ϟ—Chapter Twenty — Fight and Flight—ϟ
Ah… fuck. Ka'rai could feel his body still ache and burn from his battle with Gaara. Nibi… you're really fucking hot.
He paused.
Wait, not like that—you're an animal… that's not morally correct.
Stop talking.
Sorry…
A numbing pain radiated in his head like a sickness. You… jeopardized the plan to Crush Konoha, Ka'rai.
You're silent for days and the first thing you do when you come back is make my head hurt.
With that statement, Yugito made his head ache even more.
The agony made Ka'rai growl—his body flinched wherever he lay. Fuck you!
Ka'rai, began Yugito sternly. Your actions lately have been unacceptable. Firstly, you go against Lord Raikage's orders to make yourself feel better. And now, you directly sabotage a pre-established invasion plan to soothe your pathetic desire for revenge.
With a start, Ka'rai focused. The black of his closed eyelids bloomed to a golden light. He stood and stepped into Yugito's pond. She stood above him and she glared down. Ka'rai matched with his own glare.
"What do you have to say for yourself?!" demanded Yugito.
Ka'rai's fists clenched. "You're saying that like it genuinely affects anything! Okay, I didn't kill a bunch of Konoha Shinobi. I know for damned sure they're not passing because of me! They're not showing off shit for their village.
"I can easily take Gaara's place during the final exams as well!"
"You're going to transform fully into Nibi?!"
Ka'rai shook his head. "Nah… I don't think she'd let me."
The Bijuu in the room let out a huff.
"But with a Hellflame Bakugami I can turn that fucking arena to ash. The one I used when I was trying to escape Hidan, it destroyed a whole Orochimaru base and all of the rock around it. Plus… I could learn to use what I used against Gaara again.
"I combined Jinsei, Nibi flame, and Hellflame all into one. That boom is gonna be wayy bigger than just the Hellflame Bakugami." Ka'rai's face split crooked with a wicked smirk. "It's like an Ultimate Bakugami!"
He tilted his head and met Yugito's gaze. "If anything, I just put the crux of the invasion in Kumo's hands. We'll have control over the invasion!" His smirk grew into a grin. "Don't you think that's better… Yugito?"
She let out a sigh—the storm of her pond churned. "You're not incorrect. But you didn't think about any of that when you attacked Gaara. You were out for revenge because you were angry. Your short sighted impulsiveness will make missions you take fail. People you care about will die. With how important you are as a Jinchuriki, you will be Kumo's downfall if you don't change."
Yugito's black eyes whirled with thunder and her pond churned. "And if you stand in Kumo's way, I will not hesitate to do what I can to stop you."
"You're just a soul… the fuck are you gonna do—?"
A fist to his face knocked Ka'rai to his ass. His headache became utterly excruciating for that moment.
"I will not hesitate to do what I can to stop you."
Ka'rai rubbed his jaw and got back up to his feet. "Fair enough…"
With a sigh, Ka'rai sat back down. "I won't do anything that'll endanger Kumo," he assured. "Hane's been telling me that I should make the world a happier place. I agree. And I'll fight anyone or anything to make that happen… even Kumo."
Ka'rai's golden shimmer dulled at the prospect. He forced out a smile. "That'll just mean Kumo's gonna be happier in the long run, right?"
Yugito gave him a look of dangerous suspicion. Without another word spoken, she walked away. His headache got better… he could still feel Yugito's sadness. He was going to talk to her, but Nibi's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"She isn't incorrect," added Nibi. Her tone weighed with a deathly dread. Ka'rai felt every ounce of it. "Your impulsiveness nearly killed one of my siblings."
"Jinsei!" Ka'rai attempted to argue through his terror. His nervous chuckle made Nibi narrow her eyes. "That combined with Shukaku's help would've saved him from anything! Other than cutting off his head… Which I purposefully didn't do! I kept my attacks low."
Nibi let out a long and irritated sigh. Her life-ending aura subsided and Ka'rai let out a breath. Suddenly, it was back. It wasn't directed at him—but it felt just as intense… that meant she was furious.
"H-hey…" he stammered. "Nibi…? What's wrong…?"
Her gaze sharpened and the aura left once again. "I sense one thing I vehemently dislike."
"Want me to take care of it for you?" offered Ka'rai, letting out another relieved breath.
Nibi shook her head—her coat of fire burned hotter. "There is nothing you can do. Not at your current level."
"Sad…"
It was always weird to feel physical sensations whenever Ka'rai was in his mindscape. The gold faded to black. Black opened up to reveal a tanned ceiling, a golden light to his left. He was still aching and burning.
