuuriki.
"I don't know about him, but you certainly don't," Sasori growled, scuffling along in his Hiruko puppet suit (because that's what it is. a puppet suit.).
"Hey, un!" Deidara grumbled. "I don't talk THAT much..."
"You certainly talked a lot to that little girl back there..." Sasori chuckled.
Deidara turned around to look Sasori in the (puppet suit's) eye. "That was Warai Kiiro," he said flatly. "I had to say something."
Sasori froze. "You mean..."
"Yeah, un. Her."
Sasori's, or rather Hiruko's, eyes gleamed. "Ah. I thought that brand of ugly looked familiar."
Deidara's face turned an interesting shade of purple, his fists clenching. "Don't. Ever. Insult my--"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Sasori said. "Don't get your panties in a wad. Let's go. Leader-san is waiting for us, and as you know I hate to make people wait."
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"So..." Haku said, leaning against the wall, "Do you know where your teammates are?"
"Nope!" Kiiro laughed. "I spent a lot of time running away from Raijuu-wannabe. I have no idea where the hell they are now."
"KIIIIIROOOO!" As if on cue, one of Kiiro's foxes (the lighter one, Anzentenkou) ran up, carrying both Chigatana and Sakura.
"Anzentenkou-sama! Saku-sempai! Chigatana!" Kiiro gasped. "Are you all right?"
"Thanks to that little maneuver of yours?" Anzentenkou chuckled. "Perfectly fine. Who knows what that jinchuuriki would've done. Here, help Sakura with Chigatana."
"Oh!" Kiiro ran over to Anzentenkou's side and assisted in getting Chigatana to the ground. "Is he... dead?" Her eyes widened, and she shivered.
"Only almost," Anzentenkou said. "You can help, but we'll need my brother here for that to work."
"Huh?" Kiiro said. "Tanshokutenkou-sama went ahead to the tower in the center of the maze. It was part of the plan."
"Oh, sh-t," Anzentenkou cursed. "Can you summon someone else? I need another kitsune with me for this to work."
"I can't," Kiiro huffed, "I don't have enough chakra left. Sorry..." she looked down. "I'm just not that useful..."
"Damn! What are we going to do now?" Anzentenkou thought a minute. "Wait! I'll just call the nearest kitsune and hopefully it'll help us with this jutsu."
"That sounds helpful," Sakura said sarcastically.
Anzentenkou huffed. "Well, it better be, since it's the only chance we've got!"
He raised his head and let out a high-pitched yipping sound.
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Meanwhile, at the tower, Tanshokutenkou chuckled to himself.
"What?" Fuyu asked lazily, flicking her ears as she watched Kuroppi and Koneko sleep.
"Oh, nothing," Tanshokutenkou said mirthfully, "Just my brother yips like a girl."
Fuyu raised her canine eyebrows. "You all sound like girls to me."
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Meanwhile, in another part of the maze, two figures heard the yipping.
"That sounds like Anzentenkou-sama," said the shorter one, a girl with waist-length dark brown hair wearing a sleeveless navy blue chinese-style dress.
The taller one, a carrot-topped boy dressed all in brown, blinked. "It's been a hundred years-- and he still sounds like a girl," the boy noted. "Will that boy ever reach puberty? He's, like, seventeen in demon years."
"I guess his yip is supposed to sound like that," the girl said monotonously. "Anyway, we should probably go assist him with whatever need be."
"What about our little human teammate? Shouldn't we go find--"
"Yousuke-san, no." The girl glared at the boy, making her statement firmly. "That one is more than capable of taking care of himself. We should attend to Anzentenkou, who needs our assistance"
"But our duty isn't to PROTECT that one! It's to constrain him from killing too many people!"
"... Yes," the girl said, still speaking in monotone, "But in his current situation, it seems he won't be able to so much as harm a single person, no matter how much he wants ." She closed her eyes. "From what I can sense... he's with two members of Akatsuki. And he isn't moving. From this, we can deduce that that one has been captured by him and is currently sleeping or was rendered unconscious."
