I'm so sorry for how late this chapter has been. Life is crazy right now and I've struggled to translate anything (translating is very different from writing, in my opinion). I feel better now and should be back on track with at least one chapter per week.
On another note, I'm looking for a beta reader! If you're interested and feel able to catch up quickly with what I've already translated and doesn't need any editing (which include everything up to chapter 85), add me on discord (.nyx#8151). Since this is a translation, what I need from a beta reader is mostly a copy edit check. My mistakes are mostly related to prepositions and vocabulary use, since English isn't my native language.
Hitomi surprised herself with how serene she felt, watching Naruto and Neji walk into the arena. Even before the fight started, her brother unsheathed his sword. The first thing he did when Genma gave them the "Hajime!" was to drown the whole space in clones and disappear in the black and blonde crowd. Everyone lost him, even Hitomi, even Kiba… Even Neji. The Hyūga boy didn't let that unsettle him: he hit clone after clone to make them puff out of existence and, soon enough, the arena disappeared into a heavy blanket of white fog. Neji hadn't yet activated his Byakugan. He probably thought he didn't need it against such a weak opponent, the arrogant twat.
Naruto took advantage of this flaw. He hit the Hyūga in the back with the flat of his sword, pushing him so hard he made him trip, then hid himself amongst his clones again. It was the kind of move Hitomi liked and she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, yelling her support amongst her peers. All the Fellowship members who hadn't made it to the tournament were supporting Naruto, and Hitomi saw enough of the contestants' tribune to know that they were doing the same, even the Sand Sibling. Naruto had won their hearts. For now, they were the only ones in favour of the young jinchūriki. Civilians had to think they were mad, and the other ninjas as well. They didn't care one bit.
Finally, Naruto was hit and Neji used that opportunity to talk to him. Hitomi heard the weak buzzing of his voice but, even when she focused chakra in her ears, she couldn't distinguish words with the crowd in the stadium. She suspected, however, what the Bunke genius was telling her adopted brother. A fierce smile appeared on her lips. Neji didn't know what was going to hit him right on the head, with all the strength of a demon and the innocent determination of its host.
Just like in the canon, Naruto was on a level playing field against Neji, but he had only been hit twice instead of a multitude of times. His dodges, his instincts, were far better than before the exam. He knew how to hide, mastered the timing of his permutations and metamorphoses perfectly. He was fierce, clever, his face a mask of intense focus, while his opponent was losing himself in waves of emotion he couldn't control. Everyone could feel the killing intent Neji was sending in the air. Compared to Zabuza's, it was almost laughable and Hitomi could free herself from it with just a spark of chakra but Hinata, two seats from her, started hyperventilating.
"Hey, what's happening, Hinata?" Kiba, sitting at the other side of the girl, called out.
This attracted the attention of their neighbours, as well as Izumo's and Kotetsu's, who sat just in front of them. The two Chūnin who were almost always on guard duty at the Gates were well-known and popular, and they knew everyone, even the members of the Fellowship. They watched, worried, as Kiba passed Hinata to Hitomi, who handed her to Ensui. At the end of their row, Ino had casually straightened up and toyed with a kunai, a deadly serious expression on her face. Chōji too seemed ready for battle. There wasn't any threat yet, but one of their own was wounded, vulnerable, and it was enough to prompt their vigilance.
Ensui's hand started gleaming with the minty shade of medical chakra, then passed twice over Hinata's chest. His brow furrowed in focus, he ordered Hitomi twice to hold her friend, who could barely breathe between two coughing fits. The Yūhi girl couldn't help but worry, distracted despite herself as she kept an eye out for the moment when Kabuto would approach to try and steal Hinata away from them. The Whisper bloomed inside her, ready to strike. Not yet, she answered with a thought full of dark promises.
"She had a bit of internal bleeding going on, but I patched it up before it could become worrisome. I'll have a clone take her to the hospital."
