Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Lost Soul ❯ Shattered Heart, Shattered Mind ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me, but I do claim the Yominokunis, Yakubyougami and the Tekigougan for myself!

 

A Note from Katana Haibane: I'm sorry it took so long to update my story, but I've had several essays to deal with and they took up a lot of my time. Damn, school never used to cause me to put off my writing so much! Well, I'll make up for that during the Christmas break.

 

Oh and don't forget that Juuboku is the persona that Yakubyougami uses while he is acting as an assistant to Gaara.

 

Well, according to the few votes that I got last chapter I'm going to be having Mikomi reveal that Sasuke taught her when Naruto comes back…NEXT CHAPTER!

 

Chapter 16: Shattered Heart, Shattered Mind

 

Shinigami's Realm

 

With a resounding crack, Sasuke snapped the neck of the ephemeral replication of Hyuuga Hinata, putting her out of commission. Sasuke grimaced slightly as he saw the look of shock on the fake Hinata's face before her body started to fade from existence. He'd just killed yet another spirit, sacrificing it to his own ambition of regaining his own life.

 

With a sigh, Sasuke's Sharingan stopped swirling and faded from his eyes. In the last month Sasuke had spent almost as much time practicing the wall climbing in his room as he had spent fighting what could only be described as spiritual replications of his classmates from Konoha's Academy. He had awakened his Sharingan only a week after he had started walking on the walls of his room as well as hanging upside-down from the ceiling and doing sit-ups. He just hoped that he could convince the Shinigami to get him that exercise room soon. Then he glanced at the nearly gone Hinata once again.

 

Sasuke wasn't entirely sure why, but for some reason he had started to feel what he could only assume was guilt for killing spirits. He had never felt such an emotion before, even when he had slaughtered whole groups of men for Orochimaru during his training. He knew that he had to ask Shinigami about it the next time he showed up in his room, but it had yet to do so. Stranger still, only when he had preformed a killing blow to one of the spiritual copies of his classmates did they seem to just fade out of existence. That too had disturbed Sasuke and he had no idea why.

 

Then there was the fact that he had yet to face Haku, or Naruto at the skill level he had from the Chuunin Exam's finals. He'd fought with both of them before all of the others he had fought so far, yet he had been forced to face a few people he hadn't even sparred with before. He couldn't figure out what all of this meant.

 

`Were Haku and Naruto really that powerful?' Sasuke thought as he stripped down to take a shower before returning to his room, `and why the hell haven't I been able to work up the balls to kill Naruto the two times that I've faced him so far?' Sasuke proceeded to put his fist through the shower room wall before he screamed, “When the fucking hell did I become such a sentimental, weak piece of shit! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?”

 

Feeling numb inside, Sasuke bemusedly watched as the whole in the wall seemed to just disappear as the wall rebuilt itself. Cranking the water temperature up, Sasuke stepped under the pouring stream, thankful that the tactile sensation of taking a shower wasn't lost to his spiritual body. With a sigh, Sasuke felt the anger slowly leave his body, making him feel empty inside. As much as he hated the empty feeling he was left with once his anger had passed, Sasuke hated how he felt while he was angry even more. What he had lived his life with for so long made him feel queasy ever since he had released his grief before Shinigami the day he had been told that he was dead. It no longer felt natural.

 

After soaking under the shower for half an hour, Sasuke turned it off, feeling an odd longing for a familiar furo and bathing area rather than this cramped stall. Tossing on the white clothing that Shinigami always seemed to have ready for him when he exited the shower, Sasuke crossed the dojo and went into his room. He ignored the frozen stance of Rock Lee, waiting to be challenged so that Sasuke could move on in his task. Throwing open the door to his room Sasuke stopped in his tracks.

 

Shinigami was waiting for him on the far side of the room.

 

Before Sasuke could even open his mouth to start speaking to Shinigami, it cut Sasuke off by holding up his hands for silence. Once Sasuke snapped his mouth shut, Shinigami stepped off to the side and revealed a new door in his room.

 

“Sasuke, you have finally earned the right to have a workout room of your own.” Shinigami felt amusement at the shocked look on Sasuke's face, “I have provided everything that you could possibly need inside.”

 

Sasuke couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief for a moment before he glared at Shinigami, “What the hell? Why couldn't I have one before? And why the hell now when I'm obviously a hell of a lot less worthy than when you awoke me in this room in the first place? I've become an emotional weakling, just like those bastards in Konoha!”

 

“WRONG!” Shinigami thundered at Sasuke's outburst, knocking Sasuke off his feet with the sheer power behind Shinigami's voice. Pausing to regain its composure, Shinigami began again, “You are far more worthy of the training area now than you have ever been since I gave you the chance to regain your own life. I need a human being, not the half dead thing that you were before.”

 

“I WAS POWERFUL! HOW THE HELL IS THAT BEING HALF DEAD YOU DAMN CRYPTIC BASTARD!”

 

Shinigami laughed colder than Sasuke had ever heard him laugh before, causing chills to travel up and down Sasuke's spine, “What defines a human being in the first place is the fact that they have a free will. Having a free will means having the ability to change the path fate has set for them. Being able to change fate is true strength. You had no free will, only the illusion of it you fool.”

 

Sasuke froze for a moment before he felt his legs starting to buckle under the implications that Shinigami was suggesting, `Does that mean I couldn't have gone against Orochimaru no matter how much I wanted to? Is that why I kept putting off challenging him?'

 

“From the second that you gave in to the pull that the cursed seal on your body had on your mind was the second your soul died. Your free will died. You had a working body that was alive, but nothing beyond that. You, Uchiha Sasuke, were nothing. You became a subject to fate, something no human being should ever become.” Shinigami paused once again to let the vacant haze clear from Sasuke's eyes before he continued on, “There is no design that has been given to a human being by the Gods that a human being could not overcome. The same applies with death. Life and death are mirrors of each other, to sides to the same coin. Life is filled with beings that only see the light, despite the vast darkness of space beyond their world. Death is filled with darkness, the spirits residing with unable to see the wide expanse of light beyond their own despair. However, everyone eventually is able to look beyond their sorrow and self pity and see what is truly around them: friends, family, relatives and everyone they ever knew while they were alive. The wretched, grieving soul returns to the light, and once again to life. They are born anew, in the land of the living, to start their journey once again. Only those poor souls that have lost their will ever truly remain amongst the dead.”

 

“I haven't been living these past few years?” Sasuke wondered aloud as he mechanically got up and sat before the hot food that had appeared on his kitchen table. Once the food passed his lips, Sasuke found himself suddenly reoriented. He had his free will back. He had another chance at power. This time, his power would remain his own, not the byproduct of a freak as twisted as Orochimaru.

 

He would return to Mikomi.

 

With a burst of speed, Sasuke began to shovel the food down his throat, eager to get into the training room and start working out until he dropped. He had less than eight months to pass the three tests that Shinigami had laid out before him and there was no way in hell he was going to lose this chance to return to the life he once had.

 

He was nobody's slave.

 

Sasuke still wanted to pay Itachi back, now both for killing him and for killing his parents. He wanted to make him pay, wanted to make him suffer for everybody he had ever killed.

