Stella never had much luck when it came to anyone, truthfully.
Be it love or friendship.
It slipped from her grasp, though her fingers had turned into claws trying to keep something with her.
She learned early on what it meant to be loved for a shadow that does not belong to her, no matter what people may believe. To be loved so fully, it ran out quickly almost as quickly as she ran out of use.
People used to defend themselves when Stella would confront them about words that faltered in front of change, of love that she could never take a hold of.
"How can I not love you? You are so kind."
translation: kind enough to give me your heart if i needed it.
"I wish you could see yourself in my eyes, you'd see how loved you are"
Translation: I wish you could wake up and see how used you are. I'd feel less guilty
They were pretty words, sure.
But what good are pretty words that are but beautiful flowers with quickly wilting petals?
They did not save Stella.
They did not save anyone.
At the same time, others never truly answered her when she asked what she had done wrong. Only deflected, trying to clumsily take back the knife they stabbed into her heart, twisting and yanking off the blade desperately to make it seem there never was a wound in the first place.
Stella once wondered if they knew that to twist a blade into its wound would only make it worse
they knew
Too many left, too many cared little to answer, and the voices in her head filled in the gap left in their departed silence.
They whisper of everyone's conclusion, the ultimate one that all draw though there is time that separates those strangers from each other.
It is not a kind conclusion, but it is rare that StellaAkari's voices ever are.
You are not worth it.
Maybe that's why when she wakes up, she freezes when faced with Sasuke's peaceful features so close to hers.
The whisper still echoes in her mind.
Yet, Akari remains rooted in her place, barely inches from her brother, unable to leave even as her unworthiness is carved into her mind.
Because-
He's Sasuke.
The one she loves more than she has ever loved.
Longing sits heavy in her chest, nestled next to her heart.
After all, Akari has yearned so much for love, for its purest form, though she had thought it like the love Sasuke had so freely given her in the past decade.
Now that she has had a true taste of it, on soft lips and a softer heart, she doesn't know what to do with it. Her yearning has festered, her ability and touch twisted into burns and bruises. She'll fumble, Akari knows it.
She'll fumble and ruin him.
She'll-
"Akari?"
He says it so softly, as if it is gold and feathers and everything nice. Akari wouldn't mind if that is the last thing she ever hears again.
So long it is Sasuke who speaks it.
But don't you know how the story goes?
The more the love warms you,
the colder he grows.
The voice that whispers so hatefully is familiar, eerily so.
It is the kind of familiar that comes with years of hurt disguised as friendship. The kind of fluency in a language that should have never been hers, but Stella had always been weak to Althea.
Speaking of the ghost, there she is.
She lingers closer than most of her ghosts do, a chain clasped at her ankle.
Even in death, something needs to keep hold of Althea lest she leaves once more.
Akari's fingers tighten on the silk blanket, her eyes, stuck on Althea's corpse. The other girl, paler in death, still has her face frozen in apathy. An apathy so cruel that Stella could have slit her own wrist and still, there would be no warmth to the other girl.
She had always been good at that. Always a foot outside of the door.
waiting for her usefulness to run out
Sasuke hums, stealing Akari's attention back once more.
"Where have you gone?" He sounds impossibly sad when he says it. Sasuke's touch is gentle as he cups her cheek, and their eyes meet. Althea's corpse disappears, joining the ranks of others in the shadows. His gaze is warm, fond, and she basks in it. Sasuke smiles. "Ah, better. You see me now."
How odd he says that.
She would know him blind.
"I've always seen you," she says, a question in her voice that her twin brother does not answer. Instead, he leans forward, a confession on his lips.
"And I've always loved you," he presses forward, his first kiss touching her forehead. He then drifts lower and kisses her eyelid. The third is pressed onto the tip of her nose.
He peppers her with adoration, easing her frown away with adoring lips till she can only smile.
They never dwell on the kiss that tasted of starlight.
Because, in the end, nothing has truly changed.
Truly.
Nothing but a heart, a bit more whole than it once was.
(too bad the world sees this - the beginning of healing - and thinks, allow me to ruin that)
Kakashi-sensei welcomes her back with a gentle pat of her head, gloved hand rubbing her hair with a comforting warmth. He asks about her time training in the hospital, eager to hear about the training he requested for her.
Akari cannot bring herself to tell him she is nothing but a glorified accessory there. The mentor he had chosen for her cares little for the Uchiha, and it shows in how easily Akari is forgotten on the side.
She does not tell her teacher she was dismissed from it mere days later, claiming to be already skilled enough not to need any of ité
(There is a reason Danzo-sama could not sit idly as Akari wastes away with filing documents, only using her medical skills for gashes, not trusted with anything else.)
Akari tries not to take it to heart, truly, because she isn't a healer, no matter how Kakashi-sensei wishes for her to remain protected.
She's better suited shedding blood, as much as she has shed tears.
Naruto comes back too, bright and tanned, something more in his confidence.
Her teammate has spent a lot of time outside, it is obvious for all to see and Akari has always known what to search for. His trip did him good, the Uchiha princess notices. It straightened his shoulders and tilted his chin slightly higher.
In comparison, Akari is paler, though her skin has always been ivory. It is a side effect from being stuck in the ROOT headquarters, to have only Uzumaki sealing scrolls and trainers as company though these trainers more often than not become corpses from missions.
