I frowned at Zuko's grin. He was excited for this fight. Why? I didn't want to fight someone I considered a friend, so why did he? Did he even consider me a friend? "If you're ready, begin!" Hayate jumped away at the same time as I jumped forward. I knew making the first move wasn't very smart, but that was what Zuko taught me. I needed to catch him unawares. I acted like I was going to kick him from beneath, but when he jumped back I sprang up and went for the direct attack. Something he didn't teach me. What Zuko taught me was that you never made a direct approach when fighting because it was easy to dodge or counter it. So I did something else: feigned an attack and then took the direct approach. I attempted to hit him, but Zuko blocked while stumbling back. He no longer wore his grin, but instead a shocked expression. When he blocked, I swung my foot up and pressed it against his stomach, pushing him away with the force of an elephant. He shot backwards, but his feet hit the ground and he skidded backward, stopping. He stood up straight, a smirk plastered to his face. "You've gotten better." He said.
"She knows him!?" I heard Naruto yell, but ignored him.
I stared at him with little to no emotion on my face. "I had time to train in lots of different styles of Taijutsu." I watched him closely.
Zuko gave an appreciating chuckle. "Good. It'll make the fight a little more challenging."
I stepped forward. "No more talking, Zuko. Now we fight." I had no bad feelings toward him, but I'd rather not talk while I was supposed to fight.
"Alright then. Get ready." He disappeared from my sight and I instinctively turned around. I held up my hands, ready to block anything with my arms. His foot crunched against my forearms, sending me backwards. I wasn't as graceful as him so I went tumbling backwards. I laid there for a minute, thinking. I had no idea what kind of Jutsu he had and it'd make my life a whole lot easier if I did know. "Get up, Miyuki!" I heard Tsubaki and Naruto yell.
I sighed at them and pushed myself onto my elbows, lying on my stomach. "Give me a break guys." I watched Zuko, almost eagerly. I was curious. "You're welcome to attack me, Zuko. I may look defenceless, but I promise that's not the case."
I heard several people murmur, "What is she doing? How can she defend against him if she's lying on the floor like that?"
I chuckled and my grin widened at Zuko's confused face. "C'mon, I don't have all day." I encouraged him. He shrugged and I knew he was going to use his speed again when he vanished from my sight. I teleported just a few feet away from where I had been lying seconds before as Zuko appeared at the spot I had just been. He looked at me, astonished, and I smirked back at him. A spike of pain hit my shoulder again as the mark burned. I cursed Orochimaru under my breath. I took in a deep breath and let my hands hang by my sides. I breathed out and acted like I was forming a hand sign, but really I was just focusing my chakra. I kept my eyes solely on Zuko and then he ran at me. He was using his speed again, but this time I could see it. My eyes were getting used to his speed. It wasn't as fast as Yoruichi's so it gave me no trouble. I hesitantly touched the earmuffs. Could I do this? I took them off and every noise made inside the arena rushed to my ears. I winced, covering my ears, but then I realised I could hear Zuko's footsteps clearly. I focused on listening to his footsteps and filtered out the rest of the sounds. I listened to the rhythm as he ran and watched him come closer. I noticed his left foot didn't hit the floor as hard as his right foot. He must have an injury there, hence him trying to keep his weight off of it. At least he knew enough not to show his pain. Just as he got to me, I stepped sideways and kicked at his left foot. Zuko hissed, tripping over his feet and, because he didn't stop his speed, rolled on the ground. He hit the wall with a 'thump' and lay there for a second. I hurriedly put the earmuffs on again, keeping my eyes on him. He slowly stood up, shaking his head. He turned to me and I cocked my head. He had blood running down the side of his face, but I wasn't worried. If it was serious he would've been disoriented. I stared at him, waiting for him to run at that quick speed of his again. I've noticed a pattern in his fighting. At first he used his speed once and then again twice every time, but now he was relying on his speed alone. However, now that I can see him he can't rely on that any more. I took in the arena around me, getting familiar with my surroundings. I