Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The crowd was deathly silent as Sakura walked down onto the sandy soil of the arena. Her vibrant pink hair was hidden under the hood of her cloak, along with her armor and signature weapon. Across from her, Itachi looked almost completely unarmed. He didn’t even have a tanto or wakizashi and Sakura knew he wasn’t wearing any armor under his navy blue shirt. The modern Uchiha clan had truly fallen deep into the grips of arrogance to send their heir into battle unarmored.
Hatake Kakashi was younger then Sakura realized, though academically she knew his age. It was an odd moment, seeing a boy of only eighteen years old and already a legend just standing there about to oversee her match. In a way, it drove home just how young she herself was and Inner grumbled in the back of Sakura’s mind about the unfairness of it all as Sakura met Itachi’s gaze.
“Sakura-san,” Itachi greeted, a light breeze sweeping through the arena and blowing the boy’s bangs slightly. Itachi looked every inch the young prince-ling, standing there with an overly serious expression and his lustrous black hair mostly held back in a low ponytail. Sakura was in many ways his opposite, with her vivid hair, emerald eyes and inhuman teeth she came off as more of an innocent demon who had walked into the lands of humanity or perhaps it was Itachi who had stumbled into her forest.
“Itachi-san,” Sakura spoke without bothering to hide her teeth and the observation jutsu revealed their serrated edges to the audience. The tension immediately thickened as hushed whispers broke out. Sakura knew her reputation and still heard murmurs of Chigiri whenever she walked the streets of Konohagakure. Running along the rooftops had been an escape, though clearly her detractors hadn’t forgotten her for a moment.
“If both contestant are ready?” Kakashi’s attitude shifted as his gaze sharpened and he looked between the two child soldiers. It was like he became a different person, analyzing the both of them in the half second before his arm came sweeping down. “Begin!”
Sakura acted immediately, her fingers launching eight shuriken towards Itachi, each taking a different trajectory as they flew towards him. Itachi responded by launching a pair of Kunai which angled to intercept her barrage. Sakura tugged on a wire she’d strung through one of her shuriken and intercepted one of Itachi’s kunai early, allowing three of her shuriken to close on him as she drew a second handful with her off hand.
Itachi answered by blocking the steel stars with a new kunai and then launched it at Sakura who flicked another handful of shuriken his way. The rosette dodged the kunai and drew several senbon, launching them towards Itachi and timing their arrival with her shuriken to force Itachi to substitute.
‘Point for us!’ Inner cheered internally and Sakura grinned wide, revealing her fangs as she felt out for Itachi’s chakra. She noticed a flicker on her senses and her ears caught the tell tale whistle of steel moving through the air. Turning, Sakura found a barrage of kunai heading her way and quickly began dodging through it. A steel wire caught her cloak and Sakura jumped and threw it off just in time. The two kunai that had been tied to the wire had explosive notes on them and they detonated high overhead, incinerating the battered cloth.
For the first time in the modern age, sunlight glinted off Uchiha war plate and Sakura stood proud in her armor. The match momentarily froze as Itachi took in her appearance, his eyes sliding over the chakra conductive steel then moving to the scythe attached to her back. Above them, the crowd went absolutely wild with cheers as their first exchange came to a close. Itachi took a slow breath and his eyes spun to life, three tomoe sharingan spinning lazily as Sakura met his eyes.
A spike of chakra hit her system but she negated it instantly. It was a nod to the judges, a way to throw off any accusations of favoritism or match fixing. The bracket had been rigged so why couldn’t the contestants do the same? That was Shisui’s opinion anyways and Sakura found herself agreeing with it as she smiled at Itachi.
“Shall we dance Itachi-kun?” Sakura couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice as she slid into the stance that Tajima and Madara had drilled into her. If Itachi wanted to get through her armor, he’d either have to be so much faster then her that he could hit the gaps or he would have to grapple her and the older Uchiha taijutsu Sakura practiced was meant for exactly such a situation. It was designed around fighting in armor against both armored and unarmored opponents.
