Knitting Fate

Second installment in Canon Patchworking with Uchiha Ren series

Twenty-Sixth Thread

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The contest has ended.

Because I have only received one entry I will treat it as a fanart. Sorry and thank you.

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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.

"Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."
― Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do

0

Ren is getting progressively better, both physically and in terms of handling the blade. By the time the third week of the 'break' rolls around, Kisame is quite proud of her progress, especially considering that the first time she gripped her tantō to begin with was with a soft, completely wrong grip. They spent some time on those, drilling and drilling until Ren could naturally grip the handle properly. She did cut her hands a few times because of it, and her fingers as well, from her training in shurikenjutsu. She's not exactly bad at these, but she isn't good either.

The point is, Hana, the medic, refuses to heal her, much to Kisame's poorly-hidden amusement, leaving Ren a brooding mess. But Hana is right, that he has to admit – Ren has to learn to avoid danger whenever possible, rather than relying on a medic. Sometimes it's impossible, but, well. Besides, Hana insists that the pain would make her learn faster, which Kisame personally agrees on. And even if Ren's fingers are stiffer when wrapped, she doen't give up and tries her best to make up for the advantage. Kisame would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate it – people with drive usually go far.

Not to mention Ren's resilience. Not that he has ever seen one, but he is pretty sure that she could be on par with even that of an Uzumaki. Quite sad Kiri wiped them all out out of fear. Yes, they were allied to Konoha, and their fujinjutsu was frightening, but Kiri hasn't gone to war with Konoha in a long time. They should not have acted that way, in Kisame's humble opinion. Besides, from what he heard, they made amazing blades that rivaled Kiri's, and he would be really happy if he could manage to get one of Uzushio's famous chakra-conductive blades.

But Uzushio is now a half-ruined city of ghosts, so he can only dream.

"What's up, Blue?" Ren asks, apparently having finally exhausted her shuriken stack for the day, as she drops down and sits cross-legged between Kisame and Hana, who is, once again, deep in some medical scroll. The Inuzuka doesn't even react this time.

"Thinking about Uzushio," he answers matter-of-factly. "Wondering if we really had to wipe them out."

"Dunno, but it was a dick move, anyway," Ren shrugs. "I mean, what the hell did they do to you, aside from being freakishly powerful?"

"As far as I know, nothing," he shrugs.

"Then wow, rude," she snorts. "By the way, people in Konoha sometimes keep saying that I might have an Uzumaki ancestor. Apparently, my chakra reserves are bigger than those of your average Uchiha, especially for my age. But I'm not a redhead, so I don't know," she sighs and shrugs. "Not that anyone could match you in chakra. I can feel it leaking through your ears even now, and I'm not really all that good at sensing it. Like, wow, dude, how much do you even have?" she huffs, pulling out her tantō and inspecting the blade.

"You haven't named it yet," Kisame notes, and Ren looks at him in surprise.

"I thought only legendary blades had names," she counters, slightly confused.

"And how exactly do they become legendary?" Kisame quirks an eyebrow. "By being used by shinobi. And trust me, said shinobi don't name them after they become legends."

"Sumire, then," Ren decides after a brief consideration, and Kisame snorts.

"Why after a flower?" he asks, visibly very amused.

"Because I might have flunked out at kunoichi lessons, due to their useless nature, but I read about interesting things on my own," not quite, it was original Ren who did it, but still, she did do so, and she had the memories now. "And violets symbolize honesty, something you're fond of. Also, they're blue, too," she huffs, and this time Kisame looks surprised.

"You're naming the blade after me?" he asks, eyes wide.

"Well, yeah? I mean, you helped me choose it, and now you're teaching me how to use it," Ren holds the blade up, letting the sun reflect in the pale metal, giving it a golden halo. "It seems only right to do that. Why?"

"No one has ever named anything after me, you know," Kisame sighs. "Let alone someone from another village."

"You're welcome," Ren snorts, "besides, you're amazing. Your fellow villagers are fucking blind if they fail to see that."

Kisame looks thoughtful, assessing Ren as if to make sure she is actually being honest. But Ren knows that Kisame isn't entirely human, if only for the fact that he can just feel someone lying or evading the truth. But Ren's heart doesn't skip a bit, she doesn't start sweating, and she most definitely does not stutter. She looks him straight in the eye, hands crossed on her chest and doesn't even twitch her fingers.

