Anko leaned back in her chair. "You should be flattered, Orochimaru," she said, licking her spoon. "I just can't stop using those forbidden techniques of yours."
Orochimaru smiled through the skin of his disguise. "My dear Anko, isn't playing bodyguard a bit much? Even if I wanted Sasuke-kun to come with me, I would let him do it of his own will."
"What, after you brainwash him?"
"Can one brainwash with the truth? I just want to tell him the truth."
Orochimaru paced by the bed, his fingers tracing along the edge. He gave the unconscious boy an indulgent look. "I think he would be interested to know. Like that one story, of how you know his b-"
He caught her spoon mid-air. "I hit a nerve."
"Yeah, the one that controls my tolerance for bullshit." Anko flipped a dagger between her fingers, the amusement in her eyes gone grim. "Get this clear, Orochimaru. I never intended any of that shit to happen."
"Of course, I would not dare imply. My Anko is only of good intentions." His smile deepened. "So many good intentions, yet so many dead."
Chuckling, he distanced away before Anko got hasty with her dagger. The ANBU were closing in. The Hokage had been alerted. He knew when he had overstayed his welcome.
But first, a gift. He placed on the windowsill a bottle, amber glass and wax-sealed. Whether or not it would be used, however, was Anko's choice.
"We all know about the road paved with good intentions." He paused by the doorway. "Aren't you ever curious where the road paved with bad intentions may lead…?"
.
On the bed lied a blackened corpse, shriveled to stone. A white cloth covered the face.
"I'm sorry."
Baki was still numb when he returned underground. But he only escaped one hell and entered another, as Gaara stood center stage in the monitoring room, the remaining contestants scattered to the periphery. A smile contorted his features, his shoulders still shaking in laughter. The smell of iron was sharp.
By the time Baki caught sight of Temari, she had already caught sight of his own expression. It told her everything she needed to know. She pushed open the door to the arena and left without another word.
Temari vs. Inuzuka Kiba.
Temari did not play games. Her opponent was fast, charging with animalistic speed. His four-legs technique glued him to the ground, his posture balanced. She would not waste her chakra on a fūton.
Akamaru's fur rose, as a new presence entered the arena, too fast for the senses to detect. Wind cut behind him, a flash of metal and animalistic fangs.
"Akamaru!"
Akamaru uncoiled to see Kiba's arms wrapped around him. Kiba smiled. "Thank gods you're okay."
Akamaru barked in affirmation, then waited for his next commands. Only, Kiba did not move. Akamaru could smell the wound on Kiba, but nudged his nose to encourage him to keep fighting anyway. That was what ninken were taught. To keep fighting.
Kiba still did not move.
Temari's weasel summon returned to her side, its sickle dripping with color. After she was declared the winner, she released Kamatari and left the room.
When the door opened again, it was not the medics but the cleaning crew, dressed in their protective suits and gas masks, wheeling in a plastic-lined barrel.
They found a dog next to one-half of a hooded kid. The other half, they grabbed by the feet and tossed into the barrel. It squished the contents already inside, the purple fabric and blonde hairs and and pink-white cartilage, bubbling into one soup.
None of the workers paid any attention to the dog.
Shino averted his eyes from the glass. Most of the other contestants did too.
In the hallways, Naruto and Lee listened to a faint sound echo off the walls. It was howling, each cry louder than the last. Naruto recognized the sound as Akamaru's, though he had never heard Kiba's dog make such a noise.
Karin snapped shut her eyes, covering both ears in hopes of blocking out the noise.
On the opposite side of the village, Hana finished the final layer of bandage on a youngling ninken. "Ah, there you go."
She was stowing away her medical kit when the ninken began to howl.
"Hm? What's wrong?" She knelt by the puppy, a bowl of water in hand, but the puppy only continued to howl in the direction of the window. She stepped outside and froze. Lined in the courtyard, all the dogs gave the same mournful howl.
The bowl in her hands dropped.
.
"I am sorry, Hiashi-sama will not be available today."
"Did you tell him that the Hokage sent me," Kurenai said.
The Hyūga guard pursed his lips, before disappearing beyond the gate once more.
