Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandoms:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2020-07-20
Updated:
2020-07-20
Words:
16,013
Chapters:
2/?
Comments:
17
Kudos:
256
Bookmarks:
86
Hits:
3,189

Nine Walls of Konoha recursive

Chapter 2: (Start of) Chuunin Exams

Summary:

“Our sensei is Red-Eyed Kakashi, the Ninth Wall of Konoha,” I say just loud enough for them to hear me. “We don’t need luck.”

Notes:

Same as last part: bolded text is taken directly from DoS.

Chapter Text

I wasn’t all that surprised that Kakashi nominated us for the Chuunin exams.  We’re the only team to have two Walls, and Sai is of the Shimura Clan and insanely talented.  I’ve been making progress on my seals since I talked to Jiraiya, Yakumo’s paint illusions get better every day, and Sai’s paint creations are keeping us both on our toes when we three-way spar.

Huh, maybe we should name our team Team Paintbrush, with how much each of us use one.

All three of us agreed that we should prepare full travel gear, just in case.  We were told to meet at the academy, but what if that’s only a meeting place?  Even if the exam followed canon, I didn’t know how long before the second exam took place.  If it was immediately after, I wanted to make sure we were prepared.

The academy was super busy, even when we showed up half an hour early.  I could see teams from Konoha, obviously, but there were also teams from Rain, Grass, Sound and even Mist.  I didn’t see any from Sand, but I didn’t doubt that Gaara, Temari and Kankuro would be here.  Even if there was no invasion, which I was sincerely hoping for, the Kazekage would want to show off the power of his children.

I make hand signs for Yakumo and Sai to follow, which they do without hesitation.  I wasn’t quite sure when they decided that I was team leader when Kakashi wasn’t around, but I could see why they did.  Yakumo was still too shy about non-combat things, and Sai lacked people skills and the ability to make field decisions.  Danzo had conditioned that out of him even in this life.

The same two chunin from canon were guarding the doors on the second floor, genjutsu in place.  The three of us share a look at just how crappy the genjutsu was.  As a team that worked with genjutsu as powerful as Yakumo’s, and my ability to disrupt normal genjutsu before it even begins to affect me, this was positively pitiful.

Team Gai is pretending to fall for it, or at least, two thirds of the team was.  I think Neji thought it beneath him to pretend to be beat up for the sake of being underestimated.  Lee lets himself get beat up, while Tenten is pleading to be let through.  I was actually surprised how believable she makes it look.  Then the guards go on to talk about how the exams were not a joke, and that if you couldn’t handle this, how can you be expected to lead missions?  They were a bit too obvious in their speech, I couldn’t help but think.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one.

“Real nice speech,” a voice I vaguely recognize came from the entrance of the room.  “Now both of you step aside and let me through.  And while you’re at it, release the genjutsu, we can see through your illusions anyway.  We’re going to the third floor.”

I’m really glad that everyone’s eyes are on him, because the extreme amount of shock I feel seeing Sasuke Uchiha , wearing Iwa hitai-ate, at the Konoha Chunin Exams , was no doubt all over my face.  I was only reasonably sure that Sasuke even existed , at this point, since I’d heard rumours about Itachi, who was still a genius prodigy the likes Iwa (the world really) had never seen.  Iwa and Konoha are on shaky terms at best, so I was really surprised they’d send a genin team here at all.

I watch as the proctors attack Sasuke, ticked that he’s ruining their fun.  Or maybe they just want to take a shot at an Iwa shinobi.  Lee interferes before the second attack can connect, much faster than he’d been before.  Neji and Tenten try to recover the situation, before of course Lee challenges Sasuke to a fight.

I couldn’t help it, I snorted with laughter.  Even in this universe, Lee can’t help himself from wanting to challenge Sasuke, no matter the fact that he’s just met him.  Does he even know he’s an Uchiha?