“Quite the armor you have there but your size is going to work against you.” Itachi replied calmly when he’d finished analyzing her. His eyes remained red as he charged forward and Sakura flickered to meet him. The two met with shunshin speed, though only for an instant. Sakura radiated chakra, a brute force way of making up for her inability to see at such velocities. Itachi launched a punch though his chakra shifted to his leg and Sakura knew he was going for a kick.
Raising her leg, Sakura’s entire body reinforced itself with chakra and the moment she met Itachi’s shin with her heel, she released a burst of chakra while keeping the energy within her flowing steady. It was a technique she practiced daily in the past but had never revealed in this time period and with the increased strength she had gained from Hiruzen’s training she not only blocked the kick without moving but bruised Itachi’s leg bone deep as she knocked him back.
Sakura immediately took advantage of the opening, throwing a jab towards the boy who twisted out of the way. Acting quickly, Sakura yanked her fist back and shot the chakra into her foot as she raised it and brought it down for a stomp on Itachi’s over extended knee. The boy jumped backwards, the skin along the side of his shin splitting where Sakura’s grazed him. Itachi sailed through the air, eyes on Sakura the entire time and she knew he would charge her the moment he landed.
It was a good plan, right up until Sakura’s heel met the ground and the world shattered. The entire arena shook as a cloud of dirt was thrown high into the air. Deep cracks stretched from the impact sight where Sakura’s foot had smashed into the ground and Sakura felt Itachi’s chakra briefly flicker with surprise, giving her his location. He was right near a discard kunai and Sakura substituted herself with it, appearing a few feet from the stunned Uchiha who barely managed to avoid having his forearm shattered by an explosive jab that caused the air around Sakura’s knuckles to pop.
“You’ve gotten stronger.” Itachi noted with a hint of wry humor as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small scroll. A moment later he unsealed a katana and gripped it with both hands as Sakura pulled her scythe from her back.
“Well I drink my milk and eat all my vegetables.” Sakura answered playfully, sounding utterly childish as she did so. Itachi smiled at her words, eyes crinkling slightly before he shot forward and met Sakura in a flurry of cuts and slashes. Sakura knew swords better then most Konoha shinobi and perhaps more importantly knew how to fight against them. Still Itachi was faster then her at her best and her scythe was a much heavier weapon.
‘He cannot afford to block us, nor can he overpower us. Use that.’ Inner advised and Sakura immediately shifted gears. She had been trying to fight Itachi in an even exchange but that just wasn’t possible so she shifted to large sweeps, relying on her armor to tank his attacks. His blade ricocheted off her gauntlets and she brought her scythe around in a horizontal slash that forced Itachi to jump backwards. Sakura launched her scythe after him, the chain clattering angrily as it raced after the Uchiha.
To his credit, Itachi didn’t try to block the attack with his sword, the sheer speed and weight of her weapon would snap the katana like a twig. Instead his hands came together in a flurry of seals as he abandoned his weapon and slammed his palms into the ground. A wall of dirt shot upwards a meter thick and Sakura’s scythe embedded itself into the stone.
“Suiton, suidan no jutsu,” Sakura was far less familiar with her natural elements then fire release, mostly due to the Uchiha’s focus on fire but water answered her call immediately. Her reading on the Nidaime hokage, a potential enemy in the past had been quite fruitful. He could call water up from thin air or rather from humid air, though it required insane chakra control to replicate the man’s technique. Fortunately chakra control was Sakura’s greatest strength and she pulled in the water vapor around her and compressed the gas into a liquid before forging it into a dart and firing it at Itachi’s wall.
The Uchiha prodigy jumped as the dart lanced through his barrier, leaving a hole clean through over a meter of chakra reinforced dirt and then leaving a similar scar in the back of the arena. The crowd gasped and shouted, fearing for the Uchiha prince as his fingers quickly wove through a jutsu of his own. Sakura felt the air dry further as Itachi called on his own secondary element and a dragon of water swirled into existence around the boy.
‘Really?!’ Inner shouted as Sakura’s fingers began to weave their way through the largest jutsu she could safely wield. Her chakra gathered as Itachi’s dragon roared and then shot towards her.
“Katon, Karyu Endan!” Sakura felt her chakra drain away and compressed the flames in her chest until they burned a brilliant sapphire blue then unleashed them. A dragon made of white blue fire roared its way into existence, the heat biting at Sakura’s exposed skin and intense enough were the audience could all feel the uncomfortable waves of heat roiling off the technique as it flew towards Itachi’s water dragon.
