Chapter 8
'This is disappointing.'
Sasuke Uchiha thought from the stands as he watched another battle come to an end, Kankuro nearly killing his opponent with those ruthless puppet blades.
The reason for his disappointment was straightforward: the matches were playing out identically to the canon timeline.
He had come here, actually expecting some ripple effects, some small but noticeable changes because of his own presence and the things he had already shifted. But it seemed he had been overthinking it. The match-ups were clearly decided long before by whoever was standing behind that announcement wall, not random at all like the Hokage and the proctor had claimed earlier.
'At least it's not a complete waste of time,' Sasuke thought, his eyes sharpening with a different kind of focus.
To anyone watching him casually, it would look like he was simply paying close attention to the fights. What they would miss was the faint shimmer of a transformation jutsu layered over his eyes, concealing the fact that his Sharingan was active the whole time. That small illusion let him keep his doujutsu running without anyone noticing.
'I'll need even better chakra control if I ever want to pull off something like Kankuro's chakra strings,' he mused. The techniques weren't just from Kankuro, though; Orochimaru's spies had shown him a few nasty tricks too, and those were already filed away in his head.
And yes, he was including Yoroi, the opponent he had faced, and Kankuro's opponent as well. Both of them had used interesting jutsu. Interesting enough that those moves were now quietly sitting in his growing arsenal.
He had used his Sharingan openly during his own match, copying their techniques right under everyone's noses without anyone ever realising. 'I'm good. But I'm still not that good.'
Sasuke would have preferred to master proper Uchiha bukijutsu without leaning on the Sharingan every single time. Right now, though, he was still miles away from that level of skill.
"Sakura-chan! You can do it! Give it everything!" Naruto bellowed, cheering with his usual unrestrained energy.
"SAKURA-SAN! SHOW EVERYONE THE FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Lee roared even louder, fists pumping so hard it looked like he might launch himself into the arena. For a second the whole section went quiet, people blinking at the bizarre duo who were acting like they were Sakura's teammates.
The sudden noise snapped Sasuke out of his thoughts. He glanced up at the board displaying the next match names. To his quiet disappointment, it was another canon pairing. Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka.
"Sakura, don't worry about winning or losing," Kakashi said in his usual calm drawl. "Just show them what you've got."
When Sakura instinctively looked toward Sasuke for some kind of encouragement, he felt a flicker of awkwardness. Cheering wasn't exactly his thing, and he wasn't about to start now. He was just about to give her a small nod, nothing dramatic, when Ino stepped right up beside them.
"Stop bothering Sasuke-kun, Forehead," Ino said with that signature smirk. "If Sasuke-kun wanted to waste time on a loser like you, he'd have said something already."
"Like hell, Pig!" Sakura shot back, practically bristling. Inside her head, that loud inner voice was screaming in frustration at the missed chance to get even a tiny word of support from Sasuke.
"Both of you do your best."
The words came out before he could stop them. Both girls froze mid-argument. They turned to stare at him in almost perfect sync, eyes wide. Then they looked at each other, stunned, before glancing back at Sasuke, who had already turned his head away, pretending the words hadn't come from him at all.
The simple encouragement hit harder than either of them expected. Neither had ever thought they'd see the day when Sasuke Uchiha would voluntarily say something supportive, even if it was only four quiet words.
As for Sasuke, he had just spoken without overthinking it. He wasn't as cold or detached as the version of himself from the original story, and he didn't see any real harm in saying it. It was a small thing. Nothing that would change the world.
Even so, he stopped himself from adding sarcasm about what the worst could happen. Even in his mind.
No point tempting fate. He wasn't that reckless anymore.
"Participants, enter the arena and stop wasting time," the proctor called out, sounding noticeably irritated now.
The sharp order broke the strange spell. Sakura and Ino locked eyes again. This time, there was no shock, just fire. In their pupils, they could see each other's determination reflected back like a challenge.
"I'm winning this for Sasuke-kun! You don't stand a chance!"
"Don't get cocky, Ino-pig! Sasuke-kun is mine! Don't even dream about taking him!"
...
"The result of the fourth round of the preliminary match is a draw." The proctor's voice echoed across the arena, cutting through the murmurs like a knife. Things really hadn't changed at all.
'At least I now know a way to bind someone using my chakra and strings. It's like a nerfed version of Shadow imitation jutsu… more like shadow paralysis.' I thought as Ino did the same hair trick here as well. Not that it helped much.
I looked down at the two unconscious girls, once best friends, now rivals, who were slumped against each other's shoulders. For just that peaceful second, with their heads resting together and breathing slowly, they looked like the little kids they used to be, napping side by side after playing all afternoon.
'And they threw that friendship away because of me…' I thought, shaking my head slightly. 'Not that I'm the one to blame, exactly. It just turned into this weird love-rivalry mess.' Even now, it felt ridiculous. Back then, we weren't even proper academy students. Five years old, maybe. Tops.
Five years old and already fighting over "love"? It didn't even make sense. Love and five-year-olds didn't belong in the same sentence.
