Warnings: AU, language (A LOT of swearing), violence, gore, drug use, bastardized Itachi (and possibly rather OOC), citrus

Note: I took my pirate story off for now. I might repost it some day, but right now I just have no inspiration. I received just enough negative feedback about the OOCness I started to feel that way myself, haha. I don't like having incomplete stories I have no intention of finishing.

There isn't really OOCness in this story (except as mentioned above).

Dream Big or Go Home

Every young boy and girl in the country wanted to attend The Academy. They dreamed of it from the time they were old enough to understand the honor and prestige of receiving an education there. For there was no other place in the country of the Hidden Leaf, Konoha, where an individual could receive the training to join the Imperial Army as one of the coveted Shinobi bonded pairs.

Naruto Uzumaki had been working toward this goal from pretty much the moment of his birth. He knew he would become a bonded pair, he would join the Army, and he would rise in the ranks and eventually take over the country of Konoha as Hokage.

It required all his focus, dedication, and attention to receive high enough scores and honors in school to be accepted into The Academy, and when he received his letter he was overjoyed. His jubilation lasted for two straight weeks before his three closest friends finally had enough.

"Jeez, man, I'm tired of all the noise!" Kiba Inuzuka complained.

"So bothersome," Shikamaru Nara grumbled.

"It's messing with my appetite!" Choji Akimichi whined.

Naruto accused them of ganging up and being unfair, since all three of them had also been accepted into The Academy, and why weren't they as excited as he?

When the first day of classes finally arrived, the four friends made their way to the campus together. This was the place, Naruto thought, he would be spending the next four years of his life. Students lived on campus to develop their skills together, making them a more cohesive unit should they join the Army. His eyes took in the sprawling collection of buildings that made up the land's most desired school.

The Academy's central building stood some twenty stories tall, rising in a graceful spire in the center of campus. The buildings surrounding it had all been constructed to draw attention to this central building, a feat of architecture Naruto took long moments to appreciate. The remaining buildings numbered well over thirty, and he amused himself with trying to picture which of them were the famed sparring halls.

"Look at it!" Kiba said, eyes practically glowing. "Can't believe we're gonna be living here for the next four years!"

"Ugh, it's so big," Shikamaru muttered. "It'll be troublesome navigating. It's a whole city in there."

"I wonder what the food's like?" Choji said, hand digging constantly into his bag of chips.

Naruto folded his hands behind his head. "We're gonna take this place by storm. They ain't never seen anyone like me, before!"

"No one's seen anyone like you before," Kiba said, elbowing Naruto. "You're a weird freak."

"Oy, says the dog-for-brains!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping on him.

A few minutes of tussling later, the four sixteen-year-old boys finally made their way to the central building where new students were checking in for orientation. Naruto was slightly surprised by the sheer number of them. There have to be at least one-thousand of them. For a moment, the volume daunted him.

Then he steeled his spine. Doesn't matter how many are my competition. I'll beat them all for the top spot!

It took half an hour to get checked in, then the four friends made their way to an enormous auditorium and picked seats by each other. To Naruto's delight, there were two cute girls right beside him. He immediately gave them his wide, fox-grin.

"Hiya!" he greeted them. "I'm Naruto!"

The taller one, a pretty blonde with blue eyes, grinned. "Ino," she said, tossing her long ponytail over her shoulder. "This is Sakura."

Sakura, a cutie with pink hair and jade eyes, gave Naruto a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."

Before they could really get a conversation going, a woman walked onto the raised stage and called for the new students to sit down and quiet down. When the hall had more or less quieted, she cleared her throat.

"I am Assistant Director Shizune," she said. "Welcome to the Academy, and congratulations for making it this far. I am the department head of Student Relations, so if any of you ever find yourselves having difficulties, I'm the one to talk to. Now, allow me to introduce the Academy Director, Tsunade."

A tall woman with an impressive chest and blonde hair took the stage.

"Welcome to The Academy," she said. "Many of you know of the training that goes on here from friends, family, or reports. I can confirm that much of what you have heard is true, but I want to assure you those reports would only scratch the surface.

"This is the most prestigious school in the country," she went on, "for many reasons, but the one I'm sure excites all of you the most is our training program for bonded Shinobi pairs."

A murmur rippled through the hall.

