All across the sand field, the regular clinking of metal hitting metal could be heard. A constant background sound to the fight that was taking place.

Kiba weaved out of the way as a massive shuriken flew past. Seizing the opportunity, Akamaru thrust forward, and raked a claw across Yoroi's exposed chest.

The figure exploded into a shower of water. Kiba cursed, and dived out of the way, just in time to avoid a kick that sent sand flying in all directions. Another perfectly-smooth crater in the endless dunes.

Akamaru whipped to his side, and the frenzy began again, but Yoroi was fast, too fast, and the blows weren't landing.

Kiba ignored the lack of progress, and focused on maintaining the fight. He had to keep him occupied. Sasuke had his hands full as it was, and Sakura had only managed to wound Hinata.

Several yards away, Sasuke flashed forward, his body blurring in a way that was oddly reminiscent of the Silents. This was only accentuated by his dark cloak and armor, which was the only thing keeping him alive with all the combatants in front of him.

Weapons weaved around him, more than a few clanging off his metal plates, even as he swept around with such speed that sand flew a foot in the air in his wake. Staring him down were Tenten, Chouji, and Shikamaru, all in battle formation.

Chouji, naturally, had managed to absorb most of the hits, despite his limited mobility.

Typical.

Shino circled around the two fights, always on the move and with a cloud of bugs hovering at hand, ready to be sent out as necessary. Neither of his teammates were making any ground, and it was clear that he had to be the deciding force, but who to assist first?

Kabuto was nearby, keeping his eyes peeled for Hinata, who had failed to appear after her injury. The fights were too chaotic for him to enter. They had grown more used to each other's fighting styles, but certainly not enough to fight like that without getting in each others' way.

Kiba suddenly went flying back, or at least, Shino assumed it was Kiba, when a kick caught him straight in his exposed ribcage. The chest guard had done it's job, but if nothing else the boy's trajectory implied it wasn't a soft blow.

In a flash, Kabuto was there, his green-coated hand touching the area where the blow had landed.

Seeing an opportunity, Yoroi thrust forward. His arrival in a shunshin sent sand blaring up in two massive streaks behind him, and he made to attack.

His fist met not with the vulnerable medic like he was expecting, but with Shino's cupped palm.

The masked veteran took a small leap back. Shino did the same, and with a wave of his hand, his cloud of bugs wove out into two distinct forms.

When they were finished, three Aburame stood facing Yoroi.

He attacked.

Shino tried his best to keep up with the fight, but he was no taijutsu specialist by any stretch of the imagination, and this battle was more to stall than anything else. When a clone inevitably puffed back into a cloud of Kikaichu, it was only a few seconds before the bugs reconnected and rejoined the fight.

The kikaichu could only hold so much chakra, limiting their possible clone time to just a few minutes, but they were using it effectively. Together, the three figures cycled through, so there was always a body ready to meet a blow.

Finally, after several seconds without progress, Yoroi let out an enraged shout, and fired a water technique that impacted all three of them in the chest.

The clones were destroyed beyond repair, and the original Shino was sent flying. Even as he brought his hands together to reform clones, he saw Yoroi turn to face a new foe.

Sasuke stood behind him, his red eyes flashing in contempt, and a faint smirk on his face.

"You little bastard." Yoroi said, and he brought his hands together in a series of hand seals.

Across from him, Sasuke did the same.

"Water Bullet Technique!" They both roared simultaneously. Two massive streams of water met in the air before them, neither torrent making any headway over the other.

At this moment, Hinata appeared, rushing towards Sasuke's vulnerable form. On course however, she paused, and whipped around to bring her arms up in a block.

A kunai was deflected with a flick of her arm, and she landed in a battle stance.

Sakura did the same.


In the background, Kiba and Shino continued to striked together against Tenten and Shikamaru, both of whom were not proving able to keep up with the pair's fury. Chouji had fallen to a surprise attack from Shino, and had collapsed and disappeared once the Kikaichu had drained all the chakra they were capable of carrying.

One of Shino's clones swept in towards the young weapons specialist, ignoring the three shuriken that clanged harmlessly off it's metal armor, while Kiba and the others all struck at Shikamaru at once.

A harsh red sun glowed in the sky.

Elsewhere, Sasuke was grinning.

He allowed his body to instinctually blur into the power of the Shunshin, matching Yoroi's blows with his own. The deadly acceleration gave his limbs all the force of miniature battering rams, and every contact with Yoroi sent the older boy's limbs flying away from the point of impact.