Of course, because the room was absolutely silent at this point, everyone turns to look at me.  Sasuke looked angry, but I can’t tell if it’s at me or Lee or the whole situation.  His teammates, two kunoichi who look vaguely familiar, look a bit resigned over their stupid hot headed male teammate.  Yakumo and I have similar looks about Sai, but that’s more about his complete lack of social skills than being hot headed.  Lee looks elated, to my immense dismay.

“My beautiful hime!” Lee shouts joyfully, abandoning Sasuke and rushing towards me.  “It is so YOUTHFUL to see you here!  I shall defeat any competitors for your heart, for you are so beautiful and full of YOUTH!”

I sigh.  Well, at least Lee understood the importance of not broadcasting my unofficial status as the Fifth Wall to all of these foreign ninja.  It’s very common for the people of Konoha to address me as Shikako-sama, or Shikako-hime, even though it’s never been officially declared that I am the Fifth Wall.  It’s proper to address Walls with -sama, but at some point in time it became normal to address female walls with -hime, especially if they are part of the Akimichi, Yamanaka, or Nara clans.  It makes me uncomfortable sometimes, being addressed with -sama by people who are much older than me, but I’m slowly getting used to it.  Thankfully, the way Lee addressed me can just be brushed off as a pet name from someone who wishes to court me, rather than the title it is.

“I’m not interested in dating,” I say blandly, causing Lee to faceplant.  “Besides, the exams haven’t even started yet.  You want to be kicked out because they think you don’t have patience?”

Lee vaults himself back up again.  “Of course not!  I will show them my patience, or I will run 100 laps around Konoha on my hands!  Yosh!  Tenten, Neji, let’s go!”

The three of them disappear, and the crowd disperses with the lack of anything potentially interesting happening.  

“You’re pretty good at handling him, hime ,” Yakumo says with a smirk.

I glare at her, not appreciating the nickname.  Sure, everyone who might hear her say that is just thinking she’s teasing me about Lee.  She is, but she’s also teasing me about how much the title bothers me, and how I just made everyone think it’s a pet name.

“Shut up,” I growl.  I gesture for us to go up the stairs, very deliberately ignoring the Iwa ninja behind us.

Kakashi is there at the stairwell, waiting for us.

“I’m glad you all came,” he says warmly, for once not trolling us.

“I didn’t know Iwa was part of these exams,” I say by way of greeting.  Kakashi has more cause to hate Iwa than most, so it’s curious that he didn’t mention it.

Kakashi’s eyes flash red for the briefest of moments, but his chakra barely even stirs.  His voice is mild but his stance is rigid when he addresses us.  “They arrived a bit unexpectedly.  Of course the exams are open to all, so we wouldn’t turn them away.  They sent two teams, along with their senseis.  The only major village who hasn’t sent any teams is Kumo.”

So Sand had sent a team.  So had Mist.  Good to know.  I nod to let him know I understand how important it is to keep a low profile.  Yakumo also nods.

“Anyways,” Kakashi relaxes a bit more, but isn’t quite casual.  “Now, you can formally register for the Chunin Exams.  Only groups of three are allowed to apply for and take the Exams, so it’s good you all came together.”

That isn’t a surprise to me, considering my extra knowledge.  Yakumo and Sai both start a bit, not quite capable of hiding their own surprise.

“I’m proud of you.”  He smiled.  “Couldn’t ask for a better team.  Good luck.”

I can feel three chakra signatures coming up the stairs behind me.  I don’t need to look to know that it’s Sasuke’s Iwa team.  My smile is full of teeth.

“Our sensei is Red-Eyed Kakashi, the Ninth Wall of Konoha,” I say just loud enough for them to hear me.  “We don’t need luck .”

I can tell from the look in his eye that he knows exactly what I just did, why I did it, and finds it absolutely hilarious.  If any of us made it to the third round, everyone would find out who our sensei was anyways.  By informing the Iwa-nin of it now , they’d have that knowledge hanging over their heads the whole time.  Iwa stole the Nine Tails from the Hatake clan, causing a domino effect that led to the Third Shinobi War.  Kakashi flew through ranks insanely quickly, Wall or not, and grew up to cause absolute hell on them in revenge for the slights on his Clan and Konoha.  Only the Yellow Flash was more feared and hated by Iwa, but both have a flee-on-sight order in the Iwa Bingo Book.  The Bingo Book also has a special note that Kakashi tends to get especially vicious and violent when anyone harms his teammates.  

