10.
I woke up early and was immediately busy with other things, which was a blessing because when I had other things to do I wasn't nervous to the point of queasy. I got my sleeping bag and overnight pack together and hurried back to my house to get ready. I had a quick breakfast and a shower, put on my dark reddish brown kunoichi dress and equipment, tied my hair up in its bun. I gazed at myself in the mirror for a moment. I looked as I usually did, only a little pale and wan with shadows under my eyes. Hopefully no one in the stadium would notice.
The stadium. Jesus.
I went downstairs and kissed my parents goodbye. They each wished me good luck and said they'd be watching in the stands. (Sasuke would also be in the stands, watching, as would Hinata, Kiba, and Ino. I wasn't sure about Lee and TenTen, because I hadn't spoken to Lee since the day before yesterday.) It felt a little strange to be giving my parents my love, not at all like I was a ninja who might be going off to die.
I stopped by a cafe and had a tea. I had to wait for the stands to fill before it was time to meet by the stage doors to go inside the stadium myself. I sipped reflexively, clutching my cup like I was an addict and it was a bag full of my drugs. Everyone around me was moving past me toward the stands, or was about to be moving in that direction. Excited chatter surrounded me and filled me. Everyone was looking forward to a good show. Would I be able to provide that for them? Would I be able to live up to Kakash-sensei's and Kurenai-sensei's expectations of me, let alone the judges'?
At last, I got up and walked slowly through the village streets to the stadium doors. All the other examinees were already assembled behind them, except for Naruto, who had not gotten back yet with Kakashi. I was a little worried. Would they make it in time?
Everyone else looked vicious and contemptuous, so I went to stand beside Shikamaru and Chouji, who were there together. "Where's your teammate?" Shikamaru asked.
"He was off training outside the village this month with Kakashi-sensei," I said worriedly. "I don't know where they are..."
Shikamaru sighed. "This is all so troublesome."
"I'm scared," Chouji admitted.
"If you win, you'll be in for the biggest feast of your life," said Shikamaru. "Just think of the food, man."
I caught Gaara's gaze - he was watching me expressionlessly again. I made a face at him, flipping him off, and a humorless smile flitted across his gaunt features. He looked away, amused in his own jaded, vicious way.
"Lunatics," I heard Shikamaru mutter. "Both of you. A couple of lunatics."
I'd gotten Gaara to look away, so I was satisfied.
All of a sudden, a bang echoed, a stream of smoke filling the air above the stadium. That was our cue to come inside. The doors were pulled open and, shaking, I walked out onto the arena floor alongside the other contenders to a stadium full of loud cheers.
Now that it was happening, the nervousness faded away, to be replaced by an anticipatory, strained, on edge sort of feeling. This was how it had always been, during practical tests or in Academy spars. We were assembled in one line on the dirt floor of the stadium, a new examiner standing before us. The crowds around us were very loud. I could see seats for the Hokage and the Kazekage raised high up above the rest of the audience. Naruto still hadn't arrived.
"Everyone show your faces to the crowds," said the examiner, a tall, casual man with long brown hair and a senbon needle in place of a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. "You're the main event."
He turned around and stood with us, at attention. And we just stood there and let people take their pictures and have their fill. It was strangely embarrassing. I wasn't sure if I should be smiling or looking serious.
Then my teammates made an entrance in the most extravagant way possible. Kakashi and Naruto jumped from the top of the stands and straight over the heads of the crowd to leap down onto the stadium floor. There were gasps and applause; a chorus of murmurs broke out among the audience, because standing there was one Uzumaki Naruto.
He looked different. That was the first thing I noticed. Kakashi had traded in his jumpsuit for a dark jacket and pants, with only an orange T-shirt on underneath. He looked more like a ninja, but somehow less like the Naruto I'd always known and loved. Then he grinned, bright and confident, and the cameras flashed. Kakashi was there with him, faux casual. I could practically picture Sasuke glowering in envy.
"Geez, they make quite a picture, don't they?" Shikamaru asked, and he was not the only examinee who seemed somewhat annoyed at being showed up. Oh well. I guessed we weren't here to make friends.
"Really, Kakashi?" I heard the examiner mutter. Kakashi shrugged, unapologetic.
I hurried over to them. "Late much?" I asked, putting a hand on my hip and smirking. "So, how did it go?"
"Great!" said Naruto eagerly. "He was a slave driver!"
"Naruto has an impressive ability not to pass out," said Kakashi.
"But Sensei," I said, noticing, "you're injured." There was a bandage around his shoulder and upper arm.
Kakashi shrugged. "Naruto got a little feral. We almost had to put him down."
"Ah, screw you. After all that time together? No love."
But I knew what that really meant. Naruto's demon had hurt Kakashi. "Did it all turn out okay, though?" I asked, trying to seem like I was kidding.
"Oh," said Kakashi vaguely, "I think it was definitely worth our while." That sounded distinctly dangerous.
"I'm looking forward to your fight," I said, grinning.
"And I'm looking forward to yours," said Naruto. "I'm terrified by all that freaky shit you learned from Kurenai."
"Ha! As you should be!"
"Hey, you two, get in line. Kakashi, go sit in the stands," said the examiner in annoyance at last. We went to go stand in line next to each other and Kakashi left to find Sasuke.
Once we were close together, I leaned over to Naruto and whispered in his ear, "Gaara tried to kill Lee in his hospital room." Naruto's eyes widened and he looked over at me. "We caught him at it. He said he holds a demon, too," I added, even softer, so no one would be able to hear but us. "He's been alone all his life and his father's always trying to kill him. That's why he is the way he is."
