And this… My friends. IS A FREAKING LONG CHAPTER! :'D
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduced within this fan fiction, except the following:
Tsukuyomi Clan
Nero
Daiki
Botan
Miyuki
Yasushi
Shichi
Chi
Hajin
A/N: Beginning is Nero's POV.
Chapter Seventeen: Shattered Memories! And the Whole SHA-BANG!
The blood in my ears was rushing and I could feel my heart pounding in my throat, echoing into my head. My fists were gripping the railing of the balcony tightly. I didn't want to go down there. I was tempted to just say I give up right away.
"No wonder… You should back out or I'll drive you insane." Mai's voice said in my head, making me cringe. She was completely serious about it too. There had to be a way to get around that bloodline trait of hers.
"Nero! It's your turn." Kai said from beside me, giving me a little nudge. I jumped from the close contact and snapped back to reality to find Mai already down in the arena, looking at me expectantly. I gritted my teeth.
Too late. I couldn't back out now. Not with everything that's at stake.
I mean, 1,000 ryo? There was no way I could actually pay Koyuki that much!
I swung over the edge of the railing, landing in a crouch before standing up straight and approaching my opponent. Genma shifted his eyes between us, before nodding.
"BEGIN!" He announced. Even so, I didn't move. I looked at Mai, who looked back at me, but I didn't dare meet her eyes. No way. I could hear this nagging voice at the back of my mind, no doubt that damned woman, who was waiting for me back at the village.
Maybe if I was lucky, Mai would actually kill me, make me go crazier than I am. Yea, I wasn't going to lie and try and be tough. I was scared of what had happened back then, what happened now, and what will happen. I was scared dying. The very thought made my skin crawl and my chest swell.
But maybe that was the only way I could stop everything.
I looked up at Mai, who frowned at me. I sighed.
"Try and do this as fast as you can." I stated. Mai blinked and went to reply, but I moved. I darted forward, unhooking my maul and swinging it around. Mai's eyes flashed and she didn't have much time to use her eyes against me because she jumped up and kicked off the handle of my maul, jamming it into the ground. I flinched and let go immediately to jump away as she landed where I was standing previously.
She whipped out a kunai and flung it at me, but I caught the blade with my hand, throwing it aside and ignoring the slight pain in my hand. I ran at her, going to punch her in the stomach, but she easily swung her arm around, knocking my attack away. She punched me in the jaw, sending waves of pain through my head. I blocked her next attack at my face and flipped backwards.
My eyes almost met hers, but I quickly lowered them to her feet and bolted at her again. I was ducked pretty low as she made a punch for my head and caught her around the waist, tearing her off her feet. I felt her jam her fingernails into my neck, but I ignored it as I slammed her into the ground, kicking her in the stomach in the process to cause her to skid across the ground. She seemed preoccupied with trying to get up on her feet, so I whipped around and went for my maul, but I felt something pierce my feet.
I yelped and immediately fell off my feet onto my ass, looking down to see a scatter of caltrops stuck into the ground as well as through my shoes and into my feet. I tore off my shoes. This was the second pair I lost in the last month. This was stupid!
I tore the spikes out of my feet, yelping in pain as blood spattered across the ground. I was just about finished, only a couple left before I felt a harsh tug on a handful of my hair. Mai had recovered quickly and jerked on my hair, making me wince. She pulled out a kunai and went to swing it into my throat, but I caught her fist with both my hands, trying to pull the kunai from my face, my teeth gritted.
I was still holding the kunai just an inch from my face when a weird voice came from the back of my mind.
"You're following her example! A coward and a brat… Let me show you how much you mean to me!"
I cried out and tore the kunai away, hearing Mai gasp when I twisted her wrist. I threw the kunai away from us, then reached up and dug my nails into Mai's knuckles, making her let go. I tore myself to my feet, whipping around and kicking her feet out from underneath her.
She hit the ground and I easily moved on top of her, tearing out a kunai. She winced, glaring at me. I avoided her eyes, going to bring the kunai down, but she stopped me by punching me in the gut. I let go of the kunai and fell back, coughing. Mai flipped onto her feet and swung her foot out, kicking me harshly in the face and knocking me across the ground.
