Hello again everyone, another chapter for Hunger Games coming your way, hope it keeps your interest. Finally starting to really get into the good stuff with the pre-arena training etc. So please drop a review and favorite if you wish.
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Enjoy-
Chapter Three
A Good Showing
The first morning that Naruto and Katniss would join the other tributes in training for the coming arena combat seemed to drag on for Naruto, though the opposite was true for his fellow tribute from District Twelve. For Katniss it felt like she had blinked and they were in the training rooms already.
Naruto's experience had been with a start of lying still as he stared up at the ceiling of his room. He'd hoped to get plenty of sleep in preparation for the training and evaluations; sadly he had been too restless to get more than a couple hours here and there. Still when morning came he hadn't felt all that tired. That is until he was subjected to the usual experience of Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy. Both diminished his patience in a variety of ways.
Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, or the capital itself but he felt his patience burning to shorter and shorter fuses as the morning wore on. Maybe it was the sight of the Avox reminding him of a woman from District Twelve who had been sentenced to the same punishment a couple years prior. Whatever the cause he figured his growing agitation was clear enough to see, though no-one changed the way they acted around him so perhaps he was better at controlling his emotions than he had thought.
The truth of course was that like himself and Katniss, everyone was far too caught up in their own thoughts to really pay that much attention to the actions and body language of each other that morning.
When they finally dressed in the snug uniforms and made their way to the training room, Naruto made sure to try his best to take in the capital around him, no matter how much he despised it.
The city was a sort of mix of a brutal and elegant style he decided. There were some buildings that reminded him of the Hall of Justice back in District Twelve, simply more ornate, but most looked like somethin from a story book his parents read to him as a kid. He figure that that might have actually been the inspiration.
One thing that he could have done without was the enamored looking crowds that gathered to gawk and cheer at them as they travelled. The happiness and actual friendly looks they sent himself and Katniss just proved the thoughts Naruto had on how detached all of these fools really were with what was happening here.
Cries about loving them, or they believed in them struck him the strangest. Not only did these people sound stupid, not knowing the first thing about Naruto and Katniss they were actively part of the program that would kill at least one of them as well as twenty-two others who were similarly going to be going through the same death match in a few days. The hypocrisy of them loving him and them wanting to see him dead was aggravating and he honestly couldn't understand it. His only choice as he felt his temper rising was to focus on something else.
Sadly for her, Katniss ended up being that something else. She looked plenty uncomfortable, except where Naruto's reaction was to bleed into anger and rising rage her's was more like complete confusion at the actions of these freakish looking people. Still Naruto could see the hiding resentment she held for them behind her eyes and it resonated with him. So without a word he simply placed a hand on her shoulder and shared a look with her.
No words or even smiles were exchanged between the pair of tributes but still they seemed to understand one another and like a switch was flipped both took on a flat expression and continued on to the training center.
Once finally making it there they then had to wait for the rest of the 'contenders' to arrive. Naruto used what time they had as the first arrivals to try and scope out the room and see what they would be dealing with. There seemed to be a station for nearly everything they might contend with in the arena.
He could see a few areas that he planned to avoid till evaluation time though. The accuracy range with knives as well as the hand to hand abilities were not something he wished to show off, at least with other tributes out and about. There were plenty of non combat sections as well, a trap area, one to teach them how to clean and prepare food they had caught, another to show them what was poisonous and what wasn't. It was honestly a little overwhelming and he doubted even with the nearly two weeks they would have here that he could really use all the different stations fully. Which meant he and Katniss would need to pick and choose. He'd have to talk with her about what would be the best to try and increase their chances of survival.
When the other tributes began to enter he started to try and get a read on them as well. He wasn't surprised that the careers were all strong looking. Especially those from District Two. The male tribute from there seemed to look at the rest of the line of tributes like food and Naruto could tell just by looking at him that he would be among the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous opponent in the entirety of the games.
The careers weren't the only dangerous competition of course. Most of the middling tributes could be threats, though they didn't strike Naruto as particularly special. He hoped to get a better read on them as they trained though. Saldy most probably had the same idea that he would employ, hiding his best skills for the evaluation. When he got to the lower Districts though he realized that there were definite threats among them. The male tribute of District Eleven was built like a truck. He had the look of someone more than capable of surviving in harsh territory as well.
Beyond that though Naruto had to recognize, one of his greatest opponents would likely be his fellow tribute from District Twelve. He knew she could use a bow, better than anyone he knew honestly. She also was tough as hell, but then again you had to be to like like she had in the Seam back home.
