Uchiha no Yuurei
Chapter 44 Uchiha no Yuurei
Sakura pushed off the covers of her bed in the Senju compound. Rage pounded between her temples and even Inner wasn’t able to devour it all. It took several minutes of controlled breathing for Sakura to finally settle herself, get out of bed and then make her way down to the dining room. Reaching the door, Sakura saw her family gathered around the table, rice, fish and miso soup all ready and waiting for her.
The Senju mon caught her eye and a kunai flew from her fingers before Sakura even realized what was going on. The thud of the knife burying itself in wood silenced the conversation that had been going on and all eyes turned to the rosette who was glaring at the emblem. Sakura didn’t see her family though, all she could see was Senju Butsuma smirking at her as he fled, her father’s chakra slipping away from the world.
‘Outer, get a grip. We can’t let father down, he believed in us.’ Inner’s voice resounded in Sakura’s mind. The other personality’s presence was weak but she held on with the same tenacity that had carried them through all their previous trials. ‘You’re scaring Satsuki and Naruto.’ Inner rose from the depths of Sakura’s mind and though she was still recovering, she forced Sakura’s body to move, her head snapping to the two genin who were watching her with wide worried eyes.
“Sorry, reflex.” Sakura rasped, the words not entirely untrue but an uneasy silence followed them. Anko cocked an eyebrow while Izumi and Naori both watched her with unreadable expressions. Satsuki was visibly worried and afraid, large onyx eyes fixed on Sakura. Satsuki’s chakra was twisting with terrified memories and Inner gave Outer another mental slap as she sat down.
‘Itachi did something similar before the massacre Outer!’ Inner’s voice was filled with anger. They were both feeling the rage of the curse but Inner had kept her wits about her. Shame burned in Sakura’s stomach and she went through a second set of meditations, the weight of her family’s stares heavy on her small frame.
“Sakura-chan?” Naruto’s voice broke the silence and Sakura slowly lifted her head up and looked across the table at the blond. His stormy blue eyes were swimming with worry and he shifted uncomfortably on his cushion.
“Sorry Naruto I had…” Sakura’s throat closed on itself and tears filled her eyes. They weren’t the blood tears of a mangekyo transformation, tears she’d never cry again thanks to her eternal mangekyo, Shisui’s last gift. She couldn’t lie to them about this, Tajima’s death was too much for her to hide but she couldn’t bring herself to speak about it either.
‘Would they even believe us?’ Inner wondered, her voice suddenly crushed and flat. Pain shot through Sakura’s body, the sheer loss of Tajima’s death leaving her curled into herself.
‘I can’t take this Inner, I can’t do it. It hurts so much.’ Outer whispered to her other self. She’d seen her father die, the man who had granted her a life worth living was gone. She loved him so much it hurt and now his absence had torn a hole in her very soul, the pain, grief and rage transforming her from something human to whatever it was the Uchiha truly were.
‘Outer, I’ll take it away for now but you have to talk to your team.’ Inner whispered and Outer nodded against her knees as her eyes slid closed.
***
The night of the Chunin Exams, Satsuki had been forced to use the meditation trick taught in academy to fall asleep. It was effective, allowing her to slip into unconsciousness in just over two minutes, but she still woke up nervous and jittery. Satsuki pulled her clothes on, including the kusari shirt that Sakura had insisted was superior to the wire mesh favored by modern shinobi and then quickly did her hair and makeup. Many shinobi and a few kunoichi would scoff at such things, but it took less then ten minutes to have her hair up in a bun and her face beautified with field grade makeups.
‘Shinobi cannot train every minute of every day. Pushing too hard damages your muscles, stresses your brain and can harm your reserves.’ Sakura’s words of wisdom filtered through Satsuki’s mind as she tied her two weapon holsters to her legs, accessible through a slit in her hakama, hiding them from view and making her appear unarmed. Sexist shinobi and self hating kunoichi would see her and assume she was a vapid, weakling, too focused on beauty to be a threat.
‘Appearance is another tool in your kit. Never ignore it, be intimidating when you need to be, beautiful when it suites you and demur when it fools your foes.’ Sakura had been an excellent teacher in how to weaponize the misconceptions around kunoichi, though Satsuki knew the rosette had learned many of her lessons from Naori as every member of the former Team 7 utilized these tactics to varying degrees.
One final check in the mirror confirmed that everything was in place and Satsuki grinned to herself. Her journey towards being comfortable in her own skin wasn’t over, but it was amazing what some makeup and clothes could do for the soul. Pushing her door open, Satsuki quickly made her way to the kitchen where Anko and Izumi were prepping the morning’s breakfast. Eggs sizzled in the wok as Anko stirred the rice with a large spoon, occasionally flipping it through the air while Izumi prepared the miso soup.
