A/N: So here is Chapter 8, and we are going to wrap up the Chunin exam. Also, in case you have not noticed, I added a title for each chapter, in responding to a strong suggestion from my Beta. This chapter's title is in reference to a French Play "No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre. It's an interesting play I've read in school, and it has quite a theme.
Beta'd by my friend Alice J, who is also drowning in homework just like me, the program we are taking has no mercy...
Chapter 8 - No Exit
So comical, that's the thought that crossed my mind for a second when Itachi and I walked down to the arena. When was the last time I had an actual fight with him, not just in a training, but a real one where neither of us held back? Never…
However, the thought of fighting him made my heart ache with excitement, the chance to fight him, Itachi, the one I had never beaten before, the one I had looked up to. Such a guilty pleasure, to find joy in violence. But was this really the place to do so, in a Chunin exam, in a foreign village, in front of everyone?
Logically speaking, one of us should surrender, allowing the other to have full strength for the final. Logically, it's bad to blow up the arena, which I'm sure would happen if we keep it up long enough. Logically speaking, he would have a better chance at winning than me, he was stronger. I opened my mouth slightly to say the words, but when I saw Itachi's expression in deep thought, I closed my mouth, knowing that he was thinking about the exact same thing. Damn it, I really wanted to fight with him, battle with him, I was sure that mortal combat was a form of bonding. But…
"I surrender," I said quickly before Itachi could say anything. Logic sucks. The arena was silent for a moment as I walked away. The audience yelled in disappointment, but really, I couldn't care less.
I sat back down with my teammate and teachers, the proctor was announcing Itachi's victory and the start of the final round. However, before the match began, Itachi mumbled something quietly. It was so quiet that no one could hear him, but he knew that with my eyes, I could see the movement of his lips clearly, "You owe me a fight when we get back". I smiled as the final round of Uchiha Itachi from Konoha vs. Kazeyama Sunari from Suna began in the arena, don't worry, I'll definitely repay you.
In the end, Itachi won against the Suna kunoichi, although their fight was long and drawn out, and no doubt the crowd loved their show. The Yondaime Kazekage didn't seem to enjoy the finale, no doubt having Konoha-nin winning the Suna Chunin exam hit a dent in his heart, yet he couldn't do anything as the Sandaime Hokage was there as a guest.
Finally, we lined up at the arena in front of the Kages, listening to them announce the winners. Almost everyone who got into the third stage received Chunin status, and everyone who advanced into the second round of the tournament was promoted to Chunin, that included me, Itachi, Shun and Omoi, the Kumo nin who was a kenjutsu expert. I smiled sincerely as I watched Shun laugh as we received the certificate. I suddenly remembered mom's promise, and I was looking forward to returning home.
The team left quickly just following Hokage-sama's departure. Hatake Kakashi disappeared the moment we returned to Konoha territory, Akira-sensei did not try his hardest to explain his absence, I thought at this point, he already gave up trying to make us believe Hatake Kakashi's fake job as an assistant teacher. Prodigious jonin who disappeared a few years back after the war, with incredible skill, required legal identities to enter a foreign village, acting under the order that Akira-sensei couldn't refuse. He was from that division, working straight under the Hokage, he was from Anbu.
"I guess this is it, we are all chunin now. Anyone had any idea what their career will be from now on." Shun asked when we returned to Konoha. I frowned slightly at the prospect of my future. I once thought that I would have no future, until Daichi told me that he would find it with me, with our team… Well, that's not happening now, is it?
"Still working on it, what about you, All-Figured-Out-san?" I asked Shun.
"Funny you should say that because I do have it figured out. Don't worry, Daichi made us promise to find dreams together, even if he's… not here, I will also find your dreams with you." Shun said with a mix of sorrow and comfort.
We split our ways when we went back to our residence. It was only five in the afternoon, so I had no idea why the compound was lit up. Itachi and I walked quietly towards the main house, noticing the gathering hall next to it is full of light. Was there an event in the compound that we didn't know about?
When we arrived at the door, I heard Sasuke's loud voice yelling: "Quickly! Nee-chan! Nii-chan! Or you will be late!" I narrowed my eyes at that, late? For what? "Quickly, you two need to get ready." Mom rushed out of the door dressed in a formal, light yellow kimono, a small Sasuke stood by her feet, also dressed in a formal dark blue men's kimono.
