CHAPTER 8
"Sometimes I'm terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts."
-Edgar Allan Poe
I kept curling and uncurling my fingers, trying to tell myself for the thousandth time that I wasn't nervous but for the thousandth time, it proved to be futile. The elephants rampaging in my stomach refused to go away. The tension in that small, stifling waiting-room was almost palpable; hundreds of genins from all the villages had gathered and were waiting to proceed to the first stage of Chunin Exams. Several had already emptied out the contents of their stomach and the stench of vomit and sweat in their air, mingling with other body odors was making me even more nauseous. Ryusei stood next to me, leaning against the wall, with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed, almost as if he was meditating, but I knew he always did that whenever he was agitated; Hyuugas were too proud to display their nervousness. Hana, however, had no problem displaying it and kept jumping whenever the door opened and some new team walked in.
"Control yourself," Ryusei chastised her, "or they are already going to mark you as easy target. They are looking for the signs of weakness."
"Do you even know who just walked in?" she snapped. "It is… It is that team."
Of course, 'that' team was the most notorious team, the team every other contestant wanted to avoid at all costs and it comprised of thirteen-years-old Sumiko Aburame, twelve-years-old Shisui Uchiha and the third member was no other than Itachi Uchiha.
There was a sharp intake of breath and everybody grew silent as the three of them glided across the room, as if they were already the victors. Shisui Uchiha was wearing a self-assured, easy smile as he strutted forward through the sea of parting crowd, with Uchiha symbol proudly displayed at his back. Sumiko Aburame was unreadable with her dark glasses while Itachi merely looked… bored, apathetic even with his hands in his pockets, but I knew that the moment he had entered the room he had already analyzed each and every one and everything. I had felt his penetrating eyes swoop over me and for that fleeting moment, a flicker of recognition had entered those onyx irises, and then his gaze had moved elsewhere. I started breathing again. For the first time, I realized that I was standing at the same level as him. That immediately made my nervousness ebb away.
"This," I said to Hana and Ryusei, "is the team we are going to defeat in these exams."
Ryusei looked a bit taken aback but then a grin flitted across his lips. "I like that."
"Are you two insane?" Hana squealed, looking horrorstruck and dumbfounded as if I had just asked her to strip in a room full of people. "Are you even listening to yourselves? That team has got an Aburame and two Uchihas, I repeat, two Uchihas in their team which means two Sharingans." She gave out a shudder. "And not only that, these two are prodigies. Now, let's have a look at our team. There is this arrogant Hyuuga who can't use his Byakugan to save his life except for looking through the girls' clothes with it and then there is Fukuro girl who is just good at giving threats but never actually carrying them out and then, there is me. How in the world did you even entertain the idea that we could be a match for that team? If anything, you should be asking us to run in the opposite direction if we ever encountered them."
A prolonged silence followed and I immediately blushed with mortification as I realized that everybody within the ten mile radius had probably heard her outburst. Then few people started sniggering, calling us idiots and weaklings and all the girls started eyeing Ryusei as if he was some old lecher.
"Congratulations, you dumbass," he seethed, glaring at Hana. "You all but proclaimed all our weaknesses. Now nobody is going to take us seriously, all because…"
"Excuse me," said a voice nearby and I raised my flaming face to see Shisui Uchiha himself grinning down at us in amusement. "I couldn't help overhearing your –ahem- conversation or rather a rant. So does that mean that you are marking us as your rivals?"
"No," Hana choked out and seemed like she was going to pass out any moment.
"Yes," I said quickly although I was feeling lot less confident now as I felt Itachi's piercing eyes on me who was standing silently behind Shisui's shoulder with that Aburame girl, looking vaguely nonchalant.
"No!" Hana said again a bit more forcefully and flashed me a furtive glare before smiling sheepishly at Shisui. "She is just babbling, don't mind her. Does that all the times. You see, she is not meant to be taken seriously—"
Shisui ignored Hana and her Ninkens that were barking at him and locked his searching gaze instead with mine and then with Ryusei's who stared back at him unflinchingly. A slow smirk dawned over his face as if he liked what he saw. "Fine then," he drawled. "We accept your challenge. In fact, we are looking forward to it. But just don't regret it later on because I am warning you; going easy is not in our nature."
"Neither in ours," Ryusei said.
I thought I saw a hint of grin over Itachi's lips just before the three of them left. If he had done that to shake my resolve, it was working, much to my vexation. The elephants in my stomach were back.
"Oh no," Hana moaned, her skin glowing hundred shades of green as she lurched on her feet. "We are doomed." Her canines whimpered at her feet in assent.
Probably, I thought silently. What had I gotten myself and my team into?
"Don't worry, Hana," I told her with more confidence than I felt. "We will all get through this. Trust me."
…..
