Chapter 14

Recap

Setsuna was one of the last of the room to leave, as was Mayonaka, Kuro and Toshiro. Ibiki had noticed this and let a wide smug grace his rough features. "Kanashimi!" The large mans call caught the midnight blue-haired girls attention, as well as the others, and she stopped on the spot to see what he wanted. Setsuna was sure that Ibiki knew that the quicker she folowed Anko the better, so what would he possible need? 

After a small nod, Ibiki lost the grin and smiled softly. "Good luck and be careful. Your on your own in the exam and the second test will surely be difficult" Ibiki had no idea as to why he was even warning the young girl, but she was the first genin to ever take the exams alone, a girl at that. For some reason, something was telling him to do whatever he could to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into. 'I see.. Arigatou Ibiki-san' This surprised Ibiki. He didn't think that the girl would thank him, in such a kind voice at that. 

With a simple nod of her head, Setsuna turned around to follow after Mayonaka, taking Ibiki's warning to heart.

X~Story Start~X

Setsuna's gaze met that of the deadly forest before her: The larger than average trees trying their best to freak her out, the gate surrounding the greenland giving off the feeling that something wasn't right about what it was proctecting them from and the many noises of animals that couldn't be like any she'd ever came across before coplaining about having nothing to feast their beastly fangs into - of course, the blue-haired girl didn't feel like this was anything worth fearing over.

Even though she should have been listening to what Akno (the proctor for the second exam) was saying, she hadn't. The whole time, Setsuna had either been playing lightly with the strings of her shamisen as she sat gracefully against a tree or staring off into space - which was actual in the direction of the 'Forest of Death' as Anko had first called it.

Though she wasn't listening to most of it, that didn't mean she wasn't taking in what was she was supposed to do when she was inside the forest. If she didn't know what she was supposed to do, then she was sure to end up dead.

Setsuna's thoughts wondered and the image of her brother - Sentaro - began to form, clear as day at the front of her mind. Said person had been informed that he had to go on a mission yesterday evening and had left Setsuna at the break of dawn with a hug and an unsuspected kiss to the cheek.

The blue-haired girl touched a hand to said cheek, her fingers running across the smooth, porcelain skin as a feeling overcame her... was she lonely? Normally, before arriving at the village hidden in the leaves, Sentaro and Setsuna would go everywhere together. But these days, Sentaro has been leaving for longer and longer each time. A single question arose from suspicion

'Does he not want to live beside me any longer?'

Hearing the sound of the footsteps of a unwell-trained ninja approach her spot under the nice shade of the tree, Setsuna stopped the movement of her thin fingers as they ran themselves silently over her cheek and slowly tilted her head upwards.

The figure was slightly clouded in shadows from the sun shining down behind her, but you could still see the outline of her long red china dress and long silky pink hair. To setsuna - she looked like a goddess sent down from heaven to finally guide her towards her death. Perhaps she finally would be able to release her hold on what remained in the world?

Sparkling green eyes gazed down at her softly.

Sakura frowned slightly at the sight of Setuna's expression as said girl glanced up at her. It was similar to the expression that had formed on Zabuza's face as he was sent to his death with Haku by his side; an expression of relief - as though she could finally be released from the pain that she had been baring since the beginning of her life. A question formed in the pinkettes mind

'What pain could she bare that she makes such an expression'

Sakura knew that both Naruto and Sasuke had been through things in their past that made them who they were today. She knew that Naruto had no parents and that he was treated badly by everyone, even though he barely did everything wrong (other than pranking - but that was to get attention).

She could feel that Sasuke was lonely, that he wanted to get stronger to kill someone - though she didn't know who. All her life, Sakura had been sheltered by her mother and father, not knowing what true pain felt like. Sure, she felt lonely at times when Sasuke and Naruto both left her behind as they became better ninjas; but that didn't compare to what the boys were feeling.

Even though Sakura knew all of this, she had no idea as to what Setsuna was feeling; every day, her expression was that of a china doll - as though her feelings were locked inside a cage in the depth of her heart. The midnight blue-haired girl was a mystery that no one, even the intelligent mind of Sakura, could figure out. So, when said girl had suddenly gave a small unsuspecting sigh of relief, her eyes softening consideratly, Sakura was surprised. At the mere sight of the pink-haired girl in the shadow of the sun, Setsuna had felt relief...

Not knowing that she had made the expression of in the first place, Setsuna moved away slightly as her former teammate took the liberty of sitting beside her - not even asking for permission or if the blue-haired girl would even want any company. Nevertheless, she let the pinkette stay beside her until the test were to begin, not taking any notice until a piece of paper was dropped lightly onto her knees.

Gingerly, as though the paper were to crumple under her touch, Setsuna lifted it up so that it was eye-level and glaced over the words. She did so, not knowing what she was supposed to do, until Sakura sighed from beside her and held out a pen.

"It's the consent form. If you want to take the test, you just have to sign your name there-" She pointed towards the space at the bottom that instroctus 'Sign name here...' before continuing "But, I could understand if you didn't want to do it. If I were you, i'd be scared out of my mind..." Setsuna gently took the pen out of the pinkette's hand, the material of her midnight blue kimono brushing over the pinkette's fingers like silk. Sakura didn't think any kind of material could be so soft... it made her wonder how the emotionless girl beside her could even battle without getting it ripped or dirtied.

