Dedication is to… ---------->

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Chapter 37

“Those whose names were displayed, step up,” the judge called out and Rikku and I both stepped up towards the Judge. When we were close enough and in the middle of the arena we turned and  faced each other. I smiling and she had her eyes narrowed on me. “The first match’s fighters are Emiko Kin and Rikku Obitmaru. Are there are objections?”

“No (un),” Rikku and I both answered. I could feel everyone staring at us… oh if only I could show off more of my art… oh well. It can’t be help…

“We will now begin the first match,” the man coughed and looked past us and at the rest of the genin. “Everyone other than the two fighters, please move up there,” the Judge waved a hand towards the balcony.

Everyone started to move up, besides my team. “Kick her butt! Emi!” Naruto shouted towards me, I looked over at him and I nodded in understanding and a smile on my face. “You’ll be the laughing stock of the artist world if you lose!” my eye twitched.

“Says the one with no artistic eye…” I muttered to myself, shaking my head. I watched as my team finally moved, after I looked at each of them with a smile. Sasuke had nodded at me, Sakura smiled and Naruto grinned, giving me a thumbs up.

All of the Jounin and other ninja moved to the balcony as well except for Kakashi who came over to me and he put a rested a hand on my head.

“Don’t blow up the arena, Emiko,” he warned me and I sighed sadly, only wishing I could.

“I wish… Snake bastard threw my clay pouch into the forest, I’m going into this with a handicap,” I muttered to me and I felt his hand tense on my head, he was worried that I would lose without my best attacks. “Don’t worry! I’ve got a few things up my sleeve; this is going to be fun. I haven’t really had a one on one battle with a challenge in a long time.”

Kakashi removed his hand from my head. “You sure…”

I snorted loudly. “Ex Iwa-nin academy student against an actual Iwa-nin, this will be an interesting battle for all watching, right Rikku?” I called out and she glared at me darkly as if she wished for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I laughed at the look. This set up couldn’t have been any better… or worse, depending on how you look at it.

“Alright, good luck,” Kakashi started not sounding to sure and then walked off up the stairs to the rest of the team.

I looked at my healed bandaged hand, making sure that it was really was all healed and the bandage was wrapped up enough and wouldn’t unwrap and get in the way of the fight. Then I looked up at Rikku, remembering what Kabuto said before the first exam. She’s great at ninjutsu, her taijutsu is good and genjutsu is her worst… but she has that stupid kenkei genkai of hers that can connected to her sisters so she can use Rin’s genjutsu… but uses more of her chakra, double then it would normally would be… this is going to hard… and I’m at a handicap so I need a plan to go against her. I need to be smart.

“Begin,” the judge called out and Rikku fell into a stance and I took a deep breath, pulling out battle Emiko.

I fell into my stance as well. “I feel as if I should say this, murderer, for the sake of our old friendship… I’m going to have fun killing you,” I snorted at her confidence.  

“You know, you just contradicted yourself right? Calling me a murderer, then saying you’re going to kill me, making you a murderer as well… that and I bet that most ninja in this room, genin included, have killed before. So really, you just insulted mostly everyone which is stupid. I mean, most of the ninja in here are twice your age, have more experience and could kill you before you could say the word ‘Murderer,’ think before you speck and who is around you,” I lectured the girl and her eyes narrowed on me.

“You think you’re so smart! Do you?!” She shouted over to me and I sighed, rubbing my face.

I shook my head at her. “No, I just have more common sense, yah,” she twitched at my verbal tick. I snickered at that. “What? Don’t like my tick, hmm?”

Rikku shock her head, her orange hair flicking around. “It doesn’t matter, you’re completely useless without your clay and you’ve got a broken hand! It’s a shoe in that I’ll win.”

Overconfidence, really? Well, I guess her underestimating me is a good thing… I hope. “Say that after you win,” I retorted calmly not allowing her to get to me, and her eyes narrowed.

