Chapter 35: A different feeling

(Ha~ I have a headache)

Holding her head in pain, Ino sighed while looking at Toru, who was currently cooking three fish.

"Smells good..."

Hinata walked over to Toru and sat down next to him.

"Hm... It would smell better if it had some salt and pepper in it."

Toru looked at the campfire as she cooked the fish.

At the same time, Ino came over and sat down next to Hinata.

(He can cook very well, I guess... having been alone for so long gave him experience in this kind of things).

Ino looked at the campfire as she remembered Orochimaru's words. Ino knew that two clans had been destroyed in the past, but she never thought that one of those clans would be the Asahi clan.

(It's been three days since the examination started, it's nighttime, in a few hours it will be the fourth day, that means we have a little more than a day left to get the scroll of heaven, after all the scroll Orochimaru gave us was another scroll of earth, scroll which we already have).

While thinking, Ino looked at Toru.

(Does he always have that expression on his face? Well, I can't know how Toru feels if he always has that expressionless face. I always thought he was a weird kid, but he turned out to be more than that, he's too smart, too strong, why did he always hid that kind of skills?)

A sigh came out of her mouth, she had too many things to think about. These past three days Ino had been too distracted, there were times when she stared at Toru for too long, and for some reason doing that felt good.

Hinata on the other hand has been acting different these past few days. She's been closer to Toru than usual, it's like she's trying to protect him around the clock.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Hinata, can you watch the fish for me?" Getting up from the floor, Toru looked at Hinata.

"Um... yeah, no problem."

After hearing that, Toru replied with a slight nod of his head, immediately, he walked deeper into the forest.

Hinata and Ino, the two girls were left completely alone. And their only companion was that silence that the night provided them.

The eyes of both looked at the fire as if they were hypnotized by that bright flame.

White eyes like ocean pearls and green eyes like large emeralds.

"Hinata..."

"Yes?"

"Let's give our best to pass this exam."

Ino looked at Hinata with a warm smile. The white-eyed girl responded with another smile, a second later, the words came out of her mouth.

"Yes... I'll do my best."

Hinata looked at the campfire with a smile. Somehow, those words lifted her spirits.

(I should forget about what Orochimaru said until I finish the exam. For now I have to try my best. I'm going to make sure Toru sees how strong and beautiful I am. When that happens, I'm sure he'll regret what he did).

Ino clenched her fists as she looked at the campfire.

Meanwhile, near that place, was Toru, who was sitting on a tree branch.

He had lied about going to the bathroom. The truth was that he wanted to be alone and think about what happened three days ago.

(I'm pretty sure Orochimaru went for Sasuke. Ha~ What was 'that' gift Orochimaru wanted to give me).

Letting out a sigh, Toru leaned his back against the tree trunk.

(We're not like that, huh...).

Toru closed his eyes and remembered the voice that spoke to him at the moment Orochimaru was offering him power.

(I've heard it twice now, I don't know whose voice it was, but... maybe I'm going crazy...)

He opened his eyes and looked at his hands. He felt strange, as if at times he was not himself, as if someone else was controlling his body. But even if he got that strange feeling, he was still the same as always.

(I should sleep more often, possibly that is affecting me mentally).

As he let the things in his mind disappear like smoke from a campfire, Toru climbed down from the tree, put his hands in his pockets and returned to the temporary base.

-The next day

Hinata and Ino's light breaths were heard, at the same time, Toru was eating some wild berries.

"Where am I...?"

A girl's voice was heard. It was Ino, who had just woken up.

"Toru...? Is it dawn already?"

The girl looked at the boy, who was sitting with his back leaning against a tree. He had some sweet berries in his right hand.

"No, it's still dark. In fact, it hasn't even been ten seconds since you fell asleep."

Toru popped some berries into his mouth as he replied sarcastically. Just seeing the rays of sunlight piercing through the leaves of the trees answered Ino's question.

"Hm... you're such a liar. Well, I couldn't expect anything less from you."

Having said that, Ino got up from the floor and wiped her clothes. She also stretched her arms a bit as she let out a yawn.

After that, Ino looked at the girl next to her before speaking.

"Hinata hasn't woken up yet..."

"She must be tired. She always has to use Byakugan, so the chakra drain makes her body weak."

"Really, do you always know so many things?"

"It's just self-experience."

(Own experience, huh...)

As if memories invaded her mind at the worst of times, Ino remembered what Orochimaru said.

(Someone killed Toru's family. Orochimaru offered him power to take revenge, but he refused...)

Ino let out a sigh, lately this kind of thoughts were always present in her mind. And even more so when dangerous things happened, like what happened in the research mission or with Orochimaru.

"Good morning, Hinata" Toru said while looking at the white eyed girl.

At the same time, Hinata got up from the ground and looked at the surroundings. Apparently she was tired, but sensing that her two classmates were already awake she decided to stop sleeping so she could continue with the exam.

"Good morning, Toru-kun, Ino..."

To forget all those heavy thoughts, Ino let out a sigh and looked at her companion.

"You woke up a little late, are you still tired, Hinata?"