Finally as the tributes were all assembled a woman, he had heard named Atala, came forward to explain to them how the next couple of weeks would work. She seemed the no-nonsense type and Naruto was happy she was the one seemingly in charge here as he had enough of the usual flighty capital types to last a lifetime already.
"In two weeks, twenty-three of you will be dead. One of you will be alive." She began, Naruto watched as Katniss and Cato seemed to stare one another down briefly. He did his best to ignore it, Katniss might be his fellow District Twelve tribute, but in the coming weeks she could end up benign his opponent just like anyone else here, no matter how much the thought of that might bother him.
"Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next few days, particularly to what I'm about to say." Atala continued. Naruto had taken to scanning his fellow tributes once more, he felt a bit of pity for the female tribute from Eleven, she was the possibly youngest present and looked like she had been chosen on her first reaping. The only other one her age was a boy from District Four. Both seemed unlikely to go very far at first glance.
"First, no fighting with the other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena. There are four compulsory exercises. The rest will be individual training. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword but most of you will die from natural causes."
Naruto glanced behind the instructor and analyzed the collection of wealthy looking men and women who sat on a raised platform watching them. Among them was the Game Master Seneca Crane as well as many of the sponsors. Naruto knew they were already being rated, it was an oddly dehumanizing feeling, but then again the entirety of the games had the same sort of sense surrounding it.
"Ten percent from infection, twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife." With that she nodded her head and the other instructors began leading the tributes through a handful of drills and showing them around the different sections of the training room.
Naruto gravitated toward the survival skills like Atala had suggested. He focused on basic things like finding and building shelter as well as some of the exercises intended to help memorize edible and poisonous plants. Nearby Katniss seemed to focus on a few similar stations, like treating a wound or purifying water.
The majority of the careers seemed to have the opposite intention of himself and Katniss though. They went straight to the combat oriented stations. It became very clear, very quickly, just how skilled they were in combat as well. One was showing up an instructor with a set of bar clubs to simulate swords, another was showing his skill with a spear, the District Two tribute that had seemed so interested in their district was practicing with an imaginary opponent with his sword.
Not all of the tributes were doing so well in training however. The District Seven tribute had garnered some dangerous attention from the career pack already after failing to cross on the monkey bars obstacle and injuring his leg. The poor boy had already been slated among the weakest and Naruto knew he wouldn't last long, should he even pass the first day.
A few others had slowly started moving into the combat stations like the careers. The District Ten male looked to be liking the sword, but where as the District Two tribute moved with skill and practiced grave with the blade Naruto saw this bow was all brute force with hacking and slashing motions. Still he was skilled and athletic enough he might prove a threat in the arena.
Naruto's attention, as well as most others had been pulled to a fight between the District Two Tribute, Cato and the District Six tribute Jason. Cato repeatedly demanding for Jason to return a supposedly stolen knife while Jason simply said he didn't have it. The Instructors and peacekeepers had to get involved to break them up before it got out of hand.
However while most eyes had remained on the pair of tributes shouting at one another, especially on Cato as he threatened to hunt Jason down first and foremost in the games, a handful of others managed to glance up and catch the true instigator of the entire thing.
Rue, Naruto recalled was her name, the small girl from Eleven that he had all but written off earlier, hung from the ceiling as if it was the most natural thing in the world while toying with Cato's precious knife. He needed to reevaluate his opinion of her clearly.
Despite not only himself but her fellow District Eleven tribute and his own comrade from Twelve, not even the sponsors seemed to notice Rue hidden among rafters. So when Naruto later saw the starting odds for each of them, Rue remained very much at the bottom.
Eventually teh day was through and they returned to their apartment for food and rest. Effie and Haymitch joined them at the table, once again set with a lavish meal. They didn't waste much time and launched in to talking shop with their mentor about what course of action to take.
Their first item of business was Haymitch reminding them to keep their best skills, whatever they were hidden. This steadily moved on to discussion of the careers after Katniss had mentioned how they were immediately going on to what they seemed best at.
"Careers are always volunteers from District One and Two, they train in an academy until they're eighteen and volunteer. By that point they are pretty lethal." He explained.
"That doesn't mean they get any special treatment though. In fact they stay in almost the exact same apartment you do and I don't think they let them have any dessert but you can have all you want." Effie tried to change subjects.