Naruto looked stunned, caught by this in a way I hadn't been, because he could relate. After a moment, he stood straight, his face darkening. He looked, quite honestly, like he wanted to kill a bitch. Naruto nodded in thanks to me for the information, so cold he almost reminded me of Sasuke.
The Hokage moved from his chair to stand in front of a microphone and speak to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to Konohagakure's Chuunin Selection Exam! We will now begin the main matches with those who have passed the preliminary exam! Please enjoy watching." He sat back down, to some applause.
The replacement examiner stepped up, talking to us examinees. "Listen up! Please note that the landscape for your fighting has changed." It had. There were stone walls all around us, the stands raised up above the walls and far away. The floor was earth, and there were trees and bushes around the perimeter. "With that said, the same rules apply as in the preliminaries: namely, that there aren't any. The match will only end if someone is dead, unconscious, or surrenders. But if I decide that the match is over, I will stop the match. Don't fight me on that. Got it?
"The first match is Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuuga Neji. Everyone else, you're going to wait up there."
He pointed to a balcony raised high above the edge of the field, accessed from a tunnel and then a staircase. The idea of going down a dark, creepy tunnel alongside lots of people whose goal in the next twenty four hours was to kill me aside, at least it hadn't been me going first.
When I saw the view out of the whole field from the balcony, I realized this seat was actually very convenient. I was close enough to see and hear what was going on, but far enough away that I could see the whole expanse of the field and I wouldn't be hurt. They'd made it easy for us to scope out the competition.
Naruto and Neji had stayed on the field, facing each other. Naruto was unusually serious, glaring. This was no laughing matter for him - this was personal. Neji was calm, cool, and confident. He didn't expect to be beaten, didn't know much about Naruto aside from what he'd seen in the preliminary, and seemingly had no idea Naruto was in any way emotionally involved with Hinata.
The examiner looked from one to the other. "First match..." he said, "begin!" And he jumped back.
"Go, Naruto, beat him!" I was unable to repress the shout, jumping a little on my feet. I saw some of my fellow examinees look at me sideways. Perhaps they considered my cheering unsightly. I decided in that moment that I did not care.
Neji and Naruto each got into a stance. "You should surrender," said Neji calmly. "You will lose."
Naruto snarled. "Fuck you." Neji's eyes narrowed.
Neji activated his Byakugan eyes, the temples around the pupil-less silver bulging with chakra. Naruto made a hand seal and sent a whole host of Kage Bunshin to run at Neji. Meanwhile, Naruto himself hung back, watching. It was almost as if he were testing Neji's abilities out.
Neji fought with the clones, standard hand to hand against Jyuuken. There were more of the Narutos and they were all good at taijutsu, so all things considered it was alarming how fast Neji moved through them. In under five minutes, they were all gone, Neji with hardly a scratch on him, and then Neji charged swiftly at the real Naruto, hands poised for a strike.
Naruto did not let Neji get near him. He made an unfamiliar set of hand seals and did a water spell, shooting a jet of boiling water straight at Neji. Then Neji turned and started spinning, emitting chakra from all over his body, in a special Hyuuga move called Kaiten that only the most talented could do. The spun chakra being emitted in the air acted as an impenetrable shield against any sort of attack. All the water went right off the shield of the Kaiten, flying away harmlessly into the air. Slowly, Neji stopped, coming around to face Naruto again.
Naruto seemed to be thinking, hard. He still hadn't approached Neji to actually touch him.
"There is nothing that can best me," Neji predicted, still cool and eerily calm. "You have been fated to lose this match. I have been fated to win."
"You're really big on fate," Naruto noted, puzzled.
"Our fates are decided at birth," said Neji.
"Yeah," said Naruto, "you know, I don't buy that so much." There was sarcasm to his voice. "My parents died the day I was born, in the Kyuubi attack. If we were fated at birth, I'd be dead."
Neji barely blinked. "Then your parents were fated to die," he said, "and you, fated to live."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, and for the first time he looked angry. "You know what? You're kind of an asshole," he said at last.
Neji frowned. "I speak the truth," he responded sharply.
"You speak your truth," Naruto corrected him.
Neji paused for a moment. "Yes," he said, and then he sounded bitter, "that is correct. I speak mine. Do you want to know my truth?
"The Hyuuga have a secret ninja technique that is passed on from generation to generation through the head family. It is known as the cursed seal technique. The cursed seal is in the symbol of a caged bird. It is a symbol of those who are bound within an inescapable destiny.
"One day, when I was four, this detestable seal was carved into my forehead using the cursed seal technique. That day, a big festival was going on within the village of Konoha. Because on that same day, the Hidden Village of Cloud, which had been at war with Konoha for a long time, had their ninja come to Konoha to conclude a peace treaty. All the clans came out in celebration.
"All except the Hyuuga. Because that day was the long awaited day when the head family's successor, Hyuuga Hinata-sama, was turning three.
"My father, Hyuuga Hizashi, and Hinata-sama's father, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama, were born as twin brothers. But Hinata-sama's father, Hiashi-sama, was born first. He became a head family member. And my father, born second, became a branch family member, branded with the cursed seal. I was branded with my own cursed seal on the day the head family's successor turned three.
"This seal on my forehead is not a decoration. As a branch family member, I was always told by my father that I must live to protect Hinata-sama and the ability of the Hyuuga. That was my duty as a branch family member. But when we go against this duty, the results can be grave.
"The first time I ever saw the seal activated, father and I were watching Hiashi-sama teach Hinata-sama Jyuuken moves. Hinata-sama kept getting them wrong. My father, who knew I could do better, glared at Hinata-sama. Hiashi-sama felt an intent to kill and activated my father's caged bird seal. My father began screaming, writhing on the ground in pain, his seal glowing green. Hiashi-sama told my father this was the only time he would forgive such a thing, and not to forget his fate.
