My shaky hands opened the top drawer of my dresser. I kept all of my small things there,I kept the photo of my mother there, on the side. I reach for it and I look at her. Before her soul haunted me I never thought of destroying it but now I know the truth behind her feelings. She hates me, she made that clear. Why keep something that will only bring pain? I shouldn't have this, and so I pinch the top of the photo and I begin to tear, I keep tearing until I couldn't put it back together. I didn't notice I was holding my breath until I take a deep breath, it was over. The false love I gave myself had always been a lie, and now I've finally see what is important. That's protecting those who live in the village, I'll protect them and make Suzu proud. She'll be proud of what I have become. I get some fruit from the counter and I lock the apartment behind me, I’ve lost six days of training, I have to make up for it as soon as possible.
I step into the dim streets and make my way to the training field. I haven’t been outside for about a week and the village somehow looks more lively. The kids looked like grasshoppers, jumping from one wall to the other. Lanterns lit the some of the shops, it was getting closer to new year. It was quiet when I get to the open field, but that the way I prefer to train. The pouch is secured around my waist. Te kunai feels nice and cold against my warm flesh. I can do this. I breath out and concentrate my chakra in the weapon. I throw it to the wood logs that were beaten up from the last time I came here. It goes right through the log, on the first try.
“I had a feeling you would be here,” Kakashi says from behind a tree. Does he always have to be so secretive? He retreives the kunai the landed to his right, and walks to me. When he is ten feet from me, he shifts the blade, he was ready for an attack. A smile slides onto my face, I’ll get a blow on him this time. I seal my hands for the shadow clone jutsu, and make three of them. Four to one is a good match, not too little. Two of my shadow clones go for a frontal attack, while I take a deep breath and concentrate on my chakra control. The blade in my hand feels lighter as the chakra wraps around it. My other shadow clone covers me as I charge at him.
He was too occupied in my other two clones to notice the kunai in my hand. I throw it, but he reacts in time to block it with the kuai he held. This time my chakra chips the metal from his blade and slides across his cheek, leaving a scratch. I got him, just a bit. Better than last time.
“Yes! I finally got you.” I jump in joy, but the poofing sound interrupts me. Kakashi vanishes in front of me.
“Not quite,” I hear Kakashi say from behind me. I turn around, and see him standing, with his hands in his pockets and a sly smile on his face. When did he make a shadow clone?
“Oh come on.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, if it was anyone else you would have gotten them, but it wasn’t. Your quick on your feet, and your chakra control is better. Considering your lack of training.” Kakashi grabs the chipped kunai, and examines it. He throws it back on the ground.
“Still up for a little late night training?” He asks. I was hoping he would say that. It will be a tiring training, but I couldn’t ask for a better distraction. Kakashi attacks first this time.
It was past midnight when we call it quits, well Kakashi called it a night. I was still roaring, but Kakashi looked beat. His shoulder slouched.
“How can you still have energy left?” He sighs as he walks besides me, he was dragging his feet a bit. I laughed quietly, trying not to offend him.
“Remember I have more chakra than anyone ever, i think.” I remember Itachi saying something like that, or was it Lady Tsunade? He takes it as a sufficient answer and doesn’t complain anymore. I need to get some food in my system quickly. My mouth waters at the thought of the dumplings Eri left the other day. They were frozen and wrapped, waiting for me. We quietly entered the apartment, trying not to disturb the neighbors.
I make a bee line to the kitchen, popping the dumplings into a hot pan. Thier odor over takes the room, making it harder to resist them.
"Glad to see you have your apitite back." Kakashi sits at the table.
"I didn't notice I was so hungry," I tell him. I slide the hot dumplings on to a plate.
"Thank you for today," I tell him, if he hadn't told me about Obito, and Rin, I think I would still be holed up in my bedroom. He doesn't respond, and makes his way to his room. A question I"ve been dying to ask is finally spoken.
"What happened to your sensei?" He turns his head to my direction, his eyes look at the ground, it takes him a while to answer.
"He sacrificed himself for the safety of the village." His answer only made me more curious, but I've already asked too many personal questions today. I let him go, and I ate my dumplings. They are so delicious, I need Eri to teach me how to make them. I'll go visit her tomorrow, to thank her for all she's done so far.
I eat alone, and listen the silent night. The meows of cats interrupt the stillness, and the buzzing of the lightbulb in the streets made the night seem a little less lonely. I go back to my room, and stare at the dark bird nest in the tree, I lean out the window to get a better look. Their chirping making it impossible to ignore, it wasn't day, so why are they singing? As I come closer I see a round figure making its way to the nest, a cat. It was going to eat them, I tried to shoo it away but I wasn't quiet close enough. I didn't want them to be eaten by a fat cat.
I balance. Myself on the edge of my open window and jump to the tree branch closest to me. I climb to the branch and shoo the cat away, it hisses, but leaves. I smile as the birds stop chirping and begin sleeping. I should get to sleep to, it's past one in the morning. I slide into my warm bed, and I finally get a nightmare less sleep.
