V 9 ch 4
Chuunin Exam Finals Part I
Onari sat outside upon a fallen tree, her eyes staring off at the woods, her ears keen to the sense that Kiba was watching her. The past few weeks involved with the Inuzuka clan had been an ordeal for her. She was ordered to remain inside their territory considering what had befallen. The hope she had in her heart that it was only a trail matter, had gradually faded each time the rains came. Izumi would not answer her when Kiba had returned several times after meeting with the Uchiha. She knew he was disappointed in her, too.
Without Takeru,… Onari's mind flashed to him standing on the back walkway, straightening his posture as he turned to smile at her. His eyes were always so kind to her. It was a dream then, but now it's turned into a nightmare. Her brows furrowed, trying to understand where her path lay now.
Kiba felt bad for her as he walked up behind her. Onari had remained by herself the entire time, not wishing to talk, or look at anyone who came near her. She rarely touched the food Kashira prepared for her, or glanced at Areku. The Chuunin exams were upon the teams now. Everyone was preparing to fight their opponents for the matches coming up. Team 9 was still less one person. "Onari, Areku is going to train for a little while. He wants to know if you want to go with him."
Onari turned her head slightly, only to regard Kiba. He was still her brother, as she had claimed him the first time she had met him. "He doesn't need a sparring partner," she said quietly, dismissing the matter. "Or are you forgetting I'm not allowed to leave?"
Kiba sighed as he watched her turn back around. "Sprout, I know things right now don't seem fair," he said crouching behind her with one knee on the ground, his hand out. "I'm allowing you to go with Areku."
"It is fair for what I have done, Kiba," Onari said quietly and seriously. "I betrayed the people who have given me a home. Takeru is not coming back. He's gone. I've lost to Gekido and the Uchiha."
"You've only lost to yourself," Kiba told her, his voice now fatherly. "You cannot change the past, but you can let it control you." Salt drifted to his nostrils. "Onari," he said softer, his hand lifting to fall onto the top of her head. She shunned away from him, her mind made up.
Kiba stood leaving her where she was, walking towards the woods. He stopped knowing the other person was there. Kiba ran his fingers through his hair, trying to brush off the uneasy feeling he had. "She cries every day for him," he said into the open air. "Are you blaming her for everything?"
"I'm having a hard time with all of this, Kiba. Despite how she feels, I have to look at this from a different perspective now. Not choosing to confide in us about her concerns, or past, is no better than lying to us," Izumi said with her back leaned against the tree. "It was a tough decision to make regarding our family. It's become rather interesting since Onari and Daiya have come into our lives." Lowering her head, Izumi sighed sadly. "I'd like her to come home for her brother – to know that we could be a family again, but the change I've seen in my husband when her name is mentioned-"
"I understand," Kiba said reflecting on how Sasuke could honestly feel now that his only biological son was still hospitalized. "What about the exams? They continue in a few days. Will she compete?"
"Lee advised me that she was still part of his team. She'll go to the exams, if she so chooses. Just keep her separated from Sasuke," Izumi said. "He has to focus on his team succeeding. I'd rather his mind be distracted."
Onari stepped slowly into the Mist village, her eyes looking past everyone around her. Eiyu was standing away from her, his mind also on other things. It felt strange for her to be in the foreign village without Takeru. She wasn't sure competing in the exams was what she wanted. In order for her to win, she'd have to display everything she had learned. Was that wise?
Rock Lee sensed the sadness radiating from his team. They had lost a member. He had to refocus his group on their objective. Turning around, he stopped in the middle of the road as other teams moved around them. "Team 9, we need to gather our strength. If you're not focused going into the exams, you're not going to win. That's what we're here for."
Eiyu glanced at Onari. "It was a waste of our time to come here. Onari's not going to properly give it her all, so why should we continue?" At that point, she looked at him. "Get your mind off of him. There's nothing we can do about it. It was a poor decision you made. Man up."
"Eiyu, we fight as a team. Holding Onari responsible for what went wrong on a mission is not going to bring us together, or encourage each other to participate," Rock Lee said. He stared hard at Neji's son. "Nor is it going to change what is front of us. You two must be prepared. Your opponents are strong. Neither of you should forget what may occur in there."
"I'm ready for anything they throw at me," Eiyu said confidently, closing his eyes with his head turned away from Onari. He was ashamed to be in the same team as her. It was going around that she had betrayed the Uchiha – the very ones she owed her life to. "I won't deceive my team. It's my second family," he said stressing the latter word.
Onari tensed at the mention of the words 'deceive' and 'family'. So Eiyu knows, too. I suppose it's going around the village about what I've done. They all know. She closed her eyes, the images of the rookies on the other teams showing in her head. They're all going to be against me when we wait our turns to compete.
Ryu leaned against the opening to the balcony outside of the room he and his team were staying in for the exam. His hands hung from his pockets by his thumbs, head lowered. He waited until he was a hundred percent sure Sasuke was gone before he opened his mouth. "Have you heard from her," he asked Daiya softly, his eye focused on the door.
