In the waiting room, Akamaru huddled against Kiba, ears low.
The darkest hour had passed. Slowly, Hinata regained consciousness, catching the motion of figures above. Her eyes snapped shut again, as a gasp escaped her lips.
One of the medics turned to her teammates. "Do any of you have an analgesic?"
Kiba zipped open his pouch. "Will this work?" He held up pellets of his sister's medicine.
The medic nodded, and Kiba rushed to give Hinata the painkillers.
Akamaru barked at the opened door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Kiba scrambled up, alarmed by the masked escorts. "What's wrong with Hinata? Tell us what's going on!"
The medical crew left with the ANBU, the door locked shut.
From the surveillance room, Hiruzen paused the footage, the curse seal frozen on screen. He turned his back. "Kurenai, contact Hyūga Hiashi."
After Kurenai disappeared, he looked to Anko. "Sasuke remains untouched."
"Checked him myself. Clean as a whistle."
"Keep it that way."
For a member of the Hyūga main family to be brandished with a juinjutsu, Konoha was going to have a paperwork field day. Last thing the village needed was to lose their last Uchiha too.
.
Five Konoha teams. One Suna. One Kusa. In the front stood the Hokage, flanked by proctors and jōnin instructors.
"Before we proceed to the next test," Hiruzen began, "I would like to explain the reason for this exam."
Everyone waited.
"On the surface, this exam is to select chūnin. But there is another reason: to showcase your village's power. In the third test, you will engage in one-on-one duels. Influential leaders from across the world will be watching, evaluating the strength of your countries based on your performances. As such, from now on, you will fight with an intent to kill."
"Wait, you want us to kill each other?" All eyes fell on Kiba.
Hiruzen closed his eyes. "These matches can often be the sole determinator of your home's economy and health. You cannot afford to show anything less than your greatest strength. And as you all should know by now, the greatest strength of a shinobi only arises in the face of death."
"I thought allied countries took this exam together to promote friendship," Tenten said, skeptical. "Won't killing each other and stealing clients further antagonism between the villages?"
"There is some misconception here. The nature of friendship in the shinobi world is not agreement. It is not love. It is simply a reduction of chaos, a type of balance... a type of peace." Hiruzen removed his pipe. "It is anything that serves as replacement for war."
Everyone quieted.
Sakura gave a bitter smile. Well, was this not pragmatic. A single tournament would decide promotions, advertise business, advance politics, and cleanse the gene pool all at once. Even better, the kids would do all the work.
Naruto raised his hand. "Oi, am I the only one who thinks this is fucked up?"
Anko chuckled. Of course it was. But then again, only someone fucked up would sign up for the exam.
One of the proctors flickered in front, a man with a sickly complexion. He greeted the contestants.
"Hello, I'm Gekkō Hayate, your referee. If there are no more questions, then we will start preliminaries. As Hokage-sama said, guests will be attending the third test, so too many uneventful fights will bore them. Those who don't feel confident are encouraged to quit now."
A number of hands rose.
Kiba looked at his teammate. Trembling, Hinata kept her gaze lowered. "Hinata…"
Hayate counted. Four. "Does anyone else wish to retire?"
"Hinata," Kiba repeated. "You're in no condition to fight. Go!"
Hinata bit her lips at the new burst of pain. Blinking back tears, she lifted her hand.
Hayate noted the fifth hand. "Akimichi Chōji, you're dismissed." Chōji gave an apologetic smile, head lowered as he exited the room. To the remaining contestants, Hayate nodded once. "Let us begin."
"Hinata! What are you-!"
Neji glanced aside to see Kiba whisper intensely to his teammate. Hinata shook her head in refusal, hand pressed against her neck.
"We have sixteen entrants left, or eight matches. Winners of each match will advance onto the third test." On the wall, a curtain lifted to reveal an electronic scoreboard. "Let's see who will be in our first match."
The screen flickered to life. One name after the next rolled by. The first name locked.
"Tch."
The second name locked. A nudge snapped Neji out of his thoughts. Tenten nodded toward the scoreboard.
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Hyūga Neji.
.
