Hikari tensed as they made their way up the stairs. She didn't want to hear platitudes. She'd lost. That was all there was to it.
"What did we miss?" Kakashi asked Sasuke and Naruto, stopping them from asking her any questions.
"Hn. The genin from Sound, Zaku, he beat Tenten."
"He blew away all her weapons, Kakashi-sensei!"
Hikari took her place between Shikamaru and Sasuke again.
"No kunoichi in the finals," she murmured.
"Tenten and you won your first matches," he replied. "That counts for something."
"No, it doesn't," she argued. She wasn't getting a promotion, or a chance to represent her Country. Neither was Tenten. "It should, but it doesn't."
MATCH 12: Gaara of Sand vs. Rock Lee
Hikari felt Shikamaru relax even as Maito Gai celebrated that Lee's time had come. She leaned against him. "Congratulations in advance," she murmured so low she could barely hear herself. If the last of the Sand siblings was battling the only one from Gai's team left to fight, that meant Shikamaru was going to fight someone who'd already fought. And some had been good, but none really great.
"You really think...?" Shikamaru glanced at her sharply.
"I have no doubts." He was going to the finals.
"Troublesome," he grumbled.
Hikari repressed a smile and tried not to shift her weight too much. Her body hurt, and she wanted to lay down. Shikamaru nudged her hand, reminding her to drink her sugared water.
Hayate called the match. Lee launched himself into a roundhouse kick. Gaara stood there with his arms crossed. Sand surged out of the gourd and blocked the hit. A cascade tried to bury Lee, but he managed to backflip away. Hikari leaned over the railing to admire his technique. Shikamaru pulled her back. She shot him a look and sniffed. It wasn't as if she were going to fall. She was tired, not stupid.
Lee continued evading, until a blast sent him crashing into a wall. He jumped onto Nao's raised platform and looked at his sensei before dropping his ankle weights. They decimated the ground. The crowd gasped, yelled, or stared blankly.
Lee struck again, and again, and again. He was so fast his movements blurred together. For the first time since the match started, the redhead moved to direct his sand. Lee nicked Gaara with a kick, and his face cracked, revealing it had been a layer of sand. He grinned, and Hikari recoiled. There was madness there.
Lee unraveled his bandages and sprinted around Gaara, blurring. He hit Gaara from below and didn't let him back down, separating him from his sand. He wrapped the bandages and spun down to the earth. Lee closed his eyes in pain. Kakashi tensed next to her, which made her look harder. Even then, the switch was almost impossible to see.
"Primary Lotus!"
The remaining tiles splintered, creating an even bigger crater than before. A body laid in the center. For a moment, it seemed Lee had won. She scanned the arena for the real Gaara, but there was only sand. Hayate approached the body to check his vitals. Its skin cracked and crumbled, revealing an empty husk.
The sand materialized into a grinning Gaara. A wave crashed into Lee, who couldn't move out of the way. She waited for Lee to call for the proctor, but he didn't. Instead, he tried to duck and evade, but it was clear he had none of the speed of before.
"I don't get it," Naruto whispered loudly. "Why isn't Lee moving?"
"He can't, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei answered. "The Lotus is a double-edged sword. Lee sustained too much damage. He can't move because of the pain."
Lee screamed when the sand hit him next. He put his hands in front of his face in a futile effort to protect himself.
"So, he can't win?" Naruto went on.
"Win?" Shikamaru intervened. "Naruto, if he doesn't give up, he'll be lucky to survive."
"The Sand genin is toying with him," Sasuke added.
"It'll end when Lee decides to forfeit the match," Shikamaru finished.
"He'll be waiting a long time, then," Maito put in. "Lee doesn't know what giving up is."
She rocked back to her heels and onto on her toes again. The hard refusal to give up on a mistake wasn't something contained to Naruto. Maito sounded proud. He probably taught it or at least encouraged it. As if Lee could hear his sensei, he drew himself up.
"One way or another," he announced, "the next move will be the last! The Lotus in the Hidden Leaf Village blooms twice!"
"Gai, don't tell me you... " The anger in Kakashi-sensei's voice made her look towards the two jounin. "How many of the Eight Inner Gates can he open?"
"The fifth gate. Lee has the talent and the drive."
"No matter how much talent he has, the Reverse Lotus tops the list of moves that you shouldn't teach, Gai!"
"I had to, Kakashi. That boy has something he values so deeply he's willing to die for its sake."
"What are the Gates, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked.
"They're limiters that must be released for the Reverse Lotus to bloom," Maito answered her.
She furrowed her brows and glanced at her sensei, who had tugged his headband up and was inspecting Lee.
"The Gates are located inside the chakra network, where pools of chakra are gathered. There's eight of them, Hikari: The Gate of Opening, of Healing, of Life, of Pain, of Closing, of Joy, of Wonder, and finally the Gate of Death. They exist to limit your access to chakra. The Lotus forces them open, liberating chakra. If the eight are open, the user is granted strength that surpasses even the Hokage's."
