"Team Ten, come with me."
Yamanaka Ino startled, looking to a man that stood at the end of the hallway. Even in the dimness of that hall, he wore sunglasses. And, though his stance was relaxed and at-ease, she could hear the firm order in his tone. Ino turned and looked to her teammates.
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, tucking his hands into his pockets. Chōji downed the rest of his chips in one go, replenishing his calories. Then, to show he understood the seriousness of the order, he put the chip bag away.
"Do you mind if I ask who you are, jōnin, sir?"
"Yamashiro Aoba. I'm…a teacher… of Akimichi Miho. Or, I will be. One of them anyway. She's got several. This is important." He stepped back and held the door open, jerking his head toward the inside. "It involves the moon, big fluffy things, and…a pretty wild story."
Ino moved without thought, feeling her heart pulsing in her ears. She could barely breath with what he was implying and, when she stepped past him into the cool, cool air of a team barrack, she felt the air get caught in her throat.
Miho hurried to her feet, rushing around the bed to throw herself at Ino. She was careful not to throw all of her weight, like usual, but still, Miho's hug was fierce and filled with a lot of fear. Ino knew her friend, still better than anyone else, and she knew that Miho normally kept her fears in check. Whatever had happened, rattled her.
And injured her, if the cuts and bruises were anything to go by.
And that made Ino want to break things.
"What's this all about?" She heard Shikamaru ask as Miho pulled away to move to her brother, who embraced her with a protective fierceness that was communicated through the stare he sent Ino over his sister's shoulder.
Shikamaru had placed himself between them and the jōnin.
For all his want to be lazy, her teammate was protective to a fault.
"You know."
Ino held her breath. Shikamaru's tone was definitive.
"Yeah, kid." The jōnin— Yamashiro Aoba, he said— nodded and leaned against the wall. "I know."
"He read my mind." Miho supplied, looking between Aoba and Shikamaru as she stepped forward. Ino was trying to read the emotions. Miho wasn't afraid of him. She almost seemed grateful, nodding toward him to emphasis particular words. "He knocked me unconscious after I opened the scroll and then read my mind to get access to my memories of Orochimaru. So they could find him."
Shikamaru groaned, palming his forehead.
"Saw a lot more than I bargained for. Didn't really expect to see a squad new genin committing treason. It's bold. He held up a hand as if trying to block their explanations. Ino's argument burned her throat. "Withholding information from the leader of the village is treason, kids. Let's not get it twisted. Treason by omission is still treason."
"We've been working to stop all of that from happening."
"Orochimaru was attacking Team Seven when reinforcements arrived. That particular crisis was averted." Ino felt her mouth open as she turned to Miho, whose eyes were wide with shock. Did he not tell her that already? Had he been waiting for a more dramatic moment to reveal it? Ino bit down a sarcastic remark and shifted her feet. This guy was already annoying. "What exactly were you all planning to do from there? Just casually mention that we're due to be invaded in a month?"
Shikamaru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I would've overheard a bothersome conversation on a rooftop between Kabuto and Suna's representative."
"Yeah? And telling the Hokage that the Kazekage is dead and his son in a loose cannon jinchuriki?" The jōnin's tone was faintly amused, but with an edge like steel. He gestured toward Miho. "I already know what she thinks. That she'll die for what she knows."
Ino didn't miss the flash in his eyes.
What Miho knew was dangerous. What they all knew was dangerous. The Uchiha Massacre was just one among at least ten S-class secrets. While her friend only remembered highlights and specific character events, she still remembered dangerous things drawn in two-dimensional pictures.
Even if the Hokage was willing to let them live, others certainly wouldn't.
"So, what? Are you going to report us?" Chōji's voice was hard. Like stone. He was angled in front of his sister, as if he could somehow fight off a jōnin. Honestly, Ino wouldn't put it past him to try. Chōji wasn't above coming to blows with a jōnin if it meant protecting his people. Particularly Miho.
"We could start with Commander Nara. He wouldn't allow his only son to come to harm. He'd figure out a plan to protect the Three. He'd know how to approach it with the Hokage. She only has a finite amount of information. The Hokage won't kill her for something like that."
Ino barely held back a scoff at Shikamaru's disbelieving snort.
This guy was way too naïve to be a shinobi.
She stepped forward, fisting her hands at her sides as Chōji stepped up beside his sister to pull her completely behind his mass. She was still larger than him by a head, so the image was somewhat lessened. The intent wasn't though.
"Hawks are omnivores. Did you know that? Interesting tidbit of information, right?"
The jōnin's eyes went wide behind his glasses. She felt the corners of her lips tip upward, but the amusement didn't meet her eyes.
He got the reference then.
Shimura Danzō, the old war hawk.