If there had been a source of water nearby, a lake or river, Sakura knew Itachi would have overpowered her. He had far more chakra then she did and she had just expended most of what she had. Here however, with only the water created by his chakra and pulled from the air, her flames won and boiled away the water dragon before exploding into a rolling wave of liquid fire. Itachi slipped underground without missing a beat and a moment later Sakura felt a hook of genjutsu steal her vision.
“Kai!” With a snap of chakra, Sakura broke the illusion to find a thick layer of steam and mist now filling the arena. A quick series of hand seals saw a basic clone take her place and Sakura jumped up into the trees on the side of the arena, suppressing her chakra until it was utterly undetectable. The steam around her was rich in chakra, hers and Itachi’s both which would make it hard for either of them to find the other, a perfect setting for genjutsu.
‘Kai!’ Inner shouted and Sakura felt a second illusion snap before she even noticed it. ‘Take that Itachi! That’ll show you to mess with us!’
‘Inner did you just break a genjutsu?’ Sakura asked, suddenly far more interested in what her inner personality was doing then the match itself. She stayed vigilant but this was a potentially huge discovery.
‘Yeah, I just made the hand seal, ram and then pulsed our chakra.’ Inner replied as if it was obvious. ‘Wait I just broke a genjutsu! I’m awesome! Ha! Oh, he’s behind you, better dodge.’ Sakura felt Itachi’s chakra a moment later and dropped down from the branch she was on just in time. Itachi materialized from the fog, his foot sweeping through the air where her head had been.
Sakura’s fingers danced through the seals for a basic lethargy genjutsu. She knew visual illusions just wouldn’t work on the Uchiha but putting him off balance might just trip the older boy up. Itachi didn’t even need to call out his kai or form a sign, his chakra just flexed and her illusion slid away from his chakra instantly. A moment later, Inner broke the retaliatory genjutsu and the two engaged in a brief struggle before Sakura’s chakra ran dry.
The steam had cleared by now and Sakura gripped her scythe’s chain that lay across the arena and ripped the weapon from the stone wall where it had been embedded. Across from her Itachi watched as she placed the weapon back onto her back. He was breathing hard, though Sakura was gasping for air and her chakra reserves were so depleted they ached.
“It seems this is the end of our match, I’m out of chakra.” Sakura called out to Itachi who blinked and gave her a kind smile.
“Unfortunate, I was enjoying it.” Itachi replied, his expression surprisingly light and his chakra for once bright and happy. It wasn’t the full, free happiness of the ancient Uchiha but it was an echo and Sakura felt a jarring sense of loss. Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Madara were more then a half century dead at this point. Sakura felt her chakra begin to burn and rise, she knew what would happen if she didn’t get a grip and immediately crushed the sensation, taking a deep, steadying breath and closing her eyes.
“I forfeit, it has been a pleasure dancing with you today Uchiha Itachi.” Sakura chose her words intentionally because ever since her fight against Kurotsuchi’s team in the forest she couldn’t help but think of fights without deaths as dances, beautiful displays of clashing elements, glittering barrages of steel and masterful demonstrations of coordination and grace. She offered the older boy the seal of reconciliation and smiled, putting her sharp teeth on full display for the village. If people wanted to call her chigiri, let them she was an Uchiha at heart and she would always show her happiness.
“Likewise Haruno Sakura,” Itachi accepted her seal, completing it and smiling down at her. Above them, the crowd absolutely went wild, cheers echoing off the circular walls of the arena and resonating deep in Sakura’s chest. She could hear Itachi’s name being chanted alongside her own and it set her blood on fire though this time her chakra remained tightly controlled and safely away from her eyes. “Shall we return to the contender’s box?”
“The winner is Uchiha Itachi.” Kakashi’s voice echoed through the arena, because the results still had to be called officially. The man’s lone exposed eye was practically boring into Sakura’s back as she walked alongside Itachi. She glanced over at him, his chakra oddly flat and dull, like it was almost empty. Not quite a Shimura doll soldier but not quite not either. Sakura couldn’t make heads or tails of it though and pushed it from her mind as she returned to the stands and was promptly tackled by Anko.
