A/N: HELLO FANFICTION WORLD! I'M STILL ALIVE!
First: I'm extremely sorry to the little loyal readers that I have, I said I would be back in a couple of months but man oh man, time does fly! I just got back my results from the major exams I took, and honestly, I'm extremely disappointed with myself. It made me kind of depressed for a while, hence I had no mood to try and update.
Second: I actually wrote out a few chapters already, but after receiving some comments from my brother, as well as reading it over, I felt like it wasn't good enough, and a little digressing from my story plot. I'm caught up with Naruto Shipuuden and people giving me manga spoilers that I honestly don't know how to THINK anymore. As in, how can I (who sort of hate to change storylines which is why I tried to keep this fic according to the actual storyline) continue my fic when I realize the actual series is going a completely different way?! Its confusing and too much for me to handle.
Third: Hence, I decided, this will be what it is meant to be, FICTION OF FICTION. Means I will be completely doing it my own way, this is my own version, my own style, my own characters. I will do this story the way I want it to be, to the best of my abilities and hopefully, people will like it. Yay. I'm not that depressed anymore!
Fourth: I'm going to be introducing a lot of new OC, and because I can barely keep track of them, I'll take some time for my next few chapters. I'll be busy busy busy during these holidays but I SWEAR I will make time for my fic.
Fifth: Enjoy, review, give me comments but don't flame me because I decided I'm too weak to handle all those criticism. Just, word your opinions in a very very nice way. Haha.
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Hurting
Naruto scanned through the last, but most important documents on the table. It was the list of Jounin finalists that had passed the individual assessments with the highest scores. He grinned at the impressive name list, happy with his decision.
A few months ago, the idea of an open Jounin examination was preposterous. No one believed the different villages would be willing to showcase what skills their shinobi would have, because as much as everyone would like to have peace between all villages, Naruto knew that having no clue what another village's shinobi could do was an edge people liked to have. In the end, it was all for the sake of security. To make sure, for example, village B wouldn't be able to plot tactics that could detriment the skills of the shinobis from village A.
However, within the short year of being Hokage, Naruto had made enough friends and allies. He managed to convince the elder council on his views that having an open Jounin examination would help bond the villages together, especially in the looming danger of the Akatsuki.
A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts and Naruto looked up to see Hinata standing in his doorway. He smiled at his friend, who responded with a similar, shy smile.
"Naruto, the Raikage has arrived, would you like to meet him?"
"Uncle Zehi? Of course! Hold on, I'll clear this up."
And as if on cue, Naruto spilled the stack of documents on the table, which landed neatly in Hinata's already oustretched arms.
"Its okay, Naruto. I'll help you put these away."
"Thanks a bunch Hinata! I owe you one!" Naruto shouted eagerly as he grabbed his Hokage cloak and sprinted out the door, missing Hinata's amused laughter behind him.
Yes, he was a responsible Hokage would had learned that paperwork was a part of his job. That didn't mean he would not miss a chance to slack off. He started to grin, but it faded away as his previous train of thought returned.
The Akatsuki had captured all but one Jinchuuriki since two years before, and although their attacks had been dangerous and fatal, Naruto had managed to elude them time and time again. He knew they were getting frustrated and impatient, it was obvious from the amount of damage they unleashed that only seemed to increase every time they tried to ambush Konohagakure. Names of the victims that had died protecting him starting to scroll through his brain, but he pushed the thought away. Right now, the important thing was to work well with the other villages.
The Akatsuki had known about Naruto's cooperation with the other villages, and attempted to threaten them instead of Konohagakure in order to bring him away from the protective haven that Konoha had become for him. Thankfully, not only were the villages able to withstand their onslaught, reinforcements had arrived quickly and their numbers were the main factors that drove the Akatsuki away. Naruto knew, it was not because they were afraid of losing so much as they were unwilling to waste so much time. The threat from them was always on his mind, and it would never go away unless they had something that could defeat them.
