"When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it."
— Caitlyn Siehl
───※ ·❆· ※───
DAWNS POV
"Oh, poor Tenten." Sakura winced, her fingers covering her face as she peaked through one of the gaps.
Temari and Tenten were both weapon users, Tenten used a technique known as Bukijutsu which enabled her to summon weapons from scrolls and control them to her liking. Temari, on the other hand, was a wind style user and used her fan to deflect every attack Tenten had sent her way. I had seen the outcome of the battle almost before it began and I knew that Tenten was already at a disadvantage. Temari was older and more advanced, not to mention weaponry was no match against the current. Tenten had lost the match, unconscious, bruised and at the will of Temari who, although looked apologetic, had rightfully won the match.
I had humoured the thought that if I were to be against Temari in the third exam, the match would be played out easily as I'd recently found out that I was able to control the wind. Nevertheless, I was growing bored and a little exhausted from standing up, Naruto and Sakura's match had yet to come and I was anticipating the announcement of the next round. A part of me was apprehensive that I was going to fight against Yin, not only has she been eyeing me like a hawk there was something about her that wasn't... right.
"It might seem a bit harsh but that was a fair fight. Tenten was already at a disadvantage as Temari's wind could waver the streamline of the weapons." I clarified. "Not to mention Tenten had continuously used the same tactic, it's why having more than one ability as a trump card would come to your advantage at times like this."
Kakashi looked down at me in interest. "You know, I've noticed that you're able to read a battle well and depict a person's strength and weaknesses easily."
"It's a good skill to have." I shrugged nonchalantly. "And also a way of being able to learn, I'm both a visual and physical learner."
"Next is... Shikamaru Nara and Kin Tsuchi."
This match piqued my interest, from the battle in the Forest of Death I knew Kin played dirty- though, amidst a fight it didn't really matter how you win, as long as you persevere- whereas Shikamaru on the other hand was lazy to say the least. From our Academy days I knew he was a discrete genius at heart who often kept his intelligence under-wraps, but it didn't prevent him from being an incredibly observant tactician.
"Man this is such a drag." Shikamaru groaned, massaging his temples in irritation.
Kin narrowed her eyes. "I'll be sure to end this quickly."
When the match begun, Kin didn't hesitant to send two senbon needles with bells attached to the tips towards Shikamaru who quickly dodged the attack, the bells signifying it's gateway towards him. Taking into consideration that Kin was a Sound Ninja, it made me ponder whether the bells served another purpose other than being a decoy. I was proven correct when she had thrown another two senbon, one without a bell, towards Shikamaru who caught onto her tactic and avoided the attack. However, a few seconds later the bells rang again and he was frozen on the spot.
Smart. I mused to myself. She's using strings to control the movements of the bells which must be effecting Shikamaru somehow.
The battle took a turn in the moment of time, before Kin could land her final blow, Shikamaru had managed to use the thin shadows of the string to capture Kin in his shadow technique therefor making her mirror his actions. It ended when he made her grab a shuriken out of her satchel and dodged backwards, unfortunately for Kin she had slammed her head into the wall behind her and knocked herself out cold. I wasn't surprised, but I did find it amusing. Shikamaru appeared to be someone who didn't like getting his hands dirty and resorted to using his surroundings as his trump card.
"He took his surroundings into consideration." Kakashi noted, nodding impressively. "Smart kid."
"Boring." Jiro scoffed, letting out a yawn. He had been in and out of consciousness, finding that the battles were boring to his taste. "He should take notes from fly-boy and add a little blood into the mixture."
"Not everyone prefers to get their hand dirty." Sakura replies wryly. I hid my smile, she started to sound more confident and laidback around Jiro and that made me happy knowing that she trusted him enough to speak freely and fear not getting eaten by him.
"Whatever you say, pinky." Jiro droned.
"Are you ever gonna call anyone by their name?" I questioned him in amusement.
"No." Jiro shrugged.
