A/N: Happy New Years everyone!
Chapter 19: The Finals
After the group finished their breakfast, they left their hotel and started to make their way toward the stadium where the finals were going to be held. As they made their trek, they couldn't help but notice the sudden buzz in the air. The streets were a little livelier than usual, with people moving about and running their errands with a little more pep in their step, as if they were in a rush.
Having stayed in the village for the past month now, Baki and the Sand Siblings had grown used to how Konoha operates, so the change in the atmosphere was something they just couldn't ignore.
"People are really energized this morning," Kankuro mumbled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "The finals know how to get people moving . . ."
"It does tend to have this kind of affect on people . . . The finals isn't just a time for participants to show their talents and skills Prince Kankuro," Baki calmly stated as they turned a corner. "With the influx of visitors from across the shinobi kingdoms, it's also the time for businesses and traveling merchants to make a huge profit. The Showcase Finals tends to bring in a lot of revenue for the hosting village, especially in the betting pools."
"Speaking of betting, who do you think is going to get the most bids?" Temari asked as she pulled out a small fan from one of her sealing scrolls.
"It depends on who's in the competition. Those who are natives of Fire will place their bets on the competitors from their territory, out of familiarity mainly. The same will go for those who come from Wind. A lot of people from our homeland have come to view today's proceedings, so I expect to see big numbers next to your names once I check the betting boards." Baki answered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "The numbers may have been as high for the lone Sound genin that made it, but thanks to his 'untimely departure', it's become rather moot."
"I'm sure the Sound Kingdom were quite put off when they heard about that mummy kid's demise." Kankuro mumbled, his eyes sneaking a glance at his brother before turning away, Baki had managed to fill the elder siblings in on what happened between Dosu and Gaara weeks ago, and both immediately concluded that the Sound genin was a downright idiot for trying to confront the redhead outright.
"That had to be one of the most stupid things you could do as a ninja!" Temari had summarized as she shook her head. Kankuro actually found it laughable and ended up on the ground chuckling his ass off. He only stopped after Temari threatened to smack him after some of his spittle got on her slipper.
"Any idea on what's going to happen now with Dosu out of the picture?" Temari asked as the stadium slowly came into view. "He was meant to go against the Fire Princess first, but with him gone, what's going to happen to her match? Are they going to make one of the other matches a three-way duel or something?"
"We'll find out once we get there. The Showcase is one of the most important events on the shinobi calendar for a number of reasons. Financial gain. Kingdom or clan pride . . . Most of the kingdoms use it as a gauge for the genin they send to see if they warrant a promotion to chuninn or not."
"Including Wind?" Kankuro couldn't help but ask as he spotted a few merchants from Suna chatting with each other as they stood around a mobile tea booth. When the merchants spotted the group, they immediately bowed their heads in recognition of the royals, though some still had wary looks on their faces as they spotted the redhead paying them no mind.
"Yes, even the Wind Kingdom," Baki stated matter-of-factly. "So, if fighting for the kingdom's financial livelihood isn't enough to motivate you three to do well, maybe a potential promotion to chuunin will."
The siblings remained silent as they continued on their way. It wasn't lost on any of them how important a chuunin promotion was in the life of a ninja. It meant that they were ready for the next level, including harder missions and more responsibility. Clans and noble houses prided themselves on the number of chunnin, and eventually, the number of jounin they produced along their lines, and the more the members distinguished themselves, the more respect and acclaim they brought to their families.
For the ninjas themselves, it was mainly personal pride for the more boisterous ones, and genuine accomplishment for the humbler ones.
"Anyway, Dosu's death ended the Sound Kingdom's chances in the Showcase, but the easy acceptance of it all is what's unnerving," Baki continued on. "Most kingdoms would make more of a ruckus about losing their participant outside of Showcase activities, especially considering the circumstances surrounding his death. . . However, the Sound made no such issue. They just accepted it as fact."
"I'm sure that raised some red flags." Gaara mumbled as the crowd grew thicker around them the closer they got to their destination.
"Indeed, it has. King Minato has been subtle with his directives, but the most experienced eyes can see the uptick in security if they really look for it," Baki advised as they reached the participants' entrance. After checking in with security, the group stepped into the building, walking down the hallway until they reached the first intersection. A sign was posted right on the wall, directing senseis and mentors to go left while the remaining participants had to go right.
"The guys at security did mention that we had to separate once we got inside," Temari mumbled as she put away her fan. "Got any last words for us Baki?"
"Some people have been a little quick to dismiss our homeland due to its current struggles. Show your strength, and show why the Wing Kingdom should not be overlooked so easily. . . At this point, anything else that I could say would seem redundant."
"You have been sounding like a broken record ever since we left Suna." Kankuro mumbled under his breath, but it was still loud enough that everyone heard him. Baki chose to ignore the jibe, and shook his head before walking away, but not before he had one last thing to say.
"Perform well, but make sure you don't perform in a way that will make the kingdom look bad. We don't want to come out of this as a walking laughing stock, or a place where they question our sanity."
Gaara knew that last part was directed at him, but he ignored it. Shukaku wasn't as kind, and started ranting about turban-wearing idiots as the siblings separated from their mentor and made their way to the designated waiting room. When they reached, they realized that they were one of the last ones to arrive. Aside from the Nara heir, everyone else was present, and all eyes were on them as soon as they passed through the doorway, everyone's except the princess. She was meditating off to the side, tuning out the world.