"Wait, what's happening here? What do we need to get ready for?" I asked with confusion, but mom already rushed me and Itachi inside.
"Why? It's for you and Itachi of course, your father is hosting a party to celebrate you two becoming chunin, especially Itachi, who won the tournament. You two are your father's pride, and mine as well!" Mom said as she pushed me down on a chair, while Itachi was being ushered away by another woman, one of our older cousins, I believed.
"Wait, before you take away all my weapons, I have something I need to give to Sasuke," I yelled as I watched mom confiscate all of my weapons that were deemed unfit to show at a party. She stopped for a second and let me pull out the crossbow from my bag and handed it to a curious Sasuke.
"For your birthday, Sasuke, you just need to aim it like this and pull the trigger," I grabbed his small little hand and pointed it at one of the paper lanterns by the door, and pulled the trigger on the crossbow. Sasuke's eyes widened in amazement as the wooden arrow flew straight toward the lantern and popped it like balloons. "There you go, don't shoot at yourself or others, unless they are attacking you." I winked at him and he ran away toward the backyard. When I looked up again, I saw mom's disapproving face.
"Really, Maiko, a weapon of all things?" Mom asked me exasperatedly, but I just smiled at her and said: "Mom, it'll be fine, Sasuke should be old enough to start handling the weapons now. Besides, it's always good to have a weapon by his side that he could use in an emergency." Mom sighed at my words, but she did not reprimand me further.
For the next hour, I realized just how much I missed my kunoichi shorts, my short-sleeved shirt, and my thin ninja vest. After mom forced me to do a quick bath, she put layered clothes on my tiny nine-year-old body. The kimono was quite beautiful, a dark purple decorated with white flowers. The flower itself was quite unusual since usually kimono was decorated with cherry blossoms or plum blossoms, but the flowers on my kimono were night-blooming cereus, the kind that blooms only at night, once in a lifetime. The white flowers on my kimono were blossoming, their' white petals seeming to glow slightly as if they were basking under the moonlight. The kimono perfectly captured the moment of the night-blooming cereus' only bloom in their lifetime, their most beautiful moment.
Mom mercilessly put the heavy garment on me layer after layer, when she finally put the outer layer on me and tied it with an obi, I felt my chest hurting from all the tight clothes. Then she carefully twisted and pinned my hair up in an elegant semi-bun, leaving the end of the hair hanging on my right shoulder, curled slightly. She put a lustrous silvery hair ornament on my hair, the ornament in the shape of a flying white crane, adorned with sparkling snowflakes. When she was done, I realized that I looked like a doll, a perfect doll ready for the showcase.
"Alright, let's go to the celebration. Just remember that you don't have to say anything to anyone unless you are being asked by an elder. Just two hours, I promise, and then you can leave." Mom put her hand on me and pushed me toward the gathering hall. I walked slowly and as elegantly as I could, remembering all the etiquette lessons mom taught me about being a lady.
I entered the lit-up hall, suddenly feeling all the eyes on me, those of admiration, those of curiosity, those of greed and those of criticism. They. Were. All. On. Me. It's an excruciating feeling, knowing you were being judged, for me, who walked the shadow, it was almost like a bird being exposed in harsh headlights, featherless. Nevertheless, I gave them a perfect little smile and joined the party.
The two hours passed in a flurry of courteous words. The elders asked about my training, but I was sure they had access to my stats already, so I answered "It's going well, but I need to work harder." They asked me about my chunin exam, and I answered "There were many challenging opponents, but I had to protect Uchiha's pride". They asked me what's my aspiration for the future, and remembering my father's words, I answered in one of those choreographed answers "I wish to add strength to the Uchiha clan, I wish to help my father and support my brother." It was a tedious task, really, but unlike enemies, I couldn't just hack them all away.
When it was nine o'clock, the party was over and most, saved for a few elders, already went home. Yet, despite the emptier space, it got even more suffocating when father gathered us in the main hall.
I sat in my expensive kimono along with Itachi, my hands folded on my laps. My father stood in silence for a moment, before a look of impatience from an elder drew his attention. A frown flashed briefly on my father's face before he nodded with his signature stern look.
The elders looked satisfied, but all I could hear was the moment dawning. I could imagine the tightening of strings, stitching me to the pages that had already been written full of plans that I had no control - or even knowledge - of but nevertheless, been filled slowly and certainly during the few years since my rebirth.