Her training bruises have not faded yet for the most part, colors refusing to leave her as if a brand to remind her of what it means to learn.
She hides those behind high-collared, long-sleeved shirts just as she hides the whispers that linger on her skin, in her mind as to not let anything seem out of place.
She cannot, not in front of her teacher who smelled her tears after the second task and asked, 'What's wrong?'
It was not the first time an adult has asked her this; a fake concern they expect her to be thankful for and accept at face value. Because they are never truly asking, never truly concerned.
Yet -
She saw only sincerity in Kakashi-sensei, who, though he might physically wear a mask, does little to hide him, at the very least in her eyes.
Hatake Kakashi, the Copy ninja, had come to Team Seven with kunai drawn, a forteress in place of a heart and ghosts already well nestled into his heart.
He did not want to care about them, about their Team.
That much was obvious.
But Kakashi-sensei has long since been ensnared in the web she had weaved, and now, it is far too late for him to take it all back. She dares and even thinks that he would not want to do so, either way.
"What's wrong?" Her teacher had asked quietly to a girl who saw her world end silently.
She had not answered, tried not to answer sincerity with a lie.
He had pushed on, gentle in a way Akari wanted to cradle it in her hands not let go. Adults are selfish, ruthless. Shinobis only find softness in the neck of their victims, yet here her teacher stands. "Are you alright?"
Akari had shaken her head. Once, but it is enough for Kakashi-sensei to tuck her closer to him, as if he could shield her from the world.
"I will be," she breathed.
(she had not wanted to lie. Truly. It had not been a lie in the moment, but now it is.
Because Uchiha Akari is still not alright.
How could she? When she holds the shards of her heart so tightly, be it in rage or bitterness, till it bites her hands and make scarlet run?)
I am afraid that if I open myself
I will not stop pouring.
(Why do I fear becoming a river?
What mountain gave me such shame?)
- Jamie Oliveira
The first match is Naruto against the genius of the Hyuuga.
There is more than ten thousand ryos betted against her sunshine.
People come eagerly to the fight too. To see the object of their hatred be met with the fate he deserves: failure and scorn, to be seen as hateful as he is in their eyes.
Akari has heard them. A part of her could have added to the poisonous whispers.
'He has never been worthy'
'Once he proves himself useless, even the shinobi will know not to protect him anymore'
Akari, in response and with Sasuke at her side, places another bet.
Twenty thousand ryos.
On Uzumaki Naruto.
The Head of Commerce, a wealthy aged man who sees Akari as a thriving star - and how she resents that nickname because she had been a star before, named and beloved, but what good is a star except to collapse onto itself? - approaches her. He wears his last name like a cloak of honor and privilege, perhaps one of the only Konoha nobles with no shinobi to count in his family, though the same cannot be said for his vassals.
"Your loyalty to your teammate is admirable, Akari-hime. But a wise person knows when to cut their loses. I fear you will only harm your standing, to lose so much in the name of Uzumaki." He tells her.
It is not meant as an insult, at the very least, not to Akari, but it is still sharp and cruel to her teammate who, with the Kyuubi senses, overhears it. She sees it in the downturn of his lips as he continues to talk to Sasuke.
Hiroto is an old man and perhaps one of the fews who hold any fond memory of the past Uchiha clan, back when they weren't a mere footnote in history, their death glamorized as if the village had not previously scorned their Founding clan.
Stella had seen those kind of people. Kinder than most, kinder in their touches and words yet they are still cruel with their expectations that come with a leash tight enough it will strangle her.
But among a sea of snakes that would rather see Akari fail, Hiroto, when she had started to stretch and weave her web, had been a warm support. Steady and evergrowing so long that Akari continued to prove herself worthy of such investment.
It is odd, almost foreign.
Perhaps Hiroto has even come to see her as a ward, a valuable pawn, for he had given her the keys to his own family vault. For the library, he had whispered to twelve years old Akari.
It is an unwarranted kindness.
Most would never do the same.
Even Nara Shikaku, for all of his talks of unity and care for his heir's best friend, had never quite supported her so.
No, the Nara Head had liked to see her walk on that tightly strung rope, as had all adults.
She is going to fall, were the adults first thought when she entered the political sphere.
She will fall, they remain assured because the Uchiha had never quite cherished Akari as they had their heir, had never seen the daughter rise above her brothers and a child - noble and delicate at that - should not know of the darker parts of the world, of the blood and rot behind the gold that politics bring.
Akari had not fallen.
Stella hadn't either, after all.
She should fall, then became the adults' thoughts.
Hiroto thought otherwise. "Let the child bring her name to new heights," he said to his vassals. The servant repeated it to Akari, and Akari stops looking for the drawn kunai behind Hiroto's poised hands, if only slightly.
Hiroto is no Hatake Kakashi.
But she does not think it a bad thing.
The Uchiha heiress bows to him, a bow deeper than a clan heiress should, but it is good to reward kindness with deference.
"I appreciate your concern, Hiroto-sama," she answers softly. "But do not fear for me. It is not pity that pushes my actions after all. It is faith."
Faith in the boy that has a story to his name.
Faith in knowing that Naruto will not rest till he grows stronger and stronger.
"Does a pawn deserve so much sacrifice?"
Hiroto is also one of the few in Konoha to know chess and has long since started playing it with Akari. It is a game he likes most, for it bleeds into his speech, his thoughts.
The Chessmaster.