“Good morning Satsuki-chan.” Anko’s grin was genuine and she wiggled her purple eyebrows as Satsuki began preparing their tea. “Anything in particular you want today?” Anko questioned as she diced scallions at a speed that no civilian chef could hope to achieve.
“Maybe bacon in the rice?” Satsuki answered as Anko flicked a chakra string to the fridge, opening it and then retrieve a pack of bacon which she quickly diced up and added to the mix. “Thanks,” Satsuki answered, setting the table and then pouring tea into cups for everyone. Naori stumbled into the room, her long, wavy, purple hair tied up in a messy bun and pinned in place by a single bo shuriken. Her eyes weren’t even open and despite being obviously exhausted she still somehow managed to make herself seem graceful as she slid onto her cushion. “Long night?”
“Was on patrol, got four hours of sleep. Got another patrol in…” Naori trailed off as she stifled a yawn. The lead up to the chunin exams had ANBU running triple duty. Without the Military Police and Root, ANBU was forced to fill their roles along with their own security duties during the exams. Sakura had been spared the extra work on account of being part of Team 7 but the rest of ANBU had been run ragged. Anko and Izumi had been lucky enough to be assigned Naruto duty, hence their lack of exhaustion but Naori wasn’t so fortunate.
“Do you want coffee?” Satsuki asked as she shifted Naori’s tea cup into easy reach. Naori nodded against the arm she was using as a pillow and Satsuki smiled, leaving to go make a quick batch while the food was dished out.
“Morning!” Naruto yawned as he walked in and sank down into his seat. The blond looked as energetic as ever, though Satsuki could see the nervous tension in his shoulders and the pinched corners of his eyes. “You ready Satsuki?”
“Of course,” Satsuki placed Naori’s coffee in front of the woman before taking her own seat. Grabbing her chopsticks she began to eat her breakfast, eyes occasionally leaving her meal to look towards the hallway. Anko and Izumi didn’t seem worried by Sakura’s late arrival but Naori glanced briefly towards the door while Naruto remained oblivious.
“So, who do you think our third teammate is going to be? I mean, they can’t possibly be as awesome as Tora-chan but you think they’ll be any good?” Naruto wondered aloud, his eyes full of excitement. Satsuki opened her mouth to answer when a murderous chakra erupted from Sakura’s room. Tension immediately filled the air and all eyes turned towards the doorway as hidden blades found their way into palms and chakra coiled tight, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
The killing intent dimmed significantly and Satsuki realized the source was Sakura. Naori, Izumi and Anko must have already known as they hadn’t rushed to the rosette’s aid. There was no sound to announce Sakura’s arrival, though her chakra wasn’t suppressed and she stepped into view wearing battered armor, blood and ash caking the dark red war plate. The Uchiha emblem was emblazoned proudly on her shoulders and chest, just over her heart while her emerald eyes burned with flecks of sharingan red. She looked like a ghost of the warring clans period, a girl out of time.
The scene instantly reminded Satsuki of Itachi the week before the massacre. Sakura’s expression was the same one Itachi had worn, rage and pain fighting against ironclad discipline as she tried to keep it all locked away. Her face was mostly blank but the narrowed set of her eyes betrayed her anger. She scanned the room, unbothered by the concerned looks sent her way, when suddenly something within her snapped. A kunai slipped into her hand and whistled through the air as her eyes twisted into a mangekyo pattern that every Uchiha knew, three elongated tomoe that bled into each other with three straight, black lines extending from them to the edge of her irises.
“Senju filth,” Sakura hissed furiously, her killing intent choking the wind from Satsuki’s lungs. She’d never felt anything this oppressive before and her whole body was locked in place as Sakura’s eyes focused on the Senju mon. A second passed before Sakura jerked and tilted her head downwards, her eyes fading back to emerald green. “Sorry, reflex.” A guilty look was sent Satsuki’s way as Sakura took her seat on her cushion, her bangs hiding her face as she kept her head angled towards her food.
Satsuki looked at her elder sister and for the first time truly saw the resemblance between her and Itachi. For all the village had compared them, for all that his classmates had shared worried whispers, Satsuki had never seen the resemblance because she’d known the truth of the massacre but it had blinded her to the common threat between her two elder siblings; both Itachi and Sakura had far too many burdens for souls so young. Sakura was nearing the same age as Itachi when the massacre happened, her birthday would fall just after the end of the Chunin Exams and just like Itachi she was an ANBU captain before she was even officially a teenager.
