Chapter 31: Chapter 46
"Normally this game is played with one or two sets of hanafuda. But I'm used to playing with regular playing cards. I just need to take out the kings. That leaves eight cards of each value from one to twelve."
"Why there are kings and queens on these cards, I have no idea."
"The goal is to get the smallest number of points possible. At the end of a round, the winning hand is worth zero points regardless of the actual value of the cards and everyone else has their points tallied up according to the values on the cards, the ace being one point and the queens being twelve points. After two hours, whoever has the least point total wins.
"Everyone is dealt three cards and then two cards, making a five card hand. The first player to go is the winner of the last hand. You draw a card, see if you win, and if you can't win with that card, you discard a card. Then the next person does the same thing until someone wins.
"If someone has a pair of cards and someone discards a card of that same value, they can call on that discard and make a three-of-a-kind. Then you put the triplet in front of you facing up and discard and continue playing with a two card hand. In this game, if you have three of the same card, the triplet is worth zero points.
"The round is over when someone completes a winning six card hand by drawing or calling on someone's discard. You win if you have two triplets or three pairs. And if you have five cards and no triplets whose total value is ten or less, you can decide to end the game before you draw, making you the winner of the round. If you have a triplet, the remaining two cards must equal five or less.
"In any of those circumstances, your winning hand is worth zero points. There are two other hands that you can win with that will subtract from your score. If you have a straight of six cards, the total value of your hand is subtracted from your running score. If your six cards total 64 points or more before zeroing triplets, that's called 'shooting the moon' and you get the total value of your hand subtracted from your running score.
"There are a couple penalties too. If you have a pair and a triplet, you must announce that you can win of someone's discard otherwise you can't call on that discard. If you discard someone's winning card and they complete a second three-of-a-kind, you get an extra thirty point penalty on top of your score. If you attempt to stop the game to win before you draw because you have less than ten or five points total, and someone reveals that the value of their hand is equal or less than yours, you get an extra sixty point penalty and there is no winner that round."
I started to deal cards to the six people gathered around Naruto's kitchen table. Three cards to Sakura, then Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and finally myself. Then another two to each person around the table. I set the deck in the middle of the table and drew a card to start.
"Why am I here? You said this was a training session," Sasuke pouted haughtily as he peeked at his cards.
"Everything can be training. Right now, you need to learn how to read the emotions of other people and maintain your own composure. This game also will reveal another important quality of being a ninja," I said.
"And that is?" Sakura asked from across the table.
"Luck!" I answered, pointing my finger into the air.
"Um, is this right? What am I supposed to do?" Hinata showed me her hand.
"You want to wait for someone to play a third of this to make a three-of-a-kind. Then you try to reduce the value of your hand each turn or try to make another pair to catch someone on the discard. For now, you should discard your queens and jacks because they're the highest value cards and you want to have as few points as possible," I explained, pointing at Hinata's cards.
"Why do I gotta sit next to this guy?" Naruto asked, pointing his thumb at the black-haired kid next to him.
"Maybe you should have picked your seat better, Naruto," I said. "Sorry, man. I know you asked me to invite Pinkie Pie here but you should have thought ahead before sitting down."
"Oh, I want that card!" Ino said suddenly, picking up Hinata's discard.
"Now put the triplet face up in front of you and discard," I advised. "We'll do a few practice games for you guys to get the hang of it."
Sasuke leered at the rest of us over his cards, his Sharingan activated as he intensely contemplated his next discard. Naruto had a tragic look on his face as he stared at his cards.
Hinata picked up his eight of spades and set down a trio of eights in front of her. After getting rid of an ace of hearts, she announced, "Um, I can win now."
Ino's eyebrow rose. "Already? Way to put the pressure on, Hinata," she said teasingly. The blue-haired girl merely blushed and pulled her remaining two cards close to her chest.
"You look like you're having fun, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. Her attempt at flirting merely got her an angry look from the boy. Although everyone was close in points, he in fifth place.
"Stop!" Naruto shouted nervously, showing his cards. An ace, a trio of twos, and a three. He looked over at Hinata, who silently revealed a pair of sevens. After checking that no one else had undercut his total, relief washed down his face as he exclaimed, "Yes! I'm in the lead now!"
I glanced over to the clock on Naruto's wall. It was getting near the end. The snacks that we had brought over had been long since devoured and pushed aside. I announced, "How about we make this the last round?"
"What? I just started winning," Naruto complained.
"It is kind of getting late," Sakura said. "We have to be at the Academy tomorrow. We can always just play again another time."