Ensui left Hinata's unconscious body in Hitomi's arms as he summoned a shadow clone. The girl was relieved that she had her shishou with her. He knew what he was doing. He made the right decisions. With her friends, she watched the clone disappear in the crowd, Hinata's frail body in his arms. She followed them up to one of the staircases leading to an aerial exit from the stadium then focused back on the fight below.
She did so just in time to see Naruto jump from underground in a move he had undoubtedly borrowed from Kakashi's Earth Release repertoire – it wasn't even his affinity – and knocked Neji out with a punch under the chin. She was satisfied: everything was set for Shikamaru's future fight against Temari. Oh, he could have handled it without that, but it was nice to have trump cards.
A tender smile on her lips, she watched her brother take a lap around the arena as the whole crowd cheered, clapped and supported him. They hadn't heard what he and Neji had told each other. All they knew was that the outsider of the tournament, the underdog, had just beaten one of its favourites. It was such a spectacular turn of events, exactly what the audience hoped to see in this arena.
Down there, several Jōnin went back and forth, whispering together. One of them went to speak to the dignitaries in their tribune. Hitomi couldn't help but shudder when she looked at the white ceremonial robe covering the Kazekage – or rather covering Orochimaru. She was certain of it now. She recognised his chakra, which meant the invasion would happen. She touched her sword like she would a talisman. She knew Gaara and his siblings weren't part of the operation: there was no way he wouldn't tell her such a terrible thing, so she could at least prepare and survive. He didn't want her wounded or dead. That meant she wouldn't have to chase him through the Fire Forest. She would be able to stay in the village, defend it, protect it.
But how? She didn't have any idea about this yet, which meant improvisation was in order. Her face empty, she watched Shino and Kankurō go down. Genma had just announced that Sasuke's fight had been moved to the last spot in the schedule. When she closed her eyes and focused, Hitomi felt a faint spark of Kakashi's chakra. He was there, watching. If he hadn't appeared yet, it was only because he wanted to make a dramatic entrance. She hid a smile. He was right.
The fight between Shino and Kankurō was a quick affair. No matter how skilled the Sunajin was, he couldn't do much against an opponent who ate his chakra threads away. Shino, with his quiet strength and impassive features, left a strong impression in the audience, even if no one yelled with enthusiasm when he was announced winner. The clapping, filled with respect, was what he preferred anyway.
Shikamaru was up against Ino and won quickly, using a bit of Fire Release and mostly taijutsu. They had probably sworn off Kekkei Genkai during their match so whoever won would have surprises for Temari, and the Yamanaka heir was simply no match for a determined Shikamaru. She lost with honour though, no one could deny it.
Then Shikamaru went back, against Temari this time. Her hand on Ensui's arm, Hitomi encouraged her cousin in silence. She wasn't worried, not really. She knew how strong Shikamaru could be. He wouldn't ever reduce mountains to dust with his bare hands like Sakura would one day, but it didn't mean he was weak, quite the contrary. He would always find a way to go around the mountain without leaving any trace of his presence behind him.
He yielded when he got Temari in his shadow and at his mercy, just like in the canon. Hitomi heard Naruto scream his incredulity on the other side of the stadium, and she let out a little laugh, then exchanged a knowing look with her mentor. She had no difficulty imagining Shikaku's expression right now. The proud and dignified clan leader would probably bang his head against a wall if it didn't require so much effort.
And, finally, at the very last moment, Sasuke and Kakashi appeared, directly at the centre of the arena. The Konohajin civilians lost it, screaming at the top of their lungs for their champion, the heir of the clan they had once supported because, as the police, they had protected them. Gaara used a Shunshin with sand to go down as well. They gauged each other, everyone leaned towards them, Hitomi's hands gripped her seat, and Genma spoke. "Hajime!"
They used pure taijutsu for the first few minutes. Despite all his efforts, Sasuke wouldn't ever be as fast as Lee, far from it. Hitomi had seen her boyfriend in the crowd, next to a woman and a little girl who both looked a lot like him. She knew he still had family but hadn't met them yet. Maybe she would be able to, once everything related to the exam was over.