“I will!” she launched herself at me and I smirked to myself mentally. Stupid idiot, she’s just working her way into my plan. My plan will be a challenge to pull off without a serious injury to myself. I just can’t let her harm me too seriously…

Third pov.

Everyone watched as the two girl’s bickered back and forth, where Emiko thoroughly out smarted and out witted her opponent.

“Is there something going on between those two?” Kakashi questioned his team, feeling as if there was more to this battle then to get to the third exam.

Sasuke curled his fists and Naruto glared down at Rikku. Sakura was frowning. “The Iwa-nin really want to kill Emi…” Sakura muttered, staring at the blonde girl in the arena. “Emi knew that and she was willing to die at their hands if we bumped into them in the forest to give us a chance to run… their teamwork apparently is unbeatable…”

“They think she killed their parents when her brother left Iwa and took Emi with him… but it was her brother who did it,” Sasuke added and Naruto snorted.

“And Rikku was Emi’s first friend… she used to speck about Rikku, smiling and now Rikku wants to kill her… bastard,” Naruto growled, getting more ticked off at how quickly one could through away their friend…

Over with the Iwa nin, Yumi had her hands curled around the railing with an angry look on her face, Rin was standing with her arms crossed, looking clam and their Sensei had eyes trailed on the little bomber.

“She better kill her,” Yumi growled, angrily. Yumi wanted to be the one to do it, to kill this monster, but she’ll have a deep satisfaction with just watching.

Rin eyes narrowed. “Yes…  Rikku will use the kenkei genkai in this fight so we can be involved in the fight somehow,” she muttered and Yumi nodded with a smirk.

Yuuki nodded at her students. Deidara is going to regret ever leaving Iwa, and betraying the village… and giving this despicable village Iwa’s weapon. Also for something else.

Emiko’s pov.

I raised my hand quickly to block the attack, her fist hit my arms and then she quickly moved back away from me before I could grab her wrist and prevent her from moving, my eyes narrowed on her.

Rikku pulled out shuriken and flicked them at me with deadly precision. I couldn’t more out of the way as she was so close to me and the distance between me and the weapons were close so I moved a little so they didn’t hit any important parts of me, raising my arms to protect my head and the shuriken sliced me. I bit my lip in pain but I ignored it.

I dropped my arms to the side in time to see Rikku’s hand fly through hand signs. I prepared myself for any ninjutsu she’ll use, seeing how much chakra she used for the jutsu with my scope.

“Earth Style! Destructive Rising Earth Pillars!” She exclaimed as she slammed her hands on the ground. I felt the ground under me start to shake with the power of the jutsu.

I waited for the right moment to move, flowing chakra to my feet. When the pillars shot up, I jumped just as it did so, the chakra in my feet aiding my jump into the air to reach a higher height then with it. I knew the pillars were right behind me as I headed towards the roof, when I got close to the roof; I flipped in mid-air and stuck to the roof with chakra. My head looked down and I saw the Pillars go back into the ground. Alright, so that’s how far she can reach with that amount of chakra.

She growled up at me. “Get down from there and fight me!” She shouted and I shook my head at her.

“No way! Being on the ground with an Earth Style user is just plain dumb!” I mean, seriously? I know the damage an earth style jutsu can do to someone. I am an earth type as well!

Her eyes narrowed on me. “So you’re a coward! You’re running away clinging to life like a coward!” (AN Why yes, yes I did just use that Itachi quote).

I blinked at her and I just shrugged. “You can take it that way if you want, I really don’t care what you think. I take it as a smart move and tactic, however, to each their own I guess,” I spoke up as I sat on the roof. “I’ve got a question, why do you believe Rin when she tells you that I killed your parents?” I asked and Rikku furrowed her eye brows at me.

“She’s my sister,” She retorted. “And the head of my clan and Yuuki-sensei all saw you do it. They said that you were laughing as you did so,” I chuckled at her. “Why are you laughing?!”