We passed the first stage of the Chunin exams without too many difficulties which gave a tremendous boost to our confidence. Even Hana looked a bit less green now as she stood in the row with us, waiting to proceed to the second stage of the exams.
Forest of the death was unlike any other forest I had ever seen, with looming, monstrous trees, their branches outstretched menacingly like claws; they looked like the kind of trees that would come alive in the middle of night when all is silent and rip everyone apart. Few beams of sunrays managed to penetrate the thick canopy and fall on the forest-floor but other than that, the whole woods were swarming with the ominous shadows that constantly kept shifting due to the dancing wind. Every now and then, screams of terror or deep, bloodcurdling roars of tigers or hyenas would echo through the trees sinisterly, making us all jump. The wind that sighed and moaned against the rustling leaves sounded like a dirge of the dead. I gulped involuntarily as I felt all the courage drain from me. I didn't think I felt brave enough to face Itachi or his team here.
The Earth scroll we had been given before the start of this round rested in the satchel Hana was wearing for the safekeeping. "Make sure not to lose it," Ryusei told her patronizingly.
Hana swelled with anger. "I know how to keep things safe," she snapped.
I sighed as their bickering droned on in the background. The two of them just didn't know how to shut up and of course, that made it extremely easy for one of the teams to find us. Our first encounter was with a team from Kirigakure, whose water-based jutsus made them challenging opponents but both sides lost interest when we realized that we both had the Earth scrolls. We needed only a Heaven scroll before we made it to the building in the center of the forest, so why waste our time on them?
The first night was the hardest. I sat on the third watch, hidden under leaves to camouflage myself, trying to fight away the talons of sleep that kept coming for me. I huddled closer in my arms, trying to keep my teeth from chattering, knowing that we couldn't possibly make a fire no matter how tempting it seemed because that would be like beckoning to all the other teams. Sullenly, I gazed up at the heavy sky visible from the cracks in the canopy of the trees. The clouds were insidiously swallowing all the stars and the lonesome, almost ethereal moon, against all odds, still struggled to shine on the dark realms of the skies. An unnervingly heavy darkness descended over the woods, sprinkled over by the faint, silvery moonlight. Shadows were darker than the blackest ink and I was trying not to think about what could be lurking in their cradles, unseen. Few crickets were singing here and there, but other than that, the silence reigned, absolute and complete.
Beside me, Ryusei kept swatting at the mosquitoes in his sleep.
"Quit that," Hana said at him, "I can't go to sleep because of you clapping in my ears."
"How can you even go to sleep with all these mosquitoes buzzing in your ears anyway then?" he hissed back.
"Because I am not a snobbish brat like you who has never slept with the bugs before."
"Shut up both of you!" I whispered to them harshly but it was already too late. I stared in horror, as three, shadowy figures arose like apparition from the fringe of darkness and began slithering their way towards us. My eyes narrowed. How could I not have sensed their chakras at all? They were like ghosts. "We've got company."
Hana and Ryusei had already pulled themselves out of their sleeping bags and had assumed defensive positions.
"Oh no," Hana whispered when the three figures were close enough that we could make out two pair of orbs glowing blood-red in the dark night. Sharingans. An icy chill slithered down my spine. Against my will, my chakra spiked and my heart began hammering against my ribcage with anticipation and dread.
"Hey there," came a cheerful voice that unmistakably belonged to Shisui Uchiha. "We were just passing by and dropped in to say hi."
A tense silence followed and then, Hana in her tremulous voice, said, "Hi." And now go away, she seemed to be saying with her wide eyes.
"See this," Shisui continued in his genial voice, as if he really was talking to some old friends. "They gave us a Heaven scroll. May I ask which scroll might you guys be having?"
"What a coincidence!" Hana said in a high-pitched voice. "We happen to be given a Heaven scroll too! Now if you will excuse us—"
"No, we have the Earth scroll," I found myself saying.
"Miyuki," Hana hissed.
"Well, that changes things. I am afraid I can't let you pass, even if we both teams are from Konoha."
"So you are willing to attack people of your own village?" Hana asked incredulously. "I mean, shouldn't we be helping each other out? Oh, I know, if we managed to find another Earth scroll, we will be sure to give it to you. Wouldn't that solve all our problems? In fact, we should form an alliance…"
"Alliances," Shisui interrupted pleasantly, "can only be formed when both parties benefit from it. I am afraid; I just don't see what benefit we could possibly obtain by becoming your allies."
"You are right," Ryusei said, imperious as ever. "We also have nothing to gain by the likes of you."
Hana flashed him a what-the-hell-are-you-saying-we-are-doomed look. Her Ninkens kept growling pathetically, sensing their master's fright.
Again, I could feel Itachi's intense eyes on me but I refused to acknowledge him. He and his other silent teammate had yet to say anything. I wondered if Shisui ever felt bored by their silence and that was why he was picking on us.