Gaara moved in an explosion of sand that made warm wind blow over the seats, and Sasuke disappeared from sight for a second. Hitomi could only follow him through his chakra. He was sticking something on the arena's walls… seals, she realised with a rush of adrenaline. What had she given him, exactly? Normal bombs, flash bombs, smoke bombs. Which one would he use? She shivered in excitement…
… and then remembered what she had been on the lookout for when a white feather, so soft-looking, floated in front of her eyes. For a second, she lost herself, tried to catch it… then brutally broke the illusion and went back to her senses. Next to her, Ensui was already searching for the origin of the threat, but Kiba had slumped on his seat, sound asleep. She freed him with a spark of her chakra, a hand on his mouth to keep him silent and still. Akamaru, anxious, let out a high little whimper.
"Don't move," she whispered in the Inuzuka's ear. "Pretend you're asleep, I'll check on Chōji." She was so little, so frail, that she didn't have any difficulty falling to the ground and sneaking between Kiba's legs to reach her Akimichi friend. She repeated the operation, then found Ino awake and absolutely pissed off. In front of them, Izumo and Kotetsu were looking for the enemy as well.
"Hitomi," Ensui whispered, "send a clone metamorphosed into an insect at the other side of the stadium and wake up the contestants if they are touched by the illusion. We have to discover who…"
An explosion of smoke cut him in his tracks. The diplomatic tribune disappeared in a heavy blanket of black mist, then the Kazekage sprang out of it, holding the Hokage by the collar of his ceremonial white robes, a kunai to his throat. Hitomi clenched her jaw and breathed in and out once, as deep as she could. There she was. All the tension from the previous weeks didn't need to weigh her down anymore; only the drive to step forward, to survive and protect mattered now.
"Hitomi!" Ensui called tersely.
"Yes, shishou." She formed the Cross Hand Seal, her movements sure and firm, and a perfect replica of herself appeared next to her, crouching between Ensui's feet and the seat in front of him. The clone nodded, changed into a ladybug and started crawling to the other side of the arena. Soon enough, Hitomi lost sight of it. "What now, shishou?"
"Once as many of your comrades as possible are awake, you'll deploy in Konoha and evaluate the situation. You'll go where you're most needed. Try the hospital first, it's gonna be one of the prime targets if Sunagakure and Otogakure are really invading right now."
Down in the arena, dark shapes were fighting. Hitomi recognised Kakashi, Genma, Gai and Sasuke, but not the opponents they were fighting again, all identical with their masks and uniforms from the Village Hidden in the Sound. Ensui's orders spread quickly to her closest friends. On the other side of her perceptions, she felt her clone wake Naruto up. Everything was going smoothly so far.
The only problem was that she would have to move soon so she could leave the stadium and, as soon as she did, she'd turn into a target. She had to risk it, though. Nodding to her shishou as he rushed to help a group from ANBU, she decided it was time. She took the lead of her group of friends and guided them through the rows of seats, trying to stay hidden and as discreet as possible. It worked for almost ten metres, then an Otojin shinobi spotted them.
"You won't leave this place, brats," he spat.
"Wanna bet?" she challenged with a fierce smile.
She unsheathed her sword as Kiba tensed behind her, ready to attack. She signalled for him to stay back: the ninja in front of them was barely more than a Genin, or maybe a Chūnin freshly promoted. She could see it in his way of standing, of moving. She met him in a clash of energy and steel, her blade hurting the kunai he had barely had time to raise in defence. The Whisper sang in her ears, pushing her to smile in a vaguely cruel manner. She just had to touch the boy's shadow, to make him move his hand, and she had an opening. He fell, three stab wounds on his chest, and Hitomi stepped back and wiped her blade on her sleeve, her face an expressionless mask. "We continue," she ordered.
