Hey, guys. Sorry about last chapter. I was having one of my spaz out moments where everything isn't perfect. Thanks for the reviews. I'll let yous in on a secret. Sometimes, I like to reread your reviews because they make me feel proud to be continuing this story.
Anyways, I'm in a better mood, and I'd like to give you a long chapter. Long chapters are rare nowadays, but I'm happy I did it.
I've also been getting reviews about dear Satsujin, whose name was only revealed last chapter. So. Shipping the hot shadow demon guy and Kuroki, are yous? Well, I decided to put something in for you guys. As well as a few scenes with the candidates for Sasuke's love rival. Enjoy.
"We still need a heaven scroll."
I looked up as I remembered that Jin had been collecting a few scrolls from the teams he killed and brought out one of the scrolls he used to keep them in.
"I collected a few on my midnight adventure." I stated casually as I emptied out the scroll full of other scrolls. I noticed everyone gawking at the sight. Oh, well. I collected about seven then, did I?
"Holy crap, Kuroki! Where'd you get all these?!" Naruto exclaimed, finally having woken up after making a late reaction to Orochimaru. Ino and the others all reached forward and grabbed a few.
"Miss Kuroki is amazing!" Lee stated dramatically to Tenten, who was still gawking at the pile of scrolls.
It was then I noticed that more than a few were drenched in blood. Feeling eyes on me, I glanced over to the tree trunk that Neji was leaning on, his arms folded and a frown taking his features as he stared at me.
I mouthed a 'later', obviously knowing the questioning glint in his eyes. My eyes shifted when I saw Sasuke reach out and take the heaven scroll, the second scroll we needed.
I grinned when I noticed Ino fist pumping with an earth scroll.
"No having to find weaker guys than us!" She cheered as Shikamaru and Choji slumped, relieved for not having to go through the trouble.
"That's really sad, you know." Naruto stated with squinted eyes at them. Ino snapped her head towards him angrily and began to chew him out. I stared at Naruto as I leaned back against the tree and placed my hands in my pockets.
I was worried about what Orochimaru did to him. I can't remember all of the side effects of it. He seemed fine, though, but there'd be something wrong with his chakra, I'm betting.
"You reek of blood."
"Tch." I curled up my lip and looked at the ground as Neji appeared next to me, now leaning on the same tree as me.
"What happened?" He asked, looking ahead. His voice was stoic, but I knew he was curious.
"We ran into an enemy far past the level of a genin. He was a damn sannin." I explained through gritted teeth. I didn't like Orochimaru, but I respected his strength. Apparently, Neji knew what a sannin was, and he gasped lightly, unfolding his hands and turned to face me. I looked up to see his bewildered expression.
"A sannin...?!" He whispered harshly, his face immediately taking on a serious frown. I nodded.
"He wanted Sasuke. But..." I looked over to the Uchiha who was staring intently at the bloody heaven scroll in his hands, seemingly in his own world.
"I changed." I admitted, glancing back to the Hyuuga. He blinked, probably contemplating what I meant by that.
"Your chakra is different..." He finally spoke. "It has been for a while, but it was only subtle before. But now, it's a lot stronger. A lot darker too..."
I smiled softly at him. "Way too smart, Hyuuga. Dumb down a bit, will you?" I teased. He smirked slightly.
"But then you'd never have anyone to confide in about this, would you?" He countered, and I raised my brows in surprise. He was willing to listen to all my shit?
My smile broke into an appreciative grin. "Thanks, man. Means a lot to me." I thanked him. He nodded.
"About you changing..." He started subtly. I sighed, opening my mouth to speak when I noticed Shikamaru glancing in my direction. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I thought it'd be a good idea to fill him in on it. He is a genius after all.
Motioning him over with a tilt of my head, he sighed and leisurely stood up, not even bothering to dust himself off and putting his hands in his pockets. As he made his way over to us, I looked back to Neji, who raised a single brow.
"He's a genius." I shrugged. "And it'd be nice to have someone else know." I stated, making a face as I thought about whether or not that was a legitimate excuse.
Shikamaru stood in front of us with a lazy expression, and I looked back and forth between Neji and him having some kind of staring contest.
Sighing, the Nara broke eye contact and brought his hand out of his pocket to rub the back of his neck as he looked to me.
"So, you going to explain the bloody scrolls?" He asked casually as I cracked my back.
"Well," I started. "I meant it when I said I got them on my midnight adventure." I replied honestly, feeling my crooked grin emerge which caused the two to show small smirks. "But before that, there was someone who was much stronger than us trying to get to Sasuke." My tone went serious.
Shikamaru nodded slowly. "Makes sense. I mean, he's the last of the Uchiha line. A bunch of people would want him for his lineage." He commented intellectually. Although, he's not the last of the Uchiha line.
Not that they knew.
"What exactly did they want him for, though?" Neji spoke up, making us glance to him.
"His body." I stated seriously. They both looked to me with serious expressions before I snorted and began to laugh uncontrollably. I couldn't look up to see their faces because my eyes were closed shut as I busted a lung laughing. Before I knew it, I could hear them chuckling along with me.
