Ch. 44 Fear

Sasuke was known for many things. His Uchiha name and now former status as such, his now-gone legion of fangirls, his legacy of being the sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre (most people ignoring the fact that Itachi never actually endangered him that night), and his antisocial arrogant behavior. But one thing he was not known for... was being cowardly.

And while he might not be a coward, right there, staring at the genin with sinister auras, Sasuke Uchiha was admittedly fearful. He was standing before three shinobi without his sharingan being a usable option, all three using some sort of power he couldn't predict. And worse of all he knew his skills might not be good enough to counter.

For the past few weeks, after being put down by everyone for now being a sharingan-less nobody, Sasuke trained himself privately every spare moment to convince himself they were wrong and he was still superior to all other carbon-based lifeforms. Only to find out his speed, strength, and accuracy were below his expectations. At first he thought he was just too angry to focus and calmed himself repeatedly. However, much to his dismay, his skills didn't instantly improve.

He could still remember the harsh truth being rubbed in his face.

-Flashback-

"Something wrong Sasuke?" Kakashi asked when he noticed his student was brooding even more than usual.

"Whoever took away my sharingan weakened my skills apparently." The young Uchiha replied.

Kakashi tilted his head sideways towards his left. "What makes you say that?"

"Because when I test myself now I'm not getting the results I used to get back in the academy. My running time's slowed down, my punches make less of an impact on my targets, and I'm missing more shots in target practice now." Sasuke explained.

"And you believe the absence of your sharingan is to blame here?" Kakashi asked, getting a nod as his answer. "Um... Sasuke, you didn't have your sharingan back at the academy so by your own logic you should be no different then you were back then. Not worse. And just so you know, I've done the same and I haven't gotten any worse then before."

"But how else could this have happened?"

'I'm not going to enjoy what happens next, I just know it.' The jounin told himself before speaking. "Don't you remember the council telling you they gave you many luxuries without you knowing to make you feel important? Is it possible they rigged your scores and tests to make you feel better than you actually are?"

Sasuke then looked like he couldn't decide if he believed or disbelieved the idea. In the end he decided it was too far-fetched for his tastes. "Why would they need to? I'm an elite so do that would-"

"Do exactly what the council wanted, which was fill your head with delusions of grandeur, wouldn't it?" Kakashi cut in. "They gave you everything you wanted to get on your good side Sasuke and to put you in debt to them. Remember they ordered some stores to give you reduced prices and they granted you more access to your clan resources than any other clan heir, even last ones, would be entitled to at your age. Is it really that hard to imagine they may have ensured your tests were rigged to guarantee you felt like the best, even if you weren't truly qualified for it on a fair basis?"

Sasuke frowned, but doubt had already been planted in his mind. 'Could he be right? But I know I did the best times and hit the most targets. How could that be rigged?'

Later that same night Kakashi would retrieve the academy files on the history of his students, something jounin were entitled to do to find problem areas in their student's skills. After he got them, he stopped by Sasuke's apartment to show him the contents of his own file of achievements.

Sasuke was shocked and insulted. 'What the...? Whenever I came in first in the runs and obstacle courses, they reduced the time recorded to make me sound faster? And the taijutsu instructors were instructed to take a dive whenever it was my turn if they wanted to keep their jobs? Huh? The targets for target practice had special magnets inside them that only worked with a jutsu the teachers used when it was my turn, guaranteeing a hit each time? Dear Kami-sama, if this is true, then how good am I really without someone letting me win at everything?'

-End Flashback-

Sasuke still wasn't too sure of the answer. Part of the reason he wanted to enter the chuunin exams was to find out for certain since Kakashi told him no one would hold back against him. The chance at revenge on those he met in Wave was just icing on the cake.

Now, as he stood there, facing three of the genin he saw in Wave, each radiating a dangerous energy and looking like a coiled snake ready to strike, he started thinking he made a mistake.

All three Oto genin took a stance. Hinata and Isaribi took the stance of snake-style taijutsu, which kept their legs close together but their arms apart, the right one usually pulled back and the left put ahead. The intent was so they could strike first and dodge any counterattack within seconds just like a viper. Hinata had her hands unclenched while Isaribi did. Naruto meanwhile took Jiraiya's toad-style stance instead, where his legs were bent outwards and his right hand was on the ground in front of him with his left hand in a ready fist. The intent was to wait like a toad for the enemies first move then retaliate.

The two girls were the first to attack, with Naruto settling for keeping the Uchiha's teammates from coming to his rescue or attacking the other Oto team. It wasn't too hard, as Sakura was scared shitless of the sight before her and Kiba, now recovered from his hit, was too confused to know what to do with three glowing enemies.

