Urgh, such a jumpy chapter!

As you can tell, I'm trying to fill in as much content in my chapters as I can. Because I don't know about you, but nothing infuriates me more than reading a chapter that's only just over a thousand words, and have too many chapters!

the last thing I want is this story to have over 100 chapters, and I'm sure you lot don't want that either (or maybe you do).

damn it I'm ranting, okay shutting up now.

enjoy the chapter and reviews are much appreciated!

:)

"Sweet little Kendra."

I gasped, scanning the dead field. I couldn't hear anything, not the sound of the wind, or the chirping of the birds. Just an uneery silence…

"Tetsuya" I hissed, turning around to see him standing there, an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"Why so baffled Kendra?" he remarked in a sickening sweet voice. He then tilted his head to the side with a very twisted smile, "don't you remember me? Because I certainly remember you."

"What do you want from me!?" I cried out, my fear growing more intense by the second.

Tetsuya laughed manically, "everything, sweet Kendra! I want everything!"

As he continued that crazed laugh of his, I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. With widened eyes, I glanced at it, a pale hand… covered with blood.

"I'm scared… I'm scared… I'm scared…."

Slowly turning my head, I couldn't but whimper in terror as I stared up at her… the woman covered in blood, with Tetsuya laughing in the background.

I shot up from bed, screaming till my lungs gave out.

"Tomoko!?" Haruo called worried as he barged into my bedroom.

I clutched on to my head with my eyes closed, the dream replaying in my mind.

"Hey… Sweostor?" Haruo called getting closer. "It's alright, you were dreaming, that's all."

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

'No! She's back!'

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

I harshly shoved the hand away, and grabbed a Kunai that was on my side table. I managed to pin them against the wall, holding the knife to there throat.

"Tomoko!?"

I blinked, snapping out of my fearful rage. Haruo's forest green stared down at me in shock, and was completely frozen.

'Haruo? What?'

"Calm down Sweostor" he said as calmly as he could, "take the Kunai away from my throat."

I dropped the knife, causing it to collapse to the ground with an echo. stepping away from him slightly, I stared in horror at my shaking hands.

"Oh god… what have I done?!" I cried out in anguish. "Haruo…" I whimpered looking up at him, "I'm so sorry, I didn't… I didn't…"

Immediately he embraced me, bringing my head to his chest. "Tomoko…" he whispered, "what ever it is you are seeking, please don't pursue it."

"What?" I breathed.

I felt his grip tighten "please, just remain the way are you are, just for a little while longer."

The pain that I could hear in his voice was almost unbearable, I'd never heard my brother talk like this.

"Brother" I spoke pushing out of his embrace slightly, "what does the name Kendra mean?"

Haruo combed my bangs away from my eyes "where did you hear that name?"

I turned my gaze downwards, not sure whether to tell him or not.

Haruo stared at me with a sad smile. "I've known you all my life, and still you struggle to open up to me." I stared up at him again, as he continued.

"I guess that's why I'm so jealous of him, of both of them. It only took the Uchiha brothers a month for you to become normal again."

My eyes widened slightly, it had been years since he talked about… him.

Haruo pulled me into a hug once again. "I only have one desire, sweostor" he spoke softly, "and that is to protect you, until my dying breath. I'll only ask one thing of you, Tomoko. And that's to be happy, and not change a thing."

'Haruo…'

I eventually wrapped my arms around his waist, returning his hug.

"Now, promise me you won't seek that name no more. Do you understand?"

I remained silent, not wanting to voice my thoughts.

'I'm sorry, Aaron. But I must remember what happened, even if it means sacrificing my happiness.'

The day had finally come, the day of the Chuunin exams. I was nervous, excited and scared. I'm not exactly sure how someone could feel those emotions all at once, but that's the only way I could describe what was going through my head.

However, as I sat on my bed, hugging my tucked legs and staring into nothing. Haruo's words from the early hours of this morning, echoed in my ears.

"Please, just remain the way you are for a little longer."