“Sakura-chan?” Naruto somehow managed to find his voice and Sakura shifted her attention over to the blond. Guilt flashed over her face and she pressed her lips together as her eyes settled on him.
“Sorry Naruto I had…” Sakura trailed off and her chakra spiked a second time. Satsuki had seen shinobi snap before, it wasn’t common as most simply died on a mission well before they could get this bad but in a shinobi village it was inevitable that a shinobi would have a break down in public and with the sheer number of shinobi in Konoha, even most civilians had witnessed at least one psychotic break.
Satsuki opened her mouth to speak when all the color in Sakura’s chakra bled away. The minty cool forest drenched in rain and misery had vanished, replaced by an empty void without thought or feeling. Satsuki’s heart jumped to her mouth as Anko leapt to her feet and Izumi vanished from her seat, reappearing behind Sakura, ready to restrain her at a moment’s notice. Naori’s eyes swirled into her three petaled mangekyo, even as she remained seated in front of her breakfast.
“I apologize for my overly emotional state. Naori-sensei, Izumi-nee, Anko-nee, we need to have a team meeting after breakfast.” Sakura’s voice was blank and it sent shivers down Satsuki’s spine. She’d heard Itachi and Shisui occasionally drop into this state and seeing Sakura display the same symptoms had her pulse racing. Her sharingan were already active, swirling in her eyes though they had yet to twist into the atomic patterns of her mangekyo. “Satsuki, Naruto, you have an exam today, however if I have unsettled you, you can sit it out. I will report-”
“Shut up! Don’t worry about the damn exam, what happened?!” Satsuki’s screamed, her fist slamming into the table and rattling the dishes and cups. Sakura’s empty emerald eyes focused on her younger sister and the absolute blankness within them was soul chilling. Her face was relaxed, as devoid of expression as her chakra was absent of emotion.
“Uchiha Tajima, chichiue, died. I…” Sakura’s voice trailed off as everyone held there breath. There wasn’t a single person present who didn’t know the man’s name. Even Naruto knew who Uchiha Tajima was as Sakura had taught him history under the guise of adventure stories during her time as his guard and had heavily favored the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans in her tales. “I have the Hagoromo kekkei genkai, a second personality. Inner has taken my emotions away until I can talk about what happened and process it all.”
“We’ll skip the exams.” Satsuki declared and Naruto nodded along, the blond’s arms crossed and eyes hard. For all they wanted to become chunin, it wasn’t worth abandoning their mentor and sister figure for. Team 7 never left anyone behind, it was a common creed through every generation and one this incarnation wouldn’t be abandoning.
“No,” Naori cut in and shifted her eyes over to the two genin. “Sakura’s too mentally unstable to handle any kind of attention. If you don’t want to abandon her you’re going to have to draw attention away from her.” Naori’s words were a bitter pill to swallow but Satsuki could see the logic within them. The girl’s hands curled into fists, her nails biting into her palms and leaving bloody crescents in her skin.
“Fine, but when we complete the exams, we’re coming home and helping you, okay Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked, using her actual name for once. Sakura’s eyes softened slightly, a hint of gratitude and affection shining through in her chakra as her head dipped down in a nod.
“Inner says she loves all of you.” Sakura’s voice was completely blank as the color in her chakra faded away and she turned her attention to her food. “We should finish our food before it gets cold. We will all need the energy today.” Sakura advised and Izumi stepped away from her, returning to her cushion. The rest of breakfast was awkward and utterly silent aside from the gentle clink of chopsticks on ceramics as they ate.
Once they were finished, Naori and Sakura cleaned up, letting Satsuki and Naruto leave a little early for the academy. The two genin stepped outside of the heir’s house and exchanged nervous looks.
“On the bright side, whatever the exams throw our way can’t possibly be worse then what just happened dattebayo.” Naruto pointed out and Satsuki huffed out a laugh despite herself. Naruto flashed her a cheeky grin and Satsuki rolled her eyes as he gave her a cheesy thumbs up. “She’ll be fine, your onee-sans will make sure of it.”
“I know,” Satsuki knew that the former Team 7 would cheer Sakura up. Whatever had happened wasn’t something that could be easily explained but Sakura wouldn’t keep the truth from them, not when she so clearly needed their help. After all despite the similarities, Sakura was no Uchiha Itachi. She knew the value of teamwork and sometimes that meant sharing your burdens with others. “Let’s go crush this exam so we can get home quickly.” Satsuki was in no mood to hang back and analyze the exams, she was going to go all out from the start and smash everything in their path. Naruto’s stormy blue eyes radiated determination as he gave her a nod, his agreement with her words shinning through the hurricane that was his chakra.