 

But revenge was no longer consuming his soul.

 

There was little doubt in Sasuke's mind that Orochimaru would pay for what he had done to Sasuke, but Sasuke also knew that it was also partially his own fault for giving in to the seal. Sasuke could feel his determination rising within him, his thoughts suddenly drifting over to Naruto.

 

Now the Uchiha was left chasing the Uzumaki.

 

Sasuke wanted to reach for the sky, grasp everything within his own hand. He would do it all with his own power.

 

“Oh, and Sasuke,” Shinigami rumbled before he disappeared from the room, “You know that furo and bathing area you've been dreaming about? I added that on to the changing area in the dojo and in your new training area. Enjoy.”

 

Blushing bright red, Sasuke's thought shattered and fell about him for a moment as Shinigami disappeared in a torrent of deep laughter.

 

Konoha Stadium

 

The crowd roared with anticipation as the next match in the Chuunin Exam Finals was announced. They had been disappointed with the abruptness of the previous match between Tegatai Kinniku and Tenpi and they were hoping that Yominokuni Mikomi and Inuzuka Kiba would deliver the same kind of exciting match that they had delivered in the first round. The crowd started to chant as they began to cheer for the next match.

 

“WE WANT A FIGHT! WE WANT A FIGHT…”

 

Hiashi had a ghost of a smile flit across his face for a brief second before he raise his right arm into the air, straining to be heard over the crowd, “WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, THE NEXT MATCH IS TO BEGIN. INUZUKA KIBA AND YOMINOKUNI MIKOMI PLEASE REPORT TO THE ARENA IMMEDIATELY.”

 

Kiba had his usual cocky grin plastered on his face as he drank in the crowd's cheering for another moment before he turned to Mikomi, “Don't you dare hold back on me Mikomi. I don't care that you're younger than me, I'm still gonna kick your ass. Hell, I don't care if you can punch as hard as Tsunade-sama, I'm still gonna win this fight.” Kiba gave Mikomi a hard slap on the back before he turned and leapt from the balcony railing with a shout, “HELL YEAH!” The crowd cheered as they watched Kiba's jumping entrance, feeding his already cocky attitude.

 

Mikomi just stared incredulously for a second before she decided to show Kiba up a little bit. Backing up to the wall, Mikomi got a running start at the balcony railing and launched herself across the arena. The crowd roared its approval, Kiba all but forgotten, as Mikomi elegantly twisted her body through the air to land lightly on her feet directly across from Kiba. She slid down into the stance for the `Iron Fist' style, vaguely reminded Kiba of Rock Lee.

 

“Don't think that I'll back down that easily Kiba,” Mikomi taunted as she felt her blood start to boil with the upcoming fight, “You know that I can be as tough as an ox when I want to be. So you had better bring everything you've got!”

 

Akamaru gave a bark of excitement and Kiba smacked his fist into his palm as he grinned even wider. This was one of the few times that he had seen Mikomi the energetic about fighting a friend as she had ever been. Few people ever had taken him totally seriously from the beginning and Kiba's anticipation only got stronger as Hiashi walked in between the two of them.

 

Once again Hiashi had to shout over the crowd as he raised his right arm and announced the start of the fight, “THE FIGHT BETWEEN INUZUKA KIBA AND YOMINOKUNI MIKOMI…” Hiashi paused as the crowd roared in excitement once again, the energy of everyone in attendance seeming to be pulled into the two Konoha Nins who were standing before him. Hiashi slashed his hand down and shouted, “BEGIN!”

 

“Beast Mimicry: Four Legs!” Kiba shouted as crouched down and exploded off the ground in Mikomi's direction, trying to slam his elbow right into Mikomi's face. Like lightning, Mikomi dropped to the ground and snaked her left arm out to catch Kiba's extended arm and used his momentum to continue her spin. Using her right arm Mikomi spring-boarded off the ground and snapped a quick kick into Kiba's back, eliciting a shocked cry from the body. Mikomi snapped her head up as she felt Akamaru's presence bearing down on her and shot up and deflected Akamaru's attempted to clamp his jaws down on her throat.

 

Akamaru still crashed bodily into Mikomi as his momentum carried him forward into the air girl, sending them to the ground in a tumbling mess. Rolling once in a tangle of limbs, Mikomi was able to get her legs under Akamaru and threw him off or her and got to her feet only to have to meet Kiba head on once again. Mikomi knocked aside Kiba's brawler's swing at her head only to take his spinning follow through kick to the side of her chest, sending her flipping towards the edge of the trees inside the stadium.

 

Mikomi leapt back onto her feet just as Kiba leapt on top of Akamaru and reached into his coat pocket. Reacting instantly, Mikomi burst forwards, pumping chakra into her legs as she hurled two kunai towards Akamaru and Kiba, trying to split them up before Kiba could enact his `Man Beast Clone.'

 

Instead of bringing out the soldier pill that Mikomi had expected, Kiba knocked Mikomi's two kunai out of the air with two of his own as he leapt off of Akamaru's back to meet Mikomi's charge.

 

“GATSUUGA!” Kiba cried as the flashed forwards in a vicious cyclone of tearing hands and wind.

 

Acting on instinct Mikomi's hands shot out and snagged Kiba's arms, her massive strength jerking his spin to a sudden halt before he crashed into her. Kiba cried out in agony as he felt his right arm get dislocated from its socket. Rolling off of Mikomi he slammed his right hand into the ground, forcing his arm backing into place with a fiery burst of pain. Looking at Mikomi as she angled herself to prepare for an attack from either side, Kiba worriedly noted that she only had faint marks on her hands and forearms from stopping Kiba's assault.

 

`Shit, her chakra defenses are a hell of a lot stronger than I gave her credit for.' Kiba thought as he gave the briefest of nods to Akamaru and charged in for another assault. Kiba smashed a couple of smoke bombs down at Mikomi's feet, causing her to instinctively cover her mouth as he leapt high into the air along with Akamaru.

 

“Catch Akamaru!” Kiba cried as he tossed a soldier pill right into Akamaru's mouth as he chomped down on one of his own. Meeting in midair, Kiba sealed rapidly as he cried out, “MAN BEAST COMBINATION: MAN BEAST CLONE!”

 

“Futon: Great Breakthrough!” Came the cry from Mikomi as she shot a ball of air into the air in Kiba and Akamaru's direction, clearing the smoke at the same time. Kiba and Akamaru's `feral Kiba' completion of the clone technique worried Mikomi slightly as she watched the two separate to avoid the air blast before they counterattacked.

 

“GATSUUGA!” Came the twin cries from the Kiba's as they spiraled out of the air right towards Mikomi. Mikomi immediately slammed both of her hands into the ground causing a chunk of it to crater downwards as another chunk formed a shield in front of her. Dropping into the crater she had just made, Mikomi began to seal for an attack of her own.

 

Kiba and Akamaru burst through the earthen wall that Mikomi had hastily created only to not be able to spot her anywhere. As they bounced off ground and started to arc backwards towards where they had come from when Mikomi's cry met caught their ears.