Hinata and Isaribi ran towards the lone Uchiha, Hinata's byakugan active but her contacts hiding her true eye color and her hair somewhat covering her bulging veins. Isaribi pulled out a longer-than-normal kunai and weaved to get behind Sasuke while Hinata got in front of him and took the focus of his attention. Once behind him the purple-haired girl crouched down and jabbed her kunai into his back, missing his spine giving him a nasty wound. Hinata meanwhile gathered sharp chakra points at her fingertips and struck many of Sasuke's tenketsu, making him scream even more.

Kiba thought now might be a good time to intervene before his teammate got killed and he himself could not advance any further. He got up and on all fours with Akamaru jumping on his back. But before they could do anything, Naruto got in front of them and snarled. The two boys then started trying to hold the other back in a direct face-off, each blocking the other's hands with their own and trying to push them back. Kiba used his claws to wound Naruto's hands at first, but Kyuubi's chakra started to burn his own, making him try to back off. However, Naruto used his own claws to hold the Inuzuka in place, furthering the pain.

Sakura looked between her two victimized teammates, not sure who to help or how. She looked first to Sasuke, who turned to catch Isaribi, but she dodged overhead and got some monowire out which she spun around him in that moment. It was easy since Hinata's fighting style made him slower than normal, and now that he was almost completely immobile, the byakugan-wielder could use this rare opportunity to attack every tenketsu on the human body, front back and side rather than just the front.

Acting on impulse, albeit delayed, Sakura got up to rush over and fight the other kunoichi. Unfortunately she was blocked by Kin, Zaku, and Dosu. Kin kept making glances towards the power-radiating Naruto though for a moment. 'He's so hot right now. If I wasn't so certain Hinata would kill me for it, I'll try seducing him once this was over.'

"Don't count us out just yet." Zaku said as he flexed his hands.

Sakura reacted in the only way she could see that would give her team the best results. "If I give you guys our scroll will you and them leave us be?"

The three Oto genin shared a look. "That depends on what it is." Dosu answered.

Sakura pulled out her team's Earth Scroll. Since Sasuke and Kiba couldn't agree amongst themselves she took it upon herself to do it instead.

Zaku smirked. "Perfect, we need that one. Thanks pinky." He said as he took it.

"Then you'll leave us be?" Sakura asked.

"We will, but we can't promise our comrades will." Kin replied. Ignoring Sakura's shocked expression, the brunette kunoichi calmly approached Naruto, who was still struggling against Kiba and Akamaru, who was trying to bite the jinchuuriki's ankle off it seemed. She brushed the puppy aside with her foot and leaned in to whisper in her love interest's ear. "We got their scroll so try and finish things up here quickly if you can. Ok Naruto-kun?" Then she quickly kissed his cheek, figuring Hinata wouldn't notice. Then she and her teammates left.

Naruto chose to do as the girl said and end this right away. He let go off Kiba, allowing the dog nin to back away and fan his burnt hands for a moment. Then he ran up to him and punched him right in the jaw, sending him flying and crashing into a tree head first. Akamaru wisely decided to leave this enemy alone now. Naruto admired his handiwork for a brief second. 'It's a shame he went down. He might have been a good challenge, had I actually given him a chance to fight back.' Then he turned to see how two of his confirmed eight girls were doing.

It looked like they were doing well, as Sasuke was face down on the ground but still breathing and they both stood over him ready to dish out more pain. "Good job girls. I'm glad you didn't kill him."

"I'd really like to though." Hinata said, not sure if it was the curse mark's influence or not.

"Why can't we?" Isaribi asked.

"Because I promised a certain someone we wouldn't. At least not yet, unless he killed one of our own." Naruto answered, his red chakra cloak fading away. "He came awfully close with you two, but not close enough. So we gotta let him live for now."

"And who did you promise?" Isaribi asked the disguised blonde.

"Subsonic. They've got something special planned for this guy later on, if you catch my drift."

Hinata nodded. "Ah, that makes sense."

"So what now?" Isaribi asked.

"This." Naruto said before making his hand glow with green chakra and he placed it on Sasuke's face after he turned the boy over.

Sakura watched in wonder. "What are you doing?"

The jinchuuriki didn't even look at her as he answered. "You and everyone else will find out in a month or two. If he lives that long that is." Finished, he stood straight up again. "The others got their scroll so we should move on." They nodded, and then jumped into the trees, heading elsewhere.

"Umm... Naruto-kun, why did you use a healing jutsu on that jerk?" Hinata asked, she and Isaribi making their curse marks recede.

"It was Jii-san's idea. Remember how thanks to what I did in Wave that guy can't use his precious sharingan for two more months? When he gets it back that's going to let Konoha know that my ability to take away their bloodlines is only temporary, which will make them less afraid of us. So how do we deal with that? Jii-san came up with the idea to do a jutsu for show, with unknowing witnesses around, that would let the Uchiha and everyone else in Konoha think someone gave him back his doujutsu."

