stargazing - Chapter 12 - icashi (2024)

Chapter Text

By unanimous decision, they take the chance for a brief break. Who knows what will happen next? – Well, the dimensionally transplanted shinobi do. But they're decidedly not talking.

Shikaku observes his alternate daughter bantering with the Sai boy and her Uchiha teammate, eyes coming back to rest on Hawk's pierced ears. He'd said that Shikako gave them to him and that's something Shikaku whole-heartedly believes from the way they interact.

There aren't all that many people in this eclectic group of people that don't know the significance of it, so it's like Hawk is telling them all 'I belong to her and the Nara Clan', however indirectly. It's almost the same as little Shikako's vow before the Clan memorial stone: Teammates, Clan, allies, Konoha.

He'd admonished himself just yesterday for overthinking and ruminating on presently past regrets of not doing more for the then-last loyal Uchiha, but he can't quite shake the thought: J ust one simple gesture would have been enough for such a lonely child.

And yet, nobody ever bothered to reach out a hand. – It's the same with the Uzumaki boy.

It's a wonder only one of the Team Seven boys defected, if you look at it that way: All the scorn and none of the love versus a period of belonging shattered by an unspeakable act. He doesn't know why he never thought about this before…

The screen lights up again. It's a freeze-frame of Team Seven in the room they're inhabiting, the students scattered in a semi-circle around Kakashi. His eyes seem to be evaluating them.

"Oh! It's continuing," Naruto exclaims cheerfully. The last couple conversations peter off as everyone returns to their seats.

"I believe we were asking Sensei to teach us a Jutsu," Shikako says, leaning against her Uchiha teammate. Naruto makes a sound like a toad boiling in a kettle.

"Did he really?" Sakura blurts sceptically. The idea of that lazy p*rn addict teaching them anything but the bare minimum seems kind of laughable, no matter how capable the man is in combat. He just wasn't made to be a teacher. (Or didn't want to try in the first place.)

Ino frowns at her (ex?) best friend. So many things make sense now. Did Hatake really refuse to teach them anything of value? She'd kind of thought it had only been things not very applicable to Sakura in specific, but really? Nothing at all, for none of them? (Except the Chidori for Sasuke, though she doesn't like thinking about that technique. In her nightmares of the Sand-Sound Invasion, it's heavily featured as the final catalyst before all mayhem broke loose.)

"He didn't really want to, at first. Said that we should keep to mastering what skills we already had, like refining our chakra control," Hawk explains.

The screen unfreezes.

Shikako is speaking, arguing softly for another technique: "If the next attack comes at the bridge we'll be at a disadvantage. The concrete and steel nature of the deck means my earth jutsu will be limited to the amount of mud I can spit… and that isn't much. Sasuke's fire techniques are, well, useless when there's so much water around." She shrugs in the boy's direction. Sasuke's eye twitches. "Is there anything that you could teach us that might be useful in such a situation? Even if it's just a trick?"

Kakashi sighs. "Well, I suppose there's a minor lightning jutsu or two you might be able to pick up."

He's probably assuming that we'll work out on our own that learning jutsu's more difficult than we thought.

Predictably, Naruto cheers.

"Alright. Naruto, you're with Tazuna today. Leave a clone here with your teammates and I'll run you through the jutsu." He looks like the thought of teaching his students is more of a hassle than he wants to contemplate. Still, there's a hint of something else, something pleased .

Tsunade surveys the expressions of the three children entrusted to her Kakashi's care. None of them look pleased.

The camera tilts up towards the ceiling, but the wooden grain soon blends and turns into a greyish, clouded sky. The camera tilts down again, and the three intently listening genin and their sensei are now in a glade instead of Tazuna's house.

Kakashi explains the chosen Jutsu to his charges: "This is Lightning Release: Striking Bolt. It's a C-rank, short- to mid-range elemental jutsu. Be careful with it. Water conducts electricity, so it should work well against Zabuza and the Hunter-nin, but it will be just as easy for you to electrocute yourselves or each other."

"Bet you he emphasized that point because of you," Shikako teases. Hawk looks at her from the corner of his eyes.

Kakashi demonstrates the four seals: ox-rabbit-bird-monkey. Lightning crackles at his fingertips before leaping away, slamming into a nearby tree. There are visible scorch marks left in the bark.

