Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Actions Speak Louder ❯ Luck Will Be Needed ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Fireworks came on, the final rounds were about to begin, Sasuke and Naruto were no where in sight either. The entire Sand team were all glancing up at the current Kazekage, sitting next to the Hokage, but three of the four of them were thinking about the up-coming plan. Crowds of hundres of people sat in the stands, cheering for their favorite fighter, all expecting a gruesome battle. Temari nudged Ura, "Do your best, we know you'll win."

After her fued with Temari the other day, hearing that from her teammate made Ura feel a lot better, "Thanks... I know you'll definently win against Shikamaru."

Ura looked over at Neji, he still had some battle scars from their own battle, but when he shot her a diry look, Ura stood tall and proud. They would have to fight again someday, but not anytime soon, now they had to fight whoever they were bound to fight. Right before they were going to the waiting overlook to watch the matches, Naruto stumbled in, but no sign of Sasuke.

The 6 Genin went to the waiting lookout, leaving Naruto and Neji to their battle. It was going to be an interesting battle, but Ura wanted to see Gaara's and Sasuke's match more. Though Gaara did not care about her in any way, Ura would cheer for Gaara in this match, she wanted him to beat the Uchiha so hard into the ground. The battle began, but Ura sat in one of the chairs behind the standing Genin, she just stared at the back of Gaara's head. Would Shukaku come out of Gaara if he fought Sasuke? Will Gaara summon the beast to defeat the last Uchiha? But most importantly, could Ura stop him from doing it? Ura didn't want Gaara to summon the beast just to kill Sasuke, sure she wanted Sasuke to be shown up, but not torn apart.

"Hey Ura, you alright?" Kankurou had turned to look at her.

Ura snapped back with a blink, then looked towards Kankurou, "Yeah... I'm just thinking..."

"'Bout who this time?" Kankurou walked over to her, "Is it that certain someone, busy brows, or the Uchiha?"

She was silent, her thoughts then directed towards Lee, he had not appeared yet. Maybe he wasn't feeling up to it, Lee was probably still resting anyways. Ura shook her head, "None of them..."

"You know you really suck at lying, it's a good thing you never became an actor," Kankurou commented, "So, are you ready for your battle, though it may not even happen?"

That was a part of the plan, if the signal came before her turn, then she would have to wait until the next Chunin Exams. But, if the signal was late, Ura would have to fight whoever was left, or whoever was willing to fight her in their condition. She looked at Kankurou, "A little bit... I know i'm ready though."

"You better be, I don't even think i'm gonna fight my own match," Kankurou got comfortable, "But I feel sorry for whoever is fighting you, you have an ace up your sleeve."

"They'll be needing more than how you feel, they'll need pure luck and perservierence," Ura had her puppet strapped so tightly and so compactly to hide it beneath the hood of one of her umbrellas.

"Maybe you will fight the Uchiha before Gaara, he'll go easy on you because he likes you," Kankurou playfully nudged Ura.

"I seriously doubt it, and if he does, then he has another thing coming," Ura stated.

Then, Naruto and Neji's match began to heat up, Kankurou turned his full attention to watching the two Leaf Genin. Ura sighed, though a part of her wanted to watch, she was too into her own thoughts, they were dragging her back from the real world. Her eyelids slid down to half of her eyes were directed on the floor below her, another battle...

(inner Ura= +~~+)

Ura decended into her inner soul, where she can only argue with herself... When she reached her sacred thoughts, the darker side of her appeared before her, someone who was exactly like Gaara, who craved blood in her hands..

'I won't fight, I won't! I don't want to be a ninja anymore!' Ura stated to her other side.

+You're going to give up!?! That's you're answer to everything! If I haven't given you the extra strength to keep going, you wouldn't even be here! You would've been dead since your first mission+ I.U (inner Ura) snapped at her other side, +If you wanna win and fight Gaara, you better be ready to fight anyone!+

Ura knew her inner self was actually right, though she was close to being evil, her other side had a good point. Though she did not want to fight anyone anymore, that would mean Gaara would not see her as a real person, she would no longer be good enough to threat or to allow to live. She looked at her hands, 'I killed too many people before... I...I don't want to kill anyone...never again...'