"Enough pleasantries," Shisui said at last. "You have got the Earth scroll and we have got the Heaven scroll. I say we should get started, right Sumiko, Itachi?"
"Do what you want," said Itachi, sounding utterly bored. "I will take myself out of this fight. You two can take care of these three and get the Heaven scroll, I presume?"
"Sure we can," said Sumiko, speaking for the first time. "This won't even take a second."
I could barely conceal the gasp that almost escaped my mouth as I heard Itachi's voice, the voice I hadn't heard in ages. I didn't know why it bothered me—was it the new, deep cadence, maturity to it or was it the deliberate indifference in the way he spoke? Was it because he utterly refused to even acknowledge me when I had been training myself to death thinking of surpassing him? Whatever it was, it sent a wave of fury over me like a riptide that completely submerged me in and I found myself hissing through my mouth like some enraged hound. So was I not even worth his time now?
"Hyuuga and Hana, you two take care of Shisui Uchiha and Aburame," I barked at them, holding out a kunai. "I will take care of this 'cowardly' Uchiha who is so adamant on stepping out."
The clouds rolled away and a single, silvery moonbeam lit up Itachi's face, making his sharingan glow almost enthrallingly as his eyes narrowed at my remark. Then I saw that same, familiar smirk sneaking furtively across his face before a big globe of Shisui's fireball blocked my line of vision. I jumped back to evade it, startled, only to find Shisui standing in front of me, smiling. "Don't be so stingy, Fukuro Miyuki," he said amiably. "Fight me first. If you win, you can go and fight that 'cowardly' Uchiha as well."
I blinked at him. "How do you know my name?"
"I know all your names," he chuckled, "I have got to know the names of my so-called-rivals, right?"
I immediately made a clone of myself which I sent after Shisui while I myself charged on Itachi, only to be blocked again by Shisui who had already gotten rid of my clone. When I realized that he wasn't going to let me fight the Uchiha heir, I got desperate and so, my attacks got predictable. I realized that I was angry at Shisui even though my anger did seem a bit irrational and misdirected, even to me; but I couldn't get over the fact that he had somehow taken my place in Itachi's life and that was enough reason for me to dislike him with considerable vehemence. That, and the fact that he was an Uchiha, my sworn enemy. Shisui effectively parried, dodged and blocked all my punches and kicks, all the time wearing that insufferable grin, much to my indignation. "Is that all you have got?" he taunted as he smoothly dodged my kunais. "All bark and no bite?"
I smirked as I found him nearing the explosive tag I had planted over a tree but to my dismay, he evaded it effortlessly, grinning as he did so. "There are few things Sharingan can't see."
Cursing, I surreptitiously began pulling at the web of strings I had carefully implanted all over the forest floor, hoping to trap him by his legs but suddenly, his crimson eyes were on me… Everything, the dark forest, dissolved out of my sight and I was suddenly rendered unable to move.
I recognized this place; Shisui's famous Genjutsu. He stood on the other side of that strange, distorted realm, smiling genially as he approached me with a kunai in his hands while I struggled. No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't break free. Talons of fear gripped me as I realized that I was going to stay here forever, unless I didn't do something drastic…
"Snap out of it, Miyuki!" I heard Hana shout, as sharp pain bloomed in my calves. And then I was back in the night, in the forest of the death, with Haimarus barking at my feet. "Sorry," Hana was saying, her eyes frantic. "I had to make them bite you to make you snap out of it. You just stood there in daze… you already know that Genjutsu is your weakness, so stay back, it is my turn now."
I wanted to protest but my legs hurt where Haimarus had bitten me and my knees were too wobbly. Was this the power of Uchiha's genjutsu?
"So, you were the one who sent those mosquitoes to pester us?" Ryusei was saying to Sumiko Aburame, sounding thoroughly disgruntled. The protruding veins around his eyes were visible even in the dim, murky moonlight.
"Of course," she admitted. "I sent a swarm of mosquitoes to tail after you and listen to your conversations. That made you all pathetically easy to find. Well, it is time to get serious now, I suppose." She bit her thumb to draw out blood and made series of hand signs. "Summoning jutsu."
To our combined horror, a gigantic, scuttling spider appeared in between her and Ryusei with eight eyes like huge beetles that seemed to be looking everywhere. "Say hello to Jasmine."
"You… you named that thing Jasmine?" Ryusei asked disbelievingly as he stood there with wide eyes, paralyzed and petrified.
"Don't just stand there," I chided him. "Don't tell me you are afraid of spiders!"
"No, but I just hate spiders," he moaned, flinching visibly as the spider raised one of its big, hairy legs, preparing to attack. I shot Ryusei a look of disdain before I sent a rain of kunais over the spider. The giant insect, however, remained completely unaffected by it and in one great, swooping movement, it had already scooped up Ryusei in its pincers. Beside me, Haimarus were rolling at high speed, trying to hit Shisui who kept jumping out of the way, teasing Hana. That 'cowardly' Uchiha Itachi was sitting over a branch of a tree, apparently resting and seemed downright uninterested in joining the fray. It was utterly hopeless.