"You can direct it a little, but mostly it will target the nearest object in the direction you point it. The range is about five metres, give or take. If there's nothing to hit, it will either just ground out… or rebound to hit you ." He smiles cheerily. "So have fun learning. Try not to hit yourselves."

He vanishes.

"If he counted on the pain factor to make those kids stop asking for more jutsus in the future, he didn't know them at all," Jiraiya comments wryly.

Shikako pauses, then advises them to spread out. She instructs the Naruto clone to duplicate, so the original isn't tempted to practise while surrounded by lots of people and, most importantly, metal .

Within shouting but not zapping distance from each other, they get to work.

By lunchtime, yelps and creative curses from Naruto's corner speak of some success but little control. Shikako doesn't achieve much at all, looking vaguely unhappy.

"Earth type, huh?", Kankurou surmises from her struggles.

"Got it in one," she replies easily.

"Lightning Jutsu are the direct opposite of Earth," Sai states quietly, aimed directly at Shikako. Most of the younger cadre of shinobi give him nonplussed looks for this obvious statement, but some eyebrows do raise at his first voluntary words being directed at Shikako as is.

Shikako proceeds to take a break, assessing her chakra levels as pretty depleted already. She brings the still-working boys lunch and retreats to the dock behind Tazuna's house to eat her own.

"For being the one to convince your Sensei to teach you the jutsu, you're not really applying yourself to learning it," Kankurou comments acerbically.

Humming to herself, she bends forward to touch the surface of the water. Scooping up a ball of water with her chakra, it's the work of a couple seconds to hollow out the inside and form it into a different shape.

"Neat trick," Chouji says, observing the thin blueish strands of light that spread through the water, as highlighted by Shikako's sensing.

"Interesting to look at chakra this way, too," Aoba says. "Never seen it like this."

"It's kinda pretty," Naruto marvels.

When she steps onto the water not long after, the construct resembles a long, albeit water-filled, hollow tube.

Shikako's face is screwed up in contemplation while she absently twirls the construct, changing its shape again and again.

I want to learn the lightning jutsu. I'll never be a ninjutsu fighter, but I want to learn.

And– Sensei taught it to us. I can't not learn it. What would he think? Would he ever give us anything to learn ever again?

Quietly, privately, just for their eyes, Hawk (Sasuke, in this brief moment. Her teammate always, more importantly.) signs against her skin, in everyone's blind spot by virtue of their bodies' closeness.

Feeling Hawk's hands move, Shikako lets her eyes drift downward and still has to tilt her head at an angle to make it out. It's not standard Konohan or even ANBU sign, it's Team Seven hand signs, painstakingly worked out during some of the many afternoons where Kakashi was absent and left them to their own devices.

His message goes like this; Kakashi–teacher. Shikako–student–child. Sasuke–student–child. Naruto–student–child. Team. Trust–believe.

Warmth fills her as she deciphers the meaning behind the signs, a genuine smile blooming on her previously blank face.

So how do I learn something that goes directly against my nature?

Shikako keeps thinking about it, rolling concepts around in her mind until something clicks into place: Converting… Changing. Adapting. Altering. Transferring. Transfusion? – But I'd still have to purify and then convert it.

Dropping the water unceremoniously back into the lake, Shikako returns to training with the boys until dinner.

"That's an interesting approach for sure, to first purify your chakra of its inherent elemental signature and then change its structure again . I thought pure base chakra was mainly used for high-level techniques to make them even stronger," Ino muses, pulling a nail file from somewhere on her person.

The passage of time is, once more, shown in a brief timelapse, over the tree line and focused on the changing position of the sun.

The boys scarf down their dinner in record time and rush back outside to keep practising. – Or in Naruto's case, start training in earnest. In contrast, Shikako eats at a more sedate pace.

When Kakashi amusedly asks her if she will join them, she explains it'd be better to try and replenish her depleted chakra stores with rest. She casts a long look at the door, though.

Ino laughs, nudging her long-suffering Nara teammate. "Shika would just go with the chakra level excuse and don't even think about looking back."

"I fear we are witnessing the reason why motivated Nara are to be handled with caution," Chouji joins in on the teasing, faux-solemnly. Shikaku suppresses a smile.