I stared at the board in anticipation, only to realise the two names presented were Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka, one who was my teammate, one who I particularly found annoying and both who attended the Academy together.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka. Please make your way down." Hayate announced.
"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed, stretching his arms above his head as he bursted into a full-blown grin. "It's about time! I was starting to fall asleep over here!"
Before he could leave I grabbed the hem of his orange sleeve and looked him straight in the eyes. His grin wavered slightly as I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't make the mistake of underestimating your opponent or getting too cocky. Chances are, Kiba already thinks he's going to win because he's underestimating you right now. Use that to your advantage." I advised in a low tone, momentarily glancing at Kiba who had an arrogant smirk on his face as he made his way down. "And good luck."
Naruto looked at me with wide eyes, before smiling softly. "Okay, thank you for your advice, believe it!"
"Oh, do me a favour blondie and make him bleed a lot." Jiro grinned savagely.
Naruto gulped slightly, quickly nodding his head as he almost sprinted towards the arena. I gave Jiro a pointed look.
"What?" He looked at me innocently.
Sighing I made my way closer to the edge, my nerves settling in once again. The remaining participants were Dosu, Neji, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Gaara, Choji, Yin, Lee and I. There was a possibility of me being put against Lee, though I was very intrigued to see how that would play out as we both specialised in Taijutsu and had similar abilities. A gut feeling told me that Sakura was going to fight Ino, which was also interesting as far as I know the two had been childhood best friends, their friendship developing into a rivalry over the idiotic, tomato-loving Uchiha.
I was also nervous for Naruto, but I knew that his stubborn, steadfast personality and strive to succeed in anything he does will work to his advantage. That, and he too had something to prove as does the rest of us.
"You may begin."
Immediately, Kiba's fingernails elongated into sharp claws, his hands and feet were positioned on the ground as he pounced on Naruto and swiped him to the ground. One thing I noticed straight away was that Kiba's fighting style was animalistic and brute like that of a wild dog, he had the strength to power his attacks with his hands as well as the fact that he worked alongside with his dog; Akamaru. We were similar as he had Akamaru and I had Jiro, the difference being that Jiro and I fought individually whereas Akamaru aided Kiba.
I frowned, looking at everyone else who was staring at Naruto unimpressed, judging him without knowing the full extent of his abilities. When fighting Naruto, there was one thing everyone should know, and that was to not underestimate him.
"See, Naruto could never beat Kiba. He has always been weak." Ino smirked, crossing her arms.
I clenched my fists, turning my head to glare at her venomously. She could insult me all she wanted, but I wouldn't tolerate her insulting my teammate.
"Watch your mouth." I hissed, my eyes undoubtedly growing a few shades darker as I ignored the surprised looks.
"What did you say?" Ino gritted in a mixture of shock and anger.
"I said, watch your mouth." I repeated more coldly, taking a threatening step forward. Admittedly, it brought me satisfaction as I watched her tense up. "Don't you dare call him weak when I know for a fact if you ever fought him he'll beat your pathetic ass. Don't test my patience."
Her mouth opened wordlessly, just as she was about to take a step forward Shikamaru placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.
"Ino, you troublesome woman, you should really watch that mouth of yours." Shikamaru sighed, glancing at me. "I'm sorry on behalf of her."
Pressing my lips together, I nodded swiftly and turned my attention back to Naruto's match. My eyes perked at the sight of Jiro leaning his head towards me, glaring daggers at Ino who gulped at the intimidating expression on his face.
"Should I eat her?" He whispered , running his tongue over his jagged teeth.
A snort escaped from my mouth as I rolled my eyes. Just then, as Kiba and Akamaru had their back's turned, Naruto stood up with a smirk on his face and a determined look in his eyes. My eyes brightened the sight, knowing that a smug look was on my face, during our Academy days Naruto had always been underestimated and ridiculed by his classmates; being the Hokage's son meant that the cruel words hadn't directly been said to his face, but said nonetheless. Maybe that was why I had approached him that day of the graduation exam; because I saw myself in him, someone who had something to prove to the world.
