The silence was deafening as Kokoro released her jutsu on Kuragari. Another beat of silence passed before the crowd started cheering wildly. There were shouts of joy and excitement over a Konoha win. Kokoro stared at Kurargari's slightly blue and shivering form with no remorse. She respected him for his strength and his will not to give up, but his words still pierced through her. She wasn't just someone's daughter, she was her own person. She didn't have to amount to the level her father was at because she wasn't him and he wasn't her. She was free to be whoever she wanted to be and she chose to be herself days ago. It was time everyone knew that.
She moved her gaze from his body to the Mizukage's shocked and determined expression. She saw the Mizukage's mouth move as she spoke to the Sandaime, who was watching Kokoro with a calculating gaze. She couldn't decipher what was going on in his head just by catching his gaze. She had no idea if he was upset with her or if he understood that she did what she had to do. Either way, she wouldn't apologize for using her full potential. It wasn't up to anyone else to decide what she could and couldn't do, what skills she could and couldn't use. She had worked hard to build up her kekkei genkai so that it was dependable and efficient at incapacitating opponents. After she put in all that work, she should get the final say in whether or not she could use it.
She bowed to the Sandaime, to the crowd, and to Genma before leaving the area. She was approached by medic nin and agreed to go with them to get patched up before the next round. She sat on the makeshift hospital bed with a blank expression hiding all of her emotions and her feet dangled above the floor causing shadows to bounce up and down as the medic asked her to remove her clothes so she could put a cold substance on her wounds and roll bandages to cover them. Kokoro complied with all of their requests until they asked her to rest until her next match. She shook her head valiantly and tried standing up. Gently, the nurse pushed her back on the bed and told her to rest.
Kokoro didn't want to rest. Resting meant she was left alone with nothing but her thoughts. Resting meant she had to think about what she had done and wonder if she had made the right decision or not. Resting meant she had to think about how her own dad hadn't shown up to her match because he was busy being proud of some other kid. She didn't expect him to be on time for everything because that was just who he was, but she expected him to at least attend her events. She had Haku in the stands cheering for her, but who she really wanted to cheer for her was her dad. She wanted him to be proud of her and congratulate her and talk with her about what she did right and what she needed to improve upon. She couldn't do that stuff with him if he wasn't giving her the time of day. Why couldn't he focus on her instead of focusing on her skills? Why did he value strength over emotions?
Kokoro grew angry and gripped the bed with her hands, digging her fingernails into the cotton of the sheets until her fingers turned white from the pressure. She bowed her head and let her hair cover her watery eyes. She clenched her teeth together and prevented herself from making a sound. She wanted to. She wanted someone to hear her frustrations, but she refused to let them. She was tired of constantly showing people her emotions just for them to run over them. If her dad didn't want to spend time with her or train her or make sure she was fine, then she wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt. If she was going to be whoever she wanted to be and do whatever she wanted to do, then she needed to live by those words and stop letting her dad control how she feels.
She should be proud of herself for being strong enough and smart enough to defeat an opponent like Kuragari. She worked harder the past month than she's ever worked since she started molding chakra and practicing taijutsu. She felt rejuvenated training so hard, powerful, and accomplished, like she could do anything she set her mind to. It was eye opening pushing herself to her limits and restricting herself from being lazy. She wanted to feel that way every day, to feel accomplished because of something she had done, because of something she wanted to do. She wiped the tears from her eyes and blew out a breath of air. She relaxed against the bed and stared up at the ceiling, her mind clear from any troubles. She would rest like the nurse suggested, then she'd go back out there and show everyone more of what she was made of.
She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but it happened. Kokoro found herself jolting awake and rubbing a hand down her tired face. She pivoted her body, hopped off the bed, stretched her limbs as far as they would go. She yawned and smacked her lips a couple of times before she gathered herself and left the medic room. She walked up the stairs and towards the waiting area for participants. She reached the area and noticed Gaara was missing. She also noticed Temari and Kankuro staring intently below. Shikamaru noticed her entrance and raised an eyebrow at the messy state her hair was in.
"Where were you?" he asked.
"The nurses patched me up and told me to rest for a while. I must have fallen asleep," she answered. "Did you already go?"
"Yeah," he said.
"And?" she prompted.
"I forfeited."
"What?! Why did you forfeit?"
