~I never thought I'd see the day, when we honestly could say, we stand five against the world, and the doors are open~
Kiyomi's POV
Aoi and I had a stare down, neither of us moving an inch. The sounds of Sasuke and Lee's fight faded into the background, as we were only concentrating on each other. Nothing else.
Then it came. A single twitch was my only warning as Aoi moved, disappearing from his spot and reappearing in front of me. His hand was outstretched, as if to punch me.
My eyes widened, and I jumped backwards, trying to avoid the blow. I mostly got away, but was clipped in the jaw by his fast swing.
Aoi didn't give up, and kept coming at me with relentless attacks. Every one I dodged, some by a lot, some by no more than a hairsbreadth. This guy was faster than I had expected, and I could barely keep up. He didn't seem this fast upon my first impression!
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lee kicking the crap out of Sasuke, but I couldn't stop and watch. Why did I think this fight would be a good idea?
Aoi briefly stopped his attack, and we both watched Sasuke and Lee's match. I could see that Sasuke had activated his Sharingan (Wait, when did he get that?!), but Lee was still faster. If the Sharingan can't read it... Then...
I looked curiously at Aoi, and if sensing my thought he nodded. "Correct. Lee's moves are only taijutsu. He is unable to use nin- or genjutsu."
"That's some dedication he's got there..." I muttered. Even limited by his lack of chakra, Lee was still better than the boy that was called the best rookie. "It's very admirable."
"Yes." Aoi looked proud. "I strive to become like Lee. His dedication is awe-inspiring!"
I looked at the other boy. "... Because of your eye, right?"
Aoi nodded. "My family looked down on me for being born half-blind, and repeatedly told me I would never amount to a good shinobi. I will prove them wrong!" he hissed, clenching his fist.
I nodded calmly. "Well, your taijutsu is better than mine," I admitted aloud. 'Currently.' I thought to myself. My taijutsu improved drastically if I activated Yasei, and I think I could beat him if I used it.
Suddenly a pinwheel came flying out of nowhere, and struck Lee's bandages, which were unwrapping. I frowned, wondering where it'd come from, until a tortoise appeared in a puff of smoke,
'What...?'
'A summoning,' Fenrir said. 'And not a very common on at that.'
'Whose is it?' I wondered, observing the animal. It was mostly red, but had golden designs around it's shell.
'No idea,' Fenrir shrugged. 'But we're most likely about to find out.'
Naruto was asking Sakura if animals could be senseis, making me wonder about Naruto's mental state. Guess he couldn't tell the animal was a summoning.
'You couldn't either,' Fenrir reminded me.
'Right...' I sweat-dropped.
"Then here comes Gai-sensei!" the turtle boomed. I figure his summoner will be appearing now. I wonder who it is...
A man who looked like an older version of Lee, complete with the same haircut, clothes, and headband belt, plus a flak jacket. And the eyebrows....
I have seen Lee's future, and I am scared.
Gai appeared on top of the turtle's shell in a strange pose, and yelled something I could barely understand. My entire team had horrified expressions, even Sasuke, who never had an expression on his face.
'This guy...' Fenrir said, seeming to be at a loss for words. 'Is certainly... unique?'
'Let's go with that.' I replied, still staring at the strange man that had appeared. He was just so... flamboyant.
For some reason Gai punched Lee in the face, hard. Then the two started crying, and hugging each other. A sunset appeared in the background, and a wind blew their strange hair in different directions.
'I'm so confused!' I cried in my head to Fen. 'What is going on?'
'... I have absolutely no idea.'
Gai started yelling something about laps around the training field, and Lee just went right along with it. Guess that's how Lee's so good at taijutsu...
I then turned back to Aoi, who was watching this all. "Is that your sensei?" I asked the dark-skinned boy.
Aoi nodded. "Yes. Gai-sensei, one of the best taijutsu users in the village. He is a great sensei... He is teaching me about fighting with only one eye, and it is going great!"
"I can tell," I replied. "But... Why wouldn't you train under Kakashi Hatake, who also normally uses one eye?"
"I do not know," Aoi shrugged. "I do not think Kakashi had a team my graduating year. I think the Hokage wanted him to have a team in your year, as I am assuming you are a year younger than me. Do you know who is on that team, and if they passed his unpassable test?"
