Chapter 19: Victory Always Comes With Loss
I grin as I stand here as a normal teacher watching over her student that now stands in the ring in which the third part of the Chunin Exams will be occurring. An arena built just for this exam is within the village. And it's big enough to hold hundreds of people to watch the show. Like the contestants have their own waiting box, the Jonin instructors that taught them the skills that got them into the Chunin Exams in the first place have their own box for relaxation. That is, if the Jonin's student got this far. Lucky for my friends and I, we've made it; Kakashi, myself, Guy, Kurenai and Asuma.
"Where's Kakashi?" Guy questions as he leans against the railing with me, a slight frown on his face as we look down at the lined up contestants.
"Probaby gonna enter all fancy like," I sigh to him and wave my hand uncaringly. "You know how he likes to show off".
"Sasuke's and Gaara's fight is the second round though; and that's what basically everyone came for. They want to see if the youngest of the remaining Uchihas has what it takes to become a Chunin," Asuma speaks up from my other side. "If they're late, they're gonna piss some people off".
"You mean other than Itachi?" I question with a chuckle. Speaking of the Anbu Captain, my eyes trail the roof tops in front of me for a weasel mask, and only find it after looking back right across from me. I know he's looking my way, so I smile and send him a tiny wave. I see the tiniest of nods in return, and I smirk a bit.
"Yes, other than Itachi," Asuma chuckles out. "Speaking of which, how is he? You're the closest one to him other than Kakashi and he's not here. There was that night in the bar but we didn't really talk about missions or anything other than that C-rank turned B-ranked one your team went on".
For a split second, there's a frown on my lips, and the grip my tail has around my waist tightens. But that's only for a split second before a smile is on my face again, "He's busy. Very busy. Especially given the situation we're currently in with Orochimaru as well as other villages simply being in our home- ally or not. I'll be busy too, once these exams are over".
Kurenai speaks up from Asuma's other side, sitting back on the railing before us as she does so. Her pretty face is scrunched up into a questioning glance, "How come?"
I sigh. I can't tell them the truth but...I can give them a reason in place of the truth. "One of the older Anbu Captains died about a month ago while looking for Orochimaru's current hide out; he's gotta have one near by if he's so easily getting into the village. Hokage-sama told me that once the Chunin Exams are over, I'll be returning to doing Anbu duties for the most part. I'll still be able to go on missions with Team Seven and Kakashi, but seeing as Kakashi is the primary Jonin of the team and seeing as these Exams will prove Naruto's worth, I won't be needed unless it's an emergency any more". Another frown mars my face for a moment. "I'm gonna miss going on the easy stuff but...Hokage's orders you know?"
Guy smiles, giving the usual good guy pose, "I'm sure a youthful flower like yourself will do fine as an Anbu Captain, Cross".
I return the smile and chuckle a bit, "I sure hope so. I wonder what my team is gonna be like". My eyes trail down to the arena to see that finally the other contestants are filing out, leaving Naruto and Neji proud. I grin now, and call out through the silence, "KICK HIS ASS NARUTO! SHOW HIM WHAT IT IS TO BE A REAL SHINOBI!" I get a grin and a wave sent my way and I beam.
"You seem rather confident in Naruto-kun's skills," Guy raises a bushy brow.
I bear fangs at him, "I'm the one who trained him while Kakashi got Sasuke...You lot are finally going to see Naruto's true colors".
And so the match between underdog and prodigy begins. It looks like Naruto is at a disadvantage, at first, seeing as although he can overwhelm the Hyuga with shadow clones, noen of them land a hit due to some sort of dome technique that Neji uses. It's then that Neji decides that while kicking Naruto's ass, he's going to tell his own little sad story. And while it pisses me off that the main branch of a clan would cage the birds that is their own family of the branch portion of the clan, this is a fight and we shouldn't be telling stories. Or at least if you're going to tell a story, do it while you're fighting. Neji seems convinced that Naruto has some sort of destiny to fail and always fail. However, Naruto and I know it's different. Neji cuts off Naruto's chakra supply using a Hyuga move that I don't plan on trying to know the name of.
"Naruto I sear to god if you don't kick his ass right now, I'm gonna come down there and beat you half to death!" I growl out from where I am. Why isn't he showing his true colors? He's just using old tricks! He's not some one trick pony any more damn it.
Naruto looks up to me as though he heard my words and I see him wink before suddenly he taps into the reserves that I got Jiraiya to help me to teach him to tap into. The Kyubbi's chakra, which is more potent and strong enough to break the dams that Neji put on Naruto's chakra. Luckily the boy doesn't tap into enough to make him begin to lose control, just break the dams. And that's when his hands slam together before forming the a rapid set of signs. "Futon: Dai Kamaitachi!" He takes a big breath before channeling the chakra as I taught him blowing out multiple torrents of cutting wind at the Hyuga.
