~Chapter 9~
To Endure
Kinata felt bound to the scene in front of her. She'd gotten to know most of her classmates by now. It'd been over two weeks. One in particular – Hinata – had been worthy enough to earn her trust. They had confided about general facts; however most of Kinata's past had to remain just that, in the past. But the Hyuga girl had been told of her original clan dying off from enemy ninjas in the midst of a war. She'd had some foster homes but had ended up in Konoha. It was brief but enough to develop a solid friendship.
Everyone was gathered outside of class. They were in a clearing, surrounded by the thick trees. About a mile away from the Academy gave the students room to improve their skills and to demonstrate their potential. Kinata was forced to restrain most of her powers, especially her kekkei genkai. It was her focus to remain average. And so far she had, for the most part. She had failed in taijutsu, only because her reactions concerning blocking were second nature. Iruka-sensei had been awed at her first fight against one of the girls. It had ended in seconds. Kinata had to fumble for an excuse as to why her stances were classified as advanced.
"Well, um, my father, he uh, he has a friend, and he is really experienced in taijutsu. He, after I asked many times, he finally showed me and I just kept practicing."
Iruka-sensei had been even more suspicious at her uneasy reason, and how lame it was, but he reluctantly accepted it, not wanting to put the girl on the spot. Her classmates were already giving her odd looks.
Now, on their third week of being on the training grounds, Kinata stared out at the two currently sparring. Their lesson was in using any kind of elemental chakra if the student was able to. Mostly everyone could with the exception of three. It definitely had revealed a handful of talented kids. She was watching the Uchiha boy stand casually in front of another boy named Toshinobu. They had thrown some punches and a few from Sasuke had actually made contact, sending the boy back a few feet, but he'd always stood back up.
Toshinobu had tried to land an embarrassing attempt to drop kick the dark-haired boy, all of which were blocked. Sasuke had avoided a rock jutsu in which countless little rocks had swirled towards Sasuke's head. With one flip he had dove out of the way from the blow. Then, in mid-air he had delivered a fire jutsu, casting a medium-sized fire ball towards the poor kid. He tried to duck but it still skimmed his body, leaving major burn marks. That had been the deciding factor and Iruka-sensei stepped in between them. Sasuke just stood across from him, still calm and collected. He wasn't even breathing hard.
The girls were squealing in delight at their main obsession. He ignored them like usual, and wiped his hands on his black shorts, leisurely making his way back to the side lines to join his classmates. Naruto scoffed loudly, though few paid any attention to him. Kinata stood behind Naruto, observing the whole fight and the raven-haired boy's actions with profound scrutiny. He was good, technically top of their class. She had already learned a few different moves by seeing his style. It would help better her training.
Sasuke ended up locking eyes with her on his stroll back. She realized that he had caught her staring. She darted her eyes to Naruto's head, neglecting to admit what had just happened. She wasn't one of his fangirls. She had more important problems to deal with than a teenage boy. That was far from a luxury she had. However, the females around their little group praised him, and a few normal ones that'd try to linger near and get his attention swarmed his area. He glared their way and the two, one with long blonde hair and the other with pink hair, gave him hurt looks, but moved to the front of the huddled class.
He stood right next to Kinata oddly enough. Byakuya was another "cool kid" who also chose to stand on her right. She never acted like all of the other girls, and they had caught on to this. She was more focused on the battle scenes, and paid no attention to fraternizing on the side lines, even with Naruto. To her, it was incredible to watch other people fight in their own ways. Apparently they appreciated her distant emotions when concerning her concentration.
Sakura and Chikako were both hesitant girls when it came to the physical aspects of the Academy, both being very weak at taijutsu. Sakura performed a typical shadow doppelganger but had difficulties with her genjutsu to trick Chikako that she was using earth-style as an elemental attack. Chikako noticed this and tried to use the wind but gave up quickly when she couldn't conjure up enough chakra. She went for a side-swipe to Sakura's head with her ankle, knocking the pink-haired girl down harshly to the ground. She was so dazed that she had trouble sitting up. Iruka-sensei called it off.
Kinata was waiting patiently, though the anticipation was building inside. There were no more students to call upon besides her and the one with long blonde haired girl that had annoyed Sasuke just moments ago. She had seen how the last two fights on the training grounds went for the Ino girl, and it was pathetic in comparison to what Kinata had been taught. She'd just have to deal with that and hold back as much as possible to appear normal.
"Alright. Lastly, Ino Yamanaka versus Kinata Iwatsuru. Come forward girls."
Ino had an arrogant smirk plastered on her face as she strode to the middle of the clearing. The wind began to pick up. Kinata felt a small chill from the breeze. She took a deep breath, emptying her mind to concentrate on the blonde girl before her. She walked slowly to align herself parallel with her opponent.
