Chapter 9: When All You Have Is A Hammer


"Does this hurt, punk?" Kankuro lifted Konohamaru higher by the collar as the younger boy whimpered and gasped for air.

The tanned blonde next to Konohamaru's assaulter sighed and absently checked her nails, and Sasuke had to wonder exactly how many small children Kankuro tormented on a regular basis for her to be that disinterested. "Just put him down, Kankuro."

Naruto immediately rose to the bait and began yelling at the sand genin as Sasuke edged further away from the group, keeping most of his attention directed past the fence in anticipation of Gaara's arrival. His interest in the conversation perked up slightly when he heard the puppeteer call Naruto a wimp, and Sasuke almost snorted aloud. Naruto, a wimp? That wimp beat an out of control Gaara, so what did that make Kankuro? Pathetic, obviously. A waste of air. Garbage...

Udon and Moegi cried out as Kankuro announced that the lot of them were scrawny weaklings and Sasuke decided he'd had enough. As the puppeteer moved to punch Konohamaru in the face, Sasuke noted that he didn't have a rock this time, but who needed one?

Before Kankuro's fist could connect with its target, the sand genin dropped Konohamaru in shock as a shuriken sliced through the black fabric across his arm, leaving a bright red streak in its wake.

"Damn it!" Kankuro whipped around to face Sasuke, snarling. "The hell is your problem? You wanna start somethin', you wimp?"

Sasuke's face remained blank. "With you? No thanks. You're not worth my time."

Kankuro only growled in response. Nervously, Sakura moved to stand in front of Udon and Moegi, who were cowering next to each other. She seemed torn between fangirlish awe and consternation.

"Sasuke-kun, don't you think that was a little drastic..?" Sakura said. If Sasuke had wanted to provoke the sand genin, he sure made the right call.

Konohamaru—his bravado back with a vengeance now that he was mobile again—scrambled over to Naruto and poked him square in the face. "Naruto, how come you're not cool like Sasuke?"

Naruto squinted at him, a light flush staining his cheeks. "What? I coulda taken that guy on..."

"Liar!"

"It's true!" Naruto took a quick peak at the siblings and noticed the blush on Temari's face as she stared at his dark-haired teammate. Frowning, Naruto jumped to stand in front of the sand genin. "So you think Sasuke's a hotshot and not me too, is that it?"

"You've got to be kidding me..." Temari sighed, and Kankuro clenched his jaw, eyes still locked with Sasuke's.

"Sasuke's not that cool!" Naruto crossed his arms sulkily and glared at the floor. "Even if he does have all the catchy lines... and the fangirls, and those really awesome jutsus he won't teach me. And I guess his hair does do that cool flip-thing in the back..." He paused long enough to run a hand through his hair self-consciously. "That's why all the girls like him better. And you!" Naruto jabbed a finger in Temari's direction. "You have a crush on him too, don't you?!"

Temari raised an eyebrow. "No, but I'm starting to think that you might."

Horrified, Naruto began spouting off a flurry of incoherent denials and Kankuro finally managed to shake himself out of his stupor.

"Not worth your time, huh?" Kankuro grinned humorlessly and began pulling the bandaged puppet off of his back.

Temari's eyes widen at the gesture. "Kankuro, wait-"

"Kankuro. Back off." A deep, distinctly masculine voice called out from the sidelines, and Sasuke froze. Gaara. Even knowing the sand rat was scheduled to pop up, Gaara still managed to sneak up on him.

"You're an embarrassment to our village. Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?"

Gaara was poised upside-down on the largest branch of the tree just outside the fence, looking as calm and collected as ever. Just like last time.

Kankuro looked stricken at his brother's arrival. "Uh.. hey Gaara... I know but he attacked... just look at-"

"And you should have dodged. So shut up or I'll kill you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Kill his brother? Maybe he would have believed it at one time, but Sasuke knew better now. Gaara was all talk.

"Sorry... I was totally out of line..." Kankuro grimaced slightly; the gash on his arm was superficial but still bled freely.

Streams of sand surrounded Gaara and coalesced into him as he teleported in front of Kankuro.

The redhead glanced at Sasuke but made no move to apologize. To his brother, he said, "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

"Yeah..." Kankuro glared at Sasuke from over Gaara's shoulder.