I ignored the throbbing pain in my face and quickly wove some hand signs, thrusting my hand out to form an intricate web of lightening bolts, shattering the air with a whining sound as it blanketed toward Mai. She jumped up to avoid some, hopping in the little holes of the blanket, but I could see her clothing getting sliced open, her skin cut open as well.
She landed in a crouch, her hand on the ground as the jutsu faded. She was breathing hard.
"I'm ending this." She stated and ran at me. I rolled out of the way, aiming to kick her feet out again, but she leapt over them and whipped around, kicking me in the back of the head. I scraped my face on the stones and managed to heave myself to my feet, turning around. Mai's face was right in mine, our eyes locking. Aqua green and dangerously bright red.
Immediately, everything was black. It sounded like I was in some kind of empty, dark room. I frowned. I could even see my own hands it was so dark. That's when I felt it. The familiar harsh bite of leather across my face. I clasped my hand over my face.
Crap! I felt into the jutsu!
A slap went across my face and I gasped, blood flying out of my mouth. Something slammed into my gut and I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air. Something strong went around my throat, gripping tightly and jerking my face up.
Icy blue eyes, almost white and very cold. So cold they gave me a chill just looking at them. It was all I could make out in the dark room and then I remembered this scenario and what was coming next.
Another slap came across my face, stinging as it mingled with the pain of the lash. I felt something jagged and sharp wrap around my wrists, like barbed wire. Pain roared up my arms and swelled in my chest, forming a lump that was trying to find its way upwards. The sour, burning smell of blood rose through the air like natural.
I felt like someone was probing through my mind now. I could actually feel the hand grasping at everything inside my head. It sounded like someone was taking pieces of glass and breaking them, but the crackles were more like explosions in my head. I could feel my body shaking uncontrollably.
It was happening again! The glass, the mirrors, the cracking sounds! They were falling apart again! Lettering from before flashed through my head. For a split second, I could make out several words before it became a whole sentence.
We must send the terror away, love.
I immediately recognized the term of endearment and the voice in my head reading it. It was him. He was talking to my mother, but I couldn't hear her voice. Another sentence followed the next one, then another and another before it became a paragraph.
I can't stand being near you anymore! You're tearing this family apart, damn you! If you want to become so powerful, then I will ruin your chance! I'm going to take them all away! Every last memory! I'm going to shred his mind apart! You will no longer have an heir to rein your terror…! Chikao!
Suddenly, the letters became blurs. I saw a quick flash of someone running, a pair of high heeled shoes with a long kimono dragging after. It vanished, replaced with a pile of books sitting on a table, all having blurry titles that I didn't recognize. I couldn't read anything anymore. The words were slowly becoming nothing to me. Just symbols. The voices started to sound like gibberish. I heard the crackling of the breaking glass as one by one, the bits began to fall down in front of me. Reflections, pictures of everything that happened before were slowly breaking and crumbling to pieces.
I heard a loud scream, followed by another, and another, until it was giving me a headache. It was echoing everywhere and I felt someone digging glass into my skin.
That's when I realized who was screaming.
It was me.
Just like before. It was all happening again.
My mother tearing my mind apart from the inside out. She was stomping on every piece of memory that I had left, her black heels hitting the glass and cracking it. I heard myself scream again. The pain of the barbed wire around my wrists was making my body feeling hot and exhausted.
I could hear his voice, rising above the gibberish that my mother was speaking… My mother. I had a mother, right? Everyone had a mother…
But I didn't know anyone, did I, so how did I know? Did I know anything? What was going on? I was sitting in my room… I was holding a picture book… What's a book?
What's a picture?
A room?
Cloth, soft and silk brushed around me and I felt someone's soft, warm hair touch my face. I blinked and everything seemed a bit more clearer. The hair was the same color as mine, but longer and silkier. I could make out glitter glowing in it too.
It was very beautiful.
