[GUtW]—❈—59:: Three of Eight

I am going to finish this story. And I am going to do it without another hiatus. I swear it.

—❈—

Sakura is being called ‘The Skywalker’ now.

The announcer had bestowed her the moniker after a decisive win in her second match just a few hours ago, and already the name seems to be catching on (though mostly among children, for now).

Sakura Haruno, The Skywalker.

Fortunately, Sakura likes the moniker, almost as much as Naruto likes the ‘Hurricane Uzumaki’ he’s been coined; a name which, according to him, is proof that he’s that much closer to being as awesome as The Second Hokage, since one of his epithets had been ‘The Tsunami’.

When Sakura pointed out to the blonde that a hurricane and a tsunami were two very different things, his reply was a dismissive; “Meh, they’re both weather.”

“No, they’re not!” Sakura had said, and I’d had to endure five minutes of my teammates arguing about what exactly was required for a natural phenomenon to count as weather.

Regardless of how much more annoying it’s made them, I’m… happy for Sakura. And I guess for Naruto too. Epithets are hardly the most important things to ninja, but having one does carry a certain weight, a certain renown, and our whole purpose for coming here was to get such renown.

I only hope that when I’m inevitably branded with a moniker of my own, it will be one that I’m even half as appreciative of as my teammates are of theirs.

Because the worst thing about monikers is that they’re damn near impossible to shake off.

Anyway, with the matches for the day over, Kakashi once again takes us around town for more public relations work, and my teammates and I once again find ourselves going around town to shake hands and kiss babies.

It’s different this time though.

The first time we did this, we were three rookies who made an impressive showing in the first round; memorable yes, but nothing mind-blowing. Now, though? Now we’re three rookies who’ve made it to the final eight.

This has never happened before. And just from how I can see some people react to us, I can already tell that re-evaluations are being made by many.

We spend the rest of our day in town, showing smiles and fraternizing with the masses.

Sometime in the evening, around when we’re getting ready call it a day and are all trying to ignore Naruto as he tries once again to convince us to have ramen, I spot Dosu and his teammate, Kin, the girl Sakura wiped the floor with in her first match, across the street from us.

They’re out of uniform, and if the reason for it is to better blend into their surroundings then it works, because, looking at them, it’s hard to see them as anything other two regular teenagers, even with the burn scars on Dosu’s face.

The teammates notice me observing them, and they look at me, a little challengingly, which is somewhat odd because I’ve had no problems with them so far.

I nod at them in greeting.

Kin scoffs, rolling her eyes and looking away, but Dosu, slowly and after a moment of deliberation, nods back.

I’m just about to turn away and focus back on my team, when Sakura notices my distraction and looks to see what I’m looking at.

“Hey,” she says, frowning in concentration, “isn’t that the Sound team?”

“Huh?” Naruto asks, interrupting his long-winded, and, I suspect, completely made-up, speech on the health benefits of ramen.

He looks where Sakura and I are both looking, and upon spotting the Sound-nin, waves excitedly.

“Hey, Dosu,” he calls, rushing over to the foreign ninja.

Already knowing, and accepting, that it’s too late now to avoid further engagement with Dosu and Kin, I follow the blonde at a more sedate pace, Sakura and Kakashi following along behind me.

Naruto bombards Dosu with questions rapid fire, the Sound-nin not even seeming to bother making an attempt to answer any.

Finally, after almost ten seconds of Naruto talking unceasingly, Kin snaps; “Do you ever shut up?”

“No,” Sakura says with heartfelt understanding, “he really doesn’t.”

Sakura’s simple act of commiseration draws a nasty look from the other girl, and Sakura blinks, confused at first, before her eyes widen in realization.

“Wait, you still haven’t gotten over the fact that I beat you?” she asks.

“You got lucky,” Kin growls, looking ready to throw hands in the street.

Sakura lets out a very unladylike laugh. “Lucky? Please. I took you out with one move. Put you down so hard they had to bring in extra sand to fill up the hole you left in the ground—”

And they had. They really had.

“—What’s lucky about that?” Sakura finishes.

Kin goes red.

“Well, maybe we should get a rematch then, Skywalker,” she says, voice low with anger. “See how well you really do.”

Sakura seems to actually consider it, for all of a single second, then she waves dismissively.

“Nah, I don’t fight sore losers,” she says.

Somehow, Kin gets redder, and even Dosu appears offended for his teammate’s sake.

“Who’s hungry?” I ask, bringing all attention to myself with those two simple words.

Naruto, who had looked uncomfortable at the rising tension, quickly catches on.

“Yeah,” he says, “we were just about to have dinner, you guys should join us.”

I can see the rejection coming before Dosu utters it.

For a moment, I consider trying to talk them into joining us, to build (or, I guess, mend) bridges if nothing else, but, to be honest, I’m exhausted.

After a day of smiling at strangers I just want to get a good meal and go to bed, not assuage fragile egos and work through awkward dinners.

Now that I think about it, Sakura is likely in the same boat. It would explain her behaviour; she’s usually more patient with prickly people.

Just as I expected, Dosu turns down my offer for dinner, and before Naruto can try to change his mind I speak over him, accepting understandingly and hoping we could do it another time.

The Sound-nin leave, and we get dinner, finally caving in to Naruto’s desire for ramen when we walk past a ramen stand that smelled rather good.

In return, Sakura makes Naruto swear to not even suggest ramen as a dinner option again for the rest of our stay here in Phoenix Palace City.

Finally, the day ends, and the next day we do more of the same.

It’s just as tedious as it was the day before.

—❈—

Not the best chapter to get back into the swing of things, but... oh well.

No worries though, next chapter, we get back to the action.

Thank you all so much for your patience with me all this time.