Her fan slams into my arm, despite all of the force she swung with I don't budge an inch.
"I've been called many things. Murderer. Betrayer. Thief. Monster. All of those are true. But coward? Make no mistake, I am no coward."
...
Temari leaps backward from me. There's a dent in her fan the size of my forearm. A bead of sweat runs down her face. Good, she is nervous now. With good reason too, that wasn't a light blow by any means. It should have shattered my arm if I was a normal person.
"I won't fight you seriously. I don't need to." I turn and start walking away. This fight is over.
"Don't turn your back on me! This isn't over yet!" She calls out to me.
"You sure?" I hold up a white badge with the number 74 on it.
"You bastard!" Her hand darts to her hip pouch where her badge used to be. "But when?"
"The only time I let you hit me." I give her a little wave. "See ya!"
"No! Get back here!"
"That sounds bad for my health." I quip over my shoulder as I sidestep the latest gale aimed at me.
"Give it back!" With a mighty heave of her fan she sends a literal horizontal tornado at me.
Shit shit shit! There's nothing to replace with around here. Except... for another gennin. Fuck it, better him than me. "Kawarmi!" I overpower the jutsu with chakra to switch places with a nearby Kusa shinobi and once I do I instantly block the blow that was aimed at his neck, which due to my impromptu replacement, is aimed right at mine now.
"What the fuck?" My unfortunate victim says moments before Temari's attack slams into him and hurls him across the chaotic field.
"Sorry!" I shout after his rapidly shrinking form.
"Who the hell are you?" The opponent of the Kusa shinobi says in bewilderment.
"No one important. Just needed to get away from-"
"Green Otogakure shinobi! Show yourself! I'm not through with you yet!" Temari's rage filled voice thunders over all other sounds of combat going on around us.
"-that." I intelligently finish my sentence. "I needed to get away from that. Excuse me, but I'm going to start running again and you happen to be in my way. Sorry about this."
"What the hell is goin- URK!" The gennin couldn't finish his sentence. Probably because I made an Earth Pillar rise up and slam him in the chest. Sure I could have punched him, but this just felt right. Besides, his face was hilarious with the bugged out eyes and everything.
"There you are you little pest!" Temari roars as she throws a handful of kunai at me. "Slicing Whirlwind!" Her wind jutsu catches the airborne blades and carries them to new speeds straight at me.
"Oh shit!" I weave, bend, dodge, and jump around all of the kunai. "Damn that was close. Honestly I'm surprised I got through that alright."
"Dodge this!" The very air itself surges at me.
"Kami damn it we're doing this again?" I sprint straight towards the proctor. "This is getting old Suna girl!"
"Stop! Get back here now!"
"Hell no!" I shout over my shoulder to Temari as I skid to a stop in front of the proctor. "Hey proctor! Got a badge here!" I toss Eito Temari's badge and flash him mine.
"NO!" Temari rages behind me.
"Oh thank Kami. Now the wind will stop attacking." I sigh out. I'm really glad Orochimaru put me through dodge training. Okay, I'm not. Orochimaru's training is absolute hell but I can't deny that it is effective.
"Congrats. You've made it to the finals." Eito gestures over his shoulder. "Go wait over there."
I confidently walk to a handful of waiting gennin.
"Green, about time you got here." Sasuke says. Great, he beat me here. I'll never hear the end of this.
"I was having fun and may have took it a little too far. Nice to see you too. Any troubles?"
"Nah. I picked a badge off of a Kusa shinobi right at the start. I made short work of him with kenjutsu. It was pathetic. Amateurs, he shouldn't have even enrolled for the exams if defeating him was that easy." Sasuke condescendingly says.
"Or we're just that good. Ever think about that?"
"Not really. I'm still not good enough." He's alluding to his brother.
"You'll get there. Give it time." I quietly assure him.
Sasuke glances at my back. "Did you know there's a kunai sticking out of you?"
"Come again?"
"There's a kunai in your back." He slowly articulates.
"Oh." I crane my head to look behind me. "Damn. What do you know, Temari did get me. Good for her."
"Green you have issues." Sasuke irritably says as he grips the handle. "How did you not notice this?" He rips it out in one swift pull.
"Dodge training is a bitch." I eloquently sum up.
"You stupid imbecile." He harshly says. "It's clean." He shows me the kunai. Yep, he's not wrong. I'd even say it's in pristine condition.
