Gai woke up, pulling back his comforter, he noticed he was alone, like usual. Getting up he groaned his way into the bathroom as he started washing his face, he then created his shaving cream, and got his straight razor out. He knew they were more dangerous than just getting the disposable ones. But they provided a cleaner cut. He was a shinobi anyway he should know how to handle a blade. Today was the Last chunnin exams; he was going down to see how Zack's daughter did. He couldn't believe that Zack had a daughter and he didn't know about her until now. Poor girl had to deal with a father who was a drug addict, and a mother who became one. Both of them killed themselves too, she had nobody. Except Allie… Gai used to have Allie, but love is a fickle thing.
Gai was home from his first 5 month mission, he wanted two things when he got home. To make passionate love to his wife, and to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. During the mission there was another women, her name was Lori. She was a slim red head that Gai sometimes worked with, well one night, another member of their special team just died, Gai and her had time to go drinking. And that had lead to a night of sex. He felt so guilty in the morning, he had never told Lori he was married, he never told anybody in his squad. He liked to keep Allie secret; it was like she was his jewel that got him through horrible situations. Only he could see her, if none of his shinobi friends knew about her, then she couldn't be tainted with the bloodshed shinobi carried with them.
So for the rest of the mission Gai had avoided Lori, and that wasn't fair to her, she didn't know what he had done. She would have never lunged if she knew he was married. It was all Gai's fault. That night made him really Miss Allie, everything about her. Her curves, her neck, her smile, her eyes the way she laughed when he reached that certain place. The way, afterwards she would lean on his chest and study him until he fell asleep. He missed her so much, and if he could take back that night he would.
Stepping into the zoo he noticed it was packed, because it was a Friday night. Allie was pouring a beer for an Uchiha shinobi sitting at the bar, his lips were curled in a smirk. She had a blush on her face. Hundreds of things ran through Gai's head as he saw the two, Men spoke vulgar to Allie all the time, she never blushed. She gave the shinobi his beer and quickly stepped away to scan the room. A couple other men were holding up there glasses asking for refills of their drink. She nodded at them, as she filled her tray with their order. As she stepped out of the bar, the uchiha gave her a pinch; she stepped away and acted like it never happened. Finally she spotted Gai in the fray of the people. Like a business women she walked over to him. "I'm glad your back Gai." Her smile was small, and Gai noticed dark circles under her eyes. He went to go kiss them away with everything else she was feeling, she stopped him.
"I'm sorry you are going to have to wait for that, Auntie is sick and I'm stuck running the bar for tonight-"
"HEY LADY WHERE IS MY FUCKIN DRINK?" A drunk yelled.
"I'm sorry Gai, I don't have time to talk, and I'll come home as soon as I can get them out of here." Gai again leaned down for a kiss, she moved quickly. "It gets the drunks riled up if they see me with a guy, you look tired you should go up to bed and sleep. I promise I'll be up there as soon as I can." Gai looked at her and gave her elbow a squeeze of affection, and headed towards their small apartment.
There little bed squeaked when he laid out on it. The bed squeaking was new, but then again everything squeaked. He sighed, the dishes weren't clean. She never cleaned the dishes right after she ate so they ended up getting rotten. At least he could do something while waiting for her. As he ran the water, Gai realized the water heater was broken. Turning off the water, he went to the stove one of the burners; the left one was also broken. Sitting down the table wobbled again. Taking a deep breath Gai wondered if any of his other compatriots had to deal with this when they got home. A squeaky bed, frozen water, broken stove, table, a wife who constantly gets harassed and does nothing about it.
Gai took a deep breath through his nose, and exhaled slowly. His commander said that he was going to be promoted to Jounin soon, if he kept up the good work. This would let him get enough money for him and Allie to move out, even start a family. He imagined a small boy with Allies delicate chin and high cheek bones, and his colored hair, her eyes. Actually Gai thought to himself honestly. It would be better if the kid looked like their mother, then they wouldn't be made fun of.
The door opened sooner than he ever thought and there she was. Gai went to her as fast as possible, and pulled her into him. Kissing the top of her head he smelled her shampoo. It was nothing fancy, no lily of the valley or lilac of the forest; it was musty old pine and sandal wood, with a lingering hint of alcohol. She clung to him and started shaking.
"I've missed you."
"I missed you too." They stayed like that for another 5 minutes standing there in silence. She was the one to break first, "I didn't know you were coming home tonight, I would have done the dishes."
On instinct Gai closed his arms around her again, "That's ok we can do them tomorrow, I have a whole week for just you."
Allie kept on trailing off, her mind was somewhere else Gai could see it."I meant to get a new burner, and the beds squeaky, I let Zack and Sara stay for a week when they were between apartments. That's why the bed is squeaky, I should have fixed it already, I'm sorry. I know how you hate when things are broken. I can go…"
Gai kissed her. She was so beautiful. It took her awhile but eventually she melted into his kiss. Gai tightened his grip around her waist, he felt her small hands grab the front of his shirt and pull him towards her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He finally got that stupid apron off of her, to start removing the shirt. As that fell to the floor he felt her soft skin, all the way down. She leaned into his body for heat as they broke apart for air. Her face was in a blush, and Gai felt his heart burst from his body, "I love you Gai" She whispered as she stared into his eyes directly.
Suddenly he felt his mouth moving, he wanted to tell her exactly what happened, but maybe after he showed her how much he loved her. Lifting her ups so she could cross her legs around his waist Gai carried her to the bedroom.
He lay there painting on their mattress, in the middle of the session the bed frame broke. That didn't stop them though. Next was his favorite part, this is where Allie would turn around and put her elbows on his chest and study him until he was asleep. Or at least until she thought he was asleep. He liked to look at her as she fell asleep. But tonight she didn't, she turned away from him, and pulled the covers over her shoulder. Gai looked at her, this was very different. Her small frame started shaking. He placed his hand on her delicate shoulder. "What's wrong?"
