MATCH 3: Sakasu Hikari vs Kura
Hikari swallowed hard.
"Kura, from Grass," the proctor paused to cough, "and Sakasu Hikari, of Konoha, come down."
The genin who dropped down to the floor was tall, and he was clutching a scythe. She swallowed again. Tenten had said they'd been brutal. Orochimaru had disguised himself as a genin from that village. Was this genin one of his lackeys?
Shikamaru squeezed her wrist, drawing her back to the present. Naruto was celebrating that finally someone from Team 7 got to fight. Sasuke was staring at her, arms crossed, before wishing her luck.
A hand settled on her shoulder. She looked up. Kakashi-sensei closed his eye in a smile. "They're waiting for you, Hikari."
She gave a stiff nod and jumped down. Focus, Hikari, you need to focus. What do you know? Short range weapon. That was good.
The proctor coughed. "Start!"
She waited for Kura to charge her, but he swung from where he stood. Chakra flowed out in a blue arc. Hikari jumped over the assault, twisting so she wasn't in its range. Her skin crawled at the sound of ripping metal. She came down and glanced behind her. The entire wall was fought the urge to flinch. If that attack could damage metal, a full hit would tear her apart.
Kura grinned.
Hikari took the handle off its harness, stretching out the rest of the apparatus.
"A ribbon?" Kura laughed. "And here I was hoping for a challenge, circus girl."
Hikari ignored him, making sure the whole length had chakra.
He swung again. She crouched and flicked her wrist, creating a spiral in front of her. His attack touched the shield. She narrowed her eyes against the harsh blue glare and kept flicking her wrist in a circle while circulating chakra. The glow diminished as the attack was absorbed. Hikari breathed out, relieved. This would work. Now she just had to trick him.
With her left hand, she reached into her weapon pouch, coming up with a roll of ribbon. She draped it over her shoulder and took out a kunai.
When the next attack reached her, she used the glare to mask her actions. She cut off the ribbon into four pieces, hanging them off her belt loops. He barely moved as he attacked, so this could work.
"Fine, then, let's see if you can keep up," Kura announced.
She directed a thread of chakra to her right foot, coating the sandal to create a smooth surface.
Kura swung, once, twice, thrice.
Hikari went into a pirouette, using her arms to build momentum and direct the ribbon around her. The glare was brighter. He must be attacking again and again, seeing if he could overwhelm her. Her hands went clammy. Breathe. This works in your favor. Calm down.
She switched to fouettés so her left arm was free to tie one of the scraps around the kunai. She put it into her weapon's pouch again, and started on the next one. Once the four kunai had a ribbon tied around their hilts, she arched back and embedded one of them on the floor.
She came back up, called up a genjutsu she'd practiced over and over to disguise the ribbon, and let the pirouette fade.
Kura was moving side to side as he swung, trying to get her from multiple angles. Hikari let a spiral meet the next swing and then she was moving, covering the arena.
Chainé. The ribbon wrapping around her. A flick of the wrist to meet the next attack, slide, and jump up. The edge of the attack hit her shoulder. She ignored the pain. Down to the floor and into a needle pirouette, embedding the next kunai. Next was the genjutsu, delicately laid over the first one in a net of illusions.
Chainé, pirouette, and kunai. Genjutsu. One more left. Split leap to gain ground, spiral, block. One last turn and she was done. She could do this. The ribbon tore. No, no. She threw herself to the ground and stabbed the fourth kunai into the floor. She called up her chakra to set the final layer of the net. Kura was preparing an attack.
Hikari jumped up, but the next swing graced her forearm, cutting deep where the chain mail didn't reach.
She couldn't keep this up.
She rushed forwards. The genin swung. She put both hands on her handle and met him. The body of his scythe and her apparatus formed a cross. He put his weight into it, bearing down on her. She twisted so the cross became a single line, clutched both his weapon and hers and jumped up. Both of her feet smashed into his chest, and he went flying backwards. The scythe and her ribbon clattered off to the side. It didn't matter. He was at the center of the four points.
Her fingers flew across the jutsu, and she was underground. She waited until he got to his feet to pull him under. She went up herself and dusted off her hands. "Earth Style: Headhunter jutsu. You're trapped. Surrender."