Kurenai fought back a sigh, turning toward the evening sky. The preliminaries must be coming to a close by now. She thought of her students, and could not help but feel a knot of unease.
On the screen, the same four names spun.
The first name locked. After the second name locked, Tenten stepped into the hallways.
Sakura was still huddled against the wall, head cradled in her arms. At least her screams were brought under control, quiet except for the occasional sharp inhale. Her public display earlier had cost her though. The superiors had no tolerance for a kunoichi who cannot control her own emotions. Other contestants would also take advantage of this weakness.
Tenten did not want to get involved, but at the same time, could not help but feel bad.
"Tenten?" Lee asked when Tenten offered a bamboo cup of water.
Sakura did not take it. She did not even look at it. Fear and paranoia had taken over, and so Tenten handed the cup over to Lee in hopes he had a better end of her trust.
"The final two matches have been determined." Tenten glanced at Naruto. "You should go take a look at the screen."
Aburame Shino vs. Karin.
.
In the arena, Karin bit her knuckles, trying to ignore the insects crawling down her collar, up her legs, buzzing in her ear. She refused to scream.
Shino kept his hands pocketed, as her entire body was coated in black.
"You cannot run. Two more minutes, and you'll die of chakra deficiency." His peered at her through his shades. "It is recommended you forfeit."
Karin only bit herself harder, free hand blindly searching her bag. She found it.
Taking one deep breath, she threw her kemuridama.
Hayate stepped back from the smoke bomb, before his eyes widened and he flickered out the arena. He landed in the monitoring room, coughing until he dropped to his knees.
Ibiki lowered his clipboard. "What's going on, Hayate-san?"
Hayate only coughed some more, blood leaking through the cracks of his fingers, then collapsed.
Ibiki reacted first. "Cut off all ventilation to the arena!" he barked. "That gas is toxic!"
While the instructors set up a barrier around the arena, Ibiki called for a medic on his mic. The medic paused in the middle of her test for vitals. "He's dead."
"What!"
Before the medic could explain, her eyes rolled up and she collapsed on top of Hayate's body. Panic was ready to grip the room until Hiruzen completed his seals, and both corpses were encapsulated by an earthen coffin.
"I recognize this now." Hiruzen lowered his hands. "Though, I'd never thought I'd see the Perfume of Death make an appearance in a chūnin exam."
"Perfume of Death?" Ibiki asked.
"Many shinobi nations had searched for it during the War. It is rumored that a smell of its scent brings instant death. This kunoichi must have mixed the perfume in with her kemuridama."
"Oi, in that case, shouldn't we pull them out of there?!"
All eyes landed on Naruto. He looked at each in return, to encourage some type of consensus within the room.
Only, there already was a consensus. The adults pretended to be deaf to his outburst. Only Ibiki bothered to deign him with a response. "Poison is as viable as a battle strategy as any other. The rules remain. The match will continue until one party forfeits, is rendered incapable, or is dead."
When Hiruzen made no objections, Naruto stared through the glass. The two contestants stood unmoving amidst a black haze, deadlocked. Both had understood the gravity of the situation, neither side daring to risk their breath.
"Forfeit? They can't talk- they can't breathe! How can they forfeit!" Naruto gestured toward the glass. "Don't you see this match is over? Why is it necessary to drag it out any longer? Just make it a tie, already!"
It was no use. He was alone in his opinion. And anyone who could have agreed with him, would have agreed with him, was already gone. Sasuke was gone. Team 8 was gone. Team 10 was gone. Their teachers were gone. His teacher was gone. One by one, they were all gone.
Naruto never realized how empty the room had become until now.
The seconds stretched on.
Naruto wordlessly watched the two contestants stand, until one fell.
The medical crew entered in masks. One turned over the Shino's corpse, blanketed by a field of dead insects. Another ran toward the upright figure, only to find her head dropped low.
Upon closer inspection, the medic found a handkerchief fastened tightly around her nose and mouth, hands and body bound by wire, dangled off from the ceiling. Her pose was just an illusion. The girl had lost consciousness long ago.
Ibiki advanced her on a technicality. If only to avoid a tie. The tie Naruto shouted at him to declare moments prior.
In the end, it was Naruto's turn to stand in the arena.