"When a head family member forms a certain seal, the branch family member's brain is invaded, and their brain cells are destroyed one by one. To be put under the seal for too long can lead to insanity, and even death. The cursed seal only disappears after the branch family member is dead, and upon death it seals up the Byakugan.
"You see, the Hyuuga bloodline limit is a rare and powerful ability. All sorts of people are after its secret. So the branch family was created. Through the cursed seal, the branch family is kept subservient to the main family and is only meant to protect the main family. The branch family exists so the main family can prosper. Thus, the Byakugan is always protected.
"Because of this, my father was killed by the main family.
"You see, one night, Hinata-sama was almost kidnapped by someone. Hiashi-sama caught the perpetrator leaving the clan compound, and immediately killed him. The man was discovered later to be Kumo's head ninja, having just finished concluding the peace treaty with Konoha. Kumo wanted the secrets of the Byakugan. Kumo claimed that Konoha had broken the treaty by killing one of their ninja, and made an unfair demand in exchange for keeping the peace. To avoid war, Konoha gave in to the demand. Kumo wanted the dead body of a main Hyuuga family member - in other words, the body of Hiashi-sama. Konoha agreed, and war was averted. All because of the double of Hiashi-sama that was sent in Hiashi-sama's place -
"The body of my father, with its sealed Byakugan.
"The only reason my father is dead and Hiashi-sama is alive is because of the simple fate of birth: one was born before the other. Everything is decided by fate, by birth - including strength, and weakness.
"I was fated to be strong and yet be a branch family member. To be fated... to carry a seal that can never be removed... you know nothing of what that means!"
Neji was breathing sharply, his face twisted, by the time he was finished.
It was an awful story. But I realized Neji was wrong. Naruto did know what it was like to be fated with a seal that could never be removed. He just couldn't say anything. I met Sasuke's eyes across the stadium, and he looked as solemn as I did. Kakashi was quiet.
Naruto stood there, teeth gritted, hands clenched into fists for a moment. Then he seemed to lose his head completely! He charged at Neji, throwing a barrage of weapons that Neji immediately went to block with Kaiten. I was horrified for a moment, wondering if Naruto was going to just run into one of Neji's deadly close range attacks -
But the minute Neji went into Kaiten, Naruto stopped, made a hand seal, and put his hands to the earth. There was a pause - had the spell not worked? - but then I realized Neji's Kaiten was slowly sinking further and further down into a deep hole, like it was a drill... Naruto stood, made a different hand seal, and threw a sharp jet of wind straight at Neji's Kaiten. And this, I realized, was clever, because the only element the Kaiten did not keep out was air - instead, it relied on air, the chakra mingling with it in order to form the shield. The minute the jet of wind shot at Neji's shield, it shuddered and Neji was thrown off balance. He'd been spinning so fast that he began to fall...
And then Naruto put his hands to the earth again and the earth closed up around Neji, burying him. I recognized that spell - Orochimaru had used it on me. In a moment, all I could see of Neji above the earth was his face.
Neji's eyes popped open, and not all the Byakugan in the world could save him from having been subdued. I saw rage pass across his eyes for a moment - rage, and disbelief.
Naruto walked up to Neji then, not a scratch on him. "I pretended to lose my temper," Naruto said, his eyes narrowed dangerously, sharp anger flaring within them. "That's what you expected me to do, right? Shout and run at you?"
"Why haven't you killed me?" Neji demanded.
"Because I don't want to, asshole," Naruto snapped, and for the first time Neji looked surprised, shutting his mouth. "Now, you're going to listen to me, because I have something I want to say.
"You blame a lot of the horrible shit that's happened to you on fate. And that's fine, it's a natural response. But what's not okay is when you go and use the horrible shit that's happened to you as an excuse to hurt a nice girl like Hinata. And, before you get all hissy, because I see you about to, no I don't give a flying fuck that she's from the main family. I think you were just using your fight with her as an excuse to try to defy this fate you supposedly believe in so much!"
Neji was dead silent.
"Now, you're wrong. Strength and weakness are not set at birth. They aren't black and white. 'This person's born weak, that person's born strong, that's just the way it is.' Huh-uh. Doesn't work like that. You want to know something? I was a complete failure in the Academy. Nearly didn't graduate. And I know for a fact you were the top rookie of your graduating class, and I just beat you. How? I used to be the class clown in class, and someone kindly pointed out to me that treating a fight like a prank would help me strategize better. So even though I was weak, the potential to be strong was there in me the whole time."
I smiled.
"And Hinata's the exact same way. That kindness all you assholes keep ragging on her about? It would be a hell of a thing in diplomacy, which as I understand it is something all you stuffy stick-up-the-butt people really seem to care about. Fuck if I know why, but you do."
There were some chuckles, and I realized a whole audience full of people was listening - including the Hyuuga.
"So people can change, fuck face, alright? And I'm formally informing you that I just beat you on behalf of Hyuuga Hinata, who has the remarkable ability to make good friends. Maybe learn something from her."
Naruto turned to leave, and then he paused. "Oh, yeah. And I'll put 'change the Hyuuga clan' on my list of things to do after I make Hokage."
And then, with a speech that had been as long as his actual fight, Uzumaki Naruto walked away from a buried Hyuuga Neji, completely uninjured. And that was that.
"Since his opponent can no longer move, the victor is Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto never even had to use his demon at all. I realized I was very proud of him. That had been... perfect.