"I'm sorry!" I choked, breathing in like a dying seal. "I couldn't help myself!"
"You're so immature, Taidana." I heard Neji chuckle.
It was a few minutes before we all finally calmed down again. I sighed. "I meant it when I said that though." I told them, now sitting down and leaning against the tree. Neji and Shikamaru followed me to the ground.
"Why would he want Sasuke's body?" Neji asked, frowning.
"He's a pedo snake." I deadpanned. They both gave me their varied versions of incredulous expressions. I blinked at them. "I'm serious. He's a pedophilic snake who likes to experiment on things to achieve immortality." Incredulous expressions enhanced. I sighed. "Alright, you two, what I'm about to tell you, I need you to keep it confidential. Because I'm not meant to know this." I began. They both glanced at each other and smirked.
"You're not meant to know a lot of things." Shikamaru stated.
"Yes, yes, I know. But you both love me so it's okay that I have more knowledge than both of you geniuses." I grinned at the both of them.
"Pah." Shikamaru waved a dismissive hand.
"Just go on, already, 'genius'." Neji leaned forward.
"Fine." I drawled. "His name is Orochimaru, one of the three sannin that I'm sure you both heard about since you're from awesome clans and have massive libraries that my mum would probably go insane over." The Nara's eyes widened slightly in recognition as Neji simply nodded slightly.
"That's good, then. Whoo." I made a small fist pump.
"A host? For his quest for immortality?" Shikamaru questioned.
I nodded. "Sasuke's Sharingan." Neji muttered. "He wants Sasuke's body to get to his kekkai genkai." The image of Itachi flashed in my mind suddenly, and I blinked quickly to get rid of it.
"Exactly. And so he tried." I frowned.
"Then...what happened to you?" I looked away from the both of them, taking a deep breath.
"I have a..." I started dramatically. "...blood-thirsty demon shadow dude who has really nice lips bonded to me." I finished, smiling goofily at my description of my lovely Jin.
I felt myself shiver as sensations prickled on my neck. "I have nice lips...?" He asked me, a wispy chuckle escaping those nice lips of his.
I quite like them. I mean, before you had gnarly teeth aligned into a monster grin that never moved. Now, you're...
"I'm...what...?" He urged on, amusement lacing his voice.
Hot. You're hot and you don't even have eyes, like whoa. And you have nice lips now. I know when to appreciate them.
"There are other ways to appreciate them, Kuroki..." I coughed and covered my own lips that were split into a giant ass grin. Fucker made a sexual insinuation. Damn.
"You have a what?" I glanced up to see Neji and Shikamaru with bewildered expressions. Really expressive lately, huh.
"Basically, I have a shadow that's been with me since birth. He's always with me, always watching over me. We're bonded as of recently." I yawned suddenly, feeling a lot more fatigued than a few seconds ago.
"You'll need to get to the tower soon...can't have you passing out in the forest of death..." I agree.
"So...a spirit?" Neji asked slowly, giving me a scrutinizing look. It wouldn't be that uncommon for me to spout some bullshit for shits and giggles, but this was a little more serious.
I tilted my head. "You could say so. He's been an entirely different dimension that watched this one, but was unable to do anything as he watched the world evolve. Or something." I wasn't expecting to be so chill about explaining whatever Jin was.
"You bonded with him?" I glanced to Shikamaru. I nodded.
"We're one now. Which is why you can sense something different with my chakra. His is there too." I explained, pulling at my eyes to try and take the weight of fatigue off.
"How do you know it's a guy?"
"He sure looks like one. A hot one. Yet he causes chilling sensations." I snickered at their boyish reactions.
Can you become a female?
His wispy chuckle caused my ear to twitch. "I'm strictly male, Kuroki...things would be...interesting if I could be female though..."
You dirteeeh.
"Can't deny it's appeal, can I...?"
Are you insinuating that you're attracted to me, my lovely?
I straightened my back at the sudden strong sensation that ran down my back. Whoa!
"You're unique...Kuroki...and while I'm what I am I can't deny that you're beautiful...inside and out..."
I cracked my neck nervously at the tone of his voice. Whoo, you know how to flatter a girl.
"I know how to pleasure her, too..." He chuckled. I took a deep breath as I focused my attention back to the two male genin in front of me.
"Is he doing something to you, now Kuroki?" Shikamaru asked cautiously, noticing my strange behaviour.
"Just giving me shivers, is all. It's a normal thing." I shrugged, before shaking my head. "We're meant to be talking about what happened with me changing and all, right?"
"Yeah." The two of them spoke in sync, glancing to each other. I don't really remember them interacting that much before in the canon.
I cleared my throat. "Well, anyways. There were obviously terms and conditions to our little bond thing. He told me that if I were to feel pure fear, that it would change into bloodlust." A tense air surrounded us as they contemplated my words.
"You were the one who released killing intent back at the first test." Neji commented quietly.
"I was." I admitted. "That guy that had come up to us before, Kabuto, he's in league with Orochimaru, and well, I reacted." I stared at a bug slowly making its way to wherever.
"What were you afraid of?" The Nara asked.