"You mean they managed to get him without killing him?" Yousuke said. "But... he can kill in one hit! How is that possible."
The girl looked blandly at Yousuke. "Well, since that one shoots anyone he thinks will harm him that he sees, we can deduce that they snuck up on him from behind and hit him hard, immobilizing him in one blow, probably with a strike to the head."
"... Woah," Yousuke said, "I'd heard Youki-san was a smart, but that's amazing that you can tell all that just from the fact that he's unconscious."
"And from his general nature and attacking tendencies," Youki said. "If spend enough effort speculating and thinking, rather than wondering, you tend to get better results. Now come, if the Akatsuki have captured our charge then they'll pull his demon out, effectively killing him and securing one of the bijuu in the process. This means that the jinchuuriki won't overuse his power ever again, so we are free to support Anzentenkou-sama in whatever he needs. Is this understandable, Yousuke-san?"
Yousuke paled. "So we're just going to let them kill him?"
"Yes. I will go and assist Anzentenkou-sama. You may do as you wish."
Youki dashed off in the direction of Anzentenkou, and Yousuke closed his eyes, concentrating on the chakras surrounding him.
'I don't care what Youki says. We've watched that one since the day he was born, and I'm not going to just let them kill him!'
He found the Raijuu-wannabe's chakra, and took off after it.
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"YIPYIPYIPYIP--"
"Hey Anzentenkou-sama?"
"YIPYIPYI- yes, Kiiro?"
"How can you be sure there's kitsune close enough to hear that?" Kiiro questioned pointedly.
"..." Anzentenkou shrugged. "YIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIP!"
Speedy footsteps sounded in the maze hallway, and the group was approached by a rapidly running girl with brown hair and a blue Chinese-style dress.
She skidded to a stop in front of the fox, not even out of breath. "Anzentenkou-sama, I heard your call from another point in the maze."
"Ah, Youki-chan," Anzentenkou said, surprised. "Weren't you off restraining some human or something?"
"That one was recently restrained by some people who'll make sure he never hurts anyone ever in the whole of his life," Youki explained, her voice showing no emotions. "The one whom I was working with went after him to try and save his life."
Anzentenkou blinked. "You weren't assigned to restrain the Raijuu jinchuuriki by any chance, were you? Some Akatsuki just captured him."
"One of them knew my name, even though I'd never met him," Kiiro giggled. "Maybe he's heard of Konoha's demon-enthusiast."
Youki raised one of her eyebrows at Kiiro. "You're Warai Kiiro?"
"Woah! You have heard of me!" Kiiro gasped. "I was joking! I didn't think you'd actually... wow!"
"Don't let the fame get to your head," Anzentenkou chuckled. "Youki-chan is actually a kitsune like me. She works in the human world, disguised as a human, for my Grandma Mesu."
"The one who'll say if I can learn demonic jutsu?" Kiiro gasped.
"Yes, Mesu no Kitsune-sama is the one who would judge if a human could learn demonic jutsu," Youki said. "On another subject, why was I called? Unless of course Anzentenkou-sama just wanted to see me..."
Anzentenkou laughed. "No, no, I need you to help me help Kiiro heal this guy who's on the verge of death. He was hit by that guy you were restraining, so I guess it's kind of your responsibility anyway."
"Anything for Kyuubi no Kitsune-sama's grandson," Youki said. "So, what are we doing?"
"Kiiro, kneel in front of Chigatana," Anzentenkou said, "We're going to run chakra through your arms and use it to heal him, but you'll need to help channel and direct it or your arms will be severely damaged."
"Okay!" Kiiro said, "I'll do it! Chigatana's a meanie, but if I let him die I'll probably regret it later."
Kiiro kneeled in front of Chigatana on the ground and put her hands on where the lightning hit him. "Kay... now what?"
"Now, Youki's going to turn back into her original form or this won't work," said Anzentenkou in a less than polite tone of voice.
Youki nodded emotionlessly, then momentarily became a ball of green light the size of a large beach ball. Then, she turned into a large fox (her head reaches Anzentenkou's shoulders).
