Okay! Update time MUCH smaller this time. Whew!
Make sure you give thanks to himeflye for the fight in this chapter. I figured out how I wanted to do it while talking it over with her. Thanks hime!
This chapter, a fight, a talk, and soon a MUCH awaited conversation is hinted at. :)
Hope you enjoy the new chapter, even if it IS still a bit of a short one.
disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.
PLEASE REVEW! (last chapter was the first time in 13 chapters i got less than 10 reviews. Please give me more than 10 again! :3 )
Kin was out of breathe when she finished the dash to the door way. She slumped over, panting to catch her breath again.
"Let me know when you are ready," a creepy voice said. Kin jumped, eyes darting around till she saw Shino leaned against the wall in the shadows next to the doorway.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were outside already." A small movement showed the boy shrugging his shoulders.
"Naruto likes to talk, and this delays people. I thought it best if we appear at the same time to avoid negative criticism from the crowds as we waited for you." Kin stared at him.
"You're weird-."
"You should watch what you say; it could hurt people's feelings," the bug user said, head slumping slightly.
"But nice. In a good way, I mean. I wouldn't have thought to wait if it was the other way." She scratched her arm awkwardly. "Thanks." Shino nodded. "Well, I've kept them waiting long enough. Shall we?"
"Yes."
The crowds response was immediate and deafening as the two walked into the arena. While Kin gave a small wave to the crowd Shino was characteristically silent, merely taking his place.
"Yah, go Kin! You can do it!" The girl waved at her friend in the stands while the others looked at her questioningly.
"Naruto…you do know she's fighting a member of our village, right," asked Shikimaru. Naruto shrugged.
"Yeah, so? I know her a lot better than I know Shino, so it makes more sense that I cheer on my friend, doesn't it?" The Nara boy rolled his eyes.
"Whatever."
"Wow…that's actually kinda cool, Naruto." Temari scratched her head. "Not too many people think like that." The short girl shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, it's that whole, 'Naruto trusts people too easy thing.' It's just the way I work," she said, grinning, not taking her eyes off the fight.
"You know, unless you have some way to resist genjutsu, you should forfeit now," Kin warned the other boy. He shrugged.
"If I quit without fighting, then coming here will have been for nothing."
"Heh, good point. But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Fair." The two stood, waiting for the sign. No sooner did the proctor call for them to begin than Kin took out a handful of senbon and send them shooting at Shino, who react by calmly dodging with a side step and lifting an arm, a small swarm of bugs flying out. His only mark of surprise on his next move was to raise an eyebrow as Kin whipped her arm back, the senbon she had just thrown cutting through several of the bugs flying towards her.
"Remember, I know your techniques, but you don't know mine! I've been practicing to get pin-point precision in throwing, and retracting my senbon to get as many insect kills as possible. I hate to do it, but when you fight an opponent, you take out their strength in order to defeat them."
Shino nodded as he gave his swarm the signal to spread out and attack from varied directions. Kin countered by adding another handful of senbon and attack with both hands in short busts, the strings attached to her senbon kept to a small length to increase her attack speed. She turned around with each attack, almost as if she was dancing rather than fighting. Naruto stared in awe, wishing she could move like that and vowing to have Kin teacher her after the exams, before she left to hide from Orochimaru.
Even as fast as Kin's attacks were there were more bugs than she could handle and they closed in on her quickly. As they enveloped her she smirked, throwing several senbon to the side, and disappearing. Shino raised his eyebrows again before turning to look where she had thrown her senbon, his swarm hovering where she had disappeared.
"What next? This isn't a strategy that can last long. The energy you expend is far less than the insects I use as I adjust to your strategy, and there seems little point in that throw of yours." Kin reappeared, smirk still on her face, right where her senbon had fallen.
"You really think I want to play cat and mouse? Hide and seek? I let you think that the senbon string attack was my true plan. Didn't you notice, every now and then, I actually threw some senbon? Where do you think they landed?" Shino looked around him curiously, noting the several senbon now surrounding him.
"Interesting, but how did you get the bells to not make any noise to remain undetected?" She raised her hand holding the strings the senbon were connected to.
"Easy; they did make noise. I use genjutsu, rememeber? I told you that at the beginning. Of course, I had to make sure I could still use these when your bugs came in and I substituted, so I attached their strings to these senbon and went where they landed at the last second, all the time masking their presence and sound with a genjutsu. But now," she said, twitching her hand, "the genjutsu is the sound, and you have lost."
Shino doubled over at the sound began to hit his ears, causing vertigo and nausea.
"Th, that's quite the tr, trick," he panted, holding his head while managing to mostly retain a steady calm voice. "I admit that, that I myself have little defense against, against genjutsu of this nature…but then again, I don't have to."
"What?" Kin barely had time to register what was happening before a second swarm of bugs flew up from the ground around her and latched on, immediately leeching her chakra and shutting her down. "No!" She moved to try and swat them away, but her hands, intertwined with the strings of the senbon, were jerked forward, Shino, still on his knees, holding on to the other ends.
