Kneading Fate
Second installment in Canon Patchworking with Uchiha Ren series
Twenty-Second Thread
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ATTENTION
The contest is still on. For further detail go see 'Seventeenth Thread'.
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This chapter has been beta'd for you by hestia8639. Thanks a lot!
My tumblr name is KillerGirlFuria, in case any of you wants to spam by askbox. I'm pretty open person, and if anyone would like to discuss CPwUR, or anything else, really, you're very welcome.
"One of the best ways to influence people is to make them feel important."
― Roy T. Bennett
0
Kurotsuchi has Lava Release. Lava Release is essentially a combination of two other nature transformations: Fire and Earth. Ren has only Fire Release. By all means, she should be at a disadvantage here – but she isn't, not exactly. Because Ren is older and bigger – she has more stamina and therefore more chakra than the eight-year-old twerp and thus, technically, they're about fifty-fifty.
"Stay out of this, she's mine!" Ren snaps at Hana when the Inuzuka steps forward and, reluctantly, her friend withdraws to the back again. Ren is dead set on wiping that smirk off the brat's face herself, after all. So, with a loud 'Katon: Hōsenka', small fireballs with mean shuriken inside charge at Kurotsuchi and Ren charges right behind them, Sharingan glowing eerily in the dark. Akatsuchi and Deidara wisely take a hint and stay back themselves.
Kurotsuchi dodges, and in one instance even deflects, the tiny burning shuriken, just as Ren basically pounces at her. Taijutsu in the dark, slippery, cramped space is difficult and not really advised, but Ren is a shinobi, and shinobi is just another word for dirty fighting. No ninja who wants to stay in the business and live to see their twentieth birthday plays fair – that's a fact. So Ren jumps, runs a few steps on the wall (as much as she can without making it explode), leaps onto the ceiling and promptly throws Awai at Kurotsuchi's face. The girl shrieks, first from shock, then from pain when the spider mercilessly bites into the soft skin of her cheek. Then she almost burns him by literally spitting lava, although Awai manages to jump to safety before darting towards Hana.
Ren uses the momentum that the ceiling gives her upon leaping down and elbows Kurotsuchi square in the face so hard her elbow actually hurts. By the time her feet touch the ground, her left hand is already raised and Ren aims and throws a mean punch right to where she knows her kidneys are. It connects, and Kurotsuchi wheezes in pain. But, somehow, she manages a hand seal and suddenly there's lava bursting from her mouth, right onto Ren's left thigh. It eats through her pants almost instantly and Ren actually howls when the hot magma touches – and burns – her thigh. Her howl, though, is cut in half when she bites her lip, reaches for a kunai, and plunges it down to the hilt in her opponent's thigh in retaliation.
She's nothing if not vindictive, after all.
There's a hard tug on her collar, and Ren gives in almost bonelessly, her back colliding with Hana's chest, and suddenly she's running. In a haze she manages to register Akatsuchi closing them off, dividing the corridor with a wall of solid rock. So, Ren grits her teeth harder and runs, allowing her teammates to lead. It hurts like hell, yes, but if she ignores it, she can run. She has work to do and no time to care about the pain.
(Nobody cares, anyway. Nobody ever does. Just grit your teeth and stop whining-
Shut up, mother. You've never cared, but it doesn't mean others share your lack of sentiment.)
After she realizes that Ren is pretty much out of commission (seriously, how is that girl even running? Doesn't she feel any pain? Her leg is fucking charred!) Hana takes the lead and absolutely no shit from anyone, be it Hibiki or her dogs, and methodically leads them towards the exit through the ever changing tunnels of the maze. They do stop, of course, about fifteen minutes after the encounter. She takes the opportunity to sit Ren down with a stern glare and check her leg. Thank god it's mostly only the skin that's beyond saving and the muscle isn't really that damaged – nothing beyond fixing, at least. And it will scar. It'll make a very ugly and massive scar, actually, but Hana suspects that Ren, half-crazed from pain, hardly cares. So, Hana does what she can right now – she rinses the wound with water from a jutsu (she's not wasting resources, they don't know when they'll make it out) and, after about twenty minutes, when Ren starts to look a bit less like she'd pass out, wraps her leg loosely with gauze and further numbs the spot with chakra. The numbing is shallow, though, and will wear out soon, so they'd better hurry.
(They find another giant spider no more than an hour later and Ren, still as pale as death and heavily relying on Hibiki after the adrenaline left her legs soft, actually manages to convince it to lead them out to the center. It feels like cheating, honestly. Like cheating in an especially mean way – it makes Hana feel like a real shinobi.
Also, by that time, Hana is willing to bet her savings that Ren's connection to spiders is very much the same as Inuzuka's connection to dogs. There's just no other explanation.)
They're out in about three hours after that, because even the spider gets confused from time to time, and Ren can't really run anymore without adrenaline fueling her. Still, they're the second team that makes it out – and it takes them only thirteen hours to do so. And when Ren mutters something like 'Jareth would be fucking proud, yay', Hana is very much certain this is some sort of reference she fails to catch. But Ren is just weird like that.