He stared at the ruined stonework, fingerpainted red by all those who came before him. There was a smell in the air, but it was not perfume. Just terror. Just pain. Just tears.
Naruto wondered if he was imagining it, when he heard them, these contestants. From today, from the years before, the screams of the thousands of children who had perished within this forest, inside the walls of this tower, on this arena. Their cries were deafening his ear, their cold hands passing through his back. He had to be imagining it.
But then, he looked at Sakura.
And that was when he knew that he was not imagining it. This was their fate, and it was all very, very real.
Uzumaki Naruto vs. Haruno Sakura.
.
Orochimaru was walking past one pillar after another, transitioning from light to shadow to light, when his movements slowed, then stopped. Beyond the curved roof of the temple, the sky had changed, sun angled. Leaves were swirling, his hair alive in the air.
A new wind, he realized, different from the ones decades prior. A wind that was gaining momentum, fast and strong.
The birds lifted for the skies.
No, not just a wind. Orochimaru smiled as he joined Kabuto in the shadow. A storm was brewing.
.
Sasuke curled each of his fingers, all ten, reattached with no stitch or scar in sight.
An amber bottle lied open on the medicine cart, contents empty.
The medic set down his clipboard down, pleased by the results. "You were fortunate that your sensei had left you this. The venom of a King White Snake is one of the rarest, most potent panacea known to mankind. You should be free to go tomorrow."
The lights to the ER had dimmed, as Gai stood outside weeping. The medic clutched his shoulder.
"Normally an explosion from that distance would have been unsurvivable, but your student is remarkably talented. It appears he released chakra from his tenketsu, creating a body shield that redirected all the debris to non-fatal areas. We've even managed to save his eye. Neji-kun is on his way to a full recovery."
"Thank you," Gai sobbed. "Thank you, thank you."
Neji glanced over the side of his pillow. Beyond the curtain, a medic was with the head of the Hyūga. Hiashi left halfway through the diagnosis without a word. He never stopped by Neji's bed, never even acknowledged he was there.
And oddly enough, Neji did not care. He closed his eyes, without anger, without bitterness, just a tension in his chest that eased the moment he heard the medic say Hinata would be okay.
The travel from Konohagakure to Sunagakure would take several days. On their journey, Baki carried Kankurō's body, wrapped in the same way Kankurō used to carry his own puppets. At Baki's waist was a scroll. The day prior, Tenten had returned both puppets to them in a surprising display of diplomacy.
The medics had also offered to return Kankurō's own creation, though Temari refused to spare it a glance. Baki was not surprised. Temari did not cling to the past.
Baki was surprised, however, when Gaara did accept it. Someone about Gaara's expression had been off when the spidery puppet landed in his hands, something about the way he looked at it that was different from his normal mask of indifference. It was not glee. Nor was it sadness.
Sakura was the first person to leave the funeral. It was a private event for the Yamanaka family, and she had overstayed her welcome. As she closed the door to her apartment, she caught sight of the spathiphyllum peeking from Naruto's side of the kitchen. Her fingers trailed down the white petals a lily, only to start shaking again.
Naruto lugged home the groceries. They had a month until the final tournament. Until then, Anko called off all missions. Instead, they were to use this time to get some rest and eat proper food. Neither he nor Sakura had cooked since their Academy days though, so Naruto spent most of the time cleaning pots and rummaging for utensils.
"Sakura-chan." He knocked on her bedroom door. "I made us miso soup. Thick-brow also brought you some curry, if you want it."
No response.
He gave a defeated sigh, setting the tray down by her door. Beside the tray, he placed down a plastic bag with a container of warm curry.
By the next morning, the food was still untouched. Wordlessly, Naruto switched the tray with a new one, then again for lunch and dinner.
"Sakura-chan, you have to eat!" Naruto pounded on her door. It was the third night now, and her door was still locked shut, windows closed, curtains drawn. Frustrated, Naruto grabbed the handle, only to get an explosion in his face. The paper tag vanished behind the wood once more.
Fucking jutsu. Naruto wiped the soot from his face and stomped off.
"Sakura-chan, your lousy husband is here. If you come out, he'll take you out on a date," Naruto coaxed.
