_._
The Story of Us
'For those who never gave up'
Naruto x OC
Friendship, Adventure, Romance
Chapter 21: Chuunin Exams
Some things are eternal.
"Haruka Kanata"- Asian Kung-Fu Generation
It was a rare thing, to find myself sleeping in past when Naruto did.
So rare in fact, that I was extremely confused when I woke up that morning without a hint of Uzumaki in the apartment. I had taken the morning of the Chuunin Exams off, expecting to be tested to my limits that day. So my day started significantly later considering the exam started at three.
"Naruto?" I called. The only reaction I got from the entire apartment was a tiny lump in the blankets moving. Ahmya stuck her head out and yawned.
"He left a while ago, but he left you something on the counter!" She shuffled out of the lump, spread her wings, and flapped away to hang in the open closet. She vanished, finding more comfort in the darkness between jackets.
At the prospect of a gift I slid out of bed and hobbled into the kitchen. Like Ahmya said, there was something waiting for me on the counter. A bowl of my favourite spicy beef ramen, with a little note scrawled in a slur of messy writing.
'Stay strong, we're rivals now! Believe it!'
I smiled, cracking open the ramen container and turning on the pot.
While I waited for that to finish I made my way to the bathroom where I had laid out a brand new outfit for myself. My old clothing had taken a serious beating over the last few months, so I had splurged a little when I saw a sale on fabrics yesterday and decided to use them. It was the same style as previous, though the kimono was a darker green than the original. Sewn into the new one, one of the sleeves was a tiny gray lightning bolt that I wore proudly. Next to it was a small blue sun, the closest shade I could get to match Naruto's eyes. They were minute differences, but every now and again I caught sight of them and gave a small smile before I continued on with what I was doing.
Once my meal was complete and my hair was braided, I meditated for an hour, reviewed all of my gear, then made my way to the first exam. It was almost two now, which gave me plenty of time to get to the designated building. I wasn't the only genin heading in; many other ninja from around Leaf and other hidden villages were making their way to the same building. Some looked nervous, others determined. I briefly wondered just how many people would be taking this exam when I caught sight of Reiji and Akira. Both boys were waiting off to the side of the entrance way. Akira huffed from his crouched position while Reiji pushed up from his slouch against the wall and dusted himself off. He smiled while Akira stared.
"Morning guys!" I chirped, giving a smile. Akira snorted.
"Man, you really slept all day huh? It's almost three," Akira eyed me. "You sick or something? You never sleep in."
It was times like these that I always got a bit frazzled. Ever since the rain incident, Akira had been slowly chatting with me more and more. He sometimes still huffed and stalked off, but hadn't taken a fit at all and seemed to be actually trying to talk to me sometimes.
Of course, this made me feel anxious whenever he did talk to me, because I didn't want to upset him and say the wrong thing. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't, but Reiji often reminded me not to worry too much. Akira had more mood swings than a playground some days.
"Eh, well I stayed up training a few times this week, and really wanted to make sure I felt better for today." I scratched the back of my neck, realizing all this time I had neglected to mention to my own teammates why I had been so stressed. They didn't know about my twin wandering around the village with a really cranky group. Perhaps it was better that way?
Well, they would meet her eventually, maybe.
"You were supposed to be resting, not training." Akira snarked, but I rolled my eyes.
"Like you weren't out there too." That caught him by surprise, before he shrugged his shoulders and looked away.
"Well, we're all here, shall we head inside?" Reiji mediated. I grinned before nodding as Akira stood tall and stretched. For a Nara, he was never really….. Nara-ish. Except when it came to naps, he took a lot of those. Once Akira was finished stretching we all made our way into the building. Reiji led the way, briefly pausing.
"What is it?" I asked, stopping next to him. He tilted his head briefly before pointing to a staircase.
"Be careful, there's a genjutsu on the stairs. We might encounter someone trying to slow us down…. But it looks like your friends are already on the third floor." Reiji continued on, while Akira and I glanced at each other briefly, shrugging. We carried on, keeping track of Reiji to guide us. He had been right, a genjutsu was slowly tugging at our senses before we released the chakra that had migrated into our heads.