I shook my head. “I’m just laughing at the different teachings between Iwa and Konoha. You’re being a little puppet (AN. SORRY SASORI!!) who can’t think for herself and is getting manipulated by everyone around her. Did you even consider that I might not have killed them or did you just believe it was true?” I asked and she glared at me with such hatred.

“Of course I believed them, they’re my family and Yuuki-sensei is a trusted friend! Something you wouldn’t understand. Your brother left you here in this stupid village because he hates you, your own mother couldn’t stand the sight of you and hates you even now,” my eyes narrowed and I cracked my unbandaged hand just by curling it too tightly.

If I wasn’t in my battle mind, I would have attack this girl… our old friendship be damned, I’m killing her myself if she doesn’t watch it!

“Wow, so you’re saying that Konoha’s stupid? While in your Konoha? Surrounded by Konoha-nin? Yeah, because that’s smart,” I snorted loudly at her stupidity. “Oh and yeah. Deidara left me here, but he had a Jashin damn good reason to. He did it to protect me, because he does truly love me and would sacrifice anything for me! You want to know why we left Iwa?” I asked and I saw her waver a little in her determination and her all-knowing smirk, making me smirk at her. “Because I was going to be taken from Deidara to be trained into the village’s weapon, to become nothing but a mindless killing tool after they found something in my born Kinjutsu that they wouldn’t disclose to me or Deidara. And the village mocked our art, saying that it was only explosives and that’s it. Nobody mocks our art and gets away with it, un,” I started in a surprisingly calm tone. “Oh and my mother? I don’t care. I didn’t even know she was alive, you know just as well as I do that that my ‘mother’ was a useless wreak after my father died while she was pregnant with me. She never acted motherly to Deidara and me. To me; she’s nothing but a stranger.”

Rikku’s eyes widened for a second. “That’s right… I remember,” she muttered and then shock her head. I saw it though. My old friend is still in there… “The village elders and the Tsuchikage used to take you and-“ suddenly; she winced in pain and held her head. My head snapped over to see Rin concentrating and staring at Rikku… Was Rin actually harming her sister mentally? Can they do that?

Rikku nodded her head and then glared up at me. Her hands flew through hand seals again. “Stop talking, this is a battle!” She yelled up at me and she slammed her hands onto the ground. “Earth style! Destructive Rising Earth pillars!” my spoke picked up that she used more chakra then before.

One pillar shot up at me still on the roof and my eyes widened. It was actually going to hit me if I didn’t move! I looked to the side and I launched myself off of the roof, shooting away from the pillar and towards the ground.

I didn’t take into account of Rikku coming at me as I did so until my spoke detected her right in front of me. I was too slow to block her attack as I was still air borne and she attacked me with a barrage of punches, kicks on all sides. I blocked few and all the hits hurt badly. When she finished her attack, she kicked upwards at my jaw and I was flung into a wall.

I coughed at impact, blood coming out of my mouth. I slid to my ground, my arms loose in my lap. It hurt but hey, like I’ve said many times before, high pain tolerance. I was winded a little, but I pushed past it.

I looked up at Rikku with a smile; I knew blood was on my mouth and blood in other places from the shuriken attack from before.  I probably looked worse than I was, heh, it works in my favour I guess.

“Come on Emi! Get up! Don’t let this girl beat you!” I heard Naruto call out at me and I chuckled lightly at him.

“Yosh! Show this girl the power of youth!” Lee also cheered to me and I took deep breaths.  

I put my hands on the ground beside me and pushed myself up from the ground and onto my feet, looking into Rikku’s eyes and she looked at me in shock. She expected me to stay down by the looks of things…

Rikku shook it off and she glared at me. Suddenly, RIkku froze up and her head snapped up too looked at Rin. Rikku nodded and then looked back at me with a smirk.

I saw Rikku’s eyes glow a little and my scope picked up the link between Rikku and her sisters grow stronger.