took steady breaths, to keep myself as calm as I could with the pain in my shoulder. I made sure not to show my pain, because he could use it against me. I didn't want to hurt him, but I had to win here today. No matter what. I narrowed my eyes at Zuko as he slowly moved away from the wall and toward me. I slowly walked forward to meet him, curious to know what his intentions were. When he stood right in front of me, he attempted to punch me, but I appeared behind him and kicked. He stumbled forward, but turned and straightened himself. I rushed in with a punch to his face before he realised what was happening, quickly following with an elbow in his chest. I swung my hand up and hit him under his chin with my palm. His feet were lifted from the ground a bit and he crashed down on the floor. Naruto was cheering loudly for me. As Zuko stood up, I rushed at him again, but this time he saw me coming and flipped me over his shoulder. When I landed on my back, my breath left me in a whoosh. I glanced to the side, having noticed the earmuffs had moved a bit. That had me worried. Zuko placing his foot on my neck, however, and pressing on it ever so slightly had me even more worried. "Give up while you can." I said nothing and he applied more pressure. I struggled to breathe, but still said nothing so he applied even more pressure. My eyes bulged and my hand instinctively went for his foot, but I stopped it before it got there. "Give up or I'll be forced to kill you."
"Now why," I breathed in, "Would I do that?" I asked from behind him, gasping.
******
Zuko gave a startled gasp and looked down where his feet were now planted firmly on the floor. He spun around and was met with a flat hand in his throat. He stumbled back a few steps, grabbing his throat. How did she teleport? He thought if he touched her skin she wouldn't be able to teleport. He sucked in air, watching her very pale skin as a cocky smirk grazed her lips, and voiced his thoughts.
"Ah," She said. "But your skin wasn't touching my skin. Only your shoe was." His eyes widened a fraction. So that's it... That's the trick behind it. He should've known it was something so simple. Miyuki marvelled at Zuko's surprised expression as he gasped and her smirk widened, an excited laugh leaving her lips. "C'mon." She started, finally getting serious. "I didn't come here to play. I came here to fight, and if you're not going to fight seriously, you're going to lose." Her voice came out so confidently, Zuko almost believed her. Miyuki just wished that was how she really felt. She was already getting tired from running around like that, which was looking really bad for her. Zuko sucked in a deep breath and once again used his speed. He ran in circles around her and he watched as her eyes followed him. He had lost the advantage of speed when her eyes started getting used to it. However, that was not the only trick he had up his sleeve. He couldn't keep using Taijutsu after all. She had advanced farther and was better than him by a hair's breadth, but it was still better. He lunged at her and she was ready as expected, but then he retreated and continued running. She'd been ready for an attack, not a feint. He did that several times, noticing her growing annoyance, and then lunged. He sent his foot crashing into her ribs and she stumbled back, falling to her knees. She grabbed her side, breathing hard. She was struggling to breathe. Two of her ribs were broken. Slowly Miyuki stood up, chuckling. Zuko could see the flashes of pain in her eyes. Laughing hurt her. "Well, I didn't expect that." She said, lowly. She took in a deep breath and winced. Zuko watched her. He must've broken some of her ribs.
He took a single step forward. "It's time to get serious. I'd advise you to give up, but I can see you're too stubborn to do that." He weaved his hands together in hand signs and then let them fall to his side. Miyuki frowned. What kind of Jutsu was that? Zuko took a deep breath and whistled loudly. A thin blade sprang out from behind him and flew toward Miyuki. Her eyes widened.
******
I gasped, surprised, as the thin blade flew at me. Its speed was the same as Zuko's. So that's why he kept whistling. He controlled weapons with the sound of his whistle. I heard everyone on the upper landings crying out as their weapons reacted to Zuko's whistle. My weapons pouch was opened by the force of my weapons. They appeared in front of me, hovering in the air, but Zuko's blade was still heading my way. "You should really give up now." I heard him mutter loud enough for me to hear.