They departed as the dawn began to break, with our Earth scroll, leaving us bloodied and injured and scroll-less on the forest floor. It was ludicrously pathetic, laughable even; they literally wiped the floor with us. "Happy now?" Hana said as she raised herself up with some effort. "I won't say I told you so."
"You better not!" I growled irritably.
She began rummaging through her satchel. "I have got few bandages, disinfectants, salves and painkillers… Even though I use these salves for my Haimarus but I guess they should work for humans too."
"In case you didn't notice," Ryusei bit out, "we are not covered in fur."
"Do you have a better option?" she shot back. "And you should work on being more 'friendly' towards me. I am the only one in this team who knows a bit of medical ninjutsu."
"But you are a vet!" he protested.
"Exactly," she snapped. "I don't see any difference between you and an animal."
I put my arm over my eyes and closed them, trying to ignore their obnoxious voices as the pain of defeat rippled over every inch my body. Disappointment came in waves and was much more intense than any physical pain; despite the fact that I had trained so hard, so hard, I was nowhere near the power of Uchihas. It was… ridiculous! Unfair. Unjust. Unacceptable.
"I think they were going easy on us," Hana murmured contemplatively as she worked on bandaging Ryusei. "None of us have any broken bones or some serious injury. Only flesh wounds that heal easily. Maybe they aren't as bad as we thought before, but I am pretty sure that is because we all belong to the Konoha."
"I beg to differ," said Ryusei dryly, "I think I am permanently scarred by my wonderful meeting with that Jasmine. I don't think I will be able to recover ever."
In the end, we ambushed few other teams and did manage to salvage some dignity by acquiring both the Heaven and the Earth scrolls and making it to the third round of Chunin exams. "Oh, look who made it through," Shisui chuckled with mock delight as he came forward to greet us with the same, charming smile I hated so much. "As expected of our so-called rivals. Congratulations!"
"You too," Hana said, beaming, no longer scared of him while Ryusei and I glared at him witheringly. He might not have hurt us that much physically but he had inflicted deep wounds on our pride.
The preliminaries went without any event, except that Hana lost her battle to a freaky ninja from Sunagakure and was knocked out of the Chunin Exams. "It is not like I wasn't prepared for this," she sighed, her lips trembling dangerously. "I just didn't expect… well, I am still really disappointed in myself."
"Well, what were you expecting?" Ryusei said. "That guy from Sand was extremely strong and you never train hard enough. You should be happy that you haven't been knocked out cold."
"Well done, you! Thanks for being so tactful." My voice dripped with sarcasm as I put my arm around Hana whose shoulders were now dangerously shaking with silent sobs.
"Well, I am doing it for her own good!" he retaliated gruffly. "I'll make sure that she trains harder so she wouldn't have to go through this again."
We were all standing in front of the screen that was going to announce who our next opponents would be for the third stage of the Chunin Exams and needless to say, my hands had gone all clammy. I wanted to succeed and to be able to do that, there were many ninjas I wanted to avoid; that freaky one from Sunagakure, that green, scaly one from Kirigakure who looked more like a chimera than a human and I definitely didn't want to fight the sadistic-looking one with a Glasgow smile from Iwagakure… Just as I was pondering this, the battle flowchart appeared over the screen.
Hyuuga Ryusei from Konohagakure vs Aburame Sumiko from Konohagakure.
Uchiha Shisui from Konohagakure vs Kemono Harushi from Kirigakure (aka the chimera guy)
Fukuro Miyuki from Konohagakure vs Uchiha Itachi from Konohagakure
For a while, his name and his picture blurred in front of my eyes as overwhelming waves of anticipation mingled with terror washed over me. I realized that my mouth had gone all dry. Through the crowd, I could feel his obsidian irises trained on me now and I turned around to meet his gaze. He looked a bit taken aback, as if he hadn't seen this coming, but then his surprise flickered away just as quickly as it had come. He nodded at me, finally acknowledging me for the first time since the start of the Chunin exams.
"Looks like I have got to fight that Jasmine once again," Ryusei moaned. "This is just great."
"You have to face your fears at some point in your life," I told him mutedly, although my words were probably more directed at myself.
"You should hardly be lecturing me," he retorted. "You got that prodigy Uchiha. You have finally run out of luck and your fate is already given. There is no way—"
"I am not out of luck," I said with quiet resolve. "In fact, this is just what I had wanted."
"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a shortcut to meet it."
-J.R.R. Tolkien
A/N: Another chapter done! And I am excited for the next one already.
Once again, thank you for reading this chapter and please let me know what you think! I would love your feedback on where this story is going.
-AnEveningMoth
