Obito-Sensei Chapter 15
What Comes First
When they set out at dawn, Sakura's head was buzzing with half-remembered words and hardly formed ideas. Her conversation with Haku the night before hadn't been long, maybe twenty minutes at the very most, but she'd never experienced something like it.
The boy (how was he a boy, it wasn't fair) was probably a little crazy, she thought. Everyone in Rain might have been, if they were led by people who believed the kind of things Haku did. Nevertheless, for the first time in her life Sakura had stepped back. Not just from herself, which had happened several times now, but from her team, from being a ninja, from living in Konoha, from everything that her life had been built on, and looked over it with new eyes.
Haku might have been a little crazy, but she couldn't tell him anything he'd said was wrong. He might have been lying, but everything he'd said had sounded correct, hit a chord of truth on a deep level inside her. It had reached down and taken her dissatisfaction, her uncertainty, and her fear and given a shape and a name to all of it. The Shinobi System. You live in a world ruled by an economy of violence, Sakura. Why wouldn't you be afraid?
"You alright?" Naruto asked her, and Sakura blinked and shook her head, trying to get her thoughts straight. She looked over at her teammate, who was watching her with a friendly grin as usual. Did Naruto think about the kind of things Haku had talked about, smaller villages being crushed by the tension between the larger ones, how many people his father had killed to bring Konoha peace and safety, even though he was the closest one to it of any of them? Sakura doubted it; if he did, could he possibly smile like that?
"I'm fine, Naruto." She smiled at him. It had felt like she was being carried away in a flurry of exhaustion for a moment, but Naruto had grounded her. She'd barely slept. The forest was loud and dark, and her mind louder and darker. "Thanks for asking."
"'Course," Naruto said, looking back. He and Sakura were at the front of the group: the team from Rain and Sasuke were following behind them. They'd been moving through the forest for some time now, silently rushing from tree to tree in a blur of green and grey, and the sun was finally making its way into the sky. "So… Haku's really a boy, huh?"
"I know," Sakura acknowledged. "I couldn't believe it either when he told me."
"I definitely didn't see that coming," Naruto laughed. "I mean, he's so… the way he dresses..." He flushed and struggled for the words as Sakura watched, trying not to laugh at her teammate's embarrassment. "Well, you know."
"Yeah," Sakura said, looking back at Haku. The ninja from Rain caught her eye and nodded, and she wondered what he was thinking. The same things as her? No, probably not. What Haku had told her was just normal for him. He wouldn't think so much about it, the same way Sakura had never thought about why Konoha was so much stronger than the other villages. "He's a little strange."
They had to be getting close to the center of the forest now. Sakura was glad they'd stopped for the night, even if she had barely been able to sleep. The training ground was quiet now, and the morning sun was bright and warm even through the thick canopy. It made her feel more confident.
"I see it," Sasuke said from somewhere behind them. Sakura strained to peer through the canopy, and realized her teammate was right. It was almost hidden behind all the trees and leaves, but less than half a mile away, the tower was coming into sight. It was enormous and dull red, like a spike stuck into the middle of the forest.
"We have to be extra careful here," Kabuto said, drawing up alongside Sakura and Naruto. "If I was on a team that didn't have a scroll, I'd be waiting at the tower for teams that did. This will probably be the trickiest part."
He was right, Sakura thought as they drew closer to the tower. If there were any teams waiting for them here, they'd be the most desperate. The tower grew larger and larger, and Sakura steeled herself, her hand resting on her sword.
But nothing happened.
No attack came.
There was a clearing around the tower, about a hundred meters of carefully maintained grass and a moat, and both teams reached it without incident, jumping into the high branches around it and looking around suspiciously, waiting for an ambush, an angry yell, something.
There wasn't a sound. The clearing was empty, and there was no one to greet Team Seven or their allies.
It still felt like they were being watched.
"I don't get it," Naruto said. "We can't be the only ones who made it."
"Maybe," Suigetsu said, looking around. "But I sure as hell don't see anyone. If someone's waiting to ambush us, they're being super sneaky about it."
"I don't see anyone either," Sasuke confirmed, his red eyes whirling and scanning the whole clearing. He was crouched low on his branch, one hand touched down to the tree. He was obviously ready to leap into action at the slightest sign of movement.
How could that be possible? Sakura's hand tightened around her sword. They couldn't be the first ones arriving. Where were the other teams?
"We just have to enter the tower," Haku said calmly, pointing to a set of double doors set in the building, the closest entrance to them. "Whether we're attacked or not won't matter, so long as we make it inside."
"You're right." Sakura surprised herself by stepping forward, unsheathing her sword. "Let's just go. Right now. If we're being watched, we shouldn't give them any more time."
"Good idea," Sasuke said, standing up. "I'll lead."
