Yo. How are yous? Good, I hope. I'm on holidays now, so hopefully inspiration will hit me during that time. In this chapter, we have really disappointing Kuroki battles, Gaara time, Neji time, Sasuke's here for a change, shit like that. I can't remember the crap I was going to say, but thank you all for your support. Don't forget my poll and I hope you enjoy.
EDIT: I'm sorry to those who hadn't yet read this chapter and I took it down before you were able to read it, but I made some changes to make it easier for me to write, and I hope you'll forgive me for the inconvenience. To those who had already read it, reread the parts near the bottom if you want to know what changed.
I sat on the railing, my feet entangled around the pillars or some shit like that so I wouldn't fall. I wondered how this would play out. He hasn't gotten the mark, fuck yes, so I'm curious now.
Naruto leaned on the railing beside me, his eyes sparkling with hope that his rival would win.
"Go Sasuke!" He cheered, pumping his fist in the air with a giant grin. Sasuke glanced back at us, smirking smugly. I grinned at him as Naruto waved.
"He's going to kick that guy's ass." The monkey told me, and I nodded, but I wasn't sure how now. He wouldn't be able to do Lee's technique since he never saw it, and that mark didn't limit his abilities.
Still though, that guy was able to absorb chakra. It was a nice ability, but even if he had it, Sasuke would be able to figure out. I had confidence in that.
"Now, please begin." Gecko voiced.
"Are you ready?" Yoroi asked, making a handsign.
"Yeah.." Sasuke muttered in reply, bending down into a fighting stance.
Yoroi's right hand began to glow, and he used his left to reach into his pouches and throw ninja stars at the Uchiha. Sasuke, at the same time had drawn a kunai to deflect them. I was glad that he kept his balance as Yoroi dodged his reflected weapons and went towards him. Sasuke threw his kunai at him, to which Yoroi deflected. I watched as the Uchiha had moved the moment he threw his kunai, throwing a kick in the air towards Yoroi's left side of his head. The masked ninja just barely had enough time to block with his forearm, but was still thrown back. He flipped before skidding along the ground.
I saw Sasuke smirk in the slightest before running towards his opponent again, side-dodging the glowing hand that Yoroi swung at him, grabbing his wrist and surprisingly, kneeing his elbow. Yoroi yelled in pain as we all heard the the seemingly painful snap and watched as his bone pierced his skin and bent at an odd angle, blood splattering onto the floor.
Sasuke then raised his leg, immediately kicking Yoroi in the back of the head and sending him forward. I could hear the faint cracks of bone as Yoroi's face smashed into the ground, actually cracking the material and sending small bits of debris up. Sasuke stepped back, removing his grip on the probably dead ninja's wrist.
Holy fucking shit! Before I knew it, I began to laugh, and the familiar feeling of being stared at made my skin tingle but I couldn't stop. Soon, I could hear Naruto's laugh. That was fucking quick! Damn!
"YEAH! WAY TO GO, TEME!" Naruto cheered even louder as I laughed like a maniac. I leaned back, but luckily my legs had kept my from falling.
"I'm stopping the match here, and thus...the winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke...has passed the prelims!" Gecko announced.
"Kyaaa! Sasuke-kun!" My laugh simmered down into snickers as I heard Ino fangirl.
I blinked as I saw an unscathed Uchiha only a few inches from my face, a smirk planted on his lips as he braced himself on the railing. That's right, in the canon, he and Kakashi left to seal the curse mark up, but he didn't have it this time.
"You look like you enjoyed the show." He noted, glancing at my large grin. I nodded with amusement.
"You thoroughly kicked his ass. It was hilarious." I snickered, unable to contain my enjoyment of the gore he caused.
"I wonder what you'd be like if you were sane." He wondered.
"I wouldn't be here, that's for sure." I tilted my head.
Kiba's laugh caught my attention, and apparently the Uchiha's too, so we both looked towards him to find a pissed Ino further down.
"Looks like you dear 'Sasuke-kun' isn't interested, Pig!" Kiba barked, laughing maniacally. I grinned at him.
"Uhm...alright, Uchiha-san, if you would please remove put some distance between Taidana-san..." Gecko asked from below. I grinned as Sasuke sighed and jumped onto the railing, sitting beside me. Gecko sighed, but said nothing.
"Way to go, Teme!" Naruto spoke up, smiling like a fox as Sasuke smirked at him.
"There's no way I would've lost to him." He replied as he fist bumped Naruto.
"Uhm...we will now start the next match." Gecko stated.
I looked up to the board to see an unfamiliar name and Shino's.
