So here's Chapter Three, as promised. Action scenes, as I've found out, are rather challenging to write... Bear with me on the length. I tend to go overboard. Haha. Also, it would be appreciated if someone told me if the characters are "acting themselves" or not. I'm relatively new to the Naruto fandom and it would definitely help if I knew.
Hinata already stood at her front door waiting for us, in her fresh training clothes. I slowed my pace down as soon as I caught sight of her; I didn't want to seem too excited.
“Good morning, Kei and Kiba,” she greeted us as we approached, her soft voice seeming to be full of anticipation. “How are you this morning?”
“Good,” the two of us answered in unison. “How are you?”
Hinata paused for a few moments, her child-like face thoughtful. “N...nervous.”
“Well, come on, then,” I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder and softly guiding her to the front. “Take us there and we'll talk about it.”
Hinata led the way, setting her usual slow pace; I found it hard not to walk ahead. Her neighbours, already awake and puttering around on their front lawns, stopped momentarily and stared at us curiously; I guessed they weren't used to having visitors.
“Why are you nervous?” questioned Kiba, his voice full of genuine concern. “You shouldn't be. He's your cousin.”
Hinata's brow creased, and she sighed as we ambled along beside her, down the road. “I don't know,” she said, her voice full of needless anxiety. “He's just so... I don't know. He dislikes me because I'm from the main branch of the family and he's from a lesser branch.”
I frowned. “That's it?”
The girl looked unsure of herself, but finally managed to stutter, “Yes.”
“That's no big deal,” Kiba insisted, patting her shoulder. Akamaru leaned over to give her a comforting lick on the cheek. “It'll work out. I mean, it's not like you like him, or anything.”
I sneered at my teammate, and he snickered playfully back.
Hinata cocked her head slightly, unaware of what Kiba was teasing me about. “What's happening? You l-like someone?”
I pretended to scoff. “What? No, of course not,” I replied, trying to keep my voice calm and surprised. I must have been convincing, because Hinata didn't say anything else, though beside me, Kiba was grinning.
Ahead lay a massive field, even bigger than the field near the academy; I was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. Many tall, thick-trunked trees were scattered around, providing good hiding spots, their branches flat and easy to climb. It was ideal, even more so than the training grounds I regularly used.
Three figures stood in the close distance, their silhouettes illuminated by the soft light of the sun overhead. Their eyes followed us as we approached, and none of them moved. As we neared, their features became clearer; I could recognize Neji easily by his long hair and arrogant expression, but the other two I did not know- another boy with buggy, black eyes and thick eyebrows, and a girl, shorter than I, with brown eyes and hair tied up in two neat buns atop her head.
I lagged behind and let Hinata go first. Kiba, beside me, was tense. I could tell he didn't like the look in Neji's eyes.
“Good morning, cousin,” Hinata greeted him, bowing. I wouldn't have been surprised if the poor girl started shaking.
Neji nodded curtly. “Hinata.”
I glanced curiously at the group-members beside him- the other boy seemed to be busy studying Kiba, and the girl was looking straight at me. I was unsure of what to do.
I cast my eyes over to Neji and felt myself blush when I noticed he was looking at me, that same haughty smirk on his face. I looked down immediately, staring at my shoes. This was going to be awkward.
There was a moment of quiet, which I decided to break, for fear of an uncouth silence. “So... shall we begin?”
“Yes,” Neji said simply. His two team-mates nodded. The six of us started towards the middle of the field.
I frowned to myself as we strode onward, the mist in the grass dusting over my toes, getting them wet. I had to find things to say. I wouldn't stay silent the whole time.
A voice cut through my thoughts- though not the voice I hoped it would be. It was the voice of the girl on the other team.
She grinned at me as she ambled on beside me, her face friendly. “I'm TenTen.”
Making an effort to be nice- I didn't have many friends that were girls- I replied, “Kei.”
“It's nice to meet you, Kei.”
“Likewise.”
She smiled at me once more and kept her pace beside me- she was trying to befriend me? Me, of all people? Why me? I had been told I was hard to get along with by numerous people- namely Sakura, which probably said something- but still.
“Do you want to warm up with me?”
I glanced back at her, uncertain. Why was she being so friendly? I wasn't used to this.
Her face fell when I failed to respond after a few moments. “It's okay if you don't, of course.”
I shook myself. “No, no, that'd be great. Thanks.”
Her eyes lit up again, and she immediately took on a fighting stance. I glanced around, noticing everyone else had started practicing as well. So this was a no-nonsense group. I liked that.
“So what do you specialize in?” she asked as we circled each other. “Just so I know.”
“Genjutsu. Though I try not to use it often.”
