Soups! Sausages! Sushi! Tempuras and rice balls!

The vendors moved around, selling lunch to hungry customers. People stretched and unglued themselves from their seats. They left for the toilet or to buy a snack.

The gambling booth was crowded again. It had become so rude, the workers stopped selling alcohol. Masked guards stood there to stop fights.

I kicked my feet up. All the seats around me were clear of people. We had sat with the rich, famous, and powerful people, who had gone into air conditioned rooms. That left us with lots of space.

Gin came back with my food. He handed me my change. I thanked him.

To save a few bucks, we skipped the bento. We had two rice balls each, plus one vanilla shake. I stuck my straw in and took the first sip. I handed the shake over to Gin. He shook his head, too busy chewing his rice ball. I put the drink between us.

"It's so hot today," Gin complained. He tugged his shirt.

"At least you've got a hat." As I wiped my forehead, I remembered something.

I dug into my backpack and found my fan. I offered it to Gin.

He didn't take it.

"Dude, is that a fan? That's so girly!"

I rolled my eyes. "The Fire Daimyo has one, you know. You want it or not?"

"No thanks!"

I did offer.

I opened the fan. I flipped it back and forth, squinting at the calligraphy.

Fortune. Peace. Happiness. Prosperity. Love.

The back had a phrase.

"Captivate us all," I read. My thumb traced the swirl of ink. Why did this calligraphy look familiar?

I flicked my wrist. The fan snapped back. Another flick, and the fan flapped wide open. The fan fitted in my palm really well!

The biggest shock was when I fanned it. Instead of a hot breeze, cold wind gushed out. I fanned again. The same wind came out, leaving Gin and I wide-eyed.

"How did you do that?" Gin took the fan and flapped it. Wind blew out. "Whoa!"

"Wind country specialty, buddy. Crafted from bamboo and silk, infused with wind chakra, and finished with a brushing of the richest black and red inks. Oh, and a touch of L. O. V. E. from the maker and moi."

"Shisui!"

Shisui stretched out on an empty chair behind us. His feet landed smack between Gin and me. He almost spilled our shake.

"The one and only."

Gin scowled. "What are you doing here?"

I looked at my clan's balcony. There, another Shisui munched down on rice and pretended to listen to our uncle.

"How are you both there and here?" I asked.

"Water clone," Shisui said. "Although they should stop badgering it so much. If it gets too unstable, it'll explode."

"Explode as in… explode?"

"Eh, maybe it's for the best. Everyone needs to hose down. Tension's been getting crazy since the Hyuuga decided to spy on us. And when Itachi wins, things will overheat." Shisui swayed his feet, nearly knocking Gin in the nose.

Gin got annoyed. He tried to push away Shisui's foot. Shisui played dumb, so Gin accidentally spilled our vanilla shake on him. Gin owed me my half of the money.

Shisui time-reversed the shake back into the cup.

"Thanks, buddy." Shisui gave a toast, then drank our shake. Now Shisui owed me money. I was serious. That drink was twenty ryou. I took less than two sips of it.

"Are sure Itachi will win?" I asked. "The semi-finalists all look strong."

Shisui wiped his milk mustache. "Eh, challenges are what makes a fight fun. I'm dying to have a go at that Kiri blademaster."

"Blademaster?"

"It's funny. I don't think he's genin. Heck, I'd bet he's jounin. Then again, I think the Iwa duo could be high chuunin or even jounin too."

"They are all genin," Gin pointed out, just to be disagreeable.

"A person's rank and what they are capable of are two different things," Shisui said. "Sometimes, things come up that hinder promotions. And who is fighting who is important. Some have natural advantages over others."

I felt uneasy. "Is Itachi going—"

"To do fine?" Shisui said. "Oh yeah. I want to fight him the most."

"Weren't you on the same team as him?" Gin asked.

"And?"

"You never sparred with your own teammate?"

"Spar, yes. Fight, no. Itachi would never fight me."

"Because he's afraid of getting the shit beat out of him?"

Shisui laughed. Then, with a straight face, "No. He's afraid of beating the shit out of me."

There was silence.

Then we all laughed.

After Shisui came around, he jiggled the empty cup. "Oh, where did you buy these? They're fantastic!"

"Vendor at the back. Why don't you leave and go buy one?" Gin suggested.

"Great idea, buddy!" Shisui tossed Gin the empty cup. "Fetch me another one, will ya? Eh? Eh?"

Gin gave him the dirtiest look ever. His fist squeezed his rice ball.

I waited for one of them to give in. When no one did, I groaned.

I snatched the cup. "I'll get one!"

Horrified by the idea of being left alone with my cousin, Gin grabbed the cup. "Fine, I'll go. But you better be gone after you get it." He pointed to Shisui.

"Wait! Buy another one for us too?" I said, giving Gin the rest of my change.

"Yeah sure." Gin pulled his cap down and left.

Once Gin was gone, Shisui dropped his feet. He leaned forward, grinning.

"I believe now would be the opportune time to announce… I win!"

Gin's squished rice ball landed splat on Shisui's face. "Rub it in, and you will get a vanilla shake shampooing," I said.