Kura ignored her. Kakashi-sensei had explained that you could put off enough chakra to pull yourself out. But she'd accounted for that.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," she advised as she strode out of the circle. "Unless you want to blow up, of course. Then you should go ahead."
"What?"
She gestured to the kunai in front of him, which seemed to have an explosive tag tied to it. "There's two on your sides and one behind you."
She made her face placid even as anxiety crawled through her. She never carried explosive tags. Any knot and her ribbon blew up, which could cause a chain reaction. What if Kura broke through the genjutsu? It was detailed. Sasuke had checked it with his Sharingan to make sure of it. But maybe he'd see through it. Maybe...
"I forfeit," Kura told the proctor.
She breathed out and went to collect her handle. At the last minute, she picked up the scythe and passed it off to the proctor. He nodded to her.
"Winner: Sakasu Hikari."
She let the layered genjutsu fade.
Kura let out a string of curses.
Hikari courtsied in the Hokage's direction and climbed up the stairs.
MATCH 4: Tenten vs. Tsuchi Kin
"Yes, Tenten! You can do this! You have the Power of Youth on your side!"
"Lee, enough," Neji called out. "It's about to start. You can't speak to Tenten until the match is over."
"You're right! Hear that, Tenten? We'll wait for you to win!"
As soon as quiet filled the arena, the proctor coughed out the start of the fourth match.
When neither opponents moved, he called out, "I said start!"
Hikari watched distractedly as the genin from Sound let her senbon fly. They clashed with Tenten's shurikens. Metal clattered down to the ground.
"Hikari-san," Hinata called as she stepped towards her.
"Hinata-san," she smiled.
"I can- uh- I can... you arm," the light-eyed kunoichi stammered.
"Oh," Hikari said, glancing down to her forearm, which she'd wrapped tight. The bleeding had stopped, but it stung and hurt. She extended it towards Hinata.
Cool hands cupped her arm. A warm feeling passed through her skin and spread. Hikari's shoulders dropped. She glanced down. The cut was still there, but it was less angry, and the pain had dulled.
"I can't... heal it all... but this should make it faster. But the surface, I'm sorry, I -"
"No," Hikari cut off as she understood that the other girl had focused on healing the inside. "Thank you. This is incredible, Hinata-san. I am grateful," she tilted her head in a short bow.
A blush spread up on Hinata's face. "It's... um... nothing."
"Are you kidding!?" Naruto broke in. "It looks less red and everything! It's amazing, Hinata! I didn't know you could do that!"
"I've been... um... practicing... iryo-ninjutsu, Naruto-kun. Hikari-san, this is... it's.. um... the least I could do, since... you know..."
"You did all the hard work," Hikari stressed. "I am glad you're exploring a field that grabs your interest."
Akamaru barked in agreement. Hinata blushed redder and turned to go back to her teammates.
"Hinata. Wait," Shikmaru called, still facing the match.
"Shikamaru-san?"
"You should get ready. They're making kunoichi fight twice."
Hikari's smile faded. Rina, Ino, her, and now both Tenten and Kin. It couldn't be a coincidence. Next match was likely Hinata versus the kunoichi from Sand. Anger simmered inside her. They'd made it so kunoichi had to win twice to make it to the finals. Akamaru growled. Kakashi-sensei's back had stiffened.
"Oh. I - thank you, Shikamaru-san."
Hikari focused back on the match, clenching her hands on the railing. Tenten was circling the Sound genin. She launched herself in the air, pulling out a scroll. Dozens of weapons released towards the other kunoichi. Kin tried to dodge, but some still struck her. The outcome was clear.
"Winner: Tenten!"
MATCH 5: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Temari of Suna
"Yes! Finally! I'll show them all, dattebayo!"
"Urgh. I'm going up against him?" the kunoichi with the giant fan called out from in front of them.
Naruto shook his fists. "Hey! You're talking to the next Hokage!"
"You? Ha. I doubt it."
Naruto opened his mouth to yell back.
"Dobe," Sasuke interrupted.
Naruto turned towards them.
"Good luck, Naruto-kun."
Naruto's mouth shut, and he nodded. "I'll win, too! We'll all win!"
"Hn. Don't be stupid."
Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair. "Show them what you've learned."
Hikari frowned, turning her head up to glance at her sensei's face. His voice was tight, but his face didn't betray any tension. She smoothed down her own expression.