She wondered if he recalled the pictures as vividly as she did. Her own cousin, who she used to play with. Fū was her replacement in Root. A mechanical soldier doing the dirty deeds of Konoha behind the Hokage's back. A whole army and arsenal, unchecked by anyone.
"You're thinking of Miho as a resource. Fine." Chōji spoke up, shifting attention. His family understood resource metaphors more than anyone. "There's only so much of a resource."
"What usually happens when a resource runs out?" Miho questioned. Her friend's chin was held high and her feet squared beneath her shoulders. Weight-balance, center of gravity. Miho did it without thought now. "Aoba-sensei, I trust your judgement. Genma-sensei trusts you, so I will too. I may not like the Monkey Teacher, but it was never him I really feared."
"You say that like the Monkey Teacher is a puppet."
Ino rolled her shoulders. She was too tired and dirty for this. Way too tired and way too dirty. For a guy that could read minds, he sure was slow to understanding. And that irritated her.
He should do better. Shikamaru fell onto the center bed, face down. It didn't break the tension.
His voice was muffled by the sheets when he spoke. "You saw what Miho remembers."
"I did."
"That hawk has already preyed on the Three. He's already destroyed an entire clan. If he finds out that such knowledge exists outside of his circle, what do you think will happen?" Shikamaru's expression was placid and civil, pressed against the sheets. Bored. He was bored by all this. His eyes slid closed. "Do you really think that we can risk it?"
Ino squeezed her eyes shut, wincing as it was stated straight-out.
They knew too much.
And the consequences were too steep if things went wrong, like an old war criminal finding out that they knew about all his Dirty Deeds. They knew all about his secret force. They knew too much.
"Damn it." The jōnin muttered, lifting a hand to his forehead. Maybe he'd finally wrapped his head around how screwed he now was right along with them. And he was screwed. Just like them. "Damn it."
Miho sighed, nodding her head in commiseration. She withdrew a bag of chips, slipping one onto her tongue. "Right?"
His kids were safe. They were fine.
Really, that was all he could ask for given the current situation. Koji and Tetsuya were holed up in one of the team barracks, tending their wounds and silently contemplating what had happened. When he checked on them and heard their story of the whole situation, Genma tried to piece together the hows and the whys.
The more he tried to do that, the less sense everything made.
Especially since the boys said Miho had been separated from them before they'd even awakened.
Especially since the boys were frantic in their worry for her.
He guessed, really, that he should just be grateful his kids were alive. That they weren't on Orochimaru's radar for some absolutely wild, absurd reason. That they made it out of the exams in one piece.
But Genma knew something was off.
He hadn't survived to his age by ignoring his gut. And his gut said something was off.
Rolling his senbon to the right corner of his mouth, he knocked on the door and waited for her voice to call him inside. When it came, he eased through the door, trying not to be surprised when he found Aoba sitting across the room as if standing guard. He caught his friend's eyes and raised a brow. On the other side of the room, Team Ten was circled around his student.
The Nara was asleep. The Akimichi (well, both of them) were eating. And the Yamanaka was glaring at Genma with a fury. As if he'd done something stupid to warrant it. Which, to his knowledge, he hadn't.
The silence was strange.
"So...what's up?"
"Nothin' much." Aoba shrugged. "Your student's given me five cookies in two hours and I'm pretty sure she's out to ruin my awesome physique."
Miho laughed and he turned to study her. She looked leaps and bounds better than she had when he'd set off to hunt a Sannin. The blood had been cleaned from her face and she'd changed into a fresh outfit. Still, the cuts and bruises marbled her skin.
And the bags under her eyes were more pronounced than ever.
He'd never noticed them before.
He briefly wondered how the boys would react to her current appearance.
She looked rough.
Better to keep Book Club separated for the time-being. For her sake as much as theirs. No doubt she wasn't in the mood for their nagging. It seemed Team Ten was acting as guardians in the meantime, positioned as a three-point defense. For some reason or other. Even the Nara, who was sprawled out on the center bed, snoring.
"The guys said you took down two Kusa shinobi."
She jerked her head around to stare at him before nodding. "Got their scroll, too."
"You got both scrolls. If you'd come to the tower, you would've definitely made it to the next round."
He watched as she looked away, fiddling with the edge of her yukata. He was learning her mannerisms, her tells. Her brother glanced at her, pausing minutely in his shoveling of chips.
"I did what I had to do."
"Yeah."
He moved to sit on the bed opposite her, back to Aoba and alongside the sprawled Nara. She turned to stare at him, as if waiting for him to admonish her in some way. In his mind, Genma had to keep his anger in check. Why was that what she was expecting? To be chastised for her actions?