Youki and Anzentenkou both approached Kiiro, whose eyes were closed. She had no idea what they were about to do, but something in the back of her brain told her it was going to hurt like hell.
But she still wasn't expecting the foxes to bite her arms.
"Ouch!" Kiiro yelped.
"Yes, yes, we know, it hurts," Anzentenkou sighed. "But this is how we transfer chakra. Listen, Kiiro, when we put chakra in your arms, you need to push it through your arms, through your hands and into his wound. Got it?"
"Got it!" Kiiro said (wincing because she had teeth in her arms). "Go!"
Anzentenkou and Youki but down even harder than they were already, then began depositing chakra into Kiiro's arms.
Kiiro's eyes widened. "That's a lot of power..." she whispered.
"Yes, we know," Anzentenkou said smugly, though his mouth was full of arm. "Now heal the brat before your arms explode."
"Y-yessir!" Kiiro gathered the foreign chakra in her system and pushed it all out though her hands, along with some chakra of her own.
Chigatana stirred slightly. His breathing became normal, and finally he opened his eyes.
He narrowed his eyes at Kiiro. "You can already summon demons that big?"
"Yeah, but in this case I only summoned one of them," Kiiro laughed, still healing Chigatana's wound. "The other one just happened to be in the area."
"Ah... I get it. But still, you're just depending on the demons, right?"
Kiiro glared. "Hey, this hurts a lot and I'm saving your life! Shut up and let me heal you, or I'll confiscate all of your fancy weapons forever and you'll never be able to do another stabbing jutsu EVER AGAIN!"
Chigatana paled. "Please don't take my pointy things..." he whispered fearfully.
Sakura, who had been standing uselessly against the wall, rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, now shut up and take a nap. Being healed can exhaust the body and you don't want that." She grabbed Chigatana by the shoulders and dragged him in the direction of the tower. "We already have our scroll so let's get out of here."
Chigatana unwillingly was dragged by Sakura, muttering 'owowowowowow' under his breath the entire time.
"Awww," Kiiro sniggered. "Aren't they cute?"
"The cutest," Anzentenkou chuckled back. "... We're going to let go of your arms now."
"Okay."
Youki and Anzentenkou released Kiiro, and Youki bounded off away from the tower.
"What the hell is she doing?" Kiiro wondered aloud.
"Oh, probably going to help her fellow demon rescue the Raijuu jinchuuriki," Anzentenkou said lightly. "Hey, wasn't that other guy here? The girly one with the long brown hair?"
"I'm right behind you," said Haku, slightly annoyed.
Silence reigned.
"Oops," Anzentenkou said. "Err... I mean... I was... just.. testing you!"
Haku raised an eyebrow. "Testing me on where I was?"
"... Yes!" the large fox said nervously. "Well... err... Kiiro, do you feel all right?"
"Oh, don't worry, it's nothing as bad as leaking stomache acid all over myself," Kiiro giggled.
Haku smiled. "Yes, that did look rather painful..."
"Oh it was, but it was worth it since we got out of here and I got to meet Anzentenkou-sama and Tanshokutenkou-sama! Speaking of whom, I should probably get to that tower and meet them before they start to get worried..."
"Inuzuka Kuroppi, worried?" Anzentenkou said. "I doubt it. Come on, let's go. Girly boy, you should probably go find your teammates if you want to pass this damn thing."
"Huh?" Haku said. "Oh... right... probably. Take care, Kiiro-san, right?"
"I will!" Kiiro gave Haku a hug, and sprinted off in the direction of the tower.
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"What took you so long, Kiiro-chan? We were so worried!" Koneko gushed.
"She was worried," Kuroppi sniggered. "I figured you'd be all right. But what did take you so long?"
Tanshokutenkou, resting aside his brother, grinned. "According to Anzentenkou, she was with Haku for an extended amount of time..."
"H-hey!" Kiiro blushed. "That's none of their business!"
"Yes it is," Kuroppi said. "Did he finally have the guts to tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Kiiro asked innocently. She grinned. "Yeah, he told me. YESSSS!" she fell backwards dramatically. "Oh, and we ran into some Akatsuki members."