Naruto leapt down. The blonde kunoichi was already waiting.
"Come forwards!" The proctor paused to cough. "And start!"
"Shadow Clone jutsu!"
Hikari leaned over the railing as dozens of Narutos rushed the Suna genin. The kunoichi took off her fan and guided it in a sweep. All the Narutos hit the wall and puffed out.
Naruto made more clones, and clones henged as weapons and wielded by more clones. They surrounded her and charged. They were all blown off.
"Ha! And you want me to believe you'll become Hokage? Please, you'll make me laugh!"
"Argh!" the next round of clones screamed as they rushed forward.
Hikari gripped the railing as one thing was made clear: this was a fight between two heavy-hitters. The fight continued, until she thought it'd come to Naruto winning because of stamina. But then Naruto, the real one, hung back.
The next rounds of clones was grinning as they charged forward, all except one. Under the cover of the first human wall, more Narutos appeared. And those new Narutos didn't charge. They used throws to soar over the wind attacks. Hikari's eyes widened. He was going to remove the advantage she had in a long-range fight.
Once the kunoichi turned to blow them off, another surge rushed her from the ground. She tried to rally, swinging her heavy fan into the Narutos. But she'd likely never fought against an opponent who didn't shy away from her hits. The Narutos cornered her until she didn't have enough room for another wind jutsu.
The kunoichi pivoted, taking out all the Narutos surrounding her. Hikari looked up as she lost sight of her. The blonde had used her fan to soar over the battle, until she was drifting down.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Remember my name!" the real Naruto cried from above the blonde before kicking her in the head.
The kunoichi flew back, crashing into the wall before sliding down, unconscious. Her fan clattered down next to her.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
MATCH 6: Aburame Shino VS. Inuzuka Kiba
Hikari nodded to both, taking a moment to stroke down Akamaru's spine and receiving a quiet woof in return. As they went down the stairs, she bit her lip. She hadn't realized they could make them fight their own teammates.
The proctor called the match. Both of the members of Team 10 were hesitant to attack first.
"Ninja Art: Man Beast Clone!" Akamaru transformed into a second Kiba.
Shino countered, letting out his bugs.
They bypassed one another's defenses expertly. Kiba managed to force Shino into a taijutsu fight. Shino retreated while his bugs advanced. He seemed to have the advantage as the two Kibas flagged, but then one of them took a soldier pill, and it vanished.
She stepped to her right until she was in Sasuke's space. She didn't want to watch this. It was going to come down to who was willing to hurt the other.
"Sasuke-kun," she whispered. "If we go against one another, I'll forfeit. It'll be my choice, and I ask you not to challenge it."
He knocked his shoulder against hers. She swayed before planting her feet. She glanced at him. His jaw was clenched tight, and he was facing forwards.
Without fire, they were evenly matched. But she refused to face him or be faced as an enemy. And there was no point in it being the other way around. She couldn't win the tournament even if he gave her this win.
"You deserve it more, and, this way, no one will know how you fight." Kiba and Shino were letting everyone know their teammate's weakest spots. "I'm not asking for permission. I'm giving you the courtesy of explaining."
"Hn."
Below them, the bugs concentrated on the Kiba she thought was actually Akamaru. The other Kiba attacked, but he was distracted trying to check on his double. Both retreated and dropped to the ground on all fours.
"Man-Beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Fang Over Fang!"
The two blurred together as they spun into twin tornadoes. A smoke bomb was tossed in. For a moment, all she could see was obliterated insects falling to the ground. The smoke cleared in time to see Shino disintegrate into a bunch of bugs. The real Shino had somehow made his way out of the wreckage, leaving his bugs to take the hit. Both Kibas snarled at him.
The Inuzuka duo made to charge, but swayed. One of them puffed out into Akamaru before they both dropped. A handful of bugs rejoined Shino from the downed figures.
"Winner: Aburame Shino!"
MATCH 7: Hyuga Hinata vs Hyuga Neji
"This is going to be ugly. How troublesome," Shikamaru said quietly.
"Why?" she tilted her head. They were family. "Won't one of them bow out? They must know who's better at one-on-one combat."
"That's Neji."
"Is it because of his belief system, then?"