Akira and I followed quietly for some time, until Reiji again stopped at the opening for a moment. I nearly ran into him this time with the halt so abrupt. My nose brushed the fabric of his shoulder blade, but then noise brought me back to the current situation as I peered around the much taller boy.
"There's a fight about to break out. We should go around." Reiji insisted, but I caught sight of familiar blond haired and black haired boys squaring up to someone in a spandex suit. My brain bounced around for a moment; I swear I recognized them! Finally I realized why they looked so familiar.
It was a miniature Guy!
"Lee?"
Akira huffed, and I could practically hear the eye roll.
"Who don't you know?" He was scowling when I looked at him, scratching the back of his head. He surprised me when he added on, "well, did you want to say hello?"
My eyes widened, but then Reiji looked back at me and nodded. I smiled, stepping around the tall boy and walking over to the altercation.
"What the heck is with this dude? That's the freakiest hair cut I've seen yet!" Naruto jabbed an index finger at Lee, who was relatively unfazed by the comment. He was also nursing a bump on his head, and Sasuke had quite the bruise on his cheek. Looked like they had already picked a fight. I giggled.
"That's the signature look of Konoha's Green Beast." I called, gaining the attention of Naruto's team and Lee. The bowl cut bounced as Lee whipped to face me. I stopped about a yard away, smiling to Lee.
"Hey there, I almost didn't recognize you." I really hadn't, but it was hard not to recognize the body suit as something Guy always wore. Might Guy was quite the man, and I had met him a few times prior to becoming a genin. He claimed to be Kakashi-sensei's rival, though Sensei didn't always seem to have the same sentiment. Rock Lee had been assigned to Guy last year, and right before I entered my final year of academy training, Kakashi had introduced me to Lee.
"A sort of motivational effort, I suppose."
It seemed to have done the trick, considering Lee had considerably bulked up. He had been a twig before, barely any posture, long shaggy hair that often fell in his eyes, but now looking at him? He looked great. A true miniature Guy.
"You know this guy Kari?" Naruto butted in. I nodded, grinning to my best friend.
"Yeah, this is Rock Lee! He's a year older than us. I met him last year when he was assigned to Might Guy, one of Kakashi-sensei's friends." As I spoke both of my teammates stepped closer.
"Hang on, this is Rock Lee? Man you were a stick last I saw you." Akira commented. Reiji said nothing, though when they moved closer I realized with fleeting interest that both my boys were a lot taller than everyone else. Akira had the most frame, but Reiji was a little taller than him, maybe an inch. Both were taller than Sasuke by at least two inches.
Speaking of the Uchiha, he and Sakura were staring at us. I waved to them both, getting a head nod from Sasuke and a very confused wave back from Sakura.
"Hikari!" Lee gained my attention again as he gave a fierce look before folding his hands to bow at the waist to me. I raised a brow, but he stood up straight just as abruptly. "It is finally time! I have trained long and hard to face my eternal rival!"
"Wait…. Eternal…. What now?"
"Eternal Rival! It is only fitting that we are both students of our Sensei's who also happen to be rivals! So please!" He bowed abruptly again.
"PLEASE BE MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"
"What?! Hikari you can't-" I giggled, stopping Sakura from talking.
"Ok, sure," my acceptance seemed to throw Lee off as he looked up with surprise. "I would be honoured to carry out the tradition with you, Lee."
"Really?!" I swear tears were falling at an alarming rate now. He wiped his face, but more came. I smiled, nodding. Lee looked super pumped.
"Hang! We were supposed to have a match! Now you're just ignoring us?" Naruto shouted, looking frustrated. I put a hand on his shoulder, settling him down some.
"Sorry, I think Lee really wanted to test himself, I did tell him you were stronger than me." I confessed. Naruto hesitated, before standing more square.
"You did?" He sounded unsure, which came as a surprise to me. Lee nodded vigorously to him.
"Yes! Hikari has told me many things about you, Naruto Uzumaki. That your will and determination set you apart from the rest." Lee said with great energy. Naruto looked down to me, heat creeping up his neck before he looked away and clasped a hand over the redness. It had gotten to his cheeks already though.
"Hold on!" Sakura stepped forward. "So you're telling me you challenged these guys just to get Hikari's attention?"