She inhaled a long breath and started shaking again, she was sobbing. She placed a hand on his. "I just…missed you so much Gai." She started breaking down more. "While you were away I was…I was…So alone. And Auntie is sick, and and…I just missed you." She finally broke down, and all Gai could do was surround her with his arms. She cried and cried more. How could Gai ever tell her about Lori, he loved her too much to tell her?
-ss
Baki looked over the stadium. The trees were placed a little differently this year, and the hole Naruto made was still there. It was like the chunnin proctors kept it there as a little monument to the blond boy. The chunnin's were just finishing their sweep of the stadium. He heard footsteps behind him.
"Honey" a mother's voice said, "We are here in plenty of time, we don't have to worry about getting seats. The exams don't start till another hour."
"Mom I want you to get the BEST seats though."
"How do you know which one is the best?" The mother asked sighing heavily. Baki was done scanning the stadium so turning around he saw a small red haired girl scanning the stands, reviewing each and every one of the seats. And her mother he supposed behind her. The mother was rather pretty, strikingly blue hair, and grass green eyes. She had the hair tied up in a low bun, and a rather common kimono on. There was something about her that Baki just couldn't place.
Maybe it was the way she carried herself, it seemed odd for a woman of her low standing, to stand like that. He felt like he should know her, he felt he did know her…What could it be? The women turned and faced him. Baki had never seen a woman age as gracefully as this one, all the wrinkles in her face you could tell was from laughing, and her eyes still held a sparkle of youth in them. Suddenly the bright green eyes widened in recognition, and Baki felt his stomach plummet.
Kin just wanted to run; out of all the people from her past she thought she would see again he was the last. Well maybe her father was the last, but her father was dead, so that was understandable. If it was dignified to run away, Kin would already be out of the stadium. Was she supposed to go up and talk to him? Was she supposed to just nod and smile? Even though she only saw half of his face, Kin knew that chin and eyes anywhere. Maybe it wasn't him; maybe it was just an almost exact replica of him.
"Kin?" He said in a gruff bass, so unlike the beautiful tenor of her husband's. Oh crap, it was him; there was no mistaking it now.
"Baki" She said, out of politeness she stepped closer to the man, age had not done this man any favors. Kin didn't bite her lip, even though she wanted too. Poor Baki, he looked so old. She wondered to herself if he would have looked this old if she had married him. "What are you doing here?" At least she could stay for small talk.
"I'm here for the exams," Kin saw him puff up his chest a little; "I'm the ambassador of the Kazekage's to the Daimyo's and elders now. So I'm here to observe. What are you doing here? You never liked these sorts of things before."
Kin felt her face crease, she was good at reading people, and he felt uneasy around her. Threatened almost. Relaxing her face a bit she held a small smile, Baki was always one to go in for defense when it was unnecessary. "My daughter," She saw his eyes widen "Kaida is in the exams." She nodded towards her daughter, who was sitting down in each of the middle seats and looking at the stadium. Totally wrapped in her own world. She could see Baki look and he straightened up anymore.
"So, are you still with…?"
"Lido yes…And I'm very happy"
"That's good…I thought his family was…"
"Pacifist? They mostly are, we were both really reluctant, but it's what she wanted to do." Kin said. Baki looked so old. So, so old, it had been about 12 years. Since she left him.
Baki's mind raced as he saw her, 12 years ago, he had found a note the morning of his wedding. "Dear Baki, I found my heart and I intend to follow it. I hope you will find yours one day. Whatever happens I don't want you to blame yourself. I fell in love with a man named Lido, we are leaving to see the world and start a family. I'm sorry about you loosing the Daimyo's position because of me. I'm sorry we won't be having walks in the gardens together every Sunday, I will miss those. I will miss you. You will always be in my heart. I hope you find someone who makes you feel as amazing as Lido makes me feel. We might never see each other again, but please remember, I love you. –You're dear dear childhood friend Kin." He had memorized that letter and it had haunted him for 12 years. Of course he had known that she wasn't in love with him, they had talked about it numerous times when they found out they were engaged. But at the time, Baki had been looking forward of growing old with this woman, and being happy with the great fondness they had for each other. Then she just left.
Baki didn't know how to continue the conversation, should he comment on the weather? On her family? He didn't want the conversation to end, but he didn't know how to continue. "Your niece Sylvia took after you, She just married the Nanny to her younger siblings. It was quite the scandal, but he's handling himself in the political arena rather well for a person who was never to be in it. "
Kin's eyes went bright with interest, "So my cousin still in the Daimyo's position, good for him." She put her hand on her face, "Learning that little Silly got married makes me feel old. I remember changing her diapers. And the Twins! It's been a while since I thought about them. Lido and I were just moved in to Konoha with Kaida when they were born. They can't be more than oh, 6 years old."
"They are celebrating their 7th in a month." Baki replied. Kin looked away into the distance. He felt himself smiling down on her. She hadn't changed at all. Even when she was disowned she managed to keep track of everybody. Baki never had that gift. "Kin, may I ask you a personal question?"
She looked back at him, her eyes still sparkling with nostalgia, "Of course."
"Are you Happy? Did you feel like you made the right decision." She looked away and out into the stadium.
"My life, its defiantly not as easy as it used to be, but…" She looked back at him and gave him one of her genuine smiles, The wrinkles it made in her face was deep, she looked old, but there was still so much life in her. "I wouldn't change it for the world. I love my family, and I love what I do. I hope you feel the same way Baki."