That should be his title.
Perhaps it is, to those who fell to him. Akari does not count herself among those, yet she is all the more aware of every tactic that lingers behind their every interaction. Hiroto is kind like that, to remind her of the lines drawn and to which most would pretend never existed only to strangle you with them later.
Akari hums. "Perhaps not. But my teammate is no pawn."
And neither is she.
Naruto has never been the sharpest kunai in the pack.
Far from it even, no matter the time he spends training with an esteemed Sage, it cannot change him, cannot make him brighter all of a sudden. Before, perhaps Akari would have taken him in contempt, if only for the whispers of her past, that true worth came from a career, grades, reputation. Now, well, her sunshine, though not the brightest, the most cunning, is a force to reckon with anyway.
You can see it in the way that he sways under Hyuuga Neiji's strikes, choking out blood, yet he never gives out an inch.
Someone whispers, "How is he still standing? How isn't he dead?"
She supposes that Neiji's technique, the 64 palms, is deadly itself. She can see it. But it serves him for naught because holding the Kyuubi almost means to get healed.
And for every punch, Naruto gives it back with a power that draws Kiba's incredulous gaze.
It is not meant to last, though.
After all, genius will always triumph once it works hard.
That fact has molded Stella's life, and it still rings true today.
Neiji hits Naruto's shoulder, quick as a snake and deadly too, which makes the blonde falter in his tracks. The Hyuuaga, like the good shinobi that he is, manages to hit two more chakra points before Naruto swats his hands away with a determined scowl.
"Shadow clone!" the blonde calls.
Hundred of Naruto copies appear in a puff of smoke.
Of course. Typical for Naruto to reuse that technique he is so fond of.
Well, Akari can see its appeal, both from Naruto and her own point of you.
It is a strong technique, one that few can manage and it draws attention to her teammate's chakra capacity alike a diamond that draws the sun to it.
Naruto probably just thinks to overwhelm his adversary with sheer numbers, ones that the Hyuuga could not detect with his Byakugan.
It isn't a bad strategy.
In fact, it is an improvement from Naruto before he joined Team Seven, the one who was unrefined and bullheaded, with only to his name a stubbornness that lingers on the ridiculous side of things.
But still.
It is predictable.
The kind of bringing a single blade in a fight.
Akari cannot help but clench her fingers as Neiji escapes another series of punches, deftly dodging around Naruto's bright and orange form with an elegance most Geishas would grow green with envy.
"Shit-" Naruto grunts, blue eyes falling to the opening he, himself, created carelessly, but it is far too late at this point for him to do anything but brace himself.
"Dumbass," Sasuke hisses, hands on the metal lining that separates the crowd from the arena. The cool metal groans beneath his fingers, flinching from his wrath.
Dumbass indeed.
A third of Naruto's shadow clones disappear in a puff of smoke as yet another chakra point is sealed off.
A normal shinobi would have lost all his clones from that attack alone.
"He still has chakra left for his clones?" Kiba asks, eyes riveted on the match while his dog is perched on his head.
Neither Uchiha twin respond. They don't have to waste breath, do not need to take care of how the Inuzuka clan would respond to a slight, not that they would care much.
Kiba's sister owes them a debt, and his mother a debt to the twins' teacher. Why care for the scruff of the litter? It is only Kiba, after all.
More childish than a teenager, more dog than shinobi, if Akari must be honest. Almost like two peas in a pond, he, like Naruto, dreams himself stronger, better, yet has none of the scars to show.
It is expected to be frank, for he is neither the heir nor the spare despite being the Inuzuka Head's only son.
How free and unloved he must be.
"Rude," the teenager huffs before turning to Shikamaru. "Since when dumbass Naruto could even use a jutsu?" he asks again.
dumbass.
It is ironic how the insult slips from Kiba's tongue. Like the pot calling back the kettle. And though the Uchiha could not care less for the other boy, Akari remembers Naruto being fond of him during their Academy days.
It would break her sunshine's heart to hear that because it is one thing to have strangers wish for your fall, to have strangers belittle you for things they have never seen.
It is another when someone you call a friend does so.
Shikamaru chews on his lips, considering and cautious as he tries to respond. But before he can do so, Sasuke interferes, his eyes both disdainful and bitter.
"Naruto is Team Seven," her brother sneers. He is always quick to defend Naruto, holding the sole right to be the one to taunt the blonde. "What else did you expect?"
Kiba blinks. Whether it is at Sasuke's earnest defense of the boy he had disliked so much during their childhood or at Sasuke's sneer, Akari does not know. It makes him look simple, lost. "That he stays good old dumbass Naruto?"
Shikamaru casually takes hold of Akari's hand as Sasuke glares. It almost feels like a leash, something to remind her to mind her tongue before she joins in the fray.
"Well, not everyone can be Inuzuka Kiba. One idiotic waste of space is enough in the village." Sasuke responds. Her beloved brother has always been sharp with his words, a mirror to her own cutting tongue that knows cruelty better than it knows love and kindness.
But it is rarer to see it so obviously brandished, the years having mellowed Sasuke till apathy leashes his tongue when it is not her that he defends.
But that's her sunshine for you.
So bright and warm, you would want to protect him from everything.
just to keep it to yourself
it is not as if the world deserves its hero who will burn himself in an effort to be recognized
Kakashi-sensei, not one to leave them far, chuckles good-naturedly, a heavy hand ruffling Sasuke's dark hair. "Now, now, Sasuke, let's be civil, shall we?"