He surrendered. "I would not want my fabulous hair vanilla shampooed," he agreed. "Why are you here with your detention buddy? What happened to your dad?"

"He couldn't come," I said. "A meeting."

"Ah. Well, he might not approve of this kind of fighting anyway."

I snorted. My dad would have a heart attack if he saw this. I would be pulled out of the Ninja Academy in an instant.

Before we could talk more, we heard a scream of fury. "SHISUI!"

At the clan seats, three men were soaked from head to toe. They hissed like wet cats.

"Uh-oh. They popped the clone, didn't they?" Shisui ducked and poofed out.

A minute later, Gin stood with two shakes in hand. "He's gone?"

"Had family things."

Gin thanked the lords. "Oh, and look. There was a chocolate left! You like chocolate, right?"

"Sweet!"

As I sipped my chocolate shake, I looked around.

At the contestant's balcony, the Iwa duo were together. The Iwa shinobi was doing bicep curls. He was talking to the Iwa kunoichi and laughing whole-hearted. The Iwa kunoichi was leaning against the railing. She looked bored.

In her hand was a plastic water bottle. She crushed it and dropped it into the arena below. The bottle smacked the head of a cleaning crew member. The crew member looked up and shouted that it was not nice to litter. She glared. He shut up, picking up the bottle and scurrying away.

The Kiri ninja was leaning against a wall, his arms folded. His mask made it hard to tell what he was thinking. Someone poked him with a chopstick. His hand went to his sword. He relaxed. It was just the Kumo ninja, who was whole again. Mouth full, the Kumo ninja offered sushi to the Kiri ninja.

By the exit was Itachi. Surprisingly, he was not alone either. Half hidden in the hallway was someone his size. She was dressed in rosy pink. She had a fan in one hand.

I craned my neck. Was that the Fire princess?

The princess leaned closer to Itachi, taking a hold of his hand. They were saying something.

Itachi's gaze drifted in my direction.

I looked down and furiously sipped my shake. I gave a delayed reply to Gin, who was talking about his plan to master rock smashing or something. I glanced up again.

Itachi had returned to talking to the princess.

I pouted, trying to figure out what they could be talking about. Maybe the Fire Daimyo had a message for him. Maybe they were talking about the exam. Or maybe she was lost and asking him where the bathroom was!

All my guesses were thrown out the window. Leaning forward, the princess kissed him.

My shake went down my windpipe.

Gin stopped talking. "Hey, you okay?"

"Mhm! Juss… drun alittle too fast." A cough later, I sat upright. "You saying?"

Gin continued, "So, I think my bro can teach me since he knows chakra stuff better than me…"

I stopped listening again. My drink slipped and fell on the floor. Gin stopped mid-sentence. He picked up the cup. The cup had no shake left, so he threw it back on the floor.

"Ayae, I think the sun's getting to you." He put his hand on my forehead. "You're getting all red and shaky. Are you hot?"

"No!" I pushed his hand away. "Just, uh, tired. Sitting here and all. I'm fine."

He furrowed his eyebrows. Sensing something was up, he looked around the arena. Luckily for me, he looked past the contestant's balcony and found nothing weird.

He lifted his own drink. "Here, want some of mine?"

"S-sure," I said and took a sip.

Calm down, I told myself. I mean, it was not like they were—! I mean, they were just—! Itachi would never—

BAH! I took a long sip.

I stole another peek back at the balcony. The Fire princess was smiling at Itachi. From her sleeve, she took out an omamori charm and closed it around his palm. With that, she disappeared into the halls.

When she was gone, Itachi looked at the charm. He wiped the lipstick off his cheek.

My teeth bit into the straw. Okay, I was unhappy.

"Better?" Gin asked.

"Yeah."

"You know, I think your cousin is making you weird," Gin said.

I jumped. Gin took my straw, eying me. "Did he say something to you? I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with him."

I realized Gin was talking about annoying cousin number two. Speaking of Shisui, can I kill him? I did not come to watch Itachi and princess what's-her-face flirt.

Wait. No. I did not care about Itachi. I was here to watch epic battles, and learn cool jutsu, and—

Oh, whatever! What were Itachi and the princess talking about! I wanna know! I wanna know! I was so mad!

The semi-finals began.

Good.

I needed a distraction.

Itachi was fighting in this one. Some distraction!

He faced the Iwa shinobi.

"The Uchiha prodigy! I've been looking forward to this match. You were impressive during the preliminaries," the Iwa shinobi praised, stretching his muscles.

They shook hands.

"I have a proposition," the Iwa shinobi said.

Itachi listened. The match had started. They decided it could wait.

"I know your battle style, but I personally find evasion long-winded and boring, and so does the crowd. I like to entertain, and if I am to fight, I do not want to be the sole performer."

"What are you saying?" Itachi asked.

"Don't get me wrong. Your skills are commendable. I just find little honor in attacking a boy who runs away."

Itachi understood. "You want an offensive fight."

"Straightforward and fair. Can you handle it?"

Itachi nodded.

"Good." The Iwa shinobi grinned. "Then you wouldn't mind if I did this!"

The show started.

