Title: Disadvantaged Children
Rating: M
Glass
The board announces our fate as loudly as the dull pounding in my ears. That sick anticipation, the same one that's been building up since the First Event, is finally coming to an end. But winning is impossible with these results.
Team 7 - Haruno Sakura, Sai, Uzumaki Naruto
530 Points
Team 10 - Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino
490 Points
Team Guy - Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, Tenten
450 Points
Team 8 - Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata
320 Points
"Hold on!" Rock Lee steps forward and we all wince as he stabs his finger towards the bottom of the board. "Team 8 only has two members! My sense of honor refuses to accept this unfairness!"
"What are you saying, Rock Lee?"
We all turn to stare at Sai who's leaning against the wall, arms crossed, dark eyes in contemplation. Everything about him is shrouded in shadows, wrapping his words into a cold frankness.
"Are you willing to take Team 8's place? Are you willing to forget the consequences of losing this competition and landing in Kyuubi Island?"
I hear a small gasp behind me and I don't have to turn around to know that it's Hinata. Ever since Kiba had left, Hinata and Shino had struggled to do enough to make up for the sudden loss of points. It wasn't fair at all, but it seemed as though neither the faculty nor Sai cared. Before I can reassure her, Shino takes her by the arm and they walk away from the suffocating room, the bleak board, the proclamation of their fate.
"Good. They have to leave. It's not a game anymore." Sai pushes himself off the wall and makes his way to the board in front of us. "The weak never survive in the real world. So what if there were only two of them? They should have worked harder, done more, given more... We're all rivals here, every single one of us."
And then he smiles.
That smile breaks my threshold and I'm about to wrench myself and pummel the living hell out of my teammate when someone beats me to it.
"YOU IDIOT."
*POW* *SWING* *GRAB*
We all gape as Sakura holds Sai's ear as if it were a prize. "Look here, everyone," she cheerfully proclaims as she twists the trophy in her hands and ignores Sai's flailing. "My teammate hasn't been feeling very well lately and if you could just excuse his behavior, it would be greatly appreciated. If you see his soul laying around anywhere, just give it back to him and there'll be a reward of approximately a million dollars. Ahem."
She glares at me pointedly and I immediately snap to attention and grab Sai's other ear, doing my best not to tackle him to the ground and beat some sense into him. What Sakura said was partly true. Sai had been complaining left and right of feeling sick, but I knew what his disease really was. The pang of loneliness, his refusal to eat with me or Sakura, all the hours he spent in his room, plotting and scheming. But for what? For miserable words and a false sense of winning?
"Sakura's completely right." I grit. "Sai is an idiot and, frankly, we sometimes wish he wasn't a part of our team."
Sai struggles even harder and it takes both me and Sakura to lock him in place.
"But..." Sakura grunts as she avoids a punch from Sai. "He is our teammate and that's why we're apologizing on his behalf."
"Right. He may seem like the biggest asshole right now, but deep inside, Sakura and I know..." I sneak a glance at Sai and what I see makes my voice lower and anger wane. "We know that he's just a little lost."
"Right. So, Sai? An apology?"
There's silence until Sakura slowly turns her head and gives Sai an eerie face that reminds me of dead babies and monsters.
"Sorry." Sai grumbles and he gives one final wrench that frees him from our grasp. He walks away and the group parts to make way for him. When he walks out of the room, Shikamaru breathes a sigh of relief and then crosses his arms.
"Tch. Is it smart to humiliate a guy as dangerous as he?"
Chouji leans toward us and whispers. "Don't mind Shikamaru. He's just mad that he can't do the same thing to Ino."
"Spilling our secrets to the winning team, Chouji? What a bother."
Sakura giggles but something about Shikamaru's words bothers me. With a forced smile, I shake my head, remembering the fate of the losers and Sai's depressing words.
"My team isn't winning."
Ino raises an eye. "But, Naruto.. Your team has the most points."
"Don't you guys get it?" I turn towards the board and stare at the paper, knowing even without seeing the people behind me.
Sakura still facing the direction Sai walked away. Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino thoughtfully staring at the board, anticipating my true feelings. Rock Lee and Tenten, looking a little empty without their third team member, the elusive Neji.
But Hinata and Shino. They're not here.
"Everyone in this room is a winner." Ino blurts out.
Without thinking, I tear the paper off the board and rip it in two. No one objects.
"Which just makes us all losers."