Against the railings, Naruto shouted, "Oi, you better not lose, Sasuke!" To Sakura, "Fifty bucks he loses."
Sakura withdrew a bill. "Hundred."
"Nah, two hundred!"
Sasuke closed his eyes, suppressing the urge to flip them the finger.
Across the arena, Neji scoffed. "Your teammates don't seem to have much confidence in you."
"Neither do yours," Sasuke retorted.
Lee threw a fifty into the gambling pile, only to be bashed in the head by his teacher. "What are you doing betting against your own teammate, Lee!"
"But Gai-sensei, don't you know the rule? Whoever you bet on will surely lose!" Lee showed his notebook, pointing to the passage as proof.
Tenten facepalmed when Gai popped open his own wallet.
Sticking out her tongue, Ino placed down her own bets. Naruto nearly dropped his wallet at the roll of cash. "Whoa, you have that much faith in freaky eyes?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd go against me, Ino."
As Ino joined her side by the railing, Sakura grinned. "Excited?"
Ino eyed the two contestants below in amusement. "Of course. The Uchiha and Hyūga are two of the oldest clans in Konoha, vessels of the purest of all shinobi blood." This was not an ordinary tournament fight; it was a battle for honor.
Below, Hayate spared the two sides a glance. "Remember, you fight until one of you is dead. The fight will also stop if you forfeit, or if one side is rendered incapable." He leaped back. "Begin!"
In one fluid motion, Neji shifted his body into stance.
Sasuke reached for his weapons pouch. According to their intel, his opponent was a short range fighter. As long as he kept at a distance, he would have the advantage.
He flung three shuriken.
They dropped to the ground. Neji smirked, unraveling to his initial form.
Scowling, Sasuke withdrew eight more shuriken, one between each finger.
Tenten smiled, watching all eight get sent awry. It was useless. Neji's kaiten could repel all projectiles. But that did not seem to discourage the Uchiha boy, as he sent more shuriken, without break, until the walls and floors were littered by metal.
Sasuke waited for the precise moment the kaiten began to lose momentum. He pulled.
Thin lines crisscrossed from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, the center of one shuriken to the next. Neji halted mid-stance, in the free spaces between a web of razor sharp wire.
Uh-oh. Sakura backed into the wall, shielding her face from the upcoming fireball. The dojo roasted like an oven, the heat strong enough to burn her skin, ignite her clothes.
Sasuke exhaled, wisps of smoke escaping from his mouth.
Kankurō sweated at the charred walls and floors. What a monster. Both of them.
"Was that it?"
Neji held up Sasuke's last shuriken, still glowing orange at the edges. Every wire lied flat at his feet.
Sasuke tensed. Not a single burn, and he even foresaw the weapon hidden in the katon. How-
Sasuke escaped a strike from behind, but not the shockwave. He landed on a crouch, ignoring the blood at the back of his throat.
Neji's clone lowered his palm. "No wonder the Uchiha are going extinct."
A circle glowed on the floor.
"Also, you're in range," the real Neji said.
Tenten held her breath. It was one thing to take a match seriously. But Eight Trigrams was overkill and Neji knew that. He was not just in a bad mood, he was pissed.
It was over. Once the Eight Trigrams started, no taijutsu in the world could counter it. Even at his speed, Lee cannot block Neji's attack. He-
Naruto clutched the railings. "SASUKE!"
The arena exploded.
Hiruzen closed his eyes as the remaining ceiling collapsed, nothing but pieces of dangling pipes and wire. Beside him, Anko threw her fists up. Fuck proctor neutrality, "WHOO! Now that's how you fight! You go chew up that pretty ass!"
From the balcony, Orochimaru watched the insignia of the Uchiha rise from the dust. His tongue rolled over his teeth, smile threatening to tear the face of his disguise. Perhaps he had chosen wrong after all.
Sasuke straightened up, face burnt black, splashed with red. Metal, wood, and ceramic weaved down his body, growing out of his flesh like vines.
A hand shot up from the pile of debris.
Neji clutched the wound on his stomach, arm trembling. Had he not shielded his body in chakra, the explosion would have killed him. Not that he wasn't already good as dead. Something warm was dripping down from his right eye. The eye he could no longer see from. The one that might not be there anymore.