The furious expression on the Yamanaka's face was telling enough. She'd murder him in cold blood for a negative word. That girl would be a terrifying force one day.
Like her father.
Scoffing, he sat back and rolled the senbon between his teeth.
"You made the right call. Because of you, we were able to protect Uchiha Sasuke. Because of you, Orochimaru's plan was ruined."
Her eyes went wide and he noticed that they flickered behind him, to Aoba. He saw her jaw clench then unclench. Her brother shifted, eating a few more chips per handful. The Yamanaka sagged. Behind him, he felt the Nara wake up. A lot of tells, but no clear reason.
Why?
"Just Sasuke? Why stop there?"
Miho was normally confident, even in her lies. Her voice was shaking.
Genma felt something odd shift in the room and he turned to look at Aoba. Aoba, who was tense and coiled. As if he was about to send a flock of crows down on some enemy. Aoba, who had nerves of steel. Aoba, who faced down entire battalions and didn't bat an eye.
"It… doesn't make sense."
"Which part?"
"Orochimaru went after the Uchiha. Fine. But he could've done that anytime. Could've done it when Team Seven was on a mission. Why now? Why during the exams? What's the point?" Aoba's voice was calm and level, but Genma could feel the energy spiraling around the room. "There's got to be something more going on. A one-off? No way."
"They've got the Uchiha protected."
He didn't miss the Nara's huffed scoff, even if he was still feigning sleep. Not even trying to hide it.
Just like his father.
"Orochimaru's not the kind to give up so easily." Aoba shifted forward. Genma nodded, not quite sure why he felt so… unbalanced. Off. Something was off. "That's what you're saying. The Hokage was his teacher. He knows Orochimaru's not the kind to showboat for no reason."
"We need to up security for the whole village."
Nodding, Genma agreed and turned back to Miho.
What he saw was chilling.
Her eyes were vacant.
Unseeing.
She was staring at the post of the bed he sat on, eyes wide and detached.
"Miho?"
No response. Her eyes remained unfocused on the bedpost, hands clenching then unclenching and clenching again. Her back was rigid. Genma was on his feet in a flash, moving to stand in front of her. He felt the Nara move behind him.
"Aoba, what's going on?"
His friend was in front of her immediately, kneeling down to grab her hands.
The Yamanaka was moving to her knees beside her friend, hand rising as if to press it to her head.
"Stop. Don't."
The blonde froze.
Genma was not used to feeling confused. Uninformed, sure. Unprepared, of course. But not confused.
His attention flickered to her brother. He'd expected to see fear or frantic worry. Instead, he saw sadness and resignation. Her brother didn't move. As if he'd seen this before. As if he knew what this was. Genma felt his stomach turn.
This was normal. A normal he didn't know.
"You're not at fault."
He must've heard her thoughts. Aoba had that ability, to hear someone's mind even without touching them. Genma felt himself tense, wondering what he'd heard in his student's head. What did she feel was her fault?
"Miho. Wake up."
Miho's eyes flickered and she came back to reality, eyes focusing again. They flashed around the space, looking for vulnerabilities, for weaknesses, for defensible spaces. Genma kept his knee-jerk anger in check. As a new genin, she had no reason to be falling into trauma responses. He shared a look with Aoba.
Her eyes widened and she looked to Aoba again.
Then, her head shook. She shook.
A whole conversation was happening in front of him and he couldn't hear it. Genma took the senbon from his mouth. Whatever was happening in this room, his student was at the center of it.
"There somethin' I should know?"
His student's eyes fell on him. And she was terrified.
He'd seen her take a near-fatal blow before and she looked calmer than this. He'd seen her face down the Hokage, stand firm in her decisions and beliefs in front of the strongest shinobi in the village. This was chaotic fear given form and he didn't know what to do. He pulled in a breath and looked down at Aoba.
He was met with a firm stare, willing him to be quiet and wait.
Wait for what, he wasn't sure.
He watched as she turned to her brother, who held her gaze for a few moments before shrugging. She turned to the Yamanaka, her obvious fear building, and the girl only stared back. She gave no answer to the unspoken question. Finally, she looked across the space to the now-sitting-up Nara.
He stared at her for a long moment before sighing. He threw an arm over his eyes. "This is a drag."
Miho nodded, finally looking up to him.
For all his years as a shinobi, Genma had experienced all kinds of tragedy. He'd murdered fathers and mothers and all manner of people. He'd taken out entire platoons. He'd done so much in the name of his village. But, in all his years of service, he'd never seen that kind of trust in a person's face.
"Genma-sensei, I need to tell you something."
She glanced away, toward Aoba.
Aoba, who knew whatever the 'something' was.
She looked around at Team Ten before seeming to lose her energy. She sagged as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. "I— I don't know if this is the right decision."