The Iwa shinobi slammed his palms down. The ground rumbled. Stone walls rose, surrounding them. From the walls, spikes came out. The match narrowed to a small circle in the middle of the arena.

A boulder flung toward Itachi.

A kunai appeared in Itachi's hand. With a jerk of his arm, he stabbed the boulder. The kunai cracked. The boulder shattered.

In the confusion, Itachi appeared behind the Iwa ninja.

The Iwa shinobi raised his arm to block. He punched with his other fist.

Itachi slipped away. He jumped off his opponent's shoulder.

Itachi threw shuriken. The Iwa shinobi caught and sent them back. Itachi deflected them.

All the shuriken landed in a circle around the Iwa shinobi.

With a grin, Itachi pulled the wire that looped around each shuriken. The befallen shuriken sprung back to life, lassoing the Iwa shinobi like a bull.

Not enough. Rock covered the Iwa shinobi like armor.

The rock armor then pushed out in all directions.

With a kunai, Itachi shattered the rock shooting his way.

"How are you able to do that, eh?"

"Stone has imperfections," Itachi said.

"And a jab in the right place can destroy the composition. Bravo."

They moved on to hand-to-hand combat.

It was fast. Every offense was countered by a returning offense. Blink, and you would have no idea how the person with the lower hand gained the upper. Blink twice, and the match could have been well over.

The Iwa shinobi stood strong and steady. He was grounded and refused to fall.

Itachi was scattered. He switched places in a second. Every movement was swifter than wind and smoother than water. And like fire, his actions were whimsical. There was no following it, no predicting it.

It put ballet to shame. It made all other art look ugly.

The Iwa shinobi broke the first sweat.

Itachi slowed.

But the first to fall was the wall. It collapsed. The dust hid them from our view.

The brawl inside went on. We could hear the sounds of clashing.

Then, giant thud after thud shook the arena.

Everything fell to silence.

The dust settled. Many giant stone statues had appeared. Together, they made a giant cage that trapped Itachi inside. The Iwa shinobi had a massive boulder overhead to end the match.

But Itachi was also in the middle of his next move. Even while trapped, with one hand on the ground, he was on his last hand sign.

Their fight had stopped.

It was because a third person had appeared.

The Iwa kunoichi was twisted in an attack position. Her sword was at Itachi's neck. In her other hand was a paper tag.

She glared at Itachi hatefully. Itachi blankly looked at her back.

"Kill my teammate," she warned, "and I kill you."

The air was heavy. The Iwa kunoichi had a dangerous aura. Everyone felt it.

Itachi let his fingers drop.

Slowly the Iwa kunoichi unraveled.

The Iwa shinobi dropped his boulder.

"What—have you gone nuts?" he began. "I'm in the middle of a match here!"

The Iwa kunoichi lost her cool. With her sword, she chopped off a stone arm. She freed Itachi from his stone prison. She did it out of respect or anger. She diced every statue into cubes. It was anger.

"You crazy woman!" The Iwa shinobi clapped his face in horror. "You know how long I've worked on those!"

"If it wasn't for this crazy woman, some pig-head would have been blasted to oblivion!"

Her hand flew. I thought she slapped him. But it was only to snatch something. Another paper tag was between her fingers.

The Iwa kunoichi stalked over to his back. She snatched a third tag. And another hidden on the Iwa shinobi's shoulder. Another on his leg. The tags were all over his body. No one had seen them until now.

When she was done, she threw them high into the air.

"Kai!"

The paper tags exploded.

Everyone stared in awe.

One final explosion scattered debris everywhere. Everyone in the audience was covered in dust.

The Iwa shinobi looked startled.

"While you were playing around with your little figures, you didn't notice yourself being transformed into a human bomb. Had I not caught him…" Her voice rose. The Iwa kunoichi stopped herself. She closed her eyes. "This match is over." To Itachi, she said, "You win."

She stepped toward him and added, "For now."

With a flick of her fingers, she was gone.

Itachi got back up to his feet.

The Iwa shinobi wept, more for his ruined statues than his defeat.

The proctor had his mouth open. We waited for him to come around.

"B-by means of interference, the winner shall automatically be granted to Konoha shinobi, Uchiha Itachi!"

The audience gave a half-hearted clap that became a full out boom. What a match! What a finale that could have been! The cheers were divided. Many rooted for the Iwa shinobi, who, despite his close call with death, pulled it off into a heroic escape from death.

The Iwa shinobi rocked his fists in the air. He applauded for himself.

"Thank you! Too kind, too kind!" He laughed. "I love you all!"

Before he left, he placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Honor fighting you. Go for the championship, eh mate?"

Itachi met his eyes. He nodded, then flickered out.

From the balconies, Itachi waited to see who would be his final opponent.

.

"Who…" Blades met. The Iwa kunoichi landed on three limbs. "Was your master?"

Both the Iwa kunoichi and the Kiri ninja used heavy swords. They had been dueling nonstop the moment the match started.

The Iwa kunoichi stole the offensive. She wielded her falchion with skill. She could switch from a stab to a slice with a twirl of her fingers. But no matter what she did, the Kiri ninja blocked with his sword.

"Many people," the Kiri ninja said.

