Naruto: Dreaming of Sunshine

I woke groggy and smothered in dogs.

That… wasn't right.

I cracked my eyes open and squinted. "Pakkun, why dog?" I asked plaintively.

The pug put a tiny paw on my cheek. "Boss thought you might get into trouble," he said in his gravel voice. "Can't imagine why. He asked us to keep an eye out."

That made sense. It explained the heavy weight across my feet. And the ones beside me. The bed was crowded. Except. "That's not a dog."

Pakkun sighed. "He asked that weird friend of his to leave a summons, too."

"Gai-sensei is a turtle," I agreed knowledgably, and went back to sleep.

I slept for most of the day, briefly waking up to eat and go bathroom. Asuma-sensei was clearly on guard duty, spending most of the day sprawled on the next bunk over, reading a battered hardcover book and smoking. But the cigarette smoke was all drifting eerily out an opened window and I couldn't even smell it.

"I've had worse assignments," he said to me at one point. Or I thought he did. Maybe. My chakra exhaustion, the soldier pills, it was all catching up with me. Had caught me. It was not a whole lot of fun.

And then everyone returned and the cabin was suddenly full of noise and life. I went from mostly sleeping to mostly awake, propping myself up on an elbow to greet them.

Sasuke shook his head.

"No?" I guessed, not really sure how to interpret that.

"Finals are Gaara and Haku," Tenten said, looking at Neji almost apologetically. "Konoha is out of the running."

"Whatever," Sasuke said. "Doesn't matter." But he paced the room like a caged animal, shoulders stiff.

"It was a good fight, Sasuke-kun," Ino said, but her voice was a shade too flat to really sell her enthusiasm. "I had no idea you were that good at genjutsu! And those ninjutsu were amazing!"

"You didn't even want to go and watch it," Chouji said to her, sinking down onto his bunk and rummaging in his packs for food. "You wanted to stay in the cabins."

Ino shoved my legs over, climbed over a dog and managed to situate herself on my bed. Somehow. "Of course I did," she said impatiently. "But Tsunade-sama said she wanted us all in one place together. And she said you were fine and wouldn't be awake, anyway."

Lee sat down on the turtle, which looked completely resigned to being used as furniture.

I laid back down and let the chatter wash over me, of the way the fights had gone and other details of the day.

When I next swam into awareness, the scene had changed. It was later now, darker and quieter. Everyone was sprawled around the floor, playing cards – Shinobi's Rest, which had flexible rules and didn't really matter how many players, time or cards you had. We'd learnt it in the Academy, way back when, under the topic I'd called 'When Teachers Don't Actually Want to Teach' but Iruka-sensei had sworn up and down was 'Appropriate Downtime Activities For Ninja On Missions'. Without the swearing. Obviously. Because Iruka-sensei.

Funnily enough, this might have been the first time I'd ever seen it actually played on a mission. So maybe he was right, after all. Maybe I just did the wrong kinds of missions.

"Are you betting on who gets to carry me home?" I asked sleepily, wondering if I had heard correctly and whether I should be offended or not.

"Yosh! I have lost every round!" Lee said, terribly excited.

I squinted at him. "Shikako out," I decided and closed my eyes again. Going to sleep was such an excellent method of escaping conversations that I wanted no part in. I was sad in advance for when it no longer worked. Maybe I would just pretend to be chakra exhausted forever. That would work, right?

.

.

"You can't be serious," Kurenai-sensei said. "Why would you tell them? They don't need to deal with this, Kakashi. They're just Genin. It'll just worry them needlessly."

I glanced around the room and confirmed that, yes, everyone else could hear this argument too. Awkward.

Kakashi-sensei opened the door and stepped into our cabin, barely glancing over his shoulder. "Yes, they do, Kurenai," he refuted calmly. No, calm was the wrong word. It was more a lazer guided focus, like being given a mission and assessing the best strategies and then just carrying it out. "Because we were too late. And chances are we'll be too late next time, too."

He looked serious and purposeful, not really like the man I knew. "They're not just Genin," he went on. "They're soldiers. And you should know that."

"Did you find out who it was?" Sasuke asked immediately, on his feet, hands balling into fists at his side.

Kakashi-sensei gave him a short nod. "They were Hidden Grass ninja. According to Rei, they were both declared missing ninja nearly six months ago for conspiring against the village. But I'm willing to bet that those records are all backdated and they were active Grass shinobi up until last night. The surviving attacker seemed under that impression, anyway."

"What does that mean?" I asked, pulling up my knees and leaning my arms over them. "Was it ordered?"

Kakashi-sensei gave a rolling shrug. "Hidden Grass is pretty close to starting a civil war. There are two main factions, Grass Flower and Grass Fruit. They've been keeping it pretty low key, up until now, and it was assumed that they would manage to continue that for the duration of the Chunin Exams. It's in their best interests to keep it under wraps while all the clients are here, and while there are so many foreign powers about. The last thing they need is an external threat to go with the internal one. But it seems you panicked them, Shikako."