"Civil?" Kiba's teacher interjects, a scowl on her lips. Akari tilts her side ever so slightly at the sight of her.
If anything, Kiba's teacher looks like a Uchiha bastard.
However, her eyes are the wrong shade of red, her hair lacks the Uchiha silk quality, and there's something almost common to her features.
But, the sneer?
Well. That is all Uchiha.
Perhaps she is one?
"Your boy just insulted my student," the teacher carries on. "An apology wouldn't be remiss, ne Hatake?"
"Mah, Kurenai," so that is her name. Civilian is Akari's first thought, bitch is her second. Who does she think she is to order her beloved teacher? "Let kids be kids."
So says the child soldier.
They haven't been kids for a while. None of them have, though some can claim more innocent than others.
a child shouldn't have seen their family die
a child shouldn't have to see her twin brother die
but there is no one else to protect them.
Kurenai sneers. For a pretty woman, it makes her beauty sour like spoiled milk.
She looks half gleeful already as she carefully enunciates, "Oh, your kid knows what he said." She looks at Sasuke with contempt, envy and she should lower her gaze lest that Akari plucks those eyes out for the insult "I mean, you wouldn't want the Hatake and Uchiha clans to have conflict with the Hyuuga and Inuzuka? It was a grave insult done to him, and my clan won't stand for it."
Cute.
If anything, those are big words coming from Kiba's teacher.
It would be a worthwhile threat, perhaps, but it lacks finesse, the kind one would expect from a shinobi.
Honestly, Akari knows she could simply ignore Kurenai and she'd much rather watch Naruto land a punch in Neiji's gut. But it is her duty as the Uchiha heiress and future Nara matriarch to curb such a person who would try to call the clans for her agenda as if it is her due.
There is a balance in the powers that reign of Konoha, after all.
And Hiroto has taught her well in that regard.
"The clans won't make much fuss over a mockery between old classmates, Kurenai-san," Akari starts, smiling sweetly. Shikamaru's grip tightens, but she ignores it. It would be weakness to stop now. At her side, Sasuke bristles like an irritated cat. "Besides, isn't it all water under the bridge, Kiba?" Kiba widens his eyes at her adressing him, and the curve of her lips becomes much sharper. "After all, the Uchiha never took insult when you laughed at our Clan's deaths and said at least there's less competition for girls. Because that, well, that's more than a worthy insult to obtain reparation. The other one, I'm not so sure. "
Sasuke shifts closer to her, his chin tilted in the superior way true and noble Uchiha have written in their blood. If Akari is the Lady of the Uchiha, Sasuke is its Lord, and they know each other well. "And won't the Inuzuka and Hyuuga clans be grateful to you, Kurenai-san, for reminding us of such thing." His smile is more teeth and ruthlessness. "For a civilian to invoke their Noble Name so liberally."
All of Kurenai's earlier bravado, falsely assured and contempt for Team Seven heavy in her sneer, disappears. She bites her lip, eyes darting around as if waiting for someone to save her.
Unless it is a special ally of hers, she's doing that for naught.
No one wants to carry the wrath of the Uchiha and Hatake as Team Seven threatens.
A hand lands heavy on Akari's head, the other one landing on Sasuke's.
"Now, now pups," their teacher chides them gently, then tugging at their clothes to make them back a step behind. "We can't be too mean to poor Kurenai, here." Kakashi-sensei's voice gets a bit meaner too. "It's her first time having responsibilities, after all."
Kurenai grows red of the face.
She opens her mouth, as if ready to reply, but the reminder of the weight the Uchiha name carries makes it die into her throat. Instead, she drags Kiba from the scruff of his shirt as he mouths "what the fuck" to Shikamaru, torn between horror and laughter. Shikamaru shrugs, too used to the politics Akari weaves.
"That was mean of you, sensei," Akari cannot help but remark.
Kakashi-sensei chuckles. "Well, I couldn't let you two have all the fun."
"And you call yourself the adult," Sasuke says drily.
Their teacher makes an affronted noise. "I'll have you know I'm not even 30 yet."
"- That's not something to be bragged about, sensei," Akari points out as her brother snorts, "Denial isn't a good look on you."
A third voice chimes in, the voice ironic yet still pleased. "Tell that to your hair."
The three of them look at Shikamaru oddly, though a giggle or two escapes Akari. Her fiancé smirks. "Naruto would be distraught knowing he missed the opportunity to diss you, Kakashi-san," he says as a justification, blinking innocently as if he had not just insulted the Copy Ninja, heir to more than simply grey hair, but rather a legacy of white chakra.
As if he hasn't insulted her teacherdad.
"Come now, Stella, I'm just joking," Ella laughs, the sound bright and pretty. Her eyes crinkle as a smirk draws itself on her lips. "Don't go and take it personally."
Kakashi-sensei smiles, his eye crinkling though it still glints with something too soft for it to be malice but too irritated for them even to think it is water under the bridge. "Maru-chan, do you want to babysit the pack again?"
It isn't an empty threat, they all know it.
After all, the silver-haired man likes to make himself as much as a nuisance as possible sometimes, almost as if trying to run away from the shadow shed by the corpses he has left behind. And well, Kakashi-sensei still hasn't forgiven the Nara clan for springing the engagement onto her.