He leapt off the tree and sped towards the tower, tearing a path through the grass, and Sakura and Naruto followed a heartbeat later. The team from Rain was right behind them, all six of them forming a blinding fast spear thrown directly at the center of the tower.
Sakura held her sword low at her side as they ran, expecting another attack at any moment, maybe even from the Stone team once more. But again, nothing happened. They crossed the final hundred meters to the tower in less than four seconds, the short time stretched out to something grotesque by the tension rippling through Sakura's body. Sasuke reached the door, the first of them, and tore it open; the five of them flung themselves past it, inside the tower.
Sakura skidded to a stop and turned, waiting for Sasuke to follow. The door was still open. Sasuke was standing there, half-visible.
But he wasn't moving.
"Sasuke!" Naruto hissed, scrambling to his feet. "Close the door!"
Her teammate was staring at something, stock still. Sakura looked past him, her heart loud in her ears, and saw what had pinned him in place.
There was a man watching them from the branches they'd leapt from. Tall, with dark hair. His eyes were red.
He gave them a casual wave, and Sasuke flinched.
"He was following." Sasuke's voice was low and dark; his hand curled into a fist. "I was right."
"Sasuke." Sakura heard her voice tremble, and she hated the sound of it. "Please-"
"Close the door," Naruto demanded. He stomped forward, seizing Sasuke's shoulders and glaring up at their pursuer. "Right now."
He spun his teammate back, and Sasuke slammed the door shut behind him, his whole body shaking in rage.
"What-?" Haku started to ask, before Sasuke stormed past him.
The Uchiha was gritting his teeth. "Let's go."
"Who was that?" Kabuto asked. "There was a man out there."
"It's-!" Sasuke snapped, before taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes, fists unclenching. "It's nothing."
"It's another ninja," Haku said. "It can't be nothing."
Sasuke could be difficult to read, but Sakura could tell he was about to say something stupid. Naruto started to say something, but she was quicker than him.
"He was following us," she cut in, stepping forward and meeting Sasuke's glance. He pursed his lips and nodded, the motion so small only someone who was looking for it could have seen it. "We weren't sure of it until just now, but we suspected. He was the one who broke Sasuke's arm."
"He had the same kind of eyes," Suigetsu said, a little subdued. At least, the most subdued Sakura had heard him. "Another Uchiha?"
"Yeah," Sasuke said brusquely. "It's my business." He shook his head. "Let's just finish this stupid test."
"He's not going to come after us?" Haku asked. "He followed us all this way; he'll just wait outside?"
"Who knows." How could Sasuke possibly be feeling, Sakura wondered, with his brother just outside? Sakura couldn't wrap her head around it, but it was obvious that her teammates were both paralyzed. Itachi could trivially kill them all, that much was evident from their first encounter, but he'd been content to follow them. If they turned and attacked, they'd just get beaten again. They were totally at his mercy.
"Naruto," she murmured, drawing closer to him. "We need to find someone. We need to tell someone. There must be some proctors here."
Naruto hummed in agreement, turning around and surveying the room the door had led to. It was a long hall, with balconies running high up alongside either wall. At the end of the hall, there were sentences emblazoned on the walls in huge bright font.
"Huh," Naruto said, looking up at the kanji. "'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom and prepare yourself. If you lack Earth, seek strength and better yourself.'" He scratched his chin. "'These words will guide a person's extremes.'"
"Those are the words of the Third Hokage." All of them, Leaf and Rain alike, spun towards the sudden voice in surprise. There was a ninja up on the balcony to their left: she'd appeared silently and from nowhere.
Sakura blinked. The woman had brown eyes and purple hair, and was wearing a thick brown coat, with a scarf wrapped around her neck. It wasn't that cold outside; why was she that bundled up? The shinobi leapt down off the balcony, landing without a sound before them.
"He passed them along to us, so we could-" she started to say, before Sasuke cut her off.
"Itachi Uchiha is outside," he said, and the woman froze.
"What?" she asked, her voice sudden and sharp, and Sasuke nodded.
"He attacked me at the beginning of the exam, and followed us through the forest," he said. "He watched us enter the tower. He hasn't come after us yet."
The woman cursed, so viciously that Sakura almost flinched, and turned her back on them, disappearing deeper into the tower. Both teams glanced at each other, not sure what to say next.
"Does that mean we pass?" Suigetsu asked, and Naruto shrugged.
"Probably," he said, sitting down with his legs crossed under him. "I hope so. Let's just wait. I don't wanna get disqualified on accident."
That was a pretty good idea, Sakura thought, and she sat down next to Naruto to show her agreement. She wasn't tired anymore; now, it was like her whole body was an electrical current.
They'd made it to the tower. Whether it was Sasuke's brother, the other teams, or something else entirely, they had to be ready for whatever came next.
###
Team Seven and the team from Rain waited for twenty minutes before someone found them. It wasn't a proctor.
