Hey guys! Sorry for the delay in updating. School is annoying. That is all. So anyways I'm back with Chapter 7. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 7

It took all my will power to not throw my plate at Kakashi; firstly, my precious lunch was on it and secondly, I knew he'd dodge it and make me look bad.

Stupid pervert.

All was quiet at the table when suddenly Kakashi had set his dirty porn book down and looked at me and Itachi curiously. He then made sly accusations of me and Itachi doing 'it' in the woods. That too doggy style, as he put it, in front of Hotaru and Hiro. All because our scents were mixed up; he didn't believe us when we told him we were tangled in his net trap.

Annoying, perverted old man.

Kakashi chuckled, "Now, I was just messing with you two. Relax."

Itachi and I glared at him. He held up his hands in surrender and resumed his reading. We resumed our meals as well. I swallowed a mouthful of my food and spoke, "So we're heading out to the other training area?"

Kakashi nodded and placed his book down again, "About that . . . there are a few things I must tell you."

Itachi and I remained silent, urging him to continue. The Haimaru twins had stopped eating and turned their attention to Kakashi.

"To give a highlight on the type of Jutsus they will use or may use," Kakashi said as he propped up his elbows on the table. "The tributes from Iwa will mostly be using earth style techniques. The female tribute is the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage and the male is his student, therefore, their Jutsus may be earth styled but far more advanced.

The male tribute of Kiri is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and he will be carrying his blade, Samehada, to the arena. The blade is usually covered with bandages and I haven't seen it without it's wrappings but watch out for it. The blade has a chakra of its own and it is dangerous; no telling what it could do. As for the female, she is also one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist; she is the only female so far and she wields the twin blades, Kiba."

I shuddered a bit; there was a sword with the exact name as my brother. If I told this to Kiba, he would show off about him being all great and mighty like a sword. My heart ached to know that if I lost, I won't see him again. So I pushed the image of my smiling brother out of my head and focused on Kakashi.

"As a mist Shinobi," Kakashi continued. "Both of them will definitely know the Hidden Mist Jutsu. It calls forth a thick mist to block the enemy's sight of sight so be careful.

The tributes of Kumo also excel in swordsmanship. They are very full of themselves; all Kumo ninja are usually. I took down a Kumo ninja simply by adding fuel to the fire and pissing off a Kumo ninja so much that he let his guard down and started to attack blindly. It was easy after that; maybe the same will work for you guys too. Beware of their blades and Taijutsu; they are very good at them.

I do not know much about the tributes of Ame. The boy seems harmless but the girl seems skilled. The Shinobi in Ame are quite unpredictable. People say that the Shinobi of Ame has seen many gruesome things in the ninja world and are what you would call experienced. They know things and they are very tactful . . . so I've heard.

The tributes of Suna are also unpredictable. Their Jutsus can be classified into three; manipulation of sand, like how the Third Kazekage did, wind style and puppet ninjutsu. The victor from last year was a puppet user from Suna, Akasuna no Sasori. They are very keen and usually they focus on quick kill. Bottom line: be alert or else it will be over for you in a second.

The tributes of Oto will definitely use Jutsus based on sound. If you encounter them, you must remember that though their attacks are direct and dodge-able, it has a second effect as well, an effect that will harm you internally; be careful and protect your ears.

The tributes from Yuki are weak. I pity them and if it weren't a matter of life and death I would have saved them or let them live. But it's not. They are easy prey so you need not worry about them . . . much. But don't let your guard down; they are still Shinobi. Same goes for the tributes of Taki and Kusa; they aren't that pathetic but aren't that strong either. Even so, I have a feeling this year's games will be full of surprises so watch out."

Itachi and I nodded in response. I looked down at my plate. I would be meeting the other tributes in a few minutes. Each one of them had wicked tricks up their sleeves and the thought made my stomach churn. The people I was going to meet were way stronger than me and my Ninken combined. I shook my head; I had to stop being such a pessimist.