"Sorry, but your greatest attack is also your weakness, and as you have suggested, I have gotten rid of it. Unless that isn't really you laying there, then I believe you've lost." Kin continued to struggle for a moment before allowing herself to admit defeat. She didn't even have enough chakra to make a clone.
"Fine…I give up." The swarm dissipated, disappearing into Shino's sleeves. He stood up and walked over, hands in his pockets.
"I understand it's difficult to get up after my clan's insect attacks. Do you require assistance?" Kin shook her head rolling over and bracing herself as she moved to stand, the proctor declaring the winner and the fighters of the next match, that being Kankuro and Tenten.
"Well, guess it's my turn." He looked around. "Where, where's that girl gone to? You don't think she quit, do you?"
"No, I didn't quit," the voice came.
"Ah, there you are. Where'd you disappear to?" Tenten smiled weakly.
"I went to make sure Neji was okay…and I need to apologize, Naruto."
"Huh?" The blond girl looked at the brunette in surprise. "For what? The only time we've ever really talked is…"
"Exactly, about Neji." Naruto's face darkened.
"That jerk can jump off a building for all I care, I don't have to-"
"He's sorry." Naruto paused mid rant, sure she hadn't heard correctly.
"Excuse me? I know I heard you wrong there." Tenten shook her head.
"No, you didn't. Neji-kun's uncle, Hinata's father, came in while he was recovering. He told him…told him what really happened when his father died. I'm sure Hinata's told you about that before. Well…it's hard to believe, but his father wanted to take her father's place, and Hinata's father wanted to die. He didn't think Neji would believe him, but Neji, because of you, was ready to believe. It's…the first time I've seen a real smile, ever, since I've been his teammate." She bowed. "So, thank-you, Naruto, and I'm sorry for making excuses for his behavior." She remained leaned over for a moment, Naruto looking at her, unsure, until a loud noise from the stadium drew their attention. There, standing near Kin and Shino…were Sasuke and Kakashi.
"Sasuke-kun!" Naruto's face lit up and she jumped onto the railing, barely catching herself before jumping to respond to Tenten. "I'm not saying I forgive him entirely. He has to do right by Hinata-chan first, but he's taking a good step." She flashed her a smile. "Good luck in your match you two." Then she jumped off, speeding towards Sasuke.
.
.
.
"Cutting it a bit close, aren't you Kakashi?"
"Sorry, we were a bit busy. Sasuke isn't, um, disqualified, is he?"
"Hah, no. His match has been delayed to give you two enough time to get here. The last match before his is about to take place."
"Oh, well, in that case, I think-" THWUMP! Both adults turned in surprise at the sound, staring when they saw that Sasuke had been tackled by his blonde teammate. The proctor moved to reprimand her for fighting out of turn when his eyes focused and he began to blush.
"They uh…they get along real well, it seems…" Kakashi giggled.
"Oh yes, they most certainly do," he said, turning away. "Well, I'm going to go up into the stands. Good luck separating them; they haven't seen each other for a month."
Genma sweat dropped as he stared at the two children who were still making out, despite the catcalls and fan girl screams.
"Hey, you two…Naruto, Sasuke…can you stop please? I mean…come on!" Kin rolled her eyes and walked over, yanking Naruto up by the ear.
"Naruto! Time and place girl! We're in the middle of the chuunin exams." Naruto glared at her, rubbing her sore ear as she helped pull Sasuke, goofy grin all over his face, up to a standing position. "Besides, I don't think your boyfriend's fan club likes what it's seeing.
"Oh yeah? Well they can take this," Naruto said, waving a finger at the crowd. Now the girls began to cry.
"Was that really necessary?"
"Heck yeah! It's time everyone knew that Sasuke belongs to me now!"
"Whah? Huh? Oh, yeah, definitely," the boy said, still failing to regain control.
"Oh my gosh, what have you done to him? Come on, let's get him out of here," Kin said, slinging one of his arms around her shoulders. Naruto did the same on the other side, giving Sasuke another kiss on the cheek. He recovered enough to walk up the stairs to the contestant's balcony on his own.
"Well, that was quite the 'hello,' Naruto-chan. Nice to see you too." His girlfriend smiled.
"Yeah, well, it's been a long month. 'Course, I can't really complain. After all, I got to train with a Sanin." Sasuke looked at her in mild surprise.
"Really? They seem to be appearing frequently at the moment, don't they. Hnnn. Which one was it?"
"Pervy-sage."
"…What?"
"What she's saying," interjected Kin, "is that Jiriya of the sanin, her new trainer, is also a world class pervert." Sasuke's eye twitched.
"Say again."
"Pervy sage is exactly what I call him…and he's my god-father," she said quietly. Kin and Sasuke stared at her, eye's wide in surprise.
"He's what? Why didn't you tell me that before?" Naruto winced.
"Oops. I'm not really supposed to tell anyone, but it was important that my boyfriend know." She scratched her arm. "I hope this doesn't make you mad I me. I like being friends with you, Kin." Kin shook her head to ward off the shock before responding.
"Well, I can understand that, so no, I'm not. I get it. Besides, that just means we have another thing in common. We both had sannin as teachers." Naruto snorted.
"Yeah, and they're both weird." She scratched her chin. "Wonder if Tsunade's weird, too?"