Naruto paused, looking for Hinata in the stands. He saw her, and smiled at her. Hinata stood up and started cheering. And then I thought, Ah, fuck it, and I started cheering too. I saw Sasuke, caught between envy, amusement, and genuine respect, start applauding from his place in the stands. Kakashi was clapping. And then everybody in the stands was clapping, a round of applause for the village troublemaker, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto paused, his eyes widening in awe - and then he grinned and started hamming it up a little, bowing and blowing kisses to the audience, and even as my fellow stuffy examinees rolled their eyes the audience laughter and applause increased.
I saw the examiner mutter something to Hyuuga Neji as he was unearthed from the ground by officials. I was never sure what it was the examiner said, but Neji seemed quiet, humbled. Even his anger and resentment were muted. And for some reason, he was a lot less of an asshole after that.
Naruto made it back up the stairs. He leaped up beside me, grinning. "So?! Was I awesome or was I awesome?!"
"Nice to know it hasn't all gone to your head," I said in amusement. Then: "Congratulations, Naruto. Seriously."
"Yeah, when did you get good? Are the only people here who don't know what they're doing me and Chouji?" asked Shikamaru disbelievingly.
"I really hope I don't have to fight you," Chouji admitted.
Naruto swelled with pride.
"The next match is Temari vs Kankurou," the examiner called. "Fighters, please come down to the floor."
I'd sort of been looking forward to this one - teammates and siblings fighting each other. But Temari and Kankurou looked at each other, and then as one they said, "We surrender." The examiner seemed exasperated and everyone else was surprised.
On the surface, the surrender was very touching. Aww, I might have thought a few months ago, they don't want to fight each other. But becoming a ninja had forced me to become better at reading people, and Temari and Kankurou seemed... nervous. Shifty.
Now that I thought about it, it was kind of weird. They had all month to give up and just not show up to the match, and they chose now of all moments to surrender? And there was no hesitation; their surrender was perfectly synchronized, as if predetermined.
Surely they wanted to be considered for Chuunin. It couldn't be that they'd never sparred with each other before. That was all they'd really have to do at this point, is spar. One of them could at least have surrendered and offered up to the other the honor of winning.
Yes, it was decidedly odd. What were Kankurou and Temari up to?
"Akadou Yoroi vs Akimichi Chouji," the examiner called, "please come down to the floor!"
"What? I didn't think I'd have to go next!" said Chouji in a clear state of panic.
"Just do your best," said Shikamaru, and Naruto clapped Chouji on the back.
"You'll do great," Naruto said. Chouji seemed to find this assurance intimidating instead of comforting.
So Chouji and Yoroi went down to the floor. This match didn't last very long. Chouji swelled, turning into his meat tank, and rolled forward to steam roll Yoroi. Yoroi leaped out of the way, waited until Chouji had stopped rolling in confusion (he couldn't see while attacking), and then jumped on top of Chouji.
"It's over," Shikamaru sighed. "Usually, Chouji's attack is done in conjunction with mine and Ino's attacks, which keep the enemy in place."
Yoroi slowly drained away Chouji's chakra, jumping whenever Chouji rolled like he was balancing on top of a ball. There was some laughter from the audience - it did look ridiculous - and Yoroi flushed, angry, and started draining the chakra away faster. Chouji slowly deflated and returned to his normal size, unconscious, with Yoroi standing on top of him draining away the chakra still.
This examiner was quicker than Hayate had been. "The fight's over, break it up," he said sharply, moving forward in annoyance. "Winner: Akadou Yoroi."
There was another round of applause, Yoroi left the field, and Chouji was taken away on a medic stretcher with chakra exhaustion.
"Nara Shikamaru vs Haruno Sakura. Fighters, please come down to the floor."
I felt a jump in the pit of my stomach. It was my turn.
"I really don't want to do this," Shikamaru admitted from beside me. I looked around at him. He did seem reluctant.
"Let's just try to have a good fight," I said. "It's not like we have to kill each other or anything."
"Yeah, but I doubt I'll be able to defeat you," said Shikamaru. I didn't take this to heart. Caution was always best.
We walked past the other examinees, down the stairs and onto the floor. I could hear Naruto cheering for me, loudly and obnoxiously, with enormous enthusiasm. All sorts of people had to be watching me right now: not only important people and exam judges, but Sasuke, Kakashi, Kurenai, Ino, Hinata, Gaara and his siblings, and possibly even Lee and TenTen. My parents were there, too.
As I walked to stand in front of Shikamaru with the examiner, I put my hand in my equipment pouch as if rifling through to check for equipment. From there, I made a hand seal and began to weave the genjutsu around us.
"Begin!" the examiner called, and stepped back.
We paused for a moment, staring at each other. Then, my genjutsu complete, I jumped back. I was invisible - no one could see me - and the illusory me I had standing in my place had not moved from her place staring intensely at Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't take his eyes off my illusory self, and no one in the stands seemed to notice anything. So far, so good.
I snuck around silently and got next to Shikamaru, careful even to breathe not too loudly for fear he might hear me. I had my illusory self charge at Shikamaru suddenly from the front, taking a kunai out so her hand could be seen doing something from the equipment pouch. Shikamaru sighed. "Easy," he said, and made the hand seals to do his shadow catching spell -
Halfway through the spell casting, I swept his legs and he fell flat on his back for no apparent reason. My illusory self paused in confusion. There was laughter from the audience. I wondered if they'd be laughing in a couple of minutes.
"What the hell was that?" Shikamaru asked, sitting up on his elbows. I kicked him in the face, his head snapping back, and the audience gasped. I felt a moment of guilt that I tried hard to quash.