"Losing Sasuke." I spoke immediately. They were both silent for a second too long, so I looked up at both of them. They were staring at the Uchiha who sat by himself now, a solemn expression on his face as he stared at the ground. Shikamaru's face was lazy as always, whilst Neji's was still serious. With a little bit of more frown.
Deciding to continue on, I leaned back against the tree. "I knew that during these exams, Sasuke's life would take a dramatic turn if I didn't do something. I was scared shitless that by the end of these exams, I wouldn't have Sasuke next to me, as cheesy as that sounds. So..."
"So the term of fear to bloodlust happened." Shikamaru finished, turning back to me.
"Unfortunately for me, I couldn't actually control it very well. Especially when I saw Orochimaru standing amongst the crowd during start of the second test." I clenched my hands, trying not to reminisce on the events. "I gave into it yesterday, and he took over. After fighting off the snake, he went on a killing spree."
"You're the reason for all the screams last night." Neji stated more than questioned, his voice unbelieving.
"That was me, yeah." I nodded.
"But you weren't really in control then, were you?" Shikamaru asked me, I looked to him.
"No, not really." I shook my head once, answering his question.
"Then it's not your fault, right?" He muttered soon after, leaning back and closing his eyes. I stared at him for a little bit. Was he trying to comfort me?
Realising he was, I smiled softly. "Thanks, Nara...but there's no point in denying my part in it all. I'm partially at fault, and I accept that. Their blood is on our hands, both his and mine, and the more I deny that, the harder it will be for me to accept it." I brought up my hands and stared at them. I could still smell the blood on them. On me. "You know what I mean?" I brought my hands back down into my lap and looked to the Nara and Hyuuga.
Shikamaru smirked as he laid on the ground, his eyes now looking towards me. "You're amazing, you know that?"
"Don't flatter her ego, we don't need that." Neji interjected with a joking tone, I punched him lightly with a grin.
"Thanks guys." I thanked them. "You know you two are the only ones who know about it. Sasuke and I...we haven't really spoken of it yet." I diverted my eyes to his direction, only to find him glaring in mine.
The two genin with me turned to look at him as well. "He's angry." Shikamaru noted in a drawling tone.
"He's jealous." Neji countered. I sighed. Slumping back onto the tree.
"It's expected after all. Out of all the people here, you two are the only threats concerning me." I explained tiredly, slowly feeling fatigue consume me.
"How troublesome." I heard the Nara, just barely though.
"Indeed." It was the last thing I heard before I was surrounded by darkness.
Neji turned his eyes towards Kuroki, his mouth open to speak but he slowly closed it again when he saw her sleeping. Her body gradually slumped over to him, and he didn't bother moving as her head rested on his shoulder. He was staring intently at her as he contemplated all that she told him.
Her chakra reminded him of sweets. The side of his mouth twitched when he remembered just how much she loved food and especially sweets. The other chakra...the one who she said was attached her reminded him of blood. It was dark, yet somehow calming. It didn't feel evil, only angry and deprived.
"You're going to get in trouble by the Uchiha if you keep staring." Shikamaru drawled, leaning back and lying back down, using his hands as a pillow as he stared at the leaves high above them. Neji shifted his eyes over to the Nara.
"You're close to her?" He asked slowly, scrutinising the lazy ninja.
"For years now." He replied. "Since we started the academy. She came up to Choji and I one day and asked if she could sit with us." Shikamaru explained briefly, smiling slightly at the memory before shifting his eyes towards the Hyuuga. "How do you know her?"
Said Hyuuga sighed, resting his head against the tree and bringing up one leg to rest his forearm on. "I met her when I was training at one of the grounds. She made that crooked grin of hers and started talking about how serious I was." Neji glanced at Kuroki before looking back up. Shikamaru didn't not notice that small movement. "I thought she was annoying as hell, she kept popping up out of nowhere, then kept saying how it was fate that brought us together."
Shikamaru looked to Neji, curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have some kind of belief towards fate?" He inquired, not sure whether or not the Hyuuga would reply.
Neji's eyes went serious as he stared at the ground. "I do." He simply replied with.
Silence soon engulfed them, the background noise of their teammates making racket basically the only sound. It was a comfortable silence, Neji listened to the leaves rustling and the birds chirping whilst Shikamaru looked as if he was asleep also.
After a few minutes, Sasuke walked towards them, a tense aura around him. Neji settled his eyes on the Uchiha, only glancing at the Nara to see he was looking at the raven-haired ninja also, revealing that he was probably just resting.
Sasuke stopped just ahead of them. His eyes glinting with restrained anger and hostility. "I'll take her." He stated, kneeling down in front of Kuroki and brushing her hair out of her face affectionately.
"You probably need to rest too, Uchiha." Neji suggested with a frown. Sasuke's eyes quickly moved to lock with his.
"I'm fine." He responded through gritted teeth, moving to pick Kuroki up. Neji abruptly grabbed Sasuke's wrist firmly, and the two stared down at each other.
"What are you going to do? Watch over her when you're just about as fatigued as she is? What happens if there's an enemy and you're too tired to take care of her?" Neji questioned, not about to put Kuroki's life in Sasuke's hands. He was too tired, emotionally and physically, he could tell.
