Chapter 16 - Second Opinions

When Sasuke entered the teacher's lounge to wait for his genin to finish with the written exam, everyone in the room looked up to stare at him. He hadn't even come in particularly late. And there were others that came in after him, and everyone looked up to see them enter, too; but the way they looked at Sasuke made him feel… unwelcome. Like he was an uninvited guest, a party-crasher.

He couldn't help but feel out of place, but he ignored it, and went to go sit by himself in the corner, on a couch. Nobody asked to join him.

What, he had every right to be there. He was a teacher, after all. Why were they staring? Fear? He wasn't even making eye contact with any of them.

Either way, it wasn't worth thinking about.

(Especially not the fact that this wasn't his first time here.)

(But he wasn't thinking about that.)

So began the waiting. It was interesting, really, seeing things from this perspective. Normally he'd be at home or on a mission when these things were going on, and he'd receive the news after the fact. But here, he'd be getting it all immediately.

Which was rather nice, all things considered, since he doubted there were any other teaching jounin with three separate parties in the exams to worry about.

The room was largely silent for the hour allotted for the written exam, except for the occasional proctor stepping in and announcing teams that had just been disqualified. The teachers of the offending teams would then leave, shortly thereafter.

It almost felt like they were getting tested, Sasuke mused, as he sat against the back of a sofa and sighed. Yes, it really was like a test on them. A test of how well they had taught their students. If they didn't fail, it meant that they hadn't failed as teachers, really, either.

Sasuke waited for the names of his genin to be called, but they never were. Hooray.

(He was proud of them.)

His children passed, as well.

(As was expected of them.)

After all that was said and done, like students on a field trip, the passing teachers paraded down to a building near the border of the Forest of Death and proceeded to hang the hell out.

Cigarettes were passed around. Someone offered to go buy snacks and canned drinks, and there were takers. The stiff atmosphere all but disappeared.

It felt strange to Sasuke, unfamiliar. He made it to the building - apparently it had no real use beyond storing records, but the nearby proximity made it easy for the proctors to contact the teachers about developments in the Forest - by just following along and pretending that he knew what was going on. Doubtless he wasn't alone there.

He took the time to people-watch, from the back of the room, by the window. Get an idea of what his students, his children were up against. At least, against the people he recognized. And Sasuke knew a lot of people.

He already recognized Shitsume Ishi, Inou's teacher, the man with the uncertain features. He was leaning against a wall, shoulders hunched, black eyes to the ceiling. Sasuke gave him only a passing glance, before letting him disappear into the crowd.

Mist-nin, Sand-nin, Sand-nin, Cloud-nin, Leaf-nin - oh, that was Inuzuka Mimi, Kiba's niece, wasn't it - Cloud-nin…

Sasuke frowned. He hardly recognized anyone in the room. Many of them were from foreign countries. They all tended to gather around each other, talking to only each other. Though the Cloud-nin (and, of course, the Leaf-nin) seemed friendlier in comparison, the occasional lone agent socializing with other groups freely. And all of them looked so young, barely any of them over 30, by his estimation.

He looked out the window, ignoring that persistent feeling that he was very, very out of place.

What. He had every right to be there.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

He glanced sideways, and a young man with eyes like gold coins stood there, hands in his pockets. Straw-colored hair fell over his shoulders. He looked vaguely familiar.

"Hm?" Sasuke said.

"Just thought I'd introduce myself. I'm your daughter's sensei, Akirame Masao." He nodded slightly, in place of a bow. "We've met a few times, but I don't think we've ever really talked."

"I know you," Sasuke said. He glanced at Masao, eyes passing over him, head to toe. He wore conservative clothing; blue pants, white shirt layered over blue beneath his flak jacket. His forehead protector was a bandanna. "You're one of Naruto's old students, aren't you?"

"That's right. I'm surprised you remember," Masao said.

"Tch. How could I forget?" Sasuke looked out the window, severely. "That teammate of yours, Murasaki, has given me more than her fair share of trouble through the years, I'll have you know. I caught her trespassing on my property again just a few nights ago, actually."

"Oh, Murasaki…" Masao sighed and his eyes rolled toward the ceiling, miserably. The way he said her name made it sound like he was physically in pain. "She doesn't mean you or anyone in your family any harm, Uchiha-san, you have to understand. She's just… not well."

("He doesn't act much like an Uchiha, that's what someone is saying…")

"I've been putting up with this for too long to be understanding, thank you," Sasuke said, glaring at Masao, Sharingan spinning.

"Apologies, apologies," Masao said, sighing again. He dropped his head, avoiding eye contact. "If I could make her leave you alone, I could."