***
The trip to the academy was completed in record time and neither Satsuki nor Naruto were in a hurry. ‘Proof how much stronger we’ve gotten.’ Satsuki thought silently as they landed in front of the academy to find neither Kakashi nor their mysterious third waiting for them. Satsuki’s eyes shifted around the area and she looked over at Naruto, who raised a blond eyebrow in question.
“Let’s go in through a window, I can feel a lot of chakras gathered on the second floor.” Satsuki stated calmly and Naruto gave a nod and grinned. The two walked up the walls of the academy and slipped into the third floor through an empty classroom. Walking out into the hallway, neither needed to search for their destination as they still remembered the building’s maze like layout from their years as students.
The familiar wild static of Kakashi’s chakra played across Satsuki’s senses and as they rounded the corner, she saw the man leaning against the wall next to the exam room. At his side was a boy with neat black hair, pale skin and chakra devoid of any emotion. Satsuki was instantly on guard and Naruto shifted uneasily as the boy looked towards them. Kakashi’s one exposed eye met Satsuki’s and a slight shake of his chin informed the kunoichi that he was well aware of the situation.
“Hello my cute little genin, I’ve found your third wheel.” Kakashi said cheerfully, his eye arcing into a fake smile. Naruto crossed his arms but didn’t say anything as the Root bowed to them. Danzo’s private army was supposedly disbanded, but clearly Hiruzen didn’t really care enough to enforce that particular order.
“Hello, I am Sai. I look forward to working with you during the chunin exams.” Sai’s voice was blank, devoid of inflection and reminded both genin of the state they’d left their pink haired friend in. Satsuki looked over at Naruto, the two locking eyes briefly before refocusing on Sai.
“Hey Sai, I’m Naruto and this is Teme-chan.” Naruto flinched as Satsuki punched his shoulder hard enough to bruise. The blond’s grin remained unmoved however and his expression was utterly remorseless as he smiled at Satsuki. “We’re going to win these exams so don’t slow us down dattebayo.”
“I see,” Sai replied, his expression blank as he looked between them. “I was under the impression that the Uchiha’s name was Sasuke.” Sai’s black eyes fell on Satsuki who shifted uncomfortably. They hadn’t filed the paperwork yet and being the last Uchiha it was going to cause a political nightmare when the news broke.
“Eh, you must have heard wrong.” Naruto waved Sai off and pushed the doors to the exam room open. Satsuki followed, throwing Sai a glance before walking past him. The Root was still blank, his smile overly sweet and plastic, forced in an incredibly obvious way.
“Sasuke-kun!” Satsuki had felt Ino’s approach and quickly sidestepped the girl. Ino wouldn’t be avoided however and she pivoted before launching herself at Satsuki a second time, pulling the other girl into a hug. “How have you been! You look beautiful as ever!”
“Hey Teme-chan, you seem to have acquired a leech.” Naruto chuckled, his smirk only inflaming the sense of annoyance Satsuki felt at the violation of her personal space. Letting out a sigh, Satsuki carefully pried Ino’s hands off of her and then held the girl at arms length.
“Troublesome.” Shikamaru drawled, his eyes moving over Satsuki’s outfit and then sliding to Naruto. The Nara had long had suspicions about the last Uchiha and now those suspicions appeared confirmed. “Ino, stop making a fool of our team.”
“Please as if anyone could make us look worse then you and your lazy attitude. At least Choji pretends to care about being a shinobi.” Ino snarked back, dismissing Shikamaru with a flourished hand and turning her attention back to Satsuki. The Uchiha shifted back, clearly uncomfortable under the appraising gaze of the blond and Ino’s grin turned utterly predator. “Sasuke-kun, you look lovely today. Would you like to go shopping some time? It could be fun, I know a few shops that I’m sure you’d like.”
“I wish Sakura was here.” Satsuki sighed, immediately putting a frown on Ino’s face. The mention of the rosette coincided with Team 8’s arrival and all six clan heirs immediately perked up. Everyone knew of the pink haired prodigy but none of them save Satsuki and Naruto had ever actually met her before.