The one time Neji did not hold up his defense was during his offense, and the Uchiha took advantage of it. By using a tag to blow himself up.
Sasuke reached into his weapons pouch for the last time. Only three kunai remained.
He could not help but chuckle. So that was how it was going to be.
"Oh look, it's Sasuke-kun." A group of Academy students had stopped on the road, examining the school training ground with intrigue. "What do you think he's doing?"
"Something cool, I bet!"
Sasuke ignored their giggles as they left, his eyes set on the target before him. Sweat trailed down his neck. He took a minute to steady his breath, then jumped.
The sun had angled to dusk when Sasuke landed on the grass for the nth time. He suppressed the raw anger building in his chest as yanked his kunai out from the dirt.
Then, he jumped and threw it again. And again. And again.
Metal clicked in the air. One landed further than the others, planted at the root of a tree. Sasuke pretended not to notice his audience when he pulled it out. Many people had walked by, but one spectator remained, fingers looped around the metal chain of the fence.
"Sakura-chan, there you are!"
Sakura cringed, then shrunk in defeat, as a final student ran down the road. "Alright, I'm so pumped! Let's DO this!" Naruto smiled goofily, until he noticed Sasuke's figure beyond the fence. His smile dropped into a scowl.
Naruto grabbed Sakura by the wrist. "Come on, let's go."
"Don't touch me!" Sakura pulled free, as if his touch was acid. Nonetheless, she began to follow and-
"You can't hit the target from behind."
It was not even a whisper, more akin to a croak. Sasuke made no move to suggest he heard, but she continued.
"One-point trajectory, two-points, three… it doesn't matter how many kunai you use. It's mathematically impossible." With that, she left.
The next day, Sasuke practiced in the same spot. Sakura waited for Naruto at the same spot.
The following day passed. Then the week.
The bandages around his hand were torn, his palm bleeding. Sasuke clutched the handle of his kunai harder. Finally, without looking up, "I saw it done."
Sakura's eyes darted up from her notebook in surprise.
"It was done." He threw the kunai into the ground.
Sakura kept her silence. Sasuke was retrieving his weapons when a sheet of paper stuck through the chain fence.
On the paper were trigonometric diagrams, and proofs that Sasuke did not pretend to understand.
"It's impossible," she said softly. "You can use one kunai to redirect another midair. But you can't use it to hit that angle."
The paper crumpled. Once the frustration and humiliation and every other emotion that had become associated with him bubbled over, Sasuke asked, "Then how did he do it. Exactly how do you accomplish the impossible?"
He did not expect her to have an answer.
The month after, Sakura no longer waited by the fence. Sasuke still did his target practice, but moved on from attempting a reverse hit.
It was in autumn, when red and gold had blanketed every crevice of the street, that he saw her there again. She had no books this time, no backpack. In her hands was a sheet of notebook paper.
"You don't accomplish the impossible," she answered.
He looked at the revised diagrams. Amidst all the equations was a dotted arrow, bouncing off at an angle and straight towards the X.
"You cheat," she said. "The person who did it… he cheated."
How do you cheat?
Launch the first kunai at eye point. Flicker up, Peak. Launch second kunai, range. Launch third kunai, down. Second and third meet at 85 and 35 degrees. Two objects charged with repulsive chakra, and ricochet.
Neji lowered the kunai caught in his grip. He bitterly chuckled, as cold metal protruded from the back of his neck. He fell.
Sasuke closed his eyes.
He had stood on his side of the fence.
Hey, thanks.
But there was Naruto's call again, and she was already gone. He was not even sure the words ever escaped his lips.
.
Hayate waited. Then, he coughed. "Since it appears both sides are down and unconscious, I'm afraid I must declare a double knock-out."
"WHAT?"
The medical crew gathered Neji and Sasuke's body from the debris. Anko grinned, then flickered out. Gai patted Lee on the shoulder, before he disappeared too.
Ino took her money out from the gambling pile. "So close," she teased Sakura. "Had he only stood up for two more seconds, you'd have won."