Naruto scoffed at the capital woman's words before turning back to Haymitch. "How did you beat your careers?"
He was caught a bit off guard when Haymitch laughed loudly, and bitterly at his question. The laugh made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Katniss and Effie both looked uncomfortable by the man's outburst of laughter as well. Steadily he stopped though, and took a long drink from his glass of wine before smacking his lips and looking directly to Naruto's eyes.
"It doesn't matter how I beat them. Every tribute fights differently. You need to learn to beat the ones you're facing not the ones that are already dead." Haymitch said before looking back to his meal. Naruto fumed for a moment silently, eyes boring into Haymitch for the useless answer before turning back to his own meal.
After some time eating in silence the mentor did look up again to speak. This time focused on Katniss rather than Naruto.
"I heard you can shoot." He said while picking at his food.
"I'm alright." She answered simply. Naruto on the other hand snorted, drawing the rest of the table's attention.
"If you consider supplying half the game available at the hob alright then sure you're just alright." He said with a small laugh as he continued eating.
Katniss turned to glare at him for outing her abilities though. "Well you brought in more than me."
"Yeah, with traps. Katniss can hit a squirrel dead on in the eye with no problem." He replied looking up to Haymitch.
"Naruto is good with knives, as good at throwing them as he is fighting with them and he's nearly as accurate as I am with a bow." Katniss said, turning back to her food.
Naruto blinked confused for a moment at the strange conversation they had just had. It felt like an argument but he wasn't sure what they were arguing over or why. He was also a bit surprised that Katniss was as knowledgeable as she was on his abilities. The group had fallen to silence as they returned to eating. That only ended as Effie vaulted suddenly to her feet.
"It's on, It's on!" She cheered, causing the others to stare at her as she turned on the main screen near them.
As the television flickered to life they watched as the Hunger Games host Caesar Flickerman appeared in a reclined seat, comfortable as could be on screen. Beside him Effie, dressed in her usual outlandish fashion that was popular here in the capital smiled broadly. Below them the words Tribute Escort Interviews ran across the screen.
"So, Effie, what can you tell me about your two tributes, Naruto Namikaze and Katniss Everdeen? What are they really like?" Caesar asked, leaning forward in interest.
"Oh, well I suppose I'll start with Katniss. She's very serious and quiet for a girl her age you know, but under that she's a sweet thing really. She strikes me as very brave and loyal as well. Everyone saw how she volunteered for her little sister of course. I mean it doesn't get very much sweeter than that!" Effie said all smiles.
"She certainly sounds charming." Caesar offered and Effie simply nodded in reply.
"Katniss appears to me like a very strong and capable young lady. Very independent I think."
"Well District Twelve sounds like they might have a very promising prospect with her." The host said.
"Most definitely. Now Naruto on the other hand…" Effie paused as she seemed to be thinking on her words, however by now Naruto and Katniss had learned she typically did that to add a dramatic moment to whatever she felt like saying rather than actually simply speaking her mind.
"Naruto is difficult?" Caesar asked her, glancing at the camera at the possible drama unveiling itself. Effie seemed to finally decide on her words then.
"When he first came onto the train back in District Twelve I will admit I didn't get a very good first impression of him. For such a handsome young man he seemed so cold, angry, and irritable. He did appear very strong and a natural born warrior if I were to be so bold." She explained.
Images of Naruto trudging his way up to the stage for his Reaping appeared behind them causing both to glance back at the videos briefly. For the first time Naruto actually noticed how angry he appeared from the outside.
"If that was your first impression, what changed?" Caesar asked.
"Well, that night on the train ride to the capital I had grown a bit peckish and decided a midnight snack would be nice. I got out of bed and made my way to the dining car and just happened to notice both Naruto and Katniss inside talking. Well, I already had the impression he was some sort of brute of course so I couldn't help myself. I had to listen in. I thought maybe he might be threatening the poor girl or something." Effie answered dramatically.
Naruto turned to glare at the Effie that was present in the room with him causing her to lean away from him but keep her attention on the screen. She didn't want to miss a bit of her performance. Other than leaning slightly away from him though she ignored him entirely.
"So then what happened?" Caesar asked, growing more intrigued by the story of the tributes of District Twelve now.
"As it turns out, Caesar, I couldn't have been more wrong! Here I was listening for him making promises to take her out early in the games but instead he was encouraging her." She said with her broad smile back on her powdered and painted face.
"Really?" Caesar asked in surprise, playing his part as host well.