"Sakura!" Sakura's head jerked up at the voice, and she found Tenten beaming at her down from the same balcony the proctor had watched them from. "You guys passed!"
"Tenten?" Sakura pulled herself to her feet; Sasuke was chatting with Suigetsu and Kabuto, and Naruto was playing some kind of game with Haku that involved holding his hands out and trying not to get them slapped. So far, he'd lost every time, but that just made him more determined. They all watched her get up. The Rain ninja looked at Tenten with some interest, and she looked back at them, obviously confused.
"Rain?" she asked. "Huh."
"Where's everyone else?" Sakura asked, and Tenten leaned against the railing, smiling down at her.
"Neji and Lee are sparring: I got bored and came to see if anyone else had made it," she said, cocking her head. "Why're they here too?" she asked, motioning at the Rain shinobi.
"We decided to team up," Haku said, and Tenten's eyebrow shot up in surprise.
"Team up?" she said, and Sakura nodded, a little confused.
"Of course," she said. "That's what the examiner said, right? That you couldn't present two scrolls by themselves. You had to work with another team to present them both at once."
Tenten blinked. "Huh," she said again. Sakura could tell she couldn't decide whether to be amused or impressed. "We didn't think of that."
"Whadya mean?" Naruto asked, before yelping as Haku slapped his hands again. Haku giggled, sounding just as feminine as he looked. "How'd you pass then?"
"We presented three," Tenten said, and Sasuke grunted. He was still moody; understandably so, Sakura thought. She was impressed he was even talking to anyone, let alone the Rain ninja.
"They took that?" he asked, and Tenten laughed.
"Yeah," she said. "Of course they did. That's what Choza said, right?"
Sakura felt her stomach sink at her friend's words. She looked around at her team and her new friends.
She'd misinterpreted the rules, and so had the team from Rain. Sakura had assumed everyone in the staging area had been looking at one another in search of allies, but she saw now that she'd been projecting. They'd been sizing up the competition. Only Haku and his teammates had come to the same conclusion as her. Would they even still pass?
"So, you took three?" Kabuto asked, and Tenten nodded. "From other villages, I assume. Who else made it?"
Tenten's face grew a little more serious, and she jumped down off the balcony, landing in front of Sakura.
"Only one other," she said, and Sakura jerked back in surprise. She heard Sasuke mutter something under his breath.
"Which one?" Haku asked, and Tenten regarded him cautiously. Haku wasn't her friend, Sakura realized. Haku wasn't even Sakura's friend to her: Tenten didn't know about the time they'd spent together. To Tenten, and probably every other ninja in Konoha, Haku was just a suspicious foriegn ninja from an upstart village with delusions of grandeur.
No wonder Tenten was looking at him like that. Wouldn't Sakura have given him the same kind of look, if she were in Tenten's place?
"The team from Sand," she said, and at Sakura's side, Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Gaara of the Desert, and his two flunkies. They arrived with five scrolls." Tenten's face twitched, almost pulling into a sneer before she controlled herself, letting out a frustrated sigh. "They hunted down all the other Leaf teams, and everyone else who got in their way."
"Shit." Naruto started pacing. "Shit. Was everyone okay?"
"I dunno," Tenten said, looking and sounding as grim as Sakura had ever seen her. "But I'm glad you guys are safe." She stepped forward and clapped her hand down on Sakura's shoulder. "You get a chance to use that sword?" she asked with a grin, and Sakura nodded.
"We got attacked by a team from Stone," she said. "They were after Naruto." She shook her head. "Is that why there was no else at the tower? Everyone else has been disqualified?"
"Pretty much," Tenten confirmed. "We got here first, and then the Sand team showed up near the end of the day." She glanced at Naruto. "They seemed really confident you'd show up."
"That freak's got it out for me," Naruto grumbled. "We were keeping a low profile: he probably figured I'd pass, and that he could come after me in the next test."
"Makes sense," Tenten agreed. "Well, you'll just have to disappoint him." She frowned. "They're still in the building, but they're keeping to themselves for now. I'd stay out of their way."
"Sounds good to me," Naruto said, a little subdued. Sakura didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort him, but what could she say? She'd seen the glint of madness in Gaara's eyes as he'd told Naruto they were both sons of Yondaime, that that meant he was destined to kill her teammate. In the face of that reality, what could her words do?
"Don't worry about it," Sasuke said, saying what Sakura couldn't. "You can take that freak."
"He took out at least five other teams," Naruto pointed out. "All of our classmates, and probably a ton of other people if no other teams made it to the tower. He's gotta be something crazy, to manage that."
"Or maybe it was his teammates," Sakura pointed out, and Naruto marginally relaxed. "Sasuke's right: you shouldn't worry about that right now."
"Yeah," Naruto said, still not sounding entirely sure. "I guess."