Meanwhile, the proctor announced a change in location. With the current dojo destroyed, they would continue matches in the underground arena. It was smaller than the first, with a lower ceiling and no balconies. Instead, all spectators watched from the adjacent monitoring room, cut off by a pane of glass.
"This is our last room, so please be mindful of surrounding damage," Hayate said. He motioned towards a screen. As with the scoreboard, names began to spin.
Shikamaru felt the sweat down his neck. This can't be good.
Nara Shikamaru vs. Rock Lee.
In the arena, Lee did stretches. Tenten glanced at the girl approaching her. The girl had on a pleasant countenance, hand extended. "Ano, Tenten-san, is it?"
"Sakura-san." Tenten moved to give her room. Both turned to the second match contestants.
"You think Lee-san will be okay?"
"What, is there something to worry about?"
Sakura paused. "I guess not. Shikamaru is excellent, but Lee-san is impressive too." One displayed the highest caliber in mental strength; the other physical. "They're both geniuses."
At that word, Tenten quieted. She remembered the time she saw Lee listless, his head pressed against the bark of a tree, knuckles raw. His enthusiasm had sounded forced, and the redness around his eyes had not escape her notice.
"Sakura-san, I think to bank Lee's skills on 'genius' is plain insulting." At Sakura's expression, Tenten smiled. "I don't know about that Nara guy, but Lee did not get his abilities delivered on a silver platter. He worked to get where he is. And yes, he is very impressive."
Sakura had not the chance to blink when there was a movement in her peripheral.
"Winner, Rock Lee."
Asuma bit his cigarette, wincing at the crater where Shikamaru lied unconscious. He ran a finger through his hair and accompanied the medics down to the ER. To be fair, Shikamaru never stood a chance against Gai's student. It did not matter how how many brilliant strategies you come up with, if your opponent can move faster than you can react.
Sakura swallowed, before planting on her brightest smile. "Congratulations!"
Lee sent her a thumbs up. Tenten shielded herself from the love-fest, turning to the screen instead.
Kankurō vs. Tenten.
.
Kankurō set down his puppet. Well, wasn't this his lucky day. No freaky eyes or thick-brow. The girl was the weakest link in their team.
Tenten eyed the puppet. A dagger was hidden in one of its wrists, though she doubted that it would be the only surprise.
"Begin!"
Karasu burst to life, three eyes rolled and teeth clattering. The humanoid puppet floated, then dived toward the kunoichi.
Tenten stripped open her scroll, ready to counter when smoke blinded her vision. The first dagger missed her head by a hair, as did the second and third. The smoke cleared to find her in the swallow stance, all six fist-daggers embedded in the ceiling, floors, and walls.
As Kankurō thought. Like her teammates, this girl was trained with martial arts instincts. Still, he would like to see her avoid this.
Each of Karasu's six fists jolted awake, shooting senbon from every direction.
From her stance, Tenten twisted and kicked herself up in a spin. The senbon flew past the spaces between her body.
Sakura sweated, watching one blurry dance of coils and loops, pivot and spin, expansion and crouch, as Tenten dropped to her palm. That's crazy, that's… She turned to Lee. That's not martial arts, is it?
Lee smiled. Of course not. Tenten was often mistaken for a martial artist, but her style was notably different. Her body was never her core, but another accessory amongst many.
Tenten was not trained in martial arts; she was trained in acrobatics.
Twin scrolls spiraled the air, unleashing a storm of kunai. Tenten grinned. Her opponent can save his puppet, or he can protect himself, but not both.
Kankurō chose the latter option. He leaped out of range, while Karasu fell immobilized, a kunai stabbed in each joint.
Tenten landed on her feet with a soft thud. "Sorry to say I've disabled your puppet's functions, ne?"
It was not a buff. No matter how he tugged, his traps were jammed. Konoha had definitely upped their game since the last war.
But if she insisted on being a performer, then she could be his lovely assistant. A second puppet hovered behind her shoulder. Before Tenten could escape, chakra strings yanked her body backwards. A series of clicks, and the shell of Kuroari locked close, trapping her inside its barrel body.
Meanwhile, Karasu disassembled. The head and each limb unsheathed to reveal a blade, hovering three-sixty above. They attacked.