At a standstill, they clashed again and again. Metal clanged metal like a blacksmith hammering. Sparks ignited.

The kunoichi breathed heavily. She had the same problem as the Kumo ninja. It was hard to get around the Kiri ninja's sword.

"You have the qualifications of the Seven Mist Swordsmen," she said.

The Kiri ninja touched his mask. "Interesting."

Her eyes narrowed. Then she did something unexpected. She tossed away her sword.

She unlatched a summoning scroll instead.

"I am no fool. I will not try to outduel you in swordsmanship."

Amused, the Kiri ninja said, "You can keep going."

A war hammer hung over her shoulder. Smirking, she placed her weight on one leg. "Oh, I will."

With a stomp of her foot, rocks floated up midair. Each was about the size of a melon. She swung her hammer at one of the rocks.

The outer shell shattered. A meteor flew out.

The Kiri ninja raised his sword to block. The impact pushed him back. He dug his heels into the ground. The stone hissed and fell to the ground, still burning.

The kunoichi whacked another rock in an ear-popping bang. Another meteor flew. And another. And another.

The bangs were so loud, that even muffling my ears, my head was vibrating.

The Kiri ninja shielded himself against the meteor shower. The heat scorched his sword raw.

After the second shower, he changed tactics. He swiped his hand along the edge of the blade. With his blood, he wrote on the flat of his blade. Water.

He slammed his palm on the kanji. Water spiraled out.

Scratch that.

Did I say water? It meant a hurricane. A tsunami.

The amount of water was crazy. The Iwa kunoichi braced herself against the colossal tide. She vanished into the sea.

The water quickly rose. It pooled over.

I lifted my feet up. Gin did the same.

The nobleman next to me freaked out. He demanded a footstool. Several other noblemen had footstools too.

The nobleman next to me came extra prepared. He whipped out an umbrella and hid behind it.

I rolled my eyes. That was totally going to help.

Luckily for us, the water did not reach any higher.

The arena turned into a swimming pool. The Kiri ninja was lifted by the water to the surface. Now that he was level with the audience, he looked giant.

With a blast, the Iwa kunoichi leaped out as well.

She smashed the surface of the pool with her war hammer. It made ripples, which turned into tides, which became crashing waves. The Kiri ninja redirected the water sent his way.

The audience could not do that.

The masked guards were caught off guard. Before they could activate the chakra barrier, the first and worst wave was already here.

Water went through the half-on barrier. I got soaked head-to-toe with sea water. It smelled of seaweed and fish.

"Nice," I muttered. I held up a wet bang tangled in seaweed. Gin lifted his cap and was splashed. Nested in his hair was a flopping fish. His expression was priceless.

The Iwa kunoichi stood on top of the water, the war hammer over her shoulder.

"I underestimated your chakra reserves," she said. "It's inhuman."

"I hope you didn't mind the change in scenery," the Kiri ninja said.

The Iwa kunoichi did not bat an eyelash. She dropped her war hammer. "It is what it is." A spear appeared in her hands. "I'll just have to go fishing."

The Iwa kunoichi did not fight like Itachi. He was drawn into his surroundings and flowed with the air. Like fire.

She did not fight the Kumo ninja. His swift motions allowed him to flash through and avoid. Like lightning.

Nor did she fight like her teammate. He molded the world around him to suit his needs. Like rock.

She did not join nature or avoid it or change it.

She made her own path. She cut straight through the tide of water. Just like...

"Metal." The Kiri ninja was impressed when her spear drew first blood. "It bears water."

He drew second blood. His sword cut into her thigh.

"A blow for a blow." She pulled the spear out of his lungs.

"Whether a trade or a sacrifice," the Kiri ninja said, "both were... such pity."

His clone exploded into water.

"Don't you agree?" the real Kiri ninja asked, his sword at her shoulder.

"Don't flatter yourself." She grinned as the Kiri ninja cut her down. "The two are hardly equal," her clone said, sinking into the water alongside her spear.

A flail shot out from behind. Chains wrapped around him and his sword. She tightened the chains, digging the spiked mace deeper into him.

"Barbaric woman," the Kiri ninja said. "Really is a pity."

Water trapped her ankles.

She did not flinch.

She was rarely impressed. He did not impress her, as she pulled him in with her chains. Once close, she stared into the holes of his mask.

"I refuse…" Her falchion rose from the water. It flew into her free hand. "To go down without taking down a bloody Mist Swordsman first. If I can't touch the Uchiha, at least I'll have the pleasure of doing this!"

She stabbed him in the chest.

"A blow…"

"For a blow."

The water shot her own spear through her body.

When she fell, the water let go of her ankles.

She sank, defeated.

"Metal carries water," the Kiri ninja chuckled. "But water rusts metal."

He broke free of her chains.

The Iwa shinobi dove into the arena.

The proctor announced the winner.

The crowd was in an uproar. The Iwa kunoichi was popular. After her defeat, insults were thrown. Iwa was mad. The semi-finals did a double knockout of their players.

The Kiri ninja ignored the booing. He pulled out the falchion from his chest. His trench coat was cut and bloody.

But the Iwa kunoichi had not hurt him anywhere important. She wanted the Kiri ninja to have a chance against Itachi.