They stayed like that for a moment, pondering the surreality of the situation.
"Is there anyone else in the tower?" Sasuke eventually asked, and Tenten shook her head.
"Nah," she said, turning and starting to walk away. She looked over her shoulder expectantly, and both Team Seven and the team from Rain started following. "There were a couple proctors, but they all left about twenty minutes ago."
"No doubt thanks to your spooky friend," Suigetsu laughed, and Tenten looked back curiously as she led them through a maze of halls and stairs.
"Friend?" she asked, and Sasuke closed his eyes.
"A rogue ninja," he said, and Tenten's face just grew more curious. "He attacked me, and followed us through the forest."
"A rogue ninja?" Tenten asked, sounding a little excited. "Why'd he follow you guys?" Her gaze shifted to Naruto. That was the obvious reason.
"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said, and Tenten gave him a dubious look.
"Well… I guess that explains where everyone went," she said, turning a final corner and opening a double-door. As she stepped through, there was a loud thwack. Sakura peered past her friend: the room was a small dojo, and Rock Lee was laid out on the ground, rolling back and forth and clutching at his face.
"Oh, Tenten." Neji looked up, shaking his hand out. Lee stopped rolling and peered up at them between two fingers, before springing to his feet.
"Ah!" he cried, his nose swollen and one of his eyes black. Neither Neji or Lee were ever ones to hold back, Sakura mused, even in a spar. Neji had several nasty bruises himself, mostly on his arms: punching Lee was a painful proposition, even for the genius Hyuuga. "Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura!" He glanced past them, to the Rain ninja behind them, and took them in stride. "Shinobi of Rain! You made it!"
"Hey Lee." Naruto grinned, stepping around Sakura. She glanced at him; his moodiness had vanished. Even if it was possible they hadn't passed the test, they were safe now. "Looks like you're having fun."
"I lost again!" Lee declared. "But I'm getting closer!"
"Course you are," Naruto said. He gave Neji a little wave, and the Hyuuga returned it with a nod. "You guys having fun?"
"A little," Neji said, his eyes narrowing. "Though the quality of the rest of the participants was disappointing. It was not difficult to secure our scrolls."
"Yeah, we heard about that," Naruto said. "So you really grabbed three, huh?"
"Of course," Neji said. "What other-?" He titled his head, blank eyes darting from Naruto, to Sasuke, to Sakura, and then to Haku, standing at her side. "Ah. That's clever. Do you think it will work?"
"We believed it was the intended solution," Haku said, stepping forward. He extended his hand, and Neji blinked. "I'm Haku, of the Rain."
Neji glanced down at Haku's hand, and then turned towards Sakura, quirking an eyebrow. After a moment, Haku got the message. He slowly withdrew his hand. He didn't look embarrassed, but Sakura was feeling enough for both of them.
'You allied with foriegn shinobi?' Neji's eyes were saying. Tenten had shrugged it off, and Lee had barely noticed, but their teammate wasn't the same way. Maybe because he was a Hyuuga, or maybe because he was Neji, competitive, powerful, and uncompromising. Whatever the reason, Neji was looking at her, the one who'd been standing most comfortably with Haku, and his blank eyes were full of something between judgement and amusement.
"Interesting," Neji said. "Well, I hope it works out for you. It would be dull for the only other team to pass to be from Sand."
"Are they around?" Naruto asked. "You know…" He tapped his temple, and Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan.
"They're here," he confirmed. "But they're keeping to themselves."
Naruto sighed. "That's what Tenten said," he said, and the girl grinned at him. "I guess…"
"You're frightened?" Lee asked, and Naruto jerked, looking at him. Sakura had wandered over to the corner of the training room, and she sat down, watching her teammate. "Why?"
"I'm not-!" Naruto started to declare, before deflating. "Yeah, I'm scared." He frowned. "Right before the second test started, he told me it was his destiny to kill me, or something. 'Cause both our dad were Kage. He really believed it too. It was creepy."
"Extremely," Sasuke confirmed.
"Also interesting," Neji said with a blank smile, and Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps he'd be a good opponent for me then."
"Hah," Naruto said, not nearly as enthusiastic as he should have been. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Maybe you could kick his ass like you have ours. That'd be great."
"If the opportunity arises," Neji said. "I'll make it happen. Without a doubt."
"Neji, Gai-Sensei would be proud!" Lee declared, and Neji rolled his eyes at him. "Defending an ally, and seeking out a powerful foe! That's the core of being a shinobi!"
"I dunno about that," Tenten said. "Hasn't the Hokage always said that being a shinobi is about sacrifice?"
"What a shinobi is isn't something everyone agrees on," Kabuto spoke up from the corner, and the room turned to look at him. "It's not a universal concept. Sacrifice, money, justice, peace… Everyone has their own reason." He smiled at Lee, who grinned back at the older boy. "But your sensei's certainly sounds like a good one."