Seven stabs, each down to the hilt. The barrel stopped moving.
Lee pressed against the glass. "Tenten!"
Kankurō smirked. "Hey proctor, I win."
His smirk fell when Hayate lazily looked behind him. Kankurō whipped around to see smoke in the place of his puppets.
Amidst the smoke, Tenten held up her summoning scroll. On the parchment were two additional insignia in ink.
Sakura leaned forward, eyes sharp. Incredible. To seal away the puppet from the inside, and remove the both opponent's offense and defense in one go.
"Looks like you're out of ammo," Tenten said with a smile. "Why don't you forfeit?"
Temari grit her teeth. This was a bad match up. A fūton user like herself would have the advantage, but Kankurō was a puppeteer. A puppet was a weapon, and his opponent was clearly an expert in weaponry.
"Come on, forfeit," she mumbled under her breath. Don't keep picking fights with the wrong people...
"Gaara, stop!"
A blast of wind had scattered the sand particles across the courtyard. Temari knelt down besides Kankurō, while Gaara stared at them both with dead eyes. Temari shook at the blood on her palm. Her brother's blood.
"Gaara, this is going too far," she hissed.
Gaara turned his back. "He's trash." He stated it as fact. "Stop protecting trash."
After Gaara left, Temari hardened.
"You provoked him again, didn't you?" She grabbed Kankurō by the hair. "How stupid can you get. He will kill you, you understand. One day, I won't be here, and he will kill you, all because you can't keep your stupid head down." She tossed him back down.
"I never asked for your help!" Kankurō bumped shoulders as he ran, eyes averted.
He refused to let himself cry.
Kankurō had yet to exit the corridor, when he caught felt the brush of sand against his ankle. His eyes widened. N-No... Nonono-
Without looking back, he ran toward the adjacent hall and threw his weight against the door. He slammed close the second and third door too, then listened.
At first, there was nothing. But then, a hiss. Nothing more than a shift of air, but the sound was enough to drain the blood from his face.
He backed one step after another as sand crawled from under the crack of the door. Temari's words hit him, and the tears he fought to hold back fell down his cheek.
Nē-san… nē-san, help me, please help me, Gaara's- A touch to his shoulder.
Kankurō jumped, sending the object falling with a wooden clank. From the cloth bundle on the floor peeked a wooden, human-like hand. It was a puppet. He looked up and saw rows upon rows of more puppets. Each were held up the neck by a noose, in sick mockery of execution hangings.
"This room is forbidden to outsiders."
Kankurō jumped again, then unwound. At the door was not Gaara, but an old woman.
He moved his mouth to make an intelligible reply. "I'm the Kazekage's son."
"And I don't give a possum's ass." The puppet on the floor sprung to life, returning itself back on the rack.
Fascinated, Kankurō reached out a hand, only for the puppet to slap him away.
"Get out."
"But-"
Kankurō felt his body stiffen, before his legs began to awkwardly march towards the exit. Only until the door slammed behind him did his muscles loosen.
"... hag," Kankurō grumbled.
Droplets of sweat spotted the ground.
"Again."
Temari rose from her knees, inhaled once, and-
Every target sliced to shreds. Her mentors watched, unfazed as the wind flew by their faces, sharp enough to sever a few strands of grey hair.
"Again."
While his sister performed the scissor dance, Kankurō lied against the wall, peeling away at a wood block with his carving knife. He strung a piece of metal coil between the two finished pieces, then connected the tips of his fingers to each end.
He let his creation drop. A smile broke from his lips when it floated midair, the joint bending back and forth. So that was how that hag did it...
"What are you doing," Temari asked, wiping her neck with a towel.
Kankurō hid his work. "Nothing."
The following week, Sukoshi danced on Kankurō's bed, cartwheeling once before ending with a bow. His head nudged up to reveal a laughing smile. "Booyah!" The figure tapped Kankurō's palm in a high five.
At the breakfast table, Temari was accepting a cup of tea from their house servant when Gaara caught a peek of something behind Kankurō's shoulder.
"You have something."
Temari nearly choked on her okonomiyaki. The last time they broke their routine silence, the cat lost its head. "What are you talking about, Gaara," she asked, as calm as her tone could allow.