 

“RAITON: CHAIN LIGHTNING JUTSU!” A massive jolt of electricity broke Kiba and Akamaru out of their attack and caused them both to cry out in agony. Akamaru reverted out of his clone form due to the attack and the two of them landed unsteadily on the ground as Mikomi started to seal for another technique once again.

 

Kiba didn't let his pain slow him down much as he called across to Akamaru, hoping to disrupt Mikomi's sealing, “Akamaru, Dynamic Marking right now!” Akamaru leapt into the air and let loose a stream of urine as he spun and caught Mikomi right in the eyes just as she unleashed her Jutsu.

 

“Raiton: Lightning Strike Jutsuaaaaahhhhgghhh!”

 

The bolt of lightning that was intended for Kiba shot just wide of him, close enough for him to feel his hair stand on end. His eyes widened as he saw the hole the attack had made through the tree trunk behind him before he tossed another soldier pill to Akamaru before he spun towards the semi-blinded Mikomi.

 

“Beast Mimicry: Canine Pack Battle Cry!” Kiba let loose a howl to the sky, feeling the chakra within his body begin to circulate even faster, his senses sharpen and his strength grow from increased adrenaline. Akamaru returned the cry as the two of them fed off of each other's strength and energy before they came together, slamming into the front and back of Mikomi as they brought their hands and claws downward in a slashing motion.

 

Mikomi cried out in pain as the attack struck, but felt her eyes clear due to the burst of chakra that burst from her body to guard against the attack.

 

It had failed to penetrate her reinforced clothing.

 

With a quick motion Mikomi's left hand shot out and closed around Kiba's neck before she threw him bodily into Akamaru. With the two of them in a tangle Mikomi's foot swung straight up to beside her head before she crushed the ground beneath her with a powerful axe kick. The attack caused the ground to erupt beneath Kiba and Akamaru and sent them flying across the arena. Mikomi didn't bother to give chase as she decided to catch a quick breather. Kiba and Akamaru did the same after they crashed to the ground.

 

Kiba came to his feet grinning widely, “That was freaking crazy Mikomi. I'm not gonna let you pull anymore of your little stunts again this fight Stick Girl.”

 

“Bring it Dog Boy. Nobody can get through my chakra defense and strength. You should know that better than anybody else.”

 

With the taunts exchanged and their breathers taken, Kiba, Akamaru and Mikomi went at it once again. Back and forth across the arena their fight raged with the crowd cheering them on to new heights as the fight continued. First Mikomi got the upper hand and then Kiba as the fight flip-flopped over and over again. Things change in Kiba's favour however, when Mikomi got her arm stuck in the trunk of a thick tree when Kiba dodged one of her punches. As she tried to pull her arm from the tree Kiba and Akamaru preformed their most powerful technique.

 

“MAN BEAST COMBINATION: DOUBLE-HEADED WOLF!” In an explosion of smoke the crowd cheered as a massive, white, double headed wolf appeared and snarled at Mikomi. Eye's widening, Mikomi redoubled her efforts to get free from the tree, getting half of her arm free as Kiba attacked.

 

“GAROGA!”

 

Mikomi just reacted. She punched her other hand through the trunk causing the tree to topple. Grabbing the trunk, Mikomi swung the tree with all her strength right into the oncoming spiraling hurricane that Kiba had become. Even as Kiba proceeded to shred straight through the tree, Mikomi had been able to get enough power behind her swing to force him off course and crash through another tree and into the wall. She was still caught by the lashing winds that swirled into her, giving her a slash down her arm.

 

With a slight shake of its two heads, Kiba's wolf transformation spiraled into another attack towards Mikomi. With no tree to defend herself with, Mikomi barely dove behind another nearby tree as Kiba tore past, a myriad of slash marks peppering the opposite side of the tree Mikomi was behind. Mikomi's eyes widened as she saw Kiba smash into another tree before he could stop his incredible spinning attack.

 

The tree broke in half, but the direct center of the attack didn't have the same cutting power that the outside of the attack had. As Kiba spun towards Mikomi, Mikomi started to charge Kiba in an attempt to finish the fight before Kiba realized that she had seen a weakness in his attack.

 

Kiba and Mikomi charged each other, spinning beast against a charging girl. They leapt towards each other and met with a resounding boom. Mikomi's arms flashed out, ripping the claws to Kiba's transformation apart, tearing through his attack like a tiger rips into his prey. Then, using as much strength as she dared, both of Mikomi's legs followed through, landing a powerful double kick on the wolf. One foot crashed into each head as Kiba and Akamaru howled out their agony before catapulting across the arena and through a tree and into the wall before exploding out of their transformation.

 

As they fell from the wall, Mikomi saw the blood that was pouring from Akamaru's head, and the half closed eyes of Kiba. Rushing forward in concern, Mikomi wanted to make sure that her friends was alright. Before Mikomi was able to make it to Kiba, he staggered to his feet and glanced at Akamaru.

 

Raising his arm towards the sky, Kiba shouted, “I GIVE UP!” Mikomi stopped dead in her tracks at Kiba's shout, stunned. She rushed towards Kiba once again when his legs gave out from underneath him and caught him before he hit the ground.

 

“INUZUKA KIBA HAS FORFEITED THE MATCH!” Hiashi cried to the stunned crowd as the Medic Nins rushed onto the field, “YOMINOKUNI MIKOMI IS THE WINNER!”

 

The crowd erupted once again in a deafening roar of noise, praising the battered ninja for one hell of a fight. The cheering was so loud that the people on the arena field had to shout at each other just to be heard.

 

“Kiba, KIBA! Are you alright?” Mikomi cried as she lowered Kiba onto the stretcher the Medic Nins had brought with them, “Can you hear me?”

 

Kiba could only nod weakly for a moment before his eyes focused on the Medic Nins around him, “TAKE CARE OF AKAMARU BEFORE YOU TAKE CARE OF ME YOU IDIOTS! HE'S HURT WORSE THAN I AM!”

 

 

As Mikomi climbed back up the stairs into the participants' observations area, she munched on the soldier pill that Kiba had given her before the Medic Nins had taken him away. Absentmindedly, Mikomi activated her Healing Jutsu, working on speeding up the closure of the wound on her arm - it was almost healed anyway. Although she felt that she had enough energy to finish the tournament without many problems, being at full strength was always something to be relished in a tournament like this one. Passing Shino on the stairs she gave the quiet ninja an assuring nod before giving him a quick clap on his shoulder, “Watch out for his sword. If you can't figure out a way past it, don't wait until you get yourself killed to back out of the fight. I don't want to see you die Shino.” Shino wordlessly nodded at Mikomi's words before brushing past her and down to the arena floor.

 

The reception that Mikomi got when she reentered the observation area was less than warm. Sanjuu was staring at Mikomi as if she was appraising a piece of meat that she wanted to eat. Gufuu seemed to continually run his hands over the amulet that was strung around his neck as he seemed to look straight through Mikomi. Both of the Nins in the observation area were blocking the way to the balcony's edge.

 

“Don't worry about the fight below,” Sanjuu taunted Mikomi, “that pathetic teammate of yours isn't going to be leaving the stadium alive. His bugs aren't going to be a problem for Kinniku. Nothing that weak would cause him any problems.”