"Yes. He was telling her to be strong, and reminding her to eat to keep her strength up and to stay focused on the games and surviving. When he left he nearly ran into me." Effie giggled out at the end causing a small laugh from the man on screen with her.
"Anyway, I don't think the boy likes strangers very much. He seemed very prickly around both me and Haymitch, and the glare he gave me when he found me listening in to him talking with Katniss was as cold as ice! That all being said, he did seem much calmer around Katniss." She continued.
"Oh my, that seems like the kind of boy many of our viewers could get behind." Caesar said as he again looked toward the camera and the audience behind the cameras shouted their agreement.
"Oh, that's not even all to this story Caesar." Effie called out regaining the audience and host's attention.
"After Naruto left, more like stalked back to his room with some food of his own, I was left alone with Katniss in the dining car. Of course I decided to strike up a conversation, what escort doesn't want to learn all they can about their tributes? As I was saying though I spoke with katniss and she told me something that really caught my attention." Effie angled her head like she was being tempted with a dirty secret.
"Well don't keep us in suspense Effie. We all want to know what she said, right?" Caesar asked the audience, getting shouts of agreement once more.
"Well, I believe her exact words were that 'he has a kinder side' and that only she has seen it. Evidently both tributes from District Twelve this year have struggled with poverty in the past and even battled with starvation before. From what I learned Katniss once shared a bit of food with Naruto when he was on the verge of death and in return he has shared his own food with Katniss and her family ever since whenever they were needy." Effie said. The crowd let out a collective sound of awe at the thought. Naruto on the other hand intensified his glare on the colorful woman sitting near to him.
"Oh, I'm still not even done. Katniss told me he puts on a gruff facade to protect his kind heart hidden beneath." Effie looked to be swooning at the words. Caesar was now letting out 'awws' at the sweet thought himself.
Back in the room though Naruto's attention had switched form Effie to Katniss, though instead of glaring his eyes had widened into dinner plates at her supposed words. Katniss for her part was blushing up a storm and Haymitch, well Haymitch looked to be enjoying every moment of what was happening.
"Tell me, do you think we might have a budding romance between competitors?" Caesar asked with a grin. Both Naruto and Katniss, who had been staring at her plate by this point, snapped their attention to the screen with those words.
"I think we just might!" Effie responded boldly with a smile.
Naruto and Katniss shot a look at one another briefly before both blushed lightly. A moment later however and both were glaring daggers at Effie who was doing her very best to ignore the both of them and keep her own eyes on the screen.
"I saw the brightest blush on the girl's cheeks when I teased her. I probably shouldn't have but I couldn't resist." Effie said conspiratorially.
"I don't blame you a bit!" Caesar barked out with his laughter.
As the screen flicked off Effie turned back to the others. Naruto was still glaring at her, though with the mention of Katniss' blush on the train the girl had taken interest in her plate once again to avoid any kind of eye contact with the others in the room.
"What the hell were the rocks you call a brain trying to do with that? What made you think this was a good idea to humiliate us like that?" Naruto demanded from the woman.
"That's enough of that!" Haymitch shouted startling the others and causing them to jolt slightly in their seats. He had even cowed Naruto momentarily as he hadn't expected such an angry tone from his mentor.
"You should be thanking her honestly. She did you both a big damn favor, especially you idiot so appreciate it." Haymitch continued on once he had everyone's attention.
Naruto's briefly surprised look shifted to complete confusion as he stared at the man. Katniss had also turned to look at him like he was insane.
"What do you mean? How is saying all that crap helpful at all, it just makes us look like we aren't focused on the games and are a couple of lovey dovey morons or something." Naruto argued.
"I already told you two that you both need sponsors. The only way to get sponsors is to get people to like you." Haymitch drawled like he was talking to a toddler causing Naruto's temper to spike.
"I ask again, how the hell is that supposed to get people to like us?" Naruto questioned through gritted teeth fighting to control his anger at being spoken to in such a condescending way.
Haymitch rolled his eyes and finished his glass of wine off before focusing back on the boy with an annoyed sigh.
"Let me spell it out for you. Earlier, they thought you were a wild asshole who enjoyed the tantalizing thought of everyone in the capital dead. Now, they think you are a poor tortured soul that just needs the right tender caring touch to heal and show his compassionate heart to the world." The man said while spreading his arms at the end for dramatic emphasis of his point.