Shikamaru sat up, sighing. "Hey, stop guys. All this tension is stirring her." He yawned as the other two glanced towards the girl. She had a frown on her lips with her fists clenching. Sasuke abruptly pulled his wrist free of Neji's grasp and stared at Kuroki with conflicted emotions.
"Just get some rest. There's three teams here, Sasuke. We'll all split up when we've all gathered our strength again." Shikamaru informed him, a slight frown on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Sasuke seemed to contemplate it before finally spitting out a 'fine'. He picked Kuroki up, the latter burying her face in his neck. Neji and Shikamaru watched as the Uchiha disappeared in a blur and into the trees.
Shikamaru sighed. "Uchihas are so troublesome." He muttered. Neji silently agreed, staring up in the direction Sasuke and Kuroki were in up in the trees.
"He's afraid of her." He stated lowly. The lazy ninja's eyes looked towards him.
"It's in his eyes. Whatever he saw her change into, he's terrified of it." Neji explained further. Shikamaru soon looked up in the same direction as Neji.
"That's even more troublesome. Stupid chuunin exams."
I sat at the edge of a grassy cliff, overlooking the ocean as the sun reflected of the waters' surface. It sparkled, and it was beautiful. I smiled as the wind brushed against my cheeks and the sound of trees rustling entered my ears. I flinched when a pair of hands brushed against either side of my waist. I tilted back to see familiar dark lips curled up into a smile smiling down at me. I instantly relaxed and leaned back, his newly solid chest becoming my back rest.
"It's a beautiful view..." He stated softly in my ear, I believed he was admiring the view my mind conjured. I smiled slightly.
"It is." I agreed, looking up and playing with his messy bangs as he his face was angled down at me. The small smile never ceased on his lips. "I would come here every day in my old life." I informed him, even though he probably already knew. "It was so peaceful, so beautiful. I'd come here and just think. No one knew of this place. It was my perfect haven."
"I was talking about you, Kuroki..." I stopped playing with his hair looked into the black sockets where his eyes were meant to be. He chuckled softly, and I only just realised how deep it was.
"You flatter me too much." I whispered, but I knew he heard. His hands roamed upwards, I tensed as he did so until his hands cupped my cheeks, which were upset down since I was looking up at him and his chest was to my back.
He leaned down slowly. "I don't flatter you enough...have I ever said thank you...?" I tilted my head slightly as he spoke those words.
"For what?" I asked, curious. His smile widened, and he suddenly leaned ever closer. I instinctively moved to shrink down, but his hands kept me from doing so. I tried to steady my heart when he was only a few inches away from my face.
"For accepting me..." I visibly shook at the strong chill that went through my body.
"Don't do that..." I merely whispered, shrinking back into his chest and looking at the grass under me. His hands glided over my cheeks as I looked away.
"Do what...?" He asked, apparently playing dumb as I felt it again.
"That!" I exclaimed, leaning forward. "You're like, charming me!" I accused, glancing back at him. His smile became sly and he leaned forward. I turned my head back towards the ocean, but I felt his face near my ear.
"You and I both know...it's working..."
"Stupid hormones! Bad Jin! Bad, bad Jin!" I reprimanded him and my hormones, standing up and jumping off the cliff. The wind pushed against me as gravity pulled me down.
Before I could feel the cold sensation of water surrounding me, I opened my eyes.
I took a deep breath as my eyes darted around to take in my surroundings. Leaves. Dark. Night?
Sitting up, I crossed my legs as I rubbed the remaining sleep out of my eyes. I yawned, then suddenly noticed that I wasn't alone.
"Choji?" I muttered the Akamichi's name as he sat across from me, munching on some chips he most likely packed. I glanced around to see that Neji's team, Shikamaru's team and my own team all sitting in a circle together on this huge ass branch. Shikamaru was lying down, probably sleeping as well. I glanced to my right to see the Uchiha also sleeping. I couldn't say peacefully because he looked like hell. The only ones awake were Neji, Tenten and Choji, besides myself.
"Finally awake, Kuroki-chan?" Choji asked casually, throwing me a bag of chips that I caught. I grinned at him.
"Yeah, thanks, man." I thanked him, opening them and beginning to eat them. I absent mindedly stared at the bonfire in front of me before I realised something.
"There's a bonfire in the middle of the night." I deadpanned, fatigue still plaguing my mind.
The sound of Neji's arrogant tone in his voice made me glance to him, only to see his arrogant smirk and eyes looking at me. "There's a genjutsu surrounding us. No one should be able to know we're here unless they figure out the genjutsu." He explained to me. I rolled my eyes.
"Appreciate the memo, but it hurts when you give me that look because my genjutsu sucks shit." I told him dramatically and tiredly, bringing a hand to my heart. His smirk widened.
"I like it when you suffer." He retorted. I snorted.
"You sadist, you." I grinned at him.
"So you and Neji-kun are close?" Tenten suddenly spoke. I turned to her as she looked between the Hyuuga and I curiously.
