Sasuke woke up in a weird, yellow, shiny place. He looked around confused. "Where am I..?"
Sasuke suddenly heard sobbing. He looked around, and stared at someone in front of him.
"Who's that? The young me?"
"Dad and mom didn't have to die..." the young Sasuke said angrily.
The world around Sasuke suddenly changed into a room. Two people on the floor were dead. "Everyone was killed..." the young Sasuke continued. "Because I didn't have enough power, the clan was wiped out."
Back in the real world, Sasuke struggled as a purple aura came from the seal on his neck. It was steadily growing and growing. Sakura was still on the floor with Kairen, and three people stood in front of them.
"Ino..." Sakura spoke up. "Why are you here?"
"I'm not going to let you take all the good parts in front of Sasuke-kun!"
Suddenly, someone came out of the bushes. "I see you were slow on killing Sasuke-kun, Zaku."
"Dosu!"
"They just keep swarming in... Konoha's bugs have wandered in here again," Dosu glared.
Chouji was scared out of his wits and complained, "What are you two thinking!? These guys are too dangerous!"
"It's troublesome, but we have to do this," Shikamaru held Chouji's scarf tightly so that he wouldn't run away. "Since Ino revealed herself, we men can't just run away."
"Sorry to get you two involved, but we're a three-man team. We do everything together," Ino chuckled.
"Oh well. Whatever happens, happens," Shikamaru smirked.
"No! I don't want to die yet!" Chouji yelled. He struggled trying to get away. "Let go of my muffler!"
"Shut up! Stop moving!"
"Heheheh. You can run if you want, fatty," Zaku chuckled.
Chouji stopped struggling and his ear twitched. "What did that person just say? I couldn't hear him too well."
"Those words are taboo to Chouji... If he says it again..." Shikamaru started sweating.
"I said you can go jack off in the woods if you want, fat-ass!" Zaku repeated.
Chouji angrily turned around and shouted, "I'm not fat!! I'm big-boned! HURRAY FOR BIG-BONED PEOPLE!"
"...Wow... " Sakura mumbled.
"...Does that mean he's insulting the skinny people?" Kairen asked with confusion.
Eh... Kairen's back to her old self... Sakura sighed.
"Okay! You two understand that this is a fight between Konoha and Sound, right?!" Chouji said with fire burning in his eyes.
We're lucky! He got pissed off. Ino smirked.
"Geez.. This is going to be troublesome."
"That's our line," Zaku corrected. Damn it. We were told to kill Sasuke before the exam ended...
"Sakura. Kairen. We'll take it from here, just take care of those two. The Ino team is going to go with everything they have! Formation Ino!"
"Shika!"
"Chou!"
"Go for it, Chouji!" Ino ordered.
"Ok! Baika no Jutsu!" Chouji became a big ball in a way. He stuck his arms, legs, and head inside and began to roll. "Metal Tank!"
He furiously rolled over to Zaku.
"What the hell is this? It's just a fat-ass rolling. Air Cutter!" air came out of Zaku's hands once again. It stopped Chouji, but he continued rolling, pushing himself nearer and nearer to Zaku. "Why you!" Zaku increased the air pressure, but Chouji still continued to roll.
Chouji made himself fly all the way in the air and forcefully came back down to crush Zaku.
With his rotation, the air pressure from the Air Cutter doesn't work very well. But even if I want to send supersonic waves into him, my arms would break touching that thing.
Dosu ran to help Zaku. "I won't let you..." Shikamaru was ready to stop him. "Since you're the most troublesome one. Ninpou, Kage Mane no Jutsu! (Shadow Imitation)" Shikamaru's shadow ran all the way to Dosu.
"My body..." Dosu struggled. He looked to see that he was trapped in something that was held by Shikamaru.
Chouji had reached the ground and slammed on Zaku, but he dodged. When he turned around, he saw Dosu..in an interesting pose.