Ino turned to me as I shuffled for the last hand. "Haru, what did you say this game was called again?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I just know the rules." In the dimly lit room, I passed out cards to everyone.
The room was silent for a moment as everyone evaluated their hand. Eventually, Naruto drew a card and discarded a queen. It was many turns until anyone called on a card. Ino took my five. "Sorry, Haru," she said with a wink.
Soon, Naruto took my four and announced "Alright guys, I'm gonna win so hurry up and play my winning card."
Unfortunately for him, Sasuke drew a card and, with a smirk, revealed his hand. "Straight. Minus 45 points."
Naruto stared at the cards, "No way! Arggh. I was so close. So what's the final score?"
I check the sheet I had been marking all game, "Sasuke wins by five points. You're in second place, Naruto. Then it's Ino, Hinata, and Sakura."
"What? You lost, Haru?" Naruto asked, picking up the sheet. "Woah, you got 55 points in the last round?"
I sighed and leaned back in my chair, exhausted after two hours of playing cards. I had only needed one more card to shoot the moon but it just didn't happen. I said contentedly, "It's okay. I had fun."
"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked, wary of sneaking around Konohagakure after dark. I liked to think that at this point, the boy trusted me somewhat. However, since I never explained the exact reason why I continued to teach him, there was always a moment of hesitation before he would comply with my requests. Unlike Naruto, who trusted me implicitly when we were growing up, Sasuke was deigned to be my student because he could see the results of my requests.
"Don't you want your prize for winning? Make sure to follow me and don't get caught." I pulled up my hood and made my way through the Uchiha compound. Stealth training was less about specific techniques and more about a variety of habits that needed to become second nature. Silent footsteps, moving through shadows, dampening the sound of your equipment, minimizing your silhouette, these were all things that were explained at the Academy but just knowing about them wasn't enough. In my case, however, being able to evade chakra sensors was a huge boon, even if I couldn't stick to walls while doing it. If Sasuke got caught, he was on his own, however. I did not want to explain to the Uchiha police what I was doing here.
Without a sound, Sasuke stuck close behind me as I came upon a regal, Japanese-styled building, complete with a torii that marked the building as a shrine. I entered the wooden double doors, stepping lightly although I was sure no one would be around at night.
Once inside, I entered the largest room and summoned my chakra into a flame above my finger. I whispered to myself, "One, two, three..." counting out tatami mats. "Sasuke, lift the floor here."
The boy glared at me but did as I asked. Underneath the large straw floor tile was a Sharingan symbol surrounded by seals. He asked me, "What is this?"
"Activate your Sharingan and examine the seals." I certainly wouldn't be able to open it myself. As much as I was doing this for Sasuke's sake, I wouldn't be able to enter the Uchiha's secret meeting place without him.
"I think I know what I'm supposed to do," he said as he began to run through a series of hand seals. It was fortunate that Sasuke managed to decode the seals because otherwise we'd have to leave empty-handed. When the slab stone removed itself from the floor, he watched in amazement as I began to descend the steps, pushing back the darkness with no more light than a candle's worth.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was another meeting hall except at the far end, there was a large inset. I began to light the sconces as Sasuke crept up beside me. "How much can you understand with your Sharingan?"
"It talks about a kaleidoscope? An eye born from the loss of that which was most loved? The Mangekyo Sharingan? I thought that was just a myth..."
"Is that all you can read?" I sat down on the floor, staring at the stone slab in front of us.
The Uchiha continued to examine the stone. "A terrible power that consumes all. Something about a princess and a tree and a forbidden fruit. I can only understand a portion of it."
I rubbed my eye and then continued to stare at the stone and the words chiseled and inked into its surface. "You've got to be kidding me." I fell backwards to lie on the floor, wondering what it meant for the Uchiha monument to be written in English. Columns of English letters in Oriental script explained what I already knew about the Sharingan, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the Shinju, and how the chakra of Hagoromo Otsutsuki's was meant to be forgotten, forever disparate among his lineages. "What the fuck, Sage of Six Paths? And what the fuck was Madara thinking when he stole Hashirama's bloodline?"
It was the last stanza on the slab that gave me a sinking feeling, making me question everything I had ever believed to be true about myself. Set apart from the rest of the message to the Sage's descendants, it had read in my native language, "To thee who brings new light to this cold world, fortune and hope rest on thine shoulders. Good luck, child of light."
I struggled to make sense of the final lines on the tablet. "God fucking dammit. Is that me? But I don't have a destiny. I'm not supposed to have a destiny. Why? Why me?"
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