"Was my brother there?" Kuroppi asked curiously.
Kiiro shook her head. "Nah, Uchitachi wasn't one of the ones I saw. There were two-- a short roundish-looking guy and a blonde guy who knew my name."
"Interesting," Kuroppi said. "I wonder why. Maybe he's your dad?"
Kiiro blinked. "I don't think so. He definitely looked older than me, but not by that much. A parent-child link between me and him is pretty much impossible."
"Maybe he's just stalking you or something," Koneko giggled.
Kiiro rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because being loud and demon-obsessed is sooo desirable these days."
"Haku certainly seems to think so," said Aki, walking into the room followed by her teammates.
Haku blushed. "A-Aki-san!"
Kiiro waved, and Haku waved back. Both parties turned red in the face and looked the other way.
"Awww, isn't that cute?" Kuroppi teased.
"The cutest," Tanshokutenkou agreed, grinning maliciously. "Kiiro, can we go home now?"
"Oh, by all means!" Kiiro laughed. "This part of the exams is over."
"We get a training period of one month, then there's a big fat tournament to showcase our jutsu," Aki added helpfully.
"Cool," Kiiro said. "But, if we all passed this exam, then..." she paused. "I'll have to fight at least one of you?"
"Pretty much," Honemashi said. "You got a problem with that?"
"Yeah, you're all too scary. I'd lose!"
"The point isn't to win or lose, it's to show the range and impressive-ness of your jutsu and intelligence" Haku said, putting a hand on Kiiro's shoulder. "It's possible to win the tournament and not pass the exam, or only survive one round and become chuunin anyway. It's all up to the judges who passes and who doesn't-- winning a fight just gives you more chances to show them what you can do."
"... Oh," said Kiiro. "So, I don't have to win if I can make that one fight impressive enough?"
"... Something like that," Haku said. "Not that you should... put on a show or anything. Just show then your resourcefulness and range of jutsu, generally."
Kiiro's gaze slumped to the ground. "Range of jutsu..." she whispered, knowing that she only had one jutsu beyond what one learns at the academy. "Range of jutsu..."
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"Weren't we supposed to bring this to that Hokou chick, un?" Deidara jabbed his finger at the Raijuu jinchuuriki, who was currently tied up on the floor of the large, empty room he was in.
"Technically, yes," said the shadowy figure of the Akatsuki leader from atop a large, ugly statue (yes, THAT ugly statue). "To uphold our end of the bargain. However, what she never finds out certainly won't hurt her."
"She'll figure it out eventually, un," Deidara sighed. "Demons aren't stupid, you know."
The Akatsuki leader blinked. "Have you worked with demons before, Deidara?"
Deidara looked away. "A... a little, un..."
"Can you summon them?"
"N-no, un... but, when I was little, un. I lived with someone who summoned demons. She'd hate to see me now, capturing the bijuu like this." He smiled awkwardly.
"I don't suppose you could find that person?" The Akatsuki leader questioned. "Maybe if we can control the bijuu better, we won't have to use as much chakra to utilize their power."
Deidara glared at the leader. "That person isn't... reachable," he said. "But, if she was, she'd say: demons aren't tools! If you're going to have their power on your side to the fullest extent, they have to be working with you, not for you!"
"Strong words for someone helping to capture them," Pein said snidely.
"I didn't want to join Akatsuki, remember? You forced me to!" Deidara shot back. He stalked off to his sleeping quarters, muttering things angrily under his breath.
"Sasori," Pein called.
Sasori blinked. "Yes, Leader-san?"
"Is what Deidara said true, or is he merely protecting that person from having to help us control the bijuu?"
"It's true," Sasori sighed. "When Deidara was young, that person knew everything there was to know about demons. But now, that person had a hard time just summoning them."
"Ah," Pein said. "Amnesia?"
"Something like that..." Sasori walked away to follow Deidara. "I'm not sure about the details. At any rate, even if you were somehow able to find that person, they wouldn't be of any help to you."