 

Mikomi couldn't help but flex her hands at the blatant threat to her teammate. She didn't want to see her friend get hurt, but she couldn't do a damn thing to help him out without disqualifying the both of them from the tournament. Nor could she deck the cocky Sound Nin until her next match against the Nin began. All that she could do is walk past the two of them and try to concentrate on the fight down below. The crowd's reaction indicated that the fight had already started.

 

Moving to walk around the two Nins, Mikomi was a little perturbed when Sanjuu cut her off, demonstrating just how much taller than Mikomi she was. “What, you wanting to watch the fight you little bitch,” Sanjuu sneered, “there ain't nothing to see, especially when I'm talking to you traitor. Did you really think that Orochimaru would just overlook that someone as connected to his vessel as you abandoned him? He owns you girly and either you come back to him or I'll cut your fucking head off.”

 

“I don't know what they hell you're talking about,” Mikomi grimaced as she felt her head begin to pound, as if it was trying to remember something, “I can't remember okay, so back the hell off. Even if I did remember I'd never go back willingly to the fucking snake bast-” Mikomi had a horrified look on her face as she had just verified to Sanjuu that she knew exactly what she had been talking about.

 

Sanjuu slapped Mikomi hard across the face before she could react and hissed, “Lying, traitorous, whorish cunt! You had everything you could ever want in the Sound including being trained by Orochimaru's right hand man. You had power, respect and fear, everything anyone there could ever want. You even had caught the eye of Orochimaru so much that he refuses to part with you. How dare you!” Sanjuu stalked off down the stairwell before she lost it completely with the insolent little girl who had defied her master.

 

Mikomi's hand came up and touched the area where Sanjuu had slapped her, feeling the sting and confusing that Sanjuu's actions had caused her. Everything she remembered about the Sound caused her to recoil in revulsion, or at least feel nothing. She was bound to the place the hand of the shadow in her memories that had trained her. That shadow was the only thing in her memories that she didn't outright hate, she assumed because he or she was the one who actually gave her something more than a broken and bruised body. Beyond vague memories of being freed by someone with red eyes kind of like her own she didn't know how she had escaped the hold that the collar had over her.

 

Then the rage began to boil beneath her skin once again. The nearly forgotten hatred of anyone and everyone from the Sound began to burn and resurface beneath her body. Her eyes flashed with hatred, inverting in colour for the briefest of seconds. Spinning, Mikomi punched the wall, destroying a massive section of it. Then she walked to the railing to watch the rest of Shino's match, anger simmering just beneath the surface of her entire body.

 

 

Shino was panting as he continued to dodge and weave the constant succession of attacks that Kinniku was throwing at him. Punches and kicks rained down upon him, while a whole arsenal of sound jutsus seemed to disrupt and throw off every attack that he had attempted with his bugs. He hadn't realized that his bugs were as sensitive to high frequency vibrations as they apparently were until Kinniku had started using sonic attacks that were beyond the hearing range of the human ear. The sonic attacks had been causing Shino to have to use more chakra than normal to keep his kikai bugs under control.

 

He knew that he had to start delving into his new techniques if he was going to be able to stand a chance against the machine that Kinniku had become. With a quick twist of his body, Shino rolled under another kick that Kinniku sent his way and made a quick slashing motion with his left hand. A thin line of kikai bugs were launched in a scything arc, picking up Kinniku and tossing him across the arena. Shino had learned how to infuse chakra into his bugs to make them a strong as steel.

 

With a quick mental order, Shino sent the majority of his bugs underground and the rest he formed into a very solid staff. For the first time that anyone who knew Shino could remember, he ran forwards intent on fighting a close range battle.

 

Kinniku forced Shino to dodge another sound bullet, causing his bug staff to bend and warp, nearly disrupting it. Kinniku was rather annoyed when Shino managed to keep it together and pulled out a pair of kunai to block the staff. Shino wasn't going to let Kinniku close the distance between the two of them or give him a chance to seal for another sound attack. Shino actually managed to force Kinniku back a few feet before he was able to catch his staff with his kunai.

 

“Nice try bug boy, but I'm not gonna give you a chance to drain my chakra!” Kinniku started to use his strength to overwhelm the physically weaker Shino and began to shove him towards the arena wall.

 

Before Shino could have his back forced into a corner he called his bugs up from the ground to lash out towards Kinniku. Whole ropes of bugs seemed to materialize out of nowhere and locked onto his arms and legs, beginning to drain his charka. Kinniku's eyes widened when he realized that he couldn't force his way out of the bug ropes. Shino to the opportunity to send his pole crashing down at an angle into Kinniku's neck, cutting diagonally down into the collar bone as well.

 

With a cry, Kinniku was forced to his knees for a second before he force his hands together and began to seal as Shino started raining blows upon Kinniku's exposed back. Fighting through the slight pain from Shino's blows, Kinniku slammed his hands into the ground, generating a sonic shockwave through the earth, destroying the anchoring base of bugs in the ground around him. The sonic blast disrupted the solid chains of bugs, as well as Shino staff as he launched forward and buried a fist into Shino's gut, lifting him off his feet and sending him back into a nearby tree.

 

Kinniku gave a barking laugh as he saw Shino just sit there against the tree. `So, he thinks he's gonna trap me with a bug clone eh? Guess I'll do the honors and trigger his so called trap.' Rushing Shino once again, Kinniku reared back and hammered his left fist straight through the bug clone that Shino had left behind in his place, causing it to explode and start to cover Kinniku. With a burst of chakra, Kinniku activated the sonic amplifier that he had strapped to his left wrist, sending the deadly sound waves out and around his entire body.

 

From the stands everyone watched as the black mass of bugs that had suddenly covered the arrogant Sound Nin exploded in a wave of greenish bug guts.

 

It was far more personal for Shino. He was shocked into inaction by the incredible wave of painful feedback his bugs had just sent to him upon their collective demise. Over four fifths of his bugs had just been wiped out in a single attack.

 

On the other hand, Kinniku didn't give a second thought to take advantage of Shino's moment of inaction. Kinniku slid in close and launched Shino into the air with a vicious sidestep kick to his chin, following Shino into the air only to send him back to the ground with a double axe handle to his chest. After Shino smashed to the ground, Kinniku landed on him knees first and proceeded to start laying a beating into Shino's skull.

 

The second that Hiashi realized that Shino wasn't getting up he called a stop to the fight, “STOP! ABURAME SHINO IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE, TEGATAI KINNIKU IS THE WINNER!” When Kinniku still didn't stop laying a beating into Shino, Hiashi was beside Kinniku in a flash, caught his pulled back hand and laid a hand right next to his jugular vein. “I'd stop what you're doing right now. Unless you want to die along with the Leaf Nin you're laying into.”

 

Hesitantly, Kinniku got off of Shino and made his way back up to the observation deck.

 

 

After seeing Kinniku lay a savage beating on Shino, Mikomi didn't realize that it was her turn to fight for several seconds. She just stared at Kinniku as he slowly, confidently, made his was across the arena. Mikomi suddenly felt the urge to wrap her hands around Kinniku's throat and just squeeze. When a hand tapped her on the shoulder, an odd screeching noise accompanied Mikomi as she spun around to face whoever had just touched her.

