Hello people! Hope you guys like this chapter. Thanks to lovefatedestiny, Hibiki-chan, Skyheart, Uchiha Sasha, jjayno1, MistFairie93, Valinor's Twilight, Lyris88, ruler of dragons, MizuHime, vampknight364, star sapphire, and tru-viet for reading and reviewing. Please review, the sooner you review the sooner I update and the more reviews I receive the more I write. Also, it looks like OkoruZakyo, and Yu will stay in Konoha for a little while after the exams. Thanks to all those who voted. Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the lovely Rei, the dashing Okoru, the arrogant Yu, and the childish Zakyo
Rei watched with amusement as Zakyo grinned at Ino as they stood before each other in the fighting arena. It was just like her to grin before a fight. She was always eager to fight, unless it was a serious fight. She loved fighting and training and Rei had always worried about the fact that she liked fighting so much. She sighed. It wasn't like Zakyo fought too seriously. Unlike Yu, Zakyo fought only when she needed to and stopped once her enemy was defeated. She enjoyed fighting because that way she would get stronger, however, she really didn't like fighting that much.
"Hey, Rei, how do you think she'll do?"
Rei turned to Okoru and grinned.
"She'll win, I'm sure of it."
Okoru grinned back at her and Naruto went over to them.
"Why are you so sure that she'll win, Rei-chan?"
"Well, Zakyo is strong. She may act like a brat, but she's really strong. She trains hard and always does her best. I'm not saying that Ino doesn't, but Zakyo always has a few tricks up her sleeve."
Naruto nodded and watched as the fight began.
Zakyo moved out of the way as several kunai flew past her. She jumped back as Ino swung at her and then slid behind her. Ino turned to look at her and received a hard blow to the stomach. She slid back and raised her arms before her to block off another attack form Zakyo. She slid back and then the attack stopped. She looked at Zakyo and saw that she had jumped back. Ino was puzzled by this.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, the way I see it, it's not really fair if I just beat you without giving you a chance to fight back. Besides, I can see that the others are getting a bit bored."
Zakyo looked up and saw Rei yawning. She knew that Zakyo would win and that the fight would end quickly and so she wasn't really interested in it. She looked down at Zakyo and grinned. Zakyo smiled and looked back at Ino.
"What? Are you saying that you're just using me to entertain them!?!" She said outraged.
Zakyo looked at her strangely.
"Well, why else would I fight you? I could have beaten you, but that would just be boring and I know Rei-san and the others would be bored. Besides, after Yu-chan's fight, I have to make sure mine is just as good."
Ino glared at the girl in front of her. She couldn't believe that she was being used as nothing more than entertainment. This girl didn't even take her seriously and she spoke of Rei respect. This confused Ino as she hadn't seen any ability that would make Rei worthy of being so respected.
"Why do you respect her so much?"
Zakyo was a bit puzzled by this question.
"Who?"
"Rei."
Zakyo was surprised, but she grinned widely.
"Because she's the best! She always helped me train whenever she visited and she's always been nice to me and beats Okoru when he fights with me."
Okoru sweatdropped as he heard Zakyo and Rei began laughing histerically.
Ino was surprised by her answer, but she thought she could use it as an advantage.
"Well, I don't think she's so great. I mean, she hasn't really done anything and she wasn't even there when her teammates were attacked in the forest." She sneered.
Zakyo frowned.
"That's not true! Rei-san wanted to help her teammates, but she couldn't because…"
She trailed off as she remembered that Rei didn't want people to know about her connection to Orochimaru. She looked up at her and her teammates and then back at Ino.
"Rei-san is really strong and I don't care what you say about her."
Ino smirked. She had found something to use on Zakyo.
"If she's so great, then why did your village kick her out? It seems to me that she isn't as good as you say she is or your village would have kept her, but they really don't want her do they?"
Zakyo clenched her fists. She hated it when people talked about Rei since she looked up to her, but she knew she couldn't say anything as she would have to tell Ino about Orochimaru. Zakyo glared at Ino.
"Why do you look up to her so much?" Ino asked.
She wanted to know why the girl would get so upset about what she said. She really didn't understand why someone would look up to someone else so much.
Zakyo sighed and thought back to when she had met Rei.
Flashback
Zakyo stuck her tongue out at Okoru and ran away as her cousin growled and ran after her. She ran as fast as she could, trying to get away before Okoru caught up. She really didn't want him to catch her, not after she had 'accidentally' dropped some of his kunai and shuriken in the river. She kept running and then turned a corner. As she turned she looked back at her cousin and this caused her to bump into someone. She fell on top of the person and groaned in pain as she sat up. Suddenly she felt herself being pulled up by the back of her shirt and she gulped when she saw that it was Okoru
"Zakyo, get off of Rei-chan, you brat."
Zakyo looked over at the person she had knocked down and saw a girl about her cousins' age sitting on the ground. She had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She stood up and looked at her and Okoru
"Now, apologize." Okoru commanded.
Zakyo looked at the girl and gulped. She was about to say something when the girl smiled.
"It's alright, Okoru-kun, it was an accident."
Okoru sighed.
"Hey, Okoru-baka, who is she?"Zakyo said.