"Dosu!? What are you doing!?" Kin cried. When she turned to look behind her and saw that Shikamaru was making Dosu do that pose.
"This must be the Shadow Bind Technique.." Dosu growled.
"Ino, now it's up to you," Shikamaru stated.
"Okay. Shikamaru, take care of my body. Ninpou, Shintenshin no Jutsu! (Mind Transfer Technique)" Ino fainted and Shikamaru caught her body.
Chouji rolled at Zaku again, but he had dodged once more. "Damn it.. Kin!" Zaku called out to her. But she was calmly standing still.
"What's wrong!?" Dosu shouted.
"This is it," Kin/Ino smirked as she raised a kunai to her neck. "If you move, this Kin girl is dead. If you don't want to retire here, leave your scroll and get out of here. Once you two back off far enough where we can't sense your Chakra, I'll let this girl go," Ino stopped and narrowed her eyes when she saw both of the boys laughing. "Chouji!"
"Matte!," Kairen cried out. "It's a trick!"
But it was too late. Zaku had used his air pressure and blew Kin/Ino into a tree. Blood came from Kin's mouth, and Ino's mouth.
"I'm dizzy..." Chouji said while trying hard not to throw up.
"Wh-what's wrong with them...? They hurt their own teammate," Kin/Ino wondered.
"They have issues up here," Kairen pointed to her head. "Besides, I don't think they care for the scroll because... theirs got burnt," she pointed to Sakura.
"Heheheh. That is correct, Kairen," Zaku chuckled.
"Nani!?" Ino gasped.
"It's Sasuke-kun," Dosu smirked from beneath his bandages. Suddenly, Shikamaru's shadow retreated. "Oh? I see that your Shadow Bind technique can only be used for five minutes at the most."
"It's not Shadow Bind, it's Shadow Imitation," Shikamaru corrected.
"And that girl's technique... It seems that she is able to slip into another person's mind and take control of the body. See that blood from her mouth, it looks like that if we kill Kin, that girl will die, too."
"You're going to kill a teammate?" Shikamaru glared.
"If we have to, yes," Zaku raised his hands toward Kin/Ino.
"It's over.." Shikamaru sighed.
"Damn it!" Chouji shook.
"Close. You almost had us."
"You let your guard down."
"Hmph! How disgusting," a voice suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked up to the trees to see who it was.
"A mere minor Sound ninja...acting like victors by beating those second-class ninja?" Neji questioned. Tenten was along side with him as well.
"They're from Lee-san's team..." Sakura muttered.
How come that guy doesn't have a shirt on...? Kairen wondered. But it didn't seem like anybody noticed with the tension they've been put into.
"Lee!" Tenten cried when she saw him unconscious.
"It looks like he screwed up," Neji commented. "That bobbed hair kid there is on our team... Looks like you went overboard with him!" Neji eyes became different from before, and he had veins near his eyes, too.
Everyone looked at him fearfully, except Kairen of course.
"What's with his eyes? It looks like he's able to see everything with it..." Dosu mumbled fearfully.
"What's the matter? Afraid of pair of white eyes?" Kairen mocked.
"Will you ever shut up?!" Zaku yelled. He used his Air Cutter and blew Kairen into a tree. Fortunately, Kairen was able to block most of it. But with her lack of balance, she wasn't able to stand the impact. When she fell from the tree, she discovered that she got splinters in her back. Son of a... Kairen winced.
"Kairen!" Sakura yelled.
Tenten was about to jump down and help, but heard Neji deactivate his eyes. "What's wrong, Neji?"
This Chakra is...
"If you don't like what we're doing, stop showing off and come down here," Dosu provoked.
"Iie. It seems that there's no need for me to do that," Neji smirked.
Dosu's eyes widened and looked to his left. There, purple Chakra was coming from Sasuke. The Chakra ignited and became even bigger.
Sasuke's mind
"If you don't have power... you can't do anything!" young Sasuke stated angrily. "Because I didn't have power... everyone was killed! No...you let them die. You just watched them die."