'Then again, that's just how they were,' I admitted to myself. 'And I'm pretty sure the five-year-old version Sasuke didn't know or care what love even was. He was too busy trying to chase after Itachi's shadow.'
My gaze flicked up to the board as the next names appeared. I already knew what was coming, same as canon, but seeing it still made my eyes open just a fraction wider.
Because it was not.
Temari vs Shikamaru
For a second, I couldn't decide whether to feel sorry for Shikamaru or just shrug and say it was obvious.
"Well, Shikamaru," I said, letting a small smirk pull at my lips, "looks like you're stuck dealing with a 'troublesome' woman. Exactly like you always complain about."
Shikamaru shot me a flat glare. "Troublesome…"
He muttered it under his breath, but loud enough that we both heard. Then the sandy-blonde kunoichi turned her head and levelled us both with a look that could have cut steel. Even I felt the chill. Was she glaring right at me?
I blinked, genuinely thrown for a moment. All I'd done was point out the irony of how they'd first crossed paths before the finals. Apparently, that was enough to earn her full attention.
"Well, Shikamaru," Asuma cut in smoothly, though I could see his fingers twitching like he wanted to pull out a cigarette right there, "you can't exactly call a girl troublesome and then act surprised when she makes your life difficult." He glanced sideways at me. "That goes for you, too, Sasuke. Learn quickly, the sooner the better."
Asuma's mouth curved into an amused grin, like he was remembering something funny. Then he added, almost chuckling, "Especially if you ever plan on fulfilling that little quest to revitalise your clan."
The words hit like a casual slap. He wasn't mocking me; he was just stating the obvious, the unspoken reality of what rebuilding the Uchiha would actually mean. Still, heat rushed to my face. I had to take a couple of slow breaths to keep from turning completely red or saying something stupid.
"Asuma, don't worry," Kakashi said, his visible eye crinkling while his shoulders shook with silent laughter. "Sasuke doesn't seem to be short of willing participants for that particular mission." He tilted his head toward the two unconscious girls still leaning on each other.
"You too," I muttered, giving him a warning look.
"Okay, both of you, enough," Kurenai said, stepping in with that calm-but-firm tone she used when things were getting out of hand.
Right beside her, Hinata had gone bright pink and was sneaking little glances toward Naruto, clearly wishing the ground would swallow her.
"Umm… Shikamaru," Choji piped up, scratching the back of his head. "I don't think keeping her waiting any longer is a good idea."
Shikamaru sighed the longest, most defeated sigh I'd ever heard from him and finally pushed himself up. He decided the smartest move was to say absolutely nothing about the whole conversation.
Me? I zipped my mouth shut, folded my arms and went back to looking like the aloof, brooding Sasuke everyone expected. No more teasing material today.
"Why the hell are you still grinning at me like that, you idiot?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at Naruto. The blond had that smug cat-got-the-cream expression plastered across his face.
Bam!
"Ow! What was that for?!" Naruto yelped, clutching the back of his head where I'd just smacked him.
"Calm down, Naruto. Calm down," Kakashi said lazily, one hand holding the back of Naruto's collar while the other was already flipping open his Icha Icha book. "Everyone's watching."
"Begin."
While all that nonsense was going on up here, the match below had already kicked off.
In the blink of an eye, Shikamaru flicked several kunai and shuriken, not just aiming at Temari but cutting off nearly every escape route she had. The strategy was plain as day, he wanted to force her to open that giant fan to block.
Maybe it was too obvious. Maybe it was too straightforward. Or maybe Temari simply wasn't in the mood for games today; she had something more on her mind. Whatever the reason, she snapped her war fan wide open without hesitation.
"Shit."
Bam!
That was the last thing out of Shikamaru's mouth before a roaring wall of wind smashed into him. No cover, no way to brace properly, he went flying straight back and crashed hard into the arena wall.
Asuma disappeared from the stands in a flicker and caught Shikamaru before he could slide down. A quick check, then a small nod. The injuries weren't serious; Shikamaru had managed to tense up just enough to take the impact better than expected. Asuma carried him back to the side anyway.
Just like Ino and Sakura before him, Shikamaru was now off in the Dreamlands.
'That started and ended even faster than my own match,' I thought, feeling a tiny pang of guilt. Our little banter up here had probably pushed Temari to skip the usual back-and-forth and go straight for the kill shot. She hadn't given him any opening to set up a proper trap.
Before the guilt could settle in properly, though, Choji wandered over to where Shikamaru was slumped.
"If you don't wake up soon, I'm putting my next yakiniku bill on your tab," Choji said casually, opening a fresh bag of crisps and holding it right under Shikamaru's nose.
"Can't you let a guy sleep for five more minutes?" the supposedly unconscious Shikamaru grumbled. One lazy hand reached out, snagged a crisp and popped it into his mouth. "And no, you're not sticking any bill on my tab. I'm not going home to beg Mom for money again."
They both cracked small, tired smiles at the same time.
'And that,' I thought quietly, watching the easy back-and-forth between them, 'is what a real friendship between best mates looks like. Not whatever messed-up thing canon Naruto and Sasuke had going on.'