Any genin of Iwa will think twice about attacking us now, I think gleefully.  Kokuo has mixed feelings of amusement and resignation, as they usually do whenever I act too much like my crazy sensei.  Sai has a look of slight confusion, but Yakumo’s grin matches mine as we walk into the room to await the First Exam.

***

I casually glance around the room when I walk in.  I see the Sound team from canon, as well as Temari, Kankuro and Gaara.  To my immense dismay, Gaara looks very similar to how he did in canon, complete with the uneasy way his siblings look at him.  Is Gaara still unstable?  He isn’t possessing a deranged Shukaku this time - or is it being possessed? - so why do I feel so uncomfortable around his chakra?  It feels… wild and angry.  I’m so confused, but a touch from Yakumo makes me realize I’m staring and I casually look away.  

Not wanting to stay in the doorway when I know Sasuke and his team are just on the other side, I make my way to the other rookies.

“Surprised you’re not late,” Shikamaru says casually when we come level with the other rookies.

I resist the urge to snort.  “Despite Kakashi-sensei’s best efforts, none of us have taken after him in his perpetual lateness.  There are so many better things to learn from him.”

It occurs to me that mentioning Kakashi may have been a mistake with all of the genin in the room.  The room had been fairly quiet, so everyone could hear our conversation.  I’ve just given them reason to focus on it.

“Oh, before I forget, watch out for the team consisting of Rock Lee, Tenten, and Hyuuga Neji.  They have fairly good deception skills and Rock Lee is exceptionally fast.  Also, Iwa has sent teams.”  It seems only fair to warn a bunch of clan heirs and another Wall of Iwa’s presence.  By grouping it with Team Gai, it looks more like I’m warning them about potential threats in the competition and not threats to other things.  It’s sort of redundant, since all of us as clan heirs and Walls know that Neji is a Wall and would watch out for him regardless, but by mentioning Rock Lee hopefully the attention is on him and not on the Wall in his team.

The others don’t so much as stiffen their spines, but I know they take my warning seriously.  Iwa is not well liked here.

“Shikako-hime, Yakumo-hime, lovely to see you ladies again,” Kiba says almost mockingly.  I sometimes regret that the cover the three of us use is Kiba being a ladies man.  No one questions a bunch of preteens going to ‘hang out’, especially if it’s well-known if Kiba is a flirt and both of us must be hopelessly in love with him despite our outward demeanours of lack of interest.  Clearly we are just playing hard to get, even though we never say no when he asks to hang out.  Hanging out with Neji is a bit easier, since he was rookie of the year in the year above us and we can claim wanting to learn from our genius senpai, but it also makes it look like Yakumo and I are fangirls of him.  

“Kiba,” I acknowledge.  Calling him Kiba-sama would ruin the act, even though I’d love to see how he would react to that.  He dislikes formalities even more than I do.

“You guys too huh?  Man, everyone’s here for this stupid thing,” Shikamaru complains.

“Yup, here we all are.  The Nine Rookies,” Kiba says with a laugh, Akamaru yipping playfully on top of his head.  I forgot that’s how the stupid nickname started.  

It’s interesting how the dynamics have changed amongst the Rookie Nine without the presence of Sasuke and Naruto.  Kiba doesn’t feel the need to posture so much, since in taijutsu he is clearly the best of our classmates without Sasuke to beat him.  For all his prodigy, Sai’s forte is definitely not taijutsu.  No Naruto means no loudmouth, but also means no quiet admiration for the boy who never gives up even though he’s told time and again he doesn’t have what it takes.  There is no unbelievably beautiful boy to turn all the girls into our class into rabid fangirls, so the skill level of the kunoichi is slightly higher. 