"Don't underestimate me." Naruto smirked, his eyes blazing with his resolve.
Kiba charged towards Naruto with Akamaru by his side as he threw smoke bombs at the Uzumaki, filling the arena with purple clouds of smoke that made it harder to determine what was happening. Though I could hear the sounds of Naruto grunting and Akamaru barking. After the smoke dissolved, Akamaru bit Naruto's arm and sent him to the ground. Curiously, I watched as Akamaru sprinted towards a smug-looking Kiba, only for his smirk to be wiped off his face as Akamaru bit him. The Inuzuka's eyes widened as Akamaru transformed back into Naruto who grinned at him.
"That's amazing, Naruto!" Sakura cheered, pumping her fists into the air.
The look in Kiba's eyes darkened, it was the look someone received upon realising that they were in the wrong and Kiba had realised that the battle wasn't going be as easy as he thought it'd be, knowing that he had underestimated Naruto as everyone else had done. His lips curled up into a smirk as he tossed a pill towards Akamaru who digested it in an instant, seconds later his fur turned red. It must be a food pill, I heard that they replenished one's stamina and chakra.
"Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry!"
Akamaru jumped on top of Kiba's back, the duo sporting the same blood-thirsty look in their eyes as Akamaru transformed into a carbon-copy of Kiba. The two charged forth releasing loud snarls and growls as they snipped at Naruto attempting to harm him, Naruto was now on defence which reasonably wasn't a good position to be in unless it was a deliberate tactic. It was better to be in control of the battle rather than allowing it to control you. I watched as Naruto dodged blows, unaware on how to counter Kiba's Jutsu.
"Fang over fang!"
Their bodies spun in circles, resembling a swift drill, as they targeted Naruto who had managed to dodge in a small amount of time. It was now two against one, a repetitive cycle of throwing smoke bombs to blind Naruto and attempt to drill him when he wasn't able to see. Only then, when the smoke resided once again, there wasn't two, but three Kiba's.
One was already enough. I retorted, but smiled to myself. But that's a great tactic.
The Kiba's examined each other, until presumably the real one made his move and punched his doppelgänger thinking that it was Naruto. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Akamaru as Kiba's eyes grew wide with outrage, he then swung at the other clone who also turned into Akamaru. A grin made it's way to my face as the fake Akamaru transformed back into Naruto as he landed a kick on Kiba's cheek. Though, the tables quickly turned as Kiba charged like a feral animal and kicked Naruto, forcing him to his knees.
The Uzumaki stood up refusing to surrender, but appeared conflicted as he wasn't able to gather enough chakra. Aware of this, Kiba charged at Naruto to deliver the final blow, until...
Naruto farted on his face.
My jaw dropped open. "What the..."
Kiba released a loud shriek, scrunching his nose in disgust. Only then I realised that Kiba pertained a sensitivity in his nose which allowed him to smell better than others, because of this Naruto's... attack, was more efficient and distracting.
"Damn it brat, I can smell that from over here." Jiro grimaced in bewilderment. "Is that fish?"
"Probably all that fish he ate in the forest." Sakura smiled, cringing slightly.
Using this distraction to his advantage, Naruto created a group of clones and surrounded Kiba. I watched in interest as one of the clones bounced off another clone's back and landed a punch as the real Naruto ended the match by sending a flying kick toward's Kiba's face, realising that his last attack had been copied from the attack I taught to Sasuke.
A laugh escaped my mouth. "He literally copied Sasuke."
Sakura smiled. "Well that's Naruto for you."
"Winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"
A relieved sigh escaped my mouth, I was glad Naruto won the battle, not only proving everyone wrong, but also proving that he had grown over the past month and so. It made me realise how far we've come in terms of our friendship, I had vowed to not allow myself to get attached and I did the exact opposite. Except, this time I had something that I didn't have before and that was reassurance and happiness, my teammates made me happy and that was all that'll ever matter. It hurt me knowing that sooner or later, a time will come where I had to make a life-changing decision on whether to leave the Leaf and fulfil my purpose, or stay and be happy with everyone else.