"What are you talking about?", Haku asks pleasantly. He's not afraid of Shikako per se, just cautious of her enormous potential. She's strong and capable, but his caution of her abilities doesn't stem from her motivation or her being a Nara – it's because she's Shikako.

What Akimichi said though, it sounds like a Leaf village saying. He'd thought she was the exception for being a frontline fighter in a usually strategic Clan, but does that mean every one of her Clan members has the potential to become as dangerously capable as Shikako?

Hawk smirks and recites the saying: "The three things any Konoha shinobi fears: an angry Aburame, a focused Inuzuka and a motivated Nara."

Haku watches as Shikako forces a smile onto her face as the attention shifts to her once more. There's not much difference to her real smile, but it's stark in the wake of the private little thing she shared with her teammate only a couple minutes ago.

"I'd wager not only Leaf shinobi following the spirit of that saying nowadays," Haku remarks. "Especially after our Exams."

The next morning, Sasuke is absent while Inari, Naruto and Shikako eat breakfast. Naruto is extremely chipper for the time of day, meanwhile his teammate is still blinking sleep out of her eyes. He is regaling her with a story of something that happened on dawn watch – he met a boy, even prettier than Sakura, gathering herbs in the forest.

"His name was Haku, he was pretty neat, he asked me if I had precious people to protect …" Naruto trails off, pensive.

Picking at her breakfast, Shikako asks him if he has precious people to protect.

Startled but grinning, he answers: "Of course! There's the old man and Iruka-sensei and the Ichirakus and you and I guess even Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei…"

Shikako is surprised at her inclusion in his list. Me? A slow, private smile stretches across her face. "Well, I guess we better go start training, so we can do that protecting."

Tazuna's grandson Inari gives a derisive snort at that, but they both ignore it.

The camera pans left rapidly, and suddenly the three genin are back in the forest with Kakashi. They're demonstrating their progress with the jutsu.

"For context, there was like a week between that conversation about Haku and this," Shikako explains.

Sasuke ends up with the strongest lightning attack of the three. Naruto's attack is weaker, comparatively, and less controlled, but since he has so much chakra he can throw more of them. Shikako's attack is decent, but the amount of time it takes to mould and convert the needed chakra is much longer than either of theirs.

"Quite a liability," Ibiki comments.

After they're done, Kakashi addresses his team with a cheery smile. "Well done, team. I must admit, I didn't actually expect you all to learn that." His genin stare back smugly. "Alright then. Tomorrow is the most likely time for Zabuza to attack. By now he should have healed from the near death state the Hunter-nin put him in. That said, all of us are going to be accompanying Tazuna to the bridge tomorrow."

So he does think Zabuza is going to stage a confrontation.

"Maybe his Bingo Book entry told Sensei how dramatic Zabuza really is," Hawk jokes, purely to make Haku twitch.

Meanwhile, Naruto's face freezes. "All of them? I stayed at Tazuna's house and then some of the thug people tried to take Inari and Tsunami hostage! Did that happen again? Were they okay?"

Sakura shushes him. "Maybe it didn't happen for them. So many little things have changed already, who's to say this one thing stayed the same?"

The genin exchange looks, half anticipation, half excitement, half dread.

We've been expecting an attack through the whole week and it's tiring.

Now it's Haku's turn to look smug.

Apparently, Shikako surmises from his expression, that was a neat side effect of Zabuza's extended recovery time.

The following morning, they prepare for combat. Right as they're about to leave, Shikako suggests leaving some Shadow Clones at the house in case of a hostage situation. Naruto commends the idea and sends out clones to hide and guard, some staying in plain sight, others disappearing into the forest.

Naruto breathes a sigh of relief, tension bleeding out of his shoulders. No matter if it stayed the same or not, this way Inari and Tsunami have protection.

Tazuna eyes his ninja escort warily and asks if they're sure about this. "… I don't pretend to know about being a ninja, but shouldn't we avoid walking into a trap?" Tazuna asks doubtfully.

"The trap you know about is less dangerous than the trap you don't," Sasuke recites easily. "Springing an obvious trap is a chance to turn it back against the ambusher."