"Hm. Either way," Sasuke said. Moving on. "So you're Karai's sensei, then?" Masao nodded. "I hope she hasn't been giving you too much trouble."

"Oh, not at all. She's really incredibly bright, an absolute pleasure to teach," Masao said. He smiled slightly. "It's hard to get her to really let loose, though."

"Let loose? Ah. Well, that's not surprising. Karai's not terribly motivated," Sasuke said. He looked out the window again.

"Not terribly…? Surely, you're kidding," said Masao, managing a laugh, though it died when he saw that Sasuke's expression hadn't changed. "No, no, she's a very hard worker, I think. What makes you say that she isn't motivated?"

"If she had any sort of motivation then she'd have become a genin much earlier, I think," said Sasuke. "Eleven isn't so bad an age, however. And she must be doing well enough, if you thought to nominate her for the chuunin exams so early, as well."

Masao was silent for a moment, pursing his lips as he thought. "Well, um. From what I've encountered, Uchiha-san, your daughter is very talented. She's just very reluctant to… show off? I guess that's how you could put it."

"Hm."

(Girls weren't meant to be show-offs at any rate, Sasuke felt. It wasn't much of a positive trait, besides.)

"Either way. She's very eager to please, very smart," Masao continued. "I think she'll go very far, if I can get her to open up a bit more. The chuunin exams will be a good experience for her, I think."

"Indeed, indeed," Sasuke said. "Becoming a chuunin might force her to show some initiative for once, I think."

"Becoming a chuunin? You mean you expect her to pass?" Masao said.

Sasuke looked at him. "And you don't?"

"Well, eventually. Maybe in another year or two, but certainly not this year."

Sasuke glared at him. "She will be a chuunin this year."

Masao did nothing but blink, slowly, for a few seconds. "Look, Uchiha-san… There's wishful thinking, and then there's being realistic," he said. He looked like he was halfway between a smile and a scowl, his face drawn into a tense line. "She's only eleven. I personally didn't become a chuunin until I was-"

"My son Takeru became a chuunin when he was eleven, Akirame. Don't tell me that I'm being unrealistic."

Sasuke's eyes were very, very cold.

(Nadeshiko didn't count.)

Masao squirmed, but he managed to compose himself. He frowned. "Uchiha-san, I'm just saying that you shouldn't be too disappointed in Karai-chan if she fails the first time around. I certainly hope for her success, but I don't think that a failure would be necessarily bad for her, either. Especially not in the chuunin exams. A failure is still a very good experience!"

"Akirame, in my house, a failure is a failure," Sasuke said, with something that might have been a smirk in a past life. "The purpose of the chuunin exam is to become a chuunin, after all. Not to 'have a good experience.' Isn't it?"

Inou's two previous failures had certainly not been "good experiences," in Sasuke's eyes. Everyone else had passed the first time around.

Masao didn't say anything, for a while. He eventually changed the subject. "So you have students of your own participating in the exams this year, I take it?" he asked Sasuke. "Since you're here now."

"Ah, yes. Kyou, Sunao, and Go'on. They've surprised me, this year," Sasuke said. He looked out the window again, his phantom smirk softened into a smile. "So I thought it might be good to test them in the exams this year, see how far they'd get."

Masao made a noise that might have been a laugh, but was more like a choke. "To see how far they'd get?"

Sasuke looked at him, as if annoyed to be interrupted in his looking out the window. "Of course. Might as well. If they can manage this year, then I'll be very pleasantly surprised. But I'm not expecting much."

"But you just said…" Masao looked lost.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Just said what."

"You just said that you expected your daughter to pass this year. Karai-chan."

"…yes, and?"

"But you're also saying you put your students through the exams to see how far they'd get. Do you not expect them to pass?"

"Of course not." Sasuke waved his hand, as if batting the ridiculous notion away. "They're only twelve. They're quite exceptional, but I'm not sure if they're quite chuunin material yet. Go'on, especially, he's far too timid."

Masao's mouth hung slightly open. Then, he said, "So you expect your daughter to become a chuunin this year, but not your own students?"

"You have quite a way with words, Akirame," Sasuke said, "though it's not just my daughter. My son Inou has failed twice already. I don't see why he can't pass this year, either."

Masao's eyes almost trembled as he searched for a response. "How can you think that way?"

Sasuke's eyes were hard and certain. "Think what way."

"Well, Karai-chan is an excellent kunoichi, and I really think she's something special, compared to my other two students. But I highly doubt she's any more or less skilled than anyone on your team. So shouldn't you feel the same way for her as you feel for them?" Masao said. He sounded almost ill, almost angry. "Shouldn't it be okay to not expect her to pass?"

