Hidden Up Her Sleeve
The final round of the Chuunin exams had approached faster than anticipated. Despite the all the training Izumi had undergone in the time between the two rounds, despite the reassurance given to her by her family and Kakashi, she still felt unprepared, as though she were running into the blade of a sword. She didn't consider herself weak or untalented, but her usual confidence had been blown away, leaving her with only scraps of it.
Her spirits were running low as she watched her teammate be the one to fight first, panic coursing through her every time a name familiar her was called.
Chihiro stood shaking as he faced his opponent, figure uncertain. From the sidelines she could see how his hands trembled as he weaved the nessary hand signs, eyes squeezing shut in moments of fear. To his disadvantage, his opponent was fierce. Quick and determined strides were followed by powerful attacks, almost all hitting. Not even his multiplication jutsu was able to aid Chihiro with his goal to win. On too many fronts he was defenseless, at the mercy of his opponent. With a trembling hand raised high he lost, shame drowning his features.
As soon as he was near her Izumi wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. At the much needed contact a sob racked through his body, his entire frame shaking at the impact of it. His shoulders trembled and his arms snaked around Izumi to pull her closer. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck, seeking the comfort his friend provided. Soon another pair of arms engulfed him from behind, softly nuzzling into his frame. Quickly the last part of the team joined, arms attempting to embrace all her students.
"Shh, you did your best," Kushina ran her hand through his hair softly. "You did your best."
To have seen him fight terrified Izumi. Would her fight be the same? She dreaded her own battle. Even with her trick up her sleeve, a win was a fever dream.
━━━━
"Next up: Iori Akira versus Yamanaka Izumi."
Izumi swallowed harshly at the announcement, bile building up in her throat. Her stomach churned uncomfortable so, dread sending a shiver down her spine.
What if my knee paints return? The thought left her spooked.
Next thing she knew she stood in the arena, hands trembling as she faced her opponent.
Akira's short platinum blond hair gave her a dangerous appearance and its sharp bob cut made her features appear more defined. Her eyes glinted violet, a storm of anger swirling within them. Her lips were pulled into a confident smirk.
"I know your mind tricks, Yamanaka." Akira's tone was venomous, the disdain evident in her smirk.
Izumi felt another shiver run down her spine, dread twisting and turning in her stomach. She should have expected it, she really should have and still, the revelation came as a surprise to her.
"Good thing I have other tricks then," Izumi shot back, hoping to sound more determined than she was.
According to the reaction of Akira, the brunette had struck some cord within her opponent, who took on an aggravated expression. The blonde bared her teeth before sprinting at Izumi with all her might, kunai drawn and raised. The kunai made contact with Izumi's cheeks as her opponent forced it down.
Izumi jumped back from Akira in an attempt to create distance between herself and her opponent. It was futile. After her jumped the blonde, bloodied kunai drawn to repeat her attack. Izumi responded with her own kunai drawn, ready to engage in hand to hand combat. From the first wield it was obvious that her opponent was superior to her in close combat.
Akira wielded the kunai as though she had done it from the moment she had taken her first step. The precision at which she slashed at the Yamanaka, the way she responded to every defense, left Izumi panting and almost cornered against one of the walls of the arena. Once her back pressed against the cold stone, her opponent smirked.
"You're over." Akira raised her kunai again, slamming it into the wall.
The brunette had quickly turned out of the way, leaving Akira to face the wall. As Izumi had seen Kakashi do several times, she swung her arm back, leveling it with her ear, before throwing it forward with chakra enforced, allowing it to travel the distance much faster than usual. The kunai embedded into the wall, trapping part of Akira's short hair against it.
"Mud Wall," Izumi encased herself in a mud cocoon, allowing herself some time to force herself from panting as she did. She knew that if her breathing continued to labour on as it did, victory would be long out of her reach.
On the outside of the wall, the blonde knocked against it aggressively, piercing through it with the kunai previously lodged into her hair. With a scream Akira yanked it out again before repeating the action over and over again, creating a hole in the cocoon.
"Peakaboo." teased Akira, sticking her face into the hole.
The response of Izumi was a punch to the face, sending the blonde flying across the arena. Without much effort she allowed for the cocoon to crumble, releasing herself of its protective encasement. Izumi knew that to win this, she had to be daring, more than she would have liked to be. In a flexible stance she waited for Akira to approach again.
The blonde chose to not approach and instead hurriedly weaved hand signs. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Much faster than Izumi expected from Akira, the fireball raced towards her, catching her off guard.
Izumi was thrown backward, landing on the ground with her clothes searing. As she had been taught, she rolled over, successfully killing the flames. She lay on the ground, panting from pain. Her cerulean eyes were glossed over with tears, pain evident in them. She heaved herself up again, body trembling as she did so. Her mind was running haywire, trying to figure out what to do.