Silence until..
"THEN WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? WE HAVE YOUTH. WE HAVE BEAUTY. WE CAN-"
"What would happen if we all tied? Then there's no way that-"
"Ahh.. Does this mean I have to give up all my points? I worked so hard on them too.."
"Tch. You're such a typical woman, Ino."
"What is that supposed to me-"
"Yeah, Shikamaru! Are you saying that all women are like pig-headed Ino?"
"Pig-headed?! I don't see yo-"
"ALL WIN AND DIVE INTO THE FOUNTAIN OF LOVE AND SPRING AND.."
"But it's not spring.."
"I DON'T CARE WE'RE ALL GOING TO WIN AND CRY TEARS OF JOY AND CELEBRATE-"
I grin and exchange glances with Sakura who nods in satisfaction. Who cared about the rules? So what if I had an idiotic teammate who only showed his true self at night? I can't help but remember the look of hopelessness on Hinata's face. How well did I know that drowning feeling?
Don't worry, Kiba. I'll do whatever I can to keep them in the Mansion.
For a second, I think I can hear Kiba's laughter ringing within the Mansion walls. The bouncing voice, the joking atmosphere, the fang-lipped smile. God, how I missed that kid.
Grinning, I clap my hands and address the chattering teams in front of me. "All right, guys, listen up! We only have a week until the Fourth Event.. Now what I'm thinking is we bomb the old hags with a four-way tie and that requires a ridiculous amount of planning. Here's what I've got..."
A week later finds us crowded around the board again, briefly stunned into silence.
Team 7 - Haruno Sakura, Sai, Uzumaki Naruto
530 Points
Team 10 - Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino
530 Points
Team Guy - Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, Tenten
530 Points
Team 8 - Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata
530 Points
"WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sakura rubs her ear in pain and grimaces. "I didn't even know humans could produce that sound."
"HA! Good thing I'm not all human, eh?"
"You're ridiculous, Naruto."
"You know what'd be ridiculous? If I had a tail.. Just think, Sakura-chan! The things I could do with one of those.."
"Naruto?"
"Hm?"
"No more talking. I'm trying to savor the moment, okay?"
I glance at the board again and smile as the pride and happiness warm my body, bit by bit. The events of the hectic week brush past my mind in segments - literally strapping Sai to a chair at night to prevent him from going out to community service for points, letting Hinata and Shino "borrow" notes so they could ace the tests and answer questions, and Rock Lee painstakingly winning the right amount of points in each basketball, dodgeball, and soccer game.
This is how it was supposed to be. No tricks, no games. No losers.
The door suddenly slams open and we all watch as Kakashi and Jiraiya enter the room with grim looks on their faces. They don't even look at the board or greet us. Instead, they only wave us into another room.
"What the hell is this about, old man?" I wave my arms at the board and make a face. "I was trying to enjoy my first moment of perseverance! Accomplishment! Joy!"
Kakashi shakes his head. "Not now, Naruto. The Fourth Event is about to start."
It's the sudden hush among the students that causes me to sigh and trudge to the other room. The feeling of bliss is starting to wane and it's all but swallowed in my throat when I see Sasuke next to Kakashi, quietly surveying each and every person in the room.
Right. Sasuke. Owner of the Mansion. Easy to forget about that when he has his hands down your pants.
"Five hundred and thirty points." Jiraiya sighs and then runs a hand through his ruffled, white hair. "I'm actually impressed with you runts. Not many teams in the past have what it takes to show this kind of teamwork. That's why it gives me a goddamn heartache to tell you what Sasuke wants."
My gaze trails to Sasuke whose every breath, every step is imposing and calculated. There's something off about this side of him. I had seen it before - the first time we'd met, all the times he spoke to the whole group. This wasn't the same Sasuke who let me indulge in whiny behavior and insults. This Sasuke was just another mask of all the different lies that he held in his heart.
Hands curling into fists, my voice erupts before I can stop it. "WHATT?!"
Everyone turns around to stare at me and I chuckle nervously, trying to ignore Sasuke's glare. "Does this mean that you're not even considering the possibility of letting all the teams stay? Ne... It would be such a pain if we did all that work for nothing.."
Sasuke's eyes drag me into that darkness, the complete emptiness of not knowing, not understanding. What was his appeal? Was it the desperate side of him that I sometimes caught glimpses of? Was it the fact that we were so alike yet so damn apart? Or did I just need another Gaara, another person to rely on?