And it was that something that had prompted Naruto to suggest an open Jounin examination. Other than individual assessments that were routine from previous tests, a tournament similar to that of Chuunin examinations would showcase all the villages prowess and also provide a simulation of how shinobis from different villages could work together. It was not a competition, or an exhibition on who had the best shinobi, but rather a chance for the shinobis to know one another and their skills, exposing them to varied opponents rather than their own training partners.
Zehi, the new Raikage since a few years ago, had given Naruto his full support for the idea, as well as Gaara. The latter had even suggested individual assessments for shinobis who lived outside of villages, shinobis who had not qualified for Jounin nominations because they weren't given enough missions to complete. Naruto welcomed the idea, even though it was the first time he had heard of shinobis that lived outside of villages. Zehi was also warming up to the suggestion, and even allowed shinobis from his village, although already meeting the requirements of a Jounin according to Kumogakure's standards, to go through the individual assessments meant for the shinobis outside villages. Before long, many other villages, who trusted Naruto enough, agreed to let their shinobis take the individual assessment, as well as the tournament. Others who were not willing to deviate from their village traditions, respectfully declined.
Naruto arrived at the mansion he had allotted for Zehi and knocked on the door. A shinobi from Kumogakure opened the door, and invited the Hokage into the living room, while he went to wake the Raikage. Naruto tried to hide his chuckle, but failed, receiving a wry smile from the shinobi.
"Naruto! Thank you for this accomodation."
"My pleasure, uncle Zehi. You must have been tired from the trip, I can go if you want."
"Nonsense, I just needed a little nap," Zehi tried to assure Naruto, but as slow as the Hokage was, he could see the obvious dark rings under Zehi's eyes that could compete with Gaara's. He smiled good naturedly and refused the invitation from Zehi to tour the village with him. The tournament was in a couple of days, and he wouldn't want Zehi to look like a zombie.
"I have to find Gaara anyway, I'll meet you tomorrow when you're well rested."
The Raikage nodded tiredly, and turned to go back to his room. The shinobi trailed behind him, glancing back at Naruto with a gratified look, before the blond left the mansion on his own. Zehi was one of the few people outside Konoha and the Sand Siblings who trusted Naruto with their lives. Although he was more mature than the playful blond, both parties respected each other deeply.
"Speak of the devil," Naruto muttered as he spotted Gaara on the outskirts of the village, near the stadium that the tournament would be held. Flying over, Naruto landed beside his red-haired friend in a matter of seconds, slightly disappointed though, when Gaara didn't react. He shrugged inwardly, he could never surprise Gaara.
"Afternoon, idiot."
"Same to you, ice cube."
"Aren't you suppose to be confirming the list of Jounin finalists?"
"Already done, my friend. Its only 10 people. By the way, they are an impressive 10 people. We might have 10 new Jounins by the end of the week."
"That's quite a lot, I suppose."
"...What's wrong with you?"
Gaara blinked, shocked that Naruto could see through his passive expression. Naruto blinked himself too, taking back the words he said in his head a few moments ago. To the blond, it seemed pretty obvious Gaara was distracted. He now wondered what was the cause of his distraction.
"Nothing, I was just thinking."
"About?" Gaara smirked. Blunt and straight to the point.
"The Akatsuki."
"What about them?" Naruto asked calmly, although his eyes had hardened significantly. Gaara didn't even have to look back to know, the painful memories from long ago had resurfaced in both their minds. He was guilty for making his friend suffer like this, but there were some things he just couldn't bring himself to share with his close friend.
"They've been pretty quiet the last few months. Not even a rumour from the other countries. I've already come up with an evacuation plan for my village."
Naruto nodded grimly, understanding Gaara's words. "Me too. We're on high alert most of the time, and we'll have every ANBU on patrol during the tournament, if they aren't at the other villages."
Silence covered the next few minutes. They didn't have to move or say anything, both leaders of their respective villages appreciated the other party's understanding and knew the comforting words were too shallow to express what they really felt. Soon, the sun had begun to set and both teenagers wordlessly started to make their way back into the village.