"Begin!" Ino brought her fists up, aiming a quick right hook. The girl had speed, Kinata gave her that. She easily blocked the next few aims all towards her head. Kinata did a 180 turn, pushing out chakra from her feet, gaining momentum. She ducked a kick from Ino in the process of jumping out of range. A spar like this usually meant that Kinata would have to remain on the defensive rather than attack. Otherwise, she'd risk revealing her skills like the first battle.
More frontal blows were thrown Kinata's way, all averted by her. The Yamanaka girl was already beginning to sweat. Ino corrected her stance, frustration obvious on her face.
"Come on! Fight back…ya wimp!" Kinata frowned. Ino was known as a popular girl. She always got what she wanted because she made sure of it through verbal responses, ones that were negative and in hopes of grating people's nerves. When she got no answer though, she glared.
"Whatever then freak. Guess I'll just have ta finish this myself!" She sprung at Kinata recklessly. If it had been a real fight, Kinata would have had three chances in a matter of ten seconds to have killed the girl. Ino attacked with sloppy punches, albeit with swiftness, but left countless openings. Rather than taking those opportunities, Kinata would just duck or block, flipping once in awhile to avoid her hits. It was driving the blonde girl crazy. Kinata was just hoping that she'd tire herself out, and Kinata could walk away with some points deducted (she wouldn't perform ANY elemental chakra, it was too risky).
Ino suddenly picked up her pace, hoping it'd throw Kinata off. The girl kneeled down in a swift swoop, making contact with Kinata's ankle, but this was only a move she'd been faced with before while living at the Kusama residence. She instead used the foot lock to her advantage, spinning her body to the left so that Ino's own weight went against her. She fell face first into the ground. Some of the students began laughing hysterically at the 'thud' and humiliating position.
Kinata sighed. She didn't want to make Ino look like a fool, but again it was too natural of a reaction to defend herself when it came to unexpected moves. All of her strategies in battle were ingrained in her. Ino stood up as quick as she could, her eyes ablaze with fury.
'Great…I've made it worse. She'll be more heated and motivated to pay me back.' Kinata was trying to figure out a way that she could give Ino a small triumph but the girl was suddenly forming 3 hand signs. The wind chill increased and the breeze was noticeably becoming stronger. She picked up on the hand signs, having deduced the general idea of what Ino was scheming. She stepped back and Ino smirked.
"Scared?" Kinata immediately kneeled down and withdrew one of her kunai knives, sticking it deeply enough into the ground to secure her position. Ino closed her eyes and the wind turned its appearance into two thin but long twisters. The dirt was tossing around and the surrounding was clouded in the windy mess. Kinata could faintly hear Iruka-sensei yelling harshly but his voice was muted by the fierce growling of the twisters. By then, Kinata had made slight eye contact with her opponent a few feet in front of her. She was clearly regretting having conjured the two now unstoppable forces, blowing harsh circles around them both.
Kinata held on tightly, planting a secure spot with her chakra in her feet, anchoring her lower half, and her shoulders shook with the energy of the jutsu around her.
"Get down!" She yelled to Ino, who stood in shock at the disaster she'd created. It snapped the blonde girl and she followed suit to Kinata's actions.
It only lasted about five minutes before they slowly evaporated. Iruka-sensei had evacuated the class to a good 20 feet from the area, though the twisters had stayed in a central point, not wandering. Kinata had put her hair up in a high ponytail, but from the gusts of wind, her longs strands had fallen around her face in messy spirals. She casually stood up after the twisters had disappeared and brushed the dirt and twigs that had collected on her off. Ino was still huddled around her two kunai knives in the ground, eyes still wide. Iruka-sensei was now marching over furiously. From her peripheral vision she could see his beat red face. He'd explained that using elemental chakra could be allowed if one could fully control it. Clearly Ino knew how to summon the small twisters, but afterwards they were left to destroy on their own. It had been a careless and rash move on Ino's part.
It still had no effect on Kinata however, who was now fixing her tangled hair. The blonde girl narrowed her eyes at what seemed like a cocky action. She began to charge at the brunette, who tensed, bringing herself into a defensive position, just as the girl aimed a high kick aimed at her face. Kinata ducked about to push herself from the ground when Ino decided that fist-fighting was overrated. Kinata felt a sharp sting to her right shoulder. She froze in a slight state of shock. Blood instantly began falling from her shoulder. Ino kicked her stomach in the midst of the seconds from the wound, sending her back a few feet. The air was knocked out of her lungs, but she managed to catch her grounding, using her legs to balance the backwards trip. Kinata was breathing hard though.