Shikamaru jumped back and moved away from that spot, sensing it was where the attacks were coming from. He glared at Illusory Sakura. "How are you doing that?!"
Illusory Sakura frowned. "Shikamaru, I don't know what's going on! What are you talking about?" She seemed angry, panicked.
But Shikamaru must have been smarter than I gave him credit for, because his eyes narrowed. "I don't believe that act," he said. "It's you. Look, I don't want to have to hit a girl, so can we just -"
The real me, invisible, jumped forward and kneed him in the stomach. Shikamaru doubled over and gasped as all the air rushed out of him.
"Damnit," he said at last, "no matter how you're doing it -!" He made a hand seal and his shadow stretched out to catch...
His shadow slipped right through the illusory shadow and back harmlessly. Shikamaru's eyes widened and I heard a few confused exclamations.
Illusory Sakura blinked innocently - and then she smirked. "What's wrong, Shikamaru?" she asked. "Spell problems?"
"This - this is part of that freaky thing you did against that Gaara kid, isn't it?" said Shikamaru, backing up warily, his eyes roving all around him for some invisible assailant. I chanced another glance around me. Sasuke's eyes had widened, Gaara looked transfixed and intent, Naruto was the picture of bewilderment.
Kurenai had smiled.
Shikamaru threw a knife at Illusory Sakura, who jumped out of the way just to make things confusing. Meanwhile, I was keeping more layers floating on top of this genjutsu layer. Thank God for all that chakra endurance training.
I thought about setting Shikamaru on fire while he couldn't see me, but I didn't want to kill him, so I held back. Instead, I kicked at Shikamaru's knees and he fell over in surprise. "It's changed position!" he said, and jumped away again. "But how? Bunshin can't become invisible..."
And here, his eyes widened. "Bunshin," he muttered in realization. "They're a type of illusion." And then he made the hand seal - "Dispel!"
And he fell straight into the second layer. I jumped out of the way in time and in the second layer I made my illusory self stand where I had been just a moment ago. "Caught you!" said Shikamaru, and I made my illusory self look angry and frustrated. Shikamaru reached out with his shadow, Illusory Sakura jumped back...
And then I timed it just right. I made it look like Shikamaru's shadow had caught the illusionary shadow. My Illusory Self paused, mimicking Shikamaru - that part was really hard.
"See?" said Shikamaru, smirking. "It's getting on later in the day. The shadows are lengthening." I saw disappointment fall over the eyes of my viewers -
And then my real, invisible self spun out and kicked Shikamaru in the side of the face. There were gasps all over the stadium. Shikamaru fell over in shock, and then my illusory self faded away.
"Dispel!" Shikamaru shouted from the ground, making the hand seal, but I always kept my invisibility one layer higher than the level he was on, crafting new layers all the time... so I was not revealed to him. "How many layers are there to this thing?" Shikamaru asked incredulously, and then the real battle began.
I attacked Shikamaru in a flurry of taijutsu moves - he guarded and was beaten back, guarded and was beaten back - not giving him any time to think. But then Shikamaru got tricky. He let me hit him so he could grab my arm, invisible, and hold me there while he got a punch in to my stomach. I gasped involuntarily, nearly losing control of the genjutsu - nearly - and Shikamaru said in exasperation, "There you are. See what you made me do?"
I broke out of Shikamaru's grip, injuring his arm in the process, the way Sasuke had taught me. I jumped back, and Shikamaru followed my line of trajectory cannily. It seemed it would be hard to lose him, so I made an illusory self right in front of my real self; it looked like I'd suddenly appeared to him and so he punched - right through the illusion. That gave me time to get away. I tried to breathe softly, though in reality I was getting tired.
The crowd watched, almost hypnotized, as the strange battle continued. Shikamaru sent out a flurry of kunai in all directions, as if trying to hit me or find out the place where I was. I channeled chakra into my feet and stood sideways on the stone wall just above the trajectory of the kunai, but then I noticed there were explosive tags tied to the ends of the kunai. I jumped back... the explosive tags did nothing. They had failed to detonate properly.
More assured, I went to go back down the wall to the ground - and then I paused, startled, as a shadow snuck out toward my own invisible one! But it was coming - from the kunai? And it could sense where my shadow was without visibility?
I jumped back away from the shadow; the supposed failed explosive tag tied to the kunai flashed and Shikamaru threw another kunai in the general direction I was in. I had to dodge to get away from it, and not dodge toward any of the other lodged kunai, which was actually very hard to do. It severely limited my movements.
Shikamaru smirked grimly. "They're Nara family made kunai," he said. "Their shadows sense out other shadows in the surrounding area; the tags attached to them flash whenever the kunai shadows become close to hitting a target. They're good as sentries."
So I had to evade all the other kunai around the field if I wanted to hit Shikamaru, which was problematic because he started sticking close to the wall, with its shadows and kunai. One thing I did notice was that - as had happened before in the hospital - shadow spell times ran out and then the shadows retracted again temporarily. That made it safe to jump in and hit Shikamaru, as long as I jumped quickly back out again before his shadow reached out for mine. The shadow's length had a certain limit, so as long as I jumped back far enough, the shadow couldn't catch me even if I jumped backward in a straight line.
I was getting tired, shaky. It was time to finish this. If only I could land a good hit on him without resorting to a fire jutsu...
Then I got too tired one time, and I had to use a fire spell. I didn't jump back fast enough in time and his shadow snatched out for me; so, panicking, I made a tiny fireball appear from my hand and light the space bright. No shadows around for a split instant, and that was all I needed to jump away. Shikamaru flinched away from the sudden explosion of fire, and there were screams and gasps, and Shikamaru shouted, "Shit, she can use fire too?!" He leaned over and scowled at the examiner. "Examiner, I want to surrender."
