Within the next month, Asuma trained us to the point of nearly passing out. We went on several mission, and all together had made a vast improvement as a team. We learned to work together, and became a nearly unstoppable group of Shinobi's.
Today, was different though. Shikamaru and I were not stuck up each other's asses, for the simple fact that Asuma wanted to train Shikamaru by himself, to improve his chances of winning the Chunin Exams. Frankly, it pissed me off because I was in the Exams too. But, I would not let it bother me.
Currently I was on the training field alone, not even Watamote was with me. I stood in front of the tree stump in front of me, and for the 110th time, I brought my leg up and kicked it as hard as I could, causing the dent in the tree to become slightly worse. "One Hundred and Ten!" I said, before I brought my leg up and hit the tree again. "One Hundred and Eleven!"
I went all the way up to 130 before stopped, realizing that if I went any further I might knock over the entire tree. I sighed softly and wiped the sweat off of my brow before turning and walking back to the field. I dropped down onto my hands in a push up position, and began to do pushups. With every ten I did, I would remove a finger. I got to one hundred and was doing the push ups with only one finger and my feet, sweat beads slowly falling off my face and onto the ground below me. Finally, I collapsed against the ground, letting out a long breath.
"Only 100, Kruno? You're getting soft brat." A voice from under the ground said, but I didn't jump. I just rolled my eyes and waited for the man to pull up from the ground. Slowly, a head came up from the ground, and I smiled. His yellow orbs of eyes stared into mine, and I blew out air again.
"Yes, only 100." I said, and if he could have he would have rolled his eyes at me.
"How you been, brat?"
"I've been okay! I have a boyfriend now, weird right?" I said chuckling, and he gave me a weird look.
"Well just tell him if he hurts you, I will fucking eat him."
I nodded my head, and rolled my eyes. "Will do, buddy." I said, reaching out and ruffling his hair slightly, causing him to growl at me.
"I have to go now, but I'll see you later, kiddo. Is there anything you want me to tell everyone else, brat?"
"Tell them that I miss all of them." I said, and he nodded before sinking back into the ground. I sighed heavily and pushed myself up before walking over to another tree stump, and began to punch it with all of my might, counting every time that my fist connected with the tree.
///
Nearly three hours later, I was finished training. I was covered in blood, and cuts, and I'm pretty sure part of my hand was broken. I sighed as I walked back into Konoha, getting odd stares from people. Not that I could blame them, I'm literally a bloody mess.
"Kruno, my lord, are you okay?" I turned around to see Asuma walking towards me. I nodded my head and looked down at my arms and legs.
"Training." was all I said before turning away. I was fairly pissed off at my sensei, and my boyfriend so I chose to ignore them.
"Kruno!" I heard Shikamaru's voice call out, but I continued walking. The exams were in tomorrow, and not once had anyone offered to train with me individually.
"Kruno, stop walking." He said, placing his hand on my shoulder, and I stopped in a huff, sighing out heavily.
"What do you want, Shikamaru?" I said, not looking back at him.
"For my girlfriend to pay attention to me when I'm talking to her."
I looked back at him, and crossed my arms over my chest. "You got my attention."
"What's wrong with you?" He asked.
"Oh nothing, just the fact that no one wants to train with me, so I've been beating the shit out of myself, alone, while you got to train with Asuma!" I said, rolling my eyes. Shikamaru placed his hands on my arms, and bent his head down slightly so that we were eye to eye.
"I am training with Asuma for the exams."
"I'm in the exam too, Shikamaru."
"I know, but you are better than I am. I need more help than you do." He said, kissing my nose gently.
"I love you, Kruno. I am sorry if you have been feeling abandoned." He said, and I sighed softly.
"I love you too, Shikamaru." I said with a sigh, kissing his nose back gently. "But I have to go, I'm so tired it isn't even funny anymore." I chuckled, and he hugged me tightly. I nuzzled my nose against his chest, and he kissed my forehead.