Aoba stood. "He's former ANBU. He's your teacher. He's one of my best friends. He was your father's student and worked closely with your birth father. He's arguably one of the best shinobi in the village." He shifted, standing straighter at Aoba's words. Somehow, it felt like he needed to prove himself. "If you can't trust him, then you can't trust anyone."
Genma tensed, not knowing where this was going. What did he need their trust for? To such an extent?
Miho's eyes squeezed shut.
"Show him."
The Nara had picked himself from the bed and saddled next to his team. His arms crossed as he yawned. "You should probably sit down."
"Yeah," Aoba drawled. Genma looked to him and held his eyes for a moment. They'd been in life-or-death situations together. They'd been in war together. He trusted Aoba more than he trusted most people. He held up his right hand, the one he used to enter people's minds. "You're definitely gonna want to sit down."
Shifting his attention back to his student, she stared back up at him, unwaveringly. Like she did when she faced down the Hokage. He could see the fear, but— beyond that— he could see her faith in him. Faith in him. It was conflicted faith, but it was there. And Genma, for the first time in so, so long, wanted to earn that kind of trust.
He lowered himself down onto the cot's edge, pulling the senbon from his teeth. "You can trust me."
Aoba's hand came to rest on his forehead.
And the world erupted into chaos.
She was shaking. It was too much. All of it, how quickly it was unraveling. Years and years of silence was unweaving itself before her very eyes. The cinching thread was attached to Aoba and all of his movements, a red string that tore away the patterns and threads until everything was a fray of tattered fabric. Next to her, she felt Chōji shift and take her hand.
She didn't miss the way Ino slid forward, to position herself in front of Miho. That had Miho reaching forward to grab her shoulder— to force her back, get her to move. Anything to keep her friend from thinking she neededto do that, to block her.
Ino just shrugged her hand off, sending her a dark look over her shoulder.
"Two jōnin are better than one."
"What if he wants to go to the Hokage like Yamashiro did?" Ino questioned, raising a brow at Shikamaru. He kept his expression neutral, but Miho could see the tick in his jaw. He didn't know how this would turn out any more than the rest of them did. "Then what?"
"It's coming." Chōji spoke, voice hard. Miho felt his hand tighten around hers. "We avoided one part, but what about the rest? We can't do this alone. How're we suppose to stop all of it?"
"We could've." Ino retorted, carding a hand through her dirty, sweaty hair. She hadn't even had time to rest since arriving to the tower. Miho released her shoulder and let her hand fall back to her side. She tried to ignore that Aoba was still in her teacher's mind. "We could've done exactly what Shikamaru said. Dropped clues, avoided all this—"
"Then what? There's too many moving parts. Our hand was forced." Shikamaru rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. They'd been over this, silently, through looks and expressions. "We needed reinforcements."
Aoba-sensei stepped back, hand dropping away from her teacher's forehead. She slid forward, leaning on the edge of the cot as his eyes opened. Their usual sharp brown was dulled. His expression was calm and, contrary to other reactions, he remained still. He just looked at her before sighing and lifting his right hand to put a senbon between his teeth.
"Well," he said after a long, tense moment. "That was somethin'."
Miho released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"Understatement of the year, my friend." Aoba-sensei swung a leg over a nearby chair as he sat down, waving his hand. "Gai on a training rampage is something. This is… something else."
"Articulate." Genma-sensei blandly complimented. She stood upright when his attention finally fell to her. "Knowing all that—must've been hard."
Miho tried to focus on the feel of the rough canvas of her backup yukata against her palms. She tried to focus on the gnawing sensation of hunger in her stomach that seemed to echo into her shoulders, making them ache. She tried to focus on the grit she felt on her skin, matted with the sweat. She tried so hard not to cry. But she failed.
"Calm down. Deep breaths, okay?"
"So're you gonna report us to the Hokage for treason?"
Miho could hear the bite in Ino's tone and she could imagine her friend sending Aoba-sensei a scathing look. She fought back the tears, forcing them into submission as she raised her head again. Crying wasn't going to solve any of this, however overwhelming it was.
Genma-sensei wasn't studying her anymore. Instead, his attention shifted between Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji.
"Now this dynamic makes sense."
"What do you mean, Genma-sensei?"
"Shades there helped you in the exam."
Shikamaru smirked around the "troublesome" he breathed out.
"I'm 'Shades.' Think of another nickname." Aoba-sensei replied flippantly from where he sat hugging the back of a chair. "Call him Shadow Boy or something."
"Shadow Boy is lame, Peanut Gallery." Genma-sensei shot back with a bland smile. He turned back to Miho. "You needed to get past the first exam."