"I was at the last of my strength. Not everyone needs to beat their opponent with a killer ending move," he said pointedly. "What's up with that anyway? I've never seen anyone use that type of jutsu before."
"It's a kekkei genkai from my mother's clan. I've always been able to use it, but I wasn't allowed to," Kokoro answered quietly. Shikamaru stared at her and analyzed the state she was in before dropping the conversation. He sighed and muttered something Kokoro was sure she could guess. He gestured with his head for her to join him to watch the ensuing match.
"Your dad finally got her," Shikamaru mentioned. He pointed towards the crowd where a man with silver, gravity-defying hair stood next to a blond kid. Kokoro didn't care if he was there or not. She shrugged in nonchalance and looked at the ground. Gaara and Sasuke were battling it out. Sasuke's hair had grown longer in the front and his cocky demeanor was worse than it usually was. There was a ball of sand surrounding Gaara and protecting him from Sasuke's attacks. Sasuke backed off and smirked before running through a series of familiar hand signs.
Kokoro's eyes widened and a twinge of jealousy ran through her body. Not only had her dad trained Sasuke for an entire month without writing to her or contacting her, he had taught Sasuke his original jutsu after he told her he wouldn't teach her any lightning jutsu, much less how to mold lightning chakra. It was apparent by the smug look on his face as Sasuke activated the Chidori and ran towards Gaara that she wasn't a priority of his.
Sasuke pierced Gaara's ball of sand, causing Gaara to start screaming.
"My blood!" Gaara screamed from inside his protective sand. Sasuke pried his hand out from the sand shell and backed away as Gaara continued to scream. His ball of sand fell and revealed a manic Gaara. Kankuro and Temari cursed and raced towards Gaara. They reached him and began fleeing from the arena just as white feather fell from the sky. Kokoro looked at the feather in confusion and touched one. She felt tired even though she just took a nap. She couldn't control herself and she drooped to the floor in a heap next to Shikamaru.
She was awoken abruptly and felt an abrasive tongue licking her cheek. She swiped her hand in front of her face and groggily opened her eyes. Staring down at her was Shikamaru, Naruto, Sakura, and Pakkun. Her eyebrows knitted together and she asked the first thing on her mind.
"Sakura, what are you doing here?"
"I came to watch the finals with my team. Our sensei didn't think we were ready yet, but she wanted us to watch to see what they would be like," Sakura answered.
"No, no, I mean what are you doing standing in front of me?" Kokoro clarified.
"Someone put the whole stadium into a genjutsu and started attacking the village. Kakashi-sensei ordered me and Naruto to take his ninken and find you," she said.
"The village is under attack?!" Kokoro shouted. She sprung up and looked around her at the fighting jounin. She looked wildly at the group in front of her and waved her arms around. "Why are you explaining everything to me when we should be helping!"
"Right!" Naruto exclaimed. "We've got to follow Sasuke and make sure he doesn't get killed by that redhead!"
Kokoro stared at the chaos all around her and zeroed in on a few villagers trapped in the stadium. She shook her head and said, "Go without me! I'll help around here!"
"But what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"He's not my priority!" she shouted. "There are people who don't have any extra abilities to protect them from harm, but Sasuke does. He'll be alright. Now, go!"
"I'll come with you," a quiet voice said from the side. Shino walked out of the shadows and approached the group. "I can be of some assistance."
Naruto made a disgusted look, to which Kokoro slapped him on the back.
"Get over it! Shino is a strong shinobi. He'll be able to help a lot," she told him. He grumbled before becoming determined again and running off with Saskura, Shikamaru, and Shino. Pakkun stayed back for a moment and stared at Kokoro.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? Kakashi told me to watch over you," Pakkun said.
"I'll cover for you," she said before running off. She leaped over fallen debris and reached the cowering family of three. It was a mom and her two sons, and they were stuck in a hole surrounded by big pieces of concrete and dirt. They were shaking and holding each other close, and the mother shrieked when she caught sight of Kokoro approaching quickly. She hid her face in her sons' clothes and began sobbing.
"Don't worry, I'm a Konoha shinobi. I'm here to help get you out," Kokoro reassured them. The mother looked up and caught sight of Kokoro's headband. She nodded her head and whispered something to her sons before handing one off to Kokoro. Kokoro grabbed the son, who had to be no older than six, and placed him on his feet off to the side. She warned him to stay close before she grabbed the other son and placed him next to his brother. She held her hand out to the woman and pulled her out of the hole with a grunt. The mother immediately ran over to her boys and hugged them tightly. She thanked Kokoro and ran out of the stadium with them.