Ren knows how to tell when people lie. Even if she can't hear a change in heartbeat, she can see any odd behaviors that indicate dishonesty. And that, aside from being completely certain of her words, is how she knows that Kisame is looking at her in vain. She's being perfectly sincere with him.

(Why wouldn't she be? He's awesome!)

"Are all Uchiha so weird, or is it just you?" he asks after a moment, offering her a toothy smile.

"Of the Uchihas? Right now only me, but I'm converting my precious little cousin to the only true way of being awesome," she chuckles. "Besides, Konoha is a madhouse as it is, even without the clan. Every shinobi who makes it past chūnin has quirks. One dude, for example, runs around wearing only a tight, green, spandex suit."

"No," Kisame blanches at that, eyeing Ren as if she's lying. She's not, and he grows even paler.

"Yes," she counters. "He's our local taijutsu nutjob. And you know what? He's good. I actually asked him to train me a bit after I get back home, and I'm already regretting it."

"What, he might dress you in green spandex, too?" Kisame snorts, but Ren shoots him a very pointed look that screamed 'yes, he might' that shuts him up and renders his skin, only just returned to original hue, a few shades of blue paler once again.

"Are you talking about Might Guy?" Hana asks suddenly, looking up from her scroll. It's sudden enough to startle Ren into yelping.

"Fucking Jashin, don't do that," she gasps, but the Inuzuka only flashes her a grin. "But yes, I've been talking about Guy, why?"

"The power of youth," Hana wiggles her eyebrows, and Ren groans. Of course she would know Guy. Who the hell from Konoha doesn't?

"Don't, or I'm going to tickle you," she mutters, hiding her face in her hands. "I did it only to piss Kakashi off!"

"So, your spite finally came back to bite you in the ass?" Hana chuckles, and her question doesn't exactly sound like a question. "I heard he does fifty laps around the village walls. Every day. On his hands."

"He sounds very… interesting," Kisame ventures, which makes Ren grimace and Hana start to laugh so hard she falls off her stone and topples right into Ren's lap. The Uchiha mercilessly exploits their situation and starts tickling her, making the Inuzuka laugh even harder.

Ren herself regrets every single choice she'd made in her life so far. Except maybe asking Kisame to tutor her. He is patient, has a sense of humor, and knows what he is doing and where he wants to go with it. Thank fuck. Ren is nowhere near a kenjutsu master, but she is decent for a beginner. She still needs to hone her skills quite a bit, but if she keeps it up, she might actually get good enough to be called a swordsman. Or a swordswoman? She doesn't really know which, but it doesn't matter for now.

(She's still hissy about Hana, though. She knows her friend's outbursts are fueled by sincere concern for her, but for Hana to actually stop healing her until it is something major? Understandable, actually.

Shit.

Maybe she really should start actively trying to get out of harm's way. She wouldn't like it if Hana got hurt either.)

Time is a bitch, that much Ren can deduct. Because before she even realizes it, the Exams are suddenly tomorrow. And so, she lays in her bed in the hotel and decides, fuck that, I'm taking a day off. She's been working her butt off for the past three weeks and she is now pretty confident of her wobbly swordsmanship.

What amuses her are the matchups. Her first fight is with the Kiri Generic Bitchface that Zabuza tried to get Kisame to train, apparently. But what really cracks her up is the fact that, if she and Hibiki both win their matches, they would face one another. Hibiki himself is very unamused by the discovery. Especially given that the Taki chick he is to face doesn't seem to be anything special, so he has a chance. It is up to him whether he would take it, though.

Deidara and Chōjūrō would meet in the second round because Ren has no delusions – the Suna kid has his puppets, but Deidara is a vicious little terrorist, and the meek Random Konoha Brat has no real chance against Chōjūrō. She kind of pities the kid, too. But what she is getting at is the fact that, even if she makes it to the third round, she's fucked.

Because, honestly, Deidara with his distance attacks is no better than Chōjūrō with his suiton, which is more than capable of countering her katon. Not to mention his swordsmanship-

Okay, logically thinking, she actually would have better chances against Deidara if it comes to that.

Either way – fuck.