The inner Ura gave her a deadly glare, she then sighed, and walked over to her other side and took her hands softly, +You are a powerful Sand Kunoichi, and one day, you're going to leave a powerful mark in the Sunagakure, and they'll never forget who you are. But, to get to that place, you have to sacrifice a few dozen people who will try to block your path. This is no longer about your battle with Gaara...now, this up-coming battle is how much you really do care for him. If you lose to your opponent, then you will be worthless, and all that you worked hard for will be turned to ash. This...this is what we've been waiting for, if you do win this battle, then it's only a straight shot from here.+

Her inner self was right...this was not about her battle with Gaara anymore, this was battle that was coming up was what she would do for Gaara... She looked at her other side dead in the eye, and the other side of her smirked, both saying at the same time, '+I will not lose+'.

"Huh...Naruto won huh..." Kankurou muttered loud enough for Ura to hear.

She had came back on her own, now, she was determined to win, the person she fought would regret coming... Temari turned to make a comment about Naruto to Ura, but flinched when she had looked at Ura, the hint of fear struck her like reality. This Ura that sat behind them had the same look as Gaara when he was blood thirsty, what was going on in her mind? Temari nudged Kankurou to get his attention as she turned back around, "Look at Ura...go talk to her, she looks like....Gaara..."

Kankurou tilted his head back enough to see Ura, and he gulped, "Wow....how'd she get like that so fast? I've never seen her like that..."

"Do you think that maybe she's getting too into this... I mean look at her! She looks like a blood-thirsty beast!" Temari murmured to Kankurou, "This is very unlike her, usually she would be calm and collected, planning out her moves like I would, but now...now all she looks like she wants to do is make a blood-bath."

"I know...should I talk to her? Get her head back on?" Kankurou asked.

"I don't know...do you what you can to calm her down, but don't push her too hard, we don't need another Gaara on our team," Temari answered.

Kankurou was a bit fearful on approaching Ura when she looked so...vile, but he had to try at least. He sat next to her and said cooly, "What'cha thinking about?"

"My battle..." she answered with a slight smirk, "I want to fight now..."

"Uhm..." Kankurou didn't know what to say, so he took her shoulders and made her look at him, "Snap out of it, Ura! You're not a murderer!"

"Get off of me!" Ura shoved him off of her, Kankurou was running out of ideas, "Touch me again...and i'll kill you."

Kankurou was a bit startled at her threat to him, it sounded exactly like Gaara's threat. His only last idea was drastic, but it might work, or snap his neck in half...but it had to be done, he would have to go through with it and make her come back to her usual 'Ura' self. He took her hand, "Follow me."

He basically dragged her to the hallway and pushed her against the wall, "Sorry..."

Kankurou pressed his lips against Ura's, which banished the darker side of her when Kankurou grasped her shoulders lightly. It was supposed to be initmate, and it was supposed to be filled with passion either, just to get Ura out of her hated thoughts. He finally pulled away and took a step back, "Are you back yet? Because I don't want to go any further than that here and now."

"Yeah..i'm fine now," Ura scratched her head, "I guess I was too deep in my darker thoughts to realize what mood I was giving off...sorry about that."

"Don't make me do that again...ok?" Kankurou was a bit embarressed that his drastic plan had actually worked, he looked away.
"I won't..." Ura walked back to where Temari was, seeing Naruto and Neji's match was over, "Oh..who won?"

"Naruto, I had my thoughts that Neji would win," Temari greeted Ura, "Next is Gaara's battle with Sasuke."

"That brat isn't here yet...our plan is going way out of order," Kankurou grumbled, "Propter, I forfiet my match!"

Shino looked over at Kankurou, he didn't quite fully understand why Kankurou was giving up, but it made him very suspicious. Then, it was Temari's turn, Naruto had come to the watch tower to watch the next few matches and had pushed Shikamaru over the railing to get into the arena. It was a quick battle, Shikamaru had given up after losing most of his chakra, but when Temari returned, she wasn't pleased the she won without brute force. Last was Sasuke Uchiha...who was not there yet.

There were a few moments of silence, and Ura wondered if she would have to go down there for her own battle, but against whom? The rules were that no one was to fight a team-member at all, and only Naruto and Temari and Gaara were left, and Naruto would be a difficult challenge. Then, the propter waved her down, Ura's battle was next... She leaped down without her umbrella, and landed next to the propter, "Who am I to fight?"

"Don't really know, kid... The Hokage and the Kazekage are deciding that now," the propter notioned his head towards the two Kage's.

Then, a gust of wind came, and two figures appeared...Kakashi and Sasuke. Ura was a bit surprised that they came, and that meant that Gaara's battle would come. Kakashi and the propter spoke for a few minutes, but Sasuke and Ura eyed each other for the entire time. His stare was not fierce, but she was curious to why he was not willing to rip her apart like all of the others. Why did he take two of her hari in the beginning? Why did he not treat her like he treated everyone else? The Uchiha was confusing, and that angered her a little, why was he sending so many signs that she didn't fully understand!?