And then Sasuke's eyes let me go and Jiraiya answers for him.
"Unlucky for you kids, a dorm did the same thing about three years ago and got an equal number of points for each Team. Thing is, the Team that had started the whole thing, at the very last moment, decided to get more points and win the whole shebang. Needless to say, there were many unhappy losers that year." Jiraiya glances at Sasuke and then wryly smiles. "From then on, Sasuke's given one more test to all the dorms that decide to go the route of the four-way tie. It cuts the losers that much quicker. Understand?"
Shikamaru raises a hand. "What if there are no losers?"
Before Jiraiya can answer, Sasuke steps forward.
"It's impossible."
Sasuke raises a hand to quell the protests. "There seems to be a common misconception about this game. I'll repeat myself only once. Every year, a Team loses. The Mansion brings in criminals of the worst kind and every year, a Team deserves to be sent to the Island. Call me cruel, but it's an unfortunate part of the Mansion. This is what every one of you signed up for when you decided the Mansion over the penitentiary."
"That's stupid." I look straight at Sasuke. "When we decided the Mansion, we decided on second chances. And now you're giving us this bullcrap and judging us based on the past year's teams. It's just stupid."
"We gave everyone in here second chances, Naruto." Kakashi lays a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. "You've got to accept that there are some people in this world who are beyond redemption."
I ignore Kakashi's words, instead focusing on the boy in front of me. It's strange how cold Sasuke's eyes are. Was this really how he thought? What kind of facade did the Mansion have? An image of Hinata and Shino crosses my mind and I shake my head and wrench myself from Kakashi's grip.
"What about Teams that don't have enough people? How could you base human life on stupid points? It's pathetic."
A flash -is it surprise? Anger? Sorrow?- crosses Sasuke's eyes, but he recovers and answers with a gentle voice. "I understand what you're saying, Naruto, which is why we'll take into consideration every Team's advantages and disadvantages. You're forgetting that points aren't the only criteria in the competition. Now, if you'll excuse me.."
Jiraiya immediately starts to speak about the Fourth Event but I can only stare at Sasuke as he walks out of the room.
"Hey Sakura?"
Sakura's focus never leaves Jiraiya and I can see her mentally writing down notes in her head. "Hm?"
"Brief me on this later, yeah?"
"Mm.. Okay, sure I'll.. Wait, Naruto, where are you going? You need to listen to this too!"
The minute I run out the door, I feel an insane freedom. Now to find the bastard.. It takes me a while, but I finally manage to catch a glimpse of Sasuke turning a corner. Maybe I shouldn't be chasing down my.. lover? superior? friend? but I can't help it. Something inside of me, probably the same side that was so attracted to Gaara, wants to find out more, find out everything about Uchiha Sasuke.
"Oi! Sasuke!" I skid to a halt in front of Sasuke who's staring at something that makes me duck my head, uncomfortable. The spidery cracks on the glass look like spiderwebs, like veins of regret and white blood. Strange how everything always came back to the beginning.
"Do you know what I felt, Naruto, when you broke these windows?"
I sheepishly scratch the back of my head. "Incredibly pissed off?"
He looks down and laughs softly. "No, not even close." He smiles and the rush of blood goes back to my head, making my beliefs disappear into a dizzying torrent of questions. "I felt free."
I can only stare at him as the little cracks in the glass shine varying degrees of light on his arms, his chest, his cheek, his face..
"Maybe that's when I knew... That you'd be the only one who could help me." Sasuke frowns and his eyebrows are slants of intense concentration. "For the longest time, I hated you. I wanted you out of the Mansion just as much as you wanted to leave. To think that an orphan, an inhabitant of the Mansion, could make me forget my emotions, my true goals.. It was threatening to me and the Mansion."
I run a hand through my hair and the words are nervous, tense. "What made you change?"
He breathes sharply then directs burning eyes my way. "The day I expelled Kiba... I saw something in you that reminded me of someone I once loved dearly. I wanted.. I wanted to save you from the same fate that my precious person went through."
Swallowing, I shake my head. "I don't understand. You have all these different sides to you, but there's only one that I want. I... I don't want to fall for the wrong one, you know?"
"Yeah. I get it, dobe." Sasuke steps closer to me and he slowly brings his fingers to caress my cheek. "Just give me more time to figure things out. I'm a busy guy."
