The heavy silence was sliced thin by the sound of wood sliding against wood. The traditional shoji door—the delicate paper-and-wood frame—was thrown open with a sharp, violent snap.
The group stood like statues, their shadows long and grey against the floor as the cold air from the hallway rushed in. For a heartbeat, the only sound was the whistling wind and the frantic breathing of the people standing in the Pavilion.
The traditional paper door sat wide open, but the doorway was empty. There was no shadow, no figure, and no one stepping into the light.
The hallway beyond looked like a dark, silent tunnel, making the open space feel even more chilling.
The group stood frozen, their minds racing as they stared at the empty frame.
Karin stepped back instinctively, her glasses reflecting the flat light of the morning, 'Who opened it?' she thought.
Ino stood with her eyes wide, her head tilting as she tried to figure out the trick. She looked at the floor, then the ceiling, wondering if a ninja was hiding just out of sight, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Sakura held her breath, her feet planted firmly on the tatami mat, ready for anything. She gripped the edge of the table, her heart hammering against her ribs. 'What happened?' she wondered. To her, it felt like the wind itself had developed hands and forced its way in.
Naruto didn't move his hand toward a kunai, but his body was coiled like a spring, his eyes never leaving the opening.
Tenten narrowed her eyes, her hand moving toward her weapon pouch. 'Where is the person who opened this?' She didn't believe in accidents; if a door opened that fast, someone—or something—had to be behind it.
Hinata gripped the fabric of her sleeve so hard her knuckles turned white.
In the middle of all this heavy tension, Mini-Sasuke stood near the back, his small hands clutching the hem of his shirt.
His dark eyes were huge, darting toward the corners of the ceiling where the shadows were thickest. While the others looked for enemies or logic, he was convinced of something far more terrifying.
'A ghost', he thought, his bottom lip trembling slightly.
'It has to be a ghost. Only a ghost moves that fast and stays invisible.' He looked ready to dive behind the nearest futon at any second.
Everyone's gaze was pulled toward the door, waiting to see who opened the door and whether it brought an explanation for Lee's madness—or a new danger entirely.
The pale morning light hit the empty doorway, making the silence feel heavy and suffocating. No one dared to move, waiting for a sound or a sign of life from the empty hall.
The heavy silence was suddenly broken by a clumsy, muffled sound from behind the paper wall adjacent to the open door.
It was the sound of someone moving too fast for their own good.
A sharp, pained voice hissed from behind the thin paper walls door: "Ow!"
Immediatey after, a second voice—sharp, cold, and dripping with annoyance—cut through the air. "You idiot, stop acting blind. The opening is right there!"
Before the group in the room could even react, the thin, traditional paper wall groaned under a sudden, heavy weight. With a violent RRRIP, the delicate white paper shredded like silk.
A figure, having lost his balance and slammed into the wrong section of the wall, came crashing through the frame.
The figure didn't land gracefully. He fell into the room, his limbs tangling with the torn paper and wooden grid of the door, ending up stuck in a heap on the floor.
As the dust and paper scraps settled, the true source of the tension stepped through the actual doorway.
Framed by the soft, morning light, a young boy stood tall, wearing a traditional yukata that flowed around his ankles. When he looked up, his eyes weren't the dark color they used to be—they were a piercing, bloody red, spinning with the two tomoe of the SHARINGAN.
The group gasped in unison, their eyes darting from the newcomer to the person struggling on the ground.
As th,e boy on the floor untangled himself from the ruined wall and looked up with a flushed, frustrated face, the room went completely still.
It was Neji. The genius of the Hyuga, usually so composed and perfect, was messy and stuck in a pile of paper, while an Uchiha stood over him with eyes that burned like ashes in the dim light.
Tenten stared, her mouth hanging open.
Ino and Karin also stared. They looked at the Sharingan, then at Neji, then back again, their minds unable to process why these two we're returning in such a messy state.
Hinata the silent calculative person thought, 'I thought that Tenten chan told me that they had gone to make arrangements for food. Then.. Why are Neji Ni-san and Sasuke-kun in such a miserable state as if something bad happened.'
She tried to remember every detail starting from Tenten's words to Lee's warning and the horrible entry of the group leaders
As she finally put the pieces together her eyes went wide.
Sakura stepped back, her hand over her mouth. The sight of those red eyes in Tetsu no Kuni made her blood run cold.