'Aburame Shino vs Kusatta Hito'
I blinked. Rotten person...? His parents must not have liked him. I glanced around to find the unfamiliar team. They were across from us, the team with strange masks.
The tallest of the three jumped down, landing silently on the arena as Shino did. This Hito guy and his group wore cloaks over their bodies, so we basically saw nothing, not even their faces. Damn.
They face each other, both eerily silent.
"Uhm...now we will begin the second match..."
I didn't bother to listen into the mutters of Kiba and Hinata and decided to focus on the ninja I didn't know. Would he win? Would he lose?
"Please begin."
"If you fight here, you will be finished." Shino spoke softly. I leaned a little closer to hear what he was saying. "Forfeit..."
Hito said nothing, stepping forward. It was in that instant that he pushed off and threw a punch at the bug genin. Shino blocked, but he was suddenly punched in the face with Hito's other fist. He flew backwards, landing on his face. Luckily, Shino stood up. I couldn't exactly see his face, but there was most likely bugs.
I looked up, seeing Orochimaru-in-disguise still standing beside the other two masked genin, if they were. I tensed when his eyes connected with mine. He smiled at me, and I curled my lip at him, the sounds around me fading out as I tightened my grip on the railing, focusing intently of staying calm.
I closed my eyes as the various sounds of heartbeats invaded my ears. Breathe. Breathe.
I visibly relaxed, sighing as I finally got myself under control.
"Winner! Aburame Shino!"
WHAT?!
I looked down to see an unconscious Hito being picked up by the medics and Shino walking away.
"Dammit!" I growled, tightening my grip on the railings, the sound of metal bending caught my attention and I looked down, removing my hands from the railing, only to see that my hands had squished the material. A hand placed itself on my shoulder, and I glanced to Sasuke, who looked at me worriedly.
I gave him a small smirk. "I'm fine, for now."
"What, what?! That Shino guy was actually strong?! Dammit!" Naruto whined, sitting down on the floor.
"Shift over." I nudged Sasuke, who moved willingly and I shifted, so I didn't have to have a deranged railing between my legs.
"Uhm, time for the next match."
'Tsurugi Misumi vs Kankuro'
Really no point in elaborating in this, I mean, Kankuro killed him so quickly. I snapped my fingers as an example to myself showing how quick Misumi died.
What caught me off guard was that my name appeared on the board right after.
'Taidana Kuroki vs. Keibetsu'
These people have really sad names, honestly.
I sighed as I jumped down onto the arena, casually making my way towards Gecko as 'Keibetsu' also landed in the arena.
"Go, Kuroki-chan!" Naruto cheered.
"Kick their ass, Kuro!" Kiba yelled. I grinned back at them.
I looked back to this Keibetsu. It was a girl, even with her cloak and mask it wasn't hard to figure it out.
"Alright...now begin."
I simply stared at her casually. She wasn't moving either.
"What are they doing...?" I heard Naruto ask.
Suddenly, Keibetsu reached up to her mask. I waited as she dramatically removed the mask and the hood, revealing her rather attractive face. Her eyes were were a dark blue, her skin was pale and her hair was short and purple. She gave me a smug smirk as she stripped off her cloak and threw it to the side.
I snorted at her clothing. She wore a black boob tube and matching short tights. She had various other accessories and ninja gear, but the fact that she only wore two small ass articles of clothing to cover her privates were just...
"I hope you know that you don't have a chance at beating me." She stated arrogantly, placing a hand on her rather curvaceous hip. Her voice was a little too high pitched for my taste, so I cringed.
"I hope you know that ninjas actually wear clothing." I retorted with distaste, causing a few of my fellow leaf members to snicker. She glared at me, reaching a hand into her pouch and and getting out a kunai. I had to try and not reveal too much of my abilities.
"I'm going to beat you, bitch, and I'll take your man up there, too. Just as a prize." She winked at me, and began to run at me. I sighed, honestly, of all people to be stuck against, I get...this.
"I see why your name means despised now." I muttered, side-stepping her attempt to cut me with her kunai with painful ease. I kicked at her feet, causing her to trip. She yelped and tumbled forward, rolling to regain herself and stood up, her eyes glowering at me.
This was not what I was expecting when I signed up for this. No, I expected a male, first off, one that I can actually have a proper fight with, and at least not feel like this was a waste of fucking time.
No, no. She may have something up her sleeve, that would be great. I might have some respect for her if she does!
"Hey! Stop daydreaming and focus, you damned bitch!" Her voice caused me to cringe again, I glanced to her, noticing her running towards me again with more kunai in her hands, ready to be thrown at me.