"Well done, Naruto." Sakura grinned softly, as Naruto entered the stands and was congratulated by everyone. "We knew you could do it."
"Still could've made it more bloody though." Jiro muttered under his breath, causing me to elbow him in the side. "Ouch, woman. Fine, well done blondie."
"I'm glad you succeeded." I grinned wholeheartedly, patting his shoulder.
Naruto flushed at the attention he was receiving and let out a bashful laugh. "Gee, thanks guys. Ya know, your advice was really helpful. I'm glad I have someone like you as my friend!"
I blinked, my heart swelling in admiration. Looking away, I shrugged slightly, my hair curtaining my face so that my flushed cheeks weren't visible. Why did he have to go around saying such embarrassing things?
"Aww, you're so cute." Kei walked up besides me and pinched my cheeks, causing me to make a weird face.
"Stop it." I frowned, unable to form a sentence properly due to the fact my face was being squashed.
Kei released her grip and chuckled as I rubbed my cheeks.
"The next match is... Yin Minami and Dawn."
My stomach dropped. Of course it is.
Hesitantly, I looked across the arena only to see that Yin was already looking at me with a sardonic smile on her face and a dark glint in her wide, crazed eyes. She knew we were going to fight against each other and I was scared to find out as to how she knew, but I had other things to worry about. Such as the weird feeling she gave off and how exactly she knew me, her headband wasn't visible so it was a mystery as to what Village she was from. It was just my luck that I was fighting against someone I knew nothing about, it made me even more unlucky that she knew who I was.
I looked at Jiro, knowing what he was going to say. "I'm doing this alone."
His red eye fixated into a glare. "But-"
"I can do this without you." I said determinedly. "Please trust me."
Jiro reluctantly looked away, his ears flattening against his head. It hurt me knowing that he was upset, but this was something I had to do alone despite how much Yin creeped me out. We were in a room filled with spectators and eye-witnesses, even if she tried doing anything out of the ordinary at least I'd be reassured by the fact that I had people there to help if needed.
"Good luck, Dawn!" Sakura patted my shoulder. "Break a leg."
I frowned in confusion, looking down at my broken leg. "My leg is broken."
"No, I mean-" Sakura face-palmed, before smiling sheepishly. "Do well out there."
"You can do it, Dawn!" Naruto cheered excitedly.
"Yeah, make us proud kid." Kei placed her hand on my head, ruffling my hair. Great, now they both do it.
"I will." I nodded.
Making my way down the stands, I forced my face to not reveal the pain I felt every time I took a step forward knowing that whilst fighting, any weakness can be used against me. Unfortunately for me, my bandages were visible so I was already at a disadvantage, but I wasn't going to let that prevent me from winning this match. My face was blank as I stood a few steps away from Yin who's eyes never left mine as she shamelessly ogled at me, it also didn't help that I felt nervous from having many eyes watching my every move. It felt weird being the one fighting instead of watching.
"I've been waiting to fight you for so long." Yin smiled, making her shark-like teeth more prominent as she tilted her head to the side.
My eyes narrowed slightly, the way she said it implied that she had been wanting to fight me beforehand. I didn't even know who she was nor do I recall doing anything to have offended her. Whatever it was, I now knew that this wasn't only a fight to pass through to the third exam, but for blood.
"Do I know you?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
Her lips curled up as her tongue swiped over her mouth, she then released a giggle. "I can't wait to finally get a taste of your heavenly blood."
Hayate raised an eyebrow and took a step back. "You two can begin."
"Water style: Raging Waves." Yin immediately performed hand signs, sending a large stream of water towards me without any hesitation.