Daiya leaned forward, his hands remaining in the back pack. "No, she hasn't tried to contact me," he said speaking of his sister. Was it true that Team 9 was avoiding Team 2?
Saori tinkered with Rose, popping the puppet's cavity open. The puppet's head tilted to the side as if it had just been taken out. "She's not trying to avoid you," Saori said speaking to Daiya as she cleaned Rose's inner workings. "It's because of sensei."
"She didn't know Takeru was going to get hurt," Daiya said in Onari's defense. "Why is everyone treating her as if she had planned everything out? That's not the way she operates. Onari is sly, yes, but she's not malicious!"
Ryu nudged Daiya's arm with his foot. "Keep your voice down. It's going around amongst the teams that Onari has been thrown out of the Uchiha compound. No one knows really what happened to Takeru, or why. All they know is he got injured on a mission. I haven't told – nor has Saori. We were the ones involved, too." Ryu saw how Daiya started to second guess his friendship with him. "I wouldn't hurt you by blabbing," he said seriously narrowing his eyes back. "It's not my place to speak to one person about another."
Daiya looked away. "I'm sorry, Ryu. I want my family back together. My sister is exiled from the house. She's all that I have besides Takeru. His status hasn't changed for weeks."
Rose fell over with a thud, the sound of it causing Ryu and Daiya to jump. "Sorry," Saori said looking at them apologetically. "I didn't expect that to be stuck. It's hard for me to pull it out from that angle."
"What are you trying to pull out of it," Daiya asked with a brow raised.
"Usually when I'm going up for a spar, or a scheduled match, I take everything out of Rose to clean it. Which means her gears and weapons," Saori said grunting as she tried to pull on a fixed gear. "They have to be replaced, or they stick like this one," she said pulling until she fell backwards. Rose flew back slamming onto the floor.
Daiya stood up, walking over to retrieve the large puppet. He dragged it over to Saori. "Ryu, hold it while we pull," he ordered. Ryu walked over sitting down to wrap his arms fully around Rose. Daiya and Saori grabbed a hold of the gear. They started to pull hard. Soon Daiya was digging his heels into the floor, his back arched as he yanked hard. "Dammit, Saori, replace these more often!"
"They're expensive," Saori argued as she pulled just as hard. They were dragging Ryu across the floor grunting.
Sasuke opened the door to the room. He stopped to see his team struggling with Rose. "This is when I need a camera," he said seeing Ryu being dragged by his two team mates. Suddenly the gear came lose. Saori was sent flying backwards in a roll, the gear in her hand grazing Daiya's cheek. The girl hit the wall so hard her elbow went through it to the other room.
Saori pulled her elbow free as padding feet was heard from the other room. "Sorry, sensei," she said the moment knocking came from their door. Saori held her hurt elbow, extending it gently. The pain hit her, causing her to close her eyes for a split second.
Sasuke opened the door to see a rookie from the Rice team eying him. He stared at the boy with black hair and red eyes. There was an escrimer stick on the youth's back, being held by a leather strap. "Yes?"
"You punched a hole into our room," Achira Baisotei said stating the obvious. He waited expecting the man to apologize, but it appeared to not be on the man's conscious. "Repair it now, or we'll report you to the inn keeper," he threatened by withdrawing his escrimer.
Sasuke moved slightly towards the boy, his movements slow, mood changing to lethal. "I don't take orders from a rookie," he said smearing the last word as if it were disgraceful. His arm started to move, hand clasping down on the hilt of his grass cutter sword. A hand latched onto his wrist. Sasuke remained still, the fingers lightly touching his skin.
"It was an accident," Ryu said from behind his trainer. "Challenging a Jounin won't get you any points of passing. He's a lot more skilled than you."
"Stand down," Mai Noyoki said walking down the hall of the inn on the second floor. "You're supposed to be training." She put her hand on her hip, body leaning to the side, her long blue hair hanging off her left shoulder.
"They distracted me," Achira said keeping his eyes on the Leaf-nin. "There's now a nice hole in the wall between the rooms. He said it was an accident, but I don't buy that. They're eavesdropping."
Daiya stuck his head out of the door hearing the conversation starting to escalate. "Eavesdropping? So we could sit around hearing you talk to yourself, or fart in your room when your team mates are gone?" His mouth was silenced by Sasuke placing the palm of his hand upon it.
"If you were distracted by a noise, then you need to train harder," Mai stressed pointing her finger to the room. "Go, or I'll make the Chuunin exams look like a Rank D mission." Her eyes followed his movements, up until he stopped to glare at the trainer from the Hidden leaf village. Mai moved her leg, kicking his legs out from underneath him. Achira fell to the floor with a thud – right on his face. "You're embarrassing me."
Sasuke started to back into the room. He turned around to let his eyes fall onto Ryu. "You're just like your father," he said causing Ryu to blush slightly at the compliment. "Saori, how is your arm?"
"It's fine," she lied. Saori tensed when Sasuke knelt to look at it. He took her arm, bending it fully out. When she flinched hard, he tilted his head at her.
"Fine, huh? Daiya, hand me the bandages," he ordered. Sasuke wrapped Saori's elbow, his eyes focusing on the work that had to be done. "Go ask the innkeeper for some ice, Ryu."