The Kiri ninja must have been thankful for that. He glanced at the red water where the Iwa kunoichi had sunk in. He jumped to the medics.

From the balcony, Itachi had his own thoughts. He left for the hallways.

A head burst free of the water.

"Crazy woman… destroying my hard work… making me all wet…" The Iwa shinobi lifted his teammate out of the water.

Uneasy, I watched the medics crowd around them.

The blood made me scared again.

There was a chance Itachi would succeed where Kumo and Iwa failed. There was a chance for him to be with Shisui in rank again. There was a chance to have his father stop being so harsh on him. But the more I watched this tournament, the more afraid I got. Because there was a chance he could get hurt too.

I buried myself into my lap. I wondered who I was really worried for. Itachi, prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Or me, who would not survive a match like this in a million years.

"You okay?" Gin asked.

"Yeah." I shivered and hugged my knees tighter. I wondered why the sun had to hide behind a cloud when I needed it most.

"You don't look okay," Gin said.

"No, I'm to-tot-totaa-A-ACHOO!"

I splashed Gin with algae. The nobleman hiding behind his umbrella glanced over just in time to be in the line of fire too. With a pinched expression, he wiped his face of my gunk.

"I'm totally fine?" I laughed, rubbing my nose.

Gin gave me a deadpanned look.

He got up, offering a hand. "Come on, let's get you a towel."

Good plan. My dad and I were both prone to colds when wet. Last thing I wanted was to get sick.

Gin and I walked around during the intermission. We saw vendors selling umbrellas and raincoats. They also sold fireproof jackets, insect repellents, ear plugs, and ghost exercising charms. It seemed getting hit by an ocean was not the worst thing to happen during these matches.

There were vendors selling towels too. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford one. Gin had an idea. He was going to try to cash in his fish, Mr. Floppers. No fresher sushi than that!

While he did that, I went looking for a bathroom.

I went through the flooded parts, trudging past floating cups. I found the hallway entrance.

I tried upstairs.

My sandals squeaked.

No bathroom in sight. I regretted not asking for directions.

"Ah shi—aACHOO!" I sneezed again. And again.

Annoyed, I was ready to rant to the arena engineers. Why was there no AC during noon, when it was hot, and plenty of AC during the afternoon, when it was freezing, especially after a dip in sea water!

A voice broke me out of my angry thoughts.

"Bless you."

My mind crashed.

No, Ayae. That could not possibly be him. Just some stranger that sounded an awful lot like him.

I was ready to turn around and say "Thank you" to the stranger. I felt something warm wrap around me.

Since when did strangers give out free towels?

"Are you lost, Ayae?"

SINCE WHEN DID FREE-TOWEL-GIVING STRANGERS KNOW MY NAME?

"Itachi?"

Itachi was still there when I turned around. I rubbed my eyes. I did a triple-quadruple check, because the chances of Itachi standing within twenty meters from me and giving me a towel would be, let's see, none.

"Are you real?" I patted him all over. Had I gone crazy?

"I'm not a clone, if that is your question," Itachi said, uneasy at all the touching.

I tugged his hair. Huh, it had really gotten long.

I met his eyes.

In that moment, I realized two years change people.

Like me, Itachi grew a lot. But something about his eyes was different. I could tell he thought a little differently than the Itachi I knew. Acted a little differently. Talked a little differently. Was a little different.

He was the boy I met when I first came to Konoha. Just not the same boy.

"Ayae?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. I was too close to his face. My cheeks went red. I backed off like he was the plague.

As if that was not awkward enough, the silence afterward was horrible.

I was at a loss for words. I only came to the Chuunin Exam to make sure Itachi was doing okay. I did not think I would meet him like this.

I waited for him to say something.

But he was waiting for me.

Halfheartedly, I wished I could remember all the Itachi is a horrible friend for avoiding me rants I had come up with ages ago.

Itachi gave a small smile, looking like he was ready to listen to them all.

But I had no rants. Only a question.

Why?

His smile faded. He looked away. He could not say anything.

I kept my mouth shut. Itachi should not expect me to always be the one to talk.

We were at a stalemate.

I was surprised when Itachi cracked first.

"Ayae…" he began, taking a step closer.

My feet took the same step back.

Itachi stopped. Suddenly, he looked scared of coming closer.

"I shouldn't have come," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

I was alarmed. I needed my mouth to make words. "Stop! Err… Itachi, wait. I, um, can we talk… a bit?"

He took another step back. He said nothing, only looking at me and waiting. I did not know what he wanted from me. Whatever magic that drove Itachi to see me had turned to dried-up pixie dust.

"There is nothing to talk about. I owed an apology. That's all." With that, he turned away.

Something was at the tip of my tongue. It came too late. He already vanished.

I stood in the hallway.

I banged my head against the wall. Itachi had walked up to me, offered me a towel, and waited for me to talk. And I let the chance go. Oh, let me die!

I let out another sneeze.

"Ayae!"

I looked up. I was about to say Itachi's name.

It wasn't him. Gin and his red cap were coming at me. He ran at a crazy speed, half water sliding, half long jumping over.