“You mean Haruno Sakura right?” Shikamaru asked curiously, his eyes almost fully open. Satsuki gave a nod and Naruto casually bumped her shoulder. “What’s she like? I’ve heard my father mention her a few times but…”
“Sakura-sensei is awesome. She’s super fast and strong! Whenever we spar against her she’s always holding back and we still never win, not even with Teme-chan’s sharingan.” Naruto explained happily as Satsuki felt a greasy presence approaching them. It wasn’t blank but instead a ravenous void, greedy for any hint of emotion. It was twisted and wrong, like nothing she had ever felt before and a shiver ran down her spine as she turned and met dark gray eyes.
“Are you lot talking about the Haruno Sakura?” A teen of perhaps sixteen or so asked and Satsuki forced herself not to bristle. His smile was friendly, his body language open and it was all a lie, a deception to draw in the unsuspecting. Sharp intelligence lurked behind the charming smile, the glint just barely showing through steel gray eyes. “I’ve been a fan of her for years, she’s the youngest qualified medic in Konoha’s history and the youngest chunin on record! She’s even the youngest jounin in Konoha’s history.”
“Sakura-chan’s the best, no doubt about that.” Naruto agreed, unaware of the snake in the grass. The problem was, Satsuki could tell whoever this was hadn’t noticed they’d been caught. Chakra sensing was rare and Ninshu all but extinct, in fact not even Itachi had practiced Ninshu. The skill had been lost to legend, only for Haruno Sakura to show up.
‘A pink haired Uchiha…’ All of a sudden the obvious slammed into Satsuki. Sakura had walked into the room looking like a bloodied ghost, a yurei of times long past. She knew skills out of history and her strength was that of a legend. Shisui had told Satsuki a story once, of a pink haired Uchiha struck from records. A tennyo sent to the clans by the heavens. The story was lost to time, Satsuki had been only four years old when Shisui had told her and he had never repeated the tale.
The twisted pain on Sakura’s face hadn’t been the results of a dream, her eyes had swirled with the patterns of the most famous mangekyo sharingan in recorded history, except it was supposed to be Madara’s. Only Indra, the founder of their clan had a more famous pair of eyes and their pattern hadn’t survived to the modern day. ‘Who, no, what is Sakura?’ Satsuki wondered as she refocused on the conversation.
“Well I only know what’s in the bingo book and what little gossip I can catch in the hospital but rumor has it she’s been on multiple S ranked missions and is the youngest ANBU captain in our village’s history. Supposedly she’s a rival for Uchiha Itachi and Namikaze Minato.” The silver haired teen continued, every clan heir hanging on his word. Satsuki subtly looked around and hid her annoyance. Shikamaru knew better then to trust a random stranger and Sakura’s place in ANBU was heavily classified. Her border patrol missions had witnesses, a paper trail and while they were the routine designation used to hide ANBU agents, it also made sense for a ten year old jounin in need of hands on experience to be stuck on border patrol so this genin shouldn’t know any of this.
“She’s not in the bingo book though.” Satsuki bit out and all eyes turned to the last Uchiha. “Aneki keeps a copy of every nation’s bingo book in her room.” Satsuki had never officially moved in with the Senju but it wasn’t like they hid the arrangement. Naruto was on the verge of completely moving in as well and while that was fraught with political consequences, so long as it wasn’t made official most of the clans would ignore it.
“Does she? I wonder how she manages to collect them, they’re only sold within hidden villages after all.” The teen smiled and Satsuki felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Sakura had perfect chakra control, was a talented medic and a ninshu practitioner. She understood fuinjutsu even if she wasn’t a master and was a skilled sensor. If she wanted to disguise herself as a random civilian, it would be child’s play and she could likely impersonate any shinobi lacking a kekkei genkai. Satsuki wasn’t going to volunteer that information, after all Sakura was one of ANBU’s best assassins when most assumed she was simply a glorified medic who had been given the role of captain out of politics.
“You’d have to ask her.” Satsuki deflected already aware she’d messed up. Still anyone who knew anything about Sakura’s ANBU track record would know of how frequently she was compared to Itachi and that meant inhuman competence and skill.
“I’d love to but first we have to pass these exams. I’m Kabuto by the way and you lot really should be more tense. I’ve tried these exams seven times and never once managed to pass. There are deaths every year as well.” Kabuto explained and Satsuki did her best to look dismissive. She was nervous of course but looking vulnerable would only invite trouble and being too high strung would have the same effect. Casual disinterest was neither here nor there, a safe option.
“Wow, you’ve taken the exams seven times and still aren’t a chunin? You must suck!” Kiba laughed, earning a smirk from Kabuto who pulled out a stack of cards. The silver haired probable spy shuffled the deck quickly, his grin just this side of sinister as he flipped over a blank card and pulsed his chakra into it, revealing all of Kiba’s information.
