Perfect Timing
Summary: A highly utilitarian girl from our world gets thrust into the midst of the Third Shinobi World War. All she wants to do now is avoid changing the original story.
It's not as easy as it sounds. OC/Reincarnation.
Chapter 16: Thick Remorse
Something strange is afoot; and of course, Reina is somehow caught up in it.
'
The written exam wasn't all that hard, she was surprised to say. Without Ibiki Morino to psychologically terrorize them, it was just like taking a regular, if not slightly harder-than-average test for someone at her level. Of course, the cheating was still a factor here, so she'd made sure not to look like she knew what she was doing too much, lest a Yamanaka try to body-switch her for her answers or something.
Speaking of Yamanakas, it was strange; she'd noted at least two of those pupil-less blondes in the crowd of genin surrounding her during the test, not two mention at least three distinctively Aburame-looking children (though she was only assuming that from the fact that they were all sullenly quiet, and wearing sunglasses indoors), as well as several fang-tattooed Inuzukas. There was even a pale-eyed Hyuga in the crowd. Of course, there were genin from all sorts of villages to even them out, but it was still a strangely large number of Konoha clan children to witness in one place.
"Whoo! That was fast," Shisui grinned brightly as she walked out of the room, indicating the test was over. Her neutral expression must have given her away, as most of the other kids who'd failed were walking out of the room with heavy, dejected looks. "how'd it go?"
"I passed," Reina smiled, shoulders dropping in relief as Itachi threw her an approving nod.
...Wait, since when did she care about Itachi's approval?
Then again, if I'd failed, who knew how many laps he'd make me run this time, Reina thought with a groan.
"That's awesome!" Shisui said, "Congratulations, Reina. I knew you could do it."
"It was easier than I expected," Reina said, before glancing at the other students as they dispersed. "though I think there's something weird going on with the other students..."
"I was wondering if you'd realize." Itachi said, glancing around as well. "Perhaps you're sharper than I'd thought."
"Wha-Wait. You noticed too? You didn't think it'd be a good idea to mention it sooner?" Reina said, narrowing her eyes. Itachi was a lot of things, but a great communicator wasn't one of them. Unsettling to know the habit started this early.
Shisui blinked. "Noticed what? What am I missing?"
"I didn't want to alarm you right before your test," Itachi said, "besides, it's obviously the intention of someone above our pay grade. The Hokage himself, perhaps."
More like Danzo, Reina thought. She should've known he was up to something when he approached her. Then again, why'd he want her shitty clan genes in this pool of successful, big, Konoha shinobi families?
"Okay, seriously guys," Shisui frowned. "what's going on?"
"That test was full of clan kids," Reina explained, "like, all the students from Konoha were only clan kids. I mean, it makes sense, I bet clan kids get to the chunin level more often than civilian-raised shinobis. But considering even I was recruited for this... something tells me they were, too. And that can't be a coincidence."
"Huh," Shisui said, eyes widening, "you know, now that I think about it, Setsuna used to say he'd never bother with the chunin exams since he was going straight into the Police Force... but I saw him walk in with you guys, right before the test."
"Setsuna?" Reina asked. "Is he one of your cousins?"
"Yeah, the one wearing the half-mask." Shisui waved to a thin-faced boy in the midst of the leaving crowd, wearing a blocky metal layer over his left cheek and brow.
Reina frowned. "So he's a clan kid too, then. I remember seeing him. He seemed pretty old to be taking the chunin exams."
"He's 18," Shisui explained, "and like I said, he'd never wanted to take it before. Before, I wasn't sure what convinced him to now of all times."
It has to be Danzo's doing, then, Reina thought. The conniving man must have approached Setsuna, just as he'd approached her. Perhaps all the other students as well.
What is he planning? A rush of panic rose in her chest. What could that man possibly gain from this, having a bunch of clan kids facing off against each other during this exam? Had he done this in the original series? And if so, shouldn't she know about it? There was just so much to remember from that show, and it'd been years since she'd last seen any of that series... Perhaps this event had slipped through the cracks. Or perhaps the show just hadn't mentioned it at all.
Reina bit her lip, glancing towards Itachi. "...What do you think about all this?" she asked slowly. She hated to admit it, but Itachi was a smart kid. He was surely already forming some insight on this event, hopefully catching whatever she'd missed by now.
"It makes sense from a logical standpoint." Itachi said, "We only started hosting these exams amongst different villages after the last war, but the first few years after the inter-village exam format was established, we were still repairing infrastructure from the Kyuubi attack. As a result, we hadn't had as many chances to host as the other villages. If our village leaders saw this exam as a chance to save face in light of that, I'm not surprised they're trying to put our best foot forward."
"But Itachi, weren't you were one of the youngest to ever pass the exams last year?" Shisui frowned, "Wouldn't that already be enough to prove our village's reputation?"
"A one-off isn't as impressive as proving all of our clan's lineages are superior."
"What, so if a civilian kid applied this year, they'd get rejected?" Reina asked, jaw dropping. "That's so unfair!"
"I don't think they rejected them," Itachi said, "but they probably didn't recruit them as heavily. Did you not say Danzo himself recruited you, Reina?"
"Well... Yeah, that's true," Reina groaned. "Ugh, I just wanted to get a stupid little promotion and now I'm part of some political pissing contest?"
Thanks, Danzo.
"Look, all this means," Shisui said, "is that you've got to be more careful for next round, Reina. With this kind of competition in the ranks, you really picked the worst time to go in solo."
Fuck. She hadn't even thought about that yet. It was a very, very, good point, though. Clan kids didn't alway necessarily do better on these exams than normal shinobi-hopefuls, but let's face it; they definitely had a leg up.
"By the way, did you ever figure out what was going on with your chakra system?" Itachi asked.
"No... not yet. I was going to get that checked on today, after the written exam," Reina admitted.
"You'd better get to it, then," Itachi said. "you're already going into the second round alone, the added disadvantage of your chakra issues could prove greatly detrimental."
"Right, right, I get it. God, I really have the world's worst luck, don't I?"
Both boys were kind enough to spare her an answer to that question.
'
'
SLAM.
Several passerbys gave Reina a strange look as she continued to hit her head against the wall of a restaurant on Konoha's outskirts.