"I'm curious about something."
"You've been curious about everything since 2 years ago."
Smirks.
"I didn't bother finding out because I wasn't interested. But now I am. What did you guys do for the individual assessments?"
"Hm, I believe the first thing we made them do was find an object, or a person that was valuable to them in Practice Area #44. We wanted to see how fast they went with motivation. There were 26 who came back after 10 minutes."
"Practice Area #44?" Gaara echoed, slightly surprised at the choice of venue. He remembered the place well, it was in 'The Forest of Death' he had killed several Chuunins-to-be during his Chuunin examinations. Naruto read his surprise wrongly.
"What, you don't think that was hard do you? It was the first test, its suppose to be easy."
"No, I'm just wondering why you would want to re-use the place."
"Oh. Well, it hasn't been used for the last few Chuunin examinations, I didn't see why not."
Gaara nodded, looking back at Naruto's face just as he started to frown. Now it was Gaara's turn to misunderstand.
"Something wrong?"
"No, just remembering one of my reports."
"You remember your reports?"
"Shut up, it was a weird one. About one of the finalists."
"Why?" Gaara's interest was now piqued. Naruto seemed almost judgmental about the finalist, which, given his background and personality, was something that never happened.
"Well, when they first interviewed her, she said she didn't have anything, or anyone valuable to her."
"What happened then?"
"They took a shuriken around her neck, and she came back in 2 minutes."
-
"Doton: Renpou no Meikyuu!"
Seki listened to the sudden yelling of the audience, feeling the whole waiting room shiver as if there was an earthquake going on. Even without peeking through the door, she knew that something about the landscape outside had changed. She groaned inwardly.
I was hoping they wouldn't do that, Seki thought, sighing to herself and leaning against the cement wall beside her. She looked around, and her eyes landed on the other 4 Jounins-to-be. The 5 of them had been separated from the original 10 finalists, and placed in a waiting room under the stadium stands. For a while now, there had been no talking, as everyone waited with anticipation for instructions to be given. Seki took this time to observe her competitors.
One was from Konohagakure, the only one with his hiate-ate tied to his forehead. He looked like a young boy, probably a couple of years younger than Seki. He had jet black hair that swept to the back, with matching eyes which were usually glazed over as if he was in some deep thought. He sat crossed legged on the ground, with a simple brown shirt and shorts covering some bandages on both his legs, as well as a weapons pouch hanging from his shoulder like a sling bag.
Another boy stood beside him, and his face showed more mature features than the Konoha boy. Seki caught a glimpse of a weird symbol on his hiate-ate, and mentally labelled the boy as a member of Kumogakure. His body was covered in black leather, silvery lines crossing each other in some sort of pattern. He had a pair of shades placed on the top of his silver hair with black streaks, and his hands were covered with leather gloves. Even his weapons holster that was hanging on his hip was made of leather. Considering the land of his origin, Seki assumed he had lightning based chakra.
Moving on to the guy opposite her, red eyes landed on the symbol for Sunagakure that was engraved on his hiate-ate. The blond had had it pinned to his right pant leg, and wore a loose shirt on top. Had it not been for the circumstances, Seki would have thought he was a passer by that got lost. Unlike the previous shinobi from Kumogakure, the guy in front of her had the opposite look of complete concentration: boredom. Before Seki could wonder how he was going to fight however, she spotted a scroll tucked into the back pocket of his pants.
"Puppet master," the kunoichi whispered, the bored shinobi from Sunagakure moving his eyes to her. Seki avoided his gaze and looked over at the only other girl in the room that was peeking out of the door. She remembered how everyone's eyes had nearly popped out when she first saw the kunoichi, as the lightning boy was completely dressed in black with silver, this girl had her whole body covered in pink. Because the preliminary rounds had been individual assessment, Seki only saw her rivals before they were led to the stadium. She wondered if that girl's outfit was a representation of her personality, but the dead look in her matching pink contacts was an obvious 'no'. A pink tank top with a mini skirt, high boots that had glittery laces weaved in between. Her weapons holster on her right forearm was pink as well, with stickers in shapes of hearts and animals. Her red hair was tied in two pony tails behind her, using long pink ribbons that reached the ground. Her hiate-ate had the symbol of Kusagakure.