Tsunade smiled. "You will each one of you get your chance to take part in this training. However, you outnumber your potential partners by nearly three to one. That means, only one third of you will actually get the opportunity to bond and form a team. Naturally, competition will be stiff. You were all accepted, meaning you all excelled at the skills for which we search. Only the very best of you will graduate a bonded Shinobi pair."

Naruto leaned forward a little in excitement.

"Now, as you know," Tsunade continued, "there are two halves to the Shinobi teams. All of you gathered possess the skills of Controller, those with the ability to take another form. The other half, the Coordinators, possess the rare and unique catalytic skill necessary to spark the transformation. The Coordinators begin their training four months before your own, so your fellow first-years are already here. As you begin classes, you are all encouraged to spend any free time in the sparring halls and practice fighting with as many of each other as you can.

"Simply put," she said, "the more Coordinators with whom you fight, the better your chances of finding the one with whom you want to pair. Of course, no students are allowed to bond until the successful end of their first year, and only those who bond continue on to the second year of the Shinobi program. The remaining students will continue with regular courses and enlist in the Army as soldiers.

"There are only a few things we require of first year students," Tsunade concluded, "that I must go over before I introduce the department heads. First, you are all a credit to your villages and families. Be proud of your accomplishments thus far. Second, not bonding with a Coordinator does not make you a failure. There are many other areas for students to shine. And third, Controllers are monitored very carefully for any signs of abuse toward the Coordinators. We do not allow that sort of behavior, and even the slightest hint of it will result in immediate expulsion with no chance to re-enroll at any point in the future."

Tsunade paused as if to let those words sink in. Then she smiled. "Now that's over with, allow me to introduce the heads of each training program."

~o0o~

Orientation lasted another three hours, and by the end Naruto was dying from boredom. Shikamaru had long fallen asleep, Kiba was squirming like a two-year-old, and Choji hadn't stopped eating snacks even once. When Tsunade finally dismissed everyone, he all but bolted out of the hall. The students were divvied into about two-dozen groups, some large, some small.

Naruto wound up in a group with Kiba, Sakura, and about forty others to receive a tour of campus from the Program Director of the Shinobi training program. Naruto inwardly cheered his luck. This man was the one for whom he needed to make sure he worked his absolute hardest.

"Yo," the man said, most of his face obscured by a mask and forehead protector. His only visible eye squinted as if he were smiling. "Kakashi Hatake. You were all chosen to be my charges for a specific reason. You show some of the most prominent qualities we look for in Controllers, scoring the highest overall in combative tests or control of your forms. A few of you even have more than one form."

Naruto puffed up his chest, immediately raising his hand. "Kakashi-sensei!" he exclaimed. "I have three!"

Kakashi turned toward him, doing that squint-smile thing with his eye again. "Yes, yes. Very rare and impressive. Typically Controllers who have more than one form have terrible control."

Some of the others sniggered.

Naruto folded his arms, half glaring, half sulking.

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, I suppose we'll find out. Follow me, I'm supposed to show you around."

The Program Director led them all around the grounds. He showed them the dormitory halls, the lecture halls, the classrooms, the infirmary, and the faculty offices. Then he brought them to the impressive east wing, where were located all the sparring halls.

"These doors are locked after ten pm," he said, "and open at five in the morning. Students are free to come and go at any of the hours between. Simply, the more you spar with Coordinators, the more likely one will be to find you a suitable match."

"Ne, sensei?" Naruto asked. "Does The Academy have any say in who pairs with who?"

"With whom," Kakashi corrected. "And for the most part, no. The choice is left to the Coordinators. The only time a teacher would intervene is if he or she suspected abuse or manipulation of some kind."

Interesting. Naruto resolved to make himself known to the Coordinators as soon as absolutely possible. He needed to blow his competition out of the water right away.

"Do Controllers and Coordinators have the same classes?" Sakura asked.

"No," Kakashi replied. "Unlike you guys, Coordinators are given special training from a very young age since that ability is much rarer. They're usually put into advanced classes. Academically, they will already know everything taught to you Controllers."

Naruto nodded, frowning thoughtfully. Made sense.

"But don't worry," Kakashi went on. "Any Controllers who bond at the end of the year are put into the same advanced classes so they can catch up to their Coordinator."

The rest of the tour, Naruto hardly paid any attention. All he could think about was getting his shot at paring up with the Coordinators and working his way to becoming a bonded Shinobi.