"You taught him a B-ranked jutsu?" Kurenai questions with wide eyes. "He's only a Genin".
I scoff her way, "Come now, Kurenai. I was only a Genin for about a month or so and by that time I was already performing S-ranked jutsus. Besides, Naruto is one hell of a kid; he can handle it".
"That's not enough!" Neji tells the boy as he performs that dome signless jutsu, causing the blades to disapate as though it were nothing. However, when he stops there's a Naruto in front of him. The one that was further away poofs away to show that he was nothing but a clone. "What?!" The real Naruto's fist comes forward and up, driving itself into Neji's chin and sending him upwards from the power. The cutting wind of Senpuuken cuts the boy's neck and chest and chin. Neji lands on the ground, down and unable to continue the fight. Thus leaving Naruto as the winner. How did Naruto get to Neji while he was in the dome? Simple. He used a varied form of Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu. Just because I prefer my wind and fire jutsus doesn't mean I don't know other stuff too you know.
"WHEEEEEW! ALRIGHT NARUTO! YOU KICKED HIS ASS GOOD AND HARD! I'M PROUD OF YOU KID!" I cheer from my spot, crouching on the railing and leaning as forward as I can without falling. I would just swoop down and tackle him. But that can be saved for later. I look to Guy and grin, "Nikun lost!~" This makes Guy laugh his fool head off. Oh god that's gonna be great to see!Kurenai has already cut her hair shorter, as it used to be at about mid back, now it just lays over her shoulders. And Churitsu bought food for the rest of us that were there for a week as he said he would. Guy to go around the village on his hands two hundred thousand times I believe it was. And now Nikun has to cross dress.
Being that Kakashi and Sasuke still haven't shown up, and being that that's the match that everyone has come for, it's been pushed back and Shikamaru's fight is next. It doesn't help that a still battle ready Naruto pushes Shikamaru over their box's railing and sends him falling to the ground like a rock. In this round, it's Shikamaru versus Temari, the battl fan girl and the oldest of the Suna siblings. We watch as Shikamaru tries strategy after strategy against the girl only for her to throw them back in his face one way or another. It's a rather intense battle, just as Naruto's and Neji's was.
"I think you're going to lose this one, Asuma," Kuenai looks to the smoking Jonin.
The bearded man smiles as he watches his student, a look of true liking in his eyes. It seems that someone has a favorite student~. "No...It's no where near over yet; things are just getting started". He tells her. "Shikamaru is lazy, yes, but he's insanely smart. I've often played Shogi with him; I've never won. Not once. And I'm just a bit over twice his age". He chuckles. "That boy is nothing but a pure genius. Maybe not physically, but mentally his strategies are insanely well put together. I've gotten him to take an IQ test, disguising it as a game...His IQ is over two hundred".
My eyes widen, "Two-fuckin'-hundred? Damn, that's insane". I can't help but grin. I love living in a village where even the younger shinobi are talented. It makes things interesting and never boring. "He's...Manipulating her," I realize with an even wider grin, "I like this kid. I like him a lot". In fact, he's manipulating Temari to stand in front of the tunnel that Naruto had dug in order to take Neji down.
"He actually wants to meet you," Asuma tells me with another chuckle, "Says he wants to figure out how you tick".
Guy laughs himself, "Looks like he's managed to get into the non-restricted mission archives, Cross-chan".
"He says that while it seems like you fight like some sort of brawler, that you also seem to have some sort of strategy to your fights. He's a smart kid, always looking for someone to match his intellect". Asuma continues.
"I'm honestly not as smart as missions make me seem. I can plan, but only in the middle of a fight; I'm good at thinking on my feet and nothing more," I laugh. "I hope I don't let him down when he figures that out". My eyes widen as when Shikamaru finally catches Temari, he forfeits, saying that not only is he tired and drained, but he doesn't like to harm women. Heh. A noble boy he is. How nice. Still, I look to Asuma, "Looks like you'll have to stop smoking," I tell him. "After all, he lost his match and this is the final round".
Asuma sighs and pulls the butt of his cancer stick from his mouth, "This is going to be annoying but...I'm a man of my word".
There's a five minute break until Sasuke and Kakashi come along in a burst of leaves all show off like, being back to back. As Kakashi is sent up to our box and Gaara comes down for the fight, I glare at the silver haired man. "Idiot. Took you long enough".
Kakashi smiles, "We had a bit of last minute training to do. We didn't miss anything good did we?"