"Don't worry, old man! You've got Naruto Uzumaki with you! We're going to win this!" Naruto grins, fierce and sharp, asserting that Zabuza doesn't stand a chance against the four of them.

"One C-rank jutsu under his belt and he thinks he's the king of the world," Kankurou snorts lowly.

As they close in on the bridge, Shikako's chakra sense pulses and catches on something. Two signatures, undoubtedly Zabuza and his Hunter-nin companion.

There's no need to race ahead to check: "They're here."

The bridge looms eerily in the unnatural fog that washes out some of Shikako's sensory field and narrows it down to the bridge.

It's most likely Zabuza's Hiding in the Mist Technique , she observes grimly.

They keep walking in an easy formation around an uneasy Tazuna. He gasps when he finally sees his men, spread out lifelessly on the bridge.

Intimidation tactics again, Shikako surmises.

Upon seeking out their steadily pulsing civilian chakra signatures, she finds that they're all still alive and relays as much.

Another mark in our favour. Killing the bridge workers would stop it being built just as surely as killing Tazuna.

Haku hums in agreement. "Lucky that that wasn't what we were there for."

"Yeah," Hawk says dryly. "You know us. We're just so lucky."

A laugh bursts out of Shikako before she can stop it. She elbows her teammate and playfully glares at him. "Stop it, we have enough nicknames."

They keep walking a couple steps and then stop.

" Well, well. You just couldn't wait for round two, could you?" Kakashi says to the open air, a hint of black humour in his voice. Their enemy's response is near immediate.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi," Zabuza rasps, voice coming from everywhere at once. The mist still covers chakra signatures and makes it hard for Shikako to sense, but she was a bit experienced now. She finds that he's circling them at a distance, probably looking for an opening. It's displayed as a flickering blue outline, the edges blurring into the mist. "I see you've still got those brats with you."

"Sa…" Kakashi acknowledges with a tilt of his head. "They kind of grow on you." He pauses for a split-second. "Like a fungus."

"As if he's not a fungus himself," Hawk grouches.

"The worst kind of fungus, too," Shikako agrees enthusiastically.

Kakashi is kind of shaken that this other him is so readily saying this, nevermind that it's in front of a nominal but at that point very real enemy. He doesn't think he's said anything like this to his own genin team.

"Fungus!" Naruto splutters, indignant. "Who are you calling a fungus?"

"Gee, sensei," Shikako says dryly. "Love you too."

Kakashi's face turns ashen behind his book.

Shikako's face twitches when he clamps down even further on his chakra signature – it hurts to see him like this, but he is not her responsibility in the end.

Sasuke gives a disapproving 'hn', but it's unclear what exactly he is disapproving of.

Zabuza chuckles. "Don't worry, I'm prepared for you this time." His voice comes in stereo.. The lone outline flares just a bit brighter, just a bit more distinct from the chakra mist as shapes start moving in the fog. Two, four, then six, then finally ten identical forms surrounding Team Seven at a distance, arranged in a circle. They cover all directions with enough room between them to swing their swords - and far enough away to see any errant shadows coming.

Team Seven moves to box in Tazuna, each facing a different direction.

"Water clones, right?" Aoba asks musingly, leaning forward. He doesn't expect an answer because it's kind of obvious anyway.

"Water clones," Shikako says under her breath. "All of them. Real ones at one o'clock, one hundred fifty metres off Sensei." Using Kakashi as a marker point, the two opposing nin are straight ahead and slightly to the right.

Sasuke suggests using clones for clones–

Sasuke jerks in surprise, turning to scrutinise his barely older counterpart. He never would have willingly sent Naruto ahead of himself. He can recognize it as a good strategy, but it feels wrong to stand back and let others fight. It's–

Weak, so weak, the cursed seal croons in his ear. Disoriented, Sasuke has no real defence against its influence. He sneers at Hawk, who isn't even paying attention to him!

Still so weak, too weak. Too weak to be acknowledged by yourself, let alone the world, let alone that man . Still not enough power, still too coarse and unrefined, but oh the potential…

–and you can hear Kakashi's smile when he asks Naruto if he's up to it.

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto growls. "I've been waiting for this. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He doesn't spam out clones. There are only about twice as many as Zabuza has water clones. They attack with one of the most basic combinations - distract and takedown.