And finally, when Father spoke those words, I thought, this can't continue.
"What did you say to me?" Father said. The shock was only there for a second before it subsided and was replaced by something heavier. The heavy rain crashed down onto the house, and the roaring thunder seemed to yell out a battle cry. However, it could not have been more intense than the atmosphere inside the main hall.
"I said, I will not join Anbu like you - all of you - decided," I answered, articulating every word as clearly as possible. Murmurs - or just straight-up complaints - sounded around us, as the Elders that were too stunned to speak earlier finally found their voice.
But before their accusations could drown me out, Father slammed the table with such force that the table cracked. Mom's breath hitched for a moment and she raised a hand toward my father. But with one look from him, my mother lowered her hand. She cast a glance at me, then back at my father. Eventually, Mom had to turn her face away to hide the worry in her eyes, but nevertheless, she kept her silence.
"You dare to disrespect the head of your clan? That's not your decision to make, Maiko, it's an honour to work in Anbu and bring knowledge to the clan." He shouted at me, and I closed my eyes to block out the sound.
"No, father, I will contribute to the clan some other way, but I refuse to act as your spy from Anbu. What else is there, what else has the Clan planned for me afterwards? It's no one's decision but mine to make, there's no way you can force me… " I argued back, but before I could finish, a deafening clap resonated throughout the room, comparable to the roar of the thunder.
I cupped my cheek and felt the burning sensation from the slap. Slowly, I raised my eyes again, seeing the dead silence that filled my father's eyes, telling me that there was no room for negotiation.
"This is the decision of the clan. Do you have any idea how hard the clan has been for the past four years? This is your way of contributing to the clan, your only way. So do not think you can pass it off just because you are my daughter. Someone needs to go inside Anbu; you have the talent, and you have the duty." Father explained, but it did not sound like an explanation, more of a forced argument.
"Then, I'll take that job for her. I will go to Anbu." Before I could say anything, I heard the same stoic voice that protected and comforted me numerous times, sentencing himself to a fate that I was trying to avoid.
"No, wait, Itachi!" I shouted in a hurry, reaching out to grab his sleeve to stop him from saying anything else. This painstaking process of ripping myself out of the metaphorical stitches shouldn't have involved anyone else.
"You can't do that, Itachi. I already announced, your future lies in Konoha Police, it's your legacy as the heir, and you will learn everything about being a leader with me. Everyone has a place, she needs to learn hers." Very briefly, Father turned his stone-cold gaze at Itachi, but it didn't seem to affect my brother at all.
"She's right, father, you can't force her. What use would you have for someone who is unwilling? Anbu would know, and her cover wouldn't have lasted. Let me take her place, you need someone on the inside with Shisui, and I'm your best choice aside from Maiko. I can learn at the Police Station anytime, but this is more urgent." Gently, but nevertheless, with an indisputable force, Itachi pried my hand off of his sleeves, releasing himself from my hold.
My father had to take a deep breath as if he had to shove the storm of emotions down before he was ready to speak another word.
"Fine, do what you want, Itachi." Father finally gathered enough patience to deal with my brother, as for me … "But remember, from this moment on, she's not my daughter anymore, she's not an Uchiha anymore. Sasuke, we will start your training tomorrow, you need to catch up now that you are the second heir of the Clan."
Just like that, my father walked away and retreated deeper into the compound. He didn't even look at me.
It was as if a lid had been slapped off of the boiling pot, the room turned frantic. The angry words from the elders rose again to fill the space, while some actually stormed out, no doubt trying to have a word with my father. Sasuke looked so uncertain and afraid as he stood beside Mom. He took a step forward, the questions already at the tip of his tongue, but Mom dragged him back, forcing him to stay behind her.
My cheek was still burning and for once, the pain just wouldn't dull. I took a deep breath and it was so shaky. After one last gaze at where my father had exited, I turned towards my mother and bowed. My forehead touched the floor, one, two, three, then I raised my head again.
There were probably things I should have said to Itachi and Sasuke as well - 'I'm so sorry' was definitely warranted - but when my eyes met Itachi's, he remained the only source of calmness in this entire zone of disaster.
That seemed to add the last bit of courage to my decision.
I pulled myself up from the ground despite the shouts of outrage from the elders. Without looking back, I left the main hall, opposite the direction my father went, straight towards the exit of the Uchiha Compound.