"Are you stressed?" Hana asks in the morning as they walk towards the arena. Ren is muttering under her breath and seems to be counting on her fingers, gazing around absently from time to time. It's honestly quite scary, given Ren's usual 'fuck it all' attitude.

"I'm plotting," Ren mutters, and even Awai, tucked in her pocket, seems fed up with the fidgeting. Hana honestly had no idea spiders could frown.

"And what are you plotting?" Hibiki asks off-handedly. Hana is convinced that his coping mechanism – which is basically forgetting the problem exists until it slaps him in the face – is quite stupid.

"How to win the exams, duh" Ren rolls her eyes. "Kiri Bitchface might be a problem, but if Hibiki tries and passes, then round two will be a breeze-"

"Gee, thanks," the Hyūga huffs.

"The real deal is the final round. It'll either be Deidara or Chōjūrō," she whines, looking up. "So I'm either fucked or screwed."

"But that's the same thing," Hibiki says, looking at his teammate, who glares at him.

"That's the point, Hyūga," she growls. "That's the fucking point. I'm going to die."

"If you die, I'll kill you," Hana chirps, earning an exasperated groan from Ren.

"That doesn't even make sense!"

There's a lot of people on the rafters, and if Ren is to be perfectly honest, she would say she's quite unnerved. She can't help but feel like a gladiator in the ancient Roman Coliseum, going up to fight and kill mindlessly to appease the masses. So, yeah, Ren is very unhappy about her situation because, frankly, that is precisely what is happening.

Not to mention that it stands against everything that ninja are about.

She kind of wishes she could attack the audience instead, actually. They are completely unessential, and highly irritating with their constant buzzing.

"Nervous?" Hibiki asks as they make their way to the terrace meant for participants and whoever else is allowed to be there.

"More like immensely annoyed," she retorts absently.

"Scared?" someone sneers to Ren's right side, and yes, when she turns around she's faced with the Kiri brat she's supposed to fight. But she's better than that. So, rather than answering him, she shoots him the most pitying look she can muster and just shrugs before walking past him. And, because actions speak louder than words, he growls, grabs the back of her shirt, and tries to pull her back – only to be apprehended by the ninja staff nearly instantly.

Ren only shoots him a smug smirk. She is aggressive herself, yes, but she isn't stupid. And her opponent, with his brash behavior, has already lost favor points – ninja must after all, know how to keep their tempers and emotions in check. Not always, of course, but when it matters. And Ren be damned if she had survived her manipulative, fanatic grandmother just to fail to realize when the situation matters.

And now? Now she is out for blood.

(And, hopefully, a rank-up.)

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Betoran – what makes you think there's only one summoning scroll for something? Or that Oro has it? D

mujoona – Kisame is already pretty convinced that Uchihas aren't people, but the state of mind. And yes, he will tread around Itachi very cautiously – Ren might be saying that it's just her ,but she never gave off a vibe of knowing Itachi too much. So, yeah, Kisame will take safe rather than sorry, thank you.

hentai18ancilla – I would really love if he did, honestly. Where did you get that idea though?

Someone – know my pain. I usually really have no idea how to comment stories I like.

EmilyKayros – it was the Seventeenth thread. And also, Kisame is 195cm (6'5") and Deidara, if you take average male 9 years old, is about 132cm (4'4"). So, yo. Ren herself is currently around 150cm (4'11").

Aka-chansama – he was due for retirement after first day of the insanity that is Team 4. Also, Tsume and Naruto? Otherwise, any Inuzuka and Naruto? Oh my god. Just- God.

ThePlotbunnyBreeder – Hana is so very tired of all the shit her friend pulls. Just, why of all people available she befriended Ren? I bet she asks herself that. Constantly.

donstehly2 – I don't know what the fuck am I doing with my life, either, so Hibiki might be my spirit animal, too. When presented with opportunity, his mind just goes 'WTF'.

dreamymew1 – Sasuke is pretty much going to be Ren 2.0, pretty much down to the cursing. So, yeah, his meeting with Zabuza might end up being very interesting. Also, Kisame and Guy do meet in canon. Just imagine, them meeting and Kisame suddenly has flashback and then he's like 'oh fuck she was serious, what even is this dude'.

HikariNoTenshi-San – that no-compliment think was more of a throwback to Renee and her life in Real World, actually. Not gonna say much, because spoilers, but Ren isn't all too happy about her former life. Or too open either.