Ryu nodded.
"Getting injured before a challenge, is not wise," Sasuke said, his dark eyes looking into Saori's. "Try to be more careful," he offered as late advice. Sasuke went to the window to look out at the Mist village. Down below he could see teams moving about exploring, or trying to find their rooms. For a brief moment, he wondered where Onari was in all of this.
Onari leaned against the tree, her eyes staring at the people in the village. She wasn't supposed to be alone out in the open. Lee had warned her that the rookies were on edge with the other teams. The way she felt about her life now, was the only thing on her mind. It wasn't the same without the Uchiha. Being in their care had given her life meaning and purpose. She hadn't felt like an outcast as she had grown up to be. Her abilities were impressive for a girl who hadn't known anything about ninjutsu two years ago.
He stood watching her for a moment from a distance, his eyes showing sympathy. What he had been hearing around the village had nerved him to approach her. After all, he knew how things could be falsely carried from one person to another. Idai slowly walked towards her, waiting for Onari's eyes to lift – to notice him. Her stance was slack, showing her guard was down, mind overtaken by her thoughts.
Idai not only saw the hurt in the girl's face, but also felt it in the air. She had loved Takeru beyond anything anyone could understand. He was hoping that Onari would let him be a messenger for her and Daiya. Regardless of the situation built up around them, they were still family. Idai lifted his fingers to gently touch her cheek, moving them upwards in a light stroke. The sensation of it caused Onari's eyes to lift quickly, her body tensing as her back slammed against the tree. "Sorry, I didn't know of any other way to get your attention," he said.
Onari noticed Idai wasn't looking at her with distrust as some of the other rookies. "What do you want," she said softly, her yellow eyes staying upon him. "Are you here to see how much of a liar I am?"
"I know it's hard for you to believe that I'm here for other reasons, Onari. Wouldn't you like to hear from Daiya," Idai asked watching her. The thought of it shocked her. "He knows you haven't been able to contact him because of Sasuke sensei. I can talk to him easier than you can right now."
Onari shook her head, averting her gaze. "I don't have anything to say to anyone. Go away," she said refusing his help. Her trust with others had diminished. In fact, Onari was becoming angry at everyone around her.
Idai turned around slowly, he walked off, but before he got too far, he stopped. "Ninja have to look at everything around them for the truth, Onari. What happened to Takeru was not your doing, nor your fault. If it had been, you wouldn't have bothered to stay in the village." He went back to his team.
Crowds of people cheered in the stands, their voices echoing throughout the area as the rookies were unmasked. Each of the students from the teams found themselves standing on a stone platform with nothing more than iron railing to prevent anyone from slipping down to the dark waters below. Leading from the platform was a series of steps that stopped at another small platform until it continued with more steps. Out in the middle of the large lake was constructed a circular stone foundation three feet high from the surface of the water and four thousand feet in diameter. By the looks of it, there was no cause for error. One slip off the platform led you into the water. There was nowhere to hide. They were going to be out in the open with everyone watching.
"This event is going to be tougher on them," Rock Lee said his eyes looking at the circular stone.
"If they so much as fall off of it, they're disqualified," Kiba said with his hands on his hips. "It's a bit unfair for a sparring match." He stood on his tip toes above the other Jounin standing in a separate stand as he tried to see his team. They were too far out for him to even make them out.
"Fair for who? It's adequate for the Mist village. The water element is flowing around the structure as an advantage to those with that ability," Sasuke said. Takeru wouldn't have a problem with this. He could of dismissed it as a hindrance. Sasuke's mind flashed to the past for a brief moment. He remembered how young Takeru had been when he was learning to manipulate water. Izumi's heritage flows strong in him as my own. His eyes flashed to the announcer approaching the stone in the middle of the lake. I can't think about that now!
The announcer stood with his hands behind his back, his dark eyes looking out amongst the water towards the stands where the trainers and the people from the mist village sat. His rough appearance played well into the atmosphere of the final battles for the Chuunin exams. Disregarding the platform behind him, he spoke only to the stands. "This is the final battle for those participating to pass from the rank of Genin to Chuunin. If the student fails to remain on the platform, he loses. If the student is injured to where he can no longer fight, or death occurs, he loses. As always, there will be medics on hand," he said moving his hand out to the boats waiting far away. "For the medics safety, they must remain where they are when a battle is in progress." He walked off the platform towards the steps that zigzagged. Instead of going up towards the platform where the students awaited with the Exam Coordinators, he exited off the steps into a boat through a wooden door.
Ryu stood in the second row away from Saori and Daiya. There were eighty-eight students waiting on the platform with him. He didn't know the names of those he stood next to, or what part of the villages they were from. Everything around him seemed so omniscient. They were all going to fight one another for the respect of their village and their families. For a moment, there was silence amongst the Genin as the boat with the announcer made it's way far enough away from the battle area.