Orientation lasted until dinner time. Since the Coordinators weren't anywhere around on just this one day, Naruto went to his assigned room. To his delight, Kiba was his roommate.

"Man, I'm so excited I could piss myself!" Kiba exclaimed, giving Naruto a high-five. "I can't wait until tomorrow after our morning classes so we can meet the Coordinators and start!"

"Yeah, me too!" Naruto enthused. "How are we supposed to sleep!"

Somehow, as soon as he laid down to close his eyes, he drifted off.

~*o0o*~

For the first time in memory, Naruto woke up before his alarm. Remembering what today was, he sprang out of bed, instantly wide awake. He and Kiba worked around each other in the small dorm, both wearing shit-eating grins as they finished getting ready and ran side-by-side to the dining hall.

Only a couple dozen students were this early, and among them were Choji and Shikamaru. The four friends reunited, Choji already chowing down with enthusiasm and Shikamaru looking bored as usual.

"Man, I can't wait until the two-hour lunch break today!" Naruto said as they sat together. "I'm going straight to the sparring halls! You guys gonna come, too?"

"Of course!" Kiba said.

"Yep," Choji agreed, "after lunch. Shika?"

Shikamaru gave a bored sound. "I guess."

Not for the first time, Naruto wondered why his unmotivated friend had even enrolled at The Academy. He didn't even know if the other teen really wanted to be here.

After breakfast, classes started at nine. The four friends all had different classes, so they separated with waves, and Naruto gave Kiba an excited grin. He tried to pay attention through class, but it was purely scholastic and he got bored. It was the same all morning, but finally it was time for lunch.

He and Kiba met as promised, but there was no sign of either Choji or Shikamaru. "Oh well," Naruto said, shrugging. "We can go together."

So it was in the dining hall, crowded in with a bunch of other first years, that he first clapped eyes on this year's Coordinators.

Somehow, they were easy to tell from the Controllers. They had an entirely different aura about them, and Naruto found his eyes eagerly scanning over them, trying to guess which were skilled, who among them were the most powerful. The entire room was brimming with potential.

And he was about halfway done hurrying through lunch when he first saw him.

Three Coordinators entered the dining hall at the far end with an entry that commanded attention. They were a striking trio, the tallest with dark brown hair and strange, pale eyes. The one a little shorter had red hair and pale green eyes, dark-rimmed as though chronically sleep-deprived.

But it was the third, the shortest one in the middle, that captured and held Naruto's attention.

His features were striking. Moon-pale skin, midnight blue-black hair. Eyes of gleaming jet, large and liquid dark in which he might drown. Though slim, the firm muscle tone was easy to discern. He held himself with the grace of a panther, a condescending glint in his eye and an arrogant tilt to his chin.

Exquisite, was the first word that crowded into Naruto's mind.

The second was, Mine. That one will be mine.

All the other Coordinators in the hall looked at them with varying degrees of envy, hostility, or awe. And Naruto saw he wasn't the only Controller taking note of them, either.

"Wonder who they are?" Kiba said in a low voice.

The three didn't stay, stopping long enough only to each grab a sandwich before leaving again. Naruto's eyes remained glued to the raven-haired one, committing everything about him to memory. When they were finally gone, he turned to find Kiba wearing a big grin.

"I like the black-haired one," he said. "I'm gonna partner with him right away!"

An absurd bolt of jealousy flared in Naruto. He did his best to quash it. Sorry, man. He's already mine. He just doesn't know it yet.

Despite his intentions, he saw neither hide nor hair of his black-haired beauty when he and Kiba raced to the sparring halls. As a result, he didn't get in a single good spar. It left him in a somewhat sour mood as he headed to afternoon classes. He brightened a little when he saw he shared it with Sakura.

She waved at him. "Naruto!"

Grinning, he plopped in a seat next to her. "Hi, Sakura-chan. First day going good?"

"Yeah!" she said. "Me and Ino watched a bunch of matches in the sparring halls. Tomorrow, we're going to pair up if we can."

"Me too!" Naruto said.

This class was taught by none other than Shizune, and she stepped to the head of the room. "Good afternoon, everyone. This class is designed to go over the finer points of working with a Coordinator. Have most of you had the chance to at least observe some matches?"

Nods around the room.

"Good. Before we get started on any exercises, I'm going to go over the basics so we're all on the same page."