Kokoro thought they would be okay now that they were out of the danger zone, but she was mistaken. A cry for help coming from the direction the family ran echoed in her ears and she ran to help. A giant snake slithered towards them with its mouth open and ready to swallow them whole. Her eyes widened in surprise and she rushed to help them. She threw shuriken at it and started yelling to get its attention. It worked and the snake set its sights on her instead of the family. Kokoro gestured for the family to run away and sighed in relief when they were out of the vicinity. Now all she had to do was take care of the snake. It was as tall as a building and as long as a whole section of the village walls!
Kokoro ran through some plans in her mind but she couldn't come up with anything useful. As she ran away from the snake through the village, she made sure to tell people to get out of the way and to seek shelter immediately. She came across a young girl with a yellow bow in her hair and crocodile tears leaking from her eyes. She was alone and calling for her mom to pick her up. Kokoro didn't want to slow down because she was scared the snake would gain on her, but she didn't want to leave the girl in the snake's path. She scooped the girl up in her arms and continued to run. Now that she didn't have any free hands, she had no clue what to do. She couldn't run forever, and she couldn't let the snake keep destroying buildings in the village. She made sure there was enough room between her and the snake before she stopped and set the girl down.
"I need you to listen to me, please," the silver-haired genin said in a calm voice. The girl shook her head and started to wail, causing Kokoro's ears to sting. "Listen, listen. What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Satomi," the girl said around sniffles.
"Alright, Satomi. I need you to listen to me, okay?"
Satomi nodded her head, so Kokoro took that as her cue to continue.
"You saw the big scary snake, right?" Satomi nodded her head. "Then you know that it's very dangerous and could hurt a lot of people. I need to fight it, but I can't do that if I'm looking after you. I need you to stay right here without me so I can fight the snake."
"No! I don't want to be alone!" the girl screamed loudly.
"I know, I know," Kokoro comforted her. "It's really scary being alone when you don't know what's going on, but I need you to be brave, okay? Can you do that for me?"
The girl stared into Kokoro's gray eyes and quickly nodded her head. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and sat on the ground against a building per Kokoro's request. Kokoro reassured her she would be back in no time and ran out to fight the snake. It had gotten extremely close since she last laid eyes on it, and she worried the girl would be in the crossfire of the fight. She ran towards the snake, hoping to get some distance between the fight and the little girl and started the beginning of a jutsu. Before she could finish it, a man with long white hair jumped in front of her and finished off the snake in a few moves. Kokoro stared in astonishment at the man and gaped at the power he exhibited. The man turned around and approached Kokoro with a stern face.
"Kid, you okay?" he asked. When she didn't respond he said, "You know that was a really dumb thing to do. You aren't even a chunin and you're trying to fight off a snake that size."
Kokoro shook herself out of her amazement and scoffed.
"Well, I had to do something. It was chasing after me and I had to make sure Satomi was safe."
"Satomi?"
"The little girl hiding over there," Kokoro elaborated while pointing in Satomi's direction. "She was alone and in the snake's path. I didn't want her to get hurt or killed, so I took her with me."
"That's great and all kid, but next time leave it to the jounin to handle it," the man said.
"That's great and all, but all the jounin were preoccupied with other business. I'm officially a shinobi of this village, meaning I can help out any way that I can," she stressed. The man huffed in indignation and muttered under his breath. She was able to catch some words like "Kakashi", "daughter", and "crazy." She was able to determine that the man before her knew her dad and knew her relation to him.
"You know my dad?" she asked.
The man stopped muttering and replied, "Of course I know Kakashi. Hasn't he told you anything about me?"
She shook her head and said, "Nope."
"After everything I've done for that brat," the man muttered under his breath. His demeanor changed in an instant as he placed his hands on his hips and looked into the distance. "I am Jiraiya, the great toad sage of Mount Myoboku!"
Kokoro's mouth popped open in surprise and she squealed in excitement. Jiraiya grinned widely as she continued to make a high pitched noise. She gathered herself and asked, "Are you the Jiraiya? Tsunade-sama's teammate?"