Sasuke's eyes filled with fire. "I expect my children to live up to their name as Uchihas, and that does not allow for failure, Akirame. Please understand," he added, in a poisonous echo.

("They know how disappointing he is to you, sometimes.")

Masao's gold-coin eyes dulled, and his eyebrows lowered. "I see," he said.

(And in that moment, he wondered how in the world his sensei could ever speak so highly of a man like Sasuke.)

(And in the moment afterward, he wondered why in the world Karai would want to hold her obvious talents back, with such a man as her own father.)

And in the moment after that that a door opened and a grey-uniformed proctor burst into the room, completely out of breath. "U-Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke and Masao both turned to look at him, along with practically everyone else in the room. "Yes?" Sasuke said. "What is it?"

"It's your students! They've…!"

Sasuke stood away from the wall and approached the proctor, who was gulping down air with enormous gasps. He had light brown hair and he wore glasses attached to a chain, and they dangled from his neck, having fallen off his face as he held his knees. "What happened, did one of them get injured?"

"No! Quite the… opposite!" He swallowed, and looked up at Sasuke with an incredulous grin. "You're not going to believe this, but they're already at the tower!"

The room fell completely silent.

"…what," Sasuke said.

"It's incredible! They've completely shattered all of the previous speed records. And with both scrolls in hand, too!" the proctor continued. He finally stood up straight, and put his glasses back on. "Almost thirty-seven minutes flat. And barely a scratch on any of them!"

"…you're kidding," Sasuke said.

"Absolutely not, Uchiha-san. It's a new record. And nobody's been able to touch the previous record of ninety-seven minutes, and that was set almost thirty years ago!" Glancing at the handful of Sand jounin nearby, he added, "And that record was set by the current Kazekage, if you can believe it."

The room began to buzz.

"…so, what do you want me to do?" Sasuke said.

"Well, you can come with me to the tower, if you want," the proctor said. "It's up to you. You technically aren't required to come to the tower for another four days, but your students will be staying there until the testing period is up."

Sasuke thought about it, for a moment.

Almost thirty-seven minutes flat. Better than even Gaara.

"I'll go with you," Sasuke said. "Thank you for coming and getting me."

"It's no problem!" the proctor replied, and turned to exit, Sasuke following, in return.

The young Leaf-nin that had offered to buy snacks for everyone was very perplexed when she returned a few minutes later to find everyone loudly speculating and gossiping and did-you-hear-that and I-can't-believe-it and on and on and on.

Everyone, that is, except for Shitsume Ishi, who was only there on obligation. Who only waited, patiently, and worried.

And, now, Masao. Who had just gotten his first glimpse into a world usually reserved for a family of seven.

And for good reason.

"That was amazing, Go'on-kun, absolutely amazing!"

Kyou's compliments, so much like a waterfall, were torrential and evidently never-ceasing.

Go'on's face was flushed an even deeper reddish-brown. "Kyou-kun, stop it, I didn't do anything special…"

"Are you kidding? You took down a freakin' bear!"

"I did not. She - it didn't even wanna hurt us in the first place, okay?" He glanced at the floor, fingers folded into each other. "Stop making such a big deal about it…"

"It was a freakin' huge bear, Go'on-kun! SERIOUSLY!"

"Kyou-kun, stop it, you're embarrassing him," Sunao said, unable to really stifle her giggles.

It really had been a freakin' huge bear. But from the way Go'on had approached it she'd have thought that it was just an unusually hairy large-ish person having a bad-ish day. Or an old, big, familiar dog, that just had a tendency to bite people when provoked.

How in the heck did that even?

(And that didn't even cover the way in which Go'on guided them through the forest, past the nests of giant leeches, past the giant centipede dens, past everything that plagued nearly every other genin that had entered since the forest's creation. But Sunao was very much unaware of this.)

Really, was that part of the test supposed to be that easy? It was almost pleasant. The sky was still overcast but there was a strange sort of peace in the forest, in the distant rustle of leaves and the cry of poor unfortunates discovering that yes, there were indeed giant tigers within this woods. And bears, too. Oh my.

That was how they'd gotten their second scroll, really. They had come across a trio of Sand-nin cornered by said freakin' huge bear, scared out of their wits, as they had never seen a bear before in their lives, and had no idea what to do about it.

That was where Go'on came in. He told Kyou and Sunao to stand back, to stay in the tall branches of a tree, and provide backup if called-for.

Sunao told him he that was crazy, that they should just keep moving. They had only been in the forest for… ten, twenty minutes at least. She wasn't keeping count, but it hadn't been very long at all.

Go'on told her to trust him. He was the leader… wasn't he?