There was so much power in his blows. It was exhilarating. Sensing the upper hand, the former Uchiha glided into position for a clean knockout, his fist cocked back for a blow. A faded blurry outline came up to block in his vision.

Sasuke countered it before it even had a chance to materialize.

Sakura was feeling battered.

Hinata and she had been fighting, but there hadn't been much contest. The Hyuuga was clearly the more effective of them at taijutsu. Her new armor had somewhat muffled the blows, but she still hadn't regained feeling of her left side, let alone her arm.

They both paused facing each other, panting in exhaustion.

"Just give up already." Sakura wheezed out.

"I cannot." said Hinata.

Then, Hinata froze suddenly, and slumped forward, disappearing before she even hit the ground. Behind her, Sasuke pulled back his fist, from where it had solidly connected with her head.

Sakura paused at his expression. She couldn't remember ever seeing Sasuke smile before. The fires of a manic pleasure danced behind the tomoes of the Sharingan, and his eyes flicked up to catch hers. Their effect was almost hypnotic, and captured her attention instantly.

"Go." he said simply.

Sakura, now spurred into motion, ran to meet with the rest of the group. Tenten and Shikamaru were attempting to hold back the onslaught of her two teammates, albeit ineffectively. Kabuto's clothes and two medical knives both lay in the sand, already semi-buried from all of it flying around.

Before her, Sasuke appeared in a flash, his fist already cocked back for a strike against Tenten, but he froze in the air suddenly.

Beneath him, Shikamaru's shadow retreated into the sand, even as Sasuke armor landed with a gentle clink where it had been.


"No."

The aged Aburame was unreadable as always, but even more so now. Shino found himself frowning slightly in confusion, and tried again.

"But, father. I am struggling. My current Kikaichu are not sufficient-"

"More Kikaichu will not help you. What you lack is control. A true master of his Kikaichu can fight five opponents at a time. A trained Shinobi can fight twenty. You cannot manage even two. I will not arm you with a sword when you lack the control to handle a kunai."

"I.. I think I understand."

"You don't, but you will. If we had more time, I would leave you to discover the nature of Kikaichu control for yourself, but I understand you may not have this opportunity. So, I will leave you with some simple guidance."

The man took a few steps around his desk, running a gloved hand over the wood.

"Your current style relies on anticipation and reaction, yet you place the burden of doing so entirely on yourself. To take the next step forward, you must learn to anticipate the enemy's movements, and create safeguards with your Kikaichu to counter them without direct supervision. Splitting your swarm like this will weaken you, but doing so correctly will allow you to cover multiple tasks at the same time."

The Aburame looked at his son pointedly.

"I will heed your words carefully." Shino said.

"Good. Now, it is time for dinner. Be sure to thank your mother; she worked very hard on it."


"We need to counter the Kagemane." Sasuke said. The anger simmering just beneath the surface of his blank expression was evident, and nobody was eager to push it.

The warehouse had grown a bit more homely the more the group spent their time there. Several scrolls were spread out on the table, and at some point a weapons rack had been added. This now held most of the group's scavenged tools from recent battles.

Sasuke stood beside the table. At his left, Shino had his arms crossed in deep thought.

"I can handle flash grenades better than most," Shino said suddenly, "thanks to my equipment."

"Can you get each of us a pair?" Sasuke asked. The Aburame shook his head slowly.

"No. These are imported from Kirigakure. They are capable of blocking most visual genjutsu, making them very valuable. I've only ever owned this pair."

"We'll have to find a cheaper replacement then. What's the status on getting more clan techniques?"

Shino looked away pointedly. All eyes turned to Kiba, who frowned.

"I… I haven't found anything yet." he said.

Nobody commented on this.

"Neither have I," said Sasuke. "but that shouldn't hold us back. Besides, these should prove at least somewhat useful." He looked down at two scrolls in particular, marked at the top with the familiar Kanji seen on the Silents.

"Oh yeah, those." Kiba's brow furrowed. "I can do the clone one, though it's pretty heavy on my reserves. The other one's kinda neat."

"I can already foresee several possibilities for such a technique." Shino chimed in. "I expect our young assassin does as well?"

Sakura muttered something that could possibly be interpreted as a yes, and looked down. Shino realized his Kikaichu had begun floating in the air around him, and he quickly called them back.

He coughed a bit awkwardly. Kiba stirred.

"Regardless, I don't know how they'll be judging us on these, so we should be careful." Sasuke said. "And apparently they didn't do this last year. Something's changed."

"A lot of things have changed." Kiba muttered. He slung his pack over a shoulder, and looked away.

"I've, uh.. gotta get home soon." he said.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Go then."


