The Wanderers
Chapter 35 – Sasuke – Gladiator Arena
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would cop a proper beating every now and then.
***Previously-On***
After escaping the Hidden Village of Sound, the group was accosted by a warrior covered in white armour, bearing a frightening resemblance to the warrior from Kakashi's memories. After a short monologue, in which he confessed to compliance in the destruction of Konoha, the warrior dispersed the Konoha shinobi under orders from a mysterious leader, causing all of them to be sent to different parts of the world. Now, separated from their friends and comrades, each of the surviving Konoha shinobi are struggling to find each other again before they are found again by the group that had caused them so much grief.
Having pursued Iceheart to a remote town in the Land of Hot Water, Lee is happy to find that Chouji is very much alive. However he doesn't disturb the young ex-shinobi, deciding to leave him to his own devices while he pursued his quarry. To his surprise she stood against him with four companions. After a short battle, Lee found himself at her mercy, which was short-lived. A strange encounter with the deceased Gai-sensei later, and Lee knew what he had to do. Tracking the Quiraji group to the Land of Water, Lee took it upon himself to inform the Mizukage of Kirigakure of the Quiraji threat, finding the encounter rather enlightening. He finally tracked down Iceheart and singlehanded destroyed her army of warriors about to attack Kirigakure. In single battle Lee was able to defeat her by opening the Seventh Gate and shattered her mask, freeing Sakura from her servitude. Having been relieved of her indoctrination, Sakura lamented her previous actions as Iceheart and pleaded with Lee to let her go, but he refused. Standing guard over her immobile body, Lee was able to convince her that he wasn't going to let her go.
***End Summary***
***Five Seconds after Separation***
Sasuke blinked twice, and seemingly in an instant he found he had disappeared from the purple dome holding him captive, and immediately felt his eyes sting as a hail of dust slammed into his eyes. Unable to see anything the young Uchiha dropped to his knees and shielded his eyes, trying his best to clear them while using what little chakra he had left to extend his senses outward around him.
I can't sense Nii-san…or anyone else for that matter.
After a few rapid blinks his eyes began to clear, and a slow brown colour filled his view. He recognised the ground beneath his feet as an earth-like ground that seemed entirely different from anything in the Land of Rice Fields he had just been in.
Where the hell am I?
Looking up slowly he suddenly became aware of all the noise around him. It was frightening at how he hadn't noticed it before, as the crashing sounds of blades slamming into one another and the screams of people being killed were practically deafening.
Sasuke stood in the middle of a blood-covered arena, one that held over a hundred warriors trying to slaughter each other with blood-curdling screams. He frowned immediately and went to place his hands in a handseal. Sasuke barely had enough chakra to stand, but he didn't have much choice in the matter.
He heard an odd sound behind him, and as he turned to react to it a long wooden staff collected him directly in the face and he collapsed onto the ground.
***Five Hours after Separation***
"He's kind of handsome."
"Sure, in a first-to-die-on-the-battlefield kind of way."
"Bitter?"
"No, practical. Just wake him up."
Sasuke could hear the two voices talking but it wasn't until he had a bucket of freezing cold water splashed into his face that he was able to open his eyes.
He found himself sitting in a large jail cell deep underground, with large metal bars attached to a dark stone wall. To his surprise he wasn't restrained at all, though he felt like he had been hit in the face by a heavy object.
A girl came into view, her sandy blonde hair and freckles beamed as she looked at his face. "See, look into those eyes and tell me he isn't handsome."
He heard a scoff from the other side of the cell, and an odd tapping on the stone floor. "Mika, I don't want to hear it. Go back to the others."
The blonde girl let out a tsk and smiled at him for a second before leaving the jail cell. Sasuke struggled to sit up, noticing he had been placed on a stone bed and that his face was particularly sore.
Standing against the wall was a girl who looked to be about the same age as Itachi, though that was mostly due to the frown on her face. She had short spikey brown hair and tanned skin that was unblemished and surprisingly reflective considering there was no particular light source in the jail cell. She wore black tights with a deep brown coat over her shoulders, but Sasuke found himself staring at the pair of light purple eyes that were glaring at him.
He coughed lightly to make sure that he could talk before breathing out slowly and staring at her properly. "Who are you?"
The girl concealed a girl and crossed her arms. "A direct question? Effective, if a little crude."
Sasuke had to resist the urge to groan, he knew her type. "You didn't answer my question."
She cocked her head slightly and stared straight into his dark eyes. "No, I didn't. Perceptive of you. Mind telling me why you were on my battlefield?"
"Battlefield? I have no idea where I am."
She stared at him again for a few moments before deepening her frown and leaning forward slightly. "You aren't lying. Fascinating, and yet completely irrelevant. You are currently sitting in a jail cell, beneath the arena."
"What land? I was in the Land of Rice Fields…wait, was there anyone else with me? Maybe a taller man with red eyes and deep groves on either side of his face?"
The girl shook her head, "After I knocked you out, nothing. You're lucky to be alive; I hear it's a smart idea to drop into a massive battlefield with no strength and a stupid look on your face."
"How did you do that?"
She scoffed and flicked a wrist. Seemingly out of thin air, a long wooden staff appeared in her hand, the girl using it to push herself off the ground and stand a bit closer to him. Sasuke flinched immediately; he hadn't sensed any chakra from the girl at all despite her seemingly summoning a weapon to her hand.
"What…how did you do that?"
The girl grinned and placed the staff upwards, watching as it shortened to an arm's length before floating slowly above her hands into the shape of a long needle. She reached out and grabbed the wooden object, placing it through the top of her hair.
"Don't think you shinobi are the only ones with tricks up your sleeves."
Sasuke jumped up immediately and had a kunai in hand before she could even blink. His eyes flashed to their Sharingan state and he stood defensively against her.
"Who are you? How could you do that without chakra? Where am I?"