"Are you sure?" The examiner raised his eyebrows, smirking. "If she had to resort to fire spells, that means you nearly hit her."
But I was caught by something Shikamaru had revealed as he'd leaned over. He'd showed me the tag tied to the kunai behind him. There was writing on it, small enough that only I could see: Suna's plotting something, it warned me.
I almost didn't respond to the message - what if it was a trick? But at last, I decided I couldn't risk that, because I too had noticed something odd in Temari and Kankuro's behavior. So I extended the invisibility genjutsu, weaving it around Shikamaru as well; we became visible to each other, and a vision of Shikamaru was put in place where the real Shikamaru had been. The illusory Shikamaru frowned in concentration, looking around, waiting for another attack. Then I had him flinch back as if from an assault, craft a shadow again, and then look disappointed when it did nothing.
"You're good at this," was the first thing the real Shikamaru said. "It's actually really alarming."
"Thanks," I said, still frowning and concentrating on crafting the image before me and keeping us not only invisible but silent at the same time. "No one can see or hear us. Come over here." I crouched down, and he crouched beside me. "You're right, Temari and Kankurou are acting oddly. Talk to me."
And Shikamaru did. "I think Suna might be planning some sort of comeuppance against Konoha. They bring in some super strong psycho freak like Gaara," I winced, "and then they have his teammates hold back from revealing all their secrets in the final round? It's weird."
The wheels in my mind spun. "They could be planning something with Orochimaru," I said.
Shikamaru's eyebrows rose. "The S class criminal?"
"He's been spotted in Konoha. It's top secret. He has people on the inside and seems to be trying to cause some sort of mayhem."
"So you're thinking -"
"Maybe he went to Suna. Maybe they're his people. But why go to Suna? They're our ally, aren't they?"
"Not exactly," said Shikamaru darkly. "Well, I mean, they are - nominally. But all the clans know there's some resentment there. After Suna's treaty with Konoha, the Wind Country's Daimyo started giving Konoha a lot of attention. More even than he paid to his own village. So the alliance has been shaky from the start. Suna has a huge inferiority complex. Its supposed weakness could even have been why Gaara was created in the first place."
The information put things in new perspective; it was incredible how fast my viewpoint changed. "So you're saying," I said in dread, "that if they're planning some kind of takeover, Gaara's entire life, supposedly, could have led up to this."
Shikamaru winced. "And we're talking about someone who gets off on killing anyway -"
"And who holds a demon."
We looked at each other. "We have to warn somebody without letting Suna know that we're warning somebody," I said in realization.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Shikamaru asked as we stood up, our plan decided. "You're sure you want to go through with it?"
I nodded. It would be disappointing, not being able to advance to Chuunin, but - "I can take it."
Shikamaru sighed. "I would take it, but I can't do genjutsu with one-handed seals. Okay. Let's do this."
Shikamaru melded back in with his illusory self; I let it go at the same time I let his silent invisibility go. I kept my own. Shikamaru paused, and then darted directly toward where he knew me to be. There were gasps.
We tried to make it really obvious to a Jounin who was trying to puzzle it out:
I let myself get caught and my genjutsu broke for no apparent reason. Shikamaru grabbed me physically, pushed me to the ground, and held a knife to my throat, instead of just using his shadow spell to catch me like he normally would have.
"Got you at last," said Shikamaru, feigning a smirk, and I tried to look suitably angry.
And then I used the arm I had let fall behind my back to make the hand seal. I'd had to let go of all of my layers of genjutsu, and then have my hand hidden by Shikamaru's push, in order to do what I needed to do next. This part was important.
I silently made a genjutsu appear to four people, and only four people, in the stadium. The Hokage, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma all received the message, words floating in the air before them:
Shikamaru and I think Suna is planning something.
I saw all three Jounin stand up.
"I surrender," I said. Because really, I had just won.
"Winner: Nara Shikamaru," said the examiner.
Now I would just have to wait and see if we'd been right, and hope the Jounin would know what to do. I looked across the stadium to the Hokage: he met my eyes, his own deadly serious, and ever so slightly, he nodded once. I saw him look sideways at the Kazekage.
As Shikamaru and I walked back down the tunnel and up the staircase, we heard Gaara and Aburame Shino's match called out across the field. We were halfway up the inside staircase when we heard a horrible screaming and the vicious sound of bloody nails being scratched against the stone ground. Shikamaru and I looked at each other in horror and ran up the rest of the stairs only to stop at the top of the staircase. I caught my breath.
Two corpses had been splattered in blood against the walls of the dark space just before the entryway out to the balcony. Gaara was emerging from that space and walking slowly toward the staircase, sand swirling around him. I saw an image of his two pale, terrified siblings cowering in the entryway behind him. Gaara's eyes were wide and bloodshot, ringed with dark shadows, his face drawn and white. He saw me and before I could even move the sand had thrown me against the wall and pinned me there. He got close up into my face; a snarl had twisted his features.
"You were there," he hissed. "You were really there when you - when you touched my -" He was breathing hard, clutching at his head, his eyes squinted in pain. From the sounds of things, he'd figured out how I'd slapped him.
Shikamaru moved to do something and I shook my head minutely. There was something about Gaara as he was now. Something that was even more off than usual.
I took a deep breath and tried to sound brave, but when I spoke my voice still trembled. "Why did you kill those people? Were they... were they examinees...?" I was terrified he'd tried to kill someone like Naruto.