Shikamaru shivers, recognizing his time to exit lest he unleashes Kakashi-sensei's trolling tendencies.
"Duly noted," he then leans forward, pressing a kiss to Akari's hand. His gaze is soft as he tells her, "I'll go before he changes his mind."
He then straightens. "Sasuke," the Nara heir nods, unflinching in face of Sasuke's poisonous glare, departing with a nonchalant wave. The crowd parts as he passes, respectful of the crest on his back, and most shinobi forces knowing they will most probably bow to the Jonin Commander's son in a few years.
As soon as Shikamaru turns his back, her twin brother takes her hand and wipes it fervently with his handkeich. "You're going to wash that at least thrice, right?" he asks.
Akari smiles at that.
It is rare for Sasuke to let go of his pride - that makes him colder, cold in the way the Uchiha had been - in public when there isn't truly Team Seven and amid civilias. Neither twins have forgotten those who stood silent when the Uchiha name was dragged through mud following the massacre.
They never forgot the pity and cruelty of adults who saw something to gossip about in their tragedy.
"Sure," she nods.
Now, one might wonder why Team Seven is not watching their last link.
It is not for a lack of support or faith.
Because while some might think to know Naruto, to know him as the simpleton of Iruka's class, Team Seven knows better.
Uzumaki Naruto isn't the sharpest kunai.
But a blade cuts regardless as long as it is well cared for.
And they do love their deadlast.
Gasps and whispers echo in the stadium, slithers of voice reaching the twins as clones gather around Naruto, swallowing him into an ocean of gold and orange. From their view, Team Seven can glimpse at them as they face Hyuuga Neiji, who shifts ever so slightly, tightening his defense.
The clones, as one, all start the same sequence, fingers oddly - to most of the spectators - quick and precise, sure as they flicker between hand signs.
Horse
Tiger
Sasuke, by her side, smirks as some jonin, Shikamaru's teacher for once, glance to them with wide eyes.
Akari knows not if her clan had a motto: words they hold into their hearts. Perhaps it had been duty above all.
Sasuke and her, if it is the case, are living by others.
'It's Us against the world.'
But the 'us' must be strong.
The clones then bring their fingers close to their mouth, jaws tense and brows furrowed in concentration. They take a large breath. Now, all those who were familiar with an Uchiha are glancing blantly at the twins, the sole remains of a massacred legacy so grand, everyone knows of its name.
What do people think of when they hear Uchiha?
Sharingan.
Fire
"Great Fireball Jutsu!" two hundred voices shout, melding into a roar that demands attention.
A vortex of flames forms, fire adding and adding to it till it forms a sphere of pure heat. It was Akari who explained it to Naruto.
"Your throat will burn," Akari had whispered to the blonde as she poked his chest with a finger. "Hold your breath, let it build itself into your chest. Imagine it is someone you hate standing in front of you."
Sasuke had chuckled at that particular part of advice. It hadn't been one that Father told them, but it works. He then shifted closer. "And when you exhale," he started, "don't try to just spit it out. Exhale longly, one smooth and long sigh as you breathe out. The fire will grow stronger that way."
Naruto, when he first managed it, looked ready to cry.
Neiji's eyes widen.
If there is one jutsu that the Hyuuga never tried to dispel, it is the Uchiha fireball jutsu.
Instead, he jumps out of the way, only barely because Naruto's jutsu is strong and ravenous, alike a torrent of greedy flames.
Ivory skin blisters under its heat.
Exclamations rise from the stands. Loud, accidently gleeful.
Almost like a cheer.
look Naruto, how they cheer for you
though they don't want to.
Neiji throws himself at the sea of orange, snarling. One dispels, two are thrown to the side. But the genius is off-balanced, rage clouding his mind. Like a child placed in front of something new, something scary.
The older teenager catches Naruto's kunai with a scowl, shifting his grip as if ready to throw it right back. Yet, it melts into his hand, the henge stopping and leaving behind a stack of seals. It explodes. He hisses, eyes blinking from the flash, the veins around his eyes receding.
Naruto smiles toothily, fangs poking out, at that. "Bye bye motherfucker," he screams as he yanks his right hand back as if pulling on something.
Wires, cleverly put all around the arena, are straightened, lines suddenly deadly as they cut into Naruto's shadow clones, cutting them away till only Neiji remains in their path.
Blood drips from the genius, rubies dripping from his throat.
One
Two
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto"
When Akari's turn comes, she is ready.
Warmth licks at her fingers, fire ready to be called into life though she knows she should keep that affinity - that grew the day she drowned in her brother's blood - hidden. Instead, she thinks of the blue and yellow that colored her skin, and the newfound viciousness ROOT has gifted her.
she isn't so weak anymore
Her opponent: Kankurou of the Sands.
A puppeteer but who -unlike her - wields wooden corpses while she makes monsters dance to her will.
Naruto had called him an asshole.
Sasuke, arrogant.
However, Akari knows that her teammates are prone to let their dislike color their judgment, like a stained glass they peak through once in a while and never question it.
You could even say that Akari is the same.
To see monsters instead of humans, to see lies where there perhaps are none. It is a lonely thing to see the world and know of its treachery.
But then, she remembers them.
Those she called friends. Those she called kind. No matter the lies she had buried herself with, six feet beneath illusions and a desperate plea for something to be true, the world had never been so kind to her.
