Once Again (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Sequel to Another Take) (Complete)

Ch. 9: Nobody's Home

Thanks to  @Infinitely_Eternal for the song suggestion! The song is pretty much perfect for Kiyomi at this stage in the book!

~What's wrong, what's wrong now? Too many, too many problems. Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs~

Kiyomi's POV

Gin and I were in a room in Kumo's infirmary, just sitting around waiting. The medics here weren't nearly as skilled as the ones in Konoha, and as such couldn't do as much. Gin's burns and scratches were healed relatively well and I got a few chakra-boosting pills for my chakra depletion, but that was it. 

There were no medics in the room now however, and Gin and I were waiting for something to happen. I'd hopped up on the one table in the room, and Gin was seated in a chair.

We sat in silence, until Gin spoke up. "How are we going to tell Kadan and Naoko?"

"By talking when they wake up," was my smart reply. "Really, how else would we do it? With a cake?"

"Might not be a bad idea," Kinio mentioned as he entered the door, followed by both Kadan and Naoko. Both fully healed, and both having shining eyes.

"We passed?" Kadan breathed, sounding like he just couldn't believe it. Beside him, Naoko was in a similar state, just a little more controlled.

The long-haired boy looked past Kadan at Gin and I. "You guys managed to survive the whole time? I'm impressed. Some of those other competitors were strong."

Gin shrugged. "Obviously not as strong as us. And now we're all chunin."

Proud smiles appeared simultaneously on all of our faces. We'd actually done what we'd set out to do. And somehow, we'd all made new friends while doing it.

'Damn that was really cheesy,' Fenrir commented sleepily. He'd decided to take a nap after the exam had finished, but was waking up now. 'I didn't pin any of you at that kind of person.'

'Oh shush you,' I mentally muttered. 'Let us enjoy the moment.'

And enjoy it we did. Gin and I took turns telling Kadan and Naoko what had transpired after they'd been taken out, and Kinio filled in the blanks where we hadn't been paying attention. Gin and I hadn't been watching the other fights while we were concentrating on our own, but Kinio had. He'd been sitting with a few of the other senseis not far from the arena center.

Apparently one of the other fighters had been promoted to chunin as well. The Suna nin Gin had been fighting who'd had the fans. My final opponent, the Kumo nin who'd fought me with Lightning Style, had been considered for promotion, but the fact that he'd used a Lightning jutsu while covered in water had destroyed any chance he'd had. That was just a dumb mistake.

We all talked for a while, but the conversation slowly lost it's momentum. Then we dwindled into an awkward silence, waiting for someone to acknowledge the metaphorical elephant in the room.

What were we going to do now?

"Alright, that's enough silence!" Kadan finally exclaimed, fed up with the quiet. "Seriously! You'd think someone's just died with the way you're all acting!"

Naoko and I exchanged awkward glances. It was true, we'd been skipping around the topic. The exams were over, and it was about time we all went our separate ways.

"Since it seems none of you want to talk about it, I'll do it," Kadan continued. The red-head was pacing around the room in agitation, waving his hands as he did so. He suddenly stopped, exhaled heavily, and then calmed down a bit. "What are we all going to do now?"