The moment his eyes changed her expression cracked slightly, as if surprised to see his doujutsu. "Those eyes…just like…"
Ignoring his aggressive manner, she stepped closer to him and stared at him intensely. Sasuke baulked slightly under her gaze, he'd never had someone look at him so intently without being able to read their intentions. The girl was like a closed book to him, and he resented the idea that she could do something he couldn't explain.
After a few seconds she reached up and slowly pushed the kunai down to his waist-level, so that it was no longer a threat. Taking a step back, she crossed her arms again as the wooden needle in her hair flew up and into her hand, extending back into a short four-foot pole that she held tightly.
"My name is Fiore. You are currently in the Land of Earth, in an underground prison below the Arena of Stone."
Sasuke frowned at her sudden change in demeanour, but put away his kunai nonetheless. With his generally weakened state he wouldn't be able maintain his Sharingan for very long, let alone a prolonged fight. There was something about her that told him that she was a dangerous fighter, but he couldn't quite place it. She had the look of battle-experience that he saw in Itachi and Kakashi occasionally.
"Uchiha Sasuke. I am…was…from Konoha."
"As I suspected. For a shinobi, you aren't particularly subtle." She walked over to the bars and opened the gate, twirling the wooden pole between her fingers. "You should get some rest. We'll be fighting in the arena again tomorrow, and somehow I think you need to recover your strength."
She shut the gate behind her, but Sasuke noticed there was no lock on it to stop him from leaving.
A symbolic jail cell…is she a prisoner as well then?
"Why are you helping me?" he asked bluntly. It still bothered him that he couldn't get a read on her, which meant he would have to resort to actually conversing with her.
The odd girl turned around and stared at him again with her purple eyes, tapping the bars lightly with her wooden weapon. "If that Sharingan is any indication, you could prove to be useful. We could use you, maybe."
"Use me for what?"
She gave him her best are-you-kidding-me look before turning around again.
"To escape this hole."
***Twenty-Hours after Separation***
Sasuke didn't realise how exhausted he was until he was woken up by the sound of footsteps nearby. He looked up groggily to see the blonde girl opening the gate to his cell with a grim look on her face.
"Rise and shine, pretty boy." Despite the look on her face she sounded surprisingly cheerful.
Sasuke wasn't sure how he hadn't seen it before, but on her back were two short swords that seemed ridiculous for a prisoner to have within a jail.
He groaned as he picked himself up from his cot. "This isn't a normal prison, is it?"
Mika grinned and offered him a hand up. "You could say that. Ready to go?"
"I don't have any weapons besides that one kunai. If you guys want me to fight, then I'm going to need to prepare myself." Sasuke straightened out his clothes and looked at her through dark eyes. He didn't activate his Sharingan as he normally would, something told him he might need all the chakra he could muster in the coming battle.
"Follow me then. You can meet the rest of our group."
"Are they all as chirpy as you are?"
oOoOoOo
Sasuke hadn't been expecting much, but when Mika showed him the armoury, he was pleasantly surprised. Within the room were walls of various weapons, some of which he didn't even recognise.
"This is…impressive." He walked over to a wall and began to look through the swords.
Mika leaned on the door with her arms crossed. "They wouldn't want their prisoners to be killed too easily."
Sasuke pulled off a katana and examined the blade, "You still haven't told me what this is all about? I've never heard of a prison like this before."
"It's a…"
"Mika!" A voice from the door cut her off, though she seemed unsurprised by the interruption.
Sasuke turned to see two men walk into the armoury, both looking like typical prisoners. One had a deep beard while the other had a long scar across his face.
Mika rolled her eyes upon seeing them and straightened out her shirt slightly. The bearded man indicated for her to leave, which she did without comment. Sasuke tensed as the two men stood in front of him with their arms crossed.
He frowned and stared at them. "What do you want?"
"Watch your tone, boy. Just because she thinks you are useful, doesn't mean you have the right to be snippy."
Sasuke scoffed and placed the sheathed katana on his back. "I have what I need. Where is Fiore?"
The one with the scar snarled and reached out to grab his collar. "He told you to watch your tone."
The Uchiha shinobi rolled his eyes and glared at the man grabbing him. "Get out of my way."
"I don't think he understand the position he's in" said the bearded man.
Sasuke's eyes flickered red for a moment before reverting back to black. "I don't think you understand the position you are in."
The two of them looked at him curiously before he tapped the hilt of the blade he had placed at the man's throat. It took them a few seconds to notice that the sheath on his back was empty.
Contrary to what he would have expected, the scarred man boomed out in laughter and let go of his collar. He stepped back and grinned wildly. "You've got balls, boy. May be you don't die immediately after all."
Sasuke sheathed his katana and shoved his way past them. "I have no interest in dying."
He left the other prisoners to themselves in the armoury as he tried to find someone who could tell him where to go.
That Fiore woman seemed to know what was what. I'll help her, then go about finding Nii-san.
He paused while walking through a bar-covered corridor as the thought came to him.
No…maybe I shouldn't go after Nii-san. If we've been separated intentionally, then maybe I should find my own path. I spent so many years following in Nii-san footsteps…even after I knew what really happened.
He reached back and grabbed at the hilt of the sword on his back.
Time to make my own path.
He turned a corner and found himself standing in the midst of dozens of prisoners all armed to the teeth.
In the middle of the group he saw Fiore walk slowly towards him, a pick sitting in the corner of her mouth. "So you made it here, Uchiha? Took your sweet time."
"If you want my help, Fiore, you are going about it the wrong way."
She grinned and bit at the wooden pick in her mouth. "Got you here, didn't I? Come on, we don't want to disappoint the crowd."
oOoOoOo
As the group walked into the arena Sasuke recognised as the one he had first appeared in, Fiore gave him a quick rundown of how the prison worked. He wasn't sure why she was bothering explaining it, since it became fairly obvious once they entered the crowd-filled arena, but he indulged her anyway.
"This is a prison of the worst kind. Here in the Land of Earth they send some of their worst criminals here to die."
"So they let the prisoners kill each other off for their entertainment?"
"Not particularly. It would be over too quickly if they did that."
She didn't say anything more than that, but Sasuke found he had more questions than answers by the time they had entered the centre of the arena.
