"Why is Sasuke so red. Did he already confess."
"Oh no, he has a love letter."
"Two love letters. He's that serious."
Sakura and Ino, running entirely on hormones, egged each other on until they were practically shipping it.
For Naruto it felt like the sky caved in.
Every time one of them blurted out another line, his heart thudded like it had been clubbed. Watching Konome and Sasuke talk, seeing her smiling so easily, turned his stomach.
Damn you, Sasuke.
Why.
You already have Sakura and Ino. Why are you going after Konome too.
I met her first.
I was the first one she talked to.
Uuu…
Three crestfallen souls, Naruto, Sakura, and Ino, all made the same long face.
Shikamaru squinted at the distant scene, where Sasuke looked ready to blow a gasket. The girls' commentary sounded airtight, but none of it matched what he was seeing.
Who stands in a boxer's stance when confessing.
He had never confessed to anyone either, so even with his doubts he was not ready to contradict two seasoned romantics.
Choji and Kiba kept crunching chips. With Sakura and Ino providing play-by-play, they did not need to think. It might as well be a TV show.
Out on the lawn.
"What's so funny. Are you mocking me for not knowing my place."
Sasuke's eyes were rimmed red. The apology and the challenge in his hands felt hotter with every unrestrained chuckle from Konome. He could not fathom what joke he had become.
So he blamed it on contempt. He clenched his fists and seethed.
"You are a little out of your depth. But that's not why I laughed."
Konome smoothed her smile away. She still needed to pluck leaves for training and had no time to stand here bickering.
"I'm not accepting your challenge."
"Why not. Afraid."
He stepped in front of her, goading.
"My time is valuable. Why should I accept. What is in it for me."
He had not thought that far. Silence.
"What do you want."
"Oh."
Konome studied the heir apparent of the Uchiha and realized he was not entirely hopeless.
She needed a path into Fire Release nature transformation. And the path was standing right here.
"One Fire Release jutsu for one match," she said, raising a finger. "Pay first, fight later. No credit, no haggling."
"Why not just rob me."
The anger cooled and his native wit returned. Even as the clan head's son, he could not just hand out clan techniques. Uchiha fire was famous across the nations. Trading a jutsu for a single bout was absurd.
"Robbery is dangerous. Fighting you is safer."
"…"
He had no comeback. He was mad, he could not win, and he could not pay the entry fee. In the end he could only get mad.
He flung both letters on the ground and stomped off.
No coin dropped. Konome sighed. So clever at the one moment it hurt her wallet.
Fine. Some things cannot be rushed.
She turned and started gathering leaves beneath the crooked-branch tree. Wind training used leaves. Fire probably would too. One cuts, the other ignites. Without a formal method she would have to feel it out.
…
"Why did Sasuke storm off. And throw away his love letters."
Tears still wet, Sakura and Ino stared after him.
"Then Konome must have turned him down. Serves him right," Naruto crowed, beam brighter than the sun.
Bonk.
A throbbing anger-mark popped on Sakura's forehead as she hammered Naruto's skull with a fist.
"Ow. What was that for."
"You deserved it."
Ino and Sakura stood united for once. The three onlookers figured the episode was over and, seeing Naruto eat it, dragged him away like good friends.
"We've liked Sasuke forever. How can she show up and steal him."
"Come on, Ino. We're going to set her straight."
Sakura, drunk on jealousy, seized Ino's hand and charged.
"Wait, Sakura, don't."
Ino had just enough sense left to remember their power gap. Sasuke had been flattened. Kazama-sensei had not come to class in days. Rumor said half his ribs were cracked and he was still in Konoha Hospital.
Just picturing Konome barehanding a Fireball made Ino's bones go cold.
Too bad Sakura's grip was iron. On momentum and nerve alone she dragged Ino right up to Konome, who was still crouched, picking leaves.
Konome lifted a leaf, checked for cuts, and pocketed it. She reached for another and saw Sakura hauling a reluctant Ino toward her.
"Konome."
As Konome raised her head, Sakura's green eyes blazed. "Ino has something to say to you."
"Eh. Me."
Ino pointed to her own nose, stunned.
Konome looked from Ino to Sakura's impeccably innocent face and connected the dots.
If Konome had rejected Sasuke, then there was no them. If Konome sent Ino to the hospital, Sakura would be the last girl standing.
So that big forehead was not just decoration.