I chuckled lightly. "Yeah, that's my team. Me, Uchiha over there, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno. Somehow we managed to pass."
"Oh!" Aoi looked impressed. "How has it been?"
"Well,-"
"Aoi! You're here as well!" Gai said, appearing right in front of the two of us. Cutting me off when I was about to speak. "Have you found your eternal rival as well?"
Aoi and I exchanged a look. "I would not say eternal rival..." the yellow-eyed boy said hesitantly.
"Nonsense!" Gai said enthusiastically. "I can see that you two were having a battle, so why not? Obviously you thought she had some form of strength about her!"
Aoi nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "When I first saw her, I could tell she was stronger than she seemed."
"You're talking about me like I'm not even here," I butted in.
"My apologies, youth-filled young girl!" Gai said, grinning. His teeth seemed to sparkle, and that worried me. "But," he moved so he could see my entire team. "You should be getting to the Exams. You have very little time left."
My eyes widened, along with Sakura's. Naruto didn't look that bothered, and Sasuke looked as apathetic as always. Gai, Lee, and Aoi all leapt up onto the balconies above, and disappeared.
I started to walk towards the door. "Let's go," I called over my shoulder. "You don't want to be late, do you?"
"The Uchiha clan ain't worth much these days," Naruto said as we started to walk. "You just got your butt kicked."
"Shut up," Sasuke muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Next time... I'll beat him."
"Good luck with that," I said, turning so I was walking backwards in front of my team. "That Lee kid is strong. And incredibly determined. I think he could do anything if he set him mind to it. And that means... If you don't get in that same mind set, you'll never catch up, let alone surpass him."
"You saw his hands," Naruto said, following up on what I said. "They proved his dedication. He trains so much. More than you."
Sasuke smirked. "Well, then I guess I've gotta train harder," he said. "This is getting fun, these Chunin Exams. Let's go."
"Right!" Sakura smiled, following the Uchiha. Naruto also cheered, and ran after them.
I rolled my eyes, but grinned nonetheless. "Guess I've got no choice now..." I muttered, still grinning. "Those idiots... Rushing in... Oh well." And I walked after them, ready for these exams.
======
Kakashi met up with us outside the actual room we were supposed to be in. "Good." He said as we approached, looking up from his book. "Guess you guys qualify to take the exams."
"What?" Sakura asked.
My sensei put his book away. "Well, in truth these exams can only be taken in teams of four. So if one of you hadn't shown up... Then none of you could have taken it."
'Told you,' Fenrir grunted.
'I never doubted it!' I protested.
"So if one of us hadn't shown up..." Sakura trailed off.
"Yep!" Kakashi smiled. "The exam would have ended for you. But you all came of your own free will. I'm proud of you, Team Seven!" He looked at each of us separately. "You can enter the exam room. Good luck!"
I smiled slightly, and was the last of us to walk through the door. I felt Kakashi pat my head briefly, before the door closed, and we were left alone in a room full of people who wanted to kill us.
And when I say it was full, I actually meant full. Like there must have been fifty teams in here! Like in the other room, the fake one, all the shinobi here had different headbands, each representing their own hidden villages.
"Sasuke!" a girl's voice squealed, and a blond figure latched their arms around Sasuke's neck. Ino Yamanaka. Sakura's rival, and a Sasuke fangirl. "You're here! I was waiting!"
Sakura and Ino started to fight, as Sasuke took a few steps away from the girls. I sent him a sympathetic glance, then started to scan the room for familiar faces.
In one corner I saw the shinobi from the Hidden Sand. Gaara noticed me looked, and narrowed his gaze on me. A chill ran up my spine, and I quickly looked away.
Then I saw them, sitting in the middle of the room like they owned the place. Two girls and two guys. The twins, Juro and Jira Zinan. The so-called "Prodigy of the Mountains", Jael Riku. And the one peron who made my life a living hell back in Yamagakure. Amaya Anda.
Amaya was one of the children of Yamagakure's chief. And the reason she hated me so much? I killed her younger siblings. So it's not that surprising. I hadn't meant to kill them, but she still sought revenge.
Amaya wasn't necessarily bad-looking. In fact, she was rather pretty, with caramel skin and deep brown almond-shaped eyes. Her hair was black and very curly, and she was short, that kind of short that makes you think they're cute.