As the two sat there in a complete and utter silence, although it wasn't as awekward as Sakura thought it'd be, a certain blond-haired boy called out from the distance - a massive grin (as usual) edged onto his face and his blue eyes sparkling in unmasked excitement.

"Sakura-chan! Hurry over here! We gotta get our scroll now!"

With a huff, her bellly doing flips in fear as to what was going to happen once they got inside the forest of death (who knows what they might fing if they're not to careful), Sakura gently stood up as to not bother the blue-haired girl. A sad smile formed on her lips as she watched Setsuna's hands gently slide over the strings of her shamisen - as if looking for unknown comfort that she herself didn't know she was wanting.

Before turning around and leaving the girl alone, completely, Sakura spoke words that had sent Setuna's inside into turmoil (for reasons she herself didn't know)

"Setsuna, be careful and make it out alive. Meet us at the tower, ok" It was a rhetorical question; Sakura knew that Setsuna was definitely strong enough to survive.

Just like Kakashi had stated before the first exam - It was more of an advantage to take the exam along: Setsuna would be fine, as she always is. Even though they barely talked much, Sakura knew that the girl would be fine - she believe in her abilities, probably more than she did Sasuke and Naruto's. Most definitely more than those of her own.

The only thing that bothered her now was... if her team would make it out alive.

Setsuna watched the pink-haired girl's back as her hair swung around with the movement of her fast strides which resembled a run. A pang exploded from the center of her chest for a reason completely unknown to the midnight blue-haired girl; What was this feeling she was feeling?

She clutched her hand to the area where her heart resided and scrunched up the silky fabric of her kimono in such sheer force that she could feel her sharp nails almost braking through. Before she could go any further, however, she dropped her hand and stood up, shamisen held tightly to her slightly shaking form.

She knew there was something wrong with her... but what? It was the same feeling she had gotten when she thought of Sentaro leaving her along. Remembering that once, her older brother had told her that he would make it so that she could feel things again, Setsuna took in a sharp breath. Had he finally achieved in doing so?

Shifting her gaze that had somehow moved to watch the clouds flutter about in the light blue sky (which reminded her of naruto's sparkly baby blue eyes as he greeted her every morning), she watched as Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto made their way towards their gate, awaiting the moment the test began in excitement and anxiety.

Or was it them that were beginning to change her?

Shaking her head and forcing the still painfull pang away so that all she could feel was nothingness, Setsuna began making her own way towards the stand to collect her scroll - she could only make useless guesses of which one it could be. The blue-haired girl never was any good at guessing games...

X~>>>>>.<<<<<<~X

Setsuna gave a almost inaudible sigh as she stared at the larger than average gate with the number '33' in front of her. Of course, it wasn't as massive as the front gate to the village - said gate was, after all, meant to protect the village hidden in the leaves from attacks. This one? well, it was merely to make the contestents feel more intimidated and scared as they await the moment they are let out into the wild; their survival instincts the only thing that can help them from then on. Well, that and their sence in direction.

She clutched at the scrol in her hand and read 'Heaven' Of course, she just had to get the scrol that suited her the least; It's ironic that she'd recieved such a scrol when in fact, there is nothing heavenly about her - she sees herself more as a demon than an angel.

Hearing the shout of Anko signalling that the second exam has begun, Setsuna nodded at the smiling guard who opened up her gate and began speeding into the darkened forest - although it was light out like any other day, the large trees shaded most of it and make the forest floor look as though it was already night time.

She didn't run for long as she soon enough stopped to check out her surroundings: It was silent other than for the almost silent noises the closer by animals were making, the wind's brushings of the leaves on the trees around creating a rustling and the sound of a single screen that seemed to echo throughout the entire forest grounds; by the sound of the pitch, it wasn't a girl, so that excludes Sakura, nor was it belonging to Sasuke or Naruto. This, for some reason, made a different feeling flow from the depth of her heart - something that Setsuna didn't understand one bit but decided to leave alone because all the other times she began to feel something, if she didn't dwell on it too much, then it would leave soon after.

Tucking her scroll in a hidden pocket on the inside of her kimono, Setsuna made sure it was secured safely before beginning walking again. By placing it so close to her body, it would be much more difficult for her enemies to find it and most of all, try to get to it - she was sure that not many would like to touch her in such a way anyway.

For hours she wondered around the forest floor, not bothering to waste any more of her strength as there may be some point where she needed it later on in the 5 days - although she doubted she'd take that long just to find the Earth scroll.

As nigh came along, the stars becoming even bright from her spot in a clearing which she had somehow ended up at - they seemed to stare down at her and give her comfort as she stood alone in the world. Compared to the day, the night had always been something that Setsuna could look forward to. She felt as though, at night time when the full moon came out and shined it's unusual light down on the world, that she could be more than the emotionless girl that she is and maybe, just maybe feel something. However, the only thing she would ever let herself feel is relief... relief from things that haunted her throughout the day.

