Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just Takara and her family (not Anko(obviously))

Some notices in the Author's Notes at the bottom.

Trigger warning: Violence, Swearing, Blood, Talk of Suicide

Chapter 35~ Bombs

Neji stared at me, his cool pale eyes burning my skin as we stood a couple of yards away.

I set my hands on my hips and tilted my head. I didn't bother smiling as I quickly took in his appearance. He doesn't seem to have changed much on the outside, but his stance is annoyingly confident.

Neji's eyes seemed to darken as his position subtly changed into a more offensive one, his Kekki Genkai activating. "Are you prepared to face me?" His tone was mocking.

I stared back, moving my hand to the hilt of Balance as I narrowed my gaze. 'Don't be a baby, Takara. Hit him where you know it will hurt.'

"An overdramatic, overemotional, whinny child like you? I'll eat my sword if you win." I said, now allowing a cheeky grin to flood my face.

A strong, almost forbidding wind whirled around the two of us, leaves blowing everywhere.

Neji froze, blinked, and opened his mouth to respond, but Genma announced the start of our match before he could. Thunderous cheers of excitement filled the space, which continued to keep Neji from responding to me.

I ripped Balance out of its sheath and stepped forward in an offensive motion. I don't want Neji to talk to me yet, and I want him to simmer in my comment.

Neji was stuck to his spot in his traditional Hyūga style while I began to walk around him in circles carefully. Every footstep thought about, and my eyes are never leaving Neji's. He shuffled slightly with my steps to keep me in front of him at all times.

It became quickly apparent that Neji would never make the first move, but I never stopped in my circling as a pleased grin twitched onto my face.

Humans find pacing distressing, like a predator is watching their prey. And I want Neji to feel like my prey.

After almost three whole minutes of me slowly pacing around Neji, I could feel the crowd was beginning to get restless. This isn't just a battle; it is also a performance.

I stopped and watched Neji continue to stare at me from afar before I sighed and simply began walking straight at him.

Neji's fighting style is dependent on the other party making the first move and then defending himself. In fact, the Hyūga brand seems all defense, which makes sense when you consider the fact that very few Hyūga's actually end up becoming ninjas. And if they do, they typically transfer over to medical ninjutsu at some point because that is what they are most suited for. Their all-seeing eyes can identify tumors, chakra imbalances, and cardiac issues like no other human can. They are a surgeon that needs no ultrasound or scalpel.

Actually, now that I think about it, with Hinata's caring heart, she should really transfer over to medical ninjutsu because she would certainly find more joy in it than being a field ninja. I should really consult her on- wait no, I'm becoming distracted.

The point is, Neji is unable to make a difference in battle unless his opponent is in his range. To draw in his opponent and start with defense before moving into a fast paced offense is clearly the best choice for him. The only way Neji would attack first would be if he knew he would win. Otherwise, it is a great strategy with his skill set to focus on defense.

Neji held his ground as I stopped just outside of arms reach, my katana loosely gripped in my hand. When I didn't immediately attack him, Neji narrowed his eyes at me.

And with that, I activated my Akumagen, and Neji instantly seemed to avoid my eye contact. Not that he needed eye contact to see me perfectly anyway, his Byakugan could do that.

"Wow. You are a weak ninja." I said stoically.

You could've heard a pin drop.

"What are you saying? How dare you disrespect me like that, I am the prodigy of the Hyūga clan." He said forcefully but not exactly raising his voice.

"If all you are good for is defense, then you will never make it as a ninja," I replied, my eyes burning into his soul.

Realistically this is a hazardous move. We are both short-range fighters, and while I'm confident I could lay him out, it is his Kekki Genkai that would win that fight. I have to be careful. Stupidly careful. I have to rely on making him make bad decisions before I can just jump into a fight. I need to make him act irrationally.

"Why don't you fight me, then you'll see the difference in our power." He replied, his confidence not compromised by my weak attempts at cracking him.

"Those who find themselves to be strong will only crumble when they fail." I replied, "The best strength a person can have is the ability to change."

"Change? People can't change. They are destined at birth to be a certain way, and nothing will change that. The weak will stay weak, and the strong will stay strong." Neji bites back with a knowing grin.

