summary Always changing
"Of course, we're all waiting for Shimizu Haku, the 24 year-old from Tokyo. He's had a bit of a shaky season, but as long as he stays consistent during this program, he should be fine."
Naruto screwed up his face. He lay on his side, cheek in his hand.
"What a rude dude," he complained. He started upright when his phone buzzed.
"Oh. It's from Nee-chan. I wished her good luck and she said thanks!" Naruto yelled to his mom in the kitchen.
"That's nice, dear," replied Kushina.
There was a big whiteboard propped up on top of the bookshelf. On it, Kushina and Minato had recorded the scores for the skaters they were keeping tabs on this season. The junior skaters had all completed their short programs during the day, so those boxes were filled in. And Naruto had filled in the row for the pairs skaters after dinner. He spun a marker in his hand as he scrolled through his messages.
"Move over, kid. Has it started yet?" Kiba grunted, settling on the floor too. He set down a six-pack of beer and a plastic bag filled with snacks. The can hissed as he popped the tab.
"Almost," replied Naruto.
"Oi. Nara. Wake up," ordered Kiba, kicking under the kotatsu. His foot connected with something a few times. A long groan responded. And then his head poked out from under the heated table.
"Mom! Dad!" Naruto shouted. There was more clattering in the kitchen before they hurried in with tea and sliced fruit.
Itachi and Orochimaru, who had been charging their phones and tablets in the corner, moved to join them. Orochimaru already had a website pulled up with live scores. Itachi had another website pulled up to double-check the math.
"I'm sweating already," whispered Naruto. Minato laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Ugh, you're sweating so much," remarked Sakura, releasing Haku's hand. She plucked a few tissues from the box, handing one to Haku. He squeezed it between his palms, eyes looking past her. Out at the other skaters who were receiving pep talks from their coaches just outside the rink. Most of them were younger than him. In the skating world, he was starting to be considered one of the older athletes.
"Coach! Say something nice!" Sakura demanded, reading the building panic in his gaze.
"You're not the worst person I've ever met," replied Kisame.
"To Haku! Not to me!" she groaned. But Haku was already laughing- even if it was just a little.
"Why're you more nervous than me?" asked Haku.
"Because you're making me nervous," Sakura retorted. Heaving a sigh, she motioned to him with both hands. He took a step toward her. She began fussing with his hair and then with the collar of his jacket.
They were backstage, away from most of the cameras. She was thankful that TV networks were so selfish about backstage coverage of the athletes. Not just anyone was allowed back here, which afforded them a little privacy.
"Both of you are being stupid. Haku's a good skater and he has solid programs this season. As long as he keeps his head on straight, he has a really good shot at winning," grumbled Kisame.
"He's right, you know. I wouldn't be helping you if you were a shitty skater," Sakura agreed. Haku's expression softened.
"You're just a shitty person," she added. Haku glared. Sakura pointed at his face.
"Wow. Look at this. The true demon behind the mask emerges. We gotta get a camera to film this face. We need your fans to witness this," Sakura teased, pretending to look around for a cameraman. She continued to make fun of him, poking at his dimples, well aware of his rising irritation with her. Finally, Haku grabbed her face and began squeezing her cheeks together.
"Ugh, you're so ANNOYING!" he complained, shaking her. He stretched his neck as she struggled to return the gesture. And then he began laughing at her lips puckering together until she looked like a grotesque fish.
Kisame just watched the racket, shaking his head a little.
"Uh... is it okay just to leave them?" one of the volunteers standing on the sidelines asked him. Kisame flapped a hand at her.
"Nah. They'll stop, eventually. Or they'll kill each other. Either way, it's fine," he assured the woman.
He watched Haku mime throttling Sakura, who began drilling her fingers into his stomach in response. Haku, who was very ticklish, let out a small shriek.
Kisame stuck a finger in his ear. He let the antics go on for a couple more minutes before, roaring at them to stop being annoying, he pried them apart. He plunked Haku down on his left and Sakura on his right. And he tried to ignore the smug look on Sakura's face.
"Shimizu-senshu, you're up next," one of the volunteers said, motioning for Haku to head onto the ice.
Haku strode forward without looking at either of them, his cheeks still bright from laughing and wrestling with Sakura. They could see the easy lines of his shoulders as he went ahead.
Sakura knocked her hip into Kisame. Arms crossed, she looked up at him.
"Tell me I did good. Look how relaxed that kid is," Sakura said.
Kisame ignored her.
"Tell me I did good!" insisted Sakura, knocking into him again.
"If I tell you you did good, will you stop being annoying?" Kisame asked in return.
Sakura considered this. And then she shook her head. "I'll never stop annoying you, Coach. That's one of my only real hobbies," she replied. Kisame rolled his eyes. They headed out of the tunnel together, into the cold arena.