“Connection Rin,” RIkku’s hands flew through hand signs. “Genjutsu of reflection!”

Everything around us shifted. I looked around… we were in Iwa. I saw everyone else was in caught in the genjutsu as well, they could see this as well as I can.

“Watch what you did Emiko! Watch it all! This is why I know you did it, why Yumi knows… because of this genjutsu, Rin was able to show us the truth with her memories!” Rikku shouted at me, and I narrowed my eyes. Watching this genjutsu with all my attention.

I heard explosions, and there was dust and debris around me and I smiled a little at the sound of the art. I heard laughing from above me so I looked up and I saw me on a clay bird… only me on that bird. My hand flew to my scope and I zoomed up to the bird. There was no Deidara on that bird… I heard a gasp beside me and I looked down. It was Rin when she was little, she was staring up at the bird and I looked back as well. I watched as the bird turned upside down in a loop, more explosions being dropped and set off.

I tensed. What in Jashin’s name… I didn’t fall off! I was unable to do that back then, I couldn’t even keep my own balance on it without Deidara’s help… I only just learnt how to stick on my bird. Wait! I made my scope zoom even closer on the bird. Is that Deidara tied to the bird? But I was the one tied down on the bird! I woke up tied up on that bird after the deflection.

I saw the ‘me’ crackle like an evil villain. “Mother! Father!” Rin shouted from beside me and I looked at where she was looking towards and I saw the fake me drop a clay creature down next to them.

“Art is fleeting, un! Katsu!” BOOM! they were killed and I knew it was without pain.  

“NO!!!” my head snapped down at the young Rin and I saw that she was shaking in shock… before she fell face forward. She… fainted? Wait… no, someone would waver and stumble a bit more before fainting. She just fell forward, as if she was knocked out by someone.

The genjutsu was over and I looked at the ground in thought. There were so many holes in that memory… so many. The fact that Deidara was the one tied up, how Rin fainted, the fact that I was the one killing people when a few weeks earlier I said to Rikku that I didn’t want to kill, that I was scared of it… my ability to stay on the bird.

“You see? You can’t lie and hide what you did!” Rikku shouted at me and I rolled my eyes, I could see that she was a bit tired from that Genjutsu. The draw on her chakra from using it… from using it on everyone in this room… she’s an idiot by doing so. Is she underestimating me that much?

“So… I knocked out my brother, tied him to a clay bird which I couldn’t make back then and was able to stay on the bird without help. Killed your parents and a lot of people in Iwa and deflected all on my own when I was six? Wow, okay. That’s plausible,” I said sarcastically and rolling my eyes. I shook my head at her, almost ashamed of her stupidity. “I used to say that besides from my brother, you knew me the best, I told you so many things about myself. I told you I didn’t want to kill two weeks before that day and from one altered memory you forget everything you knew about me… you are one sucky friend…”

“Altered…” Rikku muttered and her eyes narrowed on me. “Why would anyone alter Rin’s memory of that day huh?! What would anyone get out of it?!”

I scoffed loudly at her. “So they would get you and your sisters under their control and have me lose my only friend in Iwa. Your clan head hated the fact that we were friends and we both knew that. Yuuki hate’s me because my brother always beat her in ninja training. I also left the village, they needed people to hunt me down so their village weapon didn’t get in any other villagers hands, and couldn’t be judged about it in their wish to kill me,” I stressed to her and I sure a little bit of understanding forming in her eyes. “Because I wasn’t a ninja, I couldn’t be classified as a missing-nin because I wasn’t one, so there was and is no grounds for Iwa to hunt me down to kill me where there was and is one for them to hunt down my brother. They couldn’t put out an international kill on sight order to all villages because I did nothing wrong, I was innocent!” I exclaimed, becoming frustrated at the obviousness at this whole situation. “And now I am in another village, their weapon is on their greatest enemy’s side. That’s one big slap in the face for Iwa. Now they’re sending in you three to kill me in Konoha and letting you try to achieve that at any means necessary, as long as Konoha loses Iwa’s village weapon, hmm.”

