destiny calls | *. naruto fanfic

23.

"You what?!" Eriko's angry face loomed over me while Machi and Riku hid under a nearby table. "You idiot!!" Hitting me on the head, Eriko seemed to calm down a bit. 

"I said I was sorry! Geez!" Clutching my head, I stared at Eriko as she went to kick the wall and ended up stubbing her toe. How graceful. But, looks like I was getting off easy today.
 
"I told you not to use that jutsu! You know you can't control it under pressure!" Eriko honestly seemed more worried than angry. But I didn't blame her. There were plenty of others Justus I could of used that carried less risk, but the moment things started looking really bad I went straight for my most powerful one. It was my own fault, and I had no one to blame but myself. I'd just have to live with my mistake and move on. You can't change the past. 

"Eriko... you heard about... the other thing with my arm... right..?" I watched her carefully, not wanting to break the news the damage was permanent if she didn't know. Luckily, she nodded and a small breath of relief escaped me. 

"Don't think I'm letting you off the hook so easy! I'm going to make sure you actually take your training seriously from now on!" I groaned, heading for the family room, everyone else trailing behind. "On a more serious note... Akari, you need to hone your skills." I glanced at Eriko to find a terrified look in her eyes and I stopped in my tracks, my concern overriding anything else. "Please, I don't want you dying out there. I... I can't lose you the same way I lost him." Slowly, I pulled the woman who had taken me in with such warmth and open arms into an embrace, my eyes misty. I will always be grateful to Eriko, and most of all, Koji. They had welcomed me as though I was their own blood. They treated me as though I wasn't an outsider. 

"I don't plan on dying anytime soon." I murmured, pulling away. "Anyways," I started away again. "I'm hungry, let's get some dinner."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
    Sleepily, I blinked open an eye as the sound of excited yipping and footsteps approached my door. Groaning as Riku pushed open the door and jumped on me, I pulled my blanket over my head to avoid her tongue. She had grown within the past month, now almost twice the size she had been when I first found her. Puppies grow too fast. 

"Akari!" Eriko stuck her head in the open doorway. "Get up, your teammate is here to ask you something."

"Oh.. okay.." I mumbled, nestling back into my bed. Not really registering the fact that we had a guest. And that it was one of my teammates. 

    A few moments passed before quick footsteps could be heard and Riku jumped off me. "I said get up you lazy bum!" Eriko shouted angrily, dragging me, and my blanket to the floor. I pretended to be asleep, curling up on the hard floor. That is, until I heard another set of footsteps too heavy to be Machi's. 

"Who did you say was here again..?" I asked, voice muffled by the blanket my face was currently pressed against. 

"One of your teammates." Eriko replied, finally ripping the blanket from my grasp. 

    I lay face down on the floor, registering this for a minute before sitting up slowly. Who the hell invaded my sanctuary? Blinking sleepily, my tired gray eyes connected with the green ones of Sakura, who currently looked like she was choking from trying to hold in her laughter. 

"Oh... it's just you. What do you want?" I stood, rubbing my eyes as I went to retrieve my stolen blanket. 

"What do you mean it's just me?!" Sakura shouted. Opps. I made her angry. "Anyways, you didn't forget did you? Today is the final exam for the Chunin Exam. I came to see if you wanted to watch."

"That's today...? Seriously?" I remade my bed, staring at it longingly. "Oh, how'd you find out where I live anyways? I never told you." 

"I asked around." The girl replied absentmindedly, now looking around my room. "And your mom is really crazy." She added after a few minutes, her voice a whisper. Eriko isn't my mom. But Sakura doesn't need to know that. 

"Knowing you you'll find a different way to bug me so I'll guess I'll come watch." I muttered after a few moments. I was curious about how these exams would go down, but not really curious enough to want to go badly. The results would spread around the village soon after anyways. But Eriko would probably kill me if I refused to go with Sakura after she had walked so far out of the way to ask me personally. So I guess I'm coming. 

"Get out and let me get dressed." I said while pushing her to the door. "And by the way, the two crazies are going to want to come to." And with that I shut the door, taking my time to get ready. I can already tell I'm going to regret this. 

    After grabbing a quick breakfast since everyone else had already eaten, we were all on our way. And when I say all, I mean all. Eriko and Machi raced ahead, Sakura walked next to me, and Riku trailed close behind.

"So how's your arm doing?" Sakura turned to me, a curious glint in her eyes. What a great conversation topic Sakura. Not.

    Sighing, I held up my damaged arm. Since I had the surgery I'm able to use it again, but it's not the same. Not even close. Even now, after almost a month of rehabilitation, it still hurt to use it. "It's better I guess. At least I can use it now." I let my arm fall back down, and I looked ahead to see if we were almost there. Luckily, we were. Saved. "Looks like we're here " I stated, hoping to change the subject. 

    Sakura nodded, and we both picked up our pace to catch up to an impatient Eriko and Machi. Riku seemed to sense the excitement in the air and her tail started wagging furiously. "You better behave Riku." I told the overgrown puppy sternly. She barked at that and I sighed. 

    We all entered the stadium type building and went to find seats, and I noticed quite a few ninja from different lands were here. Again, that is probably not the best idea. Any one of them could be an enemy. 

    Our group got settled and I closed my eyes. "Tell me when they start." I murmured to whoever was next to me. Already, the excited buzz of the large crowd irritated me. I felt bad for all of those who had to fight in front of this. Must be unnerving for quite a few of them. And speaking of those fighting... Heidan better be as strong as I think he is or I'll kick his sorry butt. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Finally done! This chapter is really, really short and I apologize. But there is something I need feedback on. Next chapter, I'm going to try writing in third person instead of first, because I'm finding it increasingly difficult to do first. I really don't want to switch it up so far into the book, but I just feel like I need to figure out which I can do better. I thought I would just let you guys know so your not confused when I finish the next chapter, and I would really appreciate your guys' opinion on the matter when I'm done. 

Ok, I'm done rambling. Also, new cover!