'If Sasuke-kun has activated his Sharingan in such a risky place- a hotel... Then that means he Neji-san must have been stuck in a difficult situation but what? '
Mini-Sasuke stared at his Older Self, his ghost fears forgotten as he saw a reflection of a power he knew all too well.
The pale sun, still trapped behind the grey clouds, cast a ghostly glow over the scene.
The 'disgrace' of the two greatest clans on which the Konoha elders were murmuring are indeed found in the 'wasteland like Tetsu no Kuni.'
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly from confusion to a cold, sharp dread. The pale morning light seemed to dim as Sasuke stepped further into the pavilion, his Sharingan glowing like a warning signal in the shadows.
"Where is Lee?" Sasuke asked, his voice low and cutting. He didn't look at anyone specifically; his eyes were scanning the exits, his body tense with a hidden urgency.
Neji, finally pulling himself free from the torn paper and wooden scraps, stood up with a grim expression. His usual calm was replaced by a hard, focused edge.
"There is no time for that," he snapped, his voice tight. He looked at the group, his gaze lingering for a split second on the window.
"EVERYONE—JUMP! NOW!"
The command hung in the air, but no
one moved. The order made no sense. They were in a high-rise pavilion, surrounded by the biting cold of Tetsu no Kuni. Why would they jump into the unknown?
Ino gripped the edge of a pillar, her mind racing. 'Jump? Is he crazy? We're five stories up!'
Karin pushed her glasses up, her eyes wide behind the lenses. 'The chakra in the air... it's changing. Something is coming, but what could be worse than a jump from this height?'
Sakura looked at Naruto, then back at Sasuke. She saw the sweat on Neji's brow and the flicker of the Sharingan, and she realized this wasn't a drill.
The reality of the situation crashed down when Sasuke moved. Without a word, he stepped toward Mini-Sasuke.
Before the boy could even blink, the Sasuke reached down and hoisted him up, carrying him securely as if he were a precious, fragile weight.
At that exact moment, Neji didn't wait for a reply. He sprinted toward the balcony railing—the same one Naruto had been hanging from moments ago—and disappeared over the edge in a silent, professional dive.
"What's happening!?" Mini-Sasuke whispered, his voice trembling as he clutched at Sasuke's yukata. His small eyes were wide with fear, looking up at the version of himself that seemed so cold and powerful.
"Where are we going and...? Why did he jump?"
Sasuke didn't look down. He adjusted his grip, his eyes fixed on the open sky beyond the balcony. "There is no time for an explanation," he said, his voice echoing through the silent room like a gavel.
"Everyone... JUMP!"
The desperation in his voice was the final straw. The group realized that the 'safe' walls of the pavilion were no longer safe at all.
Outside, the clouded sun was suddenly eclipsed by a massive, moving shadow, and the ground below seemed like the only hope they had left.
The stillness of the pavilion was murdered by a new sound—the heavy, rhythmic clank-clank-clank of metal hitting metal.
It was the unmistakable sound of armored Samurai sprinting down the wooden corridors. The floorboards groaned under the weight of several men in heavy plate, their voices shouting orders that grew louder with every second.
The 'peace' of the morning had vanished.
Naruto didn't wait any longer. Seeing Sasuke holding his younger self and the look on Neji's face was enough. He vaulted over the railing first, his orange sweater a blur against the grey sky.
Sakura followed immediately, her pink hair whipping in the wind as she grit her teeth, her heart in her throat. One by one, the others followed—Ino with a terrified scream, Karin holding her glasses onto her face, and Tenten diving with a practiced roll.
They were on the fifth floor. The drop was terrifyingly steep.
Below in the market, the elderly vegetable vendor was still trembling with rage. He had just finished picking up a few bruised cabbages and was trying to patch up his broken wooden cartons.
"That green brat... ruined my morning," he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. "At least it can't get any worse."
Suddenly, the air above him whistled.
Sasuke, holding Mini-Sasuke tightly to his chest, plummeted from the fifth-story balcony. He landed with a bone-shattering CRASH directly onto the vendor's remaining wooden cartons.
The wood splintered into a thousand shards, and the last of the fresh crops were crushed into a watery, green paste.
"GAH!!"
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📊 BATTLE REPORT: 65-IRON 📊
LOSER: The Vegetable Vendor 🥦🥕🌽
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
"Are you people raining from the sky?! "
"Annoying"
"Do you think he was trying to commit suicide over a broken heart?"
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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