“You’ve had quite the interesting career Inuzuka-san. A c rank courier mission and ten D ranks.” Kabuto countered and Kiba rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and then glared at the older teen. Kabuto raised an eyebrow and Satsuki felt Kiba’s chakra snap as his temper broke.
“Oh yeah? I bet none of these losers have anything more impressive.” Kiba challenged and Kabuto’s eyes slid to Satsuki. A second later Satsuki was looking at her own face, with the wrong name plastered next to it. Kiba was silenced as he processed the A ranked mission and the dozens of D ranks Kakashi had pushed them through. “You went on an A ranked mission?!”
“You bet, I’d like to see another genin team manage that! We totally kicked ass on that mission! We even fought one of the Seven swordsmen of the mist, or well Sakura and Kakashi-sensei did.” Naruto explained cheerfully and Satsuki felt the distinct urge to cuff the back of the boy’s head. Naruto shouldn’t be sharing information, especially not with Kabuto. The boy’s chakra hadn’t gotten anymore tolerable up close, if anything the oily void was even worse.
“You’d be surprised, this year there are a lot of strong contenders. There’s a team from Suna who have been on multiple B rank missions, here.” Kabuto pulled out a card that revealed a boy with red hair and a deadly glare. His eyes were teal, not quite green like Sakura’s and his hair was a bloody crimson. “Subaku no Gaara, he’s never been injured on a mission. Comes back without even a scratch every time.”
“And this guy’s a genin?” Chouji asked, obviously intimidated. Kabuto gave a nod and then opened his mouth when a wall of killing intent crashed into the room. Bursts of smoke erupted along the walls and shinobi in the dark gray uniforms of the torture and interrogation department revealed themselves.
“Silence maggots! To your seats, the first exam is beginning!” Morino Ibiki was a man Satsuki knew by sight thanks to his ANBU sisters. She had never spoken with him, but she knew him by reputation alone. His presence here meant only one thing, this exam was going to be a nightmare.
***
‘I’m screwed.’ Naruto thought to himself as he looked down at the list of questions in front of him. Tora-chan had taught him well but this was beyond anything he’d needed for the academy. He didn’t know how to calculate trajectories or what elements and concepts hand signs were associated with. The two history questions were miniature essays and while Naruto knew the answers, he failed every essay he’d ever written because his academy teachers loathed him.
‘I could cheat.’ Naruto knew that was an option. He had multiple chances to try as well and if he timed it right, he’d only need to cheat once. Looking around the room, the blond felt himself calming as he remembered Tora’s words.
“We’re shinobi, we don’t play fair. If we want something we’ll lie, cheat or steal it. We’ll manipulate, prank and poke at the problem until we find a solution. Retreat is almost always an option but when you can’t retreat, never give up.” Sakura’s words weren’t the kind of rallying moral appeal most civilians would expect of a mentor. Encouraging a child to cheat and steal was as far from the civilian mindset as possible but they were shinobi and morality always had a fickle relationship with their kind.
‘I can cheat once and get caught,’ Naruto wasn’t sure if he could memorize an entire test instantly. He had a pretty descent memory, at least when it applied to visuals but he wasn’t exactly scholarly and memorizing an entire test would be difficult. ‘Fortunately I won’t have to memorize anything.’ Naruto realized as he spotted a test taker who had just put his pencil down. A quick look around showed the proctors were vigilantly watching the room which meant there was no way to hide what he was about to do.
‘Ah well, screw it.’ Naruto thought and stood up. Instantly he could feel several eyes on him but nobody tried to stop him. His target hadn’t noticed him yet and Naruto kept his footsteps silent as he walked forward and swiped the test from the other kid’s desk, in full view of the room.
“The hell?!” The kid shouted but Naruto was already on his way back to his desk. The entire room was aware of Naruto’s prank by now and he sat down in his seat, erasing the other genin’s name and writing his own down.
“Anyone else pulls that shit and you’re out of the exam!” Ibiki barked and Naruto looked up to meet his eyes. The man was glowering at him, killing intent zeroing in on the blond but Naruto had felt worse. People in Konoha had been directing their hatred at him as far back as he could remember so he shot a bright grin at the man and leaned back in his chair. Satsuki’s look of disbelief was incredibly gratifying and Naruto turned a sunny smile her way, cackling silently when she blushed and returned her attention to her own test.