Nothing.
"Sasuke says it'll be his treat, because he's fucking rich like that," Naruto added, desperate.
Nothing.
Sasuke did not have the patience for this.
"Sasuke, maybe you could talk to her and-"
The door toppled down. Sasuke lowered his foot and walked past the splinters.
Naruto closed his mouth. Or you could do that.
Inside, his foot landed on a book. Naruto bent down to pick it up, only to see a thousand others scattered across the room, pages ripped apart, formulas torn down the middle, names and dates thrown into the air. An entire bookshelf had been pried off the wall, smashed into the equally broken desk and bed.
Sakura sat in the middle of the wreckage, unmoving, eyes blank. She did not react when Sasuke stepped past her, throwing open the curtains. The morning light did not do any mercy for the room, nor her face. Her skin had gone chalk white, eyelids swelled and lips cracked. Dust mixed in grease had faded the color of her hair, dry and tangled.
She reminded Naruto of a plant left unwatered, petals fallen and leaves withered.
"Naruto says you're not eating. If you wanted to die, you could have just asked Naruto to kill you in preliminaries. At least then we wouldn't have wasted a tournament spot."
Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the chin, forcing her to face him. "Over a dozen people died trying to get what you have," he reminded. "Your Yamanaka friend included."
Slowly, her gaze rose, until her eyes locked onto his. "Sasuke-kun…"
Sasuke's head snapped to the side. Naruto winced at the raw bruise, while Sakura lowered her palm.
"Next time you try to comfort someone in grief," she whispered, "please don't."
Sasuke set his jaw straight. Well, he had done his job.
As he made his way out, Naruto mouthed a thank you. Definitely took one for the team there. Sasuke returned a glare.
"And you owe me a new door!" Sakura shouted. Her front door slammed close.
Afterward, she turned her focus on the remaining intruder in her domain, her eyes still bloodshot and savage. Naruto's fight or flight response kicked in, and he was ready to kawarimi out of there, when her shoulders sagged.
"You refrigerated that curry, right?"
They sat across from one another in Naruto's side of the kitchen. The rice was cold and stale, but Sakura made no effort to steam it, just poured copious amount of reheated curry on top.
One bite in, her head hung low.
"It's spicy, isn't it."
She forced herself to swallow, "Yes," and dug her chopsticks into the bowl.
Naruto watched her bring another bite to her mouth. "You hate spicy."
"Yes."
"You must really like thick-brow."
The accusatory tone was enough to make her pause mid-bite. "I'll eat the miso too," she sighed.
Before she could blink, a bowl of steaming miso appeared on the table, with a spinning spoon added on as afterthought. Naruto returned his hands to his lap, pleased.
The morning was overbearingly normal. Light from the blinds striped the table, contouring the empty dishes in the middle. Nested in Sakura's fingers was a mug of tea that did little to remove the fatigue from her eyes.
"Why did you forfeit, Naruto."
"Because you were going to."
"You stood a better chance." It was the truth. "I can't fight like you can."
"But you're smart."
Sakura scoffed. "Pretty sure Shikamaru's IQ is three standard deviations above mine, and look how that ended."
"You're a different type of smart than him."
"Yeah, the dumb type of smart." The inefficient, pedestrian type of smart. The type of smart that is useless in the heat of combat, because there is one second between life and death, half a second, and in that half a second, what does it matter how many books you have read. What good is it to know if you cannot act.
She wanted to pry another bookshelf off the wall. Just let it fall.
"It's not dumb! It's just..." Naruto did not know to explain it. "It's just slow. It's patient. But when you get stuck on a problem, like really stuck, and you can't outpower it, or outspeed it, or outwit it, this is the only thing that will work. The only thing that keeps going and going until you finally get an… an answer."
Sakura lowered her mug, watching a flustered Naruto shuffle through his hair. For once, they were out of sync, and she failed to understand what he was getting at.
Naruto slumped, defeated. "Sakura-chan, this exam, didn't you feel like it's rigged?" he whispered. "Like, whether you win or not, you will always be wrong?"
And not just any type of wrong. A terrifying type of wrong. A lightless type of wrong. A screaming type of wrong. Naruto thought back to that arena, and a prickling chill coursed down his spine.