Haku rested one hand on the side of the rink as he removed his skate guards. Sakura took them from him. He plucked a tissue from the box to blow his nose one last time. Kisame took the tissues, scrunching them up in his gloved hand.
Haku held his hand out to her. She slapped his palm twice before knocking the backs of their hands together.
"Kill it," ordered Kisame.
Haku smirked. "You got it, old man," he declared before he skated off.
Sakura had never given much thought to what it was like to watch from the sidelines. Of course, she had attended other people's competitions before. But watching from the stands as a spectator and watching as someone who understood the ins and outs of the routine was very different.
"That toe loop..." she sighed, setting the skate guards down.
Haku swung his arms in a big circle. They could see his back rise and fall as he took a big breath. And then he assumed his starting pose. The music trickled out of the speakers a few moments later.
"Don't sweat it so much, chibi. He'll be okay," Kisame assured her, clapping his hand onto her shoulder.
Sakura found herself miming a lot of Haku's movements as the song went on. Hands twisting, arms swaying with the beat. Even her fingers curling and uncurling the way he did. She knew to relax a little when his eyes closed.
"Guess he's not feeling so nervous anymore," observed Kisame.
Someone snuck up between Sakura and Kisame. They both started.
"Hi, Karin-chan," Sakura greeted her, eyes still glued to the ice.
"I came to cheer on our little sobachka," Karin said. Still watching Haku, Karin kissed Sakura's cheek. They wrapped an arm around each other's waists like they'd done as teenagers.
As the piano banged out the song's rhythm, Haku flew past. The crystals sewn into his costume caught the light. Sakura couldn't stop the smile that crept onto her face. She held her breath as he launched into the dreaded toe loop. He leaned a little, but the landing itself was beautiful. She let out a breath, sagging against Karin.
Haku's problem was that once he fell, he had trouble recovering. Although Kisame had scolded him countless times about fixing his mindset, Haku had refused.
'I just won't fall anymore,' he'd declared instead. As obnoxious as this philosophy was, it sort of worked. If he stuck the first landing, the rest of his program was always beautiful.
The crowd clapped and whooped when he landed his second big jump. A beautiful triple axel. His body spiraling through the air, weightless for a moment.
Karin's eyebrows rose as she followed the step sequence. Intricate and spiraling, matching the frantic rhythm of the music. And then she laughed a little.
"This has you written all over it," she remarked to Sakura, who smiled back.
They fell silence as they waited for the final quad. It was a Lutz- Haku's favorite jump. Kisame sighed when Haku only rotated three times in the air. But as Haku landed, he dug his toe pick into the ice, soaring up in a triple toe, both arms raised above his head.
Sakura's arms dropped. And so did her jaw.
"Triple lutz- triple toe. Cheeky little thing," murmured Karin.
Haruno Sakura's signature combination jump.
When Haku struck his final pose, the arena shook with all the applause. People jumped to their feet, flapping their flags and signs until the words blurred.
Karin pulled Sakura to the edge of the rink, following Kisame. As Haku smiled and waved, fans covered the ice with flowers and stuffed animals. Plush black cats rained down with particular intensity. Haku paused to pick up several of them, earning additional screams when he kissed one on the nose. When he reached the edge, a volunteer hurried to lift the burden from his arms. Several others headed onto the rink to pick the rest up.
Kisame waited for Haku to slap on his skate guards. And when Haku straightened, Kisame just stood with his arms wide open. They shared a tight hug. Kisame slapped him on the back twice. They only pulled apart when Sakura wormed her way between them. She put an arm around each of them.
"You did so well!" Sakura said. Haku sagged against her, laughing and still panting.
"Alright, come on, hug buddies," Karin sighed, shooing them along to make room for the last competitor.
The cameras zoomed in very close as Kisame sat down in the kiss and cry. The bench was placed in front of a blue and white backdrop. Kisame pulled Sakura into the seat beside him.
"Hold on. Haku should be in the middle," she protested. And then Haku deposited himself in her lap, one arm around her neck. The other resting on Kisame's shoulder. They stared down at the screen together. Haku glanced up for a moment to wave at the crowd. And then it was time to wait.
"I could have gotten a better score on the toe loop. I was a little off-balance," remarked Haku. Kisame shook his head.
"You kept your cool. That's all that matters."
"The short program score for Shimizu Haku, please," a woman's voice blared over the speakers.
Haku's arms tightened. Sakura patted his thigh.
"103.29. He's currently in first place."
Haku raised both fists into the air with a triumphant yell. And Sakura burst into laughter as he nearly toppled over. Haku leapt to his feet, waving to the fans with both hands, which whipped them up into an even louder frenzy.