Is this what you went through when you trained for the respect of the Leaf Village? Ryu's mind saw the picture of his father who smiled in the old photo Sasuke had shown him. Was anyone proud of you when you passed? What did you think seeing your friends fight someone stronger, or weaker? Ryu's brows furrowed. Did you wish you could stop them from making a terrible mistake? He dared to glance into the other students to see Daiya waiting his turn. This is wrong. It doesn't feel right. Ryu's skin felt as if it were crawling with worms. He was uneasy.
One of the field coordinators read off the clipboard in his hand. "Doya Jukdo from the River Country versus Yakume Shiomi from the Sea Country." He opened the cage they stood in, the door swinging open. There was no remorse, or concern as the students walked past him down the steps leading to the other platform. The rookies in the cage watched in horror as the first pair of opponents walked to their victory, or their defeat.
Yanagi's gray eyes watched the battle with awe at the skills of the two opponents, and also sadness when one was injured. She had more heart than some of the rookies who were commenting lowly regarding the techniques being performed. There was a boy standing next to her with brown hair and blue eyes. He appeared to have the Sky emblem around his neck. His mouth tensed every time a technique was issued. She turned her head slowly. Soon his eyes met hers. "Are you nervous," she asked trying to make conversation.
Enshi Goto looked over the girl with the odd raven cut hairstyle. "Of course. We know nothing about the person we're fighting against," he said. Soon he eased up seeing the top of her hitate headband. She was from the Leaf Village. "Hey, where's that guy that I met at the last exam? The Uchiha kid?"
Yanagi looked at him a bit surprised by the question. "Which one?" Standing on her tip toes, she tried to see over the other students to where Daiya was. Was her referring to her boyfriend? No, by the looks of it, he wasn't. "You're talking about Takeru…?"
"Yeah, that was his name. Young kid with black hair. Did something happen to him?" Enshi had hoped to meet the boy again at the exams. They had really hit it off the last time.
Yanagi looked down missing some of the action as the crowd across the way cheered, clapping their hands. To her, it was like being at a bloodbath. The more violence there was between the two opponents, the more cheers and comments came from the students and across the lake. "He was injured on a mission," she told the boy.
"Oh, I didn't know that. We kind of made friends at the last exam. He seemed like a cool person," Enshi said. "Well, I'm sorry he couldn't be here to watch any of us get our rears kicked," he said with a soft laugh. "Tell him Enshi Goto said 'hi'. He'll know my name."
Yanagi's heart sank. Would she even be able to hold onto that sort of promise? "I-I'll tell him," she said honestly with a kind smile. Enshi Goto.
Yakume Shiomi lifted her leg slamming it onto the top of Doya Jukudo's head as her fighting fans of steel caught his three-sectional-staff. She countered the move, dropping her weight to the ground as he tried to re-counter getting his staff out of the fix. Once she dropped, her back arched, her leg lifting up straight between his legs.
Doya Jukudo grimaced as he was kicked hard in his groin doubling over. Yakume was already tilting her body, her leg coming up. He was hit quickly and with accuracy in the side of the head. His body went flying towards the other side of the round platform. She was running at him with her fans drawn, his three-sectional-staff lying far out of reach. Getting up his transferred his chakra to his hands pushing himself back as shuriken came flying at his form. They hit the platform digging into the cement. Doya slid on his heels his hand reaching for smoke pellets out of his pack. He threw them at her.
Yakume moved her arms in a circular pattern, her fans open as the purple smoke came towards her. She sent the smoke away from her face. As it moved around her, Yakume formed hand signs stopping once she found completed the sequence. A gush of water flew out of the lake over her head towards the smoke. Her eyes focused ahead suspecting Doya was hiding in the smoke with a premeditated attack. Sure enough, she heard him yell as the water hit him. He went soaring backwards, tumbling straight off the platform into the lake. The crowd around her went wild.
"Winner of the first battle, Yakume Shiomi," the announcer said from far behind them. She turned her head to see a boat going to retrieve Doya from the water. An exam coordinator waved her back into the cage. Yakume returned to her position amongst the other rookies waiting their turn to spar. As she passed one of her teammates, she received a high-five congratulations.
"Battle two is Meiji Kamon from the Grass Country versus Kamo Nagase from the Vegetable Country," the Exam coordinator announced from his clipboard. He opened the door to the cage waiting for them to pass through. "Get a move on. There are a ton of others behind you," he said as Meiji started to take his time hoisting his bazooka over his shoulder.
Masaru Uzumaki narrowed his eyes at Meiji Kamon as he watched the older boy walk down the steps to each platform stop before he reached the fighting area. That guy looks like he fights dirty. The other one doesn't appear as if he could overtake that bazooka. I wonder what he fires with it. It has to take time to set up right?
Eiyu Hyuuga studied the fight as his eyes moved from one opponent to the next. He had learned in a lot of his missions and sparring matches over the years that you never took your eyes off the other. Kamo Nagase was becoming distracted by the large weapon his opponent carried. Meiji Kamon had put the weapon down away from them as they fought. He's trying to prove his dominance over Nagase. Eiyu watched Meiji fight Kamo fist to fist, Taijutsu to Taijutsu issuing his strength time and time again. He crossed his arms his long hair remaining still on his back. Onari could take both of them out. He glanced at her standing far back to the left of where he stood in the crowd. She's sort of built up her skills adhering to animal nature more than human nature. Take him out quick.
