CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Spinning
"We're all falling and we need a place to hide,
A safe place somewhere in the woods, we can start a fire."
Waiting was a hard thing for Jiraiya to do.
In his hotel room, he was beholden to no home, he paced.
How would he tell her? When would the exams finish? Preliminaries were damn near unprecedented, he could only think of a few instances and they'd been years ago.
What was he going to say? He'd started writing a letter hoping that maybe it would bring her home before he had to chase her down.
He groaned, eying the clock. It'd only been an hour since he left that hospital room.
Naruto's head was pressed against the cold, iron bar.
Her teammates were focused on the arena board ahead, ready for whatever would come.
There was a silent anticipation hanging there, everyone wanted to be, or feared to be, next.
The first name was revealed.
Temari of the Sand.
Naruto's eyes followed the blonde haired Suna girl. She launched herself over the railing with gusto, confidently awaiting her opponent.
VS.
Naruto blinked as the next name appeared.
Sakura Haruno.
"Welp, she's doomed." Ino declared, suddenly breaking the quiet.
Naruto agreed. If Temari was anything like her brother, a murderous jinchuriki, this wasn't looking good.
Lee, however, looked like he'd fallen ill. A glazed over look and a blush to his cheeks, he looked feverish.
As Sakura Haruno stepped into the arena, jagged candy-floss hair and tattered clothes, he turned red.
As red as Sakura's dress, in fact.
Tenten snorted, like she already knew it was coming.
Naruto's eyebrows raised to her hairline, looking between them.
"Ah, look at the ferocity in her eyes! She is a bloom full of youth!" Lee cooed, getting a disgusted, yet sympathetic, look from Ino.
Forcing her expression neutral, the blonde Yamanaka straightened herself, sticking her nose up.
"A bloom full of evil. She only has eyes for Sasuke." Ino tried not to be bitter about that. Lee wasn't the only one who'd fallen for the pinkette.
Down in the arena, Temari started with a taunt. Lips curled back in a snarl, she said, "Hope you're ready to eat your own teeth."
Sakura faltered, and it wasn't at all like her.
Ino noticed immediately, raising her voice to a yell. "C'mon billboard-brow! Don't let her talk to you like that!"
Sakura's head spun like it was on a swivel, looking at Ino with disbelieving eyes.
Temari just chuckled. "Damn, even your own comrades think you're ugly. That's rough." A switch seemed to flip, all it took was the right provocation.
"Oh, go to hell! Don't call me ugly when you have the body of a divorced old man!" The girl ground her teeth, staring at the blonde with pure ire.
Well, Naruto thought.. That was interesting.
Temari threw her head back and laughed. "And you look like a little boy. Not helping you get a boyfriend, or defeat me."
She made a mocking coo, and Lee interrupted, "Sakura has the build of a delicate flower! Softness is as admirable as strength!" He retorted in her place, which…
No, just no. That wasn't the sort of thing said before a fight.
"Soft?" Temari asked aloud, looking Sakura over speculatively.
She hummed, amused. "Yeah, I'd call it that, too."
Before Sakura could taunt in return, or even defend herself, Hayate was speaking.
"Enough of the trash talk! The match begins now!"
He grasped his chest and hacked, before leaving the arena.
Sakura swallowed, nervousness was making her entire body itch.
She didn't know this girl. Didn't know her focus, her combat style, anything.
She tuned into her more analytical side, shutting out that part of her that was angry enough to kill at all times.
It, who she lovingly referred to as Inner, wouldn't benefit her now.
She watched Temari's body language closely as she approached.
There… There wasn't much to catch. Sure, the girl's right hand twitched just slightly, but it didn't definitively mean she was right-handed.
Oh, how Sakura wished she could borrow her darling Sasuke's sharingan.
"What? Too scared to move?" The blonde taunted, her hair pulled into four wild buns.
It must be a Suna style, because Sakura had never seen it before.
"You wish." The pinkette taunted back, glaring. Sakura withdrew a kunai. It was all she knew to do. Kakashi had never taught her a jutsu, a move, or even a tactic. All she had was academy knowledge and book-smarts.
The match would be a slaughter.
Temari laughed, yanking a small hand fan from her shirt. Gently, she fanned her face, looking entirely nonplussed about the way Sakura clutched her kunai.
Sakura needed a technique- A plan, she needed something and she needed it now.
Thinking fast, she threw her kunai, aimed for Temari's head.
Easy throw. Easy dodge. It was just an attempt at gauging the Suna girl- Where would she move to? Would she be agitated easily? Would she retaliate?