He had to stop and think for through the years. After Kin had left he had thrown himself into his work not thinking. He became one of Suna's most promenade Jounins, and before he knew it he was put in charge of the Kazekage's children. Flash backs ran through his hand, Kankuro trying to work his first puppet, Temari trying to lift her first Fan. The first time Gaara really smiled and held a conversation with him. Now look at them, Kankuro was the leader of the black opps and renown puppeteer, Temari blew her enemies away, not just with her fan but with her tactical and political genius. Gaara was the Kazekage who really cared and cherished all the people in Suna . He had never met that special one person who Kin had referred to in that letter. Because all three of them had his heart, and he would protect them no matter what it took. Baki felt himself give a big smile. "I do feel the same way Kin, I am very happy, I might not have a traditional family, but I have one just the same."
"I'm glad to hear that, now excuse me Baki, Kaida looks like she's about to have a stroke with all this excitement." Then the blue haired phantom of his past walked away, and Baki felt a little weight lift off his shoulders.
-k-
Max woke up early, his nose was stuffy. That was the only thing he could really complain about these past 4 days after he moved in with Zaki. The mattress was on the living room floor and there was just so much dust it clogged his poor nose. But never mind that, he had an hour and a half to make Zaki a wonderful breakfast, he wasn't going to make the same mistake as last time. That must have been embarrassing. He had snuck pancake mix and bacon passed her late last night. She usually only had a bagel for breakfast. As he turned over , he smiled, she slept on her side facing away from him, and her long grey hair was fine and somewhat greasy in the morning light. She was wearing an old wife beater and boxers, her favorite type of PJ's. Rolling in the other direction he hit the floor with a thud.
As he pulled out the small mixing bowl they had, he added a couple other cooking items to the list of what they needed. He had started to make list of what he needed to do to make the house better, the first thing he was planning was fixing the stairs and greasing the hinges on the door. Then replacing the back door. Then it was winter so it would focus on repairing the bedrooms one room at a time. When spring came around the back porch was going to be torn out and he was going to redo it. After the Chunnin exams Zaki and him were going to sit down and discuss their financial situation during the next year. If he started asking for overtime and working weekends, he might make up to 500 dollars every two weeks, and depending on her salary, Zaki could make up to 1000 in a 1 week C ranked mission. With that sort of money they could make their house a home. The frying pan sizzled signaling to Max it was ready for the pancake mix. He heard a low yawn coming from the living room. Zaki was awake.
"Is that, food?" He heard her groggy voice from the living room.
"Yes I'm making you breakfast, you have a half an hour to take a shower, then breakfast will be done." Max informed her.
"Shower," she agreed like a zombie. He heard her feet stomp up to the bathroom. 15 minutes went by as Max made his pancakes. His thoughts meandered to almost everything in the house. He had fixed the shower head already that didn't take long. He was going to have to borrow more tools from Allie as the weeks went on though. With his minds drifting to Allie he thought of the letter she gave Zaki. The girl hadn't opened it. She set it up on the mantel piece as though afraid to touch it. Zaki must have known the hand writing, she didn't tell him who it was from though. The image of the grey haired man jumped back into his brain, he hadn't seen a dead person in 4 days. 4 wonderful days! Since Zaki's birthday, some ghost seemed to hang around people, like the boy with his parents. Or a place, like the grey haired man. Once Zaki's birthday popped into his head, his thoughts meandered to the watch.
He still hadn't given it to her. At first was because he didn't want to compare it to the Kimono the kazekage got her, then it was because he was moving in, then it was he was fixing the shower and the sinks and a couple other things. Then she left for something the day before. But he figured it would be a good birthday/thank you/good luck gift for her. He set the table and noticed that it wobbled. He got the phone book and stuck it under it to make it level. He put 2 pancakes on a plate with 4 strips of bacon on the right side. He laid the watch down off her plate on the left side right next to her knife.
As Zaki came down she had her grey hair up in a low pony tail her forehead protector was actually on her forehead. The blue in the fabric made her striking hazel eyes disturbingly yellow. Her shirt was black, it was snug fitting by her standards, but for most people they would consider it too large. It wasn't like she was swimming in it like she usually did with her other T-shirts. She had the excess of the fabric tied and tucked in the back of her shirt. Her waist was covered by that belt pack Yamato had just gotten her and she wore nice fitting army green caprice.
"Pancakes!" She smiled and sat down grabbing her fork and knife right away to start cutting. She globed the syrup on along with the butter as she stuffed the food down her throat. Max just ate his silently, he liked his pancake plane. After she gobbled down the first two she got up to search for the napkins. "You're not going to wear that to the exams are you?"
Max looked down at himself, he had a white shirt with specks of bacon grease splattered all over it, he finished the un-kept look with torn flannel pajama bottoms. "I wasn't planning on it, but I guess if you feel this is appropriate."
Zaki snorted, "No, you are going to have to look presentable today, there are some old shirts of my father's that I've kept upstairs, those would be appropriate."
"Since when did you care what was appropriate?"
"I just don't want you to get kicked out before you even have time to break the rules." She countered, finally finding a cloth she could wipe her face on. She got herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge, when she sat down she finally noticed the watch. "What's this?" She picked up the watch like it was a ghost.
Max got up and turned on the water so he could start washing dishes "It's your birthday present/ thanks for letting me move in present/good luck." Max was afraid to turn around.
"Where did you get this?"
"A co-worker had it on, and I battered him for it."
"Where did he get this?"
"um he said the pawn shop between the dregs and Konoha," Max remembered.
"This must have cost you your entire pay check."
"Well it wasn't…ALL my paycheck" Max stood there wiping his plate clean and stood there, she wasn't saying anything. "So do you like it?" He finally asked. Instead of hearing a reply he was tackled from behind by a big hug. Zaki's arms were wrapped around him and her forehead rested in-between his shoulder blades.
"I can't believe you found it." She whispered.
Max didn't know what she was talking about it was just a watch. "I just saw it and I thought it reminded me of your earrings." Max turned around in Zaki's arms, her forehead now resting between his chest. She tightened her grip and Max laid his arms around her delicately.