"Of course!" Lee declared. "He's the strongest in the Leaf!"
Naruto laughed. "Not stronger than my dad." He stretched as Lee pouted, cracking something in his elbow. "Is there anything to eat around here or something? I'm starving."
"There's a dining hall downstairs," Neji said, slipping his shoes on. Both he and Lee had been barefoot during their spar. "Come. I could eat as well."
###
The Rain team stuck by their side throughout breakfast, and afterwards as well. The reason was simple; neither of them wanted to be separated from the other's scroll, and risk failing. They were good company as well, but after the way Neji had looked at her, Sakura tried not to think about that as much.
Two hours after they'd arrived at the tower, the proctor that had greeted them returned. She stumbled into the room, looking irritated, and tugged down her scarf to scowl at them.
"What happened?" Sasuke shot to his feet, and the woman rolled her eyes.
"Nothing," she said, walking over to them and putting her hands on her hips as she looked back and forth between the two teams. "Just a wild goose chase."
"He was there," Sakura insisted, and the woman nodded.
"He was there," she agreed. "All the sensors say so, though no one knows how he got in in the first place." She sighed. "Forget about that for now. So, what, you guys looking to pass?"
Sasuke and Suigetsu glanced at each other, and both nodded. At the same time, they reached into their pouches and removed their respective scrolls: Heaven and Earth.
"Huh," the proctor said, looking back and forth between the scrolls and the teams. "That's clever."
"So, do we pass?" Naruto asked with a grin, and the woman grinned back at him.
"Yeah, you pass," she said, and Naruto cheered. He gave Sasuke a high-five, who received it lacksadaiscaly, and turned and hugged Sakura, squeezing her and almost picking her up off the ground. She yelped in surprise, and he yelped as well, practically dropping her.
"Sorry!" he said as the proctor and the team from Rain laughed. His face was as red as a tomato "Sorry!"
"It's okay," Sakura said, catching her breath. She hadn't expected that, but it hadn't been bad. Just surprising. "I didn't think you'd get that excited, Naruto."
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah… I guess when I heard about the other teams, I wasn't sure if we'd pass. I was feeling really stupid." He turned back to the proctor. "But we did it!"
"Sure did," the woman said, sounding both tired and bored. "Toss me the scrolls, would you?"
Sasuke and Suigetsu obliged, and the proctor snatched both out of the air, tucking them behind her back.
"Okay, sit tight," she said. "There was gonna be a third test, but with only four teams passing, we're probably gonna have to skip it. Someone will be along for you guys." She left the room, and both teams settled back down, satisfied.
"We made a good choice," Suigetsu said with a smirk. "You guys did too."
"So there won't be a third test?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "Does that mean we just win? We're chunin?"
"It's unlikely," Haku said with a soft smile. "The chunin exam is an opportunity for the villages to show off their strength to the countries of the world. There will probably be-"
"Another test, yes." All of them spun in alarm at the voice, and Sakura felt her stomach drop.
Naruto's father, the Fourth Hokage, was sitting next to his son, legs crossed beneath him, his long white coat flowing out behind him. He'd appeared from nowhere. The Yondaime had a serious look on his face, but he was calm and still. Naruto jerked away in surprise, but he was smiling; maybe he was used to his father suddenly showing up.
"Is that…?" Kabuto asked, and Haku bowed.
"Lord Hokage," he said, and his teammates followed suit, even Suigetsu. "You honor us with your presence." So polite, like he always was. But wasn't that you had to be, Sakura thought, in the presence of a man like Naruto's father?
"Haku of the Akatsuki," the Yondaime said with a coy smile, and Haku flinched. The Hokage knew his name? Sakura realized it wasn't that shocking after a moment of thought: they'd been in the tower for some time, and all the applicants were registered by the village. But it was still a surprise to hear the boy's name come from the Hokage's mouth. "It seems I may have to thank you and your team." He glanced at Naruto. "You helped my son where others could not."
"What happened to the others?" Naruto asked, and glanced at Sasuke. "And-!"
"One moment," the Hokage said, standing up. He seemed to tower over them, even though the difference in height was not that extreme; he just had an enormous and commanding presence. "Like I said, I am grateful for you and your team," he said, watching Haku with sharp blue eyes. Sakura couldn't read him at all. "But I have to discuss private business with my shinobi."
"Of course," Haku said, bowing again. "We'll leave you the room." He turned to leave, looking over his shoulder with a smile. "See you." He directed the comment at all of them, but he was looking at Sakura as he said it, and she felt something burn between them.
Sasuke was looking at her funny, and she shook off the feeling. The rest of the Rain team said their goodbyes and left the room, Kabuto bringing up the rear and gently closing the door.
The Hokage waited for a moment, watching the door and crossing his arms, before turning to them.