Young Sasuke grabbed his left eye and smirked at older Sasuke. "If only I had power..." young Sasuke continued. But when he peeled his left eye open, an image of Orochimaru's eye appeared. And his voice spoke, "If only you had power..."
That was the last thing Sasuke heard before rising to wake up.
Back with everyone
"Sasuke-kun! You woke up..?" but Sakura stopped at what she saw. Kairen was fearfully staring at the sight before her. (Since she landed against the tree, she's technically staring straight up at Sasuke.) Sakura could see that Kairen could barely move, and too, fearfully looked at Sasuke...Everyone...looked fearfully at Sasuke.
"Kairen.." Sasuke started. "Who did that to you...?" Sasuke glared at her bleeding left ear, and the splinters in her back.
The cursed seal has covered his body...! Dosu thought with fear.
"Wh-what happened to you is my question..." Kairen stared at the black markings.
Sasuke stared down at his hands for quite a while. He finally answered, "Don't worry. More importantly, I can feel power surging inside me. I'm feelings good right now. He gave it to me... I finally understand now. I'm an avenger. I must obtain power no matter what. Even if I must let the devil take hold of my body."
Kairen let all his words sink in. She slowly shook her head in disbelief.
I see...just as I thought. The bruise on his neck that girl was talking about was that cursed seal. Still, I can't believe he woke up. Dosu continued to tremble.
"Kairen, tell me! Who the hell hurt you!?" Sasuke commanded.
"I did," Zaku said with cockiness in his voice.
Sasuke immediately looked over at Zaku with burning hate in his eyes.
"Ino!" Shikamaru called from the bushes. "You're going to get confused as the enemy like that! Return to your own body! Chouji, you come here, too. We're going to hide."
Chouji ran for the bushes, and Ino released her technique, leaving Kin unconscious.
The more Sasuke intently glared at Zaku, the more the seal spread across his face and body.
"This is...!" Dosu was shaken back. Sasuke gave him an image in the back of his mind. Orochimaru... "This is too much for us! His Chakra is too huge!"
"Dosu! Don't be afraid of that half-dead guy!" Zaku cried.
"Iie! Yamatte, Zaku! Don't you understand?!"
"I'll kill them all with this! I'll finish it in a flash!" Zaku ignored Dosu. "Maximum Air Cutter!" Zaku's air pressure was extremely high. It blew over where Shikamaru and everyone was hiding, and it even blew over to the trees. When the dust cleared, Zaku had left a huge crater like line in the dirt. "Heh! They blew up into pieces!"
"Who did?" someone asked instantly.
Before Zaku could even turn around, Sasuke had barely whacked his arms at Zaku's neck. Zaku already went flying back near Dosu's feet.
"He's fast. On top of that, he moved instantly while holding all three of them!" Dosu stated.
Sasuke immediately stared at his enemies and his handseal performance was faster than ever. "Katon: Housenko! (Fire Element: Phoenix Fire)" Fire balls flew from Sasuke's mouth heading toward Zaku.
"Don't get so cocky! I'll erase it!" But when Zaku blew air at the fire, shurikens appeared. It sliced Zaku forcefully. Dosu warned him where Sasuke's potion was, but before he could even recover, Sasuke was already under him. Sasuke grabbed Zaku's arms and placed a foot on his back. Sasuke gave a small smirk giving Kairen goose bumps.
That...smirk... an image of Orochimaru entered Kairen's mind.
"You seem to be proud of your arms," Sasuke stretched out Zaku's arms slowly.
"Stop it..." Zaku struggled. Zaku let out an agonizing scream as the sound of popping came from his arms.
Sasuke dropped Zaku to suffer the pain and turned over to Dosu. "That leaves just you. You better entertain me better than him." Sasuke walked over to Dosu who was too terrified to move.