"This is the best gift anyone could have given me." Max just stood there silently enjoying being close to her. "This was my father's watch, He traded it for my skateboard, and the skateboard was my birthday present. That's why I was so upset when it was broken, by that sound bitch." Zaki was crying again and she clung to him tighter not looking him in the eye. Finally she stepped back and wiped away the tears on her face. "I know this sounds stupid, but this month, I've kind of been lost. When I asked you to stay here, and decided not to move into the apartment Gaara offered me, I was afraid I was making the wrong choice…. I was going to say yes to his apartment, I had every intention to," Finally her voice broke and she started sobbing. "Then Allie gave me that letter, with my father's hand writing, and I just decided to stay on a whim, then I asked you to stay, and you did…and, and now getting his watch. And now you just gave me," She couldn't continue any more she was crying so hard. Max ushered her towards a chair in which he sat down, then he gently pulled her onto his lap. The grey haired beauty didn't resist she just rested herself against him.
Max took his hand and stroked her hair softly, the pony tail was starting to be loose, and neither of them cared. He made quiet shushing sounds as she tried to rain in her emotions. Her perfect chin was trembling and her hazel eyes were red with tears. Max just wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her temple. "It's going to be all better, I promise." Finally she looked at him, and smiled. Glancing down at the watch in her hand she sniffed a little.
"I think somebody is watching out for us."
Max couldn't help but smile in return, as he rested his forehead against her's, "You have no idea."
-s-
Adara walked with her brother and Temari to the Chunnin grounds, She was between the two 'not' love birds. Everyone knew those two were 'not' together, Adara couldn't understand why they couldn't just make it public. Their glances towards each other were starting to annoy her. She wasn't as small as she used to be, she came up to Shikimaru's nose and Temari's chin, and she could see the love glances between them. She had wanted to walk with Keiji to the exam, but her father, having an irrational dislike of him made her walk with her brother and his 'not' girl friend.
"So Adara are you nervous?" Temari asked, that woman needed to stop trying to be nice to her.
"I met your brother the other day," Let's get this topic away from her.
Temari perked up a little, "Which one."
"The Kazekage." Adara finished, really Temari was good at a lot of things sucking up was not one of them.
"Oh you were at that party thing…with that girl…"
"Zaki, her name is Zaki." Adara countered. She saw the sand jounin purse her lips. Temari didn't approve of Zaki, not a lot of people did at first. Her mother had thrown a fit when she sniffed the cigarettes after Adara's party.
"Did you eat breakfast this morning?" Her brother interrupted. The static between his sister and his lover.
Adara rolled her eyes, "No, I somehow eluded are mother enough for her to just let me walk to the exams with you guys." She looked at her brother who smirked, more at himself than at her. "Don't worry mom tied me up and forced oatmeal down my throat just like she did with you."
"you're mother ties you up and forces you to eat oatmeal?" Temari asked.
Adara just looked at shikimaru, "Do they not have sarcasm in Suna?"
"It's a new concept."
Then they were there, at the gate the chunnin's getting the tickets nodded at them and motioned towards the side door. The Adara frowned to herself, this was it. The three of them walked in a deserted hallway in silence. Shikimaru pointed Adara towards a door on the left, "that's where the examinees are to wait until you are called on to the pitch. Adara was about to walk in when her elder brothers hand's rested on her shoulder. She turned around and faced her brother. "I want you to know, that if you feel over whelmed, just give me a signal and I will stop the battle." Adara's eyes bulged he was not doing this. "The exams are over, if one of the opponents are unable to battle, they concede OR the proctor calls the end to the fights." He was, he was telling her that she could chicken out! Adara didn't even know how to respond she just raised her eye brows and gave Shika the 'really?' look. He removed his hands and stuffed them in his pockets, 'I'm just saying that's always an option." Adara shook her head and went through the door.
Shikimaru looked up and saw Temari's aqua marine eyes looking at him, they had that 'really?' look to them as well. "What?" He asked defensively, the blond just shook her head. Shikimaru felt his face grimace he always hated the chunnin exams. He started walking towards the pitch, he felt an arm wrap under his. Then Temari's hot breath on his neck.
"Remember 4 years ago?" She asked, Shikimaru's face burned. It was the second chunnin exams they had proctored together. It was a month worth of Temari flirting and shikimaru being driven insane. Then a half an hour before the exam started, Temari flung him into a closet and pinned him against a wall. Then teased him until he couldn't think anymore, promising him more fun if he did a good job on his paperwork after the exams. Shikimaru saw Temari's eyes dart to a door, it was the same closet as 4 years ago. A part of him knew he shouldn't let himself distracted before the exams, especially when it came to Temari and closets. But that part of him was no fun.
-s-
Keiji sat on the bench in the tester's room, The sand trio were there and so was all of Kristi's team. Kaida said she had to go to the bathroom. By the wall Lee and Hinabi stood like statues, waiting for something to happen. The only one's not there were Adara and Zaki.
As though on cue Adara stepped in the door, she had her hair up in a high pony tail like usual and most of her basic training garb was on. She waved to him, he waved back, and she walked towards him and took a seat next to him. Her eyes were fixed on the sand trio, and the one she had to face. He was the one with the baggy hoody on along with baggy pants. He was standing still as his two other team mates leaned against the rail. Keiji felt his face blush as he saw Isis, she was wearing skin tight purple leather jacket, and some sort of skin tight black fabric as pants, it wasn't leather but it kind of looked like it. The whole outfit looked more like a body suit then a two separate pieces. A body suit was the wrong word for it though, Gai and Lee wore body suits, and she wore something entirely different that made her look…yeah.
A sharp voice broke his concentration, "What are you looking at?" It was Adara looking.
"Nothing," His voice broke right as he was saying it, he had to fight a blush on his face. "I wasn't, I was, um nothing." Adara scowled and looked away crossing her arms around her chest.