Neji thought destiny was set from birth, and he was a member of the branch family. So, he'd forfeit. But he'd also told her that Hinata's destiny wasn't to be a shinobi. So, he wasn't going to forfeit?
She didn't understand. Which one was it? Was it set in stone, meaning Hinata had to hold up tradition and be a shinobi, or was she too soft for the job?
Shikamaru shook his head. "Clan history."
She nodded and let the matter drop. The match had started.
"Hinata-sama, give up," Neji called out. "We both know you're only in the exams because your team needed a third member to qualify."
"That's not true! I-I- I wanted to see if. If I had changed. Even a little."
"You can't change your nature," Neji refuted. "A loser will always be a loser."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up." Hikari turned. Naruto's hands were clenched on the railing, and he kept muttering under his breath.
Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Naruto." When Naruto's teeth grinded together, his hand tightened. "Now."
"Byakugan!" The veins on Neji's temples bulged as he activated his doujutsu.
"I- I! I've changed. I'm not the same. Byakugan!"
The fight started. Hikari leaned closer, fascinated. Their styles were the same, with both only pivoting to redirect attacks and launch their own. It was engaging even if they mostly stayed in place. It was also clear that Hinata was less precise. Neji's open hand struck her chest. Hikari closed her eyes. It was over.
"Give up," he ordered.
Hinata ignored him, trying to hit him.
Neji grabbed her hand and immobilized her arm. "Give up! You can't win this fight, and you know it."
The kunoichi remained silent.
He struck her on the shoulder, and she crashed to the ground. She breathed in and out, gasping. Blood trickled down from her mouth to the floor. Hinata turned her face towards Hikari... no, towards Naruto. She got up, swaying from one side to the next. As they watched, she gasped in pain. More blood splattered on the ground. Hinata closed her eyes tight, moving her hands to her chest.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Hikari whispered. "Is she...?"
"Her chakra network is completely shut off. She can no longer fight with the Gentle Fist. And she can't heal herself."
"HINATA! YOU -"
"Silence," Hikari hissed.
Naruto's mouth snapped shut. He turned to her, ready to argue. She glared him down. Neji had struck Hinata's heart. The blue-haired kunoichi knew she needed medical attention. Hikari wouldn't let Naruto be an accesory to Hinata's death because of his ignorance. If this went on, Hinata would die, and she knew it. Neji knew it. The proctor knew it. Everyone but Naruto knew it.
Neji once again told his cousin to give up. When Hinata didn't reply, he turned to the proctor. "It's over. She's done."
Hayate hesitated before shaking his head. "It's over when she's unconscious or she surrenders."
"Hinata-sama, give up. If you continue to fight, you'll die."
Hinata charged at him. Neji tripped her, and she crashed down again.
"Call it!" he ordered the proctor.
Hinata was struggling to get up.
"Call it!"
Hinata was crouching now.
Neji went to her and tipped her over. She laid on the floor, gasping with blood travelling down her chin. He put a hand on her back so she couldn't move and glanced back to the proctor.
"As Hyuga Hinata is unable to continue, the winner is Hyuga Neji!"
Neji climbed the stairs as a team of medics rushed in.
MATCH 8: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kankuro of Suna
Hikari turned to hug Sasuke. She sneaked her hand to his back and dropped the flask of antidote into his weapon pouch. "You've got this. Try to make it quick."
"Yeah, bastard! That jerk went after Konohamaru, and he hurt Ino! Teach him a lesson!"
"Hn."
"Good luck." Kakashi ruffled his hair, "Oh, and Sasuke? Do not get hit. Not one scratch, okay?"
"Yes."
Instead of taking the stairs, Sasuke dropped down.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Kankuro of Suna, you have been chosen for the seventh encounter. Do either of you want to withdraw?"
"No."
"No."
"Then this match has begun!"
Sasuke moved forwards. Kankuro's puppet met him. Sasuke put three kunai into the its chest. It puffed into a log, revealing it as a substitution.
Sasuke dodged the real puppet and put distance between them. Kankuro unsheaded the puppet's arm, revealing a blade. Sasuke dodged, once, twice. On the third, he used the puppet's head to propel himself onto Kankuro. The puppet turned to attack him from the back. Kankuro took on a fighting stance. They both honed in on Sasuke, from the back and the front. Sasuke let them come closer and then substituted, letting an exploding tag take his place. Hikari smiled. They'd figured out how to do that while fighting too many Naruto clones.