It was still raining outside in a downpour, and it drenched my expensive kimono - technically stolen property at this point, my bad for forgetting about it - as I slipped through the dark streets.
As opposed to getting used to the motion, my breathing had only turned more rapid, to the point that I had to pause my footstep just to breathe. I dug my fingers into the crevices between bricks, hoping that the weight of the alley walls would lend me some support.
I probably shouldn't, but I turned anyway, searching for the Uchiha Compound that had already faded in the distance, being buried by the forest on the outskirts of Konoha.
From the moment I said 'no', I had expected it to end bloody and ugly. I told myself, this was the 'freedom' I wanted, the 'freedom' I refused to give up. And look, the reaction from my clan - from my father - seemed to consolidate my fear.
Yet, I couldn't help but wonder, what else other than the metal strings did I cut in the process and who else would be bound instead? In my selfish, one-track mind, those escaped my attention, and it was already too late.
I closed my eyes, letting the chilling rain splash onto my face and roll down my skin. This was all turning out exactly as I had imagined, yet not at all.
I had a vague idea of where I was going - where I could go at this point. I ran past all the commercial buildings, past all the lit-up residences, until I reached a small apartment building that I'd only been to once in my memory. I ran up the stairs, 303, no it was 304. After a slight pause, I knocked on the door, waiting nervously on the porch.
The door opened, revealing a teenage boy with long orange hair pulled into a ponytail. He looked shocked, but nevertheless, Shun asked, "What happened to you, and what are you doing out here this late?"
"... I don't have anywhere else to go," I said quietly, trying to hold back another wave of nausea. "And I'm wearing stolen property, technically."
Shun stood there for a second, more confused than he had ever been in his life. I accidentally peeked inside and to my surprise, I saw there was another man in his place, Kakashi of Sharingan sitting by the table, holding a teacup.
It seemed that this route was not as viable as I thought it would be.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't know you had guests. I'll come back later," or not at all, I said as I turned away in embarrassment. But before I could walk away, Shun grabbed my arm and dragged me in. The heavy fabric trailed behind, leaving streams of water on the floor.
"Don't be ridiculous, I can't possibly let you wait outside in this weather. You don't mind, do you? Hatake-san, it'll just be a moment," Shun asked and the jonin just nodded, perfectly content with not being involved with whatever this was. Without a pause, Shun pushed me into his room and threw me a towel.
"You can start by telling me what's going on when I try to find dry clothes for you. Your super expensive 'stolen property' is all soaked in water, you'll get a cold from that," Shun said as he rummaged through his drawers, leaving me to wonder exactly how I was supposed to explain this. Besides, there was not only Shun in this apartment but also that Anbu whom my Clan hated and he probably disliked my clan too because of the Sharingan.
Then again, I was reminded that what my clan wanted was no longer my business.
"I got expelled from the clan," I summarized, hearing my own voice being muffled by the towel on my head.
"Oh, that… Wait, what?" Shun screamed from across the room. "Don't just leave it like that, expand on your explanation!"
"After we returned, we had a boring party with the elders. In the end, my clan and I had a disagreement over … my future. I told my father 'no', so he said I'm no longer his daughter or a member of the Uchiha clan anymore, so I guess that means I'm exiled from the clan now," I elaborated, mildly aware of the fact that wall connecting the bedroom to the living room was very thin.
"What exactly did you disagree on?" Shun asked with a frown.
"Does it matter, Shun, which part of my future they wanted to shape? Because the answer would have been all of it." I probably shouldn't have answered with so much sarcasm, not when Shun was innocent in all of this. But everything was exploding, my irritation, my anger toward my clan, and more importantly, my anger toward myself.
Being told that I had to go to 'Anbu' for a specific goal was not everything - things were already piling up and would continue to do so even if I stayed. But 'Anbu' was too much for me to bear - even though Shisui and Itachi could take the weight, see the problem? - and too sharp of a reminder.
It sliced down and drew the first blood, and running away was the only thought I could think of.
Now, because I ran away so selfishly, the responsibility and weight that I had to bear would be passed onto someone else - Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke … I really was the worst.
"It's not your fault." Only when I heard Shun's voice breaking me out of my spiralling thought, did I realize that I actually spoke the last part of my thoughts out loud. "You were stuck in a situation with no perfect solution. So, just stop for a second before you drive yourself crazy. Go take a shower and change your 'stolen' clothes. Then we'll figure things out."