She didn't waste any time. I thought in incredulity as I had no choice but to backflip in the air and swerve to the right, a hiss escaped my mouth as I landed on my feet, a wave of pain striking up my leg and momentarily catching myself off guard. Much to my surprise, her Jutsu didn't disperse after missing the target, instead it directed itself towards my direction as I dodged the best I could, ducking, flipping and rolling till I led the stream of water to the wall behind me where it created a giant crater. I stared at it, my eyes slightly wide, I didn't know a Jutsu like that could create such damage.
From what I could tell, Yin was a water user and was able to perform a Jutsu of that calibre informing me that she had a lot more tricks up her sleeve. That wasn't enough, I had to stay on defence until I knew that there weren't any wild cards she could play against me, but I had to be quick knowing that if I continued defending myself my wounds would increase.
"Stop running away from me, Dawn! I just want to play!" Yin sung, a maniacal grin on her face as she jumped- well, more like, leaped towards me with her hands and legs position like a frog.
"Play?" I muttered under my breath. Of course I had to get the crazy one.
She didn't hesitate to perform another set of hand signs. "Water style: Liquid Bullet."
Yin parted her lips, a large, teardrop of water exuding from her mouth and making it's way towards me at an intense pace. This time, I hadn't managed to dodge in time as the bullet hit my shoulder, quickly recovering from the hit I distanced myself away from her and held my shoulder in attempt to soothe the heavy pain. That would definitely leave a huge bruise, but that wasn't my concern as of now. Yin was a long-range fighter as I noticed that she didn't attempt to resort to combat, meaning if I somehow deflected her attack and charge towards her quick enough I'd be able to take control of the battle.
There was also the possibility of wearing her out as the more Jutsu she performed the more tired she'd become, however that would also exhaust me further so I had no choice but to do something other than dodge. If I was correct, she'd distance herself, crouch to give off the illusion she was going to pounce at me and then perform a Jutsu. Soon enough, she'd get exhausted as well.
Yin stared at me like an animal observing her prey. My jaw clenched as I straightened my shoulders. I wasn't going to allow her to intimidate me, I'm stronger I can do this.
She tilted her head to the side, it made me wonder how it didn't strain her neck. "I don't like that you aren't fighting back, Dawn..." her dull, grey eyes narrowed into slits. "It's okay, I'll force you to fight and show the true monster you are."
Monster.
I swallowed, slowly reaching into my pouch for a kunai and tightened my grip around the handle. Did she see what'd happened in the forest of death? No, it didn't matter. I'm... I'm not a monster, I have control, I can't let her words get to me. Monsters didn't feel, I felt, I hurt, monsters were incapable of feeling regret or sadness. Whatever was inside of me, wasn't me, it was something else entirely different. If I knew that Naruto wasn't a monster, aware that what was inside of him wasn't him but an entirely different entity, then the same was applicable towards me.
Her hands lifted unexpectedly, she didn't perform a Jutsu, instead she leaned forward and threw three shuriken towards me; all that were shaped weirdly and were obscured by blue chakra. Deflecting the shuriken at ease, it startled me watching as the shuriken made it's way back towards me as though it had a mind of it's own. I gritted my teeth, tears of pain stinging the corner of my eyes as the shuriken defied against my kunai, my hands wobbling against the weight and my feet supporting the rest of the pressure to the extent my legs were growing numb from the oscillation of pain circulating throughout my body.
Acacia, Acanthus, Amaranth, Angelica, Anthericum, Arum, Aspen- damn it—
A small cry escaped my mouth as I flew back, the two other shuriken slicing both my shoulders. I panted heavily, biting my lip from making any noise as I stared at my legs that were now bleeding from the wounds being reopened. Yin was strong, but she was playing with me and we both knew that.
"Having fun?" I asked sarcastically, forcing myself to my knees. I must've looked like a complete, bloody mess but at that moment, I didn't care.
Yin smiled widely, her tongue hanging from the corner of mouth as her eyes glinted deviously. "Hmm, you're quite the stubborn little thing aren't you? I want you to fight me prey, the real you."