And he was. So they did.

Go'on didn't even try to fight the thing. He just… went up to it and climbed onto its back, his thin body stretching like a spider's, as he grabbed a hold of its fur and climbed upward. The bear swiped at the burden until Go'on reached its head and flung his arms around the back of it, as if he were hugging it.

That was where the bear began to completely ignore the Sand-nin and started to… roar? Growl? Whatever it was doing, it sounded happy, even trotting (trotting?) around the clearing a few times, Go'on hanging on for… no, that wasn't for dear life. He was just hanging on.

Even from high up in the trees, Kyou and Sunao could clearly see that Go'on was enjoying himself, too. Incredible as it seemed.

He dropped off of the bear's back and said something to the Sand-nin, who stammered something in reply. There was a terrified exchange, though most of the fear was on the Sand-nin's part, and eventually they held out something for Go'on to take. Go'on took it. And then the Sand-nin got out of there.

After the bear wandered off (it almost looked like Go'on was saying goodbye to it, from up there), Go'on called them down, waving his arms, grinning.

"She was just angry 'cos her den's nearby and she didn't want 'em near her babies," he explained, very matter-of-factly. "Though… well, they're almost grown, now, haha, so I think maybe she's overreacting…"

Kyou's eyes were practically popping out of his skull. "You can talk to bears?" he said.

Go'on's mouth snapped shut, his big eyes growing even wider. "No! I can't talk to bears! People can't talk to animals…" He chewed on his bottom lip. "I saw her den nearby, from the trees. And bear cubs are usually almost adolescents by this time of year, so… that's what just I guessed was going on…" He rubbed the back of his head. "S'what I… told those Sand ninja, anyways…"

"What was that they gave you, after you talked to them?" Sunao asked.

Go'on smiled a little, and held it out. "Well, they had a Heaven scroll. Said we could have it, if we wanted it. Said they'd get their own pair of scrolls later. …I mean, there's still five days left, but, well…"

(And, really, what else can you do when a kid's standing across from you with a HUGE FREAKIN' BEAR standing beside him like some sorta bodyguard? What the hell was up with Leaf-nin?)

"Oh my goodness! Go'on-kun, you know what that means? We did it!" Kyou said. He hugged Go'on, there, squeezing him tightly and twirling him around. "We gotta get to the tower!"

"Ow, hey! Let go!" And Kyou let go, still grinning with a smile that looked like it was going to stretch his face in two. "Well… I guess that's what we have to do now, huh…?" Go'on said, looking at the Heaven scroll with a sort of gleeful, unexpectedly happy look on his face. "Well… we should get a move on, then!"

He tucked the Heaven scroll into the pouch on his belt, and leaped into the trees again. Sunao and Kyou followed.

They were at the tower within ten minutes. And they opened the sealed door at the base, and opened both scrolls, and were greeted by an absolutely astonished proctor.

Which was what brought them here.

Kyou still wouldn't stop talking about all of it.

Really, was that it? Was it supposed to be that easy? Go'on had taken down a freakin' huge bear for goodness' sakes!

"Kyou-kun, it was more of a hug than a takedown," Sunao said, nudging him on the shoulder. "C'mon, stop talking about it, already."

When they were told about the previous speed record, they looked amongst each other and giggled and smiled and Kyou started going on and on about the Kazekage, oh man really, the Kazekage, they had done better than the Kazekage?

Boy, Sasuke-sensei wasn't ever going to believe this.

They were escorted to the upper levels by the proctor, and intercepted by Benio along the way. She was out of breath from sprinting the entire way to the tower, once the news had gotten out. "So you guys are the ones!" she said. "Wow, congratulations, all of you!"

"Thanks, ma'am!" Kyou said.

"Thank you," Sunao said.

"Thanks…" Go'on said.

"If you don't mind my asking, um, what do we do now?" Sunao continued, when Benio didn't add anything further. "Since, well, we finished kinda early."

"Thirty-seven minutes! A full hour before the Kazekage!" Kyou chirped in.

"Well, we're gonna keep you here until time runs out," Benio said. She started walking down the hall, so the proctor and genin followed. "Don't worry, we got places for you guys to sleep and shower and everything. So, really, the main thing is keepin' you guys busy! We can have things brought from home for you, if you want, but we can't let you guys leave just yet. That okay?"

"That's fine! I'll just need some clothes to sleep in, maybe a book, I've been in the middle of this wonderful book-"

"I'll probably just need some pajamas and things," Sunao said.

"I don't need anything, thanks…" Go'on said.