It was a massive arena; you could fit an entire army of shinobi within and still have space for siege machines by Sasuke's estimation. There were eight massive columns in a perfect circle around the arena floor, which was covered in a mix of dust and dried blood that seemed to be trying to escape from his feet as he walked.
A quick count told Sasuke that there were fifty-seven prisoners in a group around him, including the two men that had confronted him earlier, and even Mika stood there with her characteristic grin.
These don't seem like normal prisoners…but then nothing here seems normal.
Looking around at the grandstand, he could see a growing crowd of cheering faces around them. He couldn't see any of their faces, but from the cheers he could assume why they were there.
They want blood…
He grabbed the katana from his back and placed a hand on its hilt. "So if we kill whatever they put against us, they let us go?"
Mika pulled out her two swords and held them at her sides. "That would be too easy. Trust in Fiore, she has a plan."
The Konoha shinobi glanced up at the high walls of the arena without emotion.
It would be easy to leap over those walls and escape this place.
It made sense for Sasuke to take that action. He had no interest in participating in a battle that didn't involve him. But there were too many factors involved that bothered him. Not least of which was the fact that Fiore recognised his eyes when they were activated, despite being a civilian. She had chakra, but nowhere near enough to be a shinobi, which only serviced to confuse him more.
I'll play the game…for now.
The prisoners were armed particularly well considering their apparent incarceration. Judging by the general disposition of the prisoners, Sasuke figured that most of them weren't fighters. There were a few exceptions like Mika who looked like they shouldn't be handling their blades but Sasuke knew better.
A rumbling sound around them made the ground shake as all the other prisoners began to shake in fear. He wasn't surprised to see Fiore pull the pick out of her mouth and extend the wood into a long pole. It was a seemingly impossible action considering she wasn't using chakra; Sasuke could not work out how she managed the feat.
If it's a trick…it's a very good trick. In the battle I'll use my Sharingan to watch her movements.
"So what are we fighting against?"
Sasuke sighed as he heard a loud roar from one of the gates nearby opened slowly.
"Never mind, I think I got it."
"What are they?" asked Sasuke as he unsheathed his sword and held it defensively.
The group watched as massive creatures stomped towards them, easily deafening the roaring crowd around the arena. No two creatures were alike, and each seemed oversized for what they looked like.
One appeared as a gigantic beetle with large pincers and venom dripping from its fanged mouth, while another beside it appeared as a long spiked horse covered in scales with clawed feet.
"They are the summons of the guards. Particularly designed to kill us." Fiore sounded calm considering their situation, her wooden staff shifting into a spiked trident that she hefted easily in her hands.
Sasuke frowned and pointed his katana at a large slug-like creature moving towards them. "They don't seem so dangerous."
She scoffed and planted her weapon in the ground. "For a shinobi maybe. Do you see any of us like that?"
"I guess not." Sasuke hadn't made a comment about it before, but he'd scanned the group and found that she was indeed correct. He was the only shinobi in the whole group. "Plan?"
Flipping the trident in her hands, Fiore stared at him for a second before turning back to stare at the creatures. "Survive. Then we'll talk."
He glared at her for a moment before shrugging and turning to pick a creature to attack. He'd been able to recover a majority of his chakra the night before, but he was nowhere near full fighting strength. Letting out a slow breath he ran a hand along the steel blade of his katana and faced against a strange demon-like creature with barbed bat-like wings.
I'll conserve my chakra, and fight up close. With my Sharingan it should be easy to take out creatures like this.
His eyes flickered to his three-tomoed Sharingan, and not a moment later his body leapt to the side as a long spike came screaming towards him. Because of his manoeuvre the spike missed him and impaled a young man in the neck, not giving him the chance to scream as he dropped to the ground.
Sasuke flipped around and tried to find the creature that had shot such a dangerous projectile. Slowing moving around the back ranks of the creatures was a hunched creature with a large cannon-like object protruding from its back.
If that isn't taken out, they won't stand a chance.
He placed his katana back in its sheath and placed his hands together in a handseal.
Alright Lee, let's see if your technique works as well as when I copied it.
Fuelling a large amount of chakra into his legs, Sasuke vanished as he sped towards the creature. His body's muscles screamed out in protest as he used immense speed to cover the arena floor quickly. A lion with two heads moved to intercept him, surprising the Konoha shinobi that the creature could follow him at such speeds.
Running through a rapid set of handseals, Sasuke leapt over the creature and moved his hand like a claw across the top of its mane. He landed on the ground and vanished again towards his initial target. Sasuke didn't have time to voice his technique, but he thought of it as his Sharingan analysed the creature's roar of pain.
Katon: Tsumehi (Fire Element: Fire Claw)
As he moved towards the other creature the first one burst into flames in three lines across its back, caused it to shudder twice before collapsing onto the ground, dead. Sasuke had no time to celebrate as he moved out of the path of another projectile and used his Sharingan to work out the weakest point in its carapace.
Reaching back to withdraw his sword, Sasuke dodged another projectile and drove his sword into the creature's face, charging it with lightning before running over the top of it and pulling out the sword on the other side.
The creature made no sound as it died, though it did spew green and yellow blood all over his clothes as he sheathed his blade.
He made a disgusted noise as he looked at the ruined sleeves of his Uchiha clothes. "Fantastic. Itachi would love this."
He glanced over at the other prisoners, noticing that several of the more dangerous creatures were in their midst, tearing them to pieces. It was quite a distance away, but he could see Fiore fighting for her life against the demon-like creature he had seen before.
Her wooden weapon was like a blur, slammed constantly into the creature's wings and head. It took him a moment before realising that she wasn't actually holding the wooden weapon at all, it seemed to be moving on its own while she ducked and weaved under the creature's counter-attacks.
She just gets stranger and stranger.
The staff slammed into the demon creature's chin, before she leapt onto the demon's fallen chest and reached out to let the wood fly back to her hand before transforming into a spike that she then drove into its throat.
