FLAMES
CHAPTER 16
Sasuke enjoyed the thrill of battle, but this was not a regular battle. This was a hassle. He'd wanted to fight Gaara since the first day he laid eyes on him, but not under these kinds of circumstances. Even with the three of them it promised to be a helluva fight, and Sasuke certainly wasn't going to kill Gaara. Not because he wouldn't, but because he couldn't. He was frickin' annoying. Defense was obviously his forte, but his offense was good too. Nothing was more dangerous than an opponent who knew how to execute both, and Gaara didn't have to raise a single frickin' finger to do it.
Naruto's clones were everywhere. Neji's spherical trigram technique battered waves of sand away from him. Sasuke was the only one who actively tried to attack Gaara, and was thrown back on every occasion. His Sharingan kept him from getting volley-balled from sand wave to sand wave, like Naruto. Obviously Neji's tactic was to get Gaara to exhaust his chakra, but Sasuke was too impatient for that.
Both Neji and Naruto were supreme distractions, Sasuke had to admit. The sand was quick, aggressive, and so conscious of the battle field it seemed to have a mind of its own. Did it? Sasuke waited for the others to form an opening, and then he flew at Gaara a fourth time, from behind. His knuckles collided with a thick sheet of sand, crushing his knuckles. Several ribbons of sand blossomed at his feet, but he sprung into the air before they could ensnare him. "You know you can't kill me!" he shouted at Gaara, who was glaring up at him. "I know what you're up to, you red-headed freak!"
"Is that so?" Gaara replied. He unfolded his arms. His right hand stretched out as if to grab Sasuke in midair. An onslaught of sand missiles responded to the gesture, flying toward Sasuke with every intention to kill. Sasuke had clones prepared. Two of them were struck through. Two more charged the roof and made a leap for Gaara, both aiming to strike him in the jaw. Both of them were sliced in half with a sheet of sand. Naruto and Neji went for Gaara while he was distracted with Sasuke.
None of them landed a single blow. Gaara encased himself in a shell of sand. Naruto cursed and slammed his heel into the barrier. Neji tried breaking through with his Gentle Fist, blue sparks flying. "Stand aside," Sasuke ordered. Naruto huffed, but jumped away. Neji complied only out of curiosity.
Sasuke made the necessary hand signs and summoned three shadow clones. "I already tried that!" Naruto cried. Sasuke ignored him. The shadow clones formed a triangle around the shell. Sasuke stepped forward to close the square. All four of them made their hand signs, each keeping in time with Sasuke. Their fists curled to their mouths. "Fire no jutsu!" He had to put all his chakra into producing the hottest flames. The spewing fire looked like the spokes of a wheel, and when they converged at the hub they all spiraled upward in a cyclone of fire.
The heat continued to rise until the flames turned blue, and Naruto and Neji had to leap onto another roof. Sasuke couldn't remember ever having kept it going this long. Certainly not with shadow clones. The strain was unbearable. The fiery spokes continued their assault, shrinking and shrinking, until each blue flame was a concentrated laser of heat. Naruto and Neji couldn't believe what they were seeing. "If this keeps up . . ." he faintly heard Neji say, but the rest was lost in the roar of the flames.
Sasuke's shadow clones disappeared one by one by one until it was only him. When he couldn't take it anymore he collapsed to his knees, gasping. The side of his hand was blistered red, and his Sharingan deactivated. Neji and Naruto appeared at his side in an instant. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked, placing a hand to his back. Sasuke was so spent he couldn't even nod. Neji's eyes were fixated on the sand barrier, his mouth partly agape. Naruto followed his eyes, seeing the same thing he did, and gasped. "Wh-what the hell is that?"
Neji approached the sand shell cautiously. He scraped the ends of his nails against the exterior and stepped back to further analyze it. For a moment he seemed at a loss for words. "I can't believe it," he whispered. "It's glass."
"Glass can be broken." Sasuke struggled to his feet, brushing Naruto's hand aside. "It won't hold him for long." There were rough, scratchy sounds already coming from inside, like nails clawing at granite.
"Well, what the heck do we do now?" Naruto asked.
"I was thinking the same thing," Neji said dubiously. A puff of smoke made them all jump back. Naruto and Neji both caught Sasuke by the arm and carried him to safety. When they landed to the roof adjacent, they saw a shinobi standing next to Gaara's barrier. He looked at it with intrigue, tapping his knuckles against the glass. Naruto was the only one to jump into battle stance. Neji loomed quietly.
Sasuke took a few deep breaths to collect himself. When he was finally able to stand, he flipped his head and brushed his bangs back. In an icy voice he said, "Are you done with your game, Kakashi?"
Hiashi uncovered his mask. He was found out. Hinara could barely make out the simplest shapes and her head ached terribly. It felt like someone was flattening it in a vice. As for her body . . . everything hurt so much that she was afraid to move. She wasn't sure what was worse, the physical pain, or lying there pitifully in front of the head of the Hyuga clan. All of her efforts were put into wriggling just her elbow, and she whimpered. Looks like she didn't have much of a choice.
Her father did something unexpected then; something he had not done in ten years. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her. They didn't travel far; just to a crate that looked sturdy enough to support her weight. He propped her up on top of it, like a doll, steadying her shoulders to make sure she didn't lean sideways. Her back was erect against a stone wall, hurting her. Everything hurt.
