章節 27: New Rival
"Where were you Gaara," asked Kankuro worriedly. I had just shakily made my way up to the top of the Great Stone Faces after going back for Crow. Thankfully Kiruno hadn't still been there and I got it without issue. I now carried it with my sand from my gourd. I gently set it down in front of Kankuro.
"I ran into a little bit of trouble. Where is Temari," I asked bluntly. Kankuro first ran and checked Crow over before pointing at a building past the finish line. I quickly ran past him to the building and burst through the door. A medical ninja gave me a glare for entering so loudly but I ignored him. I walked past him and found Temari laying in a bed towards the end of the room. She had her whole shoulder wrapped in bandages, which had a red tint to them. She sat upward in her bed with her iron fan leaning against the wall.
"Before you say anything, I'm fine. Just a little blood loss and a few cuts," said Temari with her usual sass. I raised my eyebrow at her, not ready to be fooled by any act.
"I'm sorry," I said after a staredown. Temari's expression parted to surprise and then annoyance.
"I'm the one who got myself hurt so quit apologizing. You literally handled everything," she said irritatedly. I raised an eyebrow at her statement, one that I didn't like.
"We completed the mission. That's all that matters," I told her. She didn't seem to agree with me. She still had an angry look that said everything.
"Temari, you can't get hung up on the past. We still have several parts of the exam to take and I imagine some will be individual," I firmly said.
"What do you think the next part will be," she said. Temari had changed the subject pretty suddenly. She obviously didn't want to keep talking about her supposed shortcomings.
"The end of every chunin exam is almost always the same. A one on one fight between finalists. Another common test is to survive in a dangerous environment for a certain amount of time," I said vaguely. I couldn't tell her everything since it would raise questions. The Forest of Death should be the next section unless another unexpected change happened.
"That's how almost every chunin exam is Gaara," said Temari. I shook my head, why did she have to be this way?
"You two all good," asked Kankuro as he strolled into the room. Crow had been returned to his bundle on his back and Kankuro seemed to be his usual self.
"We are fine Kankuro," said Temari with a roll of her eyes. Maybe it was best if we simply left her alone.
"Is it okay if we leave you here for a bit? We probably need to check in with Baki-sensei," I told her.
"I can do that Gaara, the proctor for this exam told me that the representatives have a meeting after the elimination phase," interjected Kankuro. I looked at him in surprise. I had completely forgotten about the whole representative deal. It felt so long since that meeting even though it hadn't been even a few days.
"Did they say where?"
"Hokage's office, same room as before is what I was told," said Kankuro. I nodded and turned back to Temari.
"I'll come and check on you after I'm done if they don't release you," I told her. She rolled her eyes at me, annoyed.
"They said they'll move me to the hospital after my bleeding stops. If you want to check on me then go there" said Temari. She really could be quite strange. Rolling her eyes only to tell me where to find her.
"Okay then, I'll talk to you all later," I said. With that, I walked across the room and exited the small medical building. Outside I noticed a decent size group of genin standing around. They must have let groups go right after another makes it to a certain point. Maybe everyone here was winning quickly, they were allowed a whole hour to complete the exam. I walked up to the group and received cold glances or guarded expressions. I wouldn't be getting a warm conversation here. Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and everyone turned to the finish line. Two Hidden Grass genin and Karin made it over the finish line just as I turned. Behind them were two Hidden Waterfall genins that were out cold on the ground. I wondered what had happened to the two of them. The three Hidden Grass genin stumbled but only Karin fell to the ground. The two boys looked at her with an expression I didn't like. They hauled her upright and led her over to the side of a building. By this point, no one else but me was watching what the two boys was doing. No one but me had an idea of what they were doing. I casually walked to where they had disappeared behind the building. I was doing my best to hold back my emotions but it was really working. I popped the cork off of my gourd and readied myself. I round the corner and saw exactly what I had hoped wouldn't be true.
One of the boys, the representative, was biting down on Karin's arm. Blood dripped down her arm from how hard he had bitten down. The other boy seemed to be impatiently waiting on the representative to finish. Uzumaki's had huge reserves of chakra and Karin was special among them. Her chakra had special healing properties as well as recharging whoever bit down on her. The biting was due to her lack of control over the power, even she bit herself to access it. Karin had been used as a chakra battery for most of her life, tossed around hospitals to help the dying. It was a sickening childhood that would only be worsened by Orochimaru. I couldn't change her course too much, it might alter things too drastically. I could show her a little bit of relief though. Sand shot from my gourd and grabbed both of the boys. They went to scream in surprise but I covered their mouths with sand. They were suspended in the air by my sand, out of view from anyone else who would even consider stopping me.