He was in a bed, covered in hospital blankets. The infirmary… Bad memories of Hane and Yowui injured plagued his head. With a shake of his head, he threw the covers off and stood. It was kinda hard… so he just collapsed to the floor.
On that floor, he just ignited himself with Jinsei. He let out a soothing sigh as he rested in the warmth of life giving flames. It took about five minutes for Ka'rai to heal to a substantial level. That's slow… I must've really been fucked up.
After that, he used Jinsei to burn off all of his bandages. The bright blue flames evaporated into the air and Ka'rai stretched. "Much better…" he murmured.
He walked out of his room. His sense of direction slowly returned to him. Ka'rai heard fighting sounds to his far left. He knew that was where he needed to go. But… something—someone—beautiful caught his attention.
A dumb ass grin spread across his face. "Hane!"
She smiled and waved at him, not saying anything. He jogged toward Hane and pulled her into a tight hug… still not making a sound. With his chest on hers, he could feel that her breathing was shallow, like she was struggling a bit.
Ka'rai pulled back from the hug and kept his hands on her shoulders. "What happened…?"
Hane made random movements with her arms and hands. She tapped her neck with her palm… made a weird pushing motion with around her eyes—it clicked. "You fought a Hyuuga! Was it Neji?!"
She nodded in affirmation—Ka'rai's heart dropped. Fire burned from his body and he held her tighter. "DID HE TRY TO KILL YOU?!"
Hane shook her head profusely—she even looked a bit scared. Immediately, Ka'rai calmed down. She attempted to make more hand movements for Ka'rai to decipher. This time… it did not click.
He simply placed a hand around her neck. She paused… looking down at his arm, then at him, a small blush growing. Ka'rai then chuckled a perverted chuckle. Hane blushed harder.
Jinsei burned from his hand and into Hane's neck… whatever damage was done should have been repaired. Again… it took a while. An entire minute. Ka'rai enjoyed every second of that minute… all sixty. Hane's ever growing blush made his mood better.
I missed her… he thought, even though it had only been about an hour since he last saw her.
After Jinsei did its job, Ka'rai reluctantly took his hand off of her neck. Hane took a deep clean breath and exhaled full of relief. "Ahhhh!" she said to test her voice. It was just as amazing as ever.
"Oh… thank you, Rai-rai," she said before hugging him tightly again. With a smile he held her just as tight. It didn't take long for him to pull back, though.
"So… what happened with you and Neji?" he asked.
She let out a breath. "Well, I fought him during the prelims. I apologized for all the bad stuff that Kumo and us personally have put him through. Because of that, he decided to spare my life."
An ungodly feeling of fear washed over Ka'rai. He almost lost her again. It was another strong person's whim that was the reason for her life. For the third time, they shared a hug… Ka'rai did not want to let go. Not at all.
"This is what I'm talking about when I say that being happy is my strength."
Ka'rai shook his head. "No—what are you—?"
"Just like how you could've stopped Neji from killing me with fire… I stopped him from killing me by showing him kindness." Hane pulled back from the hug to look him in the eyes. "You should apologize too, for killing his teammate."
"But she was going to kill you!"
"You don't know that. She could've stabbed me in my leg or something," Hane suggested.
Ka'rai spattered. "But…" Guilt's cold hand gripped him again—joining fear's frigid embrace. "I…"
Hane smiled at him. "See! You don't have a good argument. Go apologize!"
"I'll…" He let out a breath. "I will."
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good. Now, let's go watch the matches."
With that, the couple clasped hands and walked down the far left corridor. They entered to see the Suna dude with the ugly face paint—mine is still better—and some other dude with bugs fighting. Ka'rai couldn't be bothered to care. Fuu seemed to be having fun watching, though.
The girl from Suna glared at him. When Ka'rai noticed and met her gaze, she looked away with utter terror. Ka'rai didn't pay her any mind after that.
"You should apologize to her, too," suggested Hane in a whisper. "I think she's Gaara's sister."
"Nobody related to Gaara is getting shit from me," spat Ka'rai, not whispering.
Hane winced, but nodded. "I guess I was pushing it…"
"For sure…" agreed Ka'rai as he scanned the two sides of the stands. Kumo was on one side, and Konoha was on the other. Neji was on the Konoha side… so was his bowl-cut teammate, and who looked to be his dad. Probably his sensei too.
"Damn, the whole team is there," mumbled Ka'rai.
Hane hummed in agreement. "And you're going to apologize to all of them!"
"Yes I will!" declared Ka'rai to gaslight himself out of nervousness. With a haughty demeanor, he marched over to Konoha's side. Long before he reached them, all eyes of every Konoha Shinobi were on him.
