A/N: I finally got around of writing this chapter. I hope you like this.
Chapter 8.
How Sun, Moon, and Wind Went Out to Dinner
"And begin!" Hayate lifted his hand up, metaphorically thus lifting the obstacle between the two Suna genin. Neither of them moved for a moment, assessing each other.
"So you do have some sense in you?" Kairi smirked faintly, her arms crossed on her chest.
"Tch." Hara glared… and pounced. Kairi waited for the last moment before moving.
"Soru."
(Shave)
She disappeared from the sight, appearing to the other end of the arena, still smirking slightly.
"Now… humiliation or swift defeat…" The girl mused. "Why not both?"
"What was that technique? It was like Body Flicker but… not." She heard someone from the Konoha side of the audience whisper. Of course no one from Suna would question it. Because it was something their own shinobi, Fuukatsu Kaito, had developed. And something Kairi had been taught even before she graduated from the Shinobi School. And something she had been watching her father to create and then help him to name.
(She might've taken the name from the Rokushiki technique from One Piece even if it was not executed the same way but sue her.)
"There's something crucial you're conveniently forgetting here though." Kairi spoke up. "Something that was told to you when we became a team."
"Like what?" Hara scoffed, making hand seals for some long-range wind-type technique.
"You're forgetting just which one of us graduated a year before their peers and on top of that graduating class."
The wind technique hit the wall behind Kairi. She had Kogonhi in her hands, having cut the technique in half and thus directed the forces of the wind past her.
"You're also forgetting that I was the one to collect two scrolls for our team at the forest. Granted one of them was salvaged from a team already dead but the other… Well, the water at the river must be undrinkable by now." The girl shrugged and walked closer, the handle of her folding fan resting against her shoulder. "Meanwhile you… You and Souseki lost our original scroll to the enemy. So what does that tell you about our relative skill levels?"
"Shut up!" Hara charged at her, with the intent to knock her out with taijutsu. Kairi was ready for him. She twisted her fan and snapped it shut. She did not, however, fold the handle against it, thus now having a bastardized version of a baseball bat with her.
The blonde swung her weapon, catching the boy in the stomach and sending him flying.
"Homerun…" She thought idly. While having never played baseball, she had seen it enough in television in anime that she knew how tow swing a bat and what the terms in the game were.
Hara hit the wall.
"I may be just substituting in this team your dead team mate but you shouldn't forget that I've gone through four other chuunin exams already. And survived them alive."
This time it was Kairi taking the initiative. The fan was already folded and tucked away. Hara just barely came to meet the punch before using one-handseal kawarimi to dodge the next kick. Not bad. Kairi knew that Hara was a good shinobi for his rank and if he'd been pitted against one of the Konoha rookies he might've come out of the fight victorious. But he was stuck fighting Kairi. And she was well ahead of him in the terms or skill, experience, speed and strength.
They were in the middle of the arena again. Kairi slid into her ready stance. Fuukatsu style. While her mother's 'clan' preferred using tessen-jutsu, they also did teach close-combat taijutsu. And her father in the other hand had been close-range fighter so he had taught a lot to her too.
Legacy was a heavy word. Something not really suitable for the situation either. Namikaze style, Legacy of the Namikazes were also entirely wrong. Because there was no common point for the brothers other than Elemental Nature and the same parents. They had different teachers, different villages, different values…
"Will I be strong enough to reclaim the name?" She thought when Hara attacked again. Dodge, block, swipe, kick, lean sideways, hit, block, hit the deck and give a swift kick to the head from an almost handstand.
She rolled away.
"Even otou-san never did it. Not during wartime… Not during peace time…"
It was time to end the fight. Hara was exhausted already and panting heavily.
"Soru."
Kairi appeared above the boy, as high as the ceiling of the arena allowed, and with a spinning axe kick, made the boy hit the floor. He didn't get up anymore.
"Jyari Hara is unable to continue. Winner is Kairi Fuukatsu!"
Gaara versus Lee was… painful to watch. Painful, impressive and interesting. Like watching a car accident as it occurred. Knowing the outcome and wanting to turn away but at the same time not able to.
"I wonder which one of us truly faster…" The girl mused once Lee got rid of his leg weights. During the laps around village neither of them had gone full speed and back then Lee had had his weights on while Kairi hadn't augmented her speed with chakra, just used it to keep her going as her muscles warmed up.
And Lee managed to scratch Gaara.
"I honestly don't know which one to root for." Kairi grinned at the jinchuuriki's siblings. "This is by far the most exiting match I've seen in chuunin exams."
The outer Lotus was impressive but only served the anger Gaara. And the speed used for the technique…
"It's close to what I can do in a pinch but to which way the deviation is… That I can't say. Probably eventually Lee will surpass me especially after he grows to his full height."