Just like that, the air changes and I jump away from his touch. "Busy guy?! You're not the one who has to keep all the Teams from losing! Busy, my ass. And what the hell is with that stupid rule, anyway? Gahh!" I sink both hands into my hair and frown. "I shouldn't even be in here! I should be in the room with the others, listening to the Fourth Event."
Sasuke thoughtfully taps his chin. "Yeah, you actually should."
I groan but lighten up when I suddenly remember why I chased Sasuke in the first place. "Hey.. Sasuke-kun. You're the owner of the Mansion... Can't you just change the rules and-"
"No."
I sigh, disappointed. "It was worth a shot."
"You're annoying me, Naruto. Go back to your Team."
"Ha! Annoying! You don't even know what that word means. Now I do, mainly because there's this boy named Sai who likes to stare at my dick a lot."
Sasuke's face suddenly becomes cloaked with darkness. "He what?"
I gape. "Uhbuhh.. I meant. N-not Sai! Heh.."
He suddenly grabs my shirt and hisses in my ear. "Why do you always mention his name in front of me?"
Laughing nervously, I try to shove Sasuke off. "Heh. No, no, I mean I hate that kid. He does this thing every morning where he'll step on me just to wake me up and nowadays he doesn't even bother stepping on me, he just glares at me and ohkay, I'm just going to shut up now since you look like you're about to-"
And then soft lips are probing my own, effectively shutting me up. Blushing, I let my hands fall to my side and close my eyes as Sasuke's familiar scent invades my head.
Why do I like this bastard again? Right. The kissing factor. Big deal.
When he finally pulls away, I squint at him and pout. "You treat me like a girl, sometimes."
Should not have said that.
"No, Sasuke, no I don't want your hands down my pants in this dinky hallway! Dammit! Get away from me, heelp!"
I yank myself away from Sasuke and run down to the room, trying to convince myself that the grimace on my face is not a grin.
"So in a nutshell, we can't have anyone reporting back to Kakashi by the time the day's over, because that automatically gives points to the Team. And we can't have that because we want the four way tie, not a Team winning and NARUTO ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"
I don't look up and, instead, continue scooping up the coins in the fountains. "You would think that people would be a little more careful about putting free money in front of us..."
"Naruto!" Sakura grabs the coins from my pocket and drops them back into the fountain. I can barely hear her over the roar of the water, but I can see enough of her face to know that she's one second away from beating the shit out of me.
"All right, all right!" I grumble and then walk back towards her. "We just have to make sure that no one goes up to Kakashi and asks for more points so that their team can get ahead. Blahblah. Got it. I don't even know why you're worried, Sakura-chan! It's not like anyone's actually going to do it."
"Well, that's the goal here. After we have this meeting by the fountain, which will be orderly and civil..." Sakura glares at me and my dripping pants. "We'll be able to wait out the two hours before we have to go back to Kakashi."
I plop down on the edge of the fountain and wave my hand at her, dismissively. "Right, whatever."
Sakura wrinkles her nose before sitting next to me. "So Naruto.. How long have you and Sasuke been going out?"
"Oh, about two weeks now - WAIT!" I immediately jump up and stare at Sasuke with goggly eyes. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!"
She giggles. I glare.
"Well, it's really obvious the way you two stare at each other. And he's always singling you out. I would know." She sighs while melodramatically clutching her chest. "Oh my broken heart."
"We're not going out!"
"But, Naruto, you just said-"
"WE'RE NOT GOING OUT!"
"Riight." Sakura pats the seat next to her and I reluctantly sit back down. "I'd be careful if I were you. He's the owner of the Mansion and despite what Ino and I always say about him, he's not perfect."
"You don't have to tell me twice. Psh. Going out, my ass."
"Oh Naruto.." She gives me a concerned look before looking at her shoes. "It must be difficult being you."
I snort, even though the statement catches me off guard."Don't worry. I've had eighteen years of preparation."
"All right then.. Oh, look, there's Sai!"
Seeing Sai by the edge of the fountain gives me an idea. "Oi, Sakura. Don't you think we let him off a little lightly for what he said earlier today?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I don't know. I have this feeling that a better punishment for him might involve some water. Lots of water."
Sakura turns her head towards me, eyes open in mock-horror. "No.."
Giggling, she grabs my hand and we slowly walk towards Sai. When he sees us, he scowls and looks away.
