CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sasuke did it. And so did Naruto. Sasuke showed his true skills, but Naruto, he is still questionable. There weren't many people left, and of the people that were still there, there was no doubt that I'd win any of these.
"Next up, (Y/n) Daku vs. Ino Yamanaka. Please come down." The Procter coughs out. A smirk mingles on my face as I hear a choir of gasps around the room.
"What?!? I have to fight her?!?" Ino yells as she is being pushed down by her sensei. We both walk down our sides of the stairs and face each other.
"Yes, now begin." The proctor says and waves his hands in the air. Ino quickly pulls a kunai out and throws it at my head. I lean a half an inch to the right, allowing th kunai to pass right by my head. The wind from the weapon blows the hair by my ear lightly as I stare at her blankly. Ino's eyes widen considerably as she trembles slightly. I let out a heavy sigh and crack my knuckles before placing a hand on my hip.
"Listen, I don't want this to drag out, and you know you aren't going to win, so give up now." I say monotonously. Her eyes widen again, but her face flashes over to that of determination. Ino grits her teeth and growls before throwing her hands out in front of her, preforming a hand seal.
"Never! Mind transfer jutsu!" She yells. I quickly activate my Daku and hope for the best. If I'm correct, she won't be able to control me.
"Did it work?" One of her teammates whispered.
Ino remained standing with her hands in the same seal for a few moments before her eyes widened in fear and shock.
"Oh no, Ino missed!" One of her teammates yelled from the top of the balcony. After dodging her jutsu, I quickly ran to be in front of her. She was panting heavily already. When she noticed my presence a couple of seconds later, her body jumped from shock, but her eyes were filled with even more fear.
"Just what in the hell is that?!?" Someone from the top of the balcony yells. Naruto laughs as Sasuke chuckles and answered whoever asked the question.
"The end of the match, that's what it is." Sasuke said cockily. I add more chakra to my eyes cautiously, then catch Ino in the jutsu. She gasps and tears fill her now blank eyes.
"Darkness." I whisper. Ino falls to the ground screaming bloody murder before passing out completely. I stare at her still form before looking back to the Procter, his eyes wide and mouth ajar.
"Alright. Yamanaka is unable to continue. Daku is the winner and will continue to the finals." The Procter states after a fit of coughing. I turn around, leaving Ino and begin the trek back up the stairs as Naruto screams.
"Alright! yeah! way to go (Y/n)! You did it!" Naruto yells excitedly as Sasuke glares at him. I look to Naruto indifferently then prop my arms against the railing.
"Of course I did you idiot. I'm one of the best here. And, you two did a nice job, I guess." I say quickly. The pairs eyes widen in shock at my words.
"I - I did?" Sasuke stammered as he cheeks flushed a red color, as they usually do. Kakashi eyes us from the wall, which he didn't know I noticed.
"I don't like repeating myself, Sasuke." I say simply. He swallows thickly and nods his head. A second later, Kakashi came up to the three of us and started dragging Sasuke and I away.
"We've got to seal one of those marks on your neck. I can see the pain in your eyes every time it pulses. Now, this seal is only as strong as your will. Doubt yourself and the seal will too. Sasuke, which side acts up the most?" Kakashi explains, then asks as he leads us to some dark room with stone pillars.
"The one on the left I think." Sasuke says to Kakashi, who is currently painting symbols onto the floor. I watch as he finishes painting the last symbol, then leads me to the middle of a kunai marked circle. I take a seat there and wait, but no one moved.
"(Y/n), you've got to remove your top for this to work." Kakashi said suddenly. My eyes narrowed, but Sasuke's widened and his cheeks flamed a bright red color.
"The fuck you say, pervert." I sneer through gritted teeth. Kakashi sigh and massages the back of his head.
"I'm here to help you, not be a pervert. Take it off." Kakashi says. I roll my eyes and readjust my position on the floor.
"Whatever." I grumble as I grab the bottom of my black shirt and begin to pull it up, but Sasuke starts freaking out.