I raised a hand to greet him. He knocked the air out of me and dragged me along with him in his insane sprint. I half-darted, half-hopped on one leg to keep up.

Gin shook the knob of some door. It opened.

I was rudely shoved in. My butt fell flat on a wet mop.

Gin closed the door behind him. He pulled me deeper into the janitor's closet.

"Wh—"

Gin covered my mouth.

I pried his hand away. "Gin—" I got muffled again.

"Shh." He sounded scared.

I went still.

My leg was in a bucket. My back pressed against coils of tubing. My elbow was against a box of detergent. I lowered one knee. I tried to untangle our legs, causing a plastic bottle to drop. Gin winced at the noise. He locked my arms tighter with his.

A minute or so of silence later, we heard footsteps approaching.

We heard voices with the footsteps. I could not tell who they were until they came close to the closet we were in.

"—impaled by a girl?" the nobleman scoffed. "And that little rodent is still unharmed! Hmph! Well, that can be good. People are fickle. They'll put all their money on him now, seeing you were injured by a girl. How pathetic."

The Kiri ninja growled.

Their footsteps got closer. They stopped right in front of our door. Gin and I peeked into the keyhole.

"Yet, the odds will make me all the more money when I win," the sake-breath noble said thoughtfully. He jabbed a boney finger at the Kiri ninja's chest. "But you are getting sloppy. It's one thing to look convincing, but you still have to win. Remember, I have twenty million ryou on you. If you don't pull through—eeh! H-how dare you touch me! P-put me d-down or… or…"

"Or what?" The Kiri ninja had the nobleman by the collar.

Sake-breath would have peed in his pants. "O-or you'll be the one to p-pay for it! You'll never see a cent of mine! N-now, let me d-down! This is one hundred percent silk. Look, you're creasing it!"

"Ten thousand ryou? I think I can manage without." The Kiri ninja dropped him. He continued down the hallway.

Sake-breath scrambled to get up. "You will win!" he shouted.

"You talk as if I won't."

Their footsteps trailed off.

Gin pressed his ears to the door. After he was sure they were gone, he turned to me.

"Ayae, you heard that, right?"

"Yeah? So what?" I asked. Just seemed like the Kiri ninja and my seat neighbor were not buddy-buddy.

"So what?!" Gin was stressed that I was not stressed.

"I don't see why you dragged me—"

"Ayae! Remember lecture! Remember what Teacher Funeno told us at the beginning of the year!"

I sighed, wondering why Gin was bringing my failing grades into this. "Something about missions, ranks, status and… stuff."

"And that ninjas are hired!" Gin said. "That guy you sat next to hired a jounin-leveled ninja to enter the tournament. They rigged the whole thing!"

"What?"

"Listen, we need to bail your cousin out of his next match now. I have no idea how the Kiri guy managed to fool the proctors but—"

I shook my head. "What? No! That can't be, because that would be cheating and—"

The door opened.

"Illegal?"

The lock fell to pieces on the ground.

"I thought I spotted a few bugs."

Below in the arena, the Kiri ninja did not look too big. When the water leveled him to the audience, he looked giant. But right now, up close, he looked enormous enough to eat me.

"If Konoha children think they could conceal their presence by hiding in a closet, I pity." He jerked his head in the direction of the hallway.

I looked and wanted to slap myself. On the floor were wet footprints leading to our door, and none leading out.

Sometimes, mistakes like that were fatal.

Everything sunk in, mostly the fact that an illegal assassin, who was in a scam with a nobleman to make millions of ryou, just found two kids who heard it all. I briefly calculated my chances of survival.

I screamed.

That was the plan A taught in the Academy. Though truthfully, my mind was nowhere near safety rules. Kids screamed when they realized they were fish food.

Gin slammed a broom at the Kiri ninja. The Kiri ninja caught the broom and snapped it in his fist. But Gin stalled him long enough to take my arm and slip past.

We ran like no tomorrow for the nearest exit. Then B failed too. The Kiri ninja had flickered in front of us, blocking the stairwell. Gin yanked me the other way before we got blocked again.

That left plan C. Bluff. "Y-you can't hurt us," Gin said. "There will be security guards, and you'll go to jail."

The Kiri ninja chuckled. "I don't see any right now."

He had a point. I slapped myself for agreeing.

Plan D. Beg. "We won't tell anyone!" I said. The Kiri ninja saw through my lie. Hell, even I saw through my lie.

That left plan E. Man, the Ninja Academy was useless. Who wrote our textbooks? I needed to send a complaint, because who seriously puts down 'Pray for a miracle' as plan E?

My world went black.

If I survived this, I was bringing up the stupidity of our survival books to the teachers.

.

"—ae? Ayae! AYAE!"

My head hurt. I whacked at Gin to stop shaking me. I wanted to curl inward and go back to sleep.

"She's conscious. Let's go."

"Eh? We can't leave these children here, not after finding them tied up in a closet. We should bring them to a medic."

"No, we are going to watch the match. I want to see the Uchiha shredded to pieces and the bastard that cut me blasted to oblivion." There was a step, then a strained pause.