She mulled it over. Nothing in life was free, and Lee's Primary Lotus had hurt him so much he couldn't move. "What's the price, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Death, Hikari."
"Opening the first gate removes mental inhibitions. It lets you reach your full physical capacity. You've seen the results," Maito took over. "The second one increases your physical strength. The third is where the Hidden Lotus blooms, and it ends at the fifth."
"So, the first gate removes your pain. Your brain no longer knows when you should stop. The second one must re-energize you like a drug, but what about the next ones?" she questioned.
"In the third one, Hikari, your muscles start to tear. The fourth one rips them apart. The fifth cracks your bones. The sixth compromises your body's systems. The seventh ruptures your skeletal muscles. And the eighth causes you to overheat to death as your systems collapse." Kakashi listed.
Below them, Lee was clenching his fists. "Neji, Sasuke, Naruto... I will not be the only one who fails! "
Hikari narrowed her eyes. Lee didn't have something precious to protect. This was a preliminary match against a genin from an allied village. He was just like Naruto. They thought the world revolved around them proving themselves. And Maito was enabling him. She'd thought the green-clad genin was all about hard work, but these gates weren't about that. They were about sacrifice. And she doubted he was aware of the true price. Oh, he'd be willing to die for his pride. But she doubted he could live for it.
"Third gate: Release!" Lee's skin turned red, his pupils disappeared, and his hair stood on end. Chakra rolled off him.
"Fourth gate: Release!" His nose dripped blood and his veins bulged.
He lunged forwards. The ground between him and Gaara ripped apart. Hikari covered her face against the dust, but couldn't see anything.
"Above," Shikamaru called out.
Gaara was in the air. His skin cracked as Lee hit him like a cat playing with a mouse. Gaara's body bounced back and forth, tossed around between blows. Hikari took a step back. Sasuke glanced at her before nudging her forwards. She regained her position.
"This is the end! Fifth gate: Release!"
Lee kicked Gaara down and grabbed his bandages. He tugged him back up towards him, as if Gaara were a yo-yo.
"Reverse Lotus!"
She closed her eyes against the dust and counted to ten. She was so, so glad she hadn't gone up against Lee.
"Bushy Brows did it!" Naruto yelled.
"Gaara!" Kankuro yelled. Their sister's grip on the railing was white.
Hikari opened her eyes. Lee was on the ground. She couldn't see Gaara.
"Down there," Sasuke pointed.
Gaara had managed to form a half bowl of Sand from his gourd to cushion the blow. He raised a hand from where he lay. Sand travelled towards Lee as a clawed hand. Lee tried to crawl away. The tendrils caught his left arm and leg. Lee yelled in alarm.
"Sand Burial!"
Lee screamed. The sound was high and panicked, like an animal caught in a trap. Hikari closed her eyes again and grabbed Shikamaru's hand.
"Die!"
There was silence.
Shikamaru rubbed his thumb against her hand. "He's alive, Hikari."
She opened his eyes. Maito stood over his student, and the sand was on the floor.
"Winner: Gaara of the Sand!"
MATCH 13: Nara Shikamaru vs. Uzumaki Naruto
"Contestants, come down so the last match can begin!"
Uchiha Sasuke watched as Hikari locked eyes with Shikamaru. Not breaking eye-contact, she called out, "Good luck, Naruto-kun."
Naruto perked up, glancing at her with an uncertain smile, but Sasuke heard the unspoken 'You are going to need it.'.
"Don't be stupid, dead last." With that, Sasuke faced the arena, frowning.
Did Hikari really think the lazy Nara could win against the dobe? He could admit that the other guy was smarter than he'd realized. He'd directed them well during the six battles, figuring out the opponent's strengths quickly. But the dobe had his clones, and he'd keep going until Shikamaru panted a forfeit.
"Ha! Don't think I'll take it easy on you, Shikamaru!"
"What a drag," he replied with his hands in his pockets.
"Start!"
Naruto rushed forward, making dozens of clones. They had to leap and jump over a ton of debris since the ground was devastated. Shikamaru took his hands out of his pockets and dropped something. Smoke enveloped the whole arena. Naruto and his clones didn't falter, although Sasuke could hear some yells as they stumbled. And then silence, and finally confusion.
"Stay away from me!"
"Me? You! You are the fake!"
"No, I'm not! I'm me, dattebayo!"
The smoke cleared, revealing a bunch of Narutos eyeing one another with distrust. They stepped backwards until they were evenly spaced out, unwilling to let the henged Shikamaru get them with his shadow.
"Wait! Wait! What if all of us are us?"
They started searching the rest of the arena.
Sasuke sighed. Naruto was clearly remembering that Kakashi had left him and his clones to battle it out. But really, where would Shikamaru be hiding? The craters didn't provide any cover. The clones relaxed their distance to one another as they turned over broken concrete.
A shadow shot out from one of the clones. The ones near him all roared and launched themselves at him, but at the first punch, it poofed out. The shadow went back... to another Naruto?
"It's him! Get him!"
"It's not me! Look, I can move!"