'Sasuke-kun will seek me. He will seek me for power.' Those words played in Kairen's head. He wouldn't... He would never...! But what Sasuke had said about entertainment struck Kairen with disbelief. She shook her head and slowly stood up. That's..not like him... It's not like him at all! You..promised...Sasuke...You promised! Kairen sprinted toward Sasuke with anger and sadness. "You promised!" Kairen's words echoed in the air. Her arms wrapped around Sasuke making him stop in his tracks. Sasuke glanced behind him and gave Kairen a small glare. "You promised..." Kairen whispered.
Flashback
"...Sasuke..?" a child Kairen asked.
"Nani?"
"We may not be best of friends. But promise me one thing."
"Nani? What would that be?" Sasuke wondered.
"Don't ever change."
Sasuke was slightly surprised at the request to promise this. He gave a small smile and grabbed Kairen's pinky with his pinky.
"I promise.."
End of Flashback
"You may have slightly broke it when you were being cocky. But I was willing to give you another chance... Don't break it again..." Kairen pleaded.
Everyone was quiet. The black markings on Sasuke's body began to retreat back behind Sasuke's neck.
The cursed seals are disappearing... Looks like I'm okay for now. Dosu was relieved but still trembled.
Sasuke fell down breathing heavily. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran next to Sasuke's side.
"You are strong," a voice suddenly boomed. "Sasuke-kun, we cannot defeat you." Dosu held out the earth scroll and set it on the ground. "Let's make a deal... Please leave us for now. We might be asking for too much, but we have something to confirm." Dosu picked up Zaku and Kin getting ready to leave. "In exchange, I will promise this... If we are to fight each other in this exam for the second time, we will not run or hide."
Sakura stared at Sasuke with worry, but remembered the bruise on Sasuke's neck. "Matte!" Sakura called out. "Who is Orochimaru!? What did he do to Sasuke-kun!? Why Sasuke-kun!?"
There was a long pause before Dosu replied. "I do not know. We were just ordered to kill Sasuke-kun." You ordered us to assassinate Sasuke-kun, yet you went ahead and did something. And instead of killing Sasuke-kun, you left that cursed seal. What are you thinking? Dosu walked away carrying his teammates, and disappeared into the forest.
"Oi! Are you guys okay!?" Chouji ran toward Kairen, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"It's troublesome Ino, but go make sure that Lee guy is okay!" Shikamaru ordered.
"Okay!"
"That Chakra was abnormal. The Uchiha clan's power is beyond my knowledge," Neji stared in wonder. He turned around to see a shadow coming his way. He barely had time to duck when the shadow landed on the ground frightening everyone.
"Damn it! I was so close!" Hiyony cried in disappointment.
"Hiyony?" Kairen asked.
"Ah? Kairen?! What happened!? Why's pinky's hair cut? WHY ARE YOU HOLDING SASUKE?!" Hiyony frantically asked.
"What are you doing with Neji's shirt...?" Kairen muttered.
Everyone stared at Hiyony then looked up at Neji finding him without a shirt.
"Long story..."
"Oi! Give me back my jacket! I've got what you need," Neji yelled from the trees. Neji threw all ten weapons near Hiyony's feet.
"Yosh!" Hiyony cried happily. "The jacket's so warm though..." Hiyony mumbled.
"Hiyony...give the guy back his jacket," Kairen commanded.
"..Hai.." Hiyony threw the jacket back at Neji who caught it and put it back on.
"Sakura-chan, watch out! Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Naruto talked in his sleep.
"...What did I miss?" Hiyony asked curiously.
"Not much..." Kairen glanced at Sasuke.
"What should we do with him?" Shikamaru tiredly asked.
"Let's kick him awake," Chouji suggested.
"No! No! Let's poke him with a stick!" Hiyony cried happily.
Sasuke had been in his own world through all the conversations. He looked at his shaking hands with fear in his eyes. "What was I...?"
Kairen eyes even shown concern for him as he asked that question. Sasuke never ceased shaking at the thought of what he had done.