WhIP

by footfungus

nederlands verhalen over mijn otp

37. Chapter 37

Melody From Another World

CelticxPanda

Summary:

What the hell am I doing? This wasn't the plan! Okay, granted I didn't have a plan but still, I don't even LIKE Sasuke!

Or:

In which I try to fix everything with cuddles and cheesy pop music.

Written for tumblr's Self Insert Week 2016

I HAVE NOT GIVEN PERMISSION TO ANY PLATFORM OTHER THAN ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN TO HOST MY WORK. IF THIS WORK IS FOUND ON ANY OUTSIDE APP SUCH AS 'FICFIC POCKET LIBRARY ARCHIVE' THEN THEY HAVE STOLEN MY WORK AND ARE USING IT TO PROFIT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

Notes:

Hello everyone! This was written for tumblr's Self Insert week 2016. Originally it was just going to be a 5 to 10 page romp but, as you can clearly see, it quickly got away from me. In honor of the occasion, I will be posting a part each day this week (May 9 - 13). After that I'll fit it into my usual upload schedule. I do hope you enjoy it, this thing has consumed my life for the past two or three weeks and I really like it so I hope you do too! I look forward to seeing you in the comments!

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: In Which I pull an Interdimensional Freaky Friday

Chapter Text

I woke to an unfamiliar and yet familiar ceiling in an unfamiliar yet familiar room. I sat up on the equally unfamiliar yet familiar bed and looked around. The first thing I noticed was despite my lack of glasses, I could see perfectly fine, which was strange in and of itself. The second thing I noticed was the rather large black bird sitting on the bedside table. I blinked dazedly at it, tilting my head to mirror the bird's movements. It hopped onto my knee, staring at me. Whoever's bird this was, it obviously wasn't scared of strangers.

Oddly enough, the bird (crow, my brain supplied), like the other things in the room, was both recognizable and strange to me. I reached out gently, slowly, to pet the soft feathers on the bird's head.

"Hi, pretty birdy," I greeted, my voice decidedly deeper than I thought it should have been.

"You're not Kou-chan!"

I jumped back, my head throbbing painfully as I slammed it against the wall. Kou-chan. That's what the crow had called me (I wasn't going to bother trying to wrap my head around the fact the bird had TALKED at this point). But that wasn't my name. That definitely wasn't my name.

"If you're not Kourubi then who are you?" the crow demanded, hopping up and down on my knee in an agitated fashion. The crow was female; at least that's what her voice suggested.

I shook my head, trying to keep my brain from going fifty different directions at once. I had to focus on the important things first, dammit! Who WAS I? I had a good idea of who I was in a fairly broad sense. I was a library aide, recently graduated from college. I'd studied abroad in Italy and had fallen in love with the little Tuscan town I'd lived in (especially the food). I had a mother, a father, and a little brother who wasn't so little any more. I could tell you about my taste in music and what I liked to read and even a little bit about what I looked like (though that last one was fairly hazy). But my name.

I couldn't remember my name.

"I…I don't know," I admitted to the crow. "I don't remember my name."

The crow frowned…at least I assumed she was frowning.

"Where am I?" I asked, looking about the room. The persistent déjà vu I was feeling was starting to scare me. "I…last thing I remember was going to bed."

The crow remained silent for a while, as if debating whether or not she should tell me anything.

"Why don't you go to the window and find out?" the crow suggested, her voice soft, almost as if she pitied me.

I moved slowly, giving the crow plenty of time to hop off my knee as I twisted to set my feet on the cool wood floor. I frowned at that. My room had carpet…didn't it? The room I fell asleep in was most certainly my room. But…wasn't this also my room? I rubbed at my temples as they throbbed, trying to reconcile the two lifetimes of memories in my head. The ones that told me the room was right and familiar…those weren't mine. And yet everything screamed at me that they were.

I hobbled over to the window, which was more like a sliding glass door that opened to a small balcony, and opened it. The bright morning sunlight blinded me for a moment as I walked out on to the balcony but, I could make out a large town just over what looked like a low wall.

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see more and more details. The wall I saw went around the building I was currently in, along with several other buildings, none of which went above my line of sight. That meant the building I was in was the tallest in the area. Beyond the wall was a hodgepodge of buildings of various colors and shapes and heights.

And at the farthest point, where the town ended, was a large cliff. Upon that cliff were four faces. Four faces that were familiar to both sets of memories.

I was staring at Hokage Mountain.

"No fucking WAY!" I yelped, stumbling back into the room. I tripped over something and landed rather painfully on my ass. But I wasn't in the right mind to care about that.

I, some how some way, had ended up in Konoha.

My mind was racing. There were so many questions. How the hell had I ended up here? How did this place even exist? When in the timeline had I arrived? Who was the person I had taken over for?

What had happened to that person?

I felt dizzy. I was shaking. I couldn't breathe. Oh god, I was gonna hurl.

"Kourubi?"

I turned at the soft voice. The crow was staring up at me again.

"I'm not…"

"No, I suppose you're not," the crow agreed, hopping up on my knee once more. "Or, I suppose more accurately, you weren't."

"What?"

"No matter who you were before, you are Kourubi now. You have inherited her life, and you must live it from here on out," the crow stated plainly.

"But…"

"Do you have her memories?" the crow asked, interrupting me.

"I think so?" I answered, racking my brain. The best I could dig up from under my own memories where images. A man and woman I assumed were Kourubi's mother and father. The other members of Kourubi's three-man team. People she had seen before and places she had been. Things like names, how she'd felt about things, her reactions to events; these things were beyond my reach.

"Then you are Kourubi," the crow asserted. "Memories, experiences, those are what make us who we are. You just happen to also be someone else."

Her logic was certainly flawed, but I couldn't find a decent argument against it. If I told everyone I wasn't Kourubi, but someone else who had somehow had switched places with her consciousness, they'd probably lock me up. Pretending I was Kourubi…that didn't exactly sound appealing either. Kourubi, from what I could piece together from her memories, was a ninja. A genin. There was bound to be things expected of Kourubi that I couldn't do.

I sighed heavily, leaning back until my neck rested against the edge of my bed. What was I supposed to do in this situation?

"I'm Mori, by the way," the crow introduced herself, and somehow when she said it the memory came flooding back to me. Of course this was Mori. I…Kourubi had known Mori since she was a small child. But if Mori was here, where was…?

"Kou-chan! Rise and shine! Up and at 'em!" another large crow flew in through the open balcony door. He stopped short of landing on my other knee, staring up at me.

"You're not Kou-chan."

"Well, not entirely, no," I admitted. I turned to Mori. "I'm going to have problems if everyone can tell what's going on as easily as you two."

"Gan and I have always had a special bond with Kourubi," Mori said, a fondness creeping into her voice. "We were born for her, you know."

"I do," I assured, reaching out to pet Mori's shiny black feathers. And I meant it. The more I talked with her, the more of Kourubi's memories bubbled to the surface.

I remembered the day Kourubi met Mori and Gan, many years ago. I remembered the contract, sealed with blood. I rubbed my thumb over the tip of my index finger, where my (Kourubi's) father had pricked it. I remember holding the two tiny, fluffy baby birds in my hands. I remembered the surge of joy and wonder.

I took my hand back, realizing it was shaking.

"Ah, you remembered." Mori smiled. "I'm sure the more you experience of this life, the more memories will come back to you."

"Hard for them to come back to me when I didn't make them in the first place," I muttered.

"Shush," Mori admonished, slapping at me with her wing. "They are just as much your memories now as they were hers."

The way she said 'hers' made my stomach sink. The question remained.

"What…what do you think happened to her?"

Mori ruffled her feathers in a way I assumed meant she was shrugging. "If you are here, then she must be there."

"Then she has a much harder time than I do," I joked. "She won't have any talking animal friends to guide her."

Mori tilted her head again, and a fond look entered her eyes. "You may not be her, but you are very much like her."

"Good, should make things easier."

"This is all well and good," Gan interrupted. "But Kou-chan has training today."

Oh shit.

I scrambled up from my sitting position, causing Mori and Gan to flutter wildly to keep from falling to the floor. I searched the room wildly, shuffling through drawers until I found suitable clothing. I struggled to remember whether Kourubi showered in the morning or at night. I end up turning to Mori and Gan, who were sitting on my bed.

"Do I need to…?"

"You showered last night, Kou-chan," Mori informed me kindly, as if speaking to a small child. That should have rubbed me the wrong way, but right now I was in too much of a rush to get offended.

I grabbed randomly at articles of clothing. All of Kourubi's clothes seemed to be in shades of grey, with the occasional black or white. I end up settling on a pair of black pants that fit tight against my skin and a thin, dark grey, long sleeved shirt with a strange, feather like design about the shoulders. Best part: the shirt had a hood. That was cool. I had always wanted a shirt like that, but I'd never been able to find one my size. Kourubi was much smaller than I had been, at least width wise. I supposed it made sense. She'd been training to be a ninja most of her life, that was bound to keep you in shape. I was especially impressed with my arms, the muscles distinct even under the sleeves of my shirt. My legs were damn fine too, if I said so myself (and I did).

My eyes scanned the room, finding her headband atop the dresser I had pulled my clothing from. The metal was a sort of brushed steel, less reflective then the ones I had seen at home when I went to conventions. The metal plate had been set against black fabric, instead of the standard blue. I traced the leaf symbol with my fingertips. Fond memories of Naruto the story flooded back. I hadn't watched it in years. Well, that was a lie. My little brother (I couldn't remember his name either, and that made me much sadder than the fact I that I couldn't remember my own) had wanted to watch it, so we had sat down one weekend and marathoned the first arc of the show, up to the very start of the Chunin exams.

A sudden surge of determination filled me as I thought about my situation. In all likelihood, I wouldn't be able to change much of anything, but I could at least give Naruto a friend. I could certainly be a better friend then Sasuke at any rate (not that that was hard).

I inhaled deeply, set in my goal, and slipped the headband on under my bangs, tying it tightly at the back of my head. With Mori and Gan's help, I also managed to find my weapons pouches and put those on too.

I thundered down the wooden stairs of the house, letting instinct guide me towards the main living area. I could smell breakfast in the air and my stomach growled loudly. I paused at the archway into the kitchen, taking in the sight.

A woman in a knee length, poppy red sundress was setting the table. Her mahogany colored hair was pinned up in a large bun at the back of her head. She had tucked two black feathers into her hair like I remember seeing girls at school do with pencils…or disposable chopsticks. She hadn't seemed to notice me yet, leaving me to observe as much as I liked. Her name still escaped me, but this was definitely my mother (Kourubi's mother, the line was already starting to blur). She had been an instructor at the Academy, my instructor.

When she finally looked up and saw me, her face broke out in a bright smile, brighter than any smile I remembered ever seeing on my own mother (then again, I was already starting to forget my real mother's face). Her eyes were a warm, earthy brown and something inside me told me I could trust those eyes.

"Good morning, Kourubi-chan," she greeted cheerfully. "Do you have time for breakfast before you head out?"

"Of course she does," Gan answered for me, startling me as he came fluttering down to rest on my left shoulder like he belonged there. "I always wake her up in time for breakfast!"

My mother reached out to stroke Gan's pretty black feathers. "You're so good to her, Gan. I don't know what she'd do without you!"

"Use an alarm clock?" I suggested, a playful lit to my voice.

My mother giggled, shaking her head fondly. Good, it seemed Kourubi was as prone to sarcasm and jokes as I was. That would make things easier.

I slid automatically into the chair closest to the archway. I glanced around at the table, noticing one of the places had been left unset. I frowned, recognizing that as father's place. Why hadn't mom set a place for dad?

"Go ahead and eat, Kourubi-chan." I turned to my mother, who was scooping rice into a bowl. "Your tou-san was called away on a mission early this morning, so there's no use waiting for him. Wouldn't want Noboru-sensei mad at you for being late."

I nodded wordlessly and picked up my own bowl of rice, quickly shoveling the sticky white grain into my mouth. I wasn't used to having rice for breakfast…or fish…or soup, but the food was delicious nonetheless and I was starving. I finished my food as quickly as possible and moved my dishes to the sink before bolting for the door. I slid my black sandals onto my feet, called a farewell to my (Kourubi's) mother and slipped out the door.

It was pleasantly warm outside, unlike the unbearable heat I was used to back home. A breeze blew though the air and ruffled my hair. I combed a hand through it, taking the time to actually look at it. It was a lighter brown then my hair from before, about the same length though. It was soft and silky and I kept playing with it as I trotted down the cobblestone path that led from the front of my house to the gate that opened out into the village proper. Kourubi must have been a member of a pretty important clan to live in a walled compound like this.

Mori and Gan joined me shortly into my walk, landing delicately on my shoulders.

"So, I'm still kinda hazy about a whole bunch of shit," I said quietly, trying not to catch the attention of the civilians I passed by. I was simply letting my legs carry me to where I needed to go. Even if I couldn't remember anything, muscle memory would serve me well in this kind of situation.

"We will help you however we can, Kou-chan," Mori insisted.

"I assume I'm part of a pretty important clan," I started. "Tell me about them."

"You're name is Karasuno Kourubi," Gan announced proudly. "And you are the daughter of Karasuno Isamu, clan head."

Clan head? I was the daughter of the clan head? Well, if that didn't put a whole new pressure on me to keep from appearing suspicious. Shit, now I was nervous. Well, more nervous.

"Enough, Gan, you'll scare the poor thing!" Mori chided. Her tone was softer when she addressed me. "Don't worry, Kou-chan. You're doing fine."

"Thanks," I muttered, not entirely believing her.

I paused briefly to glance into a storefront window, and was startled by the reflection I saw there. I looked much like I did before, short brown hair, olive skin tone; even the face shape was fairly similar. But my eyes. My eyes were totally different. They used to be a rather plain, dark shade of brown. But now, they were more red then brown. Not Sharingan red or anything, but red nonetheless. I pretended to fuss with my hair so no one passing by would think anything weird was going on and quickly moved along.

"Tell me more about…her," I requested. "I know I'm a genin, but…at my age shouldn't I be a chunin?"

"Most would be, but Noboru-sensei is a cautious man," Mori explained. "He spent more time on your training then taking you out on missions. Wanted you three to be prepared for anything. He didn't nominate you for the chunin exams until you were 16."

"How old am I now?"

"18," Mori informed me. "Noboru-sensei wanted to wait another year before nominating you again after your team failed."

I hummed, the memories starting to bubble up again. I could even feel Kourubi's disappointment at the memory of my team's first failure. New concerns were starting to dance around my mind. I had a basic idea of how chakra and jutsu worked, but I had no practical experience. Kourubi did, of course, but I wasn't (totally) Kourubi. I was just some weird Freaky Friday case gone interdimensional. Would I be able to rely on muscle memory and instinct like I was with getting to the training grounds? I'd probably have to.

I passed breezily through the main part of the village, drinking in the sights and sounds and smells. Everything was so colorful! The buildings, the clothing, the awnings that hung over the doors of the shop. I almost forgot I was in a ninja village. The grey-scale of my outfit made me stand out far more than an orange jumpsuit ever could (even if I looked far less ridiculous). I breathed deeply, the air was fresher here than back home. It smelled like trees and a little bit like fresh rain, even over the delicious smell of food that wafted out from open doors. It was a noisy village, too. People chattered as they wandered about the streets; children screamed and laughed; merchants shouted praise for their wares and complements to the ladies passing by with shopping bags. Normally, I would have tugged my headphones on and drowned it all out with whatever song I felt like listening to a hundred times over. But my headphones were gone, and so was my music. Oh…I think I made myself sad. I loved music, always had. I was going to miss it. I'd have to find a way of getting it back somehow. Nothing was impossible for ninja, right? Right.

I turned instinctively off the main road towards an area less densely packed with buildings and people. The few shops scattered about advertised weapons and weatherproof clothing instead of toys or food and drink. This was definitely the shinobi district. I found it a little odd that the Karasuno's lived in the civilian district, seeing as they were obviously a ninja clan. But, perhaps, the Karasuno's had been there first and the civilians just built around them. I'd have to see what sort of books I could find back home about those kinds of things.

I crossed a small, wooden bridge over a tiny stream, and was met with a loud, very personal greeting.

"KOURUBI!" a tall, teal-haired man nearly bowled me over as he ran into me. "Mai's being mean to me again!"

"I am not!" a young woman with golden-blonde hair tied back in a tight braid scowled. "Kourubi, tell Ryou he's too damn sensitive to be a shinobi if he can't take criticism of his damn katas!"

"She told me I moved like a noodle!" the man, Ryou, protested.

This…this was starting to feel familiar. Of course it was familiar, I'd been dealing with these sorts of shenanigans for years. No, no I hadn't, Kourubi had. But I was Kourubi. No I wasn't! Ugh, I was getting a headache again. Mori cawed sympathetically from the bridge railing, where she and Gan had taken up residence so as not to get caught in Ryou's 'greeting'.

"You are a noodle!" the woman, Mai, argued. "And what kind of ninja is always changing their hair color! It gets more ridiculous every time!"

"Hey, this way enemy ninja won't recognize me!"

"Oh my god, it's too damn early for this," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose like that was going to help.

"I agree." I turned to see another, older man crossing the bridge I'd just come over. "Ryou, let go of Kourubi, please. And Mai, stop insulting Ryou. Honestly, how do you have this much energy every morning?"

"You're the one who set the training time, sensei," Ryou reminded, finally releasing me. "Don't blame us if it's too early for you."

"Shush," our sensei (Noboru, my memories provided) snapped half-heartedly. "Or I won't tell you the…well I guess you'd think it's good news but it's giving me a heart attack already."

Mai was next to me in a second and Ryou's pressed against my other side. I could feel him practically buzzing in his skin. What sort of news could be this damn exciting? Wait…what time of the year was it? It was fairly warm, so it had to be either late spring or early summer. What happened in the manga around that time? God it'd been years since I'd read it.

"I have officially nominated you for the chunin exams," Noboru announced.

….fuck me.

Chapter 2: In Which I Start to Maybe Figure Things Out

Notes:

Thank you so much for the positive response to the first chapter. As promised, here's chapter two. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Text

One wouldn't think that repeatedly punching and kicking the air until you're sweaty and exhausted would be therapeutic but it actually kinda is. Katas were a pretty basic form of training, but when you didn't know what the fuck you're doing, it didn't matter how basic it was. I was really grateful to find out that my body was much more reliable than my brain when it came down to remembering things.

It had been two days since Noboru-sensei had announced we were going to be participating in the chunin exams and the initial dread had not left my stomach. I thanked whatever divine being or trickster god had put me in this situation that they had at least given me a week to figure out what the fuck I was doing. Which included sneaking into the clan library late at night and going through official documents and history books like a mad woman to try and learn everything I could.

Turned out that the Karasuno clan was a pretty large one. I had far too many aunts and uncles to count and three times as many cousins of varying relations. Half of which apparently wanted to marry me (ew). Perks of being the next clan head I guess. The clan had been around since Konoha's founding (which made it weird that it hadn't shown up in the manga along with the Nara and Hyuuga and all those clans), and had been in contract with the corvids for just as long. More than just crows, the family summoned magpies and ravens and even some jaybirds (that last one was relegated to the head family's most distant cousins, though). Lucky for me, as far as I could tell we weren't nearly as messed up as the Hyuuga or Uchiha. So…bonus?

The katas I was practicing now were part of the Karasuno family's style of taijutsu. It was smoother than the style I saw Mai use during our training, more fluid. Nice thing about letting my mind take a back seat to my body is I could do a whole lot more thinking about what I was doing instead of focusing on doing it. There were things I noticed that I wasn't sure I would have thought about if I had to put actual thought into the next move in the kata. Like how I would strike with an open hand the majority of the time instead of a closed fist. Or how certain motions were definitely meant to simulate redirecting an opponent rather than just blocking them (there were a lot of movements like that in the more complicated katas). There were so many jump and spin kicks in the katas that I was starting to feel less like a martial artist and more like a really aggressive dancer.

I hadn't tried any ninjutsu or genjutsu yet. According to the medical records I'd found in the clan library (courtesy of the family doctor, who was one of those numerous cousins), I had three chakra natures: Lightning, Fire, and Water. From what I remembered, the manga had mentioned that having that many natures was pretty rare; so I did a little more digging (clan records were very thorough). While it wasn't super common for a Karasuno to have three natures, it was certainly less rare than for the general population. It was about as close to a kekkei genkai I was gonna get. Which was fine. I'd rather not have to deal with clan specific freaky powers. Regular old freaky ninja powers would be fine, thank you very much.

I understood the theory of performing ninjutsu well enough, but I was still hesitant to try anything. It was one thing to mess up a kata; it was another thing entirely to mess up a ninjutsu, especially one that was likely to literally blow up in my face. Yeah, no thanks.

"Goodness, Kourubi-chan." I nearly tripped over my feet as I came to an abrupt halt at the voice. I turned to se my (Kourubi's) mother watching me from the house. "I've never seen you focus so heavily on your taijutsu."

"It…it's good stress relief," I answered weakly. A memory breezed through my mind and turned my attention fully to my former teacher. "Hey, kaa-san, you're really good with genjutsu, right?"

She hummed thoughtfully, stepping down from the porch that ran around the house proper and walking towards me. "I suppose so. Though your father uses far more often then I do. I'd much rather finish things directly then play around with a target, you know?"

That surprised me. Kourubi's memories insisted that her mother was extraordinarily gifted in genjutsu. Well, I suppose you can be gifted in something and not like it very much. I gave her a subtle once over with my eyes. She certainly didn't look like someone who would focus on taijutsu. She was tall and willowy and absolutely gorgeous (I could only hope I would end up that pretty later in life). Perhaps she meant she preferred to finish things off with a powerful ninjutsu? Or a carefully placed kunai.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you could teach me how to develop my own genjutsu," I answered honestly.

Kourubi's (my) mother blinked at me in surprise. Shit, was I being out of character? Oh god, don't think too hard about it, kaa-san! Just be happy I'm interested and move on. Don't comment on the strangeness of it! Please, kaa-san!

"Does this have something to do with the chunin exams?" she asked.

I breathed a mental sigh of relief. If she thought it odd, she didn't find it odd enough to comment on, or think it totally out of character for Kourubi given the situation.

"Yes," I said, nodding my head excitedly. "I don't know what the test is going to be like, but it's always good to have a wide arsenal, right?"

"I suppose you're right," she admitted, tapping her chin in thought. "But genjutsu are very personal things, Kourubi-chan. You have to have a lot of creativity to develop one all your own. What sort of genjutsu were you thinking about?"

"Nothing big," I promised. "Probably something purely auditory. I mean, how freaked out would someone be if they just started hearing stuff out of nowhere?"

My mother crossed her arms and tilted her head, weighing the possibilities in her head. "I suppose a purely auditory genjutsu would be fairly easy for a beginner to develop. I could teach you the basics, but most of the work would have to be on your own. If you're okay with that, I would be happy to teach you again! It'll be just like back when you were little and in the academy!"

"Thank you, kaa-san!"

I sat by myself in the middle of what was apparently my team's unofficial official training ground. Mori and Gan sat some ways away, at what they supposed was a safe distance. My arms were crossed and my brows were furrowed and I probably looked fucking constipated but whatever. Wasn't like anyone was around to complain.

Today I was going to attempt my ninjutsu.

More accurately, I was going to attempt to see if I could rely on my body's instincts to use ninjutsu like I was able to rely on it for taijutsu. With the help of a fairly long conversation with Mori and Gan, I had been able to remember all the jutsu I had mastered by this point. From there, I had to choose which jutsu I would use in my little experiment. Water seemed like the safest bet. At least it was less likely to blow up on me than any fire or lightning jutsu I'd learned.

I inhaled deeply, sending a scathing glare Mori and Gan's way when I heard them flutter farther away. It was like they had no faith in me. Fuckin' rude. Only I was allowed to have no faith in me, dammit.

Focus, girlie. Inhale. Exhale. Take that chakra you built up and turn into something new. Turn it into water. How was I supposed to know if this was working? Would it feel different? I think it felt heavier around my stomach. Maybe that was just breakfast. Ugh, this was more difficult than I'd hoped. Oh well. My hands moved slowly from one hand sign to the next. Tiger, dog, monkey, snake, boar, tiger.

"Suiton: Water-Heavens Convergence!"

I could feel my chakra radiate out from my being, pulling in moisture from the surrounding air. Tiny droplets floated still as death in the air, waiting for my command. I lifted my hand from the seal I was still holding and the water moved to create a barrier before me. A flick of the wrist and it went flying out in a whip-like shape. I think I just became a water bender. Fucking neat!

"It's good to see that even in the state you're in, you can perform jutsu without much trouble," Gan said as he flew down to settle beside me. "But you'll have to be able to call them up much faster in an actual combat situation."

"I know that," I replied with a sigh, allowing the water to dissipate back into the air. "But it's good to know I can rely on what my body knows to get me through until my mind has caught up."

"But will you be prepared for the chunin exams at this rate?" Gan asked only to be landed on by Mori who squawked indignantly at him.

"Shush you!" Mori quickly turned to me with a soft look on her birdie face. "Don't worry, Kou-chan. We have all the confidence in you."

I smiled, reaching out to pet her feathers. "Thanks, Mori. But Gan is right. Luckily, I'm fairly certain that the first part of the exam is written…but there's no way I can pass that on my own."

Gan jumped up, knocking Mori off of his back. "We can help with that! You can use one of the Karasuno techniques!"

"Karasuno techniques?" I echoed. My brows furrowed as I tried to remember whether or not kaa-san or tou-san had bothered teaching Kourubi any family-specific techniques.

"Focus your chakra on your eyes," Mori instructed. "Gan will inform you which hand signs to perform. I will give you a worthwhile view."

She took off without another word and Gan hopped up onto my knee.

"Best close your eyes. It's a little disorienting otherwise."

I did as I was told. Rat, dragon, snake, horse, bird. I could feel a tingling behind my eyes and I opened them, gasping loudly. While I was solidly on the ground, my eyes saw the village from the air. The people looked like ants as they milled about in the street and even the Hokage faces looked small from up so high.

"What the hell?"

Gan crowed with laughter. "This is the Karasuno style: Bird's Eye View technique. It allows us to share what we see with you."

"That's AMAZING!" I gasped. "But I think I'm gonna get motion sick if we keep this up."

I forced the chakra away from eyes as I blinked away the visions Mori had shared with me. It was an incredibly weird feeling, manipulating chakra. It was like being able to change what direction your blood stream was going or something. I didn't really have a good way of explaining the feeling even to myself. But at least there was one problem taken care of.

That just left the fucking death forest and Orochimaru's plans for the third round tournament.

Fuck, I was going to be lucky to make it out of this alive.

Well, to be fair, no one made it out of life alive anyway.

My week of solace passed by far too quickly and I soon found myself standing in the front yard of the academy, waiting for my teammates. I still didn't feel totally prepared, but at least I wasn't dreading the whole thing now. I had managed to become more comfortable performing ninjutsu, which would serve me well in the coming days.

Mai showed up first, looking a bit haggard.

"You okay?" I asked, reaching out to pull a leaf from her hair.

"My dad had me up at like 4 this morning running through some last minute exercises," she explained, leaning down to rest her head on the shoulder that Mori wasn't occupying.

"You poor thing," I soothed, trying not to giggle. "Let's hope the first round is pretty easy this year, yeah? Maybe if we finish early you can take a nap."

She sighed dreamily. "That sounds wonderful."

Ryou showed up not long after, looking far less tired than Mai.

"Who's ready to kick ass?" he asked as he jogged up. "I've seen so many little kids here it's not even funny. We're gonna run right over them."

"Now, now, let's not discourage them too bad," I advised, thinking about the rookie teams. If I could, I wanted to introduce myself to Naruto today. I'd only been either at home or the training grounds the past week, so I hadn't seen him yet. I had, however, heard whispers from some of the clan members as they passed by the house (especially the uncles, their whispers tended to be rather loud).

We followed the steady stream of younger (and older) genin through the building, only to be stopped by two short ninja in front of the door. Oh, this shit. Izumo and Kotetsu were kind of awful to pull this on the genin. It wasn't even that good of a trick. Even if I couldn't see past it at first (my knowledge of the scene helped me dispel it eventually) it was hard to overlook the fact that none of the other rooms on the hall had numbers in the 300s and we were only on the second floor after all.

"C'mon," Ryou hissed, tugging at my arm. "This obviously isn't the room. Let's just go."

"Wait," I whispered back with what I could only assume was a wicked grin. "If we stick around long enough, I bet something interesting will happen."

Sure enough, not five minutes later I spotted a green jumpsuit as Lee's team came wandering forward. I had to fight to keep my giddiness from showing on my face. Lee had always been one of my favorites, he was just too sweet and pure and fucking badass. There was a sudden uptick in chatter from the surrounding genin, so I couldn't hear what Lee or the two chunin were saying, but Lee at least seemed to try to be polite.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of orange. Naruto's team was here! My attention was drawn back to the action as one of the chunin (I couldn't see which one) knocked Lee back. Okay, the illusion was one thing, but physically attacking a genin was toeing the line. I pushed my way through the crowd to get closer to the confrontation, ignoring Ryou's hissed warnings and the fact Mori had left my shoulder to settle on Mai's.

"So, are you sure you're going to attempt taking the chunin exam with that skill level?" Kotetsu mocked.

"May be best if you runts quit," Izumo supplied, a smirk on his face.

I kept back as Tenten stepped forward only for her to be knocked back again. I was almost relieved when Sasuke stepped forward.

"Let me through." I rolled my eyes at his pretentious attitude, but at least it got the crowd whispering. "And could you also undo the genjutsu barrier, right now. I have business on the third floor."

Izumo and Kotetsu scowled. "So you noticed that, huh?"

Sasuke smirked and turned to address Sakura, "How about it, Sakura. You've got the best eyes for genjutsu, you probably saw it from the start."

I was a little surprised. I hadn't expected Sasuke to compliment Sakura. He almost sounded…respectful. Damn, what happened to turn him from this to the asshole I knew him to be.

Oh, yeah. Orochimaru.

Kotetsu and Sasuke's sudden movement brought my attention back to the situation at hand. Before I could even twitch, Lee shot forward to catch their kicks and stop the fight before it even started. That's my boy! Oh, now's your chance! Say something, dumbass!

I stepped forward as Sasuke and Kotetsu jumped back. Lee twitched a little as I set my hand on his head to ruffle his hair.

"Nice job stopping that fight, kiddo." I then turned to Kotetsu and Izumo with the fakest smile I could muster. "And how about we save testing the genin for the actual exam, chunin-san?"

I was more than happy to smile at the scowling chunin as they slunk away.

"Kourubi, you can let the kid go now," Ryou drawled, sliding up behind me with Mai in tow.

"Hmmm? Oh, I guess you're right." I turned to smile at Lee, giving his hair one last ruffle before letting him go. His hair was really soft, like surprisingly so. The look he shot me was kinda weird, like he wasn't sure whether to be mad at me for treating him like a kid or happy I had acknowledged him.

"C'mon. Let's just go," Mai murmured, tugging Ryou and me towards the stairwells.

"You guys are no fun," I grumbled.

I didn't catch Lee asking Sakura out, or Neji's confrontation with Sasuke, but both must have happened because the next time I saw Naruto's team, Lee and Sasuke were already in the middle of their duel. I stopped my teammates and watched from the overhang.

"Oooh! That looked like it hurt, haha!" I cheered as Lee sent Sasuke flying across the room with a single kick. Was I being an asshole? …Probably.

A shudder ran down my spine when Sasuke's dark eyes turned red. So that's what a Sharingan looked like in person. It was honestly sort of terrifying, to see someone's eyes suddenly change. Even if he wasn't looking at me, it was like he saw through my soul.

"So that's the Sharingan," Mai said appreciatively. "I've never seen one before. Not like it'll help him though. Even I can tell there's no trick to that kid. He's just plain better than the Uchiha."

I could see Lee's bandages unraveling from around his arms. My eyes scanned the room, waiting for the interloper to arrive. A pinwheel shot out from out of my eye line, pinning Lee's bandages to the wall. Where?

"That's enough, Lee!"

Ryou and Mai's heads moved in sync with mine as we turned to see a giant red and yellow tortoise standing just meters away from the fight. Lee and Sasuke dropped to the ground, Lee landing gracefully while Sakura dove to catch the plummeting Sasuke. Naruto was on his feet as well. Honestly, I'd forgotten he got knocked during this fight.

"Why the fuck is a tortoise scolding him?" Mai asked incredulously.

"Maybe it's his sensei's summons?" Ryou suggested.

"Probably," Mai agreed. "But then where's his sensei?"

A puff of smoke appeared on the tortoises' back and Ryou smirked. "Probably right there."

"YOU GUYS ARE IN THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUR YOUTH, AREN'T YOU!"

I couldn't stop myself from bursting out laughing as Mai and Ryou made noises of disbelief beside me. I couldn't even hear the conversation below I was laughing too hard. Just when I thought I'd gotten over it, Gai punched Lee and it got me going all over again.

"Oh my god," I groaned, my shoulders continuing to shake with mirth. "Oh, it's even better than in the manga, holy shit. Pffahahaha."

"You three, I know you from somewhere."

The squeak I made would have been fucking embarrassing if Ryou and Mai hadn't made similar noises. We whirled around, finding ourselves face to face with green covered pecs. Huh…his muscles were never that defined in the manga. It was actually kinda impressive. I wondered if everything was just as defined. He'd probably look pretty hot if he didn't wear the dumb jumpsuit.

"I don't think you do, sir," Ryou insisted, leaning as far back from Gai as possible.

"No, I've seen your faces before, hmmmm. Ah ha!" Gai's face lit up like a firework. "YOU MUST BE MY BELOVED NOBORU'S DEAR STUDENTS!"