I felt someone's warm hands touching my cheeks from behind me before the soft hands covered my eyes. The view of the inside of that place, the place that I slept in was gone. No more weird things on the walls, no more sleeping place, no more little animals that stared back at me with fake smiles and glassy eyes.
Someone's lips touched my ear.
What were lips?
Something was saying something into my ear, but I couldn't tell what it was. Was it words or a hiss? A whisper?
Suddenly the hands grew tense, the nails digging into my face and I screamed. As soon as I did, however, everything vanished. Just like that. In the blink of an eye and I found myself staring at the arena back during the Chuunin Exams. I gasped and found that I had fallen backwards, away from Mai.
The spikes in my foot had brought me back from the torment. Mai was staring at me, her eyes back to normal as if she couldn't believe what she had seen in my head. I could feel my body shaking, but I wasn't screaming anymore. Even the crowd had gone deathly silent. I gritted my teeth and tried to move, but I found myself paralyzed.
In fear, no doubt.
Damn it. So this was it? I was going to have to pay up to Koyuki. I was probably going to get my ass kicked, even being like this. I twitched my fingers as Mai walked up to me, standing over me.
"Give up?" She asked.
"Bite me." I responded sharply. Mai's eyes flickered and she swung her fist down in my face, knocking me back on the ground. Past Mai's glare, I saw that the sky was particularly blue today… Some clouds up there too…
"I warned you to give up. That was your last chance." She stated, putting her shoe on my head, as if to crush me. I smiled a little.
"Good. Then you'll stop wasting your breath." I replied and my hands sprung up, catching her leg. Mai's expression darkened and she let to pull away, but I kept a good grip on her before I tore her down to the ground. My body was still feeling somewhat stiff, but I managed to pull myself over her, snatching up a kunai that had been lying nearby.
I went to slash at her face, but again, her icy blue eyes glowed red. I felt someone someone's arms go around me as if to hug me before nails cut deep into my chest. I gasped and dropped the kunai. Everything seemed to be fading toward the darkness again.
No way! Not again!
Desperately, I grabbed Mai's shoulders and jerked her hard, slamming her head into the ground. She yelped and the jutsu vanished. I gasped for air, scrambling away from her. I had to knock her out and knock her out face or else I'd go insane. I made hand signs quickly, concentrating as much of my chakra on this as possible.
Mai flung herself to her feet and whipped around. I grabbed her by her arms and squeezed tightly. She looked at me dangerously, her eyes glowing red again. At the same time she activated her jutsu, I activated mine. I sent volt and volt of electricity coursing through her body, my hands feeling like they were melting from the power. Mai's body convulsed, her eyes glowing even redder for a split second.
I felt the lash across my face, my back. I gasped and gripped her tighter, trembling myself as pain ripped and roared up my spine and into my head. I finally let go so Mai could slump to her knees, choking up blood. I stumbled backwards, worn out. I was out of chakra, out of energy. I was done for.
I fell on my ass, watching Mai fall to her hands and knees, spitting up blood as she shook, wincing. She was done too. She wasn't making any moves to attack now. Just shaking on her hands and knees, sucking in deep breathes of air.
And that was it. That was the end of the battle. I fell on my back. I felt like I was going to die. I couldn't hear who had won the match through the pounding of my heart in my ears.
Thu-Thump… Th-Thump… Th… Th… Thump…
Cool. My heart actually did beat. And they said it never did…
Ruriko's POV
"Nero!" Koyuki and I both yelled this at the same time. She forced herself up away from her crutches to lean on the railing, staring into the arena. Mai was done for. She was already falling onto her stomach now. As for Nero, he had hit the ground on his back, staring up at the sky.
"Nero! Get up!" I don't think he could hear us. He seemed kind of out of it. Instead, he just smiled and closed his eyes. I didn't know what to say now. Koyuki was grimacing.
"Because neither opponents can continue-" Genma started, but I cut him off.
"No way! He's still awake!" I yelled. Kazuya jumped up, smacking me upside the head.
"Ruriko! Don't!" He protested. Genma looked up at me pointedly, like 'hey, freaky cannibal girl, it's not your call'. He started to go on, but I saw Nero make a face and open his eyes, looking up at me.