Gods, Sakura hoped the last one was a no. She didn't have any plans.
Temari jerked her body to the side, a dodge far too rough for what she was avoiding.
There wasn't much finesse to it, no polish. She narrowed her eyes. Either Temari was as weak in taijutsu as style, or that was just another Suna thing.
Sakura didn't want to engage her in taijutsu either way, to be frank. Sakura's weakest points were ninjutsu and taijutsu…
Which, now that she thought of it, must make her a pretty miserable ninja. Not that Sai didn't remind her of that already.
"Let's make this quick, little girl." Temari sniped, wielding only that hand fan.
Temari sprinted at her, arms behind her back. Sakura sprinted too.
Away, that is.
It didn't matter.
In the moments Sakura had her back turned, Temari pulled a scroll from her pouch.
With a burst of chakra, smoke surrounded the blonde. When it cleared, that small hand fan was replaced by a large iron tessen, also known as a battle-fan.
Battle fans weren't something seen in Konoha, the gasps in the arena showed it.
When Sakura turned to see what the deal was, she barely had the time to register a smiling face.
"Tessen no jutsu! Wind style!"
Sakura's face fell, and not even a second later, she was hit by the force of winds beyond any natural breeze.
She was sent flying.
Boneless, her muscles were too weak to even resist the wind, she couldn't raise her fingers in the kawarimi seal, either. In a matter of seconds, Sakura Haruno had it once agan beat into her that she was truly helpless in battle.
If she'd had enough time to comprehend it it would have broken her.
And that was all she wrote.
Sakura was thrown into the wall of the arena, feeling something in her back crunch sickeningly.
She was rendered unconscious seconds after impact, the whiplash causing her head to bang against the concrete.
As if in slow motion, she fell off the wall, landing on the hard ground.
Temari approached slowly, like a tiger to a gazelle.
Naruto, once again, wondered why the hell matches weren't called the second the victor was obvious. Her fingers twitched.
Kicking Sakura one time in the skull, Temari must've found the girl disgraced enough, and looked to the proctor.
He cleared his throat.
"And the match goes to… Temari of the Sand!"
The girl in question laughed, stalking towards the stairs. "Called it." She said haughtily.
Tenten swallowed aloud, "Glad that wasn't me. Wind would be a shitty match for my skills. My hawks and my scrolls would be useless… She'd have beat me to a pulp."
Naruto thought about it for a minute, wondering how she would've handled Temari. Something in her was boiling. She decided that brute force would've been her method.
Ino wasn't as combat-focused. "I wonder how she carries the weight of her own inflated ego."
Naruto looked over her shoulder at Ino, who gripped the iron bars tight. The Yamanaka was much more bothered than she was letting on.
"Strong trapezius." Tenten muttered dryly, a nauseated expression on her face.
Naruto stood up. Gritting her teeth, she growled. "Hey, freak! The fuck is wrong with you?" Temari swerved, looking Naruto head on. Their eyes met, unwavering glares aimed at each other.
"I'll never understand where someone like you gets the ego to stomp someone down in a battle that's not even serious. Grow some goddamn humility."
Naruto… Had no idea what had come over her. Because when Sasuke had done something similar, she hadn't been half as angry.
Why was she angry? She knew Sakura was beat. She didn't care. She.. She was just angry. Naruto just wanted a fight. Hypocrisy, morals, all of it be damned. She was tense and needed a target.
She'd never admit that to herself.
Temari snorted. "We're shinobi. If you get upset over a little beat down, you need to resign."
"Oh eat shit," Naruto rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we're shinobi. And big egos get shinobi killed." She had to fight down a blush at nearly using Guy's exact words. She was just relaying the wisdom.
Temari stared at her silently, and then decided better of replying. That, or she had no retorts left in her.
"I think she needed to hear that, Naruto." Ino said, looking slightly cooled down.
"Maybe." The blonde replied, flopping back onto the floor.
For some reason, Sasuke hadn't left that hospital bed. Suneko went through his motions, occupying himself with Sasuke first, and now, with reorganizing the room.
Sasuke thought he just wanted busy work.
"Suneko," The man in question looked up slowly, eyes cruising to him. "Yes?"
"Why are you… Sticking around?" Sasuke asked, regretting his rude manner of speech.
Suneko didn't react more than a thoughtful hum.
"I have seen people like you before. And as it turns out, all it takes to save someone from a road of hatred and self-destruction is care. Attention. Love."
Sasuke blushed, indignant. "No, no! There is no one who could possibly feel what I've felt-" Suneko interrupted with a melodic tut, tut, tut. The click of his tongue brought Sasuke to a raging silence.