She supposes she could thank it. For its lessons that have made her bones brittle and her neck curve under its weight.
But you do not thank the ocean that has drowned you, do you?
After all, it is a cruel, cruel place. And Akari knows better. She does.
Already, the audience is loud, cheering her name almost like a prayer as it is called out. Bright, deafening. Every one in the Leaf cheer, even those who do not know her yet, are faithful, sure of her name and reputation.
Uchiha Akari.
Surely, she must be strong, too.
She has been the best kunoichi of her generation.
Another genius, almost on par with her twin brother.
Chosen to be the Nara Matriach.
the strings, barbed and sharp, tighten around her, a collar becoming a noose
Once, she thought that was girlhood; a begging to be believed in.
But to be believed in when you are a fallible God is torture in itself, breeding resentment.
"Do not fail. Everyone is watching."
It is a show they wish for.
But Akari also knows what they secretly long for, though they would never admit it, their fear of her name leashing their tongue though it also poisons their thoughts.
What if -
What if she fails?
Because wouldn't that please them?
To see failure where success should have been a guarantee. To see her throne ripped asunder and as surely as they applauded her when she was crowned, they would applaud her fall. A queen or a beheaded girl, it matters not. Be it the gold she wears or the blood that runs from her like a scarlet brand, it is a show they will enjoy regardless.
But, at the very least, it is a show she knows well, one that she would know blind since she has been a child.
Akari is ready.
Ready to show the strength of her blood. ready to slip another noose around her frail neck if it means that Sasuke is protected-
"I forfeit."
Her opponent's voice is loud, louder than the audience and it makes time freeze as eyes always looking, always searching for the next thing to tear down are all on him.
"Why?" the proctor asks, hoarse from his coughs. He hides them behind his hands, and Akari thinks she sees a smile tugging at his lips too. maybe even a laugh slipping past him
"I don't wanna have the whole village after me just because I beat their princess," the sand shinobi says with a graceless shrug.
"Sounds like fighting words, Kankurou-san," Akari remarks.
He shakes his head at her. Arrogance looks rotten on him. It makes his traits sharper, waiting to be carved into.
"Don't mind me, Princess. I'm being considerate."
As is Akari.
She could burn him alive for this slight, it wouldn't be the first time that she would smell the stench of burnt flesh. It isn't a pleasant smell by any means, and the agony of having fire eat you alive grates on her ears, but just for fucking Kankurou, Akari wouldn't mind it too much.
Akari opens her mouth, ready to goad him into the arena, ready to show him what it means to be considerate, that killing him will be a kindness he will thank her for till death comes and claim him, but the Hokage waives them away.
"If Sand wants such a dishonor to their name, who are we to tell them otherwise?" he asks, his beard twitching as if he wants to smile but remember his role as the benevolent leader most see him as.
Kankurou and Akari bow to his decision, though Akari clenches her jaw in frustration.
The older boy, draped in his dark uniform, turns to his teacher.
look
"Aka-chan-" Naruto breathes, worry dulling his voice and his exuberance nowhere to be found, but Akari cares little for her sunshine right now.
look at him
Her eyes are riveted on Kankurou instead.
and see
Naruto whispers in her ears but Akari cannot hear him.
Because, oh-
Kankurou is laughing.
The attack starts when Sasuke draws blood on Gaara.
Kakashi is already looking at the balcony that holds the Sand delegation, and he watches their reaction with a rumble of pleasure in his chest, at his precious student's triumph.
Some are surprised, horror and disbelief clear in their faces because they never expected a teenager to wound their precious monster. For others, their jaws hand low, mouth gaped open and voiceless.
It is like they have never seen their jinchuriki falter, let alone be injured. And by a genin teenager?
Madness.
But it is not a simple teenager Gaara of the Sands is facing.
No, it is Kakashi's very own student: Uchiha Sasuke.
Of course, Kakashi is brimming with pride at the sight of his student injuring Sand's vessel like so, too quick for even conjured sand to stand between the Uchiha heir and his target.
Lightning too bows to his wants, Chidori being a thorough and well-honed blade in Sasuke's hands.
Do you see, Obito? Minato-sensei?
how bright he shines
The attack starts, and Sand's monster flees.
Kakashi can see how it is an unexpected move because the teacher - Baki - immediately orders his two students to get the redhead back. Sand shinobis try to block Gaara's path and are cut down for it by claws made of sand.
Sasuke snarls at the blood he is denied.
Kakashi knows his student well.
"Sasuke-" he tries to call out, but already, the dark-haired boy gives chase.
The Copy ninja wants to be surprised by that, by that insubordination Elders would froth from their mouth at because they cannot allow one of their last Uchiha to simply ignore a commanding officer's words.
cannot lose the last of its founder's bloodline to its own.
But, a bit like himself as a child, Sasuke is also prone to blind anger. Wild like a volcano, his anger is quick to burn and slow to cool, and Sasuke probably won't forget how Gaara approached them during their training camp.
Kakashi, as the responsible adult that he is, has made sure to eavesdrop on the two quarreling teenagers, ready to intervene if one tries to murder the other before their official match.
Though, if it is Sasuke who deals the final blow, well, he knows places where you wouldn't even know someone died there.
Of course, he will thoroughly punish his little student and throw him in the lake for good measure, but a stranger holds little weight to his Team Seven.
"You're different than her," the redhead says. He sounds angry at that realization yet also gleeful.