"Sasuke and I, maybe we can fight better. And if we kept trying, maybe we can win. But... I don't know if we can ever make it right."
Sakura opened her mouth, ready to say something when he pierced her with those blue eyes of his. "I think only you can do that."
.
Nightfall. Sakura lied on wrinkled folds of her comforter, thrown overboard to cushion the hard surface of the floor. Outside her private circle was a labyrinth of words, words, paper, and words.
When you get stuck on a problem, like really stuck, and you can't outpower, or outspeed it, or outwit it, this is the only thing that will work.
The only thing that keeps going and going until you finally get an…
She stared at the ink bled onto her fingers.
...an answer.
"Sakura?"
Sakura jerked her head in the direction of the bed, to find a silhouette peering down the mattress.
Still half-muddled in sleep, Ino pulled the chain to her lamp. Her blonde hair barely grazed past her shoulders when she leaned forth, her button nightgown crooked on her frame.
"You were mumbling. Did you have another nightmare...?"
Once Sakura overcame her paralysis, she reached out a shaking hand, her own fingers smaller than she remembered. Their palms met.
It… worked.
Ino eyed her weirdly. "What…?" What worked? Her voice was tired. "Sakura, here, just get in and come sleep-" Ino had yet to lift her covers when she was pulled into an embrace.
It worked. It worked. She was back. Thank you, Ino, thank you for being there, thank you for always being there. Yes, she did have a nightmare, but the nightmare was over now and-
Sakura spilled everything. The important things first, about the exam two years from now, how they would both take the exam, and it would be a mistake, a grave mistake, and Ino should run if she ever met a Suna nin named Gaara. She described him, every detail her memory allowed, then the other contestants too. She retold earlier events, major events, then ones closer to their current timeline, things that would happen in school, things that no prank could pull off, so Ino could affirm the validity of her statements when they came true. She showed Ino the jutsu written on her arm. It took months to develop, but the jutsu finally worked and allowed her to come back and-
Ino still eyed her weirdly.
"Sakura, if what you're saying is true, why didn't you go back to your tenth birthday?"
Sakura froze, as the silhouettes of her mother and father appeared behind Ino's shoulder.
Her eyes fell back on her arm. The ink was still fresh, tattooing a single sentence into her skin.
What is written cannot be unwritten.
The pen in her hand shook, then fell. Her parents had disappeared with the blow of a candle, leaving only Ino behind, hand extended. Her hair had grown long once more, her nightgown replaced by kunoichi garbs.
"You're having another nightmare," Ino whispered, her bones already bending, fingers contorting like branches, too thin and tangled for Sakura to grab.
No, don't go, don't go, please-
It was too late. The bed crumbled, and they both drowned in a pit of sand. Sakura found herself blinded, crushed, her fingers grasping air until they finally came into contact with something solid.
Sasuke pulled her out of the barrel. While she wheezed, he merely glanced down at the bubbling human mass below them, the shinobi headbands and tangled hairs.
"Instead of daydreaming, shouldn't you be preparing for the tournament?" He walked away without looking back. "Make use of their sacrifice, Sakura. Avenge them."
The ground beneath them had cracked, separating them into two separate planes of existence.
His tone had dipped into one of amusement. "Or do you want to join them that badly?"
The crack widened, angry and red. From below, shrieks and hisses, the putrid smell of sulfur. Panicked, Sakura scrambled back, evading their grabs at her ankle, their attempts to pull her down with them, before finally climbing on top her seat, legs pulled tightly against her chest.
A pencil drummed on the desk beside hers.
"Mah, Sakura-chan, where are my answers…" Naruto pouted, holding up their homework. It was blank. "Aren't you always supposed to have the answers?"
Sakura snapped, tearing the paper from his hands. Shut up, Naruto, no, no she doesn't! Her face crumbled, and her eyes became wet. Some things just have no answer, okay? She thought she had an answer, but that answer doesn't exist, and she can't fix this, she doesn't know how to fix this, so, please, just shut up...
"What are you doing, Sakura?" Both of them turned around to see Iruka before them, arms folded. "Class, what is rule twenty-five?"
The class answered in a chorus, gleeful and giggling.