"Don't give up. You can do it." From somewhere in the crowd, she swore she could hear Kakashi speak words of encouragement. They rang in her ears, motivated her. Like a lullaby, they played over and over again.
'You can do it.'
And he was right. After all, Yamanaka Izumi was not one to give up.
With what strength she could muster, Izumi heaved herself up, only to be pulled upwards harshly by the length of her hair. Akira had wrapped her fist tightly around Izumi's long dark hair, using it to her advantage. The ends of her scalp felt on fire, hair tugging against it aggressively. Several strands snapped from the tension, falling down beside her. Somehow, she had to get out of the situation.
Izumi used the close proximity to kick her in the shin, forcing her to release her grip. When she went to retreat though, her opponent reached out to tug her back by her long ponytail. She hissed in response, a cry of pain rushing past her lips.
The hair was an inconvenience. She needed to get rid of it. Immediately, or so she decided. From her weapons pouch she swiftly grabbed a kunai and grabbed all of her hair up to her shoulder in her fist before raising the kunai to cut. She knew that most likely she now had an uneven haircut, but in the moment she could care less. Her now shoulder-length hair could not be used as an advantage by her opponent. All those years of excessive hair care, gone to waste. At least now she could maybe wear short pigtails instead.
Sen couldn't help but gasp at Izumi's motion. "What are you doing, stupid?" screeched the older girl incredulously. "Now's not the time to play dress-up!"
"You go, Izumi!" cheered Kushina on the other hand, throwing her fists up into the air.
"Don't encourage her sensei! That idiot Yamanaka down there is going to get herself killed one day."
"So you worry for her, Sen?" The red-haired sensei raised her eyebrows at that, smirking at the Nara..
Sen looks a little disgruntled before she put on a nonchalant expression. "No, I just don't want that idiot to get hurt."
"Uh huh."
Sen almost glared at her sensei. "Why are you bothering me, sensei? Just go smooch your boyfriend like you want to. He's over there." Then she pointed over to where Team Minato stood.
Kushina turned as red as her fiery hair before she bonked Sen on the head.
"You're wrong, y'know!" The Uzumaki put on a faux-upset expression for a moment before she smiled again. "I'm here to support my precious little students."
The raven-haired student was unconvinced, merely raising an eyebrow. "And watch their little fashion show."
"If necessary."
"That's exactly why I have a pixie cut, sensei."
"Sen, have you ever thought about becoming a medic-nin?"
"No, never sensei, why?"
"You are smart, super smart. You could use your smartness to help others, y'know."
"It's intelligence, not smartness, sensei." sighed Sen.
"Sensei is right," commented Chihiro, giving his friend a smile. "If anyone out of our team could become a medic-nin, it's obviously you."
"You think so?" Her eyes earned a certain glow at his words.
"Totally! Go for it."
Sen turned to their sensei, a determined look replacing the glint. "I will try, sensei."
Kushina smiled in response. "Good."
Izumi meanwhile had jumped away from an incoming attack, panting. Her hair move had both cost her time and earned her some time by confusing her enemy. To her disadvantage, Akira was a quick thinker, immediately attacking again.
The kunai Akira yielded grazed Izumi's nose, drawing blood to flow down the bridge of it. She winced at the sensation of a stream of blood spreading across her face. Izumi knew to be able to attack properly, she needed to find some way to immobilize her enemy in a similar fashion to how Sen did. Otherwise, her chances would be slim. In hand to hand combat, Akira was much better than her.
Mud Release. The trick hidden up her sleeve, of course.
Izumi allowed herself to be hit to the stomach, the pain in her knees intensifying. But she knew, giving up was not an option. She had to be smarter than her opponent. The brunette flew back onto the floor, laying there, panting. From the peripheral of her vision she could see her opponent nearing for the k.o. hit.
Akira leaned over Izumi, smirking devilishly. "I win." She whispered, leaning closer.
Bingo.
Izumi weaved the hand signs necessary for her jutsu and sent chakra into her dominant hand. Then she swung her now mud-covered fist to land a direct hit on the midsection of Akira. The girl flew back in surprise, mud attaching itself to her body and was thrown into the stone wall, leaving a hole in her wake. From what the mud user could see, her opponent was dazed.
Despite the pain in her knees Izumi heaved herself up, first onto all fours and then onto her legs, ready to resume the fighting. Akira meanwhile was stuck in the wall, the mud that had gathered around her hardening.
"Mud Release: Mud Wave!" Just to make sure, Izumi sent another load of mud after her opponent, to fully enclose her.
From a little hole in the mud encasement, the spectators could see a hand emerge, followed by the words: I give up.
"The winner of this match is Yamanaka Izumi." The host had grabbed Izumi's arm and yanked it into the air, showing off her success.
Izumi swore that from her position she could hear her sensei yell out in delight. Among the voices mingled the ones of her parents, yelling things incoherent to her.