"Well...seeing as you're already down here, kid, you'll be fighting Sasuke first," the propter informed Ura, "You wanna go through with it or leave it to your teammate?"

Fight Sasuke? What would Gaara think of her if she fought the one person he wanted to fight? Then she looked into the crowds, they were all cheering for the Uchiha...but one caught her eye..Lee had arrived! The one person she could relate to had finally come... If he had the strength and willingness to come though he was still injured and in pain, then Ura could fight Sasuke Uchiha. Ura a determined look in her eyes and a smirk, "I want to...."

"Good," the propter took a step back, Kakashi disappeared into the stands with Sakura, leaving the two Genin prepared to fight.

Sasuke eyed her, "Are you sure you want to fight me? I won't go easy on you because you're a girl."

"And I won't go easy on you because you're alone," Ura attacked his inner being.

The Leaf Genin glared at her, she knew a few soft spots on him after all, the kunoichi had gone too far. He pulled out two kunai, "I'm warning you...if you want to live or save a few limbs from being torn off, it'd be better if you just quit."

Kankurou and Temari watched as their friend was ready to attack, but turned their attention to Gaara, who seemed a bit pissed off that Ura was taking his battle. Temari took Kankurou's arm and pulled him away from their little brother, "She shouldn't have done that... What was she thinking!? I thought you got her back to her normal self!"

"I did! If you think I know what she's doing now, then you're absolutely wrong!" Kankurou snapped.

Gaara's pupils were small, this..Ura..was causing too much trouble inside him. She was becoming more than just a threat, Ura was bringing back too many painful memories and thoughts...memories and thoughts that were once long banished from his mind. When she least expected it...Gaara would have to end her life, Ura was a new target far his elixir of life of meaning...

Ura leaped away from Sasuke, he brought out his Sharingan as Ura pulled out her two umbrellas. Over the period of waiting, Ura had learned a few new jutsus for her umbrellas and hari, and they were pretty affective to the human body. This match would prove everything...if she could beat Sasuke, then she would be more than just 'good enough', she would be the ultimate rival to Gaara.

*To Gaara, for Gaara...everything in this battle is just for Gaara... I dedicate this to you...and may you watch me,* was the only thought that entered Ura's mind before slamming the top of both the open umbrellas into the ground, "Get ready Sasuke, because this is the end for you!"

Sasuke ran at her with such an intense speed, it was very hard for her to keep up, but she was able to see him enough to start her jutsu, "Hari of Dirt, Earth Style Jutsu!"

When Sasuke was just close enough to Ura, the hari came out of the ground, under both their feet, but the Ura that stood in front of him was a mere clone! Sasuke barely got away from the hari, but they were coming from beneath the ground everywhere, all from those two umbrellas! The real Ura had hidden in a tree, but those were her real umbrellas, so she rushed to them so he wouldn't knock them over to end the jutsu. Then, Sasuke sat on the walls, where he was safe from the hari, he didn't know that she had learned that jutsu. He was thinking about her next move, it had to include hari and the umbrellas, it always did. If he could get them away from her, then she was powerless. But...how was he going to lure her away from them? Ura always had them near her, and when they weren't near her, it was always a trap.

A thought came to Sasuke, he had to trick her to get out her own Sharingan, then he could over-power her by knowing both their own moves. The only way to do that way to beat her down with everything he had, so Sasuke ran down at his fastest speed, going straight for Ura. When he had touched the ground, the hari began fleeting out in huge numbers, trying to stab him, but were still flying at him. Sasuke ran towards Ura, she prepared to block his fist that he was pulling back, but instead, he leaped over her, a move she did not fore-see. Then, he turned and held her shoulders, all of her hari were coming straight for her!!!

"Damn it!" Ura cursed as she struggled to be free before the hari were to hit her.

Then...only a huge sting could be felt, everyone of her hari stabbed her stomach, neck, arms, and legs. None of them had hit a vein, but her body bled horribly. Sasuke released Ura, she landed on her hands and knees, he leaped back, waiting for her to get up. Ura didn't have enough time to make a clone to escape her own attack, and now she felt like the people she had mutilated... She lifted her head just enough to glare at Sasuke, "I...I won't lose to you..."