 

Mikomi came face to face with Gufuu who spoke softly to Mikomi, “Your fight's been announced. You should get on the field before you're disqualified.” Gufuu paused for a moment looking pointedly at Mikomi's right fist, “You might want to leave what you're carrying behind.” Gufuu spun on his heel and moved back to the far end of the balcony where he continued to slowly run his hands over the amulet he was wearing.

 

“I REPEAT, WILL YOMINOKUNI MIKOMI PLEASE REPORT TO THE ARENA IMMEDIATELY OR BE DISQUALIFIED!” Hiashi's shout from the center of the tournament arena finally reached Mikomi's ears through her anger induced haze.

 

Glancing at her hand briefly, Mikomi was surprised to find a crushed chunk of the railing molded to her hand. Tossing it away, she turned and started to jog down the stairs that led to the arena entrance. For the first time since she had come to the arena she was glad that there was a separate entrance and exit from the arena. She wasn't sure if she could stand coming face to face with Kinniku before she got her official chance to fight him without doing something that would get her disqualified. Jogging out to take her place across from Sanjuu, Mikomi felt another resurgence of anger towards the scowling Sound Nin.

 

Mikomi wanted to make Sanjuu suffer, both her insults to Mikomi, and for Kinniku's brutal final attack on Shino.

 

Cracking her knuckles audibly Mikomi just glared at Sanjuu, not saying a word. Mikomi slowly slid into a ready stance, her hands and arms remaining lower than normal, her hip pack ready to be accessed.

 

Sanjuu didn't miss the way that Mikomi had subtly readied her weapons pouch, nor how her right hand was hovering just over her hip pack, “Throwing weapons didn't work against me last time bitch, what the hell are you playing at? Do you want me to kill you faster than I killed that last lunkhead or something?”

 

“Enough!” Hiashi barked as he saw Mikomi's face darken, “Leave the trash talk for after the fight begins. Now get ready.” Sanjuu flipped Hiashi off before she set herself into a ready position once again. Hiashi raised his arm into the air as he had many times already today. And with a slashing motion and a shout, the fight began, “BEGIN!”

 

Like a flash, Mikomi leapt backwards, her hands dropping towards her weapon pouch. At the same time, Sanjuu had sped forwards at almost double Mikomi's speed and was closing the gap between the two of them very quickly. In the few moments since the match had begun Sanjuu had already powered up the cutting edge of her vibrating arms and swung a lightning fast chop for Mikomi's neck.

 

Now that Sanjuu had begun to attack, Mikomi finally pumped the chakra through her system and matched Sanjuu's speed. Mikomi had jumped backwards and tucked into a ball, presenting Sanjuu with only her shins to slash at while pumping them full with as much defensive chakra as she could get away with this early in the fight.

 

Sanjuu was jerked to a sudden halt as her hand crashed into Mikomi's shins, only succeeding in drawing a thin line of blood across the super hardened body part. However, Sanjuu had succeeded in turning Mikomi's back flip into a front flip.

 

Mikomi was barely able to keep her body in a compact ball after feeling the sudden jerk from Sanjuu's chop but she was able to keep it together as her hands caught the latches to the weights on her ankles. Letting the momentum of her flip pull her around, Mikomi tore her hundred pound weights from her ankles and threw them at Sanjuu. Elation surged through Mikomi as she saw the blood spray from an obviously broken nose as one of the weights hit home on the off balance Sound Nin.

 

Sanjuu reeled backward from the blow as Mikomi landed on her stomach before rolling to her feet. With a loud crunching noise Sanjuu quickly realigned her broken nose before spinning and lading a snap kick to Mikomi's jaw as she rose to her feet, sending Mikomi into a back flip this time. Once again Sanjuu whipped the tuning forks out of her belt and crashed them together with as much force as she possibly could, “Futon: Reverberation Jutsu!”

 

Catching sight of the tuning forks as her back hit the ground, Mikomi immediately blocked her ears with chakra and watched as Sanjuu crashed the two tuning forks together before she pretended to writhe in pain on the ground, clutching her ears. As she pretended to write on the ground, Mikomi undid the catches for the weights on her wrists as well.

 

Almost every person who was watching the match besides the Hyuugas who had noted Hiashi blocking his ears with chakra also covered their ears as pain wracked their ears and brains. Quite a large number of people threw up due to the massive disorientation that Sanjuu was causing them. The only non-Hyuugas unaffected were the four Kages, Hatake Kakashi and Yakubyougami. There were no Sound Nins present besides the three who were participating in the Chuunin Exam.

 

With a cocky twirl, Sanjuu spun her vibrating tuning forks and jammed them into the ground. She powered up a cutting edge on both of her arms before she jumped on Mikomi, intent on trying to remove her head from her shoulders once again. Crossing her arms, Sanjuu sent a cross chop at Mikomi's neck.

 

This time Mikomi swung the weight on her left arm crashing into Sanjuu's chop while she swung the other one at Sanjuu's head. There was a solid thud as Mikomi's weight connected with the side of Sanjuu's head and sent her tumbling off of Mikomi. However, Sanjuu's cross chop had succeeded cutting straight through Mikomi's other weight, barely causing a mark to appear on Sanjuu's arms where they had hit.

 

Both girls rolled back onto their feet with Sanjuu looking a little unsteady for a moment before her vision cleared and she stared Mikomi down once again, “You little fucking bitch! Don't you dare think that a couple a lousy little weights will stop me from slicing you to ribbons! If you won't come back to Orochimaru then I'll leave your corpse lying shredded on this arena floor.”

 

“Don't give me another excuse to kill you,” Mikomi growled, cause a flash of shock to pass through Hiashi. Although he was acting the role of impartial judge, he was finally used to having Mikomi living on the Branch Family grounds. He had never once heard from Hinata of a situation where Mikomi wanted to go out of her way to harm somebody else. She had only ever fought in training of to protect her friends as far as he could remember. But now Mikomi was looking like an entirely different person: her eyes seemed to burn with rage, her face was drawn tight causing a hawkish look to appear on her face, her entire body was coiled like a spring, and worst of all was staring at Sanjuu the way a raptor looks at its prey.

 

Sanjuu felt her blood run cold when her eyes met with Mikomi's. She finally understood how in just over two years Mikomi had established herself as one of the most fearsome fighters in the entire Village Hidden in Sound.

 

 

In the private box that the Kages were watching the matches in, only Gaara caught the pained look that crossed his assistants face when Mikomi came to her feet, looking for blood. It appeared only for a moment but it was enough for Gaara to realize that there was a connection between Mikomi and his aide. Gaara was sure that he had been around Juuboku enough that he could read the man like a book.

 

“Is something troubling you Juuboku?” Gaara asked softly so as not alert the others to Juuboku's situation.

 

Yakubyougami flinched. He hadn't even noticed that his façade had slipped even a little bit. He hadn't wanted Gaara to know that he had anything to do with Mikomi. “Just Mikomi-chan Kazekage-sama. I…I knew her family…so seeing her like this disturbs me a little bit. She looks exactly the way I looked before you allowed me asylum in the Sand. That isn't a look that anybody should ever wear: treating your opponent as if they are prey to be feasted upon.”