"Correct. A shinobi must never show tears, Sakura." Iruka hovered above her, his presence eclipsing hers. "Do you have an explanation for yourself?"
Sakura was caught. She gave up on trying to hide her shame, and worked to form a coherent apology, but her words were jumbled, and the class only giggled harder, and-
"Oh gods, you look ridiculous," Mebuki said fondly, wiping the cheeks of her daughter. "It's alright, let it all out."
She can't, she can't, the class would laugh, and Iruka-sensei said-
"Your teachers are not always right, you know," Kizashi sighed.
What would he know. He was just a lowly genin, but Iruka-sensei was a chūnin. Her teachers were chūnin, and she trusted chūnin more than genin, and even if all the chūnin were wrong, there was still the jōnin, there was still the Hokage. Her father was not smarter than the Hokage.
She was eight, and even she understood that, so how could her idiot, loser genin parents think they knew better than the Hokage.
Sakura did not know who she was trying to convince. She was still crying, and her parents were hugging her, and their hug was warm, and Ino knelt by her side, smiling, cosmos in hand, and the tears refused to stop.
Her voice finally broke free.
Nightfall. In the darkness, Naruto stared at his bedroom ceiling. Their walls were too thin.
.
Sakura breathed. Mist evaporated from her skin, water dripping down her hips, down her ankles, and onto the bathroom tiles.
She was on her sixth lap when the street lamps faded, the sun finally over the horizon. She had not noticed.
"Sakura-san!"
Sakura snapped out of her daze, her footwork slowing a minuscule as Lee joined her morning jog.
She forced a pleasant smile. "Lee-san, what are you doing out this early?"
Lee laughed. "Early? It's past six!"
His breath was as labored as hers, and she caught the streaks of sweat and dirt down his temple and neck. The bandages on his hands already looked as torn as they were in the Forest of Death. Something told her this type of heavy training was routine.
"Want to race?" She needed the distraction. When there was no response, she glanced over to see him staring, speechless.
Lee shook his head. "Of course! Let's do it!"
She grinned. "Don't lose."
With that, she propelled chakra from her feet and disappeared.
Matching Lee in speed was not the difficult part. The difficult part was maintaining that speed, navigating and breaking that speed. It was a speed dangerous enough that collision with a nearby pole or water tower was fatal.
Still, Sakura was in a reckless mood. She let her chakra reserves burn, let the world blur, let the adrenaline course through her without regard.
"Why did you hold back?" Sakura uncapped her water bottle.
They sat on top of the Nidaime's head, overlooking the village below. Activity had just begun to stir, businesses opening shop.
At Lee's questioning look, Sakura clarified. "Your deceleration was off. You're carrying mass." A lot, a lot of mass.
Caught, Lee slid down his leg warmers. "Apologies, Sakura-san. But I promised Gai-sensei that I'd only take them off in special circumstances."
"It's all there?" Sakura examined the stone weights strapped above his ankles, frowning. "That's going to kill your musculoskeletal development, Lee-san. Ask your sensei to distribute it more evenly around your body."
Besides that, training weights was not too bad an idea. Sakura took another swig of water, then stood up.
"Lee-san, thank you. You've been very kind to me." Things had changed. She did not know where he would be a month from now, where she would be. Might as well say these things while her words still carried meaning, while they can still be given and received. She spun around around, the morning light softening the edges of her smile.
"Let's go on a date," she said. "My treat."
A date. Looking back on it, wasn't that what she had always wanted? The only thing she wanted. Maybe she could finally experience that before she left this world.
"I would love to!" Lee held himself back. "But only after the exam. After you win!"
Sakura paused. "After I win?"
"If you win. But if I win…" Lee gave his signature smile, thumb out. "If I win, then I treat you instead!"
.
Kurenai stiffly accepted her stamped paperwork, then filed out of the office. In the hallways, the higher ranks eyed her leave. She refused to make eye contact.
"Demoted?" Asuma demanded.
Kurenai swallowed down her bitterness. It was the humiliation that burned worse than anything else, to be stripped of her rank after less than a year. That was not to say she did not deserve it.
"My judgement was found questionable." That was putting their words mildly. Her superiors straight out spat in her face, calling her out on her arrogance.