SLAM. SLAM.
"Goddammit," Reina screeched to herself, holding the offending manila folder tight between white knuckles.
She'd settled on visiting the hospital to deduce her chakra situation, though she was aware any sort of brain scan would have to wait, since that could spur news that would immediately involve a Yamanaka—but in the meantime, she could still get the rest of herself checked out.
The news awaiting her had not been good.
"Ah yes," the same nurse that'd treated her during her paralysis when she was young, Karin or something or another was her name, had said after looking over her results. "your coils are quite underdeveloped for your age. I wish we could've caught it sooner, since this means you'll experience reserve burnout at a much quicker rate than most shinobi. But it's hard to tell when the subject is young, and it's been so long since we'd last examined you... Not to mention, your genetics are quite unique, even for Konoha."
"What? But I've been a shinobi for years without this being a problem!" Reina had exclaimed, falling back into the rolling chair they put you in when they gave you bad news. The good news chair was much stiffer; they'd given her that one when she'd been told her paralysis surgery had succeeded.
"It's thanks to your chakra control," she'd explained, "you've barely ever reached your limit yet. Your body knows when you're about to run out, and by instinct, you'll already start dialing back once you get to that point. You can get by on that system just fine as a genin, maybe even a chunin, but once you start getting up to any of the higher level A-rank, maybe even B-rank jutsu, well..."
Reina hadn't heard the rest of the explanation before her mind became clouded with horror and agitation. What if Shisui hadn't knocked her out during their first encounter when she'd returned to Konoha? Or if she'd overdone it at her last training session with Itachi? She'd been kissing death all this time, without knowing.
And god, she hadn't even made it to the second round of the exams yet.
Karin had handed her the folder of results with a sympathetic look, giving her one parting warning as Reina headed out the door.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't continue on with the exams, but I would take into consideration how far you'll want to go in this career with your situation. Once you burn out those coils for good, there's no turning back."
Reina could remember the conversation so clearly in her mind, despite the fact that a few hours had passed. She'd spent the time since wandering the street of Konoha, banging her head against random storefronts in her frustration.
"You should refrain from causing such commotion in the streets, young lady," Reina practically jumped out of her own skin, turning to face the man in a green jumpsuit suddenly standing before her. "though the way you're so passionately training your forehead's durability is most youthful!"
"Gai?" Reina blinked, looking up at the bowl-haired shinobi.
"Yes?" Gai blinked back. "Have we met?"
"It's me." Reina gestured at herself. "Reina."
Gai stared intently. "...Hah?"
"...You know. Reina. I studied with Kurenai?"
Gai's face was blank.
"I was living with Minato and Kushina?"
Nothing.
"...I was the ghost girl in the play?"
"Oh!" Gai said, pounding his fist into his palm. "Reina?!"
"...Yes." Why was that the only way he remembered her?
"But wait," Gai frowned. "that can't be."
Reina sighed. This was going to be a long day. "Yeah, I can explain. I faked—"
"You cannot be Reina. She was much shorter."
"What? ...Gai, it's been seven years."
"Wait a minute," Gai's eyes widened suddenly in realization, "Seven years? Reina! I just remembered, you are supposed to be dead!"
What a fool.
"Yeah. I'm aware."
"That... This is amazing!" Gai exclaimed, "You've returned from the grave, then?!"
"No Gai. I was never really dead," Reina said glumly. She had not been hoping to explain this for the fifth time, today of all days.
"I can't believe it!" he gasped, "Amazing! It is most unfortunate, that Kurenai and Asuma are currently on a mission, but once they return, they will be most delighted to see you've survived, alive and well!" he continued, "Kakashi as well! What a miraculous discovery!"
"Uh, Kakashi already knows," Reina muttered, "he's not exactly... thrilled."
"What? What do you mean?"
"He's kind of mad at me. For, you know. Faking my own death."
"What?! If Kakashi is mad at you, we must work together to make him accept your warm hug of friendship once more!" Gai exclaimed.
She wished someone else was here to witness this conversation, and confirm her disbelief at how the 'faking my own death' part had shot completely past Gai's notice.
"No, it's okay," Reina waved her hand around, "I think that's something I'll have to work through myself. I have bigger problems right now."
"What do you mean?"
"It's nothing," Reina sighed, "I just got some news today, and I'd really like to be alone to process—"
"I recognize that folder," Gai said suddenly, "you came from the hospital? Is something wrong with your health?"
"Not really, well, not yet, I just—"
"Oh no," Gai gasped, "Reina, are you dying?! For real, this time?! When we've only just gotten you back, too, how can the world be so cruel—"
"Dude, stop," Reina said, already giving up. In the end, she'd rather explain the situation than let him keep rambling on. Anything, to get him to stop talking.
"Your coils are burnt out?" Gai asked, expression thoughtful after Reina had regaled her tale of woe, showing him her hospital results in the process.
"Yeah," Reina sighed, "guess that screws me out of my shinobi career."
"Aha!" Gai said, "do not despair! I am very familiar with your plight."
Reina blinked. True, she'd forgotten she was talking to one of the few shinobi who couldn't even use chakra. Man, now she felt a little bad for whining to Gai about this, of all people.
"Very well then!" Gai shouted suddenly, with the force of an atomic bomb, "it's decided! When one can not rely on their chakra network to provide support for ninjutsu, we must turn to honing your skills in taijutsu!"
"Wait, what?"
"Come, we must leave before the best training spots get booked! The grass in the Third Training Ground in particular is perfect for running laps barefoot!"
"Wait, wait. Laps? Barefoot? Taijutsu?!"
"Of course! You'll need to warm up with a quick run before we get started on your taijutsu training!" Gai exclaimed, "Otherwise, you risk injury to yourself! And while we train, we will catch up, and you can tell me the story of how you outsmarted death! In great detail, of course!"
"Okay, several things," Reina said, "number one, I didn't outsmart death, I faked my death, but you don't seem to understand that because you're too—okay why are you doing pushups now?"
Gai shouted up from his position on the floor, "I am most excited to see you back, and ecstatic that we will be training together! These are celebratory pushups!"