I kept my eye on the birds for weeks, not letting anything harm them, I don't know why I was so protective of them? The cat was the predator and the birds were the prey. The chicks were defenseless, I want to protect the defenseless. I open the front door this evening to find Eri smiling, I notice she was getting a little wide. You wouldn't know she was pregnant if she didn't tell you, there was barely a bump, but it was there. I invited her to try the dumplings I've made. It's a work in progress, but she happily agreed to be my guinea pig. Kakashi quit after eating the first trial, it was too spicy, but I've improved drastically in cooking, and in training. Though I can't get a hit on Kakashi yet, I am able to beat Sakura in a dual. She's gotten better as well.
"Let me have them." Eri says enthusiastically. I held them out her reach.
"We have to wait for Sakura, I've invited her too." The bell rung, and Sakura let herself in. She smiled when she entered the kitchen. She sits next to Eri and they wait patiently. I let them have the steamy dumplings, waiting for their judgements. I tried them before they got here, and I must say the they are the best ones yet. I hear their hum of approval, and I mentally pat myself on the back. I've finally done it.
"These are delicious Kiyoko." Eri takes her finally bite, and asks for another two. Sakura finishes her's, but instead of asking me for seconds, she asks a different question.
"Kiyoko are you enrolling for the upcoming chunin exams?"
What? I haven't heard anything about them coming so soon, how come no one has told me.
"No one has told me anything about it? When are they?" I ask, getting slightly annoyed at Kakashi for keeping this information from me.
"They are in a week. I'm joining Ino and Choji's team. If you're planning on joining you should join Hinata's team, Shino won't be participating this time." I make a mental note to ask her about it. After they left I make my way to Lady Tsunade's office for an application, and an explanation as to why no one told me. I'm too angry to knock, so I just open the door. I see Kakashi standing in front of her, perfect I needed to tell him as well. He knew what my dream was, I want to be a jounin, but I have to become a chunin first. He knows that, so why wouldn't he say anything about the exams coming up so quickly.
"Kiyoko, the person we needed. Come in, but you already are so close the door behind you," Lady Tsunade gestures her hand to the door behind me. I close it, and walk towards her.
"The chunin exams are coming up, why didn't anyone tell me," I made it clear that I was not amused with the sudden lack of trust, or information.
"We were going to tell you, but we had to do some background check for every person who enrolled, before we could let you go. " Kakashi tells me.
"I don't understand," I say.
"We had to make sure there was no threat that could harm you, your a jinchuuriki that only a few know of. We had to make sure there was no one who could possibly know about your secret." Lady Tsunade explains. I felt ungrateful for bursting on them. They were only looking out for me, and here I was getting angry at them.
"Thank you, so will I be able to enter?" Hoping they will say yes.
"Yes," Kakashi smiles. A smile grows on my face, I let out a small quiet squeal. I was getting closer to becoming a jounin.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I tell them, a week from today I'll be on my way. I'll have to train harder, I have to be ready for everything and anything.
"I have an understanding that I must join a team."
"That's right, because Shino is not participating this time, I'll put you with Hinata's and Kiba." Lady Tsunade writes something down on the paper in front of her. Sakura was right, I will be in their team, I hardly know anything about those two, I'll have to get to know them before the exams.
"There is a written part, then a team challenge, and then an individual dual."
Written? I have to study, I don't remember much of the things from the academy. I better start tonight. I'll ask Sakura how it was last time they took the written test, that would help me tremendously.
"I must go, but thank you," I excused myself and quickly walked to the streets. I must find Hinata or Kiba. I didn't know where they lived so this was going to be difficult. I walked for a few minutes, turning right, and then left. But after an hour of searching, I still haven't seen them. I didn't see them but I do see Kurenai walking away from me, I run to catch up to her.
"Kurenai!" I yell. She stops and turns towards me. She smiles, I'm glad we know each other.
"Hey Kiyoko, what do you need?"
"I need a favor. Do you know where Kiba or Hinata are? I am assigned to be the third member of the team for the chunin exams. I want to train with them so I can get comfortable with their fighting style," I tell her. She nods in approval.
"I just saw Hinata on her way to the tea shop, she was meeting Kiba and Neji there. I'm sure they are still there." She points the direction the tea shop was.
"Thank you," I say as I practically run there. The tea restaurant was small and quiet, older men and women filled the tables. I see kiba's dog waiting outside, Akamaru. Neji, Hinata and Kiba are the only young ones there. I slip my sandals off and walk to their table.
"Hey guys," I say, I feel somewhat nervous, but I don't know why. I,ve met them before but we are not as close as I am with Sakura, Sai and Kakashi. I just need to warm myself up to them.
"Oh, Kiyoko. Hello, would you like to join us," Hinata motions me to the empty mat inform of her, and beside Kiba. I sit, and poor myself some tea from the kettle. It smelled sweet and fruity.