Just the look on his face told me I should shut the hell up and let him sleep. I stared at him. Genma seemed to be curious as to why I spoke, then realized Nero was still awake.
"If you can stand up, you will win the match." He stated. Nero groaned and uttered a few curses, mostly at me, before he squeezed his eyes shut, lifting himself up off the ground.
"Come on, Nero! Get up! Get up!" I barked. Nero managed to get into a sitting position, then got to his knees. He was taking his damn time! I could still see the spikes in his foot, but he didn't seem to care at this point. He finally got to his feet, but he was slumped slightly and swaying, like he was going to fall back over.
"The winner is Nero!" Genma stated aloud after a nod. Everyone roared with cheers, practically shaking the stadium. I saw Nero smirk a little, then look at Genma.
"Can I fall back over now?" He asked. Genma chuckled and gave a nod. Nero nodded back and easily hit the ground again, unconscious now. I beamed anyway.
I had to make a note to treat him with a little more respect now.
… Just a little more.
"That was rough." Koyuki sighed and fell back in her seat. I nodded.
"But I don't think I want to remember those screams…" Kasumi said quietly, averting her eyes. She had covered her ears at one point.
"I know," I muttered, "If I ever get my hands on the guy who did that to him, well, let's just say I'll end up going to Hell for it."
"Ruriko…" Kazuya started, but Kotori snorted, interrupting him.
"Hell yea, I agree. No kid deserves that kind of pain… Especially not from a parent." I looked at her curiously. How did she know…? Kotori caught me looking at her and winked, making me blink in surprise.
She knew?
"There's still another battle, Ruriko, now sit down!" Kazuya ordered, jerking at my vest to get me into my seat. I huffed, but shot back up to my feet as Ayaka and Kishi jumped into the arena next.
This was going to be interesting…
"BEGIN!" Genma announced. Kishi immediately flung several shuriken forward. Ayaka smirked, but she didn't make any move to block them. In fact, she whipped out a kunai and flung it up through the air. I didn't realize why until I heard loud TWANGS slicing the air. Kishi winced as Ayaka smirked.
"Wires. Nice try. My turn now." She stated, then quickly made hand signs. Immediately, rocks started piling up out of the ground. Kishi's eyes flashed and she immediately hitched a ride on one of them, making hand signs of her own. A harsh blast of wind sailed downwards, knocking Ayaka off her feet. Kishi leapt from her perch on the rock formation to throw several shuriken downwards, wires whipping about like an endless blanket of silk. They slammed down, pinning Ayaka down, but instead of responding with shock, Ayaka smirked.
And she vanished, a log in her place. Kishi cursed under her breath and back flipped on the ground in time for Ayaka to come bursting from the ground, landing a punch in Kishi's jaw. She flew up and Ayaka followed, pushing off the rocks around her, slashing her kunai at Kishi, who managed to block some of the hits.
Watching them fight for some reason really made me feel like hitting something. A good effect if Osamu was around!
Ayaka swung her foot around and kicked Kishi in the gut, sending her slamming through a large portion of rock and into the arena wall. Kishi slid down, but got on her feet, jerking her head up as Ayaka ran at her with a kunai. However, Ayaka didn't get very far as something caught her ankles and held her still. She yelped a little, looking down at her feet.
The faint, glittery smooth blue of chakra was around her ankles, climbing up her legs like snakes. Ayaka's eyes flashed and the chakra shot up at her, punching her right in the face and knocking her head back. Kishi took her chance and bolted forward, elbowing Ayaka in the stomach before swinging her knee up into her face. Ayaka skidded across the ground into a rock formation that groaned, threatening to topple over.
Ayaka zoomed away from it, wincing as she wiped blood from her mouth. Kishi whipped around, making hand signs at the same time Ayaka did. As dirt kicked up and swirled into an almost tornado fashion, a result of their jutsu mixing. I could see that shuriken had gotten in that mix as well, whipping around at them.