"Huh, didn't expect you all to already be here!" Kankuro uttered, not realizing he said that out loud until it was too late. "Eager much?"
"Eh, you could say that," Haruka mumbled as she went back to her game of cards against Nanami and Prince Naruto. "Now that the royal Wind trio is here, who's left to arrive?"
"Just Shikamaru," called Neji from his spot across the room. "But that is to be expected from someone from the Nara clan. Their intelligence can't be argued, but their laziness and perpetual lateness at time, is just as infamous."
"Huh, if that's the case, it looks like you'll have one less competitor to deal with too sis." Kankuro mumbled as he snuck a look at Temari.
"Not really," said the Nara as he finally made his appearance, appearing right behind the siblings as he walked through the door. "Besides, if I didn't show up, my mother would have had my head."
"Glad to see you could make it Shika," said Naruto as he looked up from his cards. "Still tired?"
"As always." said Shikamaru as he walked over to a bench nearby. He stretched himself across it like a cat before falling right back to sleep, unlikely to wake up until the finals started.
His intelligence is the only reason he's made it this far. Shukaku bluntly grumbled as he the siblings made their way over to an unoccupied corner of the room.
"Baki likes to say that one's intelligence can be just as dangerous, if not more, than one's physical ability," Gaara droned on as he took a seat in one of the empty chairs. "He may not look it, but the Nara could end up being one of the most dangerous competitors in this competition."
From a smarts standpoint, most likely, from a physical standpoint, not in the slightest. Shukaku mumbled. Some of the remaining meat in here do look strong. However, your main competition on a physical standpoint is the Fire Prince and Princess, especially if they know how to pull out my siblings' power to use to their advantage.
"Is it possible they know how to do that already?"
It is. The girl may have had the easier time convincing Ryuna to work with her though. Kurama was never known for being a team player, but the boy may have convinced him to share his power. That Naruto kid has proven to have quite a gift for winning people over to his side. It's not hard to think he may have won that blasted fox over, although it may have taken him a while to do so.
Gaara had witnessed Naruto's charm in action before, mainly during his father's welcome dinner. The nobility of the Wind Kingdom were notorious for their hardened attitudes that were molded thanks to the desert sun and sands that dominated their home landscape. However, Naruto somehow managed to win them over with ease, utilizing a charm and ease that impressed Temari, left Kankuro in slight awe, and made Gaara a little wary of the blonde.
It was made apparent to the redhead that the twins were treated differently by others compared to how he was treated by those within his kingdom. Sure, his princely status made things easier for him, but whenever he had to interact with people, he knew they were only wearing a mask. They addressed him as a prince, but he knew they weren't genuine, all because they were either uncertain or afraid of the beast that lay within him.
He barely saw a hint of the same fear or uncertainty that he continuously faces when he saw the twins interact with others at the dinner. Naruto was the one that warmed people over, but Shizuka had a more cautious, observant approach to others. She'd speak with them, but she wasn't as outright with it as her brother was. She'd rather observe than speak, which possibly made her the more dangerous one in his eyes.
Speaking of the Fire Princess, she was sitting off to the side, away from everyone else in the room. She had folded herself into a meditative position, her eyes now open and her breathing even. She looked so serene, yet Gaara could tell that she was ready to spring at the first wrong move.
"I see someone can't keep his eyes off a certain princess again."
Gaara's instant reaction was to send a tiny bit of his sand straight into his brother's eyes, and he hit him dead on. Temari managed to hold back a laugh as the puppeteer struggled to get the sand out of his eyes, but before Kankuro could try some form of retaliation against Gaara, one of the Leaf chunnin stepped into the room with a stoic look on his face, gaining everyone's attention.
"If you could all follow me please. I will be leading you to the battlefield." he told them as he held the door open. He walked out the room, and the young genin followed after him, following him through a series of hallways. The sounds of the audience steadily grew larger and louder as they neared the entry point, and when they finally passed through the open doorway, the screaming reached its apex.
"Damn the stands are packed!" Haruka yelled, somehow being overhead by the others despite the deafening screams. "There's probably not an empty seat in the house."
"Why would there be?" Neji asked in return as the crowds started to quiet down. "The Showcase brings people together from all walks of life, to the common peasant to high royalty. This event has become so important that no one really wants to miss experiencing it."
"Plus, who wouldn't want to see young genin knock the shit out of each other for personal and kingdom pride?" Sasuke added as a rare smirk showed on his face.
Duck-butt Uchiha makes a very good point. Shukaku mildly agreed as the group lined up in the middle of the arena floor. And by the way, the shit you pulled struggling against that Lee kid back in the preliminaries is not going to happen here today. Got it fleshbag!? If I feel you struggling once, I'm fucking taking over, and you will not fucking stop me!
"Aw . . . you care." Gaara mumbled as he looked up at the VIP box at the very top of the stands, his eyes going straight to one certain individual.
I don't care like that fleshbag, and you know it!
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that Shukaku" was all Gaara before tuning the tanuki out. He didn't want to pay attention to him at the moment as he continued to look up at the box, his eyes landing squarely on his father, who was conversing with King Minato. Ever since he arrived to Konoha, Gaara knew there was something off about his dad, but he still couldn't place his finger on it.
In the back of his mind, he had a feeling that something big was going to happen soon.
Something, that was going to have long-reaching consequences for him and his siblings.
A/N: Please review and happy new years!