Gaara did not look at her. "You have something," he repeated, eyes locked on Kankurō.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kankurō mumbled. The figure behind his shoulder had disappeared.
It reappeared again in the hallway, as Kankurō followed Temari to the dojo. Gaara narrowed his eyes at the figure popping out of Kankurō's hood. Its head rotated, replacing its smile with a sneer, tongue stuck out.
The next day, Temari found herself restraining her brother. Fresh tears fell down his face.
"I'll kill you, I'll KILL-" Kankurō screamed through Temari's sleeve.
Gaara stared at the mutilated figure on the floor, nothing but wooden splinters and a cracked head, split from one eye down to the mouth.
Temari sighed when she found Kankurō still on the floor hours later. "Come on, you have to eat."
All the splinters had been carefully brushed into a pile, Kankurō's fingers trembling as he tried to glue the pieces together. It did not work. Sukoshi lied dead, just like everything else Gaara ever touched.
Her patience wore thin, and she yanked him up by the shoulder. "It's a doll," she hissed. "Build yourself another one, if you like it that bad."
She did not expect to receive the look of menace. Without warning, Kankurō kicked the pile, scattering the pieces in all directions. The half-glued assembly slammed into the wall, falling apart a second time.
"Kankurō, you're being dramatic-"
"Shut up, bitch."
His head snapped to the side. Temari lowered her hand, jaws locked.
That night, Kankurō's desk was covered by wood chips and dust. He dipped his brush in ink and finished the final stroke. Unlike Sukoshi, Gokegumo was a nasty thing, fifteen centimeters upright, eight appendages, and the meanest face Kankurō could imagine. The only thing missing now was the poison.
Gaara may not have to sleep, but he still has to eat. Gokegumo would crawl into the kitchen quarters and add a little extra in the monster's next breakfast.
"Whatever you're thinking, it's probably stupid."
Kankurō froze, knelt before a cabinet, picklock in hand.
Also in the apothecary room was the old woman from before. She worked at the table, unnoticed, shearing the stem of a plant.
Her hands were still focused on the plant when Gokegumo jumped from his back.
"You made this?" Gokegumo rotated in the air, each of its limbs in a shimmy. "What, out to assassinate the Kazekage?"
Kankurō pulled Gokegumo back to him. "What, no. I told you, I'm his son."
"Glad to see family's off limits."
At his silence, she cackled. "I underestimated you. Thought you were stupid, but not that stupid."
"You don't understand. I don't have a family," he hissed. What he had was a portrait of the village leader, a cold-blooded prodigy, and a monster nightmare, a nightmare that killed their mother, killed their uncle, killed their friends, and terrorized him night and day for the past seven years of his life. Out of the entire house of freaks, Kankurō was the only one who could even be considered a normal person.
He stopped mid-speech to see the old woman limp, head hung low. The room was silent.
What- She isn't... she couldn't be dea-
He fell back against the cabinet when her head sprung up. She cackled again. "Sorry, zoned out on your self-pity monologue there." With that, she got up from her stool, plant returned to its shelf.
"I-"
"Yes, yes, you, the normal person, sneaking around past midnight, trying to lockpick a cabinet of the deadliest poisons of Sunagakure, so you can carry out some half-assed plan to kill your brother. With a wooden cockroach."
"It's not a cockroach, it's a-"
"It's a cockroach."
Before she could leave, he stood up. "You're not going to stop me?"
"Does it look like I care."
The door slid close, leaving Kankurō alone with his puppet. The longer he looked at it, the less viscous it looked. The drop of its mouth shifted from a scream to a grimace, then to a cry. It really did look like a cockroach, destined to cower in the shadow of others.
He would end up wondering every day. Had he gone through with it when he had the chance. Had he ever stood ground. Ever fought back. How life would have been different, how he would have been different.
Kankurō's shoulders shook. "Like hell I'm giving up!"
Temari closed her eyes. "Kankurō, you fool…"
Tenten rolled back up her scroll while her opponent lied prone, his third and final puppet stabbed into his own chest. She did give him the chance to forfeit.