The two opposing genin teams engaged in a brief but heated stare down before Gaara, apparently having lost interest in the macho display, pivoted and strolled in the other direction as both Temari and Kankuro hastily moved out of the way before following suit.

Sasuke looked briefly over at Naruto, who had resumed animatedly trying to convince Konohamaru that he was really, totally the coolest ninja ever, and silently lamented his lack of groveling lackeys. Seriously, how did he get stuck with the touchy-feely fangirls who had no concept of personal space while Gaara got the flunkies? Life really wasn't fair.

Sakura, having decided that she was unsatisfied with this new turn of events, proceeded to stomp towards the newcomers in a huff. "Just what do you think you're-"

"They're here for the Chunin Exams," Sasuke cut her off, and she looked at him in surprise.

Temari nodded as she pulled out her chunin exam registration card and thrust it into the air. "That's right. We're sand genin and as you can see, we do have permission to be here."

"Chunin exams?" Naruto blinked. "What's that? I've never heard of anything like that."

Konohamaru looked up dubiously at his role model. "Those are the exams every genin has to take to graduate to be a chunin."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?"

"I didn't think I'd have to... I'm just a kid. Geez, Naruto, don't you know anything?"

Gaara looked back towards Sasuke and their eyes met once more. The sand jinchuriki had always been perceptive, though, and Sasuke wondered if he would notice something off in his own gaze. But no, there was no hint of recognition in Gaara's eyes. Only the same cold, fierce malice; the same darkness that Sasuke felt consuming himself time and time again. Once, Sasuke had been convinced those eyes were evil. He could almost hear Gaara's voice in his head, clear as the day they last spoke at the Kage Summit before coming to blows with one another.

"You have the same eyes as me... eyes that long for power, eyes filled with hatred and murderous intent."

What did Gaara really know about longing for power, though? The redhead's sand was swirling lazily around in the air, his absolute defense—a gift that would only get stronger with time. It took Sasuke years of sweat and blood to achieve that kind of power. He sacrificed everything, he cut every tie he could to obtain Susanoo, and for what? His double mangekyos were gone, replaced with two measly tomoes and he had nothing to show for it.

Gaara knew nothing of dedication, nothing of sacrifice. He'd look Sasuke straight in the eye and tell him that they were the same, even as his two siblings—his family—stood by his side. They were nothing alike, even now. Give him a few years, and...

"Your eyes are still the same..."

But Gaara's wouldn't be.

Without another word, Sasuke jumped the fence and flickered away, not bothering to ask for Gaara's name or wait to give the redhead his own.

Gaara didn't matter any more than Kankuro did.


Over the course of the next few days, Sasuke's excitement mounted in anticipation of Kakashi's announcement regarding the Chunin Exams. On the third day—as the three genins assisted in unloading a delivery of goods to one of Konoha's general stores—it occurred to Sasuke that in the past, Kakashi had presented their application forms the morning after their encounter with Gaara.

Not three days later.

His nervous anticipation instantly changed to suspicion and ultimately impatience. Deciding that he was done waiting for Kakashi, Sasuke casually dropped a comment or two about their participation in the Chunin Exams to Naruto. The not-so-subtle prodding was more than enough to prompt the bright-eyed blonde into action, and as soon as their D-class mission was completed and Kakashi reappeared to retrieve his genin team, Naruto rounded on their instructor with a string of rapid-fire questions.

Kakashi's shuffling steps wavered momentarily in response to the blonde's inquiries before he came to a halt in the middle of the road. "Ah, about that. Any genin with at least eight missions under their belt qualifies, but most have double that amount before they're nominated. This may come as a surprise, but it's been five years since first year genins were entered into the chunin exams..."

A cold feeling washed over Sasuke. "What are you saying?"

Kakashi sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck in agitation. "What I'm saying is that I did not nominate you."

Naruto and Sakura remained silent, and Kakashi heard Sasuke's breathing hitch.

"What?" Sasuke said, his voice suspiciously calm.

"Why wouldn't you nominate us, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto whined, flailing his arms angrily. "I'm ready, I really am! This is my chance to prove myself! Why're you so mean?"

This was a conversation Kakashi had been hoping to avoid. Just his luck that Naruto would be completely in the dark about the basics of chakra control but conveniently knew about the Chunin Exams. That boy really did have selective hearing... "Look, you've only been genins for a couple of months now. You'll have a long, long time ahead of you to enjoy being chunins. It's best not to rush things-"

"You can't do this to me. Take it back," Sasuke demanded, both hands clenched as his nails dug into his palms.