I raised my head a bit as I sheathed Balance. "Oh? And you believe me to be which?"

Neji watched me with wide eyes that were still careful not to drift to my own eyes, probably shocked that I put my katana away. He frowned as I slid a foot back and got into a boxing position.

"You are weak-minded and physically nothing compared to me." For the first time, he inched closer to me.

My brain screamed as that is not exactly what I was hoping he would do, and now I might be in danger, but I kept a relaxed grin on my face.

"Everything in this world is predetermined, from our Hokage to me beating you. There is nothing equal about it except for one thing." Neji rambled on as he inched closer again. Seemingly proud of himself for being so vague and philosophical.

Never one to back down, this time, I took a full step closer to him. The silence of the audience was stifling. I am now fully in the range for him to touch me. "Death is the only thing guaranteed for every being. Get off your high horse; I know that better than most people. Did you forget what people call my clan, you dumbass?" I spat back, suddenly getting a little more pissed than I meant to. At the very least, it seemed to startled Neji for a fraction of a second.

"Don't you dare disrespect me like that! You are nothing compared to me." Neji retorted, becoming enraged.

"I'm sorry for my error, Dumbass-san."

To my absolute shock, Neji finally lashed out at me, throwing an open palm encased in chakra at my chest.

My reflexes kicked into overdrive to both of our surprises, and I caught his wrist with my left hand before he touched me. I guided his still approaching hand to go over my left shoulder, and my right fist came up to uppercut Neji. Then I let go of his wrist and let him stumble a couple of feet away.

I allowed him to get his bearings, hoping for a breakdown.

"You! You…" He seemed to be in a bit of a stupor.

Before he had a chance to continue his stuttering, I dropped down and attempted to sweep his feet out from under him. He jumped over my leg and came at me with another chakra filled palm, which I dodged by rolling out of the way. By the time I jumped onto my feet, he had another palm headed for my chest.

I yanked Balance's sheath up and drew my katana partway so that his hand was coming straight for my blade. He stopped and pulled back just in time to avoid being sliced, but I followed him up with a roundhouse kick. He retreated with a back handspring to avoid the kick and then paused to gather his bearings now that we were both out of range of attack.

"Get it out of your head that you are special and above the rest of us, Hyūga! Nothing is set in stone in this world, and you being a prodigy cannot be your only personality trait. You are just a human who I will never worship or pity. We are equal." I said as I continued to move closer, now holding Balance out in a defensive position.

He seemed exasperated as he straightened up, "I am stronger than the main branch! I am special and strong! I was chosen to be like this."

I laughed a little as I took a step closer to him, "That means nothing to me. I don't care that you're on the side branch because all you are to me is a self-righteous narcissist who hasn't earned any of the respect he has."

Neji's face began to change to a lovely red color, "Do you know what I've gone through! Living in that clan as a side branch!"

"Nope," I said, popping the p in nope. "But somehow, I suspect we aren't that different."

"Not that different? Not that different!?" Neji reaches up and yanks off his headband in a violent motion to show a light green tattoo on his forehead. "I was branded when I was a child with a mark that any main house member could use to kill me! The main house murdered my father and keeps the side branch-"

He continued to ramble on about his family's history while looking at me with such hate and contempt I could almost laugh. At this rate, he might accidentally make eye contact with me. This whole "mess him up psychologically" seems to be working.

He paused to take a breath after explaining why his father was murdered and how he is under the main branch's control. So I held up a hand, gaining his attention, and cleared my throat.

I carefully shuffled closer to him and smiled, "Hey, what is my clan's name?"

Neji just stared at me, annoyed, "What?" His stance is not relaxing in the slightest.

"What. Is. My. Clans. Name?" I repeated slowly like he was dumb.

He glared at me, "Gushikan."

"Wrong," I replied quickly, causing him to falter as I suddenly took several steps forward and jabbed at him with my katana. He jumped backward and regained his defensive position.

"What is the name that everyone in the village calls us? Even to our faces." My gaze sharpened as my voice cut through the stadium.

Neji's glare seemed to oddly soften, "The Suicide Clan."

