Ichiro vs. Sasuke: Lion's Barrage Unleashed!
I gasped, "I have no choice, I have to tell them, even if it means Sasuke hating me forever." I thought.
I slowly began to raise my hand, when Sasuke slapped it down and gripped my wrist, tightly. I flinched and looked into his deep onyx eyes.
"Don't you even think about telling them about this mark." he barked.
I sniffled and held back the tears I felt coming. "I don't get what you're trying to prove here. You're my best friend and I care about your well being, I can't let you go on in these exams." I whimpered. "You just want me to stand here and let you tear yourself apart? No Sasuke I can't bare to watch that!" I looked down, ignoring the fact that Sasuke was gripping my wrist a bit too tightly, and it was starting to hurt.
"Then don't watch Kris, but stay out of it." Sasuke replied, "This has nothing to do with you."
"As for the rules of this preliminary round, there are none." Hayate went on. "The battle will end when one combatant dies or concedes defeat. Naturally, those who are loosing should concede, to avoid a fatal outcome." he added. "And as proctor, I am given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I may occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless, to save as many lives as possible." after giving each of us Genin one more glance over, Hayate directed our attention to the panel in the upper corner of the room.
"The names of each pair of opponents is chosen completely at random." Hayate informed. "Before each match, the names of each combatant will appear on the display behind me. Now let's begin."
The names of everyone appeared on the screen, half above and half below the vs. word. A buzzer sounded and the first two names were revealed.
Ichiro Hagane vs. Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke smiled.
"Of all the rotten luck, why did Sasuke have to be chosen first?" I thought.
I looked over and saw Ichiro was smiling as well. He looked back at us and his eyes met Sasuke's. This was going to be an interesting match, no doubt, I was just worried what was going to happen if that Curse Seal acted up again.
"The first two people, please step forward." Hayate ordered.
Ichiro and Sasuke stepped forward, and faced each other. Satsuki-sensei and Kakashi-sensei glanced at each other, and Satsuki smiled.
"You have been chosen for the first match." Hayate announced. "Ichiro Hagane verses Sasuke Uchiha. Does either combatant have any complaints?"
"None here." Sasuke answered.
"No sir." Ichiro followed.
Both boys stared at each other, ready to fight.
"Okay let's begin the first match." Hayate said.
I walked up the stairs with the rest of my team and we found our spot to stand, in between Guy-sensei and his team, and Team Nine, Satsuki's team.
Team Eight was on the far left of us and Team Ten was on the far right. Next to them was Team Konoha.
I turned my attention to the arena as the match was ready to start. And it got off to a quick start as both boys threw shuriken at each other.
"Not so fast." Ichiro smiled.
He charged forward and began throwing punches at Sasuke, who flinched when he dodged. But Sasuke managed to break Ichiro's foothold, and brought them both to the ground.
Ichiro smiled and put his left index and middle fingers to his chin, closing his eyes. Then, he began to sink into the ground.
"What the hell?" Sasuke grunted.
Ichiro came back up, standing with his hands clasped together, forming the 'Mi/Snake' sign, one that's woven more in Earth Style than any other nature.
"Earth Style: Mud Ropes." Ichiro shouted, and strings of wet earth wrapped themselves around Sasuke, restricting his upper body and arms.
Sasuke glared at Ichiro as he hovered over him, gripping the fabric of his blue shirt.
Orchi and I exchanged looks from where we stood.
Satsuki chuckled. "Well now Kakashi, I guess we'll get to see whose boy's the stronger fighter, out of our teams anyway."
Dad looked at her, "Appears so, Satsuki."
I glued my eyes to the arena, praying to anyone who listens, that the Curse Seal of Heaven won't win this match for Sasuke, and that I don't loose my best friend and teammate forever.
Ichiro released his hold on Sasuke, but still kept him pinned down, "Now, for the fun part." he smirked, doing a small sequence, Snake-Rat-Bird-Ram, "Earth Style: Snake Bind."
The topes of mud soon turned to snakes, live snakes. Ones that hissed and swayed.
"What's going on?" I asked, looking at Orchi.
"It's a jutsu our mother taught us." she replied, looking at Satsuki. "Ones to use to bind our enemy, and crush them."
"Crush?" Sakura repeated, looking at the arena floor with worry.
The snakes constricted their bodies and hissed, and another, larger one, emerged from the ground and wrapped itself around Sasuke's midsection, restricting him further, causing him to grunt in pain.