His nervousness and guilt only deepened. The bravatto he put up was chipped away with every step he took. Fuck… why am I doing this?! It's not like I'm just going to blow up their village in a month from now.
He shook his head. Because Hane told me to. And because I want to make the world happy! Man… this is way harder than blowing shit up.
Hane really is strong if she can do stuff like this easily.
Soon, he faced the entirety of Konoha's Nin who were in the exams. Four Jonin, and a bunch of Genin. All of them looked to be arguing about something… so they didn't pay him total mind. Aside from Neji and his team, of course.
Neji's eyes were narrowed with palpable hate. "Why are you here?!"
"To…" he attempted to say, but his voice just sputtered out. "I'm not really good at this… apologizing… genuinely." He stepped to face Neji, big bowl cut guy, and little bowl cut guy.
Then, he bowed fully. "I, Ka'rai Uzumaki of Kumogakure, am very very terribly sorry for killing your teammate."
The glares of the three sharpened. "You apologize?!" asked little-bowl cut. "What makes you think that we will ever forgive you?!"
"Nothing…" admitted Ka'rai with a nervous chuckle—he genuinely couldn't stop chuckling. It must've been a terrible look. He stood up straight in an attempt to compose himself. It worked marginally. "Neji, you could've killed Hane… just like I did to your teammate."
"Her name was Tenten," snapped Neji.
Ka'rai nodded slowly. "Right… Tenten. You could've taken your revenge, but you didn't… and that's because Hane's kind. You, you're kind too, Neji… because you let her live. I can't help but thank you for that."
He let out a breath. "I'm not kind like you or especially Hane. Gaara, he tried to kill both Hane and Yowui. The only reason why I didn't kill him was because he's a Jinchurki, I didn't want to kill Shukaku. Well, he wasn't exactly sorry…"
Ka'rai shook his head. "That doesn't really matter. I don't have anything to say. I'm sorry for taking Tenten away from you… I won't… do it again?" I say that… when I plan to invade their village.
Guilt sank in his gut. I'm fucking terrible.
Their sensei walked forward. "I can never forgive you for extinguishing Tenten's youth far before it was supposed to. However…" His fists clenched. "I respect your remorse. It is hard to come across Shinobi who show sympathy. With what our job entails, it is detrimental.
"Do not let that be extinguished. Keep that within your heart. Use it to make a difference. Shinobi like you are rare. You have both the power and the youthful mindset to." Tears were rolling down the man's face.
It made Ka'rai wince—the guilt only churned… it was starting to make Ka'rai sick.
"Keep that empathy close to your heart. Do not let my student's life go to waste. Use her sacrifice to drive you forward. Because that… is the Power of Youth."
Little bowl cut guy was crying too. "I share my sensei's sentiment."
Neji's glare hardened before he looked away. "Get out of my sight."
Ka'rai didn't say a word before walking away. For the first time in a while, he felt the wetness of tears in his eyes. He evaporated them with subtle flame. Hane was there waiting for him, far away. She took his hand in hers as Ka'rai walked passed.
"How do you feel?"
"Like I want to cry." Ka'rai huffed out a flaming breath and shook his head. "Why… why did I have to do that? We both know what's going to happen. It's not gonna mean anything."
Hane was silent for a bit. She gripped his hand tighter. "Because it's the right thing to do."
Ka'rai didn't answer. The two just walked back to Kumo's side of the arena. He could feel Yugito's distaste make his head ache.
When he walked over, the first thing he heard was Kay's scolding tone. "Ka'rai—"
"Not right now," he cut her off, shaking his head. "Please, not right now. Yell at me later but just… ugh."
Kay went silent… Ka'rai found the nerve to look at her. To his surprise, Kay's face seemed to mirror his. Sad. Was she sad because he was sad? Probably…
With a nod, Kay placed a hand on his shoulder. "Everything will be alright," she assured before walking away.
Yowui looked like he wanted to talk, but he bit his tongue. Ka'rai didn't bother to tell him otherwise. Sudden aggressive pokes to his skull jabbed him out of his stupor. "Fuu—" he spattered. "What the fuck?!"
"Why are you 'what the fuck'-ing me?! I should be 'what the fuck'-ing you! You left me here all alone with these weirdos from your village," she huffed.
"I…" began Ka'rai shaking his head irritably. "I was just in the hardest battle I've ever fought in my life…"
"You should've healed faster!" she accused.