Iruka-sensei swore and did two flips to land in front of Ino who was overcome now with emotions. She looked guilty now that their instructor was glaring daggers at her. Her shoulders slumped and tears began to form in the corner of her eyes, but she had enough pride not to let them fall.
"S…sorry." She whispered just enough for Iruka-sensei to hear. His face went neutral. He turned to Kinata, who was standing up, not in a hurry, distracted by the pain in her shoulder. She reached up and wrapped her hand around the handle of Ino's kunai knife. It had been planted deep in the muscle between the top of her collarbone and the pivot of her upper arm. Their classmates were silent for a once, staring at the intense scene before them. Naruto had wide eyes, concerned for one of his first real friends. Kinata grit her teeth as she yanked the knife out, causing more blood to pour out. Iruka-sensei glanced back, keeping his own emotions in check.
Their teacher was worried and livid all at once.
"Apply pressure to the wound Kinata." She already was but gave him a nod. Ino was terrified now.
"You, Ms. Yamanaka, know, full well, FIRST OFF, the rules of weaponry! And unless I state that they can be used, you refrain from taking them out. AND SECOND, you could have just. Killed. Your. Classmate. She is a comrade. You summoned a jutsu that was BEYOND your control. I plainly explained that such was FORBIDDEN! What was going through your head Ino? I have never witnessed such a careless and ignorant battle." He was ranting and pronouncing so much of his words in utter growls. Their peers were all speechless. They'd never seen Iruka-sensei lose his cool like he was now.
Kinata sighed. She had to interrupt his seething or the blonde girl below him would breakdown.
"Iruka-sense. Please stop. I…I should have dodged the shuriken. It's not Ino's fault." His senseless badgering to a distressed konoichi faltered. He looked over his shoulder in angry confusion.
"Excuse me?" He hissed in disbelief. Kinata frowned, still clinging to her injured shoulder. The pain had already subsided.
"Ninjas should be prepared for any kind of attack. I wasn't. That's my mistake. Not hers." She was so composed explaining this that even the others in her class couldn't believe what they were hearing and viewing. Iruka-sensei turned to fully face her, hands on his hips.
"Now don't you dare go defending Ino and her reckless actions!" His voice was tinged with complete authority. It made her frown deeper.
"There's no reason to be so upset with her though. It was a skilled move on her part!" His eye noticeably twitched at her defiant tone.
"Despite that, Ino you are given a suspension. Let this be a lesson for everyone," he spun around to the stunned students, "that if you disobey in following my orders," he glanced at a now red-faced Ino, "you will deal with the consequences."
Kinata let out a loud, frustrated sigh, and began to furiously leave the grounds, her cool all but lost. She was annoyed that one wound would send their instructor into such frenzy. It wasn't like she hadn't endured worse. Far from it. Besides, they were training to become skilled shinobi. It was assured that causalities were bound to happen. It would be a natural possibility every time they went out on a mission. He was babying them.
Kinata heard their sensei call out her name but she continued to leave the training grounds, never looking back. The day was technically done anyway, as her fight had been the last in the class.
She felt slight exhaustion more mentally than anything, and had no intentions to stick around with the pitiful stares she was sure to receive because of her wound.
Iruka-sensei watched her take off. He tried to call her back but by then she'd already made it half-way to the gates. He sighed, staring back to the astonished class. Even the more put-together kids had shocked expressions, though not as obvious. He knew how far Kinata's limits had been pushed today, so he would give her a break for walking out like that. Then again, all of the battles were over with.
"Alright. Class dismissed." He couldn't help his tone sounding irked. His new student however had just displayed a misplaced, rebellious attitude for all to see. Kinata had always seemed polite and cheerful, though distant in her own way. He'd tried to figure her out, as he prided himself in having good relationships with all of his students, even Naruto. She remained out of his reach.
He gave Ino one last silent look that yelled out for her to stay behind. The kids scrambled away, now excitingly chattering about what just happened. Kinata had spoken AGAINST the instructor. It was not something that occurred every day, for the exception of Naruto, though he never fazed anyone anymore. The Uzumaki boy was abnormally quiet, thinking about his friend and if she'd be okay.
Kinata's battle was interesting for the more analytical students. Sasuke mentioned the battle to Shikimaru.
"She wasn't fighting back. She blocked every attack." Shikimaru shrugged at the onyx eyes, which were narrowed in thought.
"Well, not really. Ino did get a kick in, and uh, a knife." The lazy ninja sighed, scratching the back of his head while the Uchiha gave a curt nod to this. It bothered him though to hear those words, wanting to argue that it had been due to false play. Yet he held his tongue, almost embarrassed for even believing he had to defend the Kinata girl.
But both Iruka-sensei and Sasuke were pondering the same thing.
She had the skills to win. Why would she choose to lose? And why protect Ino's sneaky actions?
It was unbelievable.