What was with these people and training? It was always training this, training that. Did any of them have any actual hobbies outside of work? Besides Kakashi and his porn books, that is.
"Not sure what to say to that... And another thing, I definitely do NOT want to train with you, I'm already training with Itachi—"
"Nonsense. Though Itachi may be a young master of ninjutsu, when it comes to taijutsu, there is no one more suitable to train you than I, Maito Gai!" Gai announced, suddenly jumping up and grabbing her by the arm. "Let us go to the training grounds before it's too late! Sunlight is sparse!"
It was early morning, so she didn't really know what he meant by 'sunlight is sparse'. Or did he mean to train until the sun went down? At least seven hours from now?
Gai, as if reading her mind and silently answering her question, fervently nodded.
'
'
Several weeks later, the day of the Second Exam had arrived.
She'd heard exams tended to change throughout the years, but for some reason, the proctors were always a fan of including one thing for the second test:
The Forest of Death.
Great, Reina thought glumly, as the chain-link fence surrounding the forest came into view. Just great.
The teams were told to wait right outside as the proctors lined up in front of the grounds. Most of the genin were already grouped by the time she arrived, so she had to wait alone, awkwardly and teamless, off to the side of the main crowd. Against Shisui's advice, she hadn't bothered to bring Nora with her either; instead she'd sent the cat off to deliver Zabuza the latest of her sparse savings. So now she was truly, utterly alone in this.
Somehow, that wasn't the worst part about this scene.
The proctors stood proudly at their north, sadistic smirks on their faces, arms tucked behind their backs. And one of them in particular was sickeningly familiar.
"Kasuga's one of the exam proctors?" Reina said with a groan. "Not him..."
"You know him?" Reina turned to see a team of three approaching, the closest strong-jawed boy stepping up to address her. "I'm Maen, by the way. Maen Nara. Weren't you one of the kids on Shikaku's team?"
"Oh, um, yeah." Reina said, "You're Kasuga's cousin, then?"
"Yeah," Maen nodded with a light laugh, "trust me, you're not the only one with a problem with him."
"Hah... good to know."
Maen gestured towards the rest of his team behind him, first at a redhead with golden eyes. "That's Fu Yamanaka."
Reina blinked. Yamanaka? His looks were a heavy deviation from what she'd assumed were the Yamanaka signature look of blonde hair and blue eyes. Then again, maybe she didn't know as much about the Konoha clans as she'd thought.
"And that's Maruten Akimichi." Reina recognized the boy from the written exam, with dark circles marring his cheeks in either a tattoo or painted fixture. He waved a thick hand at Reina, throwing a shy smile her way.
Reina blinked. "Oh, hi."
She should've expected the Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi team pairing, though they didn't seem to have the same chemistry as the Ino-Shika-Cho groups. The age differences were also strange with them, as the Nara looked to be a few years older than the rest, while Maruten seemed a bit younger. Only Fu was really around a typical genin's age.
"So you're not taking the exam with a team?" Fu asked. "Trying to be like that Uchiha kid from last year, huh?"
"No," Reina shook her head. "I—"
"You!" A voice suddenly shouted. "Crazy Eyes!"
"Uggggh," Reina moaned, throwing her hands onto her face. "noooo. He's spotted me."
Kasuga had sidled up to where their group was standing, jaw dropping as he did. "I can't believe it, you're really alive?" he exclaimed. "I'd heard some rumors, but man. It's like seeing a ghost."
First, he'd called her the most unfavorable childhood nickname she'd ever had (in both lives) and now, he just had to say ghost. No wonder she hated seeing him.
"Yeah, yeah, I've gotten that a lot. But more importantly, what are you doing here?"
"I'm a chunin, obviously." Kasuga gestured to his green vest proudly.
"But a proctor?" Reina said, "I never pinned you as the type to go for glorified babysitting duty."
He winced at that. "Hell no! I'm only here because I got chewed out for letting some guy through the gate a few months ago without checking his paperwork," Kasuga seethed. "But he was posing as someone everyone knew! How could I know anyone would be stupid enough to try that?!"
Thanks. Reina thought. I like you even less now, somehow.
Maen snickered from behind her. "It's the second time he's screwed up on guard duty this year."
"Hey!" Kasuga protested, turning to Maen. "You keep out of this, loser!"
"I'm the loser?" Maen shot back. "You're the one that kept saying you'd make it to jounin by the end of the year, and now you're stuck on guard duty. How embarrassing."
Fu snickered as Kasuga's face went red. "Hey now, guard duty is very important you know, something you're about to learn, you—"
"Kasuga! Stop spoiling the exam and get your ass over here," they looked over to see a chunin glaring at Kasuga from near the fence.
"Oh shit," he said, running back up to his station.
Maen and Fu snickered as the older chunin ran off. Maruten dug his toe in the ground, looking as nervous as ever.
"What do you think he meant by that?" Maruten whispered to Reina, who shrugged.
"Dunno. But I'm guessing we're about to find out."
"Listen up, punks!" Kasuga yelled once he'd made it back to the front. "This exam will be like a version of capture the flag, so to speak. Each group will be assigned a station to guard their flag, which will have a seal written on it unique to your team. Each team needs to collect one other flag besides their own before meeting at the guard tower to pass. Teams that lose their own flag will be disqualified, and teams that can't capture an added flag will not be moving on."
Oh, wow, Reina thought. Sure, it seemed like a simplistic test in design, but it would automatically cut the chances of passing this part of the exam in half. At minimum.
And for certain people, those chances were even worse.
"Shit," Reina realized, "I don't have a team." How was she supposed to guard a flag station all by herself? She hadn't been expecting this test to force her into a stationary position like this. Surely she looking like one of the easiest targets here right now, the only solo test-taker and not to mention hailing from one of the least notorious clans in Konoha. Once everyone figured out where her post was, she'd surely be flooded with enemies.
"Come with us," Maruten said suddenly, glancing to Maen. "we can have the four of us guarding two flags, right?"
Reina turned to the Akimichi boy, surprised. "What?"
Maen shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"You'd really help your competition out here?" Reina's eyes narrowed in disbelief.