And indeed, he could flail around his arms, and no one else was doing it, but there was clearly a shadow stretching out from him. One of the clones didn't care for the demonstration and punched him. It poofed out. Sasuke narrowed his eye, focusing on the ground. The shadow went back to another Naruto. When that one was punched out, it traced back to yet another one.
A full-on-out brawl broke out. One clone punched a Naruto on the edges. It flew back and crashed into the wall. Blond hair became brown. Shikamaru slumped down with a pained groan.
Sasuke straightened. Shikamaru had henged as Naruto, but then he'd used a clone's shadow to lengthen his one to reach another, and so on. He was hoping to discard them one by one. All the while, he'd remain close enough to grab the real one when it was revealed. Clever.
Naruto made more clones and tried to pin Shikamaru, who had picked himself off the ground. Sasuke smirked. It was over. Shikamaru wasn't good at taijutsu, and the clones weren't going to give him enough room to use a jutsu.
But Shikamaru didn't give up like at the Academy. He dodged around his opponents. It was graceless, but he was managing to not get hit. Sasuke frowned and glanced at Hikari. She wasn't surprised. Neither was Chouji, although Asuma was frowning.
He managed to evade long enough to sprint up Nao's platform. From there, none of the Naruto's made it up. It was a small enough territory that he could protect it.
The Narutos huddled down together. Shikamaru sighed and put his hands together, each finger touching the one on the opposite hand and forming a circle. He closed his eyes. From the Forest, Sasuke knew it meant he was scheming. Not yet opening his eyes, he took off his jacket and tied it to a kunai.
The Narutos made their move. Some sprung off one another, others were launched. Others yet were henging themselves into Fuma shurikens that Shikamaru scrambled to evade. Sasuke frowned. The henges gave out huge clouds, which Naruto had managed to make disappear in training. He tried to remember if the dobe had told Kakashi about his chakra control. He hadn't, had he?
The clones who hadn't been eliminated by kunai and shurikens invaded the platform. Shikamaru threw his jacket-parachute ahead of him and jumped down.
As soon as he touched ground, he put a kunai in front of him and formed the Rat seal. He seemed to be waiting for... Oh. The jacket he'd thrown reached path of the artificial light, creating one huge shadow.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Imitation Jutsu complete!"
He grabbed one of the three remaining Narutos and took a step back. Naruto yelled as he fell off the platform. Shikamaru was already grabbing the next one and stepping back. Both clones puffed out.
The last Naruto, the real one, was far more cautious. He jumped off the platform of his own, facing Shikamaru and keeping an eye out for his shadow. As soon as he touched ground, a shadow shot out from behind him and grabbed him. Sasuke startled as he looked around. Shikamaru had used the underground path Hikari had created on her first battle. The first hole was right behind him, and the second behind Naruto.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Imitation Jutsu complete!" Shikamaru panted.
He took a step forward. So did Naruto. He crouched to pick up his kunai. Naruto grasped air. Shikamaru put the kunai on Naruto's throat. Naruto's hand hovered over the other's throat uselessly.
"Forfeit," her ordered.
Naruto scrunched up his face, and sweat dripped from Shikamaru's face.
"Forfeit!"
Naruto was straining against the shadow.
Shikamaru flipped the kunai and hit Naruto's head with the hilt. He went down. Shikamaru caught him, retracting his shadow.
"Winner: Nara Shika-"
"We need a medic," he told the proctor.
The proctor coughed and gestured to one of the doors. A medic came and put a glowing hand on Naruto's head.
Kakashi materialized in a twirl of leaves next to them.
The medic nodded to him. "Hatake, your genin is fine, but watch out for signs of a concussion." She turned to a blinking Naruto. "Headache, dizziness, confusion, double vision... all of those need to be reported. Understood?"
Naruto nodded and Shikamaru hauled him up and back to the stands.
The proctor went into a coughing fit. He gasped for air and announced, "As of this moment, the preliminaries to the final march are complete! To those of you who won your bouts, congratulations!"
He ceded the floor to the Hokage. Sasuke stopped paying attention after he confirmed the finals were in a month. He'd already heard the spiel about each representing the strength of their Country.
"Kakashi, we're going to get it off now." He didn't bother to make into a question as he gestured to his neck. He didn't care about whatever expert they were waiting on. That thing marked him like cattle in a sick parody of his family's doujutsu. He wanted it off. If Kakashi had found a way, that was good enough for him.
The jounin nodded. "We'll head straight to the Hokage's office."
Hikari shifted. "Are we going to debrief him, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Maa, let's not worry about that until we have to," Kakashi reprimanded lightly. "Pay attention to Sandaime-sama. Sasuke, go pick up your paper. We need to know who you're going against."
He shoved his hands on his pockets and made his way down the stairs. He shoved his hand into the box and grabbed a paper. Five. He'd fight number six.
"One!" Neji called out.
"Two," Shikamaru mumbled, slouching.
Sasuke thought that match could either be over in a minute or become very interesting.
"Three." That was Shino.
"Four," Zaku grinned.
Insects against wind. His nose wrinkled.
"Hn. Five!"