…I'm sorry, what?

Mai's reaction was far less subdued then my brain break. "Beloved? Noboru-sensei has a boyfriend? A BOYFRIEND THAT IS YOU WHAT?"

Ryou's only question was "how?"

Gai's excited expression faltered. "Has…has my beloved Noboru not mentioned me?"

Mai shrugged and managed to rein in her disbelief. "Noboru-sensei doesn't really talk about his personal life."

"How did the two of you meet?" I asked with one eyebrow raised skeptically.

Gai's smile was back on his face. He closed his eyes and clasped his chin. "Well, it's a wonderful story, really. You see…"

Ryou grabbed Mai and me by our arms and snuck us away while Gai was distracted. I had to admit I was a little upset. I really did want to hear the story.

I could see the double doors at the end of the hallway. Kakashi was there, but Naruto and the others weren't anywhere to be seen. They'd escaped Gai before we had, so there was no way they were behind us. My hands clenched into fists by my sides as we approached. Kakashi glanced up at the sounds of our footsteps, fixing us with his one-eyed gaze. I swallowed down a nervous yelp.

"Are you gonna try and stop us like those assholes down stairs?" Mai asked, a growl in her voice.

Kakashi seemed slightly taken aback by her aggressiveness, but he didn't stay that way for long. His visible eye crinkled in what I had always interpreted to be a smile. God, how was a guy that fucking handsome with the majority of his face hidden? It wasn't fucking fair.

"Of course not," he said smoothly. "Go on in."

Fuck his voice was nice, too. God, now my stomach was twisting for a totally different reason. Was I blushing? I raised a hand to my cheek to check. I certainly felt warm. Shit he looked at me! Don't look at me, you stupid sexy fucker!

Mai marched right past him and pushed open the doors.

"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS! YOU GOT THAT?!"

Kakashi smiled again, hiding just behind the wall so his students wouldn't see him. Mai and Ryou looked floored by the tiny genin's declaration. I couldn't stop a fond laugh from bubbling up and escaping. Naruto whirled at the sound, his expression fierce. It softened when he saw the smile on my face.

"That's quite the declaration, sunshine," I said, laughter still in my voice. "I can't wait to see what you do to prove it true."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kakashi disappear as the doors swung closed. I hope he was cool with me encouraging his loud-mouthed brat. The look Naruto fixed me with was excited and full of awe, like no one had ever encouraged him before. God, that was a painful thought.

"Please don't encourage his stupidity," Sakura begged, an exasperated look on her face.

Before I could reply, Naruto was right in my space, almost knocking me over in his excitement. Mori squawked at him, flapping her wings in agitation.

"Hey! Hey! What's your name, nee-san?" he asked, eyes bright and hopeful. God, I hadn't even really meant to call him sunshine but the nickname was apt.

"Karasuno Kourubi," I answered. I jerked my thumb back at my teammates, who looked extraordinarily unenthused by the proceedings. "These are my teammates, Mai and Ryou." It was starting to bother me that I didn't know their last names. But I didn't let it show as I raised a hand to pet Mori's feathers soothingly. "And this pretty birdie is Mori."

"Karasuno?" Kiba echoed, a sour look on his face. "You mean those freaky bird people?"

"Better than being a freaky dog person, Inuzuka-kun," I shot back with a smile. His scowl only deepened.

"C'mon, Kourubi, let's just go," Ryou interrupted. "I'd rather not hang around these snotty kids any more than I have to."

"Aww, but they're so cute!" I protested. "Just look at them. Look at the itty bitties!"

"I'd rather not," Ryou maintained.

I rolled my eyes. "Ugh, fine." I turned back to Naruto and ruffled his hair with a smile. "See you later, sunshine. Good luck."

We were a good distance away when the sound ninja attacked Kabuto. Honestly I hadn't even noticed the guy was there. He certainly didn't stick out, which was probably a good trait to have as a spy. Ugh, even with everything I knew I couldn't do anything without proof. Fuck, the whole situation frustrated me.

An explosion of smoke at the front of the room caught my attention even before Ibiki's booming voice caught the rest of the ninja packed into the small space off guard.

"Quiet down you worthless bastards!" Ibiki appeared, surrounded by his proctors from Torture and Interrogation. "Thanks for waiting. I am Morino Ibiki, your proctor for chunin selection exam's first test."

He extended a gloved hand to point at the Sound genin. "You guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Unless you want to fail, that is."

"Forgive us, sir." The bandaged genin (I honestly couldn't remember his name) apologized smoothly. "It's our first time and we got a little carried away."

Ibiki smirked. "Let me say this now. There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

A heavy silence fell over the room. At least I wasn't the only nervous one.

Ibiki's expression turned grim again. "We will now start the first test of the chunin exam."

Chapter 3: In Which I Change Everything

Notes:

Again, thank you all so much for your positive feedback! And now: another day of Self Insert Week, another chapter for you all. Enjoy, and I hope to see you in the comments!

Chapter Text

Somehow, someway, I got lucky enough to sit next to Sakura during the exam. Mori ruffled her feathers, perhaps in anticipation to be useful. The proctors passed out the test, which lay face down in front of us.

Ibiki stood at the front of the room chalk in hand. "Do not turn your test over. Listen closely to what I'm about to say. There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write them down as I explain them, but questions are not allowed so listen closely." He turned to the chalkboard and began writing. "The first rule: you guys will all start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions and each one is worth one point, but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. But, say if you miss three questions, you lose three points and will have seven."

I stopped paying attention after that. I remembered the rules fairly well from when I had read the manga. Well, I remembered the most important rule: don't get caught cheating. Cheat all you like, but be smart about it. Luckily, none of the proctors had said anything about Mori, who had hoped up onto my head (her claws felt kinda weird on my scalp but that was a small price to pay for getting answers). I had no idea how Ryou and Mai were going to keep their points, but hopefully they wouldn't panic before the end.

"The exam will last one hour," Ibiki announced, finishing his monologue. He let the dread hang in the air for a moment before calling for the exam to begin.

I flipped my paper over and stared blankly at the questions I found. Even just a brief scan of the problems told me I couldn't answer any of the questions on the paper. I sat back, laying my hands in my lap. A quick glance around at the proctors found none look directly at me. I closed my eyes and quickly ran through the hand signs for the Bird's Eye View technique. I felt the tingling behind my eyes and opened them. Mori was at just the right angle that I could see the majority of Sakura's paper. I placed my hands back on the desk and felt carefully for my pencil. The only issue with this was I couldn't see what was right in front of me. But if I gave that away I was doomed for sure.

Once I had my pencil in hand, I slowly bent my head forward, letting Mori hop back into position before I began to carefully write what I saw on Sakura's paper. I felt a little bad for cheating off her, especially since I knew that I didn't really need to. But just in case, I had to do what I could so Ryou and Mai could pass.

Even with my fairly slow pace, I finished copying Sakura's answers just as she herself finished answering them. I blinked away my jutsu, frowning when I found that I had written outside the answer box on several of the questions. An easy fix but a pain nonetheless. I glanced up at the clock. Thirty minutes had passed. Now I just had to wait fifteen minutes for the last one. God, it was going to be a long fifteen minutes. Several teams had been kicked out already, but neither Ryou nor Mai's number had been called (and luckily neither had mine).

I took the fifteen minutes to rewrite my answers into the boxes and then I waited.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes before the end of the test, Ibiki made an announcement.

"Okay, we will now start the tenth question."

My hands tightened into fists and Mori hopped frantically up and down on the desk next to me. I couldn't see Ryou or Mai from my position, but I prayed they weren't freaking out.

"Now…before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question," Ibiki stated.

Just before he began, Kankuro, who I hadn't seen leave, returned. He twitched when Ibiki called him out for his puppet, but that was technically the first time he'd gotten caught, so his team wasn't kicked out.

"I'll now explain," Ibiki continued. "These are…the rules of desperation."

I inhaled sharply. Even though I knew how this would turn out, my palms were sweaty and I could feel my hands shaking. Mori turned to look up at me in concern. I reached out to pet at her head, hoping to soothe both her and my own nerves.

"First, for the tenth question, you must decide whether you will take it or not," Ibiki said, his face impassive.

"Choose?!" Temari shouted from somewhere out of my sight. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero," Ibiki answered. "You fail! Along with your two teammates."

He waited for the uproar his announcement caused to die down before continuing. "And now, the other rule. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly…that person will lose the right to take the chunin selection exam again."

I looked around, trying to find Ryou and Mai. They were both towards the back, fairly close together. I managed, just barely, to catch their eyes. Mai looked royally pissed, but Ryou seemed to be in shock. Neither looked scared per se, but they also didn't have a spark of determination I could encourage. C'mon you guys, hang in there!

"Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand," Ibiki instructed. "Once your number is confirmed, leave."

One by one, then all at once, test takers raised their hands and left. I looked to Ryou and Mai again, neither one of them looked ready to move. Their eyes met mine and I gave them a little nod, keeping my hands firmly on the desk in front of me. As I turned back, I could see Sakura staring at Naruto's back. Her frown turned into a small, sad smile, and she moved to raise her hand. I reached out quickly and grabbed her hand. She jumped and turned to stare at me.

"Wait," I whispered. "Let him make that decision for himself."

Her jaw dropped and she turned again to stare at Naruto's trembling back. The shock on her face when his shaking hand went into the air was understandable. Naruto was not the kind of kid who gave up easily. I held my breath. C'mon sunshine.

Naruto's shaking hand slammed down onto the desk and he pushed himself to his feet with an impassioned cry.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I WILL NOT RUN! I'll take it! Even if I'm a genin forever…I'll will myself to become Hokage anyway, so I don't care! I'M NOT AFRAID!"

"That's right sunshine," I whispered, earning an awed glance from Sakura. "You tell 'em."

The whole atmosphere of the room changed with Naruto's words. This was always what I loved most about Naruto. The way he could reach people's hearts with his words…that was way more powerful then any ninjutsu anyone could ever learn.

Ibiki's face gave away nothing as he spoke once more. "I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit."

"I never back down from a promise," Naruto answered him. "That's my ninja way."

No one else left the room. A small smile made it's way onto Ibiki's face.

"Good decisions. Now to everyone still remaining…" Ibiki's smile turned into a proud grin. "I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

"Wait! What about the tenth question?" Sakura shouted, disbelief on her face.

"There never was such a thing," Ibiki explained, the grin still on his face. "Or, I suppose you could say the choice was the tenth question."

"Then what were the first nine questions for?!" Temari demaned.

"To test your individual information gathering ability," Ibiki said plainly. "First, as the rules explained…success on the this test is based on the whole team doing well. This put pressure on each member not to mess things up for their teammates. But the questions on this test were not the types of questions a mere genin could answer. Because of that, I'm sure most of the people here came to the same conclusion. That to score points, I'll have to cheat. Basically the premise of the test was to cheat. We had tow or so chunins who knew all the answers mixed into the crowd to help you guys out.

"But those who cheat poorly fail of course." Ibiki reached up to undo his bandana and I gasped as he revealed his scarred head to us. It was far more horrifying than the manga or anime could have prepared me for. "Because at times, information is more important than life…and on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

I had to look away. Temari spoke up once more.

"I still don't understand the tenth question."

Ibiki smiled once more, he'd been doing that a lot since his announcement of our passing. I couldn't help but wonder which version of Ibiki was the real one: the serious interrogation master, or the smiling man in front of us now.

"The tenth question is the true purpose of this exam."

"I don't understand," Sakura said.

"Let me explain. The tenth question…the 'take it' or 'not take it' decision…obviously these were painful choices," Ibiki said plainly. "Those who choose the latter fail along with their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose the chance to take the test again. It's a true leap of faith. Now, about the two choices. Say you guys become chunins. Your mission is to stea a secret document. The amount of ninjas, their abilities, etc. is unknown to you. And of course there could be traps set all around you. Now, do you accept, or not accept. Because you don't want to die, because you don't want your comrades hurt. Can you avoid this dangerous mission? The answer is no!

"No matter what the danger there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardships…this is the ability needed to become a chunin captain. Those who can't put their destinies on the line, who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year' and then walk away from their chance…"

Ibiki's tone changed, becoming more passionate. "Those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices don't have the right to become chunin. That's how I feel. Those who choose to take it answered the tough tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future."

To hear it put like that was far more inspiring than I expected it to be. I sighed in relief and slumped in my seat with a breathy laugh.

Ibiki's expression and voice softened. "You made it through the entrance. The first test of the chunin selection exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

There was a flurry of activity as something (or someone) crashed through the window. A banner unfurled and in the blink of an eye Anko Mitarashi was before us in all her glory.

"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating!" she shouted. "I am the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko. Now let's go! Follow me!"

A silence fell over the room. No one was quite sure what to think of the next proctor. She and Ibiki bantered, but I didn't pay much attention. I was just relieved to make it through the first exam. But now came the real hard part. It was easy to sit in my seat and just let time pass. I'd actually have to fight and survive in the next two tests.

The whole lot of us were herded out of the classroom and through the streets of Konoha. Mai and Ryou caught up to me soon after the march started. Mai's face was flushed and she seemed…giggly.

"What's up with you?" I asked.

"Our proctor," she hissed, as if trying not to get overheard. "She's so hot!"

My gaze went from Mai to Anko at the front of the crowd and back to Mai. My brows furrowed.

"I mean, I guess? She's not really my type…" I shrugged.

Mai and Ryou both gave me a look I couldn't identify.

"What?"

"You know…we don't really know what your type even is…" Ryou said casually, clasping his chin as if deep in thought.

"I don't really think I have a type," I admitted, trying to stop the conversation before it even started.

"But you just said she wasn't your type," Mai reminded me.

"Well, that's cause I like men."

"Really? There's no other reason?"

I shrugged. I didn't know enough about Anko to really say I'd date someone like her or not. Because of my lack of romantic experience (both in this life as Kourubi and my life before) it was hard for me to describe the person I would date. Being demiromantic and demisexual would do that to you. I wondered vaguely if Kourubi shared my orientation or if she was something different. My teammates didn't seem surprised by the fact I said I was attracted to men, so we must have been similar in that aspect at least.

Somehow, Ryou and Mai seemed satisfied with that answer for now. We continued in relative quiet until the march came to an abrupt stop in front of a large, fenced off forest.

The Forest of Death.

I wasn't at a good angle to catch Anko and Naruto's confrontation, but I did manage to catch a glance at the Kusa genin Orochimaru was disguising himself as. God, like the tongue didn't give it away. C'mon, Anko, you used to train under him! How could you not recognize him?

"Now before we start the second test," Anko yelled out for all of us to hear, "there's something I need to pass out." She reached into some inner pocket of her coat and pulled out a stack of papers. "You must sign these agreement forms. There will be deaths in this test. And if you don't sign them it'll be all my responsibility." She even had the balls to fucking giggle and grin at the idea.

I gave Mai a look. I was starting to understand why Anko wasn't my type.

"I'm going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards. And then each team will check in at the booth behind me," Anko said, projecting her voice loudly. "Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival. I guess I'll talk about the area in which the test will be taking place first. Around practice arena number forty-four are forty-four locked gates. Forest, river, and a tower in the center. From the gates to the tower is about ten kilometers. During the survival exercise you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and jutsu, you will compete in a no rules scroll battle."

"Scrolls?" a genin I didn't recognized echoed in confusion.

"Yes." Anko pulled out the two scrolls from another pocket. "You will fight over these two scrolls. The 'heaven' and 'earth'. There are eighty-four people here, meaning twenty-eight teams. Half, fourteen, will get the 'heaven' scroll and the other fourteen teams will each get the 'earth' scroll. To pass the test, your team must make it to the tower with BOTH scrolls. But, there's a time limit. This second test will last one hundred twenty hours. Exactly five days."

There was an outburst from the younger genin, mostly about how the hell they were going to eat in a forest for five days. Anko simply shrugged it off.

"Fourteen teams passing is not likely," she continued. "As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther and the time to rest will become shorter. And the area is crawling with enemies so you won't get much sleep. So not only will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will probably die from the harshness of the course.

She smiled before moving on. "Now I'll talk about what will disqualify you. First: those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second: those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle. You will be in the forest for five days. One more rule…you must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

"What happens if you do?" Naruto asked, his voice cautious.

Anko smirked. "That will be a surprise for anyone who does. A chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness. That's it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll. Then choose a gate and get ready to start.

"Oh! A final word of advice: don't die!"

"You have horrible taste in women, Mai," Ryou grumbled as he took a form from the stack and passed it along. "She's a fucking monster."

"I'm sure there are worse," Mai shrugged, brushing the whole thing off.

"Oh, there definitely are," I muttered under my breath.

This was my only chance to change the course of this world's story. If I was able to manipulate circumstances so my team would interfere with Orochimaru's fight with Team Seven, then I just might be able to save their lives from going to shit. The only issue was how. We were certainly stronger than the rookies, but there was no way we'd be a match for Orochimaru. I quickly scrawled my name on the bottom of the form. The only way to succeed is to try, or something.

We walked up to the booth and handed over our forms. The proctor handed us an earth scroll. I tried desperately to remember what scroll Naruto's team had. Was it heaven? I thought it was but I couldn't be sure.

One of the proctors led us to gate three. Some random memory breezed across my mind and reminded me that our team was also Team Three. Maybe this would be okay. Three happened to be my lucky number.

Time ticked away slowly as we waited for the exam to begin. It was decided that Mai would be the one to hold the scroll. She was physically stronger than both me and Ryou and would be the best last defense for the scroll. Gan had even rejoined me, settling on my open shoulder. We all stiffened as the chunin moved to unlock the gate.

"The second test of the chunin exam…" Anko's booming voice echoed in the air. "Begins now!"

We burst through the gate, leaping into the trees to gain the high ground and get a decent lay of the immediate area. Mori and Gan landed on a slightly higher branch above us, their heads turning this way and that.

"We need a plan," Ryou broke the silence.

"I agree," I said with a nod. "I can send Gan ahead to scout out the area, find the safest route to the tower. No one is going to think a crow flying about a forest like this is weird, so he should be safe."

Gan waited for Ryou and Mai to nod in agreement before taking off into the forest.

"I think we should take out a team that already has both scrolls," Mai suggested. "And then keep both. If we need to, we can use the extra we got as a bargaining chip."

"That's a little evil," Ryou remarked.

"Only a little," Mai smirked. "Besides, if we leave them with the scroll we don't need, they have chance to pass the exam and we'll have to deal with them in the future. I'd rather take them out of the competition now then having them gunning for revenge later."

"She has a point," I agreed. "Let's head deeper in. I doubt there will be a whole lot of teams with both scrolls this close to the fence."

We had to move quickly. I didn't know how long it would take for Orochimaru to reach Naruto and the others but it probably wouldn't take terribly long.

Our heads snapped up at the sound of a nearby scream. Mai's smirk widened.

"Sounds like somebody's already got two scrolls."

We bounded through the trees, Mori flying along just behind us. Ryou pulled out a broken down quarter staff and snapped the pieces together. Mai ran through a series of hand signs, her hands glowing deep indigo. We paused just above a group of ninja from Ame, who stood around a pile of Suna ninja I didn't recognize. The idiots from Ame hadn't even put their scrolls away yet.

Mai dropped to the ground, shoving her chakra into the soil and morphing it into a dark mud. The Ame ninjas shouted as they sunk knee deep into the mud. Ryou, chakra glowing on the soles of his shoes, slid over the top of the mud like a figure skater, using his staff to knock our opponents out with disturbing ease. Without the need for a command, Mori swooped down and caught the two scrolls before they fell into the mud, bringing them to me with a proud birdie smirk. Mai and Ryou returned to the branch, not even out of breath.

"That was too easy," Mai huffed, crossing her arms. "I expected more of a challenge."

A wave of killing intent slammed into me, forcing me to my knees. Ryou looked deathly pale and Mai had to throw a hand out to catch herself so she wouldn't fall from her perch. Even Mori seemed shaken, flapping her wings frantically. That came from close by, from really close by.

"That…that's no genin," Mai gasped out, her voice trembling.

"That didn't even feel human," Ryou whispered, almost as if he feared being over heard by the source. "It felt like…."

"Like a snake," I finished. I rose to my feet, legs shaking. "Someone's in serious trouble. We have to help them."

"Are you nuts!?" Mai shouted, eyes wide with panic. "What the hell do you think we can do against whatever made THAT?"

"Not much," I admitted. "But we can still get those kids out of there. And if we get them to the tower, then we can report what happened to one of the proctors. Something can be done. But whoever that…thing is facing is going to die if we don't do something!"

They hesitated, but just for a moment, before nodding in agreement. We took off into the forest once more. I slid a hand into my weapons pouch and found a senbon. Technically, my summoning contract was just with Mori and Gan…but if I asked, maybe the rest of the flock would come.

I glanced over my shoulder at Ryou. "Hey, can you perform the Hidden Mist technique?"

Ryou only nodded, his hands already running through the signs.

"Mai, you might need that swamp technique of yours ready." I turned looked over my other shoulder to see her hands already glowing.

I pricked my finger and we skidded to a halt on the branches just above Naruto's team. Naruto stood between Sasuke and Orochimaru's giant snake summons. We had a clear visual of all three of the Konoha genin, but Orochimaru wasn't on the ground. Mai's jutsu would be useless.

"Ryou, use your mist to hide us. I'll attempt to summon the flock to distract that bastard on the snake. Once they're free, we grab the kids and run. Keep them as quiet as possible until we reach a safe distance." I instructed, voice barely audible. Another nod from my teammates, and we began

I slammed my hand down on the branch, focusing on calling the flock. The Karasuno crows and ravens and even the magpies were loyal to us all. But Kourubi had never summoned the flock before, there was no way of knowing if I was capable of bringing them all or not. Ryou's mist was already rolling in; I didn't have much time to think to hard about it.

Relief washed over me as some twenty-odd crows and ravens appeared in a cloud of smoke. They cawed loudly and dove for Orochimaru's chakra signature.

"Don't die," I hissed to the largest of the ravens. "Kiku-sama will have my head if I hurt his chicks."

Kiku was my father's raven, the eldest of the family's summons. Supposedly all the ravens from our flock could trace their lineage back to him. And he was fucking terrifying.

With the flock released, I could worry about grabbing one of the genin. Ryou would have to grab Sakura, he was the weakest of us, physically speaking, and she was the lightest genin. I could just barely make out Mai's shape as she snatched Naruto away from the giant snake. That left Sasuke in my care.

A simple body flicker landed me behind the boy. One hand covered his mouth while my other arm wrapped around his waist. Another body flicker and we were out of the mist and running through the forest. I called for Gan, flaring my chakra for him to find. He was with us mere moments later, flying along in front of Mai, who led the charge.

"This way, this way!" he crowed. "If you keep running at this pace you'll be at the tower in no time!"

Sasuke struggled in my grip and I hauled him up onto my shoulder for easier carrying. "Stop wiggling you dumb fuck! You're making it really hard to justify saving you!"

"Save us?" Sakura chirped from Ryou's arms (he was carrying her like a princess, not a good idea in case of a combat situation, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless). "Why would you do that?"

"You felt it, didn't you?" Mai questioned, holding Naruto up by his thighs as he clung to her back. "That wasn't a genin. That was something totally different."

"I think," I panted. "That was Orochimaru."

"The Sannin?" Ryou yelped, nearly dropping his cargo.

"What other ninja feels like a snake?" I demanded. "I don't know what he was after, but I bet it had something to do with the Littlest Uchiha here."

Mai looked contemplative before speaking up. "Didn't he want to learn all the jutsu in the world…and use that to become immortal or something? What better tool for learning jutsu is there than the Sharingan?"

"Did he say anything to you?" Ryou asked softly.

Sasuke stiffened on my shoulder. "He said…I'd seek him out for the power to kill my brother."

"Itachi?" I asked. He stiffened even more and I had to shift my grip to keep him from falling. "Now, I don't know a whole lot about what happened that night, but I've heard a lot of things. I heard that Itachi was a genius. That he was kind and gentle and didn't really have the disposition to be a killer. That he went mad and that's why he killed the Uchiha. But here's the thing about madness…

"It doesn't leave survivors."

Sasuke pushed up on my shoulder to stare at me. Shock and fury mixed in his red eyes but I kept my cool. I was honest when I said I didn't know much about the situation behind the Massacre. But I knew there was more to it than Sasuke knew. If I was going to fix everything, I had to get others to work with me, even if they didn't know they were doing it.

"What's that saying our sensei are always repeating? Look underneath the underneath?" I glanced up to meet Sasuke's eyes, red for red. "It's just a thought."

Sasuke's face twisted into something sour, but he said nothing, which was a miracle in and of itself.

"What scroll do you have?" I asked.

"Are we seriously just going to give them the scroll?" Mai asked, something testy in her voice.

"They can't get into the tower unless they have both scrolls, " I reminded. "If we want them safe we can't waste time finding them the other scroll. We weren't going to use it for anything important anyway."

Mai sighed in resignation and kept running.

Sasuke dug into his pack and pulled out the heaven scroll. Well, I guess I do get to be right every once in a while. Mori dropped the extra earth scroll he'd been carrying into his hands. We ran all through the night. At some point I felt the flock disperse. I could only hope that Orochimaru hadn't killed any of them.

Chapter 4: In Which I am a Den Mother

Chapter Text

The sun had just barely risen when we reached the tower, turning what sky we could see a peachy pink. The tower was taller than I expected it to be. Just like the training grounds, the building's first floor was ringed with several doors, each one sealed shut. They were probably supposed to only have one team enter each door, but like hell I was going to leave the kids alone. Besides, we were older than them, more experienced. If no one believed them, then they might believe us.

We opened the door to find an empty room. Upon the wall, high above us, was some kind of poster with lots and lots of writing on it. Ryou quickly slammed the doors shut, so no one could follow us in. I could only pray that we were safe for now. Orochimaru was an S-ranked missing nin, after all. There was no telling what he could do.

Naruto and his team stared up at the scroll on the wall.

"What the hell does this mean?" Naruto asked.

I walked up to stand behind him; Ryou and Mai were at my side seconds later.

"It looks like some words are missing," Mai noted.

"This is probably about the scrolls," Sakura reasoned. "I think they're telling us to open them."

Sasuke pulled the scrolls out of his pouch, handing one to each Naruto and Sakura. Mai pulled out our scrolls and gave Ryou and me a questioning look.

"Should we open ours as well?" she asked.

"I don't really see the need," Ryou shrugged. "If something happens with the kids that makes it obvious we're supposed to open them, then we can. But otherwise I don't see the point."

The three of us moved to look over the younger genin's shoulders as Naruto and Sakura pulled the scrolls open. The scrolls began to smoke and Sasuke yelled at his teammates to let go of the scrolls. Not only did they let go, they tossed them as far away as they could. The smoke cloud grew larger and larger. Ryou even laid a protective hand on Sakura's shoulder.
I could start to make out a figure in the smoke now as it slowly cleared away. The tension in Team Seven's shoulders disappeared the moment the figure in the smoke was completely revealed to them.

Umino Iruka stood before us with his arms crossed and a proud smile on his face. "Hey! Long time no see."

He took a moment to look surprised by my team's presence. "Looks like you guys had some trouble."

"You have no idea," Ryou muttered, exhaustion evident in his sloppy posture.

"Huh? HUH?! Why was Iruka-sensei summoned?" Naruto asked loudly, echoing the thoughts of his teammates.

"At the end of the second test, it's set up so we chunin meet up with the exam takers," Iruka explained patiently. "And I was allowed to be the one to greet you." He pulled out a large pocket watch, a look of surprise on his face when he saw the time. He then looked back up at us.

Mai held up the two scrolls without being asked. Iruka's smile returned and fuck he was cute. Like, legitimately cute.

"Well then. You've all passed the second test. Congratulations," Iruka announced. He started to say something else, but Naruto, suddenly full of energy despite not having slept in over 24 hours, barreled into him

"WE DID IT!"

"H-hey Naruto, listen until the end…" Iruka scolded half-heartedly.

Naruto ignored him, continuing to cheer loudly. I felt my stomach churn when Iruka's face fell into a soft smile, his eyes warm and his fondness for Naruto obvious. Sakura and Sasuke fell to the floor, exhaustion over taking them. Ryou and Mai did the same, Ryou flopping down dramatically onto his back with a loud groan while Mai just laughed. Somehow, I managed to remain standing.

"You sure haven't changed," Iruka noted, already looking a little tired. "You never could calm down for anything."

Sasuke's face shifted into a knowing smirk. "Hey, if we had opened the scrolls during the test…what were you going to do, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka huffed and bent down to pick up the discarded earth scroll we'd given the younger genin. "You're sharp as ever, Sasuke. As you may have figured out, this test's rules are set up to test your ability to perform missions correctly. So if you were to break the rules and open the scrolls…well, those who opened them would be put in a condition of unconsciousness for the remainder of the testing period. Those were my orders."

Naruto and Sakura blanched. Obviously they had been tempted to open it earlier. I huffed and reached out to ruffle Naruto's sunshine hair affectionately.

"I guess it's good you didn't open your scroll, huh, Sunshine," I joked, laughing a little at Naruto's distressed expression.

I could feel Iruka's eyes on me. When I raised my eyes to meet his, I just barely managed to catch the strange look he was giving me before he looked away. I frowned, pulling my hand back from Naruto's head. I'd always known Iruka to be pretty open with his expressions in the manga and anime, but I couldn't read the look in his eyes. That…worried me, somewhat.

Lucky for me, Sakura spoke up, asking Iruka about the scroll on the wall. Naruto didn't seem to be too worried about it. But Iruka insisted he was there to explain the writing as well.

"Read it," he instructed. "This is the motto of the chunin, written by Hokage-sama."

"Motto?" Naruto parroted.

"That's right. The 'heaven' in this paragraph refers to the human mind, and the 'earth' refers to the human body. 'If you lack heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared.' That's basically saying…for example, if Naruto's weakness is his brain, then he needs to gain knowledge and prepare for the missions."

Naruto pouted at the playful put down. Sakura giggled behind her hand. But Iruka wasn't about to let her off the hook either it seemed.

"'If you lack earth, run in the fields, seek advantages'," he continued, stopping Sakura's giggles. "So if Sakura's weakness is stamina, then it's saying that you must continue to train hard. And if you have both heaven and earth, you can succeed in even the most dangerous missions."

"Then…what's the part with the missing word?" Sakura asked.

Iruka smiled once more, lifting the summoning scroll. "So…the words that represent a chunin…the word for 'human' from the scrolls goes there. The last sentence is 'these rules will guide a person's extremes.' These five days of survival, though I suppose yours was just one, were to test the exam taker's basic abilities needed to become a chunin. And you guys successfully passed that. Chunin are at the rank of a military captain, you have the responsibility of guiding a team. The knowledge, stamina, and inner wisdom, all are needed for your duties. I want you guys to challenge the next step with this chunin motto in mind."

There was a pause and Iruka took a deep breath before concluding, "That is…all I have to pass on to you."

Naruto threw him a salute. "Roger!"

Iruka's face didn't match Naruto's excited tone. Naruto's smile fell from his face, his posture wavering. I suddenly felt like I was eavesdropping on something terribly personal. I hadn't been Iruka's student. The concern in his eyes wasn't for me.

"This third and final test…don't push yourselves too hard," Iruka cautioned. "Especially you Naruto, I worry about you the…"

"From the moment I received this forehead protector I was no longer an academy student!" Naruto interrupted with his usual vigor. "There's no need to worry. This is the symbol that I'm all grown up, right?! The part about me never calming down may not have changed, but I'm not a kid anymore! Now, I'm a ninja."

Iruka's face looked pained, as if he'd always known the truth but hadn't wanted to admit it. My heart went out to the guy. Even if Naruto was seen as an adult by the rest of Konoha, Iruka still saw him as his student and little brother. He probably always would.

"I see…I'm sorry, Naruto."

"I wouldn't be," I spoke up, earning surprised looks from everyone in the room. "There's nothing wrong with worrying about those you have a close bond with. I'm much older than Sunshine here and I'm sure my mother would be saying the same thing to me. Don't apologize for you're compassion, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka blinked. "Who…is your mother?"

"Karasuno Ruki," I said, the name sounding odd on my tongue. Kourubi never called her mother by her name, so saying it felt weird even to me. "She used to teach at the academy."

"Ah! You're Ruki-senpai's daughter?" Iruka crossed the space between us quickly. "That must mean you're…"

"Karasuno Kourubi," I introduced, holding out my hand for Iruka to shake and flashing him the closest thing I could get to a coy smile. "And I'm starting to wish you'd been my instructor at the academy." God, was I doing this right? I'd never flirted with anyone before. How was this supposed to work exactly?

Iruka looked confused for a moment. But then realization seemed to dawn on him and his face turned pink and he deliberately avoided eye contact. Naruto, the little shit, seemed to figure out what was going on pretty damn fast and grinned broadly at the two of us. Brat even waggled his eyebrows at us.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way," I said, taking my hand back from Iruka's suddenly clammy one. "There's something very important we need to talk about, preferably with our jonin instructors present."

Iruka's flushed face turned hard, chunin mode activated. "What are you talking about?"

"There's someone in the forest that's not supposed to be there," I informed him, Ryou and Mai moving to stand beside me in solidarity. "They purposefully sought out and attacked Sasuke and probably would have killed Naruto and Sakura if we hadn't interfered. And…and we think they may have been Orochimaru."

Iruka's normally tan face went deathly white, his eyes wide in shock and his mouth flapping like a fish as he tried to find words.

"That…is a very serious accusation," Iruka managed to say. "What evidence do you have?"

"Not much," Mai admitted. "But…I don't know any other ninjas who summon giant snakes."