Maen laughed, a strange glint in his eyes. "Trust me, we're not worried. It'd be no use taking down a small fry like you, anyways. We're here to make an impression, like we promised Danz—" Maen's voice cut off, Fu shaking his head behind him. "uh, nevermind. What I'm saying is, sure, we don't mind."
Reina pretended she hadn't caught his slip up, though in her mind it'd set off warning bells.
Surely the name he'd failed to finish was Danzo. That was bad news in and of itself, plus the devious look in Maen's expression told Reina he wasn't exactly being straightforward with his intentions like he claimed.
Unfortunately, though, she wasn't exactly flush with options right now. And if she wanted to make it to the first daybreak in the Forest of Death, she'd need all the help she could get.
She'd just have to anticipate whatever they were planning, and get to them before they got to her.
"Alright then... let's do it."
'
'
"So, what'd Danzo say to get you guys to join this year?" Reina asked, slapping another seal on a tree nearby. Fu and Maen had gone off to patrol their area, though Reina wondered why they'd even bothered waiting until nightfall to do so. There was little point in trying to use the veil of night to take out intruders here, not when they were up against a bunch of Hyugas and Uchihas.
Maruten almost dropped the small fish he'd been roasting over what Reina would say was a fairly risky fire. Still, god knew Akimichis needed to eat, and they'd been lucky enough to come upon a small stream of when they'd set up camp. She'd insisted they keep their guardpost near the water once they'd discovered it, so she'd have access to the stream for her clone jutsus. Just in case.
"Did... Are you saying he asked you too?" Maruten questioned slowly, repositioning himself on his seat on a log. "I guess we weren't the only ones, then."
"Apparently," Reina shrugged, "I'm guessing almost everyone was recruited by him, if you look at the turnout."
"Oh. I guess I thought it was a weird coincidence that there were only clan kids this year. So it was on purpose," The Akimichi boy mused, glancing around the area, the large green flag his team was guarding hidden in a pile of brush behind them. Fortunately, they'd gotten the one color that was easiest to camouflage amongst all this forest.
That's kind of annoying, Reina thought. Danzo hadn't even bothered trying to hide his involvement in this. As if he knew he wouldn't, couldn't, get caught.
Not that there was anything necessarily nefarious about it on the surface, meaning there wasn't much to get caught for. And that made it all the more frustrating.
"He... was just really nice about it," Maruten continued, and Reina fought not to look at him like he was crazy. Danzo? Nice? "told us how we were wasting our talent by not signing up for the exam, how we weren't valued enough amongst our clan members and this could be our chance to prove ourselves to them; and then he told us how we'd make such a great team together... I mean, I wasn't in the Academy the same years as Fu or Maen, but he made a good point. Our clans' jutsus usually do really well together, so why let graduation dates get in the way?"
"Uh, but did you ever stop to think why he cares so much about you guys taking the test?" Reina asked, "I mean, why is someone on the Council so personally invested in us like this?"
Maruten shrugged. "I guess I'd never thought of it that way before. He's on the Council though, so it's probably just because he cares about the villagers, right?"
Reina stared at him for a moment. "I mean... that... possibly?"
"You don't think so?" Maruten said. "You kind of say Danzo's name like it's a bad thing. I'm guessing you don't trust him much?"
Fuck, she'd given herself away.
"I mean, I'm not really from a big clan like yours, so I'm kind of wondering why I'm here with you guys," Reina lied. "I'm feeling like a small fish that got fried up with the big ones by accident, you know?"
Maruten glanced down at the fish roasting on the end of his stick and slowly lowered it. "Oh. You're from that one clan, right? The one from Kiri? I'd heard they're all gone now though," he paused, "...do you know what happened to them?"
"I guess, kind of," Reina murmured. "wasn't really trying to start a conversation about that, though." She really was much more concerned about getting to the bottom of this whole Danzo thing, and this kid was distracting them from the subject with needlessly polite small talk.
"O-oh, sorry," Maruten said hurriedly. "I should've realized you wouldn't want to..."
Reina realized she probably should've been nicer, considering he'd been the one to throw her a bone and invited her to join forces. Though she had a sneaking suspicion Maen and Fu were planning to bait her with false words of camaraderie and teamwork before taking her flag at the last minute, she was pretty sure Maruten had been left out of the plot.
He was no Itachi, but Maruten seemed somewhat smart, having figured out her lack of deference towards Danzo relatively quickly. And he was similar to Itachi in that he was kind. Reina knew he'd genuinely wanted to help her when he asked for her to be on his team, unlike his teammates.
"Nevermind," Reina shook her head, "let's just quiet down. We don't want anyone to hear us."
It wouldn't really have been a problem, though. Their voices weren't much louder than the trickling of water to their side.
"You're right," Maruten said, "but maybe in a few minutes we should check on the others. They've been out for a while—"
"Wait," Reina stood suddenly, "did you hear that?"
"What?" Maruten glanced around furtively, "what is it?!"
"That bush," Reina said. She could've sworn she'd seen it moving just now.
"I don't..." Maruten frowned, squinting. "see anything?"
"No, it's definitely something," Reina said. Zabuza wouldn't have let her live it down if she didn't check out something like this out. It was obviously a potential trap.
She pulled up a few senbon, ready to stab them into the eyes of whatever was lurking in the foliage, slowly bringing up her hand to part the leaves—
and practically rolled her eyes to the back of her head when she the two glowing eyes awaiting her.
Reina stared at Nora, who stood on all fours with a mewl.
"What the hell? I didn't summon you." she wouldn't have, not wanting to risk using up her disadvantaged reserves before the fighting even started. "did you just follow me out here? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Kiri?"
Nora only mewled again in reply.
"Who's this?" Maruten asked, coming over.
"It's my summon," Reina sighed. "I guess he followed me out here."
"Aww!" Maruten cheered, slowly reaching out his hand to give Nora a friendly pat on the head, which Nora accepted graciously, "he's so cute. What's his name?"
"Nora."
"Well, Nora," Maruten glanced towards the river, before walking over with his canteen out. "we can't offer you any food, but how about some nice, fresh water—"
Shhhzzk-sh.
It all happened so quickly. A kunai went whizzing through the air, and before she knew it, Maruten was down.
Reina watched in horror as the Akimichi boy fell dead into the water.