"And I'm six," Dosu stated, staring right at him.
He stared right back. He'd win this one quickly and make the mummy regret hurting Hikari.
"Seven," Gaara said.
"Eight!" Nao swallowed nervously.
The proctor from the first exam jutted down their names and showed them the paper. The tournament was done in two brackets. He was in the second one. If he won against the mummy, he'd go against the winner for the fourth match. Gaara. And then whoever was left on the first bracket.
He nodded and let Kakashi guide all Team 7 out.
HOKAGE'S OFFICE
Uchiha Sasuke paused as they stepped into the Office. The Hokage was there, along with a man with a bandana and a senbon and a taller nin with a scar across his face. He thought he recognized them from the brief contest the jounin-senseis had held before Waves.
"Ah, Team 7. Please, come on in," the Hokage gestured for them to close the door.
Kakashi pushed them forwards. Hikari, whose movements had become more and more graceful since they left the stadium, gave a brief courtesy.
"Lord Hokage." She turned to the tallest nin and nodded. "Shinobi-san." The one with the senbon got a cocked head and a small smile. "Shiranui-san, I believe?"
The man flicked his senbon. "Have we met?"
"I haven't had the pleasure, but you met my partner years ago. Lilac hair and many questions?"
"Ah, yes. I remember the boy. He kept asking me about the Academy."
"My fault," Hikari confessed with a warm smile. "I was about to enroll."
The Hokage cleared his throat. "I'm afraid we're not here for small talk, Hikari-chan." He gestured to the only chair in front of him. "Please. Your collapse from chakra misuse must have left you tired."
Sasuke stiffened, but Hikari lowered herself to the chair without a protest. She crossed her legs, and even though her shirt had rips, blood, and soot, for the first time she looked like a hime. Suddenly, it felt weird for the Hokage to address her informally.
"Jiji! I thought we were here to meet the seal guy and get the mark off of Sasuke-teme!"
The Hokage chuckled around his pipe. "Of course, of course, Naruto. But while we're waiting, Hikari-chan can clear up a few things."
Sasuke turned back to look at his teammate, but she was smiling placidly. Naruto shifted, sensing something wrong, but he probably couldn't put a finger on it. Sasuke could. This was an interrogation.
He moved to flank her, nudging Naruto to her other side. Kakashi could have her back.
"We received the message along with your exam." Hikari inclined her head, acknowledging the Hokage's words. "What made you suspect Yakushi Kabuto?"
"He claimed to have classified information on every genin present at the first task," she answered clearly and confidently. "He demonstrated with Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand. I didn't believe a chunin would have access to the Kazekage's son's records, and the data he gave was specific. "
"So, you immediately suspected a Konoha shinobi of treason."
"After my team and I were attacked by Rock Lee without provocation, it was made clear that village affiliation meant less than I'd thought." The Sandaime stiffened, but she continued. "Genin are to report any suspicious behavior to a superior. I followed protocol. I was not the only one to do so."
"Did you tell Ino-chan to get a message to her father?"
"I did not."
"Why did you use her code to write your message?"
"Since the first task was supervised by T&I, it was likely that the exams would be reviewed to them. Yamanaka Inoichi-dono leads the department. He'd recognize Ino's cypher. I didn't want to use Konoha code and possibly alert any accomplices."
"Yakushi Kabuto is in custody, charged for treason and espionage." Sasuke startled. Even with Hikari and Ino's suspicions, he hadn't expected this. "Your resourcefulness served Konoha well." His words congratulatory, but his tone was flat.
Hikari inclined her head. "I am glad."
"Recount your encounter with Orochimaru." For the first time, he glanced at him and Naruto. "Feel free to add anything. I'd like to get a complete picture."
She explained Orochimaru's attack. When she got to the part where Naruto ignored them, the blond looked down at the floor. Hikari continued, giving a pretty detailed account. Sasuke watched the Hokage's eyes go hard as she mentioned Naruto's eyes changing to red and his teeth sharpening.
"Ah, Hikari-chan, people's memories for scary events are easily distorted and amplified."
She smiled wide. "Are you implying I'm a liar, Lord Hokage?"
"I remember the same," Sasuke cut in for the first time. "Sharingan memories don't lie."
The Hokage didn't look at him. "Continue, Hikari-chan."
She obeyed, telling him of Orochimaru tossing Naruto, and was interrupted almost immediately. "None of you reported that Naruto had received a seal."
"Naruto-kun showed no visible symptoms and was stable. My first priority then was to move all of us. Earlier today, Naruto-kun informed us of a disequilibrium in his chakra. As neither of us could think of a solution, I advised him to tell Kakashi-sensei as soon as it was possible."
"But you didn't follow up?"
"I did not."
"I feel fine, Jiji! And we had to fight in the preliminaries, dattebayo!"
"Naruto," Kakashi intervened. "Anything that messes with your levels of chakra is both serious and urgent. You should have reported it as soon as possible. Hokage-sama, if you'd please?"
"Yes, I'll take it off. Naruto, this will be a bit painful. If you could take off your shirt and focus your chakra...?"