"Uh-huh. And do you know why so many people in my clan commit suicide?" My tone was becoming icy. Maybe this whole mind fuck thing is messing me up too.

Neji's shoulder fell, "No. I don't know." He continued to move away from me as I crept toward him. At this point, he is maybe eight feet from a wall behind him.

I stared at him. I just stared at his eyes for several seconds before I stabbed Balance into the ground and pulled out a kunai that made Neji stiffen in defense immediately. But instead of stabbing at him, I grabbed the bandage wrap on my chest and sliced it off. Bandages fluttered to the ground as the cloth scroll attached to my shirt came to view. The kunai stayed in my left hand, and I picked up Balance in my right.

"I have a bomb strapped to my chest at all times, and I have been given the express permission to use it if I think I am at a disadvantage at any point. I am expected to die on the battlefield because that is my duty, as a member of the Suicide Clan."

We stared at each other. Both of our "bombs" in view of everyone. Things that are usually kept secret from the world. Things that both of our clans find shameful and refuse to stop because we would lose an asset.

"Get over yourself; you're not special. It's like you say, we will all die someday." I say coldly before allowing myself to look up at the audience. My glowing eyes turn off as I find my Dad's eyes. He is sitting as close to the Hokage as possible with Usagi. I could feel my blood running hot and cold, and I'm sure he feels the same thing. Would he be pissed I revealed our little secret? Perhaps, but deep down, I know he hates the bomb too.

I looked back to Neji, who was also looking into the audience, and I knew it was time for me to drive the final nail in.

"See Neji, we both have our own problems. You are not special, and by your own logic, you never will be."

Neji seemed to shiver as he looked back at me.

My eyes quickly resurveyed my surroundings. Unsurprisingly there are no boulders in the arena, but I had expected that. The concrete wall behind Neji is looking pretty good.

All of a sudden, I sprinted straight at Neji while flicking my kunai at his head. As I predicted, he ducked and slid his foot out toward me- but his position was off. He extended his arms out, palms up, and his eyes were full of rage. I have never seen a position like that before, almost like-

'NO, dodge!' Conscious screamed, only giving me a half-second to change my approach.

I couldn't dodge; I was too close at that point as I had grown quite cocky with my shattering his image of himself.

Could I jump over or slide past him? I still wasn't positive of what was to come.

But once I was within two feet of him, his body began to rotate, his palms moving to about chest height as he made several rotations. I could only watch with morbid fascination as my body moved on autopilot.

I leaned back, letting go of Balance as I firmly set my hands on the ground in a backbend. His hands flew over my body before I used the rest of my momentum to turn my move into a delayed backhand spring.

Neji continued his rotation as he moved upon me, trying again to hit me.

After I landed on my feet, his hands were already headed back on their new rotation to my chest.

I let out a stressed sigh as I allowed myself to just fall backward.

My body landed with a heavy thump on the ground as his hands once again didn't make contact with my chest.

I quickly rolled over onto my knees, and half a second later, I slammed myself into an improvised double leg takedown as I tacked his waist while grabbing onto his legs. I lifted him slightly before driving both of our weight straight into the ground as hard as I could.

I heard the wheeze as the air left his lungs as his upper back made contact with the dirt, and before he could take a breath in, I was off of him and slightly limping to Balance.

After picking up my katana, I grinned at the loud cheers in the stadium and continued my relatively slow limp over to the wall, which I leaned against.

My upper back was burning and felt incredibly tense, so I didn't have to be a genius to know that Neji laid his gentle fist on me. It hurt devilishly to move my shoulders, but there's no way in Hell I'm giving up now.

As I continued to lean against the concrete, I completed the hand signs and felt a rush of cool stone covering my entire body.

Neji was getting back up, obviously rattled from the takedown, but I could see his smirk perfectly.

"There is no point in becoming invisible. I can still see you perfectly with these eyes." He said with confidence overflowing his verbiage.

"Good thing I'm not using it for the invisibility," I replied as I confidently began walking in a circular motion to not get any closer to him but also to move away from potentially getting cornered.

Neji tensed slightly at my words as his eyes quickly evaluated my now mildly invisible form.