Shun pushed a bundle of fabrics into my arms and motioned me to the bathroom. Quietly, I followed his advice.
"I'm so sorry, Hatake-san, I kind of have an emergency at my end here, so can we talk again later?" Just before I closed the door, I heard Shun asking the Jonin.
"It's alright, you don't need to ask me again, I'll be one of your recommendations. I'll take my leave so you can deal with your… crisis." The conversation outside died down at that point, so I assumed that Kakashi of the Sharingan was gone.
Shun's parents both passed away, and he seemed to be living on the Clan's subsidiary along with his own mission money. So when we started to take on more C-rank missions after Itachi joined, he moved out of the Yamanaka shared compound and moved into his own apartment. I always thought that Shun, in his own way, was trying to stand on his own, rather than just being identified as a Yamanaka, despite being only a teenager.
It was kind of inspiring. Perhaps that was why Shun's place popped up so clearly in my mind when it was incoherent for the majority of the evening.
Fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom and entered the living room. Shun motioned me to go sit by the table, I did and he passed me a cup of lukewarm green tea - leftover from when Hatake was still here. "Are we ready to talk about it?"
"No," I said under my breath.
"That's fine, we can drink the tea," he said.
After a moment of silence, I asked the question in my mind, "Why was Hatake Kakashi here, drinking tea with you?"
"Deflecting, are we?" Shun muttered and I gave him an unimpressed glare. "Remember when you asked me if I figured out my dream, well, I've decided to go to the intelligence division. Although I used to hate the idea of being lumped into sensory and information gathering just because I have the last name of Yamanaka, I realized in the Chunin exam where my strength lies. There are still many … non-Yamanaka things I want to learn, but I would like more training in my information gathering skills. This is the path I've chosen myself."
"In order for a newly promoted chunin to get the chance to apprentice there, I need the recommendation from two jonins, since it's a highly specialized and secretive unit. I already asked Akira-sensei, and he agreed. I would have asked Inoichi-sama for the other recommendation, but I don't want to pull the favour just because I'm a Yamanaka. So with Akira-sensei's suggestion, I thought to ask Hatake-san, he's a jonin, and he had seen my performance in the chunin exam. So, apparently, he said yes just as he was leaving, so that's settled, I suppose." He finished explaining and continued to drink his tea.
"That's good, I'm glad at least one of us is getting somewhere." I said quietly, I knew he understood that by "us", I meant the original team six.
"Yeah, so let's talk about you. I mean, sorry to burst your bubble, but unless you defect from the village - please don't - you're going to have to face them again, your Clan, your siblings. What do you want to be, when the fallout between you and your clan sinks in, when you have to live with the consequences?" Yeah, I could always count on Shun to speak the harsh truth.
"I just … wanted 'freedom'." I formed that word slowly, the one word that encompassed all, "I always knew that my Clan expected certain things of me, probably drawn out the moment I was born and they just kept on being added and tweaked without me knowing."
I paused a little, burying my face into a towel around my neck before I continued. "It was livable, I thought. I just had to deal with it, others could; Itachi could, and he had it worse. But tonight, when Father told me where exactly my future would lie and how exactly I was supposed to do it, I couldn't help but think, if I didn't tear myself out regardless of the cost, I would never be able to."
It wasn't healthy, the way my gut twisted with nausea whenever 'Anbu' was brought up. But I couldn't help it, the visceral reaction that never seemed to go away like some kind of conditioned reflex, forcing me to turn towards 'freedom' - my freedom - for some comfort.
There was a second of horror where I wondered, was this 'freedom' that I tried so hard to escape towards really free when its driving force was a fear that was etched in me, deeper than all the bounds from my Clan? Then what exactly did my siblings pay for?
I pressed my finger into my temple, trying to stop the wave of nausea that came with the overwhelming headache. But before any of that could hit, I felt a hand on mine, gently prying it off of my face so that my nails weren't digging into my skin.
"I'll be honest and say that I'm still very confused about everything relating to you, Maiko. But from what I heard, you made a decision based on what you want. The result wasn't so pretty, but there are definitely worse decisions you could make," Shun spoke up, stuffing a cup into my hands so that they had something solid to grasp.
"As for Itachi and the rest, they have their own ideas, I'm sure. You're deciding a lot of things about them when all we really know is ourselves," he continued, letting his words flow out to fill the room and smooth over the cacophony of the downpour outside. "So, rather than guilting yourself into oblivion, maybe it's more conducive to accept the decision you've made and start from there."
