Another Take (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Complete)

Ch. 29: In The End

~All I know, time is a valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swings, watch it count down to the end of the day, the clock ticks life away~

Third POV

The moment Kaizen leapt down into the arena, Kiyomi was tensed up, ready to fight. Even with a month's training, she might not have improved enough to beat this boy. But winning wasn't her real goal.

No, this was the Chunin Exam. Her true goal was to show her skills, at least enough to become a Chunin.

The two stared each other down as they waited for the proctor to start the match. But Genma wasn't looking at them. Instead, the Jonin was glancing around, as if he could sense something they couldn't.

'Kid... Something's coming,' Fenrir whispered to his host. Kiyomi nodded, and began to sniff the air discretely, trying to get a sense of what might be coming.

Then a leaf fell.

Both Kiyomi's and Kaizen's attention snapped to air in between them as a cyclone of leaves was kicked up as somebody made a dramatic entrance. And when the leaves cleared, the last competitor was there.

Sasuke Uchiha had finally arrived.

"Sorry we're late," Kakashi said to the proctor with a sheepish smile. "See, there was this raccoon-"

"Your name?" Genma asked, smirking at the other Jonin's attempt at an excuse. That was one of the worse ones he'd heard in all the time he'd known Kakashi, though.

Sasuke's expression didn't change as he answered the proctor. "Sasuke Uchiha," he said confidently.

Genma nodded. "Good. I would make you fight now, but you'll have to wait."

"Oh, Kiyomi?" Kakashi asked in surprise, finally noticing one of his other students standing in the arena. "You're fighting now?"

Kiyomi nodded. "I am," she replied. Then her attention turned to her raven-headed teammate. "You need a haircut. And you're late."

"Like you can talk!" Naruto yelled down from the balcony. "You only got here like a minute ago!"

"Really?" Sasuke asked Kiyomi in surprise, hearing what Naruto yelled. "Why?"

The purple-eyed girl shook her head dismissively. "Later. For now, you two get up on the balcony. I want to fight."

Both Kakashi and Sasuke frowned. It was unlike Kiyomi to actually want to fight. Normally she was pretty laid-back, and wasn't very fond of anything that required effort. But now she seemed... Excited. Nonetheless, both obeyed, and Kakashi teleported them up to the balcony, where they waited next to Naruto, who began to describe his own fight in great detail.

"Ready?" Genma asked both Genin. Kaizen and Kiyomi nodded, and the Jonin leapt back. "Begin!"

To start, Kaizen grabbed two shuriken from his pouch, and sent them at Kiyomi. The girl rolled her eyes, and leapt straight into the air, doing hand signs while she was at it. "Water Style: Wild Water Wave!" she yelled.

Water gushed out of Kiyomi's mouth in a strong waterfall, heading straight for Kaizen. The ravenette tsk'd, and tried to dodge by jumping sideways.

But Kiyomi turned her head sharply, and the water caught the Sand nin straight in the chest, sending him flying into the wall behind him.

By this time, Kiyomi was back on the ground, and she had pulled out a spool of wire. She quickly checked, and saw that Kaizen had recovered from his collision, and was shaking himself out. Kiyomi glanced between the wire and her opponent, before groaning and putting the thread away.