Deciding to at least give her a chance, I shifted into a more defensive position, waiting for her to make her move. She decided to throw the kunai at me, to which I yet again easily dodged, using my speed to appear behind her.
I heard her soft gasp at my apparent disappearance, but didn't allow her to any time to react as I raised my leg and gave her a kick to the side. Keibetsu screamed as she flew through the air for a second, before smashing into the ground and her body tumbling along it. I glanced at the blood near me that most likely escaped her mouth and felt my annoyance rise.
She couldn't be this fucking weak. I glanced back to her, my eyes drifting to the large bruise already forming in her bare side. Should've worn a bit more than the boob tube, huh, motherfucker?
Keibetsu groaned as she spat out blood and struggled to stand up. I slowly made my way towards her as she gradually stood up, staggering a little and wiping the blood from her mouth. She glared at me with immense hate as I took in her now dirty appearance.
This was disappointing. I couldn't even be bothered to enjoy her pain. I looked at her with utter disgust, my lip curling up as I snarled.
"You're a fucking disappointment." I spat at her, placing one of my clenched fists in my pocket for fear that it might show how pissed I actually was.
Her eyes widened in shock before she snarled at me. "What the fuck does that mean?!" She demanded, and I wondered if she was educated.
"Look at you," I started, looking at her form with more disgust. She looked at down at herself, gasping as she saw the now yellow bruise on her side. "One fucking kick and you're struggling to to stand properly. You call yourself a fucking ninja?"
"Shut up, whore!"
I shook my head. "Is it even worth it, killing your pathetic ass and having your filthy blood on my hands?" I wondered, looking back at her. I wanted to kill her, there was no denying that, and she froze.
She trembled.
"I was expecting a fight, not a play date, Keibetsu." I sighed, feeling like I was dealing with a child. Well...I kind of am. "I'll give you the chance to forfeit."
I took a deep breath as I calmed myself down, stretching. "What?" I heard her say.
"Forfeit, and all you get is that bruise on your side." I told her. She glanced at it. "It's okay, it's understandable for you to be a little girl and run away from your problems."
Maybe provoking her might make this a small bit of a worthy fight, or she'll just bitch out.
"Shut up! Shut up! Just shut up!" She yelled and began to run at me again, grabbing everything from her pouches and just throwing them at me with furious determination. I dodged, moving around the arena and sadly not being hit once. Not saying that I like pain, but it'd be nice if she was able to at least hit me once.
"That's really all you can do?" I taunted with annoyance lacing my voice.
"You haven't shown me what you can do!" She retorted, sprinting towards me and apparently deciding to do taijutsu. I tilted my head to the right, dodging her incredibly sloppy punch, then blocked her leg that came swinging at me.
Quickly growing tiredly of this, I punched her chest, winding her and making her stumble back as she held a hand to her chest. She coughed up more blood.
I walked towards her. "You must be blind, then." I replied calmly, whipping out a kunai and swiftly cut across her eyes. She screamed in agonising pain, staggering back even more as she moved her hands up to her face.
Keibetsu held her face as her blood seeped through her fingers and tainted the floor with its filth. I made my way towards her again, intent on finishing this.
"I'll make the pain stop." I informed her calmly. Her head snapped up to me, her her lips curled with anger.
"HOW THE FUCK WILL YOU MAKE THE PAIN STO-" I stabbed her in the jugular before she finished. Before she had time to even choke on her own blood, I removed my hold from the kunai protruding from her bleeding jugular and grabbed her face.
I smashed her head against the ground, satisfaction running through me as the ground broke and her head splattered against it.
I slowly removed my hand that was now covered in her blood, and stood up.
There was silence. "By getting rid of your fucking existence." I stated, flicking the blood of my hand as I felt my grin grow onto my face.
"Uhm..." I glanced to Gecko, who looked at the bloody corpse of Keibetsu, then to me. "Taidana Kuroki wins the fourth round..."
Using this chance to look at Gaara, I found that he was staring at me with that hard gaze of his. Unable to contain it, I laughed.
"Uhm...Taidana-san...are you okay?" My eyes shifted to Gecko, who looked cautious and a little taken aback by my self.
"I'm fine. Perfectly, perfectly fine." I replied, calming down and beginning to walk away. "The nuisance is dead, it's fine."
'You seem have to quite the amount of blood lust on your own...' Jin noted with his wispy tone of amusement. I sighed as I came down from my high.
I went too far. Instead of trying to make this quick so I don't reveal too much, I played with her, then I revealed that I'm mentally fucked up, not that that was a secret, but murderer fucked up.