"Maruten?! MARUTEN!" she screamed, running over to him. His blood streamed out of the gaping wound in the back of his head, the weapon poking out like a flag of surrender.
"All alone now, Kitani girl?" a voice taunted. She turned to see what looked to be a team of three boys from Kumo, according to their forehead protectors.
"You killed him!" Reina yelled, fingers already on Maruten's neck, looking for a pulse.
Nothing.
She stood quickly, the most intense adrenaline rush she'd ever experienced taking over her body, the senbon in her palm suddenly feeling heavier than lead. "What's wrong with you psychopaths?!"
Was he supposed to die? she wondered to herself, heart slamming between her ribs. Had he been alive in the series? Had she distracted him, led him towards his death? Or would he have met his end at this exam anyways?
There wasn't much time to process that possibility, however, as skillfully thrown weapons and seals were already flying through the sky.
"Shit shit shit," she said to herself, before falling to the grassy floor in an attempt to dodge the barrage of kunai sent her way. "shit, shit."
She ducked behind a nearby tree, peeking out around the bark to get a better look at her assailants. They didn't churn any recognition from Reina's memories, and their features weren't exactly distinctive, besides the usual Kumo features.
"Just give us the flag," one of the youngest-looking boys yelled, with sunken cheeks and a long neck. He was, in many way, much like a short giraffe. "or you'll end up like your friend over there."
God, the flag. She'd almost forgotten. Well, it definitely wasn't worth her life at this point.
"Sure, take it!" she yelled back, "Just... leave!"
The boy scoffed. "Wow, you're really such a loser, aren't you? Giving up so easily! Not even trying to avenge your fallen teammate!"
"Not! My! Teammate!" Reina snapped, pointing to the tree she'd hidden her own, blue flag behind, before risking a glance towards the team of boys. "Just... take the flag and go!"
The Kumo shinobi didn't budge, to her surprise. He wore a smirk as he spoke, "Hey, don't play dumb. You just said he wasn't your teammate. Means you have another flag around here then, right?"
Reina froze. Shit, this kid was sharper than he'd looked. Perhaps she shouldn't feel so bad about not seeing his sneak attack coming.
It was hard to say why she did this, but something about Maruten's death being in vain didn't sit well with her. She fought with the instinct to grab his team's green flag and run, and at least given his sacrifice some meaning for the sake of his team's passing.
Nothing about that idea seemed particularly realistic right now though.
"Well? Spill it!" the Kumo boy was in front of her in a minute, and so was his team.
Her seals were up faster, though, and the three water clones busied themselves with her foes as she ran off into the forest.
Why am I doing this?! she wondered, propelling herself up into the branches for a better vantage point. Maruten hadn't been the first death she'd ever witnessed in this world, but he'd sure been one of the youngest, besides Rin and Obito. But their deaths had meant to happen. His... well, she didn't know it for sure.
And for some reason, that bothered her.
Pop.
She fell to her knees on a nearby branch, not in pain, but in a deep, agonized frustration.
Her water clones had barely lasted a few minutes. They hadn't even been defeated, her chakra had simply... stopped.
Her goddamn reserves... This was insane!
She took a deep breath, dropping down from the branch to face her pursuers face to face. She'd have to, if she wanted to utilize any of the taijutsu training Gai had provided her the last few weeks.
And yes, she was aware a few weeks of training was probably not enough to take down three seasoned shinobi in hand-to-hand combat, her worst subject at the Academy. Even months of Gai's training probably wouldn't have helped her here.
"Well," the Kumo boy smiled sinisterly, "I guess this is it for you—"
Suddenly, he went flying towards the ground, his teammates gaping as he screamed out in pain.
"Fuck!" he thrashed, trying to rip off the animal attacking his face, claws out.
"Nora!" Reina screamed, lowering herself onto the ground where he'd landed, attempting to pull the cat off the boy by the back of its neck. "No!"
The Kumo boy pulled out his kunai, ripped the summon from his face before Reina could reach them, before slashing at Nora with his weapon. The cat fell to the floor in a splatter of blood, loose fur and flesh flying everywhere.
Reina swung widely, the sharp stab of several senbon landing directly in the boy's shoulders. He let out a yell, jumping to his feet in an attempt to dodge her next strike, but not before Reina's foot went down on his toes.
"Ouch!" he winced. "You bitch!"
"You killed that boy and maimed my summon," Reina snapped. "I'm going to be doing a lot more than stepping on your toes now, you little shit, I'll... I'll!"
"What a commotion," a voice caught their attention as a pair of pale lavender eyes emerged from the darkness, Reina's own eyes widening.
"Is this really Kumo's best they've sent?" the boy was evidently a Hyuga, with two long strands of light brown hair tied to points framing his face. To his side stood a sullen-looking boy wearing green-tinted sunglasses, despite the fact it was deep into the night. An Aburame, by the looks of it.
She didn't recognize them, but from the observations she was making and their forehead protectors, they were Konoha shinobi. Meaning there was at least a chance, however small, that they wouldn't be trying to kill her here.
Reina's shoulders fell in relief. Despite the imbalance in numbers, surely these two could hold their own against these no-name Kumo shinobi before them.
Sure enough, they had the Kumo shinobi cornered within minutes of arriving, Reina too busy with tending to Nora's wounds to witness the rest of their fight.
"It's okay," Reina tried to speak soothingly to the cat, pulling a roll of gauze out of her pouch and wrapping it around Nora's left paw. The bleeding was harrowing, however, and the digits looked like they were barely hanging on by a string of muscle, "it'll be okay, let me just patch you up, good as new..."
Nora only continued to mewl in pain, the sound echoing sharply against the rustling of leaves resulting from the fight around them.
Reina held the summon in her arms as she stood, watching as the two newcomer shinobi approached her, looking completely unscathed even after their tussle with the Kumo shinobi.
"We've taken care of them," the Hyuga boy said, jerking his thumb at the tied up team behind them. "where's the rest of your team?"
"She doesn't have one," the Aburame said suddenly, "I recognize her. She's the Kitani girl, the one going solo this year."
"I don't have a team, but they took down a boy..." Reina said hurriedly, glancing towards their camp. "I need to get him... I need to get Maruten's body... his parents, they'll want it..."