"It's because of the exams."
"It's to be expected. I nominated a team that wasn't ready," Kurenai said with a weary sigh. She massaged her temples. "They weren't wrong."
"No, you weren't wrong. Shino was top-tier. Kiba was a damn good fighter, better than all the other rookies, and Hinata, she was Hyūga material."
"And two are dead! One has a curse mark!"
"So what! This is the chūnin exam. No one can predict these things. Casualties are expected. My team-" Asuma stopped himself. He did not want to go down that path. Sighing, he sat down on the stone steps and said, "Kurenai, I've known you since the Academy. You were one of the most brilliant students in that building, and the most prudent too. Maybe even too prudent, since you didn't gamble, you never jeopardized teammate's lives for the sake of boosting your own record. And that's what makes you one hell of a commander. This…" He slapped the papers. "This isn't a result of your deficiencies as a leader. This is the result of revenge. Some angry parents want someone to blame for their kid's death, and you got scapegoated."
Kurenai was not sure whether his words were meant to relieve or upset her. She leaned against the banister. "It's probably the Inuzuka," she said, staring into the distance. "They don't take well to losing one of their own."
"Or Aburame. Shino had been their sole heir."
"Nope, Hyūga."
Both Asuma and Kurenai turned to the third voice. Anko waved her skewer of dango in greeting.
"Not Hyūga," Kurenai scoffed. "Hiashi cares nothing of what happens to his eldest daughter."
"Maybe you're right. But still, it's Hyūga." Anko's teeth tore apart the glutinous rice. Licking her lips, she said, "You got scapegoated, alright. But this is where you're wrong, Asuma. It isn't revenge. It's politics."
Kurenai narrowed her eyes. "Politics?"
Anko grinned. "What happened today was a power-play."
The village was a system of checks and balances. In the early days, it was the Senju, checked by the Uchiha, balanced by the Uzumaki. But then the Uzumaki disappeared. The Senju lost power. As such, the Uchiha dominated, until they were finally checked by the Hyūga, balanced by the Senju.
But now, the Uchiha were gone as well. The legacy of Senju was an aging old man appointed to power over forty years ago. Which just left...
"The Hyūga wants collateral for the damage against their heir. Orochimaru has always been a weakness within the Sandaime's reign, and now they have glaring evidence for it, to use against him. With this curse mark incident, the clan has finally found leverage they need to demand transition into the main body of government."
Where there is unbalance, there will be change. Anko threw her skewer. "You were burned, Kurenai, you were burned hard. But your superiors, don't blame them too much. They were only trying to save their own ass."
.
Fours weeks. How much could a person improve within four weeks.
Well, Anko had no clue. Depends on the person.
"I'm assuming there's a reason y'all staring at me," she finally said.
"Yes, you're our sensei."
"And…?"
"And aren't you supposed to be, like, I don't know, teaching us shit?" Naruto blurted out, arms wide.
"Do I look teacher material to you?" Anko snorted. Nonetheless, she jumped from her post and onto the grass below. "But okay, I'll bite." With missions canceled and her proctor duties on hold, she could afford to play a little make-believe. "What do you want me to teach?"
Sasuke scowled. Their supposed teacher did not even know what the fuck to teach them?
"Uh, well, what have you got?" Naruto asked.
Anko beamed. Oh, plenty! There was the Assassination Strike, Hidden Snake Hand, Death Bind, Salamander Blaze, Demonic Illusion: Fang Paralysis… she completed her list by the sixth run of her fingers. Not as impressive as Kakashi's list, but eh, he had several years on her.
"Great, so teach us… those." Naruto gestured.
Yeah, about that... Did she mention they were all banned?
Team 7 collapsed.
"Teach Sasuke-kun long range."
All eyes fell on Sakura.
"You saw his match. He has the precision for it, just not enough force. So teach Sasuke-kun a stronger long range attack."
She glanced over to Naruto. "And him, teach Naruto how to control the kyūbi. We're already at the limit of his control, so it's just about increasing the quantity of chakra at this point."
Now they were getting somewhere.
"And you?" Anko asked.
