[ Interlude part 1 ]
( KAKASHI )
I was infamous for many things. The one I was most proud of was being late, on the important and official occasions, of a couple of hours, on the others... well. Sometimes events conspired more heavily against me.
I was sitting near Guy, perfecting my ability to ignore selectively my surroundings, when I overheard Tsume pointing out how rare it was to see me on time at any event.
So I dug out the second thing I was proud to be known for and let out a perverted giggle. Oh Kimiko, you naughty girl...
Hearing the defeated sigh of Tsume and Guy's reproachful shouts I giggled some more, satisfied by my success.
I heard the extraction take place and the names being posted on the display. I rolled my eye at the inevitability of having the two Konoha nin placed on the opposite sides of the tournament. After the far too obvious pairings of the preliminaries, Iwa showed to be fair to the world.
The first on the field was Guy's strange student. If not for the actual dislike in regards to killing or his usual meek behavior I would have tagged him for a spy of some kind.
But his paper trail was clear, and there were multiple witnesses, it wasn't possible preparing a sleeping agent at two years of age. And his movements had always been accounted for.
His stealing habits hadn't been exactly never heard before the news. The pattern of his thefts however painted an intriguing picture.
The pattern had always been the same, stealing a little, and only randomly, while heavingly hitting people who were already common targets of other pickpocketers.
After his targets had called in D ranks to apprehend the thieves, Guy's student stopped pursuing them, leaving the other thief to take the blame.
That lead to think he was being trained separately, but he clearly wasn't Root, and his movements were as clear as they could possibly be.
He wasn't the first academy student to apply ninja teachings to take advantage from the civilians. And if he didn't get caught, it was a good training as any. He had never made a mistake, and never changed his method, and that rose a few eyebrows.
I remembered being surprised too while skimming his file.
Most of his written work at the academy had been mediocre at best, and while he started as one of the worst in the physical aspects, like many others from civilians families, he had been observed showing an uncommon single-minded focus in improving.
Few had such a drive, and every single one had a reason behind it.
Sakumo. I tensed when I thought of the name, the images of the last time I saw him being summoned in my head before he could redirect his thoughts. I relaxed a bit when the familiar sting if the pain came in a bit dulled.
Time heals all, doesn't it?
Then my covered eye twitched, and a spasm ran through my hand, reminding me that it was bullshit.
I went back to my reasoning, looking for the missing piece.
Sakumo had shown himself as the greatest of his generation, a man who had been on par with Hanzo himself, only to remember to Konoha that even if his clan had been one of the last to join the hidden village, it was more than able to carry its weight.
Guy had pushed himself beyond what common humans were able to accomplish for his father. To make him proud first, and to honor his memory after.
I had been much the same. I giggled pervertedly turning a page, absentmindedly tracing the parallels between myself and the man who called me his eternal rival.
Itachi had been another, a peerless talent gifted with the Sharingan, forced to grow up too fast. Heir of a founding clan, exceptional shinobi, pushing himself to gain his father's acceptance and being strong so that his newborn brother didn't need to.
Another strange thing about Guy's strange student had been his awkward friendship with the now missing-nin. They exchanged myths, that was what the boy's file had said.
Again, strange, but two lonely kids could bond on the strangest things.
What had been strange was the two keeping up their talking nights even when Itachi entered Anbu.
But if there was any secret the now missing-nin had been more than able to keep it hidden, and his reports on...
The referee called the names, and I went on, finally remembering the boy's name.
And Itachi's reports on Daiki had been professionally filed.
The spar between the two had been a strange event. I had been one of the several Anbus observing the fight, and it had been... strange.
Itachi had been clearly testing Daiki, but the why left open even more questions.
Yes, Guy's student was strange in many ways.
But he wasn't a spy, nor a traitor neither would be so stupid as to try to fish for secret techniques with the Sandaime in the same room.
There were people difficult to read, and people who were so obvious that they resulted in complex. Jiraya was one, and likely that was why the Sandaime had asked him to attend the chunin tournament.
There were many things strange about Guy's student. I had been discretely keeping an eye on him, but it looked like he had fashioned himself a sensing technique that I still had no idea how to bypass.
That he managed to do so at... dunno, fifteen? Was impressive.
I observed the first match from behind the orange covered book.
He opened with a genjutsu I was unfamiliar with, but that got Tsume laughing. If it was for the technique or the humiliation of Iwa nin was impossible to tell.
Unless one knew Tsume, in that case, she was obviously laughing at the poor boy flailing on the ground.
Daiki had schooled his expression in one that screamed 'bored' and elegantly pointed out that he could already have killed his opponent.
He is actually reticent when it comes down to killing isn't he? I wondered.
"I hadn't seen a kawarimi performed without hand seals in a while!" Tsume exclaimed.
I slowly blinked. It wasn't about the kawarimi, but the way he had jumped and replaced himself. It spoke of countless hours of practice. It was hardly an interesting way to train oneself.
What does drive him? I asked myself once more.
The fireball was sloppy, but clearly he wanted it to be more a display of skill than anything else.
I remembered the show he had put up for my benefit back in Konoha, impressive, I had actually never seen anything like that before. But it had been obviously something he showed me only to distract me from the topic we had been facing.
He has much to learn... Directing a conversation subtly isn't something one learns without practice.
I grinned under my mask when he threw another kunai on the ground, this time actually drawing blood.
He was strange, but it was easy to appreciate some of his quirks.
I returned to my book, the genins would hardly be showing something I hadn't witnessed already.
I already knew he was able to use the gates, but even Guy used them only when strictly needed, and with the speed, he ran towards his teammate, it was clear he had no intention of closing it. Perhaps he forgot?
But it was unlikely, none of his strange characteristics ever pointed to absent-minded behavior.
I narrowed my eye. His breathing was far too regular for being one with the first gate open. Guy could breathe calmly with those opened, but he had a lifetime of training in it.
"Such an explosion of youth!" Guy thundered, "Don't you think so, my rival?"
I slowly trailed my eye on the taijutsu master in green spandex: "Hm? Did you say something?"
I returned my attention to his student, holding in the satisfied sigh that threatened to escape me when Guy commented on my 'hip attitude'.
But I was curious, what kind of training did he undergo? He was a strange kind.
My eyebrow climbed on my forehead when I looked at his heated exchange with his teammate. Even for me, his lips were too far to be read.
My eye widened when Jiraya of all people jumped the boy and made him disappear behind the rails of the balcony.
Guy was just as surprised, while Tsume and the drunk genin had eyes only for the Inuzuka. The four ninkens were cutely wiggling their tails in support.
Bisuke would like to play with them so much. I distractedly thought.
My eye returned to the fight, they hadn't even bothered in keeping hidden the jinchuriki from Kumo. The signs were obvious for anyone who knew where to look.
I blinked. Is this why Daiki fussed over the girl?
The following question was as obvious as it was intriguing: How did he know?
...
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