"Different than who?"
"Your sister."
Chidori blares into life in response.
If Kakashi wasn't making sure there is no murder happening today, he would shed a little tear at how easily Sasuke uses his personal technique.
"Don't you dare even look at her," Sasuke snarls. His little student has always been sharper, more lethal when it comes to his twin sister. Even now, hundreds of miles from her, he frets over her well-being.
Kakashi has made sure to appease him, that Akari-chan is in good hands in the hospital internship he got her, and most importantly, safe when there are strangers roaming around. Many villages would commit treason and pure stupidity if it meant to get their hands on the Uchiha bloodline.
Teal eyes stare without blinking."Why? You could never understand her. Not like I do."
Birds chirp as lighting sizzles within Sasuke's palm. "Sasuke-" Kakashi starts to call out but his little student spares him no mind, no glance, eyes full of loathing stuck on the Sand's jinchuriki.
"She's mine. You don't know anything."
Asuma throws him a weighted glance at that, almost accusing if not for the smirk he wears. The kind that says "look at that, Kakashi, this is karma for your asshole ways."
Which, alright.
Perhaps Kakashi can take a bit of the blame for indulging his precious team in a way that few can.
To train them sharper than a peace genin should be, but it is hard when Minato-sensei, Obito, Rin and Kusina-nee look from behind their shoulders.
Sasuke has grown confident since their training trip, more so than he has been before. As he should, but Kakashi still worries sometimes. for his students to die young as the rest of those he has loved
But Kakashi has done all he could for the weeks he could steal the Uchiha heir away, under the excuse of supervising the curse mark that Orochimaru placed.
He prioritized teaching Sasuke speed and Chidori, giving him the best-honed weapons he could so that his student could thrive in the bloody world of the shinobi.
Obito would have wanted it, Kakashi thinks. To have his kin better prepared than he has been.
Three Sound shinobi fall to his earth spear.
From the corner of his eyes, he notices Akari throwing herself off the stadium rolling in the arena's sand, her sword ripping open two Sand shinobi who foolishly charged at her.
A snarl rumbles into his chest, a predator having been pushed one too many times, a predator thirsty for blood.
Akari-chan is a sweet and kind girl, born to and for peace.
Violence has never looked good on her.
Red even less, and he wished he could wipe away the scarlet splattered on her cheeks like a stain that the world had tried to brand her with.
Perhaps it is naive of the Copy Ninja to wish her safe from the worst of the world. Especially for a Uchiha, but he likes to think that Itachi, his Itachi - the one before the pressure of holding the weight of a legacy made him crumble, the one who spoke so fondly and lovingly of his little siblings as if they were the only thing left untainted by their way of life - would think the same.
Naruto must fight and thrive for his blood and burden sealed into him leaves him with no choice.
Sasuke is the sole legacy of a name that is too heavy for a child to bear.
But Akari-
the daughter, the medic
She- Uchiha Akari is a shinobi.
To be a shinobi is to endure.
To be a shinobi is to answer to the Hokage.
To be a shinobi is to sacrifice.
It is the highest honor and yet, there's a small part of him - more feral and less inclined to listen to the call of the Will of fire - just wants her to be happy.
To keep the light that sparkles in her eyes and makes her smile soft under the sun.
He wants her to be happy.
And well, Kakashi-
Kakashi has yet to find a shinobi who truly is.
Tell me, if a person falls apart alone in the dark-
Does it make a sound?
And if it does make a sound, is it as loud and devastating as a decaying broken heart when it is finally found?
Or is the sound a soft strangulation hidden that we miss all the time behind words like "I am fine"?
- Nikita Gill
When Akari is done with Temari of the Sand - who looked at Shikamaru with something alike interest and nonononononono he is hers before he is the world's, he is hers by right and by oath, the girl's fan burned into crisp and strangled till her neck is dyed blue, she comes face to face with a heartbreaking scene.
One might not think that way, if they were a Konoha shinobi, but Akari has always been a sister first, a Uchiha second.
Sasuke's summons, Miko and Shisui, linger around her twin brother as he wraps bandages around his bruised knuckles.
Naruto, a beacon of light with his tattered jumpsuit, is a bit further behind, but Akari only has eyes for her brother, for the blood that drips from his lips, the blood that stains his clothes.
"Who did this?" she hisses, something poisonous in her voice, dark and loathing coating it like poison to a blade.
"I'm fine," Sasuke tells her, reaching for her trembling hands. He gives her a gentle smile, but its gentleness cannot make her eyes blind to his state, not when he is hers and someone hurt him again. "You should see the other guy."
Before, such a joke would steal a peal of bright laughter from the Uchiha heiress, but it only tightens the dip of her lips, the muscle of her jaw.
"Is he dead?"
Something complicated plays at his face, twisting his regal features in a mirror of bitterness and scorn. "We bested him." is his only answer.
Alive, then. It would almost seem odd because mercy is rarely something Sasuke keeps in mind. After all, it has a price, one that the Uchiha twins are unwilling to pay, not for the world that held none of its false tenderness for their slained kin.
"How's Naruto?" Sasuke asks nonchalantly. He could simply turn and glance behind, but his eyes are riveted into her own, unwilling to let go of her gaze, demanding her everything.
Someone laughs.
It isn't the twins.
"He's fine," is Akari's curt response.