"Now, two of you, and Hiro and Hotaru of course, please remember to be on your best behavior. The public will be watching. The other tributes will be there too. No matter how annoying they are or even if they pick a fight, walk away and let out your rage in the arena got it?"

"Got it." I replied. Itachi simply nodded and the Haimaru twins let out a bark.

I picked up my glass and took a sip of my orange juice. Kakashi smiled, "One more thing; you two be sure to flirt with each other a lot!"

I choked on my drink. I started to cough violent as I pounded my chest with my fist. Itachi, who sat next to me, patted my back to help me out. As he did so, he looked at Kakashi with a frown. Kakashi gave us two thumbs up, "Yes! Just like that! Oh you two are so cute together!"

"What the hell are you saying?" I said my breathing still ragged.

"What I mean is," Kakashi started to say. "I want you two to be friendly to each other at the training arena. You know, flirt, laugh, and hold hands and all that."

"Why should we do that?" Itachi said as he rolled his eyes. "We're not lovers or anything." I nodded in agreement. I don't know about Itachi but I have never had a lover in my life. Nor have I fallen for someone or anything like that.

"I know," said Kakashi. "But the public will be watching. Give them something to arouse their curiosity. They will be dying to know what your relationship is."

"We don't have a relationship," I exclaimed. "And besides, I simply can't fake it."

"What's wrong?" Kakashi taunted with a smile. "Afraid of being close to Itachi?"

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks, "I-I . . . that's not- I mean . . . WHATEVER!"

Itachi and the Haimaru twins looked at me with a somewhat amused expression. I crossed my arms and looked away, "Don't. Say. A. Word."

Kakashi chuckled, "If you give the audience a good show, you are bound to have more sponsors."

I had forgotten about that. Rich people often sent objects of use to selected participants, given that they put on a great show in the arena. Sponsors are very picky and they usually go for the toughest, fastest or smartest; like the tributes of Iwa, Suna, Kumo and Oto. But of course, to send gifts meant money and expenses so only the rich were able to get most of the goods into the arena.

"I don't see how that will get us sponsors." Itachi stated.

Kakashi looked at him, "Well you could get away with your looks; I bet the ladies would die to see a man like you die." Itachi rolled his eyes.

Sometimes, the rich women sent gifts to the good looking fighters, in hopes they would win and maybe they would get lucky with them if they won. Itachi was definitely attractive; the guy had his own fan club back in the village so like Kakashi said, the rich women may send Itachi gifts for his looks. On top of that, he is fast and intelligent and strong too . . .

Damn Uchiha. Damn him and his qualities.

"Anyway," said Kakashi. "If you two pretend to have a relationship, people will go nuts; the star-crossed lovers of Konoha. Oh you will have sponsors waiting in line and gifts raining on you!"

Both Itachi and I remained quiet.

"Or," Kakashi said as he crossed his arms. He gave a bored sigh. "You could leave an impression to the people during the interview tomorrow and improve your skills in a short amount of time and prove yourself in the arena?"

"Well Itachi can manage pretty well on his own," I noted with a hint of bitterness in my voice. "I'll manage on my own too. I don't want to fake something that's not there; I'm not that kind of person."

I excused myself and headed for my room; I needed to wash my face. As I left, I met Itachi's eyes, just for a moment, and they contained a mysterious emotion I could not understand. I tore my gaze and walked away. The Haimaru twins seemed to have sensed my discomfort and so they stayed behind to give me a moment; good dogs.

I closed the door behind me and I threw myself down on the bed. Why was I so bothered about what Kakashi said? He was only looking out for us but why did I react so . . . firmly on faking a relationship with Itachi? It's true that I wasn't the type of person to fake or lie but right now, it mattered a lot; my life, both our lives, depended on it.

No matter how many times I tried telling myself that I was doing it because I can look out for myself and nothing more, the more it seemed like lies. And I had a gut feeling that it really was.

It's not like I had a crush on Itachi or something. It's not like the guy didn't have the looks and skills; he had it ten times, no a hundred times more than any guy I had ever met. He was definitely attractive and maybe if we had met in a different time and place, I would have fallen for him but it that wasn't the case right now; in Konoha it was all about survival and love seemed to be a faraway thing.