There was a stretch of silence as I contemplated his words, but it soon broke when we heard a screech by the window.
Shun was in disbelief when he opened the window, only for the messenger bird to shake its wings and splash the water onto his face. Before he could curse at the bird, it dropped its message into the apartment and left without any apology.
"I'm so sorry," I apologized to Shun on behalf of the bird, recognizing it as the kind used by the Uchiha Clan.
"You all owe me one." Shun managed to push the words out of his mouth as he took the note out of the wooden compartment and read its content. "Itachi said that there's something he needs to give you, so go meet him tomorrow at 11 am at 'that place', wherever that is. He said you would know. Anyways, you can stay here for the night."
"On the couch, Maiko, I don't care if you are a girl, you hit me all the same, so the couch is the best I can do, and that's taking your brother's scariness into account." He pointed towards the couch.
"Thanks, Shun. You really are the voice of reason for the team. I'd miss you when you go to the Intelligence Division," I told my teammate.
"Kind of have to, given the ones that I have to deal with," Shun shook his head in exasperation, but he nevertheless placed the note onto the table, even keeping it flat using the weight of the teacups, just so I could read the last two words before Itachi's signature.
'Rest well,' Itachi wrote. Just two words and they made me feel like maybe, just maybe, things were not terribly fucked up beyond repair.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
I arrived at 'that place' at around 10:30 in the morning. The special spot was actually an old training ground Shisui used to take us to when we train together. I believed that Shisui and Itachi frequented that place a lot more than me since I had little time after Akira-sensei started to train me in kenjutsu. But Shisui's knowledge and teaching style seemed to fit Itachi a lot better, so they came here a lot to train.
I wasn't really surprised seeing Itachi already here, it's so like him, to be one step ahead of everyone. He approached me quickly and placed a few things in front of me. They were everything I owned for myself, so basically weapons. In the meantime, I returned the bag of kimono articles to him and he took it without any pause.
"The elders agreed with Father's decision. They think you'll learn the lesson eventually. Don't worry, the clan won't bother you, for now. I've agreed to be in Anbu and I don't doubt that I'll get in," Itachi said in his usual calm voice, but the moment he said those words, the guilt I tried to think past yesterday resurfaced again. As I thought, I can't let it go…
"Stop, Itachi, you don't have to do it, let me join Anbu, it's the best solution," I said, finally making up my mind. Even after Shun's speech, I couldn't let it go. How could freedom involve choosing between two awful solutions? That's not freedom, that's desperation.
Itachi stayed silent for a moment, he stared at me, as if trying to peel away my facade of determination to see the uncertainty within. Despite my best effort not to flinch, it still felt like things were cracking under his gaze. Just like that, his eyes hardened for a moment and he spoke up again.
"Best solution, you say? I failed to see that from any perspective. For the clan, you'd be no help in Anbu with the way you are. As for you and me, I didn't interfere with any of your decisions, so you have no place to interfere with mine." His voice sounded cold, and his eyes were colder.
Without giving me a chance to argue back, he turned around and walked towards the edge of the training ground.
"Let's settle this, Maiko. Remember that you owe me a fight from the Chunin exam, let's have that fight here. Beat me, and I'll accept that your solution has some merit and you can take my place in Anbu. But if I win, you just shut up and leave me alone. Leave the Uchiha house and stop meddling with the Clan affair," he proposed, but it was more like a command rather than a suggestion. I knew from that moment that I wouldn't be able to refuse.
"Now, draw your blade, Maiko, unlike before, I won't hold back. Think of this as a death match, because that's what Anbu does. Come with all you got, and I'll show you just how much you lack, in every aspect." Then, he charged.
(Nov 9, 2022): made some edits, mostly around the Uchiha Clan confrontation, so nobody sounded too crazy and things are more nuanced. Even after 6 years, I can't get past how overly dramatic everything was. Maiko is very biased in her views (and drilling herself into a hole because Freedom! How foreign!). We also don't really get to see what Fugaku was thinking during this entire time. Either way, the execution needs work so I'm trying to salvage what I can.
I'm so sorry if I got your hopes up at the end of the last chapter and copped out. The fight in the Chunin Exam wasn't a part of the plan anyway, but the one at the end is. Anyway, thank you for reading! please review, favourite and follow! The next chapter will be up in a week!