"Wait. So you're saying that you did that just so when the seals fade and he gets his eyes back he'll think it wasn't supposed to happen on it's own? He'll think the only reason he got it back is because you gave it back to him, rather than it being a timed thing?" Isaribi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yep. His teammate will tell him I did some kind of jutsu to his face, his eyes come back in time if he lives that long, and no one knows the real reason why. Making Oto look like it has total control over the bloodlines of other villages."

"I like it." Hinata commented.

"Me too." Someone else said as they caught up to the three genin.


Sakura, now able to move her legs without them trembling, came over to check on her teammate's well being. He appeared dazed and out of it with blood pooling underneath himself and many small bruises on his skin but that was it.

"Oh Sasuke-kun." She said with a few tears as she pulled out her first aid kit. She turned him over so she could see his back and tend to his wounds. She tried to pull up his shirt but he ineffectively swapped her hand away.

"Don't even think about it."

"But how else am I supposed to patch you up?"

"Sure, that's how it'll start. Then you'll get eager to see and do more and I'm in no mood for that." He irritably claimed, clenching his teeth in an effort to bare the pain.

"Healing you is a bigger priority Sasuke-kun and you need my help." She replied matter-of-factly.

Sasuke tried to sternly look at her as she unfurled some gauze. "No I don't. I can handle this myself. Go help out the mutt if you feel you must touch a guy now." He was somewhat surprised to see the kunoichi give him an annoyed look rather than a diligent one.

"Fine. If you've got the energy to argue then go ahead and treat yourself. But know this Sasuke-kun, I'm still one of the few people in this village that treat you as someone special. Do you really want to turn me away too?" She got up and headed towards Kiba rather than await Sasuke's response.

In all honesty Sasuke actually did want Sakura to treat his wounds, if only to conserve his own strength and have someone who could get a better look at his injuries do the job. But his Uchiha pride demanded he not just let her do it, rather he deny so she'd insist and go ahead only to get it done. He did not expect her to decide to let up like that.

'Could even she be losing respect for me, like the others?' He asked himself, not sure if he should like the idea or not.


"Ah, Subsonic, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked his group's new guest.

"I'm just keeping an eye on my favorite genins. Gotta make sure this test isn't rigged like I suspect it is." The disguised ninja answered as they kept pace with the younger ones.

"Rigged?" Isaribi asked.

Subsonic nodded. "Yeah, I have a feeling that Hokage-sama decided to set up this test in a specific way once he found out Oto was joining. Part of it is to test the new village's strength, and the other is to see if it's directly responsible for what happened to their last Uchiha."

"That doesn't sound too bad. We can handle that, right?" Hinata commented.

"It gets worse." Subsonic continued. "You're too young to know this, but almost every one of the five major hidden villages rig these tests. They claim they're just using a home-field advantage, but history shows the ones most likely to advance to the final rounds and actually get promoted are the ones native to the village hosting the test."

"Wait, so you're saying that the only ones who really stand a chance at getting a genin promotion are the Konoha genin?" Isaribi asked.

"No, but the odds are in their favor. Think about it. Chuunin exams attract business to the villages and the ones who appear the strongest get the most business. To appear the strongest, the village needs to have the most advanced genin and the most promotions. That tricks the payers of missions into thinking one village has more qualified ninja for hire than another, even if they're more expensive or harder to reach."

"So you're saying that each village to an extent sets up this test to give it's own genin an unfair edge so in the end they earn more money for the village?" Hinata asked, somewhat appauled by the idea.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Subsonic replied. "Konoha may be a ninja village but it needs funding just like any other. And like ninja, it may go about the job in a sneaky way. Oto would probably do the same if it got the chance to host the exams."

"So do we stand a chance at all or is us being here just to make Konoha look better by beating us at a game they shouldn't lose in the first place?" Naruto asked, feeling angry.

"Oh yeah, if you make it to the final round then yes you do. Konoha isn't allowed to be the only governing body when it comes to deciding promotions. That would be considered an unfair and heavily biased situation. Kages for other villages and even daimyos of other countries come to the village to watch and all are allowed to make their own judgments. Village councils and advisors are allowed to make suggestions too. Of course, final say goes to the kage for each of their respective genin, but they have to explain to their advisors and daimyos why they made such decisions so promotions can't just be handed out."

"So Konoha can't disqualify us or deny us our chances?" Hinata asked.

"Exactly." Subsonic answered. "They're allowed to make reviews on you and pass them, but ultimately the decision is Otokage-sama's. The hokage can only truly promote or deny his own genin, not someone else's."

"That's a relief. But are you certain this test is rigged to favor Konoha's chances?" Isaribi asked.

"When you get to the finals, or even some sort of preliminary in the chance that happens, check how many participants are from Konoha and how many aren't. Then you'll see. Until then, I better get going before anyone notices I snuck in here. Good luck. Oh, and before I forget, thanks for sparing Sasuke's life Naruto." Subsonic said before departing.