"Ha! Your teammate already used that bluff! I'm not -"
The tag exploded, forming a crater and lifting up smoke. From the destruction, the puppet flew out. Sasuke threw a bunch of shurikens. The puppet evaded them.
Sasuke smirked. The light reflected off the ninja wire in both of his hands, and even his mouth. He twisted, and the lost projectiles came back. They wrapped around the puppet, which teetered and fell.
Sasuke threw more shurikens, and then kunai. They knocked into the shurikens. They ricocheted off one another, changing direction. They headed to the crater in every direction. Kankuro screamed. The puppet twitched, but Sasuke was already moving backwards. When the poisonous cloud came out, he was out of its range.
He used the walls to head to the crater, and went in low. He put one hand on the ground to brace himself as his leg came up. It struck Kankuro's chin and sent him straight up.
"That's my move," Lee gasped out.
Sasuke jumped after him, and then twisted like a windmill. His fist struck Kankuro's face, his right foot his chest, and the left sent him crashing straight down. Sasuke landed hard, but he rolled to minimize the impact. Kankuro didn't get back up.
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!"
MATCH 9: Nao vs. Akimichi Chouji
Hikari squeezed Shikamaru's wrist.
He sighed. "Nao is the last of Grass' team. They were willing to almost kill two teams to get here. He's their last chance to the tournament."
"And the ground is all torn up," she murmured. She had made a hole, Kiba had broken the floor up, and then Sasuke had created a small crater. Chouji's technique worked better on smooth wide terrain.
"Yeah."
The proctor called the match.
"Ninja Art: Expansion Jutsu! Leaf-style Taijutsu: Human Bullet Tank!" Chouji didn't waste any time, growing his size and then heading straight to his opponent.
"Earth Style: Mobile Core!" The segment Nao was standing up lifted, and Chouji crashed into the new wall. As they watched, Chouji tried to reverse, to move, but he was trapped.
Nao jumped down and palmed a kunai.
"I give up!"
The genin from Grass tried to stab him, but the proctor was there, holding his arm and putting himself between the combatants.
"Winner: Nao."
MATCH 10: Sakasu Hikari vs. Kinuta Dosu
Hikari took a step back and crashed into Kakashi. A hand settled on top of her head.
"Kakashi-sensei, he- I-" What was she supposed to do? Dosu could render her useless with one hit. He was the antithesis of Movement. "Do you think...?"
He shook his head. "Sound will pass through the ribbon's shield. Do your best, Hikari, and remember my orders."
Right. She wouldn't be a coward by giving up. She'd be following orders. It sounded like a lie. She walked down the stairs, trying to shake off the numbness. It was show time.
The proctor directed them to stand in front of the other, and then, "Start!"
Hikari leaped backwards, throwing coloured smoke bombs in front of her.
Dosu chuckled. "Do you think that'll stop me? I can hear your heartbeat. I know where you are. I know you're scared. And there's no one to save you this time."
Breathe. He wanted to terrify her. She made herself smirk, one side of her mouth pulling higher than the other. She'd win that game. She gathered chakra and prepared to cast a net of simple illusions. He'd know it wasn't real, but it didn't have to be real to scare you. She laid the foundations, a steady beat of drums, and then recalled that particular number. It was a group of voices torn between singing and speaking. If she could make each individual one a separate genjutsu, Dosu would have a hard time dismantling it.
Friends and foes! Honored enemies and lying allies! (She added a layer of trumpets) Come closer! Come closer! Don't you want to be entertained? (She made violins screech their rage.)
"Kai!"
Dosu dispelled the first layer, taking down the strings, but she cast it again over the existing voices. That way, it'd protect them.
Tonight you can't trust your eyes! Don't believe us? Come closer! Come closer!
She started heading back with the drums, taking one step and then another. She needed to coat the net with more voices, more illusions.
Want to know what lies behind the lies? Want to bet? Lay down your life? Sell us your soul?
Her back hit the wall. She slowly turned her back to Dosu and started climbing up.
"Kai! Kai! Kai!"
Do you envy us? Do you crave fame? Well things aren't always what they seem to be! I ask you, do you want to come and play?
She reached the ceiling and sat upside down.