"He hasn't left, has he?"
left us behind
like everyone else
"It doesn't matter," Akari whispers, crouching to her brother as Shisui comes and settles on her shoulder. She scratches his beak gently. Quite frankly, the Uchiha heiress holds little memories of Shisui, though they had been betrothed since her birth.
But from the glimpses she finds in her dreams - those small flashes of sunlight and gentle teasing that the blood and the taste of betrayal still cannot reach - he would have been aghast at such a dour and vicious bird named after him.
Sasuke had never liked the older boy much, even as a mere toddler.
But Uchiha Shisui is still another ghost they have yet to bury.
"He did it again, huh?"
chosen mercy over us
Akari wonders if the anger that sits heavy on her tongue till it tastes of ashes is justified.
Naruto has always been a kind child.
It should be of no surprise for him to find kindness for their vanquished enemy. How wretched and selfless of him.
She could say much, but instead holds her tongue. It has been a long day, enough that it dulls the hurt of seeing the blonde give a hand to the monster that made her brother bleed.
Sand shinobi appear, Kakashi-sensei in toe.
Naruto calls them friends, the monster now fangless and drinking his words like a starved soul that never got to touch salvation till now.
Akari knows otherwise.
"Kakashi-sensei," she calls out, slipping from her brother's hands, trusting Naruto to guard her back as she walks closer, a scroll in her hands holding Suna's Kage seal she has stolen from its princess. "We must-"
Something slips from her lips.
Iron fills her mouth thickly.
Her eyes flicker down though they are blurry, splashes of colors stained with crimson flickering around her.
There's an earth spike in her chest.
She only hears a grief-stricken roar, a head falling to the ground, and she thinks
sasuke
it hurts
Akari blinks.
the sky is blue, though blurry. Wind whips in her ears, a howl of grief and agony echoing throughout the world.
"Akari-"
It is Kakashi-sensei's voice, hoarse and half an agonized growl. She hums slightly, but a small sigh of acknowledgment, yet it makes the warm arms cradling her tighten in an embrace she could and will call loving.
It is like a plea.
If he holds her that tightly, that lovingly, surely it means-
"Sensei-" she chokes out weakly into his chest. He hushes her gently like a kiss of sunlight.
it hurts.
"Keep your strength, Aka-chan."
But-
"Sasuke?"
her heart is beating. Surely, then it must mean that the other half of her soul is -
"Safe."
Her lips curve up brightly even as she coughs and stains her skin scarlet.
"Good." She blinks sluggishly, eyes heavy. Her exhale is a weak, pitiful thing, wet and pained. "I'm t-tired."
Kakashi-sensei's arms tighten, bringing her closer to him as if he could gift her all that he had. As if it was the only thing left he could ever hold.
"No, no, no," he chokes out. The sound of footsteps grows louder; the wind howls now harsher. "You can't sleep now, ok? You have to stay awake, you hear me?"
Easy for him to say.
"It hurts," Akari whines. "Too… t-tired…"
"Don't you dare close your eyes," the sun dies. Kakashi-sensei's voice is panicked, almost desperate, as he pleads for her to stay awake for just a little more.
but how long must it hurt?
She forces her eyes open.
"I can't lose you Akari," Kakashi-sensei almost whimpers. His voice is breaking like a wave crashing into a rock, splitting. His lone eye, dark and his, is glistening in the light even as dark spots dance in Akari's vision.
She gives a wet hum, her hand – a hand so pale and trembling from the mere effort – reaches out almost clumsily to wipe away a tear that had trickled down. Kakashi-sensei's breath hitches.
He's crying.
Ryan too had cried. But not for her. The small child who she had given her life to save cried out for his mother. Even on her death bed, the tears hadn't been for her.
Stella had never been the first choice.
Not to Coral, not to Kelly. Not to anyone.
She was the last toy that collects dust in the shelve, the last one anyone cared for.
But not anymore.
Akari has Team Seven.
And that alone is fine.
'Don't cry,' she wishes to tell her sensei.
Akari's strength escapes her. She coughs.
Blood splatters.
Her eyes flutter shut as she breathes,"Kakash…"
"RIN!"
Kakashi's cry is the last thing she hears before everything fades away. Her teacher crying out another's name as she drops limp in his arms not knowing if she will ever wake again.
Not Aka-chan.
Not Akari.
Rin.
Oh.
Notes:
:)
Sorry for the long wait. We're getting to the parts I am most excited for, and I am so scared I won't be able to give my plot its proper due. It makes writing a tad more difficult and revision almost impossible. However, we are getting there, so thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Did anyone see this particular event coming? Don't be shy to let me know your thoughts!
PS: "Always a bridesmaid never a bride" refers to someone who is never the most important person in a situation or always comes second.
PPS: No, Sasuke isn't going to awaken his mangekyou sharingan from this chapter. I understand there's a lot of lore surrounding the Uchiha and having not seen the entire anime, my knowledge isn't the best. However, I once read that "It is mostly focused on facing a loss of a loved one." I'm going to run with that particular criteria, meaning that as Akari is still alive and being carried to the hospital, Sasuke still has his sister. Sure, he's traumatized, but he doesn't get to awaken the last stage yet.
Regarding Akari's own sharingan, she has it because Sasuke died while receiving his curse mark. His heart stopped beating and she had to go through the ocean of grief that came with his death which triggered her eyes. Hope it's a bit more clear ;)