"Whatever," She finally said, Keiji didn't know why she was mad at him but she was. Keiji was about to apologize, until he saw Zaki walk through the door. He waved at her and she smiled, she walked towards them. Her face was flush. But other than that she looked very put together, her hair was in a low pony tail and gold lightning ear rings dangled from her ears.
"Good you haven't started yet!" She smiled looking at a watch by her wrist. Adara looked at the clock on the wall. The exams should have started 5 minutes ago, where was her brother?
-s-
Gaara waited in his seat by Tsunada, "Where is your proctor?" He asked as he saw that the exams needed to start 5 minutes ago.
"May I remind you, that we are also waiting from one of Suna's proctors also." Tsunada retorted. Gaara didn't have a reply, they were waiting on both Shikimaru and his sister. The chunnin's reported seeing them come into the building over 30 minutes ago.
"They will both show up, don't worry." Baki encouraged from behind Gaara. Not knowing what to do, Gaara browsed the roster again. The first exam was with the sand gennin his brother was looking to recruiting for more puppitering training, and Shikimaru's little sister. She had seemed pleasant during the birthday party. Not at all like shikimaru who wasn't engaged in anything. She seemed to have a keen eye at every spot and was dynamic in her opinions. When shikimaru saw something he let it rest, pushing it to the back of his mind. She saw something and pounced on it right away. Gaara had, had a political spar with her on a couple different subject matters, and she let no error slip by her. It would be interesting to see how she worked in a battle.
They heard clicking from the door, and Gaara knew it was his sister rushing to get to his side. He looked at saw her, but she wasn't put together. Her Kimono was a bit loose and her four signatures pony tails were all gone and her hair was down. She looked a lot warmer with her hair down, Gaara enjoyed it down. But it was not his business so he never commented. Her tan face was flush and she blinked at him. She cleared her throat and took her place.
Then there was a rush of cheers from the stand, Shikimaru lead the potential chunnin to the arena. All of them were lined up by team, all were waiving slyly to the audience.
-s-
Kaida looked at all the people cheering and hugged her Yo to her chest. She had debated even bringing him in the first place, but she had justification of him being a useful tool to pull out weapons from. Secretly she just like the feeling of his tattered fur on her skin. When she was younger her parents told her that the teddy could fight away nightmares. Now he was helping her fight away real terrors. While everyone else was quietly waiting in the room, Kaida had been scouting the stands for a better picture of the overall stadium. She already had a mental map of the arena, She scanned the ground measuring the distance of the walls to the middle.
After a while she looked at the others, they believed that the fight started when the proctor called start, the fight started the moment they left the forest of death. After the cheering died down they were ushered into the room again, the only two staying on the field again Nara Adara, Sachmeth Thoth. They were 20 paces away from each other looking at each other directly.
Kaida looked at Keiji, he was twitching his knuckles white as he gripped the railing with his hands. If he continued to apply that much pressure on them he would break them. She put a hand on his shoulder, he let out a slow breath. "You seem nervous." A chirpy voice from behind Keiji Said, Kaida looked, it was that girl with purple hair that broke Zaki's skate board. Zaki on her left stiffened and walked to sit down, so she wouldn't have to talk to the sand girl. Keiji just looked at her, he seemed to be ogling something, a faint blush spreading across his face.
"A little." He admitted as he coughed a bit.
The purple haired girl pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled at Keiji, his blush seemed to be getting worse. She laid her hand gently on his bicep, "I'm sure you will do fine Keiji" Kaida rolled her eyes, she really hoped that this hormonal stage of her team mates would ware off soon.
Keiji cleared his voice again, But that didn't stop it from braking, "I think we should concentrate on the fight, it's about to start." The girl giggled and Kaida died a little inside.
-s-
Shikimaru looked at his sister, it was moment like these that made him realize that his sister was his mother's daughter. Not only did she look like the spitting image of Yoshino, but she had the same fire in her eyes when she was determined about something. "Ok so here are the rules," he finally said as people settled down, "The Exam stops when one of the opponents is unable to battle, Or," Shikimaru wanted to emphasize this part, "When I SAY it stops, anybody who continues to battle after that will be disqualified is that clear?" His sister nodded and the Sachmeth shrugged. Shikimaru felt his stomach fall, this guy looked tough. "Ok Go,"
Adara was the first to move, trying to back track and get father away from Sachmeth. Right after her feet started moving, the boy pushed he sleeves up. Moving very fast, whipping Shurikan at Adara. She dodged it getting slower and slower each time. Shikimaru felt his stomach sink lower, she was going to be defeated within the first five minutes if she kept this up.
-q-
Keiji felt his grip tighten on the bar, What was she doing? The guy was leading her into a trap, the Shurikan's he was wiping at her had chakra strings on them. Keiji could see them from above, he didn't think Adara could though. She was faster than this. She was just waiting for Sachmeth to make all the decisions. He was controlling the battle field. Finally one Shurikan hit her in her left shoulder.
-s-
Adara felt the sting of the weapon, It hooked on to her shoulder blade she winced, This hurt a lot more then she was used to. What was she doing? She yelled at herself, the boy was taking control of the battlefield she wasn't even trying. Her gut told her to wait though, to see what he could do. He was purposely missing her with the kunai, she could tell that, He was trying to get her to slow down. The Shurikan in her shoulder tugged a little, there was a CHAKRA STRING ATTACHED. She felt her shoulder move a little without her doing it.
That fucking bastard, he was waiting for clear shots to her joints, he would be able to control her shoulder movements from now on. Adara couldn't wait any longer, she sped up.