"I was the radical element. I needed to warn someone of Orochimaru's presence and stop the attack on Sasuke." She felt disappointment slam into her as she shook her head. "It didn't stop Orochimaru from slapping that seal on Naruto though." Sighing, she pressed a hand to her forehead, which was beginning to ache.
A tap on her shoulder drew her attention away from her teacher's face. Chōji held out a bag of barbecue chips, gesturing for her to take them. She'd need to calorie load for the rest of the day if she was going to make her quota.
"This all explains the privacy seal on the door as well." Genma-sensei noted, jerking his head toward the door. "That's gonna become obvious after a while, so we're gonna need to wrap this up. Tell me you have codenames for stuff. Otherwise, how the hell did you keep this a secret so long?"
Miho felt a smile pull at her lips at her teacher's easy acceptance. It'd thrown her— and everyone else— off-kilter. She could feel Team Ten's suspicion.
"We don't have codenames."
"You don't have codenames." Genma-sensei looked completely scandalized. "Who are you and what've you done with my student?"
"So, wait, you're cool with this?" Ino inserted herself, crossing her arms. "Miho remembers the future from a past life, saw Konoha invaded, destroyed, and a massive war, and you're worried about codenames."
Genma-sensei's demeanor shifted. She knew the switch at once, recognizing as he fell into shinobi-mode rather than Genma-mode. His eyes hardened and narrowed, back straightening. This was a former ANBU operative and a leading jōnin. "No, Yamanaka, I'm not 'cool' with any of this."
"Codenames help to maintain secrecy and add a layer of protection to a mission." Aoba added, chin on his folded arms. His voice was a bit slurred as he didn't bother to raise his head. "Like using the Hawk reference before. It's typical of high-level missions with necessary secrecy."
"Considering this is going to be one hell of a long op, I'd say codenames are a necessity." Genma-sensei looked down to his shoes or the floor, seeming to think through something. "If we're gonna avoid this absolute shitshow, we better get moving."
"You're not gonna tell the Hokage?" Chōji wondered aloud, coming to stand by Miho's side.
"The Hokage should know." He held up a hand when Ino went to argue. "Eventually. We need more strategic pieces in place before that happens."
Miho felt the shaking start in her chest.
"You mean my dad." Shikamaru stated, eyes half-lidded. "You're saying we need a gold general." While Miho recognized the shogi terminology, she didn't quite follow his meaning. He seemed to sense this and he sighed. "Troublesome. Should've listened when I explained the game."
Miho just stared at him, not in the mood for that kind of shrug-off.
"Nah, kid, we need a gamemaster. And you're good, kid, but you're not there yet." Genma-sensei clicked his tongue while Aoba nodded. Her teacher looked to her, sliding down from the edge of the bed to kneel in front of her, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "The Hawk won't get you. This will work. It will." He smiled around the senbon. "Besides, you're not the only one with that knowledge now. You've got five people here you can rely on."
Five people that were now in danger. Because of her. Five people that may suffer some terrible fates because she'd already altered the story. Danzō could come for them. The Hokage could use them or abuse them. She tried to control the panic, pushing it down and away. Swallowing it, holding it in her stomach. Like the chips that festered there.
Knowledge like this didn't come without consequences.
Still, Miho nodded.
She could hope for the best, regardless.
After all, now her teacher knew.
And Sasuke was safe. For now.
And her friends were safe, for now.
"Let's go see if an exception can be made."
Genma-sensei stood, moving toward the door.
"An exception?"
"I deal in technicalities." Her teacher smirked, opening the door and cancelling the seal. "You may wanna go find the boys. Maybe they won't nag you." He stopped and winked, voice becoming deadpan. "And stop showing favoritism to Team Ten. They're lame and boring and I really don't get why you like them so much."
Aoba-sensei laughed. Miho felt herself grin, some of the tension melting from her abdomen as Ino screeched out a counter-argument. Miho turned to Chōji, burying her face in his shoulder and deflating into his arms. For a long moment, it seemed like everything just might be okay.
Apparently, the exception was the ability to watch the preliminary rounds. Miho wondered just how Genma-sensei made the case to the Hokage. Perhaps it was a kind of reward, given the calm smile that the old man gave her as they entered the viewing platform. For reporting instead of progressing in the exam? Miho wasn't entirely sure. Both Koji and Tetsuya ran to the railing, situating themselves in a prime viewing position.
"You ask me this is better than actually fighting." Koji shrugged, leaning his back against the rail while waiting for the other teams to make it up to the viewing platform. "We weren't ready on an individual level anyway."
He had a point. Miho smiled, propping her elbows on the rail as she leaned forward beside him. A chip bag was held in one hand. "Dinner and a show."