"Other than Nikun and Asuma losing their part of the bet? Not really. Naruto kicked ass, and Shikamaru kicked as but forfeited for whatever reason," I tell him. My eyes trail down to Sasuke, finding his clothing changed only a little bit. He wears a black shirt instead of a blue one, his arm warmers are trimmed with black. "Is he gonna hold up?"
Kakashi smiles and steals Asuma's spot next to me, sitting on the railing in a similar fashion to Kurenai, "He'll hold. I've prepared him specifically for this match".
Sasuke's match is quickly begun, and the young Uchiha wastes no time what so ever in demonstrating to all around him what he's learned. My eyes widen as his legs carry him at a speed I've only seen on one other person in that generation: Lee. To think that in a fucking month, Sasuke managed to get to a speed that I'm betting Lee worked to get for years, is saying something amazing. That's saying that the boy basically didn't eat or sleep or even rest during the month. I grin. I can't wait to see the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. Because I think that while Sasuke is faster, Naruto is more resilient.
What I'm really surprised about is the fact that Kakashi went so far as to, "You taught him Chidori?" I question with a raised brow and a purse of my lips. Why give him such a powerful move? To keep him in the village? Wrong way to go about it, Kakashi. "How many times can he use it?"
"I couldn't very well teach him Raikiri," Kakashi tells me. "Not just because it's too dangerous for him, but because I don't want him to have it".
I sigh, "Still," I trail off. I watch as the boy races down the wall and across the distance between he and Gaara. The ball of sand that Gaara hides himself in unleashes spikes to ward Sasuke off. The boy ignores the spikes, and the Chidori is therefore inserted into the sand.
There is silence and then, "BLOOOOOD! I'M BLEEDING!" And then a shrill scream.
My eyes narrow as feathers fall from the sky, and there's an explosion from the Hokage's watching box. Well shit. We're under attack. I knew we were expecting this, but Suna too? Aren't we supposed to be allies with them? Ugh. My hands form the seal for releasing the genjutsu, "Kai". And I turn to face Kakashi whom along with Guy has already begun to take down Oto and Suna shinobi. By the looks of things, Guy's already decided to challenge Kakashi to a 'who can take down the most bad guys' match. Idiots. I unsheathe my claws before looking to the nearest Suna nin and sigh. "I really don't wanna kill you...But eh". Seriously, I don't. They're supposed to be allies; I want answers before I take lives. The Suna shinobi says nothing, and I duck under the punch he sends my way before I find my claws in his gut. I sigh. This is seriously gonna be an issue. "Kakashi," I call over the mayhem, "I'm out of here! I'm gonna see if I can just go take down Oto shinobi!" I don't wait for an answer, taking off with a push of my wings as I must. As I pass over the roof where the Hokage was sitting my eyes widen as one Konoha ninja tries to get through the box that's risen up only to burn to death. I stop and purse my lips. Does the old man got this? There's an explosion within the box that's created by neither Hiruzen nor the Kazekage. When the smoke clears, an Anbu in a...Holy shit that's Itachi! If Itachi's there, then things will be fine. I nod to myself before taking off for the edge of the village, where I can see a two headed snake being crushed by a large frog. On that frog is none other than Jiraiya himself. I push for more speed, dodging kunai thrown my way when people see me. And eventually I land on Jiraiya's toad, careful not to let the heels touch its tender skin by walking on my toes more. "Jiraiya," I greet.
"Cross," he greets back. "Where's the Old Man?"
"Fighting the Kazekage with Itachi," I tell him.
Jiraiya's eyes narrow and he shakes his head, making me tilt my head in question. Is Itachi not enough? "I just got back from investigating some things. The Yondaime Kazekage is dead; the one Sensei is fighting now is Orochimaru".
My eyes widen and my blood begins to boil. The mere mention of that man's name makes me gnash my teeth together in anger. I crouch and ready to take off; no way am I not getting in on this! "I'll go help them then!"
Jiraiya has different plans though, reaching for one of my wings and making me stop in my tracks, "Woah there! I don't know why you hate Orochimaru so much, however you're going to have to put that aside for now. I need your help keeping Oto shinobi from getting further into the village than they already have. If you wanna take down Orochimaru, make his army's number even smaller. Okay?" I snarl and try to pull my wing from his hold, but it is firm and there's no way I'm pulling harder. "I said, 'okay?'"
"Fine," I snap out, my tail loosening from its hold around my waist and lashing angrily. "I'll take care of things outside the walls; there's bound to be people there. If you see blue fire...That's a good thing". He releases me and I push off, going over the walls of Konoha and looking down to the ground. There's a swarm of men and women of different ranks trying to get into my village on the east side of it, I see. "Yo! Fuckers!" I call from above a group. "What the hell do you guys think you're doing?!"