"And? That doesn't really merit your reaction. Who cares if it's clean?"
"Where's the blood?" He stuff the kunai into his own pouch. More to hide it than to keep it. "People noticed that."
"Fuck." I discretely glance at the other gathered gennin. Most of them have shock on their features, others interest.
We fall quiet and wait for the rest of the 12 finalists to show up.
Gathered here are me, Sasuke, Gaara, Kiba, Hiro, someone from Kiri, a Kusa shinobi, a Kusa kunoichi, Shino, an Iwa shinobi, Lee, and Hinata.
"Alright, you're all here. We're not revealing the tournament roster until the day of the final tournament, so you don't know who you're going to end up fighting. Have fun with that. See you all in a month." With those inspiring words, Eito walks away from us.
"Huh. They really need to get a better proctor." I say to Sasuke.
"Whatever, he gets the job done." He replies. "We better go find Tayuya."
"Yeah. I wonder what she's been up to all day?"
...
Thirty Minutes Later
"Muahahaha! You two are perfect! You made me so much money today! Ahahaha!" Tayuya cackles gleefully.
"Now we know what she did all day." Sasuke idly says. "Can we go back to our hotel now? I want to sleep."
"Muahaha! I'm rich!"
"Yeah let's go." I grab Tayuya by the arm an pull her through town back to our hotel.
...
At the Hotel
"Dibs on the bathroom!" I quickly yell out and sprint to the bathroom. "I've been holding this all day."
"I did not need to know that." Tayuya scowls as she walks to my hammock.
"Whatever." I shut the door.
I don't actually need to use the facilities, I need to be somewhere relatively secluded. I'm going to read Danzo's message.
I pull out the scroll and unfurl it.
Spider
Should I say Alvarcus Mar? Perhaps Heart Thief? Maybe missing nin of Konoha? Or my favorite, loyal shinobi of the Leaf.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I know exactly who you are. I know exactly what you're doing.
It takes a certain kind of person to willingly go to someone like Orochimaru to spy on him for the betterment of his village. At such a young age you understand that the world isn't a nice place. You know that we're not safe, that threats are out there. You have my respect for defending our home.
Know that you are not alone. There are others like you, others I have personally trained to do exactly what you are doing. I'm offering you my assistance. Should you find yourself in a difficult situation, should you not know what to do, you can ask me. I can provide guidance for you, steer you in the right direction.
I can even get you out and back in Konoha if you wish. I lead an elite force of ANBU, we specialize in the missions that Konoha can't be seen taking. We are the shadows, we are the roots that hold up the tree. If you ever want to come back home, I can get you here. I can bring you into the fold and give you a new identity. No one will know who you were, no one will hunt you down like an animal. No one will call you traitor.
You must be wondering what I want in return for such generous offers. It is a very simple request, I want you to kill the traitor to the leaf. I want you to purge the corrupt.
I want you to kill Sasuke Uchiha and bring me his eyes as proof.
I torch the letter.
I exit the bathroom in a foul mood. I stomp over to the only table we have and pull out a blank piece of paper. I write my reply on it, then fold it up and address it to Danzo.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Sup Al?"
"I need you to run a letter for me."
Shirokumo glances at Tayuya and Sasuke. "A letter. To whom?"
"An asshole." I angrily throw the letter at him. "Bring me to the Nest to let me know when you're done."
"Sure thing. I'll be right back."
POOF
"Alvarcus?" Tayuya questions me. "Who was the letter to?"
"Someone who just made it onto my 'people to kill' list."
...
POOF
"You Danzo?" Shirokumo lazily asks the only person in the room.
"Yes, I take it Alvarcus received my letter. You have his reply?" Danzo puts down the papers he was working on to give Shirokumo his full attention.
Shirokumo lazily tosses the letter to Danzo. "No idea what you wrote him, but have fun with that."
"You're not leaving?" Danzo asks in mild surprise. "A good subordinate would leave once his mission is complete."
"Ha! I'm not his subordinate! Besides, this promises to be memorable!"
Danzo opens the letter and instantly drops it. "What is this monstrosity!"
Shirokumo climbs up onto the desk. "How do you not understand this? It's a very detailed picture of you rigorously sodomizing another you. Wow, that is a lot of bandages. Is... is this supposed to be a bondage scene?"
"I know what it is! Why would he send me this!" Danzo roars.
"Simple: It's his way of saying go fuck yourself."
POOF
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/CarriePoppins