"You'll reopen your wound if you keep moving like that." A sigh. "Should we not give any consideration to the boy's story? The star pupil of our master defeated in a mere Chuunin Exam? No way, mate. That was a cheat. Your opponent had to be jounin."

"Who's to say that Uchiha brat didn't cheat either?"

"Defending my loss? Aw, how swee—" An oomph.

"Don't flatter yourself. As far as I know, those children could be part of Konoha's plot to force us to interfere and get disqualified again, though they're lacking originality on this one. You lost your previous Exam because you defended some Suna-nin who played you like a fool. I've already stepped in once to save your ass. If either of us stops a match twice, we're out."

"Eh, if you won't, then I will."

"You fool!"

"It's a small price compared to what the Uchiha child will pay. The best would be incapacitated, the worst would be death."

"And yet, I seem to recall that he would have killed you. The Uchiha has the option to forfeit. If he does not, that's his own downfall. If anything, he and the rest of his clan deserve a taste of their own bitter medicine."

"You'd risk an innocent life for the suffering of others?" There was sadness in his voice.

"Because of the Uchiha, Iwa lost over fifty thousand lives! Go if you want, but I will not. I will watch the match."

Heels trailed down the hall.

The Iwa shinobi stood, frowning. He noticed I was looking his way. His shoulders dropped.

He squatted down. "Is your friend okay now, mate? Good thing my partner insisted on leaving early, or we'd have never heard you."

"I think Ayae's coming around," Gin said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. Gin helped me up. I wobbled, hanging on to the ledge of the closet. I felt coils of rope slide off me. "What happened?"

Everything came back to me. I jumped up. "Itachi. We've got to help Itachi. He's going to get hurt!"

"About time you're back," Gin grunted. "Hey! Where are you—"

I broke into a run. I need to get back to the arena. I heard the noise of the crowds.

The light outside blinded me.

I had found the contestant's balcony. The Iwa kunoichi stood against the railing. Something whipped up past her, fluttering her hair.

I fell back. A water shark had speared through the sky. It crashed down into the pool below, splashing the arena.

Cautiously, I clutched the railings next to the Iwa kunoichi. I looked down.

The Kiri ninja stood on top of the water. Itachi was nowhere to be seen.

Without warning, a water dragon shot up. The Kiri ninja was sent into the air, caught between the teeth of the dragon.

The Kiri ninja sliced the dragon down the mouth with his sword. The dragon split into two twin dragons. They weaved around each other, dancing in the air. They reunited and attacked the Kiri ninja again.

A water shark shot up to match the dragon. They clashed in an explosion of water.

I braced myself. When the showers were over, I gasped for breath. I wiped the water from my eyes.

A hand broke free, slamming down on the top of the water.

Itachi pulled himself up from his underwater prison. He knelt, coughing. His clothes clung to his body. Water dripped from his hair. Surrounding him was a thin veil of steam.

"I hope I captured your attention," the Kiri ninja said. His voice was different now. It sent me shivering all over. "You seemed distracted."

Itachi found his breath. He forced himself up.

"It will not happen again," Itachi said, wiping his mouth.

The Iwa kunoichi chuckled. "Looks like the boy learned from my match. He should have been finished when the water dragged him down, but he managed to manipulate the water on the surface. Distracted his opponent long enough to break free. Now he's burning the soles of his feet with fire to prevent being trapped by the water again."

The Iwa shinobi arrived with Gin. "He's duo-natured?"

"I'm surprised too," the Iwa kunoichi said. "Before you call the proctors, why not watch first and see how far the Uchiha can take this?"

Gin joined the railing next to me. Neither of us could keep track of what was going on. Bullets. Walls. Vortexes of water. I could not tell who was creating what.

"Your cousin is using the water like that Kiri guy!" Gin said, shocked. "That can't be possible!"

A hurricane of water came our way, met by another hurricane. Gin and I backed away from the railing. The force of the winds was too strong.

We turned and ran. We tripped. The Iwa shinobi caught us. I glanced back in time to be hit with heat from a fireball. Then another pellet of rain. Up in the sky, clouds were swirling from all the heating and cooling.

"Maybe you would not have won after all," the Iwa shinobi told the Iwa kunoichi. "You were the strongest in this competition, able to combine the elements of earth and fire, but even you don't have the skill to use both separately at once, and polar natures at that."

The Iwa kunoichi snarled. "Someone else could be controlling the water."

"You can tell they're his movements," the Iwa shinobi said. "Fire is directed to his feet. Water is commanded by his hands."

"Tch."

I peeked below the railings again. Itachi was moving on top of the water. He dodged all the spikes of water trying to trap his ankles. As he evaded, his hands blurred from one sign to the next, his eyes focused on the water dragon.

The water at his feet got smarter. It shaped into a net. It snatched his leg and pulled him to a stop.

Itachi cut the water chain with fire. In that one second, he lost connection with the water dragon. The shark ate it whole, then dove down. Itachi jumped away, but got caught in the shockwave.

Itachi was slowing down.

The Kiri ninja had not moved from his spot.

"Tired yet?" the Kiri ninja taunted. "There's no place to run to. The entire field is water, and where there's water, it will trap you."

The water caught Itachi. He exploded, revealing to be a clone.