I turned deep red as I sat up straight; why am I thinking of such a thing right now?! This is insane and simply ridiculous. We were about to be thrown into an arena and we were going to fight to the death; I had no time to be fantasizing about Itachi.

I got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom. I stared at the face in the mirror; my face was so red that it almost covered my Inuzuka tattoos. I removed my forehead protector and placed it near the sink. I turned on the tap and splashed my face a couple of times with water. The cool liquid soothed and calmed my red face. I tied my pony tail properly and put my forehead protector back on.

As I dried my face on a towel, there was a soft knock at my door.

"Hana," It was Itachi's voice. "It's time to leave."

I sighed and looked at myself one more time in the mirror. I smiled a crooked smile and turned to walk towards the door. I opened the door and I was greeted my Itachi and Kakashi standing a few feet away from me, near the exit. Hiro and Hotaru were in front of me in an instant. I patted their heads and walked forward; they followed close behind.

"We're going to the training area via teleportation," Kakashi told us. "Remember what I told you."

We nodded and followed him down the same path we had walked yesterday. We entered the same chamber from where we were teleported from Konoha. I longed to reverse the Jutsu and go back home to my family but that was impossible; there was no turning back now.

Kakashi instructed us to stand at the centre of the seal. We did as we were told. Kakashi gave us a two-fingered salute and a smile before he pulled out a kunai and sliced his thumb. He made the hand seals eight times, to make up for the lack of people to perform the Jutsu and then placed his hand on the floor.

The seal began to glow and once again, I felt my body turn into air. It was the same process again. At first my body turned light as air and it felt like my existence was being wiped out. Then suddenly, this strange force of gravity started to pull my body downwards. When we reached the other side of the seal, I was kinda shaky. It's going to take a while for me to get used to it but at least I didn't grab onto Itachi like I did the last time.

We were in a room, slightly bigger than were we were few moments ago. The walls were made of cement, making the room chilly, and there were no windows. There was only one door with two torches lit up on either side.

A guard wearing a simple black yukata and a sword strapped to his belt was waiting for us. He had long black hair tied in a high ponytail and his eyes were a strange electric blue color. He spoke to us in a monotone, "Tributes of Konoha follow me."

He started to walk towards the door. Itachi shoved his hands into his pocket and started to follow him. I did the same and signaled the Haimaru twins to follow as well. We walked down a long dark and narrow corridor. I was getting tired of long dark and narrow corridors. Nevertheless, I kept walking and didn't complain.

All the way I was thinking about the other tributes. They will be merciless and gruesome no doubt but what aroused my curiosity was the type of Jutsus they were capable of. Kakashi had given us a brief highlight on it, however, some things were still not clear and that put me at unease.

At the end of the corridor (which in my opinion, went for miles), was a polished brown door. On the other side, I could hear sounds of the other tributes training. I took a deep breath and looked straight ahead. The guard pushed the door open and gestured for us to walk in.

The training room here was much, much larger. It had all the equipment; weights, targets and straw dummies for practicing, weapons, climbing posts and more. The whole place was spread out widely so that each individual could have their space to practice.

The tributes also wore tracksuits like Itachi and I but of different colors. The tributes of Iwa wore brown, Oto wore purple, Kiri wore indigo, Yuki wore blue, Taki wore red, Kusa wore green, which was a lighter shade than ours, Suna wore grey and Kumo wore white.

All the tributes I had seen on T.V were here and they looked as menacing as ever.

The boy from Iwa seemed to be playing with something in his hands as the girl practiced her shuriken throws. Her shurikens not only hit the bull's eye on all five targets but it pierced right through the dummies and hit the wall behind them. She gave a smirk and turned to the boy who rolled his eyes and mumbled something.

The tributes from Suna were together. The boy was playing with something that looked like a wooden finger but the top wasn't curved or round but a sharp pointy needle. The girl was sitting next to him and was polishing an object; a huge fan.