I jumped up onto the railing, avoiding the gazes of my comrades and grinned at the familiar face of Kankuro, who stood in front of me as I sat on the railing, my back to the arena. I wasn't worried about the younger ones staring at me, but the teachers. Kakashi, Asuma, all of them were watching me and they now knew that I wasn't exactly the good kind of insane.
"Nice to see you again, Purple stuff." I greeted him with a casual voice, then felt a few things sticking to my face. I reached up and pulled off semi-dried blood, flicking it.
His eyes widened at me, before looking between his brother and I. "You two seem to have a lot more in common..." He muttered.
"What, that Gaara and I are both sadistic murderers?" I asked, tilting my head as if it was an innocent question.
The sand siblings all widened their eyes.
"How...?" Temari gaped. I gave them a secretive smile.
"I know a lot of things I shouldn't." I replied enigmatically. Their eyes suddenly narrowed with suspicion at me. I waved a dismissive hand at him. "Chill, I actually like you three. Yes, even you Purple Stuff."
Wide eyes again. Honestly.
"...Why?" Gaara asked. I glanced back to the board.
'Temari vs. Tenten'
Temari sighed. "The fifth match, Temari versus Tenten, come forward."
The blonde jumped over the railing, glancing at me before gravity pulled her down. She moved face to face with Tenten.
"Begin."
I turned back to face Gaara, but leaned back slightly when his eyes were already on me. Had he even looked away?
"Why?" He asked again, sounding more cautious than before.
Leaning forward again, I tilted my head at him. "You and I...I've realised that we're surprisingly a lot more similar than I initially thought." I started, glancing at the sign on his forehead before returning my eyes to his. He remained silent, but his attention was solely focused on me instead of the battle happening between his sister and Tenten. It would be sweet if it wasn't Gaara.
I smiled a slightly deranged smile, and I didn't fail to notice the twitch of the red head's eye. "You're not the only one who has a demon that plagues them, that forces you to satisfy their bloodlust, but also protects you."
Gaara's eyes widened again in surprise, before they narrowed down again with a dark emotion. "How do you know of Shukaku?" He asked seriously, preparing for an attack or something. I smiled my crooked grin at him.
"I told you, I know things that I shouldn't." He didn't seem to like that answer apparently, with the intensity of his gaze increasing. "That's all I can tell you about how I know things I shouldn't, sorry Gaara."
"Are you here to assassinate me?" The question caught me by surprise, and I showed it on my face. His eyes narrowed even more as I realised he was just about ready to jump me.
"Assassinate you? Pfft!" I waved a dismissive hand at him. "No way. What kind of assassin would just come up to their target and reveal to them that they know things they shouldn't?"
"Then why are you?" He retorted, unamused.
I tilted my head at him. "Because I want to tell you something."
"What?"
"Well, didn't I tell you that you're not that only one who has a demon?"
His eyes widened slightly. "You're a jinchuriki?" Hold on, what.
I looked up and scratched the dry blood off my cheek. It does sound like I was one, huh.
"Noo, but I have a demon kind of like yours, you could say. He's got this huge ass bloodlust that's really hard to contain, and well, you know, people die." I shrugged, as if this was the most normal conversation.
"Anyways, look at my hand." I raised said hand, revealing the dried blood on it. Gaara looked at it, then back at me. "You and I both have blood on our hands. We both have demons that plague us, both have done horrible things, we both fear of being consumed by our demons."
Gaara stared at me silently. I blinked at him. "...What's your point to all this? What are you trying to tell me?"
I leaned forward, also making sure not to fall forward. He didn't step back though.
"That you're not alone."
His eyes widened yet again. I must really surprise him. He stepped back this time, before frowning at me.
"Don't try to be my friend, Taidana." He warned. "I want to kill you. I want your blood on my hands. I want that light in your eyes to fade out."
"You think that bothers me?" I asked. Yet again his eyes widened. I can brag that I've made Gaara express emotion more than once.
"What?" I seemed to have caught him off guard.
"I want to be your friend and just because you want to kill me isn't going to change that. You can't change that." He and I began to have an intense staring contest then. Neither of us backed down.
"What are you two doing?" Our contest was cut short when the feminine voice of Temari caught our attention.
"Nothing." Gaara dismissed, returning his gaze to me.
"She's insane." Kankuro spoke up. My eyes shifted to him. "She wants to be friends with Gaara."
Temari looked to me as if I was actually insane. I was sane, thank you very much. Enough, at least.
"We can all have goals, can't we?" I asked, grinning at the female. I seemed to have stunned her. "Sorry for missing out on your fight, though."
This broke her out of her thoughts. "What fight?" She scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. "She was just about as weak as that Keibetsu girl you killed."