Ichiro smiled, "Now with this jutsu, I don't have to do much of anything, just stand back and let my snakes do all the work."
"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.
I glanced across the arena and saw that the Sound Jōnin was watching the battle closely, almost smiling at Ichiro's use of his jutsu.
Ichiro kept his hands together in the sign for 'Ram', feeding the jutsu with his own chakra.
Sasuke clenched his fist and kicked Ichiro in the stomach, breaking the jutsu. He jumped to his feet, panting and rubbing his arms. Ichiro charged in for another hit, and Sasuke barely dodged it.
"C'mon Sasuke." I whispered, gripping the railing.
Naruto gripping the railing, more in frustration then worry. "Hey Sasuke!" he yelled. "C'mon man, what the hell was that? And you call yourself an Uchiha?"
Sasuke looked back at our loudmouthed teammate.
"C'mon man, you keep fighting like that and this goon's gonna walk all over you!" Naruto taunted, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Man, he's got a mouth on him." Sakoku said, putting his hand to his ear.
"Where the hell have you been since the start of the exams?" Orchi asked her teammate. "He's always had a mouth, remember he painted a big, bull's-eye on us Rookies since his outburst during the first exam." she reminded.
I chuckled at the memory.
{Flashback}
Naruto spun around and pointed a finger at the other shinobi. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna beat every single one of ya!"
"Great paint thirteen targets on our backs you jackass!" Helena growled.
"If I die, I'm haunting his ass for the rest of eternity." I groaned.
"Can you say that a little louder?" Kiba asked sarcastically. "I didn't quite catch that."
"You moron, are you trying to get everyone in this place to hate our guts or what?" Shikamaru asked.
"Naruto! You jackass! Why did you have to go and say something like that!" Sakura scolded, holding Naruto in a chokehold.
{End Flashback}
Ichiro was beginning to loose his cool, "Okay, try this one on for size." he smirked, biting the underside of right his thumb, drawing blood. He did a small sequence of hand signs, Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram.
"Summoning Jutsu." Ichiro yelled, slamming his hands down on the stone floor of the arena.
In a puff of smoke, a medium sized, purple Boa with black rings on his body and two horns coming from his head appeared, hissing.
"You summoned me, Ichiro?" he asked, turning his head to look at the aforementioned Rookie.
"Papuru, I require a little more assistance than I originally thought." Ichiro informed, "Would you be so kind as to help? I'll make it worth your while."
"Is he bribing the snake?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It had to be that one? But he' so, moody." Sakoku sighed.
"Kakashi-sensei, is that even fair?" Naruto asked. "I mean, he brought in something else, that's got to be against the rules, right?"
"Not really, it's part of Ichiro's jutsu, so it's within the rules." dad answered.
"But what can a stupid snake do anyway?" Naruto asked.
Satsuki giggled, "More than you think Naruto." she answered. "More than you know."
We all put our attention back on the fight. The Boa slithered around the arena, as Ichiro charged forward.
"C'mon Sasuke." I thought.
Sasuke dodged Ichiro's advancements and managed to avoid Papuru's attacks as well. He looked back at us, and gasped, maybe getting an idea, I don't know.
Just as Ichiro was going in for another punch, Sasuke dodged and was suddenly underneath him, kicking him in the jaw.
"Ichiro!" Orchi and Satsuki screamed in unison.
"I know that move." I thought.
Helena giggled, "You should, Lee used that same move on Sasuke."
I then remembered.
{Flashback}
"You see Sasuke, I believe there are two types of ninja; those like you, born with talent who don't have to work at it, and those like me, who must train hard every day of our lives." Lee said. "In reality, your Sharingan is the worst match, for my extreme taijutsu." Lee prepared another kick and it connected, tossing Sasuke up into the air.
Next he performed the technique known as the 'Dancing Leaf Shadow' a taijutsu technique known only to the Hidden Leaf village. The bandages from Lee's arms began to unwind only a little, enough to tie around his opponent.
{End Flashback}
"I'll admit, I borrowed that move." Sasuke said, as he hovered behind Ichiro in mid air. "But from here on out, it's all original."
But suddenly, Sasuke's body froze, and I saw the Curse Mark glow and try to spread over his body.
"No please, don't let it take over." I whimpered.
Then the look n Sasuke's eyes changed, and the marks began to recede, and the glow died down.
"You really think a cheap trick like the 'Dancing Leaf Shadow' is gonna be enough to beat me, Sasuke?" Ichiro asked. He smirked and extended his arm, and Papuru jumped and wrapped himself around Ichiro's right arm, hissing.