Kamo Nagase sliced Meiji Kamon's arm with his karambit knives he held in his hands. He thrust the boy back, his head lowering to where his strength could be diverted to his arms. Meiji was a tough opponent for him. Kamo ran at him trying to catch him off guard as his body doubled. He circled the boy with his clone aiming straight at Meiji's abdomen. He wanted this match to be over and done with.
Meiji Kamon smiled as he opened the pockets on his heavily padded vest. Hundreds of man eating ants started to crawl down his body onto the platform. Even if some of them were squished by Kamo, there were still more to crawl onto his body. He grinned evilly as he darted backwards to retrieve the bazooka that was lying on its side.
Kamo's feet landed on the large ants, their squishing bodies causing the platform to become slippery. He was losing his footing as he started to slide. He took out a kunai forcing it into the cement trying to regain his balance. An ant crawled up the kunai onto his hand biting him fiercely. Kamo yelled as the pain hit. It was unlike any he had ever felt before. It was similar to getting bitten by twenty fire ants at one time. His eyes became wide. Doubling back, he tried to make space between him and the ants.
Meiji saw the fear in Kamo's face appear as a nice reward for his efforts. In the time it took the boy to send his clone through the ants towards Meiji, the bazooka had already been loaded. The clone bore down on him weapons being thrown. Meiji didn't change position. He remained where he was firing the bazooka's large spiked balls towards the clone. It hit the clone causing it to poof on contact. The ball went rolling to the other side. "Excellent target practice," he said before turning his bazooka towards Kamo.
Kamo moved his feet as the bazooka was fired again. The ants were all over the platform trying their best to crawl onto him. The spiked ball that had gotten rid of his clone, was now busting open with a loud sound. He turned in horror to see it, too, was filled with large ants. Forming hand seals, he unleashed a large wind towards the ants. The ants started to move backwards, but their feet started to suction cup to the platform, the wind passing them overhead. "Dammit, you have got to be kidding me!"
Meiji cackled as he angled his body his feet bearing into the concrete. He used kunai to keep his body in position moving towards Kamo. "You can't keep this up forever. All I have to do is wait for you to get exhausted, or your chakra to run out," he threatened.
Saori Nara knew a thing or two about wind jutsus. Her mother was a pro at them. They were used as offensive and defensive measures in one simple attack. Normally, a ninja could knock down anything in her path. However, these ants were proving to be unique in their own form. Kamo was keeping the jutsu active in hopes there was a slip up by Meiji that he could counterattack upon, but right now, Meiji had the strong advantage. He was using Kamo's wind attack against him. She also noticed the ants were moving slowly into a long ladder on the ground. They're using teamwork to bypass the wind Kamo is sending at them. Even if he keeps it going, Meji is going to nail him, or the ants.
Sasuke Uchiha chewed hard on the toothpick in his mouth. Watching the outcome of the sparring was causing him to anticipate when his team was going to fight. The kid from the Grass country was overtaking the other from the Vegetable country. It was an excellent way to learn where one's faults were, but at the exams, one could lose his life. He studied the angle of the wind being projected. The ants who were hunkered down towards the ground were remaining there to get his attention. They're distracting him so the ones off to the side can move more freely!
Kamo Nagase's wind jutsu ended as he was bitten by several ants now crawling up his pants leg. He shook his leg trying to get them off, his foot hopping as he batted at them with his hands. Meiji was already coming at him with two spiked balls in his gloved hands. Kamo turned around trying to sprint to a safe place.
Meiji threw the balls at the boy, his short sword coming out to slice through the open air. The balls opened, discarding man eating ants. They fell from the open air onto Kamo who screamed in terror as he was bitten. Meiji watched his body slide on the platform. Now that the wind jutsu had ended, the other ants were on top of him in a matter of seconds, their fast legs overtaking him.
Arawasu Ryusaki laid her hand upon her hip as she watched Meiji's attack win him a future spot in the exams. "They always try to run," she commented out in the open air as if it were a stupid move. Her eyes flashed catching the attention of Tadayuki Ekiguchi, the leader of the Vegetable Team. "Hope the rest of you do better," she said sarcastically.
Tadayuki shifted into attack mode, his anger seething at the rude comment coming from Arawasu. One of the field coordinators was on top of him restraining him. "You witch!"
"Save it for the battle grounds," the field coordinator said pushing Tadayuki hard up against the cage.
"Winner, Meiji Kamon from the Grass Country," the announcer said. He sent forth his medic team to clean up the mess leftover by the fire ants. The medic team were hesitant about setting foot on the platform until Meiji concealed them back into his vest.
Meiji returned to the cage slowly, threateningly, his bazooka hoisted over his shoulder. As the cage door opened, the rookies moved away from him huddling to one side of the cage. All but one girl stood staring him down, her yellow eyes matching his with intensity. "You're either very brave, or very stupid," he said as his team stood together watching her.