"Not at all! I wished to match up against two of Hikari's strongest allies." Rock Lee stared at Sasuke, and the boy looked a little bothered being looked at like that. "I have heard great things about you too, Sasuke Uchiha. The number one rookie from the academy."
"Great, well now that this is all settled, can we go? Got things to do and all." Akira said, casually brushing a hand on my shoulder to get me moving. I removed my hand from Naruto's shoulder and allowed myself to be swept away. Reiji coming up on my other side.
"Hold on!"
The three of us looked back. Lee was lowering into a fighting stance.
"As commemoration of our rivalry, we should hold our first match today." Lee insisted. I paused, about to reject the idea.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but we have no time!" I said, glancing at the clock. It was already quarter to three. However, overtop my head I could barely see Reiji and Akira glance at each other.
"Oh, we have time." Reiji said, making me look at him. Akira removed his hand from my shoulder, and he had a glint in his eyes.
What was up with them?
"Wait, you're actually going to fight him?" Sakura sounded surprised. "I wouldn't Hikari, he took on Sasuke and Naruto together and-"
"It's alright Sakura," I stepped forward, then looked over to her and smiled. "I know exactly what I'm getting into."
She hesitated, but then stepped back. I turned to Lee and gave a nod.
"Hey."
I looked over to Naruto, seeing a serious look on his face. He was staring Lee down, but then he looked to me.
"Kick his ass, Kari."
I grinned.
Lee and Hikari squared off in the room. It was so quiet a pin could be heard if it dropped, and the motion would likely trigger the duo into battle. As it stood they weren't the only two eager to see what the match would hold.
Akira and Reiji were ready to watch, both silently curious and after the same thing.
Sakura felt nervous, seeing how small Hikari was and how powerful of a kick this Rock Lee had. She knew this wouldn't end well, but when she looked to all four boys around her she saw nothing but interest in the battle. While Naruto's interest was piqued and determined, she could even see a glint in Sasuke's eyes. Sakura didn't know what to make of that look, but she didn't linger on it as Hikari's teammates spoke.
"So, she's going to take up the evasive." Akira muttered. Sakura looked to see Hikari's starting stance, and for some reason Lee looked surprised for the briefest of moments. He settled though, and soon both were fighting.
Sakura had always known Hikari was fast, but not as fast as what she was seeing. Rock Lee would strike, and Hikari would be ready with a redirection for the strike and evading his attack as well. A gasp left her throat as Hikari got completely behind Rock Lee and kicked him in the shoulder.
"She's so fast!" Sakura exclaimed. Naruto didn't look surprised at all, in fact she would almost say he looked confident and assured.
"Nah, she can go a lot faster." Akira drawled. The Haruno was surprised to see a disappointed look on her teammate's face. Reiji, though only half his face was shown, looked just as displeased.
"Hikari's speed is probably the strongest part to her fighting. She can outmaneuver most of her enemies with speed alone." Reiji explained, not moving from his spot. Sakura felt a little nervous though as she saw one of Lee's kicks sail right beside Hikari's head. The kick had been so powerful Lee skidded a few inches with it.
"Still," Sakura was surprised to hear Sasuke speak. "You can't win on speed alone."
At this, Naruto grinned. Sakura noticed the tension in his shoulders from the start, but she hadn't said anything because she couldn't understand why he was so tense. At first she thought it was because he was worried for Hikari's well being. However, the look hadn't changed much since the start, save for the enormous grin on the Uzumaki's face.
He wasn't nervous, Sakura realized, but excited.
"Please, Kari is so fast that Rock guy can't even touch her." Naruto said. Sakura could only stare at him, in awe of the sheer confidence he had in Hikari. She'd known they were a very close knit duo, but this was not the dynamic Sakura saw on a day to day basis.
Hikari had always been a bit strange. She made friends easily, and enemies twice as easily. In the academy, it was always Naruto playing pranks and sometimes Hikari joined in. She was a ticking time bomb too with her pranks. Always thinking, always progressing. She'd come to school with cuts and bruises and for a while Sakura thought she was abused, but it turned out she was training. Hikari would wear loose clothing to hide how thin she was, and Sakura never understood why. The Haruno was envious of how thin Hikari was, with beautiful long blonde hair and a normal sized forehead. Sakura would've flaunted those thing, but the Koissui didn't. Both her and Naruto were scrawny even for their size, and Sakura began to wonder if it was because they couldn't afford to eat. They had both gained weight though, especially since they became ninja.