"Medics are surveying the area," he said tonelessly. "Expect one soon. Until then, take this." He tipped a small bottle to her lips, lifting her chin up so that the contents emptied. It tasted fruity and bitter at the same time, a mix of herbs and roots she knew well. It wouldn't heal her, but it would take away the pain. For now.
Her father left the bottle, saying only two words before disappearing into the night.
"You passed."
She stared after him quite drowsily, wondering if she was dreaming. After what her father had just done, she thought she must be.
The glass barrier wasn't completely sheer, but it was hard. There was a large crack branching down the center, but the scraping had stopped. Neji inspected the barrier with his Byakugan, just to assure himself and the others that Gaara was still alive. He was. Neji relayed to the others (Kakshi included) that while he wasn't moving, his chest was rising and falling. The crack in the barrier allowed him to breathe. "It looks like he's sleeping," said Neji."
"Meditating," Kakashi said, pulling down his outer mask. "His siblings ought to be here for him soon."
"What the heck's going on here?" Naruto finally exploded. He let his temper fly without any coherence, until Sasuke snapped at him to shut up. Naruto snapped something back, but Neji interrupted him. "Let him explain," he said testily. Kakashi folded his arms over his chest, eyeing them intently.
"Why don't you tell me," he suggested with a lift in his voice. "You seem to have figured out plenty."
"You played us for fools, didn't you?" Sasuke accused, narrowing his eyes. "All of you." Neji added to that, but with an academic interest that made him appear much calmer.
"There was never any invasion."
"Never any what?" Naruto exclaimed. "You mean the village was never under attack?"
"What a coincidence that all of this just happened to take place one day before the tournament." Sasuke popped his collar, letting trapped sand to fall out of his shirt. "This façade was obviously more about wit and innovativeness than anything. And what better way to test us than by catching us off guard? I thought the blank forehead protectors were a little much."
"What?" Naruto cried, jabbing a finger. "That's messed up, Kakashi! Were all the senseis in on this?" Kakashi placed his hands behind his back and nodded.
"Yup."
"And the villagers?" Neji asked.
"Yup. They thought it was funny. The ones who didn't want to bother with it stayed at home." Sasuke guffawed.
"I noticed there weren't any jonins around."
"And even though there was smoke," Neji added, "there were never any fires."
"Ahh!" Naruto ruffled his hair so hard that his forehead protector slouched. "I still don't get any of this! How the heck do you explain that sand weirdo's part in all this?"
"It was an agreement between Hiashi and the Hokage," Kakashi explained. "Not something I agreed with myself, particularly, but I wasn't part of the decision. Since Gaara and the others were already in Konoha it was decided—with their consent of course—that they would be part of the test. It has no bearing on their placement in the next competition, mind you. The idea was merely to keep this one out of trouble." He inclined his head toward the glass shell.
"That doesn't make sense," Sasuke said impatiently. "How can you keep someone out of trouble by inviting them into trouble?"
"To keep an eye on him," Kakashi replied easily. "Gaara's condition is . . . special."
"You didn't want him to take advantage of the situation and go off on a killing spree," Neji deduced. "Making him part of the test was a way of containing him."
"Precisely." Kakashi sounded delighted. "I knew you would pass, Neji Hyuga. Nice to have a prodigy around. All of you did well. Banding together in desperate times is essential during an invasion. You even formed your own teams."
"I recognized your water jutsu," Sasuke said, crossing his arms. "You used it during training, and again for the bridge builder mission against Zabuza."
"Recognized it, did you?" Kakashi's mask formed a smile. Naruto stepped forward, arms spread, hands wagging.
"S-so who passed?"
"The three of you—congratulations—and a few others. That remains to be seen." Sasuke let his arms drop.
"What about Hinata?" His voice cut like razors.
"What about Hinata-sama?" Neji spun toward him. His brow twisted. "Did you lose her?" Sasuke ignored him. Finding out that this whole thing was a set-up didn't do much for his temper. It made it worse. He was ready to kill Kakashi, right here right now, and anyone else who dared to get in his way. Yes, he was relieved to know she had never been in any real danger, but that didn't curb his desire to see her. He had to make sure she was all right. And to see if she had passed. Seeing how far the academy was willing to go to test their students made him wonder if that's what he really wanted. Would the next competition legalize fatality? He didn't doubt it.
"Where. Is. She?" he gritted out. Respect for his sensei? Pleasantries, patience, virtue—screw all that! He'd never had any tolerance for being jerked around, and he made no effort to hide it. Unlike Neji, who had an obligation to restrain himself under Hyuga decorum, Sasuke had no reservations.
"It's against the rules to tell you," Kakashi said. There was an edge to his voice. "Let the medics take care of it. The test is still in session." Heat stirred in Sasuke's chest. Medics!
"Then I'll just be going." Sasuke bounded past his sensei without a glance.
"Tell anyone about this and you're disqualified," Kakashi said coolly.
Sasuke wasn't sure he gave a damn at the moment. Fighting Gaara had drained him good. He was in a bad mood. There was something else irking him too, something Gaara had said. When the sand barrier was shrouded in fire, flames so loud it was nearly impossible to hear his own thoughts, he could have sworn he heard a voice. It was a rough, ragged something, projected from the depths of the sand barrier.
'Why do you do this?' Gaara had said. 'Why why why? Do you do it . . . for love?'
Sasuke did not stop moving until he found her.
*AN*
If you like this story and want to be kept updated, please TWEET me at Stitchpuppy01 so I can respond to you personally! I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you!
See you soon, hugs and kisses!