'What did he mean by that' I questioned, 'is this path I'm going down, really changing me?'

"Hey."

I looked up, seeing Sasuke standing in the doorway. I gave him a small smile "you're early."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, "actually, I'm right on time" he told me pointing at my clock.

I followed his finger, to see that it was indeed the time he said he would come over.

I couldn't help but laugh, "wow time sure flies when you're having fun eh?"

Sasuke threw me a very unconvinced look, which caused me to become slightly nervous.

"You're terrible at hiding how you feel" he stated sitting on the edge of the bed, "what's bothering you?"

"I've known you all my life, and still you struggle to open up to me. I guess that's why I'm so jealous of him, of both of them. It only took the Uchiha brothers a month for you to become normal again."

I hesitated, to really sure how to phrase my sentence.

"Do I seem… I don't know, different?"

"Different…?" Sasuke repeated slowly.

I nodded, scratching the back of my head.

Sasuke cleared his throat slightly. "Well" he began, "you're a lot more distracted, but… focused at the same time."

I through him a slight look of disbelief, "that… makes.. no sense!"

Sasuke shrugged, "well you've always been a complex person, and maybe slightly complicated."

"Is that a compliment? or an insult?" I asked with a wet drop on the back of my head.

"It's an observation" he confirmed, and nudged closer. "What's brought all this on?" he asked.

I hugged my legs tighter, "I had another nightmare last night. This one's the worst by far…"

"What happened?"

"It was pretty much the same, only Tesuya was in it… mocking me" I explained.

Sasuke was quiet for a short moment, till he asked what happened next.

"Haruo heard me screaming, and I didn't recognise him. So… I put a kunai to his throat."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly "Tomoko! that's-"

"I know!" I cut in "its bad, really bad! I have no idea what came over me, I just… got so caught up in my head."

He held his head in his hand with a contemplating stare, "no wonder your brother was so quiet this morning."

"He thinks I shouldn't take the exam" I told him, "what do you think I should do? and be honest."

Sasuke removed his hand from his head, "the ninja side of me is telling me, due to all the training we've done, is to take it. However, me as your friend, begs to differ."

I finally released my legs "so what should I do?"

"Think of it like this" he started, "if you don't take it, you'll never be able to confront Tesuya."

He was right, this was possibly the only chance I'd get, I had to take it.

Sasuke stood up and walked to my dresser, picking up my vambrace. "It's like Kakashi said, it only gets harder from here."

He threw the vambrace at me, causing me to catch them.

"Now" he announced, "if you're done questioning yourself, lets get a move on."

I smiled, and proceeded to fasten my vambrace on my arms.

Both me and Sasuke had finally arrived at the academy entrance, Naruto turned up not long after. We were now waiting on Sakura.

"She is coming right?" I asked.

Naruto scratched his face "I think so."

And speak of the devil, she turned the corner and walked towards us.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called "you're late."

Sakura held her hand up "sorry…" she said shyly. She then lingered her gaze on Sasuke, as if she was remembering something.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun" she greeted shyly.

Sasuke turned his head slightly and greeted her back with a dull hello.

"Are you alright Sakura?" I asked, noting how quiet she was.

"Hm? Oh yeah I'm fine, never better" she replied airily.

I gave her an unconvinced look, but didn't push the subject. If she wanted to talk about it, she would have done so.

"Come on" I spoke to everyone, "lets head inside."

All four of us walked into the building and down the halls. From what the form said, we needed to be on the third floor. However, a crowd of people were blocking our way.

A fight could be heard, and someone was talking about how you need to be at a commander level to pass this exam, or something along them lines. As we navigated through the crowd, we were now able to see two boys blocking the doorway.

The boy on the left had a bandana head band on, and had back eyes and long chocolate brown hair. The boy on the right, wore a regular headband and looked like he had a flu of some sorts.

'That's weird' I thought, 'those two look oddly familiar.'

"What's wrong with sifting out those who aren't going to pass anyway?" the left boy mused. I glanced upwards at the door sign, and my eyes narrowed.