"They even think that she," Haymitch jabbed a finger at Katniss. "Is the one that will be able to do it. Not that I actually think that little chunk of ice in your chest could be thawed out by the sweetest of girls let alone silent but deadly over here."
Both teens were glaring at him again but they remained silent. He had their attention and that was good, he needed to really drive this point home. They would need all the help they could get.
"You two play your cards right, and you'll be the favorites of everyone out there, and trust me, that is actually something you want whether you want to believe it or not. It will make things much easier on you." Haymitch tried to properly recruit them both to the idea. Sadly the District Twelve tributes were extraordinarily stubborn this year.
Naruto refused to play into this game. He didn't care about any of this sponsorship stuff or even really about the games, though he, like all the others, wasn't a fan of dying and would rather come out alive. Loudly pushing out from the table he stormed off to his room to try and think. The rest of the room slipped into silence as he left. Each of the remaining diners focused on their own thoughts.
Katniss' mind drifted to the especially bitter winter that had hit the year before. She'd had a few small birds and a squirrel or two to cover a few weeks. Most days she found almost nothing to bring back and she had quickly run out of food for herself, her mother, and her sister. The winter before it despite it also being a lean year she had given Naruto a full pheasant she had scored one morning. She had a second larger one for her family, but Naruto had clearly needed it at the time.
The next year she and her family only lived because Naruto kept bringing small game to them that he had caught in his traps. Rabbits, squirrels, fish, even the occasional bird from time to time. Sadly, remembering those times killed her appetite and she quietly stood and slipped off to her room like her fellow tribute had.
Haymitch could only sigh as he watched Katniss leave. He felt a severe headache coming on now and part of it centered around a blond haired man and red haired woman he had known for years, and their painfully aggravating offspring. Turning to the last member of the room besides himself and the Avox servants Haymitch caught the upset expression on her face before she hid it well.
"You did good on there Effie. Really. They don't get it yet, but they will. You might have just saved one of their lives." Haymitch awkwardly comforted the woman.
She blinked at him in surprise for his words before smiling at him. It wasn't the broad, almost painful looking one she used for public appearances and functions. It was a slight thing that showed her actual thanks for his words.
The next day in the training room, Katniss watched as once again the careers dominated the combat stations. Cato spun around and hacked away at several training dummies with his sword, beheading on, taking the arms of a couple more, and finally ending with a vicious stab to the chest of his final target.
Just like Haymitch had said, the careers were lethal. Katniss doubted they would hesitate in killing another tribute. She doubted even more that they would have any sort of difficulty doing it either. They seemed almost happy to be here, grinning and laughing with each other, even while knowing they would be trying to kill one another in a few days' time.
The two careers from District One, Marvel and Glimmer, seemed especially skilled with ranged weapons. Marvel's skill with throwing a spear was especially frightening as he proved to be extremely accurate with it. Glimmer on the other hand was skilled with a bow, though Katniss felt she was actually better than the girl from District One. She didn't plan on revealing that though.
The girl from District Two, Clove, was also highly skilled, though her abilities centered around knives, and throwing them. Every throw she took seemed like a kill shot, but Katniss couldn't help but wonder who was better. Her or Naruto. Katniss expected if it came down to it, Naruto definitely had the strength over the petite girl, but without seeing Naruto actually participate in the combat drills prior to the evaluation, like herself it remained a mystery just how they stacked up.
Having spent enough time working on her snare making in the trap station Katniss had moved on to the knife station. Though this one was for hand to hand combat rather than the accuracy drill that Clove was participating in. She spent some time examining the different knives, there were easily over two dozen different sizes and styles. Deciding on one she stepped away from the table and began running through the stances and moves she had once copied from her fellow tribute. His words about her stance echoing even now in her head.
As she worked though she quickly noticed she had gotten a small amount of attention. Most worryingly the careers had stopped for a moment to stare and watch her as she moved. They grinned like hungry dogs as they watched and she couldn't hello but worry that she had somehow marked herself as easy prey for them.
Her attention had been completely split between her audience of would be killers and her own attempts at handling the knife that she didn't notice the presence behind her until a hand gripped her blade arm. Jolting and trying to twist to face this person she was shocked to see Naruto staring at her with what looked to most like a blank expression.
"It's alright, I'm just trying to show you the best method. Don't focus on them right now." Naruto said as he began guiding her back into the motions she had gone over, though at a slower more controlled pace. She quickly realized what she was doing wrong earlier as they slowly sped up.
She could feel him pressed against her back lightly, his hands guiding her own. Katniss had to fight down the blush on her face at the closeness of ehr fellow tribute.