Since Neji was to my left, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, he frowned and closed his eyes in attempt to remain calm. "We're good buddies." I told her, grinning. Her eyes widened at the fact that Neji wasn't dramatically throwing my arm off his shoulder and telling me not to touch him. He's done it before. I know.
"Buddies? Really, Taidana?" Neji glanced at me. I released him and went back to eating the chips Choji gave me.
"Why?" I suddenly grinned, raising my eyebrows suggestively and leaning forward. "You want to be something more?" I inquired. He blinked for a moment before snorting. I blinked in surprise that he snorted.
"Being something less seems more appealing." He replied. I gasped dramatically.
"Dick! How dare you lie!" I chided him, poking his temple. He glared at me in annoyance. I poked my tongue out childishly. I glanced to Tenten when I heard her laughing.
"You are awesome, Kuroki-chan!" She laughed. I smirked and looked to Neji with a triumphant glint. He sighed like an adult.
"Tenten, you and Akamichi-san get some rest, I'll stay up with Kuroki." He ordered them, after she had calmed down. She gave me a suggestive look and I gave one back. We snickered together as Neji sighed again.
"Night then." Choji muttered, I smiled at him as he laid down, Tenten soon mimicking him.
Neji and I fell into a comfortable silence as I stared at the bonfire and ate the chips Choji gave me, for a few minutes anyways.
"We should put it out. You haven't slept yet, have you?" I asked the Hyuuga, glancing at him as he glanced at me.
"No." He simply replied before grabbing a scroll from his bag, unfolding it and taking out a water bottle to put out the bonfire.
"You're going to keep watch?" He asked me after. There was an unreadable look in his eyes, but I decided not to comment on it.
"Yeah." I nodded. "How long I been out?" I finally asked.
"Fourteen hours." He told me.
"Holy shit, really?" I asked, bewildered. He simply smirked and moved to lie down.
"It's nearly midnight now. Night." Whoa, he can fall asleep just like that. Damn.
I sighed as I looked over all the genin sleeping. These were only a few of the people I wanted to protect, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to protect them all. I knew that I would be selfish and prioritize. There's no point in trying to pretend to be like Naruto, who would do everything in his being to protect even a stranger.
I wasn't like that. I couldn't be like that. Not when I've already got blood on my hands as it is.
"To the tower, then?" I asked, yawning as we all got packed and ready to move.
"We've all got our scrolls, and even a few more." Ino stated, fixing up her hair.
"Should we split up or stay in a group?" Sasuke asked. When I glanced to him, he immediately avoided my gaze. I looked down, slightly disheartened by how we have locked eyes once since he woke up.
"We should go together. We'd be safer in numbers." Neji responded.
"Kuroki-chaaaaan!" I turned to see Naruto running towards me. I grinned as he stopped in front of me. "Did we pack any ramen?!"
"Oh, god. Did we?!" I panicked, now craving some meaty ramen.
"Ugh, you two are pigs." Ino scoffed.
I snorted. "Says the pig." I grinned as Naruto and I high-fived.
"Is everyone ready?" Neji's serious tone cut through our light atmosphere, so we all turned to him.
"I would say so," Naruto muttered. "But the ramen~~." He tugged on my arm, leaning against me for support as if he was getting weak from no ramen. I snickered at him.
"We'll check when we get to the tower." I replied, ruffling his hair affectionately.
"There's bound to be some enemies that aren't just other genin." Neji explained, his face contorting into a frown. "Stay on your guard."
And then we were all off, jumping from tree to tree and making our way to the tower.
We'd been moving for about twenty minutes before I felt something off. I stopped on a branch, my eyes scanning the area.
Neji and the others had seemed to have noticed it too, because they stopped as well. Naruto looked to us in confusion, but he jumped back to my side. I glanced at him for a moment, before I pushed him to the ground as some kind of claw came at us.
"What the fuck is that!?" I exclaimed, looking up and seeing about two dozen messed up-looking birds, perched on branches above us and glaring at us.
"They're huge!" Naruto exclaimed in awe from below me. I got off him and frowned at the birds.
"No sudden movements!" Neji ordered, his eyes focused on the flock.
"Eek! They're so ugly!" Ino whispered in disgust. I had to agree with that. Their feathers were rough and messy, bits hanging out and dried mud and blood coating them. Their beaks were jagged, but what was most prominent was their giant metallic claws.
Our group and their flock had a stare down, neither making a move. "Well, what do we do? They're waiting for us to make a move." Tenten commented tensely.
"Troublesome." I heard Shikamaru drawl.
"I can handle this!" I turned to see Lee jump up from the branch and towards the flock.
"Lee!" Tenten chided her teammate. Unsurprisingly, they all squawked and unfolded their wings, flapping them as they moved towards Lee.
"Agh! So much for strategic planning!" I laughed, sprinting up a tree as one soared towards me. I heard the group engaging in battle with the other birds, but I was sure they'd be fine.
Its beak was open, ready to bite down on me, but before it could chomp down on me, I jumped up, outstretching my hand and grabbing onto its feathers as passed me.
I grabbed the hilt of my katana and unsheathed it quickly, spinning it in my hand before embedding its blade in the bird's back. It made more a howling sound than a squawk as it squirmed, rapidly falling. I jumped off from it, removing my katana before I went down with it.