But her personality completely ruined the effect. She was loud, bossy, and always got her way. It's not that she wasn't fun to be around, but she could be very condescending.
We were five-year olds when I first... Lost control, I guess, and killed those two kids. After that, she did everything she could as a five-year old to make my life horrible. It was mostly just name-calling, and the occasional stone thrown, but she single-handedly manged to turn my entire age group, and a good number of the older people, against me. And they could do a lot more damage.
I just hope she doesn't notice me here...
Wait, too late. We made eye contact. So much for avoiding the past.
Amaya's eyes widened when she saw me, though how she recognized me was a mystery. It's been like seven years. That's when a malicious smirk came across her face, and she whispered something to her teammates, not taking her eyes off me.
The rest of the Rookie 12 had gathered by this point. Sakura and Ino were still arguing, and Shikamaru and Naruto had also started. Asami and Sasuke were whispering softly to each other, probably catching up. Choji was snacking on something like normal, and Shino was watching this bug that was on the floor to make sure no one stepped on it. Hinata was hiding behind the Aburame, and probably staring at Naruto. Kiba was trying to start a conversation with Sasuke, but the Uchiha was ignoring him, so Kouta stepped in and started to talk to Kiba.
I felt two pairs of eyes on me as I broke my gaze away from Amaya. So I looked down, and both Akamaru and Shiki were staring at me. Akamaru was wagging his white tail, and Shiki's nose was twitching frantically.
Both the dog and the wolf had always been interested in me. Fenrir said it was because they could smell him inside me, and they were always wondering what I was. This had confused both Kiba and Kouta to no end, as neither of them could sense anything odd from me.
"Hey you two..." I said, kneeling down to pat their heads. "How have you two been?"
Akamaru yapped something, and Shiki let out a whine right afterwards. 'Fen?' I asked, as I couldn't understand them directly. But Fenrir could, and he always translated.
'The dog said he's been good, and is happy to see you. And the wolf is wondering what's taking so long, and why can't they start,' Fenrir translated.
I thanked him silently, then replied verbally to the canines. "That's great, Akamaru, I'm happy to see you as well," I grinned as I talked quietly. "And Shiki, we'll probably start soon. It can't be long now."
"Kiyomi?" Kiba asked, seeing that I was conversing with his dog. "What are you doing?"
I stood up, and dusted off my knees. "I was having a conversation," I said quietly, not meeting Kiba's eyes. Guess now that I'm back to being surrounded by others, I'm out of my comfort zone.
'Your personality is going back to what it was during the Academy,' Fenrir commented. 'I don't think many of them have ever heard you speak more than a few sentences, if they even noticed you.'
'Just the way I liked it...'
"Really? I didn't know you could talk to animals," Kiba said curiously, staring at his puppy. "But Akamaru always did say there was something off about you..."
"Really?" I asked, seeming to not care. Best way to lie is to seem natural, and always have an excuse. "I tend to take a lot of walks around the forests. Maybe I went near something that smelled interesting?"
Kiba frowned. "That's probably it." He didn't seem convinced, but that's okay. I don't need him to trust me. Just for him to not be suspicious of me.
"What do we have here?" a sultry voice asked. Well, as sultry as a twelve-year old could be, anyways. I looked over, and saw that Amaya had approached. Great. "Kiyomi? Is that you?" she was faking confusion, but I could see right through her.
"You know her?" Kiba asked me in surprise. I shrugged, but before I could respond Amaya answered.
"Of course!" she purred. "Kiyomi here came from my village, isn't that right?" Amaya looked at me.
I nodded, but was stopped from talking yet again. "Really? What village is that?" Naruto. How'd he notice what we were doing? I thought he was arguing with Shikamaru!?
Actually, when I looked around, I saw that the rest of the Rookie Twelve had gathered. Great. Questions. I gritted my teeth, and prepared to be bombarded.
"Yamagakure, Village Hidden in the Mountain," Amaya said proudly. "You left, how long ago was it?"
Everyone turned to look at me. Pressuring me to answer. "Seven years ago," I muttered, turning away.
"Why'd you leave?" Hinata asked quietly. I stiffened at the question, but Amaya smirked.