"Regardless, the fact that you beat Neji shows that he's teaching you well," Sasuke said. "I'm sorry I missed that fight."
"Ah, that's okay. After all, the big fight is going to be you and me," Naruto said, making Kin roll her eyes.
"Hnn. I suppose. Just don't expect me to go easy on you because we're dating."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," she replied brightly, a flash of startled realization appearing a moment later.
"Kin," she said, grabbing Sasuke's hand and stopping before going up the final flight of stairs. "Kin, can you go on up without me? I need to talk to Sasuke about something private." The older girl raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? More family stuff?"
"No no, not that. It's just…something he said that I need to talk about." At that Sasuke began to sweat despite his attempts to keep his composure.
"Alright, but don't take too long. I'm sure Gaara will come looking for you if you do."
"Got it. Thanks," she called out as Kin walked up the stairs.
"So, uh, Naruto, what did you want to talk about." Naruto slowly turned around, a dangerous look in her eyes.
"Oh? Don't you know?" Sasuke began to sweat more profusely.
"Uuuuummmm….no?" Naruto walked up to the boy and began jabbing his chest with a finger.
"Last time we were together was right after the second exam and you said you would be training with sensei away from the village. You knew I wouldn't be able to do anything about what you said next. Did you really think I'd let you get away with that, Uchiha Sasuke? Did you really think you could just say you love me and then… disappear on me!" Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes as she slapped her teammate and boyfriend.
"What if I never saw you again? What if something happened during that month, eh? You knew about Gaara and everything, and then there was Orochimaru, and you didn't even bother to wait and listen for my reply!" Sasuke hung his head.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I was…afraid. I still am."
"Afraid? What about me? You think I'm not afraid!" She grabbed his arms. "I love you, you idiot, and even if I act like it doesn't faze me, Gaara's still scary. Did you know he tried to kill Lee in the hospital? If Shikimaru and me hadn't been dropping by he might have done it! He doesn't like you, and despite everything I've been doing, I know he's going to try and kill you, so why can you be afraid and not me?" She cried into his chest as he held her tightly, his mouth by her ear.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't afraid of that, though. What I was afraid of, was that you wouldn't feel the same way." Naruto looked up at him with her eyes still full of tears.
"What?"
"I was afraid that you wouldn't love me, too. I ran because I didn't want to hear you say you didn't feel the same way. I was born and raised Uchiha. We're a clan of fighters. I know death can come at any time. I've already lost everyone I ever cared about it. Until you, I wasn't afraid of death, either.
"Even so, more than being separated from you, more than loosing you to death, I was afraid it wouldn't matter because you didn't love me back. I was stupid, Naruto-chan, and I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." Naruto put a hand on his cheek, wiping away some of his tears, a smile on her face.
"You idiot. I love you. Of course I forgive you. This time," she added. "Next time you leave me hanging like that," she said dangerously, "next time, you're going to have to REALLY work for it."
"Okay," he whispered. "I can live with that," giving her a quick kiss. He looked up, grunting. "Guess Gaara got tired of waiting for you," he said, motioning to a floating eyeball that was just appearing. "Let's go," he said, taking her free hand as they both wiped away tears.
"Just for a minute. I need to talk to Kakashi sensei real fast before our match."
"Oh? And here I thought you were afraid Gaara was going to kill me?" She jabbed him in his stomach.
"You said sensei was teaching you a technique to deal with him, so I'll trust you guys. I was just being a little emotional," she said.
"Ah, of course," he said as they walked up to the balcony.
"Hey, don't you think it's weird we never saw Kankuro or Tenten while we were coming up?" Sasuke shrugged.
"Guess they didn't use the stairs. Looks like their fight is almost over, though. Guess you should get up to Kakashi sensei fast if you really need to talk to him. What's so important that it can't wait until after the exams?" Naruto looked around, seeing Temari and Kin wave at her as she and Sasuke appeared before turning back to the match, and Gaara scowling.
"Sensei was there when I was born. I need to hear it from him, to settle things with Gaara and them," she said.
"…fine. I'll see you after the match, yeah?"
"Yeah, definitely." She kissed him once more before going to the hallway. "Good luck, Sasuke-kun."
"You too."
So, what did you think of Kin's fight? I, personally, was HIGHLY satisfied by it. Against another opponent she might have won, but I've always seen Shino as being one of the stronger members of the rookie 12 with his intelligence and how he uses his insects. Just my opinion
Also, ouch, Sasuke's head must really be hurting now. First Naruto bowls him over, then she slaps him. How much damage can one guy take? Oh, wait...now he has to deal with the over protective big brother...guess he's not done being hurt yet, is he? On that note, expect differences from cannon on Gaara and Sasuke's fight. Remember, Naruto is a personal stresser between the two of them now.
And don't worry, Tenten vs Kankuro will be shown next chapter. I just wanted to not go as long as last time without giving you guys an update, so i'll have that in the next chapter, as well as Naruto and Kakashi (mwahahaha!) Any guesses on how that will go? Add that in your reviews, if you would. (Hime, NO telling! If you know my secrets you're NOT allowed to talk about them. . )
Thanks again for reading. Till next time!