"I am aware," Itachi said. The water got that clone too.

"Perhaps it's not wise to delay this anymore." Another clone.

I found the real Itachi. He was unlocking something. I recognized what it was. His bracelet.

The bracelet fell, making a giant splash in the water.

"About time," the Kiri ninja laughed. "Let's end this."

He disappeared. Itachi disappeared.

Everyone was quiet, listening to the disturbances in the field.

This was no longer a Chuunin Exam. The two contestants moved at speeds the eye cannot see. The crowd was in awe. The proctors were alarmed. The guards were stiff. The Hokage and Mizukage smiled.

A water shark flew past the Uchiha clan. Through the blizzard of water, I saw Shisui grinning.

There came a loud screech.

A phoenix of fire had soared into the sky, overshadowing the sun.

The clouds above darkened. The first drops of rain fell. Umbrellas barely opened when the match already reached its end.

The Kiri ninja reappeared in the middle of the arena.

"You've wasted the last of your chakra with that move. You missed. And now, you've lost," the Kiri ninja said.

Itachi reappeared too. He collapsed on top of the water, breathing heavily. Chains of water began creeping up his limbs, trapping him again. But he only looked at the crying sky.

I was surprised to see Itachi smiling. It was as if the match did not matter much anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. Itachi was not scared. He found peace in the eye of the storm.

"You were stronger than I thought. Who sent you to fight me?" Itachi asked.

Ignoring the question, the Kiri ninja growled, "Why didn't you use the Sharingan?"

"How did you know I possessed the Sharingan?" Itachi was playing around.

"Everyone knows you do." The Kiri ninja raised his sword. "So. Why. Did. You. Not. Use. It."

"Does it bother you if I don't?" Itachi asked, closing his eyes. "Very well then."

When his eyes reopened, his eyes were red.

I stepped back. It was just like that day in the field.

"His eyes… they changed," Gin said, furrowing his brows.

"The Sharingan finally showed itself," the Iwa kunoichi said. Her hand grasped the railing so hard that the metal bent.

"Why do you insist on seeing these eyes?" Itachi asked. "Am I that much of a bore without them?"

The Kiri ninja was done. "You are too arrogant for your own good." He slammed his sword down. The sword stopped before Itachi's face. The water had risen to make a shield. The metal chipped. The sword broke apart.

The water chains around Itachi loosened. They harmlessly splashed down.

"Perhaps I am."

A fin circled around Itachi. The water shark appeared by Itachi's side, showing its teeth to the Kiri ninja.

"Perhaps it was foolish to think I would win without using what my blood gifted me with."

The water came to life. All of it. The Kiri ninja was attacked from every side. By waves. By sharks. By all the creatures of the sea.

"Perhaps I should stop running away now."

Water funneled up into the black sky. Plates of rock rose to protect us.

When the Iwa shinobi lowered the rocks, the pool was gone. The arena was a muddied battlefield.

The Kiri ninja had been spat out into the ground.

Itachi was sitting, leaning against a fragment of the Kiri ninja's giant sword.

For a while, two opponents sat. They said no words, just letting the rain pour. The dirt smeared on Itachi's cheek washed off. His hair continued to drip.

Itachi stood up. His eyes were normal.

"Then again, I thought it would have been anti-climatic if the match ended so abruptly. It's time to wake up. I have nothing left to prove."

I did not understand what he meant. Neither did anyone else.

Then, I felt light beams shine down on my back.

The sun? But the rain—

I looked up. It was sunny. There was not a cloud in the sky, let alone any rain.

It really was time to wake up.

The illusion faded. Itachi stood in the center of the arena, without a scratch, without a blemish, without a drop of water on him. He was leaning against the Kiri ninja's sword, but the sword was whole, half planted in the earth. The character drawn in blood was still here.

My own hair was wet from before the match, but my skin was dry. The crowd was confused. They looked at their umbrellas. Their battered umbrellas had become brand new again, having never touched a drop of rain.

Their clothes were dry.

Their seats were dry.

The railing was dry.

Everything was dry.

There were birds in the sky.

"I believe I won," Itachi said.

The Kiri ninja made no move to get up. "We will meet again."

"You will reveal your identity the next time," Itachi said, offering a hand.

The Kiri ninja was surprised. Then he laughed. "No gloves. No mask. And no mercy the next time I see you, Uchiha. Your genjutsu trick won't work on me twice."

Chuckling, the Kiri ninja vanished into vapor.

The Mizukage was the first to clap.

"My, you have a prodigy here in Konoha, Respected Hokage," the Mizukage said, getting up. "I believe that child there has just captured the attention of every client in the crowd. Ninjutsu in the first match. Taijutsu in second. Genjutsu in the finale. He sure knows how to entertain, and to sell himself as a ninja." He walked away, his robes fluttering behind. "He even defeated our best. I'm almost jealous..."

His voice trailed away. But his clap spread across the arena. Before long, the crowd was standing, cheering, laughing, roaring. I numbly clapped my hands together too.

Itachi won the tournament. He won, yet was not affected. He stared at the contestant's balcony. Stared at me. He was smiling, though sadly. He whispered something.

His words were lost to the noise of the stadium.