It was my turn to scoff. "You're kidding, right? Tenten is better than that weakling by miles. How she became a genin in the first place is a mystery to me."
Temari laughed. "The way you told her she was blind and cut her eyes right after was fantastic. One question, though."
I gave her my attention. "You were playing with her from the start, so why didn't you just end it quickly?"
"Why didn't I?" I sighed. "I was hoping that she would be able to bring something to the table, but it turned out that she was just as weak as she seemed."
"Akimichi Choji forfeits! Yamanaka Ino wins by default!"
"Sorry, what?" I turned, seeing Ino talking with her teammate who she was meant to fight.
"I really need to pay attention to my surroundings sometimes." I muttered, looking back up to the board.
'Hikui vs Nara Shikamaru'
"You're strange..." At first, I thought it was Kankuro who said that, but I knew it was Gaara, it was just a surprise that Gaara was the one who said it.
I grinned at him. "I am. I bet you'd be surprised if I told you that you don't need to prove your existence to me either."
As expected he was. "Shut up." He told me coldly, but I waved him off looking back down to Shikamaru and Hikui. Funnily enough, Hikui was basically the chick form the canon. He used senbon with string. It ended with the same result; Shikamaru wins.
"Just saying, Gaara. I could be a great friend." I spoke casually, leaning back. My limbs made sure that I didn't fall off the railing.
"I don't need friends." He stated firmly.
"Is that so? Because I'm pretty sure you do." I grinned, sitting up. He glared at me.
"You don't know me."
"Oh, but Gaara...I do. The thing is...you don't know me. You don't know whether I'm a threat or not, but either way you want me dead. I mean, you wanted me dead from the moment you you realised it was me who killed all those genin who screamed that night, right?" I stared at him as he became silent again.
"No way...that was you?" Temari asked in disbelief. I scratched the back of my head.
"Not me completely...you could say that I was under the influence of a demonic presence." I told her, my face giving away that I wasn't sure about what I was saying.
"KUROKI-CHAN!"
"KURO!"
I leaned back all the way, seeing Kiba and Naruto on the arena, though they were upside down. They bother had huge grins.
"WATCH ME KICK THIS MONKEY'S/DOG'S ASS!" I grinned as they spoke in unison, both of them snapping their heads towards each other and growling.
"Do your best, guys~~." I laughed, removing my hands from the railing. I hung from the railing, my legs keeping me from falling.
"I'll end this with one punch!" Kiba bragged.
"Bah! Stop trying to show off to Kuroki-chan, mutt!" Naruto chided.
"Then...please begin!" Gecko exclaimed.
Kiba immediately rammed into Naruto, who flew into the wall below me.
"He won't be getting up for a while, Ref." Kiba said smugly.
"Still alive, monkey?" I asked, looking down at the dispersing smoke where Naruto stood.
"Hell yeah!" He responded enthusiastically. "Don't underestimate me, Kiba! Use Akamaru or whatever!"
"You're going to regret that, monkey!"
I used my abdominal strength to pull me back up onto the railing. "Sup, guys?"
"So you know both of them?" Temari asked, lazily leaning on the railing and watching them.
"Yeah." I followed Kiba with my eyes. "The mutt is my first best mate, and the monkey is apparently going to become Hokage."
Kankuro scoffed. "A weakling like him could never become Hokage."
"You never know." I simply replied, closing my eyes.
"He has good timing with his jutsu." Temari noted.
"...He's better than I thought, then." Kankuro added.
"You're staring." I muttered, opening my eyes and ignoring the commotion behind me to see the red head staring intensely at me.
He didn't say anything.
"Are you trying to figure me out?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. He remained silent for a few moments.
"Yes."
I smiled. "You're missing out on the fight, you know."
"I don't care."
"What do you care about, then?"
Gaara's eyes shifted before he spoke. "Myself. I have no need to care about anything else."
"Yet you continuously kill others as a way of proving yourself and to gain recognition from others. You care about that, right?"
"I want to kill you."
"I know." I grinned.
"Why do you still want to be friends with someone like me when I could kill you the moment you let your guard down?" He asked me.
I looked up, contemplating.
"I don't know." I replied honestly, snickering at how much I couldn't find a proper answer to why.
"What?"
"I really surprise you, don't I?" I asked him as he sighed in annoyance.
"You're annoying." He muttered.
"Just because I got you figured out and you don't have me figured out." I teased.
"You really have a death wish, don't you Taidana?" Kankuro voiced, I glanced to him.
"There's not much fun in life if you don't take risks." I responded, before a memory sudden replayed in my head. "Excuse me, red head, but I must see this."