Ino walked up to Hinata and looked at her from head to toe.

There didn't seem to be any injuries or anything like that, that was a good thing, but in problem lies in the fact that Hinata looked tired.

The simple explanation for that is that Hinata wakes up at night and activates her byakugan in order to make sure Orochimaru doesn't come back, or at least to be able to run away with her companions if that snake man came back.

"I'm fine, you shouldn't worry."

Hinata smiled slightly as she looked down at the ground. Toru saw this and realized what was going on with that girl.

"You shouldn't try so hard. You might get hurt, and that's something I wouldn't like to see. understand?"

Ino walked up to Hinata and grabbed her shoulders while looking into her eyes.

"Yes... I understand."

"You don't have to make that face. I'm just worried about my teammate."

Letting a warm smile show, Ino looked at her teammate. Hinata looked at her as well and smiled in response.

(Ino cares about Hinata, huh...)

It looks like Ino is becoming a better version of herself. Toru could tell that just by looking at that girl.

(She's getting better, that's good. Looks like I won't have to interfere anymore).

Toru crossed her arms and looked at the sky, well... there was no sky due to the leaves of the trees covering everything, so she was looking at the rays of light that made their way through the leaves of the trees.

(Hm... tomorrow the test will come to an end, we have to get the scroll we are missing, otherwise we will fail the exam).

True, the sky scroll is what team 11 needed in order to advance to the next test, but they obviously didn't have it. Instead, they had two earth scrolls, the one they received before the test began and the one Orochimaru gave Toru three days ago.

But having two scrolls of the same element was stupid. The rules were clear, arrive at the tower with one scroll of earth and one scroll of heaven.

(We have no choice. We'll have to go out and find the scroll ourselves).

Toru looked at his teammates again. For some reason Ino was groping Hinata's breasts, this gave him a strange feeling, but he decided to ignore it.

"Ino, stop, it feels weird!"

"I don't want to, they feel too soft."

"Kya!"

(Ha~ this doesn't look real...).

Dropping his arms over his shoulders, Toru sat down on the ground and waited for Ino and Hinata to finish with their strange game.

After a few seconds, the laughter and strange sounds stopped when Hinata spoke.

"Someone's coming, a team of three."

The Byakugan had activated. Hinata could see them clearly, two girls and a boy approaching at high speed.

Almost instantly, Toru stood up and pulled out the daggers. Ino let go of Hinata and approached Toru, Hinata did the same.

Together, back to back. Hinata spoke.

"They're surrounding us."

Hinata looked at the three people, who began to run in circles around the makeshift base.

Slowly, the shadows of those ninjas began to appear among the leaves of the bushes.

"This doesn't look good!"

Ino held the kunai in her hand as she looked around, all she could see were three shadows moving at a ridiculous speed.

"Stay close."

Toru moved a little closer to her companions so she could protect herself better, but....

"Toru-kun!"

Hinata spoke, immediately Toru understood and rushed forward to attack head on.

*Clang!

Sparks caused by the dagger and shuriken fell to the ground .

"Unbelievable!"

In front of him stood a black-haired boy. He had bright blue eyes and a large scar covering his right cheek.

"Guess, they're coming for the scroll" Toru said.

"That's obvious" Replied the boy.

Apparently they were also from Konoha, that could be clearly seen on the forehead protectors that had the Konoha emblem carved into the metal plate.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Ino were waiting for the attack of the two hiding girls.

"Ino, behind you!"

Hinata turned to warn Ino, but was interrupted by a strong punch that knocked her back a few inches.

"Don't get distracted, cutie!"

Hinata looked at the girl in front of her. She was a beautiful woman with blood red eyes, she had chestnut colored hair and two large breasts.

"I won't."

The Hyuga clan girl looked at the red-eyed girl with a serious expression, she raised her palms and took her fighting stance.

At the same time, Ino found herself alone on the battlefield. Hinata warned her about someone's surprise attack, but that person didn't show up, at least so far.

"Here I am!"

From among the bushes, a pretty girl I appreciated, she had tousled pink hair and purple eyes. Her body was modest, after all it was the body of a fifteen year old lady.

"Kya!"

Ino stopped the pink-haired girl's kick. Although it was strange, that girl was smiling in a radiant and relaxed way, as if she was living the most exciting day of her life.

"Wow, you have strength despite having such a cute face, that's amazing."

The pink-haired girl took a little distance and folded her arms. She closed her eyes for a second and spoke again.

"I'm Ashio Kinana and for the sake of my future as a kunoichi I'm going to defeat you."

Kinana pointed her index finger at Ino as she smiled.

At the same time, Ino didn't know what to do, that girl's punch hurt a lot.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

Kinana tilted her head slightly with a confused expression on her face. She was waiting for Ino to tell her if she was named, but in the middle of a fight, doing something like that was ridiculous.

"I'm... Yamanaka Ino and..."

Ino looked down at the ground, her body trembling for a second as she remembered that day.

Blood, more blood, that was what her mind was showing her, but she clenched her fists and looked at Kinana.