She grinned brightly. She did it. She won. She felt as though she were on top of the world, could win every fight. And it felt good.
━━━━
Once Izumi had been cleaned up in the medical room of the arena, she was tackled into a strong embrace. Flaming red hair tickled her now scarred features and violet eyes gleamed gleefully at her before the hug was tightened.
Behind the ecstatic sensei trailed her teammates. Proud was a word that did not do what they were feeling justice. They beamed at her. Regardless, as soon as Kushina released the brunette from her hug, she received a knock to the hit from Sen.
"Ow! What was that for?"
Sen glowered. "What did you think you were doing playing dress-up out there?"
"Cutting my hair so my enemy can't use it against me?"
"Not during the exams. Do it after."
"I couldn't have known."
"Idiot."
"Wait … were you worried?" Izumi grinned at her friend, raising her eyebrows playfully.
"No. I was concerned with your idiocy, 'Zumi." The tone of her words betrayed the raven-haired. "Good to see you won."
"Thank you, Sen."
"We are so proud of you, Izumi!" Kushina pulled the girl into another embrace, this one shorter than the last. "My student, succeeding, I'm so proud." From her position in her sensei's arms, Izumi wasn't entirely sure whether the woman had shed a tear or not.
"You did great!" Chihiro patted her on the shoulder, smiling.
She smiled back, face squished against the shoulder of her sensei. "Thanks, Chi!"
Distantly, the speakers announced the next fight to be of Sen. Nara Sen vs Aburame Sho.
Kushina released Izumi from the hug, grinning brightly at her student. "I couldn't be prouder of all of you. Izumi, we will check on you later again. Sen-"
Izumi waved her team off. "Don't worry. Go go, Sen! Your time to shine," She let out a soft laugh, pain stinging at her hips. "Try to win, yeah?"
The Nara shrugged. "Eh, what a bore."
Chihiro reached out to her, grasping her hand before pulling her out of the room, mumbling something about needing to hurry to not be disqualified. Their sensei followed hastily, sending her student a wave before leaving.
Izumi turned her head downwards to inspect the scars littering her hands. Some cuts of the kunai had gotten deeper than first thought, injuring her skin immensely. Softly, she traced them with the finger of her other hand, inspecting each scar.
A knock came from the door frame, followed by a familiar voice. "Can I come in?" Kakashi stood leaning against the door frame, appearance nonchalant.
"Kashi!" Her voice drowned in glee. "Of course you can."
Kakashi stepped inside, positioning himself by the side of the bed she sat on. He stood awkwardly, inspecting his friend's injuries.
Izumi patted the space beside herself, inviting himself to sit down. The boy sat down, careful to not cause further injury to his friend. He tucked his hand onto his lap, staring ahead.
Her cheeks were tinted pink as she looked up at him. "Thank you for all that you have done for me. I wouldn't be here without your help."
Kakashi's cheeks felt warmer. "It was mostly your work." He turned to look at her.
Izumi gave him a playful slap to the shoulder, letting out a laugh. "Stop being so modest, Kashi."
"I'm not," He said softly. His charcoal gaze wandered over her face until it settled on the scar decorating the bridge of her nose and one part of her cheek. It was aggressive to say the least, the skin ripped and jagged, standing out with its darker tone than the rest of her skin. "Your nose." His hand reached out subconsciously to take a closer look, to trace it, before he forced it onto his lap again.
She frowned at the mention. "It burns if I'm honest," Izumi's own hand reached out to touch it, pulled back after a hiss of pain rushed past her lips. "I saw it in the mirror. It's really ugly."
"I don't think so," Kakashi was quick to disagree. "It shows your strength. It's not ugly. Even with it, you look pretty." The words rushed out without much of a thought.
Izumi's cerulean eyes widened, cheeks warm. "Really? You think I'm pretty?"
Kakashi backed away slightly, forcing space between them because of his embarrassment. He nodded, turning his face away from the stare of his friend.
"Thank you," Izumi leaned towards him, resting her hands in the space between them to give herself stability. Boldly, she pecked him on the cheek just above his mask to show her appreciation. "I think you are also pretty."
His cheek blossomed a crimson red, the shade spreading from underneath his mask to peak out at the top of it. To release his tension, he forced himself to cough. "Thanks."
"Kashi-"
"I have to go now, it's my turn." Kakashi stood up from his spot on her bed, giving his friend a small close-eyed smile. From behind his mask, various shades of red peeked out.
Her cheeks burned red as she looked at him. "Good luck. I'll come up as soon as I can to watch."
You can do it.
At the door frame, he turned around to face Izumi once more. His features had softened considerably. "I'm glad that you are okay. Get well before coming up." Then he left.
Was he worried?
Izumi shook her head while wearing a smile. Oh, Kakashi …