The tributes of Kumo were engaged in a swords battle with each other while the tributes of Kiri sat down and sipped water from their water bottles, however, the male tribute was holding a large object covered in bandages; his sword Samehada. The tributes of Oto were simply watching the other tributes; observing, analyzing.

The tributes of Taki were with an instructor, learning how to set traps while the Yuki tributes were learning how to make a fire with another instructor. The tributes of Kusa were sitting near a couple of weights and talking. I did not see the orange-haired male tribute of Ame, who reminded me of Kiba, anywhere around but I saw the female tribute from Ame at the far corner of the room, staring out the large glass window.

I followed her gaze and looked outside. It was raining. I hadn't even noticed. Was this another stupid projection or the real thing? Whatever it may be, I missed the rain. The rain washed away all things evil and sinful and purified everything. I wanted to go out and feel the raindrops on my face but right now, that wasn't an option.

Once Itachi and I entered the room, all eyes turned on us. I felt uneasy with all the stares. It wasn't because I feared them or anything but the fact that I didn't like attention; at all. My eyes met with the female tribute of Iwa. Her eyes were cold and black but she gave me a malicious grin, like she was already planning on how to kill me.

I tore my gaze away and clenched my fists. I couldn't afford to show any signs of weakness at all. The people would be watching. My mom and Kiba would be watching. I had to be strong. It's now or never. Hotaru and Hiro growled lowly by my side.

"Ah the tributes of Konoha," said a voice. "Now we can begin. Gather around everyone!"

The voice belonged to a man who was walking towards us from the far corner of the room. He looked like he was in his mid twenties with shaggy brown hair under a bandana he wore around his head. He looked at each and every one of us with is pitch black eyes. He had a sharp piece of metal, a senbon, in his mouth, and he wore a black tracksuit.

Everyone, some reluctantly, formed a semi-circle around the man. They kept distance from each other though.

"My name is Genma," He said in a clear voice. "Welcome all tributes. Here you train in the company of each other. You all know the rules right? No fights with each other and no creating unnecessary commotions. The public eyes will be watching so be on your best behavior."

My eyes drifted to the upper left corner of the room; a black camera glared back at me. I looked around and found that there were cameras everywhere. I then caught a glimpse of orange on the ceiling but it disappeared just as quickly as I saw it.

Genma chuckled and looked at the ceiling, "Come on kiddo, you can't skip this. This is important."

Something, or rather someone, jumped down and landed next to the female tribute of Ame; it was the orange- haired boy. He was very much like Kiba in many ways and I resisted the urge to pull the boy, whose name I didn't even know, into a hug and cry because of the pain of missing my family. But that would be very embarrassing . . . not to mention the people watching.

The boy's brown eyes met my own. He then looked away quickly and down at his feet and I could also see the tips of his ear turning red. He shifted a bit, looking uncomfortable. I raised an eyebrow; so he's kinda shy huh?

Genma then spat his senbon out and it landed in front of the boy from Iwa. Said boy raised an eyebrow and the man.

"We'll start with introductions," said Genma. "We'll start here and then move n towards the left until everyone finishes. State your full name and village."

"Deidara," the boy said flatly. "From Iwa, un."

"Kurotsuchi," the girl from Iwa said with a smirk. "Also from Iwa."

"Hoshigaki Kisame of the Mist." The boy from Kiri said with a creepy grin, showing his pointy shark-like teeth.

"Ringo Ameyuri of the Mist." The girl spoke quietly. Her tone was quiet but was deadly was well. She, I noticed, also had sharp and pointy teeth.

"Temari from Suna." The girl with the fan replied.

"Hey everyone," the boy from Suna said cheerfully. All he got was a glare from some of the tributes. "The name's Kankuro, also from Suna. Nice meeting you all!"

"Tsuchi Kin from the Sound Village." the girl from Oto said with a sly and mischievous smile.

"Kidomaru of the Sound." The boy with multiple arms spoke. I noticed that his tracksuit had six sleeves for all six of his arms. I wonder who made it . . . anyways it was creepy.