'Room 201? That's not right.'

"That's a sound argument" said Sasuke stepping forward, "But I will pass." The rest of us followed behind him, but I lingered back a slightly. I wanted to see if any of them had figured it out yet.

Sasuke took another step forward, "and, undo this field you've created using an illusion technique, I want to go to the third floor."

'Nice one Sasuke!'

"What's that guy talking about?" I heard someone whisper. Another person replied with "I don't know."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, seriously… don't they know how to count?!

"Oh?" the left boy dragged.

"You noticed?" the left boy finished.

I swear, I know these guys from somewhere! They look like two of Haruo's friends, Kotetsu and Izumo. Well, they could be related to them I guess, but the similarities are too sharp.

"Sakura, how about you?" Sasuke asked turning his head to her, "you should've noticed first."

"What?" she breathed.

"Your analyzation skills and illusionary technique know-how is the best in our squad." Sasuke told her with a smirk.

'I see' I thought, he's trying to build her confidences back up.

"Sasuke-kun…" she muttered.

"Come on Sakura" I whispered to her, "tell everyone what's happening."

She smiled slightly, "Sasuke-kun, Tomoko…. thanks." She then perked up more, "of course I've noticed it already, because this is the 2nd floor."

Naruto nodded in agreement, even he could see it.

"Learn to count kids" I ordered playfully.

The right boy hummed, "you're pretty good. But being able to detect it isn't enough…" Suddenly, he moved in for an attack. Placing his hands on the ground, he lifted his leg into a kick.

Sasuke, prepared a counter and lifted his leg as well.

However, no contact was made, due to someone getting in-between them and catching the attack.

'Whoah, I didn't even see him move he was so fast!'

This guy, was… rocking a very interesting look, that's putting it nicely. He had black, very shiny hair that was cut into a bowl cut and the bushiest eyebrows I've ever seen. He also wore a forest green jump suit, a headband around his waist and orange leg warmers.

Like I said… his look was… interesting.

Suddenly, I felt a harsh gaze upon me. I turned my head left… and that's were I saw him.

'Tesuya.'

He was no longer wearing his black cloak, now I could see what he was wearing. He was wearing a white, male kimono top with long sleeves, and white baggy pants. He was wearing traditional ninja vambrace and leg braces. A grey cloth was hanging halfway up his stomach to his knees. And around his waist, was a red rope, holding everything in place.

His brown hair was down to his shoulders, so it was a little shorter than Haruo's, and his forest green eyes stared at me intently.

The jump suit guy's teammates could be heard talking to each other, but I wasn't really paying attention… until brushy brow stepped towards Sakura.

"Huh?" I blinked a couple of times, and watched him introduce himself.

"My name is Rock Lee" he announced confidently, "you are Sakura-san, right?"

Sakura had a slightly baffled look on her face, "what?"

He then gave her a toothy grin and held his thumb up, "Let's go out together! I will protect you until I die!"

I almost choked on my breath, well that was forward! I had to give it to him though, the guy had guts.

However, his big efforts seemed to have no effect on Sakura, in fact, I think it was the opposite to what he wanted.

"No way…" she replied.

Lee's forehead turned very blue "what?" he said defectively.

Sakura glared at him, "you're too 'unique' for my tastes."

I look at her completely disgusted "Sakura!" I snapped.

"What?!"

"That was just down right mean!" I scold.

"Oh come on" she moaned, "you gotta admit he is a little weird."

I slapped my hand on my forehead, "you can be such a bitch!"

"You're suppose to identify yourself before you ask" I suddenly heard Sasuke say smugly.

"You're a rookie aren't you?" a familiar voice asked him, "How old are you?"

"I'm not obligated to answer that" Sasuke replied simply.

"What!? Why you little… Tomoko?"

I turned around, hearing my name, and looked at the person who said it.

"Huh?" I then smiled, realising who it was "Oh hi! Fancy seeing you here!" He was quite tall, and had long brown hair with grey eyes.