I felt the weight of his gaze. Not reprimanding, but… yes. He was saying it was a direct response to something I had done. I nodded.

"The Blood Prison isn't just an important resource for Hidden Grass as a whole; it's a location of strategic value in a civil war. The side that holds the prison has huge advantages over the other. So you suddenly became a rather important game piece." His eye curved into a smile, but it was somehow less than his usual expressions. A fakeness to it, like a bright sheath to cover up a blade. "They acted quickly to try and move you around, which was lucky for you because it meant they screwed it up. If they'd taken another day to plan, they might have come up with a better option."

Another day and I'd have had more chakra, I nearly said, but it wouldn't have necessarily been true. Using so much against Gaara had seemed safe at the time, but it had been a mistake. Based on faulty assumptions. And the consequences were that I was near helpless in enemy territory. If I hadn't managed to plant that Touch Blast, I could be deeply regretting that mistake right now.

"So that's it?" Sasuke demanded sharply. "That's the end of it? They hurt her and everyone just washes their hands of it?"

"Hardly," Kakashi-sensei said. And now he slumped back into a more familiar posture, pulling out his Icha Icha. It was strangely reassuring. "There's been all kinds of shouting happening in the Kage box. Accusations flying all over the place. If you thought your little handshake stunt had shaken things up, it's nothing compared to what's going on right now. Everyone is using it as a chance to say something."

"And we don't do anything?" Sasuke persisted.

"We are doing everything we can," Kurenai-sensei said from the doorway, voice warm and reassuring. "It's a delicate situation. Not just for our treaty with Hidden Grass, but for the Chunin Exams as a whole. If people violate the sanctity of the Exams and start trying to kidnap the competitors, then the whole structure will just collapse in on itself. And then the replacement for war might turn into actual war."

Which translated to 'no, we don't do anything'.

Sasuke's gaze burned.

.

.

The next morning was the finals. The mood was energetic and excited amongst the civilians, and hugely tense anywhere there were groups of ninja.

In our group, it was basically dead. We were holding the mood hostage and strangling it. With extreme prejudice.

We sat in the stands in near silence, alert and waiting. I was there, not because I was substantially better, but because they would announce the promotions after the final match and we all had to be there for that. I'd been piggybacked there – by Lee – no matter how much I insisted I didn't need it and bundled in blankets like I was a nana. The other groups were equally as tense and equally as locked in on themselves.

The air between us and Hidden Cloud might have caught fire if anyone had glared just a little bit harder. And the two Hidden Grass competitors had yet to show their faces.

Temari and Kankurou hovered near the edges of our group, and just before the start of the match, Haku herded the rest of his team through.

"Good morning," he said, smiling apologetically at us. "Is there room for a few more?"

Chojuro had one of the twins by each hand, his fingers wrapped loosely around a wrist so that he could easily let go and start fighting if he really had to but also so that neither of them could get lost without his knowledge. We weren't the only paranoid ones, then.

"Of course," Ino said, with a genuine smile. I wondered if this was what they'd done yesterday, as well. "It's our pleasure."

The twins were bundled into the middle of the group, with me, and Chojuro took up a sentry position at the edge.

"I'm glad to see that you're well, Shikako," Haku said.

I wished him good luck in turn and he descended down to the field.

I wished that I could have enjoyed the fight. It was a good one – hugely spectacular with two terrifyingly skilled ninja pitted against each other. It was the kind of fight I doubted I could safety witness ever again, without risking being drawn into it because it would be real.

Yet, I couldn't. Because there was only the sick twist of reality spoiling the lightness of the festival. All the lights and colours felt fake and the cheering was grating. Gratuitous.

It was spoilt.

"The winner of this match, and of the Hidden Grass Chunin Exams," the referee boomed. "Is Gaara of the Desert!"

The crowd roared like an ocean, like the waves battering against the shore.

Haku bowed, down on the field. He wasn't exhausted. He'd held back, hadn't committed himself totally to this fight because there was more to come. Not in the exam. But the exam wasn't real.

"We'll have a short break, to allow the judges to deliberate," the referee continued on. "And then announce the promotions!"

As if the judges hadn't been arguing about this all week. Our performances themselves were only a very small part of the decision.

All the Genin who had taken part in the Third Exam were called down to the field and lined up. I flatly refused to let anyone carry me down, and doubly flatly refused to walk slower than normal no matter how much my everything hurt. Our sensei lined up behind us, a line of serious faces watching over us. Asuma-sensei was placed directly behind me.

The Kage and village leaders filed out next, standing so they were facing the line of us.