And the amount of respect she had. People respected Hikari, whether she was aware of it or not. Naruto always gushed about how amazing she was, Kakashi used her in examples. Sakura could tell even Sasuke respected her, and that was something nobody their age had.
Yet here was Sakura, standing on the sidelines, watching Hikari prove her talents again, but what she the Haruno doing? Standing around again, doing nothing. It was frustrating to watch. Frustrating to live like this.
Something changed in the fight, and Hikari blocked a kick instead of dodging it. It seemed to take Lee by surprise as she went flying into the air. Lee went after her, floating right behind her. His bandages slowly unraveled.
"Oh, she's clever." Reiji commented, but as the group look to him they took their eyes off the fight for a split second.
A senbon twirler pinned one part of Lee's bandages. The boy landed shortly after while Hikari also landed not far away. The observers paused too, looking over to the direction the twirler had been thrown from.
There was a turtle.
And on top of the turtle was a senior version of Rock Lee.
What happened next Sakura could only describe as the weirdest take on 'Tough Love' that she had ever seen. 'Guy' clocked Lee in the face and then continued on to apologize for clocking him in the face. They hugged it out- wait why was there a sunset backdrop?
"Well, guess all the fun's over." Akira stretched. Hikari stood up, watching the exchange with a tiny grin on her face. The short girl didn't go unnoticed by Guy though, as one minute he was with Lee and the next he was behind Hikari.
"Hikari! It's been a while! You haven't grown an inch!" He patted her head, and Hikari did her best not to look too irked. Sakura was stunned by the smoothness of the Jonin, and she wasn't the only one. Sasuke didn't even see Guy move. He made Hikari look like a toddler hobbling around. Was it even humanly possible to move so quickly?
"Guy, you saw me a few months ago….. of course I've grown." Hikari bit out through gritted teeth. Naruto gawked.
"Wait a minute! How do you know these guys Kari?!" Naruto shouted. The girl looked over and gave a half hearted grin.
"Well, Guy is Kakashi-sensei's friend, and his rival." She explained. Guy took it away though, and Sakura swore there were rose petals falling around them for a split second.
"Yes, Kakashi and I have been rivals for many years! Eternal Rivals would be a better term-" Sasuke noted out of the corner of his eye Akira tugging Hikari away from Guy. The trio were making their way up the stairs. Lucky bastards. Guy had turned to his team now, and for once he regretted being Kakashi's student. "For we have been rivals long enough for me to beat him 50-49. I'm one better than him currently. And you all must be his team I've heard so much about!"
Sasuke couldn't help but feel envious of Hikari for her casual escape. He almost wanted to join their team just for the sake of escaping the long drawn out rant that Guy was giving. He claimed to be better than Kakashi, but Hikari didn't show any intimidation around him. Sasuke was convinced this Guy was fast, but not as fearsome as he claimed to be.
The rant died after a few large brags that none of the team was sure Guy could back up, but Lee ate it up just the same. It was only when Hikari's team was nearly out of sight that Guy looked over to them. Sasuke wanted to glare, the guy knew he let them go and said nothing anyway.
"Lee," Guy said quietly to his student. Lee appeared in front of him, giving a salute. Guy turned to the boy and said very calmly, "don't try to use that jutsu on a kid like that."
Sasuke perked at this, wondering what this technique had been. Lee, on the other hand, looked surprised.
"Guy-sensei?"
Guy placed a hand on Lee's shoulder, looking like he would say something, but then he just chuckled.
"Hikari is Kakashi's student, but she is small. If you had done that jutsu, you would've snapped her like a twig."
Team Seven had a collective reaction of surprise. Just what kind of jutsu held so much raw power?