 

“I see,” Gaara replied, storing Juuboku's connection to Mikomi in the back of his head, “She must have a reason for it. I take it she doesn't like that Sound Nin too much.”

 

“Or Sound ninja in general,” Yakubyougami muttered, unaware that Gaara had heard his muttering. `Considering what she's been through this really shouldn't have surprised me,' Yakubyougami thought, `I only wish that I had been able to make contact with Mikomi without having to hide behind this stupid guise. I'm going to make sure that Akatsuki makes its move soon so I can be rid of those pathetic fools. I won't be away from Mikomi any longer than I have to be.'

 

A half smile crossed Yakubyougami's face in spite of the bloodthirsty look on Mikomi's face as she connected a decent blow to Sanjuu's midsection, mentally urging Mikomi on to victory.

 

 

Sanjuu cursed as she was forced onto the defensive time and again by Mikomi's furious attacks. She was a taijutsu specialist and had trained extensively in speed and power. She wasn't used to another person being able to surpass her in either aspect, let alone both in short bursts. The fact that Mikomi might have cracked her ribs wasn't helping her keep her cool either.

 

Scrambling into the branches of a tree to avoid taking another direct from Mikomi's punches, Sanjuu jumped up and over Mikomi as the tree started to fall to the ground with a large chuck gouged out of it. For the first time since she had started the Chuunin Exam here in Konoha, Sanjuu began to seal for an attack.

 

“FUTON: CUTTING AIR SPARK JUTSU!”

 

Swinging her right arm in an arc, Sanjuu made a blade of air in front of her before she discharged a spark of electric chakra into the back of it. The second the electricity met with the solid blade of air, the air blade exploded into motion. The air blade lanced across the arena floor at supersonic speed, crashing straight into the crossed arms of Mikomi as she shielded her face from the attack before it knocked her off her feet before breaking apart on the defenses that she had put up. Then, the sonic boom from the air blade impacted Mikomi while she was in mid-air sending her crashing into a nearby tree.

 

Intending to finish the fight, Sanjuu charged up the sonic blades on her arms once again and dashed in for the kill. Once again, only just before Sanjuu reached Mikomi, Mikomi reacted to Sanjuu's attack.

 

“Raiton: Lighting Strike Jutsu!”

 

Unable to even let out a moan of pain as her muscle seized up, Sanjuu was lifted off her feet and into the air by the powerful electric attack. Mikomi leapt upwards after Sanjuu, her hands crackling with electricity through simple chakra conversion as she caught Sanjuu in the air.

 

Sanjuu barely had enough time or bodily control for her eyes to widen in fear.

 

With a bloodcurdling scream Mikomi used the momentum of her decent along with as much strength as she could muster to smash Sanjuu's back onto her extended knee. There was a clearly audible snap as Sanjuu's back snapped clean in half, Mikomi's strength forcing Sanjuu's body to fold in half over her knee.

 

A shuddering gasp escaped from Sanjuu's lips as Mikomi stopped feeding electricity into Sanjuu's body. The last thing that Sanjuu saw was the look of chilling satisfaction painted across Mikomi's face before everything went black.

 

 

Nothing.

 

That was exactly what Mikomi was slowly beginning to feel about killing the arrogant Sound Nin in her hands.

 

There was no remorse for what she had done, no regret at all.

 

There was no more anger: her heart was beginning to take on an iciness that felt oddly familiar.

 

There was no more restraint holding Mikomi's hand back: killing somebody wasn't a moral struggle for her at the moment.

 

There was no more fear.

 

To Mikomi, Kinniku had simply become another obstacle in her path.

 

As she dumped Sanjuu's body down onto the arena floor Mikomi vaguely marveled at the tickling feeling of information that was welling up from inside her mind. This time Mikomi relaxed her mental walls, allowing the onrush of memories to begin. Again, Mikomi felt nothing…no pain or anger or even despair…nothing, but a slow building of confidence as her mind began to reveal to Mikomi that she had an understanding of three very interesting Katon Jutsus.

 

A cold smile crossed Mikomi's face as she went up to the contestants' observation section for the half hour recess before she began her final fight against Tegatai Kinniku. She knew that Gufuu wouldn't stand a chance against the monster that he could be.

 

 

“What's wrong with Mikomi-chan Kurenai-sensei?” Hinata asked after she had caught up to Kurenai during the break before the finals. Kinniku had pulled the same stunts against Gufuu as he had against Kurenai.

 

Kurenai frowned, “I don't know. Not for sure anyway. Perhaps she's had another recollection from her amnesia.” Kurenai paused a moment. The incredibly cold look that had appeared on Mikomi's face after she had mercilessly killed that Sound Nin fit Mikomi's face, something that shouldn't fit anybody only thirteen years old. “Her expression reminds me of one that I've seen on a number of Anbu who've survived until retirement. It's the face of somebody who's killed, but has never been bested. Mikomi knows what it's like to kill and just shrug it off.”

 

Hinata frowned. “But from what she explained to Tsunade-sensei a while ago she seemed really remorseful for the killing that she'd done in the past. She was forced to do it, so why would she be acting so differently…” Hinata's eyes widened as she tried her hardest to recall what Tsunade had taught her about amnesia and what victims of it experienced. Sometimes, especially if the memories were bad ones…

 

“We should probably give Tsunade-sama an update on the situation.” Kurenai said as she and Hinata started to weave through crowd of spectators. “Or at least Sakura. They're the only ones who can handle Mikomi if she has another breakdown from the memory recollection.”

 

The pair reached the section of the arena cordoned off by the Inuzuka clan and Kurenai quickly explained that they need to see Tsunade for a moment. A minute latter Tsunade showed up decked out in her official Hokage robes after being told that Kurenai and Hinata were requesting to talk to her for moment, “Kurenai, Hinata, what's going on? I was told that it was urgent.”

 

Before Kurenai could get a word in edgewise Hinata jumped in ahead of her first sensei, “Tsunade-sensei I think that something's happening with Mikomi-chan. She looked to be having another recollection episode, but she's acting very different from any time this has happened before. We need to let Sakura-san know so that she can be part of the medical team standing by to restrain Mikomi if she ends up having another breakdown.”

 

Tsunade just sighed, “I spotted the situation from all the way up here. I've already sent word to Sakura that I want her to join the medical team for this fight. You're the closest person to Mikomi besides Sakura so it may be a good idea for you to sit this one out. It's always that much harder to hea-”

 

“NO!” Hinata nearly shouted, “Mikomi-chan may be my friend but I want to be there to try and help her as much as possible if she has another relapse. Please Tsunade-sensei!”

 

“It may help Mikomi more than it would hinder her recovery Tsunade-sama,” Kurenai said, “I know I always felt better when I came out of a Genjutsu I couldn't break to have somebody familiar around while I was training.”

 

Nodding her agreement Tsunade grabbed a scrap of parchment and jotted a note down to get the medial team to add Hinata to their roster for the final fight. After giving it to Hinata, Tsunade started to turn and head back to the viewing booth.