Okoru twitched and hit Zakyo on the head. Zakyorubbed the back of her head as Ooru got ready to tell her off. However, before he could do that he was smacked on the back of his head by Rei
"Okoru, don't hit the little girl!"
"But-"
Rei glared at him and Okoru quieted down. Zakyo smirked at her older cousin. Rei turned to Zakyo
"My name is Rei."
"I'm ZakyoOkoru-baka's cousin."
Rei grinned.
"Nice to meet you Zakyo-chan."
Zakyo smiled as Okoru sat on the side rubbing his head.
"So why were you running?"
"Oh, Okoru-baka said he would kill me for accidentally dropping his kunai in the river."
Rei glared at Okoru who flinched.
"Okoru, she's just a little girl! If you hit her, I'll pummel you! Do you understand?"
"Yes, Rei-chan."Okoru said.
Zakyo watched with interest as her cousin was easily subdued. She grinned and Okoru glared at her.
End Flashback
Zakyo grinned as she remembered her cousins' nickname, she would have to use it again after the battle. Ever since that day Zakyo had looked up to Rei, but it wasn't until Okoru told her about why Rei had left that she truly respected her. When she had heard about how Rei had left to keep them safe she had felt both sad and proud of the girl that had become an older sister. She had missed her and she had trained hard to become stronger in the hopes of becoming as skilled as her. She looked up at her and grinned as she saw Rei smile at her. She would definitely win.
Ino was puzzled as she watched Zakyo grinning widely.
"Well, I look up to her because she's the best kunoichi out there. I'm not saying that because she's my friend or because she's stronger than me, but because she is the strongest person I know. She always looks out for us and she's always there when we need her. She is powerful, but she never abuses her power and always tries to do what's right even when it makes her sad. That's why I look up to her and that's why I want to become as strong as her. Because of that, I can't lose this battle, but I won't use you anymore to entertain my friends, because she wouldn't like that so I'll finish this now."
Zakyo made some hand signs and smirked. Ino got ready for whatever was next.
Rei watched as Zakyo made some very familiar hand signs. She turned to Okoru.
"I see you helped her train." She said smirking.
"Yeah, well, she wouldn't stop whining until I did."
Rei smiled.
"I'm glad you helped her, she always wanted to train with you. Still, I'm a bit surprised you taught her that technique. Has she actually mastered it?"
"Of course she has. She wouldn't stop training until she did."
"Well, we'll see if she really has."
Zakyo grinned as she saw Ino's puzzled expression. She knew Ino wouldn't know what she was doing as the technique was only used by her and Okoru.
Ino watched as Zakyo stood there. She wondered what she was doing as nothing happened. Soon she noticed something happening. She looked closer and realized that Zakyo was somehow gathering water.
"How are you doing that?" Ino asked.
"That's a secret." Zakyo responded cheerfully.
Naruto turned to Rei and Okoru.
"How is she doing that? There's no water around."
"You're wrong. There's always water around." Rei said.
"Okoru, you should explain this one."
He nodded and looked at Naruto.
"That technique was invented by my father and is only known to me and Zakyo. It basically uses chakra to gather the moisture in the air and any other source and converts it to water. That water can then be used in battle in some of the usual attacks from Kirigakure. This technique was specifically developed for fights away from any water source as shinobi from Kirigakure rely heavily on water and are therefore often at a disadvantage when fighting away from home. However, because of the complexity of the attack it requires a large amount of chakra and super control of it. It is a very difficult technique and Zakyo has just recently mastered it."
"Then do you think she'll win."
Rei turned to Naruto and grinned.
"She won the moment her opponent was decided."
Zakyo smirked as she now had sufficient water for an attack.
"Get ready." She said.
Ino frowned and got ready for the coming attack. Zakyo made some hand signs.
"Water Style: Water Snakes!"
The water turned into several snakes and lounged towards Ino. She dodged then and ran around the arena, trying to avoid getting hit. Still, the water was too fast and Ino was getting slow.
'She won't last much longer.' Zakyo thought.
One of the snakes scratched Io's leg and she stumbled for a second. That was all Zakyo needed as a snake hit Ino and slammed her against the wall. She slid down, unconscious. Zakyo was declared the winner and Rei smiled as she watched Zakyo grinning widely. She glanced at Okoru and saw him smiling. Zakyo went over to them and grinned.
"How did I do, Rei-san?"
"You did well Zakyo-chan, you've really gotten strong."
Zakyo blushed and Rei smiled.
"I wonder who's fighting next." Naruto said.
Rei looked at the board and her eyes widened when she saw who was next. She looked at Okoru and saw that he was as surprised as she was. Yu couldn't believe it and neither could Zakyo. Naruto looked at the board.
"Hey, Rei-chan, you're next, and it looks like you're fighting Okoru."
Naruto turned to Rei and was surprised at how pale she looked.
"Rei-chan, are you alright?"
"Yeah…"
She turned to Okoru.
"Good luck."
Okoru nodded and they both headed down to the fighting arena.
End Chapter Thirty-Seven
Hope you guys liked it and please review. The sooner you review the sooner I update and the more reviews I receive the more I write. Sayonara!