Onari didn't blink as she stared him down, her ears alert for any sound of motion. "I'll crush your throat before you gasp," she said without missing a beat. Her posture remained still as the field coordinators stood at the ready for a fight between the two of them.
"You're from the Fire Country," Aku Endoso said from behind the sheet that covered most of his face. "We don't like the Fire Country," he said his devilish eyes moving to single out each one of them in the crowd. "Whether its here, or out in the field, we'll take you all down."
"People who talk a lot aren't really saying much of anything," Onari shot back. That got their attention. They started to move towards her, but the field coordinators approached bearing weapons of their own. One of them had a long heavy sword with snake fangs on the end. The other man pulled out a club with thin razor sharp metal bore into the middle of it like a cheese grater.
"There seems to be something going on in the rookie cage," Rock Lee said craning his head.
Kiba's sharp eyes focused on the figure standing facing another team. The grass team made a move towards her going around the field coordinators. Kiba tensed as two of them came upon both sides of Onari. The girl moved her hands up issuing a Chakra Push on the two team mates so severe, that they flew backwards hitting the cage. She turned her body in a circle with her arms out in a defensive pose glaring down at Meiji Kamon. Kiba punched the air. "That's my girl!"
Sasuke's eyes moved slowly from Kiba to the cage standing above the open water. Onari. It had to be her. She was the only one daring enough to fighting anybody and everybody when in an enclosed space. His heart sank. She was one of the few who had no fear in battle. There is one thing you do fear. It isn't Gekido. It's losing Takeru to him. Sasuke closed his eyes, his heart and mind coming to terms.
Meiji Kamon snorted. He went after the girl himself throwing a spike man eating ant ball at her. It soared over the field coordinators. One wrong move from them, and it would be unleashed either way. He froze when Onari didn't budge. She's an idiot!
Onari caught the spiked ball with ease, her chakra rotating the ball as if it were a spinning top. "Reverse." The ball began to rotate the other way. "Back!" The spiked ball shot towards Meiji Kamon. He ducked as it hit the fence ricocheting off one side of the cage towards the rookies.
Idai unsheathed his swords rotating them to send the ball away. It went soaring again in the opposite direction. This time, Meiji was ready for it. He caught it with is gloved hands. Apparently, the ball was worth more in a whole unit than to be simply destroyed.
The field coordinator with the club landed his huge fist on top of Meiji's head. "You're delaying the match! Get back in line!" The rookies moved slowly back into place.
"Next match: Gidai Ebina from the Bird Country versus Indo Otani from Hidden Hot Springs," the field coordinator with the snake sword announced. He opened the door hard, it clanging against the cage. "Get moving," he shouted losing his patience.
Ogai Maikoka put his hands together in prayer as he and Masafumi Okasawa watching their team leader sway her hips all the way down the steps. "Please Buddha don't let Indo embarrass us, or the Village. Please Buddha don't let Indo embarrass us, or the village," he repeated.
Masafumi put his hand on Ogai's head to cause him to stop his prayers. "Buddha can only help so much. Pray she doesn't use flash photography to gain herself fame amongst the males around us."
Ogai looked at Masafumi with tears going down his eyes. "Sensei," he said realizing how intelligent Masafumi was on the outcome of the exams. He hugged him hard against the waist.
Masafumi pushed his glasses back onto his nose. "Ogai, you're causing a scene," he said mildly putting his attention back to the battle ground. He, too, found himself praying to Buddha in his mind. Please Buddha don't let Indo embarrass our team, or the village.
Indo stood playing with her long blond hair for a moment, her cleavage moving around as she did so. Flicking her hair behind her, she reached behind her head, her fingers going through her hair. They latched onto the kunai she had tied there. "Such boring weather," she commented her eyes drifting up into the sky. The clouds were moving slowly past the battle grounds.
Once the signal was given for them to start, Gidai Ebina didn't use any hesitation in throwing shuriken mixed with kunai at the girl. She stood motionless still staring off into space. Her form poofed within seconds of the weapons hitting the spot where she had been standing. Indo appeared behind Gidai. His head turned quickly moving a defensive move on her. She grabbed his arm, thrusting his body to change position with a swift move on her own. Gidai flipped his body up, bringing his legs up, wrapping around her neck. He started to spin causing her body to twirl in the air like a rag doll.
Indo poofed again, her form turning into a dummy. Gidai threw the dummy off the platform straight into the water. "Aw, I really liked that one. It took me a whole two days to make," she said rather depressed. "Oh, well. A starving craftsman I tend to be."
Gidai's eyes flashed angrily at her. He had been tricked. This girl wasn't even using the normal substitution hand signs to change her position. Which meant she was advanced in her training. He ran at her punching, but every time he tried to strike her, he ended up punching air. She was gliding on the platform, her head moving around simply avoiding him. What the hell?
Ogai frowned. "You know if she's not going to take this seriously, I'm going to forfeit," he said. Indo was toying with her opponent. "At least fight back or something." As if she had heard him from such a distance, Indo's hand lifted with a thumbs up. Ogai looked around with a strange expression on his face.