Her friends obeyed. They didn't meet any resistance until they reached the arena itself. Talk of their mission had to have spread through the Jōnin: Hitomi saw Asuma take on three shinobi who had been running towards them, a fierce expression on his handsome features. She wouldn't have liked to fight him right now, not when his own father was missing, last seen with a kunai to his throat.
They were almost out of the stadium when problems came in the form of eight shinobi, probably tasked with keeping the spectators inside. With a heavy sigh, Hitomi sliced her thumb open and summoned all her cats. The older five were ready to fight, their hackles rising on their necks and a hiss in their throats. As for Hai, she stood next to Hitomi's feet, looking at the eight men and women with wide, apprehensive blue eyes.
Hitomi opened her mouth to give the command, but she didn't have time to speak before a huge wave of sand jumped above her group and collided against the Otojin, crushing them mercilessly. She turned around: Gaara was running towards them, his siblings and the rest of the contestants in tow. Lee was there, but Sasuke had stayed in the stadium with Kakashi. A sign of her hand and Ino, Chōji and Kiba relaxed, welcoming the foreign ninjas like the allies they were.
"Hitomi, what's happening?" Naruto asked.
"Sunagakure and Otogakure betrayed the truce," she told him, her voice devoid of any feeling. "Otogakure is Orochimaru's village. That man is the one who attacked us in the Forest of Death. Today, it was his chakra I felt under the Kazekage's ceremonial robes."
"What do you mean?" Kankurō asked, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. This wasn't the worry a soldier felt for his war chief, but the one a son felt for his father. A cruel, distant, ruthless father, but a father nonetheless.
Hitomi shook her head. "The Kazekage isn't here. I don't know his chakra, but I'd recognise Orochimaru's everywhere. It changes, he did something weird to it, but it still has the same, sickening core. Besides, your father has three affinities, right? Wind, earth and lightning. The man in those robes only had wind. I never felt Rasa-sama's chakra so I can't be a hundred percent certain, but the chakra's nature alone tell me it can't be him."
"In that case," Gaara said in a firm tone, "we won't be part of this attack. Baki-sensei has already joined your teachers to help them. He's ready to turn rogue if necessary. He lost his wife and daughter to the last war. He ordered us to support you in any way possible. We'll turn rogue with him if we have to."
Hitomi looked at her friend for a long moment. He wanted to become Kazekage. Turning rogue would crush his dream. When he squared his shoulders, daring her to refuse the help, she softened. "We're going to the hospital to defend it, if it's under attack. I don't doubt for one moment that it is. Orochimaru has always been fascinated by the darker aspects of medicine and he needs test subjects for his jutsus. He'll find interesting things over there."
As she relayed the rest of her instructions, she left the building, the others in tow. She looked around. Civilians were quietly walking to the shelters, escorted by General Forces and several ANBU. Would they be out of the way quickly enough? She could only pray that they would. Then the gigantic red cube above the building in front of the stadium attracted her eyes. A rush of adrenalin went through her system. She knew what she was going to do.
"Hai-chan, you come with me," she ordered in a firm voice. "The others, you go to the hospital. I'll join you as soon as I'm done here."
"What are you going to do?" Shikamaru asked.
"Break that barrier. It's a seal and I'm the only one to know my way around those. It's very probable that the Hokage is stuck inside, so… Shikamaru, you're team leader. While I'm away, you act as I would."
The two cousins exchanged a meaningful look. They had played shōgi so many times together, had spared countless times, that their mind could function as one, even when they were separated.
"May the Will of Fire protect you," he whispered, solemn.
"May She protect you," she answered before walking away, the little dark grey cat behind her. She stopped in the shadow of another building when she spotted the shinobi guarding the one she needed to reach. She had to go through them. Putting her hand on Hai's back, she took her in her arms and started whispering her instructions to her ear. The cat nodded, then mingled in the shadows as soon as Hitomi let her go. She reached the four men standing near the wall she wanted to use, as delicate and subtle as the lightest breeze. The men relaxed as soon as she brushed her tail against their naked heels – those ridiculous boots again.