"Sorry," the Hyuga apologized, though she could hear the hard edge to his words, "we can't let you go yet."
"What?" Reina said, taking a step back.
"The Kumo shinobi destroyed both of their flags when we confronted them." the Hyuga frowned. "It seemed they preferred the outcome of all of us losing, rather than giving up a win to Konoha shinobi."
"They... they did?"
"So we'll be needing to get the green team's flag for ourselves," the Aburame continued, "and we can't risk you warning them beforehand."
"What? No!" Reina snapped, "Who cares about that? A kid just died—"
"People die all the time in these exams," the Aburame snapped back, "it's a reflection of what we can expect as shinobi. Do you think there are no such casualties in battle?"
"This is different, this is just a stupid test that some stupid old man is using to pit us all against each other for show, and the fact that you guys can't see that is just sad!" Reina yelled, before pushing past the two.
"Wait!" the Hyuga boy said, stepping in front of her right when she was about to reach the edge of their campsite, "Just wait a few moments, at least—"
"No!" she snapped, "let me through!"
"Don't make us use force, Kitani girl," the Aburame seethed. Reina's heart stopped as she witnessed a large black shadow—no, not a shadow, a mass, of quivering, buzzing insects, forming a tall pillar behind the boy.
"Fuck," Reina said, hugging Nora to her chest before falling into a sprint.
She'd barely made it a minute out when she felt the tugging on her heels, internally cursing the universe as she glanced down to see the swarm of bugs already snaking its way around her shoes and up to her middle.
"Let me go!" she screeched, almost dropping Nora as she swatted away at the bugs with her hands. It was a futile attempt, but it was all she could think of at the moment, her arms too full of cat to perform proper seals.
"Maybe we should get the girl to quiet down first," Reina immediately ducked her gaze once she saw the see a red-eyed boy in front of her.
"Setsuna," she breathed.
Setsuna grinned, eyes spinning. "You know me? That's a shame. I don't remember meeting."
"We haven't," Reina said, making a snap decision. She rolled Nora onto the ground, right outside the further bug's reach, and started forming hand seals.
Just in time too, as the creatures had just reached the bottom of her elbows by the time she was able to get her first water clone out.
"Ah," Setsuna's eyes widened momentarily, distracted by the clone's attack, while Reina pulled out an explosive seal, slamming it into the middle of the flurry of bugs.
BAM!
She could hear the Aburame boy cursing from behind her as she ran off again, managing to get even less far before she was again blocked by another member of their team.
"What are you waiting for, Tokuma?!" Setsuna yelled, meeting kunai with Reina's clone from behind them. "Finish her off!"
The Hyuga stood before her, eyes hard, Byakugan already activated.
Reina fell into her fighting stance, trying to think of any possible way out of this; moments later, they both had senbon and kunai flying in the air towards each other, Reina barely managing to get cover behind a tree before she attempted another clone.
Fighting a Hyuuga, you'd think Reina would have the advantage considering she knew where his Byakugan's blind spot was, thanks to the original series.
But no. It was somewhere at the 350 degree mark, if Reina remembered correctly; but it's not like she was a human protractor. She couldn't just find that area in the heat of battle as things were moving around quickly. Not at her level.
So unfortunately, she was at a loss when Tokuma caught her hands mid-seal with one of his own, jabbing a kunai into her side as he did. He pulled down, pressing the cool metal into flesh, almost tickling bone, before pulling out the blade in one fell swoop.
She fell to the floor in a heap, grasping the wound with a breathless cry.
"Surrender now, or you will lose this fight," Tokuma said solemnly. "there is nowhere in this forest you can hide from my eyes."
Reina didn't respond, a pounding roar in her ears as she felt the wet redness dripping onto her fingers.
Nothing about this was fair. Two dojutsu users on one team? A Hyuga and Uchiha, no less? How did Danzo even manage that?
She felt the pop of her clone being defeated, not even a second passing before she was surrounded by the rest of team, Setsuna sporting little more than a few scratches and bruises. The Aburame boy's expression was a little more sour, but he otherwise looked no worse for wear.
"Muta, maybe you should do the honors," Setsuna smiled, "it's your bugs she scorched, after all."
"We need not kill her," Muta said coldly, "but if she continues to cause problems, we will need to... significantly debilitate her."
"Augh, fuck you!" Reina spat, feeling the panic rise in her throat. "It's just a test, you guys!"
"There's more riding on this than you know," Setsuna spat back. "but I don't expect a no-name clan girl like you to understand."
She hated this. Whatever Danzo was planning, for the first time in her life here, Reina was in the dark. It wasn't like she'd expected to know all the steps to his dastardly plots until now, but somehow everyone in this forest, including her, had been made a pawn of his schemes. The same way Shisui would be, soon enough. Itachi too, later on.
Danzo would take their lives without a care, and he'd take hers too.
It made her blood boil.
"You know what, if you guys are too chicken, I'll take her out myself," Setsuna said, raising his kunai.
Tokuma's eyes widened. "Wait, Setsuna—" His arm shot out, but he was too slow. Even Reina could see he wouldn't make it to his teammate's weapon before it struck, the sharp blade aimed right for the space between her eyes.
It didn't matter, though. Setsuna's arm never made it down.
The feeling was familiar, but colder now. Starker. She could feel it all the way inside of her, deep in her bones. The feeling of something stirring for the first time in years.
She had never activated it at night, never seen how the shadows made the blacks deeper and the whites sparse.
It was eerie, but in the moment, nothing was more beautiful. The three boys had been frozen where they stood, unaware of the fate that was about to befall them.
"TOMERU's BACK, BITCHES!" she whooped, uncaring that her assailants couldn't even hear her shriek.
Her Tomeru had activated harshly, if not painfully. It was like exercising a muscle you never used for the first time in a long time. Ow.
And what's worse, she could feel its immediate drain on her chakra reserves. Forget that time limit she used to have; though she'd finally managed to break Kushina's seal on her Kekkei Genkai, it would do her no good if she burnt out her coils right now.
"I need to act fast," Reina muttered, pulling out her supplies from her pouch.
'
'
A few minutes later, she took a deep breath, a faint smile on her lips as she pulled up her hands and formed the seals to undo her Tomeru.