Shino squinted against the sudden flash, having been expecting it. The creeping, tentacle like shadows on the ground dispersed in a circle around the glare, and Shino swept his arms to call nearby Kikaichu into the fight.

They flooded over to Shikamaru, but came up against a log. Shino lurched forward, feeling a sudden strike hit him in the back.

Even as the ground approached, he could hear a brief scream behind him.

Before the world disappeared, he was able to make out Hinata, her body already nearly half covered in small, glistening bugs.


"We'll be prepared next time." Sasuke said.

Shino let out a grumble, and adjusted the heavy wrappings now circling his torso. The skin around them was a pale, deathly white, and without his coat on, the small grain-like spots where Kikaichu filtered in and out of his body were clearly visible.

Kiba drove a fist into the wall of the warehouse, sending small splinters flying.

"Why the hell can't we get another victory? We've beaten them already!"

"Clearly, Kabuto isn't sufficient for watching our backs." Sasuke said. "He's busy enough keeping us alive. Together, you and Akamaru could-"

"Could what?" Kiba demanded. "Stand around and play guard duty? Is that what you want from me?"

"No. I want us to trade off the responsibility. We're the best equipped to handle it."

Kiba hurled his arms into the air, and fell into one of the seats. Incomprehensible mutters hung in the air, before he slumped, running fingers through his shaggy black hair.

"Fine, fine. Whatever. I'll stick around Shino. Happy?"

"I'm happy." The Aburame said helpfully.

"Go to hell Shino."


The dry grassy field was alight in flames and swirls of Kikaichu. The deadly bugs swept through the curls of smoke, nearly invisible.

The sweeping clouds of ash made it nearly impossible to breath in some places.

Shikamaru stood within a large ring of fire, Hinata beside him with her Byakugan blazing like small searchlights in the near-darkness.

In a second, a flood of Kikaichu swept from behind the pair, and immediately branched into two streams, like a powerful wave crashing against a rock. One curved back to hover in the air near Shino, while the other scattered outwards, permeating the air with subtle buzzing.

Sasuke appeared in a flash, and and midair, attempted to strike Shikamaru with a kick. The Nara was roughly pulled out of the way by Hinata, the blow just barely missing the boy's head.

Shikamaru stumbled a bit, off balance, while Hinata struck upwards, facing the former Uchiha. In the dancing shadows of the fire, His eyes seem to glow even more ominously than usual. A glistening, piercing blood red facing Hinata's own noble white.

Sasuke's face twisted in anger, and they both swept into a fight.

The battle was fierce and ruthless. Like massive cats battering each other, the two young doujutsu users fought fist after fist, hammering into each other. Sasuke was pushed back for a moment, and his left arm suddenly went unresponsive, blood trickling down in a steady stream.

He roared, and struck forward with his other arm, allowing the power of the Shunshin to carry it forward.

Hinata's body whipped back at the point of impact. Her block had done little to mitigate the damage. Sasuke struck again, and again, and again, too caught up in the battle to keep his face neutral.

After another blow sent her staggering, Hinata looked up just in time to catch sight of the boy's face before he sent her into oblivion.

When the smoldering clothes fell to the ground, the flames began to die down. As if on cue, the blaze of them settled down into a more manageable glow. Cinders and bits of ash still flew in the air, but Sasuke paid them little attention.

He straightened himself, and experimentally flexed his right arm.

Sasuke didn't know how to react to the fact that it had worn off so fast. He knew that the Hyuuga techniques were capable of paralysis much more permanent than that.

Had she been incompetent? Had she missed?

The questions kept him occupied, even as Kiba stepped into his field of view, more than a few sharp implements sticking out of the chinks of his grey armor.

"Somebody else takes the girl next time." Kiba grumbled, not quite masking a little cry of pain as another kunai came loose from his back. The tip was a deep crimson.

"And of course we lose Kabuto when it's me who's all cut up.."

He was cut off from his tirade by a whistle. It pierced through the air, and all eyes turned to see Mizuki. His grin was even more intolerable than usual.

Besides him, a slight distortion hung in the air, almost un-noticable, like something just out of his field of view. Sasuke had to focus his Sharingan on it to see the white mask in the oddity.

Interesting.

When he was close enough, the Chunin tossed them each a small scroll, which they caught deftly.

"Congratulations! Sadly, we're all out of medals for eventual winners, but hey. Maybe you'll eventually do something impressive."

Kiba flexed his claws experimentally, and tugged out another kunai, letting it fall in the sand with a faint clink.