"What you two do is sickening. If I see or even hear about you doing it again I'll kill you," I said menacingly. Both squirmed and attempted to scream through my sand to no avail. I sighed at their stupidity. Karin stared at me uncertainly, worry in her eyes. I turned to look at her and she flinched. Great, how should I do this?
"You don't need to worry about me," I told her. She looked confused now, as if I had said something completely weird. Maybe it was best if I didn't mess with her too much. Turning back to the two guys, I found they had finally calmed down a little. They simply looked scared now.
"I'm going to say this one more time. Bite her again and you won't live another day on this earth," I said coldly. They both flinched but nodded in understanding. I released my sand and pulled it back into my gourd. The boys fell to the ground with a thud and scrambled away from me. Karin stood there idly for a moment, unsure of what to do now. She then came to her senses and quickly followed after the scum that was her teammates. Sometimes the world dealt you a horrible hand that you couldn't escape. Gaara's hadn't been much different until Naruto had come along. Maybe I would be the one to change him for the better this time around.
"Looks like your enjoying yourself," said a playful voice. I glanced up and wasn't surprised to see Migaki staring down at me. Kiruno's warning flashed across my mind and made me pause. Did I really need her as my enemy? I liked talking to Migaki but going against someone with a Mangekyou Sharingan wasn't a smart idea. But honestly, why should I let Kiruno dictate my decisions? I was pretty sure the woman couldn't kill me in cold blood so what's the worse that could happen? A lot actually, more than I wanted to admit. I would risk it anyways though, making friends was critical to becoming powerful.
"What are you doing here," I finally asked after a pause. Migaki swung her legs back and forth on the roof of the building as she seemed to think about her answer.
"I was going to check on that girl again but it looks like you already handled it," she said with a giggle. So it had been her that beat the Hidden Grass representative. I had been suspicious about it but I was glad to have it confirmed.
"I thought it might have been you that have that boy his bruises," I said. Migaki laughed, a laugh that sparkled and felt so carefree.
"Not much gets past you, does it? I saw them bullying her earlier and I stepped in but I had no idea they were biting her. They must be taking advantage of some special trait of hers," Migaki said with disgust. I nodded in agreement with her statement, those who took advantage of others weren't deserving of kindness.
"There's a representative meeting soon if you hadn't heard," I told her.
"I know, my mom told me all about it," said Migaki secretly. I raised an eyebrow, if only she knew how much I knew about these exams.
"I'll let you in on a little secret in exchange for something from you," whispered Migaki. Something from me? What could she possibly need from me? This would be a good opportunity to build up my standing with her, I'd be wise to accept.
"Go ahead and tell me," I said to her. She leaped down from her perch on the roof to stand next to me. Migaki then leaned right up to my ear which made me flinch but I held steady.
"The next part of the exam will allow lethal force. There won't be proctors watching us the whole time. So I suggest you watch out for Isori and me, he has it in for you and I can't stop him," said whispered seriously. I gave her a bit of a side-eye which made her frown.
"It's your brother who needs to watch out for me Migaki. I hope our paths don't cross during the next part of the exam. I would hate to have to use extreme force," I said calmly. Migaki gave me a surprised look when I said that. Had she not expected me to stand firm? Migaki must not understand me very well if she thought I would back down.
"What is your ambition Gaara?" I blinked. What did that have to do with anything? We were talking about the next part of the exam, not what motivated us.
"What are you getting at?" Migaki looked off into the distance. I followed her gaze but couldn't locate precisely where she was looking. It was somewhere in the vast forest that surrounded the Hidden Leaf.
"What drives you to get stronger? Why say you won't back down in a confrontation between our two teams when it couldn't mean catastrophe if you don't," she asked seriously. So that's what this was about. To be honest, I didn't know how to answer this confidently. Many things were driving me, my fascination with Jutsu, wanting to become Kazekage so I could protect others, and wanting to help my friends. Migaki had already told me she wanted to be Hokage but why? This would be a good time to see what her ambition was all about.