"And I'm going to defeat you."

With a nervous smile and mie behind her body trembled a little, Ino looked at the pink haired girl before starting the fight.

"If you give me the scroll, I'll see to it that my teammates don't hurt your friends."

The black-haired boy looked at Toru and spoke, but the Asahi clan boy sighed before answering.

"That's impossible."

Toru adjusted his scarf and made sure his claw earring is securely fastened to his ear, as in this fight it could surely fall off.

"How determined you are, I give you an eight out of ten."

The black-haired boy spoke as he nodded his head.

"Well, before we start this massacre. My name is Arataki Koenji, we are from the same village, so don't hold back."

Koenji knelt down a little and pounded the ground with his fist.

"Are you ready, Asahi Toru?"

Koenji looked at Toru as he said his name.

Toru's eyes widened after hearing that, apparently, this boy knew Toru, somehow.

"I guess I have no choice."

Toru sighed and put the daggers away, after all his opponent would use his fists to settle this.

"Here I come!"

Koenji disappeared into thin air, a second later, he appeared behind Toru, but....

*Strike!

Koenji and Toru looked at Hinata and the big-breasted girl.

They were having a wild battle, the brown-haired girl's quick strikes were hard to follow with their eyes.

(Not enough!)

Hinata increased the force exerted on her eyes, this helped her to see the battlefield better.

"Be surprised, cutie. My name is Nyu, you can call me for a date anytime."

Nyu stepped back a little as she realized that Hinata would be serious about this fight.

(I still don't know what tricks she keeps up her sleeve, I hope I can do something if the situation turns against me).

Hinata felt a little intimidated. Nyu apparently used taijutsu to fight, so far she hadn't used ninjutsu.

Moreover, apparently the whole team used taijutsu to fight.

"Jukenpo! [Art of the soft fist]"

The veins around Hinata's eyes swelled a little, at the same time, her hands were covered by a pale blue chakra.

"Amazing, you're from the Hyuga clan!"

Nyu was excited to see Hinata's power, her excitement was so much that she couldn't help but launch herself into an attack.

Meanwhile, Toru and Koenji had resumed their fight.

"I won't be distracted again!"

Koenji let a defiant smile form on his mouth, a second later it disappeared again.

(I thought it would be faster...).

Toru closed his eyes as he realized that his opponent's speed was slower than his.

"I can see you."

When Koenji appeared behind Toru, the Asahi clan boy turned and looked him in the eyes.

"Ugh!"

Koenji crashed into a tree after receiving a punch from Toru.

(Is he dead?)

But realizing that Koenji was no longer moving, Toru thought he was dead, well, he changed his mind when he saw that Koenji was breathing.

"Kya!"

And on Hinata's side the same thing was happening, at first the opponents looked strong and confident, but as the seconds passed that changed.

Right now the enemies were dropping like flies in a sweet trap.

"I did it..."

Hinata sighed in relief as she saw that Nyu was unconscious.

(I thought she was going to die) Hinata thought as she fell to her knees.

Everything seemed to be going well, until....

(I don't know what to do...)

Ino felt cornered once again.

Kinana was stronger than her, or so it seemed.

"My friends were defeated... I have no escape."

Kinana's smile showed a bit of fear mixed with despair. After all her companions were completely defeated.

(At least I'll be able to tell sensei that I wasn't the first to fall. I'll also try to hurt the blonde girl, so they won't be able to keep the scroll.)

Kinana had decided, to incapacitate Ino and make team 11 retreat. If her team was going to lose why not take the enemy with her?

"Gotcha!"

Taking advantage of Ino's discomfort, Kinana went on the attack.

Using only her legs, as if she was dancing strangely, Kinana tried to hit Ino.

"Agh!"

Ino a covered her face with her arms to block the attack, but Kinana took advantage of this to make her enemy stumble.

(No!)

Kinana kicked Ino in the legs ha kendo that she fall to the ground unable to defend herself.

(Yes! Now all I have to do is finish her off!)

Kinana jumped in the air and prepared her arm to throw a punch, but....

"Shintenshin no Jutsu [Mind Transfer Jutsu]."

The howl of a wolf was heard, followed by the loud noise caused by Kinana's face hitting the ground.

Ino quickly returned to her body and rubbed her face as if in pain.

(She did...)

Toru looked at Ino, who had barely survived. Using the Mind Transfer Jutsu just as do Kinana was plummeting was a very creative thing to do.

"I... won?"

Ino looked at the pink haired girl lying on the ground, she was unconscious, though she had a bit of blood on her forehead.

"I won..."

A smile formed on Ino's mouth.

"I won!!!"

Getting up from the ground, Ino looked at Toru and Hinata, there was a so laughter on her face, even Ino herself couldn't believe it.

"See, Toru?"

Ino looked at the gray-eyed boy with a cute smile, at the same time she made the peace sign with her hands.

(Huh? What's this...?)

Seeing Ino, Toru felt something strange. A strange feeling that was born from deep inside his heart.

After all, just seeing Ino happy caused this strange feeling in Toru.

(I don't understand...)