Eventually, I stopped, now much closer to the center of the arena, and held Balance out in front of me.

"I can see that you're quite hurt," Neji began, with his smirk returning, "your back must be in a lot of pain as I ruptured your muscles."

I scoffed loudly, "Please, I've had scraps way worse than this. Don't get ahead of yourself; it doesn't even hurt."

That was a lie; it feels like my shoulders are gonna fall off if I hit him too hard. I probably made a miscalculation when I didn't immediately turn around and turn on my Rock Armor. But I also knew if at any point I turned around or ran away in the slightest, it would destroy any progress I had made in intimidating him.

"Face it, Gushikan, it is your fate to be here and to lose," Neji replied as he came closer to me, but still out of reach.

I waited for a pause and lowered my katana to stare right at Neji, my Kekki Genkai activated again. "You know what, Hyūga, you talking about fate sounds like you're making poor excuses for you being a dumb fuck up. If you never proceed past the point you're at now, then you think you can blame fate instead of yourself. Sorry, that's not true. There are no limits, and your mistakes and problems aren't predestined. That's just you being a dumb asshole with an unfounded superiority complex. And when you fail today, and you will fail today, it will be your fault and your fault alone."

Neji fell silent. Finally, completely silent.

I remained where I was, Balance being held in an offensive position, but Neji was steadily walking closer to me.

As he got closer, I could tell from the look in his eyes he was gonna try again. He was gonna try and do that rotation move again.

My brain worked on overtime as a strategy started to come to light. One that would hopefully save my life. Although it is a shame, I only did just activate this jutsu.

I sheathed Balance, and my hands began to run through my next set of seals, but just before I finished, he hit me.

He rotated with enough torc to make me stagger as his two palms hit me in the chest, then he rotated again before hitting me with four palms, and so on.

The feeling was not pleasant as it felt like being punch underwater; muted but still painful.

Within seconds his 64 palm attack landed on me with such ferocity that I could feel my ribs moving and cracking from the impact. My rock armor jutsu shattered off my body like a two-way mirror, revealing me to the crowd who were screaming in delight.

And yet I was still standing, and my hands finished the last seal once his show was over.

"Paralysis Jutsu," I grunted in pain, and his body froze.

He was standing up but still slightly hunched over from the last delivery of his attack.

"Sorry," I said, "I've been practicing this move really hardcore, so there is no way you're escaping."

In reality, the paralysis jutsu is not all that impressive, and most ninja can do it. But if you train hard enough, you can restrain people to the point that they cannot speak or even move their eyes.

By practicing with Mitsuko, there was no way he could break this jutsu anytime soon unless he did something insane. If I can hold an Anbu member for a few seconds, I can hold a genin for at least 30 minutes if I so desire.

But that being said… "My chakra is running out," I panted as I rubbed my eyes.

I took a step closer to him so that I was mere inches away. By my own nature, I was still slightly worried Neji would find a way to break out of the jutsu, so before I could place my katana to his neck and solidify this victory, I wanted to do something I think could ensure my future triumph.

I reached up and moved his head so that I could stare straight into his eyes, and he was finally unable to look away. I felt a click in my own body as a stream of blue gently left his body and flowed into my own, beginning to replenish my own chakra reserves.

I sighed in relief as I drew my katana and waited a moment. Savoring my energies return. "Sorry again," I admitted, "I'm draining your chakra since I'll need it for the next battle. But don't worry, I'll give you some entertainment."

Now you would expect me to show him nightmares at that point, but I really had something more important to say.

"Look, if all you said is really true, and you hate your clan that much, why not just file for emancipation through the Hokage? If he were to grant it, and he has no reason not to because you are old enough to live on your own and it sounds like you are being neglected at home, then you could just prove yourself to be more competent than your clan at a distance." I lifted a hand to rub the side of my face.

"I mean, yea I suppose you might be afraid that they will kill you if you try to leave, but here's the thing- you already have the curse mark thingy, so they don't have to worry about you giving away the secret, so unless you were murdered for a grudge then you should be safe to leave. And if you were murdered for a grudge, then that literally is just murder and your clan and be taken to court over your death, and eventually, reforms would have to happen." I glanced at the silent crowd around us.