Sasuke threw me a confused glance, as I stepped closer.

"So you're a part of the rookies from this year" my friend remarked.

I nodded, "yep."

"Oh" the female teammate, with brown buns tied hair on both sides of her head, sang "So this is Tomoko-san? So you're the one-"

"Shut up Tenten!" my friend hissed.

i giggled, "always so riled up!"

My friend blushed a deep crimeson shade.

Sasuke then turned to the left and began walking off, it was then I noticed Lee leaning against the wall all depressed. What caught me off guard, was that Naruto was doing it to.

"I'm too unique…?" I heard Lee repeated solemnly, along with Naruto saying "no one cares about me."

I shook my head at them, its not like it was the end of the world.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, lets go!" Sakura suddenly cheered and grabbed their hands. As they began to walk off, I lingered behind and faced the depressed boy.

"Lee right?" I spoke, making him look up. "I'm sorry about her" I told him sheepishly "sometimes she doesn't engage brain before mouth."

Lee smiled at me "oh that's quite alright! If anything, fair maiden, it has made me more determined to win her heart."

I could feel a slight wet drop form on the back of my head, "well… erm… good luck with that… I guess."

He held his thumb up to me, "You are a very kind and beautiful person Tomoko-san, its no wonder-"

"Lee!"

I laughed slightly, "thanks well I best catch up with my team. It was nice meeting you, and I'll see you around Neji!"

I waved goodbye and did a short jog to meet up with my teammates.

"So… how do you know that guy?" Sasuke asked noticing my presence. They all stopped and turned to face me, curious to know my answer.

"He's my friend's cousin" I simply replied, "I don't know him that well but I see him from time to time, we chat sometimes."

"Is he powerful?" Sasuke quizzed.

I shrugged, "yeah I guess, but like I said… I hardly know the guy."

"he seemed to know you quite well" Sakura pointed out.

I threw her a harsh glare "well at least I don't judge books by their covers! I'm still disgusted at what you said!"

Sakura gave me a surprised look, then huffed "well excuse me! But some of us don't want boys to be fanning all over you like some rare bird!"

"He was being nice! you Knucklehead!" I shot back venomously "And since when to boys fan all over me?!"

"Oh please!" she dragged out, "you're so naive and gullible! It's sickening to watch!"

"shut up Sakura!" I hissed.

"Oh look at me" she mocked with a voice a pitch higher, "I'm Tomoko, I pretend that my life is just perfect! I think everyone loves me when in fact everyone just feels sorry for me, because I try to hide the fact that I'm completely messed up in the head because of some wacky dream!"

A very awkward silence followed. Yeah, I had actually told Sakura about my nightmares, but not in as much detail as I did with Sasuke. But that's not the point, the fact that she just blurted it out for everyone to hear… was mortifying for me.

Sakura, realising what she just said, covered her mouth and gasped.

Angry was an understatement, I… was… fuming!

"Tomoko… I'm-"

"You're such a brat!" I bellowed, "I trusted you not to tell anyone! And you yell to the hills about it!"

"I'm sorry" she tried to apologise, but I wasn't having any of it. I held my hand out to stop her from approaching me, "Sakura! If you come any closer to me, I won't hestiate to smack you one."

Surprisingly Naruto and Sasuke remained quiet, probably because they knew once I was in a rage… any consoling would earn them an injury.

I breathed in and out heavily, trying to calm myself down. "I need to walk this off, I'm too pissed off to be near any of you right now!"

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sasuke asked in a hush tone.

I shook my head, "I'll see you guys later."

I didn't say another word as shoved past Sakura and turned left. I wasn't sure how long I walked for, as I was so caught up in my own head. After a short while, I finally stopped, and leaned on the wall via my shoulder, and hung my head low.

"Messed up huh?" I drawled, slowly… I felt tears running down my face. The truth was, I didn't storm off because I was angry… I did it because I didn't want them to see me cry.

It's pathetic really, I can usually handle Sakura's snobbish comments well. but with everything going on right now… I was just more sensitive than usual.