That's when I saw the chakra from Kishi jerk away, rushing forward and grabbing Ayaka up like a giant fist, tearing her into the mass of rock, wind, and weapons. There was a loud scream, more of frustration than pain, though. I saw rock jut from the ground, threatening to crush Kishi to pieces, but she made hand signs, using another wind jutsu to pull her up quickly, but she couldn't out dodge one jutted rock that slammed into her foot, making her cry out in pain.
I grimaced. By now, that little whirlwind had stopped, Ayaka hitting the ground, hard. Kishi followed soon after, but both kunoichi got scrambling back to their feet. They slammed into each other with kunai, the metal blades clanging together. They kept slamming their kunai, getting in some slashes before Kishi swung the kunai at her. Ayaka dodged to the side smirking, but it was short lived when Kishi threw another kunai on her other side. A wire hissed as it caught Ayaka around the ankles, knocking her off her feet.
Immediately, the chakra whirled out as a blue whirlwind catching Ayaka up off the ground and slamming her into the arena wall. Ayaka gasped as the back of her head hit the wall. I saw her eyes darken slightly and blood fly out her mouth. Kishi held her there with her chakra squeezing until Ayaka cough up a thick glob of blood, slumping. Kishi released the chakra, falling to her knees and breathing hard, wiping blood off her face.
"Winner… Saki Kishi!" Roars from the crowd soon followed. Most people would have covered their ears because the cheers the crowds made were so loud, but it was music to my ears. Even if the cheers weren't for me, it was a thrill to see them all fight. Maybe it wasn't so bad that I wasn't able to pass…
Nero's POV
The hospital was buzzing and giving me a headache. No wonder Koyuki and Ruriko were eager to get out of this place. It was hectic. I pulled the blankets over my head and rolled onto my side.
"Is that any way to greet your guests?" A voice barked and I jumped, throwing the blankets off as Ruriko walked in with Koyuki.
"You guys actually got in?" I asked, perplexed. Ruriko hopped up on the edge of my bed, letting Koyuki take the chair beside it.
"Hell yea," She retorted, "I had to bite someone to get in here!"
"She's not joking either. Poor guy." Koyuki sighed, folding her arms over her chest. I sweat dropped, then shrugged.
"At least you guys made it in… Did they announce who was going to be Chuunin or not?" I asked eagerly. Yea, I wanted to know! I almost died out there! The least they could do was throw some papers at me saying that I was Chuunin for cryin' out loud!
"No," Koyuki sighed, "But they're going to call all the finalists into a room… Oddly enough, the Hokage asked me to come too."
"You think you're going to be a Chuunin even though you failed the preliminaries?" I asked. Koyuki grinned.
"That'd be awesome! But it's probably just to ask about how I'm doing… Something simple like that. So, anyway, enough about me, how you feeling?" She asked, cocking her head. I shrugged.
"My feet are killing me… I don't know if I'll be able to walk back to Suna-"
"To hell," Ruriko cried, suddenly looking like she was going to die, "You can't stay here any longer! We have to go back, ya know! What about that lady, huh? She'll throw a fit if you don't come back on time! And we have to inform the elders of your accomplishments and-and…" She stopped to realize Koyuki and I were staring at her. She blushed slightly.
"Uh… Never mind." She looked away. I raised an eyebrow, then looked at Koyuki.
"Other than that, I'm fine." I replied. Koyuki smirked.
"Good. Because when we meet again, we're going to battle again and this time, I'm going to beat you."
"We'll just see about that." I responded, not even realizing how cocky I just sounded. Ugh, it was rubbing off! I sighed, falling back on my pillow and looking up at the white ceiling.
"I just hope I never have to fight someone like that again," I muttered, "Worst experience of my entire life."
"Don't tell me you're scared of Mai now." Koyuki mused. I twitched.
"Hell no! I'm just saying… Uh… Well, I forgot what I was saying, but that's not the point. I just want to get out of here and fast. This place is terrible… And so is the food." I added.
"I KNOW," Ruriko sighed, exasperated, "You'd think they were gonna pamper you after almost dying!"
"I bet it was especially bad for you." I muttered under my breath, earning a sharp glare from Ruriko and a smirk from Koyuki. A sudden thought hit me in the face and I looked at Koyuki.