I instantly turned around on the railing, hoping I didn't miss it. I sighed in relief that I didn't.
"I don't know what kind of special technique it is but...I won't give you a chance to do it!" Kiba exclaimed, throwing shuriken at Naruto.
I sat on the edge of my seat, totally waiting for it.
"Eat this!"
Then Naruto farted. In Kiba's face.
I lost my shit right then and there.
"UGGYYAAA!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" I fell back, my legs unhooking from the railing as my arms supported my waist. I couldn't feel the pain of my back and head hitting the concrete as I continued to laugh uncontrollably. It fucking hurt, but I couldn't stop.
I couldn't hear anything as I blocked it all out, trying to calm down but each time I did, I laughed again as the memory replayed. It was funny shit in anime, but to see it in real...my god!
"Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!"
"HAHA! Did you see that Kuroki-chan?!"
I was laying on the ground with my arm over my eyes at the time, but looked to the monkey. I grinned at him as he grinned back.
"Your friend is something else." Temari laughed.
"She's something else." Kankuro countered.
"That's sweet, Purple stuff." I glanced at him. He huffed at me.
"I didn't mean it in a good way." He defended his pride, but soon changed the subject. "Are you going to get off the floor?"
"It's comfortable down here though."
"It's where you belong." Gaara insulted me coldly. I snickered.
"You like being on top, then?" I grinned at my sexual innuendo as both his siblings but Gaara himself understood.
"You're insane..." Kankuro repeated, facepalming.
"They say the best people are the crazy ones." I informed them.
"Whoever 'they' are should be impaled." Temari muttered.
"Probably."
I sat on the ground with the Sand Siblings as my company, watching Neji and Hinata's fight. What I found most interesting was the immense killer intent Gaara had when he watched the fight.
What annoyed me was that the last time Neji and I fought, he was weaker than he is now, and I'd probably lose against him. I wonder if he can hit through weights.
"YOU CAN DO IT HINATA!" Naruto cheered, leaning over the railing and nearly falling over.
I sighed as Neji went through his elite monologue, Naruto and all that felt upset when Hinata fell, then she's up, yay. I stood up, and jumped over the railing as Hinata spoke.
"The person lost and suffering within the destiny of the main and branch houses...is you..."
I used this time to get in the way and spear tackle the male Hyuuga before the jounin could stop him. He grunted as I forced him to the ground, then sat on top of him.
"Hey, Hyuuga." I greeted him. His eyes narrowed at me.
"Get off, Taidana." He told me firmly, but refused to move. "Don't make me hit your pressure points."
"Oh, threatening me, are you Hyuuga?" I asked in amusement before rapidly becoming serious. "Calm your shit, you won."
"Gah! GAHA!" I glanced back to Hinata, who was now on the ground and had the others surround her.
"Get off me, Taidana." Neji repeated, his byakugan deactivated.
"What if I don't want to?" I asked, raising a brow and tilting my head at him. He sat up easily because of my negligence to actually put my weight on him, so I slid onto the floor.
He gave me a contemplating stare before the arrogant smirk on his face formed. "You like being on me, then?"
"Still have time to flirt even though your main house cousin just owned you with words?" I taunted with a devious grin. He clicked his tongue and stood up. I followed his movements just as Guy appeared in front of the Hyuuga.
"You gave me a warm promise that you wouldn't lose your head over this family business." He scolded his student.
"If Kuroki hadn't interfered before I could do anything, would the other jounin have stopped me too? Because of her special main house treatment?" Neji asked bitterly. I punched his arm.
"Naruto's going to kick your ass now, you know." I told him. The Hyuuga glared at me as the other frantically tried to help Hinata.
"You keep saying he will, but a loser is a loser. You can't change that." He responded.
"You may have won the fight, Neji, but you're being a loser about your feelings." I growled as I felt his fist connect with my cheek.
"Kuroki!" Sasuke and Naruto were at my side in seconds. I scoffed as I spat out the blood and used my glove to wipe it off my lip. My eyes connected with Neji's violet ones.
"Real mature, Hyuuga. What, every time I mention how much of a loser you are with your feelings of the main houses-" I was cut off as Neji threw another punch at me which I dodged successfully.
"Shut up, Taidana." He growled. "You don't know anything."
"Why you-" I raised a hand to Naruto to stop him from engaging Neji. "Kuroki-chan..."
I moved towards the Hyuuga who stared at me head one. The moment I was in range I used my right fist and punched him in the face. He staggered momentarily before regaining his balance and holding a hand to his jaw. He repeated the same action I did when he punched me and glared at me.