"The bastard didn't even feel human," Ryou muttered, scowling. "It was like he himself was a snake."

Iruka's face was stony. It looked like we'd managed to convince him that SOMETHING was happening, even if we weren't entirely sure what. He pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply before jerking his head in the direction of a door that I was fairly certain wasn't there before. The six of us followed close behind him. He took us deeper into the tower, finally coming to a set of double doors. He pushed them open; revealing a large, lounge like room. Couches and armchairs were scattered about the room in small groups. There was a radio in the corner, a small buffet laden with hot and cold foods, and a shelf of fiction books up against a wall. This, I assumed, was the waiting room for those who got to the tower before the five days were up. It was empty. I hadn't thought about the fact we were probably the first ones done. How we were faster than Gaara's team was beyond my understanding, but they probably weren't far behind.

"Stay here," Iruka instructed. "I will go and attempt to contact your jonin instructors. Do not leave this room until they arrive. Get some food in your stomachs and rest. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Despite not having any food since lunch the day of the first exam, I was in no mood to eat. Instead, I headed straight for a three-seater couch, flopping oh so gracefully down in the middle. I closed my eyes and let my head fall against the back of the couch, throwing my arms over the back for good measure. I felt the couch cushions dip as two weights settled down next to me. I opened my eyes, expecting to see Ryou and Mai on either side of me. Instead, on my right was Naruto, who had finally run out of energy. He was curled up against my side, already snoring slightly. What I wouldn't give to be able to konk out no matter the situation like he could. On my left was Sasuke. He sat up straight a few centimeters from me, obviously not fully comfortable with seeking the same physical comfort Naruto had demanded. I moved my arm from the back of the couch to wrap around his shoulders, pulling him against my side. He stiffened at the contact, but slowly seem to relax. Eventually his head rested against my shoulder and his eyes drifted shut. Sakura stood a few feet away, shifting indecisively. Mai and Ryou had taken up the two single armchairs in the immediate area, leaving her with nowhere to sit. I smiled softly at her, moving my other arm to pat my lap.

"You can sit on my lap if you want, sweetie," I offered. "It's not a bother."

Sakura seemed to hesitate for a moment before throwing caution to the wind and climbing into my lap, sitting sideways so her head rested on the shoulder not occupied by Sasuke. Mori and Gan had long since excused themselves, slipping away in a cloud of smoke like most ninja summons usually did. They were just as tired as the rest of us. And besides, they had a flock to check on. With Naruto snoring softly on my one side, Sasuke's deep, slow breathing on my other, and the feeling of Sakura's steady heartbeat against mine, the tension melted from my shoulders and I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to a hand shaking my arm. I groaned as I opened my eyes and blinked against the bright lights. Team Seven had yet to move from their positions around me, that much I could tell from the weight against my body. My neck cracked painfully as I lifted it from the back of the couch. I winced at the pain and rolled my neck slowly to work out any kinks that were left. A chuckle brought my attention back to the situation at hand. Oh yeah, someone had woken me up. And they'd better have a fucking good reason for it.

I finally faced my visitors to see Noboru-sensei standing in front of me, a look of concern on his face. Just behind him were Kakashi, Iruka, and even the goddamn Hokage. Well, shit. I wasn't expecting to meet him, like ever. Everyone except Noboru-sensei seemed very amused by my current situation. Nothing had really changed since I'd fallen asleep, save for Naruto's uncurling from the tight fetal position he'd fallen asleep in. I wondered, briefly, what Kakashi thought of the whole thing.

"Hi, Noboru-sensei," I greeted, my voice deep from sleep. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me how the fuck you managed to face an S-rank missing nin and survive!" He hissed, obviously angry but not wanting to wake up the sleeping little ones.

"Mostly because we didn't actually face him," I admitted.

"Mostly we hid and ran like cowards," Ryou corrected, his voice slurred from sleep. "Her birds did more work than we did."

"But you believe us about the whole Orochimaru thing?" Mai asked, and how she looked so damn awake and alert I'd never know.

"Yes," the Hokage spoke, his voice grim. "We have received reports from Anko and our other proctors about his activity. He readily told Anko he was after Sasuke-kun."

"So what are we gonna do?"

The Hokage took a puff from his pipe (which smelled awful) and frowned. "We will be continuing the exam as planned. It would not do to provoke Orochimaru too soon. But we will be keeping an eye on his movements."

"That's it!?" I shouted, startling the little ones awake. "You're just going to continue as if nothing happened? What about Sasuke-kun? What will you do with him? There's no way Orochimaru is going to walk away after one failed attempt!"

Team Seven looked to the Hokage and their sensei. Sakura's small fist clenched tightly in the fabric of my shirt. I could feel Naruto's whole body shaking against mine; out of anger or fear I couldn't say. Sasuke was stiff against my side. These were children, small children that needed my protection no matter what anyone else said.

"What do you suggest we do?" the Hokage asked smoothly.

I tightened my grip on Sasuke's shoulder. "We'll protect him."

The four older ninja blinked in surprise at my declaration, which was probably ruined by the fact I had three children piled around me.

"The Karasuno clan isn't very big, but we have plenty of strong ninja," I elaborated. "We will look after Sasuke until the issue is taken care of. And if that doesn't seem to be enough for you, then post ANBU guards around the compound. But I refuse to let you throw this boy to the wolves like you did with Naruto!"

A heavy silence fell across the room. That last sentence probably fucked me over, but dammit I meant what I said. The fact that they allowed Naruto to be treated like shit for so long bothered the hell out of me and I wasn't going to let them neglect Sasuke in the same way. I could only hope I looked as determined as I felt.

"Very well," the Hokage said stiffly, "We will leave Sasuke-kun in your care. Will you be informing your clan head or shall we?"

"I'll tell him," I snapped. Like hell I was going to let these idiots tell tou-san their side of the story first.

The Hokage nodded and then turned and left. I gave a loud sigh, slumping against the couch again. "That was scary."

"You sure didn't act scared," Noboru-sensei muttered, rubbing at his temples.

"Never show the enemy your fear," I recited.

"The Hokage is not your enemy, stupid child," Noboru reminded with a long-suffering sigh.

"He's not acting like much of an ally either," I shot back.

"My question is," I and the other genin turned to look at Kakashi, "Why would you offer up your home and possibly the lives of your clansmen to protect a boy you don't even really know?"

"You mean other than it's the right thing to do?" I snarked.

Kakashi's face was unreadable.

I took a deep breath before attempting to explain. "Because he's a child…a child who a grown ass man is trying to hurt and take advantage of. Because I hope that if I was in that situation, someone would do the same for me. Because…I like Sunshine…I mean Naruto. And from what I can tell Sasuke is important to him. Which makes Sasuke important to me."

"You don't even know him," Kakashi reminded me.

"Doesn't matter," I insisted. "I'd risk my life to protect you, too."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened ever so slightly before his mask of impassiveness returned. Noboru-sensei almost looked proud of me. I caught a glance of Naruto's bright smile out of the corner of my eye. Sakura also seemed pleased with my decision. Sasuke's expression was harder to read. It seemed like a strange mixture of awe and confusion and maybe a little bit of resentment in a 'don't you pity me' sort of way. Iruka's warm smile was back where it belonged, but this time it was for me and fuck if that didn't bring the butterflies back…or was that just me fucking starving?

My stomach growled loudly, startling Sakura. Ryou laughed loudly from where he was sprawled over his armchair. Mai just snorted and looked a little embarrassed for me.

"Okay, kiddos, time to get up," I announced, shifting slightly. "I'm starving and I'm sure you are too. C'mon, there's food over there and I haven't eaten in like two days."

Sakura slid off my lap and Naruto bounced up from the couch. I stood, stretching quickly and wincing when I heard my back pop. Sasuke remained firmly seated on the couch until I turned and pulled him from his spot. His pout was honestly kinda adorable. He was a cute kid when he wasn't being an asshole.

We wandered over to the buffet and I specifically heard Ryou mutter something about mama ducks and ducklings. Mai made a noise of agreement and our instructors gave short little laughs. I ignored them and snuck vegetable tempura onto Naruto's plate as he poured himself a bowl of miso soup and grumbled about the lack of ramen.

"How long were we out?" I asked over my shoulder, piling my plate high with tempura prawns and fried rice.

"About three hours," Noboru informed us.

"Only three hours?" Ryou echoed incredulously. "No wonder I still feel like shit."

"Language," Iruka warned. Ryou made a constipated face at that and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh, by the way Noboru-sensei," my voice became sugary sweet even as my face morphed into what was probably the fakest, most terrifying smile I'd ever given a man. "When were you going to tell us you had a boyfriend?"

"YEAH!" Mai and Ryou agreed loudly in unison.

Noboru's cheeks flushed and he hid his face behind his hand. "So you met Gai, huh?"

"He's fucking weird, sensei," Ryou stated plainly. "Why would you date that guy?"

Noboru seemed to contemplate the question for a moment before raising his hands and holding them something like eight inches apart. Ryou's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Mai made a scandalized face and I just burst into laughter. Iruka's face flushed bright red at the implication but Kakashi looked unmoved by the whole thing.

"Daaaaaaaammmmmnnnnnn," Ryou breathed, suddenly having a new found respect for our sensei.

"If we're done," Iruka snapped, trying to move past the conversation at hand. "Then we'll get out of your hair and let you rest. Now that you've finished the exam you're not allowed to fight with or attack any of the other teams. And try not to destroy the room."

"Yes, sir," the three younger genin chorused.

"Nice to see you again, Iruka-sensei," I called with a wave. "You too, Kakashi-sensei."

"She never says it's nice to see me again," Noboru muttered bitterly as he closed the double doors behind them.

"How do you know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked in mild curiosity.

Mai shrugged. "We ran into him outside the first test's classroom. But I don't remember him giving us his name."

Shit. "Yeah, but who hasn't heard of Hatake Kakashi?"

Mai and Ryou shrugged. Oh thank god they believed the bullshit.

Several hours passed before the next group entered the room. Naruto jumped up and shouted at Gaara's team in recognition. Sakura tugged him back down onto the couch and hissed a warning at him. Sasuke's gaze followed Gaara around the room for a while until he was satisfied that the Suna ninja wasn't going to attack us. The kids were still piled around me, the only difference was that Sakura had gotten bored of sitting in my lap and forced Naruto to switch with her. Not that I minded. Sakura was a little bony and not great to hug (yet). Naruto, however, had managed to hold onto his baby fat (probably from eating ramen all the time) and was just the perfect amount of squishy to make him fantastic to hug. Sasuke had decided to press more solidly up against my side since the incident with the Hokage.

Fuck, what the hell was I even doing? This wasn't part of the plan! Okay, granted I didn't really have a plan but still! I didn't even like Sasuke, I never did! I sighed out loud, resting my chin on Naruto's shoulder as he recounted some probably exaggerated tale of their early missions. What was that about a demon cat?

The six of us perked up when the doors opened once more. I glared at the three Sound genin as they wandered through the door. Despite the fact we were told on no uncertain terms not to fight, I had no doubt they'd find some way to harass us. My arms tightened around Naruto's waist, earning me concerned looks from my teammates and the younger genin. If the Sound team noticed my glare, they didn't do anything about it.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked quietly, leaning forward across the space between the couch and his armchair.

"I don't trust those guys," I said plainly. "I don't think I've ever heard of Otokagure before this exam."

"What are you saying?" Mai murmured, her warm brown eyes following the Sound nin.

"Nothing yet…but I think we should keep them away from Sasuke as much as possible…if you know what I mean."

"Seriously?" Naruto shouted (right into my ear, fucking ow).

"Shhhh," I hissed. "It's just a theory. But doesn't it strike you as odd the year Orochimaru shows up there's three genin from a village no one's really heard of before?"

They seemed to take my warning to heart, at least. Sakura eventually got up and wandered over to a small side door that led to a hall with restrooms. Not long after, the Sound kunoichi went the same way. A wave of suspicion hit my gut and I quickly moved Naruto off my lap and stood.

"I'll be right back."

I followed them down the hallway until I came to the girl's restroom. It was soft, but I could definitely hear the sounds of a confrontation. I opened the door slowly to find Sakura on her knees, the Sound kunoichi's hand fisted painfully in her hair.

"Your hair is so nice," the Sound kunoichi mocked, a devious grin on her face. "So soft and shiny. Makes me a little jealous. You know…if you have this much time to spend on your hair, you have plenty of time to train, but look how weak you are. It's pathetic!"

"Let her go," I ordered, fully stepping into the room.

The Sound nin smirked at me. "Or what? You'll fight me? That'll only get you disqualified."

Dammit, she was right. If I stepped in, she could report me for fighting. Even though she was hurting Sakura, she wasn't technically fighting her. I grimaced at the fat tears rolling down Sakura's face. I wanted to help, honestly I did, but there wasn't anything I could do without risking disqualification…and then I wouldn't be able to protect anyone.

I saw Sakura's shaking hand go to the holster on her thigh. Ah…well, I suppose her hair had to get cut at some point, since I hadn't given her the opportunity to do it in the forest.

"What? You gonna use that kunai on me? Are you that desperate to get disqualified?"

Sakura smirked. "It's not for you."

The look on the Sound nin's face as Sakura's kunai cut through her hair without hesitation was priceless. Sakura, now free, tumbled forward and rushed to my side. I grabbed her about the shoulder and pulled her behind me. Never was I more grateful for my freaky red eyes than now as I glared at the enemy kunoichi, who stood stunned with a clump of Sakura's pretty hair in her hand. She scowled and tossed the hair to the floor and stalked out.

I sighed, letting my anger fall away, and turned to Sakura. "You okay, sweetie?"

Sakura nodded, a hand coming up to her unevenly shorn locks. "Kourubi-san...what do you think of me?"

"Hmm?"

"I know I'm really weak…and I even though I'm smart I can't even think my way out of situations like a shinobi should…" Sakura murmured, looking at the floor. I could see tears prickling at her eyes again. "Am I really worthless?"

"Of course not!" I insisted gently, letting my hands rest on her shoulders. "No one is worthless, Sakura."

"But I…when Orochimaru attacked us I felt so useless. I couldn't do anything! I couldn't protect Sasuke-kun or Naruto. I'm not…strong like you and Mai-san are."

"Well, not yet at least." Sakura looked up at me. "You're still young, Sakura. I've been doing this shinobi thing a lot longer than you have, so I'm afraid I have you at a disadvantage. But every ninja has their strengths and weaknesses. Mai is super strong but she burns through her chakra super fast. Ryou has the best chakra control out of any of us and is great at genjutsu but he's super weak. I have a huge chakra reserve and I'm pretty fast but I can't work my way around a genjutsu to save my life. That's why we're in teams."

"But…"

"Hey, have you ever heard of Tsunade?" I asked before Sakura could insult herself some more.

"I don't think so?"

"She's one of the Sannin, like Orochimaru, but she's one of the good guys. She's the best medic ninja in the world, and she's also super strong. With chakra control like yours, I bet you could be just like her if you apply yourself!"

"You think so?" God, it was almost like she'd never been encouraged ever either. These poor kids. I needed to give Kakashi a good talking to next time I saw him.

"I know so! Now c'mon. I bet Sunshine and Sasuke are worried about you."

"Hey, Kourubi-san?" Sakura called as she followed after me out the door. "How come you call Naruto 'Sunshine'?"

"It's fitting, isn't it?" I chuckled. "He's just so bright and positive even after being treated horribly his whole life. His smile just lights up the room, ya know? He just…sunshine incarnate: bright and warm and there for everyone."

Sakura seemed to ponder this as we entered the main room once again and our teammates looked up at us. Their faces twisted into shock at the sight of Sakura's hair and Naruto and Sasuke both jumped up and rushed over.

"Sakura-chan, what happened to your hair?" Naruto asked, reaching out like he wanted to touch it but flinching away before he got too close.

"Who did this to you?" Sasuke demanded, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Was it that Sound ninja?"

"Calm down, little lion man, she's fine," I soothed (and held back a giggle as his face scrunched up at the nickname). "Yes, the kunoichi was harassing her, but Sakura took care of it, didn't you?"

Sakura flushed a pretty pink and nodded shyly. Sasuke's glare shifted over to the three Sound shinobi in the corner. Naruto's attention was focused solely on Sakura, concern apparent on his face.

"She didn't hurt you, did she?" he murmured, which was much different from his usual shouting.

Sakura shook her head. "If she had, she'd have been disqualified. I'm fine, Naruto. I promise."

Neither of her teammates seemed wholly convinced, but Naruto smiled anyway. Something in Sakura's eyes suggested she was starting to understand why I called him 'sunshine'.

Chapter 5: In Which I Get My Music Back

Notes:

Here it is, the last daily upload for Self Insert Week. From now on, starting next Monday, this will be slotted into my usual 'every other Monday' posting schedule. Thank you all for your positive response and I hope you'll continue to enjoy Kourubi's adventures.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

I spent the next three days working on my genjutsu as teams slowly filtered in. Kiba's team was the fourth to show up, all of them genuinely surprised that Naruto's team had made it before them (apparently we broke some record from fifty years ago or something). Lee's team showed up not long after. Lee seemed truly happy to see Sakura and her team had succeed, and asked if she was alright after seeing the mess she'd made of her hair. She assured him that she was fine, her smile only a little forced, and that they made it here with our help. I insisted they would have passed the test without our help, but would have been much worse for wear. Team Seven seemed to understand the implication if Sasuke's white knuckled fists were anything to go by. Ino's team didn't show up until the fourth day, looking ragged.

I sat on the floor just in front of the couch, running through hand signs as I went over the notes I had taken in a tiny notebook. Developing a genjutsu, especially when you didn't have any talent for it, was fucking hard! I'd been working steadily on it ever since kaa-san had given me that short tutoring session before the first test, but no real progress had been made. I could feel the chakra pool in my chest and a few times I thought I made something happen. But each time I was left disappointed. How were you supposed to be able to tell a genjutsu was working anyway? It wasn't something I would experience myself so…

I sighed, leaning back to rest my neck on the edge of the couch cushions. Naruto, who was hanging upside down on the couch in an attempt to relieve his boredom, turned his head to look at me.

"What'cha workin' on, nee-chan?" he asked.

"I'm trying to develop a genjutsu but I freakin' suck at genjutsu so it's not working!" I whined.

Ryou shrugged. "You don't really have the chakra control for it. Genjutsu is a delicate thing. You know you suck at them so why are you trying to develop one?"

"I have my reasons," I dismissed, sitting upright again and turning my attention back to my notes. My reason really was purely selfish. I wanted to hear the music I loved again. And if genjutsu was the only way, then so be it.

I cycled through my chosen signs again. Ram-rat-snake-dragon. I could feel the chakra building up in my chest. Then…I felt it smooth over my skin and into the air, thrumming, vibrating. I could hear something, but it was faint. I pushed more chakra out and into the air and the sound grew louder. The occupants of the room stopped what they were doing to listen.

"Do you hear it?" I asked. "You can hear that right?"

"Yeah," Mai said, confusion in her voice. "What is that?"

I laughed hysterically. It worked! I made it work. The familiar song filled the whole room. Sasuke made to break the genjutsu but I scrambled up to my feet to stop him.

"No! Don't do that! Listen! You gotta listen! This song is so important!"

My teammates and the other genin in the room looked at me like I was crazy but I didn't care. I had to make my point clear.

So I sang along.

"Say everything you've always wanted,
Be not afraid of who you really are,
Cause in the end we have each other,
And that's at least one thing worth living for.
And I will give the world to you."

The look on Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto's face as I sang directly to them was priceless. I couldn't keep the brilliant smile off my face. Before, back in my other life, the song had been nothing more than that, a song. But here, those words had meaning. I could sing them with conviction because I honestly would give the world to these dumb kids. I wondered briefly if there were cameras in the room. Probably, had to make sure we didn't fight somehow. I probably looked a little silly, especially when I grabbed Naruto by the hands and twirled him around in time to the music, but I didn't care. I was fucking delighted. Like really and truly happy.

"Would you please stop that stupid racket?!" Kankuro shouted in our direction.

I frowned and Naruto, who had been beaming just as bright as I had, scowled in the Sand ninja's direction.

"Why? It's not like it's hurting anyone? Maybe if you pulled your dumb looking head out of your ass you could enjoy it like the rest of us!"

"Alright, Sunshine, that's enough." I soothed, setting my hands on Naruto's hunched up shoulders. "The song's already over anyway. I'm glad you enjoyed it though."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kankuro before turning to grin up at me, his face tinged pink. I ruffled his hair and pulled him back to the couch, where he settled beside me. At least I'd managed to dance his restlessness out for the time being.

Ryou and Mai stared at me, their looks some kind of cross between confusion and mild concern. When I turned to meet their gazes, however, they forced their faces into masks of impassiveness. Were they suspicious of me now? I hoped not, but they were ninja and knew more about Kourubi's personality then I did. Mori said we were similar, but that didn't mean we were the same.

I looked around the room to take my mind off it. Most of the teams that were supposed to be there had already arrived. The only one I could tell was missing was Kabuto's team. And who knew when they would show up.

The doors opened and every head in the room turned to watch a team I didn't recognize saunter in. It was another Suna team; led by a boy with the palest blonde hair I'd seen yet, almost platinum in color. His eyes scanned the room with an air of disdain, like he felt like he was too good to be with the 'riffraff' or something. His teammates looked equally unimpressed by the turn out. They shuffled off into an unoccupied corner and pointedly refused to talk to anyone.

"They seem friendly," Ryou muttered under his breath.

Kabuto's team did eventually show up, Kabuto continuing to be friendly with the rookie genin. He didn't seem to pay any attention to my team, but he was spy for a reason. If he was paying attention, I doubt I'd be able to notice it. He mentioned briefly how they'd just barely passed the exam. That meant the five days were almost up and the preliminaries for the third test would begin soon. There were twenty-seven of us in the room. If Kabuto left like he was supposed to, that meant that there would be thirteen matches. And if Ino and Sakura's match ended in a double knock out like in the story, that meant twelve genin would proceed to the final round. I had to make sure I was one of those genin.

Sure enough, not long after Kabuto's team entered the room, a chunin I didn't recognize appeared in the doorway and ordered us to follow him. We trailed after in single file through a series of twisting corridors until he deposited us in a room much larger than the lounge we'd occupied for the past few days. A large statue of two hands coming together to form the ram seal occupied the far wall. In front of it, on a small dais, stood our jonin instructors along with Anko, Ibiki, a few of the chunin (including Iruka) and even the Hokage.

We stood in neat columns before them, separated into our teams. I stood in front, which only made sense given that I was the shortest on our team. Naruto stood next to me, a proud smirk on his lips. On my other side was Hyuuga Neji, who looked far less pleased to be here. God, even being the shortest of my team I still towered over most of the other genin. They were tiny! The only ones taller than me were Kabuto and his team. To be fair, they were probably around my age.

I focused my gaze on the jonin instructors just behind the Hokage. Noboru-sensei stood at ease next to Gai. I was a little surprise to see how tall Noboru-sensei was. He was almost the same height as Gai, who seemed pretty damn tall. On Gai's other side was Kakashi, slouching like he always seemed to be. Gai turned his head slightly to say something to Kakashi. I couldn't hear what it was, but whatever Kakashi said seemed to upset Gai. Without looking, Noboru reached out and set a soothing hand on Gai's arm. Watching them…I had to admit they were kinda cute.

My eyes continued to scan the elite ninja present. Iruka caught my gaze and I smiled at him. I felt giddy when he smiled back, giving me a short wave. I could see Naruto grinning up at me out of the corner of my eye. Stupid kid…of course my crush on his teacher would be the one thing he was able to pick up on super fast.

"First off, congratulations on passing the second test!" Anko announced. "Hokage-sama will now explain the third test, so listen carefully! Hokage-sama, if you would."

"Of course," the Hokage cleared his throat loudly. "Before I explain the third test, there is something I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam."

Many of the genin around me made noises of surprise. Naruto started shifting nervously.

"Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together?" the Hokage asked rhetorically. "'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is…a replacement for war among the allied countries."

"So instead of fighting an actual war, you let your youth battle it out and die for you in blood sports instead?" I snapped, drawing the eyes of the other shinobi in the room. Noboru-sensei paled at my accusation. "For what? Prestige? So you get more clients?"

"In order to prevent wasteful fighting," the Hokage continued as if I hadn't spoken at all. "The chunin selection exams became the stage these countries chose for battle."

"Why the hell do we have to do that crap?" Naruto shouted. "Isn't this for deciding who gets to be a chunin?"

"This exam does, in fact, decide which shinobi have what it takes to become a chunin," the Hokage agreed. "But on the other hand, this exam is also where each country's shinobi risk their lives to protect their land's prestige."

"So it is about prestige…" Ino muttered, scowling.

The Hokage nodded solemnly. "Leaders and influential individuals from many countries will be watching this third exam. These are the people who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely, if it is seen as weak, they will lose clients. And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'our village has this much power.' It is just as much about this political message than anything else."

The tension in the room was palpable.

"Yeah, but why?" Kiba shouted from Naruto's other side. "Why do we have to risk our lives for something like that?!"

My eyes met Iruka's, his brows furrowed in concern. But there was an anger in his eyes as well. As if he hated that we had to know this.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village," the Hokage attempted to explain. "The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle. This exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own strength. It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And that's why those that have come before you have fought in the chunin exam for this dream."

"But then why…" Tenten interrupted. "Do you say stuff about it being for friendship?"

The Hokage's eyes narrowed. "I said in the beginning, I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and stabling balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi."

"That sounds like a pretty fucking toxic relationship to me," Ryou muttered, but even this echoed in the room.

The Hokage's frown only deepened. "Before we begin the third test, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test…this is a life-risking battle with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

A heavy silence fell over the room. I couldn't care less about the Land of Fire's prestige. I was only there to look after Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura. And maybe Lee once his match with Gaara rolled around. And Mai and Ryou if they needed it. And Hinata…actually it was best to assume I was going to protect every single little one in this room if I had to.

"I don't care what it is," Gaara spoke, his raspy voice sending a chill down my spine. "Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

"Yes…" The Hokage sighed. "I'd like to explain the third test now, but…"

A cough interrupted the Hokage. "Actually…"

A man appeared suddenly in front of the Hokage, bent over on one knee. "I apologize, Hokage-sama. From here on out…please allow me, Gekkou Hayate, as the referee…"

"Go ahead," the Hokage allowed with a nod.

The man stood slowly. "Hello everyone, I'm Hayate." He turned to face us, and I winced at his appearance. His face was pale and he had terrible dark shadows under his eyes. He coughed near constantly and he just all together looked like someone who did not need to be a ninja. "Before the third test, there's something I'd like you to do…"

A murmur broke out over the genin. Hayate ignored it and continued on.

"Umm…it's a preliminary for the third test to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

"A preliminary?" Sakura echoed quietly.

"Preliminary?" Shikamaru shouted. "What do you mean?"

"Sensei, why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test?" Sakura asked, her voice much louder than it had been.

Hayate coughed loudly before answering. "Ummm…because the first and second test may have been too easy this year…we have a few too many people remaining. According to chunin exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test. As Hokage-sama indicated earlier, there will be many guests and the third test…so the fights could take too long…and we're limited in time…

"Umm…so anyway…those who are not feeling well or those who feel like quitting after these explanations, please come forward now. Since we'll be starting the preliminary immediately…"

The genin shifted nervously and whispered amongst them. As expected, Kabuto backed out. Hayate took this time to inform everyone that the test would be taken individually from that point on. No one else backed out, leaving twenty-six genin to battle it out.

"Umm…now we'll begin the preliminary," Hayate announced, holding back another coughing fit. "This preliminary will consist of one on one bouts. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation. Since we have twenty-six entrants, we will conduct thirteen matches and um…the winners will advance to the third test.

"There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits your defeat. Umm…if you don't want to die then quickly acknowledge your defeat. But when I decide that the winner has clearly been established, I reserve the right to jump in and stop things. We don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses," Hayate continued. "And the thing that controls your destiny is…"

He paused as a panel in the wall lifted up and revealed the electronic scoreboard.

"…Is this. This electronic scoreboard will show the match-ups for each battle. Now, this is sudden but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

It seemed like everyone in the room held their breath as they stared up at the blank scoreboard. After what felt like hours two names finally appeared on the screen.

Uchiha Sasuke and Akado Yoroi.

I glanced at Sasuke's opponent. His face was mostly hidden behind a black veil. His eyes were what bugged me the most. It was almost as if he didn't have any, just two black, glass circles. I forgot what the hell it was he could do, so it probably wasn't very impressive.

Hayate instructed us to move to either one of the two viewing platforms that ran along the two longer walls of the room. Ryou, Mai, and I waited for Noboru to join us before climbing the stairs to the gallery. I was surprised to see that Iruka was staying. I didn't remember him doing that in the anime or manga, but I didn't mind in the slightest. I sent a small smile his way as Naruto tugged him towards the middle of the platform. My team and Gai's stood with them, Lee and I on either side of Naruto.

The fight began shortly. Yoroi threw a series of shuriken Sasuke's way, which he quickly knocked away with a kunai. Something threw Sasuke off balance, and he fell to the floor, just barely dodging Yoroi's glowing hand. Sasuke managed to take Yoroi down, grappling him into an impressive looking hold.

But then Yoroi twisted his hand around to grab at Sasuke's chest. Sasuke's arms twitched, allowing Yoroi to get free of the grab. The veiled ninja slammed his elbow into Sasuke's stomach and then quickly got to his feet.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, trying to get the boy to get up and pay attention.

Yoroi's hand connected with Sasuke's forehead. His body twitched as he struggled to make it move. My heart stopped. Without the curse seal, Sasuke wouldn't have the power to deal with Yoroi. The man would drain Sasuke of everything he had. My hands gripped the railings until my knuckles turned white.

Sasuke was barely able to kick Yoroi away. The rest he'd gotten since we'd passed the second exam must have helped, even just a little. The tension refused to leave my body. Sakura was on the verge of tears already; she couldn't even look at the fight. Naruto could see how upset we were and he shouted down to his teammate.

"Are you really Uchiha Sasuke!" he screamed. "Is that the best you can do?!"

Sasuke's dark eyes glanced up at the gallery, his eyes widening in realization. I glanced over, realizing that he'd drawn some kind of realization from Lee. A smirk touched my lips and I gave a short, breathy laugh of relief. Kakashi raised a brow at the noise and I turned to give him a reassuring smile over my shoulder.

"I think he's got this."

Yoroi charged at Sasuke, his hand glowing once more. But Sasuke…Sasuke kicked upwards; throwing Yoroi into the air like Lee had done to him way back before the first exam. He flickered into position behind Yoroi. After that there was a flurry of kicks that I couldn't keep track of and Yoroi went plummeting to the ground, aided by one last kick from Sasuke.

"Lion's Barrage," I murmured, a proud smile on my face. "That's my little lion man."

Sasuke skidded across the ground, but just as Hayate was checking Yoroi's status my boy managed to get to his feet.

Hayate stood and extended a hand towards Sasuke. "I'm stopping the fight here and thus…the winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke, has passed the prelims!"

Sasuke, probably relieved that he'd won, fell on his ass. Kakashi popped in just behind him in time to support him with his knee so Sasuke wouldn't fall any more. Naruto cheered loudly next to me.

"Sasuke! Man, what a lame way to win! You're all beat up!"

Sasuke looked up to his teammate with a crooked smile. "Shut up, you idiot."

I giggled, realizing that there wasn't any bite to Sasuke's words. His gaze moved to me and I gave him a small smile and a thumbs-up. Even from my position on the platform I could see his cheeks turn pink. Don't fall in love with me, Sasuke. You are something like ten years too young for me.

The medics took Yoroi away, but Sasuke was able to rejoin us on the viewing platform. Despite his lack of chakra, all in all he wasn't heavily injured. As he passed me, I reached out to catch him in a hug.

"You did good, kiddo. But don't scare me like that again, okay?"

Sasuke said nothing, but I his hand came up to clutch the back of my shirt and he buried his face, just briefly, into my chest. I glanced up to stare across the open space to where the Sound ninja were standing. I could see Orochimaru, disguised as a Sound jonin, staring at us. My eyes narrowed dangerously at him and I tightened my grip on Sasuke. That man would never get close to Sasuke as long as I had something to say about it.

I barely paid attention to the next few matches, but I did wince when the Sound ninja's arms blew apart thanks to Shino's bugs blocking the air channel. I hated bugs, and the thought of living with them inside you from birth… it made me shudder. I thanked whatever being put me in this situation that I hadn't been swapped with a member of the Aburame clan. Kankurou's match was just as quick.

The fourth match was Sakura and Ino. I held my breath as Sakura faced her former friend. This was the match that concerned me the most. Because my team saved Sakura and the others before Sasuke got bit, Ino didn't have the chance to jump in and help them later on against the sound ninja. Would this match have the same catharsis the one in the original story had? I could only hope.

"I hope you know, I have no intention of fighting over Sasuke-kun with you," Sakura said, her voice surprisingly strong.

"What was that?" Ino snapped, her pretty face twisting into a scowl.

"You and Sasuke-kun don't go together anyway," Sakura said simply. "And I'm completely stronger than you right now. I don't even need to be concerned with you."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Ino shouted. "Don't get ahead of yourself, you cry baby!"

"Um…hey," Naruto spoke up, his voice wavering. "Sakura-chan is going too far, isn't she? Ino looks really scary right now."

"Hmmm," Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "Sakura isn't the type of person to brag about her strength or hurt overs. She just doesn't want Ino to not take her seriously or show her mercy."

I turned to glance over my shoulder, a little amazed by the concern I could see on Kakashi's face. He wasn't a great teacher, but he probably cared about his students more than he let on. He probably understood how important this match was to Sakura like I did.