"Our Naruto would have dogpiled each clone with tens of his own," Sakura says, surprised at the tactical restraint shown by the loudmouth.

One clone attacks to form an opening - either with taijutsu, thrown kunai or Striking Bolt - which the other would then take. The clones that succeed then turn to help their neighbours. Some of the initial attacks hit and some of the clones are sacrificed outright but Naruto is rapidly learning how to dodge giant sword swings. – In the end, it's a pretty effective attack.

"Even if those clones were merely a tenth of the strength of your original water clone… it is still impressive that he managed to take them all out, Zabuza-sama," a second, perfectly calm voice says. The Hunter-nin. Haku.

"I don't get why you kept so calm when faced with Sharingan no Kakashi," Temari mutters to Haku. They're all shinobi though, so most of them hear her anyway.

Most notably, Kakashi eye-smiles at the girl. She barely meets his eyes before she turns back to the screen as if she'd never said anything at all.

A blur of body flicker speed later, both Zabuza and Haku appear before the team. The fog swirls, disturbed by the sudden displacement.

"So I had it right. It was all an act." Kakashi sounds utterly calm.

"So, all that about being a tracker ninja protecting his village was a lie?" Tazuna asks warily.

"They look pretty chummy to me," Kakashi agrees. "I'd say they've been pulling scams like that for a long time. And hiding behind that mask, who does he think he's fooling?" Kakashi's tone is pleasant and completely false.

The irony of that comment.

"Certainly not you, sensei," Shikako agrees promptly.

"Heh, he thinks he's got you all worked out, Haku," Zabuza rasps, looking at his companion. Similar to Kakashi, he appears to be completely at ease with the situation.

"Haku?" Naruto repeats uncertainly.

That's right, Shikako thinks, that one conversation's made a big impact on him. Protecting precious people is an idea that resonates deeply within him. He's trained harder than ever before after that conversation.

Haku bows his head, honoured that he seems to have played such an integral part in making Naruto the shinobi he is today.

The Hunter-nin removes his mask and sure enough, it's Haku's face underneath. "Hello again, Naruto. I told you we would meet again soon."

"You were there… on purpose?" Naruto asks, thoroughly off-balanced. There's a hint of vulnerability in his voice, almost expecting Haku's wisdom and kindness to have been lies all along.

Haku smiles softly. "No. I was really just gathering herbs. It was just a lucky coincidence that we ran into each other."

The foreshadowing is insane, Shikako thinks and rolls her eyes. Then, she pauses. She's– she's acting as if this is a story (again).

Except it's not, these are real people no matter that this has all happened already. Real people, real experiences, real consequences. What's going on–

"But… you're such a nice person! Why are you working for that jerk, Gatou?" Naruto is pretty distressed.

Haku flinches and drops his eyes from Naruto's searching gaze. "It is not pleasant. But in this world of shinobi… we must do things which we do not enjoy in order to further our own dreams. Gatou is… a necessary evil."

"He's destroying this country!" Naruto shouts back. "The people… the kids… They're all in trouble because of him! Without this bridge, they'll all starve!"

People are already starving and things are only getting worse. Shikako's inner monologue is bitter.

"Please don't hate me. I, too, want to protect someone precious to me. To work for that person. To fight for that person. To make that person's dreams come true. That is my dream. For that I became a shinobi. For that reason… I will do these things…" His voice trails off into a murmur, dropping from the strident tones he'd begun with.

"Haku is my tool," Zabuza cuts in, leaning on his sword menacingly. "He'll do as he's told."

Naruto angrily clenches his fists. "A tool? A tool? What kind of explanation is that? He just said he'd work for your dreams and all you call him is a tool?" All his muscles are tense and his expression is overtaken with anger.

"Naruto," Kakashi says soothingly. "Stay calm. Remember our mission. We have to protect Tazuna, so you can't go getting angry like that."

"I am happy to be Zabuza-sama's tool," Haku says honestly. "It gives my life meaning. In this world… there is nothing more painful than being an unwanted person."

"Unwanted…" Naruto repeats quietly.

"When I met you in that forest," Haku continues, "I knew we were the same. I knew that you would understand this… If you met someone who acknowledged you so completely… would you not do anything to make them happy?"