Suddenly, a twig snapped from behind a nearby tree but the midnight blue-haired girl didn't show that she'd heard. Instead, she began moving in the opposite direction of the noise and discreatly began to unscheath the neck of her shamisen to bring forth her sword.

What happened next all came in an instant that the group who were after Setsuna's scroll didn't know what hit them. As soon as they jumped out to attack her without her noticing (though they didn't know that she already knew they were there) she twisted around on the spot and drew her sword, ready to slash without backing up an inch. Her I-Ai technique was flawless as she cut down the first of her enimie, a slash straight across the neck so deep that the person was dead within the second, crimson red liqued - blood - spurting everywhere and staining Setsuna's katana. (A/N I-Ai* -> is a quick sword drawing skill where the swordsman uses the friction of drawing the sword to speed up their movements)

The thump of the body colliding with the rocky forest floor brought the other two enemies out of their shock and they both jumped back to prepare the next strike. The had overheard the pink-haired girl speak to Setsuna earlier from under the tree and as soon as she said 'alone' they grinned creepily - they had finally got an easy catch. Who would have thought, however, that the blue-haired girl was so fast; she moved with such elegance and grace at the same time that they didn't even see the attack coming.

Holding her sword in one hand and the rest of her shamisen in the other, Setsuna stared deeply into her attackers eyes, taking note of the fact that the genin she'd killed was in fact a boy that was seemingly 2 or 3 years older than herself. The two others were a boy and a girl.

The girl was wearing tattered baggy black ninja pants that were tucked into her sandals (looking as though they'd already been fighting with another team) and a top that cut off just above her bellybutton. She had short blond hair that been cropped into a pixie-cut and dark chocolate-brown eyes to match - all in all she was quite a beaut.

The boy was around a head taller than the girl with dark brown almost black hair and jade eyes that seemed to shine through the darkness of the forest. He was well-built, which Setsuna could easily see through the light black shirt that seemed to be like a second skin and he wore black ninja pants that were also tucked into black ninja sandals. It seems that he noticed Setsuna assessing him and took it the wrong way, which wasn't really surprising. With his attractive looks, he must have been chased after by men and women alike back at his village.

Setsuna sighed silently, becoming tired quite quickly; she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because Sentaro was up all night in the kitchen, working on a mission report that he'd need to give in the next morning before his mission. Normally, the two siblings would sleep together, something Setsuna had become so used to that she couldn't sleep alone anymore.

Swinging her sword towards the ground, making the blood leave the blade completely so that it was as shiny as before even killing the ninja, Setsuna began slowly, yet surely walking towards the two genin a few meters away from her. Said ninja tensed their muscles and watched with narrowed eyes as she did so, careful and ready to strike as soon as their opponents moves a single muscle in the arm in which she holds her sword.

However, as they thought this, they didn't expect her to be even stronger - even though they'd seen firsthand what she'd done to their teammate: her technique like a flash of lightning.

It was over in a matter of seconds. A head fell to the ground at the same time as it's body. An arm and leg fell towards a nearby tree while the rest of it's body hit the floor by it's teammates. Blood sprayed everywhere across the rocky forests ground and painted the trees crimson - such a lovely, befitting colour.

As silence once again filled the surrounding area and the feeling of lonliness once again filled her being. Setsuna began to remember being with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura on their missions; even though she didn't talk to them much, it was... well, better then being alone in the forest of death without anyone near you, where anyone could pop out of the trees at any time and begin to attack you to the death. All for a mere scroll.

Succumbing to the feeling that was burning in her chest, for the first and (hopefully) final time, Setsuna sat down so that she was leaning against one of the large trees and placed her shamisen in the correct position, gingerly so that she wouldn't scratch it or bruise it; her shamisen was to her like a mother's baby - she would do anything to keep it safe because of the history she had with it.

When she was younger, after Sentaro had left the village with her, she had noticed it standing all alone in one of the shops windows. As if it was calling out to her, she stepped forward. This caught her brother's - Sentaro - attention and he decided to buy it for her, which she definitely didn't dare to protest to. The moment she lay her eyes on it, she knew she had to have it and from that day on it had saved her from countless situations which could have left her for the dead.

Her gaze shifted to the decapitated, bloodied bodies on the ground just a few meters away from her and she sniffed in disgust - the smell of rotting flesh would soon start to reach her nose but she didn't feel like moving any time soon. Her body was tired and right now she needed to sleep. Although she'd managed to get the Earth scroll, that didn't mean she was off the hook just yet.

Rolling up her sleeves so that she could freely use her hands, Setsuna closed her eyes and began to play the beautiful instrument in her arms - her only comfort for the next few days. The music played was dragged along with the wind all the way across the forest and anyone who could hear it sighed in content, wondering who was playing. Although, the only person in the whole chunin exams who had such an instrument was clearly Setsuna.

As she finished, Setsuna began to ponder about the next day. When she next wakes up she would have to make her way towards the tower. Hopefully she won't have to face off against anymore enemy ninja.

Who knows what tomorrow may have in store for her?