"I found out I'm your new team member," I tell her.
"Really that is great!"
"We need to train to get comfortable to one another, I won't lose this time, so you better not be dead weight," Kiba remarks.
"Kiba! That,s so rude! I'm sure she is a great ninja." Hinata sends a stare to Kiba, but her expressions are too kind. She is a soft and small spoken person. She's too kind. I admire that, she might get hurt easily, but that doesn't stop her.
"Show some respect to your elders," Neji says as he sips his tea. Neji and Hinata's eyes are the same, they must be the bayakugan, that Sakura has told me about. They can see the chakra point and flow of a person. It's a powerful tool. Kiba on the other hand has a dog for a partner, they are considered one, and use attacks that involve dual jutsus. They are great ninja's i dont think we will fail. Not with this team. But then there is me. I know how to use shadow clones, and I can concentrate chakra into my shurikens and kunai, but I have no special abilities. If having excessive amount of chakra is considered special then I guess I have that. I don't have unique eyes and I don't have a partner that I combine jutsus with. I don't even have special jutsus to begin with, I may be dead weight after all. I have to get better to what I know then, I'll focus on my shadow clone usage.
"It's fine, I'll try my best. There is no way I'll fail, so when can we train?" I ask and taste the fruity tea. It is sweet and my taste buds beg for more, this was tasty. I sip some more, and wait for their answer.
"The day after tomorrow is fine with me." Kiba says, and shrugs his jacket on. He leaves money on the table before rising. "I'll be in the open field outside the east gate the day after tomorrow at ten in the morning," he says goodbye and l watch as he disappears.
"I'm fine with the day after tomorrow too," Hinata smiles. I picture her angry, but I can't imagine a frown on her face. I take a final sip of my tea, and leave the small amount of money I had on me. I'm sure it covers the tea I have drank.
"Thank you," I smile to Neji, and Hinata, and slip my sandals on. After having this taken off of my mind I can focus on training. I am too excited to return to the apartment so I make my way to the park. Though I am twenty four, I still played like a six year old. I guess it's because when I was six I would go to the local parka n watch others play. I goth swing, the feeling of the wind in my face makes me feel refreshed. I love going the highest I could go, and then jumping off, in those moments of freedom an falling, are exillerating. The park is full small children in this early evening, they were playing before their parents call them for dinner. I sat and waited for the swings to vacate. The wind blows strongly, my lose hair blocking my view and sending shivers down my spine.
I was getting cold, but I wanted to swing for a while. I'm sure thehildren would begin to leave in a few minutes. Slowly one by one the children left, leaving the park sad and alone. The crickets chirped, as the metal of the swing creaked under my weight. Is winged my legs and shifted my weight forward and back, gaining momentum with ever strive. The wind felt stronger every swing I took, and the higher I got. I kept on swinging until the sun began to set, I stopped and watched the sun hide behind the mountain, taking its light with it. The moon rose and provided the dim light that the sun left behind. It was a full moon. Back in the Moon village there would always be a small festival when the moon was full. There would be food booths, and games. My father never took me, instead I would watch from afar.
The Moon village was founded by a young couple. They discovered the island on a night like this one. The full moon shined down on the island, and guided the couple to land. They settled down there and began to develop the island. The village was hidden under the light of the moon, so that is where our name came from. Even though the light of the moon is much fainter than the sun's it still provides the push and pull of the waves, it is still important. I believe that no matter how small the deeds we do, they are still helpful.
The cold wind makes me hug myself for warmth. I walk back to the apartment, thinking of the warm bath that awaits me. On my way there I think of the training that lays ahead of me, I only have a week to improve myself, to show them I am worthy of becoming a chunin. I'll work hard with my teammates, it'll be a new challenge itself. I've never been part of a team, I don't know how to work with others. I train against Kakashi not with him. I improve my own skills, but teamwork involves the skill of the team as a whole, and I'm not too sure I will be good at it.
I open the apartment door and I am enveloped in warmth, my cold skin tingles. I should begin to carry my thin jacket. I see Kakashi reading in the living room, he looks up as I walk past him, but I make my way to my bedroom. I slide my door open, and the smell that attacks me makes me want to vomit. The copper smell of blood is strong, I bravely click the light on, afraid of what hides in the dark. I close my eyes not wanting to see, but I open my eyes. My room is untouched, but where is the smell coming from. My window is wide open, did I leave it open again? I walk tot eh window, and notice the source of the smell. I see the bloody bird on my window sill. It is decapitated, it's wing broken in several places. The blood was oozing down its body. It's blue feather turning purple. I don't know what came over me but I let out a yell. I spent weeks taking care of them, protecting them from the cat, but they still ended up dead. I freeze when I hear that menacing sound. The cat me owed, it's eyes glowed in the darkness. I looked at them, it was like the beast in me was looking at me. This was a bad omen.
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