"I hope you sleep well, baby girl. I will come get you in the morning for breakfast." He said, kissing my lips before I nodded, turning on my heels and walking to my house. I arrived in the house, and Kiba attacked me with a hug. I giggled softly and hugged him back tightly, kissing his cheek gently.
"I love you, Kiba, but what is this hug for?" I said laughing.
"It's your good luck hug for tomorrow when you kick some major ass!" He said and I laughed, hugging him even closer.
"I love you, you know that right? No matter what happens, I will always love you." I said quietly, placing my hand on his face.
"I love you too, Kruno! But why are you acting like something is going to happen?"
"I don't know, I just got this feeling. Don't worry about it though, I'm sure it's just me being me." I said, laughing softly. He nodded his head slowly, still looking uneasy, but he allowed the subject to slide without much argument. I sighed heavily as I moved into my room, sitting down beside Watamote who began to lick my hands quickly. She had been staying home lately because she was saving her energy for tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, I was so nervous. While I was gone, I had become incredibly superstitious, and when I felt like something bad was going to happen, I normally freaked out. I had been getting bad feelings for the last couple of days, and honestly, I hadn't ever gotten a feeling this strong.
I laid down on my bed, and pulled out Shikamaru's jacket from under my pillow, wrapping it around my body. It had become somewhat like a good luck charm in the last three months, and I was happy that I had it. It reminded me of the man I loved even when he wasn't around to tell me that.
I pulled the blanket up over Watamote and I, closed my eyes, and smiled. Tomorrow, I would need to be as well rested as I had ever been, and that meant going to be early. Soon after I closed my eyes, I was in a deep sleep.
///
I woke up the next morning to a gentle shake, which caused me to mumble things that no one would be able to understand. I peaked my eyes open, to a smiling Shikamaru. That's when I glanced at the time on my alarm clock, and glared back at him.
it was only 7:28 in the goddamn mother fucking morning.
He continued to smile at me until I got out of my bed, wrapping his jacket tighter around me. Watamote yapped slightly from the bed, so I picked her up and slowly pushed Shikamaru out of my room.
"Out until I am changed." I said, coldly, since I had been woken up before the proper time of at least 9 in the morning. I sighed, trudging over to my dresser and putting on my everyday outfit, but I left on Shikamaru's Jacket instead of my own. I smoothed down my hair, and wrapped my forehead protector around my neck. Once that was done, I walked to my door, still holding my dog, and looked at Shikamaru who was slouched over, looking at the ground.
I grabbed his hand, and we began to walk out of the house. From my house, we walked to a small diner down the street that opened at six am for those shinobi's that had to be on mission at the crack ass of dawn. Lord knows I was not that kind of person, so I had never actually been in here before. We walked in, and sat down at a two person table.
A petite waitress walked over to us, smiling brightly. I returned the smile, because her smile was rather intoxicating.
"What can I get the both of you, this lovely morning?" She asked, and I got a coffee with extra sugar, and Shikamaru got a tea. I looked at him with an odd expression, before laying my head down on the table.
"Why the fuck did you wake me up before seven thirty..." I mumbled, whining like a small child.
"So that I can spend as much time with you as I can before the exams later." He said simply, and I whined again. He chuckled as our drinks came, and he ordered our food for us. I didn't pay attention to what he ordered, because by now he had learned just about everything that I liked to eat.
I sat my head up and grasped the coffee mug with two hands, shakily bringing it up to my lips, but smiling as the warm liquid sent a warmth shooting through my entire body. It woke me a lot, and I took another sip. Hopefully I wouldn't be as tired later at the Exams.
Shikamaru and I talked for about two hours before deciding that we should head to the exams. We locked hands and walked in silence, but the silence wasn't as comfortable as it normally was. I shook off the feeling and we walked into the arena, and my breathing caught in my throat as I noticed just how many fucking people were to watch.
The proctor turn to us, and gave us a slight smile. We nodded and stood by each other, still having our hands locked. The proctor began to go over who would fight who, and I searched for my name. I gave him an confused look, and he nodded his head at me.