"Why are they all serious like that?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, you could say that rivalries are strange…"

I watched as Sakura and Ino, without another word, moved their headbands to their foreheads. Then the match began. Sakura burst forward, summoning a pair of bunshin. Ino was unable to discern which of them was the real Sakura, and ended getting decked in the face.

"Wow! Sakura-chan rules!" Naruto cheered, a proud grin on his face. Even Sasuke seemed impressed.

"Her basic chakra control is perfect for a rookie," Kakashi observed. "Sakura has greatly improved."

Naruto turned to pout at his sensei. "So she's better than me?"

"Well, yes," Kakashi said with a shrug. "When it comes to the ability to gather chakra from every part of the body and then use it with great timing, in just that, she's even above Sasuke. Well…in Sakura's case, she's had great control of her chakra from the very beginning."

"Can you imagine what she could do if she had the right goal to push herself towards?" I added, grinning broadly at the idea.

"She'd be a great medic," Ryou agreed.

The fight dragged on forever. Ino and Sakura matched each other move for move. For each blow one managed to land, the other landed one just as devastating within seconds. Neither one managed to keep the upper hand for long, if either one of them ever really got it at all.

"There's no way!" Ino eventually shouted. "You could never be even with me!"

"Of course!" Sakura shot back. "How could I be even with someone who only worries about growing her hair and looking pretty?"

"You!" Ino practically growled. "You better stop disrespecting me!"

Ino grabbed a kunai from her holster. To the surprise of everyone, even Sakura, Ino grabbed a hold of her ponytail and ran her kunai right through it.

"Well," Ryou muttered. "At least it's a more even cut than Sakura's."

"I don't need this!" Ino shouted, tossing her long hair to the ground. "I'm going to end this right now! I'll make you say 'I give up'!"

Ino prepared her body swapping technique. No one really believed it would work; even her team doubted her. That was, until Ino's little hair trap activated.

"She's cleverer than people give her credit for," Mai murmured, leaning back against the railing and watching the spectacle over her shoulder with mild interest.

Ino slumped forward and Sakura grinned. Well, it wasn't really Sakura, but the younger genin didn't seem to quite understand that until Kakashi explained it to them. I shuddered. It was one thing to swap bodies with someone like I did (at least I hoped Mori was right about switching places with Kourubi); it was something else entirely to take someone's mind by force. Ino raised Sakura's hand and began to forfeit.

"Don't Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted over the railing. "You've come this far! If you loose to that Sasuke obsessed idiot…"

"C'mon, Sakura!" I turned at Sasuke's sudden cheer. The surprise on my face quickly melted into a smile. "You're better than this!"

Everyone else seemed just as shocked as I was at Sasuke's sudden verbal support of his teammate. It also got the rest of us cheering loudly for her.

"You can do it, Sakura-san!"

"That's right, sweetie! I believe in you!"

"C'mon kiddo!" Ryou shouted. "You can't let this snot nosed brat beat you!"

"Weren't you also calling her a snot nosed brat the other day?" Mai joked.

"Shut up! I have the right to change my mind!"

Sakura twitched and groaned, holding her head as her inner self warred with Ino for control.

"LIKE HELL I FORFEIT!" Sakura shouted.

Eventually Ino was forced to release her control of her rival. The two girls glared at each other from across the room, panting heavily. This was it. The final blow. I gripped the railings so hard my hands hurt as Sakura and Ino rushed at each other. They collided one last time. Their headbands went flying as they skidded across the floor and fainted. Hayate looked from one fighter to the other before making his call.

"Both fighters are unable to continue. This is a double knock out. The fourth preliminary match has no winner."

Asuma and Kakashi flickered onto the arena floor and gingerly picked up their students. Everyone rushed to see if the two were okay. Even Shikamaru seemed concerned. Kakashi shushed them gently.

"Looks like we don't even need the medical team," Asuma observed. "They should regain consciousness in a short while."

The relief that filled the air at that was palpable. Even Sasuke gave a small smile.

"But that was surprising," Asuma mumbled. "I could understand Sasuke or Naruto…but even Sakura has grown this much."

"Many things have happened," Kakashi said by way of an explanation. "But from the bottom of my heart…I'm glad I entered them in this exam."

The next match was Tenten and Temari. I couldn't bring myself to pay much attention. I knew exactly how the match would end. Instead, I kept glancing over my shoulder at Ino and Sakura, waiting for them to wake up. It didn't take them long to regain consciousness, and for a moment I thought they were having a real moment…but then they went right back to fighting over Sasuke. I sighed, earning me a confused look from Naruto.

I focused my attention back on the match just in time to watch Tenten land painfully on Temari's giant fan. When Lee jumped in to catch the unconscious Tenten, I felt my heart stop. Lee was strong, but picking fights with Gaara's family was probably the worst idea he'd ever have.

"Don't you dare lose to those guys, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, suddenly popping back into the group.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?"

"You should be worried about yourself," Sakura warned. "If you lose here you're not a man. How will you be able to fight Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke snorted on my other side and I smacked him lightly upside the head.

"I'd like to announce the next match," Hayate coughed.

Naruto and Lee both shouted in excitement, begging for their turn.

But it was my name that appeared on the board, along with a name I didn't recognize.

"Hiraku?" I murmured, reading the screen aloud.

One of the ninjas from the second Suna team grinned broadly and jumped over the railing. Ah, so he's the one. Ryou patted me on the shoulder and Mai gave me a nod. Noboru-sensei's lips quirked up into a confident smile.

"Good luck, Kourubi-nee!" Naruto cheered. Sakura and Sasuke made little noises of agreement.

I reached out and ruffled Naruto's already messy hair with a grin. "Just watch me work, Sunshine." With that, I too leapt over the railing, landing all too easily on the arena floor.

Hiraku raised a brow at me, obviously not impressed with me. He lazily pulled a short sword out from its sheath on his back. Hayate looked between us and then jumped back as he called for the match to begin.

I grinned and immediately cycled through my hand signs. Ram-rat-snake-dragon.

"Melody From Another World!"

Hiraku paused as sound filled the air. Oh, this was a good one. I could hear the murmurs of confusion from the jonin and chunin and the shouts of excitement from the genin who had already witnessed this technique.

"I know I took the path that you'd never want for me…I know I let you down didn't I," I sang along to the familiar tune.

Hiraku scowled, holding up his left hand in half the ram and shouting, "Release!"

His eyes widened when the music didn't go away. I could hear the others try to break the genjutsu with no effect. I struck as Hiraku was still floundering in shock, quickly disarming him. I slammed a palm into his chest, right between his pectorals. He doubled over as the chorus rang out in the room.

"I, I bet my life, I bet my life, I bet my life on you~"

The grin had yet to leave my face as I beat the ever-loving shit out of Hiraku. I could hear Naruto and Sakura and Sasuke and Ryou and Mai cheering for me. I thought I heard Lee lend his voice to the cheers, but I couldn't be sure. I wondered what Kakashi and Iruka thought of me as I danced around Hiraku, the pounding drums driving my movements.

Pain. Lots of pain as Hiraku managed to land a solid kick to my chest, knocking me prone. I skidded across the floor. Fucking ow. Well, actually, this was the perfect time for this. The song had reached its lull before it would kick back up again. I just had to get up before then.

"And stay down, you fucking freak!" Hiraku shouted, probably still pissed about the song. Whatever, I was having fun.

"Don't tell me that I'm wrong,
I walked this road before,
And left you on your own…"

I pushed myself up with shaking hands. Hiraku's face twisted into something akin to rage.

"Please believe them when they say,
That it's left for yesterday,
And the records that I've played,
Please forgive me for all I've…done."

"SHUT UP!"

I grinned and rushed to meet him, using his sloppy rage to my advantage. He may have gotten a few nicks in with a kunai, but that was negligible.

"So I, I bet my life, I bet my life, I bet my life of you~"

A knife hand to his throat took him down for the last time, coughing and choking and curling in on himself. Somehow, someway, I'd managed to end the match with the song. God, I was good.

Naruto's cheering was deafening as Hayate announced my win. I turned to look up at my friends up on the viewing platform with a grin. Mai looked smug, like she'd won the match instead of me. Ryou and Sakura had clasped hands and were jumping up and down in celebration. Even Sasuke was smiling. Oh, he was cute when he smiled. He should do it more often. Naruto gripped Iruka's sleeve and shook the poor man's arm, and I could hear him shout about how cool I'd been. Iruka's proud smile made me weak in the knees. Noboru-sensei was blushing as Gai praised him for my skill.

Kakashi stared me down with his one visible eye. I couldn't read his expression. Did…did he think badly of me for how I fought? My smile fell to a confused frown. Sasuke noticed my expression change and followed my eye line to glare at Kakashi. I huffed a small laugh and moved to climb the stairs back to the platform.

Naruto came to meet me, practically throwing himself at me. I staggered back a few steps, but luckily he was small enough that he didn't knock me over.

"That was so cool, Kourubi-nee!" he exclaimed. "You were amazing! What song was that? It was different from last time. I don't think I've ever heard it before!"

"Alright, Sunshine, calm down," I laughed, hefting Naruto up so I could carry him back to the others. "I wasn't that impressive."

"You looked like a dancer, Kourubi-san!" Sakura gushed. "I've never seen that style of taijutsu before!"

"That's the Karasuno style," Kakashi informed her, his one eye locked on to me as I set Naruto back down on the ground. "I would be surprised if she didn't use it, seeing as she's clan heir."

"You sound upset, Kakashi-sensei," I noted, trying not to let my disappointment show. "Were you displeased with my performance?"

"No," he said plainly, pulling out his stupid book to hide what little expression I could see.

"You did very well, Karasuno-san," Iruka insisted, side eyeing Kakashi pretty heavily.

"Kourubi is fine, Iruka-sensei," I informed him with a small smile. "And please don't use –san. It makes me feel old."

"Should I not call you –san either?" Sakura asked, suddenly concerned she'd been offending me or something.

I smiled reassuringly at her. "You can call me whatever makes you feel comfortable, cherry pie."

She seemed flustered by the nickname. "O-okay…Kourubi-senpai."

I could feel Kakashi's gaze drilling into my back as we turned to the arena as Shikamaru was called down to fight the female sound ninja. I felt a rage boil up inside me at the sight of her. Shikamaru better win this one. For Sakura's sake.

"Kick her ass, kiddo!" I shouted.

Shikamaru looked less than enthused to be there. That was alright, seeing as his match was over in mere moments. To be fair, the sound ninja did most of the work for him, standing so close to the wall. Shikamaru just took advantage of it. Lazy bastard.

"That was so basic," Naruto grumbled. "But he was kinda cool…damn."

"I bet you'll be even cooler," I promised, ruffling his hair some more (I have no idea how he got it to be so soft). "You'll have to be, otherwise Sasuke and Sakura will outshine you."

Ryou's name was the next of my friends to be called. He sauntered calmly down the stairs, piecing together his staff. His opponent was another ninja from the second Suna team: a girl with long rust colored hair tied back in a messy bun.

Hayate called for the fight to begin and Ryou was up in his opponent's face before she could do a thing. One strike with his staff to her solar plexus, another to her jugular, and one more to the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground. A shocked silence filled the room.

"Yotsura Miku is unable to continue," Hayate finally coughed. "Nekozawa Ryou has won this preliminary."

"Huh," Ryou muttered, scratching at his head with the end of his staff. "Usually it's harder than that."

"That's what she said," Kiba shouted.

I rolled my eyes so hard when Ryou turned to wink at Kiba, making the boy blush and Shino give off a distinct buzzing noise.

"C'mon! It's my turn!" Naruto shouted at the scoreboard as Ryou made his way back up to the observation platform.

"Calm down, Naruto, you'll get your turn eventually," Iruka assured him.

"If by eventually you mean now," Mai corrected, pointing to the screen.

On the screen, in bright yellow letters, was 'Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba'.

"YES! IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "FINALLY! IT'S ABOUT TIME!"

Kiba was just as enthusiastic as Naruto was. I'd always been vaguely fond of Kiba as a character. His skills were unique and he had an energetic personality I could get behind. But right now, as he fought against Naruto, I couldn't bring myself to like him. Especially not when I could hear the doubt spilling from the mouths of the others around me. My knuckles were white as I clenched my hands into fists at my sides.

"C'mon, Sunshine, you can do it," I murmured, more to reassure myself than anything else.

I choked back a gasp as Kiba rammed into Naruto, knocking him clear across the arena floor. I could feel the smugness roll off Kurenai as she glanced our way. Ryou and Mai frowned heavily, concern in their eyes, as if they were wondering why they had put any faith in Naruto.

But Sakura looked to Kakashi and smiled and Sasuke gave a little huff of a laugh. I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Iruka give me a small, reassuring smile.

And then I heard it.

"Don't underestimate me."

Naruto, like I should have known he would, had picked himself back up. A tiny giggle of relief escaped me. How the hell did I manage to lose faith in him?

"GO! NARUTO!" Sakura cheered.

Kiba scowled. "Saying that while you're bleeding. I thought I told you to stop acting tough!"

"I let you hit me, so I could test your strength," Naruto taunted, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "You should take your own advice and stop acting tough, too. Go ahead and use your dog or whatever."

Kiba's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You'll regret that. Let's go, Akamaru!"

He rushed Naruto, setting off a smoke bomb. I growled, leaning over the railing to try and see what was going on. Naruto managed to break out of the smoke, only to get jumped by Akamaru, which sent him tumbling back into the smoke. When it finally cleared, Naruto was laying on the ground.

"HAHAHA! YES!" Kiba cheered. "Great job! You did it, Aka-"

Akamaru clamped onto Kiba's arms with his mouth. Or, everyone thought it was Akamaru until a puff of smoke revealed Naruto instead. The real Akamaru dangled in the arms of the Shadow Clone that had faked everyone out. Ino, Shikamaru, I could even hear the sand siblings across the way making surprised comments about Naruto's impressive display. I beamed, feeling something akin to pride swell in my chest.

"WAY TO GO SUNSHINE!" I shouted, startling the genin and jonin. Ah, I'd forgotten how many people had never heard me call Naruto that.

"So you've gotten a little stronger," Kiba scowled. "But it's over, I'm serious now."

I barely caught Kiba flicking a small, brown pill Akamaru's direction before the tiny dog's fur turned a brilliant shade of red. Kiba swallowed an identical pill himself as Akamaru escaped the clone's grip.

I closed my eyes as Akamaru transformed into a clone of Kiba and the two attacked together, going faster than I could have tracked anyway. I winced at the thudding noise Naruto made when he hit the ground. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I opened my eyes and turned to look at Kakashi.

"Don't close your eyes," he told me firmly. "I think you're one of the ones he wants to see him triumph the most."

My brow furrowed and my lips tightened into a thin line. I knew, logically, that Naruto would win because I'd seen it before. But watching it on a TV and seeing it in real life were two totally different things. Still, I turned back to the scene below me as Naruto struggled to get back up.

"I …Hokage," Naruto ground out. "Can't lose…here…"

Kiba gave a bark of a laugh. "You? Become Hokage? Even though you're weaker than me? You don't think you can actually become Hokage, do you?! How's this, I'll become Hokage for you!"

A rage I'd never felt before spilled out. I slammed my hands against the railing and leaned forward until I was half bent over it to scream down at him.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"

I could feel the shocked eyes on me, but I didn't care. Being Hokage was Naruto's dream, and I wasn't about to let anyone trample over it.

Sakura joined me in my shouting. "GET UP NARUTO!"

Even Sasuke had something to say, "IF YOU LET HIM BEAT YOU, YOU'RE AN EVEN BIGGER LOSER THAN I THOUGHT! GET UP!"

And somehow, Naruto did.

"If you're gonna compete with me for the title of Hokage," Naruto said dangerously, "I'm gonna whip you like a dog."

Kiba growled low in his throat and led Akamaru into another series of attacks. At some point in the middle of everything, while smoke covered the arena, Naruto transformed into Kiba. There was a pause in the action as Kiba tried to figure out which of his clones was Naruto and which one was Akamaru. He must have felt confident when he turned on one of his clones, but that confidence quickly fell away as a puff of smoke revealed a battered Akamaru. Kiba immediately turned on his other clone, punching it twice as hard as he had the other. When that clone also transformed into Akamaru, those watching let out a collective gasp. Kiba stood stock still, shocked and unable to process what the hell was going on. The first Akamaru rose to his feet, and if a puff of smoke, Naruto appeared to kick Kiba in the fucking head.

"FUCK YEAH, WAY TO GO SUNSHINE!" I shouted. My voice was starting to get hoarse from all my cheering and screaming, but I didn't care.

Kiba pushed himself to his feet, eerily calm.

"Heh, so you're finally getting serious, eh Kiba," Naruto panted. "Then…with my new special technique…I'm going to end this!"

"His what now?" Sasuke muttered.

Sakura was just as confused as he was. "Since when…?"

Lee, on the other hand, seemed pretty excited. "He was saving a special technique? Impressive!"

"Did you know about this?" Iruka asked me.

"Not a clue," I lied smoothly. I knew exactly what Naruto was doing, but it wasn't because he told me, or anything. Ah, the joys of having previous knowledge I shouldn't have.

At some point during our short conversation, Kiba ended up behind Naruto, poised to strike.

And then Naruto farted.

I burst out laughing, bent double and pounding my fist against the railing. Iruka slapped his palm against his forehead and drug it down his face. Poor man was so embarrassed.

"That's your Sunshine," Ryou muttered, his face half way between amused and disgusted.

"Yep," I agreed with a grin. "That's my Sunshine."

Kiba staggered back, eyes watering and hands scrabbling at his face. That's what he got for using a jutsu that amplified his sense of smell a thousand times greater than normal against Naruto of all people.

"Naruto!" Sakura hollered. "Now's your chance!"

"Alright!" Naruto shouted, performing Kage Bunshin. "I'm going to return the pain you gave me all at once!"

One clone rushed forward to punch Kiba straight in the face, knocking him back. Before he could land, three more clones slid under him to kick him up into the air. Finally, the real Naruto leapt into the air to perform an axe kick to the back of Kiba's head and knock him back down to the ground.

Kiba didn't get up that time.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto," Hayate announced after performing a quick check of Kiba.

Hinata halted Naruto's proud strut back up to the platform. With shaking hands she offered him a medical salve she'd probably made herself. I smiled a little to myself. Hinata was a good kid. I watched as she scurried down the stairs to give the medics a similarly small jar of salve for Kiba and Akamaru.

And then my heart dropped.

Hinata and Neji's names appeared on the board. This…I'd forgotten about this match. How could I have forgotten about this match?

"I never thought I'd be facing you, Hinata-sama," Neji said icily.

"Neji-nii-san," Hinata stuttered, her expression meek and full of concern.

"Huh? Are they siblings?" Naruto asked.

"They are members of the Hyuuga clan, which is one of Konoha's oldest and greatest bloodlines," Kakashi explained. "But they aren't siblings."

"Then what are they?" Sakura asked.

"Mmm, well. They're members of the Hyuuga's main house and branch house," Kakashi continued, keeping his comments deceptively neutral.

"Main house and branch house?" Naruto echoed.

Lee stepped in. "Yes! Hinata-san is a member of the Hyuuga main house. While Neji carries the Hyuuga blood, he's in a lower house."

"So they're cousins?" Sakura clarified. "That must make fighting difficult."

"Yes, but…" Lee frowned. "Many things have happened between the houses over the years, and right now they do not get along very well."

"Why's that?" Sasuke asked, his expression dark and calculating.

"I don't know everything, but…" Lee admitted. "This is normal with old houses but…in order to protect the blood and house of the original Hyuuga family, many rules have been established to put the main family in an advantageous situation. Because of this the branch houses feel slighted."

"I'd hardly call what they do normal," I hissed, earning me concerned looks from everyone around me.

Hayate called for the match to start, but neither Hyuuga moved.

"Before we begin the fight, I'd like to say something, Hinata-sama," Neji said, his voice cold and harsh. "You don't make a good shinobi. Forfeit now."

The shock and hurt on Hinata's face was heart breaking.

"You are too kind," Neji continued. "You wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with others, never resisting, and you have no confidence in yourself. I can feel your sense of inferiority. That's why I thought it would be best for you to remain a genin. But the chunin exam can only be taken as a team of three. You couldn't turn down your teammate's request and unwilling entered. Am I wrong?

"N-no…I…I just wanted…wanted to change myself," Hinata stumbled over her words, but the heart of what she was trying to say was strong and true.

Neji's scowled. "Hinata-sama…as I thought you are a spoiled brat of the Main house. People cannot change themselves! Losers are losers. Their personality and strength cannot change. Because people cannot change, differences are born. Expressions like elite and loser are created. Looks, brains, ability, size, personality…all people judge and are judged in these values. Based on these unchangeable factors, people discriminate and are discriminated against. And they suffer within their own means. Just like the fact that I am from a branch house and you are from the main house cannot be changed."

"This kid sure likes to talk a lot," Ryou muttered under his breath, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"He's fucking stupid," Mai agreed quietly. "Acts like he knows everything, but he's so short sighted."

I watched as Hinata shrank away from Neji as he activated his Byakugan. It looked even creepier than the Sharingan did. How Neji could call Hinata a spoiled brat after all the shit her father put her through, things I was pretty sure Neji knew about, I had no idea. But it bothered me. Bothered me more than anything else I'd seen so far. Hinata didn't deserve this.

"You can't fool my eyes," Neji hissed. "Against my pressure just now, your eyes floated to the upper left. This is a sign that you're remembering your past experiences, your painful past. After that you looked to the lower right. That's a sign that you're imaging physical and mental pain. Basically, you're thinking about yourself. And from all the experience until now you're imaging the results of this match. Imaging that you'll lose.

"The action of raising your arms in front of your body shows that you are trying to create a wall between us, create a distance from me. Further more," Neji continued despite the tears welling up in Hinata's eyes. "Touching your lip is a trait revealing a disturbance. It's a defense mechanism to soften the nervousness and worrying. So basically, in reality, you've realized it already, haven't you? You cannot change your…"

"YOU CAN!"

Naruto's sharp cry cut off Neji and drew Hinata's eyes. Naruto's face was twisted in righteous fury, his eyes fierce and determined. At that moment, I could totally understand Hinata's admiration for him.

"Stop deciding things about people, you idiot!" Naruto continued. "Kick this bastard's ass, Hinata!"

Awe passed over Hinata's face before fading into something harder. Her posture changed. Instead of curling in on herself she stood tall, determined.

"So you won't forfeit," Neji said, less a question and more a simple statement of fact. "Fine, but I'm not responsible for what happens."

"That's bullshit and he knows it," Ryou growled low in his throat.

"I no longer…want to run away," Hinata announced, activating her Byakugan and shifting into a fighting stance. "Neji-nii-san…we fight."

Lyrics passed through my head. I smiled, glad that my weird little habit of putting music to everything hadn't left me when I swapped bodies with Kourubi. I couldn't help but softly sing them aloud.

"She's got lions in heart,
A fire in her soul,
He's got a beast in his belly that's so hard to control,
'Cause they've taken too much hits,
Taking blow by blow,
Now light a match, stand back, watch them explode."

"Where do you keep getting these songs from?" Mai demanded, speaking for the others who had looked at me oddly.

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the two Hyuuga. "Every ninja has their secrets."

Neji and Hinata charged each other, their strikes a flurry of movement that was hard to track. I kept my eyes on them, barely registering the conversation Naruto and his team was having with Lee about the Hyuuga style of taijutsu. Then, Hinata was suddenly coughing up blood, and the conversation stopped dead in its tracks. Neji legitimately shoved Hinata hard enough that she flew back several feet before hitting the ground.

"Hinata-sama, this is the difference in talent that can never change," Neji preached. "The difference that divides an elite from a loser. This is the reality that cannot be changed. At the point you said 'I do not want to run' you were setting yourself up for regret. You should be overcome with desperation right now. Forfeit!"

I bit my lip as Hinata struggled to get back on her feet. Everything in me told me to jump in and punch Neji's lights out, but that wouldn't do Hinata any favors. This was her fight, and she had to fight it herself in order to take that first step forward.

"I…don't go back…on my word," Hinata ground out. "That's my ninja way too!"

Naruto's hands gripped the railing tight, amazement on his face. Hinata met his gaze and smiled, just a little.

"I never knew Hinata was this incredible…" Naruto murmured.

Lee nodded, smiling. "She's very similar to you."

"Oh yeah," Sakura agreed. "She's always watching you."

Hinata retched again, coughing up even more blood.

"Neji's attacks have completely shut down her chakra flow," Kakashi observed grimly. "She can no longer do her 'gentle fist' attacks. This match is over."

Naruto wasn't going to take that. "You can do it, Hinata!"

"C'mon, baby girl, kick his ass!" Mai shouted down, startling me. Mai hadn't shown much interest in the out comes of any of the matches that didn't involve me or Ryou. But something about Hinata's struggle seemed to resonate with her. I wondered what it was.

Naruto and Mai's cheers brought the flame of determination back to Hinata's eyes and she attacked again. Even when Neji struck her across the face, she went back. But then Neji's hand made contact with her torso and a sickening thud sound echoed in the suddenly still air. She coughed more blood and fell to the ground. Hayate attempted to call the match.

"Don't stop it!" Naruto shouted insistently.

"What are you saying, you idiot!" Sakura scolded loudly. "She's at her limit, she's unconscious."

But to the shock of everyone present, Hinata stood anyway. Naruto smiled. Not a grin, or a smirk, just a smile.

"It's not over," Hinata insisted, her voice weak but her words strong.

"Acting tough is useless," Neji snapped. "You can barely stand, I can see that even without the Byakugan. From the time of your birth the responsibility of the Hyuuga main house has been forced upon you. You have always hated yourself for your own weakness…but people cannot change. That is destiny. There is no need to suffer anymore. Let it go."

Hinata shook her head. "That's not true…I can see it. It's not me at all. The person lost and suffering within the destiny of the main and branch houses…is you."

Something in Neji snapped in that moment. Hayate saw it, and tried to tell Neji the match was over, but the boy charged forward anyway.

He was a mere foot away from Hinata when the jonin caught him. Gai, Kurenai, Hayate…even Kakashi stepped in. Neji spat something about special treatment for the main family. Stupid boy.

"Ryou," I whispered. "Think you can do something about Hinata?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I haven't gotten that much training in medical jutsu. But I can try."

We jumped over the railing just as Hinata's organs finally started to truly give out. I caught her as she fell, laying her down gently as Ryou's hand began to glow a soothing green. Lee and Naruto joined us on the floor. Naruto knelt beside Hinata, and I hoped she'd be able to see him just before she fainted.

"Hey…the loser over there." I knew Neji was talking to Naruto but I raised my eyes from Hinata's prone form to glare at him anyway. "I'd like to tell you two things. If you're a shinobi, then cut out the pathetic cheering. And another thing: in the end, a loser is a loser. They cannot change."

Naruto stood, his eyes burning like nothing I'd ever seen before. I moved to lay Hinata's head in Kurenai's lap and stood as well.

"You wanna test me?" Naruto threatened, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Neji just scoffed. Naruto rushed at him, despite my shout of warning. Luckily for all of us, Lee jumped in the way, stopping Naruto's ill-timed rampage.

"Naruto-kun, I understand your feelings so much that it hurts," Lee soothed. "But the fighting has to remain in the matches. Whether a loser can defeat an elite through the power of hard work…that's something to look forward to in the main test. His opponent might be me, but if it is you, Naruto-kun, there will be no hard feelings."

"Tch, fine."

I sighed in relief. Thank god for Lee.

Ryou's surprised shout drew our attention as Hinata coughed again, more blood spilling from her mouth. Ryou looked panicked and Kurenai glared at Neji.

"If you have time to glare at me," Neji said smugly, "Then take care of her."

"Dammit! Where's the medical team?" she shouted.

The medics gently moved Hinata to a stretcher, rushing her off to the emergency room. Ryou made to trail after them, but stopped. With his limited training, he probably couldn't be of much help at this point. Naruto's pained face as he watch them carry her off hurt me. I watched as he slowly bent down to drag his fingers through her blood. He held up his fist, now dripping with her blood, and stared Neji down.

"You…" he growled. "Are going down."

Neji laughed and turned to leave, but I wasn't about to let him off that easily.

"A word of advice, kid," I snapped, glaring as he turned to me with a bored expression. "Taking your anger towards the system out on another victim only ever makes you look like the bad guy. Maybe you'd know that if you ever pulled your head out of your ass."

Neji's eyes narrowed critically, as if discovering a whole new hatred for me.

I smirked and shrugged. "It's just a thought."

We climbed back up to the gallery, a heavy silence in the air. I lost track of Naruto somehow and when I turned around I found him talking to Kankuro. Oh…that's right. The next fight in canon was Lee and Gaara. Oh, I did not have the emotional energy to deal with that shit show right now. Please, give me some respite.

The next names on the board were not Lee and Gaara's, but Mai's and another I didn't recognize. That stupid punk from Suna with the platinum hair. So his name was 'Sho'. I wondered if he was any stronger than his teammates.

"Begin the next match!"

Mai charged the guy; fists pulled back and ready to strike. I watched as the boy smirked, dodging backwards and flying through a series of hand signs. I didn't recognize the pattern. Kakashi must have, because he stiffened behind me.

"What, what is that?" I whirled on him to ask.

"A rare fire jutsu from the time of the Third Great Ninja War," he explained. "I didn't think they even taught it anywhere anymore."

I whirled back around to yell a warning at Mai. "Mai! Watch out!"

It was too late. As soon as the boy was done he stopped, letting Mai get inches from him before exhaling a stream of fire. I choked as the scent of burning flesh filled the room. Mai tumbled down, rolling along the ground but the fire…stuck to her. Almost like…

"Napalm!" I whispered in horror, my eyes going wide.

The sticky fire clung to her torso and legs, continuing to burn her flesh away. Even her hair was burning, the band holding her hair in the braid broken. She couldn't stand like that. There was no way. Sho smirked and walked idly forward to give Mai a good kick to the face. There was a crack and I could see the blood pouring from her nose.

"CALL THE MATCH!" I shrieked. "CALL THE MATCH GODDAMMIT OR I WILL COME DOWN THERE AND KILL HIM MYSELF!"

"The match is over," Hayate announced quickly. "The winner is Sho."

I dragged Ryou down to the floor with me, Noboru-sensei close behind. The napalm was still burning.

"Release the jutsu, you motherfucker!" I snarled, grabbing Sho by the collar of his shirt and lifting him an inch off the ground.

"What? Land of Fire shinobi can't take the heat?" he mocked.

I drew my fist back, ready to punch his lights out, but Noboru caught my wrist. His violet eyes were icy as they met Sho's.

"Release the jutsu."

Sho snarled, but did as he was told. Ryou was on Mai in a heartbeat, hands glowing healing green. Whole expanses of flesh had been burned off Mai's thighs and her torso. Bits of her shirt had been seared onto the edges of her burns. It smelled terrible. I could feel bile burn my throat as I tried desperately not to hurl.

The medic team rushed in, pushing Ryou to the side as they lifted Mai into a stretcher and carried her off. Ryou looked on the verge of tears. I couldn't imagine how he felt. He was a medic in training, but he couldn't heal his own friend. I dropped Sho on his ass. I could only hope I looked as fucking pissed as I felt as I glared down at him.

"You better hope it's not me you fight in the main test," I said, slow and sharp. "Because when you fall, I will make sure you never get back up again."

I turned on my heel, forcing my tears back. I could only pray that Mai's injuries weren't career ending. She deserved better than that. She deserved so much better than that.

There was no way the next match wasn't Lee and Gaara's. I was almost too spent to care. Lee was so damn ecstatic about getting to go. I wanted to stop him. If I could, he wouldn't get hurt! But he had to fight. And I probably couldn't stop him even if I wanted to.

I stepped back from the railing, leaning against the cool, stone wall. I wanted it to just swallow me up so I wouldn't have to watch the match. I closed my eyes, rubbing at my face with my hands.

"Kourubi-san!" I jumped at Gai's boisterous voice. I looked up to see him smiling at me. "Please, watch Lee. He cheered for you during your own match, it's only fair that you cheer for him as well."

I looked away, frowning. I wanted to…I really did. I liked Lee. I wanted to cheer him on and watch him succeed. But he wasn't going to succeed. I'd already given my all to cheer for Naruto and Hinata and Mai…and now I was just drained.

I heard the rumbling as Lee dropped his weights. There was a loud cheer from the people around me. A hand touched my arm. I looked up to see Sakura's excited face.

"Kourubi-senpai! He's really doing it! He hit that weird kid with gourd!" She tugged me forward and back to the railing.

I was just in time to see Lee's fist connect with Gaara's face and send him flying. A chill ran down my spine as Gaara stood, the layer of sand that lay over his skin falling away. I reached out and latched onto Sasuke's shoulder to steady myself.

"Lee's in trouble," I whispered.

"But he hit him," Sasuke argued.

I gave a short, breathy, bitter laugh. "That's why he's in trouble."

Lee's bandages fluttered loosely as he unwrapped them. He dashed about, my eyes unable to track him. He kicked Gaara up into the air, once, twice, so many times I couldn't count them. But then he flinched. There, in that tiny window of time, Gaara escaped, leaving behind his shell of sand. The Primary Lotus was an impressive sight. If only it had worked.

Gaara's sand pounded against Lee in waves. My shoulders were bunching up around my neck. I wanted to jump in. I wanted to snatch Lee up and away and carry him to safety. Where Hinata and Neji's match just made me angry, this match frightened me.

Somehow, Lee managed to get his second wind, finally dodging a wave of sand. He moved back into his initial fighting stance, a smile on his face.

