Hello and happy new year (since this is my first update this year)!

Thanks and cookies to Aiko Tachibana, Jestie Uchiha and sakuuzumaki753 for your reviews!

School starts tomorrow and since yesterday I always slept till midday... joy...

Sins and Sunshine

Chapter 21: Preliminaries

"Great, preliminaries..." Nobu grumbled, glaring at the guy who'd be the examiner for this round.

"Shouldn't you be happy about it? Since this way you get to fight more often." I suggested to cheer him up.

"Oh, you're right! Yeah, preliminaries!" he now cheered and went back to being a hyper battle maniac. Though, I couldn't understand why he was so keen on getting into fights. I'd prefer to avoid hard work and exhausting things... Why again did I choose to become a ninja?

The examiner spoke up and asked if someone wanted to quit beforehand. For a brief second I even thought about withdrawing but decided against it. Nobu would definitely haunt me if I did. So while waiting for this to go on I overheard Sakura trying to convince Sasuke to quit. I had to resist the urge to facepalm. He was an Uchiha, of course he would never ever in his life run away from a fight. She's a stalker- I mean fangirl and doesn't even know that? Pathetic. When she even threatened to spill this about the curse mark I rolled my eyes and shouted out to the coughing man in front of us who waited for us to make up our mind.

"Hey, as you can see no one wants to quit. So can we go on, please?"

"Hell, yeah! I want to fight!" Nobu yelled and backed me up, even thought this way I got more attention than I originally wanted.

The examiner coughed again and scanned us genin one last time before he sighted and called out to us.

"If there's really no one who wants to withdraw, then we'll start with the preliminaries."

"Yahoo!" Nobu yelled and I punched him in the ribs to make him shut up. Seriously, sometimes this guy is just pissing me off.

Then a plate on the wall move to the side and revealed a huge flat screen. I almost started to drool, when I imagined this giant screen in my living room. Just like a home cinema! But unfortunately I couldn't just take it home since it showed the pairs who were going to battle each other. Pity.

And the first pair was already selected. It was Nobu and some guy called Kabuto.

"Yeah! I'm first!" Nobu shouted and stepped to the front, eyeing the silver haired guy with glasses in front of him while we other were walking up the balcony that surrounded the arena. When all the non-combatants had left the battle ground the examiner commenced the fight.

"And... start!"

"I surrender." Kabuto said as soon as the examiner had spoken.

"What?" Nobu called out bewilderedly.

"Nobu wins!"

"Wait! I want to fight! Nooo, that's not fair!" he cried as he glumly walked up the stairs of the balkony, a dark cloud hovering over his head.

And then the next pair already got announced. It was Sasuke against some unimportant guy from Kabuto's team.

"Go, Sasuke-kun!" I cheered my friend on.

"Yeah! Sasuke-kun you can do it!" the two fangirls shouted in unison. A cold shower ran down my spine. Did I sound like a fangirl just now? Creepy!

Unfortunately from the beginning it was clear that the guy whose name doesn't interest me prevailed while Sasuke not only had to fight him but also the pain of his curse mark. Well, he could pin down his opponent with some cool judo hold – I didn't even know that he actually can do judo! - but the other guy drained Sasuke's chakra with his hand. Then he grabbed Sasuke's head with named hand and continued absorbing.

"Oh no, he drains his brain!" I said in mock horror.

"Not the brain, the chakra." Nobu corrected me, thinking that I actually meant what I said. And since this was the case I decided to play along.

"Then wouldn't it be more efficient to absorb it from the stomach where chakra gets manipulated? Nope, he's definitely draining his brains."

"And why should he want to do this?"

"That's because so many girls cheered for Sasuke and since he can't find any girlfriend he got envious and now drains his brain to find out why Sasuke's so popular and he's not." I explained with a serious face and Nobu widened his eyes in realization.

"So that's why..."

"Minari-chan. It's not nice to fool your comrades." Hatsuru-sensei said after mysteriously popping out of nowhere behind me.

"Sensei? Where have you been the whole time?" I asked him when I realized that he was the only teacher absent up until now.

"Well, I didn't feel like listening to all the talk before the matches so I just came late." he explained with a kind smile.

"I know what you mean but as a contestant I can't just skip." I said sadly and pouted.

"Don't worry. When you're a Jonin you can do that, too." he reassured me with a smile and patted my head. My eyes lightened up. Yay, privileges!

"Sasuke wins!" the examiner announced indifferently.

"Aww, now I missed the battle." I whined and the last thing I saw was the unconscious body of that unimportant guy that was carried out of the arena and Sasuke who disappeared together with Kakashi-sensei.

The next match was Shino versus Zaku Abumi, one of the Oto-nin.

First it looked like Zaku couldn't move his arms, but one was okay and he fired air out of a hole on his palm. Shino dodged and ordered his insects to surround him and then it resulted that Zaku was able to use both of his arms, but when he wanted to use that air shot again both arms went 'boom!' because Shino's insects blocked the holes. This way Shino won the fight.