"I wanna see the Nara actually have to fight." Tetsuya drawled, smiling at Miho's chastising look. "What?"
"Puppet Dude's fight is the one I'm lookin' forward to. Never seen a puppeteer fight before."
"How'd'ya know he's a puppeteer? He could be just carryin' a big doll around."
"If he's a puppeteer, that's exactly what he's doin'!"
Miho nearly choked when she saw Kankurō's eyes cut up to the viewing platform from where he was walking below. The corners of his painted lips pulled up. He met her eyes. Her heart jumped into her throat and she ducked out of view, coughing. "He heard you."
"So what?" Tetsuya scoffed. "I don't care."
Genma-sensei's laugh came from their right and they turned to see him propped against the wall. "Try not to egg on the international teams, nerds. You're lucky you're in here in the first place."
Koji and Tetsuya settled a bit before Tetsuya turned to their teacher and smiled. "So, we rag on the home teams?"
Genma-sensei shrugged. "Go for it."
Her teammates had been very careful about how they approached the Orochimaru situation, sworn to absolute secrecy by Genma-sensei. Still, when she'd arrived in their barracks earlier, she'd been enveloped in hugs and told, in no uncertain terms, that she was never to go off for a side battle again. They knew it was an empty promise, but she still gave her word—if only to make them feel better.
They didn't ask any more questions than: Was she okay? What happened? Did he hurt anyone in the forest? And was he gone? Once they had the answers to those questions, they let the matter drop.
And, despite Miho thinking otherwise, they were completely fine with missing out on the rest of the exam.
Or, at least, not progressing in it.
"We already decided to go as far as we could. We'll definitely be ready next time. Whether or not that whole thing happened, Chubs, we still wouldn't have made it to the finals."
"And that's okay." Koji had inserted with a thumbs-up.
"And that's okay!" Tetsuya had agreed.
And it seemed, as simple as that, the issue was settled.
Her team was beautiful and she loved them.
She loved them.
Miho wondered vaguely if they'd already resolved to just let it go before she'd arrived to the barrack, but she was too grateful to ask.
She watched from the platform as the participants were given an opportunity to drop out. This time, Kabuto was not around to withdraw. In fact, his whole team was absent. Another team from Grass had taken their place somehow.
A change.
Miho's concern shifted to the proctor, who was attempting to speak below.
"Genma-sensei, is Hayate-sensei okay?"
"Funny that you remembered his name, Miho."
She flinched, realizing that she'd never met the coughing man before. But she did remember him. Just like she remembered how he died.
Genma-sensei sent her a look that told her to calm down. She took a large bite of a cookie and focused on chewing it. "He's fine. Just can't shake the cough."
She couldn't remember the order of the fights. Just flashes of some, clearer images of others— Naruto and Kiba's, Shikamaru's, Ino and Sakura's, Neji and Hinata's, and Gaara and Lee's. Sasuke's was a blank space. She couldn't remember her brother's.
She couldn't remember Choji's fight.
"Don't worry, Miho."
Miho nodded at Genma-sensei's words, but that was easier said than done.
Slowly, the teams filtered up to the platform. Miho idly watched, breaking apart a cookie while silently hoping that the Suna team kept to the opposite end. Not because she didn't like them but because she did.
In the Images, she remembered things about that team more clearly than other characters. Kankurō's fight was crystal clear. Garra's bout with Gaara and subsequent fight with Sasuke. The battle in the forest. Temari's fight with Shikamaru. Kankurō trying to save Gaara. Gaara lifeless. Temari's command in the war. Gaara's words at the Kage Summit, the speech before the Shinobi Alliance.
All of it was clear, as if the memories were her own. Hers.
Miho kept her attention away from them, focusing instead on the energetic ball of sunshine barreling her way.
"MIHO! YOU'RE HERE?! What're you doin' here, huh? Bushy Brows said that your team got disqualified! I told him he had to be crazy 'cause you're a badass fighter, but then he-" He jerked back, throwing a glare over her shoulder. "Koji— Man, were you the one to screw up and get Team Five disqualified? I knew it!"
Koji grinned, glancing at her before giving a reverent nod, holding a hand over his heart. It had all the gravitas of a formal declaration. Behind him Tetsuya dissolved into a fit of giggles. "Totally my fault." Miho smiled. "The Hokage let us hang out because we failed so spectacularly. Miho's only here to keep the two of us in check."
Lee approached a moment later, pulling her into an embrace. Naruto meanwhile leaned over the railing to scream encouragement to Sasuke, who summarily ignored Naruto's shouted support. A bit muffled by her shoulder, Lee seemed far more subdued than usual. And her heart was thrumming nervously in her chest when her eyes caught sight of red hair at the end of the platform.
No.