She pointed a little remote at the white board behind her, and a holo chart appeared on it. "You all know the three areas where a Controller might excel. Offensive, defensive, or both. You'll find that nearly every Coordinator prefers one of these, depending on his or her personality."

She clicked the remote, and another graph appeared, this one of the human body. "You all know by now that in order to transform, a Controller must gather chakra and concentrate a stream through the entire body. When you partner with a Coordinator for the first time, this stream is perceptible to him or her. The Coordinator essentially merges his or her own chakra with the Controller's. This reaction is the catalyst that sparks the Controller's change. They assume their weapon form in the hands of the Coordinator for as long as they can maintain the bond."

Shizune brought up another graph. "Typically, a pair's first reaction will only last a few short minutes. The more you partner with different Coordinators, the more control you will develop until you're able to maintain this bond for an hour or more."

Yet another chart. "Depending on the stamina of both the Controller and the Coordinator, a dissolved bond can be reformed quite quickly until one or both run out of chakra."

Now she brought up images of bonded pairs in various fighting stances. "As you know, both Coordinators and Controllers use chakra during their bond to power attacks. What you may not know is that a Coordinator can't initiate this."

Now she brought up an anatomical image of two humans with blue lines connecting them. "The Coordinator guides the pace of battle, but the reason you are called Controllers is because only you will be able to use chakra to power attacks, called ninjutsu or genjutsu. In essence, the Coordinator must channel his or her own chakra through their Controller, who combines it with his or her own to perform these two feats. As I'm sure you can imagine, it takes a good deal of practice, trial, and error to perfect this process. You will partner with Coordinators who will have excellent control of chakra, some who won't."

"Ne, sensei?" Naruto said, raising his hand. "Can you give us examples?"

Shizune smiled. "Of course." She clicked her remote, and the picture of a dark-haired girl with pale lavender eyes appeared. "This is Hinata Hyuga. She possess remarkable control of chakra for a first year. The level of her power is somewhat lower. I'm sure many of you have seen her older cousin, Neji."

The picture changed to that pale-eyed guy who'd been with his raven beauty.

"Neji," Shizune said, "was the strongest Coordinator from last year. He and his Controller, Tenten, are a formidable pair yet to suffer a defeat by any student."

Naruto allowed himself to be impressed.

Now the red-headed guy's picture appeared. "This is Gaara," Shizune said. "The level of his power is always at the top of our recording instruments, and his control is excellent."

Now that raven-haired beauty's picture appeared. "And this is Sasuke Uchiha. Like Gaara, the level of his power is extremely high."

"So he's the best!" Naruto practically crowed.

"Not necessarily," Shizune said. "His control is less-than-perfect. While he may have a deep well of chakra, he tends to waste it because he can't control it. This can lead to the Coordinator and Controller being unable to maintain a bond." Another picture appeared.

"This is Karin. She's a good example of a high level of chakra and excellent control."

The pictures disappeared. "The common theme among first years," Shizune said, "is Controllers always want the Coordinator with the most power. You will quickly find it is not power that decides a match. What you want is a Coordinator whose level of both power and control complement your own."

She smiled. "This is true both on the battlefield and off. A bonded pair should also have personalities that don't clash, because emotions can and do carry over to combat."

After this, her lecture got more technical and Naruto had a hard time not tuning her out. Eventually, she broke the class into pairs to practice control exercises. She paired Naruto with a guy with a kind face named Naoki.

At the end of afternoon classes, Naruto skipped dinner for now and ran straight for the sparring halls. First year Coordinators had different uniforms than second-plus years, so they were easy to discern from those who were already bonded. Naruto scanned over the gathered students, looking for a certain raven.

There! Leaning with seeming indolence against the padded rail blocking off the sparring mats, Sasuke was between Neji, Gaara, and two others Naruto didn't recognize. He didn't care as a grin split his face and he dashed to them.

"Ne, Sasuke," he said, capturing their attention, "I'm Naruto. Wanna partner with me?"

Black eyes, endlessly black, blacker than the deepest night, gazed into summer-sky blue. There was something almost soothing about those dark eyes. So dark, his pupils weren't discernible from the iris. Then Sasuke looked down, breaking the spell, his eyes traveling all the way to Naruto's feet and then back up to his face.

"Hn," he said, straightening and turning his back. "I don't partner with idiots."

For ten seconds, Naruto was too stunned to move.

What?

Seriously. Ten seconds. He'd never been speechless for ten seconds.

WHAT!?