“Holy hell Sakura, you’ve been holding out on us! Where the hell did you learn to do all that!” Anko shouted and Sakura grinned up at her friend. The older kunoichi was practically radiating pride and before Sakura could answer, Izumi materialized from thin air and swept her up into a hug.
“That was utterly amazing Sakura-chan! How did you even, I mean I knew you could create blue flames for a fireball but for a flame dragon? I never even thought of using my chakra control to alter my jutsu! I felt it by the way, you compressed your chakra, like what I do with my blades.” Izumi had been Sakura’s inspiration so the rosette didn’t mind sharing the technique with her.
“I’ll teach you later, I got the idea from you after all.” Sakura murmured causing Izumi to blush then look away. The truth was, despite the fact that she had put up a good fight against Orochimaru’s own apprentice and made it to the final stages of the chunin exam at only ten years old, Izumi’s self esteem was still critically low. Her clan treated her as an outcast as did most of the village, the Uchiha because she was half Senju and the villagers because she was half Uchiha.
“Good job Sakura, you did amazing. Better then anyone could ever ask of you really.” Naori’s voice was full of pride as she appeared silently. Her onyx eyes were still somewhat crimson, remnants of her sharingan visible within them because she had watched the entire match with them. Naori had known it would be something she’d never want to forget and she had been right. Uchiha Itachi was a prodigy among prodigies and Sakura was no slouch either, making up for her minuscule reserves through ingenious application of her immense chakra control.
“Thank you Naori-sensei.” Sakura glanced at Itachi and silently wondered where the boy’s sensei was. He hadn’t introduced himself or even approached Itachi during the second exam and she had to wonder exactly what Team two’s dynamics were like. Naori was unusual, as were Anko and Izumi, hell Team 7 was kind of just different as a general rule at this point but that made Sakura wonder, what were the other teams in Konoha like?
Team 7 worked like a well oiled machine. Everyone got along and communicated easily, there were no real barriers between them and everyone had their place in the team’s dynamic both in combat and out of combat. Itachi’s team clearly had a different dynamic and Sakura hadn’t even met the other teams that had graduated with her.
“Well then, I believe it’s time to watch the next few matches.” Naori turned her attention to Itachi who nodded. He would be up against Anko when their turn rolled around and the girl grinned at him happily.
“Hey Izumi you won’t hate me if I beat your ‘Tachi-kun, will you?” Anko teased causing both Uchiha to blush. Izumi huffed and swatted at Anko who cackled happily and dodged easily. “Missed me!”
“Beginning to think I should have just kept fighting, might have managed a double knockout.” Izumi grumbled as Anko’s laughter redoubled. Sakura felt Shisui’s chakra a moment before he appeared, his massive grin promising mischief.
“Well look at it this way Izumi-chan, I’m sure if you ask Itachi he’d be more then happy to comfort you over your amazing fight and loss. You were so brave after all and I’m sure he’s proud of how well his favorite sparring partner did.” Shisui crowed and then dodged a punch as Izumi’s entire face practically glowed scarlet. Beside her, Itachi was blushing furiously and his eyes were slowly turning red as his chakra began to grow increasingly agitated.
“Shisui-san, I suggest you cease your teasing immediately. As for you Mitarashi-san, I look forward to our match. I’m sure you will find it instructive.” Itachi’s words stayed true to his usual confident vocabulary but the embarrassment was audible and he squeaked slightly as he spoke. Shisui lost it immediately and shunshined away before he could be pinned in place by a barrage of shuriken while Anko cackled happily and ran back to her seat to watch the Kumo nin fight each other.
***
An excited atmosphere hung over the council meeting room as Hiruzen pushed the door open. The full Konoha council was present for once, with every major and minor clan head in attendance along with the representatives of the civilian council and even the ANBU commander. The elder council all sat flanking Hiruzen’s seat as he took it and looked over the room. This year had been a tour of force for Konoha at the chunin exams with four prodigies on display, three of which had been relatively unknown before the day’s events.
