Knitting Fate
Second installment in Canon Patchworking with Uchiha Ren series
Twenty-Ninth Thread
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As I find myself increasingly busy every weekend, I'm moving publication date to Tuesday. Hopefully this will work out.
This chapter has been beta'd for you by hestia8639. Thanks a lot!
My tumblr and deviantart name is KillerGirlFuria, in case any of you wants to spam by askbox. I'm pretty open person, and if anyone would like to discuss CPwUR, or anything else, really, you're very welcome.
"You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday."
― Jason Mraz
0
Ren takes a deep breath and clenches her fists slightly. She's been fighting to stop herself from touching the itching, still slightly open wound on her nose. Fortunately, Hana, ever prepared, had sealed it from all the dust of Iwa with a bit of cloth after flushing it with some liquids – peroxide and… herbs? So, there's that.
Aside from her itchy nose, she was also starting to get anxious. She is pretty confident that she can beat Hibiki – she has been doing so ever since she woke up and was allowed to attend the Academy, really, even when he went at her with Jūken. It's the actual weight of the final match that has started taking its toll on her. Regardless of who she gets matched with, she's pretty much screwed. Her only hope is that they would still be worn out from their previous match.
When the proctor signals the end of the break, she sighs and looks at the rapidly paling Hyūga. Honestly, she'd never thought he could get paler than his clan's usual complexion, but, well. You learn something new every day.
"Good luck," she smirks before jumping off the railing.
"Fifth match!" the proctor yells as they take their places, "Uchiha Ren versus Hyūga Hibiki. Same rules apply as before – fight until the other party yields or is incapable of continuing the fight. Turn away and take ten steps."
Ren turns and does just that, then turns again and looks at her teammate, who is visibly trying to put on a brave face. However, as much as Ren likes to joke about his limited mentality, he knows full well that this, unlike Academy scuffles or training with Shibi, is a real fight. Ren had, after all, pretty much effectively cut off her opponent's hand – and would have decapitated him, or at least severely injured him, if he hadn't chosen to yield.
"Begin!" the proctor says, loud and sharp, and Ren bolts forward instantly, Sharingan spinning wildly. The only thing she has to truly look out for are Hyūga clan techniques, due to their destructive power and little to no field to counter them. She's pretty sure that, if she's actually hit with a Jūken, she would have problems winning this one, and doesn't even want to think about what would happen in the next round.
That, and his ability to block Tenketsu separately even when not using Jūken. He'd never done this before, but-
Okay, Ren had not expected him to actually throw kunai at her. She is glad to see that he's taking all this seriously, but he should know better – between him, who never really used ninja equipment aside from mandatory Academy training (fucking Hyūga traditionalists) and Ren, who'd grown up using them, well.
Dodging two, she grabs the third and, involuntarily pushing chakra into the metal, jumps up and spins above him, hurling the blade with all her might at his back, where she knows the Byakugan weak point is. However, he manages to jump away as the blade knicks his sleeve before imbedding itself into the ground. Deep. Ren blinks at it while landing, and while she did push chakra into it, hers is fire natured, so she would expect it to scorch the clothing, and not-
And not act as if it were wind chakra. Huh. If that was actually wind chakra, and not her mind making stuff up, then, well. Having a secondary nature would probably be pretty useful. That is, when she actually has the time to think about it.
She ducks under a punch and brings her own fist to strike him in the jaw. He sees it coming – that mean uppercut is one of Ren's favorite moves, after all – and moves to the side, thinking himself safe. And that's exactly when Ren decides to provide further proof that she was right to cut her hair up to her neck.
She grabs a fistful of his hair – long, in a low ponytail, because Hyūga are vain above all, even their clan techniques, fucking ninja elves – and tugs hard, spinning him around. Hibiki cries out in pain and surprise and tries to reach behind him to grab her hand. However, the attempt backfires as Ren tugs his hair even harder and grabs his hand, pulling it back hard. Hibiki bites his lip, nearly choking on a scream, and takes a deep breath. With his free hand, he reaches into Hana's pouch, now strapped to his back, and grabs a handful of shuriken. He then hurls them at Ren, forcing the Uchiha to let go in order to jump away, surprise evident on her face.