"I agree with you, Sasuke. I've never met someone who's had their entire clan annihilated in one night. But you know who I have met?" Suneko asked softly.
Sasuke's fists tightened around his sheets, knuckles white.
"People, given away from their clans, to keep the other children safe. Sacrificial lambs. Team captains, who lose all of their kohai. Lone survivors. Orphans, who have nothing, but still get even more taken from them. Soldiers who spend their lives in service, only to be sent on suicide missions the second they look like anything more than an asset."
Suneko could've went on, but he stopped himself. "I am naturally observant, and I have seen how human suffering takes shape. Not in the source, but in the recipient." Suneko's voice droned on, Sasuke following every word.
"An older daughter, under bad circumstances she becomes the mother. An abused man might become a loner, never connecting to anyone. A person with too much hate and anger inside, they'll turn it on themselves."
"Sometimes, without even realizing."
Sasuke paused, staring up at Suneko. The man looked caught in a constant state of neutrality.
Almost, anyways. Sasuke could see little tics. A twitch in Suneko's thumb, the half-lidded eyes and imperfect diction.
There was a spark of kinship then, because Sasuke realized that for all of Suneko's inoffensiveness, they'd been studying each other since they met.
"You think I'm the last one." Sasuke stated plainly.
"I do."
"I have to be."
"And who told you that?" Suneko asked, slowly.
Sasuke blinked. "Where did you get the idea?"
Sasuke's world seemed to shake, because he remembered who.
"Foolish little brother… If you want to kill me, then you must hate me. Despise me. Live a loathsome life." "Then, when you have the same eyes I do, face me."
Sasuke swallowed. "That man.. He told me so."
Suneko was quiet, only for a few seconds. "Who?"
"Itachi." He ground out, glaring at the brunet man. Suneko closed his eyes, taking a seat on Sasuke's bed.
"And you believe you must kill him."
"Yes," Sasuke confirmed, suddenly wondering if Suneko had any brain. It was a natural conclusion.
"It must be frustrating, though."Suneko thought aloud, "Itachi had more resources at his fingertips than you do. All you have is your sensei."
Sasuke looked up, and suddenly, the kinship returned. "Yes! And no one understands, if I ever want to kill him… I, I have to have power! Strength!"
Suneko nodded. "Yes, I believe that Itachi Uchiha is a force of nature. You'll need a lot of training."
Sasuke looked at Suneko with surprise. This was the first person to ever acknowledge his desire for revenge. To ever do more than entertain it.
To ever take the time and understand him.
"Though.. I have to say, that's exactly why Orochimaru targeted you."
Sasuke's breath hitched. "He thinks you're weak. Weak enough to control. He expects that you'll have a taste of his power and run to him."
Suneko stopped for a second, to make eye contact with Sasuke.
"You don't know me, Sasuke. But I know him, in a way. I even know you, and Itachi." Suneko smiled softly, placid.
"If I still had my eyes, I'd show you them."
Sasuke sucked in a greedy breath, a gasp that was totally unlike an Uchiha. He stared at Suneko, eyes flickering over him wildly. He tried desperately to see something, to find some evidence that it just couldn't be true. But, Suneko's appearance wasn't betraying him.
"You! You're! No!" Sasuke spluttered, unable to find the words.
Suneko looked apologetic. "I am."
"No! No! Itachi killed all of them- I'm all that's left!"
"In a way, certainly. After all, I lost my Uchiha name many years ago." Suneko's hair was deep brown, his eyes similarly dark.
He had no nasally voice anymore. Pale blemish-free skin, thick eyelashes and pointed, feline eye-shape. It was sickeningly familiar.
"At roughly age 4, I was given up, because Itachi had a brother on the way. Itachi is two years older than me. I am four years older than you."
Sasuke's mouth was dry. No, no, Suneko looked to be in his twenties, he was as tall as Kakashi and even more refined.
Suneko managed a bashful chuckle.
"Have you ever heard of Danzo?" He asked Sasuke, getting a dry look despite all Sasuke's growing horror.
"Who hasn't?"
"Right. Well, I am sure you know of his pattern of disappearing children. Orphans, clan children, anything that could be harnessed."
"He was growing an unhealthy focus on the Uchiha shortly after Itachi showed exemplary skills. He'd long had eyes on clan children, stealing plenty of children from the Aburame or Nara. Even the Yamanaka."
Sasuke chewed his lip, listening in a haze.