And in need of medic. Thus, Hana ushers her team to the waiting medic-nin, and doesn't even bother glancing around the arena in the center of the labyrinth. She'll have time later.
(It turns out that the watches really are bombs, and are deactivated upon entering the center of the maze. Better yet, the scrolls are set to explode, too – within forty-eight hours of being removed from the scroll chest.
Even better, for each additional scroll, their timer shrinks by twelve hours. So, yeah. It really does not pay off to be greedy.
Also, what the fuck is with Iwa and explosions?!)
Ren stirs awake when an unfamiliar presence enters the room and lingers for a while, but does so reluctantly. She's quite comfortable, after all, laying on her right side in the fetal position. The soothing, cold, numbness of her leg is the only indication of her injury. But the presence just hovers, and keeps hovering, so Ren gives up, opens her eyes, blinks the blissful, sleepy haze away, and stares.
Deidara, of course, stares right back. And so they stare.
"Ain't ya s'posed t' be with your teammates?" she murmurs, voice still sleepy and half-muffled by the pillow in her face.
"No," Deidara puffs his cheeks, reddening. "As if I would want to spend my time with someone who can only pick fights with people stronger than her and then whine about everything! But at least the medics say it will take Kurotsuchi two weeks to walk properly again, un," he sneers with some sort of malicious satisfaction. Wow, no wonder he hightails from Iwa later if that's the state of his interpersonal relations with his fellow villagers.
"I guess," Ren shrugs. Or, tries to, with how she is lying on her right side – and fails. "When did you get here?"
"About an hour ago," Deidara answers. "Took us twenty-two hours because Kurotsuchi just doesn't know what teamwork is, and when you're dragging your team down, you let them handle stuff," he says with annoyance. "We would've been here like, ten hours ago, if she'd only let Akatsuchi carry her," the blonde growls, and Ren chuckles.
"You think there will be preliminaries?" she asks, and he nods.
"I've seen, like, five teams already. You're the first and only team from Konoha, but I've seen, like, two from Kiri, one from Suna and three or so from Iwa," he explains. "So, with this amount of people, I think there will be, un."
"Fuck," is Ren's bright answer. "My leg's gonna be a bother, but I'll manage to burn someone, I guess."
"Are all Konoha ninja this crazy and thick-skinned, or just you?" Deidara asks, raising one eyebrow.
"Nah, just me," she smiles.
"Good to know, I guess?"
"But why are you here?" Ren asks, and looks around. The room doesn't really look medical, more like a lounge or a cheap hotel room, with three beds. The two others are unoccupied, so she guesses Hana and Hibiki are… well, somewhere.
"I want to rest, but I don't want to listen to Kurotsuchi's whining," he mumbles. "My head is hurting already."
"Why don't you rest here, then?" Ren asks, and the boy shakes his head.
"This is your team's section, I can't take their beds," he says. Ren looks thoughtful for a moment, and then, slowly and very ungracefully, scoots away from the center of her bed to the side of it. Deidara looks at her and asks, "What the fuck, Uchiha, un."
"You say you want to rest, and your idiot of a teammate is not allowing you to. You can't take the beds in the other rooms, so I guess we can share," she explains. "I'm used to it, don't worry – Sasuke's made a habit of sleeping with me because of his nightmares, even if he rarely has any now. Just mind my leg and we'll be fine, okay?"
Deidara looks at her like she's a complete idiot (which might not exactly be a false impression), but he also seems tempted. And thus, after contemplating for a long while, during which Ren almost dozes off again, he finally makes up his mind and carefully climbs into the bed and lies next to her. This is a bed for one person, yes, but they're both children; even if Ren is quite tall, they're still relatively small and fit with no problem at all.
"Anyone tell you you're weird yet, un?" Deidara whispers, and Ren snorts.
"Everybody," she whispers back. "Every day. At least once."
"Good. Cause you are."
"You want me to sing for you or something?" Ren asks off-handedly. In the first few weeks she would usually sing to Sasuke to lull him to sleep.
Deidara looks at her, eyes wide and shocked. He looks very much ready to furiously decline, but he falters, for some reason, and actually considers it, which honestly surprises Ren – she had expected instant rejection.
"I… I guess, yeah, un?"
Ren closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and searches for words. And, after a short while, starts singing softly – at least with the pre-pubescent voice of Sawashiro Miyuki it actually doesn't sound half bad.
"Hush now, my storeen
Close your eyes and sleep
Waltzing the waves
Diving the deep
Stars are shining bright
The wind is on the rise
Whispering words of long-lost lullabies
Oh, won't you come with me
Where the moon is made of gold
And in the morning sun
We'll be sailing
Oh, won't you come with me
Where the ocean meets the sky
And as the clouds roll by
We'll sing the song of the sea…"
And, before she knows it, Ren is dozing off again, but this time with an armful of tiny blonde who will most likely grow up to be one of the most dangerous criminals of this world.