 

“Hold on Tsunade-sama,” Kurenai said suddenly, her voice dropping down to a whisper, “Mikomi apparently was from the Sound right? That's why the Konoha council has had such a negative view of her right? What if Mikomi has some sort of information or even connection to Uchiha Sasuke? That's been a general mission you've given every ninja in Konoha to keep their eyes and ears open for information on him. Shouldn't we look into that?”

 

“You haven't been privy to the information yet, but the reports that I've read suggest that Mikomi may have actually been Sasuke's partner. She fits the description of the female member of the pair that was responsible for the annexation of the Village Hidden in Grass.”

 

 

For the first time all day Konoha Stadium was completely silent as the crowd waited with baited breath for the fight between Kinniku and Mikomi to begin. Both had proven to be exceptionally powerful Genins and this highly anticipated match was one that most of the crowd had wanted to watch the second the fight between Kinniku and Gufuu finished.

 

Now it was about to begin.

 

“THIS IS THE FINAL MATCH OF THE CHUUNIN EXAM FINALS,” Hiashi shouted to the silent crowd, “AFTER THIS FIGHT THE EXAMS ARE OVER AND THOSE WORTH OF THE RANK OF CHUUNIN WILL HAVE IT BESTOWED UPON THEM.” For the last time today Hiashi stood between the fighters staring each other down and raised his arm high into the air, “BEGIN!”

 

The roar of the crowd was deafening as Mikomi and Kinniku came together with a resounding crunch. The fight had begun and it didn't look like either fighter wanted to bother testing the other out first.

 

For a good minute Mikomi and Kinniku danced around the center of the arena dodging or blocking ever punch and kick they threw at each other. Both wanted to win this fight and both of them despised the other with every part of their heart. No love was lost between the two as they both connected a blow at the same time: Mikomi catching Kinniku a glancing body blow while Kinniku landed a solid uppercut on Mikomi. The two burst apart in a skidding cloud of dust before they both began to seal rapidly.

 

Unfortunately for Kinniku, while he sealed at the same speed Mikomi's hands were flying through Mikomi had chosen a technique with far fewer hand seals.

 

“Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!”

 

The crowd roared its approval of the pyrotechnics as Kinniku was force to leap away as the massive fireball burned a path straight into the arena wall before dissipating. Only Hinata, Sakura and Kurenai had shocked looks on their faces after Mikomi had preformed a technique she had never even mentioned before.

 

Kinniku didn't say anything as he quickly beat out the small flames that had caught on the cuffs of his pants as he dodged Mikomi's fireball. Before the smoke cleared he was already on his feet, sealing and charging Mikomi. Breaking through the smoke and appearing in front of the ready Mikomi Kinniku shot past her as her released his attack, “Ninpo: Hidden Snake Hands!” Snakes burst from Kinniku's sleeves and wrapped around Mikomi as he used his momentum to pick her up and throw her into a tree before he whipped out Touei Tenshu and unleashed one of the Genjutsu that he had stored in its blade from his fight with Gufuu. Seeing Mikomi's eyes glaze over, Kinniku quickly set the blade in his right hand. Pulling back and dashing towards Mikomi, Kinniku was intent on running her through.

 

Before Kinniku would run Mikomi through her hands came together and a surge of chakra exploded from her body, “KAI!” Seeing Kinniku about to stab her with his chakra fang Mikomi threw herself to the side as the fang slid easily into the tree. Kinniku just changed the direction of his attack from a thrust into a horizontal slash that clipped a few of Mikomi's purplish hairs as she ducked under his second attack. Mikomi rolled into a cartwheel and brought her legs up to lock around Kinniku's extended sword arm before twisting sharply. She broke Kinniku's grip on the chakra fang and threw both him and the fang across the arena.

 

Kinniku sprang to his feet and his eyes quickly sought out his chakra fang only to see that the hilt had struck a tree and bounced it across the arena floor. Then he saw Mikomi sealing once again and tried as hard as he could to catch up. This time he was able to finish at the same time as Mikomi.

 

“RAITON: LIGHTNING STRIKE JUTSU!”

“FUTON: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH JUTSU!”

 

Kinniku's ball of air tore straight into Mikomi's bolt of lightning, causing the electrical energy to crackle around it before it struck Mikomi jus off-center of her chest, spinning her out into the arena's center. Kinniku pumped chakra into the amplifier on his arm before he plunged it into the ground sending a sonic shockwave tearing into Mikomi before she could get back onto her feet. Sealing again, Kinniku struck before Mikomi could get back to her feet.

 

“FUTON: SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE JUTSU!”

 

This time Mikomi had only been able to partially get the required chakra in place in her ears before the attack struck causing her ears to start ringing as she was picked up and tossed into a nearby tree. Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Mikomi's hand clamped onto the bark, ripping a chunk out of the tree as she forcefully pulled herself to her feet.

 

Seeing Kinniku's charge she Mikomi it in a different way this time. Jumping to the side, she rebounded off two trees before landing a kick into the back of the tree she had just ripped a chunk out of to right herself. Instead of tightly focusing her chakra as she usually would, Mikomi let it explode outwards in a wider area, causing the tree to break from its trunk and launch towards Kinniku.

 

Only Hiashi was able to clearly see what Kinniku had done: he had left a Mud Bunshin behind that go smashed on the tree as he sank into the ground, popping up very near his chakra fang.

 

Mikomi rushed over to the tree and landed a jumping punch that split the tree in half, hoping to crush Kinniku even further below the tree. When the tree exploded into the earth Mikomi suddenly realized that Kinniku wasn't beneath it.

 

Then she sensed him already behind her.

 

Ducking her head down slightly Mikomi pushed nearly every bit of chakra that had been circulating through her body into her back neck less than a fraction of a second before Kinniku struck Mikomi's back with a double-handed slash with the Touei Tenshu. For one of the few times since she had developed her incredible chakra defense Mikomi cried out in agony: Kinniku's fang slashed clean through the back of her reinforced shirt and then half a centimeter into her back, barely shallow enough to miss cutting into her spine.

 

Mikomi was thrown forward, down into the crater she had just created before she threw herself from it. Spinning, Mikomi's hands flashed into her hip pack and pulled out four kunai with explosive notes attached to them. Hurling towards Kinniku, three slammed into the earth around Kinniku while one cut into his left hand shallowly, sticking into the wrappings on Touei Tenshu's hilt. Kinniku was forced to throw the chakra fang away as he dove away from the kunai, barely avoiding being caught in the apex of the explosion. However, Kinniku still was pummeled badly from the debris that was flung outwards from the explosion, getting a few minor cuts from kunai shrapnel.

 

Kinniku rebounded to his feet to see Mikomi sealing once again, this time a semi-sadistic smile appearing on her face. Again, Kinniku tried to seal his quickest technique in hopes to catch up to Mikomi.

 

“KATON: NOVA DETONATION JUTSU!”

“FUTON: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH JUTSU!”

 

Eyes widening in the faintest glimmer of worry, Kinniku saw his ball of air connect with the center of the fireball that had begun to form in front of Mikomi, fueling its intensity. With the burst of energy from the Futon jutsu, Mikomi released the massive ball of flam to do its work. Three pills of flame with almost no space between them burst from the floating ball of fire and lanced towards Kinniku at frightening speeds. Blackened channels were literally torn through the ground as they crashed into Kinniku.