"It's good to hide your best skills for the evaluation, but you also can't let them see you do something badly. They'll pick you out and hunt you down before you even get a chance. They're called the career pack for a reason. They're wolves." Naruto said as he slipped away from her.
Katniss remained silent continuing the exercise till she had it down, it was far more fluid, and she gathered, far more deadly than prior to Naruto's intervention to help her. It might have been embarrassing but at least it had actually helped her. The careers were no longer watching her, having taken to salivating over the poor kid from District Four now.
Haymitch nursed his flask of whiskey. Truth be told he always kept a stash of the stuff brewed from District Twelve somewhere on him. He could enjoy the expensive wines and liquors that were popular in the capital but his favorite had always been and always would be the biting mountain whiskey from his home District.
Looking around, the last living victor of District Twelve took in the sights of the plaza he was in. A massive screen on one side showed the odds of each of the tributes. Naruto and Katniss were both in the upper middle portions of the chart, but Haymitch was pretty sure they'd jump up higher with the evaluations and the interviews that were to come.
Glancing over he watched the capital citizens enjoying themselves. Kids making a game of playing the part of tributes killing one another, to the delight of their parents. Honestly he, like most citizens of the districts, understood where Naruto's dislike of these people came from.
The thought of the boy had Haymitch taking another deep gulp from his flask. He had really fucked up on that one. Naruto wasn't family or nothing, but Minato and Kushina had been friends of his. They never said as much but he was certain that they would have wanted him looking out for their boy and had the situations been reversed they would have made sure any kids he had would be taken care of.
Not that Haymitch would ever allow himself to have kids. He had been a tribute in the second quarter quell, the event for the fiftieth anniversary of the hunger games being that double the amount of tributes would be entered. He'd never allow himself to subject his own child to such a thing.
Still, now, the kid he should have been looking after for his dead friends was now tribute like he had been. Seemed far more ready for it than he had been himself. Both of the kids this year did. That probably made it worse. He liked these kids and didn't want to see them killing, especially killing each other. More than that he didn't want to see them dying.
Looking down at his still half full flask, Haymitch tightened the cap. Maybe he couldn't protect them fully but he'd at least give them what he could. Finally deciding to embrace his mentor position. He couldn't do much to help them, but anything was better than the nothing he had felt he'd done so far he supposed.
"Tomorrow, they'll bring you in one by one and evaluate you." Haymitch explained to Naruto and Katniss. It was the final day of the training period and they had just sat down for dinner. Both looked only slightly nervous but underneath their outer exterior Haymitch could see the hints that the pressure was getting to them a little.
He remained impressed by both of them though. They were tough kids. Good kids, out of aloof District Twelve's tributes the two of them probably had the best chances for the moment.
Naruto and Katniss were giving him their full attention, especially after he waved off the Avox woman who looked to fill his glass with liquor. Naruto nearly even smiled at the sight.
"This is important because higher ratings will mean more and better sponsors. This is the time to show them everything." He leaned forward to make his point before pointing at Katniss.
"There'll be a bow. Make sure you use it. Naruto," He began turning to the boy. "You make sure to show off your skills with a knife, both close hand to hand and with throwing. Both of you know how to scrap so show that too." He said before downing a glass of water.
"They'll start with District One, so the two of you will be going very last." He sighed for a moment before chewing his lip in thought. "I don't know how else to put this. Just make damn sure they remember you."
With that the teens headed off to bed to try and catch some sleep before their evaluations in the morning. For both they were only able to get a handful of hours broken up by long periods of staring at their ceilings in thought.
When they were taken to the training room this time they were made to stay in a dark quiet hall with benches on either side to wait their turn. Katniss had some nervous energy as she bounced her feet and fiddled with her hands looking around the room again and again. Naruto on the other hand sat silently staring at the floor, elbows on knees thinking about something. Whatever it was it had taken his attention from the oncoming evaluations. Katniss envied that a little.
Both jerked their heads up at the sound of an automated voice calling for Katniss. Slowly she collected herself taking a nervous swallow and stood. As she began walking away though she stopped when Naruto called out to her and turned.
"Katniss. Stay focused and shoot straight, just like back home." He advised with a rare small smile.
She nodded hesitantly before taking a calming breath and heading into the training room with more confidence than she had beforehand.
Once she had stepped through the door she paused for a moment and looked back. A part of her wishing she had said something to Naruto to reassure him like he had her but it was too late now so she could only continue to the space set up for her evaluation.