The screams echoed in the forest as the boys flailed in their holdings, Setsuna's screeched particularly muffled considering the seal Reina'd placed over his mouth. She'd picked up Nora again, relieved to see his heartbeat was still going strong, though he'd been startled awake from unconsciousness when he'd heard the screams.
"Shh," Reina said to Nora, "don't worry about it. They'll stop screaming eventually."
"What the hell is this?!" Muta roared. She'd bound the boys with several feet of threads to the highest branch of the tallest tree she could find. Then, she'd covered almost every inch of them with all the explosive seals she'd had on her.
She'd worked right up until the moment almost all of her chakra had been used up before stopping. It was overkill, but she felt they deserved it.
Tokuma grunted, shaking the leaves around him as he attempted to escape his bindings.
"You'd better not move any more than that," Reina called, "or else I'll be activating those explosive seals."
Suddenly, she could feel the presence of other several shinobi approaching, the group not even bothering the mask the sounds of their footsteps crunching on fallen leaves. She whipped around, a kunai in hand.
A crowd had formed behind her, much to her surprise. Most of them were shinobi from foreign villages, though she recognized a few Konoha shinobi. They all looked like they had recently been in a fight of their own, and she briefly wondered why the hell she'd made the idiotic move of using up all her chakra on these three boys when there was a forest full of enemies to take down.
"She took down that team?" one of the younger shinobi whispered, the Konoha symbol emblazoned on his forehead protector. "The Hyuga? And even an Uchiha? How is that possible?"
"What clan is she from again?" another voice asked. She shot them a peeved look, and to her surprise, fear shot across their expressions. She waited until they slowly backed away into the cover of the forest to drop it, the rest of the crowd following, much to her relief.
That relief died quickly when she saw two more figures emerge from the thicket.
"You."
Reina's palms went clammy as she watched the redhead boy approach, carrying something grey and wet.
She paled once she realized what it was.
"You... you took down those three, all this entire time?" Fu demanded, holding Maruten's corpse tightly in his grasp.
"I..."
Maen was fast behind him. "And yet you still let Maruten die!" he roared. "You just let him die?! I don't believe you... We trusted you! Look what you've done!"
"I...," Reina said sadly, before walking over to the brush where they'd been keeping the green flag. She held it out to him, not meeting his eyes as she did. "here, you can have this, at least the rest of your team—"
"No!" Maen spat, "We don't want anything from you!"
"Look, I didn't let him die on purpose!" Reina snapped, taking a step back.
"Yeah right! You just wanted to take out the competition," Fu said.
"Weren't you doing the same?"
Maen flushed. "We wouldn't have killed you. We're all from the same village."
"Look, I'm sorry," Reina said, "I'm sorry he died, but really, it wasn't me."
Fu's hands shook at his sides. "Just leave," he hissed, "get the fuck out of our sight."
"...Okay," Reina said, throwing the flag at their feet, "but take that at least. Don't... don't let his death be a waste."
"It's already a waste," Maen said dejectedly, never taking his eyes off her until she left.
A part of her couldn't help but agree.
'
'
She'd handed Nora to a medic at the tower once she'd arrived, but she was still awaiting the news on her summon almost an hour later.
"He'll be fine," a medic finally said, coming up to her as another medic patched up Reina's wound on her side, "though he might not be able to walk on that paw as easily as he used to, his life isn't in danger."
"Oh, thank god," Reina said. She'd already forfeited the exam by coming to the tower without any flags, but she didn't particularly care about any of that at the moment. "when can I take him home?"
"We'd like to keep him here overnight, just in case of infection," the medic said, "but go to the hospital in the morning and you'll be able to pick him up."
After agreeing to that, she'd left the tower with a sinking feeling. It wasn't until she was halfway home that she realized she would've much rather walked back from that horrible test with at least some sort of company, even if it was a heavily-injured cat.
She'd wanted to push it out of her mind, but it was hard not to think of Maruten's death. The memory replayed sharply, vividly; the thunderous sound of his body slapping the water echoed continuously in her mind. The air suddenly felt colder, and she found herself hugging her arms to her body to prevent further shivering as she trudged her way home.
The Academy was on her way back, much to her chagrin. Sh found herself stopping to observe the school from a distance, realizing that it was the afternoon, so class was still in session. Shinobi children ran around the courtyard, playing games of ball or tag, unaware of how dark their lives would become in the careers they'd chosen. Unaware that years from now they might be in the same place as her, walking home alone from a test right after witnessing a peer's test.
No, Reina thought dryly. Those kids wouldn't be alone.
Perhaps this was the real reason the test was best taken in teams. It wasn't just the fights where having a support system mattered; it was the horrible moments after, when one had to live in the wake of the horrible things they'd seen, or even done.
Sure, she'd witnessed and even committed, at times, absolute atrocities on her travels with Zabuza; but Haku had always been there to revel in the terror with her. Before then, the fear of being a genin had been alleviated by her kinship with Kushina and Minato, as little as she wanted to admit it. Even in her past life, all the friends and family and even pets she'd taken for granted had empowered her, given her the ability to charge through life with at least a minimal level of confidence.
Now, who did she have?
Minato, Kushina, and Rin were dead, thanks to no interference on her part. Obito, was as good as forsaken. Kakashi hated her, and she had no way of mediating that.
And her friendship with Shisui was now shaky at best.
You did this to yourself.
To top it all off, she had been born an orphan in this world, to a clan that no longer existed. Powerless to do anything, stop anything, be it Danzo and his schemes, or the deaths that awaited the people around her.
You're alone.
For the first time since she'd been reincarnated, the reality of it all became clear.
She was living, really, truly, living in this world that she'd once thought fake; and she was living in it alone. Just like...
Just like Naruto.
Ironic, that she'd have so much more in common with the hero of this story than she'd thought.
But there was a difference between her and Naruto. He was meant to be here. He was allowed to change things, because no matter what he did, he belonged. She was the anomaly. The glitch in the program. The existence that threatened to throw the happy ending careening off its track.
Even so, she couldn't deny it. She was starting to feel it. It was snowballing, all the actions she'd taken, or failed to take, and now it was beginning to weigh on her. Like each of their deaths were her own fault.