"Kruno, since you were the one who gave us an odd number, you will be fighting whoever wins the fight before yours, which is Shikamaru, and Temari."
I gulped, Shikamaru was my boyfriend, and I didn't want to have to fight him. But Temari was someone that I had also gotten close to in the short amount of time that I spent in Suna. I sighed softly, and leaned against Shikamaru.
"This is such a drag." I muttered out, and Shikamaru laughed softly, placing a gentle kiss to my forehead. This caused a few cute aw's to escape from the audience, my cheeks turned a shade of red, and Shikamaru rubbed my knuckle slightly with his thumb until my cheeks went back to their normal shade.
We waited for a few minutes before Naruto came running into the arena, screaming that there was a heard of angry bulls chasing after him. I glanced behind him, and shook my head.
"Dobe, there are no bulls chasing you!" I shouted, and the proctor told us to quiet down. He explained some of the basics to us, before the third Hokage began to talk to us. Well, the audience more so. He told them that we would begin immediately, so everyone but Naruto and Neji went up into the stands, Shikamaru and I sat down by the edge of the bars.
I watched as Neji and Naruto fought, but at no point did I think that Naruto was going to kick the living shit out of Neji, or that Neji would tell us his life story. A story I was all too familiar with, since I had befriended the Hyuga when I was five. I sighed softly, resting my head on my hands. My match was slowly getting closer and closer, and I was scared.
Finally it was Shikamaru's turn, and I could tell he wanted to forfeit the match. I watched as a very familiar blonde walked up beside of Shikamaru, and told him that he could do it, then patted him on the back. Only he didn't pat him on the back, he basically smacked Shikamaru in the back. And this caused my oh so lovely, but not gracious boyfriend to go tumbling forward onto the arena floor. I laughed really loudly, and I am pretty sure it caused everyone else to laugh. I then glanced over the edge of the railing and called down to him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Hit that dobe for me." He said, finally pushing himself up, and I nodded. I turned around and smack Naruto in the head, causing him to pout at me. I rolled my eyes and turned my focus back to my boyfriends match.
"What is it? You planning on giving up too?" Temari called, and I laughed to myself. Just as cocky as I remembered.
"Come on, Come on, Get up and fight!" Naruto shouted. "Get it together Shikamaru! Are you going to get started sometime this year?!" The blonde continued shouting, and Kankuro turned his head towards him, but noticed that I had already cocked my head towards him, and swung my fist at his shine.
"Shut up already!" I sneered, and looked back the match, but I heard a chuckle come from Kankuro. I looked over at him with one raised eyebrow.
"You still owe me food, bitch." I said, before smiling.
"Well if you won't move, then I will!" I heard, and my head snapped back towards the match to see Temari running at Shikamaru.
"I forgot, this girl's a spunky one. Reminds me a lot of Kruno. I hate spunky." He said, pulling two kunais out of his pocket. I got an anime vein on my forehead, and wanted to scream at him, but I figured I could do that after the match. Temari jumped up in the air, and brought her fan down roughly where Shikamaru was laying, and I heard gasps from around the arena, but I just shrugged. I knew she hadn't gotten him. Once the smoke cleared, Shikamaru was against the wall with a smirk on his face.
"It really doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me if I make Chunin or not. But I guess I shouldn't let myself get beaten by a female. So, lets do it." He said, and Temari opened up her fan, pushing a large thing of wind towards the wall he had been on. But once again, when the smoke cleared, the only thing left where Shika had been was two kunai. She glanced towards the trees and gave a smile, finally realizing just how fast Shikamaru was when it came to running away.
"You got this, Shikamaru! Use that super awesome special technique on her, and take this bitch down!" I heard Ino yell, and I rolled my eyes slightly.
"Ninja art! Wind Slice Jutsu!" Temari screamed, and she used her fan to kick up air at Shikamaru, who threw his arms up to protect himself. The wind could be felt in the audience, and I had to put my arms around my face slightly.
In the cloud of smoke, almost no one noticed the fact that Shikamaru had began to attempt to use his shadow possession jutsu, that is until Temari began to do back flips to avoid getting caught in his jutsu, and finally, she found a spot where she thought his Jutsu could go no further, and crossed a line with her fan, and smiled.