"The Hyūga clan is the biggest clan in Konoha, but they aren't exempt from the law. If a formal investigation shows a misuse in power and the unlawful murder of Hyūga citizens, then the clan would be dissolved, and the head of the clan, along with conspiring parties would be placed in jail for around 60-ish years minimum." At this point, I totally forgot I was in a life or death battle.

"Actually, now that I think about it, the main branch typically aren't ninjas, right?" I didn't bother waiting for his response that he couldn't give, "then that means that even though they are in a clan classified under the subset ninja, they are still at a civilian status since they didn't pass the test. So they aren't under Shinobi Law regulations, so in reality, they might already be working under the law unless every person in the main family is filled under an 1886 document, which of course they must acquire through a court visit."

I instantly turned my gaze to the Hyūga clan head, who was sitting in the front row. "Have you filed an 1886, or was it a 6754? If it was a 6754, then you probably are breaking the law because that one states your clan must have a ninja saturation of 77%, but from what I understand, your clan is 42%." I stared expectingly at the man who looked to have turned into a statue.

I sighed and turned back to the paralyzed Neji, "Anyway, the point of the matter is, you can just leave your clan. I know it's scary, but plenty of ninja's our age live on their own, like Naruto, Lee, Sasuke, and Tenten. And if they kill you for wanting to leave… well, I just publicized this in front of a stadium, so everyone will know it was your clan. Besides, do you really want to live off the resources of people who don't respect you or your father? You'll always be under their thumb, and you'll be lucky if you aren't eventually used in arranged marriage later on for leverage."

I ran my fingers through my messy hair, "As it stands right now, you are in the side clan, so no matter how hard you train, you aren't going to be able to become head unless you change something. And by something, I mean take the Hyūga clan to court. Or start your own clan. Or become someone who isn't an asshole and make friends who will help you complete a revolution on your own clan. Don't just wait for someone whose destined to do it, do it yourself."

I stared into Neji's unmoving eyes and sighed, "Well, this has been boring. I think I'll show you your fear now."

I closed my own eyes and focused on him seeing an illusion of something he fears.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed a change immediately, his body straining against the paralysis.

I frowned; perhaps I had gone too far again.

"Go ahead and quit Hyūga-san. Quit, or I'll kill you." I let my voice drip with intimidation, but it didn't seem to affect him any as his eyes broke the jutsu and started looking around wildly.

"Fine, I'll end it." I mused, raising my katana and moving closer to press it to his throat when all of a sudden, he moved backward, shattering my control on the paralysis jutsu.

My mouth when agape as he fell on his ass, his pale eyes widely looking around.

"How-"I started but trailed off as he quickly got on his feet, still looking around wildly before his gaze settled on me.

His eyes squint as he takes a shaky step toward me, but his right hand moved over to his left arm and ran down it.

His pupils seemed to vibrate as he took his pointer and middle fingers and had them glow blue before jabbing himself in the left arm.

He let out a loud yell in pain, but his eyes seemed to focus as his shoulders went slack, and his calm eyes found mine. The blue line of chakra connecting us disappeared and his left arm went limp.

"Fuck," I said as I moved to sheath my katana and then pull it out using our signature move, The Slice.

Neji's reaction was excellent as he jumped backward despite being in pain, just allowing the slice to cut through his stomach shallowly. A gush of blood splattered on the ground as Neji fell back again on the ground, his right palm coming up over him to defend himself.

The roar of the crowd was maddening.

It didn't matter, though, as I dived at him, tossing Balance into my right hand so that I could grip his right wrist in my hand and roughly bring my katana to his throat. In fact, it was a bit too rough as I accidentally sliced through the top layer of his skin, causing him to bleed. My hand holding his wrist felt like it was flame and was becoming numb at a startling rate as Neji started to release all of his chakra at once.

"I'm slicing your throat in three, two, one-"

And all of a sudden, I was heaved off the boy's body, being held back firmly by Genma. After a second, he dropped me onto my feet and motioned me to the crowd.

"Winner, Takara Gushikan."