-s-
Gaara looked down on the arena, this was going to be interesting. Sachmeth used his enemies as a puppet making them move just like Kankuro made his puppets move with Chakra strings. Adara being a Nara could use her shadow possession Jutsu basically doing the same thing Sachmeth was doing with his strings. The sand boy had the advantage though, he already had one string on her shoulder, and chakra strings didn't take up as much chakra as the shadow possession. Adara was getting fast though. Sachmeth might have control of her shoulder, but she was dodging without relying on it too much, and the faster she went the harder it was for him to pull and tug on her shoulder. When she got closer it took him a while to reel in the string and keep it taught. Adara could have easily broken the string attachment by now, why hadn't she?
His sister's voice echoed behind him, "I thought she would be better," It was sharp and harsh.
"Don't count her out just yet," Gaara commented dryly. Adara's technique was, unconventional. She moved around too much to have been trained by her father and brother only. Just by looking at her he could tell that her sensei had to be Neji. The stance's she was using was basic Hyuuga, the soft flow, this let her weave and wave with sachmeth's pulling, but the more she sped up the more her flips looked more like Lee's and Gai's. Neither Shikaku or Shikimaru had as much speed as Adara was showing right now. If she stopped letting to boy control the field she might get somewhere.
-s-
He got her leg now, right above the knee her left calf was now his. He might have her but she knew him. When she tried to go against his pull he could easily pull back and gain control, if she tried really hard it would be a stalemate and they both would stand still in a test of will and chakra's. But when she went with his control and added more emphasis to the move, he lost control for a good second sometimes 2. Adara had the same problem with her shadow possession, if the person went with her movements it was harder to control them, if they tried to go the extra mile. They were rookie problems as her father called them. As long as she had her wrist she had him.
-s-
"Keiji aren't you listening to me?" Isis voice asked him, Keiji didn't want to draw his eyes away from the fight. Adara was just hit by another kunai. He was aware there was a slight buzzing in the background when he was concentrating on something else so he just ignored it. It took him a while to realize that it was Isis talking.
"Sorry Isis, I have to concentrate on this fight." Keiji just wanted her to go away.
"Well I was just saying you look like somebody is possessing you…" As she continued talking Adara was hit by three other kunai, one right above her ankle, her other shoulder and her other knee. As the boy moved his arms to take full control of Adara's body with the strings she stopped, and used all her force to bring herself to a stop. Her hands quickly moved and Keiji knew that if he blinked he would miss something important. Her shadow quickly moved with the chakra strings to touch Sachmeth's shadow. He tried to move but he couldn't. Keiji couldn't help but let out a yell of excitement.
-s-
Gaara raised an eyebrow, this was finally starting to get interesting. They were in a stalemate now. They both did the same thing, trying to control their opponent's actions, now they had each other locked off. If one tried to move the other would stop them, it was a test of chakra and wills. He didn't know which one would win. Sachmeth's chakra's strings didn't cost him a lot of chakra, none at all. While Adara's possession cost a lot, but her's couldn't be cut. Chakra strings were thin and could be cut easily. Sachmeth hadn't really had reason to sweat up till now. Adara didn't have reason to celebrate though, she just got herself a stalemate. She needed to do something to actually control the field. Right now she was not showing herself as chunnin material.
-k-
Adara had to look like he was stronger than her, he had to think he had gained control back. He knew that she had some sort of possession on him but he didn't know to the full extent just that it stopped him from moving as easily as he used to. He struggled to get his hand to his pouch and pull out a kunai, Adara readied herself to get more sharp objects in her skin, and she reminded herself that sometimes you had to give a little to get a lot. As they penetrated her skin she just felt a dull throb. Sweat was on his forehead she was getting to him. She could feel the tension he was using to pull her hands in the air and move her arms.
She had to let him feel confident, he moved her back and she let him, he moved her arms in a steady circle. Adara realized that she had to cut her jutsu
-s-
Shikimaru wanted to tear his hair out, she still had possession, why wasn't she letting it disappear. Did she want to lose? Was this to spite dad? What the hell was she doing, she had given up at least 15 things she could have used to win it already. Sachmeth had pulled both of her arms so both of her hands were pointed to the left of her, he was moving so they were outstretched, slowly having them circle around her head.
Then it happened, Adara followed his movements with more effort than he had originally attended. This caused Sachmeth to freeze for long enough for her to take 5 steps forward. The strings slackened and Adara had time to do a jumping twirl up in the air, the strings were too loose for him to take advantage of. Adara used her height advantage to throw daggers at him. Sachmeth panicked and threw the shurikan's to stop them, he blocked all the ones that she threw. Inadvertently though he cut all the strings that were attached to her. Adara landed 40 feet away, and her shadow spread to the boy the minute she landed. He stepped back to avoid the shadow. Just to run into another one.
Shikimaru's eyes widened, she had sent two shadow's out at the same time, one of the distracting him so the other would catch him from behind. He was stuck, she had full possessions.
-jj-
It was the end of Sachmeth Thoth, The daggers he had knocked away. Adara had planted them in a circle around where he was now trapped. All of them had exploding tags on them. Adara was just going to make him stand there as he was blown up. Both of Gaara's eyes raised. Well that was a nice surprise, she might have some potential after all. Not bothering to pay attention to the rest of the fight Gai looked at the roster. Yamagochi Kristi vs. Keitaru Kristi.
"Sachmeth Thoth is unable to battle, Nara Adara is the winner!" Shikimaru announced to screaming applause. So far this exam was going very well.
-k-
Keiji felt himself applauding and yelling with the crowd. She was ok! She was ok! She was OK! Adara was ok, she limped off the field to be rushed by medics, looking towards her wounds. "You seem a lot happier." Isis said from besides him. Keiji turned around, he had almost totally forgotten that she was there.
"Yeah, just happy my friend won that's all" Keiji said, he wondered if Adara would have to stay in the infirmary during his fight. He looked over past the purple haired girl. The platinum blond had her hair up in a side pony tail, her blue/green eyes smirking as she eyed him up. Kristi was used to him in the academy. She didn't know him now, she was already underestimating him. He smiled at himself, he could do this. He felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked around, to see a smile from Isis, her eyes and hair just shinning in the light. She stepped closer and he felt her chest against him. His mind clogged.