Sakura tilted her head, feigning interest in the clouds, ignoring Ino's glare. Heh heh. Go on, Ino-pig. When Konome is done rearranging your face, you will be in no shape to compete.
"Yamanaka, say what you came to say," Konome said, bouncing the leaves in her pocket. She had enough for now and rose to face the pair.
They had to be misunderstanding something.
"Uh…"
Put on the spot, Ino's toes curled in the dirt. She did not want to bunk with Kazama-sensei in the hospital.
"I… um… brought you a gift. Welcome to the Advanced Class."
Panic hijacked her mouth. She blindly thrust out the snack box she had prepared for Sasuke.
"Thanks, Yamanaka."
Konome accepted with both hands and zero shame.
Yesterday she had promised Choji snacks, then Might Guy burned her into a pauper. Reverse Eight Gates would not be happening anytime soon. Her plans for Yang Release involved that kindly foodie.
Time to regift.
Seeing Konome accept the offering without fuss, Ino relaxed and found her nerve. Survival instinct ebbed. Romance brain clicked back on.
"Konome… was Sasuke just confessing to you."
She tried to sound casual.
Sakura's ears pricked like a cat's.
"Confessing."
Konome looked honestly baffled. His Sharingan was about to pop and he was confessing.
"Didn't he give you love letters," Ino pressed, emboldened.
"Two of them," Sakura added helpfully, holding up two fingers.
Konome sighed. These two were incurable.
In Kirigakure, girls their age would already be ready to kill teammates. Konoha's safety was enviable. Lucky for her she was a Leaf now too.
She pointed at the discarded envelopes Sasuke had thrown. "One each. See for yourselves."
They obeyed, opened, and read. The longer they read the more awkward their faces became. So it had all been a misunderstanding. They had cried for nothing.
"Do you like Sasuke, then."
Sakura could not let it go. Or rather, her danger sense was howling. Konome's cute face and terrifying strength made Sakura feel small. If a fight for Sasuke ever came, she would have no chance.
"Why would I like him."
Konome truly did not get it.
Ino almost blurted Sasuke's greatest strength, then glanced at the black cloth over Konome's eyes and swallowed it. Exceptional looks were the last thing that would sway a blind girl.
"Like him how."
"Like…," Ino floundered.
"Ugly," Sakura said sweetly, giving Ino the subtlest cue.
Best friends and rivals, they were in sync.
"Not just ugly. Arrogant," they said in chorus to Konome. "He has a million flaws and ignores everyone. We can't stand him."
There. Now you will not fall for him.
Konome said nothing. Not because she saw through them but because she saw Sasuke, having doubled back from the school building, standing right behind them.
"Listen, Konome. Sasuke's faults are too many to count."
Behind them Sasuke's face got darker and darker. He had suddenly remembered tossing his apology away. If someone found it he would never live it down. Then what had been the point of dragging Konome out of class.
So he came back to search. And found his two top fans passing his faults back and forth like a relay baton.
He had always liked their praise, even if he treated them coolly. One touch of Konome and both fan club captains had defected.
Konome Taketori, you ruin everything.
"If you face Sasuke again in sparring, don't hold back."
"Right. Just do not kill him or ruin his face. Otherwise, hit him until he never bothers you again."
They were dancing on the lip of a volcano.
Konome pressed her lips together and nodded.
A sharp scoff cut the air behind them. Sakura and Ino jerked around to glimpse Sasuke's rigid back as he strode away.
They looked at each other, stricken.
We're dead.
"Sasuke," Sakura ran after him. Ino meant to follow and explain.
"Yamanaka, wait," Konome said, stopping her with a fox-bright smile.
Sasuke was clever. But there were always easy marks.
You take the shot when it is there. If nothing comes of it, no harm done.
"You like Sasuke."
"I… like him," Ino admitted after the briefest hesitation.
"He needs something from me."
"What do you mean."
"I mean I can help you."
Konome leaned close, lips by Ino's ear. "But I have a small problem too. I need a bit of guidance on Yin Release nature transformation."
Ino jolted back. "That's the Yamanaka clan's secret arts."
"Relax. I am not asking for secret techniques. Just a little Yin Release knowledge."
"…"
Ino went quiet.
"In that case I will just help Sakura and Sasuke along."
"Wait. I… will think about it."
"Really, just a little."
Konome pinched thumb and forefinger, this much. Seeing Ino already wavering, her smile turned sunnier.
Love makes people blind.
Leaf kids have goods to trade and are easy to persuade.
She liked it here.
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