Benio smiled. "Well, just let me or any of the other proctors know what you guys need, we'll be glad to get it for you. Oh, and, by the way," she added, stopping and turning to face them full-on, "we've contacted your sensei. I hear he's on his way to meet with you. I'm sure he's very proud of you."

None of them said anything to this, but they all smiled.

Sasuke was at the tower within about 15 minutes, and the three of them collected themselves to go meet with him.

"So you've beaten Gaara's record, huh?" was the first thing he said to them, facing them with his arms crossed.

They didn't respond, faces full of mixed but uneasy excitement, unsure of what he wanted to hear.

And then Sasuke smiled, genuinely and warmly. His smile was even rarer than Go'on's, like a sighting of some maybe-fictional construct, or a ghost.

"Good work, all of you. I am very, very proud."

It was then that they knew that it was okay to smile back.

"So, tell me," he continued. "How did you get through so fast?"

"Well, there was this bear," Kyou began, but Sunao cut him off.

"I think we should let Go'on-kun tell him," she said. "After all, you were our leader for this section, weren't you?" And she smiled at him, tilting her head.

"…well, there was a bear…" Go'on began, and he started to tell Sasuke everything.

Inou made it to the tower in the late evening. His maximum range with the slow-mode thought-scan was nearly 500 feet, so he and Shikake and Chouko would stop occasionally to let him search for trios in the area with Earth scrolls.

Funny, how it worked out like that. The last two tests they had started out with Earth scrolls. And now, here they were, looking for them.

Shikake nudged Chouko, not terribly gently, during one of their stops. "Why do we have to let him do this? It's just stroking his ego, letting him use that stupid technique twice in a row," she said. "We'd have an easier time if I just let him possess one of my puppets so he could scout ahead. I prepared my favorite, I know he can use it." She opened her jacket and took out a scroll from an inner pocket.

Chouko shushed her, pushing the hand and the scroll back. "If he used one of your puppets then one of us would have to watch his body. He's got a much greater range with this technique, anyways," she said, whispering. "He knows what he's doing." Shikake just rolled her eyes.

Inou heard it all, and ignored it, and continued with his scan.

They found a qualifying team by mid-afternoon, and beat the tar out of them after tracking them for a short while. It was a cakewalk - they'd been through the forest twice already, and Chouko was already a chuunin. Earth scroll in hand, they reached the tower without much more effort, avoiding scalpers and other hangers-on.

To Inou's surprise, Sasuke was already at the tower, eating dinner with his students in the canteen. Inou made no effort to sit with him, though they made eye contact once, and only once.

Sasuke gave him a nod, and nothing more.

(What it meant was, "As I expected of you.")

(What Inou wished it meant was, "I'm proud of you." But he knew better. His father wouldn't be proud of him, not yet.)

Sasuke decided to stay in the tower for the rest of the night, at least until Karai made it to the tower herself, as he knew she would.

The genin made their requests after dinner. Kyou had a massive encyclopedia-ish book brought to him, with a change of impressively-folded clothes, a note from his father attached to them with a safety pin, overflowing with love and encouragement, for him and his team both.

Sunao didn't ask for much. Just a change of clothes, her comb, her toothbrush. The chuunin who delivered them came back with stories and about a million reports of greetings from her siblings, and it made her smile.

Go'on made a very unusual request.

"What do you mean, you want to sleep outside?" Benio asked, tilting her head when he tugged on her sleeve. "You mean, like, on the roof?"

"No, in the Forest…"

She made a very strange face. "I… Well, certainly it's allowed, but I don't think that's necessarily the safest thing, Go'on-kun."

Why did he look so sad? Certainly a lot of genin were sleeping in the Forest tonight, but not by choice. Who would want to sleep there?

"Well, I dunno… I just don't sleep well in places like these, is all…" Go'on explained. He stared at his feet. "I'm used to sleeping outdoors…"

"If you want to sleep outside, well, I guess you can get a sleeping bag and stay on the roof of the tower…?" Benio said. "We don't wanna lose track of you now that you've gone and made it this far. Okay?"

Go'on shrugged. "Okay."

He said that he went to go sleep on the roof that night, and that was certainly where they found him in the morning. But there was dirt under his nails, at breakfast, and moss. He went to go clean himself up, after Sasuke pointed it out to him and asked him why he had such dirty hands at breakfast.

Karai showed up early that morning with her own team, bright smile on her dirt-smudged face, both scrolls in hand.

Satisfied with this, Sasuke went home.

"I'll be back soon," he told his students. "Stay rested. There may be preliminaries. You need to be at your best."

Karai made an effort to say hello to him, at least, before he left.

"Excellent work, Karai. Just as I expected of you," he told her. He didn't need to tell Inou anything.

And then he went home.