"Shit!" I cursed, just as I stabbed another one that flew towards me. I turned to my left to see another coming towards me, but my katana was deep in the other's skull. I was about to grab a kunai before a familiar figure above the bird and kicked it down.
"You can thank me now." Neji smirked smugly, as I removed my katana and landed on the branch, next to Neji.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks a bunch." I grinned, punching his shoulder lightly.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" I looked around to find Naruto and many of his clones terrorizing numerous birds.
"He's the one that's going to make you change your mind about fate." I told the Hyuuga, who frowned at me then shifted his gaze to the monkey.
"You're joking." He commented, returning his gaze to me with an unbelieving tone. I simply gave him a secretive smile and jumped up, spinning in the air and swinging my sword. A howling sound echoed closely in my ear as the blood splattered on my cheek. The bird went crashing down where most of its kin was currently residing as corpses. I used its plummeting body to boost myself higher, aiming for the ones that were circling above us, waiting for their turn to try to kill us.
I glanced to my right to see Lee running up one of the trees, apparently having the same idea as me. He saw me and we had that split-second communication before he jumped up, appearing over one of the creatures and punching it down, I tightened my grip on my katana as it fell towards me. I forced the chakra from my hands and onto my blade, the crackling of lightning entering my ears. Within a swift movement, I had raised my blade and brought it down, easily slicing through the bird's body with the help of my lightning.
Lee had kicked another one down and I used it as a platform, decapitating it before pushing off it and cutting another.
After a few minutes, all of us were scattered on the ground or on the branches, panting to catch our breaths. Below us was the river of bird corpses that we had just killed.
I flicked the blood off my blade and resheathed it, using the back of my hand to wipe the excess blood off my cheek.
Standing next to me was Lee. We glanced to each other before grinning and fist bumping each other casually.
"Not bad, Spandex." I complimented him. He beamed.
"You too, Miss Kuroki! We make a pretty good team!" He gave me the thumbs up and I laughed. I looked below us to see Neji looking up at us. We nodded at each other before I jumped down next to him.
"We should keep moving, the tower shouldn't be too far now." Neji suggested, causing the others to groan.
"Give us a break!" Ino yelled, falling back and sighing. "We just killed a bunch of damn ugly chickens!"
"You think they're edible?!" Naruto sat up immediately, his eyes sparkling. I looked at a decapitated bird and curled my lip in disgust. There were maggots spilling out of its neck.
"No." I responded instantly. "Definitely not."
The blonde pouted. "Damn."
I looked around to find a certain Uchiha, soon spotting him up in the trees by himself. Apparently I had caught him staring, for his widened at me before he quickly turned away. I felt a pang in my heart, how annoying.
"We should take a break, Hyuuga." I suggested, turning back to said Hyuuga. "We have all day to get there."
Neji's eyes narrowed slightly as he folded his arms. "Fine, but we should keep moving before noon. You know there might be some teams who've gotten the idea to ambush us at the tower." He explained seriously. I nodded, tilting my head at him.
"Don't worry, we'll get there." I reassured him with a small smile.
"You're avoiding the shit out of me." I stated, glaring at the Uchiha in front of me. Said Uchiha jumped and hit his head against the tree.
"PFFT!" I snorted, grabbing my stomach as I laughed unattractively.
"Don't scare me like that!" He chided, frowning at the ground instead of me as he sat back down. I quickly lost my humour and stared at him.
"Back to what I was saying, you're avoiding me." I restated, leaning forward and trying to get into his peripheral vision. He looked away.
"I'm not avoiding you." He replied stubbornly. I sneered at him, and I noticed the smallest of twitches in his hand.
I looked down, annoyed. "I'm not in the mood for being avoided, Sasuke." I told him seriously, looking back up and catching him staring at me. Before he could look away, I grabbed his face.
"Look at me!" I growled, resting my forehead against his. His eyes remained downcast as he slowly grabbed my wrists.
My heart began to hurt again, and I felt my face contort into a frown. "You're hurting me, Sasuke."
His eyes snapped towards mine with a worried look. He instantly let go of my wrists as if that's what was hurting me. "Sorry..." I muttered under his breath, returning his eyes back to the ground.
My eye twitched. "I didn't mean that. I meant..." I lifted his face so he had no choice but to look at me. His eyes widened at the amount of hurt I knew I was showing him. "You're hurting me by avoiding my eyes. It hurts, you know."
"Kuroki..." He slowly raised his eyes to look at me. Like, really look at me. "I'm afraid."
I blinked in surprise at him, but he spoke before I could say anything. "I'm afraid...that whenever you look at my eyes, I'm going to see the hurt in your eyes because of the fear in mine..." I gasped lightly at this new information.
My hands dropped from his face, but he entangled his fingers between mine. I looked back into his eyes, to see the search of forgiveness in them. "I can't stand it, to know that because of my own cowardice I hurt you every time I look at you."
"Sasuke." I spoke. "I love you, I really do, but not looking at me hurts me more than actually looking." I told him, and he looked down in guilt.