"Take what back? My non-nomination?"

Sasuke glared.

Kakashi met his gaze unflinchingly. "I didn't nominate you because I didn't think you would pass. No, I know you wouldn't pass and to be honest, the thought of either of you making chunin terrifies me. You're far from ready."

"You're a liar," Sasuke said, his voice holding the slightest hint of a tremor. "You're just doing this to punish us—to punish me. You've reached your prime and I'm only going to get stronger and stronger and you can't stand it. You think you can hold me back?"

Kakashi watched him in silence, and the younger ninja stopped, visibly shaking. "You don't understand. I need to be in the chunin exams."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke."

"Sorry isn't good enough!" Sasuke yelled, and Sakura flinched at the sound. She'd never heard him raise his voice before.

Sakura raised a hand to pat him on the shoulder in a comforting gesture, but he violently jerked away from her touch. "S-Sasuke-kun, calm down. We can always try again next year-"

"Shut up! What do you know?" Sasuke snapped, turning on her. "You wouldn't pass anyway, so what do you care? You're probably happy that we're being held back with you."

As he spoke, Sasuke took several steps towards Sakura and she backed up unconsciously, warily maintaining their distance. The action was not lost on him.

"What's wrong, Sakura? Are you afraid of me now?"

"What?" Sakura faltered, her green eyes wide with hurt—and fear. "No, of course not, Sasuke-kun." Her voice was steady but her mouth formed a hard line and her countenance poignantly mirrored the last time he saw Sakura in his own time, right before she tried to kill him and Sasuke knew she was lying.

"Sasuke..." Kakashi warned.

Sasuke ignored him and whirled on Naruto. "You're okay with this?"

Bewildered, Naruto looked back and forth between Kakashi and Sakura for guidance before realizing that the action seemed to be inciting Sasuke even further. "Well, I don't know... I mean, I'm mad, but..."

"Figures. Didn't you hear him? He thinks you're not good enough for chunin. You'll just go along with anything, won't you? You think you can be Hokage like that?"

"Hey, that's not fair. Don't be such a bastard, Sasuke-"

Overcome with emotion and close to bursting at the seams, Sasuke ran off mid-sentence, and the rest of his team stood by uneasily as they watched him fly down the path until he disappeared from view.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Kakashi sighed. "That went well."


Beyond livid, Sasuke stumbled through town, not knowing or caring where he was going. He only knew that he had to get as far away as possible, because even though he wanted to lash out at Kakashi, it would only end in humiliation and defeat.

Kakashi was going to ruin everything. The copycat ninja was bitter that Sasuke didn't need his guidance, jealous that he had learned chidori on his own, and was holding Sasuke back out of pure spite. Kakashi had to know they were ready: after all, he had nominated them last time around, and Sasuke's skills were far more advanced than they had been back then. But Kakashi held all the power here—if he wanted to stop them from progressing, all it took was a word. And he had done it.

Before Sasuke knew what he was doing, his fist was bleeding and his arm was halfway through the fence bordering the Uchiha complex—but he still couldn't feel the pain. He absently removed his hand from the fixture and watched dispassionately as splinters of wood drifted to the floor.

As suddenly as it had arrived, his anger abated and panic rose in its stead, his throat nearly seizing up from the intensity. Sasuke's back hit the wall and he slid down the side of the fence, his knees drawn up, his eyes unfocused as he stared steadily at the floor beneath his feet.

The Chunin Exams were his only link to Orochimaru and Kabuto. There was a slight possibility that he'd be allowed to attend the event as a bystander, but then again, the only genin he recalled seeing in the audience were previous contenders that had failed. And even if he was allowed in, there would be no guarantee that Orochimaru would even search for Sasuke this time around. What if Orochimaru thought he was an unsuitable host? Even before, the snake-sannin had repeatedly tested him before deciding Sasuke was worthy of the attention. Why would he even bother with someone who hadn't even been recommended for the exams in the first place? And if he didn't meet Kabuto, how would he ever run across Higurashi? What if he was stuck in this alternate time—forever?

No cursed seal, no power, no revenge, no returning... What was he supposed to do? What could he do?