I turned to leaned my back against the wall and proceeded to wipe my tears away, "come on Tomoko, pull yourself together!"

"Oh but you're so pretty when you cry…"

I shot my head up, when I heard the voice that haunted my dream.

"Tesuya!" I said through gritted teeth.

I didn't even notice him standing in front of me, god I'm so out of it.

"Oh so you remember me now?" he jeered.

I huffed "I heard you're teammate call you that, I'm not stupid!"

"Ah" he said, sounding disappointed but not in a pleasant way, "I wish you could remember the times we would spend together sweet Kendra."

"Stop calling me that!" I snapped.

But all Tesuya did was laugh manically.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Who are you? and how do you know me!?"

Suddenly, Tesuya trapped me between his body, and the wall. His arms trapped my shoulders, and his face was dangerously close to mine.

"Get off me" I demanded, beginning to panic slightly.

"But you're so adorable when you squirm" he replied, his hot breath hitting my face, it made me want to gag.

I went to grab a Kunai from my pouch, but he caught my wrist and slammed it above my head.

"Let go of me!"

"Since you're so determined to know, I guess I can let slip a little bit of information." he sang and brought his lips to my ear.

As he whispered the answer in my ear, I gasped in horror.

Eventually he pulled away, but was still too close for comfort.

"Are you shocked?" he teased.

"If you're my… then why are you after me!?" I demanded.

I began to lose my breath, as he grabbed my throat and began to squeeze down.

"Because you're existent mocks my own, because of you I have remained in the shadows" he hissed, "and embraced the darkness."

"So… ack… you were… there that… ack… day?" I managed to choke out.

He pulled a very twisted smile, "yes little Kendra, and now I've come to finish what I started."

"Tomoko?!"

Tesuya glanced to the right, "oh, your teammates have finally arrived."

I attempted to look at them, but he harshly crashed my head against the wall, forcing me to cry out in pain.

"Let's give them a little show, shall we?"

"What-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence, due to the fact that this boy, who wants me dead… planted his lips brutally on mine.

I screamed into his mouth, and attempted to push him off! But he was a lot stronger than me. I never felt so sick in my life, I didn't want him this close to me!

When he removed his lips from mine, I began to gag excessively… I wanted to hurl so bad right now.

Tesuya turned his gaze to the right again, "I think they enjoyed that."

Now I could look at my temmates. Sakura had a very shocked expression, Sasuke was trying his best to remain calm, and Naruto… couldn't contain his anger.

"Get your fifthly hands off of her!" he screamed.

Tesuya raised an inquisitive eyebrow "he's a lively one."

"Don't hurt them! Or I swear-"

"Relax little Kendra" the cut in "I won't lay a finger on their naive little heads."

Sasuke glared at him, "So you're Tesuya."

"Tesuya?" Sakura repeated, "you know this guy Sasuke-kun?"

"This bastard has harassed Tomoko before" he answered her, "I saw it myself."

"Ah yes I remember you now" Tesuya chimed wickedly, "but… you weren't the one who interrupted our reunion." He pondered for a moment, "lets see, he was a scary looking fellow, with eyes of a demon-"

"Enough!" Naruto yelled, "let go of her now!" Naruto came charging towards us. But Tesuya was too fast, and flung me at him, causing us both to crash on the ground.

Urgently, I gasped and coughed heavily for air.

"Tomoko!" Sakura cried and kneeled to check on me.

I cradled my throat and glared up at my enemy.

All Tesuya did was smirk, "now that's the look I want to see, I look forward to seeing you again, sweet Kendra."

And with that, he walked away.

"Are you alright Tomoko?" Sakura fussed.

I couldn't help but cough a little, "I'll be fine…"

"THAT BASTARD! I SHOULD KICK HIS ASS FOR WHAT HE DID!"

"Stop it Naruto!"

Everyone stared at me in shock.

"Don't hurt him…" I ordered.

"Why!?" Naruto demanded.

"Because… he's my cousin."