"Now I get it... Almost got me, aren't you clever? With that Shadow Possession Jutsu of yours, you can manipulate any shadow you are in. The walls shadow or instance, but it has a limit. No matter how thin you stretch it, it will only go so far."
I saw Shikamaru give a half grin, and reply. "You got me."
I watched as Shikamaru placed his hands in his normal circle he did when he was thinking. He could only think about what to do next when he did that. Finally, his eyes shot open and he gave a slight smirk.
Once again, Temari swung her fan at him, causing a huge gust of wind. Shikamaru got up, and ran behind a tree with a kunai in hand. I smiled slightly as I watched Temari begin to underestimate Shikamaru, and let her guard down all too quickly. A kunai came flying out from the dust storm, and she gasped, jumping away from it and using her fan to block another one.
Shikamaru's shadow began to stretch, and much to her shock went over the precious little line she had drawn. She began to move back quickly, until his shadow met its limit.
"You're pretty quick on your toes." He said.
"Now I see what you were doing, you weren't just hiding, you were kill time! Waiting for the sun to get lower so the shadow would get larger! The longer the shadow, the longer your range is right?!"
"Temari! Over your head!" Kankuro screamed, and I stood up and walked over to him, placing my finger in his face.
"Listen here, cat boy, I am not helping my boyfriend beat your sister, you stop helping your sister beat my boyfriend." I said sternly, and he rolled hie eyes before placing an arm around my neck, pinning me against his body, and using his other fist to mess up my hair.
"Little punk!" He said, and I began to trash around slightly until Gaara spoke.
"Both of you, stop acting like your children." He said coldly. and Kankuro let go of me, and both of us stood up really straight, turning our attention back to the match. I noticed that Shikamaru's jacket was floating the air, which caused his range to be able to further out. I smiled slightly as I realized exactly what his plan was. Temari landed by the hole in the ground, and I smiled. She just fell right into his plan.
She dug her fan into the ground, and that was when she made a fatal mistake. She began to make hand symbols, but quickly stopped when Shikamaru attached his jutsu to her feet.
"It took a while, but my shadow possession jutsu finally worked."
"How the hell did he do that?!" Kankuro said, and I smiled over at him.
"You guys judged Shikamaru way to soon. He is a lazy son of a bitch, but he has an IQ of over 200. Most of the match he has been trying to get her closer to the two holes in the ground so that he could get his shadow down the first hole, and out the second to attach to her feet when she thought she was out of range. Temari is smart, and a wonderful stradgiest. But, Shikamaru has always been one step ahead." I explained. Kankuro nodded.
Shikamaru began to walk forward, so did Temari until they were about five feet from each other. Naruto cheered, as did Ino, and I could hear Choji munching on his food from across the arena. Shikamaru raised his hand, and did exactly what I expecting him too.
"The hell with it, I give up." He said, and everyone was on the edge of their seat, and complete silence. Except for me, I busted out laughing.
"Ive used up most of my chakra. I've got about ten seconds before this gives out. It's a drag, because I already had the next two hundred moves planned out in my head. But whatever. And I mean, if I won this it would just mean more work." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"The winner is, Temari." The proctor said, and Shikamaru slowly made his way back up to us, along with Temari following after him. I walked over to him, and wrapped my arms around him slightly, leaning my head against his shoulder.
"It was a good fight, babe." I said, and he grumbled.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." He said, and I stuck my tongue out at him playfully as we waited for the next round to begin.
///
SO THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK.
BUT DON'T WORRY THERE ARE STILL TWO MORE BOOKS TO COME WITH THE ADVENTURES OF KRUNO AND SHIKA
I NEED SOMEBODY TO MAKE A COVER FOR THE SECOND BOOK, SO IF ANYONE COULD DO THAT I'D LOVE YOU FOREVER.
DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT, VOTE, AND FOLLOW. I LOVE YOU MY SUNSHINES<3