"How's it going, Sai?" I skillfully maneuver my way to his left side of Sai while Sakura cheerfully links her arms through his right arm.
"Good until you two came along." Sai grumbles as he tries to avoid contact with Sakura. "What the hell is this meeting about, anyway? And why are you two so close to m-"
"1.."
"2.."
*SPLASH*
I have to end up leaning on Sakura for support as we both laugh at Sai's angry sputtering and his spitting out water. It only takes us a moment, though, to realize that he's about to blow so we quickly duck.
"Hey guys, what are you doing there? And why does Sai look so ma-"
Sakura and I wince as we see Chouji hit with a colossal stream of water from Sai's hands.
"My food! It's soaked!" Chouji slowly looks up and the fire in his eyes causes Sai to back away. "NO ONE MESSES WITH MY FOOD."
*BLOOSH*
A wave of water crashes into all of us as Chouji rolls into the fountain. By this time, nearly all of the Team members have arrived and it's not long before all of them are pulled into the epic water fight.
"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOUUUUUU!" Chouji screams and I immediately duck to the side as he rolls another wave of water our way.
The water gushing from the fountain only adds to the hectic shrieks and laughter while the waning sunlight provides enough warmth to keep us from shivering to death. Halfway between the water fight, right after I avoid Lee's water spin, I catch myself staring at the pink and yellow sky, the occasional spray of water adding another dimension to the horizon.
Was this what beauty was? Ten kids in a fountain, enjoying what normal life they had? A movement catches the corner of my eye and I watch as Sai sneaks back into the faculty building. Before I can follow him, something akin to a water bomb socks me right in the face.
Sputtering, I can only stare in shock as Hinata looks at her hands with guilty shock.
"Hinata.." I wring the water out of my hair and grin. "You know this means war, right?"
She smiles and that's all I need to see before diving back into the fountain.
xx
Soon, the chill of the night forces some of the teams to go back inside. Sakura and I stay behind to calm down Chouji while comparing bruises and the number of people we managed to dunk. When we're done, we hobble back to the building, twin grins on our faces.
"You know, Sakura.. You're not too bad."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Sakura replies but I can see pink staining her cheeks. "Let's just get through this Fourth Event, okay Naruto?"
I nod then walk into the room where the rest of the group are waiting. It takes a while for my eyes to get used to the fluorescent lights, but what I hear makes my heart sink.
"Naruto, where's Sai?"
My eyes skim the room, but I only see the other teams. There's something about the way Kakashi is standing in front of us, arms crossed, frown evident that makes me wonder what's going on. His eyes fall on me briefly before looking away, almost guiltily. Before I can answer Sakura, Kakashi clears his throat.
"The Fourth Event was supposed to be a test of camaraderie and trust. The rules were simple. If no one came to me by the end of the day, the four way tie would continue. If just one, and only one, person decided not to risk it, then that person's team would gain fifty extra points, effectively breaking the tie."
There's something ominous about the dark tones in Kakashi's voice, the absence of my teammate, and the silence after Kakashi's words. No.. There was no way that someone actually.. That Sai would...
And that's when Kakashi looks at me again, firmly this time, dispelling any question that something wrong had happened.
"One of you came to me right before this meeting. I'm sorry to say that only one of the teams is now winning. The rest of you.."
He looks at the board and I feel the hard work, the sick hopelessness crashing down all around us. I know what's going to happen now, I know who did it and I know what Kakashi's going to say next.
"..are losing."
What I told Naruto... Why I stopped hating him. Did he believe it? What would he say if he knew that his red eyes reminded me of my brother's?
It's hard to remember my reason to live when I'm around Naruto. How can I quit this sick dependence on him when he knows absolutely nothing about my true self?
For now, I'll just be content to see your smile, Naruto.
-Sasuke
AN: Sometimes, when I'm completely stuck on a passage, I start writing my AN. Other times, I just make a mental note of what I want to include in the AN - it kinds of motivates me to finish the chapter. Is that sad?
Anyway, I know it's been a while! For now, I'm just going to blame swine flu, school, and hail. This chapter was painful to write because I just couldn't start it, finish it, complete it.. It's so difficult to write once you stop for a month or so.
Critiques, suggestions, comments are greatly appreciated. If you give any feedback about Sasuke, especially, I will probably love you to death. He just does not want to be written, sometimes.
Thanks for reading! :)