"It's still not right," Naruto argues. "You can find other reasons."

"It's not that easy," Ino says. "Once someone has reached a low like that, it's harder than you'd think to come out on top."

"I know!" Naruto exclaims, cheeks a ruddy red in his indignation. "I know that. But if I could do it, then Haku could too!" About to retort, Ino falls silent, eyes sad.

Shikako bites the inside of her cheek. Ino, Naruto… Rip apart my heart and step on it, why don't you?

"And why's Zabuza got to do this anyway?"

"Care to shed a little light, Zabuza?" Kakashi-sensei comments lightly, watching the scene like a hawk. He'd been happy enough to let Naruto and Haku hash it out, all too aware that this could be the last time they'll get the chance. Still, maybe it's time to get to what they're all here for.

Zabuza snorts. "For the money. Why else?" He lifts his huge sword onto his shoulder, casting an imposing figure. "All this talking, it's not achieving anything. Give up the bridge builder."

"We can't do that, I'm afraid," Kakashi retorts, almost pleasantly. "But we don't have to fight. You could still leave."

"As if," Ino snorts, forcing levity into existence in a way that's typical to Ino.

"Diplomacy first," Shika says. "Could prevent some seriously troublesome fighting, after all."

"You just think everything is troublesome!"

Offer and counter offer. Both refused. Didn't expect anything else, really.

"Haku." Zabuza doesn't add anything else, but apparently it's enough. Haku springs into action between one heartbeat and the next, straight for the three genin and Tazuna.

"We got this!" Sasuke growls, leaping forward. Shikako is left behind to watch helplessly as the two boys charge Haku.

Naruto and Sasuke work as a good team. Sasuke is the main force of attack, engaging Haku and catching his attention while Naruto flits about, distracting, creating openings, preventing Haku from taking advantage of Sasuke's mistakes.

Sakura, unusually silent, sinks into self-admonishment. Even if Nara-san isn't part of the main force of attack (just yet), she did contribute to the fight by pointing out the clones and the position of the enemy.

Haku's thrown backwards after a quick exchange of blows, but flips to his feet again with a certain grace.

He frowns and says that he doesn't want to have to kill any of them, but realises that they won't stand down either way.

Sasuke snorts, response dismissive of Haku's apparent emotions. "Don't be foolish."

"You're the one losing," Naruto adds.

Haku's still calm though, completely at ease with the situation despite Sasuke and Naruto now landing on either side of him and trying to intimidate him.

Hawk groans lightly and face-palms. "Why did we talk so much?"

Haku's lips quirk, recalling something Mei told him after the Grass Exams, after the scare of Shikako almost dying had worn off a little. "Your sensei claims you got it from Zabuza-sama."

"Well, I won't deny that as a strong possibility," Shikako jests.

Tsunade barks a surprised laugh. Sure, that mission did have a lot of influence on her shinobi, but to that extent? What a sheer difference their survival would have made.

"You made a bit of a mistake, insulting these shinobi and calling them brats," Kakashi says casually, pretending to pay like half of his attention to the fight. "That's just guaranteed to bring out Sasuke's attitude, and he's the best young fighter of the Hidden Leaf."

'Young fighter'. Not Rookie of the year, not Genin. Just how good does Sensei think Sasuke is?

Sakura's worldview is already in shambles, and this does nothing to right it again. Kakashi-sensei complimenting them in such a less-roundabout way than any of her team has ever gotten makes something sour curdle in her mouth; It tastes a lot like seeds of envy sprouting on her tongue.

"Shikako here is definitely our sharpest mind. And Naruto… our most unpredictable ninja."

That's not completely true. Shika's smarter than me but I can't expect Kakashi-sensei to know that.

"Haku," Zabuza orders over his shoulder – still not looking away from Kakashi – supremely unimpressed with Haku's gentle showing. "Stop playing around."

Haku acknowledges the command with minimal hesitation. He throws senbon to distract the boys and races through a set of hand seals.

"Ice Release: Ice Foundation!"

Jiraiya looks reluctantly impressed. " Hokuton? I'd thought they'd all died out before the blood limit purge even came around."

Haku's smile is still polite as ever but there is a noticeable edge to it. "Evidently not."