And that is the scene that Hana and Hibiki, the former coming from the library and the latter having finally been kicked out of his clansmen's lounge, stumbled upon about four hours later when entering their lounge room. If Ren had seen their faces, she would've never let them live it down, but, fortunately for them, she does not. She is too busy being asleep, curled around the small blonde, after all. And as for Deidara, well, he's pretty much melted into her chest, golden hair all over… well, everywhere. The sheets, the pillow, and Ren's face and shoulder.
"Go to bed quietly," Hana advises, and Hibiki only nods, albeit grumpily.
"She's bad enough when well-rested," he murmurs. "I don't wanna know what kind of monster she turns into when sleep-deprived and cranky."
Hana snorts softly, ushering her ninken onto the bed so that their claws stop scratching the floor, shrugs off her coat and kicks off her shoes, and lies down herself. It's somewhere around three in the morning, actually, or something like that. Hana really doesn't know, nor does she care, and there are preliminaries awaiting, so she'd better rest up.
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Sorry it's short. I should try writing longer stuff I:
ThePlotbunnyBreeder – she has some growing up to do, yeah. In anime she did hit me as bratty, so maybe this time around she'll do better job growing up. And I do agree, Dei does need the love.
kankananime123 – not necessarily bad, but sure as hell mean. And thank you that you think my characterization is good! I don't really think that .
KassieJean – nah, just teach her a lesson. She still becomes Tsuchikage in CPwUR. In years. Many, many years. But she does!
academysscholar314 – I didn't mean it in bad way, I really have no life. I'm a prime example of European shut-in.
DarkDust27 – well, latter she'll add 'feed them with spiders' if that helps?
Love Stories00 – I don't love spiders myself, to be honest, I just wanted something both creepy and effective. Or maybe effective due to its creepiness?
372259 – thanks! Their friendship wasn't planned, it just happened, Hana came and she was like 'nuh-uh, I ain't leavin' so, yeah. And ItaHana kinda makes sense (I mean, they actually were in the same class on their first year of Academy), but, meh. I don't tend to ship characters I like (Hana) with those I kindasorta absolutely detest (Itachi) so, yeah. And, well, I'm addicted to blacckat's writing, and she does amazing Found Family trope, first with Genma, and then with Kurama (reverse, anyone) and I just can't, I had to do something alike myself.
donstehly2 – Hibiki is slowly being pulled to the right side of life – the insanity of Uchiha Ren, I believe it's called. They'll make a proper person out of him yet.
Aka-chansama – I don't know if I understand your rambling right, but I do try my best. But Akatsuki I mean: Pain, Konan, Obitobi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Zetsu, Hidan, Kakuzu and Itachi. I don't count Oro in, because he was so very 'fuck you' towards them because they just wouldn't give him Itachi (rude!) so he hightailed the hell outta there. There will be two of the mentioned members withdrawn, and they will be replaced – most likely by movie villains, but I'm not certain yet, since I hardly know any of them. Never really cared for movies, you see. The withdrawn members might or might not be Deidara and/or Kisame, and might or might not be someone she has yet to meet. I don't wanna spoil too much stuff, you see. (Nevertheless, one of them is going to be pretty shocking choice, I'm sure.
"…let's all pray that Hibiki doesn't accidentally Stupid himself to death." – that line right here, oh my god. Thank you for existing. But, yeah, let's hope he doesn't – you're right, he's a proper comic relief here. I have no idea where to incorporate him, though, as he's just a filler.
Yuki Suou – I have recently gotten the novel in my sticky paws, so I'm into it again 3
Guest (chapter 26 . Feb 20) – I still hate you.
Someone – it's my OTP, just like Corypheus x Horrible Death, and I'm going down with this ship. And it's sad that pyromania is a crime here. But here ain't Naruto world, so Ren can just spit fire at people and call it a day xD
Alien361 – Danzo's ignorance will ultimately be a big part of why just he failed and gotten himself killed earlier than in canon, really. And, welp, Hibiki is growing. Both up and on me, I guess?
starsarebright – she will chill once she gets her ass handed to her, really. Ren loves her fireballs, they solve so many problems for her, and never complain.
HikariNoTenshi-San – nah, people rather will call her stuff like 'Crazy Spider Witch' or 'The Pyro' or something. Although some might have tried. And regretted it. Dearly. Also, it's not that it explodes in contact with fire, but justsu fire is almost solid – one hit another and they splattered. Kinda like water-filled balloon and a wall, or something.
NatNicole – remember that Ren used to be a grumpy, bitter lady from our world. She knows just exactly what kind of person Danzo is and takes zero chances with the bastard. She doesn't want it to come and bite her ass, not really. And oh my god, you're second person to ask for Hibiki to stay. I might actually consider it .
LittleWesties9 – it will definitely make them wary of Uchihas. I one seems to be insane on top of lacking any brakes and self-preservation instincts, what can others do if prompted?