"You had an eventful day," he said, and Naruto laughed. "Obito was quite angry with me."
"Sensei was angry, Lord Hokage?" Sakura asked, and the man laughed.
"Minato is fine, Sakura," he said, and Sakura tried to wrap her head around the fact that the Hokage had just told her to stick to his first name. "And yeah. I told him this was going to be a safe exam." He frowned. "That turned out to be a lie."
"Where's Itachi?" Sasuke asked, and the Hokage blew out a breath.
"Gone," he said, and Sasuke flinched. "There's traces of his chakra, but no one was able to track him down, not even the sensor corp. Not even Kushina. We don't think he's still in the village, but it's possible." He held his hand up as Sasuke's questioning look. "Your family is safe. He didn't even approach the compound. We can't figure out why he was here."
"He told us," Naruto said, and his father glanced at him. "He said he was 'checking up' on Sasuke.
"Hmm." The Hokage looked doubtful, the same way Sakura felt. After what Itachi had done, there was no way he would just 'check up' on his brother. He must have had another motive. "Well regardless, the search is still out for him. Obito is leading it. If anything happens, he'll tell you."
Team Seven mulled that over, and the Hokage smiled. "I came here for one other reason," he said, and Naruto perked up. "I'm very impressed with all of you."
"Impressed, Lord Hokage?" Sakura asked, and Minato grinned.
"For teaming up with the Rain team," he said. "Not only did you guys figure out an unconventional way to pass my test… I was hoping something like that would happen."
"You were hoping for that?" Naruto asked, and the Hokage nodded.
"The Chunin Exam is a time for the villages to come together and compete off the battlefield," he said. "But it's always also been a good time to forge alliances, like the one we have with Sand. You three managed to look past that team's village and made allies of them; to you, they were still fellow shinobi." His smile faded a little. "That's exactly the kind of thinking we're going to need in the future."
"If Sand's our ally," Sasuke asked quietly, "why did their team hunt down all the other Leaf ninja?"
This time, the Hokage's smile vanished completely. "None of your friends were killed or crippled," he said with a distasteful look. "Despite Gaara's… proclivities, his father has him under control. The Kazekage came with him, to prevent anything too serious from happening."
"It was Gaara then? Not his teammates? Everyone's okay then?" Naruto asked, and his father shook his head.
"No," he said shortly, and for a second Sakura saw in the Hokage the same enormous anger that she sometimes felt in herself: the anger that had made her swallow the bells, try to crush Hidan's heart, the anger she had felt towards the entire world as she'd try to fall asleep on a wide branch in the dark. In her, it had driven her forward; in the Hokage, someone who could command a whole hidden village, it was something entirely more dangerous. "A team from Stone is dead. Gaara killed them all. But all of your comrades will recover; he did not disobey his father there, at least."
Dead? A team from Stone was dead? Sakura felt a cold sweat on her hands, her body growing clammy. Had there been more than one team from Stone? Or had those two girls and that boy… had they died, before leaving the forest? Had Sakura and her friends been one of the last people to see them live?
Had Gaara killed that scared boy who'd tried to keep his teammates from attacking the Hokage's son? Even though he'd just been trying to leave, had Gaara killed him? Sakura blinked, feeling her heart pounding.
"Well… I'm glad everyone'll be okay," Naruto said, picking up on his father's feelings; he looked a little surprised at the Yondaime's harsh tone. He shuffled his feet. "What are we doing next, then?"
"We'll be skipping straight to the final. It will be held in a month," the Hokage said. "There aren't enough teams to merit the third test, and you've all more than proved yourself regardless."
"What's the final going to be?" Naruto asked, and his father laughed.
"Now that would be giving you an unfair advantage," he said, and Naruto stuck his tongue out. "I just wanted to tell you guys I was impressed by your decision. I'm not gonna give you more than that."
"Thank you, Minato," Sasuke said quietly, and the Hokage gave him a nod. "If you see him before we do… tell Obito-sensei to be careful, please. Itachi's only gotten stronger. We couldn't even come close to touching him."
"Will do," the Hokage said, making the same motion that Sakura had seen their sensei do several times: bumping two pointed fingers off his hitai-ate in a modified salute. Was that where their sensei had picked it up in the first place? How surreal. "Good luck."
He vanished without sound or motion, and Team Seven was suddenly alone again. Less than five seconds later, before they could adjust to the quiet, the proctor that had greeted them stuck her head back into the room.
"All done?" she asked, and Sakura nodded. "Great; we're meeting in the central tournament room. Get on down there."
Team Seven dutifully followed the woman, Sakura entranced by her bouncing scarf. The woman glanced back at her as they descended yet another staircase, twisting towards the center of the tower.
"Hey, you're Kizashi's daughter, aren't you?" she asked, and Sakura tilted her head at the question. "Sakura Haruno."