Rikku was slowly getting angrier and confused and conflicted all at once. I smirked a little on the inside. Yes, Rikku I am telling the truth. And you know that I’m tell the truth on the inside, don’t you?

Rikku gasped in pain, curling in on herself and held her head. “Shut up! You’re a liar, Emiko! My family wouldn’t lie to me; they wouldn’t do that to Rin!”

Rikku moved straight towards me with no warning, she slammed her fist into my gut with the momentum of her movement. I coughed and I saw blood splatter on her face… my blood.

“Emiko!” I heard my name being shouted from the balcony. It was Naruto…

My old friend gripped my shirt and flipped me over herself, slamming me into the ground. I lost my breath at that.

“Earth Style! Destruction Rising Earth Pillar!” Rikku shouted as she jumped away from me and I couldn’t move before the Pillar shot out of the ground.

My eyes widened as I saw the roof coming at me at a great speed. I moved my hands into the same hand sign I’ve used to make my teddy Artsy tough, strong and heavy. I focused the chakra into my clothes and I felt them harden. I raised my arms above my head to protect it from being smashed into the roof.

When I was crushed into the roof and it hurt, I felt the pressure on my arms over my head and I knew my arms could break at any moment from protecting my head. However nothing broke… my jutsu protecting me… for a brief crazy moment in the pain I wondered if I made a human shaped imprint in the roof…

The earth pillar dropped back to the ground and I stayed down when I reached the ground again. Working past my pain and releasing the jutsu as I did so. I’m lucky it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I would be nothing but crushed bones.

Everything was silent and I could feel the tenseness in the air… all the eyes on me. I wanted to have fun with my theatrics, to make an artistic explosion… I heard the judge cough

“I looks like that Emik-“ I smirked a little when the pain I felt had faded away enough.

I exploded into a fit of laughs. I wrapped an arm around my stomach. “Hahaha!!” I laughed, slowly moving back onto my feet as I kept laughing.

When my laughs faded away I saw that Rikku was shaking in shock. “Ho-ho- how?! You’re still alive! That was supposed to crush you!”

I snorted. “Didn’t you know?” I stated and I smirked, rising my unbandage hand. “The day I die, I’m going out in a bang!” my hand mouth appeared and stuck its tongue out at her.

She growled at me and I knew she was angry; she was going to get more and more out of control… I knew that I couldn’t win against her if she stayed calm. You get angry and it clouds your judgement, that’s one of the many reasons why it’s a ninja rule to not allow your emotions to overcome you.

Her hands flew into a hand sign, “Earth Style! Falling Earth Spears!” from the ground, sharp earth spikes came up from the ground and I jumped back. Rikku ran at me, using taijutsu yet again. I knew she would be running out of chakra soon… those earth jutsu’s are chakra draining and that genjutsu she used on everyone would have been the biggest drain on her.

I didn’t go all out on her; I just blocked and let her hit me a few times, hoping that she’d get overconfident in her movements and leave something open for me to use against her.

She tried to punch me in my face and I caught her fist, pushing it back and releasing it but then I saw her twist on her heal and try to kick me. I raised my arm up and blocked her leg with her forearm. I pretended as if I was going to try and catch her leg and attack her. Which she blocked with ease, I saw the smirk on her face as she landed a fist in my side.

Things like this happened over and over. I got her a few times but I did leave openings for her. Get her overconfident.

I saw the hand sign again and she jumped back, more spikes came up from the ground. I dodged it and landed right into Rikku, my back facing her. She had a kunai in her hand and my eyes widened as I felt the Kunai get embedded in my back. I gritted my teeth in pain and I moved away from her as quick as I could before I yanked the kunai out of my back. Straight away, blood started to come out of my wound.

