In Sickness And Health ~Shikamaru~

Chapter 12

Three years ago during the chunnin exams, I hadn't really seen much of a point in the preliminary matches other than to let a few people beat the crap out of someone. One by one the matches went and people had to be pulled out. The ninja are brutal, violent, bloodthirsty. Strength alone does not make a ninja. True you must hold your own in battle but there's a line between fighting and just killing. They had just dragged from poor guy from the pit when a soft clinck sounded next to me.

A girl about my age with short black hair and eyes a peculiar shade of blue had put one leg on the bar and smiled down. She seemed ready to face just about anything. Actually the brimming energy and confidence that rolled off her reminded me of Naruto a bit. She grinned down and two boys I recognized from my time in the academy ran up, out of breath. I assumed them to be her teammates.

"That wasn't nice." One said.

"Yeah!" The other mirrored.

"Relax yeah spoil sports. This is the big times! If you can make it through this there's nothing we can't face!"

Both of the looked confused. And I admit the statement was confusing to me to. But now I think I understand where she was coming from with her thinking. Some of the strongest ninja from all around the five nations participate in these exams. There are some moves in the exams that seem almost impossible. If you can survive the moves in the chunnin exams, you can face hell in the field.

"This is it guys! We can finally get out of those God forsaken D ranked missions and get something worth our time and effort. Aren't even the least excited about this?" She asked.

The boys looked at each other and back at the girl. "No."

"What ever." She shook her head and looked down to the fight that had just ended. I looked down too, bord and wanting to leave but then she screamed from excitement and jumped into the arena. The girl hoped from foot to foot in anticipation. She didn't seem at all fazed either when a fairly large man child of a ninja crashed to the arena in front of her. In fact it almost seemed like it excited her more.

"Lets go, come on!" She said, itching to start. And the moment the ninja attacked... she stood there. Didn't move a muscle. Until he was two feet away and she side stepped. He hit the wall, creating a large indent in the wall. I watched as the girl doubled over and began to laugh at him, his face showing just how angry she was making him. And when he attacked again, I thought she was done for since she was still laughing hysterically. But in one short move he was past her again without a touch.

Watching this made me think that perhaps she intended to win without even hitting him herself. Although the anger factor seemed to be working out. He was so angry that is seemed it was blinding him. That's never a good thing for ninja's to do. The girl smiled and I watched the determination in her eyes grow. "Lets kick this up a notch!" She pulled a pair of drum sticks from her pocket and taped them together. "one, two, three, four!" She was using nothing but air but yet a perfect instrumental sound was floating through air. She tapped her foot and each down beat the ground beneath the man popped and rolled, sending him flying.

This girl was only messing with him. It was interesting to see. But all at one it seemed to go bad for the girl. One of the ground pops sent him fly through the air at her directly. Panic set as she watched him hurdle toward her and snag the front of her shirt. The moment his feet hit the ground, he tossed the girl like she nothing more than stuffed toy, sending her flying into the arena wall.

We all heard the unmistakable crack of her skull, but he was not done with her. Mercilessly he grabbed her head and beat it into the jagged ends of the broken wall, blood beginning to pool at their feet. It was no time at all before the proctor called for jounin to stop him. After that, the girl was taken to the hospital. I never knew what happened to her and soon forgot all about her.