Guy dismissed Lee, then vanished in a puff of smoke with the turtle. Lee took off too, but not before Naruto and Sasuke both saw his hands. The level of bruising and damage to them was far beyond anything the Uzumaki or Uchiha had ever seem. Even Hikari who trained six to seven days a week didn't have damage to that degree. Sasuke wasn't entirely surprised, though he was pretty pissed some freak in a bowl cut made him look bad. What was worse was Hikari was able to keep up with the same guy who easily clocked Sasuke out. His ego was hit, but even more, he felt an eagerness in him.
It had been building for some time, and perhaps now that they were truly ninja it had hit fruitation, but Sasuke had an itch that he couldn't quite cure.
And he really wanted to take on Hikari Koissui now.
It felt hot in the apartment today. There was no wind and the sun had been shining in through the windows when we got home. It had been the perfect time to open all the windows and hang on the window ceil. The cool air flitted by me as I hung half in and out of the window.
"Yeah, so we both passed. The exam was pretty simple to be frank. I mean Naruto had a panic attack and I stared at Mitsuki the entire time." I explained to Ahmya. She laid on her belly like I was, her nose not far from mine.
What I said was true, Mitsuki happened to be right next to me, and it was so distracting I almost failed the exam. Getting caught for cheating was one thing, getting mistaken for cheating because you're sitting next to your long lost twin was a bit hard to swallow. Not to mention to long list of question Reiji and Akira had following the exam. By the time Ino and the others were coming over with questions Naruto had grabbed my hand and we both took off in a cloud of dust.
I still had no answers on the matter, and every chance I had to ask her was cut short by either Mitsuki outright ignoring me, or someone else butting in.
"Don't worry Hikari, you'll figure it out." I was pulled from my thoughts to see Ahmya staring at me with her cute beady eyes.
"Hm?"
"You're thinking about that Mitsuki, right? I'm sure you'll figure it out." She assured me. I smiled, reaching out with a single finger to pet her head. She leaned into my touch, so I scratched her head a bit. Ahmya was tiny, she could easily fit in both my hands, but her wings could wrap around my head. I briefly wondered how big bats could actually get, I hadn't seen any larger than Ahmya, but she had continuously told us her Momma was a big big bat.
"Ninja are so strange, why do you have these exams anyway? What's the big deal?" Ahmya used the hooked claws on the wings to grab my fingers gently. "Ninja back home are weird too."
That peaked my interest.
"Back home?" I asked. Ahmya crawled into my open palm then and laid on it. I giggled.
"My home is a big cave and there's lots of stones everywhere. For miiiiiles there's stones. Momma said a clan used to have us as summons, but they left a long time ago so nobody summons us anymore." Ahmya said as I sat up on the ceil. She remained in my palm rising with me. I stared down at her with curiosity bubbling in my brain.
"Huh, I've never heard of a bat summons." Guess I'd ask Kakashi-sensei the next time I saw him. In the meantime I carried Ahmya to the table where a small bowl of cut up fruit waited for her. Ahmya looked like she was in heaven.
"Mm!" Ahmya paused her chewing to look at me. "Can I come with you tomorrow? It's lonely staying in this apartment all day."
I was a bit surprised by this, but gave her a quick smile.
"Sure! Should be interesting." Kiba was allowed to carry Akamaru around, I was sure it wasn't against the rules to have Ahmya with me. Naruto came out of the bathroom then, a towel slung around his shoulders.
"Bath."
The following day I was a twitchy mess. Phase two of the test was about to begin.
I looked to my squad, watching the way Reiji remained absolutely calm, and Akira looked just as eager as me.
"We remember the plan right?" Reiji began. "I'll find the enemy, Hikari engages, and Akira captures them so I can deal a finishing blow. And Hikari, be on back up in case one of us is stopped."
"Right." We both said. We all turned to the gates as the ninja waiting there began to open them. All three of us took off even before the chain hit the floor.
The forest was thick, in some spots you couldn't even see daylight amongst the foliage. Never mind the amount of life already in here; it was truly survival of the fittest in these woods. We had passed giant centipedes and snakes already, along with leeches and giant spiders in the mere half hour we'd been in the woods.
"Let's stop here." Reiji called, and it was agreed upon when we found an open area. I wondered briefly why Reiji would choose to stop in such an exposed location, but I soon got my answer. "There's three of them following. Be ready."