I noticed that I was near a wall, so I leant against it. I felt myself bleeding out, so I focused my chakra and my attention to my wound. It healed up like before the first exam.

My hand flew up to my scope, and I brought my focus back to Rikku. I saw that she was breathing hard and my scope picked up her low chakra reserves. No wonder she resorted to using a kunai. She’s out of chakra, using her kenkei genkai drains so much chakra, particularly when it’s not her best jutsu type.

I’ve got most of my chakra, and only a two jutsu’s… I gritted my teeth again… If I get out of this, I am learning more ninjutsu types and bugging Guy-sensei to teach me taijutsu.

“Emi! Come on! Don’t just stand there!!” Naruto shouted at me and I looked up at him. “You’ll fail as an artist! Don’t let this girl mock you and mock your art and beat you! Your better than her and all of your friends know you’re not that girl from the genjutsu! And if she’s too stupid to realise that you wouldn’t do that to her friend, then she doesn’t deserve your friendship or your hand reaching out to help her! I know what you’re doing Emi, and she’s not listening,” Naruto called out to me and I looked down towards the ground.

Naruto is right… I need to fight back now. I can fight back. She’s got taijutsu and weapons now and that’s it. I pushed off of the wall, Rikku tensed at me getting off of the wall. It’s been a hard fight… if I had my art I would have won ages ago…

“She can’t! That’s the thing, you are useless without your clay! And your hand is injured and you’re bleeding out!” Rikku called out angrily but I could hear the fear in her voice of how I keep getting up and not giving up in this fight, how I kept beating the odds.

“I think we’re on even grounds now,” I muttered, scratching at some dried blood on my hand. “I’m taking the damn thing off now Sakura!” I shouted up and I started to unwrap it. “The thing is Rikku… this whole time. My hand was healed,” I stated, rolling my wrist and I stretching it out a bit. “Now your low on chakra and only have taijutsu.”

She tensed and looked over me as I smirked at her face mixed with shock, fear and a look that said ‘what am I going to do now... “Even… ground… but you’re not fast enough to keep up with me!” I laughed at that and I heard Lee and Guy-sensei chuckling as well.

I moved from my spot on the wall and I was right behind her. She tensed as I lent next to her ear. “You know… I could have you, your sisters and your sensei all executed or kicked out of Konoha because of your calibration with Orochimaru… I could call you out right now for being manipulated by Orochimaru…” I whispered and she froze.

“We weren’t manipulated by him… we were using him to kill you,” she hissed quietly at me and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m still alive Rikku. He could kill me; he told me what you planned for me… that you enlisted him to kill me in return for something… You’re an idiot to do that. Rin is an idiot, Orochimaru is a Sannin! He want’s what he wants and that’s it… all you three have done is play into his hands,” I said to her quietly enough so no one could hear before I aimed a punch towards her.

Rikku moved to the side and she grabbed my wrist before she flipped me back onto the ground. I activated my hand mouths and twisted my hand so I could get a grip on her and I made my hand mouths bite her. She shouted in pain and I rolled up off of the ground and I jumped back from her.

I pulled out a kunai from my pouch, making a hand sign with one hand and I lauched myself quickly at Rikku. She only hand enough time to pull out a kunai as well. However, she didn’t know that my kunai was denser, stronger heavier then hers from my jutsu. (AN I really should name that something…) the two kunai connected, sparks flew from the two kunai and I smirked at her. Rikku’s eyes narrowed on me and I put a little bit more pressure on her kunai, making it snap from the force of both me pushing and the strength of the kunai. Rikku gasped as my kunai snapped hers and moved past it to pierce into her main artery on her arm deeply. I flipped back away from her and I watched as Rikku was pulled down to the ground at the weight of the kunai and I saw that I had almost got the kunai right through her arm.

Rikku was knelling on the ground; her injured arm was lying on the ground as my kunai weighted her down. She reached for the kunai and shakily pulled out it out, barely being able to do that. She was bleeing heavily from her arm. She tossed the kunai to the side and her eyes widen at the mini crater that was formed around the kunai as it hit the ground.