"Good luck Keiji, I look forward to facing you in the last match." Heat rose to his face she was so close, and that fabric was so thin.
He felt his voice break even before he opened his mouth, "Thanks for the confidence."
"Has anybody ever told you that you are adorable?" She asked him stepping back and placing her finger on his nose.
"No," Keiji felt flushed, no girl had ever treated him this way before. It was really nice. She giggled and Keiji felt a forced laugh come from deep in his throat. "I have to go , but yeah uh, see yah, after words." He went towards the door, Kristi right behind him. As they walked down the hall he felt the girls eyes on him. He looked at her, "What?" He asked she was judging him.
Her voice was annoyingly high, "You are so adorable" She fluttered her eyes at him. "Really KEIJI? Seriously…ARE YOU BLIND?" The girl then slapped her forehead in frustration. Kristi was always a passionate person who used her hands when talking, she was really upset about something. She threw her hands up in the air, "I can't…I mean; do you not notice anything? And poor Adara, and your just standing there with that sand …URGH! YOU ARE SO OBTUSE KEIJI," the blond threw up her hands up in defeat and stomped into the arena. What did he do?
As he went into the arena there was some small applause for him and Kristi. He started slowing his heart rate down. Kristi didn't know what was coming and she was going to be impressed. He had no idea what that thing in the hall was all about, but this was about him proving himself.
Shikimaru pointed to their locations on the arena. Keiji took his spot. One deep breath and listen to Shikimaru's voice. He sounded bored, "Ok so the game stops when one of the opponents is unable to battle or when I stop it. Do you two understand this?" Keiji nodded the blond nodded her head too.
"Go."
-s-
Gaara had to really concentrate on this fight, really he didn't care about this one. He only cared about one's with interesting people in them. The blond was the first to move. She had unsheathed two Sai's and was running towards the boy he had his fist that seemed to be enough for him.
I AM HERE TO INTERRUPT THIS FANFICTION TO ANNOUCE THIS, THE PACKERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL BABY! AND DA BEARS STILL SUCK! AHHHHH! AHHHHH! RUNNING AROUND THE HOUSE AHHHH AHHHH AHHH!WOHOOOO WOHOOOOO WOHOOOO ! now back to our fan fiction.
The girl was faster than the boy, he blocked her easily though. They were stuck in a dodge punch dance that so many shinobi new so well. One punch with one dodge, to be followed by a kick. It was quiet Impressive that they knew each other so much they could predict each other's move's. Boring boring boring, This seat was comfortable though. He looked as Tsunada, "Are these seats new?"
"Yes we replaced them a couple of months ago, the others weren't up to code."
"They are really nice."
"They are, aren't they?"
-s-
Keiji felt like he was getting nowhere, he was fast enough to dodge her really bad blows, but she always knew where he was going to strike. There was something wrong with her sai's. They were glistening, it was hard to notice, but when he had to bend over backwards so they wouldn't cut his face off he saw they were covered in some sort of substance.
Now Keiji wasn't really a planer, he didn't get strokes of genius during a battle. He just went with instincts, his instincts told him that whatever was on those daggers, was not apple juice. Don't get hit. He wished his instincts were a little keener though, as he felt the sai's rip through all up and down his triceps on his left arm. "Bitch!" He exclaimed as he kicked his legs up catching her in the gut flinging her backwards and allowing him enough time to flip in the opposite directions.
"What did you just call me?" Kristi asked as she got back on her feet.
Keiji's eyes widened, "No I didn't mean it like that, it just…" He pointed to his arm "it hurt, that's a bitch not you," They were about 40 feet apart both of them needed time to catch their breath. "No disrespect was meant." Keiji was panting hard, and so was Kristi, she put one of her hands on her knees and leaned over a little.
Her hand went up to stop his rambling, "non taken, I just wanted to make sure we weren't getting petty."
Keiji nodded, he wiped three kunai's out towards her. She countered with her own shurikan. Kristi had the same problem as Keiji, she wasn't a planner. But she had better instincts then he did.
Convulsions started taking over his body and he fell on his knees. "Shit Kristi what was on those daggers," She was already running towards him, this was going to be a short battle. As he tried to get off of his hands and knees his muscles wouldn't cooperate. He was stuck as he saw her feet right in front on his eyes which were glued to the ground because he was stuck here like a dog. A heel came through his left and slashed the side of his face. "Are those heels's new?" Keiji struggled and got back up on his knees he was looking up at Kristi.
His body had stopped convulsing, but he could no longer feel his left arm whatsoever.
-s-
Kaida was peeking through her hands, she couldn't watch. Keiji was there execution style looking up at Kristi, and she was just kicking him, then he got back up. He was taking a beating and just having to sit there and take it. She felt so helpless, she couldn't help him, that blond was just thrashing him. He couldn't do anything why wasn't he doing anything. He could do more than what he was doing?
She looked to the side, Parker and Micah were both looking happy as they saw their team mate beat hers. The sand girl looked bored. "Well this is disappointing," the purple haired girl said to her team mate. "He still cute though."
Her other teammate the one Zaki would be facing shrugged. "you just like any guy that is taller than you." The purple haired looked down on him.
"jealousy doesn't suit you." Kaida looked around, Zaki was sitting in the chairs looking up at the ceiling. She seemed as frustrated as Kaida.
"Zaki," She said, Kaida felt herself cling to Yo. Keiji just needed to give up if he wasn't going to do anything about it!
The grey haired girl came up and squeezed her shoulder. "It's ok, Keiji's tough, you kick harder than that skinny thing."