I shook my head and smirked. "Not a chance." I had an ace up my sleeve after all. I wasn't going to quit just because of a few weapons.
Zuko shook his head. "I warned you." He gave another loud whistle, this time it was on a higher note. The weapons flew at me and I dodged to the right, running around the arena. They all followed me, slowly gaining. I winced as I felt pain in my stomach. The wound must've opened again. I stumbled, but immediately righted myself. I was slowly running out of chakra and energy. I spun around, ready to surprise everyone in this arena, but my eyes widened when my earmuffs almost flew off my head. I reached to grab them and steadied them again. I focused back on the fight at hand just in time to dodge the weapons. I was lucky that I looked back up when I did or I would have died right then. I'd have to get something else to dull the sounds or else they would become a hindrance in a fight. Not only would them falling off have distracted me, but the sudden loud noises would have put me in a disadvantage as well. I sucked in a breath and focused again. The ace I had up my sleeve was something I've used twice before - I just didn't know what I was doing at the time. The first time was when Haku's ice needles had hit my skin, and the second time was when I was under the waterfall. What I did was simple. All I did was harden my blood cells, which in turn protected all of my organs and veins. A weapon couldn't pierce my skin when I did that. I was pretty sure I was the only one who was able do that. I took a deep breath and focused. Gasping, I fell to my knees in pain as the Curse mark started acting up. I closed my eyes tightly and grabbed the mark. I could feel it sucking on my chakra. It was starting to take over. I made a choking sound as I felt warmth traveling over my skin; feeling like my skin was being burned. I turned to look at it and saw ripple-like patterns moving over my skin. No, no, no, no, no! I can't let this happen. I won't let this happen! I grit my teeth and forced the mark to recede. Slowly, with much resistance, the curse mark complied. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it turned into a pained gasp as wounds were inflicted on me by my own weapons. I covered my face with my arms, protecting it. A gurgling sound moved up my throat and out of my lips. A trail of blood followed it and I coughed. I looked down at myself and saw that there was a whole the size of a coin on the right side of my chest, right under my ribs. I looked up at Zuko with wide eyes. His thin blade was hovering beside his head, covered in my blood, and he looked almost remorseful. His eyes were filled with pity. Anger filled me. I didn't need his pity. I shakily stood up, not making a sound even though I wanted to scream. I weaved my hands together and touched the ground. "Earth style: Quicksand trap." The concrete under Zuko's feet started pulling him down and he struggled to get out of it. It was no use. He wouldn't be able to get out no matter how hard he tried. I made the hand sin for snake and focused my chakra in my right hand. "Earth style: Earth Spear." My right hand became noticeably darker and the skin became as hard as a diamond. It was almost similar to my hardening of blood cells, actually. Except that this Jutsu could be used as both offensive and defensive moves. I would be using it as an offensive attack, though. I walked to Zuko and hit him with my hardened fist. Zuko's knees buckled under him from the impact. "That's for taking pity on me." One more kick or punch and I'd be done. I'll have to give the next one my all if I wanted to win. My body was struggling to move and my vision was blurry. I spun around, kicking him in his head with a hook-kick. "And that's for almost killing me." Zuko fell forward, onto his face. He stayed where he was, groaning slightly.
Hayate moved closer to inspect him. "This one's had it. Winner, going to the 3rd Exam: Miyuki."
I grinned and shakily walked forward. "I won. I'll be going to the 3rd Exam." I stumbled over my feet and almost fell flat on my face, but somehow I caught myself. My knees buckled. The grin fell off of my face and I fell forward. I was unconscious before I hit the ground.