"Wait! Don't you want me to turn around or something?!?" Sasuke exclaims as he holds both of his hands out in front of him, as if to cover my body from his view. I scoff and roll my eyes, taking my shirt off completely.
"Do as you please." I grumble and turn around. Kakashi starts doing several hand signs as Sasuke watches intently, probably copying the jutsu.
"Sealing jutsu!" Kakashi yells and places his hand on my neck. My eyes widened at the amount of pain that rang through me.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" I screamed as I dug my nails into the skin of my thighs. Sasuke watched with sorrowful eyes as I continued to cry out in agony.
"Alright, you're done." Kakashi says as he removes his hands. I pant heavily and feel the urge to pass out, but stay awake with as much resistance as possible.
"(Y/n), it's okay. You need to pass out. You're body is completely worn." Kakashi says. Without a moment of hesitation, I allow my body to fall forward, but I don't hit the ground, instead, I fall into a warm, welcoming embrace.
"My, how you've grown, Kakashi." I hear a disgustingly familiar voice say, but I'm too tired to even tense, but Sasuke wasn't. His whole body went rigid. He quickly picked me up and held me close to him, taking a step backwards.
"Wha- you?!? Sasuke, get her out of here now!" I hear Kakashi yell, but it sounds like I'm underwater. Sasuke starts taking quick steps away.
"Where are you taking my soon to be pupil?" The voice I now recognize as Orochimaru says, but that's the last thing I hear before I blacked out completely.
~ The next day ~
"(Y/n), hey (Y/n). Wake up sleepy head!" I hear a bright, bubbly voice whisper shout at me. My eyes slowly crack open, and the first thing I see is a big blob of orange. After focusing my vision, I could see that it was actually Naruto in my face, and Sasuke sitting next to my hospital bed, asleep.
"Get out of my face you idiot." I growl and stiffly scoot myself back into a sitting position, and away from Naruto.
"Hahaha! Hey Sasuke, get up! (Y/n)'s awake!" Naruto shouts. At the mention of my name, Sasuke jolts upwards and his eyes train on me, a small smile present on his face. Guilt wrenched inside of me and I had to look away from him.
"Oh man, now that you're awake, we can train for the finals coming up in a month! Oh, it's gonna be great. I blew Kiba outta the water, and I'll be able to do the same with whoever else too, and I'll- hey, (Y/n), what're you doing?!? You aren't supposed to be up for another three days!" Naruto starts, but I force my sore body out of the bed and start strapping my ninja gear back on, preparing to leave.
"Exams. Training, now." I reply simply and walk out of the room. I needed to swallow my pride and train with anyone and everyone that could be beneficial to me, except for Sasuke. For the entirety of this next month, I will be ignoring him to the best of my ability. He loves me, and I may or may not return the feelings, but whatever they are, they can't happen. Not on this path I'm on. I exit the hospital and start walking to the training grounds, but I spot a familiar silver head of hair.
"Oh, hello (Y/n), it's nice to see-" Kakashi begins as I approach him, but I cross my arms under my chest and start speaking over him.
"Train me." I say monotonously with a blank face to match. His eyes widen just slightly before he closes the book he'd been reading and places it in his kunai pouch.
"Well then, alright." Kakashi says and starts walking off, but not to the training grounds. I curiously follow him, but he starts adding chakra into his feet and starts bounding up some mountains. I follow him quickly, determination in my head and heart. We quickly reach the top, or at least a large cliff.
"I've recently been studying you and your clan, and there's some amazing things you can do that no one can teach you but one of your clan members." Kakashi explains as he looks out over the scenery. I scoffed at him with a slight glare.
"Well, how in the hell is that supposed to help me, they're all dead." I say bluntly. Kakashi sighs heavily before turning to me with a smile.
"I do believe that you can train yourself. You're a smart, talented kunoichi (Y/n). The best in Konoha if I do say so myself. So, here's what you do."