Not seconds later, one ninja broke through the foliage and charged right for us. A diversion? Hard to say. When fighting this level of ninja it was difficult to gauge the intelligence of your enemies. They could've been twice my genius, or they could be the type that would get lost in a paper bag. Regardless, these guys were messing with the wrong team.
They always came after me, thinking I was the easy prey, but I always surprised people when I could out fox them. I wasn't meant to take them down though, all I had to do was distract them enough for Akira to catch them, like he had just now in his Shadow Possession Jutsu. Then Reiji would come in with the Eighth Trigrams and Sixty Four Palms to take them out. We had gotten it down to a science and this first team didn't stand a chance. Our team was too good for amateurs like this, and as cocky as it sounded it was absolutely true.
"Dammit, they also have an earth scroll." Akira grumbled. Reiji was focusing on the trees already as we left the bodies splayed.
"Keep it, never know when we might need a decoy." I said, glancing to Reiji as Akira pocketed the scroll. I noticed the stillness in Reiji, a level bordering on tense. "You okay?"
Reiji didn't move though, so Akira and I both waited patiently for him to reply. When Reiji didn't react it was always because he was searching or watching something.
"That twin of yours. She's in a battle up ahead." Reiji informed us. I perked up at this, curious to why he seemed interested in this. Akira stepped closer then.
"Great, maybe she's got a heaven scroll. Then we can swipe it and Hikari here gets reunited with her bestie." Akira snarked. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he just shrugged it off.
"There's more than that. A lot of teams have gathered there. I count eleven people." Reiji added on. "I'm not sure we should get closer."
"Eleven?" I asked, but Akira snorted.
"One already died. And one team is down for the count." There was a callousness to Akira's tone, but I didn't have any rebuttal to it. Reiji turned his head towards us.
"What did you want to do, Hikari?" I hesitated, surprised he was letting me choose. Strategically speaking it wasn't a bad idea, but it held a lot of risk. So early in the competition a risk like this could wreck us. People were still gassed up and ready to go, there was a high chance we could get hurt and not walk away from this. I took a deep breath.
"I think we go, but we play it safe. I'm the fastest, so I'm the only one to engage. We grab a scroll if it's there, but otherwise we let the teams fight themselves. Reiji keep a constant guard up, and Akira be prepared to back me up." Both my teammates nodded, and we took off.
"They're only a kilometre away, be careful." Reiji called. A smell hung in the air then, one I wasn't entirely familiar with. It felt damp and cold with a strong metallic tinge to it. I couldn't quite pinpoint it at first, but as we got closer I realized what that smell was.
The pungent aroma of death.
"Sand Burial!"
We all stopped abruptly in the trees at the sight before us. Blood was all over the clearing, with only 9 people visible from our spot. I could barely see Hinata and her team behind the bushes overlooking the clearing. I doubted that the two teams mingling together could see them at all. Didn't mean they couldn't sense their presence.
Blood landed everywhere, proving that the kill had been recent. I could sense the chakras of wind and earth being used, and watched as sand dropped to the ground from where it had been hovering.
Mitsuki stood close to Gaara, while what looked like her team stood off the side and appeared extremely uncomfortable. Kankura and Temari were behind Gaara and Mitsuki, but Kankuro began to walk around the duo- giving a wide berth- to go and grab the scroll. The scroll in question was a heaven scroll; it was exactly what we needed.
"Your call," Akira said. I looked over to him. "You're the fastest. Think you can grab it?"
I was sure I could. Kankuro hadn't been that fast before, but he could've been hiding it. However, I wasn't able to reply as the creeping cold sensation went up my spine. Sensations of earth and wind chakra were coming at us, and fast. Before I could move, I heard the deep, bone-chilling voice of our enemy.
"You again."
Hey, it's been a hot minute.
I won't make an excuse, I was burnt out pretty badly with all those updates and just needed some time off. I watched some Naruto AMV's recently and got hit in and feels and finally found the will to update. I gotta admit I actually am so excited for the following chapters. Be prepared because Hikari is gunna show off a wee bit. I'm not overly sorry actually. The story will slightly begin to change from here though, as some story lines are slowly being altered. One thing I'm not sure people caught on to yet, si that Sasuke hasn't 'activated' his Sharingan yet. He didn't need to in the fight against Haku, and that was because Hikari showed up and helped them. He also didn't have it against Lee, which is gunna change some things in the forest that I'm tinkering with right now.