The last skater scored a slightly higher score than Haku, but that didn't seem to bother him.
"Your scores on the free skate have been better all season. You have a good shot at gold," Kisame assured him. Haku nodded.
"I'm going to run through it one more time and then I'm off to bed," Haku told them.
As soon as competitions had ended for the night, he had dragged them to the practice rink. He did toe loop after toe loop until he was drenched in sweat.
"You dumbass. Don't tire yourself out right before competing tomorrow," Kisame scolded half-heartedly. As if Haku would listen.
"Just one more. Then I'll go," promised Haku. Sakura sighed.
"Are you sure you don't want us to stick around?" she asked for the third time. Haku flapped his hand at her.
"I'm fine!" he insisted for the third time.
"...Alright. Text me when you get back to the hotel," she relented. And Kisame held the door so that they could head off the rink.
It had surprised her when someone had added her to a big group chat. It included Kisame and some of her old friends from her younger days. Retired figure skaters and ice dancers who were now performing at ice shows or pursuing other jobs. Some of them were at the Grand Prix for work. Others were just here to watch.
A beer emoji followed by a question mark was all that had been sent in the chat.
Someone had replied with the address of a nearby bar.
"Maybe I should change," Sakura fretted on the taxi ride over. Kisame snorted.
"We're all tired and gross-looking. You'll be fine," Kisame assured her.
All Sakura's nervousness was for nothing, it turned out. Because she was welcomed warmly when they walked into the bar. Servers ushered them along to a booth in the corner. Someone had already ordered food and drinks. Kisame asked a waiter to bring two more beers.
"But you know, I was so surprised to see Haruno-san here," someone remarked.
"I was kind of hoping to, though. It really doesn't feel like a real competition until I see Haruno-san's serious face on the ice," a woman piped up. The group dissolved into laughter at that.
The bell above the door jingled. On reflex, Sakura turned her head toward the sound. She nearly sloshed beer down the front of her shirt as she recognized Utakata. And beside him was Kimimaro.
Utakata locked eyes with her. He went pale. As he turned to whisper something to Kimimaro, someone else from the table recognized him.
"Oh! It's Utakata and Kaguya. Yo!"
Sakura coughed into her fist as Kisame thumped her back.
Utakata put on his best reporter's smile as they made their way over.
"Hi, everyone! What're the chances of us all running into each other like this?" he chuckled.
"Yeah... what're the chances?" grumbled Kisame under his breath. Utakata shot another apologetic look at Sakura, who only sipped on her water.
The woman sitting next to Sakura got up, gesturing.
"Here! Sit with your wife, Kaguya-san. I don't want to get in the way!"
"Yeah, it must've been tough on you guys to be apart for the year," someone else remarked.
Kimimaro looked at Sakura. She looked right back at him. And then she smiled. He didn't say anything as he scooted into the booth to sit down beside her. Utakata slid in after him.
The various other people at the booth made excuses about getting more drinks or going to the bathroom. Normally, Sakura would have appreciated this thoughtfulness. Tonight, it just made things even more painful.
"I'm really sorry about this, Haruno. We didn't know you'd be here too," Utakata apologized, leaning back to look past Kimimaro at her.
"You could've read the group chat," sighed Kisame.
"I had it on mute and didn't check it before we left the hotel," Utakata explained. Kisame grunted.
"...Sorry," was all Utakata could say again. And before the conversation could get more uncomfortable, his phone rang. He excused himself, getting up to answer it.
Sakura looked down at the table. At the half-eaten bowls of edamame and fried chicken. At the condensation slipping down the sides of her beer.
"I watched Shimizu-kun today. That was a beautiful program," Kimimaro told her. She could barely hear his voice over the chatter of the bar.
"Thank you," she replied. And when she tapped her hand against the table, it felt strange how her ring knocked against the wood first. She had just started to get used to the absence of the gold band. But she knew being photographed without it would be very annoying to have to explain. And when she glanced over, she saw that Kimimaro was wearing his too.
"I watched the livestream of Hanabi's performance. She's grown a lot..." Sakura then commented. Kimimaro nodded.
"She's worked really hard," he answered.
It was only then that Kisame spoke up: "Listen, you two."
They both looked at him.
"I haven't really said anything about this..." Kisame paused, gesturing at the both of them, "...situation... because your choices are your own. But if you're really choosing to go through with this charade, you better make it convincing."
Kimimaro bit his lower lip.
But Sakura smiled. That insincere, bright smile she had cultivated just for the camera.
"Don't worry, Coach. I can handle it," she said.
Kimimaro looked at her. Read the challenge in her eyes.
And she recognized a glint of something. That sharpness in his expression. Because if Kaguya Kimimaro hated anything, it was losing a competition. A small smile touched his lips.
"So can I," he replied.