-s-
Another blow to his face, "Yes actually they are new, thanks for noticing." Now the heels jammed into his gut. Kristi stopped, and looked down on him, "Keiji, I like you, that poison isn't going to let you move, I don't want to use potentially deadly force with my sai's to win, I just want to knock you out. Or you can make it easy on yourself and me, and give in."
Keiji's mind was getting blurry. "Those shoe's they don't seem very comfortable."
"Once you get used to wearing them they frankly aren't that bad," Kristi shrugged. She kicked him again, things were so blurry now. "Aren't you going to give up, take a hint! I'm getting bored."
"Sorry, I believe some people call me obtuse, Remembering the breathing exercises Hinata taught him, and he started to regain his vision. Control that's what he needed. He needed to remember what he had studied, about muscles and chakra spots. The next hit seemed more bearable.
"Keiji, please just get the message."
"What message?" He asked taking another breath, his mind raced towards his chakra system he was cleaning it out, just capturing his poison, just remember that it was in his mind and that there was no poison. Who knew that those Tao books he was forced to read would come in handy. Her heel kicked him again, what would Kaida do? Think of something really smart, and just do it, what would Zaki do? Well at least he would be able to do that, "The message that your 14 and you're wearing hooker heels? I really don't give a crap you have a daddy complex." Kristi stopped and looked shocked, that was something very un Keiji like to say.
"I thought we weren't going to get petty? But I guess we will have to, She pulled her sai's out and held one over her head. She was going to aim for the spot right between his neck and his shoulder, it wouldn't kill him right away, and an experience medical ninja right away would be able to handle it. But today was not Kristi's day, and this was not her match either. This was Keiji's. Taking one deep breath as her hand came down, everything seemed to slow for a minute, and he caught it right before the tip penetrate his skin.
Kristi's aqua eyes widened in shock, "Yo-You shouldn't be—what?"
Keiji had control of her wrist, and as he rise up to stand as tall as possible, which made the girl look tiny. "Sorry I didn't get the message," the pressure he had on her wrist made her drop the dagger, He felt the blood pressure rise, and she had humiliated him unnecessarily. He should snap her in two. He took another deep breath, "This isn't personal." He broke her forearm, Then gripped her by the waist. With all his might he flung her towards the nearest tree, her small body crumbled at the impact of the tree. A part of him was praying she didn't get back up, he had to really try hard not to lose control and snap her in two, on purpose. He looked over at Shikimaru, the brown eyes seemed to be deciding something about him.
"Yagamochi Kristi is unable to battle, Keitaru Keiji is the winner," The crowd cheered, but they fell on deaf ears, Keiji just got out of the arena, he needed to be alone. He ran down the hall and threw himself into the first store room he saw.
-s-
Adara sat on her bed in the infirmary, She couldn't look through the window she had no idea how who had won. This was going to drive her insane, The crowd cheered and Adara wanted to slam her head against the wall. Really they couldn't have put any windows in this darn place? The medics burst in and ran the stretcher to the other room, they had taken Sachmeth into.
"Her pulse is fine, and there is only some minor bleeding by her intestines."
"But if the bleeding continues it could disrupt her liver."
"That's why we are going to stop it."
'Where's the other one, he has a paralytic and convulsive poison in his blood stream, he needs just as much attention."
Kristi was on the stretcher and she didn't look good. Adara felt torn, Keiji had won, but Kristi looked really bad. The medics rushed out and Adara took another breath. Keiji should be coming through the door then. When the door didn't open, she breathed again. Kristi had nasty poison's why wouldn't he come in for treatment. Why, for god sake why didn't he show up? She had to get up and find him.
The halls were empty, and the crowd was waiting for Lee and Hinabi to get into their positions. Her wounds would heal up just fine, the medics told her, and tomorrow in her next fight she should be perfectly new. She heard a noise from a door, a heavy breathing. Slowly she opened the door.
"Keiji," She said. Looking around, there was a small shelf that she could see through, Keiji was there his back against the wall, face in his hands. She was standing right in front of him now, there was a large gash on his shoulder. It was bleeding, and he was trembling. "Keiji."
"I don't want to talk to you right now."
"What happened?"
"Go away." He wiped away tears with the palm of his hands.
"Keiji," She leaned against the shelf, "you know what this reminds me of?"
"I don't care,"
"When we had just started the academy, you had failed a test, and those boys…they were picking on you, they followed you home. They started calling you names, calling your mother names…you lost control." Keiji was shaking so bad, Adara walked slowly over to him. "You then ran and hid yourself in an old garden shack." She sat down next to him, and put her hand on his not bleeding shoulder.
"That's where you found me, and told me you would help me study for the next test. I didn't know you knew the rest of it. Did you know that one of those boy's is no longer able to walk, cause I lost control."
"The rest of them are fine though, and they didn't bully anybody any more." Adara wrapped her arms around "Plus you met me that has got to be a highlight."
Keiji rested his temple on her shoulder and breathed in her scent. "I lost control with Kristi, if only for a minute, and if she would have gotten up, I would…things would have turned out worse."
"The medics say she's going to be fine, very little internal damages, broken bones are nothing to fix."
"You should have seen the way your brother looked at me." Keiji started to ramble, Adara's arms came up and stopped him. They were covered in his blood though. "I didn't mean for it, it was nothing personal, things just, Kristi has always been so nice to me, and I did that to her."
"Hey it was a fight, you are a shinobi, hurting people is what we do,"
"Not our friends, we aren't supposed to hurt our friends. People shouldn't trust me."
Adara looked into his yellow eyes, he looked so lost, and she didn't know how to help him. She usually knew what to say when he was like this. "I trust you."
Sorry for the football reference, next chapter will come out soon I hope ! Um comment on my fight scenes if you are so inclined, cause I know I suck at writing them so I need all the criticism I can get ! Thanks for TOP (sorry for the more teen angst by the way). For reviewing, and I know there are other people out there who read this please please please review.