"Teme!" he snapped, stomping forward two steps, reaching out a hand to grab the guy's shoulder. "You don't even know me -!"

Almost faster than he could register, Neji moved. In an eye-blink, the taller and older Coordinator stood between them, taking a step forward with such murderous intent it startled Naruto a step back. His strange, pale eyes flashed.

"Don't touch him," he said in a flat, emotionless voice. "He said no, so get lost."

Swallowing and refusing to be bullied, Naruto squared his shoulders and threw a glare at the raven-haired Coordinator. Sasuke was watching out of the corner of his eye, and a smirk teased at the corner of his mouth. Then he once more looked away, clearly dismissing the blonde Controller.

Growling, fully prepared to punch Neji in the face and then probably punch Sasuke, too, Naruto opened his mouth to deliver a good verbal smack-down.

"Sasuke-kun?" a female voice said, derailing Naruto's intentions.

He blinked and noticed Sakura had approached them. The pretty pink-haired Controller smiled shyly at Sasuke when the raven looked at her.

"Do you want to partner with me?" she asked, a hint of color spreading over her cheeks.

Deliberately looking over at Naruto, Sasuke smiled before turning back to the girl. "Sure."

No shit, Naruto literally saw red. Bastard! Figures your personality would be totally opposite your face! He watched as the Coordinator and Controller stepped onto a sparring mat and were almost immediately joined by another pair. Clenching his jaw, Naruto retreated. For now.

Defeat was not in his vocabulary.

~o0o~

Stepping onto the sparring mat, Sasuke Uchiha peripherally noticed the blonde Controller move away with a sulky expression. Good. It wasn't in his nature to decline the opportunity to spar, but something about that guy instantly annoyed him. He looked like an idiot.

The pink-haired girl standing opposite him smiled, still looking a tad shy. "I'm Sakura," she said.

"Sasuke," he said.

She blushed again, though to her credit she didn't duck her head like a fool. Holding out her hands to him, she moved closer. Sasuke accepted her request, placing his hands in hers, palm-to-palm. He could feel her chakra tingle over his skin, and he gathered the necessary power into his own hands. Jade green chakra rose in a fine mist around her, and it faintly surprised him it wasn't pink. His own, a deep cobalt, rose from his own skin.

Moving as one, the two moved into the stance to partner. He turned his back to her while going down to one knee, and she raised their still-linked hands over his head. Then she lowered them so her arms were wrapped around him from behind and his arms were crossed over his chest. Impressively fast, she transformed.

Her weapon form was that of two katana swords, one shorter than the other. He managed not to grimace as he faced the partnered pair that wanted to spar. He didn't like Controllers who had no defensive elements to their forms. Hopefully she has decent skill with ninjutsu, he thought, immediately adopting a defensive stance. She had one thing in her favor, though. Her control of chakra was flawless.

"Let's go, Sasuke-kun!" she said into his mind. "I may not look like it, but I was at the top of my class."

He let her confidence reassure him and leaped forward at their opponent.

Their opponent's form was that of a triple-bolt crossbow. Normally Sasuke would never rush straight in against a weapon like that without better defense, but he wanted to see what Sakura could do. Their opponent wasted no time, and three bolts came flying at them, their tips glowing with chakra. They moved incredibly fast, and if they hit they could seriously wound him.

If they hit.

"Don't dodge, it's all right," Sakura said, her voice soothing and calm. "I'll take care of them. You just focus on that Coordinator."

Trusting her, Sasuke didn't change his trajectory. In the blink of an eye, a jade-green sphere formed around him, deflecting the bolts harmlessly away. Allowing himself to be impressed, Sasuke leaped up and slashed both katanas down in a crossing arc. As he did so, Sakura powered both blades with his own chakra, making them glow. Their opponent was forced to use the crossbow to block, and the force of the blow sent them tumbling back.

Growing more pleased by the second, Sasuke pressed his advantage. Sakura once more powered the blades, and not a drop of chakra was wasted.

She could be a good partner for me, Sasuke thought, the blades flashing in another wicked arc. Her control is better than mine, I could learn a lot from her.

Her repertoire of skills turned out to be pretty limited, but he didn't mind. Learning new ninjutsu skills would come with practice, and her shield turned out to be impenetrable. He liked that. He liked it a great deal. Many Coordinators didn't care about being protected so much, but to Sasuke it was paramount.