Sasuke punched the snake in the head, damaging it a little. Then he swung his leg and kicked Ichiro in the stomach, sending him flying downward towards the ground.
"Wow, incredible." I chuckled.
Sasuke slammed his foot down on Ichiro once more, "Lion's Barrage!" he yelled, as Ichiro slammed into the ground.
With a soft grunt, the purple Boa vanished, and Ichiro lay unconscious, blood trickling from his mouth and arm.
Sasuke landed on his stomach, grunting. Both boys laid motionless. Sasuke coughed and slowly got up, kneeling for the time being.
"I'm declaring this match over." Hayate announced. "As the winner of this first match in the Preliminary Round, Sasuke Uchiha advances to the finals."
"Yes! Alright!" Sakura, Naruto, and I cheered. "Way to go Sasuke!"
"He was overconfident and that's what led to this outcome." Satsuki muttered.
"He's gonna be okay, right Satsuki-sensei?" Sakoku asked.
The honey-brunette Jōnin smiled, "Yeah, once he sleeps it off, he'll be fine." she leaned up off the wall. "I'm gonna go see how he's doing. As his mother, and teacher." Satsuki smiled and vanished, reappearing down on the arena floor, next to Ichiro's unconscious body.
Sasuke was about to fall backwards, when Dad appeared and held him upright with his knee.
"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto called, "You won but in such an un-cool way. You came out looking like you're the one who got beat up." he chuckled.
"Idiot." Sasuke breathed. "Give me a break you little-whatever." he sighed.
I could tell Sasuke was feeling the aftershocks from that last move. He was breathing hard, and struggling to keep up.
"Awesome job Sasuke." I thought. I cast a glance to the right and saw Choji and Shikamaru, the latter friend was leaning against the wall. Both did seem kinda shocked at how the battle ended, but really, we couldn't expect anything less from our Sasuke.
Ichiro was lifted onto a stretcher and carried out of the arena and Satsuki stood there and watched, a look of proudness in her eyes.
"You're out of your league with this one." Kakashi-sensei said to the medical ninja. "I'll take care of him."
He then whispered something to Sasuke, and the two proceeded to leave the arena.
"Sasuke." I sighed. A faint image of those black, flame-like marks covering his body came to mind, and I shook the image out of my head.
"Hey girls." Naruto said, looking at us. "Maybe I'm crazy but did either of you see any weird marks on Sasuke's neck during the fight?"
Sakura and I gasped, glancing at each other.
"What mark?" Sakura asked, playing dumb. "I didn't see anything."
"Neither did I." I lied. "Maybe you are going crazy Naruto." I chuckled lightly.
The screen clicked on and the names began cycling through, choosing the next two competitors. After a few seconds, the next pair was decided.
Shino Aburame vs. Zaku Abumi
The two ninja took the floor, it was a match of the Sound vs. the Leaf, and the second Rookie Genin of our village to take part in the Preliminary rounds.
I recognized Zaku as the one who had his arms broken by Sasuke. Those arms were now in a makeshift sling, but despite that, Zaku looked like he was ready for the fight.
Shino on the other hand, was cool and calm, and I don't know if I should be worried or scared. I never really knew Shino that well, I don't know anything about his techniques or his ninja arts. All I really know is that he was a quiet kid, and someone I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
I looked across the arena and saw the Sound Jōnin vanish in a cloud of smoke.
"I wonder where he's going?" I questioned. "Why would he leave when one of his own Genin is getting ready to fight?"
Shino's voice snapped me away from my train of thought. "If you fight me, you won't be able to recover." he warned. "Forfeit and withdraw."
But Zaku wasn't buying into the threat. He just smirked, "Well whaddya know, I've got a little movement in one." he said, moving his left arm. "One good arm is enough to beat you!"
Zaku went in for a punch, but it was blocked by Shino, without effort.
"You couldn't beat me using both your arms." Shino said, standing perfectly still, like nothing was going on.
"Just who is this kid?" Helena asked.
Next time…
Helena: Man this Shino guy gives 'Creepy Crawlies' a whole new meaning.
Kristin: I never would've guessed quiet Shino would be capable of this. He is defiantly the last person here I would ever want to face.
Helena: And look, another Rookie match up.
Kristin: Next time: Face to Face: The Might of the Rookies! Well after all, we have something to prove by being here, that just 'cause we're rookies, doesn't mean we can't run with the big dogs.