To my surprise I was able to get sleep last night. I wake up and my body is full of energy and full of nerves. The first thing I do, is check my pouch, making sure I was stocked up on kunai and shurikens. I change quickly and check the time, I have two hours before I have to be at the arena. I plan on getting there early, being early is being on time, being on time is being late. I guess Kakashi can feel my excitement and nerves, that he wakes up too.
“Morning,” He says as he stretches the sleep away.
“Morning,” I say as I start peeling the potatoes for breakfast. My hands shake, I have to calm my nerves. If I go like this into the arena then I’m sure I won’t be able to use my jutsus correctly. I breath in and out, feeling the air in my lungs.My heart beat slows back to normal state. Kakashi washes his hands, before he grabs the kettle for morning tea. He helps peel a few potatoes. I feel untroubled by his actions, they are routine, but that helps keep my mind in peace. He doesn’t treat me any different than any other day, and I’m glad he isn’t adding more pressure.
After eating breakfast, and cleaning a bit around the house, I finally tie the forehead protector around my head. The final touch, I look in the mirror, maybe next time I look in the mirror I will have become a chunin. I tie my hair into a ponytail, I couldn’t have my hair getting in the way. Kakashi is slipping his sandals on when I go to the living room. He waits for me at the door, just forty five minutes before the first match. I wonder how many teams got through the second round. The streets are a lot more crowded than I’ve ever seen. Everyone was on their way, on their way to see talented genin prove their skills to the Hokage and special guest. I see many kids walking beside their father and mothers. I wonder how many people can the stadium actually hold. We get nearer, I get closer to Kakashi’s side, I didn’t want to be separated in the crowd. I would have a hard time orienting myself to the right direction of the arena.
“Well this is where we go our own ways. I’ll be in the stands, just go through the entrance. There will be others there to instruct you further.” Kakashi points to the smaller entrance of the two. I nod, feeling the nerves intensify again.
“Just do what you’ve always been doing. Don’t overthink it,” Kakashi says as he follows the river of people. I tighten my forehead protector out of habit. When I enter the passageway, I see familiar and new faces. Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Ino, and Choji are there of course. Then there are six new face. So there will be six rounds. I hope I am not paired against someone from the Leaf village. I can’t imagine fighting against one of my comrades. It was five minutes before battle time, when an older man approaches us. He introduces himself as our proctor, Takeo. He is rounder than normal ninja, and his nose is like a button. He wears the ninja attire, and his forehead protector like a cap. We follow him to the arena, it was big, and round, a few trees aligned the walls, just like Kakashi said.
“There are no rules in this match. Everything goes, until one can’t fight anymore. If I sense that the match is over, I can intervene and stop it at my judgement. Each battle is random, I will announce the first match shortly, for now bow to the crowd. They are here to watch all of you prove yourselves. Put a good show,” Takeo says. “Oh and try not to get yourself killed here, its hard to get the blood off of the walls,” He adds. I turn a full circle, taking in the cheers of the audience. There were a lot of citizens, a few out of town villagers from other hidden villages. Their cheers, and clapping made it hard to concentrate on a single person, but I continued to look for Kakashi. I turn left, then behind me, then right, I see him standing in front of me, he stands behind all of the seats. Leaning on the wall, acting like his usual self. Somehow just looking at him makes me feel a little relaxed, just a bit. I was still nervous, but focused. I can’t screw this up. I see Lady Tsunade sitting on a high layer, overlooking the arena. She nods, and Takeo nods back. It was time. We go to our section of the arena. It was a balcony over looking the arena, but it only led to the arena. This is where we will wait for our names.
“Thank you for all coming. This is the final exam, this will test the skills a genin has acquired. A ninja must be strong in many areas, and this will be a passway to becoming greater ninja and citizens. We will begin the first match,” Takeo says loudly. The crowd goes quiet, everything was silent, as if everyone was holding their breaths. I was, without even noticing.
“By random draw, the first match will be between Temari of the Sand Village and Kiyoko of the Leaf Village.”
I feel little relief that I won’t have to battle anyone I knew, but I was going first. I was the opening act, and I didn’t have time to calm mind erratic mind. I was going first. I see Temari begin to walk to the arena, I follow her. Her hair is sandy blond, and in four small ponytails. She has the Sand Village insignia on her forehead protector. She carries a long thing on her back, its black. I have to be on guard of it, I still don’t know what it does. I keep my distance from her. The sun blinds me as we make it to the open ground. She takes the right side of the arena while I take the left, this is it. I need to find out what she can do, a smoke bomb would buy me enough time to hide and use a shadow clone as a decoy. That should buy me time to find out what thing behind her can do.
Takeo moves out of the way, before he says, “Begin!” I move my hand with quickness and throw the smoke bomb in front of me. I jump to hide behind the tree, then made two more shadow clones and they hid behind the other trees as well. Then if she does find me, she wouldn’t know which one is the real me. I hide a shadow clone in the smoke. I wait and see what she does next. I hear the swish of wind, and soon the smoke is blown away. Temari holds a very large fan. Three purple dots are there. So she is a wind user. At least I’m not a lightning user, then this would have been hopeless. My shadow clone takes out a kunai, before advancing to her. Temari use her fan to throw my clone against the far wall. She’s a long range, while I’m more short range. The fan is her weapon, to win I’m going to have to separate her and the fan.