“Settle down,” Hiruzen’s voice cut through the quiet murmuring that had filled the air. All at once the room fell silent and Hiruzen turned to face Kakashi, giving the older teen a grandfatherly smile. “Kakashi-kun, would you mind explaining the candidates’ fights for us and what your thoughts are on them?”
“Of course Hokage-sama.” Kakashi answered and pulled up the file on Uchiha Izumi. “Uchiha Izumi or rather Senju Izumi before her father’s death, showed immense sensory skills, likely derived from chakra control though potentially inherited from her great grandfather.” Kakashi had been impressed by the girl’s nin-kenjutsu. Even if it was still rudimentary at best, it showed immense promise and perhaps more importantly it was something unique, that couldn’t be copied even if one knew the theory behind it. “Despite her sharingan being nearly unusable due to her half blood status, she has more then made up for the deficiency by building a fighting style that doesn’t rely on her doujutsu and sharpening the talents that she does have.”
“Of course she couldn’t display it in the match but reports indicate that she is one of Uchiha Itachi’s primary taijutsu sparing partners. It is unfortunate she was matched up against Mitarashi whose snake summons negate such abilities but Izumi still performed admirably.” Kakashi finished and then sat down as the council considered the girl’s merits. In truth, Hiruzen already knew the verdict, the girl was getting promoted and perhaps he would soon see calls to have her declared a Senju and removed from the Uchiha ghetto. It was unlikely, but he wouldn’t oppose such a request.
“I think she has proven she is capable of holding the rank of chunin. She wasn’t so prideful she couldn’t admit defeat and she didn’t let the match harm her relationship with her teammate.” Shikaku interjected and a wave of agreement washed over the room. It wasn’t quite unanimous but it was close enough and after such a showing, it would be harder to justify not promoting her.
“Very well, now then what of Mitarashi-san?” Hiruzen watched as the mood in the room soured instantly. The girl was still being kept under constant watch. When she wasn’t with Uchiha Naori, ANBU stalked her from a distance just in case. She had alerted the authorities and been the primary force behind Orochimaru’s discovery but in a way that only made Hiruzen distrust her further, after all if she would betray her sensei for her morals, what of her village?
“She’s too talented to remain a genin.” Kakashi answered bluntly, ignoring all the politics and considerations that most in the room wanted to make.
He didn’t bother elaborating, everyone had seen her match against first Izumi and then Itachi. If she had been born male and Orochimaru wasn’t a traitor it would be her name on everyone’s lips, not Uchiha Itachi’s. She had lost, yes but only just barely because her chakra reserves couldn’t be allowed to drop too low or her curse mark would risk activating. Even so she had fought Itachi to a stand still for ten whole minutes, an incredible amount of time for a one on one duel.
“She did report Orochimaru, so she is more loyal to the village then she is to any individual.” Yamanaka Inoichi chimed in, which seemed to settle the conversation. Hiruzen wasn’t exactly happy about promoting the girl and was still considering putting a permanent cap on her career but he’d wait a few more years to see how things panned out. Anko’s reputation had rebounded thanks to her interaction with her teammate during their match and her friendly banter with Uchiha Itachi. Furthermore, the last thing Hiruzen needed right now was people questioning why he was restricting the girl who outed Orochimaru.
“Next I suppose is Haruno Sakura.” Hiruzen watched as silence swept over the room. It was so quiet he could have heard a pin drop had someone been of a mind to try out the old saying. Subtle and not so subtle glances all shot to Hatake Kakashi, the only other shinobi in history to ever take the chunin exams so young. Hiruzen had seen Kakashi slide his headband up during the fight, which was a testament to how talented both combatants were.
“Haruno Sakura, huh?” Oddly enough it was Nara Shikaku who spoke up. All eyes turned to the man who was currently leaning back in his chair and scratching his chin. “She went to the same daycare as Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji. Kind of hard to believe she had this in her.”
“I vaguely remember a pink haired child there, she’s Ino’s age.” Inoichi agreed, eyes squinting as he tried to recall what he’d seen of the girl. He could distinctly remember Ino nattering on about a girl with beautiful pink hair and ‘super awesome shark teeth’ that everyone bullied and oddly enough the images did line up. The girl had worn her cloak as a shield against the crowd’s attention and had been nervous right up until the adrenaline of battle hit her and then she transformed into a confident and proud kunoichi.