"From the Village Hidden in the Mist," Mei Terumi said, smiling sweetly and holding out a Mist standard Chunin vest. "Chojuro."

He stepped forward to take it, bowing. And then she swooped down and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Chojuro went red, and if he'd had to speak I'd have guaranteed that he would have stuttered.

She repeated the process with Haku, who handled the affection with a little more dignity.

Chiyo barked out the names of all three of the Sand Genin, and it was Baki who actually gave them their vests. Though apparently she did throw something at Kankurou's head, then cackled incoherently, and pretended to fall asleep. That was ninja eccentrics for you.

Grass promoted Muku, but not Ryuusetsu. Hidden Cloud promoted both the ninja that had made it past the first round of the exam. Hidden Rock promoted two of theirs despite neither of them making it past the first round. It smelt like a throwaway concession.

Three of the minor villages ended up giving promotions – Nadeshiko, Fog and Valley.

And then it was Tsunade's turn. "Neji Hyuuga," she said. And then she called Lee. And Tenten. And just… kept going, until all nine of us had been called forward.

I accepted my Chunin vest almost numbly, falling back into line as Ino was called forward. There was no way. This had to be a joke. Surely not.

Surely so, it seemed.

All nine of us.

The crowd was cheering.

"Holy shit," Kiba crowed, eyes wild, and it was like a spell was broken. "All of us? No way!"

We crowded each other forward, the same exhilaration and disbelief in our faces. Lee hollered for joy and leapt onto his sensei, Chouji swept both Ino and I into a huge hug.

"Asuma-sensei!" Ino called. "Did you know? You knew!"

Asuma-sensei laughed, avoided her swiping hands. "I didn't know. Nine promotions, huh? How did you swing that, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade smiled, stepping closer with an amused twist to her lips. "I didn't," she said. "I only wanted to promote half of them. But the Raikage wouldn't hear of it. And I quote 'get your damn plants out of these exams'. He was willing to let us dominate this exam, if it meant we couldn't keep it up for the next one."

Which was a point. If you thought about the exams in the long term purpose of advertising the village, it was better to conserve your best and brightest, using them to show off the village over a number of years rather than burning bright and burning hard.

My candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night, but ah my foes and oh my friends, it gives a lovely light.

And I didn't even care.

"Nine has to be a record," Kurenai said, a tad wistfully. "There were six at mine. And that was pretty impressive."

"It is," Tsunade agreed. "And impressive or not, we've still got a couple of hours of daylight left and we're not spending it here. Everyone get packed up, we're moving out."

We sobered up, a little, breaking out of the group of congratulations and heading for the exit. I waved at the other teams, Mist and Sand, who were celebrating in their own ways. It was sad to leave without saying anything, but we would see them again. I was sure of it.

.

.

There was an upside and a downside to travelling out of Hidden Grass.

Upside, Lee didn't get to carry me, much to his great disappointment.

Downside, this was because Gai-sensei had been volunteered for the task.

I had no chance of protesting. "Thank you, Gai-sensei," I said dutifully. "I'm very grateful."

I'd have rather walked. But apparently we were pushing the pace as fast as we could, and that didn't leave room for chakra cripples. Tsunade's words, not mine.

All complaints aside, I was hardly jostled. Gai-sensei was basically gliding like a cloud the whole way. I rested my cheek against the back of his shoulder and tried to zone out. I'd done so much sleeping over the past two days that it wasn't appealing, yet there wasn't much else to do, either.

"I know they say Nara can sleep anywhere," Kakashi-sensei said, without really looking at me. "But that's a bit much, isn't it?"

I opened my eyes long enough to glare at him, because he had been the one to volunteer Gai-sensei. "I could have walked," I grumbled half-heartedly.

"The weather is lovely," Kakashi-sensei agreed, not even pretending to listen to the words actually coming out of my mouth. "I got told I had to give these to you, so here you go."

He reached out, uncurled one of my hands and pressed something small and metal into them, then vanished from sight. I had to work out how to see what he'd given me without falling off and without smacking Gai-sensei in the face. Of course.

"He has the worst timing," I mumbled.

Gai-sensei chuckled. It reverberated right through him. "My Eternal Rival has a very singular approach!" he agreed. "But he has been very worried about you."

I sighed. "I know," I said. "Sensei always worries. He just pretends not to."

I shifted my weight, curled my chin into his shoulder and peered over it into my hand. Earrings. Kakashi-sensei'd given me earrings. From my clan, for my promotion. It was tradition.

"Sensei, you dweeb," I muttered. "You couldn't have given them to me before we left? Now I'm going to drop them."

.

.

So I have to apologize for the last ending. It seems everyone expected it to go in a much different direction than it really did. I really regret that, it's been totally blown up. I hope no one is too horribly disappointed. At least the update was fast?

But the exams are over, everyone is back in Konoha now. Moving on.