“Why?”
“I have trouble controlling it. Once it came real, and needless to say, it didn't end well.”
TenTen smiled, amused, not understanding what I meant. “What happened?”
“...Someone died.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
The girl laughed nervously- scared. “Honestly, I'm kind of scared to fight you now.”
I grinned and reassured her. “Don't worry. I won't use it.”
“What will you use, then?”
I smirked, not bothering to answer, and performed my hands signs, giving her time to get ready. She tensed up, ready to move.
I blew a fire release at her; it was bigger than I thought it would be, though luckily it didn't set the surrounding trees aflame. I glanced around. She was hiding- but the rustle in the trees gave her away. I took a kunai out of my weapon pouch, quickly tied one of my weakest exploding tags to the handle, and, just before it was about to set off, I threw it at the branch of the tree where I thought she was perching. As soon as the blade struck the bark it exploded; the branch cracked and fell, and TenTen was forced to go down with it. She landed neatly on the grass, her fists clenched. She seemed annoyed at being found so quickly.
“Having fun yet?” I teased, grasping my weapon pouch.
The girl scoffed, and threw shuriken at me; they were well-aimed, but I managed to dodge them- with difficulty.
TenTen's brow creased, pursing her lips. More shuriken were hurled my way, and again I dodged them. She let out an exasperated grumble.
“But very few people manage to dodge TenTen's weapons,” I heard behind me, a voice I didn't recognize- the voice, I assumed, of the other boy on TenTen's team. “This girl is very quick.”
While listening, however, I let my guard down- and a sharp pain suddenly dug into my thigh. I glanced down, frowning at the blood that seeped through my clothing, pulled a throwing star out of my flesh, and, enraged with myself that I let myself be outsmarted this once, I threw it right back at her. She avoided it easily, as I hadn't planned it out well; so I reverted back to my fire release, aiming a good few feet away from her- it was only meant to singe. When the flames subsided, she had disappeared. I growled.
I heard the sharp whistle of a weapon being thrown, and whirled around, once more managing to dodge another kunai. TenTen was getting fed up, I could tell. I couldn't hear any other sound but my own breathing, and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees. Was everyone watching us?
I glanced around- she was no where to be seen, and I was stuck here in the open. I'd have to find her, then.
I leapt up into a tree branch, cursing under my breath as it creaked underneath me. I wasn't able to find any trace of her. She was probably following me- she could see me, but I couldn't see her.
I heard a rustle of leaves above me, and I summoned a fire release and aimed it there; a squirrel, the fur on its tail singed, ran down the trunk, squealing. If she wasn't there, where could she be?
Planning to trick her, I assembled a substitution jutsi, and sent one of them to take my original place, while I hid in the brush.
“Don't waste your energy,” my replacement growled. “Come out and fight.”
There was a slight pause, a slight rustle of branches, and TenTen leapt out of the brush, wielding a kunai above her head. As she approached my substitution, I took advantage of her misunderstanding and leapt down behind her. She was too absorbed in what she was doing to notice the vibration I sent down the branch as I landed.
She had my clone cornered, and as soon as she touched it, it puffed into a white cloud and thunked on to the ground below, now a log of wood. While she was still recovering from her confusion, I knocked the kunai from her hands and pinned her up against the trunk of the tree, both of her hands above her head.
She looked surprised for a brief moment, and grinned to herself as she realized she had been caught. I let her hands down and returned her kunai, and the two of us descended to the ground. Everyone had been watching, only a few feet away. I felt my cheeks flush.
Kiba snickered at me, though said nothing; the other male member on TenTen's team looked intrigued, his mouth open slightly, and Neji- Neji just stood there with an inkling of a smirk on his face, his two muscular arms crossed over his chest.
...But at least he was close to smiling, right?
“TenTen!” the boy I didn't know rushed forward and looked his team-mate over with the concerned air of a big brother, though he looked younger. “Are you okay?”
The girl smiled and brushed him off good-naturedly. “Yes, I'm fine. Have you met Kei?”
“No, I have not!” he said, and immediately stepped over to me, bowing. “I am Rock Lee! It is a pleasure to meet you!”
I tried to hide my snicker at his over-enthusiasm. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“You were fast, Kei! Even I am not able to dodge TenTen's attacks!”
“Thanks.”
“You said yesterday you came from the Kurama clan,” Neji cut in, and, to my delight, shutting Rock Lee up. “I didn't see you using any genjutsu.”
I was impressed; I hadn't expected him to remember. “Yes, I am- but I try not to use my kekkei genkai often.”
The boy cocked a slim eyebrow, the smirk on his face widening a bit. “Why? Explain.”
