F A M I L I A R : B O O K T W O

The Looming War

After training with Hinata, I was completely worn out. Kiba, Akamaru, and I began making our way back to the tents, planning on having dinner with his family. I bit my lip and wiped the dirt and sweat from my brow. Now that we were alone, just the two of us, I had a question that I needed to ask him.

"Kiba," I started, a bit apprehensively. "Earlier, I heard your mom mention something about a war... Is there a something I should know about that?"

I gritted my teeth, slamming my hands on the ground again, forcing jagged rocks and debris up from the broken ground.

He gave me a grim expression, kicking a rock with his feet as we walked. "You know about the attack on the village, right?"

I nodded, taking his hand. He sighed and stared up at the sky, at the dark clouds looming overhead.

"Well, apparently when that happened, it marked the beginning of a war launched by the Akatsuki."

"Hya!" I ran up on the jagged rocks, forming hand signs and jumping into the air with all my force. A swirl of dark trees and bark emerged from beneath me, rocketed upwards before gravity threw the shrapnel down towards the ground below me, pummeling any enemy who would have been below my feet. I landed on the ground a few meters away, panting as the dust cloud behind me began to dissipate.

"Tsunade actually just left this morning to join the other Kage. Right now we aren't too sure, but there is some speculation that the great nations are going to join together to fight. I don't really know all the details, but we have to start preparing now, especially with the village in the state that its in."

I quickly absorbed nature chakra into both my fists, feeling the extra chakra course through my veins. My brow began dripping in sweat as I punched the ground, over and over and over, creating a giant pit in the earth.

"Haaa!" I placed my palms on the soft soil before jumping upwards out of the ground. While in the air, I watched as vines and thorns emerged from within the pit. I quickly threw an explosive tag as I jumped into the nearest tree, sparking the vines below causing them to erupt in massive flames. The fire danced wildly in my eyes as black soot dotted the sky.

"The Kages... they're going to work together? I have trouble believing that, especially after what Lady Tsunade knows about the Tsuchikage..."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Kiba shrugged. "But like I said, we only heard rumors. My mother just wants us to start preparing now for the worst. If it is the truth, then we have no idea how long we have..."

I jumped down from the treetops, waking passed the burning pit that I placed in the ground. Embers from the still present blaze caught on the wind and fluttered before me as I walked.

I nodded at Kiba's words and stepped in front of him, catching him off guard. I took my hand from his and wrapped my arms around his neck. 

"Then...," I started, looking up at his reluctant expression. "We're just going to have to spend as much time together as we can."

He smirked and leaned down to kiss me gently, "You've got yourself a deal."

It had been a couple months now since we had that discussion about the looming war ahead of us. Our suspicions were confirmed not too long after that, and all of us have been training nonstop and helping the village as best as we can in preparation. Mostly, that meant helping stock-pile food and aiding Tazuna in the rebuild of the village. Luckily with everyone working together under an unknown time constraint, there were only minor things left to complete.

After just finishing up my training for the day, I was headed to the new Hokage building that Tazuna just completed. Kiba, Hinata, Shino and I were all meeting there out front before the big evaluation. Today was the day that we were being assigned groups and battle rankings for the upcoming war. I didn't know much about it, but I figured they were going to split us up based on our styles and techniques.

I wonder where I am going to be placed. I know Lady Tsunade said she would make me an official Leaf Shinobi, but I haven't been given the official headband... 

Thoughts raced through my head as I made my way through the partially constructed village. I bit my lip and furrowed my brow, not entirely sure what was going to happen. 

Would I be split up from the others? Are my battle techniques that different? What if they separate us by village... Where would I belong then?

Sighing, I took a deep breath and summoned up some nature chakra, letting its warmth fill me from the inside. It was a comforting feeling and one that I definitely needed to battle my mind. I looked up from my feet and saw the trio ahead of me, already standing in front of the Kage building. Hinata waved happily, making me smile as I approached, but Kiba did one better and began coming towards me.

Kiba.

I let all of my stress and nervousness dissipate as I watched him jog toward me, grinning wildly.

Things between Kiba and I have been surprisingly easy. Actually, being around him is the only thing that keeps me calm now-a-days. As he closed the gap between us, he wrapped his arms around me in a friendly hug, but instead of letting go when the moment was over, he stepped over to my right and kept his left arm around my shoulders.

"Hey there, beautiful," he whispered in my ear. "You ready for this eval?"

I nodded, nudging him in the ribs with a smile. "Of course."

Finally within arms reach of the others, Shino pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded towards me as his form of a greeting.

"We should probably head inside," he said indifferently.

"Alright, its now or never. You ready Akamaru?" Kiba exclaimed, clapping a hand on his companion's head. He barked excitedly in response as we entered the building. As soon as we swung the doors open though, we were greeted with an enormously long line, leading all the way up the stairs to the top floor.

Huh, Tazuna did a great job making this place look like the Kage building that stood before.

"What's this nonsense? We have to wait in a line?" Kiba asked in an impatient tone.

"W-well Kiba, there are a lot of shinobi in our village. It only makes sense." Hinata answered, pulling on her coat awkwardly.

"This is such a drag. Why couldn't our dads just evaluate us later?"

Shikamaru?

"Yeah, its not like they don't know what our skills are already."

Ino?

I looked through the crowd and spotted Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji only a few groups ahead of us. Smiling, I elbowed past Kiba and walked up to them.

"Hey guys!"

"Oh, hey Asuna!" Ino greeted me with a hug. "You guys are just getting here too?" She asked, throwing a nod over my shoulder to the others.

"Yeah, we didn't realize that there would be such a long line already."

"Tsh, for real. My dad must be taking his sweet time up there." Ino said rolling her eyes.

"Your dad?" I raised my brow.

"Yeah, our fathers have been put in charge of the evaluation process since the Hokage can't make it back." Shikamaru chimed in, punctuating his words with a wide yawn. "Apparently the war is happening faster than we anticipated."

I nodded, not really sure how to handle his words.

One by one, each team filed into the Hokage's office. By the time we reached the top of the stairs, dusk was beginning to settle in outside. Kiba's stomach growled audibly and Akamaru whined next to him in response. 

"I know boy," Kiba reached down and gave his companion a reassuring pet. "Don't worry we'll eat as soon as we get out of here."

"Next!"

The command startled us as the team before us shuffled out of the office. Shino took a confident step forward, followed closely by Kiba. Hinata gave me a nervous glance, so I smiled and linked my arm with hers.

"C'mon, we got this."