"KAI!"
DO YOU WANT TO COME AND PLAY?
She took off the ribbons in her pouch and glanced at Kakashi-sensei. He nodded to her. She started to unwind them.
You're in our world now! We can do anything we please! We'll shape your fantasies into flesh! We'll give you what you want and take what we need!
"Kai! Kai!" Dosu was starting to sound desperate. She tied her two longest ribbons to her ankles. Two meters away from her, she did the first knot, leaving it so loose it was almost undone.
We smiled for you underneath the spotlight! Will you smile for us? We made you feel! Can we borrow your emotions? We'll let you call us yours tonight! Be our lover or our slave!
She knotted the next ones methodically, each spaced out half a meter out. When she was finished, she stood up on the roof.
And now... on with our show! Stop all the clocks! Cover all the mirrors! Wail and lament! Crow and snicker! BUT CLOSE THE DOOR! Don't let the human in!
She tossed down her last smoke bombs, not bothering to disguise its trajectory. On the next drum, she was already moving. Dosu was almost in the center of the room, probably trying to hear her while tearing down the layers of genjutsu. She could cross him once, from his left to his right, and then go back to front and end up in the raised platform Nao had created.
Like a memory from a dream... Do the songs drown out the screams?
She took a deep breath and climbed down.
Chained! With a crown of gems and dreams! I am the mask you wear! I'll sink into you! Become you! Transform you!
Back on the ground, she took a kunai and stabbed the tail of one of the ribbons to the floor, wedging it tight. Then, she gathered the other tail and tucked it into the bandages around her calf. She wouldn't be using that one yet.
Spoiled! Rotten! Now everything is wrong!
She sprinted. When she reached the smoked area, she put chakra into her soles and jumped. In the air, she poured more to her ankle and into the fabric. It traveled trough the first loose knot harmlessly. She kept pushing until it was all covered. The floor was coming up. She rolled and felt the ribbon tug. The knot tightened. The first node exploded. The chakra trapped on the second one went off and merged with the first explotion, doubling in size. Third, fourth... they all went off.
Come on! I'll show you the way! Swallow it and sorrow will leave you! Just a little rush!
She sprinted to the back, shook her leg until the second tail was out, and anchored it. Then she sprinted and jumped once more. This time, she was aiming for the platform. She crashed onto it, letting out a pained grunt. She tugged her leg, but it hadn't been enough distance. She cut the tail and pulled with her hands until the first knot exploded, and then waited out the chain reaction.
Come closer! Into the bright enticing glow! Drown for your folly! Pay, but not in coin! No! We'll take your soul!
Boom. Boom. Boom.
(La-la-la-la-la.)
(Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)
She knelt in the raised platform, winded and exhausted, and glanced down.
The debris was moving.
How was he not dead? She'd exploded the whole ground. Something warm trailed down her face. Her hand reached up and came back smeared in red. She cocked her head. Had he gotten her? She didn't think so. She could still hear. Oh. That meant he could hear her.
She glanced back down. Dosu was digging himself out of the hole. She glanced to the sides. Kakashi-sensei's fists were clenched. Shika's face was white. That wasn't good. She glanced to the other side, where the last Sand sibling and his sensei stood. She couldn't show weakness. And her tiredeness didn't make sense. She'd rested at the tower, and then after her first fight. So why was she feeling ill?
It didn't matter. She needed to be smart. The greatest strengths were also the greatest weaknesses. He could hear her heartbeat. She had focused on the depth of his hearing, but... his brain had to be able to interpret the sound. He had to process the frequencies. Hikari put one her nekote. She stood up, ignoring her aching body, and jumped down.
She sprinted towards Dosu, gathering chakra for one last piercing illusion. As she got nearer and he settled on a battle stance, she focused. She just needed a half tone, but at the loudest volume she could conjure.
Minor second!
Dosu's hands went to his ears. She spun into a roundhouse kick. He took one of his hands off his ears to grab it. She slashed with her opposite hand. His other hand blocked her, nicking his palm on her claw. Her body rotated. With her free leg, she kicked him in the head. He blocked it but freed her other limbs in the move. Pain stabbed into her left ear.
She dislodged and substituted.