She knows. I muttered a string of curses under my breath, right now I must've looked pathetic but truthfully there wasn't much I could do considering I couldn't put my Taijutsu skills into use. I could try and do what I did with Orochimaru but I hadn't a clue on how I did it or what triggered it. Was it because I felt helpless? Angry? Or deep inside I knew that I was capable of so much more, more than what I was aware of. My Clan were powerful and respectable, even if no one knew who they were, it was my job to honour them by winning.
"Come on, Dawn!" Naruto called out, his hands around his mouth to project his voice. "Don't let this weird, mop-looking stick show you up! I know you're badass!"
"Naruto's right, pulverise that little bitch!" Sakura screamed, everyone looked at her in surprise. She smiled sheepishly. "What?"
"Rip her into little pieces, brat! Break her bones and show her true pain! Make her choke on her own blood!" Jiro growled.
I blinked, slowly shaking my head as a smile grew on my lips. How I had faith in them, they had faith in me and that gave me the reassurance I needed. She wanted me to fight back, then I would fight back. Even if I knew that it'd take a lot out of me, it was worth it.
"You want me to show you my true self?" I said loudly, my eyes narrowing. "I'll show you my true self."
Yin's smile wavered slightly and when it did that was when I saw it, the yearn and greed fuelled by an unreadable emotion, the way she faltered at the sight of my determination. She wanted me to lose control and that meant ensuring that I had nothing else to resort to, but my options varied as long as I was willing to sacrifice a lot.
"Water style: Liquid Bullet."
My lips turned upwards, her water-based Jutsu were limited as there wasn't exactly a source of water nearby, that only meant that she was providing me an attack. I also noticed the pants escaping her mouth and the look of fatigue on her face. The constant use of Jutsu was tiring her out. Clearing my mind, moments before the water bullet could reach me, I held my hand out. I could feel an intricate strain coursing through my veins, but I fought through the restriction and had managed to divert the bullet around.
"Payback's a bitch." I smirked, concealing my awe as I twisted my thumb and index finger and watched as the water swirled like a whirlpool on my fingertips. I heard a few gasps, knowing that my move was unexpected.
My eyebrows furrowed slightly in concentration, willing for the water to consume my hand, similar to Nin-Taijutsu. And that was when I charged, giving her no chance to react as my kunai clanked against her's. The rush of adrenaline granted me strength as I overpowered her and sent a blow to her gut, she grunted sluggishly swiping at me with her kunai. Swiftly ducking, I sucked in the pain, and crouched down— my leg swiping past her shin and tripping her over. Before she could land on the ground I grabbed her wrist, twisted her arm and flipped her over my shoulder, she slammed into the ground releasing a pained shriek.
I'm not done yet. I thought to myself, willing the water in my hand to elongate and form a whip. Bellowing the water, it grabbed around her torso as I swung her around in the air and released my grip on her mid-flight. The water dispersed as her body slammed into the wall of the stands, forming a crack on the stone.
I blinked, my hands on my thighs as I exhaled deeply. My vision was blurring from the energy reduction and my body was screaming in pain, the old wounds on my legs have reopened and bled profusely whilst the ones on my shoulders were stinging and dampening my clothes with blood and sweat. I only hoped that the attack had knocked Yin out... and also broken a couple of her bones and gave her a major concussion.
Hayate blinked and took a step forward. "Right, the winner of the match is—"
"The match's not over until I say it's over."
My mouth shamelessly flew open as Yin peeled herself off the wall startling everyone, including myself, though that wasn't why I was exactly shocked. Yin grabbed her head and popped it back into place despite being sure that her neck had been dislocated or even broken, blood was spewing from her mouth as she stared at me with an even wilder look in her eyes— one that appeared excited, eager even.
She let out a small giggle that had escalated into a maniacal laugh. "Didn't I say I was going to reveal the monster that you are? I want to fight the real you and I won't stop until I've succeeded. I have to admit, I'm impressed that you've managed to break my neck. It makes everything even more exciting."
I allowed my hands to drop to my side as I stood up straight, blinking in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."