“By the Walls,” Ino suddenly gushes.  “Who is that ?!” Looks like I spoke too soon.

I follow Ino’s gaze to see a stoic Sasuke watching our group.  His eyes flick to mine, perhaps wondering what me or my team is capable of.  I doubt he’s worried, since that’s not at all something Sasuke would feel over a genin team, but maybe he wonders if we might be a challenge for him?  Even without the clan massacre, I doubt he doesn’t have a drive to become better and beat strong opponents.  His black eyes are intense, and he doesn’t look away when his teammate talks to him to answer.  

I take extra care to make myself casually look back at Ino, not wanting to show any sign of nerves.  “He’s on one of the Iwa teams,” I tell Ino, making her slump slightly.  “From his looks, probably an Uchiha.”

Kiba growls.  “I’ll totally kick his ass!”  Yakumo looks a step away from growling herself.  I don’t blame them.  Though incredibly rare, some Uchiha were known to be able to have eyes powerful enough to mind control Bijuu or, in one case, their Wall.  The Walls of Konoha are impossibly strong, but all of that power is equally devastating if it’s turned onto our own allies.  When a Wall becomes Chunin, they take special lessons from the Yamanaka to learn how to break mind control, and then the Kurama Clan to learn to break powerful genjutsu.  It’s not the same as dealing with the all-powerful Sharingan, but it’s the only way we have.  I know Obito had the power to control the Kyuubi in canon, but I’m not sure if he has the same power now if the bridge incident never happened.  Shisui I know in this universe has the ability, but in the past he’s only ever used it to stop an attack.  He’s never tried to turn the Wall on Konoha even though he could.  That doesn’t lessen the anger and fear the Walls have for him.

“Sheesh, you guys sound confident,” a new voice interrupts.  It’s familiar, for some reason.

I half listen to him speak, trying to figure out why I feel a sense of deja vu.  My memories of canon are fading every year, with only the most important moments standing out, but it feels like I should know him.

“I’m Kabuto Yakushi.” And then it clicks.

The rage that bubbles up within me is not unexpected when the memories of what Kabuto will do come tumbling forth.  The Chunin invasion.  Working with Orochimaru.  Working with Madara .  The mass Edo Tensai, making everyone fight their dead loved ones.  Never before have I felt the urge to completely destroy someone.  It didn’t matter that I have never met him before in my life, I wanted to make him suffer .

*Shikako!  Control your temper!* Kokuo shouts in my head.

Their voice cuts through the haze of my anger like a knife, snuffing out my Killing Intent before it had truly begun to leak out.  Everyone in the room had clearly felt it, however.  I could hear the stuttered breaths of those around me and see the paleness of those across the room, but it wouldn’t have lasted long enough for anyone to pinpoint where it came from.  Hopefully, most will attribute it to a test by the proctors before the Exams start.  I wouldn’t be able to fool the other Walls or Shika, since they were familiar with Kokuo’s power and probably felt his chakra in my KI.

“Leave,” I tell Kabuto coldly.  If he continues to talk to us I’ll probably lose my temper again and no amount of shouting from Kokuo would be able to snap me out of it.  I’ll have to do a lot of calming exercises later to make sure I am more in control of myself when I see him again.

“Yatta!  This is going to be awesome-dattebayo!” A loud voice calls from the doorway, breaking me from my thoughts.

Naruto.  Looking so different from canon it’s startling.  No whisker marks.  Only his t-shirt is orange, his pants are black and his arms are wrapped in bandages.  He has a Mist hitai-ate instead of Konoha.

And yet…

His loud, excited voice is the same.  That huge grin that looks way too happy is identical.  The overconfidence as he barely takes stock of potential threats is the same as how canon Naruto started out.  The sun-yellow blonde hair looks as bright as his personality, which in turns looks even brighter than what I remembered, but it’s unmistakable.

“Be quiet maggots!” A voice calls out.