Everyday, she attempted to push the feeling down, strangle her emotions as Zabuza had taught her; but it was always there. Minato, Rin, Kushina... She wasn't the cause of their deaths, but she was all too aware now that she'd had the power to prevent them.
It's not your fault, Reina would try to tell herself. It wasn't her fault. Was it? Did it still count as her doing, if they were destined to die anyways? Was it really her fault she didn't want to risk the future they'd all sacrificed themselves for?
And if not, why did it sometimes feel like she'd killed them with her own two hands?
'
'
Time passed quickly, and soon enough, a year and a half had passed. Eventually, Reina did finally make it to chunin, but there was little time to celebrate.
It was early morning when she'd found herself running through the maze of the Uchiha compound, struggling to located her ex-teammate. He'd failed to train at his usual haunts, throwing Reina off her search as she felt the panic rising in her throat.
Finally, she found him at the outskirts of the forest right outside the Uchiha compound, striking at a swinging target he'd tied to a tree.
"Shisui," she hissed, standing in front of the target as he was about to throw his weapon. She wasn't worried, though; he was fast enough to pull back before hitting her.
"Reina," he greeted her, lowering his kunai just in time. "what's with all the attitude this early in the morning?"
"Weird place to be training," she replied dryly, ignoring his quip. "so far away from your usual spots... almost like you're trying to avoid someone."
"Oh." Shisui sighed, "It's not you I'm avoiding, you know."
"Itachi?"
"Yeah," Shisui said glumly. "guess I'm way worse at hiding out than I thought, though."
Reina raised a brow. "What does that mean?"
Shisui gestured behind Reina, who turned to see a shadowy figure emerging from the brush.
"Shisui," came Itachi's low voice, a face haunted with buried emotions greeting them as he continued, "I see Reina's beaten me here."
"Itachi, c'mon," Shisui sighed, "I don't know how to explain myself any further."
"Yeah?" Reina seethed, "You decide to go off to Kumo for two months, and you think you have no reason to explain that?"
"It's family stuff, Reina," Shisui said, "you wouldn't understand."
It was true, she didn't understand. But not for the reasons he thought.
Her memory of the original series was now as cloudy as could be, considering all the years that'd passed; but she'd written down one singular fact in that little red book of hers, years ago, when her recollection of her past life was still sharp.
Shisui was only a few weeks away from turning 17.
Except, according to her notes, he'd never made it that far in the show.
Not that his age at his death was ever stated, but she'd remembered around what age Sasuke and Itachi had been during the massacre, and done the math from there. Shisui was no older than 16 when he'd met his fate.
And when Shisui'd died at Danzo's hands, he'd still been in Konoha. Not Kumo. This could only mean one thing.
Shisui's death, and the Uchiha Massacre that followed after...
It was finally upon them.
Reina took a deep breath to steady herself as Itachi and Shisui continued to bicker in front of her, unaware that the event that would change both their lives forever was about to unveil.
"Family stuff, you say," Itachi continued, "how is leaving your clan for two months helping with our family's situation?"
They might have weeks. Maybe days. Reina had absolutely no idea. This had been one of the first times in months she'd come to see Shisui; they'd grown so far apart, with his busy Anbu schedule and her taking on new chunin missions (she'd decided to take on the easier ones that required more traveling than combat, considering her chakra issues), there'd been little opportunity to reconnect recently.
Now, she wished she'd bothered to spend a little more time with the boy this past year, considering it was most likely his last.
"We need to showcase the Uchiha's loyalty to the village," Shisui argued back, "show the other nations our goodwill. That we're not the selfish, arrogant pricks everyone says we are—"
"Now's not the time to be leaving our clan to attend to itself, Shisui." Itachi's voice rose, possibly for the first time since Reina'd met him, "You and I both know what's about to transpire, we are on the brink of something we can't hold back. I need you here. Right now, what matters is not what the other villages think of us, but how this village perceives our clan."
She didn't know. It wasn't the first time she didn't know, it's not like they ever had the exact dates of everyone's death marked on calendars in the series, but this was Shisui. He was one of the few people she'd cared about that was destined to die soon. Why didn't she realize this before?
"That's exactly why I'm doing this!" Shisui replied, exasperated, "Konoha's been asking an Uchiha to take on this mission for months because they need a dojutsu user, but we've kept on refusing. It'll show our village not all the Uchihas are being uncooperative with them. Doesn't that count for something?"
Itachi looked the closest to fuming Reina had ever seen. "It's a death sentence. I know this can't be the only reason for you to leave now, of all times. Why do you insist on this dishonestly?"
"I'm not," Shisui shook his head, "and I don't know what to do if you can't believe me. So if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to training."
Itachi's face deflated for a moment, before he took a sharp turn to leave.
Reina let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
"That... Itachi has a point," Reina tried to keep her voice from shaking, lest Shisui realize her current mental state, "I didn't really expect this from you, Shisui. Not now."
She wasn't supposed to know much about the Uchiha's current political state, but it was evident even to most civilians that the Uchihas were going through rough times. Many citizens were now insubordinate towards the police force, the Uchiha's family businesses were receiving less and less village patronage, and the constantly vandalize walls of their compound were the quiet, shameful symbol of the clan's descent from respect and power.
It was clearly not the time for an Uchiha to be taking missions in places as far as Kumo.
"Look, Reina," Shisui's voice dropped, "I know we haven't seen each other much this past year, but truthfully, I haven't felt like much of a friend to you or Itachi. I think... I need to get away for a bit. Get away from all... this."
Oh, she realized, remembering something from the series. Shisui was probably trying to get out of his mission to spy on Itachi. The guilt must've finally gotten to him, so he'd taken this Kumo mission.
Of course. But he wouldn't get to that mission at all, it seemed.
Time was ticking.
'
'
A/N: Aaaand it's back!
I thought I'd have to upload this really late thanks to the holidays, but thankfully this and the next chapter have been planned for months and were pretty quick writes.
Also, I would like to clarify this is NOT a self-insert fic, lmao. Reina is very much just an OC. I completely understand the confusion but god no if this were an SI it would be one chapter and nothing would happen because I would be dead in the first five minutes of it