And thanks to her perfect control, they won the match. Their opponents ran out of energy first, and their bond unraveled. As the Controller reverted, the watching students all clapped. Sakura separated from him, and all trace of shyness was gone from her pretty face. Her eyes practically glowed.

"That was incredible," she said, breathing a little hard. "Is it all right if we do that again sometime?"

"Any time, Sakura-san," he said, more polite than usual, looking forward to it.

That brought her blush back, and she beamed him a bright smile.

Before he could step down off the mat, another girl blocked his way. She was taller than Sakura. Actually, she was even a little taller than Sasuke. She gave him a grin, the overhead light gleaming on her long blond ponytail.

"Hi Sasuke," she practically purred. "I'm Ino. Wanna partner?"

Aware of a certain idiotic-looking blonde Controller still watching him, Sasuke nodded. "Sure."

Another pair came forward to challenge them, and Sasuke took Ino's hand. He once more went to one knee with his back to her, and moments later she transformed. It wasn't quite as quick and smooth as Sakura's transformation, but her control was also excellent. And her form managed to make him smile a tiny bit.

A long, spiked chain coiled in his hands, glowing faintly with her pink chakra. Their opponent held a long staff in her hands. Curious about Ino's strengths, Sasuke once more took the offensive.

Displaying an appealing ability to anticipate his wishes, Ino matched him. The moment their opponent swung the staff and leaped to counterattack, the spiked chain coiled, snakelike, around his body. Any gaps between the coils glowed with her chakra, completely shielding him and harmlessly deflecting the staff's blow. The ends coiled around the staff and yanked, flinging the pair across the mat.

Ino wasn't done.

As Sasuke changed directions to follow their opponent and keep up the heat, he felt Ino building up chakra. She released the coils so Sasuke could whip the chain toward their opponents, forcing them to leap backward.

"All right, Sasuke," Ino said, "stay back. I'm going to show you my secret attack!"

Curious, Sasuke sprang back on the mat. A second later her chakra flared, and the bond between their opponents severed. The Controller reverted. Surprised, Sasuke straightened. That was an incredibly bitchy attack. Below the belt, some might say. Not that fairness would matter in a real battle.

Ino giggled in his head, the chain once more rising to coil around him, pink energy shimmering between the coils. "Again, handsome?" she asked.

He rolled his shoulders, pleased by her defensive capability. "Sure."

Another pair came up to challenge them. Sasuke recognized Sakura in the hands of their opponent. Curious to see how she would react to Ino's unique ninjutsu, Sasuke immediately took the offensive.

Sakura's shield deflected the chain, and her Coordinator leaped up to slash down at Sasuke. A flick of his wrist had the chain wrapped around both blades, and jade-green and pink chakras clashed. Sasuke felt Ino build up her separation attack, but Sakura impressed him by deflecting that with her shield, too.

I like her fighting style. She's very aware of her Coordinator. We could be a good pair.

"Strike at her shield, Sasuke," Ino directed, building up her chakra again, and this time she channeled some from him.

Launching himself into the air, Sasuke lashed toward them, and the chains at once grew in length. In moments she'd coiled around the green sphere and squeezed. Sasuke added pressure by forming his own ninjutsu, filling his lungs with chakra and breathing a burst of flames down the chain's length.

In the end, the match ended in a draw. Ino's special attack couldn't get through Sakura's shield, and Ino's length kept Sakura from getting close enough to land any damage. The two Coordinators had to release the bonds to prevent them from unraveling on their own. Sakura and Ino glared at each other before Ino looked at Sasuke and winked.

"That was fun! We'll be partners again, handsome." She sauntered off the mat, flicking her ponytail at Sakura's face.

As soon as they were off the mat, Sasuke's own exit was once more blocked by a tall Controller wearing dark lenses. Half his face was concealed by the big white jacket he wore.

"Uchiha," he said in a deep voice. "A match?"

Normally Coordinators were allowed by unspoken rule to rest between matches, but Sasuke had known he would be highly sought after for his sheer power. Besides, he was far from depleted. So he shrugged.

"Sure."

Once more a pair quickly came to challenge them. Sasuke faced the Controller, offering his hands. The other teen took them, taller enough than Sasuke he could raise their arms over his head before Sasuke went to one knee. As a result he was gently pushed down.

"Shino Aburame," the Controller said in his ear, then he transformed.