"Who the hell is that?" One asks another.
"Idiot, that's Jigokuen no Taka! Guys, if we take her down that's one less super power to worry about! Let's go go go!" The other answers with wide eyes. I don't bother to learn what they look at as water jutsu this way and that are thrown my way.
"Okay," I sigh as I fly out of a water dragon's range, "This is getting boring. My hands weave through signs, and within my body I've already mixed the chakra natures for the jutsu. "Let's see how you take my signature attack shall we? Aoikassai: Jigokuen no Tori!" Blue fire erupts around me, encasing my body but not harming it. I know that around me is something of a shroud of fire in the shape of a bird. I flap my wings once, and as one I and he shroud dive for the men and women whose water jutu and weapons either evaporate or melt from my fire. I wash over their heads playfully, only catching one with my tail just enough to stab but not impale them. My tail brings him up to me to see what's going on. After all, this is the first time that the poison in my tail can act- well not the first, but the first time I can really watch it. I watch as the man writhes in pain and screams for a good three minutes before he's dead. So it's kind of fast acting. What I see next is also interesting. As though acid had been placed in his veins I see parts of his body caving in on themselves and then holes appearing small at first and steadily getting bigger. Hmmm...So it's a corrosive type of poison. How cruel. I release him. And look down at the crowd below me. Okay, time to seriously kill them all. Orochimaru wanted to bring an army into my home? This is what he gets. I again swoop down, but this time nice and close to the ground as my shroud may light them aflame. I release the jutsu as I hear screams of all kinds, and look don to see people burning in my lovely blue fire. I smirk cruelly. Down this army will go. Up until Suna retreats, I'm literally blasting out technique after technique. It's a shame I don't get anyone to fight majorly but, everyone has their jobs. Even me. There are times when I continue to use Aoikassai: Jigokuen no Tori. But there are other times when I use Aoikassai: Okina Hi Taiho, or Aoikassai: Jigoku Kassai which is just me breathing out this massive wave of blue fire. There's also Aoikassai: Kitsune no Chimaturi, or Aoikassai: Kistune no Yasei Kyofu. The first is blue fire spurting up from no where, and with a flap of my wings the fire rushes forward like a landslide would down a hill, forming the bodies of multiple blue fire made foxes. The other one is a tornado of fire created with the help of my wings, which is directed by my hands and upon contact with the target(s) it burns them while fire made fox heads reach out and bite what they can without remorse. I have many others. But those are the main ones that are used.
When Suna has finally retreated, and little to no Oto shinobi are alive, I search the village for the fallen Konoha men and women that may have lost their lives on this day. I'm saddened to find that the number is bigger than I figured it would be. However, what I'm even more sad about is the loss of our great leader, the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. According to Itachi, Orochimaru used a jutsu that brings back the dead and allows the user to make them their puppets. Edo Tensei, Itachi said Orochimaru called it. And while Itachi was busy fighting the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages, the Sandaime was fighting Orochimaru. The old man didn't see himself beating Orochimaru, and the puppet Hokages were giving Itachi a hard time, according to him. Therefore, Hiruzen saw one choice only. Seal Orochimaru's arms into himself by summoning the Shinigami. Two of his clones did the same thing to the Shodaime and the Nidaime at some point when Itachi was knocked back. This forced Orochimaru and the last of his forces to leave. Hiruzen Sarutobi, died in Itachi's arms. And so today, here I stand with my head bowed, standing between Kakashi and Itachi. On Kakashi's other side is Naruto and on Itachi's, Sasuke. I didn't bother braiding my hair, letting it just flow as it pleases. The clothing I wear is that of a formal black long sleeved blouse with holes in the back for my wings and matching pants. My shinobi sandals are the same as ever. I listen to the sound of Hokage-sama's grandson, Konohamaru, cry due to the death of the man who took him in and raised him. What a sad, sad sound. One that should never be heard. And yet, I'm sure Konohamaru isn't the only child who has lost a beloved one.
I listen to Iruka's words of wisdom to the boy as he comforts him, as well as Naruto, "When one person dies… he disappears… Along with his past, current lifestyle, and his future. Many people die in missions and wars. They die easily and in surprisingly simple ways. Hayate was one of them. Those who die have goals and dreams. But everyone has something as important as those. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers… People who are important to you. They trust and help each other. The bond between the people important to you ever since birth… And the string that binds them becomes thicker and stronger as time goes by. It's beyond reason. Those bound to you by that string will do that. Because it's important…".
I sigh. I don't understand the loss of family, nor the loss of someone you truly love. However, I do understand the loss of someone you care for, such as my leader. I cared for him, didn't love him, but cared for and respected him. To lose someone so great...There is no true replacement. And there never will be.