She panted as the world went fuzzy. Everything was moving. Her knees and palms slammed into the floor as she dry-heaved. She closed her mouth, refusing to vomit bile. How disgusting. She glanced up. Dosu was clutching his head, but he'd recover from the dissonance. She'd nicked him, but he'd hit her. She couldn't outlast him. She tried to get up and swayed. It felt like standing on rolling globe. She'd never been very good at that discipline. She decided it was better to sit down and raised her hand, tilting to the side.
"Gekko-san, I forfeit the match."
The proctor nodded. "Winner: Kinuta Dosu!"
There was a leg bracing her back and stopping her tilt to the ground. She tried to glance up, but it made her want to vomit.
"Maa, Hikari-chan. Let's get you to the medics, alright?"
Oh. It was Kakashi-sensei. How nice. She bobbed her head in a nod. Her vision went black.
Hatake Kakashi bent down to pick up Hikari, supporting her neck. If the mummy's attack targeted the vestibular system, he didn't want to move her head. He took a small flask out of his vest and tossed it to one of the medics.
"She paralyzed him. It'll take a couple of minutes to set in. That's the antidote."
Ignoring the crowd's murmurs, he headed to the medics' room. That explosion should have killed anyone who hadn't mastered Earth jutsus. It was bad luck that the mummy could soften ground and create a refuge. Everyone should realize that Hikari had disabled her enemy before surrendering.
"She collapsed on her sixth match today." He placed her on one of the stretchers gently. "She was bleeding from her nose after performing a chakra-intensive genjutsu. Then, she took an attack that targets balance centers and showed dizziness and nausea." He hesitated, but knew it was important. "She's civilian born."
"We know, Hatake-san. We were watching, and we have her file. Can I come closer?" A medic approached, his hands held up.
He realized he was blocking their way and moved to the side.
The medic put both hands on Hikari's torso. "The motion sensors in her left ear are damaged, but I can fix those. And the cuts on her arms are an easy fix."
Kakashi relaxed. The rest of the medics left, probably to prepare for another patient.
"She's got chakra exhaustion, which is trickier to deal with. How often does she reach it?"
He growled low on his throat. He took care of his pack of little genin. "This is her first incident."
"That's good," the medic commented. "I'm going to wake her up. I can give her some soldier pills to replenish her chakra. She'll need to not perform any jutsus for a couple of days, to let her system heal and stabilize. If she can't do that, I'd prefer to keep her under until she recovers. Hatake-san, I hope you understand that no jutsus mean no chakra manipulation at all. Any sharp fluctuations could damage her vital organs."
"Wake her. She'll rest," Kakashi said, his tone brooking no argument.
The medic nodded, and his hands took on a green glow as he set them on her head. He moved on to her arms and then sapped her.
Hikari's body jerked as she tried to get up. Kakashi put one hand on her shoulder, explaining where she was. Hazel eyes focused on his and relaxed.
"Up, please?"
He eased her up. "Maa, Hikari, you worried sensei when you collapsed because of chakra exhaustion. This nice medic-nin healed your ears."
Hikari blinked as she took the other man in. "Thank you, shinobi-san."
"You're very welcome. Now, I need you to take these," he handed her a couple of pills.
She didn't take them. "What are they?"
"Soldier pills. They'll help you feel better," the medic explained.
"What kind of soldier pills? Iruka-sensei said some of them are addictive."
"I promise these aren't," the medic placed them in her hand. "They're hospital-issued."
Hikari watched them warily and made no move to put them in her mouth.
"Kyokuba-dan-hime," the medic called. His genin turned to face him. "My cousin married Takara-san. I promise you, these pills do not have any addictive substances. You'll feel a surge of energy immediately after taking them, and it'll dissipate over the next couple of hours."
"What's the baby's sex?"
"They decided not to find out. We'll get the surprise in a couple of months."
Hikari glanced at him. Kakashi nodded, and she dry-swallowed the pills.
The medic moved to a small fridge and handed her a bottle. "This is sugared water. It'll help you get back on your feet." Hikari nodded and took a sip. He went on to tell her of her restrictions on chakra use. Kakashi listened closely, but she didn't seem inclined to argue. The medic exchanged some more pleasantries and then excused himself, leaving him alone with his student.
"Kakashi-sensei? Why can't I use chakra for an entire week? You were using it as soon as you woke up in Waves."