“Because... because I have trouble controlling it.”
He didn't say a word, and kept waiting. I sighed, and though I was embarrassed to continue, I had to. It didn't feel like I had a choice. “Because often it becomes so powerful that it can make the illusions real, making it able to kill my opponents, and, in essence, it creates a second personality, which ends up taking over. And that makes me a threat to the people around me.”
Neji still had his eyebrow cocked, and he seemed a bit interested in what I had just explained. My cheeks felt hot.
“You've been blessed with power, then,” he said, his voice sounding not as bored as it usually was. “As have I. You would make an interesting opponent.”
I frowned and my feet scuffed at the ground. “N... now? Because my chakra...”
There was an amused tone to his voice, and he uncrossed his arms, as if he was feeling more secure. “No, of course not; you've just been fighting. Those fire releases are quite draining, I'd imagine.”
“Actually, I'm surprised you used them at all,” Kiba cut in, his voice concerned. “I've only seen her use them when she's in a serious match- likes yesterday, at the prelims.” He paused to think back and chuckle. “Boy, that guy's clothes got so burnt.”
Neji looked at him as if he were an insolent, ignorant little child, as if it were that obvious.”They looked weak; they were not meant to seriously harm.”
Kiba threw the boy a glare and, at a lack of words, clenched his fists and stayed silent.
“Let us continue practicing, then!” Lee suggested, trying to avoid conflict. “We must improve our skills!”
“Yes,” said Neji, his voice once again cold, full of himself. “I came here only to practice.”
I could see the hurt in Hinata's eyes at his remark, almost welling up with tears.
We resumed our training.
“You are very fast.”
Rock Lee sat beside me, panting slightly, his hair mussed out of place by our previous battle.
I grinned at him. “Thanks. You're strong.”
“Thank you, Kei-chan.”
The six of us sat there for a few moments, resting, listening to the birds chatter to each other in the trees. We had all tired ourselves out.
Kiba's growling stomach broke the silence. “We bring anything to eat? It's lunch.”
I glanced over at Hinata; like the thoughtful, helpful girl she was, she usually took care of things like that.
“I-I made onigiri last night,” she said readily, casting her eyes to Neji for a few moments, as if trying to impress him. “I'll go get them.”
Kiba grinned thankfully as she stood up and slowly walked back to her house, her hair blowing passively in the wind. I glanced at her cousin who sat in the grass nearby, his legs crossed, his hands clasped in front of him, that ever-arrogant look embedded on his face.
Kiba flashed me a furtive look; he was annoyed. He didn't like this boy. He had made that clear to me in numerous ways- and Neji had also beaten him in the few little battles they had previously had, so that didn't help. Akamaru didn't like him either, growling whenever he got near in a fight.
Trying to avoid another awkward silence- we had had many of those- I tried to strike up conversation- but was cut off by TenTen.
“Did you see Neji's Byakugan?” she questioned, bragging about her team-mate. “It's so cool!”
Kiba smirked. “And did you see Kei's fire release those couple of times?”
TenTen shot him a glare and stared at the ground; she knew she was being mocked.
“So Neji,” I said, not wanting all hell to break lose, “your Byakugan. How much chakra does it take?”
“Not much,” he replied, still looking terribly bored. “As I said yesterday, I am able to activate it and deactivate it at will. Hinata's been using hers, I'm sure.”
“No. She doesn't use it often- she prefers to do other things. I forget what it looks like, honestly.”
“I see.”
Kiba smirked at my attempt at conversation, and asked, “hey, were you guys there yesterday at the prelims when Kei used her genjutsu?”
Rock Lee grinned, remembering. “Yes! TenTen and I were, but Neji was not. It was very interesting!”
Neji glanced at me, still bored. “You said you didn't often use your kekkei genkai because of the risk it poses.”
I shrugged. “I don't, but I was getting fed up. And luckily it didn't get out of hand.”
Kiba chuckled. “You shoulda heard the poor guy. Screaming like a baby.”
Neji's expression stayed the same; I tried not to frown. Was this guy ever impressed?
Presently Hinata came back, a basket full of food in hand; she handed them out and then sat down herself. We all ate in silence for a few minutes, and then I decided it was time to go home. Obviously Neji wasn't one for conversation.
I stood up, and Kiba stood with me. He wanted to go, too. “We enjoyed practicing with you,” I said, maintaining steady eye-contact with Neji. “And it was a pleasure to meet you both, TenTen and Lee.”
Lee grinned. “It was a pleasure to meet you too! Wasn't it, TenTen?”
The girl didn't reply, just nodding, seeming angry. With a wave, Kiba and I walked onwards and out of the fields, back towards the town-square.
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