"Lee-san is smiling," Sakura murmured. "Even though he's getting pushed around…"

"No, now the tables will turn," Gai corrected, smiling confidently down at Sakura. "The lotus of the Leaf blooms twice."

Kakashi and Noboru turned pale.

"Gai, you didn't!" Noboru shouted, whirling on Gai with wide eyes.

"That kid will…open the Eight Gates?" Kakashi's eye narrowed, his voice surprisingly low and dangerous sounding.

"Yes," Gai nodded solemnly. "He will open them. He had the ability…"

"Even if he had the ability…a technique as dangerous as that!" Kakashi shouted. "The Reverse Lotus is one technique that shouldn't be taught! I have no interest in making you tell me what that kid means to you or your reasoning…but there are limits. I've lost respect for you, Gai."

Gai's expression hardened, his voice dropping to a growl but his eyes never left Lee. "What would you know about that boy? That kid…has something precious he would give his life to prove. So I wanted to turn him into a man that could accomplish it…that's all."

"Gai…how many gates can Lee open?" Noboru asked carefully.

"Five," Gai replied plainly.

I focused all of my attention on Lee, tuning out the rest of the conversation. The air around Lee seemed to shimmer as his skin turned red and his veins bulged around his temples. It was a truly terrifying image. He sprinted towards Gaara, tearing up the stone floor. I couldn't track Lee as Gaara went flying into the air, his sand struggling to keep up. Lee played tennis with Gaara's body, knocking him all over the place. Next to me, Sasuke had activated his Sharingan in a desperate attempt to keep up with Lee's movements.

A strike from Lee sent Gaara plummeting to the ground. I watched with rapt attention as one of Lee's bandages whipped out to wrap around Gaara and pull him back for one last, fatal blow. Or, it would be, if Gaara's gourd didn't turn to sand to soften his landing.

Lee plummeted to the ground, his muscles utterly ruined by the strain he'd put on them. Gaara's sand shot out to wrap around Lee's left arm and leg and I let go of Sasuke to grip the railing instead, my hands pale and shaking.

The scream that left Lee's mouth as Gaara crushed his arm and leg stopped my heart. I couldn't stop myself from leaping over the railing and flickering in front of Lee. I bent down to scoop him up as the shadow of Gaara's sand fell over us. Shit, this was a bad idea. I thanked whatever gods existed that Gai stepped in. I don't know how he was able to knock away Gaara's sand, but I didn't care. I quickly stood, facing Gaara. I could feel the hate rolling off of Gai in waves. But I…

I couldn't bring myself to hate Gaara. Not with what I knew.

"Why…did you save him?" Gaara demanded of Gai.

"Because he is precious to me."

Gaara huffed and turned to walk away. I sensed movement behind me and felt my heart sink even as I whipped around to see Lee stand. Despite my best efforts, I felt the tears spill from my eyes and flow down my cheeks, warm and wet. I stepped aside for Gai as he reached out for his student. Lee gazed ahead with cloudy, unseeing eyes. I have no idea how he could stand with his body as damaged as it was, even if he was unconscious it didn't seem possible but…

Naruto was beside me before I'd even realized he'd left the gallery. He gripped my sleeve, staring unbelieving at Lee as the medics lifted him into the stretcher. One of the medics moved to whisper to Gai, but we could hear him clearly.

"It's difficult to have to say something like this but…" the medic couldn't look Gai in the eyes. "With his body as it is…he will never be able to live as a shinobi again."

I could feel Naruto trembling next to me. "N-no way…it must be some kind of lie…"

I closed my eyes like that would stop my tears. I lifted a hand to my mouth to silence my quiet sobs.

"If that's so then what's Bushybrows supposed to do!?" Naruto demanded. "He was always saying how he wanted to fight against Sasuke and that Neji guy! Can't you do something about it?!"

Kakashi appeared behind Naruto, holding him back and placing a silencing hand over his mouth.

"That might…have been what caused this tragedy," Kakashi said gravely. I turned to look at him, not bothering to try and wipe away my tears.

"The decision to use forbidden jutsu to win at all costs…this is the result," Kakashi tried to explain. "To Sasuke, Neji-kun, Kourubi-chan, and to you too, Naruto…To fulfill the silent promise you all made to each other, he put his life at risk so that he could reach that final stage to fight all of you…remember that."

I blinked in shock. Even me? No, that couldn't be right. I wasn't anyone important, not like Naruto or Sasuke. Don't…don't drag me into this suicide pact, you bastard! A loud sob escaped me and I clamped my hand back over my mouth in a poor attempt to keep more from escaping. I could feel their eyes– Gai's and Kakashi's and Naruto's – on me but I couldn't stop. I was just too tired to keep myself together. Too much had happened today. Too much had happened this week. I had saved Sasuke, but there was nothing I could have done to save Hinata or Mai or Lee. I felt so useless and so drained. Fuck, I was probably the definition of ugly crying right now and I couldn't bring myself to care.

I felt two small arms wrap around my waist. I looked down, blinking tears out of my eyes just enough to see Naruto's sky blue eyes staring up at me with concern.

"Nee-chan?" his voice was small and childlike; more so than I had ever heard him before.

"I-I'm sorry, Sunshine," I hiccupped, scrubbing at my face. "I…"

"Don't worry about it," he murmured, burying his face in my shirt.

He pulled away only when Kakashi urged us to clear the field. His small hand latched onto mine. I had never been so aware of how young Naruto, and by extension all of the genin around me, was until that moment.

I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to Chouji's match after that. I just…zoned out. Naruto never once let go of my hand the whole time.

Notes:

Songs mentioned in this part:

This is the New Year by A Great Big World

I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons

Superheroes by The Script

Chapter 6: In Which I Explain the Transitive Property of Important People (TM)

Notes:

Welcome to the first upload on the every-other-week schedule. I might not be updating this specific story every other week, as I have two others I'm currently working on (one much more slowly than the other) but as I had more chapters of this then there were days of the week last week, I figured I would at least post another chapter for you this week. Please enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Were you trying to get yourself killed?" Noboru-sensei demanded, his voice angry but his eyes were wide with fear. "Why would you jump in front of that kid's sand?"

"I just…I wanted to get Lee out of there," I tried to explain, feeling Naruto's grip on my hand tighten.

"I understand that, but why?" Noboru-sensei pushed.

"Because…Lee's important to me!"

"Kourubi, you don't even know him!"

"That doesn't matter!" I argued, my voice rising in volume. "He's important to Gai-sensei! And Gai-sensei is important to you, right?"

Noboru's brows furrowed in confusion. "Well, yes, but…"

"And you're important to me. So if Lee is important to Gai-sensei, and Gai-sensei is important to you, and you're important to me…then by extension, Gai-sensei and Lee are important to me too!"

The awe on Noboru and Gai's faces filled me with…something. Confidence? No, that wasn't the right word. But I felt…warm inside. Warm and solid, like by putting my feelings into words and letting them hear it I'd done something amazing.

"That's the same logic you used when you told Kakashi-sensei you were going to take care of Sasuke-kun," Sakura noted, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, but now Sasuke's become important to me on his own merits," I explained. "And so have you. But I suppose you could say…that now I'm extending it to Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei."

"Wha?" Iruka's jaw dropped.

"You're important to Naruto, aren't you? And Naruto's important to me. So you're important to me too. Both of you." I smiled, hoping it didn't look too forced.

"You did a good job with that one," Gai murmured to Noboru, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

Noboru laughed softly and shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't think I had anything to do with that."

"If those who'd won their matches could please join us on the floor," Hayate announced, not bothering to hold back his coughing. Seriously, how was this man allowed to be a ninja?

Naruto held my hand all the way down the stairs, but released it as we lined up in front of Hayate, Anko, Ibiki, and the Hokage. I stood next to him with Ryou on my other side, hoping to put as many people between me and Sho or Neji as possible. If either one of them was within arm's reach for me I'd probably be tempted to take them out here and now.

"To all of those who won the rights to compete in the third test of the chunin exam, congratulations," Hayate announced. "Ah, well then, Hokage-sama, if you would please…"

The Hokage nodded, a pleased smile on his face. "Well, now I'd like to explain the main test. As I told you before, during the main event your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves. Which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

"We're not going to do it right here, right now?" Naruto asked, looking more than a little peeved.

The Hokage simply smiled and continued on. "You could say this break will be for preparations."

"What does that mean?"

"In other words," The Hokage explained. "In addition to informing all the various country lords and shinobi leaders, this time is needed to arrange for the event…and this is also the time for you to prepare for the examination. Basically, you will need to prepare to get to know your enemy and yourself. It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of wining by analyzing the data you gathered during the trial competition. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent."

"Oh my god, stop talking in circles," I groaned quietly.

"The final trial will not be like this," the Hokage went on as if he didn't hear me (though he probably did). "There are those who have already showed all they can to their rivals and there are those who competed and were badly injured. To make everything fair, the month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves. Though it'd be fine to rest your body as well. And that's the way it is…

"Well, I'd like to dismiss you now," The Hokage smiled jovially. "But there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can do that."

"What the hell is it?!" Naruto snapped impatiently. "I have to go train."

"And I have to go sleep," Ryou muttered beside me.

"Well now, don't get so excited," the Hokage chided mildly. "There are pieces of paper inside of the box Anko's holding. Each one of you needs to take a piece."

Anko slowly made her way down the line, allowing each genin to reach in a take a slip of paper. I reached in and pulled one out, unfolding it to see a bold number 3 on it. That couldn't be right…Gaara was number three, wasn't he?

"Alright, now go down the line and tell us the number on the paper you have. We'll start on the left."

"Twelve," the last Sound genin, Dosu, I think, informed us.

"Six," Sasuke said plainly.

Naruto was one, just like he'd been in the manga.

"Three," I told them, happy again to have my lucky number.

"Eleven," Ryou huffed.

Temari was ten. Kankuro was seven. Gaara was five. Shikamaru was nine. Neji was two. Shino was eight. And finally, that bastard Sho was four.

"Very well," the Hokage drew himself up for a big announcement. "Now I will reveal the final tournament. Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

Ibiki stepped forward and turned his clipboard around to show us the tournament bracket. Everything was how it should have been from the manga except two things. I was matched up against Sho, and Ryou was to fight Dosu. I glared at Sho, who seemed perfectly smug from where he stood on the far end of the line. I was perfectly happy to smash that fucker's face into the ground. But then that would mean my second match would be against Naruto…if we got to have our second match, that is.

"Well then, you're free to go," the Hokage stated. "Unless there are any final questions?"

"I got one," Shikamaru raised his hand. "Since it's a tournament, that would mean there's only one winner right? Does that mean only one person can become a chunin?"

"No, that's not quite right," the Hokage explained. "There will be judges, including myself and the Kazekage and lords of various countries. Throughout the tournament, these judges will be evaluating your abilities. Those judged to have the necessary qualities of a chunin would be promoted, even if they lose their first match."

"Then that means that…it's a possibility that everyone here will become a chunin," Temari hypothesized.

"Yes," the Hokage agreed. "But it's also possible that no one will become a chunin. Did that answer your question, Shikamaru-kun?"

Shikamaru looked completely put out by the whole scenario.

"Well then," the Hokage was all smiles again. "Thank you for all the effort you put into these trails. You're all dismissed until one month from now!"

I sat beside Sasuke in what tou-san called the 'audience room'. The tatami mats were hard and uncomfortable against my ass, but at least I wasn't expected to sit seiza style (kaa-san had tried to instill the habit in me but had given up a long time ago). Across from us sat my mother and father. This was the first time I'd seen tou-san since becoming Kourubi. He was a tall man, only barely bulkier than kaa-san. He wore a black coat that was covered in feathers from the waist down, and when he sat the two tails of his coat spread out and looked like wings. His hair was the same shade of brown as mine, but it was obvious I didn't get my eye color from him. No, his eyes were a warm, earthy shade of brown. I met his contemplative gaze with determination, my shoulders thrown back and my hands clenched into fists on my knees. Kaa-san turned to look at tou-san, worry tugging her pink painted lips downwards.

"It seems to me that you've already decided all of this without us, Kourubi-chan," tou-san mused.

"I had to do something," I stated plainly.

Tou-san's thoughtful expression melted away into a proud smile. "You've done well, Kourubi. I'm proud of you."

The tension in my mother's shoulders fell away as she stood from her kneeling. "Well then, Sasuke-kun, how about we go get your room set up for you? Did you bring any changes of clothes?"

I blushed a little. "Oh, um, no. We came straight from the exam…"

Kaa-san just smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find some old clothes your father used to use when he was a genin. They might be a bit big on you though, Sasuke-kun. Isamu was always very tall."

Sasuke followed after my mother like a puppy, his face stuck in what looked like a cross between confusion and a pout. I smiled. Kaa-san would fuss over him relentlessly, but that's probably what Sasuke needed.

I stood slowly, walking back towards the entrance of the house. Tou-san followed me.

"Where are you going?"

I paused in toeing on my shoes. I didn't look at him as I answered. "To the hospital. I need to check on Mai."

"You need to rest," he argued gently.

"I know. I'm exhausted," I agreed. "But if I don't find out if Mai's okay, I'll never be able to sleep. I feel bad for leaving Sasuke on his own so soon but I…"

Tou-san nodded. "I understand. Go. But take Gan with you."

I nodded, calling for Gan and letting him rest on my shoulder before slipping out the door.

I walked through the hospital, relief washing over me. Mai was going to be okay. I hadn't been able to see her, but the medic I'd talked with informed me that Mai would make a full recovery, or mostly. Her injuries hadn't been career ending, but there had been some complications. With burns like hers, there was no way Mai was going to walk away from this without nerve damage. Likelihood was she'd lose a good deal of sensation in her torso and thighs. Though, I supposed that was better than her having chronic pain because of her burns.

I sighed, closing my eyes and rubbing at my shoulders. Gan hadn't been allowed in the building for sanitation reasons, which meant I was free to attempt to undo the tension in my shoulders. It wasn't helping.

I opened my eyes at the sound of a door sliding open and then closed. Kakashi stood in the hall; his shoulders slumped forward with exhaustion. Who was he here to see? Sasuke was fine…

"Kakashi-sensei?" I called.

He looked up, his one visible brow rising in surprise. "Oh, Kourubi-chan. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Sasuke?"

"Kaa-san is fussing over Sasuke right now, so I'm sure he's glad I'm not there to witness it," I said. "I came to check up on Mai."

"Ah…how is she?"

I was a little surprised he'd asked. "She'll be mostly fine. Doctor said she'd probably have some nerve damage…lose some feeling in her torso and legs. Other than that she's fine."

"Good…that's good."

"What are you doing here, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Sadness fell across Kakashi's face…or what I could see of it at least. He glanced back at the door he'd come from.

"Gai…never does things halfway," he tried to explain. "I…wanted to make sure he was going to be okay."

My breath hitched and I turned to look at the door as well. That…that was Lee's room? I could feel my nose tickle like it always did before I started crying and quickly looked away. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, hoping to hide their shaking. I could feel Kakashi's gaze on me. I'd already cried my heart out once today, I didn't think I could handle doing it again. Especially not in front of him.

"Hey…why don't you come with me to get something to eat," he offered.

My gaze shot to his face. My shock must have been pretty evident because his eye crinkled like it always did in the anime to show he was smiling and he chuckled. Oh…oh god that was cute. That's not fair! He can't be both hot as hell AND cute as fuck!

"Do you not want to?" he teased, leaning into my personal space. No! Stay where you are, panties!

"Of course I want to!" I insisted, probably a little too quickly. "Um, just…let me get Gan to let kaa-san know…"

Kakashi followed me out the front door, raising an amused brow as Gan flew in out of nowhere to land on my shoulder. I informed Gan of the change of plans and sent him off. I turned to Kakashi, deferring to him. Of all of Kourubi's memories I had easy access to, her food preferences were not one of them. Kakashi began walking at a steady pace towards the main street of the village. I actually managed to keep up with him pretty easily. I was surprised at the lack of height difference between the two of us. I wasn't entirely sure how tall I was in Kourubi's body, but she was certainly taller than I had been before. Maybe something like 5'6. Kakashi was only a few inches taller than I was, maybe 5'11. I always imagined him to be much taller than he actually was.

He stopped right in front of the ever-famous Ichiraku ramen stand. I couldn't help but giggle. I guess I had to end up here sooner or later. We ducked under the banner and I gave a small 'oh!' of surprise when I saw Iruka already taking up one of the stools.

"Ah! Kourubi-chan! Kakashi-sensei!" Iruka greeted. "Nice to see you again."

"I know, it's been so long," I joked, my spirits lifted by the chunin's presence.

I sat between Iruka and Kakashi, eagerly eating up the attention of both men. The owner and his daughter were quick to greet us as well and set large bowls in front of both Kakashi and I. I quickly dove into the meal, probably burning the roof of my mouth in the process.

"So, how did Ruki-senpai react to you bringing home Sasuke?" Iruka asked conversationally. It took me a moment to understand he'd been referring to kaa-san.

"As soon as tou-san recognized I'd already made the decision and wasn't going to let him stop me she started fussing over him," I told him.

"Your father wasn't mad you went behind his back to make such a commitment?" Kakashi drawled.

"No…actually he was proud of me," I said slowly, a small smile forming on my face. "I think…he was happy that I'd made such an important decision. He's probably thinking if I can make these kinds of decisions on my own he'll be able to step down as clan head soon. Not too soon, I hope. I don't think I could handle being clan head."

Iruka reached out to place a reassuring hand on my arm. "I'm sure you'll be great."

"It does take a special kind of person to adopt Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura without batting an eye like you did," Kakashi agreed. "You'll do your family proud."

I smiled down into my bowl, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Thanks."

We fell into a companionable silence, the sound of us slurping up noodles filling the air instead of chatter. I ate probably far more than I should, especially when Kakashi insisted on footing the bill. The sun had slipped below the horizon and stars were starting to become visible by the time I was sufficiently full. I slipped from my stool and immediately turned and brushed my fingertips lightly against Iruka and Kakashi's shoulders.

"Walk me home?" I asked, my voice low and maybe even a little coy.

Was it just me or did a shiver run down their spines? They shared a glance before standing, Iruka moving far more quickly than Kakashi. They let me lead the way, walking on either side of me. I hummed softly as we walked, the butterflies in my stomach going nuts every time my hands brushed against theirs.

"Baby let's go get lost, I don't wanna let you go, keeping my fingers crossed that maybe you'll take the long way home~"

The lights were on when we arrived at the clan compound. They stopped at the main gate, just within sight of the house. I almost didn't want to leave. Being with them was fun and comfortable and honestly I didn't feel nearly as tired as I had before. I sighed, reaching out to touch the dark wood of the gate.

I walked forward, then paused and turned to smile shyly at them over my shoulder. "You know…if I pass the exam…you two should take me on another date."

I quickly trotted up to the house, reveling in the sputtering noises both men were making behind me.

I woke the next morning to the sound of someone bustling about the kitchen and the smell of food wafting in from my slightly opened door. I rolled oh-so-gracefully out of bed, groaning as I stretched. I felt SO much better than I had the day before. I slipped across the hall to knock on the door of the guest room Sasuke was now occupying. I heard a grumble and opened the door to peer in. Sasuke was wrapped pretty thoroughly in blankets, like he was trying to make a nest or cocoon for himself. He blinked sleepily at me with big, dark eyes.

"Rise and shine, little lion man," I cooed. "Kaa-san is probably almost done with breakfast."

He gave a groan, kicking off the blankets as well as he could. I don't know where kaa-san got the giant white shirt she'd stuck him in, but it made him look tiny and adorable and I loved it. He followed me slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen. Tou-san was already at the table, sipping on some tea. Kaa-san looked up from where she was shoveling rice into bowls and smiled.

"Good morning, you two!" she greeted cheerily. Sasuke looked thoroughly unimpressed in how much of a morning person my mother was. "How did you sleep last night, Sasuke-kun?"

"I didn't," he admitted, falling into the chair across from mine. "The birds were loud."

Kaa-san looked thoughtful for a moment before sympathy fell over her face. "Oh, that's right. I forgot the flock likes to nest in the tree in front of the guest room's window. I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun."

"I'll see if I can't get them to move elsewhere," tou-san said after a sip of tea.

"Those birds are pretty stubborn, Isamu, do you really think they'll move?"

"It might take a while, but they will eventually."

"Sasuke can sleep in my room until then," I offered.

"Do you think we can fit a spare futon in there?" Kaa-san wondered.

"If not, my bed is freaking huge," I reminded. "Pretty sure we could fit four people on there if we tried."

"Well, if Sasuke-kun is comfortable with that…"

Kaa-san was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. I jumped up, insisting it'd get it. I slid open the door to see Kakashi standing there. I blushed slightly, remembering the stunt I pulled the night before.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep it cool.

"I'm here to steal Sasuke away for training," he replied, smiling causally with his eye.

"Well, we just sat down for breakfast," I admitted. "But if you don't mind waiting, you can come in and sit with us."

Kakashi nodded, stepping over the threshold and toeing off his shoes. He followed me into the kitchen, surprising kaa-san and tou-san.

"Oh, Kakashi-san! Here to pick up Sasuke-kun?" kaa-san asked. "Well, you'll have to be patient. Have you eaten yet? I'm sure we have plenty for you as well."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Kakashi said smoothly, pulling up a chair next to me.

We were mostly quiet as we ate, kaa-san and tou-san keeping a running conversation comprised mostly of small talk with Kakashi. He spoke politely, obviously having some kind of respect for my mother and father. As soon as kaa-san was done she scurried across the kitchen to do something. I glanced over to see her pulling bento boxes down from the cabinet. I smiled. Her fussing over Sasuke was really the nicest thing.

Sasuke finished quickly, rushing upstairs to get dressed. I walked Kakashi to the door to wait for him.

"Kakashi-sensei," I spoke up. "I know you probably feel some sort of connection to Sasuke since you're both geniuses…and it's not really my place to tell you how to do your job as a teacher but…please try not to neglect your other students."

He said nothing, but his eyes narrowed appraisingly at me. Sasuke burst into the entranceway mere seconds later, two bento boxes tucked into a minty green kerchief in his hand. He said a quick goodbye to me before rushing out the door.

"Kakashi-san!" Kaa-san called before Kakashi could disappear as well. "I know whatever training you'll be putting him through will be tough, so make sure he comes home to rest. Okay?"

Kakashi gave a salute and slipped out the door.

My mother turned to me, hands on her hips and a bright smile on her face. "Now, Kourubi-chan, it's time to get to your training, too!"

Oh no.

I collapsed onto the floor, my body throbbing all over. It was rare that I actually got to spar with tou-san or kaa-san, but when I did they fucking kicked my ass. Well, not really, but they certainly pushed me hard. It was already getting late; I could hear the crickets coming to life out in the garden. Sasuke wasn't back yet and kaa-san was starting to worry. Tou-san had been called away too. I wondered if Hayate was already dead. No…wait.

I shot up, realization dawning on me. Sasuke never got the curse mark. And he never went to the hospital after his preliminary match. That meant that Kabuto hadn't gotten to try and kill him, which meant Kakashi never caught him. If Kakashi never caught him, then Hayate had no reason to tail him. If Hayate never tailed him, then he'd never learn that Sound and Sand were teaming up against Konoha. And if he never found that out, then Baki wouldn't kill him. Somehow, in a really convoluted way, I saved Hayate's life. I laughed triumphantly and threw myself back onto the floor. Wait…would that mean that Genma wouldn't show up to the third exam? I hoped not. I liked Genma…even if he did look like a drunk redneck with his backwards bandana and that senbon sticking out of his mouth.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the doorbell rang. I scrambled to my feet and rushed to get the door. Kaa-san stuck her head out of the kitchen, a slightly hopefully look on her face. I slid open the door to find Kakashi standing there with a sleeping Sasuke on his back.

"I figured it'd be rude to refuse a request from the lady of the house," Kakashi explained, a joking lit to his voice. "So I brought him back, as promised."

"Here, you can follow me and I'll get the bed ready for him," I offered, jerking my thumb to indicate the stairway behind me.

Kaa-san smiled and nodded approvingly. But her eyes narrowed threateningly when Kakashi attempted to step into the house. "No shoes in the house, Hatake Kakashi!"

I tried really hard to hold back my giggles and Kakashi cowed under my mother's harsh tone. I took the time to slip Sasuke's shoes off his feet as well, tossing them carelessly to the side. After successfully divesting his shoes, Kakashi followed me deeper into the house. Sasuke slept the whole trip, even when Kakashi had to bounce him a bit to get a better grip as he climbed the stairs. I opened the door to my room and hurried inside to pull back the covers.

Kakashi's gaze traveled the room, taking everything in.

"Awful nice for a guest room," he noted, sitting on my bed so he could let Sasuke slip off his back.

"It's my room, actually," I admitted, wandering over to remove Sasuke's headband and set it on the bedside table.

"Oh?"

I shrugged. "The birds like to nest in the tree outside the guest room's window. They kept him awake last night. My bed could probably fit me, Sasuke, and the rest of your team including you, so it's really not a big deal."

I pulled the sheet up to cover Sasuke. It was a bit warm right now to pull the quilt up as well, but if he didn't wake up before the sun went down I'd probably come back up to finish tucking him in. I brushed a few strands of his hair out of his face with a stupidly fond smile.

I stood fully and turned to Kakashi, who was looking at me oddly. "Thank you for bringing him home and…I'm sorry for what I said this morning. That was presumptuous of me."

"Yes, it was," Kakashi agreed. Ow. "But it's obvious you care a lot about my cute little students. You want them all to succeed. I can appreciate that."

"They're good kids," I said lamely, looking down at the floor and rubbing awkwardly at my arm. "I just…want them to be happy. I want to make them happy."

"You do," Kakashi insisted softly.

Oh, don't take that tone with me you bastard! My heart was fluttering and I could feel heat crawling up my neck. Shit, I couldn't look him in the eye. Someone save me!

"Kakashi-san?" kaa-san called from downstairs. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Kakashi turned and ducked his head out of the room. "No thank you, Ruki-san. Being served breakfast by you this morning was more than I deserve. Thank you for the invitation."

"Any time, Kakashi-san!"

He ducked back into my room and suddenly the whole place felt too small. He was up in my space again. Oh my god I couldn't breathe! He reached out and took a few strands of my hair in his fingers. There was something dark in his eye as he stared at me.

"I look forward to seeing how you wear your feathers," he murmured.

And just like that he was gone. I collapsed onto the bed, barely careful enough to not flop down on top of Sasuke. What the hell did he mean by my feathers? Wait…like kaa-san and tou-san?

Now that I thought about it, almost everyone who lived in the clan compound wore feathers in their hair. None of the kids did, but anyone who looked like an adult had them. I supposed they were like the fang marks on the Inuzuka's cheeks, a clan marker of some kind. I ran a hand through my shoulder length hair. I had no idea how I was supposed to wear feathers in hair as short as mine. Tou-san's hair was nearly as long as kaa-san's, and hers reached her waist when it was undone. In fact, I was pretty sure I had the shortest hair out of any of the clan members my age or older. I frowned, latching on to my hair and tugging slightly.

"What are you doing?" I jumped, startled from my thoughts, and turned to see a still very sleepy looking Sasuke staring at me.

"Thinking," I answered vaguely.

"Stop it," he grumbled. "I can hear the gears spinning from here."

"Haha, think your funny do you?" I growled playfully, moving to flop down next to Sasuke.

"Funnier than you," Sasuke mocked, a tiny smirk on his face.

"Oh, it is on!" I snapped, jumping up to dig my fingers into his sides, the sheet failing to protect him from my tickles.

He shouted and tried to scramble away but I wrapped one arm tightly around his waist. My other hand explored all the usually places one would be ticklish. His sides, under his arms, around his neck, not even the backs of his knees were safe from me. He gasped and giggled and shouted in equal measure, begging for mercy. But none would come from me!

"Stop it! I mean it!" he shouted between bursts of adorable giggles. "Nii-san, stop!"

I froze. He froze.

"Sasuke?"

"Don't!" he snapped. "Stop…stop trying to replace them!"

"Sasuke!" I turned him physically so he sat facing me in my lap. "I'm not trying to replace anyone! WE'RE not trying to replace anyone!"

"Then why…"

"Because we care about you, Sasuke," I insisted softly. "You've been alone for a long time and you have a hard time letting people in now. I get that. But just because someone shows you kindness and opens up to let you into their lives doesn't mean they're trying to replace your family. And being reminded of the good times you had with your brother isn't a bad thing. Yes, the memories probably hurt, but that doesn't mean you have to lock them away."

Sasuke met my eyes, hurt and confusion evident on his face. He looked like he was going to cry. I pulled him into a hug, letting his forehead rest against my shoulder.

"What Itachi did was terrible, and I can't imagine what it has been like for you. But…if he can't be the older sibling you need maybe I can."

Sasuke shot back up, his eyes wide and his lips drawn into a thin line. I couldn't tell if he was shocked or angry or what, so I kept going.

"I already see you and your team as my baby siblings," I explained, giggling a little at the sour look that crossed Sasuke faced at being referred to as a baby. "And if I had my way you and Naruto would never be alone again. I'm sure we could be a family to you… if you wanted us to be."

Sasuke continued to stare at me, a myriad of emotions flying through his eyes. I smiled softly, hoping my eyes conveyed all of the compassion and love I felt in a way he'd understand. I leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to his forehead. He stiffened at the touch, put he didn't run away. So that was a start.

"Just think about it, okay?" I asked. He gave a short, jerky nod. Good enough.

"Thank you. Now, let's go see if dinner is ready."

Mai was released from the hospital two weeks later. I managed to escape my parents' training to go see her the day she was cleared. Her burns were still wrapped tightly with bandages, but she seemed more than happy to get out of the hospital.

"I'll have to come back and get them looked at in a few days," she explained as we walked. "But other than that I'm free to go."

"That's good. I know you can't stand to be cooped up."

"You got that right," she laughed. "Oh, hey, it's one of your kiddos and that friend of hers."

I looked up to see Ino and Sakura sitting gloomily on a bench that back up against the partition that separated the hospital's walk way from the inner courtyard.

"Hey there, cherry pie," I called in greeting, smiling when Sakura's head shot up at the nickname. "Whatcha doing here?"

"We were going to see how Hinata's doing," Sakura admitted. "But the nurse said she'd already left."

"Oh yeah." Mai scowled bitterly. "Her father came to take her home a day or two ago. He insisted that she'd continue her recovery at home or some shit. She didn't really look like she wanted to leave, but I doubt she had much of a choice."

We fell into a somber silence. A shout from the courtyard grabbed our attention. I gasped loudly at the sight of Lee, heavily bandaged and gasping for breath, doing one armed push ups in front of a panicked nurse.

"Lee-kun, stop!" the nurse shouted. "Your body isn't…"

"Please be quiet!" Lee snapped, his tone unusually harsh.

I watched him struggle, feeling terribly helpless. What good was saving some random jonin in some stupid roundabout way if I couldn't even save those I actually cared about? I felt my heart jump up to my throat when his arm finally gave out on him and he tumbled to the ground, passed out from the strain.

"LEE!" I shouted, vaulting over the partition and rushing to his side. Mai, Ino, and Sakura were right behind me.

"I'll bring the stretcher," the nurse told us quickly. "Please watch over him!"

"Hey…Kourubi-senpai…why do boys try so hard?" Sakura asked in a tiny, trembling voice.

I sighed, trying to smile reassuringly as I pulled her into a hug. "I don't know, cherry pie. I don't know."

The week before the tournament, Kakashi stopped bringing Sasuke back at night. Kaa-san worried herself half to death, but to be honest I expected it. In the manga Sasuke snuck out of the hospital long before now. I could only hope Orochimaru wouldn't attempt to go after Sasuke while he was alone with Kakashi.

The day before the exam, kaa-san and tou-san called me into the audience room. They sat stiff in the seiza position. A folded piece of cloth sat before them and kaa-held something in her lap. I sat down in front of them, seiza style this time.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, my posture stiff.

"No, sweetie, not at all," my mother insisted, an amused smile on her lips.

"Then what's going on?"

My mother and father exchanged a look I couldn't quite read (but it didn't seem like a bad look) and he reached for the cloth in front of them. He unfolded it to reveal two long feathers. Both were a beautiful, midnight black that in the setting sun almost looked indigo. One, however, was edged with white. It looked familiar. My eyes widened as my mother's magpie came to sit on her shoulder. Of course! Our clan literally had hundreds of birds at its beck and call. Of course the feathers in our hair would be from our birds. That meant the other feather would have to be from Kiku-sama.

"I don't understand…" I murmured. "Why now?"

"Like we would send you to fight in front of the leaders of our world without your feathers," tou-san laughed. "But it's more than that."

My mother set the thing she had been holding down in front of me. It was clothing of some kind. I watched as she unfolded it reverently. It was some sort of cross between a jacket and a dress, a deep, wine red in color. If I put it on, it would probably fall to the middle of my calf. It split into four parts just under where my hips would be, so it was definitely more of a jacket or shirt than a dress. But the design would make it easy to move in, perfect for a ninja. But what drew my eyes the most were the inky black feathers about the shoulders. It looked almost like a boa, which would have seemed ridiculous if it wasn't so important. The high, stiff looking collar would keep them from irritating or tickling the neck.

"I still don't understand," I admitted, my brows furrowed.

"All Karasuno wear the feathers of their parent's birds in their hair," tou-san explained, motioning to the two feathers that still lay on the cloth. "But only the clan head may wear the wings."

So that's what they were meant to be. It wasn't just an aesthetic thing; tou-san's clothes were specifically designed to resemble wings for symbolic purposes. But if only the clan head could wear the wings...

"Oh," I whispered.