Jiraiya deflated and an irritated look crossed his face. He pouted his lips and crossed his arms over his chest as he refused to look at her. Kokoro tried to stop a laugh from leaving her mouth, but she couldn't help the giggles from overflowing. Seeing a man as old as Jiraiya pouting was hilarious and she couldn't help but compare him to Naruto.
"So you're a Tsunade fangirl, huh?" he asked.
"She's the best!" Kokoro gushed. "She's so strong she can heal everyone around her without breaking a sweat, and she can deliver a punch strong enough to create a new lake! She's my idol!"
Jiraiya laughed heartily and said, "I'll have to mention it to her when I see her next. Why don't you go and get that girl out of here. Most of the fighting should be over."
"Ah, right!" Kokoro exclaimed. She ran over to the building Satomi was sitting against and popped her head around the corner. Satomi was sitting there with her thumb in her mouth and her eyes closed. Kokoro cooed at the cute sight and walked over to the girl. She placed her hand on the top of Satomi's head gently so as not to startle her and smiled reassuringly when the girl opened her eyes. Satomi launched herself at Kokoro and hugged her tightly.
"I thought you weren't gonna come back," the girl admitted shakily.
"Just the thought of saving you was enough to help me power through it," Kokoro said quietly. "C'mon. Let's go find your parents."
With all the chaos surrounding them, it was hard to locate Satomi's parents. They visited the place Kokoro found her first, but there was no one in sight. Then, they visited Satomi's house, and again no one was around. Kokoro thought long and hard before a lightbulb lit up in her head and she smacked herself in the face. Because the village was in danger, most of the villagers were evacuated to the safe houses inside the Hokage monument. Kokoro rushed up there with Satomi in her arms and was relieved to find Satomi's parents after twenty minutes of searching. Her parents thanked her and cradled Satomi between the two of them. Kokoro smiled at the sight and bid them farewell.
She left the safe house after checking in with the shinobi guarding it and went searching for her fellow genin. Hopefully, they were okay. She made it to the stadium and was running past the entrance gate when her arm was grabbed. She was yanked and pulled towards a warm body. Muscled arms wrapped around her squished her to a lean frame. She sniffed the person and relaxed when she realized it was just her dad.
"Where were you? Where's Pakkun?" Kakashi asked once she pulled away from him.
"He went off with Naruto, Shika, Sakura, and Shino to help Sasuke. I went to help out the villagers left behind in town," she answered.
"I told Pakkun to watch over you. You were supposed to go with him," Kakashi said sternly.
"I didn't want to go with them. There were people stuck in the stadium and no one was helping them. I had to do something!"
"Those weren't your orders, Kokoro."
"If my memory serves me right, you didn't give me any orders!" she shouted. "You haven't talked to me in weeks! You never once tried to send me a letter or just a small message letting me know you were okay or that you still cared about me, and I couldn't get in contact with you because you refused to tell me where you were going!"
"Is this what it's about?" Kakashi asked incredulously. "You're upset I trained Sasuke instead of you?"
"I'm upset about that, yes, but that's not why I ran to help those people instead of helping Sasuke!" she argued.
"You can't pick and choose which orders you want to follow, Kokoro," Kakashi said disappointedly. "It was fine when you were still a child, but you're a shinobi now. You can't let your emotions or your personal morales cloud your vision of completing a mission."
"There was no mission, and there were no orders!" Kokoro shouted in exasperation. "Why can't you just be happy that I helped others in need, that I put the village's safety over my own?"
"That's not fair."
"That's not fair? That's not fair?!" Kokoro began to laugh cynically, a really loud, belly-aching laugh that turned into hiccups. "You want to know what's not fair? My own father didn't show up to my match because he was busy with some other genin he thought had more potential. I trained harder than I ever have to get stronger to show you I still had potential and you didn't even show up."
"Kokoro," Kakashi trailed off.
"It's fine. I don't need your help anymore," she dismissed him. "Haku was more than enough help. So was Gai-sensei. It's like you said before you left. I used the opportunity to learn from other people, and not only did they help me get stronger, they helped me realize how much of a terrible sensei you are."
"Kokoro, I'm-"
"It's whatever," she waved him off. "You like being Kakashi so much, so you might as well stick to it. Why try and be a dad when you obviously don't want to be one."
"Kokoro-!"
"Enough."
Genma came towards the daughter and father duo and gave Kakashi a look. Then he leveled his gaze at Kokoro, who stood tall against his steely gaze. He sighed and said, "The Hokage perished in battle."