At once, Sasuke felt a pulse of satisfaction. This Controller's form suited him. A kind of chitin-like shell shielded the Uchiha's entire back, traveling across his legs, chest, and down his arms. The arms ended in long claws, and a whip-like tail lashed behind him ending in wicked spines.

For once, his opponent beat him to the offensive. Sasuke sprang back to avoid the blow, and as he moved, the tail whipped forward. The needle-like spines flew toward their opponent, and the Coordinator couldn't quite avoid them. They scored long gashes across his face and neck. He hissed and aborted his attack. Sasuke pressed his advantage, striking forward with his clawed fists.

His opponent managed to duck and roll, swiping his two short staves across Sasuke's back. He didn't even feel the blow, so complete was the armor. Growing more pleased by the second, Sasuke swept the tail toward him, catching the guy off guard and knocking his feet out from under him. Sasuke again lunged, punching downward with the claws.

A quick roll to the side took his opponent out of harm's way, and he leaped to his feet. With incredible speed, he formed a whirling ball of pure chakra and drove down right at Sasuke's back.

Before Sasuke could move, long spines grew from the armor lightning fast, and his opponent couldn't fully avoid it this time. He went down, clutching his arm, and their bond unraveled. Not quite able to help his grin, breathing a little hard out of sheer adrenaline, Sasuke looked around.

"Anyone else?" he challenged.

Considering Shino was the first Controller to actually draw blood, no one took him up on that offer. Smirking, Sasuke released their link. Shino inclined his head.

"I'd like to partner again," he said. "Your chakra is impressive."

Sasuke inclined his head, too. "Any time."

This time, when a fourth Controller began approaching, Sasuke waved him away and stepped off the mat. He could probably go a few more rounds, but this was their first day at The Academy and he didn't want to wear himself out as he started building up stamina and getting better at maintaining bonds.

Neji met him at the edge of the mat, taking his wrist in a firm but gentle hold and steering him away. "I think that's enough for one day," he said in a soft voice. "Let's get you back to your room, you're shaking."

Not bothering to explain that was probably due to adrenaline, Sasuke let Neji and Gaara lead him out of the sparring hall. He made sure to ignore the idiotic-looking blonde as they left.

Neji led the way back to the second-year dormitory halls, the rooms of which were bigger and therefore more comfortable than the first year. Sasuke gratefully flopped down on the sofa. Behind Neji and Gaara came their two closest friends Suigetsu and Jugo.

"Man, I'm wiped just from watching those matches," Jugo said, plopping down beside Sasuke and draping his arm behind him on the couch. "Got any of the good stuff left, Neji?"

"Of course," the second-year Coordinator said, disappearing for a few moments and reappearing with a black case. "Do you want to smoke?"

"Yeah," Jugo said, gently pushing Sasuke's head to the side. "Save the Poison for this one. He's earned it."

While Jugo rolled himself a Reef joint, Sasuke watched Neji pull a couple disposable syringes and fill them both with a bright green liquid. He handed one to Gaara, who sat on Sasuke's other side. The raven-haired teen rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm.

Poison, perhaps unlike its name might suggest, was the best drug Sasuke had ever tried. Thanks to these four, he'd tried a lot. Its appeal lay in a very fast metabolizing rate, no ill side-effects when the drug wore off, and a high unlike any he'd ever experienced. The hallucinogenic turned everything in sight to prismatic Technicolor, dazzling the senses like a feast for the eyes. And even better, it caused an incredibly pleasant tingle to break out over the surface of the skin.

Jugo had given that a very apropos description: "Feels like an orgasm all over the body."

But better than the colors, better than the sensation, Poison made Sasuke's mind go blank. Thoughts wouldn't form, all cares and worries slipped away. The past didn't matter, the present was great, and the future didn't exist. Sometimes it was easier not to think and feel. It was just easier to float on this colorful bliss and let everything else slide away.

The needle barely hurt anymore. The rush always burned at first, then in less than sixty seconds his entire body melted into warm jelly and he couldn't really more anymore. He sagged sideways against Gaara, and his best friend likewise melted backward as he took his own shot. He wound up sort of collapsed over Gaara's chest, which made him start giggling.

"It's like we're lovers," Sasuke said.

At least, he thought he did. He couldn't really be sure. Gaara didn't respond except to sort of hum, so he supposed maybe his mouth hadn't moved after all. It didn't matter much. Everything drifted away on a tingly, colorful cloud.