Sasuke had returned to aimlessly pacing through the narrow streets of Konoha, lost in thought, but the words rapidly racing through his mind were ultimately strung together in a manner that was too incoherent to decipher.

Resentment, frustration, confusion and fear all rolled into one overwhelming package until he could no longer discern exactly what he was feeling. It was almost too much: he had always felt, far stronger than most people, far more than he wanted to and he had never been taught how to contain it all, how to manage the onslaught of emotions that plagued him. Had Itachi felt the same way? Were all Uchihas like this? It was something he'd never know.

In the heart of Konoha, Sasuke passed Ichiraku's from a distance and did a quick a double-take: Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto were sitting at the bar, less than a dozen feet away, blithely unaware of his presence. He stopped midstride and fixed an unwavering gaze on his teammates. Naruto was happily guzzling down ramen, all past grievances forgiven in the face of being treated to lunch. Kakashi had his book out and although his mask was firmly secured in place, half of his ramen was gone and Sakura was smiling at both of her teammates, her pink hair waving through the air as she shook her head at Naruto's lack of manners; she leaned over to say something to Kakashi and he reached over to ruffle her hair—

White hot fury rolled through Sasuke once more, but it abruptly cooled and left Sasuke with a clear enough mind to start thinking rationally.

There had to be a way around this. He wasn't going to stand idly by and let Kakashi ruin his chance to get back to his own time—or ruin his chance to regain the power he had lost.

But what could he do? He certainly wasn't strong enough to kill Kakashi here, and the majority of his past tactics generally consisted of two steps: get stronger and destroy all opposition. Sasuke's plans hadn't ever needed to evolve further, and only now was he starting to regret that. With no mangekyo sharingan and no cursed seal, he didn't have the power to throw strategy to the wind.

There had to be some way to weasel his way into the exams; there was still time, too. All he needed was a recommendation, but unfortunately, only their appointed jonin instructor had the ability to give it. Kakashi's word was final. Wasn't it?


"Hand me that scroll, will you?"

Iruka fumbled for the rolled up parchment and handed it to Sarutobi, who was up to his neck in paperwork in preparation for the upcoming exams. The chunin absently adjusted his pony tail and scratched the tip of his nose before letting out a long sigh. "I'm telling you, those kids just aren't ready..."

Sarutobi grunted; Iruka had been going on and on about this for the last couple of days. He seemed genuinely worried about the rookie genin and no amount of reassurance from the Hokage (or anyone else for that matter) was enough to dissuade him.

From across the table, Fujioka snorted lightly in response. "Don't be ridiculous. The Hokage would never have allowed them otherwise-"

There was a soft knock from outside, and the Hokage inclined his head briefly at the interruption. "Come in."

The door slid open, and Sarutobi looked up in surprise as the visitor entered the room. "What can I do for you, Sasuke?"

The dark-haired genin hesitated for a moment, looking paler than usual as he approached the desk. "I need to speak with you."

Sarutobi leaned forward as he nodded, motioning for Sasuke to continue; both Iruka and Fujioka began shifting papers around on the desk in an effort to look busy as they furtively listened in.

When Sasuke made no move to speak, Sarutobi dropped a hand to the desk and tapped his fingers rhythmically. "Well?"

"Sorry," Sasuke said. "This is hard..."

"Team Seven was assigned a mission not too long ago, if I'm not mistaken. Shouldn't you be leaving soon?"

Sasuke pinched his lips. "That's just it. I don't," He paused and let out a sharp breath of air in frustration. "I can't do this anymore. I can't go on these missions like everything's normal, pretending that I don't know what I know."

Sarutobi's back straightened slightly, his interest piqued, and the sound of shuffling papers came to a halt.

"I didn't want to say anything before. I was... afraid," Sasuke admitted, his voice bitter and tinged with disgust. "I used to always be alone. I didn't have family, I didn't have anyone. But it's different now. I care about my teammates. They're... my friends," He bit out with some uncertainty. "And I don't want to see them hurt."

"Go on."

"I thought I could ignore the warnings. That if I just pretended not to see, it would go away, but I can't..." Sasuke took a deep, steadying breath before meeting the Hokage's questioning gaze with determination. "There's something I think you should know about Kakashi and Sakura."


A/N: There's a happy ending somewhere, eventually, I promise... So don't get too down (doctor's orders). Thanks for coming along—it's gonna to be a bumpy ride.