"That's me," she said, and the woman grinned.
"I thought so; you've got your dad's hair," she said, and Sakura frowned.
"How do you know my father?" she asked, and the woman shrugged. Once again, both of Sakura's parents had been out of the village when the Chunin Exam started, but they'd promised they'd stay for the rest if Sakura passed the next couple tests. Even with the money she'd gotten from Hidan's bounty, they still kept taking missions.
It was thanks to that that Sakura had realized that at heart, both her parents were addicted to work. They took missions constantly, not because they needed the money, but because they preferred being on a mission over anything else.
'Even spending time with me.'
"He's one of my subordinates," the woman wearing several layers said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I'm Anko Mitarashi; your dad's ended up under my command a few times."
Oh! Sakura said the exclamation out loud as well, and Anko laughed. "You're Tokubetsu Anko?"
"The one and only," the woman said. "Your dad wouldn't stop talking about you the last couple months, y'know. He was ecstatic that you picked up a sword; he's got a fascination with them, that's for sure."
Her father always had loved his scissor-sword, Sakura thought. It was of his own design, even. But he hadn't expressed that same enthusiasm to her: he'd helped her train, and shown a bit of glee as she'd learned more advanced techniques and grown more confident with the blade, but Sakura wouldn't have called him 'ecstatic.'
"That's nice to hear," she said with a smile, trying not to let what she was thinking show through it. "I hope he's been a good subordinate."
"Always reliable," Anko said with a laugh. "If a little hotheaded." They reached the bottom of the tower and came to a set of huge double doors: the woman pushed through them without hesitation. All of the other remaining teams were inside the huge room behind the doors: Tenten's, Haku's, and Gaara's, all standing in lines of three, dutifully waiting. Anko pointed to a spot in the middle, to Tenten's right and the Sand team's left.
"Go wait there," she said. "It should only be a second."
Naruto took the lead, and Sakura fell in behind him, with Sasuke behind her. They trooped up besides Tenten's team, and Lee gave Naruto an enthusiastic wave. Tenten gave Sakura a smile, which she distractedly returned.
The team from Sand was about three meters to their right. The boy with the wrapped object on his back and the girl with the fan were just looking straight ahead, quiet and still as rocks. But Gaara of the Desert was looking left, staring at the front of their line. His eyes were completely fixed on Naruto, unblinking.
Naruto resisted the urge to look, but after a second he gave in, glancing back at Sakura and Sasuke and then to the right, at Gaara. Their eyes locked. Sakura felt something pass between them, as sure and solid as a gust of wind or a crackling flame.
After a moment, Gaara grinned. Naruto's head snapped back to the front of the room, but Gaara still refused to look away.
Sakura suppressed a shiver. Something was wrong with the boy from Sand. It was that simple. He was inhuman. She felt horrible to think about it, but she was glad he was focused on Naruto, and not her. Her teammate could handle it; he was strong, and braver than he thought. If Gaara went after him, Naruto could just blow him up. Sakura was sure of that, after what he'd done to the Stone team.
The team Gaara had killed...
"Good morning." Sakura's attention was drawn back to the front of the room. There were suddenly several shinobi there, including Anko. The man speaking was familiar to her: he was the man with spiky black hair and two scars that had been in the meeting Naruto had busted into to show off the Rasengan. "I am Shikaku Nara." He grinned humorlessly. "I was going to be the proctor of the Third Test, before you all proved too efficient for your own good." His eyes flickered over to Gaara. "Now, I will be the referee of the Chunin Exam Finals."
A Nara. Shikamaru's father, Sakura wondered? All the tests so far had been administered by shinobi from the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, like the one Ino had ended up in. All those clans were pretty prestigious: the Hokage really had been trying to keep things under control, if he'd been putting ninja like that in charge of tests.
Shikaku continued speaking, all the other shinobi motionless and silent at his side. There were about a dozen of them, a wall of flak jackets and grim faces. Were they here for them, Sakura thought, or in case Itachi Uchiha came back? She recognized some of them from the first test, including a Hyuuga. His Byakugan was active, pushing veins out of his temple.
"The Final will be held one month from now," Shikaku said. "There, you will be given your final chance to prove yourself worthy of being chunin. However, unlike the previous tests, you will not be working directly with your team." That made sense; all of the other stages had been testing their teamwork, information gathering, and survival skills. "It will be a tournament composed of duels: one on one. There will not be a bracket: you will only have a single fight, so you can put everything into it." Being a shinobi was about violence, first and foremost, Sakura thought. It made perfect sense for the final test to be a singular test of that skill.
Shikaku gestured behind him, to the massive television screen taking up most of the wall opposite the room's entrance. "The matches will be decided at random," he said, and Sakura felt something cold run down her spine, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. "They have not been pre-arranged; everything is thanks to a random number generator." He held up a remote, and pressed a button: the screen came to life and scrambled, names and numbers flying across it in complete chaos. "We will now determine the matches."