Hibiki is actually learning. Looking past his clan techniques at real shinobi life.
Ren is actually kinda proud.
It doesn't last long, though. Ren reaches into her pouch with a rather menacing glint in her eyes that has Hibiki going pale as chalk instantly. It might also be her slightly (very) maniac grin, as her fingers curl around a ball of ninja wire. Hooking it around her pinky, Ren takes six shuriken and hurls them at the boy in two waves. In the moment it takes him to dodge them, she uncurls the wire and suddenly, he finds himself with it looped around his neck, already tightening.
"Shit," he grumbles, shooting Ren a glare as she shrugs. The boy only sighs, raises his hand and says; "I yield, I like my neck the way it is thank you very much. But I'm getting back at you for the hair!"
"Should've cut them," Ren shrugs, re-curling the wire as if it were yarn, "like I did."
"I'm not barbaric!" he huffs, and Ren snorts even as the proctor, rolling his eyes at their antics, declares her the winner.
"And I'm not fucking stupid," she grins at the Hyūga, who lets out an indignant squawk.
Pitting a long range fighter against one specialized in melee is bound to turn up interesting results. So it's not that surprising when the fight between Deidara and Chōjūrō quickly devolves into a game of tag, featuring explosives and a very sharp sword. Ren watches with amusement as Chōjūrō chases Deidara around with his sword and Deidara does his damned best to keep a good distance between them. As he apparently is not yet able to use his clay as a means of transportation, this involves a lot of running – and very loud cursing.
Of course, Chōjūrō finally gets fed up with it and starts using actual jutsu – which Ren knows he's been restraining from. Since there is no convenient source of water lying around, he would have to make his own with chakra, which is very chakra extensive.
And it is then that she realizes it. Deidara has an overwhelming advantage in this fight. Sure, he would go down easily if Chōjūrō gets in a good slash, but the blond is proving that to be nigh impossible. And he can counter any taxing water jutsu with his clay fairly easily. Deidara would win, Ren decides. He would either manage to tire out Chōjūrō, or actually get him with his explosives.
In any case, between bad and bad, Ren is royally screwed. Her statement is only further proven right when Chōjūrō falls down onto his knees, panting heavily, and angrily strikes the ground with his fist. And Deidara, being the mean little shit he is, detonates a clay spider in his face, the impact not meant to injure but to effectively knock out the swordsman.
"Fuck," Ren said resolutely, "fuckitty fucking fuck."
"Is that even a word?" Hana asks blandly, unimpressed, as the proctor declares Deidara the winner.
"Dunno, don't care, I'm fucking screwed," Ren sings, her demeanor changing instant as she whines, "that little monster is going to obliterate me."
Hana just huffs, rolling her eyes, and slaps the back of Ren's head, "you're clever, crafty, driven, and aggressive, you can do it," she said.
"And barbaric!" Hibiki pipes in, his arm, dislocated during his fight with Ren, already wrapped up in a sling. "If anything you can just charge in and bite his head off. We all know you're capable of it!"
"But I like the brat," Ren scoffs, rolling her eyes, "so, I would prefer to go with a painful, non-lethal route. I already know it's going to be painful for me."
"I, for one, am looking forward to seeing you get owned for once," Hibiki adds smugly and only barely ducks under the fist thrown at him. Instead, it hits the wall he's been leaning on, making a deep crack in it. "That could've cracked my skull!" he whines.
"It was supposed to, but you just had to dodge," Ren huffs.
Some twenty-odd minutes later, Ren stands opposite mini-Deidara, glancing heavenwards in search of guidance. In her past life, she was a proper citizen, and yes, she did wish a most horrible death onto her family nearly every day, but they deserved it! Thus, she really has no idea what she did to deserve to be here – about to fight a boy who would soon grow into a teenager powerful enough to be considered for the bloody fucking Akatsuki. The same Akatsuki that would house a Rinnegan user, bloody Orochimaru, and even a fucking immortal guy. So, yes, that says quite a bit about his power level, even if he's not quite at that point yet.