 

The crowd erupted into another cheer at this brilliant pyrotechnic display may have ended the fight.

 

However, Hiashi hadn't called an end to it. Kinniku had been able to sink into the earth even as the flames struck his sinking body.

 

A smoking Kinniku burst up from the ground directly in front of Mikomi, landing an uppercut amplified in power by his sonic device solidly on Mikomi's chin. Mikomi was picked a full foot off the ground before she had to try and protect herself form Kinniku's onslaught. A flurry of punches caught Mikomi off guard as she tried to regain her orientation. Her face, chest, stomach and shoulders to blow after blow as Mikomi forced her arms in front of her body to take the brunt of the assault. Kinniku ended his combo by snapping a kick just under Mikomi's guard and into her stomach, launching her across the arena and into the wall.

 

Mikomi once again cried out in pain as the wound on her back was struck as she imprinted into the wall.

 

But this time the pain helped her focus. Her vision clear, Mikomi's eyes snapped open to see Kinniku leaping into a flying kick aimed at her head. Using every ounce of her strength Mikomi caught Kinniku's foot out of midair, halting his movement and causing him to lurch forward awkwardly. With a battle cry, Mikomi hurled Kinniku to the ground as she pealed herself from the wall, her head aching slightly.

 

Without thinking about what she was doing Mikomi just started to channel her chakra into her hands, manipulating it into an electrical form. Then she began a very long string of seals that had been burned into her mind a long time ago while she had been traveling towards the Village Hidden in Mist.

 

Kinniku's head cleared in a few seconds after Mikomi had slammed him into the ground and his first instinct was to spring to his feet. He couldn't figure out why Mikomi hadn't attacked him when he spotted her in the center of the arena sealing once again. He was about to start sealing when his eyes widened in shock as electricity started gathering and sparking from Mikomi's hands. Finishing up the seals Mikomi glared at Kinniku.

 

“RAITON: ENDLESS CURRENT JUTSU!”

 

Mikomi unleashed her technique, one of the few truly unique techniques in the world. She was the only one who knew how to perform the attack now that Sasuke had passed away and every single person who knew anything about Raiton Jutsus immediately realized how incredible the technique was. What had began as temperamental flashes of electricity encircling her arms and flashing bolts of lightning between her arms suddenly solidified into a powerful electrical field that was being generated from both of her arms.

 

Using the ambient electrical charge in the air, combined with the charge that she had developed within her own body, a massive arcing web of lighting began to tear across field straight at Kinniku.

 

Pumping as much chakra as he could into his legs Kinniku sprinted around the outside of the arena grounds. Dodging and weaving between trees, Kinniku did everything that he could to keep out of the reach of Mikomi as she ran after him, the lightning slashing into everything in her path. Odd bolts even carved paths up the arena wall.

 

Kinniku dove from one tree branch, to the wall and down to the ground where he saw Touei Tenshu lying on the ground. Without thinking about it Kinniku scooped it up, spinning and slashing through the web of lighting behind him. While the blade easily cut through the lighting - surprising everyone who didn't understand the nature of a chakra fang - Kinniku wasn't fast enough to slash through the overwhelming web of electricity that swarmed over him. The lighting blasted him into the wall where he dropped Touei Tenshu yet again before he sunk into the wall to escape Mikomi's technique as he had before.

 

For a full minute Kinniku didn't reappear in the arena. Mikomi finally deactivated her technique, not wanting to waste any more chakra on the technique while waiting from Kinniku to show himself. The second that Mikomi dropped the technique Kinniku reappeared in the center of the arena, rising up and reforming from the earth.

 

Breathing hard Kinniku stared hard at Mikomi. “What the fuck are you woman?” Kinniku asked incredulously as he glared angrily at Mikomi, “Nobody should be that strong, that young. You fucking freak, what in the god damned hell are you?”

 

The cold rage that had been coursing through Mikomi cleared for a moment, “I am a Genin of Konoha! NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THAT!”

 

Charging Kinniku once again, Mikomi swung a fist at him at the same time he swung one at her.

 

Then Mikomi's eye caught a familiar glint of black with white seals appear in Kinniku's other hand and swing up to her out stretched arm. He was holding a copy of the sealing collar she had worn for four years in the Sound. With a scream of fright Mikomi threw her other hand out and barely changed the course of the collar to latch on to Kinniku's arm instead of her own. Breaking apart from Kinniku, Mikomi stared in pure hatred at the collar on Kinniku's bulging arm before she started to seal. She hadn't worn the collar for as long as she had without figuring out how it worked.

 

Before Mikomi could finish the seals to activate the collar and lock Kinniku under its power Kinniku broke Mikomi's hands apart and threw both her and the collar well away from him. Adrenaline was coursing through his body as he charged the sealing Mikomi once again.

 

“Doton: Earth Shackles Jutsu!”

 

Just before Kinniku could land a punch on Mikomi's face she had slammed her hands into the earth, causing chains made of chakra reinforced earth to lash Kinniku in place. Mikomi immediately started sealing again as Hiashi took off from the side of the arena calling an end to the fight to the unhearing combatants.

 

“FUTON: BLADE STORM JU-”

 

Before Mikomi could unleash her final attack into the center of Kinniku's body Hiashi had grabbed her arm and hurled Mikomi bodily across the arena screaming, “THE FIGHT IS ALREADY OVER!” Pausing to regain his breath, Hiashi announced it once again for Mikomi and Kinniku's benefit, “YOMINOKUNI MIKOMI IS THIS YEARS CHAMPION IN THE CHUUNIN EXAM FINALS!”

 

All the rage that had been building up in Mikomi broke over as a surprised and happy grin split her muddied face. Sakura and Hinata burst out from the area where the medics were waiting to take care of the cut on Mikomi's back, cheering her victory along with the rest of the crowd. The roar of appreciation that came from the crowd was louder than it had been the entire day. The finals had been a fight unlike what most people had ever seen before. A fight between to incredibly powerful Genin, Genin who they were sure would become Chuunin and move on to do great things.

 

Amidst the chaotic celebration of Mikomi's victory, a shocked and humiliated Kinniku slunk off to the sidelines and picked up his Touei Tenshu. Glancing back at Mikomi, his hatred for the girl returned four fold. Now she had humiliated him publicly. Looking around and seeing that nobody was paying attention to him he looked speculatively at the distracted Mikomi. Kinniku focused all of his chakra into strengthening and combining all of the Genjutsu that he had captured in his blade.

 

With a flick of his wrist, Kinniku place the most powerful Genjutsu that he had ever created with the Touei Tenshu onto Mikomi before disappearing into the crowd of spectators to return bad to the Village Hidden in Sound.

 

The only warning that Sakura and Hinata got was Mikomi's back going ridgid.

 

Then, Mikomi screamed.

 

 

A/N: FINALLY! Another chapter is finished! I promise that I'll get at least one or two more up over the Christmas holidays, and hopefully go back to more regular updates when my new semester begins. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and the next one continues with Orochimaru's plans amongst other things.