‘I’ve got to tell Tora-chan about this.’ Naruto thought happily, spinning his pen around his finger before he frowned. ‘And I hope she’s alright.’ He added, worrying for his best friend. Tora had always seemed untouchable, but now Naruto knew better. She’d been downed in Nami protecting Satsuki and had nearly died.
‘Wasn’t Tajima Madara’s father?’ Naruto knew the name well and recognized the Uchiha clan’s Mon on Sakura’s battered armor. The girl had been in bed all night but the blood and ash on her armor was fresh. There was no way she could have possibly left the compound without anyone noticing, or at least not without Izumi and Naori noticing. After all Sakura might be a prodigy but Naori was her sensei and Izumi was, well Naruto didn’t know how to categorize her. There was just something inhuman about the half Senju, her movements too perfect to be natural and her chakra always calm and controlled.
‘She called him chichiue, honored father.’ Naruto barely heard the announcement for the final question as he ran his hand through his wild blond hair. He’d checked the test in front of him and while he couldn’t figure the answers out himself, checking the work was much easier and he was confident he had enough points to pass even with the cheating penalty.
“Anyone who fails this question will never rise above the rank of genin.” Ibiki’s words set a fire in Naruto. If the man was going to fail them over a single question why bother with the test? It smacked of the kind of underhanded methods his academy instructors had used to constantly undermine him. Questions that he couldn’t answer properly were suddenly worth half the points on his exams, days he missed were suddenly class participation days and he, naturally, had a zero. He couldn’t answer the questions on this test without cheating, so, naturally the one question he wouldn’t be able to cheat was worth the entire test.
“You think I’ll just give up?! You think being a genin is going to stop me from becoming a hokage? From achieving my dreams? Like hell I’ll back down!” Naruto shouted, his eyes burning righteous anger as he slammed his hand into his desk and rose to his feet. “Your test doesn’t scare me, so ask your damn question!”
“…” Ibiki considered Naruto, eyes roaming the room. “Is that your final answer?” He asked, voice low and threatening. Killing intent pressed down on Naruto but he’d been through worse. He had faced down teachers who extolled his stupidity, lauded his utter lack of talent and he hadn’t quit. He wasn’t about to now.
“I’m not backing down and I never go back on my word. Ask your damn question, the faster this test is over the faster I can get back home.” ‘And check on my sister.’ Went unsaid but Naruto could tell by the shift in Satsuki’s position that she had heard it all the same. Naruto met Ibiki’s eyes without blinking and grinned. “Well?”
“Very well, then in that case I suppose…” Ibiki paused and then smiled. “All of you pass.” The pressure in the room vanished and Naruto felt the tension within him suddenly vanish, his legs dropping him down into his seat unceremoniously. “Sometimes a shinobi needs to be prepared to face the unknown and you can never crack under pressure. In our world, you will face war, death and torture and only those with the courage and bravery to face down the unknown and remain cool under pressure can even be considered for the rank of chunin.” Ibiki reached up and removed his bandanna, showing off the severe scaring hidden underneath.
“Chunin will be called upon to gather information in hostile environments and will always run the risk of capture. They have to remain calm and levelheaded so if they are captured they can hold onto whatever they know and figure out a way to escape.” Ibiki explained and retied his bandanna around his head, hiding his scars.
He looked up at the room, eyes no longer hard and cold but instead warm with pride. He opened his mouth to speak when a black blur smashed through the windows. The high pitched crash of shattering glass was accompanied by a dazzling light show as sunlight glittered and reflected off the shards of spinning crystal as Mitarashi Anko launched four kunai simultaneously, anchoring a banner declaring the start of the second exam.
“Good morning maggots! Time for the second exam!” Anko shouted, her smile unhinged and eyes wild. Her fangs, acquired from the snake contract, were on full display and her killing intent caressed the room. “Follow me to the second exam, anyone who doesn’t reach the location within five minutes is disqualified along with their team. Move out!”
“She didn’t say a word about this.” Satsuki grumbled as she ran alongside Naruto. The entire exam room had poured out onto the rooftops of Konoha once they’d recovered from the shock that was a meeting with Anko’s public persona. The kunoichi was well ahead of them but Naruto already knew exactly where she was heading, after all there was only one place in Konoha where the village could safely allow large numbers of foreign shinobi to wander around without risking the facilities and security of the village itself.
Anbu were patrolling the route as well. Naruto couldn’t see them but he knew how to spot the shadow corps after years of being under their protection. He didn’t catch any glimpses of a tiger mask, which caused his spirits to dim somewhat but he had never caught Sakura sneaking around so he wasn’t sure if she was just better then the average ANBU at avoiding notice or had never bothered to hide around him. ‘Something to ask.’ Naruto thought as they reached the outskirts of the Forest of Death.