"I don't know anything? Who have you been talking to about Hinata for the past three or so years? Who the fuck has been listening to you rant about the main and branch houses?" I snarled. "Look at me closely, Neji. I'm your friend, not your enemy, so don't even think about pushing me away. Get your head together and realize some of your fucking faults."
I turned around, only to be surprised by the facial expressions of my teammates. They looked furious.
Naruto stepped forward as I moved in front of Sasuke, stopping him from attempting to pummel the Hyuuga. "You're going down, Hyuuga Neji!" Neji announced, an angry yet determined tone lacing his voice.
"Let me kill him." Sasuke snarled, trying to move pass me. I moved in sync with him, pushing against his chest.
"Sasuke, chill. I'm fine, I'm fine." I tried to reassure him. He finally shifted his eyes from Neji to me, his eyes visibly softening as he brushed his thumb over my cheek.
"I'll kill him." He muttered.
I sighed. "I'm not that fragile, Uchiha. I'm fine, we just had a small quarrel, alright?"
"Why were you hanging with the sand nins?" Sasuke asked suddenly, catching me by surprise.
"Making friends?" I replied, but it sounded more like a question.
My eyes glanced towards Gaara who was luckily for me looking at the Hyuuga, but I thought too soon as his eyes shifted to me, an obvious murderous glint in his eyes. I grabbed Sasuke's hand and made our way up to the audience area.
Gaara and Lee were the last ones.
"I don't like him." Naruto pouted, as he folded his arms on the railing and leant on it. I saw Kankuro standing beside the monkey, but disregarded it.
"Which him?" I asked.
"Neji, Gaara, Kankuro, I'd kick all their asses if I had the chance!"
"You'd die." Sasuke and I deadpanned simultaneously.
Naruto sunk to the floor in despair. "Come on guuuys, have some faith in me!"
"You'd die." We repeated.
"Gah!"
I glanced over to Neji, who still seemed to be sulking before returning my eyes to the match that already started. The rustles of sand was pretty loud.
"Sand?!" Sasuke exclaimed, I was in the process of yawning before a pair of sea foam eyes caught my attention again.
He's staring again, even whilst Lee is trying to attack him. He's actually kind of creepy.
"Looks like Gaara has his eye out for you." Kankuro smirked. I sighed.
"What does he mean by that?" Sasuke asked, without even looking at him I knew he was frowning.
"He wants me dead. Unsurprisingly."
Guy's obnoxious voice nearly burst my ear drum as Lee landed on the hand sign statue. "Lee! Take them off!"
"But! But Gai sensei...! That's only for a time where I must protect many precious people, isn't it?!" Lee yelled back.
"It's alright!" Guy gave Lee the thumbs up. "I'll allow it!"
I watched at Lee revealed his weights. They're different than mine. His are actual weights whilst mine use chakra to become heavier. Hm.
I grinned at the damage his weights caused as they landed on the ground.
I had ignored Guy's little speech but instantly snapped my head towards him when he said that Lee wouldn't lose in speed to anyone. We'll see...I seethed. We'll see when I take the weights off for the first time...
"You seemed to have annoyed my students, Guy-sensei." Kakashi pointed out to the bowl cut sensei. Sasuke must be annoyed too.
"It's okay!" Guy gave us the thumbs up. "It's okay to have someone superior to you! Good for goals!"
I turned away, leaning closer to Sasuke who did the same. "We'll jump him when he least expects it." I whispered.
The Uchiha nodded. "He hasn't even seen our speed yet and he's being biased. Damn bowl cut sensei." Sasuke muttered.
"Please tell me I don't grin like that." I cringed at that deranged grin of Gaara's. Sasuke's brows were furrowed as he intently watched the sand nin.
"Your mouth is always closed, but it's basically the same." He replied absent mindedly.
I lazily watched as Lee kicked Gaara up, planning on doing the Lotus or whatever he calls it. Probably should be paying more attention.
"Whoa." I voiced in awe at the damage Lee did to the ground. Poor ground. If it had feelings, it'd hate all of us.
I blocked out the other's voices as the grin that Gaara held entranced me. Was I really that similar? Was my grin just like his?
'My grin is always better...isn't it?' I smirked.
Your grin is unforgettable. I shielded my eyes as debris flew up at us viewers, a few scraping against me. Lee must've opened the gates then?
My eyes focused back onto the arena once they opened. Yeah. That floor would hate us so bad, especially Gaara.
Even if I've seen this as anime, it's all so fascinating to see it up close. So why is it that I keep cutting out bits and pieces of the fights? I shrugged it off as Guy stopped Gaara from killing Lee.