My parents said nothing. They were waiting on my decision. I'd have to take over for my father eventually; it was literally what I was born to do. But…even with Kakashi and Iruka's encouragement from that night…

I closed my eyes, gathering my thoughts, trying to find the right words. I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes to look up at my parents. I smiled a little and I could see the tension melt from their shoulders.

I picked up the jacket and gently folded it back up. I passed it back to my mother, who looked surprised.

"Hang onto that for when I become a chunin," I said. I reached to pick up the delicate feathers from their cloth, my smile widening a little. "But, I would like to keep these. If that's okay."

Tou-san let out a loud, barking laugh, scaring away the birds that had been feeding in the garden. Kaa-san smiled gently, setting the wine colored jacket aside and pulling out a different bundle of cloth from behind her.

"We thought you'd say that," she murmured. "That's why we had this one made as well."

It was almost the exact same design, but a brilliant sky blue in color. It reminded me of Naruto's eyes. There were no feathers present. This was a gift for the clan head's daughter, not the clan head herself.

"Thank you," I whimpered, tears prickling my eyes. I bent forward; bowing so low my forehead rested against the tatami mats. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course," kaa-san cooed, a noise I hadn't heard her make since I was a child. No…I'd never heard her make that sound. Kourubi had. I shuddered. How was I already starting to forget myself?

"Now," my (Kourubi's, she was Kourubi's!) mother stood and held out her hand to me. "Let's make you a real Karasuno!"

Notes:

Songs mentioned in this part:

Let's Get Lost by Carly Rae Jepsen

Chapter 7: In Which I Fly

Notes:

Thank you all so much for your support, it's stuff like that that keeps me writing! This might just be my longest chapter yet (we can blame Neji and his monologue) and it has a little bit of everything: fighting, flirting, FEELINGS! I really hope you enjoy it and I hope to see ya'll in the comments!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Konoha was absolutely bursting with people. I had never had to squeeze through crowds before in the village, but there was no way I could get to the stadium without doing so today. Tou-san and kaa-san weren't far behind me, leading a small stream of aunts and uncles and cousins. They'd probably take up a whole row all by themselves.

The stadium was huge, even with most of it built into the ground. It would be able to fit everyone who'd come to watch the exam plus some. Mai stood in front of the entrance, waiting. I jogged up to her, waving excitedly to get her attention. It was warm out, and she was wearing shorts. You could see the pale burn scars plain as day. I swallowed thickly and forced my eyes back up to her face. She'd cut her hair recently; it was even shorter than mine now.

"Is Ryou here yet?" I asked as I neared. Mai shook her head. I frowned and turned to look around, trying to find him in the crowd.

"I see him." she sighed dramatically.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Do you know any other ninja with lavender hair?"

"…Fair enough."

"Actually, I think he has a gradient in it now."

"Oh my god," I sighed, slapping my forehead. "Can he be any gayer?"

Mai shrugged nonchalantly. "He could be eating a chocolate dick right now."

I paused, turning to look at her incredulously. "You can get those?"

Mai snorted. "I forgot how far you live from the red light district."

Sure enough, Ryou jogged up to us, his hair pale lavender at the tips and a deep royal purple at the roots. I had no idea how much work must have gone into his hair, but it probably took far more time than I was willing to spend on pretty much any part of my appearance…except my feathers.

Kaa-san had braided my feathers masterfully into my hair just behind my left ear. When she was done they looked like they belonged there. Like I hadn't been complete without them. It was a bit frightening.

I had no real wish to go home. My life had been terribly boring, in the grand scheme of things. And now that I was here I could fix all the things that were wrong with this world. I had…purpose. And even if I did want to go home I'd have no idea where to start. But everyday I seemed to fall farther and farther into the role of Kourubi. I couldn't remember my mother's voice anymore. It was taking longer and longer for me to recall her face, or the face of my father and baby brother. How much longer would it be until I forgot everything? Would…would I no longer be myself then? Did…the person I used to be even exist since I couldn't even distinguish it from Kourubi? My heart pounded in my chest and I struggled to breathe.

"Kourubi?" Ryou's questioning tone snapped me out of my existential panic. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," I insisted. "Just…nervous."

"Don't be," he grinned winningly. "Pretty sure you're way more prepared than I am. I bought industrial strength earplugs and that's like it. I'm seriously considering just letting my ninneko eat the dude alive."

I made a face. "Please, not in front of my family. Speaking of which, you can sit with them if you'd like, Mai. Probably better than sitting alone."

"Eh, no offence to your parents, but I'd rather not," Mai admitted, watching my extended family gather around the entrance. "Your cousins weird me out. Especially that one that keeps insisting he's gonna marry you."

I blinked. "Which one?" As sad of a question as that was. There were a disturbing number of male cousins, especially from the more distant branches of the family tree, who wanted to marry into the main family. And since I was an only child, that meant trying to get in with me. Thank god kaa-san and tou-san weren't pushing me to make any sort of decision regarding marriage yet.

"The one that's staring at us right now," Mai hissed. "In the green haori…the one whose parents run the bookshop."

"Fukuro?" I guessed, glancing over my shoulder briefly. Yep, she was talking about Fukuro. He was a fourth or fifth cousin, something like that. I remembered Kourubi getting along with him as a child, but recently he'd seemed…different, less friendly and more aggressive. He was very pretty, to be sure. He almost reminded me of Neji. But he was terribly loud with his opinions, especially when it came to what I did. I didn't like him. Not one bit. He reminded me way too much of those fedora-wearing 'nice guys' from back home.

"You guys should head in," Mai said. "Wouldn't want you to be late."

"They're not going anywhere until I get to wish them luck." We turned to see Noboru-sensei saunter up, hands tucked casually into his pockets. With him was Gai-sensei, looking the same as always. I hoped that meant that Kakashi's fears about him throwing himself headlong into grief were unfounded.

But what surprised me the most was that Lee stood between them, hobbling along with a crutch under one arm.

"Lee, it's good to see you," I greeted, trying to make my smile as convincing as possible.

"You as well, Kourubi-senpai," he replied, his voice much stronger than it had been the day I saw him in the hospital.

"I, too, must wish luck to Noboru's most youthful students!" Gai proclaimed, wrapping an arm around Noboru's waist. "If you do not succeed, I will run 500 laps around Konoha!"

"Why?" Ryou asked.

"Gai, why don't you and Lee go find us some seats?" Noboru suggested, stopping that conversation before it got started.

"Of course! Come, Lee!" Gai exclaimed.

"Yes, sir!" Lee saluted his mentor and hobbled after him.

Noboru smiled fondly after them. When he caught us staring at him, though, he blushed a disgustingly cute pink and cleared his throat loudly.

"Are you two ready?" he asked.

"Probably not," Ryou admitted with a shrug. "But it's too late now."

He snorted. "I'm sure you'll do fine. But please be careful. Your opponents are dangerous. If it gets to a point where you think you might die, forfeit. There's no shame in living to fight another day."

Ryou and I nodded. There was no way I was going to let myself get killed now. Not with everything I still had to do. Sasuke was only now starting to open up to me and my family. If I died now…that would be one more family he'd lost. And I didn't want to think about how'd it affect Naruto.

"Go get 'em," Noboru said, reaching out to squeeze our shoulders briefly before pushing us towards the gate.

Ryou and I walked side by side through the main gate and turned towards the door that would lead down to the arena proper. I stopped short at the sound of someone calling my name. I turned to look around, confused. Then I saw him. Iruka stood from his chair and waved, a shy smile on his face. I waved Ryou on and hurried over to greet Iruka, smiling cheerfully.

"Iruka-sensei! Here to cheer for Naruto?"

He smiled a little brighter and rubbed nervously at his scar. I wondered if that was a tic for him. "Yes, I wouldn't miss his fight for the world."

"I'm sure he's glad you're here," I insisted.

"Yeah." Iruka's eyes traveled over my body briefly, a blush forming on his cheeks. "You know, I've only ever seen you in black and grey before. You…you look good in blue."

It was then that I remembered I was wearing the tunic my parents had given me the day before. I tugged at it nervously. "Oh, um, thank you. I just got it yesterday."

I heard Ryou call my name from where he stood in front of the door down into the arena. He waved wildly at me, nearly smacking the chunin guard in the face.

"I should go…" I admitted lamely.

"Oh, yes. Good luck, Kourubi-chan."

I smiled shyly at him as I slowly backed away. "I hope you cheer for me just as loudly as you cheer for Naruto."

I could feel the heat crawling up my neck and I had to turn around to run away (and maybe, hopefully, giving him an eyeful of my legs as the tails of my jacket-tunic-thing moved around me).

"You're thirsty as fuck," Ryou said with a smirk as we passed by the guards and into the long, dark stairway down to the arena.

"Shut the fuck up," I groused.

The stairway was dark, even with the lights on the wall. By the time we reached the arena proper, I had to squint against the sunlight. Genma was waiting for us, and for a brief moment I worried that Hayate was dead after all, before remembering that he'd been guarding the door down to the arena. Some of the genin were already lined up, facing the box seats like good little soldiers. Gaara and his siblings, Neji, even Naruto was there already. I moved to stand beside Naruto, Ryou on my other side. Shikamaru showed up shortly after we did, scowling deeply. Sho arrived just after that, Dosu hot on his heels. Ah, so the stupid Sound ninja hadn't tried to kill off Gaara in an attempt to get to Sasuke. I was actually a little amazed. At this point, the only person who was missing was…

"Hey, nee-chan," Naruto whispered. "Where's Sasuke?"

I kept my eyes on the crowd, scanning the sea of indistinct faces. "I don't know. He hasn't come home the past couple of days."

"What?" That was almost a shout. "Aren't you worried about him?!"

"I would be if he wasn't with Kakashi-sensei."

"Hey, stop messing around," Genma warned over his shoulder. "Face the customers. You guys are the stars here."

Ryou absolutely melted beside me. Was he drooling? Ha, who's thirsty now?

We stood silently for what felt like forever under the hot sun. Konoha was stupid warm in summer. Probably not nearly as bad as Suna, but Suna didn't have to deal with humidity. Then again…the humidity would only help me in my match, so I really shouldn't complain. Finally, I saw the Hokage stand and make his way to the railing of his box.

"Thank you all for coming to the Konoha Chunin Selection Exam!" he spoke loudly, his voice carrying over the crowd. "We will now start the main tournament matches between the twelve participants who made it through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch until the end!"

Genma turned to face us and Ryou immediately straightened to his full height. Genma pulled out a recreation of the tournament bracket. Nothing had changed, thankfully.

"Just a quick reminder of who'll you'll be fighting," he assured us. "Take a good look and prepare for what might happen after the first round of matches."

"Hey, hey!" Naruto raised his hand to catch Genma's attention. "Sasuke isn't here yet. What are you gonna do?"

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match he will be marked down as a loss by default," Genma explained plainly. He quickly moved along, not bothering to react to Naruto's concerned expression. "Alright, guys, this is the final test. The arena is different but the rules are the same as in the prelims. Namely, there are none. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. But if I determine that the fight is over, I'll step in and stop it. You got that? Now, the first fight…Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji. You two stay here while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

Naruto and Neji stepped forward while the rest of us filed back towards the dark stairwell. I paused just long enough to give Naruto a one armed hug and whisper 'good luck' before Genma's stare ran me off. I entered the dark inner tunnels of the arena, immediately turning to the direction of a second set of stairs that led back up. I took them two at a time to catch up with the rest of the genin. The waiting room was more like a waiting cave that happened to be open to the arena below. I immediately went to the railing, my whole body tense as Neji and Naruto stared each other down.

Unlike the smaller scale of the preliminaries' arena, the finals' arena was so large it was hard to hear what the combatants were saying. I saw Naruto raise his fist to Neji, like he had done all those weeks ago while his fist dripped with Hinata's blood. There was no blood now, but the message was still there. Genma called for the match to begin, but the two didn't move. Then, Naruto summoned a series of Kage bunshin. The five bodies rushed Neji, who gracefully dodged each and every one of them.

"You'll never become Hokage like that," Neji stated, that dumb smirk on his face. "Talent is decided at birth. You could say everything is decided when a person is born."

"Why the hell do you always automatically decide things like that?!" Naruto demanded, his voice carrying easily in the open air.

"Are you saying anyone can become Hokage through hard work? Only a handful of shinobi are chosen as Hokage," Neji reminded him. "Look closer at reality! Those that become Hokage are born into that destiny. You don't become it by trying. People must live within their own unchangeable flow. The only destiny that every person shares…is death…"

His face changed then, I could tell even from where I stood. It looked…sad, resigned. Like he'd given up.

"So what!?" Naruto shouted. "I'm not good at giving up!"

More kage bunshin. Maybe twenty of them this time. They crowded around Neji, but he slid around all of them. He dashed to the edge of the crowd, finding Naruto there. The real Naruto. He jabbed some point near Naruto's shoulder and the bunshin disappeared. Blood dribbled from Naruto's mouth and my heart stopped. I shouted his name, gripping the railing desperately.

"That's why I told you it was useless," Neji spat.

Naruto bent double, panting. But then he laughed. "Heh heh. That's why…I told you to stop automatically deciding things."

Naruto disappeared. That…that was also a clone? Then where was the real Naruto? I saw two more Narutos leap for Neji.

"I'm coming at you with everything I've got!"

It looked like he landed the hit with both clones. Neji's chakra glowed and spun about him like a dome, knocking both Narutos back. No…Neji himself spun like a top. It would look ridiculous if it wasn't so effective.

With a speed I hadn't been expecting Neji spun and his hands slammed into Naruto. Twice, four times, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four times. There wasn't a chakra point on Naruto's body that hadn't been hit. Naruto crashed to the ground and skidded along the dirt of the arena floor.

"I have hit sixty-four points on your body," Neji informed him. "You can no longer stand."

Naruto groaned, struggling to regain his footing.

"Heh. Is it painful?" Neji smirked. "Stay on your knees before a power you cannot change and realize your worthlessness. Having your dreams come true through hard work is an illusion."

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, SUNSHINE!" I screamed, feeling Neji's eyes turn on me. "YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S SAYING ISN'T TRUE! YOU'VE COME SO FAR ALREADY! AND YOU'LL ONLY GO FARTHER, BUT YOU HAVE TO GET UP!"

Pride swelled in my chest as Naruto, despite the odds and everyone in the audience being sure he was done for, stood.

"I told you," he panted, grin plastered on his face. "I'm not good at giving up."

Neji seemed unfazed by any of this. "Quit already, continuing won't change anything. I have no grudge against you…"

"Shut up! Even if you don't, I do!" Naruto snapped. "Why…if you're this strong…why, with those eyes that can see everything…did you mentally attack Hinata who was trying so hard?"

"That's none of your business," Neji hissed.

"Insulting Hinata, automatically deciding she's a loser…" Naruto's fists clenched tightly by his sides. "Main family, branch family…I don't what the hell happened, but I'll never forgive pieces of shit like you who call other people losers!"

Neji smiled bitterly. "Alright, fine, if you're going to go that far, then I'll tell you…the Hyuuga's destiny of hatred. The Hyuuga main family has a special ninjutsu that's been passed down…it's a curse seal jutsu. The curse represents 'a bird in a cage'. It is…a symbol of being tied down to an inescapable destiny."

Neji slowly reached up and untied his headband. Naruto stood stock still, eyes wide and disbelieving. Ryou turned to me, a question in his eyes.

"This is what I meant when I said what the Hyuuga did couldn't be called 'normal'," I hissed, knuckles white as my gripped tightened on the railing.

"One day when I was four, I had this horrible seal carved into my forehead through that curse seal jutsu," Neji explained, his voice calm despite his obvious bitterness. "That day, a grand ceremony was taking place in Konoha. A shinobi leader from Kumo, which had been warring with the leaf for many years, had arrived to sign an alliance treaty. But at this ceremony which everyone attended, from jonin to genin, one clan was missing. The Hyuuga clan. Because that day…was an important day for the Hyuuga. Hinata-sama's third birthday." He turned to stare into the crowd, finding Hinata's father. "My father, Hyuuga Hizashi, and Hinata-sama's father over there, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama, were twins. But Hinata-sama's father was born to this world first…as a member of the main family. Any my father, the second son, became a member of a branch family. When the Hyuuga's first daughter became three…I was turned into a caged bird through this curse, as a member of the Hyuuga's branch family."

"Why…is that necessary?" Naruto asked, unable to understand. "Why do you need that weird mark to distinguish the main and branch families?"

"Oh sweet child," I sighed.

Neji scowled. "This mark on my forehead is not a simple decoration. This curse is the absolute fear of death given to the branch families by the main family. With a simple secret hand seal, the branch member's mind can be easily destroyed…death is just as easy, of course. And this curse will only disappear after death, sealing up the ability of the Byakugan along with it."

Ryou gasped and turned to stare at me. "You knew…"

"The Hyuuga are monsters among the clans," I hissed, anger not entirely mine filling up my heart. "They're the only ones to do something like that to their people."

"How could the Hokage allow that?" he demanded loudly, earning looks from the other genin in the room.

"Because it makes them 'strong'," I spat. "This is a military dictatorship after all, where children are trained from a young age to kill. Strength is more important than human dignity."

Ryou stared at me in shock. He had no reply for that. He'd probably never heard anyone refer to the Hokage as a military dictator before, but I'd always had issues with authority. I could never fully trust someone with that much power.

"The Hyuuga house is a clan that holds an advanced bloodline. The number who have gone after those secrets are incalculable," Neji continued. "So, with this jutsu, the branch family is allowed to live only to protect the main family. The main family allows no disobedience. It is an…effective system, created to eternally protect…the advanced Byakugan blood of the Hyuuga.

"And then…my father was killed by the main family."

I inhaled deeply, trying desperately to keep my anger in check. This whole story was so sad and just…STUPID! The fact that this was allowed, and had been allowed for YEARS, was infuriating. It made the other clans look bad; it made KONOHA look bad. And more than that, it caused Hinata and Neji so much pain. Neji's worldview was short sighted and cruel, but when you were exposed to the system that created that worldview…it was almost understandable.

Neji's story wasn't done. "One night, Hinata-sama was taken by someone. Hiashi-sama quickly took care of it and killed him. It was dark, and he was wearing a mask. Who do you think it was? He was…the Kumo leader who had just signed the alliance treaty. It was clear he was after the Hyuuga secrets from the beginning, but Kumo made demands of Konoha for breaking the alliance. Of course, the two villages bickered back and forth…it almost came to war. But Konoha wanted to avoid the war, so they made a backdoor deal with Kumo. Kumo wanted the Hyuuga main family's advanced bloodline and the Byakugan…so they demanded the corpse of Hiashi-sama. And Konoha agreed to their wishes and war was safely avoided. Thanks to my father…who was killed by the main family to replace Hyuuga Hiashi's corpse. Heheh…the only way to escape this horrible curse…is death."

A heavy silence fell over the arena. That's right, Hyuuga clan. How does it feel to have your dirty laundry aired out in front of everyone? Even if it what Neji knew wasn't the whole truth (and knowing the story like I did, I understood it wasn't), something was still rotten in the clan of Hyuuga.

"They were twins, their strength was virtually the same…it was destiny that decided who would be first born and who would be second born," Neji's expression was dark, his smirk was closer to a slasher smile than an actual smirk. "And this fight…your destiny was decided from the moment I became your opponent."

Neji finally returned his headband to his forehead, once more covering the manji-esque seal that resided there.

"Look, I don't know how much it hurt that your father was killed but…thinking that everything is decided by destiny is a huge mistake!" Naruto insisted.

"You're hopeless," Neji muttered. He charged Naruto, striking him in the chest and sending him tumbling once more. "It's over, examiner."

But Naruto stood once again. "I won't...run. I don't go back on my word. There's…no way I'll lose…to a coward who's always whining about destiny!"

"An ignorant brat like you shouldn't be lecturing. People are born burdened with a destiny they cannot oppose!" Neji spat, pointing accusingly at Naruto. "You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!"

Oh, you ignorant child.

Even as he shook and coughed, even as blood dripped from his mouth, Naruto smiled. "Yeah…I can. And? So what?" Neji's eye twitched. "Pfft! Stop acting cool…you're not the only one that's special.

"And what a bout Hinata? She's suffered just as much as you! She may be a member of the main family…but she's never been acknowledged, even as she's trying her best to change herself! Thinking about all that even as she was coughing blood while fighting you! You're the same! The branch family is supposed to protect the main family, yet doing that to Hinata…in truth, you're trying your hardest to disobey destiny!"

"Enough talking! Examiner! I'm going to go at him with the intent to kill. If you want to stop it, then go ahead!" Neji barked.

Naruto closed his eyes, like he was trying to pull some strength he'd hidden away out of himself. Neji had closed his chakra points, so the only way he'd get any more chakra would be from the Kyuubi. Had he'd learned how to do that? Was that something Jiraiya had taught him? I couldn't remember. The battles and their winners stood out so much more to me than anything else from the story.

Neji's smirk was fucking infuriating. "Can I ask you one thing? Why do you go against your destiny so much?"

Naruto looked him straight in the eye. "Because…I was called a loser."

Naruto shouted wordlessly, some unfamiliar energy pouring out of him. It healed his wounds and kicked up the dirt around his feet like a windstorm. Neji stared in awe, trying to figure out how Naruto had been able to access chakra when he'd closed off every one of Naruto's charka points. He flinched away, and shadowy, tail-like tendrils appeared at Naruto's back and wrapped around him.

Naruto darted away, faster than I'd ever seen him before. He flicked a series of shuriken Neji's way, but the Hyuuga simply spun about like he had before, catching them like they were nothing. Neji threw them back, but Naruto dodged. His speed was incredible. I could hardly follow him.

Naruto rushed towards Neji, his aura tearing up the ground beneath him. "I don't know about this Hyuuga destiny of hatred or whatever…but if it's too much for you, then you don't have to do anything anymore! When I become Hokage, I'll change the Hyuuga!"

Neji's defensive aura clashed with Naruto's and the resulting explosion shook the arena. When it cleared, all that remained were two smoldering holes in the ground. Slowly, with great effort, Neji pulled himself up and out of one of them. He walked on shaky legs towards Naruto's crater. He started to make one more grand speech to the unconscious body the found there, but then Naruto exploded from the ground under his feet, smashing his fist into Neji's jaw. Neji fell and the body in Naruto's crater disappeared. Another bunshin.

Naruto stood proud, panting, over Neji. "I…failed the academy graduation exam three times. Because, unluckily for me, the ninjutsu test on the final exam was always my weakest ninjutsu. The bunshin no jutsu…I always sucked at it. Destiny can't be changed, blah blah blah. Stop whining about stupid crap like that. Since…you're not a loser like me."

"Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!"

"THAT'S RIGHT! THAT'S MY SUNSHINE!" I hollered, jumping up and down and punching the air in celebration.

Applause roared through the stadium. Everyone, every single person present, clapped for Naruto. They acknowledged him. I felt tears prickle at my eyes.

"I can't believe he won," Shikamaru groaned. "Man, I thought he was a lame ass like me. Jeez, I probably can't beat him…how depressing."

I heard triumphant laughter behind me and turned just in time to catch Naruto as he threw himself at me for a hug. His laughter was contagious and I burst into giggles and spun him around.

"You did so good, Sunshine!" I said as I finally settled him on the ground. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Hehehe," Naruto snickered as he buried his face in my shirt. "Now I'm one step closer to fight you, nee-chan!"

I froze, my smile falling. I settled a hand in his soft hair and slowly pushed him away.

"I don't think I'd ever want to fight you, Naruto," I admitted.

"What? Why not?!" he demanded.

"Well, cause you're scrappy as hell. You'd probably kick my ass. And what's more…" I smiled, but my expression was pained. "I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I hurt you."

Naruto stared up at me, his pretty blue eyes clouded with confusion. In the world of the shinobi, the desire to fight someone was the greatest honor a ninja could bestow. But I would never want to fight those I cared about. I could never bring myself to do them harm.

"Wanna know why?" I asked. Naruto nodded emphatically. I smiled and knelt down to meet him eye to eye, cupping his cheeks in my hands. He felt warm, like actual sunlight on a cloudless day. I sang to him, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away~"

I pressed a kiss to the bridge of his nose, giggling when he wrinkled it at the contact. I could feel Ryou rolling his eyes behind me, but that didn't matter. Naruto's eyes were wide with awe and affection. They positively sparkled and his dirty cheeks were flushed a pretty pink. I smiled again, pushing up his headband to kiss him once more on the forehead.

"You better cheer extra loud for me," I ordered playfully as I stood.

"You got it!"

"Next match!" Genma shouted. "Hino Sho and Karasuno Kourubi."

I gave a brief salute to my fellow Konoha shinobi before vaulting over the railing and skidding down the wall with chakra covered hands and feet to the arena below. Sho stared over the side before shrugging and deciding to take the stairs instead. Lame.

Sho finally joined me on the arena floor, hands stuffed casually into his pockets and a smug smile on his face. God, I wanted to punch him SO bad.

"Whenever you're ready," Genma told us, jumping a small distance out of the way.

"So, I've heard several of you Konoha ninja talk about your 'ninja way'," Sho drawled. "I assume you have one too?"

I thought for a moment and shrugged. "I suppose so."

"Is it as stupid as the other ones I've heard?" Sho queried, head tilted to the side.

"I don't think any of them are stupid," I told him, hands clenching and unclenching at my side.

"Well?" Sho held up a hand in a 'go ahead' gesture. "Let's hear it."

"Well, if I had to put it into words…" I closed my eyes in thought for a moment before opening them and smiling. "It would have to be 'love, save the empty'."

"What the hell does that mean?" Sho snapped.

"Those who were never given love…and those who had love and had it stolen from them," I explained, raising my gaze to the blue sky above, "I'm going to save them." I thought of Naruto and Sasuke, Iruka and Kakashi, Lee and Sakura and even Neji. I thought of Noboru and Ryou and Mai. I don't think there was a thing I wouldn't do to keep them safe, to make it so they were happy.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

I turned my attention back to Sho, smiling so big it reached my eyes. "By giving them every ounce of love I can muster."

Sho rolled his eyes. "God, you Konoha shinobi are so soft! Here, let me show you what a real shinobi is like!"

He started running through hand signs. I recognized the pattern from his fight with Mai, so I bolted in the other direction. There weren't a whole lot of places I could go…at least if I stayed on the ground. I pushed my chakra to the soles of my feet and hightailed it for the giant expanse of wall in front of me. I could feel the heat of the fire behind me already and glanced back. He was covering the ground in it, save for the small circle in which he and Genma stood. I reached out for Mori and Gan with my chakra, calling for them.

It was the weirdest feeling, transitioning from running on the ground to running up the wall. But I didn't have the time to pause and reorient myself. I could feel the fire hot on my heels. I had to go faster. Thankfully, if Mai was the muscle and Ryou was the brain, I was the speed. I pushed chakra into my legs, feeling myself skyrocket over the wall that was now my ground. Faster and faster, higher and higher. The end of the wall was coming up and I could still feel the fire behind me. So I jumped. I used the chakra in my feet to vault myself over the gap and out of the audience's view. I started running through the hand signs tou-san taught me just before I started to fall. Bird-rabbit-boar-tiger-dog-ram-snake-bird!

"MORI! GAN!"

I could see them diving towards me. I reached out to touch their chakra with mine. Their forms blurred and merged and fell into mine. I could feel their chakra mix with mine.

I soared over the arena. It was positively covered in fire. None of the trees or bushes that had decorated the ground were spared. It was a wasteland. I dove, landing inside the small circle of safety Sho had maintained for himself and Genma.

I looked up at him. His jaw dropped. His fires died. I extended my wings.

"Karasuno style. Beast Transformation: Wings of Midnight!"

I could hear the roar of my family's cheering behind me. It'd taken me weeks to learn how to perform this technique correctly. I almost hadn't mastered it in time. I released the jutsu, Mori and Gan flying off into the sky. The wings would only get in the way now, especially with how large they were. I smirked at him.

"Time for my comeback, bitch!" I shouted, running through a hopefully familiar set of hand signs.

"MELODY FROM ANOTHER WORLD!"

The energetic guitars were familiar, if not what I'd expected to hear. I moved quickly, running through the hand signs for my Water-Heavens Convergence. Water droplets fell from the sky and seeped up from the ground beneath my feet. That would hopefully protect me from any more fire jutsu. Then, I took a page from Naruto's book, summoning several Kage bunshin. To add another layer of showmanship, my clones transformed, taking the forms of those I'd come to call important to me since becoming Kourubi. Ryou, Mai, Noboru, kaa-san and tou-san, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, Lee, Gai; they were all here. Sho's face turned pale.

"Sho, meet the people who are precious to me," I declared. "They're gonna help me kick your ass!"

'Voices resonating in unison, we step over the Goal Line
We still don't know anything~'

I couldn't count on my clones being able to use any of the jutsu their real selves knew, but I'd like to think I knew their taijutsu styles well enough that they could still pound Sho into the ground in the right way. I landed the first punch; afterwards a clone of Mai shoved her elbow into his back. Lee and Gai landed solid kicks to Sho's face. Sakura knocked Sho's legs out from underneath him just in time for Sasuke and Naruto stab him with twin kunai. Sho made a valiant effort to fight back, but there were too many of us. It really wasn't fair, but who said I wanted this fight to be fair? I took extraordinary glee in watch the Mai clone grapple Sho into a hold and break his arm just before the Ryou clone smacked him in the face with a charred branch he'd picked up. I jumped back, letting my clones take care of Sho for a moment while I started running through a long ass series of hand signs. Ox-monkey-hare-rat-boar-bird-ox-horse-bird-rat …why did this technique have so many hand signs goddammit! I had to hurry, or I was going to miss the end of the song and lose the dramatic flair!

'Clutching the things we hold dear,
We'll become more mature,
Whichever me I become, I'll continue to protect you without letting go~'

I was almost done. Ram-rat-ox-monkey-bird-yang water-rat-boar-bird!

"Suiton! Water Dragon Bullet!"

My clones dispersed as the water droplets in the air around me merged together and shot towards Sho, taking on the form of a dragon just before it slammed into him. The dragon continued to charge forward until it met the wall, water pushing against the stone until there was none left. Sho's body slid down the wall, crumpling to the soggy ground beneath him. Genma wandered over to him casually, bending down to check his pulse. He stood with a tiny smirk and help up a hand in my direction.

"Winner: Karasuno Kourubi."

I heard Naruto's cheers first, then Ryou's, then the stadium exploded into shouts and applause.

"Permission to celebrate, sir?" I asked Genma. He shrugged. I took that as the go ahead. I turned my face up to the sky, bending backwards in a way I never could have done before, and shouted into the endless blue. "FUCK YEAH!"

Genma shook his head. "Get the hell off my field."

I was fucking tired; there was no way I had the energy to climb the wall like before, so stairs it was. The climb felt much longer now than it had before. I was grateful that I'd have at least a little time to recover before everything went to shit.

"NEE-CHAN!" Naruto plowed into me, actually knocking me down this time.

"Fucking ow," I groaned, the drain I'd put on my chakra reserves suddenly very evident.

"You were amazing, nee-chan! The way you used kage bunshin just like I did and that water dragon jutsu! It was so cool!"

"Thanks, Sunshine." I sat up with a groan. "But you can get off me now."

Naruto scrambled off me, holding out a hand to help me up. He kept a hold of my hand as he dragged me back over the railing with the rest of the genin. Ryou smacked my shoulder lightly with a proud grin.

The crowd was getting restless. With two pretty damn amazing matches already over, they were raring to go for Sasuke and Gaara's match. But Sasuke still wasn't here. Goddammit, Kakashi, of all the times to be late!

"What the heck is that guy doing?" Shikamaru muttered. "Is he planning on not coming?"

Shino hummed thoughtfully. "Confucius said, 'the wise do not approach the dangerous.' A wise decision, perhaps?"

Naruto looked over at Gaara, whose face was as impassive as ever. "What are you talking about? He's definitely going to come!"

There was motion in the arena as Raido appeared next to Genma to whisper something in his ear. Genma scowled, obviously less than pleased with whatever message had been passed on.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The contestant for the next match hasn't arrived yet!" he announced. "Therefore, we will push this match back and begin the next one!"

"The hell?" Ryou muttered.

"He's the last Uchiha," I reminded. "Plus he's been advertised as a genius. Most of the lords are probably here to see this match specifically. There's no way they're going to just write it off as a forfeit and move on."

"And now, the next match!" Genma continued. "Kankuro and Aburame Shino!"

I watched as Kankuro's face flew through a series of emotions, the most prominent one being panic. He shared a quick glance with his sister before announcing his forfeit. Temari made a noise of disgust before kicking up a raging wind and riding her giant fan down to the arena below. Shikamaru looked like he was going to forfeit for a hot second before Naruto LITERALLY PUSHED HIM OVER THE RAILING.

"Sunshine…might not want to do that sort of thing if you wanna keep your friends," I commented dryly.

Genma didn't even have the chance to officially start the match before Temari was on the attack. Girl was a go-getter; I'd give her that. I never understood how the hell Shikamaru managed to get on top of those kunai he stuck into the wall and even now, seeing it in person, I had no idea how he did it.

"Ya know, I don't really wanna fight, and I don't care whether I become a chunin or not," Shikamaru drawled. "But I'm not going to lose to a girl."

"You'll lose to ME if you don't stop being a sexist ass, kiddo!" I shouted down, earning a laugh from Ryou.

Temari's attacks kicked up so much dust that it was hard to follow the match. I could hear Ino's loud cheering over everything else, even Naruto's shouts right beside me. My gaze scanned over the crowd. I could see the line of Karasunos towards the top of the stands. Other than that, I couldn't pick anyone else out. I couldn't find Mai or Noboru-sensei and Gai. I tried to follow Ino's cheering back to Sakura, but that was harder to do than I'd hoped. I turned my attention back to the match. Shikamaru had launched his shirt parachute…thing into the air to help extend his Shadow Possession technique. This match would be shorter than I expected.