“That kind of strength reminds me of Tsunade.” Chouza chimed in, since his other two friends had already commented. He didn’t remember the girl, but he was also the least cerebral of the trio so that wasn’t much of a surprise to him.
“She has a lot of potential. In fact I would like to request her transfer to Root so it could be fully developed.” Danzo’s words sent a wave of silence over the room. Everyone turned to look at the war hawk who had just circumvented Hiruzen’s ban on forcing her into the program. If he could convince the council, then Hiruzen would have to concede, however he did have an ace up his sleeve.
“You already approached her and she declined. Haruno Sakura has personally informed me she would like to study fuinjutsu and iryo-ninjutsu, two fields Konohagakure is currently lacking in. Considering her age, giving her time to grow and develop her interests would be the best use of her potential at this time.” Hiruzen countered, foolishly hoping Danzo would leave it there. Of course the war hawk had no such intentions, he was a greedy and ambitious man after all.
“Find me a single civilian that would be comfortable with a child performing medical procedures on them. Or how about a genin? She might be able to master iryo-ninjutsu with her chakra control but she is a child. Without the proper discipline, she will be unable to function at the level required for her specialties. You cannot trust a child, no matter how brilliant with surgery or prescription drugs. Root would be the perfect environment to ensure she sheds any such unnecessary behaviors quickly so her talents can be made use of immediately.” Danzo’s supporters made up nearly half the council. The Hyuga were in his pocket as where the Aburame, though the Uchiha absolutely loathed him and the Ino-Shika-Chou trio distrusted him. Hiruzen knew the elder council was a solid block, but as for the other clans present, it was anyone’s guess where they would fall.
“I think I have a solution,” the ANBU commander’s smooth voice interrupted the conversation and all eyes slid to the silver haired man wearing a bear mask. Hiruzen was genuinely surprised to hear the man speak up, but then again in a way it made sense. Of everyone present he had been integral in Kakashi’s career, before Danzo had taken the teen into Root. “ANBU currently lacks an on call medic and unlike the general forces, my soldiers will not complain so long as she is competent. As for discipline, I’m sure nobody would accuse ANBU of being poorly run?”
Hiruzen had rarely seen Danzo so easily and totally outmaneuvered. Kuma rarely spoke up in meetings, his voice usually absent from even the most important of conversations but today he had clearly seen something he wanted and he had just ensured he’d get it. Unlike Danzo, nobody in the village had anything but respect for the man that had lead ANBU since its founding. Kuma had been hand picked by Senju Tobirama himself to lead the organization and the man’s hard work and talent for special operations had been a large part of Konohagakure’s victory in all three wars.
“She will need to be promoted to chunin to perform medical procedures but I think we all know she’s earned that.” Kuma added casually and Hiruzen silently appreciated the man’s talent for playing a crowd. Nobody argued or pointed out that they were giving a five year old an officer’s rank. Everyone just accepted his words and moved on, to caught up in his rhythm to object or too pinned in place by their own words in Danzo’s case.
“Very well and Uchiha Itachi?” Hiruzen was only humoring the council at this point. He was going to promote Uchiha Itachi even if hell froze over. The only thing that would convince Hiruzen not to promote the young Uchiha would be if the boy’s parents both requested otherwise and that simply wasn’t happening.
“My heir has won the tournament and proven his worth.” Uchiha Fugaku stated, his tone blatantly disrespectful and his eyes narrowed with loathing. Hiruzen saw the man for what he was, an ambitious fool who would destroy the village if his dreams ever came to pass. The Uchiha were a curse upon Konoha, necessary during the time of wars but now that they were peace, they were a threat to the entire village’s security. They had unleashed the Kyubi upon the village, likely in an attempt to shift power their way but when it failed they didn’t even reflect on their mistakes.
“Indeed he has.” Hiruzen replied, returning the man’s glare and ending the conversation. Four prodigies in one chunin exam, If it wasn’t for the fact that two of them were Uchiha, Hiruzen would have been ecstatic. Unfortunately it seemed the cursed clan was still running strong and that did not bode well for Konohagakure’s future.