Before her were a few racks of weapons but, to be honest the only one she saw was the bow and arrows. Picking them up and testing them a little she looked up at her evaluators and frowned. They weren't even paying attention to her. Talking with one another and focused more on the drinks and treats brought out to them by their Avox slaves.
"Katniss Everdeen, District Twelve." She called out trying to make sure they paid attention. The only one that seemed truly interested was Seneca Crane, the Game Master. The rest now watched her, though they seemed rather uninterested by their expressions.
Taking up her stance Katniss loosed an arrow down rang only for it to miss. The sharp laughter among the men and women on the platform above brought her attention from the target up to them as they no longer even looked her way.
For a moment panic began to set in. She could feel the chance to prove her skill and make her mark like Haymitch had drilled into her head slipping away from her in an instant. Now not even the Game Master watched her having turned fully to converse with his fellow Capital elite.
Still she stepped back over, collected a second arrow and stepped up to the line before loosing it down range. This time, the arrow took the bullseye and she looked up to see if they had noticed her shot. Instead they had completely missed it, more concerned with their idle chatter and food than her skill.
Again a hint of panic rushed through her before it was replaced by anger at the fact they dismissed her so easily. Like she was nothing to them. They crowded around and joked and laughed about the large roasted pig on a serving table. She could hardly believe the carelessness they treated her with.
In a moment of either stupidity or genius she snatched up an arrow and drew back once more, this time not aiming for the targets, instead up at the evaluators platform.
With one shot she brought them all to silence, pinning the apple from the pig's mouth against the wall behind it. They stared down at her in shock and a hint of fear. Still enraged Katniss merely bowed in an exaggerated way.
"Thank you for your consideration." She snaked before beginning to storm off, only to stop herself and return the bow to it's holder. Then she stormed off toward the exit.
When Naruto's time came, the evaluators were much different for Naruto than they initially been for Katniss. She'd done them both a favor, with her antics. Naruto tried desperately to hold in his laughter at the sight of the arrow pinning the apple to the wall. He hadn't known that she had it in her for something crazy like that. That was definitely more his thing.
"Naruto Namikaze, District Twelve." He called out with laughter in his voice, already grabbing their attention as he seemed to be treating things far less seriously than the ones that had come before him.
Striding up to the line for the throwing knives in a flash of hands and blades he had quickly whipped out all but one each dagger sticking in a kill point on the dummies before he turned around and threw one backwards. This one wasn't a kill shot but it still caught the dummy in the gut, a painful injury that would bring most other tributes down so he could close in for the kill.
He didn't wait for any more time instead moving on to the instructor who handed him a padded simulation knife while he took up his own. Naruto at first seemed to bull rush the man before he pivoted slightly and snagged the instructor's wrist with his free hand.
He wasn't about to give up the chance to beat on a citizen of the capital and slammed his elbow viciously into the man's face before raking the simulation blade up the inside of his legs across his throat and with a twist forced him to his knees with his arm lifted up letting him jab the training knife under his arm.
He released the man and kicked him away with a boot to the man's back sending him sliding against the polished floor before Naruto simply tossed the padded weapon away and stalked out of the room.
Just like with Katniss the evaluators were silent. It seemed District Twelve had far better prospects this year than they had thought possible. Naruto especially seemed to have a killer's bearing to him and while it would have normally frightened someone, the evaluators for the hunger games were instead practically drooling at the thoughts of the coming fights the two could end up in.
"Are you two crazy!" Effie shouted at Naruto and Katniss, horrified by their behaviour. Katniss had shot an arrow, inches away from Seneca Crane himself. Naruto had landing the instructor in the hospital with a dislocated shoulder and broken nose.
"I just got mad." Katniss tried to defend herself.
"Mad?" Effie asked in bewilderment. "What about you? Why would you do that to the instructor?"
"What do you mean, I was just showing them what I could do. Wasn't that the point?" Naruto sneered at her. Effie actually glared at him, nearly bringing a smile to his face.
"You realize that your actions react badly on all of us, not just you two!" She harped on.
"They just want a good show, it's fine." Cinna tried to defend them.
"How about it's just bad manner, Cinna! How about that?" Effie replied haughtily to the man.
"Why should we give a fuck about capital manners? We're dead or winners in a couple days. What does it matter to us if you think we don't have manners?" Naruto asked.