"What about Kai? He was scheduled to battle me. Did they count me out?" I asked urgently. Koyuki snorted, folding her arms over her chest.
"You kidding me? Kai backed out at the last minute! He said he wasn't in the mood to fight or something like that… But he told me to tell you maybe some other time." She muttered. I sweat dropped.
"Tell him thanks. I'd really thought they'd call him the winner."
"Nope. He literally backed out. After the battles, he was already heading out of the stadium, trying to be all cool as he did it. I swear, he's never going to become a shinobi that way." Koyuki sighed, shaking her head. I smiled anyway. Wow, that was a stroke of good luck. I needed that.
They stayed a bit longer, mostly joking around. It was better than being alone. I had gotten a room by myself, lucky me. I was alone again when they left, but I was feeling pretty tired, so resting was nice.
My body was still sore and achy the next day when all the finalists were called in. Most of us were still in the process of healing with bandages and even crutches. The Hokage was sitting at her desk, writing before everyone made it in. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help, but stare at her.
Her long blonde hair was tied into pigtails that were loosely draped over her shoulders, which were hidden under a green jacket. Her boobs were freaking huge. Sorry, but who couldn't see those things? They practically hung out of her gray top! She looked up as everyone got in, revealing her eyes to be a stunning green. She rose to her feet, folding her arms over her chest.
"Glad you could all make it. I'm here to inform you of who has gotten the right to become a Chuunin… And for the first time in a pretty damn long time, you've all earned the rank of becoming a Chuunin." I stared at her. Was she nuts? All of us? That was nine. I looked at the others. They looked pretty shocked too.
"You're kidding me!" Ayaka cried.
"You seriously just declared us all Chuunin?" Osamu yelled.
"We almost died and you actually promoted us to Chuunin?" Akira asked dryly.
"Did you even think about it?" Kai muttered under his breath. Lady Tsunade huffed and slammed her hands down on her desk.
"I put some careful consideration into each of you, so quick your whining and be proud!" She barked. The brunette woman beside her, Shizune, sweat dropped.
"Lady Hokage…"
"Can you at least tell us why you chose us?" Ryuuko asked.
"Yea, leaving us hanging like this is ridiculous." Mai agreed, frowning. Lady Tsunade glared at us at first, then smirked and stood up straight.
"You each have unique and powerful skills. Your battles were the ones that entertained me the most. Not just your physical battles, but your mental battles. I could see each and every one of you thinking hard about your situations, about why you want to become a Chuunin and when you knew your match was going to be tough. Even you, Koyuki," Tsunade turned to Koyuki, who jumped a little, staring at her in disbelief, "You may not have made it to the preliminaries, but you seemed to have your mind in the game no matter what and you even made friends with an opponent. Allies are extremely important in the ninja world and having them is vital to protect your friends, family, and village. I am very proud to say that you all deserve your rank as Chuunin."
Wow. That was a long speech. I was still in shock, even when they handed me the file to take to the village elders back in Sunagakure, stating that I was an official Chuunin.
"Can you believe this? We're actually Chuunin!" Akira cried and practically tackled me off my feet, making me wince a little, but I sighed, rolling my eyes and smirking anyway.
We were Chuunin, officially. I was excited, but in the back of my mind, I could still imagine Ruriko remaining a Genin. She was probably going to be pissed off when we told her we all became Chuunin and she just… Kinda stayed a Genin…
Ruriko's POV
"All Chuunin?" I demanded angrily. Nero sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"I told you she was gonna be pissed." He said to Akira, who had given me the news with a big grin on his face. I twitched, but relaxed a little. No, I shouldn't be mad. I smiled instead.
"Good job!" I stated, giving them a thumbs up. Akira blinked, then beamed, waving a finger at me, yelling at Nero.
"See, see? She's proud of us! Just like a good sister should be!" He shouted. Nero blinked, surprised and looked at me.
"You're not going to take our files and shove them down our throats?" He asked, perplexed. I smirked, folding my arms over my chest.