Naruto removed his jacket and shirt and Sasuke checked. No tattoo. But then he did the Ram seal, and a tattoo materialized. Except it wasn't a tattoo, like Hikari had said. It was a seal. The Sandaime's fingers glowed blue, a word in every finger.
"Five-Pronged Seal: Release!"
His palm slammed into Naruto's stomach. The dobe bent over, gasping, but Sasuke could still see. It looked like a layer had been removed from the seal. He managed to get a brief look before the rest sunk into Naruto's skin.
"Hikari." Kakashi called back everyone's attention. "Go on. Naruto fell unconscious and then?"
She described what she had seen of his fight with Orchimaru and explained she'd been grabbing Naruto. And then the bite.
The Hokage held up a hand. "After Sasuke-kun fell unconscious, what did Orochimaru do or say?"
Very soon, Sasuke will come looking for me, hungry for power. Sasuke tensed. He didn't want... he didn't want to be branded a traitor.
"After he assaulted my teammate, he didn't linger long. He said that the mark was his goodbye gift to Sasuke-kun," Hikari skipped expertly over the question. Sasuke tried not to show his instant relief.
"And he didn't say anything to you?"
Sasuke frowned.
"No, Lord Hokage. He did not address me. Should I continue? I've informed Kakashi-sensei of the symptomatology."
The Hokage waved her off. "I don't want to take up too much of your time."
She let the silence stretch. Naruto fidgeted.
"Jiraiya should be here soon. Now, your last match was quite interesting. What was that a note you used on your last genjutsu, Hikari-chan?"
"It wasn't one note, Lord Hokage."
"Ah. Was it several?"
"No, Lord Hokage."
The man smoked from his pipe. "You've made me even more curious."
Hikari's smile made it clear she was humoring the Hokage, "I used a half note."
"It seemed to have quite an effect on him."
She inclined her head. "He was very sensitive to frequencies. I thought it might bother him." She waved her hand dismissively. "I wouldn't want to bore you with the technicalities."
The Hokage nodded his head, but Sasuke suspected he was saving face.
The bodyguards shifted, but even without that, Naruto gave them ample warning.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
"I am Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku!" A huge man, crouched on the window, bellowed.
"Jiraiya, this is Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Sakasu Hikari. Orochimaru put a Cursed Seal on Sasuke-kun."
The man spared him a brief glance. "He seems pretty alive to me."
"Yes, we are quite fortunate of that."
Sasuke glared at the dismissive tone.
"It may have something to do with what Hikari did," Kakashi intervened. "You may understand it more than I, Jiraiya-sama. And I was hoping you could take a look at my seal array."
"I didn't know you knew fuinjutsu well enough not only to invent, Kakashi, but to teach it."
"I don't. Hikari didn't use any fuinjutsu."
The Sage turned to her and inspected her. "You said she was a Sakasu, Sarutobi-sensei?" He peered closer. "Ah, yes, I can see it now. 'Changing eyes to change the world to their whim.'"
The last bit was said in a sing-song voice, and for the first time Hikari's smile was sharp.
"Changing eyes to see a changing world and dream," she corrected.
"Konoha has only one hime," the Sage challenged.
"There is only one hime in Konoha, yes," Hikari misinterpreted easily. The Hokage and the Sage tensed as the meaning was clear. Tsunade, their student and their teammate, wasn't here. Hikari was.
A corner of his lips tugged up. When he was little, he had seen his own mother dance around the Uchiha Elders with clever words and exquisite manners. He hadn't seen that grace since. Decorum and protocol had become empty. But this was... elegant. He was witnessing elegance.
"Shikaku-dono!"
Nara Shikaku paused on his way to the Academy grounds. Ishikawa Arata was trotting up to him. A blond teen was following at a more leisurely pace. He waited for both to reach him.
"Shikaku-dono," he offered him his hand. "Forgive us. Arata knows I wanted to meet you, so..."
"Of course," he shook the other's hand, surprised. Even Hikari didn't seek skin-on-skin contact with him.
"I'm Yasuda Masaru."
Shikaku's spine straightened a tiny bit. He'd been curious about Kotone's apprentice since the performance. "Pleased to meet you. I haven't heard a lot about you," he said bluntly.
"It is hard to describe greatness."
Shikaku looked into grey eyes lined with gold and couldn't be sure if that was a joke or not.
Arata barked out a laugh. "Shikaku-dono, Masaru is my best friend. He did want to meet you, but I also wanted to ask you if there's anything you can tell us about Hikari? It's been five days since she left."
"Ah," he gestured with his head for them to follow him. "They should be out of the second phase by now. I was about to look for Shikamaru myself."
"Great," Arata brightened. "We'll walk with you."
Shikaku put his hands on his pockets and settled on answering the duo's questions. By the time they neared the administrative section of The Academy, he had to admit he was impressed. Masaru's questions about their medical research were insightful, showing he'd done his homework, and pointed enough to challenge. He was warm enough for Shikaku to want to reciprocate, but his sharp humor toed the line between joke and arrogance. He was charming, and he owned it.