After that was Kankuro's turn to fight another unimportant minor character. And since non of them was interesting enough to watch I just ignored them. Instead I leaned on the railing on the balcony and rested my head on my right hand while I glanced to the other side of the room where a certain redhead was located. When he noticed me I sent him a smile but he just coldly glared at me and looked away. My smile dropped and I continued to watch him with a bitter expression in my eyes. It really hurt to be treated by him like this and unconsciously I started to doubt the meaning of the music box he gave me the other day. Maybe he really hated me and just wanted to clear his debts or something.

"Kankuro wins!" the examiner shouted.

"Who cares?" I shot back. A bit too loud I guess since Kankuro's arrogance dropped and got replaces with a sour expression.

"No one cares for me." me mumbled sadly as he left the arena. Normally I'd now feel guilty for taking my chagrin out on others. But really, who cares for Kankuro?

The next pair was Ayano and Sakura.

"Good luck, Ayano-chan!" I shouted after her as she went down the stairs to the battle ground.

"And try not to kill her!" Nobu added with a happy face and got bewildered looks from others, including me.

The moment the examiner commenced the fight Ayano vanished and reappeared behind the pink haired girl to hit her with the side of her hand in the neck. Sakura fell to the ground unconscious and Ayano was announced as the winner.

"Ayano wins! The matches get shorter and shorter." the examiner said and mumbled the last part.

Sakura got carried back to the others and slowly woke up again.

"Did... Did I win?" she asked confusedly.

"You lost big-time! Not even two seconds did you-!" Naruto shouted laughing but was silent by a punch to the face from an irritated Sakura.

"Hey, forehead. How does it feel to lose without even putting up a fight?" Ino mocked her.

"Shut up, Ino-pig! You wouldn't even had hung on for a single second!"

"Nice, Ayano-chan! That was fast." I complimented my teammate who had already made her way back to us. She nodded and then motioned with her head to the screen that now showed mine and Ino's name.

"Oh, time for me to go. Wish me luck, guys." I said calmly and took the stairs down to the battle ground. There I faced a glaring Ino that shot daggers at me with her eyes. Oh, how I missed this I-hate-you-because-Sasuke-like-you-more-than-me-glare since I wasn't in the same team as Pinky anymore.

"Wait, a Takanaki?" Baki, the teacher of Gaara and his siblings, suddenly burst out. I glanced at the screen that said 'Takanaki Minari' and innerly cursed that they had to present my whole name to someone of Sunagakure but remained calm and shot the man a cold stare.

"If the screen says it then it must be true, right?"

"How can that be? I thought they were all..." he mumbled and bit his lower lip, staring at me with a sour expression. I laughed out and turned back to the blond girl in front of me. A bitter smile crossed my face.

This day gets better and better...

Then the fight started and Ino began with Taijutsu. We exchanged some punches but no one of us landed a heavy blow. Looked like we were pretty much at the same level in Taijutsu. We backed away from each other to go for a different tactic.

This time I took the initiative and threw two shuriken at the girl and ran towards her taking a kunai in each hand. Ino also used a kunai to block the shuriken but had to backflip when I slashed at her horizontally with my kunais. I didn't let her retreat so easily and kept slashing at her while she defended herself with her own kunai and tried to get some distance between us.

In the meantime Pinky was shouting some insults at Ino to piss her off. I really wondered how these two could be in any sort of a friendly relationship. Shikamaru told me that they were previously best friends but with the looks of it I really doubted that.

Ino now reached into the pouch on her leg to draw out a shuriken that she threw at me and I had to back away but it scraped me on my cheek.

She summoned a clone and they dashed toward me, one coming from the left the other from the right. When they reached me at the same time and slashed their weapon at my I jumped in the air and my kunai at each of them. The real Ino blocked it with her own while the clone disappeared. I used the chance and grapped her hand in which she held the knive and twisted it while I came to the ground again making the groaning in pain. She used the other hand to take the kunai and tried to stab me, so I had to let go of her arm and take some distance again. She rubbed her aching wrist and I frowned when I saw that she could still use her hand. I intended to break her wrist to prevent her from making any more hand seals but seems that I failed.

"You'll pay for that." she hissed and I picked up a kunai and shuriken that lay on the ground next to me. Unfortunately I didn't have an endless supply on weapons so I had to be careful.

"Hey Ino-Pig, you're not in any way better than me, you know?" Pinky spat with an arrogant grin.

"Shut up, forehead!"

"Your fault for spending all your time treating your hair instead of training!"

"Would you please shut up now? There's a fight going on!" I shot back since it's irritating to fight someone seriously who's constantly arguing with a third party. Can't they just quarrel when I'm not in the midst of fighting one of them?

"I have enough! Take that, forehead!" Ino screamed and I now expected her to throw something at Sakura but much to my surprise she didn't. No, instead she cut off her hair and threw it on the flow. The wind of her movement causing the hair strands to scatter around the whole floor.