"Yes, Kiyomi. Why did you leave?" she asked innocently. And once again everyone was focused on my answer.
"... I will not answer that," I said, then stalked out of the group. The rest of the Genin exchanged confused looks, save for my team. Guess they remembered what I said during introductions. Talking about my past is a big no-no for me. It's not that bad, but it still hurts. And I don't like pain.
"Quite a commotion you're making over here, isn't it?" a new voice said smoothly. The new person managed to take all the attention off of my and my lack of response, so I breathed a sigh of relief. I moved cautiously back over to the edge of the group, intrigued by what the newcomer was saying.
"... have cards with individual information on them?" Sasuke was asking as I started to listen in. I looked at the new guy, a boy a few years older than us, who had spiky silver hair and glasses. He smelt of... blood... And snake? Strange. Maybe it's a summoning?
"Of course. The information may not be perfect, but I've got something," the silver-head said. "Who are you looking for?"
"Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee of the Leaf," Sasuke said without hesitation.
The guy smirked, and drew two cards from the deck. "Alright. First up, Rock Lee of the Leaf." He placed one card face-up, showing a profile on the smaller eye-brows person we'd met earlier. "He's a year older than you guys, and he specializes in taijutsu. His teammates are Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Aoi Nakajima. His sensei is Might Gai."
"And Gaara?"
"Gaara of the Sand, also called Gaara of the Desert. He's your age, and I don't have much info on him, since it's his first time in the Exams. But he's completed every mission he's been on without a scratch, so I'd be wary of this guy. His teammates are his siblings, Kankuro, Temari, and Kaizen." The silver-head put the two cards back in the deck. "Anyone else?"
"Kiyomi Himura," Amaya said, speaking up. My team frowned, but the rest of the Leaf Genin looked interested.
"Alright." The guy drew one card from the deck. My heart jumped. How much information would he have on me? "Kiyomi Himura. I don't have much info, since she's a rookie, but from what I have, I can see that she's proficient in both tai- and ninjutsu. She's on the Kakashi Hatake-led Team Seven, consisting of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno. And... She's got a Kekkei Genkai? Interesting, especially since I have no info on it..."
I breathed a sigh of relief. He doesn't know about Fenrir. He just thinks Yasei is a Kekkei Genkai. Thank goodness.
"You have a Kekkei Genkai?" Shikamaru asked curiously. "What's it called?"
I shook my head. "I have no obligation to tell you," I said coldly.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Fair enough," he said lazily. "It's not smart to tell potential opponents your abilities." I nodded.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I won't lose to any of you guys, got that?" Naruto suddenly yelled out to the entire room, making me jump.
'What an idiot...' Fenrir muttered, seeing all the nasty looks the other contestants sent us. I nodded, in complete agreement. That was not the smartest idea Naruto's ever had.
I glanced around, and noticed that Amaya had slipped back over to stand with her team. When she noticed me looking, she sent me a cheeky wink. I bared my teeth, but she only smirked, and mouthed a word. A word I haven't heard in a long time. 'Demon'.
I frowned, and looked away. Guess old memories still hit hard. Especially when you're not expecting them
A poof of smoke appeared in the middle of the room, interrupting whatever drama was happening around my teammates now. And I'm sure there was something. There's always something. But I was not going to look, for fear of getting involved.
"Quiet down!" a scarred man wearing a bandanna said. The room fell silent. "I'm Ibiki Morino, proctor for the first exam." Then Ibiki looked over at the huddle of Leaf Genins, where four other people were now confronting them. "And you, Hidden Sound shinobi! No fighting, unless you wish to be disqualified!"
"Our apologies," one of the Genin who I didn't recognize said. He looked creepy. "We must have gotten... Overexcited."
"Well don't let it happen again," Ibiki scoffed, then moved on. "When I tell you, everyone come up here and get a piece of paper. We will start the first exam shortly, once everyone is seated." He showed us a stack of paper packets.
Are we taking a test?
"A paper test?" Naruto groaned. "Noooo! I'm gonna fail!"
Team exercise. Naruto, who barely passed the Academy, is on my team. He said it right.
We're gonna fail.
~These are the days we will remember, and these are the days we won't forget~
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Thanks to everyone who's voted or commented! I really appreciate it, and I hope you like this book! I may not always reply, but I see everything!
Later!