“I hate this place.” Satsuki hissed as Sai landed next to them, all but forgotten in the general rush. The boy was so utterly devoid of personality that Naruto didn’t really know what to make of him. He didn’t know about Root or the politics around the Uchiha massacre but he had picked up on the immediate distrust and wariness that Satsuki had done an admirable job of hiding. If Naruto didn’t know her as well as he did, he’d never have noticed her discomfort.
“Why?” Sai asked and Satsuki cocked an eyebrow in disbelief then gestured at the forest. Naruto had to agree with her, he’d never really been in the forest himself, but the aura and gloomy interior were more then enough to make him wary. “I do not understand.”
“I’m sure.” Satsuki sighed and looked over at Naruto. “We’ll need to be careful. Everything in there is poisonous, venomous or both. Oh and wants to kill you.” Satsuki pinched the bridge of her nose as the rules were explained and scrolls handed out. The mission was simple, keep their scroll, get a matching scroll and then get to the tower within five days. Simple did not mean easy, not when they’d have to take down at least one other team.
“Well, good thing Sakura-sensei trained us so hard. Sai, you can fight right?” Naruto asked, looking at the emotionless genin who blinked then after an awkward pause nodded. Naruto tried not to react but it was getting difficult not to say something. There was something wrong with Sai and it was quickly leaving the territory of funny and heading towards concerning.
“I am adequate.” Sai stated and Naruto’s lips twisted into a frown. A glance showed Satsuki was still keeping up a poker face. The girl shrugged and then nodded towards their gate.
“Come on, let’s get this over with and then get back home. Sakura’s probably expecting us to set a record.” Satsuki stated, sounding bored as she lead them to their starting line. Naruto could feel several other teams glancing their way as they passed. A few from Konoha shot him glares, a reminder that he was less welcome in his own village then in any random town throughout Hi no Kuni. It stung but before his mood could sour, Satsuki’s fingers curled around his hand and gave him a squeeze. “Ignore them.”
“Yeah, right. Let’s kick ass.” Naruto put on his fiercest grin and met his friend’s eyes. Satsuki smirked in response and nodded as the sirens blared and the gates slammed open. The two both looked forward and launched themselves into the trees, air racing past as they cleared the gate and ventured into the Forest of Death.
***
‘Something’s off.’ Satsuki thought as she raced through the trees. At her right was Naruto, while Sai was on her left. Usually, Sakura would lead their formation with the two genin on the flanks and Kakashi in the rear, however with Sakura and Kakashi absent, the role of leader had somehow fallen onto Satsuki’s shoulders.
‘Something’s really off.’ Satsuki could almost hear the forest’s silence. It wasn’t just a physical absence of noise either, there was no sound of animals or other teams. Landing on a massive branch a hundred feet up in the air, Satsuki held up her fist, signaling her teammates to stop. Naruto landed beside her while Sai positioned himself about ten feet away standing sideways on a gargantuan tree trunk.
“Do you hear that?” Satsuki asked the growing silence and Naruto shifted uneasily. The blond could tell something was off as well. The forest had been loud outside the gates, with animals and insects chirping, clicking and hissing. There had been the rustle of leaves in the breeze and the feeling of wild chakra in the air. Now, everything was still.
“Something’s wrong.” Naruto gave voice to Satsuki’s fears and the two met eyes before immediately searching their surroundings. Nothing and nobody registered on either of their senses. “Sai you sense anything?”
“No, but I suppose that is unusual.” Sai replied in that disturbingly blank voice of his. Satsuki tried to tamp down the hate she felt at his very existence but her sharingan still spun to life. Satsuki turned her eyes towards Sai and saw the blast of chakra heading their way. It was a veritable tsunami and her mouth snapped open to scream out a warning as a typhoon slammed into them.
Leaves and twigs flew through her vision as Satsuki tumbled backwards, barely managing to stick her landing thanks to the superhuman reaction time of the sharingan. Naruto’s chakra had flown off into the distance and Sai was just gone.
“Hello Sasuke-kun,” a sibilant voice wound around Satsuki’s throat and caressed her ear. Malevolent chakra flooded the forest, the trees groaning under the strain as a woman with inky black hair and onyx eyes stepped into view. Satsuki felt her vision going gray under the sheer pressure of the woman’s existence, chakra so dense it was visible swirling around her in a cloud of toxic purple. “Let’s see if you’re even half of the shinobi your brother is.”