A cruel smile twisted Gaara's features. "They tried to kill me so their lord could win a bet." Gaara laughed his high, unhinged sort of laugh. "Isn't that funny? They tried to kill me..." Then he stopped, his face working, his head seizing spasmodically. "I know," he said after a moment to no one. "I know, Mother. I'm sorry. They were inferior. I'm sorry. Why don't I...? Why don't I try feeding you to her?" Gaara looked over at me and brightened. "Yes... that's perfect... she'd love you..." There was a strange sort of hysteria in his blank green eyes.
Who was he talking to? Did he hear voices? Or was that the demon he was talking to - the demon he called "mother"?
Gaara was still speaking, beaming, staring at me blankly. "I could go deep into you, into your insides... inside insides..." An unhinged laugh. "All warm and full of blood... Your blood... I bet your blood is beautiful..."
"Holy shit..." I heard Shikamaru whisper, backing up, staring in horror.
A sense of false calm and impending death came over me. The calm of my words was so disconnected from the terror I was feeling inside. "I'm flattered, Gaara. But, you know? Maybe we could save the whole insides thing for another time."
Gaara had trailed off in thought, mumbling to himself, staring at a place above me. Then, suddenly, he looked back at me as if caught off-guard, deceptively innocent. "What? Oh, sorry." Another high laugh. "I'm always a little off on the full moon."
I licked my lips. "I was saying," I said softly, "that maybe, you could let me go."
"Let you go? Why? Are you afraid of me?" There was a kind of glee in his eyes, but his face was entirely serious as he looked at me with his head cricked, darkly.
I leaned back, trying to get away from his face, from his eyes. I looked upward at the dull ceiling, everything smelled like blood, and I suddenly realized I was trying very hard not to cry. I took a deep breath. "... Yes," I admitted, tears swimming in my eyes. "Yes. Please. Please let me go. Please just leave me alone. Please. Please."
The sand tightened around me, burning, painful, squeezing. Oh God, I really was going to die -! "And why," he hissed, the sand shaking me, "why should I have to do something like that?!"
I took a deep, sobbing breath and, reflexively, I reached up to move my hand where it was pinned at my side. The hand moved along underneath the sand to stop at the place right above Gaara's heart, more to try to put some physical distance between us than anything else. It was meant as a shield.
But Gaara looked down at the hand on his heart as though I had done something incredible, as if I had made some sort of physical attack. I could hear his heart thudding and could feel my warmth moving into him, and it was a very humanizing moment, and Gaara just stood there, staring at my hand, breathing hard.
And then, suddenly, he snapped.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
He was screaming, clutching his head. The sand was thrashing around everywhere, and I shrieked out and shot a fireball upward at the sand that was lashing out toward me. There was a vicious shatter of glass, and I leaped away, rolling away, ducking and covering my head, shaking...
I looked up.
Glass littered the floor, a part of Gaara's sand having been torn away from him; it lay shattered on the ground below. The fire had turned the sand into glass fragments. Gaara had stopped abruptly, choking to a halt, because Shikamaru's shadow had caught him again. Aburame Shino was standing in the doorway.
"Sabaku no Gaara," he said, with a brave, fearsome kind of cool which was actually quite amazing, "the examiner is calling for us. People are getting impatient. I believe your fight is with me."
Gaara paused, taking a deep breath, shuddering. Then, slowly, the sand retreated back inside the gourd strapped to his back. Shikamaru released him, white as a sheet, and Gaara paused for a moment before slowly starting to make his way down the stairs as though nothing had happened at all. The way he moved reminded me of the slow way a mentally ruined old homeless man would walk down the street: it was just as frightening, and just as defeated.
Shino walked past us, and then paused in surprise as I reached up and hugged him. "Thank you," I whispered.
Just in case I never saw him alive again.
I walked out onto the balcony only to find all the remaining examinees standing there, white and mute, staring ahead of themselves, shaking faintly. "He's gone down onto the field," I said quietly, and everyone on the balcony relaxed minutely. Naruto came over and hugged me, fiercely.
"Sorry. We did warn you," said Kankurou quietly. Temari looked away as if ashamed. I couldn't tell how my face looked.
"Begin!" the examiner called out, and he stepped back.
Shino and Gaara stood there, watching each other for a moment. Behind his glasses, Shino's eyes had narrowed. "The kikai bug sentries placed around the Aburame clan compound once found a trail of sand sneaking inside during this previous month of training," he said. "The alarm was sounded and when Jounin of the clan went to look in on the matter, nothing was discovered. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"Damnit, Gaara," I heard Kankurou mutter, and Temari and Kankurou exchanged glances. "He jeopardized -" Temari broke him off with big eyes, shaking her head sharply.
Shikamaru and I exchanged a glance of our own and then pretended to have seen nothing.
Covertly, I checked. The Chuunin judges were gone from their seats. The Konoha Jounin in the audience were gone from their seats. If I looked close enough, I could see shadowy forms hidden in the shadows of the stadium. ANBU were filing quietly into the stadium. If I looked close enough, I could even see ninja leaping out into the village beyond from over the top of the stadium; they must be scanning the village and then checking the perimeter for any signs of unusual or suspicious activity. And now, for some reason, there was an additional guard to the Hokage, a man I recognized from where he had been watching in the audience: tall and broad shouldered, with long, messy white hair. He was hiding in the doorway behind the two Kage and the Kazekage did not appear to have noticed him yet, so he must be good.
Hokage safe? Check.
Stadium safe? Check.
Village and perimeter being scanned for unusual or suspicious activity? Check.
Higher level ninja of the village alerted? Check.
