The first sign that canon had noticed us was traffic.
Too many ninja.
Too many foreign headbands.
Too many smiles that didn't reach eyes.
---
The Chūnin Exams were coming.
You could feel it in the village.
Streets swept cleaner than usual. Patrols doubled. Civilians told to stay indoors after dusk and thanked for their cooperation.
Cooperation was mandatory.
---
Team Nineteen did not receive an exam invitation.
That was intentional.
We received coverage assignments.
Which meant standing near important things without being important ourselves.
---
"We are not protagonists," Morita-sensei said flatly. "We are load-bearing walls."
Jun grunted approval.
Hana nodded.
I wrote it down.
---
Our first post was outside Training Ground Eight.
Forest perimeter.
Secondary routes.
Places people fled through, not to.
---
That was where I saw them.
Naruto Uzumaki, loud as a declaration.
Sasuke Uchiha, quiet as a knife.
Sakura Haruno, trying to keep the universe from breaking apart between them.
Team Seven.
The story.
---
They walked past us without looking.
That hurt more than it should have.
---
"Don't stare," Morita-sensei murmured. "Fate hates eye contact."
I looked away.
---
The Forest of Death assignment came down the next morning.
Not inside.
Around it.
Intercept runners. Contain leaks. Clean up mistakes that didn't fit the narrative.
I hated that phrasing.
---
The screams started by noon.
They always did.
This time, they belonged to children with foreign accents.
---
We found the first body near a ravine.
Not one of ours.
Poisoned.
Jun identified it.
"Sound Village," he said. "New. Sloppy."
Hana scanned the trees.
"Not sloppy," she corrected. "Provocative."
---
We tagged the location and moved.
That was the rule.
---
The second incident wasn't a body.
It was a survivor.
Bleeding. Panicked. Crawling away from the forest like it was alive.
"Please," he said, seeing our headbands. "They're monsters."
He wasn't wrong.
---
Morita-sensei knelt.
"What team?"
"Grass," the boy sobbed. "They— they wore our faces."
I felt cold.
---
"Contain," Morita-sensei ordered.
That meant escort.
That meant paperwork.
That meant not asking about the pale man with a smile like hunger.
---
Later, rumors outran us.
A prodigy cursed.
A snake shedding skin.
A fight that bent the rules and didn't apologize.
Canon was moving.
Fast.
---
We crossed paths with Team Seven again near the perimeter.
Naruto was bleeding and grinning.
Sasuke was pale and furious.
Sakura looked like she'd aged years.
They didn't see us.
They were being seen by everyone else.
---
Administration directives shifted hourly.
Contain. Observe. Do not interfere.
Especially do not interfere.
---
At dusk, a foreign jōnin pushed the perimeter.
Accidentally.
On purpose.
Morita-sensei blocked him.
Words were exchanged.
Ranks displayed.
Smiles sharpened.
Then it passed.
Barely.
---
That night, Mika found me in the corridor.
Her face was gray.
"They're telling us to prepare for casualties," she said. "Officially."
"And unofficially?"
She swallowed.
"To keep numbers tidy."
---
I thought of the Forest.
Of kids killing kids so adults could negotiate from stronger chairs.
"Do what you must," I told her.
She stared at me.
"That's what you say now?"
"That's what I've always said," I replied.
She turned away.
---
The finals approached.
The village held its breath.
Team Nineteen tightened routes and sharpened contingency plans.
We were close enough to feel the pull.
Far enough to survive it.
For now.
---
I added a new line beneath the rules.
Not a rule.
A note.
Canon does not protect bystanders. It consumes them.
I folded the notebook.
Outside, the crowd roared.
Inside, we waited for something to go wrong.
It always did.