Indo threw the kunai from behind her head at the boy, twirled away on her tip toes as he avoided it, repositioning herself. She danced with her hands in the air, her foot neatly on her other leg as she stood. "Here he comes again," she said not able to enjoy a moment to herself. Gidai threw kunai at her as he opened the pocket on his vest taking out a small scroll. Indo back flipped as the kunai hit the platform.
Gidai bit his thumb. He was going to take her out in one swoop. He started to summon Nagare. The large black bird stood over the scroll, the light from the summoning fading. Its head tilted left and right aiming straight for the only one it saw besides its master. Nagasre started to send its beak hammering at Indo.
Indo rolled on the platform, the bird's beak aiming straight for her body. She didn't have time to concentrate to poof out of the way. Gidai was a bit smarter than she had anticipated. She heard him command Nagare to continue getting her to the edge of the platform. Coward! Indo started to count in her head how many seconds it took the bird to lift its head to come crashing down near her. If only she could time it just right!
Ryu saw a lot of mistakes being issued with the summoning technique. He grumbled. The bird's abilities were being wasted as if it were a large chicken fetching a worm. He rolled his eyes. "Pathetic," he said under his breath. He raised his shoulders, feeling something disturbing occurring near him. Masaru Uzumaki stood with his hands on his cheeks, eyes focused on Indo. Oh don't tell me he's interested in that girl.
Sure enough, as Indo grabbed the bird's beak she hooked her arms around it, bringing her body upwards. Masaru was on his feet cheering as he watched her holding on. The bird was trying to buck her off, but Indo had a strong hold on it.
Gidai was dumbstruck for a moment on how to approach what he was seeing. He stood with his mouth open until Indo started to clench her arms around Nagare's neck. Gidai couldn't throw anything at Indo for he'd strike his partner. The bird's wings went out as it began to stumble trying to keep its balance. Gidai saw his chance. He ran up the wings his fingers twirling a kunai. With precise precision, he threw the blade at Indo's back.
Indo snickered. She knew Gidai was just like any other boy with a pet. Shifting her body quickly, she stopped closing the bird's neck. Now she hung from it as the kunai was thrown. The blade struck the back of the bird's neck causing it to fling its head violently around in pain. She let go rolling away from the black bird as it squawked its complaints.
Nagare moved its large leg up towards its neck trying to rake the kunai out of its skin. Gidai tried to crawl up its back holding onto the feathers. "Nagare, calm down!" His eyes widened as he realized his bird wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Then his head flipped around to see Indo standing behind them. She flicked her hair, then smiled. "Nagare, go back! You stupid bird! Go back!"
Indo was tired of wasting her skills on this battle. She tugged on the wire she had managed to snare around the birds feet as it tottered closer to the edge of the platform. Both man and creature went falling into the water with a huge splash. "Such a disappointment," she said.
"Winner, Indo Otani from Hidden Hot Springs," the announcer said from his position in the boat. The crowd cheered wildly. Indo lifted her hair tying it into a long ponytail as she walked back to the cage. She pushed the door open without a care. Her eyes lifted to see a young boy with silver eyes watching her. Indo raised a brow not sure what had caught his attention. "Can I…help you?"
Masaru almost jumped out of his skin when she spoke to him. "You were fantastic," he said with amazement at how she handled the overgrown bird. "I'm Masaru Uzumaki," he said pointing his thumb towards himself.
Indo raised a brow then glanced at her team. Masafumi turned himself to the side dismissing the encounter. Ogai's mouth was hanging wide open. Indo was sure flies could next in his teeth. She turned her attention towards Masaru batting her eyelashes at him. "Why thank you," she said flinging her long bangs out of her eyes. "Hope I'm not up against you in the next battle," she said with a giggle.
Masafumi shook his head. She's laying it on thick. What is she planning to do? Use that kid as an insider to the abilities of the others on his team. He turned his eyes to see Indo scanning the rookies for the other students from the fire country. That's exactly what she's doing. I'm embarrassed. He closed his eyes letting out a sigh of exasperation.
The remaining two battles were full of surprises as the Chuunin exams continued in the mist village. After battling all day, the announcer dismissed the rookies until the next day. The students walked down the steps to each platform until they were issued into the boats waiting. Onari sat amongst the random students watching the water flow pass the boat as it moved. She could only think of one thing as twilight surrounded the outskirts of the mist village. Takeru.
Exiting the boats, the students were ordered to stand in line again. Once again, they were led back to the village. Onari shuffled her feet not paying too much attention to the trees around the lake as they departed. She didn't care where Eiyu was in line, or even if he came back to the room where they stayed. Onari felt alone in the forest with the others surrounding her.
Rock Lee escorted Onari to a quiet part of the village where the trees swayed with the night wind. The street lamps were glowing with fireflies surrounding them. Leaning against one of the lamp poles was Sasuke Uchiha. He had approached Lee as soon as the exams were over about talking to Onari. Lee had had to express to the girl that avoiding Sasuke wasn't going to bring the man any peace. They needed to touch base in order to find out where their allegiance lay. One look at her told him that Onari was already executing herself the closer she came to Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't say a word to Onari until Lee left them alone. He stared at the ground, his mind and heart confused to what had happened weeks ago. Soon he found his voice, pushing back the anger, sadness, and twisted turmoil he was battling inside. "Give me the full details of how your mission went wrong," he said.