The crowd screamed in applause as I stood on shaky feet, smiling at them all. I sheathed Balance and gave an exaggerated bow to the crowd, who continued to holler.

After a minute, Neji finally sat up, holding his stomach with his right hand looking pained. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to his left hand, but I suppose it doesn't matter anymore.

I won.

I was escorted out of the area by some medical ninja who took me to a side room for immediate injuries, and they told me Neji would be going straight to the hospital since his injuries seemed more serious.

One of the medical nin's began healing my chest, telling me I should be thankful my ribs are only cracked and not broken. If they had broken, I probably would be taken out of the exam.

A couple of minutes later, two more nin's arrived, one of them being a Hyūga. The Hyūga offered no comment on my battle but instead had me lay on my stomach so he could straighten out my back.

His fingers painfully jabbed my shoulders several times as he unblocked the chakra points Neji had gotten to during my takedown. I held in any pain sounds that desperately wanted to leave my throat and instead focused on the wall in front of me.

When he was done with my back, he took my left hand, which had also suffered from Neji's wrath in the last seconds of our match. But within moments, both my hand and back were seemingly good as new with the light symptom of some tenderness.

One of the ninja's handed me some bandages to wrap up my bomb, which I did so with gusto. I'm still a little unsure if revealing it to the village was a good idea.

When it was all said and done, the ninja's pointed me out the door and gave me vague directions on finding my way to the competitors' watching area. I gave them a grin and thanked them before walking out.

It took a few moments, but I eventually found the staircase up and began my journey up, not passing a soul on my way.

As I walked up the last set of stairs, I felt giddy and exhausted, a fantastic combo. And just as I reached the top, I heard someone call my name. I whipped around to see Dad standing there, a new expression on his face.

"Dad? What are you doing down here? Where's Usa?" I asked, surprised, but I was even more shocked when he rushed me and pulled me into a tight hug.

I flushed as I hugged him back, "Dad?" I asked softly.

"You did amazing, Takara! You're so strong, and I'm so proud of you. If your Mom were here today, I know she would feel the same. And I left Usa with your friend Sakura-san for a moment." He pulled back to smile at me and ruffle my sweaty hair.

"You took down a Hyūga! And made it look like child's play." He exclaimed.

I looked away, well aware it was not child's play, and I definitely almost lost, but it's nice to hear I looked strong.

"It was amazing! I'm sure that you did more things for our clan in that arena than I have working in the shadows for the past 20 years. Your future looks so bright, and I can't help but absolutely beam over you." He squatted down to be closer to my height. "You've been through a lot of pain since you were a child. Both physical and mental. After seeing you here today and that all of our training that has been put to good work… well, it really puts me at ease. I feel like I can finally relax a bit because the future of our clan is in your hands."

"Even with Usagi… I'll still be the head?" I asked softly, suddenly aware of how much I've worried about losing my position to my brother.

My Dad's eyebrows rose, and he nodded, "Yes, of course. Takara, I've only ever considered you my heir in seriousness."

I stared at him, and then a rush of emotions came over, more potent than anything I've felt in a long time. Tears pricked in my eyes as I gave him a shaky smile, and my body trembled. Hearing him say I am his heir and always will be is what I've been waiting for.

"Thank you, Dad," I choked as I immediately reached up to rub my eyes. "I'm so happy!" I said as his arms wrapped me in another hug. He quietly tried to hush me, and we stood there together for several minutes.

After I quieted down, he pulled away again and grinned some more. "I really think you're in the running to be a chunin, so keep working hard, and no matter who your next opponent is, don't give up!" He encouraged.

After he stood back up, he adjusted his chest wrap before faltering, and then he nodded to himself. He then looked back at me and patted my head again.

"I look forward to our celebration of you being the all-time winner today, curly top." He said with conviction before turning and walking away.

"Thank you, Dad!" I shouted after him, "I love you!"

He paused to turn and look back to me, "And I love you too." He said before finally exiting the area. For some reason, he looked as though he had finally decided something important.

I stood still in that corridor for a few more moments, collecting myself, before I walked into the observation room.

I was standing for only a moment before Naruto tackled me to the ground.