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"HATCHOO!" Kiiro sneezed, slumping against the tower wall.
Kuroppi smirked. "Someone talking about you?"
"No," Kiiro giggled, "I caught something in the maze, since it's cold and damp. HATCHOO! If it is just someone talking about me, I wish they'd shut up."
"What happened to Banshou-chan's team?" Koneko said worriedly. "I haven't seen them since the exams started."
"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFE!!" Banshou yelled, running into the tower with her teammates just before the timer that signified the end of the second part of the exam went off. "Whew, that was close!"
"We had three scrolls at one point, but someone stole all of them at one point so we had to start over from scratch," Daidaiiro muttered.
"Oh dear," Kiiro said. "Well, you're here now right? And you made it!"
Kuroppi's eyes gleamed evilly. "Oh ChiiibiAaaakachaaaaaaaaan..."
"Oh, s--" Akaii turned three different shades of pale in about two seconds. "You two... stay away from me..."
"HUG ATTACK!" Yelled Kuroppi and Kiiro at the same time, glomping Akaii and effectively blocking his windpipe halfway. They let go eventually, and Akaii hid behind Daidaiiro, shivering.
"Well, the exams are over and we all made it," Banshou sighed, still out of breath from running. "Now what?"
"You all shut up and listen to me! I'm the proctor for the third and final section of these exams that will take place in one month!" A loud voice boomed. "HEY! LISTEN!"
"Wasn't Anko-sensei the proctor for the exams at one point?" Kiiro asked Kuroppi, completely ignoring the proctor.
"Yeah," Kuroppi noted, "Kiba-niisan told me about it. Apparently, she cut Uzumaki Naruto's cheek and licked the blood off, then Orochimaru gave the kunai back."
"Haha, nice," Kiiro chuckled. "That gives me funny mental images."
"Exactly," Kuroppi said.
"HEM-HEM! EVERYBODY LISTEN TO ME!" the proctor yelled. "HELLO?"
"Yeah, we're listening," Daidaiiro called. "Even if Kuro and Kiiro aren't."
Kiiro glared at the red-haired Suna-nin (there are way too many of those). "Hey!"
"THE NEXT PART OF THESE EXAMS TAKES PLACE IN ONE MONTH!" The proctor screamed. "IT WILL BE A TOURNAMENT BETWEEN ALL OF YOU!" He threw some confetti on the crowd of gennin, followed by some gel pens. "WRITE YOUR NAME ON ONE OF THESE PEICES OF PAPER SO WE CAN DECIDE WHO WILL FIGHT WHO!"
Everyone wrote their name on a piece of paper, and put it into the fuzzy purple top hat the proctor produced. The proctor mixed the papers up, then drew one out of the hat.
"OKAY! THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE..." the proctor pulled out a slip or paper. "Chigatana Chimaru versus Inuzuka Kuroppi!"
Kuroppi smiled evilly and waved at Chigatana, who shivered.
"NEXT IS... Kaguya Honemashi versus Akasuna no Daidaiiro!"
Honemashi glared at Daidaiiro. Daidaiiro grinned in a very Kankurou-esque manner, and waved back at him. Honemashi decided that Daidaiiro had problems.
"AFTER THAT... Warai Kiiro versus Himaru Aki!"
"No hard feelings when I win, right?" Aki said to Kiiro teasingly.
Kiiro grinned. "No, 'cause I'm gonna win!"
"Is that a challenge?"
"Mayyybe..."
"HEM-HEM! WARAI KIIRO, STOP TALKING! NEXT MATCH IS DETARAME KONEKO versus... HAKU! DON'T YOU HAVE A LAST NAME?"
"Yes," Haku said, "But I don't use it since my family weren't the ones who truly raised me."
"WAIT, I KNOW YOU! YOU TOOK THE EXAMS BEFORE IN KONOHA A COUPLE YEARS AGO, DIDN'T YOU?"
"Yes," Haku said, "And I made it too. But I got demoted awhile back, so I'm retaking them."
"I KNOW THAT! I FOUGHT YOU!" The proctor jumped over to where Haku was. "I WAS THE KID WITH THE SCYTHE! REMEMBER?"