"Just add a little chakra and the seal will do the rest. I trust you all know how to do that?" Mizuki said.

Sasuke didn't answer, but looked down at the paper in his hand, his Sharingan blazing in an effort to see the secrets of it.

They didn't yield.

He powered it, and suddenly, the world went black.


The first thing Sasuke became aware of was that his armor was missing. The next was that he couldn't see. His mind went into a dizzy confusion for a moment, but his train of thought was almost immediately cut off.

Then, the pain started.

He felt his body thrash out of control. It was like knives raking across the insides of his lungs. His mind was screaming at him to make it stop, convinced of it's approaching demise.

Sasuke didn't know how long it went on, but when it stopped, he could finally feel something, aside from his new bruises. The brush of cold metal against his skin. Before he could open his eyes, a voice echoed in his mind.

"What is your first name."

It was disembodied, unrecognizable. A second passed, and then the glimmers of intelligence in his mind were once again swept away in a tide of pain.

When the voice appeared again, Sasuke knew only exhaustion.

"What is your first name."

"Sa...suke." He managed to croak out. For a few tense seconds, there was a desperate hope in his mind.

Perhaps it was over.

Then it began again.


Sasuke wasn't sure when he lost unconsciousness, but the feeling of regaining it was unmistakable. The darkness still surrounded him, twisting his mind and clouding his vision.

The questions came again. They were innocuous, seemingly irrelevant. What meal he had for breakfast. What his father's full name was. His age.

"Who was your instructor during the twenty-first hour yesterday?"

Sasuke remained silent.

The odd, inhuman voice repeated itself.

He maintained his silence, but he felt his body already tensing, becoming tight as a whipcord for the approaching pain.

It wasn't disappointed.

After the fourth time, Sasuke could barely form coherent thoughts. His mind was slurred with exhaustion, and there was a burning desire to answer the question.

How important is it? he found himself wondering, in his brief respite.

It wasn't hard information to figure out, if someone actually bothered to.

This is not important. I should tell them. I should-

The more rational part of his mind, weak as it was, pointed out that he would only be bought a few seconds of rest at most. Maybe a minute. It was immediately drowned out by the other parts, screaming that even a minute would be worth it.

The voice asked once again.

"Who was your instructor during the twenty-first hour yesterday?"

"Go to hell."

There was a brief silence, and in it, Sasuke's mind raced through anything he could to to prevent this. His body barely moved when the pain struck again, and his shivers were almost unnoticeable.

His mind snapped back into awareness when the voice returned. It was the same, blank monotone as ever. Sasuke ignored it, and brainstormed with all the energy he could manage.

"If it was real, I would be a bloody mess." he thought. While he certainly felt like one, he was certain that anything as excruciating as that would not be sustainable.

Probably.

Before the pain could flood in again, he pulsed his chakra. There was no finesse to the technique; only raw energy, thrust out of him without any direction.

The pain faltered for a second. It still brushed his mind, in-between chakra pulses. Sasuke felt a manic urgency. He didn't have much in the way of reserves left, having come from the battlefield, and having endured however long this had been going on.

Now, finally with enough focus, he allowed his Sharingan to blaze full force. There was a blanket in front of his vision, dreamlike. He pushed through it, and his eyes pierced through the illusion.

His eyes widened a crack, and crust fell away. The Sharingan studied his surroundings with perfect clarity.

It was a cell. Craning his neck, he could make out large, metal bands holding his unclothed body to the wall. One on each wrist, holding them apart, and around his thighs.

Sasuke was surprised, and his pulses of chakra faltered for a moment, letting the pain sweep back in. He blasted it back desperately.

Then he thought.

His cuffs were tight, with perhaps half a centimeter of space. This had given him the opportunity to injure himself, Sasuke realized.

If feeling was anything to go by, he'd managed to heavily bruise the areas around the cuffs. He ignored the pain of moving them, and focused on perfect, absolute control.

His leg blurred forward ever so slightly, and hit the metal with a meaty thump.

Then, it flew backwards.

Then, it fired forward again. Sasuke had to bite off a yell of pain. He didn't want to see what he was doing to himself.

Forward.

Back.

The cuff didn't seem to have been affected at all. Sasuke slumped, and forced himself to think. Even the pain wasn't keeping him awake anymore.

There was a way out of this. There had to be. His mind ran over every skill he had learned in the academy, every technique-

He paused in his thought.

If he could make this work-

Sasuke pushed his chakra out, vaguely forming half seals with his hands. He'd never attempted it like this, but the Sharingan was his ally. However it's strange abilities worked, he needed them now.