Hane let out a sigh. "Listen, Ka'rai's feeling very sad right now—"
"And I've been sad for the past forever of my life! He'll be fine," Fuu said before leaning on the railings beside Ka'rai. "Most of the matches were really boring. The cool girl with blood eyes fought that dude that looks like you. That match was fun until they made a big smoke screen so I couldn't see anything. Then these two girls fought, they were beating the shit out of each other. They had the same clan name, it looked like they had history…"
Ka'rai nodded along, half paying attention. "Cool… who here is passing?"
"I won my match!" exclaimed Yowui excitedly.
Ka'rai chuckled, a small, yet genuine smile on his face. "Nice."
"Clowui lost hers," said Hane.
Ka'rai's brows furrowed. "The fuck—Shinrai beat her?! Damn… he must be stronger than I thought."
"She used her curse, too," added Sami.
Ka'rai's brows furrowed further. "Her what…?"
"Oh right, you don't know about that…" she muttered.
"Does it make her stronger?"
"Pretty much," confirmed Sami.
Ka'rai shook his head. "Fuck… so Shinrai's really strong then." A smirk managed to cross his face. "I really want to fight him."
"YAY IT'S TIME FOR ME TO KILL SOMEONE!" cheered Fuu. On the screen of names, it read Fuu of Takigakure vs Temari of the Sand.
Ka'rai turned his smirk to her. "Show me what you can do, Fuu."
"Ohohoho! I shall!" she cheered before breaking through the railings and landing in the arena.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
Uneasiness spread at the sight of yet another Jinchuriki in the arena. Hayate cleared his throat and sneezed. Fuu's opponent, Temari, had her teeth grit; the match hadn't even started and sweat was dripping down her face.
Fuu just let out a breath. Okay… Nanabi. If we're going to work together now, then that means you'll make this easy for me, right?
…I will.
Alright!
"The match may begin…"
Temari tensed and Fuu chuckled, sunset misty chakra seeping from her skin.
Cough—"Now!" Hayate flickered out of the way. Temari's fan opened to reveal three moon-like dots.
"Wind Style: Great Wind Cutter!" she yelled, slashing her fan across the air in a gigantic gust.
Fuu looked bored. Her entire eye—including the pupil and sclera shone the orange of the rising sun. All Fuu did was flick her wrist and Temari's wind storm was cast away to Konoha's side of the arena. The gust knocked everyone besides the Jonin to the ground.
"Is… that it?" asked Fuu, with Nanabi's chakra spewing from her skin like a hurricane. Evening colored clouds formed around her.
Temari didn't say a word. Her teeth grit harder and she roared, "WIND STYLE! DESTRUCTIVE WIND ANNIHILATION!"
A gust ten times the size and veracity kicked up every shattered tile and stray object in the room. They were hurled at Fuu with sonic speeds. Again… she was not impressed. Let me test this out.
Fuu let out a battle cry and Nanabi's chakra erupted. Her tanned skin hardened—it shimmered like the very stars were made into armor. From her lower back, the yellow tail of an insect grew from her skin. The glowing orange of her eyes beamed as her hair whirled like a tornado.
With little effort, Fuu caught the wind of Temari's jutsu. An insect-like giggle rang from her mouth. It sent chills down Temari's spine—the world distorted and it felt like she was ten thousand feet in the air.
Fuu laughed like a beetle's ensemble. "Using Nanabi's chakra has never been so easy."
You're welcome.
Her grin grew and Temari's jutsu was blown with the dusk's orange. "Wind Style… Hell Above." No hand seals were weaved. Fuu simply brought her hand down. Every atom of air in the room converged on Temari in a convulsive gale. Everyone in the room had breath drawn from their lungs to fuel the jutsu.
Where Temari once stood, there was simply a splat of blood. As if a bug has just been crushed. The shattered remnants of her fan drifted across the broken arena floor. Fuu cackled at the sight! "This is great!"
"Fuu of Takigakure is the winner of the match…" Hayate announced, still catching his breath.
With a breath, Nanabi's chakra peacefully receded. Fuu's skin softened and lost its shimmer, her tail fell off onto the ground, and her glowing eyes blinked into their normal state. A wind boosted leap landed her right next to Ka'rai.
"So…" she started with a grin. "I'm pretty good, aren't I?!"
Ka'rai nodded with a smirk on his face. "Yes… yes indeed. I could still beat your ass though—"
"HEY!" she yelled. "I wasn't going all out."
"Oh?" asked Ka'rai, visibly intrigued.
"Nope! I can use the three tails. After that is version two," explained Fuu. "But, with Nanabi's help maybe I can do it?"
"Fuu…" began Ka'rai. "I can't use a version two cloak without losing my fucking mind—with Nibi's help."
"And what makes you the standard for being a good Jinchuriki?!" questioned Fuu, she crossed her arms and huffed. "I could just be better than you."