But the inner Lotus… It was plain scary. Even with only three gates open at first. Kairi had to stifle a gasp at the burst of chakra and the noticeable transformation that Lee went through. Then the fourth gate… And after the brutal attack on Gaara, the fifth gate.
Everyone was watching with wide and disbelieving eyes. Except for the Nara girl, Shikako. She watched in horror. But Kairi dismissed the girl in the favor of seeing the final outcome of the match. The Eight Gates was something she had been interested in to witness. After all by using all eight of them, Gai almost defeated Madara while the latter was in Rikudou-Sennin mode. Thought that was in the future currently.
"Well, that is definitely a speed I can't match." Kairi observed Lee's performance. "And with the price it comes, I glad I can't."
Gaara survived the inner Lotus by turning his gourd into sand. And then proceeded in trying to kill Lee. That's when Gai intervened. The only one who did. The only one who actually saw Lee's worth and potential and who actually cared about the boy.
The youngest Sand Sibling seemed to have some sense knocked into him even if he couldn't comprehend Gai's reasoning to protect Lee. But thanks to that, the red head didn't try to attack the both of them anymore and was declared the winner.
"And with that match, the Third Exam preliminaries are now finished." Hayate announced, coughing and then calling the finalists back to the arena. Arena which was not completely and utterly destroyed by the previous fight.
Kairi glanced at the people assembled. The lineup was familiar but at the same time not.
"In the Third Exam you will all put your battle skills on display. You will demonstrate the power and control you have achieved in your respective disciplines. Accodingly, the Third Exam will be held one month from now on in order to provide a suitable period of preparation. So now, all that remains to be done is to find out who your opponents will be." Hokage instructed them. When Anko went around with the box, Kairi let her thoughts wander.
She really didn't like the idea of being on 'display'. The thing about shinobi was to be covert. To hide and lie and conceal their true skills. And when the true skills came to play, hopefully there wouldn't be anyone afterwards left to report them to the rival villages.
But at the same time she realized she had to do it in order to prove her worth and claim to her name. It was decreed so. Annoying but true.
Kairi drew her number. 9
Ibiki drew the tournament bracket.
Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga
Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara
Ino Yamanaka vs. Temari
Shino Aburame vs. Shikamaru Nara
Kairi Fuukatsu vs. Kankurou
Familiar but not. And so obviously rigged too. Kairi was only surprised that they didn't pit her and Temari against each other. But well, this way they still got a kunoichi only match and a suna-nin only match. The other matches… well, Naruto already swore revenge against Neji and Sasuke and Gaara had the most political clout due their lineages so the two were quite obvious matchups. Shino and Shikamaru in the other hand were probably just scraps. But they were both long-range fighters and clan heirs so they should be about equal in the terms of skills.
Kairi walked with Natsuhiko along the streets of Konoha. They'd stopped by the hotel where Kairi freshened up and were now on their way to eat dinner.
"We're staying here for the month before finals, right?" She asked.
"Yes. Given the distance between our villages, it was decided between jounin senseis that there is no use to waste time by migrating between the two. Konoha agreed to the arrangement and graciously reserved two training fields for our use." The man nodded.
"You gonna help me train or…?"
"I think you already know what to do. I, in the other hand, will go to deliver the tournament roster for Kazekage-sama and take with me the genin hopefuls that don't want to stay to watch the finals. Sesamu is going with me."
"Reasonable." Kairi nodded. Getting weak genin out of the way while the stronger ones remained to be in position. And at the same time going to give the situation report to the higher ups.
"By the way, I heard you made a new friend." Natsuhiko spoke up then.
"It doesn't matter…" Kairi hedged a bit.
"No, no… I think it's great. Expanding your sphere of support over the borders of our village."
"That's a bullshit reason and you know it. Especially when my 'sphere of support' already reaches Iwa." The girl glared.
"Yes, yes… But really… Keep on going the way you have this far."
In the other words… keep in contact with Kabuto and gather more information.
"I try."
Okonomiyaki was delicious. And Natsuhiko paid for both of them. They didn't talk much while eating but it didn't bother either of them.
"Souseki-kun was looking for you." The man mentioned when they were about to leave. "While you were in the shower, he ask me when it would be a good opportunity to meet with you."
"What did you tell him?"
"That you'd be back at the hotel by six o'clock."
Kairi glanced at the clock on the wall of the restaurant. It was quarter to six.
"I better get going then. See you later, sensei."
"I won't be around tonight much. But yes… We'll see later."
It turned out, Souseki had a message for her from Kabuto of all people. She was to meet him as soon as possible. Kairi blinked and calculated the known timeline. Kabuto and Baki should meet soon, maybe even tonight and because Hayate was tailing Kabuto…
"I don't really get why you are befriending weird Konoha ninjas. Especially a weakling like him." Souseki scoffed. "Though I guess the like attracts like."
"May I remind you that you also forfeited before the prelimins?" The girl asked archly.