I smiled at him. "It hurts when I see the fear," He flinched. "But I get it." I continued, tightening my grip on his hands. "I know that what you saw was pretty terrifying...just, know that I would never hurt you." He looked surprised by the amount of sheer seriousness I currently possessed. I meant it. "The reason I became that was because I was too scared to lose you."
We were surrounded by silence for a while...but I felt like it was just enough to know that we were there for each other.
"So...we past the mushy mushy stage where we look at each other with conflicted emotions?" I asked abruptly, suddenly gaining my senses of my usual dislike of mushiness.
Sasuke looked up, appearing to be contemplating something before a rare smile carved its way onto his lips.
"Yeah...sorry." He apologised, looking down at our intertwined hands.
"Good, because there's enough drama going on as it is." I sighed with a satisfied grin.
"Oi! Teme! Kuroki-chan! We're going!"
"WE'RE HERE-OW!" Naruto grabbed his head in pain as Ino slapped his head reprovingly.
"Don't tell everyone, you damned idiot!" She chided him.
Neji walked forward, opening the door and walking in. We began to follow him, taking in our surroundings.
"This place is a mess." Ino spoke.
"It's empty!" Naruto noted.
"There's that poster on the wall there." Sasuke pointed out, nodding his head to the said poster hanging on the wall.
"There are missing words..." Neji frowned.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. "We should probably open our scrolls."
"Smart, you are!" Lee gave Shikamaru an enthusiastic thumbs up, causing me to snort.
"Should we open them at the same time as you guys, or...?" I questioned, looking to the other teams.
"You guys open them up over there." Neji told Ino and her team, pointing to one corner.
"We'll open ours over here." He then said, walking over to the other corner and leaving my team in the middle.
Sasuke and Naruto held the heaven and earth scrolls, both staring intensely at them and building up much unneeded tension.
"Hold the damn things already!" I exclaimed, they jumped, opening the scrolls. Sasuke's eyes widened.
"It's a summoning type jutsu! Naruto, let it go!" He threw the scroll, Naruto throwing his soon after.
Smoke erupted from the scrolls. I waited for a familiar face to emerge from said smoke.
"Huh!?" Naruto blinked in confusion.
"You are...!"
"Hey!" Iruka greeted. "Long time no see!"
Naruto looked frantically between us and Iruka, confused out of his mind. Sasuke turned around to see that there were other chuunin, one in front of Ino's team and Neji's.
"You guys all came together?" Iruka asked, disbelieving. His eyes looking between the teams.
"We all met up." I shrugged. "Figured it was easier to come here as a large group."
"Huh?! Huh!? Why was Iruka-sensei and the others summoned?!" Naruto demanded.
Iruka smiled. "At the end of the second test, it's set up so we chuunins meet up with the exam takers," He started. "And I was allowed to be the one to greet you." Then he finished.
He glanced at his watch. "Well, it's only the third day, so...The second test, all three of you pass. Congratulations."
"To celebrate your successful completion of the second test, I'd like to buy you are round of ramen, but..." Iruka was cut off as Naruto muttered something under his breath. "Huh?"
Suddenly, Naruto glomped Iruka. "WE DID IT!"
"H..Hey, Naruto...Listen until the end..."
"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Naruto chanted, not listening to his sensei. "WE DID IT! I'M SO HAPPY!"
I sighed in relief, dropping the floor. "I'm going to just chill here for a bit..."
"He sure has energy..." I heard Sasuke mutter.
"You sure haven't changed in your inability to relax." Iruka noted with amusement.
I glanced to Sasuke, seeing him smirk as he looked to Iruka. "Heh...I see..."
Iruka glanced at the Uchiha. "If we had opened the scrolls during the test...what were you going to do, Iruka sensei?" He asked, curious of the answer.
"He would've knocked us the fuck out." I snickered, lying back and seeing the other teams celebrating. I didn't bother listening in on what Iruka was explaining to Sasuke and Naruto.
I closed my eyes at the small time I was given to relax. I remember twenty-one people passing the second test in the canon, that's why there was a preliminary. From the teams Jin killed, none of them possessed two scrolls. About twenty-six teams passed the first test. Will their be a preliminary?
Neji, Shikamaru and my own team passed, making it three. I have no doubt Gaara made it. That makes four teams. I'm betting that Kabuto's team passed, so five. The ones sent to kill Sasuke couldn't have passed. The chick is dead. Does that mean there are going to be people who I don't know from the canon in the preliminaries? Can't forget Kiba and his team, so that's six.
That's eighteen people already, though.
When I opened my eyes, Iruka had finished off his speech thing about something or other.
I guess we'll have to see if there is a preliminary.
I yawned as I placed my hands in the pockets of my pants, now standing amongst the teams who passed and in front of the Hokage and various other people. We had two days to chill, but now the second test was officially over. I stood next to Neji and Gaara at the front, my eyes glancing to the latter. I blinked when I noticed he was already looking at me.
There was a murderous look in his eye and I noticed that we both reeked of blood. Surprisingly, my gaze hardened the longer the looked at him. He wanted to kill me, I could feel it. Could he smell the blood? Was it the chakra or something else that I haven't noticed?