Haku blinked. "Ah, yes, I think I do remember you. You were the also guy with the long religious rituals, right?"
"I STILL AM!" the proctor said proudly. "JASHIN-SAMA IS PLEASED!"
"Ah," said Haku, sweatdropping, "Good for him... what was your name again?"
"IT'S HIDAN, YOU MOTHERF--ER! DON'T FORGET IT AGAIN!"
"Don't worry, I won't. And," Haku turned to Koneko, "Let's have a good fight, okay?"
Koneko nodded. "Let's!"
"WELL THEN!" Hidan roared happily. "THE NEXT MATCH IS BETWEEN HARUNO SAKURA AND DOUBUTSUYAMA AKAII!"
Sakura looked at Akaii, eyeing him to judge how strong he was. Akaii grinned sheepishly.
"THAT LEAVES ONE MORE PERSON--" Hidan pulled the remaining slip of paper out of the fuzzy purple top hat. "KASSHOKUSUNA NO BANSHOU! YOU'RE FIGHTING WHOEVER WINS THE FIRST MATCH, SO THAT'S EITHER CHIGATANA CHIMARU OR INUZUKA KUROPPI!"
"Wheee," Banshou said sarcastically. "I wonder which one will win?"
"Yeah, good luck fighting Kuro-chan," Kiiro said. "Don't worry, she probably won't use Mangekyou on you. She only does that when she really, really needs to, since it's bad for her eyesight."
"Plus, it gives me a headache," Kuroppi sighed. "So, no, I probably won't scar you for life."
"Hey!" Chigatana said. "Don't you guys think I might win?"
Everybody looked at him.
"No," they all said. "You can't win this one."
Chigatana glared at them. "I'll win, you'll see!" He turned his back on them and sat in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone.
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"Well, that was rather interesting," Kiiro said, plopping down on the couch. "So, someone different is going to train each of us for the exams?"
"Aki got sensei," Honemashi said. "I got one of my neighbors, and Haku got someone who was part of the seven shinobi swordsman."
"That seems a little unbalanced," Kiiro noted. "Are the people who assigned your teachers just more eager for Haa-kun to pass or something?"
"I doubt that," Haku said. "I betrayed the village, remember? The people who are training us all volunteered."
"Mine didn't," Kiiro huffed. "Tsunade-sama herself had to threaten Hatakashi to get him to come and train me. Hey, who did everybody else get?"
"I'm getting trained by Kankurou-sensei," Daidaiiro noted. "Akaii gets one of his older cousins. Banshou's not telling us who her trainer is. But apparently, their wagon got stuck in traffic so they won't be here until tomorrow anyway."
"I got Maito Gai!" Koneko said cheerfully. "Hey, Banshou who is your trainer?"
Kiiro blinked. "You got Gaito-san? Woah, nice."
"And I still don't know who's training me," Kuroppi sighed. "And apparently 'm meeting them here. So, it must be someone really strong and not from this village."
"Pray to god it isn't Orochimaru," Kiiro giggled. "He might be after your sharingan, especially since you've got a sharingan more advanced than your brother Sasuke."
A knock sounded at the door. "Is Inuzuka Kuroppi-san here? I need to take her to meet her sensei for this month." A child's voice sounded at the door- probably a gennin
"Coming," Kuroppi yawned. "Should I bring anything?"
"He only said wear close-toed shoes and warm clothing," the child's voice said hesitantly.
"But who is he?" Kuroppi sighed, pulling on a pair of black rain boots and a dark blue sweater. "I still don't know who I'm training under."
"He'll tell you when we get there."
"Of course." Kuroppi rolled her eyes and opened the door. The person who had been calling her was a tall girl about their age with straight brown hair parted to the side. "And you are?"
The girl smiled. "I'm Miki. Since I didn't make the second part of the chuunin exams, I'm back to missions."
"Transporting Kuro-chan is a gennin-level task?" Kiiro grinned. "Kuro-chan, they're totally underestimating you."