"Do you know if Hikari-chan passed?"
"We don't really care," Arata added before Shikaku could answer. "If she's failed... well... There's a move I want to learn, and it'll be easier if Hikari has more time. The other flyers don't quite get it."
"Maybe they don't want to work with you because you're an asshole," Masaru replied, and his tone was so pleasant Shikaku had to stop himself from doing a double-take. "You seem to have forgotten that Hikari-chan is beloved by us all, and people die in these exams. "
Arata seemed struck at the reminder. "I..." he turned to Shikaku. "Of course I care. I don't know why I said..."
Shikaku had seen this before in older siblings and nodded it off.
"I apologize. I didn't speak true," he was appealing to his friend now.
"Do not make a mockery out my art again," Masaru warned, eyes as sharp as a kiss of steel.
Arata hesitated in front of the door. "I'll be back. Give me a few minutes."
Shikaku opened the door and gestured the blond teen past the Mission Desk. He could sit in the lobby outside the Hokage's office.
"I hope she passed," Masaru said quietly. "But more than anything, I hope she's alright."
He nodded and scanned the floor. Shikamaru was making his way over. He scanned him over quickly. He didn't have his jacket, and his clothes were dirty, but he seemed fine.
"Ino is in the hospital, but she's fine and complaining already. Chouji is with her. Team 7 is reporting to Hokage-sama," he said simply.
"Good. Shikamaru, this is Masaru-kun."
His son eyed the teen. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Nara-san," Masaru acknowledged.
Shikaku's eyebrows raised. He'd gotten first name treatment and a handshake. Did Masaru dislike Shikamaru? As far as he knew, they had never met.
"How did it go, Shikamaru?"
His son shrugged.
"Is Hikari-chan alright? What about Uchiha-san and her other teammate?"
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Naruto has a name."
"He called my hime a liar. There are no words I wish to share with him. He has no truths I wish to listen to." Masaru glared right back. "He called her a liar publicly, while you did and said nothing. Respect is earned."
Shikaku froze. He had never heard of this incident.
"You weren't even in Konoha. How do you even know about that?"
So it was before Hikari's parents were home. That made it worse.
"Really? That's all you have to say?"
"I don't owe you an explanation," his son shot back.
"No, but Hikari has earned your support. Yours and Yamanaka-san's."
Shikamaru shifted, uncomfortable. "She didn't need it. Naruto was just emotional, and she got that. She explained to him that -"
"She's not that kind. You're her - you should know that" Masaru interrupted. "She wasn't explaining anything. She was doing damage control. Do you know how many weeks that was whispered about? She needed to control the frame, change the narrative, and get the last word in."
His son took a step back, doubt creeping into his face.
Shikaku sighed. He'd have to get the whole event out of Shikamaru later. Right now, Team 7 was walking down the stairs. "There's Hikari-chan. Shikamaru, can you wait for Arata-kun in the Mission Desk?"
Shikamaru spared his friend a glance before nodding and making his way out. Masaru's face turned green and his hands started to tremble at the sight. He grimaced. He had to admit that Hikari did seem worse for wear. Her long sleeved shirt was sliced in places, showing the mesh armor underneath. The collar was bloodstained, the brown-red harsh against the soft green. And her pants had both soot and dirt all over them. She was also moving more slowly than usual. He scolded himself. Her clan was civilian. Of course this was alarming.
"Hey!" Her voice was sharp as she hurried over to the blond. "Masaru-senpai. I'm fine."
The teen looked dazed, and it was clear he wasn't paying attention to Hikari's words. His hand reached up to touch the blood on her shirt.
Hikari took off her gloves and removed her shirt, leaving her in mesh and a black sports bra. "I'm not injured. See?" she turned, showing her back. "Not a single scratch."
Masaru's hand clutched her shoulder, making sure the skin was unbroken before pulling her to him.
Hikari hugged him back. "I'm alright. It's okay. Sorry. I didn't think I'd see anyone until I made it home."
"No... it's... don't apologize. I was..." he released her.
"It's fine. Did you come here alone?" Hikari's voice was soft and a bit vulnerable. Shikaku remembered they weren't friends, so it was unusual for him to be the one to greet her.
"I'm with Arata," Masaru reassured her gently. "But he forgot something and ran out to get it."
"What did he forget?"
"His manners."
Hikari smiled wide and then lost the fight and laughed. "Doesn't he always?"
"Are you finished here?"
She shook her head, put her gloves back on, and tossed the shirt on the garbage. "No, but I should be home for dinner."
"I'll tell my mom," Arata promised as he walked in. He grabbed Hikari in a hug and spun her around. "Congratulations on..." he glanced at Masaru who shrugged.
"I didn't pass," Hikari mumbled against his shoulder.
"Congratulations on being alive!" Arata finished without hesitation. He put her on her feet. "You stink."
"I didn't ask you to pick me up," she sniffed and held her hands out. Arata deposited a chocolate bar as long as Shikaku's forearm. "Thank you."