I broke eye contact with him when I heard someone speak in front of us. "First off, for the second test...congratulations on passing!"
I glanced at Anko, soon finding myself grinning when she winked at me.
Something amusing caught my eye when I saw Guy saying something to Kakashi, who was spacing out. I snickered when Kakashi turned to Guy with a lazed eye, the latter visibly frustrated with his 'rival'.
I tried to focus on keeping after remembering that Orochimaru was still here, in disguise. Stay calm, stay calm. Chill out~~.
I was so focused on keeping calm that even Naruto's loud ass voice was volumed down.
Anko's voice cut me out of my meditative state. "Hokage-sama will now explain the third test! Listen carefully."
She turned to the Hokage. "Now Hokage-sama, please."
He nodded. "Yes. For the coming third test...but before I explain that...there is something I'd like you to know."
I heard a few mutter in confusion before silencing again.
"It concerns the true reason for this exam...why do we have all the allianced countries taking the exam together? "To promote friendship among the countries." "To raise the level of shinobi." I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning...this exam is..." He decided to build up the tension but being silent for a few moments.
"A replacement for war among the allied countries." He finally revealed. I closed my eyes as I blocked out his speech. I didn't need to hear it.
My eyes snapped open when Gaara's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "I don't care what it is, just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."
"Yes..." My eyes shifted to the Hokage. "I'd like to now explain the third test, but..." He was cut off as what's his name appeared in front of him, kneeling.
"Actually..." He coughed. "I apologise, Hokage-sama...from here on, as the referee...will you please allow me, Gekkou Hayate.." That's his name!
"By all means..."
Gecko stood up. "Hello everyone, I'm Hayate." He turned his head towards us and I snorted so loudly, I'm sure it echoed. I covered my mouth in attempt to horribly hide my snickers.
"Is there something funny...?" He asked, turning to me. I couldn't feel much embarrassment as people were all staring at me because I was way too amused.
"I'm sorry...!" I breathed, holding my stomach for support. "You just...remind me of someone..." I waved a dismissive hand towards him. "Please...continue on.."
"Uhm...well, it's a preliminary for the third test to decide who gets to participate in the main event." He explained as I calmed down.
"Preliminary?" Shikamaru repeated. "What do you mean?"
"Uhm...because the first and second test may have been too easy this year...we have a bit too many people remaining." Gecko informed us. "According to the chuunin exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participates for the third test."
"No way..." Naruto commented.
"Uhm, so..anyway...those who are not feeling well...those who feel like quitting after these explanations, please come forward now...since we'll be starting the preliminary immediately."
"What?! Right now?!" Kiba exclaimed.
"Uhm...I'm going to quit." Kabuto's voice pissed me off. Like, seriously.
"Kabuto-san..." Naruto looked at Kabuto sadly.
"Uhmmm, you're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from the leaf, right? You may leave now." Gecko said. "Uhm...does anyone else want to retire? Oh, I forgot to tell you that from now one it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgment."
"Kabuto-san! Why are you quitting?" Naruto asked curiously, most likely because he didn't like to give up.
I curled my lip in disgust as I had to force myself not to listen to his bullshit. I cracked my neck excessively until he finally left, not even able to relax because of the remaining disguised snake.
"Um, now...let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation." I couldn't help but grin at this. I may not be as bad as Jin, but fighting was fun. "Since we now have exactly twenty entrants, we will conduct ten matches..." I didn't catch the last past as I turned around to find the team that shouldn't be here.
They were at the back, and they didn't look like anyone I remember from canon. They wore masks over their faces, but appeared about as short as us rookies. I couldn't judge them because I didn't know anything about them, so I turned back.
"There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits your defeat. Uhm...if you don't want to die then quickly acknowledge your defeat." Gecko explained, coughing.
"But when I decide that the winner has clearly been established...uhm, since we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things. And the object that controls your destiny is..."
I glanced to Anko, who spoke into her speaker, before looking up to the scoreboard.
"Is this..." Gecko continued. "This electric scoreboard will show the match ups for each battle." He coughed again. "Now, this is sudden but let's announce the two names of the first fight."
I frowned at the scoreboard, knowing his name was going to pop up.
'Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi.'
I leaned back, glancing to the Uchiha who smirked. He glanced at me and gave me a smug smirk as I smiled at him.
"Now, these two entrants come to the front..." Sasuke and the other dude came to the front. "The two participates in the first fight are Uchiha Sasuke and Akado Yoroi. Are you ready?"
"Yes..."
"Yeah.."
"Now, we'll be starting the first match. Will everyone except the two participates move to the upper level?"
"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto beamed, jumping in the air.
I smiled at him as he smirked at me. As I passed him, I raised my fist which bumped with his own as a sign of affectionate. "Don't show off."
He huffed in amusement, leaning towards me. "I have to. You're going to be watching."
I grinned at him. "You're adorable."
"You're beautiful."
I felt pretty excited now.
And here we are. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Review for me, guys? c:
EDIT: I'm sorry, my readers. I have taken down Chapter 24 to make some changes, and I deeply apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you guys for giving me ideas. ^^ Sorry, again. It'll be back up with a few changes soon.