"My parents… They handed me over to him, to protect their heirs. Yourself and Itachi, without ever telling your parents. I was sick anyway, Scarlet fever, and thought to die."
Suneko smiled, grim. "They thought I'd never be anything more than a child he'd have to bury."
Sasuke's heart thumped in his ears.
"I lived. I was trained. Broken. When I got my Sharingan, he took it. It was bloodshed from there. I barely survived the procedure. Wouldn't have, if it weren't for sheer force of will."
Sasuke stared at him. Suneko stared back.
Sasuke saw it then. Little clouds of fog in one of Suneko's iris.
"The right eye was botched. I have a shoddy vision."
Sasuke felt sick.
Suneko made it worse.
"I.. I don't know why Itachi did it. I figure I only lived because he didn't know of me. Further, I… I know that it was Danzo's idea long before it was Itachi's."
"Danzo hated us. He wanted our eyes more than anything. But not us."
Sasuke looked at him, despair and rage filling his body. "Itachi still did it! He killed my family!" The boy screamed.
"He did. I.. I just want you to know that Danzo had a hand in whatever turned your brother to that road." The man twiddled his thumbs slightly, not looking so neutral anymore. "Danzo's dead! How is that meant to make me feel better!" He yelled in Suneko's face.
"It isn't. I just want you to know as much as I can give you. As your last surviving cousin, it is all I can give you. I have no Uchiha techniques, no eyes."
Sasuke gripped his head, folding in on himself.
In another world, Suneko died in Danzo's hands. Sasuke would never meet him.
Not this one.
"What… What does this have to do with Orochimaru seeing me as a target?" Sasuke asked, hiding his face in his knees.
"He knows a sannin seems stronger than Itachi Uchiha. He wants to take advantage of your hate, your lack of bonds, your desire for strength. Orochimaru is a predator."
Suneko sighed. "He may well give you all the power in the world. But he only wants your eyes. And he will get them."
Sasuke wiped his eyes roughly, forcing himself to look up at Suneko.
"At least I'll have power. I'm never getting it here."
Suneko smiled. "That's not entirely true. If you were willing to approach people, the last Uchiha card could get you trained by the best of our village. For free, nonetheless."
Sasuke snorted, "Right, let me go beg our village's jounin to train me. That'll look good."
"For someone bent on revenge, it seems image is more important to you than power."
Sasuke glared at him.
Suneko smiled back.
Stomach churning, Sasuke had to admit. Suneko had an Uchiha way about him.
Shikamaru walked out the infirmary, passing by a nurse wheeling in an unconscious Sakura Haruno.
He fought off a grimace. Leaving Choji there to rest was hard, but ignoring the matches was hard, too. He needed to see them. To study his opponents, his friends' opponents. When he walked back into the stands, he saw that Ino had found herself nestled beside Naruto.
Asuma was with Choji. He might as well join them.
Still, though, hesitation found its way to him.
Little thoughts plagued him, what if they didn't want to talk to him? What if they all thought he was too lazy, or a know-it-all? Boring? Useless? A waste of space? His chest constricted, tightly squeezing his heart and lungs until it felt hard to breathe.
Naruto didn't even turn her head to look at him. No one did. No one could've seen him, no one could've heard him.
"Shika, come sit with us." Naruto beckoned, without giving him so much as a glance.
The world felt a lot lighter, even if he did feel a bit creeped out that she knew he was there.
Goosebumps tingled across his skin, his feet moved anyways.
She must've got some new ability, he figured immediately.
Regardless, he didn't leave her waiting.
The one named Rock Lee stepped aside to accommodate him, making room for Shikamaru to sit next to Naruto.
The Lee fellow stood next to the one called Tenten, with Tenten on the outermost part of the group.
Shikamaru wondered if she felt lonely.
Copying Ino and Naruto, he stuck his legs through the bars, slouching forward.
"Suna girl won, huh?" He asked the lot of them, getting nods and murmurs of agreement. He hummed, watching the girl.
Naruto, ever the one to stand out, chose the intermission between matches as the time to lay down.
On the floor.
Ino fought off a disgusted expression. "I hope you know they probably never clean this place." Tenten laughed, voice like a bell, what she said drawing Shikamaru's attention. "Yeah, like Naruto has ever cared."
The girl in question blinked, and suddenly everyone looked at her.
"She says it makes her immune system stronger." Tenten said, looking at Shikamaru as if he'd been there forever.
Not an ounce of hesitation, or getting-to-know, just inclusion.
It was nice.
"Like that one time you ate onigiri off the ground during our sensor training." Ino said, turning to her slowly. "There was a rock stuck to it."