The water beneath their feet ices over quickly, covering a wide circular area. Naruto and Sasuke move quickly to avoid getting frozen, jumping on top of it. Not used to this kind of terrain, they have significant problems gaining stability on the slippery ice.

Either the different surface causes subtly changed conditions from tree walking, or its nature as a chakra construct prevents them from doing it at all. – Clever, reducing their speed and manoeuvrability while increasing his own.

Chouji chortles good-naturedly. "I enjoy listening to Nara word vomits, they're highly insightful even if their base understanding is insufficient. Even if uninformed, the tangents they go on are inspired."

Kakashi comments on the blood limit. Zabuza agrees, body language oozing satisfaction: "Your brats… don't stand a chance against Haku."

Kakashi makes an aborted movement, like he wants to go towards them, but Zabuza's sword cuts through his intended path. He makes it clear that Kakashi's fight is with him – or else Shikako and Tazuna will die.

Kakashi says that he's underestimating them. "But, if you insist…" he draws a kunai from his leg holster, one hand raising his headband.

"The Sharingan again? Is that the only trick you have? A shinobi's supreme technique shouldn't be shown to the enemy over and over again."

"You should feel lucky," Kakashi comments. "You're the only one who's seen it twice."

Zabuza smirks and just when it looks like the two of them are going to clash… fades back, utilising his favoured Hidden in the Mist Technique. Fog rushes in, even thicker than before. The focal point remains Shikako, with Tazuna and Kakashi on the outskirts of the field of visibility.

"I'm starting to hate this technique," Shikako decides, sighing briefly but deeply.

Kakashi chuckles. "Be on guard," he suggests. Like I was going to be anything else.

"It's just to make sure. It's one of your first real life fighting scenarios against a high calibre of enemies. And since inexperienced Naras tend to fall back on mental stratagems in high stakes situations, this is a reasonable approach," Ibiki explains.

"Last time we fought," Zabuza's voice echoes out of the mist, seeming to come from everywhere all at once. "You used your Sharingan to see right through me. But with this mist… you can't see a thing, can you?" He goes on to describe his familiarity with the technique and how horrible it must be for them, laughing at their misfortune. "Next time you see me, it will be the end."

"co*cky much," Aoba chuckles. He sounds and looks pretty relaxed, but there's an underlying tension to his frame.

"You're awfully confident," Kakashi muses. Fully healed and with full reserves, he's willing to draw this out.

Shikako closes her eyes, ignoring the white mists swirling in the clearing, focusing on her chakra sense.

Her admittedly meagre experience in sensing through the static-y mist layering over her senses comes in handy, as she starts using the point of her kunai to indicate where Zabuza is moving.

Further off, only pings amidst a sea of chakra, spiking wildly; Naruto and Sasuke engaging Haku. There's no clear indicator for who is winning their fight.

Shuriken clash and Shikako opens her eyes for a moment. Zabuza acknowledges Kakashi's reflexes, so far unaware of Shikako's sensory abilities aiding him.

He keeps moving soundlessly through the mist, steadily tracked by the unassuming genin, pointing out his position and trying to keep herself between him and Tazuna.

"It's only a matter of time before he notices or she gives herself away," Jiraiya states grimly.

"It's never been recorded that Hatake was much of a sensor, rather, a tracker," Tsunade says, agreeing tacitly.

"It wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that he could have picked up those skills and hidden them, though," Temari remarks. It's not like the Villages like to announce every little skill of their elite shinobi, especially when they're as high profile as the Copy-nin. Every little advantage could be enough to turn the tides of a battle, and they all know it. It could mean the difference between life or death of an elite shinobi for enemies to expect tracker expertise and receive even more than that.

Zabuza tries a few attacks, counting on the changing directions of attack to make up for their simplicity. It doesn't work and Kakashi deflects the incoming projectiles with ease, even raising a brief wind blast to destroy some incoming Water Bullets.

"You have some skill," Zabuza says grudgingly. Kakashi is fairly amused, reiterating that mastery over only one skill doesn't lend to high survival rates.

Kakashi seems disinclined to alert Zabuza that it's actually her that's doing the sensing. Shikako's inner voice is a study in relief: I'm glad. If he knew, he'd probably target me too.