Unlike Sasuke she was clever enough to avoid the blood spray, jumping off its body into another creature that just pulled apart the scarred man that had attacked him earlier.
Sasuke frowned and took in an account of the battlefield. He had killed the only long-ranged creature in the arena, and about a third of the creatures had been taken out by mass stabbings from the other prisoners, but the death toll had been immense.
The crowd was cheering constantly, and Sasuke noticed that there were even a few Iwagakure shinobi scattered among the civilians. He looked up at the wall near his position with a grim expression.
I could flee now, the opportunity is here. This isn't my fight.
He always went to leap over the arena walls, but his Sharingan was still tracking the other prisoners, causing him to hesitate when he saw Fiore defending herself from the beetle creature with a wooden shield.
It…that was the old me. He would do anything to get stronger, to kill Itachi. But…
He took the time to sigh before cracking his hands.
Stupid Naruto, making me care about others. When I see him again, I'm going to kick his ass.
oOoOoOo
"Jon, you need to keep that side covered!"
"Easy for you to say! I don't have funky wood powers to fight with!"
"Don't poke the dragon, Jon. Remember the last time you pissed her off?"
"Mika, don't make me come over there!"
The other prisoners ignored the odd group within their midst and continued to struggle against the oversized creatures. More than half of their number was already strewn across the floor in dozens of pieces, and those that remained were hard pressed against the ten creatures remaining.
Fiore swore under her breath as she landed on the ground and summoned her staff to her hand. She shook her head as she counted the number of prisoners left. It bothered her that she couldn't see the Uchiha anywhere, but she put that out of her mind.
If he's gone, so be it. I figured him for a coward anyway.
She ducked under a scythed claw and pointed her wooden staff at the creature's face. It extended and retracted as quickly as she could blink, easily destroying the shell around its head and sending it crashing backwards.
She moved towards the other prisoners, using her staff to defend another prisoner from being bitten in half. "Everyone! Move into a tight circle!"
The other prisoners were slow to obey, and Fiore was horrified as she was forced to watch as Mika was ripped into quarters by a large gorilla-like creature with four arms and a scythed tail. She seethed through her teeth and leapt at the creature, using the momentum to launch herself through the air as her wood transformed into a massive serrated battleaxe. The creature attempted to duck underneath her blade, but her speed was too much for it as the wooden blade beheaded the creature as if its neck wasn't even there.
Blood sprayed upwards into the air as she jumped back to the group, breathing heavily as she took in an account of the battle.
The seven remaining creatures seemed wary of approaching the group, despite their obvious advantage against the fifteen remaining prisoners.
"Why are there so many creatures?" asked the bearded prisoner, a long spear bloody in his hands.
Fiore spat blood on the ground from a blow she had taken to her face earlier in the battle. "We've fought off their creatures for days. They are probably sick of losing battles."
"Can…can we win?" asked a tired prisoner, holding a broken arm at his side.
Probably not… thought Fiore, her piece of wood hovering cautiously near her head.
"Well, I'm not going to wait to die!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's get those bastards!"
She watched as the majority of the prisoners roared in approval and charged at the remaining creatures with their weapons raised. Fiore shook her head as the bearded prisoner stood beside her.
"They are all going to die" he said quietly.
Fiore grimaced and reached out, holding a newly transformed wooden sword in her hand. "Everyone dies, Jon. If there was ever a dramatic way to go out…"
He grinned and readied his blade. "Yeah, because your mother won't come after me if I let that happen. You underestimate your importance Fiore-sama."
"Don't call me that, Jon. Not here."
He shook his head with a widening grin and charged at two of the creatures that had split apart from the others. The other prisoners had taken down two more of the creatures, but had nearly been decimated in the process.
Fiore picked out a creature that had just bitten the head off of one of prisoners, her sword transforming into a spear before she hurled it towards the creature's scaly face. Its speared tip went straight through its right eye and through to the other side before flying back to Fiore, landing softly back in her hand.
She turned to see how Jon was doing, but felt the strength in her legs fail as she saw his decapitated body on the ground between a creature's dead body and the creature that had killed him.
Looking around the battlefield, she saw the other prisoners had finally been taken out by the remaining three creatures that fought them. She jumped back several dozen metres and swore under her breath. The four creatures turned to face her, their mouths dripping with the blood of their victims.
No way am I going to survive this.
She breathed out slowly and readied herself for an inevitable death, until she noticed that the sun that had been blazed onto the arena had been suspiciously stifled. Looking up in the sky she noticed that there was a strange-looking cloud above the arena.
She frowned as she saw a figure standing behind the creatures with his arms raised. He said something that she couldn't hear, and in a split second a massive crack of thunder echoed in the arena as a flash of light temporarily blinded her. When her sight recovered she saw that the four creatures were no longer even on the arena, there were barely even burn marks on the ground to indicate that they had been there to begin with.
She blinked and found herself staring into the grim red eyes of the shinobi she had thought had fled the battlefield. "I'm sorry that took so long. The technique takes a long time to activate."
Frowning at him she resisted the urge to slug him in the face. "My friends are dead…they are all dead."
Sasuke glanced around the arena with his Sharingan, noticing the few Iwagakure shinobi in the crowd had entered the arena and were speeding towards them.
"Can you run? I don't think they are coming to give us sake and fish."
Fiore looked past his shoulder, seeing the shinobi rapidly moving towards them with a frown. "Let them come. I lost several good friends today because of their barbaric game."
"And get yourself killed in the process? Would that we were so lucky. Come back later, when it isn't such a one-sided battle."
"You would flee? After such a fight?" She made no effort to conceal her anger, the wood hovered beside her was almost shaking uncontrollably.
He took a step towards her and pointed at the oncoming shinobi. "It's the smart move. I don't like it either, but your friends wouldn't want you to die pointlessly."
Her arms tensed again but Sasuke could tell that she understood his argument. He may have stolen much of the speech from one his brother told him, but it was relevant enough, and he didn't want to see her die. He didn't understand why, but he got the feeling she was important.
"Fine…" she said through her teeth.