Onari was afraid he was going to ask her. She hated to express what she knew, much less, the images that were replaying constantly at waking hours. "We were on a simple mission outside of the village to bring back firewood." She stopped briefly the memory of her, Ryu, Takeru, and Saori moving swiftly through the trees. "We weren't out there just to complete our mission… but also to speak where no ears could hear us."
"Speak about what," Sasuke demanded, his harsh eyes not leaving her face. He wanted the truth. She had already chosen to not confide in him or Izumi about her past.
Onari closed her eyes. "We were planning ahead regarding the four celestials," she admitted. "Stupidly, we spoke like children in a fantasy world where trees didn't have ears. We let our guards down, not realizing we were being watched by the worst possible enemy." Onari saw him masking himself high in the treetops looking down on the waiting youths, his aggression already steaming. "The decision was to never unleash any of them unless we had no other choice." She paused. "I didn't want Gekido to find out that all four of them were contracted to another."
"And being in the same village makes them easy targets," Sasuke yelled losing his temper. "You gave Shogai to Ryu to save his life. What were the reasons behind the other two? Are you trying to build up your own army? Is that what this is all about, Onari? Revenge?" Sasuke's eyes saw her angry ones. "If you've got something to say, say it!"
"I didn't give Saori Josei! He chose her on his own! Takeru agreed to face Uso alone!"
"You offered it to him," Sasuke said standing in front of her. "He wouldn't have known about it if you hadn't of said anything! What did you say to him, Onari?"
The moment of her and Takeru meeting in the forest alone reared its ugly head at her. The words that escaped her mouth felt like lingering acid. Her eyes lowered, lips turning into a frown. "Eiyu wasn't meant for the dragon. It takes more than ninja skills to harness its power. Takeru was the only one..," she started to choke on her words. "The only one… who saw me as something important. He didn't care what I possessed. Only he was right for Uso," she said expressing the last sentence with quiet remorse.
Sasuke turned away from her disgusted. He crossed his arms starting to fume. "Takeru is in a coma because of you!" Without thinking, Sasuke turned around yelling the words at her.
Onari's eyes widened.
"Do you have any idea how you've betrayed Izumi and I? We took you in, Onari! We gave you a home! You've taken him away from us," Sasuke yelled with intensity in his eyes. "He's not waking up, Onari! He won't come running down the halls to chase you!"
The words hit her hard. Onari found the world around her stopping. She could no longer hear Sasuke yelling at her. She didn't notice Rock Lee and Kiba come out of the darkness to keep Sasuke from slapping her. The images of Takeru rubbing her head, or kissing her cheek while laughing at her, were fading. She had no ties to the Leaf Village now.
"This isn't going to help anything, Sasuke," Kiba shouted struggling to keep a hold on him. "It won't bring Takeru back!" Grunting he dug his heels into the ground. Rock Lee was preventing Sasuke from moving forward by using his own strength to push back equally.
"Let go of me," Sasuke yelled at them in outrage.
"I won't get anyone else involved," Onari said. The simple statement had Kiba and Rock Lee looking at her sadly. "I'll leave once Daiya has gone through his match. I won't say anything to him, I'll just…go."
Rock Lee kept his grip on Sasuke, making sure the man didn't try to get past him. "Onari, deserting your post means you are going to be targeted by the village. You have an ability that is too great. Others will be seeking your attachment to the Heaven Scroll."
"It has brought me nothing, Lee," Onari said looking up at him sadly. "The Heaven Scroll took away my parents. It made them a target and they were killed for it. Now Takeru has befallen under its spell. I won't let Ryu and Saori succumb to the same fate. Akaihi won't be seen again. There won't be a use for him."
"Sprout," Kiba started.
Onari shook her head. "It's not up for discussion, Kiba! I've betrayed those around me. I'm no better than Gekido at this point!" She moved swiftly punching the light pole behind Kiba, Sasuke, and Rock Lee. Her fist bent the metal to where it fell over as if it were nothing more than a toothpick. The light shattered on the ground. Onari turned around, her fists clenched in anger and defeat. "It was never my intent to hurt you, Sasuke. You were starting to become the replacement –" Onari took off at high speed running away from them.
Kiba pushed Sasuke away from his form, his teeth clenched. "I don't like any of this!" He ran off after Onari. With the state she was in, she could very take her feelings out on an unsuspecting person. He had to make sure the other rookies didn't find out about her abilities before it was too late. After all, the team from the Lightening Country was here competing.
In the shadows, Unkei Eimino crouched far above the building his eyes having watched the scene play out in front of him. So, it's just as I thought. You're an unusual person with that kind of strength. Too bad I couldn't hear everything that was said between you and the Jounin, but I understood enough. He stood slowly, his eyes looking around to make sure he hadn't been discovered. Taking off, Unkei smiled as he flew over the rafters. The moon shone upon the buildings as Unkei darted from each dark spot. Without the dragon to aid you, you're as helpless as you can get.