"Tch… I can't wait to get out of here. Way too humid and annoying tree huggers everywhere." The boy continued. Kairi ignored him.
"Natsuhiko-sensei is not around tonight, please go inform Baki-sensei that I'm meeting with my friend and will probably hang out with him until mid-night." She stated then.
"And if he comes looking for you?" The Nagaya drawled.
"Kikyo Castle. It has a wonderful view with full moon on the background I've heard." It was true. While running with Gai and Lee, Kairi had heard all sorts of random information about Konoha.
She turned to leave, trusting her temporary teammate to convey the message to the correct person. Souseki might be out of the loop but it didn't diminish his usefulness for Kairi.
And thus the meeting time and place had been arranged.
"Kikyo Castle at midnight, huh?" Kabuto smiled. "Sounds appropriate. Are you going to stay around?"
"No. Whatever you agree to with Baki-sensei, I trust him to inform me of the appropriate parts of it when the time comes." Kairi stated. They were sitting on the roof of one of the buildings near the Castle. The night was falling. "So… What have you been up to since you left the tower?"
"A bit this and that. Asked your team mate to arrange this meeting… Went to see that Uchiha kid in the hospital…"
"Were you caught? Since you've been tailed for a while." Though why wasn't Kabuto simply taken in… Maybe no one knew that Hayate was tailing the spy. And only Kakashi had confronted the younger man in his spy capacity when he tried to kill Sasuke in his hospital bed.
"Ah, yes… I blew my cover." Kabuto laughed sheepishly. It was creepy simply because how genuine the expression was. Like, whoops, my bad. Like it didn't matter. And probably it didn't. Being used by so many people – Danzou, Sasori, Orochimaru – and ultimately having loyalty only to himself, doing anything and everything to live and survive. Were the two of them really that similar? Kairi might not have as many people trying to control her but… she was a tool of her village too. And it didn't matter to her either. She was only loyal to herself and the people she cared about, not the village itself. And definitely not to Kazekage.
"And your tail?" Hayate was good but Kairi had superhearing. Okay, wrong word once again. But she could hear better than most even without chakra.
"I'd appreciate if you'd keep him from getting any information."
"…No killing required?"
"If you think you can keep him alive and preserve your cover afterwards." Kabuto shrugged. "Doesn't really concern me but it'd be annoying to try and find a new contact."
"No worries. I can entertain him." Kairi smirked. And with a silent signal, they both departed. Kabuto to the agreed meeting place with the clearest view of the both Kikyo Castle and the full moon behind it. Baki was already there, keeping an eye on Gaara who in turn was sitting on one of the fish shaped giant statues on top of the castle.
And Kairi landed directly in front of one Gekkoo Hayate, TokuJo and great skill in sword fighting. Twenty-three years old, dating Uzuki Yuugao. Graduated a year after nine-tails attack. Possibly in Anbu and… Had been killed by Baki when this same situation had happened in the original time-line.
"I'm sorry. But I really can't allow you to proceed."
A/N: Whew... I read and re-read the manga chapters leading to this moment. And I explore the loophole left by Silver Queen about Hayate's survival. She states that because Dosu is dead already, Baki and Kabuto wouldn't have met and thus Hayate wouldn't overhear the plans. But I think that they would've met anyways. Baki was keeping an eye on Gaara and while the boy may have not gone berserk... Yeah. I think you get the point.
So here Kairi is stopping Hayate from following Kabuto and overhearing anything. While it might be stupid of her to blow her cover, she also realizes that it will be blown anyways eventually. Latest at the finals. Anyways people are keeping an eye on Kabuto and they already know about the invasion more or less, what with Orochimaru prancing around. They know something is coming. And considering the manga flashback where Hokage informed the jounin and tokubetsu of Hayate's death, they concluded that Oto was allied with one of the other villages. They would've come to the conclusion even without Hayate's death and thus prepared.
And Kairi staying out of the planning discussion also means that she has less useful information to Konoha and thus no as much value as a prisoner. Or that's what I was thinking...
Replies to Reviews:
-gonewind321:
I understand you point but back then I had way too many ideas for Kairi's fight and no way to sort them out in a good order. So I decided to cut the chapter as it already had a good lenght and post what I had. And not every chapter needs to be action packed.
I hope you liked this chapter. Even if I'm cutting the action once again.
-calcu22:
That's great to hear. I hope this lives up to your expectations.
-10th Squad 3rd Seat:
Yes, yes... Rigged preliminaries weeding out foreigners so there're more Konoha nin in the finals.
I hope you like this one!
-The Real Chys Lattes:
Thank you. I'll try my best.
()
Is it completely weird that I feel like shipping Kairi with Kabuto? I know they had a bit of age difference and Kabuto is creepy character and 'evil' but... Damn, the Naruto series redeemed them all but I have no idea what Silver Queen is going to do with him...