One of my other shadow clones make their way out to the open, only to have the same result. I guess I should face her on now. My other shadow clone stays behind, making a tearing torrent. I see Temari pull back, I knew what was coming, I make a water whip and wrap it around a large rock near me. I should hold out until she stops. I feel the impact of the wind push me, I hold onto the water whip, connecting my chakra to my palms. Planting my feet to the ground with chakra, there is no way she’s going to push me back. I grunt with effort, feeling as the cold wind as it screamed in my ears. I closed my eyes, dust was getting in my eyes. It stops, and I finally open my eyes, my shadow clone has distracted her enough for me to have a little time to move. I make two more clones, sending them into hiding. I’ll wait until the right time to strike, for now it’ll look like I’m the only one she is battling. I’ll make my jutsu long range if I have to. She’s not the only one with a mid-long range jutsu. I’ll use water wave to push her back. I store chakra at the base of my throat, before letting it go, the power pushes farther than the time I usually practice with. It reaches her, sending her to the wall. I take the opening to reach for the fan, but she is quick to recover. She clutches to her fan, making waves of wind. I use my chakra as glue, planting me to the ground. I was beginning to slip, I need something for support. To keep me from getting farther away from her. I use my shadow clones as an anchor, I kept increasing them, until I no longer skidded on the ground.
She was breathing heavily now, I was reminded that she doesn’t have as much chakra as I do. I thank the heavens for my advantage. It was time to use a technique that I remember learning in the academy. I practiced it a few times, but never put much attention to it. I hide in the crowd of clones, before I transform into a tearing torrent. The transformation technique is a priceless jutsu. One of my shadow clones hold me in her hand. I wait as I watch myself get closer to Temari. She tries to keep my clones back, but I made too many, and I know she has lost the real me. All of my other clones use the jutsus I have perfected. Water is everywhere, making the ground wet. It stuck to my clones feet, making it easier to walk through her wind currents.
We were only six meters away when I feel the clone throw me. She uses powerful wind currents, I can tell she has added extra chakra to each swing of arm, but I’m not a shadow clone. I release the transformation, and use the water whip I have in had to grab the fan out of her hands. This time it slips out of her hand. I throw the fan to two of my clones making sure there was no way she would be able to get it again. Now that I have her weapon she is defenseless. And because she is a long range fighter, I have the advantage. I hear her curse, she realized she’s in a tough spot too. Temari takes a defensive stand, she has a few shurikens in one hand and a kunai in the other. I enhance my kunai with chakra, I’ll win today. I will win, I will prove everyone who separated me that I am just as capable of becoming a ninja like the rest. I’d like to think they are seeing it. I never want to see my father’s face again, but for once I wanted to rub my improvement in his face. This time it is Me who takes the offensive move, throwing a punch with my left, and trying to keep her from scratching me with her shuriken. She moves quickly, dodging my attacks with leaps. I have to slow her down, I struggle with the mud beneath me. I might as well make it harder for her too. I use wild water wave, and drench the ground, her feet finally sink into the ground. We we’re both struggling now, but I had clones to help me.
I use one clone to use water whip, one for wild water wave, and I begin to form a tearing torrent. My final attack, if this didn’t work then I would have a hard time getting her. My clone pushes the water wave in her face, it will impair her vision. She reaches up to wipe the water away, and my clone with the water whip closes in and wraps the water whip around her. Temari tries to break it, but she doesn’t have the strength nor chakra to do so. I got her, like a fly in a spider web. She was going no where. And deep inside me I enjoyed seeing her this way. I enjoyed seeing her struggle, seeing the panic in her eyes. Knowing she was going to lose. I thrived off of her struggle, of her fear. My vision goes red.
I blink it doesn’t feel right. This doesn’t feel correct. What is wrong with me, why did I think that way? I have to end this battle before I think that way again, so I run towards Temari, getting there quickly, tearing torrent in hand. I have to close my eyes as the jutsu lands. I didn’t want to see her pain, I didn’t want to hurt her. I hear an uph, and then the sound of her body landing on the wet ground. I still don’t open my eyes, not until I hear Takeo say, “Match. Kiyoko is the winner of this round.”
I watch as the crowd rises from their seats. I don’t hear their claps, it was all buzzy noise. Nothing else was quite clear, nothing but my thoughts. I have finally done it. I have finally gotten closer to becoming a jounin. I watch as Temari slowly gets up from the mud. My clones give me her fan, the only thing left is to return it. Temari looks away as I approach her.
“It was good fight,” I say and let her snatch her fan away. She limps out of the arena, never saying a word to me. Takeo, shoos me away,scolding me because I made such a mess with the ground. I don’t listen, I continue to walk, but I don’t go back to the balcony. No, I had to distance myself from the others. The thoughts I experienced while I looked in Temari’s eyes reappear. Anger, and pleasure swirled inside me. I shouldn’t be feeling like this. I shouldn’t.
“You felt it too. The feeling of hurting, of finally getting your anger out. It felt good didn’t it,” The beast inside me says. His tone is ever so knowing. He liked my suffering.
“Get out of my head, don’t say thing like that!” I scream inside my head. All he does is laugh. He laughs forever, and it rings in my head. I sit on the ground, no longer moving, no longer caring if I sat in the middle of the road. I didn’t want to move in fear that the monster would talk again.
“You’re becoming the monster everyone fears.” The beast laughs again. No, I’m not, I won’t, I can’t. I told myself. I repeated those few words, hoping they will stop the beast from continuing to torture me. I believed in myself, but why did I want to hurt her so badly.
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Chapter notes: Well here it is!! Question, should I name the chapters?
Chapter end notes: Thanks for reading. Really excited for the next few chapters!!
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