"I am sorry that you cannot compete, my friend. These people would have truly benefited from seeing your Youth in action."
"They'll benefit more from seeing yours." Miho stepped back, reaching for his right arm. Unconsciously, she set to tightening his weights. It was an old habit, as old as the weights themselves. He waited while she did it, holding out his left arm when she was done. "Be careful, okay?"
"Yosh."
She moved to stand by Genma-sensei, back against the wall, as Sasuke's match began. He glanced down at her, but merely shifted his senbon in acknowledgement.
It's not as cool without the background music.
Her entire body flinched as Ino's presence came into her mind. She glanced over to find her friend's head on Shikamaru's shoulder as he propped her up. It was an incredible contrast to the Images, which showed her fangirling during the Uchiha's match. Ino's voice scoffed in her head.
Think we can stop some stupidity today?
Miho glanced to Neji's back, which was ramrod straight. She'd never paid much attention to just how long his hair was. It reminded her a bit for the River King's. Miho heard a few hisses in the crowed when Sasuke's opponent struck him down with a kick. Naruto let out a screech.
Short of jumping into the actual fight…
Ino's presence melted away and Miho looked to see her friend shrugging as if to say 'we gotta do what we gotta do.' Shikamaru glanced at her then over to where Miho sat, eyes half-lidded.
He was so obviously bored.
"You guys are all cute, but you're not discreet in the slightest." Genma-sensei commented. "Focus on the—"
She heard the winds before the Images hit. The swirling and crashing and pummeling. The shattering of glass. The radio. A different song. A different song on the radio. A different song on the radio and a different time. 6:47pm. Kakashi and Sasuke, but there was no Kakashi and Sasuke in darkness now, was there? But Orochimaru was there.
That's what makes us...
Orochimaru was there.
Shine on, shine on.
Orochimaru was— Miho focused, eyes tracking over the stadium to the other side of the space. Her heart plummeted into her stomach before jumping into her throat. It felt like indigestion, burning just below her sternum. That was— She forced her eyes to track away again, down to Sasuke, to Naruto's back, to Chōji's wide eyes, to Koji and Tetsuya, to Kankurō, to Sakura and Lee, and then— She looked up to her teacher.
"Have…" Her voice was rough and shaking. "Have…Have you ever read The Sky Temple series, Genma-sensei?"
Genma-sensei looked away from the fight. His eyes widened before he shrugged. "I've read it. Needed to know what you kids were geeking out about."
Miho smiled despite the sharp fear that stabbed at her stomach. She reached up and pressed a hand to his forearm, squeezing on specific words. "The guardian of the south was my least favorite character. Here's the thing: it was never the south that was evil— it was him."
Character. Here. Evil. Him.
Orochimaru is here.
Her teacher nodded, eyes scanning the room as casually as any jōnin, and she watched as his eyes found the odd person out. The long-haired jōnin sensei from Otogakure. "I respect that opinion. I'm sure you've got some sort of literary opinion. You're part of the Book Club after all." She released his arm and he nodded.
Miho moved, forcing her body to steady as she walked toward the railing to watch as Sasuke dealt a serious blow to his opponent. The guy- one of the random Kusa team that made it through- struggled to stand back up.
When she glanced back again, Genma-sensei was gone and had moved to stand beside Kakashi-sensei.
"COME ON, SASUKE! FINISH HIM OFF!"
Sasuke dealt the final blow, a combination of taijutsu and ninjutsu. He twisted in the air, moving so fast and so easily that the movement seemed choreographed. He landed on his feet, shrugging off the win like it was nothing. He might as well have brushed off his shoulder. Still, he was breathing hard and was holding his right arm.
They're going after him.
Ino's voice seemed stronger this time, more powerful. Miho didn't jolt at the sudden intrusion. She didn't turn away from the battleground, keeping her eyes focused on the screen as it cycled through names. Ino must've noticed him. Her brother and Shikamaru as well. They were all playing a game: Avoid Tipping Off the Crazy Sannin.
Aren't they?
Miho shifted. I don't know.
Orochimaru would have no reason to confront Kakashi-sensei now. Sasuke didn't have the Curse Seal. There was no telling what actions Orochimaru would take in order to secure the Uchiha. Even if she wasn't fond of him, Miho couldn't let Sasuke be so manipulated without doing something to stop it. He didn't deserve that.
Naruto didn't deserve to be condemned to chasing him down either.
As he came up to the platform, moving to Naruto's side and earning a nod from his teacher, Miho fished a cookie out from her snack pack. She held it out without looking at him, not wanting to draw much attention to the action. She felt his disbelief before the cookie was taken from her hand.