"Winner, Tenten."
The medic paused as he rolled Kankurō's body onto the stretcher.
"Excuse me, may we speak to the instructor of the defeated contestant?"
Baki approached the door. "What's wrong."
The medic lowered his head. "A moment of your time."
Baki exchanged a glance with Temari, who nodded in response. It was fine. She would keep Gaara under control in his absence.
As Baki followed the medic down to the ER, the screen rolled through names for the fourth match.
Yakushi Kabuto vs. Hyūga Hinata.
.
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he fought hard to not jerk at the face peering down on him.
"Welcome back."
Anko stopped his struggles with the grab of a coil. All his nerves screamed at once, his body paralyzed.
His head sank back onto the pillow. He swallowed the blood in his mouth. "Will I die."
"Eventually," she said, toying with the rusty coil impaled in his abdomen. "But not today. Got some crazy guardian angel protecting you or something, because your suicide stunt should have removed a lot more you than a few fingers."
"How many fingers."
White had washed over his face, yet the boy still insisted on a tough facade. So she entertained him. "Four." She dangled a plastic bag in his face, then laughed at his reaction. She dropped the fingers back in the ice bucket. "Relax, they're even not the important ones!"
"This though," she said, stroking the coil. "Hm, sorry, but you're going to be shitting iron for the next decade."
Without warning, she yanked the coil out of his body. Sasuke's back arched. A choked noise escaped his throat.
The coil hit into the floor with a klang, blood splattered against the floor tiles.
To steady his convulsions, her fingers raked through his hair, pinning his head back.
"I said, relax." Her words had a hypnotic effect. His back lowered onto the sheets, muscles untensed.
The wound on his stomach had already mended itself. Hazily, Sasuke glanced down to see white snakes wrapped around his arms, fangs sunk into the veins of his wrist.
"Listen, the docs will have their turn to do their thing. Heal you properly and shit. But right now, you and I, we've got business." She cut straight to the point. "You fought a man with snake voodoo like me?"
"Wh-"
"He was Orochimaru."
His brain was wired to be quick. Anko appreciated that. "The san-"
"The sannin, yes. Evil. Slightly cuckoo. And after your virgin ass."
"I-"
"You fit his M.O. to a tee. Pretty, young orphan boy. Talented. Rare. Emotionally susceptible. The only reason he hasn't gotten you yet is because another prey diverted his attention."
"... the Hyūga girl."
"Want to hazard a guess why?"
It was obvious why. The Byakugan. Without the Byakugan, their group would have lost that day. Her presence had been crucial.
"Yeah, did I also mention he has a fetish for kekkei genkai."
Sasuke kept silent. He did not have the Sharingan yet, but they both knew it was only a matter of time. He had been the son of the clan head of the Uchiha. There was no blood purer.
"So I'm the next target."
A new snake slithered out from her sleeve, thicker than the others. "Yes and no. Orochimaru wants to see your Sharingan first. Make sure you're worth his trouble." The snake wrapped itself across Sasuke's torso. Anko smiled. "And this is where I come in, to make sure that you're not."
The implications of her words sunk in. He struggled against his restraints. "No."
"No?"
"No." His voice was absolute. There was no chance he was letting Anko tamper with his eyes. Orochimaru or not, he was not going to deny his own heritage.
Oh boy. She got herself a stubborn one. If Sasuke refused, then guess she had no choice but to respect his wishes and-
Sasuke's pupils contracted. She chuckled as she removed her fangs from his neck, a finger to wipe the venom from her lips.
The juinjutsu had already taken hold, inscriptions coursing up to his face and wrapping around his eyes.
In response to his screams, she patted his head. "Don't worry, first time's always uncomfortable, but soon it'll start feeling good."
.
A second scream filled the arena. More blood dripped onto the floor.
Kiba pounded on the glass. "Hinata!" His hand slid down. "Why doesn't she quit?"
Shino watched the buckle of her knees, the terror reflected in her eyes. It was not that she did not want to. She can't. Someone was controlling her, making her dance like a marionette.
Only, it was not to make her lose. It was to make her win.