"I have many ambitions Migaki. My main one is to become Kazekage to protect as many people as possible. To do that, I can't back down," I said firmly. Just saying that out loud made me feel more sure of it. I would become Kazekage, I would stop as much suffering as possible. I may want it partially because of Naruto's ambition but I wouldn't be stopped either way.
"That is quite the goal Gaara. It's very possible though since your father is Kazekage," said Migaki. Seems like someone had told her about my background, probably Kiruno. That woman was really starting to get on my nerves.
"What is your ambition Migaki?"
She started off for a while before looking back at me. Her eyes were serious and her expression unwavering.
"I want to become Hokage so I can prove to everyone the might of the Hidden Leaf and the Uchihas. I want everyone to know just how strong we are. To do that, I must defeat everyone in my way," she said with conviction. There was a definite similarity between her and Naruto's ambition. His was more about being recognized and respected for himself. Migaki's was about showing everyone that the Hidden Leaf and Uchihas deserved respect.
"A noble and tough goal considering there has never been an Uchiha Hokage," I told her. Migaki flinched at my statement even though I didn't think I had said anything out of line.
"You might not know this Gaara, but the Uchiha's aren't the most trusted in the Hidden Leaf. Our visual prowess is wanted by many, it gives us extreme power. It's one of the reasons for our clan's near extinction," said Migaki sadly. How did she know all of this? The massacre of the Uchiha was thought to be about Itachi's own personal reasons in the public eye. Behind the scenes, it had been the Third Hokage and Danzo who had encouraged force against the Uchiha clan to stop their coup. Kiruno must have told Migaki something vague about this but if she knew about it how was she still alive? Danzo wasn't one to leave loose ends so something must be going on here. I needed to dig deeper into this but I couldn't become suspicious of Migaki.
"Don't worry about what people think of your clan, it's in the past and only you can decide your future," I said reassuringly. Internally, my mind was spinning with possibilities. I needed to look closer into the Uchiha Massacre, things weren't lining up if Migaki knew this much. Maybe the archives of the Hidden Leaf would shed some light on this situation.
"I wish I had your optimism," she said grimly. I frowned at her unoptimistic tone. Migaki had been so confident a few moments ago, had I soured the atmosphere by bringing up being Hokage?
"We should get going," Migaki said bluntly. With that, she turned and leaped away from me. I stood there for a while, feeling as if I had screwed something up. I shouldn't have brought up her clan or anything related to it. It was far too sensitive of a topic, I needed to apologize to her. I shook my head and began walking towards the path that led down from the Great Stone Faces. It looked like the elimination phase had almost been finished, with half of the teams being eliminated. I slowly walked down the path while deep in thought. Too many things were different in this world than the original to predict everything. I knew that I still had an important role to play in the chunin exams regardless. The Konoha Crush would most likely still happen and I needed to create a very specific scenario. A scenario where I proved the Hidden Sand's loyalty to the alliance with the Hidden Leaf. I also needed to make a scenario where Naruto would help save the village.
In the original anime, Naruto stopped Gaara from destroying the Hidden Lead by summoning Gamabunta. They stopped Gaara who was using the Playing Possum Jutsu to allow Shukaku to take over. In this timeline, the Hidden Sand wasn't in on the attack. I wouldn't be the main weapon against the Hidden Leaf, someone else would. I had to make sure Naruto got his chance to prove himself though, this was a critical moment for him. This of course wouldn't happen for another month so I had time to prepare for both the finals of the chunin exams and to come up with a plan. It still worried me, even with all that time I had to prepare myself.
Lost so deep in thought, I hadn't even noticed I was already at the Hokage's office. Migaki wasn't anywhere in sight so she must be inside already. The meeting was supposed to start in a few minutes, but I was running slightly late. I hurriedly entered the building and made my way to the conference room we had been in before. Opening the door, I was greeted by stares from all of the other representatives. The Third Hokage stood at the other end of the room, smoking his pipe while giving me a brief glance.
"Now that the Hidden Sand representative is here we can begin," said the Hokage seriously. He wasn't cheerful or smiling like last time, he was all business now. I quickly took my seat next to Migaki. She was staring blankly at Hiruzen Sarutobi and didn't even look at me.
"The next part of the exam will be different than the ones before it," said Hiruzen.
"I hear we will be allowed to use lethal force," said Shigure with a grin. Dosu also seemed to be happy that he would be allowed to kill. The Hidden Waterfall girl looked a little uneasy, as did the Hidden Grass boy. Migaki was expressionless, most likely due to the fact she already knew about this information. Hiruzen gave Shigure a glare that made the boy shrink back as well as lose his grin.