Sasuke placed his hands together to prepare a ninjutsu to clear a path for them. However he stopped the flow of chakra when he saw the floating wood transform into a large wooden plank between the two of them.
"What are you doing?"
The girl jumped onto the wood and indicated for him to do the same. "This is much faster."
He gave her a shifty look, "And how safe is that?"
"Get on the wood, or be left behind, Uchiha."
Seeing no way to argue with her, Sasuke scrambled onto the floating plank. He then proceeded to hang on for dear life as they sped up into the arena far above the arena, several large attacks from the surface falling short.
"Are…you…psychotic?!" he called out as the wind slammed into his face.
Not feeling any of the effects that Sasuke was, Fiore made no comment in response as they moved rapidly through the air. Sasuke struggled to keep his footing on the bizarre mode of transport as his red eyes stared at the grim face of his new companion.
I can't figure this woman out. Though I'm pretty sure she's going to hit me when we get to the ground. How is it she's the only one that doesn't fall to pieces around me? This whole situation makes no sense.
Sasuke was right, to an extent.
When they landed on the ground, Fiore immediately lashed out and drove a fist into a nearby rock. Since she wasn't a shinobi it didn't shatter like it would if he had hit it, but it still caused cracks.
Sasuke didn't make a comment as the wooden plank they had ridden on transformed into a needle that inserted itself into the middle of her spiky hair. He still wanted to know how she did that, but felt that there was a time and place for such a thing.
He wasn't much for a shoulder to cry on, but he nevertheless felt the need to say something.
"I…understand what you are going through."
She snarled and glared at him through those purple eyes he was somewhat intimidated by. "How could you? Did you just watch your companions die?"
He bit down the immediate retort he thought of and leaned on the rock she had just attacked. "You've heard of the Uchiha clan, yes?"
"Your point being?"
"I do, know what you are talking about. I'm not trying to diminish your pain."
Her arms tensed, but she took a step back nonetheless and sighed. It was a few moments before she nodded slowly and stared out at the slowly descending sun. "They knew what they were getting into…maybe they'll forgive me one day."
"So, do you mind telling me what this is all about? Why was someone like you in a place like that?"
Fiore stared at him for a moment before shrugging and taking a few steps backwards as the pin in her hair floated out and turned into a large wooden chair that she sat down on and indicated for him to make himself comfortable.
Sasuke gave her his best are-you-kidding-me look before crossing his arms and indicating to her chair. "Why don't you start with that? I can't think of any way one could do that without chakra."
In her chair the purple eyed girl shrugged and crossed her tanned legs. "I have no idea. I've always been able to manipulate this wood in any way I want."
Like a Kekkei Genkai, but without chakra? Kakashi would have a field day with this ability.
"Just that wood?"
She nodded and waved a hand over the arm of the chair, making the wood extend upwards until it touched her hand. "One solid piece. But with it…I can do anything."
"Okay, that makes no sense, but never mind. Something tells me you weren't a prisoner in that arena though."
"No, I wasn't. I infiltrated the arena with five of our best men, and they all died because of this mission."
"Mission?" Sasuke knew she wasn't a shinobi, but she spoke as if she at least worked for one.
Fiore slowly sat up from her chair and placed a hand out, letting the chair transform into a pick that she then placed in her mouth. "It ain't just shinobi that do things for the world, you know. We normal people can do things too."
"I'm sure." Sasuke reached down and sniffed the collar of his shirt, grimacing as he smelt the blood strewn across his clothing. "I need a clean set of clothes."
"You do look like you sleep in a bog."
He glared at her but recognised her point. "Where is the nearest town?"
"You sure you want to travel with me? I can't promise I won't hit you at some point." Her voice suggested sarcasm, but with his Sharingan still active Sasuke could tell the look in her eyes said different.
As much as he wanted to find his companions again, and his brother, which to be fair wasn't particularly high at the moment, he felt an odd feeling in his stomach.
It was sympathy. And that scared the hell out of him.
BREAK
"I'm not wearing that."
She pouted and put down the shirt. "Why not? It's all colourful and such."
Sasuke pointed at the brightly coloured shirt with disgust. "I'm from the most powerful clan in the country. You couldn't pay me to wear that."
Fiore grinned and threw a black shirt at him. "Well go ahead and spoil my fun. Maybe you wouldn't look so emo if you wore something other than black and dark blue."
Slipping the shirt over his chest, Sasuke frowned at her. "Emo?"
"A new term, you wouldn't get it."
He put down the last bits of his money on the counter and nodded to the blushing girl behind it before the two of them left the shop. Sasuke watched as Fiore stretched out her arms with a sigh, as her own new clothes hugged her body. He'd heard of such things before, and he found himself wondering what it was about her that kept his attention so.
"You know they aren't going to come off just by you staring at them?"
He didn't stutter in return, but there was a definite pause before he scoffed and pushed past her. "Don't flatter yourself. Where do we go from here?"
She let the ghost of a grin come across her face as she watched his back while they walked through the bustling town. It was far too much fun to tease him like that, and she wasn't in any particular rush to get back to her job.
"You want to get something to eat? I'm famished."
He spun around and glared at her. "What about…you don't have a care in the world, do you?"
Fiore shrugged and placed her hands on the back of her neck. "No point in going anywhere on an empty stomach."
Dear god she sounds like Naruto.
He considered it for a moment before letting out a slow breath and rolling his eyes. "Fine. Anything but ramen."
"No problems there, I hate ramen." She began walking towards a nearby open store while scratching at her cheek.
He wasn't much of an emotional type, but Sasuke couldn't help but curl the edge of his mouth.
Thank god…I can't stand that crap.
oOoOoOo
Sasuke stared out at the night sky through the window in their room, watching as clouds slowly moved from one side to the other. It was a strange change of scenery considering where they had been earlier in the day, but he wasn't complaining.
I wonder what Nii-san is doing right now.
His shinobi instincts allowed him to place a hand up to catch the bottle Fiore hurled at him without effort. He frowned and glanced at the non-descript bottle before turning around to look at his companion.