The seal at her neck burst to life, blossoming along her chakra pathways, darkening the outside edges of her sclera. Her cries were cut off, replaced by a solemn silence.
Her head rose.
Kabuto found himself slammed into the opposite wall, lungs suffering from collapse. While he knelt, wheezing, Hinata came forth, more chakra surging to her palm.
Her will was weak. It offered no resistance to Orochimaru's influence. Her body, though, was strong. Kabuto forced himself to move, rolling away as the wall behind him cratered. Along his arms and legs were darkened spots, where his tenketsu had been damaged.
His eyes narrowed at the pane of glass. A test of faith, is it?
"Holy fuck!" Naruto dropped his jaw at the eruption of floor tiles, the chakra in the air bursting. "Four-eyes is done for."
Kabuto spat out the blood from his mouth. Orochimaru was not leaving him a choice; he would die at this rate.
Hiruzen eyed the soldier pill, then the glow of a chakra scalpel. "A genin with that level of medical jutsu?" He glanced over to Ibiki. "Who is he?"
Ibiki flipped through his clipboard. "Does the Battle of Bellflower Pass ring any bell?"
Hiruzen hid his surprise. Interesting, this was one of Nonō's.
In the arena, Kabuto breathed heavily as he steadied his foot, glasses sliding down his nose. Both of Hinata's arms fell limp at her side, tendons sliced. She charged. Swivel, grab, cut, fall, jab, hold, spin, push.
Both bodies flew to opposite sides of the arena.
End.
Well done, doll, well done. Orochimaru lifted his finger, and the curse mark retreated. Kiba banged on the glass, as Hayate announced another double knock-out.
.
Baki paled at spread of calcification across Kankurō's chest. The medic presented him the wooden puppet, approximately fifteen centimeters with eight appendages.
"The stab wound from this was not fatal." The medic showed him the blade. "But this poison..."
Inside the belly of the puppet was a liquid with three agents. The first was caused immediate paralysis. That, Konoha had the antidote. The second, an analgesic. This too, they could counter. It was the third that they had no cure for, a toxin unknown to Konoha.
"Perhaps a shinobi of Sunagakure would be more educated on this."
As they spoke, more human tissue hardened, the ashen discolor creeping up centimeter by centimeter.
.
Another fragment of metal fell onto the platter, before the surgeon switched to a scissor.
Gai froze at body on the table, covered by a sheet soaked in red. An arm dangled off its edge, bent at an unnatural angle.
"Neji!"
"Please, we require you to wait outside the ER."
"Neji! Will he be alright? Will he live?" Gai demanded.
"Please, wait outside," the medic repeated, cold.
.
Anko paused, before scooping up the next bite of her pudding.
"Too late, Orochimaru," she told the figure by the door. "He already knows all about your wrinkly ass."
.
In the hallway, Asuma lit another cigarette. He watched two more bodies get rushed to the ER in stretchers.
"These kids are really at it," he mumbled, then sighed at Gai's despondent expression.
"Asuma-san."
"Hm?" Asuma turned to see the medic opening the door to him. Inside, Shikamaru sat upright, forehead bandaged.
"Your student will be fine. The attack against him was specifically a non-damaging move. He suffers nothing more than a minor concussion."
Asuma had to check his hearing. Pacifistic martial arts? That type of fighting ethics was horrendously outdated, as were the teachers who taught them.
And yet, he found himself rubbing his neck, facing Gai with unspoken gratitude. Gai kept his head lowered, tears streaming as he gave a thumbs up.
While Gai waited outside the ER for Neji, Asuma descended down the stairs for the underground arena.
His hand had yet to touch the doorknob when he heard a blood-curdling scream.
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
Sakura screamed again, hysterical. Hair had fallen wild over her face, eyes never leaving the glass as she fought to reach it. It took the combined efforts of Naruto and Lee to restrain her thrashing and pull her outside.
Asuma froze at the sight of the arena, a boy standing before a twist of sand, fabric, and limbs. Pieces of white and pink bubbled in red-black puddles of blood, the semblance of human fingers reaching in the direction of the glass.
It took all of Asuma's willpower to look at the names on the screen. His cigarette fell.
Gaara vs. Yamanaka Ino.