He pressed another button on the remote, and the screen flickered, names and numbers evaporating rapidly until only two remained. It was a slick presentation, Sakura had to admit, but in the back of her head she was wondering if the matches would truly be random. They only had Shikaku's guarantee, and sometimes, it would make more sense for the village to ensure that the 'right' people were matched up with one another. The same way the villages fought their wars in minor countries...
However, the very first names to pop up on the screen and remain there, faintly blinking black against a white background, made Sakura stop thinking that was the case immediately.
NARUTO NAMIKAZE - - - SASUKE UCHIHA
Naruto blinked, looking back to Sakura and past her in surprise. Sakura felt rooted to the floor. Her teammates had to fight each other? Only one of them could become chunin? She didn't even know what to think or feel. Wasn't that simply too cruel?
"Interesting," Shikaku muttered. He pointed to Sakura's team, and then to the side of the room. "You two, out of line."
Naruto and Sasuke complied, leaving her alone. They both seemed just as stunned as her. "Good luck," Naruto muttered, clapping his hand on her shoulder, and Sakura wished he'd left it there longer, to give her something to ground herself. It was as though she were starting to float away. She wouldn't have anyone to hide behind, anyone to help her or call out a warning. Sakura had never fought by herself. Would she have to fight one of her friends? What if she had to fight Tenten? She wouldn't have a chance.
The screen flashed again, plucking two more names from the chaos.
SUIGETSU HOZUKI - - - ROCK LEE
Lee cheered; Suigetsu just smirked. They followed Shikaku's pointed finger out of the line, heading towards the same wall as Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura winced. Lee fought with his fists, and Suigetsu was apparently made of water. It was a bad match-up for Tenten's teammate, no matter how strong he was.
Once again, the screen flashed.
NEJI HYUUGA - - - KANKURO OF THE DESERT
The boy from Sand grunted, while Neji just glanced at him dismissively. They both made their way to the wall without Shikaku's instruction. The screen kept flashing.
Sakura was getting worried. She didn't want to fight anyone who was left. Haku, or Tenten, or Kabuto, or…
TEMARI OF THE DESERT - - - KABUTO YAKUSHI
Kabuto gave the girl a smile. They didn't return it. Sakura was having to resist the urge to hyperventilate. There weren't any good options left for her. She felt alone and cold, standing with just three other people, two of which she respected immensely. It was like the world was drawing back, leaving her farther and farther from everyone else.
The screen changed.
TENTEN - - - HAKU YUKI
Sakura's heart stopped. Was that because an old and new friend would have to compete to become chunin, or because of what it meant for her? Neither Tenten or Haku left immediately, despite Shikaku's wordless gesture. They both looked at her, seemingly a million miles away. Sakura could barely bring herself to turn towards them. Tenten, and Haku behind her, had eerily similar expressions: their eyes narrowed, their lips pressed together. They were worried for her, she realized. A billion miles away, on the wall, Naruto had his teeth bared, like it would make a difference.
He'd been so afraid for himself, Sakura realized. What could he be feeling for her?
The screen flashed on last time, the flicker of light involuntarily drawing Sakura's eye. She saw on it what she already knew.
But seeing it there, spelled out in blocky black letters, still made her wish she could just sink into the ground and never come back up. She was sure she was going to throw up, but that would only make everything, somehow, even worse.
SAKURA HARUNO - - - GAARA OF THE DESERT
Unable to resist the urge, she glanced at Gaara. He was staring at the screen, his expression unreadable. Before Sakura could look away, his eyes slid over to meet hers.
In those eyes, the eyes of someone who'd hunted down more than five teams and murdered another, helpless one, there wasn't a single thing. They were as empty as the desert.
Sakura looked away, trying to control her breathing and failing. She was scared. She didn't want to die.
She didn't have a single chance. There was no way she'd become a chunin. She should just forfeit right now. She tried to raise her hand, to say something, but terror locked up her muscles. She couldn't move an inch.
"That's that, then," Shikaku Nara said, and the screen went black with a flicker of static. "You all have one month. The final will be held on February second, in the central Leaf arena." He looked around, and Sakura could swear that when his eyes flitted over her, rooted in place in the center of the room, totally alone, there was a flash of pity in them. "All teams are dismissed."
It was that pity that made Sakura move, in the end. She turned, stiff and robotic, and walked towards her team. They met her in the middle.
"Okay," Naruto said under his breath, and Sakura stared at him. "Okay. It's gonna be okay."
"We'll make this work," Sasuke said. Sakura looked at him, feeling a bit of life come back to her. Sasuke didn't look scared; just determined. "Sakura, you're going to be fine. Obito will make this work."
He said it so confidently, Sakura thought.
But that didn't make it true.