I couldn't see what else could be amiss. Whatever Temari and Kankurou were waiting on, whatever plan was going to be put into effect, I couldn't see how it was going to take hold. Even if they released Gaara on everyone -
Wait. Was that their plan?
"Your brother has been busy," I said sharply, after the pause in between when I'd had these thoughts. "He also stalked me and tried to murder my boyfriend."
Temari and Kankurou jumped slightly and looked around to me. My arms crossed, I kept my eyes on the fighters. There was no need for them to know we knew anything.
Shino attacked Gaara outright with a vast swarm of flying kikai bug insects. Gaara's shield of sand protected him, enveloping him completely, and then an arm of sand blew straight through the bugs and slammed into Shino. The following several minutes were painful. We watched Shino get beaten around by the arms of sand, thrown all over the stadium, hit painfully -
"This is boring," said Gaara at last in irritation, and he moved to crush Shino with sand -
And then paused, falling to one knee, his eyes widening.
Covering the undersides of Gaara's outstretched arms were whole layers of creepy, crawly bugs. Shino had let himself get thrown around so his bugs would have time to crawl underneath Gaara's arms of sand and attach themselves to his sand armor - because with the sand armor in place, Gaara wouldn't be able to feel them. And the sand armor consumed a lot of chakra anyway.
I was about to shout out - and then I broke off in horror.
Because Gaara had another kind of chakra, hidden below the first. The demon's. And I watched as it began to shape him, change him, morph him -
"Oh, God," said Kankurou, sounding horrified and disgusted. "Here it comes..."
"... I surrender," said Shino's voice, suddenly, clearly, into the silence. "I surrender!"
There were no gasps, there was no horror - nothing. Nothing from the audience. I looked across... and I saw that everyone seemed to have fallen unconscious. It was a sleeping genjutsu. Everyone had fallen unconscious, except for the ninja, who had run out to engage with other ninja in battle. Suna ninja and Oto ninja, jumping out from disguises, were suddenly fighting Konoha ninja all across the stadium. Then there was a huge explosion and I looked up to see that Oto nin had erected an impenetrable barrier around the Kazekage and the Hokage, keeping everyone else out. But then I saw that this wasn't quite true. The white-haired man from the audience had made it inside the barrier as well. The Kazekage looked displeased to see him, and then I saw him rip off his face to reveal himself to be - Orochimaru. So, wait. Where was the Kazekage?
Then there was another crash, and I looked around to see that Gaara was half-human and half-beast. He had morphed into some weird sort of animal, sand colored limbs coming out wantonly from his tiny body, and he was going to attack Shino, and then Temari and Kankurou were jumping down to meet Gaara. I went to intercept them, and was blind-sided by Akadou Yoroi, who grabbed me up in his tight grip and then I could feel a strange sucking feeling in the direction of my chakra coils, and I started to get more and more tired...
No!
I broke out of the grip the way Sasuke had taught me and whirled around to face Yoroi. "You're a spy," I spat, my face twisted in disgust. "Traitor!"
And then, even as he smirked, I made a seal behind my back. An illusion of Sakura charged at Yoroi, and he went to grab her up again and suck all the chakra out of her, but unbeknownst to him there was a kunai with an explosive tag on it hidden within the illusion of the running Sakura. He went to suck out all the chakra... and the tag detonated.
I was thrown back on my feet at the explosion, and when I looked, there were only crumbled remains where once there had been Akadou Yoroi. I smirked, satisfied. "That's for sucking chakra out of my friends, you asshole!"
I got up and I looked around. Konoha nin had so far outnumbered the enemy that they were spilling out onto the field. I saw Yakushi Kabuto, of all people, jump out and away from the crowd, running away over the rooftops. "Traitor!" I heard a Konoha nin shout. "Coward!" Konoha nin went out in active pursuit after him - had Kabuto's entire team been spies?
Konoha nin were coming toward the Suna team: Baki, Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou.
"Sir," said Kankurou, "Gaara's almost out of chakra!" For Gaara had indeed shrunk again, no longer half demon but just a little boy. In all the chaos, Shino had run away.
"Damn!" I heard Baki snarl. "Abort! Abort! Run for it!"
Temari and Kankurou, carrying Gaara, went to run - but no way were they getting off that easy. "Naruto! Shikamaru!" I called to them, they nodded, and we took off after the Suna team, Shikamaru swearing in complaint and Naruto charging forward at the front. In a moment I passed over the place where the other rookies lay unconscious. Sasuke and Shino were not unconscious and were waking up the others. I waved to them. "Follow us!" I shouted. And so Ino, Shikamaru, Naruto, Sasuke, me, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba took off after the three.
"We have to make sure they get away from Konoha! Then we need to neutralize them as a threat!" I shouted. "Gaara has a demon inside him; it's really powerful! They could try to use it to attack the village! Naruto!" Naruto nodded, his face deadly.
"We'll have to break up," Shikamaru called. "We'll each go after a specific target, so our teams can manage swiftness and efficiency better. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke will take Gaara! Ino and I will take Temari! Kiba, Shino, Hinata, you take Kankurou!"
"It will require great strategy," said Shino quietly. "Kankurou has his machines." He nodded, prepared for the challenge.
We passed by the white-haired man and the Hokage fighting Orochimaru inside the dome, watched over by helpless ANBU on the outside. We passed by Konoha nin fighting invading Oto and Suna nin all across Konoha village. The Oto and Suna nin were being driven right back out because Konoha had gotten the drop on them. The civilians were already safely in underground shelters.
"It looks like we'll win this battle," I said seriously over the wind, "but this invasion may start a war."
Even Kiba, who had been laughing from the adrenaline and excitement, sobered.