Seki had just finished her observations when a cloud of smoke appeared in front of her, a Jounin with pale lavender eyes and long brown hair stood before them, a proud aura emitting from his presence. The Konoha boy stood up in obvious respect, muttering with low baritone, not quite fitting his image, "Hyuuga," as he bowed low. The man nodded in acknowledgement
"Good afternoon. My name is Neji Hyuuga. Today is your final assessment for the Jounin's examinations. As you all know, a Jounin is intelligent as much as they are skilled. What you are going to do now is to pick a name from this bag I have here," Neji shook the grey bag in his hand,. "And you are going to be back up for that particular person. The judges will watch how you perform together to defeat your opponents, or individually if you choose not to call for your back up."
Seki reached out for the bag but was cut off by the taller black haired boy. She shot him a withering glare, but he just scoffed and looked at the piece of paper he held. Seki took the next piece and read the name 'KIROKU KASOU' in her mind. Who is this? Will he or she even call me? Seki watched everyone's actions. Except for the glazed eye boy, everyone seemed to be rather proud of themselves. Even Seki knew she wouldn't call for back up unless she was going to die. Wait, scratch that. Her ego wouldn't call for back up for anything.
"How will we call for our back up?" The rude boy asked after everyone had gotten a piece of paper. Neji took out a remote from somewhere beneath his garments; the remote was small, and had one red button on it. He pointed at a red bulb on top of the door, something Seki just noticed.
"By pressing this button, you will light up the red bulb here, and your back up will know that you need help. If you are being called, you are to enter the arena as well. Whether you listen to the person who called you however, is your own choice."
"So you mean, without knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses, you want us to pair up and fight the other group?" The pink girl's voice contrasted both the brunette boys' voice, her high pitched question that sounded more cruel than cute echoed in the small room. Neji nodded and looked at each one of us sternly.
"Being a Jounin does not just mean your individual capabilities. You are a leader and a team mate. Plus, Jounins are usually grouped with other Jounins from all the shinobi countries for dangerous missions. How you work with others and how you stay alive is what the judges will be looking out for."
"Stay alive?" The tall brunette asked again.
"There will be a time limit of half an hour. To prevent any serious casualties."
"So we can just hide somewhere for half an hour?" The bored one finally spoke in a tired voice, leaving Seki the only one who hadn't made a sound. Neji narrowed his eyes at him, obviously disgusted at his lack of seriousness. The bored blond shrugged and looked away. Tense silence fell on them until Neji raised his hand to his temple, where a hands free head piece sat snugly on his forehead. Everyone, even the blond, looked at him, watching his unmoving face as he received word from someone outside of the room. When he nodded and put down his hand, Seki knew it was time. Neji took the remote and handed it to the bored shinobi.
"First up, Keishi Kakaru."
-
A/N: Was it too boring? Sorry, the fighting will come out later and in case you haven't noticed, Seki hasn't appeared directly because, well, I'm not planning for her to come out yet. It seems silly right? That the main character isn't out, but I promise she will be out... soon. Just bear with this because I kind of like the new OC I have and I want them to be more... deep, than shallow characters.
Plus, I have to admit I am a very... romance oriented kind of writer. Remember, this was my first fic, and its my first time writing so much action and history. Ah, what am I saying? I shouldn't be saying anything, YOU SHOULD. SO REVIEW THANKYOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH! SMILES!
Doton: Renpou no Meikyuu – Earth element: Maze of Mountain Range
Zehi – Without Fail (an extract from zezehihi which means Fair & Just)
Kiroku Kasou – Pure, Good; Imagination
Keishi Kakaru – Execution; To Be Trapped
-JE