"Are you only here to deliver snacks?" A voice asked from her right. She turned and felt her heart jump into her ears. The thumping there made it seem like the world shrunk. Neji was staring at the screen, arms crossed. Her eyes slipped to Lee, who was glaring but holding back his anger to let her handle this herself. "After all, why else would losers be allowed here?"
Miho swallowed down anger that felt a lot like hunger. She wondered if Sasuke heard the comments from where he stood at her other side. Naruto was loudly complaining about the delay in announcing the next bout, so maybe not? It didn't matter. Her anger was so white hot that she briefly wondered if she could uppercut the Hyuuga instead of Naruto.
In lieu of an answer, Miho reached in her pack and held out a protein cookie to the Hyuuga. She turned when he didn't take it. He was staring her down, very obviously offended at the proffered snack. And probably offended because he was caught off-guard.
Lee really did have a good understanding of his teammate.
"You have any dietary restrictions, Hyuuga? Gluten allergy, maybe?"
The guy's brows drew together just a bit. He was irritated.
"Chubs, don't waste your breath on him. He's being a jerk."
Miho ignored Tetsuya's huff and withdrew the cookie, taking a bite out of it herself. "I only offer cookies to the winners of honorable matches. We'll see if you earn one. I have some gluten-free ones."
"I do not want a cookie."
Nodding, she shrugged. "Yeah, you don't strike me as the 'cookie' type, Hyuuga." She walked away then, trying to get away from the Hyuuga and all of his repressed (and not-so-repressed) drama. She settled on the railing by her teammates again, sharing a look with them that begged them to let it go. "Don't. Just don't."
"Stop offering cookies to people that aren't us, Chubs."
Koji let out a guffaw, clapping her on the shoulder. "The whole platform heard the honorable win cookie prize bit. You might be out of cookies by the end of all this, sweetheart."
"I want two when I win."
Kankurō walked past, not even turning around to acknowledge that he said anything. He descended the stairs, ending the arena for his match. Miho watched with wide eyes, not quite sure if she heard him right. That couldn't have been what she heard, right? Koji laughed again, turning a thumbs-down at the puppeteer in the arena while Tetsuya rolled his eyes.
"Not happening, man!"
In her peripheral vision, as she stared down at Kankurō in the arena, she saw Orochimaru disappear in a puff of smoke.
Jerking around, she noticed that three of the jōnin teachers had also disappeared. Genma-sensei among them.
Dread blurred her vision and she felt the cool air on the sweat that built on the back of her neck, along her arms. Why did fear feel so much like hunger?
"Miho?"
She turned and nodded, jerking herself out of the panic. There was no time for it. Orochimaru was just one of several threats in that room. And he was now gone, with several top shinobi after him. The other threat, very quickly, was coming for one of her best friends and his future.
Lee.
His bones breaking.
His future and hope breaking, even if just for a time.
Biting her tongue, she turned and looked at the Suna team as Kankurō's match began. She could hear the sound of his false struggling, his theatre. The performance. Temari focused on her brother's battle, eyes narrowed and critical of the show he put on. But Gaara…Sensing the attention, Gaara turned and held her gaze.
Cold. Detatched. Not there.
Absent.
Come back, Gaara!
She kept her breathing as steady as possible, not backing down from meeting his eyes. She felt pressure on her chest. Like the air was thinning. The heaviness settled between her shoulder blades, the weight of everything she knew about him and what he'd experienced, what he would do, pressing there.
The pressure of the current him sat over her throat like the blade of a kunai, a blade poised and primed. Ready to slit and cut. She wondered how bad of a mistake she was making, meeting his eyes like this. A terrible mistake. He was a desert's rage given form.
Fear lanced through her when his eyes narrowed.
She wondered, vaguely, if this was what She felt like when she chased storms. The her there and then. When She saw those towers of winds and clouds, did she feel the same instinct? Was She afraid of that kind of power? Did She feel like she was suffocating as the wind struck her, when it buffeted her? Did she cower in front of those storms? How did She, there and then, face a force of nature?
Three long, blaring beeps.
Miho jolted, losing focus on his face.
One long tone.
-Wyandotte County. The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for southern Wyandotte County, A tornado emergency for western Kansas City and—
Miho looked away. She hadn't meant to stare that long.
She felt his eyes still on her.
That was a mistake.
She'd made another mistake.
Gulping in air, she held it in her lungs and waited for it to burn.
No matter what life, it seemed she couldn't help but to stare down natural disasters— whatever form they took.
A/N: Yes, another post as I avoid packing. I won't be posting again until the end of next week as I REALLY DO HAVE TO PACK!
I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter. The plot is MOVING! I'm so excited. The pieces are being arranged.
Thank you all so much for reading, leaving reviews, following and favoriting this story! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Honestly, thank you again!