It weaved in the air before him, forming a shape. A sudden influx of air, and an immediate drain on his reserves. He persisted.

Then, it was done.

Sasuke looked up, and saw his own form before him, bound in massive steel cuffs, and screaming.

He flexed a hand experimentally. His last experience with this, the Shadow Clone Technique, had been brief. He'd dismissed the clone without a thought, but this.

This was different.

Sasuke watched himself shake compulsively, growing steadily stiffer and more rigid, and stirred himself to work. He didn't know how long his original body would last.

Or this one for that matter.

There was a single door in the room. It was vaultlike, made of metal and with no visible handles or ways to open it.

Once again, the answer came to him. He brought his hands together in a seal, and watched curiously as his legs descended into the stone. The feeling was like being emerged in water, only much thicker, with pressure that increased the further he went in.

Sasuke fell into the ground warily. He had guessed during experimentation that if the technique failed, he'd either suffocate or be crushed to death. Thankfully, Sakura had managed to figure it out on her first try, and his bloodline had proven its usefulness once again.

Not having any better options, he plunged in, moved forward what felt like a few feet, and rose up again. His head poked out into a narrow hallway, and he gasped for breath, then clutched his mouth desperately to muffle the sound.

His eyes darted back and forth. When Sasuke was convinced he was alone, he stepped out of the ground, not looking down to see it meld back into it's original form.

The hallway was dark, and likely would've been pitch black were it not for an ornate seal engraved on the back of the door that had barred his way. He flicked on his Sharingan, wincing as his dwindling reserves shrunk even further, but they revealed nothing in the glowing runic pattern.

He grimaced, and sent a small, pitiful fireball onto it, disrupting the delicate chakra matrix.

In an instant, the pressure against his mind melted away. It sent his to his knees, and the relief that flooded his mind threatened to drive him to unconsciousness.

No. Not yet. He urged himself to his feet, and frowned when he saw his hand. Faint wisps of some unnamable material were slowly but surely falling away, evaporating into dust, and leaving the limb ever so slightly translucent.

He was out of time. Sasuke took a step back, and sent a blazing kick at the steel door, blasting it off its hinges. It clanged loudly against the opposite wall in the cell room, just barely missing his true body, which had slumped in either death or unconsciousness.

Sasuke saw his leg had been seriously damaged from the attack. The faint chakra web holding his form together no longer could repair itself with his reserves.

He threw himself at where he stood chained, and shook his body with all his might.

"WAKE UP!" He roared at himself. Then, with a faint whistle of wind, he dissolved, as the chakra matrix that made up Sasuke Nanashi failed, and finally collapsed.

Sasuke's eyes flew open, and he activated the Stone Travel Jutsu once again. His body fell forward through the steel cuffs, and he landed on the floor roughly. He pushed himself back on to his shaking legs, and began to shuffle out the door as fast as he could.

Then a blank mask filled his view,

and the world fell away into shadows.


When Sasuke awoke next, it was on a hospital bed. A hand pulled back from his face, and the small click of a case brought his ears to full alertness.

A woman pursed her lips slightly in displeasure, and began putting a number of small brushes and cases away.

Sasuke traced her every movement with the power of the Sharingan.

When she was done putting away her implements, she turned away from him without a word, and walked out through an open doorway, the only source of light in the dingy room.

Sasuke went still as a board when a sudden swirl emerged from the shadows, and a white mask came into view, followed by another familiar figure. The white-haired Chunin wasn't grinning this time.

"Your injuries have been made hidden. For security reasons you are not permitted to reveal intentionally or not any information related to what happened last night. Failure to comply will result in the editing of your memories, which carries risks of serious personality impairment and permanent loss of focus. Do you understand what I have just explained to you?"

"Was it you?" Sasuke croaked, his voice hoarse. "Was this some kind of training, or was this not supposed to-"

"That is above your security clearance Nanashi. Do you understand what I've explained to you?"

Sasuke merely nodded his head, and before he had even completed the movement, the world faded away around him, and he dipped into blissful unconsciousness.

Even after he woke up, and began prowling around his small apartment, he couldn't keep the questions out of his head.

Had he been captured by an enemy? If so, which one? He wouldn't put it past his instructors to do something like this for educational purposes, but…

He glanced at the clock, and silently chided himself. He was supposed to be at the warehouse in a few minutes, and he wasn't even ready yet.

Sasuke slipped on his last wristguard, and stepped out into the hallway from his apartment, before sweeping out the conveniently-sized window at its end.

He hoped he could mask the pain he felt with every movement enough to convince his teammates.