"What is this?"
Fiore fell onto the couch in their room and rested her feet on the table. "It's water. You've heard of it, yes?"
Sasuke removed the top and sniffed it cautiously. "Are you always so sarcastic?"
"Comes with the company I suppose. So where are you from, Uchiha?"
After he was sure that it wasn't anything suspicious, Sasuke took a sip from the bottle, noticing that it was indeed simply cold water. "Konoha, until it was destroyed. Then we moved around a lot…wait, why am I telling you this?"
She grinned and rocked slightly in her chair. "It's called trust, Uchiha. Not used to it, are you?"
I hate this woman so much…
"What about you? What's your tale?"
She tensed slightly, not enough to display that much but Sasuke noticed it nonetheless. She looked around the room with a suspicious look on her face before indicating for him to move closer to hear her.
"What is it?" he asked as he sat on a table next to her feet.
"I…uh…are there any…you know…listening devices in this room?"
He frowned at the comment, but upon seeing she was serious stood up slowly and placed his hands together. "Is there any reason why you are so paranoid?"
"We have enemies, Uchiha. It's not paranoia if you are right."
He extended his chakra throughout the room, scanning it for any possible disruptions. For a few moments he was just indulging her, but after looking a bit harder he noticed a section of wall had been recently replaced with several shinobi seals that were indeed listening to their conversation.
He opened his eyes and walked over to the section of wall he had analysed, running a small amount of chakra into it to destroy the seals. He turned around and stared at her curiously. "How did you know?"
"Are we clear?" When he nodded in response she let out a short sigh and stood up from her seat. "Good. You can never be too careful."
Sasuke crossed his arms suspiciously; things seemed to get more and more confusing. "And why does someone like you have a shinobi-based listening seal placed in a room that you only organised an hour ago?"
"Because I'm so cute?" She tried to give him her best puppy impression, but upon seeing him unimpressed she crossed her arms and leaned on the windowsill. "Fair point."
"Shinobi aren't the only ones that do things in the world. Even during the Shinobi World Wars, it wasn't just the shinobi that fought one country against another. It was the rest of us too. I know that won't mean much to you, but just run with it. Suffice to say I'm part of an organisation that does the things shinobi seem to ignore."
She doesn't seem to be too bad…for a nut-job.
"So you're what, a freedom fighter?"
"You might mock, Uchiha, but we do things that you wouldn't dare attempt."
I can hardly believe that.
"So where do we go from here?" she asked, waving her hand around lazily as her piece of wood followed her motions.
"What do you mean?"
She reached out and grabbed her wood with a single fluid movement. "Well my mission was a failure, so I have to report back. But you are under no obligation to follow."
Sasuke considered her point, he certainly had enough reason to go and find his previous companions, but there was one thing that was scratching at the back of his mind.
With a trickle of chakra he activated his doujutsu and stared at her directly in her purple eyes. "When I first woke up in that prison cell, your attitude changed immediately upon seeing my Sharingan. That wasn't the first time you've seen these eyes, was it?"
She stared at him intently for a few seconds before slowly shaking her head. "No…it wasn't. What is your point?"
Sasuke kept his doujutsu activate for a few more seconds before reverting back to his regular black eyes. "There are only three Sharingan users left in the world, including my brother and my teacher. So my question is why you had such a serious reaction to the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai."
Fiore looked away slightly so that she could stare at the night through the window. "I'm not meant to talk about it. Suffice to say, I've seen the Sharingan before. Let's leave it at that."
"No, I'm not going to leave it alone. My clan is down to my brother and me. If there is another Uchiha still alive, I need to know about it."
The wood-user turned and glared at him. "Don't order me around like you would a waitress. I'm under no obligation to indulge your little quest."
Sasuke tensed and went to argue back until he was reminded of how Kakashi used to speak to him. She hadn't spoken angrily or in a harsh tone, but there was something in her voice that gave him pause. He considered her point for a moment before placing his hands up in defence.
"No need to bite, I understand. All I'm looking for is information. Besides, you seem like someone who could use the company."
He wasn't sure where that last line had come from, but it clearly made an impact on her as the expression on her face changed slowly from frustration to something else entirely.
"Could use the company? I think you underestimate the value of your companionship. I'm not that desperate." Her words said one thing, but Sasuke could read in her tone that he had convinced her.
"You've lost people. So have I. All I'm suggesting is a temporary partnership." Sasuke wasn't sure why he was bargaining to the woman, but he was increasingly curious about the figures behind the girl's organisation.
Fiore considered his point for a few moments before leaning on the wall and crossing her arms, placing a hand on her tired eyes.
"I…fine. You can come to our village, but that's it. She's going to kill me for this…"
"Who will?"
Fiore grinned and shook her head as she reached down and grabbed her own bottle of water.
"You don't want to know."
The next morning they set out to return to Fiore's organisation. Sasuke had no idea what to expect, but there was too much for him to ignore. He stared at her back as they walked across the dry landscape.
"Hey, there's something that has been bothering me."
She turned around with a grin, "Just one?"
Sasuke walked a bit faster so that they were at the same pace. "We got out of that arena pretty easily. Why didn't you escape with your friends before I came?"
She gave him a serious glare, but didn't break pace as they moved from stony ground to grassland. "You saw what happened when we flew out, right? All those projectiles and attacks they threw at us?"
"So you wouldn't have been able to escape like that with so many people?" It made sense to him, but he still found it suspicious.
"Pretty much. We would have left earlier, but Jon was concerned over the other political prisoners. He always was soft for people like that."
"Like that Mika girl?"
Fiore stopped walking and stared at him again, "You knew she was a legitimate prisoner?"
"Educated guess. You still haven't told me why you were there in the first place." Sasuke hadn't stopped like she did, preferring to cover as much distance as possible.
She thought about it for a second before running to catch up to him, placing her hands in her pockets as she walked beside him. "We were looking for someone. It doesn't matter now, as he was already dead when we got there."
"For someone who just lost her friends, you seem pretty calm about it."