"Again, the same rules apply as before," the proctor drawls, "fight until the other party yields or is unable to continue fighting. Now, turn around and take ten steps back."
They do just that.
When a loud 'Go!' resounds, Ren immediately bolts, not giving Deidara a chance to get a lock on her, fingers already forming seals as she goes. She quickly sends a flurry of shuriken wrapped in small fireballs at the boy, followed rapidly by two smaller versions of the Gōkakyū no Jutsu. Deidara responds in kind by sending hummingbird bombs that collide with each fireball and explode upon contact.
Ren doesn't stop moving. She knows she has good stamina, she always had, more inclined toward taijutsu than ninjutsu, even if due to her true age her spiritual chakra still overpowers her physical at a three-to-one ratio. The point is, she is bigger, stronger, faster, and can last longer. She can tire him out, if she uses her jutsu carefully and doesn't drop out due to chakra exhaustion. If she can make Deidara run out of clay – even better.
Her flee-and-shoot technique seems to irritate the boy; as much as she can't land a hit, neither can he, and thus, he's growing more impatient – more careless. Deidara's temper is something she can and will exploit mercilessly. But for that, she has to annoy him even more. It goes on for a while, this running around and shooting projectiles at one another.
Suddenly, Deidara crows triumphantly, and the next thing she knows, a barrage of clay bombs is suddenly rushing at her, and there is only one way she's getting out of this. She's risking a lot, but it's either this or get blown up. So, yeah.
"Katon: Karyūdan no Jutsu!" she yells and takes a deep breath, infusing the air entering her lungs with flaming-hot chakra, even as her injured ribs protest the movement. She lets out all the air in her lungs in a mighty breath of fire that transforms into a massive roaring dragon that curls around her, covering her entirely and shielding her from the bombs. Maybe it's a result of the lack of oxygen, or the beginning of chakra exhaustion, but Ren sways on her feet as the edge of her vision begins to darken and the massive chakra construct starts to fade. If she doesn't end this soon, she will be the one who gets ended.
To her satisfaction, Deidara sways, too, cursing audibly. Ren cracks a grin and launches herself at him, as the dragon dissolves into nothing but hot air. Before the boy can register what's happening, she punches him in the jaw. Deidara flies backwards with a yelp, landing on his back. He tries to rise, but fails to do so – apparently his final frontal assault with the bombs took too much from him.
And so did the dragon from Ren, she realizes, falling to her knees as her body refuses to move. Yet again she is reminded of how weak this body is, how little chakra it has. She can no longer move.
Neither can Daidara, as the proctor starts the count.
Ren groans as her hands give up and she falls face-first into the dirt with a general 'fuck it' attitude. Neither genin moves as the proctor counts to ten. Ren huffs despondently as he announces a draw. Her last thought before darkness fills her vision is that it's high time she passed out anyway.
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Guest (chapter 7 . Jun 10) - it's a fact, that not even florists care about plants in real life, not their meaning. As for how poisonous they might me - leave that to poison makers, it's their field of expertise, and Ren isn't one.
Ulsindhe - I didn't have a beta then and now the chapters in Doc Manager are long since expired, too, so I can't update them.
donstehly2 - she's finally realizing that she shouldn't get too drunk on her newfound youth. Perhaps.
Silverlined Phoenix - Deidara making it was a pre-set fact, so, nope, sorry.
Savage Kill - Ren is currently very drunk on being young and free, but she's about to have hangover and get sobered up soon. Mostly, at least.
372259 - yeah, but its true - if Ren doesn't mature, she will get herself killed.
Ugotaurus - I like unconventional personalities, and I was kind of sick of the stereotypical Naruto OCs, so here be Ren.
Afaaf - I've came back after Matura exams and having all my life's work ruined shortly after. I feel offended that you could think that I would leave now.