"What about Red? What do you know of him and his skills?"
"He uses his sword and genjutsu." Temari says confidently.
No one else says anything.
...
"That's it?" My voice breaks the silence again. "Anyone could tell he uses a sword by looking at him. The only reason you all know he uses genjutsu is because he used that to beat Sachihiro. None of you know anything about his true skills, do you?"
Again, no one responds.
"That means that there is an unknown that advanced all the way to the finals. Truly he's the best shinobi here simply because no one knows what he can do. You all don't even know if he's a genjutsu, ninjutsu or taijutsu type."
"Midori, that explanation was way too long." Sasuke says from behind me. "Did you really have to lay everything out like that? Took way too much time."
"Okay, so maybe I did go a tad over the top." I just wanted to show off a bit! I mean come on I'm a spymaster but I can't let anyone know that. Shirokumo deserves to have his hard work at least be used somehow! "Wait, when did you get here?"
"When you started talking about Lee." Wow that was a while ago. Whoops? "I also want to point out that Hiro can move again. He's struggling in his bonds."
I glance over to him and he freezes with wide fearful eyes. "What do you know, the Jiongu did process the poison faster. I thought it might." I turn back to Sasuke. "Enjoy yourself? I hope you know that just because we're from the same village doesn't mean I'll take it easy on you."
"... You're not going to cut him down are you?" Sasuke asks as everyone else is staring at me gobsmacked.
Okay so I did jump quickly from one topic to the next. I mean I went from defending Sasuke, to exposing everyone's weaknesses and strengths, and now I'm casually chatting with my teammate about the guy I have tied up because he pissed me off one too many times.
"Nope!"
"Midori you have issues." He blandly responds.
"Dude, don't we all? I mean come on we're Oto shinobi. We're all weird!"
"The next fight will be between Gaara of Sunagakure!" Eito's loud booming voice brings our conversation to a halt. "His opponent is our very own Leiko of Kusagakure!"
Gaara rises up in silence as both Temari and Kankuro give him an encouraging pat on the back. They don't say anything, rather their baby brother already knows that they're proud of him. Plus he's Gaara, how can he lose this?
Leiko, on the other hand, has no one here to wish her luck. Not even Sachihiro, who is sitting next to her has words of encouragement. Even if she did wish him luck he's not returning the favor.
She doesn't let that get to her, she boldly walks past all of us with her head held high. She's surprisingly confident for someone who is about to face down a jinchuriki.
"Do not underestimate me." She quietly says as she walks past me. "I will win."
Well now... it'll be interesting to see how she plans to beat a jinchuriki of all things. I wonder if her plan is close to mine at all?
...
Gaara vs Leiko
"So, you both ready then?" Eito says from between the two gennin.
"I am." Gaara drones out in his monotonous voice.
"Of course." Leiko scoffs.
"Alright then, begin!" Eito doesn't disappear in a swirl of grass. He doesn't even leap backwards like Leiko's first fight, rather he's standing there. He's very close, almost as if he's expecting this fight to go extremely quickly and doesn't want to move away.
Or he expects it to go horribly wrong and wants to be able to step in as soon as possible.
"So Gaara." Leiko casually attempts to strike up a conversation. "Before we fight-"
"There will be no betting." Gaara immediately cuts her off. "I am only here to get a promotion, nothing more, nothing less."
"No, no silly!" Leiko is too relaxed. Way too relaxed for this situation. "There's some things you should know."
"Go on." Gaara humors her, even though it's blatantly clear he doesn't want to. He just wants this over, in fact his eyes are darting to Sasuke and I. It's like he's analyzing us, trying to figure out the best way to defeat us both at the same time. He isn't even considering that he could lose this.
"Thank you. On my person there are thirteen vials of various antidotes, each one is the cure to one of my poisons."
"Impressive." Gaara drones out. "Yet irrelevant."
"Again, thank you. Now why am I telling you this?" Leiko drops the good girl act and dons the face of a predator. "Because only one of them will cure the poison currently flowing through your sibling's veins."
Sand explodes out of Gaara's gourd and instantly clamps down hard on Leiko's neck, both of her wrists and both of her ankles. It effortlessly lifts her into the air, she's completely at the mercy of Gaara in a matter of moments.
Except, she's not surrendering. Nor is Gaara pressing his advantage.
"Which one is it?" Gaara's voice is icy, for the first time there's emotion in his tone. That emotion is cold calculated fury.
"I'll tell you if you surrender." Leiko offers up. It sounds like she's having a casual conversation with a friend, completely opposite of the situation she's in.
"Then I'll just have to use them all." Gaara decides as multiple sand arms form and start to move towards the bound Leiko.
"Oh now that's a bad idea. Some of those antidotes don't mix well together, in fact a few could even be considered poisons if the poison they're meant to counteract aren't in their systems. Are you sure you want that fancy cocktail of toxins in your family's bloodstreams?"
Gaara turns to the contestant gazebo. "Midori-san, if you heal my siblings I will be forever in your debt. I will provide whatever reward you wish, regardless of price."
To demonstrate that he's serious about his words, a ball of sand forms over his left hand, then rapidly shrinks. It's not losing mass, it's being subjected to intense pressure. After only a mere five seconds a perfect diamond the size of a sparrow's egg is resting in his palm.
"I can give you a fortune." Gaara holds out his arm and the jewel to me even though we're dozens of meters apart. "Just heal my family."
Everyone's gaze shifts to me. Leiko's is panicked. Gaara's and the rest of the contestants are hopeful. The crowds are a mix of fear, respect and entertained joy. They wanted a show and they're certainly getting it now. There's drama, suspense, action and desperation all in a few minutes.
Tsunade's is one of defeat, she knows I don't have those skills. Orochimaru's is one of intrigue, he also knows that I'm not a medic nin and wants to see how I will handle this situation.
Fuck me. I never thought this would happen. I can't heal them, hell I don't even know how to identify if they are even poisoned! I've never bothered to learn how since I'm basically immune to them. How am I going to worm out of this one?
Well here goes nothing. Time to bullshit my way out of this.
"Gaara-san, I am sorry." I sorrowfully say, my voice is full of melancholy and defeat. "I would save them, simply because it is the right thing to do and not for the reward, but without having a sample of the poison that is in their system I am powerless. Regardless of that it takes time to create a cure, time that I'm sure they don't have. Not only that I highly doubt I have the needed resources on me to make the cure even if I knew how."
...
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