She resisted the urge to shrug, resolving to concentrate on the path in front of them. "I've lost friends before. I'll lose friends again. There is only so much I can express."
She's covering. It's the same as Naruto would when people ignored him in Konoha.
He stopped walking and begun stretching his legs. It took Fiore a few seconds before realising that he wasn't walking beside her, causing her to frown and turn back to see him stretching his arms as well.
"What are you doing?" she asked impatiently. Just as he couldn't figure her out, he wasn't giving anything away to her either. She could sense the typical arrogance in someone like him, but it was tempered by something she couldn't quite place either.
He stood up from his stretches and stood in a defensive stance. "Let's have a match."
"What?" She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "We don't have time for this."
Trying his best not to sound like Lee, Sasuke stared right back at her. "It'll be a good way to indicate how strong you are. Besides, I think we both need to blow off some steam."
She went to call him an idiot, but the look in his eyes gave her pause. She knew that he hadn't been fighting properly in the arena, and while that angered her it also made her curious. Besides, it was always beneficial to fight against a shinobi, if not just to put them in their place.
Seeing the benefits finally, she reached up and pulled out the piece of wood in her hair, extending it to a short pole from pointing it at him with a sly grin. "Don't think I'm a pushover, Uchiha. If you underestimate me, I'm going to crush you."
Sasuke nodded and activated his Sharingan, watching her static body movements carefully with his doujutsu. He knew that since she didn't use chakra the Kekkei Genkai was largely wasted, but if it could read her physical movements to give him an advantage then it was worth it.
I'll swing around her and push through her defences and knock her out with an electrical shock.
His Sharingan didn't show him any change in her stance besides her wood pole pointed at him. As such he wasn't able to react when the wood extended instantly and slammed into his chest, causing him to fly backwards. He grimaced as he landed on the ground and looked at her, seeing that she hadn't moved an inch.
The grin on her face was insufferable.
"So you can control it that quickly?"
She didn't respond to his taunt, simply twirling her pole in her hands and standing as if she was relaxing at a hot spring.
I will beat this woman if it's the last thing I do.
He placed his hands together and ran through a quick set of handseals. He placed his hand to his mouth and brought up a ball of chakra from his stomach.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
A gigantic fireball screamed across the battlefield towards her, as Sasuke grinned and stood up straight. Since she wasn't a shinobi, he didn't expect her to be able to move out of the path of the blast completely intact.
"I warned you not underestimate me."
He spun around immediately upon hearing her voice, but before he could react he saw a massive wooden fist coming at his face. Sasuke was barely able to jump back in time, his eyes staring at her as the wood retracting into a small wooden stick hovering near her grinning face.
"Not bad, Uchiha. But is that all you've got?"
Sasuke frowned in anger and drew the katana from his back. Her eyes widened in surprise, but even as he prepared himself to attack her, her wood shifted into a sword of identical shape.
"You don't think you'll be able to match me as a swordsman, do you?"
She grinned and adopted a defensive stance. "Try me."
He gritted his teeth and leapt at her, swinging his sword straight at her head. He didn't really want to cut her up, but the arrogance in her smile reminded him of Itachi's during the few times he actually did smile.
He brought down his sword and she caught it with hers, easily holding his strike at bay. Despite being made out of wood, her sword's edge was as sharp as his, and while it wasn't his family's katana his sword was still made of tempered steel.
Frowning, Sasuke brought his sword back and changed the weight in his hands, sending the tip at her side. Her wooden blade seemed to appear in its path, and they began to clash blades at a rapid pace. Sasuke wasn't using his full speed, but he could tell that she was holding back too. Neither gave any ground as their swords slammed into one another again and their faces were nearly touching.
His red eyes stared into her purple eyes, and in that moment he felt something in his gut he couldn't quite describe. Unfortunately that feeling distracted him for just a moment, allowing the wood in her sword to extend outwards and wrench the blade from his hands, hurling it far away behind her back. Sasuke looked down in surprise, and in that moment her sword changed to a club and slammed into his face, sending him flying backwards.
The Konoha shinobi grimaced as he picked himself up from the ground, clutching at his cheek as he glared at her angrily. She was toying with him, and they both knew it.
She's not a shinobi, and yet she's as strong as Nii-san without his genjutsu abilities.
He ran through a rapid set of handseals and placed a hand towards the ground, still staring at his opponent. "You want serious? You'll want to dodge this attack then."
His hand began to crackle with lightning, deafening bird chirping sounds surrounded him as he dove towards her with his lightning blade extended outwards. He was aiming for a glancing shot, but was no longer holding back. She still had that insufferable look on her face, which only incised him further.
To his surprise, or not considering her personality, she didn't move, rather placing herself in a defensive pose with a small wall of wood between the two of them. Sasuke grinned as he ran towards her, since wood was part earth his lightning technique should go right through it. He increased his speed and threw his lightning charged hand at her shield.
"Chidori!"
As he predicted, his hand went straight through the wooden wall. However just as his lightning-charged attack passed the threshold, the hole his hand created closed in around him and nearly crushed his wrist as it trapped him tightly. He let out a cry of pain, but before he could try to free himself the wood exploded around him and bound him tighter than any rope he had been tied by. Sasuke fell to the ground and watched helplessly as the wood moved up and bound him on the mouth. He could hear a laugh that sounded surprisingly light-hearted as her legs came into his bound view. Fiore kneeled down beside him and grinned as she tapped his wooden restraints. "Not very smart, are you Uchiha?"
Sasuke stared up at her, ignoring the fact that he slightly see up her skirt. An uncharacteristic grin came across his face.
"I have my moments."
Her eyes widened as she felt a piece of cold metal against her neck. The Sasuke bound by the wood disappeared in a puff of smoke as a smile grew on her face. "Not bad, Uchiha. Not bad at all."
He pulled back his kunai and pocketed it, offering her a hand up. "My name is Sasuke. I suggest you use it."
She shook her head slightly and spun around, collecting him in the head with her foot and sending him crashing into the ground. Her wood trap transformed back into a wooden pick that she subsequently placed in her mouth and grinned.