"What the-" I mumbled then noticed that Ino got into a strange stance where she formed a trapezoid with her hands and stretched them towards me. I heard the Yamanaka-clan could transfer their mind into those of others and this way taking control of their body. May this was it?

Nervously I skip from one foot to the other. Maybe I can outrun this jutsu if I try hard enough.

"Hehehe, this is the end." Blondy said and chuckled eerily.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" The moment those words left the girl's mouth I sped up and ran to the side hoping this way I could escape her. And really, after I felt no change and saw Ino standing there with a hanging head I thought that I did it. To make sure if she was unconscious I drew closer but something prevented me to.

"What?" I called out as I noticed the strands of hair wrapped around my ankles and holding me on place.

"Hee, I got you." Ino grinned.

"So you faked it." I stated.

"Yeah and this time I'll definitely make you surrender. Now who's the useless one, forehead?" she shouted to her love rival, who didn't have any words left to retort.

"Bring it." I said and got ready for whatever may came now.

Again Ino called out the name of her technique and this time used it for real, since my vision went completely black.

Thehe, you lost, Minari! Ino taunted inside my thoughts.

Oh, you think so?

W-What the? Who are you? she stuttered with fear in her voice. It sounded like she faced Kumiho right now, but I couldn't tell since my vision was still black and I could only hear their voices.

You little worm dared to intrude my realm. Don't think that won't have any consequences for you, the Demon stated with a cold voice. After her saying this there was a huge invisible force that, just like a sound wave, spread inside my head and tossed Ino's mind out of mine and back to hers.

I could finally open my eyes again and saw Ino's bodyfalling backwards from the mental impact. I got on her knees and looked at me in fear while clrawling away to try to get more distance between us.

"W-What are you?" she whispered with a trembling voice.

"Ignorant mortal fool." a voice that wasn't mine said through my mouth. In fear I realized that Kumiho took control of my body and all I could do was watch as she used my body to take a step towards the shaking girl.

What are you doing, Kumiho? Give me back my body! I shouted at her inwardly while a numb feeling crept into my mind.

"Not yet. First we have to teach her a lesson." she answered while an evil smirk appeared on my face. The numbness turning into a slightly stinging pain.

No, we won't! Stop It! Now!

Outside POV (because I can)...

"You can't stop me like this." The brown-haired girl called out with a strange voice too deep for her young age.

"What's with her?"

"Why is she talking to herself?"

"What's with that creepy voice?" the spectators mumbled and became nervous from the progress of this fight.

"I... I give up!" Ino stuttered and stumbled back to the stairs to the hopefully save balcony.

"Then... Minari wins... I guess..." the examiner mumbled, not sure how to deal with this kind of situation.

"Aw, now she espaced." Minari's dark voice sighted in an cooing voice.

"Stop it!" her normal voice suddenly shouted out.

"Not yet."

"Go away!"

The girl clawed her fingernails into her arms and crouched down shivering like all the warmth of her body was suddenly gone.

"You should stop that, or-"

She threw her head into the neck and with her eyes and mouth wide open she released a sharp scream.

"Someone has to stop her!" Baki growled already preparing for the worst. But nobody paid attention to him but stared at the girl in the middle of the arena.

She threw her body from one side to the other and screamed non-stop. Everybody watched in horror as she lay on the ground shaking violently and screaming her mind to the heavens. Since no one dared to intervene this continued up to ten minutes until the cries slowly stopped and the girl no lay motionless on the floor, a flat breathing indicating that she was still alive.

"Minari-chan!" Naruto shouted and wanted to run to her side, but Hatsuru already kneeled next to her examining her body. Her arms were bleeding on the place where she dug her fingernails into the flesh and on some place of her body appeared light burn marks. He raised the lid of her left eye and saw that her pupils weren't moving in the light of the hall.

"She's unconscious." he stated and lifted her from the ground.

"I'll get her to the hospital." he announced and disappeared with the girl in his arms.

"Minari-chan..." Naruto mumbled as he watched the Jonin carrying her off.

"That was crazy." Kiba stated aloud and made some people nod in agreement.

"Did you fell that chakra? Enormous." Nobu said with an unusual serious face to his teammate Ayano.

"..." she glared at the Jonin from Sunagakura who gazed scornfully after the unconscious girl.

Whoop, finished! I should already be in bed, though... Stupid school! x_x

Something I noticed: chapter 55 of the manga the first page, Sasuke has a monologue with his younger self. He talking like 'all this happened because you're so weak' and 'you let them die' and 'all you did was watch'. Now there I thought about two things that weren't quite right there. 1) How in the world could a little brat who wasn't even Genin defeat his brother who was a prodigy and even stronger than Anbu-level? And 2) Even if that would make sense (which it doesn't in my eyes. Just how much stronger did he want to be as a 6 year old or whatever?), how in the world would he be able to stop his brother when at the time he came back everyone was already dead? He can't save dead persons and he didn't watch them die...

That's pretty much all I wanted to say. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and good night! ^.^