All of a sudden, between one breath and the next, Naruto screams out a name. It's not an annoyed scream, not a frustrated scream, nor a warning. It's worry and fear and a little bit of disbelief all mixed into one: "SASUKE!"

Sasuke stiffens despite his own intention to remain unbothered and removed from the happenings in front of them. It's like he can feel the freezing pinpricks of pain on his skin, carving a story he will never forget.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" A burst of chakra permeates Shikako's sensory range, tinging the world a poisoned, malevolent, angry red . It pulses like it has its own mind, like there is sentience to its anger– Shikako freezes, her eyes suddenly wide and glassy.

"Oh," Ino says softly, biting her lip. "That's not good." Shika puts a reassuring hand on her arm.

No one is moving. The situation could turn very bad very quickly; Shikako is the unwitting butterfly and this could be the devastating tornado.

Sai furrows his brow. Whyever was the boy chosen as the container if he cannot, in turn, manage his emotions in a way befitting of his status?

Shikaku steeples his fingers. She'd definitely figured everything out just then, or rather turned her hypotheses into working theories. After getting past her panic, of course. (He pretends it doesn't tug at his heart strings.)

The focus is on her and her alone, Kakashi and Tazuna blurring at the edges. Kakashi is doing something, though. But then, the outside world starts fading away.

Shikako's hands shake from where they are clinging to a kunai like a lifeline.

I need to… I need to move… I–

The surroundings vanish; no bridge, no Tazuna, no Kakashi, no Zabuza, no nothing. There's only darkness now. And Shikako.

Just Shikako and the terrible malevolence. A baby is screaming but Shikako makes no sound, terrified out of her mind.

Shikamaru makes a punched-out little noise, like someone hit his diaphragm and he cannot breathe.

There's a broken litany of please, please don't notice me… Please, please, please…

Shikako gasps, choking for air…

And the scene fades to black.

Catching his breath, Shikamaru nearly vibrates with well-worn rage. He knows, rationally, that no one could have possibly anticipated her reaction to the Kyuubi's chakra when assigning the genin teams– it still doesn't do anything to quell his anger.

Putting her in dangerous situations is one thing, an expected thing even, given their profession; but putting her in a high stakes situation on top of being exposed to a stressor that sabotages her performance– It's all too much.

And Shikako wonders why he wishes for her to remain safely behind Konoha's walls? So many unfortunate circ*mstances seem to compound around her and she does nothing to stop it. This, this is why his erstwhile worry turned to bitterness when she got so badly hurt time and time again and acted as if that was normal . Shikamaru doesn't blame Naruto for being a jinchūriki as he had no choice in the matter, he just blames the world for targeting the little sister he is supposed to protect while she herself fails to set her priorities straight.

(10) OUTTAKES.

[Tazuna's grandson Inari gives a derisive snort at that, but they both ignore it.]

"Seriously, what's his problem?", Ino mutters under her breath.

Shikamaru eyes her dubiously. "Didn't you say yourself that it's the civilians that suffer the most [for shinobi conflicts]? We don't know what consequences Gatou's oppression had on him, specifically."

Ino looks at him in surprise. He's been exceedingly quiet. To speak up now… Maybe it's because she's another version of his teammate that he feels- well, not exactly courageous, but certainly comfortable enough to say something.

[The camera pans left rapidly, and suddenly the three genin are back in the forest with Kakashi. They're demonstrating their progress with the jutsu.]

"For context, there was like a week between that conversation about Haku and this," Shikako explains.

"I was just about to say," Hawk grouses. Shikako sticks out her tongue.

[Hawk smirks and recites the saying: "The three things any Konoha shinobi fears: an angry Aburame, a focused Inuzuka and a motivated Nara."] Well. Assuming that we don't make it out of here with Land of Ash's origin undiscovered, maybe I should lay some groundwork? It's risky either way, so might as well.

Shikako forces a smile onto her face. "You don't know the half of it. Even my tears are motivated." The levity she paints onto her words cracks and peels like a bad patch job, but it's a foundation. She garners strange looks for her reply and the conversation peters off awkwardly, but she tries not to let it bother her.

She can build on this, normalise it. Maybe the reactions won't be as bad when they find out. When she is forced to bare her soul even more than she is now. Every little thing counts.