Effie blinked at him in confusion before she shook herself and let out a scoff of outrage. Turning she noticed Haymitch finally joining them all in the living room area of the apartment and decided to turn her attention to him since she was making no progress with the tributes or stylists.
"Well, finally! I hope you have noticed we have a serious situation." She hollered at him.
Haymitch grinned and shot a thumbs up to the two of them. "Nice shooting, sweetheart."
He laughed as he joined them on the couch actually getting a couple of grins from the teens.
"You gotta tell me Naruto, bloodying up that capital ponce, how did it feel?" He asked.
"How do you think it felt?" Naruto answered back, getting a laugh from Haymitch in reply.
"I imagine it felt pretty damn good, kid." Haymitch said with a slight twinkle in his eye as if imagining it himself.
"I don't think that we're going to find this funny if the game makers decide to take this out-" Effie began to rant only to be cut off by Haymitch.
"On who? On her? On him? I think they already have. Loosen your corset, have a drink." He said
Haymitch turned his attention back on the two kids. "How did they react when you shot the apple?"
"They seemed kinda startled." Katniss said with a grin.
"I imagine so. And what was it you said afterward? Thank you-" He began.
"Thank you for your consideration." Katniss said with a small laugh, though there was a bit of embarrassment there as well.
"That's genius. Genius!" Haymitch laughed out. "I would have given anything to see it. Same for when you busted up that instructor. You kids are a riot!"
A little while later the group sat watching the reveal of the ratings on the television. Once again Caesar flickerman was on screen hosting the show. This time a series of cars in his hand as he sat at a marble desk to read off the ratings for each tribute.
"As you know, the tributes were rated on a scale of one to twelve. After their evaluation and three days of careful review. The game keepers would like to acknowledge that it was an exceptional turnout this year…" He droned on and Naruto faded in and out of listening. He knew he and Katniss would be the last to go. Still he caught snippets as the program rolled on.
"From District One, Marvel, with a score of nine." That wasn't all that surprising. Careers were deadly.
"From District Two, Cato, with a score of ten." The big dog in the games was only two away from a perfect score, again, Naruto wasn't truly surprised.
"Clove, with a score of ten." It seemed all four Careers had nines or tens for their score.
Next came the lesser districts. The young boy from District Four scored lowly, and the red haired girl from District Seven scored a meager five. Thresh from District Eleven had a strong nine for his score, something that didn't surprise him really. He knew the big eighteen year old would be dangerous to deal with.
"From District Eleven, Rue, with a score of seven." He smiled slightly. He and Katniss had noticed the young girl trailing Katniss around a bit during the time in the training room and he was happy to see she had a pretty high score.
"Now our final District. From District Twelve, Naruto Namikaze, a score of eleven." The room gasped at his numbers and Naruto was also wide eyed. He had scored higher than all of the careers and was shocked.
"Naruto, excellent." Portia said with a smile sent his way and despite himself he couldn't help but return it.
"Bravo." Cinna said with a grin. Even Katniss patted him gently on the arm with a small smile.
"And finally, from District Twelve. Katniss Everdeen. With a score of...eleven." Caesar said. Whatever else he looked to say was drowned out as the group cheered and Naruto shot Katniss a smile. She didn't seem to believe it.
"The two top names to win this thing. You two are going to go far." Haymitch said with a grin.
"Elevens." President Snow said with derision as he sat in his rose garden staring down Seneca Crane.
"Well they earned them." Seneca replied.
"One of them shot an arrow at your head." Snow pointed out in disbelief.
"Well, at an apple." Crane said with some nervousness in his voice.
"That was near your head. Sit down." Snow sighed, it was like he was talking to children sometimes.
"Seneca, why do you think we have a winner?" Snow asked as he went back to trimming his roses.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why do we have a winner? I mean if we just wanted to intimidate the Districts, why not round up twenty-four of them at random and then execute them all at once? Be a lot faster." Snow asked. He sounded almost like a teacher lecturing a student.
Seeing that Seneca was still confused he decided to give the man an answer.
"Hope."
"Hope?"
"Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine as long as it is contained." He explained.
"So…" Seneca pressed.
"So contain. It." Snow commanded in a far less friendly tone than before.
"Right." the Game Master replied, swallowing down his nerves that sprung up at the tone of the most dangerous man in the nation.
That's that, I hope you folks enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter we should be seeing some more of the man, the myth, the legend Caesar Flickerman. Interviews will be held and we will be getting very close to the actual start of the games.