"Not a chance, Uchiha. Let's get going."
Sasuke rolled over on the ground and clutched at his other cheek, trying his hardest to resist the urge to send a lightning strike straight through her head. Eventually he picked himself up from the ground and jogged to catch with her. Neither of them made a comment, but the battle had only created more questions than answers for Sasuke.
However he had to admit he was impressed with her combat abilities, compared to the shinobi he had fought before. He couldn't make sense of how she was so strong considering her lack of shinobi abilities, but that in turn made her all the more intriguing.
Nii-san would fine this situation hilarious. I've got to remember to smack him as well.
Two days of travel later they arrived at the location Fiore indicated was her organisation's headquarters. It was a relatively small affair, with very little indicating that there was any kind of organised military presence in the area, which Sasuke supposed was part of the point.
"Doesn't look like much" he commented bluntly.
Fiore shrugged and pushed through the front gate. "Everyone says that. It was built that way, lest we draw too much unwanted attention."
Following her through into the empty-looking village, Sasuke looked around with curiosity. "You still haven't told me anything about this organisation you are a part of."
"Makes it more fun. This way." She indicated to a nearby door, but before they walked through it she put a hand in warning.
"We only have two rules. If someone offers you a drink, you have to drink. And don't, if you value your life, antagonise the leader."
"Is he really that frightening?" Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes. Every organisation said their leader was scary, and he was yet to be intimidated by such a person.
She thought about it before shrugging and placed her hand on the doorknob. "Frightening? Perhaps. But let me put it this way; if you disrespect her…she'll destroy you. It won't even be a thought to her."
"Just open the door, and cut the theatrics."
She shrugged again and opened the door, walked in first before being quickly followed by her Uchiha companion.
oOoOoOo
The inside of the building looked like a large festival hall, with a massive table across the middle covered in food and drink with cheering people eating and chatting loudly. Sasuke was surprised that he couldn't hear them before, considering how loud they were once he was inside. A man stumbled up to them and clapped Fiore on the back, saying something completely unintelligible to her and bringing a smile to her face.
"Welcome to the Hall. Watch your step, they are vicious here."
Sasuke snorted and stared at two people sneaking away from the group to enter an adjacent room. "Yes…clearly…"
Fiore grinned and went to take a step forward but froze uncharacteristically. Sasuke wasn't sure why she had immobilized herself, but the reason became rapidly clear.
A loud female voice thundered through the hall, silencing every single voice in the hall immediately. "FIORE!"
Sasuke found himself looking around for the voice even while noticing that everybody in the hall had frozen the same as his wood-using companion. Seemingly out of nowhere a woman appeared in front of Fiore, in a move that Sasuke couldn't have worked out if given the time to analyse it.
She wore a set of leather armour with a long cloak behind her, with long scars across her face. She bore the same set of purple eyes that Fiore had, and despite being significantly older than him Sasuke could tell she was a decidedly striking woman.
The woman slowly reached out and brushed a small piece of brown hair from the young girl's face. She stared at her for a few seconds before her angry-looking face slowly broke into a smile. "You are late, daughter."
Fiore mirrored the woman's smile and nodded slowly. "There were complications…mother."
The woman moved her head slightly and stared at Sasuke intently. "You brought a shinobi to the Hall? Is that wise?"
"It's not that simple, mother. I would think there was someone here he'd want to meet."
She walked past Fiore and stood in front of Sasuke, running her eyes up and down him like he was a scroll containing intelligence she had to know about. He was uncomfortable under her gaze, but didn't make a comment until she stood back slightly and crossed her arms.
"Well, well, this is a surprise. I can't say my daughter has good taste, but you are an interesting case."
She extended a hand to him, which given by the look on Fiore's surprised face he took with a respectful bow.
"My name is Elika. I am Fiore's mother, and leader of Cascading Flow."
Sasuke shook her hand tightly. "Uchiha Sasuke. Your daughter helped me out of a bind, and I owe her a debt of gratitude."
That last bit was a bit of a lie, but he seemed to have had the desired effect as Elika nodded in approval. "A conversation for another time. Before we speak however, I suspect there is someone here you would like to meet."
Sasuke frowned, "Who?"
Neither the mother or daughter responded, but began walking down the steps towards the back of the hall. Sasuke watched as the chaos within the hall seemed to resume the moment Elika stopped their conversation, such was the respect they held for her.
And she isn't a shinobi either. What the hell is this place?
Deciding to indulge in his curiosity, Sasuke followed the pair of women, letting them lead him to a door on the back wall. Elika opened the door slowly and indicated for him to enter.
"Who is in there?" he asked, noticing that it led to an outside courtyard.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment before looking back at him and indicating for him to go. Seeing he wasn't going to get an answer, Sasuke walked through the door, hearing it close behind him.
The courtyard was surprisingly large considering the size of the village, and a figure in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned around to see a figure standing in the middle of the courtyard wearing a long black set of combat fatigues.
It took him a second to realise who was standing in front of him. He hadn't seen the person alive in nearly a decade, and had only recently come to an understanding on who the person was.
He could feel the strength in his legs slowly disappear as he recognised the familiar black eyes and warm smile on her face.
"Mum?"
The woman's smile grew as she took a few steps towards him with her arms open.
"Hello Sasuke. You've grown up so much."
Author's Note:
There a kind of pathological amusement to the cliffhanger device. It's not as bad as some of the other ones I've done, but still, amusing.
Any feedback on Fiore's character would be greatly appreciated. She's a character that I'm developing for a novel I'm writing, and any notes would help me immensely.
I know Sasuke seemed to have pulled Kirin out of his arse, but let's face it he does that all the time. He's a surprisingly difficult character to right without getting OOC, even though he isn't a bastard in this story. It's part of the reason why my new piece has him as a particularly central main character and not as a bastard either.
Mentioning that, I'm working on the first chapter to that story now. I have an exam on the 15th for University, so my timetable is a bit frantic at the moment. Apologies in advance.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.