Arata nodded and turned to Sasuke and Naruto. "Congratulations Uchiha-san, shinobi-san. Good evening, Hatake-sensei."
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"
The aerialist didn't turn to acknowledge Naruto. With what Masaru had revealed, he wasn't surprised.
"Sasuke-kun is competing in the finals," Hikari announced.
Shikaku's eyebrow raised. He was the only one who had passed of Team 7?
Arata gave him a smile. "Good luck, then."
"Hn," Sasuke inclined his head.
"Arata," Masaru called. "I believe we should take our leave."
The lilac-haired teen didn't protest, and they were soon out the door.
"How's Ino, Shika?"
"She's fine. They want to keep her overnight, and she's "
"Let's go, kids!" Jiraiya was suddenly there. "And did I see lilac hair? An Ishikawa, Hikari-chan? My, my, and he wasn't wearing a headband. I thought partners stuck together. Did he abandon you?"
Hikari didn't react.
"The kyokuba-dan has never been lenient with their members if they want to become shinobi. Did he step up? Is that why you weren't disowned?"
Hikari turned to face the Sage and cocked her head, contemplating him. "Ah," she exclaimed as she figured something out. "Kato Dan was never disowned. He was never kyokuba-dan."
Shikaku's stride hitched in surprise. He'd known Tsunade's fiancé. He hadn't been close to him, like Chouza, but he'd looked up to the genius. He'd never thought anything of his lilac-blue hair.
"The Kato were descendants of the Ishikawa," Jiraiya countered.
"They're a branch family who chose to separate from us when the village was formed," Hikari explained. "His parents weren't kyokuba-dan, and neither was he."
"And what do you know about him and his techniques?" The Sage questioned, but Shikaku noticed the hostility had vanished.
"Not a lot about him, and nothing of his techniques other than they were exceptional."
The Toad Sage nodded briefly. "Sarutobi-sensei thinks it's best if we do the seal in the hospital. Kakashi, your matrix is good. But we don't know about the additions. What you did shouldn't have worked, girlie."
"But it did," Sasuke argued. "Why?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "How familiar are you with her chakra? Sarutobi-sensei said she does a Chakra Flow technique on a ribbon. Do you grab it regularly?"
"Yes."
"And how does it feel?"
Sasuke side-eyed Hikari before shrugging. "Like chakra washing over me."
"Hikari-chan, what is chakra to you? Not the definition. Give me synonyms."
"Energy, Life, Soul."
"Why can skilled sensors differentiate people with the same stamina?"
"Because every person's self is different."
"What is it tied to? Emotion, personality, or character?"
"Identity."
"Why did you try to make your chakra integrate Sasuke's identity?"
"Because... he needed medical attention. Medics convert their chakra so their patient's system can accept it. But Kakashi-sensei said we shouldn't try it. I did the Chakra Flow like always, but flavored it as Sasuke-kun. And then I tried to get it to scoop out anything that wasn't like Sasuke-kun."
"That's the key," Jiraiya announced grandly. "To her, Sasuke's own chakra is a reflection of him."
"Following that, it should be easy to differentiate his chakra from Orochimaru's," Shikaku added. And he could see it, if he tilted his worldview a bit and squinted. If Orochimaru put something in Sasuke that was fundamentally different, it stood to reason that it could be taken out. For Shikaku, it would have been like trying to get poison out of a river. But Hikari thought it was like spotting an intruder on a crowd.
"Like antibodies," Kakashi ventured.
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, more quietly than Shikaku had ever heard.
"Hikari's chakra acted like antibodies, Naruto," Kakashi explained. "Except it didn't destroy the invading chakra. It So, blocked it from getting to Sasuke's."
"She did it periodically, too." Shikamaru added something for the first time. "That would have helped, right? Sasuke's chakra would have learned between each session."
"Did it get easier, Hikari?"
"Yes. I thought I was just getting better at it, but yes. The first time, it took a while for the ribbon to stain. It was almost like I had to reach inside. But the following ones only had to touch the mark."
Instead, every time Hikari used the ribbon to draw out the cursed chakra, Sasuke's body learned to expel it quicker.
"If it's blocking my chakra from the mark, that means you can get all of it out." Sasuke stated more than asked.
Jiraiya snorted. "If it is managing it. It would explain why you're stable, but I wouldn't want to pit a genin's chakra against Orochimaru's."
Kakashi made a brief noise of inquiry as they stepped into a hospital's private room. "Sasuke, how did it feel when the mark activated?"
As Sasuke described it in crisp tones, the whole thing became clear to Shikaku.
First was Hikari's odd technique. Instead of making her chakra neutral, like a medic, Hikari had tried to get it match Sasuke's. She'd managed to make it non-hostile by appealing to Sasuke's identity. But she hadn't made it identical. It was both alike and different.
Second was the mark's own design. Orochimaru's mark wasn't designed to destroy Sasuke's own chakra. It was designed to corrupt it and enhance it. Hikari's chakra had gone into the curse mark. At that moment, Sasuke's system had had two foreign signatures in it. It had identified Hikari's as nonthreatening, and it had made Orochimaru's stand out as a hostile invader.
