Another path

Cloudy night

<Hi everyone ! Hope you're doing well. I'm finally having a break from the demonic schedule of Master's degree and I haven't felt this relaxed in months. Kinda feels surreal actually... The fun thing is that it coincides with this period of the story where a similar process is happening and I can feel my tiredness permeating through my writing. Hope it's not as terrible as it sounds.
Anyway, me no own Naruto, only my OCs (and God do I love them) so here we go, hope you'll enjoy ! >
____
The ambiance was rather heavy as the contestants got ready to leave for Kumo. The third trial had been rather brutal compared to the others. The rookie 12 got flashbacks of their time in the Forest of Death during the Chūnin exams. The oppressive atmosphere and danger surrounding them... But this time there was no escape, no shortcut to leave faster, no mission to complete nor teammates to help. Plus, Sakura's situation worried everyone and Ino was quite badly injured too. Many of them now featured scars and injuries of all sorts.

The council members were discussing their options in a bedroom before the departure.
Hiashi sighed as the conversation kept looping back to the same topics - that is to say complaints - instead of actually being constructive. He finally decided to step in.

" - I am afraid there is not to be done regarding Uzushio's position. The Uzukage made it clear she would wait until the end of the tournament for any opinion and our restlessness might play against us.

- Shikaku, are there any chances that the Uzukage might accept our proposal ?

Shikaku gazed at Inoichi - the one who just spoke - curiously then averted his eyes to the ceiling before closing them and sighing.

- I'm afraid not.

The civilian councilors started complaining anew, claiming it was scandalous that a 'monster' was to be in such a position of power. Tsunade silently scrutinized them, her gaze lingering on Shikaku. It was uncharacteristic for the man not to explain his reasonings and she made a note to ask him about it in private later. Her intuition was confirmed by Inoichi and Chōza's stiff posture and quick glances at their old friend.

The conversation went nowhere for the next two hours and when the departure was signalled, no progress had been made.
The council climbed down the straits and met with the shinobi of their village. All was silent until-

- Why are you having so much trouble prevailing ?

A random councillor started this. Then another and another and soon all the civilian council was at the Konoha nins' throat, demanding explanations. Tsunade and the shinobi council were ready to interfere when suddenly Shikamaru spoke :

- You won't solve anything by addressing the wrong issue.

And with that he walked away. Everyone just stood there dumbfounded. Sensing this, Asuma added quickly :

- I believe what Shikamaru means is that the question we need to ask ourselves isn't why we can't assert dominance but how Uzushio can do so, and so easily at that.

This temporarily closed the discussion and they headed to the HQ in order to teleport to Kumo. When they arrived, they noticed that Tetsuya and Sasuke hadn't been with the others as they came from a different room. Tsunade herself thought it was weird that these two of all people would hang together. Most teams were already there, just a few sparse ones had yet to come.

Upon the entering of team Kakashi, a few murmurs settled in the crowd. Suzuka didn't look good and all her (former) friends could tell that. She didn't spare anyone a glance, inhaling deeply as if to keep herself steady. Almost imperceptibly, Tetsuya walked up to her and let his arm touch her back. She leaned in on the touch, seemingly a bit calmer. Tetsuya let Tenten's gaze and she smiled at him.

Once everyone had arrived, the teleportation seal was activated and they all landed at the central place of Kumo. A detail threw them off though : it was night. Around midday. Why ?
A sensed everyone's confusion and suddenly seemed to remember something - that something being that his country was located to the very North of their world.

- This is a normal occurrence at this season. Three months per year, the sun doesn't rise on the village at all. Apparently, that's because we live so far up in the North.

Kurama hummed thoughtfully and every shinobi eyed her wearily, now persuaded she did this on purpose. To A's surprise, even those from Uzushio looked unsettled. Could the Uzukage plan even behind the back of her own subordinates ? He barely refrained a sigh. Even with their recently improved relationship, Uzushio and Kumo remained rather unfriendly toward each other. It was pretty much a reflex to try and find anything that could possibly give his village an advantage yet he knew that wasn't his homolog's intention. But showing any aggressive behavior might actually trigger a response on her end... The Kazekage and Mizukage were lucky to be on the good side of such a person. Kurama-dono was nothing short from ruthless when dealing with enemies. Yeah, staying in the clear was definitely the safest option...

Without A noticing, the ill-matched group had walked up to the two hotels the contestants and their delegation would stay at. Uzushio, Suna and Kiri were to stay in one, Konoha, Kumo, Iwa and Taki in the other. Something felt amiss though the contestants were unable to pinpoint what. Softly, Kurama hummed as if waiting for a remark or an objection. Even those not from Uzushio could take the hint and they rattled their brains to figure out what was wrong.

It was endearing.
It was impressive.
It was terrifying.

All those thoughts crossed A's mind as he realised that while it was quite a feat how the Kitsune managed to bring everyone to think just by a soft sound, it wasn't kindness that spurred her behaviour. Her gaze was directed at him, sharp and challenging. Had she guessed his earlier train of thoughts ? He was trained into never letting his emotions show so how ?

Shikamaru was watching the exchange with narrowed eyes. How easily the Uzukage could manipulate everyone was worrisome. He checked the group and found out that amongst all the delegations, only five people aside from him were watching her. Jiraiya and his father were well versed in manipulation and reading between the lines so they easily sensed something was wrong. Gaara seemed to always be watching her keenly but not warily. Suzuka knew her mother and if Shikamaru was completely honest, he was persuaded she was just as cunning and manipulative. As for Kushina, she was glaring at her former tenant with what looked like blind rage - or maybe more deaf rage as it felt as though she she hadn't reacted to what Kurama did but to the sole fact she did something.

Finally, he decided that it had taken long enough and sighed.

- With all due respect Raikage-sama, is a visit of the village not scheduled ?

That snapped everyone out of their transe and the Nara genius noticed Kurama smirking behind her sleeve.

A finally seemed to realize the reason for everyone's confusion and unease and quickly answered :

- The next trial will involve a familiarisation with the field beforehand. It was decided it would be more manageable to perform both the visit of the village and this field trip at the same time, after everyone had rested.

A content murmur rose from the crowd. Understandably, all the contestants were grateful for the break, it would be their first full-night rest since the beginning of the tournament. Now that Shikamaru thought about it, it felt like it had started weeks ago when only ten days had actually passed. But he did feel his shoulders relax and his attention falter upon hearing the word 'rested'.

Not waiting any longer, they went straight for their rooms and no words were spoken as they went to bed. It was 1 PM but no one had the strength to care.