"I know," Kuroppi said. "But since this person is taking my to me trainer, I have no choice but to follow her. I'll be back soon, probably. See you guys later!"
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"Your trainer is waiting for you in here." Miki opened the door of a dark room. "I'm not allowed to enter."
"Where are we exactly?" Kuroppi was blindfolded so she wouldn't know where they were taking her. She was beginning to think maybe her trainer was Orochimaru.
"We're underground," Miki said. She wouldn't say anything more, just pushed Kuroppi into the darkened room. "Good luck."
The door was shut and locked after the Inuzuka-Uchiha, who didn't know since she was wearing a blindfold in a nearly pitch-dark room.
Miki went a few yards down and opened another door.
"Pein-sama?" she ventured quietly.
A shadowy figure in the corner turned to look at her. "Ah, Miki. Did you complete your mission?"
"Yes, Pein-sama." Miki smiled. "I delivered the girl to her trainer."
Pein nodded his hard-to-see head in approval. "I see. And as for your teammates?"
Miki turned behind her, smiling. "Genmetsu (disillusionment) no jutsu, kai (release)!" she said softly. The space behind her seemed to bend, and two people appeared: a short girl with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, and a dark-skinned boy with his black hair parted to the side in the 'emo boy' style.
"Erika, Ikkakujuu. Did you figure it out?" Pein questioned, raising his shadowy eyebrows.
"Yes," The girl, Erika, said. "The child seen with them, though she has spiky blonde hair and blue eyes, is not the jinchuuriki. Uzumaki Naruto is still out training somewhere with Jiraiya of the Sannin."
"Interesting," Pein said, "So, it was just a likeness? Nothing more?"
Erika shrugged. "Maybe they're related, Pein-sama."
"Hmm..." Pein said. "Possibly. But we can't assume that everyone with blonde hair and blue eyes is related. Though it would explain Deidara's absolute loudness."
"You would have a point there, Pein-sama," Ikkakujuu said. His voice had an interesting, lilting quality to it, because he was originally from one of the islands off of Wave.
"Well, Ikkakujuu?" Pein questioned. "Any further analysis?"
"Yes." Ikkakujuu nodded. "They all had really weird names, Pein-sama."
"Don't spit your random facts like that just because you feel like it!" Miki hissed. "This is Pein-sama you're talking to! Plus, your name means 'unicorn' so you're totally not one to talk!"
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"Hello?" Kuroppi called. "Can I take off the blindfold now?"
"No, but I can," a deep voice sounded behind her. Kuroppi couldn't quite tell who it was, but it seemed familiar.
"Have we met?" she asked.
The blindfold was removed. "Okay, Reiko-chan. Can you see me in this darkness?"
"My name isn't Reiko," Kuroppi hissed. "No matter what anyone else says, I'm Inuzuka Kuroppi."
"Ah, Reiko-chan. If I don't call you by your real name, who will?"
Kuroppi gasped. "Itachi!"
"That's right." Uchiha Itachi put a hand on Kuroppi's shoulder. "I'm going to train you for the third part of the exams..."
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me: FINALLY DONE! I'm working on my three big fics in a cycle these days: a chapter of this, a chappie of Ask the Hosts, a chappie of the Dance of the Flower Petals. With a couple oneshots here and there, meaning drabbles and/or Akatsuki Holidays. (I really need to write more of those...)
kuroppi: you really aren't good at updating things, even in the middle of Sumemr vacation, are you?
me: oh shut it, my friend from Utah is visiting this week. LOVE YOU ELIZABETH! I KNOW YOU'RE READIN THIS OVER MY SHOULDER AS I TYPE! EVEN THOUGH THIS FANFIC IS NARUTO AND YOU DON'T READ NARUTO!
kuroppi: ... sure... weirdo... hey, why is Itachi training me?
kiiro: I have no idea! and what the hell was with that guy who explodes thing?
me: you guy's just have to wait for the next chapter. oh, and deidara's just werid like that. he blows up EVERYTHING.
gaara: you said it.
me: now, everybody who cares that much, review! pleeeeease?