I watched Temari dance around the arena in an attempt to escape Shikamaru's jutsu. Eventually, however, using the tunnel Naruto had somehow dug during his fight with Neji, Shikamaru caught her. The audience, who just a few minutes ago had been jeering this match as a whole, were paying attention. Shikamaru and Temari strode towards each other, Temari trembling and shaking as she tried desperately to break the control Shikamaru had on her. He raised his hand, Temari's flinching as she did the same.

"That's it…I give up," Shikamaru announced plainly. "The continuous use of the Shadow Possession Jutsu has used up all of my chakra. I can barely hold you for ten more seconds. I had thought up about two hundred more moves but it looks like I'm out of time. I'm getting tired of this anyway, one match is enough for me."

Temari was announced as the winner. I huffed, unable to keep a small smile of fondness off my face.

"Why'd he give up? Is he an idiot? This pisses me off, I'm gonna go give him a lecture!" Naruto shouted, one leg already over the railing. I grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him back over.

"Wait until he gets back up here, Sunshine," I chided. "It's Ryou's turn to kick ass next."

Naruto's gaze moved to Ryou, who was already piecing together his favorite staff. He ran a hand through his purple and lavender hair, probably trying to steady his nerves. I punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Good luck, asshole."

"Thanks, bitch."

"I will never understand your friendship," Naruto muttered, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"It's not really all that different from your relationship with Sasuke," I shrugged as Ryou leapt over the railing. "We're not really rivals or anything, but there's an edge that keeps us pushing ourselves harder. Our insults sound harsh, but there's no bite behind them, unlike yours and Sasuke's. We understand that no matter what we say, we'll always have their best interests in mind."

Naruto hummed thoughtfully. Dosu seemed pretty eager to get started as well. I wondered how Ryou would handle him. Ryou was pretty obviously a close range fighter, despite being a medic. I could only hope he'd be okay.

Wait…was Ryou flirting with Genma? He was standing pretty damn close him. I leaned farther over the railing, trying to catch what Ryou was saying. Dosu growled something angrily and Ryou sent him a glare before sighing and rolling his eyes dramatically. He stepped away from Genma anyway, twirling his staff expertly. Genma called for the match to begin and Dosu wasted no time to trying and get close to Ryou. Ryou was already stuffing his earplugs into his ears, smirking at Dosu.

"Do they not have earplugs where you're from?" Ryou shouted, talking louder than usual purely because he couldn't hear himself. "I live with a fuckton of cats, kiddo. I have to use these if I want any sleep."

Ryou winced a little when Dosu's sound wave hit his ear. It might not have done nearly as much damage as it would have otherwise, but it probably still hurt. Ryou smacked at Dosu with his staff, but the damage he was able to inflict seemed fairly minimal. Ryou scowled. He pulled out a series of kunai, throwing them Dosu's way. That weird contraption on his arm blocked them easily. Ryou disappeared. I had no idea where he'd gone.

There was a loud yowling and a giant Maine Coon leapt at Dosu, biting down on the junction between his neck and shoulder. It wore a miniature Konoha headband tied around his neck. A ninneko? Another cat shot out, this one a tiny grey tabby, couldn't be any more than a kitten. The kitten bit harshly down on Dosu' ankle. Yet another cat, bigger than the tabby but smaller than the maine coon latched on to Dosu's arm that didn't carry his sound wave machine. Two more cats joined, latching onto Dosu's other leg.

"What the fuck!?" Dosu shouted, trying to throw off the cats, only for them to dig their teeth and claws deeper into his flesh.

Ryou reappeared then, his hands glowing medical green once again. He ran at Dosu, who was still struggling to throw the cats off. Ryou's hand slammed into Dosu's chest. Dosu froze. Then he jerked and coughed, the bandages around his mouth staining red. The cats released him, jumping away as he staggered around drunkenly before collapsing to the ground.

"I made a shallow cut in his aorta," Ryou informed Genma. "He'll survive if he gets immediate medical attention, but I feel I should stress the 'immediate' part of that sentence."

"Winner: Nekozawa Ryou!"

I shouted gleefully and jumped over the railing, Naruto just behind me. I threw an arm around Ryou and pulled him into a hug.

"Well done, you glorious motherfucker!" I cheered, a wicked grin on my face. "Also thank you for not actually letting your cats eat him alive. I don't think my stomach could have handled that."

"Bastard tasted nasty anyway," one of the cats, cream colored with darker markings about his ears and face and tail, growled. His voice sounded like a middle-aged man. The faces Naruto and I made must have been particularly funny, because Ryou burst out laughing.

"Don't worry, Tiramisu, I only let my kitties eat the best."

Dosu was cleared off the field. Naruto looked around nervously. Sasuke still wasn't here yet. How the hell was he not here yet? He'd had plenty of time!

"Argh! What is the idiot doing?" Naruto shouted. "He's not here yet?!"

A leaf that couldn't possibly come from the arena, seeing as Sho had burned every bit of greenery to ash, fluttered into my sight line. Then more leaves, swirling about in a whirlwind. As the leaves cleared, I could see two figures standing back to back. Those…dorks!

Naruto's look of awe quickly morphed into an ecstatic grin as Sasuke and Kakashi revealed themselves. Kakashi looked the same as ever. Sasuke on the other hand…why was he wearing a black onesie? It was like he'd sewn his old shirt and shorts together and dunked it in black paint. It was absolutely ridiculous.

"Sorry we're late," Kakashi apologized with that stupid smile of his.

Genma smirked, obviously amused by the whole thing. "Your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke!" I jumped forward, pulling him into a hug. He squirmed against me, probably embarrassed but I just squeezed him tighter. "Kaa-san was worried about you! And what the fuck are you wearing?"

"Shut up!" he groaned, though it sounded more like a whine. "And let go of me."

"Shut up and let me hug you," I snapped playfully, squeezing him extra tight before finally letting him go.

"Ha! I never expected you to be this late!" Naruto exclaimed. "I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show up 'cuz you were too afraid to fight me!"

"Heh…don't get too worked up, you moron," Sasuke mocked. His tone changed as he gave Naruto an once-over. "Given your excitement, I'm guessing you won in the first round?"

"Of course!"

Sasuke turned his gaze to me. Compared to Naruto I was relatively unscathed. "And you?"

"Do you really have such little faith in me, baby brother?"

The endearment made Sasuke tense and earned me plenty of strange looks. Genma looked the most surprised, but Naruto seemed to roll with it. I smiled at Sasuke. With everything that had happened, with how much I wanted him to feel like he was family, how could I not see him as my little brother? Him and Naruto both. They were both my baby brothers. I'd told Sasuke as much already. He met my eyes, considered me. The tension in his muscles lessened, but did not go away entirely.

"Well, we showed up all flashy and the like," Kakashi said slowly. "But…could Sasuke have been…disqualified?"

Genma shook his head. "Geez, your tardiness must be contagious. Don't worry. We pushed Sasuke's fight to the end. He hasn't been disqualified."

Kakashi laughed nervously. "That's good, then."

A chill ran down my spine. I turned along with Kakashi and Sasuke to stare up at the waiting room. Gaara stared down, not at us collectively but solely at Sasuke.

"Don't lose to that guy," Naruto muttered.

"Yeah…"

"Sasuke!" Sasuke blinked in surprise at Naruto's sudden outburst. Naruto stared him down, determination blazing in his too blue eyes. "I want to fight you!"

Sasuke met his gaze without flinching. He didn't smirk or smile.

"Yeah."

God these dumb boys! Naruto grinned despite the lackluster reply. I rolled my eyes SO HARD at the both of them. Kakashi sent me a sympathetic look. I smiled at him, hoping he understood that he had my thanks for looking after Sasuke, even if I didn't say anything.

Sasuke's gaze had returned to Gaara. Genma sighed heavily.

"Gaara, get down here!"

"C'mon, you guys. I don't wanna be down here when those two go at each other," Ryou said, pushing Naruto and me back towards the stairs. "And you guys can go. Thanks for your help!"

The cats nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke. We climbed the stairs slowly. Well, me and Ryou were going slowly. Naruto was all too happy to take the steps two at a time. At least until he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Sunshine?" I asked quietly.

He nodded his head in the direction of the corridor at the top of the stairs that led to the waiting room. Two ninjas had stepped into Gaara's path. Oh, those stupid bastards.

"These low level tournaments are great for betting," one was saying. "Many of the ministers are here for that alone…"

"And so," the other stepped in. "Would you mind losing this fight?"

Sand leaked from the gourd on Gaara's back and I turned to look away. Hearing the sound alone was probably worse than seeing it, but I couldn't bring myself to look. The noises suddenly stopped. And then, footsteps. Gaara slowly came down the hall and passed us on the stairs like we weren't even there. I shuddered. We rushed back to the waiting room, hurrying past the mess of blood. I gripped the railing, staring down at the arena. This…this was the match that was going to kill me.

Genma called the match to begin. Sand immediately began flowing from Gaara's gourd. Sasuke leapt backwards, knowing exactly what would happen if that sand got a hold of him. Gaara flinched, groaning painfully.

"Please…don't be so angry…mother."

I shuddered.

"I fed you some nasty blood earlier," Gaara rasped. "I'm sorry. But this time…it will be delicious."

Gaara flinched again, and then seemed to calm. Naruto and Shikamaru were whispering to each other when Naruto suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Sasuke casually flicked a few shuriken at Gaara. Gaara's sand shot up to catch the shuriken, shifting to form a clone of Gaara. Sasuke charged him with a wordless shout. The sand exploded outwards towards him and Sasuke jumped into the air. The sand clone threw the shuriken it had caught at Sasuke, who threw another set of shuriken to block them. Sasuke kicked at the sand ineffectively. He landed on his hands, somersaulting into the air once more. He smacked at the sand clone's throat with the back of his fist, only for it to be caught. I held my breath as Sasuke struck at the clone's face with the heel of his palm. He seemed to break through the sand barrier, but Gaara simply erected another one closer to him. I saw the smirk on Sasuke's face the split second before he flickered out of sight and appeared again behind Gaara. He'd gotten fast. Like Lee. He landed a punch on Gaara's cheek, the sand armor cracking under the force.

Sasuke darted around Gaara's defenses easily. He'd gotten so fast, I was having a hard time keeping track of his movements. He landed a solid kick on Gaara's chest, knocking him back. Gaara staggered back up, but Sasuke wasn't about to give him a chance to recover completely. He ran around Gaara, kicking him again, this time in the face. He reached out and grabbed Gaara's sash and kneed him in the gut. The style was so familiar…almost like he'd copied more than just Lee's speed.

"It's like watching Lee's fight all over again," Ryou muttered, his eyes focused on the combatants below.

"Perks of the Sharingan, I guess," I whispered back.

Gaara's sand built up around him, completely surrounding him in a way it never had during his match with Lee. Naruto's face paled a little more.

"Shikamaru," he turned to his friend. "I'm going to find Kakashi-sensei!"

"What are you planning to do?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto turned to the exit, and ran off. "HEY!"

"I'm gonna stop this fight!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder.

Shikamaru made a loud noise of frustration before following after him. My gaze darted back and forth between the space where Naruto had just been standing and the arena below. Gaara was completely incased in an orb of sand now. Sasuke punched it, but it didn't even leave a dent. Instead, the sand had shot out in spears, cutting along Sasuke's cheek and leg. He jumped back, panting and trying to assess the situation. What was I supposed to do in this situation? My hand gripped the railing.

"Go," I heard Ryou hiss at me. "I'll keep an eye on the match but something is clearly wrong with Naruto. GO!"

I took off running after Naruto and Shikamaru. They didn't slow down when they heard me coming, but it didn't matter. My strides were much longer than theirs and I caught up with them quickly enough. We sprinted to the civilian stands. I cried out wordlessly in relief when I saw the shock of silver hair.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled out.

Kakashi turned, and so did the others around him. Gai, Lee, Noboru-sensei, even Sakura, Ino, and Chouji were there. We skidded to a halt just before the stairs down into the seats. Shikamaru and Naruto panted harshly.

"Hn? What's up?" Kakashi asked casually.

"Sensei! Stop this match right now!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi and Sakura looked shocked by the very idea. "He's totally different from us! He's not normal!"

"Naruto, breathe," I soothed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We don't understand what you're talking about."

"He lives to kill others!" Naruto shouted desperately. "At this rate, Sasuke will die! Kakashi-sensei!"

My hand tightened on Naruto's shoulder. I raised my eyes to stare at Kakashi. He didn't meet my gaze. In fact, he closed his eyes calmly.

"Don't worry," he assured. "Sasuke and I weren't late for nothing."

I couldn't see what was going on in the arena very well from where I stood. But at this point, Sasuke would probably understand he couldn't get through the orb of sand by conventional means.

"Sensei," Sakura spoke up. "What do you mean that you weren't late for nothing?"

"Hn? You wanna know?"

Naruto growled in frustration. "Look, we don't have time for this!"

"Be quiet and watch him," Kakashi interrupted smoothly. "You'll be surprised."

Sasuke was up on the wall now, like I had been for my own fight. He flashed a hand sign and shoved his hand downwards, his other gripping his wrist tightly. His hand began to glow and spark. My eyes widened.

The Chidori.

"No way!" Gai shouted, standing from his seat. "Is that…?"

Kakashi smiled. "The reason I trained Sasuke is because he's…the same type as me."

The Chidori grew in size and power, tearing up the stone of the wall just around Sasuke. With a smirk, he charged down the wall, digging a trench in it with the energy of the Chidori as he went.

"I see…" Guy frowned. "So that's why you only trained in taijutsu and had him increase his speed."

"Yup."

"Incredible," Sakura exclaimed. "You can clearly see the chakra in his hand! What's going on?"

Sasuke finally landed on the ground, running straight at Gaara. The energy in his hand chirped wildly.

"What is that?" Sakura shouted. "The sound…"

"A simple stab," Gai explained. "But it's …Konoha's number one technician, Copy Ninja Kakashi's sole original technique. It's a technique made for assassination. The speed of the stab and the great amount of chakra creates the heightened flesh. Because the chakra is concentrated in the hand, and with the speed of the user, you hear that sound…like a thousand birds running towards you. Thus, that technique is called Chidori."

Sasuke's hand slammed into the sand, piercing it.

"Chidori," Gai repeated. "Also known as the Lightning Blade."

"Lightning blade?" Sakura echoed.

"Kakashi earned it that nickname when he cut a bolt of lighting using the technique," Gai explained briefly. "But its true name is Chidori. It's known for its stabbing speed that pushes the limit of the human body…and the huge amount of chakra that is focused in a single arm. That arm becomes the blade of a sword that cuts anything. But…it's a truly ridiculous technique."

That last bit was said with a pout, Gai's arms crossed tightly over his chest.

A bone-chilling scream came from the arena down below. I rushed down the stairs to get a better look at what was going on. Sasuke was panicking, trying desperately to pull his arm from the sand. He summoned the Chidori once again and another scream shook the air. When Sasuke was finally able to pull his arm out, something distinctly inhuman came with him.

"What the hell is that?!" Noboru-sensei shouted, leaping from his seat.

Sasuke knelt on the ground, frozen and shaking in what I could only assume was fear. The …thing retreated back into the orb, but the hole Sasuke had made remained. Something…something wasn't right.

The orb cracked and dissolved, revealing Gaara once again. He was bleeding.

Suddenly, feathers began falling around me. Shit! The genjutsu! Kabuto's genjutsu! I slammed my hands together in the tiger sign, releasing a burst of chakra to dispel the genjutsu away from me. Gai, Kakashi, Noboru-sensei, and Sakura all did the same. There was an explosion in the Kage's box.

The Konoha Crush had begun.

Notes:

Songs mentioned in this chapter:

Naruto Shippuden Opening 16: Silhouette by KANA-BOON tv size here and full song here

Chapter 8: In Which There is Blood

Notes:

Thank you all so much for your support! 50 kudos is a huge milestone and I adore you all for helping me get this far and for encouraging me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope to see you all in the comments!

Chapter Text

There was the sound of an explosion and the entire stadium shook. The village wall had fallen, that much I knew for sure. Too much was happening at once! The Kazekage had the Hokage in a chokehold, holding him hostage against the ANBU who were attempting to intervene. The two ninja who had been guarding the supposed Kazekage split into four. The next thing I knew, a giant violet barrier had been erected on the roof of the arena, blocking off any chance the ANBU (or any one else for that matter) had from getting to the Hokage.

My eyes darted from the barrier that surrounded the Hokage to the walkway in front of the stands. A man in a dark cloak and a white animal mask appeared there, soon joined by eight masked Sound ninja.

"This is bad…" Kakashi muttered.

"So there are nine traitors," Gai observed, his voice lower than it usually was.

"That man in the mask," Noboru said slowly. "He's the one who cast the genjutsu."

By this point, Gaara's siblings and their jonin instructor had entered the arena proper, shielding Gaara from Sasuke and Genma. Gaara was bent over, clutching his head like he was in pain. Moments later, after making an apparently tough decision, Temari and Kankuro took Gaara and left the arena. Seconds later, Sasuke left after them.

"Sasuke!" I shouted after him. I tried to move to catch up with him, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I whipped around to see Kakashi, a grim look in his eye.

"Don't do anything too hasty now," he warned. "There's too many high level ninja to be acting recklessly."

"It's not just that," Gai said. "The situation is much more dire. Look inside the barrier."

Kakashi turned, to look at the barrier, his eyes squinting a little bit. Then, his face went pale and his hand fell from my shoulder as the shock hit him.

"Orochimaru!"

Sakura flinched at the name, turning to try and find Sasuke on the field, paling when she realized he was gone. Two Sound ninjas appeared before her. Before I could even move, Kakashi disposed of the threat, stabbing each man in the head. Sakura ducked down, arms over her head and eyes closed as blood sprayed in a wide arc.

And just like that there was fighting all over the place. Jonin who'd been able to beat back the genjutsu clashed with the invaders. Gai and Noboru-sensei fought back-to-back, working in perfect unison. I felt, for probably the second time in my new life, totally useless.

A Sound ninja entered my line of sight and I flicked a shuriken in his direction. He dodged it effortlessly, rushing at me with a kunai in hand. I barely dodged the blade, bending over backwards to avoid being stabbed. Just as my opponent adjusted the kunai so he could stab downwards, a sword came shrieking through the air and removed his head from his shoulders. I shivered violently as blood hit my face. I fell back against the stairs, stomach churning.

"Are you alright, Kourubi-chan?"

I flinched at the familiar voice. I looked up to see my mother standing above me, concern on her face. She held a tanto in her hand, blood dripping from the blade and onto the floor below us. My father appeared suddenly by her side, his hands bloody and a cut ran along his forehead, dripping blood into his eye. There was so much blood. So…so much blood.

I turned and immediately retched violently on the stairs beneath me. I was shaking. My vision blurred.

"Kourubi-chan…" I could hear my father's soft voice call my name. I inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the smell of blood and vomit. I slowly stood, still shaking.

"I'm fine…I'm fine."

"Kourubi-chan, Sakura." I turned my gaze to Kakashi, who stood resolute in front of his student. "I need you to dispel the genjutsu on Naruto and Shikamaru. This will be the first mission you've had in quite a while. I'm sure Naruto will be happy."

I glanced over my shoulder at the sleeping forms of Naruto and Shikamaru, so far spared from the violence.

"What kind of mission?" Sakura asked, her voice shaking.

"Listen carefully," Kakashi said, his voice low and dangerous. "For the first time since the Wave Country mission…this will be an A rank mission."

Another Sound ninja fell to Kakashi's kunai, blood spraying over the sleeping civilians. I shuddered.

"Sasuke is in pursuit of Gaara and the others from Suna," Kakashi explained. "Sakura, you are to nullify the genjutsu on Naruto and Shikamaru, and with Kourubi-chan you will track down Sasuke."

"But…then shouldn't I wake up Ino and Chouji too? Then all of us…"

Kakashi shook his head. "Most likely shinobi from Suna and Sound have already entered the village. If you take any more than a basic four-man team, you lose speed and it becomes harder to remain hidden. You learned that during the patrol drills at the academy, right? But there's one more thing."

Kakashi used his kunai to create a small cut in his thumb. He slammed his hand down onto the back of the unconscious man in front of him, summoning forth a small pug with a Konoha headband.

"This guy is Pakkun," Kakashi explained. "He'll be able to track Sasuke down by scent."

"This little doggy?" Sakura clearly didn't believe him.

Pakkun scowled and hopped across the unconscious bodies around us to meet Sakura face to face.

"Hey, missy! Don't call me a cute little doggy!"

"Quickly, Sakura! Nullify the genjutsu!" Kakashi ordered.

Sakura quickly shimmied out of her spot, crawling on her belly across the ground to get around the bodies of her friends. I leapt up the stairs, luckily missing the puddle of vomit I'd left behind. I crouched over Naruto and Shikamaru, kunai drawn. Sakura peeked over the top of the stairs, Pakkun at her side. She clamored up to Naruto, throwing up the tiger sign before tapping him lightly. He snorted lightly as he awoke, rubbing at his eyes as he at up.

"Huh? What happened, Sakura-chan?"

"I'll tell you later, stay down!" Sakura hissed, pushing Naruto back towards the floor.

She shuffled over the Shikamaru. She peered down at him and paused, confusion on her face. That confusion quickly fell into something more like annoyance.

"Shikamaru, from the very beginning…" Pakkun wandered up to bite at Shikamaru's exposed calf. Shikamaru shot up with a pained yelp. Sakura pointed accusatorily at him and shouted, "You were able to deflect the genjutsu too! Why were you playing possum?!"

Shikamaru scowled, pulling Pakkun from his leg and pinching at the dog's cheek. "I didn't want to be attacked! Besides, I don't wanna be part of this! Who cares about Sasuke?"

Pakkun bit down on Shikamaru's offending hand. I glared at the lazy genin. I cared about Sasuke, thank you very much!

Suddenly, a Sound ninja appeared behind Naruto. Sakura cried out a warning and I made to move, but I was too slow. Gai slammed into the ninja, punching him into the wall so hard it left a spider web of cracks in the stone.

"Fast!" the Sound ninja gasped out.

Gai smirked. "Not just fast!"

He let out a wordless cry and finished punching the enemy through the wall, sending him flying.

"Wow…Noboru-sensei's boyfriend is a monster!"

I turned to see Ryou standing there, his usual staff replaced with what looked like a comically large nakiri knife. Relief washed over me as I fought the urge to hug him.

"Good to see you're not dead yet," I greeted.

"Such little faith in me," he replied with a snort.

Kakashi appeared behind us, putting his body between us genin and the fighting. "I'll tell the mission one more time. Once you've heard it, escape through that hole. Chase after Sasuke, join up with him, and stop him. Then take him to a safe location."

"Wait, what happened to Sasuke?!" Naruto demanded.

"I'll tell you on the way, let's go!" Sakura shouted, grabbing Naruto about the waist and dragging him through the hole in the wall.

Shikamaru grumbled loudly but followed after them. I ran for the hole, but paused and turned to Ryou.

"Ryou, find Mai and Iruka-sensei! If they're not awake, get them up! If they are awake, keep them from dying!"

"You got it! Now fucking GO!"

I turned and jumped through the hole, bounding through the trees. I could feel Mori and Gan's chakra tugging at mine anxiously. I tried to calm my own fear, hoping they could sense the calm through our bond. I need them to keep an eye on things from the sky, needed them to be out of the fighting.

I caught up with Sakura and the others some time later, after Sakura had already explained the situation to Naruto. Pakkun's nose twitched and he careened off to the right. We followed close behind. As we ran, my mind wandered back to the arena. I had a general knowledge of what was going on. The Third Hokage was fighting Orochimaru. Kakashi, Gai, Noboru, and my mother and father were fighting what probably seemed like an endless army of Sound ninja. But it was what I didn't know that bugged me. Had Ryou found Mai and Iruka? What was Mai doing? Were kaa-san and tou-san alright? What about the rest of my family? I didn't like Fukuro but that didn't mean I wanted him to get hurt.

Pakkun's nose twitched again and he turned to shout over his shoulder at us. "Hey! You guys need to pick up the pace! There are two squads with eight…no nine men chasing us."

"What? Already?" Shikamaru snapped. "Man, you've got to be kidding me!"

"They don't seem to have a fix on our true position yet, but they're closing in on us pretty quick," Pakkun said.

"Shit, they're probably all beyond chunin level," Shikamaru hissed. "If they catch up with us, we'll be annihilated."

"You're a really optimistic guy, ain't ya," I muttered sarcastically.

"Well, what if we ambushed them?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Wouldn't work. In order to ambush someone there are two conditions that have to be met: first, those fleeing must move without making noise and discover the enemy before the enemy discovers them; second, they must locate and quickly conceal themselves in a place and position where you can catch the enemy off guard and ensure you cause maximum damage to them. We've got the first condition covered thanks to Pakkun's nose. But while it may seem like we would be able to secure the best position to surprise them since this is our home and we're familiar with the geography, the plan wouldn't work against the subordinates of a shinobi from Konoha. They're probably all ninja who have mastered the art of hunting, who will have been taught the geography of this land and practiced endlessly for this battle.

"Even with that though, an ambush would still be advantageous to us but there are too many undecided factors involved!" Shikamaru continued. "The enemy's a ninja squad that's been organized specifically for this plan. Where as we have an idiot, a kunoichi with no special talent, a dog, a showboat, and the guy who's best at running away: me."

Showboat? Is that how he saw me? Well, I guess that's a legitimate opinion given my fights so far…

"Looks like there's really only one thing we can do…" he muttered.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"We need to create a diversion that looks as if we're going to ambush them," Shikamaru said. "One of us will have to remain behind and delay them by faking an ambush."

"Right…so who's the decoy?" I asked.

"Well, who ever it is who stays behind will probably…die."

I inhaled sharply. A heavy silence fell over us; the only thing I could hear was the rushing wind. Naruto frowned and made to volunteer but Shikamaru interrupted him.

"I guess I'm the one," he said, looking like he'd rather do anything else in the world. "Out of all of us, if I had to pick someone who could play decoy and win, it'd be me."

He grabbed a thick tree branch and used it to whip himself around to face behind us. The rest of us stopped on branches just beyond him.

"Besides," he said over his shoulder, "the shadow possession jutsu was originally used as a delaying tactic, you know." He turned to look back towards the direction the enemy ninja were surly coming from. "Well?! I'll catch up with you later so hurry up and go!"

Naruto nodded. "We'll be depending on you!"

He and Sakura and Pakkun turned and left. I hesitated, because I always seem to.

"Don't die, you lazy bastard!" I shouted back at Shikamaru. "I'm actually starting to like you!"

I didn't hang around to hear his response.

I had no idea how long we ran through the trees. It honestly seemed like it would go on forever without end. Nothing but a sea of brown and green. Sasuke...would we ever catch up with you?

Pakkun turned to shout back at us. "Sasuke's movement has stopped. There's still a little ways to go but…"

"Oh, thank god," I whispered. "Hang in there, baby brother, we're coming."

"Wait!" Pakkun barked. "There's someone else besides us chasing Sasuke!"

"Is it an enemy or an ally?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Pakkun admitted. "But…it's not human."

There was a rumbling up ahead. Had Gaara started transforming already? What about Shino and Kankuro's fight? Was it over already? Not knowing things was seriously fucking me up.

There! I could see them. Or I could see something. Two shapes moving in the distance. One looked distinctly inhuman. That must be Gaara. By this point, Sasuke had probably used up his all the shots he had with the Chidori. And there was no curse mark to refill his chakra. I could see him hit the tree branch. NO!

Naruto's sudden burst of speed caught me off guard as he shot forward and kicked Gaara in the face before he could reach Sasuke. Sakura, Pakkun, and I landed just beside Sasuke's prone form. He struggled to get back to his feet.

"Hey, nee-chan!" Naruto called. He turned to look at me, pointing to Gaara's half transformed form. "Who the hell is that?!"

"That's Gaara, baby brother," I told him. I felt Sasuke twitch beside me as I used the endearment. Did he mind that I called Naruto my brother too? Guh, whatever. I'll deal with that later.

Naruto's face paled and his eyes widened in shock. Something akin to anger filled his eyes as he turned to meet Gaara's gaze. Sasuke was trembling. Something was wrong, like he'd run out of chakra or something. We had to get him out of here.

My head shot up when I heard Naruto yell a warning at us. Gaara was flying at us, his gurgling, rasping voice shouting at Sasuke to die. In that moment, something snapped inside Sakura. She whipped around, kunai in hand, and faced down Gaara. There was something in her eyes that resonated with Gaara somehow, I could tell, but that didn't stop him from using his mutated arm to pin her to a tree. I snatched Sasuke away, landing beside Naruto on another tree branch. Sakura was knocked out and bleeding. Fuck, I felt so useless. Gaara clutched at his head, his whole body shaking. There was confusion in his one still human eye. It was the same look he had when Gai stepped in to save Lee during the preliminaries. He…

He almost looked like he wanted to cry.

I clutched Sasuke to myself, desperately willing the pain in my chest to go away. The fear, the panic, the dread…but most of all the intense desire to heal a wound I had no way of repairing. I could feel the tears prickling my eyes, but I couldn't tell what caused them. There was too much going on in my head.

"What's the matter?" Gaara rasped, finally coming back to the present. "Weren't you going to retreat?"

He glanced from Naruto, to me, to Sasuke, to Sakura, and then back to Naruto. "These people…what do they mean to you?"

"T-they're my friends! Leave them alone, or else I'll kick your ass!" Naruto shouted, sounding far more courageous then he probably felt.

Gaara glared at him, his mutated hand squeezing Sakura tighter, causing her to cry out in pain. I flinched, tightening my hold on Sasuke, who groaned.

"What now?" Gaara demanded. "Aren't you going to kick my ass?"

Naruto clenched his fists, glaring Gaara down. "Bring it on! Damn you!"

Naruto jumped forward, but was quickly knocked back by Gaara's tail. Well, it wasn't so much Gaara's tail as Shukaku's tail but that didn't really matter right now. Sasuke stirred beside me, his eyes barely opening. At least he was aware of what was going on. Naruto's eyes darted to Sakura. His' frown deepened, like he'd come to some sort of decision. And he threw up the ram sign before slamming his hand down on the branch at his feet. The summoning jutsu.

But instead of the giant toad he'd been hoping for, a tiny, colorful toad appeared instead. Which one was it? Gamakichi? I never really bothered to memorize the names of the toads. Pretty much as soon as Naruto realized what had happened the two began yelling at each other. Goddammit, Sunshine, now is not the time!

Gaara growled and his body shifted, becoming even less human. There was hardly anything left of the actual Gaara anymore. The only thing I could see was Shukaku. He retracted his arm, leaving behind a sandy impression of his hand around Sakura.

"She won't be released from the sand unless you beat me," Gaara told Naruto. "Not only that, but it'll get tighter and tighter as time passes and eventually kill her."

Gaara curled in on himself before suddenly throwing his arms wide. Tiny shuriken of sand flew towards us. I jumped away with my arms wrapped protectively around Sasuke. Naruto snatched up the tiny toad, wrapping himself around it so it wouldn't get hurt.

"NARUTO!" I shouted, watching helplessly as the sand slammed into his body and sent him flying back into another tree branch.

Naruto struggled back to his feet. I could see a flurry of emotions pass through his too blue eyes. Pain, loneliness, sadness, anger, but most of all there was understanding. Naruto saw himself in Gaara. If he hadn't met Iruka…if he hadn't been placed on Team Seven with Sakura and Sasuke and Kakashi…if…if I hadn't replaced Kourubi and been so insistent with my affection and encouragement. I didn't want to think Naruto could have been like Gaara…but when it came to Naruto anything was possible, even if those things were frightening.

"Well? C'mon!" Gaara shouted. "I'll kill the girl if you don't fight me!"

Naruto spat a curse as he leapt at Gaara, summoning several shadow clones. Mouths appeared all over Gaara's monstrous body, inhaling deeply and then blowing out a massive gust of wind and sand. Naruto was blown back several feet, and his clones disappeared, unable to take the assault.

"I won't kill you now," Gaara promised. "I'll play with you for a while. I wonder when you'll give up your comrades and run off to save your ass. Not that I'll let you get away."

Barrage after barrage of sand shurkin plowed into Naruto. And I…I just sat there helplessly. I knew I had to do something, but my body wouldn't move. Fear had paralyzed me. Some shinobi I was. All I could to was cling tightly to Sasuke and hope.

Naruto slowly, shakily, rose to his feet. His eyes were angry and determined. This…this was the turning point. Naruto always got that look in his eyes before he got his second wind. C'mon, Sunshine. Please win.

He pulled out a kunai and what looked like an explosion tag. He wrapped the tag around the kunai and summoned another small troop of clones. They flew at him, throwing the real Naruto forward. He jumped around Gaara, summoning more and more clones to do what I couldn't tell. And then…

He shoved the Kunai up what I assumed was supposed to be Gaara's ass with a cry of 'One Thousand Years of Pain.'

Oh my god.

Gaara stared at Naruto for a moment before his tail flicked out and sent him flying. But I could hear the sizzle of the explosion tag and I ducked down, covering Sasuke's body with my own as the tag exploded. Naruto slammed into us, knocking us back into a tree truck. Sasuke managed to keep Naruto from getting hurt, but my body hit the tree proper, the full weight of Naruto and Sasuke slamming into my torso. I fought to catch my breath as the wind was knocked out of me. Oh god, that hurt. Think I might have cracked a few ribs.