"I…" He shrugged. "Fair enough."
They went silent, watching the final match. It was between that Senju kid he couldn't kill and little-bowl cut dude. His guilt made him root for bowl cut. And it paid off because he won! With that, all of the winners were lined up.
Ka'rai made sure to place himself next to Shinrai. With a smirk he asked. "So… I heard you beat Clowui?"
"Uh huh…" he answered nonchalantly.
Ka'rai's smirk grew. "You realize that she's the strongest one from Kumo? Other than me, of course."
"Figures," said Shinrai as he rested the back of his head in his clasped palms. "I guess I'm just better than most of Kumo's Genin then."
Ka'rai just chuckled in response. The final matches were decided randomly. As he expected, they came a month from now. The screen was set to randomize again. There were twelve finalists and six battles. Whatever order the names came up in, would be the order of the matches.
First match, Ka'rai didn't note. It wasn't him or anybody he cared about, well it involved bowl-cut. So that was cool. The second one had Sasuke against that Kusari girl he heard a lot about. It was a shame, he didn't get to fight either of them…
The third, fight, however was quite interesting to him.
Yowui Keiso vs Cirru Furachi.
"Well, well, well…" Cirru began with a smirk, looking toward Yowui. "It looks like I won't have to put much effort into my month of training."
"Oh, shut up…" mumbled Yowui with a sigh. He stretched and looked toward the sky, deep in thought. To Ka'rai's surprise, he didn't seem worried at all. Just exasperated with the situation.
The next match was Sami's. She was going to battle that insect dude. Because the board read, Sami of Kumogakure vs Shino Aburame, he knew his name!
All they did was eye each other from across the winning lineup.
The match after that was Fuu of Takigakure vs Neji Hyuuga.
"Didn't… didn't you beat him up really easily?" asked Fuu.
Ka'rai nodded. "Yup!"
"Oh, so I'm just going to win."
Neji, however, seemed to curse his luck under his breath. Which, in all honesty, was fair. There was no way that he was winning that match…
But, that wasn't the end. There wasn't any suspense. It was just the final two names of two remaining finalists.
Shinrai Uzumaki vs Ka'rai Uzumaki.
Ka'rai's face went crooked with an excited smirk.
A hollow chuckle rattled Shinrai's breath. "I'm fucked…"
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
A void. Empty. Endless expanse like deserts without sand. That was where he sat. All grains of sand formed into a beast—one with the earth itself. A single tail, spiky and scaly, a complete contrast to the smooth roughness of the rest of his body. Golden, four starred eyes shone with curiosity.
Cobalt flames burned into form. A heterochromatic Nekomata formed… utterly dwarfed by the Bijuu she faced. "Hello… Shukaku."
He suspiciously greeted his sibling by name. "What are you doing here?"
"Firstly… I would like to apologize for the recklessness of my Jinchuriki. I can assure it was never his intent to kill Gaara. He never aimed for the head," explained Nibi.
Shukaku huffed, sand blew with his breath. "The speck I'm sealed in tends to piss people off." The Bijuu cackled. "It's my fault! I spent my years driving him crazy!"
Nibi shook her head in exasperation. "Does Gaara hate you?"
"Dunno," admitted Shukaku with a shrug. "Don't much care."
"You should work with him," suggested Nibi with a glint in her eyes.
Shukaku went silent, staring at his sibling with utter disbelief. "You must've gone crazy in that seal… did Gyuki rot your brain with his love for humanity?!" An earth shattering laugh boomed in the void. "You are working with that Uzumaki brat?!"
"For a purpose," snarled Nibi. "Believe me when I say I long for the day when I claim his soul. But… for now, it allows me to keep my domain in something resembling order. On top of that, his constant use of my chakra weakens the seal. Once it's weakened enough, I'll be free.
"When our jailers battled, I forcefully injected chakra into your seal. That's how I'm here. And now that my chakra is within the seal…"
"It weakens my seal whenever your brat uses your chakra." Shukaku slammed his fist into the center of the void, laughing maniacally. "You've always been one of the smarter Bijuu! We'll be free in no time!"
"Indeed," confirmed Nibi, something resembling a smirk of pride curled her lips—barely noticeable. "I've already done the same with Nanabi. Ka'rai is sure to get at least one of the Kyuubi's two halves. After that, we'll all have our Jinchuriki meet, our chakra will be destroying each other's seals… a chain reaction which will have us entirely free."
Shukaku grinned wildly. "I can't wait to eradicate Suna again. They won't be coming back this time…"
"The same will go for the rest of humanity."
ϟ—Chapter End—ϟ