"I slept a couple of days in Waves, remember? And..." he sat in the corner of the gurney. "I come from a clan of shinobi. Resistance to the wear and tear that comes from using chakra is common." Hikari's face twisted, indicating her displeasure to that bit of information, but she didn't comment. "Now, how are you feeling?"
"Like I'm coming down with a cold. My head hurts, and my body feels heavy and gross."
A corner of his mouth twitched up. She was fine. "You'll feel like that for a couple of days. Do you know how you spent most of your chakra?"
Hikari had to pause to think about it. Kakashi decided not to reprimand her for waiting to surrender. If she hadn't recognized the signs of exhaustion, that was on him.
"The genjutsu? I had never layered quite so many."
The quantity was a factor, but not the main concern. "You put too much chakra into the illusions, Hikari, until they were shaping themselves."
She frowned. "No, I mean, I know that number by heart. I know the words."
Kakashi's eye narrowed. So, she hadn't noticed the visual genjutsus. She hadn't noticed the tiger attacking their handler and then prowling for the Sound genin. She hadn't made the porcelain dolls blink and stare amidst the smoke, the clown's head grin with rotting teeth, or the hands reach for the genin. He'd have to keep an eye on her genjutsus at training. This teaching thing was endless. He wondered… If not for the team's composition, would the Hokage have kept letting him fail teams?
"I remembered something, sensei," Hikari broke his thoughts. "You asked about Sasuke-kun's symptoms after Orochimaru bit him. He was staring to run a fever, even before I moved them. I made him swallow some fever reducers, and it didn't come back."
He sighed. That detail could have been important. "Alright, Hikari. That's good to know. Now, let's go back. Naruto still has one match to go." His and Gai's were the only teams from Konoha with more than one member fighting twice. Neji had most likely taken on Hinata's place in the first round. But the Hokage was most likely punishing Kakashi for his insubordination by making both Hikari and Naruto to fight twice. They could have easily made a foreigner fight against the Suna kunoichi. But they hadn't.
Hikari shifted uncomfortably, reaching out and then drawing back. "About Naruto-kun... I..."
"Maa, we can talk about that -"
"-I'm sorry!"
He sighed and resisted the urge to rub his eye. He knew he needed to talk to all three of them, but he was hoping to avoid it as long as possible.
"I was going to leave him, but I didn't. I didn't, Kasashi-sensei!"
His mind drew blank. What was she talking about?
"I thought he was all but gone, and Sasuke-kun needed medical attention, and I couldn't carry them both. I thought about leaving him because he'd hit the tree so hard. And then he went crazy, and then he wasn't waking up. I thought he was gone, and, yes, I almost left him behind, but I didn't, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't."
He took a moment to think while she regained her breath. He had to say something, right? He was the adult here, so he had to say something.
"If Naruto had been brain-dead, then the responsible thing to do, the hard choice, would be to leave him behind." Kakashi swallowed hard, trying not to think about the times he'd left behind a dead comrade. More than once, he'd denied the family their right to mourn a body, destroying it before completing the mission. But he couldn't tell Hikari that maybe someday she would have to set a comrade's body on fire and stand there with the smell of burnt flesh until it was unrecognizable.
He also couldn't tell her she'd done the right thing. Moving both of them could have gone too wrong too quick. If Naruto had had a back injury, moving him could have paralyzed him. Either of the boys could have been ambushed while Hikari moved the other. It had turned out alright, but... he wouldn't lie to her.
Hikari had done something brave and a bit naive, but it had worked. And she'd been following his lessons. He'd told them not to abandon one another. And she hadn't.
He refocused. "You couldn't know he was alright. Of course you thought about it. The important thing is that you didn't." She relaxed. "After the exams, Team 7 will be running drills until you either drop dead or I'm confident you can face any situation," he added on so she wouldn't think they'd have it easy. Too many things had gone wrong. Some his genin didn't have any business facing, but others could have been avoided. And Hikari would learn to recognize the signs of chakra depletion so this didn't happen again.
She smiled a little, "You sound like my mom, Kakashi-sensei."
He startled. That was the last thing he's expected her to say. "How come?"
"She says we judge other people by their actions. But we judge ourselves by our thoughts, so we should be gentle."
He blinked and put his hands on his pockets, slouching. "Oh, well, let's get going, alright?"