"Finally managed to go back to your normal self?" Sasuke wheezed at Naruto. "Even after all that you only managed one blow…shape up will you. I can't save you this time like I did back in Wave Country. You dimwit."

"Shut up, will you…" Naruto snapped back, but it was lacking in bite.

"Okay, that's the second time someone's mentioned Wave Country," I grumbled, wincing when I realized it kinda hurt to breathe. "When this is over you're gonna have to fill me in on what the fuck happened there. And would you two get along for once. I don't like listening to my baby brothers fight."

Sasuke glared tiredly at me. "Stop calling us that."

"Never."

Sasuke shook his head, his expression turning grim. "Hey, Naruto. You have to save Sakura no matter what. I know you can do it. Once you've got her…carry her, and you and Kourubi run as far and as fast as you can. If it's just for a while, I should be able to hold him back…"

"Sasuke, I can still fight," I insisted.

"No!" I flinched back at the force behind Sasuke's words. "Never again…I've already lost everything once. I don't want to watch those precious to me die before my eyes again."

Oh…I get it now. My lips pressed into a thin line. I wanted to be happy that Sasuke considered us to be precious but in the current context, all I felt was a heavy sadness. I wanted to argue. I couldn't leave him behind, dammit.

"I get it," Naruto said softly, cutting off any argument I could make. I turned my gaze to his back. "Yeah, that's right. Because he was like me…because he lived feeling the same kind of loneliness and sadness I did…I thought he was strong 'cause he survived that solitude by fighting only for himself.

"But I was wrong. His strength isn't real because real strength doesn't come from fighting alone. You don't get real strength when you only fight for yourself." Naruto squared his shoulders, raising his hands to form the ram sign. His expression was hard. His eyes were blazing with a fire I'd yet to see in his eyes, even with everything that had happened before now.

Sasuke whispered his name in some sort of awe. I stood shakily, leaning back against the tree trunk to keep balance. Naruto yelled wordlessly and I felt the full force of the Kyuubi's chakra as it poured out of him.

"I will protect them," Naruto declared. "No matter what!"

Hundreds if not thousands of kage bunshin appeared in the trees, covering every piece of available space. My jaw dropped at the sight. Sasuke fell on his ass, staring up at Naruto in astonishment.

"You…this…" He couldn't find words.

"Sasuke, nee-chan, you take it easy," Naruto said calmly. "You just leave the rest up to me."

The clones charged Gaara, who seemed unable to move after the explosion, possibly because he had to reform his sand body. The clones sent a flurry of shuriken his way, which he blocked with his still intact arm. Naruto and his clones combined their efforts into a modified Uzumaki Naruto Rendan, four clones kicking Gaara up into the air for something like a dozen or so clones to punch from all different directions. Gaara was sent crashing into the ground. Naruto and his clones dove after him. Something happened, I couldn't see it, but the next thing I knew there was an explosion and a giant, fully formed Shukaku stood in the middle of the forest.

"Wha…what is that?!" Sasuke gasped.

"That is Shukaku," I told him, glaring at the beast. "The Ichibi."

Shukaku extended his hand, sand dripping from his claws. The sand wrapped around Naruto, just like it did before any of Gaara's kills. Sasuke shouted Naruto's name, but he'd lost too much chakra already. There was nothing he could do. Just before the sand finished wrapping around him, I saw Naruto lift his hand to wipe at the blood dripping from his lips.

An explosion ripped the sand coffin wide open and another giant appeared in the trees. But at least this one, this giant fucking toad, was on our side. Good ol' Gamabunta…I guess? The giant toad and Naruto were having some kind of conversation but it was hard to follow seeing as I could only hear half of it. But suddenly Gamabunta was drawing the GIANT SWORD he had from behind his back. This…this world was so fucking weird. And this is coming from the girl who summoned a flock of talking corvids on a semi regular basis.

I reached out and grabbed on to Sasuke. "I think we need to get out of the way."

The two giant creatures charged each other. At some point, Gamabunta's sword went flying away from him. The impact when it landed shook the whole forest and I struggled to keep Sasuke and myself from falling out of the tree. We were lucky we were off to the side of the actual fighting, but that didn't make me feel much better about the whole situation.

I could hardly tell what was going on, but there were powerful winds and water fell from the sky like rain. Then, there was puff of smoke like someone was performing a transformation and suddenly, instead of a toad, the Kyuubi stood before us. The Kyuubi launched itself at Shukaku, latching onto it with its fangs. Another poof and Gamabunta was back. Naruto must have gotten onto Shukaku's head to attempt to wake up Gaara.

I watched as Shukaku suddenly began to crumble away. Naruto did it. Of course he did.

"Did he win?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Yeah, little lion man." I coughed and reached up to ruffle Sasuke's hair. "He won. Well… almost. There's still one last thing he has to do."

Naruto and Gaara fell to the treetops, barely able to catch themselves. They stood facing each other, Gamabunta's sword between them. Gamabunta and the little toad Naruto had summoned earlier disappeared. Soon after, the sword did as well. And Naruto and Gaara leapt at each other for the last blow.

Naruto's punch landed. Gaara fell to the forest below. The two of them landed with a painful sounding thud on the forest floor. The sand around Sakura's body slowly fell away. Sasuke jumped to catch her, settling her gently on a tree branch beside Pakkun. He murmured something to the small dog before turning to look at me, a question in his eyes. I nodded and the two of us jumped away to try and find Naruto.

I caught sight of him crawling across the dirt with only enough strength to move his chin. He inched closer and closer to Gaara, moving in the most painful and pathetic way.

"D-don't come any closer!" there was fear in Gaara's voice and eyes.

"It's almost unbearable, isn't it…the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place," Naruto said softly, his voice pained. "But now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I'll never give up. I'll stop you, even if I have to kill you!"

"Why?" Gaara rasped. "Why do you go so far for their sake?"

"Because…they were the ones to save me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me as who I am. They're…they're my friends."

Sasuke and I landed at Naruto's side.

"That's enough Naruto," Sasuke soothed. "Sakura's fine now. He's most likely out of chakra, the sand holding her completely collapsed."

"That's good…" Naruto mumbled, losing consciousness.

I sighed and looked to Gaara. Gathering my courage, I took a few steps toward him, then a few more, until I was able to kneel beside him. He looked up at me in confusion.

"You okay, kiddo? Sunshine didn't rough you up too bad, did he?"

"Why…?"

"You and Sunshine are a lot alike," I murmured, reaching up to brush away some of the dirt from Gaara's cheek. "You both had it pretty rough, didn't you? You probably had it worse. The one person you thought cared…didn't. If you had even one person who really, honestly cared about you…you probably would have turned out more like Naruto. I kind of wish…I'd come to this world earlier…maybe I could have helped you."

"I don't understand…"

I huffed a little, trying hard not to wince as my cracked ribs protested. "Didn't you hear me back at the stadium? The people who have never been given love, and those who had love taken away from them…I'm going to save those people. And that includes you, Gaara."

"I-"

"Gaara!" Temari and Kankuro jumped down from the trees above us, their stances defensive.

I stepped back slowly, hands raised. Temari and Kankuro watched with nervous eyes and I continued to walk backwards until I stood next to Sasuke once more.

"That's enough," Gaara murmured. "It's over."

Kankuro looked confused, but didn't argue. He bent down to wrap his brother's arm around his shoulders and they left.

"C'mon…"I said, my voice soft and tired. "Let's get back to the village."

Chapter 9: In Which I Tell The Truth

Notes:

Not gonna lie, I cried a lot while writing this chapter, it's very emotional.

Also, as a thank you to you guys for helping me reach 70 kudos, I've started posting my little side project AUs for Kourubi and the gang over in the series Melody From Another Ship These won't be updated nearly as regularly as the main fic, but if I have something I think is worth sharing, then I'll post it there. Or, if for some reason I can't make the usual update, I might post something there instead. So keep an eye out. I have lots of little au ideas :D

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It rained the day of the Third Hokage's funeral. Perhaps that was for the best; shinobi were not meant to cry and the rain hid the tears quite well. But I…I had no tears to cry for the man who lay dead before us. I hadn't known him, and he had lived a long life, far longer than was to be expected of a shinobi who had fought in the great wars. No, I would not, could not, cry for him.

But I could cry for Konohamaru. I could cry for the child experiencing death for the first time. I could cry for the child who had lost someone dear to them.

I wiped my tears on the soaked sleeve of my black shirt and sniffed quietly, holding my head high. I could feel my mother's glances and the heaviness of my father's hand on my shoulder. Sasuke stood beside me and I resisted the urge to reach out and grab his hand. Even with the immediate threat of Orochimaru gone, he had remained under the care of the Karasuno clan. If I had my way, Sasuke would just be adopted into the clan permanently. But I didn't have that sort of power, not yet.

I blinked up at the sky as the rain stopped and sunlight peeked through the dark clouds. God, it was all terribly symbolic or whatever. After the ceremony, Sasuke slipped away to go speak with his team. I, in turn, went to stand with mine. We were quiet, all of us terribly tired. I glanced up and frowned at Mai's broken arm. My arm wrapped around my torso, hand feeling the thick bandages that were wrapped around me. Noboru-sensei leaned heavily on his crutch. Ryou's neck was wrapped in bandages, evidence of a Suna ninja's attempt to slit his throat. We were lucky to still be alive.

From what Ryou had told me, Mai had apparently not been in the stands when the genjutsu was activated. She'd run off to the restroom or something. I couldn't remember. When she came back, she'd found Hinata and Kiba unconscious and spent the attack defending the two genin. Mai had heavily implied that some of the Sound shinobi had been targeting Hinata for her Byakugan. Considering Orochimaru's thing for kekkei genkai, that didn't surprise me. Ryou had been unable to find Iruka during the attack, which had caused me a good deal of grief. I sought him out rather desperately in the aftermath of the attack, finding him at the academy. He assured me that he'd been able to shake off the genjutsu and had immediately left the stadium to help with the evacuation of the academy students. All in all, everyone I really cared about turned out okay. Even my home was relatively unscathed. Windows had been broken and part of the outer wall had been destroyed, but the house itself was mostly untouched.

Then again, this was probably the tamest conflict Konoha would see.

"Kourubi-chan." I turned from my teammates to see my mother standing just behind me. "It's time to go home."

I nodded. "I'll get Sasuke."

I approached Team Seven slowly, not really wanting to take Sasuke away from his friends and teammates. Kakashi glanced up at me, causing the genin to turn to see who he was looking at.

"Nee-chan?" Naruto called.

I smiled a little, which probably looked fake given how tired I obviously was. "Sorry, I have to steal Sasuke away. Kaa-san says it's time to go home."

Sasuke hesitated and my smile fell away. He did that a lot when I called the compound 'home'. Did he still not see it as his home? Or was it something else? I wanted to ask but I couldn't here. Then again, I doubt I'd get a clear answer from him no matter where I asked. Eventually he stepped away from his teammates and came to stand by my side. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, happy that he didn't shy away from me.

The walk back to the compound was silent. Kaa-san and tou-san walked ahead of Sasuke and me, their arms linked tightly together. The whole of Konoha seemed deserted, such a stark contrast to how it had been just a few days ago that it made me uneasy. I had let my arm drop from Sasuke's shoulders about half way back to the compound. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his probably soaked pants. Unlike the movies, there had been no giant black umbrellas for when it started raining at the Hokage's funeral.

The house was dark when we arrived. None of us bothered to turn on the lights. Sasuke and I trudged up the stairs. I opened my door and stepped aside without a word to let him through. He flopped down on my bed in the most graceful manner I'd ever seen anyone flop.

"Don't get my bed wet, baby brother," I grumbled. "Go change clothes if you're gonna do that."

Sasuke huffed but obeyed, wandering out of my room and across the hall to the room that had simply become his. Well, that wasn't entirely true. His stuff was in that room, but he was almost never in the room himself. The birds had been chased out of the tree weeks ago, but he still slept in my room, in my bed.

Sasuke talked in his sleep. He didn't say a whole lot, but he said enough that I could understand what sort of dream he was having. He'd been dreaming about his family a lot recently.

I slipped out of my soaked clothes, tossing them into a hamper in the corner of my room. I grabbed a towel and dried my skin before grabbing a large shirt and tugging that over my head. I was riffling through my drawers for some shorts or something to wear underneath and complete my pajamas when my door opened again and Sasuke wandered back in. His face was void of emotion, unless you counted exhaustion as an emotion. He was wearing that giant white shirt he usually wore to sleep. He fell back onto my bed, curling into himself atop the quilt. His eyes were open; staring at the pale, peach colored pillow covers without actually seeing them. I sighed, slipping on a pair of loose shorts and climbing onto the bed.

I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. One arm reached out to wrap around Sasuke and tug him towards me. He felt cold. I pressed a small kiss to his still wet hair and shifted us around so I could pull the quilt out from under us. I yanked it over us and pulled him closer. He tucked his head into my neck and I could feel his warm breath against my shoulder.

"I didn't think today would make me so tired," I mumbled.

Sasuke made a noncommittal grunt.

"You okay?"

A nod.

"Would you tell me if you weren't?"

Another unhelpful sound. I assumed that meant no. I sighed, but figured it was best to leave it alone. I felt Sasuke's breathing slow as he drifted off into sleep. Despite my own exhaustion, I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep. I lay awake, rubbing soothing circles up and down Sasuke's spine.

Everything after this point was pretty fuzzy for me. I knew Itachi would show up soon, but I had no idea how soon. And after he came and fucked shit up Naruto would come back with Tsunade. After THAT, Sasuke, in the original story, would leave with Orochimaru's lackeys. I could only hope I'd done enough that Sasuke would stay. I had offered him all I could give him: friendship, platonic and even familial love, and the chance to have a family again. I'd laid it all out on the table; now all I could do was wait for him to make his choice.

Sasuke shifted next to me, one hand reaching up to clutch at my sleep shirt. He made a pained noise in his sleep. I shushed him softly, pressing kisses to his hair and continuing to rub spiraling patterns into his back. He calmed, his hand still fisted tightly in my shirt, but he'd stopped groaning at least.

Then I heard it. It was quiet, but I definitely heard it.

Sasuke sighed. "Nee-san…"

I blinked, turning my head to look at Sasuke fully. He slept on, as if nothing had happened. I gave a short, breathless laugh, tears prickling my eyes. I rolled over to embrace him fully, hugging him close to my chest. He groaned and I could feel his eyelashes against my skin as his eyes fluttered open.

"Kourubi?"

"It's nothing, baby brother," I whispered. "Go back to sleep."

Sasuke went out to meet with Kakashi the next day. I wandered down the stairs to find tou-san sitting on the engawa facing the back garden. I sat beside him, looking out onto the garden was well. It was a large space, full of green grass and kaa-san's favorite flowers. Towards the far end was a small hill under a tall cherry tree. It was lovely.

"If you have something to say, you should probably say it." tou-san chuckled.

I jumped a little, my cheeks heating up. I coughed awkwardly as I tried to center myself. "Um, tou-san…I was wondering, since Sasuke is probably going to stay with us indefinitely…if maybe, we could …possibly… give him…"

Tou-san laughed, loud and from his very core. "How did I know you were going to ask that? Of course we can. He's family after all."

I turned to face him properly, the biggest, brightest grin on my face. Tou-san matched it with a smile of his own, reaching out to ruffle my hair affectionately. "I'll go get the family contract."

I watched him stand and walk away, a giddy giggle bubbling up in my chest. I could hear the front door sliding open and the stomping of irritated feet. I stood and made my way back into the house, finding a scowling Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" I asked, slipping into the seat beside him.

"Something's going on," he muttered, looking absolutely livid. "Kakashi canceled training and told me to go home, but something's up. I think…I think my brother is here."

I froze, eyes wide. So soon? That couldn't be right, could it? "Are you sure?"

"No, but…I thought I felt his chakra."

I reached out, pushing his hair away from his face. He met my gaze, his posture loosening. "Well, if he is here, then what I'm about to tell you might just be even more important than I thought."

He raised a brow in curiosity, silently asking me to continue.

"I know you haven't been here terribly long, but it doesn't seem like you're going to be leaving anytime soon. You're family, Sasuke, even if you don't fully believe us when we say it. And as family, there are a few things you're entitled to…like, for instance, a bird."

Sasuke's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His arms dropped to his sides. "You're…serious."

"Of course I am," I told him. "I've already spoke to tou-san about it. He agrees. You're family. He's already gone to get the family's contract. Do you…do you want to sign it?"

He was silent for a moment, indecision in his eyes. I wondered if he thought he'd be betraying his family if he signed the contract. I never really knew much about the Uchiha in general, just Sasuke and Itachi. Did the Uchiha have their own family summons?

"But…" Sasuke spoke cautiously. "I'm not a Karasuno…I'm an Uchiha."

"No one's asking you to change your name," I insisted gently. "You will always be Uchiha Sasuke. But that doesn't mean you can't be part of the Karasuno family. It's like…like when a bride marries into her husband's family. Just because she's joined another family doesn't mean she's no longer her mother's daughter, or her brother's sister."

Sasuke seemed to consider this.

"Besides, Naruto's already signed a summoning contract," I teased. "And corvids are way cooler than toads."

Sasuke gave a little snort of laughter. Finally, I got a smile out of him. "Alright, where's this contract?"

"In the audience room." We turned to see tou-san standing in the doorway, a grin on his face.

We followed him into the audience room, the sliding doors open to the garden just beyond the engawa. A large scroll lay open on the tatami mats. I could see my name, written in dried blood, just before the blank space where Sasuke's name would go. Technically, the Karasuno had more than one summon contract. The head family had its own scroll, separate from the rest of the clan. The fact that tou-san had brought the clan head's scroll for Sasuke to sign said far more than any words could.

I sat next to Sasuke, pulling out a senbon. I held out my hand to him.

"It has to be signed with your dominant hand," I said quietly. He lay his left hand palm up in mine. I pricked his thumb, watching the blood swell on this fingertip.

He wrote his name slowly, carefully, on the pure white paper. Then, smearing each of his fingertips with blood, he sealed the contract with his fingerprints. Tou-san smiled, handing Sasuke a handkerchief to wipe his hand on.

"Now, let's see who your partner is," he instructed.

"Partner?" Sasuke echoed.

I nodded. "The first bird you summon is your partner. Like how Mori and Gan are my partners."

Sasuke hummed thoughtfully. I ran him through the hand signs. Boar-dog-bird-monkey-ram. He slammed his hand down on the tatami mats harder than was strictly necessary. There was a puff of smoke and as it cleared I could see a small, young bird sitting before Sasuke. It was almost completely black, save for a patch of red along its shoulders. It stared up at Sasuke hopefully.

Sasuke stared back, totally unsure of what to do next. "Do I…do I name it?"

"You can, if you don't I'm sure they'll come up with a name for themselves eventually," tou-san said with a shrug.

Sasuke held out his hand, waiting for the bird to hop into it. The bird did, fluttering its wings nervously as Sasuke raised his hand to eye level. He stared hard at his feathered companion. The bird hopped anxiously, giving a tiny peep.

"Tsutsuji." Sasuke decided.

The bird tilted its head to the side before mimicking Sasuke in a tiny, high-pitched voice. "Tsustuji. Tsutsuji! My name is Tsutsuji! What's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke? Sacchan?"

Sasuke made a face. "No."

Tsutsuji ignored him, hopping excitedly up and down on his hand. "Sacchan! Sacchan!"

Sasuke groaned and looked at me, silently begging for sympathy. I just giggled. Cutesy nicknames were just something that happened when you bonded with young birds it seemed.

Sasuke and I wandered about the village. I just wanted to get out of the house and used the excuse that we needed to get Tsutsuji acquainted with the village. Sasuke had been…tense the past few days. That probably wasn't the right word, but I couldn't really describe it. Restless? Maybe even a little bit like he was on the verge of an existential crisis? I knew it had to have something to do with Naruto. It always did. But broaching that topic was not really something I wanted to or knew how to do.

"I want to check on Kakashi," Sasuke said suddenly. His face was impassive. I gave a shrug of agreement and allowed him to lead the way towards Kakashi's place. I wasn't entirely sure under what context Sasuke had needed to know Kakashi's place of residence, but I supposed it didn't matter.

The fact he just let him self in was a bit of a puzzle as well. How often did you just barge into your teacher's apartment, kiddo?

"Kakashi…" He stopped just inside the door, staring at his unconscious teacher. I peeked in over his shoulder, feeling very sheepish as Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai all turned to stare at us.

"What's going on?" Sasuke demanded. "Why is he unconscious? Why are you all here?"

I stood in the doorway, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Someone ran into me from behind, knocking me for fully into the room. I whipped around to see a jonin who was familiar enough that I knew his face, but his name escaped me.

"Is it true? Everyone's saying that Itachi is back! And that he's chasing after Naruto!"

Sasuke turned slowly to the jonin in the doorway, his face a mask of pure rage. He pushed passed me and the jonin, and bolted out the door. I rushed after him, ignoring Gai's shouts.

I chased after Sasuke as he sprinted through the village, stopping only once when he reached Ichiraku.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?!" I panted as he ducked under the banner.

He ignored me completely. "Old man! Naruto usually comes here for lunch. Do you know where he went after that?"

The owner looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ahh, Naruto. Let's see. Yes, Jiraiya-san came and ate ramen with him. He said they were going to leave town a bit. Take the cattle road to Shukuba or something."

"Jiraiya?" Sasuke asked, his expression suspicious.

"Yes, Jiraiya of the Sannin," the owner said proudly. "He's a giant, white haired man. You can't miss him."

Sasuke ran off without another word. I gave the owner a quick bow and a thank you before speeding off after him. Tsutsuji did her best to keep up with us, and for such a young bird she did pretty well.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, slow the fuck down!" I shouted as we sprinted out of the village gate. "What do you even expect to do if you find Itachi?"

"I'm going to kill him," Sasuke said evenly, his voice at total odds with the concern and anger that warred on his face.

I wanted to argue with him, get him to calm down and think, but I didn't know how. So instead, I followed him with furrowed brows and a frown. We sailed through the treetops towards the inn town. I sent Tsutsuji back to Konoha to warn Gai and the other jonin. Sasuke was so focused on the task at hand that he didn't notice.

Shukuba was nothing but inns and bars and brothels. I felt terribly uncomfortable. Sasuke didn't pause for a moment, running from one inn to another, asking for a man with white hair and a blonde idiot. Jeez, and Iruka said Naruto never calmed down. Most people had no idea who he was talking about. This would get us nowhere. I reached out and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder. I turned to the man he was about to ask about Jiraiya and Naruto.

"Have you seen two men in black cloaks with red clouds?"

Sasuke looked at me in confusion but the man at the desk immediately went pale and pointed us to an inn down the street. I thanked him for his time and pushed Sasuke in that direction. Sasuke looked at me suspiciously, but I had no time to address his unspoken questions. If Itachi and Kisame were here, that meant Naruto was in trouble.

We entered the inn, ignoring the staff and quickly climbing the stairs. The further we went the heavier the feeling of dread lay in my chest. We turned, and there, in the middle of the hall, was Naruto, flanked by two men in black cloaks with red clouds.

The air around me went cold when Sasuke finally laid eyes on his brother. This was bad. This was so bad. I had worked so hard to save Sasuke and now everything could fall apart.

"It's been a while, Sasuke…" Itachi greeted, his tone cold, almost disdainful. I took one step forward, subtly putting myself between Sasuke and his brother. Itachi didn't even turn around.

When Sasuke spoke, it carried with it a wave of anger and resentment and hatred so suffocating I felt like I was drowning. "Uchiha Itachi…I'm going to kill you."

Sasuke's Sharingan spun dangerously. I could see the panic in Naruto's eyes even from where I was standing several feet away. This was a shitty situation. I didn't even have Mai and Ryou with me for backup, otherwise I'd be tempted to pull a Forest of Death and spirit Naruto and Sasuke away.

"Oh ho, the Sharingan," Kisame laughed. "You seem familiar with Itachi. Who is this guy?"

"He is," Itachi said slowly, "my younger brother."

"Wrong!" I hissed. "He stopped being your brother the moment you decided killing your clan was the only option left to you!"

Kisame and Itachi slowly turned to face us. I could feel myself trembling. I shifted my feet a little farther apart, trying to center myself. I could feel the air around Sasuke thickening. I could smell the ozone.

I tried to position myself so I was more in front of Sasuke but he stepped around me. I whispered his name in warning, hoping he could hear me through the flood of memories that were no doubt running through his mind.

"I've been waiting to say this to you," Sasuke hissed, the air crackling around him. "I lived hating you. I have lived only to kill you. I've lived for this!"

The Chidori shrieked in my ear as Sasuke rushed at his brother, the lighting tearing up the wall. I blinked, and suddenly there was an explosion. The wall was knocked out and Itachi had a hold of Sasuke's arm. Without a thought, he broke Sasuke's arm with a sickening snapping sound. My blood ran cold. I shouted wordlessly, charging blindly at Itachi as Naruto tried desperately to call up the Kyuubi's chakra only to have it eaten up by Kisame's sword. Charging blindly, in hindsight, had been a terrible idea. Without looking up, Itachi lashed out with his leg, kicking me square in the chest. I tumbled backwards, rolling along the floor. For the second time in what was probably less than a week, my ribs were broken.

"Nee-san!"

I winced, feeling Itachi's eyes stray from Sasuke's form to mine. "Sasuke, I adore you and I'm so happy you called me that but now is not the time!"

It was probably by Jiraiya's intervention alone that I was saved. He arrived suddenly, an unconscious woman over his shoulder (and the context for that wasn't nearly as bad as first glance made it seem) and summoning a heavily armored toad. I hauled myself to my feet, the cracks in my ribs sending fire through my nerves. God, why did it hurt so much more this time? Was it because they hadn't fully healed before I got hit? Fucking hell.

"You won't get Naruto," Jiraiya said smoothly. "Because right here, right now, you two will die by my hand."

"Don't do it." Sasuke struggled to get to his feet, his whole body shaking. "This guy is mine!"

I wanted to scream, but I doubt that'd be doing my ribs any favors. I leaned against the wall, struggling to breathe without it being torture.

"I have no interest in you right now," Itachi informed Sasuke, sparing him only a brief glance over his shoulder before kicking him the same way he kicked me. He flew right passed me, hitting the wall at the far end of the corridor.

Naruto tried to jump in, but once again, Sasuke stopped him.

"This fight is mine," Sasuke hissed.

Itachi walked right by me like I didn't even exist. He stood before his brother…and punched him right in the stomach. Sasuke bent double and Itachi did it again. And again. He slammed Sasuke back into the wall. I could hear the wet cough as blood flew from Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke slumped to the floor.

I'd had enough.

I turned, drawing a kunai from my weapons pouch and ran at Itachi as he was bending down to lift Sasuke up by his throat. I couldn't help but feel a sense of sick satisfaction as my kunai cut through Itachi's cloak, even if I only barely nicked his flesh. He jumped away from Sasuke and the boy fell to the floor once more. Or he would have, if I hadn't caught him and held him close to my person.

"Don't you touch him!" I shouted, doing my best to ignore the pain in my chest. "I have worked too hard to save him just to have you ruin him! If you truly feel that guilty about what happened that day, then take your own life instead of trying to manipulate Sasuke into doing it for you! I won't let you taint him any more! He's my precious baby brother! And you'll have to kill me if you want to hurt him!"

I kept my eyes on Itachi's chest, careful to avoid his eyes. I knew I'd never be able to read his face, so why even try?

"What do you know of that night?" he asked. I couldn't even get anything out of his voice. Just what kind of method actor was this guy?

I smirked, feigning confidence I had no right to. "More than you'd like, I assure you. You're lucky I think it's not my place to tell Sasuke. No, that's your responsibility. And you will tell him one day. I'll make sure of it, you motherfucker. But until that day, I will take every trace of hatred you smeared over his heart and replace it with love. I'm going to save him. I've already done it once. Don't think I won't do it again!"

Itachi took one step towards us. He probably would have taken more if Jiraiya hadn't decided now was the time to turn the hallway into a toad's digestive tract or whatever. Fucking gross. Itachi called for Kisame, who ripped his sword free of the fleshy substance that covered the floor and walls. They ran, trying to make it to the window at the end of the hall that ran perpendicular to ours. I looked away to check on Sasuke and the next thing I knew, the end of the hall was on fire. Black fire, to be exact. Naruto wandered towards it curiously. Jiraiya yanked him back by the collar of his jacket.

I stopped paying attention. I turned my gaze to Sasuke. He was breathing alright, even if it wasn't terribly steady. He probably had a busted rib just like I did. Blood dripped from his mouth and onto my shirt; kaa-san would be upset about that. He was pale and shaking, but at least he hadn't been trapped in Itachi's genjutsu.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

My head shot up just in time to see Gai-sensei kick Jiraiya in the face. Fucking good. Serves him right, the pervert. Tsutsuji fluttered in just behind him, landing on Gai's shoulder.

"Kou-sama! Tsutsuji brought help!" She chirped, puffing her feathers up happily.

I gave a short, gasping laugh that ended in a hiss of pain. "Good job, Tsutsuji. You're a tad bit late though."

The tiny blackbird gasped and flew over to us, hopping anxiously from place to place as she stared up at Sasuke's unconscious form. "Kou-sama, what's wrong with Sacchan?"

Naruto snickered at the nickname, but a cool glare from me shut him right up. I turned back to Tsutsuji, my expression softening. "The bad men we were chasing after hurt him pretty bad, pretty birdie. But he'll be okay once we get him some medical attention."

"You're lucky Itachi didn't use the same genjutsu he used on Kakashi," Gai pointed out.

I frowned, tears prickling my eyes as I pulled Sasuke close to me. "He almost did. If I hadn't stepped in…"

There was a sadness in Gai's eyes when I finally met his gaze. I'm sure this reminded him of the state Lee was currently in. This wasn't the kind of battle young genin like us should be fighting. But the responsibility would only continue to fall on our shoulders from here on. I was sure he knew that.

He sighed heavily. "When our students get hurt like this…makes me think that we really should have medical specialists around, since this seems to be happening more frequently these days."

Jiraiya looked unexpectedly serious. "Well, that's why we're searching for her after all."

"Her?" Gai choked out. "You don't mean…"

"Yeah, the last of the Sannin," Jiraiya confirmed. "We're chasing after Tsunade."

I stood next to Gai at the gate of Shukuba. Sasuke rested on Gai's back; he'd yet to wake up. That was probably for the best. I'd rather he be unconscious than be awake and feeling pain. Tsutsuji rested on my shoulder, her focus completely on Sasuke. She was already a great partner for him.

Naruto stared up at Sasuke, concern evident on his face. I wanted to reach out and hug him, but that probably wouldn't be good for my ribs. Gai tried to be positive about the whole thing, but even I could tell he didn't have his usual energy.

"Jiraiya-sama, please find Tsunade-sama and bring her home to us," he implored.

"Don'tcha worry, we'll find her!" Naruto insisted, his voice loud to hide his worry. "Take care of Sasuke and Kourubi-nee, Bushy Brows-sensei."

I smiled fondly at Naruto, giving into my instinct to reach out to him and pull him into a tight hug. I pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head.

"Thanks, Sunshine."

I felt his small hands reach up and clench into fists in my shirt. He buried his head in my chest, taking the chance to hide his face from everyone. I felt…so helpless. Like everything I did was barely enough. If I was honest with myself, I was too weak to protect them. And soon, Naruto would be gone. He'd slip right through my fingertips. How could I protect him when he was so far away? How could I protect Sasuke when I couldn't even protect myself?

Naruto stepped away, and I already missed his comforting warmth. Jiraiya reached out to ruffle his hair.

"We'll leave Sasuke and Kourubi in your care, Gai," the Sannin said with finality.

Gai nodded, bending forward to look Naruto in the eye. "Naruto, you've got guts! I like kids like that! Here, I'm giving this to you. This is the reason why Lee is so strong!"

Naruto bounced excitedly. It was good to see him smiling again. "Eh!? What? What?!"

Gai pulled an exact replica of his own green jumpsuit from…somewhere. "This! It's the ultimate, streamlined, form fitting, easily accessible, perfectly made bodysuit! Wear it while training and you'll know the difference! You'll never look back! Our Lee wears it twenty-four seven, and of course it's my most-beloved piece of ninja gear!"

Naruto was surprisingly excited about the ugly thing. "Coooooollll!"

"No, baby brother, not cool," I groaned. He took the dumb thing anyway. I guess I couldn't expect much better from a kid who wore orange everywhere.

"Well, I suppose we'll take our leave now," Gai announced. "Farewell, Jiraiya-sama, Naruto."

"Stay safe, Sunshine." I murmured, giving Naruto a small smile before turning and leaving with Gai.

The walk back to Konoha was long and unbearably silent. Sasuke was still unconscious when we returned and Gai rushed us both to the hospital. Ryou was there, probably doing some sort of training. When he saw me, his face turned red in rage.

"What happened?" he hissed, pulling me into an examination room as Gai passed Sasuke off to the more experienced medical ninja.

"Sasuke's brother…he went after Naruto. Sasuke found out about and tried to chase him down. I had to go with him. I think the bastard broke my ribs."

"You're goddamn lucky we're ninja and can fix your ribs with fucking magic, Karasuno Kourubi!" Ryou shouted at me. "What were you thinking taking on a S-rank missing nin?!"

The feeling of healing chakra was fucking weird. And cold. Really cold.

"But Sasuke…"

"But Sasuke nothing! You could have both died!" Ryou argued, his voice only rising in volume as he continued his work.

"But I didn't," I pointed out. "And I actually managed to get a hit in…kind of?"

" I do not give even the slightest shit right now," Ryou snapped. "You need to stop risking your life all the damn time. I'm going to go prematurely grey."

"I'm a shinobi, risking my life is in the job description." I sighed, tossing my head back to