"Karui," the red-haired girl from Kumo said as she flipped her hair. "From Kumo, y'all."

"Omoi," the boy from Kumo said as he twirled the stick of his lollipop. "Also from Kumo."

"Konan from the Village Hidden in the Rain," The female tribute of Ame spoke in a crystal clear. She was very elegant and beautiful but at the same time, she seemed deadly and mysterious, just like the tribute from Kiri. Maybe even more. . .

"Yahiko," the orange-haired boy said sheepishly. He gestured to Konan with his thumb. "Same village as her."

"K-Kenji," the boy from Yuki said shakily. "From Yuki. And this is Misaki; she can't talk." My heart clenched; this girl couldn't even speak, how could she win the games? She didn't have the ability to speak and now she would have to fight for her life? It wasn't fair. The boy didn't stand much of a chance either.

"It could be a trap." Itachi murmured to me. I looked at him. He was looking ahead instead. Maybe Itachi was right. Like Kakashi said, this year's games might be full of surprises and the Yuki tributes might actually fight back. Maybe it was it was a trap. I looked at the girl again; she seemed harmless. Itachi was wrong; this girl was really helpless and it wasn't a fake.

"Ayuzawa Ayako," The girl from Kusa spoke. "From the Hidden Grass Village."

"Kurosaki Ryu," the boy tribute from Kusa said. "From Kusa."

"Takumi Kenichi," the male tribute from Taki said. "From Taki."

"Matsumoto Shizuka," the female from Taki spoke. "From the Waterfall Village."

It was my turn next, "Inuzuka Hana from Konoha. And these are Hiro and Hotaru." I gestured to my Haimaru twins who were still growling lowly.

Itachi was last, "Uchiha Itachi of the Hidden Leaf Village."

The word Uchiha must was triggered something. All the tributes stared at Itachi with surprise, amusement or fear. It was like as if the fact that Itachi was an Uchiha put him on top of everyone's Hit-List. Now I definitely knew that the Uchiha and the dreaded Ninja Games were related. But what was the relation anyways?

"Okay," said Genma. "Now that introductions are done, we shall disperse. Remember, no trouble. There are cameras all over the place showing you to the public eyes and we have guards all around as well. Happy Ninja Games and May the odds be ever in your favor." And with that, Genma disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Everyone dispersed and went back to training. Eyes lingered on me and Itachi, mostly on Itachi, but eventually they all went back to training. I looked at Itachi, "We should keep a low profile. Let's train at the survival department."

Itachi nodded, "Alright."

We walked together towards the back where the instructors were teaching how to set traps, make fire other survival training.

I was about to suggest we go to learn how to set traps first but Itachi cut me off.

"I think we should train separately." Itachi said slowly.

I looked at him, puzzled, "Why?"

Itachi gave a small smirk, "Trust me, it's for the best."

And once again, I trusted him without question and nodded my head slowly in response. He then did something unexpected; he leaned down towards me. We were really close; our foreheads were touching and his breath fanned my face. I couldn't move or think properly. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks.

When I found my voice, I spoke quietly, "What are you doing?" He didn't reply. . .nor didn't he move from the position we were in. Instead, I felt his hands hold onto my shoulders. I should have pushed him away. But I didn't. Instead, I remained very still.

And then I remembered what Kakashi said.

"I told you," I said as looked away from him. "I don't need to fake something that isn't there; I can handle myself."

Itachi put his cold hand under my chin and turned my face so I faced him. He smirked, "Hn, I know."

"Then why?" I whispered. I hated that he was making me feel so weak, so . . . helpless and enchanted. I wonder where that came from. But I couldn't deny what I was feeling either.

He didn't reply me. He simply tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. His hand then lingered there for a while before he pulled away abruptly, but gently, and walked away from me, leaving me confused and breathless.

I added a lot of OC's here but they aren't that important though. So? How was it? Good? Bad? Fantastic? (Yeah right)Horrible? Do tell okay? Read and review ^_^