Their faces turned amazed, almost in a childlike manner. Hitomi didn't know what their brain was showing them. She only hoped, for the sake of their souls, that it was a good dream. She sliced their hands open one by one to steal their chakra until they fell dead at her feet. Their energy was now burning and buzzing in her Gates like lava. She wanted to scream, to sob. She didn't have such luxury, so she brushed the pain away.
It took her two whole minutes to climb the building without getting seen, Hai's claws sinking in the back of her kimono to follow and watch her blind spot. She left the feline behind a statue of a roaring dragon and crawled to the next one, hiding in its shadow. Right in her line of sight was Tayuya, her hands on a seal drawn directly on the roof so she could keep it active. Hitomi watched her carefully, weighing her options. The girl had to die: she was the weakest of the Otojin Quartet in direct combat, and without her the barrier couldn't be maintained. But she was far away, and Hitomi was hiding behind the last piece of architecture that could possibly shield her from her enemy's eyes.
She breathed deeply, part of her mind in her Library. She had read a lot of technique scrolls collected on the Uchiha lands during the last month. It was as if a whole eternity had happened between the day she had explored the place with her brothers and now. The scroll she had favoured had been written by Senju Tobirama himself and described the Shunshin, one of the many techniques he had invented. It explained how it worked and how to use it. Hitomi knew all this theoretical stuff, she could recite it word for word, and she had the chakra to try it. Her reserves felt like they would burst any moment.
Slowly, her right hand formed half of the Tiger Hand Seal, all her willpower focused on the destination she wanted to reach, behind Tayuya's back. She felt a tremor in her chakra but didn't move. She inhaled, exhaled, and tried again. Once, twice, thrice. At ground level, civilians had started to die screaming, crying, pleading to merciless attackers to let them live. She had to act. Cold sweat trickled down her neck. Someone screamed at the foot of the building. She focused, commanded her chakra.
And disappeared.
She reappeared exactly where she had wanted. She felt dizzy and disoriented, but she didn't let that affect her. Her right hand wrapped around Tayuya's long hair, yanked her head back, and she sliced her throat open with her blade. The kunoichi collapsed with a surprised gurgle. Their eyes met for a moment, Hitomi's icy and determined, the other girl's frightened and dumbfounded. She didn't want to die, she was afraid to die. Hitomi didn't give her any chance to fight back and maybe she would regret it later. With a jolt, she drove her fingers in the wound she had inflicted upon her target, covering them in blood, and stole all the chakra left in the already dying body.
She didn't give time to the other three of the Quartet to understand why the barrier was failing; she shunshined away on another roof, four houses to the left, where a pair of ANBU were finishing their opponents. There were only two, but it would have to be enough. She shoved a Sunajin away, planting his own kunai in his thigh. Two Shunshin in a row seemed to be her limit for now: the nausea and dizziness were so bad she had to rely on her meridians and the Whisper to keep fighting.
"The barrier that was holding the Hokage prisoner just fell," she informed the ANBU as soon as they were done. "Send clones to warn your peers and go help him."
She didn't wait for them to answer before running to the edge of the roof and jumping down to the street and the fights that were still happening there. Hai still firmly hanging onto her back, she swiped a Sunajin's feet as he walked backwards to her, letting his original opponent stab him to death. She didn't even look at the face of the person she had helped kill, diving under another enemy's arm. She was at the core of the battle, probably because all the moles in the village had waited to see the barrier as a signal that the invasion had started.
She hissed in pain when an Otojin sliced her upper arm open. Taken by surprised, she raised her other arm, the one holding her tantō, to try to parry a kunai running to her throat, but she could see it was too late – something connected somewhere between her mind and body and she went flying backwards without anything to propel her, as if she had just jumped. The hold on her disappeared and she turned her head.
Ensui.
He looked pissed, deadly, his unsheathed katana covered in red. With a groan, he twisted his body, beheaded a woman who had tried to attack him from behind, then straightened up. There was a storm in his dark grey eyes, more piercing than ever. With his free hand, he grabbed Hitomi's arm and yanked her out of the way of two ninjas trying to make a pincer attack on her. It was chaos, and the Whisper sang its exaltation under her skin.