"Naruto, stop! I'm deathly tired!" I groaned playfully, but he complied and stood up with me.

"You did amazing! You won! You avenged Hinata!" He kept shouting, which only made me smile more.

"I did it!" I responded with a yawn. "Man, I really wish I could nap before my next match with you, but I don't wanna miss anything." I grinned.

"Me?" Naruto asked after a second, and I just nodded.

"Umm, yea? You're winning, so obviously, we have to fight next turn." I elbowed him lightly in the side. "I won't be going easy on you!" I jested.

He grinned at me, but he did seem a little apprehensive.

'It's fine; the invasion will happen before then anyway.' Conscience noted. I felt my heart drop into my stomach, but I tried to grin anyway.

I looked out into the arena and saw them cleaning up Neji's blood, which explains why it took so long to start the second match. Thankfully it seemed to be wrapping up.

Before I knew it, both Naruto and Shino were called down to the arena to fight, and I had to bid them goodbye.

I leaned against the railing and watched Naruto stretch as Shino cooly observed his surroundings.

"Who do you think will win?" Kankuro asked, moving to stand next to me.

"Honestly, who knows, "I sighed, "Before I would say Shino-san, as he… has better ninjutsu… and perhaps is a little more strategic. But I haven't talked to Naruto in almost a month, so he could have a plan." I admitted before glancing around in surprise. "Wait, where are Ino-chan and Shikamaru?"

"They left after you finished your battle, something about seeing their other teammate," Temari answered, bored.

I nodded in understanding and turned my focus back to the arena; it would be starting soon.

"So your mom's dead," Temari said as she stared into the arena.

"Oof, you sure aren't subtle." I gave a light chuckle. I was too tired to get offended.

"You didn't correct us when we met again, although I guess your teammates' reactions should've been a tell in hindsight." She stated.

"I didn't want your pity or false sympathy," I stated, gaining the looks of the three siblings.

"I've had to deal with those two things since her death, and I really didn't need them from you guys as well. I loved her. And it's been three years, so I don't need to hear the same old apologies again. I'm not alone, and I'm not really sad anymore. I have my little brother, who reminds me so much of Mom. And I have my Dad, who takes care of both of us and loves us enough for our Mom. Not to mention all my friends." I wave to Naruto, who waves back excitedly. "Life goes on," I said stoically.

"Your Dad… where is he today?" Gaara asked, startling me a little, given how quiet he usually is.

"He's in the stands with my little brother, and he is sitting near the Hokage. He actually came down to meet me after I won. He told me he's proud of me." I said with a smile, I desperately tried to push the smile away, but I couldn't help it. "It's stressful to have your parent watching over you all the time." My smile finally dropped. "Isn't that right?"

I turn to look at the Kazekage. "That is your Dad, right? It's not some villain instead, is it?" I am pushing it, and I know that.

They didn't respond, and I didn't bother to check their expressions.

"Are you okay?" I said softly. "You're not being hurt, are you?" I kept my eyes trained on Shino.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Temari said, her eyes boring into my soul so ferociously I can feel it without seeing it. "But our Father has never been a good man." She concluded in a way that made me pity them.

They don't know.

"That's not your Dad. Your Dad has been killed and was replaced by Orochimaru. There is no reason to follow his orders." I replied.

My senses were dulled from the pain I was dealt in my battle. This means that I was not prepared when I was suddenly being suffocated by sand. My vision turned black as it completely covered me, not giving me even a moment to fight it.

I don't want to die this way.

All because I couldn't keep my mouth shut… I just wanted to try to stop the attack. I wanted to reason with them.

But in the end, I'm a dumbass. I should've known that a short friendship would mean nothing to them. And there is no way they would believe in me.

Well, actually, maybe I did do something right.

Because I didn't end up in a field of flowers with Death waiting to take me away.

Maybe, just maybe, Gaara felt pity for me because he only knocked me the fuck out.

Author's Note

Heeeey, it's been a while. Hope y'all are good. Hope you're having a happy holiday ~

The next chapter is gonna be the Konoha Crush, so I hope you're excited!

The more you guys comment the more I feel inspired to write.

Thank you and Have a Nice Day,

~ToL