"C'mon...use your Sharingan, make it easier on yourself," Sasuke smirked, trying to coax her in his own way.

Ura lifted her right hand and plucked bundles of hari out of her, but held all the bundles in her right hand, blood dripped off of her hari. She made only one handsign, blood... What was this move? Sasuke never heard of a one-hand-sign jutsu, especially 'blood'. Then, Sasuke saw her smirk, then her own blood stretched out to him so fast, and when it touched him, the blood felt like a sticky, rubber glue substance. Ura managed to stand up, "Rope of Blood Jutsu..."

Then, she pulled her hari back, making Sasuke nearly stumble forward, he couldn't understand why his Sharingan was not seeing all of this before it happened. Ura released the hari, sending them all at him, making Sasuke endure the pain she had to endure. Sasuke couldn't run from the hari, he could hide from the hari, he had to take the hit head-on. He nearly collapsed when the hari sliced into his skin, making him bleed all over like Ura had bled, and was still bleeding. Both were covered in blood, Sasuke's back was against the arena's walls as he began pricking out the hari in him, throwing them to the ground. Ura grabbed her two umbrellas, then brought out her ace...the puppet. If she was to win, Ura had to use her most deadliest weapon, Karasu Jr. Unraveling him, Ura used her chakra strings to control the human-sized puppet, waiting until Sasuke noticed.

Sasuke looked up, he hadn't seen her use a puppet before, meaning just more confusion. He ended the use of his Sharingan, it was no use, he didn't know what jutsus or attacks she was going to use with a puppet, so it would be pointless to try and predict something that was more than likely wrong. Right before Sasuke was going to get into fighting stance, he noticed her glance over at the watch look-out, and he had a good conclusion whom she was glancing at, "Tell me...why are you really here?"

Something told him that she was just like Sakura, chasing after a guy she may never have. But Ura was much more different than Sakura, Ura was more stratigical and planned out future moves when they would come, and Ura was not as persistant as Sakura. He smirked at her silence, but he waited paitently for her answer. Ura didn't want to reveal any feelings for Gaara, so she only stated, "Stay focused Uchiha, don't wander off from our battle!"

"Answer the question, then i'll be more than willing to continue," Sasuke eyed her, "Why are you really here?"

"Because i'm a ninja, and I want to be a Chunin, that's why," Ura glared at him, "That's why we're all here, we want to continue our path as a ninja."

"No...we all come with a story to why we want to be a Chunin... I know that you're only here because of one of your team-mates," Sasuke commented, then said with a smirk, "Making you just like any other foolish kunoichi..."

Now Ura was raged, he didn't know a thing about her, and here he was, telling her things about how he thought of her as. She glared at him one of her most angriest glares she ever gave before, "You're wrong, Uchiha... My reasons for becoming a ninja were to prove everyone wrong about me! As you can see, you're one of the people who are fooled about who I am. That is why I am here..."

Sasuke didn't believe her one bit, then re-used his Sharingan, then stated, "I can see why you're here... You're only here because of him, you want to prove to him that you want to be good enough...you don't care whether you win or die against him, as long as you have the experience to battle him... But, I won't allow to go that far, because i'm going to win, and my next match will be against the one person you want to fight the most."

Anger, rage, hatred... Those three words could not describe how Ura felt agaisnt that statement Sasuke had made. He was standing in her way, blocking her path to get to Gaara... There was only once choice for Sasuke now...death...or torture... The inner Ura was coming out, Ura was allowing her darker thoughts to take control of judgement and common sense. Ura had to stand her ground and not give into Sasuke's tauntings, she was going to end this battle, there was no way Ura was going to allow Sasuke to win.

Then..Sasuke was running at her again, but this time, his right fist was spewing out lightning bolts of chakra, it sounded like birds chirping. When she had least expected it, he nailed her right in her stomach, sending her flying backwards, away from her puppet, umbrellas, and Sasuke had taken her hari bag from her. Ura smashed into the wall beneath the watch look-out, a huge hole in the wall held her body from slipping to the ground.

"Ura!" Kankurou and Temari both wanted to help their friend badly, but were unable to.

That was the final straw...Sasuke was pushing Ura to her limits, Ura was far from her weapons, her chakra strings had been cut, all she had left...was the Sharingan... No, Ura shook that thought from her head, not even Sasuke was going to be gratified with the satisfaction of Ura using her Sharingan, her cursed trait that could win her the battle, possibly. As Sasuke stood with a 'I-told-you-so' smirk, Ura lifted her head, expelling her Sharingan...