Sakura shrugged. It was a Saturday. Saturday mornings were Sailor Stars mornings. "I think I'll watch some T.V."
.
Row after row of metal glistened in the warehouse. Trademark swords of different sizes and grip propped against the racks. A myriad of sickles and whips hung from the stone walls. Barrels of ore, oil, and explosion powder created a sharp, industrial smell.
Anko leaned against the counter. "We're looking for something long range."
"Long range, you say?"
The head blacksmith pulled Sasuke down by the chin. "Yes, good eyes," he noted, then scrutinized Sasuke's hand and fingers. "Nimble, fast..." He circled around the boy. "Concentrated..."
The blacksmith reached for the yari behind him, until he caught a scowl and laughed in delight. "Ooh, and picky! Very picky. I see how it is." His hand lowered to the table instead and presented Sasuke the fine tip of an arrow.
"For a man who knows his exact target."
.
"Gah!" Naruto jumped. An arrow vibrated where he previously sat. He flipped his meditation sign into the middle finger. "Oi, watch it!"
Across the field, Sasuke strung back his bow a second time. Three arrows. Naruto kicked up his feet. One pierced through the hem of his jacket. A snake awaited him below, ready to bite.
"I've always wanted to go kyūbi hunting," Anko chuckled. "Let's pull this bad boy out."
After compromising the snake, Naruto straightened up. "Okay, you wanna go, let's go, dattebayo!"
In an instant, two hundred kage bunshin littered the field.
Unfazed, Sasuke leveled his aim.
.
Sakura bit into her pen cap, eyes never leaving the television screen. Beside her was a stack of surveillance tapes from the exam.
How do you defeat your opponent? Her eyes traced every movement, every gesture of the battle. How did they beat their opponents?
The past could not be unwritten. It could not be erased, it could not be revised. But it could teach, if you were willing to learn.
.
"Hi, I'd like to buy twelve of these, and three of that, and one of this."
The shopkeeper followed her pointer finger to each of the items she addressed.
Sakura paused. "Do you sell wagons?"
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Hyūga Neji. An offense can be your greatest defense. And your defense, your greatest offense.
Sasuke unloaded his next set of quivers. On the verge of collapse, Naruto cursed his lungs off before dodging the next wave of attacks.
Sakura walked laps around the field, oblivious to their mishaps. She flipped through the pages of the book in her hands, tilting her head at the diagrams.
After checking out more materials from the library, she grabbed a quick lunch with the team, clipped another weight to her belt, and read-walked some more.
Shikamaru Nara vs. Rock Lee. Speed above all. Strategy is meaningless if you cannot move fast enough to execute it.
"Lee isn't here."
"I'm not looking for Lee-san. I wanted to ask you something."
Tenten threw the towel over her shoulder, listening.
"You're a master in seals, right?" Sakura showed her the notebook in her hands. "Is this theoretically feasible?"
Kankurō vs. Tenten. Anything qualifies as a weapon. Anything.
"Hi, yes, can I also get all of these things?" Sakura presented the shopkeeper a list.
Yakushi Kabuto vs. Hyūga Hinata. It is easy to shield your outsides. It is not as easy to protect the insides.
Sakura finished the last mark of blood, before pressing both palms down on the parchment. Insignia swirled in life, then exploded. She coughed, wiping away smoke, and before unrolling clean parchment and trying again.
She was chakra drained and blood dry when the kuchiyose finally stopped blowing up in her face. She stared at her summoning and smiled.
Temari vs. Inuzuka Kiba. Delegate the fight to the fighters.
Wrench in mouth, Sakura closed the tap to the pipe, then rolled the last container onto her wagon. There was no moon that night.
She threw a tarp over the dozen barrels of gasoline, and called it a day.
Aburame Shino vs. Karin. Once everything is in motion, keep patience. Time will be your greatest assassin.
The following morning was bright. Kurenai glanced down at the pink-haired girl waiting on her doorstep.
Sakura was adjusting the weight at her wrist when they made eye contact. She straighten her posture, recomposing her expression into a smile. "Good morning, Kurenai-san. Anko-sensei said you're the person to turn to for genjutsu?"
Gaara vs. Yamanaka Ino. You do not piss off Haruno Sakura.