She looked up at me in shock and I could see her determination and her confidence’s being shaken as she pushed herself up off of the ground. She looked at her broken kunai on the ground, my kunai with its crater and then her eyes darted up to me.

“What? You expected me to only know my art, hmm? I’ve got a few things up my sleaves Rikku,” I spoke up and she tensed up, making me smirk on the inside. I’ve completely thrown her off guard.

She shook her head at me quickly to get rid of all the thoughts running though her mind and to shake my words off. “Shut up! I’m going to kill you!” she ran at me again and I moved away from her when she was close. She whirled on her heal and shot towards me.

I moved to the left when I saw her go to punch me; however she feigned the punch and she swung up her leg to kick me in the stomach, winding me again. I was knocked off of my feet and was sent back away, before I hit the ground I rolled on it. I tried to catch my breath. I didn’t have a lot of time before she attacked me again and I don’t have my breath back yet.

I used the only earth style jutsu I knew. “Earth Style! Earth Wall!” a huge, tall, thick wall formed between me and her, cutting the arena in half and preventing her from getting near me.

I pushed myself up a bit, and I closed my eyes in thought. I think it’s time I used them now. “Emi! Come on, I know she was your friend once and you want to knock some sense into her but don’t let her beat you like that!”

My head snapped up toward Naruto who was on my side. I noticed that the Iwa team were not on this side and thus could not see me. that means that they can’t help tell Rikku mentally what I’m doing over on this side. I smirked.

“Naruto, it’s all part of my plan, and I’ll know when it’s time to finish this. Have some faith in me,” I called up to him and he grinned at me. I grinned right back at him.

I looked at the rest of my team and I stood up. I saw Sasuke smirking at me and Sakura was watching me with a smile. Kakashi was watching a bit worriedly, does he really underestimate me that much he thinks I’m going to lose?  I brushed off that hurt feeling I have. I thought Sensei’s would believe in their students? I put my hand into my shuriken pouch and I pulled out the left over explosives I made from before entering the forest of death.

I looked at them all sitting in my hand… my eyes widened at the red clay explosives. When did I make them… oh!

****Flashback****

I put my attention back to the owner of the cart, and her cat. My eye started to twitch right away. The woman was killing the cat… with hugs!! I bit my lip to stop my laughs. I should have let the cat eat the mouse, that way; the cat would have been put out of its misery. And not crying like he was being tortured.

Naruto started to scratch the back of his head. “That cat’s getting what he deserves.” Naruto pointed out, and I bit harder on my lip.

“No wonder he ran away,” Sakura muttered, and then I bit harder. My laughs were bubbling up.

I felt someone drip onto my chin. Sasuke looked at me weirdly. Naruto and Sakura was too busy looking at the cat.

He poked my chin, and pulled it away. Showing that I was bitting my lip enough to make it bleed. I stopped bitting it, and wiped the blood away. I got out a bit of clay, and I grabbed Sasuke’s hand, and I whipped the blood on it, before putting it into a hand mouth. I made it into a few little clay spiders, and I put it in my shuriken holster. Sasuke looked confused.

I sighed. “I got rid of my blood on your finger. Don’t question it,” I whispered, and he glared at me.

****End of Flashback****

It was so long ago… before I was friends with Sasuke… that cat mission… I looked at my pre-made C1’s… these could kill her, however the red ones…

EB, a special form of art that I stumbled across a few years ago. I looked towards the wall and I smirked. it’s time I use my art… this whole battle was about wearing her down. I knew that if I brought out my art so early in the battle she would have seen it, know I still have some of my art and acted accordingly. I sent two of my C1’s to the wall before I formed my favourite hand sign. “Katsu!” BOOM!!! I grinned at the sound of the explosion. It feels like it was so long ago…

The wall was completely destroyed, making the whole arena become covered in smoke, dust and debris from my explosion. I moved forward in the mess, using the time and cover I had from the smoke and dust, being the only one able to move around in it because of my practice in it. I mean what type of bomber artist would I be without being able to move about my work? Not a very good one.