"Why...did you save...?" I just barely managed to hear Gaara's words.
There was a tense silence before Guy finally replied, in all seriousness. "He is my beloved comrade."
Gaara turned away, his sand reforming into his gourd. "That's enough..."
"Winner! Gaara!"
My eyes widened at his face when Guy hugged Lee. It was in that moment that I knew why I wanted to be his friend.
It was really simple. I just didn't want him to be alone anymore. It was as simple as that.
As everyone went to help Lee, I couldn't help but stare at Gaara. He stared at Lee's body being carried away before being surrounded by a whirl of sand, disappearing and reappearing by Temari.
"Well, with this, the preliminary trials for the round three test...has been completed!" Gecko announced. Something suddenly clicked in my head.
Gecko was going to die, well, shit.
The winners of the prelims all stood in a row with the head figures in front of us.
"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the 'third round test' in the chuunin exam...congratulations to you all!" Gecko congratulated us.
I cracked my neck and placed my hands in my pockets leisurely, glancing at the Hyuuga beside me who apparently did the same. Instead of us looking away and blushing like girls, we frowned at each other for a few seconds before looking back to Gecko and the Hokage.
"Ah, well, Hokage-sama, if you please..."
"Yes.." Hiruzen spoke. "Well, now I'd like to start explaining the main test."
My mind suddenly snapped up towards the audience area, looking around to see that snake, only to find out he wasn't there. FUCK! When'd he leave?!
I clicked my tongue in annoyance, returning my focus on the Hokage.
"As I told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody." Fuck. Not good. "Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves."
That's not happening.
"Which is why the finals will be held one month from now." He informed us.
"We're not going to do it here, right now?" Naruto asked.
"This break, you can say, will be for preparations." Hiruzen responded.
"What does that mean?" Neji questioned with a frown.
Ugh. Again with the explanations. I blocked it out, instead focusing on who was I going to fight? I leaned back when there was suddenly a box in my face.
"The fuck?"
I looked up to see Anko grinning at me. I grabbed one of the papers, feeling anxious about the number on it.
"Alright, you all took a piece. Now then, I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order, starting from the left." Hiruzen ordered. I looked down at my paper.
Seven.
"I've got one..." Naruto voiced.
"Ten." Temari.
"Five." Kankuro.
"Three." Gaara.
"Nine." Shikamaru.
"Four." Sasuke.
"Seven." Me.
"Two." Neji.
"Six." Shino.
"Eight." Ino.
"Alright, now I will reveal to you the final tournament!"
"HUH?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"That's what we drew the numbers for?" Shikamaru asked.
"Now...Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."
"Yes..."
I tilted my head in slight amusement when I saw that my opponent was Ino.
"Well, then, you're free to start strategising or resting as you like. With this, I'll dismiss you all but are there any final questions?"
Shikamaru raised his hand. "Can I ask a question?"
"Yes." The Hokage replied.
"Since it's a tournament, it would mean there's only one winner, right...? Which would mean only one person can become a chuunin, doesn't it?"
"No! That's not quite it. There will be judges, including myself, kazekage, lords of various countries that will make requests and other ninja leaders, who will be watching the final test."
Yay. More people to know that I'm a sadistic, shadow-bonded murderer.
"Throughout the tournament, these judges will be evaluating your abilities...those judged to have the necessary qualities of a chuunin will be able to become a chuunin, even if they lose in their first match." Hiruzen elaborated further.
"Then that means that it's a possibility that everyone here will become a chuunin?" Temari asked.
"Yes. But also, there's the possibility that no one will become a chuunin. To advance in the tournament means that you will have more chances to appeal to the judges."
Should I show my amazing personality to them? Would that help?
"Did you understand Shikamaru-kun?" Shikamaru nodded lazily. "Well, then. Thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials!"
"At least someone thanks us." I muttered.
"You're all dismissed until a month from now."
I turned around. "I need a fucking teacher."
"You're telling me, I'm going against Gaara." Sasuke said, both of glancing at the sand nin. His eyes shifted towards us, but I wasn't sure if he was staring at Sasuke or I.
A sigh escaped my lips. "This is going to be a long month."
"Definitely."
A few mistakes, I'm sure but you guys will live, right? Did you like it? I'll warn you now that half of the chapter was erased as I was writing it, so I had to redo it all over again with great annoyance. Gaara may be a little OOC, but eh. NOW.
I changed some things, so instead of Shino, I made sure Ino had won by default and was to fight Kuroki. Things made easier for me. I'm sorry, again and as apology, I'll try to get the 25th chapter out as soon as I can. Love you all.