And third was Sasuke's reaction. His body had started to fight rather than adapt to the mark. And then Hikari had provided with a way to expel the curse mark via the ribbon and contain the invader with the residue she left.
If he had to guess, the mark was pretty well contained, first by Hikari's own chakra and then by Sasuke's system. When the curse mark activated, the poisoned chakra tried to vie for control. Sasuke couldn't feel his own system fighting back, but it could feel Hikari's. The mark appealed to Sasuke's ego and thirst for power. Hikari's idea of Sasuke's identity appealed to a friend and someone who had protected her. It made it so that the boy had both motivation and a better chance to fight against the temptation.
But Hikari's chakra residue was fading, and it would fade quicker if the mark activated more times. And Sasuke's own body would have to be reminded to fight Kage-strong chakra, and also in conditions to do it.
"May I see, Kakashi?"
The silver-haired jounin passed over the technique. Shikaku squinted. He hadn't studied fuinjutsu, but he had seen enough seals over his life to make sense of this one. It was two-fold. For one, to drag out Orochimaru's chakra. That would be easier because Sasuke's body had learned how to do it. For two, to contain the remnants. It'd bolster Sasuke's own defenses, picking up what Hikari's chakra had started.
"Wait," Hikari called out. "It had to take time to come up with something like this. Kakashi-sensei, since when have you known of Orochimaru's attack?"
Hatake Kakashi froze. He'd known this moment was coming, but he'd hoped to avoid it.
"As soon as we suspected, the proctor went into the Forest. She confirmed it."
"When, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked without mercy, keeping her eyes on him.
"A couple of hours after the attack," he confessed.
Hikari took a step back. For a moment, it wasn't a hazel stare drilling through him, but wide brown eyes, and Ka-ka-shi. He looked away, telling himself it was to check on the other two. Sasuke was frozen, one hand on his neck. I'm sorry. I left you. I am worse than trash. Naruto's blue eyes were swimming. Shikamaru was looking out the window, probably wishing he were anywhere but here.
"Kakashi, you'll have better chances of complete removal if you... flavor... your chakra like Hikari did." Shikaku broke the tense silence. If not, Sasuke's chakra system would waste time trying to fight off his technique.
He gave a stiff nod and took out chakra induction paper. "Hikari, Sasuke, I need you to channel chakra into this," he handed it off and turned to Naruto. "You too, Naruto. As soon as you can water walk, I'll teach you an elemental jutsu." Naruto didn't have the control to master several natures, but he could start with his affinity and work from there.
Not even the promise of a super cool jutsu made Naruto break the silence. Kakashi handed Shikamaru the last piece. He doubted the boy knew his own affinity.
"Sasuke, you first. Put the tiniest amount you can. We don't want to trigger the mark."
"It's Fire," he glared, handing back the paper.
"Indulge me," he eye-smiled.
"Hn." The paper crinkled between his fingers, and Sasuke turned his glare on it. Kakashi relaxed. It would make it easier for his system to accept his own chakra if they were the same element.
"Not all Uchiha had a Fire as their affinity," Shikaku drawled. Oh, right. Kakashi had missed his cue to reassure his student. He always did. "If you've already mastered your secondary affinity, Lightning should come very easy to you."
That settled Sasuke a bit.
Kakashi gestured for Hikari to go on. Water soaked through the paper and dripped onto the floor. That was unsurprising. Water was a good conductor to electricity. Sasuke had said Hikari's chakra washed over his, and her technique had amplified his own chakra to expel the mark.
"Naruto?"
His paper split into two.
"That means you have Wind affinity," Kakashi explained. It was the most challenging nature to him, since Wind was stronger than Lightning. It would make teaching Naruto difficult.
"That's cool, dattebayo! Hey, Shikamaru, what about you?"
The genin grumbled a bit about being a drag but channeled chakra. His paper burst into flames. Kakashi's eyebrow raised. He would have expected Earth first.
The jounin nodded, satisfied. "Alright. Naruto, Hikari, Shikamaru, out." This was going to be hurt. There was no reason for there to be so many witnesses to Sasuke's pain.
"Wait! No! What if the creepy nin comes back? That Orochimaru?"
"I'm one of the Sannin! Nothing can get past me!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"Not even another Sannin?" Hikari questioned softly.
"I'll also be here, as will Shikaku," Kakashi reassured with an eye-smile.
"Let's go visit Ino and Chouji," Shikamaru proposed when no one moved.
"Sasuke-kun?" she asked. Kakashi closed his eye. He'd known he'd stretched thin his students' trust in him.
"Hn. It's fine."
The three exited.
Jiraiya whistled. "That one is a tough nut to crack, isn't she? Not surprising. The kyokuba-dan rarely forgive, and they never forget."
"How painful is it going to be?" Sasuke asked, ignoring the Sage.
"If we want to get it completely off, and I think we can, excruciating. You'll pass out," Kakashi said bluntly. "We can do it in sessions, if you'd prefer."
"No. I want it gone."
Kakashi nodded.