"What are you doing here, Hitomi? Where are the others?"
"I sent them to the hospital just like you asked, shishou, but I stayed behind when I saw the barrier that was trapping Hokage-sama with Orochimaru. I killed one of the ninjas who was keeping it active."
"Fūinjutsu?"
She dropped down and Ensui's blade whistled above her head, cutting another anonymous shinobi's throat open. She pushed the body away with a shove of her shoulder. "Yes, shishou. I wouldn't have disobeyed if it wasn't."
Pressed by another wave of attackers, they had to stand back to back. Hitomi, at another time, would have been touched that her master trusted her with his blind spot. She didn't have time for that now, however. She was far too busy killing again and again to feel anything. It was just so easy, the natural order of things.
"I understand," he sighed without looking at her. "At the first opening, you'll run to the hospital. With you near me, I can't use my most efficient techniques. Get ready."
"I-I can use the Shunshin, shishou."
The nausea was gone and so was the dizziness, or she'd be dead by now. She could only thank the shinobi's natural good constitution for that little blessing.
"Really? We'll talk about testing techniques without supervision later, young lady. For now, it's gonna make things easier. See that red sign, after the crossroad? At my signal, you shunshin there, then you run. Don't look back, Hitomi. I'm serious."
"P-promise, shishou." She pushed down any desire to protest, to pretend she could be useful, help him. She was already wounded, no matter how superficial it was, and she was far from a match for his own skill. As he had said, her presence forced him to hold back. She gathered her chakra, her willpower, parried a blow to her throat, cut the hand that had attempted it, and waited.
"Now!"
In a second, she disappeared. She distinctly felt Ensui's chakra explode where she had been standing. Around him, the enemy shinobi started screaming, crying, dying. Konoha's Strangling Shadow had risen once more. A dark smile twisted her lips and she ran, exactly as she'd been told. This time, she didn't let anything distract her from her target, not even the cornered civilians defended by a line of exhausted shinobi. She had a mission. Her other comrades, the ones who had regained strength as soon as the Hokage had been freed from the barrier, seemed to understand. They made sure to keep their opponents away from her.
The roof of the hospital had been half-torn from the rest of the building. It was the first thing she noticed; she had always thought that construction sturdy, really sturdy. Seeing it damaged in that way… it hurt. She hoped Sakura was okay. Maybe… Maybe she wasn't working today. Without focusing on the anxious knot in her stomach, she hurled herself on a team that was approaching the entrance. Otogakure again.
She shunshined in the middle of their group and in one second the two before her fell, one with her throat slit, the other with his neck broken by the Water Whip in her right hand. The two who were still alive shook themselves from their stupor and moved to attack, but she was already catching their shadow. Her own chakra reserves were still untouched; she was using what the Whisper had given her first to make the pressure tearing at her Gate go away.
"Yield and let me capture you or you'll die too. Your hands are empty. Look at mine."
She tilted the sword and whip in her hands, still covered in their teammates blood, and saw the terror in their eyes. Those shinobi didn't bear the Cursed Seal and the brainwashing that came with it. She growled, saw them tense, fighting against her shadow. She wasn't Shikamaru. She didn't have his intimate understanding and incredible precision with their Kekkei Genkai. And yet she knew plenty enough. Killing intent bloomed on her skin like a poisonous flower, making her seem taller, stronger, deadlier.
"I-I yield!" the soldier to her right said. The other one quickly followed, all his bravery evaporated at the same time as his teammate's. She nodded, satisfied. A few mudras and a water clone appeared next to her then went to tie her opponents up. She made sure to bind them in a way that would stop them from using mudras or even attempt to escape. Once she was sure they were out of commission, she entered the hospital, hid them in the first cupboard she saw, and went to look for her friends.
She hoped they were all still alive.