When I reached Rikku, I dropped one of the three EB’s on her as before I slammed my fist into her face and I grabbing her arm and twisting it back to make her kneel on the ground. She yelped in pain at the awkward position her arm was in.  

The smoke and dust cleared up and everyone could see me and Rikku. “What?! Rikku, move!” Yumi shouted and Rikku looked over her shoulder at me.

I bit my lip… saw the blood still coming out of her arm and she was going pale… she isn’t like me… she doesn’t heal like I do… if I use my EB, I can win this and save her life. I groaned, I am so going to either regret this or be happy about this… I guess only time will tell

I let her go and she slowly stood up. My hands formed a different seal then my normal one. “Katsu!”

A quiet sounding explosion came from Rikku and she tensed before she fell back onto the ground, not able to move an inch.

And that is my EB everyone, by putting my own blood in a clay creature and getting the EB on the target, it slows down all blood flow to almost death, stopping them from being able to move. However by doing this, I slowed down all blood flow, meaning I just slowed down her bleeding, effectively saving her life… maybe.

The Judge came over to Rikku and checked her. He coughed and said. “Rikku is unable to continue. So the winner of the first match is Emiko Kin.”

It was silent and I knew everyone was confused, little mutterings from people started before I heard Naruto, Sakura and Lee all start to cheer for me. I moved over to stand by Rikku until the medic’s came to get her to explain that she isn’t going to die.

When the medic’s arrived, they checked her vitals straight away and I heard them start to mutter about how she needs to get to the emergency room right away.

“She’ll be fine,” I spoke up and they all looked at me. “My EB slows down the blood flow to almost death and makes the person unable to move. But she’ll be fine, as long as you stop the bleeding from her arm, she’ll die if you don’t.”

The medic’s blinked at me and put Rikku onto a stretcher. I saw her eyes on me as they pass by me and I knew she was thinking. ‘Why did I do this for her?’

I smiled and mutter for her to hear. “For an old friend.”

I turned around and I headed towards the stairs. When it hit, the backlash of the EB. I haven’t perfected this properly and whenever I try, it’s always the same result. I thought I might have dodged it this time but I guess not, it only took longer to happen. When I do the jutsu, it also explodes some of my own blood for some reason, destroying them. I gasped at the feeling before I fell to my knees and coughed up blood.

“Emi!” I heard people shout and the footsteps them coming towards me. I looked up at the people and I saw Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, Guy and Lee.

Kakashi quickly picked me up from the ground and I knew he was going to rush me to the medic’s… when I blacked out.

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I know, I know… I uploaded so quickly!! I really wanted this chapter up and done. I was as excited for the battle between old friends as you guys were!!

So the battle of Rikku and Emiko was done!! What do you guys think of that? Good? Bad? confusing? Don’t worry, you’ll find out more about Emiko’s plan for that fight in the next chappy if you didn’t pick it up here!! Also, I know some of you would have noticed that Emiko wasn’t being as fast as she usually is, that’s because even though she was determined to win, it’s still hard to fight an old friend who now wants to kill her, particularly if it’s your first friend. We see two friends fight a lot in the Naruto series and Emiko is no different.

Now!! QUESTION TIME!!!!

Do you guys think that Emiko should become a Chuunin? Do you guys think she has the capabilities to be one??

You all know the drill,

Vote, because the vote button wishes to be pressed.

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And comment, because I love to read what you guys have to say!! Tah, tah for now!!!!

Oh!! PS!! I’ve got a kik account under AwesomelyNinjaness, so if anyone has any questions for me, need something explained from this story or anything, don’t be afirad to kik me… kik me not kick me… that would hurt… hahaha.