Her pupil-less eyes narrowed, "You know, I always wanted to ask… Did you even chew it?"
Shikamaru felt his lips curl up, watching Naruto's face turn beet red.
Lee hummed in thought, "Or the time spit your blood on Neji. You said that would be good for his immune system."
Naruto got even redder, somehow.
Shikamaru chuckled, "Actually, wait," He interrupted, "One time, back in the academy." Naruto stared at him, watching as he laid on the tile beside her. "We were skipping class, and you jumped in that pond?"
Naruto blinked, "Really?" She.. She actually didn't remember. What had happened to all her memories of the academy? Good god, she had to be getting old.
"Yeah! Kiba said you stunk, and you leapt right into it. I told you that you'd get a parasite."
He smiled, warm and genuine. "But you just said your immune system would get stronger, and that you never get sick so I should take notes." He furrowed his brows slightly, still grinning. "I think you called me.. God, I don't remember. Shika-dumb-ru?"
Naruto felt strange, all of a sudden. Out of place.
She laughed all the same, trying to pretend she felt like one of them.
Shikamaru never stopped looking at her, not until the matches were announced. And when they were, no one was ready for it.
Hiruzen sorted through the papers even as the preliminaries went on, reflecting on the decisions he'd made to bring them all here.
The last Uchiha was currently being serviced in the infirmary by the only other infirmary. Hiruzen wouldn't intervene. They were allowed to believe they had secrets.
The Hyuuga heiress had defeated the Akimichi heir, and if that wasn't cause for clan-drama, he didn't know what was. At least the Akimichi were jovial, they'd take the loss easily. The Hyuuga would be preening for months. It was good that the fight never made it to the world stage, lest thor egos inflate further.
Ah, and then, he had Uzumaki refugee soon. Which, he'd only have his newest citizen once the exams were up. Or, well, until she was disqualified.
For her safety, he'd made a decision. He'd done it a hundred times before, including for the girl's own relative.
He whisked away thoughts of Naruto. Thoughts of her circumstance, of his choices and their consequences.
Now, Karin was in his hands, and he had decided how this would go. She was a sensor and field medic. Outside that, she was lacking. He would use that.
The crowd sat in anticipation, awaiting the next round with eager, thumping hearts. Thoughts of who's next hung in their minds.
The boards revealed themselves.
Names sped through them in a blur, the top board halting suddenly on a name.
Uzumaki Karin.
VS
Hiruzen took a long hit from his pipe. The other matches were randomized, he consoled himself. This would be fine. A good outcome for everyone.
Rock Lee.
He exhaled slowly, smoke leaving his lungs and clouding his vision.
"Combatants, please enter the arena!"
A scrawny redhead made her way to the battleground, where plenty of pairs before her had fought. Her mousy stance betrayed her anxiety, she shuffled in place slightly.
Rock Lee was damn near mutinous, it showed in his unnaturally rigid posture and tightly clenched fists. From his seat, the Hokage could hear murmurings from Naruto's group. The one named Rock Lee reluctantly carried himself to the arena, slower than anyone would expect him to be. Hiruzen thought a genin as hot-blooded as Lee would charge into any battle.
It seemed, however, that beating down someone visibly weaker wasn't in Lee's itinerary.
Visibly weaker, Karin certainly was. After her stint in the forest, she'd been granted some fresh clothing as a refugee of Konoha. Clothing that showed the occasional bite-mark scars all up her arms. Short-sleeves were a Konoha standard, but on her, they seemed cruel, showcasing what looked to be the arms of a malnourished girl.
Hiruzen soothed himself knowing that soon, she would be another leaf in Konoha's tree. Today would just be a bump in her road to citizenship.
"I am deeply sorry, Karin-san, from my knowledge of you... We are not a great match up. I would be honored all the same, if you would engage me in a friendly match, to showcase our youth." He bowed his head, respectful. The crowd murmured, Lee was odd enough that the masses just had to talk about him.
Karin was silent for a moment, and Hiruzen wondered if she was considering forfeit. She must've been braver than she looked, though, because the girl seemed to ignite. "I will! I'll give it my best, Lee!"
She turned her head to the crowd, singling out a sole person. "You better be watching, Naruto! I don't want you to regret the chance you took on me, I'll show you I still have some spirit!"
Dry coughs silenced her, and that was when it really started. "Let the next match begin!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: idk whats going on with formatting, my deepest, truest apologies I am Very tired. please throw me some feedback! I love all my readers, you guys bring joy to my life.