Also, can we appreciate the enternal rivals thing? Genuinely love the idea of one student from each rival becoming the next rivals idea. I think it's so cute and I love it. I also love the 'they're not my kid but they are' vibes from both sensei.
So, we're gunna know a little bit more about Mitsuki next chapter! Be prepared! I promise i won't take two months off this time (i'm actualyl sorry about that. Despite y'all being so patient I genuinely didn't want to take that long!)
Review Replies
CyberCluck: Oh you read the original posting? Sweet yeah i wrote that fresh outta highschool and filled with too much cockiness as an author. I think part of the issue was I was toying with the idea of Hikari being a civillian still and didn't commit to anything. Oh fun fact y'all: Hikari was supposed to be a civillian and was supposed to be terrified of Naruto when she found out about the fox and was supposed to have an arc about getting over it. How boring would that have been? I mean it actually is great material, but it's boring to write those kinds of scenes.
Guest: This story is a lot longer than I initially planned for. I think we'll be stopping around chapter 45 now. I normally like shorter stories but there is so much crap to cover and we aren't even through the third arc. There are 2 more arcs after this, though they are probably less than 10 chapters each. Chuunin exams should be another 10 chapters. So yeah, we are almost over the hill. As for bonding, well, there will be some special scenes coming up in a few for our favourite characters. Naruto can't hog Hikari to himself all the time!
Guest: The entire background to Hikari's origins won't be revealed for a very long time. However, some key points will be revealed soon! I have thought very long and hard on her origins, because I wanted it to feel organic, like you could actually picture this. I hope everyone likes her origins, I already wrote the scenes for it because it was so fresh in my head.
Guest: A spore release actually sounds super interesting! Kinda reminds me of the bandits in Inuyasha, the one guy used poisons a lot. I don't think it will make it in for the chuunin exams but it will make it in sometime down the road! Thank you for the idea!
YaoiLovinKitsune: I ended up buying a friend's laptop since she needed a more advanced one. Working so far! But thank you for the suggestion. It may become my next one someday!
Guest: I'm so happy you like Hikari. She's genuinely going to have a special place in my heart, especially because her story is so compelling for me to write. I've never written a story with quite as much depth and pain and love before. My FMA fanfiction comes close but it's hard to compare when you are showing someone's entire life in pages. I have to admit the first thing I asked myself when character building was who would have the most impact on Hikari's story, and believe it or not, Sasuke has the biggest impact on her. Not Naruto, but Sasuke. Part of that is because Sasuke's and hers choices really really change things down the line and set things into motion. I really wanted a character that was tragic too, but had chosen to see the light. Hikari has known great loss too, but she has chosen to overcome it rather than let it consume her, whereas Sasuke is willing to become everything he hates in order to get revenge. I don't think I'll ever write a character I love more than Hikari, she is just such a gem and an honest girl with abandonment issues.
Guest: Yes! Hikari will have an apprentice! She'll have one really young one in Shipuuden actually, and they'll play a small role in the overall story!
lovinurbuks: tbh I have never used Google docs. Will need to try it out.
Crimson G: I will say this straight away: no matter what kind of relationship Hikari and Sasuke have, in no way is Sasuke ever gunna try or succeed in 'stealing' Hikari away. He's not that type of guy, and frankly he's got a hard enough time trusting people nevermind having a crush on them. I think Sasuke sees Hikari's and Naruto's relationship and has a bit of envy, but not of one of them but rather the fact that they have someone still. I imagine he'd be a little miffed that they're so close, but also I think he kinda wants to trust them but doesn't know how. At least that's my take on him. Also, Sasuke hates sweets, and I can't even see him making chocolates for anyone but the love of his life and even then is iffy.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. Also please in form me of any errors even formattng ones. Sometimes they don't appear on the editor screen until I post it!
I hope everyone is doing well! Please stay safe!
Iland Girl