"You kidding me? This just motivates me to work a lot harder to kick your asses! I'll prove it to you and everyone else that I can become a Chuunin without the exams! I can become a freaking Special Jounin by the time I come back here and I give you my word!" I announced.
"Atta girl." Kazuya smiled from behind me, patting me on the head. Nero slowly smiled.
"I think these exams changed all of us then." He said.
"Hell yea," Akira retorted, "Taught me that I need to carry some weapons other than shuriken and kunai! And I'm going to take lessons at the hospital back in Sunagakure too so I can work on my medical ninjutsu."
"I guess I'll just work on trying to be a sensei," Nero decided with a shrug, glancing at Kazuya to see his reaction, "It looks like it'd be fun to be a sensei. I want to have students of my own." For the first time in a long time, Kazuya didn't hit Nero over the head and instead beamed at him.
"That sounds like a perfect idea. Being a sensei is very rewarding and it's nice to have you guys around. Brightens up my day!" He said, patting Nero on the shoulder.
"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Kotori's voice proclaimed. We turned to Kotori who was approaching us at the gates.
"Heading off already?" She asked, tilting her head. Kazuya sighed, smiling a little sadly.
"It's best we do. We're going to cause traffic backup is we stick around for the other teams that came from everywhere else… It was nice seeing you again, Kotori. Hopefully we'll meet again in the future." He replied.
"On better circumstances too." Kotori grinned and winked at him. Kazuya smiled. Still the oblivious moron he was, didn't take the hint and my entire team smacked their foreheads.
"Next time we meet," Osamu told me, making me look at him with a scowl, "You better be Chuunin so we battle again. There's no way in hell you're getting away from me!"
"Same goes you, jackass!"
"Brat!"
"I can't tell if they're friends or enemies." Nero muttered, folding his arms.
"I think it's called frienemies." Kishi said quietly, smiling.
"I guess we're off then." Kazuya smiled at Kotori, who nodded.
"Good luck! And be careful on the way. Don't want to run into any enemies." Kotori pointed out.
"I'll say." Kazuya sighed. With that, we were heading out the huge gates of Konohagakure and back to Sunagakure… But we weren't out of the dark yet. I smirked to myself, hoping that my paid friends were in position behind us. As soon as the gates slammed shut behind us, I took off.
"Ruriko! Hold up!" Kazuya protested.
"You can't possibly go this fast now!" Akira whined.
"No, no! Hurry up! Hurry up right now or I'll eat all of you, no joke!" I yelled back, landing on a tree branch and shooting forward. I really hoped that Daiki was distracted far into the village. Why?
That's right. I was supposed to give him Nero and Akira before Kazuya and I headed back. Little did Daiki know that I had a lovely chat with Kumogakure ninja, Chi, Shichi, and Yasushi.
Yasushi promised to help me after I begged for forgiveness after practically eating his team. Chi and Shichi were disguised as my teammates, ready to lure Daiki and his friends away.
What? You didn't ACTUALLY think I'd give up my teammates, did you?
Hell no!
Akira may be obnoxious and Nero may be a stalker, but they were my friends, my brothers, my teammates. No way in hell would I ever trade them for information. If there was one thing I learned as a ninja, it was that tricks were essential.
"Ruriko, you're going way too fast! In case you haven't noticed, Nero and I haven't healed all the way yet!" Akira yelled.
"Then jump on Kazuya's back and mine because we need to get the hell out of here!" I shouted back. I had to hurry and be on time, at the border before Daiki and his team left the village so they wouldn't run into us on the way with the fake Nero and Akira.
But I had a feeling we were going to make it anyway.
Man, I was good! Osamu, look out! When I come back to Konohagakure, you're in for a SHIT load of trouble!
And her name is Tsukuyomi Ruriko!
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A/N: Next chapter is a bonus that may show you more of Nero's past in case his battle with Mai confused anyone. xD And, for those who have NOT sent in their Shippuden, you still have time, even though the Shippuden chapter may be posted tonight… Or… Well, later for those who have a different time frame. :'D So, thanks so much for reading, hope the OCs are in character, and your reviews are loved very much!