******
The medics took Miyuki's unconscious form to the medical bay and started to treat her wounds and heal her. They were surprised she had been able to fight as long as she had with the injuries she had. Her torso was split open by a rather large laceration, crossing over from her left shoulder to her right hip; she had 2 cracked ribs and a 2 inch wide hole just right of her sternum. She had lost a lot of blood thanks to these severe injuries. Luckily her life was not yet in danger. If she had bled another minute more she would have had an 85% chance of dying. Whatever had created the hole in her chest had ripped one of her lungs open, letting the blood flow freely into it. It was a wonder she hadn't choked on her blood and died. The laceration on her torso had to be stitched as well as the hole next to her sternum. It took about 15 minutes to dress and close her wounds as best they could before another patient came in. They left her side and started working on the next patient. An ANBU Black Opps agent came in, taking Miyuki to the hospital where she could rest fully. The ANBU agent stayed outside her room as she slept, guarding her like the Hokage had asked. His two other companions appeared beside him a few seconds later. The leader of the group had a file in his hand. He opened it and showed the other two what was inside. The information inside was about Miyuki herself – not that there was a lot of it – but in the back of the file there was also a picture of Orochimaru along with his possible motives for giving Miyuki the curse mark. They conversed, trying to figure out just what the snake was planning.
Everything was silent inside the room; save for the sound of Miyuki's rasping breath. She was in pain from the wounds and the curse mark. It was sending painful jabs at her while she slept. It was even worse than when she had accidentally cut herself while she was in Orochimaru's Genjutsu. Images flitted past her closed eyelids.
***(A/N: This is what she's seeing) All of them had some form of torture in them. Miyuki squirmed on her bed, trying to get away from the images, but she could do nothing. Her body froze when her sadistic parents appeared in front of her with glinting eyes and scalpels in their hands. "We never finished what we were doing." Their voices simultaneously reverberated inside her skull. They started moving closer to her and her fear grew. Suddenly a little girl appeared in front of her. She looked like Miyuki when she was young. No, that wasn't it. She didn't just look like her, she was her. "You need to stop them." The little Miyuki whimpered.
"W-what can I do?" She stammered. She always ran away from her past, this time felt no different. She wanted to run. She could feel the need to run vibrating in her legs. She needed to get away from them.
"Don't run away." The 5 year old girl whimpered again, standing so close to Miyuki they were almost touching. "You can fight them now. You have power. You're strong. I'm not. I can't fight them. I want to, but I can't. They'll kill me!" The girl cried. She was shaking so bad it looked like the girl was having seizures. Miyuki both sympathised and empathised with the girl. She knew exactly what she meant. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing, or even run away. She had to stand and fight. She stepped forward. She wasn't just doing this to help the girl anymore, but to rid herself of the fear she had been carrying with her, her whole life. "They're here, you know." The girl whispered to Miyuki. There was nothing she could do with the information, but it made her determined to fight. She wasn't going to run away from them anymore. She took another step forward, readying herself.
(A/N: And we're back in the room)*** Even though Miyuki was unconscious she could feel the power suddenly coursing through her. It made her feel so alive. The black almost tattoo-like mark on her shoulder suddenly moved, creating turquoise ripple-like patterns on her body. It moved slowly, but fluidly. The marks were halfway up her face and down her arm when the door was thrown open. Miyuki's eyes snapped open and she sprang up, the turquoise ripples still moving on her skin. When it settled down, it turned black again. She looked at the 3 ANBU who had rushed into the room when they felt her chakra awaken. "We were ordered to knock you out if this happened." One of the ANBU – a woman – said, almost gently. "If you calm down we will not do that." The other two ANBU gaped at Miyuki. They could see the unusual chakra coming from her. It was silver. Pure silver. It glinted as it moved around her, almost like tails. Her usual chakra also shined through, but it was so faint it was almost invisible. Chakra should not be able to be seen, so this shocked the ANBU quite a bit. However, the masks covering their faces hid their shock quite well.
Miyuki's eyes widened. She didn't see the ANBU; instead she saw her father, mother and brother standing in front of her. "We're going to kill you now." She heard them say.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" She yelled.
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Edited
Forgive the short chapter guys, next few will be longer again
*ignore cliffhanger*