"Don't interrupt me again," the Hokage said coldly. Shigure flinched, something I never thought I would see him do until I fought him in the Forest of Death.
"I am sorry Lord Hokage," Shigure said nervously. Dosu seemed unbothered by Hiruzen's cold gaze and actually seemed to enjoy seeing Shigure squirm.
"Moving on, you are correct about the lethal force. You will sign waivers before you begin the test that shows you acknowledge the danger of the exam. Proctors will not be responsible for anything that happens to you," said Hiruzen with a puff of smoke from his pipe. All of us remained silent, thinking over the implications of participating in such a test. I wasn't too worried, as long as I got Shigure's scroll like in the anime. I hoped to even still set the record as Gaara did in the anime. It would be nice to show off how powerful I was to everyone.
"What if we don't agree to this test," asked the Hidden Waterfall girl. She seemed far more nervous than anyone else about the possibility of dying during the exam.
"Then you fail. We won't bend the rules for anyone who is too afraid of taking risks. This is a shinobi world, you must accept the possibility of death," said Hiruzen bluntly. The rest wasn't pulling any punches this time around. You really did have to accept it though, being weak wouldn't help you advance in the shinobi world. The girl nodded, shaking even more than before she had asked Hiruzen. I wondered if she would drop out because of this revelation.
"Why tell us this information now," asked the Hidden Grass boy. He held a good point, this wasn't the way they did it in the anime. They hadn't told anyone until they met at the Forest of Death, where Anko had announced it. Only the representatives knew now and whoever they told, still more than before.
"We wanted to make you aware of this in case your village might have any objections. We have run into problems with this part of the exam in the past, especially with the Hidden Grass Village and Hidden Waterfall Village," remarked Hiruzen. Both the Hidden Waterfall and Hidden Grass representatives flinched at his insult toward their villages. They put their heads down in shame, not daring to make another complaint or question.
"If there are no further questions or objections from you or your village we will conclude this meeting," said Hiruzen. This was all we had met for? That sure was quick but then again the Hokage was a busy person. I doubted he had much time for meetings like these, I was surprised he even bothered with us. Hiruzen disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving us all by ourselves. This was a total waste of time, I thought as I got up. Everyone else followed me and left the room. Almost none of them stuck around and I didn't blame them for not wanting to, with what we had just been told. Migaki walked up next to me as I watched everyone else leave.
"That was a waste of time," she said with annoyance.
"Agreed, especially since you already told me." Migaki snorted, agreeing with my statement.
"I thought I was going to be about something way cooler," she mumbled. Migaki then began to walk away, abruptly ending our conversation.
"Did I say something wrong earlier? You're being awfully quiet towards me," I questioned. Migaki paused and then turned back to look me in the eyes.
"Your planning to become Kazekage and I want to become Hokage. Whether it's tomorrow or a few years from now, I know we will meet on the battlefield as an enemy of each other," said Migaki coolly. I was surprised that this was the reason she wasn't talking to me. What did that have to do anything with not taking? Seeing my confusion, Migaki paused to think before continuing.
"I can't allow myself to be defeated by a shinobi from another land, especially not the future Kazekage," she said firmly. So that's what this was all about then. Migaki didn't want to look weaker than anyone from another Hidden Village.
"Isori may want to defeat you for petty reasons but I'm different. I want to defeat you so I can show everyone the power of the Hidden Leaf," Migaki said powerfully. She radiated determination on a frightening level for someone who had only just come to this decision. It put a fire in my heart too, as much as I liked her I wouldn't let her beat me.
"Don't get too cocky, I'm not a pushover," I said with a smile. Both of us were grinning at the thought of fighting each other. Migaki raised her hand and stretched it out toward me. I took it and we shook each other's hands.
"It's cool to have a rival," she said with a grin as we released our handshake. I nodded in complete agreement, I finally had someone who might be as strong as me to fight.
"I'll see you at the Forty-Fourth Training Ground," said Migaki with a wicked grin of a madwoman.
"Tell your brother to bring his A-game too, I wouldn't want to humiliate him too badly," I teased. Migaki laughed and then disappeared as she left. Tomorrow certainly would be an interesting day for us all.
One thing was for sure though, I wouldn't lose to anyone.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票